Chapter 14: Awaken to Reality

"Welcome, Great Destroyer, to the rebirth of the Space Pirates."

Samus was frozen by those words. It was like a layer of dream had been peeled back, and now she was looking at the harsh organs of reality. She was not surrounded by warriors or soldiers or comrades, but by Pirates. Epsillius wasn't a benevolent rebel commander, he was just a crippled Pirate.

But still, she couldn't move.

"I'm sorry you had to find out like this," said Epsillius. "Had it all gone according to plan, you would never have discovered it on your own. I would have introduced you to the idea first, gradually, and not risk overloading the augmentation chip. But I hadn't expected Ridley and Kraid to scrape together enough resistance for one final battle. They are defeated now, their troops being run down as we speak, but it seems that the damage is done."

"You..." Samus was seething. "How did you do this?"

Epsillius shrugged, the folds of his ill-gotten Chozo cloak shifting and revealing his glittering mechanical claw. "You were unconscious for three days, enough time for us to perform surgery and cover up the evidence." A crooked, mirthless smile formed on his face. "Did you really think you were so sympathetic to our cause? Of course you weren't. We simply had to rewrite your brain chemistry into something more... cooperative."

Unbidden, memories of Samus's mother surfaced. She felt like throwing up. "You used my mother to control my mind?"

"Yes." Epsillius took a step away from the crate beside him. The Metroid slammed itself against the resin polymer, trying to get at the Myrnai, but to no avail. "Family always makes the best leverage."

The bounty hunter couldn't take her eyes off the Metroid. She gritted her teeth; still her limbs would not respond. "Where did you get that thing?"

"The Metroid?" Epsillius tapped the box with his mechanical claw. "Stolen from the computers of the passing Federation ships and recreated in the Phazon mines. The process wasn't too difficult, thanks to the ingenuity of the Federation scientists, but it was timely and costly. I had hoped to have more than just one by now, but this one shall do."

So the Federation had been right all along. "And the X?"

Epsillius's smile returned. "Why, Samus," he said, drawing out each syllable, "what did you think was being transported on those Federation ships?"

The pit of her stomach went cold. There was so much she didn't understand, so much that had been held back from her. X on Federation transports? Her rage now was double that of when she had discovered the secret Metroid breeding program on the BSL station. The Metroids were bad enough—just glancing at the hovering form in the crate was enough to make her mouth go sour—but the X were a tireless and relentless creature that would sweep across the galaxy. If they got loose, there would be no stopping them.

Her mind felt like it was on fire, but it wasn't just from the stunning revelations. There was physical pain, too, at the base of her skull. With difficulty, she brought her hand up to her helmet. "What did you do to me?"

"Installed a chip to regulate your brain chemicals, after you arrived in Phendrana," said Epsillius. "I couldn't control you directly, but thanks to the memories of your mother and that wonderful piece of technology attached to your cortex, I was certainly able to guide you. I could influence what you paid attention to, what made you angry or sad or happy. You were—and still are—under my metaphorical thumb."

Panic rose in her mind at the thought, but suddenly she felt blissful. Her eyes fluttered. "Unfortunately," continued the Pirate, "the conscious mind and the subconscious are very different. I cannot alter your awareness of a situation, but I can make it difficult for you to react." He raised his metal claw, opening it and exposing the inner barrel. It glowed dangerously. "You were an amazing general, Samus Aran. You would have made a great Pirate."

Suddenly his claw pitched to the side, sending the charged plasma beam into the floor a few feet away from Samus. With anger in his eyes, the Myrnai looked up. Samus followed his gaze to see a man nestled in the docking tethers high above, a long rifle in his arms. From here, she could barely make out his crazed grin.

"Sorry, chump," he said, "but I have a contract to fulfill. I need the lady to come with me."

Hearing his voice, she recognized him as Dash Stardrex. She would have groaned if it had been a more opportune time; the man was a bounty hunter, a good one, but not as good as she was. He had made a stink about her after the first time she had attacked Zebes, claiming that he was better than her if she would only step out of her power suit and fight him face-to-face. She had never given him a second thought, though, and instead chose to get on with her life.

Apparently, he hadn't.

Dash fired again and again, the rifle bucking in his hand and making quiet puffing noises, but Samus knew the model of rifle he was using operated in the supersonic frequencies. Several of the Pirates around Epsillius collapsed, but the red Zebesian raised his metal claw and fired a missile. Dash released the tethers and dropped several feet to the top of a pile of crates. He raised the rifle again and fired a few more times before jumping down.

"Be careful!" Samus yelled. "Don't hit those containers!"

"Yeah, I know," he growled. He started making a run for her as the Pirates returned fire. With a grunt he bodily tackled her, sending the two of them skidding a few feet to cover. Epsillius shouted for his men to cease fire, also not wanting to set the X loose. Dash picked himself up into a kneeling position and dumped the rifle. "You're heavy."

"You're an idiot." Samus sat up, finding it easier to move. "It was pure luck that the supersonic waves that thing lets off didn't shatter the casings around the X."

Dash scowled at her. "Maybe so, but that thing's overheated now. Useless. Maybe you can help?"

Samus shook her head. "I can't do much. He's disrupting my ability to fight with that stupid chip."

"Do you know where the controller is for it?"

She pondered a moment. He had been able to manipulate her mind's chemistry while standing right in front of her. The Chozo cloak he wore obscured most of his body, but... "In his claw."

Nodding, Dash unholstered a large pistol from his hip. Inside her helmet, Samus shot up an eyebrow. The Smith-Hitachi Godzilla Blaster was a popular and powerful weapon, one that she wouldn't mind carrying herself if her suit wasn't so restrictive. Back when she had a more mechanical version, there was room underneath for only a stun gun, but this new organic version held to her body a lot more closely. She only had her beam cannon.

Dash peeked around the crates, then fired several shots. The Pirates that had been sneaking up on them screamed and fell; he took cover for a moment from retaliatory strikes and then fired again, this time sending most of his projectiles at Epsillius. The Myrnai ducked to the side, but didn't fire back.

"He's spry," said Dash, "but he's too afraid of rupturing the containers."

"Oh joy," said Samus, sarcasm dripping from her words, "a stalemate." Her mind rushed to come up with a solution. They had to get the upper hand before...

The doors into the hangar slammed open, and the pair of bounty hunters turned to face them as two hulking forms walked into the hangar. At first, judging by their outlines, Samus feared she was facing the Omega Pirate again, but as they stepped into the light she saw that they were robots, highly upgraded versions of the one she had fought as a test. Their internal workings were covered in gleaming armor this time, making them look far less vulnerable than before.

Immediately the robots opened fire with Super Missiles, sending the projectiles streaking for the bounty hunters. She rolled to one side as Dash jumped, avoiding the explosion. Samus realized that the robots hadn't been programmed to be careful of their environment, and had no qualms with firing on them while they were so close to the X containers.

Her advantage lost, Samus was determined to fight head-on.

Remembering her early testing session, she activated her grapple beam and fired; but just when the beam should have attached to the armor, it refused to stick, instead fizzling into nothingness.

Of course, she realized as she deactivated the module. They would have special upgrades to deal with me in case I figured out what was going on. She switched to her beam weapons and began firing, but all of them were reflected off, sending the ordinance in unpredictable directions.

Elsewhere she heard Dash fighting the other one, and from the frequency and urgency of his shouts he wasn't faring any better. Her mechanical opponent unleashed a hellish inferno with its flamethrower, forcing Samus to jump to the side.

There was only one weapon she hadn't yet tried against it before, though now she was loathe to use it. She armed the Gatling Gun, took aim, and fired.

She didn't expect the rounds to do much damage, and technically they didn't. However, they had great penetration, easily slicing through the armor and out the other side. Her aim went wild from the recoil, sending her arm-cannon arcing through the air and only causing damage up and down the right side of the robot. She retargeted and let loose again, sending hundreds of solid projectiles into the metal body. It took a lot concentration and effort, but she dragged the stream of bullets diagonally across her foe.

Something vital must have been damaged, because suddenly it toppled. It tried to pick itself up, but its motor systems must have been damaged. Taking advantage of the situation, Samus quickly targeted the sensor array in the head and took it out of commission. Disabled almost entirely, the robot's fail-safe kicked in and it shut down.

Now Samus refocused on the other one, but saw with dismay that her own battle had used up most of her ammunition. But the robot was focused on Dash, who was trying to evade its attacks without the aid of a power suit, leaving its back exposed. Samus picked an important-looking bulge and used the last of her rounds to carve a hole and weaken the armor. Then she armed a missile and fired it directly into the newly-made gap.

The entire robot combusted, flames roiling out from the hole and spewing from every seam it could find. Smoke poured out of its weapon and its sensor array sparked from the heat. Somehow, Samus had been lucky enough to hit its flamethrower fuel supply. It tried to function properly, attempting to turn towards its new foe, but with its circuitry melting it didn't last long. With a prolonged screech of metal it fell to the floor.

Samus looked at Dash, who nodded his thanks, when suddenly her whole world turned into pain. There was a smell of ash and gunpowder, fire all around her as she was sent back several feet in the air before crashing down against the hard metal. Despite the protection of her helmet, her ears were ringing. A few more massive explosions shook the ground around her, but all she could focus on were the droplets of blood on the inside of her visor.

She blacked out.

Dash Stardrex could only look on as Epsillius pounded Samus with Super Missiles. He had never believed in solidarity between bounty hunters, especially when it came to Samus, but it was still difficult to watch. As the dust and debris from the blasts faded, he could see the orange of her power suit laying on the ground unmoving.

Apparently the robots had been a distraction, enough of one to allow the Pirates more time to load their precious cargo. The Metroid was gone, as were most of the X parasites, and several of the Pirates were still frantically scrambling to get as many crates aboard as they could. In their rush, they had forgotten Dash's presence.

You dare overlook the greatest bounty hunter in the galaxy? Even as he thought it, though, he knew he was outgunned. Tempting as it was to turn and leave Samus to whatever fate the crimson Myrnai had planned for her, Dash couldn't abandon her as simply as that. He had a reputation to consider, and if he could save Samus, that reputation would be all the more powerful. With that thought in mind, he reached into a satchel that hung at his waist and withdrew a good-sized device. Scrawled on the side with paint were the words "Last Resort."

It was a powerful thermonuclear bomb, the kind that the Federation planted in sensitive outposts to ensure their destruction. Most self-destruct devices employed at least one of these at its core; in fact, a larger version of that particular bomb had been used by the Pirates when they destroyed Zebes, and by the Federation in the BSL laboratories' self-destruct sequence that also destroyed SR388.

Such a thing had cost Dash quite a lot of credits to get his hands on, and now he had to use it in defense of one of his least favorite people.

The metal casing was perfectly sealed, and set up so that any tampering would result in premature detonation. In addition, once programmed and activated, there was no command to stop the countdown. He was counting on the fact that the Pirates couldn't drum up the precise cutting equipment needed in time. Carefully he opened the main panel and set a time of twenty minutes. Then, locking the panel, he activated the bomb and walked out with it held over his head.

The Pirates, upon seeing him, all rounded with their weapons ready, but Epsillius gave a frantic screech for them to stop. They halted their movement, and Dash watched realization dawn on their faces.

"I don't know how well we understand each other," he began, "but I know you understand this. I already activated it and put twenty minutes on the clock, which I think is more than enough time for you to take what you've already loaded, get into your ship, and get clear before I turn this whole base into a crater."

Epsillius glared at him, but Dash just dropped the bomb onto the floor and pointed his Godzilla Blaster at it. "You know what happens if you breach the casing on these things, and you may be able to cut me down but not before I pull this trigger." His eyes swept over the assembled Pirates. "I'm not as ideological as our girl back there, but I do hate Pirates. Fortunately for you, I don't believe in sacrificing myself for the greater good. I'm letting you walk away now with whatever cargo you already have."

For a moment, nobody did anything. The Pirates all exchanged significant glances, but Dash just locked his eyes on the apparent leader. Epsillius glared at him in return, and then raised his claw. "Get on board," he said to the others, "and secure the cargo for transport. We are leaving." As the Pirates packed up and started filing onto the ship, Epsillius turned to leave himself.

"Foolish human," he said. "Only your luck has saved you this day."

At that, Dash grinned. "Listen Red, you get to walk away from the number one bounty hunter in the galaxy. From what I can see, you're the lucky one."

Soon after that, the Pirates were loaded and the docking spar retracted. As the ship drifted away and began ascending into the upper atmosphere, Dash hurried away from the site of his heroic stand towards Samus.

But no matter what he did, he couldn't wake the limp body. For a moment, he wondered if she was dead, but he saw the suit moving up and down ever so slightly. She was alive, but barely. He had to recharge her energy somehow. Looking around, his eyes came to rest on one of the few transparent crates left and the floating creature within. The X parasite floated around, apparently unconcerned with the goings-on around it.

At first he was frightened, but what he read in Samus's reports came back to him: she had been able to recharge herself by absorbing these things. If he could get it to her without himself becoming infected, she could use it to recharge.

With great difficulty, he was able to push the crate over towards the inert body. Then he retreated to cover behind several equipment crates, took careful aim with his blaster, and shot a hole in the containment. It only took a moment before the X was roaming around outside the crate. It hovered over Samus for a moment, then began to wander towards Dash. He tensed, afraid he had made a critical error, when the creature immediately turned around and rushed at the female bounty hunter. Splashing over her body, it was immediately soaked in by her suit.

For a moment, nothing happened. Dash approached cautiously, in case his plan hadn't worked out somehow and the X was just waiting. He leapt back when Samus's hand twitched, then relaxed as the bounty hunter slowly rose to her knees.

"Ugh," she said, "I feel like hell."

"You should," he said.

"What happened?"

He offered a hand and she took it, using it to steady herself as she rose. "Later," he said, pointing to the bomb that was beeping ever onward towards detonation. "We have about ten minutes to get out of here."

"Ha," she said sardonically. "I've had less time before."

From the co-pilot's seat in Dash's ship, Samus watched the tower explode. First the upper half went, the result of his gambit with Epsillius. As the cloud of white-hot neutrons settled, the rest of the base crumbled under the force of secondary explosions, various stores of energy and weapons cooking off from the heat of detonation. Soon there was nothing left but soot and ruin on a perfectly white background.

"So," Dash said, nosing the craft up through the atmosphere, "what now?"

"I don't know," she said. And it was the truth: she didn't know. For the first time, she had no direction, no mission, and no support. There was no fallback area: the Federation wouldn't take her, especially now after all she had done with the Pirates coupled with her earlier mutiny on BSL. In addition, there was rarely ever any solidarity between bounty hunters—as to why Dash was helping her she was uncertain—and there was nowhere to go.

Well, she thought, taking off her helmet and fingering the base of her skull, there is one place that I need to go. "Think you could drop me off?"

Dash gave her a look. "Where?"

"On L33," she said. "I need to see a doctor there to try and get this chip out."

He grumbled, but plotted the course. "Do you think Epsillius can still control you?"

She shrugged. "I'm probably out of range, but I want to make sure it's gone for the next time we meet."

For a moment, the man looked genuinely surprised. "The next time?"

Samus nodded. "Yeah, and that reminds me." There was one thing left she needed to take care of. Putting her helmet back on, she switched to her mission communication channel, almost relieved to see it was still active. "Federation control, this is Samus Aran.

"Mission failed."

END

Author's Note: Well, here it is. Finally. After more than five years, the story is complete. I know, I'm sorry it took so long. When I started working on Renegade, I thought I would have the energy I needed to carry the story to the end, give it all the time and attention it needed to be great. We can see now how well that turned out.

The first thing you'll probably note is that this isn't much of an ending, and that if it took me this long to finish it I may as well have come up with a real ending. I tried just that, but unfortunately the way I set up the story didn't allow for anything other than this, and I had always planned to keep going with the story: there were going to be two more, making a trilogy (real original durrr). The second part would deal with the Federation and the Pirates in an all-out war, with Samus trying to get to Epsillius for revenge, and the third would see the tattered remnants of the galaxy trying to band together to fight against a looming X doomsday scenario.

So why couldn't I continue? As I said before, I lost the energy, and my interest in the subject matter just petered out. I love Metroid, I always have, and I still pop on to read other fics in the area. But the unfortunate fact is that trying to split my attention between this, the Negative Halo series, and my then-school duties was too hard and something had to give. I will be forever apologetic that it was this story that suffered, even when I was only two chapters away from finishing, but that's how it rolled. If I could, I would send these chapters back in time to help my past self, and then maybe return to it later.

I guess the final question is whether or not I'll come back to this story, and the genuine answer is that—much like Samus—I don't know. Honestly, I probably won't, so don't hold your breath.

For those of you who finally got this much-anticipated update in your e-mail, I apologize and hope that you will eventually forgive me. For those of you who just saw this float to the surface on the Metroid page, I hope you enjoyed the story.

See you next mission.

~Jimmy-San