(A/N:

I wouldn't be surprised if all my reviewers had all died and gone to heaven, but I'll update anyway. Sorry for the wait! Dang, what have I been thinking?

Well, I've snapped out of it, so hopefully I'll start updating regularly again. I finished chapter twelve in the rough draft now, so all I have to do is type it up...

Well, no more blabbling. I'm sure if you haven't died yet you will reading this insanely long a/n...so I'll stop now. On with the fic!)

X: Resolutions

It was hard to tell whether she'd been dreaming or only remembering. Samus knew that at some point she had fallen asleep, at least for a little while; the last morning, when she'd woken up, still believing she was ordered not to move by HQ, seemed so long ago. Ages and ages ago. So much had happened—it was as if her whole world had been torn apart in an instant, to be replaced by this rectangular, mind-numbing cell.

She stared at the doorway, blocked by an invisible barrier. Like so many things in her life. So many things kept inside by manners, occupation, status. So many infernal little details that had shaped the way she thought. A line of plastic rimmed the entrance, probably what kept the electricity from sparking out of its generators in the wall frame. It was grey.

Grey, Samus thought. Grey federation ships. Grey corridors. Grey statues, the only remains she had left of the Chozo. Grey computers. Straight shoulders, head held high, strong grey eyes...

Be a hero, Samus.

Damn! Samus thought suddenly, it's impossible. Impossible not to care. I've been trying not to care since...since... but I've failed. It's impossible.

It was true.

She got up slowly, staring down at her hands as if by thinking about it she oculd make her cannon reappear. With it, it would probably take just a few shots to pulverize the circuits in the walls that presumably produced the electric current; without, there was little chance she could succeed at destroying them. Which meant there had to be another way to get out.

Samus paced the floor in a slow circle, trying to figure out a solution. There had to be one—the bounty hunter had never taken no for an answer. Her footsteps made a light, consistent tapping on the floor, and she could feel her suit building up the kinetic energy created by the motion, to store in the leg-armor for extra strength. That was the basic concept of the speed boost, to build up enough momentum to be used to propel the suit—and the wearer—forward, at a velocity high enough to burst through weaker walls.

...If she could blast through walls—the thought came naturally from the path her brain was taking—why not electricity? Walking though it might kill her, but if she went through fast enough, it wouldn't have enough time to get through to her...but the speed boost worked only on straightaways and corridors long enough to build up enough power. She would never have enough space in this tiny cell.

Samus continued to pace, frustrated once more, feet beating a steady circuit on the floor...wait.

A circle had no turns.

Samus didn't hesitate any longer than was necessary. She launched herself into as wide a curve as the cell permitted, running as fast as she could. The hunter could feel the momentum building up in her suit, and it began to radiate energy, glowing weirdly like a strange neon light circling around and around in an insane whirlwind of color. There would be only one chance—she would have to get it right, or die.

Samus contained the energy and positioned herself, knowing it would de-charge in seconds if she hesitated. An instant longer, and she let go and felt the power shooting her through the air, into the barrier.

She hit and kept going, eyes squeezed shut against the seething, crackling electricity that pulsed and tore around her. It was too much...she wouldn't make it...trails of lighning scorched her body, going through the power suit like it was so much conductor metal...

Samue hit the wall on the other side of the outside room, heavily-armored shoulder first, making a dull, structure-shaking thud. Stray electricity arced over her body, fading slowly as her power suit absorbed it. She lay there, feeling the flesh on her body hot and burning, then sore, then, slowly, cooler and cooler until it felt normal once more. Then, taking a sharp breath, she hoisted herself up from the groud and began looking around.

She was in a large room, maybe a storage room, filled with 'open' compartments like the one she'd been held in. Some had equipment, and others tanks of specimens, experiments of all kinds. There was a computer terminal on an island in the center of the room, full of silent, blinking screens. And it was deserted.

Samus took a step forward, cautiously, hearing her steps echo in the suddenly oppressive silence. Where was everything? There should be space pirates here. Should be activity, guards, scientists, something. Not empty.

She took another step. All prior experience was screaming at her, to run, get out as soon as possible. Trap! It shrieked, It's all a trap, Samus! Still, she stepped on, every sense wired to her surroundings, expecting any moment for something to leap out, snarling a battle cry. This shouldn't be like this, she thought, but, if it really were true...hope battled sense for dominance of her actions, and hope won. The computer sat docile, a sea of information at her fingertips.

Still, she had to be careful. Samus scanned the room nervously though her visor, checking for traps or ambushes lying in wait, watching for some letting-down of her guard; when none were apparent, she stepped closer to the computers and began to look for ways to access the system.

It wasn't that difficult. As she explored the network of the computer, noting the quirks and traits of the machine, Samus mused that she'd been hacking a lot lately, and nothing her 'research' had revealed had ever been good. She scrolled down lists of information, pictures, charts and graphs. Some tecnological designs caught her eye, but she resisted the urge to examine the odd forms closer; she had to stay focused on the goal. She was about to close the file and look elsewhere when she noticed a tiny link at the bottom, and, curious, clicked it.

An exclamation stopped short of whispering out of her lips. Laid out on the screen was a huge web of links and information, carefully hooked together and sewn into a master-plan for disaster. And her amazement never stopped growing, as she skimmed each of the central parts in turn, her brain fighting for comprehension of such a large-scale plan. It was all here. Floorplan of the ventilation shaft; information set onto a fake computer terminal; information fed to HQ; images from false transmition; record of emails and voice messages sent to/from arastrough's PC...it all fell into place as she looked over the information. It had all been a trap.

The pictures of Adam, used to lure her to Kelta-Z. A slip of 'Yeldir's' tongue, allowing the media to catch wind of the situation. The weak paneling in the ventilation shaft, assuming she would just barge straight through it and fall right into the computer room, where a terminal laced with incorrect facts would be waiting...

Samus felt her amazement slipping into anger. It had all been manuevered and mapped so far that she couldn't tell whether it had included her, right now, in this room, reading this. Maybe this, too, was all fake. But something told her that so much information could not be lying. There were other things in this computer, too much to have made up for a scene-setter. It had all been a trap, for HQ and most of their fighting force. And she, Samus Aran, was the bait.

"Dammit, Ridley, this is going too far," she croaked, anger blossoming in her chest. "I didn't come all this way to be manipulated!! I WON'T be part of your plan! I won't let you!"

She looked into the screen again, filled with a livid determination. ...documents sent to HQ through PC. Last transmission... her heart sank. The transmission summoning the officials to Kelta-Z had been sent nearly two hours ago. It took about an hour to get here from planet Aressus, which was several hours from HQ...and if they had started immediately after receiving the message, that gave her approximately an hour. Sixty galactic standard minutes. Thirty-six hundred rapidly ticking seconds.

Samus felt her pulse beginning to race as she automatically began reeling off a list of what she had to do. Find her cannon and helmet—try to disble the inhibitor if possible. If not, she could do it later.

There must be some type of destruction device Ridley could use to kill off all HQ's people once he'd gotten them inside the base. Samus knew what she had to do—find it, and activate it with Ridley still inside, before HQ arrived. Get out, if she could. If not...

Samus gritted her teeth, mentally cursing once again. There would be no time for error, no time for deviances from her path once she'd set it. She would never be able to defeat Ridley and leave in the time she'd allotted herself, not if she'd already set the device. Her only way would be to avoid him completely, or in the event that she encountered him, to detain him long enoughfor the station for the station to be cleared...with both of them inside.

For the galaxy. Samus swallowed every ounce of fear or apprehension, letting her face and mind clear of emotion. She'd already wasted precious minutes...

And Adam? the thought crashed through her mind, heedless of her defenses. What if he wasn't really working for the space pirates? What if...she could rescue him? Samus felt her throat choking up as she imagined leaving him, once more, just as she'd come so close... but if not...

She took a deep breath, mentally preparing herself for what she was about to do. she had to destroy the base before HQ got here, and get out herself if she could. She would not waste hundreds of lives to attempt to save a man who might not even be worth it. It was what Adam would've wanted—the real Adam, the one she'd known so long ago.

Be a hero, Samus.

(allright...again, I'm sorry for the long wait. Now, all I ask is your forgiveness...and a review to get me back into momentum. begs please?)