Lights in the Dark

Jake led Samus as they ran towards the Luminoth's Great Temple, the pair using their formidable Light weapons to destroy any Ing they encountered along the way. The journey took them longer than expected thanks to a crumbled hallway in the Federation's base, but they felt somewhat optimistic after having seen no trace of the new Pirate mutations along the way. Jake felt it was a sad statement to the Federation's military capabilities that the most simplistic of the Ing's forces was all it took to wipe them out, the only Ing above Warrior class that they saw any sign of had been the Hunter possessing the soldier in the brig. Jake felt that the Hunter Ing had been sent specifically to infiltrate the Federation's base and locate them, or at least locate Samus. It made him worry as his mind began to make connections from what little they had seen so far.

The sound of weapons fire drew Jake from his thoughts as they neared the Great Temple. They slowed as they neared the corner so Jake could peak around it, his eyes going wide at what he beheld. There was a group of soldiers wearing armor that wasn't the Federation's standard issue, each one bearing a black emblem on their shoulder with a red design engraved that Jake couldn't quite see from his angle. As one of the soldiers turned to give the others their next orders, Jake recognized the compressed rifle on their back. It was one of his own creations, given to one of his subordinates to commemorate his promotion within the Research Hunter Division. He activated his Power Suit's comm log and sought out the name of his former teammate.

"Would you shoot your former CO if you saw him?" Jake asked with a playful grin through his comms, having found the name and secured a connection.

"I'd never shoot the man that made me who I am today," the soldier replied as he turned around, trying to see Jake's position.

"Do the rest of them feel the same way?" Jake asked somberly. Samus put her left hand on his shoulder, feeling his worry through their mental link.

"We'd never harm you, Commander Lupus, or Samus Aran," the soldier replied softly, his voice almost sad.

"I'm behind the corner of the West side of the tunnel with Samus, we're going to step out now," Jake said calmly, waving his hand from behind the corner before slowly stepping out. Samus followed close behind.

"It's good to have you back, sir," the soldier said as he approached Jake, the two greeting each other by clasping the other's forearm.

"Didn't you hear, Sergeant? We've been charged with treason by the Federation. I think that means I'm no longer your commander," Jake said nonchalantly.

"With all due respect, sir, fuck the Galactic Federation. You'll always be our commander, and we never believed you were dead. We may not know everything about you, Commander Lupus, but we damn well know that you'd never let that fucking lizard beat you in a fight," Ludo said.

"And for your information, they promoted me to Lietenant and named me CO of the Division after they claimed you were dead," he added, a hint of pride in his voice.

"Congratulations on the promotion, Lieutenant Ludo," Jake said, his smile clear in his voice as he clapped the other man on the shoulder, making him stumble.

"What are you guys doing here?" He asked his former subordinate, changing the subject.

"Well, I've been trying to follow your example as leader these past few weeks, and I knew the first thing you would want done in a hellish situation like this would be to help the Luminoth maintain the Energy Controller, so that's what we set out to do," Lieutenant Ludo said with pride.

"Good job, Ludo," Jake said, patting the man's shoulder again.

"Glad to see we still have allies around," Samus said from behind Jake.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, ma'am," Ludo said with an audible smile, offering his hand in greeting.

"Likewise," she replied, raising her arm cannon in a small salute.

"Commander Lupus!" The other members of the RHD shouted as they spotted Jake with Ludo and Samus.

They were soon swarmed by Jake's previous crew, many of whom had weapons or armor that was clearly of the Division's making. Jake allowed them a moment of joy within the hellish place the Federation base had become, but he quickly reminded them that there was work to be done.

"Look alive people! The enemy might send another wave at any moment. Let's get behind the Temple door for now," Jake called out, surprised to see his crew respond as though it were just another day of drills.

"You must have been one hell of a CO. They still respect you enough to follow your orders without hesitation," Samus said, somewhat awestruck at the bond between the Division's members.

"Most of them are like us, they lost everything to the Space Pirates and their ilk. Daniel and I found the majority of them when they were pretty young, before we even joined the Federation," Jake said to her, his tone carrying the pride he still felt towards the Division and his team.

"I'd love to hear the story when we have time," Samus said, genuinely eager to know how his own quest to kill Ridley had begun.

They followed the Division members into the Great Temple, relieved to find the interior untouched by the horde that had swarmed the base below. U-Mos approached them to express his own relief at seeing the pair back safe within the Temple. Jake went to stand by the door with Ludo, hoping to get a better grasp on the situation.

"They came out of nowhere. Luckily, you taught us to read through the report logs for any planet we traveled to. Samus Aran's reports gave us the most detailed information, as well as a trove of knowledge that the Federation's standard personnel had no idea of. If not for how you trained us, we'd probably be as dead as the Federation right now," Ludo said when Jake asked him about it.

"The portals opened everywhere, mostly Larval and young Ing, with a handful of Warrior class among the hordes. It didn't take more than a few minutes for them to dismantle the Federation. You actually caught up to us right as we were arriving. The Ing we were in the process of exterminating had been trying to force their way into the Great Temple," Ludo went on to explain.

"Were there any casualties?" Jake asked.

"From our own, none, but we haven't seen any sign of Federation survivors," came Ludo's response, something in his voice making Jake feel like he was leaving something out.

"What is it, Ludo?" Jake asked.

"By your report, you've done an excellent job of leading the Division, especially getting them here to the Temple," he added.

"Something doesn't feel right about all this, sir. It's like they fucking knew exactly how much of their force they would need to take out the Federation, like they'd done it before. Stranger still was the Federation's reaction, or lack of it. Most of the personnel we saw were practically giving themselves up to the Ing," Ludo said, striking the door in his frustration.

"I know what you mean," Jake said as he stared out into the hallway.

A strange, yet familiar, scent reached Jake's nose through his modified helmet, making him spin around to scan those present. He swore as he saw Ing within the shadows of three members of the Division. He discreetly motioned for Ludo to follow him and not raise any alarms, walking to the nearest of the infected Division personnel with Light energy charging into his hands and feet. He tried stepping onto the first shadow, but it shied away from the Light energy his foot was emitting. Jake lunged at his teammate, wrapping his powerful arms around them and pouring Light energy into them. The one he grabbed and the others that were infected were rendered unconscious as Jake let loose a powerful pulse of Light energy, the Ing being forced out of their shadows and fleeing. Samus and Ludo blasted all three with Light energy, disintegrating the parasitic Ing before they could slither away.

"Not that I'm ungrateful, but what the fuck was that, Commander?" Ludo asked after they made sure there were no more enemies.

"A gift from the Chozo after a bad run-in with some Phazon," Jake said, not wanting to elaborate. Ludo said nothing in response, just shrugged and walked away.

"So, what's the plan, Commander?" Ludo asked after taking up a position by the door, Jake standing watch beside him.

"You stay here with the rest of the Division and help the Luminoth guard the Energy Controller. Samus and I will head into Dark Aether to try wiping these bastards out at the source," Jake said, finding it surprisingly easy to fall back into his role as commander of the Research Hunter Division, as though he had never set out with Samus on the Division's first active mission to the field.

"I thought Samus Aran had destroyed the Ing's leader during her first mission here. Who could be leading them now?" Ludo asked, not taking his eyes off the door.

"Let's hope I'm wrong in my suspicion of that," Jake said, praying to the old Lupus gods that he was wrong. If his suspicions were correct, he knew that no planet would be safe again.

Samus must have felt his worry through their link, as she turned around to look at him while conferring with U-Mos. Jake tried to reassure her through their link, but his fear kept gnawing at him from within. He walked towards Samus, hoping that they would be able to win this one. He could feel in his bones that this would be no ordinary mission, this would be a war to prevent the Ing's darkness from spreading throughout the universe.