Chapter 5:
Elric stood inside his quarters as Federation One made its way through subspace towards what Elric hoped to be the N'Kren homeworld. He knew that it would be difficult to convince the N'Kren and/or the Ylla to render the Federation any assistance, but he knew that he would need their services. Without them, he would almost certainly lose Earth, and likely other worlds as well. While the destruction of Daiban had justified a great deal of the new rules and regulations that he had imposed on the worlds of the Federation, it had mainly been a means to take from the wealthier worlds and give to the not so wealthy worlds since many of the poorer worlds had a larger number of people. Most of the colonies which exported many goods did not really mind one way or the other since they shipped out most of their products anyway. Though he had strongly urged such worlds to lower their prices on their exports. Worlds that were generally self-sufficient and did not take in too many essential imports, such as Earth, felt the weight of Elric's regulations a great deal more. He was also concerned as to how the N'Kren or Ylla would respond to what he had done in the Federation. The good news was that the Luminoth had yet to speak out against Elric's decrees, but they were mostly an insular people. The problem was that the representatives of the Federation that went to help the Luminoth were mostly humans from Earth or one of its colonies, and had been chosen by the previous administration. So far, he had managed to keep a lid on Earth's discontent with the current regulations. And if he could limit the damage to Earth, then he would be okay. After all, the Chosen Heroes were on Earth, and if he got rid of them, his masters would give him the power to rule the Galactic Federation forever and make a truly safe and secure society. The only issue would be making sure that none of the elder races knew of his deal with the Magic Lords, or his species' connection to them. If they found out about his connection to them, then he would almost certainly be killed. And that would be the best-case scenario for the Federation.
"Sir, we are going to exit subspace in a few minutes," a voice rang in over the comm.
"Excellent," he said to himself. He then pushed a button on the radio in his office and replied, "I'll be right up."
Elric then got up and left his office, proceeding to make his way up to the bridge. On the way, he reminisced about the Council's reaction to him leaving subspace just outside of the Sol solar system and jumping all the way across the galaxy just to meet some mythical race that might be able to help them out of their jam, but if they refused, could easily wipe out the rest of the Galactic Federation Council. Elric was hoping that the presence of the Federation Council would not give the N'Kren any ideas. The tablet that had told them about he N'Kren, however, gave the impression that while they were relatively militaristic, though not imperialist and, according to the information found on Z-1A, viewed honor as one of the most important tenets of their culture. Elric merely hoped that he could use this to his gain in the negotiations, or rather, prostrating of himself before them, as others would see it.
Upon arriving at the bridge, he saw long lines outside the bridge window and a glowing portal off in the distance. Good, he had managed to time his arrival right at the time they were about to jump out of subspace and into normal space. The ship and its escort, two Asgard-class heavy cruisers, then exited subspace and appeared over a large blue and gray planet out the window. He then held his breath for a moment. He knew that if the N'Kren were around and they did not welcome the Federation, that there was no way that the two heavy cruisers would be able to protect Federation One, especially if the N'Kren ships were as powerful as Elric believed.
He stared out the forward view port window and found a large planet staring back at him. Some of the lights on the surface of the planet flickered on and off at regular intervals. For a second, he thought he saw a distortion over one of the continents of the planet, but he shook off the feeling. He looked down at the officers manning the various consoles and bellowed, "Get a bio-scan of that planet. Also, scan for any other starships in the area."
The captain, a humanoid male with blue skin, brown hair, and yellow eyes glanced over at Elric and asked, "Is this the right place? Are we at the N'Kren homeworld?"
"You tell me," Elric answered smartly. "I'm just following the coordinates based on the information we found on Z-1A." He then looked down at the sensor console and its officer, and called, "Anything?"
"Yes, Chairman," came the response from a young Catgirl, a female humanoid feline-like creature that looked human save for two ears on the top of her head that looked like the ears of an Earth cat. "We have detected almost three billion sentient lifeforms of the same species down on the planet. There are also massive lifeform readings of other kinds, indicating a large variety of plant and animal life as well. It's not as diverse as planets like Earth, but it's closer than what we've seen on other worlds."
Elric winced and then grimaced at the mention of Earth. He then turned to the communications console and commanded the young human male stationed at the console, "Lieutenant, open a channel to the surface. Tell them that I wish to speak with whoever is in charge of this world. Tell them, that we have come asking for assistance and that we are allies of both the Luminoth and the Chozo."
The lieutenant did as he was ordered to and then the bridge was quiet for a few seconds. "Anything?" Elric asked.
"Nothing yet, sir," the human lieutenant responded.
It was then that the Catgirl called out, "Sirs, I am detecting multiple energy distortions forming all around us!"
"What?" Elric and the captain both cried. They looked out the window and saw a field of energy form for an instant, but quickly saw the energy field outlined a vessel. Within a second, a starship had appeared merely four kilometers in front of them. Then another vessel decloaked to the right of the first. Soon, a third vessel decloaked to first ship's left. Elric gazed at the ships. They were dwarfed by the massive Federation One, which was likely several times as large as the other starships, but that gave him no comfort, for he had a feeling that if these ships were N'Kren ships, they could blow apart his ships without even breaking a sweat, even if Elric's forces were to launch the first attack. As for the ships, they looked boxy, and if Elric had to guess, he gathered that they were likely in the ballpark of around seven hundred to eight hundred meters long. They did not seem to be all that elegant, but he figured that that was likely due to the fact that they were designed for battle, not for looking pretty.
"Sirs, I'm getting massive power readings coming from those ships!" the sensor officer called out.
"Are they charging weapons?" the captain asked.
"I don't know," the Catgirl responded.
"Sir, I'm picking up a transmission from the lead starship, both visual and audio," the human communications officer alerted the captain and Elric.
"Put it up!" they both commanded.
The image of the three starships out in space was instantly replaced with the image of the interior of one of the starships, what Elric figured to be the bridge of one of the other starships. Standing in the center of the screen was a large, broad male reptilian alien. This being had green, scaly skin, and reminded Elric of Earth alligators or crocodiles, minus the large snout. He looked to be large and powerful. He looked like he could easily overpower a human or a Star Elf in physical combat. Soon, the being spoke, "I am Hi'Gor, captain of the N'Kren starship Da'Kal. Why have you come here?"
Right down to business, Elric thought. "I am Chairman Elric, leader of the Galactic Federation," Elric answered. "I have come, requesting an audience with your leaders. We are in dire straights since the destruction of our capital world, and our more productive worlds are on the brink of rebelling against us. We request any assistance you and your people can spare."
Hi'Gor did not answer at first. Elric began to worry and a bead of sweat formed at his brow. The sensor officer soon cried out, "Sir, there's another ship decloaking!"
Elric switched off the image on the main viewscreen and immediately had it show the newly decloaking starship. This ship was a tremendous work of art compared to the other N'Kren ships. It strongly resembled a temple, rather than a starship. It was beautiful, with golden structures framing the ship, along with silver and platinum structures as well. It also had two forward-sweeping and curling golden wings as well, though the wings looked to merely be cosmetic. It was far more comely than the boxy N'Kren ships, and also dwarfed them, looking to be nearly the size of Federation One. "Sir," the Catgirl sensor officer reported, "I am reading a different energy signature than those of the N'Kren starships."
"I'm also picking up a transmission coming from the new arrival to the N'Kren starships," the human communications officer reported. "Our translator software can't translate it, though none of the ships are doing anything to encrypt their transmissions." After a few moments, the officer called back, "Sir, the Freya and Freyr are requesting instructions. What should we tell them?"
"Tell them to keep their shields up, but to not charge weapons," the Captain responded. "We don't want the other ships to think that we have any hostile intentions."
"Understood," the officer responded.
As the officer went to go about his duties, the Captain went over to Elric and asked, "So, what do you think?"
Elric was getting worried. He was worried that the unknown ship was a Ylla vessel, considering that the ship had opened a channel with the N'Kren vessel and the N'Kren were not acting as if the new ship was unwelcome. If anything, they had been very welcoming of it. If they knew, however, of his species' connection to the Magic Lords, mortal enemies of both of these races, then the Galactic Federation may well be annihilated within minutes with the destruction of Federation One.
Just then, another subspace window opened in front of them, and another starship came onto the scene. This ship was of medium size, about four to five hundred meters in length. It had a single structure in the center of the ship with large wings curling around the front of the structure in a circular shape. Elric immediately identified the starship as being a Luminoth ship. Everyone on the bridge of Federation One held their breath as the communications officer informed them, "Sir, the Luminoth cruiser is opening a channel to all starships. I'm putting them on."
The image of a Luminoth soon appeared on the screen. The Luminoth looked like a humanoid moth with brownish-gold skin. Elric recognized it as being U-Mos, the Sentinel of the Luminoth. Elric's worry increased, for U-Mos was the leader of the Luminoth, and a powerful psychic, and a member of one of the most powerful of the known elder races. Not only that, but the Luminoth had developed the Light Beam, a weapon that was capable of inflicting fatal damage even to a Magic Lord in a few shots.
U-Mos then spoke to all present, saying, "This is U-Mos to all Galactic Federation, N'Kren, and Ylla vessels. Do not fire on each other. We can all be allies." He then directed his ship's transmission to the N'Kren and Ylla ships, saying, "The new arrivals are from the Galactic Federation, one of the two current major superpowers in galactic politics in the Milky Way galaxy. They have recently suffered a disaster when their capital world was destroyed. In addition, several of their starships are in grave danger due to a computer virus that has filtered throughout the network of the computer cores of many of their vessels and even on some worlds."
"Then why come to us?" Hi'Gor asked condescendingly, though his condescension was directed towards the Federation and not U-Mos. "Don't they have farming and fertile worlds to draw resources from? Daiban wasn't exactly a self-sufficient world."
"Yes," U-Mos admitted. "But they are having trouble with said worlds. Some of it is their doing, but some of it is the stubbornness of the worlds in question."
"I can guarantee that our leaders will not authorize the use of military force should they seek out help to bring their unruly worlds into compliance," Hi'Gor declared.
"We can guarantee that as well," another voice, undoubtedly that of the Ylla captain, also answered.
"But would you at least give some support in the form of security against the Space Pirates or in the form of food and medical aid?" U-Mos asked.
"Why can't you aid them? Or the Chozo?" the Ylla Captain asked.
"Space Pirates?" Hi'Gor roared.
U-Mos nodded towards Hi'Gor. "Yes," he answered. "The Space Pirates are the ones that destroyed Daiban." He then directed his attention to the Ylla captain, a butterfly-like humanoid that looked strangely similar to a Desbrachian, and responded, "We cannot offer them more aid because we, ourselves, are on the brink of extinction. We suffered an attack of our own and fought a protracted war against an implacable foe. We barely have enough members left to stave off extinction. I must do everything I can for my people. The Federation understands this. That is why they have come to you. As for the Chozo, most of them have either already ascended or are now dead. I know of only a small handful of Chozo that are still alive that are not ascended, and they are spread throughout the entire galaxy."
The Ylla captain focused on U-Mos and then to Hi'Gor and nodded. "Fine, we will discuss things with them, if you are willing to do so, Hi'Gor."
"I'll have to contact our leaders before we begin, but I think that we will likely at least allow them to land and listen to their request," Hi'Gor responded. A few moments went by, and then Hi'Gor appeared back on the screen and said, "Command okays their arrival and the presentation of their request, but it does not guarantee that they will okay said request."
"Understood," U-Mos answered. He then went to open a channel back to Federation One.
Back on the massive starliner, Elric saw the image of U-Mos reappear back on the forward screen. "The N'Kren and the Ylla will be willing to hear your request, on the planet. I will be your mediator and security. However, this request must be made by your leader. That means that Elric must be the one to present the issue before the N'Kren and Ylla, not an ambassador. Is that acceptable?"
"It is," Elric answered cautiously. He knew that he would have no choice, but he was still uneasy about his presence among three races that had managed to bring his creators, his gods, to the brink of extinction.
"They are awaiting your arrival, sir," U-Mos informed him.
Elric then turned to the captain and said, "Get my transport ready for departure, and get tell Xeres and Isol to get up here. They will be my personal guards down on that planet."
"Understood, sir," the captain answered. Elric then left the bridge so he could go down to the planet and beg the help of the N'Kren and Ylla for assistance in dealing with the current crisis.
The Kirin and the Indrik emerged from subspace a few hundred kilometers away from the space station Moreau. On the bridge of the Moreau, Ridley stood and watched as the ships emerged from warp. He grinned at the sight of them. Two more ships to add to my fleet, he thought sadistically. He had special plans for his new fleet. While his fleet, which numbered currently thirty-six capital ships, however many fighters and other support ships they had onboard, and a few transports that had survived from the previous Space Pirate fleet, was powerful for an individual warlord, Ridley was not satisfied. Despite the recent losses, the Federation still had almost ten thousand warships, and not all of them had Aurora Units that his clone of Aurora Unit Zero could neutralize, to work with. And that was before one included the nationalized militaries of the various individual members of the Galactic Federation. The Space Pirates would not be able to defeat any real Federation assault force that they could easily muster should the Space Pirates be found. Still, Ridley could not help but smile. He was gathering the necessary pieces. More Space Pirates were being cloned inside the station, and these were not mere Zebesians. These were Urtragian Space Pirate Troopers: highly competent and intelligent troopers that were given the latest and greatest in equipment. While the higher-ranking Pirates were given superior weaponry and armor, even the basic Urtragian Space Pirate Trooper was a match for Galactic Federation Marines. Still, even the Zebesian Space Pirate Troopers had their uses, as demonstrated in the assault on Galactic Federation Headquarters.
After a few moments, one of the Space Pirate officers manning one of the consoles called out, "Lord Ridley, Commander P'Qash is hailing us, saying that the ships were taken successfully."
"Good," Ridley said. "Now tell him and D'Mai to dock the ships with the station so we can load new crew onto the starships."
"Yes, my lord," the officer responded.
Ridley then returned his focus to the starships. He then narrowed his eyes onto the hull of the starships. For the briefest of instants, he thought that he could see something on the hull of one of the ships. He then shook off the thought. If the Federation had been foolish enough to send a spy to try to infiltrate the base and destroy it, then they would be in for a big surprise. However, that Federation "spy" was no mere spy, but a bounty hunter; the one hunter that even the great Lord Ridley feared: Samus Aran.
Samus watched as the Kirin approached the Moreau. She saw the thirty-four other ships off in the distance. All of them, save for the one Orpheon-class frigate, were all of Galactic Federation design. She smiled at the sight. She had found the Space Pirates' base of operations. And it seemed as if all of the ships that they had stolen were still here. She debated whether or not she would try to board the Kirin and board the Moreau through the Kirin's boarding ramp. Samus quickly thought better of that idea. Chances are that the two Unicorn-class destroyers would take on hundreds, if not thousands, in new crew. Her best bet was to find some isolated area of the space station in the distance and hope to board it undetected.
She quickly activated her ship's passive sensors and took a scan of the station. Her primary goal was to find the locations of the hangar bays and possibly any boarding hatches and ramps. Cross sections of the station soon appeared on her console and she found that the ship was headed straight towards the main hangar bay and the main external docking hatches. She also noted that the bridge was on the top of the station, while Main Engineering was in the bowels of the station. She grimaced. The trip to Main Engineering would almost certainly be a difficult one, to say the least. She did note, though, that the station had little in the form of weapons ports, and only moderate shielding, which meant that it was quite vulnerable to an attack by a starship or a fleet of ships. She activated her suit and then left the cockpit and proceeded to the back of her ship. There, she connected herself to one of the miniature factories onboard her gunship so she could ensure that she was fully armed and had full power to her suit and shields. Once her suit was fully powered, she returned to the cockpit.
Samus looked out the window once more and saw the large station growing in size as the ship her gunship was attached to approached. She performed a diagnostic check on the stealth systems on her gunship and found that they were still functioning properly. Once that was finished, she decided that it was time for her to disengage her ship from the Kirin and to make her way slowly to the station. The cabin shuddered as she disengaged her gunship from the Kirin and proceeded to make her way towards the Moreau. As she approached the station she risked a deeper scan of the station. Adam was quick to caution her against a deeper scan, saying, "Samus, a deep scan increases the chances of the Space Pirates detecting your gunship by at least twenty percent."
"I know," Samus replied. "But I need to know what is onboard that station and if they're about to move out. We have a chance to wipe out the Space Pirate remnants and we won't get another shot at this."
"I understand that," Adam told her, "but if we are detected, then we will lose any chance we have of boarding that station, and by the time we send out the call for Federation reinforcements, the Space Pirates will be long gone from this station."
"I know the risks, Adam," Samus replied as she performed the scan.
It was not long before the results of the deep scan appeared on her console. The scans returned that the station was identified as the space station Moreau. Her sensors also detected over ten thousand Space Pirates onboard. There were also almost half a million other Space Pirates of various types that appeared to be in stasis onboard the station. She suspected that they could be awakened at a moment's notice if she were detected.
"That's a lot of Pirates," Adam noted with a hint of apprehension in his voice.
Samus gave no response and instead resumed her focus on her sensors. Her scans informed her that the clone of Aurora Unit Zero was not on the bridge, but was located somewhere in the center of the station. She figured that it was in Main Engineering. She also suspected that the Aurora Unit was under heavy guard and, unlike the real Aurora Unit Zero, was likely going to do its best to actively defend itself against any attack that she launched at it. An idea soon came to her and she looked down at the eye on the screen that represented Adam. Before she could verbalize her idea, she noticed that the ships outside the station seemed to be lining up, as if they were about to be departing the station. She gritted her teeth. She could not; no, would not allow the Space Pirates to escape with a fleet like this. As she studied the situation, a plan began to form in her mind.
She turned to Adam once more and told him, "I think that we might be able to end the Space Pirate threat in one fell swoop."
"How?" Adam asked.
"I'll board the station and use my Scan Visor to hack into the station's systems," Samus explained. "Now, my Scan Visor isn't nearly as good as the visor I had before my X infection, but I've been making some modifications to the visor to increase its hacking ability. I should be able to hack into the system and have it play back an endless loop on the sensor displays. Assuming there aren't any Pirates staring out the windows once the Federation fleet arrives, then their first alert to the attack will be the sounds of battle as the Federation attacks with the element of surprise on its side."
"And how will you contact the Federation fleet to allow them to find the Pirates?"
"I won't," the bounty hunter answered. "You will. Once I get onboard the station, detach the ship from the hull and fly away from the station, say about a few hundred kilometers or so. From there, send a tight wave transmission to Admiral Dane and the G.F.S. Olympus. His fleet is the closest one here, and should be of sufficient size to take out the Space Pirate fleet, and likely the station as well."
After a few seconds, Adam tentatively answered, "It would seem. However, there are still a great many things that can go wrong, here, Samus. You know that if you run into trouble, that you will be on your own while I take the time to send the message to the Federation fleet."
"I know," Samus responded.
She then focused her attention towards the station. She guided her ship to the outer ring of the station, searching for a good place to latch onto the station's hull. She found one on a metal patch that looked as if there was supposed to be a plate there, but the station's builders had not gotten around to welding it on yet. Samus eased her ship onto the metal patch and after a few seconds, a shudder vibrated throughout the cabin, indicating that her ship had made contact. Before leaving the cabin and activating the boarding hatch and ramp, Samus told Adam, "Once I board the station, make sure that you detach the ship from the station and get at least a few hundred kilometers away from here. Then send the transmission to both Admiral Dane and to Earth and then Federation One informing them of what we have found. Also, tell them to send ships that are not equipped with Aurora Units. We don't want to run the risk of the Pirates infecting any of the attacking ships during the battle."
"And what about after I've sent the transmission to the Federation?"
"Then come back to the station and land wherever you have to so I can get to you."
"Understood, lady," Adam replied.
Samus then rose from the pilot's station and made her way to the center of her gunship. Samus went over to the wall, where there was a red light near a button. She pushed the button and a small whine was heard as the cutting beams from the ventral surface of her ship cut their way through the station's hull. After a few seconds, the whine stopped and the light turned green, indicating that the beams had breached the station's hull. She then went over to the hatch. Once she had arrived at the hatch, she opened the hatch and rode the beam down into the station.
After she arrived inside the station, she quickly went to the nearest wall and scanned the corridor. So far, there was no one around. She soon felt the rush of air flow past her as Adam detached the gunship from the hull of the station. She then glanced up at the walls and saw an unlit red line on them. Good, the hull breach had not set off any alarms. At least, she had not set off any audible or visual alarms, yet.
On the Control Deck of the station, Ridley sat as an automated alert came in over the sensors. The officer manning the internal sensor console looked back and reported, "Sir, we have a problem in Sector Eight of the outer habitation ring."
"What sort of problem?" the pterodactyl-like dragon asked.
"It seems to be an atmospheric decompression," the trooper responded. "I am activating emergency force fields now." The Space Pirate Trooper typed a few commands into the console and then reported, "Decompression of the sector has ceased. We are repressurizing it, now."
Ridley grunted. "Send down an engineering team with a bodyguard of Super Zebesians to examine the breach."
"My lord?" the trooper asked.
"Do it," Ridley commanded. "I have a feeling that something's happening. Tell the others to file onto the newly captured destroyers and tell the troops to prepare boarding the captured Kraken-class troopship. I also want the rest of the captured starships to be fully crewed within the hour. I want all contingencies to be taken care of."
"Lord Ridley, it's not the first time, some metal plate broke off the station," the Trooper told him. "The Federation really did not do a great job assembling the station. It looks like they were in a hurry and took a great number of shortcuts to get this station completed on schedule."
"I know," Ridley almost grumbled in response. He, too, had been less than pleased with the shoddy construction work done in building the station. "It's just that our luck has never been so good for so long. Sooner or later, we'll be found, and when we are, I want to have a way out so that we won't be decimated again the way we were at the end of the Phazon Crisis and after the destruction of Zebes." Ridley then added softly, "Frankly, I'm surprised the Federation hasn't found us already, and has not put forth a greater effort to locate and destroy us after we destroyed Daiban." Little did Ridley know just how wrong he was, and how close the Space Pirates were to being wiped out once more.
Samus felt the rush of air stop as emergency force fields activated and covered the breach. She quickly made her way down the corridor, hoping to find a map station somewhere on the station before she got too far into her quest. She worried that Adam would not remain undetected forever; especially once the Pirates were finished inspecting destroyed metal plate that Samus's ship had cut through so she could board. She could hear the distant echo of footfalls and voices off in the distance. It sounded like a group of Space Pirates arguing amongst themselves. Samus decided to make herself scarce so that she would not be discovered quickly. Samus ducked down another corridor and took that path to begin her trek through the station.
Back in the other corridor, the team of Space Pirate engineers and their Super Zebesian bodyguard came along. The engineers examined the wall and soon found the source of the breach. The metal plate that had been cut through looked more like it had been blown off, rather than cut through. That was likely a result of Samus's gunship taking off. The engineers grumbled and muttered, "Friggin' sloppy Federation construction. The Federation makes so many other things great, why'd they friggin' skimp on this place?"
"Probably because they were doin' illegal research here, maybe?" a second engineer responded.
"That still doesn't justify this shoddy a job," the first engineer retorted.
While the others were arguing, a third engineer went over to the breach and examined it closely. He concluded, "It looks like the metal plate here just broke off."
"No duh," the first engineer responded. "Tell us something we don't know."
The engineer took a pair of binoculars and pressed them to his eyes. "Well, I can see the plate in the distance. It looks to have a hole cut into it."
This got the attention of the other engineers. The first one turned to one of the Super Zebesians and told him, "Activate your bio-scanners. Scan for any non-Pirate lifeforms on the station."
"As you command," came the response from the Super Zebesian. The Zebesian then produced a device and held it in both of his hands in front of him. He then slowly turned around, extending the device. Lights flashed across the small screen as the Zebesian Space Pirate swept the area for any unauthorized lifeforms. After a few seconds, he turned back to the engineers and said, "Scanners detect no lifeforms in the vicinity."
"Then it's likely that the metal plate was faulty to begin with," the first engineer concluded. "Well, let's get back to Lord Ridley and make our report. Nothing to see here."
The Space Pirate team then proceeded to backtrack their way to the Control Deck of the station.
Not too far in the opposite direction, Samus made her way through the station. She activated her Scan Visor and scanned the walls to see if there was a computer access terminal anywhere close by. Since this was a Galactic Federation research station, she believed that her current Scan Visor would be sufficient to hack into the computer systems, assuming the Space Pirates had not altered them too much when they took the station. Samus looked out one of the windows and hoped that Adam was making sending his message to the Federation as quickly as possible.
The bounty hunter continued down the dark, gray corridor, scanning the walls. So far, she found no defenses, or computer terminals. She began to grimace. She had hoped to come across a computer terminal or map station much sooner. She knew that Adam would be far enough to send his transmission to the Federation pretty soon. She wanted to do her best to make the station blind, deaf, and mute before the fleet arrived to finish it off, just in case there were other Space Pirate starships elsewhere in the galaxy. She felt that her best bet would be to take the bridge first. She began to increase her pace through the corridor, knowing that she could no longer afford to worry about remaining undetected. At the end of the corridor, she saw a door with a white energy field over it.
She pointed her arm cannon at the door and activated her Ice Beam. However, when she went to fire, she felt a sharp, freezing jolt of pain shoot through her arm. She grimaced and suppressed a cry as she fired the bolt at the shield. The shield collapsed, but the door did not immediately open. She did not pay attention to the door, though, for she felt as if her arm was about to freeze solid. She reflexively deactivated her Ice Beam and activated her other Chozo beam weapons, particularly her Plasma Beam, and charged a plasma blast. She could feel the heat of the plasma blast heating up her arm and before long, feeling returned to it. Before firing the blast of plasma, though, she switched to her Ice Missiles, and as her arm cannon opened to fire the missiles, her Plasma Beam powered down. A transmission from Adam then came in through her headset, "Samus, I detected a fluctuation in your bio-signs. Is everything okay?" he asked in a concerned tone.
"It is now," Samus answered, breathing heavily. "Have you sent the transmission?"
"I have," Adam confirmed. "I know that Admiral Dane received it, though I did not reach Federation One. What happened to you just now?"
"My Ice Beam nearly froze my arm solid," Samus answered.
"Your Metroid DNA must be taking priority. The protection against the cold that the Core-X of the SA-X must have diminished the longer you have gone without ingesting any X Parasites," Adam surmised.
Samus suspected as much. "Be careful, Samus," Adam cautioned. "You are still in enemy territory. What are your orders?"
"Remain outside until the fleet arrives. Then come in to help me. However, I'm going to be going after the Aurora Unit, so if the station begins to come under attack, don't hesitate to leave," Samus directed. "And don't keep the fleet from opening fire on the station. The destruction of the Space Pirates is top priority, here."
"Understood, Samus," Adam replied. "Good luck."
"Thank you, Adam," Samus answered as she shut off her radio. With the conversation finished, Samus made her way to the door and it opened as she approached. As it opened, she ran on through.
On the other side of the door was a room that looked to contain a recharge and a map station. Inside the room were eight Zebesian Space Pirate soldiers. The blue Zebesian troopers immediately turned towards the door when it opened and when Samus came through the door, they opened fire. Samus, seeing them as soon as the door opened, managed to dive out of the way of most of the initial barrage of blue energy pulses. She then leveled her arm cannon at the Zebesians and returned fire with her stacked Plasma and Wave Beams. The green rippling beam of energy struck the lead Zebesian and burned a hole through his chest. The Zebesian immediately fell over, a smoking hole in his chest. Samus then proceeded to target a second Zebesian and fired another green pulse of energy. The second Zebesian then fell to the ground, joining the first one in death.
That was when the other Zebesians decided to target Samus with their plasma missile launchers from their arm cannon-like attachments to their left arms, replacing the normal claws of their hands. Samus dove to the ground and dodged a few of the missiles, but three others managed to strike her suit. Their explosions forced her backwards with each strike. The other Zebesians then followed their strike with a barrage of energy pulses from their right claws. Samus, however, managed to avoid most of the energy blasts. However, the few that struck her inflicted noticeable damage to her suit's shields. She then took quick shots at the Zebesians as they darted around the room. She managed to fell two of the Zebesians, shooting them in the torso, and she shot the left arm off of a third. Her plasma blast cauterized the wound, but the Pirate was still taken out of the fight as he fell to the floor, crying out in agony. Samus ended his suffering with a single blast of plasma to the head, vaporizing said head. Samus quickly realized that she could not afford to waste any more time with these Zebesians and decided to end the battle quickly.
She switched to her missiles and charged a Diffusion Missile. As she charged her missile, the three remaining Zebesians unleashed their plasma missile upon Samus. Samus dodged the missiles and they were unable to score a hit on her before she unleashed her Diffusion Missile on the Pirates. The missile struck one of the Pirates and exploded. The diffusion wave spread out from the Zebesian and engulfed the others, freezing all three Pirates solid. Samus then charged her stacked Plasma Beam and fired at the Zebesians and promptly shattered them, one right after the other.
Once the battle had concluded, Samus went over to the stations in the center of the room. There was both a recharge and a map station. This was perfect. Samus quickly checked her HUD and found that five Energy Tanks that had been drained in the battle. She almost smirked. She had to do something to augment the defenses of her new Omega Fusion Suit once this mission was over. She went over to the small chamber and stood in the center circle. Immediately, a field of energy surrounded her and she felt energy flow into her. After a few seconds, her shields and missiles were fully replenished. She then stepped out of the chamber and proceeded to the map station. Once there, she plugged her arm cannon into the outlet and downloaded the map of the research station Moreau into her logbook. Upon seeing the name of the station, she thought that she recognized the name Moreau from a dossier of Federation black projects. She shrugged off the thought, for now. She would find out more when she reached the bridge and hacked into the station's main computer. With that, Samus proceeded to the exit on past the station and continued on her way to the Control Deck.