Ranma/ Metroid
'Ill Gain'
Part 4


The charcoal black clouds were pierced by a golden craft descending towards the rocky and slightly foliaged surface. The sounds of their propulsion systems only slightly drowned out by the thundering skies and the pounding intense rain. The landscape below it as well as the sky it descended from was reminiscent of a newborn planet, just starting in the throes of life. The loud crashes were by part caused not only by the generation of static electricity between the clouds and the earth, but also the booming eruptions of active volcanoes that littered the planet like pox..

The vessel hovered a few feet above the ground as if it were stabilized on a solid surface. The sparse vegetation under it gave way in a circle to display its submission to the force that kept the golden ship afloat. The engines wound down quietly to whispers, and several lights on the outside of its hull flashed on dimly.

"I haven't been able to find an opening into the surface yet, but I suggest you head east from here, that area seems to contain an elaborate tunnel system subsurface." Nabiki said, studying a sub-field mapping of the planet's surface where they were docked.

Kasumi nodded, and put on the red helmet to complete her battle armor, taking a deep breath as it descended upon her head, "Any signs of life in a twenty kilometer radius?"

"None but simple life forms and vegetation. I'd presume that most of the wildlife may fear this area, or something drove them off."

"Of course, the Space Pirates."

"Possible."

"Is there any possible way our arrival was detected? Could they be ready for us?"

"I don't believe so, the chaotic atmosphere of this planet made it near impossible for us to get a reading of its surface. I doubt anything would have been able to detect us from this side either until we entered the stratosphere. If they did find us after then, they would not have much time to ready for us."

"Unless they were expecting us."

"A precaution I would take, myself."

The armored woman walked to directly under the exit hatch, and stood at ready, "Then I guess it's time." Nabiki didn't reply, just watched as a green circle of light formed under her sister, and lifted her to the slowly opening hatch.

Kasumi looked around at the plain they landed at, turning around at the sound of a volcano in the far distance bellowing forth with it's might. She jumped from the top of the space vessel, and landed as softly on the ground as she could manage.

"Heading east," Kasumi said into her comm. unit, before beginning to run at standard speed. Slowly she picked up velocity, and then suddenly her image began to appear to stretch as it reached exceptional speeds. After but a few seconds, she arrived at the base a massive though decaying temple that was carved into the side of a mountain. Upon closer inspection, the Space Hunter found traces of unusual technology riddled through out the rock.

"The former inhabitants apparently were high advanced technological wise, but held their religion in high esteem."

"[That is interesting to now,]" Nabiki's voice answered.

Kasumi searched along the temple front for the entrance, and happened upon a blue dome that jutted out from the wall. She put her hand on it and the tactile relays of her gauntlet relayed its smooth texture back to its bearer, "I think I found an entrance, it's a smooth royal blue dome."

"[That sounds familiar, hold on.]" Kasumi waited a few moments for her sister to respond, "[These are similar to the doors on Zebes, you only need to blast this one with your standard shot to access it.]"

Kasumi stood back a few paces, and raised her right arm. A red plasma beam fired from it and connected with the door. The blue surface flashed white when the energized gas of the plasma shot came in contact with it, and melted away to allow entry. The Space Hunter stepped into the unknown.
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The armored woman glanced around at the large room with seemingly no furniture. Skeletons of which Kasumi had never seen before littered the room like broken rubble, white refuge on the bluish gray floor. She stepped around the dead, not wanting to disturb their final resting, when her foot landed on a square that silently lit up upon its connection. She gasped and pulled her foot away, as the square warped up into a rounded and organic looking box form. Upon this discovery, Kasumi looked about the temple, to discover several squares lined up in rows and columns. Most of them were occupied by piles of bones.

"Must be some sort of seating," Kasumi presumed, "Nabiki, I activated something by stepping on it, I don't think it was pressure sensitive. Is this something I should worry about?"

"[I can't give you any certain info on that, just practice caution. If it's any condolence, they would already know we're here when you activated that doorway.]"

"That's nice," Kasumi replied sarcastic sweetness, and found her way to what seemed like a walkway between the squares, and warily jogged to the back. Her footsteps crumpling the fragile debris that was under it upon it's decent. Tiny life forms, insects of the planet, scattered to safety at the sound of disturbance after so long of peace.

She made her way to the back, and found another blue doorway, and opened it. Beyond it lay a vertical descending tunnel. "I found a entrance to the sub-surface," Kasumi reported, noting the way the technologically lined floor broke too abruptly meant that this was not an originally intended tunnel by the original architects of the temple. Kasumi looked down to see platforms she could use to descend the chasm cautiously to explore, and jumped down to the first one.

It was dark, with no sign of life around. The bones that littered the rest of the temple were absent from what she could see, that confirmed a bit more that the original planetary inhabitants had nothing to do with the new addition. In fact, it seemed almost meticulously new. The Space Pirates had worked fast to set up shop, albeit now it seemed they had abandoned it for some reason. More than likely it was to lure any wayward wanderers into a false sense of security.

When it was apparent that no one was around, she jumped down to the next platform, and then another one after that, landing as slightly as she possibly could. Despite the darkness that she could only see with her enhanced vision, and the seeming undetection, Kasumi felt as if she was being watched. She would turn at the slightest sounds, usually the draft within the chasm.

On one ledge, she came to a gray door, "Nabiki, what should I use on the gray doors?"

"[They regenerate much too quickly with any blast, you'll need to find the trigger that will allow them to be accessed.]" Nabiki's emotionless voice replied factually.

"Understood, I see another blue door on the ground a few more meters down."

The Hunter descended to the bottom of the chasm, and before opening the blue door, she spotted the deep violet door off to the side, "There's a violet door."

"[I have no information on that. Have you tried shooting it?]" Kasumi bit back a snotty remark, and decided to test the other entrance. She fired her plasma shot at the door, and watched it almost instantly crumble and then rebuild itself faster than any standard sight could catch. She braced herself a bit more firmly, and the front barrel of her gun opened up into three pieces so that a larger object could eject itself.

An empty rocket shell was instantaneously constructed in the barrel, with the pieces sliding from the three segments of the front of the gun, and then filled with a volatile energy. Once the rocket was constructed, it launched with a small roar, and crashed into the violet dome. It collapsed, and immediately rebuilt itself.

"It's impervious to both my shots and my rockets."

"[It could possibly take more than a few shots to access them, but I would say explore the other option first before wasting ammunition.]"

"Okay." Kasumi turned to the blue door on the ground, and shot it so that she could enter it. It melted away and allowed her passage to a horizontal corridor. At each end were two bestial statues; one that looked like an armored alligator with a short snout with fins sticking out the side of it's mouth and a barbed tail while in its mouth it held some sort of spherical object, the other one like a centaur of Earthen mythology, except the torso connected at the front and not the top. Its head also looked like a cone with eyes running down the sides that got smaller the closer it got to the tip. It had no mouth she could see. Both statues were interlaced with the same technology she had seen since arriving at the temple.

"Unusual looking creatures, I wonder if this was one of the planet's own species, or a mythical being of their religion." When she received no answer, she walked up to the first statue, heeding of any danger, and got a closer look of its treasure. The sphere was glowing with a dull white light which a light blue chemical swirl of it's own power, the distinct technology slightly marring it's beauty. Through it's slight opacity, she could see an object contained within.

"This may be helpful," Kasumi said out loud for Nabiki to catch.

"[That is probably a trap,]" Nabiki said rather idly. Kasumi turned to look at the door in the ceiling, it was still blue.

"I can easily make a quick escape if it is." She reached her left hand into the sphere, and pulled out the block of technology slightly smaller and longer than her fist. She utilized her own armor's system to analyze the object, and was surprised at the discovery.

"It's some sort of bio-aura focuser, I can possibly use this to enhance my own weaponry."

"[Then I would propose you do so.]" Kasumi new better, but couldn't help but feel like her sister was being rather uppity. A hatch on the top of her gun opened, and she stuck the object of discussion into it lengthwise halfway. The suit quickly began to assimilate it, making it a part of its artillery. Kasumi smirked to herself, as she turned and fired at the other statue. A purple tinted beam fired from it, and bounced off the centaur harmlessly. She made a sour face at its seeming ineffectiveness, and the slight tug she felt it have on her ki. It would probably be best if she were to deactivate it for the time being until she became more accustomed to the new addition.

She ran to the blue hatch and aimed to fire at it, when it turned gray.

"What?" She quickly turned to the statue she had just come away from, to see its stone shell being shucked like a chick's egg. At the other end, the Centaur creature tilted its head up and shouted in a high-pitched scream that was more devastating than any roar the Space Hunter had encountered.

"Oh my..."