Author's Note

Wow, everyone has been so kind with their words lately! Not to say that anyone wasn't beforehand, but I've received so many positive reviews it's insane. These last three chapters have gained so many reviews compared to the ones before, and so quickly too.

Uploaded

05/18/2023

LEGEND BELOW

"Chief, that's not a good idea..." = Normal speech.

''You're you, don't let it control you...'' = Normal thoughts.

Chapter 18

Because it had to go sideways/Edging ever nearer to their destination

Rated-M

M rating for blood, and language.

Music of the day

Halo 4 - Convoy

When they passed into the wormhole, they weren't sure what would happen. Few aboard the Tyr had ever undertaken such an expedition, and the reports brought forward weren't pleasant.

But this time, everyone was going in, and this far in, it was too late to back out.

For Exeter, there was a bit of hesitation in his hand, gray armored limb hovering over the thrust control. But, then he remembered everything she had gone through to even get them here in the first place, and that hesitation of his vanished as he launched it forward.

Into the void both the Tyr and its accommodating fighters went. There was a moment of silence, nothing could be heard, not even monotonous ambience.

The Tyr sped forward in the abyss of total darkness, accompanied by the Stiletto fighters, the only other things discernible in the abyss between wherever they had come from, and wherever they were headed.

Then a bright light took them, took everything. It was fast, like it happened in the blink of an eye. Exeter felt as if his entire body was turned into atoms, becoming a trillion particles in the vast stretch of space and time.

Everything stopped, for but a moment, as the wormhole took him and the entirety of his crew to the other side.

But, as soon as that moment passed, it ended. The Tyr came soaring out the other side, consciousness returning to him as the familiar sight of stars and endless space returned to him.

He came to a halt, his fighters doing the same beside him. He blinked in silent question as he surveyed his surroundings.

Wherever they were now, his charting system was rendered useless.

"Commander, what happened…?" Smythe's voice poked its way into his ear, his coms fuzzy. "Did we go through?"

"Hold on…" Exeter responded, surveying their location. The Tyr mapping systems quickly tried to pin him down, but wherever they were was outside of Galactic Federation territory, or even something else entirely.

But, that wasn't important right then.

Because, for all things his instruments couldn't detect, there was one thing that they suddenly could.

His eyes widened as his intergraded tracking system responded with a new ping.

And that ping was bouncing right off of Samus's Power-Suit.

"Hold on, I've got a ping. I think I've found her." The man exclaimed, pulling the ship around. Beyond the cockpit was a sea of space, but soon came the visage of a planet completely unfamiliar to him.

It looked to be entirely made of some form of metal, as if the planet was artificial in origin.

"I've got nothing on the sensors. Wherever we are now, we're off the map." Smythe spoke up from his star fighter.

Exeter's eyes narrowed. "I see. That issue can be resolved later. Right now, we've got to move in and rescue Samus. We can figure our plan from there." He stated over local coms, letting the crew know the plan.

Gray armored fingers seemed to glide over the control terminal, entering in something to the system. His eyes narrowed as he locked in her position on his spacial mapping grid.

"Alright team, we move quickly and quietly. I have no idea what's down there, but I am not going to allow this to become a repeat of the Aether incident." He called out, the Tyr moving forward as the rear thrusters engaged.

"Yes sir!" Smythe called out.

"Roger that, Commander!"

"Copy, sir!"

They engaged their newly acquired stealth systems, a gift from the R back home, before initiating a landing sequence.

And their destination?

The surface of the unknown planet.

The winds were biting this high up in the sky, but she felt nothing underneath her superior armor as she fell. Behind her, her children followed in flight, struggling to keep pace with her, yet still managing all the same.

Far above her was the squad of Pelicans, all moving in to land beside the massive land vehicle below, the Mammoth, as it was called. That's likely where the Chief was going to be for the duration of this mission, unless, of course, things went sideways…

Which they always did…

She looked forward, easily spotting the massive floating cannon far off in the distance. It had to have been the particle cannon the Captain had spoken of. It was absolutely gigantic for just a single weapon, and she understood why the Captain wanted to keep the Infinity as far from it as possible.

She was finally approaching the ground now, a small mountain beside the cliff where the Mammoth was stationed. She planned on keeping the high ground, protecting the Mammoth and those onboard from a distance while they rolled onward to their destination.

She kicked her feet out in front of her, back thrusters powering on to slow her descent. She landed atop the sandy hillside, kicking up a small storm as she did. She took a knee, activating her thermal visor as she scanned the area below her.

She made a quick map of the surrounding terrain from her vantage point, making sure to mark anything important. From where she was, she could make out multiple Covenant encampments up the road, but nothing the Mammoth couldn't handle.

She was sure to send the Chief and all soldiers within the area her terrain assessment, seeing as Del Rio wasn't going to.

Once done, she turned her attention down to the Mammoth once more.

The Master Chief had just arrived and was currently talking to Commander Lasky who was also aboard the vehicle.

While he managed his mission from the safety of the hulking warcraft, she planned on moving ahead to help in clearing a safer path.

She leaned back a bit in surprise as her children suddenly appeared in front of her, momentarily blinding her visor.

They all cooed impatiently at her, bouncing around in the air as they trembled with excitement.

She grinned lightly. "Don't worry, you'll all get your chance here soon." She cooed gently, holding out her open palm. They all swarmed around the limb, greedily yet thankfully taking from her enormous energy supply. Her eyes glowed a malicious glint, knowing what she was about to unleash upon this Covenant that dared to lay their hand upon her.

But, even then she felt a noticeable sense of worry fill her heart upon the idea of bringing them into a war zone.

On the contrary, said worry faded nearly entirely, due to a handful of reasons. Namely, the Covenant primarily used Plasma weapons, and something she'd learned some time ago, Plasma weapons do little to a Metroid unless it is of Chozo design, and even then it's nearly useless once they reach their higher evolutionary limits.

Two, Covenant did not have any sort of Ice weaponry to combat her children. Her children's only true weakness was their vulnerability to cold, something once again, she had yet to encounter in this universe.

So, that meant that she was the alpha predator now.

Nothing was more powerful then the Ultimate Warriors.

That's why they were called as such.

She turned her attention from the horizon and back to her children, placing her hand out before them.

It was time.

Suddenly the energy output around her hand quadrupled, her babies cooing in delight as she fed them a large quantity.

When she finally stopped, they all began shifting about in the air. What appeared to be electricity flashed about wildly around them, but it was merely their bodies undergoing rapid evolution, evolution brought forth by their mother, not forced by a Space Pirate's hand.

Before her very eyes, her children grew rapidly. Previously, they were but the size of her helmet. But after she fed them the energy their bodies required, they grew stronger, larger. They tripled in size, now so large that she wouldn't even be able to wrap her arms around one.

To anyone else, the other changes wouldn't be perceptible. But she noticed.

Their squishy translucent green bodies gained an incredible resilience, and despite them looking fragile, they most certainly were not. They were, after all, her children. More than that, she was feeding them herself, and the energy her body cultivated from the power she took from the Infinity was far greater for them then anything else they could sink their claws into.

They all started crowding around her impatiently, nudging her with their large bodies as if to try and convince her to let them go out and hunt. She smiled lightly, nudging them gently back in response.

"Not yet." She whispered, her gaze turned towards the horizon before the UNSC troops below her. Her eyes zeroed in on the Master Chief down below, seeing as he spoke to commander Lasky. "Not yet. Be patient." She added softly once more.

As soon as his ship landed he was guns out, boots on the ground as he began making his way to the Mammoth not far from his location. Behind him a squad of Spartans moved up to flank him, and behind those were the members of Castle Team.

Captain Del Rio was not playing around anymore, sending so many Spartans onto such a mission.

It only took a few long moments before the Mammoth came into view. "Chief, this is Palmer again. The mammoth has jetpacks on board. If I were down there I'd want one." Commander Palmer's voice echoed in his ears.

Filing that information away as important, he quickly made his way to the top of the vehicle, making sure to stock up on as much ammo as he could.

Then he ran into Lasky.

The man sighed before looking towards him. "Chief… Unfortunately for us we've got to bring down a couple of particle cannons before we can roll on the base. Infinity's shields are still down, and she can't take that kind of firepower back to back, unless we plan on being stranded here." He laughed mirthlessly at his own words, tired eyes gazing far ahead.

Chief didn't say anything, knowing how dire their situation was.

Thankfully, the mission was about to begin, and Del Rio was going to start them off properly.

"Gypsy Company, this is Captain Del Rio. The board is green. Let's shut down that gravity well so we can take this fight to the Didact. Good Hunting, Infinity out." The Captain's voice broke through the static of the tension, bringing the mission to a focus. Following his words, the Mammoth's mighty engine powered on, and the wheels began to move forward.

Lasky gave the Chief one last look before making his way inside the mammoth for safety. "Okay Gypsy, time to work for it! Let's shake some dirt."

Chief turned his attention forward, standing on the front deck of the Mammoth. His HUD pinged with a terrain update, giving him a new rough map layout of the road that lay ahead.

He'd questioned where it came from, but upon glancing up to the sandy mountain above him, he could make out the form of his green armored companion and her children high above.

"Well, at least someone's looking out for you." Cortana mused with a tone that he knew meant that she was smirking at him. However, the amusement faded from her voice after a moment, and the space in his head was uncomfortably quiet.

"Chief, about my condition… I-… I know it's a long shot, but since you brought it up…" Cortana paused, seemingly trying to find the right words to say. "There's a chance that if we can get to Halsey, we may be able to replicate the same subsystems that made my original neural network. I am, after all, the only A.I. made from living tissue."

"Once we're done here, we'll find Halsey." Chief said, tone leaving no room for anything else.

He wasn't going to let her go, not if he had anything to say about it.

Not like there was any time anyway, as they began to roll onto intrenched Covenant camps.

Plasma started flying immediately.

Above him the squad of pelicans flew ahead, moving just too far into the kill zone.

"I've almost got target lock, just a little more…" The pilot muttered.

They came around the mountain pass, the massive particle cannon coming into view.

"Negative, pilot! Break off, you're in the kill zone!" Palmer shouted over the radio.

But the pilot was too greedy, hoping that he'd have enough time to make the target lock before being shot down.

And then he was shot down, the first pelican vaporized entirely, the second catching fire before crashing into the third ship, sending both of them careening down. One went off into the abyss of the canyon, while the other landed somewhere ahead of the pass.

"Shit! Chief, get down there and retrieve that target designator! The mammoth won't take the shot otherwise." Palmer cursed.

"Right." And he was gone, the Spartan in green jumping free from the safety of the mammoth to the battlefield below. So quickly it had devolved to chaos.

Fortunately for him, his entire life had been chaos, so this was nothing new.

Didn't mean he liked having to clean up for others messes…

She knew things were going to go to hell the moment those pelicans got within line of sight of the particle cannon. She could've told them it was a stupid fucking idea to go right in front of the giant death gun, get both themselves and their companions killed because of stupid on the spot decisions.

And now the plan was in immediate jeopardy because the lead pilot was the only one with the target designator, the device that would allow the Mammoth to gain target lock with its mobile Mac Cannon.

They better pray from beyond the grave that the device survived the attack and went down with the ship.

Without any time to waste, she launch herself from the mountaintop, rushing straight for the crashed pile of the drop ship, her children close behind. She passed above the Mammoth, a spinning blade of energy, using her space jump to fly straight to where she wanted to go.

"I'll take care of the target designator, watch my back, John." She called out, her voice irritatedly muttering in the Spartan's ear.

"I've got your back." He called out, running to join the battle.

Samus landed at the hills behind the crash site, sliding to a stop as she took in the battlefield before her. Unfortunately, two wraiths were blocking the way forward, and they didn't miss her flashy entrance.

She turned to her children, the Metroids floating right behind her. "Go get them." She said, eyes glowing a malicious red.

They all cooed in delight, swerving out of the way as a plasma mortar came flying their way. The trio of Metroids screeched in anger that someone dared to attack their mother, and all swarmed the closest Covenant tank. Despite their large size, the gunner couldn't land a hit on them as the Metroids closed in.

The Elite manning the turret screamed as her child latched itself to his head, sucking him dry within seconds. The other two latched onto the tank, reducing it to scrap within ten seconds. They immediately moved onto the second tank.

With the enemy distracted, she turned to the wreckage of the pelican. Somehow the ship was still in tact, but the bay door had been broken, locked shut. She quickly approached it, slamming her claws into the metal of the door, before yanking it off its hinges with a terrifying show of strength, tossing the wreckage somewhere behind her.

"Oh thank god, we thought we were going to die here!" Upon opening the door, she was greeted by the wounded marines that had seemingly survived the crash.

"Do you have the Target Designator?" Samus asked immediately.

"Y-Yes, ma'am! Here!" The marine quickly added, tossing it to her. She reached out to grab it, taking extreme caution to not dust it the moment her claws touched its handle.

"Good. Then follow me, I'm returning you all to the mammoth." Samus continued, turning back to leave.

"It's a death trap out there, there's no chance we will-"

"I wasn't asking. Move now or I leave you here." But she wasn't having any of it, cutting the scared soldier off immediately.

Explosions outside the crashed pelican alerted her that she was out of time.

"Tsk!" She grunted sharply, instead scooping up the disgruntled and surprised Marines in her arms, one under each arm. That left one behind, the wounded woman unable to stand. "Grab on." She urged sharply, bending down low enough. The woman quickly scrambled up her green armor, throwing her arms around the Hunter's neck to hold on. "Don't let go." Samus offered quickly, before jumping free from the downed ship.

It was immediately reduced to a pile of scrap metal, further incoming attacks from previously unseen phantoms.

Samus flew out from the rubble, the three survivors in her arms. Plasma fire came flying her way, and with no way to defend herself that wouldn't result in the death of the soldiers she'd just saved, she was reduced to having to simply dodge.

However…

Her third eye opened, calling her children back to her.

Defend!

Defend mother!

The Metroids came flying out from where they'd been attacking the Covenant, and began devouring the ones directly attacking their mother, sending the ground forces into a panicked frenzy.

With the enemy momentarily quelled by her children who were practically immune to any attack thrown their way from the covenant ground forces, she began hauling ass back to the mammoth with the wounded soldiers in her arms.

However, without being able to utilize her speed booster or any other form of assisted movement, she was forced into a basic full sprint, lest she cook the poor humans in her arms.

She could feel the plasma rounds that came flying her way just narrowly missing her, the covenant phantoms above her fully intent on killing her. Not that any direct hits on her would do any real damage with only a few blasts.

But, the soldiers would be toasted immediately.

"Chief, I've got my hands tied. Get those phantoms off me." She called out, her voice muffled by plasma bombs going off behind her. "Lasky, I've got wounded with me, target designator too. Open the mammoth doors." She spoke again, making a dead sprint towards the hulking UNSC vehicle not far from her.

"Working on it. They don't seem to take kindly to you." The Spartan responded dryly, coming out from behind a pile of dusty rocks, in his hands a Spartan Laser. The weapon shot a hole right through the hull of the phantom, and with his aiming managed to hit the power core in a single shot.

Samus was still being chased, and the one phantom that diverted from her that went to try and take out the Chief was replaced with two more phantoms that came in from the distance.

However, if her situation wasn't bad enough, more phantoms were rapidly approaching, and Ghosts had been deployed in her area.

"Samus, the mammoth will provide you cover. You're still out of range of its missile pods. Chief, this is up to you! Bring those things in range!" The commander responded quickly.

The Hunter grunted in irritation, planting her feet to slow her speed as two Ghosts came flying around the corner to cut her off. She ducked as plasma bolts slammed into her visor, the heat dissipating. Any closer and it would've hit the girl's arms wrapped around her neck.

"I-I'm going to die here!" The woman clinging to her back cried pitifully, her voice increasingly weak as time went on. "W-We're all going to die here!" She whispered, her blood staining the green armor she so desperately clung to.

"No you're not." Samus responded surprisingly gently, not taking her eyes off of the enemies before her. She threw herself to the side as both Ghosts began lighting up her previous position. However, her eyes were pulled to the side as two more phantoms appeared above her, further blocking her way out.

It would be far easier to obliterate them on her own, but that would mean she would have to leave the wounded soldiers in her arms to die.

That wasn't going to happen.

Her third eye opened again, once more recalling her children to her side. As they came flying to her aid, she was forced to take cover behind a dusty hill as the Ghosts began firing upon her. Unfortunately, she was still out of range from protective cover from the mammoth.

However, luck was on her side, as she saw the Master Chief sneaking up on one of the Ghosts that were too occupied in trying to melt her.

While he handled the ground vehicles, she had but a few moments to gather her head before the phantoms would round the hill and light her up again. Taking cover behind a large stone hill, she dropped the two less wounded soldiers for a brief moment. Then she turned her gaze to the bleeding badly wounded young woman on her back.

"I need you to move to my front. I need my thrusters available." Samus said quickly but gently, gazing at the terrified young woman who was desperately clinging to her back.

The young soldier's eyes widened, quivering in terror and pain. "I-I-I don't… I-I can't-…" She choked out, equally scared and hurt.

"I know, but we don't have time. I promise you that I will save you, but I need you to do this for me." Samus continued, not taking her eye off of her. "If you don't, then not only are you going to die, but your companions here will too." She glanced down to the hurt soldiers she'd momentarily set on the sandy ground beside her. "They are going to help you." She added, giving them a knowing look.

"If you trust them, then trust me. I won't let you die here, and I won't break my promise to protect you." Samus said calmly, yet completely serious.

The woman was almost paralyzed in fear, only dulled by the terribly bleeding wounds that covered her body.

But, she moved.

Because, after all, she didn't want to die.

The soldiers quickly helped to move her until she had her arms wrapped around the Hunter's neck again, legs wrapping around her waist for support. The woman rest her head in the crook of Samus' neck between her large shoulder armor piece.

Above them the two phantoms came flying around the corner, already firing at her.

Without saying another word, Samus again scooped up the other two soldiers in her arms, before rocketing away with her newly available thrusters.

Just in time too as the ground where she'd just been standing was blackened from plasma fire.

With her thrusters freed, she began making a move for the mammoth across the valley, moving fast enough to avoid all outright attacks thrown her way, but not fast enough that it would hurt the people she was protecting.

As she neared the mammoth, the doors on the side of the massive vehicle opened up, two marines waiting for her.

"Come on, get inside!" One shouted, waving her down as a trial of plasma chased her.

However, the phantom responsible for assisting her made the grace mistake of chasing her to the mammoth, wherein it was shot down via the manned missile turrets, falling to a smoking heap behind her.

Samus boarded the vehicle, giving the two soldiers to those ready to offer medical assistance, while she helped the one dying girl a quiet corner.

Her vitals were failing fast, her eyes beginning to close in the cold embrace of death.

"Hold on, I've got you." Samus said, indifferent to the pooling blood that had covered her stomach down to her legs, all from the girl in front of her, covering her green armor in red.

There was simply no saving her with traditional techniques, not with this damage.

But, no one was looking.

And, Samus realized, that even if they were, she didn't care right then.

The faceplate of the Hunter's helmet vanished, exposing her beautiful features to the dusty world. Before the girl could ask why she'd done such a thing, Samus quickly leaned down and pressed her lips to her own bloody ones.

Then, only moments later, the cold embrace of death began to…

Well…

Fade away.

Her eyes widened when she felt her pains lessen, the light returning to her eyes, a newfound warmth and power forcing its way into her from the mouth of the strangely beautiful alien woman that had saved her.

Then Samus pulled away, her dark truly black lips marked with her own blood. Samus glanced down at her, her face still that stony cold expression. Then it broke slightly, a little gentle smile and a soft huff that told her without words that she was pleased to see her still alive, to see that her efforts weren't for nothing.

Then she was gone, the faceplate of her super armor reforming out of thin air as she sped up to the outer deck of the mammoth, and gave the hulking vehicle the target lock for its mini Mac-Cannon.

The earth shattering blast that followed suit was the clarification that the particle cannon that had threatened them all was finally destroyed…

Chapter

18

End

Wow, sorry it took a month to get this out. This chapter started off as something I wasn't interested in writing, then turned into a bit of a character building process with Samus and her views of people, and to showcase her abilities with the Metroid Infants.