Disclaimer
This work of fiction is a non-profit, fan-based original story. While the plot and original characters are owned by the author, the setting, Samus Aran, and all other characters taken from Metroid are all owned by Nintendo Ltd. Pictures used are copyrights of their respective owners, support their official works.
Please don't sue me, I'm worth nothing. Thank you.

For Sakamoto-san, who both created and destroyed a brilliant heroine. You gave me reason to write this story. Thanks for putting my pen in motion.

Foreword
I've been a huge Metroid fan since about 12 years old when I was first introduced to the series. For those of you who are uninitiated, Metroid is a series of 10 games

published by Nintendo that centers on a lone heroine, assigned to exterminate creatures threatening all life in the galaxy.

Now the first games I played were Metroid, Metroid Prime 2 and Metroid Prime Hunters. After I finished those titles I expanded into the other entries in the series. I

adored the atmosphere the games put me into, which I largely credit to the series brilliant music. I felt like I really was alone on planets where every creature wanted

me dead.

As I journeyed through volcanic lakes, artic ruins, jungle temples, sophisticated military bases, ship bridges and even the heart of a poisonous planet, I really got a feel

for what kind of person Samus was. While her portrayal has been limited in older titles, the newer ones took advantage of new technology and really expanded her

character. But what really sold on her was not what she said, heck, she seldom said anything, but her actions. Her actions were what defined her. If you think about it,

Samus has good reason to be silent. On a regular basis, she is stranded on barren worlds with demonic creatures hiding around every corner, or sent in alone to

exterminate entire ecosystems of horrific monsters. On top of that, her parents were brutally murdered in front of her. Taking all of that into account, I think it's easy to

sympathize with her.

In Metroid Prime 3, Samus was even more defined. The way people treated her made her stand out. For instance, four hunters, including Samus are recruited by

Admiral Dane to investigate an information network crisis within the Galactic Federation. While the other three hunters are having pleasant conversation with the

admiral, Space Pirates attack the ship. The admiral orders them to fend off the invaders, but Samus stays behind. With her, the admiral simply nods, implying "Samus,

go do what you do best". When I saw this, I grinned. It was an awesome gesture of respect. And one that really gave me a glimpse to as how in-game characters

view the heroine.

Another theme in Prime 3 was the effective hell Samus was put through. A doppelganger of hers, Dark Samus, has returned. She corrupts Samus and the other three

bounty hunters with Phazon, a highly mutagenic and toxic substance. After given special apparatuses to combat the internal corruption, the four hunters are assigned

to continue their investigation regarding the network crisis. However, as Samus progresses on her mission, she discovers one by one the other hunters have given in

to their corruption and have become pawns in Dark Samus' game of galactic conquest. Samus, while slowly succumbing to her own corruption, is forced to fight these

three hunters she once called her friends. Later, right as the Phazon is about to totally corrupt her; Samus confronts Dark Samus at the heart of Phaaze, the source of

all Phazon. Samus continues on despite the odds stack against her.

What's compelling about this story, to me, is that it focuses on Samus' struggle repeatedly. She is shown puking up Phazon and toxic cracks begin to develop across

her face. Despite her never saying a word, Samus has shown the player just how horrific her struggle is. Surely the thought crossed her mind, "My friends couldn't beat

it, how can I? Shouldn't I just give up to the inevitable?" But she doesn't. She fights to the bitter end, and is rewarded for her struggle: Phazon is purged from her

body and Dark Samus is destroyed forever. The galaxy is saved.

A few years after Prime 3, a new game was published called, Metroid Other M. The premise of the game was to shed light on Samus' character, in addition to brutally

and epically beating the crap out of monsters along the way. To see a new, sleekly armoured Samus headlock a 40 foot behemoth and blast it point blank with her gun

was beyond awesome. It was be-awesome. And I was freaking out inside when I saw the trailers for it. Apparently the fan-base was too. We all, I think, wanted to

see a story driven Metroid game with intense fighting action, since, well, that's never happened before. "Metroid is explore, survive and shoot. What? We get to grapple

with monster and kick the snot out of them now? Ridiculous! Shut up and take my money Nintendo!

Unfortunately, the game didn't meet our expectations, as you might have guessed. They rarely do these days. However, this went beyond disappointed fans. What

happened negatively impacted the entire series. Mind you, the game itself wasn't that bad. In my opinion, despite its many flaws, I really enjoyed it. The fighting and

shooting was intense and a blast to play, (no pun intended). And honestly, if Nintendo decided last minute to change the title to Space Hunter Prime or something, I

think it would have sold quite well. If they made it a standalone game unrelated to Metroid, I think it would have been better received. In reality though, the game

massively flopped. The reason? It's horrific portrayal of Samus.

I could do a long critique about this, (believe me I have, multiple times to many ears), but I won't. Enough people have done that already. (A particularly brilliant one

can be found here: . )

Bottom-line, the game painted Samus as a whiny, overly emotional, and pathetic character. Her obsession with her CO, Adam Malkovich, is strange considering she

talks about him as if he's the best person who ever lived, but is in fact especially cold and distant from everyone around him. Samus is portrayed in such a negative way

that, number one, it's impossible to take her seriously, two, she contradicts her characterization in the rest of the series, and three, it's freaking impossible to take her

seriously! Simply put, its character assassination at its finest.

For instance, she has a full-blown emotional breakdown when she's fighting Ridley. Mind you, Ridley killed her parents as she watched and he's an 80 foot tall giant

dragon. If this was her first encounter with him, this would make sense. However it's not. This is the third or fourth time she's fought Ridley. In all logical honesty, this

should not be happening. If this scene was a flashback, it'd make perfect sense. But it's not. She collapses on her knees in front of the thing and gets her friend killed

(almost), because she couldn't cope with reality. One nail in the coffin is that all these cut scenes, despite how gorgeous they look, are unskiable. Meaning the story is

shoved down your throat, whether you want it or not. Should a story be engaging enough that the player wants to see them, instead of insisting they must see them?

Like half-life 2, Halo Reach, StarCraft 1 & 2? But I digress. I said no rants didn't I?

Anyway, after listening to probably every rant on YouTube about how demeaning this game was to Samus, I wanted to get some fresh input. I made my friends watch

it. They thought the story was crap. A few hours after that, I got thinking. If I rewrote Other M to fit with the entire series, what would I change? How would I

approach Samus' character differently than the volumes of fanfiction written about her? If I was going to do a Samus story, I wanted to make her unique and original.

As you probably guessed, this book you hold was the result of such an endeavor. I wanted a story that could fit inside the Metroid universe without contradicting it.

However, as I was writing it, I realized this story was similar to another, unrelated novella I was going to write later. In my option, a story should exist in its own right,

as a story. Not some fan allegory for how terrible a certain game was. And considering my other novella wasn't really that creative after all, (honestly it was a lot like

Other M) I decided to combine them. So in one sense, yes, this novella deviates drastically in plot, however, if you critically look at it, I'm sure it isn't.

At my core, I wanted to put Samus in a story where she could be her own person and given the proper characterization I felt she deserved. I desired to put Samus into

an original tale and see how she would deal with it. To my astonishment, she was brilliant. I adored writing Samus from beginning to end. My only regret is that I think

my Samus is too awesome. As in, I fear she may have become too much of a Mary Sue, (a character with no flaws) to be interesting to read. But I'll leave that up to you.

Lastly, I want to say that my version of Samus may deviate tremendously from her portrayal in her games. For me, I wanted to write a flawed, more believable and

frankly BAMF Samus that I always pictured her to be. She's always been my favorite female heroine and I wanted to give her freedom to be her own person,

figuratively speaking, and I hope I accomplished that in here.

The fruits of my labors, however flawed they may be, are as follows. I hope you enjoy reading it as much as I did writing it and thanks so much!