War
Samus woke up lying on the cold floor of her ship. She was still wearing her armor. She took one glance around the inside of her gunship and realized what had happened. She wished she had never woken up. She saw visions of Ridley fighting with all his power, trying desperately to shove the vile worm out of his skull. She saw visions of the dragon losing this battle, and then turning to look at her with a blind, primal fury. A mindless rage. This was something Samus had never seen in Ridley before. He may be a monster, and a vicious one at that, but he was intelligent nonetheless, and never did he look so much like an animal as he did at that moment. It terrified her. She then remembered the explosion, and the urgent words of her new comrade Owens telling her to run, bringing her out of her stupor. He sacrificed himself for me. She thought. the only time anyone had ever willingly sacrificed themselves for her was the metroid hatchling. This was almost to much for her to bear. This mission was proving to be the hardest she ever undertook simply by emotion. Samus was near tears. She wasn't used to the salty fluid welling up in her eyes, she couldn't even remember the last time she had cried. She fought to hold the tears back, and after a minute or two, they subsided. She had just lost two very important allies and friends, but she wasn't about to just let go and cry her troubles away. No, there was still a mission that needed completing, and she was damn sure it was going to be completed now. She stood up, deactivated her armor, stretched a little, and then gazed out the large, visor like windshield of her ship. She looked at the familiar swampy landscape and thanked her ship once again for not failing her. She stepped outside onto the muddy ground of Brak-Hon and made her way back to a certain Chozo and a certain meathead were toiling to make her a new weapon.
"So how are we going to turn it into energy?" The certain meathead asked Gul 'Gen.
"We don't need to turn it into anything, the energy is already in the tissue, we just need to harness it somehow." He replied.
"Well, How're we gonna do tha-Samus?" Houston's head quickly jerked in the direction of where his friend was had just entered the cottage.
"Oh my, wh-what are you doing back so soon, Samus?" The old bird looked quite troubled.
"It took Ridley."
"No," Gul 'Gen said and fell back into his small arm chair.
"What are you talking about, Samus?" Houston seemed to already know, but not wanting to believe it.
"Metroid Prime...Kabraxis, has taken mental and physical possession of Ridley."
"Oh my God." Houston breathed.
"Where's Jack?" Gul 'Gen asked.
"...He's...dead." She looked to the floor. He sacrificed his life for me. I witnessed Prime take Ridley. I watched him struggle and lose it. It was horrible. Ridley was going to incinerate me when Owens fired a grenade into his back, distracting him. He made it possible for me to escape at the cost of his life. I don't know where Ridley is now." She ran her hands through her long blonde hair.
"My God..." Houston repeated.
"I think it would be best if you remained here with us during our research, so as you may defend yourself if an attack is made. Samus simply nodded in agreement. Wherever Owens was, she hoped that he was feeling no pain.
**********************************************
Owens was jarred awake as his head slammed against the wall of his escape pod.
"SON OF A BITCH!" It hurt like one, too. He rubbed his head fiercely while hissing curses through his teeth. After the pulsating began to subside, he decided to look out the window. Well, that explains why I just pile-drived the ceiling... The escape pod was going onto re-entry. He was landing. The planet looked very deserted, but hospitable as well. He had no idea what planet it was exactly, but who cares? It looked to him like a Class VIII Multi-Ecosystem Biodome planet, which basically means: This planet was just like Earth, only a hell of a lot bigger. About ten minutes later, the pod activateed it's repulse thrusts full blast and slowed the decent to the planets surface. Owens had never landed in an escape pod before, but something told him that the landing may not be the smoothest ever. He quickly lay down as best as he could on the floor of the pod and grabbed the railings so hard his knuckles were turning white under his armor. He prepared for impact. However, nothing could prepare him for the atrocity that this bucket of tungsten and steel called a landing. All of a sudden, out of no where, he heard a great BOOM, and at the same time was thrown to the ceiling of the pod, slamming his head again, along with the rest of his body, after what a few seconds that seemed like hours, he fell back down to the floor of the pod banged his forehead. Why, OH WHY, did I take my helmet off? He sat there cursing for a good ten minutes and rubbing his battered and abused skull. When the pain slightly went away, he managed to run a diagnostic of the atmosphere of the planet. 70% NITROGEN...20% OXYGEN...7% CARBON DIOXIDE...3% OTHER-HARMLESS. Owens was as elated as his throbbing head allowed him to be; this planet had air!
He brought his rifle to his back, where his suit grabbed the but, trigger and barrel with special clasps, he still hadn't gotten used to the way it's suit sensed when a weapon needed to be harnessed. But then again, it is the most advance combat armor made by humans. He threw on his helmet, activated his onboard radar, and set out onto this unknown planet's surface. He was on a beach, a very beautiful one at that. the sky was blue and clear save for a few wispy clouds. To his left, endless ocean. To his right, a thick green forest. He could here exotic birds he had never heard before. And for the first time in over twenty years, he smelled the ocean. It was warm. He checked his wrist console and it said it was eighty five degrees Fahrenheit. He was just thinking of maybe going for a swim in the ocean, when his visor began yelling at him.
"Familiar technology detected...Terran research base 9.4 miles north- east." Owens was greatly relieved from a thought he hadn't even considered yet. He hadn't even realized that he could be stuck here forever. But thankfully there was a base not too far from here, and hopefully they will at least have some sort of intergalactic communication method. He vowed to himself to go swimming in the ocean at some point, but considered it of more importance to find the research base. Hopefully he won't run into anything hostile on the way there or even when he gets to the base.
He began walking east, which happened to be in the direction of the forest, and what a forest it was. The entire planet seemed to be dominated by plants. He saw the occasional bird here and there. The trees were enormous. Some were seven feet in diameter and so tall that Owens couldn't even see the tops. Every once and a while he would here rustling in the under brush, but he tried to ignore it. At around the half-way point, he was suddenly thrown to the ground. He felt his rifle being ripped from his suit, he heard it thump to the ground a few feet away. Owens quickly jumped to his feet and stood to face quite a sobering sight: Less than a foot away from him was a monster. It was at least eight or nine feet tall. It looked to have the rare ability to be quadruped or completely bipedal. It was reptilian. Owens thought it looked kind of like a dragon, but different. The creature was slim and muscular. On the end of it's feat and hands were long, fierce looking talons, and on it's fore-arm's hands there seemed to be possible thumbs. The creature was beautifully colored: It was mostly black, but on it's back it had stripes of blue and it's arms and legs were dipped in brown coloring. It's head was very interesting. It had a crest on the back of it's head similar to a duck-billed dinosaur's. The crest was deep blue. The rest of it's reptilian head and snout was jet black, and it's large eyes were bright blue with slits for pupils. Owens definitely saw intelligence through those eyes. And the strange thing was, while Owens was examining the creature, it seemed to be doing the same to Owens. The Reptile craned it's head in different ways to get a better look at Owens. It did not attack however, and for that Owens was grateful. All of a sudden, the creature reached forth with it's clawed hands toward Owens' head. Owens activated his wristblades and they slid out from both sides of both hands. The creature took no notice. It then wrapped it's hands around Owens' neck and began feeling around with it' "fingers" it apparently found what it was looking for. Owens heard a click and he muttered "no" and the creature removed the human's helmet. Owens was a little nervous now, with his most vulnerable area exposed and those razor sharp talons inches from his throat. But for some reason, he also felt calm, like he knew that this beast was not going to harm him. The Reptile poked Owens' face with it's claws gently, so as not to break the skin. It made a sort of purring sound. Without warning, the Reptile shoved Owen's in the chest, knocking him to the ground, the human quickly jumped to his feet again. The creature then unfurled it's wings, wings that Owens didn't even know it possessed until just then. They were black with simetrical swirls of blue, and they were bat-like. They reminded Owens of Ridley's wings, only less tattered. It flapped them a few times, throwing a power breeze toward Owens, and then folded them back up again. It just stood there, looking at Owens and Owens looking at it. Owens decided that he had seen enough, and he turned and began walking east once more. About five minutes later, he heard the familiar rustling behind him. He stopped and slowly turned around, there was the Reptile; it was following him.
"Oh, for Christ's sake. What do you want?" The creature just looked at him and purred. "You know what? Fine. You want to follow me? Fine. But the first time you look at me like you want to eat me, I'm going to find out what color you blood is, got it?" The Reptile purred in agreement.
So the two of the walked for the next four miles until Owens literally walked right into the research base, banging his head yet again, fortunately this time he had his helmet on though.
"Well, I guess this is it. It looks deserted, what do you think?" He looked back at the Reptile, and it purred. As Owens mocked the creature's purring as he checked the door leading into the complex: not only was it unlocked, the door was wide open. The unlikely duo walked inside the base. The Reptile seemed to grow more cautious, however.
"Do you know anything about this place?" Owens asked expecting a purr for an answer, but none came. All of the lights were on, the place seemed to be in perfect order, in fact, he saw a soft drink spilled on the floor. "Well, whatever happened to this place didn't happen very long ago." He reached behind him and drew his rifle. The two of them walked slowly and cautiously, checking corridors and labs. The Reptile was already making a very useful ally, despite the fact that it couldn't speak. It would go off and search a lab and Owens would search another, they would meet again in the hallway and express what they found through facial expressions, and then continue. Most of what they found was what would be expected from a planet like this: all botanical. they saw plant tissue in test tubes they saw chemicals from plants, but nothing out of the ordinary. However, eventually, they came to a big lab. The entire room was pattered with red blood, but there were no bodies. And on the right side of the room, there were large Cryotubes designed for holding humanoid specimens. They were all utterly destroyed, smashed open, seemingly from the outside. the life support amniotic fluid spilled all over the floor. He would have checked the computer terminals about what was store in those tubes, But all of the consoles were destroyed. Owens checked again to see if his rife was caulked and ready, which it was. The two of them backed out of the lab and continued on their way.
They made it to the security station, of which Owens was glad, now he would be able to find what really had happened at this base. Or did he really want to know? No matter, he had to know. He looked to his silent companion
"Well...Here we go." Owens Backed up the security tapes to an hour before and watched.
****One Hour Earlier****
All was silent in the lab. General William Mathiews gazed at the nine Cryotubes in front of him. They held very beautiful reptiles in them. All of which had umbilical lines protruding from them, feeding them nutrients. A younger scientist walked up beside him.
"How are they doing?" Matheiws asked the scientist, still looking at the tubes. The younger scientist seemed nervous.
"The Rippars? Oh they're fine, fine. They're all showing incredible potential, but Subject Chi, however-"
"What about Subject Chi? Is it ill?" The General cut the young man off.
"No! no, quite the opposite! Subject Chi is the pick of the litter, General. His cerebral capabilities have nearly gone off the chart! our brain wave monitors have been jumping all over the place, and recently, the monitors have stopped responding completely when we attach them to Subject Chi."
"Well, what does that mean?"
"We think it means that it has developed a mental block, so that we can't enter it's mind."
"Isn't that a bad thing?" The General suspicious.
"We don't think so, it hasn't shown any signs of aggression."
"If you say so, Rockford." Mathiews seemed eager to dismiss a possible flaw in the project. "Do you have any of idea what caused this mental explosion in Subject Chi but no others.?"
"No, we think it's just a biological anomaly. The genetic studies we are doing here are still quite experimental, general. We don't know exactly what they will always do."
Suddenly, the room began flashing red. The alarms were sounding.
"BASE UNDER ATTACK...ALL NON-MILITARY PERSONNEL EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY." There wasn't enough time, within seconds the room that General Mathiews and Rockford were standing in was flooded with the familiar mutated creatures that have spawned From Metroid Prime. They began slaughtering everyone. Rockford was slashed by one of the creatures in the abdomen and he died slowly bleeding to death on the floor. The General was much more lucky, he was simply decapitated. When all the People in the room were killed, the mutants dragged the bodies off to be assimilated. All was quiet for about a minute, and then a shadow appeared in the door. The figure walked slowly into the lab. It was thick and humanoid, about ten feet tall. The figure was black with red, pulsating lines running across it's body. It seemed to have an aura, like a heat blur. It's face was jet black with nothing but an obsidian shiny visor in the middle. Metroid Prime walked to the center of the lab and turned to face the Cryotubes. Nine shiny black tentacles sprouted from Prime's back. And in one quick motion, he lashed out at all nine tubes at the same time, almost too fast to see. All the Cryotubes simultaneously shattered, and nine winged reptiles fell to the ground, all covered with slime. Prime held out his hand, and eight of the reptiles stood up shrieking in agony. The ninth Rippar simply lay on the ground, growling menacingly. Prime walked toward the Rippar still on the ground, and the reptile slashed at the black figure with it's talons. Prime batted the clawed hand away and grabbed the reptile by the throat. He pulled the Rippar up to his level and stared into it's face; the Rippar stared right back, with no fear in it's eyes. Prime threw the reptile into the wall to his right with a brutal metallic clang. He then turned around, and incinerated all computer terminals in the room by sending multiple plasma waves through the ground. Prime walked out of the lab, leaving the Rippar that had defeated him lying lifeless beside the wall which he had been thrown into. The other reptiles followed The Worm as he left the research base.
****Present Time****
Owens could not believe what he had just seen. He just sat in the security guard's chair watching the monitor of the Rippar lab up until he saw himself and his companion reenter the lab. Once he saw this, he found his voice again.
"So you fought Prime. You mentally defeated Metroid Prime. I don't believe it." Owens sat there some more. Just thinking. "Will you come with me to Brak-Hon? I know my friend Samus will be there. She probably thinks I'm dead right now. I know it must be hard for you. But will you help us fight Metroid Prime?" The Reptile shoved Owens like before and he went rolling into the opposite wall on the wheels of his chair. "Thank you." And almost like a period to his sentence, the commlink sputtered to life:
"This is Boston Air Defense to Brinstar Research base. Brinstar, do you copy?" Owens grabbed the commlink.
"This is Corporal Jack Owens of Brinstar Research Base. Go ahead, Boston."
"Who's in charge there, Corporal?"
"No one, sir. Prime ransacked the place, killed everyone and stole test subjects."
"Oh, Christ." Owens heard gunshots and explosions on the other end.
"What's going on there?" Owens asked.
"We're under attack, Corporal! Prime was declared war on us, and is beginning his assault of the Galactic Federation on Earth!"
"He's on Earth! Dear god!" Just then a loud boom was heard on the other end of the commlink, and then a scream cut off his connection to his race's homeworld. He looked to his companion, who looked equally horror struck (Owens was beginning to think he understood English) and said "Let's get to the hangar."
They began running as fast as they could in the direction of the base's hangar. After about ten minutes of running, they came to the armory. Owens decided to go in.
"Well, Chi, it looks like I won't be running out of ammo any time soon." He added a laser sighting to his rifle, and also a scope that gave his automatic a single fire function. He saw a small white cylinder with a flat side that had been labeled: MERCURY SHIELDING. He picked it up. It was bleach white, just like his armor... He looked on the flat side of the cylinder: it was covered with hundreds of little gold spikes. Something clicked in his mind. The wrist port! He looked at the top of his left wrist where it was flat and covered with hundreds of tiny holes. Without thinking any further, he attached the cylinder to his left wrist and the words "Mercury Shielding Acquired" appeared in his visor. Owens felt slight coldness as shiny liquid metal spread from the cylinder and covered his entire body in seconds. He couldn't see. But, just as quickly as it came, the mettle retracted back into his wrist.
"Hit me," Owens said to Chi. The reptile hesitated. "Hit me!" Chi then obliged. He slashed at Owens' arm with his talons, but just as the claws made contact with the human's arm, the metal seeped out of the armor and protected the arm, Chi's attack just sparked and glanced off the protected human. "Very nice..." Owens was about to leave the armory when he spied a thick folder on the ground. he picked it up and noticed it was labeled "Rippar Biology." He thumbed through the documents reading certain bits and pieces: "...after genetic adjustments, natural kinetic breath attribute strengthened considerably..." "can fly at speeds between mach 1 and mach 2..." "hide very tough, can withstand the full force of-"
"My God," Owens as he put the document into one of the compartments in his armor. he quickly drew his rifle and fired a single shot into Chi's chest. The Rippar was taken aback and drawn back a couple of steps, but was unharmed. "Amazing..." Chi snarled angrily at Owens. Once the human said he was sorry the two of them ran for the hangar. they reached it in less than a minute. Prime had take almost all of the ships and other vehicles, but there were still three left: Two shuttles and a long range fighter. Owens hopped into the fighter with Chi and set a course for Brak-Hon. All he could do was hope that they hadn't already lost the war by the time he got there...
Samus woke up lying on the cold floor of her ship. She was still wearing her armor. She took one glance around the inside of her gunship and realized what had happened. She wished she had never woken up. She saw visions of Ridley fighting with all his power, trying desperately to shove the vile worm out of his skull. She saw visions of the dragon losing this battle, and then turning to look at her with a blind, primal fury. A mindless rage. This was something Samus had never seen in Ridley before. He may be a monster, and a vicious one at that, but he was intelligent nonetheless, and never did he look so much like an animal as he did at that moment. It terrified her. She then remembered the explosion, and the urgent words of her new comrade Owens telling her to run, bringing her out of her stupor. He sacrificed himself for me. She thought. the only time anyone had ever willingly sacrificed themselves for her was the metroid hatchling. This was almost to much for her to bear. This mission was proving to be the hardest she ever undertook simply by emotion. Samus was near tears. She wasn't used to the salty fluid welling up in her eyes, she couldn't even remember the last time she had cried. She fought to hold the tears back, and after a minute or two, they subsided. She had just lost two very important allies and friends, but she wasn't about to just let go and cry her troubles away. No, there was still a mission that needed completing, and she was damn sure it was going to be completed now. She stood up, deactivated her armor, stretched a little, and then gazed out the large, visor like windshield of her ship. She looked at the familiar swampy landscape and thanked her ship once again for not failing her. She stepped outside onto the muddy ground of Brak-Hon and made her way back to a certain Chozo and a certain meathead were toiling to make her a new weapon.
"So how are we going to turn it into energy?" The certain meathead asked Gul 'Gen.
"We don't need to turn it into anything, the energy is already in the tissue, we just need to harness it somehow." He replied.
"Well, How're we gonna do tha-Samus?" Houston's head quickly jerked in the direction of where his friend was had just entered the cottage.
"Oh my, wh-what are you doing back so soon, Samus?" The old bird looked quite troubled.
"It took Ridley."
"No," Gul 'Gen said and fell back into his small arm chair.
"What are you talking about, Samus?" Houston seemed to already know, but not wanting to believe it.
"Metroid Prime...Kabraxis, has taken mental and physical possession of Ridley."
"Oh my God." Houston breathed.
"Where's Jack?" Gul 'Gen asked.
"...He's...dead." She looked to the floor. He sacrificed his life for me. I witnessed Prime take Ridley. I watched him struggle and lose it. It was horrible. Ridley was going to incinerate me when Owens fired a grenade into his back, distracting him. He made it possible for me to escape at the cost of his life. I don't know where Ridley is now." She ran her hands through her long blonde hair.
"My God..." Houston repeated.
"I think it would be best if you remained here with us during our research, so as you may defend yourself if an attack is made. Samus simply nodded in agreement. Wherever Owens was, she hoped that he was feeling no pain.
**********************************************
Owens was jarred awake as his head slammed against the wall of his escape pod.
"SON OF A BITCH!" It hurt like one, too. He rubbed his head fiercely while hissing curses through his teeth. After the pulsating began to subside, he decided to look out the window. Well, that explains why I just pile-drived the ceiling... The escape pod was going onto re-entry. He was landing. The planet looked very deserted, but hospitable as well. He had no idea what planet it was exactly, but who cares? It looked to him like a Class VIII Multi-Ecosystem Biodome planet, which basically means: This planet was just like Earth, only a hell of a lot bigger. About ten minutes later, the pod activateed it's repulse thrusts full blast and slowed the decent to the planets surface. Owens had never landed in an escape pod before, but something told him that the landing may not be the smoothest ever. He quickly lay down as best as he could on the floor of the pod and grabbed the railings so hard his knuckles were turning white under his armor. He prepared for impact. However, nothing could prepare him for the atrocity that this bucket of tungsten and steel called a landing. All of a sudden, out of no where, he heard a great BOOM, and at the same time was thrown to the ceiling of the pod, slamming his head again, along with the rest of his body, after what a few seconds that seemed like hours, he fell back down to the floor of the pod banged his forehead. Why, OH WHY, did I take my helmet off? He sat there cursing for a good ten minutes and rubbing his battered and abused skull. When the pain slightly went away, he managed to run a diagnostic of the atmosphere of the planet. 70% NITROGEN...20% OXYGEN...7% CARBON DIOXIDE...3% OTHER-HARMLESS. Owens was as elated as his throbbing head allowed him to be; this planet had air!
He brought his rifle to his back, where his suit grabbed the but, trigger and barrel with special clasps, he still hadn't gotten used to the way it's suit sensed when a weapon needed to be harnessed. But then again, it is the most advance combat armor made by humans. He threw on his helmet, activated his onboard radar, and set out onto this unknown planet's surface. He was on a beach, a very beautiful one at that. the sky was blue and clear save for a few wispy clouds. To his left, endless ocean. To his right, a thick green forest. He could here exotic birds he had never heard before. And for the first time in over twenty years, he smelled the ocean. It was warm. He checked his wrist console and it said it was eighty five degrees Fahrenheit. He was just thinking of maybe going for a swim in the ocean, when his visor began yelling at him.
"Familiar technology detected...Terran research base 9.4 miles north- east." Owens was greatly relieved from a thought he hadn't even considered yet. He hadn't even realized that he could be stuck here forever. But thankfully there was a base not too far from here, and hopefully they will at least have some sort of intergalactic communication method. He vowed to himself to go swimming in the ocean at some point, but considered it of more importance to find the research base. Hopefully he won't run into anything hostile on the way there or even when he gets to the base.
He began walking east, which happened to be in the direction of the forest, and what a forest it was. The entire planet seemed to be dominated by plants. He saw the occasional bird here and there. The trees were enormous. Some were seven feet in diameter and so tall that Owens couldn't even see the tops. Every once and a while he would here rustling in the under brush, but he tried to ignore it. At around the half-way point, he was suddenly thrown to the ground. He felt his rifle being ripped from his suit, he heard it thump to the ground a few feet away. Owens quickly jumped to his feet and stood to face quite a sobering sight: Less than a foot away from him was a monster. It was at least eight or nine feet tall. It looked to have the rare ability to be quadruped or completely bipedal. It was reptilian. Owens thought it looked kind of like a dragon, but different. The creature was slim and muscular. On the end of it's feat and hands were long, fierce looking talons, and on it's fore-arm's hands there seemed to be possible thumbs. The creature was beautifully colored: It was mostly black, but on it's back it had stripes of blue and it's arms and legs were dipped in brown coloring. It's head was very interesting. It had a crest on the back of it's head similar to a duck-billed dinosaur's. The crest was deep blue. The rest of it's reptilian head and snout was jet black, and it's large eyes were bright blue with slits for pupils. Owens definitely saw intelligence through those eyes. And the strange thing was, while Owens was examining the creature, it seemed to be doing the same to Owens. The Reptile craned it's head in different ways to get a better look at Owens. It did not attack however, and for that Owens was grateful. All of a sudden, the creature reached forth with it's clawed hands toward Owens' head. Owens activated his wristblades and they slid out from both sides of both hands. The creature took no notice. It then wrapped it's hands around Owens' neck and began feeling around with it' "fingers" it apparently found what it was looking for. Owens heard a click and he muttered "no" and the creature removed the human's helmet. Owens was a little nervous now, with his most vulnerable area exposed and those razor sharp talons inches from his throat. But for some reason, he also felt calm, like he knew that this beast was not going to harm him. The Reptile poked Owens' face with it's claws gently, so as not to break the skin. It made a sort of purring sound. Without warning, the Reptile shoved Owen's in the chest, knocking him to the ground, the human quickly jumped to his feet again. The creature then unfurled it's wings, wings that Owens didn't even know it possessed until just then. They were black with simetrical swirls of blue, and they were bat-like. They reminded Owens of Ridley's wings, only less tattered. It flapped them a few times, throwing a power breeze toward Owens, and then folded them back up again. It just stood there, looking at Owens and Owens looking at it. Owens decided that he had seen enough, and he turned and began walking east once more. About five minutes later, he heard the familiar rustling behind him. He stopped and slowly turned around, there was the Reptile; it was following him.
"Oh, for Christ's sake. What do you want?" The creature just looked at him and purred. "You know what? Fine. You want to follow me? Fine. But the first time you look at me like you want to eat me, I'm going to find out what color you blood is, got it?" The Reptile purred in agreement.
So the two of the walked for the next four miles until Owens literally walked right into the research base, banging his head yet again, fortunately this time he had his helmet on though.
"Well, I guess this is it. It looks deserted, what do you think?" He looked back at the Reptile, and it purred. As Owens mocked the creature's purring as he checked the door leading into the complex: not only was it unlocked, the door was wide open. The unlikely duo walked inside the base. The Reptile seemed to grow more cautious, however.
"Do you know anything about this place?" Owens asked expecting a purr for an answer, but none came. All of the lights were on, the place seemed to be in perfect order, in fact, he saw a soft drink spilled on the floor. "Well, whatever happened to this place didn't happen very long ago." He reached behind him and drew his rifle. The two of them walked slowly and cautiously, checking corridors and labs. The Reptile was already making a very useful ally, despite the fact that it couldn't speak. It would go off and search a lab and Owens would search another, they would meet again in the hallway and express what they found through facial expressions, and then continue. Most of what they found was what would be expected from a planet like this: all botanical. they saw plant tissue in test tubes they saw chemicals from plants, but nothing out of the ordinary. However, eventually, they came to a big lab. The entire room was pattered with red blood, but there were no bodies. And on the right side of the room, there were large Cryotubes designed for holding humanoid specimens. They were all utterly destroyed, smashed open, seemingly from the outside. the life support amniotic fluid spilled all over the floor. He would have checked the computer terminals about what was store in those tubes, But all of the consoles were destroyed. Owens checked again to see if his rife was caulked and ready, which it was. The two of them backed out of the lab and continued on their way.
They made it to the security station, of which Owens was glad, now he would be able to find what really had happened at this base. Or did he really want to know? No matter, he had to know. He looked to his silent companion
"Well...Here we go." Owens Backed up the security tapes to an hour before and watched.
****One Hour Earlier****
All was silent in the lab. General William Mathiews gazed at the nine Cryotubes in front of him. They held very beautiful reptiles in them. All of which had umbilical lines protruding from them, feeding them nutrients. A younger scientist walked up beside him.
"How are they doing?" Matheiws asked the scientist, still looking at the tubes. The younger scientist seemed nervous.
"The Rippars? Oh they're fine, fine. They're all showing incredible potential, but Subject Chi, however-"
"What about Subject Chi? Is it ill?" The General cut the young man off.
"No! no, quite the opposite! Subject Chi is the pick of the litter, General. His cerebral capabilities have nearly gone off the chart! our brain wave monitors have been jumping all over the place, and recently, the monitors have stopped responding completely when we attach them to Subject Chi."
"Well, what does that mean?"
"We think it means that it has developed a mental block, so that we can't enter it's mind."
"Isn't that a bad thing?" The General suspicious.
"We don't think so, it hasn't shown any signs of aggression."
"If you say so, Rockford." Mathiews seemed eager to dismiss a possible flaw in the project. "Do you have any of idea what caused this mental explosion in Subject Chi but no others.?"
"No, we think it's just a biological anomaly. The genetic studies we are doing here are still quite experimental, general. We don't know exactly what they will always do."
Suddenly, the room began flashing red. The alarms were sounding.
"BASE UNDER ATTACK...ALL NON-MILITARY PERSONNEL EVACUATE IMMEDIATELY." There wasn't enough time, within seconds the room that General Mathiews and Rockford were standing in was flooded with the familiar mutated creatures that have spawned From Metroid Prime. They began slaughtering everyone. Rockford was slashed by one of the creatures in the abdomen and he died slowly bleeding to death on the floor. The General was much more lucky, he was simply decapitated. When all the People in the room were killed, the mutants dragged the bodies off to be assimilated. All was quiet for about a minute, and then a shadow appeared in the door. The figure walked slowly into the lab. It was thick and humanoid, about ten feet tall. The figure was black with red, pulsating lines running across it's body. It seemed to have an aura, like a heat blur. It's face was jet black with nothing but an obsidian shiny visor in the middle. Metroid Prime walked to the center of the lab and turned to face the Cryotubes. Nine shiny black tentacles sprouted from Prime's back. And in one quick motion, he lashed out at all nine tubes at the same time, almost too fast to see. All the Cryotubes simultaneously shattered, and nine winged reptiles fell to the ground, all covered with slime. Prime held out his hand, and eight of the reptiles stood up shrieking in agony. The ninth Rippar simply lay on the ground, growling menacingly. Prime walked toward the Rippar still on the ground, and the reptile slashed at the black figure with it's talons. Prime batted the clawed hand away and grabbed the reptile by the throat. He pulled the Rippar up to his level and stared into it's face; the Rippar stared right back, with no fear in it's eyes. Prime threw the reptile into the wall to his right with a brutal metallic clang. He then turned around, and incinerated all computer terminals in the room by sending multiple plasma waves through the ground. Prime walked out of the lab, leaving the Rippar that had defeated him lying lifeless beside the wall which he had been thrown into. The other reptiles followed The Worm as he left the research base.
****Present Time****
Owens could not believe what he had just seen. He just sat in the security guard's chair watching the monitor of the Rippar lab up until he saw himself and his companion reenter the lab. Once he saw this, he found his voice again.
"So you fought Prime. You mentally defeated Metroid Prime. I don't believe it." Owens sat there some more. Just thinking. "Will you come with me to Brak-Hon? I know my friend Samus will be there. She probably thinks I'm dead right now. I know it must be hard for you. But will you help us fight Metroid Prime?" The Reptile shoved Owens like before and he went rolling into the opposite wall on the wheels of his chair. "Thank you." And almost like a period to his sentence, the commlink sputtered to life:
"This is Boston Air Defense to Brinstar Research base. Brinstar, do you copy?" Owens grabbed the commlink.
"This is Corporal Jack Owens of Brinstar Research Base. Go ahead, Boston."
"Who's in charge there, Corporal?"
"No one, sir. Prime ransacked the place, killed everyone and stole test subjects."
"Oh, Christ." Owens heard gunshots and explosions on the other end.
"What's going on there?" Owens asked.
"We're under attack, Corporal! Prime was declared war on us, and is beginning his assault of the Galactic Federation on Earth!"
"He's on Earth! Dear god!" Just then a loud boom was heard on the other end of the commlink, and then a scream cut off his connection to his race's homeworld. He looked to his companion, who looked equally horror struck (Owens was beginning to think he understood English) and said "Let's get to the hangar."
They began running as fast as they could in the direction of the base's hangar. After about ten minutes of running, they came to the armory. Owens decided to go in.
"Well, Chi, it looks like I won't be running out of ammo any time soon." He added a laser sighting to his rifle, and also a scope that gave his automatic a single fire function. He saw a small white cylinder with a flat side that had been labeled: MERCURY SHIELDING. He picked it up. It was bleach white, just like his armor... He looked on the flat side of the cylinder: it was covered with hundreds of little gold spikes. Something clicked in his mind. The wrist port! He looked at the top of his left wrist where it was flat and covered with hundreds of tiny holes. Without thinking any further, he attached the cylinder to his left wrist and the words "Mercury Shielding Acquired" appeared in his visor. Owens felt slight coldness as shiny liquid metal spread from the cylinder and covered his entire body in seconds. He couldn't see. But, just as quickly as it came, the mettle retracted back into his wrist.
"Hit me," Owens said to Chi. The reptile hesitated. "Hit me!" Chi then obliged. He slashed at Owens' arm with his talons, but just as the claws made contact with the human's arm, the metal seeped out of the armor and protected the arm, Chi's attack just sparked and glanced off the protected human. "Very nice..." Owens was about to leave the armory when he spied a thick folder on the ground. he picked it up and noticed it was labeled "Rippar Biology." He thumbed through the documents reading certain bits and pieces: "...after genetic adjustments, natural kinetic breath attribute strengthened considerably..." "can fly at speeds between mach 1 and mach 2..." "hide very tough, can withstand the full force of-"
"My God," Owens as he put the document into one of the compartments in his armor. he quickly drew his rifle and fired a single shot into Chi's chest. The Rippar was taken aback and drawn back a couple of steps, but was unharmed. "Amazing..." Chi snarled angrily at Owens. Once the human said he was sorry the two of them ran for the hangar. they reached it in less than a minute. Prime had take almost all of the ships and other vehicles, but there were still three left: Two shuttles and a long range fighter. Owens hopped into the fighter with Chi and set a course for Brak-Hon. All he could do was hope that they hadn't already lost the war by the time he got there...
