Chapter 5:
Samus's gunship exited warp close to the planet Icthyocentaurus, a gas giant in the Alpha Centauri system. The planet was orbited by two moons, Bythos and Aphros, both of which were water worlds covered in oceans, with only small islands that sporadically dotted the surface, that were situated on either side of the gas giant. Samus proceeded to take her ship to the farther of the moons, Aphros. There, a Galactic Federation in Exile fleet orbited the moon, along with a large starbase that housed necessary fuel, supplies, and weapons for the fleet. The fleet numbered three hundred ships in total. Samus soon checked her sensors for the location of the flagship of the fleet, the G.F.S. Olympus. Upon finding it docked with the station, the Athens, she proceeded to take her ship over towards the Olympus. As her ship began to approach both the Athens and the Olympus, a voice came in over her comm, saying, "Incoming starship, we have you on our sensors. Please identify yourself and state your destination." The voice sounded like it belonged to someone young, likely either just out of the academy or an ensign that should have still been in the academy but had been promoted due to the personnel shortage.
"I am Samus Aran, and my destination is the G.F.S. Olympus," the bounty hunter responded succinctly, but in a casual voice. She had gone through this several times before in this war.
After a moment, the voice answered, "We have no report of you being ordered to the Olympus. Please transmit your authorization code and identification information at once."
She did so without complaint and waited for the voice to respond. She knew that she would have to go through this process once more. While she was quite a celebrity among some in the military, she was a legend or a ghost story to others, a grim reaper that came to punish the Space Pirates as well as the souls of others who were evil. As she waited, there was moment of silence and she noticed two Katana-class starfighters appear on sensors, approaching her position fast. The Katanas were new starfighters that had been developed and built by the Earth military and were almost exclusively used by the Galactic Federation in Exile. They strongly resembled old Earth jet fighters of the planet's late twentieth to early twenty-first century. She had not expected to see Katanas coming towards her, but she did not take any actions that could be seen as hostile. In addition, her early warning systems were not sounding, meaning that the Katanas were not locking onto her ship. Eventually, the two starfighters entered visual range and she saw that they were coming to either side of her. It seemed as if this was another security precaution. Her sensors indicated that her ship was being scanned, though the non-cloak based stealth systems onboard her ship, whose default settings were always on, would likely not give them a clear reading. She suspected that the fighters had managed to find her by locking onto the magnetic signature of her fighter's hull. After the fighters passed her ship, the voice came in over her radio once more, saying, "Authorization code and identification information confirmed and accepted. You may dock with the G.F.S. Olympus."
Samus smiled. "Thank you," she said in response, and then she closed the channel. She proceeded to fly towards the G.F.S. Olympus, which was docked with a massive starbase that dwarfed the ship, which was easily a kilometer in length. She noticed that several other Olympus-class battleships were also docked with the starbase. As she was flying, she could see numerous fighters flitting about between the capital ships. There were also a large number of transports and assault gunships as well. As she got closer to the Olympus, she detected several dozen new contacts. Looking out the cockpit, she saw many subspace windows close as dozens of ships appeared and began to make their way towards the fleet. Admiral Dane was assembling a fleet. She began to think that this was they were going to take back Earth before the orbital defense ring network was completed and the ships that were currently defending it would be free to launch further assaults on Aliehs III, Corella 5, and even other worlds like Aether and Tallon IV.
After a minute or so, Samus made her approach to the hangar bay of the massive battleship. Several Stiletto-class starfighters flew a holding pattern that took them close to the Olympus. As Samus's ship flew past, they tipped their engine pods towards the bounty hunter's gunship. When she approached the hangar bay, she slowed her ship, being very careful to control her landing. After ten seconds, her ship crossed the magnetic field that kept the hangar bay pressurized. When she entered the hangar bay, she deployed her ship's landing gear. Three struts with round tires on the end extended from the bottom of her ship and as soon as she found a clear area where she could land, she took her ship over and descended to the floor of the hangar bay. The ship then touched down, causing the cockpit to shudder as the ship made contact with the ground. After her ship had landed she powered down the ship and turned her chair towards the rear of the ship. She moved over to the release lever for the small lower hatch. She pulled the release and a small, round hatch opened. She then jumped down from her ship and as soon as she had left, she closed the hatch.
She proceeded across the walkway and looked over at a couple Galactic Federation Marines, soldiers that wore dark gray power armor with blue highlights and was equipped with energy shields, though said shields were not as powerful as those of any of Samus's suits. Their chest plate resembled the Federation Symbol, and they wore helmets with blue visors shaped like a "T", and also resembled the Federation Symbol. Each Marine was equipped with an advanced energy assault rifle that covered almost half of their right arms. Each of the marines gave her a salute, or a nod, which she returned. She soon passed by a training area where a trio of Marines were practicing on the several cylindrical training drones. They would fire scarlet energy bolts from their energy rifles at the small cylindrical drones, which would rise with each hit and spin from the impacts. The goal was to keep the drones in the air for as long as possible. Screens below the Marines would register the number of times each training drone was hit by said Marine. So far, the record appeared to be twenty hits. She walked past the training area and up a ramp that led to one of the hangar bay's exits. She approached the door and it opened for her, granting her passage.
The next room she entered was merely an observation room that had several windows that allowed one to gaze out at the hangar bay that she had just come from. Several human Fleet Troopers, Federation fleet personnel that were not trained for heavy personal combat scenarios, stood by a group of consoles that showed the readouts and statuses of the docked ships in the hangar. Looking around, she saw two access ramps that led to the second floor of the room. She proceeded to make her way up the ramps to the second floor. Walking past a few terminals and screens that detailed the schematics of several newer Federation ships, such as the Katana-class starfighter and the Archangel-class "battleship", a ship that was even faster and more powerful than the Olympus-class, yet was significantly smaller than the ships of the Olympus class and any other battleships, for that matter. In fact, it was almost as small as some classes of heavy cruiser. Making her way past a new set of consoles and some more fleet personnel, she went to the door at the end of the room and entered.
On the other side was a relatively thin corridor that was an enclosed access walkway with a large glass window to the right. Glancing out the window, Samus saw an Aries-class transport docked inside another hangar bay. She continued past the window and the next station where several fleet troopers were monitoring the status of the transport, as well as several frigates that were currently docked with the ship. She soon went over to the door, which was protected by a powerful blast shield that was impervious to all but the strongest of infantry weapons. Remembering the access code from her previous times onboard the Olympus, she input the code 13576 on the terminal, and the blast shield disappeared, granting Samus access to the next room. She then went through the door and proceeded on her way.
The next room was a scanning room with several consoles and a containment area where subjects would undergo a security scan before being allowed to go to the Command Bridge of the ship. As she entered, a Galactic Federation Marine approached and directed, "Please enter the containment area to begin security scan.
Samus did as she was directed and went over to the containment area. Outside the containment room, there was a lever that would open the door to the small room. She pulled it out, twisted, and pushed it back in, and then proceeded to enter the containment area. After doing so, the door closed behind her. Once she was inside, the Fleet Trooper at the controls said, "Initiating DNA verification." A grid of orange and blue energy formed along the walls of the small room. She felt nothing as the lights remained active for one second, then shut off. The scan was over. The trooper then said, "DNA verified. Registration number 13576. Identified as Bounty Hunter, Samus Aran. Preparing biohazard scan." A small, camera-like device was lowered from the ceiling and faced the bounty hunter directly. The trooper then directed, "Please approach the scan terminal."
Samus did as was requested and approached the terminal. She then looked into the terminal as it began the scan. A blank screen was soon filled with blue bars, four in all, indicating that she was being scanned for any signs of contamination. After a few seconds, green letters flashed on the terminal, Status: Clear. She then backed away from the terminal as it was retracted and the officer said, "Scan complete, no hazardous material detected. Samus, you are cleared for the Command Bridge."
She then went over and pulled down a second lever that opened the exit to the containment area. Once the door lifted, she proceeded to exit the area and made her way to the next door. As she approached, the door opened and she walked on through.
The next area was merely a corridor with a window to outer space to the right. Samus glanced out the window and saw another set of subspace windows opening and another fleet of ships emerging, led by an Archangel-class warship. She figured that there had to be at least a hundred capital ships in the fleet. The Federation in Exile was obviously assembling its forces for a massive attack, likely on planet Earth. She thought back to Earth and what Cyrus's goals were. While he may have said that his goals might only result in the destruction of one world, she new better. Cyrus had already been stopped once before by a child even before Mewtwo had stopped him again, with a bit of assistance from her. She knew that Cyrus was merely using the Galactic Federation for his own ends, which, if he accomplished his dreams, could result in the destruction of the entire known universe. She then continued down the corridor, passing a couple Galactic Federation Marines, before coming to the door that lead to Command Lift A.
After making her way into the Command Lift, she went over to a small keypad which prompted her to place her hand on the pad so it could take a scan. Once she did so, the lift lit up and a hologram appeared in the center of the lift. She walked over to the hologram and stepped into the center of the lift. As she did so, the lift began to move upwards and a motor could be heard as the lift carried the bounty hunter closer to her goal.
It took the lift about ten seconds for it to reach its destination. When it did so, Samus looked around and saw a door that would lead her out of the lift. She went on through and entered a small corridor with a window to another corridor. Through the window, she saw several Fleet Troopers carrying out their duties. Ignoring the crewmembers of the ship, she turned to her right and saw another door that lead out of this corridor. This door took her to another thin corridor which led directly to the bridge of the ship.
She stepped out onto the bridge and saw two stations, one for the helm, the other for astronavigation. Officers sat at the consoles and looked out the large window into space when they were not focused on their duties. Samus could hear some of the chatter coming form several officers. "Man, I hear that things are getting pretty bad aren't they," the helmsman said, his voice showing his concern.
"I hear ya," the navigation officer responded. "Ever since Earth was taken, Cyrus and the Galactic Federation have practically declared victory. Worlds are jumping ship back to the Federation like crazy. Only Aliehs Three, Corella Five, Aether, Tallon Four, and, ironically enough, Earth, have really still held out. Everyone else is now either firmly in with the so-called Federation or is neutral."
"Then what are Admiral Dane and Commander General Malkovich thinking bringing such a large fleet here? I mean, if the Federation attacks us now, it's all over."
"They may be bringing in some reinforcements for an attack of his own," the navigation officer responded. "They were pretty eager to take control of Icthyocentaurus and its two moons, as well as the starbases over both moons. I hear that there are still holdouts on Earth. If they can manage to hold off the invasion forces, then there's a chance that if Cyrus is either captured or assassinated, that we can end this conflict."
"Yeah," the helmsman responded. "Let's hope that we can manage to do something. With the Star Fox Team, the N'Kren, Ylla, and almost a third of the previous Galactic Federation fleet, before the civil war, firmly allied with Cyrus, plus the numerous planetary defense fleets that he has since nationalized into his Galactic Federation military, he's in a pretty good position, especially with the fleet losses we suffered defending Earth in the first battle."
"The losses were still pretty bad for Cyrus, too, though," the navigation officer countered. "For every Earth and Federation in Exile capital ship that was lost, he lost three, and that's not counting the corvettes and non-warp capable ships he used as well."
"That's of little comfort when you're outnumbered at least ten-to-one by the enemy," the helmsman stated flatly.
The navigation officer could not disagree with that assessment. Things were, indeed, getting bad. Still, where there was life, there was still hope. Samus made her way past the stations, along with the tactical and gunnery stations and went up a walkway to the upper level of the bridge. There, she came across three doors, with a Federation Marine guarding one of them. That door led to Admiral Dane's ready room, while the larger door in the middle led to Aurora Unit 242's Chamber. The third door to the right from where Samus had entered the upper control deck, but to the left as one looked out over the bridge led to a recharge station. Since she did not have time to recharge her suit as she escorted the Adventure in the Stars off of Shanera and to its destination, she thought that this would be a good place to recharge and rearm herself. She went over to that far door and proceeded on through.
Upon entering the door, she found herself in a small corridor. Several crates lined the corridor and even blocked access to a door to her right. Samus charged her Power Beam and blasted away at a large, metallic crate, shattering it with a single blast. She then proceeded to blast a smaller crate, unblocking the door. She looked farther down the corridor and saw another door that was protected by a black blast shield, so she decided to go into the room on her right. She entered the room and found the Recharge Station. She stepped into the center of the station and waited as field of refreshing energy rose from the ground to the ceiling. Samus felt a wave of refreshing feeling come over her as she saw her shield level fill and her missiles get replenished. After a few seconds, it was over and she was fully recharged. With that, Samus retraced her steps back out onto the bridge and proceeded to head on over to Admiral Dane's ready room.
As she approached the Marine guarding the ready room, she stopped and he took out a small paperback book-sized device and proceeded to scan her once more. After a few moments, he said, "You're good to go. Admiral Dane and the others are waiting inside."
Samus wondered for a second about what "others" the Marine was referring to, but she did not press him. She walked past the marine and through the door. She proceeded to enter a long, unoccupied corridor that had a single door at the end of it. The bounty hunter walked down the corridor and proceeded to enter the door at the other end.
Upon entering the ready room, she found a familiar large circular pad in the center of the room, along with several workstations and consoles surrounding the pad. She looked around and saw both Admiral Dane and the holographic form of Commander General Adam Malkovich conversing with one another. She looked at another part of the pad and saw the Luminoth sentinel, U-Mos standing close to two Chozo, one a corporeal Chozo named Old Bird, and a non-corporeal Ascended Chozo named Gray Voice.
When the group noticed that Samus had entered the ready room, her old caretakers went over to see her. Upon arriving, both Old Bird and Gray Voice embraced Samus, who returned their hugs. "It's good to see you looking well my child," Old Bird said, looking into the visor of Samus's helmet.
"I'm glad you made it back alright," Gray Voice echoed.
"It's great to see you both, as well," Samus said in return.
Admiral Dane, Adam Malkovich, and U-Mos looked on as Samus got reacquainted. Once they were ready, they all came around the circular pad. Once they arrived, Admiral Dane stepped forward and told Samus, "I'm glad you could make it on such short notice. I must apologize for the inconvenience of having to put you through all of those checks and scans again, but there have been recent reports of Federation operatives trying to infiltrate Federation in Exile bases and ships. While no one had yet tried to impersonate you, we did not want to risk putting it past Cyrus's soldiers."
Samus indicated that it was no inconvenience with a nod. With that, Admiral Dane began the proceeding, saying, "And your report on the attack on the convoy?"
"When I arrived on the scene, much of the convoy I received the distress signal from had already been destroyed, along with their escort, a squadron of Federation Stiletto-class starfighters and the ships of the bounty hunters Ixis and Fasome." She looked down at the ground at the mention of the two bounty hunters. After a moment of silence, she looked back at the admiral and continued, "Not long after my arrival, the star liner Adventure in the Stars jumped to warp. A few seconds later, the transport, U.S.S. Exeter, exploded, almost certainly due to Space Pirate attack. I then found a Space Pirate force attacking the freighter, Crab Cake 1. I went to help and managed to board the freighter and kill all of the Space Pirate attackers onboard. All they were able to make off with was the Light Beam and a few crates of weapons, mainly assault energy rifles and missile launchers.
"Once the Crab Cake 1 was secured, I proceeded to track the Adventure in the Stars to the planet Shanera, where the Space Pirates had built another base. I went down to the base and killed the Pirates that were taking the passengers prisoner. A few had already been taken to the base, so after I secured the Adventure, I went into the base and fought my way down to the prisoners. In the process, acquired the Light Beam and Light Missile, and killed the cloned Space Pirate generals Crocomire, Draygon, and Phantoon. Ridley, Kraid, another clone of Mother Brain, and the surviving members of Space Pirate High Command managed to escape, however. With them gone, I lead the prisoners back to the surface, and to the Adventure. Once that was accomplished, I used my ship to fight the Space Pirate Frigate Siriacus in orbit of the planet. The frigate managed to scuttle the Space Pirate base, and any of the other captured weapons before I managed to disable it. Since it was too close to the planet, the frigate was pulled down into the atmosphere and, due to the damage, the ship burned up upon entering the atmosphere. With the frigate destroyed, I escorted the Adventure in the Stars to Corella Five without any further incident."
"Good work, Samus," the admiral commended. "I must say that I am impressed with your performance. Destroying a Space Pirate frigate is no easy task for a single starfighter/gunship, even with a pair of Nova Missiles. We will, of course, transfer your fee, plus the bonus for taking down the Space Pirate frigate, to your account and resupply your starship, Nova Missiles and all, at no charge." The admiral then paused for a moment before saying, "Well, time to get to the matter at hand." He then looked over at Adam and got to the subject of the briefing at hand. "Samus, you are aware of the current state of the Galactic Federation Civil War, are you not?"
Samus nodded. Adam then went over to a console on the side of the circular holographic pad.
"Good. Then you know that with Cyrus and the Galactic Federation forces already having achieved orbital superiority over Earth, that it is only a matter of time before Cyrus finds whatever he is looking for on Earth," Admiral Dane continued. "If what you say is true, and we have several sources that indicate that it is, then he's undoubtedly searching for an alternative means of creating his own universe. Our spies inside the Galactic Federation, as well as some defectors, have even indicated that he already has the tools necessary to accomplish his goals. He merely needs to find the correct location on Earth where he can use them in order to bring his plans to fruition. We must stop him at all costs. That is where you come in, Samus." He then motioned for Adam to continue.
The hologram of Adam that housed his mind and soul inside a small projector that floated inside the hologram went over to the circular pad's console and input a series of commands into the computer. Immediately, a hologram of Earth appeared. Samus could easily identify the continents on the hologram. The country of Japan, particularly the Johto and Sinnoh Regions of said country, were highlighted blue, with Johto and Sinnoh being highlighted red, as well as a region just southwest of New England in the northeastern part of the United States of America. "We believe that these are the primary locations that Cyrus wants to take control of. He's already taken control of New York City and Washington D.C., but he has yet to control Unova since a large contingent of Earth's armed forces are stationing their troops in these regions. Even so, the only locations that Cyrus has complete control are the Radio Tower in New York City, and the city of Washington D.C. Everyplace else is still being hotly contested. And he has no real foothold in Sinnoh or Johto yet, but reports indicate that Federation forces are making a big push into both of those regions of Japan. It will only be a matter of time before he manages to find what he is looking for."
"So you wish for me to take him out," Samus stated flatly. She did not like assassination missions, and she had rarely gone on them, with only her first return to Zebes potentially counting as an assassination mission."
"If necessary," Adam responded. "But first, we have another issue that needs to be dealt with."
The hologram of Earth then shrunk in size and a new image appeared. Suddenly, the planet was surrounded by eight crisscrossing rings. Samus could barely hide her surprise as she said, "They already finished the Orbital Defense Rings? I thought that it would take at least another three years to complete them."
Both Adam and Admiral Dane nodded solemnly. "So did we. The N'Kren and Ylla used their technology to cut the construction time to a small fraction of what it would have originally been. The Orbital Defense Rings were brought online three days ago and have already started bombarding various sectors and regions of the planet that are still supporting the Federation in Exile." The image soon showed scarlet, orange, and blue beams from the defensive lasers, particle beam and plasma projectors being hurled down at the planet's surface. Several small, relatively speaking, explosions could be seen dotting across the surface of the planet, though they were mainly focused in on Europe, Continental Asia, and the western part of the America, and were quite small in comparison to what a capital ship or defense station could do to a planet if it opened fire with its weapons at full power, yielding at most a couple megatons apiece. The size of the seemingly small fireballs came nowhere close to the size of the fireball produced by the Space Pirate Frigate Siriacus in its small volley of energy fire on the Space Pirate base and on the Adventure. It was obvious that these were tactical, rather than strategic or Order Thirty-four, the order to burn the surface of a planet and strip it of its crust, a process that took around twenty ships about one hour to perform, strikes. The people of Earth were lucky. Cyrus must not have wanted to inflict too much damage to the planet and risk damaging whatever he was looking for.
Samus then interrupted, asking, "Excuse me, but do we actually know for certain what Cyrus is looking for?"
"Not exactly, no," Adam responded. "We do know, however, that the Sinnoh and Johto Pokémon League Champions, Cynthia and Lance, are guarding an area in the Ruins of Alph, in Johto, and are also guarding an ancient temple north of Johto. Some sources indicate that this area is known as the Sinjoh Ruins. There are also rumors the Sinjoh Ruins contains a secret pertaining to the so-called Creation Trio and Arceus, itself. And if we've learned about it, then you can bet that Cyrus knows about it as well. And he'll be pushing most, if not all, of his forces towards that location, sending a relatively small expedition to Mount Coronet to secure it just in case his mission there doesn't pan out."
"Unfortunately, getting to Earth is even harder than it may look at the moment," Admiral Dane interjected. The image of the hologram soon showed a shield surrounding the entire planet. "The Orbital Defense Rings aren't just using their defense cannons to pick off Earth troop emplacements on the ground. They're also producing a planetary shield that is practically impossible to break through via conventional means. This shield is also likely a product of N'Kren and/or Ylla technology."
"The Federation has planetary shield technology," Samus interjected. "In fact, Earth has its own set of planetary shields. Using the rings to raise a planetary shield seems redundant."
"I would agree," Admiral Dane responded, "except for the fact that these shields are semipermeable. Cyrus had his fleet hiding behind the shields, allowing them to open fire on any invading enemy fleet with impunity." Turning to Samus, he then said, "So Samus, your mission will be to get onboard those rings and destroy them. You must destroy all eight rings. Even should seven of the eight rings be destroyed, the eighth would still be able to produce a planetary shield that would be highly difficult, if not impossible, for our fleet to penetrate without suffering catastrophic losses. The others are mainly there for redundancy.
"We have spies onboard the rings and we have managed to get a general schematic of the orbital rings, as well as the general locations of their control centers, power cores, as well as the accessways to the other rings. In addition, there are map stations onboard each ring that will give you a more detailed layout of their respective rings."
The hologram soon shifted so that it focused in on the rings. More of the superstructure of the rings became visible, as did the fact that the rings bristled with all sorts of lasers, particle beam and plasma projectors. There were several highlighted areas on the hologram as well. Admiral Dane then continued, "We believe that these are the general locations of the main reactors. Your goal, however, is not to destroy any of the reactors; for even if you take down one ring, chances are that it will be the only ring taken out. Besides, there are too many for you to be able to take out in any reasonable timeframe anyway. Several green squares on the hologram soon appeared. "These are the what we believe to be the locations of the main control centers of the rings. Your mission is to rig each ring so that they can all be slaved together. Your Scan Visor should allow you to hack into the main computer and allow you to initiate the autodestruct sequence for all of the orbital rings at once, assuming you've dealt with any countermeasures that might be in place onboard each ring. That's why we want you to rig the computers and link them together. It will give the enemy less time to react and try to shut down the autodestruct sequence once you activate it. One bit of minutiae that you might want to note is that in the event of the rings' autodestruct sequence, before the power cores explode, the rings would break apart and rocket away from Earth. That way, the explosions would hurl more of the debris away from the Earth, and give Earth's defenses a better chance of shooting down any of the remaining debris should the planetary shields be offline so you won't have to worry about Earth taking damage from the destruction of the orbital rings. Should that not be possible, though, you can still destroy the Orbital Defense Ring network the old fashioned way by simply boarding each ring and destroying it on its own by hacking its main computer and activating its autodestruct sequence."
After Admiral Dane was finished, Adam began the next part of the briefing, "We managed to obtain a small transport shuttle from a defector from the Galactic Federation. Using a special Federation code, you will use that to board one of the Orbital Defense Rings. This will not be easy and you will likely be scanned numerous times before being allowed onboard the ring. Don't worry; the shuttle has special jammers several automated transponders that can send back false sensor readings. It will look like the shuttle is merely carrying parts and a maintenance crew to the rings just to make sure that everything is in working order. We've seen several such shuttles going to and from the rings, so getting onboard won't be too difficult. The issue will be once you get onboard. Our spies indicate that there is a strong military presence onboard the Orbital Defense Rings, and that they are also doing some scientific research onboard the rings as well. Some of their projects might be of use, too, so don't hesitate to investigate any of them if you get the chance.
"Also, our spies indicate that the military presence consists of not only Galactic Federation Marines and Army Troopers, but also of Techno Soldiers: Serfs, Squires, Knights, and possibly even Lords." As he said this, the images of Techno Soldiers appeared on the holographic display. First was the Techno Serf, a "low class" Techno Soldier that sported a small dagger and short sword that looked to be able to shoot energy bolts, as well as two small shoulder cannons. The armor that these soldiers wore was not all that bulky, and Samus suspected that their weapons were not all that powerful compared to the higher ranks. The Techno Squire looked like a Techno Serf except for the fact that the Squire had heavier looking weapons, particularly, heavier and more powerful shoulder cannons. The Knight that appeared looked to be a more heavily armored version of the Squire. The Knight bore a longer blade and also was said to be equipped with either a lance or an energy staff, in addition the broadsword that it wielded looked to be able to create a field of energy around it to increase its cutting power. The Knights also had powerful energy projectors on their chests similar to the ones that her parents had. When the image of the Techno Lord appeared, Samus did not need to see any of its weapons or its readouts. She knew firsthand just how deadly such warriors were, having faced off against her parents, who were, themselves, Techno Lords. She was not surprised to find that Techno Lords also came equipped with energy shields much like those sported by her own Power Suit. After a second, Adam continued, "In addition, you might also encounter enemies wearing power armor suits similar to the Techno Soldiers' suits, but weaker." As he mentioned this new enemy, the hologram of a large, bulky mechanoid-looking foe that sported a massive handheld cannon appeared. The outline of a human occupant also appeared overlaid with the armor, appearing as if he were wearing it. The armor of this foe looked tough, but Samus suspected that the armored suit was not nearly as tough as the Techno Soldiers. This enemy looked as if it were designed for ground combat and did not have any thrusters or engines like the more versatile Techno Soldiers. "Not only that, but there have been reports of bounty hunters arriving at Earth. Be on the lookout for them, especially for Trace and Kanden. There have also been some unconfirmed reports of Noxus and Spire coming in as well. Be on your guard.
"One more thing," Adam said, nearing Samus. "Once you destroy the Orbital Defense Rings, your mission won't be complete. You'll then have to do your best to get to Washington D.C. and take over the Capitol Building. Cyrus's forces can control the Planetary Defense Grid from that location. Take the building and make contact with any allies you come across. We'll do our best to get troops down on the planet as quickly as possible to free you to hunt for Cyrus. This mission is an S-rank mission; the highest rank a mission can receive. And to tell you the truth, this is beyond any S-rank mission I've ever given to a single person, or seen a person undertake. As always, we'll pay you your standard fee right off the bat, plus the S-rank bonus that goes along with such missions upon the completion of your mission. We're counting on you, Samus."
Samus then saluted, raising her arm cannon to her helmet, proclaiming, "I won't let you down sirs," echoing her first words spoken to Adam at her orientation upon being recruited into he Galactic Federation Police Force and Military when he first examined her.
Adam gave a smile. "I know," he said. "This is why we're giving this mission to you, rather than to a massive strike force." He then paused before saying, "One more thing, Samus. To complete the disguise of you being a technician sent to oversee routine maintenance on the Orbital Rings, you will be given a standard Federation technician's uniform. It is over in your temporary quarters on Deck Five."
"I understand," she responded.
Admiral Dane and Adam Malkovich then bellowed, "Dismissed," in unison. Samus saluted the two commanding officers one last time, as well as giving a smile to Old Bird and Gray Voice, before turning and heading back out the door.
As she left, the others hovered around the circular platform as the image of Earth reappeared. Not only was Earth now surrounded by the eight Orbital Defense Rings in the image, but it was also surrounded by three hundred Heavy Defense Platforms, thousands of laser, plasma, and missile turrets, and also guarded by one thousand capital starships, and countless starfighters, bombers, and assault transports, along with squadrons of Techno Knights. Admiral Dane and Adam Malkovich looked over at Old Bird, Gray Voice, and U-Mos. The trio then walked over to them and Adam asked, "You all know what N'Kren and Ylla technology is capable of. What chance does Samus have of actually managing to successfully complete this mission and coming back alive?"
The Chozo and U-Mos glanced at each other before looking back at the two humans and responding, "Normally, I would say that her chances were next to none. However, this is Samus that we're talking about here. She is highly resilient, both physically and mentally. If it were anyone else, I would say that their chances would be almost zero, even with all of the technology of the newest and best Chozo Power Suit, with all upgrades, at his or her disposal. However, since this is Samus, and she has gone on what appeared to be suicide missions before and come out alive, all I can say is that we should not count her out."
The humans gave relieved smiles. "Okay, now to the next question, even if Samus is successful in destroying the Orbital Defense Rings and taking control of the Capitol Building, what are the chances that Cyrus finds what he is looking for before we can stop him?"
"That I don't know," Gray Voice responded. "The only information on Earth that I have to go on is what is in your databanks, but if the fact that the universe, and Earth, are still around is any indication, then he might be having more difficulty in his search than we initially believed he would. It has been three weeks since he had achieved orbital superiority over the planet and taken control of its capital and the Radio Tower. I don't think that Earth moving most of their remaining troops to Johto, Sinnoh, and Unova is the only thing stopping Cyrus from accomplishing his goals. Given the massive force at his disposal, I would have expected him to have remade the universe if he knew exactly what he was searching for."
"That's odd, since our own spies indicate that he has all of the tools necessary to accomplish his goals," Adam countered.
"Ah, but it does not matter to him. He may have the tools but if he does not know what he needs to build, then what good does having all the tools and parts necessary do him?" Old Bird asked. "It would be like a child wanting to build a starship in order to travel the stars. The child may have the parts and tools necessary to build said starship, but without the knowledge necessary to do so, or friends that know how to build said starship, what good are those parts and tools?"
"I see," Adam responded, nodding.
Admiral Dane then looked away from the image detailing the known defenses of Earth and said in a somber and almost distant tone, "Even if Samus Aran is successful in destroying the Orbital Rings and disabling the defense grid, this battle is going to be very difficult, and very bloody."
"I know," Adam said, echoing the admiral's sentiments. "Our scouts are already indicating that the Federation is amassing a massive fleet at Earth. Five hundred more ships have been seen to have appeared over the planet, with reports of three times that many due to arrive in an hour."
One of the human crewmembers at a station near the hologram soon called out towards Admiral Dane, saying, "Admiral, sir, we're receiving good news on the comms. The Martian Resistance under the command of former Councilwoman Madeline Powell is ready to launch joint strikes on six Federation ground bases on Mars. Our attack fighter squadron is currently sitting just outside the solar system, waiting for the word to jump into Mars' atmosphere and strike the seventh. The Resistance indicates that the bases' defenses are weak since they're moving so many troops to the ships in orbit. Both forces are requesting instructions. They want to know if it is time to go."
Admiral Dane considered the plan. He did not want to commit to an attack too soon, for if he did and it took Samus longer to destroy the Orbital Rings than initially predicted, then Cyrus would have a long time to call in reinforcements to Earth. If he did not, though, then they would lose a good opportunity to strike a severe blow and take away any reinforcements that would be able to almost instantaneously jump straight to Earth. That opening could be all that Admiral Dane and General Malkovich's forces would need to be able to land troops on Earth and not only hunt down Cyrus, but also free Earth from the tyrannical Galactic Federation. Eventually, Admiral Dane said, "Tell them to go."
The officer then gave the "go ahead" signal to the Resistance groups and the fighter squadron. Once the order was given, the admiral said, "Well, there's no turning back now. It's do or die."
"I say we do," Adam responded. The two then left the ready room to go onto the bridge and get the ship underway for the assault on Earth.
Meanwhile, sitting inside the main command room of the Capitol Building in Washington D.C. on Earth, Cyrus was studying the history of the Johto and Sinnoh Regions of Japan. He had initially wanted to have landed in Japan, which was his desired destination, but his military commanders had advised against it since Earth had amassed such a large number of troops in that country. Even with that minor setback, though, Cyrus did not have much to complain about. The taking of the Radio Tower had been quick and efficient. He was now in control of the capital of Earth, and troops patrolled the streets, keeping watch for any infiltrators. The search was also on for the Sinnoh League Champion Cynthia and others who might be able to rally a force that could oppose him and his people. So far, they were in hiding, and that was where he wanted them to stay, if they were not dead. It would leave him plenty of time to study all of the information that he could obtain about the Sinjoh Ruins. While the assaults on Aliehs III, Corella 5, and Aether had been beaten back, they had done their job and inflicted significant ship losses to the Galactic Federation in Exile, particularly to the Chozo Remnant and the remnants of the Luminoth. Without them, the N'Kren and Ylla ships would be able to slaughter anyone that came against Earth. He smiled; his forces could deal with any enemy force that came against Earth.
With the attacks on the military forces in Japan already having begun, and showing quick signs of success, he knew that it would only be a matter of time before he had all of Japan under his control, and he would then have all the remaining time in the world to find the Sinjoh Ruins. He turned his attention away from the history of the Sinnoh and Johto regions and turned to some military reports. Excellent, he thought. His military forces had already established a beachhead in Japan and were quickly moving northward, towards the Sinnoh and Johto regions. Even better than the report of that success had been that Team Galactic had been reassembled. Getting Mars and Jupiter out of jail had been easy and no one, save the citizens of Earth, complained about it. He had also brought in several other people to fill in certain roles. New operatives Mercury, Venus, Uranus, and Neptune were already hard at work searching for any sign of the Sinjoh Ruins. They had recently infiltrated Japan and were sending back reports not only on the possible locations of the ruins, but of the recent successes in the establishment of a beachhead in that area.
Soon, the General of the Federation Military, a Star Elf with long, black hair named Korro, came rushing into Cyrus's chamber and when he reached Cyrus, stopped, breathing heavily. Once he had caught his breath, he told Cyrus, "Sir, we are receiving reports from Mars. The Mars Resistance under the command of former Councilwoman Madeline Powell has launched an assault on six of our bases. A seventh has come under attack from a squadron of Federation in Exile starfighters. What are your orders?"
"You're the General of the Military, right?" Cyrus asked darkly.
Korro nodded.
"Then I expect you to take care of this," the Chairman bellowed.
"Yes, sir," Korro replied as he bowed before Cyrus and proceeded to exit.
After the general had exited the room, an officer sitting at a console, looked over at Cyrus and said, "Sir, I am reading an unidentified ship on sensors. It is sending us a signal, but it is not a code that I am familiar with."
Cyrus rose from his seat and went over to the console. When he saw the code appear on the screen, he immediately told the officer, "Open the shield and grant that ship clearance to land."
The officer looked bewildered. "But sir, you don't know who is onboard that vessel. It could be…"
"Just do it!" Cyrus blurted out angrily. "I know the occupants of that vessel."
Cyrus could only grimace. "Of all the times that the Space Pirates could come to Earth, why now?" he muttered to himself. He did not suspect that the Pirates were coming to stop him, but he was concerned that their arrival could draw some unwanted attention towards him. He then told everyone, "Get a transport fueled and ready. We're going to Japan, but first, there is something I have to take care of.
He then went into the back room and closed and locked the door. Once he had done that, he went over to a secret computer that had the ability to send messages through subspace. He turned on the computer and opened a highly encrypted channel to the Space Pirate vessel. The image of Ridley flashed on the screen. "Well, well, so you decided to answer my transmission."
Cyrus grimaced. "The shield is down Ridley. You can come on through."
"We know," the Space Dragon retorted. "You said that we were allowed to set up a base in a mountain on your world. We choose to build our base underneath the mountain you know as Mount Coronet."
"Mount Coronet?" Cyrus blurted, unable to contain his rage. "Mount Coronet is off limits. I have need for it and I cannot allocate it to you. I can, however, give you Eterna City. That should be sufficient for your purposes."
"We've examined your world, and Eterna City does not have the facilities or resources that we desire; Mount Coronet does," Ridley said plainly. "Mount Coronet has a special magnetic field that distorts even the strongest of sensor scans. As such, we wish to build our new base underneath it."
"Out of the question!" Cyrus roared. "I won't let you land on Mount Coronet!"
"Yes you will," Ridley retorted with a grin. "Unless you want me to spill the beans about how not only assassinated Chairman Keaton for Elric, but that the only reason you became the Vice-Chairman was because you assassinated Keaton, and that was the price for your service to Elric."
"Alright, you've made your point," Cyrus said with resignation. Secretly, he was not really concerned about Ridley's threats, for it would not matter if anyone did find out the truth about his involvement in the assassination of former Chairman Keaton. If all went will, he would accomplish his goals anyway, with or without the rest of the Federation. The problem would come if the Sinjoh Ruins did not lead to what he was hoping they would lead to. Eventually, he acquiesced to Ridley and told him, "Fine, Mount Coronet is yours."
"Thank you," Ridley replied with a note of haughtiness in his voice.
The channel then closed and Cyrus grimaced. This was not what he needed right now. While Mount Coronet was not his primary destination at the moment, he knew that it was the only other location where he could summon Dialga and Palkia if this plan with the Arceus trophies did not pan out. The last thing he needed was the Space Pirates to be situated underneath the mountain should he need to get back to Spear Pillar and attempt to summon Dialga and Palkia again. While they may hold no love for Earth, they did not want to die, which is what would happen if Cyrus accomplished his goals. With that, he went over and collected the two Arceus trophies and put them in his pocket. He then left the room and went over to get on the transport that would take him to Japan, and closer to the fulfillment of his dreams.
Meanwhile, back on the G.F.S. Olympus, Samus Aran was making the final checks on her shuttle, the Tryclyde. Everything was in the green. Once she was ready, she sat in her seat. The shuttle's cockpit was wide and spacious. There were all kinds of work tools nearby, but that was merely a disguise for the sensor jammers and the automated transponders that would send back false sensor readings of a simple engineer being hired to help oversee the maintenance of the Orbital Defense Rings. She reached into her pocket and pulled out her I.D. It read, Nara Draykon, systems engineer for Bolt Engineering Systems. She then put her false I.D. back in her pocket. She then shifted in her seat. Her worker uniform consisted of an orange shirt and brown pants, with a tool belt at her waist. Underneath her worker uniform, though, was her white neo-Zero Suit. Samus then flicked on the power switch to the shuttle. Immediately a faint low hum sounded that almost instantaneously rose in pitch until it disappeared. The first hum was replaced by another, more steady, hum. She then performed a final check of all systems. So far, nothing was going wrong. Once this was finished, she activated the radio and said, "This is Samus Aran, ready for departure."
Soon, a young male voice came in over the shuttle's radio, "This is Olympus control. You are cleared to depart. Good luck."
The medium-sized shuttle then rose into the air and proceeded to turn towards the exit of the hangar. With a single push of a pedal at the bounty hunter's foot, the shuttle moved forward. As soon as it crossed the magnetic field, the field flashed. Once she was outside the ship, she looked around. More ships were arriving. She could see a wing of about fifty starships breaking off from the main fleet. She did not dwell on what they were doing, but she suspected that they were going to take on the fleet that Cyrus had stationed at Mars. Turning back to her console, Samus proceeded to plot a course for Earth. Once the coordinates were entered into the computer and confirmed, she pulled down on a lever to her right on the cockpit dashboard. With that, the ship proceeded to jump to warp.