"Sir! That's the ship that meets the description, SIR!"

Captain Niels Fringbird of the Intergalactic Federation looked at the image on the main screen. It didn't look like a very large ship, although this probably meant it was faster, and his experienced eye could see some impressive cannons on it. Under no circumstances attempt to engage it alone, were his orders. Try and capture rather than destroy, as the stolen cargo was extremely valuable, but if it came to it, make sure there were no survivors. Whatever had gone missing from Ceres – something else those scientists were messing with that they shouldn't, no doubt – it was highly dangerous, so dangerous that it must not be allowed near an inhabited planet.

"Intercept and fire at my command." she ordered.

My ship's sensors detect the other ships coming out of stealth. I can tell by their formation they're not here to negotiate. I'm surrounded. I don't like being surrounded.

"Brace yourself, this'll be a tough one." I tell my co-pilot, who squeaks in response and hides under my feet. I bring the ship into a roll, firing my primary lasers as I do so. I hit the first ship to get too close. The shields flare up a bright cyan. Now I'm not surrounded any more but three are still bearing down on me. I lock on to the nearest one and zoom in. I recognise the design. Intergalactic Feds? Oh crap... I'm being pursued by the Government already? C'mon, it's only ONE Metroid! You borrowed it off me in the first place!

Too late to explain myself now, though. I've already committed a federal offense by firing at one of their craft. A laser bolt slams into one of my own shields, jolting the craft and making the Metroid squeak even louder. Its difficult to manoeuvre the ship when the damn thing is flying around my face!

"Stop that! Its not helping!" I snap, "Go and do something useful! Eat someone!"

Now I know their formation – the Feds always use the same formation – I easily dodge the next burst of laser fire. I return fire, landing a few more hits, then charge the cannons. With my other hand – in between swatting the Metroid out of the way – I enter the co-ordinates for the nearest planet. Any planet. I'm not sure I can win this battle – I still haven't even refuelled my ship – but planet-side I know I can lose a few people following me. If I get there fast enough, maybe I can set up a little trap for them.

"GET OFF!" I yell at the Metroid, who is getting ready to pounce on my head again. Why does it keep doing that? Does it sincerely think draining its mother's energy is somehow helpful in an emergency?

The cannons fire, punching a hole through the hull of the nearest ship. It retreats. The other ships rearrange themselves, giving me the time I need. I divert more power to the shields, kick in the thrusters and get the hell out of there.

--------

My suit identifies the planet as Vermilion III. The planet is terraformed to more or less support life and is currently inhabited. Not densely inhabited – certainly not one of the major trading hubs of the galaxy – but there are a few settlements. I set my ship's security mechanisms to Genocide Mode. That does exactly what it says on the tin - if anyone approaches my ship except me or the Metroid, they get killed in all sorts of interesting ways. I lock the Metroid inside the ship. Not many people are comfortable with a Metroid floating around and I don't want to be thrown out of every settlement on the planet right away if I can possibly help it. The Federation may already have a global warrant for arrest on my ass but I doubt it would be in effect everywhere. Even with the best technology, it would take a while to contact every planet in the galaxy, some planets had too low a technology level to receive signals or didn't have enough of a legal system to enforce a law. Others didn't actually care what the Federation wanted, or at least didn't care enough to take on someone with power armour, laser cannons, bombs and a rocket launcher. Besides, the little guy makes a good auxiliary security mechanism. It enjoys hovering near the doorway and pouncing on people's heads as they walk in.

Vermilion is a dusty red planet, a little like Mars. My boots raise clouds of dust as I walk through the endless crimson desert, following the route that my suit's sensors tell me is the way to the nearest settlement, a small town. After a wander through the streets – the locals give me funny looks but I ignore them completely – I find a small space port with a fuel station. As this is an industrial town, it's an industrial port, built for loading cargo onto and off trade vessels, dwarfed by gigantic machinery and structures of scaffolding almost as rusty as the desert sands. I don't have any cash that would be accepted on this planet so I use my Card. The Galactic Standard Credit Card works anywhere.

The card reading machine beeps frantically and displays a red light. The vendor swears at it and thumped it a few times.

"Damage my card." I tell him, "And the laser cannon goes where you don't want it."

"It doesn't work anyway." he says, "Sorry, ma'am, but your card's completely unreadable."

After a few more attempts, all failures, I take it back off him and walked out of the shop. Maybe I have damaged it. I try and shield it in battle but I've taken a hit to every area of my suit at least once. Or maybe...

"Card blocked by the Feds, hm?"

I spon around, my movements flowing into a battle stance, gun arm pointed at the stranger's head.

"Samus Aran." he says calmly, an almost sad voice, "Grade Four, Permanent."

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