Samus Aran stared out the window of her ship. What lay outside was a rainy terrain with grassy cliffs and swampy marshes. This was Crateria on Planet Zebes, where the metroids had begun to spawn once again. Samus had come to eliminate them before their energy could be used for overtaking other planets and every last life form was sucked dry of their own energy.
Samus emerged from her ship, scoping out the scene of Planet Zebes' surface, or Crateria. She began to look for a way inside the cliffs; a door, or maybe a sort of elevator to take her below the surface. As she tread the damp grass below her boots, Samus recognized a distant cry: the cry of a dragon-like hybrid. She knew the sound all too well. Not two minutes after Samus had heard the cry, the dragon, a purple and yellow blur, flew past her, the wings narrowly missing her head. The bounty hunter readied her blaster, aiming for the sky. Ridley had returned—and there was no doubt in Samus' mind that he was plotting again. Again, the dragon swooped down with a shriek and, this time, spit fireballs at his nemesis. She gracefully and easily bent into a morph ball, a special upgrade on her suit meant for getting through tight spots, to avoid the fire. Ridley circled once more, and then began to fly off. Samus stood upright again.
"Yeah, fly away, you giant coward!" she muttered into her visor. She had been so ready to battle, and almost eager. It frustrated her when an opportunity at action fled so quickly, even though it could get somewhat overwhelming at times. Shrugging off the disappointment, Samus recalled her mission and shot open a blue door leading into a cave, ready for bounty hunting.
Samus stepped into the cave with her blaster aimed forward. She was constantly on the alert, shooting almost every living creature that came in her way. It seemed that most creatures on distant planets were out to attack any intruders. That's what Earthlings would probably do, too. But Samus was fearless. As a bounty hunter, it was part of her job-being unafraid of the unknown.
The bounty hunter adjusted her red helmet uncomfortably. For whatever reason, it didn't seem to fit right. She looked through the green visor, seeing nothing but rocks and a few strange bugs crawling up and down the mossy stone walls. She sighed, bored already by the adventure.
"Might as well keep going," she decided, shuffling through the tall grass and shooting a power beam at the spiked beetle that charged towards her. It retreated after being badly wounded, leaving a trail of oozing green blood. Samus made a face and continued. I'm looking for a metroid nest . . . she thought. If I were a metroid, where would I be hiding? Samus looked around, deep in thought. Probably in the very depths of the planet, she concluded. And if not, I'll have to search the entire planet again. She went along her way, just as another two figures entered the door she had come from. They muttered something in their own language, which translated to,
"We've found her again."