Metroid: Mission Alpha

Episode 20: Mission on Mek15

Samus and Alpha had gone to Lavolca yet again and had discovered that a machine called the EnerDrop had been teleported to Planet Mek15. Now, they were heading back to HQ to learn of their next mission.

After arriving at HQ, Samus and Alpha met with Michael. "I have good news and bad news," he said, "Planet Mek15's environment is unable to support life-it contains no oxygen or water and gets very little sunlight. This means that you will find no hostile life forms there. However, it also means that Alpha can't go to the planet. You will have to go alone this time, Samus."

Alpha whimpered sadly; he liked going with Samus on missions. Samus petted him soothingly. "Don't worry, Alpha. I wish you could come along too, but I'll be back before you know it. In the meantime, Michael and Eta will keep you company."

"That's right," Michael said as Eta came into the room, "We'll be right here with you, Alpha." Eta walked up to Alpha. Happy to see him, she smiled and wagged her tail. Alpha smiled a small smile too.

"There are machines on Mek15 that some human visitors built not long ago," Michael told Samus, "Their purpose is to study the surrounding area. If you saw the EnerDrop on Lavolca you should recognize it, however."

Samus nodded. "I'll see you later."

"Good luck," Michael said, and Alpha and Eta yipped to say goodbye. The three of them watched Samus leave the building.

Following the CM's map, Samus's Gunship came to Mek15. It was a somewhat small planet clearly containing machinery. When Samus came onto the planet, she could see that there was some artificial light coming from the machines. Since her Power Suit provided oxygen for her and her visor helped her to see in the dark, navigation was not a problem. Plus, Samus knew that since she was the only living thing on the planet, there would be no forces against her…or so she thought.

"Something's not right," Samus heard Michael's voice right then, "Mek15 normally has pulses of electricity beneath its surface, like the heartbeat of the planet. But they appear to be growing weaker…I assume this is because of the EnerDrop stealing its energy. If the electricity ceases…well, I don't know what will happen."

"I'll check it out. Searching for the EnerDrop now," Samus replied. So she began her search.

Meanwhile at HQ, Michael, Alpha, and Eta were in the main computer room. While Alpha was glad to be with Michael and Eta, he still missed Samus. When he heard her voice through the computer's speaker, he perked up, but then he looked a little sad. Wanting to comfort him, Eta nuzzled him, and he nuzzled her in return. He was glad to know she was there for him.

Michael turned around. "Alpha, Eta, how would you like to hear about some of Samus's past adventures?" The Snacanids looked up at him with interest. "I know I'm not the one who went on these adventures, but Samus did tell me about them before," he continued, "I know she hasn't had the time to tell you about them, so I'm sure she wouldn't mind if I did the job."

So Michael went on to tell Alpha and Eta about what he heard of Samus's adventures. He told them about how she had stopped the Metroids and Space Pirates on Planet Zebes. She had traveled to the home planet of the Metroids to eliminate the deadly creatures. She had returned to Planet Zebes in search of the last Metroid, a hatchling that thought of her as its mother…the only Metroid that had not been an enemy. She had nearly died from an X Parasite infection, but had been saved and destroyed the dangerous beings. These, among other missions and adventures, had kept Samus at work to protect the galaxy. The two Snacanids listened intently to the stories.

On Mek15, Samus was searching for the EnerDrop. She had not found it yet, but she had seen other machines, which appeared to be collecting and sending data. Suddenly, the machines began to beep. The word "Warning" appeared on their screens. Samus ran up to one of the machines. Something must be wrong! she thought, Let's see if I can connect to the system and see what it is… She put her arm cannon into a slot on the machine, and the details on the screen changed.

The screen displayed the electrical energy levels of the machinery, which were dropping. "Warning! All machines losing energy to unknown cause! Energy levels 75%!" a mechanical voice came from the machine.

This doesn't look good, Samus thought, The EnerDrop must be to blame. I've got to find it! Taking her arm cannon out of the machine, she set off for more searching. She ran by more machines as the energy levels continued to drop steadily.

"Energy levels 50%!" the mechanical voice echoed when Samus came to a machine she knew she'd seen before.

After Michael had concluded his telling of Samus's adventures, Alpha and Eta playfully chased each other around the room. They had enjoyed hearing the story, which had helped to take Alpha's mind off Samus's absence. Just then, Michael received a message from Samus. "I've found the EnerDrop machine! The energy levels of all the other machines are plummeting, and I think the EnerDrop is the cause, but I'll do what I can!"

"Good work," Michael replied, "I'll keep an eye on the electrical energy."

Samus ran over to the EnerDrop, which showed rapidly rising levels of its own energy. It looks like the EnerDrop is absorbing the energy from the rest of the machines, Samus thought, Maybe I can try to stop it. She put her arm cannon into the machine, but then found her energy reserves losing power. She quickly took her arm cannon back out. "That won't work," she said, "This machine is clearly able to absorb energy from mechanical sources like my Power Suit. I'll just have to destroy it!"

Samus fired at the EnerDrop machine. Suddenly, it began to beep. The words "Warning: Enemy Attacking" appeared on its screen, and it fired lasers, which Samus quickly dodged. So the EnerDrop is capable of attacking, she thought.

"Energy levels 25%!" the mechanical voice said.

"I've got to finish this!" Samus said to herself. She was ready to send a Charge Beam at the EnerDrop, but it continued to fire lasers at her. She jumped aside to avoid some of them and jumped over some others before firing the Charge Beam. Surprisingly, though, the EnerDrop did not seem to be very damaged. It endlessly shot lasers, and Samus had to avoid them constantly while trying to attack.

"Energy levels 10%!" Now Samus knew there was no time. She fired an Ice Beam quickly, freezing the EnerDrop and causing it to stop attacking. After a moment, it thawed, glowed…and then vanished. "Energy supplies back online," the mechanical voice said, "Energy levels rising."

Samus breathed a sigh of relief. "It seems everything will be all right on Mek15 now. I'm glad that's taken care of." Satisfied to see that the planet was returning to normal, she went back to the Gunship, and then back to HQ.

When Samus came back inside HQ, Alpha and Eta ran over to her excitedly, nearly knocking her over. "Hello to you too!" she laughed lightly, "I've saved Planet Mek15 from the EnerDrop machine, Michael. How did Alpha do while I was gone?"

"Excellent!" Michael answered, "Alpha did very well; Eta and I kept him occupied. I told both of them about some of your adventures."

"You did tell them the true stories, right?" Samus said, though her tone was not serious.

"Of course," Michael smiled.

Samus turned to Alpha. "Well, Alpha, now you can come along on my missions again for a while." Alpha was so happy to hear this that he performed back-flips across the room.

However, the lighthearted moment did not last, for at that moment a distress signal appeared on the computer screen…

To be continued…

(Original story from May 2017)