Chapter 1
Mission Accepted!
Thick dark clouds rolled steadily over the sleeping valley obscuring the early morning light of dawn. The rain came down in heavy sheets making visibility more then a few feet near impossible. The high-speed wind only drove the rain harder into the ground as it whistled between the village's small huts. Construction sites littered the little village, unprotected and vulnerable to the elements that nature tested against them. The small Chozo village on the planet Amidos had been under reconstruction for the past month after a devastating attack from the Space Pirate force. The already dwindling Chozo civilization on the tiny planet was only diminished even further after the most recent attack. If it hadn't been for Lana Aran and the SA-X, the Chozo civilization would have been on the brink of extinction.
A canyon off in the distance running parallel to the village alleviated the threat of flooding from the relentless three-day rain. The village ditches had already began to over flow and multiple make shift tributaries ran from the village to the canyon. The small creeks of rainwater merged into bigger rivers, which in turn spilled over the canyon's edge creating waterfalls all along the canyon walls. Lightning flashed, illuminating the small radio station sitting on the very edge of the gorge before the thunder crashed, shaking the very windows of the building.
Lana Aran fumbled around with the locked door leading into the building. Her forehead was matted with green hair, and that which wasn't glued down flapped in the heavy wind like a wet whip, lashing out at some viscous invisible animal. The building's overhang mercilessly drenched the young bounty hunter with cold water. Her yellow soaked T-shirt stuck tightly to her body, outlining her figure with every flash of lightning. She finally managed to open the door and quickly slipped inside, allowing the wind to help pull the door closed behind her. A light breeze dashed through the door kicking up the aging dust that was settled on the computer consoles. The rain pelted the windows creating a rhythmic snare drum beat that almost seemed to hypnotize her. She was brought from the harmonic beat when the stirred dust caused her to sneeze. Age lingered in the air and the smell emanated from every corner of the little station. Spiders made their presence obvious with their elaborate array of cobwebs strung about the splintered rafters of the ceiling.
"I'm going to clean this place up one day", Lana said aloud to herself, coughing from the dry environment. She walked over to one of the windows and cracked it open allowing a fresh burst of air to stir around the room. Lana then walked over to a circuit breaker box hanging on the wall and flipped the huge two-pronged switch. With a crackle and pop, the lights inside the station flickered momentarily before brightly illuminating the communication center. The various computer and radio equipment in the room began orchestrating music as the beeps from their startup procedures ran. Eventually, each of the monitors displayed their personalized screens.
Lana took a seat in one of the rooms two chairs, creating a small cloud of dust as she took a seat. She browsed along the desktop looking for something to do while she rested. Taking notice of a slightly opened drawer, she opened it and found a large blue binder lying inside. She pulled it out and blew the dust from the cover before opening it. The title displayed as a logbook and Lana found that it contained printouts of her mother's digital logbook. Lana turned to the latest date in the back of the binder.
Lana began reading aloud; "I have received a transmission from Federation Headquarters confirming that they have lost all contact with one of their bases on Atlass286. The Federation has requested me to investigate the communication loss at Atlass286. Unfortunately, due to my current condition, I am unable to travel that far to investigate and declined the mission. I am beginning to feel weaker in my deteriorating state and I fear the Chozo will have no one to protect them when I am gone. There is only one person that I know of who can take my place and I do not wish to burden her so." Lana closed the logbook and turned to one of the COM consoles in front of her. "My mother told me to take her place before she died and I will finish what she couldn't."
Lana began typing a request for more information on the cutoff base, ending the transmission with her last name only. The Federation was still unaware of her taking Samus' place as bounty hunter, and until she could prove her worthiness, she had to fraudulently use her mother's name. If she could complete a mission for the Galactic Federation then she could come forward with whom she really was. A response quickly arrived after she had sent hers out. The response indicated that the base was still not communicating with Federation Headquarters and with recent pirate activity; no one could go that far out to investigate. Lana replied to their response and told them she would investigate.
The radio station's door flew open and Lana spun around startled by the intruder. A lady's figure silhouetted the door as the rain blew in through the open door. Lightning flashed and the figure was momentarily revealed in the light. Lana breathed a sigh of relief. "By Enode, you scared the hell out of me", she said as the figure walked into the room and closed the door behind her. The woman promptly removed her red shirt and rung the water out onto the cement floor before putting it back on. She then took a seat beside Lana.
"What are you doing?" She asked blankly.
"I was reading some of your old logbook and came across one of these last entries you made in regards to a request from Galactic Federation Headquarters." The woman looked at the young bounty hunter, confused on what she was speaking of. "This happened after your existence, you'll have to forgive me for referring to you as my mother", Lana said. Lana had problems when it came to speaking of her mother to her mother. The being sitting before her was an SA-X who lost its memory and only remembers its victims. Its last victim happened to be the legendary bounty hunter, Samus Aran and this particular X-parasite has perfectly replicated the legend.
"There is no problem, I understand. So what was it that I was suppose to do", the SA-X asked opening the logbook and reading over the last entry.
"I've contact Federation Headquarters and they have confirmed that we can still investigate this problem. They are even willing to pay us for just investigating the base. They have been overrun with pirate activity and don't have any patrols available to check on these poor saps."
"Well money is always a good thing", Samus said reading the dispatcher's response. "When do we go?"
"As soon as I get ready", Lana replied rising from her seat.
"Lets not waste any time then. That a long ways from here."
"I'm going to change and I'll have Adam pick us up from our place." Samus rose from her seat and followed Lana out of the radio station, locking the door behind her.
Thick dark clouds rolled steadily over the sleeping valley obscuring the early morning light of dawn. The rain came down in heavy sheets making visibility more then a few feet near impossible. The high-speed wind only drove the rain harder into the ground as it whistled between the village's small huts. Construction sites littered the little village, unprotected and vulnerable to the elements that nature tested against them. The small Chozo village on the planet Amidos had been under reconstruction for the past month after a devastating attack from the Space Pirate force. The already dwindling Chozo civilization on the tiny planet was only diminished even further after the most recent attack. If it hadn't been for Lana Aran and the SA-X, the Chozo civilization would have been on the brink of extinction.
A canyon off in the distance running parallel to the village alleviated the threat of flooding from the relentless three-day rain. The village ditches had already began to over flow and multiple make shift tributaries ran from the village to the canyon. The small creeks of rainwater merged into bigger rivers, which in turn spilled over the canyon's edge creating waterfalls all along the canyon walls. Lightning flashed, illuminating the small radio station sitting on the very edge of the gorge before the thunder crashed, shaking the very windows of the building.
Lana Aran fumbled around with the locked door leading into the building. Her forehead was matted with green hair, and that which wasn't glued down flapped in the heavy wind like a wet whip, lashing out at some viscous invisible animal. The building's overhang mercilessly drenched the young bounty hunter with cold water. Her yellow soaked T-shirt stuck tightly to her body, outlining her figure with every flash of lightning. She finally managed to open the door and quickly slipped inside, allowing the wind to help pull the door closed behind her. A light breeze dashed through the door kicking up the aging dust that was settled on the computer consoles. The rain pelted the windows creating a rhythmic snare drum beat that almost seemed to hypnotize her. She was brought from the harmonic beat when the stirred dust caused her to sneeze. Age lingered in the air and the smell emanated from every corner of the little station. Spiders made their presence obvious with their elaborate array of cobwebs strung about the splintered rafters of the ceiling.
"I'm going to clean this place up one day", Lana said aloud to herself, coughing from the dry environment. She walked over to one of the windows and cracked it open allowing a fresh burst of air to stir around the room. Lana then walked over to a circuit breaker box hanging on the wall and flipped the huge two-pronged switch. With a crackle and pop, the lights inside the station flickered momentarily before brightly illuminating the communication center. The various computer and radio equipment in the room began orchestrating music as the beeps from their startup procedures ran. Eventually, each of the monitors displayed their personalized screens.
Lana took a seat in one of the rooms two chairs, creating a small cloud of dust as she took a seat. She browsed along the desktop looking for something to do while she rested. Taking notice of a slightly opened drawer, she opened it and found a large blue binder lying inside. She pulled it out and blew the dust from the cover before opening it. The title displayed as a logbook and Lana found that it contained printouts of her mother's digital logbook. Lana turned to the latest date in the back of the binder.
Lana began reading aloud; "I have received a transmission from Federation Headquarters confirming that they have lost all contact with one of their bases on Atlass286. The Federation has requested me to investigate the communication loss at Atlass286. Unfortunately, due to my current condition, I am unable to travel that far to investigate and declined the mission. I am beginning to feel weaker in my deteriorating state and I fear the Chozo will have no one to protect them when I am gone. There is only one person that I know of who can take my place and I do not wish to burden her so." Lana closed the logbook and turned to one of the COM consoles in front of her. "My mother told me to take her place before she died and I will finish what she couldn't."
Lana began typing a request for more information on the cutoff base, ending the transmission with her last name only. The Federation was still unaware of her taking Samus' place as bounty hunter, and until she could prove her worthiness, she had to fraudulently use her mother's name. If she could complete a mission for the Galactic Federation then she could come forward with whom she really was. A response quickly arrived after she had sent hers out. The response indicated that the base was still not communicating with Federation Headquarters and with recent pirate activity; no one could go that far out to investigate. Lana replied to their response and told them she would investigate.
The radio station's door flew open and Lana spun around startled by the intruder. A lady's figure silhouetted the door as the rain blew in through the open door. Lightning flashed and the figure was momentarily revealed in the light. Lana breathed a sigh of relief. "By Enode, you scared the hell out of me", she said as the figure walked into the room and closed the door behind her. The woman promptly removed her red shirt and rung the water out onto the cement floor before putting it back on. She then took a seat beside Lana.
"What are you doing?" She asked blankly.
"I was reading some of your old logbook and came across one of these last entries you made in regards to a request from Galactic Federation Headquarters." The woman looked at the young bounty hunter, confused on what she was speaking of. "This happened after your existence, you'll have to forgive me for referring to you as my mother", Lana said. Lana had problems when it came to speaking of her mother to her mother. The being sitting before her was an SA-X who lost its memory and only remembers its victims. Its last victim happened to be the legendary bounty hunter, Samus Aran and this particular X-parasite has perfectly replicated the legend.
"There is no problem, I understand. So what was it that I was suppose to do", the SA-X asked opening the logbook and reading over the last entry.
"I've contact Federation Headquarters and they have confirmed that we can still investigate this problem. They are even willing to pay us for just investigating the base. They have been overrun with pirate activity and don't have any patrols available to check on these poor saps."
"Well money is always a good thing", Samus said reading the dispatcher's response. "When do we go?"
"As soon as I get ready", Lana replied rising from her seat.
"Lets not waste any time then. That a long ways from here."
"I'm going to change and I'll have Adam pick us up from our place." Samus rose from her seat and followed Lana out of the radio station, locking the door behind her.