For whatever it may be worth, thank you for the thorough reviewing of previous chapters, Aran'sApprentice-Meahow.

Referring to it as a "matter of time" is an apt description. However, the story has another arc before resolving itself.

To answer the question regarding biology: Tal's armor skirts the line between dead and living. It is continually regrown, in a manner very similar to bone, but contains no nerves or blood vessels. Where the exoskeleton connects to flesh there is living tissue much closer to human flesh, but this occurs solely within his body (which has been severely modified to accommodate said exoskeleton).


Chapter 21: Zeniths

A low tone woke her up, though she didn't remember falling asleep. Instantly alert, Samus bounded to the cockpit and discovered she was nearing the station. Already it was looming ahead of her. As she had expected, it was simply floating in the middle of nowhere, where no ship had any reason to go. Soon it would someplace completely different but probably just as empty.

Bringing the ship to a halt, Samus waited for another ship to approach. If she was really going to try the sensor shadow trick, she'd have to wait for something big. There were actually a number of smaller ships coming and going from the station, but it couldn't hurt to be cautious.

None of the ships noticed her, given the fact that an unmoving cloaked ship was almost impossible to detect. Eventually a cargo ship lumbered forward, sending the smaller ships scurrying out of the way as it moved to dock with the hanger doors. Perfect. Sliding down and directly beneath the massive ship, Samus moved just behind it.

Staying in a sensor shadow as always tricky. There were things that could identify exactly where a sensor shadow was... but they would make you incredibly obvious. That made it more of a guessing game, where you had to feel your way through. She'd done this quite a few times, and was pretty confident she could drifted just beneath and behind the primary bulk of the cargo ship and remain in its sensor shadow.

While the ship itself blocked off all view of her own vessel from the hanger, Samus turned off the cloak. Nothing shot at her or started making noise, so she considered it success. When the cargo ship had docked completely, filling the majority of the entrance to the hanger, Samus slipped around it, flying sideways to enter the slot remaining before the docking bay doors closed.

Settling down in the hanger as if she belonged there, Samus turned ship security on to maximum and moved from the ship. Still no one shooting at her. Most people seemed completely involved with loading the massive cargo ship, so they didn't really even look at her. She wasn't going to complain.

Exiting her ship and leaving the room, Samus wandered while pretending to know where she was going. Eventually stumbling across an elevator, she entered and indicated she wanted to go to the opposite side of the station. The trip was somewhat long and annoying, as the elevator kept stopping when new people wanted to get on, but she just stood in the back and waited until they left.

Getting off at the opposite side of the station, safely away from her ship, Samus decided it was time to start. Where to do it, though? As much as she wanted to charge into the situation, it was more important to actually accomplish something. Moving to a computer, Samus messed with the controls and discovered that a massive central portion of the station had no information and was forbidden from public access... which meant she probably wanted to go there.

Walking to the doors to the center levels of the station, Samus discovered that the crowd around her had thinned and vanished. Apparently even people on a station like this, which was probably illegal, didn't go here. Whatever was inside was probably important.

Tapping at the computer, Samus discovered that its lock was sophisticated enough she couldn't hack through it. Interesting. That didn't happen very often. But there were other methods of opening doors.

Stepping back, Samus fired a couple of missiles at the door. It broke through it, but just barely... probably an extremely tough door. They really didn't want people inside... which meant that she needed to go inside very much.

Going through the hole in the door was rather anticlimactic. There wasn't anyone inside, and the corridors looked exactly the same. Shrugging and laughing at herself for expecting anything exciting, Samus began exploring. As her exploration continued, she felt her body temperature dropping.

Laboratories; dozens of experiments. There were heavy levels of nega photon radiation over everything, as heavy as the radiation on the research stations. Many of the things she had seen on Station Emerald were here as well, and some of the creatures she had fought on Station Sapphire were up on screens. This seemed like the culmination of the work of all three stations... and no records had indicated it even existed.

What exactly did that mean? Were the people behind this shadowy operation actually double crossing the scientists at the other stations, just using them and collecting all their data here? Or was this kept under far higher security than the rest of the project? Mystery upon mystery... but at the moment she didn't care.

More disturbing were the diagrams of human warriors, genetically combined with some of the aliens she had seen before. Like Tal, yet not completely like him. Curious, Samus examined the schematics further. They listed all the combat abilities of such models... making it pretty obvious what their intended purpose was. Though she already had enough evidence to lock anyone away for life, Samus downloaded this as well.

Oddly enough, however, things didn't quite match up. Tal's exoskeleton had been slightly different. It was interesting seeing how it moved beneath his skin, though slightly disgusting, and seeing how his internal organs would have permanently shifted to accommodate such a change. But the armor itself was still slightly different from Tal's. In fact, he had shown capabilities that she didn't see listed here. What did that make him?

Finishing the download, Samus moved on, to other experiments and the like. Then her eyes lit upon a large computer, documents still on screen. That was more like it. If anything was a base of operations, this was. A slight smile working its way onto her face, Samus moved to the computer and began reading.

"Wha- intrud-" the official's voice cut off as Samus shot him, without turning from the screen. As she read, she began to shake her head, almost in disbelief...


"Mr. Divel, sir!"

Calmly and coolly the politician in question turned to glance down at the aide rushing toward him. He had just stepped from his personal space ship, to a highly secure portion of his space station. In such conditions, he was not used to being assaulted with reports. The expression on his face clearly indicated his disdain.

"What is it?" he asked, as if infinitely patient with other's stupidity.

"Someone broke into the forbidden areas!" the aide gasped out. "They've probably seen everything, completely destroyed almost all of the TA project equipment and now they're downloading more information from the system. Most of the correspondences to the Galactic Council have already been taken!"

"Someone...?" Mr. Divel questioned. His features had tightened just slightly, however, the only indication of his worry. This could be very bad indeed...

"A bounty hunter, sir. We don't know who they are, but-"

"Samus," Mr. Divel hissed, eyes narrowing. His gaze shifted down to the aide, who quailed slightly. "Launch the entire TA series. Send security. Contact all the bounty hunters we have in our control. She must not leave this station alive."

"The... the TA series?" the aide stuttered. "Sir, they aren't ready... and besides, that would be a bloodbath!"

"I," Mr. Divel said calmly, voice icy and dangerous, "am the single most important man in the galaxy. In a few months, I will control everything. If I ask for a bloodbath... you'll give me a bloodbath."


Deeper and deeper the puzzle went. Scrolling down the page, Samus whistled lowly at what she read. This was quite a mess. By this point it was pretty obvious that almost the entire Galactic Council was corrupted, all controlled, knowingly or unknowingly, by certain individuals and corporations. All those led back to one man- Mr. Divel.

This corruption was so pervasive that it seemed no governmental organization was free from it. They, whoever "they" were, controlled the Assembly, the Council, the military... if all the facts that she had were made public, the government would be crippled. But private matters came before public ones, and she had a few scores to settle.

Jerking her head to the left, Samus narrowly avoided a burst of energy that blew off the top of the computer. Well, there went finding any further information. Not that it really mattered. She had the information that she needed. This annoying mystery had finally ended.

Ducking to the ground and spinning to face her attacker, her guns locking into place, Samus' fingers frozen just before they fully pulled the triggers. She had expected a guard at the doorway, or perhaps a bounty hunter. Not a warrior clad in exoskeleton, one hand raised.

Immediately she was forced to jump back slightly to evade another burst of nega photons. She recognized the armor as one of the varieties she had seen on the computer. Like Tal's and yet not like it. This one was also a very different color, light red as opposed to black. But it didn't matter. It was going to die.

Firing a barrage of low power shots that battered the twisted human back, Samus shifted her other arm from the magnetic grappling hook to the pointed one. After dodging another bolt, she fired it. The metal projectile broke through the monster's shoulder, expanding on the other side and locking into its back. It stumbled forward as she pulled herself across the room toward it.

Smashing an elbow into the creature's face, Samus drove it backward and into the wall. She felt the exoskeleton give way, which was surprisingly satisfying. These things weren't nearly as strong as Tal had been, then. Lesser models, so to speak.

One of its legs flew at her, but she met it on the way, smashing a foot into the partial alien's shin. Driving its leg to the floor, Samus turned and fired a shot at full power into its head. The creature fell back lifelessly. Not even that tough.

The next instant Samus ducked by instinct, and narrowly avoided a set of claws that would have slashed across her neck. Spinning on the ground, Samus tried to knock the new attacker, probably another twisted human, off its feet. It leapt just above her attack, but in the air couldn't dodge as she fired into its chest.

Blown backward, the creature managed to land on its feet and skidded across the chamber. So they were capable of surviving a shot like that. Probably a missile as well, though not a shot at her full power. It was moving with pretty good speed, evading her attacks. Though this one seemed to focus mostly on its claws, it could also fire the occasional bolt. Not fast enough to hit her, though.

Leaping back, the alien dropped to one knee and appeared to be concentrating. Samus had been about to charge, but decided against it, not knowing what it was doing. The next moment she regretted that, as the exoskeleton basically vomited something black onto the floor. Remembering Tal's acid, Samus began charging up power.

She realized, slightly disturbingly, that the dark mass on the floor was actually dozens of small, scorpion-like creatures. They began to rush across the floor toward her, even as the main opponent spit out more of them. Well... apparently some of them had unique abilities like Tal did. In that case, it was time to try out a new weapon.

Shifting her stored up energy to a different mode of gun, Samus slammed both of her gun arms to the ground and pulled her feet away from it. An almost painful jolt moved through her system as both barrels discharged a powerful burst of energy. Shockwaves flooded out from her guns, making the floor shudder violently.

Almost immediately the small creatures were tossed about, crumpling when they struck the ground again. The former human in the exoskeleton let out a scream, as the vibrations broke through it, unprotected by a bio suit. Cracks appeared all over its exoskeleton, some parts of it falling away.

Landing back on her feet, pleased enough with the weapon's performance, Samus prepared to continue the fight. It seemed, however, that such would not be necessary. The monster was barely on its feet, and Samus merely had to shoot it backward to finish the job.

Impact from the blast broke away the remainder of the creature's exoskeleton, and Samus got a good look at its face. Her face, she realized. She had been fighting a woman no older than herself, though horribly twisted by the TA procedure.

Powering down her weapons, Samus moved from the room, untouched. There were plenty of female bounty hunters far more dangerous than that. One thing she had learned... man, woman or child, if they were good enough, they could kill you. And, it seemed, these other TA models would try to do so.

Let them try.


A longer silence stretched about the Galactic Council chamber. There was little else to be said. After an unofficial fifteen minute break, they had begun work on the Council's official statement regarding the disaster at Bounty Hunter HQ. It had quickly become clear that seven members were moving in one direction, two in the other.

Mr. Stevenson dropped his face to his hands and sighed heavily once more. His only ally, the only person who opposed the seven, was sitting across the room. Yet he felt in his heart that he had no allies at all. This man was one of those he knew was corrupted. What his motives were was anyone's guess.

How long could he keep this up? How long could he fight against the odds, before he crumpled, or fell from exhaustion, or was defeated? Terribly, terribly tired... it felt like it had been so long. No one should have to live this long.

"News!" a voice abruptly called, as feet pounded across the steel floor. The entire Council whirled to look toward the aide that rushed into the room, slowing and panting beside the closest desk. Obviously he had ran from the nearest lift; a short distance, but he seemed to have given it his all.

When he had caught his breath, the aide went on to explain. "Several generals and one admiral have moved without your approval, or the Assembly's! A few hours ago select numbers of their forces equipped themselves and left. They have already reached the Bounty Hunter HQ, and are sweeping toward us!"

"What parsecs do they cover?" the Council Head immediately demanded, almost rising to his feet. Sweat was actually visible on his head, surprising Mr. Stevenson. Was there something that important to him?

"Generally, everything in the 3200-3600 area," the aide told him vaguely. Sensing how little his presence was wanted, he left the room almost as quickly as he had entered it. What he left behind was a stony silence as the seven glanced toward each other.

"There is no doubt," the Council Head said finally, grimly. "They will find all the operations if they sweep through that range, with battleship class sensors. We have to do something."

"Of course we have to do something!" one of the younger council members burst out, panic suddenly reaching a breaking point. "But what are we going to do?"

"Shut up!" the Head roared, rising to his feet. The leadership that had gotten him the office surrounded him like a cloak now, and his eyes practically flashed as he commanded the others swiftly. "You, call Mr. Divel and inform him of the approaching threat. You, call the Assembly and put a good spin on all this. You, transfer all funds out of the illegal accounts. Everyone else, clean the record. I want this place looking completely legitimate before anyone has time to consider suspecting us."

"I will not stand for this!" another voice broke through the Head's monologue. Even the council members scurrying to do their jobs glanced back to see who had spoken. Mr. Stevenson merely shook his head and turned away. So now his "ally" was moving. "All of you are corrupt! Completely corrupt!"

"What, is that a threat?" the Head responded, a smirk, sliding across his face. "What will you do, Percy? Turn us in and have the public discover that you were the one that held up that smuggling legislation? Turn us in and risk your ties to organized crime becoming quite obvious to everyone? You have nothing on us."

"That shows you know nothing," the other man hissed angrily. "I have a few... friends of the family that I could call. Things will not be so good as you think. What you have said here is already overtly criminal. The galaxy would be up in arms if they heard it. And," his face twisted into an angry smile as he pulled something small from his pocket, "I have all of it recorded."

A gunshot rang out the next instant, and the council member fell backward. The recorder slipped from his hands, bouncing loudly on the steel before coming to rest, moments before his body did the same. Everyone was silent, somewhat surprised by the sudden turn of events. Across the chamber, another of the council members replaced his gun calmly.

"That's the end of that, eh?" another council member laughed, standing and grinding the recording device under one foot. The others laughed along with him, except for the Council Head... who Mr. Stevenson realized was looking directly at him.

"What about you, Gogo?" the Head asked, staring at him intensely over his steepled hands. "Are you going to reveal your own secret weapon? Or will you see the light and join us? You must know that you cannot possibly stop us."

Very slowly, Mr. Stevenson got to his feet. He looked as an athlete who forced himself to stand after finishing a race... finishing a race and losing. Looking away from them, he slowly moved back from his chair. Agonizingly slowly he walked around the circle, toward the opening through which he moved to the center of the other seven.

Finally he looked up at them. His eyes seemed almost dead: dull, listless, purposeless. The silence in the room was so absolute that when he sighed all of them heard it clearly. Slowly he straightened his back, and there was a shadow of the man he had been before around him.

"I can't do anything to stop you," he admitted slowly. "I have no special recorders, no weapons. No skill with which to defeat you. If you shot me now I would fall and bleed and die like any other man.

"You say that you've won." Now Mr. Stevenson's voice began to change, becoming stronger and louder. His yes began to sparkle, and his aura captivated the Council. "But don't think you've seen the last of me!"

"The last of you? What can you do?" the Council Head managed to chortle, breaking out of the spell of words. Mr. Stevenson's intense gaze focused upon him instantly.

"I'm just an old man," was the biting reply. "You can shoot me, torture me, destroy me, discredit me and I can do nothing to stop you. None of us seem able to stop you. All the people like me who still believe in something good in this universe. But I believe that your victory is not complete! No matter what you do to me, you cannot erase my spirit from the galaxy! I believe that there is still good out there, and it will stop you!"

His speech ended with a thundering silence. For a moment Mr. Stevenson stood before them, breathing slightly heavily, fierce gaze daring anyone to speak. Then he slumped slightly, and abruptly he looked far older than his years.

"I'm tired," he whispered. "So very tired. I'll be in my quarters."

Slowly he turned and trudged away, vanishing into the hallways of the bureaucracy.

"Glad to see him gone," the Head muttered. "All of you! Get to work!"