Metroid Prime: Hunters 2 - Chapter 1

Samus Aran gunned her ship into the atmosphere of an unknown planet. She had received only one month of downtime after the events of the Alimbic Cluster and was already being sent on another mission. The Galactic Federation had received a tip from an unknown source that the Space Pirates, sworn enemies of the Federation, were harvesting radioactive crystals from a distant planet to use for some big project. The sender claimed that it was for some kind of super weapon and requested immediate action in stopping the pirates. So the GF sent their best, bounty-hunter Samus Aran, to investigate, and if need be, blow those pirates and their project to kingdom come. The Federation promised to send back-up if the necessity came for it, but they knew it was unlikely to be needed.

She landed her ship on a plateau on the dry, desolate planet and began her descent towards the obvious space pirate base camp. She entered, but found it seemingly deserted. "Why do I have a bad feeling about this?" she asked herself. She continued through the camp until she reached the center where she found a strange, red-glowing crystal. She was about to pick it up when she noticed a flicker on her motion tracker. She turned around then suddenly, something hammered into the back of her head and she was knocked unconscious. A red insectoid bipedal creature appeared standing behind where she had fallen. "Take her!" it ordered. A group of cloaked space pirates and Krikens appeared and dragged Samus Aran to the conveniently nearby brig. "There. We have her now," said the creature, who happened to be known as Trace. A figure clad in brownish-green armor emerged from one of the nearby barracks. "Yes, we do. For now," answered Weavel. "We must be prepared in case they send a rescue squad. Take some snipers and go up on the ridge." "What about Sylux? And Kanden? They are here somewhere on this forsaken rock as well," said Trace. "Sylux could be easily persuaded to join us. Kanden is the one that might be a problem," responded Weavel. "His intentions as well as his origin are somewhat unknown, so keep an eye out for him. Don't shoot at him unless he shoots first." "Of course," said Trace as he turned to pick out his squad.

Hours later...

Samus awoke to find herself bound by energy fields that resembled her grapple beam, which were projected from emitters on the sides of the cell she was in. She looked around and realized she couldn't move, except for her head and neck. "They must have some device deactivating my armor," she thought as she let out a heavy sigh. How was it that it seemed that she was so easily captured? Even with cloaks, it couldn't have been that easy. Could it have? And she knew her motion tracker was working, because it was what warned her of a nearby enemy. She ran a system check anyway, which proved that her armor systems were functioning properly. Then she remembered the crystal. It was obviously the bait for the ambush. She scolded herself for not doing a thermal scan to check for hidden enemies. She decided to try to activate her distress beacon, and hoped that help would come soon.

Onboard the GFS Minotaur, cloaked in high orbit...

The crew was busy, prepared for anything, waiting for word from Samus...

"Admiral! I'm picking up a distress signal from the planet," announced one of the fleet officers. The Admiral looked at him questioningly. "From who? Marines? Civilians?" he asked. "No, sir... Worse," responded the crewman fearfully. "It is from Samus..." The rest of the crew froze in place and stared at each other. Famous bounty-hunter, Samus Aran, had never needed help. The Admiral's gaze drifted to the deck. "This is unexpected and unfortunate news," he said grimly. He looked up and faced the officer that had reported the signal. "Alert the squads to prepare for an immediate rescue operation. And crewman...," he turned towards the central viewport and gazed at the empty space around them. "Tell the 'others' to get ready as well. If Samus really has been captured, they must have been well prepared. We must expect the worst from them. We will need all the help we can get." Minutes later, five dropships fully loaded with troops began to enter the planet's atmosphere.