"Frailty is a flaw best corrected at youth." - Aliborak
Alimbic Ship, Ushzegora Izaramail; "Eye of Discovery"
"~The human will need to undergo a number of improvements if he is to see justice for what has been done to him.~" Aliborak explained to Sylan, whose visor still showed a sine wave signifying skepticism.
"You are asking for quite radical enhancements without him being old enough to understand the implications." She said, her arms folded over her chestplate as Aliborak looked down upon the mechanoid, almost disdainfully so at that.
"~Without our path, what would he be? Struggling for a job? Some politician always looking over his shoulder for fear of Federation assassins? A mere faceless soldier in an already vast army? This process will not even deform him, he will still appear normal to his kind, but he will be as a god among them; vastly superior to any of them physically, and more capable of using a combat skin to its fullest potential.~" Aliborak said, dismissively shaking its head in ninety degrees to the left.
"But why so early? It hasn't even been a day since he arrived here."
"~This process is best done early in the lifespan. That way he will have minimal psychological issues with adaptation as he will not remember what it was like to be merely enhanced to what his parents desired.~" Velgora said, her voice trying to be reassuring to the mechanoid.
"Someone who has known strength all the-" Sylan started before Aliborak interrupted her.
"~Their life will never know the value of it. Thank you for your platitudes. I believe he's had enough experiences with powerlessness to last him a life time.~" Aliborak said.
"~It will be swift and painless Sylan, he will only need some rest after the process is done before we can start to train him. A week of rest should do him well.~" Mendiar said, Sylan letting out a mechanical replica of a sigh as she finally conceded.
"Alright, go ahead." Sylan said, the Alimbics all looking to one another and nodding.
"~Please, do follow us.~" Mendiar said as one of the Alimbics telekineitcally lifted a still shocked looking Sigmund; who weakly blubbered out a cry for his mother before the Alimbic placed their left on his forehead and bid him to sleep.
Chamber of Transmutation
"~The Neophyte is responding well to all infusions and alterations.~" One of the Alimbics reported to Aliborak who switched his gaze from watching the toddler float suspended in the solution contained in the hard-light barriers to checking the read outs.
"~Is he ready for the attomechanical transfusion?~" Aliborak said as he nodded; pleased at the boy's ready acceptance of the Alimbic genetic alterations, even the implantation of an Alimbic genetic marker so that Alimbic technology would recognize him as one of their own.
"~He should be more than ready commander.~" Mendiar said, offering her superior a pleased nod.
With those words, tiny machines ranging from the simply microscopic to the subatomic were infested into the boy's body, the boy kicking a bit before resuming his prior floating position; his breathing returning to normal after a brief fit.
After running some simulations and observing his life signs for a day, paired with some dips into the skeins of the future, the Alimbics determined that he had been entirely successful with his implantations, and removed him from the device to rest and recover from the experience.
"~So we know that at least one part of the plan works. When he gets older, we shall introduce him to his combat skin.~" Aliborak said, most of the Alimbics nodding save for Velgora, who sensed Sigmund's troubled dreams and placed her hand on his head to banish the nightmares and put happier images in their stead.
"~Sleep well Neophyte.~" She said as she brought him to his bed and let him rest in a room that the Alimbics had designed to be a recreation of the room he once had; filled with comfortably familiar design stylings rather than the harsher and more alien products of Alimbic architecture; with soft blue lights instead of the seas of yellows, drab greens, and greys that dominated the Alimbic colour palette.
Planet Zemanatora. One year later.
A world with no native sapients or colonies that still stood the test of time; Zemanatora had once been a staging ground for all the members of the Alliance that stood against the Dominion all those years ago; making it a perfect meeting place for the remaining populations of the prior generation of civilizations. Spire was the first Diamont to attend a meeting in decades, Aliborak and his alimbics the first in ten thousand cosmic years.
Many things went over the discussion table, but perhaps the most important occurred after during one of the recess periods of the meetings when Grey Voice pulled Velgora to the side, the Chozo looking dead on at the Alimbic after she was dragged into conversation with him.
"~May I ask about your intent Chozo?~" Velgora said, curious about what her counterpart had to say.
"What exactly did you see that terrified you into such inaction at Cylosis?" Grey Voice said, his tone making it clear he was not going to settle for any half answers or bent truths.
"~Aliborak saw one of them...one of the Xik'kri'vik. Bearing the garbs and the forms of a noble of the war caste. He even possessed a fully armed and operational Xik'Kir'Vik warship. Aliborak feared that staying long enough to help the Cylosians would have endangered his crew, and bade us to stay until the beast was forced to retreat.~" Velgora said; using her ability to control and emit energy to make an image of Xar'Quk'Xon and his warship in all their glory.
"Old Bird will be displeased to hear of this. If one of them truly has slipped past the prison we put for all their kind, then he is certainly attempting to free them. And if he already has found allies in the Federation..."
"~Then he has likely put himself beyond our reach for now. Striking at his allies in FUCIN would probably vindicate all their worries about us.~" Velgora finished for him.
"Yes. At the same time, while Spire remains in the public eye and so long as we remain in the good graces of the Federation, the Lost and the Hatchling should remain safe from the Seeker. And if there are others who may find themselves in his scopes, we will do what we can to safeguard them. But what of you, and your Neophyte? How can you protect him?" Grey Voice said, briefly putting the tip of his beak between his right thumb and index fingers as he pondered.
"~We can keep our ship well hidden, and it shouldn't be too hard to find states willing to offer him shelter. And once they're old enough, I believe that they will have what it takes to put an end to the Seeker once and for all.~" Velgora said, placing a hand on Grey Voice's shoulder; which he rather quickly brushed away.
"The other thing that worries me is what you know of parenting. How much do you know of how to raise a human?" Grey Voice said skeptically, placing one hand over another while he clutched a staff.
"~I am sure that the widely available information of the subject will be of use, and we have one of his caretaker mechanoids from his homeworld. I myself want to learn more of raising his kind, but Aliborak is confident that he can handle the boy as well as you can take care of the girl.~" She said, though her telepathic voice noticeably wavered in her second sentence as she shifted her gaze to the forests outside of the circular meeting chambers.
"And yet you doubt Aliborak?" Grey Voice asked, raising one of his brows.
"~He is prone to thinking more highly of himself than is warranted, and all his talk of wanting to restore the empire worries me. Does he see a son to raise or a prototype for a weapon? That is a question that eats away at my thoughts constantly.~" She said, turning back to the Chozo and nodding.
"I will do what I can to extend what help I may." Grey Voice said with a return nod.
Hall of Armaments, six years later.
Sigmund had grown much since his introduction to the ship's community, and now he walked a hallway filled with statues to Alimbic martial glory; telepathic chanting going throughout the hall as he walked down the green, yellow, red, blue, violet, and orange corridors, idly swallowing as he felt the attentions of every Alimbic on the ship fixated directly on him; with Aliborak, Sylan, Mendiar and Velgora all waiting at the farthest end of the hallway.
He had grown strong, reaching a height of one point five meters and his muscles had become lean and well developed from his training; though the chubbiness of childhood had not left his features anymore than they left any other athletic ten year old. His silver hair shone a bit in the lighting of the hall way and his red eyes looked in every direction as all the assorted machines one would expect from the Alimbic ship kept fixated on him. Voldrums, Guardiams, Psycho Bits, Crash Pillars, turrets, and more all made sure the boy was clearly in their sights as the crowd of alimbics parted to make way for him, with even Aliborak himself stepping aside to present him with his newest creation.
An armour mostly coloured in a metallic tyrian purple on the chestplate and helmet as well as the back, with standard metallic blue plating on the rest of the armour, with the flexible portion beneath the armour plating being mostly black or very dark grey. On the back of the left palm was an orange sphere with the same symbol projected from alimbic holologs imposed on it in black. The armour was generally form fitting, clinging reasonably close to the body and not meant for massive bulk at all. The pauldrons flared out to the sides before the tips curled slightly inwards; forming spiked points at their edges, sticking out past the shoulders by a few inches.
The boots had pointed ends coming out of the shin guards that would provide extra projection to the knees, while the boots came to slight tips at the toes; enough to drive a point into someone with a solid kick. The soles were mostly conventional, but the legs overall seemed to almost evoke some kind of insect in design or as close as they could be without being problematic for the human wearer. The armor also had points coming in front of the elbow guards; likely to jam into someone if combat got that close; and even the fingers of the gauntlets seemed to have the beginnings of claws at their tips. The arm cannon was generally cyllindrical, coloured a dull metallic red and beneath it was a structure that seemed rather like a bayonet of some sort. The helmet had two small eye pieces where his eyes would be, and a large central optic that he could close up with a deployable metal plate if wanted; the central optic wasn't actually needed for the suit, but both recalled its makers and could serve as a means of seeing if the eyepieces and secondary nanocameras were taken out.
The generally rounded helmet fit well around the skull, with two extensions towards the bottom; more small bumps with pointed tips really; just about where his chin would be; that almost hinted at mandibles. The helmet also had a subtle and small crest, a ridge that went along the top of the helmet and ended in a small light, and two antennae that emerged from the temples at a slanted angle (something meant to evoke his mother's helmet); though they could press into the rest of the suit if need be. TAt the mouth was a sort of rounded heater shield like construct that provided the face with just a bit of extra protection; meant to slide over the otherwise largely flattened primary faceplate. At the back were a pair of jump thrusters to boost the height he gained when he leaped, and the design of the torso and abdominal armour seemed to mix the best of both late medieval and athropod carapaces; all meant to provide the growing boy with all the protection he needed.
"~Claim what is yours child.~" Velgora said as Sigmund gulped nervously and extended a hand out towards the suit as it stood there; arms stretched out to its side. When he touched it, it disintegrated into light, making him yelp as he was tempted to stand back, but knowing that everyone was watching, he closed his eyes and just let the suit's cyan particles swirl around him, bathing him with light as they for a time; made it impossible to see him. He dared to open his eyes again and briefly found himself standing in an interface suit that looked like gunmetal grey flayed musculature with iridium coloured plating where the whites of the muscles would be; and then closed again as his zero suit's facemask came over him and the light show started once again.
Then when the light cleared and he opened his eyes again, he found the readouts of an HUD staring at him, and when he breathed; he breathed in air purified by the helmet, and when he closed his left hand into a fist, he could feel the gauntlet move with him, and his other hand sat comfortably in the arm cannon. He didn't feel weighed down by his armour at all, none of his movements were restricted and the suit and its interface mesh and flexible interweave between the interface suit and the armour plating; all felt entirely natural. He looked up at one of the taller statues and leaped for it, going farther through the air than he ever had before and finding himself shocked when he found himself on the shoulder of the statue.
"...Wow..." He said with amazement as he looked down at everyone below him.
"~I do think he's bonded well with his combat skin.~" Aliborak said before turning his focus to the red central optics and eyepieces of Sigmund's new helmet.
Training Room Alpha, a year later.
"~You're not using your scan visor enough Sigmund, if you had; you would have known how to deal with the Cretaphid by now.~" Aliborak said as Sigmund circled around the energy beams fired by the rotating cybernetic pillar, using trial and error to try and determine what worked at what didn't.
"+Sorry.+" Sigmund said as he shook his head and activated his suit's scan systems, finding that the key to defeating the Cretaphid lay in shooting the blue circles that weren't busy emitting energy rays. This time, a rapid series of power beam shots brought the Cretaphid's more vulnerable central crystal out for him to shoot at; and with a volley of shots into the crystal, the match was considered concluded and the cretaphid returned to its storage.
"~Now, let's see how you deal with more agile enemies.~" Mendiar said as she released many waves of Psychobits into the training room, Sigmund vaulting onto a horizontall laid out platform to evade their initial barrage of fire as he fired stun shots from his arm cannon; the psychobits falling to the ground to be reclaimed by nanoglobs as they hit the ground, the boy smiling to himself under his helmet as he leaped onto a platform emerging from a tall pillar, a platform that revolved around the center of the platform, giving him an extra challenge of calculating jump distance as he landed on the platform, firing on psychobits he had gained an elevation advantage over as he did so.
More psychobits were dropped out of the engagement as Sigmund skillfully dodged a trio of charged shots with a kick flip that brought him in grabbing distance of one of the revolving platforms, letting him grab onto the bar connecting it to the pillar get a bit of swing going as launched himself at a flying and moving platform nearby; landing shots into the eyes of the psychobits as he did so while the Alimbics decided to let the guardians into the room to surprise him.
First warned of their presence by stun missiles streaking through the air, Sigmund looked at one of the micro-cameras that the Alimbics were observing his progress from as the Guardians started jumping after him, giving Sigmund a rather crazy idea; jumping onto one of the Psycho bits and digging his left hand into it as the drone spun around; trying to fire in any direction it could to hit him while he aimed for the heads of the guardians, making them stumble backwards before he jumped off of the psycho bit, adjusting his course mid air with his thrusters to let him land upright on a teleporting platform he had managed to judge the timing of; letting out his own stun missiles to break up the pack of Guardians while Voldrums and crash pillars soon entered the room.
Sighing annoyedly as he fired off simulated electrolob balls at the ground to deal with the Voldrum swarms before firing off a pair of stun missiles when he caught Psychobits approaching him, he nearly missed a guardian getting dangerously close to him before the platform he was on teleported him to the other side of the room.
"~Pay better attention to your suit's sensors, do not just rely on your eyes.~" Aliborak said as Sigmund found a crash pillar leaping onto his platform and leaping up to try and squash him beneath it.
"~Use the tunnel behind you to escape.~" Medrian said as he looked behind himself and curled himself into his alternate mode; forming into a three part insectoid shape, whose overall body shape resembled that of a quatroid; and whose six bladed legs quickly scurried him to safety while Sigmund found the whole experience of being turned into a disembodied state to control the Crawler alternate form rather confusing and disorienting, finding himself in a small maze.
Inside the room, he found Quatroids and voldrums waiting for him, though these quatroids had been modified to ultimately be harmless to him beyond slowing him down some.
"~You will need to use your alternate forms combat capabilities to get past this challenge, do you feel up for the task?~" Aliborak said as Sigmund sized up his opposition and the route he'd need to take to get out of the section. Four levels of platforms, the first of which had a small hole, the second of which was three small platforms leading down to two rather large ones, and the last one being five small flying platforms over the floor.
"+You bet I am.+" He said, feeling invincible with the armour around his body and had he not been in Crawler form; he would have grinned. He leaped onto the first voldrom, tipping it over after disabling it and dropping a bomb that emerged from the head of his crawler form to blow away a pair of quatroids that prepared to leap at him, clearing a path to the second level where he quickly shoved another quatroid off the platform, leaving a pair of bombs for voldroms dropping down from above to deal with while he dropped down onto the right of the third level's platforms. But with a trio of quatroids waiting, he surmised he couldn't leap far enough to avoid being tackled by them under his own power, and decided to deal with that issue by dropping a bomb just as he jumped to propel him far and fast enough for him to stab his legs onto the other platform, then drop down onto one of the floating platforms just as it got below him.
Then jumping out of the rather simple puzzle, he transformed and dropped a number of bombs for a waiting crash pillar and scurried forward; unmorphing as he slid across the ground, knocking the legs of a number of guardians out from under them before quickly turning to fire electrolobs at incoming Psycho-bits, then quickly making a spin kick to knock away incoming Voldrums; all the while feeling an excitement like nothing he ever had before as he sent Alimbic combat mechanoids flying all around him. However, so caught up he was in his excitement that he didn't notice one quatroid following him and jumping onto his helmet, prompting the Alimbics to halt the exercise and telekinetically force the quadtroid off of his face as his suit disappated into blue light; the mechanoids stopping all activities.
"~You got careless and forgot to notice one of the smallest but most danerous foes in the test. This could have easily cascaded into an overall failure and your potential death. Never ignore what your armour tells you, it is more than just a tool; it is an extension of yourself and you must pay it the same heed you would any other bodily function.~" Aliborak chastised him, Sigmund frowning as he received another in a long series of lectures from the Alimbic.
"Oh come on, I could have handled it. It was just one mistake, like all the other times you said I failed the simulation." Sigmund said with an annoyed sigh.
"~He's been at these training exercises for more than twenty four hours...perhaps it's time for him to take a break?~" Velgora said, going over the footage of his combat simulation performance.
"Yeah...can I get a rest? I've been fighting sim-enemies all day." Sigmund said as he huffed out, Sylan entering the room and looking around.
"I think I can say that twenty four hours is more than enough training for a while." Sylan said as she offered a hand to him.
"Thanks..." He said as he got out of his sitting position and clutched her hand tightly, pulling himself up and shaking his head.
"I uh...really need a shower I think..." Sigmund plaintively noted, with Sylan taking his hand to lead him out of the room.
"~A year of practicing and he's already maneuvering expertly. I think we've done quite well for him.~" Aliborak said in a pleased tone to his comrades.
"~He's quite a natural with the combat skin yes.~" Mendiar agreed.
"~Combat ability alone is not what makes a hero. You need to set aside more time for more academic and spiritual learning. Unless you really think all situations can be fought out of. Similarly, I think you need to look more into his development. His physiology is already preparing to make the transition for sexual maturity and we should be ready for the changes that come with that phase of life.~" Velgora said, offering the others her reports on her studies on Sigmund's growing body.
"~I'm sure that Sylan and Spire can teach him everything he needs to know about human courtship rituals and how to deal with adolescence and socialization.~" Aliborak said as he went over the reports, scrutinizing them in a matter of moments.
"~Sylan is a houseservant mechanoid and Spire is a hermaphroditic silicon based being; they can't substitute for others of his own species or a near-human companion.~" velgora said harshly, the light in her eye dimming slightly as she narrowed her gaze.
"~I won't be bringing more humans onto the ship if that's what you're asking. We cannot go breaking our protocols just because he feels lonely.~" Aliborak said, vehemntly denying what he thought was going to be her suggestion.
"~The Zebesian Chozo are raising a human, are they not? She would be of his age and of the appropriate gender for him to deal with any feelings brought about by adolescence from our determination of his orientation. We could arrange a meeting soon, perhaps even bringing Spire along. They are all supposed to meet after all.~" Mendiar suggested, with both of the Alimbics looking at one another and nodding.
"~I'd suggest a meeting on Zebes first, then we can see about showing her the ship.~" She added
Zebes, a week later.
Sigmund shook his head as he walked through the portal, taking a moment to look at his hands to make sure everything was still there before shaking his head; returning his hands to the pockets of his comfortable stretch pants while his T-shirt fluttered a bit in the breeze. He shuffled a bit in his shoes before walking to catch up with the Alimbics and Sylan, his pace a bit hurried as he had to keep up with substantially taller beings than himself. He chewed his lip a bit as he followed the Alimbics, then his expression brightened when he caught sight of Spire, who seemed busy with a staring contest against a Torizo.
"Spire!" He said, managing a quick sprint over to the Diamont who let out a deep chuckle as he beckoned the boy closer.
"Hey, kid; how are you?" He said warmly as Immaneul gave his rocky exterior a hug.
"Been good, they've been training me a lot lately." He said, looking back at the Alimbics and waving at them before turning back to the multiton rock man.
"So I've been told. How good are you now?" He said, his gravelly voice still sounding like an earthquake despite the passage of eight years. Of course Sigmund didn't really know much about how time affected Diamonts.
"I can handle more than a hundred enemies now!" He said with a wide, beaming smile as Spire gave him a pat on the back with his forearm.
"That's the spirit kid. Keep on learning, it'll do you good. Shoot, maybe one day you can be as good as I am." He said wryly, liking the look of challenge that formed in his eyes.
"You're on. How many enemies can you fight in the sim?" He asked, to which Spire shrugged.
"Dunno, thousands. But I've fought real enemies using real weapons. Not just stun guns. Give it a few years and I'm sure you'll be using real weapons too." He said as he returned his focus to the Torizo.
"Huh...thing's not flinched." He mused, grinding his orb hand against his chin.
"It's a statue, it's not supposed to flinch." Said a female voice that brought Sigmund's head snapping to attention while the adults talked about boring things he didn't pay much attention to. He blinked a bit as he saw a blonde girl with striking blue eyes clad in a white outfit that didn't seem the least bit dirty despite all the mud and dirt around. He felt himself about to say something really stupid and bit his tongue while Spire nudged him when he noticed his eyes wandering.
"Uhhh...hi..." He said while the girl looked at Spire and shared a nod.
"Sigmund? This is Samus. Samus, this is Immaneul. Thought you two ought to meet some day." Spire said, looking between the two and making a gesture for them to get closer.
"Uhmm...why are you with all the bird people?" He said, earning a "pfft"out of her as she looked at the Alimbics talking to her Chozo guardians.
"Why don't your guardians have necks?" She said, deciding that one stupid question deserved another.
"...I never thought about that." Sigmund said as he looked at the Alimbics again, then back at her.
"You know Spire?" He asked, forming as flat an expression as he could while she gave him a second once over, seeming to focus most on his eyes and hair.
"We met after I got put on Zebes; he's amazingly cool and tells the best stories. How did you meet him?" She said as she patted Spire's heavy shoulder with her comparatively tiny hand.
"Mom and dad hired him when I was little. He keeps on visiting me even though I'm with them now." He said, casting a quick glance at the Alimbics, to which she immediately understood the implications and decided it would be best not to pry.
"So, where are you from?" He asked.
"K-2L. What about you?" She said, quirking a brow as she got a bit closer to the other.
He almost said "That's not a real name" before Spire nudged him in the elbows while he was in the middle of saying "That's" and then said "Cylosis." Instead.
Sensing that this line of conversation was probably going to crash in burn in style, Spire let out a loud harrumph and stood up. "Why don't we go get something to eat? I'm starved." He said as he pushed himself up, leaving a rather noticeable indentation of his rear where he was sitting before while he stood up and stretched a bit.
Dinner table.
Sigmund quaffed down the offered potatoes; who had grown well and hardy in Zebesian soil, stuffing his face as he listened in on the conversations being shared by the table patrons.
"So I stood there as this Red Space Pirate demanded that I surrender and I looked at it like it was crazy. I mean, me? Surrender." Spire said, spinning a yarn after shoveling some rocky looking food into his mouth and then chasing it down with a piping hot drink before continuing.
"I went, buddy, I've wiped out the rest of your unit and I've beaten some of them to death using one of your IFVs as a club. You're the one who should be surrendering." Drawing hearty laughter from the patrons.
"And then he shouts at me "I die with honor" and so I ended up having to smash the guy into paste. Well, he certainly did die, but I'm not sure he did so with honour." Spire said, putting his cup down as wizened Chozo, hopeful alimbics, the two humans, and the one mechanoid seated shared some much needed mirth.
"~Tell me hatchling, what have you done lately?~" Velgora said, turning her attention to the Blonde as soon as she calmed down from her Spire induced excitement.
"Well, I managed to ace my agility tests yesterday; which was a total blast." Samus said with a wide grin after she gulped down some green juice, idly twirling some of her hair in her hands.
"~What was the agility test like?~" Velgora said, leaning slightly forward to show her curiosity.
"Oh man, it was full of some of the most intense obstacle courses ever. Had to dodge lasers, missiles, figure out how to stick the landings on a bunch of moving platforms; even had to practice freezing and jumping on rippers." She said, briefly giving Sigmund a challenging look before looking back to the Alimbic.
"~Already using the ice beam are you?~" Velgora said, her head tilting a bit to mimic a human gesture of curiosity.
"Absolutely. I'm sure you let Sigmund test out plenty of toys, unless you think he's not ready for them yet." She said, giving another look and a smirk at Sigmund who shot back with a steely glare as she gave him the briefest hint of her tongue being stuck out at him.
"Oh I can totally beat you in a spar." Sigmund said, a sudden silence falling over the crowd.
"Pfft, no you can't. I'll take you on any day. It won't even be hard." She said with a cocky smirk, pushing aside her empty plate.
"Meet me an hour from now at that obstacle course of yours." Sigmund said, Aliborak quickly raising his hands to protest this unauthorized engagement before Mendiar cut in.
"~A test of skill between the two of you would be an excellent way to see what you have learned.~" She said.
"+So long as you two avoid causing too much chaos.+" Mother Brain said, her Camera drone zooming in closely on the two.
"There is no need to worry mother brain, I am sure they will exercise caution." Old Bird said with a small chuckle, raising his hand to dismiss the drone.
Proving grounds, Zebes
Sigmund and Samus stood resplendent in their respective armoursuits in an indoor facility with enormously high walls, all manner of moving, revolving, rotating, or otherwise non-stationary platforms, plenty of spaces for their alt forms to try to crawl through for advantages, systems designed to shift the environment of the area if need be; though currently it was set to replicate a tropical setting much like brinstar; and Chozo statues clutching spheres were scattered around the field; which was also populated by assorted hard-light simaulcrums of enemies and mechanoids. All overseen by Mother Brain with the supervision of the gathered Alimbics and Chozo and based on recommendations from Spire's combat experience.
"Your weapons are locked into nonlethal mode and your suits are set to lower their energy count as if they had suffered the appropriate "damage" when hit. The first one to be desuited is the loser. Any weapon you have on hand is legal and there are no time limits. Are there any questions?" Sylan said, looking at the two from her floating platform; the two standing on a relatively flat spot of rocky terrain atop some shallow water.
"I'm good. Just try not to flip when I hand Immy his ass. He's your golden boy isn't he?" She said with a cheery grin beneath her helmet, turning around to Sigmund who rolled his eyes beneath his own helmet; the faceguards of his helmet sliding into place and the central optic being quickly concealed by a sliding metal plate while his eyepieces glinted.
"Maybe the Chozo will need to write some new heiroglyphs telling all about how I kicked the hatchling's arse all over the place." He said, a smirk forming on his face while Samus tilted her head at him and shrugged her shoulders before letting out a laugh through her helmet as she set her helmet's visor to opaque mode, shaking her head as she leveled her arm cannon into a firing position; a move matched by Sigmund.
"Begin." Sylan said as Sigmund immediately began rushing forward, starting himself into a sprint meant to put her in close range of his power beam shots; which he applied liberally in an attempt to suppress his opponent who deftly launched herself into a forward flip over his head to avoid the incoming hit. Sigmund skidded to a halt; his boots clamping into the ground to arrest his momentum as he spun around to try and catch her off guard with a charged missile locked on right at her.
Detonating the projectile with a shot from her own beam weapon; followed by a barrage of several more shots from her icebeam; Sigmund launched himself into a precognizant kickflip; starting up his Alimbic electrolob to send a quick volley of immensely powerful electrical orbs at Samus' way. "Oh no you don't." She hissed as she already dived off the platform and curled into morph ball mode the moment she way the glowing parts of Sigmund's arm cannon start to change colour.
Charging off in pursuit, leaping forward with a boost from high jump systems before his thrusters gave him a second boost to try and get some lead over the morph ball, Sigmund kept up his electrolob fire to try and flush her out, noticing something on his HUD's and quickly turning around just in time to avoid an incoming tackle, moving to the side and grabbing at her legs to swing her around and hurl her out of his way.
Grunting as she flew, Samus furled back into her moph ball to cushion her impact before unmorphing and firing off a trio of extremely quickly launched missiles that forced the boy into a ducking motion followed by curling into his own crawler form; crawling towards her as fast as he could before unmorphing in a shoulder check position, however Samus managed to roll into a morphball just in time; dropping a bomb that Sigmund couldn't avoid that sent him into a very ungraceful reunion with the ground; his face hitting the tree head first with a loud SMACK!
But being as quick as he was, he managed to recover in time to roll out of the way of another series of missiles his managed to warn him about as he turned towards her and took aim with the subweapon he found the most to his liking. His arm cannon made a few shifting and whirring noises as the glowing indicators turned light blue; and out from the cannon came arcing bolts of super dense neutrinos.
"Bet they didn't teach you anything about this!" He said with a grin beneath his helmet as he aimed it right at Samus, not bracing his arm cannon with his free hand as he circle strafed around her, bring himself over to a stony platform as he leaped over the thick roots of a tree.
"Gnnh!" Samus grunted as she tried to get away from the relentless punishment of the shockwave. Having never dealt with the Shock Coil before, Samus attempted to dodge with a rolling maneuver to the side, but the energy simply tracked her and struck her anyway. Seeing her energy counter starting to go down increasingly rapidly as the intensity of the noise the shock coil made increased; she had to think fast, and think fast she did. Quickly shooting off a missile to force Sigmund to jump, she immediately shot another missile at him to force him to use his thrusters again; then started charging up her ice beam, then waited for him to be at the point of his jump where he could not alter his course in time; and shot off a freezing orb of energy that struck the boy and encased him in a thick layer of ice.
"Hold still and it'll be over quickly." She said as the girl took aim. Starting up a well practiced process; her arm cannon clicked as it fired missiles into him repeatedly, his shields taking a heavy beating as one projectile after the other slammed into him. With the ice all around him, he could feel the vibrations as the solidified air and water vapor transmitted the force to him even as it blasted chunks of ice away, but he could also feel that he had sufficient leverage to try breaking free, pushing himself against his icy confinement until he was rewarded with the sound of ice shattering all around him, and not a moment too soon, as Samus was already trying to vault over him.
"Mind staying down?" He said as his warrior's training kicked in, his perception of time slowing down as he reacted. Reaching into his experience with close quarters combat, he grabbed her by the left foot and swung her down towards the ground, letting her hit the ground hard as he prepared to come in for a leaping downwards stabbing motion with his arm cannon.
Firing off her suit's back thrusters, she shot away from Sigmund, leaving his arm cannon to stab into the ground while she came around for a quick drop kick to his head, knocking him backwards with a kick that would have stoved in the ribs of any normal person dozens of times over; shoving him backwards with his boots digging out furrows into the mud. However, he couldn't rest on his laurels for long, as he saw her charing at him with the intention to put another charged shot right into his head; prompting him to bring his left arm up to catch her arm cannon while preparing his own charged missile shot. Having braced for the impact, he managed to catch Samus in a lock; arresting her momentum instantly.
Immediately bringing her feet to the ground to avoid getting overwhelmed in the lock; Samus dug her heels in and gritted her teeth as Sigmund pushed, hew left hand trying to keep his arm cannon from pointing at her; the device having opened partially up to charge up a missile blast while her own cannon nurtured an orb of deathly cold inside.
"Give up already." Sigmund said after a grunt of effort as the two's struggle cracked the stone beneath them; their boots pushing through the platform and digging out gouges as they tried to gain more leverage over the other.
"I...never...quit!" Samus said as she strained against her opponent. He was slightly physically stronger than she was, slightly taller too, however, he was also slightly slower than she was; and his extremely aggressive style of fighting did have some downsides.
"You...can...start...now!" He said as he started to slowly push her downwards, the ground beneath her giving way as he started to force her onto a knee. That's when she fired up her boots and the thrusters on her back, throwing him just off balance enough to slam her head into his chest and knock him back far enough for a follow up knee blow to push him farther back; where upon she let off her charged shot, forcing Sigmund to fire off his missile to intercept the charge beam blast; the missile being enveloped in the icy blast that depleted itself against the projectile.
He didn't even have time to blink before she was on him, a quick jab to his stomach making him recoil as he was struck. He retaliated with left elbow aimed at her head, which she successfully ducked under only for him to follow up with a knee that shoved her back with an impact that; while capable of pushing an old; pre-space travel era Earth's tank's frontal hull armour inwards, only managed to push her back somewhat as her shields took the brunt of the impact. She retaliated with an overhead swing with her arm cannon; using it like a club to bring it down on his shoulders after a feint brought his blocking attentions elsewhere; only for her to take an uppercut to the gut in retaliation.
Slamming each other's heads into one another with a mutual headbutt, two pushed away from one another and fired off a missile at one another; her firing off the one super missile she had and him letting loose a charged missile, the projectiles impacting at near point blank and the shockwaves slamming into the shields, fireballs erupting as the last bit of energy from their suits' shielding faded and the two were left standing in their zero-energy interface suits; their armours disappearing in fizzles of light while the two flew back; Samus landing on her back after rolling a good distancet; and him falling on his rear, if only because he hit his head against a tree branch which stopped his momentum.
She managed to recover first, the blonde coughing a bit and blinking as she got used to seeing without the visor all of a sudden, her long hair tied up into a pony tail that only managed to fit inside of her helmet in the first place due to its space altering fields and her blue eyes' pupils shrinking as they adapted. He on the other hand; groaned audibly as he kept his eyes; highly sensitive to bright lights in the first place thanks to their red colour; squeezed tight while a hand ran through his silver hair to rub against where he hit it. His shield caught the force alright; but his suit's feedback still gave him unpleasant pain to remind him he had taken a hit.
She came up to him with an extended hand, a smile on her face. "You did pretty good. Thanks for that." She said as she gripped his hand and pulled him up, a few hard breaths coming from him as he shook his head, looking up to the gathered watchers before turning back to Samus and giving her a nod.
"Call it a draw?" He said, quirking a brow.
"Hey I got up first." She said playfully, letting go of him as he eyed the Zero Suit.
"How is that thing not uncomfortable for you?" He asked as she gave the grey coloured flayed musculature esque nanoweave of Sigmund's zero suit a once over, then gave a look at her own blue zero suit, then looked to him and shrugged.
"I don't really notice it over my clothes. You?" She asked as he also gave his own shrug.
"Well, I guess." He said as Aliborak and Old Bird moved down from hover platforms.
"Well done Samus, you've certainly seem to have taken well to your training. You must learn to play more into your strengths though. But perhaps during our next session?" Old Bird said, patting Samus on the shoulder as she beamed back up at her caretaker, the wizened old Chozo pulling her into a hug that she gladly returned, soft chuckles traded between the two as she nuzzled her head into his chest.
"Thanks Old Bird. I'll make sure to do better next time." She said after breaking away from the hug with her guardian, giggling as he ran his clawed hands through her hair and gave her golden locks a good old ruffle
"~Quite disappointing really, Neophyte. You made a substantial number of mistakes which ultimately cost you victory. These flaws will need to be corrected if we are to be any closer to our goals.~" Aliborak chastised, his hands folded behind his back as he gave a disapproving downward tilt to his head and levitated himself upwards. Sigmund's face turned into a frown and he almost vocalized a protest before Aliborak cut him off.
"~I am not in the mood for your excuses. There is much work to be done.~" Aliborak said with measured disdain, Sigmund's shoulders slumping and an ashamed look casting itself on his face, something noticed by Old Bird who cast Aliborak a venemous look, followed by a squint from Samus.
Later that day.
"~Do you not think that you were too harsh on Sigmund.?~" Velgora said, Aliborak looking out at the Zebesian sunset.
"~No, if he is to be the Neophyte of legend, then he must be a warrior without flaw. His performance against the Hatchling was filled with flaw. How can he be expected to be a force for peace when he has yet to properly master what is taught of him?~" He said, not even turning to acknowledge her.
"~But~" She said before a hand from Aliborak cut her off.
"~You are in no position to talk yourself, I still remember your defiance of my orders on Cylosis.~" He said scornfully.
"~He would have died if I had not intervened.~"
"~That is not the point. I am ranking member of the ship and thus the leader of the Alimbic species. I do not wish to be questioned in my judgement. I waited this long to see if you would seek repentance for your misdeed. I am disappointed that you have not. You and I will be sharing some strong words.~" Aliborak said, scarcely even noticing Sylan at the door way, the mechanoid giving a concerned look before floating away.
Sigmund's chambers, that night
Sigmund lay supine on his bed and let out a discontent sigh as he stared at the ceiling, which he had set to be transparent so that he could look at the stars, the enhancements to his vision made by the Alimbics meant that he could see them all in such sharper detail than any ordinary person could; he could make out little details such as the craters on Tallon IV or one of the satellites the Chozo had overhead. But he looked hardest in the direction where his home galaxy was and breathed out an "I miss you" as he thought of what he had and what he didn't. But as his thoughts drifted to home, so too did they drift to pain, and he quickly shook his head to dispel the memories of fire and death, he wasn't ready to confront that...not yet...if ever.
His thoughts were suddenly interrupted as a knock was heard at Sigmund's door, the boy quirking a brow as he willed the door open; the pyschic technology of the chozo habitat responding to his thoughts and dilating the entrance into its open position. The small sound of the shields around the door dropping and the mechanisms pulling back to let the newcomer in were followed by a familiar; clean scent, like air freshner, a scent that brought Sigmund's head swiveling over.
"Come in." He said, turning his head around as he lay a hand on his stomach and frowned.
"Hey there." Said Sylan, getting Sigmund to pull himself up, propping himself up by his arms.
"Oh...uh...hey." He said, scratching the back of his head and moving to put his shoes onto his feet.
"I heard that Aliborak has been giving you a hard time. Are you alright?"
"...No." He said quietly, almost a whisper really, but it was enough for them, especially when his downward cast look was figured into their guess at his emotional state.
Sylan scooped him up into a hug, which he promptly returned and sighed as he lay his head against the metal chestplate of the machine, closing his eyes gently as he hung onto her, pressing his face against her cool metal exterior and inhaling a lungful of crisp Zebesian air.
"I'm sure everything will be better soon Sigmund. I'll do my best to speak to the Alimbics...maybe I can get them to go a bit easy on you." She said as he sniffled slightly.
"Thanks Sylan." He said.
Aliborak's chambers, later that night.
"Aliborak." Sylan said as she approached the Alimbic.
"~Yes?~" He asked, turning his head around and making sure that she was aware that she had his full attention.
"You are continuing to push him too hard and continually neglect improving his social skills. Sigmund desperately wants to please you, but you keep on putting him down." She said, Aliborak's glare immediately turning more hostile as he hovered closer to the mechanoid, his one central eye glowing intensely as he stared her down.
"~Are you questioning me?~" Aliborak said, his psychic voice lowering as he made his intent very clear; choose your next words carefully.
"Yes. I find your methods of discipline deeply problematic." She said, folding her arms and staring right back at the Alimbic, not even flinching to make sure that he knew that she wasn't going to back down.
"~And what would you have me do? He is supposed to be battle ready even before adulthood. We cannot allow any manner of fault.~" Aliborak said, circling around her as the sound of air reverberating beneath his feet became clear, his psychic menace becoming almost choking as he had half a mind to simply crush her where she stood.
"Use a gentler hand. He is not one of your own, no matter what experience you may have with your kind." She said, standing her ground and finally prompting Aliborak to back off.
"~I will...consider it.~" He said, turning back towards his personal materials.
"Thank you." She said as she walked out, satisfied that she had gotten what she wanted.
Sigmund's logbook: People: Humans: Female: Minors: Samus Aran: Born on mining colony K-2L to federation governor Rodney Aran and Virginia Aran, From an early age Samus was noted to be especially bright and precocious. She would establish a close personal friendship with the Chozo known as Old Bird, who regularly made visits to the newfound colony. At the age of three, Samus was orphaned in a massive raid for aflorite by the Space Pirates under the command of Enforcer Ridley. The entire population of the colony was annihilated within an hour, with Virginia giving up her life to save Samus from Ridley and Rodney launching a suicide attack on the volatile aflorite that killed him and destroyed Ridley's fleet; incapacitating the general. Afterwards, Samus was taken in by the Chozo and contrary to records on the attack; did not die on the planet. She currently displays the benefits of an extremely enhanced physiology and neurology and an extensive and thorough education.
Sigmund's notes: Wow…the first other human I've seen since…then. She's, well; pretty amazingly nice. Stretch keeps on talking about her and the Chozo like they're wild children but I like her. And I've never seen her get yelled at like I do. Maybe she's just a better student than me. That's probably it, isn't it? Guess I'll have to try harder when we spar again. I hope we can be friends.
Sigmund's logbook: People: Diamonts: Masculine personality: Adults: Living: Spire. The last living Diamont known in the entirety of the universe. Spire was a security official who retired from active military service before entering cryogenic stasis over a hundred years ago as part of a voluntary time capsule project. Due to uncorrected clerical error following an attempted Kriken conquest of the planet, he was lost from Diamont records. This allowed him to evade the disappearance of the rest of his people. Following his awakening, Spire spent years searching for evidence of his species and the cause of their disappearance, a search that remains unfruitful. In the meantime, he has put his skills and assets to use by engaging in the mercenary trade; which he has proven to be tremendously capable at, and is well regarded for his friendly personality as much as his enormous prowess.
Sigmund's notes: He's one of the nicest people I've ever met. And he always comes around with a million stories! He makes me feel safe around him, and I really want to join him on an adventure some day. He wants to take me on one some day; but Stretch keeps on telling me I'm not ready yet. I hope that "yet" isn't too far away.
Samus' logbook: People: Humans: Male: Minors: Sigmund von Schirmer: Born to Duke Siegfried von Schirmer and Duchess Elsha von Schirmer, Sigmund von Schirmer was expected to accomplish great things from birth. Previously thought to have died with the rest of the Schirmer family on Cylosis; details from Sigmund himself have revealed that the official version of events is grossly untruthful. With his father being cornered and executed and his mother dying to buy him the time he needed to escape into the safe confines of the Alimbic vessel; Sigmund is the sole survivor of the Cylosis attack; and is now the sole remaining member of the house of Schirmer. While benefiting from numerous posthuman enhancements and highly educated, Sigmund seems emotionally unsteady with likely confidence issues and loneliness.
Samus' notes: I think he's sweet, but I'm not really sure on his guardian. I don't think Aliborak is good for him. He never looks back at him when he's looking at him. And he never seems to like talking to him. I hope Old Bird can get him away from him…he deserves better than him. And I'd like to have him around. It'd be nice to have someone who isn't a thousand years old and covered in feathers for once.
Author's notes: As you can see, Aliborak is not the perfect parent.