Monomachiarum is a multifandom experiece that takes the characters into the chaotic future of the 30th century in the great expanse of space. Our lore is a combination of worlds brought in from other franchises, lore created by the site founder, and user-submitted information in order to make a vast and diverse setting. Add your pages to our grand story no matter who your characters might be or where they came from before. This is a place meant to explore possibilities and open new doors. Canons and OCs are welcome, just so long as they can fit into the setting with a little bit of reasonable modification here and there if necessary. So what are you waiting for? Join us today! If you'd like to get to know our community more, feel free to check out our Discord channel.
May 2023 It's been hectic this last year, but we are alive and celebrating our fifth year of adventure and tales. A lot has been worked on to help make the Monoverse one that everyone can enjoy and explore their story while becoming a part of the greater cosmos. All of you, new and long time players, stay safe, and see you in the Sea of Stars!
A few moments passed before Eresh got an answer: a respectful, though mildly uncertain voice coming over the intercom.
++”This is medical technician Caleb Grant, apologies for the radio silence. I cannot divulge much at this time unfortunately, all I am allowed to say is that she is currently in surgery and is undergoing treatment now. If this is consolation, we are about to deliver you lunch in a few minutes- hopefully that will help take the edge off.”++
Eresh would chuff in annoyance, but he waved his hand in acknowledgment. The bedside manner of this installation clearly needed work. True to Technician Grants word, a member of staff delivered a tray of food to his observation room a few minutes later. The Chozo would take the offered tray and sat down to pick at its contents.. though his mind was bothered. If she was in surgery.. did something go wrong immediately? He didn’t know.. and that caused his agitation to only build.
A series of claw taps against metal with the thud of the wooden staff as he walked would signal the approach of the burnished yellow and red tiercel to the quarantine quarters. "I wish to speak with the Mawkin hunter, Admiral Dane said he would clear me."
A nod from the technician as he gestured to the isolated clean room where Maru could go and speak. "He also notified nutrition that you might need something to eat, we've arranged for both of you to have a meal while you're here, sir." The clearly younger human gave a pained sigh and regretful smile to the Chozo. "We're going to do our best, sir. Her parents were some of our best, and she's been through enough hell as it was."
A curt nod and a soft chirp as Maru stepped into the clean room. "I don't doubt your efforts here. But a father, even one by act and not blood…still worries for the child he promised to watch over."
The door slid shut behind him as Maru crossed the doorway, taking a seat as he could see the Mawkin hunter react to his arrival. "Eresh Tarren. My name is Maru, from the Zebes Nest and last of the Cho'za tribe. Son of Grey Voice and Bright Visions." A pause as he set his staff against the wall behind him, then breathed in deeply. "I want to thank you for being at my daughter's side and protecting her in this trial we face. It's possible she may not be here still if not for your presence."
Eresh was midway into his meal when he heard the voice speaking to him in Chozia, and his head snapped to attention as he hurriedly stood. What greeted him was the form of a diminutive Chozo, and even as he heard his name he was aware of who he was. The taller Mawkin would bow his head respectfully and place his right hand over his chest, open palmed.
“I am Eresh Tarren, son of Silver Hands and Nest Warden. You honor me with your presence,” he said as his head rose to meet Maru’s gaze He didn’t need to reply with his name, though etiquette dictated that he respond in kind. “Thank you, but truthfully your daughter largely delivered herself from the dangers of that planet… I merely was able to make sure that she didn’t stumble at the end.” Eresh humbly posited. After a moment he would then ask:
“How is Ha’chidari— apologies- Samus? I was told that she was in surgery, but nothing more. Are things going well with her treatment?”
His voice was quiet and respectful, though there was a clear undercurrent of worry and possibly… guilt within his tone. Her father coming to him was unexpected and caused his thoughts to race as he pondered as to why Maru wanted to speak to him.
The Mawkin looked young, a bit of nervousness in his voice, intimidated even. Was he unnerved by Maru? The tiercel chuffed in amusement as he observed the mawkin for a moment, then sighed. "Your information is as current as mine. The difference is that I have been reading the data you and my daughter brought back from Ili Agár Nalíma…"
A pause. How much did the Mawkin actually know about the Thé'nau research? Enough likely to know that it had been a Thó'ha tribe that have created the metroids, and been designing those new weapons and armaments. The Confederation now had all that same information, and as he had told Dane, if he could erase it all so no one had it, he would. But his daughter depended on it now. And like it or not, the box had been opened.
Once more, a sigh before he clicked his beak tips. "Eresh, I will not deceive you with illusions or double talk." His eyes narrowed. "In the years since we became aware of your people, I have held concern that your tribes, the 'Avia-ra', were the ancient exiles our history speaks of. Those who wanted to conquer instead of guide. I will admit it has painted much of my views your people."
Another pause as he stood, bracing his left leg before taking his staff in hand. "I am willing to say that with you, at least, I have less worry, and gratitude that my daughter has such a friend to call on." The softer parts of his beak creased into a smile. "I cannot tell you all I have learned, but there may be an answer to what plagues Varia in the metroids you brought back." Another pause, his brow knitting as he contemplated his thoughts, his emotions at that moment. "You were able to bring back two living unhatched eggs. Since I was told of this, I have had a sense that some…thread of fate has been pulling. A future that might not have been moving to restore itself."
Another pause, longer, as he looked at the tall mawkin. His amber eyes were overly wet with worried tears. "I have watched over that girl since her parents were murdered by the Pirates when she was little more than a hatchling, Eresh Tarren. I swore them an oath to be the parent they were denied to be, to love her as my own flesh and blood, and I refuse to fail in that oath so long as I can do something." A click of his beak as he breathed in deeply, trying to regain emotional center again. "I wanted to meet you, to see what kind of tiercel you were, and to see who the Mawkin were at their core. The eyes of youth are more truthful than the words of elders, and I see the nobility of our ancestors in your eyes. You would have traded places with her in an instant if fate had allowed it."
He braced himself and moved to the door again, noting that the nutrition officer had just arrived with some food for him. A nod as he accepted the meal through the isolation slot, then sat back down and began to feed himself. A moment to make sure he had swallowed the portion, and then his beak tapped again. "You were there with her, Eresh. All the information I have tells me that this infestation that is killing her is the Erris parasite that the metroids were created to eradicate. I've been informed that as of yet, you have shown no signs of contamination, and your personal effects are clean as well. They expect to keep you and the two human officers in quarantine for another two days to finish protocol, and then transport back to Federation space can be arranged."
He halted as he could see the young mawkins reaction, then smiled. "But I assume you'll want to stay as long as permitted to see her through this, just as I."
“I see.. well that is comforting.” Eresh said with a sigh as he heard that Maru didn’t know much more than he did. When he paused and then spoke of his worries about the Mawkin tribe he would give a soft sigh.
“I.. do not blame you for being wary. We are a war tribe, battle is in our blood. But I speak the truth when I say that our tribe has no ill will towards your tribe or anyone else in this galaxy. Kromus excluded.” He said as he remembered his experience on both Yl’fa and the first Federation colony world he ever encountered. He then gave a thoughtful chirp.
“I know you feel betrayed, by your Thé'nau kinsmen… But I do not believe that they were creating these weapons with bad intentions in mind. I can’t explain why they would lie about creating them, but I have a good idea who they were creating them for. I think we both do, and she is currently undergoing treatment.” Eresh said as he gave a small smile “And if you are right about the Metroids being the key to saving Samus, I am thankful they were working on these technologies. Sometimes…” he sighed “Sometimes kin hide things because they are afraid of what their family will say, even if their reason for doing something is ultimately good.”
He then would chuckle “You remind me a lot of Samus. She loves you just as deeply as you do her.. and you’re right- If I had to die so she could live and go back to her family.. I would. She put a lot of trust in me by bringing me to that gods-forsaken planet, and I have come to greatly trust and respect her as well. But I cannot help but feel that this is partially my fault. I wasn’t fast enough.. strong enough to properly help her, and she as wounded.. and possibly infected due to my negligence.” He then gave an apologetic bow of his head.
“But if you will allow me to stay until she is recovered, you are right. I want to stay and be here when she wakes up.”
The older Chozo nodded in contemplation while listening to the younger Mawkin. Truthfully, when Maru considered it, there was likely not much difference in age between Eresh and himself. The Mawkin were larger, built more physically powerful, more akin to the imagery of their ancestors. But they were their own people, a people that had been forced to rebuild after something caused them a horrific technological and social regression in their galaxy. In some ways, it was little different from the sterility that had plagued his own people.
And they were not the enemies of the Thó'ha. That he could be assured of. They were refugees, surviving and fighting to rebuild their civilization even as he had to watch his own die.
Had they been given a chance to restore their heritage even as the Thó'ha dwindled away? The last of his kind to pass their legacy on to a splinter of their ancestors, to restore them to who they had been?
Or was fate telling him something else?
"I will relay your wishes to Admiral Dane when I speak with him this evening. He is sensible, cool-headed, and very close to Samus. Her parents were as family to the Admiral after his own kin were killed in the war, so he is as invested in her as I am." A sigh as he stood and grasped his staff, then bowed with a chirp to the Mawkin. "I hope you rest well, Eresh Tarren, and will try to speak with you again before you are cleared for release from quarantine." His free hand closed up the food container he had been brought, picking it up before he made his way to the clean room door. A brief sweep of light washed over him, then a buzz that signaled he was clear to leave. The tiercel gave a nod of thanks to the medical technician before he headed back down the corridor, his thoughts conflicted and confused.
He would not rest easy at all, despite what he had wished for the Mawkin.
“Thank you Maru, I greatly appreciate it.” Eresh said as he stood, once again giving a respectful nod as the Thoha made his leave. Before he crossed the threshold he would speak up a final time. “Your daughter is going to come out of this safe and sound. I don’t know how I know, but I know it to be true.” He said, a faint smile tugging at the corners of his beak.
“She’s strong, and she has potential as a warrior that is greater that anything I’ve seen. She will make it.”
And when Maru left, Eresh would again sit down, the stress leaving his limbs and taking a bit of his strength with it. After meeting with her father, and listening to him for a time.. Eresh could see how special Samus’ people truly were, and why the galaxy regarded them so highly. And it made him realize how important this partnership between Thoha and Mawkin was, there was much they both could learn from each other.. especially if the Mawkin intended to follow in their footsteps and act as guardians of the SDC.
Eresh wouldn’t fall asleep easily, but it would come shortly after Maru left. And blessedly, it came free of any tormented dreams.
Two days had passed since the medical drones had cut open the yellow power armor and extracted Samus Aran from inside it. While the progress of the infestation had been kept in check by the stasis fields and a number of precision biolaser burns, it was as Gemma had stated; the "Erris" parasites were too embedded in her central nervous system to just eliminate without doing possibly fatal damage to her.
Now, he was reading through all the recovered data, hoping, like their Chozo guest, to find anything that might help. It was not just the young woman's life that concerned him, but also a way to deal with this parasite as a whole, as was his job. Beta Five existed to research contagions and hyperparasites just like this, and beyond saving one young woman, it also would also need to hold a way to deal with these parasites should they ever get off their origin planet.
"I've finished running through the specific files on the Erris parasite and what the Chozo had learned about them, doctor," came a comment from Jerome. The sienna colored hologram held a straight posture, though trying to appear relaxed to aid the human doctor in staying in the right frame of mind. "As well, I've been cross referencing the data on the metroids and how they were engineered to be immune to biomatter assimilation by the Erris. It's actually quite remarkable how they do it, absorbing the parasite on a cellular level by draining the bioetheric energy and molecular electrical force directly out and into the metroid's own system."
Kines sighed and nodded almost sleepily as he had not had much rest since their patient had arrived. "Which would prevent the parasite from consuming the metroid's own biomatter and tissue as food for reprodu-"l
And then it clicked. They had not just the data on the metroids, not just preserved dissected specimens, but live eggs kept in cryogenic stasis. Living samples, living cells.
Living cells.
"Jerome, you said that the files from the Chozo research facility said that metroids could absorb the Erris parasite at the cellular level?" The AI's nod caused Kines to gain hope. Not just for Aran's survival, but possibly something to aid the core of all their research and preparations at Beta Five. "So if something that incorporated metroid cells and genetic material were to be infected by the Erris parasite-"
"It would absorb the parasite cells directly as energy instead of being consumed by the parasite as raw biomaterial." Despite a lack of true emotional spectrum, Jerome was able to mimic the tone and expression of that shared excitement. "Miss Aran already has Chozo DNA incorporated into her genetic structure, and while we do not have that technology which was used by the Chozo, a Huragok Lifeworker might be able to substitute and help infuse the cells into her."
Kines was already at the com unit that was mounted by his door. A few taps at the touch pad, and he was faced with the research station's director. "Ma'am, we might have a treatment. It's a long shot, but we need a Lifeworker from Trevelyan Station, and I need access to one of those metroid eggs."
"Gérard, those things are literal life suckers. How is a metroid going to-"
"They literally absorb the parasite, ma'am!" The doctor knew he was reacting loudly, but his excitement, his sense of success, was too great. "The Chozo made them to deal with the parasite by being able to directly absorb the Erris as bioetheric electrical energy, direct osmosis through physical contact at a cellular level. If we can infuse Miss Aran with a prepared formula of metroid cells, directly into her genetic make up via the Huragok, it could theoretically allow her to absorb the parasite and eliminate it from her body completely!"
Silence from the director. And then, a slow nod. "Make sure you're ready for this, Gérard. I'll notify Admiral Dane and contact Trevelyan Station for the Lifeworker. You work on that metroid egg while we get clearance for the Huragok." She paused for a moment, rubbing her eyes from the exhaustion of the last few days. "I pray you figured it out, doctor. I do not want to entertain the idea of telling the admiral and that Chozo that we messed up and can't save her."
Almost blissfully ignorant of just how dire Samus’s condition, or perhaps he was just buoyed by hope thanks to that reassuring meeting with Maru.. but the next two days had passed surprisingly quickly for the Mawkin. Once the quarantine period was finally over and the Chozo was permitted from leaving his observation room, Eresh was given a bit of a tour of sorts. He still wasn’t told much of anything about Samus’s status.. he was allowed to visit the habitation sector of the station
All in all, the experience reminded him of his first few weeks on Daiban, much to his amusement. The fact that not only was he a Chozo, but also a very large Chozo seemed to leave most of the staff who encountered him to regard him in a mildly stupefied, almost childlike sense of awe.. as if they were seeing a previously extinct creature up close for the very first time made the warrior chuckle every now and then.
It wouldn’t take long for him to ingratiate himself with the crew of the station. Either through his telling of some of his (only very slightly embellished) stories or his performance during a number of games within the stations recreation center, before long a good portion of the staff seemed to genuinely enjoy the Mawkin’s presence to varying degrees.
But even as he distracted himself by being social.. he would wonder how long it would be until they would let him know anything substantial about his friend.
It was merely fifteen minutes for the hyperburst transmission to make its way from Beta Five to Trevelyan Station at the Sarcophagus shield world in Zeta Doradus system. It was just as quickly for the Lifeworker Huragok to be readied and loaded onto a vessel capable of rapid slipspace transition velocities. As soon as the Prowler class ship had launched itself into the other dimensional realm, it would be less than half a day later that they arrived at Beta Five. But in that time was when Kines and his team had to frantically prepare everything they could.
"It's a really good thing that they found two of these things," one of the members of Kines' team remarked as they carefully transferred the now thawed egg out of the containment tank inside a room that was kept at sub-zero temperatures. "We screw up with one-"
"We're not going to screw up," Kines shot back as a medical drone was setting up a monitoring unit over the egg and a number of tools that they would need. "And if this goes all well, the infant inside will be just fine aside from a few missing cells." He flipped on the tablet and logged into the monitor unit, then tapping a few images to initiate the ultrasound sound scan of the egg. Inside, they could see the organic matter and strands that one expected, as well as a tiny half-sphere object that was slowly twitching, as if it was asleep. "That must be the infant." Another tap as the scan shifted angles, allowing Kines to get a better look at his subject. "If my guess is correct, then we can get the best cell cultures from the membrane nearest the nuclei." He indicated a spot that suddenly was outlined by red following his tap on the tablet screen. "We'll need to push the extraction needle slowly to keep the membrane from resting penetration, I've read a bit on encounters and autopsy files on some of these." A pause as he set the tablet down and retrieved a few tools from the nearby table. "They're highly resistant to directed energy fire, but kinetics seem to be able to injure them more reliably, and their membranes are less resistant to slow moving cutting implements."
Moving into the cold room now with a helmet slipped onto his containment suit to keep Kines warm, the doctor stepped up to the egg and tapped at the control panel on the monitor unit, receiving a feed of the ultrasound scan in his helmet's view panel. "Okay, beginning cell extraction procedure, all monitors watching for any sign of distress in the infant, and me." It was some hours later that Kines emerged from the lab section with a small sealed tube in his hand that contained a glowing green set of strands that looked like gelatinous threads. He was worn, clearly having lost some sleep during the events of the last few days, but he had the extracted cell tissue that he needed, and even now hurried to the sector where Samus was being kept in stasis to slow the spread of the parasite. "Any word on when that Lifeworker is going to be here?" he asked into the ear piece he had put on as soon as he had gotten out of his containment suit. "I've got metroid stem cells, and the unhatched infant is alive and back in stasis."
"Two hours out. Start prepping surgery, we need her ready as soon as they get here."
"Good, make sure everything is set for this. We need to do a deep level gene infusion for this to work. Have the Chozo meet me so that I can get details on how they did this with her in the first place, he's going to know exactly what to do once that huragok is here!" He sprinted down the corridor to the deck lift, tapping in a code as he finally smiled. "And notify the admiral. We might just pull this off!"
It was during the past few hours that Eresh had once again met with Maru, the younger Chozo wishing to spend time with another of his kind even though they were of different tribes. “Do you have the time to talk for awhile, Maru? If not I understand, it has just been some time since I’ve been around another Chozo that wasn’t Samus.” He said, which went a good way to subtly show a sense of loneliness behind the exiled Mawkin’s words.
As it turned out Maru seemed quite grateful for the company, perhaps the chance to speak with a Chozo that was so young after so many years being the youngest member of his own community was just as welcomed by the Thoha. And so the two of them spent the better part of the afternoon simply speaking of their lives, sharing anecdotes and other stories that each thought would be appreciated by his companion.
And Eresh had just gotten into a time where he and his sister once found a nest of one of their home worlds premier avian predators and had almost gotten caught by the mother of said clutch.. when a medical officer burst in to the cafeteria that they had been regaling each other, short of breath and a look of trepidation on her face.
“Sir, Doctor Kines is requesting your immediate assistance, he needs your expertise on miss Aran’s physiological and genetic changes before her procedure,”
Eresh would look between Maru and the Medical officer, a sudden sense of unease coming over him.
“Has something happened?” He asked, to which the human would give him an apologetic look. “I’m sorry Eresh Tarren, I’m not at liberty to say.” She said as evenly as she could.. though even before professionalism threatened to crack when he gave a small hiss of frustration, but he would nod in understanding.
Kines breathed in silent contemplation as he oversaw the infusion procedure from behind a sealed and fielded viewport in the surgical bay. A pair of drones being remotely manipulated by members of his team were on hand, while the Lifeworker Huragok was examining Samus carefully. They were taking a big risk as the stasis fields had to be reduced to minimal levels to allow for this procedure, to keep the genetic material from being locked, but allowing the parasite to make some progress in the interim as a side effect.
"The Lifeworker pretty well understood the instructions given to it by the Chozo," one of the staff commented as she looked through the viewport. "It may not be the same as one of their CRISPR machines, but-"
"CRISPR tech can't do what they did with her," Kines quickly said, shooting down the comparison. "Their technology managed to splice her genetics to Maru's so well that she's effectively a genetic hybrid in every way. It affected her very cells, altering her biology and skeletal composition to more resemble their own." He paused, tapping at his tablet as he was relayed text communication from the Huragok. So far, so good. The parasite was showing to be contained as well as they could while the Huragok did its work. "She may as well be an actual cross species blend, after three years of treatments he told us about. Latticed bone structure, denser skeletal material, muscle fiber ratios actually surpassing those Spartans that she, appropriately enough, helped bring back after a four hundred year cryosleep. To say nothing of her overclocked sensory system and immunity defense biology."
A nod from the other doctor as they watched the Huragok work. "Crazy to think what she's been seen capable of." She glanced at a screen, noting a message from one of the surgeons assisting the operation via the drones. "So far, so good. The parasite is being kept in check by the stasis fields, and all bioscans show that her body is accepting the genetic fusion so far. Almost like her biology is designed for it."
Kines didn't immediately respond. He looked at his own tablet, seeing a report from the Lifeworker on its own progress. They were fortunate to have the constructed lifeforms that had survived the hundreds of millennia since the Forerunners vanished from the galaxy. More so that the Huragok could construct more of themselves as time went on. Without the precious Lifeworkers, living biotechnological engineering computers, many things they now could do may not have been possible.
Including this.
Ten minutes would pass as the Lifeworker continued its work. The drones assisted, one maintaining and monitoring the delicate stasis fields, the other still removing her armor, even now, piece by piece. Kines had seen the pain in the Chozo Maru's eyes at the news that they would have to cut her out of her armor, but he had understood the necessity. And as Kines had stated before, a suit was replaceable; her life was not.
"Bioscans are showing a positive reaction in the parasite growth," the other doctor stated as she checked the nearby screens. She sighed with relief as she tapped at the stasis field terminal. "Lowering stasis fields to allow for the infusion to do its work, and crossing fingers that it worked."
Reluctantly bidding Maru goodbye and wishing him luck, Eresh was again left to his own devices. So he decided to take a walk, center his thoughts and attempt to remain calm- to have faith that Maru and the humans would fix Samus up and cure her of the Erris blighting her body. As he strolled throughout one corridor and down another, he absently considered asking the stations staff if he could use their communication equipment to contact the General.. but thought better of it. He was grateful that the scientists of the Confederation were working so hard to save Samus, but if Maru was leery of the fact that they had access to all the data that Samus and he recovered.. well he wasn’t going to give the Confederation Tribal military frequencies. The idea of such a security breach being due to his own poor judgement made the Mawkin nearly balk at his own musings.
So, contacting the General and updating him on the situation: not on the table, at least not until he was able to leave. So instead he would wait.. and when Ha’chidari was recovered and cleared for release he would follow suit.
Two hours would pass before Kines and his team emerged from the surgery center. He was expecting the admiral and the Zebes Chozo to be waiting for him, but he was smiling with relief as he gave a nod to them both. "The Lifeworker is in decon right now, her armor is sealed up in biohazard containment…and we're preparing a neutron sweep of surgery right now while Samus is being moved to quarantine quarters." The wide amber eyed expression from Maru was enough for the doctor. "Sir, she's going to be alright. We just need to monitor her for a few days, but you should be able to see her in the clean room in the next few hours."
Dane released the breath he realized he had been holding while Maru whispered a thanks to whatever deities watched over his people still. "I still consider the metroids and the work my people did on that planet a mistake," the tiercel uttered as he blinked rapidly while his eyes became wet from his overwhelming relief. "But they still saved my daughter, and I thank you and your fellows here for that, doctor."
"I'm assuming that her armor will be launched into the singularity," came Dane's inquiry. He shifted uncomfortably, knowing what that subject meant to Maru, but considering the danger that a contaminated object like that powered suit presented, even if they decontaminated it, the matter had to be addressed. "Her gunship has already cleared decon, but her suit-"
"I have already spoken to Maru about that," Doctor Kines quickly interjected with a hand held up. "Unfortunately, we had to essentially dissect her powered armor to her out of it and make any treatment possible." He paused again, treading carefully on that matter. "The same had to be done with the combat suit that she wore under that, both are in containment along with all surgical tools and implements used, and would be disposed of into the singularity once we've cleared the sector of any possible contamination."
The admiral raised a brow, but nodded as he sighed and gave Maru a faint smile. "Better just a suit that we can replace for her."
"I wish to see her as soon as I can," the Chozo said as he wiped the wetness from his eyes. "Doctor, thank you again. I'm sure her friend will also wish to know of your success, I will see to him as we wait."
It took a bit of effort for the staff to find the bounty hunter, surprisingly enough. During the proceeding hours Eresh had wandered all over the station to some extent or another. Never any restricted access areas, but he almost seemed to have been playing hide and seek- never lingering in one place overly long. By the time someone arrived where security claimed him to be.. it turned out he had moved somewhere else, and so on.
It was during one of these relocations where Eresh had almost ran into Maru on accident as he rounded a corner- chirping in alarm before then composing himself. “Oh, hello Maru,” the Mawkin said with a respectful dip of his head. “Has surgery ended? Is Samus alright?” He asked, a little too quickly than he intended.. but he had gone days without any sort of news on her condition: some some eagerness for information was to be expected.