Hunter's failure

[chozo_girl]

1

[Look at that, it's the unmistakable helmet shape of the Hunter-1 coming into the hangar. Samus is back in White Chalice!

And from the way she looks as she jumps out of her ship, however, she's not too pleased with this. she walks through the hangar with inhumanly fast steps. She needs to talk with Ayame and Dan urgently to know the results of their calculations about the incoming disaster. She doesn't think they have much time as is.

Intercept her?]

2

[If you didn't catch her right out of the ship, it's not hard to catch her later. She's atop the deck, looking at the sky. Can her Chozo senses perceive the thing she failed to stop yesterday? Who knows. But she looks like a statue there, and not of the nice, pretty sort. Rather more like the kind fearful primitives made sacrifices to.

If you want to have a conversation with her, though, this is probably your best chance]


-
[There might be a 3 coming depending on how the first two go]

Comments

[chozo_girl]

[Nod]

Yes.

I am now thinking of how to deal with the new situation.

[saikyocivrobo]

What did you find out all this time when you were gone on your own?

[chozo_girl]

A great many things. The Space Pirates had taken station in several of the moons and planets of your system. I uprooted them.

You may remember I was surprised that they had not attacked, without a leader. I was right and wrong. They would have done so, but they found a leader. Or more precisely one found them. When I read their files I got mentions of "the Dark Hunter".

I understood later.

[saikyocivrobo]

It was that creature. I heard that something that looked very similar to your armor was spotted... And it's the thing that summoned the Leviathan.

[chozo_girl]

Yes.

Do you remember the Prime Phazon Metroid?

[saikyocivrobo]

Not an easy thing to forget.

Is that thing some kind of Space Pirate corrupted by its power? Even more than normal ones?

[chozo_girl]

No. It is more closely related to Metroids, but corrupted by Phazon.

If I had to make a theory, I would say it is likely it was some Queen-capable metroid larva that became corrupted in-egg and was born an enslaved abomination. The reason it looked like it did the first time we fought it was that it used to be so unstable that it needed to steal other creature's shells to contain itself - the red and blue pure Phazon core we saw when shattering it was the true shape of the creature.

[saikyocivrobo]

I never expected a humanoid Metroid to appear... Or one that seems to be highly intelligent, for that matter.

How did it summon the Leviathan, exactly? And what can we expect from both of them, apart from the Leviathan presumably being really huge?

[chozo_girl]

It was not originally humanoid. It took that form after contact with my castoff armor and my DNA.

As for how, it is simple. Where the Metroid Prime used to be but a slave, it is now a master. Through the signal you saw it contacted the Leviathan and took control of it. I believe it is now litte more than an extension of its will, thousands of tons of Phazon and rock imbued with the single desire to poison this planet by its mind.

[She makes a small pause before going for the next question]

[chozo_girl]

I do not know about the Leviathan. Even that name is but my attempt at an approximation of the uneasy whispers of your sky as it draws near.

I can tell you about the Dark Hunter. It has adapted worryingly well to its shell. It seems to have been able to listen to some of my life beats through it, and learned from it. It has even managed to dominate its surplus generation of phazon through the armor's adaptive systems. It is fast, powerful, and far more cruelly intelligent than it looks, as I found myself in our first encounter.

[saikyocivrobo]

I assume it was a fight to a standstill, because both of you are still alive. Which means it's at least as powerful as you, and has an army of Space Pirates crazed with Phazon and the Leviathan at its command.

Fighting this thing will be interesting. In the ancient Chinese way.

[chozo_girl]

It is difficult to compare power. But it outsmarted me clearly in our first encounter. I was taken entirely by surprise and almost paid for it.

[Most people might have trouble admitting this kind of thing, but Samus definitely doesn't seem to be most people]

[saikyocivrobo]

It will be different next time. You're not someone who lets one enemy outsmart her twice. Neither will you be alone.

[chozo_girl]

If Chalice forces intend to accompany me, you need to begin Phazon proofing mechs. The Leviathan is likely to be composed of at least 50% pure solidified Phazite.

[saikyocivrobo]

I'm pretty sure some of them are protected already... But we should run tests to make sure everyone who fights is safe. Last thing we need is Phazon affecting our allies.

[chozo_girl]

[Nod]

My suit can probably hold up for about an hour in that environment in normal combat conditions. Less if I take too much damage. If it comes to it, I can resist the Great Poison - it can only break my body.

But I do not think most pilots would. Tell Ayame to think carefully about who she sends.

[saikyocivrobo]

I'll do that. Sometimes I feel like I'm White Chalice's unofficial science officer... And, being a chemist, Phazon certainly falls under my jurisdiction.

By the way... One more question. More private one.

[chozo_girl]

[Silence. Samus is probably waiting for what the question is]

[saikyocivrobo]

Did you find out anything about the baby Metroid?

[chozo_girl]

Yes.

[The surrounding area seems to cool down by several degrees. Whatever she found, it's probably not very good]

[saikyocivrobo]

Do you want to talk about it?

[chozo_girl]

No.

[Silence for a few moments. Then Samus remembers how most humans speak. The last couple months hunting pirates have set her on more pirate-y thought patterns]

I do not want to, nor do I not want to.

[saikyocivrobo]

You're being very literal today.

Alright, I'd like to hear about it. It sounds important.

[chozo_girl]

The Space Pirates did create some clones, but less than I expected. It was not until recently I pieced why.

It seems this "Dark Hunter" intends to turn it into another creature like itself. It thus stopped the cloning process after a few dozen.

I do not know the reason. Perhaps it desires the birthing power it lost, since Pirate scientists determined the larva to be Queen-capable. Perhaps it feels some sort of twisted "kinship" for it, both being of metroid ascendance.

[chozo_girl]

Either way, it will not matter.