Metroid Equis
Chapter 30.5
Late Nights
[Time: Unknown]
[Location: Northern Equestria]
It was clear that the Space Pirates were in a full retreat, but nevertheless, they were ensuring that any attempts to destroy or disrupt their tactical maneuvers would be a hell of a price to pay. The Galactic Federation's fleet was doing what it could to assault the enemy's own ships and destroy ground fortifications while armor and infantry moved in. A combined army of Federation Troops, Equestrian regulars and Magickakorps, and even some Griffon expeditionary forces were taking part in the assault on the invaders. The day's battle had stagnated in the North where arctic conditions gave way into that of a standard desert, and come nightfall, trench warfare gave the attackers and defenders some time to rest. Samus, taking part in the assault with CV-Squad was currently in a natural trench leaning her back against a large boulder... listening, thinking. Her helmet was off but she kept the rest of her suit on in case something were to happen during the night.
Samus enjoyed the dark, and the 'dark' in this case was the natural shadow of the trench wall while the moon shown brightly overhead. The distant sounds of sporadic exchanges of gunfire and explosions sounded and created a sense of white noise for her. Oddly enough, she felt at peace but in times when she was alone like this, she often thought about the situation she found herself in. Samus's thoughts were interrupted, however, when some steps on the rock above her alerted her to another presence. Knowing it was not an enemy, the Hunter turned her attention to the new figure, finding a Federation Marine with CV-Squad's insignia on the left arm and a sniper rifle in hand.
"This seat taken?" Arianna's voice sounded through her helmet. Samus wordlessly gestured with her arm cannon to the spot on her right. The young marine nodded and stepped down into the slight-darkness, sitting next to the famed Hunter (with admittedly, some starstruck-ness) and removed her helmet, placing it on her left between the two. She laid her rifle against the rock wall on her right. Samus spared a glance at the young girl, who to her, did not look older than eighteen. Her shoulder-length black hair was perfectly straight, though with a few split ends and matted slightly with sweat, which was to be expected given the conditions, and her dark-brown eyes revealed one who had seen much in her battles.
Arianna glanced at Samus when she felt she was being watched and the two awkwardly locked eyes, nodding to each other respectfully and leaning their heads back. Nothing was said for what felt like tens of minutes and quite frankly, Samus was quite impressed. Few marines could resist attempting to strike up a conversation with her while on duty (and occasionally get hit on by men and women alike)... but this one was as silent as a church mouse. Still, Samus admitted that she was a pretty girl, and silently wondered how someone like her ended up in the Marine Corps as a sniper no less.
"You don't seem the talkative type," Samus remarked casually, the result being Ari turning towards her with a curious expression.
"This coming from the famous bounty hunter notorious for stoicism and silence? I'm honored," the marine replied with mild sarcasm but genuinely was somewhat thankful for the underhanded compliment. Arianna silently idolized Samus and the fact that the latter willingly spoke to her made her giddy inside... though of course, that would never be let on to.
"Fair point. You should be resting though," Samus remarked.
"It's my turn to be on lookout. Besides, can't really sleep anyway. It's alright though, my weapon is built for this kind of job," Ari added. Samus glanced at the several-foot long sniper rifle.
"Fifty-'hardlight'-caliber D74F Anti-Materiel Sniper Rifle. Looks like you got a ZF-110 thermal optics on it too. It's a pretty good gun, I like it personally," Samus commented, listing the name and specs of Ari's rifle to boot. The marine was shocked and impressed.
"All that from just a glance?"
"I'm no stranger to Federation weaponry. I get to test things out when I want," Samus alluded without much detail.
"I can see that," Arianna added open-ended-ly, turning back towards the opposite side of the trench and just staring. The silence reigned once more as a few shots from a machine gun about a mile away rang out. Above in the clear night sky, colorful explosions created a light-show as the two fleets battled for dominance. While there was a silent and somewhat morbid beauty to the scene, the young lady's idol was sitting next to her. She turned to find that the Hunter was gently resting her eyes, but she knew that she was not sleeping or attempting to do so.
"S-Samus?"
"Hmmm?" she replied, not opening her eyes or moving at all.
"Can I ask you something?" Arianna inquired, her tone of voice being one of trepidation and carrying weight, like she had something on her mind. Samus, while never particularly caring when marines just waltzed up to her and tried to talk to her like they were friends, felt that if others genuinely wanted to talk and she was not being bothered, then so be it. She did not feel above others despite her fame and notoriety... they were all soldiers, after all.
"Sure."
"What gets you through it all?" she asked calmly. Samus was not entirely sure what that meant, though she had a few ideas.
"Elaborate?"
"You've done so many things... you've saved countless lives, been in countless fights for your own, you've killed necessarily and almost have been killed, not to mention, please excuse me, your rumored upbringing. How do you just... deal with it all?"
That was an interesting question, but it seemed that Arianna was really looking for answers. Perhaps she just wanted to know how Samus did for her own edification... or perhaps she was having her own, unknown issues. Samus stayed silent as she collected her thoughts, considering her words before she answered:
"I'm gonna tell you a story."
"Alright."
"About six years ago, I was working with the Federation Security Forces.* With a few other members, we were investigating Space Pirate activity on the planet Jigrad. Upon looking into it, the Pirates had taken over most of the civilized portions of the planet and intended to enslave the human population. They set up this system for the children that if they could not meet a certain height boundary, like an amusement park ride, they were to be executed while their parents or guardians watched," Samus began recounting her tale.
"Oh, God..." Arianna remarked, her undivided attention being given to Samus.
"Eeyup. We remained hidden to watch, but all the children were alright... save for one. One girl who had dark hair like yours came up short. She was taken out of the line and taunted before the Pirates were going to execute her. I watched this unfold and something snapped in me. So, I broke our element of surprise and rushed in, shielding the girl from certain death. There were dozens of Space Pirates and they refused to be reasoned with... they were after blood. Unfortunately, in front of the children, I had no choice but to slaughter the Pirates in my and their defense."
"Wow..."
"The one who ordered the execution, however wounded, survived and attempted to crawl away... through the contraption being used to measure height. In his prone form, he did not 'make the height requirement.' I taunted that fact as I rolled him over and aimed my cannon straight at his fuckin' face. He had the nerve to beg for mercy. I laughed in his face and right before I pulled the figurative trigger, someone stopped me: the girl who faced certain death. She begged me not to kill her former executioner, reasoning that if I did so, I would be no better than them," Samus continued, talking with her left hand. Arianna was completely enthralled by the story.
"That's... deep for a kid." Samus nodded in agreement.
"I told her that she was right, and had my squad-mates arrest the Pirates who survived. I personally took her back to her parents, hand in hand with the girl. Her name is Damara, and I saw her a few more times after that. She had a promising future in the Federation Academy studying engineering. I only hope she was able to move on and find peace, as well as a rewarding career," Samus mused out loud. Arianna wanted to say something once Samus named this girl she was talking about, but Samus continued before she could get a word out:
"Point is, Arianna, to not lose your humanity. Don't ever lose your ability to care; to be kind and gentle to those who can do nothing for you. Knowing she and others were able to live their lives to their fullest potential because of me is what gets me through it all... all the memories, the loss, the trauma that we all have in varying degrees. It makes me feel like I've truly made a difference in the Galaxy," Samus concluded her little anecdote with little emotion, though the fact that Samus changed her inflection and actually displayed emotional capacity through her story dispelled many rumors for Arianna: the rumors of her being essentially inhuman and without feeling.
"Now that you mention it, and it may be purely coincidental, there is a soldier stationed in our fleet that I've spoken with once or twice. Her name is Damara and she happens to be a combat engineer and a First Lieutenant," Arianna remarked. This piqued Samus's interest.
"Really now? Well, if I may ask a favor..."
"Anything, in return for picking your brain."
"I want you to tell her something that only she would understand. Tell her that Samus says: 'You better be taking care of Pyonchi.' If she understands that completely, tell her to come find me down here when she has the time... I'd love to speak with her. If it's not her, then oh well," Samus asked before turning back to the opposite wall again, her ponytail and two locks of hair framing her blemish-less face swaying with the gentle breeze that picked up. Arianna nodded.
"You bet, Samus. And thank you for the words." Samus huffed in affirmation.
"What about you? What's your story?" the Hunter asked. The marine looked to her with a bout of confusion.
"What do you mean?"
"You're a pretty girl with a sharp head on her shoulders. How'd you end up in the Marines?" Samus asked.
"I never planned on it, actually. I was studying risk management to learn how to run my own business on planet Sudaten. I'm sure you know that that planet fell to the Space Pirates when they attacked the Federation shipyard on it four years ago," she began. Samus could probably guess where this was going.
"It was a damn massacre before the GF could dispatch a force to counterattack." Ari nodded.
"Mhmm. When the bombs fell, half my family and friends were vaporized immediately. My father worked inside the shipyard and was killed there, along with two of my brothers. My mother was in the surrounding city that they carpet bombed and got gravely injured. She was rescued but despite all they could do, she passed not even a few days after that. A few of my friends survived, though, and I still talk with them... the rest, I haven't heard from and no bodies were found," Arianna recounted with some residual sadness, though it was clear that she had spent her tears long, long ago.
"I'm sorry for your loss, if it means anything," Samus offered her sincere condolences.
"Thank you, Samus, but yeah... there was nothing left for me there. One of my friends was in the Corps at the time so he survived... and now I have to put up with Nathan's shit every day." Samus gave an amused huff.
"Oh really? You two got placed together?"
"He never told me how he did it, but apparently word got around that he was one of my only surviving friends, or one of the only surviving people I knew anymore. Command granted a request to be placed with him in that sense, which is highly unusual and rarely ever honored, but I guess they made an exception. At any rate, I enlisted, my aim was well above average, and I became an elite sniper. The rest is history with those four, and now the extra four that joined us."
"Thank you for sharing, Arianna."
"You shared your stories and thoughts. It was only fair that I shared about me. Thank you, Samus," Arianna poured her gratitude into her words. Samus thought about this exchange with her and honestly, this quiet marine and her were not entirely different. While their upbringings were radically different, it was clearly seen that Samus's first impressions of the starstruck girl were quite wrong, just as she was able to dispel rumors about her own being.
Silence continued to reign as the two looked forward and rested their eyes, waiting for the morning to come and renew their offensive drive against the Space Pirate remnant in Equestria.
Humanity... Empathy... Never lose it.
*In the Manga, Samus was apart of the Federation Police. Researching a bit, she being apart of the police was retconned.
Interesting story from Samus. Is this something from canon or something you created? If it's from canon, I can kinda see why it would be retconned out; Samus getting all emotional like that doesn't really seem to fit with the rest of her character. Oh well, I guess young Samus was a bit rebellious.
5490135 Her story is from the manga which is (mostly) considered canon. Samus, before meeting Ridley again, actually was somewhat emotional in the sense that she was hot-headed and quite empathetic. The only part retconned out was the fact that she was in the Federation 'Police.' She was part of the Army at one point or whatever they refer it to.
5490145
Fair enough. I suppose the strangeness of seeing Samus not be stoic probably comes from the fact that we don't talk about the time she was emotional in the games.
5490154 In her telling of the story, she displays some emotion with respect to the entire fic in general. Remember, the magic working through her was having an effect and making her somewhat more susceptible to 'feel' and entertain the idea of friendship. I just worked that into her retelling. She showed some in this case, but within what I would consider respectable bounds while keeping her stoicism mostly intact.
I like that little backstory for Samus. Gotta wonder what Pyonchi was, though.
5490158
Yeah, I got that. Though that does make me wonder how she is going to react when she learns that she is being mind-whammied, even slightly. Of course, that also brings up the question of what will happen to return her to her normal stoic self.
5490171 She had already come to terms with that SOMEWHAT, though she really does not know the extent of how much she is being affected, so you bring up a good point. As for returning to her normal self, I made a subtle note in the earlier chapters that 'the planet and its magical properties were doing something to her, for better or worse.' I'll reiterate that in the next chapter or the second to last, but I can't tell you my plan to answer your last question due to spoiler reasons
5490170 Jesus i'm not even sure. I'm guessing almost like a rabbit, that seems like the best assumption.
5490180
Sounds to me like this is going to become her normal self from now on.
5490193 Oh definitely, but she's gonna notice something when she's absent from Equis come the end of the story, which will change her to, dare i say her original self.
5490202
Oh, I think I'm beginning to get what you're saying. Is she going to go back to who she was before she started locking everyone out?
5490214 In some sense. The magic of Equis and Equestria isn't over the entire galaxy. Her being exposed to it enough and embracing her emotions for x amount of time on Equis will have a lasting effect, though not detrimental to her ability to not feel emotion when it counts, as shown in prime 3.
Nice nod to the manga. I have to wonder, can the Warhorse shoot ships down that are in orbit??? It would be interesting to see some Pirates laughing as their ship pursues a Federation fighter, only to get blasted from ground level.
5490227
So basically she'll end up being more open about how she feels when she doesn't have to block off her emotions? Cool.
5490229 Lol nooo, it's not THAT OP haha. It could shoot down a fighter given the right conditions but a full on warship? Nah
5490229 You mean like a Hyper-Velocity Cannon from Star Wars.
Basically this but instaed of disabling ships it destroys them and probably the next two ships behind them, think of a watered down Death Star blast.
5490227 It kind of pisses me off when people think Samus is "stoic" and unfeeling when there is evidence to the contrary. The dead GF Trooper in Metroid Prime: Echoes, she looked sad. Not killing the baby Metroid at the end of Metroid 2, an act of mercy and compassion. Saving the Etacoons and Dachoraas during the escape sequence in Super Metroids, a thank you for being pretty much the only things on planet Zebes that's not trying to kill Samus.
Though it pisses me off even more with what they did to Samus's character in Other M. I'm looking at you Ridley Battle.
5490158 Really, I thought that by being surrounded by people NOT trying to kill you Samus would be more inclined to give friendship a try. But then again I supposed these are one in the same.
"MAGIC" of Friendship after all.
5490632 Stoicism doesn't imply lack of empathy or emotion per say. Her personality is generally one of getting down to business and as such, she cannot afford to have emotions and second guessings in battle possibly hold her back. She's still more than capable of feeling emotion, but when her entire life has been just battle, it's still hard to open up and talk, even when you're surrounded by those willing to care about you. It simply takes time and trust, and she's clearly seen that said trust has paid off (see chapter 24.5).
5490644 She is inclined, she's clearly shown that by her actions towards the mares that she's often not even aware of. Again, circa 24.5, she's more than willing to snuggle with them. That takes some damn trust lol. I, myself, consider myself a very stoic person due to current events in my life with regular people. With my friends, I'm always smiling and laughing. Her ability to feel is there, she just needs 'friends' so to speak, something she's not really had. That, of course, is running its course.
5490158 I believe that she was actually in both the "police" and the "army" at different times. Adam was her CO when she was in the army but before that she was in the police. Some time following the event recalled in this chapter, might have even been because of that event, she was dismissed from the police. However she had already attracted the attention of a certain CO for her skills, thus she wound up being recruited by Adam right afterwards.
5490666 So to sum it up she has a few cracks in her armor per say. Not physically mind you.
I'd have answered "You're right, I'm not better than them...I'm worse" and then I'd brutally rip the fucker's limbs off. "Space Pirates would rather choose death over imprisonment. So now you will forever be a prisoner in your own body. A useless vegetable." Then have the scum hooked up to a life support machine that will keep them alive while also constantly flooding their nervous system with pure undiluted pain and never allowing them to sleep.
Maybe cut out their eyes and stab out their ears too. Slowly cut off every single one of their senses until the only thing they have left is darkness and pain.
5490938
...wow. I salute you good sir. That is one of the cruelest torments I can imagine.
5491526
And probably outlawed by every treaty and convention under the sun.
5490171
She'd probably consider it preferable to the kind of mind whammies she's been getting from Phazon and the Nightmare, especially when she's aware of it. It might cause a bit of angst as to how much of her feelings were the Elements, but it's also the type of mind whammy that tells her friendship is a good thing and pushes her to be a stronger, more resilient person -- as opposed to voices that tell her to kill.
Other M confirmed not canon.
5498208 Lol How does that make it non canon?
5498237 Just smile and nod.
Also:
I thought this was misspelled until I went and looked it up, just to double-check. Interesting factoid for all the readers — this is how the word is spelled whenever referencing equipment in a military capacity. Neat!
5505515
The wings are hard-light magic, not metal. Her grapple beam was moved to the top of her wrist. It's all there in Chapter 29 m8
Caught up. Can't wait to end the cliffhanger suspense within me.
Samus may not have been in the Federation Police Force, but, her being a part of the Federation Military is still canon. It's referenced heavily in Fusion and shown deliberately in Other M as part of her back story.
5513231 Exactly, which is why I placed a footnote, as I'm referencing the manga (which is, by and large, canon save for certain parts)
5513301
Okies! I'm still liking the story thus far. Kinda wish someone would make a game of it, though 0_o
5498237
Just one more thing to go with the MOUNTAIN of other things in that... thing... that either directly conflict with, or outright retcon the stories of better Metroid titles.
If you feel like sleep is an optional and silly thing, this explains in excruciating detail every single problem with Other M http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/lb_i.php?lb_id=13373815860B43920100
P.S. That link isn't a "Let's shit on Other M post #1854852"; it's objective and gives credit where credit is due. Think of it as the proper answer to the question "I know it's bad; but what exactly is bad about it?"
I really like the conversation between Samus and the soldier in the trench, more than I probably should. It cements Samus as an actual human character even more so than her conversations with the Mane Six.
Can't wait to see where the story goes from here, and the inevitable showdown with Ridley!
5565057 Glad you enjoyed it! But what are you talking about, lol. Ridley is in the process of rallying his troops and skedaddling. He needs to be alive to show up on Norion in Prime 3
5565062 Sure, canon needs maintained, but it seems the last shot of Ridley we have is him cooperating with Samus to take out the Big Boss Badass in the Crystal Lands. Would Samus not pursue Ridley only to have him slip away? Having Ridley just pack his toys and leave seems a little anticlimactic; I figured that Samus & Co would come upon Ridley just as he's taking off and reaffirming that "Next time, you're toast."
5565078 I wrote that scene specifically taking into account how they met in Prime 3. Let me direct you to the end of Chapter 27:
Ridley won't be harassing them anymore, so that leaves the Changelings and the Phazon to take care of. Samus wouldn't waste energy on the space pirates and Ridley since they're in full scale withdrawal. The next time they do meet is on Norion with absolutely no warning as Samus is traversing through the military installation. Come Equis II, I'm going to write in some of these scenes from the future games to portray Samus's thoughts through them... this is one of them.
5565100 Ahh, roger that. I misunderstood, coupled with an imperfect recollection of the end of that chapter. Mea culpa.
Also, is this official confirmation of a sequel to Metroid: Equis?! Let me get my fire extinguisher, 'cause the internet's about to explode.
5565108 I actually announced it a few months ago in a blog post lol. Metroid Equis II: Remnant. I don't force the idea of following me to my avid readers so usually when I post blogs tagged with the story, they don't get notified. I'm gonna write a 'trailer' so to speak for that story at the end of this one and I'm gonna say that if anyone is interested in making sure they know when it's going to drop, to follow me so they get notified the moment it passes moderation.
5565124 That'll teach me not to read blog posts, eh? Ah, well; I'll definitely be sure to keep my eye on your activity feed; I've clicked the eye button to follow you but I'm not really up on Fimfiction's interface, so we'll see how well it works out for me, heh.
My apologies for being a Grade AA dipstick. C:
5565154 Yeah that's the follow button! Now you'll get notified every time I post a blog update for a particular story (assuming you've favorited it) as well as when I post any new story. And please, no worries AT ALL! I get more followers, you get instant notification of all of my doings. Everybody wins!
Equis II is still heavily in development stage, though major events have already been planned out. The 'world' is gonna span all of Equestria and Equis as a whole with a bunch of new dynamics, soundtrack pulled from both Metroid and other franchises, different combat scenes, plot twists, laughs, feels, the whole package. This story will be the pinnacle of my writing career so far and I'm going to do my best to ensure its better than this story and hopefully much more successful. It's gonna be extra fun because I don't have to pull so much from canon anymore: with the lack of another metroid game on the horizon, I have free reign to essentially create a 'game' of my own with no parameters!
5565179 Oh man, this is sounding super exciting. I'm looking forward to it, and if you wanna tap me for whatever, I'd be willing and happy to pitch my effort in wherever it's needed.
5565205 Since you brought it up, I'm heavily considering not one but two prereaders/editors/idea-bouncer-off-ers. You're vested in the universe and know your canon, you seem vested in this story arc. My current editor has the first role already, but if I decide to go that route, and probably will, would you be interested?
5565218 Absolutely. I consider myself the Copyeditor From Hell, so editing is definitely something I'd be able and willing to do. I'm not really sure what's involved with pre-reading besides "being a copyeditor before the story drops," but I'm willing to do that too; ditto for being that guy you bounce ideas off.
tl;dr: http://img3.wikia.nocookie.net/__cb20140321232216/wingsoffire/images/7/70/Twilight_sparkle_yes.gif
5565229 The prereading is more for 'early access' stuff. You get to read everything and provide VERY influential feedback, especially in the face of potentially catastrophic errors, before the chapter drops. As an author I'm not that demanding with my editors/copyeditors. I bounce a few ideas, ask opinions in which you're free to, at any time, say 'hey this might go well at this part!' or something similar. Other than that, I write, I partition the chapter into several parts and say 'alright, part 1 is ready for a first look,' you give it a once over whenever you have time, catch any errors that my basic proofreading may have overlooked as well as potential conflicts, canon errors, etc. You let me know of this stuff, I apply the changes, and move on. I submit everything up to part 2 for you, the process repeats until the chapter is finished and ready for a final review. I don't publish until its christened by my editors unless its a .5 or bonus chapter.
5565250 Oh, yeah, that sounds super fun. I'm down. :D
5565261 Splendid! You're 'hired' lol
5565276 (>'-')-b Can't wait.
5607214 Thank you, that was my hope at least. I used that as a baseline lol. Either way, I'm sure it wasn't completely accurate but it's different for everyone who does suffer from it, and I just tried to find a middle ground of what I thought Twilight would experience.
5607214 Well. Let's be real for a second, it's not hard to write PTSD better than Other M did it.