Metroid Saga: Mythos

by Mental Omega

A collection of stories set in a reimagining of Metroid; here we start with the beginnings of the universe's two greatest warriors; Samus and Sylux. The Hatchling and the Neophyte. Born of K-2L and Cylosis, and bound by fate to decide the destiny of the cosmos. Note that this project started long before Prime 4 came out.

23. Prodigy: Chapter 5: Slow Day (SA & AS)

Holochamber, Prodigal Program, Zellemite City, Planet Gyldaine, Suramil System, Andromeda Galaxy, Popular Republican Union of Esdemir, Galactic Federation: 16th of September, 50,013.

The first day of class dawned on Samus rather literally as she was busy finishing up a conversation with Arne, separated from him by the gulf of millions of lightyears but joined by holographic conversation. "Arne...why didn't you activate your armour immediately?!" Samus said, worry fraught at her voice at the revelation he had just dropped after they had been relaxing together, likely waiting for her mood to be at its apex before dropping the bombshell that he had just been through a possible assassination attempt and confirming the fears her distant sight gave her.

"I don't know...I just thought...maybe I needed to show that I could handle myself without it. It was the heat of the moment..." Arne said, sheepishly looking away from her as red wroth started to seep into her worry and her face began to slowly change colour from anger. She grinded her teeth slightly and scowled as she looked towards him, hugging her knees to her chest and pulling him towards her direction, gently but letting him know full well that she wanted him to look her in the eyes.

"Arne...at least use your zero suit. You need that shielding...or at least something until you're able to do your own bioshields! You could have been mutilated or killed or...taken...just...Why did you do such a stupid thing!? You know better than to take those kinds of risks!" She said, flashing from anger to choking concern in a few heartbeats as her golden made, freed from its ponytail spilled behind her, waving around with her movements as she curled her fingernails into her palsm and hissed through her teeth.

"I was. I don't know! I just, I was so focused on the challenge I didn't consider better options. Maybe I was scared of tipping my hand further." He said, frowning and trying his best to meet her gaze even though it intimidated him, the way her blue eyes smouldered with worryborn anger. Despite the colour of their eyes, her anger was always the one that burned the brighter and the hotter than his cooler emotional state. He got vindictive and resentful, she had screaming rages that laid waste to everything in their path.

"Arne! Please...I know I'm not the best example to listen to but please! Spirits and Gods! Don't put yourself at risk to prove something. You shouldn't be getting yourself hurt or...or just...don't do that anymore. I can't stand knowing that I'm not there to keep you safe and I'm worrying so much! Now I have this to worry about? If I can help it Arne, you're not leaving that suit until this is over! Do you hear me!?" She said, noting Arne slowly slinking his gaze away from her before she harrumphed. "Arne! Look at me!" She said, raising her voice, reaching towards him and guiding him towards her as she stared intently into his eyes, sitting on the soles of her feet.

"I, I'm sorry. I know I can't promise it won't happen again, but. I'll try to be more careful from now on. I'm being locked out of the investigation so there's not really a whole lot I can do." He said, getting a more understanding nod out of her as she calmed down, exhaled sharply and relaxed, letting her head lay atop his shoulder and then letting loose with a long exhale as she started ahead at the beach they had conjured up with the holochamber, seeing the waves lap upon the shoreline in a rhythmic beat to a dawning sun.

She looked at him through the hololink, hands locked with him in a slow dance after a night of revelry; to celebrate their last night of having the day free to themselves. She pulled slowly from him, giving him some space and resting her forehead on his own, giving a small smile as the two shared a brief but warm kiss.

"I'm glad you're still alright, after everything that happened..." She said with a gentle voice as he laid a hard-light replicated hand on her chest to feel her heartbeat while she had an arm around his neck in return, leaning slightly back with him in tow.

"I'd be disappointed in myself if I got hurt fighting a Hitman." He laughed, trying to brush it off as if it was nothing. She had yelled at him before for taking such a cavalier attitude towards his own safety, it was one of their primary points of friction. Probably would be for some time. But it was anger rooted primarily in concern for him, even if he felt she was something of a pot calling the kettle black. But right now, she brooked no such feelings of anger towards him, they were here and that was what mattered.

He felt her hand stroking his cheek and flushed a bit, holding her a little tighter for a while longer. Almost as if he was willing the clock to go slower. In a way, they were, allowing their perception of time to dilate into their combat reflexes, extending precious moments out so much longer. They stood there, silently keeping each other close. After everything else they did that night, just a moment to hug was more than enough for their needs.

"You shouldn't be disappointed in yourself period. You should learn to have some more pride, like me. Because you're so much better than what Zurvduat thinks you are." She said to him, humming those words, almost singing them really. Gooey, teenage love soliloquy as could be expected from a romance of two adolescents.

"Well, if I can follow your example...yeah I think I can manage that. Thanks for everything, golden girl." He said, lips curling into a smile at the end of that sentence.

"You're very welcome, blueberry." She said with a coy smirk on her face as she let out a little giggle, the laugh soon spreading to the other and resulting in a moment of jovialty.

"And Arne, sorry for yelling..." She said, smiling as he nodded in return.

"It's alright. I know it's because you care." He said, blushing as she gave him one of her traditional thumbs ups as he stood up.

"See you soon, alright?" Arne asked, getting a nod out of Samus as his image faded and the holoroom returned to normal; leaving her alone and with a gentle smile on her face as she stood up and after a quick moment to clean herself in the shower, went to fetch her outfit for today. She dressed mostly according to her own sense of aesthetics, finding an orange shirt, blue trousers, a green vest, and red boots before tying her hair into a ponytail. She checked her teeth and nodded approvingly at their cleanliness and had a moment to look at her nails before she gave a thumbs up to herself.

"I can do this!" She said with a wide grin on her face as Ian knocked on the door and poked his blue haired head in, lowering his sunglasses to make eye contact with her and making a "come hither" gesture, his own body in a blue blazer, white shirt, black trousers, and grey shoes. She didn't take long to follow him, smiling at the sight of him and stepping close to him as the two sized each other up.

"Ready for your first day?" He said with his characteristic easy smirk.

"Absolutely!" She said.

"Great, come on." He said, joining up with the rest of the group as they made their way towards the lecture hall for their homeroom initiation. She took a quick look around once in side, noting the contours of the somewhat polygonal room widening towards the Teacher's space at the very end of it. She examined the other seats, where she found that some of the other students had already arrived. A blond boy with startling blue eyes and an interesting accent someone from the past may have compared to some halfway house between Corsican and Parisian regaled some fellow classmates with tales of bravery, his bold looking slightly messy medium length hair radiant in the light while his white and blue outfit hugged a respectful distance to his frame.

"And that is how I came to learn that the ideal method of dealing with war wasps is a good detonation." He said, speaking to a slender blue haired girl with psi symbols on her collar indicating that she spent much of her time learning the psychic science that Samus felt a pang of remorse for not being allowed to start on yet. Why did she have to wait until she was fifteen to begin? It was hardly fair.

"Were you hurt at all?" One of the other students asked. A rather slender looking human asked. Their own golden hair cut in an androgynous way atop their synthflesh head, blue eyes almost luminescent and yellow-orange outfit eye catching a way that pleased Samus.

"Cere, I was raised by the Ylla. Of course I know what I'm doi-" He never finished that before Samus just about ambushed him, leaping into his personal space and almost causing him to fall over from his chair, stumbling as precognitive reflexes kicked into overdrive and sent him kicking out of the chair, catching himself on a hand before pushing himself onto his feet while Ian tightened his lips and stared.

"Bravo there Sevrin. Gonna break dance or are you done showing off?" Kreat said with a snigger to himself while Sevrin adjusted his stance and pushed himself back up, dusting his shirt off and shaking his head while doing his best to maintain his cool, grumbling about Kreatz always finding something to needle him about before he paused and looked at Samus and blushed slightly upon realising the magnitude of the face that he was looking into, and that she was offering an enthusiastic wave at that.

"Ah...you are..." He said, trying to fumble around with his words while Samus' smile only grew wider and wider.

"Inheritor! I'm Samus!" She said, offering him a hug that he was one of the first people to not complain about her being overly enthusiastic about giving, his musculature holding her back plenty enough while he offered a surprised smile before returning the gesture. They parted shortly as he looked down at her, turning his head a bit and then nodding in approval.

"Sevrin Edgar Agard." He said with a rather chivalrous tone to his voice followed by a slight bow.

"Oh...are you with the Federation?" She asked.

"Ah no, just an exchange student from the Engenoids. Trying to keep the peace and all. I was assigned with this group. Very funny people that lot." He said with a chuckle while the blue haired girl offered a middle digit gesture to him that he rolled his eyes at while Samus tried to decipher the meaning of the ancient mono-finger salute. All while the rest of his own group had also paused to look at Samus' cluster of friends.

"So you're Ian's new friend huh?" The blue-haired girl said after lowering her hand, Samus quickly catching eye of her familial resemblance to Ian, the slavic girl's expression making a pleased looking smile as she rested her hand on her cheek, mid-length and well groomed hair catching Samus' eyes almost as much as her eyes did.

"Lydia..." Ian said with a sharp exhale.

"Relax Ian. I'm not going to embarrass you in front of her. Yet anyway. Samus right? I'm his twin sister." She said, gesturing to Ian and getting a look from Samus behind herself while Yramil offered a wave that Lydia returned with barely any hesitation at all, followed by a shared wink between the two.

"Luna, at least say hi." Lydia said, as Luna offered a small, shy wave to greet everyone else before retreating back to the screen in front of themselves. They looked a bit at the data and then snuck another look at Samus.

"Where's the rest of the gang?" Montauk asked.

"They'll be around...soon." Lydia said.

"What do you mean "around?" Uldrasi asked, a blink of their optics registering to Sevrin's gaze as he shrugged.

"They're not that far away, just have a bit of patience. Come on. I'm sure they're just with well; the rest of the crowd; why come in early?" Lydia said, shrugging to herself as Ian passed her a note that Samus couldn't see or read, but she could feel a sense of raw, powerful unamusement radiating off of Lydia as she gave a hefty eyeroll and handed the note back to Ian with her own writings scrawled on it, getting a small laugh out of him.

"But I wanted to ask you." Uldrasi said, tapping her fingers on the desk and looking more intently at Sevrin while Luna leaned slightly further towards Sevrin to whisper something to him.

"But I was the one who said it." Lydia said, scowling.

"Yes but I don't want to hear it from you because I've already heard enough of you for an entire cycle." Uldrasi responded flatly, getting a series of howling laughs from the room that Samus wasn't quite sure why everyone found it so amusing.

"Come on, Ian, you gonna let her treat your sister like that?" Lydia said, looking to her twin brother who gave a shake of his head and tapped Uldrasi on the top of her head with the end of his stylus. "Thanks bro." She said, finger pistoling him and getting a mock death wail from him in return, clutching his heart dramatically and dropping down in a gesture that made even Samus start to giggle out loud.

"Come on Uldrasi, gotta be nice to my younger sister. Or else I'm going to have to play a tune on your chassis." Ian said with a devilish smirk forming on his face as Lydia's gaze hardened towards him and she muttered some rather...impolite words to him that fished out a grin from him. "Hey, come on, I was born a few minutes ahead of you I'm the older brother here." He said, stretching back and laying his hands on the back of his head and looking very confident in himself.

"Ian, we are twins. There is no older, there is no younger." She said, a thin, devilish smirk forming on her face.

"Isn't Ian technically correct though?" Samus added, looking back at them with a curious expression, slowly tilting her head as Lydia let out a small laugh and Sevrin gave a nod of understanding, pointing towards her to single her out as having a point that he agreed with. Ian smiled and shrugged while Montauk peeked over his dataslate and let out a prolonged sigh before getting back into it; Luna and Mitsuki sharing a few words with each other privately.

"Samus, babe. Gotta give me a few wins here and there. Can't compete with the progenitor warrior princess thing so come on, let me at least be Lydia's big brother." Ian said, the term of affection making Samus blush as she looked down at the desk and put her hands on her cheeks. The term "babe" felt so...cutesy and she wasn't really sure if she should be okay with that. Arne always went for sappier, more poetic terms of endearment, yet Ian was there going for the classics.

"Come on Ian not in class." Kreatz groaned with frustration, seemingly unpleased with his beset friend engaging in yet more flirtation.

"Hey, I've gotta get my game somewhere." Ian shrugged as he caught Mizuki turning her attention from Luna to Uldrasi as she did her best to avoid any attention or contact with Lydia.

"Why don't you like Lydia anyway Uldrasi? She's perfectly nice." Mizuki said, flipping some of her white hair behind herself and leaning slightly closer in as the mechanical girl folded her arms below her chest and huffed.

"She's absolutely awful. You'll see." Uldrasi growled, a frown coming from Samus as she tried to comprehend why Uldrasi's mood towards Ian's sister was so sour. Surely if she really was Ian's sister she couldn't possibly be that bad. They were raised together.

"Now Sevrin, please. Answer me." Uldrasi said, looking straight at Sevrin as he seemed to be glad for a moment that the conversation had drifted away from him until he was reeled right back into it and let out a sigh of defeat.

"They'll just be here soon." He said, his accent just a little thick as he laid his cheek on his hand. Clearly already trying to duck out of the possibility that maybe he was wrong as his eyes turned towards the screen, only for Samus to tap at his shoulder with wonder-filled eyes staring into him. He was appealing to the eye yes, but another Progenitor Inheritor was something that she had seen so very rarely; something she just had to get to know better.

"Eh...yes madame?" He asked.

"What was it like being raised by the Ylla?" She asked, cutting straight to the point as she leaned in almost far too close for his comfort as he cleared his throat and looked ahead. He tapped a bit at his desk as he gave it a bit of thought.

"Tongue tied?" Yramil said with a chortle, smirking as she eased herself into a position behind Samus and gave her hair a small flip, looking ahead and humming mostly to herself.

"No, hardly. I was just not expecting to meet you in the same class. That's all." He said, offering a faint smile before he took a look at the notes for the introduction and shrugged. "Hardly anything worth the time here it seems." He said, having expected something a bit more...meaty for his introduction to life outside of the rather closed circle of the remaining progenitors.

"Well, it's very much like the old stories about being raised by knightly orders I suppose. Very focused on righteousness and proper behaviour." He said, shrugging and reading through the curriculum of the homeroom a bit more and of course, finding nothing. "...Why am I looking through the homeroom syllab-nevermind." He murmured to himself as he met Samus' gaze more fully and stared into her eyes. She almost looked like they could be siblings even, but of course such was impossible. Both were only children.

"The Ylla are so focused on morality and being the holy light to cleanse the darkness and illuminate those who are blinded by it. Something they told me made them quite fond of the Luminoth. Though I've not really seen many of those people anyway. But well, I can hardly complain can I? After the Krikens took my homeworld; it wasn't likely for me to find anywhere else to go." He said, staring into the distance. All inheritors were those taken from homes devastated by attack from one of the younger races, so it was something she was coming to understand as a sad part of the cycle of crises that was gradually coming to consume the cosmos.

"Well, did you enjoy being there?" You asked as he nodded.

"They were quite fair honestly. Very kind, but firm. I had my purpose and I was expected to fulfill it. But what about you? I've heard quite a lot about the Chozo." He asked as she made a wide and happy grin on her face.

"Oh absolutely!" She said. "They're the most wonderful family I could have hoped for. I just wish they got to know my birth parents better...but I wouldn't trade getting to know them for anything." She said, radiant in her contentment with her lot in life. Especially now that she was starting to make so many more new friends. She almost forgot for a moment that she too was being caught in a web of crisis. The machinations of sinister forces all entwining together towards something truly horrid. Something that loomed over her perception of the conduits of destiny like the sword of Damocles, always threatening at the edge. He could sense it too, she could feel it.

"But...and please stop me if I'm prying. What do you know of the Archprince Trace?" She asked, keeping her voice quiet in case he might take offense to her mentioning part of the dynasty whose soldiers razed his own homeworld. And sure enough, he went cold and the hair on his neck stood on its ends while his expression drew into a pencil straight fine line.

"Trace is a monster, one of the very worst of his family. You're on his trail aren't you?" He asked, eyes turning towards her pointedly as she offered a nod of enthusiasm.

"Let me help you then." He said quietly before the others in his group arrived at the helm of a rather large body of students who sieved in through the doors in a wave of new bodies and thoughts, so many people of her own age just finding their seats all around her. It almost made her want to cover her ears as she caught a wave of differing emotions from the great teeming masses of people of so many species; but she managed to focus and block it out, releasing a sigh of relief as she straightened to attention in her seat.

The others who joined his group were easy enough to spot. A red and a blue-skinned figure; both rather human, the blue one male, the red one female; with tails swishing idly behind their backs and ears that swept up into a point before going downwards. The blue boy was tall and wore a well-cut green jacket over a purple shirt, grey trousers having distinctive white stripes going down the middle on the outer sides and ending in brown and orange sneakers. He ran his thin fingers through fluffy, neck length hair and brushed some of his white locks away from his eyes as he chewed on the ends of a stylus. The girl wore a black petticoat, a white shirt, faded green trousers, and grey boots, curling her tail around herself as she crossed her legs, adjusting some of her straightened black hair while burgundy eyes looked ahead.

With them was a small machine that walked around on spider-legs, about the height of a child with an upper body that seemed like an upside down spider with a quartet of crab like-eyestalks emerging from the top and the bottom to allow for all around vision; their yellowish body trivially flipping themselves over to get onto the seat and plugging in some tendrils inside, the green highlights on their chassis starting to glow while their blue optics stared ahead. Finally, the last member, a figure that resembled nothing less than a beetle that walked like a man with large, stag like mandibles, a prominent horn between her eyes, a carapace of purple and blue, and nearly thrice Samus' height, taller than even Montauk. Her green compound eyes and her slightly scintillating and somewhat greenish-grey clothing, including some impressive looking black boots all adding to a figure of someone with tremendous brute power and strength; her top having prominent epaulettes and hugging her four arms in just the right way to inform one of her power, while her wings stuck closer to her back as she walked around like a gorilla.

"This is Elnik, Raskae, Jesil, and Undormir." Sevrin said, gesturing towards them as the Blue boy, the red girl, the double spider-mech boy and the Engekon girl offered acknowledgements of their introductions in turn.

"So you are all from the Engenoid Republics?" Samus asked, getting a nod out of all of them in turn, save for Lydia, who was simply there to help them get used to the Federation, Jesil who undulated his top digits in an s-shape while Undormir made a single, short flap with her wings and let the bioluminescent patches on her cheeks glow reddish as her antennae twitched to the left.

"Gods and Spirits I have so many questions for you." Samus said with an exhalation before the instructor at last walked; or rather crawled into the room. A radially symmetric starfish like being that walked on seven tendrilled limbs that stretched and contracted as they needed to walk, seven eye-stalks and seven tentacles with seven fingers emerging from the top side while their orange-purple body clad in fanciful looking blue-grey clothing strode into the centrepiece of the lecture room, rising to their full height of about twice that of a human before tapping once on a holographic screen that greeted them.

"Ah, hello. You all may call me Professor Glastigak. I see that...this is going to be quite the talented homeroom." They said, snail like eye-stalks fixating on the seventy or so students gathered inside; teaching assistants finding their own seats elsewhere.

"Obviously I'm not here to pass you all that much in the way of knowledge, but I'm hoping that we can still forge a great relation together, especially as many of you to my knowledge; are seeking to enter combat training of some sort or are even hoping to be Freelancers or Ultramilitia. Something that you'll find that I can give you quite a few tales about from my time as a Freelancer." He said, holographic images of his freelancing days in twisting, segmented power armour battling Sorgantim War-Spores briefly flashing over his desk. And already, Samus was transfixed, smiling widely while Sevrin simply raised an eyebrow."Now, there's a lot I can't really teach you. But I'm hoping here that I can reach out to you and give you something to take home with you afterwards." He said, quivering slightly as he spoke before straightening himself a bit farther. He tapped on the holographic image a bit before it flickered out and he took a look at Samus head-on with a few of his eyestalks and blinked a few times before turning to Sevrin and then moved his gaze a little further, eyeing the rest of the room with an analytical gaze.

"Of course that's all just a bunch of platitudes since I'm just someone who you kids have to visit in the morning before going to your actual teachers. But well, maybe I'll leave some positive impression on you right?" He said, tone shifting from cynical to whimsical and back again like the blowing of the wind. "But well, I can tell most of you have bigger things than a chat with myself planned. So I'm not going to keep you for that long. Just going to go through the usual orientation stuff for new and returning pupils. Won't take long honestly." He said with a friendly wave of his tentacles before looking down and wriggling just a bit backwards, eyestalks extending a little bit more and looking behind himself...did radially symmetric beings like him even have a "behind" she wondered for a moment.

"Now as you are going to be coming here quite often, It's probably for the best that you people start to get to know each other." He said before pausing and tapping the screen. "After of course, sitting through the orientation." He said, receiving a few groans in response before he undulated slightly. "Come on, don't worry, it won't take too long." He said before getting to his work, Samus tapping on the portable screen in front of her to let her thoughts inscribe her notes for her.

"Now, in this facility we're trying our best to cater to a very large, very diverse, and very capable body of students. So we're going to rely on you all to please inform us whenever we're not making the needed accommodations. Then well, we'll try our best." He said, a diagram showing a piechart with an utterly dizzying array of species and demographic groups with some words and symbols to indicate who was where. To her eyes, humans made up about 14% of the overall body, a decently large portion but not the plurality. The fungal Sleurist at 22% in fact, were the largest single chunk, though due to their preference for nocturnal and underground habitation she hadn't run into them often.

A shame though, she'd like to make at least one friend of that species. Preferably lots more! Friends were nice to have and great to make. And she was always of the opinion there was no such thing as too many of them. Companionship was her continual goal. Charting every star, marking every box, making every friend she could. She hoped to start soon...

"As for all of you, we do expect you to try your best within reason. Don't strain yourselves too much but don't slack off either. We're here for you, but you're here because you want to push yourself." He said, though Samus got the hint that he was probably doing the equivalent of the old trick of reading off of cards. His statements were essentially platitudes, a standard list of things to rattle off to introduce new people as had been done countless times before until it had become utterly routine and mundane. Boring even, his words lacked energy.

"But if you ever have a problem here, well. I'm probably not going to end up being most of your friends. A lot of you in all likelihood will move on and forget me when your time here is done. But if you need me well, I don't exactly have a shortage of time to speak to people. Especially not people with so much promise." He said with a gentle expression and a quiver to his body, warm and much more heartfelt. That statement she felt, came from him, not some prompter or rehearsal, it made her smile.

"And while you're here, it's important to make friends. You can probably learn everything here off the ComNet and never have to look at an assessment besides getting certified as a Freelancer or Ultramilitant. But you can't make the same sort of face to face connections out there that you could here. Connections with people your age, with similar conditions and wants and needs." He said, gesturing around the room with a spare tentacle to indicate that he was speaking to everyone without singling anyone in particular out.

Samus took a look to Sevrin's group; all of whom were foreign to the Federation and were simply here on exchange to try and build some basis of friendship between the often rather distant Union and the Federation. Despite how far away they hailed from, how many billions of light-years their home galaxies all were away from here, she still felt both a connection and a want to build it. The desire to learn, to understand more. To get to enjoy their company and their acquaintance.

Maybe she could befriend them as well as she had Ian, Yramil, and Kreatz...she flushed a bit at the thought as the two gave her a knowing wink. Well, they had gotten along pretty quickly and well at that to her enjoyment, which also made her cheeks start to tint red at the though as she folded her hands on top of her waist and tried her best to not look overly conspicuous.

Sevrin quirked a brow, but seemed to nod in acknowledgement, while Ian's sister gave the young Aran a flirtatious look and grin; only furthering Samus' flusterment as she folded her arms beneath her chest and decided to take stock of what there was to be done later in the day.

Well...everything seemed to be relatively normal, perhaps almost overly standard even. After homeroom would be a course to introduce her to some universal history, But of course, she wasn't used to normal. Normal was strange to her, exciting even. Normal could be fun if she gave it a shot she thought to herself.

Magnus Academy for the Extranormal, Tyramin City, Planet Sverabog, Olgram Syste, Redzan's Nebula, Yramithi Omnipragmatist Council Republic, Antennae Galaxy, Omdyn of Democratic Omnipragmatist Council Republics

Arne's first day began with him getting dressed after having showered off to get himself clean, waving to Solveig and Illarion as they got up and stretched before they shuffled into their rooms to maintain their own cleaning duties, a few winks letting his zero suit envelop him followed by his armour, in modified form so that he could maintain a bit of privacy. His helm now had a more human like visor, so that he could feel more like he fit in with his own species rather than giving the odd, unblinking stare of his faceless alimbic helmet and its unnerving cyclopean gaze. It also meant that he could just, speak to people without having to get through the usual humdrum about his status as a progenitor inheritor. Greatly preferable honestly, it was often insufferable to have to slog through the usual barrage of questions about his heritage.

Before his helmet was manifested over his face he took a moment to look at himself in the mirror and let his eyes focus on his hair for a bit. He had the same hairstyle for more than a year at this point. Maybe it would be best to consider changing it at some point? Hrm, he gave it a bit of thought. Something perhaps more...impishly or charmingly boyish? Messy and spunky in just the right sort of way to get him positive attention? It had appeal, he was increasingly aware that he was considered enormously attractive much as Samus was and well...it'd be a shame to not take advantage of that. Samus in particular looked really nice with her newer, longer haircut.

He decided he'd wait until Samus could see it so she could be the first one to give her opinion on it; smiling to himself once he made sure his teeth were fully cleaned and readied; let his helmet cover his face and started to walk quickly towards his destination. He caught up to the rest of his group with relatively little effort, offering a wave to Zhang, Solveig, Illarion, Taelarja, Elgramor, and Loxtoqil, his long strides slowing down once he no longer needed to pick up the pace to keep up with them. He stayed just a bit behind the lead, not wanting to come off as slow and uncertain but not quite ready to take the forward position just yet.

"Sorry, just was considering a few factors of my appearance." He said, looking between himself and the others of the group before getting a pat to his shoulder from Solveig and a shake of her head.

"Arne, don't worry about it. Honestly! You're doing just fine. You're adjusting pretty fast actually. Olgnir knows I was lost for weeks before stuff started clicking together for me." She said, leaning in slightly towards him as they walked together. She felt comfortable to be around, the energy radiating from her almost like light from a sun that made it impossible for him to not feel charged in her presence.

However, he felt a bit of an odd presence in the causeways of destiny. Something he only really picked up around people like Samus or himself. Not quite progenitor but...he looked ahead and sidestepped a potential collision with a figure in black and purple armour. A bit shorter than he was but a bit taller than Samus, their armour reading as definitely of progenitor origin to his scan visor and having a heavily geometric set of angles and plating shapes; almost as if smoothness of curvature was in some way unwanted by the designers of the black, purple and indigo coloured suit. A pair of upside down trapezoidal eyepieces that glowed indigo below a small wedge shaped cap, an angled kite-shield mouthpiece, with a V shaped crest emerging from the forehead and a helmet whose top and back sloped down like a somewhat polygonised sallet helm all covered their face, giving little clue as to what they were thinking or feeling. Trapezoidal black coloured pauldrons emerged from the sides, and a quick glance downward showed that the boots they wore had two front claws and a single rear claw; giving the impression of some manner of predatory raptor.

An octagonal arm cannon of blue colour emerged from their right arm as they pointed the weapon toward him out of surprise; his own arm cannon forming from nowhere in response while a five fingered hand from the other steadied their aim and the boy raised up his other arm and its wrist mounted weapon ready for a possible fight. Neither of the pair charged or readied any weapons just yet as they simply stared in awkward silence for a while longer.

They remained this way for some time until they realised that the eyes of the room were on them; multiple synthetic guardian units keeping their triclopean gazes fixated on the pair before Arne lowered his weapon first and dismissed both of them, waiting for them to repeat the gesture for a few tense seconds until at last they relented. The room tried its best to get moving again; Arne only now bothering to note that they had their own circle of friends before his scan visor corrected his gender usage. She.

Agafya Elenovna Sokolova; ranger of and inheritor to the Umbhar. She said nothing for a moment before gesturing to the Armiger of the Alimbics to follow her towards a more private area where a shelter screen quickly popped up to isolate the two of them from the others, reinforced by some sort of shadowy energy that threaded out of her left gauntlet when she touched the screen to prevent anyone else from looking.

"Helmet, off, now." She said in a tone that was quite clear that it was a command rather than a request. Arne, not quite sure how to respond; simply complied for the time being; letting his helm fade into its zero-point state while she did the face was sharper than Samus'. Ironically, more like what one might expect of a huntress' rather than Samus mostly just endearing and nonthreatening countenance. She was still clearly very young, the same age as Arne. But she gave had the look of someone who had killed before and would kill again. Somewhat intimidating actually. But he noticed her eyes were a similar hue of red to his own, while her white hair swept a bit forward and fell into three parts, the first two over her shoulders and trailing down to about the top of the rise of her chest, the third and middle one going down to about the small of her back; her bangs partly obscuring one eye and almost fully obscuring another past its strands before she brushed some of it out of the way of her flame coloured eyes.

She had an intensity to her that made some of the hairs on the back of Arne's neck stand up, and one look at her gaze told him that she was someone who was on guard for good reason. Someone who was still looking over her shoulder as if something was out to get her. And her skin was, even by his standards, pale. Like she almost never actually stood in the light of the sun without filtration. But she didn't show the same tiredness in her look that Samus told him he had so often. This was a hawkishness born from something other than always being afraid of what others were thinking. At least, that's what he thought she was reading as based on the way she never seemed to change her posture despite how he was looking at her.

She wasn't scared of his judgement, wasn't really wondering what he was thinking about her. He didn't even sense an attempt at a telepathic link until he tried one himself in an effort to reach out to her. To speak to her and feel what she was feeling. But whereas from Samus he felt warmth, here he felt more...curiosity. Intrigue? Wondering who he was, an attempt to go deeper and probe past the layers of security. Feel her way through all the gates and walls he built around himself and find what may lay beneath the fortress he had constructed to hide his heart from those he didn't trust fully. A wonderful little game of probe and counterprobe, where he tried to thread his own thoughts through, to find what colour her coils were.

He saw purple and black, just as from Samus he saw red and orange and from himself he saw Blue and Cyan. From her, he saw Carnations, just like how he saw a Rose from Samus, and from himself; the Love-In-A-Mist. From her he could taste the night, just as from Samus he could always detect the sensation of the sea at sunset, and he always had the slight air of the sky during a storm. A moment passed. He could feel the question asked upon a starry night sky a thousand times. Are there others like me? A question he could remember asking himself so often. A question answered for both already...but now the count had grown from two to four. And if there was four...surely there were yet more?

She slowly tilted her head and made a faint smile, her expression starting to soften into something as gentle as the moonlight on Earth. The face of an owl searching for prey slowly faded, replaced by the curiosity of a cat finding a friend to play with at midnight. The crimson glare of her eyes faded, and Arne couldn't help but smile himself as the gale around his heart lowered itself. He looked at her again, wanting to, but not daring to reach out and touch; something he could sense from her as well. The uncertainty of whether doing so was acceptable with someone they had just met, even if they knew that there was much to speak of and so many things to discuss. Another moment passed and he was the first one to look away, bashful but not afraid; a small laugh coming from him.

"What is your name?" She asked to rouse him from his moment of thought, her voice a thousand times gentler than when she had asked him her first question.

"Arne. Arne Eriksen Skjoldr." He said, a whisper carried on the wind rather than a bold declaration of thunder.

"Agafya Elenovna Sokolova." She responded with a gentle and gracious nod while visibly relaxing, the two unsure of what to say from here before he decided to follow Samus' words and be a bit more assertive with what he wanted out of a conversation.

"So, how long has it been since you came here?" He asked, his voice low and soft.

"A week. After I finished the trial with Sevrin our caretakers decided to well...let us see what it's like with our own kind." She said, humming softly at her own words and rolling her eyes shut before opening them once more, looking to see if he was still making eye contact and smirking when she saw that he very much still was.

"I'm from Othimarin. With a...foreign exchange delegation. You know, check on allies. Make sure everything's what it should be...hah..." She said with a slight chuckle before shaking her head.

"Well, welcome to Omdyn, Agafya. I hope well, you like your stay. " Arne said with his best possible effort at coming off as suave and charismatic rather than an awkward mess in power armour.

"Well...I've met quite a few people who've already caught my eye." She said, not quite laughing but definitely seeming to be supremely pleased with herself for reasons Arne wasn't quite certain of, though he was quite happy to see her happy. Happiness was a gift to be shared after all, that's what Elmorni always told him.

"So uh...introductory class yeah?" Arne said, clearing his throat and getting a nod from introductory class to be entirely fair, would probably have been mundanely boring to anyone who wasn't so split from what was normal for his species' experiences as Arne was. Adult humans were a deeply novel sight to him, and he couldn't help but look at Professor Feng Mai like she was from another universe altogether. Her utility-skin suit covered her body more or less entirely, even her face; but a quick scan of her I.D system allowed Arne to get access to her publicly available data including the photographs she wished to display on her profile. Pleasant features, confident smile, the look of a rather young woman ready to pass on all she knew to the next generation of those who were a bit beyond the norm.

She had no real ties to clan Grendakal or to the Skjoldrs though, which saddened him for a moment before he shook his head and stretched out his arms to try and get a bit more comfortable in the seat; the class clustered into groups that were meant to interact with and bond with each other rather than simply all sit as their own atomised individuals. They would after all, be working together extensively, and Arne could see that even the professor did not stand alone; the young woman being accompanied by a number of assistants and co-teachers to ensure that everyone had at least some personalised attention.

It seemed like a pretty reasonable system to Arne, but he also just didn't see the need to pay that much focus to the basic rundown of expectations, goals, conduct, safety and a host of other things he'd already read through to satiate his curiosity from the moment he knew he was going here. Rather, his eyes were focused on trying to study the students and faculty, to try and unpack what the arrangement of plants or personal curiosities meant or could tell him about the people he was going to be working with. From his examination of the neat arrangement of materials on her desk, he figured Mai to be someone who had a preference for things to fit into a system for her own sanity. Which he understood to be sure, given his own fondness for routine.

It would fit into the data about her having once been in Commando Ops before leaving that work out of growing numb from the lethality of her operations and wanting to nurture rather than destroy. She wanted to organise things into places she thought were best. It was only natural really.

As for his fellow students...Solveig was very big into showing that she had not just her space but everyone else's in order, always tapping her fingers, always brimming with a bit of energy. Agafya was on the other hand, more waiting for something to happen as she kept on drifting her attention away from the class and more towards whatever it was she was doing inside of her suit. Illarion was more interested in his students than the mundane courses offered, Taellarja busy with a secret conversation, Agafya's friend and Solveig's brother Bjorn actually legitimately paying attention and the others...

"Arne." Oh that was his name.

He virtually rewound his memory to the background noise and found that it was the professor talking about how a key example of the need to follow safety protocols was shown when he was attacked by a Kriken earlier and she was asking if he had any recommendations.

"It's better to sleep in a group than to stick alone without someone to watch over you." He said, nodding with confidence that this was the best answer before he got a flash of empathic sensation that showed that the response from most of the crowd was less intrigue and more amusement at the entendre.

"Oh already getting into group fun huh?" One asked as Arne blinked.

"We have done some friend group activities together." He said.

"Oh...shoot sorry. Hey uh, if you have time I'll just well...explain how innuendos work to you." The student said, Arne taking a look at the Aelvan youth in his purple and white armour and then giving a nod.

"Well, certainly good basic steps to that. But tell me, why did a Kriken hitman come all the way here just to deal with you?" She asked.

"Well...honestly I don't know, it might have something to do with Trace." Arne said casually as the room suddenly went silent and void of commentary.

"Trace? Are you...are you sure?" Mai asked, Agafya turning her head towards Arne while Solveig kept on making a gesture with one finger tapping at where her mouth would be beneath her helmet and sliding her hand perpendicular to her throat on its side. She was frantic about something, some deep desire to...stop talking.

"Yeah its...being investigated right now. I can't really do anything else." Arne said with a sigh as he nodded and then looked back at the professor who gave her own look of understanding.

"I see...well. It's fortunate the whole thing was resolved quickly enough to keep things going at least." She said with a sigh.

...

After the introductory class was finished Arne made a quick rundown of what he'd learned that he found useful. Mostly the groups that everyone would generally associate with, where to acquire supplies if he were to have to deal with some manner of long-term consequences from indiscretion, who to speak to in case of security violations, and the general list of who he'd be studying under for more specialised learning; such as the general theory on how to conduct rescue operations in areas undergoing intense conflict. Which seemed like it'd be fun and useful.

Agafya though stepped next to him and then laid a finger on his helmet to push his view towards her, a brief stammer coming from the boy and then a quick look towards her being made.

"Yeah?" He asked."Are you really just going to listen to the order to stand down and not go after the people who tried to have you blackshipped?" She said sternly, her gaze into him making him feel obliged to answer "no" lest she lean in closer with that stare that made him think of a sabre tyrant staring at potential dinner...or a mate...he wasn't actually sure how sabre tyrant stares worked. Though speaking of mating...he realised he was trying to visualise in his head what she might look beneath the armour and harrumphed a bit, hoping she didn't catch that sensation from him, or at least would be understanding.

"Well...I was going to keep on doing my own investigation as best as I could. I just well, wasn't sure if anyone would want to join in." He responded, feeling a slight shake and timbre in his voice but resolving to stand as straight as he could to avoid giving the impression of weakness or of staring. He didn't want to have her offput by his...everything. Why was it so hard to talk to people?

"Hrm, really now?" His heart skipped a beat, did she know? Did she call his bluff? Of course she would, it was so hard to lie to others with the distant sight and he was so foolish for thinking he of all people could conceal a deception from another adopted scion of the progenitors. Stupid dumb stupid idiot moron imbeci-

"Well, if you're serious about that, we should probably start having some looks when we've got free time. When does your schedule open up next?" She asked as Arne decided to just lapse into following the request to put his mind off of his worries for a moment. Let's see...yeah that should do it.

"We could try after lunch? I've got nowhere to be for about...an hour? Two? Then it'll be about one more hour before I have the rest of the day off. I suggest waiting until the day's done just so you know. We don't have time pressure over our heads and all." He said, trying to sound more confident and puffing out his chest. As long as she didn't pry too deeply into how much of a mess he was inside he figured that he could squeak by with a good impression from her.

"...Hrm...I think the term is okay? I'll use it anyway. I will send you a message with a place to meet me at when the time comes. Bring some friends if you want to. It'll be an adventure." She said with a degree of confidence that made Arne sweat internally, how was she just so blase about all these things? Even Samus tended to have a bit of starry eyed wonder and bubbling excitement waiting to explode outwards when she discussed these sorts of things. Yet here she was just...calm. What a mysterious lady.

"Alright, I'll have the group set up and we can pursue some leads I've got." He didn't have any leads.

"Hrm, mine will be better since I'm not the one being watched for my own safety." She said, relief flooding through him like the cool waters melting down from a mountain top in spring. Okay, he wouldn't have to scrounge something up to avoid her calling his bluff to use the card game term he'd picked up from movies.

"As for after lunch, I like fighting games. You can challenge me to one of them if you like." Oh huh, games...he was more of a puzzle or strategy game type of person, Samus loved her some building and sim games and her new friend as far as you were told really liked his roleplaying games...so fighting game then? He could work with that. He just hoped he'd be able to figure out her playstyle before she inevitably dunked on him with what was sure to be much greater experience.

"Or we could have a spar for real, see who's better? I would like to think it would be me. But who knows?" She said with her eyepieces going transparent to let him see her sly look as she tilted her head and leaned in just a little with anticipation. There was that predatory sense again, or was it just eagerness? She was a hard read, shrouded and veiled to his othersight to a degree not matched by most of the progenitors he'd seen so far. But uh, hrm, well. Fighting was kind of fun, and he hadn't had too much of a chance to go against a worthy opponent.

"Well, yeah I can do that." He said, nodding with absolute certainty. No lie there for once.

"Good." She said, starting to turn away before he realised something, reaching towards her and clearing his throat.

"Agafya, before you go. Can I see that evidence you've gathered up? So I can do some preliminary examinations of it first?" He asked, her head turning towards him and then giving it some thought before nodding.

"This is doable yes. Here, have some time to think about it. I don't want you going after the Kriken Empire without your...as they say...head in the game." He couldn't see her face but he knew that she was grinning, just as she could sense that he was a bit shocked by her forwardness which only made her step a little closer to him with eyes alight by the fires of curiosity and the keenest of interest.

"Wouldn't want you to be spending more time figuring out what to do than poking at the secrets of this little mystery would we? Only so much time to spend before we have to do what the matron would call...real work." She said, sighing a bit and looking ahead before the data packet was passed to Arne and he took a moment to examine it. Okay, he managed to get through with all that without looking like a total fool...now he just.

Oh...oh he would definitely need time to discuss this with Samus.

"Would you mind if I contact uh, another one of us to discuss this intel? This is pretty heavy info to go through." He said, getting a small nod from her and a fingers to forehead to pointing towards him gesture he understood as "see you later" before she started walking off.

"Don't keep me waiting too long, Alimbikrai." She said, he paused...nobody had called him that before yet he understood what it meant. Gift of the Alimbics. She called him a...gift?...

"So what do you think?" Arne asked, waiting for Samus' response as she mulled over the revelations passed onto her via the link. Her hard-light holographic form walked back and forth briefly on the soft surface they were on, her hair allowed to extend to its natural length without being confined by a pony-tail, casting her movements in a frame of gold while her blue eyes squinted. She tapped at her chin a few times and then looked back at him.

"We're going to need to do something about this. If Trace thinks that there's something worth talking to Weavel about regarding our schools then people, vulnerable people, are going to be in big trouble." She said, pacing and trying to keep herself moving, Arne finding himself swinging his own legs to prevent idleness, starting to find himself humming in tune with her while she folded her arms and then finished her next thought.

"What we're going to need to do is run an investigation. And we'll have to find some way to get time from classes...think you can manage after classes? When we have some days off we could meet up. In person you know?" She said, a grin forming on her face as the idea just popped into her head like that. It was in her mind, a good idea. It was unlikely after all, that Trace and Weavel would be moving quickly enough for them to miss their opportunity if they waited a few days.

At least, so she hoped. She was not yet experienced enough at the distant sight to know if she was betting incorrectly. Something she hoped to correct at some point to eliminate a whole heap of uncertainty from her life.

"Okay, but what do you think they're trying to do? If they're looking for inheritors then well, they've already found four human ones." Arne said, sighing as he put his hands into his pockets and looked towards her with that expression of continual anxiety. What could go wrong? What already has gone wrong? What mistakes has he already made? Who would suffer for the errors he's already committed? All voices of doubt in his head, all loud in his mind like the voice of so...a voice he blanked out briefly after trying to remember before shaking his head and blinking, seeing Samus looking into his eyes with a concerned frown.

"Arne, you blanked again." She said, as Arne exhaled and nodded.

"Sorry, I was just...thinking." He said, feeling like he had stepped out of the room for a moment and taking just a split second to reorient himself even though it was unnecessary. They weren't in any danger, so he could take the time to fully root himself into reality as he knew it once again.

"About what?"

"Just, how far are they already? Is there something we can do to minimise damage while we're away? Maybe...call Spire or Svihaly or the other Guardians about it? Or maybe Ghor or Ordna? Just...anyone who might be able to help." Arne asked, they would probably be able to help keep things under control, he wagered.

Samus frowned and looked down, playing around with her hair and then looking back at him with a more pointed stare, not angry but definitely looking like she wasn't too happy about the suggestion, getting Arne's heart to sink a bit. She tried to straighten herself, make herself stand tall and even moving onto her tip toes to look down into his eyes and then laying a finger on his nose.

"Arne, we have to take responsibility and...just try to handle things. We're old enough to get involved and they've got adventures of their own to worry about! And the fewer people who get involved in this the fewer will get hurt." She said, sighing as she rested back onto her feet and swung her hands back and forth just a little, exhaling and then finding a seat next to him. For a moment she felt like she had seen something next to him, some figure of blue and green, but it might have just been an apparition in her eyes, some random flash of psychic vision. Probably meaning nothing.

She blinked a few times and noticed it was Arne's turn to stare at her quizzically, his head tilting to the side as if he wasn't sure why she was giving him the look she was, or not being sure what emotion she was expressing with that look. But she gave her usual cheerful grin and that expression of his soon melted, unable to resist the charm of her expressions and finding himself flushing a little red in the cheek. Another point to her score tally she thought to herself as she leaned in a bit closer.

"Well, we can't be everywhere at once. Especially not when we have other duties. So, maybe calling them to help out while we're busy might not be the worst idea? Besides, this is well...very big. Armies and navies and empires." Arne said, letting her hug around him with an arm and leaning in a little closer to her as he returned the gesture, enjoying how warm she felt even through the hologram. Gentle and sweet, like sugar or honey, though with a bit of spicy zest beneath it all from the times he had seen her temper flare. Barbecue sauce maybe? Where was this simile going?

He then gave her his own pleading look, doing his best to give her puppy eyes and a small pout that he knew she had a hard time resisting. And at first she seemed like she was going to be stubborn as usual. The immovable tsunami to his mercurial wind, but her hard expression rapidly began to melt. First a lip quiver, then a few extra blinks, then a bit of pink to her cheeks. Then she couldn't help but start to laugh and nodded.

"Alright but we'll take the lead when we're free. Got it?" She said, not a request for permission, simply an inquiry into whether he acknowledged what she would be doing.

"Okay. Got it." He said, smiling before they shared a kiss. That felt nice, to all of him, and to the totality of her."And well...what about the others? You're still okay with us...exploring right, Samus?" Arne asked, deciding to broach the topic as carefully as he could, always fearing she'd change her mind on this delicate issue at some point even when she never did.

"Arne, we love each other enough to share! It never should be exclusive. It's meant to be shared with as many people as possible." She said, smiling at him before smooching him once again, getting him to blush a little harder than before.

"Eheheh...yeah I can't exactly fault that. Agafya seems like she's probably going to try and well...take charge of things." Arne said, murmuring as he played around with her hair with a single finger.

"Hrm...Sevrin seems like he'll be more of a follower. But I don't think we need a specific leader. It should really be the person who's best suited for the moment. Not something fixed and inflexible." She leaned into his hand and then took a moment to stare into his eyes. They were quite close in height still, but he would probably continue to gain on her somewhat as their teen years progressed. Slightly annoying, but not insurmountable.

"Well...there's supposed to be...twelve main ones, of us right? And other human inheritors. And of other species." Arne said, giving it a bit of a thought as he looked into her blue eyes and couldn't help but stare into them, trying to ponder what meaning he could gain from them.

"Mhrm. And we don't need anyone to be the overall leader. Especially not all the time." She crossed a leg for a few seconds, then drew both in for a pretzel legged stance and let him lean his head on her shoulder for comfort.

"Against Trace? Or Weavel? We can manage. It'll be hard. But...I think we'll be alright. Especially as we form a group. Just some...teams to help deal with this mess before it gets out of hand." Samus said, bringing an arm around him and holding him tight like she didn't want to let him go, she wanted him to be safe, to be secure, to be protected.

He took only a short while to return the embrace, keeping her close and just letting himself be absorbed into the moment while it was there.

"Do you already have one of your plans in your head or are we going to do more of the Samus ploy?" Arne said with a bit of a chuckle to get her to laugh once again, a sound he was quite sure he'd never get tired of.

"Well, we shouldn't plan in too much detail. The best plans are the simplest really! Fewest failure points. Easiest to carry out. So I'd prefer to get more details before we make the big plan...so...yeah Samus ploy time. Always a good time for Samus ploy time." She rambled a bit, tottering at the end of her out loud thoughts and nibbling a little on a lock of her hair.

"Everyone seems scared of Trace though. Well, almost. And from what I've seen; people think going after Weavel is also crazy." Arne said, looking back at her as she nodded in acknowledgement.

"Well...I think we can make a difference. Especially with more of us on task than normal. And well...it'll be worth it in the end, won't it? I've got unfinished business with Weavel, and Sevrin with Trace's house. I think we're meant to be going after them." Samus said, curling her knees up to her chest and tapping her fingers across his shoulder in a careful rhythm.

"Yeah, I guess you're right there. Still, I think we should probably at least think up of a few plans for what to do if well, the opposition gets wise to us? Don't want to get surprised by their lack of surprise. If that makes sense." Arne said, scratching briefly at the back of his head while Samus took just a moment to give the idea some thought.

"Hrm, not a bad point. We could definitely try to have a few things stored up just well...in case. You still have the upgrade data from before right? We'll probably need it." Samus said, quirking a brow at him before he looked almost surprised.

"You want to start out with the equipment? What happened to "I need to show I've earned it for this mission" Samus?" Arne asked with a bit of joshing joviality, an eyeroll coming from her.

"It's in case we end up needing the whole range of firepower. I'd still prefer to not use most of it unless we need to. Otherwise well, we'd get sloppy if we just smash every challenge with everything we have." She said, shrugging a bit and then looking a bit coyly at his own smirky expression, the two then breaking out into a bit of a giggling fit.

"Well Samus, I'd rather not see you get hurt because of your pride. So...maybe reconsider the usual policy? Especially if we're supposed to be taking on military forces meant to sweep through galactic clusters. That's kind of...really heavy stuff. Especially when our ship upgrades aren't...super on-par with our suit upgrades." Arne said, exhaling and bringing one knee up to his chest while samus lowered her own and closed her eyes to just have a think for a few seconds.

"Hrm...I'll give it a bit of thought after tonight, when I wake up, if I manage to sleep anyway. But for now well, we should catch up on some things you know?" She said, looking towards him as he tilted his head in just the slightest bit of puzzlement, unsure of what it was she could mean but seeing her forming a grin of an altogether more cat-like sort that slowly made his eyes open wide in realisation as she started to lay her hands on his shoulders. And he returned his own grin shortly as they decided to snuggle together, pulling into a warm embrace.

---

Consolidated Logbook Entries

Individuals: Progenitors: Inheritors: Union of Engenoid Sovereign Republics: Male: Human (Ylla Hybrid): Sevrin Edgar Agard (Part One)

Sevrin Edgar Agard was born to Martin and Emile Agard on the sixth of August, 50,000. Human security consultants for the Engenoid gas giant colony of Syrant-Tertius; his parents had contact with Ylla visitors who were observing an old facility that was still monitoring transversal fluctuations from a number of spacetime anomalies that were detected since the earliest days of the Ylla presence on the world. However, Kriken forces under the command of Lady Freeblade-Militant Straxa the Grim; lord of the often nicknamed "Varangian Guard" of the Kriken Empire for its composition of non-krikens with no stake in the Empire's line of succession; would assail the planet looking for access to the Ylla devices as well as the Holeum manufacturing facilities in the gravitonic-fabrication facilities on the colonies. Straxa would destroy all opposition with her characteristic brutality and only the activation and detonation of the Holeum stores by Emile while Martin rushed him to an Ylla vault and held off the Varangians and Kriken Guardsmen long enough for the vault to detach. Slowly sinking towards the core of the Gas Giant, Sevrin would be rescued by the Ylla known as Astrath the Father and his conclave to be taken to the Temple-World of Endrai and officially taken in as an inheritor to the Ylla.

Samus' Notes: He's cute! And very nice too! I'm not sure if he's quite as confident as he puts on though, but he tells a lot of very interesting stories I'd like to hear more about whenever we have the time. I'm especially interested in what the Ylla were like.

Arne's Notes: Well, I haven't met him in person yet...but he's pleasing on the eyes and he seems to have a great heart in his chest. I think we'll be able to work together fine. But from what I know, Astrath is kind but...judgemental.

Individuals: Progenitors: Inheritors: Union of Othimarin Omnipragmatist Republics: Female: Human (Umbhar Hybrid): Agafya Elenovna Sokolova (Part One)

Born to Elena Natashanovna Sokolova and Boris Mikhailovich Sokolov on the planet of Udraniv on the sixth of August, 50,000; a commonality with eleven other notable inheritors believed to be a sign of fate. Her parents were on garrison duty on a fortress world designed to interdict and stop raids or skirmishing fleets before they could pierce deeper into the Union and to allow for the quick mustering of reinforcements as necessary. Fortifications that while heavy, were not able to prevent the Star Serenity's 717th Templar Crusader Armada from overwhelming the planet and much of the rest of the Lyndylwic Galaxy in its lightning offensives against the Union as part of a surprise attack. With the Umbhar presence having only recently been discovered on the world as its soldiers sought to protect what was now clearly a cache of progenitor technology, Boris and Elena would find themselves killed in action by Templar-Spiritual Klavix; an infamously fanatical zealot of a little known but powerful species that converted to the Serenity's viewpoint and was only too eager to slaughter heathens in their name. Taken by the shadowy progenitors to the Nightsphere of Nykra, she was adopted as an inheritor and soon came to crave and adore the art of battle as release from the ascetic lifestyle of Matron Black and her followers.

Samus' Notes: Oh...very pretty! I'm not sure about fighting for fun like she loves to do, but I can see us managing to put that aside when we need to work together. Fighting is fun but it shouldn't be done just for fun's sake all the time. Maybe on occasion. Hrm.

Arne's Notes: Well, she is intense. Slightly intimidating. Okay, very intimidating but I think she's got her head in the right place despite it all or the love of violence. I'm afraid though, that if I spar with her she'd probably play to win a bit too hard even in friendly matches.

Polities: Universal Superpower: Theocratic: Omnihostile: Ivasti Star Serenity

The Ivasti Star Serenity is regarded as one of the greatest overall threats to peace and well-being in the universe, on par with the likes of the Space Pirates, the Glathik War-Clans, the Zikrali Bloomhorde, the Rantik Mechanical Swarm, the Greater Vlakyl Realm, the Ylgox War-Spores, or the Arkor Runebound to name a few. The Ivasti Star Serenity is infamous for its heavy usage of magic which it sees as a sacred gift of its monotheistic deity; Ivastron. A deity they believe commands them to conquer, subjugate, homogenise, and imperialise to spread the will of saviour-master. With an enormous military of fanatics who can often play quite loosely with the laws of physics as they assert their narrative realm born power over reality, the Star Serenity is often difficult to deal with for forces lacking in sufficient counter-esoterical options. Its absolute conviction of the holy necessity of its task of conquest which continually enriches the Temple Redemptor makes it infamous for its absolutist approach to warfare and its acceptance of usage of psionic indoctrination to force compliance from the conquered until their will is quashed entirely. Dominated by the Elect-Conclave, voted by the priesthood to their positions, the Star Serenity ultimately derives its authority from the Speaker-Most-Serene, its religious and temporal head.

Samus' Notes: It's always sad to see religion being used purely as a tool of control rather than freedom. Their faith isn't all about the great conquest or violence they use their church to justify, yet this one tendency has come to be so dominant...what can I do to fix this?

Arne's Notes: The Serenity is well known for its brutality when dealing with non-monotheists for all of its talk of the mercy and the forgiveness of their deity. Despite the content of their own holy text, their leaders seem committed to the worst path.

Polities: Universal Superpower: Liberal Democratic: Coalition of Democratic States: Multi-National Union: Union of Engenoid Sovereign Republics

One of the largest polities within the Coalition of Democratic States besides the Galactic Federation itself, the UESR is a long time ally and companion of the Galactic Federation well known for its famed Star Marine corps and expertise in plasma weapon systems as well as artillery doctrine. The UESR is officially a multi-national union joined in friendship as opposed to a Federation or a Confederacy, and the sovereign republics that constitute its membership have a tremendous deal of autonomy and sovereignty in their own internal affairs as well as foreign affairs that do not concern the whole of the Union. The union is also well known for its tendency to try and act as a mediator between alliance blocs, its diplomatic corps having had much practise with managing the relations within the Union itself. With a system of rotating heads of state chosen from a circle of members elected from the member states to represent the union as a whole, the Engenoids are sometimes joked about for their ability to confuse outsiders as to who holds certain important offices at the Union level.

Samus' Notes: Oddly despite the name the Engenoids are not particularly better known for their engineering capabilities than any other nation in the stars! One of the strange coincidences of linguistics. Though I'm not sure if their system needs to be so labyrinthine.

Arne's Notes: Their political system is a bit odd and their politicians overly careerist for my tastes but from my experiences it's not the worst polity of its nature in existence and certainly one of the better ones. It could be better, but everything could be better, no?

Polities: Universal Superpower: Omnipragmatic Democratic: International Programme for Common Defense and Shared Victory (INPROV): Union of Othimarin Omnipragmatist Republics

The UOOR is a long time ally and compatriot entity to the Omdyn of Democratic Council Omnipragmatist Republics founded slightly before the Omdyn itself by a treaty of Union between its initial founding members. It has since grown into a sprawling gigastatal entity encompassing a bewildering array of polities, cultures, nationalities, and species. One of the foremost military powers of the Universe, the UOOR maintains a high state of readiness due to the ease of accessing many important territories from the regions of multiple omnihostile state or aggressor entities. This has also lead to a culture of wishing to push back the borders of the Union against any nearby threats, to drive enemies back and liberate their territories and prevent any further attempts to push into its territory, with many allied state entities surrounding its core territories. The UOOR does not maintain a singular capital and changes it once roughly every five Earth years, with each new term and Union-wide general election. Thus ensuring that no member culture of the Union ever becomes especially predominant over any other.

Samus' Notes: I'm less familiar with them, but I know they consider the fight with people like the Space Pirates to be a high priority, so they have my support. Especially when they seem to put the well being of their populace to such a high degree of concern.

Arne's Notes: The anvil to the Omdyn's hammer. The shield to our sword. Though some would say it's the other way around. In any case; they're one of the most important lynchpins of the INPROV, and I'd like to visit them some day. Mom had a lot to admire about them...

Consolidated Headlines and Article Excerpts

Regional Level news: Othimaran: Truth and Liberation: Agafya Elenovna Sokolova Found Alive

Agafya "Aga" Elenovna Sokolova, daughter to the deceased Boris and Elena Sokolova following the vicious attack by the Star-Serenity on the garrison world of Udraniv, has recently turned out to be alive; appearing on the capital station of Cherkrasgrod to accept the Hero of the Union award dedicated to her parents on the tenth anniversary of their sacrifice to send warning to threatened population centres of the perfidious onslaught of Ivastan. Though she has refused to make prolonged comment or elaborate on her whereabouts in the intervening ten years, there is little doubt that she is the daughter of the two martyrs. Gruff, stern, and perhaps embittered by her experiences, Agafya is apparently quite skilled at simply disappearing when she does not wish to be seen, with efforts to track her down for further comment once she had her fill of the attention of our reporters and seemed to tire of further conversation failing as she lost the crowd in moments. Further investigation has turned up with nothing beyond proof that she was indeed; the right recipient for the awards. Though her motivations and how she has fared over the past decade remain a mystery, we can be certain that she will seek to honour the legac left behind by her family.

Samus' Notes: I can understand not really...wanting to bother with talking to the press. A lot of questions you don't really know how to answer or just people poking into things you don't want to talk about. I don't think I could spend my life in that sort of limelight. And I'm wondering if I should maybe keep more of a secret identity? Or maybe have an alter ego for when I just want to have some quiet? It might be worth it.

Arne's Notes: She engaged with the people asking her questions a lot better than I did honestly. I...still don't really have the courage to do interviews or anything like that with press representatives and I'd rather keep some privacy for a while longer. Until I can feel like I deserve to speak with the rest of my family...the survivors anyway. I still have a lot to do before I've earned being a Skjoldr.

International Level News: Engenoid: Popular Herald: Engenoid DIplomatic mission to Federation makes headway

Affirming their long standing alliance, the Union of Engenoid Sovereign Republics has dispatched an extensive diplomatic and military mission to the Federation to coordinate resources and efforts against the mutual threat of the Kriken Empire. With the Kriken threat having been escalated by order of the cabinet of the Alpha Commissioner of the Union; Seylar Estendi Hix; the Union's famed star marine corps have been preparing for a major retaliatory strike against the Empire in return for an escalation of attacks by the forces of the Archprince Trace. While a declaration of war so far seems remote, the possibility of a major raid against the Krikens seems to be impossible to discount, particularly with the issuing of statements by the heads of government of both entities condemning the ceaseless aggressions of the Kriken Empire in violation of all efforts to establish and maintain peace. As is typical of the secretive Empire, no statement has been made from Kriken Space or the territory of its vassals in response, but it is not expected that the Krikens will cease their attacks into Coalition territory given their lack of response beyond further violence to prior raids by the Coalition of Democratic States.

Samus' Notes: As much as I think Trace is a monster, I'm not sure if a major attack into the Kriken Empire is a good idea. Not a whole lot is known about the core of their territory besides that they have a massive number of troops at the ready. Hopefully if we can get to the bottom of this, we can minimise the number of people who'll be hurt by a war.

Arne's Notes: I can't see how this isn't going to escalate out of control. Do they think that they can just keep on making louder and bolder attacks? All a raid into Kriken Space without enough force to take and hold territory or cause real damage is going to tell them is that the Coalition doesn't have enough force to hit them back if struck first. They need to commit way more.

International Level News: Multinational: Hourly Report: Ivasti forces gathering for unknown operation

The Ivasti Star-Serenity, head of the Illustrious Domain and perennial rogue state, has begun to amass significant forces for reasons unknown to analysts. Experts however, conclude that based on the publicly released intelligence gathered by anonymous Freelancers that the Star-Serenity is likely preparing for major military operations that will involve a substantial number of their Elite Templars and Inquisitors; those regarded as having sufficient ultrasophontic capabilities to be entrusted with missions that cannot be accomplished by conventional force. Based on the sightings of so many of the infamous templars of the Serenity, a leading theory is that the Serenity intends to investigate possible signs of accessible Progenitor technology that is believed to have stirred interest from the Space Pirate Inferno Pack and the personal Guard of the Arch-Prince Trace. With the possibility of a convergence of many interests, it remains to be seen what the Serenity is truly planning on accomplishing, but the alert levels of states with territory within the vicinity of the Laniakea Supercluster have been raised appropriately.

Samus' Notes: The Templars and Inquisitors of the Serenity are people I've been told I need to keep very careful around by Papa. But if they're out to hurt people, to oppress people, to crush more societies for their masters...I'm going to take the fight to them without hesitation. I'm ready for them, whatever they might bring.

Arne's Notes: Templars are like Space Pirate Enforcers or Omdyni Commissar-Marshals; Inquisitors are like Freelancers or Nomad-Militants in the Omdyn. That means that very few of them are going to be anything less than combat monsters who can be pitted against armies and win. Which means that we'll have to be careful if we run into any of them.

Local Level News: Omdyni: Magnus Enquirer: Discovery of Attempted Kriken Kidnapping raises many questions, few answers

The peace and sanctity of Magnus Academy was violated this night by an attempted kidnapping of an as of yet unnamed student at the facility by the Kriken Empire via a Royal Hitman in the employ of Arch-Prince Trace. While the identity of the would-be victim remains unknown, the failure of the kidnapping is evident by the sight of the captured Hitman being moved to interrogation facilities by local militia. However, the Enquirer was able toa acquire video and photographic evidence of the perpetrator and audio recordings confirming that their purpose was abduction rather than assassination. Attempts to question faculty or students in the affected area about the incident have been met with silence for the most part, though long time student Solveig Magnasdottir has been recorded trying to speak to staff about passageways and possible unknown entrances in her dormitory pod due to her "concerns about Kriken infiltration" that seem to reveal more specific information about the incident than has been revealed thus far to the public.

Samus' Notes: Oh no the word got out...Sun's rays I hope that Arne manages to keep out of the limelight when they start digging into anything they can find. This is why the Academy should have just announced what happened as soon as possible, now that they decided to keep it secret things are only going to get more complicated.

Arne's Notes: Gods of my ancestors, please make sure I am as far away from the pod as possible before the vultures descend on their wings to pick at the corpse of the crime scene. I am absolutely...not ready for this sort of attention at this point and I don't want them getting in the way or getting hurt trying to find the truth, however much I appreciate their efforts to snoop.

---

Author's Notes: My apologies for the long delay but I ended up using this imagining of Metroid as the basis for a quest that, along with my transition to non-binary and the pregnancy of my wife, ended up taking time from updating this. But when I saw that Metroid Dread was real I just had to enby up and get down to business. I'm doing some minor rewrites of the prior chapters, mostly small edits to fix errors I made in the past or small bits of lore I've changed my mind about (moving the "present day" from 10,000 to 50,000 AD for one). The most up to date version of the fic will always be the version on Spacebattles and Sufficient Velocity, if you see any discrepancy between that and the version, please inform me.