Chapter VI – The Best Laid Plans….
Samus' ship sped through the reaches of space, the stars blurring into streaks visible from the ship's view ports. Samus poured over the reports on Aluren she downloaded from the Federation Archives. Or, at least, she was attempting to. Hawkeye sat next to her in the ship, fidgeting in his seat. Samus was in her full armor again, but even Hawkeye could tell she was distracted. The memories of the day ran through each of their minds.
"We have company," Hawkeye said as he watched the black armored soldiers running through the halls of the Archives building.
"What do they look like?" Samus asked.
"They're all in black armor and aren't wearing any type of helmet," Hawkeye said.
"Syndicate soldiers," Samus hissed. "Here," she tossed Clint a small gun. He caught it with reservation.
"I don't much like guns," Clint said as he stared at the weapon. The soldiers neared the pair.
"You don't have much choice, hero," Samus said drawing her own weapon.
"Is there a back door out of here?" Clint asked. Samus looked around, and stared at the back wall. She leveled her gun and fired, leaving a gaping hole in the wall.
"There is now," Samus said.
"Come on, Tony," Samus said frantically, which jarred Hawkeye out of his daze. "Give me a sign or something that you're okay."
"I'm sure he's okay, Samus," Hawkeye said. "I mean, he's fought some tough characters over the years and survived. I'm actually more worried about Terra."
"Yeah," Samus said. "Tony can take care of himself." She sighed. "I hope they're all right."
"They are," Hawkeye said hesitantly. You had better be all right, Tony. He thought to himself, letting himself drift into a light sleep.
"I guess your plan didn't work after all," Clint said as he and Samus ran through the outer walls of the Archives building, Samus making exits whenever they weren't provided.
"Shut up Clint!" Samus said.
"All right, all right. How exactly did Syndicate soldiers find us?" Clint asked.
"Probably an agent somewhere in the building with access to my identification," Samus growled as they started to run through the streets of futuristic New York.
A small group of Syndicate soldiers appeared in front of them. Clint and Samus quickly dove behind some cars for cover, with Samus firing off a few wild shots as she did so. Clint grasped the gun Samus gave him tightly, and he peered over the car. The Syndicate soldiers fired in constant streams, with Samus returning fire.
A shot from Samus felled a soldier. They returned fire, and Samus shot back, downing another one.
"I could use a little support here Clint!" Samus yelled, firing.
Clint swallowed, beads of sweat coming down his face. He peered over the car and saw his target. With shaking hands, he took his shot. It hit the Syndicate soldier square in the chest, causing him to hit the floor. Samus took that moment to leap out from behind her cover, and fire a pair of shots at the remaining two soldiers.
"Move," Samus yelled as she took off. Clint followed her as he glanced quickly at the soldier he shot. Damn… he thought to himself, and he continued to run.
After a few moments, and few stray shots later, the two reached Samus' ship in the spaceport. It was crawling with Syndicate soldiers.
"Damn!" Samus said. "That's probably how they tracked us."
"Is it too late to say 'I told you so'?" Clint asked. Samus glanced at him out of the corner of her eyes. Clint just shrugged.
"Here," Samus said. "I'll put your gun on stun for you."
"Thanks," Clint said, looking at her quizzically.
"You hero types are strange," she said. "But I need you to lay down suppressive fire without hesitation."
"You got it. What setting is your on?" Clint asked.
"Mass carnage," Samus said with a grin.
"These are some weapons," Clint said.
"Custom design," Samus replied. "For when I am 'naked'. All right, here we go." She pressed a button on her communicator, and the ship powered up - much to the surprise of the Syndicate soldiers. They all looked around in a confused manner as the ship took off towards Samus.
They regained their composure after only a few seconds – and spotted Samus. She just smiled as the ship neared the pair of them, and fired. The shot flew forward, and exploded in the middle of the cluster, scattering them in a smoking mess. The gun emitted a short beeping sound, and Samus looked down at it with a frown.
"Out of power," she growled. "Okay, Clint, you're on!"
"Gotcha!" Clint said as he fired at the closest soldiers with precision shots. Each soldier took a few shots to down due to the armor, but Clint soon realized where the chinks in the armor were – and how to exploit them.
The ship neared their position, and Samus stood up, waving her gun around in order to confuse the Syndicate soldiers. Hawkeye continued to lay down suppressive fire. At last, the ship neared Samus, and she positioned the ship to where it hovered above them and blocked the shots of the remaining Syndicate soldiers.
Samus jumped into the lower hatch, and turned the ship around. Bursts of energy came from the ship's forward batteries as they scattered the remaining soldiers. Clint took advantage of the situation and followed Samus through the hatch. The ship then took off as fast as Samus could push it towards Gryphon Labs.
Samus could see the smoke well before she reached the labs. Her heart pounded in her chest as she saw the massive plume on the horizon, over the line of trees. She swallowed hard, and pushed the ship as fast as it would go.
"What the Hell!?" Hawkeye almost leapt out of his seat when Samus stopped the ship.
"My god," Samus whispered.
In front of them, the skeleton of Gryphon Labs stood silent. The façade was smoking, and the twin doors were burst open. Large chunks of the metal structure were blown apart, and plumes of smoke threatened to choke the air.
Among the carnage, a lone figure stood in front of the ruins. Terra stood there in her clothes, now tattered and scorched in some places, with a dazed look her eyes. She just stood there, staring forward as though she didn't see the ship landing. Around her lay the still figures of Cloud, Iron Man, and Gyllin.
"Tony!" Samus yelled as she leapt from her seat, and practically flew out of the hatch. Hawkeye sat there, stunned, for a moment, and then he followed Samus out of the ship.
Samus had already reached Iron Man by the time Hawkeye jumped down from the ship's hatch. She sat next to him, and removed her helmet.
"Tony," she whispered. "Speak to me."
"Samus," he groaned. "Is that you?"
"No, just some figment of your imagination, Shellhead," she said softly.
"Samus," he said. "It is good to see you again." She just hugged him wordlessly.
"Terra?" Hawkeye asked her. She just stood there, breathing shallowly. "Terra?" He asked again, waving a hand in front of her face. She jumped with a gasp.
"Clint," she said in a hushed voice.
"What happened here?" Clint asked.
"Doom," Iron Man said as he got up with Samus' help.
"Damn!" Hawkeye said. "I should have guessed that he had his hands in this!"
"Who is 'Doom'?" Samus asked.
"Dr. Victor Von Doom," Iron Man said dryly. "Easily the most infamous villain of our time."
"And the most talkative," Hawkeye said. "He loves to hear himself talk."
"I.. figured.. that.. out," Gyllin's voice came weakly over the talking.
"Gyllin!" Samus ran to him, and Hawkeye went to go check on Cloud. "You're alive!"
"Yeah, thanks for noticing," he grunted. "So that was Dr. Doom. Interesting."
"You've heard of him?" Samus asked.
"I've seen his name mentioned once or twice," Gyllin said as he stood himself up. His skin and clothes were scorched in some areas, and his hair looked frayed and tattered, but otherwise looked okay.
"What happened?" Samus asked, looking over the wreckage of the lab.
"I blew it up," Gyllin said.
"You what!?" Samus exclaimed.
"I blew it up," Gyllin repeated with a shrug. "Doom and his cronies were going to take off with Terra unless I did something drastic – and I did."
"But your inventions," Samus said. "Your livelihood!"
"Not much there," Gyllin shrugged. Samus paused, and looked at Gyllin's face, trying to read it. His face was calm, but his eyes betrayed him. She went up and hugged him wordlessly.
"It'll be all right," she whispered.
"Hey," Hawkeye said, shaking Cloud, who was breathing heavily. "You all right there?" His eyes opened with a start.
"I feel like I've been run over by a herd of angry Chocobos," Cloud said, rubbing his eyes. "Other than that, I'm fine. But how?"
"I'd like to know that myself," Iron Man said as he looked at Terra, who still had a frazzled look on her face.
"I.. I," she paused. "I awoke a side of me that was dormant for a while. The Esper side of me. It is still hard for me to control, which is why you all lost consciousness, but it was the only way."
"We're not blaming you, Terra," Iron Man said. "Just amazed is all."
"Good to know that everyone is okay," Samus said. "But we have to get going. The meeting with Ridley is in less than ten hours. We can talk and rest on the way." She turned to Gyllin. "You can come with us if you wish."
"No," Gyllin said. "Samus, I blew up my lab willingly, you know why?"
"No," she said.
"Because my two greatest inventions were not in there," he said. "Your time travel device, which is safely aboard your ship, and this," he pressed a button, and a small Federation-style fighter arose from the trees. It was a triangular design with thrusters in the back, and armaments on the wing.
"A Federation fighter?" Samus asked with a quizzical glance.
"Hmph," Gyllin grunted. "Please don't insult her. It is the prototype for those Federation cows. This baby has boosted engines and shields, twin photon launchers, and quad plasma cannons."
"All of which are illegal," Samus said.
"Precisely," Gyllin said. "Which is why the Federation had to strip down the design when they decided to use it. Bunch of pansies if you ask me."
"You designed the current Federation fighter?" Samus asked with a raised eyebrow.
"Surprised?"
"No," she said. Gyllin walked up to the fighter, and crawled into it. "Where are you going?"
"To call in some favors," Gyllin said. "I plan on giving Doom the bill for my lab. I'll see you later," he said as the cockpit closed, and the ship rose of the ground, flew over the treetops, and off into space as a bright speck in the sky.
"All right," Samus said. "Let's get out of here."
Magius sat behind his desk in the cavernous room scribbling down some notes on a piece of paper when Doom entered.
"Why did you come back without the Chosen?" Magius asked without even looking up.
"Iron Man got in the way," Doom growled.
"I did not ask for excuses, Doom," Magius said firmly as he looked up from his work. "I asked for the Chosen, and you failed to bring her to me."
"Iron Man is dead," Doom said. "And so is that swordsman and the scientist helping Samus Aran. The old fool blew up his own lab. They were too crippled to have made it out."
"Now that is good news," Magius said with the barest spectre of a smile. "Well done. Now, please explain to me why the Chosen is not with you?"
"She also died back in the explosion," Doom said with a scowl behind his mask.
"I told you to bring her back," Magius said, standing up.
"You said she was no longer important," Doom said, louder. "That you did not need her anymore, and that Iron Man and Samus Aran were the real targets here!"
"And what of Samus? Is she dead as well?" Magius asked.
"No," Doom said. "She was not there."
"Every time you show some redeeming feature, Doom," Magius said sternly. "You go and ruin it. With Samus still alive, our plan is in jeopardy. Especially without the Chosen."
"Why do we need her?" Doom asked. "We have the Janus and the Vulcan's Heart."
"Yes," Magius said. "But we lack the battery. And I do not want to be the battery! But it looks like we have little choice in the matter," Magius said as he sat down. "I will give you one more chance to prove yourself Doom, or else I will make sure you get lost in the time stream somewhere. Understood?"
"Perfectly," the words burned in Doom's mouth.
"I want you to take care of Samus Aran. Now, leave me," Magius said with a wave of his hand. Doom stormed out.
"You're still alive," Magius said to himself as he stared at a piece of Magicite on his desk. The strange tube on energy glowed with a faint aura. "I can feel you Terra, even across the reaches of space. You will be my battery, my Chosen. Silence," he said.
The girl in black stepped out of the shadows, and bowed wordlessly.
"I want you to keep and eye on Doom. I trust he is planning something foolish," Magius said. The girl nodded. "Also, execute the Space Pirate spy and send the remains to Zebes." Silence nodded again and silently exited the room. Magius sighed to himself, and pressed a red button under his desk.
"Faith?" he said.
"Yes," a female's voice answered.
"I need to see you in my office, love," Magius said with a smile. The other end went silent. Within a minute, the doors opened revealing a figure wearing a suit of armor very similar in design to Samus', except that it was black and blue instead of red and gold. The helmet was off, revealing the face of the bronze skinned, blonde haired woman from the garden.
"You wanted to see me, Lord Magius?" She asked with a bow.
"Yes, Faith," Magius said. "Come closer, please," he gestured and she walked up to his desk. "Ah yes," he said, studying the armor. "A masterpiece. So finely crafted." He paused. "I am told your training is almost complete."
"Yes," Faith said.
"Good," Magius said. "I want you to come with us to the Graveyard. I have a special assignment for you there."
"Yes, my Lord," Faith said, and Magius smiled.
Doom thundered down the hall, flurry of emotions raging inside of him. How dare he speak to Doom like that! This alliance is growing wearisome! He thought as he marched down the hall to a set of double doors at the end. They opened with a soft hiss, and Doom entered the well-lit room with luxurious furnishings adorning it. It was a good-sized room, but still only a fraction the size of Magius'.
Enchantress lounged on a crimson velvet couch, while Wrecker stood next to a window, watching the lush landscape outside. He showed no induction that his wounds bothered him. Each turned their attention to Doom as he entered in a flurry.
"What's wrong?" Enchantress asked.
"Magius," Doom hissed as he paced the room. "I will crush him!" Doom made a fist.
"Then we are going along with the plan?" Enchantress asked.
"Yes," Doom said. "I am not given power as a dog would be given a treat, I take power as a king would take a crown from the clutches of his fallen foe!" He smashed his fist into a wall, leaving a dent.
"What about this Samus chick?" Wrecker asked. "She's pretty tough."
"We'll let Magius' Syndicate deal with her," Doom smirked behind his mask. "Put up enough of a fight to convince Magius we are on his side, but don't strain yourselves," Doom said. Enchantress and Wrecker turned and smiled wolfishly at each other.
"They're all sleeping now," Tony said as he sat down next to Samus. She just stood there, resting her head on her hand, letting the autopilot guide them. Both were in their armor still, sans the helmets.
"You should rest too," Samus said.
"And what about you?" Tony asked.
"I'll manage," she said.
"Then I'll manage with you," Tony responded.
"Thanks," Samus said. "I can't believe that they followed you to the labs. I thought we were safe there. Poor Gyllin."
"He did what he needed to do," Iron Man said. "I admire his courage."
"Yeah," Samus said.
"Anyway," Tony said. "I hate to bring this up now, but what did you end up digging up on Aluren?"
"Ah," Samus said, perking up a bit. "You will find this quite enlightening," she said as she turned on a small computer monitor on her control panel. "I only skimmed through it, but I got the important bits out of it." Iron Man just stared intently at the screen.
"Joseph Martin Aluren was born in 1918," Samus started.
"What!?" Iron Man exclaimed.
"It's right here, look," Samus said, pointing to the screen. "Here is a picture of his graduation from Harvard – where he graduated top of his class I might add." Iron Man stared at the picture, and saw a young man with the same hawk nose and the same piercing dark eyes. He was clean-shaven.
"Later," Samus said as Iron Man stared in stunned disbelief. "He joined the military in developing weapons, and he was an integral part of the Manhattan Project." Another picture, this one of a slightly older Aluren, now sporting the goatee, with another project scientist and a top military official.
"This has to be a coincidence," Iron Man said. "It can't be the same person."
"Here," Samus said "Is Aluren working on the Roswell craft at Area 51."
"Wait, you have pictures of these in the future?" Iron Man arched an eyebrow.
"Yeah," Samus shrugged. "The Federation declassified most of it a while back. They thought it foolish to keep it a secret when we were making contact with new aliens on a monthly basis. Anyway, here is a picture of him in the late 50's, working on more experimental military hardware."
"He hasn't aged a day," Iron Man said in a hushed voice as he stared at the young man in the picture in front of him. Aluren stood in front of an object that looked like a flying wing.
"A stealth plane," Iron Man said. "Interesting."
"Here comes another crucial part," Samus said, and a picture of Galactus filled the screen."
"The Coming of Galactus," Iron Man said.
"Yup," Samus said as she pressed another button. A short video started playing, the audio muted out. Iron Man recognized the Fantastic Four but he could barely make out a reporter's frantic voice as he relayed what was going on. "Here," Samus said as she paused the video. She pointed to one bystander. Iron Man looked at it, and his eyes widened. He recognized the angular face of Aluren instantly now.
"What's here dong there?" Iron Man asked.
"Don't know," Samus said. "But here is something else. Here is Aluren working with NASA on their latest space project – in 2015." Iron Man looked at the picture of Aluren standing with the scientists. Other than the peppering of his black beard, his face still held many youthful properties. "Not bad looking for a 97 year old."
"Not at all," Iron Man said.
"He is on the payroll for NASA until 2056, when he left to start his own business – Jenova Enterprises."
"There's that name again," Iron Man said.
"Yeah," Samus said. "Anyway, Jenova Enterprises was a group dedicated to world peace. Then the last Earth War happened in 2078. It was the war that caused the birth of the Federation and essentially ended all hostility on Earth. Aluren was asked to design weapons for it, but he refused. In fact he was an active protestor against the war –despite the end results. We got peace through the war, but Aluren was openly disgusted with the violence."
"Apparently, all those years designing weapons got to him," Iron Man said. Samus just nodded.
"After that, he disappeared."
"Disappeared?" Iron Man asked.
"No one – not even the Federation – knows what happened. He just disappeared. Only," Samus said, "To emerge fifty years later in 2125. One hundred years ago. That is when he started the Jenova station project."
"And no one questioned this? I mean he was gone for fifty years!"
"He faked a birth certificate, and erased all of his past records – except for those in the Federation Archives of course, so everyone thought this was some guy with a name honoring Aluren, a relative or something."
"I guess the obvious question is," Iron Man said. "How did he live so long?"
"The records show his as a member of the Mystics, a group of people who believe they have psychic or magical powers or something," Samus said. "He was a founding member of the group in 1939."
"I've never heard of such a group," Iron Man said. "And I've dealt with many magically inclined people and psychics in my time."
"Doesn't surprise me," Samus said. "It was very secretive and select. You not only had to possess 'mystic talents', you also had to hold their ideals."
"Which were?"
"To rule over those without such talents a benevolent rulers."
"Sounds like a certain mutant I know," Iron Man snorted. "Except for the 'benevolent' part."
"Anyway," Samus said. "He left the group for unknown reasons, though it happened after a certain event. An event that is very pivotal in Aluren's files and ideologies." Samus went back to a previous still.
"Galactus," Iron Man said staring at the Devourer of Worlds, and Aluren's small from in the frame.
"Precisely," Samus said. "After that encounter, Aluren left the weapons development teams of the military and went to NASA, where he stayed, watching with the world with a jaded view of things. His protests hinged on the idea that why should humanity fight amongst themselves when there is a greater enemy among the stars. He thought humanity's in-fighting was pointless and foolish."
"So that's why he left," Iron Man said. "And disappeared."
"It also explains the Janus," Samus said. "Aluren wanted to develop tools to unite mankind, and eventually the rest of the universe against beings like Galactus. He refused to design weapons to use against even those like Thanos and Galactus. That is why he looked so frazzle back on Jenova – he didn't want to see his tool for peace turn into a weapon."
"He wasn't sad or worried about that," Iron Man said shaking his head. "He was scared of it."
"What did you find out?" Samus almost whispered after a short pause.
"The Janus is a source of infinite power," Iron Man said. "That runs off of living beings."
"What?" Samus said with a quizzical look.
"Terra called them 'Espers'," Iron Man continued. "Beings of spiritual energy that were converted into power cells called 'Magicite' on her world. A material called 'Materia' from Cloud's world then further stabilizes these Magicite crystals. That is what provides the Janus with its limitless supply of power."
"That explains Alurens' disappearance!" Samus said. "When he left Earth, he went to Cloud's homeworld and Terra's homeworld. There, he conducted the research he needed to build a device to unite people in peace."
"How did he find those worlds?"
"He felt them," Samus said, her voice cold. "Being a Mystic would have allowed him to feel his way to them across space."
"The idea seems far fetched," Iron Man said. "And I wouldn't believe it if it weren't for he fact I have seen stranger things with the Avengers."
"So why was Aluren so scared of his own device, then?" Samus asked.
"When converted to a weapon, it can suck the souls away from living things and use them to further enhance its power generating capacity," Iron Man said. "In other words, it gets stronger every time it is used. So much, in fact, that it needs a human 'battery' of intense spiritual power to stabilize it."
"Terra," Samus said. Iron Man nodded. "So, in order to stop Galactus the first time, Aluren needed a battery to handle all the power generated."
"Bingo," Iron Man nodded. "But the records do not indicate who it was."
"It was Aluren," Samus said. "He put himself as the battery. The records in the Federation do not show it either, but I can be sure it was him, for the records show him as 'disappearing' again after the defeat of Galactus."
"It would make sense that, since he had nothing left to lose, he would be the one to do it."
"Now," Samus said. "Comes my question: why do they need the Heart?"
"They need it as an additional power supply," Iron Man said. "As I scanned over the plans, I noticed something unusual. The final record of the Janus said it was nearly destroyed in the confrontation with Galactus, and some of the Magicite was wiped out. Now, Terra said that the Espers on her world were destroyed, which would make it impossible to obtain more Magicite."
"So they need another way to generate the power," Samus said.
"Precisely," Iron Man said. "And the Heart's design is nearly identical – except for the running off of the souls of once living beings part. The part I wonder, though, is how did they found out about the Heart. There aren't any records in history about it."
"Tony," Samus said. "There is one last thing I want to show you." She pulled up a photo set from the summit where Tony unveiled the Heart. After cycling the pictures of the familiar event to Tony, she stopped on one.
"No," Iron Man whispered as he fell back in his seat. Seated in the back of the audience, nestled among a large group of people was Aluren's quiet, hawk-like face. "He was there?"
"He knew about the Heart, Tony," Samus said.
"But how did the Syndicate know about it?" Iron Man asked.
"Because Aluren is still alive," Samus said. "After he 'disappeared' last, a new group of criminals appeared. Their goal was the disruption of large governing bodies to promote peace. They call themselves the Syndicate." Iron Man just stared at Samus with a look of stunned disbelief.
In front of Samus' ship was not a planet nor a space station like Samus was expecting, but rather a fleet of large, slender ships. Interspersed among the large capitol ships, fighters patrolled the area. A pair of them flew up to Samus' ship, and Samus gave them the appropriate pass codes. The fighters then went to escorting Samus' ship to the central capital cruiser.
Samus landed her ship in the docking bay of the cruiser, and waited for the bay to pressurize before she exited the ship. She was wearing full armor again, as was Iron Man, who followed her out. Hawkeye, Cloud, and Terra, soon followed.
"Weclome," the insectoid figure of a Space Pirate clicked as it walked up to them. Two other Space Pirates in armor and carrying strange looking rifles covered the lead figure's flank.
"Likewise," Samus said dryly.
"Ridley is expecting you," the figure said. "This way, please," it motioned to the door, and started walking. The group then followed. After navigating through crowded and twisting corridors, they eventually stopped in front of a simple door. The door opened into a well-lit room with a large round table in the center, and a variety of chairs surrounding the room. The figure motioned Samus in, and then left. Samus and the others tentatively walked in.
"You're early," Ridley said.
"Yes," Samus said.
"What have you found out?" Ridley asked as he flew from his perch in the corner of he room. Kraid lumbered behind him. Samus scanned the rest of the room. "Don't worry, Samus, it's just the two of us. Relax."
"Hard for me to do so when I am surrounded by Space Pirates," she said.
"Now, now, Samus," Ridley hissed. "We're allies, you can trust us. Did you get the information you sought?"
"Right here," Samus said, handing Ridley a data disk. "And you?"
"The Syndicate is on the move," Ridley said. "They have mobilized heir fleet and are preparing to move. However," Ridley paused. "Our spy was caught and executed recently – probably by the girl, Silence. That put a hamper on our intelligence gathering."
"Did you find out where they were going?" Iron Man asked.
"No," Ridley hissed. "Now, let us learn of Aluren and his Janus." Ridley inserted the data disk and poured over the information. After a few hours, he turned off the computer, and looked towards Samus.
"Now things are starting to make sense," Ridley said. "The Syndicate intends to revive Kyliska and use him as a weapon."
"That is what we think as well," Samus said.
"They could also use the Janus," Iron Man said. "Which could be even more dangerous than Galactus."
"Which means we have to act fast," Ridley said. "We have to come up with a plan for stopping the Syndicate."
"If we could get the Heart back, it would disrupt their plans," Iron Man said.
"I suggest taking the fight to them," Samus said. "We can go and attack the Syndicate before they move and stop the threat before it becomes threatening."
"I actually agree with you, Samus," Ridley said. "I would love to go and rip Magius' head off of his wretched body, but our intelligence suggests that they are already moving. And there is the issue of Terra. We need to keep her out of Syndicate hands."
"What about here?" Hawkeye suggested. "You guys look pretty set up, and it would be hard to find her here."
"I would not like the full brunt of the Syndicate put upon my fleet," Ridley said.
"But you just said you'd love to go storming in on their base," Hawkeye said.
"That is different. I hate being on the defensive," Ridley hissed.
"And," Terra said softly. "Magius would find me. I feel his presence in my mind now. He doesn't know where I am now, but he will find me eventually."
"Can we hit the Syndicate on the move, then?" Hawkeye suggested.
"Good idea – if we could find them," Samus said.
"Our intelligence thinks they are heading to the Graveyard," Ridley said. "The place where Galactus fell."
"That would make sense," Iron Man said.
"Then let's go there," Cloud suggested. "And let's bring Terra."
"What?" Iron Man, Hawkeye, Ridley and Samus all exclaimed at once.
"Think about it," Cloud said. "They can track Terra down, so keeping her hidden is out. They are moving, and their base well defended, so trying to hit their base or their fleet would prove difficult. But, they need Terra for their plans. I say we go to this Graveyard and wait for them to come to us.
"They will bring the Janus and Heart most likely," Cloud continued. "And we can set up a defensive position there and wait. In one fell swoop, we can protect Terra, disrupt the Syndicate, destroy the Janus, and retrieve the Heart. Plus, it will be a good opportunity to bonk some heads," Cloud shrugged.
"I think he is on to something," Iron Man said.
"A sound plan," Ridley hissed.
"It is as good as anything else we've come up with," Samus said.
"Are you okay with it, Terra?" Cloud asked her.
"I just want all of this to be over," she said. "I will do whatever you ask of me, because," she paused. "I trust you."
"Then it is settled," Samus said. "We make our way to the Graveyard and wait for the Syndicate there."
"Our fleet will be ready to move within the hour," Ridley hissed. "Let us go and make the Syndicate reach its end!"
It felt weird for Samus Aran, intergalactic bounty hunter, to be walking around a ship crawling with Space Pirates. As she walked down the corridors alone with her thoughts, she glanced cautiously at the pirates around her. They all returned her caution, staring at her with a mix of bitterness and confusion. She kept her guard up at all times, expecting a trap, an ambush, anything. But nothing happened, for which she was thankful for.
She hated this whole idea since day one, and it still left a bitter taste in her mouth every time she spoke of alliances with that beast Ridley. He was the one ultimately responsible for the Hatchling's death, as he was the one who stole it for Mother Brain. He and Kraid caused countless agony upon her and others with their schemes. And here she was, on a Space Pirate ship, going into battle along side them against a much, much greater threat.
Samus walked into the docking bay where her ship was, and saw Ridley loading gear onto a troop transport, while the troops mulled around. She walked up to Ridley hesitantly.
"This is just as awkward for me," he hissed as Samus walked up. "As it is for you."
"I know," Samus said. "Do you think that we'll truly arrive there before the Syndicate?"
"I believe so," Ridley hissed. "We are closer than they are. I chose this location to meet because I knew that we would have to go to the Graveyard sometime before this ordeal was over." He ordered a crate to be lifted onto the transport.
"What are in the crates?" Samus asked.
"A surprise," Ridley said as he opened one. It was a heavy, bulky looking rifle that resembled more of a rocket launcher. "For our friends. They are Phazon weapons."
"Phazon!" Samus almost shouted. "Are you nuts? You know that stuff is unstable."
"Yes," Ridley hissed. "And potent. We will need them if Kyliska is awakened."
"I guess so," Samus said with a sigh. "When we will be leaving."
"In moments," Ridley said. "Go prepare yourself, bounty hunter."
"I will," she said as she walked away. Then she spotted Tony walking close to her ship. She walked up to him.
"Iron Man," she said.
"Samus," he replied. "How are you doing?"
"Fine," she said. "I want to talk to you. Privately."
"Okay," Iron Man said.
"We'll use my ship," she said, her heart pounding in her chest. She swallowed hard. This is it she thought.
"Sounds good," Iron Man replied. "These Space Pirates make me uncomfortable."
"Tell me about it," Samus said as she walked up to her ship, and entered through the hatch. Iron Man followed. Inside, the ship was dark, and Samus preferred to keep it that way.
"What did you want to talk to me about?" Tony asked as he sat down. Samus sat on the seat next to him in the cockpit.
"Something that I've been pouring over for some time, actually," she said nervously. How can I be nervous? She thought. After all I've been through, I am still nervous. Bloody hell…
"Tony.. I.." she paused. "I want to let you know that I have deep feelings for you. At first, I thought they were nothing, but as the year passed, and I saw you again, I realized that I was feeling something I had never felt before. And I like it."
"Samus," Iron Man said. "I can't begin to tell you how happy that makes me. I have felt similar feelings recently, but thought it foolish. I thought I would never see you again, and here you are in front of me. I wish I could be with you."
"But it seems unlikely," Samus said. "I know. But I just wanted to let you know."
"Thank you," Iron Man said. "Maybe after this whole mess is over, we can talk it over more."
"I'd like that, Tony," Samus said as she got up, and hugged him. "Just don't do anything stupid later."
"You too," Tony said as he hugged her back.
"Cloud?" Terra asked. "Are you nervous?"
She stood in the small room, watching the stars again. For some reason they made her calm inside. Cloud sat on a bed behind her, his hands and chin resting on the hilt of his sword, which rested point down on the floor.
"Yes," Cloud said plainly, and Terra walked up to him, and sat next to the warrior.
"I am glad that I am not alone, then," she said with a slight laugh. "Samus, Tony and Clint always seem so sure of themselves, I was afraid I was the only nervous one here, then."
"They're all nervous as well," Cloud said, looking at her. "They just hide it well. Every skilled warrior is nervous before going into a battle, especially one as large as this one."
"Yeah," Terra said as she reached out and put one of her hands on one of his. He removed it from the hilt of the sword, and clasped her's firmly. "Don't be nervous, all right? No matter what happens, it will all be all right."
"I know," he said, brushing his other hand against her face. The sword fell to the ground with a clatter. She wrapped both of her arms around him, and Cloud m mimicked the motion. "Nothing will happed to you," he whispered. Terra just held him tighter, saying nothing.
"Wow," Hawkeye said. "It really is a graveyard."
Samus' ship now sped along side the Space Pirate fleet as the approached the vast sea of metal debris dubbed the Graveyard.
"It was the site of the final battle with Galactus," Samus said. Iron Man sat next to her, while Cloud, Terra, and Hawkeye stood behind them. "This is all that remains of the Federation fleet sent out to stop him." She flew her ship away from some debris with the writing F.S.S. Intrepid on the side. The Pirate ships blasted anything that got in their way.
"So where is Galactus?" Hawkeye asked.
"There," Iron Man said breathlessly as a large sphere came into view. It was, for the most part, intact. Only a few chunks of metal blasted off the sides and a few blast marks marred the perfect spherical surface. Surrounding the station was an array of arms, which Iron Man took to be docking ports. In what was probably the front of he sphere, a large round door was closed.
"Hasn't changed," Iron Man said.
"Yeah," Hawkeye said. "Brings a shiver down your spine, doesn't it?"
"Samus," Ridley's voice hissed over the intercom. "We are moving our transports in. Meet us in the main corridor."
"Got it," Samus said as she maneuvered her ship to the nearest docking port.
The ship landed in the bay, and the five heroes exited the ship after it was pressurized. The docking bay was large and cavernous with one large door exiting from it. Samus walked up to a panel on the side of the door, and pressed some buttons. With the sound of straining metal, the doors opened. The group then walked through the massive doors and into a large, high vaulted, hallway.
"This doesn't look like something Galactus would build," Iron Man commented.
"It isn't," Samus said as Terra walked through the doors. They closed behind her. "This part was build by the Federation to bring large numbers of troops in here to keep tabs on Galactus after the battle."
"So Galactus' body is in here somewhere?" Hawkeye asked.
"Yes," Samus said. "In the main room of the sphere. That is where, if the stories are to believed, Aluren confronted Galactus with the Janus."
"Well, let's go meet up with Ridley and pay him a visit," Iron Man said, when Cloud looked around frantically.
"Where's Terra?" He asked.
"She's gone?" Hawkeye asked, amazed. All four looked down the corridor and saw Terra slowly walking down the corridor to the massive doors at the end.
"Terra!" Cloud shouted, as he started to run, but he stopped.
She was walking forward as the doors started to open, and a squad of black armored soldiers rushed out, guns at the ready. The soldiers took up defensive positions, and pointed their weapons at the four remaining heroes. Enchantess stood behind them, luring Terra forward while Wildfire stepped out twirling his gun.
"Bastards!" Samus shouted as she level her gun arm at them. Cloud drew his sword, Iron Man trained his repulsers on them, and Hawkeye notched an arrow.
"How did they get here before us?" Cloud growled.
"How did we not see them?" Iron Man asked.
"Lower your weapons," Wildfire said with a broad grin. He stopped twirling his gun, and pointed it at Terra. "If you want her to live." The four relaxed their weapons.
"You won't hurt her," Iron Man said. "You need her."
"Correction," Enchantress said as Terra walked up to her. "We don't. We have back up plans if necessary." Enchantress gingerly ran a finger down Terra's expressionless face. Wildfire still kept a gun trained on her.
"But you do," Wildfire said. "You don't want to see her killed do you?" He grinned maliciously. Cloud breathed hard, fury burning in his eyes. The heroes still held their ground. "No? Then go home." He laughed and stepped back with Enchantress. The line of Syndicate soldiers formed up to cover the pair, and backed through the door. When they were all through, Wildfire grinned widely, and shot the door controls, forcing the doors shut with a loud crash.
"Bastards!" Cloud said. "I will personally gut them all!"
"Easy, there," Hawkeye said. "We have to get through that door, and let me tell you, Big G liked his privacy. That door won't budge now." Cloud was still tense, but said nothing.
"What's all the shouting about?" Ridley asked as he showed up with Kraid and a large group of Space Pirates in tow.
"The Syndicate beat us here," Samus said icily.
"And they have Terra," Iron Man said.
"That's impossible!" Ridley hissed. "We would have seen the Syndicate ships." A beeping sound cut him. "Yes," Ridley hissed as he answered his com.
"Sir," a crackling voice said. "Syndicate ships are arriving from the other side of the planet! They were hiding in a shadow, away form our sensors!"
"Keep them occupied!" Ridley hissed. He shut off the com, and threw it hard at the floor, shattering it. "How!?"
"I don't know," Samus said.
"Terra did," Cloud said, closing his eyes. "She knew. She said Magius could feel her, and I think she could feel him as well."
"She agreed to do this, despite the danger?" Hawkeye asked. "Why?"
"I think she wanted to get it over with," Cloud said. "But she also told me before we arrived not to worry, that everything will be all right. I think she knows what she is doing."
"In any case," Hawkeye said. "Through that door is Terra, the Heart, the Janus, Doom, Magius, about a million Syndicate members and one Devourer of Worlds. I say we go pay them a social call."
"Agreed," Samus growled. "Everyone brace yourselves, this is going to make a big explosion."
"My favorite kind," Hawkeye said with a smirk.
Samus grabbed a Phazon cannon from a close Space Pirate, and quickly wired it to her suit. The resulting shot blew through the doors like they were paper, leaving a large hole in the doors. The heroes were all floored by it, and Samus flew back a hundred feet from the recoil.
"Wow!" Iron Man exclaimed.
"Unfortunatly, I won't be able to repeat the trick," Samus said. "My armor can't take it. But we now have a doorway of opportunity here."
"What's the plan?" Ridley asked.
"To go in," Samus said, grinning behind her helmet. "With all guns blazing and hope to take out as many of them as we can!"
"Now you're talkin'!" Hawkeye said.
"I like it," Ridley said with a laugh.
"Then let's do this!" Samus said.
"I think someone is way ahead of you," Iron Man said as he pointed to Cloud. The spiky haired warrior was already running to the burst door, sword at the ready.
"All right! For Earth!" Samus yelled as she ran towards the door, Iron Man kicked his boot jest into gear and followed. Hawkeye ran on foot.
"For Zebes!" Ridley yelled while Kraid bellowed. He then surged forward with Kraid and his legion of Space Pirates.