Chapter 9: Rebellion

Keaton did not understand why Ridley would return if he was the cause of this war, Ridley knows him better than Hardy does. But then again, he is a dragon…maybe dragons are stupid. Keaton thought this out intensively.

He stopped by Ridley's prison cell, designed originally for metroids and genocidal creatures. This time, he would not break free from the shackles designed for glomian blorffs. And he had to answer to what Keaton wanted to hear, or he would be executed.

"Why go through all this to try to stop us, Ridley? Has that little pirate mind of yours improved since Samus last beat your head in? What are you doing here, Ridley? And tell us where Samus and Houston are! NOW!"

Ridley knew he couldn't tell the truth, so he played along in his favor.

"You know what, Mr. Tonberry? I think I might actually tell, you…" Ridley was interrupted by a shockwave of several thousand volts in his cell.

"Oh…you like that don't you, Ridley? Want some more?" Keaton taunted cheerfully. Ridley was not having fun. But he would get out of it as soon as he could. He continued to act hurt, letting out a hurt roar from his throat.

"Please…no more…I'll tell you…just don't kill me…"

Keaton leaned in to hear the planet name from his captive.

"…Acuar…they're under my garrison and held captive as am I with you. Go ahead, try to defeat us…" Then he faked passing out.

"AHA! The rat speaks, does he? Hardy get over here and…"

Hardy was holding a blaster pistol straight at him and frowned at the chairman. Keaton stumbled back in fear.

"Hardy?! What are you doing? This is an interrogation of the lead space pirate. You can't kill me…the whole station will be on you before you get near Ridley."

Hardy smirked and said, "Yes. But that's where you're wrong, chairman. You see…Ridley isn't a space pirate anymore, ever since he gave us Kihunter information, he's been with us since. Now let him go and let's beat up Laguna and his pirates!" Hardy seemed a bit too confident.

"HA! You think I'm that naïve? Go ahead, make my day.

Keaton to transporter room – warp me from the shockwave detention cell. And make it snappy."

Keaton fired quickly and hit the wall behind what was Keaton. Keaton had disappeared and Hardy supposed he warped to the teleporter room. He should be sounding the alarm right about…"

An alarm sounded loudly and Keaton finished his sentence, "NOW!"

* * * * *

"Incoming pirate speeder, unarm yourself and assume immediate surrender! If you fire your weapons, you will be destroyed, so now lower your weapons and shields and prepare to be…" then the pilot intervened.

"How dare you talk to a foreign dignitary like that! This is the Acuarian ambassador, Miss Leslie Gentes, and I suggest you lower your weapons and shields before you are court martialed. Now get me in, I have priority one information on Samus' whereabouts."

"Oh…crap…………uh…" It seemed the announcer on the docking bay hadn't changed one bit since Ridley spoke with him. He continued on.

"Yes, well, we have a prisoner on the loose and we will send escorts…and we will…" then she got tired of his drawling behavior.

"Forget it, I have my own weaponry, just let me land.

"Yes, ma'am!" He shut up and didn't give any further welcome.

When she landed and got out, red klaxons and sirens were going berserk, and she ran towards the elevator door. The door opened before she got there.

Out stepped Ridley, Hardy, and some battle-scorched troops.

"There is a current rebellion in the process, follow me and Ridley to the front lines of the station's hallways. We are fighting to convince Keaton that we are not space pirates. We could use some political power. We must hurry, and do you have a weapon?" He glanced at her missile cannon. "Ok."

He managed to cram here into the elevator too, and they went into the heat of the raging battle. Keaton had a lot more to worry about than his ammo supply.

* * * * *

Samus woke up with the pain in her back gone. Houston was watching her and she looked around. She wasn't on the top deck anymore. This time it was what seemed to be the former cabin of the wrecked ship (familiar name huh?)

She had her suit off and saw it in back of the room, with some missile chargers and energy chargers. They were safe there. Houston was fiddling with some loose circuits on the main panel, apparently still intact.

A shrill whine came from the machine and the ship's lights came on and the communications beacon started humming constantly.

"The Federation will be here soon." Houston said, smiling.

Chapter 10: Mobilization and Organization

KABOOOOOM!!!!

A giant hole in Hardy's barricade was created when one of Keaton's troops shot it with a super missile battery. Miss Gentes returned fire while Hardy sought cover near Ridley.

Scratch one Keaton, Miss Gentes thought as another Keaton troop fell over from impact. The war was turning in their favor, but slowly and harshly. There may not be much left of the Federation after this.

Then Keaton himself warped behind them all with a bunch of shock troops to shoot all their escorts down. Ridley countered this by clearing out all the soldiers but Keaton with one big swipe of his tail. Keaton didn't hesitate long, and dropped his gun and raised both his hands in the air.

Then a silence came. Everyone stopped shooting and looked at Keaton, who was shaking nervously. Ridley smiled at him and let out a biting cackle, a small laugh. Then he bowed in front of Keaton and allowed Miss Gentes the honors.

"Chairman Keaton, head of the Galactic Federation, you are hereby under house arrest for disbelief of Federation informants. I too, have escaped from Acuar, from the help of Samus and Houston, and they need help; as well my planet. Every minute we spend here will be another minute for the space pirates to kill them both. Laguna is leading the band and got close to killing me too. Now hurry up, gather your men, and call together the nations under my command, or else the fighting will continue here. Understood?"

That was a blow to Keaton – no one ever stood up against him before, and now this foreign ambassador. Well, he finally believed her and Ridley and didn't have many choices under house arrest. He felt guilt.

"Very well then, I shall bring you to the next GF meeting…" he checked his watch. "WHICH IS IN 10 MINUTES!" Miss Gentes understood his panic and they all hopped onto Ridley without asking, and flew off to the GF meeting hall where all the galaxy's members from every planet defended the peace. Now would be a good time to change.

* * * * *

In the grand vortex structure of the Intergalactic Senate Chamber,

(like the one in The Phantom Menace), a grand pedestal stood in the center, surrounded by portable podium decks. The commotion in the chamber was larger than the meeting held before the Kihunters attacked Earth.

Chairman Keaton stood up from his seat and took to the center podium. He cleared his throat and the commotion slowed and quieted.

"Beings of the Galactic Federation, I thank you all for coming and forgive for the delay, as you know a slight mishap on the Alpha Centauri station has once again seen action and this time threatens not Earth, but the entire galaxy itself. A band of what's left of the space pirates has taken control of Acuar, and the galaxy's defenders, Samus Aran and Armstrong Houston have been captured, and lived long enough to free Miss Leslie Gentes, Ambassador of Acuar, and deliver her to safety. Not much is known about Samus and Houston's condition at this time."

A great amount of gasps and talking went on and some senators had an enraged look on their face. Especially the Chozo and Gul'Gen.

"Please, listen. Miss Gentes is here with us today to tell us what is so dangerous about the space pirates at this time. Beings, your attention and respect – Miss Gentes." And sat back down and Miss Gentes, in full uniform, stood up and took a long, deep, breath.

"Centuries ago, my underwater city was founded by traveling merchants who needed a safe haven from the pirate attacks that then were devastating to all beings. They built the city on a crystalline pillar than extended down the bottom of the ocean. Once the city was thriving, the remaining founders of the city still alive inspected the crystal pillar. In fact, it was hollow inside, and at the bottom, was an ancient but technologically advanced city that thrived long before any of our ancestors were born.

"That city housed nuclear technology and lost Chozo technology suits that rendered almost any attack useless against it. Such technology was forbidden to be used, and a great water seal by the city's last mages was used to block off the ancient technology. Laguna Ater, a former bounty hunter, obviously a fake, is working with the space pirates to break the seal and obtain that technology to gain control of the galaxy." She looked up and around at almost every senator, taking an eternity. Then she continued,

"I see you are angered by this and wish to go to war united with the Federation. I am happy to see you come to my aid, and I promise that the Federation will continue such immediate help policy after this war. Unfortunately, there is only certain ways we can fight the space pirates, and we have the perfect being for the job, at that. Beings, do not be frightened by his presence, he is working for the will of good.

Once again, the last dragon in existence and former space pirate, RIDLEY!"

Several screams and shouting were heard all over as panic overran the senators; Ridley stood up and smirked at the victims of his reputation. It was apparent he was popular after all. Then he got down to business.

He spoke in smooth, soft voice that demanded peace. The people stopped.

"Please, I am not here to kill you are terrorize you. But I am here to warn and aid you in the destruction of Laguna Ater and his space pirates that once served under my command. Please, sit down and listen carefully.

The senators' panic quickly went away and Ridley continued.

"Thank you. Now, you all make a fleet that outnumber the pirates more than 100 to 1. But as they know as well as I do, they use that to their advantage.

They have a way of using their size to destroy the larger fleet quickly, seriously, I don't know how it works – it just did. It worked like this:

If any ship of the same origin was clustered together, the pirates would recognize their DNA code…I think…oh well, and they would fire the missile into the ranks. It would destroy the entire race's fleet that was clustered together. That missile is useless if you spread your ships out among the other races, how you do it, I don't care, just make sure you have flying distance from each other. The fleet may be divided and vulnerable, but with several thousand nations like all of you, attrition will win this war. Fight well, as I will go in with Miss Gentes to rescue Samus and Houston and help them to stop Laguna from breaking the seal. If you succeed, the remnants of the fleet will retreat, and Laguna will be hopelessly outnumbered. Thank you for believing in me."

I cheer rose throughout the chamber and clapping followed. Ridley was no longer just a space pirate, he was a literal strategist and lecturer.

Ridley smiled and flew up into the air just a little bit and yelled,

"NOW! LET'S KICK SOME PIRATE ASS!!!!!!!"

A constant, primal, yell came from the senators and they burst from their podiums and to the adjacent docking bays. Ridley had motivated them and he was almost ready to take on his old officers. He smirked and flew back down. Miss Gentes, and Hardy gave him a pat on the back between his wings. Keaton looked stunned.

"With a voice like that, you could become a great diplomat!"

Keaton exclaimed.

Ridley just stared at him. He almost took it as an insult.

"No thanks, Keaton. I think I'm better suited to destroying peace rather than creating it. But I'll think about it, ok?"

They all sat down and took a breather from a long day – so far.