CHAPTER 4: REUNION WITH AN OLD F(R)IEND
Hunter
Log 3840
Everything had gone fairly well
up until the past 12 hours. Now? Things could be better.
I'm dangling from my grappling beam next to a giant chunk of planet Zebes. There is a weak atmosphere, so most gravity is still in control. If I were to fall, however, I would eventually hit the vacuum of space, from which there would be no escape...unless I hit something, of course.
I'm sure the scientist will soon become aware of my being here and open fire on me. I'm also guessing that he'll alert those inside about me as well. Then I'll be stuck between a rock and...well...another rock.
Samus out...
Samus was aware of the particle emitter
for the energy bridge. If she tugged on her grappling beam too hard,
the friction would blow the emitter and sever her beam. She needed to
find a way to pull herself up without rubbing the emitter...
"Skreeeeeee!"
Samus turned her head toward the first planet fragment. The "scientist" was glaring at her out of an observation window. His hand was on a familiar lever.
"Oh, no..." Samus thought, "the bridge..."
Before she could finish her thought, the bridge began to engage and slide out, but with a reaction that the "scientist" didn't plan to happen. The bridge pulled Samus away from the wall of the planet fragment, but it also pulled her toward the energy bridge. When she got close enough, Samus swung herself inside the energy bridge and saluted to the confused "scientist". She then turned and ran to the end of the bridge inside the large planet fragment and disengaged the bridge.
"Sorry, but there's no room for you on this rock," Samus said slyly to the "scientist" across the ravine.
With a flick of her wrist, she also engaged the vacuum door that sealed the outside. When she turned to look down the corridor, she noticed a peculiar familiarity to the environment.
Mosses and lichens clung to the walls, floor, and ceiling. Farther down the hall, plant tendrils snaked and reached down the corridor, seemingly yearning for what was at the end of the tunnel. This was definitely Brinstar.
Samus quickly recalled her last visit here. She also recalled the monstrous dinosaur-like creature Kraid, who stood easily four stories high. As fierce as the creature was, though, he was very sluggish, and was fairly easy to dispatch.
After the quick flashback, Samus decided to proceed down the corridor. Before too long, mossy floors became tangled vines, forming a conglomeration of "tiles" on the ground.
Samus began to notice another pulsing light from around a turn down the corridor. This pulsing was yellowish green, and was somewhat faster than the pulsing in the laboratory.
As Samus rounded the corner, she saw what seemed to be another tank, yet this one looked totally organic. It resembled more of a fluid-filled sac than a piece of technology, but what else would one expect in a plant environment?
The pod was close to double the size of the tanks in the lab, and the viscous liquid was opaque, not allowing for sight of the contents. The sac also tended to bulge at times, like what was inside was actually moving...or changing.
Samus moved down into the large chamber for closer observation, but just as she began to set foot on the floor of the room, she heard a whizzing sound from directly above. She quickly dove out of the way and a bat-like creature slammed into the ground. Samus waited for it to explode, just like those she had encountered on her last visit, but she heard nothing. When she looked again, the creature was gone. She tried to think about what had just happened, but given what she knew, it still didn't make sense. There was no explosion, yet there was nothing left after the creature hit the ground.
She began to pick herself up from the ground, but before she could completely stand up, something slammed into her left side and knocked her against the wall. Something was immediately wrong. Her left arm was burning hot, even through the suit. When she looked, she saw the creature latched onto her arm by its mouth. Green liquid oozed around the mouth of the creature. It had to be acid.
This was Samus' chance. She put her arm cannon directly in the face of the creature and blasted. In a spatter of green, it exploded.
Even after she disposed of the creature, Samus continued to lie there against the wall. She examined her arm. A tiny hole had been made in her suit...the acid had been applied directly to her skin. This was not good. There was no telling what kind of toxins existed in the caustic compound. She carefully removed her arm guard to inspect. The substance had burned through her protective undersuit and had made her skin bubble in an area about the size of a kneecap. Samus winced at the sight of the wound, but knew it was the least of her worries at the time. She quickly put the arm guard back on and locked it into place. She could feel the blisters rupture as she replaced the guard. That was for the better anyway.
Samus finally got to her feet and exited the room. After a short, but rather expansive hallway, she entered a room that looked like a thorny cathedral. The room was so expansive; she could hardly see the top. Massive thorns protruded from the walls.
A splashing noise could faintly be heard behind Samus. She turned around to see a small tide of creamy green liquid flowing from down the hall into the cathedral room.
The pod.
A dark figure appeared down the hall...a LARGE dark figure. It slowly made its way down the unlit corridor towards the cathedral room. Its sheer size wouldn't allow for anything to pass by it. The only way out was up...way up.
Samus began to feel the vibration from the steps of the large creature. It made ripples in the liquid on the ground at Samus' feet.
Through the darkness of the hall, the eyes of the creature began to show. Three sequential ruby colored eyes gleamed in the artificial light of the cathedral.
Suddenly the vibration stopped. It saw her. The figure seemed to change. The silhouette became less massive at the top and more massive toward the bottom. It then lifted off of the ground with insect-like legs. The creature started to move down the hall at a more rapid pace. When it entered the dim light of the cathedral, its identity was established.
The main body looked like a smaller version of Kraid. The entire body, feet and all. It still had its stumpy arms and legs...or did it.
The legs, or what seemed to be Kraid's legs began to unfold to reveal spiny insectine claws. Above Kraid's head raised a rather savage looking tail with a large stinger spine on the tip.
Meet Kraid...slightly modified.
The tail quickly swiped and caused the massive foliage on the walls to collapse and cut off access to the hallway.
Scorpion Kraid dashed quickly at Samus. She dove directly under him and ran out the back side. The tail began to strike and slash as if it had a mind of its own. In a fit of hops, rolls, and leaps, Samus dodged the furious attacks from the tail. After one swipe, Samus grabbed the tail. It then started in a mad frenzy of movements to try to eject Samus. She managed to get a clean shot at the tip of the tail, and after her cannon charged to full, she let a blast fly. It connected with the stinger and blew it off whole. The tip flew over and rolled against a wall. After the shot, Samus was thrown against the wall and narrowly missed one of the large thorns. She fell to the floor bouncing and ricocheting off of thorns the entire way down. When she gathered her wits, Kraid was standing over her.
A claw reached out and snatched Samus up. It raised her to Scorpion Kraid's face. She could smell the stench on its breath. She began to struggle, aware of the impending doom. Finally she got her arm cannon free.
"New look, same old tricks..." Samus said with a smirk.
She launched a shot directly into Scorpion Kraid's middle and dominant eye, squirting fluid into the air. In response, Scorpion Kraid tossed Samus into the air, howling. In flight, Samus took aim and launched her only reserve super missile into Scorpion Kraid's mouth.
There was a dull thud. Scorpion Kraid reared up on its backmost insect legs and fell backwards, spewing smoke from its mouth. It landed against the wall, impaled on thorns.
Round one, advantage: Samus.
