Chapter Text
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The first thing that they noticed was screaming. Weapon fire, and animalistic roaring was noticed a moment later and the video appeared on the screen. Streaks of flame, and chunks of ice flew across the platform, hitting what could only be described as a horrific amalgamation of flesh and machine.
Metal plating with skin stretched onto it, orange energy making wing membranes and only the upper half of its ‘skull’ still visible. Purple, almost necrotic skin all but falling off, as though he was dug up from his grave.
A surge of rose petals flew past the camera, the glint of steel in the air as a massive crimson scythe swung at the wing membrane, a futile attempt to ground the ‘dragon’ as it simply bounced off. A quick burst of those same flower petals as the figure twisted and fell back to the stoney floor.
As the rose petals faded, the camera turned to acknowledge their comrade. Her pale skin stood in stark contrast to her outfit. A tattered, long sleeved, black blouse with red lining on the sleeve cuffs and the neck. Pinned to the collar of her shirt by two silver crosses is a long red cloak. She wears a skirt of the same design. A waist cincher with red string sits right above a gray belt holding a variety of gadgets. A metallic rose emblem covers the buckle.
Black tights that fade into red are tucked into black combat boots.The boots have red boot strings and a red sole.
Where there would be a case housing ammo mags for her weapon instead are three different blocks. The blocks have orange, red and purple hand symbols. A couple tanks rest in the holster on the back of the belt. Tubes flow up her back into a breathing mask that covers her mouth and nose. A blue, rectangular visor stretched across her silver eyes. Her black and red hair is choppy and burnt.The hood of her cloak has a single tear where it would rest over her right eye.
“Samus, What do we do?” ask the Red Cloaked figure “Nothing we do is working, Crescent Rose just bounces off of him!”
The camera, now identified as Samus nodded, having seen it happen already. The screen shifted, now appearing to have a giant circle with a smaller circle on the inside. It focused on the techno-zombie, the outer circle growing smaller and smaller as it seemed to hone in on a specific point. It stopped shrinking right over its chest.
“RUBY!” Samus shouted “His weak point is his chest, it’s not as armored!”
Ruby nodded, taking out a box with a blue hand symbol from her weapon, and replacing it with the red colored one. Her weapon began to grow warmer as red lights shone throughout it.
“Are you sure about that, Ruby?” Samus asked “You know that your weapon can’t handle the Plasma Beam modifications”
Ruby looked at her weapon somberly. Taking a deep breath, Ruby turned to look at Samus, her expression resolute.
“It’s our best shot. If his chest plating has thinner armor, then the intense heat of the Plasma Beam will get through it faster.”
No more words were spared, as the winged beast flew towards them. Hate filled screams rang out as it launched multiple missiles at the two fighters. Rose petals filled the area once more as Ruby dodged the oncoming explosives.
The recording stopped. The auditorium lights brightened, as a long blonde haired woman wearing what could only be described as a blue catsuit walked forward. The only thing of note on the suit, was a holster on her right leg that housed a strangely shaped pistol.
"Now that you've seen what awaits beyond your world, are you sure you can protect it with ONLY your Aura?" The mystery woman said, her voice a dead match to the stopped video "Because you can ask Ruby JUST how dangerous the Space Pirates, and worse Ridley are."
Students and Teachers alike all turned to look at the aformention young woman. Her cloak, originally crimson, now had an intriguing auburn dot pattern sewn in. Areas where it had been patched and stitche back together, with a newly add fur collar to the hood.
"The grimm can be dealt with easily" she said, shrinking in on her self a little at the attention "But whats out there requires technology that even Atlas doesn't have. Dust doesn't work outside of Remnant, so I had to modify Crescent Rose"
Taking a deep breath, she stared Samus in the eyes "and I don't regret my choices."
Samus gave a gentle smile in return, before turning to the rest of the school.
"Alright, Listen up. The Galactic Federation will be here in a week with a First Contact Diplomatic Party. I EXPECT you all to be on your best behaviour when the arrive."
Notes:
Howdy! This has been an idea for a couple months now. One of several "What if Ruby (or if I felt it appropriate, any other member of Team RWBY) was thrown into another setting."
This one is something I've been working on for a good while, So here's a "Trailer" Chapter to help me start it off. I'll be mainly writing this as I go along, and play through the Prime Trilogy. It'll take a bit. So please be patient!
Chapter 2: Samus Log 1: First contact.
Summary:
Samus tracks an old enemy, and meets a lost child.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Target Lost.
Manual reconnaissance recommended.
Scanning for suitable landing sites.
Scanning...
Scanning...
Location found.
ALERT!
Unknown lifeform and signal detected at landing site, Proceed?
...
Proceeding to landing site.
I sigh as I pilot my gunship to the marked location, both for the landing zone AND the mysterious lifeform. This could be a native of the planet, or a starfarer who simply got unlucky. It's not like the Galactic Federation has an archive of all the space farring species. It could most likely be somebody in need of a lift, a somewhat uncommon occurence while I've traveled. If so, I'd activate the timed autopilot feature, get them to a more civilized part of space and my ship would fly itself back. A useful feature, but not an important one in the long run. I'm hardly ever without my ship.
Rain hammered down on the ship, the forests below rushed by as I flew my ship. I take a look at the map screen on the right, I'm getting close to the landing site. Pulling back on the throttle, I reach over and and begin the landing sequence. I'll never understand why Prime Space Industries put four multi-directional rockets under my ships chasis instead of standard landing gear. If even one of them gets damaged, the whole ship can't fly. I'm thinking of putting in a request to remodel the overall design.
A notice appeared on the screen to my right. Chozo ruins on this Tallon IV? That'll be convenient. Hopefully they have items that can restore a lot of my power suits Funcitons.
Soon enough, I found the clearing where I could "land" my ship. So far, I count two doors that I can enter. Thankfully they're covers in a 'Blue' barrier, so my power beam can open it. Glancing at a monitor to my left, It's telling me that the unknown being is an alcove in the north. Next to the door. Probably a pathway.
I turn the pilots seat around and head towards the lift to the exit hatch. Flipping open a panel on my Arm Cannon, I link up my ships under mounted turret to my combat visor. Never hurts to be to careful incase they're hostile. Activating the lift, I exit to the top of my ship and into the rain. Looking around, I see a variety of plants that I haven't seen on GF alligned worlds. Some are familiar, no doubt transplanted by the Chozo tribe that used to live here. Looking towards the platform, I spot a pathway that leads up to it. Nodding to my self, I jump off my ship and begin walking to it.
Alert!
Topographical Map Data determined the Chozo Ruins is located to the East.
Potential Power Suit upgrades for reapair highly likely.
Proceed with caution.
I smile under my helmet, a new objective ready. First though, The mystery person. I hop onto the ledge and walk into the alcove stopping in surprise. They're a Human, female by the look of it, yet that's not what surprises me. What does is that she has red "energy?" crackling all over her. There're shards of ice surrounding her, mostly melted, but the fact that they are there at all is concerning. Tapped the side of my helmet, I switch to my Scan Visor. The square shapes that denote the Combat Visor shift into circlular shapes. My field of view blurs around the outer areas of the larger circle, limiting what I can see somewhat. Focusing on the Ice, the visor tells me that it's just 'ordinary' ice. Ordinary, right.
Turning to the unconcious girl, I start scanning her. The only thing of note would be that she possesses a natural shielding? That would explain the crackling, it seems it was overwhelmed and nearly broke. Flipping the panel on my Arm Cannon, I de link the under turret. It wouldn't do to have it start firing by chance. Grabbing the edges of her cloak, I start carefully wrapping her up to keep her as dry as possible. Pulling the hood of it over her head, I pick her up. There's no use wasting time outside, so I jog to my ship. The sound of metal clattering to the floor catches my attention. Turning to look at it, I notice a Crimson box had fallen off of her.
I'll have to grab it after I put her down in the ship. Leaping on the the top, I walk to the elevator hatch. I had to orient her so that she can be brought inside. Well, Now I know that I'll have my ship redesigned after all. The current design doesn't lend itself well to Rescue Ops.
"Computer, rotate and recline the pilot seat" I spoke in Chozodian, "Prepare medical scans, identify any injuries"
Acknowledged, preparing medical scanning.
Preparing medical supplies.
Supplies ready to be used.
Medical Sans will be ready shortly.
"Acknowledged"
I make my way back to the lift, and exit back into what I'm calling the "Tallon Overworld". Walking off of my ship, I go pick up the strange red box. It's no doubt important to her, considering that she was carrying it on her when she arrived. Hopping back onto my ship, I enter it once again. Walking to wall panel, I pull it down to turn it into a table and set the box on it. Putting my hand on the side of my helmet agian, I scan the box.... What the hell am I looking at? It's a scythe AND a Sniper Rifle? A Scyfle? Snithe? The scans show that it's littered in finger prints, no doubt hers. Did she make this? If so, she has a talent for engineering and weapon design. That box on her hip must be its ammunition case.
Well, now that I found the mystery person, I'll get started on locating that unknown signal. More than likely, the signal is on her person but I'd best make sure with the computer.
"Computer, locate the unkown signal detected earlier. Isolate it's location"
Acknowledged, locating unkown signal.
Locating...
Locating...
Signal found!
Signal now originating from within the vessel.
Location: Casing on the side of unknown female.
Alert!
Medical Scan complete.
Show on interior monitor?
"Yes"
Acknowledged, Displaying Medical Scan Data.
Subject: Unknown Human Female.
Height: 5'2" (1.57m)
Weight: 125 Lbs
Bloodtype: B
Planet of Origin: Unknown
Age: 15 Cycles
Unknown Energy Field surrounds the subject
Unknown Energy found in subjects eyes
Notes: Subject is a Human Female from an as of yet unidentified planet, highly probable that the subject comes from a pre-space planet.
Subject is surrounded by a naturally produced Energy Field, probability of the rest of her people producing the same shielding Extremely High.
Subject has numerous bruises and lacerations, none of which are serious or fatal.
Subject has a mild concussion, recommend keeping an watch on vitals to ensure that the subject does not suffer adverse affects.
End of Medical Log.
As I read through the data, a few things catches my eye. Firstly, the DNA sample on screen is comparable to DNA data from Earth, minus a few extra bits here and there. Secondly, it looks like what injuries she does have are not as bad as they appear, the concussion is slightly worrying. Thirdly, there's a scan data of her eyes. An unknown energy found them? Could be dangerous, or something similar to her natural shielding. Either way, I won't be able to ask her about it quite yet. Walking over to her, I carefully remove the silver box off her belt and bring it to her weapon. Opening it, I find I was correct in my assumption about it holding ammunition, but I also found a white rectangle with a gold diamon in the center.
Placing it on the table, I started scanning it. It's a Multi-purpose communications device? perhaps it has a way of translating dialogue between the two of us.
"Computer, Hack into the device. Download everything revelent to languages, locations and planetary history."
Acknowledged, Hacking commencing.
Hacking complete, Downloading relevent software.
Lagnuage, Downloaded.
Locations, Downloaded.
Error!
Cannot download Planetary History.
Download complete, isolating selected terminology.
Subject is missing from device.
I click my tongue at that last one, so much for the easy route. Still, it's better than nothing. At least this way I can start adding her language to my translator, and start teaching myself how to speak it. Most people would say that's the translators job, but I prefer to be able speak without it incase it fails.
Walking to a panel next to the table, I pull it out and unfold a seat. Resting my Arm Cannon on the table, I flip the panel and start reading the data taken from her communicator. I can't help but chuckle, this is looking to be an interesting mission.
Notes:
So, a Proper Samus POV chapter. The Fic itself will take place mainly from Ruby's POV, with chapters taking place from Samus' to showcase how both familiar it is, and different from how it used to be having an ally. As well as the difficulties communicating when your only method of communication is a translator function that is slowly but surely helping Samus learn to speak "Remnant".
Ruby on the other hand, is gonna be a fish out of water in this. She'll have to trust that this stranger who can't even speak her language helps her get home. That's not even getting into the wider Galactic Community as a whole.
Chapter 3: Start of a partnership
Summary:
Ruby wakes up, and comes to terms that she's not on Remnant. Samus explains what she's doing on Tallon IV, while keeping a few things to herself.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
The first thing I hear is beeping, but not like those you'd hear in a hospital. There's no 'beep-beep! beep-beep!', there's 'beeps, bops, boops and bwops' like back at Beacons computer labs. Wait, Beacon.... THE TRAIN!
Snapping my eyes open, only to slam them shut as I rush to sit up only to grab my head as big headache appeared. It feels similar to those seperate time Yang tried getting me to try her 'Strawberry Sunrises', Uncle Qrow caught her the second time and told her some things. I don't know what they were as I couldn't pay attention. I can't help but whimper a little as my head felt like it was in one of Yang extra strong bear hugs. There was a steady clank of metal on metal, and suddenly there was a hand on my shoulder gently pushing me back onto the bed.
Carefully opening my eyes, I look to the right to see a person'?' walking back to a table. The table has my sweetheart! She doesn't look to have been taken apart, just looks like she's been in the rain. Actually, now that think about it, I feel like I've been in the rain. At that thought, I started hearing the pitter-patter of rain. Carefully sitting up, I look behind me to see a GIANT windshield! It's bigger than any bullhead windshield I've been on! I let out a strangled gasp as I look outside. Plant life, plants that I've never seen or heard of at Beacon. I don't think that Doctor Oobleck would leave this out of class.
I hear the clanking again, probably the persons footsteps as they gently pull me back. I hear them speak, but I couldn't understand it. I watch as the 'bed' I was laying on sit back up. I turn around as I'm guided to the chair they sat in earlier. As I take the offered seat, the armored person walks back to the chair I was in earlier and sits.
They're wearing yellow armor with orange shoulders and a red chestplating and helmet. On the left half of the chest peice is a green backwards L, while the visor is also green. Her right arm is covered by a CANNON! That's so cool! How's it work? What type of Dust does it use? How heavy-
I blinked as I heard them chuckle... I said all that outloud didn't I?
I watch as they flip something on their Arm Cannon, then tap on the side of their helmet. They cough.
"Hello, I am Samus Aran." SHE said "My ships computer, and my suits built in translator finished decoding your communicators language. It's not a perfect translations, but it'll suffice for now."
She sounds friendly, but she said that what she's saying isn't gonna be a perfect translation? Does she watch Space Journey? She must've seen my disbelief, simply held up one finger and turned her chair around. I felt the room'?' lurch, and suddenly it felt like I was on a bullhead. I saw her pull back on a lever, and I had to rush to grab my stuff. Shortly after, she pust the lever back forward. Her chair slid outward, and waved her hand forward like she was waving me over.
I carefully walk to her, clipping my ammo case back onto my belt while I have Crescent Rose ready to deploy. When I get to where she is, all I see are stars.
"What?" I can't help ask "How'd it get to night so fast?! Did we travel accross the Remnant to where it's night time?"
She doesn't respond, instead taking that same lever and twisting it. I watch as the stars move out of sight, and what I saw was both beautiful and horrifying. That... That can't be Remnant. I may have moved ahead two years, but Signal did show us how Remnant looked using those spinny globes.
This looked nothing like them. I couldn't see anything familiar about it, I couldn't even find Patch! I look over at the pilot, a pleading look on my face. She makes a wide gesture with her free hand.
"Welcome, Miss, to being one of the first of your people in space." she softly said "We'll go back planetside, and talk about what we'll be doing from there."
With that she turns around and takes us back to the unknown world. As I look at the cockpit, I notice her Arm Cannon is inserted into a slot on the dashboard. Does that control the weapons? Does it help her fly the ship?
"A little bit of A, a little bit of B. It also serves as an interface for a variety of machinery and computers."
I must've said that outloud again.
"Sorry, I just love seeing new weapons." I said, "They don't judge you"
She simply hums at that, Focusing on flying us back to where she landed earlier. It's a quiet flight.
I watch as the Huntress'?' press a few buttons and grunt in annoyance. The ship shudders and starts gently bobbing, and she turns to look at me.
"Like I said earlier, I'm Samus" she said, reintroducing herself " and you are?"
Oh! I hadn't given my name.
"I'm Ruby, Ruby Rose." I said, "I mean, technically Xiao-Long-Rose, but I usually shorten it to Rose."
"Nice to meet you, Ruby Rose. Now, on to business."
I put Crescent Rose on her waist holster, and put my scroll in my ammo case. This is gonna be a long talk, I can tell. If anything, Samus has to be my way home. She has to.
"Right now, I'm presenting you with two choices. Choice one, I contact the Galactic Federation. They come pick you up, and you spend time in their protection as you are a case of First Contact." She said, her voice becoming stern. Kinda like Weiss when she's helpping tutor me in what I skipped. "Choice Two, You give me a rundown of both your weapon, and any skills you posses. I'm not gonna lie, I'm more partial to simply calling the Galactic Federation. I've got enough favors to make sure you won't want for much as they look for your planet of origin."
This isn't a kind galaxy, but it's not cruel. While it wouldn't be the first time I looked after people while on a mission, I'm not in the habit of looking after every person I find while on the job."
The way she spoke, she sound like both Dad and Uncle Qrow when they talk about their times doing their jobs as Huntsmen. She sounded sad.
'Think, Ruby. What Weiss do? Yang? Blake?' I thought to my self 'Yang would just rush in. Blake would probably go with the first choice. The faster she got back to Remnant, the faster she could stop what the White Fang would be planning. Weiss would.... She'd weigh both options.'
Taking a deep breath, I count to 10 and release it. Weiss probably had the right of it, weighing both options and ask to know more.
"Why did you come to this planet?" I ask "Don't get me wrong! I'm happy you did, not everyone would help other out for no reason than it's the right thing to do, but I don't think you'd come here unless you were here for something else"
Samus stared at me, her green visor hiding her expression. What could she be thinking? Is she impressed? Disappointed? Upset?!
After what felt like hours, she responded.
"Computer, Bring up log entry 'Frigate Orpheon'." She said, in a language I can't under stand.
Acknowledged, loading log entry.
Loading...
Loading...
Log entry now accessable, Show on primary monitor?
"Display"
I hear the sound of panels shifting, and I turn to the opposite wall and see it flip around. It showed a MASSIVE ship! It had an engine WAY bigger than the rest of it, and it kinda looked like a shrimp.
Samus' footsteps echo slightly in the ship as she walks closer. Could this ship be the reason why she's here?
"That's the Frigate Orpheon. I had just gotten a distress signal and went to investigate. Needless to say, there was practically no survivors. What few there were tried to kill me." She said, my eyes widening at that last bit. "The reason I went down to the planet is personal, and I hope you never encounter IT"
The way she said that, she must really dislike who ever 'It" is. If I go with her, I'll get caught in the cross fire. If I don't I'll just be sitting around, waiting for news on whether or not they found Remnant. I guess that I only really had one choice.
"I'm going with you, I'd go stir crazy if I had to wait for news." I say, trying to make a joke of the problem at hand. Even I couldn't hide how scared I sounded. "At least with you I'll be doing somthing. Making progress one way or another."
She simply stares at me again, that vibrant visor appearing so distant. After a moment, she nods and walks over to a different wall panel. Pressing a button, she pulls out a small crate and puts it on the wall table'?'
"If you're going to be accompanying me, you're gonna need to upgrade your weapon." She says, as if it's the simplest thing to do. "I'll be helping you outfit your with Beam Technology, It'll be necessary as the scans I took of both your weapon and ammo showed that they're inert."
My eyes wided at that, my Dust ammo inert? I quickly reach into my ammo case and pull out a mag. I carefully pull one of my Dust Rounds out only to find that instead of the purple lining of my gravity rounds, only dull gray remains. Taking out another mag, burn Dust this time, only to find the same thing. Dull gray instead of bright red.
"Dust doesn't work outside of Remnant" I say to myself, horrified that Crescent Rose is essentially without a ranged mode.
The clanking of metal on metal startles me, and I turn to Samus who looked to be ready to snap her fingers. She must've been doing that already.
"This 'Dust' must be an energy source if you specifically mentioned your planet as a whole, but yes. It doesn't look to work outside of it." Lightly tapping the box on the table, it opened up. "Which is why you'll be taking your weapon apart, and I will help you retrofit Beam Weapon Technology onto it. The only problem I can see is that you'll need to change HOW you fight a little bit as you need to get used to how Beam Weapons work."
I take another breath, repeating the breathing exercise that EVERYONE on my team convinced me to take. My baby is at half effectiveness, This 'Beam' tech will bring her back to full strength.
"Alright, let's get started. Do you have any tools that could help?"
Nodding, she opens a drawer on the side of the box.
'I hope Yang, Blake and Weiss are okay.' I thought taking an offered screwdriver 'Don't worry, I'll be back home as fast as I can!'
Notes:
Alrighty, I'mma explain the translator bit. The translator module in Samus' helmet will be doing most of the leg work for talking during the Tallon IV mission. During the downtimes they'll have DURING the mission is where Samus will be practicing speaking the Remnant Language.
Chapter 4: Ruby's first steps
Summary:
Ruby Learns how to use a visor and takes her first steps on a brand new world.
Chapter Text
"Okay, Now we add the energy-to-matter converter and lastly the recoil dampener rings" Samus said, walking me through the proccess of installing the upgrades. "After that, we'll be done. Only thing to decide is how many of the rings you need. My arm cannon uses three, allowing me to use it one handed"
I take the offered piece, carefully sliding it into the chasis. Crescent Rose had gained a bit of bulk, so I'll need to see if the transformation between Scythe and Rifle mode will be inhibited. If it is then I'll just keep her in Scythe Mode. Still, if the recoil rings make her weapon 'managable' for single arm use, then either Beam Weapons have incredibly high fire power or HER cannon in specific is that strong.
"Can I disable them in case I need the recoil to launch myself?" I ask "I designed Crescent Rose to use recoil, but to make it apart of her identity. With my semblance, I could use it to give myself a bit of a speed boost."
I hold up of the ring as I look at them. They're really light, in a surprising wy. They still weigh a good bit, they're just lighter than I thought they'd be. They have the smae bluish green color Samus' weapon does, maybe she goes through a lot of them? If her weapon really has that much kick back, then maybe she needs a surplus.
"Semblance? Is that something unique to your people?" She asks. "If so, then the wider galactic community has probably never heard of it."
They don't know about semblances? Or Aura? It sorta makes sense, she is wearing armor, but to not know the most important facet of the soul?
"Let's start with from the top" She said, interrupting my train of thought. "What is a 'semblance'."
Okay, that's a good place as any to start with.
"Semblances are unique abilities you unlock when you have an Aura" I told her, remembering that Weiss explained it despite hacing gotten the same lesson back at Signal "Aura is the power of the soul unlocked and given form. It protects you, makes you stronger and let's you use a Semblance when you unlock it. Mine let's me move really fast, and leave rose petals behind!"
Samus simply nodded, as though it was something that she experienced before. Now that I think about it, she probably has. After a few moments she took one of the recoil rings and put it away.
"Your Aura is probably that natural energy shield my scans indicated. It makes sense as when I found you it looked to be close to breaking, showing its self as red electrical markings making pattern every so often."
I gasp a little at that. My Aura was close to breaking?! I pull out my scroll and open the Aura Checker app. it's at 57%. Close to breaking would put it at little over 10%, so I must've been out cold for around five hours for it to get back that high. Samus leans over and I show her the screen.
"My scroll has an app that lets Huntsmen and Huntresses check their arua levels." I explained "If it was close to breaking then I had barely 10% percent left."
"Computer, scan her 'Scroll' again. Add the function for 'Aura Reading', synchronize with HUD" She said in that strange language.
Acknowledged, Scanning.
Cross referencing.
Scan complete.
Adding [Aura Reader App] to Power Suit Heads Up Display.
Complete.
What ever Samus' Ship said seemed to make her happy, as she simply nodded. Her visor glowed a bit brigher for a moment, before dimming back to it's original brightness. That suit is SO COOL! She flipped a side panel on her cannon, pressed a few buttons and flipped it back. It looks like she did a few things with her helmet?
"Alright, Now I'll be able to help you keep track of your aura levels. I've added it as an extra meter on my HUD" Samus tole me "However, I will not be doing FOR you. It'll be inconvenient for you to have to pull out your scroll just to check it."
As she finished saying that, she turned and pulled out a strange head piece. It was a dim, translucent blue rectangle with a smaller rounded rectangle just under the curve of the right side. A band stretched around the back, with a thin line in the middle.
"Here, a Visor meant for training recurits in the Galactic Federation Militaries." She said, handing it over "I didn't need it as I'd been training with my power suit since I was about 14, but it's standard issue and I hadn't gotten around to getting rid of it."
Handing it over, she helps adjust it to fit. I can't but start feeling a little impatient. Crescent Rose just got upgraded, and I can't use her just yet as I need to add the Recoil Rings. We got side tracked, and now I'm wearing training equipment. Ugh, this is just like when Uncle Qrow started helping me with scythe work. I just want to get going, I learn better by doing anyways.
I blink and the visor activates. The dark blue visor lightens up, pale gray popping up and outlining several object. Crescent Rose, oddly enough, isn't. Could it be something to do with the different tech? I look around, watching as the world around me get highlighted and focused and passed over. The sound of metal fingers snapping pulls me back to Samus.
"Alright, there're a few buttons and a motion sensor on the side of the visor. This'll let you control it's functions." She said "After we run you through basic setup we'll finish upgrading your scythe. Turn to the opposite wall"
I did so, wondering what she's gonna do. Looking at the monitor, it's still showing the space ship from her earlier explaination. It disappeared and was soon replaced with four red dots in the corners of the screen.
"Look around the visor to find the icons represent the general function it has active. That should tell you where you need to swip to change the primary function of it."
I move my eyes around the edges of it, looking for the icons she mentioned. I find it a the bottom of the screen, a crosshair icon.
"I found it, it looks like a crosshair." I tell her.
"Good, That's the 'Combat Visor'" She replies "It's the default function equipped for all combat model HUDs as they provide both general purpose utility, and combat focused capabilities."
Okay, that makes sense. Despite it's name it's more of a catchall term, useful in almost any situation. That means there are mor specialized visors to be made and used.
"Now, bring your hand to the buttons I mentioned earlier, and press the bottom one. It'll bring up 'Visor Selection', then swip in the direction of the only other option there."
Sounds simple enough, Press button and swipe. I bring my hand up to the side and feel around for the buttons. I find them just before my ear, kinda convenient! From what I can feel, there's three buttons. A big one, and two little ones underneath it. Pressing the big button, The 'Combat Visor" gets bigger, and under is three slots. While two of them were empty, the one right at the bottom had an icon that looked like the visor I'm wearing. I swipe down on the side and the whole screen changes.
Where the Combat Visor was wide, with a display that let me look around without the icons getting in the way, this visor was narrower. It had a large circle and a smaller inner circle, and everywhere else looks to be blurry. Only the where I'm looking is clear.
"Uh, Samus? I think I did it, but a lot of it looks blurry"
"That's natural, that's the Scan Visor. It does exactly as it's name implies, scanning an object to get information. General, Tactical or Critical, the Scan Visor will sort and organize it all."
It also follows your eyes exclusively, which is useful for this next bit. Using only your eyes, look at the red dots on the monitor to calibrate it. To use scanning portion, simply hold down the button. That'll cause it to focus in on and start scanning what ever your eyes are on."
Alrighty, the quicker I get through this, the faster I can get home! I start by looking to the dot in the top left, I'm a lefty after all and hold the button. I watch as a little bar shows under it and fills up quickly.
Callibrating Galactic Federation Recruit Visor.
Callibration 1/4.
Continue Callibrating.
I watch as a message appears in another language I can't understand. I look to Samus confused, I couldn't read what was on the screen. Maybe she could help?
"Samus? I can't understand the words on the screen." I tell her "Did I do it right?"
She nods, as though she was expecting it.
"I know, we'll fix that in a moment. For now, scan the rest of the dots. That'll finish callibrating it."
I nod, she knows this stuff better than I do right now. I turn back to the screen and scan the bottom left dot. The same bar shows up under the dot and fills up just as fast as last time.
Callibrating Galactic Federation Recruit Visor.
Callibration 2/4.
Continue Callibrating.
Just as before, words and letters I can't read show up on the screen. They quickly leave and the visor goes back to the empty circles. Only now I see the the red dot is now green. I look up to see that the top left dot is also green. I guess that means I'm doing it right? I mean, Samus basically said I was, but seeing it different than being told. I look to the top right dot, and soon after the bottom right.
Callibrating Galactic Federation Recruit Visor.
Callibration 3/4.
Continue Callibrating
Callibrating Galactic Federation Recruit Visor.
Callibration 4/4
Callibrations Complete.
Visor ready for use.
Yes! This is gonna be great! Now I can finish upgrading Crescent Rose!
"I'm done!" I say turning to Samus "Now what?"
She let's out a small huff-was that a laugh?-and puts her on hand up to the side of her helmet. I see her swipe her finger backwards, and her visor shines for a moment.
'Did she switch to her own scan visor?' I thought, wondering what she's doing.
Alert!
incoming data package.
Data packaged analysed, Language packet found.
Updating translator module.
Translator module updated.
Alert!
Language packet auto executing translation feature.
HUD will now translate into 'Remnant'.
Translating now.
Just as the word showed up on screen, words that I didn't know, they changed to Valean! Now I can understand it! Samus must've seen how surprised I was as I definitely heard a soft chuckle!
"There you go, now you can understand what is on screen." She said "As a test run, scan me. After that we'll finish upgrading your weapon, do a few test fires."
Nodding, I look to Samus. Unlike with the red dots, Samus has a little orange square over her. That must be what the Scan Visor focuses in on. Holding down the button, I notice that the bar is filling up slower. Like it's trying to get a thorough scan.
Recording to Gunship Logbook.
Research: Chozo Powersuit.
Powersuit is registered as the sole armor of Galactic Bounty Hunter Samus Aran.
Logbook Entry:
The Biomechanical Chozo Powersuit is the armor of choice of Samus Aran, having been used in both her former Military career, and the life she persues as a bounty hunter.
Scans indicate it has sustained recent damage.
Threat level: Dangerously High regardless.
I guess it works, though I don't know what a 'Chozo' is Samus seems to have her armor made for her. Even through her helmet she seems to be expecting me to tell her what it told me.
"It said that you're wearing a 'Chozo Powersuit'" I tell her, and she simply nods.
"Good, it's working." She replies, turning back to the impromtu workbench. "Now, What exactly is the firepower of your weapon? You mentioned that it let you use the recoil to speed yourself up."
I smile, happy to be back in what I'm familiar with.
"I kind of overdesigned Crescent Rose, I'll admit." I say happily "but there's only so much allowed when building your own weapon that I kinda had to if I was gonna get something I'd be happy with. Most people would call it an 'Anti-Material Rifle', and they'd right!"
Samus just looks at me, my smile wilting a little. After a moment, she spoke.
"You combined and anti-material rifle with a scythe and use that to fight." She said slowly, making sure she heard right. I nod.
"Well, yeah. On Remnant there's these monsters called 'Grimm', and many of them have metal like bone plating on them. I need the extra firepower to cut right through them."
At that she nods slowly, probably thinking about it. It's not that big a deal, the Grimm have been around forever, surely there's some on this planet. Either way, she waves me over and starts helping me add the Recoil Rings.
After fixing the barrel back into Crescent Rose, she's complete again. A bit larger than she was before, but upgrades can do that. If I'm right, she can still transform back and forth between Rifle, Scythe and Storage forms. I pick her up, and get ready.
"You might want to step back a little. Crescent Rose is about twice my height."
Samus nods, stepping back and sitting in the pilot chair. She put her hand on helmet, ready to scan and help with fixing anything that went wrong. I press the first button, right at the base of where the stock is folded. The stock unfolds, pressing into my should, the grip unfolding from under it. From there, the barrel extended outwards a little, backed by two rings that sit snuggly where the were put. A scope soon rises up, followed by the width of the main portion of growing outwards. I watch, neverous that the scythe blades hidden away might break. Instead, the gears the rotate them shift outwards a little. Giving room for the beam weapon technology to sit safely.
I breathe a sigh of relief, so far so good. This time, I hold down the transformation button. The grip folds back into the stock extends further, rotating to have a small spike appear at the end. The barrel extends even further, taking the folded Scythe head with it. The Scythe blade rotate outward, sliding into place as the back pushes outward turning into hooks.
I press it twice, and everything folds back into a neat little box. I go through the same sequence three more times just to be safe.
"You weren't kidding when you said that it was bigger than you." I heard Samus say, sounding impressed! "That you can swing it shows a surprising amount of strength, aura or not."
Now comes the test run! Wait... How do we leave the ship? Does it have a teleporter? Samus gets up, the pilot seat turning and sliding back into the dashboard. Waving me over, I walk to her as I put Crescent Rose in her holster. When I get to her, the top of her ship opens up, and we start rising up towards it! I feel the gentle taps of rain hitting me, so I pull up my hood. When we reach the top, I can't help but gasp at how pretty it all looks. It's all so bright and colorful! Yet, it's also peaceful. Like, nothing here is gonna hunt us.
"Go ahead, Ruby" Samus said, startling me out of my thoughts. "Take that first step for your people."
I look at her and see that she's holding her hand to her visor. Is she recording this?
Carefully, I take a step forward and jump. I activate my semblance mid air so my rose petals can trail behind me.
'May as well make it a 'Super Hero Landing'' I thought and I landed, taking a knee at the end. Rose petals gently fell, as my cloak wrapped itself around me.
Chapter 5: Enter the Chozo Ruins
Chapter Text
I lay a hand down on the grass, curious as to how it felt. It does't feel that different from the grass on Remnant, but it wouldn't be something I thought was out of the question. The rain gently hitting my hood, as I take in the view of the area. In front of me, was a waterfall that was split into five different streams. I see an alcove near it, probably where Samus found me. I look to the right a little, and see what I think is a door. It's got a blue light surrounding it, so I think it might be useful at night so you can see it. Looking around a bit more I see another door with the same blue light.
I turn around to see Samus's ship, seeing her just standing there with a hand on her helmet. Is she scanning the area? No, she's looking at me. Did she record me landing? Why? I'll have to ask her later, I take a look at her ship and see a glaring issue.
"Samus? Why does it have thrusters instead of landing gear?" I ask, confused at the idea. Even Atlas battle ships have landing gear, and they're massive.
"I'll be asking the same question after we're done here" She replied "As Prime Space Industries is our second stop. The first one will be the Galactic Federation HQ to get them started on finding your planet. We're a bit out of range for communicaitons."
I nod at that. If she could've told them, I don't doubt she would have. 'First Contact' must be a big deal for the Galactic Federation. At least it's a plan, another step to getting home! Still, while I'm looking at it I scan the ship. This is so cool! While I didn't get any technical layouts, that fact that this one ship is the only one that Samus owns tells me that she's a REALLY good pilot.
As I stand up, a message pops up on my visor.
Alert!
Incoming Data Package.
Aura Reading Data Package registered.
Adding Aura Level to HUD.
HUD Updated, now showing users current Aura Level.
I watch as a bar appears at the top of the screen, starting off red and slowing growing into yellow. 57% Aura. I'm gonna have to be careful until it's back at 100%. A number appears at the start of the Aura Bar. 57. This will help make it easier to judge when to attack or not.
I look up to see Samus crouch before she jumps, somersaulting in the air multiple times before landing. I notice that she has some sort of vent on the back of her armor, does it get hot in there? She looks around as she stands, before walking to the door on the far right. I quickly walk to her, watching as she quickly climbs up to the door. She stands there for a moment, likely wating for me. Once I get there she shoots the door. I watch the blue light disappear and the door open.
"Most doors in the wider galaxy use shielding to both protect the door, and stop them from opening on their own." She explained "As a result, local wildlife normally won't be able to get in to where ever it leads. It's not perfect, there has been instances where they have gotten in, but it's a useful feature."
I don't really get it, but it's probably something I'll understand later. As we walk, I can't help but admire the world around me. It's so peaceful, so I can't help be ready for when the Grimm strike. Going through a tunnel, we end up in an alcove. It's got a sandy floor, an stone walls. There's a path near the back left of it, probably leading out of the area.
As we step into the sand, it starts shaking. It looks like somethings trying to dig out of it, sand starting to push into a pile. A small, point started poking out as the sand started digging out of it, wiggling left and right. A second, smaller point appeared under it as it wiggled more.
'Wait, It looks like' is all I thought before what appeard to be an oversized beetle finished crawling out of the sandy floor. It looked kinda cute, looking around. Once it spots us, it crouches and scrapes one of it's legs through the sand, getting ready to charge. Samus shoots near it, a sphere of orange/gold energy grazes the beetle(?) causing it to let out a shriek. I watch in horror as the leg it grazed boiled and popped, the beetle charging us in retaliation.
'Is this how strong Beam Weapons are?' I thought to myself as Samus dashes around it, the back of her suits thrusters firing off. She shoots it again, this time the beam knocking it over, dead. 'This could revolutionize combat against the grimm.'
What went unthought of is how groups like the White Fang could use this, how most likely they would've attacked Weiss' home, uncarring to the lives they'd take. I shake my head, can't let myself think like that. What matters right now is getting home, we can deal with Remnant getting space tech later.
Continuing on, Samus shoots the door and opens it. We leave the cave to see the open skies. I felt Samus tapping my shoulder and turned to look at her.
"Do you those platforms there?" She said, pointing towards a set of seperate flat topped rocks "Be on the lookout for more platforms like those, typically I tend to find alternate pathways by simply getting to higher or lower ground."
I nod, that makes some sense. Like those explorathons Yang introduced Weiss to. She only plays them on the weekends, when she has all her schoolwork for the week finished.
Wait... "Samus, is that a half-pipe?" I ask, pointing to it.
She looks to the area, seeing the walls and how it curves into the floor. It's to smooth to be caused naturally here, did the people here skate?
"It looks like it" She said, sounding curious "It DOES, however, act as a point of interest. There's probably a suit upgrade I'll get that could make use of it."
Wait... SUIT UPGRADE! Calm down, Ruby, calm down. Her suit is probably modular, taking out pieces and replacing them to fit the situation.
"You'll see" Samus said, surpsing me out of my thoughts "I think it's better for you to see it than have it explained to you."
I blink, wondering why she said that. I blushed as I understood.
"I said all that outloud, didn't I?" I whisper
She nods, but she doesn't seem to mind.
"It's something you're passionate about, no point in getting upset."
She's... She's not weirded out? Even Yang would sometimes get overwhelmed by my hobby! It's why I haven't really brought potential upgrades for Weiss and Blakes weapons! Samus just accepted it as it was, something I enjoy.
I see something run across the ground, and I turn to see a spikey thing moving around one of the ledges. What 'IS' that? I quickly scan it cause it looked interesting. It's called a Zoomer, kinda like a cat that gets the zoomies! It just scuttles around that ledge, over and under! Over and under!
"Focus, Ruby." Samus calls out "I know Zoomers make good house pets, but I don't have the space on my GUnship."
It took me a moment to understand that she was joking, but when I did get it I blushed.
"r-Right! Sorry!"
Samus just shakes her head, clearly amused, before shooting the door at the end of the half pipe part of the area.
Walking through the door, I see a giant flower? It was... writhing? Whatever it was doing, the second we walked into the tunnel it angled towards us spat? A green glob of something flew at us, and I decided to give Crescent Rose 2.0 a test fire.
Pulling her out of her holster, I quickly shift her to rifle mode and shot the projectile. I had to brace myself so I didn't get knocked onto my butt. That was WAY more recoil than I was expecting. I hear the sound of something catching fire and look to see that the plant was burning.
'Wait, how'd it catch on fire' I thought, 'I don't have any flammable ammo or any fire based Beam upgrades.'
As I watch the plant blacked from the flames, falling to ashes I can't help but think this is going to be a LONG mission. I see a large glowing plant next to what remains of the flower, orange light dimly shows. Is it a fruit? Vegetable? I quickly scan it to find out.
It's called a Sap Sac, and it explodes to protect itself? That's kinda cool! And Scary! That would mean only the tougher creatures would be able to eat it. I wonder if it's edible? Taking aim, I shoot it. Nothing? A couple of golden energy shots race past me and into the Sap Sac, it explodes.
"I should of figured you'd be hungry." Samus says, turning around "Go ahead and have some of it, I already scanned it and nothing toxic came up on them. We're not to far from the ship, so i should be quick in getting some MRE's. Is your Mag Case empty?"
I hadn't thought of it, but I am feeling a bit hungry now that she mentions it. Opening the case, I pull out the last two magazines. Lightning and Ice Dust respectfully. I was considering adding Wind Dust, but right now they'd be weighing me down.
"Here, that's the last of them. I left the other two out after you mentioned that Dust wouldn't work."
Handing them to her, she nods and quickly jogs away. I hear the sound of her Arm Cannon firing, and I'm left alone. Walking up to the exposed Sap Sac, I wipe a finger through it. Gold sap covers it, feeling kinda warm. I stick the sap covered digit in my mouth and pull it out. TASTY! It's like honey! I have a few more licks of the sap before cleaning my finger in the little pond.
Walking over to a rock, I wipe it down before sitting. With everything going on I haven't had time to think on HOW I got here. I remember seeing the sealed wall of the train tunnel, Weiss making a barrier of Ice Dust around us and the crash. I was knocked out, but I can't think of anything that could've sent me here. It's not like those games and series where I had an item that sent me here when I was close to... I didn't have anything like that. The only thing I can think of is that someone with teleporter tech brought me here.
By why me? I'm nothing special, if anything I'll probably slow Samus down. The only reason I'm going with her is that I'd go crazy sitting around waiting for this Galactic Federation to find Remnant. As far as I know, I just got unlucky: I'm here while my team is fighting an unending horde of grimm. I won't know if they're alive until I get back home, I'll just have to have hope.
'At the very least' I smile to myself 'I'll have a great story to tell them!'
The sound of a door opening causes me to look to see Samus walking in, her singular arm holding a fair bit of her 'MREs'. Taking my ammo case of my belt, I quickly start putting them in. At the tenth MRE it's full, with one left over. Pick up the left over package, I take a look at it. 'GF Standard Ration' my visor tells me, the screen auto translating the writing on the wrapper. Taking it, I carefully rip off the top of it, revealing a pink bar inside. Pulling the wrapper down, I break of a piece of it and eat it.
STRAWBERRIES! It tastes like strawberries! I thought that MRE would taste aweful, or worse bland! I start taking bigger bites, careful not to start choking on it. The wrapper is shortly empty, and I'm wondering what I'm gonna do with it. I don't want to litter!
Samus quickly take the wrapper, puts on the ground in front of her and shoot it. The wrapper bursts into a small fire before quickly going out.
'Oh' I thought 'They're designed to be destroyed after being eaten. Just need a Beam shot, and it's disposed!
Standing up, I stretch a little before nodding.
"Alrighty! I'm ready to go, Samus!" I tell her " Let's get moving!"
She simply nods before aiming down the tunnel and shooting the door. As we walk through it, I find that the room is round with light coming from the ceiling. In the center of the room is a metal disc, while a weird box is held up in front of it. Samus walks up, most likely scanning it. Soon after a hologram of the metal disc appears above it. Samus waves me forward, and walks to the center of the room. I walk to it, going form loose dirt to solid metal.
'I wonder what type of metal it is' I think
As soon as I'm on the platform Samus walks to the hologram. The platform shakes before it starts rising upward! It's an elevator! I look up and see that it's gonna take a while.
"H-Hey, Samus?" I call to her, she turning to see me "You said that your translator is what allows you to speak to me. Would you like to learn my people language?"
She's silent for a moment, probably thinking about it. She nods after a moment.
"My suits translator put a comparison between your people alphabet and numerical systems. While that's good for my suit to translate, actually speaking it is another matter. If anything, it'll make it so I don't rely on it. I think I've manage to get somewhat started on learning it, but having active help will make it go faster."
I understand that, it's a stop gap as she tries learning. Well, no time like the present!
Samus kneels as I sit on my knees. It's good for getting started, but I know that learning languages needs more than just using words to comparing them. It's why I started learning Atlesian, Weiss may hide it but she misses her Kingdom. She never mentioned her home, though.
As I start telling her a few words that can compare, she turned off her translator to start repeating them.
'This' I thought, as the elevator flew towards the exit 'is gonna be the weirdest thing I've done in my life. Uncle Qrow might like the fighting parts!'
I would soon realize just how dangerous Samus' enemies are, and so much more.
Chapter 6: Explosive Arsenal
Summary:
Ruby faces flying bugs, and a robot. Samus gets missiles!
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Samus presses a few buttons on her weapon, switching back on the translator as the elevator slows to a stop. Standing up, I hop in place. Sitting on the elevator for about five minutes made my legs a bit sore. Aiming Crescent Rose at the door, I shoot it. As the door opens, sand flies into the room.
Walking out of the elevator room, I lower my hood. I see pillars that are falling to pieces, sand and rocks piling up. Sunlight shines down on the orange and brown building. A single Blue Door sits underneath a glowing wall panel(?). Samus walks ahead of me, only her steps are slower. Softer. Like she knows what this place is, and is being respectful to the dead. Like how I am when I visit my mom's grave.
Samus looks around, taking in the sight of the building in front of her. She brings her hand to the side of her helmet, looking at the glowing part of the wall. Soon after she shoots the door, opening it. I quickly catch up to Samus as she walks through. As I get through, my eyes widen.
The first things I see are trees. A large tree right in view of the door, a bridge of branches, trees that seem to be part of the building it self. It must've been beautiful when there were people around. Stepping forward, more of those beetles dug out of the sand. This time I don't hesitate, as Samus shoots the beetle on the right I dash behind the one one the left. A trail of rose petals follows me as I twist around and shoot the large bug. As a hole burns through it, the sound of sand shifting has me turn to see two more beetles dig themselves out.
Quickly jumping aver them, I fire at both of them. The recoil shoots me high into the sky, and what I see catches my breath. Ruins as far as the eye can see, yet still beautiful. As though the very city(?) still lives without it's people. Twisting in the air, I angle myself downward and shoot again. Like before, the recoil pushes me, shooting towards the ground. As it gets near, I point at the ground and fire, using the recoil to slow myself down. I land with a roll, turning to see Samus looking at me.
"Was that your semblance?" She asks "While I won't say that I didn't completely believe you, seeing it in action is different than being told something."
"Yep!" I said, popping the 'p' "That was my Semblance, Petal Burst! It lets me go super fast!"
Nodding, I activate my Semblance and walk to her. It doesn't take me very long, just a couple of step. Several seconds taken away by me speeding up. I see Samus put her hand to her helmet, scanning me with my Semblace active. I keep it up, the more she knows how I can help, the faster we can get this done.
She takes her hand away for her helmet and flips open the side panel on her Arm Cannon. She press the bottom every couple of seconds, her helmet nodding up and down as she does so. She flips the panel closed after a moment, looking at me.
"It seems that your semblance isn't as straight forward as it looks" She tells me "From the looks of it, it shares several characteristics to upgrades I've had before. Namely the 'Morph Ball' and 'Speed Booster'."
What? But it's just a speed semblance, how can there be more to it!? I focus my aura into my body like a treadmill and start running!
"Unfortunately, it looks like there's data missing. Looks like I'll need to get some type of upgrade for it to decode it." She says with a slight shrug, as if it's not that big a deal.
It IS a big deal, because apparently Petal Burst isn't a Semblance that gives Super Speed, but it does something else entirely! My Semblance isn't what I thought it was, so I was using it wrong! Deep breaths, Ruby, Deep breaths. Right now, getting worked up won't help. If we find these 'Morph Ball' and 'Speed booster' upgrade, maybe Samus can explain it.
I turn off my Semblance, and put it out of my mind for the moment. It'll be difficult, but I know I can learn how to use my semblance right! Just gotta stay positive! And to be fair, it's not like we tested my semblance as much as we could have. I moved faster, so it had to be a speed semblace.
Walking through another halfpipe like structer under the branch bridge, I climb up some BIG steps. Samus jumps up them, but really, WHY are they so big? Were the people here that big? If they were, why were the doors TO their city so normal sized? Or maybe the steps just fell away?
Looking around, I see a floating canister on a lead near the top of the area.
"Hey Samus?" I call out to her, getting her attention "What's that up there"
I point to the floating canister, out of reach if I don't use Crescent Rose to launch myself up there. The canister had curved, silver caps on the ends of a glass tube with purple light coming from it. Maybe it was left there on purpose? But why?
"An Energy Tank? That's a good find." Samus says pushing a few buttons on her arm cannon "Looking at the map, it seems that there's a pathway we can find to get it."
A pathway? I just shoot Crescent Rose to jump up there and bring it down. It'd be faster that way, less time wasted.
"I know what you're thinking, Ruby" Samus interrupted my thoughts "And while it WOULD be quicker to have you get it and bring it to me, It's also a short cut. You have combat training, so you're training to face something that requires training at such a young age, Would you take a short cut?"
As she ask that question, I start thinking. It's a short cut? Okay, how is it a short cut. She said that she opened her map, so it's probably a part of her helmet. If she calls it a short cut, that means she wants to improve her skills. She mentioned that there's a pathway, so that means there is a way to get up there. She wants to find it, so she wants to improve her pathfinding? Maybe she's using her map to track where she's been?
Either way, it's her mission, I'm just helping.
"If you say so, I think it'd be better if I brought it to you right now, but it's your call."
She nods and looks around for a moment, before walking towards a downward slope with a door at the end. I quickly catch up as the door opens, walk through to a winding tunnel. Walking forward, I heard scittering. Like that time there was a rat in the garage. Looking up, I saw a LOT of bugs. Like a lot of them, as they crawled on the ceiling until they dropped. They just layed there, doing nothing.
Taking a moment, I bring my hand to the side of the visor and scan them. They're called scarabs, and they ALSO blow themselves up. Okay, sure, why not? Animals evolved to explode. What's next, they're immune to ranged weapons?
Taking aim, Samus and I start shooting a pathway through them. The ones next to them also explode, causing the others too as well. I blink, surprised that all of them are gone. Well, at least the pathway is clear. Shrugging to myself, I started walking behind Samus as she opens the door.
Only to end up in a kinda cramped corridor. With lasers just running along the floor and walls. Following one of the lasers, I see it's attached to an EYE?! What?! What kind of people were they?! After a moment, Samus runs through them. They aren't moving that fast, but there IS a lot of them. Seeing Samus move so easily despite wearing what has to be heavy armor is surprising, and she's doing it without the thrusters on her back. That either means the armor is deceptively light, or she's deceptively strong.
Watching the lasers a bit more, I also run through them. Ducking, weaving and sliding, I'm all caught up with Samus. I think I'm getting better at reading her? Her visor feels like it's questioning me.
"You're gonna have to explain what you were training to fight since you move with such agility." She states "Especially since you have your Aura functions like a personal shield."
Oh, right. I didn't explain that bit. I didn't think I'd have to, Grimm are EVERYWHERE right? Maybe she's testing my knowledge just to make sure?
"Huntsmen and Huntresses train to fight the Creatures of Grimm, soulless monsters that want to wipe out life on Remnant." I tell her. "Hunters in training have their Aura's unlocked at a young age so they can both grow into it, and learn to use it safely. There are many combat academies, and 4 Huntsman academies."
Huntsmen and Huntresses are taught to fight acrobatically to inspire hope in the people."
Again, that visor simply stares at me. It doesn't let me know if she's dissappointed, or upset or something else entirely. After a moment, she starts talking.
"Remnant must be on the verge of becoming a Death World if they have to recruit children to fight." Samus says, shocking me to my soul "Still, can't say I've heard of 'The Grimm'. Probably something your world has exclusively"
There... There's no Grimm outside of Remnant. That... That can't be right. The Grimm has existed as long as history has! And what is that about 'Death World'?! Calm down, Ruby, calm down. Let's think this through. 'Death World' should be obvious, a world with a LOT of death. Remnant should count as this, as signing up to be a hunter you're giving the life expectancy rating for after graduating. Most don't see past the four year mark, but by then there's more Hunters. Grimm are endless, so that would also count toward the 'Death World' thing.
Okay, so Grimm might not be out in space. That's good, that just means that they can't hurt the people in the galaxy!
"Let's just keep going." I tell her "There's gonna be a LOT of things I'll have to learn about the Galaxy."
Samus nods at that, turning and opening the door. Walking through it, I see a tree in the corner of the room. The roof had a large hole, sunlight pouring through it. I froze upon seeing the ceiling. Hives. A LOT of hives. Samus seems to have seen me freeze and looked where I was looking.
"Not a fan of Wasps?" Samus asked "We'll move quickly then. There's a couple doors up there."
Looking down a bit, I can see them. One on a ledge next to the tree, the other just to the right of it. Are we gonna split up? So soon?! Samus places her hand on my shoulder.
"Relax, I know better than to split up right now. I have to keep an eye on you to make sure you stay safe." She says, calming me down "At least until I know you can handle yourself at what the galaxy can throw, even then I'll be able to get to you to help against what you can't handle."
Okay, yeah, that makes sense. I'm technically an important person right now, even though I don't like that thought. Should I have gone to the Galactic Federation? Probably, but I NEED to do somehting to feel like I'm making progress. Waiting around would just drive me crazy.
But still, at some point we'll be splitting up. I guess when it happens, Samus will trust I can handle it. Well then, I won't disappoint! Walking carefully so I don't make much noise and alert the wasps overhead, I hop onto the ledges. Looking to the door near the tree, I shoot the shield covering it. Walking up to it, I see a weird machine.
It has a circular platform with light coming from it, while the top has a sort of umbrella shape. There're nozzels on the ends of the bars that make the umbrella shape, and they're are on hinges and angled up.
"Well damn, that's a good find." Samus said, walking up behind me "A Save Station, these'll make the mission easier."
Okay, how? 'Save Station' implies that it acts like a save poing in a game.
"It's simple, these stations have a tendency to recharge shield energy. I've used these plenty of times, Though I'm not sure how it'll interact with Aura. We'll test that back at the ship when we have time, but for now it's a good find. Good job, Ruby."
That actually makes me feel a bit better about my situation, not much, but enough. Still, if these can refill Aura that'll be a BIG help! Even if they can't, at least Samus' armor will still be useful!
Buzzing started filling the room. I look up to see the wasps crawling out of their hives, they're as big as Rapier Wasps! I stay still, hoping that they ignore me. They look at me and start flying, the buzzing of their wings getting louder. Taking flight the wasp shot towards me, missing only because I dashed out of the way.
More buzzing had filled the room, as four more wasps joined to fight. The sound of Samus' arm cannon firing told me that it was time to go. I turn and run through the door, it closing just as Samus passes through. I don't like wasps, but I know I'm gonna have to fight them.
Looking around, I noticed that the room has a small pathways carved into the floor, moss growing out of it. The ceiling had little archways, the roof of the room is opened, allowing sunlight through. Two strange wall disk's are mounted on either side of the room, right where the hallway leads out. Scarabs start crawling out before they fall into the floor, sticking out. Samus and I shoot, making quick work of them. I feel kinda bad for them. They're only trying to defend their hive.
Walking through the hallway, I can't help but wonder how my friends are doing. They'll no doubt have noticed that I'm missing. I trust Weiss to do her best to keep the team together, she's the second in command for a reason. Blakes level headed, She'll keep both Weiss and Yang from getting to into their fights. Yang's the one I'm worried about, she's done her best to watch out for me. She's also the one who'll let her temper get the best of her. If anything, until I make it home Yang will probably start mother henning the team. Then there's what'll happen when her temper finally boils over. It won't be pretty.
Opening the door, The room we enter has the floor collapsed. Dark green water pools in the corner of the floor, near a wall that has a large crack in it. Mushrooms and weird wiggly grass line the floor. The room honestly smells horrible, I can't help but gag.
I quickly just jump over to the door and open it. Only to be hit with and even stronger smell, it's making me kinda dizzy. I shake my head to focus, there's a glowing bug in the room. There's that same murky green water in the room, only this time its more than just a puddle. Half the room is submerged. A hallway in the back left is open.
I hop onto, and off of the platform in the middle of the room. The little light bugs buzzing gently as I walk to the door. I look behind me to see Samus calmly walking up to me, she must've also wanted to get out of there. Wait, does her suit protect against strong smells?
"Noxious fumes, gonna need to get you a breather mask for areas like this." She says, bringing her hand to the side of her helmet "On the plus side, it looks like your Aura is protecting you against the worst of it. It won't hold forever though."
Samus pushes buttons on her arm cannon, before shooting the door.
"I've set the ships microfactory to start making a breather mask and O2 tanks. You'll have to put them in your weapons holster so that they stay put. Normally they'd make missile for my arm cannon, but I don't have a missile launcher right now."
That sounds good, cause I don't like this feeling. Everythings kinda feels dizzy, but not to badly.
"You should look around your visor, try to find the hazard warning symbol after we're done here."
With that, she opens the door. Walking into the room, I noticed that it's tilted. Like, really tilted. There's a circular platform with stairs leading upt to it. Walking into it, I look around and find a large machine. It has multiple faces, they have large eyes and beaks.
'Are these the makers of this place?' I thought 'They're not what I expected.'
Sitting right under the multiple faces, was a glowing orange missile. Would this be what Samus was looking for? I dont' see how this could fit in Samus' weapon. Maybe it's an attachment to her shoulder? Or her free arm? I could see it as an undermounted concussive projectile launcher. Maybe have it use multiple missile types! Normal, High Explosive, some form of freezing compound, incendiary! Oh, the possibilities are endless!
Hopping down, I see that there's more of that bad water. This has all the hallmarks of a "Boss Battle". Big arena, obvious prize, all that's missing is a boss theme. There's open beaks also jutting out of the wall, I don't like the looks of it.
"A Missile Launcher attachment, good to have that back" She said calmly "Now, what's the catch?"
Taking a quick glance at my aura meter, I see it reads at 75%. That MRE must've helped kick start my Aura Regeneration! It's still not 100%, but I hope it'll do for this fight.
Hopping up the steps, Samus and I walk to the center of the platform. As we approach, the platform that holds the missile attachment rises up as the multiple faces lowers and rotates left. The toxic water pour out of the walls, dark green clouds coming off of it. A bright red exclamation point appeared on the right side of my visor. A bright red bar is filled out. That must be the hazard warning! Wait.... THE AIR IS A HAZARD!
"We'll finish this quickly, then book it."
As the water finished pouring, the beak on the machine opened up and release three red wasps. This machine must hold them inside it. That's kinda smart, and a bit gross. It'd have to be designed with hives in mind, otherwise the mechanisms wouldn't be able to work.
The wasps started circling us. They're fast, but I'm faster. Quickly spinning, I fire Crescent Rose at the wasp. The gold orange bolt hit's its mark, but it doesn't take it out. It let out an angry buzz as it kept flying in a circle. It stops and charges, only to to meet the curved blade of my Sniper-Scythe. Behind me Samus rapid fires her Arm Cannon. The sound of gears moving, I turn to see the beak of the multi faced machine open. A red light shining out of it. Quickly taking aim, piercing my sweethearts blade into the ground for stability, I fire at the light.
Hey, an obvious weak point is and obvious weak point, and it looks like it needs a few more shots. Firing four more times, the beak slams shut and the machine rotates right.
"Kill the bugs, shoot the 'core'" Samus said "An easy job, the two of us will make it go quicker."
Just like before, the beak opens up. Only this time wasps fly out of the water channels on the wall too. Six wasps in total surround us, flying in circles. Wait... is it six, it looks like theres more. I shake my head, everything no longer doubled. This isn't good. The toxic air is getting to me, getting hard to focus.
The wasps charge at us, and I strike with Crescent Rose. Multiple bug parts hit the floor while the sounds of Samus' Power Beam burns the rest. Again, the machine opens it's beak and the red light shines. This time, Samus blasts the red light. Her Arm Cannon firing faster than Crescent Rose ever could. The red light fades and the machine closes and spins again. Please be rule of three. That'll make it so much easier.
The beak opens again, this time there's nine wasps. Twelve Wasps? Getting hard to focus. I shake my head, only it gets worse...
"Ruby! FOCUS!" Samus yelled? "Come on, We're almost done!"
I see a blurry Samus run to me, her weapon shooting at something behind me. It's getting hard to breathe, it feels like my lungs are on fire. I kneel down, and fire at one of the wasps. It misses and hits the wall. The sound of Samus' Arm Cannon firing starts becoming muffled, and the red light of the machine gets to bright....
....
I open my eyes, and feel the rain. Are we outside? How'd we get here? I try to sit up, only cough as I try. It hurts. I feel a hand on my shoulders, Samus stopping me from falling over from my coughing fit.
I turn to look at her, only to see that she's not wearing her helmet. She looks concerned.
"s-Samus" I say, coughing a bit. "w-What happened?"
At that, she looks away sad and frustrated.
"I underestimated just how toxic the fumes, and the water was." She said, looking angry at herself for it "I should've backtracked us to the ship so that we could get you that breather mask."
I get it. She thought my Aura could take the poisonous air, but was wrong about how bad it was. Turning back to me, she reached out and pulled something off my head... Her HELMET!?
"I'm calling this mission off." She said, making my eyes widen "I'm getting you to the Federation Homeworld. From there you'll be safe as they find your planet."
"n-No!" I can barely speak, but I will not be a burden "I ch-chose to go with you. I'm sticking with it"
That visor stares at me, as though she can't believe what I said. That I'd still want to go with her. It may be selfish, but she's the way home I want to go with. It's both our fault that I nearly died here. I could've asked her to take us back to her ship to get the breather mask. But I didn't. I thought my Aura alone could handle it, and I was wrong.
"You gave me a choice" I tell her, my voice clearing up "And I chose to help you. What happened was a mistake, yes, but it turned out okay. I'll be more careful this time"
Again, Samus stares at me. Her left hand tightly clenched, before it relaxed. She looked like she accepted that.
"Fine, but if you don't shape up I'll be taking you to the Federation. They'll be better equipped to protect and provide for you until Remnant is found."
I nod, accepting that. It's fair, but I don't like it. She does have the final say in the end.
"Okay, I accept." I tell her "Did you get the missile launcher?"
Please tell me she got it, it'd suck if we had to go back to the boss room. In response she simply points her Arm Cannon at a rock wall, and shoots at it. The barrel of her weapon splits open wide into four branching pieces arms as a missile flies out and detonates on the wall.
SO THAT'S WHAT SHE MEANT ABOUT HER SUIT BEING UPGRADABLE! OH THAT'S SO COOL!
Notes:
So, I'm just gonna put this here: I will NOT be writing Samus and Ruby item hunting. Just assume that Samus and Ruby do the hunting off screen, as a way to ease the writing AND be getting Samus up to par.
As a result, Ruby will also be upgrading her arsenal as the journey goes on. Her Aura, Semblance and Beam Tech Augmented Crescent Rose can only do so much after all.
Chapter 7: Mission Log: Tallon IV: Entry 1
Summary:
Samus gets some much needed answers about Remnant, and gives some answers about herself.
Chapter Text
I watch as Ruby lays back on the moss bedding I managed to put together while she was out cold, keeping a careful eye on her vital on my HUD. We're not to far from my ship, just a couple of rooms and Ruby will get her breather mask. I sigh quietly to my self, this mission is more complicated than it should be. If this keeps going, the likely hood of Ruby meeting Ridley is too damn hgih. If Ridley finds out about Remnant he'll burn it to the ground. If only to get rid of it's Dust, like he did K2L...
K2L... That's something I haven't thought of in a long time. Some would say that it's the start of my journey, from meeting Old Bird, my second father Gray Voice and Ridley. To growing up among the Chozo. Everything started on K2L.
That doesn't matter right now, what does is that Ruby didn't seem all that bothered by nearly dying. From what I know of Remnant, which is admittedly very little, the government recruits children to fight for their peoples survival. I'll have to ask her to clarify what that means as it doesn't paint a good picture. Listing everything that I know of Remnant would paint it like a Death World, but the fact that civilization prospered enough for global communications, advanced weaponry and from the looks of it clothing styles means it's not there right yet.
I suppose this is a good time as any to get answers, could be better but we're technically resting. It'll help clarify a few things and make catagorizing Remnant easier when I take her to Daiban, The Federations Capital Planet.
"Ruby" I call out to her, getting her attention "I've got some questions about Remnant."
She sits up as much as she can, still recovering from the toxins she breathed. I'll have the ships computer do an in depth scan to get more accurate medical data, see how bad the damage is. See if I need to modify the breathing mask for her.
"Firstly, You mentioned 'Huntsmen' and 'Huntresses'. What are they?"
Her silver widen a little, as though she had forgotten something and just now remembered it. They seem to be important enough to be warranted to fight these 'Grimm', enough so that Ruby is training to be one. It could be a cultural thing, but the whole 'Souless Monsters trying to wipe out all life on their world' thing has me doubting it.
"Huntsmen and Huntresses are people who go out and kill Grimm and protect people." She says, sounding enthused about it "They're basically super heroes!"
That's an idealistic way of viewing it, but I supposed to the untrain they appear to be that.
"That doesn't explain WHAT they are, Ruby, just what they do" I tell her, gently "How do they operate? Who leads them? How do they interact with other law enforcement? How are they trained?"
She blinks at that, understanding dawning in her eyes. Speaking of which, I'll have to ask her about that.
"What I want to know is how the Huntsmen and Huntresses function on your world."
She nods, closing her eyes. She's probably collecting her thoughts. After a minute, she opens them.
"Huntsmen and Huntresses were founded by The Four Kingdoms to safeguard and protect the people under their protection. They're independent of the Kingdoms, but still answer to them. Students typically spend around thirteen years training, but there are outliers."
I nod, rapidly pressing buttons on my Arm Cannons control panel. Writing down a Logbook entry on one of Remnant important facets, this'll help the Federation find her planet. With the map data from her Scroll, it should be moderately easy to find it. Constellations could help too.
"When helping the local law enforcement, from what I know Huntsmen and Huntresses prefer to deal with criminal who use Aura."
That makes sense, from the way it's sounding not everyone has Aura. What makes the difference between a Hunter, and a non-hunter? Could be genetics, Aura only goes to those who have the extra genetic markers?
"There're three different types of schools a Hunter in training go through. A Preperatory School, a Combat School, and then one of the four Huntsmand Academies."
An indepth training systems then. Three schools means it's one after another. It'll allow student to find their niche and grow into it.
"The prep schools spend three years getting their students used to having their Aura's unlcoked, at least if you don't have a Huntsment or a Huntress for family."
I stop typing at that. Aura is something they UNLOCK? I look to Ruby, that's sounds like useful information.
"What do you mean 'having their Aura's unlocked?'" I ask, this could be a change on the galactic scale "It sounds like ANYONE could have Aura. For that matter, WHAT is Aura?"
Ruby's eyes widen a little, forgetting for a moment that I mentioned that Aura is something unique to her planet back on the ship. Taking a deep breath, coughing a little during that, she continues.
"Aura is the energy, and power of the soul made manifest." She tells me "Aura is what tells us we have a soul, gives us our super human reflexes and strength, and protects our bodies."
The natural energy shield theory was spot on, but the bit about the soul? I suppose it's similar to what the Chozo can do. That does beg the question though, if the Chozo and Remnants can use this mystical energy who else can?
"Do... Do you not have your Aura unlocked?" She asks me, a bit timidly.
I shake my head, no use lying about that.
"No, Ruby. I don't." I tell her, her eyes widening. She looks a bit scared "My armor protects me, and it has a shield generator that helps. The wider galaxy doesn't have it either."
She lays back down, simply staring roof of the tunnel. Soon enough, she looks back at me.
"Samus, how can you do what you can if you don't have Aura?" She asks. That's a fair question, I suppose. It shouldn't hurt to tell her, but I'll leave a lot of the details out.
"Firstly, Ruby, I need you to know that I won't be telling you everything right away. I consider it to be confidential, understand?"
She nods. Good, she's serious. This is important information, and if the big wigs in the GF get wind of it, they MIGHT try to get their hands on me and make me 'disappear'.
"You already read the scan data of my power suit, how it's of Chozo design. It was a gift, and I trained from an early age to be able to use it." I tell her "Right now, that's all you NEED to know. If I feel you can be trusted with the rest, I'll let you know."
She pouts a little, but she nods. Seems like she understands the need for secrecy, curious. Right now, she needs to heal, I'll ask my last question.
"Ruby, while you unconcious, my ship discovered an anomly while performing it's medical scanning." I tell her, her eyes widening "It noted sever minor injuries, your Aura and a concussion at the time. You've long since healed from the concussion, most likely thanks to your Aura, but my ship noted something else. An unknown energy directly found in your eyes.
She looks at me, clearly confused. I pick up the visor I gave her, and hand it back. Taking it, she puts it on as I send the command to my ship to display the medical data on her HUD. Reading it, she visibly winces as she no doubt read the injurie list first.
I notice that she hasn't lowered the microphon. I'll tell her about it after this. After a bit, I hear her whisper to herself.
"Did Dad and Uncle Qrow know about this?" She asks herself "Is this why Ozpin moved me ahead two years early?"
THAT got my attention. She said Hunters in training spend thriteen years throughout their whole training in three different school. She's fifteen according to my ships scan data, meaning that she'd be in a Combat School if I'm right. That means this Ozpin saw what she can do-or mor accurately, saw her specific eye color-and moved her ahead to a Huntsman Academy. It's already giving me a bad feeling. They wanna keep their eye on her. Why? This weird energy in her eyes?
If her family knew about it, then they kept it from her. No doubt to keep her safe, but it doesn't leave a good feeling.
After a moment, she taps the side of her visor and looks at me.
"No, I don't know anything about it." She tells me, her voice sad "I know a few people who can tell us when we find Remnant."
I nod, understanding.
"Then let's not keep them waiting. You good to walk to the ship?" I ask, a notification appearing on my HUD telling me that the Breather Mask is ready. She nods.
She's a bit shaky as she stands up, but it soon passes. Pulling her hood up, she follows me as I turn to the door to the Landing Zone. This mission is gonna keep getting complicated, but they all do. That's what makes them fun.
Chapter 8: Morphin' Time
Summary:
Samus regains a classic upgrade, Ruby learns a bit more about how her semblance works.
Chapter Text
I tug a little at the mouth piece, the mask a bit tighter than I thought it'd be. I had to take my cloak off for Samus to help fit the mask to me, the air tanks being placed in Crescent Roses carrier. I'm gonna have to carry my sweetheart from now on, but I'm willing to do that!
Still, I can't help but think about the medical reports. Minor scarring on my lungs because of how toxic the air was. I'm still having trouble breathing, but it looks like the reports said it'll go away after a while. Samus helped set up the mask up, even connecting to the Visor and microphone it had. I didn't even know it had a microphone! Right now I'm going through the visors settings, Samus showing me how to get there. I may as well use the Elevator rides to fine tune how the Visor responds.
Right now, I'm setting up the internal display. The pale, see through blue kinda blends in with the rest of the visors colors so I'm trying to find a color that makes it more noticable. Right now, nothing seems to help popout so I'll work on it later.
I close the settings menu as the elevator reaches the ruins, settling with a hefty ka-thunk. From the looks of it, this'll be where we'll spend most of our time. I take a quick glance at the Aura Meter at the top of the HUD. 47%. My arua is draining itself to heal the damage the security system did. Okay, In and out. Breathe in, and out. I knew I had to be careful, but it's just now hitting me that I could die out here. If I did, everyone back home wouldn't know and from waht Samus told me, she'd get in serious trouble.
I don't like it, but I'll have to slow down. Hunstman and Huntresses are trained to be quick on their feet to deal with the Grimm as fast as possible. It's why they're so well regarded by the Kingdoms! They're respond really fast and get rid of the Grimm faster!
Right now, I'll have to take it slow until my breathing gets better. It shouldn't take to long, Aura helps improve recovery after all. I just have to take it easy until then, UGH! I wheeze a bit, guess I got a bit too excited.
Samus opens the door and we step back into the main plaza. The beetles dig out the sand, Samus walks in front of me, holding out her arm. I guess she wants me to take it easy too, as she's looking at me. A beetle charges at her, only for her to smack it with her Arm Cannon, knocking it back. Place her hand on her weapon, she steadies her aim and fires. The beetle explodes, and she charge towards the rest. After a few moments, the beetles are gone.
"Alright, Ruby" Samus says, getting my attention "I want to know how good you are with observation, so look around the plaza and try to find anything that seems out of place."
With that, Samus over to the halfpipe and stands at the corner. I guess it's a test, and it's something she's doing to help ease me back into working.
Nodding, I walk up the steps under the tree bridge. Look for something out of place, which shouldn't be too hard. The door to the toxic area is down to the left. Looking ahead, I see a way to get on top of walkway over the door. As I started to climb the rubble, I can't help but look at the Energy Tank on the ledge. Path Finding, Observation. I guess these are skills that go to more than just being a Huntress.
Walking onto the walkway, I see a couple of was hives. Okay, there's the War Wasps. I get the feeling Samus isn't exactly talking about them. Turning around, I carefully climb down the steps and make my way back to Samus.
"I take it you didn't find anything?" Samus asked, likely expecting this.
I shake my head, feeling like I'm missing somthing.
"I found some Hives, but nothing you think I'd be able to see."
Samus nods her head, before looking to her right and aiming at... a door with a metal plate on it? Oh. I missed that.
"This dooe has a Blast Shield on it." Samus says, shooting it "Beam Weapons aren't any good against it, Missiles on the other hand"
With that, Samus fires a missile at the door, destroying the metal plate. The Blast Shield. Samus said that she'll help me get home, but I can't let her do everything. I start getting ideas for more gear, supplimentary equipment. I look at Crescent Rose, augmented with Energy to Matter technology. I look at Samus' Arm Cannon, a blueprint taking shape. It'll take me getting more familiar with this advanced technology, but I think I can do it.
It's gonna take a while for me to work out what I need, but it'll be worth it. Samus has her suit, I have my aura. It's not exactly similar, but for now it'll work.
I shoot and open the door, stepping into another hallway. Scarabs crawled out and fell to the floor. It's kinda sad how that's they protect their hives. Clearing the pathway, we walk to the next door and open it.
The room has a pile of rubble stacked in a way that looks like stairs. There's also a small hole next to the rubble.
"So, this room has the Morph Ball? That's good. A core upgrade is back."
The Morph Ball? Didn't Samus say that my semblance shared something with it? I guess I could Scan it and hope that it'll help me figure it out. But I don't know exactly how it'll help, but the better I know my semblance the faster this mission is over.
Climbing up the rubble, I notice that we're on another halfpipe. How many of them are there in these ruins? I could use my Semblace to run up them, see where they lead. I decide to take a look around, and notice that room is somewhat empty. The only thing of note would be a glowing, orange ball in the back. It looked like the same colors Samus' armor uses.
"Samus, Is that it?" I ask her, pointing to the thing in the back.
Samus doesn't answer, simply looking around the empty room.
"Ruby, stay up here and provide covering fire. It's to simple to just walk up and grab it."
What? Stay and just shoot? Why? Is it because of my current breathing issues? I guess that wouldn't help down there.
"Okay" I sighed "I hope I get over this soon"
Samus just puts her hand my shoulder, giving a gentle squeez.
"Don't worry, Your Aura should fix it up soon enough. Just be careful."
With that, Samus jumps off the halfpipe. Walking towards the upgrade in the back, stopping when a wall rose in front of her. She turned around just as five or six beetles dug out of the ground. Kneeling down, I aim at one of the beetles on the far left and fire. Samus dashes to the right, firing a missile at another. The beetle explodes into bits... There's something different about seeing it in games vs reality. It kinda makes me wanna puke, but I hold it in.
A couple of them tried to rush Samus, only for a few quick shots to their butts take them down. Samus finishes off the last two with another missile. That should be the end, but why wasn't the wall lowering. I look around, taking care to notice anything off. The dirt started shifting in the center of the arena, a BIGGER beetle digging it's way out.
RECORDING TO LOG BOOK:
Morphology: Plated Beetle.
Well armored burrowing insect. Vulnerable on the rear abdomen.
Detailed Log Entry:
A denser cranial carapace renders the beetle immune to conventional weaponry, this aids the subject in battle. The carapace grants incredible bludgeoning capabilities, lending itself to protecting the hive. Surfacing when it detects vibrations, it will defend the hive with fervor seen by few. The vibrations it sense from the ground allow it to always keep track of its targets.
Threat Level: Low.
I move my hand from the visor, this is an amazing device! I see Samus move her hand from her helmet and nods at me. Good, we have a plan! I brace my self as the beetle charges at Samus, As she doged out of the way, I fire at it's abdomen. I hit the target, only to be surprised that it's doesn't appear to be injured. It's probably more durable than the regular beetles.
The insect turned and ran towards me, slamming it's head into the side of the halfpipe. I got suprpised that the platform shook, I had to brace myself so that I don't fall over. Samus shoots two missiles at he beetle and they hit the mark. The beetle turns around and tries ramming Samus, only for me to shoot it again. This time the abdomen goes pop, and it wobbles before dropping. The sound of stone moving starts up and I look to see the wall lower, letting us get the upgrade. Samus waves me down, turning to climb the steps.
I climb off the halfpipe, careful not to move to fast right now. One I'm on the floor, I jog a up to the "rubble" stair case as Samus walks into the upgrade. I watch as the sphere disappears, Samus' armor glowing for a moment. Turning around, I watch Samus rear back before somersaulting. What catches me off guard is that she doesn't go flying through the air, instead it's likes she's floating. Samus starts spinning faster and faster, becoming a blur in the air until two half spheres appear out of thin air and close on top of her. A blinding light shines for a moment, causing me to clench my eyes in suprise. I take a moment to let my eyes adjust before looking back at Samus, only to see the ball from before on the ground.
What? That's the Morph Ball? Samus TURNS into a ball? THAT'S SO COOL! How does that work? Anyone can curl up, but this is beyond that!!
Samus rolls off the spot she transformed at, and returns to her orgininal form right in front of me. I couldn't help myself, I started dashing all around her!
"Samus, HOW did you do that?" I asked, a flurry of rose petals following me "Your suit can add any form mechanical upgrade, right? Does that mean I could make you an upgrade and your suit would use it seemlessly?"
Samus doesn't bother trying to keep up with my speed, not even turning. Instead she just waits until I stop running.
"Good to see that you can breathe easily enough to do that" Samus said, clearly amused "To answer your question, that is where the similarity between the Morph Ball and your Semblance. I'm sending over that data packette now."
With that, she pushes a few buttons on her arm cannon, and a notification pops up.
ALERT!
Incoming Data Package.
Downloading...
Downloading...
Downlad Complete!
Log Entry: Ruby Rose Semblance comparison.
Accessing Log Entry!
Ruby Rose's Semblance allows her to move at comparable to the Speed Boost at full power. Closer observation and scan data reveal she is performing an act similar to the Morph Ball Suit Upgrade, displacing her mass. As a result, Ruby creates rose petals that flicker out of existence after a bit. The upper limits of her semblance are currently unknown. It is possible that she could mimic the Morph Ball itself, allowing passage through enclosed spaces.
Speed Booster upgrade required for further infromation.
Mass Displacement? Is that how Petal Burst works? The speed booster part I won't worry about, but the ability to copy the Morph Ball to stay at Samus' side sounds good. How would that work though?
"Try thinking about anything the felt different when you used semblance." Samus said "Things that you COULD say are normal part of your semblance, but now seem strange."
Things that seem strange now? Well, there was that one time back during the food fight, I think. Right when I ran towards Jaune, Nora, Pyrrha and Ren, I had a shockwave following me and I tripped part way through. Instead of falling on my face, I tried spinning and it's like I regained my balance. Wait, could that be what Samus was talking about? When I started spinning, it's like my cloak wrapped me up head to toe. It only came undone when I stopped and turned against a wall.
"I... I think I have something that could be that" I tell her, explaining the food fight.
She stands there, listening as I explain it. During it, she just nods every so often, her hand twitching like she's typing something. After a moment, she starts pacing. I noticed that she's always moving in some way or another. It probably helps her think.
"Alright, let's try something" She says "Stand where you are, activate your semblance and spin in place"
I blink, not sure where she's going with this. Focusing my Aura a little bit, I start shedding rose petals. Taking as deep a breath I can, I spin. It took me a while to know when I started causing wind tunnels and storms when I REALLY start to use my semblance, so It doesn't surprise me when I feel a small tornado starts forming where I am. It's not much, but it's just taking from.
Y'know? I just realized that I never felt dizzy when I spin with my semplance active. Guess that's another thing that'd count as strange now. After a moment, I feel my cloak start wrapping around me. That's when I get surpised. Everything from my point of view no longer looks like I'm spinning. Instead I'm look right at Samus, who braced herself as the wind started picking up.
I start slowing my self down, making sure that the tornado starting up goes away safely. After a bit, my cloak unwraps itself from me. Okay, I think I got it.
Without waiting, I focus my Aura again, I spin. This time, with my aura focused into my cape a bit more, there's no wind kicking up. Immediately, my cloak wraps around me and my vision returns to normal.
"Well now, that's different." Samus said bringing her hand to her visor. "Can you move like that?"
I don't really know, but it feels like I can. I try taking a 'step', and find my self turning tilting forward as I move. This feels so weird! It's like I'm standing still, yet also spinning.
"It seems you can" Samus says, then she pointed to the small hole on the halfpipe "I want you to try going through that opening, it leads out of this space."
Okay, that seems simple enough. 'Turning', I go towards what I'm calling the "Morph Ball Tunnel". As soon as I enter it, it feels like I'm not being squeezed by how small the tunnel is. If I can learn how to bring people with me while I use my semblance like this, I can help evacuate them!
Soon enough, I'm out of the tunnel and I stop 'spinning'. I hear the sound of rolling and turn to see Samus come out of the tunnel, transforming back to her normal self.
"Good to see that it works, I was slightly concerned that it wouldn't."
I can understand that, It's a new application of a Semblance that I thought only made me faster. Could the Mass Displacement be what causes the wind tunnels? Either way, Samus has her Morph Ball and I have my... Crimson Twister? Yeah, that sounds cool enough! Take that Yang! I can make cool names outside of team attacks!
"Now that the Morph Ball is back, and you have your own version through your Semblance, We're on right on track to finishing this mission. So far, Missiles and the Morph Ball are the most used abilities in my journeys so we have all that we need right now." Samus tells me "Usually there'll be secondary upgrades, like my missing Charge Beam, ammo and energy upgrades, things like those."
"So we'll be on the look out for your missing equipment? That sounds like a good idea."
Two upgrades down, who knows how many more to go. Some how, I get the feeling this'll be worth it.
Chapter 9: Designing Plans.
Summary:
Ruby brainstorms an idea to be more helpful while on Tallon IV, and learns about the people who called it home.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
I watch as Samus changes back and forth between her normal form, and the Morph ball. Probably getting used to the changing time, if it's a different version than the one she had before. I'm confused as to HOW her Power Suit could change to be a perfect sphere, but It's probably some REALLY advanced science.
Samus changes back to her normal form and nods to herself. Waving me over, she opens the door and walks through it. The Morph Ball actually has me thinking now. How modular is her Power Suit? Weapon System augmentations, basic systems like life support, HUDs, translators and shields are all neatly packed away into it but the Morph Ball and Missile launcher are outliers. I look to Crescent Rose, resting comfortably in my hands. I could barely modify her to use Beam Technology and that was WITH Samus helping. I'd never be able to add Missile Systems.
My Aura is recovering nicely though, barring that near death by poisonous air thing, sitting at a careful 54%. As it is right now, I can't be reckless anymore. I can't rush on ahead thinking that everything will be fine anymore.
"I know that look" Samus said, startling me out of my thoughts. "You realized just how different you'll have to do things now that you're not on Remnant"
I nod, there's nothing else really to say about it. On Remnant, I could rush head first into danger and get out unscathed if I was careful enough. Here though, if it isn't toxic air it might be something else.
"Don't worry as much, it's better to be cautious than reckless. If I had a credit for every time I made a reckless mistake while on a job I'd be able to donate to more charities than I am right now."
She donates? How much does she make for her work? For that matter I never asked Dad or Uncle Qrow how much they make. It had to be enough considering we lived well enough. That's something to think about later. Following Samus back to the main plaza, she holds out her arm.
"Alright, you've learned the basic controls of your Visor, the hazard warning, translation and HUD settings menu. Here's one last update to it, Motion Detector and Mini-Map. When we get the chance you'll be able to go through the settings menu to reorient the HUD to your personal taste later."
As she said that she put her hand to the side of her helmet, her visor flashing for a moment. As soon as it did, a message flashed across my HUD.
ALERT! Visor Training mode now disabled, disconnecting from User: Aran, S.
Visor Disconnected, recieving data package...
Installing...
Motion Dectector installed.
Minimap installed.
Recommend Registering User to ID-Lock Federation Visor.
I blinked at that, this whole time it's been in training mode? I guess that makes sense, that would explain why the settings menu looked so limited. At Samus's nod, I start filling out the registration boxes.
Name, Age, Home Planet. Blood Type? Face Scan? I guess it makes sense. From what I can put together, this is a Military Model Visor. So locking it to me using things like Photo-ID's seems like the norm.
Wait, Finger Print? I follow the intructions on screen and hold my first finger to the touch pad. After a few seconds, a picture of it appears on screen. It looks like I'll need Samus' help for the Photo-ID. At that thought, a picture of me appears on screen. I look to Samus, to see her lowering her hand. She must've gone through something similar? If this was supposed to be her Visor, but she already had her Power Suit by then it'd make sense.
I fill out the rest of the boxes as best I can, and press submit.
Registration Complete.
Visor now ID-Locked to User: Rose, R.
User ID: 7H5s9BnG343RT
Visor Fully Functional.
Thank you for choosing the Galactic Federation Military.
After that two new displays appeared in the top corners. A small circle in the top corner, with a green dot at the top. It blinked in and out, was that Samus on it? In the top left corner was a small box that had orange shapes and a green arrow on it. That one had to be the minimap. It looks like the shapes are that of the main plaza, so does it get more detailed as we explore?
"Now that your Visor is fully functional" Samus said, getting my attention "and you've gotten used to the basic funtions, we'll be able to progress easier."
That makes sense, we've only been going at a slow pace to get me used to the equipment. Equipment... Hm... I can already see schematics being drawn up! I don't have Samus's suit, so I can't use all the gear she has. But what if I MADE stuff that is the equivilent! I can even add Aura Functions to it to make it so that I don't have to use switches or buttons! Incorporate the Mass Converter Tech as that seems to be the norm. I don't have anything concrete in mind, but I can see how it'll help in the long run.
Crescent Rose can't be retrofitted any further, maybe other Beam Weapons Tech could fit, but I can't add things like Missiles.
MISSILES!
"You look like you've got an idea." Samus spoke, spooking me out of my thoughts "Is it something good?"
I bite my lip, not if asking to do this would be to much.
"I kinda have a weapon schematic in mind" I tell her, fidgeting a little bit. "It could help, but it'd require..."
"Require us going back to the ship?" She finish, I nod a little "Well, that depends on the schematic."
I take a small breath to calm down a little. This whole thing on being on another planet is getting to me.
"I have an idea for a missile launcher system, either wrist or shoulder mounted." I explain, she nods and waves her hand "It'll expand how I can fight, since I can't augment Crescent Rose any further. She barely took to the Beam Tech."
She rests her hand on her Arm Cannon, tilting her head down. She's probably thinking about it. I can't blame her, I've already slowed the mission down a bit.
"We'll work out the benefits and detrimits of either version, but returning to the ship would be a good idea right now anyways. Need to sync your Visor to the Main Computer, it'll have grant you acces to the onboard logbook. It'll help with your understanding of the technology you're using."
I blink at that. I didn't even think of that. The Ships Logbook would help ALOT while making my next piece of gear!
"Alright, Let's head out." She said, walking towards the exit door "We'll talk about the design on the way there."
At that she starts heading to the exit, opening the door. I follow her, thinking of how it would work. Would I have to carry the power supply on me? Or would it be better to have it built in? A sleek design would lessen the weight, and the materials would make it durable.
"Theres also ease of movement you have to consider." Samus said, I must've been thinking out loud "A bulkier design would make it tougher, but it could also get in the way."
I nod at that, stepping onto the elevator with Samus. "I could also use it to store more than missiles. Make it multi-functional. "
"That's also a factor, versatility or specialization. Having a dedicated Missile Platform could be useful, as there's more advanced missile types out there in the galaxy. My favorite is the Super Missile."
Super Missile? "What's that?"
"If an enemy takes six missiles, it'll only take three Super Missiles."
My eyes widen at that. Those would technically be HE-Missiles! That much firepower all in a relatively small weapon?!
"You're Power Suit is amazing, to be able to use all these different functions and weapons. It's the work of geniuses."
She looks away at that, shrugging her shoulders.
"It's a gift, like I said."
Things get quiet aftert that, the only sound is the elevator moving. These Chozo seem to be incredibly important to her, and if I'm right the Galaxy as a whole. We're in their temple, on a planet that they lived on. It wouldn't hurt to learn more about them, would it?
"Samus?" I call out to her, causing her to look towards me. This could either be a good idea, or a bad idea "Could... Could you teach me about the Chozo?"
She straightened up a bit, likely in surprise. She probably wasn't expecting me to ask that.
"What brought this on?" Samus asked slowly "If I didn't know any better, I'd say you're trying to figure me out"
I shook my head at that "If you want me to know, you'll tell me when you're ready"
I look down at Crescent Rose, the modifications look to be holding. I'll have to ask Samus to help see if they'll last through the mission.
"It's just that we're going through what is most likely their tomb, and I'm thinking that they're really important to the galaxy when you think about this Temple we're in."
Samus simply stares at me for a moment, thinking on what I said. It's probably a silly request, she might not know more than the rest of the people in space. Just as I was about to tell her to forget it, she speaks. She speaks in a language that my Visor doesn't translate, that it CAN'T translate. I can only take that as an okay.
"Was... was that" I start to say, only for Samus to cut me off
"THAT, Ruby, was the language of the Chozo." Samus said, something about her tone makes me think she's happy talking in it. "You asked me to teach you about the Chozo. Most people would give you an academic study of them, of their connection to the Human Race. This won't be much different from what I'm already doing, so I may as well teach you their language as well."
At that she kneels down and waves me over. I walk over and kneel next to her, ready to learn!
"The first thing you should understand is that both Chozodian, and Galactic Common are near identical in terms of structure. There are differences, especially comparing the written and spoken language."
That's kinda weird, the language that the rest of the Galaxy speaks is nearly the same as the Chozo?
"The Chozo written language is primarily shape based, with slight alterations to denote the starting letter, and ending letter of the alphabet itself."
Samus traces a finger through the dust on the elevator, making a square. Then she makes two line in it, one near the top left corner and the bottom the right corner.
"For example, this is the letter 'A'. The written language doesn't have Capital or Lowercase letters, which has annoyed what few scholars that learned it."
She sounded like she found it funny. It might've been, I wouldn't know. I try tracing the letter, It looks simple enough. I look between what I 'wrote' and what Samus 'wrote', mine was a bit wider than hers.
"Not a bad first try, it's more of a rectangle than a square. Once we've finished here and leave planetside we'll work on the written portion. In the mean while, we'll be working on the spoken language. We can alternate between lesson on the Chozo and Remnant languages.
As she said that the elevator slowed and rumbled as it settled. Standing up, she opened and the door and I followed.
"By the way, here's an easy phrase for you to practice. I am Ruby Rose, It means 'I am Ruby Rose.'"
She repeats the phrase a few times, helping me learn how to pronounce each word.
"I am Ruby Rose." I repeat to my self. It feels weird speaking like this, Weiss hasn't even gotten to speaking Atlesean yet. Having me work on the letter first, how to read and write it.
"A good try, just keep practicing and we'll continue with the lesson after the next ride back to the Temple." She tells me "Now, Have you decided on a wrist mounted launcher, or shoulder mounted? Both options mean you can aim at two targets, but through different means. It also comes with it's own downsides. A shoulder mounted launcher would mean you'd need a harness at the least, or something like my Power Suit. While Powered Armor is quite common, we don't have the resources to make it. It'd require more equipment than you can carry. "
I nod at that, this is stuff I'm unfamiliar with. Power Armor, Space Travel, Matter-to-energy-to-matter conversions! I'm out of my depth and I NEED to learn about it all to keep up.
"On the other hand, A wrist mounted launcher is smaller and houses less ammo. A smaller size also means that the power supply can be housed inside it, but would require constant charging if overused it. That little problem can be mitigated using an energy converter system that uses left over energy, like heat form explosions, to convert it into 'battery power'. It's not as effecient, but it'll make the power supply last longer. On the other hand, you can use it launch things other than Missiles, like my currently lost Grapple Beam."
A Beam Tech based Grappling Hook!?! AWESOME!
"There'll also be this issue of the hinges. A good hit could cause either of them to fall apart." I bring up "With the Should Launcher, it could weaken the integrity of the item over all."
She nods, a good point in my favor!
"A fair observation. What would you say is the best choice?"
I thought she'd have the final say, but she's leaving it to me? That's odd, I thought she was the one in charge and would tell me to make one or the other based on her experience. The fact that she's leaving it to means she givng me some trust. Let's see, the wrist launcher would be easier to make while the shoulder mounted launcher would require a bit of investment to really use. Hm....
"I guess I'll use the wrist launcher. It'll be the fastest way to continue with the your mission." I decide, it'll probably be the least resource intensive on Samus's ship "This way it won't take much resources on your ship."
She nods, and soon enough we're back at the landing area. Both Samus and I jump onto her ship, the hatch opening up. Since I named my scythe Crescent Rose, I think that I'll name this weapon Bloom. I won't be able to customize Bloom to look like Crescent Rose just yet, but maybe after we're done here.
I've already got the main design down, a rose wrapping around the base with the flower head being where the Missiles would fire from. This'll be a somewhat difficult weapon to get used to, but not moreso than Crescent Rose was. Samus hands me what I'm assuming to be a datapad. Simply telling me 'draw out the basic design, and my ship Computer will put it together'.
I'm kind off upset I won't be able to make it myself, but time IS of the essence.
Notes:
Fun fact: From the semi-canon manga Samus and Joey, we learn that Samus is kinda obssessed with "Round" things, she counted the eyes on Crocomire and was happy that there was 8 round eyes on him. She can also TALK while in the Morph Ball, that opens up a bit more in things like communication and planning.
Chapter 10: Charging Forth Pt:1
Summary:
Ruby and Samus explore a bit.
Chapter Text
"Now, press the side panel to confirm the uplink" Samus tells me, walking me through the set up "It'll add a new element to your HUD, an ammo counter."
Nodding, I press the button on the side of the wrist launcher that would face inward. An install bar appeared on my HUD, filling out really fast before fading. A meter appears on the left side of my HUD, showing the number five. Five shots. I'll have to make them count until I get those 'Missile Upgrades' Samus told me about. Pressing a button, I watch a it expands. The wrist launcher expanding just enough to allow me to put my arm through. I roll up the sleeve of my left arm, making sure that it won't come unraveled. Picking up the launcher, I inspect it before sliding it on.
I watch as it closes, the inner padding making sure it doesn't chafe. I probably could've put it over my sleeve, but I didn't want to risk it getting caught. If it couldn't close properly It might weaken the structural integrity. It could also invite enviromental damage if it couldn't close.
Glancing at the ammo counter on my HUD, I see that I don't have any missiles stored. Samus did say that I won't have any missiles in the launcher, that I'd have to fill it using her ships onboard refill station. I look to Samus as she waves me over to the 'Missile Recharge', pushing a button on the side. The 'barrel' of the wrist launcher extends forward, allowing me to put it into the refill port. In a moment the Missile counter fills up completely. A notification appears on screen, letting me know that I am filled up on missiles. Pulling my arm out, I test the 'Aura tech' I managaed to design. Having Samus to get a scan of it at high output.
I watch as the 'Flower Head' blooms open, the emiter chamber for the missile assembly and firing lighting up. It'll function as an emergency flash light, but not a good one I suppose. Everythings looking good, Bloom is ready for her test run! Walking over to the exit lift, I pull up my hood. It's kinda odd that the entire time I've been awake on this planet it hasn't stopped raining. As Samus stepped onto the lift, I felt the pitter patter of the rain hitting my hood. I still barely believe that I'm on an alien planet. It's just something that people back on Remnant have been arguing about for a long time.
Jumping off of her ship, the two of us hurry back to the elevator to the Chozo Ruins. I feel bad for having to go through and steal the technology they made, but it has to be for a good cause. I hope this place isn't haunted, I don't want angry ghosts following me for the rest of my life!
As we aproach the elevator, a message pops up on my visor.
ALERT!
Energy gathering in nearby area analyzed.
Possible Power Suit upgrade located.
The minimap grew bigger, automatically moving over to the area where the 'Energy' was gathering. A question mark hovering in the blue box. Tapping a button on my visor, I jog to the elevator as Samus steps into the hologram. With a metallic thunk, it starts rising.
I stretch my arm, trying to get used to the new weight on it. It feels weird, I KNOW it's not that heavy, it's surpringly light. I just feel like I'm slower now, I'll go for a few runs when we got to some place with more open space. That'll get me back to my normal speed.
Taking a quick glance at my Aura Meter, I see that it's at 64%. I'm kinda worried about what else we'll fight on this planet. How strong would their weapons be? Would they be friendly? This Galactic Federation can't just be run only by humans, could it?
I shake my head, no use worrying about it right now. I have to focus on getting back to Remnant! Soon enough, the elevator slows to a stop and we quickly make our way back to the main plaza. Bringing my hand to the side of my Visor, I bring up my map.
The orange must be the rooms I've already been in, so that would mean blue is yet to be explored. It looks like there's another door in this room. If the maps layout of the room is right, then that door would be near the warwasp hives. That's... fun. Quickly speeding up to the second "Floor", I scan the hives. It looks like they can be destroyed with missiles. I aim Bloom, the flower head opening up as the Combat Visor enters 'lock on' mode. The targeting reticle circles around the Hive on the wall away from the door, and I pulse my aura. A missile launches out, appearing less like a physical object and more like a ball of light. Streams of blue twist behind it as it flies foward and explodes, destroying the hive.
I hear the sound of another explosion and look to the the hive next to the door was also destroyed. I turn to see Samus walking up, tilting her head at me. Is something funny?
"Well aren't you in a rush" She said "do you dislike my company that much?"
I stutter, trying to come up with a response. It took me a moment to realise that she was joking. I get the feeling she doesn't do it much, but is trying to help me keep me from running into danger. At least she isn't making puns. The thought of Yang made me think of Weiss and Blake. I haven't had much time to really take thought of the situation. Always on the move, always running ahead. I think that's something Samus was trying to really tell me, but it didn't click until now. Even with Samus bringning it up soon after I got this breather mask.
"Is something wrong?" Samus asks, I shake my head. I'll just act like Uncle Qrow would, bottle my emotions until this mission is over!
Giving her as a smile I can, I shake my head. I'll breakdown when we're offworld, we need to be able to focus on the mission!
She simply stares at me, likely not believing me. Walking past me, she opens the door. That she doesn't press the issue is a kindness, but I don't think she'll let me get away with that next time.
Walking through the door, I see that the tunnel is blocked by MANY branches. HOW ARE WE SUPPOSED TO GET THROUGH!? I turn to see Samus holding her hand to her helmet, likely scanning it. I should probably do the same, it's like she said. I can't rely on her for everything.
SCANNING...
SCANNING COMPLETE!
Cyrilic Tree Branches
These branches block most the passage, despite this, a small opening is available near the bottom.
Looking down, I see the opening. It IS small, the size of the Morph Ball. Or a Crimson Twister! Kicking off, I spin and activate my semblance. The world stops spinning as I fly through the tunnel, until I hit the door at the end of the hallway. I yelp as I get knocked out of the twister. Okay, that's good to know. I'll have to start moving AFTER I turn go Crimston Twister.
I hear the sound of Samus rolling under the branches before turning back to her normal form. She holds out a hand, helping me up to my feet. I can't hide my embarresment. I haven't crashed into anything since I first gotten my Semblance.
"Are you alright?" She asks "That look like it hurt"
I nod, nothing to bad. Just a bit upset that I crashed into the wall.
"It's nothing I haven't done before." I reply, patting down my skirt. A bit of dust had gotten on it after that crash. 'It's just been a while since I crashed like that. Now I know NOT to run before shifting"
Samus nods at that, simply opening the door. The room it opened up to was dark. Like, REALLY dark. The only light seemed to be from a bug similar to fireflies and doors.
Well, that's kinda bad. It looks like we'll have to use those fireflies to move through this room, it shouldn't be to hard. Samus makes her way to the edge of the walk way, Looking between the two doors. The room isn't that big, and looking at the map shows that the rooms connected to this one are a bit smal as well.
Glancing at the hazard meter, it looks like it went up a bit. I guess since it's connected to my breather mask it's now taking that into consideration when detecting thing to consider a 'hazard'.
"Two more doors." Samus said, getting my attention "I'm reasonably sure that we can do a small split up"
I can't lie, a part of me is both scared and excited. I'm scared because who knows what lives in this temple, and I'm excited because I can prove I can handle this!
"Okay, which door am I taking?" I ask, "and how many rooms are we going through before we meet back up?"
Samus pointed to the door at the opposite wall.
"You'll go that door." She says "While I go through the one on the left, and it'll be two rooms before we meet back up."
Two rooms, so the room after the next on. That sounds good.
"Now, there's a small button behind the microphone. It's near the ear"
I bring my hand over to the side panel, and start feeling around for the button she mentioned. I find it near the bottom of the main control panel. It really was small, barely noticable if you weren't looking for it. It was most likely designed so that it wasn't obstructive, allowing quick access to the main panel while also being easily findable if you need to communicate. SMART!
"Okay, I found it!" I tell her "Do I press it, or do something else first?"
"First, we'll have to link our comm units." She said bringing her had to the side of her helmet, most likely doing something that I'll need help with later.
ALERT!
Communications Link Up request by: Aran, S.
Accept?
Yes No
As the notification popped up, I navigate to the 'yes' option and press it. Oddly enough, nothing about my HUD changed. I'm gonna assume it's something in a menu to select.
Samus makes her way over to the door she chose, opening and going through it. A few seconds later, I hear her voice through the Visor.
"Ruby, can you copy?" She said, her voice having a radio filter "Let me know if the comm link in your visor works"
Quickly bringing my hand to the Micorphone Button, I press it.
"I can hear you, Samus" I tell her "Sounds like it's working well."
"Copy that, I'll move through this room and the next, you get started on yours"
Nodding even though she can't see it, I used my semblance to jump over the toxic waters. Shooting the door, I walk through. Walking through the hallway, I find myself in a square room. The left wall was crumbled, with toxic green water falling off of it.
A pool poisonous water sits in the center of the room, with a square platform in the middle of it. Mushrooms grow on it. Quickly scanning them, I find out that they tend to explode. More plantlife that explodes... yay. That's gonna be more common than it should be.
Shooting them, they explode leaving a small cloud. It goes away after a moment, allowing me to hop onto the middle platform, and make my way to the next room. As I got closer, I noticed the Hazard Bar filling out. That's weird, what could be causing that. Could the room ahead be filled with incredibly toxic air? Opening the door, I'm hit with a WALL of heat! It takes me a moment for my eyes to adjust to the room, but it's swealtering and bright.... IS THAT LAVA?! What is Lava doing in here!?!
Before I can question things futher my Visor gets a message.
ALERT!
New Data collected about Research: Aura!
Access Research Data?
Yes No
Backing out of the room, both because I couldn't go any futher AND it was uncomfortably hot, I press yes.
"Samus, I'll be making my way to you in a moment." I tell her on the comms "I couldn't go any further, there was a whole lot of lava!"
"Understood, see you in a few... Did you say Lava?" She asks at the end
"Yup" I said, popping the 'p' "I also got an alert on my visor about my Aura, So I'll read that real quick."
"Understood"
With the comm ended I turn my attention to the research data.
Subject: Aura
Currently known users: Rose, Ruby.
Aura is a unique phenomenon currently known only to the planet known as Remnant.
Aura provides a protective shielding of a similar nature to shields generated by shield generators, and gives it's users enhanced physical abilities. Aura also provides a unique expression of abilites called 'Semblances', granting the user unique, often niche powers. Additionally, Aura thermo-regulates it's user so long as it remains unbroken, enabling the exploration of hazardous climates of extreme heat or cold.
No additional notes added.
Thermo-Regulate.... why does that sound so familiar? I suppose it doesn't matter right now, I need to catch back up with Samus! Turning around, I speed back to the dark room. Yup, still dark. With a quick jump I make it to the door and walk through.
Oh, a long hallway! It's got a groove in the floor with the toxic water in it, I wonder... Is the final boss of this ruined temple gonna be the one MAKING the toxic water? It'd fit, but what kind of boss would it be? I suppose I'll find out when I get there.
Quickly making my way to the door, I go through it and see a BIG tree. It.. It rotting away, no doubt because of the water.
"Ruby, over here" Samus called out, "The map says that the potential upgrade is this way. If I'm right I'll be another upgrade for my Arm Cannon"
Chapter 11: Charging Forth Pt:2
Summary:
Samus regains the charge beam, reads the updated Aura data and decides that Aura is somewhat unfair.
Chapter Text
"So, what did the computer tell you?" Samus asked "It's not often it updates research unprompted."
That's a good question, I can ask what thermo-regulate means!
"Well, as I went to the room with lava in it, my visor told me that it added stuff about Aura to the research tab" I tell her, watching as she nods "When I read it, it said something about 'thermo-regulating'. Do you know what that is?"
Samus just stares at me, before grunting. She sounded annoyed.
"That's... Mildly irritating" she says "Ruby, you know that I'm trying to regain my lost equipment. Correct?"
That's an odd change of topic, but I guess it's related.
"Yes?"
"Well, It's only recently that I lost them. As in just before I met you"
My eyes widen, that would mean she lost them at the big space ship. What could've been strong enough to cause her suit to lose it's gear?
"One of those pieces of equipment allowed me to travel through areas of extreme heat and cold."
Oh... So that means I could walk through that Lava room with some form of safety. I don't think my aura could protect me from the actual lava though. At least I won't die from being too hot or cold, so that's something! I bet it's something that my team doesn't know!
Opening the door, I see a narrow passage with a Morph Ball Tunnel at the bottom. I spin into my Crimson Twister, and fly into the tunnel. Huh, I never thought of that before. While I'm in my Twister, I don't have any legs. How do I stay upright when I transform? When I first transformed I was kicking up wind, would that mean I am capable of flight?
Soon enough, I exit the tunnel, and open the door. The sound of Samus rolling behind me and transforming follows. I look around and see a door, some platforms to climb and the exploding mushrooms... I'm still confused as to WHY they explode.
Following the platforms, I see two ledges. There's probably things to progress up there. I turn and see a slope, it probably leads to a new area.
"Okay, we have some platforms, a ruined bridge and a few doors." Samus said, tapping the side of her helmet "Where do you think we should start?"
She's letting me choose the path? I suppose she's trying to help get me used to this, but I'm trying to treat this like the mission to Mt. Glenn. Let me think...
"I think we should explore this level before trying to explore the upper floors." I tell her.
Samus nods at that, walking up the slope. I follow after to see her opening a door. In the room was a 'Save' Station.
"A good find, there's a good chance we'll need to use these as we progress."
Turning around, we make our way to the door at the other side of the room. Opening the door, I see that the room has ramps. Ramps that lead into toxic water.... Fun. Okay, the final boss of this play HAS to be the source of the poisonous waters. I hear a shriek, and look up to see a flying creature spin as shot towards me. Quickly shifting Crescent Rose into her scythe form, I cut it in half. This is going to be a common occurance, isn't it.
I hear the sound of rocks sliding and turn to se a wall that looks like it's falling apart. A small orange glow shines behind it. I quickly bring my hand to my visor and see that it can be scanned. Brinstone? I've never heard of that material before. It looks like it can be destroyed by missiles.
Taking aim, I fire bloom. I watch as the missile counter goes down by one, a missile flying outward and hitting the walling. It breaks open revealing a Missile Upgrade?
"A Missile Expansion, go ahead. You found it first." Samus says
I cautiously walk to it, I have no idea how it's supposed to upgrade my wrist launcher. Sticking out my arm, I watch as the upgrade disappears in a flash of light. Looking at the ammo counter I see that it's now at ten. So the expanions upgrade it by five per piece, that's really helpful!
Walking up the ramp, I open the door and we enter a room where MOST of the floor is toxic water. I couldn't help my eye twitching. First was apparently a sercurity system where I nearly died, second was the room with the giant tree, now here? Was this temple just FILLED with lakes?!
I take a deep breath, getting upset isn't going to help. Examine the room. Like I saw, most of the floor is covered in water, with platforms thrown about here and there. On one platform there is a bunch of wriggling grass. Looking up, I see that the room has an open roof. Dead roots and empty canals line the walls, and on our side of the room platforms just out of the wall. Checking my minimap, I see that this is the room we needed to investigate. The Light Blue Questionmark hovering in a corner on the upper floor.
What upgrade will this be? A focusing lense to allow beams instead of singular shots? A splitter that allows the beam to fire two or three shots at once, at the same time even! Maybe even beams that are like my dust rounds and have elemental properties! The possibilities are endless!
Samus and I jump up the platforms, and I can't help but take in the sight of the these ruins. The people who lived here seem to try to live together with nature, instead of trying to replace it with advanced technology. It's nice to think that they liked living among plants that they made it their whole culture.
As we go around the walls we find a locked door. Only it's not like any door we've seen so far, it looks more like a big round grate. The door isn't large enough that either of could fit through, but we can see what's behind it. On the front of the door is a weird set of symbols.
"I... I don't know how we're supposed to open this." I said, turning to Samus, Her hand on the side of her helmet "Do you know how?"
Samus was quiet, likely thinking while she scans the door. It's probably some form of Chozo, only it doesn't have the 'shape' look that she said the Chozo use. Could some tribes use different shapes for the language? It would make sense, but I've barely even started learning the Chozo language that Samus is teaching me. I don't think she'll be teaching me this particular tribes language.
"It looks like we'll need to find those four symbols on the outside, then scan the fifth one in the middle to unlock it"
That sounds a bit too simple... Could it be? I mean, so far we've had to fight a plated beetle and a wasp using security system. What's the gimmick? Looking back into the room, I see that the walls are lined with weird bulbs. Wait... Could THOSE be the eye lasers? That's the catch. They'll either turn on after the door opens, or when Samus gets her upgrade.
Looking around, I find a weird claw like symbol on the wall. Bringing my hand to my visor, I scan it. Looking back to the door, I see one of the symbols glowing. Looks like there are three more! Just as I thought that, A second symbol started glowing. Samus must've found it. Quickly turning, I start making my way down the platforms and barely glimps something in the water. Quickly trying to scan it, my visor tells me that the symbol is now active.
"Find the last symbol?" Samus said from behind me, causing me to jump. Samus quickly grabs me before I fall into the water, thankfully. I'm not sure if my Aura could protect me from it.
"Careful now, didn't mean to sneak up on you." She put me down after that.
"I did, and it should be active" Nodding at that, she turns and starts hopping from platform to platform. I race after her, quickly catching up at the gate. All four symbols are lit up, all that's left is for the gate to open. How do we do that?
I turn to Samus and see her raise her hand to her visor... I'm gonna guess that scanning everything is gonna be the go-to solution for a LOT this journey. Better start getting used to it, though it will be annoying.
Soon enough, the symbol in the middle starts glowing and the gate opens. Watching as the gate spins away, I don't notice any of the bulbs on the walls shoot any lasers. So they'll do it after we grab that upgrade? There's a weird glowing wall right at the back.
"A Chozo Lore wall?" Samus says "We'll have to be on the look out for them. They might have information as to how you got here, if they even know."
That's actually comforting. If the Chozo know why I'm here, then maybe they left clues! So we've got a side mission! Oh, I wonder if Samus could let me make a 'Side Mission' entry on her ships logbook? Hmm.... Maybe not, She probably has it set up the way she likes.
I look away from the wall, and examine the upgrade. It's a trio of lenses? Does it make the beam hotter, or more precise? Does it turn it into something like a blow torch?!
I see Samus walk into it, a bright light shining from her Arm Cannon. Turning around, she does a heafty swing. The light fades and her Cannon is back to normal.
"So.... whatwastheupgrade!?" I ask, getting a little bit excited
"Ruby, next time speak slowly." Samus tells me "And to answer your question, it's arguably my most used upgrade. The Charge Beam."
She demonstrates it by pointing at a wall? I turn and see that the eye lasers were active. Called it! I turn back to Samus and watch as her Arm Cannon expands slightly. Her weapon uses what she calls the 'Power Beam', so maybe the charge beam is a different weapon? As I thought that a sphere started shining at the barrel, slowly growing until it was just bigger than the it. Just after the Arm Cannon shrunk back to it's original size.
I look to where the beam hit, only to see a scorch mark where one of the eyes were. So THAT must be why it's called the charge beam. It magnifies whatever selected beam Samus is using! I wonder if I could include that into the upgrades that Samus helped me with, or if I'll need to build an entirely new weapon.
Rather than repeatedly use the charge beam, she simply shoots the eyes. They close up, stopping the laser sweep. That's good to know. Quickly making our way past them, we start making our way back to the... I'm gonna call it the Gathering Hall. There's still the upper floor to explore before we continue.
Opening the door, we continue forth! Maybe we'll find some survivors!
Chapter 12: Burning Blasts
Summary:
Getting the some of the last of the ruins equpiment. Ruby likes the Morph Ball Bombs.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Walking through the door to Gathering Hall, I look up to the next floor. It looks like there's a bridge up there, but it's broken. I also see some weird bats hanging on the bottom of the bridge. As Samus walks to the ledge I jump up to the platform above me. Thinking about it, Samus HAS to be one of the best fighters out there. To be able to do ALL this without Aura, only her armor and training, it's unbelievable. Yet there she is, not just keeping pace, but out doing professional Huntsman and Huntresses!
I can't but think of what she could do with Aura! She might be able to be completely unbeatable! She might help turn the tide and find a way to STOP the Grimm!! ...But she has her own life. This is a problem for the people of Remnant. If she wants to help, I don't think anyone would be upset. I wouldn't want to tie her down and stop her from living her own life. Besides, even if she could unlock an Aura, I don't have the ability to.
Shaking my head, I watch as Samus leaps to an alcove and turn into her Morph Ball. Leaping up to the bridge, I watch the small tunnel light up before Samus rolls out of it. Shifter back, the both of us leap over the gap, and open the door. A hallway connects to a slightly bigger room, with the ceiling broken open. What could've cause that?
"The wonders of technology, everyone" Samus said, I turn to her to see her scanning a panel? "That's gonna be annoying"
"What's wrong" I ask her
"It's obvious something caused the ceiling to collapse. Unfortunately, whatever caused it wasn't recorded."
Oh. Yeah, that is annoying. But that does tell me that the computers can record these types of things, if something doesn't go wrong. Walking around the corner, I see that there's another wall panel. Bringing my hand to my visor, I scan it. Huh, looks like this room won't collapse any more.
Samus opens the door, and I see more of those Eye Lasers. Just... Why do they look like EYES? Was a laser attached to a hinge to much? Or did they grow these things in a lab? I wait for Samus to get by them before I Petal Burst through. Going through the door, I see a room flooded with toxic water.
I can't help but groan about it. Why?! HOW?! How is there so much of this stuff!? Is there water pipes all over these ruins funneling it into almost every room? What's even making it toxic int eh first place!?
"Ruby, This way." Samus calls out "This looks like the only path forward"
I turn and see a hallway that curves around the corner. Do the Chozo love S-Curves? Cause we've encountered a few of them. Is it a cultural thing? As we turn the corners I see a morphball tunnel. I turn into my twister as Samus transforms. I follow Samus through the tunnel, only to see another one at the bottom of the room we entered.
Transforming back to our normal forms, we go through the door and enter a big room with a dome shaped roof. There is only one problem with it. There's... a really big hive up there. I don't think we've got enough missiles between the two of use to get rid of it. I'm guessing with the large openish room that this is a boss fight?
After the two of us step into the room, a sound come from behind us. I look and see a weird hexagon thing on the door. Looking around I see a machine rise from the middle of the room. It's got tanks as the base of the pole with tubes winding up it. Is it going to burn away the hive?
My hopes were dashed as the top of it rotated, showing two nozzels on both ends of the bar. Flamethrower turret! SO COOL! AND HORRIFYING! Fire start shooting out of the ends, quickly turning to the right. Samus and I jogged to the right as well. Fire hit the floor on one end, while the other had it hit just below the dome roof. So that's how the rest of the room stayed clean, but how do we get it pointed at the hive?
Samus and I just walked in the same direction the turret was turning. Not gonna lie, this is kind of boring. I can already guess that burning the hive would cause the wasps living in it to defend it.
After a bit, the top of the turret lifted up, showing a big red target. Why do these ruins feel like a turtorial level in a collect-adventure game? The "Big" enemies we've faced so far were easy, even the security system where Samus got her Missile Launcher. I've just got a bad feeling about what's beyond the ruins.
Aiming at the target, I fired Crescent Rose. The top slammed down as the turret realigned. I had to back away as the flames poured out from the bottom of the turret, while the hive got set on fire. The hive started glowing from the inside, the fire no doubt getting to work.
War wasps started pouring out of their burning home, angrily charging us. I quickly shift Crescent Rose into scythe mode as Samus braces her cannon with her left hand. As three of the War Wasps I start squeezing Crescent Rose a bit tighter, this'll be the first time I use her in scythe form since the upgrades. I'm not sure how well her scythe mode can handle the recoil, so I'll be saving that until I need it. As the wasps get close, the gold spheres of Samus' power beam fly out. Each shot burning through them.
Three of the wasps managed to get avoid getting hit and made a beeline (Pun not intended) towards me. As the got close, two of them stayed back. They look different than the regular wasps, leaner. As the lone wasp tried to ram me, the other two whip their... their.. Thorax! They whipped their thorax at me sending their stingers!?
Side stepping, I slice the wasp that tried to run into me. Using the momentmun of the swing, I shift back to rifle mode and quickly fire two shots at the remaning wasps.
As the two wasps hit the ground, the flame turret rotates back into place. Turning left this time, Samus and I follow it. Like before, It's just us walking the same way. This seems too easy, so whats the catch? Oh, that's the catch. I changed angles and is now turning to us.
As I started jogging the other way, Samus slid under the flames. I get it! Being split up like this will force the wasps to choose between two targets! A couple more wasps fly out, but they're easily dealt with. The top lifts up again, only this the the target is on the other side with Samus. The sound of her shooting it echos as the top of turret slams down again. Rule of Threes it is... great. More and more of the hive is set on fire, larger chunks of it start falling to the ground and I see something bigger than the regular waps in it.
This time many wasps fled their hive, splitting into different groups. Five of them flew towards me, and six to Samus. They're not happy with us burning their hive, I guess. It doesn't feel right, setting their home on fire, but it's just how the turret was designed. It's likely that this room has wasp problems, and back when the Chozo lived here they did what they could to keep them away.
Taiking aim, I fire at the closest two. I... I don't think I'll ever get used to how strong 'Beam Weapons' are, all that left of those two wasps are their wings. As I sidestep a wasp that gets close, I duck as a fourth one flies over my head. Shooting the one that flew over me, I switch to scythe mode and slice through one that got too close. The fifth one launches it's stinger at, which I block by spinning Crescent Rose really fast!
Disappearing in a burst of rose petals I get behind the one that shot at me and stab it with the spiked end of Crescent Roses shaft. As I land, the last wasp tried to ram me again, only for me to slice through. Just one last cycle of the turret, then we'll probably get an upgrade for Samus.
As the turret re-aligns itself, turning to the right I prepare myself. There's something BIG in the hive, It'll no doubt come out when the rest of it is burned away. Is it the War Wasp Queen? It looked big enough to be.
The turret changed angles and started turning left. It really is a cleaning device. No really pattern to it besides turn and burn. The fact that the target at the top when it pops up makes me think it was an off switch. The Chozo must've been TALL! Samus doesn't even reach it.
The turret cycles again, soon the top will pop up and the rest of the hive will burn away. I'm so glad that Samus had her ship make this breather mask. Looking at the hazard warning bar on my visor, it's filled out completely. At least the room isn't filled with smoke... Wait, why isn't it?!
Shifting Crescent Rose back to rifle mode, the top of the turret pops up and I don't waste any time shooting it. Slamming down, the turret points up and burns the rest of the hive away. As it's doing that, it starts sparking. That doesn't look good. The sparks start getting worse, arcs of electricity jumping from the turret to the ground. One stray bolt of lightning hit the gas canisters and starts exploding. Wait... How volitile is that fuel?
I found that out soon after, as I was launched into a wall.... ow! Sitting up, I start patting myself down to make sure I'm not on fire. Wait... I trail my hand around my hair... MY HAIR! I may not be as bad as Yang when it comes to my hair, but I do put in effort to take care of it! AUGH! It's burnt! Okay, deep breathes, Ruby. Deep Breathes. It's not the end of the world, You'll just have to goe to a Space Barber... and have them cut however much is burned.... Ugh!
I wave Samus off as she came to check on me, instead pointing to what looks to be an upgrade where the turret used to be. Standing up, I was as Samus picks it up. Before I could even open my mouth to ask what it was, Samus shifted into her Morph Ball. What sounded like a electric jolt happened for a second before Samus... Exploded? Hopped? Wait... BOMBS! SAMUS CAN NOW PLACE BOMBS WHILE IN HER MORPH BALL! I'm not as good with explosives as Nora is, but in order to launch Samus into the air while in Morph Ball mode it HAS to have a lot of yield!
Samus returns to normal and walks over to me, but stops when we hear the sound of rocks moving. The only way for them to be moving is what ever was in the Hive! Without waiting, I aim Crescent Rose up and start shooting, only to have to dash out of the way as the shots BOUNCE OFF it!
Bringing my hand up to my Visor, I scan it.
War Wasp Queen:
WARNING! Unknown contaminates found within subject!
Contamination reveales increased size, agression and carapace durability, excluding the jaw and thorax.
Thorax is especially weak to concussive attacks. Recommend Missiles.
Research: War Wasp Queen:
A War Wasp of the highest position in the species hierarchy. Telepathically commands all War Wasps in the vicinity.
Unknown Contamination has resulted in mutations has enabled the Queen to protect the hive itself.
One such mutation enables high speed regeneration of the subjects stinger, which it launches with deadly accuracy.
Recommended Squad Size to engage: Six.
You mean to tell me that it's NOT supposed to be that big! It built the hive ON TOP OF ITSELF! I watch as it unfurls itself from a really deep indent in the roof. Looking back, the regular War Wasps were either red or yellow. The queen looks like a mix of sickly green and a weirdly light blue. I don't like how it looks.
Glowing blue eyes lock onto Samus and I, and it gives a loud shriek. So loud it shakes the room! Glacing at my ammo meter, I see that I've got Eight Missiles left. Samus and I will need to swap spots to fight this thing, only good thing is that it can't fly in here. My eyes widen as the Wasp Queen FLIPPED itself on the ceiling. Oh, so that's how it'll fight. I quickly dashed out of the way before it's stinger slammed into the spot I was at, kicking up rubble. Thrusting my arm out, I fire two missiles from Bloom.
They hit their mark, cracking the thorax. Wait... It's not just the thorax, the head is also a weak point. If I can crack the base of the neck, I can slide Crescent Rose into there and fire!
"Samus!" I call out to her "I'll handle the thorax, see if you can crack the head or neck! We'll swap targets every so often so it doesn't get used to how we fight!
She nods at that, bracing her arm as she preps a charge beam. I dash under the queen, and blast her thorax with another missile. It looks like it's tougher than I thought, the thorax only cracked a little bit more. Five missiles left, gotta make them count. I hear Samus shooting at the head of the queen, before it pulled itself back up. As it curled up in its hidey hole, it pointed it's thorax down. Wait... is it gonna!
I had to look away for a moment as the sound of the queen squeezing out her eggs appeared. I'm not squeemish, but there's a difference between knowing how something works and seeing it. Buzzing started filling the air and I look to see several, freshly hatched War Wasps. Oh... That's gonna be the gimmick.
Switching Crescent Rose to Scythe mode, I don't waste any time rushing them. Bolts of gold light shot past me, Samus providing cover fire as I swing Crescent Rose. I think we're starting to get in sync! Two of the wasps fly back, just as the Queen unfurls from it's nesting hole.
Shifting back to rifle mode, I shoot the two remaining war waps before charging the queens head. As I take aim, I see the queen raise her head. What looks like bubbling green liquid starts spilling over... Oh no... I dodge to the left as it spits at me! GROSS! The sound of sizzle causes me to turn to where it spat. THE SPIT IS ACIDIC?! I don't think my Aura can protect me from that! If... If the wild life is this dangerous, what else is there out in the Galaxy!?
Turning back to the queen, I take aim and fire at it's open mouth. It tried spitting at me again! As the shot hit it's mark, the queen lets out another roar as it rears back. She raised her front left leg and brought it down, a crater forming where I dodged from. Okay, the mutations increased it's strength. No big deal, just don't get hit.
If only it were that simple, as it quickly swiped it's leg towards me. I yelp as I dodge the rubble it was throwing at me. Okay, strong enough to tear up whatever material the floor is made of, that's concerning! It's also fast enough to quickly launch rubble.
The queen raised her head, the same acidic spit bubbling up. Not this time. I point Bloom and fire a missile at the open mouth. I gasp as the spit catches fire, the queen screaming as it burned from the inside. I get the feeling that'll be the least of what I do here.
"Ruby, switch!" Samus called out
Using Petal Burst, I dash right past past Samus. The thorax looks far more cracked than I had it, It looks like it's just about ready to break.
"Watch out for its spit!" I yell back "It's acidic and flammable!"
I focus back on the fight, dodging as it slammed it's stinger into the floor. It doesn't raise its stinger out of the floor, is it stuck? Quickly shifting into scythe mode, I slam the tip of the blade into one of the deeper looking cracks and pull the trigger. A bright flash of gold, and I am almost thrown back at the difference between the two modes.
The queen shrieks so loudly that I'm worry that I'm gonna go deaf! I look back to see the thorax as cleaved completely in two! This is only with a blade made from metals on Remnant?! What'll happen if I enhance it too! I'll have to think on that later, As it looks like the queen is desperate, that must mean we're almost done fighting her.
I rejoin Samus and take aim at the queens head, she's not looking to good now. The queen rears back, acidic spit spilling out of her mouth. As she slams forward, a stream of acid shoots out, Samus and I dodging just before it hits. The Queens desperate now, and dad's always said that a cornered animal is at it's most dangerous.
It seems like she things I'm the bigger threat as the acid stream started coming towards me. Okay, just gotta keep running and find the timing for another missile. That'll put me down to four, hope the converter that Samus helped install while I was making this thing works. I mean, it should. Samus seems like the type of person to keep all her gear, and spare equipment in working order.
A missile slams into the side of the queens head, stopping the acid steam as it catches fire. The queen turns to Samus and starts charging. Instead of trying dodging, I see her shift her feet. Is she bracing herself? As the queen rears back her left leg, Samus brings her Arm Cannon back. Is she...?
The War Wasp Queen brings her leg down and SAMUS SMACKS IT AWAY!? The queen falls over, the sudden parry causing it to lose it's balance. I rush forward, Crescent Rose unfoldinginto her full scythe form. As Samus bombards the queens head with missiles, I bring Crescent Rose back. The Queen swipes at Samus as it tries to stand back up, only to have my scythe hook around it's neck. Kicking off the ground, I swing until I land on it's back and pull the trigger. A flash of gold, and I use Petal Burst to reorient myself so I land feet first on the ceiling.
Wait, why aren't I falling? Looking down (up?) I see that my feet are firmly planted on the roof, the rose petals I make when using my semblance falling towards the ground. Well, I guess this does mean my semblance can give me some form of flight? Kicking off the roof, I vanish into my twister and reappear on the ground. I'll have to spend some time when we have a moment to figure out what exactly my semblance can do.
I look to Samus as she walks around the body, her had on the side of her helmet, scanning the fallen queen. Walking up to Samus, I see the queen start melting. As it melts into a weird green puddle, what looks a missile upgrade floats up from it.
"Two upgrade in one room?" Samus says "Well, you can have it. You got the last hit on it. DOn't worry about compatability, Chozo tech is notorious for it's near universal compatibility. For better or worse"
Bringing my hand to my visor, I scan it.
Research: Stinger Missile.
An altered missile upgrade found from the mutated War Wasp Queen.
Based on the Queens ability to regenerate its stinger, it fires multiple tracking shots.
Hold the trigger to prepare the Stinger Missile.
Walking up to it, careful not to step in any of the goop, I reach out and grab it. I watch as Bloom glowed before the rose bud opened up larger than it had before. Looks like the launcher got mulitple projectors, probably for shooting more than one missile at a time.
With the queen defeated, the door is no longer locked. We have more than enough upgrades to keep going, it looks like we're almost done with the ruins. One step closer to home.
Notes:
This chapter just didn't want to get written. It was hard to make the Hive Room somewhat interesting. Hopefully you all enjoy my little idea for it, and a last minute idea for an upgrade for Ruby. Enjoy!
Yeah, this took a LONG time for me to write. There's not much you can do with a spinning flame thrower turret. This whole "Burn Dome" segment was just a bit too... boring? I thought why not make the big ol' hive have a bigger boss to fight, while also making the Phazon have a bit more a role as it was what caused the downfall of the Chozo in the temple in the first place.
With having a 'Boss' after Samus gets her upgrade, I thought to have Ruby get a missile upgrade that fit the theme of the boss a little.
Chapter 13: Trimming Hedges
Summary:
Ruby and Samus finish up the temple and Samus's suit is restored to it's former glory!
Chapter Text
As we go back to the flooded room, I hear what sounds like croaking to my left. Is that a giant toad? Why does it look like it's made of stone?
"Well, that's blocking our path a little." Samus says "Stone toads, gimme a minute."
At that, Samus went into her Morph Ball and was sucked into the toad. What? Why? WHY?! Why did she get swallowed by the toad?! I get my answer when the toad explodes. She must've used her bombs on it's insides.
Wait... There's no squishy bits? Is it made entirely out of stone? How does that work? As Samus shifts back, I go get a good look at the room behind it. A LARGE generator is near a collapsed wall, a wall with a small tunnel to the previous room. A lot of Morph Ball tunnels, I find it hard to believe that every single member of the Chozo race had something like Samus' Power Suit. Maybe there were enough to justify having the tunnels, so they must've been something like a security force?
Looking around more, I see a little hexagon indent in the wall opposite of the generator. Looking it over, I see some cables connecting the generator to the wall. Okay, so it has something to do with the room. I look to Samus, and see her looking around as well. Her arm just resting on her Arm Cannon. She does that a lot, I think.
"Ruby, we'll finish up here and return Arboretum" Samus tells me "It'll connect to the Sunchamber, Which-if I'm right-is where the source of the toxins and poisonous waters are coming from."
I nod, though I have one question.
"How're we gonna clear this room? I ask "The room is flooded"
Samus turns to the wall with the indent, nodding to it.
"This is a Bomb Slot. These Morph Ball Bombs are different from the ones I'm used to, more akin to heavily charged electrical pulses than actual explosives. In theory, it should be enough to reactivate the generator and deflood the room."
Oh, that makes sense. That might be why it didn't look or sound like regular explosives. Nora would be a little bit sad about that.
I watch as Samus shift into her Morph Ball and places a bomb right under herself. It detonates and launches her up toward the Bomb Slot. Oddly enough, it looks like it mangetized her to it. A slight sound of static, and I see the shockwave they give off. A loud blaring sound starts playing as I turn to see the generator turn on. The outer rings of it started sliding up and down as the core glowed. I look to the window and watch as the flooded room starts draining.
I see Samus roll through the little tunnel just as the last of the toxins drained away. The siren starts getting faster, is it on a timer? Why?! Samus activates the second generator, and I see platforms rise up from the floor. Quickly Petal Bursting to the room, both Samus and I quickly go into a newly reachable hallway, and go through it. A third generator. Why is it always the rule of three's?
The timer must've been reset with the second generator as the siren started speeding back up. Samus shifts back to her Morph Ball and activates the third generator. Looking out into the room, I see more platforms rise up. They most likely make a path to the door on this side of the room, based on the fact the exit door is just opposite of us.
Rounding the corner, Samus and I start making our way back to the arboretum. It's a quiet walk, so it gives me time to think.
How did I end up on Tallon IV, in another part of space. The only answer I can think of is the Chozo, but the question is how? Are they so advanced that they can just pick someone up from one end of space and place them at the other? Could it have something to do with my eyes? The only way real way to answer those questions would be to ask one, but Samus said they were extinct. It's a long shot, but I hope this world has some explaination. It's just gotta.
Opening the door, the Arboretum coming into view. Just looking at the tree in the center is sad, the toxins it's taking in is killing it. I look up, there's really only one way left to go.
"Are you ready, Ruby?" Samus asks me "Our current level of equipment means that the only way forward is up."
Yeah, I figured that one. We're strangely progressing like a video game, slowly getting items that help us progress. Not to mention getting the smaller upgrades in the energy tanks for Samus and the Missile tanks and stuff Samus made for me on her ship.
"Yeah, I'm ready. Only way to go is up anyways."
Nodding at that, Samus and I start making our way upwards. Walking up the nearby slope-why are they called slopes?-I notice a wood bridge built on top of a large branch. There's a Chozo Symbol on the tree across from us. I guess that means we've gotta unlock the door. Great. This just means that the boss is gonna be a big one.
Scanning the rune-was it a rune? Weiss would know-it lit up. I hear Samus shooting something and turn to see her under the bridge? What? I watch as Samus starts making her way back to me, and I see another Rune behind her. How'd she know it was there?
Samus must've seen my confusion because she simply shrugged.
"They're never usually that far apart"
Who designs a lock like that?
"So that means only two runes left, and the only way to go is up"
Samus nods at that, walking back across that bridge. Oh, there's some rubble that'll act like some stairs. Jumping up it, I spy a tunnel with a couple blocks in the way. I look around, and notice a rune at the end of the tunnel. It's right across from us, so I can probably make a running jump to it. I should look around some more before I jump though. Looking down, I see two poles sticking out of the wall. They look sturdy, so maybe I could hop on them to get across.
"See you on the other side?" I ask her
She nods before shifting into her Morph Ball, and goes into the tunnel while I hop from pole to pole. As I land on the other side, I turn to see Samus place another bomb that destroys a block in the path. The sound of buzzing reaches my ears, Warwasps again. Turning and quickly scanning the rune, I make sure to keep an eye on the tree. That's where the wasps are.
Climbing up the ledges, I see another tunnel for Samus to roll through. On the other hand, there's nothing for me to jump off of, looks like I'll be using Crescent Rose to launch myself over there. As Samus shifts again, I take a running jump. Turning around, I fire and propel myself to the next walkway. The buzzing gets closer, and the Wasps get into view. Quickly firing at them, I see a missile fly by and destroy the hive. That was... Quick.
A couple of broken ledges that act as stairs lead up to another pathway. A large gate with four runes is placed on a ledge with plenty of room. Another branch with a bridge built on top of it. Climbing up to it, I scan the fourth Rune. Turning, I see Samus climb up as the gate opens.
Nodding to me, Samus walks up the slope. There doesn't seem to be anyway forward. Did we come all this way for nothing? Suddenly, Samus shifts into her Morph Ball and places a bomb at the back of the alcove. Wait.... Is this an alcove? Exploding, it reveals a Morph Ball Tunnel! Smart!
Using my Semblance, I follow Samus through the tunnel. Opening the door, we enter another S-Curved hallway. Only this one has both the weird vine things, and the tendrils with blades. Keeping a careful eye on them, I notice a part of them that looks ballooned. Taking a shot, the tendril retreats back into a hole in the wall.
Samus does the same thing ahead of us, and shoots the ground causing the weird vines to retreat. As we make our way through another door-I'm just now noticing how many door there are in this place, WHY are there so many?-We enter another hallway, only shorter. There's more fo those weird tendrils, but we make quick work of them.
Hopping over the red vine, grass thing, we go what I'm thinking is the boss door. Okay, Ruby, be careful. No telling what it can be.
....I see a giant flower in the center of the room, but I don't see any boss.
"That's it?" I ask "there's nothing here!"
Just as I say that, I hear a loud CLANK above me. Looking up, I see four large dish looking things. It looks like one of them rotated forward, yellow light bouncing off of it to the center of the flower. Oh, that's the boss.
Just after I thought that, what looks like a praying mantis mixed with a Mistralian fly trap grew out of the flower. It gave a roar as it slammed an scythe like limb into the ground in front of us, a wall of vines, flowers and other plants rushing towards us. I dodge to the left as Samus rolls to the right.
Okay, think. It grew when that yellow light hit it, so that should mean that knocking the dish thing back up will stun it, damage it? What even is it!
Scan Complete.
Research Subject: Flaahgra.
Research: What was once an ordinary flower has since gone under mutations of unknown origin.
Subject has gone under rapid, successive accelerated growth. A side effect of the growth requires the subject to near constantly be bathed in sunlight.
A thick outer shell provides adequet protection from conventional weapons, exploit this to stun it.
Removing the sunlight will cause it to return to its original size, recommend Missiles or Charged Weaponry.
Okay, Missiles. I can do that. I glance down at my ammo counter, and I'm surprised to see six missiles available. Is that what Samus meant by residual heat regenerates ammo? Last I checked, I had around two to three missiles left.
Shaking my head, I hear that loud clank again. Samus must've gotten scan data from the boss too! Okay, Ruby, get your head in the game! I watch as Flaahgra shrinks back into it's flower.
I quickly rush over to where Samus is. A quick look at the pedastal that Flaahgra is on reveals a Morph Ball tunnel with a bomb slot at the end. I see two more on the left and right sides. Going by that, then that means there's one at the door we come in from.
"Ruby, You keep it's attention on you!" Samus calls out "Try to stun it through missile fire, or your scythe."
Yup, Samus got the same Scan Data. At least we got a plan. At that, Samus going into her Morph Ball and rolls down the tunnel. A moment later, the flower catches fire! Just gotta do it, a couple more times. Or maybe three more, considering that there are four of those tunnel bomb combos.
Soon enough, two loud CLUNKS ring out. Two of those dishes rotate down, both on opposite sides. Great. Shifting Crescent Rose into her scythe form, I rush down the right. Quickly bringing my arm out, I fire a missile out of Bloom. It hits Flaahgra, causing it to shake it's head. I watch as the dish behind the plant rotates upward. Looking up, I see that I'm under the other dish. Quickly firing a missile at it, it slams upward. As Flaahgra retreats into its flower, I take note of my Missiles. Four left. There's got to be something like the Ammo Refill in Samus' Ship around here somewhere.
As Samus sets fire to the flower again, three of the dishes rotate down. Oh boy. I'll have to distract it more. As Flaahgra glares at me, I can't help but glare back. It roared, rearing back one of it's scythe arms it strikes. Dodging out of the way, I watch as plant life rise up, making a wall. It strikes again, this time not even attacking me.... oh. It boxed me in. A clunk, Samus got one of the dishes. Looks like Samus's got the dishes, and I'm the bait for the plant. Well, I did agree to it so no point in complaining.
A quick glance at my Aura Meter tells me that I should play it safe. 75%. Three Fourths of my max Aura is back. I should be able to parry it if I time it right, but It's kind of big. It roard again-So far, most the bosses we've fought scream in one way or form-and swung down. Quickly spinning Crescent Rose, I slice upward and fire at the same time. The combined attack knocked it's arm out of the way, but it attacks with it's other arm. Quickly using Petal Burst to move out of the way, I manage to slide under its hasty swing.
A clunk, and Samus got the second dish turned upward. One more, and it'll probably free me from this little box I was trapped in. The other plant walls dissappeared after it went back into it's flower the first time. Flaahgra brings back it's arm again, likely to do another-!
IT TRIED TO STAB ME! I look up and try jumping back, the tip of the kind of scary big scythe speeds towards me. The sound of my hood tearing and the glass of my visor being scratched sounds off. This thing is smarter than I thought it'd be. How is a plant so smart?! Is that one of the mutations?!
Flaahgra pulls back, this time I can see that it's going for a stab. Crouching, I jump out of the way and spin. Firing Crescent Rose, I turn that spin into what Yang calls 'Blender Mode' and hammer the attack into the ground. With it's arm stuck, I point Bloom at Flaahgra, and hold the trigger. The missile port blooms open, as a cyan light starts building up into an orb. My visor shows four target markers popping up on the oversized plant. Releasing the trigger, I'm pushed back somewhat as four missiles fly out and hit Flaahgra in the head.
The impact causes the lodged arm to get free, but it's not gonna help. Another clank, and Flaahgra shrinks back into it's flower. Quickly making my way back to Samus, I see that she's halfway through the tunnel. Sure enough, she places a bomb and it launches her back into the arena as the flower catches again.
Flaahgra comes out of it's hidey hole, only none of the dishes have rotated. Does that mean we've won? As Flaahgra thrashes around, it eventually starts turning to ash. Yeah... We won. GO TEAM!
A low hum starts sounding behind us. Turning to see what the upgrade looks like, I'm kinda confused. It's a rotating disk with a lightning bolt shaped 'S' on it.
"Ready to see something cool" She asks me, walking forward.
I don't even get to answer as I watch Samus walk up to the big stairs and grab it.
Turning around, Samus raises both arms out to her side and starts floating. Does she get to fly? Wait, why didn't I scan it!
What looks like shards of light start streaking towards her, a gold mist rising off. I can't take my eyes off of whats happening. The shards of light start building up speed, more and more of them rushing Samus as she doesn't even pay them any mind. Suddenly, she gives a small flex as a blinding light bursts out of her. I had to cover my eyes it was that bright.
Lowering my arm, I blink a way the spots in my vision. That's when I saw it.
Samus' Suit changed. The first change I noticed was her shoulders. They weren't small by any means, being bigger than her helmet and yet they look like they didn't hinder movement. They two fins on both shoulder, curving from the front to the back. The chest didn't change much, it no longer has that weird backwards 'L' on the left side. Instead two horizontal green light lines rest a bit from the center before stretching out. The arms also got a slight bit bigger, and turned orange. The legs of the armor had gottem more plating, the same orange as the arms and shoulders. The thigh plating also had green lights pulsing down the sides. The knees got DANGEROUSLY pointy and sharp.
Wait. She mentioned that she lost most of her upgrades before finding me. Does that mean that THIS is what her suit looked like before?! It's so cool!
I watch as she rolls her shoulders, No doubt refamiliarizing herself with them even though it hadn't been that long since she lost it.
"Well Ruby, what do you think of the Varia Suit" She asks, it's only then I notice I'm shaking with excitement!
"IT'S SO COOL!" I couldn't help but yell it.
...She laughed a little bit.
"Thank you, Ruby, It's nice to hear that. It'll be useful, as we'll no doubt be going into volcanic and arctic areas now that I got this upgrade back"
Hold on, everyone. I'm coming home as fast as I can!
Chapter 14: Interlude: Remnant: Weiss Schnee
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Beacon Academy. The greatest Hunstmen Academy in all of Remnant. Only the best of the best get accepted, and it was fitting that a member of the Schnee family attends it.
When I first arrived I knew I was destined to be the leader of the best team in the academy, disregarding the fact it'd only be the best of the first years. Imagine my surprise when my first day at Beacon began with an explosion in the courtyard.
'There is no way Beacon accepted a child' I had thought to myself, she had looked too young to attend. Yet, there she stood. I'm mature enough to now understand that I was wrong to lash out at her. She has proven herself time and again to be both a quick learner, and an excellent leader in the making. As time went on I realized how little I knew about leading.
Then came Mt. Glenn, and my failure.
As the train neared the sealed exit, the rest of the team had gatthered around me. I plunged Myrtenaster into the roof and pull the trigger in the handle, making a barrier of Ice Dust crystals. That should've been enough. When the Grimm incursion was repelled we looked for Ruby. She wasn't there when we crashed. I know we were out cold for a moment, but she still should've been there.
She wasn't.
If Ruby was... There'd still be a sign that she was there. Blood, torn clothes. For Dusts sake, ever her WEAPON would be where we crashed. There was nothing. Even her vital statistics simply come up as 'Missing'. Missing, not... Not dead.
She has to be alive. It's the only logical conclusion I can come to.
I look over to Yang, as she lays in her bunk staring at the ceiling. She took Ruby's disappearance the hardest. I shake my head, opening my scroll to look at the 'Arua Reader and Management' App. I narrow my eyes as I scroll to the stats screen and select the two day previous.
5:58. Ruby: 9%, Critical. Weiss: 6%, Critical. Blake: 17%, Critical. Yang: 12%, Critical.
6:04. Ruby: Warning! Vitals Missing. Weiss: 11%, Critical. Blake: 24%, Warning. Yang: 18%, Critical.
Vitals Missing.
The App was designed to help manage ones Aura and health during battle. If... If Ruby died, The app would state that she was 'Deceased' in the status screen. She's alive. I KNOW she is.
Classes were cancelled in the wake of The Breach as it's started getting called. While we weren't explicitly told, it's encouraged that Beacon Students help with the clean up. Professor Goodwitch can only do so much with her semblance. It's the best chance I have to find Ruby.
"Blake, Yang" I call out to them "I'm heading back out, I'll let you know if I find anything."
Blake nods before going back to her book. To anyone else, it might look like she's ignoring the world around her. She's helping keep an eye on Yang.
As I stand up there's a knock on the dorms door. That's odd, we weren't expecting anyone to come over. Walking ove to the door, I flick my wrist a little, making a repulse glyph. Opening the door slightly, I'm surprised to see a man wearing a two-tone gray long sleeved shirt, black slacks and shoes. Whats even more surprising is that he's wearing a tattered red cloak, A shade darker than Ruby's. A large sword rests on the back of his waist. He also has a tilted cross necklace. His hair is messy, hanging limply over his eyes.
"Hey, Ozpin told me this is Team RWBY's dorm." He says, his speach slightly slurred. Is he drunk? "I'm here to see my niece, Yang"
This... Man is Yang's uncle?
"Uncle Qrow?" Yang finally spoke. I turn to see her sitting up, looking between the two of them I can sorta see the resemblance. "What're you doing here?"
Pulling the door fully open-and dispelling my Glyph-Qrow walks in. He walks over to the desk and leans against it, crossing his arms
"How're you holding up?" He asks, quite gently given his rather... unrully appearance.
Yang doesn't answer, which is an answer it self. Qrow simply nods.
"Yeah, thought as much." He reaches back and... pulls out a flask. I can't help but wrinkle my nose in disgust, even more so after he offers it to Yang. She shakes her head, before pointing to the closet? Qrow gets up with a snort.
"Still obsessing over those Strawberry Sunrises?" He asks as he opens the closet. Did Yang hide alchohol in there? She did as Qrow moves a couple of boxes around and pulls out a bottle.
"Firstly, those are for Ruby. She didnt' swear them off." Yang says somberly "She wants to be treated like an adult, so I thought that with the three of us here it'd be kinda safe for her."
A small laugh worked it's way out from her. Mulling it over, I can't deny that with the three of us here she wouldn't get into too much trouble. Though I don't know why Yang thought that was a good idea.
"If nothing else, you ARE keeping to that promise of not pushing her to drink these. Just waiting for her to find them?"
"she already did, there's two missing and it's ONLY rarely that she drinks them. Now that Weiss and Blake know she doesn't need to wait until they're out of the dorm."
I can't fault her logic, despite how much I want to. Being a Huntress in training give you some immunities to the laws, despite how much they shouldn't. One such imunity is the Legal Age for drinking, where others would have to wait until they're 21 years old here in Vale, Huntsmen and Huntresses in training can go drinking as early as 16. Which Ruby just turned not too long ago.
Qrow then sighs, like somethings weighing on him. As he walks back to the desk, he hands Yang the bottle and closes his eyes it's like he's thinking about something.
"I'm not gonna beat around the bush, Yang." He says after a minute "I know someone who'll be able to tell us if Ruby really is dead"
My eyes widen, is there really someone like that? Then... Then we can find her! I clutch a hand to my chest, as a weight lifts. Qrow looks at me, squintin his eyes a little before they widen. What? Why'd he do that. He only adds to my confusion when gives a small smile.
He turns back to Yang, staring intently at her unlce. Her Lilac eyes now a blazing red, small ember lifting off her hair. She only asks one question.
"Who?"
Qrow sighs again, it's like he doesn't want to have this conversation. Why? He takes a sip from his flask before he answers.
"Your mother, Raven." Both Yang and I's eyes widen. Yangs in disbelief and mine in befuddlement. Her mother? While they don't actively talk about it, they have mentioned that their mother died on a mission and that her name was Summer.
"Who's Raven" I ask, confused as to who that is.
"My older sister, Yangs birth mother and Ruby's 'Aunt'" He makes air quotes when he said aunt "She left sometime after Yang was born"
I can't help gasping. Yang, and even Ruby never mentioned that. I quickly notice that Blake doesn't seem surprised, as though she already knows. Yang must've told her before the dance, that must be how Yang got through to her.
"Anyways, I got called by Ozpin to help with what's going on in Vale after Ruby... vanished. If there's anyone who can tell us if Ruby's alive, even take us to her if she's in... Well, I won't a good mood, so I'll say instead cooperative enough"
That... that has to be good news, but the fact that it all depends on if this 'Raven' is cooperative leaves a sour taste in my mouth. If anything, It makes me somewhat happy that Raven wasn't a part of their lives. Yet that thought makes feel horrible. She probably has a good reason for leaving, like an extended mission.
As Qrows words settle in, Yang takes the cap off her bottle and chugs it. Even Qrow is surprised, if the slight widening of his eyes is any indication. After a few seconds the bottle is emptied.
"You know where she is, don't you" She asks "You've probably known the whole time."
She sounds hurt, like it's a betrayal.
"No, but I know her well enough to be able to find where she currently set up the encampment"
Well, at least he wasn't keeping anything from her.
"Well, rest up. Tomorrow I'll train the three of you." Wait, three of us "Before you say anything, Yang, I don't think they'll want to leave you alone. Even if you'll be with me."
He's right. Right now, I don't think any of us could bear the thought of not being with the rest of the team.
Yang makes to speak, but I beat her to the punch. I'm not gonna let her go off on her own.
"Is there anything you can tell us about Raven, or the training you'll put us through" Qrow gives a sly smile, likely knowing why I spoke up.
"Firstly, I'll be putting you three through your paces. That means making sure that Firecracker here keeps her cool no matter what. For Blake, I'll be giving her different ammo types to see how it affects her semblance, and think up of different uses for them. For you, I'll give a different perspective on your summoning. I saw the recordings of The Breach. If you could use it, you would've."
How... How does he know about that?!
"Relax, Weiss, I've worked with your sister, Winter, before. I've managed to work out how it functions from observation, and asking some questions. Sometimes it'll take an outside perspective to help."
Qrow pushes himself off of the desk and starts walking towards the door.
"Anyways, I gotta report to Ozpin and tell him what's gonna happen. So much to do, so little time. I'll get you all as trained up as possible in the next three days, and that means Weiss in those three days I'll give you all the tools you need to be able to summon. It's up to you to get past that block you've got."
Block I got? What does he mean? I'm just not skilled enough to Summon right now.
He soon enough left the room and closed the door.
Well, Now we have a goal. Three days of training, why not make it four. Nodding to my self I turn to both Yang and Blake.
"Blake, could you go grab our weapons from our lockers? May as well get some extra training in before we leave"
Blake nods, putting away her book. I can't help but give a huff of a laugh. She still hasn't noticed, hm? Ruby's been keeping the first volume of Ninja's of Love under her pillow.
She once confided in me that she only read it to find out why Blake kept reading it through out the day. She had waited until Blake finished that particular volume to read it. Over the course of a week, I had watched Ruby read it. If Blake, or Dust forbid YANG found out there'd be a LOT of yelling about it without a doubt. I watched as her face got redder and redder throughout the novel, until it no doubt got to the very premise of the novels name. Were this like one of their cartoons, you'd see steam coming from her ears.
Ruby had gave a shriek, calling it filth before disappearing in a burst of rose petals. The book lay forgotten on the floor, I gave a small laugh back then. I remember picking it up and returning it to the other sets in the series, only to notice some rose petals and the first novel missing.
Oh, when Blake finally notices her expression will be priceless. When Ruby finally fesses up that she's been reading it, YANGS expression will be even better. Though I'll have to help mitigate her outburst, it'll be worth it.
"You and Blake don't have to go with Uncle Qrow and me" Yangs voice brings me out of my memories "We'd move faster with just the two of us"
She's right, we don't have to. Yet I will anyways, and I know Blake feels the same.
"I understand that this is personal to you, Yang, yet the three of us insisted on helping Blake with the White Fang despite it being personal for her." I look Yang in the eyes as I say this "I failed Ruby, Yang. The Ice Barricade wasn't strong enough and Ruby vanished. If there's even a CHANCE that Blake and I could lose you too, then I'm not taking it. Your problems are our problems, just as mine are yours. I do recall you saying that you'll help me bring the SDC back to glory just last week."
That got a laugh out of her, good. If she thinks that Blake and I will simply sit here and let her go off on her own then she has another thing coming. Yang hopped off her bed, going to the closet to no doubt hide the bottles again.
"By the way, Weiss." Yang calls out "Sooner or later you'll have to tell Blake where her 'missing' book is"
My eyes widen, there's no way she knows. If so, then the question is how.
"Weiss, Ruby isn't that sneaky. Even with you helping cover for her" She gives a slight smile "The only reason Blake hasn't noticed is because Ruby's bunk has a large blanket acting like a barrier, and that Ruby has stayed up reading with her before."
Yang is more observant that I thought, you'd never expect that from someone who punches all her problems. As Yang and I head to the changing rooms, my only thought is that Ruby is safe, where ever she is.
Notes:
I managed to make this chapter quickly because I already had somewhat of an idea of how to handle this interlude. Hope I got them in character!
Chapter 15: Volcanic Entrance
Summary:
Ruby and Samus enter Magmoor Caverns, One step closer to home.
Chapter Text
Samus performs a few movements, likely testing out how the Varia suit fits on her now. Looking back at the remains of Flaahgra, I notice something odd. The flower itself is still there. Not only that, the water is crystal clear. Did Flaahgra's death rapidly clean the water of it's toxins? Well, I won't have to worry about that anymore
What Samus said does worry me. With her Varia Suit upgrade, and my Aura, she made it sound like it's impossible to avoid going to places with extreme heat and cold. Like we're going into a volcano, or a blizzard. She sounds so certain of it.
Well, nothing to but do but keep going! Quickly running my hand over where Flaahgra scratched my visor, I'm kinda surprised that there's no sign that it was hit. This thing must be tougher than it looks, or I just got lucky.
"Okay, where to next?" I ask Samus.
Samus stops her practice before climbing up another ledge. Turning around she looks over the room, before turning and shooting. Probably opening a door.
"The way back is blocked by a mix of branches, and vines." Samus says "So let's just continue this way"
I could probably slice through those plants, but there's currently nothing back there that we need right? I'm sure it's fine. Hopping up to where Samus is, I feel a slight chill go down my spine as I look back at the... Sun Chamber? Yeah, let's go with that. Something about the Sun Chamber sent a shiver down my spine and I don't know why.
Either way, no point staying here. Walking through the door, Samus and I enter a room where the floor crumbled away into water. There're some platforms that I can jump towards to get across, but I don't think Samus can make those jumps. They're a bit longer than she can jump.
"Go ahead and jump over there" Samus tells me "I'll be right behind you."
Well, she seems fine with it. Activating Petal Burst, I jump. Just as I land on the platform, I take a couple steps and jump again. I turn around just in time to see Samus' head disappear underneath the water. Well, I suppose her suit is eviromentally sealed if she can walk out in space. Water really isn't going to do anything to her.
I can see the lights of her suit in the water as she slowly walks to a ledge. Hm... I wonder. Samus' suit can withstand Space Walks and now has near complete thermal protection. Is there an upgrade that'll let her go through water without issue? Maybe I should ask, it might be an upgrade we could find here.
Soon enough, her armored hand grabs the ledge, letting her pull herself up. I... I can't imagine the amount of strength needed to do that, even with her suit helping. I don't think YANG with her Semblance at full power could move as well as Samus could.
Following the hallway around a large curve, I shoot open the door. There's an immediate problem in the room, the floor is missing. Looking down, I see a metal plate with orange lines stretch forward and bend over the ledge. Walking over, I lean forward to look down and see weird animals crawling on the wall. What looks to be electricity flashing on them every so often.
"Huh, wonder what's down there?" I ask
"Only one way to find out." With that, Samus jumps down.
That's... That's a bit too far for me to jump... I wonder I can use my Semblance to float down. Technically speaking, when I use Crimson Twister I don't have feet so I shouldn't be able to balance myself to stand upright. Not to mention being able to stand on the roof during the fight with the War Wasp Queen. Theoretically, Petal Burst SHOULD negate my downward moment, or at least slow my fall.
"Well, no time like the present." I say, get ready to jump "I've pushing my Semblance in all sorts of directions since waking up here"
Jumping forward, I activate my Semblance. Just to make sure that it's active, I give myself a slight spin. Not enough to turn into Crimson Twister, but enough for me gauge how fast I'm falling by watching the enviroment around me.
It looks like it's working. I'm not falling as fast as I was, though it's still enough to get down to next floor without issue. Gently landing, I look up to see a War Wasp charge at me. Quickly spinning out of the way, I slice out with Crescent Rose. Throwing out my arm, I fire a missile at a hive... only for none to come out. A quick glance at my ammo counter shows that I'm out.
A missile from Samus destroys it, that's kinda embarresing. Looking around, it looks like that Samus destroyed the other ones.
"Neat trick, trying something new?" Samus asks
"Something like that, I'm trying to see just how Petal Burst affects me when I'm going at different speeds."
Samus nods her head, probably signalling me to continue.
"So far I noticed that if I spin fast enough, I turn into something like a tornado, or a twister. Then during the fight with the War Wasp Queen I noticed that when I landed on the cieling I stayed there until I kicked off of it, So I thought to see how it handled when I was falling. Turns out it slows me down"
Samus tilts her head down for a moment, likely thinking through my explaination. I don't exactly understand it myself, but I'm sure there's people out there that could help explain it. Maybe Penny could help? She's made with state of the art Atlas tech and more importantly, A Soul. She should be able help! Oh! Maybe get Weiss to help too! Those two could come up with an explaination!
Samus and I start go through the only door on this floor, and see an elevator? Here? Samus walks to the control panel a dn scans it, the holographic interface lighting up. As I walk onto the lift, Samus walks into the hologram. A Ka-chunk and the Elevator starts lowering.
"Hey, Samus? Where are we going?" I ask her
"To Magmoor Caverns" She replies "In a way, we'll get to test how well your Aura will handle extreme heat"
I blink at that. Already? This soon? I thought we'd have to fly to a volcano or something.
"You... You weren't kidding about that earlier, were you?"
"Not at all, this is just experience talking"
Well, I guess things are getting more difficult. An underground complex that'll be extremely hot... Well, I'll get to see some new machinery. Maybe I'll get inspired and make another weapon! Maybe there's an armory here!
There's nothing to it but to wait for the elevator to finish, so I think more language lessons are in order. Samus taught me some Chozo last time, so I'll teach her some more Valean!
"Samus?" I call out to her, waiting as she turns to look at me. "Ready to learn some more Valean?"
She takes a moment to think, before nodding her head. I guess it's lucky that this elevator is incredibly dusty as I start tracing out the Valean alphabet. I'm no language expert, so I don't have a dictionary to help with proper spelling or pronounciation.
Apparently, that's not an issue. Samus, though with the help of her suits computer, managed to write out 'Hello, I am Samus Aran' in the dust. I guess when you can speak two different languages it makes learning a new one easier? I guess that with both of those things, Samus will learn Valean faster than I will Chozo. That's okay though! It'll make the mission easier, and get us off world and to the Galactic Federation faster!
The elevator starts slowing down, before coming to a halt. Huh, I thought we'd enter a more... cave like room? Walking forward I open the door and go into the next room. I look to Samus, who simply walks forward and jumps down. I guess it's ahead? Walking to the same ledge, I see multiple platforms rising and lowering, spiraling down to the floor below. It's not that far a fall, so I just walk off. Activating Petal Burst a couple of feet from the floor, I gently float down. Okay, so I CAN'T fly with it, but I can sorta glide?... Fall with style? I dunno.
Lowering my hood, I can feel it's starting to get a bit warm down here. Well, it is called Magmoor Caverns, so magma might be the standard down here. As we walk down the hall way, what looks like a bat starts spinning towards us. Samus and I quickly shoot them... That's getting a bit to common place. Huntsman and Huntresses are trained to hunt wildlife when on extended missions, but that always for food. Here, they attack on sight and I can't even harvest meat from them as Beam Weapons cauterize the wounds.
"Shriekers" Samus says "They're everywhere in the galaxy. Not surprised they found their way down here"
Shriekers. That must be the bat like things. Okay, got it.
As we continue forward, another set of Shriekers attack and are dealt with. Turning the corner, I notice a blue light... A door? Jogging ahead a little, I shoot the shield. Huh, another Save Station... I glance at my Aura Meter. 83% recharged. I bite my lip a little, Samus did say we need to see if these things can recharge Aura. I look to her and she nods. She probably knew what I was thinking.
"Alright, go stand in the center of the platform" She tells me "We'll see if it'll work."
Walking into the room, I make my way to it. Stepping onto the platform, I turn and face Samus... Nothings happening.
"Hm... Let me try it." Samus motions me off of it, so I move.
Samus walks onto the Save Stations platform and turns around to face the door. Sure enough, the rods of the Station rotate down and blue beams hit Samus' armor at her feet and work their way up. Well, I guess that answers that. It's designed to work with Power Armor, be it Chozo designed or not. That's kinda disappointing.
Samus seems to agree, as she curses in Chozo. I think it's Chozo as her suit didn't translate it. That means she's speaking... What did she call it? Galactic Basic? Common? Either way, she's speaking the commonly spoken langue and the suit translates it.
"If it's not one thing, it's another." Samus says "Looks like we'll have to take greater care. Your Aura recharges itself over time, but we don't know how well it'll take to the weapon level the rest of the galaxy has. We're not testing that, Ruby. No matter what, keep to evasive maneuvers."
Yeah, I don't think I'd want to be on the recieving end of that. I nod quickly.
Leaving the room, we walk to the end of the hallway. As we get closer, I start seeing embers fly up from the floor. Nearing what looks like a ledge, I look over and see lava... Oh, we're DEEP underground.
"Magmoor Caverns... It's more accurate than I was hoping" I tell Samus.
She simply nods, not much else needs to be said.
Chapter 16: Thermal Trek
Chapter Text
Okay, so we're deep enough underground that magma is common place. Are these ruin Geo-Thermal powered? It's only theoretical on Remnant, but it'd mean more dust used for law enforcement, and Huntsman and Huntresses. I guess that this means that what's only theory on Remnant is practical out here.
I blink a little, surprised at how quickly I've gotten used to the knowledge of the wider galaxy. I guess because I've been on the move since waking up that I haven't really had time to process the knowledge that there life beyond Remnants little part of space. After we're done here I'll need to take some time to decompress, think about what I've been through.
Shaking my head, I focus on whats in front of me. Two platforms floating in the lava, with what looks like a slug on each of them. There's a vent above each of them, a cone of fire shooting from them. That doesn't seem like smart design, but it's not my place to judge. There may be a reason for it.
Watching the fire spouts for a moment, I notice that the flames take three seconds to start, and three to stop. Are they a security measure? There's no reason for them to function like that otherwise.
Taking a moment to watch them a bit more, I quickly jump to the first platform. Samus follows after me, and quickly makes it to the next one before jumping to the next area. She didn't even hesitate, just moving from one part to the next without fear. Well I'm not gonna be left behind! As the fire spout stops, I quickly jump to that platform and then to Samus.
As she opens the door, the room we enter is hotter than the last one. It's kind of uncomfortable now. As we walk forward, a.... Lava Snake comes out of the lava? Checking Blooms ammo meter, I notice that it's half full, around six or seven missiles. Pointing Bloom at the snake as it roars, I fire a missile down it's throat.... Oops! Just as the missile hits the back of it's mouth, the head blows up! I let out a... a shuddering breath. I'm fine, Second year at Signal was dedicated to helping us know how to hunt local wildlife. I never liked it.
If I pretend I'm fine with it long enough maybe I'll believe it. I take a look around the room, spotting a rock pillar near the center of the room. Looking to the left, I see a small part of the wall has glowing cracks. Wonder what that's about, I guess we'll see. Looking to the right, I see that there's more platforms floating over lava. There's also weird floating gas pockets, what's causing that?
A flash of gold, and the sound of something popping shows that the clouds go away. What?
"Puffers." Samus says "They're unstable. They'll pop with even a slight nudge from even their own kind."
I blink.... Again, wildlife that explodes....
"Samus, how many animals out here explode?" I ask her, cause this is kind of concerning.
She shrugs. Simply shrugs, I guess it's not something she's worried about. It just doesn't make sense though! What kinds of animal is out there that makes other animals evolve to explode!
"It wasn't something I ever thought about. I mostly kept out of their way."
Oh, that makes sense. These Puffers are in the way, and there's only one way forward. Taking aim, I fire at the next cloud. A 'pop!' and the gas starts disappearing. We start jumping from platform to platform, popping puffers as we go along.
Soon enough, we make it to the glowing, cracked wall. Bringing my hand to my visor, I scan it.
Research: Sandstone.
A sedimentary rock created from sand.
Alert!
Stress fractures indicate that it can be destroyed with a Morph Ball Bomb.
Scans also detect a small tunnel behind it.
Huh, so Sandstone can be destroyed with a MBB? That's interesting. I hear Samus shift and place a bomb. I back away a little bit, better safe than sorry. It explodes, and I enter my Twister. As I enter the tunnel, I hear Samus place another one. 'Looking' ahead of her, I see another Sandstone wall. Huh. It's also destroyed, allowing us to progress.
Shfiting back, I see a stone platforms that we can use to get to the other side. Thinking about it, we've been doing a LOT of jumping, and walking. I rub my leg a little, now notice that it's a little sore. Well, at least this will help with stamina!
Making our way to the other side, I open the door. The next room hase a glass tower with lava flowing through it, and spouts the shoot fire every six seconds. There's a fence with holes in them, with similar, smaller holes on the grating on the floor.
Looks like there's a ramp for us to travel under it. Looking back at the fence, I narrow my eyes a little. Mass Displacement, plus a kick off... I activate Petal Burst, focusing as much as I can. Kicking off, I feel the fence go through me before I turn off my selmblance.
I hear Samus roll up next to me as she shifts back. Opening the door, I take a step only to feel a slight pull and hear the sound of fabric tearing! I pause, the only thing that could've made that tearing sound was...
I look back, seeing my cape with a tear starting just under the middle... no.. Why didn't I notice! I feel a hand on my shoulder and look to see Samus next to me. It's hard to tell, but I think she's giving an understanding look? I don't like that I can't see what she's expressing, makes it hard to really know what she's expressing.
Looking back at the tear, it goes all the way down. My cape was kinda split in two, starting at my waist.... I'm sorry, mom.
I shake my head, I can probably fix it later... Just... later.
Samus gently pulls me along, before walking ahead. Taking a shaky breath, I follow after. Entering the room, I see steam shooting out of the floor. Even from the doorway I can feel the heat from them. Taking care to avoid touching the steam vents, I follow Samus to a more open area.
What looks like Lava canisters line the wall, with the grate floor from earlier down below. Looking around, I notice two doors. The door on the left has a couple of floating platforms to help us reach it.
Looking between the two, I start making my way left. The door on the right is under the grate floor, and I don't have any weapons to open it while I'm in Crimson Twister.
Hopping from platform to platform, we quickly reach the door. Entering the next room, I see pistons rising and lowering.... They look like platforms too.... This is my life right now I suppose. Weird architectural and techological manuvering just to reach a door.
There's some puffers floating around, only this time I can see what's making the gas clouds. It's looks like a weird gas sac with spouts.... Animals are weird... Quickly shooting them, Samus and I time our jumps so that we can make it to the next door. They don't even reach the ceiling, what are they for?
Opening the door, I see a new building... That's not part of the Chozo peoples designs. Not from I've seen. This looks like something from Atlas. It's basic, just a frame and... Are those turrets? Are they turning to us?!
"MOVE!" Samus orders, yelling it in like an Atlas soldier. I don't hesitate, following her just as a shot of bright blue light hits behind us. Gritting my teeth, I quickly turn and use my Aura to hold the trigger. Blooms missile port opens wide, as multiple target reticles locked on to the turret. I fire the Stinger Missiles, five shots shoot out, flying towards the turret. To my surpise, the turret turns and shoots two of them out out of the air. The rest them hit, destroying it.
Taking another look at the building, I notice a walkway the wraps around it. Looking under it, I see the frame of another turret being built. I think we got here while whoever is here is on break? Either way, Samus and I look around for a bit.
Checking the map, I notice that the icon for 'Blue Doors' has three points on the it. Moving my hand on the pad, I rotate the map. It looks like there's a door on the floor above us, or at least it half a floor? I don't know, it's hard to read the map.
Closing the map, I see a couple of platforms that round up to the walkway. Okay, I guess that'll take us to the door up there.
Waving Samus over I make my over to the platforms and start climbing. It's a bit of a climb, but we made it to the ledge just before the walk way. Wait... How would they even get up there if there's no walkway up to there.
I shake my head, I don't suppose it matters. Leaping onto the walkway, Samus and I start making our way to the door on the opposite side. Entering the only room in the building, I notice a few computers. I may not be able to read what's on screen, but something tells me it's not good. You don't set up turrets the open fire immediately without having some plan in the works.
I look over to see Samus scanning the computers, I try scanning them too. My visor simply tells me that the translation module isn't compatible with what's on screen. It also tells me that it can't break the encryption. 5 Lien says that Samus' suit is the most advanced one out there.
She turns around and starts making her way to the door. What ever she read, she must've not liked it. Opening the door, I follow her through it. Anorther tunnel. Shifting, we make our way through. It's weird, 'looking' up, I see a path that leads up to a ledge. I could probably float up there. Following Samus, I float down and follow her. I see Samus bomb jump up, probably a ledge. Floating up, I follower before having to drop down again... Who designed this? Leaving the tunnel, we shift back to normal. At least I'm getting good practice with my Semblance!
Opening the door, there's another Elevator. Samus scans it, activating the hologram. Walking onto the Elevator, I step onto the Hologram. The Elevator starts going up.
"Samus?" I call out to her. She probably doesn't want to talk about the computers. "Where's this take us?"
She's silent for a moment, before answering.
"Phendrana Drifts. Don't know where that is on this world, so be ready for anything."
Hm... That sounds par the course so far. Be prepared. I mean, we kinda haven't been but we're getting there!
So far, all the elevators take a while to get to their destination, so I sit down, letting my legs rest a moment. It's not much, but it'll help.....
Alert!
Alarm Clock set up by Aran, S.
Time until Alarm goes off: 00:59:42.
Chapter 17: Arctic Adventure
Summary:
The duo enter Phendrana and the journey ramps up!
Chapter Text
I startle awake at the quiet, repeated beeping. An annoying beeping, kinda like that of an alarm. When did I fall asleep? Last thing I remember is sitting down to rest my legs, and now I'm waking up in a cave.
"I see you're awake, Ruby" Samus' voice calls out from behind me "Come on, I think you'll like where we are."
Standing up, I turn to see Samus waiting by the door. Walking over to her, I lift my visor a little and rub my eyes. Walking throught it, I see there're little light sticking out of the snow. The second thing I noticed was that there was SNOW! I... I'm not sure that's how geography works. We didn't walk all that far in Magmoor Cavers.... Unless the deeper we go the less we need to walk to travel?
Taking a glace at the top of my visor, I see that my Aura is at 100%! Guess that nap helped!
Looking up, I see some sort of fan like thing in a hole in the wall of the tunnel. Wind blowing through it, causing it to flutter slightly. Looking away from it, I see Samus making her way to the door.
Going through it, I was blown away by the area we're in. Phendrana Drifts must be a snowscape, and it's beautiful.
Two stone pillars jut out of the ground, while to the right looks to be another Temple. To the left looks to be a store room? There's not enough to let me know what it really is, so that's my best guess. In the back looks to be a pathway that seems to be the way forward? There's also some floating platforms that are to the right of the back area.
No time like the present. Wrapping my cape around me, I start making my way to the back area with Samus. It looks like it's cold enough to snow, but not freeze the river here. Exhaling a little, I couldn't help but watch the cold air freeze my breath.
Hopping over the water, I turn and see Samus just walk through it. I don't think my Aura could help if my clothes got wet, so I'm kinda jealous that her Power Suit lets her do this without worry. Hm... Maybe I could get a commercial Power Suit? I wouldn't need to worry about shield generation as I have my Aura. It wouldn't be as good as Samus's, but it would let me do a bit more.
Making our way to the back wall, I spot a tunnel. Giving Samus a sign to wait a bit, I zip to the tunnel and open the door there. A save station. Well, Samus has more Armor Repair Stations now. Seriously, this is like a video game. A 'Save Point' every so often, not enough to be obnoxious nor too few to be agravating if you get a game over.
"It's just a Save Point" I tell Samus as I join back up with her. She nods before jumping up the ledges, the thrusters on her back firing a little. I'm not gonna lie, while I know I don't have any knowledge on the technology that the wider galaxy uses I really want to know just HOW her suit works. It's not my business though, she made it plain that she doesn't really want to talk about it.
Hopping up the ledges, I see an animal with ice for a shell. Walking around it, I jump to the next ledge. Samus was looking around, no doubt to trying to find away to the temple. Looking at the floating platforms, we could probably use them to get there. The only problem is that I don't think Samus could make the jump from the first platform to the second.
Looks like we'll be going to the store room. Hm... Maybe the store room has a path up to the next floor?
Running over to the ledge, I leap over the gap. As my feet touch the snow covered floor, I crounch and plant Crescent Rose's blade into it to prevent me from slipping. Turning around, I see Samus somersault as she jumps after me. She doens't hesitate to transfer the landing into a walk and open the door.
Another tunnel, except this has something that looks like an atom that shoots electricity out of it.
Alert!
Research: Scatter Bombu
A member of the Bombu family, the Scatter Bombu sends out tendrils of energy pulses.
The Scatter Bombu's movement increases when concentrated energy is nearby.
It's possible to avoid the Bombu by rolling under it.
Reminder: the Bombu family is immune to none eletrical attacks.
So Crimson Twister and the Morph Ball could help avoid them. Okay, that's helpful. The two of us shift and go under it. Shifting back, we go down ANOTHER S-Curve... Those are gonna be way to common, won't they. Turning the corner, the two of us see another Scatter Bombu. Shifting again, we pass it and open the door. Walking to the next area, as the hole in what appears to be in a wall seems to say that the room broke open. As we make our way past the hole, I notice two blue bumps in the snow.
Could they be a rare metal? A mineral? Wait, if it was either of those then wouldn't the Chozo who lived here have already mined it? As we walk closer the blue bumps shake a little before standing up. I quickly scan it.
Aleart!
Morphology: Young Sheegoth
With a shell of hardened ice, they protect thei vulnerable backs
with ultracold gasses cabable of freezing predators and prey almost instantly.
Use quick movements and explosive attacks to shatter their shell and assault
their weakpoints.
Sheegoths. Y'know, it looks kinda cute. Not as cute as Zwei, but still cute.
As they turn towards me, I check the ammo of Bloom. Eight shots out of ten. Looks like it's gonna longer to refill in cold areas. Hopefully we can find some sort of Ammo Station like whats on Samus' ship. I don't want to run out of ammo at bad time again. Maybe we would find some supply crates? Ammo Caches?
One of the Sheegoths runs at me, cold blue mist leaking out of it's mouth. Holding down the trigger, I jump and flip over it. The targeting reticle marking it's back five times as I land. Pointing my arm out at it, I release the trigger. Five missiles fly out in a shotgun like pattern before flying towards it's back. Three missiles hit it's back, shattering it's icy protection, before the last two hit it. This is still nauseating, I understand why I have to, but still.... I look over and se that Samus finished off the other Sheegoth. If these are the young ones, what're the adult ones like.
Looking around the area, I notice what looks like broken branches. It could've been a bridge. I also see some buldings, probably storage? I notice Samus walking over to some steps, I guess that's the way forward. She probably checks her map more than I do, so she can figure out where the best path is.
Jogging to her, I climb the steps to catch. The frozen waterfall lining the wall next to the broken bridge looks kinda pretty. Jumping over the gap, we go through a hole in a wall. It looks like SOMETHING was tearing apart the buildings here. A lot of the ruins here have holes that imply there was fighting here.
Chekcing my map, it looks like there's only one other door here that we can go through. The broken rooftops I can see look like they'll be our path there. Hopping to the next roof, I examine Crescent Rose. Everything looks to be holding up, though I do see some scorch marks on the barrel.
If I'm careful I could probably scavenge some replacement parts with Samus's help. I don't want to rely on what's probably parts she picked up as a just in case she needs to fix up her Arm Canon. I shake my head, that's something I can bring up with Samus later.
Hopping to the next roof, Samus and I walk through a stone arch and jump to the door. Walking through, we find ourselves ina tunnel. Okay, From the where the last door was I think this will take us back to the main area. It's not a long tunnel, but it looks like even caves use develop into s-curves. Just ignore it, Ruby.
As we enter back into the main plaza, I see that we've made it to a upper level of the wall. Following the path to the door, I look over the edge at the floating platforms. Looking down Crescent Roses scope, I try measuring the distance between the two of them. I don't think Samus could make that jump. Not without some form of Double Jump. Oh, Maybe that's her next power up? I mean, If I focused hard enough I could probably use my Semblance for a form of flight.
Turning to the door, Samus and I walk through it to find yellow bombu's flying through the air, occasionally dropping one of those yellow orbs of theirs before it regenerates. The yellow orbs explode on the ground. How does that work? Either way it doesn't look like they're bothering anyone, Samus and I walk right by them.
The next area is bigger than the last one. That's not what catches my eye though, as in the back I see a door with a PURPLE shield. Crouching, I aim and fire at the door to see if it opened. The power beam just bounced off of it.
"You saw it too?" Samus said, looking at the door in the back "Looks like that door needs a specific upgrade."
What could it be? Well, no use wondering, we'll find out soon enough. A couple of Sheegoths are sleeping in the snow. As Samus and I get closer, they dig themselves out. Dodging the first one that charges me, I fire the Stinger Missiles again. Looking at the one Samus is fighting to see her backhand it with her weapon. As it backs away, Samus flips over and fires multiple missiles. Soon enough the Sheegoth dies.
Looking around, I see the only way up to that purple door is from the roof of that center building. Or my Semblance, but that'd leave Samus behind and I can't open the door. Quickly looking at the minimap, I notice a second blue square at the back.
I hear the sound of snow being crushed underfoot, and see Samus walking past the center building. Looks like that's where we're going.
Quickly jogging up to Samus, we make our way past the door. Going through the hallway, we shift forms and travel under the Bombus patrolling. The first thing I notice about the next room is a frozen half-pipe. Is a MASSIVE frozen waterfall. The next I noticed is that the room is curved. Not like the hallways we've been walking through, but it just curves quite a bit to the left. In the bakc, hidden by most of the mountain was a tall spire with rotating fan. Is it a windmill? A quick look at the map shows that there's no exit here aside from the one behind us.
I guess there's an upgrade here. Walking forward, I see some crates staked up against each other. Looking over the to the right, It looks like the only path we got. There's a few of those small Ice Shell creatures, but if we leave them alone they won't be a bother.
Hopping down, I turn to see if there's a way to get into the crates. After looking at them for a moment, I find a small latch on the top most crate. Opening it up, I see it's packed to the brim with missiles. I take ten, watching as one by one they dematerialize. Okay! Turning around, I see Samus walk behind the Icefall. I quickly catch up only to see a frozen half-pipe ahead of us.
Several platforms start rising up, each one lining up to the tower. I can't see what type of upgrade it is from here.
"Go back to the door, Ruby." Samus tells me "There's no need to get the upgrade together here. Those platforms don't look all that stable either."
Yeah, that makes sense. There's not really a boss here to fight. Nodding I Petal Burst back to the ledge. Sitting down, I take in the enviroment. So far, from what I've seen of this planet everything is beautiful. I wish Remnant could be like this, peaceful. I wonder if the Chozo have anything left behind that could help with the Grimm? Even if they don't, The Galactic Federation might.
I've been kinda pushing it to the back of my mind, but I have no idea how I'm gonna get the them to help. The Federation might just take me back to my planet and leave me there.
I sigh, watching as my breath freezes. I'm not gonna lie, I'm also scared that I might be locked up. Samus was worried about what would happen if I died.
I hear the sound of crunching, and stand up just as Samus lands behind me.
"so, what the upgrade?" I can't help but ask. It's gotta be good!
Samus opens the door, turning to me as she answers.
"It's called the Boost Ball. It'll let me use Half-Pipes to further our exploration."
Sounds like it's a Morph Ball upgrade, which is obvious in hindsight.
Hm... Idea!
"Samus? Why don't we go back to the Tallon Overworld? There's a Half-Pipe there."
She nods, and starts walking.
"I can see where you're going with this. Find out where it goes, see if there's an upgrade. You could probably copy the Boost Ball using your Semblance, though you'd need to try figuring out the timing to speed up."
Alright! Next stop, Tallon Overworld!
Chapter 18: Mission Log: Tallon IV: Entry 2
Summary:
Samus decides the mission is now a no go, Ruby refuses.
Chapter Text
As the door opens to the central part of Phendrana, I can't help but think of how Ridley or the other Space Pirates haven't shown themselves yet. We've seen a base of operations in Magmoor Caverns, but that's it. I'm getting worried. What's on this planet that's got their attention?
ALERT!
PRIORITY TARGET IN RANGE!
My eyes widen a that. Ridley, here?! I raise my Arm Cannon and look around. Ruby seems to get that somethings wrong and brings up her weapon in rifle mode. She looks worried.
"Samus? What's going on" She asks
I don't answer, keeping an eye on my Motion Tracker. Soon enough, a red dot appears. The sound of flapping follows after. I look up in time to see Ridley fly overhead. He hasn't noticed us yet. That's good. I doubt I have the equipment ready to fight him.
I quickly reach over and force Ruby to aim her weapon down, despite her protests. Soon enough, the only thing of Ridley left is the sound of it's roar. Somethings off though. Ridley is too smart to just fly over an area without searching it. Could it have something to do with his mechanical augmentations?
Regardless, Now that Ridley is on the move I have no choice.
"Ruby." I call out to her "We're going back to the ship."
She looks confused, but I don't pay it mind. Flipping open the side panel, I start typing out a message for Adam.
Commander Malkovich,
I understand that it's been some time since our last meet up, but I wish I was sending this message
under better circumstances.
During an investigation into Space Pirate activity on Tallon IV, I have encountered someone
from a Pre-Space planet by the name of Remnant.
It is a First Contact scenario and you are the person I trust the most to see to her protection,
as well as starting the procedures for a First Contact Diplomat Fleet.
You'll find Ruby Rose, the young woman from Remnant aboard my ship.
I know that I do not need to ask, but I request that she be treated with utmost care and not want for anything
until she can be returned to her world and a proper diplomat from Remnant can be chosen.
Signed, Samus Aran.
Now all I need to do is set the ship to auto pilot, upload the message to it and have it set to be sent once my ship enters Federation Space.
"Are we gonna hunt that thing down!" Ruby said, looking way to excited at the prospect of fighting Ridley.
I can't let that happen. One on one, I can handle him, if I have to keep an eye on Ruby then she'll most likely die. Or the both of us would. Not acceptable.
"I'm sending you to the Galactic Federation. This mission is now to dangerous for you."
I ignore her outcry, and start preparing a data packet for Adam and his superiors. I can already tell that I'll need stronger upgrade to face Ridley. I'll need the Gravity Suit, more missiles, Power Bombs... I can't help but grimace. It's going to be tough, but what else is new.
Ruby yanks my arm away from the panel, making me see her outraged and confused expression. Her silver eyes showing how hurt she feels. She honestly looks like a kicked puppy right now, but her safety takes priority.
"Why? I can handle myself!" Ruby tries to counter "The only reason I'm on this planet is because of something related to the Chozo. How does what ever that thing flying overhead change anything!?"
She doesn't understand, nor could she unless she fought him. I will not allow it.
"Ridley is unlike anything you've ever face. He is intelligent, sadistic and wants to kill everything AND everyone in his way. He is a monster, Ruby, and enjoys being one!"
I could see defiance in her eyes, she won't go without a fight. It's unfortunate, but now is not the time for foolish heroics. She doesn't truly know her importance right now, and I'm not about to let her get herself killed.
Quickly twisting my arm around, I reverse our positions and grab the back of her cloak. As she gives a yelp, I start dragging her over to the ledge. As I prepare to jump down with her, she does something I didn't expect.
She spins into my grip and jumps. It was unexpected, to the point the she manages to slam a knee into my visor. Surprised, I lose my grip and step back from the impact. As Ruby lands, she rubs her knee, no doubt trying to soothe the pain.
"Ruby, this is for your safety. Your life." As I take a step towards her, I stop when she looked at me.
An expression of pure betrayal marred her face, that's something I've never seen pointed at me. It was enough to keep me where I stood as she runs. She races to the ledge before jumping off, rose petals following in her wake. That gets me to race after her, only to see her hopping from the floating platform below to the next one.
She's fleeing to the Chozo Temple. Smart. The distance is to far for me to jump without the Space Jump upgrade.
"Computer." I say, tapping the side of my helmet "Locate nearest Suit Upgrade."
Taking a glance at the Comm-Link, I see that Ruby had disconnected. It looks like she doesn't want to talk right now. I'll give her some space.
ALERT!
Nearest upgrade found!
Displaying location.
I watch as the map zooms out before settling back in the Tallon Overworld. The map scrolls before stopping... Right in the Landing Zone? Studying the map, I see that there's two doors there that I hadn't seen. Options for later exploration.
Closing the map, I leap down to the base floor. Walking to the door, I can't help but wonder why she's so eager to fight. It's beyond that of fighting on a death world, it's like battle calls to her. The look in her eye after I described Ridley...
Shaking my head, I step onto the Elevator. During the descent, I focus on my current task. Opening the map again, I start moving it through the rooms, charting a pathway out. As the elevator slows to a stop, I walk to the door. I stop myself from turning around... I guess Ruby had bigger presence than I thought. It'd been a long time since I last had company while on the job. Shortly before I left the Federations Military if I'm remembering correctly.
I had gotten used to Ruby's questions and quiet amazement at the galaxy around her. An eagerness to learn about the Galaxy, that seems equaled by her ability to fight. Now that I think about it, I don't know what she was doing before she appeared on Tallon IV. All I know is that she was unconscious, injured to the point her Aura was nearly broken and surrounded by melting ice. I guess I have more to learn about her than I thought.
Opening the door, I enter Magmoor Caverns. I'll grab this upgrade then hear Ruby's story after I catch back up to her.
Chapter 19: Weaponized Waves
Summary:
Samus and Ruby reconcile and start making head way.
Chapter Text
I don't know how long I sat in the snow, but it was long enough for me to get startled awake by the sound of a door opening. I guess Samus got the upgrade she needed. I don't move, I surprised her with that kick earlier, but I don't think I'll be able to do it again.
As the sound of snow crunches get closer I pull my knees closer to my chest. I can't stop Samus if she tries to force me to go with her. The footsteps stop after she gets close enough, but what she does next surprised me. She sat down next to me.
We both just sit there for a while. Letting the snow fall around us. The silence between us ends all to soon.
"What were you doing before you fell unconscious?" Samus asks
That'd be simple to answer, but it'd involve Blakes secret and I won't break her trust. I could give a shorter answer.
"My team and I were follower Professor Oobleck on a mission." I tell her "All first years go on them with a licensed Huntsman so we can learn how to work in the field"
"A training excursion then?"
I looked up to Samus at that, a bit confused.
"Isn't that when you're kicked out of school?"
"No, that's expulsion"
Oh. Words are confusing at times.
"Yeah, then I guess so. But we encountered..." I pause at that, not sure how to proceed without revealing any secrets "We encountered trouble, but it wasn't the Grimm."
Samus again stares at me, an expressionless Visor that doesn't even look smudged from my kick.
"I take it you're not telling me the whole reason."
I look away at that. Guilt that I can't be honest about it forming in my stomach.
"It's not my secret to tell." Is all I say.
She's silent a bit longer, before she nods.
"Okay, I'll drop it. Can you tell me how you were surrounded by ice though? I take it that it has to do with Remnants Dust."
Okay, that's easier to answer.
"Wiess-She's my partner at Beacon-Uses a weapon that lets her use Dust in many different ways." I tell her "She tried creating an Ice barrier to protect all four of us, but it broke."
We're both quiet after that. I try not to think about it, but are they okay? Are... are they alive? I curl up tighter, taking shuddering breaths as I try to calm down and not think about it. I hear Samus shift beside me and feel a hand on my shoulder.
"It's okay, They're most likely fine." She tells me "Tell me about your team."
I guess I could.
"Well, There's Wiess. She's the heiress to Remnants leading Dust supplier. She's stupidly rich. We didn't get along at first, bad impressions and all that, but she's my best friend now!"
Samus nods at that, taking everything I said in.
"Then there's Blake! You kind of remind me of her. Quiet, focused and always paying attention. She likes to read lot and we've traded recommendations."
Samus gives a huff at that, finding something funny about it I guess.
"Finally, Yang. My big sister. She's caring, kind and has a bit of a temper. More than once she's gotten detention for punching people who picked on me back at Signal."
Thinking back, Yang probably got into a lot more trouble than she let on. She was a bit over protective back then, more than she is now. I can't help but give a slight laugh. That's just how Yang was, swing her fists at anything that could hurt me.
"Samus, I can't just be sitting in safety while doing nothing to get back. I'd just drive myself crazy"
She's silent, probably thinking about what I said. I doubt she'll let me continue traveling with her, not if what she said about this 'Ridley' is true. After a moment, she stands up.
"It's not just about your safety, Ruby." She tells me "If you die under my watch The Federation will, at best, distance themselves from me while I serve time in prison. At worst they'd put a bounty on my head large enough to get every Bounty Hunter worth their salt to come after me."
I can't argue that, no matter how much I want to. The problem is I refuse to stay safe while others put themselves into danger if I can help. I look at Bloom resting snugly on my arm. If Samus keeps getting her suit upgrades, who says I can't make my own to keep up.
"Samus, what if I keep upgrading my arsenal?" I ask her "We retrofitted Crescent Rose with Beam Tech at the start, and then you helped me put together Bloom, then I got the stinger missiles from the War Wasp Queen. It has lessened the impact on your missile usage right?"
Samus looks away, probably thinking about it. It's... it's probably to big to ask for something like this. If something happens to me, Samus' life is over. After a moment, Samus looks back at me.
"Ruby, IF we do this then you need to listen to what I say." Samus tells me "I don't mean just in combat. I tell you to rest, you find or make a nice burrow and sleep. I tell you to jump, you ask how high."
Samus stands up and leans right up close to me, a bit uncomfortably close. Her visor, normally opaque visor now clear with a green color showing her stern expression. I was wrong, she's far more focused than Blake ever could be.
"Until we leave Tallon IV, you follow every order of mine to ensure your survival"
I couldn't respond immediately, the intensity of her gaze causing me to pause before I reflexively answer. Taking a deep breath, I hold out my hand. This is no different than following Dr. Oobleck.
"Deal." We shake on it, I wonder if this counts as me hiring her "Now, how do we get past that door?"
I point to the door with a what looks like a folding sheet on top of it. It's right next to the statue with frozen water falling through it's hands. I guess I could scan it.
ERROR!
Translator Module incompatible with target language.
Please update Translator.
Well, that answers that. I guess it's a good thing that Samus is teaching me the Chozo language, but this is gonna be a problem. Maybe I can ask if she could send a translation packet? It'll help in the moment, but I still want to learn their language.
"So that's the gimmick" Samus said "Ruby, you want to handle this puzzle?"
I think about it for a moment before nodding.
"What am I doing?" I ask her
She points at the statue, then to the masks on the walls. She doesn't say anything else, just rests her hand on her Arm Cannon. Okay, why point to the statue? Why the masks? Could it be a thing where I gotta match them? I don't know enough to understand what they represent.
Walking over to the right wall, I examine the first mask. It's got a narrow beak with golden eyes staring straight at me, it's brow furrowed in combative focus. A single gold dot sits a top the mask, creating a sort of triangle. A sort of fan shaped piece sits on top.
Looking back at the statue, I can see that it's face is a bit wider. It's got a neck cover that ends in a point above the statues head. It's beak is shorter and thicker than the first mask. Okay, that's the Chozo mask I need to look for.
Going back to the wall, I move to the next mask. It's got a wider face than the statue, it's golden eyes facing completely forward. What looks like hood rests top of it. It's beak is shortest of them all, so I can count that out.
looking behind me, I see that this mask looks far sturdier. A thick, wide helmet rests on top of it, It's eyes half covered. It's beak is the thicker than the last ones, with what looks like armor plating on it. That's not it either, it just means that the next has to be it.
As I move to get a look at it, I notice the mask is cracked. Like, really cracked. It looks like it could fall apart at any minute. Aside from that it's a dead ringer for the statue. I wave Samus over and she scans it.
What surprises me is that she immediately blows it up. As the smoke clears it reveals a Bomb Slot behind it. I look to the weird door shield and I get it. This bomb slot has to be connect to it, and when Samus uses it it'll open the door.
Walking past her as she shifts into her Morph Ball, I wait for the shield to lift. Thinking back, I could've asked Samus about them. I guess I still can, and she's been sounding happy about the language and what little she's told me.
An electric *boom* and the shield folds upward. I open the door and walk into a room that has a Tunnel at the floor. Guess the questions will wait. Spinning, I 'Fly' into the tunnel. For a moment, I'm paused by what I see. There's no way forward, the path is blocked by metal pillars! I 'turn' to look at Samus. I can't exactly shrug so I wiggle in place as best I can.
After a moment, Samus rolls back and drop a couple bombs. It bounces her up before she falls out of sight. Oh, Probably a sandstone block, but why did it take two? A muffled boom, and the pillar falls a bit. Soon enough, a second one and the pillar becomes a pathway only for there to be another pillar after that one.
Not long after, Samus Bomb Jumps back up and rolls right through me. I.... I guess the ability to turn myself into a cloud of rose petals and a twisting cape.... That felt really weird. I'll ask her about it later.
Samus repeats what she did earlier and the pillar blocking us is cleared. We move through the rest of the tunnel and enter the next room.
I want to say I was surprised by how big the room was, but I think I'm getting used to it. The Chozo were a large people, so the buildings reflect that. I wonder what happened on to them?
Shaking my head, I refocus on the room. In the far back there looks to be an upgrade. What's the gimmick though? Before I could study it any further Samus jumps down and I quickly follow her. As soon as our feet touch the ground, the floor rumbles as the upgrade lowers into it. I look behind us and see a wall start lowering, revealing Sheegoths.
That's the gimmick then. Kinda like the security system! Quickly looking around the room, I see that there's three more walls left. There's probably Sheegoths in there too. A quick glance at my missile count shows that I've got three left. Looks like it's the ice block test again.
I blitz forward, Crescent Roses blade rotating upward as I reappear one of the Sheegoths. Thrusting Crescent Rose forward, I'm surprised that she slides right off of the shell. Quickly kicking off the back of the Sheegoth, I flip around as I land.
Okay, looks like it's only explosives or beam shots will break their shells. Shifting to rifle mode, I start strafing it with my semblance as I fire at the shell. Steam floats off of it as it tries to get me to it's line of sight. It turns surprisingly fast, but I'm faster!
Reappearing behind it, I shift Crescent Rose and slam the spike through it's exposed back. Pulling Crescent Rose out, I look to see Samus finishing up her enemy. The sound of stone sliding catches starts again, and I turn to see the last two pillars slide away releasing more three more Sheegoths.
Okay, if melee isn't good on their back, maybe I can do it from their front? It's worth a try, as Samus starts sprinting towards the pair. Kicking off, I speed towards the last one. Turning Crescent Rose around, I quickly jump just over a Sheegoth. As I glide over it, Crescent Roses hooks into it's mouth. Pulling the trigger, I'm shot forward and twist. Quickly tapping the transformation switch, the scythe head rotates forward and dislodges from it sending it into the back of the room. As it lands I can hear the sound of it's shell shattering. I couldn't help but flinch slightly from that. It landed harder than I thought it would.
Turning to the last one, I was surprised to Samus slam her Arm Cannon onto it's back before unloading some missiles into it. That... seems kinda much. Well we must've passed the test! I turn to where the upgrade was... only to see that it hasn't risen back up. What? I was about to ask Samus what we're gonna do if the upgrade lift is broken when I heard a thud. It sounded like those times when you'd trip slightly on something and hit a wall, the person in the next room could hear it. Where's it coming from though?
The sound of stone cracking came next, and I looked to the source. The back wall where the upgrade was had large cracks in it, that must mean there's something big behind there. With one last crash, the wall breaks away revealing a cave with a BIG Sheegoth walking out of it. Like, it's REALLY big! The thing that's off about it is that it's ice shell is more like spikes. Roaring, it charges at us. I quickly Petal Burst through it, as Samus rolled out of the way. I couldn't help the shudder that ran through me as I turned off my Semblance. That felt REALLY weird!
Switching Crescent Rose back to rifle mode, I fire at the Giga-Sheegoth. My eyes widen as the shots arc right into the spikes on the back! Can... Can Sheegoths grow to do that? Is it something like the War Wasp Queen and it's a mutation?
ALERT!
Research: Morphology: Sheegoth added to log book.
Sheegoths that reach maturity have grown immune to most conventional weapons. Concussive Weapons such as Missiles and Morph Ball Bombs are effective.
The ice shell on it's back draws in Beam Weapon attacks to fuel it's freezing breath.
It's mouth and underbelly are notably softer, recommend attacking it.
Great, how are we going to get it to open it's mouth! I don't get much time to think on that as the Sheegoth charges me. I use Petal Burst to slide under it, before unfurling Crescent Rose to stop my momentum. Okay, think Ruby! Ice Crystals absorb Beam Weapon shots. Ice Crystals somehow energize it. Can we use that against it?
Before I can think on it further, Samus uses the Boost Ball upgrade to dash right under it and lay a line of Bombs. Their detonations cause it to stumble before it roars at her, chunks of ice launching at her. As she strafes it, I can see her suits boosters(?) firing off again. That's it! If it uses the energy from Beam Weapons to fuel it's breath attack, maybe we can exhaust it through repeated uses!
Lining up my scope, I activate Petal Burst and start pulling the trigger. Bolt after bolt of shots start converging onto it's shell, nearly looking like a laser as it hits the shell. The Ice shell starts having electrical discharges, okay that might mean it's 'full' right?
A quick glance at the missile count tells me I got five, I'll have to time it right to use Stinger Missile on it. Turning to face me, the Sheegoth takes a deep breath before breathing it's freezing air at me. As I sprint around it, it turns to follow me, covering the snow covered ground with ice. That'll be a pain to slip to keep in mind.
The freezing breath stops and it starts panting, letting me lock on to it's mouth. Five missiles fly out, spiraling into it's mouth and detonating. The Sheegoth stumbles backwards before charging at me while roaring. Jumping over it, I hook Crescent Rose around one it's of spikes and pull my self onto them.
Samus took that as a sign and rolled back under the beast, bombs agitating it as it braces it self. As it chased Samus, shooting ice chunks at her, I grasp of the spikes, partially close Crescent Rose until it's haft and spike pommel remain out and start chipping at the shell. Maybe if I break one of the spikes it'll weaken it's frost breath? It's kinda hard with how smooth the ice is, but I'm getting some deeper chips in!
I keep chipping at its back as it stops chasing Samus, probably panting from the over use of its breath attack. As I stab Crescent Rose into its shell, the Sheegoth roars and starts thrashing around. I try to steady myself, but it's spikey shell is to slippery and I fly off. Grabbing Crescent Rose mid flight, I shift and land safely. Checking my Aura at the top of the HUD, I can't help be grimace as it's at 84%. Constantly using my Semblance for exploration and traveling along side Samus is taking it's toll. Not to mention we still need to see how much damage the weapons in the galaxy do to Aura.
Samus runs up to me, barely taking a glance at me. She's the one in charge right now, I'll follow her lead.
"Ruby, think you can take out one of it legs?" She asks me "Limit its mobility?"
I take a moment to think as the Sheegoth slowly turns to face us. I could probably go for the joints, those are always the weak points on anything. Unfurling Crescent Rose, I give Samus a nod.
"Yeah, I think I got something that can do that."
She nods and braces herself, widening her stance a little.
"On your mark" she tells me "I'll follow behind and knock it over."
I brace myself, and let out a slow, shallow breath. Now, I RUN. It's hide is probably a bit too thick for Crescent Roses blade normally, but if I put a bit of oomph behind it, if I run as fast as I can in this room AND swing it? Not only will it cut through, but with the help of the recoil from me firing her will cause it to topple.
As I get closer to the Sheegoth, it attacks with its freezing breath and I fly around it. Turning off my Semblance, I swing my sweetheart as I slide under it. Pulling the trigger again and again, Crescent rose cleaves through its leg. The sound of Samus firing missiles hits my ears as I bounce off the ground a little. I may have ran a bit to fast. Ouch.
Sitting up, I see the Sheegoth twitch before falling limp as Samus walks around it. The sound of stone rising tells me that the upgrade is now up for grabs. I jog up to Samus as she grabs it. Her Arm Cannon glows before its side extend outward, a purple glow with what looks like electrical arcs jumping from gap to gap.
"So, this tribes Beam Tech upgrades don't stack on top of each other." Samus says, mostly to herself "Still, Nice to have the Wave Beam back."
Wave Beam. From the looks of it, it's an electrical weapon. Turning to the Sheegoth, I have a couple of ideas for it's shell. I can't carry too much, so I'll just take a hand sized crystal. These things can absorb Beam Shots, so maybe I can add it to Bloom. Give it a little boost, or turn it into a shield to quickly refill the Ammo by blocking shots?
Chapter 20: Pirate Practices
Summary:
Ruby encounters the Space Pirates, and has a few questions about Samus.
Chapter Text
After cutting a palm sized piece of the Sheegoths shell, Samus and I made our way back to the room with the purple door. It was surprising to learn that the Wave Beam was needed to open it, but at least we know color coded doors need different Beam Types. It's an AMAZING upgrade! Firing in a shotgun like pattern using only three bolts! The bolts themselves are likely what give it its name! Still, I'm kinda curious at what Samus is doing. On our way here she was constantly typing on that side panel of her weapon.
"It's a surprise, Ruby." Samus says, causing me to blink "You were thinking aloud again."
Oh, Right. That's kind of a habit I developed while being tutored by Weiss. Maybe I can ask about about any upgrades Samus needs? Have a more solid understanding of what we're doing?
"So what exactly are we looking for?" I ask her "Any specific upgrades to keep an eye out for?"
Knowing what upgrades Samus needs to get can help me come up with my own upgrades. Sure, they might not be as good as Samus but it'll help me keep up. I already got a modification for Bloom in mind, but that'll have to wait until we head back to the ship.
"It's not a concrete list. We'll be continuing the mission here on Tallon IV: Find and put a stop to Ridley's plan." Samus explained "To do that we'll need to get better gear. For you that's making more armaments and upgrades for your Missile Launcher. For me it's getting both the Gravity Suit, Plasma and Ice beams."
Gravity Suit? Plasma and Ice beams! Samus mentioned that this tribes Beam Weapons won't stack so they're probably Fire and Ice like their names suggest. I'm wondering what the Gravity Suit is. Is it a Suit that lets her fly?
"More like it nullifies how water or decompression affects me. It's also the strongest Suit Upgrade I can get. Each Power Suit Upgrade makes the defensive shielding stronger."
Nullifies the effect Water has on her suit? Does that mean it can let move in water as if it wasn't there?
"Samus, I'm going to be completely honest here. Your suit is a marvel of engineering and programming. Just how advanced were the Chozo?"
The more I learn of what her suit can do, the more impossible it seems to be that it can exist. It's beyond science, it's almost like magic. Wait... Does magic exist? it would explain how Samus' suit works.
"Enough. They were advanced enough."
The way Samus says that makes it feel like the conversation is done. The same tone Dad used when I was younger and asked about the mission Mom went on. That's that, I guess. Now, how's Samus gonna get up to that door? I can just use Crescent Rose' recoil to launch myself up there.
Samus walks over to a building with a hole in it's wall, Is there something in there that might help? As I catch up to Samus, I see her Jump. That's nothing out of the ordinary, until I see here 'Jump' again. Yes, the boosters on the back fired off to help, but she still Double Jumped.
Oh! Quickly bringing my hand to the side of my visor, I sent out a Comm-Link request. A moment later, Samus appears on the side of my HUD. Probably should've done that when we made our deal, but better late than never!
"Ruby, Go wait by the door. I'll be there in a moment." Samus' voice comes from the Visor "See you in a bit"
Well, guess I'm going to the door. Using Petal Burst, I run to the ledge and fire Crescent Rose. As I land, I sit down and wait. An explosion sounds off, followed by something crashing. Sounds like Samus made a pathway. I really am slowing her down, am I? Well, nothing to do about that except shape up like she said.
The sound of crunching ice lets me know that Samus is almost here. Standing up, I stretch a little before readying up. Seeing Samus jump from the little alcove nearby to the ledge is kind of intriguing. Especially the little holographic outline of her leg armor as she does it. It probably gives some form of solid surface for her to jump off again.
Turning around as Samus passes by, she opens the door and we go through another S-Curve Hallway. Going through the door we enter another big room. Nothing but the open sky above! In the center was a tall pillar with a flat platform on top. Surround the platform was what I think are flood gates? It looks like it's made by the Chozo, so it could help us move. Looking down, I see the whole floor of the room is filled with water. With how much ice is in here it'll be FREEZING! I think I won't be affected, but I don't want to text it.
Looking around, I see something odd. It looks similar to the bomb slots, only deeper. It's also got a curved plate on a hinge. Is it something for the Morph Ball? Jumping over to it, I approach to get a better look. It doesn't look that old, in fact it looks new. Like it was just installed, but that can't be right.
"Ruby" Samus calls out to me "You might want to start using your Scan Visor more than just in combat"
She sound like she was trying not to laugh. Hmph! It's hard to remember everything this thing does! Still, I scan it.
Alert!
New Research added to Log Book.
Standard Spinner Device.
Spinners use rapid rotational movement to start up its generator.
Used to power a variety of machinery.
A spinner? Looking at the base plate, it looks like it needs a physical object so I doubt I could use Crimson Twister to power it. Maybe Samus using the Boost Ball? It looks like Samus had the same idea as I hear shift into it and roll onto the Spinner. Seeing the Morph Ball build up a blue glow before 'launching' is neat! Every time Samus uses the boost, the curved plate on the hinge rotates forward and soon enough the plate rests above Samus.
A loud clank rings from above and I look to see two of the flood gates flip open. Two of them remain closed. Knowing how the puzzles we encountered are, there's probably a second Spinner Plate at the opposite of the room. The thing I'm confused about is why there is no water coming from the Chozo Fountains. Are they Fountains, or spouts? Either way, there might be something to cause them to pour water.
Making our way to the other side of the Room, Samus opted to walk through the water while I hopped from ice platform to ice platform. I guess with both her natural strength, the Power Suit and the Varia Suit Upgrade means that it's not really a bother for her. And just like I thought, there's another Spinner Plate. There's a few ice pillars that can function like stairs, so I quickly jump up them to see what else there is. A Bomb slot, and some walkways on the side of the pillar. That's probably how we get up to the platform on top. Even better, the walkway on the right side of the pillar leads to some snow covered ground.
Another clank, and the last two flood gates open up. Looks like I was right, the bomb slot is gonna let the water flow out of it. From the way the room looks, the water will fill up this room. How much though is what I'm wondering. I guess we'll found out in a moment, as Samus climbs up and activates it.
A siren sounds off as water rushes down from the Chozo spouts, crashing into the floor, filling the room and causing the ice platforms to rise. As soon as the water reached half full, the flow stopped and the platforms were level with the walkways. Quickly hopping across them, I see a Morph Ball tunnel above the area that had the first Spinner Plate. It's something to look into later. Rounding the corner, Samus and I make our way to the rocky ledges. Since the Main platform isn't that far ahead, I launch my self over the railings to look around.
A door with out a shield is to the left, a Wave door right in front and a regular door to my right. I have a sneaking suspicion that a Save Room is behind the right door. It'd follow the pattern so far. There was a Save room before the Security System, in the room next to the big tree, and in both the areas after the elevators in Magmoor Caverns and Phendranas entrances.
A thunk behind me says Samus is up here now, so I wonder where we're going now. I get my answer when she fires at the blue door. I guess she's used to using different colored doors as guidelines for major progress. The door opens as we get closer to let us know that, yes, it IS a Save Room. All that's left now is the purple door, so we make our way there.
As the door opens, Samus holds out her arm, stopping me from going forward. I wonder what she's doing? Turning towards me, she crouches.
"Ruby" Samus says to me "From here on out we may encounter Space Pirates."
Space Pirates? Are they related to what Ridley is doing?
"Despite the name, they are fanatically loyal to Ridley. They will not stop until we're dead. All they want to do is cause chaos."
Like... Like the White Fang? Despite what Blake said, I never thought the White Fang would go that far. Not until the train. I just have to hope they were arrested.
"I'm only saying this just in case. Do your best to knock them out, but if worst comes to worst..." She trails, as if trying to think it through "There's nothing wrong with doing what you must to protect yourself."
With that Samus stands and goes through the door. Does... Does she think I'll end up... No, I won't! Huntsmen and Huntresses are protectors! They only kill Grimm! In fact, Uncle Qrow made sure to teach me how to fight with a scythe without slicing everything up!
As I go through the door, I can't help but notice that the hallway looks different than the rest of the Chozo ruins we've been through. Does that mean it's the work of the Space Pirates? It's got a sort of industrial look, like those those games where you build a lot of factories. At this point I'm half expecting every other door to have a hallway that's shaped like an S. As we turn into a bend, I see something standing in front of a grated wall. It's looks like like some type of bipedal lizard, like the ones from those alien invasion movies... I really shouldn't base my expectations off of movies. Maybe they're friendly?
As it looks our way, I'm surprised by the fact it has fire in its eyes. Like, actual fire! Before I can say anything it charged and fired at us! Ducking under the weapon fire, I Petal Burst past it, shift Crescent Rose into rifle form, and slam her stock into it's back. As it stumbled forward it lashes out with its wrist blade! As I back away, Samus grabs and slams it into the ground, charging up her Arm Cannon. Before I could say anything, she pressed it against its head and fired.
I watched, horrified as its body twitch before going still. She just... She... I look to Samus, AT Samus. As Samus looks to me, I can't help taking a step back. Her visor, is that what the Space Pirates see? An expressionless helmet as she... Samus quickly turns away, her Arm Cannon switching to the Wave Beam as she heads to the door. Looking to the... Body of the Space Pirate, I swallow some bile that came up and bring my hand to my Visor.
Alert!
New Research Available!
Standing Order Alert:
Space Pirates are an aggressive, reptilian species that excel in both Range and Melee Combat.
Kill on sight orders have been issued and maintained by the Galactic Federation for the countless worlds burned and enslaved by the Space Pirates.
It is rumored that the Space Pirates had a hand in the disappearance of the Chozo Species as a whole.
Extreme Caution is advised when combating any Space Pirate.
They... They burned worlds?! I look to Samus, who is waiting by the door patiently. As I make my way to her, I can't help but think that Samus knows more about them and Ridley than she is saying. Does she have history with them? Is she more like Blake than I thought? As Samus opens the door, I can't help but wonder more about her.
Chapter 21: Heated Hues Part 1
Summary:
Samus and Ruby venture into a Space Pirate base.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Walking into the next room, I see multiple pillars with what looks like rings sliding up and down them. The pillars seem to curve into the roof, having lights run down them. A single green light is in the center of the room, right above what looks like a walk way. Looking down my scope, I can see that it's a turret like the ones in Magmoor Caverns. So that means the base there is a Space Pirate one.
As we walk into the room, I can't help but wonder why the Space Pirates would do anything like that. I want to ask Samus, but... given her how easily she.... She killed the Space Pirate earlier I don't think it's something to bring up easily. Especially here, and on her mission. Like that time Uncle Qrow came back to Patch before I went to Beacon. I wanted to ask about his last mission, but with how sad he looked I thought better. I don't know why, but I get the feeling I'll start to understand how Uncle Qrow felt.
All of a sudden, a drone (it kinda looks like one) floats in front of us. An alarm started sounding off as I heard something behind me. Turning around, I watch as the door locks itself. Oh... That's... Not good is it. The sound of metal sliding comes from the center of the room, and I see what looks like vertical panels coming up from the floor. The Space Pirates run out from the back and take cover behind the panels, two behind the full cover while the other two take the waist high ones. Raising Crescent Rose, I get ready to fight.
Samus rushes forward, a missile firing towards them. Following after her, I circle around them and slam the flat side of Crescent Rose into the head of one. As it bounces off the panels, I dodge as his friend fires at me. Hooking Crescent Rose under his feet, I pull them out from under him. Turning around, I shift Crescent Rose and slam the stock into the face of the first Space Pirate.
As far as fights go, I'm honestly concerned with how the Galactic Federation called the Space Pirates a threat. They don't seem like that big of one, so how could they be so bad as to have a standing order to... to kill on sight. A flash of light, and an... an arm flies by me. Samus... Samus is not taking any chances with them, is she?
Quickly turning around, I see that Samus had... had finish them off. In the time it took me to knock out the two of them, she killed the two she fought. It looks like she's been doing this for a long time with how fast she... handled them. I take a deep breath, fighting back the urge to vomit.
I hope we don't encounter to many Space Pirates. I won't be able to handle seeing Samus kill them so often. Shaking my head, I look ahead and see a ramp up to the walk way. Shifting Crescent Rose to her storage mode, I roll my shoulder. Carrying her is starting to get tiring. I knew I should've added the carrying strap, but Dad and Yang said it'd get in the way of the transformation sequence. I could've found a way to make it work.
Before I start walking up the ramp, Samus holds out her hand. A quick glance at my Ammo Counter showed three missiles have regenerated. Samus braces herself, and runs up the ramp. Three missiles fly out from her Arm Cannon as she runs around the corner. The sound of the turret being destroyed follows, and I jog up to her.
A second floor, with a way forward given the purple color. A quick glance at the mini-map shows a blue door on the first floor. I'm sure we can get that one later.
Opening the door, and another S Hallway! Why are there so many?! A Scatter Bombu patrols the Hallway, and I get an idea.
"Hey, Samus?" I say, getting her attention "Could you try using the Wave Beam against that Bombu? Maybe it'll work against it?"
She looks to the Bombu, probably thinking about it before raising her Arm Cannon. She fires a shot before it starts charging up. It looks like she needs to fire it at least once in order to use the Charge Beam. I watch as the Arm Cannon widens further, the passive electrical discharge growing more and more erratic before a purple sphere covers the entrance of the barrel.
I watch as the sphere launches towards the Bombu, like a bolt of lightning. It hit it's mark and the Bombu disappears in a flash of light. Okay, so the Bombus CAN be destroyed with Eletrical weapon. That means less time shifting between our smaller form, and more time being able to explore.
Opening the door, I'm surprised by a blue forcefield blocking the way. Looking around, I find and scan the only control panel in the room.
ALERT!
Incompatible language detected!
Please update Translator Module
Another incompatible language? I guess it belongs to the Space Pirates then. Looking through the barrier, I take note of the room. Large, glass tubes with a blue tint to them sit in the center of the room. Space Pirates are patrolling around them, typing on what looks like a tablet.
It looks like we won't be able to get a good look at the room with the forcefield up. Can Samus' suit translate it? Before I even get the chance to ask, I can see her put a hand on the side of her helmet. Quickly deploying Crescent Rose, I get ready to move as soon as the barrier drops.
Kicking off, the barrier disappears as Samus lowers her hand. The first Space Pirate didn't see it coming, A blur of Rose Petals and a rifle stock hitting it's face knocked it out. A Space Pirate fires at me, only to miss as Samus should slams it. A flash of gold, and Samus moves on. Looks like we're in the clear for now.
Looking around, I see what looks like computers and screens. Walking to the space with orange screens, I look at the one just above the terminals. It looks like a DNA strand, with three areas highlighted. I don't know what means, but I don't have a good feeling about it. Weiss could probably have a theory or two about it, even if it was in another language. Walking into the space, I see what looks like animals on the other two monitors. It's nothing I've seen before, showing animals I have not yet encountered.
The first monitor showed what looked like a circle with two hooks coming out it. There's two circles highlighting areas on it, one on the curved spike and one over what looks like a small dome inside it. Something about it gives me a bad feeling, like I'm supposed to hide from it. The second monitor showed something similar, but not as round, with curves more of the curved spikes. It also has some long limbs coming from the center of it. That same feeling, that I need to hide from it as I look at it's picture. Maybe Samus knows about it?
"Metroids" Samus said, most likely in Chozo "What are they doing here?"
Is she speaking to herself? Before I can ask about it, Samus turns from the monitors and starts scanning the computers. Is she looking for info on them? It's kind of inconvenient that my Visor can't translate it. I guess I could ask for a Data Packet from Samus. I can't help but groan at the work I'll have to do to properly learn the all the technology the wider galaxy has.
"Things just got to keep getting complicated, don't they." Samus says after a moment "Okay, Quick update. Those creatures on the screens are called 'Metroids'. 'Mathroids', as they are called in Chozodian. Both pronunciations are correct, but that doesn't matter. It translates to 'Ultimate Warrior'. If they're experimenting on Metroids, then we'll have to be even more careful."
Mathroid, Metroid. If they were given the phrase 'Ultimate Warrior' then the Chozo had to create them. Well, that's something familiar, I guess. Hyper advanced civilization that just so happened to disappear after genetic engineering an 'ultimate creation'. Just like the movies. I nod to her.
"Anything I need to watch out for?" If she knows of them, then she knows what they can do "Any weaknesses?"
Just like the Grimm, if I know what I'm hunting can do, the safer I will be. Out of my team, I have the most knowledge on Grimm anatomy and weaknesses! Even Weiss asks me for help with them! Samus nods and starts using her Arm Cannons side panel.
"First and foremost, Metroids are debilitatingly weak to the cold. So Ice related weapons will be the best tool against them. Freeze 'em, and shatter them with a missile. Second, DO NOT let them latch onto you. The Chozo created them with the ability to drain your very Life Energy."
Drain life energy? What does that mean? I'll look into that later. Okay, Find or somehow make an ice weapon, and do not let them grab me. It may sound easy, but I get the feeling it's more difficult than I think it will be. I guess I'll be keeping an eye on my radar more than I have been.
Nodding to her, I hop in place a little, ready to get a move on. Turning around, Samus walks to the other end of the room. She's probably scanning the rest of the computers here. Thinking about it, Samus is right. This mission of hers just keeps getting more complicated. I don't think being here would've changed how fast Samus would finish this mission sooner. Still, I'm gonna do my best to not slow her down.
Looking around, I see a panel sticking out of the wall. Scanning it, I got the same message earlier, incompatible language. I wonder what it's connected to? I don't see any other way forward, maybe it's up? Tilting my head up, I can see some walkways. Maybe that's where we got to go! I hear Samus walk up behind me, having likely gotten the data she was after. I watch as Samus walks past me scan the panel, a light on the floor shining. An elevator? Guess that's our way forward.
There's not enough room on it for the both of us, so I'll just launch myself with Crescent Roses recoil. Watching as Samus walks onto the Elevator, I aim downward, give a little hop and fire. Landing on the walk way, I see that the paneling for the walkways floor is glowing a light blue. Probably something to help them see while walking in the dark, though that does make me wonder. Do the Space Pirates have the same night vision a Faunus do?
Turning a corner, I give a yelp as a Space Pirate drops down in front of me. Quickly backing up, I duck under its wrist blade. Dashing forward, I hook and pull its feet out from under it, knocking it out. Turning the corner, I spot a turret. Samus darts right past me, three missiles flying out towards it as she slams her shoulder into a Space Pirate before unloading several Power Beam shots at it. She's... She's being very thorough.
Looking around, I notice more computers and monitors. More things for Samus to scan, I guess. With the Scan Visor calling things 'Research', I'm gonna go out on a limb and say that with the glass tubes and computers that this is a Research Lab. The next floor of the room is visible behind the computers, and I can see a turret.... Why isn't it targeting us? Is their detection radius that small or is it line of sight?
Samus walks up to the computers and starts scanning them. In the mean time, I take a look at Crescent Rose. Her barrel is scorched, and there's some water in the expanded areas. I can't help but grimace, She was designed to be as sleek and compact as possible while providing as much fire power as possible. When we get off world, I'll have to look at giving her a total overhaul. I do wonder what materials I can use to make her better.
"Ruby, let's go" Samus said, showing that she's done scanning everything on the terminal.
Nodding, I heft Crescent Rose. Samus sprints around the corner, firing another volley of missiles. The hit the turret just as she rounds the corner and starts shooting the lone Space Pirate. It... Didn't last long against her barrage. All that's left is for Samus to scan the computers and continue onward. I walk to one of the crates in the corner, and watch as the lid opens up and a port slide out. I guess it does refill ammo. Extending the projector, I fill back up to 10 Missiles. Well, Nothing left to do but wait.
Watching Samus go from computer to computer scanning them has me thinking. Her... Reactions to the Space Pirates means that she encountered them before. Could she have been a prisoner of theirs before being rescued by the Chozo? It could explain why she was given a Power Suit and why she's scanning the Space Pirates research computers. I don't think I should ask though, she did say that she wouldn't tell me everything. Maybe she'll tell me when she's ready, or maybe not. Right now, I'll just focus on getting off world.
Bringing my hand to the side of my Visor, I open up the settings menu. The light blue tint of the visor kind of blends together with the snow, and while it it's not a problem right now in side this base, I'd like to be able to see in other area's. As much as I'd like to use red for the main tint, Magmoor Caverns will just bring up the same issue... I think I'll have to use Nora Pink for a while. Carefully navigating the color wheel, I set the main tint to a bright pink. At least it's a color that can be seen no matter the environment.
Done with the settings, I watch as Samus walks over to the computers on the wall and scan them. She's probably trying to figure out what they're doing here. After a moment she's done, and starts walking to door next to the crates I'm at. I guess that's the way forward. Following behind her, I can't help but wonder how we're going to progress. Samus shooting upward answers that question. So the doors can also be on the ceiling? Does that mean they can be on the floor too? Either way, Samus and I Jump into the next room.
Ducking behind the crates in the icy hallway, I shoot three missiles and destroy the turret before it can fire at us. Well, at least I can get those back using one of the crates. Still, This hallway having a turret, probably more than one, means we're getting closer to something important. Continuing through the hallway, Samus and I destroy the last two turrets and go to the next room. As soon as we enter, my targeting reticle homes in on a Space Pirate in the back. The minimap says this room is a bigger room than normal. Guess that means a lot of jumping. Well, there's nothing to do but press onward!
Kicking off with Petal Burst, I plan to try surprising it with a quick stock strike. Just as I reach the opening to the room, a Space Pirate lands in front of me. I tried backing up, but Crescent Rose hooked around it's chest and it swings it's wrist blade at me. I... I reacted and...
I can't breathe... I can't breathe. Ican'tbreatheIcan'tbreathe.
I'm sorry....
Notes:
Welp, poor Ruby. To be honest, I was debating when exactly Ruby was gonna off a Space Pirate. Would it be at the Mines? Sooner? Later? I kinda had this whole mini arc for after they get Ruby's situation handled involving a Space Pirates invade a habitation station. I do have a few other things planned, some surprises involving how Ruby accompanying Samus changes a few things.
Well, until next Chapter!
Chapter 22: Mission Log: Tallon IV: Entry 3
Summary:
Samus helps ground Ruby, and regains the Super Missile.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
I wish I could say I was surprised when Ruby unintentionally killed that Space Pirate. Instead, I gently guide Ruby to the door and sit her down. My motion tracker shows them getting closer, so I'll have to make this quick. Sprinting out of the hall, I slide under a the swing of a wrist blade, grab it's arm and throw it towards the control center. Kicking of the ledge of the hallway, I jump the distance over the central projector and rapid fire several missiles. Not entirely a fan of this model of missile launcher, the barrel has to twist to reload the missiles. It's serviceable either way, especially with that quick load trick I discovered.
As the missiles hit true, I land with a roll before going to a flying knee into one unlucky enough to be close. Going to into Morph Ball, I quickly roll over its body, quickly laying a trio of bombs. Returning to normal as the bombs detonate, I turn to face the projector as two more Space Pirates land. I don't have time for this. Using my suits thrusters, I quickly rush towards the two of them, firing two more missiles at the one on the right. Preparing a charged shot, I parry its wrist blade before firing at it. As It crumples to the ground, I take a look at the motion tracker and notice that's the last of them.
As I make my way back up to Ruby, I think of how I could provide some form of comfort. Unlike myself, Ruby was trained to kill what basically constitutes animals, not people. Where as I was trained to fight people by both the Zebesian Chozo and the Galactic Federation. Walking up the conveniently stair like platforms, the only thing I know is that I'm not the most suited for this, so I'll see about getting her a therapist. Hmph, for as stern as he was, Adam made sure to take care of his troops, physically, psychologically and emotionally.
It was annoying as hell whenever he tried that with me, I never needed it. Still, I suppose some of his methods rubbed off. What Ruby needs right now is someone to talk to, and I'm the only one here available. It's not perfect, but it's better than nothing. As I get to the hallway, I see Ruby huddled into her self, her hood raised and weapon tossed aside.
A complicated job indeed.
Walking up, I sit down next to her. We're quiet, just quiet. Looking over, I can see slight tremors in her shoulders. Remembering what Adam did for one of his recruits, I reach over and place a hand on her shoulder. I was surprised when she turned pulled me into a hug. I hesitate for a moment, only a moment before wrapping my arm around her. There's nothing I can say that would make her feel better. In a way, Ruby reminds me of Damara. Kind, innocent and compassionate. If it weren't for Damara, I'd be no better than the Space Pirates.
Still, I need to get her moving. She thinks that Huntsmen and Huntresses wouldn't kill each other, but like all thing in life, it's complicated. No doubt there're Huntsman and Huntresses that fight and kill other Aura users to protect the masses, just like there are those who fight exclusively against the Grimm. There might even be some who do both.
"Ruby" I say, as I pull her away. She's trembling, her visor and breather Mask were removed. Probably due to hyperventilating. Regardless she look up at me. "This may be hard to believe, but I do not doubt for a moment that there are Huntsman and Huntresses that take the lives of Aura users who are considered too dangerous."
Her eyes widen and I hold up a hand, she needs to understand my point of view on it.
"You're people have the ability to empower themselves using your Souls. Just as there is those who'd use that power for good, there are those who'd use them for the wrong reasons."
She nods at that, a hint of understanding in her eyes. She's probably fought someone who has Aura. Does that have something to do with what she was doing before she was transported here? The evidence I have so far suggests yes. It also most likely has something to do with what secrets she's keeping. I'll respect her wishes.
"Sometimes you'll have to fight those type of people, and no matter how hard you try, you'll end up taking their life. Whether it's because they won't stop fighting or because of something else, it ends the same way, them dying."
Silver eyes, look away at that, unable to find a flaw with my argument. She is a gentle person, but that shouldn't be cause her to not protect her own life when it comes down to it.
Standing up, I walk over and pick up her weapon. It's blade still stained with the orange blood of the Space Pirate it sliced through. I hold it out to her, an unspoken question hangs in the air. At this point nothing short of death will stop her, unless she willingly goes to my ship. I know she won't, for better or worse.
Standing up, she replaces her visor and mask. Her hands are still shaking, but it's not as bad as it was. She's going to need a lot of help, but one step at a time. As she grasps it, I watch as she uses the spike at the bottom to cut off the rolled up sleeve and uses it to clean the blade. That cloak must mean a lot to her if she's refusing to use it.
Looking up at me, she nods. She's still fragile, but most everyone would be in this situation. Turning around, we make our way to the projection chamber. Bringing my hand up, I quickly scan the projector to find out it's purpose. It's an astronomical holographic projector, that gives me an idea. Discreetly checking on Ruby, I can see that she's still thinking about what happened earlier. Hunched over, her weapon barely being held over the floor. I think seeing a star map might help her.
Walking up to the control center, I scan the terminal to start up the projection sequence. A noise from behind causes me to turn and see a bomb slot has activated. Looking at the projectors, I see some spinner plats at the base of it. Quickly making my way to the bomb slot, I transform and activate it. Shifting back, I turn and see another bomb slot activated. Quickly landing the on the platform below, I make my way to the next bomb slot. A quick glance at Ruby shows me that she's following my movements. Our next room will likely have Space Pirates in it, so this is a good moment of calm for her.
A quick shift and bomb later, all that's left is to use the spinner plates and it'll activate. Jumping down, I can hear Ruby talking to herself. What it is I can't make out, but seeing as she's now focused on the projector shows that she is curious about it. Hopefully this will help lift her spirits.
Shifting into Morph Ball, I roll into the first spinner plate. Focusing, I can feel myself building up a charge. It does feel weird, I'll admit, but I've long since gotten used to the intricacies of Chozo technology. Releasing the charge, I feel the morph ball spin as though it was shot out of a cannon. I do this a couple more times, and I get ejected. Shifting back to normal, I see the one fourth of the protective grates has lowered. Nodding to myself, I quickly repeat the process on the remaining spinner plates.
Shifting back, I watch as the projector flashes and a map of the solar system displays. I look over at Ruby and see her expression is filled with awe behind her pink visor. Wait... Pink? When I gave it to her, the visor was a light blue. I guess she had started personalizing it, but why pink? I thought she'd at least follow her color scheme. Maybe it's a practical choice.
Ruby's gaze follows each of the planets in their orbit. Tapper her shoulder, I point to the planet we're on, Tallon IV. Her eyes widen as she watches the planet go about. We spend some time just watching the solar system map, a moment to breathe. I suppose I needed it too, even as my gaze was drawn to Zebes. The mere fact it was in the same system as this world means it's not a real coincidence that they're here.
"Is that your home world?" Ruby's voice, soft and quiet asked.
For a moment I consider ignoring, or telling her that it's not her concern, but I stop myself. Throughout this journey since meeting her, she has been answering questions about Remnant. Yes, those questions will help the Galactic Federation find her home. At this point it's only fair to reciprocate information.
"That's a kind of hard to answer." I tell her "It's the planet I grew up on, but not the one where I was born"
It must've been too long since I've had companionship on missions. Looking back, I've been inadvertently giving out small pieces of my past. Ruby's smart, it won't take much for her to put them together. That is IF she hasn't been doing that already. Either way, it's about we start moving.
"Oh" She simply replied. There's not much really more to say.
After a moment, I give Ruby a light nudge and start making my way up towards the next floor. The platform that had the second bomb slot had extended outward, as had the one in the across from it. Perfect, a way up. Ruby seems to have gotten the idea and propelled herself up to the next floor. Jumping to new platform, I look up to see another ledge available and leap to it. As I turn, I hear a missile explode. Considering I didn't hear any combat, it's possibly a blast door. Making my way to Ruby, I look and see her open the door. Behind it was a Save Station. That tells me we've got Space Pirates with powered armor.
Turning around, I see a canister with an asymmetrical cross. No doubt, another upgrade. I wonder what it is. A quick scan aught to tell me what it is.
SUPER MISSILES
That's all the scan data tells me, and that is all I need. Hopping onto the projector platform, I walk into the upgrade. My Arm Cannon glows and sparks as it reconfigures itself for the Super Missiles. As it does, a message pops up on my HUD.
Charge Beam Combo: Super Missiles.
Cost: 5 Missiles.
Capable of destroying of destroying objects made from Cordite.
A smile makes its way onto my face. Yes, it's different from normal Super Missiles, needing a charged shot to be used, but it is a welcome upgrade. The pre-requisite intrigues me. Charge Beam Combos. That implies that there's one for the Wave Beam, and quite possibly the Plasma and Ice Beams. Something isn't sitting right though. The Lore Walls suggest that the Chozo Tribe here forsook technology to live in harmony with nature, and yet they managed to create upgrades and weapons specifically meant to be added to my Power Suit.
What could've made them change their ways so drastically?
Waving Ruby over, I jump to the Wave Beam door. Opening the door, we encounter a Bombu patrolling the hallway.
"Why is it always an S-Hallway?" I hear Ruby mutter "We've encountered a LOT of them. Why are there so many?"
I wish I knew the answer to that question. Despite learning their history, growing up among them and even having our DNA mixed together doesn't mean I understand their architectural choices. Nonetheless, we make our way through, dispatching the Bombus and coming across an elevator. Scanning it's panel, It activates and will take us to the control tower. That'll give us some insight into what the Space Pirates are doing here, and what this 'Phazon' is. Aside from being a form of mutagenic.
Just as I step onto the elevator, Ruby grabs my arm. Turning to face her, I can see her expression filled conflict. She takes a deep breath before looking me in the eyes. Her silver ones looking more like hardened steel. I know what question she's gonna ask, but I let her ask it anyways.
"I'm.... We're going to fight more of them, aren't we?" Ruby asks "We'll fight more of them, and I'll have to.... kill them.... just to survive."
Kneeling down, I place my hand on her shoulder. Hiding the truth from her, or even trying to down play it won't help her.
"Yes. If they get their hands on you, death would be a mercy. The research logs I've been scanning showcases their brutality when it comes to being a 'science experiment'."
She lets out a shuddering breath. That's not the answer she wanted, but I think she knew it was the answer that was coming. Her conflicted expression tells me everything. She doesn't want to do it, but if she doesn't it'll compromise her ability to get back to her home world. Damned if you do, damned if you don't. To hammer the point home, I free my arm and prepare a Data Packet containing an update for her translator, an update containing the Space Pirates language. Some would consider it cruel, but right now she needs to understand.
Tapping send, I attach a couple of the research logs containing experiments on their own people. I watch as Ruby raises a hand to the control panel on her visor and takes a few steps back. While her visor prevents me from seeing what she's reading, I already know it. Seeing her eyes follow the log line by line, watching as her eyes paradoxically widen and shrink, lets me know she isn't liking what she's reading. Soon enough, she rips off her breather mask and empties her stomach in the nearest corner. Walking over, I rub her back as she does.
After a moment, she wipes her mouth and stands back up. Her grip on her weapon tightened as her tremors slowly stopped. As we walk to the elevator, she reattaches and adjusts the mask. Stepping into the hologram, the elevator rises up. There's nothing to say between us right now. Ruby not only had her understanding of her chosen profession turned upside down, but now she understands that some lifeforms just want to cause others to suffer. As the elevator slows to a halt at the Control Tower, I watch as Ruby looks at her weapon.
"A Huntresses weapon is made to protect people" Ruby says, voice hoarse "I thought that meant slaying the Grimm."
She goes quiet after that. She's contemplating what her job now really entails. She's been exposed to a truth about her peoples profession and is having trouble reconciling it.
"Would it matter?" I ask, startling her into looking at me "Grimm, other life forms capable of thought. If you knew what your chosen job entailed, would you have chosen to do it?"
She goes silent after that, but her eye narrowed in response. She would still choose to be a Huntress. It seems her drive to be one is to protect others, like some kind of hero. It's a noble goal, so long as she takes care of herself. I suppose that's my job right now, at least until we're in Federation space. Anything else after that is dependent, but I'd still maintain contact. While I'm not as mechanically gifted like she is, considering she hand made her primary weapon, I won't deny that having a companion on this mission is refreshing.
Opening the Wave Door, we find ourselves out in an open platform with variously sized ammo crates. This is supposed to be the Control Tower? Opening the map, I see that the opposite door is an elevator. Dismissing it, Ruby and I walk forward. Three dots on my motion tracker inform me that we've got company. Not a moment after, the Space Pirates reveal themselves.
Ruby blitzes forward while I follow right behind. Charging up the Power Beam, I test out the Super Missile. Instead of translucent blue denoting a regular missile, a golden light flies out and detonates on top of the Space Pirate. Twenty Five missiles down to twenty and the Space Pirate is no nothing more than charred body parts. Turning, I see Ruby finishing off the last of the Space Pirates present, her scythe a whirlwind of steel. She's trembling again after that, but I can't blame her. It's a lot for anyone to go through, let alone repeatedly.
Before I can say anything, the sound of thrusters starts approaching. Looking up, I see Space Pirates with jetpacks. Isn't that fun, thankfully our missiles have tracking so that's our advantage. As they get closer, I see five missiles fly into the first one. Ruby's Stinger Missiles are a wonderful addition, but they must cost a bit to use. A second Jet Pirate arrives, hiding behind a large crate. Smart, but not enough. Sprinting around the corner, I shoulder tackle it and start blasting with missiles.
A ping on my motion tracker tells me we've got two more on the way. Ducking behind cover, I prepare a charge shot to fire a Super Missile. As the red dots on my tracker get closer, one of them breaks off. That's concerning, but not unmanageable. Breaking cover, I fire a Super Missile, only to watch as the Jet Pirate dodges at the last second. That's just what we need, experienced troopers. I get back behind the crate, and start charging up a shot again. Jump over the crate, I flip over the Jet Pirate while firing another Super Missile.
I turn back just to see Ruby propel herself into the Jet Pirate that had broken off. Her piercing through it, as both of them fall off the platform. I couldn't help but call her name, rushing towards a crate to jump off to try and catch her. Before I even land on the crate, a storm of rose petals rushes upward before curving downward toward the center of the area. As the storm hits, it slowly dissipates until Ruby is left crouching and gasping for breath. From how she's patting herself down, it's clear that she's never done that before.
Seeing the terror on face, most likely from realizing she might fall to her demise, it makes me think that what she did was a desperate attempt to save herself.
"Ruby" I call out, while also giving her a moment to calm down "Are you going to rush headlong into an enemy again?"
She shakes her head, no doubt now understanding why we don't just run towards dangerous area's and keep an eye on our surrounds. Regardless, we have to get a move on. Holding out my arm, she grabs onto it and pulls herself up. Opening the door, I scan the elevator Terminal to continue towards the next part of the Research Labs.
Notes:
Taking away the gameplay restriction, the Missile Launcher from Zero Mission/Metroid 1 would be the Semi-Automatic ones that all the 2D Metroid games use, so it'd be the one Samus would have at the start of Prime. Since the Tallon IV Chozo appear to use an older style of technology, having settled on the planet and gone into a pre-space type of culture, their missile tech would require a reload mechanism. Especially since a LOT of the Chozo Ruins seem to use Steam as a source of energy.
Oh boy, poor Ruby. In a way, the Space Pirates are the antithesis of the way Volumes 1-3 Ruby thinks. The overarching theme of the Space Pirates from Metroid 1/Zero Mission is that they are the enemy of EVERYONE in the setting, to the point that in the semi-canon prequel Manga they teamed up with Mother Brain and quite possibly COULD'VE taken over the Galaxy with her, if not for Samus.
Ruby, on the other hand, thinks that people can't be as bad as the Grimm. That they just need a chance and they can turn over a new leaf-and as we've seen with Emerald, it DOES have some merit-they also just have to want to change. So her fighting, and killing, an enemy that is sentient and sapient but acts like the Grimm is something she can't understand.
Chapter 23: Heated Hues Part 2
Summary:
Ruby and Samus get the Thermal Visor.
Notes:
(See the end of the chapter for notes.)
Chapter Text
Stepping into the hologram, I feel the elevator jerk before it starts lowering. I can't help but look at Crescent Rose, streaks of orange rest on her blade. Taking a deep breath, I force down the guilt at having to... to kill them. The Space Pirates, from what Samus shared with me through their logs... The closest thing I can think of would be that they're just sentient Grimm. At least with the Grimm it was cut and dry, straight forward. Huntress fight Grimm, and help the police with Aura. I guess that's why Dad and Uncle Qrow never really talked about what they did.
'Does it matter' Samus said earlier. I guess it doesn't, I want to protect people and slay monsters. Like the heroes in the books Yang would read to me. I guess I still am, in a way.
As the elevator comes to a shuddering halt, Samus opens the door. A few Bombu in the way, so I just shift into Crimson Twister and fly under them. Heh, I CAN fly, but only if I completely turn into a cloud of petals. It was scary finding that out, but I did pull a stupid move and throw myself, and a Space Pirate, of the platform. I probably could've used it's jet pack, if I hadn't run it through with Crescent Rose.
Walking through the door, I look at the Power Beam Case sitting inside Crescent Rose. If I had access to the other Beam types I could take some the burden off of Samus. Looking back up, I see a computer sitting next to a glass tube. I can see some type of movement in the tube, so there's something in it. As we get closer, Samus walks ahead with faster steps.
"This, Ruby, is Metroid" Samus says as I get a good look at it. It looks like it's made out of jello, kinda. It's got four fangs and a pulsing red insides. Dark purple particles float off of it. Something about it scares me, and I don't know why. Raising my hand to my Visor, I give it a scan.
ALERT!
ALPHA CLASS THREAT IDENTIFIED!
AVOID CONTACT WITH THREAT!
Morphology: Tallon Metroid.
Metroids are energy based predators that latch onto their prey, refusing to let go until it succumbs.
ALERT!
Contaminants found in the subject now identified as Phazon!
Unknown mutations found with in the subject, caution is advised!
Previous research updated with Phazon related data!
Energy based predator? What does that mean? Before I can ask Samus, she pulls me away from the tube just as the Metroid smashes through it. As it shakes itself, Samus starts shooting at it. I follow her example and fire a couple missiles. It doesn't seem to be affected by the attacks, I guess we do need the Ice beam for it. It screeches before lunging, it's mouth pointed towards me. I quickly Petal Burst away, and slam the blade of Crescent Rose through it. It popped like balloon, they are somehow both fragile, and sturdy. It's weird.
Before we could start scanning anything, a wall explodes. A Space Pirate jumps in from the hole it made, roaring at us. Samus just blasts it with a missile, while I fire at it. Looks like that hole in the wall is our way forward. An alarm blaring, letting them know we're here.
"Follow my lead." Samus says before sprinting towards the hole, jumping through it. Well, She gave the order. Rushing through the opening, I land and shoot a pirate while Samus slammed another into a wall before unloading her Power Beam on it. It looks like they didn't activate their elevator, otherwise there'd be more up here. Hopping down, I land on top of a Pirate before hooking Crescent Rose around its neck and firing. As I land, I watch as Samus fires what I think is a Super Missile given it's golden color.
Dashing towards the last one, I start spinning before bringing Crescent Rose in a downward cleave. Crescent Rose glides through easily, splitting it down the middle. Taking shuddering breaths, I try to keep myself from throwing up again. With the Space Pirates dealt with, Samus goes about scanning their computers. I could probably do that now, Samus having sent a translator update, but after what I read.... No, I... I refuse. I already know I'm going to have nightmares after this is over, I don't need to make them worse.
Looking at the mini map, I can see that the exit is on the other side of the room. Going over to where it is, I find that it's on the floor. There's a couple of ammo crates there, so I top off on my missile ammo. Looking back into the room, I watch as Samus moves between computers, her hand constantly at the side of her helmet. I don't understand why she's going through them. Moving to where the elevator is, Samus activates and uses it. Guess there's computers up there? It doesn't take long for her to jump back down.
Making her way to the door, I watch as her Arm Cannon glows orange as a similar colored ring back and forth on it before it widens into the Wave Beam. I guess that's how it works. If I'm right, it's not just widening, that orange glow and ring seems to be changing out the main focus for its Beam Type.
Samus opens the door, and we both drop down it. There's a couple beetles in there, but we quickly deal with them. Passing through another door, we enter a bigger room. It looks like we're at the top of it, so we might have to go down. Movement catches my eye, and I dodge as a Pirate fires at us.
Samus fires a missile, as I run towards it, running alongside the wall. It rolls away from the explosive payload, right into the path of my sweetheart. What sounds like wind and fire pops up behind me as two Jet Pirates rise up from the bottom of the room. Quickly locking on to one of them, five missiles fly out of Bloom. Only two hit the Pirate, the rest slamming into a wall as a charged Wave Beam fries the jetpack of the second Pirate. I quickly jump to avoid the second pirate barreling at me. Electrical discharges can damage their equipment, good to know. Looking around the room, I see what looks like holding cells line the walls. I spot a Metroid in one of them, but I'm not sure why they're there.
With the Pirates dealt with, Samus walks to the computers. At this point I'm thinking that it's normal for her to do this when ever she's on a mission. I guess it's worth keeping an eye out, as I see glowing orange cables running out of the back of the computer. Looking over the handrails, I can a few more cables connecting to a machine of some kind at the bottom of the room. It's gotta be important, maybe an upgrade of some kind. I guess it couldn't hurt to see what the computer has to say.
Testing of Thermal Imaging software complete
Thermal Imaging? Something like infrared? From the looks of it, it sounds like a targeting software update or something similar. Well nothing left to do but go down and get the other computers. Looking at Samus, I wait for her to be done. It seems her Suit can read more of the Pirates logs than my Visor can. I guess that means her Suit has an onboard computer system greater than anything on Remnant. That seems to match with everything else I noticed about her Suit. She mentioned that it was a gift and that she trained to use it when she was younger. A gift that happens to be an impossibly advanced weaponized Power Suit. A suit that is no doubt unique among the Chozo' creations.
I shake my head, stopping that train of thought. I don't need to go digging into her past, she's already compromising enough as it to let me travel with her. I will not give her a reason to just ship me off to the Federation. Samus steps away from the computer and makes her way to the stairs. Soon enough we come to another set of computers, and Samus starts looking through their data. Since the last computer gave us a hint to what they're working on maybe this one will too? Please just be something related to the possible upgrade.
Thermal Imaging software exceeding initial expectations
Well that just means it's doing better than they thought, right? It looks like it did better than they expected, but what does that mean for them? Well, I guess we'll get the answer to that on the ground floor. Looking over the railing, I notice a turret right under the walkway. Firing two missiles from Bloom, the turret is no more. Walking around the current level, I notice the second one and destroy it. With that done I jump over the railing and land on the ground level. Looking at the machine, I notice something shaped like Samus' visor. Guess that it's a Visor Upgrade that gives infrared vision. That seems useful!
Walking up to one of the computers without glowing cables, and scan it. Huh, Looks like they set up a quarantine site. Does it have something to do with whatever Phazon is? I hope we don't have to go there. I hear something power down and turn to see that the blue tube that was covering the Upgrade disappeared. Looks like there's only one left. Samus lands and walks over to the last computer with the cables, scanning it. With that, the glowing yellow rings moving around the upgrade disappear.
Samus walks up to the platform that holds it and walks into the upgrade. Bringing her hand up, she swipes two fingers in front of her Visor as it flashes. She starts typing on her Arm Cannons side panel, as everything starts going dark. Did they cut the power to this place!? After a moment, the only source of light comes from a White Shielded Door, at the same time I get an alert on my HUD letting me know Samus sent the Thermal Visor packet. Just in time too, I hear the sound of feet landing on the ground. Quickly switching to the Thermal Visor, I watch as the Hud changes to a dark violet color, with yellows and oranges taking the shape of the Space Pirates.
Quickly sprinting to the first one, I swing upward. It dodges, lashing out with its wrist blade that I parry. This one's different, it knows how to really fight. Ducking under a return stroke, I thrust the pommel spike at it. It leans out of the way, grabbing my sweat heart and throwing me into the wall. Quickly spinning, I plant my feet on it and push off using my Semblance. I land behind it, Crescent Rose resting across my back, the scythe blade sitting in my hand. After a moment, I heard a soft thud and turn to see Samus finishing off her opponent.
Now that I get a better look, this visor is kinda dizzying. Looking around to fast causes the colors to blend together, like motion blur in a lot of games. I'll just have to get used to it, it's not that big a deal. Making my way to Samus, I follow her up the ramps. Deep blues are spaced evenly on the floor, making it easier to see where to walk. I see a floating, bouncy yellow color behind a blue square. I'm guessing that's the holding cells housing the Metroids? Wait.... If they cut the power....
My guess was right, as the Metroid smashes through what I'm guessing is glass. Samus was ready as a missile flies out and smashes into it. Listening to Samus' earlier warning, I stay back and shoot it. It dodges my shots, and charges right at me. Jumping over it, I slice it in two. Why are they charging at me? The one from that glass tube, and now this one? Are all Metroids going to be going after me exclusively? I hope not.
Walking up another set of ramps, Samus fires a Super Missile at it. I'm surprised that it obliterates the Metroid immediately. Samus wasn't kidding about how strong those were. I think of the Sheegoth Crystal in my magazine case, how it powered up the Sheegoths breath attacks. I could use it to make Bloom, or Crescent Rose stronger. I'm still thinking on it. On the one hand, connecting the crystal to Bloom will let me use it as a sort of shield, blocking to empower the next missile. On the other, I could try to make something of a focusing lens to make stronger beam shots. It'll have to wait until we get back to her ship, though.
One last ramp, and another Metroid taken care of. As we get near the door, my Visor shows an orange circle next to the door. Before I can say anything, Samus shoots it with her Wave Beam. Orange lines appear above it, I guess those are circuits or wires. The door lights up after a moment, showing that it can be used now. Huh, guess the Wave Beam has enough of a charge to power up some machinery. Good to know.
Samus opens the door, and my visor starts getting fuzzy. What's going on? Samus pushes me out of the way and the sound of her Arm Cannon firing lets me know she's fighting something. I can sort of see what she's shooting through the fuzziness, and I aim Bloom at it. It must be messing with our Visors, I hope it doesn't affect targeting. A missile flies out and hits it, causing it to start spinning before it blows up, my Visor clearing up. Looking at the wreckage, I can tell it was at least designed to attack while disrupting Visor functions.
As we reach the end of the hallway, I'm surprise that I can see the door out of the next room. I guess this is why they meant by 'exceeding expectations'. Just how strong is this specific Visor? I'm also surprised to see some Space Pirates walking about up there, they reinforced that room quickly. Nodding to Samus, she opens the door and we both jump through it.
Samus immediately tackles and fires into a Pirates head. I rush towards the other trying to hide in the terminal alcove, only to Petal Burst back behind the central pillar. They fixed the turret, joy... I've only got three missiles left and turrets take at least two. Shrugging I quickly blitz under the Pirate, hooking him with Crescent Rose. As I fire my sweat heart, I aim Bloom at the turret and rapid fire the missiles. With both dealt with, Samus makes her way to the elevator. I run up and jump to the next level.
As I land, A space Pirate dropped from the ceiling. Samus blasts it with a missile. Is... is that all they have? Dropping from the ceiling and jet packs? There has to be more, or they wouldn't be as big a threat Samus and the Galactic Federation says. I guess I'll find out, considering it's likely we won't be leaving Tallon IV until what ever they're doing here is stopped.
we make it to the next set of computers, just before the room where we fight the first Metroid. A Pirate drops from the ceiling, but manage to hook it before it lands and fire. Since they fixed the turret on the ground floor, they probably fixed the one up there. Samus leaps up to the research room, firing a charged shot before using a missile. With the turret destroyed, there's nothing left for us here. Leaping up to the lab, I follow Samus to the door.
As Samus opens the door, I hear a chirp behind me. Turning around, I scream as I see rows of teeth as a Metroid pierces my Aura and latch onto me.
Notes:
Well, this scene hasn't left my head for about a year and a half!
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