CHAPTER SIX: HELP FROM AN UNLIKELY SOURCE

	Samus Aran returned home in a state of confusion. The Old Bird’s words 
meant basically nothing to her. How could she use any of his advice to 
help with this new problem? But then, although it’s always rather 
cryptic, Gul’Gen’s advice generally was to be heeded.
	And then there was this issue with her brother. Aparrently he was 
alive! This at least was good news. But who was he? Gul’Gen would have 
told her who he was outright if he didn’t feel that she could find him 
without his help.
	With these thoughts in mind, Samus Aran retired to her small apartment 
for some much needed sleep. In fact, she was so tired that she forgot to 
lock the door.

	Susan Franklins was very pleased with her work over the past few days.
	As official president of Earth, it was her duty to defend her planet at 
all times from threats, and to report anything to the Federation. Susan 
was not pleased with that work, though. She was very pleased with her 
other job.
	When she received a letter from someone known as “The Master” a few 
weeks ago, promising her all of the riches in the universe and three 
planets besides if she would just tell one little white lie; of course 
she accepted. What politician in her right mind wouldn’t? Certainly not 
Susan Franklins. Certainly not. Life couldn’t get any better.
	
				*		*		*
	Samus woke up at five in the morning again. She was suppossed to be at 
a meeting in two hours, and she had no time to spare. She was also too 
tired to turn on any of the lights or think coherently.
	Somehow, Samus Aran managed to get up, find an outfit, shower, etc. and 
get dressed without any light (This was partially due to how tired she 
was).
	She wouldn’t need her suit today, so Samus left it in the closet. 
	The thought of the much-needed coffee that would wake her up this 
morning was all that kept Samus moving.
	She groped blindly for the doorknob (The lights were still off), and 
when she found it and tried to turn it, it wouldn’t budge.
	“Ergh. I must’ve locked it.” She grumbled quietly and turned to find 
the keys before a thought struck her: She hadn’t locked the door last 
night.
	This little thought was enough to wake up the bounty hunter; but when 
she turned around and before she could do anything,  Samus Aran saw a 
sight that had haunted her nightmares for years: A pair of glowing, 
yellow eyes. The eyes of a terror.
	Ridley’s eyes.
	“Turn on the lights.” A uneasily smooth yet terrifyingly familiar voice 
said.
	Samus complied. There was no sense in trying to fight Ridley without 
any armor or weapons. He was just too powerful.
	Samus flicked the switch; and blinding light flooded the room. When her 
eyes adjusted, Samus saw who was possibly her worst enemy (With the 
exception of the Mother Brain) standing before her; alive and well.
	He was also standing in front of the closet that held Samus’ suit; 
blocking off that way out.
	“Really, Ms. Aran, I expected more from you.” Ridley started to laugh a 
little as he said this; a biting, evil cackle.
	“I can’t believe that you, the galaxy’s greatest bounty hunter, could 
wake up, get dressed, and get ready to leave without noticing a dragon 
standing next to her! Well, how you could do any of that with the lights 
out is an even bigger question. But anyway...”
	“I was tired!” Samus shouted, then scolded herself for drawing Ridley’s 
attention away from what he was saying. There was a gun under the bed. 
And as Samus inched towards it, every second counted.
	“Fine then, you were tired. Anyway, you are probably wondering right 
now why I didn’t just kill you earlier. Well...!”
	With that “Well...”, In an amazingly quick move; Samus dove under the 
bed, grabbed the blaster, and jumped up with the barrel of the blaster 
aimed directly in between Ridley’s eyes.
	“I don’t care why!” Samus shouted, sweating, “Just back off! I don’t 
know how you survived Zebes, but I am perfectly prepared to finish you 
now! Now, Back off!”
	Ridley cackled again, and calmly said, “Really, Samus, I am 
disappointed in you. You and I both know that that little weapon is too 
weak to do any substantial damage to me, and I could be on you before 
you let out two shots.
	“Now, put the gun down. And listen.”
	Samus reluctantly put the blaster down, and prepared to listen. Ridley 
had successfully called her bluff.
	“Now, Samus. I have not come to harm you, but to warn you! There is a 
new danger in the galaxy, and only you can stop it! Samus, please, we 
need your help!” 
	
	Hardy was hardly at work today. He was, in fact taking his third “lunch 
Break” that day, and very pleased with himself over this latest culinary 
masterpiece. The BLT. With a lot of barbeque sauce added. Unfortunately, 
this meant that he had to spread napkins everywhere to avoid unnecessary 
spillage.
	Hey, after all; If it doesn’t get all over the place, it doesn’t belong 
in your face (Or so the ancient saying goes).
	As he bit into the sandwhich, James Hardy experienced a pure rapture, a 
rapture only known to those fans of good food.
	Hardy’s rapture was interrupted by a loud knock on the door.
	Hardy panicked, shoving his BLT into one of his desk drawers; and 
frantically trying to hide his napkins.
	the knock was repeated. 
	“Wait a minute!” Hardy shouted, “I’ll be there!”
	After finally hiding the last of the napkins, Hardy grabbed the phone, 
and said, “Okay, come in.”
	The door opened, and Samus Aran entered.
	“I don’t care how dangerous the mission is; just send someone in right 
now!” Hardy shouted, slamming the phone down on the receiver. Samus 
couldn’t help but laugh at his little ruse. Hardy was known for his love 
of food, and for his love of goofing off. There was also his uncanny 
knack for keeping his job under all circumstances.
	hardy feigned looking busy for a moment, then suddenly looked up at 
Samus.
	“You wanted to speak to me, Ms. Aran?” He said with all of the 
authority that he could muster.
	“Yes, in fact. I did. I have something very important to talk about.”
	“It doesn’t have anything to do with Tsebnash, does it? You know what 
the council said. It’s nothing. Besides, I have no jurisdiction over any 
of this.”
	“But you can get me an appointment with Chairman Keaton. I just found 
out something that’s very important.”
	“All right. I can do that. Just give me this: What did you find out?”
	“I learned what our new threat is.”
	Hardy lost his entire appetite as he listened to exactly what this new 
source of danger was.  


		CHAPTER SEVEN: ASSASINATION ATTEMPT

	Back on Tsebnash, the day was slowly, falling into night. Even with the 
slight atmospheric changes, there was still a beautiful sunset. The only 
real difference now was that it was all in shades of red, as though the 
sky were set on fire. Utter beauty.
	Although It could not comprehend beauty, the Master always watched the 
sunsets every evening. It hoped that through an understanding of lesser 
emotions, It could be a more effective conqueror.
	Of course, It could just dissect the brain of one of Its “recruits,” 
but It had too few, and they were all too valuable now. It would dissect 
after conquering. That would be the solution.
	Schneider approached the Master.
	“Master, we have a problem. Ridley is missing. He has been missing for 
some time, and I suspect that he’s...”
	“WE KNOW. THE DRAGON IS A TRAITOR. HE WILL BE DEALT WITH. DO NOT 
DISTURB US AGAIN TONIGHT.”
	Schneider complied quickly. It was not wise to disobey the Master. Nor 
was it wise to fail It or to be the bringer of bad news.

				*		*		*

	Keaton, Hardy, and Houston knew to instinctively trust Samus Aran. She 
was never one to lie, and never one to believe lies, either. So when she 
told them that their new enemy was an insectlike race of drones that was 
more of a threat than any type of space pirate, they instinctively 
trusted, and were prepared to tell the rest of the council about it. 
	What they didn’t trust was Ridley.
	While no one doubted the trustworthiness of Samus Aran, they did not 
trust her informant. Ridley had very rightly been given the title of 
“scourge of the galaxy”, and in his years as head errand-runner for 
Mother Brain; Ridley had been responsible for billions of deaths. This 
definetly did not qualify him for the “Most Trustworthy Being of the 
Year” award.
	So, needless to say, the meeting between Ridley and Hardy did not go 
well.
	It took all of ten minutes and eighty soldiers for Ridley to be 
arrested and completely chained up in a detainment cell.
	It took all of ten hours for one lone black ship to fly from Tsebnash 
to the Federation headquarters at the Alpha Centauri station.
	It was Schneider’s ship.
	And Schneider was not the only one on it.

	“Did you really think that this little scheme would work?”
	Hardy was dumbfounded. After the arrest, he and Keaton decided to 
interrogate Ridley. Neither of them could figure out why Ridley would 
try to deceive Samus directly, or why it would work, for that matter. 
The notion that Ridley might have been telling the truth did not occur 
to either of them.	So far, Ridley was not answering.
	“Well?” Keaton said, “Answer! You’re not going to get out of these 
shackles. They can hold a Glomian Blorff easily, and you, my friend, are 
no Glomian Blorff.”
	Ridley was silent. He had long given up answering.
	
	
				*		*		*

	Samus Aran walked down the hallway that led to detention cell no. 8, 
where Ridley was being held. She knew that he was telling the truth, and 
that no matter what, he had to be freed. Not that she liked Ridley, or 
anything. It was just that his knowledge of the incoming danger might be 
the only edge that they had. 
	Samus heard footsteps behind her. She slowed her pace, to let whoever 
it was ahead. Samus hated turning her back to unknown individuals 
whenever there was an emergncy. She had to remember not to notice this 
person. Looking back was usually a sure-fire way to get blasted.
	She slowed, but this person never walked past her. the footsteps 
stopped a matter of inches from her.
	Why do these things always happen when I’m not wearing my suit? she 
thought. But then the mysterious follower spoke.
	“Hello, Samus. Remember me?”
	Samus turned and faced Schneider.
	“Locuthis Schneider? What are you doing here?”
	Samus already knew the answer to that question. Although Ridley never 
mentioned him, Samus could see it in his eyes. The man was mad.
	“I’m here with a proposition for you,” He said, grabbing her arm, “I 
have just been to the halls of The Master. You would not understand 
that, though, but let me speak. When I crashed on Tsebnash, my life was 
saved by a community of creatures that defies all ideas of civilization. 
They all worked in perfect harmony, as though of one mind. They were 
guided by a being known as The Master.
	“It is the ultimate reigning force in the universe, and is now seeking 
to regain its kingdom.” He continued with an evil grin, “And It will 
conquer all of us. We belong to it, Samus. But there are certain ones 
who are against us, and you can’t listen to them. They don’t want athe 
glorious kingdom, but we do. Come with us, and you can have all the 
secrets of the cosmos! Even immortality will be in your grasp!”
	“You’re nuts.” Samus said, rather calmly. Schneider grabbed her other 
arm and continued, apparently unfazed.
	“Think about this, everything that you’ve ever wanted would be yours. 
Everything. I know The Master personally, and It will grant everything 
to you if you’re with me. And after that, who’s to say that we can’t 
take the universe? You and me, ruling for all eternity.” He leaned so 
close that Samus could almost taste his breath.
	“Our rule would be beautiful. Us, The King and Queen of the universe, 
ruling together with an iron fist. What do you say?”
	Samus said a lot without having to speak when she kneed Schneider in 
the groin, destroying the family jewels.
	Samus bolted, running as fast as she could. If her instincts were 
right, that rat writhing in pain back there wasn’t the only unexpected 
visitor.

	“Well, talk!!” Hardy was very mad. He and Keaton had been there for 
three hours now and Ridley still wasn’t talking. Now, though, he seemed 
ready to speak.
	“Well, I would look behind you, if I were you.”
	Hardy, confused, turned around and saw the largest bug that he had ever 
seen raising its prehensile foreleg to strike. 
	Chairman Keaton, who also had just noticed this, pushed Hardy away from 
what would have impaled his skull. The Kihunter, however, quickly made 
up for that lost strike by grabbing the chairman as two other Kihunters 
entered the room.
	Two red sacs on the Kihunter’s head suddenly inflated, as though 
filling with a fluid. The Kihunter reared its head back to spit, but was 
interrupted suddenly by an extremely loud roar.
	Ridley bellowed like some kind of primordial dinosaur as he pulled from 
the shackles that bolted him to the wall. Obviously, Ridley was stronger 
than a glomian Blorff, because he ripped free of the wall and tore after 
the Kihunter.
	The Kihunter dropped Keaton and unloaded all of its stored up acid onto 
Ridley’s face.
	Ridley wiped it off before it did any real damage and grabbed the 
Kihunter’s neck. It’s head popped off like a toy’s.
	Hardy pulled his blaster and began shooting at one of the bugs, 
blasting it until there were more holes in its body than there are in 
some cheeses. Its body crumpled on the floor.
	Ridley turned towards the last Kihunter and torched it with flaming 
breath. 
	It caught fire, but didn’t seem to be affected. The Kihunter, in 
flames, pounced on Ridley, and would have seperated his spinal cord from 
the rest of his body if not for a sudden missile that came from outside 
the room and shattered the Kihunter’s head.
	Samus, in her suit, entered the cell.


			CHAPTER EIGHT: INTO THE FIRE		 

	Schneider returned to Tsebnash in shame. Neither of his mission goals 
had been accomplished. 
	First, Ridley, Keaton, and Hardy were still alive, and secondly, Samus 
Aran was still alive, and fighting for the other side. He was suppossed 
to kill her if she wouldn’t be recruited, but he hadn’t counted on her 
reply being so, well, painful. The most that he expected was a punch on 
the jaw. Also, all three Kihunters had been destroyed, and their remains 
were in the hands of the Federation. This was worse than anything else 
that could have happened. They could always send more bugs, but this 
loss was permanent. Schneider knew well what happened to those who 
failed The Master. He had had to clean up the mess at times.
	Schneider approached The Master in It’s inner sanctum: a small room 
where it linked itself up to The Control, a special computer.
	He entered. The Master spoke, almost out of the room itself.
	“SIT DOWN.”
	Schneider complied.
	“LINK YOURSELF UP.”
	Schneider noticed for the first time the small headset above the chair. 
He put it on.
	Instantly a whirlwind of visions entered his mind. He didn’t see any of 
it with his eyes, but with his mind. In one second he saw more than he 
could have seen normally in a million years.
	“DO YOU SEE ALL OF THIS?” The Master spoke.
	“IT IS THE HISTORY OF OUR CONQUESTS. IN IT YOU HAVE SEEN THE MAGNITUDE 
OF OUR WORKS.
	“YOUR FAILURE HARMS ALL OF THAT.”
	Instantly the visions changed, and Schneider screamed in anguish.

				*		*		*				

	All of a sudden, everybody trusted Ridley. Especially Hardy. It took 
the longest for Houston to believe what Ridley was saying, but soon he, 
too, trusted the infamous dragon. At least now he wasn’t the only one 
who couldn’t whistle.
	Chairman Keaton waisted no time in calling another meeting, and this 
time he had concrete evidence: the bodies of three Kihunters.
	Susan Franklins had nothing to say this time. There had been several 
tess, studies, experiments, etc. run on one of the bodies, and the 
results were very interesting.
	Although they were just like gigantic insects and therefore should have 
been very stupid, the Kihunters obviously used some sort of 
intelligence.
	A study of their brains showed that the Kihunters operated under a 
“hive mentality”. That much was obvious. But the interesting point was 
that this hive mentalility was caused by a small implant in the brain of 
each bug. Another strange thing was that none of the three Kihunters 
found had any reproductive organs at all. This, however, was explained 
when Ridley mentioned that there were several “breeders” that created 
the drones.
	With this knowledge in hand, Chairman Keaton ordered a small task force 
to be sent out to Tsebnash. They never came back.

	Schneider’s head reeled. It had been doing so for the past two days. Or 
had it been three? He couldn’t tell. The Master hadn’t killed him, but 
It had kept him in The Control for longer than he thought he could 
stand. The fact that he was still alive meant that he was extremely 
valuable in some way or another.
	But now, The Master had bigger fish to fry. It seems that another one 
of Its recruits had failed, but in a much larger way. There was another 
attack on Tsebnash. It was quickly squashed. The inhabitants of this 
galaxy are so easy to kill.
	Schneider had decided to see who it was who was not long for this 
universe.	
	When he staggered out to the inner sanctum, where The Master was, he 
was surprised to see a stout, redheaded woman in her forties talking to 
It. 
	“President Susan Franklins?” Schneider said, “Wow! It’s an honor to-”
	“LEAVE.”
	“Okay.”
	Schneider quickly left the room. He was smart enough to know when to 
leave a room.
	Susan Franklins turned and faced The Master.
	“Who was that?”
	“NO ONE WHO CONCERNS YOU.”
	“So, why did you call me here?”
	As a reply, two reddish beams shot out from The Master’s eyes, and 
turned Ms. Franklins into a small pile of ashes. She didn’t even have 
time to scream.
	“YOU FAILED.”

	“Samus, Mr. Houston, and, of course, Ridley, I have a job for you.”
	Keaton had summoned the three into his office. There was serious 
business to be discussed.
	“As you have undoubtedly heard by now, President Susan Franklins of 
Earth has disappeared-”
		“Oh, no! Really? I’m glad that you said that, Chairman. I must go home 
and tell the missus!”
	“Very funny, Ridley. Please allow me to speak. Anyway, going by your 
description of the Kihunter’s ships, we have sighted a planet killer 
with a fleet of fighters heading for the 
 
system (please do not ask me to repeat that). However, further reports 
indicate that they have bypassed that system and are heading towards the 
Gup system. We are currently putting together a strike force to engage 
these ships. We need you on it. The bounty is high. Will you accept?’
	Ridley was speechless. His home planet was in the Gup system.
	Samus spoke for the group, “We’ll take it.”

				*		*		*

	The fleet left for the Gup system as soon as possible.
	Samus and Ridley had to be placed in Houston’s ship because Samus had 
crashed her hyperdrive engines two weeks ago and the mechanics working 
on it were idiots (some things never change).
	The fleet entered Guppen space, but there was no welcoming committee. 
Half of the planets were gone, too, leaving new asteroid belts in their 
places.
	The fire had begun.
	They spotted the enemy fleet near Croban, Ridley’s homeworld. There 
were hundreds of little green ships in a perfect protective formation 
around a huge spherical ship.
	The attack began.
	The red fleet broke off and headed for the Kihunter’s flank. The green 
ships turned out to meet them.
	Houston started to pilot his ship before Samus knocked him out of the 
way, taking the controls. The small blue ship sped up and flew into the 
heart of the attack, blasting through anything that came in their way.
	Ridley turned the intercom off. Everyone was shouting at the same time.
	The battle raged for what seemed like hours, but was in fact five 
minutes until all hell broke loose.
	It seemed as though the Federation was winning the battle; a lot of the 
enemy ships had been destroyed. But so had many of the Federation’s, 
including three starcruisers. And the planetkiller was still just fine, 
its shields were deflecting everything.
	Suddenly large hatches opened on the planetkiller. More fighters tore 
out of it. More fighters than you could imagine fitting inside the 
planetkiller.
	Literally hundreds of ships tore out of the hatches on the side of the 
ship.
	All that anyone could do was stare and pray.
	“That’s a lot of ships.” Houston said in pure amazement.
	“I’ve never seen that many ships in my life.” Ridley exclaimed.
	“Why are they all green?” Was Samus’ response.
	Ridley turned the intercom back on. A jumbled noise would be nice right 
about now.
	There was total silence.
	One single voice shouted.
	“Great Sortash! What is that?”
	Everyone turned and looked. Four long extensions, like long claws 
extended from the front of the planetkiller. A huge electrical beam 
connected the extensions; and four equally sized beams fired into each 
other from the ends of the clawlike extensions, making a pyramid shape. 
A fifth beam coming from the central orb joined them. There was a huge 
charge, and an enormous electrical beam fired out from the ship and into 
the planet.
	The beam blasted into the planet’s core, and Ridley’s planet erupted in 
flames, sending flaming rocks flying outward.
	Everyone was shocked, the Federation froze for one lethal moment. The 
enemy had shown its power.
	The enemy forces struck, attacking the heart of the Federation’s 
dwindling fleet.
	Samus, Houston, and especially Ridley stood motionless with terror. The 
Mother Brain would never have destroyed an entire world to spite her 
enemies. They were only knocked out of their daze by the jolt of an 
enemy hit.
	Ridley sprang to life first, his eyes flashing.
	“Get out!” He shouted, throwing Samus off the pilot’s chair. 
	“That was my home planet!”
	Samus knew when to not pick a fight with Ridley. There was more than 
enough rage in his eyes and voice to destroy all Kihunters. Houston did 
no more than make a few backhanded comments about who really owned the 
ship, but he agreed with Samus.
	Ridley took the controls, thanking his creator for the thre lessons 
that he had on this type of ship.
	Houston’s ship lurched, and turned directly at the planetkiller. Ridley 
gunned it, going as fast as he dared. All of the shouts on the intercom 
were the same.
	“What are you doing?”
	“Get back here?”
	“Are you crazy?”
	“!” 
	Ridley turned the ship straight at the central orb of the planetkiller.
	“Give my regards to The Master!”
	Ridley, still barreling the ship at full speed, fired all of the ship’s 
weapons directly into the planetkiller’s core. The orb cracked, and 
shattered. The entire planetkiller ship sparked for a moment, and then 
exploded in a way not unlike the world that it destroyed.
	Houston’s ship, still rocketing at maximum speed, flew right into the 
center of the explosion...and right out the back.
	“You ruined my paint job, Ridley!” Houston said in a sarcastic manner.
	“But we have to hand it to you,” Samus said, “You really- LOOK OUT!!”
	Ridley turned back toward the screen, and saw a huge piece of the 
planetkiller’s wreckage one second too late.

		
			    CHAPTER NINE: GUL’GEN

	Samus Aran had a headache. Not just an ordinary headache where you feel 
bruised, not jost a drilling, pounding, squeezing, or chopping headache, 
but one of those headaches that feels like two invisible knives are 
sticking through your eyes.
	And what was the cause of this? Dear old Ridley had shown everyone his 
skill in flying spaceships. Sure, he singlehandedly destroyed an entire 
Kihunter planetkiller, winning the battle and saving what was left of 
the Gup system, but he also didn’t pay enough attention to his 
surroundings, and sent the ship barreling directly into a piece of the 
planetkiller that was approximately the size of the windshield (Not 
really a window but more of a recording device) on Houston’s ship. 
Ridley smacked right into it.
	Luckily, both Samus and Houston were wearing their suits and were 
towards the back of the ship, or they would have had more than 
headaches. Ridley, however, was not wearing a suit, and he was right in 
the pilot’s seat, too.
	All three were knocked unconscious and they were salvaged by the 
cleanup crew.
	Currently, Samus didn’t know anyhing about what happened to Ridley. All 
that she knew was that they hadn’t found a scrap of him in the wreckage.
	So, as far as anyone was concerned, Ridley was space dust.
	Houston’s ship was completely totalled. There was no chance of it being 
repaired. Keaton promised that he would reimburse Houston for it, but 
until then he would have to fly with Samus on any future missions. 
Keaton also assured them that their paycheck for this mission was going 
to be absolutely huge.
	But there was a lot more work to be done in the meantime. Galactic war 
had been declared, and we needed all help possible.

				*		*		*

	The Master was furious. It had just lost one of its planetkillers, but 
more importantly, It had lost a battle. It had never lost anything 
before, and this worried It. The fact that It had reason to experience 
worry for the first time ever was also unsettling. What if It were 
destroyed this time? It’s robotic body could be destroyed without 
affecting It’s existance, but if someone were to find out how to truly 
destroy It, then It’s perpetual existance would truly be in danger. It 
must guard Itself, at all costs, then. It liked to think that It was 
eternal, but It knew that that was false. 
	The Master’s train of thought was broken as Schneider entered the inner 
sanctum.
	“WHY DO YOU DISTURB US?” 
	“I have been thinking, my Master.”
	“THINKING OF WHAT?”
	“Thinking of retaliation for this defeat. Samus Aran will be a problem 
for us in the future, I know of a full-proof trap that will either kill 
her or destroy her Morale. There is an uncharted planet nearby. My plan 
is-”

	“Hey, Samus! How’s your head?” Houston shouted from across the hallway.
	“Fine, if you’d stop yelling,” Samus replied, “Come over here.”
	Houston complied. Samus started talking.
	“Armstrong,” Samus said, calling Houston by his first name, “I’ve been 
thinking. We only fought a small fleet back there, and they nearly 
destroyed us. There’s no way for us to win this war by might alone. The 
Kihunters have more than a galaxy at their command, and our numbers just 
can’t match that.
	So I’ve been thinking. Since we can’t use brute force and expect to 
win, why don’t we use wisdom? I know that probably even chairman Keaton 
doesn’t have enough wisdom to stop them. But I do know someone who 
does.”
	“Gul’Gen?” Houston asked.
	“Yes, the Old Bird. We’ll have to set out soon, though. His planet is 
dangerously near Kihunter territory, and I fear for his life. Although I 
am sure that he can defend himself if necessary, the old bird cannot 
kill. It’s not in his nature. My ship’s finally been fixed. I’m going, 
whatever you say. Do you want to come with me?”
	“Do I have a choice?”
	“No.”
	“Okay.”

				*		*		*

	Gul’Gen knew that the end of his residence on this uncharted planet was 
coming to a close. He could feel the flying, green death as it came. He 
could see the ships flying above the horizon. But he did nothing. Yet. 
He did not need to.
	For there was another. 
	He felt the presence of the other almost as soon as he arrived. The 
other kept out of sight, but Gul’Gen knew that his presence was not 
threatening, but that the other did not wish to be seen.
	Then the great evil came.
	Gul’Gen knew that their proper name was Kihunter, but to him they would 
be the green death.
	They came the first night, but Gul’Gen sensed the other more strongly, 
and in the morning, Gul’gen found the dismembered bodies of several 
Kihunters.
	Gul’Gen thanked the Holy Creator for the other. Just as a snail cannot 
fly, a Chozo cannot kill. Gul’Gen was simply incapable of it.
	That afternoon, he felt the presence of the other, fighting the green 
death. They circled his meager hut, with a strange human leading them.
	The Kihunters advanced. Gul’Gen raised his staff, and fire burst from 
the ground, driving back the forces of darkness.
	Several Kihunters suddenly fell to the ground, writhing in agony. A 
huge circle of flame enclosed the enemy.
	The human stepped forward. Gul’Gen recognized him from Samus’ 
descriptions of Locuthis Schneider.
	“Old Bird, you are defeated,” Schneider said, “Even though you may be 
able to drive the drones back with your magician’s tricks, I know your 
secret. You cannot kill. We only have to wait you out, and you will be 
destroyed.”
	“Yes, it is true that I cannot kill. But hear this,” Gul’Gen said, 
pointing to the ring of fire that now encircled them, “Do you see this 
ring of flames? If I die, this ring of flames will close in, destroying 
all of you. “In that way you will destroy yourselves. Do you wish for 
that to take place?”
	Schneider looked worried.
	“We do not care if we live or die, so long as the mission is 
accomplished.” Schneider was not being sincere.
Before anything could happen, though, something new appeared.
Samus’ ship swooped low, firing its weapons into the crowd of insectiods 
below. A huge confusion started, some of the Kihunters jumped into the 
flames, incenerating themselves (that should show you how hot that ring 
of fire was).
Gul’Gen swung his staff hard across Schneider’s chin, knocking him out 
cold. The break in concentration caused the ring of fire to die. The 
Kihunters swarmed after Gul’Gen. But then the other came.
	Samus and Houston had just landed the ship when they were 
completely dumbstruck by what they saw. Ridley had come from out of  
nowhere and entered the fray!
	The dragon flew over most of the Kihunters and snatched the Old Bird 
out of the crowd. He was injured, but okay.
	Ridley flew into Samus’ ship, carying Gul’Gen with him.
	The yellow ship sped off into the stars.

		     CHAPTER TEN: TAKING THE OFFENSIVE

	The four of them flew directly to the Alpha Centauri orbiting space 
station. Do not pass Go. Do not collect two hundred dollars. Both Samus 
and Houston were totally confused at this point, but both of them 
understood enough not to let Ridley near the flight controls. Not for 
one moment. Both Gul’Gen and Ridley were silent during the trip home. 
This added some uneasiness. Ridley’s face looked somewhat more scarred, 
and one of his wings was damaged from a Kihunter talon. It was a miracle 
that he could fly as much as he did, with a chozo in his talons.
	It was only after their return to the station that Ridley told what 
happened to him.
	As it turned out, although Ridley was injured when Houston’s ship hit 
the piece of wreckage, he wasn’t knocked unconscious like everyone else.
	Ridley had known of Gul’Gen for years, and he decided that the Old Bird 
was in danger. When he arrived, Ridley coudn’t bring himself to come 
near Gul’Gen, and he kept a safe distance from him. Ridley had found 
himself to be almost a guardian angel for the ancient chozo.
	It was about then that the Kihunters tried the full assualt and Samus 
arrived.
		
				*		*		*

	The battle was over as quickly as it had begun. Well, begun is such a 
strong term. Really, several small fighters just bombed the Alpha 
Centauri space station into the stone age, and left.
	Samus ran down the ruined corridors of the station, searching for a 
particular person. A very particular person.
	She reached Medic section B, where they treated patients who had almost 
recovered. The patient in question was not recovering from much, but was 
stuck there, nevertheless.
	Samus entered the waiting room, and found exactly who she wanted 
walking out happily cured (Ridley, of course!).
	She ran up to him and commenced throttling.
	Knocking Ridley onto an empty gurney, Samus proceeded with a classic 
Aran-style interrogation.
	“Ridley!’ She shouted very loudly, “What do you know about the 
Kihunters! Say it!”
	“Fool! I told you everything!” Ridley said, easily (Dragons are very 
hard to throttle) “What do you expect, a full description of The 
Master?”
	“Yes, actually,” Samus loosened her grip at the request of a nearby 
nurse, “You’ve been holding something back. I don’t know what it is, but 
it’s been killing us. When I find out what it is, I will personally 
mount your head on my wall!”
	“Temper, temper, Ms. Aran,” Ridley got up off the smashed gurney, “You 
know, if you would stop being so pessimistic, you might finally see me 
as I really am: An ally. Now, please stop harassing me, I don’t want to 
spend any more time here.”
	Ridley pushed Samus out of his way and left. 
	Samus watched him leave. Just like a snake, Ridley old pal. She 
thought, then went back to life as usual.

	“Clearly we are outnumbered,” Chairman Keaton began another meeting, 
“The Kihunters have the manpower necessarry to completely destroy us; 
and they also use a hive mentality, thus making them unstoppable. Their 
latest attack obviously was only a warning. Right now we have a grave 
choice before us; We can either surrender to this new threat, or we can 
take a stand here-”
	“Oh, will you just shut up!” The Corncilian ambassador shouted, “I’m 
sick of your speeches, chairman! Just say it plainly! We can either 
live, or we can die! As for me and my home planet, we are surrendering! 
Life is better than death!”
	The ambassador got up and left. There was silence for a moment. Then 
Keaton got back up and spoke again,
	“Fine! Leave! I don’t care! I would rather die for the cause of good 
than live for evil! You are a fool! Come on, everyone! We must take the 
offensive, and we must take it now! Whether we live or die does not 
matter, all that does is that we can say that we fought for what we 
believe in,we fought against the forces of evil, and we did not shrink 
down! So, come with me; take the offensive! Fight! Who’s with me!”
	One by one each remaining ambassador got up and left the room, leaving 
the chairman alone. Apparently taking a stand is not well valued.