Searching For My Brother
A Metroid OC Story
by Derald Snyder
~Chapter 16: Augmented Clones~
Current Loadout:
Helmet- Federation Helmet, Combat Visor, Scan Visor, X-Ray Visor
Body- Federation Armorsuit (699 energy), Hazard Shield, Power Grenades (6)
Arms- Grapple Swing/Voltage, Power Grip, Nova/Charge Beam
Feet- Space Jump Boots
Recon Drone- Remote Scanner, Bombs/Cross Bomb, Spider Magnet
"...Okay, I think I've got it," Daniel grunted as he finished making adjustments to his beam cannon. "Hope this works..." Checking for bogeys, he saw none, aiming his gun at the wall, pulling the trigger-
-and a bright green beam shot forth, nearly punching a hole in said wall!
(Nova Beam Acquired! This powerful beam can pierce through weak spots on heavily armored enemies.)
"Yes!" Danny pumped a fist in triumph... only for an alarm to go off.
"Warning! Unauthorized weapons discharge detected in R&D Laboratory. Security personnel, respond immediately," a computerized voice intoned.
"Shit! I'm busted!" Danny cursed as he ran out the door, deciding to double back to the visor research area, running in that direction...
"There he is!" a voice called out, Daniel ducking into the room just as gunfire rang out. Dashing back to the maintenance hatch, he turned to check how many clones there were with his X-Ray Visor... (Four of them. Okay...) He took one of his new Power Grenades from his belt, arming it and throwing at the door just as it opened!
"What the...?!" the clone soldier gasped at seeing the grenade land at his feet. "Shit! Fall ba-" the grenade went off, vaporizing him and his fellow soldiers without any further ado!
As for Danny, he and his drone were already long gone into the maintenance tunnel... (Hopefully that buys me a little time,) he thought as he made his way back to the main reactor, stopping briefly to check the map. (Okay, so if I go left after blowing the main door, I should avoid the bulk of the security...) With that, he continued on his way, soon crawling back into the main reactor room, standing and turning to look at the main door.
"Okay, let's hope these things really can breach Bendezium..." he muttered as he took a Power Grenade, arming and throwing it at the reinforced door, backing up a ways... the grenade went off with a widening sphere of destruction- and the the blast shield blew apart! "Yeah! It worked! Let's go, drone!" So he and his drone dashed through the door, breaking to the left, Danny keeping his eyes peeled for any enemies...
After making a few turns, occasionally firing down a patrolling soldier, Danny found another keypad, switching to his X-Ray visor to discern the combination... (Hopefully the clones don't know the code, which should buy me some time...) After a few wrong guesses on the order, the pad lit up green and opened the door, Danny and his drone quickly slipping inside. Getting behind a terminal, he held his breath as he heard footsteps approaching... then let it out as they faded away. "Phew... think I lost 'em."
(Music- 'Elun', Metroid Dread)
Now that the immediate danger had subsided, Danny was able to take a look around... The room seemed a bit more dimly-lit than the other labs he'd visited. He could make out stasis tubes with human shapes inside, but as his eyesight adjusted, he realized that some of them were... misshapen. (Oh no...) His hand shook as it rose to his helmet to activate his Scan Visor, checking the nearest tube...
[This specimen is deceased. Cause of death: cardiac arrest from extreme stress.]
And the next one... [This specimen has been horribly mutated. No life signs detected.]
And the next... [Deceased. Cause of death: electrocution.] Danny saw that this one seemed to have some sort of cannon attached to his arm... no, wired directly into it.
(Oh my gosh... this must be Dr. Rafflesian's lab... where he was trying to augment clone soldiers...) he thought to himself in horror, suddenly glad that he couldn't clearly see what was inside all the stasis tubes, lest he lose his lunch... He saw a computer nearby, but thought better of scanning it, not wanting to know the gruesome experiments the mad doctor had been conducting... (Okay, let's head to the other end, see if there's a door leading out...) He kept his head down as he walked around a stasis tube, making his way towards the back...
And coming across a door with a blast shield. Fortunately, scanning this one showed that a Cross Bomb would be sufficient to destroy it... (Good, don't wanna make more noise than I have to...) "Drone, Cross Bomb that door," he said quietly, the drone promptly doing as ordered, though Daniel couldn't but wince from the noise made by the pieces of the shield clattering to the floor. He quickly turned back and used his X-Ray visor to see if any soldiers were approaching from outside, but saw none. "Phew... okay, let's go," he said to himself, shooting open the door and walking inside...
This room was a bit larger, with only two stasis tubes in the center... the right one was empty, but the left contained something vaguely human in shape, albeit much larger than the other specimens. Danny cautiously approached the tube, looking around for any other doors, but seeing none. "Great... a dead end. Looks like we'll have to go back..." Out of curiosity, he decided to scan the large man in the tube...
[This specimen is in stasis. Scans indicate increased muscle mass and fortified bone structure, making this man much stronger and tougher than a standard human. The arms are equipped with electric shockwave generators, activated by kinetic impact. Brain scans indicate reduced intelligence compared to standard humans, however.]
(So it's basically a dumb brute, huh?) Danny mused. (Good thing it's sleeping... time to get out of here.) But as he went back to the door he'd entered, a force field suddenly activated, preventing him from escaping! "What the...?!" He whipped back around, eyes going wide as the creature in the stasis tube suddenly stirred...
(Music- 'Vs. Chozo Ghosts/Elite Pirate', Metroid Prime)
"Grrrr...!" the mutated human grunted as he suddenly punched at the stasis tube, shattering it and spraying fluid everywhere! "Kiiiilllll...!"
"Drone, get up the wall!" Danny ordered as he took a firing stance, the little robot using its Spider Magnet to climb the nearby wall. And none too soon, as the augmented clone punched the floor with his fist, sending out a shockwave that Danny just barely managed to jump over with his Space Jump Boots! Charging his Nova Beam, he let loose right into the clone's face! But though it recoiled slightly, the clone shook it off, attempting to charge at Danny, who barely managed to dash to the side as it plowed into the wall!
(It's wearing some weird kind of armor!) Danny realized as he retreated. (That's why my shot didn't affect it...!) He quickly jumped another shockwave, his mind racing for options... (Wait, the X-Ray!) He switched to the X-Ray visor, seeing the joints of the clone's armor light up red... (Those must be weak points!) He charged his gun, letting loose with a Nova Beam to the right shoulder-
-the augmented clone recoiled as one joint of it's armor was destroyed! Roaring in rage, it charged forward and nailed Daniel with a backhand that sent him skidding across the floor! Shaking his head, the engineer shot out his Grapple Beam, which hooked onto the terminal by the broken tube, pulling him away, just before the clone could finish him! Righting himself, Danny took aim and unleashed another charged Nova Beam at the left shoulder, destroying another joint! Before the clone could recover, he shot his Grapple Beam at it's chest, pulling with all his might- and the chest armor popped off, clattering to the floor and exposing the clone's bare chest! The mutated human charged at Danny, who managed to dash to the side to evade-
But this time the clone slammed into the wall next to Danny's recon drone, dislodging it from the wall in the process! "Drone, drop bombs and retreat!" Danny ordered, the drone promptly doing so and skittering away. The clone grunted in discomfort from the bombs, shaking its foot a little as it turned back to face its opponent, who already had a shot charged...
"DIE!" Danny yelled as he let loose, the Nova Beam piercing right through the clone's chest! The mutant staggered, falling to its knees and clutching its chest, Danny shooting uncharged shots into its chest next to its hand just to be sure, not stopping until the clone collapsed to the floor.
[Warning: Nova Beam energy depleted], an alert popped up on his visor. But fortunately the mutant had ceased to move, a pool of blood growing from it's chest wound. Daniel heaved a sigh of relief as he let his gun arm drop, cautiously approaching the corpse... (The energy pack is supposed to be able to absorb energy from deceased organisms, right...?) Sure enough, as he got close, he saw the energy meter on the pack slowly fill back up, stopping about halfway. (Gonna have to be careful how much 'ammo' I use...)
Just then, he heard a 'click' from above, looking up to see a speaker on the ceiling nearby... "Well done, intruder. You managed to kill one of my greatest successes... Do you feel like Samus Aran, yet?"
"...Dr. Nergal Rafflesian, I presume," Danny spoke cautiously. "And to answer your question, Samus would probably have killed that monster in half the time. I'm just a mechanical engineer looking for his brother... the one you took as your cloning template!"
"Ahh, that explains a few things," the voice, presumably Rafflesian, responded. "No wonder you were able to infiltrate that training base and trick Sergeant Judas... and Craig likely mistook you for one of the clones as well, am I wrong?"
"No you're not. And by the way, your battery-producing power plant is slag."
"Is that right?" an undertone of anger crept into the doctor's voice. "That is quite the setback, I must admit... I assume you lured that Kraken to destroy it? Perhaps we should have chosen a different planet... but Hendrik insisted that Hydreion was the least likely place for those morally-uptight factions of the Federation to look..."
"I think you meant upright, not uptight," Daniel snarked. "All I want is my brother Donny back, and for you to surrender to the Federation Army when they get here. Your cloning operation is all but done and dusted, it's only a matter of time!"
"Oh, we'll see about that," Rafflesian shot back. "If you want to see your precious brother again, you'll have to come see me in person. But first, let's see how you handle this!" The lone door suddenly opened up, Danny turning to see the force field shut off...
(Music- 'VS. Dark Troopers', Metroid Prime 2: Echoes)
He took a step back as several of the mutated clones from earlier staggered into the room... "Wha- I thought they were dead!"
"Nanomachines, Markson," Rafflesian taunted. "Have fun!" The speaker then clicked off.
"Just great," Danny grunted as he dashed to avoid gunfire from the mutant clone with the arm cannon, rapid-firing his Nova Beam into its face, the clone falling in short order. But several others were slowly approaching... "Drone, attack the enemy humans!" The recon drone promptly rushed over and dropped small explosive charges that caused quite a few of the mutants to trip and fall over, Danny firing down the ones that were still standing. He then ran forward and head-shotted the remaining clones, waiting to see if any of them rose back up... "Okay... let's go, drone!" So Danny and his drone made their way back out of the laboratory into the hallway beyond...
[Data received], an alert popped up on Danny's visor, promptly bringing up the map of the station, zooming in on a large room that was highlighted in yellow... "Step into my parlor, said the spider to the fly..." he muttered to himself. "Challenge accepted, Rafflesian." Part of his mind realized it might be a trap, but if wanted to see his brother again... (Just need to stay on my guard,) he mused. "Let's go, drone." And off they went...
*To be continued...*
A/N: Next chapter should be the climax.