Last spark from the ashes

The Vex comms are full of activity. The minotaur isn't just communicating with some central command, it's actively linked with every other unit on the field, working with the other surviving minotaur as a local processing unit. What it transmits is more like a partial neural stream than discrete messages. Somewhere, perhaps, lies a superior mind coordinating the entire set of thought processes.

But even on this level, the individual Vex is clearly reacting. Connections are pruned as Samus' intrusion is detected; its influence on the lesser units surrendered. The foreign connection is immediately tested, analyzed, explored aggressively. Samus had best be careful on her own behalf, too - both Vex programs and biological agents are highly infectious. All the data it collects is streamed both to the larger network and into the complex calculations in its own core. The minotaur is doing some of its own thinking, building a new and peculiarly-structured program for itself. It doesn't seem to mind if Samus looks.

Happily focused on matters more concrete, Blaze tackles the remaining minotaur as it finally restores its sensors. The Vex reinforcements, if they're coming, don't seem to be rushing in to save the conflux. She has time to knock its shields down and start testing exactly where its frame is weakest.