Chapter 1
Planetfall
Samus made planetfall in the Tallon Overworld, that part of the planet that is a huge and beautiful rainforest, albeit one where it rains 24/7. After scanning various interesting things Samus surveyed the landing site.
There were at least four doors in the landing site, but thanks to the incident on the research frigate Orpheon, only one was currently reachable. Samus went thru the door into a small cavern. After killing a bunch of beetles, she went thru the door in the cavern and found herself in Tallon Canyon. It was a beautiful place, with the trees and the rain.
One of the first things to catch Samus's eye, however, was something she instantly recognized, and blanched when she saw it. Is that a… She switched to the Scan Visor and scanned it. These large branches have been forcibly intertwined, forming what looks to be a bridge structure. The last time Samus had seen such a bridge was in the ruins of the place where she grew up. A Chozo colony! And there was more. Samus scanned the u-shaped surface underneath the bridge. Definitely a half-pipe for the Boost Ball. Both bridge and half-pipe were irrefutable evidence of Chozo habitation.
Samus opened the door beyond the half-pipe and sprinted thru the narrow hallway beyond. Upon going thru the door at the end of the hallway, Samus found herself in a small, dimly lit room with an elevator. Samus scanned the panel beside the elevator. Access to Chozo City East granted. Please step into the hologram. Samus stepped into the hologram and ascended to the Chozo City.
Upon arrival, Samus exited the elevator room, ran out into the open, and stopped… from the horror of what she saw.
Stone pillars. Broken. Stone walls. Cracked and crumbling and overgrown. Dust. Wind. Silence.
Samus dispatched two beetles and took off her helmet. The air was dry. She looked around and then… she started to cry. This was no city, but a ruin. There was not a sight nor sound of any living thing. The whole place was falling apart.
Samus knew that whatever had wiped out the Chozo here and reduced their colony to such a state was not the Space Pirates. No, Samus felt a malevolent force here, something far more terrible than the Space Pirates themselves. This was more like the one whose fault it was that the Pirates were as bad as they were… the malevolent, power-crazed Mother Brain.
Samus considered whether this had something to do with it. No matter where she might be, the Mother Brain would always be the same within. Nothing could change that. As an entity it was power mad and pure evil, a being of enormous strength forever teetering on the edge of insanity. She stood for everything Samus hated.
She found herself hoping that this actually was the work of the Mother Brain. It would give Samus Aran the opportunity to remove from the civilized galaxy the work of one of the greatest abominations that ever existed. If it didn't remove her first, of course.
Suddenly her visor told her that there was seismic activity coming from a room called the Hive Totem. Samus decided she would head toward it.
Samus noticed a shimmering patch of wall above the door leading out of the entrance. She scanned it.
A new Chozo Lore entry has been downloaded to your logbook. Chozo script translated.
At the highest point of our city lies the fountain, a wellspring of pure water that flows throughout our civilization. It is the jewel of the Chozo, the lifegiver, and yet it's waters speak of a clouded future. As we come to understand the paths of time and space more clearly, we have begun to glimpse rough tatters of past and future, glittering behind reality like soft lights behind a curtain. We have seen the fountain in these glimpses, pouring darkness instead of water, and we cannot guess what the visions mean.
Samus went thru the door into the Main Plaza of the Chozo Ruins.
The walls were cracked, crumbling, and overgrown, but the place was still beautiful… and eerie. Samus scanned the leaves of a dead tree. These leaves appear to be unnaturally dried and withered. Samus went thru the second door she found because the first had a blast shield over it that she could not destroy, courtesy of the incident on the Orpheon. She went thru a narrow corridor and upon going thru the door at the end, found herself in a hallway with eyons on the walls. These were giant eyeballs made of ocular tissue that fired little lasers as you walked past. Lacking the firepower to dispose of them properly, Samus fired at them to close them briefly.
Thru the door at the end, there was the Ruined Nursery. No, not an infant nursery with insect-bored remains of cribs that once contained baby Chozos, but a plant nursery with a channel set into the wall and a dead tree in one corner.
Samus scanned another shimmering patch of wall.
We Chozo are departing now, after so many years of peaceful seclusion here on Tallon IV. When we came this place was a refuge for our spirits, a civilization built from native materials, bereft of the trappings of our technology. We were linked to the land here, kindred to the plants and animals, far away from the machines we had become so dependent on. And so we leave it now, pristine, a testament to the mortal forms we no longer need. We have drawn the veils of time and space aside, and are withdrawing beyond the illusion. But we will never forget this, the most sacred of our homes. And we will remain ever watchful.
"Okay, but that still doesn't explain why this place is a wreck," said Samus. She scanned the leaves of the dead tree.
Unusually high concentrations of poison identified in tree leaves. She then scanned the tree itself. Elevated toxicity levels found in tree bark. Scans indicate a poisoned water source within four meters of tree base.
"Hmm, very interesting," Samus said. After refilling her energy at the nearby station, Samus was attacked by several beelike creatures. The Scan Visor revealed them to be War Wasps. Samus disposed of them, then went thru the door to the North Atrium. All the water there had evaporated. Samus proceeded thru the next door to the Ruined Gallery. There was another door there with a blast shield and more War Wasps. What interested Samus though, were the pipes in the wall pouring out water. Green water.
She scanned them. These pipes are part of an irrigation system. The source of the water is unknown, but all liquid in this area is toxic. Samus scanned the pool of water next. Toxicity levels of this water are very high. Contact with contaminated liquid extremely hazardous.
"Well now I know what they meant by pouring darkness instead of water," said Samus to herself.
The next room was a long corridor. Samus went thru it and arrived at the Hive Totem. It was a creepy place. There was a totem-like metal thing at the back of the room under which was a platform that held a strange glowing object. A dais was in the center of the room, and a bridge stretched from it to the platform with the object. On the walls there were creepy drainages. A moat of toxic water surrounded the dais.
Samus scanned the glowing object. It appears that this item can only be reached by using the elevated bridge. Next she scanned the bridge. This elevated bridge looks worn, but functional. Then she scanned the metal thing above the platform. Mechanical device appears to be inactive. Lifeforms detected within hollows of machine. Samus stepped onto the bridge.
It was a trap.
The moment she put one foot on the bridge, the mechanical device came to life and melded with the platform. The drainages poured forth toxic sludge until the entire room was filled up with toxic water, with only the very top of the dais and Samus above water.
A hatch on the metal thing opened and out came three Ram War Wasps. After scanning them, Samus scanned the metal thing.
Morphology: Hive Mecha. Mechanical security unit that's programmed to work with predatory hive dwellers. A design flaw makes the shielding on Hive Mecha weak around their access ports. These units are second-generation combat drones, able to interface with organic units on a higher level. They train, shelter, and work hive-dwelling predators. Unarmed, they rely on their hive beasts to handle any threats.
Samus shot down the wasps. After that, the hatch on the Hive Mecha opened and emitted a red light. Samus scanned it. Device is emitting a high frequency signal. This may be the cause of the war wasp swarms. Samus fired in the open port. The port closed and opened again. Out came six Ram War Wasps. Samus shot them down and the process repeated itself once more with nine Ram War Wasps. After that, the water level lowered back to normal, the Hive Mecha raised itself up, the platform was lowered, and a voice said, "Congratulations, Hunter. You have passed the test. You may now access the Missile Launcher."
Samus could hardly believe her ears. "A test?! That whole thing was a test?!"