I awaken from my sleep in a cold sweat. Lately I've been having the same dream night after night. I'm trapped on an unknown alien ship, my Power Suit stolen. I sneak around the ship with nothing but my Stun Gun looking for suit. I always find it in the same place. Upon equipping my suit I work my way back to the docks where my own ship is being stored. Just as I'm about to enter I am grabbed from behind and thrown into the air. Every night I know it's coming but every night I am still surprised to see Ridley. The shock paralyzes me and I don't attack in time. Ridley catches me and drags me against the wall. My armour begins to take critical damage. As Ridley goes to give the final blow I am saved by an unknown alien; a yellow rodent that generates and expulses electricity from its body. It fires a bolt of electricity at Ridley causing him to drop me. Ridley lets out an angry shriek, flies towards us and then I wake up. It is said that Metroids absorb the memories as well as the life force of their victims. Perhaps these are the memories from one of the victims of the Metroid whose DNA is fused with my own.

Normally I would never ponder these thoughts but being in exile I have nothing else to do. After my last mission involving the X-parasite, the Galactic Federation felt it was easier to brand me a traitor and a terrorist rather than admit they were continuing their research into weaponizing the Metroids. As all evidence if their research went up in flames along with the 'X' and the rest of the Galactic Federation Headquarters, who was going to believe otherwise? Still, the Federation doesn't tolerate loose ends and that is definitely what I am to them now. They sent bounty hunter upon bounty hunter after me until I finally went into hiding. The Federation did everything they could to make sure I would die. They reprogrammed all of the computers to recognize me as an enemy threat and to alert any bounty hunter or Federation batallion of my presence if I was near. Only two computers broke protocol; the interface whom I came to call 'Adam' after my friend and mentor, Adam Malkovich. Unfortunately it was destroyed when the Federation realized it helped me stop the 'X' and the Metroids. The other is one of the Aurora Units. In order to control the weaponized Metroids the Federation updated a select few machines with MB's programming. However all but one of the Aurora Units began to show signs of MB's behaviour and they were destroyed.

MB was an android based on the Space Pirate leader, Mother Brain. MB became self-aware and showed promise in controlling the Metroids telepathically. When she discovered that the Federation had intended to change her programming to make her subservient to them she went rogue and killed all the employees on the Bottle Ship. It soon became my mission to stop her but the more I learned about MB and her reasons the more sympathy I felt for her. After what happened with the 'X', I sometimes wonder if MB was right to bring judgement upon us. The remaining Aurora Unit retained some of MB's 'memories'and it too became self-aware. However, it seems to possess some form of foresight and acted as it should have as a means of self-preservation. Either the AU, under MB's influence, realizes I am not the threat the Federation says I am or it recognizes that I still have more use being alive. I don't know. Either way the AU began sending me private messages. It informs me of whenever a bounty hunter is after me and it relayed me a lot of the Federation's private files, the information that no one but those at the top know. I owe my life to this Aurora Unit and I intend to live as long as possible to finish my life's misison; to stop the Space Pirates once and for all.

The voice of the AU coming through my communicator roused me from my thoughts

"Samus, a little over an hour ago I intercepted a distress call from a planet not yet known to the Federation. As such I can't inform you any more of what this planet is like. I want you to investigate the source of this call immediately. Clearly this message has no specific destination so I can only assume the danger is grave and that help from any source is required. There have been reports of Space Pirate activity in that area so it can't be a coincidence. I have given the planet code name: LV-426. Go and report to me as soon as you find out what is happening. And Samus, good luck."

I changed my flight plan as if LV-426 had been my original destination all along. The nature of this call echoed what happened with MB and the Bottle Ship. This couldn't be a coincidence either. I input the destination into the ship's auto-pilot and prepare my sleep pod. I wonder what I'm going to find on this planet that even the Federation doesn't know about. And, are the rumors of Space Pirate activity true? I can only imagine what that means for this planet. A planet unknown to the Federation... I try to shake the fear growing inside me but I can't deny the thought that what if this LV-426 is like SR-388, home of the Metroids. Both were unknown to all but a very few and now with rumors of the Space Pirates I fear that maybe this is a second planet native to the Metroids. I get back into my pod and close my eyes. I'm going to need my strength for what lies ahead but the unease has already grown to an alarming level.