Metroid Queen: Alpha

Prologue: Death of an Era


ONE YEAR AGO, PLANET ZEBES



In the depths of the planet Zebes, in a vast mechanical laboratory, something stirred. The electric lights above flickered on and off erratically, briefly illuminating the scene, before returning it to darkness. Their spasmodic light revealed what lay below. Parts of organic matter littered the floor, horribly scorched and wounded. They seemed to have come from a brain-like organ.

The Mother Brain couldn't feel pain. In a way, this was fortunate, for if so, she would have lost her mind by now. A half-computer, half-brain, built and grown by the Chozo race, she was now a wreck. As the laboratory shook, and deep rumblings could be heard, she knew her end was near.

Why?

Why her? All she had wanted to do was to create a perfect universe. There was too much evil, too much hate. All she had wanted to do was to stop the evil, stop the hate. And she had thought of the best possible plan to do that. Exterminate all life-forms. It would have created the perfect universe: an emotionless universe.

Her plan had almost been flawless. Created by the Chozo, an ancient race of birdlike beings, she had been a marvel of technology. Her first use had been a great one indeed. The Chozo had identified a race of parasites, which they named the Parasite X. The Parasite X were capable of taking over a host organism completely, and while doing so, boosting the physical strength and proportions of the host. The Chozo recognised the danger of these parasites – unchecked, they could threaten the universe. The Chozo had used her to design something which could stop these creatures.

And she had.

She had created the Metroids, a race of predators. They consisted of a gelatinous, transparent membrane, in which four blood red nuclei could be seen. Emerging from the bottom of the membrane, were two sets of mandibles – one for latching on to their prey, and one for extracting life-energy, until said prey was dead. They hovered above the ground, using kinetic energy to defy gravity. The Metroids were sent from Zebes to the X Parasite home planet, SR388.

Metroid.

In the Chozo tongue, it meant “ultimate warrior”.

Even then, they had an ulterior purpose.

The Chozo had thanked her, praised her. But their words meant nothing. She despised them, with their petty traditions and worthless emotions. She would have given anything to be able to destroy them.

Mother Brain was in luck.

Space Pirates began to frequently attack Zebes, on raids that caused many innocent Chozo to be maimed or murdered. The Chozo fought back sometimes, but not often. They were... weak. They placed all their hopes in the one they called “the Hatchling”.

Samus Aran.

When her parents had been killed in a Space Pirate raid on the Human colony K-2L, the Chozo had found her. They infused her with their blood, gave her their best technology, raised her to be a fighter. But one person? Against all the Space Pirate fleet? Mother Brain found their attempts at defence laughable.

Mother Brain soon struck a deal with the Space Pirate Commander, Geoform 187, known to his troops as “Ridley” - a pterodactyloid organism, rather skeletal in structure, capable of pyrospiration – breathing fire. She designated herself, him, a faithful Chozo called Grey Voice, and Samus Aran as Commanders of the Space Pirates, then allowed a full attack on Zebes.

The Chozo had been exterminated.

Samus Aran had not lived up to her expectations. Aran had fled Zebes, unwilling to take part in the massacre, and joined the Galactic Federation. Mother Brain had often wondered why. Aran had the capabilities for almost anything – her body was faster, stronger, more agile than that of any human, and the Chozo technology she could use was devastating in a fight. But her sense of “justice”, and “good” made her a failure.

Mother Brain knew there was no “justice”. There was no “good”. Could you quantify justice? Could you assign a label to good? One person's good was another person's “evil”. Mother Brain, of course, had thought of a plan to fix that. She was going to remove all evil. All good.

Grey Voice had also been a disappointment. He had been working with the Chozo all along, and had attempted to destroy her. Fortunately, Ridley was more faithful. He had killed Grey Voice. Burnt him, incinerated him, reduced him to ash.

With the Chozo dead, Aran gone, and the Space Pirates obeying her every word, Mother Brain sent in motion her great plan. It was necessary she reclaimed a Metroid. And indeed, she had. Ridley had launched a daring attack on a Galactic Federation research ship, and captured a Metroid which had been obtained on SR388 by the Federation.

She had almost succeeded then. But Aran! Samus Aran! She had returned, a Bounty Hunter hired by the Federation, wearing a mighty Chozo Power Suit, and stopped them! She fought to the depths of Zebes, defeating Ridley, and his lieutenant, Kraid! The mere memory of it made Mother Brain shudder. The illogicality of it. Aran should have died. Died...

Instead, Mother Brain was almost destroyed. Fortunately, her organic components were still intact, and the Space Pirates rebuilt her mechanical parts. Once again, she sent Ridley to snatch a Metroid from the grasp of the Federation. And once more, he succeeded. According to data stolen from the research lab, the Metroid they had captured was the last Metroid. Samus Aran had destroyed all the other, on their home world of SR388.

Mother Brain would have been furious, if she could feel an emotion. Her creations had been almost completely wiped out, and she hadn't yet been unable to unleash their full potential. She had set the space pirates to cloning Metroids, in an attempt to increase numbers. The useless creatures had failed, creating weak, pallid imitations of Metroids they called Mochtroids.

Even worse, Samus Aran had once again entered Zebes, intent in stopping them. Mother Brain had utilised the full capabilities of her formidable intellect, and still failed. Samus Aran had hunted down the Space Pirates, killing them all, and entered Tourian. Then, with the help of a friendly Metroid, she had struck Mother Brain down.

Friendly Metroid?

Even her own creations had failed the Mother Brain, it seems. A creature designed to be the ultimate weapon, to be a heartless predator, exhibiting warmth and feeling for a member of another species. Where had she gone wrong? The schematics were perfect, and she had made sure that the Chozo had not interfered.

But even so, the Metroid had allowed Samus Aran to blast the Mother Brain into the chaotic, oozing, dismembered state in which she could now be found, before Aran had escaped in her wretched gunship.

There wasn't much time. Aran had activated the self-destruct sequence. Mother Brain knew she had only a few brief minutes left before all her plans, all her schemes, would come to naught. Soon, all of the Planet Zebes, from the bleached acid rain wastes of Crateria, to the tropical underground jungle of Brinstar, to the lava-filled chasms of Norfair, to the watery caves of Maridia, would all be consumed as the planet was destroyed.

Along with them, the Space Pirates would perish. Their entire fleet, from the mighty Ridley, to the lowliest Pirate Militia, was stationed on this planet. They, the last of Mother Brain's servants, would be wiped out. Mother Brain didn't think highly of them – dumb, brutish creatures at the best of times. But they had served her...

But Samus Aran would live, and so would the Galactic Federation. Evil and good and love and hate and joy and sorrow! They would survive! Wretched illogicalities, a blemish on the face of an otherwise perfect universe! A universe without them would be a creature of pure logic, where everything was quantifiable, logical! Randomness removed!

Mother Brain was aware her thoughts were becoming cluttered, disorganized. The last of the power that fed her was being used up. She retreated into the depths of her shattered and maimed mind, blocking outside influences, salvaging the remnants of her former self, desperate to remain intact.

The laboratory lights flickered once more, twice more, then dimmed forever. Darkness fell on the Mother Brain. The cavernous rumbling of Zebes stopped. The entirety of the Planet was filled with a deathly hush.

Then, came fire!

If you could have watched Zebes, from the edge of its atmosphere, you would have seen the final death throes of a planet. First, a rippling wave of air and dust and debris shattered the surface of the planet, huge ravines and chasms scything through its surface. Then, fire and lava and magma, pouring out of these cracks, like pus from a diseased wound, scorching and scarring the surface, corroding it, consuming it. Then, a gargantuan explosion, devouring the remains of Zebes, and shooting them out as molten rock into the vast reaches of space, tearing the planet to its very core, until nothing remained but an incandescent trail in the sky.

Nothing could survive that.

Nothing.






Chapter 1: Trial




PLANET DAIBAN, GALACTIC FEDERATION HIGH COURT




The planet Daiban is the sixth planet from its Sun in the Vanilderas solar system, and the capital planet of the Galactic Federation. Of course, the word “planet”, is slightly misleading. For Daiban isn't just a planet, but also a city, a vast complex of skyscrapers and habitation that covers the entire surface area of the planet, a monument to the technological power and might of the Federation.

The further towards the northern pole of Daiban you head, the more advanced and impressive it becomes. Finally, a few hundred kilometres short of the pole itself, you will reach the largest sky-scraper in the city, standing a good seven kilometres above the ground. It is made entirely of nano particle infused glass, that is tinted to all those looking in, making it seem a great obsidian tower, but as clear as day to those inside. This is the Galactic Federation Congressional Building, where the Galactic Federation meets to discuss matters of importance.

If you climbed up to the highest room of this sky-scraper, you would find its appearance quite pleasant. The carefully controlled atmosphere outside is sunny, with clear, blue skies, and light fills the room, making it seem open to the world.

In reality, it is locked away from the world, and pleasant could hardly be a less fitting word.

There are six inhabitants in this sparsely decorated room. A large glass tube is set into a computerized holding slot, with a large display attached. It is filled with a cloudy blue liquid. Occasionally, from within the depths of this liquid, you can see a tentacle brush the side of the glass, indicating some sort of organism inhabits the tank.

On the left and right sides of the tank, are four seats, two either side. They are of Spartan design – a basic piece of metal framework. To those who understand what they are, however, they are thrones, but thrones in which people far more powerful than any king before sit.

Indeed, four people sit in these chairs now. Three humanoids, and a cybernetic organism. The first is of small stature, a humanoid with purple scaly skin, and a large horn protruding from either side of his head. His face is crumpled in a bulldog-like manner.

The second is much taller than the other, but equally thin, a rake-like, lean figure. His skin is smooth and green, and seems to be slightly moist in the clear light that fills the room. Two feelers extend outwards from the top of his head, and they appear to taste the air, waving back and forth.

The third humanoid is actually a human, quite tall for his species, and thickly muscled. His face is gravely set, his black hair tousled back, and he looks grieved. His brown eyes seem reluctant to focus on anyone in the room.

The cybernetic organism is not humanoid in shape, but rather quadrupedal – a cybernetic head is set into a mostly cybernetic
canine-like body, with living sinews of muscle, and the odd flap of skin, covering certain parts of its anatomy.

With the exception of the human, they all appear to be looking at one other thing in the room. There is a single containing cell, a medium-sized cube structure formed out of shimmering blue force fields. Contained inside this cell is a strange creature – it is humanoid, with a yellow under-skin, covered by a blue coating of slightly rubbery material that forms an over-skin. Coming out of one of the arms are three spikes, that seem oddly toothy in proportion. The other arm is covered by what appears to be a an energy projectile weapon, an arm cannon of some sort. On the humanoid's back, there are three small purple spheres. Over the humanoid's face is a red helmet , with a blue visor.

The humanoid reached up, and unsealed the helmet, taking it off, and holding it under one arm. Long blonde hair cascaded out, framing a beautifully featured female face – sapphire eyes, a pretty smile, perfect proportions. The humanoid was in fact a young woman in some sort of battle suit, and a goddess of a young woman at that.

Suddenly, the blue fluid in the glass tube begins to clear, revealing a large mass of nervous tissue, connected into the computer display. A monotone, flat female voice appears to emanate from the display.

“Aran, Samus. You stand before the High Court today, charged with destruction of state property, extermination of state organisms, and crimes against the state. Your crime has been judged of utmost severity, and you are to be trialled here, with the Galactic Federation Chairmen Vogl of the Naag system, Keaton of the Le'N system, Dane of the Earth system, and Rek of the Xor system. I, Aurora Unit 002, designated official of the High Court, and the Aurora Unit with current highest surviving precedent (#002), will act as an overseer and neutral witness.

As an effective prisoner of state, all your state rights have been removed, therefore, you do not have the right to talk or otherwise communicate, nor to defend your position. You may receive no defence, other than that specified in the vote cast by your judges, the esteemed Chairmen.

Should your judges, the esteemed Chairmen, find you innocent, all charges will be dropped and you will be declared innocent, although we may subject you to further monitoring. Should you be found guilty, the current punishment is execution, to be acted upon at a later date to be decided upon by the court.

The trial will now begin.

Chairman Vogl will be the First Speaker, and first to cast his vote.”

Samus Aran recognised it the tentacled creature inside the tube as an Aurora Unit. She'd seen them before – organic super-computers, developed by the Galactic Federation. It was primarily a work of the Chozo and Human races, although the Chozo had tested the beta. Now that the Chozo had vanished, or been brutally murdered, the Human race built the AUs. She knew how they worked. A giant nervous complex capable of processing many particles of information was linked into a greater computer, which deciphered the information and informed the relevant authority. They could be programmed with male, female, or gender neutral personae. Aurora Unit 002 appeared to be female, perhaps the most common persona gender.

There were many Aurora Units, scattered about the universe – used for scientific research, business uses, military, anything that the Federation deemed worthy. The could communicate by tapping into an Ethernet – a vast storage of information shared by all Aurora Units. In a way, all Aurora Units were one Aurora Unit. The only real difference was their programmed personalities, and their precedence – the older the Aurora Unit, the higher its rank. Aurora Unit 002 claimed to be the highest ranked Aurora Unit of all – presumably, Aurora Unit 001 was no longer functional. Rank designated how they processed information. If two Aurora Units received conflicting information, then the higher ranked Unit would be assumed to be correct.

She looked around the room, at the four Chairmen of the Galactic Federation. Samus had once worked for the Federation. Once, they had seemed a force for good, and she had given herself into their service, under General Adam Malkovich. Recently, however, the Federation had seemed subverted, an empty, hollow echo of its former self.

She smiled briefly, as she remembered her now deceased father telling her a story about a princess trapped in the top turret of the tallest castle, captured by a terrifying dragon. And now, here she was, a Bounty Hunter trapped in the top room of the tallest sky-scraper, captured by the Galactic Federation.

The only difference was, no dragon could be as sinister as the Federation.

When Adam Malkovich died, she had left the Federation, to pursue her life as a Bounty Hunter. Later on, after the events on Zebes, she had been rechecking Planet SR388, when she had been attacked by an odd life form, later discovered to be the Parasite X. She was infected, and her Power Suit, ancient Chozo technology, a suit that allowed quick and easy movement will protecting from extreme temperatures and damage, with an in-built arm-cannon, was partly biological in design, and had become infected too.

Large parts of her Power Suit were surgically removed, leaving only a slight inner layer, but even that wasn't enough. Eventually, she was cured, by being given a vaccine consisting of Metroid DNA, altering her biological functions. Now with slight Metroid characteristic, she was able to consume the Parasite X, as well as being far more swift and agile due to some of the suit being removed. It also caused a blue, rubbery layer to form over the yellow inner core that remained of her Power Suit, causing her current appearance. Inside, she was still mostly the same old Samus.

Unfortunately, she also received the Metroids' weakness to extreme cold. It was later discovered that the Parasite X that had infected her suit had assumed control of it, and she was forced to fight it in a long series of battles in a research laboratory, in the process discovering a Federation Metroid cloning centre. Horrified, she had disobeyed direct orders from the Federation, and destroyed the centre completely.

And now she stood here, all weapons apart from her arm-cannon disabled, and her suit stripped to the bare basic layer. They would have removed these basics too, but the remains of the Power Suit wouldn't come off unless she wanted them to. The Federation had been furious at her. They had been planning to use the Metroids for something – she did not know what – and they also had briefly formulated plans to use the Parasite X. And now, she was in deep trouble.

She was being tried by all four Chairmen. There was no higher authority in the land. Should they find her guilty, she would be executed. She looked at their faces from within her visor, seeking signs of compassion, sympathy, sorrow, anything that might indicate a reprisal from the fate that awaited her.

She recognised three of those who stood before her. The purple scaly one was Chairman Tarn Vogl. He wanted the Federation to expand their military might, in order to stop those who would do them harm, such as the Kriken Empire. Samus expected no sympathy from him – the Metroid project mostly likely had military applications, and the Parasite X project would certainly have been utilised for that purpose.

The tall green one was Chairman Keaton. Before the Chozo had either mysteriously departed, or been killed, he had sympathized with them. Samus had saved his life once, when Mother Brain had attempted to have him assassinated. Samus was almost sure he would in her favour.

The human was Chairmen Castor Dane. He had only recently become a chairman, following the death of his successor. Samus had known him since he was a Fleet Admiral, roughly 3 years ago. After the Phaaze Incident, he had become rapidly promoted to his current position. Again, Samus was sure she could rely on him.

The cybernetic, whom Samus hadn't met before, must therefore be Rek. Samus was unsure to which way he would vote. If he voted in her favour, then she was almost certain to escape execution. If not... well, better not think about that.

Chairman Vogl stood abruptly, breaking Samus's musings.

“My dear colleagues, fellow Chairmen, and friends!” He spoke, in an impressively full-bodied voice. His Human (a language adopted from an older Human language called English, with some remnants of another old Human language Chinese, and a few loanwords from the Chozo language) was impeccable, although it held a strong under-accent.

Samus just wished he'd cut out the whole fellowship schpiel, and skip to his vote.

“We are gathered here today, to decide upon the fate of Samus Aran.”

Samus internally groaned. This could take a while...

“This Bounty Hunter, has grievously damaged the future of the Federation. In dangerous times such as these, we have many enemies. Powerful enemies. The Kriken Empire is constantly on the march, and who knows when the Space Pirates could rise again? We must stay ahead of the game, and ensure our military is the greatest there is! Thanks to the admirable combat skills of the human race, who are kind enough to form most of our military”, he nodded at Dane, in a subtle attempt at flattery, “our military is large, and well-trained. However, their technology must be kept at the cutting edge at all times, in order that we are not weakened!

Project Vivokella would have revolutionised modern warfare. No longer would we have to have taken unwieldy energy cells into battle, but instead, we could have powered an entire war-fleet from a single subject! Similarly, the new specimens discovered would likely have had numerous possible applications for enhancing the our soldiers.

In destroying all of this single-handedly, and wrecking an entire Federation research lab, Samus Aran has rendered all this work useless, and harmed the Federation greatly. I shall cast my vote, and I shall cast it against her! And I implore you all, gentlemen, to think wisely, and follow me in my vote.

Guilty.”

The damning sound of the last word fell savagely on Samus's ears.

Chairmen Keaton rose next, carefully measured in his movements.

“Friends.” Like Vogl, he was speaking in Human, likely for her benefit. Human was also an extremely useful language to learn – while the Human race wasn't extensively involved in the direct politics of the Federation, they formed most of the Federation Army.

“Chairmen Vogl's comments are ... appreciated, but I disagree. The more we develop our military, the more we become like those we seek to destroy. If the Chozo could see us now, their thoughts on the matter would be clear. Yes, Aran has crossed the line on occasion, and perhaps done things which ought not to have been done. But, Samus Aran is a friend of the Federation, and a personal friend of mine, and I owe her this vote.

Innocent.”

Samus smiled, thankful to Keaton. Plain-speaking and forthright, he had gone straight to the point, and in her favour. She waited for Dane to stand up. He didn't seem to want to look at her, and repeatedly drummed his fingers on the simple arm-rest of his chair. Finally, he rose, and meet her straight in the eye.

“Samus, I'll be blunt with you.” he spoke firmly, addressing her, rather than other Chairmen. “The military, whom for the most part I still represent, are in baying for your blood. Only those involved in the Phaaze Incident support you, for the most part. If I were to listen to them, I would cast my vote as guilty. But, as it is...”, he stopped briefly, “... as it is, I owe you this favour. But, after this, we call even. I can't defend you again, Samus, for all I value your friendship, which I do. Please, don't hold it against me. But for now, I cast my vote.

Innocent.”

Dane's word's bit deep, and Samus was wounded. She had thought Dane would have supported her properly. He had seemed torn between two values – his friendship with her, and his loyalty to the Federation Marines.

However, things were looking up. The votes were two to one in her favour. It was down to Rek's choice. Samus wondered what happened in the event of a tie, but quickly dispelled the notion from her mind.

Best not to even think of it.

Rek spoke next, in a language Samus was unsure of. He made a brief speech lasting a few minutes. Samus felt intensely nervous. What was he saying? How had he cast his vote? What would happen to her. Soon, Rek's voice came to a halt, and the Aurora Unit's display glowed briefly.

“The votes have been cast. Two votes were cast for guilty, and two votes were cast for innocent. Therefore, as per GFDB Legislation AU#3638, I shall assume authority in order to cast a deciding vote. Please wait briefly, while I consult the Ethernet system.”

Samus couldn't move. The air felt like lead, constricting her, halting her breathing. Everything was hot, heavy, fractious. Every slight sound, every slight movement, was magnified. She seemed hyper-alert to everything going on.

Aurora Unit 002 glowed a deep turquoise. The seconds passed. Eventually, the Aurora Unit returned to its normal state, a few tentacles scrabbling against the side of the glass.

“The collective Aurora Units have decided the vote, ranked on our individual precedence. I shall now cast my vote.

Guilty.

Samus Aran, you have been tried, and found guilty, of destruction of state property, extermination of state organisms, and crimes against the state. Your punishment is execution, the date of which to be decided upon at the court's discretion.”

Vogl leered in her direction.

“For a crime of this magnitude, I suggest immediate execution. We'll give her a day or so to reflect upon her life, after all, we are not savages, are we, gentlemen? I suggest the day after tomorrow.”

Keaton looked sadly at Samus, then nodded his head.

“So be it.”

“So be it.” echoed Dane.

Rek confirmed as well, in his sibilant tongue.

Samus couldn't think. Couldn't move. Couldn't focus on anything, but that simple, and yet incredibly complicated thought. Death. She was going to die, the day after tomorrow.



The day after tomorrow.





Chapter 2: The Day After Tomorrow







Samus was sitting cross-legged on the solid steel floor, arms calmly held in the meditative pose taught to her by the Chozo. The outside world, where she was bound in a steel cage lined with piercing blue lasers, was nothing to her as she floated in the river of her mind, confronting those odd half-thoughts in the hope that one could hold the key to escape, but to no avail. As a perpertrator of high treason, she was in maximum security. She was still garbed in the Fusion Suit complete with arm cannon, due to the inability of the Federation to remove it, but she had already tried an attempt at blasting her way through the steel roof and floor. It was possible, she reckoned, but would heat the metal to lethal temperatures, killing her long before she escaped. The arm cannon in it's most basic state was not exactly a precision tool. She missed the fine welder it had once incorporated, taken from the corpse of a former friend who had fallen, named Ghor.

Ghor would have known how to get out, Samus was sure. Lasers and various other technologica were right up his street. Samus herself prefered engines and motors, tangible pieces of actual stuff you could work with, rather than numbers and circuitry.

The circuitry!

Samus leapt it, and carefully examined where the lasers protruded from the ceiling, before sitting back down in a resigned fashion. Whatever was running the lasers was embedded much further up in the metal. The Federation had thought of everything. And even if she did escape this cage, it was floating freely in the air, next to several hundred other prison cells. The floor was a few thousand feet down. Prison wardens arrived by light elevator, from what Samus had seen so far. There was no communication with inmates – they could barely even see each other through each of their respective laser fences.

Death. What would it be like, then? Her execution was little more than half an hour away, according to the time signature on her visor. She expected they'd inject her with a powerful nerve destroying poison – kills you before you ever feel it. Perhaps that was something to look forward to, the fact that it'd all be over, so very soon. She'd been fighting all her life, and she'd never had anyone to fight for, after Adam. Now the fight was over. Samus relaxed slightly, as the time signature began the countdown for the last few minutes, her life ticking away surreally. She felt afflicted by an almost childlike mood, and began to laugh to herself quietly. It was all so detattached, and different. She remembered when she had been so small, not much older than three, and her father had read her all those fabulous stories. This felt like little more than one of those – a story.

One memory suddenly washed over like a tidal wave, sweeping away all resistance, drowning her in the past, her father's voice speaking as though from beside her.

“...and the dragon roared, fire and flames bursting from his mouth. His teeth were so big and sharp and scary this close, that Jorg almost ran away! But he had to stop the dragon and rescue the fair princess! So he drew his sword, and hyah! He hit the beast. Yet it was not quite dead, and he only just raised his shield in time not be made into toast. The wounded dragon then tried to limp away, and Jorg sliced its head off, snickerty snack, and that was the end of that!”

“Dada, the dragon was scary...”

“Don't worry, sweetie. Dragons live very, very far away. They'd never come here...”

But one dragon had, and this was how it had all ended up. Still, that dragon was gone now, destroyed in the explosion. Samus would always remember that blazing inferno that lit the reaches of space, for her childhood terrors and fears and sorrows had been finished with that inferno. She smiled. That was why she had kept fighting, so that no-one else had gone through that. That was the reason for her life.

She was interrupted from her dreams as the sound of prison warden elevator approached, energy thrusters beneath it pushing it into the docking position behind her cage. The lasers switched off, and she briefly considered trying the fall, or maybe seeing if she could jump onto the ceiling of one of the other cages and forestall the inevitable with a gunfight, but it was only one of the thoughts at the back of your mind, and she waited for the Federation Marines to step through the steel rimmed doors of the small pod which had attached itself to her floating cage. She was surprised to see five step out – a high escort number. Still, she was armed. She supposed they were just taking precautions. Four stepped around her, each covering an angle creating a square formation, and leveled their weapons at her, the fifth seemed to be directing them. Evidently, the helmets had com-links.

They stepped into the elevator, which detattached with a hiss and then a metallic clunk, and began to head upwards through the massive building. From a window in the elevator pod, Samus could finally see the inside of the building properly, no longer half-blinded by lasers. It was a giant concrete tube on the inside, hundreds upon thousands of steel rooved and floored cells free-floating, all with prisoners inside encapsulated by the blue lazers. As they went further and further upwards, the cells began to thin, until only a few were scattered here and there. The building was one of the highest in Daiban, stretching four miles into the sky, and it showed. Samus was familiar with none of it but the top floor, and guest elevator, which was routed through a small side tunnel that saved you the visage of these top security criminals. She had been to the top floor, the execution deck, to watch some of her bounties put to the death, by varying methods. She now wondered with some regret if any had been like her, and whether the Federation had tricked her before.

The tube suddenly cut off, a massive ceiling looming into site, with a single round hole in the center. The elevator pod entered, and everything became dark for a while. Then light flashed in, and the elevator ground to a halt. The fifth Marine opened the door, and lead the others out, still coralling Samus, into a long corridor, grey concrete lit by simple lights. Samus recognised this area. When the executionees were brought out, she had caught glimpses of this tunnel. The executioner waited just beyond. The lead Marine pulled a complicated seeming device from his belt, and began punching a sequence of numbers in. To Samus, it looked like a remote operating device of some sort, as the extremely large antenna protruding from it was probably used for sending large amount of data. Sometime of ship control, perhaps? Samus was puzzled. Why did they need to move a ship?

After he'd finishing punching in numbers, the lead Marine gestured at the other four, articulating something via the com-link. They nodded, and withdrew their weapons from around Samus, guns instead held at the ready and covering the single exit to the corridor as well as the docking space where the elevator now was.

“What are you doing?” Samus asked.

The lead Marine looked at her as if only just noticing her for the first time, then put his helmet on to normal com settings.

“All we need you to do is trust us, and do everything we say to the word. Is that – **** damn!”

Siren beacons suddenly erupted, and the lights flashed crimson. Then, the world seemed to shudder, and explode. Samus was violently thrown to the ground, bruised and battered by pieces of rock and debris, and then thrown over someone's shoulder. As her vision began to fade, she saw the bulkhead of a military ship protruding through the wall. Then, everything faded.


***


“**** damn!” repeated Lieutenant Adonis as he quickly leapt to his feet.

“Learn to ****ing drive, mother****er!” replied Private Yu, groaning as he slowly stood up.

“You try accurately piloting one of the old S-type models with a ****ing remote. Besides, the alarms threw me.”

“How the **** did they know so early anyway?” groaned Private Damon.

“None of that **** matters right now.” said Adonis curtly. “Just get in the ****ing ship.”

“Sir, Samus took a nasty beating from what's left of that wall, I think she's gone all sleepytime on us.” came a low murmour from Private Leon.

“Sling her over you shoulder. Alexei?”, he addressed the last of them, “you're piloting.”

The five (Samus over the shoulder of one) hurried into a door in the bulkhead of an Cutty 270 S, a boarding ship intended to breach and disperse crew. It was shaped somewhat like torpedo, a stream-lined shape with a pointed front designed to put the maximum ammount of pressure-per inch possible. Even that had only just barely breached the State High Security Prison #07's walls, but thankfully, it had worked.

Inside it was small and gloomy, the front of the ship dominated by a huge dashboard full of primitive displays glowing faintly green and orange, and, somewhat alarmingly, red in places. There were sixteen seats, enough for one small Federation unit. Corporal Alexei quickly went for the pilot seat, and Adonis for co-pilot, the others carefully placing Samus in one of the seats, before strapping themselves into seats that had worrying fluid stains on them. The Cutty line had suspension that took up almost half the ship in order for it to be succesful at penetrating, but even so, accidents happened.

Alexei flipped a few switches, then went straight for the throttle, firing the engine up with a satisfying rumble as it uselessly tried to speed up into the wall. Then, he pulled it into reverse, jamming it sharply backwards. The Cutty scraped out of the wall, horrible metallic jarring noises emitting. Meanwhile, Adonis pressed a few buttons, opening the windscreen, revealing a midnight Daiban.

The sight was amazing, the titanic buildings with their glowing lights under an artificial moon, the backdrop the vast blackness of space, with a few lonely, scattered stars. The skyscrapers were the stars, to the ordinary creature on the ground, shining down light on those below. However, Adonis, Alexei, Damon, Yu, and Leon weren't particularly concerned with those lights – they were more concerned by the lights of the police ships pursuing from behind.

“****. Space flight?” asked Adonis tersely.

“No. Atmosphere only.” answered Alexei, equally tersely. “I'll take us out, space-wise.”

“Lieutenant, this **** is going to be fatal.” said Damon. “They're onto us, and this ship doesn't have zero space capabilities. They'll send some military ships, and they'll just shoot us down, no questions asked. How the **** did they know so early? Someone leaked, they had to – Dane said-”

“I don't give a **** what Dane said.” snapped Adonis. “We owe this to Samus, so our deaths would just be repaying a debt. I know it's gone wrong, and I think we're all aware of that goddamn fact. But-”

“I have a wife and children.” said Yu simply. “I never told them.”

“And that's why we're not going to die, gentleman. I swear it to you.”

“We've hit the stratosphere, they're dropping back.” noted Alexei, as all light disappeared except for the dashboard, and a few faint stars which were steadily growing brighter as they grew nearer to the edge of the atmosphere. “I'm going to put on anti-grav.” There was a sudden horrible wave of nausea in the pit of everyone's stomach as gravity reasserted itself very suddenly. “Where now, lieutenant.”

“We were meant to get out without anyone noticing the coordinates we left the atmosphere, by heading over to one of the Luddite regions of Daiban and exiting there, and then heading a good five cliks out, so that a zerospace cargo ship could pick us up, and let us rendezvous with Dane at the planet Yenking II. Now that those mother****ers somehow managed to pre-empt us, we can't zero, they'll have tracers already, I'd bet you anything. The kind of energy signature would be picked up from here to ****ing Tallon I.” groaned Adonis as he slowly worked his way through the ruins of his plan.

“Our only real chance is to go full speed for Yenking II, and hope like hell they miss us. Military ships won't risk zeroing so close to Daiban, so we have a bit of time. I think our only chance is to head for the Ariad meteor rings, and losing them there.” stated Alexei.

“That'd be ****ing suicidal.” swore Damon.

“It's our only chance. The route straight to Yenking II is open-space, they'd catch us 6 cliks out of Daiban, and it's 72 cliks away. If we head through the Ariad rings-”

“'If we head through the Ariad rings'! ****ing hell, you make it sound like a goddamn walk in the park!”.

“Let Alexei speak, Damon!” ordered Adonis angrily.

“If we head through the Ariad rings,” Alexei continued, “again, it's unlikely they'll zero, they don't want to overshoot and end up in the middle of that ****storm, and they won't follow us from the Daiban side, they'd have to send troops from Dallinque. I have no ****ing idea what we do then, but it buys us time – maybe ten or twelve hours. Enough to travel 55, 60 cliks maybe with one of the old S-Types like this.”

“Fine, head for the Ariad rings then.” Adonis ordered.

Damon and Yu glanced at each other, sharing the same unspoken dread of the lethal area. The Ariad rings were one of the reasons Daiban had become the main city of the Federation, back in the old days when Space Pirates could come from nowhere and the Kriken Empire had been skirmishing with the Galactic Federation. The Ariad rings had made it unapproachable from one side, making it one of the safest places in the Federation, especially when you considered that on the other side were Gellendor and Yenking I, both big city-planets which also had large reserves of Federation troops. Yenking II was also out there, but largely uninhabitated after a failed terraforming project left it mostly wasteland and dried seas. The fact Daiban was completely safe had made it the centrepoint of the Federation, and therefore, the capital. These days, most of the Federation was safe, with the Kriken quiet and the Space Pirates destroyed, but Daiban still retained its title, all because of that impenetrable wall.

There were those strange, daredevil pilots who tried heading through the Ariad – it was seen as one of the ultimate challenges of piloting. There was that managed it – one every two or three years. Any pilot who could do it would be met with fame and recognition. For Alexei, a gifted amateur, to attempt it was madness. But what else could they do?

“Lieutenant?”

It was Leon, who'd been carefully checking up on Samus's vital signs in the back.

“She's waking up.”