Metroid: Mission Alpha

Episode 31: One More Battle

Having explored the Desert, Rainfall, Dark, and Light regions of Mysteke, Samus and Alpha now only needed to explore the Central region. While M-01 was already destroyed, Melody had alerted them that something was still amiss in the Central region. So, the three of them had headed to the area.

When Samus, Alpha, and Melody arrived at the Central region, all appeared to be as it had been before. They looked around but only found stillness and quiet. "I don't see any trouble in this region," Samus commented, "Are you sure something is wrong, Melody?"

"I know something is going on here," Melody answered, "I can sense it! It just seems a bit quiet right now."

"While it's quiet, I need to make a brief stop at my ship to restore my suit's energy and check on Harmony," Samus took a look at her energy reserves and then led the others to her Gunship. Once inside, she went into its energy-restore station, which fully restored her suit's energy. As she left the station, Harmony, still in her "bed", slowly opened her eyes and lifted her head. "Hang in there, Harmony," Samus said gently, petting the poor creature's head, "We'll be ready to leave this planet soon." She replaced Harmony's water bowl before leaving, and Harmony lowered her head and closed her eyes again.

"Yes…" Melody whispered to Harmony as she looked back, "I have faith in you, sister." Then she followed Samus and Alpha.

Once Samus, Alpha, and Melody were outside, they moved ahead in search of the trouble in the Central region. At first nothing happened, but then a thick laser shot in their direction. The three of them leapt behind a small wall, out of the way. Samus looked out from behind the wall, seeing a large, square machine in the distance. "It's just as I feared," Melody said, "M-0 has gone haywire, just like M-01 did!"

"Then we need to destroy it as well," Samus said.

"Yes, but we must be careful," Melody paused before continuing, "Actually, I think it's time I tell you the full story."

Samus and Alpha listened as Melody shared her story. "My family and I were a species called a Magicklope. The Magicklopes are native to Mysteke and live in the Central region, but sometimes they visit the other regions. They are very intelligent creatures and were the ones that built M-0 and M-01."

"All of us lived in peace until recently, when we noticed M-01 beginning to malfunction slightly. Its behavior escalated quickly and it turned against us, attacking many of us viciously. That is why I came to you-after my parents and I died, I knew we needed someone to help us stop M-01. I sensed great ability in both of you, so I led you to our planet."

"As a spirit there is nothing I can do against M-01 or for Harmony and the other Magicklopes. My only option was to create a scarf from my powers and give it to someone who could help me. All of this is why I came to you and asked you for help, because our planet desperately needed someone to save it from the chaos."

Mysteke's situation was dire and Melody's story was moving, motivating Samus and Alpha further. "You came to the right ones, Melody," Samus said as she stood up. She came out from behind the wall and held out her arm cannon in a battle stance. "The battle against M-0 awaits!"

Followed by Alpha and Melody, Samus dashed towards where M-0 had been seen. Lasers began to fly at them, and they had to move aside, duck, and jump to avoid them; yet they pressed on. Eventually they came to another wall, which they jumped on top of to view the path ahead. M-0 did not appear to notice them where they stood, but they could see it just up ahead; it was silver, just like M-01, and had buttons all over its surface.

The three adventurers jumped back onto the ground and continued their journey, again having to watch out for lasers. But then, as they came up to M-0, it suddenly was gone, along with its lasers. Everyone halted, and Samus and Alpha looked around. "Where did it go?" Samus asked in bewilderment.

"M-0 is able to make itself invisible," Melody explained, "in an attempt to trick any attackers."

"Well, it can't fool me," Samus said, and she used the Scan Pulse. A blue light surrounded her body and filled the room, briefly revealing M-0's location. Samus launched a Missile at it, causing it to become visible again. But then when she used another Missile, it only bounced off. "What?" she exclaimed.

"M-0 seems to be surrounded in a protective barrier," Melody said, "You'll need to use great power to shatter it first."

While lasers began to fly from the machine again, Alpha used his Thunder ability and charged at it. He avoided all the beams, but then crashed into the invisible barrier. He fell back in pain, but was not injured much. "This isn't working!" Samus said, "But I have an idea. Prepare for a Power Bomb!" Morphing into a ball, she swiftly rolled around all of M-0's projectiles and planted a Power Bomb near it. When the powerful bomb exploded in a flash of light, Alpha used his Fire ability to become immune to the blast, and Melody was unaffected. M-0, however, had a great shattering sound heard around it.

"That worked! You've destroyed the barrier!" Melody encouraged, "Now you can damage the machine itself. Give it your best shot!"

Samus pointed her arm cannon at her mechanical opponent, feeling confident. "Nice try, M-0, but you've run into the wrong adventurers! Are you ready for this, Alpha?" She ran forward to begin the attack, and in agreement, her Snacanid companion followed. Lasers fired at them rapidly, but they again moved out of the way of every one. Alpha used his Thunder ability to shock M-0, but nothing happened. Samus fired some shots, a Plasma Beam, and then a Super Missile…but the computer remained unaffected. Both Samus and Alpha looked shocked.

"It looks like you'll need to use something even more powerful," Melody speculated. So Alpha stepped forward and concentrated his power, seeing the scarf appear brightly around his neck. A white light surrounded his body and then struck M-0, but even this power had no effect.

"The Beam Burst!" Samus remembered another powerful ability of hers. Her arm cannon glowed yellow, and she began to fire powerful, rapid-fire shots at the computer. As its color slowly changed to yellow, it sent a large laser at its attacker; but without stopping, she leapt into the air to avoid it while M-0's color turned to red. Then, there was a flash-M-0 exploded. Samus landed, her work done.

With M-0 and M-01 destroyed, there was a great flash and all the barriers that had been put up disintegrated. A crowd of numerous creatures came out of hiding; they looked like Harmony, but the adults were larger, and all the males had antlers, with the adults' being longer. The group crowded around Samus, Alpha, and Melody with joy and gratitude before leaving to return to their lives.

Melody looked at Samus and Alpha and smiled. "You did it! You have stopped M-01 and M-0. You have saved our planet and my kind. The Magicklopes will now be able to research what went wrong with their creations so they can improve their next. Because of you, my kind will thrive…and I will be at peace at last. I know my sister is in good hands and that she will be cared for. Thank you for all you've done, and farewell, my friends. I wish you luck with your future missions." With a wave of her paw, Alpha's scarf vanished one last time. Then, Melody flew up into the sky, glowing brilliantly.

Samus and Alpha watched until after Melody was gone, glad that they had done this deed. Then, they returned to the Gunship, where Harmony still rested. While the ship lifted off to leave the now peaceful Mysteke, Samus thought, Another mission is complete. Now there is only one more task left to do for now-get Harmony to HQ for treatment.

(Original story from October 2017)