V M Shores of the Karim Reservoir

Ridley

The Reigning Wyrm
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For the first time since he had first appeared, Ridley was relieved to be walking down a path that didn’t require him to squeeze his shoulders in just to fit. Ridley rather liked the lack of embellishments and baubles within the deeper areas near the dam, at least for his personal tastes. The sights of Karim had little effect on him - he preferred displayed weapons, sharp edges, and glimmering metals if he live in an artificial environment, not the smooth, fragile baubles other races seemed to prefer. The aqueducts, though, had strong and mostly practical marble architecture in some places and rocky beaches in others. Statues of great warriors, giving the proper glory to those ambitious and vicious enough to crush those opposing their ideals, dotted the area, appealing to Ridley’s sensibilities.

Deeper into the area, he’d found mostly uninhabited, rocky beaches, and scores of waterfalls that made up the majority of the h2o of this planet. In contrast to the Karim
What’s more, he actually preferred a natural, overgrown look to his environment. Mother Brain’s idea for a natural fortress may have been hers to begin with, but Ridley was the one with the technical know-how and biological understanding to put together a stable system of genetic mutants and apex predators together and working for his own purposes. The space pirate base on Zebes was an extension of Ridley’s own aesthetics and desired form of life as much as it was Mother Brain’s impregnable stronghold. The rules of nature should be visible in every aspect of life, and survival of the fittest should be visible at a glance.

The space dragon’s claws scraped through the rock-filled road that hid the town’s source of economic strength. It should have surprised the dragon that there would be available space here. After all, the desert outside was so unforgiving, there should be no end to people willing to live in any area that wasn’t the harsh desert outside these walls.

Ridley looked around as the sound of rushing water boomed through his ears. The old bird suddenly understood. While he might be allowed to stroll around the water source of Karim, and as he looked around, he saw the statues of great beasts and the roaring fountains of water as the massive dams and aqueducts roared around him. He supposed that for chimps, this might be the problem.

The water relay systems that adorned this area, held up by simple stone and gravity, were massive and powerful - traits Ridley respected - but they held numerous problems for actual habitation. The first was very simple - power. The creatures closest to the source of the water had the most control over where it might go. Therefore, it was easy to guess that the apex predators of this environment had chosen to keep a tight grip on the water supply and restricted regular habitation to a chosen few minions, trusted with keeping the area clear of anyone who would do more than pass through.

What’s more, the habitation itself was a danger zone for the average, five-senses standard animal. The rushing noise of the water crushed any lesser noise around it, leaving any creature who relied on hearing for perception at a complete loss. The water also created a general mist around the bottom of the area, making it difficult for anything within to see farther than a few feet clearly before details would grow more obscured and vanish. The cold of the area would have been deadly for any creature lacking an innate resistance to the moist, cold area, Ridley imagined. The smell of recent trails was also eventually washed away, though not as immediately, and the rushing water created almost-opaque curtains of concealment that allowed for predators and other creatures to hide near the shallows of the river.

That was the case, of course, for the foolish humanoids in camouflage gear who had hid in the nearby waters. It was a good tactic against any ordinary foe, but the scent of the weaponry they carried on them, and the unmistakable scent of recent plasma emissions gave him enough of a trail to follow a general gist of this little force.

The wet-furred humanoids above him, on the other hand, he was more unsure of. The smell of their disgusting fur, marking them as some sort of ursine-based life-form wafted through his nostrils with a putrid scent, Marking their location above the old bird with the sour stench of at least five mammals on the shelf above him.

The water in Karim seemed to fall from an originally artificial build-up, and as one of Ridley’s eyes turned up to look at the waterfall above him, he was unsurprised to see a couple hairs falling through the air near him.

With a feral grin, Ridley continued, away from the waterfall he knew concealed hidden enemies, away from the shores that held hidden foes potentially anywhere within their depths. The faint smell of fish told him of further unknowns in this situation, creatures unrelated to the ones he’d already seen, and it took every bit of rillpower he had not to allow his burned lips to curl into a smile.

The Space Dragon’s tail was allowed to slap the ground, and the hook skidded across the rocky surface of the surrounding waterways. A faint gurgling growl emanated from Ridley’s throat, swallowed whole by the rushing, pounding water that rushed in from an array of waterfalls, natural and artificial, tiny and enormous, that surrounded the former general.

A pity for the interlopers. After all, they still seemed to believe Ridley to be no more than a simpering beast, a brute that relied on muscle, and not words. Or perhaps they’d heard the story no doubt spread since their time at the gate, of the gentle being that simply wished to be at peace in the city of Karim.

The experienced avian’s eyes turned to his left, a rocky bank near a basin of water, and noticed the ripples flowing out from some unknown disturbance, turned his head, and grinned as he caught side of his prey.

Blue, finned bipeds creatures charged the awaiting Ridley with gusto, running across the rocky beach and adorned with armor of mail and with broad spears holstered to their backs. From the fins and gills that adorned their body, Ridley quickly figured that the trio was some sort of aquatic species. Without making a single noise, the predator turned and regarded the creatures with a toothy smile and a vicious glare. A chill swept through his body as cold as the Phendrana Drifts as the creatures stopped just short of the dragon, kicking sand through the air as the group did one coordinated, graceful spin and launched a sextet of spinning boomerangs at the dragon, made of teal flesh and hardened cartilage.

The exchange was almost enough to dull Ridley’s smile. These creatures moved with grace, with speed, with fluidity. Their bodies curved and lanced through the air in practiced circles. It reminded him too much of the hunter, and lances of pain coursed through his body as the memory of Samus Aran made everything hurt once again.

But the pain that lanced through Ridley’s body was nothing but a shadow, a mere echo of the abuse the hunter was capable of; these Zora were no different, mere echoes of The huntress’s grace, and nothing compared to her strength!

The dragon planted it’s claws, dug a hole through the rock with one grip of its talons, and pushed off with as much force as the pirate marauder could muster. Waves crashed from the beach next to Ridley as the Space dragon pumped it’s wings, and all 1600 pounds of muscle and bone and sinew and searing hatred launched itself at the unfortunate fishmen. With a single swipe of one gangly arm, the beast’s claw smacked the majority of the offending boomerangs away with a single blow, but the feeling of slicing pain through the archosaurs abdomen signalled a direct hit.

It didn’t matter, as the little creatures weren’t ready. Spears were hastily unclasped and brought up to defend against the monstrosities assault, and Ridley took pleasure in snapping up the middle one’s spear in one smooth bite, jaws firmly clamping around the shaft as he gave the weapon a hard yank to the side. The fishman stubbornly held onto the weapon. That was a mistake. Like a dog with a chew toy, The beast shook the spear from side to side, using the weight of the Zora on the end of it to knock them off of their feet, before yanking the weapon hard to the right, and then launching the zora, spear and all, into the nearest wall. The struggling creature smashed into the sheer stone surface with a harsh cracking sound, gasping in pain as he slid from the wall in a bloody trail. The amphibian had hardly gotten to his feet before ridley snapped his jaw around the little creature and bit down hard, cleaving through the flesh and bone and dried cartilage in an explosion of flavor and sorely-needed catharsis.

The dragon turned towards his little snack’s two companions. Both were holding their spears now, but neither were holding them very well. The torso in Ridley’s jaws laid unswallowed between his teeth, and blood poured from the sides of the torso and dripped towards the water below. The smell of blood and fear and urine poured into the air and the dragon drank in the smell as he chucked the torso at it’s companions.


One Zora dodged left, but the other brought its weapon forward, a blue-gemmed spear of silver with an arrow-head curve. The Zora thrust before Ridley could move, and green blood flew through the air. The dragon let out a howl of hatred, spittle flying across the beach as the drooling monster extended an oversized hand and formed a fist around the witless creature. He wouldn’t let this one die well, no. With a growing smile, the monster squeezed the little fish slowly, making sure to get his fill of his gasps for air before increasing the pressure to hear the pleasant pops of cartilage and bone. All the while, his cowardly, shivering companion moved around to Ridley’s side, spear in hand, and lifted the weapon before striking with the frightened war cry reserved only for children and cowards with a thrust aimed at Ridleys back.

Luckily for Ridley, the witless buffoon had never considered that the Pirate general’s eyes were located on the side of his face - he wasn’t limited to the vision range of the average, frail biped. Ridley’s tail snapped up like a whip, and the hardened bone smacked against the frail metal thing hard enough to knock the weapon out of the frightened zora’s hands. The Marauder didn’t turn around, and pulled his tail back. Lashing out with a cracking sound like a whip, the Bladed tip went through the weaklings stomach and through his back.

A deadly sparkle appeared in the dragon’s eye as he squeezed one last time and blood exploded from the deflated Zora’s mouth. He held up the blue-scaled warrior with his tail, grinned, and curved the implement upwards before pulling the blade back, cutting through most of the creature’s mid-section and spilling it’s organs out onto the misty rocks in shredded pieces.

Turning to face the cliff above him, he was thrilled to see a legion of creatures ready in ambush. The smell of fear was washed away by the smell of wet fur, and the monstrous ridley wasted no time beating his wings and leaping off his feet and into the air. Green blasts of plasma and metal sizzled through a tapestry of water, and the dragon fearlessly dove through the falls to smash the stupid lower life forms that dared point a weapon at the Cunning God of Death.

Bear-things, brown furred creatures that had snubbed noses and large frames. Ridley hadn’t encountered this race before. Not that it mattered. No matter what the species, it was no more than food and odor when it was reduced to carrion. The dragon let out a roar as it sailed through the air, through the water, and into the line of creatures. The laser weapons were held up, crossbow-like implements that blasted for Ridley and cut into his wings, and the drake screamed in pain. It paid the creature’s back by grabbing one and slamming it so hard into the nearby rocks that the creature’s stomach literally burst against the jagged boulders that made up it’s face. Turning to slap another into the waters below with a casual backhand, the Wookies he faced split up and ran in two different directions.

With a roar of hatred and a pointed glare at these stronger creatures, the dragon bent his knees and leaped up. With a growl, he disappeared into the cliffs above.

The Wookies held their ground and shrank back, quickly moving into formation and pointing a bowcaster at any angle, any area the alien might reappear from.

The first Wookie was gone before it knew what had hit it, as a scaly hand reached through the falls and grabbed it by the head, and pulled it back through the water. A surprised growl was all it got out before Ridley started shaking the creature by the neck until it stopped squirming. The dragon looked at the dead thing appraisingly. It had taken longer to stop struggling than he’d expected, and the creature had almost managed to push it’s claws away without being able to breathe. Strong. These ones might be among the elite species of the galaxy.

It was unfortunate for them that they’d gotten in his way. There was a place for their species among the space pirates, but the only place these particular cretins had was the bottom of the aqueducts.

The clever alien unfurled its wings, and burst through the stream of water in a blur of motion, grabbing another wookie helpless in his grasp before throwing it forward. A spurt of blood erupted through the air as Ridley slashed with his tail, cutting the wookie in two as he flew past and covering himself in a spattering of blood.
Then, just as suddenly as he appeared, the drake vanished, flying through another cascade of water as blasts harmlessly erupted through the water behind him and vanished into the ether.

The old pteranodon disappeared from sight again. The Wookies were once again left without a target. The remaining Wookies started to tremble. They were warriors, Ridley could tell, but no warrior had an unlimited amount of resolve. Now, their resolve was beginning to falter. Just like the Cunning God of Death had planned. It didn’t take long for one of them to run, rushing down a path towards the main city. A bony tail whipped from the canyon below to mash the wookie into the nearby cliff with all the impact of a steel mace, leaving a staggering shape of blood and fur that desperately crawled for it’s companions.

A pair of Ridley’s furry opponents charged, bow-casters at the ready, with a bellowed war-cry. One of them rushed to help their injured comrade, picking a small mixture out of a strange metal belt - some sort of medicine that smelled of pine, animal fat, and more than a few drugs. The monster smiled - this was a ploy as old as the art of hunting itself, after all. Crush one animal to near-death and those stupid few of the herd that considered themselves heroes would run out.

Ridley appeared from behind the two, swooping under a rocky barrier to come back up behind the wookie threat. Two giant hands reached out to grab the bear-like creatures, and the pair were quickly launched backwards, into the rest of the herd as improvised projectiles. He wasted no time in using the opening it created, and now finally dove head-first into the mass of furred creatures.

To their credit, several of them dropped their crossbows and fought, vicious claws complimenting a ferocious level of strength. Now, though, Ridley was in his element. His tail would leap out at one, his claws crush their way around the throat of another, and his beak pinch the thick-necked head off a third in a rush of gore and destruction. Ridley was surrounded by ripped apart corpses and a slurry of bodily fluids and the dragon felt true contentment for the first time since he had landed on Karim. A primal roar by any other name was a cry of victory as the remaining wookies lay dead or dying at his feet.

That was when the primal monarch felt a sting in his back, and suddenly, the world started to spin. Ridley let out a shriek of pain and surprise as every nerve in his body was wracked with pain, and the tyrant toppled onto terra firma. Large hands scooped him up as he heard a voice from behind.

“That was half of my contacts you just blew up there, I’ll have you know. Just because Wookies actually do grow on trees doesn’t mean they’re easy to come by! Well, if I’d just had the time to consider this investment thoroughly, I’m sure it would have been a lot easier than this, but we’re currently operating freely while half the guard’s busy investigating some halfling. Rule 329: A distracted policeman… is an opportunity!”

Ridley turned, slowly, as he felt his body stop responding to commands. Some sort of paralyzing shot? As he turned to snarl, he caught a brown-skinned creature with a giant forehead, twin lobes sticking out, and a cruel smile stretched across pointed teeth. Then he felt his vision twist again as two massive, muscled hands grabbed him from behind and twisted, holding up a pair of ropes.

“Now remember there, Ur’gash, you can’t squeeze the little birdy too hard, alright? The pretty dragon is our way out of this stupid star system and back off this rock.” The cunning creature added. Ridley was twisted around as the brute got out a coil of over-sized rope from the pack. It had one eye, and a large paunch. It’s orange skin was stretched out over a mountain of muscle, and it’s single horn seemed to grow in place of the dumb things missing intelligence. Ridley thought he’d seen a couple walking around the town of Karim on his short jaunt already - ogres, they were called. Earlier, he’d merely avoided them due to the creatures smelling worse than a dissected metroid. Now, he realized the offensively scented creature had more strength in one bicep than the rest of the prey he’d hunted down contained in their entire bodies.

“Just get it tied down, and we’ll work on extracting those healthy plasma coils. And then, we can finally get off this stupid rock!” the talkative one stated. His voice annoyed Ridley enough to cause his tail to twitch-

Ridley’s eyes shuddered wide briefly at the realization, as the ogre came to him with ropes. It made him twitch! Which meant that the paralyzing weapon had already worn off. Had the fool attempting to take down an elite species really brought anything less than a starship-class weapon to put him down?

Slowly, Ridley’s eyes moved toward the alien, now with his back turned, his flesh exposed, and a needle filled with something in his hands. The patient dragon held his breath. He could hear the ogre behind him, its clumsy footfalls making the earth tremble under its corpulence.. It was close to him, but not too close yet. It had a chance of catching him.

Instead of moving out, the clever dragon waited. Ridley may not have had the bursts of fire he once held, but he didn’t need it. Ridley didn’t require a puff of flame to deal with such a genetic failure. The ogre came closer, and Ridley made his move. Instantly, the sedated prey eft panting on the ground tore off his sheep’s clothing and jumped for the ogre with a feral cry. Ur’gash brought up his hands and pulled back for a haymaker. Ridley opened his mouth and spat, a sickly yellow amalgamation of pus and drool, and the disgusting concoction struck the Ogre’s exposed eye dead-on.

Ur’gashlet out a howl of pain, and before the ogre had time to clutch its face, ridley had turned around and dashed as fast as his wings could help take him. The would-be dissector wasn’t stupid, and he immediately brought up the paralyzer rifle. Ridley slapped the weapon away with a shriek of primal rage, and then continued on to slap the greedy thing so hard he sent him off the rocky shore and into the water.

Ur’gash’s roared in challenge, and Ridley turned once again to fight his brawny adversary. Ridley charged the creature with both claws out, but the Ogre halted his momentum with a punch that sent shuddering pain through his crest and made the world spin. Ur’gash was quick to abandon any semblance of sophistication or skill, and scooped the dragon up into his massive orange arms as easily as a toddler picking up a squirming cat. The Dragon roared his defiance and wiggled as best he could, but the ogre’s strength surpassed what his damaged frame could muster.

“You hurt Ur’gash’s boss! Ur’gash doesn’t like you! Ur’gash kill you slow! Ur’gash squeeze you bad!”

The brutish figure started squeezing with a strength that reminded Ridley so very much of Kraid, and the pirate general couldn’t hold back a scream as his ribs starting to bend and falter against the ogre’s bear hug. Desperately, the Space Pirate slammed his tail hard into the ground, catching only dust as his body was curshed against the Ogre’s. Three times, the dragon slammed it’s spear-like tail into the black stone below,and three times, the old avian’s tail missed it’s target. Ur’gash grinned broadly as the space dragon’s struggles started to die off.


“Ur’gash squish you and eat you and make a hat for Ur’gash out of dragon-man!” the enraged bodyguard exclaimed. Beginning to black out from the ogre’s bone-crushing grip, the terrified pteranodon put the last of his strength and oxygen into slamming the blade of his tail into the middle of Ur’gash’s foot. The effect was an immediate howl of pain, and the ogre’s hand loosened their grip as a shiver of pain rocked the orange-skinned ape. Ridley took the chance to sink his claws into the ogre’s chest, hooking his claws into the creature’s ribs and pulling his weakened body up the beastman’s chest. Ridley let out one primal growl before his neck snapped forward and his jaws opened wide. The space pirate cocked his head to the right and clamped his teeth around the wide-eyed Ogre’s head like a saw-toothed vise.

Even a creature as dull-witted as this genetic failure registered danger now, and chubby hands came up and pushed against Ridley’s chest with a burst of strength. Ridley clamped onto the Ogre’s head for dear life and wrapped his sinuous tail around the ogre to tether himself to the beast.

“Ur’gash doesn’t… no!” Ur’gash’s strength was beyond anything Ridley had faced while fighting in this world, and Ridley strained to hold himself onto the ogre’s head as their struggle continued, and the Dragon’s jaw began to cramp as Ur’gash kept pushing. At this rate, Ridley knew he was gambling: Either Ur’gash’s skull or Ridley’s chest would cave in first, or Ridley’s teeth would be ripped out by the insane strength. And then, after a few moments of intense effort, a shudder could be heard as a cracking sound signalled the Dragon’s teeth finally putting in the force to snap through the rotund enforcer’s thick layer of bone.

“I don’t wanna, I don’t wanna! Birdy no!” The childlike creature screamed, and Ridley felt satisfaction as he drank in the pleas of his opponent. The ogre’s hands weakened, and Ridley’s strength grew as he could freely breathe again. The dragon took the opportunity to slowly bite down as the ogre’s struggle grew in panic and decreased in strength, and he waited until the angry slapping of his opponent turned into weak pats on the back before biting down the rest of the way. The foul flesh was disgusting to the beast, so it threw the mashed bits of flesh and brain matter into the nearby lake as the Ogre’s hands finally fell still at its sides, the headless oaf still standing in place.

Ridley felt the intense urge to slice this freak’s corpse up further, to let it stand as testament to any creature that had the indignity to touch his magnificent self in such a way, but he didn’t have the time for that. After all, there was one sentient left to punish.


“Rule 68! I should have remembered rule 68!” a distant voice screamed. Ridley immediately took flight, hatred and anger allowing him to forget the pain and weakness coursing through his frame. Catching the wet alien proved simple, and Ridley was glad he’d thrown the fool in the water - thanks to the frilly clothes the alien clung to, it only took a couple seconds for Ridley to catch up to the smelly creature. It’s time in the aqueduct’s water must have caused it to release some sort of pungent aroma - that, or it was this one’s natural fear response.

The big-eared alien turned around to see Ridley barreling towards him, and immediately started screaming. The creature put his hands above his head in a gesture of surrender, and Ridley slammed the creature down onto it’s back. He could tell this one was affluent, important - at least among the lesser life forms that inhabited this place. He looked like he knew this place, enough to put together a plan and hire beings to go along with it. But he’d also caused the mighty Ridley to suffer damage and indignity.

The dragon pinned the, squalling creature with a single hand, and kneeled down to get in the pathetic worm’s face. He leaned forward and put his beak right above his head, close enough to his face to cover it in the steam from his breath and cause the greedy thing to choke.

“You!” Ridley snarled, getting spittle on the Ferengis face. The creature immediately began babbling.


“L-listen, I uhh, didn’t know, I didn’t know you could talk and…” the Ferengi babbled.

Ridley’s eyes narrowed, and he pushed down once, very hard, on the alien’s chest, just hard enough to knock the air out of him. He would not permit lies.

“Listen, listen, we can make a deal. You want someone who knows their way around this town? I can give you whatever…”

Ridley roared, and pushed down hard on the creatures chest.

“What are you going to give me?!” The Dragon howled.

“A-a-anything. Anything!” The ferengi whined, tears streaming down the traumatized merchant’s face.

It wasn’t good enough. Ridley leaned in to touch noses with the creature as he put more pressure on the wheezing bipeds chest.

What will you give me?!” The space pirate howled at the top of his lungs.

“Everything! Everything! I’ll give you everything!” The Ferengi sobbed, putting his hands up ahead of his chest and crying into the rocks.

A smile curved onto the dragon’s lips.

“From now on… you work for me!
 
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