Approaching boot-clad footsteps thudded as someone came down the ramp, Samus warily raised her energy gun. After her last run-in with the Galactic Federation, she was more cautious about anyone connected to the Federation more than ever.

Someone emerged from the steam, setting foot on the planet's soil, wearing the armored uniform of a space marine and equipped with a ZAC-7.5 Space Rifle. Samus scanned the individual, recognizing the Galactic Federation insignia upon the uniform...

"You are one tough gal to track down, Samus Aran." The soldier said, the voice sounded manly. 'Of course it's a man.' Samus thought, she knew that most of the Galactic Federation comprised of guys. Most of all, the bounty hunter knew a man when she saw a man.

"I know you're a Galactic Federation soldier," Samus said as she removed her helmet, "But why are you here, were you following me and what do you want?"

"Answer's very simple, Samus. I've been on your trail for a long time, you're not good at staying still. The universe knows about you, Federation never forgot about you."

The soldier reached up and removed his helmet, Samus lowered her space gun as she studied her new Federation acquaintance's face. He had a smooth, shaven chin, pale cheeks, a straight nose, blue eyes and brown hair. The man was... handsome?

"Name's Weston." The soldier extended his hand, his voice sounded as if he was from one of the Southern colonies, "Alex Weston, 807th Space Corps, and I'm a big fan of your work, Samus. You're really good at saving the galaxy."

Almost flattered, Samus shook Alex's hand. Thankfully, the soldier didn't seem to be pulling any tricks or planning on contacting the Federation. "Its..." Samus said mindfully, "Nothing too big to report about, I'm just doing what I can wherever I go."

"And that's what makes you famous and well-known," Alex remarked, "If it weren't for you, more Space Pirates would be on the loose and the whole galaxy would be overrun with Metroids right now. You saved so many lives, entire civilizations are in your debt, Aran."

"Wow, I can't believe a select group of people in the Galactic Federation look up to me."

"That's right, baby, and I'm one of those folks."

"Do you have any other reasons why you're following me aside from that you're a fan?"

Before Alex could answer Samus' query, a loud howling sound cut through the air, echoing across the ruins of the village. Samus put her helmet back on and primed her cannon just as her new associate put his helmet back on and charged up his gun.

"Xako Wolves." Alex said, recognizing the howl, "The boys and I encountered a group of them while we were tracking down Space Pirates in the Nios Sector, those things are just as vicious as normal wolves, their relatives on Ca'roka are tame compared to the Xako."

"I've encountered more monstrous creatures compared to those ferocious beasts." Samus remarked as she and Alex prepared themselves, "Stay alert, my sensors indicate that we got incoming from the south and the west."

"OWOOOOOOOOOOO!" The latest howl was followed by a low growling sound which was soon accompanied by soft footsteps, a group of large dog-like creatures came into view, baring vicious teeth and sporting dark-grey fur, sharp claws and menacing yellow eyes.

"Here's another not-so fun fact," Alex warned, "The Xako Wolves on Nios were way bigger compared to the ones here, their smell is just as worse as their bite and their claws. Their leader, the Xakosa Caynynes, is even dangerous than the standard Xako Wolf."

"You should've encountered the Metroid Queen on SR388." Samus replied, "She was just as monstrous and hard to destroy compared to Ridley and the many other alien threats I encountered by the likes of the other Metroids and various space monsters."

"Ridley? That bastard is way terrifying, in fact, I kinda ran into him not long ago."

"Let's talk more about that later, XAKO WOLVES INCOMING!"

The Xako Wolves gnashed their teeth and charged towards Samus and Alex, eager to tear them apart and eat them. Samus opened fire and shot several in the face while shooting a couple wolves in the eye, blinding them in seconds.

Alex let loose with his ZAC-7.5, blue and yellow bolts of energy lanced through nearly every single Xako Wolf that the Galactic Federation soldier could gun down. Just as he was shooting down a large yellow wolf, he spotted a group of wolves surrounding his ship.

"Oh no they don't." He yelled, "Samus, THERE'S A PACK OF XAKOS GOING NEAR THE HMS REYOLA!" Samus punched down a Xako Wolf and aimed at the pack surrounding Alex's ship, she cut loose, firing on the wolves as she tried to help Alex defend his ship.

Just then, a huge explosion engulfed the Reyola and it vanished in flames, pieces of the ship flew everywhere and a few shards melted into slag. Samus gasped in horror, believing that she may have accidently hit a fuel tank and destroyed Alex's ship.

"The wolves must've done somethin'." Alex remarked, "Damn those beasts to hell." He yelled a battle cry and fired off volleys of shots at the wolves like crazy, gunning down more and more Xako Wolves left and right as many more of the creatures came into view.

"If you want a ride off this planet, I could give you a lift with my ship." Samus offered as she threw a Chozo Bomb at a wolf, "Its big enough to carry more than one person and I actually kinda did carry a passenger or two on my ship before."

"Sounds romantic." Hearing those last two words surprised the female bounty hunter and nearly distracted her from the fight, did Alex have a crush on her? He did call her "baby" earlier, so, maybe Samus may have just met a potential love interest?

Deciding to think about the matter at a later time, she focused on fighting off the Xako Wolves coming at her and Alex, shooting down and blowing up every last one of them until the creatures went into retreat or were obliterated where they stood.

As the last three Xako Wolves ran off, whimpering and retreating to places unknown, while the rest of the wolves lay on the ground as smoldering and lifeless remnants, Alex turned to Samus and raised his hand. "Damn good marksman skills, Aran." He said.

Nearly flattered more than ever, especially since Alex was a nice guy, Samus high-fived the Federation soldier. "You're not too bad yourself, Weston." She replied, "How long have you been serving in the Galactic Federation Marines?"

"Lets just say I joined up a few years after you left the corps, hearing stories about you here and there also helped motivate me since you're a bit of an inspiration. I've been thinkin' about ya for ages, Samus. Its like... its like..."

"I'm your dream girl?" The bounty hunter chuckled, "You can't hide it, Alex. You have a crush on me, don't you?"

"Uh, maybe."

"You called me 'baby' as though you were flirting with me and you said that me offering to give you a lift in my ship sounded 'romantic', plus, we just met and I don't fully know you. Add the fact that you're from the Federation and I'm not sure if I find you charming."

"High Command didn't send me to hunt you down, I voluntarily went after you myself. When I picked up the signal that was coming from this planet, I figured it was likely that you'd be there and, boom, here we are and we just fought off a bunch of wolves."

"Knowing that Galactic Federation Command didn't task you with capturing me is a relief and you're proving to be a trustworthy partner so far." Samus looked around the area, observing the ruins, "Think the Xako Wolves have something to do with this?"

"I don't think so." Alex said warily, lifting his helmet, "The wolves don't look like they're capable of decimating an entire village, something else is at work here."

"You think its Space Pirates? You said that you did encounter Ridley at some point. Maybe he invaded the planet, wiped out the colonists and set up a base nearby?"

"More unlikely than the wolves. I ran a planetary scan before I came down, picked up a very squishy signal. Upon further scanning, I think we're dealing with something... worse."

Samus frowned and the air became cold. "Metroids..." She muttered, prepping her cannon.

"Might be," Alex remarked, "Those things know how to pop up all over the galaxy."

"Let's go investigate the matter, if Metroids are here, we got work to do..."