Chapter 17: Epilogue: Corruption

Six months after Torim's funeral, Samus was on her way to meet Maelos at the new Galactic Headquarters. She felt better than she had in weeks. Her injuries were fully healed and success had come her way only recently in the form of two bounties commissioned by the temporary Galactic government. They had been a pair of brothers who thought that genocide was a good time to steal from the Federation. Well, they hadn't been too hard and had gotten her feet wet again. Samus always got the job done.

"Welcome, Miss Aran," said the secretary, "Mr. Tebral is ready for you."

After the battle of the Valiancy, things had happened so quickly. The Luminoth had won the battle, and they had been in charge. They had all Zenian Party members removed from office and detained. Military leaders were sent back to their native planets and placed under that planet's authority. All Representatives and Ambassadors voted for a small council which would restructure the government, under the Luminoth's watchful eye. Maelos had been an easy choice. So far, the council had reviewed and rewritten several parts in nearly a third of the Galatic Constitution. It was slow going, but already many good changes had been made.

"Samus!" Maelos looked up from his work.

He had been reading so much that his dark eyes had been damaged and now required reading glasses. He set the glasses down and rose to greet Samus.

"You look wonderful, as always. Please, sit down."

They both settled into the plush suite chairs.

"You look good too," Samus said.

"Yeah, it's all the exercise I get," Maelos said, gesturing to the room he rarely left because of his council demands.

"But you're getting a lot done," Samus said. "I mean, rewriting the election procedures was half the problem. And then giving the House more power to override a Council veto--that's all stuff that had to be done."

"I'm glad you approve," he chuckled. Then, seriously, "but there's still the problem of the Council itself. Samus, one of the reasons I called you here was to ask your opinion. What do you think about opening the House up to the Luminoth and creating a permanent Council Membership for them?"

Samus raised her eyebrows. That was a huge commitment.

"Do they want that?" she asked, leaning forward in curiosity.

"Actually, U-Mos suggested it. He said, quote, 'we, as a people need to share our enlightenment with others'. So, yes, I think they want it."

"Then it's a great idea," Samus leaned back.

"Good, I'm going to present it to the council this afternoon."

They lapsed into agreeable silence. Outside, hovercraft wizzed by. Sunlight entered the office suite through three large, partially blinded windows behind Maelos.

"Where's Sonilla?" asked Samus.

"Oh, her," Maelos threw up his arms in mock exasperation. "She's off saving the galaxy, one planet at a time, with another one of her humanitarian trips. This time she talked Devajor and Anne into going too. It's not that I don't like what they're doing, but I worry about them. A lot."

"Sonilla more then the others, I bet," Samus grinned.

Maelos blushed.

"How's your father?" she asked.

"He's doing well. You know, this whole thing really saved the repair station. Dad was about to close because no one was going there, but now, jeeze, he's thinking about expanding. That's where he's happiest. He loves to work with her hands; he couldn't thank the Healers enough when they fixed him up."

Maelos paused and revolved in his swivel chair.

"Sometimes I wish I could return to that life. It was easier. I'm not sure if I'd be happier, but it was easier," Maelos thought out loud

"I know what you mean. But we need you here," Samus said.

Maelos stood up and opened the blinds. Yellow light fell onto his desk and Samus. He didn't sit back down but began to spin a very expensive globe of Triya, which was next to his desk, stopping it to look at certain cities.

"I heard you were considering making Roscuro a General of State," said Samus to break his introspection. "He's a good choice."

"We think so," Maelos said absent-mindedly, "but it's still got to go by U-Mos."

"It will."

"Hey," Maelos asked, his energy returning, "what did G-Ire give you after the reception. I never got to ask you about that."

"Coordinates," answered Samus.

"Okay," Maelos said, recognizing that it was Samus's turn to be mysterious. "She gave me some really deep reading."

"I heard about that," Samus said, "the Luminoth Book of Enlightenment, translated into the Common Tongue."

"It's very interesting," said Maelos.

The talking died out once more. Samus was comfortable enough, but Maelos looked uneasy. He began to play with the globe again, and Samus thought, he's changed. Not too much, and not in a bad way, but he has changed. This pressure is making him more of a leader but also more... I can't place my finger on it, but it's there. He's still a good man though, and he's still my friend.

"Samus, I have a problem. The galaxy has a new problem," he said, carefully pronouncing each word.

He opened a drawer in his massive desk and pulled out a file, a file of paper.

Paper. When it came to government issues, only the most classified things were put on paper now, so they would be untraceable and easily disposed of. The galaxy was too large, too hi-tech to observe paper things.

Samus took the file and read.

"It's spread to...23 planets? Most, ones that the pirates attacked?"

She took a photograph out from the paperclip and observed it closely.

"I've seen this before," she said quietly. "I saw her die."

"Yes, that's what your Aether report said," Maelos sighed. He stood in front of the window and ruffled his hair.

"Damn pirates," Samus cursed. "Everything always involves them. So, you want me to fix this?"

"Samus, I can't express how bad I feel about making you do this," Maelos said with genuine grief, "but you know what this could do to the Federation. We are recreating ourselves, and if this corruption is allowed to grow...well, you know better than any what the Space Pirates will do. We have our best commanders working on a plan, but we, I, know that you're the only one who can do this. So yes, I am asking you to fix this. And I'm asking you for everyone in the galaxy because that's whom I am responsible for now."

Samus, for all her encouragement of Maelos's dream, had never once imagined that she would be taking mission instructions from him. But, who better to take orders from? Would she accept? Of course. This was her galaxy.

"Yes," she said.

"You won't be alone in this battle," Maelos said.

"I know."

Author's Notes

Thank you, one and all who read this whole story. Extra thanks all feedback I know that this story was dragged out for far too long, but I want you all to know that these last three chapters were just an amazing experience to write. I commend you for following this story for over a year, I really do.

Throughout this story, I've made some subtle, some not so subtle hints at various things in the world around us. Hopefully you picked up on some of them. If not, well, reread it then.

I've placed both A Moment's Silence and The Ambassador in the Prime trilogy. So, for those wondering about the last line, yes, that was a reference to the upcoming game. But, for all you nay-sayers, I am looking forward to MP3 very much. It was also a line about how Maelos and co. would be there for her, no matter what. That's what friends do.

As to the future, I plan on editting all of my works (it's incredible what a year can do to one's writing ability). I'm flirting with the idea of writing some one-shots about Maelos and Sonilla and there relationship together and how Samus would view it. But I don't really think I can justify a one-shot about a bunch of OC's. Oh well.

I do have a project on the drawing board. I've taken an interest in the Enlightened races of the Metroid world, and, if you remember from A Moment's Silence, I made reference to a "Totitkelilia", or gathering of the enlightened. I plan on writing a story about that and expanding on what we already know. I think it will be a fun and challenging project.

Until next time, alleycat1312.