Chapter 5: "Prometheus"

Samus traversed soil-filled chambers modeled after subterranean habitats for what felt like hours, having finally found herself back on the Biosphere main floor, specifically within the Observation Room, a large room simulating an open plain with many rocky cliffs, a small river and a large, beautiful waterfall. But for all its beauty, it was also home to Reos and Sidehoppers. In the corner of the room lay the sleeping mass of a strange and violent creature known as a Dragotix. Taking a moment to use the "concentration" feature of her suit, Samus refilled her missile system before resuming her search for the turbine-shaped Holographic Generator, knowing it would need to be turned off to advance any further.

A quick scan of the area indicated it was located in the far corner of the room atop a weathered rock platform. All that was left was actually reaching the platform. The rooms Grapple Points were inaccessible at her current elevation, and there was no evidence of simply being able to scale the jagged rocks. Samus had encountered many a room such as this in her travels, and if she had learned anything in all her years of bounty hunting, it had to be the art of exploration.

Fortunately, it didn't take long for the crafty veteran to figure out that something looked rather... odd about the room's nearby waterfall. The flow looked to be hiding something... as she stood underneath the ceaseless flow of water, which ran in rivulets down her visor. Peering more closely, she discovered a small cave-like opening and headed inside, only to discover a much smaller hole. Through the wonders of Chozo technology, Samus was able to shrink herself into a small ball and roll inside the small tunnel. The tunnel wrapped around the outer edge of the room and came out on top of the large rock platform.

At the Holographic Generator, Samus promptly deactivated the simulated environment and uncovered the area's hidden superstructure. At the same time, however, the sleeping Dragotix suddenly awoke and began to thrash about the room in a frenzy, its twin heads bellowing with thunderous, guttural roars.

Seconds later, there came that savage howl again. The same one she'd heard before the Kihunter battle.

Just wait until I get my hands on whatever is making that goddamn noise..., Samus thought to herself in mild frustration. It almost seemed like whatever it was was trying to impede her progress further into the sector. But Samus remained calm and promptly engaged the biggest threat in the room - the Dragotix, an odd bipedal creature with two equally strange heads. One of the heads - the larger one on the creature's backside - resembled that of a crocodile, the other - located on the front and supported by a long, thin neck - resembled that of a bird. The Dragotix used its larger maw in conjunction with ramming attacks to try and eat the agile bounty hunter, while the smaller head emitted a dangerous blue flame from its mouth. Samus used her supreme athleticism to her advantage and seamlessly avoided the creature's every attempt at consuming its potential meal. But the Dragotix was soon joined by a trio of large Sidehoppers.

Samus didn't flinch, but knew she was surrounded. Her adrenaline began inching ever upwards as she flung herself headlong into the swarm of creatures.

Fortunately, the simple-minded Sidehoppers were quick to fall before the might of her Arm Cannon; Samus turned her attention to the Dragotix again and promptly scanned it for details on a weak point. The creature's glowing abdomen seemed like a good place to start. As she engaged the violent beast, Samus weakened it with numerous charged shots. Its angry thrashing and relentless attacks soon slowed. Samus knew it was now or never, and locked on to the creature's pulsating abdomen with her missile launcher. The Dragotix' abdomen exploded on impact; the creature stumbled over itself and crashed to the floor in its death throes. Samus expelled a sigh of relief as the beast now lay motionless before her feet.

Wall-jumping up the nearby shaft, Samus soon found herself high above the Observation Room and headed through the nearby door.

It took time to navigate the passages and corridors, but Samus finally reached the Biosphere Test Area, a large but simple area resembling a vast, grassy plain. Samus found the setting to be oddly familiar, resembling the training grounds of the Federation on planet Earth. In the center of the room was a large building. Surveying the structure from afar, memories of her time with the Federation, of Anthony and... Adam swirled about her consciousness.

And for a brief moment, Samus longed for that day to return as real and vivid as she remembered.

"Adam..." she whispered.

"What is it, Aran?"

Samus felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment behind her visor. What had been meant for her ears only had been heard by him. "…It's nothing, Adam. I was just going to tell you that I reached the rendezvous point."

"Understood, Samus."

Inside the Exam Center within the Biosphere Test Area, Samus made her way to the top floor of the building and immediately became cautious after noticing that the door leading to the Control Room had been broken into. She kept her Arm Cannon raised while slowly making her way through the door. To her surprise, James Pierce was just crawling out from underneath a computer terminal, a nervous expression on his face. "Hey...Samus. Didn't expect to see you again so soon. Have you seen Lyle?" the Intelligence Officer asked casually.

Samus remained silent while she held him under her glare the way a scientist would view a specimen through a microscope.

She was so busy analyzing his mannerisms that she hadn't heard him the first time. "Did you say something?"

The Intelligence Officer repeated himself, a bit calmer now. "Have you seen Lyle?"

Samus shook her head. "No, I haven't. Neither has Commander Malkovich. Communication data suggests this area to be his last known location."

From the same compromised door soon came fellow squad members, Maurice and Anthony. Samus was immediately filled with suspicion. The broken door... Catching James crawling out from the data terminal... Something wasn't right.

"Any sign of Lyle?" asked Pierce to his fellow comrades.

Anthony shrugged, trying to repress a chuckle. "Knowing him, he probably went looking for trouble as an excuse to shoot something."

Maurice, however, couldn't contain his amusement despite his serious nature. "You may be on to something there, Anthony. Or maybe he ran into more Brugs again."

Higgs couldn't contain the smile threatening to curve his mouth. "Good one," he laughed before turning his attention to a straight-faced Samus Aran and patted her on the back of her armor. "C'mon, Princess, not even a little smile? You know how pretty I think it is." His attempt at flattery went ignored by the stoic bounty hunter, and Anthony's tone soon turned serious. "Good to see you in one piece, anyway. Any trouble getting here?"

If he only knew. Samus wasn't one to divulge her exploits, however, and merely shot Anthony a quick glance before replying, "No. I can take care of myself, thanks."

Anthony grinned. It was always like her to give smart-ass answers.

Meanwhile, Maurice had taken control of the damaged computer terminal against the far back wall in the center of the room, his fingers blazing across the large alpha-numeric keypad. He looked to be trying to access some type of data. Perhaps a clue about Lyle's last known whereabouts? His eyebrows furrowed together in deep concentration as his comrades stared at the screen. "Hm, this is no good... The CPU seems to have self-destructed somehow. And the core system has been broken into parts but... I think I may be able to restore it and recover some of the data..."

Anthony gathered the remaining men. "While Maurice is working on recovering the data, I think the rest of us should search the rest of the building. Move out."

While the others went their separate ways within the large facility, Samus branched off from the rest of the group to do her own reconnaissance. Soon, she found herself within a small, circular room with many doors. The distinct - yet faint - sound of an alarm could be heard coming from inside one of the rooms. She approached the door where the sound appeared loudest and pressed the button. Before she had time to move, a cybernetically enhanced creature fell toward her. Pushing it off, Samus got to her feet and looked the lifeless form over.

Very few parts of the creature remained untouched. Nearly all of its body was comprised of crude metal parts. Its large, crab-like talons appeared to be prosthetic. Taking the creatures most recognizable features - the elongated head, insectoid torso, and crab claws - into account, Samus suddenly felt her heart hammer painfully against her ribcage. She'd seen this before, but she'd destroyed that planet; how could the Federation have this creature?

Samus attempted to swallow her fear before opening a channel to Adam. "Adam, are you seeing this? It's a Zebesian, but... it looks like its been cybernetically enhanced. What is the Federation doing with Zebesians?"

Naturally, but still most frustratingly, Adam remained distant. "...Zebesians? ...Continue your investigation. And stay alert, Samus."

Samus felt slight agitation at her former superior's remark. "Stay alert? That's all you can tell me after I just found a cybernetically-enhanced form of a creature that's supposed to be extinct along with its whole planet? This is some serious shit here!" she chided, feeling her anxiety starting to well up inside.

"What would you like me to say, Samus?" Malkovich replied calmly.

Samus clenched her fist as her eyes continued to stare at the cold metal body at her feet. She closed her eyes for a moment and took a deep breath, that dark presence starting to come over her like a shroud...But Adam was right, what else was he supposed to say? What else could he say?

Suddenly, Maurice could be heard yelling from the Control Room: "I got it!"

Back in the Control Room, Anthony, James, and Samus gathered around Maurice.

Maurice kept a straight face. "It's not much, but I did manage to recover one rather interesting piece of data..."

Samus and the others turned their attention to the terminal screen. He'd found a classified directive of some sort, and began to read it aloud. "This Bottle Ship ("Prometheus") is under the jurisdiction of the Galactic Federation," he read aloud. "In this facility, bio-forms from many different planets will be raised and researched as potential bio-weapons…" He paused, and the others leaned in. "It's signed by the Development Director... Dr. Madeline Bergman."

Despite the revelation, Samus wasn't surprised in the least. Though the Federation was seen as the shining light of the universe, she knew they also weren't above using life-forms for their own selfish reasons. Relying the new information to Adam, Samus and the others awaited the Commander's reply.

His tone was stern. "What's been going on here is illegal as per Federation Protocol LV-426: Under no circumstances shall bio-forms, including Metroids, be used as bio-weapons. Looks like whoever destroyed the CPU mainframe didn't want the Federation's dirty little secret to get out."

Samus didn't bother to press Malkovich further on the issue. She was very well aware of his staunch convictions. Not only was he a strict opponent against the use of using living things as potential bio-weapons, he also believed that life, no matter how it was born into this often cruel universe, should never be tampered with. Knowing this, Aran began to wonder about how he would view her if he discovered that she'd given the baby Metroid to Federation researchers aboard the Ceres Space Colony, knowing full well their ultimate goal was to turn it into a weapon of mass destruction. But what the hell else could I have done? Raise it as my own? she thought, suddenly finding herself concerned with his opinion again.

"Madeline Bergman may still be somewhere in this facility. I want all of you to keep scanning for more intel." Adam commanded over the comm links.

After a more thorough (and lengthy) sweep of the entire building, Samus and the squad encountered several Cyborg Zebesians in the same room Samus had explored moments earlier. "Everyone get back! I've got this!" Samus shouted to the soldiers; Anthony attempted to help his friend, but was quickly shunned from the area by Maurice; the door hissed shut, locking the bounty hunter inside to fight the Zebesians alone.

"Samus!" screamed Higgs as he punched the door with his fist.

"Fall back, Higgs! Let's go!" shouted Maurice as he wrestled to pull the big man away from the door. "That's an order!"

From the command room, Adam watched as five of the reborn Zebesians quickly surrounded Samus. Though he attempted to remain indifferent to the dangerous situation, memories of the incident with his younger brother began to pierce his walls. Though the incident involving Ian was different, Adam didn't doubt that Samus was in a situation just as dangerous. Zebesians were tough, skilled, and calculating creatures on their own, but to take on five of them at once was a task for the ignorant or insane. And the cybernetic enhancements made them even more deadly. Watching them getting the upper hand on Samus, Adam gritted his teeth. What was more important to him? His men, or Samus Aran? For all intents and purposes, Samus was the second most important person in his life, next to Ian. But he also believed in her skills as a warrior. She hadn't let him down in all the years he'd known her, and didn't look like she would start anytime soon.

And yet, Adam felt the need to know if she was all right. "Samus? Samus can you hear me?"

He waited with baited breath while surveying the battle on the small terminal screen.

Samus, leaping, dodging, unrelenting in her cannon fire. Her movement was graceful, yet full of purpose and deep-seated anger. She would not stop until the horrors reborn lay at her feet in crumpled, smoldering masses.

Finally, her impatient, annoyed tone of voice was music to his ears. "I'm kinda in the middle of something, Malkovich. Can't it wait? And what the hell are you waiting for? Get your men out of here!"

For the first time in ages, Adam felt his lips curve into a smile. Alas, it vanished as quickly as it appeared, and Adam wasted no time in giving the command to evacuate the premises. But there would be no coming back if he were to loose her too. "Evacuate the facility immediately. That's an order." he instructed to his men.

Anthony could do nothing but watch one last time as Samus became swarmed by the reborn Zebesians once more. "I got this, Anthony! Get out of here!" Samus yelled through the door. Anthony pressed a hand against the door before promptly evacuating the Exam Center.

After a long battle in which she laid the Cyborg Zebesians to waste, an exhausted Samus exited the room, only to hear several male voices outside:

"Look out!"

"That way! It went that way!"

"It's too fast! I can't get a shot off!"

What now? Samus wondered, vaguely irritated. She'd just taken on five enhanced Zebesian creatures by herself, only to emerge to this? Running to the window, Samus pressed her hand against the glass in outrage. James, Anthony, and Maurice, firing their weapons in all directions. And a large shadow, wraith-like, evaded their every shot while Reos, Griptains and Ghalmanians diverted their attention away from their master. There was no time to descend the building via the elevator - Samus feared the men would all be dead by the time she arrived to provide cover fire. Taking a few steps back, Samus ran at full speed towards the window and shattered it beneath the force of her stride. Landing outside the building on her feet, Samus promptly provided much-needed back-up as glass shards rained down upon her.

Suddenly, she found herself pinned to the floor by a giant, purple lizard with white fur and wing-like vertebrae on its back. Its barbed, whip-like tail curled behind its back, the galvanized tip poised to strike at Samus with deadly speed and accuracy. The mysterious creature ran its snake-like tongue over its razor sharp teeth, its orange eyes gleaming with relish. Even with the augmented strength of her Power Suit, Samus found it impossible to free herself from the vice grip of the strange creature. The cunning beast had made sure to pin her legs with its back feet and Arm Cannon with one of its front legs. Its tail bobbed from side to side, ready to launch itself at Samus' head.

Moving her head within an inch away from the creatures incoming tail tip, Samus writhed about the creature's grip in attempt to break its clutches. Her heart pounded furiously in her chest as desperation began to set in. After a while, the exhausted bounty hunter was finally able to free her Arm Cannon and jarred the creature from her body via a piercing shot from her Plasma Beam. "Fuck you too!" she growled as the mysterious creature writhed around on its back in pain.

At the same time, the soldiers had finally managed to destroy the various Reos, Griptians and Ghalmanians the creature had summoned. With the mysterious creature injured, it promptly retreated via a shortcut to the Pyrosphere it created by throwing itself at the simulated environment and creating a rather large hole in the wall.

Anthony rushed over to Samus and promptly offered her his hand.

But Samus, in her stubbornness, refused his help and forced herself to sit up under her own power. She took a moment to steady her fast breathing before activating her Power Beam again.

Anthony just laughed and shook his head. "Ice cold, Princess. Ice cold."

Before she could respond, James suddenly interjected from a distance, his voice was filled with urgent alarm. "I found Lyle!"

Judging by the young soldier's tone, Samus gauged the outcome to be bleak. I knew it was only a matter of time before the big mouth got himself killed, she told herself before running to join the others.

Lyle's body looked as if something had ambushed him before feasting on his face. Even more disturbing was the trail of green blood that started at his body and ended at the husk of the fluffy creature Samus had encountered earlier. The same one whose calculating stare had burned a hole through her frigid heart. The molted shell suggested that the creature had transformed into something far more deadly.

Samus quickly remembered the body of the scientist she discovered inside the Breeding Room. Lyle's body resembled it to a tee. But some of his injuries looked different. The various holes through his chest armor in particular intrigued Samus a great deal. And the husk next to his body. Could the same creature really have done all this damage, or was it feeding off the power of something bigger?

Samus mulled it over in silence while Maurice gave Adam a status report. "Sergeant Lyle Smithsonian has been confirmed dead, Commander. Upon our evacuation from the Exam Center, we were ambushed by a large and extremely dangerous bio-form of unknown origin. It was also able to summon other hostile life-forms. Strangely, the creature seemed unusually attracted to hunter Aran, most likely due to perceiving her as the biggest threat. Aran was able to repel the creature using her Plasma Beam, at which point the creature fled. Its whereabouts are unknown. All other members have been accounted for, sir."

Adam paused. When he spoke again, his voice was its usual calm, distant tone, giving no hint about his feelings on Lyle's death. "Understood... Continue with your exploration of Sector Two."

Adam addressed Samus privately. "I'd like you to head to Sector Three, Samus. Should you encounter that beast again, well… I don't have to tell you what to do about it. Should you encounter it again, use of the Plasma Beam is authorized. But ONLY if you encounter it again. No exceptions."

Samus's eyes glared over. She could all but assure Adam that the creature would be properly disposed of - any creature that attacked her like the Mystery Creature had done did not live long after such an attack, as they were usually hunted by her with a vengeance and eventually blown apart by her wrath. She would find the beast if it was the last thing she did.

With ice water flowing through her veins, she calmly replied, "With pleasure, Adam."