Sorry for the wait, please enjoy.

When I was a little girl, I killed my first person.

Person isn't really the proper term, I guess. He was a space pirate, a Zebesian. He was also a prisoner, captured during the AU incident. I was 6 years old, but I had been undergoing combat training from the moment I could walk. Mother had made sure of that.

That day, I remember asking her to tell me about her Mother. She smiled sadly, and told me she barely remembered her. A monster named Ridley had taken her away, along with someone named Father. I asked her why she didn't go get her back. She looked at me inquisitively, before telling me that was impossible.

With that, we began combat training, and she moved to the control room as I took my place in the holo-chamber. I had only a small pistol that was too large for my hands; I had not received a power suit at this point. I looked at the window that separated the two rooms, and saw Mother standing at the other side, ready to start the simulation. I nodded and gave her a thumbs down, something I had picked up from her, letting her know I was ready. She moved her hands over the control panel, and a holographic creature appeared in the room with me, outlined with wire mesh. I recognized it as a Sidehopper, a medium sized creature native to Zebes, which supported its small body on two large, sturdy legs. It's main attack pattern was jumping straight into its prey, tackling it with its superior weight. I waited patiently as it loaded, until it was covered with a red and green pattern almost exactly like an actual Sidehopper. Finally, a green light appeared above the window, and the battle began.

I stood my ground as it closed in on me, leaping high and crashing back into the ground. If it hit me, I knew I would fail the simulation. Finally, it had closed the gap between us, and launched itself up into the air once more. As it plummeted back to the floor, I hit the ground where it had been in a roll, popped up, took a firing stance, and released seven rounds into the holographic body before it touched the ground. Large chunks of the hologram were missing as it hit the ground hard, and the artificial sensation controls made the room shake. As it slowly dissipated, I looked back to Mother in the window, a smile on my face. She grinned, then held up two fingers. Time for level two.

The day continued on like this for a little more than four hours before I was allowed to take a break. I sat just outside the chamber eating a small meal, and that's when all hell broke loose in the Facility. Alarm bells were firing at incredibly high frequencies, shrieking throughout the building. Mother came rushing down the hallway, stopping as she passed me. She told me to stay where I was, and to stay safe. She had something to take care of. With that, she took off down the hallway, before turning a corner and dissappearing from sight.

I waited for what felt like hours. The time dragged on, and I began to tire of waiting. In order to ease my boredom, I moved back into the holo-chamber to resume practice. I used the voice activation command to enable level fourty-seven, and began to work my way up through wave after wave of deadly creatures. Finally, I called out to turn off the simulation, sweating profusely. All of the holograms winked out, but there was something wrong. One of the Zebesian holograms remained standing off to the side of the room nearest the door. I repeated the command, but nothing happened. Then the Zebesian began to move, and I realized that it was real. It slowly approached me, wary of the gun in my small hands. I quickly trained the pistol on it, aiming directly for its large insectoid head. It froze, then did something unexpected. It prostrated itself on the ground slowly, keenly aware of its possible demise at any moment. As it laid itself out on the floor, unarmed, I noticed a large wound on its back, right below its jutting shoulders. Black blood seeped out of a carapace - like body, and I slowly lowered my gun and began to cautiously approach the injured creature. As I approached, it made a quiet screeching sound, like knives across glass. A chill ran down my spine.

I reached it, and knelt down beside it, inspecting the large wound. It heavily resembled the expected damage from a round issued from a power suit's arm cannon. The fleshy parts inside the creatures hard outer shell were cauterized, leaving very little blood to flow, but it was too late to repair the damage done. I had studied medical documentation in my spare time, and I knew that the Zebesians, while far more resilient than many other races, had two weak points in their bodies: their heads, where their shells were much thinner, and at this point just below the shoulder blade, where their lungs and other vital organs resided. This poor Zebesian was already dead, he just didn't know it yet. I drew back, and the creature looked at me with unsympathetic insect - like eyes. He - or she, I didn't know - did something strange. He spoke.

Kill me, he said.

I looked down at the gun in my hands, and resigning myself, aimed at his soft forehead, and pulled the trigger.

I woke up again, the lights still off. The pain in my chest had mostly subsided. I looked down at my wound and saw only a pale red scar. How long had I been asleep? I tried to lean up, but was knocked flat by a agonizing pain. I lay for a moment, catching my breath. I was in no condition to move, that much was certain. I soon drifted off, back into my past once again.

Hopefully you were entertained by this. I'm sorry if these next few chapters are boring or unnecessary, but I feel like the story needed them. If you don't like them, let me know, I can't do anything if you don't. I appreciate all of you, and until next time,

CM out.