Alright, here is this chapter. I know this took forever, but I was incredibly busy and I even had to hurry to get this to you now. So please, review about an inconsistencies or rough spots.

Chapter 13: The Fallout

The Luminoth Training Hall was full of noise as Samus fired a dozen blasts from her arm cannon. Twelve targets fell over, smoking. Maelos took Samus's beam gun in both hands and fired at his set of targets, but only four were hit.

"Here," Samus said. She took the gun in her left hand and showed him how to aim properly, "use both eyes, right down the barrel."

Maelos took it back, but Samus quickly stopped him.

"No! Don't hold it so gingerly," she told him for the fourth time," don't be afraid of it."

"But...!" Maelos exclaimed futilely. They'd been shooting for almost an hour now, and she had him thoroughly frustrated. He was trying; he wanted to fight like she did, but at the same time how could he make her see? He was afraid of the gun, afraid of its power and of the fact that he may soon have to use it. Am I weak for that? he asked himself. He hoped that his fear didn't make him weak, but Samus wouldn't understand his fear. She was a killer, simple as that, and he was not.

"Arrgghh!" he growled and did as Samus had showed him.

The targets had automatically been replaced, and he unleashed a round on them. This time, he dropped seven. Somehow, his anger had made it easier. Is this how she feels?

"Better," she said under her breath. She too was frustrated. "We've got another four hours before we reach Lairda. We should get some rest and something to eat before then."

"Really?" Maelos asked with barely detectable resentment. He put the gun in the holster Samus had given him.

"Yes, we both need to be ready," she said.

She turned to leave, but Maelos sighed and looked out at the other Luminoth who were practicing. Some were target practicing too, but others were sparring with wooden bows or practicing their defense with a shield against an automated attacker. They were preparing outside in the hallway too. The Training Hall was adjacent to the Outfitting Room, where the Warriors were dressing for battle.

"Coming?" asked Samus.

Maelos grunted and followed her out. For the first time he could remember, he felt angry with her. She just couldn't understand him. Couldn't comprehend how he felt, with Sonilla in turmoil and not knowing if Geros and Devajor were alive. She's a bounty hunter, he thought as they walked out into the hallway. There was an elaborate arch to his right. He felt the openness of it and turned to look while thinking, no. I know her better then that!

The arch was a window to the Outfitting Room, a colossal hall that was as high as it was deep. Inside, Samus and Maelos could see the hundred or so Warriors readying themselves. Luminoth of all callings streamed in and out of the hall. Activity was everywhere. Armor was latched, blades were sharpened, shields were tuned, and faces were stoic.

Maelos's anger melted away, and he stared at the busy sentinels with a feeling of approaching doom. He didn't see the Luminoth Warrior emerge from the door on his left. The Warrior turned, his bladed cobalt staff, which was propped on his shoulder, turning with him.

Maelos was jerked back by three long fingers. He came out of his daze and saw that a Luminoth had pulled him back, but something was dreadfully wrong with this one. It wore a strange black apparatus over its eyes, two wires coming from it. One went over its forehead and entered the back of its head, while the other twisted down its left arm and attached to a band on its wrist. He reeled back in surprise, and the Luminoth released him.

"You must be more careful, Ambassador," it said.

"Maelos?" Samus had turned around and realized what happened, "are you okay?"

"My good Ambassador," said the Warrior who had almost hit him, "have I harmed you? I am so sorry."

"I'm okay," Maelos said. All of this had happened so quickly. He had been thinking and then saw the hall... and something pulled him back, this Luminoth with weird black glasses...

"Continue, H-Sio," said the Luminoth who had saved Maelos, "I will minister to him. We need you ready for battle."

H-Sio did as he was told, and Maelos felt his arm being gripped again as the Luminoth led him and Samus out of the crowded corridor. Maelos looked up at the creature, as it led him down the hallway. As of that moment, he had yet to discover anyway of differing between the sexes, and he wondered if this one was male or female. And what is it wearing?

They stopped in front of a door on the left side of corridor C03.

"Blessed Samus and Ambassador Maelos, I am G-Ire," bowed the Luminoth.

"Well met," said Samus, "and thanks for covering for me back there."

"Yeah, ah, thanks," said Maelos timidly.

"Would you mind joining me in my chamber? I have been meaning to speak with you both for quite some time now," asked G-Ire.

"Sure," said Maelos. G-Ire opened the door and entered. As Samus walked in next, Maelos opened his mouth to whisper a question when she cut him off.

"-female. Echo Visor," Samus said with a grin at his dumbfounded look.

"I knew that," said Maelos.

They entered G-Ire's quarters, which were much different from their human ones. The room was absolutely dark, and it was several seconds before G-Ire turned the lights on. There was no bed. In its place was a hollow, cocoon-like structure that hung from the ceiling in the far corner. A closet of carved stone was positioned in the other corner. There was a table (much larger and higher up than the one in Maelos's room), against a wall, that was covered in strange silver and red instruments. Two wooden chairs were stationed against the opposite wall, which was alive with messages because of the Rita Missatic. These too were built for Luminoth and too high for either of the humans.

"I would say to make yourselves at home, but I doubt my things would accommodate you. We will not be in here long anyway," said G-Ire.

Samus eyed the table and its instruments, but Maelos could not keep his eyes from G-Ire and her Echo Visor.

"You wonder of my visor?" said G-Ire as she went to the closet.

Maelos didn't answer even though he knew the question was for him.

"I may not see as you do, Maelos, but I can see many more things then any human can," G-Ire said to his silence.

She opened the closet. Without a moment's search, she pulled out a crisp tuxedo and a small box. She closed the closet and went to Maelos.

"This is yours," she gave him the tuxedo, "I was charged with its safe return."

She presented Samus the box, cube-shaped and made of cobalt metal. Samus opened it. Inside was a miniscule microdisk.

"That, my blessed Samus, is an upgrade for your Echo Visor. All of our visors have been equipped with it, and we now give it to you. The upgrade will improve the Echo Visor's precision and detail. It will also detect variations in radiation and heat. I helped to develop it, and if you ever have questions, come see me."

G-Ire paused, as if considering what to say, then addressed them both.

"I have other things for you, but now is not the time for those gifts. They will only be distractions to you."

She sighed and then said, "go. If you hurry, you may still be able to find some supper in the Service Hall."

Samus observed G-Ire for several seconds then said, "thank you, G-Ire. We will come see you again soon."

Maelos bowed and said politely, "you are very generous. Thank you."

D-Nav turned on the lamp at Sonilla's bedside. The light flooded onto Sonilla's face, but her eyes did not even flutter. The sleeping potion he had given her was in full effect. The Senior Healer leaned over and inserted an IV into his patient's hand and hung the bag of fluids on a stand by the bed. He had tried to feed Sonilla after Samus had left to see Y-Cah, but the girl had still been too shaken to keep anything down. Hopefully, when she wakes in 8 hours, we will be gone from Lairda, and her friends will be able to talk to her more. What she needs is fellowship, something to take the sting from her depression.

Thirty minutes before they would reach Lairda, Samus was in her room alone. She sat deep in thought. The room was black except for the light from her helmet.

She had been sitting there for nearly an hour now, letting her mind go wherever it wished. She thought of Creto, her Chozo parents, her biological parents...and these things led her to darker thoughts-Space Pirates and metroids, her missions, death, and killing. /This entire train of thought had started with her just mulling over what Y-Cah had told her. She had let her mind wander, and it had come full-circle and brought her back to this moment. It had not given her answers or appeased her longings in anyway. How pointless that was, she thought. But had not the enlightened become enlightened by pondering mysteries? Could she not remember dozens of times from her childhood where she had seen Chozo be still and silent for hours just mediating?

Samus shook her head and leaned forward in her chair, elbows on her knees. How am I going to survive this one?

A Rita Missatic message flashed on her wall. It read- 'All Warriors and the Savior Samus, report to ramp E immediately.'

Samus had been waiting for this call. Solemnly rising, she left her room and headed to ramp E.

Y-Cah and a fierce looking Luminoth Warrior were waiting for her there. Y-Cah introduced the Warrior as T-Pui, a female who was the ship's champion.

"I am honored," said T-Pui with a bow.

"Our sensors," Y-Cah said, "have detected nothing more then the wake of the pirate ships. We are too late to engage them, but we can still mount a search and rescue operation. We will land the A-Kul in Lairda's sector 8, where the radiation is smallest. If there are survivors, it will be there."

There was a slight pause as T-Pui nodded her head in approval of the plan. To Samus, she appeared to be a fierce but taciturn creature. Then Y-Cah spoke to Samus.

"I do not pretend to have any true authority over you, Savior Samus," he said, "but I do ask that while you remain here that you cooperate and assist T-Pui and the other Warriors as best you can. Your combat and strategical skills will be needed very soon."

"Of course," answered Samus, wondering why her skills would be needed "soon".

"Good."

Only minutes later, the A-Kul shuddered as it touched down on the ground of Lairda. Samus stood with the other warriors on the ramp, lined up in perfect blocks that were ready to march at the first command. She had observed how quickly they had dressed and assembled, and she marveled at their efficiency. Even at the GF Academy, no one was this fast and ready, or this well equipped, she thought as she studied the Luminoths' radiation suits. They were thin but covered even inch of skin on the Luminoths' bodies. The suits molded to their bodies and pulsed gently, as if their pulsing could dispel the impending evil.

And as she stood in their ranks, she felt that she was one of them. She had found a group of combatants she could trust and aid. Samus smiled and flexed her left arm in readiness.

But whatever fuzzy feelings she may have found in such a thing were lost when T-Pui ordered the ramp to be lowered.

The Gnegnis were a peaceful society but thought to be primitive and uncivilized by other societies. Plants fascinated them, especially the Brabew tree, whose roots grew up to twenty feet out of the ground. In their dedication to botany, the Gnegnis made their homes in the Brabew tree's roots. Their single spaceship had been a class R transport that had allowed they to indulge in the trade of Brabew fruit and seeds. Lairda may have been poor in the eyes of the galaxy, but its inhabitants were one of the few galactic communities to view themselves as fulfilled.

Now that world was gone.

Samus stepped off ramp E, her boots sinking into the now ashy and formally fertile soil. T-Pui, in her briefing, had said that it was night on Lairda, but Samus was certain that even if it had been high noon that Lairda would have been just as dark. The sky was blocked by a layer of smoke, and the planet's twin moons were just a pair of faint hazes behind a curtain.

The only true light was coming from her Chozo bio-suit. The Luminoth carried staffs that issued a pale, crystallized light, like that of the light beacons from Aether.

The Warriors were now splitting up into predetermined groups, calling out to any would-be survivors. Samus was free to go where and with whom she pleased, and, as always, she went alone, in the direction no one else was going.

She headed out northeast, where the Gnegnis had once cultivated long fields of exotic flowers. There was very little to see. Everything had been leveled, only brief and lonely pieces of stone and tree trunks poked out of the sea of destruction. She switched to her Thermal Visor. The visor was colorless until she glanced at the horizon and could see the heat of Phazon, several miles away. 'This sector was mainly a growing area for their plants', T-Pui had explained. And as such, the Pirates had not wasted their precious Phazon on flower fields, but had bombarded them with standard raid bombs.

Samus took in a deep breath to sigh and immediately regretted it. Even her Chozo suit's filters could not clean out the smell of death. It hung everywhere, like the smoke above her head. It smelt of burning wood and sap, flesh, blood, and radiation. It was like K-2L, no, it was K-2L.

A piece of fallen tree was now in her path. Samus turned back to her Combat Visor and made her way around it. She peered near the tree's broken roots and noticed that the ground there was not so black. She focused her helmet light on the ground and went closer, the deathly smell becoming stronger. There she found, to her great disgust, two skeletons. It was not what they were that disgusted her, it was who they were- a parent clutching an infant. Gnegnis were biped creatures with alien skulls. If one ignored the skulls, the two skeletons looked almost humanoid.

The Hunter did not know how to honor such victims, and she quickly walked away.

Two hours and four miles northeast passed by with no results. Every twenty minutes a Reader from the A-Kul would request an update via her HUD. And each time Samus said one word--nothing. Almost two hours into the search, she had been informed that one survivor had been found. The female Gnegnis had severe burns and a broken arm but would live. That announcement had brought excitement to all the searchers, but it had faded away.

"My Savior," the Reader's voice echoed in her helmet, "T-Pui requests that all units return to the ship immediately. Please check in with X-Sne when you return. Thank you."

The Luminoth voice ended, and silence again met Samus's ears. It was a brooding silence, as if Lairda was now a widow. She may have been silently mourning her dead, but her grief was broadcast to everyone on the planet.

Samus slowly complied. It would be pointless for me to go back the exact same way, though, she thought. She studied the map of what land she had already covered and headed south by southwest. She would go half a mile this way and then make a beeline to the ship. This way she could cover a solid wedge of T-Pui's search area; she had been assured that all the Luminoth Warriors would do the same.

One hour yielded only the same monotone blackness. Samus was constantly switching between her various visors, more out of habit than anything else. Climbing a small hill, Samus noticed something while using the Echo Visor. It was a phantom, an echo that was out of place, as if something had just moved quickly from the place in question. The Thermal Visor showed nothing new. She went to the X-Ray Visor.

The phantom was back. She could see it moving through the hill, retreating from the visor's range. Samus switched to the Combat Visor and crept up the hill.

She reached the top and paused. Her body was producing adrenaline, getting her ready for what was over this hill. Finally, something. And something that is definitely alive!

Samus jumped onto the hilltop, cannon ready. A blur to her right moved and leapt towards her. She turned to face it when several things happened simultaneously.

Her attacker, she realized, was not armed; the creature was coming to fight her with its teeth and nails. It was not a Gnegnis, and probably not an intelligent being. It was a monstrous canine, dark colored and shaggy furred. The creature was so tall, it could have easily rested its head on Samus's shoulder. Flying through the air, its mammoth jaw was opened, and its claws were extended. But Samus knew these weapons posed no danger to her. She decided not to kill it.

The beast hit her in the chest. She fell over as it crushed her to the ground, its teeth and claws glancing off her bio-suit. They rolled diagonally down the hill and crashed into a tree root. The great hound continued to bite at her in vain until she pushed it off and stood. Muscles flexed and ears flat against its head, her attacker circled her. She advanced towards it, and it gave a little ground before baring its teeth.

Samus advanced again, but this time the beast held its ground with a menacing growl. Samus stopped and scanned the beast. Her scan reported--'Male Ulscaner, a canine native to Lairda. These creatures are valued for their loyalty, strength, and endurance. The Gnegnis (inhabitants of Lairda) have managed to domesticate most of the population. No alien abilities detected.'

Samus digested this information quickly. She had no need to dispose of this ulscaner. It was not a threat, and if it was a domestic one then it may lead her to something.

She fired a round over the ulscaner's head. He jumped in surprise and sprinted west. Samus followed as closely as she could, but the beast outstrided her.

She put on the Echo Visor and followed the ulscaner's echoes. The beast led her to a wide stream, whose waters ran black with ruined lives. Without breaking stride, he vaulted over the stream and vanished into the darkness of the other shore.

"Samus to the A-Kul," said Samus into her helmet. she halted her pursuit several yards from the water's edge.

"Your Reader is ready, Savior. What have you found?" came a shimmering voice.

"I'm pursuing a male ulscaner, headed west. I need the nearest units to assist me because I think this thing is headed back to his owners. I'm sending my coordinates to you now. I'll report back when I catch him. End."

"It will be done," responded the Reader.

With the coordinates sent and assistance coming, Samus made ready to jump the stream. She crouched down, and then sprinted to the stream's edge. She jumped off the edge and screw-attacked over the black water. Her path was illuminated with swirling energy. Landing with a dull thud on the wet grass, Samus continued running.

She alternated between her visors, trying to find some sign of her prey in the moonless night. What she found was a yellow glow coming from behind a something up ahead.

Approaching as stealthily as possible, the Hunter closed in on the heat. She scanned the spot, the x-rayed it, and finally came back around to the Combat Visor.

There was a group of Gnegnis behind this slab of broken cement.

Samus turned her helmet's light up to full power and jumped around the rubble.

The light revealed a family of five, crowded behind a strong and muscular male. Despite his physical strength, the Gnegnis was afraid. To him, Samus, with her Chozo suit, looked like some ancient god coming to claim their souls. He spread himself in front of his family and half yelled, half wept in broken Common Tongue.

"Please...no harm! No hurt my wife...children. Please," his voice cracked, "no hurt. I anything do for you!"

Samus lowered her cannon to her side and extended her open palm.

"I am not going to hurt you," she said slowly, painfully aware of how cold her altered voice sounded. "No hurt, no harm."

The father did not let down his guard. His shouted something in his native language, and the ulscaner appeared at his side. And the great hound obeyed, leaping at Samus in final defense of his family.

Samus rolled beneath his lunge and shot at him with her Grapple Beam. The blue tendril wrapped itself around the creature's legs and brought him to the ground. A spine tingling howl came forth from the now captive animal as electricity shot through his body. The mother Gnegnis screamed in rage and tried to rush Samus. Her husband restrained her with difficulty and resigned himself to watch his servant's murder.

"Call off your dog!" Samus told him. "Tell him to stop! I am here to help you. To rescue you!"

The Gnegnis's face remained the same, and Samus wondered if he had understood her. Where is a Luminoth Translator when you need one? But comprehension suddenly dawned on the alien's face.

"Cuth!" he called the beast's name, "lepoith ip deceme!"

Samus flicked the Grapple beam and released Cuth. He stood and galloped to his master, ignoring Samus.

The Gnegnis lowered their defenses slightly, and the patriarch took a timid step to her. Samus let him advance, knowing his voluntary coming would be more beneficial then her going to him. And then a thought passed into her head, what do I do now? She doubted they could communicate effectively with one another. So how was she to convince them to come with her?

And as if on cue, a shimmer appeared behind her. She turned as the Gnegnis stood in awe of this new wonder, and saw a half dozen Luminoth coming. Yes, she thought in relief.

It took Samus and her assistance two hours to get the family back to the A-Kul. The Gnegnis took more to the Luminoth, but it still took a great deal of persuasion to lead them from their destroyed home.

Cuth came with them. His former hostility was replaced with curiosity of the Luminoth. He would prance around them in delight, his graceful body bouncing effortlessly. He seemed to create a game, of which he never tired, where he would run up and poke his victim with his nose, and then run away laughing. Samus soon bored of it, but the Luminoth permitted it with good grace.

Despite his defeat at Samus's hands, Cuth forgave her at his master's order. He did not play his game with her, but he did not shy away from her either.

They were greeted at the ship's entrance by the other searchers, Y-Cah, and Maelos. The Gnegnis were frightened at first by the many faces, but when Y-Cah greeted them with his gentle words they followed him inside. There they were presented to D-Nav and his staff, who ministered to them with food and medicine.

"Send word to Aether immediately," Y-Cah told the Senior Reader. "We need a Gnegnis translator ready. Prepare the ship for a feast! We must celebrate these lives that we have found!"

"Blessed Samus," Y-Cah caught her before she could disappear amid the throng of excited Luminoth, "I need you and Maelos to come with me."

"I'm here," said Maelos. Y-Cah and Samus turned to find the man standing behind them, waiting.

"Follow me," ordered Y-Cah.

The Herald led them away from the others, who were becoming industrious for the feast, into the belly of the ship.

"Our Readers have just received word from three other battleships in the Temport Sector," he said softly, "they have found Medici."

"Yes!" Maelos nearly shouted.

"Quiet, dear Ambassador!" Y-Cah said. "There is a problem."

"What is it?" asked Samus, who was managing to contain her impulses better then her friend.

"Our Sentinel, U-Mos, has authorized all units to precede with an attack, and a plan was being made, but then they moved. The B-Stl reported that nearly 60 percent of the stronghold's forces have left the sector and are headed to the Aret Sector--"

"Aret!—" began Maelos.

"—and now we're the only ones close enough to respond," finished Samus.

"Yes, my Savior," said Y-Cah. "Only ourselves and the three other ships are close enough to launch an attack before the troops are expected to return."

"So, we attack their base with our own smaller force now, and possibly take them by surprise, or wait and have a full scale assault," said Samus.

"Yes."

"What have you ordered?" she asked the Luminoth leader.

"I was going to ask you, my Savior," he replied. "With your abilities, we may have an advantage. And if we go ahead, the other five Luminoth battleships will cut off and engage the Federation forces in Aret."

Why must I decide? Samus asked herself, must more blood be on my hands? But she knew exactly how she would respond before Y-Cah had even asked her opinion.

"I say yes," she said.

"Then it will be so," Y-Cah bowed. "We will take-off immediately and rendezvous with the other ships at the Temport Sector in 17 hours."

"What about the feast?" asked Maelos.

"Let them have it," sighed Y-Cah. "The galaxy does not have enough celebrations, and this maybe the last one they ever have."

And with those words, the Luminoth parted company with them and went alone in silence to meditate on the future