Maximus Kolan: Chapter 5

Quite some time had passed since the mission on SR388. Roughly a month and a half had went by after Samus and Maximus' arrival on Tallon IV; the two had spent all this time training, forming the former Elite Squad commander into a warrior that was every bit as dangerous as Samus herself, and slightly more-so in terms of hand-to-hand combat, but not overall skill. The time had come to prepare a new, much more advanced battle suit for Maximus, to assist him in his battle against the forces of the Space Pirates. They started by using the original Marine armor as a base, and modifying it with an up-to-date scan visor module, tampering with the intensity of the Pirate scythe fused to the left arm of the armor, and gathering metals from the destroyed Pirate frigate Orpheon that were still intact. The metals were then welded onto the original suit to make new, thicker, and more durable armor plates using Samus' built-in cutting torch in her arm cannon. A new helmet was also created to look similar to Samus', with the visor from the Federation suit's helmet removed, and then inserted into the new helmet.

After they finished the suit itself, they constructed the new arm cannon. They installed a total of four new beam weapons into the cannon. The beams consisted of a standard Power Beam, though unlike Samus', it operated like the slightly weaker version used by the bounty hunters Samus encountered during her mission to the Alimbic Cluster. Then the Imperialist, a sniping laser used by the Kriken Empire; Samus had kept the weapons from the mission in the Alimbic Cluster in a storage compartment in her ship as energy, should the need arise to use them again, but Samus decided to pass the Imperialist to Maximus. Next was a Particle Beam, similar to a Nova Beam used in mining operations, but it was slightly weaker, was an orange color, and was found in what was left of the Pirates' mines. Lastly, the Concussion Beam, this powerful weapon served to make up for Maximus' lack of the ability to use missiles, as his suit, nor his arm cannon, was one with him. The Concussion Beam fired a single, oval shaped shot that, when making contact with the ground, creates a large shockwave that spreads up to about 12 ft. horizontally, 4 ft. vertically, and creates insurmountable amounts of destruction. The weapon can also behave like an EMP (Electro-Magnetic Pulse), disrupting anything electronic. The beam was created by harnessing electricity from the Pirate mines, and channeling it into the cannon, turning it into a beam weapon.

After the cannon was finished, Samus welded it to the suit. Afterwards, they installed a new HUD (Heads-Up Display) system into the suit to keep track of energy reserves, and a means to track enemy movement with a new radar system. Samus then energized the suit using her own energy in order to give it power. After long, tedious, and laborious work, the suit was finished. In honor of Samus' compassion, and in memory of his team, Maximus code-named the armor "V.A.R.I.A.31". Each letter, as well as the "31", in the acronym represented the specifications of the suit; they stood for "Versatile Augmented Remodeled Isometric Armor suit 31^st Squad". With their work completed, Maximus rested, while Samus made preparations for the next day, in which Kolan's training would be put to the test.

***

The night soon passed, and it was now dawn. Samus informed Kolan that today was the day that he would be tested, to ensure if he was truly ready to take on the Space Pirates, as well as other great threats to the galaxy. Soon afterwards, Maximus quickly got into his V.A.R.I.A.31 suit, the back of it separated into multiple pieces and expanded outwards, allowing him to easily step into the armor. Once he was inside of it, the armor closed and sealed up; Maximus could now feel the new power that he wielded, because of the energy from Samus' Power Suit, his strength was now enhanced ten-fold to be on par with Samus'. He was also much taller in the suit now; while he normally stood at 6 ft. 2 inches, he now stood at 6 ft. 6 inches in height due to the size of the armor. Now that he was ready, it was time to begin the test.

Samus remotely commanded her gunship to leave the vicinity, so that there would not be the risk of possibly damaging it, and so there would be even more room on the terrain. Samus then stated, "Remember Maximus, during this battle, I am not your friend." She told him this because she didn't want him to hold back, for against odds that put the galaxy itself in peril, he must not hesitate to do what he must if it means the safety of so many lives.

Maximus was ready; this was the chance of a lifetime, a one-on-one battle with the top bounty hunter in the galaxy. If he could succeed in besting her in combat-or at least come close-he would prove himself worthy of helping her to defend the galaxy from the Space Pirate scourge. Within moments the duel began, and with both combatants transitioning between projectile and hand-to-hand combat, it was already becoming a fierce conflict. Maximus kept attempting melee, only to have his opponent leap away, preferring to use long range. He had to adapt to this situation, so he switched to his Imperialist, took aim at Samus' helmet, and fired; Aran barely avoided the crimson sniping laser, it grazed the side of her helmet, but took about ten units of her energy away. Samus then retaliated with a missile, it hit Maximus straight on before he could react and caused considerable knock-back to him, nevertheless, he did his best to hold his ground.

Kolan switched to his Particle Beam, and then opened fire, he managed to damage Samus a little, but his target proved too fast for even his aim, with her evading swiftly and gracefully. He then tried out his Concussion Beam; he closed in the large distance between them and then fired it at the ground where he knew Samus would land after her next jump. The round hit the ground in the spot where he wanted it to, and it released its incredible shockwave, throwing Samus across the area and slamming into the nearest wall of stone and moss. Samus' vision was blurred, they had definitely succeeded in making a weapon that could make up for Maximus lack of ballistic weaponry, she mused. She rose to her feet, only to be bombarded by several Power Beam shots from her opponent, she fired several Wave Beam rounds at him, a few hitting him, but the rest were avoided. Before she could respond, due to still being dazed from the concussive blast, Maximus was in melee range, he landed several lethal blows on her, and then a few kicks. Samus then finally pulled through and parried one of his punches, and then pulled off a powerful round-house kick to his armored face that caused him to spiral around backwards, opening up opportunity for her to ram him from behind.

Once Samus used the shoulder tackle, Maximus was thrown down to the dirt, stunned in the process. After he recovered, he rose up and activated his scythe, then lunged at Samus, delivering a visceral slash at her body which threw her off balance, causing her to fall into the pond. She soon came to her senses and then burst out of the water; she then let loose a barrage of several different beams on her adversary, from Power, to Wave, and then Plasma. Maximus had sustained heavy damage from her attack, but pressed onward, hitting Samus with his Power Beam, and then engaging in hand-to-hand once more. This time, however, the brawl was much more equaled out, with both warriors exchanging parries, kicks, jabs, and grapples. Over time, the hand-to-hand fighting finally started to tip into Maximus' favor, he managed to get in another slice with his melee weapon, and then finished the close-quarters combat situation with a well placed uppercut which sent Samus a few feet away and crashing to the ground, however, she wasn't through just yet, she got up and turned around, swinging her arm cannon just as Kolan was upon her with all her tremendous might, the blow knocked Maximus down and put his energy down to critical levels.

Samus quickly stood up and then finished the job by firing a Super Missile at Maximus. The projectile depleted Kolan's energy reserves, feeling his power leave his armor, he was defeated. Samus knew he couldn't fight on now; she had taken a quick scan of his armor since he wasn't moving at all, revealing that his energy was diminished. She too, was reaching critical levels on energy, and the both of them were tired out from the ensuing battle. Never before had someone given Samus such a battle, that is, no one excluding her nemesis Ridley during her younger days. Samus walked over to Maximus, and helped him up off the moss. "You're ready Maximus." Samus told him, and gave him a thumbs up. Maximus simply nodded in response. Feeling pleased with her approval, he went to recharge his energy in Samus ship, as did Samus afterwards. Maximus rested that night, now that he was ready to take on new threats; he planned to re-visit SR388, as there was still some un-finished business to attend to there.