Ultra Metroid: The scavenging hunter

Disclaimer: I do not own Metroid outside of having copies of most of the games.

I haven't done a Metroid fic before, so I hope this goes well. I do fics for stuff I may be a fan of, and I've been a Metroid fan since I was two. Even then, I was formidable. I had all the cheats, and I had all the upgrades and tanks without them. Anyway, I thought I'd give it a shot. This is no 'Mask of Zarkov', but then again, that author knew what he was doing. Ah but you probably don't want my ranting, so on with the fic.

…

'Thud', 'Shhhhh'. He was getting closer. His suit was damaged, and his weapons were almost out of ammo, save for the lasers in the eyes and the solid blade under the left elbow, but he was nearing is objective.

He had been thrown from his own dimension and was captured and forced to endure painful experiments. He now had Nanites giving him a Heads Up Display, as the doctors had told each other, as well as increases to his physical strength and speed.

His right arm was now bio-mechanical and fitted with a device that allowed him to hack into any device with a mere thought in seconds, and by hacking something, his nanites transferred data to an implant in his brain that allowed him to understand how the device functioned.

'Thunk', 'Shhhhh'. He had been outfitted with several 'upgrades' including having both of his eyes bio-modified with high powered lasers and several scanners, including thermal and MRI visual sensors. All of his senses were honed by the experiments to superhuman levels. Adding to that, the doctors had modified his DNA to make him age much slower and far more gracefully. It also enabled him to survive for several weeks without water, and up to six months without food before any negative effects would take place.

'Thud thud' (Slipped on a staircase), 'Shhhhh', 'Mumbled expletive starting with Shh'. He had been given an experimental camouflage device that rendered him invisible to the naked eye as well as thermal scans.

He was fitted for an experimental suit of powered armor. It had several internal oxygen scrubbers as well as a device that filtered oxygen from a water environment. It could also open a vent in the front plate to allow him to breathe freely on dry land or wherever there was an atmosphere that could support him. It was pressurized when the vent was closed so he could go into water or into space if the need arose.

It was equipped with a powerful set of thrusters mounted on the back, with extra thrusters on all sides of his shoulders, on his hips, the back of his calves, two on his chest and sides, one on each palm, and a pair of thrusters on the bottom of each foot. They sealed in water, but opened when on dry land. Two powerful turbines were equipped between the back thrusters, allowing him to swim faster in water. A pair of retractable wings could be deployed to stabilize him in flight or under water. The suit itself could float, but only if he increased the amount of oxygen within.

'Crrccrrckrrrck'. He turned his head and saw that the frigate was beginning to break apart. He had to get out fast, but the left leg was damaged in a fight with a pirate.

'Damn bug lookin' bastards.' He thought. 'I'm screwed if I don't get there soon.' He mentally cursed them and gave an incredulous laugh when one jumped down in front of him. "Dirty fuckin' bug!" He semi quoted a famous comedian as he fired the last of his plasma energy through his newly acquired 'Chozo Powersuit' arm cannon. "I've got to get those mini generators. This limited ammo is going to be the death of me." His suits face plate looked remotely human, albeit one without a mouth. Its visor was separated by a small bridged piece of metal to make it look more human, giving the appearance of two green eyes.

He had found a destroyed ship nearby where he was and recovered a few things from it, among them the famous Powersuit of Samus Aran. It was a bit beat up, but he had placed it in a safe spot in his ship.

There were three more, two in a de-activated form that looked like a thick coin with a stylized 'S'. The third was beyond repair, but he salvaged the arm cannon and the oxygen filter from it, along with a number of scanning devices, a stronger thrust device for his feet, a modification that allowed total freedom in water and immunity from magma and fuel gel, a device called the 'Screw Attack' which was activated by doing repeated aerial flips, and a 'speed booster'.

The booster was inoperable at the moment, as it needed a good starting run before it would kick in and his suits left leg was all but inoperable. His thrusters were also out of power.

Most of the suit was out of power, re-routing all but the combat and healing systems to life support. He could last maybe ten minutes before activating the emergency power and another ten on that.

The bug was vaporized but a small blue power cell dropped to the floor. He picked it up and inserted it into a socket on the left knee. It activated the local repair circuit and fixed minimal damage so he could walk a bit faster, but he needed more to re-engage the full servos.

"It beats death at least." He said. He lifted his leg and twisted his left ankle a few times before setting it down in front of him with a soft 'Thunk' and a hiss from the damaged pneumatics. "I've got to push for that extra emergency power cell. Even something that lets me rip a power cable out and shock some power into the suit would be okay. The suit can take the jolt..." 'Thunk', 'Shhhhh'. "And it would do some serious good on a ship like this old gal." Another bug dropped down and was blasted by his last missile, another salvaged device from Samus Aran's old suit.

It was powerful, but he could only carry ten missiles at the moment. The bug stood tall, but was bleeding its green blood onto the partially pressurized frigate deck.

'K-k-k-k-k-k-ki-kiki-kiiiii!' It screeched as it fired a small electrical shot, which missed by three feet.

The man in the suit looked behind him and saw that nothing was damaged as the bug fell to the ground and died. A pair of small red power cells rolled to his feet. The blue ones powered about five percent of an energy tank for his suit while the red ones fueled up to ten. Samus Aran once told a television crew about these small things that the bugs often carried.

'The Ki-hunter pirates carried several small power cells in all the battles I've ever seen them in.' She had explained. 'My suit, and those of the marines, can use this energy to replenish our suits power reserves. A blue one will charge about ten percent and are commonly carried by most pirates.' She had wagged her index finger on her left hand, since her right was encased in a large cannon. 'Never neglect the small things like these, they add up if you're careful. Red ones will charge a good twenty percent, but are a bit harder to come by since the pirates recharge their weapons with these first.

If we can get to them before they use them, we can usually find one or two. Lastly, yellow cells are by far the hardest to come by. They can fully recharge an energy tank and should be used sparingly since they're so hard to get. A pirate with a high enough rank is usually trusted with one, but some have two or three.

I myself find them hard to get, but I tend to use them rather quickly when pirates are involved, especially around Ridley.' That was all she said before she jumped onto her ship and climbed in.

"I wish I could find one of those yellow ones about now." He muttered. His suit was highly energy consuming so he could only get about half of what other models got. His suit was much more powerful with many more systems, this being why it used so much power. But he had placed an order for a special generator that would provide unlimited emergency power, but only up to fifteen percent of a single tank. It would let him repair breaches in the suit and could let him use his cloaking device long enough to get to a charge station, usually commonly found on frigates like this. "Even another couple of these guys would be great." He looked at his radar, sonar, and motion trackers and saw on his map that he had just killed the last pirate on board the ship. He inserted the cells into both legs and regained basic running speed, enough to get him to his ship with time to spare, but not enough to use the booster. 'This'll have to do.' He ran down the corridor as cracks appeared along the walls here and there. He stopped at his ship and opened the hatch. 'I've got the data, now I'm ghostin'.' He walked in and shut the hatch, telling the computer to leave the frigate.

He looked out the window as the ship pulled away. He was in space, watching a few pirates on the outside trying to get away from some kind of yellow and green blobs as the ship began breaking apart, the reactor finally starting to go critical.

The holographic lights scanned him up and down, the decontamination process going at full haste as the ship got out of range of the now glowing frigate, the BSL ship 'Sci-Fi Runner' was about to explode.

…

"Hello Father." He called. "How goes things?" He had nicknamed the ships computer Father, since it sounded like, and spoke like, a catholic priest.

He modified the holo image to fit, looking like an aged man of the cloth complete with a clean beard and hair.

"Fine my son." Father replied. "How hangs the hammer?" He chuckled softly as the computer used the phrase of the same comedian that he enjoyed when he was in his home dimension.

"Long and strong Father." He said. "But the suit is having a few problems. We're going to have to recharge the whole thing before I can get out." He walked out of the de-con chamber and was met by a full sized hologram of Father. He took off the helmet and held it under his left arm and pointed to the chest plate. "One of the pirate commanders managed a lucky plasma shot and welded the latch shut, and a bad dodge on my part let him land a solid blow to the pneumatic on the left ankle." The ship shook slightly as the old frigate detonated, taking out the pirates and whatever the blobs were. He had captured one red blob in a containment vial and had kept it safe from the pirates. "They're getting more and more daring Father, and that means I'm going to push for those 'Missile tanks' that Samus uses. Ten more ought to be enough for a while. Simply put, ten missiles just aren't going to cut it." He stepped into a chamber and put the helmet on again as a glass door shut around him.

"Be that as it may, you still need to pick up those checks." Father said slowly as he sat on a newly formed holographic chair. "And you have a new job waiting at the BSL medical frigate. It appears that she has been rendered unable to fight. Those suits you acquired were indeed hers and she may want at least one of them back." He pulled a small black book from behind him and began flipping through the pages. "And as against my standard programming as it is, I recommend hiding one of them for your own use. You never know when you'll need it." The man in the chamber nodded his head slowly, thinking about how Samus Aran could have been beaten. She was the best bounty hunter in the galaxy, if not the universe.

"Did you find out what happened?" He asked. Father shook his head.

"No." He answered. "They said that you would be briefed upon arrival. They also said that you would be paid a handsome amount just for being there for the briefing. Seven hundred seventy seven thousand to be exact. They remembered you're love of those lucky numbers." The man thought for a moment as his suit repaired all of the damage and refilled the air tanks.

"Well, I can't very well ignore that now can I?" He mused. "They want to see me, and see me they shall. When is the meeting anyway?" He stepped out and pressed a button that made the suit vanish.

In truth, it was absorbed into his bio-mechanical arm, but he always said that it was somewhere else. Father stared blankly for a moment before putting his hands together, the small book vanishing.

"Thursday, three standard Earth days from now." He answered. "I suggest that you get there early. Tomorrow in fact. Today, we get your paycheck. Also, the upgrades you requested are at the place where you are to be paid." He moved his hands away and scratched his holographic beard. "Perhaps I should take my suit and accompany you. I've always wanted to speak with Earl in person, so to speak. He is so well versed in machinery, mayhap I can ask for a stun blaster for myself?" The man chuckled lightly.

"Sure." He said with a smile. "You've saved me more than a few times; it can't hurt to have you back me up on those slow missions." Father clasped his hands together again.

"Thank you Gene." He said joyfully. "I promise to be on my best behavior." Gene nodded.

"You always are Father." Gene said. He put his right hand to his chin, scratching his own stubble. "Maybe I should give you a second part to your designation." Father put his holo-hand to his chin and thought for a moment.

"Perhaps." Father agreed. "It would help people to think that I am not your actual father." Gene chuckled as he put his hands into his pants pockets.

He was wearing old worn out Levi jeans and an equally worn gray T-shirt. He didn't wear shoes in his armor because it was uncomfortable. His hair was bright silver, as were his eyes.

Oddly, when his body initiated an adrenaline rush, his hair would glow brighter and move as if by a breeze and his eyes would glow equally, the pupils taking on cat-like slits.

"How about Frank?" He suggested. Father 'Hmmmmmed' once before looking at Gene.

"Father Frank." He said, as if to test the name. "I like it." The newly christened Father Frank stood up and disappeared. "Shall I prepare the jump?" Came his disembodied voice.

Gene walked into the cockpit and sat in the pilot seat and ran his right index finger along a string of switches, turning them all on. He had the ship customized with this feature since most ships startup buttons were nowhere near each other and he wanted to shave a few seconds off pre-flight starting sequences with an old piano trick. He placed his safety harness on and pulled a lever back slowly.

"Little hand says it's time to book." With that, the ships engines roared to life.

The ship was made to look like a ship from a movie called 'Star Wars', specifically the Millennium Falcon.

He had named it the 'Silver Peregrine' after his favorite color and a species of falcon, and because he thought it sounded cool. On the side of the ship, next to the cockpit was a picture of a silver peregrine falcon with the words 'I brake for cash and justice' under it. A second set of words were on the back, just under the engines, reading 'Peace is all right, but it'd put us out of a job.' under which was a picture of his suit covered with rust.

Regardless of this, the ship vanished and reappeared near a space station an hour later. It was 'Red Star V', a bounty hunter hangout where Gene and Father Frank could often be found during their down time or when they were picking up checks or fresh contracts.

…

Repairs finished. Moving up from Notepad is excellent, since I can check my progress and actually locate the errors as they appear, be they spelling or grammar mistakes. This should be posted by Saturday at the earliest, Sunday at the latest.