Chapter Fourteen: Raid
Samus entered through another door, this time leading her into a corridor filled with more modernly-designed buildings, though they retained the foreign feel. At the same time, Samus heard voices speaking in a different language than English; but this did not stop her from roughly translating U-Mos's words when he spoke to her on Aether all of thirteen years ago. She listened carefully while reading what popped up on her screen. All they were saying was simple, casual conversation. Suddenly, Samus heard a radio transmission come in.
"Samus, we've pinpointed your coordinates, and learned that you are nearby a small fleet of Vhozon warriors," Weavel said. "Ridley commands you to retreat one room to accept an upgrade crucial to your survival."
Samus was a bit confused. Another upgrade? She quietly sneaked into the room she was in before, and found a floating upgrade in the middle. Samus touched it, and felt her suit upgrade.
-SPACE PIRATE SUIT UPGRADE ACQUIRED. YOUR LOYALTY TO THE SPACE PIRATES IS NOW VISIBLE, AND YOU CAN ALSO CAMOUFLAGE WITH THIS SUIT.-
Samus was puzzled. What was the point? She proceeded to ask the same question to Weavel, but Ridley answered instead.
"The raid is close in time, Samus," Ridley answered. "This suit is crafted to have colors similar to our own, making friendly fire, even accidental, inexcusable. You can also camouflage with it, allowing you to sneak by the Vhozon warriors unnoticed."
"Does it camouflage my weaponry?" Samus asked.
"That's the downside. It will not even camouflage your Plasma Sword, so be careful. The camouflage is meant entirely for stealth without assassination," Ridley assured. "Good luck, Samus. We will attack in ten minutes."
Samus stared at her arms, then opened up her databanks to view what the suit looked like. It was, again, just the same as her Fusion Suit, except what was originally blue (referring to the Fusion Suit, not the Weather Suit) is now a dark gray, borderline black, and what was originally yellow is now a dark purple which complemented the dark primary color beautifully. Her head-piece was now a dark, almost military-like green instead of red, and instead of a blue visor, the suit sported a light-brown or tan color. And her arm cannon was now a bright, almost blood colored red. Colors which, although not exactly like a Space Pirate's, thoroughly reminded her of one herself.
"And now you're wearing their uniform," Adam said, sounding disgusted. He sighed.
"What's wrong with that? After all, I'm a Space Pirate now, Adam. No longer a freelance bounty hunter," Samus retorted. "Now, how do I activate the camouflage on this?"
"It appears an extra button has made its way onto your arm cannon," Adam pointed out. Samus pressed it, and saw her arm cannon disappear. Well, not exactly disappear, but enough to where Samus could see through it. She could see the shape of her arm cannon magnifying the background behind it as she swung it side to side. It wasn't a perfect camouflage, but if the guards in question were not paying attention, she could slip by easily. Samus opened the door, and re-entered where the warriors were. Samus sneaked by them without being noticed, largely because they were talking to one another in joking tones, as if they were just goofing off.
Samus stepped out into the streets of the Vhozon Infrastructure, which reminded her greatly of an ancient human marketplace they typically had in what was called the "Middle East" on Earth, but it obviously was not sandy and arid, but rather icy and… well, arid, since no humidity was detected.
Yet at the same time, Samus saw what was similar to an ancient city from what was called the "United States" back in the twenty-first century. She felt as though she may have been in the slums of this city, as the large castle-like structure which towered at least a mile high was majestic and beautiful, retaining the design of the Vhozon Ruins. It was fairly obvious that castle was the Emperor's lair.
Samus took a few steps forward, dodging any civilian who approached so they would not collide, in order to examine the city a bit more. Vhozon civilians populated the city, of course, without another race to be found in the mix. They were standing at merchant stands, begging for food and water, or perhaps they wanted some sort of discount. Either way, Samus felt sorry for them. Who knows, maybe Ridley only plans to eradicate the direct Federation links? Because these people looked so horribly isolated, it was difficult to believe that they knew who the Federation was. They looked completely innocent.
Suddenly, Samus heard organized stomping from around the corner of one of the icy-blue colored buildings. Within seconds, she saw Federation troopers marching around said corner, with their weapons prepared for firing. She then heard a very familiar voice.
"There she is!" the voice of Trace called. Samus looked up, and saw the red ******* standing atop a roof of a building, pointing at her. "Shoot! Shoot!"
Without a second thought, the Federation troopers unloaded their guns as if they were a firing squad performing an execution. Many times, Samus saw civilians get shot, sometimes killed in the process. After getting clipped a few times, Samus morphed and rolled away from the massacre. She hid behind a building, turned off her cloak, and watched as the troopers shot blankly at the face of the mountain Samus stood in front of seconds ago. She heard Trace again.
"Stop, stop!" he yelled. Samus heard the Kriken jump down from the roof with a hearty thump! "She got away! She escaped behind that building!"
Samus didn't even question how Trace saw her when she was camouflaged, as it was fairly obvious: infrared sight. He saw Samus's body heat as a bright red signature. Samus listened as the troopers marched closer to the corner she was hiding at, but sure enough, Samus heard the screeching of a missile flying through the air and crashing on the ground, creating a loud boom! Samus saw the dead bodies of three troopers fly and hit the mountainside in different ways, each looking painful. She then examined them being finished off by green, wavy plasma. Samus turned around the corner, and saw multiple Space Pirate soldiers firing away at another fleet of Federation troopers. The war has begun.
Samus immediately noticed that the Space Pirates weren't firing at the civilians, and to this, Samus asked one, "What are Ridley's orders?"
"He told us to eradicate any form of Federation trooper, but he said to try to leave the civilians alone," the Space Pirate replied. With this, Samus was fairly happy. She was happy to know that Ridley must have had some sort of heart. A radio transmission came in, and sure enough, it was Ridley.
"Samus, I was never exactly clear with your orders," Ridley spoke in a strained, loud voice, which was understandable since Samus realized he was flying at extremely fast speeds, and fighting against fairly strong winds. He was communicating through a small radio transmitter placed next to his eye. "I want you to be at the Emperor's palace as soon as possible. I don't expect you to be there within the next fifteen minutes, seeing as Federation troopers litter the entire city, but just try. Oh, and avoid killing civilians as best you can. They have nothing to do with this."
Samus nodded, and saluted. The transmission ended. "Now, this I did not expect of Ridley," Adam sounded impressed. "He actually wants you to spare lives!"
Samus didn't respond, but she proceeded to run towards the gigantic blue and exotically-designed palace. She entered Speed Booster and shot forward in shinespark. Samus looked ahead, and saw a building approaching extremely fast. Around her was the world simply zipping by her. She heard the gunshots of the Federation troops trying to kill her. She hit the building, and then fell to the ground, landing on her feet. She hopped up onto the building, and ran across the rooftops elegantly, since her suit was not as heavy as the Chozo-made variant. That was one thing to credit the Federation for: they gave her more agility with the Fusion Suit. Samus jumped across gaps to other buildings, sometimes having to grab a ledge to pull her up onto a rooftop. As she ran, Federation troops were firing at her relentlessly, with occasional brief pauses between each large wave of energy pellets flying at her. At one point, Samus jumped across a very large gap, and felt herself miss the jump. She strained to grip the nearest ledge in order to reach safety, but she stretched her arm out a split second late for that. Samus fell to the ground back-first. Extreme pain shot through her nerves, and while she was just absorbing it for a few seconds before she bothered to stand back up, a group of Federation troopers shouted "Get her!" and opened fire. A few shots hit Samus, but she soon heard a sound she did not hear in as long as fifteen years. She first heard this sound as a weapon one of the hunters used in the Alimbic Cluster. Her pain from both the large fall and the subsequent shots made her brain unable to pinpoint what it was. Each shot sounded like glass shattering. Soon, Samus saw Weavel standing above her, holding a hand out. Samus stood up, and quickly recovered from her pain. She had heard Weavel's Battlehammer weapon.
"Not much farther," Weavel pointed out to Samus. "The palace is only a few blocks away."
Weavel practically yelled as he spoke, since his normal, human-like voice would easily be drowned out by the absurdly high volume of the war taking place out on the streets. Samus nodded, and then took a glance at her energy meter. The bar was almost drained out, meaning she was almost dead. Samus held up her index finger on her left hand to Weavel, signaling to wait for a bit. Samus stumbled over to the corpses of the Federation troopers Weavel killed, and shot an Acid Beam shot at one of them. As the acid disintegrated the part of the corpse it touched, Samus then shot her energy-draining beam the Queen Metroid at Settlement Zero posthumously awarded her upon being defeated at the disintegrating part and drained the remaining energy the corpse had left. Her bar was now half-full again. Samus proceeded to do the same to another corpse, and her health restored to 75 percent of the maximum. Convinced this was enough, coupled with feeling much better with more energy, Samus turned to Weavel and signaled to come on. Weavel nodded, and they ran out into the streets.
Samus had her Acid Beam readied, and Weavel had his Plasma Sword extended. The two ran about the streets slaughtering Federation troopers left and right, saving many Space Pirates from death. Soon, they were at the gate of the palace.
"What do we do now?" Samus spoke through her Radio Visor to Weavel so she wouldn't have to yell.
"Ridley said for you to stay put here and await further instructions," Weavel spoke back, just as softly, yet with a stern tone. "I'm supposed to be fighting with my squadron, so I have to leave. I'm sorry, Samus."
Samus nodded, and Weavel saluted. He ran off back into the streets. Suddenly, Samus saw jagged movement in the air on a rooftop a few feet in front of her. In direct instinct, Samus sidestepped, and sure enough, the red stream of death flew directly by her head. In the process, the figure atop the building was revealed to be, of course, Trace. Trace emitted a war cry, and transformed into his dreaded Triskelion mode, which was his alternate form he utilized often during the Alimbic Expedition. It looked like Trace himself, but was slightly different in that his body now resembled something of a three-legged spider. The alternate form was infamous among the other hunters for being able to deal massive damage—it could deplete half of an Energy Tank in a single strike. Trace emitted a war cry again, which sounded like an ear-shattering screech reminiscent of an aggressive insect's chirping. Trace lunged his Triskelion form at Samus, who took the hit out of surprise. Samus was knocked over, as Trace started to swipe at her with his sharp, scythe-like legs. Samus took a few hits, and charged an Acid Beam shot, to which Trace responded by holding her right arm down by the wrist with a leg.
"I have you now!" Trace shouted, with a disturbing tone of sadistic happiness in his voice. Samus knew Trace had a grudge against her, but she didn't remember it being this horrible. Samus shut her eyes tight and braced for another strike, until she felt the pressure of Trace's weight release. Samus opened her eyes, and observed Ridley gripping Trace with his foot, then throwing Trace aside. As a result of being thrown, Trace's raindrop-shaped skull was slammed into a sturdy wall, and he felt himself fall behind a large amount of debris. The pain he just endured was so great, he could not bear to get back up.
Ridley turned to Samus, who just started to get back up, and spoke to her with a hint of urgency in his voice. "Samus, let's hurry to the top of the tower! As you make your way to the top, kill any Vhozon guard or warrior you can. Those are the corrupted ones. I will fly into the Emperor's room. Meet me in there. When I speak to him, if I start to go out of hand, please point it out. I'll see you in a few minutes."
Before Samus could respond, Ridley stretched the tightly-locked gate open with his claws and immense strength, and flew past a guard, picking it up and bashing it against the wall. He proceeded to crush another with his foot. Samus turned around to look at Ridley, and saw him take off flying upward, closely following the tower's shape as he flew. Samus ran into the tower, and was greeted by a few guards. They pointed their weapons at her and fired. Streams of purple zipped past Samus's sight, and a few even hit her. It was the Judicator. Samus shot one in the head with her Acid Beam, then shot another in the legs and left it to crawl. It didn't take long to notice that the tower's inside was comprised of one large flight of stairs circling the inner walls. Samus began to run up the stairs, eventually entering Speed Booster as she flew by or into Vhozon guards, often causing them to be trampled on violently.
When Samus reached the top of the flight of stairs, she halted in front of a large double-door and stopped flashing red and orange. She shot her Acid Beam at the door, and walked into the throne room. Around her, guards pointed their weapons at Samus, causing Samus to continuously shift her aim to decide which one to attack first. Suddenly, a large black blur dropped in from above the Emperor, who was sitting in his throne. The blur turned out to be Ridley, who gripped the Emperor and readied to kill him.
"You attack her, and your precious little Emperor dies!" Ridley hissed. The guards turned to see Ridley holding the Emperor as if he was prepared to snap its neck. The Emperor waved a hand, and the guards lowered their weapons. Ridley chuckled. "You know, having an escape hatch directly above your throne was not your smartest idea, I'm sure."
"What do you want, scum?" the Emperor asked Ridley. His Vhozon accent was thick, and it was implied that he barely understood English, evidenced by his slow, slurred speech.
"I want you to cooperate," Ridley said acidly. "Tell your guards to leave the room, and to shut the door behind them."
The Emperor translated Ridley's demands into Vhozon and spoke them aloud. The guards listened. After the double-door slammed shut, Ridley threw the Emperor lightly towards Samus, and watched as the Emperor helplessly stumbled on the ground and lay there.
"Look behind you," Ridley said, pointing back at the now-shut double-door the Emperor was currently facing away from. The Emperor turned his head to see Samus, with her arm cannon pointed at the leader of the Vhozons. "Do you know her?"
"Samus Aran," the Emperor spat. "The hero of the galaxy. I thought you two were enemies."
"She still hates me for what I did to her," Ridley admitted. Ridley started to walk closer to the Emperor, starting to threateningly pace around him in a circle. "But she and I share the same views on corruption."
"Why don't you kill me now?" the Emperor wondered, in an angered accent.
"Because you know something that I wish to know," Ridley said calmly. He stopped pacing and halted in front of the Emperor, and bent down, sticking his head in the Emperor's face. "I want the coordinates to Daiban, and I want them now."
Samus was a bit confused, but she remembered then how secretive Daiban was in terms of location. Unauthorized ships were crushed upon entering the system it occupied, and in order to get in, you had to wait in an isolated containment room on a Federation ship, unable to see the planet until you landed. Federation officers always said they were never at liberty to share Daiban's coordinates when asked, and radars were always jammed before they got close. The Federation protected their leaders and checkpoints with such tight security. Only those who were directly affiliated with Chairman Vogl knew the coordinates, and maybe a few others. But Samus now knew exactly why Ridley came to Vho: first, to recruit Samus, and second, to acquire Daiban's coordinates.
"I do not know what you speak of," the Emperor claimed in his thick accent. Ridley slapped the Emperor.
"Such lies!" Ridley yelled. "Tell me now!"
"Tell me, what is Daiban?" the Emperor wondered. Suddenly, Ridley's expression changed from fierce and demanding to confused and somewhat sympathetic.
"It's… the Galactic Federation's primary checkpoint and base. Didn't you know that?" Ridley started to sound a bit confused.
"Why would you expect me to know where their base is?" the Emperor asked.
"Because you're directly affiliated with Vogl!" Ridley shouted.
"No, sir. The Galactic Federation just came in to raid us and take over our culture. They are no better than you or your damned army," the Emperor said. Upon hearing that, Samus's eyes widened. Ridley heard a hint of honesty and sincerity in the Emperor's voice. He examined the Emperor closely.
"He isn't lying," Ridley said, as if he was speaking to Samus, yet he still was looking at the Emperor. The Emperor stood up, and looked Ridley in the eye.
"We are not with this Federation," the Emperor assured. "We are with the Chozo."
"Where did they go?" Samus sounded excited and somewhat threatening as she said this. The Emperor turned to look at Samus.
"They've moved on," the Emperor spoke in a rather sad tone. "They've found peace in other galaxies."
Samus fell to her knees, sobbing. Immediately after, a red beam flew directly over her head and directly hit the Emperor's skull, causing it to violently pop into a puddle of blue. The Emperor fell over, headless, as Ridley ran over to Trace and forcefully shoved the assassin over the railing and down the flight of stairs. As Trace fell, he spoke Kriken into a transmitter, and subsequently laughed until he hit the hard floor beneath him. Ridley spoke into a transmitter, and ordered the recovery squadron to carry Trace to the mothership. Understanding Samus was not going to stop crying anytime soon, Ridley gripped her with his right claw and rocketed into the sky above through the aforementioned hatch above the late Emperor's throne.
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Ridley dropped Samus off at the former landing deck filled with Metroids. At this point, Samus stopped crying and started to talk to Adam.
"Why did they just leave me?" she asked.
"I suppose, perhaps, that they wanted you to move on as well," Adam suggested. "They've never really left you, Samus. On multiple occasions, you've received upgrades developed by them on different planets. I think they're watching you, like a guardian angel."
"So… they're testing me?" Samus wondered rhetorically. "If that's the case, doesn't eighteen years of testing seem long enough?"
Adam, who could not think of anything valuable to say to cheer Samus up, simply said, "I don't know."
-------------------------------------------
Ridley was sitting in a room next to Sylux, who was awake. He was there to check in on Sylux.
"If the Emperor of Vhozons didn't know where Daiban is, who else can I ask? Samus wouldn't know. She was never affiliated with Vogl," Ridley spoke aloud, sighing, and resting his head on his left palm.
"Trace knew," Sylux informed Ridley. His voice sounded croupy and, at times, mechanical. But the latter characteristic was always there, just not as prevalent. "When I escaped the Federation's prison on Daiban a few days ago, I got out because of Trace. Trace shot at Chairman Vogl, but to no avail. The police, hurrying to help the military with apprehending Trace, accidentally tripped my wire and set me free. I then met face-to-face with Trace. After some bickering, we agreed to help each other escape. We obviously made it out alive, but I attempted to kill Trace by sending him out of the airlock of his own ship, but that, too, was to no avail."
Ridley slowly turned his head to look at Sylux, through the flexi-glass which separated them. "Trace knows?" Ridley asked.
"If Daiban is as hidden as you say it is, how could he know?" Sylux wondered. Ridley shrugged.
"I will check on him," he said. As Ridley was about to exit the room, he stopped and glanced at Sylux. "You're awfully cooperative today."
"I hate you, Ridley," Sylux admitted. "But I want the Federation to fall just as much as you do."
Ridley proceeded to where they kept Trace's body. He stopped and asked a scientist, "Is he dead?"
"No, sir," the scientist told Ridley. "But he is severely injured. Should we attempt to heal him?"
Ridley chuckled. "You may not need to. We'll see," he said, and walked into the room Trace was in. "How was your fall?"
"Like you even give a ****," Trace spat. He was strapped to a table, with multiple scratches all over his exoskeleton. "So you got me. Now finish me off!"
"I am certain that you would rather live than die," Ridley said in his famous sinister tone. "And I will let you live, if you tell me the coordinates to Daiban."
"Like I'll tell you anything," Trace harshly responded.
"You found Daiban, and that's impossible unless you had the damned coordinates. What are they?" Ridley demanded. Trace didn't respond. Ridley harshly struck Trace on the head, and even after this, he got no response. "Aside from the current question at hand, you are of no use to me. I won't give it a second thought when I deliver the killing blow, understand? This is your last chance; tell me the coordinates to Daiban now!"
"Go to hell," Trace cursed. Ridley raised a claw, ready to kill Trace then and there, but he then simply dropped. Suddenly, the surrounding Space Pirates dropped to the floor, one of which bumping the lever controlling Trace's bindings, thus releasing him. He stood up, and walked out of the room into the halls of the mothership. Left and right, Space Pirates were simply fainting. Soon, due to the lack of conscious pilots, the mothership shook extremely hard, knocking Trace to the floor, but not knocking him unconscious. Trace received a radio transmission.
"Excellent job, Trace," a crackling voice said over the transmission. Lying on the floor, exhausted and pained due to his injuries, Trace laughed and replied.
"Thank you, O Hiera."