Chapter 4
The Chase
Samus awoke to find herself in a hospital bed. The first thing Samus noticed was the immense pain she was in. She found her left arm in a cast and couldn't move it. She was surrounded by instruments that measured her vitals and medication. She also noticed someone sitting in a low chair in the corner. The only light came froma small fluorescent lamp sitting on a bedside table.
"Wha...Ho...", she tried to speak while pulling herself up, only to fall back down onto the bed.
"Don't move", the man in the chair said.
"Captain Hunter! What...what are you doing here?" she asked.
"Well someone had to make sure you didn't die", he said, a large grin spreading across his face, "I was actually waiting for you to get up so that I could see when you would stop this faking and get back to work."
"Wh...wh...what happened to me?" she asked, her voice coming out a bit slurred.
"I couldn't tell you honestly. A recovery crew found Admiral Hall carrying your carcass around the Maindena. Hold on just a minute. Admiral Hall is around here somewhere, let me see if I can fetch him for you. He can explain everything more clearly", Hunter replied as he briskly walked out the door.
Samus was left alone. She tried to recollect her thoughts butto noavail. All she could remember was a bright light, an explosion, and then nothing. There was a knock on the door and Doctor Twelski entered. She flicked on the overhead light, temporarily blinding Samus. "Good, Captain Hunter told me you were up so I thought I would come in and check your vitals. I do believe you are no longer physically fit Mrs. Aran. So how are we feeling? Any better?"
"Well considering the last time I was awake I felt completely fine, now I feel like I've been dragged through hell three or four times. My head is throbbing, I've got pain shooting up my spine and my arms in a cast and won't move", Samus replied annoyed with the obviously stupid question.
"How bout I fill you in on your ailments? To begin with, you have a pulled muscle in your back. That pain should dissapate in a few days. You also have twenty-five stitches in your head, right above her left temple. A laceration about two inches long was sewn up..."
"Well that explains the minor aches and pains, but what's wrong with my arm?" Samus asked, rudely interrupting the doctor.
"It's paralyzed", she answered bluntly, "lucky for you its only temporary. What I mean by that is that the nerves in your arm are still in a state of shock. An object smashing into your arm probably caused a bit of nerve trauma, but it will be no time at all before it heals. I found that your body heals at an incredible rate! It is quite remarkable."
"Runs in the family", Samus remarked turning her view from the doctor. She knew plenty well that the Chozo blood that ran through her veins sped up the healing process. There were many things that Chozo blood did to Samus, helping her to become the efficient and feared bounty hunter she was. The doctor started looking through Samus' medical charts and checking the different instruments around the room. The door opened and Admiral Hall limped in with a cane.
"Well Samus, it looks like we were the only survivors."
"What!? What do you mean? What happened out there?" she stammered.
"Its just like you said, it was a trap", he replied. Samus looked at the admiral with blank eyes. She had no idea what he was talking about. The admiral noticed the stare and continued. "I don't know how much you remember, so I will tell you what happened on my end of the line. Do you remember the distress signal?" Samus thought a moment before nodding her head yes. She faintly remembered something about an engine failure and a distress signal. "Good then. After we recieved that signal, you gave us permission to investigate. As we neared the down ship, an unidentified voice came on over the intercom. I couldn't make out whom it was but then you came on next. I couldn't understand too much of what you were saying. I noticed a few of the cruisers began turning about in a retreat pattern and so I followed suit. From what I have been told, a bomb of some sort was detonated on the downed ship. Apparently, we had a few traitors among us. Our guess is that Ridley stowed away and brought that explosive with him. Seeing that there were no survivors, we cannot make a complete investigation into the incident. After the explosion, my cruiser was thrown into the Maindena. When I found my ground, I made my way to the bridge where I found you under some debris. I decided to drag you along with me and let me tell you this, that suit of yours is heavy as hell. Both ships were damaged beyond operation and I dragged you to the docking bay in hopes of finding another form of tranportation; lucky for us, your ship was still in the station and after some quick guessing and luck with pushing buttons I was able to get the hunk of metal flying. The rescue crew picked us up from there and sent your ship to the maintenance shop. That's basically what happened in a nut shell."
"That's it huh?" Samus asked.
"Basically", he replied.
"I think that's quite enough excitement for Mrs. Aran today Admiral Hall", Doctor Twelski interrupted, "Let Mrs. Aran get her sleep. She should be up and about in a couple of days."
"Alright then, we will allow you to rest up. Until next time", Admiral Hall said as the captain and himself exited the room waving toward the disabled bounty hunters.
"You should sleep pretty well Samus. I increased the drip on your IV line. Tata for now", Twelski chimed as she turned out the light and closed the door behind her. Samus could feel her eyes drooping in the darkened room but she did not want to sleep. She tried to fight the inevitable; she desperately wanted to get her thoughts together and start planning action against the diabolical Ridley. There was nothing Samus could do but to succumb to the weariness.
Samus found herself in a large dark room; the only light filtered through a mist covered floor. She forced herself to walk through the unknowing mist toward a mass of floating red orb-like objects that seemed to be mashed together. She continued walking closer to the floating object and as she drew nearer to it, a familiar aura arose. The mesh of red substance soon became enclosed inside a clear bubble giving off an off green glow. Four white fangs soon became visible from underneath the floating mess and Samus immedietely recognized the being. The Metroids haunted her dreams once again. Out of the darkness, a swarm of Metroids flew at Samus. They encircled her and danced around her as the slime dripped off of their fangs. Samus turned and tried to run but was tackled to the ground by the group of Metroids. Their fangs broke her skin and she could feel them draining her of her life force. In the back a light became visible illuminating a glass case in which the Mother Brain was sitting behind. The glass broke and the brain rose to its full stature and began lumbering towards the helpless bounty hunter. Its arms were outstretched and its yellow eyes bulged out from the hideous brain, glaring evily at Samus. Its dead eyes began burning into Samus' chest and she could feel her heart straining to pump, but the brain only continued its telepathic death stare.
"Samus", a slighty audible voice echoed through the room, "I know what you want. I can give it to you."
"Who are you?" Samus uttered almost completely drained of her energy.
"You want me to revive them don't you?" The voice continued.
"What are you talking about", she asked. The Metroids fangs sunk deeper into her chest and her heart felt like it was about to explode.
Samus was thrown out of her dream. She woke with a start in a cold sweat and shaking uncontrollably. What the hell is wrong with me she asked herself. Samus could not get the eerie voice out of her head. It bothered her the rest of the night. What do I want, she asked herself continuously. She tried to piece her nightmare together, asking herself the same question the voice had. She knew it had to be something to do with the Metroids or the Mother Brain, but what? Who would I want revived? No one! She thought to herself. She kept throwing ideas around in her head until she finally thought she had it figured out.
"Okay lets try this", she said out loud talking to herself, "After I defeated the Metroid Queen I found the hatchling. The hatchling thought I was its mother. It had loved me from the get go and I ended up becoming attached to it myself. T...H...E...N, when I fought the Mother Brain, the Metroid sacrificed itself for me. Therefore, my love for the Metroid and my guilt about losing the hatchling has been bottled up inside. My nightmares are just releasing these feelings. Damn! I shoulda been a physiatrist, but that still doesn't explain the voice."
Doctor Twelski interrupted Samus' thoughts, "Good morning Samus. I trust you slept well?"
"Actually no I didn't."
"Really now? You've been out for the past three days."
Samus pulled herself up in the bed and could barely feel any aches. "You know, I think I'm feeling well enough to get out of this bed now."
"How about I make that decision for you."
That was the wrong answer Samus wanted to hear. This doctor was not about to run her life for the next few weeks over a few aches and pains. She had been in much worse scenarios then her present. "Um no...how about this plan. How about me taking my power suit there and putting it on. With that done, I'm going to walk out of this room leaving you here with your mouth hanging open." Before the doctor could reply, Samus ripped the IV out of her arm giving a slight yelp at the sudden pinch of pain. The doctor immedietely began objecting to Samus' eratic behavior and tried coaxing her to stay. Samus ignored the pleas and suited up. She then walked out of the room, leaving the good doctor with her mouth hanging open.
Samus checked the suits statistics as she walked through the halls of the GFP. She planned on grabbing her ship and making her way toward the Zebesian Asteroid Field. She was more then positive that Ridley was hiding out there. She made her way to the building docking station where her ship was being held.
...|...
"Now that Samus Aran is gone, we can continue with your plan. I must say though, I thought Samus would have put up a better fight then what she did", Ridley said as he stared at the illuminated figure in front of him. Ridley had managed to escape the core explosion but didn't make it outside of the sonic boom radius. After he had armed the explosive, he had begun his retreat only to be held up by some resistance. When the explosive blew, Ridley was thrown unconcious, floating in space for half a day before he came back around.
"Oh Ridley, how faithless of you to think that Samus is dead. You of all beings should realize her determination", spoke the figure lightly.
"You mean...she's still alive?" Ridley asked with a slight tremor in his voice. No matter how hard he tried to shake the feeling, Ridley knew deep down that once Samus was gone that there would be no one that he could match wits against. Ridley had seen many battles with the great bounty hunter. The two had both seen their fair share of wins and losses but in the end Ridley had always managed to be beaten.
"Yes Ridley, Samus Aran is still alive. You forget that I know too your love for matching up with Samus. Prepare yourself Ridley; Samus will soon be joining us. This time must be different though. This time...you must kill Samus. If you fail then you shall die; if not by Samus then by me. The show is about to begin", the figure retreated into dimness as Ridley gracefully bowed his head respectfully. He didn't want to kill her so soon but if he had been told to do so then he would have to comply with the demand.
...|...
Samus turned the ignition on in her ship and it responded with a roar of life. She threw the ship into drive, leaving the screaming mechanic behind her. She maneuvered her ship recklessly between buildings and as she was checking her ships gauges, something tapped her on the shoulder. She jerked around in surprise as the ship lurched forward throwing the culprit onto the console. Samus quickly recovered the ship, set it to autopilot and pinned the unsuspecting culprit to the floor. "What the hell are you doing here?" She asked Captain Hunter allowing him to sit up on the floor.
"I might ask you the same thing Samus", he replied angrily rubbing his sore head. Samus turned her attention to the ships main console setting the coordinates for the Zebesian Asteroid Field before turning her attention back to Hunter. "What do you expect to accomplish in your condition?"
"I can manage, besides I feel much better anyways", she retorted, "it won't take long for this to heal and by the time I reach Zebes I should be able to move it. You should really leave before I get to far because this is way over your head."
"Your right. I am over my head, but so are you and you're coming back with me and that's an order!" He demanded reaching for her arm cannon. Samus instinctively lift the bad arm up to him, arming the power cannon. Hunter put his hands up and backed up in defense.
"Imagine that! I told you it would heal quickly", she said sarcastically. Now I am going to go and you are not going to stop me. I have to put an end to this madness. Ridley is too dangerous and unless I stop him there could be real trouble from him. The Galactic Federation didn't even get a feel of his strategic capabilities with that little raid on the headquarters. I suggest again that you leave now so I may tend to my business."
"Okay Okay! No need to get so hostile. I figured you would listen to me and so I thought I might be able to help you."
"You help me? Don't make me laugh Hunter. You, like the rest of them incompetent officers, are no match for the Space Pirate's legion."
"I didn't mean help as in actual physical battle. Lord knows I would love to see a good battle again but I'm afraid that I wouldn't be able to handle it anymore. Here, this is yours." Hunter reached behind him and pulled a small cylindrical stick out. He thrust it toward Samus who raised her hands up. She didn't want to accept an unknown object.
"What is it?" Samus asked.
"I couldn't tell you. My father gave it to me when I was a child. He told me the object was from an ancient civilization. There use to be a story behind this thing but I forgot it long ago. I remember him telling me though that I would one day meet a legendary warrior in foreign garments that would fight against the dark ones on his own."
"I hardly think I'm a legendary warrior", she laughed behind the green visor.
"Oh but you are Samus. Don't you realize that anyone who knows anything about space criminals or the GFP knows of Samus Aran. The entire federation talks about you, many still not knowing the fact that you are a woman, but regardless if you don't consider yourself legendary. The fact is that you do fight the Space Pirates on your own. You are the only one that takes on platoon after platoon of those pesky pirates." Hunter could see Samus was becoming irritated as he learned to sense the benevolent angry silence that emitted from the cold suit that hid the bounty hunter. "Okay look. Before my father died, he told me of this time he had helped this being. That is where he recieved the stick. He told me his name was Old Bird, an ancient Chasto or something like that."
Samus' eyes darted to Hunters. Yes, she knew Old Bird. Old Bird was an old Chozo. He was the one that raised and trained Samus with the power suit after her parents had been killed in a Space Pirate raid on her home colony. There were only a few hundred or so Chozo left in the ever dwindling species. "Please take it Samus. I couldn't figure out what it is but maybe you can."
Samus came back to her senses and grabbed the cylindrical device from Hunter. If Old Bird had really given this to his father to give to a power suit holder then it would work for her. "There's not much to this thing is there?" Samus asked as she turned the stick around in her free hand. Hunter nodded in agreement as she was just as confused as him to the secrets the object held. Samus fumbled with it till it dropped from her hand. She caught it before it hit the floor and in the process grabbed the stick a bit hard. There was a sudden metallic clang as a handle emerged from the bottom and sword popped out of the top extending to about three feet. The sword glimmered in the dim light as Samus held the sword and gazed down toward the handle where the infamous "S" was etched into the handles end point. The sword itself was double-sided and seemed to be made of a lite titanium steel. "Wow! I could get use to this", she remarked looking over the sword, "it's so lite too!"
"That is pretty nifty isn't it?"
"Yeah it is", Samus brought her thoughts to the present, "I'm going to continue after Ridley. You need to leave."
"No I can give you back up of some type. There has to be something I can do to help", Hunter said with pleading eyes. Samus didn't feel much like arguing with the man.
"Fine! Look here. In the back of the ship there is this walk in closet. I need the bag that is sitting on the floor in the back. There's a light switch just to the right as you enter.
"Alright", Hunter replied heading toward the rear of the ship. He walked into the small compartment and reached for the light switch. The light flickered on and he walked toward the back of the closet and the door shut behind him clearly sounding that the door had been locked. Samus had managed to lure the unsuspecting Hunter into the ship's escape pod. Samus smiled to herself as Hunter began beating on the door, yelling obscenities at her. She smiled to herself as she pulled a lever on the control console. With a hiss and the sound of locks releasing, the escape pod was jetisoned out to space and heading for Earth. Samus turned on the intercom to the little escape pod.
"Nothing personal Captain Hunter, but this is my fight. I've got to do this myself." Samus took the sword and retreated it to it's native form. She finished setting her course for Zebes and began preparing herself for the obstacles ahead of her.
Samus awoke to find herself in a hospital bed. The first thing Samus noticed was the immense pain she was in. She found her left arm in a cast and couldn't move it. She was surrounded by instruments that measured her vitals and medication. She also noticed someone sitting in a low chair in the corner. The only light came froma small fluorescent lamp sitting on a bedside table.
"Wha...Ho...", she tried to speak while pulling herself up, only to fall back down onto the bed.
"Don't move", the man in the chair said.
"Captain Hunter! What...what are you doing here?" she asked.
"Well someone had to make sure you didn't die", he said, a large grin spreading across his face, "I was actually waiting for you to get up so that I could see when you would stop this faking and get back to work."
"Wh...wh...what happened to me?" she asked, her voice coming out a bit slurred.
"I couldn't tell you honestly. A recovery crew found Admiral Hall carrying your carcass around the Maindena. Hold on just a minute. Admiral Hall is around here somewhere, let me see if I can fetch him for you. He can explain everything more clearly", Hunter replied as he briskly walked out the door.
Samus was left alone. She tried to recollect her thoughts butto noavail. All she could remember was a bright light, an explosion, and then nothing. There was a knock on the door and Doctor Twelski entered. She flicked on the overhead light, temporarily blinding Samus. "Good, Captain Hunter told me you were up so I thought I would come in and check your vitals. I do believe you are no longer physically fit Mrs. Aran. So how are we feeling? Any better?"
"Well considering the last time I was awake I felt completely fine, now I feel like I've been dragged through hell three or four times. My head is throbbing, I've got pain shooting up my spine and my arms in a cast and won't move", Samus replied annoyed with the obviously stupid question.
"How bout I fill you in on your ailments? To begin with, you have a pulled muscle in your back. That pain should dissapate in a few days. You also have twenty-five stitches in your head, right above her left temple. A laceration about two inches long was sewn up..."
"Well that explains the minor aches and pains, but what's wrong with my arm?" Samus asked, rudely interrupting the doctor.
"It's paralyzed", she answered bluntly, "lucky for you its only temporary. What I mean by that is that the nerves in your arm are still in a state of shock. An object smashing into your arm probably caused a bit of nerve trauma, but it will be no time at all before it heals. I found that your body heals at an incredible rate! It is quite remarkable."
"Runs in the family", Samus remarked turning her view from the doctor. She knew plenty well that the Chozo blood that ran through her veins sped up the healing process. There were many things that Chozo blood did to Samus, helping her to become the efficient and feared bounty hunter she was. The doctor started looking through Samus' medical charts and checking the different instruments around the room. The door opened and Admiral Hall limped in with a cane.
"Well Samus, it looks like we were the only survivors."
"What!? What do you mean? What happened out there?" she stammered.
"Its just like you said, it was a trap", he replied. Samus looked at the admiral with blank eyes. She had no idea what he was talking about. The admiral noticed the stare and continued. "I don't know how much you remember, so I will tell you what happened on my end of the line. Do you remember the distress signal?" Samus thought a moment before nodding her head yes. She faintly remembered something about an engine failure and a distress signal. "Good then. After we recieved that signal, you gave us permission to investigate. As we neared the down ship, an unidentified voice came on over the intercom. I couldn't make out whom it was but then you came on next. I couldn't understand too much of what you were saying. I noticed a few of the cruisers began turning about in a retreat pattern and so I followed suit. From what I have been told, a bomb of some sort was detonated on the downed ship. Apparently, we had a few traitors among us. Our guess is that Ridley stowed away and brought that explosive with him. Seeing that there were no survivors, we cannot make a complete investigation into the incident. After the explosion, my cruiser was thrown into the Maindena. When I found my ground, I made my way to the bridge where I found you under some debris. I decided to drag you along with me and let me tell you this, that suit of yours is heavy as hell. Both ships were damaged beyond operation and I dragged you to the docking bay in hopes of finding another form of tranportation; lucky for us, your ship was still in the station and after some quick guessing and luck with pushing buttons I was able to get the hunk of metal flying. The rescue crew picked us up from there and sent your ship to the maintenance shop. That's basically what happened in a nut shell."
"That's it huh?" Samus asked.
"Basically", he replied.
"I think that's quite enough excitement for Mrs. Aran today Admiral Hall", Doctor Twelski interrupted, "Let Mrs. Aran get her sleep. She should be up and about in a couple of days."
"Alright then, we will allow you to rest up. Until next time", Admiral Hall said as the captain and himself exited the room waving toward the disabled bounty hunters.
"You should sleep pretty well Samus. I increased the drip on your IV line. Tata for now", Twelski chimed as she turned out the light and closed the door behind her. Samus could feel her eyes drooping in the darkened room but she did not want to sleep. She tried to fight the inevitable; she desperately wanted to get her thoughts together and start planning action against the diabolical Ridley. There was nothing Samus could do but to succumb to the weariness.
Samus found herself in a large dark room; the only light filtered through a mist covered floor. She forced herself to walk through the unknowing mist toward a mass of floating red orb-like objects that seemed to be mashed together. She continued walking closer to the floating object and as she drew nearer to it, a familiar aura arose. The mesh of red substance soon became enclosed inside a clear bubble giving off an off green glow. Four white fangs soon became visible from underneath the floating mess and Samus immedietely recognized the being. The Metroids haunted her dreams once again. Out of the darkness, a swarm of Metroids flew at Samus. They encircled her and danced around her as the slime dripped off of their fangs. Samus turned and tried to run but was tackled to the ground by the group of Metroids. Their fangs broke her skin and she could feel them draining her of her life force. In the back a light became visible illuminating a glass case in which the Mother Brain was sitting behind. The glass broke and the brain rose to its full stature and began lumbering towards the helpless bounty hunter. Its arms were outstretched and its yellow eyes bulged out from the hideous brain, glaring evily at Samus. Its dead eyes began burning into Samus' chest and she could feel her heart straining to pump, but the brain only continued its telepathic death stare.
"Samus", a slighty audible voice echoed through the room, "I know what you want. I can give it to you."
"Who are you?" Samus uttered almost completely drained of her energy.
"You want me to revive them don't you?" The voice continued.
"What are you talking about", she asked. The Metroids fangs sunk deeper into her chest and her heart felt like it was about to explode.
Samus was thrown out of her dream. She woke with a start in a cold sweat and shaking uncontrollably. What the hell is wrong with me she asked herself. Samus could not get the eerie voice out of her head. It bothered her the rest of the night. What do I want, she asked herself continuously. She tried to piece her nightmare together, asking herself the same question the voice had. She knew it had to be something to do with the Metroids or the Mother Brain, but what? Who would I want revived? No one! She thought to herself. She kept throwing ideas around in her head until she finally thought she had it figured out.
"Okay lets try this", she said out loud talking to herself, "After I defeated the Metroid Queen I found the hatchling. The hatchling thought I was its mother. It had loved me from the get go and I ended up becoming attached to it myself. T...H...E...N, when I fought the Mother Brain, the Metroid sacrificed itself for me. Therefore, my love for the Metroid and my guilt about losing the hatchling has been bottled up inside. My nightmares are just releasing these feelings. Damn! I shoulda been a physiatrist, but that still doesn't explain the voice."
Doctor Twelski interrupted Samus' thoughts, "Good morning Samus. I trust you slept well?"
"Actually no I didn't."
"Really now? You've been out for the past three days."
Samus pulled herself up in the bed and could barely feel any aches. "You know, I think I'm feeling well enough to get out of this bed now."
"How about I make that decision for you."
That was the wrong answer Samus wanted to hear. This doctor was not about to run her life for the next few weeks over a few aches and pains. She had been in much worse scenarios then her present. "Um no...how about this plan. How about me taking my power suit there and putting it on. With that done, I'm going to walk out of this room leaving you here with your mouth hanging open." Before the doctor could reply, Samus ripped the IV out of her arm giving a slight yelp at the sudden pinch of pain. The doctor immedietely began objecting to Samus' eratic behavior and tried coaxing her to stay. Samus ignored the pleas and suited up. She then walked out of the room, leaving the good doctor with her mouth hanging open.
Samus checked the suits statistics as she walked through the halls of the GFP. She planned on grabbing her ship and making her way toward the Zebesian Asteroid Field. She was more then positive that Ridley was hiding out there. She made her way to the building docking station where her ship was being held.
...|...
"Now that Samus Aran is gone, we can continue with your plan. I must say though, I thought Samus would have put up a better fight then what she did", Ridley said as he stared at the illuminated figure in front of him. Ridley had managed to escape the core explosion but didn't make it outside of the sonic boom radius. After he had armed the explosive, he had begun his retreat only to be held up by some resistance. When the explosive blew, Ridley was thrown unconcious, floating in space for half a day before he came back around.
"Oh Ridley, how faithless of you to think that Samus is dead. You of all beings should realize her determination", spoke the figure lightly.
"You mean...she's still alive?" Ridley asked with a slight tremor in his voice. No matter how hard he tried to shake the feeling, Ridley knew deep down that once Samus was gone that there would be no one that he could match wits against. Ridley had seen many battles with the great bounty hunter. The two had both seen their fair share of wins and losses but in the end Ridley had always managed to be beaten.
"Yes Ridley, Samus Aran is still alive. You forget that I know too your love for matching up with Samus. Prepare yourself Ridley; Samus will soon be joining us. This time must be different though. This time...you must kill Samus. If you fail then you shall die; if not by Samus then by me. The show is about to begin", the figure retreated into dimness as Ridley gracefully bowed his head respectfully. He didn't want to kill her so soon but if he had been told to do so then he would have to comply with the demand.
...|...
Samus turned the ignition on in her ship and it responded with a roar of life. She threw the ship into drive, leaving the screaming mechanic behind her. She maneuvered her ship recklessly between buildings and as she was checking her ships gauges, something tapped her on the shoulder. She jerked around in surprise as the ship lurched forward throwing the culprit onto the console. Samus quickly recovered the ship, set it to autopilot and pinned the unsuspecting culprit to the floor. "What the hell are you doing here?" She asked Captain Hunter allowing him to sit up on the floor.
"I might ask you the same thing Samus", he replied angrily rubbing his sore head. Samus turned her attention to the ships main console setting the coordinates for the Zebesian Asteroid Field before turning her attention back to Hunter. "What do you expect to accomplish in your condition?"
"I can manage, besides I feel much better anyways", she retorted, "it won't take long for this to heal and by the time I reach Zebes I should be able to move it. You should really leave before I get to far because this is way over your head."
"Your right. I am over my head, but so are you and you're coming back with me and that's an order!" He demanded reaching for her arm cannon. Samus instinctively lift the bad arm up to him, arming the power cannon. Hunter put his hands up and backed up in defense.
"Imagine that! I told you it would heal quickly", she said sarcastically. Now I am going to go and you are not going to stop me. I have to put an end to this madness. Ridley is too dangerous and unless I stop him there could be real trouble from him. The Galactic Federation didn't even get a feel of his strategic capabilities with that little raid on the headquarters. I suggest again that you leave now so I may tend to my business."
"Okay Okay! No need to get so hostile. I figured you would listen to me and so I thought I might be able to help you."
"You help me? Don't make me laugh Hunter. You, like the rest of them incompetent officers, are no match for the Space Pirate's legion."
"I didn't mean help as in actual physical battle. Lord knows I would love to see a good battle again but I'm afraid that I wouldn't be able to handle it anymore. Here, this is yours." Hunter reached behind him and pulled a small cylindrical stick out. He thrust it toward Samus who raised her hands up. She didn't want to accept an unknown object.
"What is it?" Samus asked.
"I couldn't tell you. My father gave it to me when I was a child. He told me the object was from an ancient civilization. There use to be a story behind this thing but I forgot it long ago. I remember him telling me though that I would one day meet a legendary warrior in foreign garments that would fight against the dark ones on his own."
"I hardly think I'm a legendary warrior", she laughed behind the green visor.
"Oh but you are Samus. Don't you realize that anyone who knows anything about space criminals or the GFP knows of Samus Aran. The entire federation talks about you, many still not knowing the fact that you are a woman, but regardless if you don't consider yourself legendary. The fact is that you do fight the Space Pirates on your own. You are the only one that takes on platoon after platoon of those pesky pirates." Hunter could see Samus was becoming irritated as he learned to sense the benevolent angry silence that emitted from the cold suit that hid the bounty hunter. "Okay look. Before my father died, he told me of this time he had helped this being. That is where he recieved the stick. He told me his name was Old Bird, an ancient Chasto or something like that."
Samus' eyes darted to Hunters. Yes, she knew Old Bird. Old Bird was an old Chozo. He was the one that raised and trained Samus with the power suit after her parents had been killed in a Space Pirate raid on her home colony. There were only a few hundred or so Chozo left in the ever dwindling species. "Please take it Samus. I couldn't figure out what it is but maybe you can."
Samus came back to her senses and grabbed the cylindrical device from Hunter. If Old Bird had really given this to his father to give to a power suit holder then it would work for her. "There's not much to this thing is there?" Samus asked as she turned the stick around in her free hand. Hunter nodded in agreement as she was just as confused as him to the secrets the object held. Samus fumbled with it till it dropped from her hand. She caught it before it hit the floor and in the process grabbed the stick a bit hard. There was a sudden metallic clang as a handle emerged from the bottom and sword popped out of the top extending to about three feet. The sword glimmered in the dim light as Samus held the sword and gazed down toward the handle where the infamous "S" was etched into the handles end point. The sword itself was double-sided and seemed to be made of a lite titanium steel. "Wow! I could get use to this", she remarked looking over the sword, "it's so lite too!"
"That is pretty nifty isn't it?"
"Yeah it is", Samus brought her thoughts to the present, "I'm going to continue after Ridley. You need to leave."
"No I can give you back up of some type. There has to be something I can do to help", Hunter said with pleading eyes. Samus didn't feel much like arguing with the man.
"Fine! Look here. In the back of the ship there is this walk in closet. I need the bag that is sitting on the floor in the back. There's a light switch just to the right as you enter.
"Alright", Hunter replied heading toward the rear of the ship. He walked into the small compartment and reached for the light switch. The light flickered on and he walked toward the back of the closet and the door shut behind him clearly sounding that the door had been locked. Samus had managed to lure the unsuspecting Hunter into the ship's escape pod. Samus smiled to herself as Hunter began beating on the door, yelling obscenities at her. She smiled to herself as she pulled a lever on the control console. With a hiss and the sound of locks releasing, the escape pod was jetisoned out to space and heading for Earth. Samus turned on the intercom to the little escape pod.
"Nothing personal Captain Hunter, but this is my fight. I've got to do this myself." Samus took the sword and retreated it to it's native form. She finished setting her course for Zebes and began preparing herself for the obstacles ahead of her.