I: Sector 47
Samantha knew very little. Having mostly grown up alone in the poor streets of Sector 47, she never knew family. She never knew friends, she never knew comfort, and she most certainly never knew who she was. Her earliest memory was faint and unclear, tainted by years of hope and longing:
A middle-aged woman holding her in her arms, singing some sort of lullaby. She had her same long blonde hair and cool turquoise eyes, with a smile that seemed both joyous and sad.
Of course, this didn't help much. A lot of the orphans in the 47th Sector had similar memories and there was no shortage of blonde women on Earth. There was an unspoken agreement among the children and those around them that their parents had abandoned them on purpose; that they were unable to care for them in such poverty. Samantha, however, was convinced that her parents had been forced to leave her there. She was left with 5,000 Credits and a standard rechargeable Federation-issued handgun. She was then left in the care of a man who'd insist she call him "Uncle Kreatz", even though they both knew they weren't related. Although he did admit that he knew who her mother was and why she left, he adamantly refused to ever divulge any of this information. He ran a mildly successful bar on the edge of 48th up until Samantha was 8 years old.
One of those days, as she helped clean the tables and sweep the floors, a large man in a bright blue Federation uniform suddenly appeared at the doorway. Uncle Kreatz had told her to hide until the man went away. She couldn't hear what they were saying while she was in the cupboard, but she understood their shouting as a fight. After a while the man left and Kreatz opened the cupboard to tell her that he would be taking a vacation far from Earth, and that she finally had permission to use both the gun and the 5,000 Credits.
Kreatz never came back from his trip. It was then that she was forced to learn to survive alone, as the money hadn't lasted long. Kreatz had home-schooled her and taught her the basics of fighting, but it was nothing compared to the hardships of reality.
Samantha often wondered if Kreatz was still alive somewhere and he just forgot about her. His previous behavior would suggest otherwise, but then why wouldn't he come back? The same question went with her mother, but most people around her were pretty convinced she was just dead. Samantha didn't like to think of this, but it seemed like the most realistic answer.
Year 2111 of the History of the Cosmos. Samantha recently turned 16 (Kreatz knew her actual birthday as well) and now gazed at the gray landscape of her city from the roof of a residential building.
There had been an unusual amount of Federation activity in the lower Sectors lately. Their cool blue vehicles were seen daily under the sky, contrasting against its warm orange colors. Even now, a large ship descended from the clouds to land in the middle of Sector 47. Samantha found this odd, as the Federation didn't usually visit the people of her sector.
She frowned and pulled back her long blonde hair into a ponytail. She then adjusted her worn combat boots and hid her pistol on the back of her black cargo pants. Her attire also included a gray shirt and a dirty navy blue vest, which was were also stolen around the same time as the firearm and the pants. She studied the ground below her with her cold green eyes and planned her descent.
If there was something Samantha loved to do, it was exploring. She never had the pleasures of entertainment and she was mostly restricted to Kreatz's bar during her childhood. As a teenager, most of her time not spent eating, stealing or sleeping was spent discovering every nook and cranny in the city. This turned out to be very useful in situations where she had to escape people chasing her.
Another very useful attribute Samantha had was her outstanding agility and flexibility. Whether she was in a fight, running away or sneaking into a guarded place, her almost superhuman abilities proved to be her greatest weapon. She knew how athletically superior to others she was since she was very young, but she never questioned it. Kreatz made it seem completely normal.
Now, she used her gifts to leap between buildings, jumping and sliding around obstacles while losing almost no speed at all. Everything around her turned into a gray blur as she focused completely on the obstacles before her. Any normal person would never jump a gap between two tall buildings without slowing down or looking below, but she was no normal girl. The combination of her athletic skills and her knowledge of the land prevented her from falling and meeting an early death.
She could clearly see the bright lights coming from the Federation ship now, its sirens ringing as the people below came to find the origin of the commotion.
Finally, Samantha arrived to the ship's landing spot in the central plaza. In the middle, the closest people to the ship were a large beast of a man and four Federation soldiers. The rest of the soldiers made a protective circle around the man and his ship. They held out what seemed to be riot shields and knelt down in front of hundreds (soon to be thousands) of Sector 47 inhabitants. In turn, they pressed against the shields and stood on the tip of their toes, eager to know why such a large amount of Federation officers were suddenly on their soil. The place was a mess of yelling and unhappy conversations overlapping one another until their words were nigh impossible to comprehend.
"SILENCE!"
With a single word, the maelstrom of disgruntled mumbling came to a sudden stop. It came from the creature in the middle, who was now holding a device that looked like a cross between a walkie-talkie and a microphone.
"I have not come here to impede your daily activities."
He began, slowly coming closer to the crowd.
"As you all know, the situation of the galaxy is very grim. 13 years since the death of the legendary Samus Aran, the malevolent forces of the galaxy have grown stronger than ever before, unlike the Federation's."
Samantha had heard of Samus Aran before. How not to? All her action-packed tales of grandeur, her stories of defeating Space Pirates, exploding entire planets, killing ancient evils, her legends gave everyone on Earth hope. There was not a single person there that didn't know her name. Adding to her adventures, there was the fact that she was in fact a woman, giving her even more mystique and respect. Only a select few knew what she even looked like under the armor but all young girls grew up wanting to be like her.
Samantha, however, wasn't very impressed. She grew up in the years succeeding her death and there was pretty much no sign of Samus ever existing on Sector 47. Who's to say she wasn't just Federation propaganda, pushing young children everywhere to join their forces? There were pictures of her, sure, but she was always just standing still in them, masked by her armor. Countless times Samantha would deny Samus Aran ever existed, while the others around her tried to prove her wrong. No one succeeded in convincing her.
"The truth of the matter is, the Federation isn't strong enough to combat the Space Pirates anymore. We're running short on soldiers and their numbers aren't getting any smaller. We're in dire need of new recruits, no matter which Sector they come from. We will stay here for a total of 24 hours, during which you are all invited to board the transport ship in order to get to the Galactic Federation's headquarters."
He said the last few words firmly, with a sense of pride that was uncommon among Federation soldiers and citizens of Earth.
"The officers holding shields will now distribute informational pamphlets. I wish you all a good day."
With that, he tipped his star-spangled cap and turned to his ship, his long black cape gracefully following his movements.
Like most people living in her sector, Samantha held a grudge against the Federation. About half a century ago, before even the age of Samus Aran, humanity was threatened by many of the same enemies they have today. Space Pirates, Kriken, greedy bounty hunters, they were all in a long intergalactic war with the Federation. This pushed them to take funds that would normally go to the maintenance of the sectors and give them to their military. This destroyed Sector 47, which wasn't doing very well already. Eventually, its inhabitants started to get violent in their protests against the Federation and the area got more and more dangerous until they removed all Federation presence in the sector. Officers refused to patrol people that attacked them on sight. Without officers, the place quickly became notorious for being unlawful, dangerous and poor. They were no longer funded by the Federation, they were extremely hostile towards them, and they no longer had much reason to follow rules.
Samantha learned the story quickly in her youth. Like those around her, she blamed the Federation for the pitiful state of her home and wasn't looking forward to joining them.
As expected, most people left as soon as the beast-man finished his last sentence. The masses headed back to wherever they came from, flowing between the buildings like rivers. Surprisingly, there was a handful of people who took a pamphlet and approached the ship.
Then again, why not leave this hellhole to live in the comfort of Federation HQ? There you never have to worry about whether you will eat or not...
"Wait, is that...Xavi?"
Samantha spotted the young man with black hair and tan skin eyeing a pamphlet with a smirk permanently plastered onto his face. Yes, Xavier Delenum had always boasted about how ready he was to join the Federation and live in his comfy chambers, ordering food whenever he pleased. He was one of the orphans that Samantha had met during her childhood, but by far the one that caused her the most trouble. His pride soared higher than his actual skills for the most part, landing him in many situations in which he would've been dead had it not been for his friends. Despite how short his list of accomplishments actually was, he always seemed to have a flock of loyal friends at his side, something Samantha never understood.
It was not that surprising then, to see him board the ship and cross his arms behind his head, probably dreaming of a large white bed. She, on the other hand, had already made up her mind. These people only cared for war and they caused her to grow up in a terrible environment. Besides, she didn't find it very hard to steal and do jobs for other people. Granted, most of her jobs dealt with beating someone up or finding someone and then beating them up, so it's not like she didn't have experience.
No, she was much more interested in stealing whatever valuables were on that ship. Federation technology was usually very costly.
She eyed all the officers and their weapons, trying to find a way in without being spotted. The most expensive hardware turned out to be their assault rifles, which were slung across every soldier's shoulder and firmly grasped in their hands.
This would not be easy.
Time to plan. She could jump straight from the roof and land on one of the soldiers, but that wouldn't give her enough time to remove the gun from his hands and run away. A straightforward approach was safer. Yes, she could do the classic handshake tactic.
Confident in her plan, Samantha dropped from the back of the building and made her way to the plaza, brushing her hair to the side and making sure her handgun was safely hidden at the back of her cargo pants.
She tried her best to give a realistic smile and approached the nearest soldier. His assault rifle was silver, blue, and very shiny. The ingredients to something very expensive.
"Hello,"
Samantha groaned internally and immediately. Her voice was monotone and her greeting was just was robotic. Add that to the fake smile, and she was the least conspicuous person in the entire planet.
"I've always wanted to meet a Federation officer in person."
She said, extending an open left hand forward. This wasn't really a lie, so it was easier to say while keeping her facade.
"Uh...alright?"
The solder awkwardly shook her hand, giving her the perfect opportunity to take him by surprise. She suddenly and violently dug her right fist into his stomach, forcing him to bend over and release the rifle. Before anyone could react, she lifted the weapon and slung it over shoulders, already turning to sprint.
BZOOM BZOOM BZOOM
She could feel the rifle blasts chase her ankles, running as fast as she could. The adrenaline pumped in her veins as she dodged rifle fire, shoved people away and snuck into narrow passageways to try to lose them. However, the Federation had employed enough soldiers to take care of one girl, no matter how fast she was.
"Stop!"
As Samantha left an alley, a soldier seemingly appeared from nowhere and put his fists up.
'Looks like they've been ordered to not shoot me. Now why would they do that?'
Samantha thought to herself. She was lucky, but not stupid. Instead of stopping, she charged straight at his legs. Wrestling was one of the many things she learned during her 8 years of solitude. In a quick and swift flash of movement, she toppled him to the ground, put him in a lock position and then broke his arm before getting up and continuing her sprint.
"Hold it!"
Another soldier popping out from the left. No time to lose.
Samantha jabbed to the right, forcing the soldier to block high quickly. He didn't even have time to blink before she followed it up with a strong kick to the gut, breaking his guard. For good measure, she then slammed his face onto her knee, dirtying her cargo pants with his blood.
'Almost there.'
She panted, looking to an alleyway at the end of street. At the end of this alley was a manhole that lead to the sewers, where she could either hide or flee to another part of the city. She normally wouldn't take this route because of the smell, but she prioritised her head over her nose.
"You're not going anywhere."
One last soldier ran to cover this alley, knowing her plan. It was safe to assume the Federation also had access to Sector 47's layout.
"I go where I want to go."
She muttered with an edge of confidence and hate, clenching her fists.
The soldier tried a left jab but he was much slower than Samantha, who dodged to the side and whacked him in the head as hard as she could with the assault rifle. The soldier fell to the ground with a satisfying clunk, knocked out cold.
Smiling, she headed to the manhole in a victorious jog. She'd done it. She had stolen from the Federation, avoided their fire and defeated three of their soldiers in unarmed combat. On top of that, she would be able sell the rifle and live off the money for months.
"No."
The word that woke Samantha from her daydreams was spoken by a low yet loud voice, naturally intimidating and powerful. She stopped in her tracks to look at the creature before her.
Clad in a Galactic Federation commander's uniform and countless stars on his shoulder, the beast-man from the plaza stared down at her with his dark red eyes. His muscles were bigger than her head and his size was double hers. She eventually recognized his species as one of the inhabitants of Jamoru. They were humanoid, but were closer to a tiger or a gorilla in body. They had human intelligence but with the strength of an animal, which caused other species of the galaxy to wage wars against them. For a long time, their species was deemed inferior by the Federation and weren't allowed to vote on intergalactic matters. She heard this all changed when a Jamorian named Mauk enlisted in the army. Wait, could this be…
"I am commander Mauk. I'd like to know your name, young girl."
She did well against the human soldiers, but there was no way she was fighting this behemoth of a man. Grudgingly, Samantha brushed aside her hair and said:
"Samantha. Never had a family."
Suddenly, the commander's visage of anger turned to one of surprise and incredulity.
"No...not after all this time…"
Samantha frowned, looking past Mauk to find the manhole.
"What? Aren't you going to throw me in jail or something?"
She knew she probably didn't want to be disrespectful to the tiger-man and that suggesting that she be jailed wasn't a good idea either, but she was nervous and wanted to look like she wasn't.
"Perhaps not...hand over the weapon."
From the long black cape emerged a hand that made the rifle look like a soda can. Samantha gulped and reluctantly returned the firearm.
The commander quickly tapped on a device latched onto his forearm, making a small ship appear from behind several buildings and land gently in front of them.
"We're taking a trip."
Samantha stood between the Jamorian and the Federation aircraft, mad at herself for even thinking of stealing from the Federation. It was too good to be true…
As they boarded the ship, the commander muttered a bunch of commands into his earpiece, darting his eyes between his captive and the wounded soldiers on the ground. The ship rose on its own and started moving forwards immediately, away from Samantha's home.
She was about to ask where she was being taken when she noticed the view from above. All of a sudden, her eyes widened and took in everything she hadn't seen before. The buildings went on for miles until they hit a vast blue body of water Samantha could only guess was a lake or an ocean. She instantly spotted the abandoned 49th Sector, victim of Kriken terrorism and ruin. Then she found the much richer 48th Sector, where the buildings were silver instead of gray and the lights were bright instead of dim. The other sectors were there, although she had no clue which was which. On the other side, away from all of them, stood the enormous Galactic Federation headquarters, with smaller towers and buildings around it. She could see where Sector 47's money went: to the countless flying vehicles, the bright neon signs, the silver towers, the ridiculous size of the Federation's headquarters, it was all there.
"We're here."
Commander Mauk announced the words with a mix of discontent and anxiety. Before the airship fully landed, he also turned to her and pointed a giant sharp finger at her.
"And I swear, if you try anything, anything at all, I will make sure you spend the rest of your days in a gray room smaller than this ship."
This would normally scare the living daylights out of anyone else, but Samantha found the ship to be much more spacious than her actual home and she was more scared of his razor-sharp claws.
Mauk held onto her forearm as they walked across a large and clean white plaza, where only a few people walked around in elegant clothes and paid no mind to the Jamorian and his human companion. To the left of the plaza was a shimmering lake filled with various creatures Samantha had never seen before, and to the right was a street that separated the plaza from one of the Federation HQ entrances. At the end of the plaza, where they were headed, was a spherical building that towered over even the monstrous Mauk. Over the front doors was a clean sign that read:
FEDERATION BANK
And above that, a symbol that seemed to be a handshake between two humans in a circle.
"A bank?"
Samantha frowned up at the creature that suddenly wasn't so scary anymore.
"We're going to do a test."
He answered, not bothering to look at her.
"If you fail, you go to jail."
Samantha's mind whirled with a million questions. Why did Mauk suddenly recognize her even though she's never seen him before? Why would she be free of theft assault charges by just beating a test? Why is the test in a bank? What kind of test would that be?
Did he make that sentence rhyme on purpose?
The front doors swung open at Mauk's lightest touch, revealing a vast hall with dozens of tables and even more people mumbling over them. It looked like a cross between a library and a museum, with an even smaller tolerance for loud noises. Samantha's worn combat boots made echoes as they stepped further inside, dirtying the pristine marble floor. After rows and rows of identical desks and mumbling people, they finally got to the end, where a man stood with his hands joined behind him. He had the cleanest white suit Samantha had ever seen, with combed black hair that glistened under the lights and a moustache that looked like it was taken care of by professionals.
"Commander Mauk! What a pleasure it is to see you today. Might I ask the reason for your visit?"
The Jamorian stepped aside to reveal Samantha, who looked completely puzzled and incredibly dirty compared to everyone else in the room.
"I need to access Vault 1986."
The man's eyes widened at both her state of hygiene and Mauk's words.
"Sir, a-are you sure? She doesn't really look-"
"That's what I'm here to find out."
The man reluctantly gestured to the right corner, where two large doors opened. Mauk and Samantha, now accompanied by the cleanest man on the planet, ventured past the doors to find a golden hall that seemed to stretch on forever. At each side of the hall were rows and rows of numbered doors with hand insignias on them.
"What are the symbols for?"
Samantha asked Mauk, who didn't answer. Instead, the man in the suit explained:
"The doors can only be opened by those that have the same DNA as the person who paid for that vault or the people on that person's list. Once you place your hand on the insignia, you get pricked by a small needle and your DNA is processed. If it matches, the doors open. If not, we get alerted. The vaults are all made of the most resilient metal in the galaxy, which can only be pierced through by extremely powerful machines that are just impossible to sneak through those doors. Very expensive metal, I might add."
After a long walk, they finally arrived at the vault marked 1986. Mauk and the man stood behind her, as if expecting her to open a vault she never paid for. Suddenly, it all became clear in her head. This was the test? How was she supposed to succeed?
"How am I supposed to open it if I never paid for it? I never even knew these things existed!"
She turned around at them with en edge to her voice.
"The person who owns this vault died a long time ago and left only one person on her list."
Samantha frowned, completely baffled by the idea.
"Me?"
She scoffed, turning to the hand shape on the door and then back to the people behind her.
"Perhaps."
Mauk answered sternly.
"Hopefully not…"
The man whispered to himself.
Samantha tried to figure out how any of this could make sense. She never knew anyone who had gone beyond Sector 47 except for Kreatz, but he made a point of hating banks. She still remembered his rants on the Federation and their operations…
"Do it."
Mauk narrowed his eyes, his arms crossed and his tone impatient.
Samantha shook her head, sighed, and placed her right hand on the symbol. Maybe if it opened she'd be able to go free. She felt a sharp pain on her palm upon contact and the symbol dissappeared. She expected it to stay still and flash red, to sound a loud alarm or something. Instead, the doors opened slowly to reveal a huge room full of mysterious artifacts and mountains of Credits. Samantha's eyes took a second to adjust to the sudden flash of light, but they eventually got used to it and let her look to the very end of the room, where two words were written into the wall in fancy letters:
Samus Aran
