There was something different about Ridley in this dream. Despite the dreams lasting longer they have always been consistent. This time, however, Ridley was darker in colour and larger in size. He also seemed more feral, more like an animal than one of the most elite Space Pirates. He flew towards me and the yellow rodent who I've now dubbed "Zap" due to its electric capabilities. Zap and I jumped out ofthe way but then something strange happened. Ridley crashed. Instead of getting back up and charging at us, Ridley just flailed on the ground, clasping his chest and letting out blood curdling screams. There was something odd, Ridley seemed to be in inexplicable pain. He let out one final scream, a death wail, and I woke up.
It took me a few minutes to gather myself but then I remembered exactly where I was. I got to my feet quickly and surveyed the area to see where the alien that had attacked me was. As I rose to my feet I noticed that my Power Suit was offline. I tried to get it back online but nothing happened. I felt the panic rise from the bottom of my stomach all the way up to my chest. Before the panic took me over completely I noticed something on the floor next to where I woke up. I knelt down to get a closer look and what I discovered caused me to jump back immediately. The alien that had attacked me was laying motionless on the floor. I had never seen any species like it at all on any of my adventures. It looked like an oversized, hairless spider with six legs instead of eight and its tail was twice the length of its body. I withdrew my stun pistol, trained on the creature I moved closer. I had to be sure. Before I could get any closer the familiar beep of the Aurora Unit made me stand still.
"Samus, are you alright? I have been trying to contact you for the last two hours but you did not respond. I was beginning to fear the worst. I have information regarding the unknown species that attacked you. Just before your Power Suit went offline it recorded what happened both externally and internally. It seems that the alien broke through your visor and attached itself to your mouth via your neck. Scans indicate that it tried to implant a foreign object into your body. A remarkable thing happened that none of us expected. We know that Metroids absorb the life force of its victims and as we learned from the X-Parasite incident that you too acquired this ability when we fused your DNA with that of a Metroid. You were able to absorb free-floating X-Parasites as a means of replenishing your health. Just before your suit went offline it recorded a similar phenomenon. The Metroid DNA within your body absorbed the implanted foreign object. I am still deciphering the data sent by your suit but judging by the absorption it is obvious that the foreign object was organic. Now for the bad news. Your suit took substantial damage when the alien attacked you. It ate away your suit using some form of unknown acid. As a result I have had to turn both your suit and its abilities off to give it time to repair. As your suit requires a great deal of energy to repair I shall only be able to return functions one-by-one. I shall inform you as each function is online again. One final piece of news Samus. As earlier predicted the Galactic Federation also received the distress call. Unbeknownst to me, there was a G.F. Army vessel within close proximity to you upon receiving the call. It would seem that the Federation suspects my involvement in helping you as they managed to keep the soldiers' location a secret. They are en route to LV-426 now. Samus, with your current state I estimate a 0% chance of survival if you were to encounter the soldiers. Continue with your mission and see if you can discover what happened on board this ship, at least until your suit has recovered enough to make an escape. And Samus, good luck."
The weight of what the Aurora Unit had just told me rested heavily on my shoulders. Once more I owed my life to the Metroid Hatchling. How dangerous was this unknown infant alien that managed to not only destroy my suit but intended to implant something within my chest. My chest! I suddenly remembered the dream I just had. Ridley was clutching his chest in pain. Is it possible that the Metroid DNA was trying to warn me of what was happening while I was unconscious? I didn't have time to reflect as I knew within the hour the G.F. soldiers would be upon me and I had to escape. Trapped on an unknown planet that contained a highly dangerous species of an unknown origin with only my stun pistol. I have been in more dangerous situations but something about this particular mission just set alarms off inside my head.
I climbed up from the pit back onto the little ledge and scouted the egg chamber. None of the other eggs reacted to my presence. A thought occured to me. What if these aliens communicate with one another telepathically while inside their eggs to determine if prey is close? It would explain why only one egg opened and none of the others did. Still, I knew this was circumstancial but the thought that I was immune to another attack from these things comforted me slightly. I headed towards the wall that I originally descended from to see if there was any way of getting back out. Unforunately I was correct in my assumption that the drop was too big. I would need my suit to get through the hole again. That only left one option: search the room for another possible exit.
I walked towards the opposite end of the room with my pistol still raised. Even if I was immune to what lay hidden in the eggs I really didn't want to take another two hour nap. As I got closer to the opposite wall I saw a large door almost hidden by the darkness of the chamber. The door was almost fully shut but there was a crack just big enough that I'd be able to pass through. The Aurora Unit wanted me to search for clues as to what happened but in order to make the search more worthwhile I knew that I would have to find a way to restore the power to the ship. If I could have access to all the doors to the ship that would make searching a lot easier, or at the very least it might make an escape possible if the soldiers were to find me.
I continued down the newly discovered corridor. The form of the ship was seemingly organic like the top deck. The corridors were all too quiet like the top deck. No sign of anything but the more I walked the more I realized that the ship resembled a research station rather than a commercial carrier. Did the eggs contain bio-weapons? It seemed like a likely conclusion. The Metroids were mass-produced by both the Zebesians and the Galatic Federation to be used as weapons. Dropping these eggs into enemy territory and allowing the creatures to attack any soldier who came across them. It is possible that maybe the larvae implanted some form of organic bomb that caused the victim's chest to explode. Again, circumstancial but I had no evidence to prove otherwise either.
The sound of something falling to the ground ahead of me brought me out of my thoughts. It was possible that a piece of the ship just detached and fell to the floor but I still expected the sound to originate from something alive. I raised my stun pistol even higher and cautiously walked closer to the sound. Considering the amount of eggs that were in the chamber maybe one opened and one of those aliens got out. They looked small enough that if I stunned one I could crush it with my foot. I would have felt a lot safer if my Power Suit were online but I still had all the training the Chozo gave me to protect myself. As I got closer and closer, another sound escaped from the room to my right, a cry. There was something familiar about the cry but I think my brain wouldn't associate what I heard as a means to protect me. I reached the door to the room but as there was no power it didn't open. Thankfully the door looked flimsy enough that I could kick it down. As the metal door hit the floor, clouds of dust shot into the air impairing my vision. I ducked to the side of the door and waited for the dust to settle. Another painful cry emanated from the room, this time it wasn't muffled by the door. Someone was in trouble. My finger on the trigger I entered the room. As the dust began to settle my heart began to race. Standing no more than two meters away from me was a Zebesian, a Space Pirate.
I instinctively went to pull the trigger but the sight of the Space Pirate made me stop. It was writhing on the floor, clutching its chest and trying to make sounds from its beak. It was in so much pain that it didn't even notice me. My earlier instincts were correct. The Zebesians did play a part in the distress call I received. I kept my pistol aimed at the Pirate the whole time. I wanted to run but my legs wouldn't let me. The sound of bones breaking followed by the Pirate's scream filled the room. Something burst out of the Space Pirate's chest. I went to shoot whatever it was but before I could, it darted out of the Pirate's chest and out the door. In that moment I was now completely aware of the danger that lied in the egg chamber. The species that attacked me had tried to impregnate me with something much larger and without a doubt, a lot more dangerous.