The Dark Ages [Dark Data]

[Samus Aran]

Stuck in the time distortion field during the critical moment, they were helpless against Centaur Man’s arrow.

The darkness burned like nothing else; it was as though Samus has been plunged momentarily into a cloud of evaporated oil, soaking through her pores and rattling the systems of her Power Suit. Then the explosion came, throwing her from the ground. Only through years of training and experience did Samus manage to still keep her sense of mind, allowing her to fall properly and avoid taking serious damage.

Then it was over, and all that was left was the residual damage and pain. Samus took a breath, orienting herself before rising to her feet with a boost of blue light from her jetpack.

Okor had taken the brunt of the attack, and now stood toe-to-toe with the foe. Using his own … insides as a rope to keep Centaur Man immobilized. Samus felt a measure of respect burgeoning for the inhuman soldier, even as her stomach turned witnessing the extent of his mutation. He’d put himself in the line of fire to open up an opportunity for the rest of them to attack. He knew his role as frontline protector, and did not shy away from it. Corrupted or not, he was a true warrior.

And Samus would honor his request.

During her time in the Kingdom’s boot camp, she’d used practice blades. Day in, day out, she’d trained with the sword. Part of her had considered summoning such a blade, much like the one she’d temporarily acquired in Dante’s Abyss, but Samus had always been more pragmatic than romantic. As such, she’d come up with a far more multipurpose solution. The Buzz Beam. Half-chainsaw, half-sword, and borne of the same energy that powered her arm cannon. It was time to find out just how hard Centaur Man’s hide was.

They charged in unison, Samus and Hiro approaching one side of Okor and Madotsuki the other; Shinnah crossing around so that she could fire from the rear. A step from Centaur Man, Samus twisted her right hand to activate and lock the Buzz Beam, immediately causing a bright orange blade to protrude from the arm cannon. Then she thrust it into Centaur Man’s side.

The quadruped screamed and bucked as the solid beam fizzed and sparked against his dark energy-imbued armor. After a second the hard metal gave way to a squelch, and dark ichor coursed from the wound.

Centaur Man reared up and pointed his blaster towards the array of Okor’s innards, letting loose one, two, three shots. The marine’s guts finally let go, though it occurred to Samus in a horrifying moment of insight that they didn’t … seem to want to.

Okor’s sacrifice had bought them time to seriously injure the quadruped, but the fight was still far from over. Anticipating the move, Samus hopped backwards – and, just as she’d expected, the blue dome reappeared, bathing them all in its time-dilating light. This time, though, it seemed like the exclusive target of his fury was Okor; he’d reared his cannon and focused the storm of high-capacity fire solely at the disease-ridden warrior. Even with his inhuman capacity for enduring damage, it was more than he could withstand. Samus could only watch in horror, slow-motion, as Okor ate orb after orb of energy; across his face, shattering against his shoulder plates, sinking deep into his exposed innards.

In the final seconds of the time-bubble, Centaur Man relented his assault, ducking out of the array of slow-motion projectiles that Samus and the others had sent his way. He ate a few of them, but didn’t seem to mind. His mission was accomplished, and as the bubble collapsed in on itself, Okor flew to the floor.

Samus just barely restrained herself from unleashing another Zero Laser then and there; they’d not entered nebula space yet, and they didn’t know what awaited them. Instead, she did the next best thing, twisting her clenched fist to open up the wings of her arm cannon and activate Gatling Mode. Hiro had been even quicker than she to retaliate, leaping onto Centaur Man’s back and going for his spine even as Samus unleashed the energy rain just inches from him. Neither of them cared that much. Okor had bought them an opportunity, and respecting his command to ‘Kill’ was the very least they could do.