Chapter Six

The tower remained deserted when the pair reached it. Re-entering the door Samus had forced open before, the two advanced through the littered corridors and rooms. Anthony couldn't help but wonder what had happened here, just as Samus had earlier. "What in the name of?..."

His question was promptly cut short by a loud screech. "As of that noise, I'm wondering the same thing," Samus remarked. She carefully made her way forwards, cautious of what could be lurking. Fortunately, nothing emerged as the two surmounted the tower.

Well, almost nothing. As Samus and Anthony reached the door to the roof of the building, the sounds of Adam's engines erupted in an angry roar, as did the screeching. They stepped out onto the roof itself just in time to see Adam fly off, with a humanoid creature clinging onto one of the skin panels.

Adam burst through the radio static. "Samus! Get this thing off of me! I can't shake it!"

Samus shouted back, "Do a barrel roll!"

Despite the suggested maneuver, the creature displayed an incredibly iron grip even through the intense G-forces of the roll. It still adhered to the spacecraft's skin as Adam made a dive back towards Samus and Anthony.

Then, when the distance was close enough for Samus to be sure of her shooting, she pelted it with Power Beam shots. Soon after, Anthony joined in, bursts of fire erupting from his own weapon. But even their combined fire couldn't knock the beast off its chosen perch. "Man, the hide on that thing!" Anthony exclaimed in exasperation as Adam banked and turned, then rocketed back towards the tower.

"Outta the way!" Adam exclaimed over the comlink just before buzzing the tower with millimeters to spare...between the tower and the wing with the creature on it. Even its tremendous grip couldn't save it from being plastered against the wall it had just been plowed hard into.

Surprisingly, however, the unknown monstrosity did, in fact, survive. Its humanoid face unsurprisingly pancaked into its head and bleeding red all over, it staggered up from the roof where the impact had thrown him. No, scratch 'humanoid', Samus thought to herself, make that 'human'...unmistakably human, even though it possessed forbidden strength and moved about like a demented soul. The thing limped a few steps towards the pair...

SCAN VISOR DATA: Unknown creature consists of elements of many different creatures blended into one. Mixture is inconsistent and is predominantly Human. Scans also indicate faint electronic presence.

Reverting out of Scan Visor, Samus remarked, "That didn't help." Then she lined up her crosshairs against the head of the demonic creature and fired. The shot hit home, finishing the wounded creature and causing it to crumble into a limp bag of meat. "But I guess that did."

"Wha...how the hell? What the FUCK is that thing?" Anthony seemed to be out of words to describe the spectacle in front of him. He was timely greeted by Adam swooping in to set down once more. Luckily, damage remained superficial; a panel on the right wing surface peeled up and back, but the components below remained intact. The characteristic purple hull gleamed in the moonlight as it rested on the landing pad atop the tower. As Samus and Anthony approached, the ship invitingly illuminated its front viewport once more.

"Samus, where have you been? Who is this I detect near you?"

"It's a long story, Adam," replied the reputed Bounty Huntress. "And I'm rather ashamed that you don't remember this person. You once were his commanding officer."

The visor obscuring her companion's face swiveled up. "Remember me?" he asked.

"Yes, I do, actually," replied the AI, this time on the external loudspeaker. "I don't remember you wearing that armor or that rank patch."

Anthony chuckled. "This stuff rolled out a week ago. My unit was the first to get our hands on it."

Adam replied, "I detect similarities to known Chozo technology."

Anthony informed Adam, "Our briefing told us this was based on Chozo technology. We learned plenty about it performing maintenance on Samus' suit."

So that's how their weapons were so similar to my own, thought Samus to herself.

"That same briefing also told us we were going to hunt Samus Aran. I knew something was fishy right then and there."

Adam replied to Anthony's explanation almost immediately. "That explains why Samus came under attack. She hailed me shortly before losing contact telling me you guys were attacking her."

"Sorry about that, Samus," Anthony made an aside to her, then back to Adam, "I was going to order my men to be a bit softer, but they went along against my orders and got their target. The only reason I went on this mission was to get to you two."

Adam replied, "Keep going." Samus, knowing Adam, prepared to leap out of the way should the AI open fire.

"I knew from the start that Samus got a bounty on her head. They chose me to lead the charge to capture her, knowing that I used to be a close friend. I thought I'd use that opportunity to help you out. I know the charges against you involving BSL are nothing but a load of bullshit."

"And how do I know you're not just saying that to fool us?" The Gunship's underside laser Gatling guns descended from their storage compartments and promptly spun up.

Anthony saw the ship maneuvering to get him in the line of sight, and answered honestly. "Because I brought with me twenty men who believe the same, and we need to work together to get off this rock and out of the Big Fed's sight!"

After a silent standoff between the three entities lasting the galaxy's longest minute, Adam disarmed, unlocking the topside hatch. "Both of you. Inside. Now." Both armored warriors happily agreed.

Samus reclined back in her captain's chair as it rolled into suit maintenance position. Five seconds of scanning later, Adam asked, "What in hell could have caused this kind of damage? All the systems appear to be overloaded by some sort of high voltage. Is there some sort of high-output weapon I don't know about?"

Anthony answered, "I'd guess the Neutralizer. The techies designed it specifically for taking out Samus' suit."

"They're very good at their jobs, I'll give them that," replied Samus. "I don't have much in the way of a suit anymore, thank you very much."

"I'll pass the word onto them next time I see them," commented Anthony. "To tell you the truth, half the Neutralizer was a wild mass guess. I'm still shocked at how well it worked."

"One more pun like that out of you and I'll beat your ass," Samus stated firmly, shaking her free hand in a fist.

"If your joking is over, I'd like to shed some good news as well." Adam assumed his usual serious tone.

"I sure could use some of that today," muttered Samus to the computerized commander.

"The news is twofold: these components are still usable...somewhat. They aren't quite as effective as they once were, nor can they take much punishment.

"The current spike also triggered a hidden ability of sorts in the armor. Samus, I can detect the old Chozo components trying to self-restore back to their former condition. They can't stand up to the stresses of supporting damaged components, but my hypothesis is that pretty soon, they won't have to anymore. I think this hidden mechanism is how Chozo tech could sit there for decades, if not centuries, and still be usable when the next randy spluenker comes by and takes it. It all takes energy from the surroundings and keeps itself in repair. Naturally, Chozo tech also uses this to fix itself up after major battle damage, or after having enormous sections of it amputated. Of course, the Federation tech grafted onto it when-"

Samus made it clear she wasn't an engineer. "Yadda yadda, just cut the technobabble and tell me what it means."

"You can still use all your abilities, but good things come to those who wait, in this case for your suit to finish fixing itself."

In his usual military manner, Adam addressed Anthony. "You say you had twenty other men with you?"

"Yes sir," replied Anthony. "And right now, I'd think they're trying to regroup. I can't raise any of them on comms through this interference."

"Alright," conceded Adam. "Stay with me. We'll work on trying to get your men back in order. And, make sure they know we're all on the same side."

"Sounds good," the commander responded. "Now what shall Samus do?"

Samus ended the conversation as she got up and headed back out the hatch. "What I do best."