This room was an observation bay for viewing specimens in cryosleep. In the chambers were more clones of me, but in their early pubescent stages. Each was equipped with a version of my Power Armor. I accessed the terminal and found some files on what was going on here. These clones were purchased by the Marella Shipment Company to be an elite guard force for their cargo ships. The terminal record said they were equipped with a modified Varia Suit and Ice Beam upgrades. Each had a serial number stamped on their chest plate along with the Marella Shipment Company logo.
This went far beyond simply cloning me for personal gain. They were cloning me, and turning me into an assembly line weapon. According to the logs, each squadron is comprised of 75 units weaponized and specialized in fields required by their buyer. This particular squadron had twenty-five medical specialists, twenty-five commandos, and twenty-five mechanics. Their buyer was supposed to arrive for pickup five years ago, but according to backlogs they failed to deliver on their payment of an agreed upon sum of 15,000,000,000 credits. They're been in cryogenic sleep since then apparently.
"Mommy, what are those funny marks on my sisters?" the child asked, and I could only lie to her. I told her that it meant they were to be released soon.
"Think they'll ever turn off the Magnetism Generators again?" the child asked, and I looked at her in amaze. I immediately asked her what she meant.
"You know, the thingamabobs that generate the electromagnetic activity so ships can't land and transmissions are totally blocked? Those things in the Science Wing?" the child explained, and that made my objective clear. I had to effectively eliminate those Magnetism Generators… but if that virus makes those infected extremely hostile, I'll need to find a replacement suit. Naturally, that will be drop my usual combat abilities… again… but it's still better than a damaged suit. The child seemed unnaturally familiar with the facility layout, so I asked where I could find a replacement.
"You'll wanna go to the Armor Workshop in the Manufacturing Wing. It's just past the Food Catering Wing but if you find yourself in the Recreation Wing you went too far. It's east from here." the child explained in detail. I told her to wait here, and went on my way. I now found my way obstructed by horrendous creations obviously birthed by a mad science.
I blasted my way through them as best I could, but without my primary functions operational there wasn't a thing I could do about some enemies. I had to get to the Armor Workshop even if it meant sacrificing a bit more of my armor than I'd have liked. By the time I'd even reached the Manufacturing Wing my cannon had lost all missile functionality. Once more, I was obstructed by a door locked with a cannon scan mechanism. Of course, why wouldn't I need officer level clearance to enter? I tried to think of an alternative, but then the door suddenly opened. Nothing was on the side, but it was clearly reading "Access Granted" on the terminal. It seemed that the doors use an external power source to the rest of the facility.
Once inside, the screens I passed were all reading "Warning: Level 1 Quarantine is in Effect". My HUD was beginning to read toxicity levels as well. I had to hurry and get a replacement suit. Otherwise I might not make it out. The monsters inside this area seemed almost agitated to the point merely seeing someone ticked them off. These were significantly mutated as well, some even impervious to my cannon. I could hardly make out area names with how rusted and worn the plates were in some hallways.
After a while I managed to find it, the Armor Workshop. I hurried to the terminal and downloaded the instructions. Once I activated it, I wouldn't have much time to get onto the platform so I could be equipped with a new suit. Even still, it was better than becoming infected. Upon initiation, the chamber began a sterilization process to kill anything that could be harmful. With the toxicity level my HUD was displaying, that was a godsend.
"What are you doing?!" the Warden's voice called from behind me, and sure enough there the Warden stood with a cracked visor and scratch marks on her armor. I calmly explained that I needed to replace my suit.
"Step away from the terminal. You aren't authorized to operate this machinery." the Warden threatened aiming her cannon at me.
I had to stall her at least until it was ready to begin. I quickly uploaded the schematic of my suit's proper state and began a circus of dodge tricks as the Warden opened fire at me. The terminal announced the completion of the sterilization process and I hightailed it to the platform taking a shot to back as I entered the chamber sealing me in with material that even the Warden's super missiles couldn't even scratch. Immediately mechanical arms took apart my armor as others were bringing down promising new parts. They began putting together my new suit, but the Warden continued to pound on the equipment outside occasionally making the arms stutter.
Still they managed to finish the job, but as soon as they finished they began bringing down an odd container. I put my new helmet to work and scanned it… and my eyes widened as soon as I saw that it was Phazon. I tried to blast open the chamber, but the arms restrained me as the others continually doused my armor in Phazon. Before I knew it… my armor had been augmented by the mixture once again. The chamber opened, and the Warden was gone. The door had been blown open, and the terminal now showed the blueprints for a Phazon Suit… the Warden did this on purpose. At least I was completely safe from the contamination now and had a properly functioning weapon system… of a standard cannon, missiles, and my Morph Ball bombs. Nevertheless I had to make my way back to Cryogenic Containment in the Prison Wing. Hopefully the child will have listened to me and stayed there.
I had a much easier time navigating with the new suit's built in map. It even gave me an error checklist giving me a basic rundown of everything required to repair the facility's power generators and decontamination system. I also gained access to a proper infection diagnostic of each wing of the facility. Just as the Warden told me, the Science Wing had the highest contamination level. It wasn't listed as the source though… but instead the Control Wing was listed. Something had to be wrong, because it had the least amount of infection.
Upon arriving at the room, I found the door blasted open. I entered and found signs of a struggle. I called out for the child, and she dropped from the rafters onto my shoulders. She was happy to see me at least.
"You're back! I didn't think you'd take the Phazon Suit, mommy. Only the highest class officers are allowed to use them." the child smiled as I sat her on her feet. I asked her why it's so ill equipped for combat if that's the case.
"Silly mommy, it's advanced weapon system doesn't activate unless you need it. Like you need Super Missiles to go inside the Science Wing, you won't be able to use 'em until you actually get clearance from the Defense Department Terminal." the child explained with a big grin. Her knowledge of the facility seemed awfully convenient, and odd that one so young would be so knowing. There had to be something the Warden wasn't telling me about her. Either way, I had to find out where this Defense Department Terminal was.
"It's in the second building, the one only accessible through the underground F-6 Corridor. The Warden guards that exit really hard through." the child told me. I told her that I need to go there and asked if she'd guide me. A beaming smile came to her face and she leapt to my shoulders once again.
She gave me directions as I made my way lower into the facility. We approached the E-1 area, and there I began to see the training facilities for the clones. Obstacle courses, weapon training, and much more were in rooms below us. My motion scan picked up something in the Super Missile room. I couldn't help stopping to see what it could be, but whatever it was seemed hidden among the many walls inside.
"What's wrong, mommy? See something?" the child asked. I told her it was nothing, but as we passed further I spotted a point of interest inside there… a Super Missile Upgrade Station… I'd have to pay that room a visit before we went to the second facility. I asked the child how we'd go about reaching those training rooms, specifically the Super Missile training area. She gave me exactly what I needed, but the door I came to was of course sealed behind something I didn't have. The terminal was in the floor and had a plate over it bearing a symbol all too familiar to me. I'd have to get Super Bombs before I could reveal the door terminal. Reluctantly I'd have to examine the other rooms before I move on.
A room in the far left had a Morph Ball slot. I had the child wait a good few feet from the terminal, then I bomb jumped into the slot. I began to spin rapidly making the terminal power up and open the door. I bombed out of the slot and then we went inside. The room seemed to be a testing area for an odd new item locked in a box. Luckily I had my "key" on me and opened it. Inside was an odd bracelet type device with a paper of instructions for installation. It was as easy as slipping it onto my cannon which stretches it out and keep going until I hear it click. The instructions said that was all it needed, and then in my HUD I saw that the device was the Tyrant Knuckle upgrade. It then displayed how it's used revealing that it was the gauntlet the Warden initially sent me flying with when I arrived. It's intended purpose it to bust apart ice blocks, boulders, and open jammed doors. Obviously, it can be a very effective weapon as well. I tried it out a few times to be sure I had how it works down for emergency situations.
I then had the child guide me toward our destination again. The way there wasn't as terrible as I'd first anticipated it being. Of course though, when we arrived at the F-6 Exit Door it had a cannon scanner device attached. I decided to give it a try, and this time it accepted my cannon signature opening the door. It must be the armor I'm wearing, which meant that a number of new areas might be open to me now. For now though, we had business in the second facility. I hurried through and along a very long hallway. At the end of it, the door opening automatically to reveal an empty room with another door that was sealed.
"Beginning decontamination process." the voice of a computer system spoke, and began filtering white mist into the room.
"Mommy… w-what's happening?" the child asked nervously.
I told her to remain calm while explaining how decontamination works. Once it finished, the door opened letting us into the facility. It was 100% functional still, and there were occasional ceiling turrets scanning around. They didn't mind us, so I guess that means they're targeting specific things. We began heading inward and I asked the child where the generators were.
"Uh… I haven't actually been in here… you never let me come with you when you'd come through." the child explained.
That made me suspicious of whoever her mother was. Was it a clone? Someone posing as me? Or something else? Either way it was exploration time. If I could eliminate those generators then I'd be able to take off again. In one room I stopped dead in my tracks and set the child down covering her eyes. She continued to ask what I was seeing, but I didn't dare describe it to her… one of my clones was hung from the chandelier of the room with slash wounds. I escorted her across the room to be sure she couldn't see the macabre sight of it. The last thing a kid needs to see is someone murdered in that fashion.
The next hall had more bodies in it… the worst part… was they were fresher than the clone in the previous room. The blood hadn't quite coagulated yet. I had to be on guard, and as a result the child had to see them. We continued on still, until we found a room with large boxes inside. I heard moaning, and moved quickly to find one of my clones crawling with a banged up leg. A large raptor creature was slowly walking toward her growling hungrily. I opened fire on it making it hiss leaping high above us onto a walkway to flee through a damaged door. I didn't hurt it but I at least scared it off. Next time I'll have to see what missiles do to it. For now I'd attend to my clone. Going by her size and appearance, she was only about fourteen years old. She looked at me and immediately began to panic.
"D-Don't kill me! I've been good, I've been good, I swear!" she cried trying to escape my arms, but I held onto her demanding to know why she was afraid of me.
"Y-You aren't… the Warden or one of her bullies?" she asked shaking in my arms.
I told her to just call me Omega and asked where the nearest medical facility was. I couldn't leave her leg like that. So I began to carry her as she directed me and the child. Soon we reached the A-4 Infirmary where luckily a Regenerator V-7 Station was set up. I got her on the table end of it, slid her in up to her waist, and let the machine do its job. I took the opportunity to ask about that raptor.
"Those stupid scientists… they've been trying to recreate these weird things from Zebes or whatever it's called. Last I heard, that planet was blown up though…" my clone explained.
I knew exactly who they were trying to make with that raptor then. The Federation's top brass are insane if they think that militarizing Ridley is a good idea, let alone the premise of reviving Mother Brain. So once again, history has to repeat. Why is it that I just can't escape those Space Pirates for more than a few years at a time? Is it so hard to ask that the dead stay that way? I put my agitation aside to ask about why her behavior is so important.
"I'm a Domestic model. I have no weapon clearance or training in favor of raising me to be the perfect housewife." she explained, and I really wanted to punch someone.
This kind of facility was definitely getting blown up once I get my ship repaired. I had her spill everything about her experience in the facility. From the Warden's strict rules to how she was treated almost like a doll by the scientists. She wasn't the only clone going through this either, but they were dying fast due to Ridley Jr not being too happy with captivity and having a very big appetite. Of course, clones they may be, I can't just condemn them to die. I'd have to find some way to get them off world too. Human beings are human beings…
I asked what she knew of the Electromagnetic Generators. She gave me a slightly confused look.
"Aren't you one of the guard personnel? They're in heavy lockdown in E Wing, F Wing, G Wing, and L Wing. Everyone should know that. Sentry turrets are armed and under orders to open fire at anything that comes through there." she told me.
"Lockdowns can only be shut off from the Command Center aboveground…" the child explained.
"How do you know that?" the clone asked.
"Mommy goes there a lot. She always tells me that it's important business, right mommy?" the child asked. I had to play along for now, and asked if from here there were any way back to the surface.
"There's a one-way shuttle system that goes right to the Command Center, but it's been inactive since emergency power came on in the other facility." the clone told me.
"Yeah, power is interchanged between facilities. Any extraneous systems like that become inactive if a primary system in the other facility goes offline." the child added.
That explained a few things for sure. This would mean getting the power back in the other facility. It seemed that more and more things continued to pile up. They weren't getting done by complaining though, so I told the child to be prepared to be my guide. We began to backtrack to the hallway connecting the two facilities, but when we arrived the door going between had been torn to shreds… which meant Ridley Jr was now on the prowl on the other side. Nevertheless I hurried across with the child close behind. The path was riddled with scratch marks and the other door was torn to shreds as well. The Warden would probably deal with him, but I couldn't be certain.
The child began guiding me along down further into the facility where more labs began to show up. Along the way I noticed a door that simply required a missile blast to open. I asked the child what was inside, and she pondered for a minute.
"I want to say it's a Deep Ground Suit conditioning room. It lets you see where you're going when you're deep in the underground mines and provides a thick exterior armor cover to keep falling debris from hurting you. You never know when a tunnel might cave in on you." the child explained, and I didn't see the harm in a little extra protection.
I blew open the door and entered. I had the child wait while I let the station upgrade my suit. My HUD got a full rundown of what the suit does for me. It apparently has a built-in Varia Suit function, so that saves me the trouble of hunting down a Varia Suit Upgrade Station. I will admit though, the dark red Deep Ground Suit on top of the black Phazon Suit looked pretty cool. My helmet now had handy headlights for the darker corridors as well.
We soon reached areas where normally loud machinery was dormant. We were definitely nearing the power systems. The monsters had grown fiercer as well, which likely means there's a nest down there that's part of the reason the power is out. I had the child climb onto my back to be sure she was safer than trying to hide while I dealt with them. My missiles and regular cannon were really starting to show how ineffective they were at handling their new ferocity. I had to run from the majority of the creatures that were charging at us. The child soon guided me to an abandoned armoring station.
"This place was used to make sure that my sisters and I had the right size suit for our developmental training. I didn't get one though… power went out the day before it was my turn to ride the conveyor." the child explained.
I examined the room scanning around and found a small duct going outside the room, likely an emergency way to unlock the door. The duct was too high to reach, even with bomb jumping.
"I can get in there if I stand on your shoulders, mommy." the child suggested, and without any alternatives I reluctantly let her stand and with a jump from myself following by her jumping from my shoulders she reached it.
She climbed in and began crawling. I heard her cry out followed by a metallic thud. I asked if she was all right.
"I'm okay… just didn't see the drop until I was already going down…" the child replied, and then I could hear her moving more.
When I couldn't hear her anymore, the door opened. She had a beaming smile on her face, and I couldn't help ruffling her hair in praise. She climbed on again and we continued down the hall. I followed her directions to a T, and soon we encountered… a door that required a Super Missile to open. I was getting really sick of getting blocked by doors I could have opened before I lost my original armor.
"Mommy, there's a Super Missile Upgrade Room a few doors back if you need them." the child informed me, and I immediately made for that room like a lion after a caribou.
Once at the terminal inside, it felt like being licked by a puppy as it upgraded my missile selection. At last, I had my Super Missiles back. I felt like a kid on Christmas as we returned to the door. I took aim and blasted that door opening its lock mechanism. I have never been so happy to hear the explosion of a Super Missile. Inside there were many power terminals and machinery that would normally power the facility. The minute I entered my scanner went haywire. I quickly threw the child out of the room keeping her from being locked inside with me. She banged on the door crying out for me as something growled from above in the room. I turned on my helmet's headlights revealing a monstrous spider creature hanging on the ceiling. It hissed at me before dropping down showing grotesque purple sacks on the bottom half of its abdomen. Some popped dropping smaller spider creatures allowing new sacks to form.
I opened fire on it blasting the sacks on its body making it roar loudly. With a well-timed leap to the side I made it ram the wall exposing a large bulbous organ on the inside of its thorax. I fired a Super Missile at it blasting it wide open making it stand roaring loudly as blue blood poured out of the wound. More sacks began to drop from it making small fry for me to shoot down as I dodged its charges and web attacks. It was very careful about guarding its backside.
After it had rammed the wall hard enough to bend it exposing some vents, liquid nitrogen from the cooling system poured all over it beginning to freeze it over. Once it'd totally frozen, I took out the rest of the small fry… and then blew up the queen with a Super Missile. The feeling of finishing a huge monster with a Super Missile again sent shivers down my spine. Freezing the queen made the current system run out of liquid nitrogen as well, which meant as soon as the machinery got going again it is really going to suck temperature-wise in this area. I plugged in my cannon to the computer activating an interface showing everything had been manually turned off. So it was easy turning everything back on at the very least. The machinery budged a bit, and then started going causing different functions in the facility to begin coming on all at once. The door then flung itself open as the child rushed in to cling to my waist.
"Mommy! Are you okay mommy?!" she asked in a panic with tears in her eyes, to which I assured her that I was fine.
We began heading back up the facility. When we arrived in the assembly room, the conveyor belts were moving again. The child began getting somewhat restless on my shoulders.
"Mommy, mommy, can I get my armor now? So I can be like you?" she begged.
I didn't have the heart to tell her no, so I set her on the conveyor as she instructed. It took her down the line where she was scanned, taken through a decontamination chamber, and then to the assembly platform where a version of my suit was constructed on her. This variation was light purple though, and the cannon seemed modified. When she came out the other end she rushed back to me seemingly delighted.
"I'm just like you now, mommy! Now I can shoot the bad creatures too!" the child excitedly exclaimed.
I asked if she knew how to use the weapon, and she went silent. So she didn't know everything. I took some time to give her a crash course. After several shots, I decided to lock her Wave and Ice Beams... along with her Missiles and Super Missiles. I didn't tell her because she's learning, but she's quite possibly the worst shot I've ever seen. She repositioned herself ten times, and still failed to remain on her feet after launching a missile resulting in it going roughly 107 degrees over where it shoulder be going. She was going to require a lot of training if she hoped to be of any help to me. I let her shoot open doors though, and that seemed to make her happy enough.
Once we reached the base level, there the Warden was. Her visor was cracked, her armor was covered in scratches, and it seemed that some of her weapon systems were damaged. She was breathing heavily as well.
"The power… how…? With that monster in the generator room, it should have been impossible to get the system back up and running." The Warden spoke out of breath insinuating she ran here.
"Mommy took care of it." the child giggled.
"Omega… you've restored power to the facility… but I want you to just repair your ship and leave. I'll deactivate the Electromagnetic Generators long enough for you to leave orbit." The Warden ordered, and I told her that I'm not the type to take orders.
"You will leave, or I will make you leave." The Warden growled aiming her cannon at me, and I simply told her that she's letting emotion compromise her decisions.
The Warden began firing at us making me carry the child to cover. She wasn't in the right frame of mind to be making orders let alone walking around with an armed weapon. All I had to do was get close enough to render her unconscious with the Tyrant Knuckle, but not while she's opening fire like that. I needed something, anything, to distract her for at least five seconds. I looked around, and saw the reborn Ridley stalking the Warden from behind. I didn't like the idea, but he'd be better than waiting until our cover wears out. The minute Ridley Jr leapt onto the Warden's back trying to get under her armor I made my move. She knocked Ridley Jr off of her, launched a Super Missile at him damaging his chest making him flee with a yelp, and the instant she turned to me I slammed the Tyrant Knuckle into her helmet sending her flying to one of the support pillars knocking her helmet completely off. The Warden had shoulder-length hair, and was bleeding from her forehead and mouth. She fell unconscious as her armor disassembled to reveal her white and gold Zero Suit.
"Mommy… did you have to knock her out like that…?" the child asked, and I told her that sometimes it's for people's benefit to be knocked out once in a while.
"She could get infected like that. Can we put a Civilian Suit on her at least?" the child asked, and I replied to her question with another question… what is a Civilian Suit?
We returned to the suit manufacturing room, and found that the temperature had indeed risen a bit. It just felt like summer down there, but over time it just might become unbearably hot without a Varia Suit. The child instructed me as I lay the Warden on the conveyor. Mechanic arms descended to hold her up, decontaminated her body as they did to the child, and then placed a suit notably lacking an arm cannon onto her body. Once it was finished I caught her and then we carried her to the barracks, with the child's guidance. Once there I placed her on a bunk and we left, locking the door behind us so Ridley Jr couldn't get in there in case he wandered this way. The next thing on our checklist was to take that tram to get rid of the lockdown.
The long trek back showed signs of Ridley Jr returning to the second facility. Mainly because the door was more messed up than the first time we'd come through. Once we were through, because of course, we encountered an obvious clone of Mother Brain. It was half the size, and a single Super Missile splattered it all over the walls of the corridor it was in. Something told me that there was a bigger one roaming around though. We made haste for the tram station to find it was online. We knew it was one-way, but to get rid of the lockdown it was worth it. Once inside the Command Center, we saw a very unexpected character. They were color-for-color weapon-for-weapon exact to my original Power Armor. They slowly turned to us and my scanner couldn't pick up anything on her.
"There are… two mommy's…?" the child spoke looking at the two of us, and that meant the ruse was up.
End Chapter 2