Chapter 1

First Encounter

Little note for everyone, this is my first fanfiction. I hope that you enjoy. Um... I disregarded Halo 4 and Metroid Other M (not because they were bad or anything, but because I simply chose to. XD [but Other M could have had better writing... And character development... And many other things... Halo 4 I simply adore, though. ^_^]). I would love for everyone that reads this to tell me what they think BECAUSE it is my first Fanfiction. I don't own Halo or Metroid. Microsoft and Nintendo do...

Anyways... Onward to the story. XD

Samus' POV

The cosmos glittered. It showed many years of natural occurrences that created planets of great population and other planets of great abundance of mineral, oil and energy. It showed the power of what a prosperous race, or several races, could do to a universe that is full of materials that could be used for war, peace and overall life. It was violet, red, green, orange, yellow, blue, black... All the colors that one could think of. It was blinding. It was beautiful to the eye that was new to it all. It was solace to those who thought of it as such. It was home to all.

Because the cosmos glittered, it was almost no wonder that my ship, a hunter class with a rounded hull, three landing prongs, a green window for the cockpit, and painted orange, with the exception of the belly, had drifted, unnoticed, towards a scrap piece of what could have once been seen as a ship. It seemed to have sustained quite a bit of unconfined plasma energy. It was now metal that many could try to scavenge if they truly desired, considering it was out of use. However, there were newer and stronger metals out there that one would only need to know where to search to find them.

What led my ship to the now scrap metal ship was the distress beacon that repeated several times in 5 minute increments. It was not a code that many would be able to pick up, considering it was floating in an almost desolate part of space and also because it was a now outdated coding system. The only reason why my ship picked up the signal was because of the vast database that the memory in it stored and the AI that categorized this database. The only reason why my ship even changed course to the wreckage was because of my final decision to.

My name is Samus Aran, a bounty hunter that usually takes jobs for the Galactic Federation. It just so happened that I was returning home from such a job when my ship picked up the distress call. At this point, I had two options: leave and know that there would be no pay check or save whoever the signal was for and possibly earn a few credits. Of course, being the typical bounty hunter, I chose to see if there was anything to gain, besides feeling good, from finding out what had happened to the scrap piece of ship. So, I decided to land onto a seemingly stable piece of metal, climb out of the cockpit, and twirl a few times before landing in a crouching stance. It just so happened that I was wearing what was called a Chozo Varia Suit. It covered my entire body from head to toe with boots that ended at the knee with a spike, red jet boosters in the dorsal part of the body, tubing in front of the red helmet, large orange, round shoulder pads that would end up being eye level to the helmet's green visor, and a green arm canon on my right arm. The rest of the suit was a yellowish color. It was the typical garb that I used when on a mission, even though it might not have been helpful for stealth missions.

As I walked into the broken ship, I looked around the empty, or seemingly empty, ship. The halls had rust clinging to the walls that were silver-ish in color. They were also rectangular, a great contrast to the Varia suit. Tubes that had become broken and unusable littered the ground next to canisters full of what seemed to be outdated weaponry. Perhaps the ship was not completely empty but, it was most definitely quiet, the only sounds coming from my boots as they clanked on the ground. Once in a while, there would be a slight metallic clatter as something else was moved by my boot but, other than that, it was much too quiet for my liking. To help make me feel better, I activated the suit's scan visor to find out how old the ship truly was. It was almost a thousand years old. I then started to scan other objects to find that there was a weak, however definite, power source on the other side of a door that I just found.

Using the free arm that my suit allowed, I forced open the door since it did not seem to respond to the scan visor trying to hack it. On the other side of it, there was a faint blue-ish purple light coming from a terminal that was just in front of a cryo-stasis tube, an old issued one by the looks of it. From the light that came from the terminal, an apparition appeared. A female AI stood and stared straight at me, streams of what looked like code running down her body. She seemed to be seeing what I, clad in armor, was doing in a place like this. She seemed to be researching and surveying each and every move that I made.

"It's about time someone showed up. I was about to think that no one was going to find us." The AI seemed to smirk as she crossed her arms.

I scanned the apparition and the cryo-tube before deciding on a course of action. The cryo-tube seemed to hold signs of life, as faint as it was. It held a male that seemed to be wearing what was a Mark VI MJOLNIR armor, according to my scan. That was all that it gave. It was as if the information on that subject did not exist, or was destroyed, a long time ago. I then turned back to the AI and started to move closer to it.

"Don't try to take me out of this. I don't wish to leave without my companion here." The AI waved her hand towards the cryo-tube, "He's quite important to this galaxy." As the AI iterated this, I tried to grab the card that the AI's information lay but pulled back as electricity shot through my suit, scrambling the visor. "I said that I don't want to leave with out my companion. If you give me a moment, I'll wake him up." The AI seemed to be becoming more agitated at my repeated attempts at getting the data crystal from the terminal. It was at this moment, when I had almost found a solution to getting the data crystal, that I heard a low hiss coming from behind.

The cryo-tube was beginning to open and the man inside stood up. I found that he stood to be about a foot taller than me even as I already stood six feet three inches tall. His suit was a slight olive color that had seen many fights and held many scars of battle. It was armor that suited a warrior. He looked at me before grabbing an assault rifle from the side of the cryo-tube and pointing it three inches from my face. He hesitated as if waiting for me to make the first move. I looked down the barrel before ducking, hearing a shot as I had, and like many times in situations like this, I rolled myself into my morph ball. The man looked at what I had become and almost began shooting again before realizing that he could use me for a moment of football practice. He kicked me as I shifted back into my normal form and found myself against the wall opposite from him. The force of the impact brought down my shields twenty points from my first energy tank. It also left me winded. I took a deep breath before being met with another attack from the man, who decided that he would punch me in the gut. Again, I was winded. However, I somehow managed a forceful, "Wait." It came out sounding robotic and filled with static.

"Oh, so our little friend does have a voice." The AI chuckled.

The man almost looked puzzled, as much as he could in his suit, and asked, "Who are you?"

It took me a moment to find my breath, for I wasn't prepared for a full on assault, before standing up and answering, "My name... is Samus Aran. I'm a hired hunter... for the Galactic Federation." My speech did not flow as well as it usually did, showing that I was definitely thrown off guard.

The man continued to point his gun at me, "What are you doing here?"

"My ship picked up... a distress beacon... from these coordinates. I decided I would come and investigate." I took a deep breath and composed myself, finally feeling my breathing return back to normal.

The man started to lower his weapon as he turned to look at the AI that was still being projected on the terminal, "Cortana, how long have I been gone?"

"For quite some time, Chief. I was actually starting to doubt that anyone was going to come when that hunter showed up." Cortana shifted her weight, even though she did not have any, and put her hands on her hips, "I was lonely without anyone to talk to for the last thousand years or so but you had to go on and say to wake you up only when I needed you."

"Sorry. I figured we would be rescued by now." The man looked at Cortana in a way that seemed to be apologetic. He then asked, "Ready to get out of there?"

"I've been ready for a long time, Chief. I've been cooped up in this blasted ship for years. It's time that we get out and explore a little." Cortana grinned.

As the Chief leaned down to take the data crystal that contained the entirety of Cortana's consciousness, I brought my hand to his chest, pushing him back gently. I then asked, "Would you like me to transport her? She does not seem to have any of the information that you would need in today's society."

The Chief looked at me for a moment. He seemed to study me just as the AI, Cortana, had. It was not his decision but Cortana's decision that had broken the gaze, "How about I download any information from you that I need and then use the transport provided in Chief's helmet. It's been a while since I've traveled with him. I'm sure you understand." Cortana crossed her arms as we both looked at her.

"I... Guess that works. Do you have any objections?" I asked this then looked at the Chief as he nodded once in the affirmative. He still looked tense. I then looked at Cortana who gave me a nod before I pulled her out of the terminal and into a slot that was on my arm canon. As I waited for the AI to finish downloading what she needed, I turned to the armored man, "Chief, was it?... May I ask what your name is?"

"What type of files is Cortana downloading?" The man dodged the question and put his assault rifle in a magnetic portion of his armor. For some reason, I felt he could take me on even without his rifle, if he truly wished.

I sighed before answering, "She's downloading any of the history that you have missed as well as the means to read any of the new file types that have been created while in your slumber. Now, again, may I ask what your name might be?"

The green visor of my Chozo Varia Suit looked into the golden visor of his Mark VI MJOLNIR armor. I could not see his eyes, but he would not be able to see mine either. The blast shield on my visor still glowed, leaving a slight reflection on his visor and preventing him from seeing my eyes. The Chief seemed to be holding back as he spoke, "My designation is Spartan 117 of the UNSC forces. Most call me Master Chief." It was at this time that Cortana had finished downloading all necessary files from my suit's internal memory. I then yanked the crystal from my arm and handed it to the "Master Chief." He then brought it to a slot that was on the back of his helmet.

I brought my free hand to my hip while I rested my arm canon against my large shoulder pad, "That doesn't help much with names but... I guess it works for now. Nice to meet you... Chief." I brought my canon down from my shoulder and began to walk towards the forced open door, "I suggest you follow me if you wish to get out of here and actually have a way out. Otherwise, I'm going to leave without you and you'll have to find your own way." I looked back and chuckled as I found the Chief debating it, "I'm the only one with a ship to actually get you out of here... I don't think anyone is going to be coming to rescue you any time soon."

The Chief muttered to himself, "Why would he be the only one around?"

Cortana answered with an almost chuckling sound, my suit picking it up only because it was on an un-encrypted wavelength, "Well, you were asleep for quite some time and nobody found us until now..." She actually did chuckle at this point, "Hmm, I feel right at home being in here again. Your suit has always been a home to me. It's been a long time, John. It's been a long time." I grinned finally learning the man's true name. However, I would not use it until he revealed it to me himself.

We had been walking until we were almost to my ship. Little to no words passed between us but Cortana seemed to be talking John's ears off until I stopped short in my track to my ship. I was eyeing my motion tracker for it now had small red dots that seemed to be coming from just outside the wrecked ship. I knew what they were. They were beings that had rough looking exoskeletons that came in various colors. Some were striped, others were plain but, they were all commonly known as Space Pirates. They made my life incredibly difficult at times and this time was no exception.

I then frowned, "Crap. Not here, too." I brought my suit's arm canon into a ready stance when a space pirate decided to show himself and shot a plasma bullet towards me, only to miss and leave a molten spot on a wall behind me. I then shot back and found that it had found a nice, cozy, warm spot in the pirate's bug-like face. I grinned as more space pirates continued to pour into the wrecked ship, "Yo, Chief, you don't mind if we blow this place into nothingness, do you?" I looked at him as he was running up to one of the pirates, tearing its weapon from it's arm, and beating it over the head with the same weapon that he tore off. Apparently, the space pirates had taken to attacking him as well. He then nodded and brought out the same Assault rifle that had been pointed at my head only a few moments before and emptied a whole clip on a second wave of the colorful mass of space pirates. He did not seem to care what he was shooting at but he showed the instincts of a true warrior. He showed the instincts of someone such as I... Someone who had been trained since childhood to protect themselves and worry about what the consequences of those actions later.

After emptying a few rounds and charging a few blasts, we retreated to my ship. I jumped on top of it and waited for John to follow suite. He did not seem to have much difficulty which was rare for people that I knew. They usually needed my help to climb into the ship because they could not jump as high as I could. I stood in awe for a moment and then came back to my senses to get into the ship. John followed but only after debating it again and reluctantly falling inside.

Once inside the ship, I told Adam, my AI, to target the scrap ship and fire once the range between us allowed. The last thing that I saw before the stars began to stretch, was a large flash of orange-ish red light enveloping the outdated ship. It would never be seen again.