Metroid: Lambda Squad 2

Chapter 1

Note: Told through Richard's perspective

The Doleous incident was still fresh off our minds for the past six months. Sure, we haven't lost each other, as none of us died. But, with Samus revealing herself as alive and disguised as the librarian, Massux Raxan, while the Samus we chased down and fought against was actually Mother Brain in Samus's power-suit, we didn't know what to do. We wanted Samus to help us whenever we were in danger during each of our missions, but every time we were, Samus wouldn't appear to save us. Instead, we had to rely on our own strengths and wits to get ourselves out of each difficult situation. After all, Samus said it herself: She's retired and needed a new generation of heroes to replace her, and my teammates and I are those heroes.

It also didn't help that even though Mother Brain had been imprisoned for the past six months ever since the Doleous incident, she still constantly plotted on controlling our minds, via her brain-cells she inserted inside our heads. Sure, we'd fight her off every time she'd do so, but when she'd return, her control on us would grow more powerful than last time. However, as we completed each mission and fought off Mother Brain's control on us, we had to wonder what Mother Brain was truly planning for us, since every attempt to control us would usually end in failure, no matter how much more powerful she'd become when she'd return.

We were at our bunkers, sitting around on our beds as we talked. "So," Jenny said to us, "I wonder what that secret surprise Commander Sonia mentioned to us really is."

"It better be a new mission," said Joseph. "I want to fill my enemies' stomachs with lead, and sitting around here waiting for that 'secret surprise' is boring me to the same fate as our previous enemies!"

"You still haven't changed," Billy said to Joseph, "haven't you? I thought that ever since our previous missions, like the Doleous incident six months ago, you'd go give up your impatient ways."

"He's still the same arrogant battle-junkie he used to be," I said to Billy, "and he'll always be one, no matter how many missions he completes with us."

"Shut up," Joseph yelled at me.

"Well for me," said Alexis, "I hope it's the opposite of what Joseph wants. I just want to retire and become a normal teenager, yet every chance I receive is wasted because if I left, you'd be left without a medic."

"I thought you'd also change as well, Alexis," I said to her. "After all, when we fought Mother Brain in our minds to regain control from her, you toughened up and grew more independent."

"It was just that one time," Alexis replied. "Besides, isn't it strange? Stronger and more experienced in combat as we all are ever since our previous missions, our personalities haven't changed at all anyway."

"Yeah," Jenny said. "Billy is still critically honest, Mariana is still shy and silent, and Richard is still the same wise leader he's always been."

"That's because as your team-leader," I said, "I'm supposed to act like one. Otherwise, I'd make too many screw-ups that could cost us any of our lives."

"Lambda Squad," ordered a familiar voice, "assemble now!"

We got out of our beds and lined-up, standing as straight and orderly as possible, facing Commander Sonia as she did likewise with us. Next to her was a young boy the same age as us, wearing the same military uniform as us, as we wondered who he was and why our commander brought him to us. "So," I said, "that boy is that 'secret surprise' you're talking about, right?"

"I don't know how you figured it out yourself, Captain Richard," replied Commander Sonia, "but yes, this young recruit is that secret surprise I've been talking about."

"Why did you keep him a secret," Alexis asked.

"Because," said Commander Sonia, "had I explained him to you, a small portion of that information would've leaked to the outside and be stolen by some random space pirate. His skills are invaluable to you, and another reason it was a secret was because an enemy would've captured him and used his skills against you." She then faced the boy and said, "Why don't you introduce yourself to your new team, Eric?"

"Yes, ma'am," said the boy. He would then face us and say, "My name is Eric, fifteen years of age, just like you. I heard stories about you and your acts of heroism, how you saved the galaxy from Metroid Supreme and its creator, Mother Brain. I'm a skilled mechanical, electrical, and cybernetic engineer, and I thought if I'd take my skills and further develop them at the Federation Military School, they might eventually assign me to you, so that I can step into your shoes and become a potential savior of the galaxy, like you guys."

"That's very noble of you," I said, "but I highly doubt if..."

"Don't bother objecting," Commander Sonia interrupted. "If you're asking if he's not going to be a liability, let me tell you that we've managed to alleviate all your worries."

"How so," asked Jenny.

"We did more than genetically-modify and torture-train Eric into your new squad-mate," replied Commander Sonia. "Because you each have Mother Brain's cells installed into your brains by her, you're capable of telepathic communication with each other, allowing you to share each other's thoughts and senses and thus act as a much stronger unit. So, our best military surgeons took some of the imprisoned Mother Brain's cells and inserted them inside Eric's brain, so that he and you can telepathically connect to each other's thoughts and senses, thus work with you as a team more efficiently."

"Again," said Alexis, "I appreciate what you did with Eric, inserting Mother Brain's cells inside his head. But, wouldn't that mean Mother Brain also has..."

"Didn't I say 'no objections,'" asked Commander Sonia as she interrupted Alexis.

"Sorry, ma'am," replied Alexis.

"During his time on the operation table and at military school," continued Commander Sonia, "we also torture-trained him to resist any of Mother Brain's telepathic control over him, similar to how you did likewise every time she'd return to control you six."

"She's not lying, you know," replied Eric. "Training to resist Mother Brain's control nearly killed me more often than you can imagine. Hell, I even killed a few guards and scientists whenever she succeeded. But, I never gave up, as long as I gained self-control whenever she'd attack my brain. Thanks to my military education, genetic modifications, and my fully-developed ability to resist Mother Brain, I promise you, I won't be a liability."

"Break that promise," Joseph said to Eric, "and I'll kick your ass so hard you'd be flying to the edge of the universe!"

"Joseph," the five of us and Commander Sonia yelled at him.

"What," asked Joseph. "I was just joking."

"Keep the jokes at a minimum," Commander Sonia replied. "No soldier should ever afford to play around while on the battlefield."

"Yes, ma'am," replied Joseph.

"Then I'll be leaving you to get to know your new comrade," Commander Sonia replied. "If you need me, I'll be at HQ, scouting any threats in the galaxy. Once I find any threats, you and your seventh teammate will arrive at the debriefing room, ASAP, to get your next assignment."

"Yes, ma'am," the six of us saluted Commander Sonia.

"As for you, Eric," Commander Sonia said to Eric, "promise you'll play nice with your new friends, and in turn they'll do likewise with you."

"Yes, ma'am," soluted Eric.

"Then I guess all of you are dismissed until further notice," said Commander Sonia, as she left our bunker, leaving Eric behind in the process.

Eric would then face the six of us and say excitedly, "This is so cool! I can't believe I'm teaming up with Samus's replacements as saviors of the galaxy!"

"Don't get your hopes too high," replied Billy. "Just remember, balance your confidence levels, otherwise you're either the equivalent of Alexis - unable to handle combat-stress - or the equivalent of Joseph - arrogant to the point of mistakenly exposing your weaknesses to the enemy."

"Billy," Joseph and Alexis called out to Billy.

"Sorry," Billy replied. "Just wanted to be honest with Eric."

"So," I said to Eric, "you said you're an engineer?"

"Yes," Eric replied, as he took out a small hacking-tool out of his pocket. "I can still wield a pistol to defend myself, like Alexis, but I also have a wireless hacking-tool that lets me hack into any computer system I see. I'm also good at repairing anything that's mechanical, and can even drive vehicles like tanks and ships despite my age, provided that I hack into its systems, that is."

"I have a small laptop that's connected to the Internet," said Jenny. "I know I shouldn't let others hack into my computer out of fear that they'd use my private information to get what they want, but just this once, I'd like to see how you're capable."

"Then by all means," replied Eric, "get your laptop. I promise you, I won't gather any private information from you and give it away to others."

"Okay," Jenny replied, as she took out her laptop underneath her bed and showed it to Eric. "You see the screen," Jenny asked Eric. "I don't usually allow my teammates to log-on to my account, or share my password with them, out of fear that they might read my journal, e-mails, or anything else that's private. I won't tell you the password, but I want to see if you can log-on to my account without the need for my password."

"Okay," replied Eric. He would then use his hacking-tool in front of the laptop's screen, pressing several buttons on it, as we heard the log-on music coming out of Jenny's laptop.

Jenny would face the screen to herself, and was shocked to see something. "What is it," I asked.

"Look," Jenny said, as she showed the screen to us. We were surprised to see that Eric managed to log-on to her account with just his hacking-tool instead of Jenny's password!

"You see," asked Eric. "I'm an engineer, and every military squad has to have some sort of engineer."

"Then we welcome you to your new extended family," I said to Eric.

"Just promise us you won't hack into our laptops to dig-up anything we keep private," said Jenny.

"Hey," said Eric, "you're my new teammates. It's not like I'm some spy working for a group of space-pirates, let alone your average peeping-tom who'd want to see you in your birthday suits."

"You better," Joseph said. "We're experienced combat-vets and you're just a recruit who recently graduated military school. Peep at our secrets, and we'll peep at yours!"

"Do you have to be so literal," Alexis asked Joseph.

"What," Joseph replied. "Just wanted to be honest with him."

"That's okay," said Eric. "I've been torture-trained and disciplined to handle threats from others maturely, regardless of whose side they're on."

It was at that point, we would have a new teammate, and a new friend to socialize with any time we're not going on a mission or training for any future missions.

As we sat in a circle on the floor, introducing more of ourselves to Eric, Jenny asked him, "So, what was your life like before you joined the Federation military?"

"Horrible," replied Eric.

"Funny," I said. "I thought you'd join the military because you were inspired by us."

"I still am," replied Eric. "It's just that you taught me a valuable lesson: If you have a skill-set, use it wisely rather than abusively."

"Abusively," asked Alexis.

"When I learned how to use a computer at age eight," said Eric, "I also learned so much of how a computer works, that I thought I'd use that knowledge for my own selfish desires. Have any of you once read the papers about the mysterious 'Man-Hacker?'"

"Not really," I said. "We were so busy fighting space pirates and protecting the galaxy after Samus's alleged 'death,' that we didn't have any time to gather news on the rest of the galaxy."

"Well," said Eric, "it was me. I used to hack into other people's computers all the time, using their own accounts to use their money as my own and expose their disturbing secrets for the galaxy to see. Nobody would learn my secret identity, and would give me the name, 'Man-Hacker,' because they thought I'd be some twenty-year-old college student with too much time to spare. But then the police tracked me down and caught me, and were even surprised that I was actually ten-years-old, not twenty-one. I was tried in court and was sentenced to two years at a juvenile detention ship for identity-theft and robbery."

"You were a criminal once," Alexis asked Eric.

"Unfortunately," Eric replied, "yes. When I was released from juvenile detention after serving my two-year sentence and returned to my house, I didn't know what to do with my life anymore now that I knew that hacking into others' computer-accounts was wrong. I didn't hack into anyone's computers anymore out of fear of going back to juvenile detention, and I spent my normal, teenaged life, studying at school and doing work at home, but still confused with my life. That was until, when I hit thirteen, that I saw the six of you on the news, saving people, fighting space-pirates, doing everything that that bounty-hunter who saved your lives, Samus Aran, used to do before she disappeared."

"Well, it's true," I said. "We wouldn't graduate military school until age thirteen, eight years after Samus saved us from Mother Brain and the Federation adopted and raised us into their new super-soldiers to replace Samus as protectors of the galaxy."

"Yeah," said Jenny. "And, when we graduated at age thirteen, we became Lambda Squad and completed our first mission together. Sure, we didn't get along at first, as is common with most other military squads, but for every mission we complete, we get to know and care for each other better, and thus work more efficiently as a team."

"Yeah," said Eric, "your teamwork was part of the reason why I joined military school. But, the real reason I'm with you guys was because you gave me a purpose for my hacking skills, a chance to atone for my childhood crimes."

"And," said Joseph, "that's when you learned about that whole 'use your skills wisely than abusively' thing, right?"

"I did research on my computer," continued Eric, "and found out that the military is recruiting not only soldiers with the same skills with a gun as you, but also a variety of people with different skills, other than just with guns alone, in general, hackers and engineers included! My parents were against me going to the military just because of seeing your deeds of heroism on the news, but I left them anyway. It was a hard choice, but I hope that my parents can understand that. After all, I did something bad with my skills and wanted to atone for my crimes by using those same skills for good, and you guys were the reason why I chose to use my hacking skills to atone for abusing them! And to think, that I'd actually join you!"

"We understand that it's noble of you," said Billy, "but don't get overconfident."

"I know that," said Eric. "From all that military training, genetic surgeries, and fighting-off Mother Brain's telepathic control over me, I learned that being a hero like you guys is a big responsibility, one that can kill me if I'm not careful. I understand the risks, and even if I die, at least I know that I did so to protect you and the galaxy, and that I won't have any regrets."

"Then don't let your training and surgeries go to waste," Billy said, "if you know the risks and responsibilities."

"Okay," replied Eric. "But, I want to know more about you. You know, when Samus saved your lives, then you met her again on Planet Doleous?"

"What about it," I asked.

"What was meeting Samus Aran, the famous bounty-hunter and savior of the galaxy, like," Eric asked.

"The fake Samus Mother Brain disguised herself as," I asked, "or the real Samus that disguised herself as the librarian, Massux Raxan?"

"The latter," replied Eric.

"Well..." I said, as the six of us related our first and second meetings with Samus, and the adventures she used to go on before she first met us, to Eric.