The tremendous blast wave from Zebes's demise stretched far into the reaches of the system, and near the edge of the bright sapphire inferno, a lemon-colored Hunter-class space ship broke away from the explosion with only seconds to spare. As the aft of the craft became a speck against the remains of the huge mess left behind, Zebes was nothing more than chunks of floating rock. The gravitational pull of Zebes had suddenly vanished, causing a great disturbance of the orbit of other planets in the system. The Hunter-class ship would be far away from the system by the time any catastrophic effects could take place.
Within the green-domed cockpit of the small ship, Samus Aran removed her blast helmet, and placed it in a tight-fitting compartment alongside of the main control console. Her ship was in the clear, she had quickly decided. She used her left hand, a heavily armored hand, as a cloth as she ran it across the side of her face. Blond hair rested on the armored shoulder plates of the Gravity-Suit she had acquired from a Space Pirate shipwreck on Zebes. A small monitor in the corner of her piloting compartment relayed images of Zebes's remains through to her ship's systems. She felt somewhat empty. Zebes had started it all; the horrible invasion of the Space Pirates, the discovery of the Metroids, and of course, the nesting place of Mother Brain. And now it was gone, and although feeling a sense of accomplishment for the completion of the Space Pirates' destruction, her life now seemed drained of meaning. Although the Space Pirates would some day return, there was no telling how far away that would be. Samus suddenly grimaced and slapped down her armored hand down on the large auto-pilot button. The coordinates were already set so there was nothing more to worry about, apart from her state of mind. She swallowed hard against those thoughts skewering through her mentality. It was going to be a long trip back to the Galactic Federation's main flagship, the Corsair.
She was ready to go into deep-space sleep, but no, not yet. She had issues to settle with herself. Ever since she was infused with Chozo blood, thrust into combat with the Space Pirates and their leader, Mother Brain, things still remained a blur. She had fought one warrior's lifetime for every step forward, for every breath taken. She knew already that there would be no reward, the only thing that had driven her from the start was vengeance, and it had controlled her life, making all the decisions leaving no room for objection. The score was settled, and now she had nothing. Absolutely nothing. No family, as they had all been killed, no friends, as the life of a bounty hunter wouldn't allow her to have them, and no goals, for she would only wander endlessly through the giant cosmos, making a living from guilty renegades. And that wasn't the worst part. Zebes may have not been destroyed if the Galactic Federation had taken their own approach instead of sending a fearless and powerful bounty hunter to mop up the Space Pirates. Furthermore, Samus Aran hadn't pulled this one off.
The Super Metroid had been killed.
It had all been for nothing. She knew the Space Pirates would return in one form or another, with Mother Brain or without. The defeated Space Pirates would conjure up an entirely new threat to throw at the Galactic Federation. If the Federation had hope of ridding the Space Pirates from the galaxy quickly and efficiently, it would have depended on that Super Metroid. Using the enemy's tactics against them would have had them scrambling into a lost region of space, as the Federation started harnessing the Super Metroid's power and creating an unstoppable military weapon. Samus knew what a taste of that power felt like, as she fled the exploding Zebes armed with an energy beam of unstoppable Metroid power, provided by the Super Metroid. But the power of that particular Super Metroid was gone, as Mother Brain had eradicated it. Metroid or not, it had saved Samus's life.
It was time now; Samus Aran decided there was absolutely nothing more she could do. There was no turning around to defeat the Space Pirate Remnant, as Ridley, their notorious Commander, had been defeated.
"Hunter-class medium vehicle, please state cargo and destination,"
"No cargo. Destination: Corsair,"
"Roger that. Please send your clearance codes,"
"Affirmative, Control,"
Samus waited as the communications link provided no sound. Then the voice came through again.
"Aran!? I knew that ship looked familiar. Your codes have expired, but we'll make an exception for obvious reasons. Welcome back" the surprised male voice responded.
"Copy" Samus said, displaying no emotion, and no pleasant return greeting. She cut the transmission and allowed the space station's tractor beam to suck her ship through the docking ring.
Malcolm Clifford's eyes narrowed with intensity as he examined the high-quality computer scans sitting in front of him on a standard computer monitor. The black desk, formed out of a strange metal alloy was the only thing separating the fifty-something academic from the closed doorway; hardly anything else decorated the bland office. Empty containment tubes were crammed into half-open compartments, lightbars placed on the ceiling were somewhat dim, and the walls consisted of two windows, displaying nothing but blackness, and a gray padded material. Clifford's mostly bald head reflected the details of the ceiling in spite of the dim light, and his pained face reflected concern and fascination. One hand rested on the computer keyboard; its sole purpose was hitting buttons to bring up the next image. The other hand was tinkering with a black, grubby rubber ball that served some symbolism from his past. Clifford's index finger came down on the keyboard again, projecting to his eyes a different angle of Zebes's explosion. A few seconds after his eyes started to settle into it, the office door hissed open, and a low-ranking science officer briskly stepped through.
"Sir, the scan-ship wants permission to head back,"
Malcolm nodded with a frown.
"Yes, of course. Don't need my permission where there's common sense involved, boy" he said without much effort.
"Yes sir" the young man replied, his obedience insignificant to the older man. Before he could leave, an authorizing tone prevented him.
"Also, what about these images? Was there only one scan-ship out there?"
"There's more on standby now but they were being used a few hours ago. Do you want me to deploy them, sir?"
"Yes. Post haste, boy. I'll give them specific orders, send them up here. Oh and…"
The drifting of his voice caught the younger man's attention after he had decided to leave again.
"Yes sir?"
"No sign of, Aran?" Malcolm asked, rubbing his forehead.
"Afraid not, sir,"
Malcolm nodded; disappointment evident in his face. Without anything further, the science officer silently dismissed himself and left the Chief Science Executive alone in his office again. The academic let a long sigh escape him.
"Samus, what have you done?" he quietly asked himself. Moments later, the same annoying messenger exploded back into Malcolm's officer.
"Sir, it's Aran" he quickly said. Malcolm launched upward from his chair and slapped his hands flat on the desk.
"I want her in my officer as soon as possible!" he exclaimed.
The amethyst domed shoulder plates of Samus Aran's Gravity-Suit armor snapped out of place quite violently, but the armored plating around her arm slipped away peacefully as the strain of its attachment was slackened. A silky navy sleeve covered Samus's arm, a black glove sheltered her hand. Samus stood still for a few moments, gazing aimlessly at her arm's shape. She had not been able to view her normal self in what seemed like months. It was amazing how small and delicate her arm appeared in comparison to the bulky and fierce equipment she boasted. With a few hand motions the black glove slipped from her fingers, and she spent a few seconds gyrating her wrist. She'd feel a lot lighter with all this body armor gone. Of course her trademark armor, infamous among bounty hunters, would have to be secured aboard her ship in a few minutes. Currently she was enjoying privative hospitality in a guest refreshment room just off from the docking bay. Samus grumbled under her breath as she suddenly figured all the high-up figures of her mission to Zebes would be erupting with questions, demanding answers. Asking why the hell the planet blew up. It could wait, couldn't it?
Hot water. Standing in the shower was a dream Samus had been lacking ever since her deployment to Zebes. Of course her suit had automated hygienic systems but none of them were as comforting or as relaxing as a steamy warm shower. The water drooling over her shoulders, soaking into her feet was almost enough to prepare her for a bombardment of inquiries from the Federation heads. As she switched the water supply to an off position, and stepped out of the shower, she noticed something else that had been bugging her ever since she arrived on Corsair. Sleep deprivation. Tired or not, nobody would let her sleep until questions were answered.
The office door slid open and tucked itself away into a thin partition, and Samus Aran stood, wearing a black and emerald silky jumpsuit, examining the old man sitting behind his desk. He offered her a smile, whether it was genuine or not, she was too tired to tell. She didn't give him one back, and placed herself down in a seat, prepared for her on the other side of the desk, without saying a word. Malcolm swallowed hard as he went to his monitor for a moment. He then gave Samus his full attention.
"Miss Aran, you may or may not remember me. My name is Doctor Malcolm Clifford, I am the…"
"Chief Science Officer on this ship, you were on Ceres Station when I delivered the Super Metroid,"
Malcolm befitted an uncomfortable smile, and brought his eyes to the monitor. He was reminded of how fortunate he was, when he left before the Space Pirate attack on the station.
"Firstly, I'll be expecting a report, but you're free to hand that in whenever you like" he said. He looked to her for acknowledgement, but the only thing Malcolm received was a concentrated stare, something he wasn't too contented with. "But I have some general questions about the missions, urgent ones, as a matter of fact,"
There was a pause in his words for a brief moment. "Your mission was to obtain the Super Metroid from the clutches of the Space Pirates. I'll admit it was on very brief notice, during the trip to Zebes, but…"
"The Super Metroid was killed by Mother Brain" Samus quickly interrupted. Malcolm put on a glum face.
"I… I thought Mother Brain was dead,"
"I thought so too" Samus replied in a matter-of-factly manner. Already Malcolm could feel the strain of keeping Samus comprehensive. He was very shocked however, to hear the news of the Super Metroid.
"Samus, don't take this the wrong way, but something tells me that Super Metroid could have been rescued. You understood how unique it was. Hell, if we could have even snagged some decent genetic coding of the thing, we could have even…"
"Doctor Clifford, rest assured I did everything within my power to obtain the Super Metroid. But I couldn't, and what's done is done. Wishing I had tried harder, which I never could have, won't bring the Super Metroid back,"
Finally, more than a sentence worth of information. Malcolm cleared his throat.
"Alright" he calmly said in defeat. "Why did Zebes explode?"
Samus kept a blank face before she replied.
"My heads-up display read the presence of a bomb in Tourian. When it exploded, it most likely sent a chain reaction through the colonized Space Pirate areas. Space Pirate technology and colonization extended all the way into the depths of Norfair, which is by the way, in the deeper spots, getting very close to the core of Zebes. There was also Space Pirate colonization in Brinstar and Maridia. Mother Brain is also a very powerful entity, an explosion from within could be as big as this ship,"
Malcolm sighed, dissatisfied with the results from the mission to Zebes.
"So let me get this straight, Miss Aran. You picked up a distress call from Ceres Station after delivering the Super Metroid, and then entered Ceres Station to find the Space Pirate Commander, Ridley, who absconded with the Super Metroid. You tracked Ridley to the planet of Zebes, where you discovered Space Pirate colonization. You traveled to the depths of Zebes to locate the Super Metroid, only then to see it killed by Mother Brain? This isn't adding up, Miss Aran. Why did Mother Brain terminate a Metroid? The Space Pirates have been trying to breed them to utilize them as an army,"
"That Super Metroid saved my life, Doctor. If it hadn't seen me as its mother when it first hatched, it would have attacked me. But when it tried to exchange life-force between Mother Brain and my armor, it was killed,"
Malcolm kept a stern, disbelieving look about him, and continued.
"Right… Anything else I should know?"
"Commander Ridley, a Space Pirate bioweapon Kraid, and Mother Brain, have all been terminated. I believe there was a price on Ridley's head,"
"Yes, well you can talk to someone else about your reward. We're done here. Dismissed,"
Samus thought to herself as she exited the office and headed through the grey and white corridor leading to Federation Trooper bunkrooms. There were only two types of people that sat back and witnessed someone else doing the hard work, and they were the corporates, and the academics. Malcolm Clifford seemed to be one of the latter, so Samus knew there was still a company executive to deal with somewhere down the line. When Samus arrived at her destination; a bunkroom in which she had been assigned to temporarily, she pressed a thumb down hard on the door switch and it buzzed open, delivering a small whiff of a charming deodorizer's aroma with its motion. It seemed her bunkmate, who she had been told was a Federation marine Corporal, was elsewhere. Everything had been left in a relatively tidy state, most surprising for a mere grunt of the Federation marine core. She clumped military-issued bagging next to the foot of her allocated bed, and sat down on near the pillow. After a quick examination Samus decided she could quite pleasantly accept this environment for the next few days before beginning a search for the new bounty. She realized that with all her past missions, she had gathered a reputation for beating the life out of Space Pirates, and little else. Finding a private bounty for a nice price would be a chore in itself, once again it looked like the Federation was her one and only option. Apparently Corsair's night and day was parallel to the times of the nearby planet of Sejene, so she'd have to keep her eyes open for a few more hours to avoid butchering her sleeping pattern. But what was there to do? Socialization was a commitment, a mission just to learn how to act normal among Humans, so there were few options. As she pressed her kneecaps rising to her feet, the door to the room slid open, and a slender dark-haired male slipped through the doorway, not looking up or aware of Samus's presence in the room. Obviously he was engaged in deep thought, and there was no need to disturb him. Plus, he'd get one hell of a fright when he saw her.
"Jesus!" the Corporal said abruptly. He sighed and loosened up his muscles. He gestured to Samus politely and then rubbed his hand through his short, straight hair. "Sorry, I didn't see you there. Miss Aran, right?"
"Yes" Samus replied, taking a little pleasure from seeing the man jump. Her face kept emotionless until she decided it was time to drop the stiffness that she'd shared with Malcolm Clifford. "You… you can call me Samus" she said, trying to squeeze out a smile. She couldn't, but the tone was reassuring. The marine placed his bags down next to his khaki colored trousers and looked at Samus, for a second admiring her beauty. Being away from Humans for so long, Samus wouldn't have caught onto it.
"I'm Corporal…"
"Drake Warren, Squad Bravo Black, commonly known as Blazer Squad" Samus said instinctively, forgetting her manners. She soon realized her mistake and put on an embarrassed smile. "Damn, I really have to stop doing that" she muttered. Drake screwed his nose up and shrugged.
"Being around the hard-ass Sergeants kind of jades me to that stuff. Don't worry about it" he replied kindly. "I've heard a lot about you Samus" he said commendably. "Zebes, the Space Pirates, Metroid Prime, the Ing, the whole deal,"
Samus became uncomfortable with the mention of her missions. She knew how these grunts worked. Once they started complimenting they weren't going to stop until they were either slapped, or Samus's case, knocked unconscious. Samus swallowed hard, even the mention of her recent past pained her mind. Drake quickly picked up on her unintended signals. "But, you probably don't want to hear the fan stuff, right now, eh?" he remarked. Samus tilted her head and smiled at him appreciatively, but no words came out. "I understand how it is" Drake said softly. "But you're quite the talk around here. The great and legendary bounty hunter Samus Aran. Just remember you're no stranger to anyone here,"
Samus already knew that. It wasn't something she was too fond of, either. "Oh and uh… You might want to watch some of the privates…"
Samus raised a brow. "Oh god" Drake said shaking his head. "I mean uh, the other soldiers. Some of the younger ones don't have much respect for women, they come up from…"
"Rest assured I'll be the last woman they'll ever see if they try something, Corporal" she smiled coldly. "So no need to worry about that,"
Drake nodded and made a confused and slightly timid face as he brought himself up to leave the bunkroom again. He gave her a polite nod and then left the bunkroom, somewhat confused. Samus waited for the door to slide into its shut position, and grinned mischievously. He knows who the boss is, she thought.
Only two minutes into the conversation, and already Samus had classified Devis Terrald as your stereotypical corporate. These days the mission commission was like a regular insurance company, and if it weren't for the large bold signs above the doorway to Devis's office, Samus could have been fooled. Not only was Devis denying there was ever a price on Ridley's head, but he was disallowing Samus to receive any pay whatsoever because of her failed mission on Zebes.
"You blew the planet up, and you want us to pay you?" Devis cried as if he were in trauma. "Sorry, but it doesn't work like that,"
"I wiped out the Space Pirate colonization on Zebes, Mister Terrald, which was their largest and central command center, by the way. Don't even start telling me that it doesn't…"
"Your mission was to bring back the Super Metroid, Miss Aran. You failed to do that, and I fail to see a reason as to why I should sign a cheque,"
"I suppose you do this with all the other bounties?" Samus asked, in defeat.
"Do what?"
"Screw the hunter over,"
"I'm sorry, Miss Aran. I can no longer deal with your problems" Devis concluded, rising from his chair. Samus shook her head. Half-expecting some slime ball escape route she had been. Nevertheless, she'd get her money. Devis retreated further into the mission commission outpost, entered through a doorway and closed it behind him. In the second that was available to view inside the staff room, Samus caught another company man within.
Devis seemed rather anxious as he made his approach.
"Have you made the deal?" he asked. The bigger man with a build that resembled a rather small Chozo, straightened the collar of his blue-lined undershirt, standing comfortably behind some black million dollar suit.
"The marines will never know what hit them,"
Samus, suddenly alarmed that she was hearing business talk that was completely confidential, pressed of from the side of the doorway before one of them decided to come out of the room.
Never were there only a few leaders and tacticians in the briefing room. The amount of brains and thought it took to run a single operation in the marine core was quite mind-boggling to the less knowledgeable on the topic of the military. The spearhead was Colonel Warrick Gilsmore, a battle-hardened warrior of African-American heritage. Alongside of him was the small but heavily built Mexican, Carlos Sanchez. Sergeant Sanchez, that would be. He played something of the role of a tactician during the operation's planning stage along with fourteen other members of the marine core. The amphitheatre circling the main briefing chamber surrounded an activated hologram in the middle of the room, displaying the planet Ognosis. Gilsmore's eyes ran over the surface of the blue and green sphere, and then turned his attention to the rows of marines.
"Ognosis, out of Galactic Federation space. Recent scans of the planet on a five-year routine run discovered the presence of an occupied Space Pirate base" Gilsmore said with his harsh, western voice. "Now I know we knew of the Space Pirate base on Ognosis previously but Federations troops wiped out its population. Now, it's inhabited again,"
"Your equipment," Sergeant Sanchez announced, taking a step forward in front of Gilsmore, "Is not FST inclusive, so whip out your wallets,"
Sanchez received slight laughter, all the marines knew about the hefty prices the marine core would have to dish out to get a hold of that equipment. Drake Warren wrapped his fingers around one hand, smiling to himself. That was the Sergeant, always fun and games. Maybe the only reason Sanchez wasn't such of a brute like Gilsmore was because he hadn't been knee-deep in hell, yet. Neither had any of the Blazers, for that matter. Most of them were still considered newborns in the marine core. Drake for one was hoping that this would be their big break, and possible promotions could follow. Gilsmore eyed the Sergeant after his small crack, coldly ordering him to continue. "Now there will be shooting, no doubt about it" Sanchez with hesitation, his voice suddenly firming. "The high-ups sent a recon team down to Ognosis, and before they even located the base, no communications transmissions were able to be transmitted because the whole team was…" the Mexican sighed.
"Not killed" Gilsmore filled in quickly. "But captured. We believe our recon team are being held as prisoners within the base,"
Drake frowned as he raised a hand.
"This is, Space Pirate activity? I thought the Space Pirates were wiped out along with the destruction of Zebes?" he asked. Gilsmore shook his head.
"Don't bet on it, Walker" the Colonel replied. Drake shook his head.
"I'm Warren" he said quickly.
"I'm Walker" answered a completely different looking male of Blazer Squad. The Colonel brushed away his incorrectness with an effortless wave.
"There were fleeing Space Pirates from Zebes, and we have no idea how long this planet has been colonized by the Space Pirates for. It could be weeks, it could be up to four years and eleven months. Either way they must be well-prepared for assault if they managed to catch a recon team,"
"We could be walking right into a trap" Drake objected, concern now blooming.
"That's generally what marines do" Sanchez said bleakly. Drake eyed Gilsmore with disclosure.
"Surely there must be some kind of insurance" he said. Gilsmore nodded, quite confidently.
"We'll have short-range scout probes laying out the area for us,"
"What's the terrain like?" Peter Savski asked with his usual generic and sophisticated sounding tone.
"There are a large number of lakes around all land-masses on the planet. The terrain on the ground can range from grasslands, to mountains, to dense forest canyons. I'm afraid you'll be getting your hands dirty,"
"And your asses pricked" Sanchez spoke up. "Natural wildlife in the jungle areas can be a real hassle,"
After the briefing had finished, Drake Warren made his way up the large amphitheatre steps, heading toward the closest exit to the troop quarters, which was somewhere on his left. He stopped before the doorway when there was a stunning female figure waiting for him. He was smiling on the inside until he realized it was Samus Aran – she was untouchable. Samus noticed the change in the Corporal's expression.
"What? Did I burst your bubble?" she asked. Drake cleared his throat abruptly, and moved on from the thought.
"Why are you hanging around here?" he asked, observing the last group of marines to filter from the other side of the briefing chamber. Samus brought her hands together and then leaned against a white, spotless wall, now only partially blocking the doorway.
"I've always got money to earn. Got operations to look out for" she replied after a few seconds. Drake frowned.
"What do you mean? This operation doesn't include you,"
"It will when the bunch of you are locked up in some Space Pirate prison cell" she grinned heartlessly. Drake offered an empty smile and shook his head in disbelief.
"You're the coldest woman I've ever met" he said, shouldering past her. Coming from a marine, that was rather amusing. She watched after him for a few moments.
"You've never stared at death in the face, have you?" she spoke up. Drake, filled with skepticism, stopped in tracks, took offense, and then looked back at Samus.
"What's your problem, Samus? I'm trying to be polite toward you. And all you can do is act inappropriately, and I might I add, offensively around me?" he questioned. Samus regretted her words but kept the reaction on the inside. She had dealt with Space Pirates, defeated tyrants like Mother Brain, survived through the harsh wildlife of planets all alone, but there was a single challenge in life that was out of her league – and that was learning how the minds of Humans' worked. Drake continued to wait for a response, clutching two glimmering dog tags within his fist. She pushed herself from the wall and decided to make a stand.
"I've seen it all, Corporal. I'm not some presumptuous, run of the mill soldier. I've been closer to hell in my recent missions, than you'll ever get near to in your entire lifetime. So be straight with me, because I can help you,"
Drake tilted his head, suddenly becoming more aware of a bigger picture somewhere in the conversation, and raised a brow.
"What are you talking about?"