Metroid: Second Hunter

Metroid, Second Hunter
Rob Marchi


Terror filled the world around me as the Space Pirates raided the world on which I lived. I took a round from a Galvanic Accelerator Cannon to the thigh and collapsed. I heard a voice calling my name frantically and was silenced by the screech of a GAC. I faded into unconsciousness as a Pirate picked me up and dropped me on a skiff. I awoke inside of a small Research Frigate and sat upright as the drugs in my system dissipated. I shook my head as I heard resounding explosions. I passed out yet again as Galactic Federation Marines rescued me and one other hostage. I awoke in a camp on Tallon IV. I looked around at the inside of my residence and saw the natural materials and the stream of water flowing through the room. I sat up and rushed to the water and drank a liter of it. I looked around the room again and walked out of a door. I took bearing of my position and wandered through the camp. I saw a shrine with many runes inscribed on the walls, a fountain flowing corrupted water, a horrible beast inside of a spring, and a great many wild beasts.

I stuck to the plaza and the gathering hall, as they were free of beasts. I made a simple existence until she came. I saw her as I was looking for food, she with the blond hair and battle armor. I saw her as she ate a small meal, she turned to look at me and I swallowed in fear, as I had seen her weapons. She walked over to where I was hiding and exposed me, pointing the cannon on her arm towards me. My face went pale and I shook. She pointed the gun away from me when she saw me shaking. She kneeled next to me and I was mesmerized by the light reflected off the orange shoulder armor. She smiled at me and I was drawn to her smile. I smiled back and she said, "My name is Samus, what's yours?" I shrugged and said in a voice of broken glass, "I have no name." She looked at me again and asked, "where are you from?" "K-2L". She recoiled and looked at me in shock. I tilted my head and she blurred forward and knocked me unconscious.

I awoke inside of a small gunship, she looked at me grimly as I fidgeted in a pair of restraints. I looked around as the ship accelerated from Tallon IV. She set her ships autopilot for the Sol system. She swiveled her chair to face me and pointed at my chest. I looked at the tri-orb tattoo that's been on my chest for a long time and looked back up at her. She showed me a picture of a Metroid and she pointed at it's tri-nucleus body. She asked me, "why is your tattoo like that?" I shrugged and replied, "It's been there for a long time." she let the restraints off my wrists and I sat normally. I looked at the inside of her ship and realized it was a Hunter-class gunship. She looked out the front screen for a moment then turned to face me. She handed me her helmet. "See if you know what's wrong with this." I picked it up and looked inside it. I poked the inside of the visor and watched the crackles of interference. I tapped the temple of the helmet against my knuckles and the Visor cleared.

I must have fallen asleep at some point because Samus woke me when we entered Sol. I looked through the viewport at the 8 planets in the system, 4 gas giants and 4 rocky planets. We landed on the third planet from the sun. We landed in a forest and cloaked the ship. Samus and I dressed as locals and headed towards a town, trying to look like siblings. It worked well, as we were asked several times if we were brother and sister. We merely smiled and nodded. We bought food and water from a large warehouse. Samus told me to find local weaponry and bring them back to the ship. I saw a heavily guarded area and decided that weapons and ammunition were likely to be found there. I snuck in and stole carbines, handguns and a chain-gun. I took two assault rifles as well with more the 10,000 rounds for each weapon. I made two trips and eventually I put them in the gunships storage compartment and waited for Samus. I got worried after about two hours and grabbed a handgun. I loaded it and tucked it in my belt. I wandered into town and went toward the local authorities base. I wandered inside and snuck behind the receptionist. I heard Samus's soft voice from behind a door and an angry tone after a few moments. I cracked open the door and saw an interrogation process. I slid the handgun from my belt to my hand and strode into the room. "hello."4)Samus looked in disbelief at me as I leveled my weapon at her interrogator. He cursed, "who the @&?$ are you!?" I replied cooly, "let the lady go, or I blast you." He laughed at my threat and drew a weapon of his own. I knew that he had called my bluff. I leapt towards Samus as his weapon discharged, gouging a chunk from the ground. I slashed the restraints on her wrists and gave her my weapon. She opened fire at his legs, crippling him. We rushed out the door and headed back to the gunship.

She uncloaked it and we stood there, stunned, as nothing happened. We looked around and saw tread marks in the ground, leading towards a military base. I looked at the bunker, the gun in Samus's hand and flushed red at my mistake. Samus saw my face and turned to me. I blushed redder and and she leaned in close to me. "what is it?" she asked me. I blushed again and she laughed. I looked at the gun she was carrying and she smacked me upside the head when she realized what i had caused. I blushed a deeper red then before and she burst out laughing at my facial expression. I smiled and we laughed together. I reached for her hand and she grabbed mine. I smiled broadly and she planted a soft kiss on my cheek. I flushed a little and we started for the military installation.When we got to the base we saw that security was heavy around a large warehouse. We heard the sounds of metallic screeches and Samus's face darkened at the thought of what they could be doing to her gunship. I paled at the thought of her wrath and tapped her shoulder. She looked at me and I beckoned for her to follow me. I led her to an unguarded portion of fence. We clambered over and snuck from the fence to the armory. We snagged some rifles and a lot of ammo. We stole two uniforms as well. We walked towards the warehouse and no one gave us opposition. I sighed in relief as we got past a security checkpoint loaded with guards. she looked at me and winked as a few guards checked her out. I smiled as we strolled towards the main warehouse. We looked at the warehouse with her gunship inside, and I paled slightly in fear. She smiled at me and we opened up the door to the central room. what we saw was horrific. They were testing out weapons on the armored hull of the gunship and using small arms on the Chozo armor suit that Samus wears. I could sense the rage burning like liquid lead in Samus's veins. I paled again as she leapt towards the soldier operating the weapons being pointed at her gunship. I leapt after her and tackled the ones testing her armor suit and wrestled for the weapon he was carrying. I got his gun and took his knee off as Samus grabbed her armor suit and me and jumped into the gunship. We engaged our engines and smashed through the warehouse roof, accelerating to the safety of space. As we left this planet we began to talk about ourselves, I told her about my life on Tallon IV and she told me of the Chozo. i learned that the Chozo are the one who made the refuge I lived in on Tallon IV. She told me of Metroids and Space Pirates, I told her of peace and simplicity. I could see that she had only known hate and war through her entire life and I wanted her to realize there was another alternative. I looked at Samus and could see the deep-rooted pain in her eyes, concealed behind a friendly smile. I could see her hatred in her movements, the drive behind her life. We were only 22, but we had already known a life of pain.

We plotted a series of random jumps back to Federation space so I could join her officially as a bounty hunter. We came across a difficult job on planet Aether. This particular mission confused me. I saw Samus in her armor, then saw her again in black and blue armor and twice more in reddish brown and whitish gold armor. She told me of the Luminoth and the Ing. I listened in rapture as she told me of her doppleganger, Dark Samus aka Metroid Prime. I was horrified by the tale of Light and Dark Aether and the Luminoth/ Ing war. It was brutality in its purest form. I slept fitfully as we flew to a Federation base in the system. I registered as a Hunter under the name Halcyon and was given Assault armor and a Chozo developed assault weapon to aid Samus. I grabbed a rifle from the several stolen from the Sol system and built a rig on my armor to carry it, a handgun and ammunition for each. Samus liked the look of my gunmetal and silver armor mixed with the matte black of each weapon and told me it was very striking. I smiled at her compliment and snapped my helmet into place, a gunmetal helmet with silver stripes running down the front of the helmet. She said that together we looked like a pair of hunters. Her, tall with heavy armor. Me, bulky and large with angular armor. We were the perfect team for tough jobs. But as time passed I grew more attached to Samus, almost like her son. She regarded me as a sibling and I regarded her as a mother. We became two halves of one mind, instinctively knowing the others thoughts. It was almost as though... I loved her... and I wished she'd love me. We kept fighting together, as the jobs became more deadly, we became more attached. At one point we didn't even need to speak to tell the other what we needed or wanted. we were two bodies, one mind. I loved her dearly and I could tell she knew this.

As we fought side by side over the span of six months, taking odd jobs from the Federation and meeting up with an odd Hunter named Rundas. He was arrogant to an extreme and believed that he was the best at Bounty Hunting. Samus and I soon showed him the spoils of a raid on a Pirate-controlled planet in the Gaflar system, a fully intact Berserker Lord corpse. As he gaped at the corpse we slipped back to the gunship, laughing quietly amongst ourselves as he tried to come up with excuses on why he couldn't take one down. As we boarded the gunship, Samus used a matter to energy device to take off her armor. I examined the device with gusto, trying to understand the physics behind it, yet the answer eluded me. I returned the device to her and she used it to wear her armor again as we neared a Federation naval fleet in orbit above Norion. As we approached the fleet, a squadron of Stiletto class fighters pulled into an escort formation around our ship, requesting a clearance code for access to the flagship Olympus. I watched the fighters from the starboard side of the cockpit as they held formation until the code was transmitted. I watched as they peeled off of our flanks to return to a large Aries class frigate nearby. We docked in Docking bay 5 on the Olympus and proceeded through the ship’s security levels, meeting a kind-hearted hunter named Ghor. He told us of a message that several Hunters had received for a very different assignment from the Federation. We moved through the bowels of the ship, enduring security check after security check, all in the name of protection for the Aurora Unit at the ships core.

I wandered off into the service levels and ended up in the Gunnery station. Just about every Marine there stared at me enviously because of the heavy modifications on my armor and weapons. I looked at a squad of Marines outfitted with bulkier armor and wondered what kind of gear was inside the backpack and armor. As I passed one of the different Marines the radiation meter in my HUD skyrocketed and I regarded the Marine in question with my peripheral vision and i could almost see a weary smile of the bemused Marine behind the faceplate. He gave a nod and depolarized his faceplate to mouth a single word, “Phazon.” I smiled back as he polarized his faceplate again. I kept wandering and ended up in the Flag Bridge as Samus was arriving. I gave a quick thumbs up and we continued to the meeting room for an assignment given by Admiral Dane. Dane introduced us to 242, the flagship’s Aurora Unit and continued to tell us all; Samus, me, Ghor, Rundas, and a metamorph named Ghandrayda about our mission. Dane told us all of a virus implanted into the AU network, a virus planted by the Space Pirates in an effort to cripple our defenses so they would have an opening to attack. As Dane completed his briefing by assigning us an area to explore, a Fleet Trooper called a condition red alert, on account of a space pirate attack fleet on an attack pattern near Norion.

Dane ordered the fleet to scramble all fighters and activate the planetary defense system when a Fleet Trooper called out some bad news, “Sir! The Pirates have already landed on Norion and deactivated the defense generators!” Dane ordered the five Hunters to Norion to repel the Pirates and reactivate the generators. Samus and I went our separate ways. I headed to a drop pod bay and hitched a ride to the planets surface. I landed near the docking hub and immediately raced towards the nearest generator, Generator B. I was confronted by two Pirate Militia and stopped in my tracks as they opened fire with assault rifles. I rolled to the side and drew my rifle, loading a magazine and poking around the corner to return fire, taking a glancing round to the shoulder in the process. I took cover again and returned fire during a lull in their shooting, killing both Militia with well aimed shots to the head. They collapsed to the ground and I quickly ran to the generator, confronted by two Pirate Aerotroopers. They had a distinct advantage , height and agility. I opened fire with my rifle, clipping an Aerotrooper and injuring it severely enough for it to stagger. I saw an opportunity and took it, leaping into the air and latching onto the Aerotrooper. I wrapped my hands around the Aerotroopers jet pack and ripped it off, dropping to the ground as the trooper fell down the generator shaft to a painful death miles below the surface. I turned to face the second Aerotrooper and it sent two small missiles after me. I rolled two avoid the first and jumped over the second a moment two late. It detonated against my armored thigh and ripped off chunks of my armor and threw me across the room. I crashed into the ground and skidded across the platform, coming to a rest near the edge of the platform. The Aerotrooper landed on the platform and walked over to me, placing its foot on my chest. I quickly drew my handgun and fired off four .45 magnum rounds into the aliens face, watching it collapse on the ground.

I stood up a little shakily and pressed a hand to my thigh to check if I was bleeding, I wasn’t. I limped over to the generator control panel and activated the panel, watching as the FedTech Plasma Reactor settled into place and began providing power to the base. I returned to the doors guarding the defense system command tower and activated the gateway as the other Hunters came up behind me. Samus sent me a message asking me about my wrecked leg armor and I flashed a thumbs up to indicate that I was fine. She seemed worried but we continued up the elevator leading to the command tower anyway. When we arrived at the command center we got a message that a meteor was on approach to Norion and impact wasn’t avoidable so we were ordered to shoot it down. As we moved toward the fire controls a pulse of bluish black light burst through the window and formed into a replica of Samus. We all turned to face her with weapons aimed and I squeezed off a shot, clipping the doppleganger’s helmet. It turned to face me and I let my knees collapse, falling to the ground as a burst of Phazon impacted over my head. I held the trigger down and emptied every last bullet in the belt at the doppleganger, punching holes into its armor and shattering its visor. It grew annoyed of our combined barrages and sent out a wave of Phazon energy that sent us all sprawling. Samus jumped back up as her enemy fired off a shot. Samus dodged by twisting the right half of her upper body back and returned with a shot of her own as her arm returned to its original position. As we all trained our weapons, the doppleganger fired a shotgun spread of phazon into each of us, impacting in the center of our bodies. I crumpled and watched Samus fire the cannon and collapse as my vision faded to black.

I woke up less then a week later, to the amazement of the medical officer on duty. As I tried to climb out of the medical pod, a marine pushed me back down and a technician explained to me that my body was self producing and absorbing Phazon energy, with no negative effects to my health. They warned me that because my body was producing and absorbing Phazon, I could easily become power- drunk and go crazy. I heard that Dane wanted to brief me about my assignment and was called up to the Aurora Chamber. I proceeded to the lift from MedLab Echo and up to the Flag Bridge. I was ushered through the heavy doors leading to the Aurora Chamber and AU 242 told me of the missing GFS Valhalla and of the last transmission of AU 313, the AU inside of the Valhalla. I was given an order to find the Valhalla and return to Norion once I had. I decided to “borrow” a fighter from the Olympus because I didn’t have a ship of my own. I proceeded to the fighter bays and hopped into an Onyx class long range gunboat after receiving permission from the dock master to commandeer it for my mission. As I primed the engines of my new gunboat, I decided to name it something. I wanted something fearful but elegant while retaining my spirit. So, I named my ship Dusk, a tribute to the time of day that i feel most alive.

I lifted away from the Olympus Docking bay, thinking of Samus inside of a medical pod onboard the Olympus, sleeping in a dreamless night. I punched in the co-ordinates for Elysia, a Chozo observatory and Federation spy base situated between Norion, Bryyo, and the Valhalla’s last known location: the Gaflar system. I landed on the Elysian docking bay and hopped out of the cramped cockpit of the Onyx class gunboat and walked over to the path leading from the docking bay to the rest of the complex. Before I left the docking bay I dropped a signal beacon, designating a safe location for any allied ships to land. I came across a growth made of Phazon blocking the exit doorway and looked at it through the scanner built into my eye-screen. I was told that because the growth was formed of Phazon it was susceptible to Phazon based attacks. I rocked back on my heels and fired a lightning blast of Phazon at the growth, effectively destroying it.

I opened the doorway and was tackled by a mechanoid roughly 8 feet tall. I twisted my upper body and threw it to the ground as it tried to secure a grip on my armor, but the angular plates were blocking its grip. It opened fire with a small pulse weapon and the round was deflected by my armor, impacting against the wall to my right. I tried to unsling my weapon but it catapulted back at me before I could bring my weapon to bear. It crashed into me this time, without bothering to try its weapon. We grappled together as the seconds slowly ticked by, him gaining the upper hand when I brought my angled knee up into its stomach, bending it over and crippling it. I threw it to the ground and it managed to grate out a short sentence, “Kill.. me.. now.” I obliged its wish and brought my boot down on its chest, crushing the delicate circuitry against the ground. I stepped back as the final sparks in the machines chest panel finally winked out and dimmed.

I proceeded to a tram on the west side of the main structure of SkyTown and powered it up, sending it towards east SkyTown. It screeched to a halt about half-way and began to sway in the gusts. I started to cut open the grating around the main cage and clambered to the top of the tram as it started to groan metallically. I hooked up a magnetic rail interface to my armor and powered it up, connecting to the rail as the tram tore from the rail and plummeted to the gassy surface of Elysia. I rode the rail to East SkyTown and landed on the tram station, shaken but unharmed. I trotted into the first area of East SkyTown and was surprised by a Space Pirate corpse, that was supported by the closed door, and fell on me. I jumped to the side as it collapsed into the doorway and I kneeled down next to it to examine the killing blow. I saw a ring shaped bite mark on its back. I dragged the corpse over to the edge of the tram station and tossed it over the edge, for my own entertainment. I went back into the facility and proceeded to the Chozo Observatory, on the opposite side of the area. I downloaded a map of the Gaflar system and proceeded to the western landing pad of East SkyTown. I called my gunboat to the pad and left behind a landing beacon and I lifted off into the atmosphere of Elysia.

I set the auto pilot to the Gaflar system and settled back for the ride, contemplating the phazon in my body. As I sat there, thinking, a searing pain ripped into my body and I convulsed on the floor of my ship. I writhed on the floor, clutching the tattoo on my chest as it glowed a brilliant scarlet and finally cooled to a dark crimson. I opened up my armor and scrabbled at my tattoo, which was becoming... rough. I reattached my chest plates and sat in my chair as the last of the pain receded to a dark corner in my skull and finally winked out. I kept the ships course as 242 on the Olympus told me of the destruction of the Bryyian Leviathan and the surge of Phazon in Samus and myself. It warned me of the enhanced risk of Phazon sickness now that there was more Phazon in my body. I read 242’s diagnosis on Samus’s Phazon levels and wondered what my own was. I looked around the cockpit and finally saw what I was looking for: a biohazard scanner. I booted up the scanner and ran a test, for anything thats not human in my body. I waited as the scan went through my body, documenting my makeup. It beeped a few times and I read the results. I felt my blood freeze as I saw what the Pirates did to me as a child. I was a human/ Metroid hybrid. I shared several properties with Metroids, one of which was an ability to absorb energy from outside sources, another being an affinity for Phazon absorption.

I slowed down as I entered the Gaflar system and coasted to a stop in a cloud of dust farther in the system. I activated my communications relay and broadcasted on the standard Federation frequency, broadcasting across the system to give any remaining AIs on the Valhalla a link to me. I started a scan for any Federation transponders in the system and the scan showed up a single active transponder about 380,000 kilometers in-system from my location. I powered up the Dusk’s engines and roared at top speed towards the signal. I was so preoccupied with the lone signal that I failed to notice the threat indicator beeping as a patrol of three Space Pirate fighters screamed towards me. I noticed when they let off a shot into the armored belly of my gunboat, shaking it to the rivets. I instantly yanked back on the thruster controls, reversing my direction and letting the enemy craft speed by me. I opened up with the engines again as the Pirate craft did a maximum speed turn to face me. I activated the Dusk’s weapon banks and let off several rockets aimed at the Pirate Assault Skiff in the lead. I engaged the afterburners and rocketed by the enemy craft as the lead Assault Skiff exploded in a fireball of bluish-white flame. I executed a maximum speed hairpin turn and faced the next skiff head on. I opened fire with the wing and belly mounted rail cannons as the Skiff engaged a triplet of laser cannons. The heavy rounds from my rail cannons punched holes through the Skiff, destroying its reactor and engines. The laser rounds impacted on the Dusk, shaking it like a leaf in a gust, critically damaging the cargo hold and forward armor. I turned again to engage the final Skiff. It tried to use the gatling laser cannon on its nose but I fired first, and second, and third, completely holing the enemy Skiff. I saw the enemy explode as my own ship was limping toward the signal I was reading. I was reduced to 45% reactor power and coasted towards what I hoped was the Valhalla. I saw the distinctive lines and curves of an Olympus class flagship and pushed my reactor to 55% power, getting to the Valhalla as my reactor finally shut down. I landed at the damaged landing pad on the Valhalla and opened up the canopy of my gunboat. I hopped out and looked at the damaged gunboat, almost weeping at the horrific damage to my ship. I activated a repair drone on the underside of the landing pad and ordered it to repair my ship as I explored the Valhalla.

I tried to open the door to the main section of the Valhalla but as I engaged the control a resounding explosion brought down a section of the Valhalla’s superstructure down towards my head. I barely managed to avoid the twisted metal falling towards me as it crashed into the door and catwalk. The door was destroyed so I looked to the launch tunnel for the Stiletto fighters. I trotted over to the tunnel doors and looked at the empty socket for a power cell. I looked around for the tell tale green glow of a power cell and saw one near a wrecked Stiletto fighter. I retrieved it and opened the tunnel. I looked at the Phazon encrusted walls and wondered why the Pirates used so much more force than necessary to take out a full ship of completely green Marines. I proceeded to the Aurora Chamber of the Valhalla and stood in shock at the twisted metal and glass that remained of AU 313’s tank. Still shocked, I returned to the Dusk and powered up the reactor to 75% power. The Dusk groaned and lifted off the pad, turning away from the Valhalla and I activated the prototype faster then light drive installed in the Dusk.

As I flew through space, I wondered to myself why the Pirates didn’t kill me when I was younger. I was glad they didn’t but I was still curious on why they decided to use an experimental procedure on a hostage and not a lower ranked trooper. As I contemplated this question I was alerted of a Space Pirate fleet in the vicinity by my long range scanners and I adjusted course to intercept the enemy fleet. I activated the largest weapon on my gunboat: an illegally modified rail cannon that fired tungsten carbide rounds that splintered on impact, shredding and holing an enemy with one shot. I brought my ship to a complete stop and shut down the engines, steering, and everything else but life support to give my coup de grace more power. I took aim at the Pirate flagship’s bridge and opened up the power relays leading from the reactor to the gun, further fueling the shot’s power. I took careful aim and fired, hitting the enemy flagship in the center of its bridge, completely crippling it. I opened the relays to the engines and weapons, restarting my ship with fresh power from the reactor. I screamed towards the enemy flagship, letting off rockets and missiles to clear the path to the flagship. I sent off several cruise missiles as I approached the hangar bay of the flagship, opening the belly of the ship. I landed and leapt from the Dusk into the inky black hangar. I activated my thermal imaging and swept the room, killing whatever pirates survived the missiles and decompression. Globules of black and red blood hung in the zero-G environment and splattered on my armor, coloring me like a demon from Hell. I moved to the next chamber of the flagship to find rooms upon rooms of loot from countless campaigns across the cosmos. I started a scan to identify rooms with high metallic content so I could rule the treasure rooms out from my hunt.

I advanced to an open space on the map and looked at a bizarre temple dedicated to Dark Samus. I looked to the center of the room and watched as Dark Samus herself appeared in front of me. I drew the combat knife in my left shoulder holster and twirled it in a martial salute. I watched as Dark Samus turned her right arm into a massive blade from the elbow down. I rushed forward as Dark Samus rushed at me. Our blades clashed and mine shattered on impact with hers. Again, I rushed. This time grabbing onto her blade, fighting with her to keep the blade away from my throat. I twisted and pinned her right arm to my side, keeping her blade useless. We grappled for a moment as she formed her left arm to a blade as well, which she drew across my stomach, opening me up like a fruit. She threw me aside and I smashed against a pillar, punching through it and coming to rest against a wall. She walked over to me and summoned an aura of Phazon around her fist, intending to kill me once and for all. When she brought her fist down I grabbed onto it and leeched the phazon from her hand. She looked at me and put more phazon into her hand. I kept leeching, turning my armor purple and blue as more and more phazon was poured into me. I felt my wounds heal and my damaged muscles repair themselves. Eventually, I collapsed and she grabbed me by the neck. Instead of killing me, she spoke into my mind in a voice like Hell itself, “You are strong, human. You shall serve me.” With each word, I could feel a pulse of darkness batter my mind and weaken my resolve. I tried to resist the tide of darkness bearing on my mind but I finally collapsed under the mental strain. She dropped me and I landed in a heap on the floor. I watched as the tendrils of Phazon surrounding Dark Samus reached out for me, lifted me from the ground and wrapped me in a cloud of darkness. I felt a tendril extend to my mind, corrupting my every thought with an intent as black as night. I tried to fight against the presence but the sheer evil in the tendrils caused my mind to empty in shock. The darkness pressed in, claiming its strongest victim yet as it conquered me. She let me fall to the floor and I kneeled in front of her, ready to serve her will. I heard her voice resonate in my skull, compelling me to wait for Samus at the Valhalla. I said to her, “Your will be done.” I returned to the Dusk, intent on becoming Samus’s downfall. I entered the Dusk, powered up the engines and cruised back to the Valhalla, planning to make the ship Samus’s final resting place.

I stood in the ruined flag bridge of the Valhalla, watched as Samus’s gunship flew to the Valhalla, and I returned to the docking pad on the underside of the Valhalla, to wait for Samus. I watched as the ship of the accursed Hunter descended to the landing pad. I could tell that her gaze was upon me as she landed and disembarked. I heard her voice, “Halcyon? What happened to you?” I drew my weapon and fired at her, declaring my allegiance for all to see. I dashed over to the right as she dashed left, creating a ring of death where only one could make it out alive. I filled the air with fire and managed to land several well placed shots on her chest and shoulder armor. She opened fire as well, blasting gouges into the panels on my arms, back and legs. I managed to damage Samus’s armor enough to reveal the Chozo powersuit beneath the bulky armor as she blasted me down to the bodysuit beneath my armor. I leapt high into the air and Samus took aim. She fired and I twisted my body, evading her shot and making an opening for my attack. I landed on the ground after firing at Samus, landing a heavy round on her chest plates, melting the reflective coating and upper armor layer. I landed and watched as she stood on unsteady legs to face me. I looked at her... and hesitated as the past rushed into my mind. She pointed her weapon and fired a blast into my chest, sending me backward onto the floor. I knew that I had redeemed myself in those last moments, I knew that the guilt I felt from becoming corrupted was washed away. I saw, in my fading vision, Samus rush over to me and carry me to her gunship. I was laid inside a medical pod and my eyes closed to the sight of Samus’s face. I felt buoyant as the medical pod relieved my body of the horrific injuries I had sustained. I drifted off to peaceful sleep as Samus flew to Elysia to make a pair of rings for us. Seeing that we bonded together during a fight to the death, Samus’s Chozo family gave us their blessing and left us in peace.



Credit goes to Nintendo for character and locations.
Credit goes to Rob Marchi for the storyline.
Unauthorized copying is punishable by law.