Here it is, the big finale. I had so much fun writing this chapter, despite its difficulty to write. I hope you enjoy it.

As a warning, this chapter contains more swearing then everything else I've ever written combined (which isn't much). I do not swear, nor do I encourage it. But, to stay loyal to my characters and their personalities, I felt it best to allow it.

So, my readers, read on.

Chapter 15: Death From Above

Far away, back through dozens of corridors, came muffled sounds of battle. They were not like soft noise coming from near-by; they were like a roar that is dampened by distance, something that contained a suppressed volume. Close-by, the sound of careful footfalls on metal floors grew closer. They paused. Then, an orange helmet looked around the corner and retreated.

"Five guards," Samus told her score of Luminoth Warriors.

"Should we tranquilize them?" asked a male Lumionth named R-Saq.

"No," said Samus. She needed to convert them. The captain was Roscuro. If I can just talk some sense to him, maybe he can help us.

"What do you command, Savior?" R-Saq asked.

"Swarm them. Take them alive."

She set her beam charge to stun and came around the corner. Her squad followed, shields raised to deflect the coming blasts.

The first trooper had his back to her. He turned around, screamed, and then was knocked over by a single shot. Roscuro shouted out commands and began to return fire. His three remaining soldiers surrounded him, and, together, they aimed at Samus. She rolled away from their fire and went behind the line of Lumionth shields.

The door the troopers had been guarding opened and reinforcements, some ten men, came out, but the Lumionth took no heed. Their shields, pulsing blue energy stretched over tall frames of white metal, absorbed the GF attacks. In half a minute, the troopers were surrounded by a circle of Luminoth.

Roscuro scanned the circle for weaknesses, found none, and ordered his group to cease fire. They hesitantly obeyed, looking at one another for some assurance.

"Who is in charge, and what do you want?" Roscuro asked the circle of alien faces. He was trying his best to look confident and in control.

"I am," said Samus. She came out from behind the shields and stepped inside the circle.

"Drop your weapons, now," she ordered.

Roscuro laid his assault rifle on the ground, and his soldiers followed his lead.

"Listen up," she began, "especially you, Captain Roscuro, and, if you listen well, you might live."

She took a step towards the GF troopers.

"Medici says I am leading the Space Pirates, but he lies. Do you see any Space Pirates with me? I've done nothing but kill pirates my entire life. These are Luminoth Warriors with me, the same ones who are fighting against the pirates on levels 2,3, and 4."

Samus and her squad had received word only ten minutes ago about the Space Pirate entrance. Luckily, none had come their way. Samus also knew that this meant Maelos and Sonilla were now in this mess somewhere. She could only hope that they were safe, they are out of my hands now.

"A well-informed captain like yourself must also know that Sonilla Torim and Maelos Tebral are on this station, in the company of the Lumionth. Now, one must wonder, why would I be on the same side as them if I killed the Chairman?"

It was all very sudden, the information Samus gave Roscuro, but she meant it to be. They had little time. He had seen the video feed of Tebral and Torim's daughter on level 5. But what did he think about it?

"So, what do you want me to do? Surrender? We already have," he said.

"I want you to release the prisoners and help us," Samus said.

"I am loyal to the Federation," he said.

"Bull shit," spat Samus, "your federation is dead. And you know that."

"I can't--" he began.

"Look," Samus interrupted, "I am going to get those people out of there, one way or another. Either you help us and save both your own life and those of your troops, or you stay loyal to a dead and corrupt cause and die with it. Your choice."

Roscuro gave a Samus a grave look, then dropped his head to think. He sighed. He had wondered from the beginning why Samus Aran, famed pirate killer, would join forces with her arch-enemies. It was so out of character, and he had not been the only one to wonder that. Medici, well, he had always given him a bad feeling. Yes, the Councilor was a suave politician and smart in his own way, but he had never struck Roscuro as a moral person, none of the Zenian Party had. Roscuro had strived his whole life to lead a moral code, one of loyalty and honesty. He believed the Samus before him; he bought everything she had said. But was it true? Was helping her the right thing to do? To forsake loyalty in favor of truth?

He looked back up at Samus and asked one last thing.

"Can I see the footage of Torim and Tebral fighting? If I see that, then I will help you."

Samus nodded.

Roscuro motioned to his nearest comrade, and the soldier turned and walked to the circle of shields. He paused, unsure if they were hostile, but the Luminoth let him pass, one of them breaking off to follow him. He went into the room to get the video.

What followed was several moments of stillness. Roscuro stared at the ground, hoping he had made the right decision while his troops stared at Samus and each came to his or her own conclusion.

The pair returned, the human carrying a video display. He opened it before his commander . The video feed had come from the helmet camera of a 2nd lieutenant on the 5th level. He had managed to send the footage to the all commanding officers before being impaled on a pirate scythe.

The camera was focused on a corridor entrance. Suddenly, Space Pirates attacked from each side, forcing the soldiers close together. Then a regiment of Lumionth appeared at the entrance. They rushed headfirst into the mass of pirates. In the monotone of long, slim bodies was a group of solid figures and two humaniod ones. The camera zoomed in on the humans, and the faces of Maelos and Sonilla, altered by their bio-suits, filled the screen. They were at the back of the fighting force, looking pale. A scream came from the right, and the lieutenant turned and zoomed out just in time to see the blazing eyes of a pirate. The camera tipped sideways, fell to the floor, and from there on displayed only a thousand armored feet.

Roscuro handed the display back to his soldier.

"Open the doors," he said.

Several of the nearest soldiers, ones who supported their captain, jumped up and quickly opened the doors. The Luminoth waited, and Roscuro ushered Samus in.

"You may, I--" Roscuro began to explain, as they were in the command room. Lights and computer screens with video feeds and statistics lined the narrow entryway. Not counting the electronics, the room was empty.

"--you can't hide war from me," Samus told him. She knew what the prisoner chamber would look like. "Let me in."

"It wasn't me," Roscuro said, "I even protested their treatment. I was only charged with guarding them..."

He faded out and opened the second door for her.

Dozens of political prisoners were held in individual caged cells of the stark cement room. Others were hung by the thumbs or, in the case of half a dozen tentacled aliens, other limbs. The right side of the room was full of fresh prisoners, ones who had only been in there for a day or less. Going around the room counterclockwise, the condition of the prisoners gradually became worse. The left side of the room seemed dedicated to torture. Nearly all of the beings were missing appendages, whimpering in pain, or strapped to a table, which was armed with gruesome, shiny instruments.

"Which ones shall I release for you?" Roscuro asked in a subdued voice.

He felt very ashamed of the room he had been guarding. At one time he had thought it was full of criminals, but now he knew otherwise. His moral code, his honor had been wounded.

Samus said nothing but walked slowly down the aisle, looking into each cell. Geros saw her first.

"Samus?" he spoke her name.

He did not hang from his thumbs as the prisoners surrounding him did, for he had no thumbs to be hanged by. He had no hands either. His face was sickly, and his eyes, even as they rested on Samus, were swimming. A leather strap attached to the wall was strapped around his bare torso and held him standing. He held out his carelessly bandaged stubs to the Hunter.

"Where is Maelos? How is my son?"

He did not say 'release me' or 'how did you get here', he asked for his son.

"He is safe. I'm getting you out of here," she said and motioned for Roscuro to let him out.

By now, the other prisoners were stirring. Some were in shock at her presence, while others called out to save them.

"Devajor Misba? Devajor?" she called out.

"Mr. Misba, is not in this room," said Roscuro, as he helped Geros to sit on the floor.

"Where is he then?"

"In the interrogation room," the captain nodded down the hall to an energy door, "he was to be given one more chance to disclose Mr. Tebral's location, and, if he refused, then he was to be executed."

"The-the-they kept asking us 'where is Tebral', 'where is the Hunter'," Geros stuttered to her, "but, but we said nothing. Not th-that we knew anything."

Samus walked to the door. The room was not too long, but the walk seemed to take far too long. She had no idea what she was going to find on the other side of that door. It reminded her of when she had broken into the GF Council Headquarters. The difference was that now she was going actually see Medici's cruelty.

The door opened, and she saw Devajor.

He was strapped to a chair, dressed in his tux, which was covered with sweat, blood, and filth. His shaved head bore the marks of several beatings, and when he raised his head to the open door, there was no smile on his face. He could not tell who had entered because his eyes were gone.

"You should just kill me now," he said, his voice trembling, "I have nothing to tell you."

"Devajor, it's Aideen," Samus said.

Devajor paused, not sure to trust what his eyes could not confirm.

"There was no Aideen; Geros told me it was the bounty hunter, Aran."

"Fine, he was right. I am Samus Aran," she said.

Devajor "looked" in the direction of her voice, and then started to shout.

"I don't believe you! Get out! Get out!"

Samus opened the compartment on her thigh and removed the syringe and sedative she had used on Lorie Moli.

"It really is me," she said, "and when you wake up, you will be safe."

He began to protest again, but then she stuck the needle in his arm. She lifted him up and carried him out of the room.

"How is he?" asked Roscuro when she came out of the interrogation room.

"Not good," she without stopping. The captain followed her. "I am leaving now. The Luminoth will take care of Mr. Tebral and Mr. Misba, but they will need your guidance to get back to the docks safely. It would be best for you to help them."

Roscuro helped Geros to his feet, ignored the shouts of dozens of prisoners, and followed her out.

"R-Saq," she called. He saluted her. "I am leaving. These are the ones we came for. Have the captain here see who else to take with us. And when they are secure, join Y-Cah and his group. Okay?"

"It will be done, oh Savior!" he bowed.

Samus gave Devajor to one of her Warriors and stepped out and away from everyone else. She checked her map, took her bearings, and, without another word, she ran down the corridor and into the Valiancy's maze.

After many turns and loops, she came to a fork in the road; one went up a flight of stairs, and the other turned right, staying on the same level. She checked her map again, confirmed it with Creto, and headed up to Medici's quarters.


"Fire!" shouted the Space Pirate Commander.

He was an elite Commando, a survivor of the Aether mission. From that mission he had taken fierce experiences- the taste of death and the strategy of war. He had read the translated Luminoth lore and knew of their weapons. His horde was tried and grim with fatal resolve. The eyes of his army blazed with savagery and bloodlust. Neither he, nor his captains, nor any of his soldiers would stop until the force before them perished in flame and blood. 2nd Commander Nerok was well prepared.

But so were the Luminoth. Y-Cah was more than a learned and honored herald, he was a Warrior. He led the Warriors of the A-Kul, a body of almost a thousand strong. Under his command were his two lieutenants, T-Pui and H-Sio. They were the heart of the Luminoth force, the most senior group of fighters. Their authority was unquestioned, their might known and feared, and their calculated skills were revered by all they met on the battlefield.

If ever the battle between good and evil was to be personified, this was it.

And caught in the middle was the gray area, the Federation troops. Some had been defeated by the Luminoth already and lay dying. Others had surrendered, and, upon seeing the pirates, had deigned to fight alongside their captors. Those who were not dead or captured were at the mercy of Pirates Spaces, something that did not exist.

Thrown into the fray, Maelos and Sonilla stayed together at the back of the line with the healers, one of which was D-Nav.

"Do not fret, little one" he said soothingly to Sonilla during a lull in the fighting, "you are as safe as possible here with me."

"Yeah, if I get shot, at least I'll have a healer with me," she said, trying to make light of a grim situation.

At this particular time in the battle, the Luminoth had been pushed back slightly. The A-Kul's forces had taken up base in Main Hall number 4 of the Valiancy, a massive, deep circular room. Offshoots and tunnels led to other areas of the station, their openings making the battlefield even larger and more airy then it was.

Then, the pirates charged. The temporary peace was broken as the two sides again clashed. The pirates rushed in, forming a spearhead that drove into the right flank of the Luminoth force. Their ferocity reached a new level as they sought to drive the small bunch of Warriors into a near-by tunnel.

The Luminoth tried to protect their own, but the speed and malice of the pirates overwhelmed them. Into that tiny wedge the initial spearhead had created dove hundreds of more pirates who cut off the right flank and kept the others at bay.

Maelos, Sonilla, and D-Nav were part of the flank that was driven into the tunnel. It was dark, and they were stumbling over one another, trying desperately to run as fast as the fighters behind them. The shriek of their attackers, raspy and bone chilling, echoed off the close walls.

"Hold your ground!" shouted G-Ire.

The regiment leader could not hear anything. Her Echo Visor was nothing but confusion as the Space Pirates' battlecries interfered with her own echoes. Her officers gave her orders, and the Luminoth stopped retreating. They turned on the pirates with shields and staffs and beam guns. G-Ire struck out with her staff and halved a too eager pirate. She stood her ground, and a line of Luminoth formed across the tunnel with her in the middle. Valiant, they stood and met the enemy.

"Maelos!" Sonilla screamed in the semi-light, "Maelos!'

He found her and took her hand. Placing himself as a shield in front, he drew his gun and waited. Even the Healers had joined the line. D-Nav ran with them, and Sonilla tensed under Maelos's grip when he ran past.

"Take care of her," D-Nav called as he passed, "don't worry about me. Protect yourselves."

D-Nav rushed behind his kinsmen and organized the other Healers into a back-up line. They lifted themselves above the front-line and fired light energy beams over and into the Space Pirates.

The screams, the smell of searing flesh, and the rank of the reptilian creatures filled the tunnel until is was nearly suffocating. The lights were out, save for the emergency lights on the ceiling.

Fighting in the twilight, in the closed tunnel, was too much for Sonilla to deal with. A panic, claustrophobic and real, swelled in her, and she bolted away from the battle and down the dark passageway.

"Sonilla!" Maelos groped to find and stop her.

Then, reinforcements for the pirates came forward from outside the tunnel. They had a mounted missile cannon with them. The pirate captain, with several privates, propped it up and readied it to fire.

D-Nav had fought his way into the front ranks and found himself face-to-face with the beast. Without a second thought, the Senior Healer ran forward. He vaulted over dead bodies, picked up a Luminoth blade, and cut down the first pirate who tried to stop him. He slashed up, caught another in its jugular, and then pushed back the rest. Still some distance away, he sprung, yelling the Aetheric battlecry.

His long body stretched out the staff and knocked the cannon off balance. He landed before the cannon and looked up to find the captain cursing him. D-Nav tried to rise and fight some more, but all in a moment the cannon fired and the pirate captain stuck him with a scythe. So died D-Nav. By his sacrifice, his company lived and the battle was won.

The missile spiraled upward, black smoke trailing from its end. No one noticed the smoke, all was sound. The missile flew over the Luminoth forces and down the tunnel just behind them. It impacted the ceiling, and all was debris and chaos.

Metal beams, concrete, and dust fell on the fighters from both sides, blinding, choking, and crushing them. The attack was momentarily stopped as the two sides tried to stay together. Maelos was calling for Sonilla again, his efforts redoubled in the confusion, when a beam fell and collapsed him. He hit the ground, his left arm under him, and heard the bone snap. He had two thoughts--why this arm and I have to find Sonilla-- before he blackouted.

Sonilla awoke in total darkness. Am I back on the A-Kul?

"D-Nav? Maelos?" she called timidly to the black.

A rasp responded, and Sonilla remembered that her suit had a helmet light. She turned it on and found a Space Pirate laying next to her. She jumped up and covered her mouth to stifle the scream. It writhed before her, dying. Sonilla could see the metal sticking from its abdomen. The fire in its eyes subsided, and Sonilla allowed herself to relax slightly.

She turned to the wall of concrete and metal behind her. What was she to do? Oh no! she thought. The fighting was still going on; she could hear it.

"Help! It's Sonilla!" she shouted.

She beat the wall with her fists and cut her knuckles. She tried desperately to move the pieces but couldn't. She was stranded with nothing but a dead pirate and an endless tunnel behind her. She tried to sit down and gather her thoughts, but the stiffening body was too frightening. She paced, her mind a blur. How could it be like this? with her so close and yet so far from everyone? Were they looking for her?

Finally, realizing she couldn't get back, Sonilla decided to go the other way. Every cell in her mind told her to stay put and wait for rescue, but she couldn't stay with the dead. Her inner voice was telling her that she had to go; she had to make her own escape.

The tunnel was long. She didn't know where it would lead but was determined to follow it straight to its end. It was quiet, and after the battle she had left, Sonilla couldn't decide whether it was a relief or unsettling.

There were doors and offshoots on both sides of the path she followed, but she remained on course. After five or so minutes she came to a place where the lights were on. The lights revealed a fork. One path went up while the other turned right. She had to pick one; she could not go straight.

I'm on level 4 right now, right? So, going up will take me up towards the docks. Yeah, then I'll get on one of the ships and wait. Plus, there's a draft coming from this way, and I'm sick of this stale air.

She began the ascent.


Earlier that day, if space can have days, Medici had ordered Sharjak to take his entire force to destroy Aret. Soon after, he had ordered his GF forces to go to Aret and annihilate the pirates. He knew that nearly every combatant in the fight would die, but he was willing to do it; he had plenty of other Federation troops, and the pirates had outlived their welcome. But Sharjak had not left Ridley, led his army safely through starless voids, and wiped out planets for nothing. He knew very well what was happening. So, he had not gone to Aret, but had doubled back, leaving the Federation to be found and defeated by the Luminoth. He had come back to the Valiancy to complete the circle of treason--he wanted Medici.

He was at Medici's personal quarters. He reared back and prepared to break down the door when Lorie Moli came out of the shadows shooting. She gave him a quick one-two and disappeared around him. Sharjak lashed out with his scythe and barely missed her. Spinning around, he faced her and shot with his beam gun. She staggered back and that provided him enough time to rush her.

Lorie Moli tried to keep her footing, but the bulky Commando was too much. Down on her back, she kicked and fired at his face, but it was nothing to the veteran. He stepped on her chest, took her head in one hand, and broke her neck The bio-suit she wore was nothing. It snapped like a twig.

Leaving her on the ground, he battered the alloy door in and cut away a chunk with his claws. Looking through the hole, Sharjak saw that Medici was gone. And then he heard footsteps coming up the stairway behind him. They were the sound of metal on metal. Someone, a soldier perhaps, was coming. Sharjak would have loved to have stayed and killed again, but he had to find his prey. He continued to enlarge his hole, and then climbed in.

Samus reached the top of the steps to find Lorie Moli's body. She bent forward, made sure she was dead, and passed by. She was only sorry it was a someone else who had gotten to her first, and it was probably a pirate by the claw marks on her armor. I can't let someone else get Medici. She jumped through the opening in the door.

Medici's room was the epitome of luxury, but Samus didn't have a moment to spare enjoying it. She ripped through the room, past the walls of priceless books and victorian furniture. In one of the room's many acloves, a door had been flung wide open. It was a secret passageway disguised as a life size painting of the first Galactic Council Chairman. Medici would never be so careless as to just leave his escape this obvious. Someone else was on his trail. She sprinted through the straight passeway and found herself in the northwest docking hanger. At the hanger's end was Sharjak, beating and roaring at a small speed cruiser.

The cruiser was designed for racing and had few defenses except its very walls and a tiny blaster for clearing out asteroids. Gavin Medici was inside, pressing buttons and trying to find the gun controls.

"Medici, you bastard!" snarled Sharjak, "come out a fight! I will get you out of there, you cowardly, yellow human!"

He cut the cruiser's hull with his scythes, and then fired at the windshield. It cracked, and then broke, leaving Medici unprotected. Sharjak dug into the ship with his claws and lifted himself up, level with Medici. He was saying something softly to the man when a super missile blew him off the ship and into the hanger wall.

Samus ran to the ship. She used her plasma beam to weld the doors shut and locked the dock by scanning the release control panel in front of the ship. Then she turned up to Medici.

"Stay there. I'll deal with you in just a minute."

She assumed a defensive position and looked where Sharjak had been thrown by the missile. It was empty. She switched to her Thermal Visor and searched for his signs. Revolving on the balls of her feet, she found him charging her left side.

Samus rolled around him and tied up his legs with her grapple beam. Sharjak cut the tendrils with his scythe and was back upon her in a heartbeat. He slashed left-right-down-jab in quick succession, and Samus backpedaled feriously to dodge the blows. Sharjak began the sequence a second time, and Samus lost her footing. As she fell, she started her flamethrower, and Sharjak screamed as his whole front was burnt.

Firing several missiles into the smoke, Samus rose and retreated. Soon there was plenty of space between her and her enemy. He was powerful and in a close-range battle could beat her. She needed distance to use her speed and full arsenal.

"Finally, I meet the Hunter in combat," Sharjak said, his face bleeding from the fresh burns, "and she has proved to be all my kinsmen have claimed. But you will not defeat me, nor will you take the traitor's life. He is mine."

"That's what you think," Samus said from behind her visor.

Locking in on his head, Samus circled and unleashed her firepower. The Annihilator Beam sent shockwaves through the hanger, filling the room with sonic feedback. Sharjak returned the fire, and his pirate missiles met the Luminoth blast in midair. Searing light blinded both of the combatants as the explosion threw them in opposite directions. The hanger shook, and the glass of all the remaining space ships shattered.

When the rumble subsided, Samus got to her feet. She felt like every atom in her body was shaking uncontrolablely. Fighting off a wave of nausea, she searched the room for her enemy. Sharjak was against the wall on the other side of the hanger, lifting himself off the floor with difficulty. She fired her Wave Beam and knocked him over. For one moment, Samus allowed herself to think she had won. But Sharjak jumped to his feet, let out a terrible roar, and vaulted onto the wall behind him.

Sharjak began to climb up a huge cement pipe that went up the wall and across the ceiling, electricity crackling along his body. Samus doubled her firing speed, but Sharjak was oblivious to the pain. Her adversary crept up the wall, gripping for purchase with only claws and determination. He was soon on the ceiling of the hanger, looking like some insect that needed to be swatted.

And then, his eyes burning, his mouth open to reveal rows of incisors, Sharjak pushed off from the pipe and plummeted down towards Samus.

She managed to shoot him several times with her missiles, but others missed him and soared into the cement pipe. As Sharjak reached her, death came from above. Samus struck the ground with the Space Commando sandwiched between her and the pipe. His burnt face was on her visor, staring eye-whited into hers. All around them, the ceiling fell and covered them in metal and cement dust.

Once again, time was against her. 'Alert! Low energy level! Suit's intgerity has been compromised. Rib casings 4,5, and 8 have been cracked. Internal wiring has shorted. Seek repair immediately.'

The message was accompanied by an electric shock through her spine. She groaned and tried to pushed herself out from under the mess of pirate and pipe. Trying with all her might, she squeezed herself away from Sharjak so that they are side-by-side. This caused the pipe to fall flat across them, and, as it did, Samus felt her bio-suit strain to keep its form. She knew that she had broken at least three ribs, already her suit was trying to stop the bleeding. She also knew that her suit was the only thing keeping her from a sure and crushing death, and she didn't know how long it would hold.

Samus was beginning to feel whosy. The suit was pumping medicine into her even as electricity was coursing through her body. And then into the fog came the sound of footsteps.

Samus painfully turned her head to see Medici walking towards her. She noticed the cut above his eye and the glass in his hair. He stopped and silently observed his enemies, one dead and the other severely wounded.

"So, here we are," stated Medici.

Samus struggled under the weight of the overturned pipe, but, as it did nothing but tire her more. She stopped. She tried to call Creto, and there was nothing but static and a "disabled" message; she was alone. Samus couldn't move or hardly think as her suit was slowly being crushed.

Medici came and knelt besides her, a look of pleasure on his face.

"It looks like you're in quite a bit of trouble, but, while we're here, I think we should have a chat. So, let's see the Hunter," Medici said.

He reached forward and took off Samus's helmet. Her beautiful face was distorted in anger and desperation, her eyes shooting glares of hate.

"Oh," said Medici, "very pretty, yes, very pretty."

He smiled. It was a look of pure venom. The features of his face betraying him to his true thoughts. His eyes were black holes. Taking Samus's face in his hand, he forced her chin up so her eyes met his. She stared back at him defiantly.

"You really are a beauty," he said as he bent forward to kiss her.

"Never!" said Samus, her voice coming out like a harsh whisper. Forcing her face away from his, she caught his hand with her teeth and bit it to draw blood. Medici recoiled in surprise, and a cry of pain escaped him. Good, let him feel pain, let him know how much he's hurt us!

"Fine, don't take my parting gift," he said, gripping his wounded hand. He quickly slapped Samus and retreated from her biting range.

His blow threw Samus's head back violently and broke the skin on her left cheek. She groaned in pain and lifted her head up to focus her swirling eyes on Medici. She grimaced, and then spat at Medici. The saliva landed at his feet, tinged with crimson.

"The Devil will welcome you with open arms when you arrive in Hell!" she cursed him.

"Funny you should mention Hell," chuckled Medici, "because I think you'll get there first."

From the folds of his ripped jacket he took out a gun and a cartridge of shots. Samus stared at the pistol in his hand.

"Oh," said Medici, "yes, this is the same gun that shot your friend Tebral." He then grinned, "but you'll find that at this range it's much more accurate."

Samus looked at him in disbelief and enmity as he stood and slowly loaded the pistol. Everything she had worked for was about to come to a close; it was all going to end here, and she couldn't do anything about it. There was no escaping this time.

"I must thank you though, Aran," said Medici, "without you I wouldn't have had an enemy to protect the Federation from, or someone to dispose of my bagage," he motioned to Sharjak and down the hanger towards Lorie Moli. "And what glory it will be when they find out that I, Gavin Medici, defeated the infamous Samus Aran. The only one to survive her rampage, and the only one able to lead the galaxy through this tragedy."

He shook his head and looked directly at Samus, and Samus realized she as afraid, for the first time ever she was truely afraid of an enemy. And Medici scared her because he was without compassion. Did he care about his murdered mistress? No. Did he consider the millions, maybe billions he had killed so far? Did he stop at treason? He considered them all "bagage". He loved nothing except power. Medici wasn't human.

"But you know the truth," he straightened up and took the gun in both hands.

"May the truth die with you."

The words resounded in Samus's mind, over and over again. May the truth die with you, may it die, the truth...and then, may the truth guide you, the old Chozo blessing and guide.

She was going to die, and she didn't know what was beyond. Samus had long ago come to terms with her sins and did not fear them. Nor did she believe that whatever controled the universe would damn her for all of eternity. The truth, as the Chozo called it, was not like that. But she was still so afraid.

Then Samus thought about what Y-Cah had said. Perhaps if U-Mos was right, she would meet her family in the stars. But do humans and the Chozo go to the same place after death? I was the last Chozo Warrior, and I failed them. Even if the two races do share the afterlife, would they want me? The realization of her failure set in, but Samus replied to herself, you will see them, and they will forgive you.

Medici cocked the pistol, and Samus felt tears coming to her eyes. She couldn't end life like this and took a deep breath to calm herself. Thus, Samus Aran readied herself to die as Medici leveled the gun between her piercing blue eyes...

The shot rang out in the open room, echoing off the white walls and ships a dozen times before falling silent.

Samus could see. She felt no pain. She had expected a blackness, and then...something. Maybe her victims, maybe her father's face, maybe Tubela. But the world was still there.

Medici dropped his weapon and grabbed his chest. Suddenly, his shirt turned red as blood poured out of his body. He swayed and then fell on his face in front of Samus. Sonilla Torim stood behind him. Her breathing came in rasps as smoke rose from the gun she held with both hands. Her tear stained face was full of agony.

She didn't say a word, just lowered the gun to her side and started to weep.