Chapter Six
News of the invasion, nor of its abrupt halt by the X, had still failed to reach Samus and the monks of Palade. They remained blissfully unaware of the turmoil around them. Samus admired the monks. She found it amazing that humans would willingly sever themselves from the outside world and technology in order to live in peace, without worry.
But the monks did have worries of their own, though she could never see the slightest hint of stress or strain on their serene faces. First among their worries was her. She was their only guest at the time, so they were extremely careful to make her stay a pleasant one. They even assigned a young monk to follow behind her like a valet and take care of anything she needed.
She was appreciative of their concern, but found it kind of annoying to have the small monk following her about. He couldn't have been more than six. His head was shaved but for a small shock of hair running down the middle of his scalp and down to his nape. When he shuffled along behind her, she could feel his eyes regarding her with unfathomable admiration. When she looked at him, he quickly dropped his gaze, reddening around the cheeks.
It was almost comical though, when he tried to keep up with her on her runs. His little legs could only take him so far, then he was forced to stop on sit on a rock, pouting.
When she came back, he would bow low, "Sorry, sorry, Miss Aran," he would say, the Standard coming haltingly. "I tried to stay up, but you were too fast. Much too fast, Miss Aran."
The monks second concern was the strange, pervasive feeling of dread that hung about all the planet. The Jai monks, having lived in harmony with the world for so long, could sense these things. Even the animals were affected. They were quiet, subdued, even in the times they would have been most active. It created an eerie stillness, and they all knew something was not right.
Samus didn't believe much in premonition. She was in her room, sitting up in bed when she called in the little monk.
He bowed at the side of her bed. He had to stand on his tiptoes to see her over it. "You called, Miss Aran?" he said.
She patted the mattress next to her, "Come up here, Tomo."
He looked up at her hesitantly.
She smiled, "Don't worry, I just want to talk to you."
Tomo crawled up into the bed, rolling on clumsily. He sat cross-legged, his hands resting on his knees. Samus wondered how a face so young could hold so much wisdom.
"Is it true what the monks say, Tomo? That something bad is about to happen?"
He nodded, "Miss Aran, I'm young. I have much to learn about the world. But even my untrained eye can see it, Miss Aran. I can smell it in the air, and I can hear it in the jungle."
"What do you hear?"
"No, I mustn't tell you," he said. "The monks say that my listening is not yet honed, I am not reliable. I may easily be wrong."
"Tell me," she said.
He drew in a deep breath, his body heaving with it. "I don't see evil in the world. I see change, big change coming. And you're going to be at the center of that change, Miss Aran." He quickly hopped off the bed, scurrying away, "I'll be outside if you need me, Miss Aran."
The bar was rather disgusting. The smell of vomit and urine permeated everything, and there was a din that nearly deafened him. Fights seemed to break around at random, and continued until one contestant was unconcscious, or worse. The band was horrible. They had been billed as one of the best bands on Palade's moon, but Markos felt they hardly did justice to Clapton. All around, the bar was one lousy place to be. But it was the perfect place for a meeting.
He tipped up his beer, watching over the bottle at the mirror behind the bar. A man walked up a stool away from him. "Scotch and water," he said, sliding the credits across the counter. Markos glanced at him. The man gave him a nod in the mirror.
Markos slid over. He checked left, right, then said, "What's up?"
"You're going down tonight. There's a ferry with foodstuffs being sent down in a couple of hours."
"Where is she?" he asked.
The informant drained his glass and banged it on the bar top, "In the Jai monastery. The freighter will go right to it, so no problem there."
"Where is the problem?" demanded Markos. He wished these informants would just tell him right up what the scoop was, so he didn't have to pry to get anything he wanted. That was their job after all, to inform.
"The Feddies caught wind of your mission, somehow. Probably figured out the alias you used to get the message was false and used their perogative to check the hologram. Either way, be careful, their on to you."
"Just how on to me?" said Markos.
The man drained another shot, "About an hour or two ahead," he said.
"Damn!" hissed Markos, "I'm going to be cutting it awful close here."
"Relax! You're armor's going to be smuggled down in one of the food crates. And word has it, Aran still has her armor. She may be able to help."
"This is crazy. Why didn't somebody help cover up my trail?" he snapped.
"Don't worry about it. If you're half as good as Zim said, it's the Feddies that should be worried. Just toast any you see and get Aran out, simple as that."
"Easier for you to say," sneered Markos, tossing his head back and gulping down the last of his beer.
"Just get the job done. We're all counting on you," he said. He tossed the bar tender a five piece coin, then slapped another down in front of Markos, "Use that, get a few more beers. You're going to need them."
It was noon. Samus was walking through the gardens in the monaster, Tomo in trail a few yards behind. The air was cool, and the purple and red flowers were all in bloom. It was a beautiful scene. The monks tended the garden year round, keeping the plants healthy so that the tourists could enjoy them.
The monks were subdued. It seemed to feeling of danger was increasing between them. Tomo stayed farther behind than he usually did, as if he expected the ground to swallow her up and he didn't want to get caught.
She ran her hand over the large petals of the Chozos' Lament. The flower grew native to Tallon IV. Samus had christened it during her debacle on Tallon IV. She wasn't surprised to find it here; the flower had become hugely popular, mostly because she named it. The drooping flower seemed to dip its head lower, like it too felt the evil aura about the monastery.
Everything happened in slow motion. She'd been in a hover wreck a few years ago. It was funny how time slowed to a crawl during accidents. And then by the same token, fun times went so fast it was hard to enjoy them.
The sharp report of a gun was followed by a whoosh of air flowing by her face. She looked up to see five men, automatic rifles shouldered, firing down at her. Tomo was screaming in horror. He took off down the row, out of the garden. Now there were men on all sides of her, guns blazing.
Bullets zinged off the sandstone pillars all around. The flowers exploded in brilliant starbursts as bullets ripped through them. Then she heard the tell-tale slap, and instantly a burning pain formed in her arm and traveled down to her finger-tips. She hit the ground, wincing against the pain and pressing her hand over the wound.
The gunfire stopped. She heard voices talking, like they were discussing what to do next. A shadow passed over the ground. She gritted her teeth, waiting for whoever it was to finish her off. Just make it clean, I deserve that much.
She cried out in surprise when a cold, metallic hand wrapped around her midsection, lifting her off the ground. In the corner of her eye she saw the visage of her power-suit, the cold, unseeing visor staring down at her. Jesus, I must be dreaming again. At least I'm getting some sleep.
Her attackers cried out in surprise. The gunfire started up again, and bullets pinged off the armor. "We've got to get out of here," said a disembodied voice. The servo motors in the suit whirred as the figure looked over its shoulder, "How far is your ship?" it asked.
Samus didn't answer. The figure fired some wild shots at the fast approaching soldiers. "How far?" it yelled urgently.
"A few miles," she said. The soldiers were getting closer now. She spied the insignia on their clothing. Federation troops? What's going on?
"Too far," it said, shaking its helmed head. "We'll never make it in time. Any other transportation to speed us up?"
She nodded slowly. This was no dream, it was too bizarre even for that. Unless she had really gone crazy.
"There's some hover bikes in a hangar near the cloister."
The figure twisted around and fired a few shots, blasting the Federation soldiers back. The garden went up in flames from the intense heat of the beam. Flames danced in the suit's visor. "Lead the way."
Samus punched in the code to the hangar. The large doors at either and ground upward. The opposite door opened up into the jungle. In the stalls to the right were several HB-550's, power-house hover bikes. They were reminscent of the jet skis of the 20th Century, popular with the rich and thrill seeking folk of the Universe.
The armored warrior hopped onto one, knocking the ignition housing off. It retracted its arm cannon back and touched the two wire leads together. They sparked and smoked in response, but the engine began humming and the bike levitated a foot or so off the ground.
She now got a better look at the warrior. It wasn't her suit, that was for sure. This suit was black, with a red trim, much like the Phazon Suit she acquired on Tallon IV, only to lose it to Metroid Prime. It was shorter, squatter, but the arm cannon was the most impressive feature. It was a monstrosity compared to hers! It looked as though it could slice through a metroid in one fell blow.
The warrior was busy checking the fuel levels of the bike. He looked over at her, "Hey, you coming or not? They're going to be here any minute."
On cue, the Federation soldiers appeared in the doorway. Two of them began mounting a huge laser cannon on a tripod. The warrior raised its cannon. The missile blast shields shot out and it sent a rocket streaking at the hapless soldiers. They were blown several feet into the air, screaming the whole way down, before a sickening crunch ended their lamentations.
"Get on!" yelled the warrior.
Samus hopped on behind, hugging the cold metal torso of the suit. The warrior kicked the brake out and gunned the motor, speeding out of the hangar and into the jungle.
Markos weaved in through the trees with ease, keeping an eye on his radar and threat indicator. His sensors detected nothing in the nearby area. "What're your ship's coordinates?" he asked.
Samus shook her head, "I'm not telling you anything until you tell me what the hell is going on here!" she snapped.
He opened his mouth to answer, but suddenly, three golden blips appeared on his radar. "We've got trouble."
Samus looked behind them. Darting through the trees she saw three soldiers on bikes, gaining on them rapidly. "Those are MHB-755's," Markos said, "too fast."
"Hold on," he said, pressing down the accelerator as far as it would go. Still the soldiers were closing the gap, each second they drew closer to the center of his radar.
They were close now, so close Samus could've easily leaped onto one of them. Markos yanked up on the control yoke, banking hard left as the Federation soldiers shot by below them. Even over the roar of the engine Samus heard the soldiers curse as they lost their quarry temporarily.
A shower of sparks fountained up from the back of the bike. The soldiers were firing their bike mounted plasma cannons. One more hit and the bike would be out of commision.
Plasma bolts shot by, incinerating the great trees like desert grasses touched by a wildfire. A shot hit home, shattering a reserve energy tank on Markos belt. He cursed as his threat indicator shot upwards. The blue liquid began festering and bubbling, threatening to explode. He hurled the canister backwards. It bounced off a tree and exploded near one of the bikes. That bike flew across the forest, slamming into another.
A massive explosion turned nearly an acre of forest into toothpicks as the last remaining bike shot out of the fireball, its pilot stripping out of his burning shirt. He hunched over the controls, coaxing the bike to speeds beyond its standard operating capabilities.
Markos fired a missile as a tree, taking a bite out of it. The tree moaned as it toppled down. The soldier saw it coming, dodging out the way and firing as he went, hoping to score a fatal hit.
They both piloted their bikes with agility only seen in insects. The trees came thicker and thicker, but still they moved and weaved effortlessly, cheating death every time they passed within meters of a tree.
Up ahead Markos spied a large patch of overgrowth. That was his chance. He aimed straight for the thick gnarl of wood.
Behind him the Federation soldier, so incensed with the hunt, did not notice the large grove of twisted trees. He barely registered the inevitability of his own demise as Markos pulled up at the last possible moment.
"Now, were's your ship?" he asked.
Samus led the way. They arrived soon, and Markos destroyed the bike with a single missile shot. She leapt up onto her craft, kneeling down to input the access code.
"Miss Aran! Miss Aran!"
They both whirled around, Markos raising his arm cannon. "Don't shoot!" she yelled at him as Tomo came breaking through the jungle.
Suddenly the forest around them exploded as Federation soldiers leapt out, guns blazing. Markos leapt up into a front flip, landing deftly next to Samus. A soldier reached down to grab hold of Tomo. The little monk snatched the would-be attacker's wrist, smashing his nerve against his bone.
The soldier gasped in pain, falling to his knees. With his free hand Tomo landed a chop on his throat and the stunned soldier collapsed, desperately trying to squeeze air into his lungs.
"Go, Miss Aran!" he cried. "I'll keep them back!"
"Tomo! Run!" she yelled.
The hatch opened. "Quick, get in!" Markos yelled.
She refused and he shoved her in. She got up and ran to the viewport. Markos hurried to the cockpit, just pressing every button in sight in hopes he could get the ship off the ground.
Outside Samus saw as Tomo grabbed the gun of a fallen soldier. He held it by the barrel, swinging it up in a wide arc to catch another soldier on the jaw.
The soldier staggered back. If the blow had come from a full grown man, it may well have knocked him cold. But Tomo, despite all his martial arts skill, was still only a young child, so his attack only served to anger the soldier.
He snatched the gun from Tomo's hands and returned the favor, smashing him across his temple. Tomo spun around and collapsed. Feebly he tried to stand up, but his head swam. He looked up at Samus ship, he saw her starting down at him in horror, then saw her lips move as he felt a cold circle of steel press against the back of his head.
"No!" she screamed as the soldier laid the muzzle on Tomo's head. He didn't listen.
Tears burst forth from her eyes, unbidden, unabated. From the cockpit she heard Markos' triumphant roar as the ship lifted off, streaking up and out of the glade.
Autopilot guided the ship out of Palade, climbing quickly and breaking the planet's gravity.
Markos came back into the cabin. Samus lay on her knees, head buried in her hands. "What's wrong?" he asked, coming forward. "Are you hurt?"
"Just a boy," she moaned between sobs. "Just a boy, why did they have to kill him? Why did he have to die?" she screamed, and a groan escaped her lips that made Markos take a step back in apprehension. Then she fell to her side and wept uncontrollably.
Markos let Samus sleep. He wormed his way out of his armor and laid it in the cabin. Then he busied himself with familiarizing himself with the ship. The controls were simple, and soon he had a complex course programmed, one that would throw off any pursuers. Not that they could locate the ship anyway, one of the first things he'd done was shut off the ship's homing beacon.
The Federation wanted Samus dead; he hadn't expected that little development. Now this mission would be doubly difficult, with the Federation chasing them down. No doubt wanted posters had gone up everywhere, with promises of huge rewards, for the one who captured Samus. Or killed her. Every bounty hunter in the Federation would be frantically searching for them.
Markos wasn't worried, though. The bounty hunters would be looking in all the wrong places. Besides, if one did catch up with them, Markos would prove to be much more than they could handle, with or without his armor. He looked to were Samus was lying asleep. And with some smooth talking I may be able to win her over.
Samus awoke with red rimmed eyes. She found Markos sitting in the cockpit, watching intently on the radar screen. He glanced at her as she came in and sat down in the co-pilot seat. She gazed out the canopy for awhile, watching the unmoving stars before them. "Who are you?"
Markos stared up at the ceiling, "My name's Markos."
"Where do you come from?"
"Varia."
She said nothing in reply. Varia, that was the name of a suit modification that protected her against heat and cold. She'd never heard of a planet called Varia.
Markos knew she was perplexed. Nobody had heard of Varia, except those few who lived there. "It's a long story," he said.
"I'll listen."
He took a deep breath. He swivelled his chair to face towards her. He probably would've been beautiful, save for the long scar that ran from the left ear lobe down to his right collar bone. His dark eyes glittered with intelligence and his black hair was cut short, almost bald.
"Are you familiar with the Lost Colony Story?"
"Yeah, of course...but who could every believe that, that a space colony would just disappear like that?" she said.
"Right. It didn't," he said, "Colony RS2 was built at the far reaches of Federation space. That was back when the Federation was young, before there was any real defense forces. Space Pirates attacked, they had no defense. A few of them managed to escape, down to the surface of Varia. That was were we met the Chozo."
Samus sat straight up at that, "The Chozo?"
Markos nodded, "They helped us, helped us pull through. They let us survive, and defended us against the Space Pirates. It was on Varia that they finalized their designs for the temperature regulation unit in the Varia suit. When I was young, they left Varia, but they left with us designs for their powersuits and methods for construction."
"The Chozo helped me, too! I was raised by them, they made my suit."
Markos' eyes went wide, "Raised by Chozo? Then you and I have something in common." He shrugged, "I guess not so much though, I barely knew the Chozo before they left. It was my great grandparents who were first on the colony when the Pirates attacked."
"So you were born on Varia; which is a distant colony world, what are you doing here?"
He hesitated a second, then said, resolve filling his voice, "Revenge."
"Revenge?"
Markos' face took on a hardened expression. "The Federation betrayed my people. They left us for dead when the Space Pirates attacked. Only with the help of the Chozo did we survive." He sounded as though he was speaking from memory. Samus had heard that kind of rhetoric before. She'd heard it from pro-Federation fanatics. That was the kind of talk that propaganda made. "They've betrayed you too, Samus, they've betrayed you. Now you're one of us." He maintained his chiseled stone appearance, but smiled inwardly. He'd planned that speech out before. He doubted that would be enough to make a convert out of her, but it was a start.
She cast her glance to the ground. What he said made sense. The Federation had tried to kill her, but why? And why had he miraculously appeared at that same moment to save her?
"Why do you want me?" she asked.
He shook his head, "Truthfully, I don't know."
His orders hadn't come through with any specific data, just simply that he was supposed
to capture Samus alive. The army would have a unit within Federation space ready to take her back to a forward base, for whatever it was command needed.
"I've just been ordered to take you to a certain point. My leaders will decide what to do with you there."
"What do you think they want?" she asked, narrowing her eyes suspiciously.
"I don't know," he repeated. "I assure you that they have no malicious intentions with you."
She gazed off into space. So the Federation had betrayed her. These Varians wanted her, alive, for some reason. Under normal circumstances, she wouldn't have trusted anyone who as effectively kidnaping her. But these were hardly normal circumstances. Besides, the Varians wanted her alive, which meant she was relatively safe with them, whereas the Federation was out to kill her.
Samus looked over his shoulder at the navigation screen. The white line that symbolized the route criss-crossed all over the sector, seeming to have no rhyme or reason about it. Many times the path ran back over a previous course. Abrupt turns and sudden stops gave the route an erratic quality. She nodded her approval, "We'll be hard to track," she said.
Markos nodded. That may have worked better than I thought. She's already starting to become friendly.
"What's the final destination, anyway?" she asked.
Markos shifted uncomfortably in his chair, "I don't know, command hasn't given me the information yet."
Samus leaned closer to the nav computer. She picked out the starting point at Palade, then tried to trace the white line to an ending point, but the route became so jumbled at intersections and overlaps that she quickly lost track of were she was and gave up. My, my, he is good.
She stretched her arms above her head, yawning as she did.
"I'm going back to sleep," she said.
"I'll take care of things here," Markos replied, turning back to face the console.
She trudged back into the cabin. From the equipment locker she pulled a pistol. She rammed a magazine into the grip and deftly yanked the slide back, letting it fly back into position as the first bullet shot into the chamber. She clicked the safety on and walked over into bed. She held the pistol under her pillow, her index finger resting on the trigger.
Markos seemed trustworthy enough, all things considered. But long ago she'd learned to never trust anyone so completely. The Federation had always been trustworthy. Always paid her on time, the soldiers she worked with had always been upstanding and honorable, with the exception of a few bad apples. But now that long built trust was shattered.
Between its secret metroid breeding program and its betrayal of her, the Federation had turned, in her eyes, into a corrupt and debauched dictatorship. She'd never thought of them as one's to kill innocents. She would never forget the look on little Tomo's face as the Federation soldier shot him. Apparently she had been all wrong about the Federation.
For now, she would go along with Markos. Any alternative to the Federation sounded good. And who knew? Maybe by joining with these Varians she'd get the chance to exact her own personal revenge on the Federation.