Ghost Sate Final Chapter!
Disclaimer: Metroid belongs to Nintendo, This story belongs to James Sate.
Long Way Up
They arrived back on C-421 by nightfall and immediately began to walk towards the Herin Enterprise building. Houston broke off and began to rally supporters on the planet. Yu-Len, Scott and Samus kept going towards the building.
"What happens if the mission goes awry?" Samus asked Yu'Len
"It can't, but should you encounter an unexpected roadblock, you have permission to eliminate it," Yu'Len said peering over at Samus. Yu'Len and Scott suddenly turned and headed down an alley and stopped over a large sewer grate.
"You may want to put your suit on Samus," Scott said as he pulled his orange jewel out of his pocket and placed it over his hand. The jewel warped and melted, much like Samus's did. It ran the course of his body, and began to harden, Samus was just seconds behind. They were all suited up when Yu'Len grabbed the sewer cover and lifted it straight up. Samus and Scott jumped in and Yu'Len put the cover back. He checked to see if anyone had noticed, and then went to the courtyard.
"Scott?" Samus asked as the waded waist height in water.
"Yeah?" Scott asked. He was a few feet ahead of Samus, leading the way.
"How do you feel when you put on your suit?" Samus asked turning on her heat vision.
"I don't really think about it. It's a little tight, but I don't think much of it, why?" Scott asked taking a left down another tunnel.
"No reason, just a little curious."
They walked the rest of the way silent until they reached a large dome shaped clearing in the sewer. Above them was a long, wide shaft the housed about 5 large vent fans. Scott made the no sound gesture with his hands, pointed up, tapped on his gun and shook his finger. Samus nodded in understanding. She stood directly underneath the fans, pointed her cannon straight up and fired her cable. It snaked its way through the slowly whirring fans, and hit the top, some 30 metres high. She jumped up as she began to retract her cable. She whipped through the fans, missing each on my millimetres. If a single one were to be stopped in its rotation period, alarms would go off everywhere. Scott then lined himself under the vents and thrust his chest upwards as he did a full burn on his jets causing him to fly straight upwards. He bounced from wall to wall in order to preserve energy. He also missed each fan scantly. They had both reached the top and began to look for the entrance to the gateway. Samus flipped on her x-ray and scanned the room. She found a clearing in one of the walls. She waved over to Scott and pointed at the wall. She then walked over to it, found the keypad and opened the door. Once inside they both made a small sigh of relieve.
"Ok, we should be good in here to talk," Scott said closing the door behind him.
"Now we have to be careful, the floor down the hall is pressure sensitive, they will know we are here the minute we set foot on it.wait! I've got it," Samus said as she rolled up and slowly began to roll up the wall and onto the ceiling.
"What are the chances the rigged the ceiling to," Scott grinned as he too rolled up. He looked more like a wheel than a ball, but he also managed to roll up the wall and followed Samus down the hall. They covered about 20 metres when they reached the gateway leading to the com centre. They both rolled out an air vent and unrolled in a completely empty com room.
"This is weird. This room should never be empty. Something isn't right," Scott said as he walked over the mainframe and began to the link up. "We have to continue as planned though, just be on your guard."
Samus decided that if they were going to get into a fight in a room this small, she had better make sure she was armed properly. She brought up her gun's schematics, and cycled through her current weaponry. She scanned through each one, ice, phaser, sonic, myurn, but they all seemed too overkill. Then she remembered a gun she had scanned about 8 years ago while travelling around the Juno system. She brought up the info on it, and morphed her gun. It disappeared and her right arm now had another hand, except this one was entirely black. She squeezed her hand into a fist, and opened it as she thrust her arm out towards a lamp standing near by. Scott just watched, expecting something interesting, but nothing happened. Then suddenly the lamp warped and crumpled in on itself.
"What the hell was that?" Scott asked as he walked over to where the lamp was.
"Actually I over did it a bit, that's a little secret I just remembered. It's based off of an--" but before she could finish there was a sound at the door. Scott raised his gun; Samus prepped her hand, by flexing her fingers. They were just about to shoot when they realised it was Meryl.
"Meryl, what are you doing here?" Scott said, sounding a little peeved.
"I want to help," Meryl said closing the door behind her. She walked past Scott and tapped on the floor beside Samus.
"I don't think Jason would approve," Scott argued.
"Jason?" Samus was a little confused.
"It's Berkley, Samus. Jason is his first name. He and Meryl are married. They kept separate names just in case something happened to either one, so they would never be traced back to each other," Scott said.
"Why didn't you tell me this?" Samus asked moving out of the way as a filing cabinet raised up from the floor.
"It never really came up," Scott replied. Meryl stepped behind the filing cabinet and typed in her password.
"All secretaries are given a personal filing cabinet for any personal notes, or documents. I stored a little gift that Jason made for me in here," Meryl said she hit the top of the cabinet and all sides fell of. In front of her was a small suit of armour. It was obviously modelled after Scott's, but was made for a woman. "After Jason did some research on Scott's suit, he was able to create a "model" of it for me. It can't morph like yours can, but I guarantee it will be fine."
"Meryl, I don't think you should get involved here," Samus said.
"Actually, you're going to need all the help you can get. Jenero is on his way here with 20 guards, all armed with the upgraded LRA gun he should you. I came down here to warn you, and help, and I won't take no for an answer," Meryl said as she took of her skirt and blouse, and jumped into the suit. She leaned over and pulled of the torso section. Once she had it on, it began to tighten up, and seal up any openings. The helmet then folded up over her head from behind. Her suit was a pale blue, with no obvious cannons on it. She put the filing cabinet back down and pulled a rifle off of her back. It was a long rifle, with a scope and laser site. Although it was modelled after a standard issue Army P-200, it was obvious this one had some modifications done to it. Just had she was finished getting suited up Jenero burst though the door with a platoon's worth of guards.
"Ah, Ms. Aran, it seems as though the Rebellion will take any trader these days. I'm glad you could come, because this time, not one of you will leave," Jenero smirked as he waved all of the guards into position. "Give yourselves up now, or else be executed here."
"That simply isn't an option Jenero," Samus grinned as she pulled back her fist and began to charge it.
"Fire!" Jenero hollered. With this every soldier opened fire on the three, who had milliseconds to move out of the way. Samus on the other hand punched forward causing a mass energy to come flying out of her hand. It smashed into the bullets, causing them one by one to slow down and fly back towards the soldiers who fired them. Some missed, others hit right on the target, causing pinhole sized wounds in the soldiers. Although not too dramatic, each soldier that was hit fell to the ground with a thud, as was silent. Scott ran around to the right and was making a serious effort not to get hit himself. He dodged and weaved, dropped and sprung around the lines of fire until he got enough time to return fire. He nailed two guards straight in the chest and caused them to fly back, out through the door they came in. He then dropped low, and charged another three soldiers with his blade drawn. He sliced through the guns with ease, and continued to make short work of the guards. By the time he was finished, their guns had just hit the ground. Meryl, though seemingly unaccustomed to fighting actually made quite a good fighter. She back hand sprung down the aisle until she was at the back of the room. Then she pulled her rifle level, and picked off four guards with ease. The fight was going rather quickly until Jenero opened fire. He hit Meryl square in the chest causing her to slam against the wall, and slump down. When Scott ran to her aid, he was hit in the back, and dropped on top of Meryl. Samus glanced over at Jenero just as she finished off the guards. He was lining up a shot on her when she quickly pulled out her cannon, and let loose her grappling hook. Seconds before he fired, Samus whipped her cord down the barrel of the gun and ran it solid. The shot from Jenero's gun backfired, causing the gun to explode violently, and Jenero to be knocked back against the wall, with severe burns to his face and arms. Samus retracted her grappling hook, and ran over to check on Scott and Meryl.
"Are you two okay?" Samus asked, but received no answer. She could see that though the shot had not passed completely through, it may be fairly deep. She was just helping them up when she heard a grunt behind her.
"I said.no one.leaves," Jenero said as he pulled out a T-7 explosive. Capable of destroying even the most solidly built vault doors, it was a favourite among terrorists. Samus's eyes widened in fear, she knew exactly what it was. She quickly blasted a hole through the wall of the room, and threw Scott and Meryl out. She proceeded after them just as Jenero detonated the T-7, causing first a deep vacuum which pulled against Samus as she tried to jump out after Scott and Meryl, then a searing fireball that threw her out with intense force. She was dazed for a second, but when she saw Scott and Meryl's limp bodies falling towards the ground she remembered her plan. She did a full burn on her jets as she chased after them with immense speed. She caught up to them and changed her gun back to the gravity gauntlet. She grabbed onto Scott and positioned herself under Meryl, and then with only a few hundred metres remaining she held her hand out towards the ground and attempted to slow them down. They were moving quickly, and with great momentum. Samus was straining under the feedback of the gravity, but she held on until they were metres from hitting. The sidewalk and street below them began to buckle and crumble as the gravity fought back. The crater grew larger and large the closer Samus got. Finally she had slowed down, and she landed, with a not to graceful touchdown. She put down Scott and held Meryl in her arms.
Thankfully, Yu'len was there in seconds picking up Scott and motioning them for a quick escape towards the alleys. Samus carried Meryl out and away with Yu'len who thundered down a dark alley, then into a basement level door. He then ducked to get in, and proceeded another few feet until he put Scott down on a very ratty cot. Samus followed in suit, placing Meryl down in another room, on another equally decrepit bed. They were in bad shape, and knocking at death's door. Awakened
Yu'len quickly pulled Scott's jewel off of his hand and the suit sluggishly withdrew back into its jewel. There was a large burn mark on Scott's back, but it didn't seem impossible to mend. Yu'len began work right away on the burn with a small medic kit.
Samus in the other room peeled Meryl's suit off of her and examined the burn mark on her chest, just above her right breast. Instead of reaching for a medic kit, Samus simply held her hand over Meryl and began to focus. She hummed out a low, nearly inaudible murmur that became slowly louder. Her hand began to quiver as an ethereal blue mist poured out of her hand and into Meryl's wound. Finally, the hole sealed up and there wasn't even a trace of a scar. Meryl slept soundly, and Samus went over and did the same for Scott. Yu'len didn't ask questions, but didn't stop her either. Later when the two woke up and seemed ready to head back to the colony Meryl asked Samus what had happened. Samus just told her that she took a hit, and was out for a few hours, nothing too serious.
"Alright, we should be getting back home now, this city will be crawling with droids shortly, and I don't want to be found hiding out," Yu'len said helping Scott to his feet. Scott took the help, but managed to stand on his own. Meryl also seemed totally fine, despite the ordeal they just had.
"Ok, let's get out of here," Meryl said packing her armour into a duffle bag that Yu'len had brought along with him. They made their way to the transport dock just in time to see about 15 police officers setting up post.
"I'll go find out what's happening," Yu'len said as he marched over towards the cops. Although the three couldn't see what he was saying, they knew he wasn't happy. He came back with his face red and he was obviously flustered.
"What's going on?" Meryl asked putting down the duffle bag.
"Looks like our little show caused an indefinite shut down of the transports. We will have to find somewhere to stay here until things blow over."
"Blow over? I don't think that's going to happen. Jenero's dead, we've stolen vital files to Herin. My bets are he will tear this planet apart looking for us," Samus said running the issue through her head. "What we need is a small craft that can get us back without getting detected."
"How, I would bet all docks are closed down, including private ones," Scott sighed.
"Not all private ones," Meryl said quickly. "There is no way Herin shut the supply routes. That would shut this city down, and cause massive hits to Herin's stock. We have to get aboard those tankers."
"Where are they located?" Samus asked looking around for any leaving ships.
"They're not on this platform. They enter and leave from one of Herin's factories just a few miles south of here. If we left now we could catch a flight out in a few hours," Meryl said looking at her watch.
"Ok, let's head out then," Scott said grabbing Meryl's bag for her and taking the lead. They all worked their way through the crowd until they made it to the sidewalk again. From there they headed south until the amount of people began to dwindle, and the air became somewhat acrid. They were nearing the rendering factories that processed the raw fuel into a less coarse fuel used in the large tankers, and transports. A few minutes later and they were the only people within eyesight.
The plant was practically all automated, except for the occasional maintenance worker, or guard, but these would not be hard to avoid. They practically walked in the front door and headed for the refuelling stop where the tankers would fill up and head out for more. Here they could jump on and make their way out. Once they entered the refuelling sector Samus held her hand up signalling everyone to stop.
"What is it?" Meryl whispered instinctually.
"I smell something, and it's not the factory," Samus said cocking her head to one side.
"Yeah, I smell it too," Yu'len said looking around for a source. Scott and Meryl tried to smell what they were talking about, but came up with nothing. Then Samus quickly headed for a large dumpster on one side of the room. She jumped up and looked inside, only to turn in disgust.
"What is it?" Scott asked from across the room.
"It's the guards, and the janitors, or at least what's left of them. It looks like they were attacked pretty badly," Samus said jumping off the dumpster and walking back to the others.
"Any idea how it happened?" Scott asked glancing over at the dumpster.
"No clue, but it didn't look like weapons fire or anything human for that matter." Samus said slowly turning around as she felt a chill run up her spine. "Oh god!"
As soon as Samus said this as a massive hairy leg extended down from the ceiling, then another and another until there were eight very long legs dangling down. When the four looked up, they all saw what had scared Samus. It was a huge arachnid-like creature. It had a large brown carapace and a wide head with impressive mandibles. It slowly dropped itself down only to be standing half on the ground, and half on the refuelling platform. It had to have been at least fifty meters from mandible to spinneret. And each leg was around forty meters long. It sauntered over to the group, lowered its head and examined the four.
"What ever you do, don't move a muscle," Samus said stiffening. The others followed in suit. The giant spider orbited its head around all of them until it seemed satisfied and walked clean over them and up a wall.
"What is that thing?" Meryl asked making a serious effort not to move.
"It's a xetropic, except this one is about ten times large than it should be," Yu'len whispered, trying to catch a glimpse of it.
"What's it doing here?" Scott asked.
"I don't know, maybe it stowed away in the fuel compartments of the tankers. That could explain its size. The radiation may have caused a cell multiplication, rather than degradation," Yu'len replied.
"Well, what do we do, we can't just stand here forever," Meryl whined slightly.
"When I put my suit on, I will throw a mine into the dumpster. When it heads for it we'll run along behind it. It won't be able to hear us, so don't worry. When it reaches the dumpster we run underneath that catwalk over there, got it?" Samus confirmed.
"That's it?" Meryl asked, shocked.
"For the moment," Samus grinned. She slowly pulled out her jewel and put her suit on. She than charge a mine in her hand and slowly pulled her arm back and was ready to throw. She hurled the mine with all her force across the huge room and with pinpoint accuracy, got it in the dumpster. The xetropic whipped its head around and thundered towards the dumpster. Once it was overhead they all began to run towards the catwalk. Once it reached the dumpster it took the blast of the mine straight to the face without flinching. It quickly picked up one of the rotting bodies in its jaws and swallowed it whole, then proceeded to poke at the other bodies with its long leg. Satisfied they were dead it surveyed the room once again. Samus and the others all made it underneath the catwalk and pressed their bodies against the wall.
"Scott, give me your jewel," Samus demanded with her hand out.
"Why, what are you going to do with it," Scott asked apprehensively.
"Remember when the two tried to run together? I want to see what happens when they do," Samus looked over at Scott. Although he couldn't see her face, he could tell she was grinning again.
"This is no time for experimenting Samus," Yu'len whispered intensely. Ignoring Yu'len, Scott reluctantly pulled the jewel out of his pocket and handed it to Samus. She carefully held it over her hand with her jewel in it. She could feel the pull between the two. As she neared the two together, arcs of electricity bolt between the two jewels. Finally she touched them and they ran together like mercury. They swirled in her hand briefly until they quickly dispersed all over Samus's body. She could feel an incredible surge of energy as her suit absorbed this new jewel. Her suit ran clear, than went white. Her visor turned an icy blue, as did her circuitry and joints. Her gun flared violently and then doubled in length, splitting practically three quarters up. Six large protrusions burst from her back and formed a sort of unattached spike array. They hovered silently around her back. As it seemed things were calming down, Meryl was the first to speak.
"Samus, are you okay?" Meryl asked. Instead of an immediate response Samus looked over at Meryl.
"Samus is sleeping right now. You may call me Varia." "Samus is sleeping right now. You may call me Varia," she didn't really say this, rather it seemed as though she spoke within each persons head.
"Varia, who are you?" Scott asked in astonishment.
"There will be time for questions later. As for now I have to take care of that," Varia said as the xetropic leaned down and stared directly at the four underneath the catwalk. Varia looked at the beast, and within milliseconds had lunged right passed it, taking of a leg in the process with a slice of her gun, which now had a large smoke-like blade protruding from it. The xetropic let out a mixture of a screech and a gurgle as it oozed forth an orange slime. Varia than proceeded behind the creature and jumped up in the air, or rather flew. While floating in the air, jets at a steady burn she proceeded to blow of another leg with a brilliant blue beam that shook all the dust off the equipment and made the ground hum. It again screeched and ran at Varia. It lunged into the air, fangs open in its attack. The six spikes that hovered around Varia's back flew out and pinned each of the xetropic's legs to the adjacent wall. The creature was held there like some sort of insect in a display cases. Varia than charge her cannon, causing the two horizontally split ends to split again vertically, causing a four point attack. These beams poured into the gun and it blasted forth an even brighter blue, along with arcs of electricity screaming along with the beam. It slammed into the xetropic, and within seconds the beast had been exploded all over the wall. Varia's beam continued to blast through the factory all and out over the city.
"Shit, they'll know we're here," Yu'len mumbled, still in awe of what he was seeing. After she was finished, Varia landed and walked over to the others.
"We'll have to make haste, the others will know of our presence here. Quickly everyone, jump on the tanker above us," Varia told the others. They ran up the stairs and walked aboard the huge fuel tanker. They headed underneath the main deck, and all sat down it what was once the main galley, but now was just storage space.
"Varia, is Samus able to hear us at all?" Meryl asked looking over at Varia.
"She can hear you, as we are one. For the time being I am in control, but this is only until she is able to wield this new power. Like a mother to her child I am teaching Samus slowly. When she is ready, she will reawaken," Varia said placing a comforting hand on Meryl's shoulder.
"Why did you awaken when I gave Samus my jewel and they merged?" Scott asked, still a little perplexed.
"Samus had the jewel of my body. It was my essence, my physical. You had the jewel of my mind. The warrior aspect, the tactician, that's why you were such a formidable fighter," Varia said. "Together they have given birth to me once again."
"But why were they split up in the first place?" Scott asked.
"Towards the end of my time with the Chozo, I learned that my need was diminishing. They were starting to fade regardless of my help. So in order to maintain an eternal watch over them I gave my body up to be turned into an ieternia. The other ieternia of my mind I sent out with an advisor of mine to be given to another in hopes that they would learn what I have, and use it wisely. Unfortunately that advisor was overrun with greed, and attempted to merge with the ieternia of my mind. It fought him off, and he was killed as I destroyed his mind. He became insane, and saw hallucinations. He threw the ieternia out into space believing it was the cause of his madness, how right he was. I floated for centuries until I became imbedded into the side of your escape pod, Scott. I am sorry, but I don't know where you came from," Varia continued to tell the three stories, and knowledge of the Chozo and of her experiences.
When the tanker arrived back at the mines, they snuck off and headed for Yu'len's house to meet up with Berkley and Houston. Varia received much attention from the villagers, but she told them that her presence was to remain a secret.
When the tanker arrived back at the mines, they snuck off and headed for Yu'len's house to meet up with Berkley and Houston. Varia received much attention from the villagers, but she told them that her presence was to remain a secret. They arrived back to Yu'len's house and went down into the bunker.
"I trust the mission was a success?" Berkley asked at the computer without turning around.
"I suppose you could say that," Meryl said walking over to Berkley.
"Wha.Meryl, what are you doing here?" Berkley said jumping up and lifting her in his arms.
"I helped Samus and Scott escape from Herin Enterprise," Meryl said kissing Berkley. "I missed you Jason."
"I missed you too, but what happened over there?" he asked looking at Scott, then at Samus. "And what happened to your suit Samus?"
"This isn't Samus right now, it's Varia. She has currently taken control of Samus's body. It's a long story," Scott said as Varia went and sat on the table.
"I see, well what happened over there?" Berkley repeated. "We got caught. It seemed like Herin was prepared for us this time. He sent Jenero and about 20 men to get us. Jenero shot Meryl and me and Samus helped us out of there," Scott told Berkley and Houston.
"Also, Jenero's dead," Varia said of to one side.
"He's dead?" Berkley asked incredulously.
"Yes, after Samus nearly killed him, he committed suicide with a T-7 explosive. He tried to take Samus with him, but failed. The entire data section of Herin Enterprise went along with him." Scott didn't realise this had happened, neither did Meryl. They were both unconscious as they fell out of the building.
"It's no wonder Herin wants us so bad right now. We killed of his right hand man," Yu'len stated.
"You do realise that Herin will scour the system looking for us," Meryl said, still being held by Berkley.
"That's why we must complete Samus's mission. We must destroy Herin, and his perverse empire," Varia had just told everyone what Samus had set out to do ever since her visit to the mine. After that visit she was sure that Herin had no scruples, no morals, and no ethics. A man such as that was not fit to run an entire system.
"Samus set out to kill Herin?" Berkley asked, setting Meryl down.
"Yes, she is a woman of high values, and despite her horrid reputation, is not a cold blooded bounty hunter. She in fact is very fond of Kevin, and of you Scott. She feels a bond with you," Varia had told Samus's secrets without blinking. The others were shocked.
"She does?" was all Scott managed to say.
"She does, but these issues should be dealt with a later time. As for now, we go back to C-421 and deal with Herin. One way or another, this encounter will be inevitable, and I want to make sure we catch him off guard. Scott, we are going to need your help too. I am going to give you back your ieternia, and I want you to fight along Samus," Varia waved a hand over her face and withdrew Scott's jewel from her forehead. Slowly, Samus's suit went back to normal.
"Samus?" Meryl asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"Yes, it's me," Samus said calmly.
"How are you feeling?" Scott asked.
"Different, but not bad, in fact I feel better than I ever have before," she said flexing her hand.
"I want to head back to C-421, blow Herin Enterprise clean of the map, and make Herin beg for his life," she said with a tone that even made Yu'len shiver.
"Are you sure that's the right decision? I mean he'll have the army out looking for you," Berkley said stating the obvious.
"It'll take a lot more than boys with toys to stop me. In 24 hours he'll be dead, even if I have to destroy C-421 to get him." Samus muttered as she walked out of the room.
"Wow that was odd. I wonder why the sudden change of emotion," Scott said letting Samus past him.
"I'm beginning to think that she's been wearing that suit too long. Perhaps she needs some time to cool down," Meryl said going after Samus.
"Scott, what are we going to do, she didn't seem like there was any chance of her changing her mind," Berkley asked.
"She's on her way to help us complete our dreams, and you're thinking of ways to stop her? I don't know about you, but I'm going to go with her," Scott said running after Samus.
And all the king's horses and all the king's men
Samus caught up with Meryl who was trying in vain to stop Samus. Samus ignored her and went to Scott's house.
"Kevin!" she called as she swung the door open and walked in. Kevin came out from the back.
"Sam!" he squealed as he ran to Samus for a hug. She bent down, picked him up and stared at him sternly.
"Kevin, we're going to be leaving again soon. I want you to say good bye to Raini and Mrs. Arlaman, ok?" Samus said putting Kevin down.
"But me and Raini were having fun," Kevin complained.
"Sorry bud, but my decision is final," she looked a Kevin.
"Ok," Kevin walked to the back again.
"Kevin, I just have to step out for a moment, I'll see you in a bit, than we'll go," Samus said leaving. As she stepped out she nearly bumped into Scott who was standing with Meryl outside his house.
"Samus, I'm coming with you," Scott stated bluntly.
"You'd better not, I don't imagine this will come off to easy, and if something happens to me, I need to you take care of Kevin," Samus said about to walk away.
"That's why you can't go without me. I don't want anything to happen to you. Ever since I found out about you, I've felt a connection to you. If you die out there, that connection would sever," Scott said grabbing Samus's hand. Although she was still wearing her suit, she could feel his skin. It was coarse and dry, signs of a labour-ridden man.
"Scott, I can't stop you from coming with me, but I wish you wouldn't," Samus said putting her helmet up.
"I know," Scott said putting his jewel on.
They left Meryl to go back and tell the group what had happened. They jumped up the mine shaft together; their jets were an iridescent blue that lit up the shaft. They hopped back on the transport tankers, as the civilian transports were most likely still down. They got on without any problem and rode in total silence. When they got to the refinery on C-421 it was oddly silent. The building should be crawling with people who were checking out what had happened to it.
"I know this sounds cliché, but it's too quiet," Scott murmured.
"I was just thinking that. For a building that has had half of it blown off, the lack of people can not be just a coincidence," Samus said hopping over to where she blew the xetropic out, and all over the place. There was no sign that anyone was there, or for that matter that anyone had been there. Samus waved Scott over.
"I want to head back to Herin Enterprise, but I think that we may be spotted if we just walk there, any ideas?" Samus asked looking around the area.
"We could take the roof tops; most of them are too high up for anyone to see us with the naked eye. We should be okay up there," Scott said pointing to the high chimney of one of the refineries vents. Samus ran to the smokestack and jumped from wall to smokestack and back again. She did this until she was perched high above the factory, and had a clear view of most of the main city. It all looked so quiet from her position, but she had a feeling that a storm was brewing somewhere out there. She signalled to Scott and he jumped up beside her. They jumped to the next building and began to make their way to the city's main plaza. As they neared the Herin Enterprise building the echoes of engines, footsteps, and megaphones could be heard faintly. As they neared it became obvious that there was something big going on. They landed on the last building and walked over to the edge to look down. To Samus's horror she saw what looked like an entire army, with armoured vehicles, soldiers, tanks, everything. They were making rounds, and were no doubt looking for Scott and Samus. Looking, or waiting.
"Samus, there's no way we can take them all on, it would be suicide," Scott pointed out the obvious.
"We don't need to take them all out, just enough so that we can get to Herin, and finish the job," Samus said flipping on a zoom reticule. She scanned the higher windows on the Herin Enterprise building; she was looking for Herin who would most likely be surveying everything from a distance. She spotted him in his office window leaning against the glass with a radio up to his mouth. He was barking orders at someone, when he stormed away back in to the confines of his office.
"He's in his office Scott, you head for him, and finish what you started. I'll cover you from below," Samus said morphing her gun to the gravity gauntlet.
"There's no way you can hold them all off, I'll help and we can get the job- ," Scott started.
"No, you go take out Herin, I'll be fine. I've had a lot more combat experience than you, I'll be fine," Samus interrupted. "Look, you have a family to worry about, as well as the miners on M-62."
"What about Kevin?" Scott asked.
"If anything happens, I want you to take care of him for me," Samus said softly. Her gun had finished changing and with a nod, she fell of the building. She fell through the air as she plummeted towards the ground. She eyed a nearby tank and began to charge her gauntlet. She wound up and just metres away from the tank she punched forward causing the armour to buckle, and give as she crushed it in half. A second later the shells inside blew causing her to be thrown back, she used this boost to be tossed to the next armoured vehicle which she knocked the engine clean out of the hood. The two riders were stunned, as she stood up amidst the smoke of the engine she glared at them. They fumbled for their weapons, but before they had a chance to fire Samus blew the jeep clear away. Samus heard to frantic orders barked over the megaphone, they finally realised she was there. She grinned to herself.
Scott jumped down briefly after Samus and ran down the side of the building, slowly edging towards the front entrance of the Herin Enterprise building. He landed with a thud just in front of a line of soldiers that were guarding the entrance. Without a second's rest he flipped out his sword and ran towards the soldiers. Like a violent ballet he moved in between the soldiers, making fatal blows, and cat-like manoeuvres. They lay behind him a bloody mess as he walked into the building. The main hallway was littered with auto guns and as soon as we opened the door they all whirred and clicked to be in aim with him. He paused for a second to see if they were going to shoot. His answer came quickly as they all fired a massive barrage of bullets that hammered into the floor, and glass doorway behind him. He had milliseconds to move as he dove out of the way and rolled to the side. He charged his gun as he sprung back up and began to fire on the cannons. His gun whirred briefly as he stood his ground and then it let loose a hailstorm of fire that smashed the first two turrets with ease. He took a hit to the shoulder, but used the blow back to whip around and take out another two cannons. He then ran at the last three at the end of the hall, his movements made him appear to be skating on the floor as he weaved towards the guns and then thrust his jets at the last second. His sword cut clean through the last three guns that exploded behind him as he made walked into the elevator. He pushed the button, the doors shut and he was heading up to Herin's.
Samus was having a tough time dodging the fire from the soldiers, but the slower shell movement from the tanks was laughably easy to avoid. She morphed her gun to the sonic cannon she had used on Jenero and she knocked back a group of soldiers that flew at east 50 metres. She heard a loud blast behind her as a tank fired another shell. She spun around and launched her grappling hook at it. Just as the shell neared the end of her grapple she ignited the blue magnetic flame around it and the shell was attached, it still flew at her as she hop-stepped to the side and like a hammer-throw she spun around using the force of the shell. She then let go of her grapple and the shell went screaming back to the tank that had shot it. It impacted, and blew the top of like a tin can. Samus admired her work briefly, but her loss of concentration caused her to take heavy fire to her back. She fell to one knee and breathed heavily. She looked around her side to see where it came from. A line of snipers had positioned themselves on the roof and where hammering Samus with large calibre rifles. Samus let out a war cry as she flipped around on her back and fired an insanely large amount of missiles from her cannon. At least twenty flew from her barrel and like a hoard of war wasps the missiles careened around in the air as the one by one demolished the top of the building the snipers where on. Samus slowly got up, but her suit was heavily damaged. Systems were shutting down everywhere, and her visor was becoming snowy with static. She cycled through other visors for a better view, but to no avail. Samus was stuck in the middle of war, blind.
The elevator Scott was in dinged as he came to the top floor of Herin's office. He walked out cautiously, but there was nothing there, no guards, no sentinels, nothing. The entire hall before his office was empty. Scott slid his helmet off to get a better look around. He walked up to Herin's office and barged through the door, gun drawn. Herin was standing at his desk, grinning.
"Scott my boy, I would never have guessed my prize security guard was the traitor, but it would seem as though this is redundant," Herin said walking over to the window overlooking the main plaza.
"What are you talking about Herin," Scott said, keeping his gun trained on Herin.
"Give yourself up and surrender your suit, you've already captured Samus," Herin said pointing out the window.
"What!?" Scott ran over to the window and looked out, he had to look closely, but he did see Samus on her knees with four rifles to her head.
"It would seem as though she lost her sight sometime during the fight, she's totally at the mercy of those men down their. I suggest that if you want her to live you surrender as well," Herin glanced over at Scott.
"I swear Herin, if you kill her I will not rest until I see you rotting in the mines of M-62," Scott said vehemently.
"That won't be necessary Scott, not if you surrender as well," Herin pressed.
"I.I can't.," Scott said. Although his goal was to kill Herin at all costs, he couldn't lose Samus.
"Than I'm afraid you've made your decision, for the both of you," Herin said pulling the radio to his mouth. "Kill her."
Scott was stunned, he looked down the building as he saw all four soldiers fired, and Samus crumpled to the ground.
"You.you son of a bitch!" Scott screamed as he charged Herin and ran him through with his sword. Herin's eyes were locked open in amazement as a trickled of blood oozed from his mouth. Scott pulled his sword out, and Herin dropped to his knees, than to the ground. Scott's armour was covered with blood as he spat on Herin and ran over to the window. He threw himself through the glass and full burned his jets towards the ground. He put all his might into his jets as he was being slowly picked at by fire from below. He slammed into the ground with an earth shattering crash that split cement in all directions. He opened fire on the soldiers around Samus's body and then ran over to be by her side. Without a word, as if almost acting on instinct he pulled of his jewel exposing him to possible fire. He then placed in on Samus's jewel, and the two once again began to merge. He backed of as Samus's body began to convulse and glow. Her suit ran translucent then became white. Her conduits filled with a blue light as Samus's body was lifted into the air. A massive white and blue light burst forth from her body as she ran taught. She than levelled out and hung in the air in the crucifix position. The spike burst from her back and began to circle around her. She landed and her gun pointed towards the army.
"Scott, move," was all Varia said as she fired on the army. She was forced backward as the recoil of the gun hit her. She braced as a large beam erupted from the gun. It mowed down an entire line of infantry, as well as ten tanks and armoured cars. She picked another target and fired again. Within seconds the army had been reduced to a few fleeing soldiers and soldiering tanks. Varia then jumped up in the air just as a long blue flame thrust her upwards into the sky. She spun around to face the Herin Enterprise building. She flew to the top floor where Herin lay. He wasn't dead, as Varia saw him attempted to claw his way to his feet. She again lined up her gun with a cold precision. It sparked as her gun splayed open and her spikes began aligned with her cannon. As they began to slowly spin around arcs of electricity jumped from the spikes to the barrel, than into the firing chamber. They spun faster and faster, like a flywheel generating mass amounts of energy. When they were a blur, and the electricity was arcing madly, Varia opened fire on the building. Herin just got to his feet and leaned against the glass, blood poured from his wound and onto the ground. He looked at Varia just as an immense beam surged forth with intense speed. It was at least 5 metres in diameter and caused Varia's jets to burn overtime in order to stabilize her.
"Oh.my.God," Herin murmured as the shot slammed into the building killing him instantly and blowing straight through the building, tearing apart walls like wet paper, and demolishing the metal framework like matchsticks. Varia kept firing until the top 5 floors of the Herin Enterprise building no longer existed. They had been blown away, and only the debris was left. Varia dropped back down beside Scott.
"Varia, is Samus okay?" was all Scott managed to choke out.
"Scott, it is me, Samus. Varia gave up her life so that I could live," Samus said taking of her helmet her hair was completely white, and her eyes were now blue, instead of green. She seemed paler, but Scott couldn't tell.
"So Varia is dead," Scott asked in amazement.
"No, she lives within me, the jewel is no longer her prison, she is using my body as a vessel," Samus said. She dropped to her knees and began to cry due to the stress she had just been subjected to. Scott knelt down beside her and held onto her.
"Let's go home Sam," Scott said quietly.
Epilogue
After the events on C-421, Herin Enterprise began to suffer. The company could not rebuild the "splendour" that Herin had created, and so all stocks were sold, and the company sunk into history. The Taurus system took a hit, but they would forge on. Scott, Berkley and the other rebels began a new business for the miners. It allowed for better working conditions as well as more sane hours. They used all of the money left behind by the company and built a true society on M-62. They opted not to live on C-421, as they would still be considered outcasts, and it was a title they needed not.
Samus returned back to space colony RIM-5 with Kevin. She went home, and tried looking up Kevin's parents. The two were killed while vacationing, and Kevin was to head for an orphanage. Samus told the authorities that Kevin was going to live with her, and they were fine with that, just as long as he would be looked after. Samus promised he would be. She lived a slightly more active life now with Kevin, but still maintain an almost hermit attitude towards other people. She had Leta over now and then for coffee, but other than that she spent her time with Kevin alone.
Samus woke up one morning to the sound of her phone ringing. She groggily walked down the hall, past Kevin's room to pick it up.
"Hello," She mumbled into the phone.
"Hello, Ms. Aran? I'm inquiring as to your services in a mission, would you be interested?" the man on the other end of the line asked.
"I'm sorry, but Samus Aran was killed on C-421, it was her last mission, this is Alison Nain. They say she was executed," Samus grinned.
"Oh, how terrible, I'm sorry for disturbing you, Ms. Nain. Have a good day," and he hung up the phone.
Samus hung up too, and went back to bed, smiling.
END
Disclaimer: Metroid belongs to Nintendo, This story belongs to James Sate.
Long Way Up
They arrived back on C-421 by nightfall and immediately began to walk towards the Herin Enterprise building. Houston broke off and began to rally supporters on the planet. Yu-Len, Scott and Samus kept going towards the building.
"What happens if the mission goes awry?" Samus asked Yu'Len
"It can't, but should you encounter an unexpected roadblock, you have permission to eliminate it," Yu'Len said peering over at Samus. Yu'Len and Scott suddenly turned and headed down an alley and stopped over a large sewer grate.
"You may want to put your suit on Samus," Scott said as he pulled his orange jewel out of his pocket and placed it over his hand. The jewel warped and melted, much like Samus's did. It ran the course of his body, and began to harden, Samus was just seconds behind. They were all suited up when Yu'Len grabbed the sewer cover and lifted it straight up. Samus and Scott jumped in and Yu'Len put the cover back. He checked to see if anyone had noticed, and then went to the courtyard.
"Scott?" Samus asked as the waded waist height in water.
"Yeah?" Scott asked. He was a few feet ahead of Samus, leading the way.
"How do you feel when you put on your suit?" Samus asked turning on her heat vision.
"I don't really think about it. It's a little tight, but I don't think much of it, why?" Scott asked taking a left down another tunnel.
"No reason, just a little curious."
They walked the rest of the way silent until they reached a large dome shaped clearing in the sewer. Above them was a long, wide shaft the housed about 5 large vent fans. Scott made the no sound gesture with his hands, pointed up, tapped on his gun and shook his finger. Samus nodded in understanding. She stood directly underneath the fans, pointed her cannon straight up and fired her cable. It snaked its way through the slowly whirring fans, and hit the top, some 30 metres high. She jumped up as she began to retract her cable. She whipped through the fans, missing each on my millimetres. If a single one were to be stopped in its rotation period, alarms would go off everywhere. Scott then lined himself under the vents and thrust his chest upwards as he did a full burn on his jets causing him to fly straight upwards. He bounced from wall to wall in order to preserve energy. He also missed each fan scantly. They had both reached the top and began to look for the entrance to the gateway. Samus flipped on her x-ray and scanned the room. She found a clearing in one of the walls. She waved over to Scott and pointed at the wall. She then walked over to it, found the keypad and opened the door. Once inside they both made a small sigh of relieve.
"Ok, we should be good in here to talk," Scott said closing the door behind him.
"Now we have to be careful, the floor down the hall is pressure sensitive, they will know we are here the minute we set foot on it.wait! I've got it," Samus said as she rolled up and slowly began to roll up the wall and onto the ceiling.
"What are the chances the rigged the ceiling to," Scott grinned as he too rolled up. He looked more like a wheel than a ball, but he also managed to roll up the wall and followed Samus down the hall. They covered about 20 metres when they reached the gateway leading to the com centre. They both rolled out an air vent and unrolled in a completely empty com room.
"This is weird. This room should never be empty. Something isn't right," Scott said as he walked over the mainframe and began to the link up. "We have to continue as planned though, just be on your guard."
Samus decided that if they were going to get into a fight in a room this small, she had better make sure she was armed properly. She brought up her gun's schematics, and cycled through her current weaponry. She scanned through each one, ice, phaser, sonic, myurn, but they all seemed too overkill. Then she remembered a gun she had scanned about 8 years ago while travelling around the Juno system. She brought up the info on it, and morphed her gun. It disappeared and her right arm now had another hand, except this one was entirely black. She squeezed her hand into a fist, and opened it as she thrust her arm out towards a lamp standing near by. Scott just watched, expecting something interesting, but nothing happened. Then suddenly the lamp warped and crumpled in on itself.
"What the hell was that?" Scott asked as he walked over to where the lamp was.
"Actually I over did it a bit, that's a little secret I just remembered. It's based off of an--" but before she could finish there was a sound at the door. Scott raised his gun; Samus prepped her hand, by flexing her fingers. They were just about to shoot when they realised it was Meryl.
"Meryl, what are you doing here?" Scott said, sounding a little peeved.
"I want to help," Meryl said closing the door behind her. She walked past Scott and tapped on the floor beside Samus.
"I don't think Jason would approve," Scott argued.
"Jason?" Samus was a little confused.
"It's Berkley, Samus. Jason is his first name. He and Meryl are married. They kept separate names just in case something happened to either one, so they would never be traced back to each other," Scott said.
"Why didn't you tell me this?" Samus asked moving out of the way as a filing cabinet raised up from the floor.
"It never really came up," Scott replied. Meryl stepped behind the filing cabinet and typed in her password.
"All secretaries are given a personal filing cabinet for any personal notes, or documents. I stored a little gift that Jason made for me in here," Meryl said she hit the top of the cabinet and all sides fell of. In front of her was a small suit of armour. It was obviously modelled after Scott's, but was made for a woman. "After Jason did some research on Scott's suit, he was able to create a "model" of it for me. It can't morph like yours can, but I guarantee it will be fine."
"Meryl, I don't think you should get involved here," Samus said.
"Actually, you're going to need all the help you can get. Jenero is on his way here with 20 guards, all armed with the upgraded LRA gun he should you. I came down here to warn you, and help, and I won't take no for an answer," Meryl said as she took of her skirt and blouse, and jumped into the suit. She leaned over and pulled of the torso section. Once she had it on, it began to tighten up, and seal up any openings. The helmet then folded up over her head from behind. Her suit was a pale blue, with no obvious cannons on it. She put the filing cabinet back down and pulled a rifle off of her back. It was a long rifle, with a scope and laser site. Although it was modelled after a standard issue Army P-200, it was obvious this one had some modifications done to it. Just had she was finished getting suited up Jenero burst though the door with a platoon's worth of guards.
"Ah, Ms. Aran, it seems as though the Rebellion will take any trader these days. I'm glad you could come, because this time, not one of you will leave," Jenero smirked as he waved all of the guards into position. "Give yourselves up now, or else be executed here."
"That simply isn't an option Jenero," Samus grinned as she pulled back her fist and began to charge it.
"Fire!" Jenero hollered. With this every soldier opened fire on the three, who had milliseconds to move out of the way. Samus on the other hand punched forward causing a mass energy to come flying out of her hand. It smashed into the bullets, causing them one by one to slow down and fly back towards the soldiers who fired them. Some missed, others hit right on the target, causing pinhole sized wounds in the soldiers. Although not too dramatic, each soldier that was hit fell to the ground with a thud, as was silent. Scott ran around to the right and was making a serious effort not to get hit himself. He dodged and weaved, dropped and sprung around the lines of fire until he got enough time to return fire. He nailed two guards straight in the chest and caused them to fly back, out through the door they came in. He then dropped low, and charged another three soldiers with his blade drawn. He sliced through the guns with ease, and continued to make short work of the guards. By the time he was finished, their guns had just hit the ground. Meryl, though seemingly unaccustomed to fighting actually made quite a good fighter. She back hand sprung down the aisle until she was at the back of the room. Then she pulled her rifle level, and picked off four guards with ease. The fight was going rather quickly until Jenero opened fire. He hit Meryl square in the chest causing her to slam against the wall, and slump down. When Scott ran to her aid, he was hit in the back, and dropped on top of Meryl. Samus glanced over at Jenero just as she finished off the guards. He was lining up a shot on her when she quickly pulled out her cannon, and let loose her grappling hook. Seconds before he fired, Samus whipped her cord down the barrel of the gun and ran it solid. The shot from Jenero's gun backfired, causing the gun to explode violently, and Jenero to be knocked back against the wall, with severe burns to his face and arms. Samus retracted her grappling hook, and ran over to check on Scott and Meryl.
"Are you two okay?" Samus asked, but received no answer. She could see that though the shot had not passed completely through, it may be fairly deep. She was just helping them up when she heard a grunt behind her.
"I said.no one.leaves," Jenero said as he pulled out a T-7 explosive. Capable of destroying even the most solidly built vault doors, it was a favourite among terrorists. Samus's eyes widened in fear, she knew exactly what it was. She quickly blasted a hole through the wall of the room, and threw Scott and Meryl out. She proceeded after them just as Jenero detonated the T-7, causing first a deep vacuum which pulled against Samus as she tried to jump out after Scott and Meryl, then a searing fireball that threw her out with intense force. She was dazed for a second, but when she saw Scott and Meryl's limp bodies falling towards the ground she remembered her plan. She did a full burn on her jets as she chased after them with immense speed. She caught up to them and changed her gun back to the gravity gauntlet. She grabbed onto Scott and positioned herself under Meryl, and then with only a few hundred metres remaining she held her hand out towards the ground and attempted to slow them down. They were moving quickly, and with great momentum. Samus was straining under the feedback of the gravity, but she held on until they were metres from hitting. The sidewalk and street below them began to buckle and crumble as the gravity fought back. The crater grew larger and large the closer Samus got. Finally she had slowed down, and she landed, with a not to graceful touchdown. She put down Scott and held Meryl in her arms.
Thankfully, Yu'len was there in seconds picking up Scott and motioning them for a quick escape towards the alleys. Samus carried Meryl out and away with Yu'len who thundered down a dark alley, then into a basement level door. He then ducked to get in, and proceeded another few feet until he put Scott down on a very ratty cot. Samus followed in suit, placing Meryl down in another room, on another equally decrepit bed. They were in bad shape, and knocking at death's door. Awakened
Yu'len quickly pulled Scott's jewel off of his hand and the suit sluggishly withdrew back into its jewel. There was a large burn mark on Scott's back, but it didn't seem impossible to mend. Yu'len began work right away on the burn with a small medic kit.
Samus in the other room peeled Meryl's suit off of her and examined the burn mark on her chest, just above her right breast. Instead of reaching for a medic kit, Samus simply held her hand over Meryl and began to focus. She hummed out a low, nearly inaudible murmur that became slowly louder. Her hand began to quiver as an ethereal blue mist poured out of her hand and into Meryl's wound. Finally, the hole sealed up and there wasn't even a trace of a scar. Meryl slept soundly, and Samus went over and did the same for Scott. Yu'len didn't ask questions, but didn't stop her either. Later when the two woke up and seemed ready to head back to the colony Meryl asked Samus what had happened. Samus just told her that she took a hit, and was out for a few hours, nothing too serious.
"Alright, we should be getting back home now, this city will be crawling with droids shortly, and I don't want to be found hiding out," Yu'len said helping Scott to his feet. Scott took the help, but managed to stand on his own. Meryl also seemed totally fine, despite the ordeal they just had.
"Ok, let's get out of here," Meryl said packing her armour into a duffle bag that Yu'len had brought along with him. They made their way to the transport dock just in time to see about 15 police officers setting up post.
"I'll go find out what's happening," Yu'len said as he marched over towards the cops. Although the three couldn't see what he was saying, they knew he wasn't happy. He came back with his face red and he was obviously flustered.
"What's going on?" Meryl asked putting down the duffle bag.
"Looks like our little show caused an indefinite shut down of the transports. We will have to find somewhere to stay here until things blow over."
"Blow over? I don't think that's going to happen. Jenero's dead, we've stolen vital files to Herin. My bets are he will tear this planet apart looking for us," Samus said running the issue through her head. "What we need is a small craft that can get us back without getting detected."
"How, I would bet all docks are closed down, including private ones," Scott sighed.
"Not all private ones," Meryl said quickly. "There is no way Herin shut the supply routes. That would shut this city down, and cause massive hits to Herin's stock. We have to get aboard those tankers."
"Where are they located?" Samus asked looking around for any leaving ships.
"They're not on this platform. They enter and leave from one of Herin's factories just a few miles south of here. If we left now we could catch a flight out in a few hours," Meryl said looking at her watch.
"Ok, let's head out then," Scott said grabbing Meryl's bag for her and taking the lead. They all worked their way through the crowd until they made it to the sidewalk again. From there they headed south until the amount of people began to dwindle, and the air became somewhat acrid. They were nearing the rendering factories that processed the raw fuel into a less coarse fuel used in the large tankers, and transports. A few minutes later and they were the only people within eyesight.
The plant was practically all automated, except for the occasional maintenance worker, or guard, but these would not be hard to avoid. They practically walked in the front door and headed for the refuelling stop where the tankers would fill up and head out for more. Here they could jump on and make their way out. Once they entered the refuelling sector Samus held her hand up signalling everyone to stop.
"What is it?" Meryl whispered instinctually.
"I smell something, and it's not the factory," Samus said cocking her head to one side.
"Yeah, I smell it too," Yu'len said looking around for a source. Scott and Meryl tried to smell what they were talking about, but came up with nothing. Then Samus quickly headed for a large dumpster on one side of the room. She jumped up and looked inside, only to turn in disgust.
"What is it?" Scott asked from across the room.
"It's the guards, and the janitors, or at least what's left of them. It looks like they were attacked pretty badly," Samus said jumping off the dumpster and walking back to the others.
"Any idea how it happened?" Scott asked glancing over at the dumpster.
"No clue, but it didn't look like weapons fire or anything human for that matter." Samus said slowly turning around as she felt a chill run up her spine. "Oh god!"
As soon as Samus said this as a massive hairy leg extended down from the ceiling, then another and another until there were eight very long legs dangling down. When the four looked up, they all saw what had scared Samus. It was a huge arachnid-like creature. It had a large brown carapace and a wide head with impressive mandibles. It slowly dropped itself down only to be standing half on the ground, and half on the refuelling platform. It had to have been at least fifty meters from mandible to spinneret. And each leg was around forty meters long. It sauntered over to the group, lowered its head and examined the four.
"What ever you do, don't move a muscle," Samus said stiffening. The others followed in suit. The giant spider orbited its head around all of them until it seemed satisfied and walked clean over them and up a wall.
"What is that thing?" Meryl asked making a serious effort not to move.
"It's a xetropic, except this one is about ten times large than it should be," Yu'len whispered, trying to catch a glimpse of it.
"What's it doing here?" Scott asked.
"I don't know, maybe it stowed away in the fuel compartments of the tankers. That could explain its size. The radiation may have caused a cell multiplication, rather than degradation," Yu'len replied.
"Well, what do we do, we can't just stand here forever," Meryl whined slightly.
"When I put my suit on, I will throw a mine into the dumpster. When it heads for it we'll run along behind it. It won't be able to hear us, so don't worry. When it reaches the dumpster we run underneath that catwalk over there, got it?" Samus confirmed.
"That's it?" Meryl asked, shocked.
"For the moment," Samus grinned. She slowly pulled out her jewel and put her suit on. She than charge a mine in her hand and slowly pulled her arm back and was ready to throw. She hurled the mine with all her force across the huge room and with pinpoint accuracy, got it in the dumpster. The xetropic whipped its head around and thundered towards the dumpster. Once it was overhead they all began to run towards the catwalk. Once it reached the dumpster it took the blast of the mine straight to the face without flinching. It quickly picked up one of the rotting bodies in its jaws and swallowed it whole, then proceeded to poke at the other bodies with its long leg. Satisfied they were dead it surveyed the room once again. Samus and the others all made it underneath the catwalk and pressed their bodies against the wall.
"Scott, give me your jewel," Samus demanded with her hand out.
"Why, what are you going to do with it," Scott asked apprehensively.
"Remember when the two tried to run together? I want to see what happens when they do," Samus looked over at Scott. Although he couldn't see her face, he could tell she was grinning again.
"This is no time for experimenting Samus," Yu'len whispered intensely. Ignoring Yu'len, Scott reluctantly pulled the jewel out of his pocket and handed it to Samus. She carefully held it over her hand with her jewel in it. She could feel the pull between the two. As she neared the two together, arcs of electricity bolt between the two jewels. Finally she touched them and they ran together like mercury. They swirled in her hand briefly until they quickly dispersed all over Samus's body. She could feel an incredible surge of energy as her suit absorbed this new jewel. Her suit ran clear, than went white. Her visor turned an icy blue, as did her circuitry and joints. Her gun flared violently and then doubled in length, splitting practically three quarters up. Six large protrusions burst from her back and formed a sort of unattached spike array. They hovered silently around her back. As it seemed things were calming down, Meryl was the first to speak.
"Samus, are you okay?" Meryl asked. Instead of an immediate response Samus looked over at Meryl.
"Samus is sleeping right now. You may call me Varia." "Samus is sleeping right now. You may call me Varia," she didn't really say this, rather it seemed as though she spoke within each persons head.
"Varia, who are you?" Scott asked in astonishment.
"There will be time for questions later. As for now I have to take care of that," Varia said as the xetropic leaned down and stared directly at the four underneath the catwalk. Varia looked at the beast, and within milliseconds had lunged right passed it, taking of a leg in the process with a slice of her gun, which now had a large smoke-like blade protruding from it. The xetropic let out a mixture of a screech and a gurgle as it oozed forth an orange slime. Varia than proceeded behind the creature and jumped up in the air, or rather flew. While floating in the air, jets at a steady burn she proceeded to blow of another leg with a brilliant blue beam that shook all the dust off the equipment and made the ground hum. It again screeched and ran at Varia. It lunged into the air, fangs open in its attack. The six spikes that hovered around Varia's back flew out and pinned each of the xetropic's legs to the adjacent wall. The creature was held there like some sort of insect in a display cases. Varia than charge her cannon, causing the two horizontally split ends to split again vertically, causing a four point attack. These beams poured into the gun and it blasted forth an even brighter blue, along with arcs of electricity screaming along with the beam. It slammed into the xetropic, and within seconds the beast had been exploded all over the wall. Varia's beam continued to blast through the factory all and out over the city.
"Shit, they'll know we're here," Yu'len mumbled, still in awe of what he was seeing. After she was finished, Varia landed and walked over to the others.
"We'll have to make haste, the others will know of our presence here. Quickly everyone, jump on the tanker above us," Varia told the others. They ran up the stairs and walked aboard the huge fuel tanker. They headed underneath the main deck, and all sat down it what was once the main galley, but now was just storage space.
"Varia, is Samus able to hear us at all?" Meryl asked looking over at Varia.
"She can hear you, as we are one. For the time being I am in control, but this is only until she is able to wield this new power. Like a mother to her child I am teaching Samus slowly. When she is ready, she will reawaken," Varia said placing a comforting hand on Meryl's shoulder.
"Why did you awaken when I gave Samus my jewel and they merged?" Scott asked, still a little perplexed.
"Samus had the jewel of my body. It was my essence, my physical. You had the jewel of my mind. The warrior aspect, the tactician, that's why you were such a formidable fighter," Varia said. "Together they have given birth to me once again."
"But why were they split up in the first place?" Scott asked.
"Towards the end of my time with the Chozo, I learned that my need was diminishing. They were starting to fade regardless of my help. So in order to maintain an eternal watch over them I gave my body up to be turned into an ieternia. The other ieternia of my mind I sent out with an advisor of mine to be given to another in hopes that they would learn what I have, and use it wisely. Unfortunately that advisor was overrun with greed, and attempted to merge with the ieternia of my mind. It fought him off, and he was killed as I destroyed his mind. He became insane, and saw hallucinations. He threw the ieternia out into space believing it was the cause of his madness, how right he was. I floated for centuries until I became imbedded into the side of your escape pod, Scott. I am sorry, but I don't know where you came from," Varia continued to tell the three stories, and knowledge of the Chozo and of her experiences.
When the tanker arrived back at the mines, they snuck off and headed for Yu'len's house to meet up with Berkley and Houston. Varia received much attention from the villagers, but she told them that her presence was to remain a secret.
When the tanker arrived back at the mines, they snuck off and headed for Yu'len's house to meet up with Berkley and Houston. Varia received much attention from the villagers, but she told them that her presence was to remain a secret. They arrived back to Yu'len's house and went down into the bunker.
"I trust the mission was a success?" Berkley asked at the computer without turning around.
"I suppose you could say that," Meryl said walking over to Berkley.
"Wha.Meryl, what are you doing here?" Berkley said jumping up and lifting her in his arms.
"I helped Samus and Scott escape from Herin Enterprise," Meryl said kissing Berkley. "I missed you Jason."
"I missed you too, but what happened over there?" he asked looking at Scott, then at Samus. "And what happened to your suit Samus?"
"This isn't Samus right now, it's Varia. She has currently taken control of Samus's body. It's a long story," Scott said as Varia went and sat on the table.
"I see, well what happened over there?" Berkley repeated. "We got caught. It seemed like Herin was prepared for us this time. He sent Jenero and about 20 men to get us. Jenero shot Meryl and me and Samus helped us out of there," Scott told Berkley and Houston.
"Also, Jenero's dead," Varia said of to one side.
"He's dead?" Berkley asked incredulously.
"Yes, after Samus nearly killed him, he committed suicide with a T-7 explosive. He tried to take Samus with him, but failed. The entire data section of Herin Enterprise went along with him." Scott didn't realise this had happened, neither did Meryl. They were both unconscious as they fell out of the building.
"It's no wonder Herin wants us so bad right now. We killed of his right hand man," Yu'len stated.
"You do realise that Herin will scour the system looking for us," Meryl said, still being held by Berkley.
"That's why we must complete Samus's mission. We must destroy Herin, and his perverse empire," Varia had just told everyone what Samus had set out to do ever since her visit to the mine. After that visit she was sure that Herin had no scruples, no morals, and no ethics. A man such as that was not fit to run an entire system.
"Samus set out to kill Herin?" Berkley asked, setting Meryl down.
"Yes, she is a woman of high values, and despite her horrid reputation, is not a cold blooded bounty hunter. She in fact is very fond of Kevin, and of you Scott. She feels a bond with you," Varia had told Samus's secrets without blinking. The others were shocked.
"She does?" was all Scott managed to say.
"She does, but these issues should be dealt with a later time. As for now, we go back to C-421 and deal with Herin. One way or another, this encounter will be inevitable, and I want to make sure we catch him off guard. Scott, we are going to need your help too. I am going to give you back your ieternia, and I want you to fight along Samus," Varia waved a hand over her face and withdrew Scott's jewel from her forehead. Slowly, Samus's suit went back to normal.
"Samus?" Meryl asked, putting a hand on her shoulder.
"Yes, it's me," Samus said calmly.
"How are you feeling?" Scott asked.
"Different, but not bad, in fact I feel better than I ever have before," she said flexing her hand.
"I want to head back to C-421, blow Herin Enterprise clean of the map, and make Herin beg for his life," she said with a tone that even made Yu'len shiver.
"Are you sure that's the right decision? I mean he'll have the army out looking for you," Berkley said stating the obvious.
"It'll take a lot more than boys with toys to stop me. In 24 hours he'll be dead, even if I have to destroy C-421 to get him." Samus muttered as she walked out of the room.
"Wow that was odd. I wonder why the sudden change of emotion," Scott said letting Samus past him.
"I'm beginning to think that she's been wearing that suit too long. Perhaps she needs some time to cool down," Meryl said going after Samus.
"Scott, what are we going to do, she didn't seem like there was any chance of her changing her mind," Berkley asked.
"She's on her way to help us complete our dreams, and you're thinking of ways to stop her? I don't know about you, but I'm going to go with her," Scott said running after Samus.
And all the king's horses and all the king's men
Samus caught up with Meryl who was trying in vain to stop Samus. Samus ignored her and went to Scott's house.
"Kevin!" she called as she swung the door open and walked in. Kevin came out from the back.
"Sam!" he squealed as he ran to Samus for a hug. She bent down, picked him up and stared at him sternly.
"Kevin, we're going to be leaving again soon. I want you to say good bye to Raini and Mrs. Arlaman, ok?" Samus said putting Kevin down.
"But me and Raini were having fun," Kevin complained.
"Sorry bud, but my decision is final," she looked a Kevin.
"Ok," Kevin walked to the back again.
"Kevin, I just have to step out for a moment, I'll see you in a bit, than we'll go," Samus said leaving. As she stepped out she nearly bumped into Scott who was standing with Meryl outside his house.
"Samus, I'm coming with you," Scott stated bluntly.
"You'd better not, I don't imagine this will come off to easy, and if something happens to me, I need to you take care of Kevin," Samus said about to walk away.
"That's why you can't go without me. I don't want anything to happen to you. Ever since I found out about you, I've felt a connection to you. If you die out there, that connection would sever," Scott said grabbing Samus's hand. Although she was still wearing her suit, she could feel his skin. It was coarse and dry, signs of a labour-ridden man.
"Scott, I can't stop you from coming with me, but I wish you wouldn't," Samus said putting her helmet up.
"I know," Scott said putting his jewel on.
They left Meryl to go back and tell the group what had happened. They jumped up the mine shaft together; their jets were an iridescent blue that lit up the shaft. They hopped back on the transport tankers, as the civilian transports were most likely still down. They got on without any problem and rode in total silence. When they got to the refinery on C-421 it was oddly silent. The building should be crawling with people who were checking out what had happened to it.
"I know this sounds cliché, but it's too quiet," Scott murmured.
"I was just thinking that. For a building that has had half of it blown off, the lack of people can not be just a coincidence," Samus said hopping over to where she blew the xetropic out, and all over the place. There was no sign that anyone was there, or for that matter that anyone had been there. Samus waved Scott over.
"I want to head back to Herin Enterprise, but I think that we may be spotted if we just walk there, any ideas?" Samus asked looking around the area.
"We could take the roof tops; most of them are too high up for anyone to see us with the naked eye. We should be okay up there," Scott said pointing to the high chimney of one of the refineries vents. Samus ran to the smokestack and jumped from wall to smokestack and back again. She did this until she was perched high above the factory, and had a clear view of most of the main city. It all looked so quiet from her position, but she had a feeling that a storm was brewing somewhere out there. She signalled to Scott and he jumped up beside her. They jumped to the next building and began to make their way to the city's main plaza. As they neared the Herin Enterprise building the echoes of engines, footsteps, and megaphones could be heard faintly. As they neared it became obvious that there was something big going on. They landed on the last building and walked over to the edge to look down. To Samus's horror she saw what looked like an entire army, with armoured vehicles, soldiers, tanks, everything. They were making rounds, and were no doubt looking for Scott and Samus. Looking, or waiting.
"Samus, there's no way we can take them all on, it would be suicide," Scott pointed out the obvious.
"We don't need to take them all out, just enough so that we can get to Herin, and finish the job," Samus said flipping on a zoom reticule. She scanned the higher windows on the Herin Enterprise building; she was looking for Herin who would most likely be surveying everything from a distance. She spotted him in his office window leaning against the glass with a radio up to his mouth. He was barking orders at someone, when he stormed away back in to the confines of his office.
"He's in his office Scott, you head for him, and finish what you started. I'll cover you from below," Samus said morphing her gun to the gravity gauntlet.
"There's no way you can hold them all off, I'll help and we can get the job- ," Scott started.
"No, you go take out Herin, I'll be fine. I've had a lot more combat experience than you, I'll be fine," Samus interrupted. "Look, you have a family to worry about, as well as the miners on M-62."
"What about Kevin?" Scott asked.
"If anything happens, I want you to take care of him for me," Samus said softly. Her gun had finished changing and with a nod, she fell of the building. She fell through the air as she plummeted towards the ground. She eyed a nearby tank and began to charge her gauntlet. She wound up and just metres away from the tank she punched forward causing the armour to buckle, and give as she crushed it in half. A second later the shells inside blew causing her to be thrown back, she used this boost to be tossed to the next armoured vehicle which she knocked the engine clean out of the hood. The two riders were stunned, as she stood up amidst the smoke of the engine she glared at them. They fumbled for their weapons, but before they had a chance to fire Samus blew the jeep clear away. Samus heard to frantic orders barked over the megaphone, they finally realised she was there. She grinned to herself.
Scott jumped down briefly after Samus and ran down the side of the building, slowly edging towards the front entrance of the Herin Enterprise building. He landed with a thud just in front of a line of soldiers that were guarding the entrance. Without a second's rest he flipped out his sword and ran towards the soldiers. Like a violent ballet he moved in between the soldiers, making fatal blows, and cat-like manoeuvres. They lay behind him a bloody mess as he walked into the building. The main hallway was littered with auto guns and as soon as we opened the door they all whirred and clicked to be in aim with him. He paused for a second to see if they were going to shoot. His answer came quickly as they all fired a massive barrage of bullets that hammered into the floor, and glass doorway behind him. He had milliseconds to move as he dove out of the way and rolled to the side. He charged his gun as he sprung back up and began to fire on the cannons. His gun whirred briefly as he stood his ground and then it let loose a hailstorm of fire that smashed the first two turrets with ease. He took a hit to the shoulder, but used the blow back to whip around and take out another two cannons. He then ran at the last three at the end of the hall, his movements made him appear to be skating on the floor as he weaved towards the guns and then thrust his jets at the last second. His sword cut clean through the last three guns that exploded behind him as he made walked into the elevator. He pushed the button, the doors shut and he was heading up to Herin's.
Samus was having a tough time dodging the fire from the soldiers, but the slower shell movement from the tanks was laughably easy to avoid. She morphed her gun to the sonic cannon she had used on Jenero and she knocked back a group of soldiers that flew at east 50 metres. She heard a loud blast behind her as a tank fired another shell. She spun around and launched her grappling hook at it. Just as the shell neared the end of her grapple she ignited the blue magnetic flame around it and the shell was attached, it still flew at her as she hop-stepped to the side and like a hammer-throw she spun around using the force of the shell. She then let go of her grapple and the shell went screaming back to the tank that had shot it. It impacted, and blew the top of like a tin can. Samus admired her work briefly, but her loss of concentration caused her to take heavy fire to her back. She fell to one knee and breathed heavily. She looked around her side to see where it came from. A line of snipers had positioned themselves on the roof and where hammering Samus with large calibre rifles. Samus let out a war cry as she flipped around on her back and fired an insanely large amount of missiles from her cannon. At least twenty flew from her barrel and like a hoard of war wasps the missiles careened around in the air as the one by one demolished the top of the building the snipers where on. Samus slowly got up, but her suit was heavily damaged. Systems were shutting down everywhere, and her visor was becoming snowy with static. She cycled through other visors for a better view, but to no avail. Samus was stuck in the middle of war, blind.
The elevator Scott was in dinged as he came to the top floor of Herin's office. He walked out cautiously, but there was nothing there, no guards, no sentinels, nothing. The entire hall before his office was empty. Scott slid his helmet off to get a better look around. He walked up to Herin's office and barged through the door, gun drawn. Herin was standing at his desk, grinning.
"Scott my boy, I would never have guessed my prize security guard was the traitor, but it would seem as though this is redundant," Herin said walking over to the window overlooking the main plaza.
"What are you talking about Herin," Scott said, keeping his gun trained on Herin.
"Give yourself up and surrender your suit, you've already captured Samus," Herin said pointing out the window.
"What!?" Scott ran over to the window and looked out, he had to look closely, but he did see Samus on her knees with four rifles to her head.
"It would seem as though she lost her sight sometime during the fight, she's totally at the mercy of those men down their. I suggest that if you want her to live you surrender as well," Herin glanced over at Scott.
"I swear Herin, if you kill her I will not rest until I see you rotting in the mines of M-62," Scott said vehemently.
"That won't be necessary Scott, not if you surrender as well," Herin pressed.
"I.I can't.," Scott said. Although his goal was to kill Herin at all costs, he couldn't lose Samus.
"Than I'm afraid you've made your decision, for the both of you," Herin said pulling the radio to his mouth. "Kill her."
Scott was stunned, he looked down the building as he saw all four soldiers fired, and Samus crumpled to the ground.
"You.you son of a bitch!" Scott screamed as he charged Herin and ran him through with his sword. Herin's eyes were locked open in amazement as a trickled of blood oozed from his mouth. Scott pulled his sword out, and Herin dropped to his knees, than to the ground. Scott's armour was covered with blood as he spat on Herin and ran over to the window. He threw himself through the glass and full burned his jets towards the ground. He put all his might into his jets as he was being slowly picked at by fire from below. He slammed into the ground with an earth shattering crash that split cement in all directions. He opened fire on the soldiers around Samus's body and then ran over to be by her side. Without a word, as if almost acting on instinct he pulled of his jewel exposing him to possible fire. He then placed in on Samus's jewel, and the two once again began to merge. He backed of as Samus's body began to convulse and glow. Her suit ran translucent then became white. Her conduits filled with a blue light as Samus's body was lifted into the air. A massive white and blue light burst forth from her body as she ran taught. She than levelled out and hung in the air in the crucifix position. The spike burst from her back and began to circle around her. She landed and her gun pointed towards the army.
"Scott, move," was all Varia said as she fired on the army. She was forced backward as the recoil of the gun hit her. She braced as a large beam erupted from the gun. It mowed down an entire line of infantry, as well as ten tanks and armoured cars. She picked another target and fired again. Within seconds the army had been reduced to a few fleeing soldiers and soldiering tanks. Varia then jumped up in the air just as a long blue flame thrust her upwards into the sky. She spun around to face the Herin Enterprise building. She flew to the top floor where Herin lay. He wasn't dead, as Varia saw him attempted to claw his way to his feet. She again lined up her gun with a cold precision. It sparked as her gun splayed open and her spikes began aligned with her cannon. As they began to slowly spin around arcs of electricity jumped from the spikes to the barrel, than into the firing chamber. They spun faster and faster, like a flywheel generating mass amounts of energy. When they were a blur, and the electricity was arcing madly, Varia opened fire on the building. Herin just got to his feet and leaned against the glass, blood poured from his wound and onto the ground. He looked at Varia just as an immense beam surged forth with intense speed. It was at least 5 metres in diameter and caused Varia's jets to burn overtime in order to stabilize her.
"Oh.my.God," Herin murmured as the shot slammed into the building killing him instantly and blowing straight through the building, tearing apart walls like wet paper, and demolishing the metal framework like matchsticks. Varia kept firing until the top 5 floors of the Herin Enterprise building no longer existed. They had been blown away, and only the debris was left. Varia dropped back down beside Scott.
"Varia, is Samus okay?" was all Scott managed to choke out.
"Scott, it is me, Samus. Varia gave up her life so that I could live," Samus said taking of her helmet her hair was completely white, and her eyes were now blue, instead of green. She seemed paler, but Scott couldn't tell.
"So Varia is dead," Scott asked in amazement.
"No, she lives within me, the jewel is no longer her prison, she is using my body as a vessel," Samus said. She dropped to her knees and began to cry due to the stress she had just been subjected to. Scott knelt down beside her and held onto her.
"Let's go home Sam," Scott said quietly.
Epilogue
After the events on C-421, Herin Enterprise began to suffer. The company could not rebuild the "splendour" that Herin had created, and so all stocks were sold, and the company sunk into history. The Taurus system took a hit, but they would forge on. Scott, Berkley and the other rebels began a new business for the miners. It allowed for better working conditions as well as more sane hours. They used all of the money left behind by the company and built a true society on M-62. They opted not to live on C-421, as they would still be considered outcasts, and it was a title they needed not.
Samus returned back to space colony RIM-5 with Kevin. She went home, and tried looking up Kevin's parents. The two were killed while vacationing, and Kevin was to head for an orphanage. Samus told the authorities that Kevin was going to live with her, and they were fine with that, just as long as he would be looked after. Samus promised he would be. She lived a slightly more active life now with Kevin, but still maintain an almost hermit attitude towards other people. She had Leta over now and then for coffee, but other than that she spent her time with Kevin alone.
Samus woke up one morning to the sound of her phone ringing. She groggily walked down the hall, past Kevin's room to pick it up.
"Hello," She mumbled into the phone.
"Hello, Ms. Aran? I'm inquiring as to your services in a mission, would you be interested?" the man on the other end of the line asked.
"I'm sorry, but Samus Aran was killed on C-421, it was her last mission, this is Alison Nain. They say she was executed," Samus grinned.
"Oh, how terrible, I'm sorry for disturbing you, Ms. Nain. Have a good day," and he hung up the phone.
Samus hung up too, and went back to bed, smiling.
END