Samus grumbled as the intensely cold temperature in Phendrana Drifts fogged up her green visor. She looked around for any critters that could be hiding in the snowy banks, keeping her gun arm steady and aimed at the wet and white ground. Seeing no blurs of sudden movement through the clouded visor, Samus trudged on through the snow and jumped over a trail of boulders that lined up next to a cliff.
The mission that the bounty hunter had been given reverberated suddenly in her mind.
Find the source of the distress signal that we've been receiving from Tallon IV.
It was a strange mission; Samus never answered strange and unknown distress signals like this one. It was a peculiar thing, hearing the crackling of the message on the radar. Samus could barely remember what the voice had been saying, or even if it had been talking at all, but the scientists claimed that the radar was picking up cries of anguish from Tallon IV. They stopped abruptly due to weak connections, but somehow the chief ended up asking Samus to find out what it was.
"And here I am," she thought grimly as she fell into a deep ditch. Cursing, the bounty hunter picked herself up and brushed off the powdery snowflakes from her suit. "Now where is this distress signal coming from?"
Samus opened up the map data stored in her helmet and tried to find the location of the distress signal. The radar was picking up small readings of the signal again, but each time, the sound waves produced were too weak for Samus' radar to detect the location of the source. Groaning in frustration, the bounty hunter closed the map and collected her thoughts.
This shouldn't be that hard, she speculated, but why are these signals so horribly weak? Am I in the wrong place? Are they even coming from this planet?
The falling snowflakes grew bigger ad fell faster, moving with a quickening breeze. They splattered against the hunter's visor and obscured her vision. Samus looked around to find a cave that would provide shelter in the midst of the storm. Stumbling through the snow that became deeper with every snowflake, Samus peeked through the few clear spots on her visor. Her boots sank into the snow, creating a pleasant crunching sound every time she took a step.
The bounty hunter continued to aimlessly wade through the white layer until her foot caught on a rock that was frozen to the ground. She landed on her non-gun arm and on a hard stone floor that wasn't covered in snow. The sound of the metallic suit touching the rocky ground audibly echoed on the walls around it.
And so I make my grand entrance, Samus thought sarcastically. Brushing herself off, Samus waited until the fog from her visor had cleared away, and then stood up. She gazed into a dark tunnel with a dripping ceiling and small bug-like creatures crawling around on the floor and walls. Might as well just descend into here, Samus said to herself. Thus, she made her way deeper into the cave to see what she could find.
The hunter opened her map again, and found herself mildly and pleasantly surprised that the signals were getting stronger as she went through the cave. Shooting her way through a wall of frozen rocks, Samus closed the map and followed the direction it told her to go.
"Southwest . . ." the hunter mumbled to herself. "And then . . . east? No, maybe north . . ."
Again and again the bounty hunter kept opening up her map on the visor to constantly check where she was supposed to be. She blasted a few critters that threatened her with merciless hissing sounds, and then retreated as each shot was fired. The cave grew darker and deeper as Samus ventured further into it. The radar picked up stronger sound waves created by the distress signal, and they were becoming more and more evident the deeper the hunter traveled.
Stopping for a moment, Samus checked her map again and noticed that she was steadily getting closer to the source of the signal. Quietly celebrating her success, Samus didn't realize how close she was to a large chasm full of melted snow, or simply, water. After she shut down the map, Samus' boot slid down the incline, and she fell on her backside into the below-freezing abyss of water.
Crying out in frustration and slight alarm, the hunter threw her head back and hoped no one saw her, even under the water. Standing up underwater without the gravity suit upgrade was not an easy task; and that also applied to walking, jumping, and moving in general. Samus scanned the huge flooded chasm for a way back up to land, clambering on top of rocks and attempting to jump onto other ones.
"Oh, you've got to be kidding me . . ." she groaned after being unsuccessful in her search for a reasonable way to get back to the surface. Her suit didn't allow her to space jump as high as it would have on land. "Dangit!" she yelled to no one in particular.
Samus opened her map to see where she was in regards to the distress signal. The signal was close, very close, and the sound waves were getting stronger. As though she were walking through molasses, the hunter trudged forward through the water. Another few minutes of aimless trudging commenced until Samus finally found an underwater cliff that she could easily climb with the few rocks piled up in front of it. Relieved, Samus staggered to the cliff and scrambled up the rocks. After a good half hour of struggling, Samus made her way to the top and emerged from the surface of the water. The cliff was only submerged under the water by two feet, leaving the hunter to wade through to the dry land.
"Whew . . ." she breathed, "now where's that poor sucker?"
Samus checked her map to find that the signals were becoming intense with every step she took; she couldn't be far off now. Coming closer to the source, Samus closed the map and scanned the area.
"Hello?" she called, uncertainly, "we've been hearing your signals, so give me your location!"
The hunter awkwardly looked around for a figure who might look as though they were in distress. Seeing nothing in the dark, she turned on a bright light and used it to navigate her way through the dark and open cavern.
Bewildered, Samus shook her head and sighed.
"Come on, where are you?"
No sooner were the words over her tongue when the hunter tripped over a pile of rocks leading into a dead-end tunnel. From underneath the rocks there came a strange sound. Could it be . . . ? Samus thought hopefully. Re-opening her map for the umpteenth time, the hunter checked, just to be sure. Noticing a definite increase in the frequency of the signal, Samus scoured the small tunnel. Once again, she slipped into a small puddle of water. The odd sound stopped.
"Ahh, no, I lost it!" Samus cried out in despair.
Another sound came loud, shrill, and frightening.
"Waaaahhh!"
Backing away, Samus lit up her beam of light. She shone it on a crumpled purple figure that yelped with a raspy voice. It was a space pirate, one of Ridley's minions.
In a frenzy, the hunter started shooting at the confused figure. He yelled and jumped out of the cavern. Samus chased him out without tripping or sliding through the wet puddle.
The space pirate shuddered as he reduced himself to a ball of spindly limbs on the ground. He whimpered madly, muttering unintelligibly. Samus aimed her gun arm at the space pirate and switched it to "missile launcher". Then, she realized something and turned on her map.
"Are you sending out distress signals, space pirate?" she asked harshly. "Answer me!"
Spluttering, the space pirate replied.
"Y-yeah, well, n-no, not really . . . I mean, I g-guess . . . perhaps, maybe . . ."
"Were you or not?" Samus demanded, pointing her gun arm closer to the figure's face.
"Oh, yes, ma'am, certainly, of course!" he said, nodding his head frantically. "Absolutely, most definitely, undoubtedly—"
"Okay, I get it!" Samus yelled. The space pirate shut his mouth and continued to whimper. Samus started to ask him questions again. "Now, I've come to rescue you. Who are you and why are you . . . distressed?"
The space pirate hastily scrambled to his feet and brushed himself off.
"Well, this . . . this is incredible! You've come to rescue little old me? Oh, huzzah! Oh joyous day, oh, I feel so free and light on my feet! Ha haaa! That's really fantastic; I'm truly honored to be—ahh!"
The pirate shrieked as Samus blasted a power beam at him, annoyed. He jumped out of the way and cowered on the ground again.
"Would you answer me, space pirate?" she growled through bared teeth.
"W-well, I . . . I, uh . . . ahh, heh . . . what was the question?" the pirate asked sheepishly. Samus stepped on his back, threatening him.
"Look, space pirate, I don't know what your scheme is here, but I was sent here because of a distress signal. I'll ask you one more time: Who are you and why have I been getting distress signals?"
The space pirate stood up again as Samus removed her foot from his back.
"Well, uh . . . uh let me see, now . . . my name is Bronko, t-to answer that one. A-and I haven't been sending out a-any signals."
Samus, widening her eyes in disbelief, checked her map and radar. The signals had stopped right where she was standing.
"You must have," she mumbled, "the sound waves stopped when I came to this spot. I swear . . ."
Bronko laughed timidly.
"Oh, dear . . . uh, you must have been hearing m-my snoring, then."
"What do you mean?" Samus asked, aggressive. Backing away and quivering, Bronko covered up his face with his massive scythes.
"W-well, y'see, ma'am . . . my throat vibrates in such a way when I sleep, y'know, a-and . . . well, it might cause some disruptions in sonar readings, s-so you must have b-been picking up the sound of me sleeping."
Samus remained speechless for a moment, in a state of utter shock. There hadn't been any signals at all? Bronko, seeing another opportunity to speak, piped up again.
"B-but I will say, I am kind of lost, if that helps anything."
"You'd better be, you bug-eyed little-"
Bronko yelped and cowered again.
"Y-yes, yes, I'm lost, m-ma'am! D-don't hit me, please! Or shoot me!"
Samus didn't know what to do. Her past experiences with space pirates had never been positive ones, and she didn't expect this one to be any different. However, Bronko seemed . . . how should she put it? Innocent. Yes, he seemed much more innocent than a normal bloodthirsty creature. Samus shrugged off her annoyance.
"Look, space pirate, I don't know why you're here, but I'll take you back outside. Don't try anything, and I won't shoot you. Got it?"
Nervously, Bronko nodded.
"Oh, thank you, kind stranger, thank you! Oh, you're such a wonderful helper! My soul is saved! I'm free! Oh, thank you, thank you, thank-"
Samus cut him off by giving him an intense and murderous glare.
"You have the right to remain silent," she snarled while staring the space pirate straight in his blue bug-eyes.
"Oh, yes. Right. Of course, no talking. Yes, I understand. My lips are sealed, ma'am. Tight as a drum!"
"They'd better be," Samus grumbled as she led a chatty Bronko out of the large cavern.