Rewritten and updated 1/3/2014
As the summary said, this is a novelization of Metroid Prime. This story closely follows the plot established in the game as well as the gameplay, with one or two additional things added.
I'm attempting to give Samus a harder personality than she had in Other M. I liked Other M and thought she had an appropriate personality and responses to the story considering her background, but felt her shellshock was far too overdone and exposed. So in this story I'm giving her a harder, more cynical personality. I'm giving her an attitude similar to the thought processes of the combat veterans I've met and gotten to know. It's a new writing experience for me, so any who have comments or suggestions to offer please do not hold back.
Thank you, and enjoy.
Five….ten more minutes…
This particular adventure started when my ship computer SAAR woke me with flashes of light from the onboard monitor screens. The lights were bright enough to be seen even through human eyelids. I shielded my eyes and allowed the automatic pilot's chair to raise my body into a sitting position. As I brought my arms over my head with a sleepy stretch, I gave the camera/radio ball just above my head a glare. "What is it, SAAR…"
SAAR was the artificial intelligence programmed into my gunship by the engineers and data pushers employed by the Federated Shipyards on Aliehs III. SAAR was the name they gave it, and the only name it will respond to. SAAR stands for nothing at all; someone thought it would be cute to pull letters from my first and surname and make a meaningless word out of them. But SAAR had his uses. He ran the mobile energy recharge system and microfactories that produced the shields and ammunition for my Power Suit, and maintained a state-of-the-art data library of any information I might find mission-relevant.
But, at the end of the day, he was a computer. And thus, SAAR could get very irritating very quickly.
"Are you well rested, Samus Aran?"
"SAAR, when did I say to wake me?"
"One moment, please."
The camera lens went from a soft red glow to black. I waited as SAAR ran a data check. Picked at a nick in the Zero Suit. Bit a hangnail off my pinky. Finally the camera lit back up.
"You instructed SAAR to wake Samus Aran in ten standard hours, barring enemy contact or other emergency."
"And how long as it been since then, SAAR?"
"Six point two standard hours, Samus Aran."
"SAAR, run a self-diagnostic on your chrono."
"One moment, please."
I tried to relax by staring through the viewport into the darkness of deep space and blew a strand of blond hair out of my face. I had just completed a rather harrowing rescue mission on Polta VII, and six hours of rest had only allowed soreness to work its way into my muscles. I was not paid anywhere near enough for that job. And it had taken me away from my primary goal of the past three years: tracking down the Space Pirate ships that had escaped the destruction on Zebes.
Zebes. Even now the name still got a rise out of me. Another home sacked and defiled by Space Pirates. A few years back, Space Pirates had attacked a Federation research vessel and stolen some exotic life forms known to the galaxy as metroids. The Space Pirates retreated to a base on the planet Zebes. The Federation tracked them there and hired me to infiltrate the base and retrieve or destroy the metroids.
Zebes was the planet I was raised on, adopted by an alien race known as the Chozo after a Space Pirate raid killed my mother and father. But when I returned there, the Chozo were gone, fled or killed. Enraged, I single-handedly defeated the Space Pirate enforcer Kraid before facing down and finally killing Ridley. I also destroyed Mother Brain, the corrupted Chozo supercomputer that controlled everything on Zebes. I thought then that I had wiped out the race that made me an orphan twice over. But logs taken after the battle revealed that three Pirate frigates had escaped. Since then, I've been trying to track them down, with little to no luck. Space Pirates were not fools, and judging from survivor accounts, I, the "Hunter", had left enough of an impression to send more than a few running scared.
"Diagnostic completed. No faults found."
I stared into the camera. "So why did you wake me four hours early?"
"False statement. SAAR woke you only three point eight hours early, Samus Aran. SAAR found conditions fitting into the given category 'emergency'. SAAR followed your orders to wake you."
"And what is this emergency?"
"SAAR intercepted a message sent through an open channel. An unidentified distress beacon has been tracked to a derelict space vessel in orbit above Tallon IV."
"Show me." I punched in a coded command and watched as the viewport turned into a viewscreen. Text ran across it as SAAR gave me the finer details of the call. Apparently someone's ship had come under attack recently.
"SAAR, tell me about Tallon IV."
"One moment, please."
Within a week under my ownership SAAR had established that phrase as the most irritating saying anyone could voice to me. I closed my eyes and waited. At the very least, it taught me the virtues of patience. Waiting on SAAR allowed me to contemplate on where I had heard that planet name before.
"Tallon IV, 5.1 billion teratons. Ecosystem studies reveal that Tallon IV was a biological paradise prior to the impact of an extraterrestrial object. What remains of the biosphere is slowly fading due to exposur to radiation. At current rate of decay, Tallon IV will be a barren Class XIII wasteland in twenty-five more local years."
"Jeez." That made me sad. No planet should have to suffer that. "Any sentient life?"
"SAAR, has Tallon IV showed up on any of my prior mission logs?"
"SAAR reminds Samus Aran of the mission at hand. Job profile: search and rescue."
"Then set a course for the planet and give me my answer afterward."
The stars went from dots to white lines as the gunship accelerated to traveling speed. "Tallon IV has one single entry in your log, Samus Aran. A solar system scan pertaining to the planet Zebes."
That was unexpected. "Clarify."
"Tallon IV shares the same solar system with Zebes, Samus Aran."
I thought for a moment. A passing ship had made contact with unfriendly forces in former Space Pirate space. I already established there was a probability Space Pirates were still operating in the area. Maybe….
I shook my head. No, it was just a coincidence. Had to be. SAAR just said Tallon IV was on its way to becoming a radioactive dustball. There was no way anything there would be of interest to the Space Pirates. I mentally slapped myself. Personal genocidal vendettas did not take precedence to calls for help. I eased back and sent a mental command to the Zero Suit, allowing it to melt into my much-more durable Varia Suit. "Full speed, SAAR."