Phase 2

Log 4,369 – 4 hours 56 minutes since landfall

The descent is slippery as trace viscous fluid clings to every surface. Ambient temperature climbing to 27 degrees Celsius. Ambient humidity climbing as well. Strong indications of volcanic activity, possibly explaining the earthquakes. New life forms discovered.

Designation: Needler. Aquatic life form, a small semi-metallic core with many spiky bone protrusions. Like most life forms present, these bone spurs are surprisingly sharp and hardened, capable of preventing environmental suits and even armored plating, evolved to defend against Metroid predation. Despite adaptation to aquatic environments, still capable of slow movement when outside of its natural habitat. Has a tendency to cling to crevices in the rock face out of sight, particularly in convenient handholds. Capable of punching through power armor finger joints. Resealing mechanism remains undamaged and effective.

Designation: Chute Leech. Reminiscent of terrestrial manta rays. Long, very flat bodies with a small mouth at the bottom. Floats silently down on unsuspecting prey. Without the force to drive a spike through armor, it relies on the excretion of acids to penetrate victim's defenses. Fond of descending on wounded prey, such as those that have fallen while scaling rock faces. Power armor sufficient to withstand acid, but only with considerable energy drain. Three arm cannon shots sufficient to neutralize. Four arm cannon shots kills it.

No trace remains after fourteen arm cannon shots.

Log 4,370 – 5 hours 39 minutes since landfall

Encountered the acid, once again blocking the main shaft. There are several side passages to hunt through . . . I'm picking up a strange sound. Occasional high-pitched frequencies interpreted by the armor's sensors as tones. They vary in pitch and timing with no discernible pattern, which suggests a natural phenomena, but are also being picked up on the electro-magnetic spectrum, which would indicate that it's artificial.

It grates on y nerves, making it difficult to maintain focus.

Log 4,371 – 5 hours 57 minutes since landfall

Found a large cave system with multiple chambers. Ambient temperature has risen to 33 degrees Celsius, humidity has dropped. The abundant plant life of the main shaft is mostly gone. Far below I can see molten magma flows. It hurts my eyes to look at it. I think I'll head up and work my way down from the top.

Log 4,372 – 6 hours 12 minutes since landfall

Found the molt husk of a larva Metroid outside a side passage.

[WARNING. Major power armor damage detected. Diverting power from all non-critical systems.]

Log 4,373 - ? hours since landfall

There were two of them.

The other's molt husk was at the back of the chamber, possibly hidden there. The second Alpha waited until I was engaged with the first, then hit me from behind while the first clamped onto my arm cannon. I killed it, but that second Alpha rammed me right off the cavern's edge.

I don't remember falling. I must have landed on top of it, because it was lying next to me, half dead, when I woke up. It's all dead now.

36 left.

Three, maybe four broken ribs. Concussion. It hurt more than it should have because the armor is low on power and most of the cavities where it stores the raw components for the arm cannon's missile fabricator are empty, so their extra padding is gone.

Not sure how long I was out. The computer took a hit, too. Its internal clock get reset. What time it is outside makes no difference down here, but it bothers me not knowing.

Maybe it's the concussion.

I'm in no shape to fight another Metroid. Not sure if I can climb all the way back out in this condition.

The strange signal is stronger this far down. Closer. Definitely artificial. If it's artificial, it must be powered. I need power. I'll go looking for it soon. Need to rest for another few minutes.

Log 4,374 - ? hours since landfall

More creatures. Drawn to the heat of the lava, I think. They live in some sort of nest, almost a beehive. Swarms of insects with wings just large enough to fly with heavy spiked stingers. Yes, nameless Federation researcher updating the galactic xenobiology archive, like everything else on this nameless planet, they can pierce power armor. Not everywhere, just in the joints. You may also be interested to discover that their barbs are also poisonous to humans. Symptoms of elevated fever, traces of delirium, and the computer insists that it alters mood as well. Yeah, it does. By stabbing you with stingers. It's not chemical. Log off—what? Oh. Designation: Mumbo.

Log 4,375 - ? hours since landfall

Mumbo symptoms short-lived. Effect on humans within the generally accepted genetic variance margins estimated to be somewhat longer lasting, possibly permanent. I found the source of the signal. Ruins, possibly ancient. Dating results difficult to interpret due to extremely isolated and dry conditions. Power systems still active, including powered external defensive platforms.

Designation: Wallfire. Energy-based weaponry, wall mounted, and hooked directly into the power net. Relatively powerful attacks, but poor target designation systems and virtually no armor defenses.

The implications of this large, walled construct are bad. The metals of its construction are not native to this planet. They are consistent with Chozo ruins discovered on other planets.

The Chozo were here, once, but what were they doing? It doesn't make sense. This place is big and it looks like a temple, a non-critical structure, which means a larger, long-term settlement. But why go to the effort and expense of building it all the way down here? There was no trace of them on the surface, so this wasn't just a research wing of a surface colony. No, the only reason to put it down here and hollow out this cave is for secrecy or defense. In their time there was no one to steal their secrets, so it was for defense . . . against what?

These turrets, they are weak, relatively unsophisticated, and defenseless – the definition of wildlife control. But they'd be useless against the Metroids. So what could possibly be strong enough to drive back Chozo power-armored warriors, but weak enough to be held back by wildlife defenses and stone walls? One thing is certain; there weren't any Chozo venturing outside those walls. The guns targeted me even in Chozo armor, however modified. They're set to shoot at anything that moves.

Log 4,376

I've disabled the timer. It was unhelpful and irritating.

This place was definitely a temple. More bad news, though—the place was still sealed. I had to blow through several doors with the last of my missiles to gain access. So whatever happened here wasn't a single disaster—there was a long-term threat or problem that they couldn't deal with, they sealed up the temple, and retreated . . . somewhere. Deeper, probably.

I've gone through their murals, and there's not much to go on. There was definitely some sort of threat depicted, looming, ominous, and omnipresent, but no real depiction of what it is. It's possible the threat was still poorly understood when they were forced to seal the building and fall back. They may have been hoping for more stragglers to show up, because they left some things behind. A power station, refilling the power suit's energy supply, as well as the raw materials to manufacture missiles and bombs. I guess their long-gone hopes were fulfilled in the end.

I also found an upgrade to the armor, the spider ball. When I curl up into the morph ball, it lets me cling to rock surfaces. Best guess, it magnetically charges whatever I'm next to, but like a lot of thins with the Chozo, I just don't know how it works.

It's strange, sitting here in one of their temples, reading their carved records, looking at their magnificent statues, wearing their armor, even having known some of them, and I still have so little understating of their culture and technology. Maybe resting in this dusty tomb is making me melodramatic, and I won't deny that sleep deprivation is a factor here, but . . . it scares me sometimes. Even using missile, I had to curl up in morph ball to get through the cracks in the wall. It doesn't seem physically possible to condense matter to the point the volume of both me and my power armor drops to about a third, a tiny little ball, and my density triples to maintain overall mass. Not to mention how the suit continues to operate like that. The only possible solution I can think of is that my armor is . . . is somehow liquefying me, and literally rebuilding my body from the raw components whenever I uncurl.

Insane.

But then, I don't feel like I'm spinning inside it, I'm just . . . there, in the middle, somehow feeling my surroundings. I don't' know if I can speak like that, if I even have a mouth to speak with! Only, when I left morph ball in here, my ribs weren't broken anymore. And the suit already constructs bombs and missiles on the fly from the raw components forming the intermediary ablative armor layer, so . . .

Computer, threat assessment update. Designation: Mumbo. Venom more powerful than initially indicated, mentally altering affects likewise longer lasting than initially reported. Track this and intervening logs for excessive, pointless verbalizing. Log end.

Log 4,377

Using the newly acquired suit capacity, designation Spider Ball, I was able to more fully explore the temple's surroundings. Found a small crevice, with an Alpha Metroid hidden all the way at the back. Eliminated. 35 remaining. Continuing search pattern.

Log 4,378

34.

Log 4,379

Once again, shortly after a Metroid is destroyed another earthquake hits. If the acid in the main shaft has lowered once more, I must consider the possibility that the Metroids are somehow controlling either the earth, the acid, or both. All are highly perturbing. Possible indications that the Metroids are actively seeking to interfere with my mission. Did those two in the cavern deliberately attempt an ambush? Were the other two fleeing, attempting to hide after learning that two Alpha's together can't stop me?

Difficult to say. Anthropomorphizing animal life is a well-known human defect. Need more information.

Returning to primary shaft.