"So what did you do after returning to your ship?" Luna inquired of Rundus.
"I took the advice and went up into space, sending the Olympus a mayday," Rundus replied. "It wasn't long after that that I was picked up and they began medical treatment, as well as trying to study what happened to me." He couldn't suppress his chuckle. "I say 'trying' because they couldn't find any trace of Phazon in my system to study what effect it had on me."
"I'm just that good," Spike preened.
"While Spike was taking Rundus back to his ship, I moved on," Samus explained. "The new Ice Missiles proved quite useful. Not only could I freeze enemies and other obstacles, but one fired into fuel gel provided a temporary ice platform I could jump on. It could even freeze flowing fuel gel, turning a pouring gel waterfall into a frozen platform to jump across." She chuckled at the sight of Rainbow taking assiduous notes. "Still planning on making that video game?"
"Yup!" Rainbow agreed. "I'm going to make a mint!"
"Oh, I love mints!" Pinkie called happily. "They taste so good on my tongue and make my breath so chilly fresh!"
Chuckling, Samus moved on. "I managed to get a scan of the Space Pirate shield generator...but none of my weapons were tough enough to damage it. Based on my scans, even Spike's arsenal wouldn't have damaged it. The Aurora Unit indicated I'd need to find some new sort of armament."
"So we went back to the main area of Bryyo," Spike explained. "With ice weaponry, more paths were available. And, since I had to take it easy carrying Rundus, we actually made it back to the ship at about the same time..."
Once back in the northern area of Bryyo, Spike and Samus made their way towards a path beyond the crashed frigate they had been unable to pursue before, which their ice weaponry now made viable. On their way there, the Aurora Unit informed them that along said path was a Federation landing site, where they would be able to upgrade their ship.
They also received a message about the malfunction in the PED. Apparently, the stimulation of the unique Phazon inside Samus by the PED caused it to go into overproduction. The Aurora Unit offered the Federation's apologies for not foreseeing the possibility.
Spike, Rundus, Ghor, and Gandrayda all snorted.
"Well, that's what they said," Samus complained defensively.
Reaching the landing site they were told about, Samus and Spike looked around to see what they needed to do to get the ship in. However, just as Samus found the controls, an alert began. The whole site closed itself down as several of the Bryyonian creatures attacked them. Samus and Spike, as was their habit in these situations, went back to back at first until they could identify all threats, then split apart to take the enemies out in a pincer attack.
Between Samus' new Ice Missiles and Spike's Ice Breath, it was relatively easy to freeze most of the enemies, after which Spike charged through them to smash them to bits. Once all the enemies were destroyed, the controls became available again. Since all paths to the controls for the skylight were through Morph Ball tunnels in the ventilation system, Spike stayed at the controls for the ship upgrade system, ready to act once the ship was in place.
As she went, Samus collected an Energy Cell that she thought might prove useful later. This also disengaged the system it was powering, causing a force field to drop, revealing a new path which required heat-based weaponry to open. Samus made a mental note of it, deciding to explore it later after upgrading her ship and dealing with the Leviathan.
Once Samus had the bay doors opened, Spike lowered the platforms to clear the pad. Samus then called the ship to land with her Command Visor, allowing Spike to trigger the upgrade. The Ship Missiles it provided proved to be exactly what they needed to destroy the Shield Generators.
"The Ship Missiles weren't just useful for dealing with the Generators," Samus explained. "Not only were there other obstacles that could be destroyed with them, the ship could also be called in to deliver an aerial bombardment on any enemies we were dealing with, as long as we were in open air and not somewhere protected by anti-air artillery."
"Sounds like it would have been more efficient to give Spike Power Bombs," Rainbow pointed out as she looked up from her notes.
Samus rolled her eyes as Spike chuckled. "Possibly," she allowed. "But it was still useful in a lot of situations. And it certainly looked amazing..."
Since there weren't any anti-Spike artillery platforms set up in Bryyo Fire, Spike decided that the most efficient way of destroying the Generator in that area was to fly Samus there on his back, get into position where she could lock onto the Generator with her Command Visor, and order the bombardment. They could then meet up with the ship in midair, board, and head for the next region of Bryyo to go after the other Generator.
The strategy proved quite effective, though Samus insisted on Spike roosting somewhere sturdy before she called in the gunship. Once braced above where Samus had gotten the generator scan in the first place, she attempted to call in the ship...only to find the signal blocked.
Tracking the source of the interference, they found a Pirate jamming station where they'd fought Rundus. Before Samus could give any instructions, Spike dove like a meteorite, seized an armored aerotrooper, and smashed it into the jamming station. Samus followed up with several ice missiles just before Spike unleashed his flame breath. The resulting temperature variance caused the station to crack as the metal weakened. With the signal interrupted, Samus called in the gunship as Spike took to the air.
The ship swept in, launching its barrage of missiles. The heavy impacts and explosives obliterated the Pirate equipment.
The explosion when the same missiles slammed into the shield generator, however, was much more satisfying to watch.
"After that," Samus continued, "we had to head for the western portion of Bryyo for the other generator. Things...weren't as easy there..."