Claws gouging on the rough floor, Ridley slowly crept forward, his mouth dripping eagerly. Gray Voice stepped aside to let him through and Ridley analyzed the elders one by one with a practiced eye. He scanned their expressions impatiently, finding no hint of anguish, fear, or overall misery. The dragon felt disappointment initially, but it quickly boiled into a hot rage at the sheer nerve of these Chozo to not even betray a gut reaction!
It was like the Chozo were attending a sermon, for their hands were clasped together and their heads were slightly bowed, almost as if they were in prayer. Blind acceptance never suited Ridley in his life and he vowed to elicit at least a tiny hint of fear before this day was over.
"YOU!" he bellowed at the Chozo standing at the front of the group, Platinum Chest. He abruptly whirled around and lashed out his tail in the Chozo's direction. The razor-sharp point narrowly evaded tearing Platinum Chest in half but the body of the tail quickly wrapped itself around the Chozo's neck, constricting it.
"You will be the first to die!" Ridley cackled as he effortlessly lifted Platinum Chest off the ground. The Chozo, despite his life hanging by a thread, did nothing to halt the inevitable. His hands did not try to grasp around the tail and pry it off his neck. He merely hung, softly wheezing as his vision began to darken.
Samus, still on the floor, was coughing as well, struggling to maintain consciousness as the commotion reached her ears. She shut her eyes and curled up into a ball even more, desperate to shut out everything, her heart threatening to beat itself out of her chest.
Platinum Chest was still hanging in the noose-like grip of Ridley's tail, but the enormous dragon did not exhibit his full strength quite yet. Rather, he continued to dangle the Chozo tauntingly, taking great pleasure in watching his prey's face turn red.
Ridley spotted Gray Voice still standing impassively to the side, trying to mask the look of disgust on his face. Ridley chuckled and waved his tail, bobbing Platinum Chest up and down painfully. "What's wrong, Gray Voice?" he snickered. "Having second thoughts? Don't tell me that you're getting uneasy from the deaths of your old friends?"
Gray Voice straightened his robes before clearing his throat. "I hope you'll forgive me, Ridley. I've never been one to play with my food."
"Right, you Chozo have never really experienced the joys of taking a life. A pity, that."
"What is a pity is of the lack of manners you're exhibiting right now," Gray Voice countered. "I've provided you with hostages to do with as you please and you repay me by rubbing my genetic shortcomings in my face?"
"It was just a-"
"-The least you could have done is shown me some gratitude at how lenient I've been with you this entire time, as I have not stooped so low as to point out all your flaws to your face as well. Do you really want me to detail how incorrect you have been about your genetic superiority? How your genes have continually been manifested-"
"That's enough!" Ridley roared, thoroughly irritated at Gray Voice's nerve. "You…have made your point, Chozo. What would you have of me so that you may cease your insufferable diatribe?"
"Just get this over quickly! I haven't the stomach for this sort of thing."
Ridley grumbled as he waved his tail ever so slightly, trying to contain all of his rage before it burst out in a billowing flame. He regarded the Chozo standing defiantly in front of him, to the one still feebly choking in his grip, and finally flickered his gaze over to the still prostrate Samus. He snorted, all notions of arguing firmly eradicated from his mind.
"Fine," he hissed and immediately set about tightening his hold on Platinum Chest's neck. Trapped in the knot, the Chozo gagged.
High above, watching in horror through the crack in the wall, Mauk shouldered Kreatz aside to get a better view. "We've got to do something!" he growled as he prepared to burst into the chamber, his shotgun already out.
"Mauk, no!" Kreatz whispered frantically as he had to physically retrain him. "You can't take that thing on alone! He's got too many hostages at his disposal. You could hurt Platinum Chest and Samus!"
"Son of a-!" Mauk cursed as he forcibly relinquished Kreatz's grip on his arm but he stayed put. He knew his friend was right. There were too many hostages in the area that were well within firing range of Ridley. Besides, the huge chamber was littered with obstacles that gave the Pirates good cover. The elders would be out in the open, vulnerable to any crossfire.
"I know, Mauk. I know!" Kreatz assured. "But we can't just go in there and act rashly! We need to approach this more strategically!"
"And do you have any ideas on how to accomplish that?" Mauk seethed. "Platinum Chest could die at any moment, Samus is incapacitated, and we're the only ones who have the ability to do something!"
"And that is why we cannot mess any of this up! We have one shot at this, Mauk! We can't take these guys head on so we have to think of something else this time!"
"Well, hurry up and think of something!"
"I'm trying!" Kreatz shook his hands frantically. "The only thing I can think of is to rig explosives in another part of the facility as a distraction, but…"
"But what, Kreatz?" Mauk sighed.
"All of our explosive ordinance is back on the ship. We didn't lug them along because they would have been too heavy to heft over that mountain range."
"The ship…" Mauk's face went blank for a split second. Slowly, a knowing smile spread across his features and Mauk quickly reached for Kreatz, spinning the man around so that his back was now facing Mauk's face.
"Hey!" Kreatz cried, alarmed. "What are you doing, Mauk?"
"Bringing the explosives to us, Kreatz," Mauk replied as he started to rummage through Kreatz's backpack. Rudely forcing his way through the zipper, he quickly pried out a small tablet, the surface one entire plate of black glass. With a few taps on the touch screen, a tiny logo became illuminated and dissolved to reveal a complicated looking control screen filled with virtual knobs and counters. One of Mauk's large fingers hovered over a symbol in the corner and gently tapped on the sleek surface, causing a dialogue box to pop up.
/STANDBY MODE DISENGAGED/
"You stowed away a remote control for the ship?" Kreatz muttered in astonishment.
"Yep," Mauk said proudly. "Figured that we would need it in case we found ourselves a bit…lacking."
"Good call," Kreatz whispered as he watched Mauk engage the remote startup sequence.
Ten kilometers away, in a small valley, the swooping white shape of the Federation attack craft began to vibrate in the silence desert, a small whooshing coming from the engines as they activated with a whining noise. Dust gently flitted off of it and a flock of birds took flight in panic at the noise.
Mauk was tapping dutifully at the tablet, quickly checking on systems that he deemed necessary while Kreatz struggled to keep up. Mauk quickly activated the electromagnetic charge jamming pod followed by the infrared seeker with only a few careful clicks. Next, the ion cannon was soon unlocked and the chaff dispenser was set to 'auto.' On the tablet, a green diagram denoting the status of the ship was beaming brightly in the lower right corner, showcasing each and every piece of hardware being switched on it at the moment.
"Missile pods activated," Mauk was saying to himself. "Surface-to-air enabled, and stabilization legs extended." Double-checking to see that those were all the adjustments he wanted to make, he pressed the 'execute' button and the diagram on the screen quickly morphed into an unrecognizable shape.
Sections of the hull of the attack craft split away like a jigsaw puzzle, revealing a mechanized skeleton underneath the sleek folds. Four separate panels split away from the sides of the craft to reveal the ship's countermeasures. Eight long stalks quickly sprouted from the undercarriage and planted themselves into the dry ground, burrowing themselves deep to give the craft stability. And near the rear, a square panel rotated in place to reveal a missile battery, filled to the brim with weapons that had a ten thousand kilometer range thanks to the compressed hydrogen fuel embedded in the tanks. The missiles themselves used seismic pulses to damage enemy craft and establishments to cause catastrophic damage to the targets. Even if they missed, they were still deadly.
"Whatever you're going to do," Kreatz said as he glanced back into the chamber worryingly, "you'd better do it fast!"
"The ship's ready to fire," Mauk confirmed, sweat beginning to trickle down the back of his neck. "All I have to do is select a target."
"Just set the focus on any large heat signatures within the area," Kreatz offered. "We're so far underground that we won't be harmed from any of the detonations. Besides, that might destabilize any Pirate forces in the area which would give us a window of opportunity."
"Which is much more preferable than a head on fight in this case," Mauk said as he determinedly pushed his finger down on the table, directly onto a large green button. On the screen, a cluster of dots sat in a small radius around the target area and they quickly winked red as the ship read the tightbeam transmission and indicated its objectives. Solid locks and ready to fire.
/MISSILES AWAY/
Mauk read the text box with a small degree of satisfaction and quietly waited for the ten yellow streaks on the screen to reach their destination, his ears already primed for any new noise, his body tensed in preparation for an upcoming vibration.
"I thought you said you were going to get on with it," Gray Voice scowled.
"And I did," Ridley said. "But grant me this one moment so that I can relish it to the fullest, would you? You can all be so pompous sometimes that it makes me sick. Some semblance of domination will do wonders for my attitude."
Without waiting for him to answer, Ridley ever so slightly increased the pressure on Platinum Chest's neck, the muscles in his tail hard as rock. The other elders stood by in the corner, unable to do anything, unwilling to watch. Just like Samus at the moment.
"Even now," Ridley breathed as he brought Platinum Chest closer to his face, "at the time of your death, still you refuse to indulge me with your pleas for mercy. You truly are the most miserable species I've ever come across in my life." Still the tail tightened more which caused the anxious Ridley to start grinding his teeth in frustration. "I will tear your final words from your mouth, Chozo. If not you, then your comrades will surely suffer the same fate!" Now the dragon grinned, a raspy laugh emitting from its throat. "After all, when pushed to the very limit, we all let our animal side out. No one can escape their primal instincts. So…where is yours, Chozo? Show me…show me!"
"S…S…St-…" Samus stammered breathlessly, her fingers trembling like mad. "P-P-Pl….Plea-….Please…"
Platinum Chest only gagged further, a bit of drool dribbling out of the corner of his beak. Ridley was still unsatisfied. "Are you so proud that you are able to face your own death so calmly without demeaning yourself like all of us? Chirp, you damn bird! Chirp! I want to hear you chirp!"
"St-St-Stop…" Samus whispered with her fading breath at the same time the floor began to shake, drowning out her last pathetic noise. The metal walls began to render, creating a tortured groan as the entire room subtly shook. Dust and bits of debris shook loose from the ceiling, clattering on the cold floor. Ridley stopped his prattling abruptly and released Platinum Chest from the grasp of his tail, leaving the wizened Chozo to cough and splutter after he crumpled to the ground, his body twitching reflexively.
Without warning, one of the cylinders containing a Pirate in the middle of an alteration suddenly sparked as the wires connecting it to the generator were severed. Knocked out of alignment from the vibration, the container suddenly tipped over, shattering the glass and spilling its occupant out into the chamber, surrounded by the green nutrient liquid that had submerged it.
With a sharp intake of breath, Gray Voice lifted his robes to avoid the rapidly spreading puddle. The Pirate did not have the luxury to worry about stained clothing, for its modified body had not been completely adjusted when it had found itself so suddenly deposited back into the cold room. The alien's face was unchanged but spines ridged all along its back, a melding of the two styles. The Pirate's internals were even more of a mess. Something inside of it had not been properly transformed and the stress from being introduced out of the tank prematurely caused something to rupture, and suddenly blood began leaking out of every orifice. The Pirate was melting before their eyes.
Quickly, Ridley stomped over and slammed a foot on the thrashing Pirate's head before it could cause more of a mess. Ridley scraped off the brains from his feet and began to breathe more heavily now that he had other things to worry about. He turned his head and blinked when he saw the next unfortunate sight for today.
The rest of the Pirates in the tanks, eleven in total, had all been shaken loose from the couplings keeping them in place within their cylinders. None of the rest had shattered but now that the necessary tubes keeping all of the aliens alive while the Chozo DNA was being implemented had been dislodged, they too quickly began to expire. Soon, each cylinder which had formerly exhibited a sickly green color was now projecting a murky red as every single Pirate dissolved in the tank, their innards liquefying.
"What happened?!" Ridley screamed as he shook his claws angrily in the air. "Who caused this?!"
Panicked, Ridley hurried over to the large vats in the corner, but he sighed in relief when he saw that none of the Metroids had been damaged. "Gray Voice! Mother! What is the meaning of this?!"
"Standby," Mother said quickly, her monitor quickly floating near the ceiling to distance itself from Ridley's rage.
Ridley was still too impatient to wait. He flicked his jaw to the side, activating the transmitter embedded in his skull. "All units, I want a sitrep. Now would be a perfect time!"
"W-We're still trying to figure it out, milord!" a Pirate cut in hastily. "We've got several units reporting several explosions within the area. We do not know the exact cause but it…it seems like sabotage, milord!"
"Sabotage?" Ridley muttered as he cut the connection, walking back over to Gray Voice. "But…who could…?" As he spoke to himself, a thought suddenly occurred to him; an idea so simple it initially seemed ludicrous. But, now the idea had been planted and there was no way to remove it fully. Growling like a predator on the hunt, his attention turned over to Samus, who was now conscious, he realized, but was still so struck with fear that she did not have the capability to focus on anything, or anyone. Regardless, Ridley stalked forward, seeing red, his hands outreached to grab at Samus once more, with the intent to grind her bones into dust, but Gray Voice saw the maneuver and hurriedly stepped between the dragon and the human, a steely glare in the Chozo's eyes.
"Quit protecting your pet!" Ridley snarled.
"You are quick to shift the blame, aren't you?" Gray Voice said. "I'm only trying to ensure that you will not renege on your promise to harm Samus further. People can be quite unpredictable when they're flustered, Ridley."
"Fl-Flustered?!" Ridley gaped. No one had dared to call him that before. He pointed a shaking claw at Samus. "She…she knows what happened! The human probably has allies here and they set the explosions while we were all cooped up in this very room! Ask her! Ask her where her friends are hidden, Gray Voice!"
"My point exactly," Gray Voice gave a smug smile. "You have no idea how Samus operates, Ridley, so let me explain why such an occurrence is highly unlikely. She has lived on this planet for years and had ample time to adjust to the harsh environment. It wouldn't make any sense for her to string along others who are unused to this sort of climate. They would only hold her back."
"Still, the possibility of-"
"Furthermore," the Chozo continued loudly, "if you had bothered to even skim Mother's data on Samus, you would know that Samus has had a tendency to lean towards a nature of a sociopathic sort. Also, she is incredibly self-reliant, which strains belief that she would have brought along backup at all. She definitely would have been arrogant enough to think that she could have taken on an invasion force by herself because we instilled that notion within her. The detonations, on the other hand, were probably a well-planned contingency by her to create pandemonium in order for her to create a successful escape."
Ridley began to formulate a reply, but Gray Voice had already moved on to other matters, now ignoring the giant Space Pirate leader. The Chozo looked over and saw that Platinum Chest was being helped to his feet by two other elders, carefully bringing the elderly man up on severely shaking knees. Gray Voice pointed to the weakened Chozo. "Platinum Chest," his voice boomed, "I believe that you and the other elders are needed to fix the body adaptation machines in the room. As this is something the Space Pirates are unable to repair on their own, you are the only ones capable of performing such a service. Your safety will be guaranteed until this final task is finished." Shooing them away with a hand, the elders slowly began to trudge over to where Gray Voice was pointing, not making any sounds of protest at all.
Ridley lowered himself down, wings raised up in alarm. "What are you-"
"All sectors," Gray Voice said over the comm, not paying Ridley any attention, "this is Gray Voice. There have been several eruptions that have caused damage to the Crateria and Brinstar areas. All units divert to those sectors immediately and report any damage sustained." Knowing that his words were being broadcast through the expansive halls and caverns of the Chozo city, Gray Voice took a breath before he continued. "Also, we must prepare for an imminent counterattack by the Federation! After the damage has been suppressed and isolated, everyone should report to their battle stations on the surface."
As he spoke, crowds of Pirates fluttered through the corridors, pushing their way through to make their way out into the light of the sun, the heat already beginning to bake them. They carried out heavy turrets, jumped into pre-prepared foxholes, and powered up their short-range fighters. The entire area was now securely in alert mode.
"Be alert!" Gray Voice warned. "If you are unable to detect anything on long-range sensors, switch to bistatic or VHF to ping the ships quickly. That will penetrate their stealth camouflage quite well. Also, all electronic countermeasures and support measures have the authority to utilize all the equipment at their disposal. Visual confirmation is key; when you see a bogey, you report it at once! That will be all, Gray Voice out."
As soon as he finished, Gray Voice turned around to find a very miffed Ridley glaring at him from afar. With a rasping cough, Ridley twitched his fingers for a few seconds before he spoke. "You know…it's usually my prerogative to mandate the directions of the troops, Gray Voice. Not yours."
"I was unaware that I had overstepped my bounds," Gray Voice snorted, shooting Ridley an annoyed glance. "You made me a commander of the Space Pirates and I have commanded them. I have merely done the bare essentials of my duty as dictated by you. Is there going to be a problem with this arrangement or do you want to tell me something that I'm currently not privy to? If I am mistaken, then I will gladly take my services elsewhere."
It was hard to tell what Ridley was precisely feeling at the moment, for the creature did not so much as twitch a single strand of muscle. Gray Voice stared patiently at Ridley, fighting in a battle of wills between the two, daring him to say something that would attempt to weaken his position, goading him into making a mistake that could put him out of favor.
However, Ridley wisely dipped his head in a tense acknowledgement, his eyes never leaving Gray's. "No…" he murmured. "You are correct. You have done well, Gray Voice."
"Thank you," the Chozo said without any pride in his words. "But I must confess that while I may have the ability to direct our forces, my abilities on the front lines are as of yet untested. That matter I will gladly defer to someone like you, Ridley, as your expertise in the area of combat is unrivaled compared to mine."
Ridley swept his wings upward in a grand gesture, his stance still cautious as he picked apart Gray Voice's statement for any inkling of a hidden insult, wary at the spontaneous nature of the compliment from the usually reserved Chozo. Shaking the matter off quickly, he rose up on his hind legs and prepared to lift off. "Very well," he growled. "Then I shall send you a report of the situation as soon as I arrive at my destination."
"Thank you, Ridley."
Ridley quietly chuckled and, with three huge strokes of his wings, rose up into the air. "The facility is yours…'Commander Gray Voice,'" he hissed, embedding a slight tinge of sarcasm into the statement. Quickly traversing upward, Ridley flew up toward one of the upper access vents and shot his large body through it. The dragon did not muffle the sounds he made through the corridor as he banged on every single wall, clomping his way towards the exit.
Satisfied that Ridley had finally departed, Gray Voice aimlessly brushed his robes, flicking imaginary pieces of dust off of them. With finality, he looked over the elders milling about in the corner and nodded to himself as he turned towards the door in preparation to leave. Samus was sitting up by now, her back propped up against the wall, but her gaze was still directed downward. It was possible that she had no spatial awareness anymore, much less any perception of time.
Watching the human shiver, Gray Voice could only shake his head. "Do you believe this is what your parents would have wanted from you, Samus?" he quietly spoke down to her. "Is this how you showcase your respect to them? To me? By falling into this state?"
Samus did not speak and Gray Voice turned his back on her, disgusted. "You're a disappointment to us all, Samus. Ridley was right, you are pathetic."
Without a second glance, the Chozo walked straight through the door; Mother's monitor dutifully following right behind. For a good minute, the only sounds heard in the chamber were the soft clinking of tools made from the Chozo silently repairing their technology. Samus sat still, frozen in place, as everything else occurred all around her.
The four pirates guarding the Chozo resumed their patrols, curiously eying their captives. They clacked their claws impatiently, keeping their attention from dipping to below the point of not caring. Some of them looked at Samus in an expecting manner, as if they anticipated her springing to her feet to try and initiate some kind of assault. When it became apparent that such a scenario would not occur, the Pirates lost interest and moved on.
One of the Pirates became so bored with the routine that he took a slight deviation, rounding around the main augmentation cylinder on the other side of the room. He took his time as he trudged around the base of the pillar, grumbling to himself and getting so engrossed into his own thoughts that he stumbled over a spare panel because he was not looking where he was going.
Catching himself from falling, the Space Pirate bent down and nudged the panel with his foot. He looked up and saw an empty square in the wall a few stories above his head. With a grunt, he picked the panel up and set it against the wall. He deduced that it must have gotten dislodged when the explosions had rippled through the facility that he did not notice a soft noise behind him until an enormous pair of hands gripped themselves around the Pirate's neck and squeezed so hard that his neck was broken in three places in mere seconds.
Mauk quietly lowered the limp Pirate to the ground, making sure that it was out of sight from the other guards. Keeping his usually deep breath quiet, he crouch-walked around the large cylinder and stealthily made his way toward the crowd of Chozo in the corner. He quickly maneuvered himself behind a stack of crates and waited for another patrol to pass him by. This one also stupidly walked out of his cohorts' line of sight, allowing Mauk to snap the Pirate's neck just as easy as the first one.
By the time Mauk stood back up from cover, he gave a smile as he saw Kreatz move into the shadows, the bodies of the final two guards lying next to each other. Pools of blood were spreading from their slit throats, direct victims of Kreatz's combat knife. Now that the room was clear, it was a simple affair for Mauk to run over and simply tap Platinum Chest on the shoulder, careful not to step in any of the residue that stained the ground.
"Platinum Chest?" Mauk whispered as the hostages turned around incredulously at the noise. "My name's Mauk and my partner over there is Kreatz. We're here to rescue all of you."
To the Chozo's credit, Platinum Chest did not even seem to be surprised in any way. Rather, he simply gave a nod, immediately accepting the newest turn of events in an endless spiral of confusion. Reaching out, he gripped the enormous man's hairy forearm in gratitude. "You have our sincerest thanks, my friend," the Chozo whispered, his voice hoarse. "This is quite unexpected, but a relief all the same."
"Are all of you fit to walk?" Mauk asked, remembering how Platinum Chest had been thrown about so violently before by Ridley.
"Not well," Platinum Chest admitted. "But with you here, I'm confident that we will be just fine."
On the other side of the chamber, Kreatz ran over to help pick Samus up. "Come on, Samus," he grunted as he threw one of her arms over his shoulders. "Let's get you out of here."
He tried pushing off on his feet but quickly found that Samus was deadweight. Kreatz's knees buckled and he quickly collapsed to the ground, Samus slowly sinking back down.
"Samus, get up!" Kreatz urged. "We need to move now before more guards come back!"
"Kill…me…" came a throaty whisper, barely discernable.
Kreatz leaned down in confusion. "What did you say, Samus?"
"K-Kill…me…."
Now Kreatz was starting to get more alarmed, his pulse beating faster and faster. He looked at the human who he had worked with for months and still did not believe the words that were coming out of her mouth. What had gone on down there? "Samus…"
"KILL ME!" Samus suddenly screamed, her face tilting upward for the first time. Her eyes scrambled around in her sockets, her face was coated with sweat, and her hair swung every which way. Kreatz instinctively backed up, his expression one of complete astonishment. Mauk tried to call out to his friend but was only drowned out by Samus' horrendous cries.
"KILL ME! KIIIIILL MEEEE! SOMEBODY KILL ME!"
A/N: Due to life throwing a bunch of stuff my way, there may be a disruption in the current release schedule. Nothing is certain, but just warning you all so no one freaks out and thinks that I have died when I'm a few days late with the posting.
Also, I'm working on a new idea for Soldier: Legacy at the moment which could be very unique and interesting. It's not necessarily going to affect the story, per se, but more like augment it. More on that in a few weeks as I get everything sorted out over at the homefront.
Next up: the finale to the second act of the story!