Resurrection, The Closing of a Saga

[+transcon+]

The recap of the entire Metroid saga can be found in the video from the following link, then the rest, as they say, is history.... at least according to the records provided.

>>The Metroid Retrospective<<

"Aside from the traces in her blood...." Indeed.

A few years had passed since the BSL Incident at SR388. Samus had continued on her various missions and exploits since. Never looking back, she continued her life, meeting several key figures and assisted by the mind of one Adam Malkovich. Up until recently, she felt that the things she had accomplished were done for just causes.

Things began to turn upon meeting a creature inhabiting a human body known as Aiko. The SA-X had returned as a blank slate, remembering only vague instances of a time before the BSL Incident. She continued life as the proverbial "wolf in sheep's clothing", constantly learning and adapting to her environment as she, too, encountered many key figures in her life. Notably, one of which being Samus Aran.

Mysteries were still locked within the mind of that creature. She had no real clue as to where she came from except in the form of a lie created to rationalize her own existence: she created herself. One fateful day, she too would learn the truth of her existence. It wasn't until both, the famous bounty hunter and the parasitic life form dubbed as the SA-X, met another key figure. Omega-Alpha Aran.

The humanoid metroid created on a Zebethian mother ship in hopes of being leashed and used in the exploits of his capabilities, broke free in search of something larger than himself. Indeed, he found it. But, whatever it was, it was beyond words. He found that life existed beyond the tentative boundaries of ignorance and instinct.

Notable figures made impacts upon the lives of these three, and through the trials set before them, they learned valuable lessons and unlocked hidden secrets about themselves. Through learning the true origins of the SA-X, to realizing the meaning behind the Chozo's creations, Samus had learned that the path of the Warrior as set before her by the people who adopted her, was much harsher than anyone could have ever realized.

The way of the warrior had always been beyond that which could be taught. Ancient knowledge passed on to a wayward orphan, Samus Aran learned the importance of every action, including even the simplest act of turning one's back on a budding flower before it was snipped at the root. She never knew of the colors in the flower's full bloom as it never had the chance to show it's fullest potential.

The resurgence of the Metroid Species left questions unanswered. With the sudden reappearance of the Hatchling found on SR388, resurrected into a humanoid form, revelations upon her actions throughout the years hit her hard. Excerpts from scientists, and even Aiko herself, had warned that though this creature has the potential for so much good in the galaxy, the inherent danger was beyond obvious.

One of the greatest dangers discovered was not from the creature's personal capacity and appetite for destruction, but the extent that others' would go to contain, enslave, and use that capacity for their own personal gain. Samus' hatchling fell into captivity, and was tortured beyond any means that a human could survive. She felt his bitterness for life after that point, and though she tried her best to alleviate the pain, the scars upon him still remained.

The only possible benefit from this trial was the emergence of three spawned humanoid bantees named Athena, Calliope, and Tisiphone. The potential for something greater than the Chozo could've hoped for was right beneath their fingertips.

Granted, if the Metroid race was just left alone, who knew what kind of race could've developed from the species? It seemed as though fate itself sped up the evolutionary process of the creatures to a sentient level, and had them spawn. Now, with the four of them residing on SR388, learning of the technology their patron race left behind, and cultivating the land to give themselves a chance to survive, Samus Aran let them be. This, save for contact with one who she called "son".

------------------------------------------------

One year had passed since the spawning. The triplets had lived on SR388 since. There was no other safe place. The dangers of keeping them on the Randklev were extensive. Aside from keeping Aiko on edge while she had to tell them what was food and what wasn't, and though it was nice to have some extra hands help out around the apartment, she couldn't help but feel even more like food. It was one thing to trust one metroid creature, but not four at once!

But, it happened three local months ago. The trio of bantees, biologically and evolutionally realizing that there were no other females of their kind, mutated by the forces inherent to the planetoid into full bore queens. They retained humanoid features, as well as their height. However, they sported tails that draped down to their ankles. Their feet were digitigrade with widened toes and talons. Their arms increased in size by maybe only an inch or two, but the energy output of their nucleus increased by ten-fold. Each of them sported horns that protected their eyes and brow, as well as the backs of their heads. And though their chests seemed to bear resemblance of human females, this was only a vestigial throwback to their human ancestry.

Omega-Alpha changed as well. No longer was he as tall as the one he called "mother". He was now well over seven feet tall with lengthened feet and powerful legs. The chitin grew thick, and the stripes grew wild and covered his chest, hips, back, and tail. The tail was thicker and longer. No longer did he have the unnatural patterns of armor, but the chest places continued to hold a similar shape of Chozo battle armor. The hair was the same color, but it was shorter, only barely coming down to the nape of the neck.

Samus Aran was there to witness his mutation. Like all other times she had witnessed such a feat, she noted how violent and painful it was. Omega-Alpha's old body literally shed itself as the new one grew from within in a violent outburst of growth.

She met with each of the three queens. All of them showing irritability towards one another, possibly to account for the lack of territory each wished to hold. The First Queen of SR388 held all of the planetoid. Each of these three were feeling the same inclination to follow suit: to claim the whole of the land for themselves. The only thing preventing them from breaking out into all out violence was the empathic connection to each other. They were sisters.

"Here, we be three," Athena spoke to the one they saw as their Matron. "We three, sisters born of our Mother, the Last and First, are the Nuclei of our race. So mote it be. Let it be known that the Metroid, though few, declare ourselves a Sovern Race."

"We revere our Creators," declared Calliope. "We shall learn of their ways, cultivate their lands, and hereby swear to protect and declare ours as what was once theirs. We will obey the Tenants of the All-Mother, she who showed wisdom, mercy, and, above all else, love, upon our progenitor."

"We shall fight," affirmed Tisiphone, "when we hear the calling. We shall defend what is rightfully ours. We shall protect our kin. We will bathe the lands in blood of the injust. On the bones of our children, on the dust of our sins, on the honor of your blood, we shall endeavor to be strong before all. "

A Neanderthal race amongst the modern worlds, crying out to be let live.

-----------------------------------------------------

Just as things couldn't have gotten any worse. Admiral Narssek found himself just outside a Martian city. Retirement wasn't usually in a Zebethian's vocabulary, however, considering the circumstances, it was one that he looked forward to. Shunned by the Council for following rogue orders, and in fear of failing Ridley, he cut his losses and ran.

It wasn't all for naught. Everyone under his command on board his vessel, save for a few stragglers he managed to find, perished in it's own self-destruct sequence. Ridley used him and his resources to follow a pipe dream: to harness the power of a metroid. The cost of doing so was paid in the blood of his crew, and marking him as a traitor amongst Zebethians.

Ridley wasn't the only dreamer, however. He believed that the Zebethians were a race who sought perfection. Through perfection of body, perfection of mind could be attained. And, since the Zebethians came from origins poor of technology and resources, the only resolution was to plunder.

They were once a proud race. Full of ideas and renovations that benefited their sector of the galaxy. However, in the decades of wars and skirmishes, cloning and bloodshed, Narssek believed that the core idea was lost to times past. It all started when Ridley joined their ranks....

Taking the lessons learned aboard his now decimated vessel, he took flight into human territory. He dared not venture any deeper into Federation space, but at least the human's space wasn't as central to the Federation as many would've liked to believe. Though it was difficult to get through, he managed to smuggle himself to Mars.

Perhaps seeking amnesty, or looking for allies, he wished for refuge to regroup with his few comrades and plan out their next moves. He was a dreamer. He sought to aim high, and remove the cancer that had wrought wild within the ranks of his once proud race. It was time for a revolution.

[~DarkKnightCuron~]

Another flurry of blasts passed him by as he switched to Maru Maru form, rolling to the right, behind the cover of one of the larger rock structures. Once behind some form of cover, he rolled back out to his humanoid form, his back against the structure, firing his Power Beam around the corner at his opponent, who happened to have taken refuge behind the wreckage of one of the destroyed tanks.

His breathing had become heavy, his heart still beating, pumping blood and adrenaline through his body. How long had this battle gone on? The invasion itself had only lasted a good hour, but the battle between himself and this single opponent had gone on for at least ten minutes.

Ten minutes which felt like an eternity and a half.

"Why are you doing this, Z'Gato!?" Came his brother's voice from the distance. Z'Gato gave no reply. Instead, he rounded around the rock structure and filled the gap between them with plasma, causing his brother to hide behind his own cover. With this bit of distraction, he ran for the tank wreckage, closing the gap as he continue to fire at his brother's position. However, his brother wasn't as unresourceful as the many others he had fought and killed.

His brother leapt above the wreckage, raining wave beams down on him. Z'Gato, however, made the appropriate adjustment, switching back to Maru Maru form and rolling a few feet behind where he had been, then switching back to humanoid form, only to get a facefull of plasma, striking the left side of his face. It burned...dear gods it burned, but he let the pain fuel his anger, fuel the fight. Cool air rushed to his face afterward, indicating that his helmet had been breached, the smell of burnt feathers and skin filled the rest of his helmet.

However, his brother had not taken into account his landing...which he was going to land right on top of his brother.

Z'Gato lashed out, punching with his Power Beam arm, right into his brother's gut. The force of the blow caused the wind to leave his brother's body. Blood began to form where Z'Gato held his Power Beam arm, holding his brother aloft, staring into his brother's eyes.

"...T-Traitor..." His brother said, blood flowing from his abdomen and his mouth.

With that, Z'Gato unleashed the full fury of his Charge Beam, causing his brother's body to explode.

A flash, and a yell, and Z'Gato awoke from his bed, holding his left hand to his face, his right arm propping himself up as he sat up in his bunk.

On his ship.

Wide-eyed, he continued to stare off into space. Another dream...no...another nightmare.

Of his betrayal.

After a few moments, he swung his legs out from his sheets and stood up to his full height. He desperate pushed his mind away from the past, his breathing still heavy.

"Computer, what is our current location?" He said in his deep voice in Chozo, a language that seemed to flow easiest from his mouth at the time. He couldn't concentrate on much, but he finally pushed his mind away from that day.

"We are currently holding our position in orbit around Mars," the computer replied with its mechanical, yet strangely feminine voice in the same language. Z'Gato wiped what sweat he could from his face, but he'd need a shower sooner or later. He took a glance at the clock near his bunk. Even after a ten hour rest, his body still felt fatigued from the restless slumber, feeling as though he had pushed himself through some conflict or battle.

Mars. Naturally, he would need to stop there for fuel and provisions after a job that took him deep within Federation territory. It paid well, but he wasn't exactly keen on being this deep in human space.

Of course, he wasn't too keen on being anywhere, really. Not after...

No. He refused to let his mind linger there. With another great sigh, he pushed his mind back to the here and now. A shower actually sounded good about now, and he took the opprotunity to do so. He remembered, as a child, that he had been able to relax, stare at the sky, and think of...nothing. Just...stare up at the sky, stare up at space.

To think about absolutely nothing would be a paradise for him now.

Soon afterwards, Z'Gato had dressed, finally managing to clean himself to where he was satisfied, though his feathers still looked like they were dirty. Probably from his time traveling.

He sat in the pilot's chair, wearing a worn blue, longsleeve shirt and brown trousers, along with brown gloves.

"Computer, take us down to the nearest port on Mars," He said in his commanding voice. He'd probably need to have the auto-pilot on his ship checked out as well. He had begun to rely on it far too much, and wasn't too keen on it failing at the worst possible moment.

"Actually, belay that. I'll guide us in myself," He said. He needed something to do, something to keep his mind busy, he said to himself as he began the approach into Mars' atmosphere.

That seemed to be his main excuse for anything he did now. To keep his mind busy.

[~Nightclaw~]

Olympiad. Not much could be said about it now. The small town had been built on Mars about a century ago as a tourist trap for visitors to the largest natural landmark in the Sol system, Olympus Mons. Now it was run-down, just another backwater town in the middle of nowhere. The galaxy had far more wonders than some big rock on a desert planet.

Occasionally, an outsider came to visit.

T'kran was one of those people.

After the incident on the Mothership, T'kran had left to find somewhere more permanent to stay. The Sol system was not, as many people thought, some Terran utopia where everything was perfect and the grass was greener than everywhere else.

In truth, as far as the Human race was concerned, the Sol system, Earth and Mars in particular, were the ass end of the universe. Overcrowding and a lack of resources had seen to that. Earth had been mined dry decades ago, it's natural fossil fuels exhausted, even the nuclear power sources such as fusion had run into the ground because of deuterium shortages: They still hadn't found a way to produce heavy water, the only naturally occuring source of deuterium on the planet, and it was running out. The planet itself wasn't wrecked though, it had plenty of imported materials to keep it in an acceptable state.

"Omega... where the hell are you..."

The Ares Motel, a small place on the outskirts of the city. That was the best the Pirate could do?

Yawning loudly, he stretched out in the one-size-too-small bed, legs poking out over the end of the bed. Slowly pulling himself out from underneath the flimsy duvet, he grunted and threw it at the wall.

"These humans really need to make better accomodation for us larger people." growled the hunter. The Pirate seemed to have given up on wearing either nothing but his exoskeleton, or his armor, and had opted for a pair of XXL-size jeans which were torn around the knees and ankles, and a baggy white vest that hung loosely over his torso. A poor attempt to fit in with the human population, it seemed. The clothes were comfortable enough; he was more humanoid than most Pirate breeds.

Yawning again, he opened the door of his motel room and stepped out into the parking lot, slamming the door behind him and locking it. Walking up to the main building, he rapped on the window of the reception desk. The man behind the glass snorted and pulled himself upright in his cahir, rubbing his eyes.

"Hum...wah? Oh, it's you..."

"Yeah, it's me. Thanks for the room." grunted T'kran, sliding the keys and a few cred-chips through the small slot at the base of the window.

"Come back any time." said the man in a less than cheery voice.

"Maybe..." he said, turning around and starting to walk off. "Not on your life, bud..." he muttered, stepping out onto the main highway. Looking around, he was just about to turn around and head towards the city when he saw a figure in the distance. Blinking, he tilted his head, and narrowed his eyes. Times like this he was thankful for optical implants, especially the zoom function. As his vision closed in on the figure, he growled.

He'd recognise that motherless ogre anywhere. "Narssek. What in hell's name are you doing here?"

Sighing, he turned to face the approaching figure and headed towards him.

[~beflexor~]

March the 30th, it was Lorrilal's birthday. Despite looking about twelve, she had just turned five.

She and Ben spent it on a dark, scummy planet. The pollution, coupled with the neon lights everywhere, had locked it into an eternal twilight. Everything here was the eptitome of the darkest parts of humanity.

Ben stepped over the body of a man rocking back and forth and Lorrilal quickly followed suit as they entered a building, mumbling "though he sit there in body, his soul is trapped in a personal purgatory."

Lorrilal wasn't making this any easier, nevertheless, Ben took two steps in before locating the proprietor. He picked the man up by his neck and slammed him into a wall.

"Where is she!?" He growled.

The proprietor scrabbled helplessly. "S-she's in back."

"Have you done anything to her?"

"No!" he said, his eyes widening in panic. "No one has! She's just like anyone else in here, except she never uses anything."

Ben threw the man aside and entered the back room. Just as he said, Trisha sat on the floor, starting at her bare feet. He picked her up and carried her out.

~

Seven, they had seven Trishas now.

When he saw his first one, he had thought she was alive. But interaction had quickly showed him this was not the Trisha he knew, it was just a shell. Sure, it reacted to things like something hot to the touch, and spoke briefly when spoken to, but it wasn't her.

None of them had the Beflexor on their left hand anymore either, but Ben knew who that belonged to now.

Like the first one, he had stumbled upon the second one by accident, then the third, after that, he began to look for them, using only things he'd heard. It was like some kind of morbid set of action figures, there was Rural Trisha, Engaged Trisha (he didn't want to thing how that managed to happen), and now Drughouse Trisha, collect them all!

Ben took the Trisha to Trisha's old room. They didn't seem to eat or sleep, so it was easy to just keep them in there. As he closed the door he met with its grey eyes and he sighed.

He didn't have to look to know Lorrilal was behind him. "Omega has to know" he said, his hand lingering on the door. "I don't know if that god damn oversized Metroid cat will understand, but he has to know she's dead."

"You have to let him know of more than just Trisha."

"I know."

~

Six years ago a little virtual girl, in a virtual room, once asked a virtual man. "Are we the bad guys?"

He never answered.

Of course the girl had been referring to both them and their friends made of solid matter back then. The question always came back to her, but with each time the 'we' was beginning to shift more inward.

Squirt bit her lower lip, a habit she had quickly formed since becoming a physical being. While she had mostly gotten used to it, everything still felt so exagurrated, heat was hot, cold was cold, and pain was painful. To describe it to a being that had always felt such things was impossible.

Of course, the man laying by her feel would never feel such things again. The athourities would be baffled, a dead body with no wounds, no signs of struggle, and no health problems. The only thing that would possibly tip them off would be the fact that all the computers in the area had been attacked by a virus.

There was no way they would be able to make a connection. An AI murdering a human being was unheard of, even if that AI happened to be a GI. They would never figure it out, even if they compared it to the simalar cases.

She asked herself The Question again, her voice akward in the eerie silence.

"Am I a bad guy?"

[+CEMP+]

The warm water from the shower head sprayed all over her face and rolled down the rest of her body, the heat sinking through her skin and into her tense muscles. It felt so refreshing and relaxing, it was kind of hard to turn off the water.

Having washed and dressed up, she walked out of the bathroom and into a decent hotel bedroom. She was so tired she didn't even bother to tie her really long, red hair into her ponytail. She just flopped on the bed with a great, her hair flying everywhere.

She was finally tired. After three long days of no sleep, she was finally tired like she had just went through a single day.

And Jenosa welcomed the fatigue like an old friend. For most people, being able to stay up for three days without feeling sleepy at all would be an amazing feet, and to some it meant that you were strong. Yet to her it didn't seem right at all - she didn't like it for some reason. She was used to sleeping on a regular basis, like anyone else, but if you were up for three days strait, sometimes you get tired of "your" day halfway through, and you just want to let your head take a break from it all. The trouble is, it's damn hell hard to sleep when you don't even feel tired at all. Plus, there was something about her 'change' that made it hard for her to fall asleep.

It was real fatigue that made it easy for her to drift into her dreams.

Speaking of dreams, she felt that almost everything that people seemed to dream of getting, from immortality to invincibility, to some of her 'newfound' abilities, was overrated. Heck, dreams were overrated. People these days spend too much time trying to chase just the dreams and not focusing on the reality of those dreams.

The whole thing sickened her. Militaries and governments ran after these big ideas, not understanding the big picture themselves, and then they end up affecting all sorts of innocent people in the process; or people they could have saved, who were under their command. To her, it was stupid and just a huge waste of effort, while not trying to learn to spend some quality time on a rainy Sunday afternoon.

And she was just one of those many people that could get caught up in those kind of messes; or, in this case, one of the few people that tried not to. Everyone became a bounty hunter for many different reasons, most of those reasons didn't involved being snagged by a dream. She doubted that the general populace of the entire galaxy wanted to be bounty hunters, just as many people wanted to be soldiers.

She sighed, reflecting deeply on her past. She remembered clearly, when she was little, what her father had asked her - just like any other would ask.

"So Jenosa, what do you want to be when you grow up?" her father asked cheerfully one evening.

"What do you mean by that?" she asked.

Her father was surprised that she hadn't understood the question. "I mean, what do you want to be when become like me or your mother. When you're my age - and I'm an accountant, and your mother is her own self-accomplishing doctor."

She racked her brain on her father's question, but found it frustrating. All she wanted to do right now and later on in [I]her future was have fun, and thinking about this question was annoying. "Hmmmm, I don't know."

The father chuckled, brushing hand in her hair, "That's ok, not all of us figure out what we want at a young age. An inspiration will probably come later."

The father got to leave, but as he did, he heard a rapid footsteps from behind him, and before he could react, Jenosa had energetically jumped on the couch, then on the rim of the couch, and then right at her father, landing her arms around his neck while giggling.

"ACK! JENOSA! For the love - geez, you like jumping on just [/I]me don't you."

"Yes," she said with her childish manner.

"Ugh, really, you shouldn't have done that, you could have hurt yourself."

"But I’m NOT, see. And daddy," she added, "can I not grow up?"

The father sighed, "Ugh, now you talking Peter Pan fantasies here. Listen, there will come a time when you will be like us, either a nurse, a mechanic, or whatever profession you'd like to pick. And there's nothing you can do about it."

Jenosa pouted, and squeezing tighter around his neck, it looked like she was about to cry; tears had already begun. "But-but-but I just don't?"

He sighed again, "You'll find out the truth about life eventually. You'll mature and see what's it really like."

And boy, she sure has changed since then, she thought, looking at her human, and yet inhuman, hands. A lot, actually; a lot more than anyone would have ever expected, even her, both mentally and physically.

Thinking more about her past life, she drifted into blissful sleep in her thoughts, not even lifting up the cover or anything, just lying there in the bed like it was the best position to sleep in.

[+Aiko+]

“I think you should buy the blue one.”
“The blue one? Why? I always buy blue.”
“Because it sure as hell is better than the purple one. I see you looking at it.”
“You’re just biased. Purple is a perfectly acceptable color.”
“Not for a dress, it isn’t. How about pink? Pink is nice.”
“I wouldn’t get caught dead wearing pink.”
“But there was this one time I saw you…”
“Shut up, Adam. You’ll traumatize the big green kid.”

Adam laughed. He was genuinely enjoying himself. It had been a very long time since he’d been able to give Samus grief. Too long. Keeping Sanctuary ordered had taken most of his time in the past year. Now that things were finally settling down, he was able to take a vacation. Isaac, his wife, and the now-teenage GI Echo could hold the fort. Sanctuary only needed one GI to run, and Echo was just as persistent as Isaac to let Adam have a break.

Samus walked completely at ease between two misunderstood creatures. At her right was Omega-Alpha, the giant 7 foot tall Zeta-staged humanoid metroid. He was holding a rock moon-anemone, a creature that lived within a completely inert, thick shell. There was a special trick to getting at the delicacy inside. Although Omega easily could’ve crushed the shell to get at the goodies, Samus had instructed him to try and figure it out. She and Adam watched with great amusement as the adolescent metroid played with the biological equivalent of a rubic’s cube.

On Samus’s left was Adam Malkovitch, human turned machine turned GI. His HFI projected such a realistic hologram that was fully capable of interacting with the environment that nobody knew Adam wasn’t human. He had adapted quite well to his new ethereal existence, although he still envied the corn dog that Samus was munching. The harvest festival on Mars was always a special occasion, one that Adam had always wanted to attend but never had a chance to. Once Echo learned of it, he and Isaac had contacted Samus behind Adam’s back to arrange the meeting. Samus thought it was a cute idea, and Adam was never the wiser. Besides, Echo even managed to line up a bounty on Mars to give them some additional income for the trip. Omega was the watchdog on this trip, and Samus trusted his keen senses to detect anything unusual.

Samus shoved the corn dog in her mouth, just the stick protruding past her lips. Fingering the fabrics, she selected a green dress. “There, now you can’t say I don’t compromise. How does this look?” Samus held up the outfit to her athletic body.

Adam rested his chin in his right fist. “Hmm… not bad, not bad. Why are you buying a dress though?”

“Can’t a girl just enjoy getting something unusual from time to time?”
“But this is just going to collect dust in your closet.”

Samus jabbed Adam in the ribs, who deftly ducked away even though the two of them knew he didn’t feel it. She laughed. “It will not. Now that I’ve got a caring son and a drooling admirer, I can expect to be taken out to dinner periodically, right?”

“I never drooled. I can’t drool. You lie.”

“Don’t make me set off an EMP.”

“Oh fine fine, yes, I will take you out to dinner. Geez, holding your date hostage is barely a good way to start a relationship, you know.”

The two of them laughed. Samus bought the green dress, finished eating her corn dog, and continued exploring the city with her two closest friends.

[~Scout~]

“Why did we have to go here, of all places?” Skrolek Menskar grumbled as three Garlings pushed their way through a crowd on Mars.

“Consider it a good learning experience,” Saken Tordel said. “You haven’t been to any human cultural events before. You might have some fun.”

“My idea of fun is an assault rifle and a wave of Xorians rushing toward me,” Skrolek said. “I don’t think the authorities would be very happy if I brought an assault rifle into a harvest festival, and I think that if there were any Xorians here, then the whole place would be wrecked by now.”

“You assume too much,” Katok Haredni, otherwise known as Scout, said. “You remember that one Xorian, right?”

“That was a special case,” Skrolek said flatly. “Saken, tell him.”

“Skrolek’s right. There have been no other cases of Xorians with free will since we found Kraven,” Saken said. “If there were any Xorians here, then they would be obliged to raid the place, like Skrolek said.”

“Enough about Xorians. They’re a cruel, mostly mindless species, and this is a happy place. I’d hate to ruin anybody’s good mood,” Scout said.

It was at this point that Skrolek ran into somebody and fell over backwards. “Oh! I’m sorry, er…” Skrolek said, looking up at the person he’d run into, which happened to be a large, humanoid alien with a strangely glowing nucleus and strange compound eyes. “Uh…” Skrolek got back and stepped away, somewhat intimidated.

Saken eyed Omega-Alpha. “Why did you have to run into somebody like this?”

“Don’t blame me if my depth perception is a little off! I’m missing an eye, remember?” Skrolek said, drawing attention to the long jagged scar over his right eye.

“We’re sorry that Skrolek ran into your… uh… friend,” Scout said to Samus and Adam. “He didn’t mean to, and he’ll never do it again.”

“Please don’t eat me,” Skrolek squeaked.

* * *

Queen Arquil Shorena sat in a meeting room on Mars. The human in front of her was holding a stack of papers and reading through them. It made her feel uncomfortable that she had to deliver the papers in person, but she was a tolerant Garling. It wasn’t any worse than the “meetings” that she’d had during the ZugZug War… no, comparing this to them was like comparing Der`Tharith to Krak`Tharth. Those had been trial or interrogations more than anything else.

She sighed quietly. The human finished looking through the papers and signed them. He handed them to Arquil.

“Everything’s in order,” he said. “You may take these wherever you need to now.”

“Thank you,” Arquil said. She got up and left the meeting room with the papers.

Now that she was done with her work, she was free to go meet up with Scout and the others. She relished the thought of being able to walk around on Mars and see the sights. As she walked through the facility, however, she overheard something.

“Really? A zebethian wants to have a talk with a representative?” somebody asked near the front desk.

“Is this a joke?” another person asked.

“I never thought I’d see the day that a zebethian would want to have a peaceful talk.”

“It doesn’t matter; we’ve decided to reject him, because no one in their right mind would talk to him.”

Arquil walked up to the group of people. “Why would you reject someone with a legitimate reason to talk?” she asked.

One of them eyed her strangely. “Who are you?” he asked.

“I’m Arquil Shorena, the queen and representatives for Garlings in the Galactic Federation,” Arquil said.

“Garlings must not have had much experience with zebethians, then,” he said. “He claims that he wants to have a peace talk, but we’re suspicious, and we’re probably not going to talk with him, because it would be too risky. We’d never find a representative to talk to him, anyways.”

“I’d talk to him, if you don’t find anyone else,” Arquil said. The man paused.

“Uh… well, it’s your funeral, but if you really want to… someone go tell the zebethian that we’ve got a taker for him.”

This post has been edited by Scout on Nov 22 2007, 11:07 PM

[~Desmoth~]

Hishona was eating a human delicacy known as ice cream. He had never had ice cream before, and he was in a state of euphoria. The kind that he had purchased was known as “Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough”, and contained pieces of chewy cookie dough. It was delicious.

As he walked, Hishona marveled at the different pieces of human culture. There was clothing for several different races, several different varieties of food, various stalls of miscellaneous items, and games for the people attending the festival. Hishona wondered how humans came up with this structure for festivals.

Hishona looked around, and noticed three Garlings. He almost dismissed it, but had to look back when he saw a distinctive feature that only one Garling is known to have.

Skrolek Menscar was talking to the two others. Hishona put two and two together, came out with four, and concluded that the others must be Commander-General Katok Haredni and Saken Tordel. Hishona nearly choked on his ice cream, and managed to swallow it properly right before Skrolek crashed into a creature that Hishona had never seen before. He took an intake of breath, as the humanoid looked like it could take down a small regiment of armed troops if it really wanted to.

Maybe the even stranger part was that it was traveling with two humans, one female and one male. Hishona wondered to himself why they would choose the creatures presence, but decided not to think about that, and rather to worry about Skrolek’s safety. He almost smiled to himself. Skrolek, in danger…

Hishona began pushing his way through the crowd towards Skrolek and the others. Even if Skrolek didn’t need help, Hishona would still be able to tell everyone that he had met the famous Commander-General Katok and his two friends. That alone was reason enough.

[+CEMP+]

(OOC: NUCLEAR LAUNCH DETECTED!!

For the record, the long memory flash you'll see in this post was actually made a long time ago; oh, say, about 7 months. And it was mostly done out of boredom. Aiko was 'Wowed' by it, and upon reviewing it myself, I find it awesome. I've always wanted to show this everyone, but in a way that would be very meaningful and not simply as a minor short story. Hence posting it in this RP.

Not only does it give more bits of what her past was like (Which is to show not all bounty hunters started with an angsty past), but it really depicts what her life was like shortly after Synergies was finished. And just to let Aiko know, I added a little bit of text after this memory flash, as to make a steady transition to being active on Mars.

Grab some popcorn and enjoy this 6-page post. Expect me to make some interaction or close-contact in the next post.)

The sun shone brightly over heard in the clear, open sky, basking everything in the brown rocky valley in a hot light, though a breeze helped temporarily cleanse the surrounding heat from a person’s face. The valley itself had a great expanse that one could almost look far beyond it if he sat on a tall hill, and the most of hills themselves were easy yet pleasurable enough to go down to the bottom. It was a land where one could almost romp in freedom to wherever he wanted.

A man, around his thirties, wearing a blue t-shirt and white track pants, could be easily seen as he crossed one of the hills, as he stood out with his blue t-shirt and white track pants amongst the rustic brown, rock terrain. The only thing about him that seemed to hide amongst the background was his brown hair. He leapt about the bigger boulders and appeared to be searching all around for something—actually, someone.

The man lifted his towards a child-like yelp that came from around the bend. He immediately picked up the pace, rounding it and to a more flatter area of the hill, and, beside a particularly large boulder that over shadowed her in size, was a girl around the age of 5 or 6. She wore a green shirt that matched her young, playful eyes and had blue track pants. Her hair was red and was just bright enough to stand out in the rocky terrain, if with some difficulty.

“There you are you little brat,” came the father, sounding annoyed but relieved, “I’ve been looking all over for you. You ok kid?”

The daughter, who appeared to have fallen butt first on the ground, got up and dusted herself off. Her red ponytail swayed in the breeze with its own mind, and the skin on her face seemed entirely untouched, as if she hadn’t been out in the terrain at all. She looked up at her father, who stood some distance from her, with a weird face.

“Daaad, c’mon, are you stupid? Look.” she waved her arms in the air and moved her body a bit to indicate that she was in good health. “[I]See, I’m fine.”

The father sighed, “Alright Jenosa, c’mon here and let’s go back home. Daddy’s getting hot and I doubt either you or me want to stay in the sun for too long.”

Jenosa made another weird face, but seemed as though she was pondering instead of making a kind of remark. She smiled. “Actually, I’m tired, so you’re going to have to come here and get me.”

“Oh, so you wanna play it that way then, don’t ‘ya? Well here I come.”

The father ran right up to her and picked her up into the air as if she was a doll. Jenosa screamed in delight as she found herself flying up, ponytail swaying as she did. Her scream, however, was cut off by an “Ow” and a face that grimaced in pain, biting her lip as she did.

“What, what is it?” said the father in surprise.

But as if to answer him, he felt a warm liquid on one of his left hand and he slowly put the wincing daughter on the big boulder in front of them. He looked at his to see a red on the palm, and immediately inspected the arm that hand had held. Up close and hidden near the back where he couldn’t, her clothing had a rip, which was mixed with a red stain. He noticed the fresh blood, and moved the cloth to see a recent cut in the skin.

He looked at his daughter, who was still wincing but trying to resist the pain, and sighed in a concerned voice. “Fine my butt you are. Where did you get that?”

“Daaaad, it’s just a harmless cut,” she wined.

“Yeah, and I’m pretty sure it hurts,” he countered.

“So, I pay it in pain like you pay taxes in money,” she said smartly with a smirk, though it looked more like another wince.

The father was a little surprised at the wit in this response, but promptly returned to his former demeanor. “Where did you get it?” he demanded more heavily. His brown eyes locked with his daughter’s green ones and it was very well known he was going to stubborn with her.

She moaned a bit before she responded, “I got it off of some sharp, dingy metal object sticking out of the ground.” She then stood up on the boulder and spread her arms out in complain, actually overcastting her father’s height, “Why do you have to make such a big deal in where I get it? It’s just a silly injury.”

The father was obviously running out of steam from her childish antics, “Because you have a good chance in getting an infection.”

“And what if I don’t.”

“You will.”

“And sooooooo…”

“And so, you’re gonna have to pay thrice the pain you feel to get it disinfected, and trust me, you don’t want an infection. Now come on,” he gestured, “mother’s been worried about you. We told you several times not to go outside without our supervision, and you should know by now not to.”

“But you’re almost always too busy, and I’m almost always stuck in our home. I’m bored, and I like it out here.”

The father slumped his shoulders and knew this was just how parenting was. He smiled with a father’s love and said, “Jenosa, have I ever mentioned you’re a complete handful.”

His daughter smiled and then leapt right off the boulder and latched around his neck with her arms in a hug. The father, caught off guard, went “Woah!” and nearly stumbled back, wrapping his arms in reflex around her to lessen the weight on his neck.

Jenosa looked at her father with the same childish smile, and he looked back at her. “You mean like this?” she asked.

“Umm, yes – quite an armful actually.”

She giggled joyfully.


The hand mirror caught the reflection of her adult face just right, and her vision was momentarily gripped by it.

How much have I changed? she thought, looking herself into her own youthful, green eyes.

Jenosa brushed her hands through her red hair, feeling rather surprised that her face was still the same; and yet, she had changed. Her body was definitely different, both in outer appearance and inner; how much of the inside was changed, she didn’t know, but she hoped the outside didn’t start changing more.

She was actually worried what the re-awakened Scurge had really done to her body, and what was going to do. When she had first come to realization she was still infected, she thought she was dead for sure, even coming to the point that she should shoot herself after she did whatever she could to help with the rescue of Omega.

And yet, the infection had done the unexpected and bizarre, warping her body while allowing her to survive. She had been incredulous at the fact that she was still alive after her “near death experience,” if one could call what happened that.

She had been first left with the feeling that her body had tree roots all about it, with the sensation of the infection still coursing through her veins, but all began to dissipate like a cold. Now, she felt human…and yet, at the same time, alien.

She couldn’t go to any exact words to quite describe it, but her body held this weird, energetic sensation inside every cell twenty four seven. It was as though the nature of the every-day energy produced, stored and expended by her body had been altered, while’s it’s principle use still remained the same. If one thought about it, this alteration could explain the dual sensations Jenosa perceived, but the thought itself never entered her mind.

The thought that did enter her mind about this sensation was vaguely similar to the one she felt when wearing her bio-suit, except not so tingly. What this really meant, Jenosa didn’t quite know? And that was some of the many questions that flew about her head like bothersome insects.

She sighed, and did what she was going to do with the mirror in the first place. Lifting up her shirt, she angled the mirror over back and saw it, standing out amongst all her free-falling red hair like some ill-begotten scar, was her spine. The area was pure violet, save near her neck, and it emitted a low, iridescent glow that pulsed at the same rate of a steady breather. What had become the most disturbing about it was the fact that it appeared to be popping out of her skin.

And yet, in curiosity and for the first time, she couldn’t help but run one of her fingers on it. The area was so smooth it scared her; it wasn’t even like human skin, or any ‘skin’ at that. She expected to feel a weird sensation, like some kind of enigmatic pulse, go through her finger, but all she felt was the physical nature.

Strangely she didn’t feel satisfied, and thus she attentively pressed down on the purple ridge along her spine. She expected to feel sharp pain, but there was just the feeling of bone moving into her back like some kind of rock being shoved into the dirt. The feeling was very discomforting, if not disturbing, and, as though frightened, she immediately took her finger away.

She shivered at the reality of what her spine had become.

The only relief that she got out of checking it was that it was still the same since she last saw it. When she first saw it, the impact hadn’t been that great, and she simply gave it an “Oh boy” that could be translated as, “Wow, what a mess.” However, heeding Tara’s words, she had been quarantined – almost by her own will – in her apartment, and during her solitary time, the idea that she could be a walking contagion weighed more heavily each passing day.

She felt like both a prisoner and a hospitalized patient.

The main reason she had become a bounty was for the sense of freedom and independency it gave her, where boundaries of what she could do, with consent of course, were nearly air. She imagined death to be her only worry, and that never struck any fear in her because she worked with it all the time.

She never imagined a deadly virulent organism infecting her. She never imagined the Scurge.

She gripped the covers of the bed that she sat in, setting the mirror down on the table next to it. Now it seemed like every thing she had worked for, to become a professional bounty with a low profile, to that sense of freedom and independence, had been churned into a mess.

While she was capable of accepting her mistakes and the consequences of her choices, regret about the job she took for Inos had secretively built up in her over the past two years, remaining dormant like a sleeping volcano. It had now awoken like the Scurge had, and she struggled against the wave of negative emotions running through her mind.

She wanted to keep herself from becoming disarrayed, wanting to ‘fight’ for what had been taken from her, but she was overpowered. She burst into tears.

“I-I s-should have listened,” she spoke to herself in between sobs, “I s-should have listened to the rumors. I should have listened to myself. I should have never taken that job.”[/I]
___________________________________________________________________
Her mind was awake almost instantly.

Wow, talk about strolling through memory lane in your sleep, she exclaimed. It was a first that she had relived such a set memories in a dream, and a very vivid one at that. She sat up, realizing how she had slept, not that she had care.

She came realization that her cheeks were wet and her eyes felt sore, and upon closer inspection, she came to the conclusion that it had been tears. She had cried in her sleep, never like she had in a dream - in her dream; which surprised her much like the dream itself. She had never had this happen to her in her entire life, not that it bothered or embarrassed her. She just found it odd.

Oh, there's a first time for everything, she thought.

Well, what definitely hadn't been very settling for the first time when she became, what the 'doctor' had told her, a human/Scurge variant hybrid. A creature 'elegantly' caught, as the doc would put it, between being a regular human and a fully transformed Scurge victim. The doc had told that the Scurge had 'synced' with physical biology, not like that really made any sense to her.

All that she needed to know was that she was officially, and most likely permanently, a 'freak', as many human people would call her. Not that she really put herself down as that, as 'freaks' or 'monsters' to her were really just nobodies. People would probably label her as a host to some parasite, which is often what many people did when they first meet the Scurge; even she did.

But parasites were those that latched onto living bodies as a separate organism and were, in essence, still a separate organism, no matter how impossible it was to remove the creature while keeping the host alive. The Scurge, from what she learned, didn't do that, but more became a part of your body, although she really didn't know how to truly describe it.

Thankfully, she was deemed as not being contagious, and was let free. She had been advised in not returning to her own space, at least not yet, as the doc said he would work some things out. She agreed, as she knew her military knew about the Scurge, and she'd be identified fairly easily and made a target. Granted, she felt that with Kozan as the commander, she wouldn't be treated like a test tube subject.

Then again, she didn't know much about Kozan, as she rarely got to see his face at all. It was mostly the man named Major Armitage, and from where she stood, the guy seemed like a fair commander.

Whatever the case, she knew with the way she was, she'd be warranted too much attention for her own good health. Hence, she decided to live around this part of space, since the federation knew squat about the Scurge.

The only problem of living now was what she had become. She felt a bit too alien for her own good now, and to top it off, the memories that of several 'assimilated' scientists were becoming more active, and it was really bothering her to see partial images were in no way hers.

She had, over time, managed to find a way to 'block' off these memories, and, if at all, try to shove them completely out of her head. So far, it had worked, although at the same time, she felt like she was blocking a part of herself, and the more she thought about this, the more she blocked it off so it wouldn't permanently become a part of her memories.

Getting her morning stretch, and tying up her ponytail, she thought she should go out onto the martian atmosphere (Assuming they terraformed the place) and have a little fun. She had recently nagged a bounty, and no free time made her grouchy.

[+transcon+]

The dark brown cloak ruffled against Omega's legs as he fiddled with the food inside a puzzle. The cloak fit him strangely anymore. Numerous times, it had been suggested to him that it was high time to replace it and find something bigger. It had holes worn where the elbows had rubbed, likely due to when he was a Gamma Stage, the spikes protruding from those joints caught and rubbed at it. The hem was jagged from the same knee protrusions from when his legs were like that of a human. Even the lower half parted once in a while, a sure sign that it was too small on him anymore; and to the keen observer, one might catch a glimpse of something glowing within the shadows of his own body. However, it was his. That was all the reason he needed to keep it.

He had it since planet #1729. It was a gift given to him by a scavenging crew before he was deposited upon that desert planet. It was the first sign that human life wasn't all that bad. People could really be nice. And, at this point in his life, he'd managed to see all sorts of examples. From the sweet and innocent, to the bitter and savage.

But, what defined Humanity?

Omega-Alpha Aran, despite his fragile link to sentience, was a savage. As much as he tried, and as much as he respected his mother, he just couldn't resist his instincts. Being a Metroid, his hunger called to him louder than anything. And, putting prey behind a wall and telling the predator that it was fair game was like teasing a lion. He fumbled with the sphere as well as he could, turning it this way and that, observing every little detail he could.

His senses told him that there was food inside that anemone; there were layers of silicate and calcium forming the protective bony sphere around the animal that laid in wait. The creature mouthed at it, trying to teeth at various overlapping layers. He tried playing by their rules, but sometimes even instinct overruled.

"Skrrr," he grunted between teeth grazes, "what's this 'date' thing? It doesn't have anything to do with that time stuff, does it?" Just as soon as the sentence came to pass, he was right back to work on the frustrating and teasing puzzle.

Just as he was about to overpower the integrity of the bone by ramming his flexing fangs through, his moment in frustration was suddenly interrupted by a non-human stranger. The "cruel, mostly mindless" individual, as Omega overheard as the three Garlings approached, palmed the enigmatic delicacy in one clawed hand, and offered another hand up to Skrolek.

"I might be hungry," Omega replied, a strange multiple-toned voice to be heard, to Skrolek's strange and indignant request, "but I know better."

Again, what defined humanity? This was a question that plagued Omega for the time he had been alive (on his second go-round). Before, survival only counted on one thing: being fed. Now, as he grew to realize that sentient life was a lot more complicated than food, shelter, and reproduction, there was an added element that had to be dealt with to make certain the predator remained at the top. He knew he had to exhibit at least some of this "humanity" to better associate with the society at large, lest be be treated as the monster he was and become the hunted again.

The Metroid witnessed this thing called Humanity in many different sentient species, from the humans for which the language defined and offered it's meaning, to Zebethians and Chozo, and even so much as the Gruk. A good predator knew how to hunt and kill. A great and skilled hunter knew how to adapt.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

If Zebethians had lips, Narssek would've smiled. He overheard one of the bar wenches speaking with the keep at a safe distance at a table. He was hunched over enjoying something humans called a "Martini". My, how he loved technology and all of its forms. Too bad the rest of his kind couldn't find the art behind such little things, narrow-mindedly seeing only the benefits of computerized hardware and genome mapping.

"I swear that guy's a Zebethian!" said the middle-aged bar wench in a cringed whisper to her boss.

"And how do you figure?" the fat man replied, folding his thick arms and tucking his hands at his elbows. A doubtful expression crossed his brow.

"The hands at the end of his sleeves. I swear I've seen that style before. Three fingered, almost claw-like. And the way he spoke! It's gotta be-!" But, he quickly dismissed it with a wave of his hand.

"Dearie," he piped up, "is he causing any trouble?"

"Well, no."

"Do you really think this dive would hold any Pirate's interest?"

"Errr, no?"

"Is he paying his tab?"

"Uh, yeah?"

"Then, he ain't a Pirate. Table three wants a pitcher of Pabst."

Indeed, Narssek thought amusedly to himself. He wasn't a Pirate. But, he certainly was a Zebethian. How he was going to go about changing said definition, to seperate stigma from fact, was another reality. He wondered, though, how to go about performing such a feat. Indeed, it was complicated. Embroiled in blood and politics, something that he believed should have been kept separated from the beginning.

"Sir," a voice chittered in whisper right behind him. It was his new lieutenant, Yuur. With a nod of his head, Narssek invited Yuur to sit next to him at the table. "I know you ordered us to remain separated except to check in to keep inconspicuous, however I have information."

"Report?" Narssek kept his voice low. He gingerly took a sip from the glass, careful to allow the sharp fluid to trickle down the backside of his bare teeth.

"Ensign Whesha reported sighting another looking like Ensign T'kell." Of course, neither of them knew the admiral had already been spotted, and that's when T'kran walked in through the doors of the establishment, following Narssek in. The lieutenant and admiral both looked over their shoulders, responding to the door's report of a jingling bell. Yuur's right arm made a slight twich, but before he could get his arm scythe locked into place with a snap, Narssek made a slight wave of a hand halting the ensign in his move. "How can this be? T'kell was-!"

"Dead," Narssek finished quietly. "I have read the reports before my vessel succumbed to madness. This must be T'kran, the other survivor." Even the admiral was as wary as his lieutenant. Neither of them knew what the motives and reasons were behind this unexpected presence.

"Then?"

"T'kran, is it?" Narssek stood slowly as he set the Martini glass down. "Please, have a seat. I have something you might want to hear before you decide to tear my co-processors out and use them for a calculator."

"Sir, I wasn't done with my report," the lieutenant advised. He pulled out a video unit and displayed a picture secretively to Narssek, displaying the image of a Chozo amongst obvious Martian environs.

"I know what that is," Narssek acknowledged. "Significance? The individual in that image can be long lived. He doesn't seem familiar."

"I don't know anything, either," the lieutenant admitted. "He was spotted at the Martian Spaceport. We know he provided a name, but it turned out to be an alias. Very suspicious that a creature like him would hide his identity."

"Tik," Narssek chittered with a flinch. "There'd be a reason why he'd want to. I want you to personally invite him here. I think he'd find this idea of ours suitable for his talents."

"By myself?"

"That's an order, Lieutenant." Immediately, Lieutenant Yuur was out of his seat and exiting the bar. The admiral then turned his attention to T'kran. "Now, would you like to have a drink before I tell you why I'm worth more than a paperweight?"

----------------------------------------------------------------

(ooc: More to come later. Time ran short. It took me two hours to come up with this... forcing myself past the writer's block. I should have more up soon... I just don't have a specific time when.

[~Nightclaw~]

Wow, was Mars breeding these things or something? Not only was Narssek here, but ANOTHER Zebethian as well? This was just getting better and better.

"Hey, woah, woah..." said the Pirate hurriedly as Yurr's arm twitched. "You see any guns or sharp objects?" he asked, raising his arms. "No. So just keep your blade where it belongs, against your arm."

"How can this be? T'kell was-!"

"Dead." said T'kran almost in unison with Narssek. "Eaten by my friend Omega, I believe. The stupid mockery deserved it."

"T'kran, is it?" Narssek stood slowly as he set the Martini glass down. "Please, have a seat. I have something you might want to hear before you decide to tear my co-processors out and use them for a calculator."

"I'm listening. I'm just surprised you and your little band of followers managed to get this deep into Federation territory..." He grunted and looked around, brow raising slightly. Well, at least it's better than the irradiated ball of rock our forebears called home, he thought to himself. He returned to listening to the two of them converse, when finally:

"That's an order, Lieutenant." Immediately, Lieutenant Yuur was out of his seat and exiting the bar. The admiral then turned his attention to T'kran. "Now, would you like to have a drink before I tell you why I'm worth more than a paperweight?"

"Sure, why not" replied T'kran, walking over slowly and seating himself down at the bar, leaving a stool between himself and Narssek. Eyeing the bottles along a shelf behind the bar, one of them which he had heard about, something known as absinthe to the humans, caught his eye. "I'll take a glass of that, thanks." he said to the bartender, sliding a few cred-chips along the bar to where the tender stood.

Nodding silently, the bartender collected a whiskey glass and filled it three quarters of the way up with the drink, and slid it across the bar to the Pirate, who caught it in an open hand. Taking a gulp, he grunted and coughed as it left a slight burnign sensation on his throat. Turning to face the Zebethian, he nodded.

"So... you had something you wanted to tell me?"

((OOC: Just a little note, and something I must stress, T'kran is not a Zebethian. He's not one of those mechanized goons you see running around, either. He's a mixture of the more useful parts of most of the core Pirate species, so he isn't really any one race))

[~DarkKnightCuron~]

Had the tolls increased? Seemed like charges to make port were either getting higher and higher as time passed or were rising relative to how deep he was going into human territories. No matter. The last job had paid well enough and, unfortunately, Z'gato would have to stay on the red planet for longer than he had anticipated. Apparently, his ship had fallen into disrepair (no big surprise there), and needed to be repaired, which would take a few days. Z'Gato had managed to pay for the repairs (which seemed to have risen in cost as well), and was now at the main terminal of the space port.

Naturally, anything of particular value, he carried along with him. His armor had been put into a ridiculously large dufflebag, while the rest of the items he'd need (or want with him) were in a second, similarly sized dufflebag. Despite the size and weight of each one, Z'Gato handled them both like they were simple 3-pound weights. He had grown used to carrying a heavy load on himself long before he had become a bounty hunter, and he wasn't about to let himself lax now. No...he refused to be seen as weak, even to himself...

Of course, he had also grown used to people staring at him. Sure he was out of place wherever he went, but did they have to GAWK at him as he walked by? Sure he was taller then most human males (which only made Z'Gato feel more explosed), but did that mean he had to draw the eye of the crowd? On the outside, Z'Gato's grim frown left the impression of a rather bitter bird, and that's what he was damnit!

He shrugged, letting his large, brown trenchcoat fall more comfortably on his shoulders as he carried his bags towards the public transportation waiting area. Naturally, he'd need to find a hotel or something like that. Even if he had wanted to rest on his ship, chances were, he'd get none due to the loud noise of the spaceport. Seriously, how could one THINK with these humans being so loud?

If Z'Gato had a pair of earplugs, he'd be using them.

With a stiff "hrmph!" and a short glare at the other individuals waiting for transportation, Z'Gato leaned against a lightpole, setting his bags down right next to him.

[+Aiko+]

Samus walked out of the restroom, clothed in her new green dress. The fabric was light and flexible, just like she preferred. She paused on the verge, looking up and down the street for her friends. Adam was leaning against the wooden framework of a nearby stall, clearly amused with Omega’s struggle to get at the tender meat inside the anemone.

She knew that even though Adam wasn’t looking at her that he knew exactly where she was. The hologram was just a hologram, not him. He was no longer human, and therefore no longer limited by human senses. He was a GI; not quite a computer, yet not a biological organism. He was sentient and very much alive, just different from any other creature she ever encountered. Still, Adam had started human, and he was still very much her best friend.

However, even Adam tensed when Skrolek bumped into Omega. Adam didn’t understand Omega like she did, all he knew was that Omega could be unpredictable and was, without a doubt, incredibly dangerous. Samus could tell that Omega was frustrated with his meal, but knew in the depths of her soul that Omega wished no harm upon anyone around him. The empathic link they shared had grown stronger since his growth into the Zeta-stage. She swore that the metroid was as good at finding her as Adam was now. She wasn’t sure how it was possible, but she could feel him even in her thoughts now.

Samus walked over to Adam, grabbing his arm and wrapping her elbow in his. Adam looked down at her in surprise, then gave her a smirk that nearly split his face in half.

“What are you up to?” Adam asked.
“Oh, nothing. Tell me, have you been out of the loop for so long that you’ve forgotten how to escort a lady through crowded streets?”
“My dear Lady, I haven’t forgotten anything. You just don’t strike me as the sort of woman who likes having a man by her side.”
Samus laughed. “You’ve been single for far too long, my friend.”
“So have you,” Adam teased, poking her in the ribs.
“Ah well, I’m a career girl, what can I say?”
“Ain’t it the truth,” Adam smiled.

The two of them walked over to Omega. Adam went to reach for the anemone, but Samus swiftly stopped his hand with her own and gently shook her head. He looked a little confused, but he stopped.

“Omega, here, let me show you how to get at the meat without making a mess,” she said. She held out her hand and patiently waited for him to give her the anemone. Even she wouldn’t press her luck by taking Omega’s food from him. She knew Adam couldn’t get hurt as easily as biological beings, but she was certain Omega wouldn’t tolerate anyone else with his food, especially another male.

When Omega complied, Samus gently held the anemone in her hand and was very still. She waited for nearly a full minute. Then, just as the anemone loosened its hold on its shell, Samus twisted the two hemispheres in opposite directions. The muscles holding the shell ripped, and the anemone split into two halves. She held out the two pieces, each filled with a delicately flavored meat, out to Omega.

“Sometimes you can’t solve everything with force,” she smiled, choosing to make an important lesson out of this. “In times like that it’s best to be patient and just watch. You’ll never know what you’ll learn.”

She grinned and let Omega eat, then leaned into her metroid companion and grinned at Adam. “See? We make a cute pair, don’t we?”

“Oh yes, very cute. You even match.” Adam snickered. “Now I see why you chose the green dress.”

[~RejjeN~]

Not far from where Samus, Adam, Omega and the garlings a humanoid being clad in a dark purple and rust colored federation power suit, with a large glowing crystal in its chest was chasing a trio of humans over the roofs of the houses, occasionaly ducking down or jumping to the side as one of them fired a gun at him.

'Damnit... Why do I always end up taking a job just as something happens...' Twilight thought as he took cover from the barrage of gunfire the three thugs was now raining on him. Two of them were using regular SMG type weapons, which had very little power behind them, so that wasnt the actual problem, the problem was the leader who had some kind of gun that seemed to be able to pierce solid steel plates with ease, he noticed when he took cover behind one.

Just as the gunfire subsided Twilight rushed out, shoting a few quick bursts with his federation rifle before jumping over to the building the thugs was now on, only to notice that they were nowhere to be seen. Rushing up to the middle of the roof Twilight looked around, trying to see where they had disappeared too, but failed to notice the grenade that was rolled towards him from the staircase to his right.

tink

Twilight looked down at what had connected with his armored foot, and upon realising he was almost standing on a grenade that was about to go off, Twilight threw himself backwards, curling up as much as he could to protect his chest, or the crystal in it, from the blast.

A loud bang could be heard across a large portion of the city as the fragmentation grenade went off, sending Twilight who was already in the air flying several meters into the air, then crashing down on a shop stand right next to Samus. Even though he was for the most part not injured a small part of his leg armor had been blown off and was now revealing his "skin", a black and purple tinted, almost liquid looking substance, some of it was even dripping off, as if he was bleeding.

A regular human, or being for that matter, would most likely have died from internal injuries from a blast so close to them, but as Ing did not have internal organs in the same sense as other beings Twilight was for the most part just shaken by the event.

OOC: Hope thats a decent enough introduction xD

[+CEMP+]

(OOC: Minor question: Has the atmosphere of Mars been made breathable? Or is everyone simply in doors and walking on Martian ground?)

Jenosa strolled through the crowd, with only a few eyes peering at her, mostly ones that probably thought her looks. Ugh, beauty can sometimes a curse, but no way was she going to let herself look like a dirty feather duster. She preferred being clean, like any other ordinary civilian, not that she applied any kind of chemicals and make-up like maschera and the like. To her, she found that stuff repugnant, and that stuff hid the true nature of one's physic; she liked having a natural representation of herself. She found it really depicted her real mood and demeanor to those in front of her.

And if anyone did try to hit on her, she'd either tell them to bother someone else, or, if push came shove, she'd give him a knuckle sandwich. Most men would be surprised she could swing so well.

Speaking of her true nature, the 'doc' had warned her how the public may take to her new nature. She could hide her spine, but then there was the matter of fights that she could get in, both while hunting and on her free time. Wounds she took 'coagulated' very fast and closed up very fast, but in a weird fashion that it made it look as she had an infection; which was often how it passed as.

The matter was having people closely inspect her, as it could arouse suspicion, particularly if they saw her spine. It was obviously very attention grabbing with the way it was, and she didn't like everyone's eyes looking down at her.

Boy, was her life getting wilder than expected. This wasn't exactly what she expected to truly become when she ran away from home. She winced when she thought about that moment of her past, and shoved it out her mind. She wanted to enjoy herself, not dwell on the past that could hold guilt.

While she did the best to make of her past time, which was being fairly well used, an aspect of her new true nature was playing itself constantly, but was invisible to the naked eye; and Jenosa had no worry about it. It was, simply put, a new kind of 'sense' or 'perception' she had developed with her skin and even a small portion of the air around her.

Every contact or near-contact she made with people in the crowd was like touching heat that actually had a unique taste to it rather than the mundane polar opposites 'hot' and 'cold'. It was unnerving and alien to her, and triggered experiences that weren’t her, but it was one of the few ‘new’ aspects that she had gotten used to over the year. She had to, as there was no way forcing it away out; it was there like her skin, eyes, ears and nose, would stimulate just like they did.

It was one of the few aspects that she had actually, later on, embraced. The doc had told her that there was no escaping what she had become, and that fighting it would most likely make it harder for her to regularly enjoy life. And he was right; trying to fight the odd memories had caused nothing but headaches. She reluctantly accepted this aspect in becoming a part of her, rather than a separate plague.

In fact, the only new aspect of herself that she had begun to feel comfortable with. Everything else ‘abnormal’ she still had trouble coming to terms with; she was afraid that she might loose a sense of who she really was.

And deep down inside her, a voice was telling her that is would be impossible avoid these aspects forever, and that it would eventually come to pass to fully embrace her new nature. Yet the little girl that had remained inside her for so long was pushing back with hard tears of denial, trying to ignore and block out the idea her inedible fate.

This child was thankfully able to gain a few moments of respite, enjoying the scenery and a nice rainbow sherbet ice cream . It had actually been fairly relaxing up until the point a completely different and yet familiar sensation flooded her new senses, which made her stop in her tracks. It definitely stuck out amongst the ‘energy’ of the crowd she felt, and at first she was thinking of simply ignoring it as she did with everyone else’s

But something about it piquet her interest. For one, this sensation wasn’t being given to her by close contact, but by a few meters, and she could identify where the source was. A few seconds later, she had stumbled upon what looked like one of those conventional but ‘accidental’ bump-ins.

When she narrowed her eyes for a better inspection, the weirdest thing happened. The tall alien in the cloak was suddenly and completely in this heavy violet hue; similarly, the man not to far from him had a much lighter, purple colored hue, with only a more intense circle in the middle of his chest. Everyone else seemed completely normal.

Jenosa blinked in surprise at this, and the color was gun as soon as she did. Bah, lights must be playing tricks my eyes, she thought, shaking her head.

Yet, without a doubt, she now recognized the sensation with a smirk. It was the sensation of that of a metroid; or, more correctly, a humanoid Metroid. Although she was unable to tell if it was Omega or not, she recognized the woman beside the creature that of the infamous Samus. At least, to many people she was infamous, but to Jenosa, she was still a person, like her or anyone else.

She didn’t bother introducing herself directly to the trio, as she never really made much interaction with the rescue group save for Tara, Aiko and the pirate T’kran. She merely stood there observing, although it seemed obvious that she was looking at them.

That was until a bizarre federation trooper that made her feel slightly agitated landed near them. Ok, I’m going to assume flying, purple troopers isn’t one of the fair’s attractions,, she said, knowing full well that this guy wasn’t human. Hence, she didn’t know if this guy was ok, injured, dying or dead. “Ummm, you ok,” she said at a distance.

Even though this guy hadn’t shown any hostilities, he bothered her for a familiar reason.