Searching For My Brother
A Metroid OC Story
by Derald Snyder
~Chapter 13: Supplanting The Kraken~
Current Loadout:
Helmet- Federation Helmet, Combat Visor, Scan Visor
Body- Federation Armorsuit (599 energy), Hazard Shield
Arms- Grapple Swing/Voltage, Power Grip, Plasma/Charge Beam
Feet- Space Jump Boots
Recon Drone- Remote Scanner, Bombs/Cross Bomb
(Music- 'Crisis Mission', Metroid Fusion)
On his way to help the clone soldiers with the Hydreion Kraken, Daniel had found an energy recharge station, quickly refilling his Energy Tanks before moving on... the shaking was getting worse, Danny losing his footing at a few points... (I must be getting close,) he thought. Just then, a tentacle burst through the wall in front of him! "Yikes!" He backed off a bit, taking aim at the tip and firing his Plasma Beam, scoring a hit and causing the tentacle to retract! That done, he surged forward-
Only to come across a door with no power. "Not again," he groaned. (Gotta find a broken panel nearby...) Managing to keep his balance as another tremor shook the building, we went down the adjacent hallway into a maintenance room... sure enough, one of the electrical panels was cracked and sparking, Danny using the welding mode of his Plasma Beam to solder it back together. That done, he exited and ran back to the door, seeing that it was working now, shooting it open...
But the next hallway was partially broken apart, no doubt from the kraken's rampage! (Geez, did I tick it off that badly earlier?!) Thankfully none of the gaps were too wide for him to jump across with his Space Jump Boots... then a stretch of solid hallway before running through an open door, coming out into a large room that had been half-destroyed, a few clone soldiers nervously pointing their guns at the water beyond. "Hey!" he greeted.
(Music- 'VS. Chykka (Larva)', Metroid Prime 2: Echoes)
"About time!" One of the clones complained. "Did you see that thing anywhere?!"
"I had to fend off one of its tentacles earlier," Danny replied. "Geez, did that giant squid really do this?!"
"Well, it sure as hell wasn't Samus Aran!" another clone half-snarked. "Man, what does Mr. Craig expect us to do?!"
"Well, how'd you stop it last time?" Danny asked fairly.
"You didn't hear?! One of the delivery guys crashed their craft into the kraken's head when it surfaced and knocked it out!" the soldier replied. "But he died in the process, and the other delivery guy's out at the moment...!" He and others abruptly pointed their guns toward the water as the kraken suddenly surfaced in front of them! The soldiers promptly opened fire to no avail, as one of them was grabbed by the kraken's tentacle, who proceeded to literally bite his head off!
(I did NOT need to see that!) Danny gritted his teeth under his helmet, trying to keep his food down... aloud he yelled, "Aim at the eyes! The eyes!" The others swiftly adjusted their aim, the kraken crying out in annoyance and backing off sightly! But then it lashed out with another tentacle, knocking a few soldiers into the water below, where they cried in agony as electricity surged through their bodies before sinking under!
(The water's electrified?! Oh, great...) Daniel fired at the tip of another tentacle as it reached for him, forcing it to retract. "Aim at the tips, they have nerve clusters!" This the remaining clones did, managing to repel the other tentacles that reached for them...
"Dammit, we can't hold this thing off forever! Now what?!" one of the clones cried in frustration. It was at this point, Danny recalled what he'd learned from scanning the creature earlier...
[The Kraken's head is well-armored, only heavy concussive weaponry able to damage it.]
(Wait, that's it!) Inspiration struck. (I know what to do!) But then the kraken decided to charge at the soldiers directly, Danny managing to dash to the side, but two more soldiers were knocked into the water and electrocuted. But the beast being so close allowed Daniel to unleash a charged Plasma Beam into its eye at near point-blank range, causing it to screech in pain and back off a fair distance! That done, the engineer lifted his hand to his helmet... "Daniel to starship! Fly to my position and attack the Hydreion Kraken with a missile barrage!"
"Acknowledged," the ship's AI replied. "ETA 3 minutes and 40 seconds."
"Wait, you have a starship?" One of the surviving clones asked. "Shit! You're not one of us, are you?! You're the intruder!"
"Right now, I'm a human trying to survive, just like you!" Danny shot back. "We can settle our score after this thing's dealt with!" With that he resumed firing at the tentacles that reached for him, dashing aside to avoid a few lashing out at once! The other soldiers reluctantly resumed firing on the kraken, trying to aim for its eyes to keep it away... soon, the sound of a ship was heard in the distance! "Here it comes! Hit the deck!" He dived to the floor, the others following suit...
The kraken looked upward, trying to discern where the noise was coming from... Danny's starship flew into view, launching several missiles which streaked toward the predator, which screeched in pain as its armored head was blasted apart, pieces of said armor flying everywhere, a few impacting above Danny and the clones! The kraken slipped beneath the waves, leaving a fair amount of ichor on the surface, an eerie silence falling over the area.
(music fades out)
One of the clone soldiers dared to lift his head up and look over the area... "Hey... I think we got it!" He, Danny and others slowly climbed to their feet.
"You mean HE got it," another clone pointed at Daniel.
"Yeah, after he probably woke it up to begin with!" a third pointed his rifle at the engineer.
"By accident!" Danny protested. "I was trying to fend off one of those angler-sharks when that thing woke up and ate the shark, and then I shot it in the eye to drive it off! It was survival!"
"You should have just died then!" another clone raised his weapon. "Maybe we'll take care of that right now-"
(Music- 'VS. Chykka (Adult)', Metroid Prime 2: Echoes)
Suddenly the water nearby erupted, revealing a very angry Hydreion Kraken! Though a good amount of its head armor was missing, it was still very much alive, sweeping its tenacle across the floor to knock everyone into the electrified water below! Only Danny managed to avoid falling by using his Power Grip to grab the ledge at the last moment, quickly pulling himself up!
But now that he was the sole target remaining, the Kraken charged headfirst at him, Danny only evading by dumb luck as it crashed into the wall, leaving a sizable dent behind! Fear and terror seized the young man, swiftly retreating through the nearby door, hearing the kraken start destroying everything behind him! Desperate to get some distance, he found a grapple point, using his Grapple Beam to swing away-
But the Kraken's tentacle knocked him out of the air, sending him plummeting into the water! Thankfully this section of the ocean wasn't electrified, but without the Gravity Boost, he knew he was a sitting duck down here! Out of desperation he fired his Grapple Beam in the general direction of the plant- and it latched on to something, pulling him away from another tentacle just in time! Resurfacing, Danny used what he learned from the training base to release and grapple to another point, swinging away-
Again he was hit by one of the Kraken's tentacles, but this time it sent him upward, Daniel using his Space Jump Boots to regain control, landing on a section of roof! Hearing the Kraken screeching behind and below him, he quickly took off running, still too overwhelmed with fear to even think about engaging it... reaching the edge, he jumped, using his Space Jump Boots for a little more distance, then engaging his Power Grip to slowly slide down the wall- only to get slapped by the kraken's tentacle and sent flying yet again! He shot out his Grapple Beam, pulling himself onto a small platform... (Now what?!) he thought in panic...
But then he heard the sound of laser fire, turning to see a familiar purple starship blasting away at the pursuing Kraken! (Princess!) he thought in relief, his higher brain functions returning as a result... The Hydreion Kraken tried to swipe at the ship with its tentacles, but it was too far out of range. Realizing this was his chance, Daniel took aim with his welder gun, charging a Plasma Beam shot... The moment the kraken's movements slowed slightly, he let loose, the molten blast piercing straight into its brain! Princess followed up with several more shots at the same spot, causing blood and ichor to fly everywhere!
(Boss Defeated Jingle- The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess)
Daniel watched as the giant sea creature slid beneath the waves, leaving a large red cloud just beneath the water's surface, said water going still soon after. (It's... it's dead! We killed it!) He collapsed to his knees, laughing in relief... seeing Princess' starship floating before him, he gave the ship a thumbs-up, slowly standing back to his feet as the ship seemed to nod in acknowledgement and slowly fly off. Looking around, he saw the loading dock in the distance... (Wait, this is where I jumped off into the sea before!) So he turned and shot the door open, heading inside... (Ugh, 85 energy... that damn thing did a number on me...) He was starting to feel sore as well.
Not wanting to risk going through the non radiated door, he opened doors to high-radiation rooms... most of them were dead-ends, but one was a hallway leading across! But as Daniel walked down said hall, there was a force-field blocking his path... Seeing a control panel nearby, he decided to try something, latching onto the panel with his Grapple Beam, then pulling back to activate the Grapple Voltage. He watched as his suit's energy slowly crept upward, the force-field flickering, faltering, then finally shutting down completely. Now back up to 115 energy, Danny walked the rest of the way to the other end, opening the door and walking into the delivery area. Stopping by the pallet of Energy Tanks, he decided to grab one more and install it on his suit. (Six tanks, that's as much as this suit can handle.) Walking to the bay doors, he scanned the panel to activate and open them... "Daniel to starship, set down at my current location."
(Energy Tank acquired!)
"Acknowledged," came the AI's reply. But then, Danny heard several footfalls, the doors into the plant opening to reveal Craig along with many clone soldiers!
"There he is! BLAST HIM!" Craig ordered, the clones promptly opening fire! Danny ducked behind another pallet, charging his Plasma Beam before popping up and firing, taking out one soldier then being forced to duck from concentrated fire!
(Dangit, ship, where are you...?!) Just then, several soldiers stumbled as small explosions occurred by their feet, Danny's recon drone skittering into view! (My drone! I completely forgot!) Taking the chance he popped up and rapid-fired his beam, managing to drop a few more soldiers...
"Come on, you idiots! He's just one man!" Craig yelled in frustration. But then he heard a loud humming sound, seeing a black starship set down just beyond the doors, Danny promptly picking up his drone and breaking for it! "Stop him! Don't let him get away!"
Danny gritted his teeth as his suit's energy dropped from a few lucky shots, jumping atop his ship and quickly descending inside, rushing to the pilot's seat and strapping in! "Launch!" he ordered, the ship vibrating as it lifted off, the soldiers ineffectually shooting at it...
"Princess to Daniel! Do you copy?" a voice came over the comm-link.
"Yeah, I hear you! What's up?" Daniel replied as he lifted clear of the clones' firing range.
"I've located the cooling systems for the plant! Taking those out will cause the reactor to overheat and overload!" Princess replied back. "But we'll need your ship's missiles to ensure their destruction!"
"...Roger that. I've had enough of this godforsaken place anyway," Daniel grunted back. Checking the weapons systems, he saw that he had enough energy for two more discharges. (Hopefully one barrage will be enough,) he thought to himself. "Relay the location, Princess."
"Sending data," ADAM spoke, a targeting reticle appearing over a nondescript section of the power plant a few seconds later. Flying higher and a bit forward, Danny watched as the reticle turned from red to green, indicating a valid lock.
"Fire missiles!" he called, feeling his ship vibrate intensely from the discharge...
*Down below...*
"Gah!" Craig flinched from the noise of an explosion. "What the hell was that?!"
"Danger! Danger! Cooling systems offline!" a computerized voice announced. "Reactor overload imminent! Evacuate immediately!"
"Run! Jump into the ocean!" One of the clones cried, he and his fellow soldiers fleeing in panic!
"Wait for me, you idiots!" Craig yelled as he tried to run after them, only for one of the clones to turn and shoot him the leg, causing him to fall over!
"Screw you, Craig! We never liked you anyway!" the clone taunted before turning and dashing off...
"NO!" Craig cried in despair, trying to crawl forward... then the reactor detonated, the man screaming as he was annihilated utterly! As for the clone, he and his comrades just barely managed to dive in the ocean ahead of the explosion...
*In the skies above...*
Daniel watched as a massive explosion engulfed the power plant, having flown a safe distance away... (Good riddance to bad rubbish,) he thought as he observed a mushroom cloud rising over what remained, before directing his ship to fly into space, Princess' ship following behind. (And now for the clone factory...)
*To be continued...*
A/N: Well, that chapter sure ended with a bang, didn't it? ;-)