Chapter 9: Signs of Life

Some say cats have nine lives. I must be one hell of a cat. I've been so close to death so many times, it almost feels natural at this point. I have memorized my entire life because of how many times it has flashed before my eyes. Sometimes I don't even remember recognizing that I could die. It just never occurred to me. When you have a mission, you have to complete it no matter what the cost. However, I didn't have a mission anymore. Would that change how I valued my life? Would that change how I went about my actions? Without my duty on my shoulders, I could think for myself. I had to. One wrong move and I'd be in deep. That's the last thing I needed at this point.

I almost felt as if someone was standing next to me, hammering away at my helmet merciless. Nausea kept me from jumping up to my feet. I couldn't tell which way up or down was. My head was spinning. For all I knew, I could have just had a hangover. It sure felt like it. I just lay there in the rubble, my body twisted and wretched in the curvature of the rocks. My morph ball took my of the impact, but I couldn't hold my form as long as I wanted to. My armor was cracked and dented. It didn't seem like any thing was broken, but I was too dizzy to truly make sure of it.

Oxygen hissed out of my helmet as I slowly lifted it off my head. My hair was matted down on my skull, but I took care of it with a quick shake of my head. I sluggishly made my way to a flatter rock and slumped down on it. I was still dazed and dreadfully out of it. My fingers dragged up onto my arm cannon and tapped at the inputs. Light flickered, then died. I was probably low on power. I could have easily lost most of my energy tanks, but I didn't have the concentration to check my helmets heads-up display to make sure.

I took a deep breath and sighed. My eyes dilated as I looked out of into the sky. The only thing visible was the shimmer of the distant stars in the night sky. How long was I unconscious for? It could have been hours, maybe even days. I'm damn lucky nothing found me. I guess the collapse warded off some of the predators wandering around here. They could still be around, so I figured it would be best to keep my suit on, no matter how much I wanted to be free of it.

My body was stripped of every last bit of energy I could muster. I was hungry. I was tired. I was in no condition to go anywhere. My life didn't flash before me, but I knew this could be it. There was no one around to help me and the closest thing to help was a computer in a ship miles away. Wait...Adam...

I quickly grabbed my helmet and shoved it onto my head. The HUD sprang to life, trying to keep itself going over the crack of my faceplate. I tapped at a few buttons on my helmet. I tried to establish a connection, but I was only greeted with static.

"Adam, do you read me? Adam, I repeat, do you read?"

Static. Just static. I must have lost my communication capabilities. Great. I'm in the middle of nowhere with no life support and no way to get myself back to my ship. Sure, I could wait it out until I became more aware of my surroundings, but my suit was still in need of repair. It could probably hold for a little while, but I couldn't trust it going that far of a distance.

Then, it caught my eye. Only a few feet away was a hole in the ground. It wasn't created by the explosion. It was carved out of the ground. I must have uncovered it with the power bomb. It led into pitch darkness, revealing only nothingness. I was wary if the stairs would hold my weight, but I forged on.

Smoke plumed from the end of the cigar. It choked the air before dispersing. He twisted his neck back and forth as the door before him slid open. Lieutenant Adam Kelso was always nervous about these meetings. They always seemed to bring forth some sort of secret objective or whatever. He was a soldier, not a political mind. He didn't want to be part of making these decisions. He just wanted to fight. Those days, however, were behind him.

Before him were two people he never wanted to meet, Colonel James Anderson and Colonel Hugh Lennings. Both of them were known to be hard-asses, but he had never met them in person. The last time he had heard of them, they were taking care of a top secret program called Hard Helmet. Hard Helmet was supposedly a cost-effective trial of creating replica armor based off of the Chozo model I wear. It was to be easier to make, but not as powerful. More of an upgrade to the protection regular soldiers already had. It never surfaced.

Kelso got up and saluted to the two men before him, who returned the favor and ushered him to sit down.

"Kelso, do you know why you are here?"

"Not exactly, sir."

Kelso tapped his fingers nervously on the table. He was curious as to what they had to tell him and why they wanted to tell him of all people.

"Look Lieutenant, I'll be brief as this is the last thing we all want to be doing. We have to discuss the matter of Samus Aran."

His heart dropped. He was afraid he'd have to go after me. Maybe even take me out. We were never friends. I had met Kelso when I was sent off to SR-388 to take out all the Metroids on the face of the planet. He was an odd figure. He always seemed to be fidgeting, whether it be biting his nails or tapping his fingers.

"What is there to discuss, Colonel?"

"Kelso, do you know what happened at the BSL?"

"Yeah. What about it?"

Anderson and Lennings looked at each other, then stole Kelso's gaze.

"Lieutenant, we lost massive amounts of tech on that vessel, not to mention to chance to study the X."

"From what I heard, Aran had no choice."

"What are you saying, Kelso?"

"Look, Samus realized the situation and obviously you guys didn't. That X could have been more powerful than we thought. Hell, that SA-X pretty much destroyed half the ship. It would do the same to the rest of us. Frankly, she used the best possible option available to her."

He never talked with that much grit and courage. If there were to be a conversation, rarely would he interject or respond. Nodding or agreeing was more his thing. Anderson and Lennings were a bit shocked at what they had heard.

"Samus is an outlaw, not a hero. She went against her orders. That's a violation right on the spot. She must be brought back to us."

"I won't be part of it, then."

"Kelso, you damn will be part of this. I want you to go get her. That's an order, Lieutenant!"

The two then rose from their seats. Kelso gave a weak salute as they turned on their heels and walked off. The doors slid open, then closed behind them. He knew this wasn't over. He would have to go get Samus, no matter how much he didn't want to. Suddenly, the doors slid open once more with Anderson walking through them.

"Lieutenant, you better be damned ready. The next cruiser that boards, you'll be on it."

"How will I even find her?"

"We'll give you all you need. You don't have a choice in this. Let's go. You have some matters to take care of."