//------------------------------// // Tallon IV: Enemy Territory // Story: Another Hatchling // by Tatsurou //------------------------------// After Pinkie's comment, no one spoke. It was plain to both Samus and Spike that everyone gathered around the table was eager to hear the rest of the story. The heavy silence was interrupted only by the sound of crunching coming from above the table. Glancing upward, Discord could be seen floating in midair, munching on some popcorn. "Oh, don't stop on my account!" he said eagerly. "This story is riveting!" As he spoke, he rolled over to show where small metal bolts seemed to be holding the various different pieces of his anatomy together for some obscure reason. "Discord!" Fluttershy said, her voice close to a scold. "What is that you're eating?" "Umm...it's just popcorn," he said nervously. "And did you bring enough for everyone?" she asked sternly. Letting out a sigh of relief, Discord snapped his fingers. Everyone around the table found a bag of popcorn sized to their appetite in their hooves, hands, or claws. "Indeed I did!" "This almost feels like we're getting ready for a movie!" Scootaloo pointed out. Samus chuckled. "Well, hopefully the rest of the story will be as good..." As the pair entered the Phazon Mines, they discovered the area lived up to its name. Phazon ore was visible, sparking along the stones beyond the metal walkway that led to the Mine Entrance. Past the tunnel, the entrance to the Mines opened up in a massive open air courtyard. Various paths outward were visible, along with a large magnetic winch, obviously for lifting various objects around the area. As they continued onward, Spike's bulk began to work against him. While he was able to take quite a few hits, the narrow corridors they passed through for the most part left him little room to maneuver, making him an easy target for both turrets and pirates. Thankfully, his high intensity flame breath was able to tear through the armor of most turrets and overheat them, and the Pirates hesitated on first sight of him every single time. Given he locked them with the same predatory gaze he had given her when he first woke up at this stage, Samus privately thought this was because it took a few moments for the Pirates to realize No, this wasn't Ridley bearing down on them. Spike also had difficulty dealing with the Wave Troopers that seemed to infest the halls where they were least expected. Their armor resisted both Spike's flames and his physical attacks, short of managing to get a grip on them with both claws and fangs and tearing them apart. Unfortunately, the confined corridors worked for the pirates and against Spike in this regard, as they were able to evade him for the most part. Samus was grateful that Spike was so durable at this point, but he was starting to take some serious damage. Thankfully, many of the narrow corridors passed over pools of Phazon. A bit of a struggle with a grate here or there, and Spike was able to lower his head into the pool and drink up. The Phazon was rapidly metabolized to restore his energy and repair the damage he had taken. Samus breathed a sigh of relief at each sight of Phazon, as it was an opportunity for Spike to recover. When they reached the larger chambers, both of them were relieved. For Spike, it was an area large enough for him to move around in. For Samus, it was an opportunity to collect some Space Pirate Data to get more information on what they would likely be facing...not to mention a chance to walk around without tripping over Spike's tail. And while the Wave Troopers - and the occasional Ice Trooper - they encountered were just as durable, Spike found that another way to inflict heavy damage to them was to grab hold of one, climb as high as he could, and then hurl them at the ground with all his might. Few got back up after such a trip, especially if he aimed for a control console or similar narrow obstacle. The other advantage to large, vertical chambers when they came across them was that Spike was able to scale the walls with Samus clinging to a shoulder spike, making for a great deal of increased mobility. After a time of exploration, however, they came to a large chamber containing a massive stasis pod which must have been malfunctioning, as the creature inside burst out of it to attack them. Samus' scan visor revealed it to be an Elite Pirate, a Phazon infused giant double her height, heavily muscled and heavily armed, with a large missile launcher on its back. As it roared its challenge, Spike reared to his hind legs and roared back, slamming his fists together. The Elite Pirate responded to the challenge, and charged. Spike met its charge halfway, holding it at bay as the two beasts wrestled for dominance. The two were evenly matched physically, but the Elite Pirate took advantage of its arsenal, firing missiles at Spike from the launcher on its back. Spike roared in pain after the first volley, then released a blast of his flames to melt the launcher to slag, causing it to explode against the Elite Pirate's back, weakening it enough for Spike to start pushing it back. The sheer magnitude of the struggle had frozen Samus temporarily. While she was no stranger to fighting massively powerful beasts, witnessing two such creatures clashing was a new one for her, and left her breathless as she watched. However, the moment the struggle turned so the Elite Pirate had its back to her, she snapped out of it and took advantage of the situation, firing charged Wave Beam shots at its joints. With the paralyzing effect of the electrical discharge, the Elite Pirate stumbled, allowing Spike to force it to its knees before slamming it heavily into the ground, nearby force fields, and the walls. Before long, the Elite Pirate went down hard, the force fields overloaded from having the Pirate slammed into it repeatedly. "You alright there, Spike?" Samus asked after the fight. "You took a few heavy hits there." Spike shrugged, rotating his shoulders and massaging some scorch marks where he'd been hit. "I'll live," he replied, shaking himself off. An eager gleam lit his eyes. "That was intense!" Samus stared at him for a time. "...you really enjoyed that, didn't you?" "Hell yeah!" Spike said eagerly, only to wince as he received an arm cannon to the back of his head. "Ow!" "Language!" Samus snapped. "What have I told you about swearing?" Spike lowered his head, his expression becoming sheepish and good natured. "Sorry." "Do you really have a problem with swearing?" Twilight asked curiously. "Fuck no," Samus replied easily, startling laughter from several of the ponies. "When used properly, they can be great stress relievers. It was just the easiest thing I could scold him for to snap him out of the battle frenzy state. That was the last thing we needed there." Spike nodded. "Yeah...me in a battle frenzy is not pretty." Rainbow started to say something, but Spike locked eyes with her and shook his head gently. Her eyes widened in response...and her wings snapped open. "Woof!" Pinkie shouted in Rainbow's ear for no apparent reason, making the cyan pegasus jump. Once everyone stopped laughing at that, Celestia turned to Samus. "I presume such a battle drew attention?" Samus nodded. "It did..." Several Ice Troopers swarmed into the battle site. As Samus prepped her Ice Beam, Spike grabbed hold of a nearby Phazon processing pipe and tore it open, splashing raw Phazon over the Pirates. Since neither they nor their armor could handle raw Phazon, they soon dropped dead. Spike then gave Samus a lift over the Phazon, taking a brief break to drink some to replenish his strength. Not long after, after a fight with a cloaked sentry bot, Samus was able to acquire a new Morph Ball weapon...the Power Bomb. Samus smiled at everyone gathered. "One of my most powerful and useful upgrades," she said softly. "And the one you have the hardest time finding every time you need it," Spike teased, getting an arm cannon upside the head in response.