CHAPTER 3

Hunter Log 3854
If I weren't a work-a-holic, I don't know what I'd do. I'd prefer not to think about that. I'm always in those kinds of love/hate relationships. I love my job...and in this situation...hate my boss.

I wonder how Matthew is doing with that dead metroid. He's not accustomed to working on cadavers, especially with a species like the metroid where any in captivity were living and sustained. I'm sure he'll find something to do with it, he always has before. Maybe that's why I trusted him...no matter.

Time to venture back into hell...

Samus out.
Samus went through the motions as her ship docked with the combine. All eyes on deck seemed to be locked on her ship as it settled. With boyish excitement, several guards ran to her ship to greet her. They did everything they could to keep their tongues in their mouths...then she emerged.

Disappointed by her full suit of armor, the guards seemingly dragged their feet back to their posts.

"Sorry to disappoint, boys, but I can't quite please everybody," Samus smirked to the guards.

She continued to walk toward the door as she whipped her hair around into a rubber band to form a pony tail.

Once the door opened, she was face to chest with a quite battered figure.

"Shigger?" Samus questioned.

At the sound of her voice, the massive beast tripped backward and toppled onto the floor.

"N-no...noooo!" screamed Shigger as he backpedaled on his hands.

Samus just looked at him, bewildered.

"I don't care anymore! Just don't hurt me again!" Shigger shouted as he shielded his face with his arms.

"Shigger, you look pathetic. Now get out of my way so I can get to the conference room," said Samus.

Shigger huddled against the wall so Samus could pass. It was obvious that he didn't forget his suffering at her hands the last time she was there. Samus merely passed by, not even shooting a glance.

Samus continued down the boring hallways of the combine. She remembered why she never frequented these halls. There was no excitement here; no danger around the next corner. The only hunters that hung around this place for long were those that often had nowhere else to go, for a job or otherwise. Those too inept to find work as hunters were often enlisted by the Confederation as janitors or maintenance workers. From her recent encounter with Shigger, she had noticed his garb was not that of a hunter's, but more so that of a janitor's. She had a hand in that...a delightful one ...chauvinist beast...

Finally, she came to the doors of the conference room, but as she did, something dawned on her. There had been no guards inside the actual combine, and the only being roaming the halls had been Shigger. Why was the Combine so quiet? She opened the doors and entered.

"Ah, Samus, back from the mission already! And in record time as well!" said President Marcusson as he walked toward Samus with his arms stretched outward.

"Spare me the cordiality. I wanted a vacation, but it seems like you'd rather not grant me one. What's the problem? Where is everybody?" asked Samus.

"There seems to be a problem at the Delta Combine. We've dispatched all hunters able to fight to that location," said Marcusson with a grim look.

"Why? What happened?" Samus asked with a puzzled look on her face.

"It started with an explosion at the interior of the station. They thought it was just a malfunction with some of the equipment at first, but then more explosions rocked the combine. According to their security video, only one person is responsible, unfortunately, they can't find that person. In addition to the confusion, no ships or crafts of any kind have left the combine since long before the incident occurred," Marcusson explained.

"One person? Only one?" Samus was astounded.

"Is it that strange to you that one person caused such massive damage?" asked Marcusson with his eyebrow raised.

Samus stared into space in deep thought. No one she knew, pirate or hunter, could assault an entire station in one run and disappear like that.

"Samus?"

"Yes...yes, what?" she snapped back to reality.

"We had received one lone transmission from Delta Combine following the explosions..." Marcusson said.

"What did it say?" Samus inquired.

"It was not on the combine wavelength...it was a rogue communication device...and they asked for you, Samus. They asked for you by name," Marcusson said, bowing his head.

Samus nodded, then turned and began to walk out of the room.

"Samus, where are you going?" Marcusson asked.

"To give them what they want," Samus said.

"Samus, do NOT go to that combine!" ordered Marcusson.

"Why not? Because you said so? You haven't commissioned me for a job yet, so I'm free to do as I wish," Samus said, continuing out the door.

"I'm ordering you! I'm the president, dn it!" Marcusson cursed.

"Not mine..." Samus replied as she rounded the corner.

"You get back here!" Marcusson yelled as he ran after her.

Just as he rounded the corner to see Samus' back, a large shock rumbled the entire combine. Samus braced herself with her arm, but Marcusson flew against the wall, head first.

"What was that!" asked Samus as she spun around to see Marcusson lying in the floor. There was a splatter of red on the wall.

Samus walked over, despite the rumbling, and tried to check his pulse. She didn't find one. She checked his eyes, but they were rolled back into his head. The president was dead.

She somehow knew if she stayed, she would be joining him, so she turned and ran to her ship.

Just as she rounded the last turn toward the docking bay, a blast erupted right in front of her, sending her flying backwards through the air. She landed and skidded several feet before stopping, stunned.

When she opened her eyes, all she saw were floating multicolor orbs, just like the ones you see after looking into a light for too long. She figured that the blast had burned her corneas. She was helpless at the time being, but she had to make it to her ship...

Samus lie in the floor motionless. She tried to move, but couldn't manage even a twitch. The outer hull had been ruptured in the blast. The suction began to pull Samus' limp body toward the void.

In her mind, she had begun to resign to death. She wouldn't escape this one. One last breath...

As Samus inhaled, a jerk caused her to exhale suddenly. Her eyes snapped open as a reflex. She looked back. Amidst the orbs, Samus saw a shadow of a figure pulling her away. After a moment, she felt herself hefted on the back of the figure. The motion from being carried caused her to feel faint, then she lost consciousness.

The figure carried Samus through the maze of corridors around to the other side of the docking bay. It opened Samus' ship, then sat her inside. It then engaged the autopilot command and jumped down.

Samus floated back to consciousness briefly in response to the ship movement. She lifted her head to look out the front window. She could see the figure for a moment, then another massive explosion. After the explosion, the figure was gone.

Samus rested her head down.

"We're heading for safety, ma'am,"

"W-where is that, Grady?" Samus forced her breath out.

"The Beta Outpost, ma'am,"

"Beta? Why?" asked Samus.

"Because that's where she said to go, ma'am,

"She..." Samus fell unconscious again.