Author's Notes- Hello, thanks for clicking on my story!

This is my third fanfiction, second one for the metroid category. The story you are about to read is a companion story to my first fic, A Moment's Silence. It is not necessary, but highly recommended, that you read that story first.

This story will be built around Samus Aran and my original character, Maelos.Also, this story will be dealing with political corruption, understanding how the system works will help you, my readers. Here is my setup of the Galactic Federation Government-

-There is a central parliament with representatives from and elected by each planet; it is called the "House".

-The number of representatives is determined by the planet's population, and for each group of representatives there is a leader, called Ambassador, who is spokesperson for that planet and its representatives.

-The House takes a vote for each decision, 3/5 (60) majority wins.

-The Galactic Council has 11 members. Each member is directly elected by the people of the corresponding quadrant-which is a certain demographic (population statistics) zone of the galaxy.

-The Council approves/vetoes all of parliament's decisions.

-The Council Chairman is merely a figurehead appointed by the Council members to speak for them in public; the Chairman is not an actual Council Member and has no real power.

That is the basic idea, I may expand on it throughout this story, but I wanted to tell you now, in plain words, instead of explaining it through the narrative. "Maelos"May-E-los.

This chapter starts things off slowly, but keep going until the end.

Enough background, read!

Chapter 1: The Attempt

The man with dark eyes was nervous. Wearing only black dress pants and a clean undershirt, he walked over to the full-size mirror on the west wall. As he walked, the light shone on his handsome body and revealed the muscle from his former years of physical labor. Laid out on a chair by the mirror was his tuxedo. He picked up the tux shirt and carefully put it on.

Fixing his collar and then putting on the bow tie and cummerbund, the man with dark eyes looked at himself in the mirror. This entire outfit was brand new, stiff and scentless. He didn't like the formality of it, but tonight this outfit was necessary.

Tonight was the second to last in a series of intergalactic political conventions called the "Unity Ball". An ironic name, seeing as how the House is anything but unified, he thought bitterly. Regardless of its name though, he was expected to make a speech about the current economic crisis that was spreading throughout the galaxy, and he was so nervous.

This was his chance! As Ambassador for Nebulon, Maelos, had helped revive their own economic standstill, established better criminal laws, and improved the educational system. His peers had been amazed at his accomplishments since he had been a 'nobody' before then. Now he was gaining support, and it was an election year.

There was rumor that he might be nominated to run in his quadrant's Council Seat election. It was possible that at next week's final convention he could be making an acceptance speech…

He fumbled with his gold cuff links, Ugh, I so dislike formal wear! He thought. This suit had cost him a very pretty penny, almost too much for him to afford actually, but he needed a new suit, and one that was impressive.

Maelos picked up the black tux jacket, in his anxiety barely feeling the smooth silk, and put it on. With a deep breath, he straightened and buttoned it. He took a final look at himself.

"This is the night," he told the mirror, "let's not screw it up."

Checking to make sure the microdisk containing his speech was in his pocket, he turned off the lights and left his suite.

Out in the hallway, many other people were leaving for the convention too. Maelos quickened his pace to make it to the elevator before them. As he turned the corner, a woman quickly slipped through the closing elevator doors. She turned and their eyes met just as they closed. He had seen her before and recognized her curly red hair, but he couldn't put a name to her beautiful face.

The woman reminded him of his one mistake for this evening--he had no one to escort, or in layman words, he didn't have a date. He'd been too busy organizing and meeting with other representatives to take the time to ask someone. Some of his friends had tried to set him up, but he didn't share their taste in women.

As he waited for the elevator to return, he thought about this. Oh well, it's not that big of a deal, he decided, there are more important things to be done tonight.

When he finally made it downstairs, the hotel doorman opened the door and wished him a good evening. Maelos walked out into the nightlife of the city Vastial. A limousine hovercraft was waiting on the curb for him. The city was on the planet Bruxig, a warm temperate place perfect for human life. Vastial was bright and loud, the noise of hovercraft and walking feet was everywhere. He reveled in the night air.

"Good evening Ambassador," said his chauffer as he opened the craft's door.

"Hello Phillip," said the Ambassador. Phillip had been his faithful chauffer for the last 2 years.

It was a half an hour before they got to the Corneta Building, where the Unity Ball was to be held. The Corneta Building was a testament to the era's architecture. The gargantuan building's base was built of priceless stone, all of it covered in magnificent drawings. The rest was a steel and alloy metal structure, delicate and pleasing to the eye but incredibly strong and durable. The numerous windows that covered the building reflected the city's lights and colors. Thousands of people and other beings were swarming in and out of the Corneta building.

Maelos walked up the marble stairs and through the huge glass doors. His heartbeat quickened as he entered.

Inside the Corneta Building's Grand Hall, the flash of gold, silver, and silk flowed as one. Politicians from everywhere were here, and the room was full of their talk. Galactic Federation soldiers stood stiffly at strategic points in the hall, obviously for security.

Maelos caught bits and pieces of the political conversations. They were all of the latest scandals and fashions, or full of boastings and hidden verbal abuse. Then he floated from group to group for several minutes, interjecting a thought every now and then. Everyone wished him good luck with his speech.

A server carrying a dish with glasses of champagne walked by, and the Ambassdor took a glass. He downed the champagne like a shot. He was so nervous, and the alcohol didn't help. I don't even like champagne, he thought as the taste nearly made him gag.

"Hey Maelos!" shouted a voice from behind him. The man with dark eyes turned and saw his friend and fellow Ambassador making his way through the crowd to him.

The Ambassador for Aret came up to him and stopped, a smile on his face. Devajor was a tall man with dark brown skin. He was always positive and was a fierce voice in the House meetings. They had met and studied together at Triya University and had been good friends ever since.

"Hi Dev," said Maelos. "How are you doing?"

"I'm fine, you're the one who has to give a speech tonight, not me," his friend answered.

A slender dark arm wove its way around Devajor's waist, and the arm's owner followed.

"Oh, Maelos, this is Anne," introduced Devajor.

Maelos offered his hand to Devajor's stunning date and was about to say something when a GF official tapped his shoulder.

"Come with me Mr. Ambassador," he said, "you will be seated by the Council for your speech tonight."

"I'll see you later," said Maelos to Devajor and Anne as he was led away.

He was led up to the raised stage at the end of the hall, which was several feet above the main floor.

Maelos was seated at one of tables that were placed right next to the tunnel-like staircase that led up to the platform. As soon as the official left him, the room lights dimmed and all of the stage lights focused on a person up on the stage.

The person was Joseph Torim, the Galactic Council Chairman. Maelos could barely see him despite the fact that Torim was at a large podium. He could see that behind Torim was the Seal of the Galactic Council, made of crystal and hung on the wall. On it was all of the symbols that represented every species of sentinel beings in the Federation, everyone of then united by a circle of light.

As the Chairman started to speak, the crystal seal was illuminated by a 3D hologram and the symbols revolved on the turning ellipse of light.

"Greetings, members of the House and Council…"

His words couldn't be heard by Maelos, all he could do was think, I speak next. Come on now, don't mess this up! This is the probably the best chance I'll ever get at making a difference… Oh please help me!

"… and here to speak about the Federation's plans for the current economic problem is the Ambassador from Nebulon, Maelos Tebral."

The hall sounded with applause and the occasional whistle. Maelos stood and felt ecstatic with nerves and energy.

His heart was beating madly as he walked past the Council's table and disappeared into the staircase, then reappeared onto the platform. He shook hands with the Chairman and took his place behind the podium. Then he took the microdisk out of his pocket and inserted it into the clear stand by the podium. The words of his speech came up in small white letters, visible only to him.

Looking out to the crowd, Maelos was blinded by the lights. When his eyes refocused, he could see the tens of thousands of people watching him, and then he thought of the billions of beings watching him at home. He was starting to feel nauseas.

Maelos took a deep breath, and soon the thunderous applause fell to attentive silence. Suddenly he was afraid that his speech wasn't good enough and that they would discredit. Relax, Maelos, he told himself, you can do this. Just think of Mom, and how proud she would be. Dad will be watching this at home, I can't let him down…think of Samus, and how she would handle this.

Now relatively calm, he started to speak.

"The current problem that is plaguing the galaxy is a by-product of the…"

The words floated up to the ceiling where small engraved cerebrum danced with alien mythology. The crowd listened to every word, and Maelos was growing more confident as he went on. Speaking for almost 2 minutes now, Maelos reached a pause in his speech. He cleared his throat and started to tell the convention about his solution to the crisis.

It was then that he heard the first shot.

Screams filled the air and Maelos heard the sound of the crystal display behind him shattering. He dropped to the ground as shards of crystal hit the platform around him. The stage lights zoomed away from and into the crowd, suddenly everything was dark. All was chaos.

The sharp pieces cut his hands as he tried to lift himself up, but his chest was so tight he couldn't breath. His head started to spin as the lights came back on, and he was seeing black dots everywhere in his regained sight. He was aware of a hot pain in his left shoulder, and putting his hand to it, he felt the wound and his warm blood flowing freely.

There were several more shots and even more screams as Devajor and a Federation soldier reached him. Together they lifted him up and headed outside.

As they carried him to safety, Maelos tried to stay conscious. Devajor was reassuring him that everything was okay, that he'd take care of him. Maelos tried, but his mind slipped, and he succumbed to the black of unconsciousness.

Well, how'd you like that as a starting chapter? Any and all reviews/questions are welcomed, just press the button. I'll try to update about very week or every other week.