Chapter I
Hey everyone, this is just an idea that I had while sitting about. Writing out the first two~three chapters. Review and tell me what you all think!
The rain pattered lightly against the ceiling above, the legato symphony of raindrops falling at a syncopated rhythm. There she lay, her emerald eyes gazing at the bleak ceiling above, its plain grey spreading to the walls and the floor. The room was plainly decorated; a table was pushed against the southern wall, almost bare except for a few combat manuals and an old coffee mug in which two pencils and a certain green pen were situated. Unlike her male counterparts, no posters, of women, sports figures, or the like, hid the plainness of her walls, only a large rectangular mirror. The only light came from the fluorescent blubs above, dimmed to the penultimate setting before darkness would encompass the room. The sheets on which she lay were a pale pink, one of the few signs of life in the dull room.
Her name was Samus Aran. She was tall, at least for a woman, standing at a proud five feet ten inches. Her long blonde hair had recently been cut into a bob, per orders of the commander, and she had received much attention from this, especially from the male audience. Despite her height, and past, she pranced around gracefully and smoothly, like a ballerina. She was quiet, but had a lot to say, and wasn't afraid to speak her mind. Her most interesting feature however, was her eyes. The large emeralds seemed omnipotent when she entered a room; a simple gaze across the room and she could tell the mood of the room and its occupants. Some even said one look into those emeralds could tell you more about your past than you yourself could tell, but Samus was so well traveled that she too felt that she needed to have a gaze into those magical eyes to understand her dark, lonely past.
She got up out of the cot, her body clothed in a one piece jumpsuit. She sat at the edge of the bed, looking down at her bare fingernails, straining to remember the last time those were painted a sparkling red. She quickly dismissed the thought and proceeded towards the door. She wasn't to be late. She exited the room and locked the door behind her. The hallway seemed to breathe as the light rain outside fell in spurts rather than a steady downpour. She figured that the wind had picked up, nothing unusual. She proceeded down the hallway, exchanging head nods and silent salutations with fellow officers that populated it as they gingerly walked by. Further down, she made a left into a hallway not as populated as the main one she had just left. From there, she glided down two flights of stairs, not skipping a beat. She checked her watch, two minutes. She picked up her pace just slightly. The underground passage was lit with dark red lighting, and any unauthorized personnel found down there was in huge trouble. About fifty meters down the tunnel she spotted an armed guard. She covered the distance rapidly, almost at a slight jog. Before he could even ask, she had pulled out her ID card out of her pocket, or thin air as far as the guard could tell. He turned, pressed a few buttons on a terminal located adjacent to the door, and the large metal plates hissed and separated, allowing her entrance.
Samus entered the room, scanning with the jewels. It was usual for her to do such a thing, not from basic training, but from basic instinct, for survival. She spotted three familiar figures seated, their heads turned and facing the door from which she had just entered. The room was huge; the high ceilings seemed impossibly constructed as the room was underground. There were large displays on the wall, all turned off. She took a gander at the walls as she headed for the seated trio, noting that they were probably soundproof and thermal proof, meaning the metal was at least a foot thick at its thinnest points. She brought her attention to a fourth figure, standing proudly with his hands behind his back, distinguishable even in the poor lighting.
"Commander, sir!" she said, snapping quickly to attention, her voice travelling through the barren room.
"At ease, lieutenant," he replied, smile on his face. "Have a seat with the others." She quickly walked and took a seat next to a familiar blue-haired young man.
"Hey Sam," he said, showing his straight white teeth, so white they seemed to take the cool blue lighting of the room. She couldn't help but smile, if only a little.
"Hey Ike." Though eight years her junior, Ike was one of the few people she actually enjoyed talking to. His clean cut blue hair, warm smile and personality made him a favorite of both the lowest soldiers to the most prestigious senior officers. He graduated top of his class by a long shot, excelling, even breaking, new records in the physical examinations and scoring the first perfect on both the intelligence and field testing, a feat not seen since twenty years prior. Working as a mercenary prior to his enrollment, Ike had many tales to tell, from invading fortresses to sneaking VIPs across several borders back on his home continent. He was a man of passion, just like his father he claimed. He, along with the other two, was dressed in the same one piece jumpsuit that Samus was wearing. He had his sleeves rolled up past his elbows, a common sight this time of year, and his fingerless black leather gloves hanging out of his right pocket. Along his arms were various scars from years past, each telling their own tale.
"Sammy baby! Whas'up witcha?" a voice cried, presumably, no definitely from the person seated next to Ike. Samus rolled her eyes. The fowl seated next to Ike HAD to have his presence know wherever he went. Falco Lombardi was and had always been a trouble maker. Since his younger days of growing up in inner city New York, to his years working as a mercenary, Falco always got into some sort of trouble or jeopardized his allies in some sort of stupid way. Samus believed that his behavior came from three things: his natural ability to dogfight, his abilities as a sniper and his cockiness. Samus once saw the Air Force Academy do their virtual sorties, a sort of competition that all the branches watched. When Falco and his squad were up, he walked over to the instructor and asked to do it solo. The instructor, a veteran pilot, furrowed his brow.
"Lombardi, you do realize this is your final. If you fail…"
"I ain't failin' anything. As a matter o' fact, I'll take the grade for m' whole squad if ya let me go solo! Heck, I'll take down two squads widout a scratch!" Chatter started up in the room. If this was anyone else, they would just laugh and the test would proceed on as usual. But this was Lombardi, a prodigy, a natural. Falco proceeded to take the exam for his squad, "killing" all the member of both squads without his virtual fighter taking a single round of fire. It was one of the most incredible things Samus had seen in her life. Falco had since been revered as a hero, flying over 1000 sorties, all reporting at least one kill, and almost no damage to his aircraft.
The last person seated, for some reason, didn't surprise Samus at all. It was none other than Fox McCloud. The two were good acquaintances at best, working around the base a few times together. She has heard many good things about him, about his leadership in the midst of perilous situations, and the confidence that he gave the men that were under him. He too had been a mercenary prior to enlisting, using a few tactics he learned in his missions. Now the question remained; Why are we all here?
"You all are probably wondering why you all are here this afternoon," the commander started, almost reading Samus' mind. A roar of thunder peeled from above. "I hand picked you four to form Team Alpha. What is the basis behind this you might ask? Well you see, every country has its elite, secret group like the Navy SEALS. However, there are some tasks that not even the SEALS can handle on their own." He paused, and began to slowly pace, the rubber pat pat from his boots reverberated inside the room. "Some missions are so high risk, they may fail even before they can start. The reason why I picked you four was because you all make the most balanced team. With Fox's leadership, Falco's piloting and sniping abilities, Ike's field intelligence and Samus' intel on various planets and relations, we have formed the perfect four man team."
Falco leaned the chair back on its back two legs.
"So, when are we gonna start?" he asked, cocking his head to the side.
"In about forty five minutes.' The four looked at each other with surprise. "Your first mission is to extract a VIP from a Columbian five star secured prison. The compound is located deep within the forest," he said turning. The largest display kicked on, showing a detailed view of the location. A large fence surrounded the compound, Falco gave a low whistle.
"Looks pretty heavily guarded if ya ask me. So who we rescuin'?" the fowl asked, a smirk on his face.
"Prisoner Number X," the commander replied. Falco burst into almost hysterical laughter.
'Wha' is this, James Bond or sumin'? And X ain't no number neitha'! This ain't ancient Rome or some crap like dat!" The commander gazed at Falco, who wasn't on the same page as blue bird.
"Prisoner numbers I-X are the most tightly guarded prisoners on the face of the planet. They don't get an hour of exercise, they get an hour of light." Falco stopped laughing and realized the seriousness, raising his eyebrows and now sitting on all four of the chair legs. "Anyway, you all will be equipped with suppressed weapons to make this job easier, and the latest in stealth technology." The commander paused and walked over to a corner in the room, and pressed a button that Samus had failed to notice. Out came a rack, on it hung four black skin tight suits. Samus could tell they were custom made; she immediately spotted her suit, the only one with feminine 'adjustments'. Falco chuckled.
"Hey boobs! Looks like they got a suit for dem too!" She couldn't help but to face palm herself, her shoulders bouncing up and down in laughter. Since the days of her youth she had always been more 'mature' than the other girls around her, always being stared at by the opposite sex. This wasn't a problem for some years until she enlisted, this time being stared at by both men and women (which she found a bit awkward to say the least). The four proceeded over and took their respective suits from the rack, stripped and donned the suits. She didn't even have to get comfortable, she felt naked. Falco walked around, throwing punches and kicks at invisible foes.
"Man, I dunno 'bout you guys, but I feel like I can take down an entire army!" Falco said as he clinched and unclenched his fists. The commander cleared his throat.
"These suits are a lot more advanced than they seem. Bulletproof, thermal proof, weather sensors to determine how warm or cool the internal portion on the suit should be, without appearing on thermal sensors. Very state of the art."
Samus pulled the head covering over her hair. The only part of her you could see were those emerald eyes of hers. They were all covered and ready, blending in to the shadow of the room. A door opened across the room, startling Ike. A pilot came out, clad in his flight gear, and simply nodded towards the commander. He was a short, stocky man whose mustache covered his upper lip completely. His dog tag read Mario Mario.
"Alright you guys, and gal, I wish you the best of luck. The weapons are located on the airship. You all will decide who takes what." With that the commander saluted, spun on his heels and marched to the back of the room. Mario Mario motioned the group to follow him through the door. They proceeded as a group down the secret passageway, antsy for the mission to start. After about a minute of travelling, the arrived at a hangar, in which a light clandestine craft sat.
"The Torp," Ike said, gazing at the aircraft with amazement. "It's the fastest in atmosphere troop transport there is available. This is amazing!" The side doors opened on the narrow vehicle showing three rows of seats. The four got hurried in by the short fat Italian pilot. Despite the craft looking long and thin on the outside, it was actually quite roomy inside, enough room for the occupants to stretch their arms full length while seated. The weapon rack caught Falco's eye. The SN-21 Marksman rifle was the longest rifle in the rack. It was painted a dull black, almost blending in with the rack. Falco removed the weapon and shouldered the scopeless rifle.
"Whoa man! I c'n crack some skulls wit dis baby!" he said as as he swung the rifle to and fro like a child with a new toy. Samus sighed.
"Falco, can you put that down? Or at least be a little but more careful with it," she insisted. Falco grunted and sat the weapon across his lap. At the bottom of the rack where the rifle had been placed was a small leather bag, its contents containing a scope, cartridges and a flash/noise suppressor. It was also a case for the rifle when disassembled. As Falco disassembled the weapon, Fox took a look at the other weapons on the rack. Three M4A1 assault rifles were on the rack; they were sleek, black and deadly. At the end of each rifle's barrel had a suppressor, the little black devices sitting innocently on the guns. They had all figured out that this was a stealth mission by this point. As they prepared their loadout, Mario's voice came over the intercom.
"Take off in-a ten seconds," he commented in his thick Italian accent. Samus had everything prepared; her rifle was loaded across her lap, the little switch on the side in the "S" position for safety. The black leather sack on her back, along with those of Fox and Ike, contained three more magazines of ammo, two cans of tear gas, and a suppressed M9 pistol. Samus felt her seat rumble as the engines of the aircraft roared to life, soon shaking her and her squad members violently. A loud whining noise was heard as the door to the outside world opened, the rain landing at the end of the runway. The aircraft suddenly began moving, the engines howling madly now. Samus let out grunt as she began to accelerate down the underground runway. She was used to the vertical takeoff of her own craft, being behind the pilot's seat. The aircraft exited the hangar into the stormy world outside.
Ike could hardly believe it; in less than ten minutes they had travelled across to their destination. The aircraft had slowed considerably, slow enough for the four to make their descent. It's raining here too, Samus thought to herself. The sky however, was pitch black, a menace compared to the gentle grey shower at the base. Thunder accentuated the air as the rain fell heavily, almost angrily. The four descended by means of compact personal pods that would disintegrate after a set amount of time. Samus winced as her pod made contact with the ground first, followed by the others. She stepped out into the hazardous weather, already annoyed by the rain.
That's it for now. Expect the next chapter soon. Remember to review!