Chapter 2

Messenger of the Forgotten

Samus awoke from the best sleep she had slept in a very long time. The inn was run down, sure. There was a hole in her wall and bugs in the ventilation aperatures. Her bed smelled like a failed Phazon infusion experiment. But at least it was a bed, and not a stiff and uncomfortable starship command seat or a temporary shelter exposed to the scorchingly icy winds of some God-forsaken planetary wasteland.

She had taken her suit off even on this dangerous planet, out of trust for Adam's surveillance systems. Sure enough, there the comm drone was, plugged into the recharge outlet in stanby mode, his passive sensors constantly scanning every inch of the room for the slightest air vibration, color shift, energy spike- anything that would pose a threat to Samus. Undoubtedly, he had just registered the fact that she had awakened.

This theory was proven true as the lights on the communications drone brightened and the servomotors and antigrav jets came to life with a hiss and a whir.

"Good morning, Samus. I hope you slept well?"

"Yeah, I did. Thanks," Samus said, surprised by his kind tone.

"Good, because you'd better get your suit on in the next 30 seconds. There's a bioform who's walking quite quickly toward your door, and it seems that he's carrying a weapon of some kind."

"Jeez, Adam, thanks for the advance warning." She sighed with exasperation. There's always something after me, isn't there? Hurriedly pulling her battlesuit on, she felt the familiar tingling as the suit's neural network integrated with her own. It molded itself to her body like a second skin, becoming a part of her, allowing her to control every aspect of the suit from the computer to the Screw Attack the same way she would move an arm or a leg or breathe. As she slipped her hand into the Arm Cannon, the hand itself became irrelevant, forgotten. The nerves in her arm simply controlled the weapon instead. This was Samus's trump card, that which made her suit superior to any other weapon.

Total and complete versatility and control.

She suddenly heard the old iron door open with the creak and squeal of old machinery. As she stepped out into the open, she saw her visitor step into her small hotel room. He was an alien of some sort, unlike any she had ever seen. He was tall, sleek, and reptillian, with onyx-colored scaly skin and a long, gently curved snout. His tail seemed to have a mind of its own, dancing around behind him as he stepped forward. He was carrying a curious weapon, a long staff with a saber-like blade on the end. A glaive, she thought. If I remember correctly, that's what the Chozo called that thing. Looks dangerous.

"Hhhunter Aran. I am Tsyr'llrash of the V'lla, and I would sssspeak with you."

The Space Pirate hangar on Zerynthus was busy at night. Operatives, scientists, and military types all needed transportation to and from the multitude of Space Pirate missions and dealings happening throughout the galaxy, and the harsh climate of the planet and its proximity to its star delegated that to go anywhere near the surface in the daytime was suicide. The crowded hangar was a bonus for Forcystus. He did not want to draw attention to himself, and nothing hid one like a bustling crowd of Space Pirates rushing to their missions. Especially since he had shed his ceremonial general's wear and now wore only a simple commando's armorsuit emblazoned with his logo, his rank ensignia on his shoulder the only indication of his importance.

His black, bladelike, and unquestionably deadly, his gunship waited for him in the center of the hangar. Two sharp, thin, curved wings swept back from the rear of the ship to end in a pair of barbed points. A long, slender fuselage connected them to a keen and arrowlike frontal cockpit. All of this gave the craft the look of a double-bladed battleaxe. Surrounding it were several troop carriers, transports for his commando force. As he approached the boardiing ramp of his ship, the hatch slid open with a sharp hiss that added to the ship's aura of shadowy danger. An intimidating vessel for a profession that was centered on intimidation. He stepped inside with a smile.

"Lieutenant Sephiter, get the ship off the ground. We have no time to lose." As Forcystus ordered, his aide and pilot stepped from his side and dissapeared into the cockpit, preparing to take the ship into orbit.

"Lieutenant Wraythe." He turned to his other escort. Wraythe was a skilled Commando and was quite proficient with technology. She was a match for any top-notch hacker in Ceberus's force or even in the Federation itself. "I want Agent Umbrae on the viewscreen."

"Way ahead of you, General." Wraythe was already seated at the computer terminal, the face of Forcysts's Federation agent appearing on the screen.

"Milord Forcystus." Umbrae gave a small bow of respect. "What may I do for you?"

"I must know where the Hunter is," Forcystus replied, skipping the formalities.

"Unfortunately, we do not know where she is. The Federation lost track of her shortly after her departure. I can, however, give you the diagnostics for her ship."

"That would be appreciated."

"Certainly, General. Transmitting now." Umbrae's face disappeared from the monitor as the ship's schematics filled it.

"Standard Federation issue," Wraythe began. "Melenne Shipyards VR-96 Vigilante-class gunship, slight modifications, identification code 9-7X-02."

"Can you track it?" Forcystus asked.

"In a heartbeat. Accessing galactic transit logs now." Wraythe's nimble fingers flew over the keys, breaking through the Galactic Transit Authority's security in seconds. "There it is. A ship matching that description checked into a spaceport on Vweilu in the Selrey system 17 hours ago. It has not checked out since."

"Excellent." Forcystus felt the ship lift off the ground. "Sephiter," he stated as he strode into the cockpit and took his seat behind his pilot, "Set coordinates for the Selrey system."

"Give me one good reason why I shouldn't blow you to little alien bits right now. What makes you think you can come barging into my room?" Samus pointed her beam at the weapon in the strange alien's hand. "And why are you carrying that?"

"Apologiessss, Hhhunter. Pleasssse, lower your weapon. I am in sssssomethhhing offf a hhhurry…. You ssssee, the reasson I come to you isss of the hhhhighesssst priority."

Samus's Arm Cannon dropped reluctantly to her side. "Fine. What do you want?"

"I am not sssshhhure where we ssshhhould sssstart… Hhhhunter, do you know of the planet Vrassh'kor?"

"Never heard of it. Adam?"

Adam sighed. "Samus, do you know nothing? Always coming to me for your answers… 'What is this, Adam? How do I kill it, Adam? What does the big red button do, Ada-'"

"Shut up. Do you know the planet or not?"

"Yes. Vrassh'kor is a planet in the Ferenell system, not far from here. It's supposedly a dead planet; there's been no life on the place for centuries. There are some Chozo writings concerning the place."

"Before you view thosssse writingssss, Hhhunter, I believe you ssssshhhould lissssten to whhhat I hhhave to sssssay."

"Alright. Shoot."

Looking confused, Tsyr'llrash replied "Apologiesss, Hhhunter, but I do not carry a projectile weapon…"

"Talk. She means talk," Adam hurriedly put in.

Needing no further permission, Tsyr'llrash began.

"That planet, dead asssss it may be, issss my hhhomeworld. My race issss ancient, Hhhhunter. Assss ancient asss your Chozo or your Luminoth… We V'lla were at one with our planet, and were very… protective of it. You sssssee, Vrassh'kor wasss a beautiful place, with many resourcesss, and asss sssuch, we were at the hhhight of galactic technology and power…"

"A lot of good it did the planet," Adam interjected.

"Yessss, well… As for the planet's dessstruction… We ssssought a way to protect our planet. A ssssuperweapon. Our top thinkers and sssscientists needed to find a weapon that could not be sssstoped. And find it they did."

"What is it?" Samus asked.

"Sssss…. I do not know… No one hassss known of the weapon for cssssenturiessss… Thisss isss knowledge that was lossst to the agessss. But thisss is not important… What isss important isss how the planet wasss dessstroyed… You sssee, the Chozo did not approve of our meansss of protection. They felt it threatened the galaxy… The Chozo attacked ussss."

Samus was shocked. The Chozo were never ones to use force.

"We were a warlike people. Our military wasss sssssstrong. But the Chozo were ssstrong asssss well… The fight raged for many yearssss, and when it was drawing to a clossse, we were lossssing… The Chozo hhhad overpowered ussss… And asss a lassst resssort, we unleassshed the weapon."

Samus nodded. "And?"

"The Chozo were right."