Well dayum. So the Space Pirates invaded the base and immediately fed themselves into a statue-shaped meatgrinder before they could get around to slaughtering every living thing in the base?
Credit to them, they maintained their priorities. Sort of.
Well dayum. So the Space Pirates invaded the base and immediately fed themselves into a statue-shaped meatgrinder before they could get around to slaughtering every living thing in the base?
Credit to them, they maintained their priorities. Sort of.
So uh, this opening raises some serious questions. Considering Zero Mission takes place in the year 20X5, which means the likely answer is everything between Zero Mission and Federation Force took place over like... a year, despite the fact I was certain that the previous canon was it was 2 years later.
Then there's this image:
Samus was between 15-17 when she was in the Federation military, and left to become a bounty hunter at around the same time. Yet Zero Mission is explicitly her well... Zero Mission. Meaning it'd have had to happen at around the same time, maybe long enough afterwords for her to grow out her hair for her Zero Mission appearance.
Now I know this is just typical Nintendo "We don't give a fuck about consistent timelines" but geez Samus you get a lot done in a year.
good metroidvanias are FLAT. Would rather play a fan made or rom hacked one than the new age garbage that puts you on a linear rail with God of war finishing moves.
So uh, this opening raises some serious questions. Considering Zero Mission takes place in the year 20X5, which means the likely answer is everything between Zero Mission and Federation Force took place over like... a year, despite the fact I was certain that the previous canon was it was 2 years later.
Dragon flies in low, jets firing with a roar of sound to slow her descent as she reaches the ground. You leap, somersaulting through the air until you land on the elevator on the top of your ship, the hatch retracting as soon as you are close. As you descend into your ship you figure that the lack of reaction from the capes on the ground was due to Dragon informing them. Stepping into your ship proper you let Dragon fly you over to the crash site as you head into the restore station. A flash of light and your suit and ammunition is back up to full. You'll probably need to completely redesign it from the ground up so you can do this in the elevator shaft, luckily with Dragon assisting things would go much faster than normal. Though... you don't have a shipyard that could redesign the ship even if you had a blueprint, nevermind the resources required.
A pity. You think as you step back into the lift as Dragon finally reaches the school, flying in and hovering above the burning remains of the Winslow. The lift takes you back outside, and you can clearly see how the building was still burning, toxic plumes of smoke reaching into the sky. You hop off your ship, landing hard on both feet. The heat is an omnipresent haze over the building as you step around piles of burning bricks and shattered metal, avoiding flames as the heat warnings on your visor flash whenever you get too near. It was nearly impossible to tell this place used to be a school, everything had been blasted to rubble. Still, you manage to make your way through it, following the trail of mangled metal until you reach your target. In truth it was little more than a charred and melted piece of metal, barely recognizable as a piece of the pirate dropship. But you know what you seek is inside.
"Samus, now that we're getting a closer look at it... I don't think this is a black box, not the right section of the ship. But it's definitely something the pirates don't want us getting their hands on if that beacon is any indication. See if you can gain access to it, maybe peel its casing off?" Dragon helpfully informs you.
You tap the side of your helmet, an unconscious gesture to bring up your scan visor.
Hmmm... fascinating. This must be what the Pirates use in their kidnappings.
So naturally you begin your investigation as you do with any piece of unknown technology.
You poke it.
Your suit and the hunk of metal glows, before it turns into motes of light. They swirl around you, faster and faster until flowing into your visor and you shift your head back slightly as they do so.
Allows Samus to detect multi or inter-dimensional phenomenon, and see through effects that would normally limit her vision. While not as powerful as a similar Chozo designed variant the Space Pirate designed Para-Visor also allows Samus to see tinker-tech technology highlighted in red or target specific weak-points in entities that use multidimensional defenses, like the Endbringers with their cores. However, non-multidimensional creatures and objects, or those that have shielded themselves from detection will not be highlighted and can not be locked onto while in this visor mode.
Samus Note: While this visor mode lets me see Tinker tech and some parahuman powers it doesn't tell me if an individual is a parahuman and most won't appear on it when using their powers. Luckily, most parahumans handily showcase what they can do with their unnecessary costumes, so use deductive reasoning to identify hostile parahumans!
Useful.
You leap out of the flames, landing back on the hull of your ship. Part of you wants to turn the ship around, straight into the city. Maybe you can help in someway. But instead you let Dragon take over, directing you away from the carnage. Dragon flies back to the PRT's HQ without saying a word, you already know what she wants you to do. Go straight to the Wards HQ, wait for the others. With phone lines damaged by the bombs Dragon was providing wireless services for the entire city from your ship, allowing internet and cell phone access. You suspect your friends were trying to get in contact with their families, but with your ship's systems identifying those related to them in such a small area as Brockton Bay when there was no cloaking technology around was an easy enough task. With Dragon no longer restricted she can easily handle the influx of data coming in from so many sources.
You wonder how many were getting through to their families or how many of their families they were being told no longer had lifesigns.
All because the Pirates wanted you and the statue...
"Samus... You did more than anyone can ask of you tonight." Dragon says as you leap off onto the helipad for the second time tonight. "Rest, stay with the other Wards as they come in. The adult capes will worry about search and rescue."
"Plus Missy and Taylor..." You mutter with a sigh, muting your comm's only for a second as you walk inside.
This time you wait for the elevator, watching it move up and down as people scurried throughout the building. You stand there for nearly an hour before hitting the button to force it up to you. It arrives with a ding, a rather annoyed looking cape standing in the elevator. You get in, hitting the floor for the Wards HQ. Luckily the trip is quick and silent to normal human hearing, so there's nothing to aggravate the cape more before you get off the elevator.
You walk down the long hallway before with a tap of your visor you open the door to the Wars HQ. When you enter it seems the other's are not here yet, other than Browbeat who was talking with his mother by the sound of things. Of course, it won't be long before they come back. Pirates know exactly how to cause the most destruction and death with their explosives. If the Pirates wanted everyone in a certain area dead they'd be dead, the lack of shields or properly designed materials assured that.
"Mom, mom they might need my help. I can't leave." Browbeat says, giving you a small nod of acknowledgement as you walk past as you hear Browbeats mother ordering him to come home immediately. "Look, I know you and Dad are worried but with the bomb- Yes I...I know okay." Browbeat continues as you tune his mother out. What did she know about what was happening? She was fine while so many people were dead, with so many more to join them the next time the pirates attack. You should be out there!
You should be! You... you should be... doing something this time. Not letting it happen again and again and again and againandagainandagainandagainandagainandagain-
You head into the girls bathroom, deactivating your power suit as you do so as you get in front of a sink. You dig your fingers into your sides since you know you'll crack it with your hands. Blonde hair, matted with sweat clings to your face as you glance up at the mirror.
Wide blue eyes stare back at you, so bloodshot it almost seems like you got sand in them. Dark circles framed your eyes, your skin pale and clammy. You look emotionally and physically exhausted. At this point you've long reached the point you should have slept but now? After everything? You can't, you just can't. You were a coward scared of her own dreams and you know it'll be worse. They were here, here to kill your friends! You'll watch your parents die again and again in your dreams as they kill your friends outside of it. Awake or dreaming your life will become a nightmare you can't escape from. You can't... You c-can't..y-you
Tears well up in bloodshot blue eyes and you bite down hard on your cheek to stop the sob from coming forth. Your fingers dig so hard into your sides it hurts, and you keep choking on your sobs then let anyone hear it. You bend over clutching at yourself as tears stream from your eyes as quite choking sounds escape your throat.
You bite down even harder on your cheek and your mouth fills with blood yet you dare not open it, choking on it and your own cries. You can't make a sound! You can't l-let t-them hear!
Predictably, you gag and the combination of everything causes you to painfully heave into the sink as the contents of your stomach vacate itself from your body. You choke and sputter as your chest convulses painfully to clear everything from your esophagus and stomach. Putrid goop splatters into the sink with a rancid stench filling your nose. Everything burns as every time you think you're finished another heave brings another torrent splattering into the sink. Eventually all your doing is the movements, nothing coming up as you cough, sob and gag into the sink, strength leaving your legs leaving your cheek pressed up against the sinks edge. Your certain by now your fingers have dug far enough into your side that they've drawn blood even through your zero suit and the pain and smell leaves you letting out a pitiful cry.
The sink was letting out an even more putrid smell now, you knew due to your unique biology your digestive system was more like a "Grey Goo" mass than actual digestive enzymes and microbes and it was eating through the sink. It'll self-cannibalize itself soon enough outside of your body but as of right now it looked like the PRT will have to replace the sink. With some weakness you push yourself up, turning on the tap as you do so. Cold water pours out, and you swish some around your mouth before spitting it out, the wound in your mouth hopefully healing. Next you wash your face, hopefully cleaning away any trace of sick or tears.
Rubbing the last bit of water from your mouth and trying to avoid the rancid smell you glance up, back into the mirror to check.
Wide blue eyes stare back at you.
They sit under a mess of short blonde hair, soaked in red that was splattered over the young girls face. Fires burned behind her, consuming buildings and people with equal ferocity. A shadow looms over her, glowing eyes reflected in her own terrified ones.
Your fist impacts the mirror with enough force to pass right through it into the concrete behind it.
Strangely, you feel no pain from it. Maybe you completely destroyed your hand that you didn't pulverize it? You look back into the mirror.
And then nearly scream.
Some terrifying demon was staring back at you, a single green glowing eye regarding your every feature. Armour shifted as it moved, impervious to weapons unimaginable to the most advance of civilizations, their sciences failing to comprehend the beast in front of them. Yet you could read its every feature, understand it.
This thing, this avatar of war stood before you. A herald of doom on scale beyond mortal divination.
It's hide anointed in the blood of its foes it stands before you, a wrathful storm of death and hate. An oath of vengeance unleashed by gods, a reckoning incapable of forgiveness or retreat.
Power coursed through its limbs, filled with purging fire that can set the galaxy alight. Armies will be left in smoldering ruin in its wake, worlds torn asunder and suns snuffed out in its grip.
It was the bane of its foes, it was wrath incarnate.
It could end the space pirates. Wipe out any trace of them from the galaxy. Scour them from the universe!
You had seen it before, you distantly remember, and it had terrified you then. You were so young at the time when you saw this...
This armoured figure could put a stop to them forever.
This angel of death.
This Hunter-
You blink, before shaking your head.
You glance back at your arm, clad in armour, and withdraw it from the wall. You hold your hand out in front of you, inspecting it, flexing your fingers.
Clenching it into a fist you glance back up to your reflection in the mirror, opaque green visor reflected clearly in its shattered remnants.
No...
You remember their screams, the smell of their blood on you.
How much you enjoyed blasting and tearing them apart.
How they recoiled.
How you slaughtered them.
You stare into your visor and the wide blue eyes behind them.
No... this time things are different...
So for the first time in eleven years, you grin.
Interlude: [] After Action Report: D-632GA8323-C
[] Samus Aran: 5 year's old.
[] Dragon
[] Write In.
