Unknown Frigate-Year 2557, Somewhere in Space
It was something disturbing on end. Samus wouldn't have expected to see this here. She walked slowly over to it, hoping that it wasn't an undercover Space Pirate. She looked at it closely and scanned it.
SCANNING ITEM...
Her scan visor was going to pick up vital info on this object.
SCANNING COMPLETE. THIS IS A CAPSULE THAT BELONGS TO THE HUMAN ORGANIZATION UNSC. IT WAS USED TO PREPARE AND REJUVENATE SPARTANS, WHICH ARE A FORM OF TROOP FROM THE UNSC, FOR COMBAT AGAINST OPPOSING FORCES AND WAR.
WOULD YOU LIKE TO SCAN FURTHER?
The scanner asked Samus. She said yes.
THERE IS A LIVING ORGANISM INSIDE THIS CAPSULE. IT IS A HUMANOID. UPON FURTHER INVESTIGATION, RESULTS INDICATE THAT THIS PARTICULAR HUMAN IS A SPARTAN FOR THE UNSC. MORE SPECIFICALLY, THE LIVING ORGANISM INSIDE THE CAPSULE IS TITLED SPARTAN 117.
"Oh my God," Samus said. "I've found another well-trained human," she said. She got up closer and hacked the capsule's lock with her scanner. The capsule emitted a steam, and the door slid open. It revealed a suit. It wasn't as advanced as what Samus wore, but it was close. It was shining and light green, with a helmet that had an orange window.
"Hello?" Samus asked.
"Hello," a female voice said.
"Are you Spartan 117?" she asked, pretty much knowing the answer.
"No. I am Cortana," the voice said.
"I am John's AI unit, though," it finished.
"I am Samus Aran of the GFS," Samus said. The suit trembled slightly, and the green suit got up. He took out a shotgun.
"Who are you?" it asked.
"It's okay, Chief. I don't think she is going to hurt us," Cortana said. He lowered his weapon and held out his hand.
"John. You?" John asked. Samus shook his hand.
"Samus Aran," Samus replied.
Space Pirate Homeworld ("Earth")-Year 2557, Mainland
Ridley and the Arbiter were flying at "Earth," and they entered the atmosphere in a strange way. The flames caused by friction that are normally red are now blue. Another effect of it not being Earth.
"That little panel you have developed is very authentic," the Arbiter said.
"Yes, I know," Ridley replied. They flew over lush trees, orange mountains, one sea, until they finally reached something out of place. The beautiful and warless landscape below had suddenly turned to a steaming, purple and black battlescarred wasteland. This was not Earth for sure, and now the Arbiter believed Ridley. The ship descended and landed harshly on the rugged ground. Ridley leaped out athletically, and the Arbiter walked out with his Elites following behind, all five of them, not including the shipmaster. Following the Elites were the fifty Space Pirates Ridley had brought along. Once the Pirates passed, The Arbiter looked around and thought hard. The shipmaster poked his shoulder.
"Do you think we can trust these creatures?" he asked. The Arbiter looked at the shipmaster.
"I don't think any other option is available," the Arbiter replied. The seven Elites followed Ridley and his army of Space Pirates. They were about to find out if these creatures can be trusted. That Ridley character was weird.
Unknown Frigate-Year 2557, Somewhere in Space
Boom!
"What was that?" Master Chief asked.
"I don't know," Samus said.
"It is a creature close by," Cortana said.
"How close?" Master Chief wondered. Cortana paused.
"Right below us," she finally said. Samus looked down into the water, beyond the grates, and saw the green figure that was previously latched to the wall move and shake the whole frigate. Master Chief looked down and saw it, too. The creature unlatched, and swam around, only showing its back. Master Chief raised his shotgun and fired, but Samus pushed his arm away to prevent a second shot. The creature finally emerged out of the water, revealing its distorted, spiky head. It looked a whole lot like Kraid, but designed for undersea travel.
"Well, well, well," Samus said.
"What?" Master Chief asked.
"I haven't fought you in such a long time, Draygon," Samus finished. The creature roared in anger, but couldn't speak. It shot spikes and beams at Samus and Chief, but missed every shot because Samus ducked herself and Chief downward harshly.
"This thing is deadly. Be aware," Samus said. Chief nodded singly. Samus readied her grapple beam and leaped across the gap well.
"I need you to shoot his stomach when I say now, okay?" she said over to Chief. He nodded.
'He doesn't talk much,' Samus thought. She loaded her gun with missles and started firing at the creature's stomach. The creature was getting more and more enraged, and it shot little beams at Samus. Samus continued to shoot missles at its stomach until finally, she was out of missles.
"Now!" she yelled. Chief raised his shotgun and shot Draygon right in the stomach. It fell into the water, and sank.
(Note from U.R.-People who have beaten Super Metroid should know who Draygon is)
"That was a little two easy. When I fought it on Zebes, I nearly died because of it..." Samus paused. She and Chief stared down into the wavering water, and saw the Grenchlers awaken.
"Back away," Samus said. Chief did as she said. A Grenchler popped out and roared as it fell onto the platform. Samus readied her missles and fired at its head. Bounce! The missle simply bounced off of the face of the ugly creature.
"Aw, no! I forgot how to kill one of these!" Samus said. Master Chief looked at it carefully.
"I got it," Master Chief said. He threw a fragmentation grenade and it landed underneath the Grenchler. Dumbstruck, the Grenchler roared, and it grenade detonated. The Grenchler, unaffected but frightened, dipped down, revealing its back. Chief looked over at Samus and Samus looked at Chief. Chief nodded once. Samus nodded back and loaded a few more missles (which she obtained from killing Draygon) and fired one clean Super Missle at its back. The Grenchler roared in agony, and fell to the floor.
"That was easy. Just add teamwork," Cortana said.
"How exactly does that AI unit of yours work? Mine isn't quite as intelligent in the area of everyday conversation like yours," Samus said. Chief paused.
"She is programmed to be the brain of one of my old friends..." Chief said.
"Who died, in the war that began thirty-five years ago. I am the last Spartan," Chief said.
"War? You mean you were in a war?" Samus wondered.
"Yes. It was agonizing and sacrificial, and now, there may only be a little more than three-hundred humans left on Earth..."
"Earth?"
"Yes, Earth. Weren't you born on it?" Chief asked.
"Of course! But it had only been a month until the Space Pirates imploded Earth, so, in the rise of that moment, my mother handed me over to the Chozos, who had a terrible conflict between other races as well. Right now I am in a war, but its just quiet until a Space Pirate Squadron Leader commits a crime that cannot ever be forgiven. They always send me because I'm very capable of nearly all combat," Samus explained.
"Me too," Chief said. There was a long pause, and they looked down at Draygon, who was lying in the water, dead. Hopefully dead.
"How do we get out of here?" Chief asked.
"Down there-"
"I can't really swim underwater well," Chief said quietly.
"But, you have that helmet-"
"I know, but if we have to get out of here, I think we'll have to blast our way out. I can't go upward in water well."
"Okay, then," Samus replied.
Space Pirate Homeworld-Year 2557, Mainland
The Arbiter walked in past many chambers of the Space Pirate palace. The seven Elites looked around them, in other rooms two Space Pirates were fighting each other for either previous conflicts or they just don't like each other.
"Arbiter. This is...disgustingly reminiscent. I am remembering that the Brutes had beaten the Elites down for the glory of achieving the Honor Guard rank. And Truth never stopped them. Ridley is acting like so," the shipmaster said. The Arbiter stopped, and the other six stood still as well.
"If it turns out we cannot trust this race, we will abandon them and inform the humans of everything they've told us. Then, war will erupt again, and we will just have to hope," the Arbiter said doubtfully.
"Oh, you can trust us," Ridley said from about seventy feet away.
"And a revolt caused by your Elites will not be dealt with calmly. Take that as a warning," he added. The Arbiter sighed.
"If we cannot follow them any longer due to rebellious purposes, we should just play along. That's what we did with the Prophets," the shipmaster whispered. They were lucky Ridley couldn't hear that.
"Come. Let us continue to walk," the Arbiter said.
"Right now we will just have to half-trust them, if you understand what I mean," the Arbiter whispered. The seven Elites continued, some still staring at the two Pirates fighting each other. One of the two were dead, its head disembodied. The Elites walked on, disgusted. After a few more rooms, they entered what looked like a colosseum. Space Pirates lined the outer area, and the Elites were standing in a wide, open area. Ridley was hunching in front of them, back turned at the Elites.
"Do you accept a challenge when it is offered?" Ridley asked.
"Yes, we do, unless the challenge is too impossible for us-or anyone else," the shipmaster said. The Arbiter nudged the shipmaster, not meaning to be funny. Ridley raised his head and extended his wings. The Arbiter and the Elites jumped back, and Ridley turned around and started to flap. A tough wind blew against the Elites. Ridley rocketed into the air, and flew over to a giant throne on the bleachers of the colosseum.
"What is your challenge?" the Arbiter asked, determined.
"If you can defeat one of my Majors," Ridley said. "Then you will not be executed for any purpose other than rebelling against us," Ridley finished.
"Whaat?" the Arbiter yelled.
"What you are doing is rebellious! What is your reason to pit us against this beast?" the shipmaster called.
"Space Pirate nature. If we don't know your nature, then we must determine it, by the way you fight. If you die, that is your punishment, but if you live and defeat him, we will judge what you will probably do by the style you used. Very similar to what I am putting humans through, but that is not near as violent," Ridley said, and smiled, showing shining white razor sharp teeth, and his drool was red and blue.
"Elites! Huddle!" the Arbiter yelled. The Elites got close together and the Arbiter started to explain a plan.
"We do not have a choice, my brothers. We must fight, no matter how tough it may be. And, we must fight using the ultimate force an Elite can show, at the risk of our own life. Agreed?"
"Agreed!" all the Elites said. The Elites spread out and roared in a determined fashion. The Arbiter looked up at the purple sky. There was a storm coming.
Unknown Frigate-Year 2557, Somewhere in Space
Samus jumped down and sunk to the bottom of the pool of water. Chief followed suit. No electronic vocal signals could be given off underwater, so they had to speak through gestures. Cortana, however, could speak. Samus beckoned Master Chief to walk over to the door. Samus shot it, and they both left into the next room.
"High carbon levels are detected in the last room. Something in there is still alive," Cortana spoke out. Chief stayed calm, as usual, and just continued to walk. Samus, however, freaked out slightly. What if that creature was Draygon? The frigate shook roughly all of a sudden. Samus and Master Chief turned around, the frigate still shaking. After five seconds, the wall busted down, and the gargantuan creature known as Draygon came with it. There was a loud, deafening roar. Draygon twitched its little crablike legs, swung its scorpion like tail slightly, and started to chase after Chief and Samus. Samus turned around and dashed, though slowly, and Chief did as well, just more calmly. Their suits were both meant for underwater use if needed, and were designed to allow them to run under there faster than normal, but still slow for underwater. Draygon was catching up. No exit ahead, though. Samus pointed upward, and Master Chief started to ascend the waters very slowly. Samus started, too, and Master Chief was beaten in the race to reach the platform. Once they both got up, Draygon shook water as it popped its giant head up. Samus looked around, hoping she'd find an emergency exit. She looked and saw a door with Pirate language written above it. Draygon tried to spike them both, but Master Chief distracted it with his shotgun. Samus scanned the writing, and, in translation, it said "Emergency Exit."
"Over that way!" Samus called. Chief looked away and ran at the door Samus mentioned to be an Emergency exit. Draygon turned away and swam, knowing that killing either would be near impossible. They ran through the door, down a damaged hallway, and they stopped for a breather. Chief checked his load on his shotgun.
"Out of ammo," he said.
"It doesn't matter. You won't need it any more anyway," Samus said, panting. The little room they were in shook and turned diagonally, which sent both Samus and Master Chief off their feet.
"I thought we convinced that hing to stay away," Chief said.
"I don't think that the creature is going to give up that easily," Cortana implied.
"Isn't it only a marine creature?" Chief asked Samus. Samus closed her eyes (of course, it was hard to see) and shook her head.
"No. Draygon can also levitate into the air slightly. We have to get out of here now," Samus replied. The frigate boomed again, and a large tear in the wall ripped open, and teeth were shown. As the creature on the other side persisted, the hole in the wall got larger.
"Let's go," Chief said. They ran into the airlock and out onto the exterior hangar.
"There's my ship. Let's get onto it," Samus told Chief. Chief nodded, and they both jumped onto the ship, and the shaft took both of them in. Samus clicked a code, and the ship launched off, into space. They looked back at the frigate. It was suffering from blue phazon explosions, and Draygon popped out of the side. It fell off the edge and floated into space. A large flash set off, and the frigate was gone-just a bunch of debris another space cleaner would have to worry about. Draygon was floating, backside down, not moving a muscle. Chief squeezed up closer to the window.
"Awful tight in here, isn't it?" he said.
"It was made for one person," Samus replied. Chief looked over at the remnants of the frigate.
"How exactly did the frigate explode?" he wondered. Samus continued to look ahead.
"Perhaps the phazon leaked into the core reactor. Maybe Draygon did the deed. Maybe even, the ship was set to explode, and we just got out in time. I'm not sure," Samus said.
"And what exactly is Draygon?" Chief wondered.
"A Space Pirate Major, one of the eight. I was just unlucky to meet him. I think maybe Ridley left him behind, but I don't see a reason he would," Samus explained.
"Ridley?"
"Space Pirate leader, and a subject on the universe's Most Wanted list. He is one of the biggest and baddest criminals in the universe," Samus explained. There was a pause.
"I'm going to go think about this," Master Chief said. Samus continued to control the ship as Chief went to the back.
"Cortana, I wish it wasn't so, but I may go to war again," Master Chief said assuringly.