Metroid Fan Fiction ❯ Stumbling Toward Elysia ❯ Welcome Back ( Chapter 1 )

Stumbling Toward Elysia

a Metroid fan-fiction

 

Disclaimer: The characters, places and events of "Metroid Prime 3: Corruption" belong to Nintendo of America and Retro Studios. I don't own them, nor do I have any financial interest in borrowing them. Attack lawyers may be checked at the bar; they'll be returned when you leave...

 

Like the game from whence it springs, this story is rated T for language and violence. It also contains a light sprinkle of shoujo-ai content in later chapters.

 

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Deep in the vastness of uninhabited space, in a backwater region of the Kalandor sector, lay a tiny solar system known only on a few highly classified charts. Normally traversed only by the occasional freighter or patrol craft, the system currently boasted no less a presence than the Third Fleet of the Galactic Federation Navy. The fleet hung in space at a Lagrangian point a few million kilometers away from the smallest of the system's planets, a green Earthlike world called Norion.

 

Just outside the influence of the system's gravity well, space itself began to ripple and boil. A brilliant arrowhead of energy speared out from the disturbance, and at the end of the arrowhead, a spacecraft emerged. The interloper was only slightly larger than the Stiletto fighter craft that patrolled the space around the fleet, and her brilliant orange and red paint scheme stood out in screaming contrast to the haze gray all around. Diving into the throng of warships, she wove nimbly in and out of the formation, making for the largest of the vessels, a behemoth of a spacecraft carrier over a kilometer long.

 

In the ship's cockpit, the communications system beeped and crackled, and a harried-sounding voice grated from the speakers. "Attention unidentified vessel, this is Norion Astro Control. You are approaching military restricted space. Please switch to a secure frequency and identify yourself."

 

In response, the pilot thumbed a radio switch, speaking in a flat, synthetically generated voice. "Astro Control, this is Hunter III, private registry gunship out of Aliehs, PIC aboard. I've been summoned to a meeting with your fleet admiral and a few other bounty hunters. Transmitting security clearances now."

 

"Hunter III, stand by." A moment later, the controller came back on the line. "Hunter III, you are cleared for Docking Bay 5 on the Olympus. Navpoints will take you in. Good to have you back."

 

"Thank you. Out."

 

The gunship executed a looping turn and ascended into the docking bay, sliding neatly onto an empty landing pad as the carrier's artificial gravity killed the last of her momentum. A moment later, the ventral hatch popped open, and a nearby work party stopped their task, turning to stare with goggle-eyed fascination as a tall humanoid in powered armor stepped down to the deck.

 

"Holy shit, is that really...?"

"That's the dude that killed all those Space Pirates, right?"

"Dude? I heard it was a betty in there."

"Get outta here. A betty blow up a whole Pirate base all by her lonesome? No way."

"I thought that was just a little kid's story, you know, like Santa Claus..."

 

The Marine docking bay guard snapped to attention as the hunter approached, but he couldn't stop himself from grinning. The cavalry had arrived. "Welcome aboard, Samus."

 

The short trip from the GFS Olympus' docking bay to the flag deck took the hunter much longer than it should have, with every crewperson she met stopping her to introduce themselves, declare their admiration, or simply wish her a pleasant visit. The experience of celebrity was rather new to her, and more than once she found herself grateful that her visor hid her discomfiture from all those admiring eyes.

 

The bridge hummed with activity as she stepped through the hatch, and in a refreshing change of pace, the crew paid Samus no attention at all as she climbed the ladder up to the command level. A Marine guard stood before the hatchway, his weapon at port arms, and she walked over to him, waving slightly to draw his attention. "Good afternoon," she said politely. "I understand I'm supposed to meet the Admiral?"

 

"Admiral Dane's in the briefing room," the young lance corporal said, his face painfully earnest behind his visor. "There's a suit maintenance station just down the starboard passageway, if you want to perform any data backup before the meeting."

 

"Thanks, but I did that aboard my ship," she said, allowing herself a smirk that she knew the Marine couldn't see. Next they'll be wanting to make sure I went to the bathroom before I left the house, she thought sardonically.

 

"Then you're good to go."

 

"Thank you." The clank of her armored boots on the deck echoed in the confined space of the passageway as she opened the briefing room hatch and stepped inside.

 

Out of long-standing habit, Samus surveyed the briefing room and its occupants as soon as she crossed the threshold. Two crewmen operated the room's command consoles, while Admiral Dane discussed something with a third - how he reminds me of Adam, she thought. Rundas and another bounty hunter she didn't recognize looked on, chatting about the inanities of the business. Behind them stood yet another figure, and she stopped in mid-step as she saw herself emerge from behind Rundas' bulky frame.

 

The twin hunters stared at each other for a long, tense moment, and Samus fought to keep her finger from tightening on her cannon's trigger. Who in all the hells IS that? she thought in shock. And why aren't the others saying anything? There's two of me standing here! They've GOT to know that's a fake!

 

Dane glanced up from his conversation and directed a glare at the first hunter. "That's enough," he grumbled, and with a laugh, she vanished. In her place stood a slender young woman with purple skin, the hair-like fronds atop her head cut rakishly short and styled into tight waves. She winked at Samus, who swallowed hard as the other woman's magenta eyes met her own.

 

Gandrayda. How long has it been?

 

*****

 

"Attention all personnel," the soothing voice of AU 242 droned over the clangor of battle. "Condition Red is in effect. Report to your battle stations. This is not an exercise."

 

Samus and the other hunters had arrived at GFB Norion mere minutes after the Space Pirate fleet dropped out of hyperspace, but for the invaders, those minutes had sufficed to tear the base apart. The Pirates had disabled the artillery battalion first from orbit, and then landed hordes of troops to continue the fight on the ground. That follow-up attack had reduced the control center to a shambles, with destroyed equipment littering the hallways and pieces of the structure itself collapsing all around them.

 

As Samus folded herself into ball form and rolled underneath one such piece of wreckage, the massive blast door guarding the entrance to Generator C flew backward off its tracks, accompanied by a dying Pirate berserker and a massive combat mecha. "This one has finished bothering us. Now go restart that generator before we're all vaporized!" Ghor yelled, his cybernetic limbs waving wildly as he dealt a titanic punch to the beast's cranial plate.

 

All right, fine, no need to get nasty about it, Samus thought as she sprinted down the Generator C access corridor.

 

The blast doors rumbled shut behind her as she ran into the main generator chamber, and she chanced a glance back just in time to see them spin and seal themselves, cutting off her escape. At the same time, she realized she wasn't alone. Five Pirate troopers stood in a circle around the generator, and their insectile expressions ranged from amused to blood-thirsty.

 

This could be ugly, Samus thought, staring at the massed troopers, painfully aware of her limited cover, limited arsenal and even more limited energy reserves. If I can knock one or two of them down the shaft, even the odds a little, I might have a chance - hey, what the hell is that one doing?

 

Her mental question was answered as one of the troopers unsheathed its energy scythe and snapped a fresh magazine into its weapon. Rather than attacking her, however, it turned on its brethren, who rapidly wilted under the combination of melee blows and galvanic accelerator fire.

 

Hunter and Pirate stared at each other, now alone in the generator chamber. As Samus raised her cannon, the renegade Pirate began to laugh, and suddenly it wasn't a Pirate at all. She could only stare in shock as Gandrayda appeared where the trooper had so recently stood.

 

"Space Pirate gray is definitely not my style. And machines aren't my thing either, so I'll let you get this thing back online." She smiled seductively as she made to leave. "Thanks, Sammy."

 

"Don't call me that," Samus replied flatly, finally finding her voice. "Nicknames are for friends and lovers. And you're neither."

 

Gandrayda stopped and walked back toward Samus, a flicker of something unreadable in her eyes. "That's too bad. You always were my favorite. Something about you tightly wound types just drives me wild." She leaned in close, close enough that her breath misted the outer glass of the other hunter's visor. "You remember, don't you?"

 

The shapeshifter turned and sauntered away, leaving a shaking Samus in her wake.

 

She remembered, all right. Entirely too well.

 

 

Author's Note: Nothing too big here, just scene-setting. Although what exactly transpired between Samus and Gandrayda that would make Samus act that way...?

 

As MP3 featured the third major design revision to the Hunter-class gunship, this one's rather predictably named Hunter III. Presumably Hunter II (the MP2/Metroid 2/Super Metroid/beginning of Metroid Fusion model) is still in the shop after being half-wrecked on Aether.

 

Comments and feedback are always appreciated. Thank you for reading.