Warning to those who are squeamish. Towards the middle kind of near the end of this chapter there is some disturbing gruesome, gory, descriptive violence. I will be giving the Spartan killers more of a gruesome description in this story.
"Samus, what's your visual?" The green Spartan returned his attention to the bounty hunter.
"We've got snipers all along the ridge across from us. Heavily armed foot soldiers on the ground surrounding the Tower." Using her very keen eyesight, Samus, replied to the Master Chief.
"Brutes?" Chief looked through the scope of his battle rifle, marking the snipers along the ridge.
Samus shook her head no. "No, not as bulky..."
John furrowed his brow behind his visor. "What?"
Samus threw her arms up with a shrug. "I don't know... Arbiter, aliens... Sangheili. I can't remember your human term for them."
"Elites?" The Spartan replied, scanning the surrounding area through his weapon's scope.
"Right, Elites! I don't know why they slipped my mind." The teen scoffed, leading the Spartan down the ridge. "But there are Brutes too. Lots of them."
"What's the plan, Aran?"
"Don't, don't talk to me like I'm one of your marines." Samus sharply glared at her adopted father.
John snorted with a inaudible laugh, knowing his comment would piss off his daughter. "I will take down the snipers. Do you think you can clear a path to the tower?"
"Like Weapon, said earlier. In my sleep." The teen nodded confidently.
Even though the bounty hunter was overconfident in Chief's opinion. He wondered if his teen was just compensating her fears, with false confidence.
"I mean, if you wanna stay up here, and cover me. I could go in there and vaporize their asses with a power bomb."
"Ummm... we're responding to a distress beacon. I wouldn't recommend using weapons that can potentially vaporize Spartans." Weapon mentioned to the eager bounty hunter.
"Oh yeah, good point!" Samus mentally slapped herself as she continued to scan the area. "The place is well guarded for sure. I think there may be a big target here."
"Big target?" Chief raised an eyebrow behind his visor.
"Highly value bounty... I mean target." The teen replied scanning the Tower itself. "I know Chak 'Lok, is quite the interrogator. This stronghold is a Banished central processing centre, and a prison from the looks of it"
"Let's change that." Chief turned to his teenager. Not questioning how she knew this Chak 'Lok.
Samus nodded, making her way off the mountain. "You gonna to get into a better position first?"
"I'm not far behind you, Samus. Once I take out the snipers, you need to move quickly." The Spartan replied, while Samus approached a bridge.
Chief fired his rifle at each sniper that had their laser focused on the teen.
Samus sprinted across the bridge using her speed boosters she plowed through a barricade, knocking over multiple Grunts and Jackals, charging her shinespark upon her entrance. Alarms wailed as the facility locked down. The girl grunted in pain when multiple turrets and Banished fired at her. The sudden rapid draining of her gravity suit's energy tanks awoke Samus's vicious hunger for energy. Denying her parasitic powers, the teen used her shinespark to cut through the Banished attempting to surround her.
John sprinted across the bridge taking out the Brutes that were attempting to charge the slaughtering teen. One Grunt was brave enough to grab Chief's boot, knocking him off balance as a Skirmisher fired plasma rounds into his shields.
Samus had cleared most of the enemies around the the imprisoned humans. Easily destroying most of the defences. Suddenly a cloaked Elite grabbed her by surprise, throwing the teen off the upper platform onto the ground. Before the girl could make a move the Elite jumped on top of her, pinning both her arms against the dirt. Samus squirmed struggling to escape the tightening grip of the Sangheili. While a Brute smugly approached from behind, standing over the helpless bounty hunter. He aimed his gun at the acid green visor.
Master Chief shot the Skirmisher in the head, the sound of the bullet impacting the creature's skull was enough to frighten the attacking Grunt. Chief used that opportunity to rip his boot from the short alien's grip. With a swift kick, the Spartan punted the Grunt across the battlefield.
Samus squinted her eyes preparing for the pain. As the Brute cocked his weapon, a faint scream could be heard getting louder.
THUD!
Samus opened her eyes just in time to see a flying Grunt collide into the Brute's face. Distracting the Elite. The teen pulled her legs under the strong alien, kicking the Elite right off of her. Sending the growling alien into Master Chief, who ended the Sangheili's life with his combat knife.
Charging her canon, the teen rolled onto her feet swiftly kicking the recovering Brute back. Before obliterating the ape like alien's head with a charged plasma shot.
"Clear." Chief announced as he approached his teen.
"Chief, did you mean to use a Grunt, instead of a bullet for that Brute?" Samus exhaled heavily as she led Chief to the UNSC prisoners.
"That little Grunt was attempting to steal Chief's boots, so he gave him a swift kicking." Weapon mentioned, making Samus laugh.
Before Chief could reply to the two, a large red hologram of an Elite appeared.
"So, the demon is here. Did you think that I would let you walk right into my Tower? My Tower! I think not. My facility is locked down. There's nothing you can do here, except die." The Elite's voice boomed through the Tower's intercom system.
"He seems confident." Master Chief commented on the Elite's warning to him.
"Cowards are always confident when hiding behind a shield made from deceit." Samus retorted with a scoff.
"Well, regardless, his confidence is misplaced. When Samus triggered the lockdown there was a power spike in what I presume was the security building." Weapon added to the teen's comments. "I've marked it for you... both..."
"What, why'd you say it like that?" Chief questioned why his AI hesitated to announce the waypoint.
Weapon sighed, disappointed in herself. Yet she seemed to be more frustrated than disappointed. "Nothing, it's just been incredibly difficult to grasp Samus's technology, her armour. It's not of human standards. I struggle to send her just a simple waypoint."
"Samus, is not of UNSC decent. She's a... complicated being. You'll get used to sending her suit battlefield intel once you understand it." Chief encouraged, watching his alien hybrid teen release some Marines from restraints.
"She seems almost Spartan like. But her technology and manoeuvres are so alien."
Master Chief sighed as he fired his rifle at the surrounding enemies. The AI had no idea how alien Samus truly was.
"I'll search her files in the UNSC database. That should help me get more aquatinted with the young warrior." The AI thought aloud, ending the conversation before Chief could say anything further.
John, wasn't too concerned about what Weapon, would find on his adopted daughter's files. The UNSC had little information on the alien hybrid.
Once inside what was presumed to be the security building. Chief placed Weapon on a terminal, while the Marines they rescued swept the area.
"The lock down protocol should be easy to reverse. Let me see... 3... 2... 1..." Weapon said as she easily did as she described. "Done. Oh..."
"What is it?" Samus stood close to Chief, as the AI disengaged the lock down systems.
"This... place is an interrogation facility, run by our Elite friend back there." The AI explained, to the duo who already seemed to know this facility was built for interrogation. "Chak 'Lok. His reputation is... not good."
"My reputation is know to strike fear into others. And Chief's I'm sure I don't need to say it. With both our bad reputations, we outweigh Chak 'Lok's." Samus retorted as Chief collected the AI.
"I don't know if that should make me feel better, or not." The Weapon commented, a bit uncertain about the bounty hunter's comment.
"I agree with your AI. Seems like all the bad, really outweighs the good in this situation." The Pilot's voice came over their comlinks.
"Our reputations are bad. Not us as a whole." Samus replied to the skeptical Pilot. "I can't say the same for Chak 'Lok. But he's done enough bad, that he deserves what's coming to him."
"Just don't get yourselves killed." The Pilot sighed, ending the call.
"There's a gravity lift that we're going to have to activate. Samus, are you capable of doing so? Or shall I mark the manual activation?"
The teen glanced at her armoured hand momentarily. Following Chief, and the Marines, to the building's exit.
"Mark the manual..."
"No, I can do it." Samus interrupted the Spartan's command. "Just mark what I need to power up."
"Certainly, just give me a moment." Weapon replied to the teen, while raising the Spartan's stress level. There you go, I got through to your armour. I sent the coordinates."
"Is my armour really that difficult for an AI to..." The bounty hunter went silent after realizing her suit may have changed since she had become a Metroid. It was well above any human grade armour. And certainly alien to UNSC personnel who had never seen or dealt with Chozo technology. "I'm on it." She replied hurrying off to go power up the gavlift, just as orbital drop pods rained down, dispensing unruly Banished soldiers.
"Seems the prisoners that get interrogated here by Chak 'Lok. Get sent off to some place called The House Of Reckoning." The AI thought aloud while she skimmed through the data she was collecting.
"That sounds like an awful place to party." Samus scoffed, surrounded by brittle husks she released her latch on a lifeless Brute.
As they reached the gravlift power source. Chief was growing more nervous about Samus's unique powers. She had been reluctant to use her Metroid abilities since her return from that bounty mission. All of a sudden Samus had been voluntarily... using it more in the last hour, than she had in the past few months.
"Chief?!" Samus gasped as the Spartan grabbed her glowing arm just before she could activate the power conduit.
"I know we failed to help you practice your dangerously unique abilities." Chief referred to himself and the rest of Blue Team, as he turned his teen to face him. "You were reluctant to use this dangerous ability because of it's fierce power to take over your..."
"I'm fine Chief. I'm not losing control." The teen sighed deeply.
"I'm not in total belief of that, considering you've been exposing your powers in front of UNSC personnel." John replied, gesturing to the marines behind them. Knowing his daughter was especially careful to hide her powers from those who may be intrigued or terrified of it.
Samus turned her soft gaze to the soldiers they had rescued. They seemed to be grateful for their rescue, but terrified of her as their rescuer. She could tell their whispers to each other were about her parasitic abilities. Not that they knew she was considered a parasitic bioweapon.
"Samus." The Spartan regained the bounty hunter's attention. "I need you to promise me that this is completely under control, and that you'll tell me when you feel that it isn't..."
"I promise."
Chief didn't like how quick that answer was. "Samus..."
Samus exhaled deeply. "I promise you. I have this completely under my control, Dad." She softly reassured her adopted father.
Samus had complete control for the moment. As long as she monitored her situation, there were no major triggers that would cause her to lose involuntary control.
John slowly released Samus's glowing arm. Silently signifying his trust in his daughter's word's.
"You seem a bit on edge. Is your daughter poisoned?" Weapon asked as the teen powered the conduit.
"She's not poisoned..." Chief replied as the blue hue of the gravity lift appeared. "Her unique energy is a dangerous one... I'm just worried about her safety."
Weapon had little time to completely go over Samus's UNSC files. Though she did take note of the many abilities the bounty hunter had. "I'm sure Samus, will be just fine, Chief. According to her file notes, she's got enough weapons in that armour for a small army."
"Mark a waypoint for the marines to head back to the Tremonius Command Centre." The Spartan commanded, changing the subject as he motioned for his teenager to follow him.
"Done." The AI said as the duo floated up the lift.
Both Samus and Chief were greeted by vacant bloody, and beaten, Spartan armour. "Look, more Spartan armour. And the source of the distress signal. We're too late."
John watched as Samus turned herself away from the sight, as if she had been struck by an emotional wave of trauma. Approaching the empty armour, Weapon listed off the new armour ability he had picked up from the armour. Noting that it could be useful against cloaked enemies.
"This armour belonged to Spartan Hudson Griffin. Sensor logs suggest that he was alive when the armour was removed. Forcibly." The AI's information caused Samus to cringe and pace nervously.
The bounty hunter saw nothing but blood, ripped flesh, and armoured limbs in her vision. An internal warning flashed in her brain. It was her armour, warning her that her heart rate was increasing. Samus shook her head as an attempt to shake the horrid flashbacks out of her mind.
Chief approached his teen with concern, placing a hand on his adopted daughter's back. Hoping to ease her sudden distress.
"It's a long shot... but he might still be alive." Weapon's words were uncertain, but hopeful.
"We should move." The Spartan encouraged his adopted daughter to move forward, with gentle pressure from his hand.
Samus nodded, walking forward, placing her hand on top of her cannon as if to hold back the urge to shoot everything that came into contact with her.
"You have overreached Demon. This is not a place to come by choice." Chak 'Lok taunted and threatened as they climbed the many floor levels. "I await you. Eagerly."
"He's about what'd you expect from an Elite... who specializes in torture." The AI commented as the two warriors took down a group of Grunts.
"Pfft, please. I've met rocks with sharper edges then Chak 'Lok." Samus scoffed as she wiped neon blue blood from a Grunt off of her visor. She had met Chak 'Lok 6 months ago. But he was nothing compared to the Blademaster she had encountered.
"Met rocks? You've lived an interesting life." Weapon chuckled at the teenager's comment.
"You have no idea..." Samus thought to herself as they continued on. "Trust me, you think these Banished guys are monsters? You should join me on my adventures." She quickly changed the subject, to divert her mind from her memories of being captured.
"Maybe one day I will." The AI cheerfully replied, to which caused Chief to tense up.
Reaching the next floor Samus opened fire on a Jackal, easily demolishing it. "You would probably get along great with, Adam."
Weapon grew curious as Master Chief took down the other threatening Jackal. "Who's, Adam?"
"You know, I used to dread having to work with teammates. Especially AI's." The teen started off, confusing the AI for a moment. "I felt I could never trust one."
Hearing his adopted daughter's words made John feel a little less nervous, knowing someone close to him had a distrust of AI's as well.
"But my AI, Adam, changed that for me. When he chose to do the right thing, over his commanded orders, defying his own programming." The bounty hunter said as she took down a group of Grunts with her wide beam. "I still don't trust AI's... But Adam, has shown me that there are rare ones that you can."
Chief felt the same way, except Cortana in the end, had changed his mind in the opposite way. Causing him to have a crucial distrust in AI's.
Weapon was appalled and intrigued by the bounty hunter's story. She thought all AI's were trusted confidants to humans. "How come your AI hasn't introduced themselves?"
Because he's an on board Commanding Officer. Adam's in my ship... but I haven't seen it since the attack on Infinity. They're probably both destroyed..."
"I have been feeling a faint AI signal for some time now. At first I thought it was just Cortana's data remnants. But it might just be your AI calling out to you. Once we complete this, maybe I can assist with locating..."
"That would be..."
"Samus, let's focus on one task at a time." Chief reminded the girl to focus on the current mission they were doing.
"Escharum was correct. So easy. A signal. A lure. And the Master Chief comes running." The Sangheili over the intercom taunted the aging Spartan.
Samus focused her cannon on hostile Brute, who immediately charged upon noticing the brightly armoured teen.
"I wish only that I would have the time to enjoy you. To learn your secrets. Peel back your visage, and expose your weakness."
That threat shook Samus to her core, as she imagined her adopted father being put through the torture Chak 'Lok spoke of. She endured such horrors during her six month capture, it still lay fresh in her young mind.
"Samus!" John gasped, jumping in front of his teen, using his left arm to block the charging Brute that was attempting to strike down the distracted teen.
Samus blinked her eyes, lifting her head to watch as her protective Spartan stabbed the attacking alien with his combat knife.
Dropping the lifeless Brute to the floor, sheathing his bloody knife, Chief turned to the bounty hunter. "You had a clear shot, why didn't you take it?" He questioned, noting that her arm was not glowing, she couldn't have been waiting for the right moment to strike melee wise.
"I was..." The teen mumbled, attempting to find an excuse for her disassociation. "I'm sorry, thank you for covering me. If the chance presents itself, I will return the favour." Samus avoided answering the question, leading them forward onto the next floor level.
John furrowed his brow behind his visor, dissatisfied with that reply. He followed his teenage daughter without another word, although he was sure Weapon had a few words on her mind.
"You two have a very strange, secretive, relationship." The female AI commented.
"I've been raising a teenager for four years now. You learn to let them reveal their crippling secrets, when the right moment for them arises." The Spartan explained as he shot down the surrounding Grunts while Samus took care of the Jackals. "Samus, is scared to get close. And as much as she insists that she's better on her own. She hates being alone."
"I'm assuming you're referencing your own past. As much as you're talking about Samus. That's why you're so experienced with this situation?" Weapon questioned, hitting a nerve.
"No, I don't insist on being alone, or going rogue. Unless the situation is too dangerous, and not worth sacrificing your team, when a single Spartan can do the job." Master replied as he approached the girl in the corridor.
"I'm picking up a life signal." Samus announced.
Weapon took action, locating the signal. "It's Spartan Griffon. He's alive!"
Chief quickened his pace, taking the lead. "We need to get him out of there. Where's Chak 'Lok?"
"Unknown." Weapon replied as they strode around a dark corner.
Chief approached a door at the end of the hallway that led to nowhere.
Hearing a pained moan, Samus turned her head finding a very well hidden door in the wall to her right. "Here, Chief. I think there's a way in through here."
John jogged over to the teenager, putting his hands on the door, prying it open with ease. Both him and Samus jogged into the room, where they were immediately greeted by a golden armoured Sangheili, wielding an energy sword.
"Welcome to my tower, Master Chief." Chak 'Lok greeted the Spartan as he leapt off a small power unit. "It is where you'll be broken."
"I'll deal with Chak 'Lok..." Samus whispered, as the Elite sized them up.
"Samus..." John was not interested in having his daughter go against a dangerous Sangheili warrior by herself. He knew that energy sword could pierce through Samus's armour with ease.
"It is where you will give up your secrets." The Sangheili continued to monologue, standing in front of the captured Spartan.
"You go for Spartan Griffin." The teen continued to attempt to convince Chief to follow her plan.
"Samus, we do what we can." John activated his threat detector, lifting his rifle as the Sangheili cloaked himself. "If there's an opening to reach Spartan Griffin. I want you to take it."
"Fine." Samus groaned, charging her cannon. She knew that she was very capable of taking down Chak 'Lok by herself. But Chief had to make things difficult because he wanted to shield her from harm.
Master Chief opened fire on the Sangheili that leapt at them, swinging his sword in attempt to cut the two humans down.
Spartan Griffin let out a terrible scream of agony, reminding the two warriors that the Sangheili was not their only concern.
"The wall's retracted and locked. Watch your back, he can come out of anywhere." The female AI warned the two.
"Samus!" John hissed as Chak 'Lok's full attention was on him. Hoping his calling would remind Samus to go for Griffin.
Samus reluctantly rushed over to the captured Spartan, looking for the power source that was imprisoning the Spartan's restraints. "Adam how do I..." the teen shook her head in frustration. "Fuck!" She turned around hearing the horrific battle behind her.
"You will die in vain Spartan!" Chak 'Lok threatened as his shield were broken. "I will peel that armour from you!" The Sangheili lunged at Chief only to be shot in the back by a charged plasma shot. "Agh!"
"Over here! Did you forget about me, you overgrown gecko!" Samus taunted firing a couple more rounds, gaining Chak 'Lok's full attention.
"Samus, I told you to free Spartan Griffin!" Chief hissed over the comlink. His tone clearly filled with frustration.
"Get your fucking AI to figure out how to free him from the restraints. Let me even the playing field." The teen replied, using her phantom cloak to vanish out of sight.
"Listen to her Chief. We need to get him out of that machine." Weapon agreed with the rude bounty hunter.
"Agh! I will tear you limb from limb!" Chak 'Lok spat as Samus's cannon fire completely drained his armour's shields.
Chief reluctantly left Samus to challenge the Sangheili. Sprinting over to the captured Spartan, only excelled the Sangheili's prey drive.
Chak 'Lok swung at the girl, who in turn, regrettably blocked the sword with her left arm.
Samus cried in pain as the burning energy sword cut through her armour like butter. Chak 'Lok pushed harder cutting through her flesh and muscle, the burning pain intensified as the energy blade grazed her bones. Samus had to pull her arm away to get some release. Causing the Elite to slice her chest plate, dropping her to the floor, he pushed past her. Charging for the Spartan as he escaped the bounty hunter. The teen swung her good arm, following the Elite with her cannon.
"Warning, hostile approaching!" Weapon gasped, detecting the quickly approaching Chak 'Lok.
Master Chief spun around just as what sounded like shattered glass erupted. A blue mist of ice particles pelted the golden visor, obscuring Chief's view. As the mist dissipated the Spartan was greeted by the end of an energy blade, inches away from his visor.
A charged blast from behind shattered the frozen Elite into pieces. Revealing the approaching teen. "I've got your back. Now free this poor Spartan."
John exhale deeply, turning back to the control panel, he allowed his AI to infiltrate the controls. "Shut this thing down."
"Working on it." Weapon replied as Chief approached the suffering man. "Okay, be ready. I'm going to cut him loose."
As the restraints released, Chief caught the dying Spartan in his arms.
"You two. You're both alive." The suffering man greeted the two warriors, as Chief sat him down on the floor.
Samus could barely watch as Chief attempted to tend to this dying Spartan. She had already seen this exact moment too many times. But this time she actually was able to attribute to the rescue.
"Chief... the Banished... I tried to stop them. I tried to..." Spartan Griffin spoke weakly with his dying breath.
"Easy. You're safe now." Chief reassured the mortally wounded soldier.
"The Banished, they... they have something called the Conservatory. That's all I know, I was picked up north from here."
Samus reluctantly knelt next to her adopted father, her soft sympathetic eyes visibly through the dimmed acid green visor. As her turquoise eyes locked onto the dying eyes of the Spartan, he gave her a weak reassuring smile.
"Dig site. I couldn't stop them. But you two can. You have to..."
"Consider it done." Chief assured Spartan Griffin that they would accomplish what he had failed.
"That's good. Good." Spartan Griffin turned his attention to the teen. "The others... the Spartans. Did you..."
Samus turned her head away as the Spartan questioned her.
"We'll find them." John reassured as the Spartan slipped away.
"Echo 216. All channels. Can you hear me? I repeat. Can you hear me?" The Pilot's voice came over their comlinks.
Chief didn't respond to the Pilot. His gaze fixed on the deceased Spartan in front of him.
"Chief?" Weapon called out to the Spartan but received no response.
Samus could feel the sorrow and guilt building in her adopted father. She had been feeling the same way since they're escape from the ship. But she didn't expect to feel the hidden fear building within her father.
"Chief?" Once again the AI called.
"Big guy, your motion tracker isn't moving. Ah... Come'on come'on give me anything!" Echo 216 desperately called out.
Chief stood up assuring the Pilot that he was alive. Still staring at the deceased Spartan on the floor. His chest felt heavy with grief and guilt.
"Respond. Did you find the source of the signal? Whatever's down there has to come with us. Or be left behind." The Pilot's words were harsh but true. "Can you hear me?"
"A dig site on the Ring? The Conservatory must be some sort of Forerunner instillation. What do you suppose they're after?" The AI tried to break the silence by changing the subject.
Chief glared at the AI, before abruptly retrieving her from the control panel. "It's time to go."
Samus nodded in understanding, pushing herself off the ground with her injured arm caused her to collapse to the floor, crying out from the pain.
The teen's failure to push herself off the ground did not go unnoticed. Chief helped his adopted daughter off the floor, causing her to wince in pain as he held her left arm.
"Thanks..." Samus quickly pulled away from Chief before he could notice her wound. Although she was sure he already had his suspicions. A large bay door opened to an outside platform, she quickly led the way out of the tower.
"I'm guessing that whatever the Conservatory is, the Banished won't want us anywhere near it." Weapon continued to try and strike up a conversation.
"Then they'll be disappointed." Chief replied, satisfying the AI.
"Yes they will." The AI replied.
Samus was the first to leap off the tower with a thud, using her cannon to awkwardly steady her landing. Chief landing next to her seconds later.
"Echo 216, this is Sierra 117. The Tower is clear." Chief finally replied to the worried Pilot.
"Excellent. I'm assuming you, and Sampson, are wanting a ride to your next suicide mission?" The Pilot replied over the comlinks.
"Affirmative, we're heading North from here. Sending you the coordinates." Weapon said to the Pilot who landed the Pelican just ahead of them.
"Sampson? Who the fuck is Sampson? Is he talking about me?" Samus thought aloud.
"Get aboard." Chief guided the teen onto the Pelican.
"You guys are crazy, that area is heavily armed. I will get you as close as possible." The scruffy man greeted the father daughter duo.
"It'll be good enough." The Spartan assured the Pilot it would be fine.
Samus attempted to walk away from the Spartan, but ended up being pulled back by the collar of her armour. "Hey!"
"Sit." John sat the teen down on one of the Pelican's passenger seats.
"Uuuh, I'm capable of standing while we fly around. You do it all the time. During turbulence, by the way." Samus grumbled as the Spartan grabbed the Pelican's emergency medical kit.
Chief stopped in front of the violet armoured teen. Taking note of the slash across the red chest plate, it didn't look deep enough to have caused any damage underneath. Tilting his helmet slightly, locating a trickle of blood running down the girl's left arm. "Armour off."
"What?" Samus laughed at Chief's command, cocking an eyebrow behind her visor. "I'm fine, Chief."
"Samus Aran." Chief glared at his uncooperative teen. "How are you supposed to have my back if you're wounded?"
Samus rolled her eyes with a groan, reluctantly deactivating her armour. "Agh!" As soon as the pressure from her armour was removed from her arm the blood from her wound eagerly gushed out.
Chief immediately took a piece of gauze using both his hands to apply pressure to the bleeding wound.
Samus winced, hissing in pain as the pressure from Chief's hands stung. This whole situation reminded her of their first meeting. When Blue Team rescued her from Zebes, she had gotten wounded by an energy sword. The Spartan was frantic to care for her wounds back then, and still seemed to be now.
"We're losing daylight here. Approaching our destination in 3." The Pilot announced.
"I need to bandage this." Chief said, reaching one hand into the medical kit he placed on the seat next to Samus.
"Why... won't it make this worse?" Samus spoke with agony in her tone.
"It will apply pressure to your wound, and stop the bleeding, while we are on the battlefield." John explained as he helped Samus take her injured arm out of the ripped zero suit sleeve. His eyes scanned the teen's entire body suit, as he did so. It was shredded. Where there wasn't a tear or rip, there was dried blood stains. The blood stains had almost entirely covered the teen's blue zero suit. The holes that had been torn in the blue suit revealing the badly scarred and bruised skin.
"I think you're overreacting about this. It'll heal on it's own, in a little while. I get nicked by enemies all the time, and continue on just fine without wound care." Samus of course argued and complained about Chief tending to her wound. Hoping to distract him from her many other slowly healing wounds she had kept hidden from him since being reunited.
"Mhmm..." John sighed as he finished bandaging his teen. "Just use your cannon, take it easy with your arm for a while." He would address the teen's poor physical condition later.
"Umm... you do know we're hopping onto a battlefield in like 2 seconds, right?" The teen scoffed as her armour materialized around her.
"You're welcome." Chief said as he reloaded his battle rifle.
Samus sighed defeatedly. "Thank you... for taking care of me..."
John gave a small nod in response, turning himself towards the open hatch.
"I'm dropping you off here. It's a bit of a walk to your destination, but this is as far as I can take you." Echo 216 announced as he descended, hovering the Pelican above a dirt hill.
"It's close enough. Stay out of sight. We'll keep in contact." The Spartan replied as he jumped out of the Pelican with his teenager.
"Ow!" Samus hissed as she moved her arm.
Chief sighed with concern, looking over his shoulder to see his teen faking like she was just fine. Looking at the waypoint on his HUD, the distance was quite far.
The two warriors battled a small patrol squad that attacked them shortly after they had landed. Easily destroying the squad mixed with Grunts, Jackals, and two Brutes. Samus narrowly avoided being run over by a Grunt piloting a Ghost.
"To quicken our travel time, we could commandeer one of the Banished vehicles that are patrolling these hills and mountains." Weapon suggested to the two, after Chief shot the driving Grunt dead.
"If this dig site is as important as Spartan Griffin said, it will be well guarded by heavy weaponry. Since there's no tanks available at this time. I believe the element of surprise is better suited for this approach." The Chief calmly explained why it wasn't a good idea to make themselves easy targets with a small vehicle. The sun was beginning to set the valley becoming dimmer as the light slowly disappeared over the horizon. Which would make them become even more elusive.
"Plus the terrain we're about to go through, isn't exactly suited for a ground vehicle." Samus added.
"Come'on Sampson, let's get moving." Master Chief teased his teen as he led the way up the hill.
Samus furrowed her eyebrows behind her visor, following the green Spartan. "Very funny, big guy." The teen replied, quoting the Pilot's nickname for the Chief.
John snorted with a smirk behind his golden visor. Allowing the girl to step ahead of him. They had quite a ways to go. He noticed that the Pilot had only flown over the canyon that split the two regions apart. No wonder the AI suggested commandeering a vehicle. Unfortunately like Samus had mentioned, the terrain they were about to trek would not be suitable for any land vehicle.
"Samus?"
The teen's heart skipped a beat. There it was. The calling of her name. Chief had questions, she knew... no, she dreaded, having to answer them.
"It may be a few hours before we reach our destination." Chief noted aloud, scanning the ridge for snipers. "I'm sure Spartan Griffin's death, was hard for you to watch. I'm sorry."
Compared to what she witnessed during her imprisonment. Spartan Griffin's death was peaceful. "I'm fine. He's not in pain anymore. I think you took it harder..."
"I had my hopes that we would gain a Spartan teammate. But it seems the Banished have a way of being one step ahead of the Spartans." Chief sighed, holstering his weapon so it was easier to climb the mountain they had approached. "Myself included."
"Don't say that! They're not a step ahead of you. You're still alive, and fighting." Samus scolded her adopted father for thinking that way. Samus sharply turned her head away from the curious head tilt from Chief. Mentally cursing herself for snapping, really hoping Chief wouldn't ask the question she was truly dreading.
"Samus, what happened during your capture. What did you witness?" John's question was very forward, but he knew they had no time to beat around the bush anymore. Anything she may know, might aid them in this battle against the Banished. And possibly give them an idea as to where there teammates are.
"Nothing nice..." Samus replied bluntly to the Spartan's question.
Using both of his arms Chief easily hoisted himself up onto a rocky ledge. Standing on the ledge he waited for his adopted daughter to do the same.
Samus scanned around for an alternative route onto the ledge, but nothing appeared to be any easier to climb. With a heavy sigh she reached her left arm upwards towards the ledge. An intense surge of burning pain caused the teen to drop her arm with a muffled cry, attempting to hide her pain.
John's helmet immediately tipped down towards the teen, hearing her muffled cry of pain. He hadn't gotten a proper look at Samus's wound in the short amount of time they were in the Pelican. A small slash from an energy sword was enough to send waves of intense burning through your body. He knew Samus must've been really suffering with her wound being very deep, and the length of her arm.
Bending down, the Spartan laid himself on his stomach, reaching both of his arms downwards.
Samus jolted in surprise when she felt two large strong hands slip under her armpits, lifting her up onto the rocky ledge.
"You didn't have to do that." Samus gave Chief a thankful hiss through pain.
"I might just have to for the duration of this ascent. You're still injured, and I know sending you back to Echo 216, will not be the wisest choice." Master Chief responded, as he looked up to their next ledge.
"Wouldn't that absolutely be the wisest decision, Chief?" Weapon questioned the Spartan's reply to the teen. "Samus is injured."
"Not when you're talking about someone who's as hard headed, and stubborn as, Samus Aran." Chief scoffed as he climbed onto the next ledge.
Samus took the Spartan's joking manner as an opportunity to change the subject, avoiding answering his earlier question. "You know you're not funny right?" The teen shook her head, as she attempted to climb up the ledge with her cannon. Playing along with the lighthearted teasing. "You're too serious, and grumpy."
Rolling his eyes with a head shake, Chief lifted the teen up by her cannon. "There's a small path just over the next lip."
Samus sat on the ledge after being pulled up. Leaning her head to look past the Spartan, getting a peek at the pathway Chief spoke of. Cocking her head curiously at the rough looking pathway being illuminated by the moonlight. "Uuuh... Okay..."
The Spartan kneeled next to his teen, looking over the valley. "You still haven't answered my question."
"What do you want me to say?!" Samus leapt up from where she sat, almost losing her balance over the edge if not for Chief's quick hand steadying her.
"I want you to tell me why your zero suit is drenched in blood, and ripped to shreds. How did you receive all those wounds that you've kept hidden from me?" The Spartan replied sternly to the defensive teen.
"Why..." the girl turned to face away from the Spartan. "Why right now, why do you need to know?"
"Because I would like to know why you've been risking yourself to protect of me? I need to know if you've got more injuries that you've been reluctant to reveal. I want to know why finding that deceased Spartan was so difficult for you?"
A deep sigh came from the alien armour, as Samus finally began to dig into her recent horrific trauma. "As I told you earlier. I made numerous attempts to escape. Failing each time, until I ran into you. Because I was, different... from the rest of the humans that were captured. The Banished enjoyed keeping me alive, to inflict nothing but horrific torture upon me, attempting to hear me beg for death."
It was a start, John could already tell that what his teen would tell him, would boil his blood. "I don't understand, you could've easily torn through that ship with the deadly arsenal within your armour. Why couldn't you just use your weapons to escape?" His question was blunt, but he was confused.
"I couldn't use my armour, alright!" Samus hissed, trying to hold back the disappointment and disgust in herself.
Chief took a step back, lifting his head to watch the clouds forming above them. Samus was an expert at hiding her pain, both physically, and mentally. The bounty hunter had been through hell and back, all by herself. Without faltering her ability to control her armour. Something truly horrific and gruesome must've happened in order to trigger his teen's suit malfunction.
"Samus..."
The girl waved her cannon arm to shush the Spartan. Hearing the engine of a Phantom flying overhead, she quickly used her cannon to back Chief against the rocky wall. Keeping them both hidden from the Phantom as it passed over the mountain.
"We need to keep moving." The teen sighed as she used her cannon to pull herself onto the next ledge.
Chief placed his shoulder under the climbing teen, allowing Samus to use him as a boost over the ledge.
Watching the Spartan walk past her to the rough pathway, Samus gave a very deep sigh, before following Chief up the path. "I couldn't very well use my arsenal because they kept me in close proximity with the other captured Spartans and marines. I was always at gunpoint, or had energy swords digging into me when I was being moved, or interrogated. I went through the usual torture any captured victim would go through. Beatings, interrogation, maiming. Torture..."
Weapon, reading the Spartan's vital signs, could tell he was incredibly uncomfortable with what the girl was explaining. Master Chief, seemed tense, and upset. The AI was curious as to why Chief was getting so upset.
"W-why... why couldn't you..." Master Chief tripped over his words, something he rarely did.
"Why couldn't I activate my armour after it deactivated?" Samus winced as she used her injured arm to climb over a bolder. "Because when the Banished, failed to gain the valuable information I had. They called in the Blademaster, to assist with their interrogations with the humans imprisoned on the ship. Jega Rdomnia, wanted to unlock my human weaknesses... and succeeded..."
Chief closed his eyes momentarily, bracing himself for what his adopted daughter was about to explain.
"Before he arrived, the first three months of my capture, I gave the Banished hell. Constantly escaping their grasp, and defying them at every moment. I couldn't use many of my usual weapons out of fear of hurting the human prisoners aboard the ship. The Brutes, and Sangheili, continuously placed me in bigger prison enclosures, and training arenas. Using me as a training instrument for the Banished. That was until they found a way to lock me down, and crack my armour." The teen explained, slipping on the loose shale as another Phantom came within earshot.
Chief grabbed his adopted daughter, pulling her into a nearby indent in the mountain. Holding the girl close against him to hide her bioluminescent glowing armour, he could hear the pained breaths emit from within the alien armour.
"They're gone. For now." Weapon alerted the two that the path was clear once more.
The Spartan stayed behind the girl, keeping a hand on alien plated back armour to steady Samus, as she climbed on the loose slippery shale. "How did they accomplish such a task?"
"They tried to do to me, what they did to Spartan Griffin. And failed, since my armour isn't built that way. And they didn't have time to surgically remove it." Samus replied, ending with a heavy sigh. "One day they dragged me past these... large prison cells... for interrogation." though in her mind they were torture chambers. "Many of them filled with Spartans, and UNSC marines, they had captured from the attack on Infinity. There was this Spartan that had a similar colour scheme and armour design... I couldn't help but think it was, Kelly. I still don't know if it was her..."
Chief's heart rate increased as the bounty hunter described the possibility of her sighting one of their teammates.
"There were two Brutes in the cell, arguing over who got to torture the Spartan..." Samus's violet armour began to flare as she slipped on the rocks. "Then this Sangheili... the Blademaster, came out of no where, and cut off the Spartan's head!"
Chief would be lying if he didn't admit his heart skipped a beat at the beheaded Spartan. Especially since it sounded like it was possibly Kelly.
Samus's armour disintegrated into nothing, causing the upset teen to lose her footing and fall onto the sharp shale.
"I fell to the floor..."
"I know, let's get you up. We have to keep moving." John said, as he helped the unarmed girl off the ground.
"No, I fell to my knees then. My armour deactivated then and there..." Samus shook off the Chief's assistance. "The Blademaster, caught sight of my weakness, and indulged in it. Making the Brutes place me in restraints in the middle of all that torture." She held back her angry tears as Chief led her into a small cavern just off the moonlit trail.
John sat his daughter on a bolder, and motioned for her to stay put. "Rest a moment. Regain your composure. We will move when your armour returns." He turned to the opening of the cavern with his rifle in hand. Standing guard while the Samus took a moment to collect herself.
It was silent. The atmosphere was thick with mixed emotions of fear and rage. Weapon didn't know if she should notify the Spartan that they should keep moving towards the dig site, or keep silent and allow the two warriors to briefly rest.
"I... I watched... marines... I watched... Spartans..." The silence was broken by the teen's shaky voice.
Chief tightened his fingers on the hand guard of his rifle. Keeping his gaze forward, listening as his alien hybrid teen spoke.
"They'd drag them up to me... tear their armour off..." Samus closed her eyes as tears escaped them. Remembering the horrid visuals of armour being violently stripped from the human soldiers. The distinct sound of limbs being torn off with the armour, still clear in her mind. "The Brutes, they were like animals... ripping the exposed humans apart. Tearing flesh with their teeth, and claws... until there was nothing but bone, and strands of muscle... some of the Brutes would even consume the flesh inches away from my eyes... When the Blademaster joined the murdering, he would mutilate the bodies with his blades. And toss the limbs at the Brutes, some of those mutilated limbs would hit me, while I hung helplessly in my restraints." the teen's body shivered, looking at the blood stains on her zero suit. Most of it was not her blood, but the spilled blood of the soldiers that were slaughtered inches from her. Memories of the horrid gut wrenching stench, the smell of fresh blood, and rotting, burning, human flesh.
John's breathing quickened, as his heart sank imagining the horrid images Samus spoke of.
"They all screamed and cried for my help as they were burned by energy blades, ripped to shreds, and consumed..." Samus choked through tears. "I could do nothing! I did nothing to save them..." the girl cried, her tone weak and defeated. "That went on for 3 more months... until they ran out of human survivors... I was surrounded by rotting corpses for 3 months..." in those last 3 months of her capture, she was surrounded by nothing but decomposing human bodies. Whatever the Brutes did not consume was left to rot, and be picked at by the Jackals and Skirmishers that would come searching for a meal. The sight, and smell, all reminded her of her home world K2-L, after the Space Pirate attack. Her lone 3 year old self, toddling through a sea of blood, and burning bodies.
Master Chief now gazed over his shoulder at his defeated daughter, his rifle still resting against his chest. He was shocked at how well Samus had hidden her recent trauma. She had exceptionally cloaked her traumatized soul from his eyes.
"When none of the humans that were killed, provided them with information about where your body was... or what the UNSC's next move could be..." The girl exhaled heavily. "I was the only one left they could torture, and kill. They had tried gaining information from me in the first 3 months out of the 6. The Blademaster knew I was highly valuable because the other Spartans and marines told them I was closely associated with the Master Chief. I was the last one seen alive, with you..."
John turned his body completely towards his daughter.
"When I refused to give him anything. He released me from my restraints and drew his sword..." Samus reluctantly explained, remembering the blade of the burning red energy sword burning her skin.
"How did you escape?" Weapon asked before Chief could, although he was not going to ask the bounty hunter externally.
Samus lit up her hand with that sickly magenta glow, sorely lifting her deadly hand. "My survival instincts took over me... The Spartan killers escaped me like a cowards. But I siphoned the life from the remaining Brutes that needlessly stole the lives away from those soldiers..."
John was speechless. He couldn't think of anything that he could say that would possibly comfort his daughter from the horrors she went through. It was very obvious that she was showing deep remorse for not being able to save those soldiers. Chief knew Samus was a long term sufferer from survivors guilt. He just hoped that this incident, would not push her over the edge.
Samus lifted her head watching the Spartan approach her with his gun in one hand. He knelt down, gently examining her injured arm. She winced as Chief examined her tender arm. A continuous burning pain surged through her arm, but it was nothing that she couldn't painfully push through.
Samus's arm was hidden by her zero suit, Chief could not properly examine it. "We should keep moving." He said, waiting for the bounty hunter to stand.
"All that horrible information, and that's your response?" Weapon scoffed curiously, yet her tone proved that she was clearly appalled.
That reply was typical coming from Chief. Emotionless, and straight back to focusing on the mission. Samus understood that. She gave that kind of answer on occasions. And she was more than happy to oblige.
A small flash of light filled the cavern from behind the large Spartan. Chief looked over his shoulder seeing his teen approaching him.
"Let's go." Samus said, exiting the cavern fully armoured in her violet Chozo armour.
Master Chief followed Samus out of the cavern. Continuing up the jagged pathway. He began to wonder if his adopted daughter's ability to fight was being compromised by her recent traumatic events. Though Samus seemed to be heavily eradicating any Banished that entered their pathway, risking her safety too often. Becoming quite protective over him in the process. The bounty hunter must have been trying to redeem herself for her inability to save those soldiers, the Spartan thought to himself. Another thought suddenly crossed his mind. Samus had mentioned a team of Spartan killers, multiple times. For six months she witnessed them destroying Spartans with ease. Samus was overwhelmed with worry. Terrified of losing her family... losing Blue Team... Losing him.
Reaching the summit of the pathway, the teen got a good look over the edge of the mountain. The moonlit valley was beautiful. Not far beyond the valley was a crater that had been dug by the Banished. "Trail ends here." She sighed, positioning herself to descend the mountain.
"Stop, let me climb down first. Then I will help you down." John said as he holstered his weapon.
Samus rolled her eyes behind her visor, continuing to climb carefully down to the next ledge. "Don't baby me. My arm is not going to fall off, it's just sore."
"I could say the same to you." Chief scoffed, referring to his teen's constantly suggesting to put herself in danger in order to keep him protected.
"I have my reasons..." Samus replied lowly.
"You shouldn't be taking unnecessary risks." The Spartan retorted, this wasn't exactly an argument he was going to back down from.
"That's our whole job! I'm protecting you from danger. I'm not a part of your mission anymore. I'm an adult, a bounty hunter. I can take care of myself." The teen hissed in reply, fuelling the argument rather than calming it.
"You're an adolescent. You may be able to fight in a battle, but that doesn't mean you know how to care for yourself." Chief argued. It hit him hard a year ago when he realized Samus was becoming a young woman.
"I don't need to be babied..."
"I think If he was really trying to baby you, he wouldn't have forced you to explain what horrible things happened on that ship." The AI's surprised the duo with her comment.
Samus stood on the rocky ledge below, facing away from the Master Chief. Her head was down, and her fist closed, along with her sorrow filled eyes. Truly wishing the two would just drop the subject of her capture.
"I already regret pushing you, Samus." The Spartan's tone was soft, yet emotionless. "I was hoping to possibly piece together some information about what was happening on this ring." Chief stepped down onto the next ledge, digging out the compassion that laid deep within him. "I did not know you had been... tortured like that..."
"It's done now, nobody can change what happened..." Samus kept her gaze away from her adopted father, searching for the next lip to climb down to.
Chief instinctually aided his teen down to the next small rocky ledge. "Samus..."
"Just stop! I don't want to be comforted, I don't want to be coddled. This is not the time, nor the place for that. I'm not that scared little girl you rescued from, Zebes." Samus hissed at her adopted father. "Can we please, just focus on the mission."
She was pushing everything aside for the mission, John saw that. He was an expert at using that tactic. What Samus went through was effecting her during their time on this ring. It needed to be addressed further. "Samus, I have pushed things aside for the sake of the mission, before. Then what I... what emotions, I pushed aside. Took over me. I thought I was doing what was right, trying to redeem myself for what I couldn't do before. I caused more chaos by doing so. I put others in danger. What I tried to redeem, was something that wasn't possible. It wasn't the right choice."
Samus continued to descend the mountain, listening to Chief's every word. He was talking about Cortana. She understood the devastation the AI had caused across the galaxy, and to the Master Chief, her best friend. Chief had refused to allow his best friend to succumb to rampancy. But this situation was different.
"It's not the same..."
"Let's keep moving." The Spartan gave up, blowing off the gruesome subject like his adopted daughter wanted.
After their silent tension filled descent off the mountain. Samus couldn't help but think Chief was trying to reach out to her about his deep regrets. They both had no standing relationship with any of their gained comrades, such as the Pilot, and the Weapon. Until they found Blue Team, no one else was worthy of earning their full trust. They had no one but each other.
"I'm sorry..." She apologized, catching the Spartan's attention. "I just don't want to talk about what happened, while it's still fresh in my mind."
Chief nodded in understanding. During their descent off the mountain he had time to think. If he had been in Samus's position, he wouldn't have wanted to revisit his recent trauma that happened mere hours ago, either.
"But if you want to talk about your emotions that you've pushed aside, you can." The bounty hunter told the Spartan who stood waiting for her.
John would've indulged Samus's offer. But having an unfamiliar AI in his head retracted his urge to vent. "Not right now."
Samus narrowed her eyes at that reply. How come Chief was allowed to say no, and she wasn't? With a small head shake and shrug the teen gestured for Chief to continue on with her. "Alright then. Are you going to continue to nag me to stop taking unnecessary risks?"
"Always." Drawing his battle rifle Chief replied to the teen. "Are you going to continue to defy my every word?"
"Of course." The teen snorted, totting her cannon.
Master Chief nodded with a scoff. "Let's move."
Weapon was confused and unsatisfied by that short exchange of sarcasm. "Just move on, just like that huh?"
"As soldiers we have to make quick, difficult decisions, and keep moving forward." The Master Chief replied to the innocent AI.
"That means pushing our traumas, and emotions aside, to benefit the mission. To benefit the people you're trying to protect." Samus added to the her adopted father's words.
"That sounds almost... inhuman to think like that." Weapon thought about it for a moment. The two warriors almost sounded like well programmed AI's trying to fulfill their duties.
Samus chuckled at the AI. Her and Chief were well programmed to think that way. But hidden behind that uncertain chuckle, was emptiness. What she had gone through in the past few years, had created someone Samus herself, didn't even know.
"I mean, I am the machine out of the three of us. Right?"
The Weapon's words threw Master Chief through another loop of mixed emotions. Those words were almost identical to Cortana's. But he didn't know whether to be thrilled to be working with another version of his best friend, and battle partner. Or to be suspicious that this new AI was sounding identical to her predecessor. Fearing that Weapon may follow in Cortana's footsteps. Whatever the case was, he had a protocol that he could activate if need be. He would not make the same mistakes twice.
"You guys are just humans after all, right?" The AI added to the uncomfortable atmosphere hanging over the father daughter duo.
The teen's hand lit up with a sickly glow. Her blood boiling with anxiety. Weapon's, words were something Samus, questioned everyday of her life. Was she truly just human at the end of the day? Until recently, her answer had always been yes. But to the untrained eye, a complete stranger, and now herself. Nothing about her immediately screamed human.
"Chief, knows that answer by now. He knows he's only human. A giant super human." Samus scoffed lightheartedly, as they cautiously crossed the dark valley.
John knew Samus would consistently cover up her real emotions, by nervously joking around. It was one of her many coping mechanisms. He usually went along with her joking, until she finally couldn't hide from trauma anymore. To others that may have seemed like a cruel tactic. But the Spartan had learned over the years to let his teen come to him on her own time. Pushing her to open up, caused Samus to push away even further. Chief wished he would've reminded himself of that when he pushed his adopted daughter to tell him about her 6 months of torture.
"That's almost funny." The AI chimed at the teen's comment. "But why didn't you mention yourself in that comment?"
Samus almost rolled her eyes at the question. Turning her head towards her adopted father, watching the moonlight reflect off the Mjolnir armour, she saw Chief's grip tightened on his rifle. "I mean I figured what I said covered both of..."
"Is it because you're an alien hybrid?"
That reply shocked both of the warriors. Confusing Samus, she wondered how the AI had gained that information. Chief on the other hand, figured Weapon, had gained access to the insignificant UNSC files on his teenage daughter.
"Suuure... if you want to put it that way..." The teen replied, as they approached a ridge.
"Are you infused with the blood from the Banished?" The AI's curiosity instantly angered the teen.
"NO!" Samus hissed, making Chief visibly jump.
"Shhh!" Chief shushed the teen, knowing they were approaching the excavation site.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to offend you. There's just little information in your records. It doesn't state what you're crossbred with." Weapon apologized to the upset bounty hunter.
"Approaching the dig site. Make sure your weapons are ready." Chief announced, changing the subject. He knew it didn't matter if the AI knew what was in Samus's DNA, as the UNSC had no records of the aliens that had been infused into the teenager. Therefore no way could the UNSC possibly understand the powers of the Chozo, or Metroids.
"Quite the hole they've dug themselves." Weapon commented.
"You mean it was nice of them to dig their own grave." Samus retorted, following Chief down into the excavation site.
"It's kind of quiet, isn't it?" Weapon thought aloud, as the two moved further towards a large tunnel entrance. Not a single Banished soldier in sight.
There was quite a well established base. The largest structure sat in the middle of the crater. Walking past the building, the two assumed it was the Command centre of the dig site.
"Chief." Samus called the Spartan over towards the massive tunnel entrance.
"There. That tunnel. The Banished must already be down below." Weapon thought aloud as Chief approached the girl. Holding out his hand, he allowed the AI to scan the entrance for herself. "This should be impossible. Forerunner alloy is almost indestructible. What do you think they..."
Hearing an odd whirring ring coming from behind Samus turned seeing bright red lasers charged and about to fire. "Chief!"
The Spartan spun around to see the burning red threat surging towards them. Quickly scrambling, and stumbling across the platform with the teen, getting out of the way of the mining laser just in time.
"I guess we have to deal with that mining laser first." Weapon sarcastically commented.
"We certainly do..." Samus suspiciously gazed up at the tower the laser was coming from.
"We'll have to clear a path to it." John said as orbital drops full of berserk Brutes landed at the base of the structure.
"Oh, these guys. They look pretty eager to hit the dirt." Samus eagerly aimed her charged cannon at the berserking Brutes.
"So it seems." Chief replied opening fire on one of the approaching Brutes.
Samus released her trigger releasing a storm of missiles on the charging Brutes. Easily obliterating the multiple targets.
"It looks like the laser's being controlled from up in the central structure." Weapon stated as Chief took a good look at the structure.
"What was your first clue, the lasers shooting out from the tower?" Samus scoffed sarcastically.
"Samus." John scolded the teen for her rude comment. As he shot down another Brute that came leaping out of a drop pod.
"Chief! The scanner just lit up! It was a trap! I knew it was a trap?!" The Pilot's voice panicked over their comlinks. "What do I do?"
"You're..." Samus bit her tongue, already being scolded after her early sarcastic remark, she rolled her eyes behind her acid green visor as the Pilot panicked from the Pelican. "Hold position. We got this." The teen replied reassuringly.
"Thank you." Joining his teenage bounty hunter under the central structure, John thanked the girl for reserving her sarcasm for another time.
Samus smirked with an eye roll, looking over her shoulder to see a red gravlift activate behind her. "Gravlift is active."
Chief stepped into the gravlift first, with Samus following closely behind him. Reaching the top of the lift they were met by a couple more Brutes, and a squad of Grunts.
Taking on the brunt of the gunfire, John turned to Samus, who had her arm cannon charged, the barrel of her cannon transforming to show the tip of a missile.
Samus got an approving nod from the Spartan who's shields were rapidly depleting. Releasing the charge from her cannon, a storm of missiles terrorized the room. Many of the Grunts popped and splattered as the missiles hit them. While damaging the armour of the Brutes, causing them to rampage and charge.
Chief narrowly dodged one of the charging Brutes. Lighting the ape like alien up with a peppering of bullets from his battle rifle. The Brute growled and snarled as he was filled full of bullets, until finally hitting the ground dead.
Samus didn't have to do anything to the second Brute, as it succumbed to its internal injuries from the missiles. Giving her the opportunity to walk up to the mining laser's controls.
Master Chief jogged over to the teen. Standing next to Samus, staring out the window at the active laser, as she went for the controls.
"Just give me a sec..." Samus said as she tapped away at the controls. "Something's wrong. I can't shut it down."
"Let Weapon, try." John suggested as Samus moved out of the way for him. Holding out his hand to allow the AI to gain access to the terminal.
Weapon took a moment, staring out the window as she worked. "Samus, is right. It can't be stopped." she quickly concluded.
"Then we destroy it." John replied.
"Way ahead of you. There are two power regulators down there. Exposing each power regulators cooling pylon, should trigger a cascade effect. All you two have to do is trigger them. You can either shoot, blow up... oh you get the idea." The AI playfully explained to the two warriors.
Chief retrieved the AI, before following Samus down the gravlift.
"Let's split up, it'll be quicker." Samus suggested as the AI marked the regulators on their HUD's. Just as more Banished forces flooded the mining site.
"No, it might be quicker. But you're still injured." Chief shook his head no, as he shot down the incoming hostiles.
"The regulators are not far from each other. I think you can easily get the job done separately." The AI agreed with the teenager's suggestion.
Samus didn't give the Spartan much of a choice regardless she was already tearing through the Banished forces to the first regulator.
Chief reluctantly went to his designated regulator, after hearing the whirring sound of the exposed pylon coming from Samus's location under a small tunnel.
"Cooling systems are failing. Dig site is comprised! Do not allow them access to the Conservatory!" A Brute announced as more Banished firing squads flooded in. "Bassus, you have your orders."
"Bassus?" Samus instantly retaliated against the attacking aliens, putting every single threat down. Keeping at least half of the reinforcements away from the Master Chief.
"That's one." Weapon announced as Chief located the regulator after shooting his way through Brutes, Grunts, and Jackals. Hearing silence behind him confirmed that Samus had cleared the Banished on the other side of the dig site.
Taking a plasma grenade off one of the lifeless Grunts, Chief clutched the grenade in his palm. Finding the activation button with his thumb, gently compressing the button until there was a distinct click, as the grenade lit up with a blue glow.
"Bet you can't stick it." The very familiar voice of the bounty hunter came from behind the Spartan.
"Go to the gravlift. Make sure it's clear." Chief ordered the suddenly appearing teen.
Samus shrugged, making her way back to the red gravlift that led into the control room. Walking through the lifeless bodies of the Banished, made her feel a bit of relief. But not enough to redeem herself for the tragedy she could've prevented if she had fought hard enough. Maybe if I had allowed my Metroid instincts to take over me earlier, those soldiers could've been saved... Samus thought to herself as she gazed up at the control centre the gravlift led into.
An explosion followed by machinery whirring confirmed Chief had exposed the second cooling pylon. "That's two."
"Now let's head back up and deal with that laser. Seems Samus, is already waiting for us up in the control room." The AI said noticing the bounty hunter's signal was above them.
"She never listens. Never!" John jogged into the gravlift. Back inside the control centre he found Samus standing by the controls impatiently waiting for him. "I told you to wait by the gravlift. Not take it." He scolded the teen as he once again stood next to her, facing the energy shield. Watching the laser continue to burn into the tunnel.
"My mistake." The teen shrugged off the scolding, as she began to tap at the controls on the terminal.
Chief gasped as he was suddenly grabbed from behind. Caught off guard, a large Golden armoured Brute held the Spartan tight by the throat. Roaring directly into the golden visor.
Samus spun around, immediately taking aim at the Brute that had her adopted father in his deadly grasp. "Release him!"
Hearing a charged gun sizzling behind him, Bassus didn't even turn around to face the bounty hunter. With a smug scoff, he violently threw the Spartan across the command centre. "Spartans not so tough I think." He mocked the Spartan on the ground as he turned to face the teen.
Samus lifted her trembling left arm with pained breaths, attempting to steady her cannon's aim. Tilting her helmet to see past the Brute, catching Chief recovering on the ground.
"Break open easy." Bassus took note of the energy sword wound that had breeched the gravity suit. "Soft inside!" The Brute lifted his gravity hammer to strike down the teen.
"Chief!" Weapon gasped as Samus was about to be struck.
"I see him!" Chief grappled a small nearby storage capsule, throwing it at the Brute as he went to strike Samus.
Bassus grunted as the capsule threw him off balance, causing him to miss the teen. The gravity wave from the hammer causing the teen to be thrown.
Flying through the air, Samus transformed into her morph ball for a quick escape. Rolling over to the Spartan on the floor, she transformed with a yelp of pain. Contorting into a ball had caused a severe surging pain in her arm. But she ignored it, helping Chief off the floor.
"SPARTAN!" The irate Brute screamed as regained himself, activating his armours shields.
"Get Weapon to the terminal. I'll keep him busy." Samus said as the Brute charged at them.
"No, we take him down together." Chief said as they leapt in opposite directions, avoiding the gravity hammer that was swung at them.
"Okay. He wants you." Samus agreed through a pained breath. "You better play a good, Kelly."
Master Chief nodded, knowing the teen was referring to Kelly being the decoy in this kind of situation. Grappling a nearby fusion coil, he tossed it at the Brute. Exploding on impact, causing Bassus' shields to flare.
Bassus screamed out of rage. Turning his full attention onto the armoured man, he charged swinging his hammer left and right causing crates, and debris to fly, as he charged.
Chief opened fire on the charging alien, as debris bounced off of him, almost knocking his rifle out of his hands.
Samus fired three charged plasma blasts breaking the vicious Brute's shields.
"His shields are down, Chief!" Weapon announced to the Spartan.
Bassus screamed, but his shielding failure did not stop him from charging Master Chief. "You will die by my hand!"
"Chief, look out!" The AI cried out as the Spartan was backed into a corner.
Samus fired a missile into the Brute's back, causing him great agony. But not enough to stop him from trying to finish what he came here to do.
Firing her grapple beam at Bassus, latching it onto his foot. Samus yanked back hard, causing the Brute to hit the floor.
Chief rushed up to the fallen alien. Ripping the hammer out of the Brute's weakening grip. Bassus tried to push himself off the ground but was kicking down by the Spartan. The kick caused the alien's helmet to fall off, giving Chief the opportunity to finish the kill. John stomped on the collar bone of Bassus, firing multiple shots into the Brute's skull until the beast went limp and a pool of blood formed underneath.
"I'm impressed. I can't believe how easy you two made that look. Now let's turn off that laser." Weapon praised the two for their easy kill.
Samus waited by the terminal as Chief finished off the Brute. Looking through the energized barrier, the burning red laser still firing strongly. That Brute that attacked them was sent to kill Chief. Bassus was barely a challenge to them. Which caused Samus to fear what real assassins would be sent next.
Chief held out his hand to the terminal, having Weapon enter it to deactivate the laser.
"You've done your part. Now mine. Watch this." Weapon smiled up at the Spartan, before playing with holographic controls.
Samus barely noticed the two next to her. Looking over her shoulder, she couldn't shake the feeling of something watching them.
Master Chief cocked his helm at the AI who took her time destroying the system. "Is there a problem?"
The blue female AI turned to Chief with a large smile. "Of course not." With the snap of her fingers, a large explosion collapsed the laser, and the energized window like barrier. "Let's see what's down there."
Chief turned seeing his adopted daughter had already leapt out of the structure, to the ground below. Following the bounty hunter the AI noted that the laser had been recently modified to cut into the rings surface. "Modified? By who?"
"Definitely not by Bassus, back there." Samus waited at the tunnel entrance, knowing Chief would be displeased if she ran ahead any further.
"The formula is very sophisticated. Whoever made the change didn't just modify the Forerunner architecture. They improved it." Weapon explained as the two entered the massive dark tunnel entrance. "Oh, and there's a lot of Banished in the Conservatory. They've been down there for days."
"We're walking into another trap." Samus sighed heavily as she leapt off the massive rock platforms, venturing further into the cave.
"I think at this point we should assume that everything is a trap." The AI retorted.
Samus couldn't possibly agree more with AI. The tunnel was dark, she could see the heatwaves rising from all the areas the laser had burned.
"No Flashlight?" Weapon questioned the teen as Chief activated his helmet lights.
"Samus, has high tech visors that help her see in the dark..." John mentioned to the AI.
"No actually..." Samus replied. Despite her good eyesight, she would've usually used one of her suit's special visors to see in the dark.
Chief curiously tilted his helmet at the girl. "No?"
"I can see perfectly fine... without aid..." The teen almost seemed confused by her own body, as she corrected the Spartan's statement. "It's not that dark down here anyway."
"You never mentioned that before?" John said as they continued down the tunnel.
"I had a decent amount of visual capabilities in the dark, prior to my last... bounty mission." The girl mentioned, realizing her most recent mutation must have boosted her night vision capabilities.
"Understood." Master Chief didn't ask any further questions, as he completely understood what his teen was getting at. "How's your arm?"
"Fucking sore. Can I take the bandage off now?" Samus complained as Chief sighed at her.
"I figured as much. Come here." Chief beckoned for his teen to move closer to the large blue light he stood next to. "Let's make this quick."
Samus obliged cautiously, dematerializing her armour to her blood stained, ripped, and shredded zero suit. Carefully taking her extremely sore arm out of her left sleeve.
Shining his helmet lights onto the injured arm, the bandage he had wrapped on Samus's arm was completely drenched in blood. Gently putting the back of his armoured hand against the bandage. Pulling his hand away after a few seconds, his green armour plating was red with blood.
"W-what are you doing?" Samus asked watching as Chief pulled out his combat knife.
"I have to amputate." The Spartan replied in a serious tone. Although he was of course joking.
"What?!"
"I'm cutting the bandage off your arm." Chief replied with what he was really doing.
"Again, you're not funny." Samus grumbled through pain as she could feel the bandage being cut.
Once the bandage was removed Chief examined the wound. It had been a few hours since Samus had been injured. Usually her wound would've begun the healing process by now. But the injury almost looked no different. Carefully examining the arm further, his flashlight provided a better look at the well muscled arm. Chief noticed there were previous burn wounds, and slash marks, barely healed around the newest wound. "Were you injured on this arm prior to facing, Chak 'Lok?"
The girl went silent, keeping her gaze on the path they came from. Chief was right, she had been badly injured hours before finding Chief on that Banished ship.
"Samus?"
"I was..." It was Jega Rdomnai, the Blademaster. When her Metroid instincts took over her, Samus attempted to siphon the life from him, just before he could execute her. Jega had used his powerful energy blades to get the teen to release him from her life siphoning grasp. The blades had only grazed her. But the swords were so powerful that they effortlessly did the same amount of damage as Chak 'Lok's forceful attack.
"Why didn't you tell me?" John kept his gaze on the awful wound. "We could've treated you for everything before we hit the surface of this ring."
"I was so full of adrenaline from escaping, and then finding you alive. That I didn't feel anything for hours. Until Chak 'Lok reminded me of my pain." Samus explained, trying to take her arm back from the Spartan.
"Stop. Let me take a good look. I want to make sure nothing is getting worse." The Spartan's hand followed the teen's pull away, to prevent pain from emitting from the wound.
Samus winced as Chief closely examined her painfully raw open wound. As he gingerly moved her arm to get better angles the pain became too much for her to bear. "S-stop..."
John sighed, gently allowing the teen to take her arm back. His adopted daughter's wound looked worse. Samus must've aggravated it during their battle here. But he could tell that Samus's body was barely attempting to heal the wound, and whatever had healed, was now badly damaged again. It almost seemed as if something was preventing the teen's unique rapid healing process.
"You should've healed by now."
"I know." Samus groaned with a sigh, reactivating her armour. The pressure of the armour against her wound stung. After a few uncomfortable moments the stinging wavered, the pressure began to sooth her wound, giving her a bit of pain relief.
"She doesn't seem very well does she?" Weapon mentioned to the Spartan, who was already well aware of his teen's status.
John visibly jumped in surprise as a blast of plasma hit the ground next to him. Vaporizing the blood soaked bandage. He spun around with his gun aimed, thinking there was Banished reinforcements following them in. But there was nothing, not a soul in sight.
"Sorry, I have to do that." Samus apologized, gesturing for Chief to follow her.
Chief furrowed his brow behind his visor, following his teen to the bottom of the tunnel. Entering a small hallway that led to a Forerunner door. Entering through the door they were met by a locked door and a terminal.
"I've got this one, Samus." Weapon said as Chief let her hop off his hand, unlocking the door. "Welcome to the Conservatory."