Chapter 6: Guess Who?
Ridley just couldn't keep himself settled. He had so many
thrills beating up the gutter trash of the planet trade that
he just felt like he had to go back to Karru. Houston had
to keep an eye on him since Royce disappeared from sight
again. Kefka sometimes visited, but she and Ridley would
usually pick fights for fun every time they saw each other.
'If only there was a place for training nearby.' Houston
was exhausted with his near-constant door patrol, and sat
at the kitchen table. Where had Samus gone? Was she
still on Chauda? Moments after he sat down, Hardy came
inside.
"Ridley! Get back in here!" Ridley looked inside the
kitchen, along with Hardy. Hardy sat at the table and
opened the wet bar shutters.
"That was me. Sorry, Houston. You should be able to
see Ridley now." Houston rubs his forehead. He knew that
Ridley was a pain in the rear outside of battle, but this
was getting to be too much.
"Do you know where Royce went, Hardy?" Hardy shook his head.
"Heard anything about Samus, then?" He shook his head again.
"Well, why are you here?!" Hardy looks at Ridley and back.
"Okay...I got a little surprise for Ridley and anyone else
who wants to use it. It's a gravity training room. Heidegger
said that if I actually wanted to improve, I would have to
train under a more extreme body weight. And since I know
Ridley enjoys combative exertion...you could say that I did
it for him, too." Houston sits up.
"Where did you get it?" Hardy slumps and sighs.
"The only place that had that kind of technology is a semi-
developed planet that hasn't been put under Federation
sanction yet. They have some things that I haven't even
seen before, and could trade for quite a bit. Having an
intra-galactic market instead of intra-planetary could
help that world's development." Houston looked at Hardy,
abashed. He hadn't known Hardy for quasi-legal activity
before. But, dire straits sometimes push people over a few
borders. "If we were to sanction them, we could have a
valuable ally in economics and possibly even a few new faces
for bounty hunters."
"Why are you starting to talk politics to me, Hardy? You-"
Hardy halts Houston.
"I'm trying to find a way to explain it to Keaton. I think
I was on a roll, don't you?" Houston shrugged and could just
partly care less.
"Maybe. You know how hard Keaton is to convince of something
like that."
-----------------------
Ridley had stealthily escaped Houston while he was talking to
Hardy. He was heading for the elevator to the docking bay,
ready to leave for Karru again.
What he didn't expect to see was two dragons, much like
himself in appearance and a dark figure, too far to see
clearly. He couldn't tell who the dragons were because for
one thing, he hadn't seen them before, and another thing,
they were both wearing respiration masks, so he couldn't see
their faces. The figure in the shadows says in a clear voice,
"Get rid of him." The two dragons leap toward Ridley, who
jumps high and flies overhead, sending fire their way. They
dart off to the sides and fly toward Ridley, clutching his
arms in their talons and diving to the ground. Ridley gets
up and sweeps the two dragons with his tail. They jump over
and kick him in the face, which he halts by grabbing them both
and throwing to the ground.
The elevator starts to go up to the docking bay again, this time
with Houston and Hardy as passengers. Royce had popped in,
pointing out that Ridley had gotten away, and that something just
felt wrong. She left for somewhere else, leaving Houston and
Hardy to chase after Ridley. Fortunately, they knew where he
was, and that was better than a wild goose chase. The elevator
stops and they both see Ridley grappling with two other dragons.
After stabbing one through the chest with his tail and nearly
scorching the other's face to the bone, he steps back and the
shadowed figure walks up to a lighted area. Hardy gasps and
shakes his head. The sleek, black Power Suit that they saw
had only belonged to one person.
Locuthis Schneider. Hardy kept on trying to deny it as he
saw minute patches of X around the joints of the Power Suit.
How did the X possibly reach Schneider, who of all people on
Tsebnash should have died?
The dragons got up from Ridley's onslaught, looking totally
unharmed and flew away for a nearby planet. Schneider steps
back slowly.
"Hmph...you humans...didn't think about how much measure that
we took into account. We had been waiting for the day that
we, the X, become the supreme race of the universe. That day
would be the day when all Metroids perish. We would be an
unstoppable force...yes. Unstoppable, since our only enemy
-is- the Metroids. I, one of the Core-X, escaped the Queen
when she was hunting us down. A B.S.L. ship had landed on
a minor expedition of ecological measurements. I had
hitched a ride on this ship, leaving using Aran's, stowing
away right beside that infernal hatchling Metroid that she
so carelessly left alive. She had no clue why it was
squeaking so much when she had gotten to Ceres Station.
After she had returned to Alpha Centauri, I then waited for
a different moment. That moment came with a fool-hardy man
that I possessed, the one that you see here before you."
"But..." Hardy looked at an extremely peeved Ridley, while
Schneider continued.
"But what? He died there, on Tsebnash? Oh, sorry. -He-
did die, but that only left me without a current body.
But we X can mimic what we take over. So I had gotten into his
ship, and it was a piece of work...It stood up to the heat and
shock of Tsebnash long enough for me to escape with it. I had
time on my hands for re-assimilating Schneider's form after my
getaway. And now..." Schneider jumps onto his ship. "A few
parting words...
"We will be perfect. I don't care if we even have to use our
most hated enemy against anything that stands between us and
our opportunity." Schneider gets inside of his ship and
flies off after the other two. Ridley lets off a short growl
and takes off outside the station on a different ship.
But where was he going to head to? After Schneider? Naw,
Samus would handle that freak later. He was going to speed up
the process.
He was gonna go after Samus.
---------------------
Ridley had arrived at Chauda with the feeling of a frozen lump
in his stomach that he wouldn't be able to get out. Samus was
doing her handiwork, all right, but how well was she faring?
He didn't want to be shielded by her, but he didn't want to be
attacked by an X, either. Unfortunately, moments after leaving
the docking bay and reaching the sub-zero containment, he had to
settle with the greater of two evils.
Ridley screams in pain and terror as a Core-X attacks him and
ends his search for Samus then and there...
Ridley just couldn't keep himself settled. He had so many
thrills beating up the gutter trash of the planet trade that
he just felt like he had to go back to Karru. Houston had
to keep an eye on him since Royce disappeared from sight
again. Kefka sometimes visited, but she and Ridley would
usually pick fights for fun every time they saw each other.
'If only there was a place for training nearby.' Houston
was exhausted with his near-constant door patrol, and sat
at the kitchen table. Where had Samus gone? Was she
still on Chauda? Moments after he sat down, Hardy came
inside.
"Ridley! Get back in here!" Ridley looked inside the
kitchen, along with Hardy. Hardy sat at the table and
opened the wet bar shutters.
"That was me. Sorry, Houston. You should be able to
see Ridley now." Houston rubs his forehead. He knew that
Ridley was a pain in the rear outside of battle, but this
was getting to be too much.
"Do you know where Royce went, Hardy?" Hardy shook his head.
"Heard anything about Samus, then?" He shook his head again.
"Well, why are you here?!" Hardy looks at Ridley and back.
"Okay...I got a little surprise for Ridley and anyone else
who wants to use it. It's a gravity training room. Heidegger
said that if I actually wanted to improve, I would have to
train under a more extreme body weight. And since I know
Ridley enjoys combative exertion...you could say that I did
it for him, too." Houston sits up.
"Where did you get it?" Hardy slumps and sighs.
"The only place that had that kind of technology is a semi-
developed planet that hasn't been put under Federation
sanction yet. They have some things that I haven't even
seen before, and could trade for quite a bit. Having an
intra-galactic market instead of intra-planetary could
help that world's development." Houston looked at Hardy,
abashed. He hadn't known Hardy for quasi-legal activity
before. But, dire straits sometimes push people over a few
borders. "If we were to sanction them, we could have a
valuable ally in economics and possibly even a few new faces
for bounty hunters."
"Why are you starting to talk politics to me, Hardy? You-"
Hardy halts Houston.
"I'm trying to find a way to explain it to Keaton. I think
I was on a roll, don't you?" Houston shrugged and could just
partly care less.
"Maybe. You know how hard Keaton is to convince of something
like that."
-----------------------
Ridley had stealthily escaped Houston while he was talking to
Hardy. He was heading for the elevator to the docking bay,
ready to leave for Karru again.
What he didn't expect to see was two dragons, much like
himself in appearance and a dark figure, too far to see
clearly. He couldn't tell who the dragons were because for
one thing, he hadn't seen them before, and another thing,
they were both wearing respiration masks, so he couldn't see
their faces. The figure in the shadows says in a clear voice,
"Get rid of him." The two dragons leap toward Ridley, who
jumps high and flies overhead, sending fire their way. They
dart off to the sides and fly toward Ridley, clutching his
arms in their talons and diving to the ground. Ridley gets
up and sweeps the two dragons with his tail. They jump over
and kick him in the face, which he halts by grabbing them both
and throwing to the ground.
The elevator starts to go up to the docking bay again, this time
with Houston and Hardy as passengers. Royce had popped in,
pointing out that Ridley had gotten away, and that something just
felt wrong. She left for somewhere else, leaving Houston and
Hardy to chase after Ridley. Fortunately, they knew where he
was, and that was better than a wild goose chase. The elevator
stops and they both see Ridley grappling with two other dragons.
After stabbing one through the chest with his tail and nearly
scorching the other's face to the bone, he steps back and the
shadowed figure walks up to a lighted area. Hardy gasps and
shakes his head. The sleek, black Power Suit that they saw
had only belonged to one person.
Locuthis Schneider. Hardy kept on trying to deny it as he
saw minute patches of X around the joints of the Power Suit.
How did the X possibly reach Schneider, who of all people on
Tsebnash should have died?
The dragons got up from Ridley's onslaught, looking totally
unharmed and flew away for a nearby planet. Schneider steps
back slowly.
"Hmph...you humans...didn't think about how much measure that
we took into account. We had been waiting for the day that
we, the X, become the supreme race of the universe. That day
would be the day when all Metroids perish. We would be an
unstoppable force...yes. Unstoppable, since our only enemy
-is- the Metroids. I, one of the Core-X, escaped the Queen
when she was hunting us down. A B.S.L. ship had landed on
a minor expedition of ecological measurements. I had
hitched a ride on this ship, leaving using Aran's, stowing
away right beside that infernal hatchling Metroid that she
so carelessly left alive. She had no clue why it was
squeaking so much when she had gotten to Ceres Station.
After she had returned to Alpha Centauri, I then waited for
a different moment. That moment came with a fool-hardy man
that I possessed, the one that you see here before you."
"But..." Hardy looked at an extremely peeved Ridley, while
Schneider continued.
"But what? He died there, on Tsebnash? Oh, sorry. -He-
did die, but that only left me without a current body.
But we X can mimic what we take over. So I had gotten into his
ship, and it was a piece of work...It stood up to the heat and
shock of Tsebnash long enough for me to escape with it. I had
time on my hands for re-assimilating Schneider's form after my
getaway. And now..." Schneider jumps onto his ship. "A few
parting words...
"We will be perfect. I don't care if we even have to use our
most hated enemy against anything that stands between us and
our opportunity." Schneider gets inside of his ship and
flies off after the other two. Ridley lets off a short growl
and takes off outside the station on a different ship.
But where was he going to head to? After Schneider? Naw,
Samus would handle that freak later. He was going to speed up
the process.
He was gonna go after Samus.
---------------------
Ridley had arrived at Chauda with the feeling of a frozen lump
in his stomach that he wouldn't be able to get out. Samus was
doing her handiwork, all right, but how well was she faring?
He didn't want to be shielded by her, but he didn't want to be
attacked by an X, either. Unfortunately, moments after leaving
the docking bay and reaching the sub-zero containment, he had to
settle with the greater of two evils.
Ridley screams in pain and terror as a Core-X attacks him and
ends his search for Samus then and there...