Chapter 15: Realization

I never fully understood the risks of being part of the military. Even to this day, being on my own as a bounty hunter for hire...or, at least, when I was being hired, I usually see the benefits of being a particularly lethal force. What never bothered me bothers so many. What bothers them is that they will become some of the toughest men and women in the galaxy, training for years to become the best they can be. Learning maneuvers, tricks, strategies, all for the sake of the Federation. The success of the GF rests on their shoulders, the shoulders of thousands, many of which have families back at home. What bothers them? That after all of that training, all of that work, it takes only one shot to end their lives. One bullet, one mere piece of shrapnel, can end something that was molded for years to be the best. That's what scares them. It never scared me.

I'd hate to be that man right now. Watching an armor-clad being, that has the same flesh and blood, swat his comrade like he was a bug. Steve was dead, Cameron knew that the moment he saw his lifeless body flip to the ground. There was no need to check for a pulse or try to resuscitate him. He was gone. That was that. Lethal force is a double-edged sword when you have to execute it on someone you don't want to use it upon. They bring it on themselves. I didn't feel anything when I ended Steve's life, just like I don't feel anything when I kill a Space Pirate or some other hostile being. Maybe adrenaline, but that's about it. But there was no gain of a rush here. It was a cold action. I knew it.

"H-Holy..."

If I could see through his faceplate, I would have known how dilated Cameron's pupil's were. They must have been like black holes, ready to suck in any little trace of light available. He was shaking tremendously. I just stared at him. I couldn't understand what he was going through. I stood there and watched him become overwhelmed in panic and fear. He began to cuss under his breathe, not out of anger, but out of sheer fright. I was Goliath and he was David, but David didn't have the right slingshot to take down the giant before him.

Cameron had no idea what to do. His hands clutched the rifle as if his fingers were dripping with industrial glue. But he figured he had to do something. He wasn't going to go down without a fight. His thumb, which was resting right next to the safety, flicked the switch and the gun burst to life. He quickly swung it around and fired a stream of energy. At first, I didn't feel anything, but my heads-up display was alerting me that my energy tanks weren't as filled as I thought. I hadn't regained any energy since the collapse of the tower. My arrogance became ignorance. I had barely any support left before the armor would give way and my body would start taking the shots.

I quickly fired off a missile. It ripped through the air as it left a trail of hot smoke in its path. Cameron rolled out of the way and found refuge behind a mossy edge about ten feet in height. The explosion of the projectile rocked the ramp of his ship, but only left a concussing dent rather than demolishing the whole ramp itself. More armor-piercing rounds flew at me, but I managed to duck under them into my morph ball and speed towards him. Behind the formating, Cameron lost his sight of me and was completely unaware of the metal ball traveling towards him.

I boosted right towards him, rattling against his armor and knocking him off his knees and onto the wet ground. I circled around for another pace, but retreated behind a few rocks as more rounds found me and delivered a few knocks to the ball. A smarting pain shot into my abdomen, but I braced through it. I then bounced on top of the rocks and boosted through the air, aiming at his head. He ducked, but couldn't dodge the bombs I left as a present.

Rolling out of my alternative form, I twisted around on my feet to see Cameron rocket back into the formation. The bombs left black residue on his suit. He struggled to regain his balance, but was barely able to rest on one knee. I slipped behind another rock to try and keep myself from getting too overzealous. He was just a marine, but he could take me out in my condition, whether he knew it or not. As far as he knew, I had full energy tanks, but I knew better. With that in mind, I made sure I wouldn't get trapped in a stream of fire.

A door opened. Armor clanked on metal of a similar make. Light flashed in the air. I raised my head slowly over the rock and found Cameron being lowered in a ship. My ship. I guess he figured he wasn't going to win the fight and decided to take a bit of me with him. My helmet crackled as I got up to pursue him.

"Samus...not sure if you noticed, but I'm being stolen. If you could take care of this guy, that would be fantastic."

"Can't you lock him out?"

"I tried, but he is manually overriding my actions. He definitely knows his way around a ship."

"Great. Just hold on. Try to stall him as much as you can."

I cleared the distance between the rock and my ship in only a few strides, but it seems Adam's attempts at buying me some time wasn't panning out so well. My ship began to lift off the ground and ready to leave the planet. I activated my grappling hook and lassoed one of the thrusters below the vessel. I was swung into the air as the ship was taking off. I gripped the ship, trying to find something to hang onto as I made my way into the ship. Adam's voice clicked on again.

"My apologies Lady, but it seems he stopped my attempts at stalling him."

"Can't you at least open the damn thing so I can get in?"

"He locked it manually. I can't do anything when he overrides every single action I try to perform, Samus."

I swung on top of the ship. I only had a few moments before Cameron shot out of the atmosphere and I was either ripped of my position and sent to fall back to the ground or I would be rocketed into space and drift until my oxygen was used up and I suffocated. Neither of which were good options. The door ceased to open until I powered up a Super Missile and used it, along with a devastating punch to the metal, to rip a hole in the door.

Cameron was tinkering with the controls, readying the ship for space travel as I dropped into the vessel. His rifle was laying on the ground next to the chair and was in no position to take me out. But he still swung around as if he was prepared to face me head-on. He reached for his rifle, but I grabbed for his arm and yanked it out of its socket. He yelped in pain, but continued to battle me for the carbine. He pushed me back and secured the gun. A huge blast flew out of the barrel, but I slid to the floor to dodge it.. He had it on full power. The back of the ship took the front of the blow, dealing an immense amount of damage. Another one of those shots would easily rip a chunk in the ship.

He pulled the trigger again, but I couldn't dodge this one. It felt like a huge mallet wailed me in the face. I blacked out as my body was flung against the back of the ship, prying it open and letting the atmosphere pour into the vessel. I regained myself just as I was being sent outside. I grasped an edge with my left hand and clung to it. Cameron held his position with ease, trying his best to maintain altitude. The hole wasn't too large, but he wouldn't be able to get far with it there. I feared he would be able to patch it up in time and get out, so I had to take it out myself.

"Adam, do you read?"

"Barely."

"Can you contact the GF ship ground side?"

"Yes, why?"

"Purge all of my ship's data and re-route it to that one. I'm taking that one instead.

"Alright, but you'll need to give me a few minutes."

"We don't have minutes! Get as much as you can and jump ships. Make sure you won't be altered in the jump."

"I'll do my best."

I knew he would. I just hoped that he would be ready when this thing went to hell. I latched onto the bottom of the ship. The heat of the thrusters wasn't exactly comfortable, but the internal cooling of my suit kept me going.

"Adam, jump now!"

"Jumping vessels in 3...2...1..."

I wound up and punctured the bottom of the ship. It's internal workings were exposed. Whatever was keeping this thing up was here. I charged up another round of missiles and sent a volley of them in the heart of the beast. I then quickly let go and rolled into my morph ball. I had to survive this fall. But Cameron and my ship surely wouldn't. It exploded in a ball of fire and began to arc down towards the surface of Tallon IV. All that was left was fire, ashes, twisted metal, too many memories, and a man that didn't deserve his end.

I hit the ground with a thud, but I got out of it okay. I probably received a concussion and some bruising, but I had to shake it off.

"Lady, need help?"

I let out a sigh of relief. He made it. The bastard made it.

"No. I'm alright, thanks. Did you make it okay?"

"Everything is fine. I got everything important. All that was left behind were some old coordinates and such you probably haven't touched in who knows how long."

I let out a slight laugh. Everything worked out. I survived. Adam survived. The lore survived. We still had a chance to live through this.

The control chair of the ship was definitely more comfortable than that of my old ship. Adam was still getting used to the new geometry and systematics of his new abode. The ship lifted off of the ground and into the darkness of space. Clouds parted as my new vessel rose above them. I looked out a window to my right and saw smoke billowing ash and dark masses of choking air into the atmosphere. I then realized that I had no regard for anything other than myself. I destroyed a ship I had barely had long enough to call my own. I killed two men who had loved ones waiting for them on other planets, hoping that they would arrive home in one piece. Hoping nothing had happened to them.

I realized that I wasn't who I used to be. I was changed for the worse. And worst of all, the only thing that I could actually care about other than myself was a computer program. Something that I cherished more than the lives of human beings. That made me realize what I had become. What am I?