She knew nothing about Tallon IV when she first touched down on it. The planet meant nothing to her. Her thoughts were elsewhere when she had stepped out of her gunship and the first raindrops of the Tallon Overworld hit her helmet. Her focus was on her objective: The space pirates had established some kind of operation on the planet, and it would have to be thwarted.
At first glance the planet seemed to be teeming with life. Little alien creatures leapt out from under the earth to feed, insects swarmed all around ancient ruins and forests, and the plant life seemed healthy and vibrant. It was not long, however, that she began to note signs of decay.
A great poison had gripped this planet. Everything around her was dying: Within twenty five years the entire planet would be a barren wasteland. Not a thing would survive.
It was haunting to think about. She wondered how she had ever gotten the impression that the ecosystem here was healthy. True, she had realized the truth within a couple of hours, but a part of her was ashamed that she did not pick up on it right away. Every shot she fired, every creature she felled, she found herself wondering if she was driving these creatures closer to extinction.
Her systems assured her that wasn't the case, but she couldn't shake the feeling of wrongness every time she found herself cornered by a creature simply trying to protect its territory or ensure that its young had the chance to eat. It was almost a relief when she reached the pirate base in the Phendrana Drifts and entered combat with her old enemy, the Space Pirates. There was no risk of driving THEM extinct.
Still though, she found herself stopping and observing the natural world of Tallon IV far more than she usually did. She supposed she was simply trying to understand the appeal the planet had had for the Chozo who had chosen to live here. The idea of withdrawing from galactic civilization entirely to live among nature was an oddly appealing one. She never felt like herself around her own kind, preferring instead the thrill of the battlefield. She had never really found Zebes or any Galactic Federation planet aesthetically pleasing, but Tallon IV was different. Even now, as the planet lay dying, it was still beautiful.
She had not been contracted for an assignment: She had not been asked to do anything. And yet over a period of several days she walked the planet, sleeping little and eating nothing, observing the world. It was beautiful.
The Chozo who had lived here were different than the ones who had taken her in as a child. As she walked among their ruins and took in their writings and philosophical musings, she began to think about how unfortunate this entire situation was. A Chozo tribe that had chosen absolute pacifism had allowed themselves to be destroyed rather than destroy the threat that the planet had taken. She was a warrior, and found it rather hard to fathom. Peace was not a static thing. It had to be fought for, and preserved. She wondered what could have driven one to forego all ways of violence… to the point of not even being able to defend oneself.
It was this kind of thinking that had led to the demise of the Chozo. She thought to herself. They had thought themselves enlightened, and above the petty problems of lower life forms… but in actuality, they had simply chosen to die as the planet itself had. She wondered if, somewhere out there among the cosmos, there was another Chozo Warrior. She longed to meet him. Perhaps he would understand her better than anyone else could.
Although the Chozo here had gone extinct, they had left behind many things for her to use. Structures that made her navigation of the planet easier, and greatest of all… knowledge. It was through their observations of the nature of the Phazon element that made her understand her crucial it was that it needed to be destroyed.
When she stood there, overlooking the destroyed Chozo Temple that had been constructed to stop the spread of the Great Poison, she felt a strange. She reached for her helmet and took it off. It was a dangerous thing, to expose herself to alien elements like this…. But it felt right to her.
She stood there for as long as she was able, helmet under her arm, as she surveyed her surroundings. She couldn't quite explain why, but she felt a strange sort of triumph… this very may well have been her greatest triumph.
…
"What's that?"
The Galactic Federation scientist prodded the glowing blue material with a giant robot arm. "Samus Aran brought it in."
"The Bounty Hunter?" The woman huffed. She had not had the best interaction with the tall man in the orange armor… he had ignored her greeting and sauntered off, leaving them with nothing but the element his report had classified as 'Phazon.'
"Yeah." The scientist said. "He discovered this substance on the planet Tallon IV. Said it came from a meteorite."
"Hm." The woman said, intrigued, as she leaned in to take a better look at it. "Is it dangerous?"
"Very." He said flatly. "Space Pirates have been using it to mutate their soldiers… it's incredibly radioactive.'
"Hm." She was unintrigued. Her thoughts were still on Samus Aran. "How did the Hunter find it?"
"He said he was exploring the planet and just came across it."
"There has to be more to it than that."
He shrugged. "Maybe."
"What do you know about Tallon IV?"
The man pressed a button on the computer panel, and an image came up.
"Well, as of four hours ago… uh, Samus Aran has requested ownership of the entire planet."
Her eyes narrowed. "What?"
"Yeah, apparently Phazon was driving the planet's wildlife to extinction, and Samus stabilized the ecosystem." He explained. "So he wants to direct his income from bounty hunting to protect the planet from colonists and alien life forms while the ecosystem recovers."
"Can he afford that?" She wondered.
"After what happened on Zebes, he's the GF's main man for special operations." The man said, grimly. "He's paid ludicrously well."
"Ridiculous." The woman said, surveying the planet with extreme distaste. "Absolutely ridiculous… An entire planet… and I get to live in a dinky apartment." Her eyes narrowed. "He must be up to something."
The man hesitated. "I thought the same, but…"
"Has he left the station?" The woman interrupted.
"No, I think-"
She was gone in a matter of moments.
She raced to the docking bay, her eyes flitting around in every direction. She didn't see the armored figure anywhere. She did see the gunship, however… she decided to simply wait.
She was certain that any moment now a man in a giant armored suit would come walking down the dock towards her. But he never came. Instead a tall, blonde woman stepped past her, her nose buried in a tablet. The woman paid no attention to her: It was not until she stepped onto the gunship that she realized her mistake.
"Hey, wait a minute-"
The blonde woman stopped and glanced at her.
"Do you work for Samus Aran?" The woman asked. "I need to ask him some questions."
The blonde woman blinked.
"No." She said shortly. She turned back to the gunship and began to climb on top of it.
The woman stepped forward.
"It's about Tallon IV." She said. "About how Samus Aran claims to want to protect it."
"It's not a claim." The woman said quietly. "It's a commitment."
"So you do work for Aran." The woman said triumphantly. "What do you know?"
The woman did not answer right away. She seemed to be thinking.
"I think… Tallon IV is a place where I can feel most like myself." She said slowly. "I can't explain it, but…. The planet is very important to me."
She stepped up onto the top of the gunship.
"I hope that answered your question." She said informally, as she began to slide inside. The woman stepped forward, her hand outstretched, but before she could stop her the ship turned around and wheeled out of the dock.
The woman watched it go, the wheels in her head turning.
"Samus must have been in the gunship the entire time." She said to herself slowly. It wouldn't be until later that evening, when she requested more information on the blonde woman that had been traveling with Samus Aran, that she was informed that the Bounty Hunter always traveled alone.