Chapter 2

"Sergeant Rice?"

"Yes Adam, this is Rice, go ahead."

"Sir, I wanted to let you know that you have Pirate mechanized armor coming in at bearing 090."

"From the West, huh? How far?"

"About 3 miles, moving at 20 MPH."

"Thanks, son."

Rice knew he had very little time. Once the mechanized armor reaches the city, all hope would be lost. He doubled his pace up the stairs. The 16th floor was far, but worth it. He knew he should have been doing his best to secure all the floors, but right now, the only thing on his mind were the Arans. Rice couldn't afford to let anything happen to the them. He just couldn't.

People were rushing past him down the stairs, trying desperately to get to the transport. He tried looking for the Arans amongst the people rushing by. It was doubtful that they would be the type to just leave their dwelling so unceremoniously. They had worked so hard to get there, they weren't going to let go of it that easily.

Rice finally got to the 16th floor. He darted over to their apartment door and knocked authoritatively. "This is Sergeant Rice with the Galactic Federation, please open the door." No one answered.

Rice tried again. "This is Sergeant Rice with the Ga----"

"HOLD ON!" We're not ready yet!" he heard a woman inside say.

"Virginia. Please. It's Cornell. Open the door." Rice said calmly.

There was a short pause, and then Rice heard the clicks of locks unlocking and the door swung open. "Rice?"

"Virginia. It's so good to see you again."

They embraced. "Oh my God Cornell, its been so long. Why didn't you tell us you were coming?"

"There wasn't enough time. I was put on the assignment last minute. Come on, we have to get out of here."

"But Cornell…" Virginia said with hopelessness. "We can't just leave everything. We can't start over again."

"I know, I know, but if we don't le---" Just then Rice was caught off guard as someone very small tackled him around the legs, and he almost lost his balance. He looked down and saw a very beautiful little girl staring back at him.

"Hey uncle Rice! It's Samus! Remember me?"

Rice bent down and picked her up. "Of course I remember you baby girl!"

"Hey I'm not a Baby anymore! I'm a big girl!"

"Oh of course! I almost forgot. You're a whole 3 years old now! Look at you you're so big and strong! And you're so smart too! Just a year ago you weren't able to talk, and now look at you!"

"I know Uncle Rice! I know everything now! I know my ABCs and my numbers, and how to add and subtract!"

"Hey Rice, how's it going?" He heard Rodney say from across the room.

"How ya doing Rodney? What are you feeding this girl? She has gotten so big!"

"I know, she eats her weight in food everyday. I tell her that one day she is gonna regret it when it catches up to her."

"Well guys." Rice said. "We really have got to go. There is very little time left before the Pirates overtake the city."

"That's what I told Virginia, but she refuses to leave." Rodney explained.

"I'll take them Pirates! Watch me! I'll fight them all at once!" Samus said with a face.

"I can't leave. Not yet." Virginia said with tears in her eyes. "Cornell, I know you can understand. Everything we have is here. We just can't leave like this."

"I know, Virginia. But, listen to me and your husband. If we don't leave now, you might not live to remember the things you lost."

"I know, but still. It's too difficult." She said, almost sobbing now.

"Think of your daughter. If we don't leave now, we could be putting her in harm's way. Do you want that for her?"

"No Cornell, but isn't there some other way. Can't the federation defend the city?"

"The forces are spread too thin. The pirates are attacking all over the galaxy. We only have enough manpower to evacuate as many people as we can to Sector Zero. Please Virginia, you must understand."

"Listen to Rice, dear. We are wasting valuable time." Rodney said, trying to console his wife.

Virginia sat silently for a while, and the only thing that could be heard were the occasional explosions and earthquakes outside.

"Please dear. We have to go." Rodney said, sitting next to her.

She opened her mouth to speak. "I hope… I hope those Pirates rot. Those evil creatures. I hope they burn and die a horrible death." Virginia said between sobs.

Rodney helped her up. And Rice, still carrying Samus, escorted them out of the apartment.

It was absolute mayhem out in the hallway. People were running scared out of their dwellings and down the only pair of stairs. Rice pushed through the crowd, and made room for the Arans to get by. Rice's comm-link came to life with Adam's voice.

"Sir, I just thought I would let you know that the transport was under heavy fire at the base of the tower, so the pilot's moved it to the roof."

"Even better." Rice replied. "We're closer to the roof anyway."

He now had to notify the chaotic crowds that there was a change of plans. Rice started escorting the Arans up the stairs when he saw one of his officer's heading the other way. "Private Skinner." Rice beckoned to him.

"Yes, Sergeant Rice." Skinner said.

"Help me get these people to the roof. The transport's been moved. Notify the others."

"Yes sir, right away."

"Where are we going?" Samus asked, still in Rice's arms.

"We're going Pirate hunting. How does that sound"
"Awesome!"

Rice started going up the stairs, and he heard Private Skinner call everyone's attention behind him. "THE TRANSPORT HAS BEEN MOVED TO THE ROOF! ALL CIVILIANS AND PERSONNEL ARE ORDERED TO GO TO THE ROOF IMMEDIATELY." Skinner shouted over the anxious crowds.

The flow of people started to change direction, and it was now easier for Rice to escort the Arans up.

He was the first one to reach the final 20th floor. But before he could even open the door to the roof access, the door was blown off of its hinges, and Pirates could be seen on the other side.

"Virginia! Rodney! Get back!" Rice shouted as he started letting rounds fly at the oncoming Pirates. Cries of pain could be heard in Rice's comm-link, which were subsequently followed by Adam's voice. "The transport's been destroyed! I repeat the transport's been destroyed!" Rice felt his heart skip a beat.

"Skinner!" Rice heard himself say. "Help me retain these enemy units!"

Skinner hurried up the stairs and knelt down next to Rice, firing off round after round at the oncoming Pirates. One of them managed to dodge both Rice and Skinner's suppressive fire, and with his melee blade, he sliced off Skinner's arm, and in the same motion cleanly removed his head from his neck. Rice, now sprayed with blood, along with Samus, shot the Pirate in the head, blowing it cleanly off, and started pushing the crowd back. "Rodney, you and Virginia start heading back down!" Rodney acknowledged and started making his way down with his wife.

"Adam, I need you to allocate another transport to the tower. There are still many people here that need to be evacuated!"

"I'm way ahead of you sir. There is a transport waiting on an aerial docking platform at the 13th floor."

"EVERYONE NEEDS TO GO TO THE 13TH FLOOR NOW!" Rice screamed to get the crowd's attention. More Pirates were making pursuit, and Rice kept shooting rounds in their direction. He threw a grenade to help slow them down.

In an anxious panic, most of the crowd was able to make it to the platform on the 13th floor, where sure enough, there was a transport waiting, still intact, and hovering at the edge with it's bay doors open, welcoming people aboard. People started piling on in droves. It was a good thing these transports could hold upwards of a thousand people. Finally, it came down to just the Arans and Rice right outside of the bay doors. Officer's on the transport tried reaching out for Samus, who was still in Rice's arms. For some reason, outside of Rice's consciousness, he was unable to let go of Samus. He didn't know why, but he believed something terrible was going to happen if Samus got on first.

"Rodney, you and Virginia get on first!" Rice yelled over the thunder of the transports engines. They agreed and were helped on by the officers. Virginia then reached out to get Samus, from Rice's arms. But what happened next was something Rice never saw coming, and something he wished desperately would have never occurred.

Just as Rice held out Samus, and she was within inches of Virginia's loving arms, a projectile ripped into the hull of the transport, crippling it and sending it down in flames with every last soul onboard, including Virginia and Rodney Aran.

And the last image Samus and Rice ever had in their minds of Samus' indescribable parents, were their faces of peace, hope, and acceptance of their final moments as they fell further and further away in the torrent of flames that engulfed them on their way down.