Metroid Prime – Federation Soldier Log #09

I’m not Samus Aran. I can’t wall jump, roll into a ball or somersault over waves of enemies. Armed with a human-sized mech, Federation equipment and a positive attitude, I’m just an ordinary soldier doing my best. I joined the Federation Force three years ago and I’ve been working my way up, taking care of a few Space Pirates here and there and helping other soldiers where I can. Today I’ve been assigned my toughest, most dangerous mission yet.

I’m going to be all alone on the planet Bion. Three other soldiers were meant to join me on this mission but they never showed up, mumbling something about it not being a real mission. Those fools have no idea what’s important, they think they can solve everything by signing a petition. These Space Pirate operations are serious enough to completely wipe us out, with all the advanced tech they are building. Regardless of the threat, I had a job to do and I was ready. I hopped off the safety of the G.F.S. Aegis into a small ship, at least the pilot showed up. He dropped me off on Bion and it was time to get busy.

My job is to get back to the ship with a cart full of power cells, and boy there’s some fierce weather out there. Lightning storms are sweeping the area, and they come hard and fast. Think I’ll just hang out here for a bit until the lightning calms. There are little tracks to push the cart along but I’ve got to clear the way first, all by myself. This is not going to be easy but as long as I take it slowly, I think I can do it. I’m here now and I have no choice, I’m going back to the ship and that cart is coming with me. I’ve always come through in previous missions, so I just have to believe in myself and do my best.

Gee, this lightning storm sure is taking a while. I noticed a small opening in the rock but couldn’t quite reach it. While waiting for the storm to pass, I dragged the cart over in an attempt to get some height to hover over there. YEP! Nice, I turned a corner and shot open a container to reveal a mod for my mech. Not sure what it is yet, but I’ll look at it properly when I get back from the mission.

Looks like the storm has passed for now. After clearing a fallen pillar with a charged shot I looked up to see some kind of totem pole switch. This probably determined the direction of the cart. I shot the totem to make sure it would be going in the right direction. I was ready to push the cart now, that little shelter would be a good place to stop if the lightning storm came back.

Phwoa, hut, hnnngggggg, hhhhuuu! This cart sure is heavy. I can see why they wanted 4 soldiers on this mission. I can still push it myself, slowly but surely. It wasn’t too hard as long as I didn’t let go of my A button and kept scanning the area for threats. Everything seemed okay so far, and I was building confidence that I could do this alone. I parked the cart in the first shelter just as another lightning storm swept over. The crackling and flashing was quite scary but I stayed with the cart. The lightning stopped and I peeked out of the cage to look at the sky. WHOA!

Of course there just HAD to be Space Pirates here. Samus was meant to clear these out but I guess she is not as perfect as everyone says. PEW PEW PEW, a few shots took care of this one, but another one came out from a ledge on the rock. It jumped behind the rock again and I built up a charged shot. As soon as it poked its head around I’d get it… come on… where are you… BOOM! Goodbye. I turned back to see the cart safety still in the cage, but another storm was coming now. Oh well, guess I just had to wait again. The safety of the cart was the most important thing.

The sky cleared again and I pushed on. Looks like the storm blew some rubble onto the track. No problem, I can take care of that with a few shots. It made a satisfying crumbling sound as the rocks parted. Alright, just need to push this cart to the next cage now. With the timing of the previous storms there could be one any second.

Just as I got inside the cage the sky became orange again, but another problem came up. Space Pirates! MORE OF THEM! The last few must have alerted their friends somehow. The storm was JUST ABOUT here but luckily the cart was safely inside. However, if the Space PIrates opened the door the storm would sweep through and destroy everything. PEW PEW PEW, I landed some accurate shots and took care of two pirates. It was just like training but with a real chance I could die on a foreign planet. There was one more Space Pirate hiding, but the storm was HERE! I had a choice to make, run around looking for him or protect the cart? Obviously, the cart comes first.

OH MY GOD! The storm was here and the Space Pirate didn’t even care! That door wasn’t strong enough to survive its attacks for long, but I couldn’t shoot it or the storm would get in. I could not open the door under any circumstance or lightning would ravage the cart full of power cells. I braced myself for the worst with a charged shot ready, and just had to pray the door would hold.

WOW! Lightning struck the door and the Space Pirate vanished into tiny particles. What a way to die, I guess that’s what the pirate gets for trying to hide and lure me out before. You snooze you lose. I was very glad I didn’t open the door now, and I could push on safely.

The next thing in the way was a family of Fire Hoppers. They were constantly spawning out of a mound so I knew I had to take care of that first. I strafed around to avoid their fire, while keeping my aim steady on the mound. It took quite a few shots but I destroyed it, then took out the remaining hoppers.

If the whole team was here we could have done that much quicker, but alas. I was determined to do a good job no matter how much time it took. Some soldiers only care about their time and score, but I knew how important these power cells were. If I could get them back to the ship safely, we would have crucial intel on the Space Pirate operations. With the amount of pirates here protecting it, it had to be important.

After clearing two hopper mounds I retreated back to the cage, but the storm was coming. *GROWL* Uh oh, MORE pirates? I could see three of them darting out of a cave. This was bad. If I ran back to the cart they would get in and destroy it, so I had to direct all their fire at me. PEW PEW, I took care of one while diving into the cave myself. It looked like there was a whole nest of them. Oh god, the storm is HERE now.

I had shot all the pirates I could see but now I was stuck in the cave with the storm right above me. Oh my god. Could the storm sweep through here and do damage? It has a roof but the entrance is also wide open. Suddenly the place was FLOODED with orange electricity and my health started to drop. Oh god, not like this. I thought about the cart, it was still in the other cage. Hopefully no Space Pirates saw it. ZAP! The electricity was aggressive and my health was really low now. I fired a repair capsule in desperation. If I could wait until my health was low enough, I could get the maximum benefit from this.

Swoop, I grabbed the repair capsule and my health rocketed back up, but was still falling rapidly. Come on, storm. Pass, PLEASE! I had one more repair capsule, so I fired it and grabbed it in the hopes of outlasting the storm.

I peered outside and braced for the worst. The sky was still orange but it seemed like the electricity had passed, as I stopped taking damage. Wow. Without those repair capsules I would have been left for dead in the cave. I wonder if anyone would ever find me? There’s no one in the ship but the pilot, and he’s not trained for this. I went back to the cart, still there, safe and sound. With the hopper nest taken care of and the cave clear of Space Pirates, I pushed onwards to the next cage. The rush of near-death adrenaline gave me enough strength to keep pushing it by myself.

I made it safely to the next cage and peered out the front. More hoppers, and the storm was on its way back. I resisted the urge to shoot the nest, as I probably wouldn’t have enough time to clear them out. With no repair capsules left, I couldn’t risk anything. If Fire Hoppers came rushing out with the storm I might be overwhelmed. Retreating back, I watched the storm pass again. The thunder was crackling but I was getting used to the sound. It wasn’t so scary as long as I was in the cage, and I had confidence in the doors and my surroundings.

The storm passed and I took care of the hopper nest quite easily. Two Space Pirates came out from above and I took care of them too. Phew, what’s next? It all seemed clear so I pushed the cart onwards. Finally, I could see the end where the ship was parked.

The storm had really ravaged this final area. I cleared the rocks with a few regular shots, and blew up the pillar with a charge shot. I looked around for threats, surely a Space Pirate would have heard that pillar exploding if they were around.

There was a little cave to the left with a shiny mod in it. The storm would be on its way back soon, so I wouldn’t be able to push the cart all the way to the end just yet. I decided to use that extra time to grab the mod. I approached it and could not believe what happened.

WHAT THE HELL IS THAT!? A giant rock with… hands and feet? It JUMPED out through the wall of the cave and started attacking me. I shot a few rounds at it with my gun’s lock-on, but the shots bounced off. WHAT? The rock was protecting its body, so I had to aim at its arms or legs. Luckily I had practiced aiming a lot at Federation training. By holding a little button on my gun I could stay locked on, yet still move my aim outwards to target its arms freely.

I started landing shots on its arms and its health dropped, but only slowly. This thing was a tank. After a few shots it fired a giant electrical ball at me. What WAS this thing? Some kind of Space Pirate experiment? Something born natively on this planet to withstand electricity? Before I could think too hard the thing TELEPORTED behind me. This could not be natural. I landed a crucial charge shot on one of its weak points, and with a few more shots it was finally down. Holy crap. I returned to the cart and waited for one more storm to pass.

Almost. There. HNNNNNGGGG!!! I was absolutely exhausted at this point, but the sight of the ship’s entrance inspired a final ounce of strength. All I had to do now was keep pushing.

YES!! Just a bit more and I’ll be safe and sound. A lot of thoughts went through my head in this moment. I took on a lot of challenges here all by myself. I fought hoppers, pirates and a big angry rock. I withstood an electrical storm. I pushed a cart across a planet. I felt a sense of accomplishment and pride. Others doubted there was anything interesting in the mission, but I knew it would be worth it. It’s very clear there is heavy Space Pirate activity and these power cells would answer a lot of questions.

Safe and sound. That was one hell of a mission. With the cart firmly secured, I left it to the analysts to figure out what’s in the power cells. That was a bit above my expertise, but I had given them what they needed. That’s the only way this Federation can function and survive, if we all work together. With Space Pirate activities picking up, we all have to be at our best. I have an ominous feeling that something BIG is being worked on, something that could wipe us all out. Why else are the Space Pirates experimenting with new kinds of weapons?

I hoped my efforts would be noticed just to highlight this threat, but in reality nobody reads these logs. You can have the best damn mission of all time, but the log will be lost and misinterpreted according to others needs. Oh well, I had to remain positive because I knew there would be more difficult missions now. We were just scratching the surface of the Space Pirates operations. The ship took off and I was ready for the best sleep of my life.