Kainashi:

by Rogue Clawdite

A Federation Trooper, L. Brouda, tells the story of how the Troopers landed, and how him and his comrades survive, but can they survive some of their greatest fears?

Author's Note:

This is my first fic in about...a year. It takes place before Metroid Prime 2, about 2 weeks before Samus Aran comes to Aether to deal with the Ing and such. I don't intend to alter the storyline any, and I hope it doesn't seem that way. I merely was playing Echoes one day and I thought it was really sad how all the Troopers died, yet you don't really see the full footage of their journey, and I wanted to add a personal touch to it by involving the Trooper's trust to one another and some scary discoveries they saw. My main characters are L. Brouda, a Trooper who's courage and bravery will be remembered, E. Denys, Brouda's closest ally and a sharp thinker, M. Veroni, an egotistical yet strong trooper who's mind is as sharp as a pebble, and a small Luminoth girl named A-shae (A-shay). The Luminoth, Metroid, Samus, and these Troopers are not credited to me, but they are credited to Nintendo and Retro Studios. All I did was give these people personalities. I tried to follow the main storyline as much as possible, but it's nice to use imagination. The title of this fic is "Kainashi" which means "Hopeless" in Japanese. This fic is originally supposed to be only one chapter, in Brouda's perspective, but if you like it, I will finish it with Denys' side with a concluding second chapter.

.:K.A.I.N.A.S.H.I:.

Recording to Logbook...

TROOPER LOGS FORCE TWO PFC L. BROUDA
Galactic Federation Marine Corps, Personal Log Entry, PFC L. Brouda
We'll be making our stand here. The engineer tells me there's no way we'll get
the ship's engines online, and atmospheric interference is scrambling our
distress beacon. If anyone reads this, know that we did our duty and fought
well.

I...don't know how much longer I have. My body has failed to move, and I can feel myself becoming lightheaded. Things around me are dimming as we speak. If we had known it would have been like this...Ugh...Let me explain this to you, every part of the journey, from beginning...to end. I'll take each breath gratefully, for I know I've done my job as a Federation Trooper...

It started on the ship. Denys and I were preparing our arm cannons, improving them with some new technology that the Galactic Federation had given us. We could hear Benet and Veroni bickering about their need to capture these Space Pirates and take them back to Federation HQ. As if we would keep them alive. After all they've done to us, why should we let them live? After suggesting this to them, they nearly burst out laughing, saying how much money they would get if they held the Space Pirates for ransom. Sometimes working with my fellow comrads was annoying. They thought they were immortal, and they knew nothing about the Space Pirate Force in full effect, although neither had I.

"Don't let them get to you, Brouda," I heard Denys reply to me as he fitted in some missles and charge shots into his arm cannon. "After all, it's them who's going to get killed first anyway, judging by their attitudes. And probably their aim. They can't shoot their way out of a War Wasp's nest."

I chuckled at this as I did the same as him. Whether Vernoni and Benet could hear the conversation we had or not, it didn't matter. At least Denys and I got some humor out of it, which wasn't too common in the cold deep of space. We were still in pursuit of the Space Pirates, and we were about 20 minutes in space time away from them. We had a lot of time to kill anyway. We were somewhere in the Dasha Region, the exact place, though, Captain Exeter kept to himself.

Denys stood up and held a hand out to help me to my feet. Taking it, I stumbled up, and worked my way to the scanners on the sides of our freight. No activity whatsoever. Typical, I thought to myself. As I walked away, I failed to notice that we were closing in on our target, the Space Pirate Fleet. I would find out later, so I guess it wouldn't matter. Making my way to the Storage Hall, where food was being served. There wasn't much to this place, maybe a table here and there, and a long line of troopers waiting to get their daily food. The tables were made of steel, of course, but it wasn't that sturdy. The lighting in the room was very dim, mainly so it looked more relaxing than what our situation actually was. I got my tray and sat in beteween Denys and Veroni.

"Hey Brouda...," Veroni started, striking up a conversation, but keeping it low profile between Denys, me, and Benet, who had just sat down across from us.

"Yeah?" I answered, taking off my helmet so I could eat, and brushing my messy hair out of my eyes. It only went down to ear length, but it did get in my way now and then. It was a pain in the ass to fix inside my helmet. Getting back to the point, I ate some of my food while I listened.

"Haley says we've caught up with the Space Pirates. Ya think we'll board their ship?" he continued, taking his helmet off.

"Doubt it," Denys replied. "We're not ones for ambushing. We'll probably just blast their ship into oblivion. Besides, we don't know what to expect on their ship." After saying this, he went back to his meal, his ponytail flipped over his shoulder as he finished his sentence.

Veroni couldn't argue with that. He just turned silent, as if the conversation had never happened, and turned back to his food. This silence was not to last. Not in the least bit. After about five more minutes of casual eating, an announcement came from the PA system in the storage room. Why they had that when our ship was so small was beyond me, but I didn't argue. All I could remember was that it was Harley's voice.

"All troopers, get to your harnesses! We have just encountered the Space Pirate Frigate and have engaged it in combat! I repeat! Get to your harnesses! That is all." the voice muttered on the overhead system, and it was really quite amazing how fast everyone in the Storage room reacted. Before anyone knew what was happening, we were all sitting in our harnesses, Veroni and Denys right beside me. They were the ones I was closest with, after all. Not soon after we were all buckled in and harnessed, the captain came in and told us what was happening.

"Well, crew, we've encountered the frigate, but we're in a bit of a tight spot," was all he had to say. I could feel the ship's altitude lowering. It's like that feeling you get when you're up in the air for so long that you notice every little bit of lowering you get when you're on your way down. I soon found out why. It seems that we followed the frigate we were chasing into a planet's atmosphere. A planet I had never heard of. It was called "Aether", and when I looked out the window, I saw clouds, but these clouds were different, almost demonic. They were light grey, with dark streaks thrown in it, giving it a calm "after the rain" look, but once you think you saw them, they switched rapidly, to an eerie dark purple with lightning striking everywhere. It awoke a nameless chill in my heart. I didn't mention anything to Denys, because I didn't want him worried as well.

The ship gave a sudden rock towards the port side. I was unbuckled, looking out the window, along with Benet. I slide towards the door which didn't look too sturdy. One hit from that thing could open it, from what I figured. I felt a gloved hand grab my wrist, and I looked up to see Denys gripping it from his chair. Giving a sigh of relief I looked up at him gratefully, him nodding as if he understood. It was then that I saw Benet slide past me. Acting fast, I managed to hold my foot out for him to grab on. It wasn't the best support, but I couldn't do anything with my arm cannon.

"Captain, what's wrong!" I shouted out as my eyes went towards Exeter.

He was at the controls with the two pilots, trying to figure out how to fix this. His head turned towards me and a worried look just punctuated the chill in my heart that I had felt before. "Our atmospheric stabilizers have been shut down, and we've lost control of the ship... Brace yourselves men, this is going to be a tough landing!" was all he said. It was all we needed too. A sudden impact was our next answer, and it felt as though my heart ripped through my ribs. I just kept hanging on, breathing, hoping that after each breathe there was at least one more for me. I could hear the screaming of the men around me, and I was worried that Denys would let go of me in fright, but his grip never loosened. Never faltered even once. There was one more crash, this time even more painful, because it sent me into the opposite wall, torn from Deny's grip, and I fell down again, writhing in pain. I wasn't sure if my spine had snapped or not, but I could feel myself feeling lightheaded. I took a quick glance around, seeing men in the same position, and even the ones who were strapped in, got torn out of their seats and into the people across from them. Denys was no exception.

Things started getting black...and I was down and out.

When I woke up, I was in the ships Infirmary, with some of the other troopers looking at me. I tried to sit up, but a jabbing pain was in my ribs. Gripping around that area with my left hand, I winced, gritting my teeth from the pain. Everything sounded a bit muted, maybe it was because I had been passed out for nine hours. The captain told me that I had a few bruised ribs, but thankfully nothing major. I got off the bed, the only one in the Infirmary, and tried to see if I could stand. So far so good. Taking a step, I was a little clumsy, and I fell on Veroni, who helped me stay stable. After a few more attempts, I was able to walk normally again. Now it was time to witness this planet called Aether.

When I stepped out, it was absolutely amazing. Of course, we were at our crash site, and there were some damages done to the place, but it was none the less awe inspiring. The ground had no grass of any kind on it, but the rock and sand there was so smooth you'd think nothing lived there. I went to the edge, we must have been on some kind of plateau, and looked out over the landscape. Rock valleys and plateaus everywhere, just like this one. I could tell that my comrades had already started making the best of things, putting some crates outside the ship to salvage them from the wreck, and some were even setting up bases on other parts of this plateau.

It was then that Exeter came up to me, and gave me permission to scope out the landscape on the east side with Veroni and Denys. I accepted, seeing as this planet was new to me, and I wanted to learn as much about it as possible. Nodding towards my two partners, we locked our arm cannons into Ready-Fire positions and started striding along the path. Not much conversation was said between us for about 15 minutes. We just looked at the inside of the cave walls, wondering what could have crafted these to such precision. Denys stopped for a second and put his hand to the wall. It appeared that if you looked closely, you could see small beams of light coming out of the tiniest of cracks. The odd thing was, this tunnel was so into the cave that light could never pass through on it's own. Something had to have put it there while making it. Veroni claimed that there was nothing to discuss about it. He claimed that a weird planet should have weird stuff in it, and that we should end the conversation. Denys and I looked at each other, and then shrugged. We wouldn't push it with him. If he had no imagination or will for adventure, then that was his problem.

We continued walking, and we reached an opening that showed a huge open area. It must have been a hole in the upper section of the plateau, maybe even a small valley. Walls surrounded everything, but the sky shown brightly, with its atmospheric changes constantly happening the whole time. Every now and then I'd look up and try to notice why the skies changed color. Could it be a chemical imbalance in the atmosphere? No, the air was perfectly breathable. There had to be some explanation. Hell, I couldn't even tell which sky was the right one. Maybe the atmosphere was purple here, and he just couldn't accept that.

I could feel Veroni jab me in the side with his elbow as he pointed up with his arm cannon. Looking through my helmet's visor, I saw a huge temple. And when I say huge, I mean HUGE. This thing had to be at least half as tall as the plateau we were on, and it had so many carvings and writings on it that it was impossible to scan them all. Denys was able to get one that helped us out.

"Luminoth...Sanctuary..." he read on his visor, slowly and clearly.

"What's a Luminoth?" Veroni burst out right then. He had to be the most blunt, loud, and noisy person I had ever met. If anyone could be quiet, it surely wasn't him.

"I guess we'll just have to find out then won't we," I said as a matter-of-factly, walking towards it. Denys followed me without warning, but Veroni just stayed in his spot. I knew he wasn't following, and I stopped and looked at him. "What's the matter? You nervous?"

"No!" he shouted to me. "You're just being a dumbass! You don't even know whats in there! For all we know, that could be a portal to Hell!"

"Then we'll go to hell with pride then, won't we?" I snapped back, and continued walking. Denys walked beside me, and I thanked the Lord that he was. I would have felt so stupid if I didn't have someone supporting my decision. I could also hear footsteps clanking behind me, and soon Veroni was on my other side, muttering how we'd die if he wasn't with us. I rolled my eyes and tried to pick up the pace.

When we got to the entrance, we saw a small film over the entrance. I, being the leader of the group, walked up and put my hand toward it. Sure enough my hand went through it, and it seemed more like one big ray of light than a real solid barrier. Taking my hand out I looked at Denys.

"What is it, Brouda?" he asked, cocking his head to the side.

"It's...not like a barrier at all. More like...a light."

Veroni just scoffed at this. "A light? What's a light going to do?" Little did he know that this barrier would eventually save us. Denys was eventually arguing with Veroni how a planet could have it's own way of protecting.

While these two were bickering, I noticed out of the corner of my visor that some shadow was climbing up the walls. That same chill awoke in my heart once more as I watched it. I'd look the other way for one second, trying to see if any flying lifeforms were creating that shadow, but no luck. I smacked Veroni in the head with my arm cannon to get him to shut up.

"God damn it, Brouda, what the hell was that for?" he shouted at me and prepared to do the same thing.

"Would you just shut up for one second of your life!" I ordered back at him and looked around for that shadow again. I had bad thoughts about it, and for some reason I couldn't get my mind off it either. "There's something...or someone here."

Denys did a scan of the area. "I don't see it, but I sense it too...and it doesn't seem good."

Veroni snorted. "There's nothing here! You two are just scared of this temple and are trying to find an excuse to get out of going in it!" he shouted and kicked a rock. We watched the rock fly and hit a small boulder on the other side of the open room we were in. As we watched, we saw a small insectoid, no bigger than the size of my shin, hopped out from behind it and start crawling towards us, as if ready to lunge. Scanning this thing, we found out that the captain had encountered these too, calling them "Splinters".

"Leave this to me, amateurs," Veroni bragged as he let open fire on the Splinter, way more than needed to kill it. This, however, was a bad idea. As soon as that one's shriek was heard when it was killed, three more of these Splinters hopped out. Denys and I took out two of em, and the third one was about ready to strike.

As if out of nowhere, a dark shadow-like form shot out from under a shadowed area and attacked the Splinter right in front of our very eyes. Veroni shoved me into the front, and Denys had his arm cannon ready to shoot it if necessary. The darkness seemed to envelope the Splinter, and its appearance changed quite a bit as well. It's shell, normally a creamy white color, had turned to a dark, almost black, purple, and it had an eerie red glowing cluster of eyes near the top of the crest on its head. The crest itself, had split into three almost hair-like spikes, protruding from the body and straight backwards. It was truly a scary sight to watch.

This new creature took no hesitation in attacking. It lunged quickly and landed on my chest. I toppled to the ground, both from impact and the weight of the creature. As soon as I was down it was tearing at my armor. The worst thing was, I couldn't get a clear shot at it. I managed to punch the creature in its eye, and that stunned it a bit, but it then dived for my face.

A miracle then shone down on me. Denys kicked the Splinter-creature out of the way. "Hurry! In the temple!" he exclaimed. I understood why he didn't shoot it. We didn't want to make the same mistake that Veroni made when he shot the first one. The last thing we needed was a whole Splinter colony attacking us. Grabbing Veroni by the hand, I ran just inside the temple entrance and watched for Denys. After kicking the Splinter another good distance he was able to run into the temple, although the creature was right on his trail. We continued running, but when I looked back I noticed something odd. The Splinter wasn't chasing us. It hadn't even entered the temple. I stopped the others, and walked back over. The Splinter was still there, but something was holding it back.

I stuck my hand through that light, just to test out something. Maybe it was this barrier. As soon as my hand got through, the Splinter automatically jumped for it. I quickly recoiled it back into the temple. Unfortunately for that creature, it hit the light barrier. I heard it shriek, and it seemed as if it had touched fire. The light seemed to burn every part of the creature, and it just writhed in pain as it scurried around, ramming into the rock wall several times. Soon it's energy wore out, and it collapsed in a heap, then shattering itself into pieces, like a self destruction device.

"What...the hell was that!" Veroni managed to say as he watched this with us.

I could only shake my head in disbelief. "I guess...this light is a barrier. How did we pass through?" I gave it some thought, but nothing seemed to make sense. I turned to Denys to see if he had any ideas. He gave a quick shrug of his shoulders, telling me that he had come up with nothing as well. We didn't even bother to ask Veroni. He wouldn't give us a straight answer, so we didn't ask. And for some reason, thats the way Veroni wanted it.

"C'mon," I said after awhile. "Lets go check this temple out." Denys nodded and followed me, although he kept his arm cannon loaded at all times. Veroni, once again, stalled a little bit, as if thinking if he should follow. I looked back and saw him staring at the Splinter fragments, and he hurried towards my side.

As we walked deeper into the temple, we saw wrapped up cocoons. I couldn't scan any deeper than the first layer of these cocoons, but some sort of biomass was contained in them. Could these be Splinter cocoons? No, they were much to big. They were big enough to fit in an average sized human, maybe even two. Surely no Splinter needed that much room.

We kept walking until we got to some sort of altar. It was a bit dim, but it at least had some light, unlike the passageway where they had to hook lanterns onto their arm cannons to see. I looked in the center of the room to find a bright light coming from there, in the form of a crystal. It seemed to be projecting this aura all over the room, making it like a sanctuary. I strode over to the crystal, and looked around. I saw these strange creatures, who were quite tall in height, and had fuzzy antennae on their head. Their chests were furry and their legs seemed to bend backwards, giving them a grasshopper appearance. They had small wings, but from what I saw, they were too mangled to be inspected thoroughly. I turned my head back to the crystal and reached out to touch it with my hands.

"NO!" I heard a small voice shout to me. I couldn't understand the spoken language, but my minimal translators were able to get the translation for this voice on my visor. I saw Denys and noticed that he had gotten the same translation and we both looked around for the source of the voice. At first I looked with my own eyes, but I eventually had to scan the surroundings to find out who it was. It turned out to be a small girl, although she wasn't human, but of that same race that I saw lying on the temple floor. Her antennae were much neater though, and her figure was much slender, being a female, and her wings kept her afloat as she came towards us.

Veroni held up his arm cannon to her. The creature stopped in her tracks. Her eyes showed signs of fright, and her antennae drooped in a way that seemed to be pleading and pitiful. Veroni never showed any mercy. "Who are you? What is your name!" he screamed at her.

The creature recoiled as she wimpered. "P-Please don't hurt me, I am A-Shae, child Sentinel of the Luminoth. Did you come from our distress signal?"

Seeing this as a sentient creature, I stepped up in front of Veroni, shoving his arm cannon down. "Luminoth? Is that what your race is called?"

A-Shae hovered over to where I was, and I realized that compared to the other Luminoth, she was indeed a child. She was only about my height, not counting her antennae. "Yes. We are the Luminoth. A race of peaceloving people who just want to live away from harm. Have you noticed the different colored skies when you look above into the clouds?"

Denys nodded. "We thought maybe that the atmosphere was just unstable."

"You said something about a distress signal. What did you mean, A-Shae?" I asked, taking off my helmet.

The Luminoth girl opened her hand and it showed the planet we were on, the planet known as Aether. "This is our planet. We came here in search of peace, and were actually quite happy. Everything was perfect, and we treasured this time of peace," she started. All three of us looked at the image above her hand. The image that was the planet eventually started splitting into two, one of them looking completely different than the other. "Our planet was then hit by a comet, and another dimension was born. This was Dark Aether's birth. We tried to keep peace with Dark Aether, but they wanted power. Total control over Aether. If Dark Aether rules, Light Aether will vanish, and we cannot survive with those wretched Ing."

"Ing?" Denys said, cocking his head.

"I watched you fight that Splinter," she explained. "I noticed you saw a dark force take over that Splinter. That dark force you saw...was an Ing."

I couldn't help but ask. "Is an Ing just a shadow? Or is it something more?"

A-Shae opened her other hand and showed a grotesque five legged creature with tentacles coming out from its head, and a large red eye in the center of its head as well. "This is a Warrior Ing. They take over your body and transform you into dark, more powerful life forms, and they make you attack one another, against you're will. They are heartless, evil creatures." With this she closes her hands, making both images disappear. "I fear for our world. I am hoping one day there will be a warrior brave enough to help us destroy the Ing. Have you come to help us?"

Veroni shook his head. "We just crash landed here and we're gonna be out as soon as we get our ship fixed."

A-Shae's antennae drooped again. "I understand. It was selfish of me to build up my hopes like that. I apologize, sir."

This made me pity her. Her planet was dying, and we were here, with weapons, but we didn't plan on helping them. The Captain would go for it, but Harley probably wouldn't. He's stingy with his ammo, and he wouldn't waste it on a losing battle. "I'm sorry A-Shae. We really can't help you until we run this across our Captain. Will this Barrier protect you until we come back with the news?"

The Luminoth girl's wings fluttered with joy. "You're actually going to help us?" Her facial expression changed to a cheerful look as she heard my words.

I just nodded. "We'll see. Can you wait a few weeks? We have to get our camp set up. Doesn't look like we'll be leaving here for awhile, with our ship how it is."

She nodded. "That is fine. We've survived years, we can survive a few more suncycles. Just please hurry."

With that, we walked out of the temple, and back towards our ship. On the way back Veroni kept talking about how A-Shae was practically insane and how I was a jackass for helping her. "You don't even know if the Luminoth are the real enemies here!" he argued.

"I think it's quite obvious," Denys said to him. Denys had been very quiet until now. "That Ing Splinter had attacked us, yet A-Shae showed no signs of even being a threat. She's sentient, and she is too peaceful of a race to be evil."

I agreed with this. Whenever I needed support, Denys was always there to back me up. We traveled through the tunnel, now knowing that the Luminoth built it, thus the explanation of the light in the tunnels was solved. We finally worked our way back to the ship, and the Captain ran up to us.

"Did you guys get lost?" he asked, giving a little chuckle. I immediately dismissed both Veroni and Denys and talked with the captain myself.

"Sir, we came across a temple, and inside that temple was a sentient being called a Luminoth. She claimed her kind was being killed by Ing..." I spent the whole night telling the captain about this. After giving it some thought, he decided that he would help them, but we had to get our camp up first. It made sense, so I didn't argue.

For the next two weeks we spent all our time making our camp and putting up security. Things seemed to be going quite well, especially after learning about the Ing. Althought only I, Denys, Veroni and the Captain knew about this. After about one week, Veroni came up to me, with a bit of a worried look on his face.

"What is it, Veroni?" I questioned, as I fiddled with the touchpad mission list, and figured out that I had to go put up a security gate in one of the cave tunnels.

"It's Haley. Brouda, I think he's losing it. He hardly eats...he whispers to himself, and he nearly shot Benet the other day..."

"He nearly SHOT Benet!" I exclaimed.

"Yeah, I know we need all men possible for this, but him shooting our own troops won't be of much help."

"Just keep your guard up. I'm sure he just needs sleep." I said, but my voice sounded a little unsure. Never before had a fellow trooper shot at their peers.

Another week passed with complete peace, or so we thought. Nothing had happened at the campsite, but when Exeter told us to go find that Luminoth girl, we had no idea that it would be our last mission. Trudging through the deep dark corners of Aether, we made our way back to the temple. Something wasn't quite right though That light barrier we had passed through earlier had vanished, but we didn't think too much of it. Walking in, we saw that the temple altar was in ruins.

And there, skewered on the crystal itself, was A-Shae, the now tainted red crystal sent right through her chest. Denys froze in complete horror, while Veroni had to lean on him to prevent himself from fainting. I could feel my blood turn cold as I saw this. It was definately her. Working my way up there, I pried her off, feeling the warm red liquid flow through my fingers. It was a sickening feeling, and I tried to do it quickly, but gently so I didn't damage her even more. Placing her in my arms, I took off my helmet.

"A-Shae...Please speak to me..." I managed to sputter out of my mouth. My hair was tattered, and I could hardly stand to look at what happened to her. Just holding her limp body, I kept trying to get something from her. Then, by some miracle, one of her bony hands reached out and started fixing my hair.

"Sir Brouda, you came back...," she whispered in a raspy tone. Her eyes were sad, but they did not show anger or hatred. They showed more of a melancholy, gloomy hue to them, and she blinked slowly. "I'm...sorry Sir Brouda, but they attacked us..."

"What attacked you!" I demanded. I needed to know, in order to save her life.

"The Ing, sir...they used their energy to taint the crystal, and attacked. I tried to fend them off until you came, but no use... I'm sorry...," she apologized, her eyes drooping.

"Don't give up on me A-Shae!" I screamed. "You can't die!"

"All things die, Sir Brouda... and now it is my turn..."

"No! We'll take you back to the campsite! We'll find a cure!"

Her eyes just shone with happiness. "You're so caring, Sir Brouda. I know I found a noble man." Her hand reached up again and took my face, and her antennae brushed against my cheek and finished fixing my hair. I had no idea how to react to this. How could she be so brave? I gripped her tighter, and stood up, turning to the other two.

"We're leaving...now," was all I had to say. Denys moved without question, and even helped me carry A-Shae. Veroni had luckily brought out his safety kit and was trying to clean her wound as best as possible. It was not much longer until we would fight the battle for our lives. We got out of the temple in great time, and we felt that everything would turn out right. We were no further than 10 feet to the tunnel that lead to the campsite when we saw Splinters climbing down from every wall. To make matter worse, they were the Ing Splinters. There had to be over hundreds, maybe even bordering a thousand coming down to where they were.

Denys loaded his arm cannon. "There's so many! How can we fight that many!"

Veroni roared, watching him. "Let me handle this! You guys step aside!"

"Veroni...," I said surprised at what he had just said.

"Take the girl and get out of here!" he snapped back, firing at the Splinters like crazy. I couldn't believe it. Why was he sacrificing himself? Grabbing his arm, I pulled him close and got right in his face.

"Veroni! We're all getting out of here together! Do you understand that order!" I commanded.

"You dumbass! I told you to leave!"

Luckily Denys had cleared a path. "C'mon guys!" he claimed, fighting off more Ing by the minute. Dragging Veroni by the arm and carrying A-Shae over my shoulder, I made my way to the doorway.

I then felt some heavy weight fall behind me. Looking back I saw a horror. Veroni was being mauled by countless Splinter Ing, attacking him all at once. I tried to fight them off, but no luck. They had torn through his armor and I screamed at the top of my lungs as I saw my comrad murdered on spot by these beasts. His eyes looked at me, and the last thing I saw was him giving me a thumbs up, and saying his last words, "You...dumbass..."

"Veroni!" I kept repeating. "No! Veroni! Don't die!"

"Brouda! We have to get out of here! Veroni wouldn't want you to die where he worked so hard to protect you!" Denys said, shaking me. "We have to leave...now! A-Shae needs you!"

With that being said, we burst through the doors, but to our misfortune, we found Splinter there too. I blasted a small alcove in the tunnel wall, giving off tiny bits of light, which kept off the Ing for awhile. Setting A-Shae down, I shook her gently. "A-Shae...please, don't give up on me yet."

Her eyes were barely open. "I'm sorry Sir Brouda, you're a brave man. But no matter how hard I hang on, I can't help this dimming in my eyes..." Her arms opened and embraced me, and even though she was a child, I couldn't help but embrace her in that way as well.

"A-Shae...don't leave me...all alone," I pleaded, but it was no use. Her eyes shut completely, and I could feel her grip on me loosening. She fell back into my arms, completely limp. I pressed my ear to her body, and I felt no heart beat. She was gone. Standing up, I turned to Denys, who was fending off Splinters. "Denys...you've been like a brother to me..."

Denys turned to me, his eyes full of fear, but in a calm state. "What is it, Brouda? I'll do it."

"I...want you to get out of here, back to the ship. Warn them. Try to get out alive." I told him.

"But...what about you?"

"I'll make my stand here. Just...get out safe. Promise me that." I then took him by the shoulders and embraced him as well, nearly bursting into tears. So this was it. At least he would be safe. Releasing him, I took over his part of destroying the Splinters, and watched him go through the doors. Unfortunately, there were Splinters at my feet, and I could hardly hold them off. I felt one jump on my back, and went for my neck. I rammed myself into the wall, and that knocked it off, but it jumped back on with no mercy. I tried to fight it off again, but one jumped on my torso, and I could feel it clawing into my armor.

I then felt an extreme pain in my chest. Falling to my knees, I looked down and saw a purple claw sticking through my chest, covered in blood. Frantically, I pulled out a flash grenade and threw it, destroying all the Splinters in sight. I saw none advancing any further, as it saw I was holding another one. After they left, I realized that Denys would make it okay. I thanked the Lord for that. But as for myself, I don't think I'd make it. Pulling the dead Ing Splinter off me and threw it against a wall in anger. I felt myself weakening, and I eventually fell on top of A-Shae. I buried my face in her fur, trying to hide my fear, and I shakily, and slowly, positioned her arms around mine.

I believed that we should die together.

I've been here for about 3 hours since then, not moving from A-Shae's arms, and calculating all this for if some other troopers come. Maybe even...Ms. Aran. My final words are this. Ms. Aran, if you're reading this...please help these people. Denys, I wish you all the luck, get back to the captain, and warn him. Do anything you have to in order to keep yourself alive. Thats what I risked my own for. A-Shae...don't die too fast. I'll be joining you...

PFC L. Brouda died on Aether trying to protect his campsite from the Splinter invasion. His attempt, although unseen by him, was in vain. The Splinters had discovered their campsite, and attacked with the same mercy he was given. His comrade, E. Denys, did in fact make it back to the campsite, but his reaction is a different story from this. His other comrade, Veroni, died in combat while defending Brouda and Denys. His bravery has been recorded and placed in the Galactic Federation history. And as for A-Shae, she luckily has written a message on that temple that cannot be destroyed. "My memories are here. Light Aether will never be darkened." was what it said. This was Brouda's last logbook entry. Discovered by Samus Aran, she helped thwart the Ing invasion.

Hey guys, thanks for reading this far. I realize it's not the best fic. I, myself have read much better, with more descriptive terms and such. I just really wanted to bring this part of Metroid Prime 2: Echoes more to life, because it was a sad time of the game to see so many troopers dead. I can write another chapter for this, which continues where Brouda left off, and continues with Denys, and how he makes it back to the camp and such. All I need is your comments.
RC

"As if you needed a reason to practice" RC