• Chapter Nine: Return to Espionage.

    Year 20X9 Cosmic Calendar: 4th of June.

    Location: Space Pirate Homeworld.

    “Ugh…do we really need to go back to the Space Pirate Homeworld? That place is such a maze. For instance, I once got stuck in between---”

    “Ok! We get it! You don’t like the Space Pirate Homeworld. If you don’t like it so much, then you should have voiced your opinion back when Adam asked for it.” Said Listal to Samus.

    Samus was still unhappy about returning to the orange planet. After the last time she was there, she was quite glad when she was sent to a blue planet to infiltrate instead. After both planets though, she vowed never to visit a monochromatic planet again.

    But as their small ship neared in for landing, Samus noticed that the planet was more of a steely gray instead of its usual rusty color. Adam noticed this too, and he neared the window for a look. Samus grabbed a vision-scope to see closer, while Adam’s eyes zoomed in.

    Looking closer, the planet seemed to be covered in a strange fibrous metal, which was growing on all of the exposed surfaces of the planet like moss. Some reaching tendrils would stretch out into the sky like a messy hairdo. To put it shortly, the planet looked like a giant metal dust-bunny. Samus looked around some more and noticed that some of the tendrils were creating little balls in space, winding around themselves to create large floating orbs like the ones on Bryyo. Samus withdrew from her sightseeing to confront the pilot, otherwise known as Xorexus.

    “Having trouble finding a place to land?” Samus half-joked.

    “A little. The planet seems to be growing some sort of hair that makes it more difficult to land unnoticed. There is a chance that we may be able to find a tunnel in all of this fuzz. You see anything possible?”

    Samus scanned the fuzzy shell, looking for weaknesses or gaps. Suddenly, a certain point caught her eye. There was a small opening near one of the fuzz balls that was starting to get pretty large. Samus pointed in that direction for Xorexus. “Look over there. Maybe we can get over there and decide where we land after we get under the shell.”

    Xorexus nodded, and pointed the ship to the small hole in the fibers. Speeding ahead at first, he slowed down to squeeze himself into the steel wool. Soon, the fibers gave way to show a large cave-like complex, which looked even more like the inside of a beehive. Xorexus steered and maneuvered his way through the complicated fuzz, and found one of the Space Pirate vents Samus had gotten in through before. Slowing down just enough to see where he was going, he emerged from the end of the tube and landed on a rickety platform. He tapped a few buttons, and the side doors of the cargo vessel opened.

    Samus was the first to leave the ship. Rolling out in her morph ball, she got up to see that the area was abandoned and old, and looked as if the area was scheduled for destruction. She waved to the others, who slowly crept out of the ship. Adam placed a holo-projector on the ground, which immediately showed a complex map of the area. Everyone huddled around it for a better view.

    Adam spoke up. “According to the Global Positioning Scanner we have here, we are in an area which has chutes that can reach almost any main room of the complex. Most of them are mess halls, according to the map.”

    Listal interrupted. “So, wait…does that mean we are in a garbage dumping room?”

    Everyone looked over the edge of the platform. Indeed enough, there was a huge mess of rotting food beneath their feet. Everyone turned away, grimacing.

    “At least we have helmets…” said Xorexus.

    “Anyways,” Adam continued, “We have good access to all of the main rooms of this sector, which leads to the probability of us being able to get to a computer quickly. From there, we will need to hack into the system for the next planets on the list. Then, don’t worry about coming back to the room you came into from the chutes, simply jump into a chute to reach back here. Also, know that each of us has been equipped with some weaponry essential to the mission, including the volt grapple, the hazard suit, and the plasma beam. Is everyone ready?”

    Everyone nodded.

    “Good. Since I can basically hack into a system simply by touching it, I will go with Listal and Samus will go with Xorexus.”

    “Hang on…” said Listal, “What makes you think I can’t do this by myself? If you send Samus with Xorexus, they won’t get anything done. Even Harquar knows that Xorexus isn’t good with computers.”

    “It’s true, boss. I may be good with tech, but when it comes to software, there is no way I can get anything done.”

    “Oh…well, um…I guess Listal should go with Samus. I mean, you two will be ok out there, right?”

    “You forget, Tinny, that my entire species is devoted to scientific discovery and computer engineering! My kinetic energy weaponry? Made it myself. I have enough brainpower to reprogram you into a drink server! So next time, think logically.” Listal countered.

    “Hey, I’d be happier with the wiz girl over here anyway. All computer stuff I’ve ever done has been with sticking my arm cannon into a slot, and tada! Map downloaded.” Samus said.

    Adam was a bit unnerved. “A-a-all right then, from now on, all tech missions will be split up into Samus with Listal and Xorexus with me. Anyway, we should get going. All of this noise may be enough to attract the Space Pirate hordes to this location.”

    Listal grumbled, and Samus pulled her with her to the nearest chute, and they climbed upwards. Adam shook his head. “Will she ever forgive me?”

    “Only if you serve her drinks first.” said Xorexus.


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    Samus was having trouble climbing the shaft. The walls were plastered in a slippery mold that stuck to her suit no matter what she did to get it off. She turned to Listal, who was having the same amount of trouble. Samus wracked her brain for ideas. The missile idea probably wouldn’t work in such a tight space, and her grapple beam would be hard to access without losing her grip. Then, she remembered that her suit had her spider ball function still. She slid into morph ball, and as Listal protested, her alt form stuck perfectly to the grimy walls.

    “Grab me!” said Samus’s muffled voice.

    Listal obliged, and as Samus rolled upwards, it became clear that Listal’s hands were slippery enough to reduce unneeded friction between her hands and the ball. Soon, Samus rolled out of the cramped tunnel and into a rough acid rain. Samus and Listal stood up, and noticed that the rain washed off the slippery grime from their suits without damaging them, thanks to the hazard suit.

    Samus was already lost. “See why I said this place is such a maze?”

    The area they were in seemed like a lobby of sorts. Samus looked around some more, and realized that this was one of the rooms that she had been in before. There was a T shaped bridge over their heads, which blocked most of the rain. Over on the area not covered by a bridge, there was a clear glass wall and a volt grapple station. Samus pointed over at that area.

    “Last time I came here, that area over there led to many of the computer labs and testing facilities. If we go in that way, we could probably beat the others to it.”

    Listal was a bit puzzled, “I thought you said this place is such a maze.”

    “It is. I just remember that volt grapple spot over there led to tech stuff.”

    Listal was confused. “How do you get anything done?”

    Samus latched onto the grapple port with her left arm, and absorbed energy from it. The gates slowly raised, and Samus let go of the port full of energy. She shot a green plasma ball at the orange door, and Samus trudged inwards, with Listal trailing her.


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    Adam was awfully nervous at the moment. So, he turned off his anxiousness receptors to put him back on track. Xorexus was also nervous, but he was coping for the moment. The worse that could happen was if a turret spotted them, for they were usually equipped with cameras. As they slinked through the hallways cautiously, Xorexus noticed that there were some long cords running along the ground, the kind used for computers. He tapped Adam’s neck to get his attention. Adam spun around to see what Xorexus wanted.

    “Adam…you can meld with technology, correct? What would happen if you melded with a wire? Would you see where it was going? And see what it was for?”

    Adam caught on to what Xorexus was implying. He grabbed the wire with his two hands, and became one with the cord. Suddenly, visions of corridors and electrical data flooded his mind, and he knew where to go. He pulled Xorexus by the hand, nearly jerking him over. They ran through the hallways to the next chamber to be greeted by a large system of computers. Xorexus smiled.

    “Nice. I’m sorta glad that my commanding officer is a cyborg. You are really good at what you do.”

    “Thank you.” replied Adam.

    Adam approached the machine, and laid his entire body across it. Suddenly, the computer started to glow with a strange greenish light, which contrasted against the surrounding orange. Wires from the computer rose from the machine, and started to plug themselves into Adam’s back. The wires started to pulse with energy, and Adam shuddered as the wires forced war-strategies into him.

    As Xorexus watched this strange process, he caught a glimpse of something moving in his eye. Suddenly, a turret popped put from the ceiling. Xorexus yelled in surprise, and started to lift his cannon. He was about to destroy it when Adam suddenly spoke.

    “Don’t shoot it. Right now I’m using the cannon system to try to find Samus’s location. If that one is shot, I will lose control of the system.”

    Xorexus nodded. He sat down on the metal floor, waiting for Adam to finish. As he waited, he noticed that strange metallic silver ooze was making its way down one of the wires. He jumped to his feet in surprise, and yelled out to Adam.

    “Adam! You need to get off of that thing! Now!”

    “I’ve almost got everything I need…”

    But it was too late. The ooze landed upon Adam, and it was downloaded along with the rest of the data. Adam jerked upright in surprise, and started to move erratically. He turned to Xorexus for help.

    “What is happening? What did you see?”

    “Some sort of metallic slime got into you! It was kinda…silvery.”

    “Sil……ver…? Tha……t me…ans……A……dorios……”

    Adam began to shake uncontrollably. His body kept on convulsing in a pattern, and he started to scream with a grated voice. Then, his joints started to spew silver liquid, and his screams became more intense. His form began to smoke, and his body was becoming consumed in silver metal, giving him a shiny metallic coat. When the fearful ordeal was over, Adam turned around to face Xorexus.

    “Hello, Xorexus. Welcome to your nightmares.”


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    Samus and Listal were finally finished downloading the strategy plans. Listal stepped away from the computer, and turned to Samus.

    “Time to go. You ready to break out of this place?

    “Yeah.”

    Samus followed Listal into the next room, and instantly bumped into her.

    “What’s wrong?”

    “That.” Listal pointed.

    Samus slowly looked upwards. Listal was pointing at a strange mass of fibrous steel, which was clustered around something that was breathing steadily. It was very large, and was colored in several shades of green and yellow.

    “Is that…Ridley?” Listal asked.

    “No…it’s not, but………it can’t be…”

    Suddenly, the behemoth started to stir, making Samus and Listal jump in shock. The metal began to disappear into the creature’s skin, and the monster began to move. A deafening roar filled the room, and Samus smiled grimly.

    “What is it? Samus, tell me, what the hell is that monster?”

    “The largest member of the Space Pirate army…”

    Samus walked up to the giant green lizard, and confronted it while it roared.”

    “Hello, Kraid.”



    Chapter Ten: Friends and Enemies.

    Year 20X9 Cosmic Calendar: 4th of June.

    Location: Skyray City, Aerocitadel.

    Adorios was currently doing what he didn’t do often: hiding. He was usually very good at going upon the offensive, destroying his enemies. But currently, he needed to recoup himself. Losing to Samus and losing the stones wasn’t the worst that could happen, it was the fact that he was currently stuck on Aerocitadel with nowhere to go. Adorios sat down in an alley, thinking of possible stratagems. As he pondered, someone walked up to him. Adorios looked up.

    “Who are you?”

    “Hello, Adorios, it seems that we, Ah, have similar interests in the destruction of a common enemy: Samus Aran. I would be willing to help, if you do not mind. Samus and I have quite a history of brutal battles, and of course, she has beaten me each time. I would like to get my revenge on her, and I suppose you would as well. What do you say? Should we, team up?”

    Adorios looked at the person warily. The man was still in the shadows, and Adorios couldn’t exactly see what he looked like. He decided to test him.

    “A team-up would be a good plan, yes. However, I would need to see your strength, your power. My master, Metalloid, would have to deem you worthy of being one of his allies, so I am not sure…”

    “You need me to prove my worth? HAH! I have destroyed entire armies, conquered planets, and even battled GODS! Nothing will stand in my way of revenge against Samus!”

    The man pulled out a sword from the shadows, and sliced a nearby support beam in half, as if cutting air. The beam itself was precisely 5 feet thick, and now had a clean cut through it. Adorios admired his power.

    “Very well. I have seen that you are quite, let us say, determined about defeating Samus. If you wish to become my ally, then you will take this sphere.”

    Adorios placed his hand out, and a silver metal ball was set in his palm.

    “Just know that when you take this ball, you will never be able to change you mind again; your fate will be set.”

    The man looked at the suspicious ball for a moment, and then palmed it. “Let us go forth, then. I have a ship that might be useful; it can travel through hyperspace faster than any other ship made. It will definitely help us on our mission.”

    Adorios nodded. “What is your name? You seem to know mine.”

    “My name is Dystereos. Remember it well, for it will be the name of the legendary hunter who destroyed Samus Aran!”


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    Adam lunged at Xorexus with astounding speed. He slashed forward, slicing several power cables as Xorexus jumped out of the way.

    “Adam! You need to stop what you’re doing right now! I seriously don’t want to attack you!”

    Of course, Adam ignored him. “Pitiful organic! Running will not protect you at all! I can connect with the entire system around me, and cause it to attack you indefinitely!”

    Adam punched the wall with a clenched fist, and energy pulsed out of his arm. Soon, turrets popped out of the ceiling like machine guns, and shot lasers at Xorexus with equal force. Xorexus pulled a blue shield from his pack, and the energy bolts bounced off harmlessly.

    “If I cannot get to your mind, I will have to shut you off!” Xorexus said. He put away the shield, and pulled out a purple triangle. He pressed a few hidden buttons on it with extreme speed, and the triangle expanded, energy running along the edge of the device. He threw it straight at Adam, launching it at him with amazing force. As it closed in on him, though, Adam stepped towards the wall suddenly. He pushed himself into it, and he disappeared. The disc smashed against the wall that Adam vanished into.

    “Huh? How did he---”

    Suddenly, an arm popped out of the floor by his feet. Startling Xorexus, it grabbed his ankle. Xorexus tried to shake it off, but the grip was of metal, and could not be broken. As Adam rose from the floor below, Xorexus sank, his legs becoming trapped in the ground. Xorexus struggled feebly.

    “What…do you want?”

    “Nothing really,” Adam replied, “I simply have to fulfill my master’s bidding, AND DESTROY AND CONTROL EACH AND EVERY ONE OF SAMUS’S ALLIES!!!!!” Adam screamed. He began to laugh evilly, as Xorexus tried even harder to loosen himself. Adam’s laughter slowed down, and he placed his palm outward. A ball of silver metal rose from his hand, and he placed it above Xorexus’s head.

    “You will be added to the army of Metalloid, and will fight against Samus to destroy her! Are there any last requests before you are removed from your body forever? “

    Xorexus smiled. “No, I don’t have any requests, but I do have a comment. Next time, trap my arms too.” Xorexus pulled another purple disc out, and he smashed it against Adam’s torso. A wave of purple energy emanated from the disc, and Adam convulsed. He jerked into positions that would kill a normal human being, and then collapsed into a crumpled heap. Xorexus sighed, and relaxed.

    “Thank goodness I’m good with tech. Now, how do I get out?”


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    Adorios walked along Dystereos. The route they were taking kept them in the shadows, but was still long and tiring. It didn’t matter to Adorios about becoming tired, since he had no problem with it, but it was still a bit boring. Adorios turned towards Dystereos. He still couldn’t see his face or apparel. Adorios spoke.

    “Your ship might be the fastest ship in the universe, but it is certainly taking a slow time to reach it. Where is it, and how long will it take us to get there?”

    “It’s by the edge of town, near the Zoomer Tavern. If it’s taking so long for you, then why not try to beat me there?

    Dystereos suddenly burst into a speedy form, running at insane speed. Adorios chuckled, and turned into dust. He shot as fast as light to the ship, and appeared in it a second later. He looked around. Inside the ship, there was a large amount of trophies, each one representing a time of Dystereos’s victories. Adorios stepped towards the dashboard of the ship. He touched it lightly, and it filled him with all of the ship’s logs. Reading each one as fast as possible, it came to him that Dystereos was indeed a pure enemy of Samus, for each log recorded each battle they fought. He would serve the purpose of Metalloid well. As Adorios read the logs, something appeared in the ship as well, causing Adorios to lose his focus. He spun around.

    “And who might you be?” he said.


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    “Samus? Who is Kraid?”

    Samus was staring at Kraid, scared slightly and in awe. It had been four years since Samus had seen Kraid, and she was itching for a battle with him. What was currently on her mind, though, was questioning why the Space Pirates had never re-cloned him instead of Ridley.

    “Kraid……is like a deformed Space Pirate. I’m not entirely sure about all of the details, but I do know that he is the second general of the Space Pirate legions. He may look sluggish, but he is anything but such. I’ve battled him twice before, but never like this.” Samus said to Listal.

    Listal smiled. “Wanna take on him together?”

    “We don’t have much of a choice, do we?”

    Samus ran off in one direction, shooting at Kraid’s face, while Listal ran in the other direction. Listal jumped up to the wall, and attached herself there. Aiming carefully at Kraid’s face, she shot a burst of kinetic energy at his stomach. When the beam hit, Kraid’s stomach bent under the force of the beam, and Kraid regurgitated a fountain of silver liquid. The silver stuff hit the ground, and it turned itself into several small Kraids. Each Kraid was completely silver, and had red eyes. They began to shoot small silver spikes out of their stomachs at Samus. Samus dodged each one, and continued her onslaught of attacks on Kraid’s face. Then, one of her beams hit Kraid’s eye. He began to scream, leaving his mouth open. Samus yelled to Listal.

    “Launch a speed missile into there! It might completely take him out!”

    Listal nodded, and expertly shot a missile into his throat, causing damage on the inside. He screamed more, and then promptly exploded, leaving blobs of goop and metal everywhere.

    “Well, that was extremely easy, wasn’t it?” Listal said.

    “One thing you should know about your new career, Listal,” Samus said, “Is that the battle is never over until the door is unlocked.”

    “Huh…?” Listal began. But as she spoke, the metal slime started to regroup itself. It formed itself into a large reptilian skeleton, becoming a reinforced set of steel bones. Samus nodded.

    “I knew it wasn’t over. But, in the meantime, I’ve always wanted to battle a Meta-Kraid.”

    The skeletal Kraid roared, and began to trudge towards the two hunters below.


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    Adam woke up wearily. “Ohhhhhhh… what happened?”

    He looked around himself for a bit, and then noticed that Xorexus was stuck partially in the ground.

    “Hello, Adam. You wouldn’t mind pulling me out of this, would you?”

    “Umm…what is happening here? I seriously have no clue.”

    “This thing,” Xorexus held up a bottle that was holding a metallic slime in it, “Was inside your body. I had to shut you down and scrape off every single speck of this crap so that when you woke up, you wouldn’t kill me.” The bottle shook violently, leaning towards Xorexus's head. Xorexus looked at it with an annoyed look on his face.

    “Do you seriously think you are going to get me? Nice try, but no.” Xorexus pulled a black plate out of his pack. Placing the bottle on the ground, Xorexus smashed the plate down onto the bottle, making it disappear with a garbled scream. Xorexus put away the plate and turned to Adam.

    “I think you have fully proved your incompetence today. Now, can you pull me out?”


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    “Samus! What are we going to do now? That thing cannot be destroyed! And as you said, the door is still locked!”

    “Shut up, Listal.” Samus snapped. “If there is anything I hate about bounty hunters, it’s when they lose all hope on the situation because they are about to die. So, shut up and think carefully. What are this thing’s abilities?”

    “I don’t---”

    Suddenly, Meta-Kraid took in a deep breath, and shot out a deathly purple beam from his mouth. The beam hit the wall behind them, and a large chunk of the wall disappeared. It dawned upon Samus that this thing was much like Adorios, with abilities and weapons like his.

    “Listal, do you have anything that can reflect weapons back at its source?

    “No, but Xorexus does…”

    “Gah! He’s probably half-way across the complex by now. I’m going to have to call him.”

    Avoiding more purple blasts from Meta-Kraid’s mouth, Samus tapped a few small buttons that were on the temple of her helmet. A com-link indicator appeared on her helmet, and communication between her and Xorexus began.

    “Xorexus! Where are you? I need your help!”

    Xorexus replied. “You need my help? Let me tell you, miss, I have had the worst time while we split up! Adam just tried to kill me, though it wasn’t his fault, and I’m still stuck in the floor!”

    -Stuck in the floor?- Samus thought. “Nevermind that! Is there a dumbwaiter in the room you are in?”

    “Huh? Oh, um…I think…yes! There’s one on the other side of the room. Why do you ask?”

    “Put your shield on it, and set the coordinates to ‘Quarantine bay’! Get Adam to put it there!”

    In the room Xorexus was in, Adam got the instructions, and grabbed the shield. He ran over to the dumbwaiter, and placed the shield onto it. Setting the coordinates as Samus commanded, he pressed the send button, and it vaporized into thin air.

    In Samus’s room, the dumbwaiter glowed suddenly, and a blue device appeared on the receiving platform.

    “Thanks, Xorexus. I promise I won’t break your little toy.”

    “It’s not a toy, it’s a complicated piece of hardware designed to---“

    Samus shut off the com-link. “I don’t have time for that right now.” She said. Pressing a few buttons on the small ball that was a shield, it suddenly projected a blue force-field, creating a small dome like an umbrella.

    “Well, at least I can stay dry from the acid rain now…”

    Meta-Kraid took in another deep breath, and several purple beams shot from his mouth, directly at Samus. Closing her eyes, she held up the shield hoping it would work, and braced herself for the impact.

    Nothing happened.

    Opening her eyes, she noticed that each beam was currently latched to the shield, trying to break through with no avail. Meta-Kraid was still shooting beams at Samus, and they kept on piling upon the mass of purple on the force-field. Smiling, Samus pushed the shield forward, and every single beam flew directly at Meta-Kraid. The beams covered his body, and as he screamed, he disintegrated, leaving no trace of the silvery metal.

    Samus breathed a sigh of relief, and sat down. Listal, however, was still standing there, shivering as he stood in the middle of an area pock-marked with decomposition blasts. Samus smiled to herself. She owed her life to two people now.


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    Adorios was facing towards someone hidden deep in the shadows. Adorios was beginning to become exasperated with people not showing their faces to him, for it got on his nerves. He asked the being again.

    “Who are you? And why are you here?”

    The being replied with a slightly heavy voice. “My name is Nero. I have come to discuss alliance with you.” His body shifted irregularly in the shadows, contorting into positions unimaginable.

    -Oh, no, not another one.- Adorios thought. “Why do you wish alliance with me?”

    “Because I have wished to get revenge upon Samus for a long time…and I will do it with you. I also have deep interest in the elemental stones, as well…”

    “I seem to be meeting many people who wish to kill Samus today. I think it may be a good idea, but we will have to discuss our terms of agreement…” Adorios said slyly, approaching Nero slowly…



    Chapter Eleven: Intrigue on Diaban!

    Year 20X9 Cosmic Calendar: 6th of June.

    Location: Planet Diaban: Capital Planet of The Galactic Federation

    Chairman Keaton, the Chairman and Prime Minister of the Galactic Federation, was quietly sitting in his office. He knew this day would come to him sometime, and he knew that the Galactic Federation would suffer a terrible blow. He knew what his fate was.

    Suddenly, a call from the main office came in. “Chairman, the man you appointed with is here. He wishes to speak with you.”

    “Allow him in.” Keaton said. He fidgeted with his fingers nervously.

    A moment later, his door opened. Three people stepped inside. One of them was humanoid, but had an extremely gelatinous physique. His body shifted uncontrollably. The creature looked around, and found a chair where he settled himself, his shifting actions slowly subsiding. The second person was wearing a dark cloak, hiding his face, and was carrying the sheath of a large yet thin sword. He also sat down, and laid his sword across his lap. The third was encased in a pearly white armor, having a very large W-like shape on his chest, colored in a greenish black, while other places on his armor were colored in the same way. His head was in the shape of a boomerang, and had a visor similar to one that Keaton had seen before. The man pulled a chair up right in front of Keaton’s desk, and sat down.

    Keaton, a member of a humanoid species that had two antennae protruding from their forehead, was slightly intimidated by his company. He swallowed, with no result due to his dry mouth, and spoke.

    “I understood you would like to speak with me, as leader of the Space Pirate Confederacy.”

    The man in armor spoke. “Indeed I would.” His voice was raspy and metallic, yet soft and commanding. It was hard for Keaton to ignore the voice, but even harder to listen to it. He swallowed dryly again.

    “I also understand that you would like to discuss a peace treaty with me.”

    The man nodded slightly. “Indeed I would.” The two men in the back of the room shifted slightly, for they were impatient of this matter. The man in the cloak spoke.

    “Adorios, you might be able to live eternally, but we back here are not as resilient as you, in body AND mind”

    The man Keaton now knew as Adorios turned to the cloaked man, and nodded. “Sorry, I simply do not want to intimidate the man.”

    The gelatinous person spoke next. Surprisingly, his voice was rather normal sounding.

    “I have no impatience in this matter, Adorios. You can take as long as it needs.”

    “Thank you, Nero. But, I do not wish to bore the man, either. So, I guess I will have to do a medium-length meeting.”

    Adorios turned to Keaton again, who jumped a little when he did. Adorios sat back in his chair, and finally spoke to him.

    “As leader of the Space Pirate Confederacy, I would like to discuss a peace agreement with you. I personally would not like to engage in unfriendly combat any longer. You must agree that his war is ruining our lives, and is a pointless conflict.”

    Keaton spoke, slightly surprised. “You are absolutely correct. We need to stop this soon, or the universe might as well be destroyed”

    Adorios’s visor gleamed, while Nero and the other man lowered their heads, as if to hide their expressions. Adorios resumed speaking. “Yes, we would definitely like to avoid doing that. The universe is very valuable to the Space Pirates.”

    Keaton was relieved. “All right then, what are your terms? I’m sure whatever you desire is better than endless conflict.”

    Adorios, whose emotions were hidden behind his dark visor, nodded. “Yes. My terms are rather simple. For 10 years, you are to deliver around five thousand Afloraltite to the Joheran Home-planet, known as the Space Pirate Homeworld to you, every 6 months.”

    Keaton thought for a moment. “That would be…over one hundred thousand afloraltite in total! That is quite a lot. I’m not entirely sure if we could get together that much fuel in so little time.”

    “You don’t seem to have a choice in this matter, Chairman. The Space Pirates themselves want this, it is not my demand. I cannot control EVERY one of my people…so there is no telling what a single disgruntled Joheran could do out there…”

    Keaton lay silent for a moment. He spoke again, his voice a bit quaky.

    “V-very well.” He swallowed, a bit more moisture than last time. “What is your second request?”

    Adorios lowered his head, as if smiling evilly. “We shall discuss this for a bit, if you do not mind…”


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    Samus and Listal left the room they battled the Kraid-creature in, exhausted from battle. Samus leaned against the wall for a moment, and then looked at her clock. Apparently, they had been on the planet for exactly 5 hours, which was way above the limit they discussed earlier. They were aiming for less than 2 hours, three hours maximum, on this mission, so that they could avoid being noticed by the Space Pirates. Also, they had made a large amount of noise while they were there. So, how come they haven’t been attacked yet?

    Listal spoke first. “We made a lot of noise, didn’t we?”

    “I’m thinking the same thing you are. I mean, this place DID seem a little bit empty when we came, even the mess hall chutes weren’t dumping food like they should have been.”

    “Perhaps it was a trap?”

    Samus shook her head. “I think we already sprung both of the traps. Adam got attacked by the Metalloid-slime, and we faced off against the Metalloid-Kraid. Somehow, Adorios knew we were going to go to those areas. But how he knew, I don’t know…”

    “Hm…………wait…what about the metal fuzz outside? If the Space Pirates left the planet completely, then wouldn’t they need to use really large ships to get out?

    “Yeah, they have these really large ships called Lord Vessels. They’re almost the size of a medium city………hey……wait a minute………how would they have gotten them off of the planet?”

    “Precisely. If this fuzz has been growing here and has grown enough to create a mass large enough to cover the planet, then they must have left the planet a long time ago. However, the computers here contain all battle plans for up-to-date events. So…why is it feel like the Space Pirates are giving us the info we need?”

    Listal suddenly began to tap a few buttons on her arm. Curious, Samus stepped over to her. As soon as she got near, a holographic screen was projected from Listal’s arm. Listal began to read the info, and Samus joined in.

    “Look at this.” Listal finally said. “According to these battle plans, The Space Pirates have left for two planets: Gorodan, where most of their troops are situated, and…………”

    “What is it?” Samus asked

    “The second planet they left for is…Fravellius?”

    “What’s Fravellius?”

    “Fravellius is supposedly the planet where the gods reside, a paradise of life. But, it’s only a myth…the supposed coordinates lead to a red supergiant. If the planet did exist once, it would have probably been eaten up by the star.”

    “According to this though, they had successfully landed upon Fravellius. If it’s a myth, they why are they on the planet? Space Pirates aren’t exactly the type of species to lie, so there must be a way to get to the planet.”

    “You’re right…I wonder what Adam thinks.”

    Listal tapped some more buttons on her arm, and Adam’s robotic face appeared on the screen.

    “Adam, did you read the info we picked up yet?” Listal and Samus both said at the same time. They glanced at eachother for a moment, surprised by the simultaneous response.

    Adam replied. “Yes…and I must say it is most puzzling. Fravellius doesn’t exist on the modern space-chart, and about Gorodan…”

    “What about it?” They both replied again.

    “It’s a planet made of molten rock.” Xorexus suddenly bumped in, annoying Adam. “The planet is in a solar system that has three stars orbiting another star. The planet is one of the few that are there, but the heat from all four stars around it has kept it from forming a solid crust. It’s basically a planet of hell.”

    “I’m pretty sure my Varia Suit tech can protect us out there, and maybe even the Hazard suit, but I don’t think Harquar could help us much there…”

    Xorexus smiled. “Yeah, he would need your Varia, your Hazard, your Gravity, your…”

    “Enough, Xorexus.” Samus said. “We first need to get off this planet. Is everyone near a dumping chute?”

    “We’re already here.” Xorexus said. He moved from the screen, and the ship was there in the background.

    “What!?” Samus yelled. “Come on Listal, we gotta go!”

    “Why-y-y?” Listal yelled as she was being pulled by Samus.

    “Because A, we need to get out of here, and B, I just got beaten by a guy…”


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    Keaton was reading the treaty he had made with Adorios. The terms were quite harsh, and Keaton wasn’t sure if he could carry them out. But he had to do so, for the life of the universe was hanging off this treaty…



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    ---To be continued---

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    Please Review! More will come, but not for a while. Thank you for reading!

    ---Adorios--- (not the bad guy!)