Metroid: Mission Alpha
Episode 7: Electrified!
After waiting a few days for another mission, Samus, Alpha, and Eta finally heard a beep from the CM. Samus went over to it. "Samus, I've located a new distress signal," Michael's voice came from the machine, "It appears to be coming from the planetary group Eterna." The picture on the CM changed to show the location of the signal. "There are five planets in the group: Eleterna, Aqueterna, Frozeterna, Consteterna, and Foreterna. The signal is coming from Eleterna, the electric planet."
"Acknowledged. We're on our way now," Samus answered. She got her Power Suit and drove the Gunship to Eterna. It didn't take her long to find Eleterna, a yellowish planet that seemed to have sparks of electricity on its surface. "This must be it," Samus said, "Alpha, Eta, I think you'll need to use your Thunder ability while we're on the planet. It looks treacherous."
Soon, Samus left the Gunship and entered Eleterna. Alpha and Eta followed with their eyes yellow and their bodies glowing yellow. Then, Michael spoke up from Samus's speaker. "A word of caution…something seems different about this planet. The electric currents normally present in its environment seem a bit irregular. Alpha and Eta will be fine as long as they use their Thunder ability, but the electricity may be dangerous to you, even with your Power Suit."
"Great…I'm putting my life on the line again. That's just part of my job," Samus said, though not completely seriously.
"That danger is probably why I'm only picking up a few other life form readings in your area," Michael said, "There must be a signal machine station somewhere on this planet, where the distress signal is coming from. Strangely, I can't locate it, but if you can find it you may be able to find out what's wrong. I advise that you be careful, though, Samus. Your safety is important to us all."
"I know," Samus's tone softened, "We'll try to get this accomplished as quickly as possible. Don't worry about us." Then she turned to Alpha and Eta. "All right, let's look for that station, but watch out for any bursts of electricity." The two Snacanids barked in agreement.
Samus, Alpha, and Eta traversed Eleterna's surface, watching out for both sparks and the station. Before long, they saw movement in the distance. "What was that?" Samus wondered. Alpha and Eta growled softly, sensing something suspicious. "What is it, you two? Should we investigate?" Samus asked. The Snacanids nodded slowly.
Samus trusted Alpha and Eta, so she let them lead her. The three of them raced across the field, until suddenly the Snacanids stopped short. A huge blast of electricity was coming! Alpha and Eta acted quickly, jumping in front of Samus and absorbing the entirety of the blast, protecting her. "Great work," she responded, falling silent when the movement came again. Someone or something was running away in the distance but was too far away to be identified.
"What should we do now?" Samus questioned, mostly to herself. She had a feeling that whoever this was had sent the electric wave at her, and on purpose. It was too dangerous to follow it, but there was no other way to figure out what it was. So, while Alpha and Eta ran after the mysterious figure barking, Samus decided to tell Michael about it. "Michael, we've caught sight of someone or something roaming this planet, but haven't been able to identify it."
"Yes, I do see evidence of a life form-actually two of them-at a moderate distance from you. Their movements have suggested that they're following you but staying a safe distance away," came the reply.
"Just as we thought," Samus replied, "One of them seemed to send an electric wave at us once. I think those two are trying to harm us!"
"Whoever they are, I don't doubt that they are the reason for the distress signal," Michael said, "When you find the station, maybe you'll discover their identity."
"Right." Just then, Alpha and Eta came running. They were whimpering this time. "What's wrong?" Samus asked them. The Snacanids looked at her anxiously, seemingly wanting her to follow them. "All right, lead the way!" she said. Alpha and Eta immediately started running, and Samus followed. Since her Power Suit slowed her down slightly, she couldn't quite keep up with them, but it was still easy enough to follow them.
Samus, Alpha, and Eta kept running through what seemed like endless near-empty terrain. When waves of electricity appeared, Samus knew why Alpha and Eta had wanted her to follow them. Alpha and Eta saw the waves, too. They looked back and barked, as if to say, "Keep running!" Samus wasn't going to protest about that.
Finally, the three of them lost sight of the waves and found a somewhat small building, so they stopped. By now they were panting. Alpha and Eta sat on the ground to rest. None of them noticed two figures running into the building through the back door. "This must be the station," Samus said a few minutes later, and she went inside with Alpha and Eta.
Inside the building, Samus went over to a machine. She pushed a few buttons on it, trying to find out the reason of the distress signal. However, the machine seemed to be going haywire. Its screen changed to static. "Warning! There has been an unauthorized entry!" a mechanical voice said, "Signal has not been authorized!"
Samus knew right away that something was wrong. "That distress signal was a false alarm!" she exclaimed, "Someone has hacked into the system to create it, no doubt aiming to lure us here!"
"How quickly you find things out, Samus," a sly voice said, and Master Greblai and a Silhouite came out of the shadows.
"Master Greblai!"
"And his friend, Master Silhouite," the Silhouite said.
"What is the meaning of this?" Samus said in anger.
"We came to this planet and created that distress signal so you would come here," Master Greblai said, "and we could try something out…"
"And what is that supposed to mean?" Samus pointed her arm cannon at her enemies, suspicious that they had an evil plan.
"You will find out!" Master Silhouite replied. He lengthened his tentacles at Alpha and Eta, but they dodged. Samus fired at him, but he moved out of the way and sent his tentacles at her. She quickly dodged and shot a few missiles at him. Master Silhouite managed to avoid the missiles and grabbed Alpha and Eta, who yelped.
"Let them go!" Samus prepared to fire a Charge Beam, but at that moment Master Greblai pulled out a small device. An electric beam shot from it at a blinding speed. Samus saw it but had no time to react, and it hit her. For a moment that felt like an eternity, Samus was surrounded in electricity, as if her Power Suit was glowing. Fearing for her safety, Alpha and Eta tried to struggle free to no avail. Somehow, though, despite the shock, Samus slowly managed to fire the Charge Beam. It hit Master Greblai and Master Silhouite, freeing the Snacanids and causing the villains to flee.
Immediately Alpha and Eta ran over to Samus, whimpering with worry. Though she had stopped glowing and they could sense that her life force was still strong, they were still concerned about whether she would be all right. Fortunately, Samus stood back up; the jolt had gone. "I'll be all right, I think," she said, "I guess Master Greblai and Master Silhouite did that so I wouldn't be able to rescue you. They clearly underestimated me again." She pushed a button on the machine to clear the signal, then turned to leave. "Come on, let's find out what our next mission is." Alpha, Eta, and she headed back to the Gunship.
Meanwhile, back on Lavolca, Master Greblai and Master Silhouite had arrived and were talking. "Are you sure the Electrifier is our answer to keeping Samus out of the way?" Master Greblai said, "She got away with the Snacanids anyway!"
"Trust me, this is the answer," Master Silhouite said evilly, "It has not had much effect…yet. She may be fine now, but that will not last. Samus may not notice right now, but she has indeed been…electrified."
(Original story from October 2016)