CHAPTER 14: LETTING GO...

Hunter Log 3850
I felt like I had been hit by an emerald class star cruiser.

The Chozo have taken me back to their dwellings. While here, I've partaken in their ceremonies and embraced their culture. What else could I do? They were responsible for most of my upbringing.

They have thanked me over and over, and have allowed for my complete recovery. The best I can remember, they carried me here after the battle with the Ultimate...two weeks ago.

My best estimate is that my shoulder was dislocated and broken, as were my hand, wrist, and elbow on the arm I used the cannon with...the scars were a tell-tale sign. A few of my ribs had been cracked, which the Chozo healed quite quickly with their techniques.

My power suit was ruined after the battle. The entire back of the suit had shattered and the shoulder guards had broken off. Luckily, the Chozo fashioned another, more improved suit virtually in minutes.

It is constructed completely of a sterling chrome substance. When I don the suit, it actually feels like nothing, if anything, I feel lighter than my normal body weight.

Over the past few days, I've trained with the suit on, partially for physical therapy, and the other part for becoming acclimated to the suit itself.

All of it had been to prepare for this day. The day I return to my mission...

Samus out...
Samus met with the Chozo chief and informed him of her departure. He insisted that she take two particular Chozo with her to take care of a problem.

Accompanied by the avians, she boarded another elevator. The Chozo powered it up and started down the shaft.

This elevator went much farther down than the other ones had.

After five minutes, the descent was over, and the trio exited. A massive door now stood in front of them. It looked to be sealed tight, and had a massive lens in which blue iridescence flickered and illuminated random spots in the room. It was almost like being underwater, except this blue was anything but clear. Samus approached the door and placed a hand on the lens.

"This is very familiar...could it be? Phazon! How did they get it here?" Samus reacted.

She knew that she couldn't blast the door. The response from the phazon deposit would be a cataclysmic explosion that could destroy the entire planet fragment. She had to find a way in.

Samus began to search the wall. There were no imperfections, no fused edges of metal, nothing aside from the door itself.

After checking the wall, Samus resigned to defeat and simply stared at the phazon filled lens.

From behind her, one of the Chozo placed its hand on her shoulder and pulled her aside. She merely watched as the giant bird approached the lens and stopped in front of it. It turned and shot a glance at Samus.

In an instant, the Chozo's visage revealed its intentions.

In her mind, Samus sharply objected, but she also knew that the creature was more than willing to sacrifice itself for her cause. She believed that the chief had also sent these two particular Chozo for certain ends, and this was probably one of them.

The Chozo raised a hand, bearing an incredibly sharp looking instrument. It struck the lens with force, causing a few chips to break off.

It kept hammering away, chipping away, bit by bit. Finally, the phazon began to leak out.

The valiant Chozo lowered to its knees and opened its mouth, letting the radioactive substance enter its body. After only seconds, the Chozo began to gurgle and shudder. Without looking, it reached back toward its companion, who rushed to its aid.

Instead of removing the Chozo from the deadly flow, the companion held the first upright so it could continue to consume the phazon.

After several minutes, most of the substance had leaked out of the lens. Samus looked and noticed a noble scene.

The first Chozo clutched the hand of the second tightly. As the last drop of the phazon fell from the lens and into the mouth of the avian, the grip released and its eyes glazed over.

After a moment of grieving, the second Chozo lifted the first and carried it onto the lift in lamentation. Samus activated the lift and raised her hand to acknowledge the incredibly selfless deed she had witnessed. The Chozo responded by merely bowing its head and tucking it to the side.

The way was clear...and she was alone again...

This was a different sense of being alone than before. Samus literally felt like there was no one around. Nothing around. Nothing dead, nothing living, nothing in-between. She was completely and utterly alone.

That might have been okay before, but not now, not at this moment. Ever since she fought the young girl hunter, she dreaded being alone. The event kept replaying itself in her head. Every time, it was followed by visions of the Ultimates and of the mutated men in the capsules. All of the pain. All of the tragedy...did she cause this?

She didn't have time for thinking right now...she had to see what was inside this room.

Samus took aim at the door and readied her Chozo beam. She aimed eye level at the lens and blasted away until she no longer felt resistance. When she cut off the shot, there was a hole just large enough for her to squeeze through to the other side.

After she went through the hole, she beheld one of the most incredible machines she had ever seen.

It looked like a large pinball with the end cut off. All around the flat end was glass, but there was no telling how thick it was.

She surveyed the room. The walls were as solid as any she had seen. In each corner of the room stood a control panel, each with four levers. Next to the large pinball structure was another panel.

Samus approached the one in the middle and placed her hand on it. A tone sounded, then a rumble shook the room. A large door reinforcement fell from the ceiling and sealed Samus' hole she had blasted. So much for an exit.

Suddenly, there was a massive movement of the whole room that knocked Samus off of her feet. She gathered herself and looked at the console she had pressed. It showed a larger dot moving toward a smaller dot. She looked out the window and noticed the tether for the large beams getting closer. The planet fragment was moving toward the center.

Samus gathered a thought and began flipping the levers on the corner panels.

After she flipped the final switch on the final panel, the room shuddered, and then Samus felt a sharp acceleration. She looked at the display in the middle once again.

The large dot had stopped moving and in its stead, a tiny dot now moved toward the dot in the middle.

Samus had disconnected the planet fragment from its anchor...and now proceeded to the center alone.

She assumed what would lay in the middle section...Tourian.