I'm writing this fanfic with a constraint which I find difficult, but also fun and satisfying. It's not hard to find out what this constraint is, just look. Hint: It's missing a word-part, 1 of 26, that is most common. I am calling this story "Constraint" to mimic a play-through that aims to skip things, and also for its constraint. Both bypass what is normally "crucial".
I'm using a synonym-finding tool to aid my writing, but I don't want anybody thinking it is from a lack of skill or vocabulary. My story will also contain allusions, irony, juxtaposition, parody, plot twists, and many plays on words, all of my own craft, to show diction is not all that counts in writing. Structuring groups of words is difficult, but I think you can still follow it all. I'm improving parts, but it's difficult to truly obtain a good "flow" with such a small amount of words at my disposal.
This is a story about Samus Aran's ship crash-landing on a world full of hostility, and a difficult trip through lush woods, scorching badlands, icy mountains, and a nightmarish volcano. Obtaining and improving many tools both for killing and for world navigation, using a particular apparatus for a particular task, Aran will try to find a way to fix said ship to avoid dying. Anyway, on to our story.
1. Protagonist and Antagonist
Samus Aran, top-notch bounty hunting woman (a cyborg, actually, with that mighty Chozo suit), is flying a ship. Without warning, an alarm sounds and a signal shows up on a monitor. "Samus, you must assist us at Thor Station! It's in orbit around Lackinda V." Samus starts flying toward Thor Station. But, closing in, it looks almost similar to... an Astro-Criminal attack ship? Knowing it was a big slip-up to trust such a signal, Samus turns around. Running isn't an option now, though. To Aran's chagrin, A hot blast of plasma burns through an important propulsion unit. Samus, struggling to control both a ship and a growing fury, finds a burning want to kill all Astro-Criminals.
Astro-Criminals, a rowdy lot of hoodlums, killing and looting, just don't do anything morally right. This group is a kind that would shoot you down to nab your Phazon supply and hijack your only ship to transport said Phazon to HQ. You could say an Astro-Criminal is similar to our own "scurvy cur", but plaguing our galaxy, and not just that big salty pond from our own world.
Samus' ship crash-lands on an odd world. Looking at a radar display, two things instantly stick out. First, climatic conditions and land formations vary in four distinct domains -- broiling badlands chock full of harmful animals, a vicious volcano that could blow at any instant, malicious mountains with snowy caps and frosty winds, and finally, a wondrous woodland that abounds in colorful, unusual plants and animals. Aran's ship is in this woodland, a flourishing and fascinating habitat. Radar also picks up high amounts of Astro-Criminal activity. It looks as though a laboratory was built in that volcano to study Martoids.
A Martoid may not look so bad at first, but if it can attach to your cranium, it can drain your stamina in a flash. Astro-Criminals always hoard Martoids for studying in various conditions. Analysis shows that Martoids will slow down in cold, but grow and transform rapidly in Phazon-rich habitats.
It is obvious, now, to Samus. Astro-Criminals built a laboratory in this volcano to study Martoids in hot conditions. Too much would kill a Martoid, Samus knows, having blown away many with a plasma cannon. But if it stays just right, not too hot or too cold, warmth may actually aid it!
If Astro-Criminals got a hold of a variation of Martoids with a sixfold addition to stamina and mass, it could signify a turning point in this war among Astro-Criminals and that Galactic Coalition trying to put a stop to it all, looking for tranquility in our galaxy.
Samus cannot allow Astro-Criminals to start growing and farming such Martoids, for that would quash any opportunity at having a happy and harmonious unity among both humans and non-humans. Knowing what to do, Aran grabs a handful of tools. A trusty arm cannon, a Varia Suit with a stamina tank (which adds armor to said suit), an RPG-Launching Apparatus (which shoots a kind of ammunition that blows up on impact), and a Morph Ball (allowing Samus to fit into small nooks and gaps). Locking and loading, our part-Chozo champion climbs out of a hatch and into a lush, flourishing, woodland. An odd bug zips by, but a bird quickly zooms in to swallow it. That is, if you could call this thing a bird! Its wingspan rivals that of a hawk, but has a two-inch-long body. "That radar monitor had a gigantic Astro-Criminal lab two clicks north of this position," Aran thinks. Thick, confining plant growth starts making navigation difficult.
Hours pass, but Samus cannot find this lab. It is probably using a cloaking contraption to mask its front door. Such situations call for an X-Ray visor. Tapping a button, Samus turns it on. Anything that might normally block your sight is nothing with X-Ray vision! Going back and now looking down through dirt and plant growth, Aran soon spots piping, a hallway with four Astro-Criminal guards, a hospital, a command room, and, finally, a way in.
Astro-Criminals always did horribly at guarding (though not so bad at hiding) anything, including important things, using poorly built doors of low-quality iron and zinc, good-for-nothing motion-finding alarms that couldn't unmask simplistic cloaking, uncaring guards who wouldn't (or actually couldn't) stop a bug from foiling a good plan, and horribly basic data storing units, just child's play to hack into. Obviously Samus has no difficulty blasting in this front door with an RPG.
An alarm sounds. Samus shoots at two running Astro-Criminals, killing both quickly and skillfully. An assailant pops out from an adjoining hall, only to obtain a gap as big as a golf ball through his brain. A fourth jumps out, following his now-dying pal, but shoots and hits Samus. "Ack! My Varia Suit is malfunctioning! I should lay low for a bit." Looking for a good hiding spot, Aran runs into a room with a sign saying "R1", closing its door.
Samus finds a lab full of cloning contraptions. This room's far right tank says "Biological Unit R1-DL-3Y." Samus thinks about what this might stand for. "R1 must signify this storing room, R1. But 'DL' looks as though it's a classification tag of sorts." A tank right by it says "R1-PP-3R", confirming this. This tank's tag is obviously short for "R1, Patrolling Platform, variation 3R". But what could "DL" stand for? Scanning its tank, Samus finds out it contains a larva of a...flying lizard? No, not a lizard. "A dragon larva!" Samus thinks, again looking at "DL". "And 3Y just shows what this particular variation is." Now knowing what it is, Aran says out loud "It's... it's Rid--" BOOM! A strong concussion knocks Samus down and rips through R1, as its front door blows inward. A squad of Astro-Criminals pours in, guns drawn.
Samus, still hurting badly from that hit, can't possibly fight such a big Astro-Criminal group without succumbing. Aran, hands raising, submits.