This chapter was somewhat difficult to write, but I hope it is enjoyed none the less.


Chapter 25: Paradigm Shift

Bleary shapes. Colors shifting apparently at random. Relatively severe cold.

Several things immediately registered in Samus' mind. First, she was out of her bio suit. Second, she was bound by chains that felt like some manner of plastic/steel hybrid. Worst, she had some sort of sedating drug in her system. Whatever the situation, it was a bad one, and she was in the hands of the enemy.

Abruptly there was a face directly in her own, leering at her. Working past the drug, Samus managed to focus upon it slightly. Veronica.

"The tables have turned, haven't they, Samus?" she gloated. "Now you're a vulnerable as I am, but quite unable to defend yourself. It's a shame they want you alive, or you'd have been dead a long time ago."

"How?" Samus managed to choke out. Veronica's smile widened.

"An enormous blast knocked both of us out. But it appears that I have many friends and you don't. One of the ships picked both of us up. One of my ships. They healed me, of course, and made sure you couldn't do anything to stop us. Now you can sit here and wait until the Galactic Council is through with you... then I'll make sure you die as slowly and painfully as possible."

"My... my suit," Samus mumbled, still not fully recovered. "What happened to it?"

"You should worry more about yourself," Veronica snickered. "...but don't worry, it's just fine. It'll be in good hands. Terribly unflattering, but after I refit it and give it an extreme make over it should be a pretty good tool."

Silently Samus seethed about her inability to do anything. She wasn't really worried for herself, so the situation was more annoying than worrying. Tal was almost certainly going to follow her, and could probably do so relatively swiftly. Without a bio suit, Veronica would be fodder for him. The only question was if they would kill her before he arrived, and there was nothing she could do about it at the moment. Worrying would accomplish nothing.

Though she really didn't want Veronica to have her way with the bio suit. She'd slaughter the functionality for the sake of appearance. At least if that happened Samus would probably be dead and wouldn't have to watch. Of course, if that happened, the suit would most likely get destroyed when Tal killed Veronica... but she'd rather it be scrap than worn by a bounty hunter like that. While worrying might accomplish nothing, imagining Veronica very dead did make her feel slightly better.

Ignoring Veronica's taunts, Samus laughed mentally at herself for her cynicism. Things would go as they would go. For once her life, she could let someone else do the work. All of Project Darklight was declining, and soon it would all be over. Time was ticking...


Loosening his claws from the hull of the ship, Tal pushed off it, hurtling into space. Throwing nega photons out behind him, he accelerated to a reasonable speed and then let his momentum carry him through the vacuum. Within a few minutes the remains of the space ship were invisible behind him in the starry void.

This was going to be a long and dull trip, but a completely essential one. Sighing, Tal rolled his eyes at the irony. Here he was, desperately needing to hurry, and all he could do was casually sit around as he sailed through space. But it had to be done, and this was the only way. At least it gave him time to plan completely.

Just as he had been about to rip through the walls to where Samus was, a titanic explosion had ripped through the entire station. It had blown him out of the spire and into empty space. The Galactic Council ships had finally destroyed their opposition. Most of the corrupted vessels were nothing more than scrap heaps and the rest of the bounty hunters and mercenaries had fled. Unopposed, the ships' fire had ripped the station in half. Everything on it was going to be destroyed, Tal recognized instantly, and he had gotten away from the blast quickly.

He was almost completely certain that Samus had survived. She hadn't appeared immediately, which he took as a certain sign something had stopped her. Eventually her ship had left the docking bay, but he knew instantly that she wasn't the one driving it. Unfortunately, he had been tied up by some space pirates and unable to follow.

Corrupt Galactic Council vessels had flanked Samus' ship, and they had quickly vanished. Faster than he could hope to follow them. But he had been able to discover their destination... the center for the entire Galactic Council itself. Security was at maximum levels, and there were Galactic Council ships everywhere.

Immediately Tal had decided that attempting to break into the station would be foolish. He could do it, yes, but they might kill Samus if they discovered what he was doing. Instead it would be far better to sneak in on a ship of his own and pretend to be a normal person. If Samus needed any help he could provide it, and then both of them could make a quick exit before anyone knew they were present.

The closest reasonable location was the Bounty Hunter Headquarters. Not far by ship, but it would take him a fair amount of time flying in this manner. Already he had been going for hours. Fortunately he was able to navigate by the stars all about him.

Behind him was the remains of his meal. By chance he had run into a group of space pirates that had picked him up, thinking he was trash of some sort. That had been a pretty big mistake, one that had played like a low budget horror movie. Now they were all scattered over the floor, picked off silently one by one. Unfortunately for him, their ship was nearly destroyed and unusable, and Tal had merely found what supplies he needed and left.

Now all that was left was to sneak into the Bounty Hunter HQ, not difficult given the rebuilding state it was in, find or steal a ship, fly to the Galactic Council and then find Samus. Beyond that he wasn't sure what they would do, but they were already conveniently close to authorities, so he had a few ideas.

Floating through the desolate space, Tal let his thoughts drift from his plans to Samus. Seeing her again would be very good. It was odd how their relationship had changed, but it wasn't really uncomfortable. Besides, at the moment they had more important issues on their hands. After the situation had been resolved, then there'd be a bit more time to explore those possibilities.

Beneath the exoskeleton that covered his body, Tal smiled slightly. Throwing a few more waves of nega photons behind him, he put on another burst of speed and vanished into the endless darkness.


Yawning and glancing to the side, David Anez nudged the stack of papers, making them drop off the edge of the computer terminal and fall mostly in the trash. Maybe he could "accidentally" pour his coffee over them as well. And stomp on them. Or just burn them. It wouldn't be his fault if they were accidently put in a batch of papers going to the shredder, would it?

Sighing, he leaned over and pulled the papers back to the computer terminal. Grumbling under his breath he began reordering them. Stupid thing to do, really, but he felt better after doing it. That was what he really wanted to do.

There was so much paperwork. Not even the pointless kind, which bounty hunters despised, but hundreds of people asking for repairs and new docking codes. Though David aspired to eventually hold a seat on the Board, in these days he was glad he hadn't achieved an office position. They were swamped with people asking about what had happened, when the station would be back in business, etc. Endlessly.

Worst of all, he simply didn't care about this any more. He had gotten a tip from one of his more shady sources that Samus had been an important part of the huge battle that had gone on so recently. Word had it that she had destroyed the mysterious station but had been captured. Most likely she was at the Galactic Council central station now.

Most people would never have given one name among thousands any thought. Not David Anez. He had spent hours upon hours searching for her name and eventually found her listed in a few computer logs. She was indeed on the station, and probably not in the best of situations. Which meant she needed rescuing. Samus Aran... needing rescuing.

This was the moment he had waited his entire life for. If he valiantly rescued Samus from the enemy, and it mattered very little to him who the enemy was, she would have to notice him. Where things could go from there tested the limits of his imagination.

But no, he was stuck here doing paperwork for morons. They all acted as though if they had ships or bio suits or food was important. He had a woman to save here! Idiots, all of them. Getting in his way to what was his destiny.

A soft tone indicating someone was at the door broke David from his fantasy. Glancing into the monitor attached to the camera, he discovered that someone he didn't recognize was standing at the door. Not someone he cared about then. But maybe they'd be more exciting than this paperwork. It could be fun to cruelly lead the guy on and then tell him to shove off.

"Come in," David called, tapping a button that unlocked the door. A young man entered and did not sit. Officiously messing with dials as if he was terribly busy, David ignored him for a few moments and then swivelled in his chair to look at him. "What do you want?"

Let him stew over that question for a while. David really didn't care what answer the guy gave, because it would just waste a lot of his time. That would give him an opportunity to size up the guy and figure out the best way to mess with him.

His visitor was someone completely unlike anyone he had ever seen before. Midnight black hair, bright blue eyes, wearing civilian clothing. Such things were alien to David, living in Bounty Hunter HQ. Barely he noticed that the guy was unnaturally muscled, but it was hardly noticeable because he was slender and had an unimpressive aura. More of a scientist type, the kind of guy you expected to constantly get mugged in alleyways. Probably weak and emotionally fragile; easily disturbed. The fun type.

"A ship," the man answered instantly, giving David no more time to consider him.

"Oh, yeah. A ship. I have those just lying around to give away," David shot back, quite proud of himself for that one. "Do you think I just give away space vessels? Do you? It isn't like we're in the middle of a crisis here!"

Inwardly Tal sighed. This was not what he needed. As soon as he got docking codes so he could leave the station quietly, it'd be a simple matter to steal a ship. But until he could do so he had to put up with this guy. And a lot of other morons, in all probability. Even aliens were less dense than some of the guys he'd had to deal with.

"All of you think your problems are so important," David whined, deciding just to vent on this guy. Not like it'd ever matter anyway. "Here I am, wasting precious years of my life, when I could be rescuing Samus! But nooo, you all think you're more important than I am!"

"Actually, I intend to go where Samus is."

"See? That's the problem with all of you, you think your own- wait, what?"

"I want the ship to find Samus." This was a more risky maneuver, Tal acknowledged. Perhaps he could play off this guy's motivations to accomplish his own. Then again, he might seriously regret mentioning Samus with this type. But it was too late now.

"You know where Samus is?" David exploded, leaping from his chair. Quietly Tal wondered if this was such a good idea. At worst he could just kill the guy and try to hack a quick exit for himself.

"On the primary Galactic Council station," Tal answered. It couldn't hurt to tell him that.

"I know that, you idiot! Why are you trying to find her? I should be the one to do that!"

"Then why aren't you?" Tal asked simply. David paused, his anger dissipating as he blinked in confusion.

"Why shouldn't I?" David eventually muttered. He spoke under his breath and to himself, but Tal could still hear him. "Why stay here?"

"Surely you have better things to do with your life than monitoring a docking bay," Tal coaxed softly. David nodded, barely even registering the fact that Tal was the one who had spoken the words.

"Alright," the official snapped, abruptly assuming command. "Let's go save Samus. There's a new Fleeting-class ship in a private hanger not far from here. Fastest standardized ship in the galaxy. The owners have it pretty well guarded, but I could probably find a way to poison all of them. It'd take out nearly half of the HQ, but-"

"I can get you past the guards," Tal interrupted.

"Really?" David asked, raising an eyebrow. "They're bounty hunters."

"Do we really have time to talk?" the other demanded. Best to hurry this along. For now, he'd have to work with this guy. It'd make his own task far more difficult, because he probably shouldn't use any of his special abilities, but he'd have to make do.

"Right! Let's get going!"

Already David was bursting out the door, nearly running in his excitement. Tal followed at a relaxed pace that managed to nearly keep up with David's rush. Letting him stay in the lead, the former human sighed. This was going to be annoying, but if it got him into a ship he didn't care. He did not need this guy following him when they reached the Galactic Council, though. Sighing, Tal flexed and nearly extended blades from his fingertips before remembering his position.

"Here," David said abruptly, throwing something in his direction. Reacting solely on instinct, Tal grabbed it from the air. An energy pistol. Inferior to the one that Samus had given him at one point, but the same as the one that David now held as he explained. "It's a Webley Vickers .88; they're the best small firearm in the galaxy."

They continued on, and Tal quickly considered strategy. If they fought bounty hunters, this guy was probably going to get slaughtered. For the moment, he still needed him, so that had to be avoided. The question was how to finish them off and keep this guy alive without making it obvious what he was. In his hands this energy weapon was completely useless.

But at that moment David veered into an elevator, and Tal barely had the presence of mind to follow. As David pressed a few buttons they began gliding soundlessly through the station. Presumably as close to this private hanger as they could get.

"Who are you, anyway?" David asked him. Tal shrugged, hoping the man would keep his trap shut.

"Oh, no one too important."

"A bounty hunter, maybe? I haven't seen you around here before."

"No. Nothing like that. Just a scientist, really."

"Mm," David responded, scorn barely veiled in his voice. "What makes you think you can fight through these guys?"

"I'm not too bad about this sort of thing," Tal answered noncommittally. At that moment the elevator doors opened, and both of them moved out. They crept through a corridor, Tal letting the other go ahead, and then David abruptly halted.

"Stop," he ordered, unnecessarily and loudly.

"Where are the guards?" a quiet whisper came from behind him. "How close are we to the ship itself?"

"I don't know," David mumbled back. "I kind of just left."

Sighing and rolling his eyes, Tal closed his eyes and smelled the air as best he could. Strangely enough, David reeked. Not in the sense of a traditional smell, but something else not quite in the limits of human senses. Samus had always been a kind of soft, pleasant scent, and most of the bounty hunters smelled metallic. Putting such thoughts aside, Tal managed to catch a whiff of several humans far down the corridor.

Opening his eyes, Tal realized David was already moving forward. Scrambling to catch up, Tal was a second too late to stop David from leaping around a corner and firing wildly. Following with a sigh, Tal had an instant to take in the sight around the corner as he slid around it firing.

There was a large sealed door that seemed characteristic of hanger doors. Around it seven or eight bounty hunters had been lounging but alert. David's wild fire missed all of them, and the next moment they were dodging away. From what glimpses Tal could catch of them, he decided they were low level hired bounty hunters, or at least had suits inferior to Samus'. If they took a job like this, they couldn't be that good.

Jerking an arm around David's neck, Tal jerked him backward a moment before a missile destroyed the floor where he had stood. Landing and letting go of a squirming David, Tal fired as rapidly as possible at the nearest bounty hunter. Misses, unfortunately. His aim was absolutely terrible.

Beside him, David was firing with considerably more accuracy but far less intelligence. Tal lightly kicked him in the back of the leg so he dropped to his knees just before a laser broke through the air above his head. This guy was going to be a serious liability if this fight went on.

Sensing a bounty hunter behind them, about to fire a completely charged shot, Tal acted with full speed, ignoring the consequences. Whirling, he had already moved slightly past the bounty hunter, grabbing his arm around the elbow. It was jerked off course just before the blast was fired, and the sphere of plasma instead plowed into one of the other bounty hunters.

Jerking sharply, Tal snapped the bounty hunter's arm. The man had only an instant to feel pain before an energy pistol was in his face. At point blank range Tal could not possibly miss, and put the man out of his pain almost immediately. Immediately Tal flipped away from his location, narrowing avoided further fire.

Landing some distance away, Tal realized that the bounty hunters were focusing on him almost exclusively now. Apparently they had decided that David really wasn't a threat, which he wasn't. Despite this, the love-struck man was still firing wildly, completely failing to hit anyone.

One bounty hunter brought out two blades from her arms, then rushed forward toward Tal. Along the way she batted David aside, sending him crashing into a wall where a few of the bounty hunters kicked him a bit. Almost instantly she was at close quarters with Tal... which was a terrible mistake. A foot smashed into her chin, sending her off the ground and then stumbling back. Instantly she was swiping at him with the blades, but Tal easily evaded the attacks.

Dropping to the ground to avoid a horizontal slash, Tal spun and smashed a leg into the bounty hunter's kneecap. She stumbled, and in that instant Tal struck. A curled hand viciously struck her throat, breaking parts off her bio armor. At almost the same time Tal's knee smashed into her stomach and immediately after his palm smashed into her chest, driving her backward and partially through the nearby steel wall.

Turning, Tal found that the remaining five bounty hunters were all standing on one side of the room. One of them was tapping a control panel on a nearby wall. The lights in the room dimmed and then went out completely. Curious, Tal waited for what they intended to do. They were in complete darkness, true, but he could still sense their locations, just as he knew where the walls of the room were. Echolocation was a wonderful ability.

"You seem pretty dangerous up close," one of the bounty hunters commented, voice floating from the darkness. "But how well do you think you'll fare when the room is all black and you no longer have an ally?"

Feeling exoskeleton emerge from thin slits in his skin, Tal's only response was to smile slightly.