Part 1

Samus awoke one morning to find that all was not normal. Her hut was lit only by the dull gray light of the early morning, and the familiar smell of brewing tea failed to fill her nostrils. "Master," she called and proceeded to the quarters of her mentor. She found him lying in his bed asleep. "Master?" she whispered, as if afraid to wake the very one she summoned. "Are you all right, my master? It is time for my training. You haven’t forgotten have you?" She couldn’t imagine that he could have forgotten, for as long as she could remember it had been a requirement, no a ritual for her to begin every day with a lesson in the art of warriorship. The ancient Chozo looked up at her with withered eyes. "There will be no training today. Go about your business." Quite puzzled, Samus kneeled down next to the body of the old bird and touched him lightly on the shoulder. "What do you mean, my master, how can you not instruct me today? I must continue my lessons if I want to become a great warrior like you. If you are not to teach me, then how can I complete my training?" The old bird lifted himself to his feet. "Come with me, my little Samus, for I have something to tell you." He grabbed his staff and exited the hut, the light outside the dark fortress swallowing him as he crossed the threshold. Samus quickly followed, fearful, but also delighted at the prospect of receiving a day off from her intensive training.

"Samus, you must listen to me and listen carefully, for what I have to tell you is very important."

"Yes, my master," she gulped, afraid of what her mentor was about to tell her.

"I have a story to tell you, it’s about a little girl, not too unlike yourself. A very long time ago, on a peaceful planet in a nearby star system, a village was attacked and burnt. While searching through the ruins of that village for any articles of value, an old man heard the cry of an infant child. Her family had been killed, but she, in her minute size, was overlooked by the attackers, and thus her life was spared. The man found the tiny babe, and lifted her above his head. Her cries in the pouring rain filled his ears like music, and thus he cradled her and declared her as his own. The old man took the infant back to his home planet and showed her to his people where she was received with much wonder and delight. The entire village accepted her as one of their own despite the fact that she was of a different race. The godfather blessed her minute body and declared her as a gift from the gods. He said that one day she would grow to be a great warrior and seek her fortune amongst the planets and her deeds would prove to bring peace to the galaxy. And so the old man raised her as his own, and imprinted her with the ways of his great warrior cast, in hopes that one day he could set her free to work her magic in the stars."

Samus waited for a moment, but before she had time to speak, the old bird interrupted her "Samus, have you ever noticed yourself to be special, have you ever thought that you are different from the others?"

"Well, I never really thought…"

"Samus, the story which I have just told you, is the story of your life. I have taught you everything I know. There is nothing more for you to learn from me. Your training is complete and now you must go to seek your fortune. You must find your place in the universe."

"But, I am not finished, master," she begged desperately, "I do not know what I am supposed to do."

"Ahh, that is the test of a great warrior. For one to find their course in life is to reach the highest level of edification."

"Master, what if I fail? How can I judge what the right course is for me?"

"My little one, to judge is to misjudge. Fate will decide your course, it is you who must act out your destiny. Now go, leave this old man, he is no longer of any use to you. Forget him for now, but do not forget what he has taught you, for what you know is your most valuable tool of all. Go use it in the name of goodness and virtue."

"I can never forget you, my master," she cried as she collapsed into his arms, tears streaming down her cheeks. And the old bird stood there for some time, embracing his daughter for the last time, his little girl. His feeling of sadness was overcome by the joy that he had been able to give her all that he knew. If he were to die at that very moment, he would live on through the thoughts and memories of the one that he had taken so much to raise and nurture. A single tear fell from his cheek, a droplet of sadness and joy all in one.

Her mentor had always taught her to never look back, for to cling to what one has left behind, is to doubt ones own destiny. As she reached the top of the sloping hill, the desire to catch one last glimpse of the old Chozo village became very strong. And as if some force which she could not control took hold of her muscles, her head turned to look upon the valley below. She saw the round thatched huts spotting the countryside, and the smell of dew soaked smoke from their chimneys stung her nostrils. Ashamed, she turned away, never to set eyes on her home again.

A supply freighter would arrive at Tal’alma in several days, and there she would pay the men to take her to the nearest space outpost. Hopefully there she would find a job and begin to earn her place in the universe. Finally, she had gained her liberation, and she could now set her sights on becoming a great warrior. This fact saddened her as much as it motivated her, but now, more than at any time in her life, she felt as if she could take on whatever came her way. She was an 18 year old girl with no place to go, and nothing to loose. With this in mind, she rejoiced as she marched onward to destiny.

Chapter 002
Onward by CapCom

Past the outskirts of the villiage, the open fields gave way to lush forests. As she climbed along the path that hugged to the steep incline which protected the northern half of the villiage, a shuttle heading in from the west flew low over her, its twin engine trails leaving a faint ripple in the sky. The shuttle had the avian Chozo characteristics that identified spacecraft of the species and resembled a bird of prey as it swooped down towards the bustling spaceport that was known as Tal'alma. Already she could see similar craft flying towards the city, just above the tip of the Spire Tower, and out again, towards the morning stars.

The craft led her onward, up towards the rim of the valley, and down again towards the city. Though it would take her two days, at least, to reach Tal'alma if she kept up her pace, Samus bounded down into the shallow basin from which the Villiagers got their water during the dry season, several miles away from the village.

The sparkling lake was surrounded by small copses and knowls which dotted the taiga's plain like the spots on a hunter cat and the lake shone like a bright jewel in the early morning sun. Samus walked over to the lake and refilled her water flask, the tall grasses brushing her arms as she reached into the pond. Nearby, there was a conveniently placed tree limb which she found made a good walking stick. She picked it up and headed over to one of the knowls, and plucked a few choice fruits from the phrosta trees that grew here in abundance. These she placed in her satchel that she always carried with her and carefully set them in the front compartment, next to her only other worldly posessions, a small green crystal and a beautifully carved metal pendant with the image of a face on it.

Sitting down on a fallen tree trunk, she contemplated what her master had told her, feeling the image on the pendant, its shape bringing back buried memories of her past. No, she thought. There will be time for that later. Before that, I'll have to get as much ground covered as possible. This was only the beginning of her journey, and there was much to do. Dwelling on the past would get her nowhere; before she could become a warrior, she would have to set her priorities straight and be alert to what was happening in the present.

Leaving it at that, she got up and hiked through the tall grasses and into the forest.

Chapter 003
So Much For So Much by nameless

She was still so close to home yet she already felt so far away. The dewy grass left dark spots on her pant legs as it whisked past her feet. Under the forest canopy she could smell the musty odor of leaves which were left over from last spring. The forest was welcoming and she remembered the times that she spent under those trees as a child. She looked up at the grand spance of the forest ceiling, the thick, mighty branches spreading out in all directions like buttresses in a cathedral. The sound of children laughing echoed in her ears, preserved by the branches from the cruel flow of time.

Samus took a detour from her path to locate the old hollow bantano tree which she used to play in as a child. When she reached it, she found that it had been struck by lightning and one of it’s sides had caved in, the broken shell now leaning inward on itself. She walked over to the massive body and pulled out her pocket knife. Using the tip of the blade she carved the Chozo letter "S", which looked something like a backwards "C" with a downward pointing tail. It was her symbol. Putting away the knife, she walked on up the smooth slope of the forest pass and into the clearing beyond.

When she reached the edge of the woods and stepped into the wild talshuck field which lay on the other side, she was surprised to see a small transport shuttle near the trees on the far side. The landing supports were down so she concluded that the craft had not crashed. Some men were walking in and out of the craft carrying tools and other objects. Knowing no fear, Samus approached the shuttle. When she had reached a close proximity, the men looked up with a start.

"Hi," Samus called, "looks like you guys are having some trouble."

"Yeah," one of the men answered back, "we had some trouble with the plasma holding tanks. One of ‘em sprung a leak and burnt through the outer core housing. ‘Ts ok now, we have it contained."

"Where you boys headed?"

"A little port called Tal’alma. It’s just over the next ridge. Another half hour and we would have been there. Damn Talurian models, can’t count on ‘em as far as you can throw ‘em."

With a smirk, Samus looked at the large crate the man was still holding. Embarrassed he set it down. "Hey, you’re a pretty girl, what are you doing so far from a city?"

"Oh, I live in one of the nearby villages… well, lived."

Puzzled the man said "Funny, I didn’t know there were any Human villages around here."

"Huh, well I’m headed to Tal’alma too," Samus said changing the subject, "When do you guys think you’ll have this old baby fixed?"

"Oh, we were just about to take off, old Jimmy is just now putting the access panel back on." Samus looked over and old Jimmy gave her a thumbs up accompanied by a grin.

"Hey, we can take you as far as Alma, but you’re on your own from there. We’re on our way back from the spice harvest over in Kaza, it’s the end of the season." She’d never heard of Kaza before, but she knew the spice business was big over in the east. All the same, she welcomed the idea of getting a quick ride to Tal’alma. Maybe she could commission a job before the supply transport arrived from space station Marn. She took one last glance at the rolling county side and the wilderness which she knew she would never see again. The valley below was shrouded in mist and the tiny Chozo village lay beneath, hiding in the land of memories.

Chapter 004
Shuttle Ride

Old Jimmy and Ricardo (she found out the his name later) were nice to her and didn’t ask too many questions. In return, Samus didn’t pry into their business, either. She found that if you left the other person alone enough, they’d do the same to you. As a result, they didn’t say much on the flight to Tal’alma.

“So you say you’ve been on this planet for awhile, yet haven’t visited the spaceport?” Ricardo asked after awhile, glancing at her from the pilot’s seat.

Samus, strapped in the passenger chair behind old Jimmy, was looking out the viewport. “No. I just kept to my villiage. I’ve never really been this far out, but I’ve heard of the place.”

“I’m not surprised!” Ricardo replied. “Tal’alma’s one of the biggest spaceports on this planet. In fact it’s the ONLY spaceport in operation! En’haza was abandoned when it’s mines gave out. Fortunately for us, the managers of Alma dealt in things other than ore, so they’re still going strong!”

“By the way, you’re in for a real treat, miss!” old Jimmy said. “You ain’t seen nothin’ till you’ve flown past the Spire Tower in the Nubian Sun. Take a look outta this viewport over here, Samus!”

Old Jim twisted his copilot’s chair to the side to give her a better view. What she saw took her breath away. As Ricardo banked the shuttle to the right, Samus had a birds’ eye view of the entire city. The grand Spire Tower glowed brightly as the sun glinted off its green and silver frame. The smaller landing bays and apartment buildings radiated outwards from the tower like the rays of the sun which seemed to be embodied within the grand building. Even the alleys that cut between the buildings seemed to glow as they bathed in the light refracted through the large green crystals set into the spire’s frame like jewels in a crown. Samus couldn’t help but think of her crystal charm.

“Ya see that?” said Ricardo. “That’s pure crystanium. One pound of that stuff’s worth twice as much as a barrel of spice. Any kind of it. And I hear that’s seventy TONS worth of crystanium.”

“Nahh...it ain’t that much,” Old Jimmy said. “Y’all know crystanium’s a great material for building lighting fixtures and viewports among other things. What they’ve got in there is crystanium alloy, a combination of crystanium and silicon. Not as valuable as pure crystanium, but it’s pretty sturdy stuff. Supposed to be earthquake proof.”

As Ricardo flew the Nubian Sun around the building, Samus thought she could make out people walking around inside the many offices that surely lined the tower’s halls. Some were human, others were Gruskan, but for some reason, she didn’t see any Chozo.

“This is air traffic control to shuttle Nubian. Please state your cargo and destination.” The mechanical voice of the controller cut Samus away from her revelry and prompted Ricardo to give the appropriate information.

“Good luck, sir. You may proceed to Docking Bay 57. Have a nice day.”

Samus felt her excitement grow as Ricardo guided the shuttle down into the city and into the waiting hangar, at the base of the Spire Tower. The Nubian Sun slowed to a stop as its landing gear lowered. When the shuttle came to a wobbly stop, Ricardo turned back to Samus and grinned.

“Well, here we are! How was the trip?”

“Great! I’ve never seen anything like it before in my life!”

“Good! Well, kid, we’re gonna be unloading some cargo, but won’t be leaving for a couple of hours. Wanna stick around and get to know the place?”

“Sure,” Said Samus, as she unbuckled her restraining harness.

Ricardo and old Jimmy got out and started unloading the spice, and Samus helped. The men were surprised when she hefted a 150 pound crate out of the cargo bay and carried it over to the hover cart. Samus couldn’t help but laugh as she took a look out of the window at the Spire Tower, a great green monolith that loomed over Tal’alma, the Emerald City of space.

Chapter 005
Induction by nameless

"Hey, kid, Jim and I are going for a drink, wanna come along?"

"Yeah, I hear they got some of the best Souvlaka this side of the Krista Mana. You can take a swallow can't cha?"

"Sure, no problem." I'm beginning to like this place already, Samus thought as she walked out of the holding bay and into the grand mall of the Spire Tower.

They reached a little dive called Tapsa Nuncha. It was more of an intergalactic common ground than anything else. The stale scent of smoke and fermented grains filled the air. She glanced around to see creatures of the like she had never seen. A few Chozo walked past her and although she looked at them affectionately, they walked by her with bated eyes.

She followed her acquaintances as they searched for a seat. Ricardo cleared off one of the tables, letting the empty mugs and burnt out cigars fall to the floor. It was at that time that they were approached by several very large creatures. One stepped forward and spoke "Ricardo, bifi dito kichi fo mo dusti? Mo to chambo gaba lota! Ho, ho, ho..."

"What did he just say?" Samus asked old Jimmy.

"He says he thinks you're pretty. He want's to know where you came from."

Ricardo answered back "Kijo binti doto mufo. So so dulo duda bichi."

"He told him that we picked you up on the trip here, and you won't be staying with us."

The huge creature looked at her and said "Ahhh, prit-ty hu-mon. Me take home with me."

"I'm not Human," Samus retorted forcefully. "I'm Alta Gul."

The lumbering beast looked puzzled for a moment and then laughed "Ho, ho, ho... you Chozo? Ho, ho, you Chozo,

me teeny tiny Bum Twit. Ho, you Chozo me taken home more for me taken!"

"Leave her alone Goba. She's doesn't want any trouble today."

"Hu? Dobo domo sapa dio!?!" the monster bellowed angrily. "Sopa dio dimo pichi!!!" And with that he struck Ricardo with the back of his hand knocking him to the floor unconscious. Old Jimmy stood up and drew a small blaster from the back of his belt.

"Doba sapa!" Goba grunted, and before Jimmy could do anything, two more of the beasts crabbed him from behind and held him.

Goba approached Samus and stroked the bottom of her chin. "You pret-ty hu-mon. Me taken home. Me pichi pondo! Ho, ho, ho!"

Samus remembered what her master had told her: Never act out in rage. Anger is a substance which can be bottled up and stored for future use. Control your anger and use it in times of desperation.

"Never!" Samus yelled. "I would never go with you!" and with that she spit in the beast’s face.

"Doba sapa!" the hideous creature bellowed. And another beast attempted to grab her. This reminded her of another lesson that the old bird had given her: Kill only when you must, but do so swiftly and without regret… It was doubtless that he felt any pain.

Meanwhile, the two other monsters had released old Jimmy who now lay on the floor unconscious as well. They stormed over to Samus with the intention of doing the same to her as they did to Jimmy. Using the now lifeless body of their companion, Samus threw the massive carcass in their direction, and spun around with a high kick to the chin of Doba who was now preparing to grab her from behind. With lightning speed, she grabbed Jimmy’s freed blaster from the floor and seemingly without delay fired two fatal shot’s at the other two beasts who where just recovering from being squashed by their dead companion. She then flipped the blaster around and mercilessly used it’s handle to deal a blow to Doba’s head that may or may not have killed him.

The music in the bar had stopped and a crowd had gathered around, but not close enough to get in the way of Samus’ work. There were no more of the creatures, and if there were, they had long ago retreated. Samus glanced up with a look that said "What the hell are you looking at?" and the onlookers turned themselves away from the spectacle so that they may avoid the chance of offending this femme fatal.

After a while, the band started up a new number and everyone returned to their respective seats. Samus helped Jimmy and Ricardo back to their feet and left them sitting at the table wondering what the hell had just happened. She approached the bar and tossed two Pompos on the counter. The tender looked at her as if she had just tossed two rocks on the table. "Gimme a Souvlaka" she said. The bar tender cleared his throat and explained to her that Chozo currency was no good there. Samus gave him a look that in another world might have killed. She tossed two more of the crudely forged coins onto the counter. "Is that enough?" The bar tender hesitated for a moment and then decided that it would be better to keep his life than to conserve his liquor. "Coming right up."

Samus snatched the glass and swallowed it in one gulp. She pushed back the tears as the acrid liquor burned the back of her throat. She had never had alcohol before, but she wasn’t about to let anyone else know it. As she walked towards the door, a figure materialized from the shadows and moved towards her. Samus waited ‘till the last possible moment before defending herself. Just as she was about to send her pursuer to the same place she had the four beasts, the shadow formed into the figure of a tall, balding man.

"You’re good," the man remarked as he stepped up to her, his breath wreaking of stale alcohol.

"Thanks," Samus answered back dryly.

"Do you realize what you have just done? You just incapacitated FOUR Sumian Goffs. Most federation soldiers can barely stand up to one Goff let alone four, and all at once no less. I’m impressed."

"Thanks again." Samus said as she tried to push past him.

"No, wait, I don’t think you understand. You are a very skilled fighter. Who trained you?"

Samus gave him a blank look as if to say "So what’s it to you?"

The bald man handed her a small card. There was a bar code stamped on the face and a string of letters was printed underneath. In the bottom right had corner read Federation Commision: Mission 34489.

He was a bounty hunter recruiter. There’s one in every bar on every planet in every star system. They sit and watch the various squabbles that are all too common in bars. Their job is to pick out the potential. To separate the creme from the creme.

He waited for a moment, scanning Samus’ eyes. Reading the expression on her face, looking for a weak spot. "Have you ever wondered what it would be like to become a great warrior?" He said finally. Samus looked up. As if answering an unanswered question, he said "Go to the office of my colleague tomorrow at noon, Spire 691. "You will realize dreams you never knew you had."

And with that, he left the bar, the tails of his jacket bouncing gently off the backs of his legs.

Chapter 006
The Shadow by CapCom

Ricardo, realizing where he was and what had just happened, swore and went over to his partner, helping old Jimmy off the floor as he was just coming to. The old man rubbed his head, then saw the mess and checked the area for his gun, letting out a stream of curses.

Doba was lying on the ground, small gurgling noises bubbling out of his mouth as he took his shallow breaths. The other Groffs were lying in a similar fashion, broken and bloodied all around the table. There was no sign of the kid.

"Jesus! How in hell did she down four Goffs?" old Jimmy said, now satisfied that his blaster was nowhere nearby. "It usually takes three to detain ONE of those bastards, let alone FOUR!"

"Quite, Jimmy!" Ricardo said, hoarsely. Any more attention diverted to them would be less than healthy. "Perhaps it would be best if we got the hell out of there before Doba wakes up..."

"Hey! You gonna pay for this mess?" the bartender barked gruffly from the other side of the bar.

"Put it on Doba's tab!" Ricardo said, kicking aside a dead Goff. "He'll be coming to any minute now, so you'd best ask nicely!"

Old Jimmy gave a meek nod of aggreement and stumbled out of the bar, aware that all eyes in the bar were on them. The bartender turned a pale shade of green and returned to cleaning glasses.

Chapter 007
Samus' night... by FireNexus

Samus was pissed. Plain to see. She couldn't get a room in any hotel. What did they, mean, Chozo currency no good. Chozo currency was more valued than human. Anyway, those men had been nice enough to give her some Spice, and that's exactly what she needed.

As she dripped the crudely formed mixture into her eye, she started to think about the man she saw earlier. He was suspicious looking. Why would a recruiter be in a ragged bar?

Walking past a news stand she looked at some headlines.

Who was the GFED, and SR-388, where was that? No matter. The Spice had taken full effect now. Samus was ready to sleep.

Samus went to sleep in an alley. The Spice made her sleep well, though...

Chapter 008
...mare by CapCom

Samus was hallucinating, a side affect of the spice. It started with her walking past a newspaper stand-what the hell was a Metroid supposed to be anyway?-and quickly escalated to several Grolls wearing green dancing outfits dumping crates of spice off a shuttle where they became impaled on the Spire Tower. The tower quickly changed to a Chozo training pike, and her mentor was holding it in ready position.

All of a sudden, he turned towards her, and emitted a threatening snarl, jabbing forward with the pike as green flames shot out around her. He charged, and Samus tried to dodge, but was too slow to move. Everything seemed to be happening underwater.

The old Chozo let out a shriek and exploded only to rematerialize as a dark black hand which lurched forward towards her and seemed to be holding entire glaxies within its grasp. It grabbed ahold of Samus' neck, and she had the distinct feeling that she was being choked to death. During the scuffle, a dark black strand materialized from the hand and bodily yanked off her napsack...

· · ·

Samus awoke in a sweat. She was sitting upright in an alley, a dark one, albeit. In the distance, she could hear small canines barking at one another, their territorial growls wafting in on the night breezes. She shifted her position and immediately reached out towards her left shoulder as pain shot upwards.

Groaning, she stumbled to her feet and looked behind her back for her napsack. One of those fruits she had stored would be nice right now, to calm her nerves. This must be one of the side affects of Spice; she made a mental note not to try it again.

When Samus reached for her napsack, to her surprise, there was nothing there, almost as if...

In the distance, she heard a scream, and her blood froze. She waited for several seconds in complete silence, heart pounding unmercifully inside her chest. Three seconds later, another scream, this time closer - much closer - racked her body.

Groping for old Jimmy's blaster pistol, she raised it in the ready position with her right arm, lifting up her left for support. She groaned as pain radiated up her arm in protest.

"Hello?" she said, cautiously making her way down the alley, picking a path through various pieces of garbage. "Is anyone there? Are you allright?"

She turned around the corner and saw something lying in the alley. When she got close enough, she could identify it as a humanoid body, a dead one, probably a human beggar. No, she thought as she took a look at what the dead man held firmly in his hands, he was a thief!

Samus started to kneel down to pick up her bag, grabbed ahold of the straps, then stopped. There was something near the dead man's head, something large and wet and lumpy that smelled like ammonia. That's strange. I wonder what that stuff is...

"Oh hell..."

She stumbled back in horror, pushing back the urge to wretch into the alley. The man's organs had been drawn out from inside of his body, and lay steaming on the stone walkway. No blood, it looked as if he had vomited out his innards.

Then she remembered. Madly firing her blaster into the dark, she ran blindly down the alley, screaming.

Chapter 009
A Shadow's Shadow by nameless

In horror, she ran down the ally and out onto one of the main streets. It was a pedestrian street, and there were no vehicles to speak of. She needed some money and she needed it fast. She looked around at some of the shops, and a small dimly lit neon sigh caught her eye. It was in Gruskan so she could make out some of the letters. She thought it said "Pawn Shop." She walked over to the entrance opened the door. Bells giggled angrily as the door snapped shut behind her. She looked around in awe. Every wall was lined with gadgets of the like she had never seen before. Under the counter there was a buffet of weapons from every corner of the universe. She walked over to the, there was no one there. There was piece of paper with a crudely scribbled arrow drawn on it taped to the countertop. It pointed to a small red button. She pushed it and a she could hear a series of chimes sound off in the back. The voice of a man answered back "I’m coming, just a minute."

Finally, a short talky Gruskan came out and greeted her with a gruff "Whaddaya want!?"

Samus reached into her satchel and pulled out the green crystal and tossed it on the counter. "How much is that worth to ya."

The man grabbed it with short fat fingers and rolled it around between four fingers. He got out a small magnifying lens which he placed in his good eye, and examined the luminous crystal with much scrutiny. "Amazing," he muttered under his breath, "not a scratch on it."

At length, the man looked up at her through one eye and said, "What you have here is a fine sample of colbite.

There’s about 10 grams of it her… I’ll give you 40 credits for it."

Disappointed, Samus asked him "Are you sure it’s colbite?"

"Take it or leave it, sweety." And he started to walk away.

Samus decided to try her luck and call his bluff "Well, I happen to know that’s not colbite…"

The man stopped. "And what makes you an expert on minerals all of a sudden?"

Samus’ mind racer for a quick response, "My father was a miner from Tara Moon. That’s no colbite, it’s crystanium."

The shop owner glared at her. "Now, I’ve got about 10 grams there, and the going rate for pure crystanium is about 496 credits per gram, so that comes to about five thousand credits."

"Grrr," the Gruskan grumbled "I’ll give you four thousand."

"Ha, a dealer in Gala offered me four thousand. I’ll take forty five hundred, take it or loose it."

Surrendering, the man punched in some numbers on a keypad and a little magnetic card slipped out of a slot in the side. "That card’s renewable, come back any time."

"Sure." Samus said triumphantly. And walked out of the shop, leaving her childhood charm in the stubby hands of the pawn shop owner.

She walked on down the street, and entered a small hotel. There she paid for a weeks stay, and dragged her dreary body to a small room on the top floor. When she opened the door, a few Skudge Bugs fled from the hall light. She allowed her exhausted body to fall onto the bed, and before she knew it, she slipped away into the land of dreams.

Samus woke with a start. It was almost as if someone had whispered into her ear. She looked around her room but saw nothing. She lay awake for a while, staring up at the ceiling of her tiny cell thinking of the tiny Chozo village, thinking of home. Just as she was about to slip back into dreams of bubbling brooks, and wild talshuck fields in the spring time, she heard it. "Leave it be." She sat up with a start. "Who's there!?" She shouted, groping for the blaster she had kept from the bar. She heard a noise in the corner, and then saw movement coming from a completely different side of the room. Then, near the curtains of her window, she saw the almost intangible outline of a dark figure.

"What do you mean?" She said desperately, trying to buy time.

"It will destroy you. You cannot join them. It will destroy you like it did me."

"Join who?"

"They will promise you large awards, they will tell you that you can acquire unimaginable fame and fortune. They will put you in a suit and tell you that you are invincible. But you can do none of those things when you have seen what I have."

"Who are you talking about?"

"The hunters. Flee from their ranks for theirs is the path to destruction."

"I don't understand."

"I was once a youth like yourself. They seduced me like they are trying to do to you. It sounded like interesting work until they gave me my first job. They made me kill them, large numbers of them. Although their skills were great they could not stand up to my firepower in the end. I burnt their villages, and killed their leaders. I succeeded in wiping them from the face of this planet. That was two hundred and fifty years ago. Now only a small population survive, keeping only to themselves, living far from major cities. Occasionally they will come and sell things at market, but that is all. They used to own this planet, but now, now they only live because we allow them to."

"Who are you talking about? What’s going on?" Samus demanded, almost afraid of what his answer would be.

She looked over to the window and the figure was gone. She gasped, afraid to loose sight of her stalker. Then she felt his breath on her ear. "The Chozo…" It whispered, and like a silent breeze, He was gone.

She sat there for a long time, trying to make sense of what the stranger in the night had told her. She knew very little about the mercenaries, but what she did know gave her the impression that they weren’t evil. They were hired by different governments working for who ever paid the highest salary. Money talked among the bounty hunters, not evil, although sometimes the two weren’t so different. So, why did he speak of "the hunters" as being bad? Possibly he meant the Federation? No, as long as she could remember the Federation was a voice of peace in the galaxy. It was the government behind the intergalactic peace treaties at the beginning of the new history, and it had declared itself as a keeper of sanctuary for all races. Besides, the federation had done little business with mercenaries in the past. It just didn’t make sense. Perhaps the dark figure spoke of a different faction? Who would find it beneficial to wipe out her people? One thing was for sure though, tomorrow at noon, she was gonna find out.

Chapter 010
FedCom by CapCom

It wasn't long before the first rays of the sun beamed through the windows of the Spire Tower and cast the western half of the town in a soft green glow. Samus was already awake hours before this, however. Not only was it in her training, but she hadn't gotten much sleep last night. What the Shadow had said bothered her. This being had once been a bounty hunter commisioned to GFed. For some reason, he/she/it had been ordered to destroy the Chozo.

The legends still remained about the Shadow, the powerful demon that arrives on the night wind to steal the breath from the Chozo. Entire populations of Chozo had been killed by this beast, all as horribly mangled as the thief she had discovered in the alley-or worse.

The Shadow was supposed to be able to best any Chozo in combat, but left Torizo alone-it only seeked out, and killed Chozo. It was an ultimate nightmare that had haunted the dreams of many Chozo initiates for years.

But the Shadow had told her something; it had not killed her. She was to beware of the hunters, the GFed Bounty Hunters' commision. You cannot join them. It will destroy you like it did me. The Hunters had been ordered to destroy the Chozo, the Shadow had been ordered to kill them all.

But why?

Taking a look at the business card, she knew what she had to do.

GFed's Bounty Hunters' Commissions office was located on floor no. 38 of Spire 4, an offshoot of the Spire Tower. When Samus exited the lift, she found herself bathed in green light from the Crystanium windows. Samus checked the office plaques by the office doors, written in all the commonly spoken alien languages; Chozo was not among them. GFed's office was supposed to be open at all hours, but when she found the office, she was surprised to find the hallway blocked off by a police line and several Space Policemen were examining the site.

"What's going on here?" Samus asked.

"There's been a homicide," the officer said, turning towards her. "No one's allowed in or out of here until we secure the area and gather up the evidence." He turned back to the other officer and started reviewing data with him.

"Wait a sec..." Samus started, touching the officer's shoulder to regain his attention. "I've got a meeting with the the recruiter." She pulled out her card and showed it to the policeman.

"As I said-" the officer started, but was cut off by a voice from behind Samus.

"I'm right here, Levine." Samus turned to see the bounty hunter recruiter she had met outside the bar. Seeing her, the recruiter spoke again, "Aaah, you must be the young lady I met yesterday. So, have you decided?"

"I must ask you a few things first..." Samus started.

"Oh, this mess? Several members of the night shift were killed last night. It's not a pretty sight. They're just securing the area until the medevac teams arrive." He motioned to the two officers who were now frowning as they spoke to one another. Levine nodded grimly towards the recruiter.

"Come! Let's go somewhere a little more private. My temporary office is right over here." He put his hand on Samus' shoulder and started walking down the hall. Samus followed, trying not to remember last night's events. With a cold shudder, she stepped into the recruiter's office.

Chapter 011
Toys by nameless

Samus followed the recruiter into the office. Papers were neatly stacked on the desk, and a small coffee cup that served as a pencil holder was perched awkwardly on the corner.

"Have a seat, miss... sorry what was your name again?"

"I never told you. It's Samus. Samus Aran."

"Yes, well, Miss Aran, our organization was very impressed with your skill. We are willing to sponsor you as a mercenary. All the money you need will be up-fronted, and we will also establish a slush fund for, say, weapons, mechanical repairs, etc. You know, all of the standard bounty hunter gear."

Samus didn't really know what he was talking about, but she came to the conclusion that he belonged to some sort of organization that sponsored bounty hunters.

"So, what's the catch?"

"Ah, yes, straight forward and too the point. I like that. Of course, the starter loan will have to be paid off and we generally charge a finders fee of 15%."

"Fifteen percent of the loan?"

"Oh, no, that's 15% of your award money. Of course we will supply you with all of the resources that you need."

"What sort or resources?"

"Ahhh, I like the way you think. Let me show you something. This way."

The recruiter lead her out of the office and down a long hallway. The hall was painted with green stripes of sunlight which shown from the windows and through the open doors of the bordering offices. Eventually they reached a large freight elevator.

"I'm taking you to the armaments warehouse. It's on the ground floor near the loading bays. Now, you're gonna get a look at some of the toys you’ll be playing with."

They both stepped into the elevator, and the dull whir of the turbo lift could be heard as it gently lowered the elevator to the ground. They walked down another long hallway, this one less office-like, and the smell of mechanical parts could be caught wafting through the interlocking ventilation system. They eventually approached a large door which read

"Cargo Bay 4: Weapons Ops."

The tall balding man conveniently placed himself between Samus and a small keypad which was fixed under the door handle. She heard him punch in a strand of numbers and a series of beeps could be heard echoing down the hallway.

A light on the panel turned from red to green and the 'ker chunck!' sound of the auto locking mechanism in the door could be heard releasing the dead bolt. The bounty hunter recruiter led Samus into a large spacious warehouse. Rack upon rack of guns lay in rows across the floor like isles in a department store. Samus gazed around in awe. She had always had a fixation on heavy artillery. She walked over to a rack of very slick looking assault rifles and gently stroked one of the barrels.

"That's the T-69 plasma pulse cannon. State of the art technology. It's a class A assault rifle used mainly by Federation soldiers, but unfortunately some have slipped into the black market. Very versatile, and very powerful. One of these babies are capable of taking down a low flying G6 bomber."

Samus gripped the stock and felt the clean easy-grip rubber. She wanted one.

"But that's not what I came here to show you, this way..."

They continued further on past long rows of guns, assault vehicles, and crates of ammo. Finally they reached the other side of the warehouse and the recruiter lead her into a smaller room. It retained the resemblance of the inside of a lab. The walls were lined with small bay doors which looked as if they housed something. The recruiter walked over to another panel and punched in some more numbers. One of the bay doors retracted to reveal something Samus had never seen before. Before her, held up by restraining straps, stood a massive space suit. She gasped. Samus had heard about the space suits that the bounty hunters wore. She was quite simply amazed.

"This is the latest in bounty hunting technology. Designed for and used by every federation commissioned bounty hunter, these babies are virtually indestructible. They are capable of absorbing blasts from intergalactic battle cruisers.

They can withstand the heat of planetary re-entry. And they can pack enough punch to sink a space station. Using the latest ultra-sensitive servo technology, you hardly know your in the thing, in fact it's easier to walk with one on that without. See the viewport. That's pure crystanium. Impenetrable. Of course it's equipped with an onboard computer system too. Oh, yeah, and it's radio controlled, you don't even have to be inside the thing to operate it."

"Impressive," Samus gasped, holding back her true emotions.

"Indeed..." the recruiter waited for a moment. "Well, wanna try her out?"

"Really?" Samus cried.

"Sure. I won't tell anyone." The recruiter punched in a number sequence and the suit advanced into boarding position.

He then opened a small panel in the chest and typed in some more numbers and the chest cavity split into two halves releasing a violent hiss of air.

"Go ahead, climb on in, she's ready to go."

Samus stepped up to the suit and eagerly climbed in. The inside smelled of new furniture. The suit then advanced into standing position and Samus slipped her arms into the appropriate receptacles. Her left hand neatly slipped into a glove, but her right hand found a small handle. She pulled on it, and a dull 'whoop' sound was released.

"The weapons systems are disarmed, Samus. Don't try anything!" the recruiter joked with a smile.

She lifted her arm while moving her hand and she could hear the light hum of the many servos obeying her every command.

"What's this thing on my right arm," Samus asked.

"That? That's your arm cannon. It's detachable but most hunters like to keep it ready."

"Then, how am I supposed to use my hand?"

The man looked at her for a moment, puzzled. "You use it to pull the trigger!"

Samus smiled. Satisfied, she stepped out of the holding booth, the titanium suit moving in harmony with every motion of her body. As she walked across the room, the immense shell seemed to become part of her body. She felt in complete control. Finally, for the first time since she had left the old village in the hills, Samus felt at peace.

Chapter 012
New Toys by FireNexus

"I'll need to make some modifications," Samus said, haggling, "my father worked with machines much more advanced then this, and the servos seem a bit bulky."

"Whaddya mean, bulky," the recruiter asked, puzzled "These are state of the art."

"I can up thier efficiency by 15 percent, and I know a ship builder who could fit a craft to these exact specs, making it a kind of add-on."

"Well, do what you want, but don't break it."

Samus took the suit, and the skeletal ship the recruiter provided back to the village. She knew father had said don't look back, but she needed his help in customizing this.

She basically asked if he could un-gum the servos, and program chozo fighting patterns into the computer. He gladly said yes, happy that his daughter had found a job. It saddened him that she returned, but she offered to pay him, 5 ounces of crystanium, which would more than cover the work.

After days of tinkering with the suit and revamping the ship, Samus left her home, leaving the crystanium she owed, and went to seek a bounty. The recruiter was happy that she returned, and he had on his desk her first job, a not-too-risky assignment in sector Gamma-B-12. But Samus was unprepared, and this job proved much more risky then anyone thought...

Chapter 013
The Hunt by CapCom

The bounty hunter recruiter sat back on his swivel chair, toying with a model GFed cruiser. He thought about Samus, and her mysterious appearance. He also thought of the attack on the recruiting center. Turning his chair around, he returned the cruiser to its antigrav station and punched in a few commands to his laptop. He was not pleased.

A photo appeared, along with a short section of text. On the screen flashed two words and a number:

Hitting his intercom system, he made a call.

· · ·

At first, the sector was silent, cold stars shining silently down, forming constellations that no one would see again or care to identify. The eerie blackness rang with an eternal silence, beckoning and foreboding. Then, an orange and red spacecraft sailed through the big dark, giving out a faint green glow in the blackness, a beacon against the night. It continued on its course, a silent sentinel intent on its mission.

Samus rechecked the in-flight database, reading the debriefing for what must have been the thirtieth time, just to make sure she had the mission memorized. Though the mission was supposed to be easy, she wanted to be prepared to her fullest extent; there would be no errors on her first mission.

She was to enter Gamma-B-12 and intercept a shipment of spice, then turn over the cargo to the nearest GFed outpost. The spice trade was illegal in this sector, and the crew was also suspicious of arms smuggling. She had been equipped with the ship's ID and stats, though she had been told that the shuttle's identity and markings changed periodically to throw off persuers.

The smugglers were supposedly poorly armed but if they smuggled weapons, then there might be some problems. She was to be on the alert at all times, and to accomplish this task quickly and efficiently.

For the mission, she would need just the suit and would ambush the crew when it made its rendezvous with the spice shipment near a small cluster of asteroids.

Samus stepped back from the console, taking a deep breath and letting the fresh smell of ozone filter through the breather. She felt invigorated and ready to take on anything. She flexed her muscles at this exhilerating burst of power, feeling the adrenaline course through her body as she anticipated the hunt.

Moving over to the navigation console, she flipped off the autopilot and flew her Starship over to the dark side of the moon. She turned off the cabin lights and shut off main power. Even though the scramblers she had equipped the ship with were supposed to block anything the smugglers might have, she didn't want to take any chances of an energy spike being located.

The Starship vibrated silently as it slowed to a stop over a large crater, the remains of an ancient comet collision. She sat and waited, a hunter cat riding the solar winds over the abyss, the only constants being her and her prey.

Chapter 014
The Hunted by nameless

"Hey Sam! Sam, get your sorry ass in here!!"

Sam angrily bit the toothpick which was hanging on his botton lip, fastened to the skin by dry saliva.

"Goddamn it Sam, get me the readout for this sector! Jesus Christ, how am I supposed to navigate this damn freightor when your sitting around on your butt! I can't believe you're actually getting a cut of this deal."

"Hold on a minute! I almost got it... yes!" Sam cried as he placed the small rubix cube down on the table, the colors neatly segregated to each of the six sides of the cube. He spit the toothpick out onto the floor, it's purpose long expired.

"Here," he said handing the readout pad to his partner Carlos.

"Hey, why don't you go check the load, see if any of the crates shifted. Were getting some gravitational turbulence from that moon." Sam looked down to see a small lone moon, a dark point in an even darker universe.

Sam went over to the cargo bay doors and pressed the button labeled "open."

The computer system answered back with the regular "Access denied. Security code required for entry."

"Here's your damn security code," Sam mumbled kicking the panel.

"Access Granted."

"Thanks." He said to the computer as the huge steel doors slid squeekily open, metal grinding on metal. Sam entered the cargo bay, and he could hear the faint murmer of the ship's heating systems fighting to keep him alive. He examined the load. Nothing seemed to have shifted. Satisfied that all was well, he turned to go back to the main bridge. He walked over to the control panel and opened the huge iron door. Then, out of the corner of his eye he saw something. A huge armored figure stood before him. Towering nearly 7 feet tall it peered at him with one massive green eye. He wasted no time. Sam ran out into the bridge, rapidly hitting the 'close' button on the door as if that would help it close any faster.

"Carlos! Carlos!! There's something in there!"

"What the hell is it!?!"

"I don't know. I think it's some kind of robot or something. It's huge!"

"Jesus! How the hell did it get on our ship?"

"I don't know, it may have gotten on when we stopped at Carna."

"Did it look hostile?"

"I don't want to find out! I think the bay doors are holding it for now. We should be safe 'till we reach the rondevous point."

As if responding to this asertion, a loud crash was heard. The sound of metal beating against metal. Carlos and Sam ran out into the hall, and looked at the door. They heared another chash and then a series of mechanical noises. Then, a voice "Access Granted." And with that the door fell forward clattering to the grund like a useless piece of scrap metal.

Before them stood the 'robot.' It lifted it's arm and pointed a large cannon at them. Carlos and Sam stood there, unable to move, unable to speak. A small trickle of urine could be seen streaming over Sam's boot and onto the floor. Carlos made a cross gesture over his chest, closed his eyes, and ushered one phrase, "God help us." It was the phrase of a man who has given up all hope.

Chapter 015
Hunters on the Move by CapCom

The bounty hunter recruiter sat at his desk, interviewing the imposing figure standing in front of him. Despite his nervous feelings, the recruiter was able to hide his fears and keep a serious tone in front of the figure. Just get to the point he thought. Guys like this don't like to be kept in the dark, especially when they're being hired for something.

"Then you know what I am talking about?" the recruiter said, turning his chair slightly to take a look out of the crystanium window.

"Of course," the figure hissed. "Everyone in this business is aware of what happened then and we are...quite displeased. The presence of the other hunter here would indicate that."

"And the arrival of the other, also with Chozo ties, means the mission wasn't as successful as once thought."

"Indeed. But not many remember the Chozo for what they once were, or of what they are now. The hunter accomplished what was ordered, and anyone with that power..." the figure's voice trailed off to a low murmer.

"Then you know what you are to do?"

"Yes..." the figure hissed on the recruiter's neck, sending a shiver up his spine.

"Good... I assume you have what you need..." the recruiter said, with a tint of nervousness in his voice. "We can give you a suit if you like..."

"THAT WILL NOT BE NECESSARY!" the figure shrilled. There was a dull thud from behind as a fighting pike materialized and was thrust into the recruiter's desk, shattering it and showering the office with splinters. His laptop skidded harmlessly onto the floor, several feet away, next to the shredded remains of the GFed cruiser, its antigrav unit sparking on the floor. Several pieces of wood had fell onto it and were floating weakly in the air.

"I do not need your stolen technology." The figure's eyes narrowed into slits, staring into the recruiter's soul as he shrunk into the corner of his office. The figure yanked out the fighting pike from the remains of the recruiter's desk, and it disappeared as quickly and mysteriously as it had appeared. The last things the recruiter saw before the figure left the room was a feathery body and the tail end of its cloak as its claws clicked on the marble tiles of the hallway.

· · ·

It did not take long for Samus to haul the smugglers aboard her ship and lock them into seperate holding cages. The prey had been so paralyzed by fear that they almost willingly thrust themselves inside. When she was satisfied that the merchandise was securely in place, she went back over to the freighter and checked its cargo. The crates held several hundred pounds of spice, and, upon executing a scan of the interior of the crates, she found several high-powered assault rifles stashed with the spice.

She checked the freighter's navigation system, getting a fix on the rendezvous point the would-be smugglers had chosen. These files she downloaded into her suit's computer system and transferred to her own ship. There was also a description of the group that was to intercept the cargo at the rendezvous point. Just a modified Talurian transport vessel. Nothing she couldn't handle.

Well, she thought, Why not kill two birds with one stone?

Entering a few commands into the freighter's navigation system, she scrambled back to the airlock which sealed shut behind her with a hiss. As her Starship detached from the smuggler's freighter, Samus made her way to the bridge and took the controls.

This will be all too easy. Something on her ship's monitor caught her eye right before she hit the forward thrust. Then again...

· · ·

Chapter 016
Change of Plans by nameless

The rendezvous point was nearly 150,000 kilometers away. She would be there within an hour. This gave her some time to think. She thought about what the dark figure in the night had told her. Flee from their ranks for theirs is the path to destruction. She had not had time to think about her decision. She wasn't even used to the controls of the space craft she was flying. The recruiter had suited her up, put her in a ship, and before she knew it she was speeding through space traveling millions of miles away from her home. She could hardly believe it. Just days ago, she hadn't even thought about leaving her village, and now, she was a bounty hunter, seeking her foutune among the stars. Her mentor had told her that her deeds would bring peace to the galaxy. Maybe this was it. Maybe it was her big break. She liked to think that her fortune was leading her, it made her feel safe, but the cold dark words of the figure lay heavy in her heart.

This sphere of thought was shattered by a clinking sound on the outside of her ship. She punched in a few commands and a readout appeared indicating that she had entered a small asteroid storm. It contained mostly floaters, small debris that had broken off of larger asteroids due to celestial collisions. There were very few large asteroids and this told her that the asteroid field was very old. The tiny rock fragments bounced off her ship's hull like hailstones on a rooftop.

She quickly activated the auxiliary shields and small flashes of light appeared in her viewscreen, explosions produced by the vaporizing stones.

· · ·

Her ship penetrated deep into the cloud of stone, a fireball, surrounded by molten rock, burning it's way further into that inhospitable medium. It was doubtless that her ship was composed of many of the compounds found within that asteroid field, and in it's own right, it too was a part of it. A lone meteor, derived from the same place, the same universe to which all things belong. It drove further and further into the defiant barrier until it no longer entered, but instead exited. Finally the craft found the other side of the asteroid storm, leaving it's roots far behind, made an outcast by technology.

· · ·

Once Samus was clear of the asteroid storm, her view was clear and her readout showed her to be very close to the rendezvous point. She took a sharp pan to the right, and guided her ship along the wall of the meteor shower. Slowly, and silently she followed this path, until she cleared the far corner. Not too far from the storm, just to her left, her sensors picked up a ship. She panned her ship slightly to the left as to place it in her view. About 4 kilometers off, she could see a large freighter, obviously modified for spice shipment. As she drew nearer, the ship appeared to make no indication that it had detected her presence. She stopped about 300 yards from the vessel, and what she saw disturbed her. It appeared as if the entire side had been ripped completely off of the craft. Debris floated all around and it was clear that the ship had sustained a massive explosion. It had suffered heavy life support damage as well, as she could see crystallized oxygen clinging to the outside of the hull. It was doubtless that anyone had survived. The freighter drifted silently, small electrical sparks bleeding from it's gaping wound. It took several seconds for her ships computer to produce a readout. The explosion had occurred inside the ship, and the weapons systems were not armed and there was no sign of an external struggle. An accident?

She drew her ship up to one of the surviving docking ports and attached it to the freighter. She activated her grav boots and entered. The inside was not a pretty sight. There were blaster marks painting all surfaces and frozen blood lay in small crystallized pools, firmly attached to the floors. She progressed to the bridge where dead bodies floated steadily in the air. Samus approached one of the bodies. It was pinned to the wall with some sort of steak. Her heart skipped a beat. She could not believe her eyes. She already knew the answer, but just to be sure, she pulled the large, intricately carved staff out of the wall, releasing the body, allowing it to float freely with it's companions. Her breath became short, and she turned up her oxygen supply. The staff was tipped with a barbed spike, flattened on one end, but curved and razor sharp on the other. It was a Torizo battle pike! In horror, she dropped the pike, expecting it to fall to the floor, but instead it floated before her, a sight which strikes terror into the heart of every Chozo. But how! How could a Torizo have tracked me here? Her mind raced. Maybe it was just a coincidence. Maybe it was an isolated mission. Or maybe, it was waiting for her, hiding, stalking, eagerly anticipating the opportunity to kill her as it did all of her kind. Though she herself was not Chozo, she had been trained, like a Chozo, to fear the Torizo, for many a Chozo death has occurred at the hands of one of those malevolent bird warriors.

Samus raced back to her ship, and quickly detached it from the freighter. The more distance she placed between herself and that ship the better. The orange vessel streaked through the eternal night, just as it had come, this time seeking no prey, but acting as the hunted.

Chapter 017
Ship of Ghosts by CapCom

Deep inside the wreckage of the drifting hulk that now floated aimlessly through the abyss of space, the Torizo fighting staff pinwheels about on its endless course through the corridors of the derelict. It rebounds off the frozen walls of the ghost ship, vibrating in the vacuum as it hits a wall, though it emits no sound. The corridor is as silent as a vacuum can be.

Reaching out of the darkness, a suited hand snatches the pike, collapsing it into a six inch cube, then quickly retracts again into the night from which it came, leaving the ghosts it had created to rest in their endless journey through the big dark. Small crystals of blood fly outwards under the inertia created as the pike collapsed, shattering against the ship and each other.

Outside, something moves in the debris, glinting off the light from a distant sun. In under a second, it is gone, leaving the ghost ship in a silence that only the vacuum of space can fill.

Chapter 018
The Bird's Bounty by nameless

Samus’ ship sped forward with unrelenting determination. It cut through that inhospitable vacuum of space, immersed in stars that it could never reach. She had not given up her mission. This would only be a minor setback. Besides, the mission stated that she only deal with the smugglers, in actuality she had lost nothing. Her mission was complete. With this in mind, she proceeded to the nearest space outpost.

Space Station Marn orbited around a small moon which in turn orbited around a large planet which, in it’s own right, orbited around the same sun as her home world. So she was not too distant from Tal’Alma. Samus pulled her ship up to the main docking bay and after gaining clearance, settled it onto one of the internal landing pads. After securing her craft, Samus proceeded to the Galactic Federation Police office.

"Very well, Ms. Aran, the listed amount will be credited to your account. We’ll send a barge to tow the freighter to our impound bay. Report to your agent for your next mission."

Samus was slightly taken back by the officer’s officious tone. Not even a "good job" or "thank you very much." Oh, well, she thought, I suppose such men don’t have time to act like real people.

"Oh, there’s something else you should probably know about."

She waited for the man to acknowledge the fact that he had actually herd her. He sat at his computer mechanically punching away at the keyboard, lending no interest to his work. Finally he looked up from the noisy keys with an expression of indifference on his face.

"Ummm, I proceeded to the said rendezvous point, and found that the transfer ship had been attacked. There were no survivors."

The man maintained his blank expression. "The mission statement indicates that another hunter was sent to deal with the contact vessel."

"Yes, well, it appears that the mission was not completed," Samus pressed on.

"The hunter has not checked in yet."

"Well, I’m telling you that the ship was destroyed."

"Hunters are expected to use all force necessary to carry out their mission."

"Wasn’t the mission intended to imprison smugglers, not kill them?"

"The mission statement indicates that only one individual was to be retrieved."

"A smuggler?"

"The details of that particular mission are listed as confidential."

"You don’t say… I wasn’t told that Torizo would be involved."

The officer glanced at Samus. "That is of concern to that specific mission only."

"No it’s not!" Samus yelled, "You don’t realize what this means to me!"

"You will have to take that up with your agent. I can no longer help you." he said, seemingly unaffected by Samus’ outburst.

"I think I just might do that…" she said, storming out of the office.

The officer picked up a phone and punched in an extension.

"Yes, sir, agent 200-4189 has checked in. She is headed for Tal’Alma now."

"Yes sir."

"I will make the necessary contacts."

"Very well sir."

Several minutes later the officer looked out of the port window in Space Station Marn to see a small orange and red spaceship shoot across the backdrop of space like a tiny flame in a perpetual night.

· · ·

The Spire Tower erupted out of the ground like a massive spike, protruding into the sky, attempting to pierce the shimmering stars above. Samus flew her ship silently by, it’s green reflection slipping in and out of existence as it moved over the grid of crystanium windows. Night had fallen on Tal’Alma, and the bustling port had turned into a weary metropolis. The ship passed over the city and only an occasional street vehicle could be seen passing by the dark shops and apartment buildings. Other than a handful of tavern goers, the town slept in silence. After receiving clearance from the automated air traffic control center, Samus landed her ship on a small pad several kilometers west of the Spire Tower. Securing it, she advanced to the hotel in which she had reserved a room several days ago. The next morning she would talk to the recruiter. Perhaps she would finally find out what was going on.

Chapter 019
Shades of Black by CapCom

The air was filled with the thick smell of vegetation and decaying humus as it wafted up on the night air. Small insectoid creatures chirped in the night, recording mating rituals and territorial disputes as they spun their webs of string instruments in a symphony of the night. Far off, small, amphibious creatures croaked tenor and base into the orchestra, further intertwining and revising the great suite of nature.

High up in the atmosphere, a small, red and yellow spacecraft underwent re-entry flaring up in a brilliant orange fireball as it made its way towards the bustling spaceport kilometers away. It fell towards the planet, a burning meteor of light that temporarily illuminated the night sky.

The Torizo raised a pair of night-vision binocs to its avian head and followed the bright fireball as it entered the atmosphere, flying low over Tal'alma. Its feathers fluttered in the night air as the orchestrations of the planet filled its ears and the right scent of undergrowth entered its nostrils.

The Torizo felt its adrenaline level rise a notch in anticipation. This was the other hunter's ship, the one he had tracked from sector Gamma-B-12. She had quickly captured the two smugglers and had gone to intercept their contacts; she was a rookie, but she was strong. There, he had lain in wait, waiting a sight of his prey. She had seen his staff. She knew what he could do.

She was trained by Chozo.

Now, he had seen his prey, and he knew what it was, what it looked like. And what it feared.

Soon, it would return to the recruiter's office. There, it would speak with the spineless wimp of a human and phase two would be completed. Then, it would return to the Origion. There, his task would be completed. It did not matter when or why the prey would return, it would. And that would be its final act.

Then, the hunt would truly begin.

The Torizo turned. The background droll of the planet had ceased. A silence filled the air, a quiet, unnerving silence. Then it came, whispered on the night wind.

Leave them alone... the voice came, sighing on the wind, sending cold chills down the Torizo's spine, ruffling its feathers as the air turned icy cold.

The Torizo knew It, he knew what It was. His pike was by his side, easily retractible in case It came. He knew what It could do, but he was not afraid. He knew its weakness...

...let them rest...

A nearby rock exploded, showering the Torizo with sharp, jagged particles of quartz and rock. The Torizo raised its cloak with one clawed hand while it raised its pike with the other. Perhaps it would strike now and leave him in a bloody heap on the forest floor to be consumed by scavengers. If he were to fall, then it would be the way of the forest, the Forest's doing. But he would not go easily...

All was silent.

A warning...

The cold air pocket was gone, but the Torizo did not ease up until the night's music faded in from the surrounding forest. Remember the insects, the citadels of the forest. They know when it is safe in times of trouble. Listen for their songs...

The Torizo collapsed his pike.

Chapter 020
Flux by nameless

· · ·

The clouds hung low over Tal’Alma. Samus gazed into the vast blue void, it’s constant state interrupted only by the massive conglomeration of vapors. The clouds were in constant motion, enveloping the static buildings. A single unique shape could not be identified amongst the bubbling swirl nor could it be determined which ones overlapped the others. They were the embodiment of immutable activity. Far below the city crowd had grown since Samus had first taken to the street, and the sidewalks were teeming with people of all races. Each had a different face, and a different life, but together all members of the crowd possessed an unrealized anonymity. Samus moved through them, in her own course which was unimportant to all the others.

Finally, she reached Spire 4. When the enormous green doors slid gently open, a massive rush of wind blew past her face as she passed through into an area of higher pressure. The lobby was silent except for the chimes of the huge crystanium chandelier which hung overhead. It sparkled in the light of the morning sun and the crystals created thousands of tiny rainbows consisting of varying shades of green light. Samus proceeded to room 38 where, for the second time she had ever been there, the area was secured by Federation Police.

"I’m sorry Ma’am, you can’t go in there!" A voice called from behind her. It was the man who she had previously identified as Levine. He was holding a notepad on top of which he balanced a cup of coffee and a stack of doughnuts like a waiter. When he got a good look at her, he said "Oh, you’re the girl. Yes, you have been reassigned to a new agent. I have your printout right here. You should check into Spire 2." He handed her a small piece of soft translucent pink paper.

"What happened, what’s going on here. Where’s my recruiter?" Samus said scanning the paper’s contents.

"Well, ma’am, there have been some more homicides. Apparently, the last time wasn’t an isolated incident. I’m sorry."

She stepped past Levine who had worked himself around her and was now standing in her view of room 38. Inside she could catch a glimpse of some MedVec workers leaning over a body. Blood had been spattered all over the room and large pools of it spotted the sterile white floor. She saw them scooping something into a pan. One of the workers turned the dead man’s face towards her. It was hideously disfigured, but she could tell it was the recruiter.

"Oh my god!" She cried. "What the hell’s going on!"

"Miss, I’m terribly sorry, you weren’t supposed to see this. Please…" And with that, Samus ran down the hallway through the lobby, past the musical chandelier, and out into the bustling street. She ran past the throng of people who flowed smoothly around her like a rock in a brook. She ran to a shuttle bus station where massive revolving doors swallowed thousands of people and spit them back out in an even stream. She entered a turbo shuttle and told the man to take her to Pad 62. The taxi floated out over the thousands of indistinguishable heads and took her back, back to the only thing in which she could escape the perpetual clockwork of time, her ship. Samus climbed clumsily into the cockpit and fired up the thrusters. She didn’t even bother requesting clearance, she just went. Far out, over the city she flew, past the buildings and shops, past the street cars, past the people. She left Tal’Alma, escaping it’s world of movement. The spire tower loomed above it, beckoning for her to return. It was a static idol, symbolizing chaos.

Samus did not know where she was going or why she was going there, but something was calling her, crying out over the mountains, the wilderness, the deserts. Something was begging her to come to it, to see it, to conquer it. And so she flew, on a mission, not of war, not of peace, but in an escape from confusion