Ayame took cover behind the wall that framed the door, Connor doing the same on the other side of the hall. Blasts from Space Pirate weapons blew through the threshold, turning it into a gate of death. Ayame saw Connor making signs with his hands. She recognized the signs as Federation sign language. "Wait for an opening," he said. Ayame nodded and waited for an opportune moment. She quickly noticed a gap in the firing rate. Some of the pirates must have been reloading.
She moved to fire into the crowd of pirates, hitting several before ducking back to avoid being shot herself. She saw Connor do the same, unloading bolts of energy from the pirate rifle that he had taken.
After another gap in the hostile fire, Ayame launched a missile into the enemy force, and held onto the firing trigger, allowing the missile launcher to charge up. Thankfully, Samus had allowed a Seeker function for Ayame's Arm Cannon. When another opening came, she quickly locked onto five targets, one of which being a barrel that contained Fuel Gel, and unleashed five missiles at once. The explosive killed four pirates, with the fifth missile colliding with the barrel, releasing a lethal inferno that killed ten other pirates.
"There's still so many!" Ayame shouted over the enemy shots.
"Just keep going!" Connor called back. "They're bound to thin out eventually!" He fired into their ranks, downing three or four pirates before taking cover again.
Suddenly, just as Ayame was considering using a Super Missile, the bolts stopped. The pirates had apparently ceased fire. She looked over at Connor, but he only shrugged, just as confused as she was. They both cautiously moved to see why they weren't shooting. The pirates' attention was no longer on them. They were instead focused on a large monitor that displayed the image of…
"Ridley…" Ayame muttered, a mix of anger and fear bubbling in her chest.
"My fellow pirates," Ridley announced. "In three days' time, we shall finally be rid of the greatest threat to our inevitable dominance. The dreaded Hunter Samus Aran is to be executed on our homeworld then!" The pirates in the ship cheered with loud growls and shouts while Ayame's face simply fell into a look of despair. "All Space Pirates are to return to the homeworld immediately, so that we may all witness this glorious event!" With that, the monitor went black, but the pirates continued cheering.
"That's not good," Connor muttered. He saw Ayame trembling somewhat, shaken by the news she had just heard. He couldn't see her face under the helmet of her armor, but he was certain that she must've been horrified. "Ayame, we can still save her. We-" Ayame mumbled something inaudible, interrupting her friend. "What?"
"I said…" She trailed off, her body still shaking. But it was not from despair, or fear. "I said… I'll kill them… all of them!" Without waiting for any kind of response, she unloaded random beams and missiles into the crowd of pirates, who seemed to just remember that the two humans were, only too late.
Ayame unleashed an untold amount of rage and hatred on those pirates, not even caring what Connor or anybody might think. The pirates tried to fire back, but Ayame leaped and dodged each shot. She landed atop one pirate and blasted its head off before using its body as shield, launching beams and missiles into the other Space Pirates, who seemed to be in a sudden panic.
She tossed aside the pirate corpse that she was using and rushed into the pirate horde, firing rapidly, and with frightening accuracy. She may have running on sheer anger, but she had never felt so focused, so determined to destroy an enemy. Adrenaline guided her, and she let it. Soon, only one pirate remained, the same pirate militia soldier that had led Ayame and Connor into the trap in the first place.
"Give us the coordinates to your homeworld, you filth," she said, her voice laden with rage. The militiaman trembled in fear, nodding out of sheer desire to preserve his own life. He quickly uploaded the coordinates from a nearby console and gave them to Ayame, who took them and downloaded them into her suit. She turned and left the pirate, Connor watching with a look of shock. As he followed her out, she suddenly turned and shot a blast from the Plasma Beam at the still-cowering pirate, who barely managed to release a shriek of terror before his life ended.
"Ayame!" Connor exclaimed at his friend, who seemed to ignore him. She just kept walking back toward the hangar bay. "Ayame, you didn't have to kill that one!"
"They all deserve worse," Ayame replied in a tone that didn't belong to her. Connor just stared at her as they made their way to the hangar. He could understand why she would be angry with the Space Pirates, but was she really so infuriated that she became this totally different person? The Ayame he knew was kind, smart, and gentle unless provoked. This wasn't her.
When they got to the hangar, a trio of pirates had been investigating the return of the boarding pod. Ayame quickly disposed of them. She put her left hand up to the side of her helmet and pressed a nearly invisible button. "Mr. Higgs, is the gunship ready?"
"Yeah," Anthony replied. "Gear's a bit miffed that it's not you piloting, but otherwise, everything's normal. Transmit your coordinates to me, and I'll pick you up."
"Done," Ayame stated with a nod as she uploaded their location to the Gear's memory.
As they waited for Anthony to arrive in the gunship, Connor said, "Ayame…" He got her attention. She took off her helmet, giving him a better view of her face. He gasped slightly at her expression. She wore a look that was a mix of anger and grief. Her eyes were reddened slightly, and a bit puffy. Had she been crying under that mask? "Ayame, I don't know what's going through your head right now, but you have to stop acting this way."
"What are talking about?" she asked with a raised eyebrow.
"You're not you," Connor said firmly. "When we saw that transmission from that monster that you called Ridley, you started acting different from who you are."
"Of course I am," Ayame admitted. Her tone did nothing to reassure her friend. "If I'm going to save Samus, I can't show any mercy. I realize that now."
"But-!"
"Don't try to change my mind, Connor!" Ayame shouted at him. "You won't be able to." With that, she put her helmet back on and walked a few feet away from him.
Ayame… Connor thought, looking and feeling dejected.
Eventually, the gunship came into sight, landing in the hangar. Ayame was the first to enter. Anthony moved to let her take her spot in the pilot's seat. Connor came in a second later and took a seat, his eyes never leaving Ayame, his expression somber and worried.
"Gear, set a course for these coordinates," Ayame ordered. Gear complied, and the ship lifted off. I'm coming for you, Mom, Ayame thought as they took off sending, not even bothering to acknowledge a farewell sent by the victorious crew of the Blue Phoenix mining ship. She soon sneered in anger. And you ,too, Ridley. I'll make sure you regret ever meeting me.
-o-
Wow. Ayame just got really dark, didn't she? Man, I sometimes worry about myself. Anyway, see you later.