Post by eiron on Mar 3, 2009 23:58:26 GMT -5
After more than a month, chapter one is finally here. My apologies for taking so long. Again, this is dedicated to Dobs and Angel, but I would also like to thank everyone here whose been helping me improve my writing in the RP. This is for you guys.
For centuries, mankind had looked to the stars with awe. Over the course of millennia, they aspired and climbed and struggled until slowly, surely, they found their place among them. Surrounded by their light and their brilliance, mankind stood in wonder at their new station in the universe. And then they realized it was freaking cold.
Or at least, Samus thought, that’s what went through my head. The bounty hunter descended from the gunship’s airlock into the cold silent grip of space. The decrepit station was awash in crimson light and shadows; twisted bits of metal and floating debris cast long tendrils of darkness across the ruined docking bay. Aeries 7 roared silently below. Her power suit magnetically attached itself to the station’s floor, and she made her way to the main airlock. The dull clanking sound of her steps upon the cold metal floor was distant and muffled. The only way the sound could reach her was through her own body. If she fired a shot, she would only see its impact. If something approached from behind, she would not know it. And if she screamed, no one would hear it.
Samus pushed all thoughts out of her head. She was on the hunt again. There was no room for thought or discussion, just action, reaction, and gut instinct. The station was without power, so there was no way to actually open the door, but that did not prove to be a problem. Samus calmly walked to the side and pressed a button on her arm cannon. “Adam, I need a door.”
Adam’s voice crackled inside her helmet. “And here I thought we were going for subtlety. One door coming right up Lady.”
Grymn waited. He was cold and tired. His body ached, and his fingers had gone numb. He had only four more hours of oxygen, and only 23 more rounds in his weapon. He had resigned himself to the fact that he was going to die in this cold, dark place. But he was going to take that bastard with him.
Slowly, cautiously, he crept along the corridor, hugging the wall. Pausing at an intersection, he quickly checked in both directions. Then, in a rapid jerking motion, he waved for the others to follow. Four crouched shapes moved out of the darkness, hobbling awkwardly in their bulky and outdated survival suits.
Grymn watched them stumble forward with utter disdain. Unused to moving in zero G and relying on their magnetic grapples, these lowlifes were utterly dependant on him. They had no combat training, no sense of coordination or discipline, and worst of all, they were all more concerned with their personal safety than the group’s survival. Their faces were obscured by their blast helmets, but Grymn could still identify each of them. Nax, the largest, was an extremely fat Shuzoku with unmatched avarice. He took great pride from that fact that his elf like race was supposedly responsible for the great Species War, and used his immense girth to bully the other inhabitants of the station. Mathis and Eric were both human, and were both convinced that Grymn would try to eat them in their sleep. Irudus, the smallest member, was a young Phrygisian. How he had come to the station was a mystery to Grymn.
Nax shoved his way up to Grymn, wobbling in the zero G environment and trying not to trip over himself. Fumbling, he plugged a small communication wire into Grymn’s suit.
“Listen to me,” he snarled, “Don’t you ever leave me behind with these guys again. You stick with me.” He lifted his blast helm and glared at Grymn through his visor. Grymn watched Nax’s eyes slowly trace over his weapons. “You’re a very valuable commodity now.”
Grymn peered around the corner, ignoring the Shuzoku. “Be quiet and keep your eyes open. Start being useful or I’ll leave all of you behind.” Nax winced at the harsh grating sound of his voice.
“Listen,” Nax said, “We have to go get the Jotun gas tanks. If we can hold onto those, we can bargain for passage onto the dealer’s ship, yeah?”
Grymn wondered how much oxygen Nax had. “How are you doing on ammo and air?” He asked.
“I’m good,” he said. “Irudus gave me his ammo and some air.” A cruel grin flitted across his face.
“Fine, but how much?
A brief puzzled look came over Nax. “A couple of hour’s worth of air I guess, and maybe forty shots.”
Grymn thought for a minute. Then he stabbed Nax through the stomach with his scythe and removed his air tanks. Space Pirates did not tolerate theft. The others had frozen, staring in terror at the scene unfolding before them. The humans were trembling in fear. Idiots.
Grymn tossed Nax’s weapon and half of his ammo to Irudus, then motioned for them to approach. Working quickly so as not to anger the Pirate, they stumbled forward and linked their communication wires.
“Now,” began Grymn, “we each get a share of Nax’s air.” He detached a grenade from his utility belt and removed Nax’s helmet. His face was frozen and bloated, more so than usual anyways. The vacuum of space had caused his internal pressure to inflate him like a balloon. If he didn’t already have a hole in his gut, thought Grymn, he probably would have exploded. “We’re going to string up this tub of lard in the port side junction. And when that thing comes to eat…” He forced Nax’s mouth open and brutally slammed the grenade down his throat. “Boom.”
The others stared at him, dumbstruck. Then Irudus nodded, and began fastening Nax’s body to his own with a bit of chain they had found earlier. Pleased, Grymn had the others help siphon air from Nax’s tanks while he watched for any signs of the creature.
Suddenly, a tremor passed through the station. “NOBODY MOVE.” Grymn hissed. He pressed his entire body to the wall, feeling, listening. After a moment, the tremor weakened, and a smaller aftershock followed. Grymn’s heart skipped a beat. “Someone’s here.”
Adam Malkovich had been to Aries 7 once before. Many years ago, the Federation had controlled a mining colony on its surface, where they had extracted volcanic minerals to construct their star ships. The site had to be established in secret, as the planet was so remote that it would be almost impossible to defend. The operation would likely have succeeded, but ruin came from the most unlikeliest of sources. An earthquake had trapped several miners, and volcanic gas leaked in. Before they died of asphyxiation, it became clear from their terrified radio transmissions that the gas was causing them to experience severe hallucinations. Shortly afterwards, someone began making narcotics with the gas.
Despite a harsh clamp down on the facility, the drugs eventually made it off planet and onto the black market. And then everything went to Hell. The black market was ruled by the Space Pirates, and within weeks they had tracked the drugs back to the source.
The mining facility was virtually defenseless against the Pirate onslaught. The Pirates left no survivors, and being pragmatists, repaired what damage they had caused to the facility and began using it for themselves. Soon, Pirate starships and narcotics were flooding the outer systems, where Federation forces were minimal.
For seven years, the God of War had ruled this system. Seven years of bloodshed to crack the Pirate hold in space the Federation had once barely cared about. After seven long, brutal years, when it appeared that the Federation would finally be victorious and gain a foothold in the outer systems, the Pirates spoiled their victory. They unleashed the devastating plague Miteralis upon the planet, rendering it uninhabitable. Seven years of war and death, all for nothing. Aeries 7.
Samus peered into the hallway. The trails of blood leading out of the mess hall led down into the dark corridor. Samus deactivated her magnetic attachment to the floor and gently pushed off down the hallway, her helmet mounted lights illuminating the path ahead. Every twenty feet or so, massive gouges appeared in the walls along with splatters of blood. Presumably where the creature had pushed itself along in the weightless environment while dragging its recent victim away.
“Adam, are you seeing this?”
“Unfortunately. Send me something more to go on.”
Samus reached into one the gouges and stopped her advance. Floating in the middle the middle of the corridor, she tapped a small button on the side of her helmet and brought up her scan visor. A few seconds later, Adam’s voice crackled in. “There’s no known matches for the claw marks in the wall. Microscopic patterns in the steel left by the claws are similar to some large predators on Phrygis.” Samus pushed off the wall down the hallway. She stopped herself at an intersection and calmly checked down the branching hallways.
Samus pulled up the electronic map of the station she had downloaded on her previous visit, searching for the path to the stations main generator room. Memorizing the path, she kicked off the wall and floated down the left path.
Suddenly, something stirred in the darkness ahead. Samus whipped her arm cannon up and took aim. Something white was shifting in the shadows. Samus inched closer, her eyes focused on the shape in the darkness. With horror, she realized it was a bloated survival suit, chained to the wall and covered in frozen blood. The body jerked wriggled, as if consumed by some dark music. The body made a terrible snapping motion, and a creature rose from the darkness behind it, a chunk of flesh hanging loosely from its mouth.
Samus locked on and fired at the creature’s head. It ducked, then coiled to launch itself at Samus. She realized that the corridor was too narrow for her to be able to dodge the charge, and kicked backwards off the floor as hard as she could, firing as she flew backwards. As the creature shot itself forward, the corpse it had been feeding on exploded, filling the hall with blazing light. The creature screamed silently in pain as shrapnel shredded into its hind quarters. Tumbling, it smashed into Samus, and they rolled and bumped down the hallway together, a jumbled mass of steel and chitinous plates.
“No!” Grymn watched in rage as the creature prepared to abandon the corpse and charge the newcomer. He slammed down on the firing pin, but it was too late. The blast only caught the creature in its rear, and it careened down the hallway and into the intruder. Snarling, he yelled “Come on! Don’t let it escape!”
He and Irudus leapt into the hallway and latched onto the walls. They raised their weapons and opened fire on the creature as it writhed in rage and tried to tear itself loose from its new opponent. Dark red puffs of blood began to spray up from the beast, but it shrugged them off and wheeled around to face them.
The beast’s arms latched onto Samus, trying to pull her towards its gnashing jaws. Samus kicked savagely into its chin, stunning it momentarily. Firing into its snout, she kicked away from the creature and latched onto the wall. The creature shook its head, then howled silently in rage and prepared to renew its assault.
Suddenly the entire hallway blazed red with cannon fire. Between the creature’s numerous limbs, Samus saw two humanoids in outdated survival suits firing a fusillade of energy blasts into the creature. Screeching, it whipped around to face them.
“Big mistake.”
Samus shot herself foreward in front of the creature. As it roared, she launched herself directly at its face, and shoved her arm cannon deep down its throat. “Die.”
She pulled the trigger, launching a Diffusion Missile down the beast’s gullet. The creature lurched backwards, convulsing horribly. It slammed against the wall, tore at its abdomen, then shoved its massive insect like legs into the corridor wall, and dragged itself down the corridor in full retreat, writhing as it went.
Samus watched it retreat, then turned and floated towards the two figures that remained in the hallway. A tingling sensation ran down her spine as she realized they were carrying QACs, old Space Pirate standards.
Grymn shook in rage. He knew that armor. Everyone knew that armor. The armor of the Hunter, enemy of his people, stooge of the Federation. Samus Aran. Even now, years after his defection, every inch of him yearned to raise his weapon and open fire. Irudus looked nervously to Grymn, unsure of what to do. Grymn kept his blast shield down over his face. “Irudus,” He grunted, “Keep an eye on the corridor that thing ran down. It leads to the cooling rooms. There’s no other way in or out.” Irudus nodded, and took up position.
Just then, Mathis and Eric stumbled past them, waving their arms wildly towards Samus. The Hunter seemed to recognize them, and assume a more relaxed posture. Bumbling, they extended their communication chords and searched for a plug in Samus suit. Maybe I will eat those two, thought Grymn in rage as the two humans realized that their survival suits were so old that they couldn’t interface with Samus’s Powersuit.
Seething, Grymn shoved them aside and began talking to Samus in the sign language used by Federation Marines. “We need passage off of this station. Now.”
“I have a ship waiting. Are you the only survivors?”
“No. We have three more barricaded in the cargo hold.”
Samus looked around quickly; making sure the other humans hadn’t gone off and done something stupid. “We can’t transport that many people safely with that thing still around. We have to take care of that first.”
Grymn never imagined that he and Samus Aran would be forced to team up. He was a special breed of Pirate. Genetically engineered to operate in extreme isolation, far from outside influence or orders from above, the natural submissiveness indicative to his species had been removed from him. It was this genetic tinkering that had allowed him to escape. He had fled from the mold, from his people, intoxicated by the opening possibilities of freedom that spread out before him. Free.
But the shame threatened to crush him at times. Even now, years later, he stared up at the ceiling at night unable to sleep. He had abandoned his people, abandoned his post. His honor as a warrior could never be repaired. Briefly, he wondered about killing the Hunter and dragging her corpse back to High Command to gape at. Scenes of glory and redemption filled his mind. But he knew it would not happen. He would die, just like so many of his comrades had died, under a hail of cannon fire.
“The creature has trapped itself by going down that hallway. There’s no way out. Irudus here can lead the others to your ship…”
“While we deal with the beast.” Samus finished.
Grymn turned to Mathis and Eric, tearing their weapons from them. He floated over to Irudus, who had not moved from his post at the hallway.
“Irudus,” Grymn said after attaching the comm wire, “I need you to lead everyone to the ship. Samus and I will keep the creature in the coolant chamber. I know we don’t have enough suits, so you’re going to have to take trips.”
Irudus didn’t say anything. Grymn had hardly ever heard him speak. He was a little surprised then when Irudus replied.
“Yes sir…” he said softly, “I understand.” With that, he rose, motioned for the humans to follow, and disappeared into the darkness.
Samus radioed in to the gunship. “Adam, I’m sending over some company.”
“Did you find who you were looking for?”
“Yes, Mathis is here. He and seven others are on their way.”
There was silence on the other in of the line for a moment. Then, “If they touch anything lady, I am going to throw them out the airlocks.”
“Everyone but Mathis, Adam. I need him.”
Samus glanced over to her partner, wishing that there was time to ask for his name. But time was of the essence, and spelling something out like that in Marine hand signals would have taken time. Instead, she merely motioned “Ready?”
He gave the thumbs up signal. Samus took the lead, and the two of them advanced into the darkness. Both of their hearts beats in unison. Once, they would have instantly taken up arms to slay the other, but now, fate had arranged for them to fight side by side. For just a moment, they were both soldiers again. For just a moment, Grymn thought back to his daring raids into Federation vessels, his comrades at his sides. For just a moment, Samus thought back to her missions with her fellow Marines, and the tight knit group that they had been. For just a moment, they remembered what it felt like to belong.
They rounded the corner, and felt a light tremor pass through their feet. Instantly, they dove. The creature burst out of the darkness, tearing at them, screaming silently for them to die. They unleashed a burst of cannon fire, concentrating on the joints in the beast’s spindly legs. It gnashed its jaws in rage, snapping at them. They repelled off the walls, bouncing, weaving, constantly applying pressure. One of the creature’s legs snapped under the furry of the energy blasts. Dark blobs of blood burst out, then froze, shattering off the walls. The monstrosity screeched, then turned and ran. Again they pursued. And again they spun and wove and worked together to further cripple the creature. Finally, there was no where left to run. The creature was backed into a corner, its legs broken and splintered. Consumed with rage, it prepared for one last suicidal charge at its assailants.
The two leapt easily out of the way and into one of the small cooling stations. The creature sailed past, supremely pissed that it was just floating helplessly by in completely the wrong direction. Samus calmly walked out into the hallway and watched it turn its body, wedging itself between the corridor’s walls.
She turned to Grymn and motioned “This is the far port side, right?”
Grymn nodded and motioned to the wall without any doors. “There’s nothing but empty space on the other side of that wall.”
Samus tapped the side of her helmet. “Adam? Do you have everyone?”
“Yes lady, the Phrygesion just returned with the last survivors.”
“Good,” Samus said, “Now, I need another door.”
She activated her Command Visor, and marked the writhing creature. She turned to Grymn. Extending her fingers, she began counting down. Three… two… one. On zero, a burning white hot blast of energy burst right through the hallway, cutting the creature in half. Another blast and the wall collapsed, revealing the gunship floating outside. The airlock door hissed open, and
Adam’s voice crackled into her helmet once more.
“Definitely not going for subtlety.”
Metroid Renegade
Chapter 1
Chapter 1
For centuries, mankind had looked to the stars with awe. Over the course of millennia, they aspired and climbed and struggled until slowly, surely, they found their place among them. Surrounded by their light and their brilliance, mankind stood in wonder at their new station in the universe. And then they realized it was freaking cold.
Or at least, Samus thought, that’s what went through my head. The bounty hunter descended from the gunship’s airlock into the cold silent grip of space. The decrepit station was awash in crimson light and shadows; twisted bits of metal and floating debris cast long tendrils of darkness across the ruined docking bay. Aeries 7 roared silently below. Her power suit magnetically attached itself to the station’s floor, and she made her way to the main airlock. The dull clanking sound of her steps upon the cold metal floor was distant and muffled. The only way the sound could reach her was through her own body. If she fired a shot, she would only see its impact. If something approached from behind, she would not know it. And if she screamed, no one would hear it.
Samus pushed all thoughts out of her head. She was on the hunt again. There was no room for thought or discussion, just action, reaction, and gut instinct. The station was without power, so there was no way to actually open the door, but that did not prove to be a problem. Samus calmly walked to the side and pressed a button on her arm cannon. “Adam, I need a door.”
Adam’s voice crackled inside her helmet. “And here I thought we were going for subtlety. One door coming right up Lady.”
Grymn waited. He was cold and tired. His body ached, and his fingers had gone numb. He had only four more hours of oxygen, and only 23 more rounds in his weapon. He had resigned himself to the fact that he was going to die in this cold, dark place. But he was going to take that bastard with him.
Slowly, cautiously, he crept along the corridor, hugging the wall. Pausing at an intersection, he quickly checked in both directions. Then, in a rapid jerking motion, he waved for the others to follow. Four crouched shapes moved out of the darkness, hobbling awkwardly in their bulky and outdated survival suits.
Grymn watched them stumble forward with utter disdain. Unused to moving in zero G and relying on their magnetic grapples, these lowlifes were utterly dependant on him. They had no combat training, no sense of coordination or discipline, and worst of all, they were all more concerned with their personal safety than the group’s survival. Their faces were obscured by their blast helmets, but Grymn could still identify each of them. Nax, the largest, was an extremely fat Shuzoku with unmatched avarice. He took great pride from that fact that his elf like race was supposedly responsible for the great Species War, and used his immense girth to bully the other inhabitants of the station. Mathis and Eric were both human, and were both convinced that Grymn would try to eat them in their sleep. Irudus, the smallest member, was a young Phrygisian. How he had come to the station was a mystery to Grymn.
Nax shoved his way up to Grymn, wobbling in the zero G environment and trying not to trip over himself. Fumbling, he plugged a small communication wire into Grymn’s suit.
“Listen to me,” he snarled, “Don’t you ever leave me behind with these guys again. You stick with me.” He lifted his blast helm and glared at Grymn through his visor. Grymn watched Nax’s eyes slowly trace over his weapons. “You’re a very valuable commodity now.”
Grymn peered around the corner, ignoring the Shuzoku. “Be quiet and keep your eyes open. Start being useful or I’ll leave all of you behind.” Nax winced at the harsh grating sound of his voice.
“Listen,” Nax said, “We have to go get the Jotun gas tanks. If we can hold onto those, we can bargain for passage onto the dealer’s ship, yeah?”
Grymn wondered how much oxygen Nax had. “How are you doing on ammo and air?” He asked.
“I’m good,” he said. “Irudus gave me his ammo and some air.” A cruel grin flitted across his face.
“Fine, but how much?
A brief puzzled look came over Nax. “A couple of hour’s worth of air I guess, and maybe forty shots.”
Grymn thought for a minute. Then he stabbed Nax through the stomach with his scythe and removed his air tanks. Space Pirates did not tolerate theft. The others had frozen, staring in terror at the scene unfolding before them. The humans were trembling in fear. Idiots.
Grymn tossed Nax’s weapon and half of his ammo to Irudus, then motioned for them to approach. Working quickly so as not to anger the Pirate, they stumbled forward and linked their communication wires.
“Now,” began Grymn, “we each get a share of Nax’s air.” He detached a grenade from his utility belt and removed Nax’s helmet. His face was frozen and bloated, more so than usual anyways. The vacuum of space had caused his internal pressure to inflate him like a balloon. If he didn’t already have a hole in his gut, thought Grymn, he probably would have exploded. “We’re going to string up this tub of lard in the port side junction. And when that thing comes to eat…” He forced Nax’s mouth open and brutally slammed the grenade down his throat. “Boom.”
The others stared at him, dumbstruck. Then Irudus nodded, and began fastening Nax’s body to his own with a bit of chain they had found earlier. Pleased, Grymn had the others help siphon air from Nax’s tanks while he watched for any signs of the creature.
Suddenly, a tremor passed through the station. “NOBODY MOVE.” Grymn hissed. He pressed his entire body to the wall, feeling, listening. After a moment, the tremor weakened, and a smaller aftershock followed. Grymn’s heart skipped a beat. “Someone’s here.”
Adam Malkovich had been to Aries 7 once before. Many years ago, the Federation had controlled a mining colony on its surface, where they had extracted volcanic minerals to construct their star ships. The site had to be established in secret, as the planet was so remote that it would be almost impossible to defend. The operation would likely have succeeded, but ruin came from the most unlikeliest of sources. An earthquake had trapped several miners, and volcanic gas leaked in. Before they died of asphyxiation, it became clear from their terrified radio transmissions that the gas was causing them to experience severe hallucinations. Shortly afterwards, someone began making narcotics with the gas.
Despite a harsh clamp down on the facility, the drugs eventually made it off planet and onto the black market. And then everything went to Hell. The black market was ruled by the Space Pirates, and within weeks they had tracked the drugs back to the source.
The mining facility was virtually defenseless against the Pirate onslaught. The Pirates left no survivors, and being pragmatists, repaired what damage they had caused to the facility and began using it for themselves. Soon, Pirate starships and narcotics were flooding the outer systems, where Federation forces were minimal.
For seven years, the God of War had ruled this system. Seven years of bloodshed to crack the Pirate hold in space the Federation had once barely cared about. After seven long, brutal years, when it appeared that the Federation would finally be victorious and gain a foothold in the outer systems, the Pirates spoiled their victory. They unleashed the devastating plague Miteralis upon the planet, rendering it uninhabitable. Seven years of war and death, all for nothing. Aeries 7.
Samus peered into the hallway. The trails of blood leading out of the mess hall led down into the dark corridor. Samus deactivated her magnetic attachment to the floor and gently pushed off down the hallway, her helmet mounted lights illuminating the path ahead. Every twenty feet or so, massive gouges appeared in the walls along with splatters of blood. Presumably where the creature had pushed itself along in the weightless environment while dragging its recent victim away.
“Adam, are you seeing this?”
“Unfortunately. Send me something more to go on.”
Samus reached into one the gouges and stopped her advance. Floating in the middle the middle of the corridor, she tapped a small button on the side of her helmet and brought up her scan visor. A few seconds later, Adam’s voice crackled in. “There’s no known matches for the claw marks in the wall. Microscopic patterns in the steel left by the claws are similar to some large predators on Phrygis.” Samus pushed off the wall down the hallway. She stopped herself at an intersection and calmly checked down the branching hallways.
Samus pulled up the electronic map of the station she had downloaded on her previous visit, searching for the path to the stations main generator room. Memorizing the path, she kicked off the wall and floated down the left path.
Suddenly, something stirred in the darkness ahead. Samus whipped her arm cannon up and took aim. Something white was shifting in the shadows. Samus inched closer, her eyes focused on the shape in the darkness. With horror, she realized it was a bloated survival suit, chained to the wall and covered in frozen blood. The body jerked wriggled, as if consumed by some dark music. The body made a terrible snapping motion, and a creature rose from the darkness behind it, a chunk of flesh hanging loosely from its mouth.
Samus locked on and fired at the creature’s head. It ducked, then coiled to launch itself at Samus. She realized that the corridor was too narrow for her to be able to dodge the charge, and kicked backwards off the floor as hard as she could, firing as she flew backwards. As the creature shot itself forward, the corpse it had been feeding on exploded, filling the hall with blazing light. The creature screamed silently in pain as shrapnel shredded into its hind quarters. Tumbling, it smashed into Samus, and they rolled and bumped down the hallway together, a jumbled mass of steel and chitinous plates.
“No!” Grymn watched in rage as the creature prepared to abandon the corpse and charge the newcomer. He slammed down on the firing pin, but it was too late. The blast only caught the creature in its rear, and it careened down the hallway and into the intruder. Snarling, he yelled “Come on! Don’t let it escape!”
He and Irudus leapt into the hallway and latched onto the walls. They raised their weapons and opened fire on the creature as it writhed in rage and tried to tear itself loose from its new opponent. Dark red puffs of blood began to spray up from the beast, but it shrugged them off and wheeled around to face them.
The beast’s arms latched onto Samus, trying to pull her towards its gnashing jaws. Samus kicked savagely into its chin, stunning it momentarily. Firing into its snout, she kicked away from the creature and latched onto the wall. The creature shook its head, then howled silently in rage and prepared to renew its assault.
Suddenly the entire hallway blazed red with cannon fire. Between the creature’s numerous limbs, Samus saw two humanoids in outdated survival suits firing a fusillade of energy blasts into the creature. Screeching, it whipped around to face them.
“Big mistake.”
Samus shot herself foreward in front of the creature. As it roared, she launched herself directly at its face, and shoved her arm cannon deep down its throat. “Die.”
She pulled the trigger, launching a Diffusion Missile down the beast’s gullet. The creature lurched backwards, convulsing horribly. It slammed against the wall, tore at its abdomen, then shoved its massive insect like legs into the corridor wall, and dragged itself down the corridor in full retreat, writhing as it went.
Samus watched it retreat, then turned and floated towards the two figures that remained in the hallway. A tingling sensation ran down her spine as she realized they were carrying QACs, old Space Pirate standards.
Grymn shook in rage. He knew that armor. Everyone knew that armor. The armor of the Hunter, enemy of his people, stooge of the Federation. Samus Aran. Even now, years after his defection, every inch of him yearned to raise his weapon and open fire. Irudus looked nervously to Grymn, unsure of what to do. Grymn kept his blast shield down over his face. “Irudus,” He grunted, “Keep an eye on the corridor that thing ran down. It leads to the cooling rooms. There’s no other way in or out.” Irudus nodded, and took up position.
Just then, Mathis and Eric stumbled past them, waving their arms wildly towards Samus. The Hunter seemed to recognize them, and assume a more relaxed posture. Bumbling, they extended their communication chords and searched for a plug in Samus suit. Maybe I will eat those two, thought Grymn in rage as the two humans realized that their survival suits were so old that they couldn’t interface with Samus’s Powersuit.
Seething, Grymn shoved them aside and began talking to Samus in the sign language used by Federation Marines. “We need passage off of this station. Now.”
“I have a ship waiting. Are you the only survivors?”
“No. We have three more barricaded in the cargo hold.”
Samus looked around quickly; making sure the other humans hadn’t gone off and done something stupid. “We can’t transport that many people safely with that thing still around. We have to take care of that first.”
Grymn never imagined that he and Samus Aran would be forced to team up. He was a special breed of Pirate. Genetically engineered to operate in extreme isolation, far from outside influence or orders from above, the natural submissiveness indicative to his species had been removed from him. It was this genetic tinkering that had allowed him to escape. He had fled from the mold, from his people, intoxicated by the opening possibilities of freedom that spread out before him. Free.
But the shame threatened to crush him at times. Even now, years later, he stared up at the ceiling at night unable to sleep. He had abandoned his people, abandoned his post. His honor as a warrior could never be repaired. Briefly, he wondered about killing the Hunter and dragging her corpse back to High Command to gape at. Scenes of glory and redemption filled his mind. But he knew it would not happen. He would die, just like so many of his comrades had died, under a hail of cannon fire.
“The creature has trapped itself by going down that hallway. There’s no way out. Irudus here can lead the others to your ship…”
“While we deal with the beast.” Samus finished.
Grymn turned to Mathis and Eric, tearing their weapons from them. He floated over to Irudus, who had not moved from his post at the hallway.
“Irudus,” Grymn said after attaching the comm wire, “I need you to lead everyone to the ship. Samus and I will keep the creature in the coolant chamber. I know we don’t have enough suits, so you’re going to have to take trips.”
Irudus didn’t say anything. Grymn had hardly ever heard him speak. He was a little surprised then when Irudus replied.
“Yes sir…” he said softly, “I understand.” With that, he rose, motioned for the humans to follow, and disappeared into the darkness.
Samus radioed in to the gunship. “Adam, I’m sending over some company.”
“Did you find who you were looking for?”
“Yes, Mathis is here. He and seven others are on their way.”
There was silence on the other in of the line for a moment. Then, “If they touch anything lady, I am going to throw them out the airlocks.”
“Everyone but Mathis, Adam. I need him.”
Samus glanced over to her partner, wishing that there was time to ask for his name. But time was of the essence, and spelling something out like that in Marine hand signals would have taken time. Instead, she merely motioned “Ready?”
He gave the thumbs up signal. Samus took the lead, and the two of them advanced into the darkness. Both of their hearts beats in unison. Once, they would have instantly taken up arms to slay the other, but now, fate had arranged for them to fight side by side. For just a moment, they were both soldiers again. For just a moment, Grymn thought back to his daring raids into Federation vessels, his comrades at his sides. For just a moment, Samus thought back to her missions with her fellow Marines, and the tight knit group that they had been. For just a moment, they remembered what it felt like to belong.
They rounded the corner, and felt a light tremor pass through their feet. Instantly, they dove. The creature burst out of the darkness, tearing at them, screaming silently for them to die. They unleashed a burst of cannon fire, concentrating on the joints in the beast’s spindly legs. It gnashed its jaws in rage, snapping at them. They repelled off the walls, bouncing, weaving, constantly applying pressure. One of the creature’s legs snapped under the furry of the energy blasts. Dark blobs of blood burst out, then froze, shattering off the walls. The monstrosity screeched, then turned and ran. Again they pursued. And again they spun and wove and worked together to further cripple the creature. Finally, there was no where left to run. The creature was backed into a corner, its legs broken and splintered. Consumed with rage, it prepared for one last suicidal charge at its assailants.
The two leapt easily out of the way and into one of the small cooling stations. The creature sailed past, supremely pissed that it was just floating helplessly by in completely the wrong direction. Samus calmly walked out into the hallway and watched it turn its body, wedging itself between the corridor’s walls.
She turned to Grymn and motioned “This is the far port side, right?”
Grymn nodded and motioned to the wall without any doors. “There’s nothing but empty space on the other side of that wall.”
Samus tapped the side of her helmet. “Adam? Do you have everyone?”
“Yes lady, the Phrygesion just returned with the last survivors.”
“Good,” Samus said, “Now, I need another door.”
She activated her Command Visor, and marked the writhing creature. She turned to Grymn. Extending her fingers, she began counting down. Three… two… one. On zero, a burning white hot blast of energy burst right through the hallway, cutting the creature in half. Another blast and the wall collapsed, revealing the gunship floating outside. The airlock door hissed open, and
Adam’s voice crackled into her helmet once more.
“Definitely not going for subtlety.”
