Though I'm not adverse to UC posting more frequently, you'll note that the post credited to Rachel has my formatting. I had trouble logging out that night.
I'm hypothesizing...
Metroid Fanfiction
I'm not quite 100% convinced that Tal be dead... If he can spit acid, it's probably that he's resistant to it also... But I'm not putting any money on that 
3 posts UC.... 3 different ppl.... U know what that means
3 posts UC.... 3 different ppl.... U know what that means
I am the Reaper of Souls... and it's harvest time.
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skynes - Posts: 742
- Joined: Mon Mar 01, 2004 8:39 am
- Location: N Ireland
I apologize. At this terminal I do not have access to the entire document. Tomorrow I should be able to give you all the next chapter, provided that I can remember to take it with me.
If things become suspicious, Icarus, I'll start making rules about IP.
If things become suspicious, Icarus, I'll start making rules about IP.
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uc pseudonym - Posts: 15506
- Joined: Tue Jun 10, 2003 4:00 am
- Location: Tanzania
Here is the chapter as promised. After this point, there is the occasional satirical interlude, intended to accent the story but in a slightly different tone.
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Chapter 15: Fallout
“Hello, everyone! This is John ‘Johnny’ Johnson, for Universal News. Make sure to stay tuned until 10:00, Terran Time, for our exclusive interview with the maker of the box office hit ‘Things That Go Boom.’ But now, the current news.
“The standoff at the Bounty Hunter Headquarters has continued, nearing forty hours total. As of this report, neither party has moved. For those of you who may not have been keeping tabs on the situation, the Galactic Headquarters for all bounty hunters was assaulted by a large force of Galactic Council troops.
“Representatives from the Board, a select group of administrative bounty hunters, have made various comments. They appear to vary from outraged to speculative, and two members of the Board said they fully intended to cooperate with Galactic Council requests. Several could not be reached. Because the Board is not a ruling body, it cannot make executive decisions for all of the bounty hunters in question.
“The Galactic Council has made no official statement on the situation, and no explanation for the attacks has been offered. Those who have been approached about the attacks have refused comment. Next, we’ll discuss-
“This just in! An earthquake on Aidni IV struck several major cities and death tolls are being estimated between twenty and twenty eight million. Next, we’ll discuss the latest in the world of pop culture, as a popular diva will enter her eighth marriage with-â€
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Chapter 15: Fallout
“Hello, everyone! This is John ‘Johnny’ Johnson, for Universal News. Make sure to stay tuned until 10:00, Terran Time, for our exclusive interview with the maker of the box office hit ‘Things That Go Boom.’ But now, the current news.
“The standoff at the Bounty Hunter Headquarters has continued, nearing forty hours total. As of this report, neither party has moved. For those of you who may not have been keeping tabs on the situation, the Galactic Headquarters for all bounty hunters was assaulted by a large force of Galactic Council troops.
“Representatives from the Board, a select group of administrative bounty hunters, have made various comments. They appear to vary from outraged to speculative, and two members of the Board said they fully intended to cooperate with Galactic Council requests. Several could not be reached. Because the Board is not a ruling body, it cannot make executive decisions for all of the bounty hunters in question.
“The Galactic Council has made no official statement on the situation, and no explanation for the attacks has been offered. Those who have been approached about the attacks have refused comment. Next, we’ll discuss-
“This just in! An earthquake on Aidni IV struck several major cities and death tolls are being estimated between twenty and twenty eight million. Next, we’ll discuss the latest in the world of pop culture, as a popular diva will enter her eighth marriage with-â€
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uc pseudonym - Posts: 15506
- Joined: Tue Jun 10, 2003 4:00 am
- Location: Tanzania
Slowly Samus’ eyes flickered open. The ceiling. A moment later her mind was completely alert, all the recent events in place and considered, completely ready to act. Waking up without her bio suit on was strange... she hadn’t slept without it for years. As a bounty hunter one could never be too careful.
But last night she’d decided that it really didn’t matter. If someone arrived while she was sleeping, she’d be dead before she could wake whether she wore armor or not. Getting a perfect night’s rest was her highest priority. Today would probably be long and difficult.
Sitting up in her makeshift bed, hair falling around her face disorderly , Samus took a moment to reorder her thoughts. After destroying the rest of the bounty hunters, she’d quickly made her way to an upper portion of the HQ. There had been a few brief but intense fights, but not with anyone capable of matching her. Overall, she still had a reasonable amount of power and ammunition left. While she had been sleeping she’d let her bio suit recharge anyway.
It was fortunate this place still hadn’t been tampered with. This compartment had originally been built into the station in a few meters of space that didn’t officially exist. The intent had been to hold smuggled goods here until they could be taken elsewhere. Almost any sensor would miss it, and there was no obvious door, making it a nearly perfect hiding spot. But the bounty hunter who’d built the place had died on a run, and Samus had taken it before anyone else noticed.
Pushing aside the sheets, Samus quickly moved across the room to her bio suit, which was lying against the wall darkly. Only wearing a standard grey full body suit her feel extremely vulnerable. Not something she wanted to extend by any means. It took something very important to get her out of her bio suit.
Locking the metal over her, Samus let the system fuse itself together and come online. Next it was most important to get her priorities straight. Highest on the motivations list was to get out of the Bounty Hunter HQ before the situation exploded, following closely by blowing away everyone responsible for Project Darklight. That didn’t help much, though.
Her suit hummed softly and Samus got to her feet, still considering. At the moment she was low on supplies, firepower and information. She’d sustained pretty heavy damage in all of the fighting, too. Given those circumstances, she decided to first get back to maximum strength and then figure out where to go next. Most likely the Galactic Council forces wouldn’t dare attack the station with Tal and their own troops on it, so she had time enough to prepare.
Flipping through several vision modes, Samus determined that no one was nearby her room. Pressing a hidden panel, she made the doorway shift open and slid outside. Closing and locking it behind her, she quickly moved down the hallway. Just in case, she brought all of her weapons online.
Mentally bringing up a map of the station, Samus determined the best point for her to repair her bio suit. Several floors down, unfortunately. Perhaps it would be best to find the abandoned core shaft, the HQ had long since switched to safer methods of powering the station, and fly down it to the proper level. Anyone could be in the space in between.
By instinct more than any sensory equipment, Samus halted before moving around a corner. Something was definitely there. Changing to heat sensing mode, she determined that there were two people between her and the door she wanted to enter. One was crouching just around the corner, and from his position she guessed he was manning a mounted gun of some sort. The other was sitting in a chair in a corner, guarding the door, most likely with another weapon.
Narrowing her eyes, Samus backed up slightly, then glanced to the side. Perhaps...
Coughing, the guard continued to stare down the corridor, watching for anyone intending to encroach upon their territory. There hadn’t been any action for quite some time, so they’d brought the watches down to only two people. They were carefully spaced so no rocket could take out both of them.
Wiping off one hand at a time on his pants, the guard held his grip on the automatic gun tightly. The instant he pressed the trigger the corridor before them would explode with plasma fire. Anyone coming around the corner or from the opposite direction would be killed instantly. Even a bounty hunter’s armor would take heavy damage from something like that.
Behind him, the other guard yawned heavily. His other hand clutched his pistol tightly, ready to pick off anyone if he had a chance. But since the other guard could mow down anyway approaching, his job didn’t matter that much. Whatever the captain said, though.
He didn’t notice the fiber wire as it slid through the air, and felt it on his neck too late. The next moment he slumped in his chair, no more than a corpse. Behind him, orange armored hands slipped back into the wall soundlessly, the fiber wire retracting. Moments later a laser knife quietly cut away more of the wall and Samus stepped through.
Stepping noiselessly behind the guard, Samus slid an arm beside his neck. The needle emerging from her arm pricked his neck, and he gave only a slight gasp before slumping against the large gun in front of him. Pulling back the needle, Samus again stood, moving for the door. It was well locked, but not well enough.
Inserting a chip into the computer system, Samus retracted one of her guns. The metal around her hand pulled away, leaving her fingers free to manipulate the door controls. Moving past the security systems, Samus opened the door calmly and set it to lock itself when it closed again. In moments she was gone.
Two bounty hunters stood on securely mounted platforms in the core, carefully watching. Not only were they completely vigilant, both were using infrared and energy sensors as well. If anyone so much as used an electric razor near the chamber, they’d know it. If anyone stepped into their sight, they’d see them immediately.
A bolt snapped on one metal sheet in the core shaft, and some plating fell toward the floor far beneath. Both resisted the urge to look up and instead glanced about for any intruders attempting to take advantage of the momentary distraction. The core shaft remained as silent as the grave.
Slowly Samus shifted downward, letting herself down hand over hand on the fiber rope she’d attached above her. It’d taken only a momentary noise to dig the end into the floor of the walkway above her. Now she was slowly moving down in the shadows, dropping lower. Coolant was pouring through her system, masking her body heat and bringing it down to room temperature.
Getting beneath another platform, Samus reattached the rope to it. Tying it in a careful knot, she prepared to continue letting herself down. Only one floor, now, and the door was shrouded in darkness. Best to leave nothing behind. Putting a hand through the meshing of the walkway close by, Samus severed the fiber wire above her with a knife, letting it fall away-
Abruptly one of the bounty hunters jerked his head down, sensing a soft noise. Lights blazed from his suit, eating away the darkness. There was nothing near the walls, nothing visible. Everything was exactly as it should be. Narrowing his eyes, he continued watching for other intruders.
Breathing a silent sigh of relief, Samus emerged from the small panel directly beneath the bounty hunter’s position. Making sure the rope was solidly attached, she swung from the center toward the outside of the cylinder. As softly as possible she caught herself on the side, wrapping her legs around a pipe
Upside down, Samus began forcing the sliding door open as slowly as possible. It was difficult work, but the bio suit was strong enough to push it open. Use of the doors mechanics, after all, would immediately alert the bounty hunters above. Getting a crack large enough for her, Samus dropped in and landed noiselessly.
Cutting off the fiber rope, Samus let it fall and hang down in the power core. They’d notice it eventually, but not soon enough. That had burned all the fiber rope her suit carried... just barely enough. Closing the door behind her, Samus moved down the corridor.
A slight smile appeared on her face. The right floor, now; forty meters and counting down...
But last night she’d decided that it really didn’t matter. If someone arrived while she was sleeping, she’d be dead before she could wake whether she wore armor or not. Getting a perfect night’s rest was her highest priority. Today would probably be long and difficult.
Sitting up in her makeshift bed, hair falling around her face disorderly , Samus took a moment to reorder her thoughts. After destroying the rest of the bounty hunters, she’d quickly made her way to an upper portion of the HQ. There had been a few brief but intense fights, but not with anyone capable of matching her. Overall, she still had a reasonable amount of power and ammunition left. While she had been sleeping she’d let her bio suit recharge anyway.
It was fortunate this place still hadn’t been tampered with. This compartment had originally been built into the station in a few meters of space that didn’t officially exist. The intent had been to hold smuggled goods here until they could be taken elsewhere. Almost any sensor would miss it, and there was no obvious door, making it a nearly perfect hiding spot. But the bounty hunter who’d built the place had died on a run, and Samus had taken it before anyone else noticed.
Pushing aside the sheets, Samus quickly moved across the room to her bio suit, which was lying against the wall darkly. Only wearing a standard grey full body suit her feel extremely vulnerable. Not something she wanted to extend by any means. It took something very important to get her out of her bio suit.
Locking the metal over her, Samus let the system fuse itself together and come online. Next it was most important to get her priorities straight. Highest on the motivations list was to get out of the Bounty Hunter HQ before the situation exploded, following closely by blowing away everyone responsible for Project Darklight. That didn’t help much, though.
Her suit hummed softly and Samus got to her feet, still considering. At the moment she was low on supplies, firepower and information. She’d sustained pretty heavy damage in all of the fighting, too. Given those circumstances, she decided to first get back to maximum strength and then figure out where to go next. Most likely the Galactic Council forces wouldn’t dare attack the station with Tal and their own troops on it, so she had time enough to prepare.
Flipping through several vision modes, Samus determined that no one was nearby her room. Pressing a hidden panel, she made the doorway shift open and slid outside. Closing and locking it behind her, she quickly moved down the hallway. Just in case, she brought all of her weapons online.
Mentally bringing up a map of the station, Samus determined the best point for her to repair her bio suit. Several floors down, unfortunately. Perhaps it would be best to find the abandoned core shaft, the HQ had long since switched to safer methods of powering the station, and fly down it to the proper level. Anyone could be in the space in between.
By instinct more than any sensory equipment, Samus halted before moving around a corner. Something was definitely there. Changing to heat sensing mode, she determined that there were two people between her and the door she wanted to enter. One was crouching just around the corner, and from his position she guessed he was manning a mounted gun of some sort. The other was sitting in a chair in a corner, guarding the door, most likely with another weapon.
Narrowing her eyes, Samus backed up slightly, then glanced to the side. Perhaps...
Coughing, the guard continued to stare down the corridor, watching for anyone intending to encroach upon their territory. There hadn’t been any action for quite some time, so they’d brought the watches down to only two people. They were carefully spaced so no rocket could take out both of them.
Wiping off one hand at a time on his pants, the guard held his grip on the automatic gun tightly. The instant he pressed the trigger the corridor before them would explode with plasma fire. Anyone coming around the corner or from the opposite direction would be killed instantly. Even a bounty hunter’s armor would take heavy damage from something like that.
Behind him, the other guard yawned heavily. His other hand clutched his pistol tightly, ready to pick off anyone if he had a chance. But since the other guard could mow down anyway approaching, his job didn’t matter that much. Whatever the captain said, though.
He didn’t notice the fiber wire as it slid through the air, and felt it on his neck too late. The next moment he slumped in his chair, no more than a corpse. Behind him, orange armored hands slipped back into the wall soundlessly, the fiber wire retracting. Moments later a laser knife quietly cut away more of the wall and Samus stepped through.
Stepping noiselessly behind the guard, Samus slid an arm beside his neck. The needle emerging from her arm pricked his neck, and he gave only a slight gasp before slumping against the large gun in front of him. Pulling back the needle, Samus again stood, moving for the door. It was well locked, but not well enough.
Inserting a chip into the computer system, Samus retracted one of her guns. The metal around her hand pulled away, leaving her fingers free to manipulate the door controls. Moving past the security systems, Samus opened the door calmly and set it to lock itself when it closed again. In moments she was gone.
Two bounty hunters stood on securely mounted platforms in the core, carefully watching. Not only were they completely vigilant, both were using infrared and energy sensors as well. If anyone so much as used an electric razor near the chamber, they’d know it. If anyone stepped into their sight, they’d see them immediately.
A bolt snapped on one metal sheet in the core shaft, and some plating fell toward the floor far beneath. Both resisted the urge to look up and instead glanced about for any intruders attempting to take advantage of the momentary distraction. The core shaft remained as silent as the grave.
Slowly Samus shifted downward, letting herself down hand over hand on the fiber rope she’d attached above her. It’d taken only a momentary noise to dig the end into the floor of the walkway above her. Now she was slowly moving down in the shadows, dropping lower. Coolant was pouring through her system, masking her body heat and bringing it down to room temperature.
Getting beneath another platform, Samus reattached the rope to it. Tying it in a careful knot, she prepared to continue letting herself down. Only one floor, now, and the door was shrouded in darkness. Best to leave nothing behind. Putting a hand through the meshing of the walkway close by, Samus severed the fiber wire above her with a knife, letting it fall away-
Abruptly one of the bounty hunters jerked his head down, sensing a soft noise. Lights blazed from his suit, eating away the darkness. There was nothing near the walls, nothing visible. Everything was exactly as it should be. Narrowing his eyes, he continued watching for other intruders.
Breathing a silent sigh of relief, Samus emerged from the small panel directly beneath the bounty hunter’s position. Making sure the rope was solidly attached, she swung from the center toward the outside of the cylinder. As softly as possible she caught herself on the side, wrapping her legs around a pipe
Upside down, Samus began forcing the sliding door open as slowly as possible. It was difficult work, but the bio suit was strong enough to push it open. Use of the doors mechanics, after all, would immediately alert the bounty hunters above. Getting a crack large enough for her, Samus dropped in and landed noiselessly.
Cutting off the fiber rope, Samus let it fall and hang down in the power core. They’d notice it eventually, but not soon enough. That had burned all the fiber rope her suit carried... just barely enough. Closing the door behind her, Samus moved down the corridor.
A slight smile appeared on her face. The right floor, now; forty meters and counting down...
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uc pseudonym - Posts: 15506
- Joined: Tue Jun 10, 2003 4:00 am
- Location: Tanzania
This story is incredibly awesome! Keep up the great work!
[SIZE="4"][color="DarkSlateBlue"]God has called me to mission work in Paraguay and Brazil. I may return to CAA someday. God bless all of you![/color][/SIZE]
[i]Two vast and trunk-less legs of stone stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand, half sunk, a shattered visage lies. Round the decay of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare the lone and level sands stretch far away. On the pedestal these words are inscribed:
“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!â€
[i]Two vast and trunk-less legs of stone stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand, half sunk, a shattered visage lies. Round the decay of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare the lone and level sands stretch far away. On the pedestal these words are inscribed:
“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!â€
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Anna Mae - Posts: 1663
- Joined: Fri Aug 27, 2004 5:43 am
- Location: Brazil
Chapter 16: Making Do
Sensing something walking toward them, the fighters at the door immediately tensed up. The sound of weaponry humming was audible as all brought their guns online. Wordlessly the bounty hunters trained their guns toward the source of heat that was approaching them. Whatever it was, it was making no effort to hide itself.
Someone in an orange bio suit stepped into the corridor in front of them and stopped. There was a long pause as neither party said anything. While there were friends approaching, the bounty hunters had been alive long enough to know that friends and enemies were not that far apart. It could be anyone.
“State your name and business,â€
Sensing something walking toward them, the fighters at the door immediately tensed up. The sound of weaponry humming was audible as all brought their guns online. Wordlessly the bounty hunters trained their guns toward the source of heat that was approaching them. Whatever it was, it was making no effort to hide itself.
Someone in an orange bio suit stepped into the corridor in front of them and stopped. There was a long pause as neither party said anything. While there were friends approaching, the bounty hunters had been alive long enough to know that friends and enemies were not that far apart. It could be anyone.
“State your name and business,â€
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uc pseudonym - Posts: 15506
- Joined: Tue Jun 10, 2003 4:00 am
- Location: Tanzania
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uc pseudonym - Posts: 15506
- Joined: Tue Jun 10, 2003 4:00 am
- Location: Tanzania
Yay! Another chapter soon!
uc, you're definately one of my favorite authors ever!
uc, you're definately one of my favorite authors ever!
[SIZE="4"][color="DarkSlateBlue"]God has called me to mission work in Paraguay and Brazil. I may return to CAA someday. God bless all of you![/color][/SIZE]
[i]Two vast and trunk-less legs of stone stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand, half sunk, a shattered visage lies. Round the decay of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare the lone and level sands stretch far away. On the pedestal these words are inscribed:
“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!â€
[i]Two vast and trunk-less legs of stone stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand, half sunk, a shattered visage lies. Round the decay of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare the lone and level sands stretch far away. On the pedestal these words are inscribed:
“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!â€
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Anna Mae - Posts: 1663
- Joined: Fri Aug 27, 2004 5:43 am
- Location: Brazil
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uc pseudonym - Posts: 15506
- Joined: Tue Jun 10, 2003 4:00 am
- Location: Tanzania
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uc pseudonym - Posts: 15506
- Joined: Tue Jun 10, 2003 4:00 am
- Location: Tanzania
From the corner of her eyes, Samus gave the vessel a good examination. Interesting... a military ship that was only legally used in times of war. Its presence here was highly illegal, at the least. None of the other people working in the vacuum of the hanger appeared to care or notice, so this must be common place. Sleek sides, an elongated shape, several heavy missile launchers under each wing... a good ship.
As the hatch near the bottom of the ship opened, Samus moved to a different location to get a better glimpse of those arriving. Quite a few people were watching them, so it wouldn’t look all that suspicious. These people were apparently very important to the plan.
That settled it. She had to sneak into the ship somehow and see what information she could find. Surely there was something that would be useful there. Various types of people were leaving the ship. Most of them looked like military officers and bureaucrats. They weren’t wearing vacuum suits, which meant they just assumed the hanger’s air supply would be restored and no one else would dock. Probably true, but still arrogant.
After discussing a few things with people near the ship, the suits went to the airlock almost immediately. Workers moved to the ship shortly after, carrying small grey boxes from it toward one of the walls. Supplies of some sort, but that didn’t matter to Samus very much at the moment. Her focus was solely on getting inside.
Carefully watching the workers unloaded the ship, Samus figured out a rough schedule of the timing of their trips. Watching it out of the corner of her eye, she moved through the hanger. Two tall, cylindrical generators sat humming on the floor, blue electricity crackling up them.
Pretty efficient models, Samus observed with slight admiration. These troops were certainly well equipped. Far better than ordinary soldiers, anyway. Plenty of people had the money to do such things... but where were they getting the supplies from? Surely they were stored in some other location and taken to the Bounty Hunter HQ as needed.
Continuing to walk at a fast clip, Samus moved behind a large box and was momentarily eclipsed from view. The next moment she jerked herself into a crevice between boxes. Sliding between two more and moving to the edge of a row, she glanced out at the room. There appeared to be relatively few workers between her and the generators. Good.
Sliding like a shadow from one hiding point to another, Samus worked her way nearer the generators. If there weren’t so many things lying around here the task would have been completely impossible. As it was, she managed to get very near the generators without being seen by any of the workers.
Waiting until she got an opening, Samus dove from her hiding spot. She somersaulted over the floor and between the two generators. They were too close together for comfort, but she crouched low. Between the bulk of the generators themselves and the glow created by their energy, she was practically invisible.
Looking down at the floor, Samus found the wires connecting generators to what they powered. These two basically worked for the entire hanger and the surrounding area. There was a mess of black wires that branched into different directions, but Samus methodically worked her way through them.
Eventually finding the cord that powered the lights, Samus traced it back to its main power outlet. It was possible for such things to become loose, though on units like this it would never happen. At least, it wouldn’t happen normally.
All light abruptly vanished from the room, plunging it into total darkness. There were assorted screams and curses, and a broad variety of noises as people banged into various objects in the darkness. In the confusion Samus slipped over the floor using infrared vision and easily stepped up the walkway into the docked ship.
Glancing around inside and searching for electrical signals, Samus practically dove for the cockpit. It wouldn’t be long before someone had the sense to use a battery-powered light to reconnect the generator. They wouldn’t be stupid enough to think it had just magically come loose on its own. From this point forward her time was limited.
Bringing the screen online, Samus quickly glanced over it, searching for something of value. She was really here only on intuition, anyway. But surely a ship like this would have something worth stealing- ah.
Their set of preprogrammed coordinates and maps of the surrounding area were all loaded. Downloading them into her suit, Samus looked over the map with her naked eye. This map had the former locations of Stations Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald all marked... promising indeed. Most recently the station had accessed the code for Bounty Hunter Headquarters, but before that...
Another station. One she’d never heard of before. It was resting in the sensor shadow of a rocky planet not far from this station. Looking through the ship’s past records, however, Samus discovered that its location was slowly changing. A drifting station, then. Probably not randomly drifting, either; most likely it shifted location to throw off anyone looking for it. Without the proper data, reaching it would be tough, even if you knew about it.
Lights flickered back on, and Samus winced. While this information was important, there might be other things on the computer as well. Narrowing her eyes, she redoubled her efforts on the computer.
One of the workers glanced around the corner through the ship suspiciously. He leaned into the cockpit room and discovered all as it should be. The room was empty, the screen was off, the ship was still on standby mode. Nodding and grunting, he moved back out of the ship to carry another box.
Letting go of her magnetic hold on the wall above the door, Samus dropped to the floor soundlessly. This was it, then. At least she had the coordinates she needed. If she could get out with this bio suit in good enough condition to transfer the information to her normal suit, her mission would be accomplished.
The real problem was getting out. While she would normally be tempted to rush out shooting, she really didn’t want to try to get away in this bio suit. Not enough firepower to make her way through the entire GC camp and whatever bounty hunters happened to be nearby. Getting from here to the safe zone was no cakewalk, either.
All she needed was a few minutes of safety. If she escaped the base itself, it didn’t matter if they knew she had been here. She’d cleaned the logs of her access and data downloading, but they’d probably piece together that someone had been inside pretty quickly.
Moving to the back of the ship, Samus scanned the area around her for any life forms. Bringing out a laser knife, which was annoyingly a far less intense version than her own, Samus began cutting her way through the thick ship hull. Eventually she made a circle large enough for her to get through easily.
Activating one magnet boot, Samus locked it onto the circle of the ship hull and pulled it into the ship. Setting it down beside the hole, she slipped down through the hole. Abruptly exposed in the middle of the hanger, Samus rolled behind one of the legs of the ship, which was poor cover. No one yelled yet.
Suddenly needing to be somewhere else quite soon, Samus began walking briskly toward the exit. When anyone tried to make eye contact with her she did her best to seem extremely focused and busy. She had almost reached the airlock exit when abruptly someone yelled.
D***. That hadn’t worked well. Behind her, the entire area was devolving into complete chaos. There were people yelling about an intruder, and a great many men rushing about with guns. They were too late to stop Samus from entering the airlock, but rushed in her direction, yelling and shooting a few times. Not good at all.
Stepping out of the airlock at the other side, Samus began moving at the fastest reasonable pace through the camp. It was still relatively peaceful. Clenching her fists, Samus brought both of her arm cannons online and began charging them. The peace was going to be fleeting indeed.
As the hatch near the bottom of the ship opened, Samus moved to a different location to get a better glimpse of those arriving. Quite a few people were watching them, so it wouldn’t look all that suspicious. These people were apparently very important to the plan.
That settled it. She had to sneak into the ship somehow and see what information she could find. Surely there was something that would be useful there. Various types of people were leaving the ship. Most of them looked like military officers and bureaucrats. They weren’t wearing vacuum suits, which meant they just assumed the hanger’s air supply would be restored and no one else would dock. Probably true, but still arrogant.
After discussing a few things with people near the ship, the suits went to the airlock almost immediately. Workers moved to the ship shortly after, carrying small grey boxes from it toward one of the walls. Supplies of some sort, but that didn’t matter to Samus very much at the moment. Her focus was solely on getting inside.
Carefully watching the workers unloaded the ship, Samus figured out a rough schedule of the timing of their trips. Watching it out of the corner of her eye, she moved through the hanger. Two tall, cylindrical generators sat humming on the floor, blue electricity crackling up them.
Pretty efficient models, Samus observed with slight admiration. These troops were certainly well equipped. Far better than ordinary soldiers, anyway. Plenty of people had the money to do such things... but where were they getting the supplies from? Surely they were stored in some other location and taken to the Bounty Hunter HQ as needed.
Continuing to walk at a fast clip, Samus moved behind a large box and was momentarily eclipsed from view. The next moment she jerked herself into a crevice between boxes. Sliding between two more and moving to the edge of a row, she glanced out at the room. There appeared to be relatively few workers between her and the generators. Good.
Sliding like a shadow from one hiding point to another, Samus worked her way nearer the generators. If there weren’t so many things lying around here the task would have been completely impossible. As it was, she managed to get very near the generators without being seen by any of the workers.
Waiting until she got an opening, Samus dove from her hiding spot. She somersaulted over the floor and between the two generators. They were too close together for comfort, but she crouched low. Between the bulk of the generators themselves and the glow created by their energy, she was practically invisible.
Looking down at the floor, Samus found the wires connecting generators to what they powered. These two basically worked for the entire hanger and the surrounding area. There was a mess of black wires that branched into different directions, but Samus methodically worked her way through them.
Eventually finding the cord that powered the lights, Samus traced it back to its main power outlet. It was possible for such things to become loose, though on units like this it would never happen. At least, it wouldn’t happen normally.
All light abruptly vanished from the room, plunging it into total darkness. There were assorted screams and curses, and a broad variety of noises as people banged into various objects in the darkness. In the confusion Samus slipped over the floor using infrared vision and easily stepped up the walkway into the docked ship.
Glancing around inside and searching for electrical signals, Samus practically dove for the cockpit. It wouldn’t be long before someone had the sense to use a battery-powered light to reconnect the generator. They wouldn’t be stupid enough to think it had just magically come loose on its own. From this point forward her time was limited.
Bringing the screen online, Samus quickly glanced over it, searching for something of value. She was really here only on intuition, anyway. But surely a ship like this would have something worth stealing- ah.
Their set of preprogrammed coordinates and maps of the surrounding area were all loaded. Downloading them into her suit, Samus looked over the map with her naked eye. This map had the former locations of Stations Ruby, Sapphire and Emerald all marked... promising indeed. Most recently the station had accessed the code for Bounty Hunter Headquarters, but before that...
Another station. One she’d never heard of before. It was resting in the sensor shadow of a rocky planet not far from this station. Looking through the ship’s past records, however, Samus discovered that its location was slowly changing. A drifting station, then. Probably not randomly drifting, either; most likely it shifted location to throw off anyone looking for it. Without the proper data, reaching it would be tough, even if you knew about it.
Lights flickered back on, and Samus winced. While this information was important, there might be other things on the computer as well. Narrowing her eyes, she redoubled her efforts on the computer.
One of the workers glanced around the corner through the ship suspiciously. He leaned into the cockpit room and discovered all as it should be. The room was empty, the screen was off, the ship was still on standby mode. Nodding and grunting, he moved back out of the ship to carry another box.
Letting go of her magnetic hold on the wall above the door, Samus dropped to the floor soundlessly. This was it, then. At least she had the coordinates she needed. If she could get out with this bio suit in good enough condition to transfer the information to her normal suit, her mission would be accomplished.
The real problem was getting out. While she would normally be tempted to rush out shooting, she really didn’t want to try to get away in this bio suit. Not enough firepower to make her way through the entire GC camp and whatever bounty hunters happened to be nearby. Getting from here to the safe zone was no cakewalk, either.
All she needed was a few minutes of safety. If she escaped the base itself, it didn’t matter if they knew she had been here. She’d cleaned the logs of her access and data downloading, but they’d probably piece together that someone had been inside pretty quickly.
Moving to the back of the ship, Samus scanned the area around her for any life forms. Bringing out a laser knife, which was annoyingly a far less intense version than her own, Samus began cutting her way through the thick ship hull. Eventually she made a circle large enough for her to get through easily.
Activating one magnet boot, Samus locked it onto the circle of the ship hull and pulled it into the ship. Setting it down beside the hole, she slipped down through the hole. Abruptly exposed in the middle of the hanger, Samus rolled behind one of the legs of the ship, which was poor cover. No one yelled yet.
Suddenly needing to be somewhere else quite soon, Samus began walking briskly toward the exit. When anyone tried to make eye contact with her she did her best to seem extremely focused and busy. She had almost reached the airlock exit when abruptly someone yelled.
D***. That hadn’t worked well. Behind her, the entire area was devolving into complete chaos. There were people yelling about an intruder, and a great many men rushing about with guns. They were too late to stop Samus from entering the airlock, but rushed in her direction, yelling and shooting a few times. Not good at all.
Stepping out of the airlock at the other side, Samus began moving at the fastest reasonable pace through the camp. It was still relatively peaceful. Clenching her fists, Samus brought both of her arm cannons online and began charging them. The peace was going to be fleeting indeed.
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uc pseudonym - Posts: 15506
- Joined: Tue Jun 10, 2003 4:00 am
- Location: Tanzania
This story is just incredable! Keep it up, uc.
[SIZE="4"][color="DarkSlateBlue"]God has called me to mission work in Paraguay and Brazil. I may return to CAA someday. God bless all of you![/color][/SIZE]
[i]Two vast and trunk-less legs of stone stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand, half sunk, a shattered visage lies. Round the decay of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare the lone and level sands stretch far away. On the pedestal these words are inscribed:
“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!â€
[i]Two vast and trunk-less legs of stone stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand, half sunk, a shattered visage lies. Round the decay of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare the lone and level sands stretch far away. On the pedestal these words are inscribed:
“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!â€
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Anna Mae - Posts: 1663
- Joined: Fri Aug 27, 2004 5:43 am
- Location: Brazil
Well, I would, but I posted already.
[SIZE="4"][color="DarkSlateBlue"]God has called me to mission work in Paraguay and Brazil. I may return to CAA someday. God bless all of you![/color][/SIZE]
[i]Two vast and trunk-less legs of stone stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand, half sunk, a shattered visage lies. Round the decay of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare the lone and level sands stretch far away. On the pedestal these words are inscribed:
“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!â€
[i]Two vast and trunk-less legs of stone stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand, half sunk, a shattered visage lies. Round the decay of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare the lone and level sands stretch far away. On the pedestal these words are inscribed:
“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!â€
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Anna Mae - Posts: 1663
- Joined: Fri Aug 27, 2004 5:43 am
- Location: Brazil
As much as I like to see this thread receive attention, gentlepersons, I would ask that your posts be primarily serious reviews or asking for further chapters. I'll update when a third person posts, or when the next week rolls around.
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uc pseudonym - Posts: 15506
- Joined: Tue Jun 10, 2003 4:00 am
- Location: Tanzania
You're a third person! Post more story!
[SIZE="4"][color="DarkSlateBlue"]God has called me to mission work in Paraguay and Brazil. I may return to CAA someday. God bless all of you![/color][/SIZE]
[i]Two vast and trunk-less legs of stone stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand, half sunk, a shattered visage lies. Round the decay of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare the lone and level sands stretch far away. On the pedestal these words are inscribed:
“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!â€
[i]Two vast and trunk-less legs of stone stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand, half sunk, a shattered visage lies. Round the decay of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare the lone and level sands stretch far away. On the pedestal these words are inscribed:
“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!â€
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Anna Mae - Posts: 1663
- Joined: Fri Aug 27, 2004 5:43 am
- Location: Brazil
Now that a legitimate third person has posted, here is the next chapter.
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Chapter 18: Perseverance
Yawning, the guard glanced down the empty corridor one more time. The other bounty hunters nearby all continued to watch as well. Being bored, he glanced over their position and realized they were carefully placed so that no one explosive could damage too many of them at once. Smart, as always. It wouldn’t be easy to take this door.
Still, though, none of it took any of his effort. All he had to do was obey orders and then sit around the corridor half the day. For all the intelligence displayed by the people setting up this safe zone, he was still bored. And that was how most of the galaxy was... bored with safety. He wasn’t even that bored and he was already wishing that someone would come wildly shooting, just so they could kill something.
A clanking noise became quite clear, some way down the corridor. Immediately all the bounty hunters were on alert, switching through vision modes. Some of them looked toward the source of the noise, but equal numbers looked elsewhere to check for sneak attacks. The clanking continued steadily. There was a long moment of tension that continued to stretch...
Samus Aran emerged from a side path far down the corridor. Slowly she moved toward them, her walk halting and slow. Oddly, she was wearing a sickly green bio suit that the guard had never seen before. The helmet had been removed, however, and he recognized her face almost instantly. Something was obviously up.
The right shoulder of her bio suit had been blown away. Beneath it the light grey surface of her full body suit appeared to be untouched, but there were cracks all along the suit’s armor. At her side in one hand the helmet hung, a massive crack through its visor. Both of her legs appeared to be heavily damaged, but one had a grinding gear that made it jerk during walking and produced the clanking. She was holding her left arm at her side as if it was injured.
“What happened to you?â€
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Chapter 18: Perseverance
Yawning, the guard glanced down the empty corridor one more time. The other bounty hunters nearby all continued to watch as well. Being bored, he glanced over their position and realized they were carefully placed so that no one explosive could damage too many of them at once. Smart, as always. It wouldn’t be easy to take this door.
Still, though, none of it took any of his effort. All he had to do was obey orders and then sit around the corridor half the day. For all the intelligence displayed by the people setting up this safe zone, he was still bored. And that was how most of the galaxy was... bored with safety. He wasn’t even that bored and he was already wishing that someone would come wildly shooting, just so they could kill something.
A clanking noise became quite clear, some way down the corridor. Immediately all the bounty hunters were on alert, switching through vision modes. Some of them looked toward the source of the noise, but equal numbers looked elsewhere to check for sneak attacks. The clanking continued steadily. There was a long moment of tension that continued to stretch...
Samus Aran emerged from a side path far down the corridor. Slowly she moved toward them, her walk halting and slow. Oddly, she was wearing a sickly green bio suit that the guard had never seen before. The helmet had been removed, however, and he recognized her face almost instantly. Something was obviously up.
The right shoulder of her bio suit had been blown away. Beneath it the light grey surface of her full body suit appeared to be untouched, but there were cracks all along the suit’s armor. At her side in one hand the helmet hung, a massive crack through its visor. Both of her legs appeared to be heavily damaged, but one had a grinding gear that made it jerk during walking and produced the clanking. She was holding her left arm at her side as if it was injured.
“What happened to you?â€
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uc pseudonym - Posts: 15506
- Joined: Tue Jun 10, 2003 4:00 am
- Location: Tanzania
-
uc pseudonym - Posts: 15506
- Joined: Tue Jun 10, 2003 4:00 am
- Location: Tanzania
Post, people! Post![SIZE="4"][color="DarkSlateBlue"]God has called me to mission work in Paraguay and Brazil. I may return to CAA someday. God bless all of you![/color][/SIZE]
[i]Two vast and trunk-less legs of stone stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand, half sunk, a shattered visage lies. Round the decay of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare the lone and level sands stretch far away. On the pedestal these words are inscribed:
“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!â€
[i]Two vast and trunk-less legs of stone stand in the desert. Near them, on the sand, half sunk, a shattered visage lies. Round the decay of that colossal wreck, boundless and bare the lone and level sands stretch far away. On the pedestal these words are inscribed:
“My name is Ozymandias, king of kings:
look on my works, ye mighty, and despair!â€
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Anna Mae - Posts: 1663
- Joined: Fri Aug 27, 2004 5:43 am
- Location: Brazil
I've been trying to catch up with the story since I found it two or three weeks ago, and I'm very glad that I did. uc, this is awesome! As my friend sitting beside me says, well... he doesn't really know what to say.
Anyway, this is AWESOME! Please post more.
Anyway, this is AWESOME! Please post more.
[SIZE="1"]"If there's one thing that I know, it's that I know more than one thing." - Master Squirrel[/SIZE]
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mastersquirrel - Posts: 696
- Joined: Thu Oct 07, 2004 10:55 am
- Location: I saw a squirrel! ...... It was going like this!!!
This is honestly one of the best fanfictions I have ever read, even though I would have interpreted Samus' character differently. Keep up the good work. ^_^
Rai
Rai
[raiden's liveJournal]
[color="Indigo"]"I believe whatever doesn't kill you simply makes you . . . stranger."[/color]
Strollin' in at dawn, wakin' up at noon's gonna catch up to me soon
'Just sleep when you're dead' is what I said 'cause I'm jumpin' off the moon
[color="Indigo"]"I believe whatever doesn't kill you simply makes you . . . stranger."[/color]
Strollin' in at dawn, wakin' up at noon's gonna catch up to me soon
'Just sleep when you're dead' is what I said 'cause I'm jumpin' off the moon
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Raiden no Kishi - Posts: 2518
- Joined: Fri Apr 09, 2004 10:45 am
- Location: Ticking away/The hours that make up the dull day . . .
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