Chapter 3
Trap!
Samus docked her ship at the Galactic Federation Police Headquarters. She started for the captain's office, sidestepping construction workers and painters. Apparently after she had been knocked out, there had been a much larger attack on the GFP by the Space Pirates. Much damage had been done to the building as Samus could see through many of the walls straight into offices and even to the outside. Samus stepped outside of the stairwell and headed down the hallway to the captain's office.
"Samus! Where the hell have you been for the last three days?" asked Hunter.
"Three days? Was I missing that long? Well, to make a long story very short; the Space Pirates kidnapped me, did some sort of experiments and held me prisoner. While I was imprisoned I was confronted by Ridley, he...", she was cutoff by Hunter.
"What? Ridley is alive. I thought you killed him."
"That makes two of us. I was just as surprised as you are. Anyways, he told me of his plans. He is sending an army to earth. They are going to attack and destroy the Earth. After that, I was able to escape. I could not find Ridley anywhere."
"Does he have an army big enough to even take us on?" he asked a bit worried.
"That I do not know. He has many connections with terrorists and many of our own enemies. It's quite possible that he does. I suggest that we cut him off or have a defense of some type put into place", she replied.
"That would be the most prudent course of action. I will have to get permission from my superior", he said, "that's all for now, stick around though because I have a feeling we will be needing you."
"Yes sir", Samus left the room and started back down the hallway. She decided she had better go and see the facilities doctor. She wanted to find out if there was any internal damage to her body. Samus made it to the doctor's quarters and knocked on the door.
"Please come in", replied a woman's voice.
Samus walked in to find the doctor sitting behind her desk. It was the doctor's first week. The previous doctor, Doctor Haines, had just retired and the new doctor was fresh out of medical school. Her name was Jill Twelski. She was short with brown hair and blue eyes. "Hello, what can I do for you?" she asked politely.
"Hi, I need a physical exam", Samus replied.
"And what is the reason for the exam?" the doctor implied writing down notes on a notepad.
"Well, I awakened a few days ago, under extreme conditions that I am not in liberty to discuss with anyone, and I found my body covered in circular incisions. They don't hurt and they seem to be healing just fine. I would just like to know if all my internal organs are still there or if there has been any damage done to me."
"Let's have a looksie then shall we? I didn't quite catch your name."
"My name is Samus."
"And have you been seen by a GFP doctor before?"
"No."
"Lastly, are we going to be filing insurance or are we billing you?"
~What is with the twenty questions, geez I only wanted a physical~ "I don't know who covers it, you might want to look it up", Samus answered becoming aggravated by the doctor's questions. "My name is Samus Aran, bounty hunter hired by the Galactic Federation Police under contract 1356542. I have top clearance level in all departments, I am a Pisces, and I haven't had sex in almost a year. Is there anything else you would like to know?" Samus asked.
"No I think that just about covers everything I needed to ask you", Doctor Twelski answered smiling, handing Samus a clipboard, "I just need you to fill out these papers so we can get you into the system."
"Paperwork! Damn it, I just can't get away from it", she yelled snatching the clipboard from the doctor.
"Excuse me? I don't quite follow", the doctor replied.
"Oh sorry, did I say that out loud. My bust", Samus said sitting down to fill out the paperwork. When she was done filling it in, she handed the papers to the doctor who took them and set them to the side.
"I'll just put all this in later."
"That's fine with me, I just want to get this physical done with", Samus replied.
"Okay lets go down to the examination room and we will begin."
"Lead the way doctor."
The two headed out into the hallway and down to the end where they entered into one of the two examination rooms. "Okay Mrs. Aran, let me get you to take that armor off, strip down and put this wonderful little outfit on", Doctor Twelski said handing Samus a blue hospital gown.
"No problem. You do have a place for me to hang my armor right? I don't want it to wrinkle", she said trying to lighten up the dull mood. The two laughed at the small joke she had made. Samus pulled off her armor and piled it up on a chair. She took extra caution when dismantling the arm cannon. Samus then put on the hospital gown and sat on the doctor's metal table. The cold sharp pain that accompanies a doctor's examination table pinched her bottom. "Damn this table is cold", she yelped, jumping at the cold sensation.
Doctor Twelski questioned Samus about the incisions and Samus answered her promptly telling all she knew about the incisions, including the nightmare she had involving the Metroids. After the questioning, the doctor carefully examined Samus' body looking for evidence of bodily harm.
"I'm sorry but I am baffled. All of your parts seem to be in place and these incisions do not reach to any dangerous depth. You seem to be in a fit condition physically; however, I am worried about your mental health. You seem to be traumatized by past experiences. This is not healthy and I believe you need to see a physiatrist about these dreams", the doctor concluded.
"You think I'm crazy to huh?" Samus was becoming irritated again. The last thing she wanted to hear was that she was losing her mind. "Well I'm not losing my mind and I will not go and see a physiatrist. Thanks for the examination and I hope you have a good day, seeing you just ruined mine", Samus yelled emotionally, briskly walking toward the door with her head up.
"Oh Mrs. Aran? Before you walk out, I am sorry to ruin your day, but you might want to at least wear your underwear before you go out there."
"Samus looked down to find herself in the hospital gown still. Her face flustered and she grabbed her stuff and quickly threw it on holding the arm cannon in her hands. She continued out the door slamming it behind her and all the while Doctor Twelski giggling slightly at the situation.
Samus stormed down the hallway. She had been insulted even though she knew she had problems but they were her problems and no one else should tell her how to deal with them. She walked up to Hunter's door and knocked. She was told to enter.
"Where have you been? I have some bad news from upstairs", he said as Samus walked in attaching the arm cannon to her power suit.
"Sorry Captain Hunter, I had to go and see the doctor about these incisions."
"Well, are you alright?" the captain asked with little concern.
"Yeah, she said I was in good shape and, like me, has no idea what these marks are", she replied.
"That is strange. Anyway, the Director of Intergalactic Defense, Carl Speal, said that he would have a small battalion head out and keep patrol in the outer orbital perimeter."
"That's it!?"
"Well unless we have tangible evidence of the Space Pirate's attack, we have nothing. However, Speal knows of your reputation and with my advice, he said he would go ahead and take the necessary precautions."
"It's better then nothing, I suppose", Samus said before making a suggestion, "If you don't mind, I am going to grab my ship and help out with the patrol. I want to be there in case anything goes down", Samus explained.
"I figured you would want to do something along those lines. I already have permission for you to take hold of this operation and you can be on your way immediately. I took the liberty of having your ship refueled and maintenenced. You will dock with the Maindena where you will seek out Admiral Hall and relieve him of his strategic command. Just do me one favor and be careful out there."
"Yes sir", Samus said turning about and walking out of the little office. Samus headed for the stairwell wondering if Ridley could muster up the kind of force he had mentioned or if he was just bs'ing her. She would soon find out. Minutes later she was strapped into her pilot's seat on her ship and after receiving clearance, departed from the GFP docking station.
...|...
Samus brought her ship into the outer orbital perimeter and seeked out the starship cruiser, Maindena. She found the massive flagship just on the far side of the moon. Smaller cruisers and patrol ships lined the entire orbit of the planet, evenly spacing there patrol areas. The line of space vehicles stretched around the planet as far as Samus' eye could see. Many of the ships appearing as little specks before disappearing on the other side of the planet. Samus docked with the Maindena and quickly made her way towards the ship's bridge.
"Good afternoon Mrs. Aran. What can I do for you?" Admiral Hall turned to greet the famous bounty hunter. He had heard of her many adventures and like many others, he was intimidated by the best bounty hunter in the galaxy who could take on an entire Space Pirate force. The short round man tipped his white hat as Samus stopped in front of him.
"Good afternoon Admiral, I am here to take over command of this fleet. Here are my orders and clearance levels. My only job here is to run the program strategically. You will stay in charge of your men of course, but all orders and such are to be run through me, is that clear?" she asked with complete confidence of her leadership abilities.
"Yes it is", he replied a little reluctantly after hearing her orders before cheering up. After all he was under the command of the great Samus Aran. After several hours of patrol, nothing suspicious appeared. It was dead in space, to dead for Samus' liking. She wanted to see some sort of sign that Ridley had not led her into a wild goose chase or had just side tracked her so he could have more time to plan. Samus was near the end of her patrol and was about to abort the mission when the admiral approached Samus.
"Samus, there has been a call for help from one of our star cruisers. Apparently, there engines failed and they had to crash land on the moon."
"We weren't contacted about engine problems before the accident occurred?" She questioned a sense of suspicion filled her.
"Well when the engines failed, the communications were brought down momentarily and they had to wait for the backup generators to kick in before restarting the equipment. I've radioed the ship's commanding officer and he confirms the original distress signal", Admiral Hall explained, "Do we have permission to send a recovery team Samus?"
"Yes, permission granted, but tell them to be careful", Samus said, dismissing Admiral Hall from her presence. She turned her attention to the black field in front of her glimmering with the sparkling of stars. She had always loved space and thought of it as a third home to her. Samus drifted into a daze, trying to imagine the last day her parents had been alive. She could remember close to nothing about her parents or her home. Everything she knew about them, she had learned from old files and information the Chozo had found on them. Her parents had been tragically killed in a Space Pirate raid on her home space colony on K2-L. Though she was never told who led the raid, Samus knew deep down that the Space Pirate's General Ridley was the one behind the entire thing, like most pirate activity. Samus was pulled from her thoughts by the crackling of an intercom.
"We are approaching the crippled star cruiser, proceed with caution", the admiral's voice echoed over the speaker system. Samus watched the cruiser move slowly toward the downed ship on the bridge's viewport.
The intercom came to life again, "Admiral Hall I presume", a crackling voice came over.
"NOOOOOO! GET OUT OF THEIR NOW!" Samus yelled through the microphone over the intercom. She knew that voice and that the lives of her patrolling crew were in danger. Ridley was around and that only meant trouble.
"Who is that Samus?" Admiral Hall asked, "this is a private military frequency. Whoever you are, please get off immediately."
"I SAID GET OUT OF THEIR! IT'S A TRAP!" Samus continued to yell into the intercom.
"All ships, retreat to outer orbit parameter and initiate defense systems", Admiral Hall ordered. The ships within the vicinity began turning around and retreating to a safe distance, "who the hell is that Samus?"
"I am afraid you are to late Mrs. Aran. Now I will watch you all die", Ridley commented over the system.
"Samus? What do you mean its a trap? Samus?" The admiral asked over the communications system, his voice turning from the calm command to a panicked whine.
"Don't ask! Just get the hell out of there or you're all gonna be dead", Samus replied.
"Now now Mrs. Aran, you aren't getting away that easy", Ridley said. Samus had just ordered the Maindena into a full throttled retreat when a blinding light flashed from the surface of the moon. With great speed, the light broke through the dark of space and engulfed the fleet. Samus stumbled around trying to close her visor to protect her eyes from the blinding light. She finally managed to lower the tinted glass and looked out of the viewport. A huge fireball slowly advanced toward the fleet like a tsunami heading across the ocean. One by one, the fleet's ships were swallowed by the raging inferno, exploding and burning in the wake of the wave. Samus turned and fell to the floor in an attempt to shield herself from the inevitable and possibly uncertain death that would soon be upon them. The blast rocked the ship and Samus was slammed to the wall. Pain shot up her spine and through her body as her arm went numb. She watched as the console in front of her burst into flames and the viewport started to crack. The room was beginning to lose pressure and if the viewport did not hold out then the vacuum of space would soon be Samus' resting place. Another explosion from behind Samus, sent the wall crumbling to pieces, the debris tossing the helpless bounty hunter into a nearby console. The visor smashed upon impacting sending glass flying at the huntress' face. She could feel blood running down the side of her face as more debris was dumped on her. The impact of a monitor into the bounty hunter's head brought her back to her knees and before she could react she was once again thrown into the darkness.
Samus docked her ship at the Galactic Federation Police Headquarters. She started for the captain's office, sidestepping construction workers and painters. Apparently after she had been knocked out, there had been a much larger attack on the GFP by the Space Pirates. Much damage had been done to the building as Samus could see through many of the walls straight into offices and even to the outside. Samus stepped outside of the stairwell and headed down the hallway to the captain's office.
"Samus! Where the hell have you been for the last three days?" asked Hunter.
"Three days? Was I missing that long? Well, to make a long story very short; the Space Pirates kidnapped me, did some sort of experiments and held me prisoner. While I was imprisoned I was confronted by Ridley, he...", she was cutoff by Hunter.
"What? Ridley is alive. I thought you killed him."
"That makes two of us. I was just as surprised as you are. Anyways, he told me of his plans. He is sending an army to earth. They are going to attack and destroy the Earth. After that, I was able to escape. I could not find Ridley anywhere."
"Does he have an army big enough to even take us on?" he asked a bit worried.
"That I do not know. He has many connections with terrorists and many of our own enemies. It's quite possible that he does. I suggest that we cut him off or have a defense of some type put into place", she replied.
"That would be the most prudent course of action. I will have to get permission from my superior", he said, "that's all for now, stick around though because I have a feeling we will be needing you."
"Yes sir", Samus left the room and started back down the hallway. She decided she had better go and see the facilities doctor. She wanted to find out if there was any internal damage to her body. Samus made it to the doctor's quarters and knocked on the door.
"Please come in", replied a woman's voice.
Samus walked in to find the doctor sitting behind her desk. It was the doctor's first week. The previous doctor, Doctor Haines, had just retired and the new doctor was fresh out of medical school. Her name was Jill Twelski. She was short with brown hair and blue eyes. "Hello, what can I do for you?" she asked politely.
"Hi, I need a physical exam", Samus replied.
"And what is the reason for the exam?" the doctor implied writing down notes on a notepad.
"Well, I awakened a few days ago, under extreme conditions that I am not in liberty to discuss with anyone, and I found my body covered in circular incisions. They don't hurt and they seem to be healing just fine. I would just like to know if all my internal organs are still there or if there has been any damage done to me."
"Let's have a looksie then shall we? I didn't quite catch your name."
"My name is Samus."
"And have you been seen by a GFP doctor before?"
"No."
"Lastly, are we going to be filing insurance or are we billing you?"
~What is with the twenty questions, geez I only wanted a physical~ "I don't know who covers it, you might want to look it up", Samus answered becoming aggravated by the doctor's questions. "My name is Samus Aran, bounty hunter hired by the Galactic Federation Police under contract 1356542. I have top clearance level in all departments, I am a Pisces, and I haven't had sex in almost a year. Is there anything else you would like to know?" Samus asked.
"No I think that just about covers everything I needed to ask you", Doctor Twelski answered smiling, handing Samus a clipboard, "I just need you to fill out these papers so we can get you into the system."
"Paperwork! Damn it, I just can't get away from it", she yelled snatching the clipboard from the doctor.
"Excuse me? I don't quite follow", the doctor replied.
"Oh sorry, did I say that out loud. My bust", Samus said sitting down to fill out the paperwork. When she was done filling it in, she handed the papers to the doctor who took them and set them to the side.
"I'll just put all this in later."
"That's fine with me, I just want to get this physical done with", Samus replied.
"Okay lets go down to the examination room and we will begin."
"Lead the way doctor."
The two headed out into the hallway and down to the end where they entered into one of the two examination rooms. "Okay Mrs. Aran, let me get you to take that armor off, strip down and put this wonderful little outfit on", Doctor Twelski said handing Samus a blue hospital gown.
"No problem. You do have a place for me to hang my armor right? I don't want it to wrinkle", she said trying to lighten up the dull mood. The two laughed at the small joke she had made. Samus pulled off her armor and piled it up on a chair. She took extra caution when dismantling the arm cannon. Samus then put on the hospital gown and sat on the doctor's metal table. The cold sharp pain that accompanies a doctor's examination table pinched her bottom. "Damn this table is cold", she yelped, jumping at the cold sensation.
Doctor Twelski questioned Samus about the incisions and Samus answered her promptly telling all she knew about the incisions, including the nightmare she had involving the Metroids. After the questioning, the doctor carefully examined Samus' body looking for evidence of bodily harm.
"I'm sorry but I am baffled. All of your parts seem to be in place and these incisions do not reach to any dangerous depth. You seem to be in a fit condition physically; however, I am worried about your mental health. You seem to be traumatized by past experiences. This is not healthy and I believe you need to see a physiatrist about these dreams", the doctor concluded.
"You think I'm crazy to huh?" Samus was becoming irritated again. The last thing she wanted to hear was that she was losing her mind. "Well I'm not losing my mind and I will not go and see a physiatrist. Thanks for the examination and I hope you have a good day, seeing you just ruined mine", Samus yelled emotionally, briskly walking toward the door with her head up.
"Oh Mrs. Aran? Before you walk out, I am sorry to ruin your day, but you might want to at least wear your underwear before you go out there."
"Samus looked down to find herself in the hospital gown still. Her face flustered and she grabbed her stuff and quickly threw it on holding the arm cannon in her hands. She continued out the door slamming it behind her and all the while Doctor Twelski giggling slightly at the situation.
Samus stormed down the hallway. She had been insulted even though she knew she had problems but they were her problems and no one else should tell her how to deal with them. She walked up to Hunter's door and knocked. She was told to enter.
"Where have you been? I have some bad news from upstairs", he said as Samus walked in attaching the arm cannon to her power suit.
"Sorry Captain Hunter, I had to go and see the doctor about these incisions."
"Well, are you alright?" the captain asked with little concern.
"Yeah, she said I was in good shape and, like me, has no idea what these marks are", she replied.
"That is strange. Anyway, the Director of Intergalactic Defense, Carl Speal, said that he would have a small battalion head out and keep patrol in the outer orbital perimeter."
"That's it!?"
"Well unless we have tangible evidence of the Space Pirate's attack, we have nothing. However, Speal knows of your reputation and with my advice, he said he would go ahead and take the necessary precautions."
"It's better then nothing, I suppose", Samus said before making a suggestion, "If you don't mind, I am going to grab my ship and help out with the patrol. I want to be there in case anything goes down", Samus explained.
"I figured you would want to do something along those lines. I already have permission for you to take hold of this operation and you can be on your way immediately. I took the liberty of having your ship refueled and maintenenced. You will dock with the Maindena where you will seek out Admiral Hall and relieve him of his strategic command. Just do me one favor and be careful out there."
"Yes sir", Samus said turning about and walking out of the little office. Samus headed for the stairwell wondering if Ridley could muster up the kind of force he had mentioned or if he was just bs'ing her. She would soon find out. Minutes later she was strapped into her pilot's seat on her ship and after receiving clearance, departed from the GFP docking station.
...|...
Samus brought her ship into the outer orbital perimeter and seeked out the starship cruiser, Maindena. She found the massive flagship just on the far side of the moon. Smaller cruisers and patrol ships lined the entire orbit of the planet, evenly spacing there patrol areas. The line of space vehicles stretched around the planet as far as Samus' eye could see. Many of the ships appearing as little specks before disappearing on the other side of the planet. Samus docked with the Maindena and quickly made her way towards the ship's bridge.
"Good afternoon Mrs. Aran. What can I do for you?" Admiral Hall turned to greet the famous bounty hunter. He had heard of her many adventures and like many others, he was intimidated by the best bounty hunter in the galaxy who could take on an entire Space Pirate force. The short round man tipped his white hat as Samus stopped in front of him.
"Good afternoon Admiral, I am here to take over command of this fleet. Here are my orders and clearance levels. My only job here is to run the program strategically. You will stay in charge of your men of course, but all orders and such are to be run through me, is that clear?" she asked with complete confidence of her leadership abilities.
"Yes it is", he replied a little reluctantly after hearing her orders before cheering up. After all he was under the command of the great Samus Aran. After several hours of patrol, nothing suspicious appeared. It was dead in space, to dead for Samus' liking. She wanted to see some sort of sign that Ridley had not led her into a wild goose chase or had just side tracked her so he could have more time to plan. Samus was near the end of her patrol and was about to abort the mission when the admiral approached Samus.
"Samus, there has been a call for help from one of our star cruisers. Apparently, there engines failed and they had to crash land on the moon."
"We weren't contacted about engine problems before the accident occurred?" She questioned a sense of suspicion filled her.
"Well when the engines failed, the communications were brought down momentarily and they had to wait for the backup generators to kick in before restarting the equipment. I've radioed the ship's commanding officer and he confirms the original distress signal", Admiral Hall explained, "Do we have permission to send a recovery team Samus?"
"Yes, permission granted, but tell them to be careful", Samus said, dismissing Admiral Hall from her presence. She turned her attention to the black field in front of her glimmering with the sparkling of stars. She had always loved space and thought of it as a third home to her. Samus drifted into a daze, trying to imagine the last day her parents had been alive. She could remember close to nothing about her parents or her home. Everything she knew about them, she had learned from old files and information the Chozo had found on them. Her parents had been tragically killed in a Space Pirate raid on her home space colony on K2-L. Though she was never told who led the raid, Samus knew deep down that the Space Pirate's General Ridley was the one behind the entire thing, like most pirate activity. Samus was pulled from her thoughts by the crackling of an intercom.
"We are approaching the crippled star cruiser, proceed with caution", the admiral's voice echoed over the speaker system. Samus watched the cruiser move slowly toward the downed ship on the bridge's viewport.
The intercom came to life again, "Admiral Hall I presume", a crackling voice came over.
"NOOOOOO! GET OUT OF THEIR NOW!" Samus yelled through the microphone over the intercom. She knew that voice and that the lives of her patrolling crew were in danger. Ridley was around and that only meant trouble.
"Who is that Samus?" Admiral Hall asked, "this is a private military frequency. Whoever you are, please get off immediately."
"I SAID GET OUT OF THEIR! IT'S A TRAP!" Samus continued to yell into the intercom.
"All ships, retreat to outer orbit parameter and initiate defense systems", Admiral Hall ordered. The ships within the vicinity began turning around and retreating to a safe distance, "who the hell is that Samus?"
"I am afraid you are to late Mrs. Aran. Now I will watch you all die", Ridley commented over the system.
"Samus? What do you mean its a trap? Samus?" The admiral asked over the communications system, his voice turning from the calm command to a panicked whine.
"Don't ask! Just get the hell out of there or you're all gonna be dead", Samus replied.
"Now now Mrs. Aran, you aren't getting away that easy", Ridley said. Samus had just ordered the Maindena into a full throttled retreat when a blinding light flashed from the surface of the moon. With great speed, the light broke through the dark of space and engulfed the fleet. Samus stumbled around trying to close her visor to protect her eyes from the blinding light. She finally managed to lower the tinted glass and looked out of the viewport. A huge fireball slowly advanced toward the fleet like a tsunami heading across the ocean. One by one, the fleet's ships were swallowed by the raging inferno, exploding and burning in the wake of the wave. Samus turned and fell to the floor in an attempt to shield herself from the inevitable and possibly uncertain death that would soon be upon them. The blast rocked the ship and Samus was slammed to the wall. Pain shot up her spine and through her body as her arm went numb. She watched as the console in front of her burst into flames and the viewport started to crack. The room was beginning to lose pressure and if the viewport did not hold out then the vacuum of space would soon be Samus' resting place. Another explosion from behind Samus, sent the wall crumbling to pieces, the debris tossing the helpless bounty hunter into a nearby console. The visor smashed upon impacting sending glass flying at the huntress' face. She could feel blood running down the side of her face as more debris was dumped on her. The impact of a monitor into the bounty hunter's head brought her back to her knees and before she could react she was once again thrown into the darkness.