HOME | DD

Description
The spaceship of Samus Aran, bounty hunter and many-time hero of the Galactic Federation, drifted lazily toward the edge of Federation space. After the recent incident involving a space station, a planet, and the X, a parasitic native of said planet, chances were good that, despite her prior heroics, she was now an outlaw. Which was exactly why she was leaving the Federation behind

"…Samus…" the ship's computer said. "There's something troubling me."

"What is it, Adam?" Samus asked.

"There's… Well…" the computer seemed hesitant. "Something in the engine room. Something alive."

"What is it?" Samus inquired.

"I… I'm not sure…" the computer replied. "While my scans have identified the life-form multiple times, consistently, I find it hard to believe."

"What?" Samus gasped. "What is it?"

"I'd… Rather not say…" the computer replied. "You should probably check it out. Or not. Either choice could have serious repercussions…"

"…I think I'll go check it out." Samus said, turning.

"Be careful, Samus." the computer ended.

"I will, Adam." Samus responded. She began heading toward the engine room.

On the way through the hallway, to her left, was the ship's sleeping quarters. Due to her Chozo DNA, she needed little sleep, so the room was given to the Etecoon and Dachora stowaways. To her right was the food storage. Again, her Chozo DNA reduced her necessary food intake to a minimum, and the Metroid DNA added to purge the threat of the parasitic X granted her the ability to feed on all types of energy. Therefore, the food storage was also given to the stowaways. Besides, after the BSL incident, she'd "eaten" enough X to last for quite a while.

Samus continued toward the engine room. She punched in the code to open the door (a difficult feat with her suit on, considering the keypad was on the right, while her free hand was her left), and entered the room, arm cannon raised. She heard a slow and familiar noise, a "tak, tak, tak" tapping like her footsteps on metal, but it wasn't her.

The sounds came closer. She glanced around and saw… Was it possible? No, it couldn't be… She saw an image of her old Varia armor… The SA-X. She pointed her arm cannon at the creature, which stopped in alarm. Its own arm cannon, which was at its side just before, was now pointed back at Samus.

The two stood like that, each staring down the other's barrel, for several seconds, but neither fired a shot. Taking notice of this, Samus slowly began to lower her arm cannon, and soon noticed the SA-X doing the same. When both arm cannons were lowered, the SA-X shakily offered its free hand. Samus looked at it for a while. A peace offering? She moved to shake its hand, which was quickly withdrawn. The SA-X was clearly shaking… Was it scared? Then, the gears in Samus's head began to turn wildly, as a strange sight unfolded before her: the SA-X stepped back and dropped to one knee, its head seemingly bowed in reverence and respect. The SA-X… Was kneeling?

Before Samus's mind could fully process what was happening, the ship suddenly lurched violently, as though it were hit by something. An alarm started blaring, and Samus began to rush back to the main room, her clone following close behind her. As she left the engine room, she caught a glimpse of something heading into the food storage room, the door torn open. Just before the door, she stopped, holding her arm out to stop the SA-X behind her. It stopped quickly. Samus turned her head to look at it and, moments later, it nodded. As though it knew what she wanted. Did it know? She took a step forward. Nothing. She took a step into the food storage room. The lights suddenly shattered, but still nothing from the SA-X. She looked around the now-mostly-unlit room and saw a silhouette looking through the food canisters. It looked like… Couldn't be. She strained to see in this dim light. She even fired a shot upward for a brief bit of light, but all she saw was…

"Ridley!?" she exclaimed, stumbling backward. Had her worst nemesis returned? From the dead? Again?

"Go away!" the… Thing said, alarmed. Samus went from scared to confused. Ridley couldn't talk, as far as she was aware. Yet this… Thing… Just did. And it sounded like a kid? A young teenager, at most.

"Who are you?" Samus asked it.

"I said go away!" the thing answered, lashing its tail at her. The impact slammed her into the wall, and her suit exclaimed that several of its functions were lost. The blade on the end of the creature's tail then cut into her power suit, causing it to lose even more functionality. She saw no choice. She rushed toward it, seeing an opening. Its mouth began to glow hotly as she ran toward it, but suddenly stopped, and the creature started coughing, as she thrust her arm cannon into its gut. Without hesitation, she blasted the creature with a beam from her cannon, causing it to fall limply on top of her.

Description
The spaceship of Samus Aran, bounty hunter and many-time hero of the Galactic Federation, drifted lazily toward the edge of Federation space. After the recent incident involving a space station, a planet, and the X, a parasitic native of said planet, chances were good that, despite her prior heroics, she was now an outlaw. Which was exactly why she was leaving the Federation behind

"…Samus…" the ship's computer said. "There's something troubling me."

"What is it, Adam?" Samus asked.

"There's… Well…" the computer seemed hesitant. "Something in the engine room. Something alive."

"What is it?" Samus inquired.

"I… I'm not sure…" the computer replied. "While my scans have identified the life-form multiple times, consistently, I find it hard to believe."

"What?" Samus gasped. "What is it?"

"I'd… Rather not say…" the computer replied. "You should probably check it out. Or not. Either choice could have serious repercussions…"

"…I think I'll go check it out." Samus said, turning.

"Be careful, Samus." the computer ended.

"I will, Adam." Samus responded. She began heading toward the engine room.

On the way through the hallway, to her left, was the ship's sleeping quarters. Due to her Chozo DNA, she needed little sleep, so the room was given to the Etecoon and Dachora stowaways. To her right was the food storage. Again, her Chozo DNA reduced her necessary food intake to a minimum, and the Metroid DNA added to purge the threat of the parasitic X granted her the ability to feed on all types of energy. Therefore, the food storage was also given to the stowaways. Besides, after the BSL incident, she'd "eaten" enough X to last for quite a while.

Samus continued toward the engine room. She punched in the code to open the door (a difficult feat with her suit on, considering the keypad was on the right, while her free hand was her left), and entered the room, arm cannon raised. She heard a slow and familiar noise, a "tak, tak, tak" tapping like her footsteps on metal, but it wasn't her.

The sounds came closer. She glanced around and saw… Was it possible? No, it couldn't be… She saw an image of her old Varia armor… The SA-X. She pointed her arm cannon at the creature, which stopped in alarm. Its own arm cannon, which was at its side just before, was now pointed back at Samus.

The two stood like that, each staring down the other's barrel, for several seconds, but neither fired a shot. Taking notice of this, Samus slowly began to lower her arm cannon, and soon noticed the SA-X doing the same. When both arm cannons were lowered, the SA-X shakily offered its free hand. Samus looked at it for a while. A peace offering? She moved to shake its hand, which was quickly withdrawn. The SA-X was clearly shaking… Was it scared? Then, the gears in Samus's head began to turn wildly, as a strange sight unfolded before her: the SA-X stepped back and dropped to one knee, its head seemingly bowed in reverence and respect. The SA-X… Was kneeling?

Before Samus's mind could fully process what was happening, the ship suddenly lurched violently, as though it were hit by something. An alarm started blaring, and Samus began to rush back to the main room, her clone following close behind her. As she left the engine room, she caught a glimpse of something heading into the food storage room, the door torn open. Just before the door, she stopped, holding her arm out to stop the SA-X behind her. It stopped quickly. Samus turned her head to look at it and, moments later, it nodded. As though it knew what she wanted. Did it know? She took a step forward. Nothing. She took a step into the food storage room. The lights suddenly shattered, but still nothing from the SA-X. She looked around the now-mostly-unlit room and saw a silhouette looking through the food canisters. It looked like… Couldn't be. She strained to see in this dim light. She even fired a shot upward for a brief bit of light, but all she saw was…

"Ridley!?" she exclaimed, stumbling backward. Had her worst nemesis returned? From the dead? Again?

"Go away!" the… Thing said, alarmed. Samus went from scared to confused. Ridley couldn't talk, as far as she was aware. Yet this… Thing… Just did. And it sounded like a kid? A young teenager, at most.

"Who are you?" Samus asked it.

"I said go away!" the thing answered, lashing its tail at her. The impact slammed her into the wall, and her suit exclaimed that several of its functions were lost. The blade on the end of the creature's tail then cut into her power suit, causing it to lose even more functionality. She saw no choice. She rushed toward it, seeing an opening. Its mouth began to glow hotly as she ran toward it, but suddenly stopped, and the creature started coughing, as she thrust her arm cannon into its gut. Without hesitation, she blasted the creature with a beam from her cannon, causing it to fall limply on top of her.