Chapter one
"My name is Samus Aran, and I'm a bounty hunter."
Normally I had no doubts, or concerns before a mission but this time was different. I found myself hesitant to take on this job. I guess you can call it a gut feeling. I had no idea as to what the contact wanted from me, but he was offering a lot of money for this particular mission to be completed. The fact that the contact had arranged for our meeting to be held upon a Galactic Federation ship did not calm my nerves either.
The blissful memories of my time spent with the Galactic Federation soon occupied my mind. I would often bottle up such emotions but instead I took a moment to relax and enjoy my thoughts. I set aside my concerns and turned my starship onto auto pilot. Right now the pilot's chair felt no different than a luxurious bed. So I sat there and allowed the nostalgic memories to overwhelm me.
The feeling was nice, and one that I had not experienced in such a long time. Peace. I had been overcome by a sensation of peace. For a gal in my line of work such a feeling was a luxury. I wish I could have dwelled in my memories longer, but it was time for me to get back on track. I had to bottle up my emotions once again and become the heartless bounty hunter that the galaxy knew me to be. Daydreaming would only get a hunter killed and I had no intension on dying anytime soon. My blissful thoughts soon vanished and were replaced with determination. I regained control of my starship, as well as myself, and headed for my destination.
Even with the jump in hyper space it still took a considerable amount of time to reach my destination. But when I arrived I was surprised to see a giant Federation battleship looming off in the distance. From where I was I could see that the battleship was dressed with numerous cannons. The light of a nearby star coated the battleship with a bright white hue. It almost looked as if the ship wielded a heavenly aura, which couldn't be farther from the truth . The massive vessel made my starship look like a children's toy in comparison. The contact said that our arranged meeting would be on a Federation ship, but I never expected it to be on a freaking battleship. I always held mix feelings towards the Federation, but I wasn't stupid either. I have been misguided, used, and even betrayed by the Federation, but I always tried to remain neutral with them.
"Warning, warning, warning. Enemy ships have locked on to our location. Warning." The ship's A.I shouted in repetition.
The floating monitors above the ships controls had begun flashing red. It seemed the Federation was not the welcoming type. My ship's A.I repeated its warning message once again. I had set the A.I to have a charming British accent, but I was less found of it when it was yelling at me.
"I heard you the first time Eve."
"Samus there is an incoming message from the enemy vessel."
"Open a com link and patch it thru Eve."
I gathered my golden hair, which fell from my head like rain water. I quickly tied the lustrous strands into a high ponytail. I reached for my trade mark orange helmet and placed it over my head. My helmet immediately synced with the rest of my suit. My visor activated and my blue and greenish eyes were masked by a bright green visor. As soon as my helmet was placed on a new holographic monitor appeared before me. On the monitor a grizzled man, much older than myself, glared at me with a look of disgust.
"I am Admiral, Dunken Mersh of the Galactic Federation 9th fleet. You are trespassing in an authorized Federation fly zone. Power down your star ship and identify yourself or we will open fire. You have thirty seconds; failure to comply will lead to your immediate termination."
"Well isn't he quite the charmer Eve. No matter how vast space is, leave it to the Federation to claim sections as their own." I said sarcastically.
"Samus twenty-eight seconds, until the enemy ship opens fire. Might I add that we are currently out gunned." Eve stated.
Admiral Mersh spoke with an obnoxious form of confidence and judging from his facial expressions he was serious too. Despite my blood stained past with the Federation, I knew when to pick a fight and I knew when I had to lay low. This was defiantly a time for me to lay low. I was not reckless like other hunters; such emotions only got you killed. Mersh continued to watch me, awaiting my response. It felt as if his golden stare was buring a hole thru my suit.
"Samus fifteen seconds remaining." Eve calmly stated.
"Eve power down" The words left my lips like acid. I hated the lust for control that the Federation had, but given the situation I had to humble myself. I locked on to Mersh's golden eyes. I could feel a ball of anger forming on my chest, but it would have to pass. As instructed Eve powered down and placed herself into standby mode. The hull of my ship grew dark and all of the monitors vanished, except for the one with Admiral Mersh's face.
"I am Samus Aran and I am a hunter. I have an arranged meeting aboard your ship."
Mersh remained silent. He was a well-trained solider, because I was unable to read his face. He kept the same flat expression that expected respect form anyone, who caught his gaze. In a weird way he kind of reminded me of my former commander Adam Malkovinch. Mersh leaned his head to the left slightly and placed two fingers over his left ear lobe.
"Very well, it seems your story has checked out. You will be escorted to hanger D-six for your arranged meeting. But know this, I will not have any troublemakers aboard my ship. Are we clear?"
The ball of rage on my chest flared once more. His last words had struck me and lingered within my veins. I clenched my hand into a fist and shot him a glare from under my helm.
"Crystal." I responded in a cold and venomous tone.
The monitor with Mersh's face vanished and two smaller ships, much like my own, was approaching fast. I slammed my fist down upon the console, and took in a deep breath. Dam Federation, once again I was placed into a position that I dreaded. I felt helpless. This was the same feeling I had when I was attacked by the space pirate Ridely and one that still haunted me today. I was forced to bow my head and accept my fate and for that reason I left the Federation.
Once again I placed a lid over my emotions and got back on track. I flipped a few switches and got Eve back online. By this time the two smaller Federation ships had stood beside my ship ready to escort me, as if I was some sort of child. The two ships escorted me, at a turtle's pace, to hanger D-six. I really hoped for the contact's sake that the job he was offering was worth it, because I was now in a foul mood.
Admiral Mersh, was nothing like Adam but at the same time I could see a few similarities between the two. I shook the thought free from my head. The last thing I needed was to cloud my mind with memories of Adam. The hanger was much larger than I expected. The two Federation ships parted ways once we reached hanger D-six. I guess they thought I was old enough to cross the street on my own now. I guided my ship into the hanger and docked it.
"Eve, I want you to sync manual control of the ship to suit." I said as I removed myself from the control panel.
"Processing … manual controls are set. Syncing process is complete Samus."
"Thank you Eve."
The doors of my shipped opened and formed a ramp for my exit. I slowly made my way out of the ship and down the ramp. There was no turning back now, I may have felt uneasy about this mission, but I was going to see it thru. Right before I exited the ship Eve left me some parting words.
"Good luck Samus."
Eve may have been only an A.I but I still accepted her kind gesture. I remained silent and simply nodded my head as I exited my ship.
In no time my eyes adjusted to the dimly lit harbor, courtesy of the multiple missing or burned out light bulbs above. And here I thought the Federation was well equipped. Metal crates and rusted oil barrels flooded the area. The stained walls were coated in ash and starship fuel exhaust. There were a few starships docked in this harbor, besides my own, none of which could hold a candle up to mine. Judging by the older Federation starships, which inhabited the harbor, it became clear to me that harbor D-six was not often used.
The harbor was so cliché. As I looked around the room I was reminded of the cheesy martial art movies that I loved so much. Any minute now I was expecting a horde of ninjas to appear out of nowhere and challenge me to a fight to the death. Ha, I am such a nerd, yet another trait I kept hidden, while on the job. Putting my kung Fu fantasies aside, I began to feel uneasy in this harbor.
The harbor was silent a bit too silent for my liking. Something about all of this bothered me. My survival instincts kicked in, which saved my hide a couple of times. I released the safety on my arm cannon just in case something was to happen. Security seemed to be tight outside, yet there was no one to escort me inside the ship. Now I was sure of it, something was wrong. I walked further into the room, still no sign of anyone but I could not shake the feeling that I was being watched. I looked up towards the scaffolding but no one was there.
I always trusted in my instincts and this time was no different. My green visor changed to a shade of orange as I switched to inferred mode. I was right, as soon as I switched modes something flashed out the corner of my eye. I turned around with my arm cannon, raised, ready to fire a shot. I was fast but my lurker was faster. A long whip flew towards me horizontally. I quickly ducked and evaded the whip. I was lucky to evade the attack, because the whip crashed into a metal barrel behind me and sliced it in half. Before I could take aim the target vanished again. My attacker was fast and using optic camo to hide himself. An invisible assassin, great freakin great.
The attacker was invisible to the naked eye, but I still had the advantage. I had my inferred mode active, which gave me thermal vision. Plus I ruined the assassin's chance for a surprise attack. I was almost caught off guard last time, but this time I was ready. My attacker's assassination failed, so I was sure he would change tactics and use a more direct approach. I may have been a hunter but I have faced my share of assassins. The first and only rule that all assassins followed was to kill the target with the first attack; anything else would be pointless. I stood my ground and held my arm cannon in front of me ready to strike. I took in a deep breath and hushed my inner thoughts, I was ready, bring it on.
"Why don't you come on out. Let's just make this easy on the both of us." I shouted. "Show yourself and I may let you live." My mood had changed foul, call me crazy but I did not like sneak attacks that could have taken my head off.
Like a shamed dog returning to its master, my attacker appeared before me. His optic camo remained active but it didn't matter. I was able to see an outline of his form, due to his body heat. Judging by his form; looks like I will be dealing with a Galabas. The Galabas was an amphibious race of toad like people. I was a bit surprised to have encountered one, seeing how the Galabas rarely left their swamp like home world of Kroon. He crept up slowly, cautious, making subtle movements until he stood a few feet away from me. Perfect. He close enough for me to hit him with my arm cannon. But he was also clever, he made sure that he had more than enough range to catch me with the whip that hung off the left arm of his suit. I was defiantly dealing with a professional.
A low pitched hum escaped the Galabas. It wasn't the constant croaking that the Galabas frequently made, while on land. No, the hum was coming from his whip. I took a brief second to examine the whip, while keeping my guard up. I was right the whip hanging from his left arm was the source of the hum. It looked like his whip had an electric current running through it, which explains why he managed to slice the metal barrel with a single strike. I'm sure my suit could take a hit, but I was not willing to find out.
"So you're the famous Samus Aran, crrrooakkkk." The Assassin rumbled in a deep voice. "Odd, me thought someone like you would be, crrrooakkkk, bigger."
The constant pauses for air and that annoying croak was starting to get on my nerves. Enough talk this guy is dead.
"So Samus.." Shame that the Galabas wouldn't get to finish. I immediately fired a power missile towards him. "bye-bye." I said in a charming voice. I caught him by surprise and my victory was assured, or so I thought.
A loud and Eire screech caused me the shutter and stumble the moment I fired. The sudden outburst caused me to fire off to the side missing the assassin completely. Aside from the burning in my ears, my visor was also being affected. My thermal vision was replaced with distorted images and static. A jammer? I had to act fast no doubt my attacker would use this opportunity to regain the upper hand.
Thinking quickly I switched my inferred mode back to my standard optical mode. I was right the Galabas had already begun his counter attack. He may have been invisible to me but I could see the jolts of electricity jumping off of his whip, as it raced towards my head. The pain from the screeching noise was unbearable but I fought thru it. I was able to side step the whip, as it came crashing down from above. His last attack came to close for my liking. Suddenly the loud noise stopped.
I felt the blood make a slow decent from my ears and along my neck. The jammer that was used on me was painful but it did not seem to affect the Galabas one bit. How could I have been so sloppy to allow myself to be caught by something like that. Now I stood where I was a few minutes ago. I was up against a professional assassin, who held the upper hand once more.
The Galabas may have had the upper hand but something did not make sense. Seeing how the Galabas failed to kill me with his first attack, he was forced to change tactics. That much I can understand. But the question is why did he wait so long to launch a counter attack? He stopped to speak with me, no, he must have been trying to by himself some time, but why. Another thing that bothers me is his jammer. The Galabas's jammer proved to be an effective tool, so why did he stop using it. Could it be...?
"I got it. You had me fooled at first but I now see thru your plan." I shouted.
Again the electrified whip flew towards me. I quickly leapt backwards, but the Galabas's attack manage to graze my hip. I was surprised to see how effective his weapon was. The whip was able to slice right into my suit. I was even able to feel the heat coming off of the whip. I had to make sure that he didn't score a direct hit. But first I had to do something about his invisibility.
I waited for the Galabas to make his move once more. Sure enough his whip came flying towards me. How predictable. I dodged the attack and I now knew the area he was in. His optic camo, wouldn't be a problem for me anymore. As long as I knew his general location, I would be able to brace for his attack. As I dodged, yet another strike, I grabbed a fire extinguisher off of the ground. I tossed the extinguisher into the air and fired off a quick charge shot at the canister. The red canister exploded instantly and showered us with a foam substance. I hated when my suit got dirty, but I'm sure the Galabas would be hating it more than me.
"I spy, with my little eye, someone who's completely screwed." The foam did not only cover me, but it also engulfed my invisible assassin friend. And by his shocked reaction he knew he was in hot water now.
Once the Galabas realized he couldn't wipe the foam off himself he readied his whip. Too late. I was already on the move. I sprinted towards him at full speed and entered my speed booster mode. My momentum picked up as my suit allowed me to enter a speed of mach one. I could feel my body fill with adrenaline. The world around me seemed to fall to a standstill. No words could truly describe the sensation I felt right now. But the feeling did not last, because I rammed myself straight into the Galabas.
We went flying into the dense hull of the ship. My speed booster tackle definitely took its toll on the Galabas. The force from my attack completely disabled the Galabas's optic camo. Even the fish bowl shaped visor, that the Galabas's wore, shattered on impact. A bloated frog like face and bubbly cheeks stared at me with surprise.
"Wow, I'm guessing you're not much of a ladies' man with that face." Jokes aside I was on my guard. But wow was he a ugly one, even for a Galabas.
I pinned the four foot assassin against the wall with my free arm, while keeping my arm canon ready. The Galabas struggled to break free but my grip was tighter than a junk yard dog. A twisted smile developed on the Galabas's face, he thought he had an ace up his sleeve but he was mistaken. I figured it out long ago. I was not dealing with one assassin, no I was dealing with a pair of assassins.
" I underestimated, croooooak, you Samus. But, it's crooooak, over." The winded Galabas taunted.
"Why?" I quickly interjected. " Because you have a partner using active camo as well?" His eyes widen and filled with shock as I uncovered his pathetic plans to end me. " I know that your just stalling for time, hoping that your buddy can swoop down and rescue you. I also know that it won't work. You see I've been counting off the seconds in my head since the jammer was activated. A personal jammer that powerful must have a long recharge rate, and I'm guessing I have at least thirty seconds before it is able to be used again."
I didn't need any confirmation, because the Galabas's expression said it all. I had thirty seconds left, but it was more than enough time to deal with the assassin's accomplice. I punched the Galabas in his blubbery face, knocking him out instantly. I quickly pulled a one eighty and aimed my arm cannon towards the scaffolding. I fired off a power missile directly across from where I was standing. Direct hit.
A portion of the scaffolding came towering down. Along with it the scaffolding the second assassin hit the ground. The active camo vanished as soon as the second assassin hit the ground. What a surprise another Galabas. I made my way to the Galabas and placed my foot on his chest. I readied my arm cannon and pointed it directly at the assassin's face. I saw his face thru his fishbowl visor and he was as ugly as his partner. Aside from the color of their suits the two looked identical. Speaking of suits; the two wore some high tech equipment. No doubt about it these two were professionals, sadly they got sloppy and being sloppy got you dead.
The Galabas under my boot came to, only to find my cannon pointed to his head. He was smart, he did not try any form of escape. I bet he wished that he could activate his jammer now.
"Now tell me who hired you and I promise to give you a painless death." My words were cold and shaper than any dagger. I wasn't the type of girl, who murdered others in cold blood, but that went out the window the moment these two assassins attacked me.
My attacker remained silent, judging by his intense glare he was not willing to talk. I had to admire his loyalty; he was brave to keep his vow of silence. Oh well, he was going to die either way. Looks like I would have to fish out the information out of the other assassin then.
"Bye-bye." I said charmingly.
I started charging my weapon, until something caught my eye. A thin gleam flashed in my visor. At first I had no idea what I was looking at but then I realized. Dam it, I messed up. A blade was being held up towards my neck someone had gotten the drop on me. The blade wasn't being held by either of the two Galabas assassins, so who was holding the blade to my neck?
A foreign voice stated in a tone colder than my own "I wouldn't if I were you ."