Pikmin: Echoes of Eternity
Template:EoE Template:Infobox Game Pikmin: Echoes of Eternity is the upcoming sequel to Pikmin: Ultimate Doom. The story takes place fifteen years after the events of its predecessor. The game is a blend of the usual Pikmin Strategy elements and RPG elements, as well as some other RTS elements. The game consists of several modes, including the Campaign, Multiplayer, Dungeon Rush, and Arcade modes.
Main Plot
Fifteen years after Pikmin: Ultimate Doom, Captain Olimar was enjoying his retirement. He sipped on a mug full of pik-pik juice when he received a transmission from the President of Hocotate Freight. The President informed Olimar that the Distant Planet vanished from their sensors, which is inconvenient because the company was about to send a squadron to recover valuable loot. Stunned, Olimar was determined to end his retirement and go with the squad to investigate the disappearance of the Distant Planet. The President informed Olimar that Louie was the leader of the squadron, and Olimar chortled. Olimar and the Joker Squadron met up in the Hocotate Freight Hangar Bay, and decided to discuss their plans. Meanwhile, Louie wandered off to the shiny new freighter ship, the S.S. Pegasus. He got in, and began to search for food. He found a crate of Pik Pik Carrots on the dashboard, and reached over to eat some, and accidentally turned on the ship's auto-pilot! The freighter ship took off and bursted through the hangar shields. It rocketed away, leaving a trail of dust and smoke in its wake. Olimar sighed, and looked to the cadets for answers. A stocky cadet with green hair stood at attention, and said his name was Abbad. He said that they could borrow the President's corvette, claiming he did it all the time. Olimar shrugged, and the group entered the S.S. Andromeda. They took off after foolish Louie, and tracked the Pegasus' drive signature, which was locked into a course towards the Distant Planet.
Act I
Truths and Illusions
Olimar and the Joker Squadron blast off in the S.S. Andromeda towards the Distant Planet, breaking through the lightspeed barrier. Quickly with a boom the stars trail into black and then a flash of light obscures the whole ship. Now in full view is where the Distant Planet should be - but instead there is a supermassive black hole! The crew are astonished as Abbad nervously checks the ship's engineering panels. He informs Olimar that the gravitational pull of the black hole is overloading the ship's engines. They have no means of escape. A sporting corvette has no escape pods installed. Olimar swallows hard and the team prepares for the worst. As the ship approaches the event horizon, suddenly space begins to stretch into infinity. The background of stars shifts into red, then blue, then green, trailing off like a ghost. The ship then becomes spaghettified, stretching like dough towards the black hole. A pulsating light of rainbow colors flashes in everyone's minds, and then they all lose consciousness...
Olimar wakes up. He is on the Distant Planet, lying on the ground, and grunting. He looks up to see Louie crying. Olimar realizes suddenly where he is, it's fifteen years ago, just after he defeated Doom, and he's dying! He gasps as suddenly a burst of rainbow colors melts the entire world into a thick washed-out soup. Olimar becomes pixellated and shrinks down into nothingness. He sees a flash of light, and he sees visions of his family. Each of their heads float by, causing a great deal of comfort. Dust begins to fly off of their faces, as they crumple into particles of nothingness. Olimar is extremely panic-stricken at this point, and faints. A burst of rainbows twisting in fractal patterns encapsulates the entire world and another flash of light absorbs everything into darkness.
A distant echo bounces across a still lake. A spectral apparition floats above the waters. It wields a lantern with Olimar's ghostly head on it. The spirit chuckles, and leaps into the lake, turning it from a pale grey into a rainbow of static electricity.
With a loud thunderbolt, Olimar wakes up. He sees nothing but white. He is disoriented and confused. "Did I die? Where am I? How did I live on after dying fifteen years ago?" he thinks as he looks into the horizon. He sees a glimmer of green light. He decides to make the trek towards it. He gets up and dusts himself off, and pinches himself to make sure he isn't dreaming. Pain. Definitely awake. He sighs and heads towards the light.
Barren Expanse; Glimmering Green Portal
Olimar had been walking for days. He was exhausted. He wiped sweat off of his forehead, having taken off his helmet. Strangely enough, his gear’s sensors indicated a breathable atmosphere. He still had no idea where he was. The entire expanse was white, with the floor being an off-white, so at the very least he could make out where he needed to go. The green light had grown many times bigger, and he was almost there. It seemed to be a forest green circular orb with the brightest green emanating from the edges. It almost looked liquid. It was the only thing in sight and, as Olimar was desperate for some answers, he had no choice but to investigate.
Finally he reached the orb. It was like a spinning ball of deep green liquid, with a fiery lime green aura at the center. Olimar reminisced about his adventures through the Distant Planet and dimensions beyond. Nothing he’d ever experienced could explain the predicament he was in now. He had no recourse but to get closer. As he approached, the stark white world began to slowly turn green. He stopped walking, but was still being pulled in! Olimar sighed, as he was tired of being pulled into black holes. A flash of green enveloped his eyes and he was sucked into the void.
On the Other Side
A Red Pikmin leapt around and around the captain’s unconscious body. It tilted its head, and then decided to smack Olimar on the face with it’s leaf! Olimar leapt up, reflexively grasping his face in pain. The Red Pikmin made a sound of contentment, and Olimar gasped! He couldn’t find his helmet anywhere. And being in a grassy plain, he must have been on the Distant Planet! However, as he held his breath, his suit’s sensors indicated a breathable atmosphere. He took a deep breath in relief. He finally recalled what had happened in the hours before this moment. He was very confused. Life had been very strange 15 years ago, and it had settled down in his retirement. But recently reality had torn itself apart multiple times. “Visions, black holes, a white expanse… What does it all mean?”
The lone Red Pikmin whined, vying for a dazed Olimar’s attention. He looked up, puzzled as ever. Around him was a magenta grassland. He saw roaming creatures the likes of which he had never seen. In the immediate area was a lone Pikmin, and a partially buried object. The Red Pikmin made a noise of relief and ran over to the object. Olimar inspected it, finding it was a plant/metal hybrid material. He began to speculate on what it could be when a large creature appeared through the clearing.
It was a large creature, about the size of a Red Bulborb, but had a hunchback. It had a tail that whipped around, and large fangs. It made a hissing noise, and Olimar gulped. The Red Pikmin hid behind the buried object. Suddenly, a plasma torpedo blasts off into the creature’s head, killing it. It collapses, and Olimar turns around to find the source of the blast. It was Abbad and one other cadet! They clamber down the cliff and greet Olimar.
“That was a close one, Captain!”, Abbad said.
“Thanks, I would have been lunch for that thing! Where have you two been? And where are the other cadets?” Olimar responded.
“We woke up in this infinite white void, and saw a green light in the distance. We wandered towards it and got sucked in! Then we woke up here. Planet unknown.”, said Abbad. “The others didn’t emerge from the portal where we did. We have no idea where they could be, and our suit’s sensors are damaged.”
Olimar sighed. “Typical.”, he thought.
“Let’s try to find our way off this planet, shall we? I have no idea where the S.S. Andromeda could be. Or if there is a ship left… By the way, how did we survive entering a black hole?” Olimar said.
Abbad shrugged, and started, “We had some strange sensor readings coming from it. Not the typical readouts from a black hole. My guess as the physicist is that we are dealing with a new kind of black hole.”
The other cadet pointed towards the semi-buried object and spoke up. “Abbad, could this be some kind of Onion?” Olimar and Abbad looked over.
“Oh, wow. Good work, Imani! Olimar, meet Imani. We were so frantic about following Louie, I forgot to introduce the other squad members to you. She’s the team’s botanist.”, said Abbad.
“Nice to meet you.” Olimar said.
“Abbad, is the excavator tool still functional?” Imani asked.
“Yes, it is, indeed!”, said Abbad. He produced a hand-held tool that shot a plasma beam at the buried Onion, and plasma tendrils grasped at the soil and dug it up very quickly. The Onion sprouted its legs and stood up, proud as ever. It shone a stark grey against the strong sunlight. The Hocotatians and the Red Pikmin celebrated. Just then, a beep interrupted them.
“Oh, my sensors are partially working again. Looks like a signal from the rest of the squad. They’re due north! I say we use the Pikmin to help us make the trek towards them. We only have so much ammunition, you know. But Pikmin are practically endless!”, Abbad triumphantly said. Olimar and the others nodded in agreement, and got to work.