Author's Notes: First and foremost, I apologize for the delay in my updating. School, and with it sports, have started again, and so I have almost zero time for myself, let alone to write. That, coupled with the fact that I didn't know how to start this chapter are the reasons for the wait. Sorry.

I can't decide whether I like this chapter or not, but it is an essential one. I'm really looking forward to the next chapter though (I think of it as my second catalyst).

In the beginning, I didn't expect this story to be so long. I have at least four more chapters planned after this one, which I expect to raise this story to above 40,000 words.

Read on...

Chapter 10: Fallen Heroes

Lorie Moli checked her arm cannon for the tenth time in the last five minutes. The green cannon was fine, of course, but she was anxious to get going. Everytime she lifted her arm and saw the orange and red suit it was unnerving. Medici had been furious that Samus had escaped, and so he was now bent on destroying every bit of the galaxy's trust in the famed Hunter. It so happened that Sharjack had stolen a prototype of Aran's suit before he split from the Space Pirates, and now it was Lorie Moli who wore it. It looked exactly like the Chozo bio-suit, but lacked its power, special beams, and morph ball mode.

It was almost time for Lorie to move, the dark of night settling on the city. Behind her, a score of armed Space Pirates waited with her.

She didn't like being around them. The Pirates were all several feet taller than she; their reptilian bodies were shadowed and imposing. They would whisper in guttural clicks and rasps only to break out in a grating laughter that was as black as midnight. What was worse about them though was their eyes. Lorie could not bring herself to look them in the eye, for they burned into her thoughts. The Space Pirates frightened her, and she knew that they could sense her fear.

But this was the plan, and it had to be done. Today is the day, she reminded herself. Today was the day that Medici would immerge as the sole ruler of the Federation.

Peering out of the dark alley where they were hidden, Lorie saw the convoy coming. She retracted her head and then several armored hovercraft bearing the Federation insignia drove past them. Lorie knew they were headed to the Grand Capere Centre where an emergency House meeting was about to take place.

She then turned to the Pirates. It was difficult to see them in the alley because of their black attire. After a moment of searching, she found a pair of flaming eyes and addressed them.

"Let's get moving," she said, trying to sound authoritative.

The Pirate she spoke to was in charge of the small Pirate squad. He shuddered though as Lorie spoke to him. She looked so much like the Hunter, but she was not. It looked identical, the suit did, but Lorie Moli did not possess the aura of the Hunter.

Venlaf had seen the Hunter before. He could remember her speed and cold accuracy; the awe of her terrible power. But what he, and the few other Pirates who had survived Aran, remembered most was her visor. The green glass hid her eyes, but that just made it worse, to not fully see your enemy and killer. He could remember the heat of the visor bearing down on him as he fled the room, could recall the fear he felt in his retreat.

But Lorie Moli was not Samus Aran. She was a killer, yes, but not Aran.

Still, this was part of the plan-- to blame the killing of the Council on Samus, who had joined with the rogue Pirates.

With a silent command, he ordered his troops to follow him as he followed Lorie out into the quiet street. The curfew had been re-ordered to start at 8:30 p.m., so the street was deserted.

They spoke no words, and the air around them hung stagnant. They clung to the street's edge, hiding in the shadows of the tall buildings. And after a few turns they came out on Centre Street, where the Grand Capere Centre was.

Lorie stopped several blocks before the building and held up her left fist for the halt. They were now located on the opposite side as the convoy, roughly 300 yards away. The convoy had stopped and a regiment of GF troopers was preparing to escort the Council into the Centre.

She gave the signal to go to their positions.

Venlaf and half of his Pirates cloaked themselves and headed down the street and past the convoy. Half of the remaining Pirates also cloaked themselves, their outline shimmering in the twilight, and crossed the street. The remaining Pirates gathered behind Lorie, uncloaked and visible. They stood still and silent as the troopers formed a shield around the Council.

The Grand Capere Centre was extremely tall, with sloping sides that met with a wide base. A solid trapezoid of black alloy, it was in total command of the city skyline. It was raised up high above the other buildings by a slowly climbing silver staircase. And now the Council was beginning to climb those long stairs.

"...28...29...30..." counted Lorie Moli. They were now all in position for the three-pronged attack.

Lorie's group broke the quiet as they rushed towards the convoy. The Pirates unsheathed their laser sabers and leapt out several strides ahead of Lorie, screaming in their raspy tongue. She grasped the cannon with her left hand and held it steady as she unleashed a line of fire onto the soldiers.

The soundless dusk was broken by the cries of the GF troopers as the two invisible flanks closed in and attacked. Desperate to protect their leaders, the regiment fired back and led them up the stairs.

Lorie Moli took a running start and then used her Space Jump Boots to lunch herself up in front of the fleeing group.

The first Council Member she attacked was Medici. She swung her cannon at his head and, not using all her power, knocked him unconscious. Then she turned on the other Council Members.

She shot out at their unshielded bodies with her Power Beam and watched as they were consumed by the energy. Venlaf and his Pirates came hacking on all sides of the regiment and trapped the soldiers and Council in a loose circle.

Lorie shot a screaming Council Member in his chest and watched as the energy ball engulfed the human's flesh and left a gaping hole. The man toppled down the steps and was trampled by his own troopers as they made a last stand.

In the next minute, all of the Members and troopers were cut down by the Pirates until only one being remained.

Venlaf came forward with two of his sergeants holding the Council Member from Quadrant IV, Westilo.

Her lean body coiled under the Pirates repulsive grip, trying to escape. She hissed at Lorie Moli with her forked tongue. Once the Pirates stopped before the Samus-look-alike, Westilo's snake eyes glazed over in defeat, and she murmured in her native language, which sounded very much like the Pirates'.

She knew what was about to happen.

The two Pirates forced her to kneel before Lorie.

It was an execution.

Lorie Moli brought her arm cannon to Westilo's head and fired.

"I second the motion!" called out the 3rd Representative of Olit, Adam Uvore.

The gathering hall at Ivra Space Station had been ill prepared for the relocated House Members. The fourteen thousand Representatives and Ambassadors had been crammed into a hall only built for twelve thousand, tables touched walls, and chairs couldn't be moved without hitting something. Regardless of the close quarters, nearly all the House jumped to its feet and cried "aye" to the opinion.

The roar of cries rebounded off the walls, and it took several minutes for the self-appointed "House Leader", Ambassador Quetoc, to bring them back to order.

"The events of tonight have crippled the Federation," his voice projected by a microphone, "and we must choose a new leader now that the Council has been destroyed."

He paused to seem remorseful, but it could have been a feigned look.

"We vote now. Those in favor of giving the only remaining Council Member, Gavin Medici, emergency executive power of the Galactic Federation, so that he can stop the Space Pirates and Samus Aran, press the affirmative key on your voting control."

All around the room, the House voted. Members loyal to the Zenian Party readily selected their key and pressed it. Others took a slightly longer time, but all were finished in less than two minutes.

Ambassador Quetoc turned to the console next to him. It was a portable voting machine, which registered all of the votes coming from the House's controls. Its screen was solid blue, but occasionally it flickered as if the machine was thinking about something.

Finally the votes were in. Quetoc faced the screen and read off the results.

"On House Action #142, of the Galactic year 20X4, the vote is 10,986 to 3,014 in favor of the Action. This is a 78 majority. The Action passes."

Several hours later, on a distant planet named Bluyk, it was mid-day and a 17 year old girl watched the Galactic News with her mother. She sat perfectly still, fully concentrated on the gold and red figure on the screen. Her mother rushed to the TV and turned it off as the anchor delivered the news that the House had given Medici full control of the Federation.

"That's enough," the mother said quietly, "get upstairs and get working on your science project."

"Helpana," said the girl. She spoke slowly, in an almost patronizing voice, "it's not due until Monday, and I'm already done."

The mother noticed her daughter's tone and the use of her first name and winced. She had spoken in this manner all her life, even as a toddler, as if she were better than everyone but understood and forgave their errors. It was something that the mother had learned to live with, but sometimes it sent a shiver down her spine. Instead of reprimanding her daughter though, Helpana nodded.

The daughter said nothing more but looked out the window at the bleak autumn landscape. Winter was coming; the grass was graying and the trees were nearly bare. A baby grand piano stood by the window, and her greens eyes turned to it.

"I think I'll play something," she said.

"Good idea, honey. You play so well," said Helpana while she left the room.

The young lady pulled out the piano's bench and gracefully sat down. Slowly moving her raven black hair off her shoulders, she selected a piece of sheet music. She opened up its five pages across the piano's stand and sighed as she recognized the weaving and scattered music notes. The title read in some strange tongue "Ip Evro Tombes", The Hero Falls.

The first tritone split the air and echoed through the hall to her mother in the kitchen. The daughter continued and the melody unfolded, dark and sorrowful. Helpana understood that it was a lament to the hero her daughter had believed in.

"Oh Minavara," she whispered. Sometimes they fail us.

But Minavara played her lament the whole way through, flawless and with emotion. She could not understand how Samus Aran could join her enemies, the Space Pirates, and then kill the Council. She would not accept how everything around her was failing. Minavara could sense the hatred Medici held in his voice and glance, and she could not accept that he was now in power.

The galaxy was about to fall, and there was nothing she personally could do except watch. But she felt, with an intuition that had never failed her, that something was going to be revealed, and then that something would save them. But until then she would play and wait, and hope that not all the heroes had fallen.