Bounty Hunter's Buddy - (Metroid, SI)
Disclaimer: I am relying on lore stuff from the Manga that is unfolding years before the events of Metroid 1/Zero Mission. I suggest looking into the wikia or read the manga for the best understanding of what is going on.
Being born in a military family with strong ties to the Galactic Federation can easily shape a person's future. And such was my fate as I got hurled into the Galactic Police Academy at the ripe age of 14.
To make things worse, I would say that I am not that much of a 'native' to this setting as I came to realize I had been shot into a futuristic environment in this new life. I was born in a middle-to-rich family, hardly had anything to complain about, and now I was getting shipped to the 'lesser military academy'.
That being said, the Galactic Police was not what it sounded: while it was indeed meant to work as a law enforcing unit, the level of preparation was well above the common 'planetary police'. The Academy stressed this well enough as lessons hardly stuck to a topic for too long, and it tended to expand on various illegal situations to be cautious over.
Agents of all sorts, humanoids and not, were recruited as part of the efforts to create a multicultural society spanning across the galaxy. Yet, despite this premise, there was a division- one between the 'privileged ones' and the 'normal batch'.
The latter felt like one I should best fit, but I was deemed 'above others' due to two elements: one, my family had a reputation that made many expect much from me and, two, I was surprisingly good at keeping up with said expectations.
The entrance test was surprisingly easy to handle considering that this was a 'Game' I had already played before: I was in the Metroid Universe. And I didn't need to wait to meet my new roommate to know that as I could tell from stuff about Chozo, Space Pirates' raids, and the various sub-branches of the Galactic Federation Military.
I was... at the genesis of it all. I wouldn't say at the beginning of the universe, but in the right point in time where my roommate was none other than a certain cheerful blonde.
"Hello!"
Samus Aran, 14, was a inch taller than me (and I was a tall compared to other kids). She had her hair kept long, she wore a sleeveless gray shirt, gray pants and gray half-boots. She was lean, some muscles by her arms and legs, with the most prominent feature of unusual might being the abs that were visible through her shirt.
"Hello. You are... Aran?"
She nodded. "Call me Samus, uh..."
"Brian."
Samus beamed. "Okay, nice to meet you, Brian."
I have to say that this first encounter really defined her personality and our relationship from that day onward. Not only because I understood that Samus was surprisingly leechy for affection, but also because she tended to stick around those that she trusted the most despite her current bubbly attitude. This is, after all, a Samus that thought she didn't have to face Ridley and the Space Pirates anytime soon. And one that had lived a relatively nice childhood with the Chozo.
She was secretive of her 'super skill', but I already knew of her Power Suit. It was the basic form, lacking any sort of ability like 'Long Beam' and 'Morph Ball'. Quite strong with enough abilities, relatively tame at this stage.
Nonetheless, when compared to the standard equipment of a Galactic Police Officer, this was a top-notch cheat. We had grappling hooks, but Samus was literally a little tank with her Power Suit, and hardly any non-lethal attack got to damage her available Energy Tank.
The year of training we had together was relatively 'dysfunctional' since I had to really sweat it up to catch up to her own marks, where she just had to focus on the limited need of physical conditioning to acquire more strength to be perfect with the suit's weight.
A year and... I was second in the class. Right behind Samus. Was she amused by this? Very. She was a smug brat already as we were picked by the Star-Trackers. This group of people was one that was famed for its major roles in peace-keeping; close to the military, but not to the point of being deemed as such.
We were chosen to work under Chief Hardy and be in the care of squadmates Kreatz and Mauk, a elfin and a simian. The first two weeks of jobs showed how different things were from the stuff we were told at the Academy: The Space Pirates were one-upping the Galactic Federation and a few planets had been enslaved.
The first three jobs we had was to assist evacuations of civilians from falling planets. We couldn't do much but aid the escaping people so that the 'Marines' could do something to 'save the day'. That didn't happen, by the way.
Instead, we were stuck in the seemingly endless loop of seeing the pirates spreading like a plague all around. I decided to not play this too passively, and knowing how bad it was for my lack of equipment to further render me 'worthless' compared to my teammates, I decided to ask Samus for a small favor.
I couldn't crack into the Power Suit, both because it was impossible for me to do so and because it would breach the trust I had with my 'trusted' second-in-command. But I had learned enough technical stuff before the academy and during the academy to know how to 'mimic' that sort of skills.
All I needed was for Samus to show her armcannon a few times, study her parameters within the environment and then deduce the right energy pattern to then create the ideal armcannon... and do the same with the rest of the suit. What I created was a pale imitation of the power suit, a 'mockery' of sort as it was born as a mechanical suit rather than the organic one that was Samus'.
Nonetheless, I build it in line with the material provided to the standard Marine unit, and I was able to create... well, the Marine Battle Suit that would become available at the time of Metroid Prime 2. In appearance, at least.
At this stage, it could potentially acquire all mechanical upgrades such as Missiles (and it had already five unlocked that could be recharged at the expense of some energy), but it would refuse the absorption of organic modification such as suit upgrades and mobility-related abilities such as morph ball.
Despite that, I could somewhat compete with Samus. The 'Enforcer' Suit was weaker but it was lighter than the Power Suit, the Power Beam pretty much the same as the one used by Samus, and I also had Missiles... which I promptly helped Samus obtain because- there's just so much shit that needed explosive firepower for her to not have at this point.
This in turn gave us something of an edge. I don't know what got to Hardy, but the Chief had the squad relocated to spy upon one of the enslaved planets. Jigrad was a tropically-themed planet, and one that lacked any thinking people that may be native of the place. It was full for grab for a settlement bill that allowed colonizers to build their houses at a cheap cost. It had all resources needed to create a stable self-sufficient economy... until the Space Pirates came about.
Soldiers were killed, and the population was enslaved to work the local mines for resources- specifically minerals meant to be used to produce weapons and ships. The situation was critical, but the mission itself was stupid in nature: we could just 'report' on things. But that wasn't something our unit was bound by duty to do.
We were law enforcers, not marines. We were not meant to take action that involved allowing criminals to kill people. It wasn't part of the 'rules' we were meant to follow. So... I wasn't surprised when the entire squad helped Samus as we butchered the small garrison of Space Pirates before they could kill off all the children. We had been for two months, letting the bastards get cozy at the expense of people that didn't deserve this kind of behavior.
In a single move, we had destroyed the small pirate garrison and... we restored order. One would expect a counterattack of sort, but the pirates allowed the rest of the police detachment to just restore control and free the enslaved population.
What we got in return?
"I should have your asses tied up and left to rot in the sun!" Chief Hardy being a fucking cretin.
Actually no, he was smart within the Federation - it's just that the Federation was just plain dumb. Not even two weeks after our clean-up process and Jigrad was praised as a success for the whole Federation. Names were not given, only that the 'military was to thank for the good effort'.
To say I was pissed would be an understatement, but Samus was only happy that the lil' girl she saved was fine with her parents. I saw how she had broken out of her cheerful mood and turned bloodthirsty with the pirates the moment she saw the kid almost dying in front of her eyes. It was quite scary, but she held back from slaughtering all of those as we recovered their leader to be subjected to interrogation.
The man in charge of the effort? Commander Adam Malkovich himself. The man looked as prim and proper as the time of Other M, but he was younger and... more of a rule-stickler at this point.
"Keh! You really think you have any good reason to yap about 'being nice' because we are all 'humanoids'? Let me ask ye that- aren't yar people a bunch of inferior monsters to normal humans?" Mauk was immensely pissed, but I held him back with the help of Kreatz from mauling the cackling pirate. "And you, Elfin, aren't yer people called the cause of the Species' War?"
Kreatz scoffed, but didn't overreact to this as I stepped forward. I was getting annoyed with this delaying.
"And ye? Little fry trying to appear tough with a female-" He didn't get to finish that sentence as I walked up right in front of him and stared intensely at his ugly mug.
"Zebes."
A single word, and it was enough to make the restrained prisoner tense up.
"W-What?"
"Zebes is your real goal isn't it? It's the best target you can ask for- I thought of the cheap building-work you and your crew did. It showed how useless this planet truly is to your kind. But Zebes?" I sighed, then smiled. "You're a lamb sent to the slaughterhouse while your buggy people are trying to sneak a quick one."
"K-Keh, that's- how?!"
"Jigrad is close to Zebes. But if I had to pick a place where to get attention to, it would be Jigrad. Zebes is far more useful, and yet the large pirate fleet sent such a tiny force to this planet... while the rest is nowhere in the surroundings of this planet. You are just a wee bug that needed to die. Sadly for your little plan, you lived long enough to be confirmation of my guess."
The bug shivered, knowing that his 'big huge plan' of not telling anything had backfired, and I turned around to see surprised looks and shocked ones. Samus, in particular, looked to be quite sickly with her pale face. But I knew that we had to work with what we had, and I would like to use this chance to get some political power under way.
"Commander Malkovich, I have a request on behalf of my team."
The man blinked, while the Chief's eyes narrowed at my sudden comment.
"Speak up, Officer Dillon."
"Considering my squadmate's awareness of Zebes, I would ask for authorization for our team to assist in the potential evacuation of Zebes. We are close enough-"
"It will take twenty hours," Mauk rebuked, but the simian nodded. "But I agree, sir. Samus has spent years on the planet and could assist in saving any survivors."
There was a lengthy pause as Adam looked at Samus, who looked determined to help and... then me.
"Officer Dillon, I am willing to give you 48 hours. So, be quick."
I nodded.
And with this, the 'zero zero mission' was authorized.
AN
Samus liked that. Samus will remember that. And next time, Samus POV with... background speedrun.