Flightless

The planet was designated CB-508. It was the second world of the Emani system, bathed in the light of a red dwarf star that had burnt for over seven billion years, and would shine for at least another six. An unremarkable planet of an unremarkable star that no-one in any galactic civilization, Federation or otherwise, would visit, if not for the chozo ruins on the planet.

And it was a planet that Samus found herself on.

CB-508 was like any other planet orbiting a red dwarf within its habitable zone – tidally locked with its star, so its atmosphere was in a constant state of heat being transferred to its darker side. The grass was black, and the sky was an eerie red. It possessed a breathable atmosphere for most humanoid species, but she wore her power suit regardless. Even with the chozo ruins, CB-508 was rarely visited, and never by anyone more dangerous than a purveyor of chozo goods that might find their way into the hands of collectors. All evidence was that CB-508 was a nondescript colony world that even the chozo hadn't cared to stay around to tend to in the twilight years of their race. None of them had even mentioned it to her. And yet, once again, she found herself in the shadow of those who had nurtured her. Alone, as the universe hounded her after BSL.

"Have you found the target yet?"

She ignored Adam. AI's should have been incapable of being impatient, she reflected, but somehow, he managed it.

"Well?"

She sent back a negative ping – she didn't feel like talking much. This was meant to be a pit stop, to drive her ship into CB-508's single ocean, fill up on water, convert it into hydrogen, and give her ship enough juice to make it to the next star system. It wasn't meant to turn into a landing for repairs, and to end up tracking down her target.

"Lady, the etecoons are proving themselves to be grease monkeys in every sense of the word, but-"

She shut him off. She wasn't in the mood to take orders. She wasn't in the mood for conversation, period.

There you are.

Which was why this was going to be a very, very quick retrieval. Coming to the edge of a hill, she found her target – the smaller dachora, the one that had wandered off from its mother after the ship had landed. Looking up at a chozo statue, as if it had never seen anything like it before.

Samus skidded down the hill, rocks and pebbles falling down in her wake. There was no need to be stealthy. No need to soften the surprise as the dachora glanced her way and let out a shriek of surprise.

"Hello," she said.

The dachora let out more chirps and shrieks. Frowning, Samus activated her suit's translation software.

YOU STARTLED ME

"Mummy wants you," Samus said. "Ship. Now."

NO! WON'T GO BACK! WANT TO EXPLORE!

"We're out in the open, and-

NO!

Samus stared at the bird, watching as it hopped from side to side indignantly. She could grab it and take it back herself. Actually, she'd probably do that anyway, as it would be much faster than waiting for it to trail behind her. Get back to the ship, get fuel, get food, make the journey to the adjacent Brezovica system. And then…

What then?

She watched the dachora continue to protest. Then, she'd probably get back into the bounty hunter business. Outside Federation control, and do her best to remain discreet.

And my crew?

She couldn't say. But they weren't staying with her, that was for sure. Not when she had to deal with this.

STATUE IS NICE. IS STATUE CHOZO?

"Yes."

VERY NICE. VERY GRAND.

"The chozo have that effect on people."

YOU. RAISED BY CHOZO.

Samus didn't answer that time. She instead glanced at the statue – a single chozo, its features weathered by the rain, sun, and wind. It was a relic even by chozo standards. It would have been built before humanity had even crawled down from the trees, or even understood the concept of what civilization meant.

WHY THEY HAVE NO WINGS?

She didn't answer. She just kept looking at the relic. Weathered, old, a product of a long-gone time. Like herself, she thought. The metroids were gone. The X had been eradicated. The Space Pirates had been scattered across the solar winds. She'd served her purpose and now, like this graveyard of history, she was relegated to the fringes of the galaxy.

WHY NO WINGS?

"Evolution," she murmured.

EVOLUTION? WHAT EVOLUTION?

Samus sighed – this wasn't her job. She knew she should just grab the pipsqueak, give it to his mother, and get on with business. She'd almost always worked alone until now, so why change things? Heck, ever since the Bottle Ship, ever since she'd started working with people again, things had gone from bad to worse. And that had been after Zebes had been destroyed, and since she'd lost the Baby, and-

MUMMY MAD AT ME RIGHT?

Mummies. A common biological drive. The type of emotion that could make her wince as she thought of the Hatching. Or when another mother called Virginia Aran had been killed right in front of her.

"Your mother's not mad," Samus murmured. "She's just…worried."

She looked back at the dachora. It was looking up at her as if it were a pet. But slowly, it turned its gaze back to the statue.

WANT TO FLY. DACHORAS NO HAVE WINGS. I WANT TO FLY. WHY DID THE CHOZO LOSE THEIR WINGS? It looked back at Samus. YOU CAN FLY. NO WINGS, BUT STILL FLY. SHIP IS NICE.

Flight. If men were meant to fly…something…something…she couldn't remember the saying. It had been said once, on a world called K-2L, by a man called Rodney Aran whose face she could barely remember now. A saying forgotten as she gained new parents with the chozo. Chozo who'd been quite happy to explain to a five year old why, despite being an avian species, they didn't have wings. Explained to a five year old that no, she wouldn't grow wings despite being infused with their DNA, but would still see the stars one day regardless.

The chozo had said a lot of things.

"Come on," she said. She knelt down, and put the dachora on her shoulder. "Mummy's waiting."

OH DEAR. MUMMY MAD.

Samus let it talk. Let it ask questions. Let it dream of flight.

As a child, you had to dream as much as possible. Before reality clipped your wings.

Before the universe did much more.

A/N

Fun fact, there's an audio version of this on YouTube by Goomba Guy Videos. Type in "flightless a dramatic reading" and it should come up.