Chapter 1

Prologue 1

I do look into my future. I already know what it is. It's the same as what I've gone through before. The only difference is that now I'm on my own. Then again, maybe I always was. The only thing I have is my shadow, though at times I even doubt that.

The elevator shuddered to a stop. The cold room only added to the anxiety and stress that was riddled through my body. The air was still - stale even. I felt like I was passing through the ruins of an ancient city. Everything felt dead and chilling. A freezing spike of pain slammed through my spine as I stepped off the platform. My body wasn't ready, but my mind was made up. This had to be done.

The room was oddly shaped. I walked through doors that brought me into the empty area. Only a few short platforms railed with a gritty silver polish sat in the middle of the room, followed by two hallways that led to chrome doors. Doors that were clearly out of operation. Great. More time wasted. I made jumping onto the platforms look too easy. I could barely feel my feet drop onto the steel flooring. I repeated the same motion onto the highest alcove.

My objective was clear: crash this heap of metal into the planet's surface. The station I had been exploring for what seemed like forever became a shell of what it once was. Only days ago, it was full of discovery and imagination. Scientists worked endlessly, day and night, experimenting with the latest in Federation technology. No one would forget the consistent news updates on how the men at the B.S.L. made another great achievement in the world of science.

Now, it is nothing more than a dead, lifeless ship. The damned X Parasites have sucked the life out of everything. They need to be stopped. I'll take this station down with me if it means ridding the galaxy, the universe...of this menace.

But, it was different this time. I wouldn't be award with praise and adulation on my return home. I have no home now. My only home is space. Now, my home is the battlefield. I've always lived on the battlefield. The Federation has always been behind me - sending me weaponry, ammunition, and life-support. Not anymore. I've destroyed their chances of getting the X and, more importantly, the SA-X's that are infecting this station more and more by the second. The Federation is full of idiots. They don't know the extent of the damage this evil can cause. They haven't experienced what they can do. They haven't experienced anything. I'm the only one that can live to tell the tale. Even the soldiers at Norion, including the ones who lost their lives to the sick Dark Samus and the pirates, don't know the hell I've lived through to see this day.

Of course, as luck would have it, the doors wouldn't open to the best of my efforts. Followed by that was the sudden force of the far wall collapsing. Metal and steel was ripped off and fire plumed from the whole. I had to move quickly. It was back.

Mercilessly, it began to fire at me. Its arm cannon shot a quick lance of green plasma, shredding the air it raced through. The atmosphere popped and cracked as the wave rocketed towards me. In a flash, I rolled out of the way. My morph ball bounced off the platform and onto the ground with a thud. I quickly jumped back to my feet. My gaze was stolen by the dreadful figure before me.

It was like looking in a mirror. Its armor was what I wore. Its weapons were what I used. I's visor gleamed the same way mine did. It was essentially my clone. A different kind of clone. It had no soul. I could see it, even past the tinted visor it wore. Its eyes were without a pupil. It would be a horrific sight had I seen it. The slight pause gave me more than I needed. It also gave the SA-X time. Time to ready its plan. Time to ready its victory. It was time to kill.

Its arm cannon shifted around, parts moved back and forth, and the barrel changed shape. All I remember seeing is a build-up of a blue gas begin to slowly funnel out of the gun before a shot of ice exploded at me. I barely dodged it in time, but felt the pressure. My body rattled in the armor, no matter how tight it was on my skin. I tried to take the blast by moving myself with it, but that only took me off balance. My foot whirled back and kept me up, but I was taken back again by another shot. The SA-X was firing closer and closer at my head. I needed to fall back.

My only cover was being able to occupy a different level of the room than the SA-X. It continued to fire from the bottom floor, but I made it to one of the platforms higher up. Ice shattered against the bottom of the platform. I quickly caught my breath and reached my arm over the side. My cannon released several shots of the power beam at it. The SA-X continued to fire as if I had never shot. The beam reflected off its armor and buzzed into the walls and ceiling. Burnt marks scattered the room as more and more of my shots were flung away.

I brought my arm back and pressed buttons as quickly as my fingers could dance across them. I was afraid I was putting incorrect orders into the arm cannon because of how fast I was pressing them. Finally, the crevices of the cannon glowed a neon green and the barrel became almost like the muzzle of a sniper rifle. I once again reached around the side and fired. This time, however, the SA-X fell back while the plasma ripped into its armor. It jumped back, mirroring my Screw Attack. A green lightning encased it while it somersaulted. Its feet didn't even fully touch the floor before it jumped at me again, firing more of the icy concoction from its gun.

More and more plasma burst from my gun, continuing to damage the SA-X. Its visor cracked, the cannon dented, the armor chipped. The SA-X was slowly winding down. Its shots became less frequent and less accurate. It took barely any effort to dodge its attempts at hurting me. Finally, I came out of cover to find the SA-X reeling. On one of its knees, the SA-X's chest grew and shrank at a rapid pace. Even through my helmet I could hear it breathing heavily. Its head was hung low, as was its limbs. I would be surprised if it had any energy to fight back.

But, I was wrong. Wrong in every sense of the word. The SA-X lifted from the floor. It began to grow and sprout the strangest appendages. A huge cluster of eyes replaced where its visor once was. Razor-sharp teeth became visible as a huge mouth opened. The jaw was easily big enough to swallow me whole. Its boots became three-toed feet that gripped the floor with immense claws. A bumpy, blistery tongue snaked out of its mouth and shot out at me. It grabbed my left arm and began to pull me in. My right arm sprang forward and burnt a hole in the fleshy tongue with the heat of the sun. Plasma shredded the monsters tongue, forcing it to let me free.

The SA-X sprung from the floor. A large shadow developed above me, growing bigger as the monster fell to the ground. I recovered into the morph ball and boosted out of the way. Its feet made craters in the floor on impact. It turned to find me latching onto the wall, firing more plasma at its ugly mug.

I saw that its skin was beginning to melt and that made me want to fire more. I charged up another round and let loose a bolt of heat and energy at the creature. As I watched my shot fly through the air, I began to lose my grip. My hand slipped from the wall. I tried to buffer my fall by slowing down against the wall, but the weight of my armor didn't give in to my efforts. I fell with extensive power and was stunned. Just wonderful. Now it had a clear shot at me.

It didn't. The cloud of dust that engulfed me cleared and gave me a look at the SA-X once more. I saw its skin continue to melt, but it did nothing to fight back. It let out a horrible shriek in pain. The SA-X fell to the floor, its knees collapsing and feet being crushed by the rest of the body. It let out one more growl before dying a quick death. I mulled over it if was still alive. I decided not to do anything. If it still was alive, I'd let it suffer.

I never made any attempt in getting up. I sat in relief before the monster. Yet, I still noticed the icy blue glow that shown through its wounds. Flashes of light glowed from the body. There was still something there. The fight wasn't over. This station would have to wait. There is still more to come.