Huntress No Longer (Private for Cardiac)
 

Ralala T'Ching stood in front of a big glass container, surveying the creatures placidly drifting about inside curiously.

Ralala was a tall and curvy woman with long auburn hair and odd purple eyes. She was attractive, athletically built, and freckled all over, but most of that was concealed by the lithe, angular crimson body armor she was wearing which tapered her shoulders, knees and elbows to bladelike points and made her finger tips end in razor-sharp claws. All in all, Ralala did not look like a woman to be trifled with, and she was not; she was a mercenary currently wanted by the Federation for her collaboration with Space Pirates. Ralala looked over at the one in the room with her at the moment curiously.

"And you say these new metroids you've bred don't suck out life force like the old ones did?" She asked, sounding skeptical.

"That is correct, Miss T'Ching." Came the monotonous, somewhat feminine voice of the other inhabitant of the room, a highly advanced research bot in the shape of a grown woman, with long, shiny black hair and blank blue eyes, sitting in front of one of the two large supercomputers this room housed. She was originally called SRB6-89330X2RE-METROID, designed specifically to help the Galactic Federation study the Metroid species... But after some time, she had thought of a name for herself. Now, she was called Salirachi. It had been three or four years since she had split from the Federation, and been picked up by the Space Pirates... She had been inducted into the ranks personally by the most feared leader of the Pirates ever, Ridley, and now, she worked as a pirate researcher, bent on genetic modification of the Metroid species...

"Unlike the original Metroids and their natural evolutions, these new Metroids do not survive off of the energy of living beings... Instead, they absorb age..." Salirachi said, turning in her seat to stare at the lighter, more translucent green Metroid hatchling floating in the glass tube, seemingly staring towards Ralala... All of a sudden, it rammed itself into the side of the tube with a small "THUNK!", though it did not shatter the glass. It didn't even cause a scratch...

"Do not worry... Even if the hatchling does somehow manage to escape, you are in no danger." She said as she turned back to the supercomputer, going back to her work. "This Metroid, unlike all others, can not absorb unless it comes in contact with bare skin... And now... I believe you are wondering why you have been called here, other than to observe this new breed... Am I correct, Miss T'ching?"

Ralala flinched a little when the Metroid thunked against the glass...even knowing you were supposed to be completely safe from whatever it was they'd cooked up, history was full of the bones of people that had underestimated just how dangerous Metroids were. Still, Ralala kept her gaze on Salirachi.

"I'd assumed it wasn't just because you enjoyed my company." She said, shrugging. "I take it you have a job for me? Someone that needs to be...out of the way?"

Salirachi's blank blue eyes remained fixed on the screen as she replied, "Correct again, Miss T'ching..." She turned in her chair of sorts, taking a small, spherical machine with a little blinking blue light on the top... A hologram projector! After touching the blue light with her thumb, she set the projector on the ground in front of them. After a few seconds, the hologram projector gave off a few small beeps, and the hologram appeared...

"An old acquaintance of yours has been causing much trouble for Space Pirates across the Universe..." Salirachi stated in her monotonous, somewhat mechanical voice as the light blue, transparent hologram took the form of a woman in about her mid twenties, standing at approximately 6' 3", with long hair tied back in a neat little ponytail, and a face that was as cold and emotionless as a stone...

"Samus Aran is your next target... but she is not to be eliminated unless necessary." A small grin seemed to flash across Salirachi's face, before disappearing completely. Her AI systems were only just starting to develop emotions... "She is to be used as the first test subject for the new Metroid Hatchling, which shall be accompanying you... This will not be an easy task, as you will need to remove her Power Suit before the Hatchling can do anything..." Across the room from the supercomputer in front of the mechanical woman, a mechanical arm retrieved a device... an arm cannon. Ralala's arm cannon, which she had been asked to surrender after her last mission. "However, with this, it will make your job much easier..." The machine held the cannon out in front of Ralala for her to take... "We have given it a few new modifications, including a beam which will successfully render Aran's suit useless..."

"..." Ralala stood quietly for a little while, taking all of this in.

Samus had been more than an acquaintance; back in the day, when she was another federation grunt lurching from mission to mission for a shitty paycheck, she'd considered Samus one of her few friends. Once she was a mercenary vaguely opposed to the Federation as Samus was a bounty hunter vaguely aligned with them, Ralala had idly wondered sometimes if she'd ever meet her friend again in the middle of a shoot-out, and considered what she'd do if that happened to her.

Well, now it was decision time, and the deal was better than she'd expected...don't kill her, just get her out of the way...but still...

Ralala looked at Salirachi.

"While I'm all too happy to have an alternative to killing Sammy, what exactly is going to happen to her once your metroid's had its fill of her?" She asked. She wasn't going to go on a mission to turn Samus into a helpless baby only to find out later that the rumors of Ridley eating babies were true.

"After the hatchling has absorbed her age, and Samus Aran has been rendered as nothing more than a child, her infant's mind will no longer be able to hold onto the memories she has gathered over her life span." Salirachi commented, watching as the mechanical arm attached Ralala's arm cannon back to her armor. "After two months, she will not remember any part of her life... and with that, she will have no objections to joining our ranks, as the Mother Brain originally planned."

Salirachi's fingers pressed a few buttons on the supercomputer's keyboard, and in the blink of an eye, the Metroid hatchling was suddenly sucked through the bottom of it's container, being brought over to Ralala moments later in a smaller, more portable container of sorts. The Research Bot turned in her chair back towards Ralala... "We are still deciding who should take the role of Samus' new mother for the time she is to be raised again... The only two members of the space pirates which would be suitable for the position would be myself, and you, Miss T'Ching... And as you know, I am most definitely not interested in burdening myself with a child... So that only leaves you..."

"..." Ralala took the container, thinking for a moment before she smiled a little.

"I'll do it." She said, nodding.

This was actually a better arrangement than she'd been expecting...she'd just take down Samus's armor, let the metroid turn her into a baby, and adopt her and raise her again. Ralala liked kids, and given that she'd never had a stable relationship in her life, maybe making Samus into her baby wasn't such a bad idea after all. It sure as hell beat killing her...

Salirachi seemed to grin slightly at Ralala's words. "Excellent..." She said, turning back to her supercomputer and pressing another few buttons. There was a small 'Beep!' of confirmation, followed by a mechanical, "Coordinates sent!" as the coordinates to some planet somewhere in the universe had been transferred from her computer to somewhere else...

"Once you return to your gunship, your new objectives will be waiting for you, as well as the coordinates of several small Federation Marine bases, one of which you will need to attack in order to lure Aran to your position..." Salirachi droned on as she typed in a few more commands, causing several machines around the research area to become active and start performing activities. "You will also find the coordinates of a colony established in parts of the universe unexplored by the Federation... A space station in orbit around a planet that is currently being terraformed, Illita, with a population of precisely seven thousand three hundred ninety two inhabitants. Many Space Pirates often trade there... That is where it is recommended you stay while raising Aran..."

"Gotcha. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have an adoption to set up." Ralala said, smiling at Salirachi before donning her helmet and exiting the room, heading for her ship.

Sammy...I don't know what you think of what I've chosen to do with my life, but I make no apologies. The Federation is corrupt, and they're going to use you like a tool if they can. At least the Space Pirates don't pretend they're guardians of justice when they rob people...but I'm not going to let them just use you as a tool or a weapon like the federation. You might not understand my reasons, but once I'm your mother, I'm going to be one of the few people out there actually on your side...so I'm not going to apologize for what I'm about to do to you.

Ralala boarded her ship and sat down in the cockpit, putting her game face on for what might be the last time in a long while.

"One last dance, Sammy. Let's see what you've got." She whispered.

Salirachi... actually smiled, for the first time since she was built. Ridley would be pleased to learn that Ralala had actually agreed to help them gain control of the Federation's greatest weapon... They were doomed now. Once they had Samus in their clutches, the Federation would never be able to win. Although their Marines did have slightly superior training, the Space Pirates had technology that the Galactic Federation wouldn't develop for quite a while... and when that time came, it would be obsolete. A thought -- or rather, a collection of data stored in her AI popped into Salirachi's head. Quickly, she typed a small message, and sent it to Ralala's gunship...

"Once you are finished, feel free to keep or dispose of the new Metroid. It is not able to, nor will it need to absorb any more than one person's age in it's entire life, so it will be of no more use to us after Aran. ~~~Salirachi"

Meanwhile, on the Federation base which Ralala had chosen for her trap...

Private First Class Kendal Verickt, a Federation Marine, currently sat upon a large boulder, his shiny silver body armor shimmering radiantly in the light of the bright white star this planet orbited as he watched his fellow marines shooting at a number of flying target drones. The light blue of his helmet's visor shot off a glare of the same reflected light as he watched on. His crew-cut dark brown hair just barely touched the helmet that was snug around his entire head. His glowing orange eyes were unfocused... To the normal Federation Marine, this would've just been a normal sight. Just target practice...

It was different for Verickt. His mind had never been able to completely switch to the bland, uncreative thought processes of the normal Federation Marine. What they saw as target practice, he currently imagined as a pest control problem. The Marines were exterminators, and the drones were flying insects which had infested a vital resource for society, whatever that may have been... He always liked to think of things that way. It made everyday life as a soldier for the Galactic Federation that much more bearable... The Lieutenant behind the Marines barked angrily towards those who were screwing up, and gave somewhat angry words of praise to those who were hitting the marks...

Verickt sighed, staring up towards the bright blue sky... Not a single cloud at the moment... But there was something there. A small anomaly of sorts, looking somewhat like a falling meteor engulfed in flames... "Hm... Didn't think there'd be anything headin' towards us today..." He muttered to himself, imagining the magnificent sight of the meteor burning away as it flew farther into the atmosphere... Slowly, he tapped his visor, his sights zooming in on what he thought was just a meteor.

He couldn't have been more wrong...

"...Ooooooooooooh, SHIT!" He shouted as he observed the object, bolting up from his spot on the boulder with several marines staring towards him. His eyes widened... That wasn't falling space debris. Far from it... That was a Pirate Gunship, and one that all Federation Marines knew and feared...

"Boy, what has gotten into you?" Called the Lieutenant who had been commanding the practicing marines...

"Sir, we've got a situation on our hands!" Verickt shouted nervously, pointing towards the falling object in the sky with his arm cannon. "Pirate Gunship inbound! It's T'Ching, sir!" Within moments, an alarm sounded, and the entire Federation base was active, preparing for the arrival of the Pirate Mercenary... Everyone knew the tales, how she single-handedly took down entire bases filled with Marines in only hours... They called her the Pirate Equivalent of Samus Aran... They had to have everyone ready if they even wanted to stand a chance.