Author's Note
Ooh boy, it's back. It took a couple months of throwing ideas around in my head after finishing the main act of the story for my to figure out where I wanted to go next. But now that I'm here, I'm excited to continue into the Halo universe going forward.
Uploaded
02/18/2024
LEGEND BELOW
"Chief, that's not a good idea..." = Normal speech.
''You're you, don't let it control you...'' = Normal thoughts/Receiving coms.
Chapter 38
Act 2/Queen of Pirates
Rated-M
M rating for blood, and language, and violence.
Music of the day
Metroid Prime 3 Corruption - Bryyo (Cliffside)
She didn't dream very often, nor were they good dreams whenever she had them before. The past still haunted her, it was something she was sure she'd never truly outgrow, but…
Recently, her dreams had not been filled with the memories of terrors, or reliving the death of those she loved, but…
Her dreams had been about him.
She watched him in her sleep, watching over him from a grandiose distance. She knew when he was thinking of her, although his capacity for psychic abilities was limited without the mental training, so that window only went one way. Even then, her image of him was vague at best.
She'd wanted to go back to see him again, but was busy subjugating her planet and making a new life for herself. In between everything that such a monumental task entailed, she simply hadn't the free time to leave her new world behind for such…
Well…
Frivolous needs.
She knew that she was being extra hard on herself, and if there was one thing she remembered from her days under her Chozo mentors, was that balance was required in all things, in all ways. She knew Old Bird would surely be sending her a disappointing glare at this point, having gone four months without rest.
Dwelling on that now, she'd been debating on returning to his side for some time, but hadn't decided when would be best.
More then that, in the time since she'd left his side, her family had grown from four to…
Well…
More…
She slowly woke from her dreams, the feeling of something nudging her pulling her back to the realm of consciousness. The first thing she visually registered was the color green, green surrounding her on all sides. Blinking in surprise, she sat up, surrounded by the chorus of cooing Metroids of all shapes and sizes.
A soft grin graced her lips as her newest younglings nudged her lovingly, five infant Metroids floating around her in circles as if dancing. The translucent creatures cooed in delight, singing in their small, broken language, the mind-power of such newborns nowhere near the level of her first children.
Yet even then, she could still sense their emotions, love and blind affection all directed to her.
It was something she still felt would take time to get used to, having not one, not ten or twenty, but now over thirty voices echoing around her mind.
If she was honest with herself, the main reason she'd not taken the time to return to John was due to her body's desire to repopulate.
There hadn't been a single day since she'd landed on the planet that she hadn't found herself carrying a newborn. And the day she'd finally give birth, the next morning would come around and she'd be distinctly aware of the fact that her body was already in the works of developing even more.
Adam had chalked it up to the fact that having returned to the Metroid home-world, even while in a different dimension, the environment here was so fine tuned towards Metroid propagation that her body was working in overdrive to create an entire species all on its own.
And four months into her new life, she couldn't find it in herself to complain.
She knew her mind had been altered due to the transformation into a Metroid Queen, the realization probably occurring once she realized that she held zero irritability towards her constant state of pregnancy.
It didn't help that upon fully taking up her role as queen bee, the true queen inside of her mind had taken over, and the both of them had come to share one headspace.
It had lead to quite the odd number of conversations.
One being…
"How many children do you plan on making me create?" The woman found herself questioning one morning, staring into the vast multicolored sky of her world. Holding a hand to her very pregnant belly, she found wearing her Power-Suit had become problematic during the end of her pregnancy. That wasn't to say that she couldn't, but it wasn't something she sought out in her free time.
"Why must you put a numerical limit to our children? We are the ultimate species, our children are the epitome of perfection and grace. To limit their growth would be… unbecoming." A deep, feminine voice echoed throughout the inner chamber of her mind.
The Bounty Hunter rolled her eyes. "I agree with you on that subject. However, you aren't the one forced to carry them every single day." She ranted, hands on her hips. "On the off chance you have not noticed, I am not fifteen feet tall and forty feet long. I don't have the space in my little human shaped body to hold forty extra unborn Metroids at all times." She pointed out defensively.
"Hmph, you have managed sufficiently thus far, I see no reason to change your rate of birth." The Queen huffed, the image of her crossing her arms like a cat who was irritated flashing across the Bounty Hunter's mind.
"Then you would not mind if we changed places for an entire month? After all, you seem to like the idea of being pregnant every single day." Samus offered sharply.
The Queen huffed indignantly, but didn't take the offer.
"That's what I thought." She muttered victoriously.
"It would be easier to breed if you embraced your true form, instead of this… Tiny, squishy form. What are the advantages of having such large flesh orbs on your chest? They do not provide our children sustenance nor do they serve us any advantage in combat." The angry mother inside her mind insisted.
"Consider them a leftover trait of my humanity. Furthermore, it is where my nuclei store excess energy reserves if my suit is full." She explained simply. "And, human men find them rather hard to resist when employed properly." She added after a moment of thought.
"We have no, human men on this planet." The Queen pointed out sharply.
"Currently..." Samus muttered offhandedly.
The Queen's eyes narrowed in her mind. "Why have you not dragged that specimen by his genitals back to our den for breeding? I've gone over your memories of the human mating ritual, and I find the act quite… entertaining."
The Bounty Hunter's eyes widened in surprise. "That is precisely why I don't let you take control…" She sighed, holding her head in her hands. "You are too impulsive, irrational, irresponsible."
"I do not have these… repulsive natures akin to the likes of you. You call me impulsive, I refer to it as taking what I want when I feel it suits my needs best." The Queen stated proudly.
Samus rolled her eyes. "Correct. Hence why I am in control and you are not." She added dryly.
The Queen grumbled, but did not feel the need to add anything more to the conversation.
Yes, as stated before, within the confines of her ideal world, she had gained the ability to truly and perfectly control her body's transformation. Her last vestiges of her humanity remained only in her mind now, the body she wore at all times merely the idea way that she viewed herself.
The wings of her nemesis she could summon at will, the same for his tail. Upon bathing in the endless sea of gama radiation that bathed her world like the rays of the sun, her body had evolved into its true final form.
A Queen Metroid.
And after spending half a day as a literal leviathan class behemoth, she decided that she liked her long slender body more than the other one.
The Queen hadn't been happy to hear that, but kept her grumbles to herself for the most part.
It wasn't as easy to contain a vast swath of pure energy within the confines of her human shaped body, but she found that the discomfort was worth it for that familiar feeling of being in her own body. The time it took to revert back to such a smaller form was arduous, yet still worth it.
But, conversations akin to those had become common place during her time on SR-388. If you'd asked her years ago how she'd feel about sharing the same headspace with a hormonal and dangerously protective Queen Metroid who had a knack for violence against anything that looked at them wrong, she'd call you crazy.
But now?
Now she called that other creature living in her head a…
Friend, of sorts.
It gave her someone to talk to, even if that someone was living inside her mind. Although she adored her conversations with her ever growing number of children, they were still young and had much to learn. Few of them understood the world that she'd come from, and conversations about that mostly led to her explaining the universe she'd once called home.
Queen Bee, on the other hand, was a consciousness crafted out of her entire catalog of memories and emotions, fueled by hormones and simple urges.
Talking to her about the more human aspects of life she'd left behind was a bit easier to handle, if only because of the fact that she had all of her memories.
But if there was one thing that had come out of their mutual relationship towards one another, was the Queen's impact she had on her mind. Little mental changes she tried to impose on her due to the fact that she was not in control of her body.
It wasn't anything outlandish, but it certainly lead to her current situation…
She stared through the window of her starship, gazing down at the lonely planet below. There was no mistaking the home-world of her eternal enemies, yet this time around it had not been torn apart by its own inhabitants.
Where the Pirate home-world she'd seen with her own eyes back then had been a planet stripped of its natural resources, turned into a red rock floating through space, shedding an unending storm of acid rain day after day. This planet that stood before her was decidedly less…
Destroyed.
It displayed signs of what would undoubtedly lead to the future she had been a part of, a monstrous race of scientists and warriors that lacked compassion and empathy, doing everything they must to achieve their goals of intergalactic domination.
They had not yet become the space faring species that she had come to despise with every inch of her being, but if left unchecked, they would become just that once more.
It was in their blood.
She remembered something that Adam had told her once during their time upon the Bottleship. The Space Pirates, although fierce and powerful warriors, were directionless without a powerful being leading the pack. Without a powerful presence akin to the likes of Mother Brain or Ridley to lead them, they would lose their way.
They were creatures that worshipped power and strength, and spent generation after generation in the search of true power that would give them an edge over their enemies. It was what had led them to the Metroids, what made them covet the Phazon, and what led to their diabolical experiments conducted in the search for power.
As a species, in was in their DNA to become strong, and under the wrong leadership, it would lead to intergalactic conflict with other races.
But…
Under her leadership, under her control, she could give them the powerful leader they oh so desperately coveted, the strength that they as a species, yearned for.
However…
If they turned down her offer, if they refused to obey her rule, then they would not be allowed to live. The reality of her line of thinking would've made her stomach churn if she'd dwelled on it years prior, but…
She was no child. She had seen what the Space Pirates could become, seen what they would become if left unchecked. She had experienced their lust for power, tasted their violence when standing in their way, and had seen what they would do if lead to believe that their leader was in the right.
Her Chozo elders would probably call her actions wrong, but they were gone now. She would not stand idly by and watch as they grew into a space fairing race that destroyed entire colonies, planets, races, in the search for power.
A calamitous event such as the disaster at K-2L could not be allowed to happen again, not when she stood posed to stop it. She had the chance to bring either the end of their race right here and now, or bend them to her will to lead to a better future where they helped her bring peace to the galaxy.
This option had never been available to her in her timeline, their species far too gone to change their ways. The lust for dominance, for power, had been ingrained into their existence by that point. However, that remained to be seen now.
Her plan now? Go planet-side and prove her dominance, demanding that they submit to her loyally in service and servitude, and she would offer them a ruler with power and strength far beyond anything Mother Brain or Ridley could ever offer, and bring with her the knowledge of starships and technology far beyond anything they could have ever dreamed of.
One reason the Space Pirates in her universe despised her was her constant theft of their technology. She had entire schematics and blueprints for starships and weapons locked away in her suit, generations of Space Pirate technology all taken during her endless war with them.
If they bent to her will, she could offer this technology, this power, this wisdom. It could be all theirs, their dreams of power and scientific knowledge at their fingertips. The offer would be too good to pass up, too valuable to turn her away.
But…
If they refused her offer, refused her demands, then…
Well.
It wouldn't be the first genoside she'd taken upon herself.
"Lady, are you sure this is a wise decision?" It was Adam's voice that broke her from her internal thoughts, dragging her eyes back to the control terminal that housed his internal components.
"Are you suggesting that I stand on the sidelines and wait for them to become the monsters that brought chaos and death to our universe?" She asked lowly, turning a red eyed look down to the artificial intelligence.
"Quite the contrary, Lady. I am simply implying that you take stock of all your decisions available to you." Adam clarified robotically. "I know you can defeat anything this species may employ against you, I just implore that you exercise caution." He added. "Although I am a machine, I am capable of displaying concern over you."
Her expression lightened slightly, turning her attention back to the world before her.
She hesitated for but a moment, claws hovering over the thrusters to her ship, before she reached down those last few inches and shoved the controls forward.
The Winter-class Prowler lurched forward, powerful thrusters propelling it down into the planet's atmosphere. She sat back in her seat as an endless sea of clouds buffeted the window, the ship shaking as she entered the skies of the Pirate Homeworld.
She was left to her thoughts for a long moment, before she broke through the atmosphere, coming out the other side to a world of towering buildings and strange alien trees that towered above any manmade structures.
It was a far-cry from the industrial world she'd visited before, but it was still war focused in nature.
Anti air cannons took note of her presence, giant guns turning to take aim at her. They were bar below anything she'd had to endure before, and any attacks that came her way were easily avoided, or even, in extreme cases, blocked entirely by the energy shields that surrounded her ship.
A quick scan of the military city she found herself in revealed the location of a temple structure situated in the center. Just the same as the Pirates of her time, they worshipped their rulers like gods, and as such, their gods sat in a palace made of their most advanced technology.
The might weapons that surrounded the temple proved to be a pain to deal with, but nothing life threatening.
Breaching their internal defense grid, she moved to land in the high courtyard of the palace. Hundreds of Pirate soldiers rushed out to fight her, wielding metal blades and energy weapons that were pale imitations of anything deployed against her in the past.
She left the cockpit behind, moving for the landing bay as the doors opened.
Soldiers rushed her from all sides, attempting to impale her with their metal weapons, weapons that shattered upon impact with her armor. The beasts snarled as they fired hundreds of energy weapons against her, but it only served to feed her hungry Metroid body as she absorbed anything that came her way with her hand, energy attacks vanishing in a swirl of pink light.
She tossed her foes to the ground, destroyed their weapons by merely touching them, and proved to be a monster in battle, a beast they couldn't even attempt to combat.
She carved a path through the palace, leaving a trail of bodies in her wake, injured, but not dead. When she eventually arrived at the palace inner chambers, an army of soldiers had fallen around her, an army that proved unable to stop her approach.
It was an unmitigated slaughter, and when she finally arrived at the innermost chamber, she found the current leader of the Space Pirates sitting on a throne, his stature tall and powerful, easily eight feet tall, and armed in the most advanced technology they had at their disposal.
Another battalion of soldiers came rushing out to stop her, but they all gave pause when the one situated on the throne gave the signal to pause.
"You, stranger from the stars. You have broken into our world, have laid my soldiers out, and have made a mockery of our race. Great warrior clad in green, state your name and your purpose for your presence here, or suffer the entire wrath of the Zebesian army!" The great Pirate declared, pointing a claw at her.
She leveled an intense glare at the leader, her presence alone making those nearest to her weak in the knees.
It was as if staring death itself in the eyes.
The bells of annihilation were ringing, and everyone in the crowd knew it.
Zebesians of all ranks and sizes slowly began to back away, sensing the danger they were in.
Samus then placed a hand on her hip, dangerous sharp claws on full display. She cleared her throat, slowly stepping towards the throne, eyes never leaving the one situated upon it.
"My name is Samus Aran. I come here today to offer you a future. Bend to me, and I can offer you all the technology and power you could ever want. You can have faith that in eternal service to me, I can bring you everything your heart desires." She explained slowly, staring unblinkingly at the Pirate leader.
"And if we refuse?" The Pirate asked lowly, a dangerous look marring his mandibles. He slammed a claw down, urging his elite warriors forward.
Samus's eyes narrowed behind her visor, a dangerous glint in her eye that sent warning bells off in the minds of all around her.
Of the Pirates that had already been floored by her non lethal attacks from before, they fled from the area as more warriors ran to take her down.
"If you refuse?" She asked lowly. "Strange, I don't remember giving you an option. I merely explained the only chance you have." She said dismissively, raising her cannon to point at the army that approached her. A red energy began to radiate from the tip of her cannon, distorting the air and atmosphere around it.
By the time the Pirate leader realized that grave error he had made, it was too late to stop anything. In the blink of an eye, an unholy level of energy exploded out from the tip of her cannon, evolving into a beam that was larger than she was. The wave of red shot forward, disintegrating anything it came into contact with, flesh, stone, armor.
When she finally cut the attack short, all that was left was a hole that cut cleanly through the walls of the palace that extended out to the city beyond. If she had continued the attack for any longer, she'd have sliced the foundations of the city in half.
She lowered her arm, turning to glance at the damages she'd caused. All that remained of the Pirates that came to try and stop her were legs that extended up to where a body once was.
She turned her eyes onto a rather young Zebesian elite, both her right arm and leg missing from the joints down. She stumbled backwards in horror as Samus approached her, but she was unable to back away.
"This is what lays in wait for those who oppose me. I came here today to give you a future of prosperity and power. But if I am denied that throne, then I am more than prepared to bring about the total annihilation of your entire race." She uttered simply, her voice cold and calculating.
She approached the downed Pirate, taking a knee before her as she reached out to touch her. "I can offer your great things, things you will never find anywhere else." She spoke aloud, voice echoing throughout the entire palace.
The Zebesian froze as she placed her hand upon her outer carapace, a pink light radiating outward. Then, in a matter of moments, she watched as her missing limbs suddenly regrew out of thin air, reformed by that strange pink energy.
Samus stood up, glancing down at the young Zebesian who had yet to make a move to stand, either out of respect or fear, she did not know. She extended a claw down to her, offering to help her up.
The young Elite Pirate blinked silently for a moment, before taking the offered hand with her newly regrown limb.
Samus smiled, before turning her attention back to the Pirate Leader. "So, great and wise leader, what will your decision be?" She asked again, moving to stand before him.
This time around, that cocksure attitude was gone, in its place full and total subservience. The throne was left empty, the Pirate down on his knees as he bowed to her, holding in his claws the crown. It was a jagged thing made from the densest material found on their planet, glowing with a sinister yet soft red color.
She took it from his claws, gently holding it up before her eyes to inspect it. She smirked, before placing it upon her helmet where the Power-Suit augmented to magnetically mount it for a more permanent position.
She then directed her attention towards the throne, empty, awaiting its new and permanent leader. She sat down in the comically large seat, the thing having been clearly made for a creature much larger than her.
She turned her attention out towards the crowd of Zebesians as they all fell in loyal submission to her. "All hail the great and powerful Samus, our new Queen!" A chorus rang out, echoed across the city.
"All hail our new powerful leader!"
"Praise to our glorious new Queen!"
"Glory to the Space Pirates, we have been rewarded with a new all powerful leader!"
"She shall lead us on a conquest across the stars! Glory to our grand new Queen!"
Samus slowly scanned the gathering of Space Pirates before her, before she grinned.
"Well… That was easier then I thought…" She muttered to herself, a bit disappointed that they didn't try to fight back a little more. She knew the Zebesians as a species were subject to their instincts to serve those greater than them, but to truly see it in action was another thing entirely.
Although, she didn't really blame them.
She was way out of their league.
Finding herself the new Queen of the Zebesians, she couldn't help but wonder what John was up to out there without her by his side. She just hoped that he wasn't getting himself in way over his head, again.
It had been four months since she'd leaving the Infinity, and she hadn't seen or heard from him since.
Her Chozo elders would call her actions today wrong, yet if she learned anything from Raven Beak, it was the fact that sometimes a strong ruler needed a people to lead. Unlike her Chozo father, she did not plan on galactic conquest. With the Space Pirates underneath her control, she would assume the role as beloved Queen, and would be ousted after by the entire species.
What Raven Beak lacked in compassion and wits, she had plenty of. She would rule her Zebesians not by fear alone, but instead, a more convenient solution.
Make the Zebesians covet her, make them subservient, submissive. In turn, she would grant their hearts desires, and build them up to what they always wanted to be.
A powerful warrior race led by a singular powerful woman they could worship like a god.
Her dark clone, if she had not been possessed with the urge to consume the entire universe in Phazon and destruction, could've had the same thing. But she was foolish, singleminded, cruel.
Glancing down to the young Elite Pirate that she healed before, she beckoned her to her, the Zebesian chosen as the sole Pirate allowed to stand by her side.
Her dark clone had destroyed something that could've been great.
She would not make that same mistake.
Chapter
39
End