Samus nudged the dead Pirate with her boot as she stood triumphantly over its corpse, not necessarily as a confirmation of its demise, but as a way to further emphasize her small victory. She did not even feel bad as she looked into the pained expression of the alien, unconcerned with what its last thoughts must have been as it began to realize that it had just been bisected from her beam. She was a soldier, not a saint.
She heard footsteps behind her, most likely from Kreatz and Mauk, given the relative difference in the sound of their stomping, but she did not turn around. Rather, she eyed the darkening sky worryingly. What had once been a beautiful sunny day was now turning into a dreary cloudy one. Tall stacks of cumulonimbus piled on over the horizon, steadily gaining mass as they steamed in their direction. That was troubling all around.
Wanting more stimuli, Samus focused deeply and quickly felt the dry air on her face as her helmet de-materialized. Still clad in her armor, Samus sighed as the small bit of freedom seemed to swell her, raising her relief so that it was now bubbling at the surface. With her head now uncovered, Samus closed her eyes, sensing the drop in air pressure, the stillness of the wind, and the quiet of the canyon around them, confirming what she already knew.
"Samus…" Kreatz interrupted her thoughts behind her. "Are…are you all right?"
"Never better," Samus said, turning to face her friends with a smile. That apparently was not the sort of response they expected as both of them had on expressions of severe confusion at her glib attitude. "I'm sorry for making you worry, guys. I'm perfectly fine now, thanks for asking."
Mauk and Kreatz shared a look. "Did you just hear what she said to us?" Mauk muttered out loud, well within Samus' earshot.
"Yeah," Kreatz breathed back in mock apprehension. "She said 'sorry' and actually smiled at us. I'm not sure she's fine at all, actually. She's now acting…normal."
"Oh, pipe down, you two," Samus said with an exasperated laugh. "I'm fine, you guys. You can stop worrying about me now or I'll knock your skulls together. Besides, I couldn't stay away from blasting Space Pirates for long, now could I?"
"That sounds more like it," Mauk grinned and he placed an enormous hand on Samus' shoulder. "It's good to have you back."
Pyonchi also chittered happily and hopped up onto Samus' back, beginning to nuzzle her neck. Samus grinned and scratched the rabbilis behind the ears, her mood brightening at her tiny friend's presence.
"Thanks, Mauk," Samus dipped her head thoughtfully as she stroked Pyonchi's fur before she looked over at the group of Chozo elders milling about to the side. "And thank you all. If it weren't for you-"
"-If it weren't for you," Platinum Chest raised a hand. "We would have all perished by now at Ridley's hands. Your arrival, Samus, has resulted in prolonging the cruel fate that awaits all of us. We cannot thank you enough for that."
My arrival did nothing but almost get everyone killed, Samus thought sadly. "You shouldn't place all of the gratitude on me," she offered. "Kreatz and Mauk here helped more than I did. But, if it weren't for the distress signal you sent out, we never would have reached you in time."
"Distress signal?" Platinum Chest tilted his head. "What distress signal?"
Samus balked for a moment. "You mean you don't know who alerted the Federation? We got a message that alerted command that Zebes was in trouble."
"We were captured before we could do anything. There was no time on our end to even send such a rudimentary message for help."
"But if you didn't send the signal," Kreatz interjected, "who did?"
Samus was pondering this fact at the same time until she felt a pulse resonate within her. It felt like a tiny electric shock had coursed through her body, not harmful enough to cause damage, but just enough so that she noticed its presence. While everyone else murmured their suppositions, Samus trailed away from the main group, lifting her gauntlet and found, to her astonishment, that the palm was glowing.
"What is this?" she whispered, looking at the flickering gold surface, wondering exactly what the Power Suit was doing.
I had faith in you the entire time, Samus, the voice she heard previously suddenly echoed in her head. She jumped, surreptitiously glancing around to see if anyone around had spoken. These words, however, did not carry the same gravitas through that medium, rather they sounded like they had been uttered within her very mind.
"Who are you?" she asked, her eyes searching the heavens for her converser.
You are certainly your parents' child, the voice continued, as if it was unable to hear Samus' words. You have become such a courageous and confident woman that I know they would be proud to see their daughter grown into a woman.
The very mention of her parents caused Samus' hand to come up to her mouth in shock, her ears ringing dully.
I am glad that I could see you become the person you are now. In the end, I hope you will understand what I had to do and can find it in your heart to forgive me.
"Forgive you?" Samus uttered. "But…but why? Tell me who you are!"
But the voice did not respond back. Samus took a step forward, beginning to breathe more deeply as she struggled to find the meaning of this encounter. She looked at her palm again and found that the glow had stopped emanating. Confused, she waggled her limb but as expected, the illumination did not shine through.
A dry, wrinkled hand gently grasped her forearm. "Samus," Platinum Chest asked earnestly. "Is something the matter?"
"I…I don't know," Samus admitted as she became aware of the strange looks in her direction. "I heard a strange voice, Platinum Chest. I can't describe it exactly…"
"A voice," the Chozo murmured. "Did you recognize it?"
"No, no," Samus sighed. "I wasn't concentrating that hard. It sounded…very familiar. Is this normal for the suit or is it…me?"
Platinum Chest was silent as he tilted his beak upward, basking in the last ray of the sun for a good moment. Murmuring quietly, he eyed Samus with a thoughtful expression. "And…your Power Suit? Did it begin to resonate?"
Samus blinked. "Yeah, actually. How…how did you know that?"
The Chozo only nodded sagely, his face lined with sadness. "This can all be explained in due order, Samus, but we need to find shelter first. You've noticed it too, haven't you? The changing of the weather, the stillness of the air?"
Samus looked up at the gathering clouds, looking into the dark, swirling maelstrom that lay beyond. "I have," she said.
"And you know that your companions, not being suited to this world, will be unable to survive once the acid rain falls on the planet's surface. We can traverse through Brinstar in the meantime; it's the safest way to the docks."
"Hopefully it doesn't last long," Samus grumbled as she checked her chronometer. "We have only a little more than an hour before the Federation fleet arrives to stabilize the system."
"Oh, the Federation sent a task force as well?" Platinum Chest said in surprise. "Interesting."
"Yes, but that doesn't bode well for us. Once they get here, they're going to bombard the surface to make sure that the Space Pirates do not survive."
"As they should," Platinum Chest said as he gestured towards a path marked by shrubs up ahead. "We cannot fault the Federation for simply performing their duty. But in that case, we would do well to get moving, shouldn't we? I'll explain everything as we go along. It's time we let you in on our plan, Samus."
Plan? Samus thought. What plan?
Across the expansive desert, the clouds broiled and rumbled, faint arcs of lightning beginning to streak in all directions as the torrent drew ever closer. Spiraling with electricity, the air began to sizzle and the rain began to fall in sheets. Very soon, the precipitation became the only audible sound in the parched wasteland.
Mother Brain's monitor had moved onto another part of the facility, leaving the biomechanical components behind in the now shattered chamber. Despite the absence of the movable presence, Mother could still sense everything in front of her and throughout the structure, feeling the entire pulse of the planet through her very being.
There was a sense of displeasure at the state of the room she was in. The stone walls were all cracked and piles of boulders now dotted the once clear floor, shaken loose from the ceiling. That was mostly all to Ridley's dramatic entrance but she could not fathom the mind of such a brute that would feel the need to leave carnage everywhere they went. It just seemed extraordinarily wasteful.
It was not like Mother could do anything at the moment regarding the state of the facility; there were many more objectives that required her immediate attention and cosmetic damage was not rated highly on the list.
Sitting high and mighty in her command pillar, the shrouded shape of Mother's true form hovered in the vat of nutrient fluid. Metal spikes rose up from a wrinkled, fleshy mass and various electronics lined the base around the intelligence. Mother considered herself to be beautiful, a true melding of both organic and inorganic qualities. A perfect synthesis of flesh and metal; the most perfect being in the galaxy.
Before her now kneeled a squad of Pirate commandos, trying very hard not to tremble in fear at the sight of the shadowed intelligence. It did not matter, for Mother could detect their elevated heart rates and heightened breathing simply from the brief vibrations that exuded from them into the air upon her invisible feelers. The fear was good, it was an aspect she had lacked for years and was now being fed to the extent of her content, a new emotion from which she could now draw inspiration from. Mother found herself enjoying the new form of attention; what else had she missed while under the miserable guidance of the Chozo? What could more future discoveries about the universe bring? What could she learn more about herself?
Performing the organic equivalent of a shrug, Mother wiped her thoughts clean. It was time to put her mind to work. "The attack has left our battle-net in disarray," she spoke to the commandos. "Communications have been rendered useless and our efforts to subvert the damage have proved unsuccessful. The fugitives have completed only one phase of their diversion by causing all this chaos, but you shall all track them down for me, assuming Ridley is currently pursuing other objectives."
"Yes, Mother," the Pirates said in tandem. "As you command."
"I do not care if you bring them to me alive or dead. My only wish is that you bring me the head of the human, Samus Aran. Use whatever options are at your disp-"
An earth-shattering roar sounded as the right wall of the room suddenly disintegrated. The commandos had no time to react and were barreled over as rocks and flame washed over them. The remains of the bodies rolled to the far wall in charred crisps, smoking after being exposed to the blistering heat.
"Who are you that would dare break in here?!" Mother thundered, the enormous apparatus turning at the source of the noise.
Out from the dust, a tall figure strode through the gateway, moving slowly as it hefted something in its hands. The particulates soon parted to reveal a bronze figure, sheathed in an ancient armor that covered every inch of its body. Spikes jutted out from the shoulders and forearms of the armor and the smooth contours occasionally jutted at inorganic angles. The helmet was polished, separated into sections. A gleaming red oculus sat on the forehead of the helmet and the head of the figure dipped as it lifted the large object in its arms.
At first glance, what this person was carrying looked like an enormous staff. Positioned horizontally, the warrior clutched at it with his arms, revealing the long barrel of the weapon, one that looked like a modified turret to Mother.
The intelligence soon realized exactly where this new figure had originated from. "The lab…" Mother spoke as it sent packets of data into the room, trying to draw responses out of the machinery but finding only silence in return. "The Metroids…they're…"
"They're dead," the armored soldier laughed. "I took care of them, just like I'm going to take care of you!"
"Liar!" Mother screamed just as she scrambled to activate the security feeds. Nevertheless, there was a part of her that believed the words of the bronzed person and the resulting images being beamed back to her in cyberspace confirmed that the new arrival had not been fibbing. From what she could see, the lab was now a wreck. Glass lay shattered around the floor, piping vented raw plasma into the air, and the huge vats that had once been chock-full of her own creations were now irreparably damaged, her children having been spilled onto the floor to wither and die horribly.
That would mean that…all of her plans…her future…the Metroids were supposed to accompany her in the new era. Without them it would take a lifetime to achieve the unity that she had been pursuing this whole time. And in mere seconds, this stranger had undone all that and the remnants of her solution now lay in tatters upon the floor.
All of this pondering took place in less than the blink of an eye but the warrior had already acted in that time. Swinging the huge turret around, he pointed it, not at Mother, but at the doorway that granted access to the chamber. Holding down the trigger, the muzzle of the weapon opened up and unleashed a white-hot ball that was only visible for a split second before it washed out the room with light.
The concussion from the blast shook the very foundations of the facility and caused flames to spread up from the affected area after the resounding clap had finished its reverberation. As the smoke died down, it became apparent that the components of the doorway had melted and fused together, rendering any entry impossible. No help could come for Mother now, not even from the hole the aggressor had blasted his way through as a partial collapse of the structure had blocked the road with boulders. It would take way too long for the Pirates could blast their way through, if any of them in the vicinity were still alive. In that instant, Mother felt afraid.
However, after they were finished with the door, the tall figure suddenly staggered and clutched a hand it its chest. From the vocabulator, Mother was able to pick up a sound of pain and ragged breathing coming from the warrior. She sent out more tendrils, requesting information. She did not see this person get hit, so why was it that they were they so pained?
The answer and consequences came to her very unexpectedly as only one solution came to her, seemingly gleaming in midair as every possibility resulted and converged upon this one, singular fact.
"It can't be…" Mother mused as she watched the warrior straighten back up, both hands now back on the turret. "This doesn't make any sense…"
"Oh, I assure you, Mother," the figure gave a dry chuckle as tiny pinpricks of light began to orbit around its head. "It all makes perfect sense."
The light swirled about for a few seconds before it dissipated, taking the helmet with it. When a faceless gladiator had previously stood before Mother, now a fully recognizable person took its place. Red electricity seared throughout the complex, spreading feelings of confusion, of fear, of disbelief.
"Gray Voice?" Mother's synthesized words dropped out in shock as the Chozo across from her narrowed his eyes fiercely. "What is the meaning of this? Have you lost your mind?"
The Chozo deliberately shook his head with a scowl. "I am only taking my chance, Mother. Regardless of what you might think, I am in complete control of my wits. The only one who is not in control here is you!"
He punctuated the final word with a grunt as the large turret was lifted up again. Without hesitation, Gray Voice pulled the trigger again and a bright red bolt seared through the air and sped directly on course for Mother's apparatus. Spinning like a disk, the beam had almost reached the intelligence before a red barrier filled with static abruptly engaged in front of Mother. The blast upon the Zebetite shield was still powerful enough to render the surrounding area, shaking the entire room forcefully as the detonation erupted with the force of a small bomb.
Gray Voice threw up a hand to protect him from the smoke and grasping fingers of flame. The ancient helmet reappeared upon his head as he drew forth a command from the corner of his mind, keeping him safe from choking to death on the ash that had been jarred loose. By the time the haze dissipated, Mother still sat beyond the barrier, the biomechanical components floating smugly in place.
But that last attack seemed to have taken its toll on Gray Voice. He sunk to his knees, a hand grasping at his stomach as something inside him throbbed horribly. The turret dropped to the ground with a huge clang and the armor creaked as the Chozo coughed and hacked, trembling viciously.
As Mother watched her attacker become preoccupied, she shot a blue bolt of information into one of her databanks. A tiny red light began to blaze on top of her structure as she opened a communications channel, sending out a hand for someone to grasp it.
"Stop this foolishness, Gray Voice," Mother called from behind the Zebetitie barrier. "This little betrayal of yours will not work. You've already lost and you know it."
Gray Voice screamed in pain as his body began to convulse, one of his hands scrambling across the floor to grasp for the fallen turret. Finding purchase, he slowly dragged it toward him and used it as a crutch, steadily allowing himself to rise while placing all his weight on it. Inside the helmet, Gray Voice's pants beat fiercely; his entire face feeling like it was melting. But he made an effort not to fall; he had come too far to see himself give up now.
"You see?" Mother cackled. "It's already happening! Your mental guard is operating perfectly! You said it yourself to Ridley that it is impossible for any Chozo to kill or intending to kill another living being. Your attempts to the contrary are causing you to experience unimaginable pain and suffering, all brought on by your mental disposition. If you persist in this reckless action, you will certainly die. Your little coup will all be meaningless."
"If I take you with me," Gray Voice gasped as he wobbled on shaky legs, "then everything I have ever done will not be meaningless!"
"What do you hope to gain from this, Gray Voice? What is the point in needlessly risking your life?"
"That is simple," Gray Voice growled as he hefted the turret again. "Ridley said to me that I was going to offer him a defective product as a token of our partnership. And he was right, I was offering a defective product. But Ridley asked me to kill the wrong one, you see. And now is the time when I must take matters into my own hands and destroy that product on my own accord!"
The turret belched another ball of energy and it once again exploded against the hazy barrier. But, this time, the Zebetite shield wobbled slightly and static flickered across its surface. Electricity zapped angrily as the generators became strained. Gray Voice grinned as he waited for the weapon to cool down to full charge again, sensing Mother's desperation, but it quickly vanished as another stab from his gut sent him staggering. At the last moment, he thrust out the turret and caught his fall just in time, gagging as the imaginary pain seared through his body. His skin felt irritated, his bones felt inflamed, and his heart felt like it was about to explode. Gray Voice yelled in agony, desperate to drive the uncomfortable sensations away.
It's all in my mind, he though desperately. It's not real…it's not real…it's not real…
"You…you dare call me a defective product?!" Mother roared, having not even paid any attention to the last attack. "Me?! Defective?!"
Small explosions rippled across the energy barrier and Gray Voice forced his legs straight, thrusting him back up. "The Space Pirates can have this planet!" he bellowed. "The Chozo's time on Zebes, in this galaxy, is finished! But what they will not have are the Metroids and you! I will see to that personally!"
"A defective product…" Mother muttered to herself, caught up in shock. Her runtimes spiked and her processes frantically searched for a tangible bit of information that would prove the statement to the contrary. "I…I am not a defective product. I…am…PERFECT!"
Before Gray Voice could react, several sheets of metal burst out from beneath the rock floor he was standing. The smooth surface arced and curved over him, quickly encasing him in darkness. Trapped in the metal pod, Gray Voice cursed as he banged a fist on the metal, angry at himself for falling so easily into the trap.
"I will not forget that slight anytime soon, Gray Voice!" he heard the intelligence rage through the metal cage. "If your true intent was to deceive me from the start, then you are a bigger fool than I imagined. For the time being, you will be held in here so that you may think about what you could have done differently. Perhaps a few moments of reflection will reveal to you that you have made the wrong decision."
"No…" Gray Voice hissed through his helmet, drawing himself close in the pitch black of the box. "I've already reflected upon my decision and it is just. You're the one who's deluded."
The Chozo flicked a button on the staff portion of the turret and the muzzle snapped away at a ninety degree angle. There was not enough room to fully turn the staff around but the new configuration that had just been applied allowed Gray Voice to easily point the barrel of the turret upward towards the ceiling of the metal cage. Without a second thought, he flicked the trigger and awaited the wash of heat.
Fire spewed upward and rolled in a tidal wave, breaking past the flimsy covering. A column of the destructive force billowed upward, further shrouding the room in smoke. Stepping through the splayed out and melted remains of the box, Gray Voice did not even feel the sheets of fire licking at his armor, despite the fact that his suit was registering the damage. Detonating the weapon at such close proximity had claimed three blocks of energy already. He would need to be more conservative in the future.
"It isn't possible…" Mother said as she watched the Chozo stumble from the flames, still holding himself as his mental anguish ravaged him. "How could you do this?"
"What, are you surprised, Mother?" Gray Voice chuckled as he hoisted the turret in between gasps. "Despite this weapon only being a few centuries old, it is still quite effective for its intended purpose."
"I…I don't understand."
"That's because you don't have any information about this weapon in your database," Gray Voice revealed. "This preceded your creation and we had no use for such tools of war by the time you were online, therefore we never bothered to share that information when we created you."
"Then you were foolish for not placing your trust in me!" Mother hissed. "You, out of all the Chozo, showed the most promise. I helped you create the Metroids and now you reveal that you wanted to tear that idea down in the first place? What changed, Gray Voice? What made you stray from this path, from our side?"
"You're mistaken, Mother. I was never on your side to begin with." Tensing his arms, Gray Voice fired the turret again and watched the Zebetite barrier frantically struggle to reconstitute itself after the blow. Something inside of him felt like it was tearing apart but he blocked it out successfully this time, still standing where he was.
"I would think that it is quite obvious, Mother," Gray Voice gritted. "The Metroids were only meant to be used as a tool, a way to stop the onslaught of the X parasite. They were never meant to be our true weapon. They were only meant to be inherited."
"By me!" Mother screamed as the barrier flickered around her. "It was always supposed to be me who would shepherd them into this era!"
"A long time ago, maybe," Gray Voice shouted back as he fired the turret once more, gagging as his lungs now felt like they were ablaze. "But your time has come to an end. You will not be the one to succeed us. You will not be the inheritor of the future."
Explosions rippled all over the room, obscuring the intelligence from view. "You are lying!" the piercing voice shrieked. "You created me to become the sole inheritor of the Chozo's will! This is what I was always meant to do! You knew that life was an aberration, an abnormality, an error! You fully realized that your time was limited and you created me to pass on your knowledge infinitely! If not me, who would you have delegated this task to?"
"Our only error," Gray Voice bellowed as he clenched down the trigger again and again, washing the chamber with light, "is trusting that a machine could have the capability to fully understand life. Our efforts to teach you have failed, Mother. We could not make you understand."
"You did not try hard enough! I have the capacity to understand everything! I am the most intelligent being in the universe!"
"Your hubris is unbecoming of you. Your failings are on us, Mother, but you could not see past your own unflawed image to realize that you are inherently imperfect. Had we instilled upon you peace, caring, and even love, you would have been truly perfect. A beautiful singularity upon which the universe would appreciate with reverence. But we find ourselves here, and I must make room for the true successor."
"Who is this successor?" Mother roared. "Are you saying that you wish to impart your will on an organic? A decaying, limited, collection of cells that cannot even comprehend of the wonders that I alone can accomplish? Tell me! Tell me who it is!"
Gray Voice laughed as he held down the trigger on his large weapon, a loud whine coming from the muzzle as the ball of energy on the end glowed a fierce purple, quickly gaining size as the shot charged. "You have just revealed the root of your problem, Mother. You're afraid. You're afraid of losing your purpose to another who is your better. All along you've been afraid of life, even jealous of it. You've always resented the possibilities that life brings and you've schemed to make sure that your future is secure through our elimination."
"I am not afraid of such a diseased and useless concept!" the intelligence spat. "I could never be jealous of such a parasite that I would feel so threatened to react!"
"Now you're the one who's lying!" Gray Voice shouted triumphantly. "You've been lying this whole time, Mother! You are jealous of life, you always have been! You've been jealous that you have never understood the concept and you eventually grew to hate it through your inability to understand. Just like you are jealous of me now, for having been your flawed creator. Just like you are jealous of Samus, for being our one true successor."
The charged shot squealed as it built to a climax and the huge burst of energy raced toward the Zebetitie shield. As soon as it impacted, a ripple passed through the barrier and the wall emitters began to spark, filling the air with the scent of ozone. Smoke poured from the ruined machinery and the red filter that had been placed over the room flickered and died.
The concussion rocketed on through and slammed into Mother's tank, shaking it within its foundation. The fluid kept the biomechanical apparatus cushioned but a pulse in the tank still registered on Mother painfully. As Gray Voice dropped the turret as he coughed in pain, feeling blood begin to dribble down the corners of his mouth, a terrible voice seemed to echo within his bones, brought on by an old and terrible rage.
"Samus…? She is the one you picked?" Mother was silent as she took in all of her energy to process this new data. "And…you claim that I am jealous…of her?" The creature in the tank seemed to swell, bubbles broiling fiercely at the surface. "Incorrect, Gray Voice," the intelligence whispered in horror. "To proclaim such a thing…YOU ARE INCORRECT!"
Ridley roared as he presided over the Pirates in the trenches, illuminated by the lightning arcing high above him. The acid rain dripped down onto him, making a faint sizzling sound as it impacted upon his natural armor plating. He blinked his eyes, finding them faintly irritated but he did not make an effort to move, he needed to see this damage repaired to the very end.
"Faster!" he screeched, beating his wings so forcefully that the membranes began to feel strained. The Pirates responded by shuttling the debris out of the tunnels faster, not wanting to displease their lord.
Staring at the horizon, Ridley could see a faint band of light past the blue-black cloud cover. The shower would not even last fifteen more minutes at this pace, but it could very well shroud the escape of the prisoners. He knew that he should be out there searching but the rain severely limited his visibility and would almost certainly completely hinder any attempt to flush them out. He had to be patient in this matter.
Unfortunately, Ridley was not feeling in a very patient sort of mood at the moment. Not when time was an invaluable resource and that every second lost was a valuable chance slipping away from him. He grated his claws on the rock, scratching on the rough surface with a series of horrid screeches.
On edge, Ridley was about to just throw caution to the winds and resume his search anyway when a burst of static flared into his ears. He winced slightly, about to curse the person speaking when a smooth voice suddenly broke through.
"Stop this foolishness, Gray Voice. This little betrayal of yours will not work. You've already lost and you know it."
Ridley opened his mouth, about to correct Mother's mistake across the line when the exact sequence of words hit him. He gave a slow blink, responding in shock at the words "Gray Voice" and "betrayal." His breathing hitched and Ridley spent a moment collecting his thoughts as to why such a transmission would be routed to him and what it all meant.
It was only when Gray Voice's own words began projecting through his communicator did everything start to make sense for him. Growling like an animal, Ridley suddenly leaped off of his perch and beat his wings frantically as he sped on through the storm towards the next mountain range. Rain streamed off his body, stinging his eyes, but all the dragon could do was scream in rage as he continued to fly, nearly blinded.
As he flew, only one word beat frantically in his mind.
Traitor!
A/N: The next chapter will conclude the second arc and pave the way for the final act. Are you all ready?
Also, please read and review. I always appreciate constructive feedback as it lets me know what I'm doing right or wrong.