Chapter 6: Reunions

The GFS Hygieia's touchdown in the BOTTLE SHIP's hangar bay was, much like Samus' entirely uneventful, the pilot reporting no hostiles or obstructions, though expressing some surprise at seeing the famous bounty hunter's gunship in a station that'd they'd been told had been completely written off the records. The sight of Samus' gunship naturally led to the soldiers of the Federation Army's 07th Platoon looking at each other with a degree of excitement and trepidation, for they knew that her presence here could only mean that some terrible danger awaited them aboard, although she would likely be a powerful ally. Of course, they quickly looked to their commander for his thoughts on the situation. Said commander, Adam Malkovich, had known Samus for some time back when she had served under him in the Federation Army, and so would have a grasp of what she was capable of beyond the stories and news reports, which were so fantastical that at least some of them had to be fictional, or at least wildly exaggerated. Surely.
"Alright, men, I know that Samus' presence here means that the situation is likely much more dangerous than we had been initially briefed by the Chairman, but we can't afford to lose sight of our primary objectives. We need to get to the security control room first, then look for survivors. If we run into Samus before we get there, all the better. Any objections?" Of course, the soldiers, veterans of many a campaign against the Space Pirates and other enemies, had no qualms about the mission, and so disembarked from their transport and began advancing towards the automatic door leading to the rest of the station. Once there, they quickly checked the various weapons they had brought with them, mainly standard-issue SMGs and freeze guns (designed for peacekeeping missions), but they did have one heavy-duty plasma gun based off of Samus' Plasma Beam (though less powerful, of course). Once they made sure their guns were loaded, they advanced into the first corridor. At first, some of the soldiers joked with each other under their breaths, but once they saw the destroyed 'growler' turrets, they went on high alert, preparing themselves in case they were ambushed. They continued this way for some time, until they came to the service catwalk leading to the Main Sector's conference hall, stopping to take note of the torn platforms and strange webbing throughout the room; something was very wrong with this station. Of course, Adam, veteran of many a campaign, knew what to do in situations like this. "Kreatz," he said, pointing to the Elfin who acted as the platoon's scout, "go on ahead and check the area for hostiles."
"Yes, sir!" Kreatz responded, wasting no time in moving up the room, his species' natural abilities making it easier to navigate the damaged platforms. However, Kreatz' search was interrupted a lot sooner than he expected, due to… something emerging from the underside of one of the platforms. It was an armoured arthropod around the size of a small dog, with several spikes on its carapace for protection and glowing eyes. Judging by its slow, meandering pace, it wasn't hostile, but Kreatz understandably didn't want to be on the receiving end of its defences, and so quickly jumped down to his teammates. "Guys, I've found something. I wouldn't necessarily call it hostile, but it's probably not friendly either, and certainly doesn't belong in a place like this."
"What is it, Kreatz?" Adam asked, wanting to know the full situation before deciding on a response.
"I'm no zoologist, sir, but I'm pretty sure it's a Geemer, or something related to it – I saw more than one of those on Zebes," he replied, recalling his "unauthorised" mission there with Samus back in her Federation days. This certainly raised a few eyebrows; while this BOTTLE SHIP was a research vessel, the briefing hadn't said anything about Zebesian wildlife, which also included some of the most dangerous predators in the galaxy. However, before Adam could adjust to this new information, one of the platoon's other members, K.G. Misawa, took the opportunity to ask:
"Hey, is it just me or do you guys… hear something up there?", gesturing with his SMG towards the ceiling. Sure enough, now that K.G. mentioned it, there was a faint... buzzing sound coming from there, one that almost sounded like-
the swarm came upon them in the blink of an eye, a mass of large insects the size of cats that clawed at the startled soldiers.
"That settles it," Adam shouted over the sounds of the insects, "we have to move NOW!" The platoon didn't need to be told twice, and began scaling the catwalk area, firing at their new assailants as they went, not knowing if the next room led to safety or to even more danger.

Could this be how it ends? Samus thought. It just feels wrong for it to end like this; I mean, I knew I'd likely die fighting, but I can't believe the Pirates finally got me. And to think that the galaxy believes them beaten after Zebes; now they'll probably conquer the galaxy anyway with whatever other monstrosities they've been cooking up on here. Of course, she wasn't just one to lay down and die, and thus had been continually firing at the altered Asborean and its spawn as the fight had progressed, but although the younger creatures had been easy to take down, the grasping claws of the adult were starting to take their toll; the Pirate AI had taken all her energy tanks too, leaving her suit with only its basic shielding, which had almost been depleted. Mercifully, the Asborean, clearly incapable of managing its suit for long periods of time, decided to stop and recuperate, allowing Samus to quickly scan the room, desperate for something that could help her turn the tide on the beast, despite her previous attempts showing her nothing but useless computer terminals. However, on this occasion, one of the terminals seemed to be loading in some sort of data package that hadn't been there before, although said package was apparently facing considerable resistance from the station's firewalls. Or rather resistance from that Aurora Unit, Samus thought, which means that it's probably something I'll be needing. As such, Samus quickly made for the terminal while her monstrous foe was still recovering, connecting her arm cannon to the data port and attempting to override the firewalls. It took considerable effort, but she eventually found three files ready to download, with some sort of message attached to them. Unfortunately, Samus was then forced to turn away from the terminal as something struck her suit, lowering the shields to dangerously low levels. The impact was quickly revealed to have come from the now-refreshed Asborean, which was launching its back-mounted spines at her, revealing them to be some type of homing missile. As if it didn't have enough tricks up its sleeve. At least I can wait until it gets tired again; I just have to avoid it. The perilous dance continued for an unbearably long amount of time before the creature was once again forced to rest, allowing Samus to dash right to the terminal and commence the download before the Pirates were able to delete the package. After a few seconds, the Scan Visor displayed the attached message – it read:
"Samus, I know you're on this station; I'll try to hold back the Pirate AI as long as I can, but I suspect you'll need these – Bergman." Once she closed the message down, Samus quickly received three more messages via the Scan Visor, these ones being sent by her suit's interface:
"Charge beam acquired. Missiles acquired. Bomb acquired."
Yes! Samus thought, Whoever this Bergman character is, I'll owe them a favour after this. With her armament expanded to more comfortable levels, she swiftly turned to the recovering Asborean and quickly charged up a shot, holding it until it made its ugly head vulnerable before firing it, stunning the monstrosity. Seizing her moment, she then jumped onto its back and fired a missile straight into the hole left for its neck, rupturing the beast's armour and making its legs give out from under it. Despite this sudden turn of events, the Asborean still didn't give up, but instead slithered out from the broken suit, its natural form evidently still intact. But the battle had now swung decisively in the bounty hunter's favour, and it took her little time to finally finish off the beast and collect the energy it had dropped. Thank the stars that's over, she thought. I just need to head back to that save station to replenish my energy, and then I'll head to Sector 1 – perhaps I'll get a better idea of what's going on. Then again, Vistler could be lying to make me walk into a room filled with more Asboreans. The very thought of having to fight more enhanced beasts so soon almost made her shudder, but she was made of sterner stuff, and had faced far worse. After all, what's one overgrown worm in a mech suit compared to Metroid Prime itself? She thought, turning back to retrace her steps as the doors unlocked before her, hoping that the mysterious "Bergman" who'd helped her reclaim her missiles et al was able to make the save stations safe once more.

While Samus had been finishing her duel with the Asborean, the 07th Platoon had been fighting their way through the same corridors she had taken to get to the control room. Theirs, however, was a more perilous one, due not only to the numerous insect swarms and Geemers that beset them, but also because they, lacking the Hunter's Chozo-given athletic abilities, struggled to scale the large ruined elevator shaft that awaited them after the conference hall without the aid of specialised grappling hooks. However, they did manage to overcome this obstacle, and shortly thereafter made it to the room directly before the first navigation booth, eager to replenish the shields on their armour and hopefully find sanctuary from the creatures that they had been facing. Of course, some soldiers had taken the ambush at the catwalk better than others, and one in particular, Lyle Smithsonian, took the moment of safety to remove his helmet and recover from what he'd seen.
"What Happened on this ship? I get that it was being used for scientific purposes, but those things," he groaned, referring to the insects from earlier, "couldn't have been part of any regular research. How'd they even survive that long when the place's been abandoned for years?"
"Hey, don't worry about it," Kreatz responded, "at least they die easily and don't follow us from room to room. Besides, it's always nice to get some action – better than getting tense waiting for a foe that'll never come."
"Yeah," Lyle conceded, "that would've been worse. Still, why'd there have to be so many bugs on this ship?"
"I don't know, Lyle," Kreatz shrugged, "but I bet we'll find out soon enough." It was at this moment that Adam decided to move the group on and continue the mission.
"I assume everyone's taken a breather if they need one, so that should mean we're ready to move to the security control room, which according to the map is three rooms away. We'll take a moment to use the navigation booth to recharge our shields, and then we'll proceed as planned. Any objections?" Once again, the question was proven purely rhetorical as the team used the elevator to reach the navigation booth, though once the door opened to admit them, they found something they'd certainly not expected. At first, some of the soldiers raised their weapons on reflex, though once they realised who was standing before them, they swiftly lowered their weapons, not that they'd have done them much good anyway, for standing before them on the booth's main platform was Samus Aran, former Federation Police ace and famed bounty hunter.

Well, Samus thought, now the Federation Army's gotten involved. I don't know why it took the Council so long to do something about this, but I'm certainly not complaining. I know Vistler won't like it, so it can't be too much of a bad thing. Right before the soldiers made their appearance, she'd been making sure the Pirates' Aurora Unit was no longer able to steal her gear, though ultimately she wasn't able to confirm that "Bergman" was holding it back like they'd said they would, and was forced to take the risk; the recharge and mindlink procedures were just wrapping up as the soldiers arrived. Once the process was completed, she made sure to step off the platform before gesturing to it with her arm cannon. "I'd be careful about using these save stations too often – the Pirates have bugged them." At the mention of their great enemy, most of the soldiers seemed to become visibly tense, although one of them stepped forward to speak with her.
"So there's Pirates here and they've figured out how to hack save stations? Sounds like it's our lucky day, eh Samus?" There was something…familiar about that voice; she was sure she'd heard it before, but couldn't quite remember who it belonged to. She wasn't too used to interacting with people in an unprofessional manner after almost a decade of being a freelance bounty hunter, so it took her a moment to decide what to say.
"Sorry, I'm sure we've met before, but I could do with a quick reintroduction, if that's alright." At this, the mysterious soldier chuckled a little.
"Ah, right, you wouldn't recognise me in the soldier's gear, of course. Well, perhaps this'll help," he said, lifting his helmet's visor. "Remember me?" At once, Samus remembered who he was; a colleague and friend from her days in the Federation Police.
"Kreatz? You were in the police last time I checked, not the army. How'd you get transferred?"
"Well, Samus, let's just say a little thing called the Phazon Crisis happened and a load of officers got transferred. Luckily the only real difference between the police and the army is that you get cooler stuff and get involved in bigger operations; it was like I'd died and gone to warrior heaven! Though I'd have to say that our old boss over there helped me get there, too." At this, he gestured to the soldier in the middle of the group, who took the opportunity to speak.
"Hello, Samus. It's been a while." Unlike what happened with Kreatz, there was no mistaking who this voice belonged to – it was none other than her former police and army CO, Commander Adam Malkovich.
"Commander Malkovich! I'm glad you're here, and-"
"Samus, I'm surprised you're even attempting formalities, what with you being a freelance hunter for nearly a decade now. You can just call me Adam for this mission. I was just leading the platoon to the security control room and I assume you have more of an idea as to what's going on than we do, so I'd appreciate if you told us what's going on once we get there."
"Of course, Adam. Just be careful with that save station – I think you can avoid any difficulties if you get off as soon as it's finished. I do have a lot to tell you, but I'll try to keep it as brief as I can."

Once Samus accompanied the soldiers, who she learned were the 07th Platoon, to the control room, she told them everything about her current mission, from her pursuit of Vistler from the Calbrion system to the Aurora Unit and the Asborean. In turn, Adam briefed her about how the Chairman of the Federation had assigned the platoon to investigate the BOTTLE SHIP due to concerns about it being in use long after it was officially abandoned, which had seemed to indicate illegal activity, but the Pirate presence there now made that a moot point. With all this information in mind, the commander then gave a briefing to his men before commencing the next stage of the mission.
"Exactly what transpired here on the BOTTLE SHIP is still uncertain. Here's what we do know: the equipment we thought had been destroyed is operational again, there are at least several examples of lethal wildlife running rampant and Samus has confirmed the existence of an entrenched Space Pirate faction led by Stedlan Vistler, which has been using a modified Aurora Unit to direct and likely create new bioweapons, if the augmented Asborean is any indication. The situation is critical. We need to gather all the information we can, but priority one is to neutralise the Pirates and any bioweapons they may have created. Consider this site extremely dangerous. Be careful as you make your sweeps. And there's one problem. Thanks to Vistler's new Aurora, the wireless interference in this facility is all-pervasive. Your comm systems are useless. As a result, communication channels will be limited to the facility's navigation booths. Well then… Lyle, Kreatz, investigate Sector 1, and show a little restraint with the explosives – you'll just be announcing your presence to the Pirates and the 'Aberration' Samus mentioned earlier."
"Gotcha!" they responded, though it was clear that Lyle was somewhat sceptical of investigating what could be a death trap. Samus didn't blame him – after all, she had mentioned how Vistler had specifically suggested she go there, which reeked of an ambush waiting to happen. Kreatz, on the other hand, was a good deal more eager, practically jumping at the chance to engage whatever was down there.
He hasn't changed a bit since I last saw him, Samus thought wryly.
"Maurice!" Adam continued, addressing the next man in the squad, "You cover Sector 2. Repair any equipment you come across."
"Affirmative!" Maurice replied. Clearly Adam had no doubts that Maurice would do his job well, because he then focused on what appeared to be the group's heavy weapons specialist.
"K.G.! You're Sector 3. I'll leave it to you to decide whether plasma guns are called for."
"Got it, though I suspect the Pirates will make that decision for me at this rate, sir," K.G. spoke, which got a laugh out of the assembled troops.
"All right, but let's hope they can't hack your tools like they did with Samus," Adam continued. After this, he turned to the last man in the squad, the communications specialist.
"James! Run a complete sweep of the residential quarters and investigate any traces of survivors – I know that the Pirates and whatever the 'Aberration' has unleashed have likely precluded such a thing, but Samus did report of a 'Bergman' who gave her back her missiles, bombs and charge beam – they could be a valuable ally."
"Yes, sir!" James responded, allowing Adam to focus on Samus, though he didn't have much in the way of instructions for her.
"Samus, it's your call on what you'll do here – after all, you were hunting Vistler well before we arrived. However, I'd appreciate your cooperation on this mission. He's our enemy too, after all, and I suspect we'll need you help as the mission goes on." Finally, Adam made sure to address everyone in the room before commencing the mission officially: "I want you all to be especially careful as you execute your missions. That's the end of the briefing." And with that, everyone began moving towards their assigned objectives, readying their weapons as they began their treks through potential enemy territory. Samus, for her part, acknowledged Adam with a tilt of her head (for all her experience and independence, she still felt a degree of sentiment towards her old CO), before joining Kreatz and Lyle in the mission to Sector 1, where they would hopefully get some answers.

Author's note: Here we are; now, after a considerable delay on my end, most of the main characters are in play and are ready to start scouring the BOTTLE SHIP for Pirates. As this is a rewrite of Other M and not an entirely new story, I thought it was only fitting that I take the dialogue from Adam's briefing in the original game and alter it to fit the new elements I added rather than trying to come up with an entriely new briefing that probably wouldn't have been written nearly as well.

As for things I have replaced entirely, you've probably noticed by now that Anthony Higgs is missing from the story entirely, replaced in this version by Kreatz from the Metroid manga. While Anthony's a great character (as far as Other M's writing goes, anyway), I felt that as this was a rewrite of Other M it would be better to have a pre-established friend from Samus' Federation days rather than someone who'd been made up for Other M to make the whole "reunion with an old friend" thing a bit more believeable. Hopefully I've captured Kreatz's character from the manga well enough that it makes up for Anthony's absence here.

And lastly, but certainly not least, one of the things I knew I had to fix from the moment I first decided to write this story was Adam's... "firey" personality. The Metroid manga and Samus' monologues in Metroid Fusion show that Adam was both a firm and a respectful man, calling Samus "Lady" as a term of endearment rather than as an insult like how it's portrayed in Other M, so there was no way I was going to let Other M's version of Adam be in the story when the original depiction of the character would work so much better and be actually likeable (I hope, anyway).

With all that said, with the setup complete we're now going into the Biosphere arc, where all kinds of monsters, secrets and the last 2 major characters of the story, await. I'll see you all in the jungle.