Kaskara station floated silently above planet ZTSH-9267467, a planet so remote it didn't have a name. Sensor arrays glared out into the void as automated defense systems scanned for signs of spacecraft. While the station had once been a formidable military bastion, the collapse of the government that once controlled it left it to be salvaged by an amalgam of criminal groups. Now it was the heart of all illegal enterprises in the system. Assassins and mercenaries mixed with crime lords and gangs while common criminals swarmed through every part of the craft, creating an intricate hierarchy of crime. Only the insane, desperate, or very stupid would set foot on the station while working with a government.

Samus Aran was none of those things, but that didn't stop her. "So guess what this idiot does?" she asked of the Phrygisian walking long side her. Rundas paused in mock contemplation. "Hmmmm. I'd say he draws a gun on you, but no one would be that stupid." "Incorrect!" Samus responded grinning widely, "He does exactly that."

Rundas spread his arms. "Then I rest my case. No one is that stupid."

"I just said he did."

"Ah, but dead people aren't included in anyone."

Samus laughed and punched him in the shoulder. "I couldn't kill him, I was hired to protect him"

Rundas nodded slowly. "In that case, I assume he's now learning to drink all his food."

Samus rolled her eyes. "Not all of us resort to violence. Some of us have patience and negotiation in our skill sets."

"True, but we're not talking about Ghor."

Samus was going to respond when a hand clamped onto her shoulder. "Hold on a minute." She told Rundas. She turned around to find a tall reptilian being with a single eye behind her. All of those features were less important than the pistol he was pointing at her. "Creds. Give them to me."

Rundas stepped up behind Samus. "I don't think the pretty lady wants to talk to you." He leaned down and whispered to Samus. "Are you pretty? I can't really tell." She shrugged. "I think so. Growing up with a different species screws with your ideals."

"Shut up!" yelled the mugger. The passerby didn't bother to turn and look. This sort of thing was every day business. "I don't want no mouth from you or your muscle here."

Rundas laughed. "I'm the muscle? No, I'm the poor defenseless passerby. She's the muscle."

"I don't care!" he yelled back, "Just give me your credits and I won't give you a hole in your gut!"

The two bounty hunters were quiet for a moment. "Ten credits says you can take him without your suit." Rundas said casually.

Samus looked over her shoulder at him. She was currently in her blue flight suit. While she had modified it, it was still far less useful than her armor, which was currently stored in energy form. "Only ten?"

"I know better than to bet against you. Twenty if you leave him alive."

"What about the pistol?"

"An extra five if you don't use yours."

"That's it!" yelled the mugger. He aimed the pistol at Samus and pulled the trigger. The bolt flew through empty air as she stepped inside his reach. She locked his arm under hers and brought her knee up into his elbow. He screamed as the joint bent in ways nature didn't intend. She released the mangled limb and punched him in the eye. He staggered back screaming, only to fall to the deck as she scythed his legs out from under him. Before he could recover, Samus leapt into the air and brought an elbow down on his stomach.

Rundas and Samus walked away from the vomiting mugger like nothing had happened. "I believe you owe me twenty five credits." Samus said with a grin. Rundas shrugged. "I just got paid, I can afford it. Though I'm not sure you need it if you got his pistol."

Samus smiled and held up the would-be mugger's pistol. "So you saw that?"

"No" he said, "But I know you. Did you take his credits too?"

"He was smart enough to not keep them on him."

"Pity. You could have shown pity on me and given me the credits."

"You wish."

They spent the next several hours strolling the ship, swapping stories, and getting drinks. Eventually Rundas got a message that he was needed for a job and had to leave. Samus finished her purchase of a targeting system upgrade and headed back to her ship soon after.

The hangar had once been meant to hold and launch entire squadrons of fighters at once. Now its wide open space had been hastily cut apart and rebuild to serve as a space port for the wide variety of craft that came to the station. Samus wove through the various passengers and pilots as she made her way to the platform she left her ship on. Normally ships left unguarded were stolen or stripped for parts but the security measures built into hers ensured it would remain intact.

She turned the corner to the platform and stopped short. Her ship was there, perfectly intact. It was the figure next to it that caught her attention. Two meters tall, its bright green musculature uncovered between segments of dark armor and four glowing eyes peering out of its face. There were a dozen other being she had passed on the way to her ship that looked stranger, but this one was distinctive because she knew it. Kanden.

Samus activated her armor, its heavy plates flashing into existence and clamping shut around her. Kanden saw the flash out of the corner of his eyes and turned from where he had been inspecting her ship, only to be met by a missile to the face. He staggered back from the surprise attack, allowing Samus to establish a missile lock while he was confused.

Kanden shook off the first blast just in time to see five more missiles streaking towards him. They slammed into him, forcing him back as he tried to orient himself. His blurry vision focused on Samus as she rushed towards him, arm cannon pointed directly at him. He growled as injection implants forced combat drugs into his system. Surprise was confusing to him, but combat he understood.

The Volt Driver slid into place around his forearm, already charging and aiming. Samus activated her jump jets, leaping over the ball of lightning and letting off several shots at Kanden. He shrugged the beams off and retaliated with a barrage of normal shots.

Samus grunted as the shots impacted her, keeping an eye on her shields. She landed on the platform several meters in front of Kanden, rolling to the side behind a crate as she did so. Several shots slammed into the crate and flew around it as Kanden tried to flush her out.

Patient. Any moment now…

She heard Kanden roar in anger, followed by his heavy footsteps rushing towards her. She grinned under her helmet. It was almost too easy. She readied a super missile as she prepared to meet his charge around the crate. She paused as she heard his footsteps stop.

What-

She noticed a shadow appear near her own and dove to the side. A charged ball of lightning hit her as she did, reducing her visor display to static. Kanden slammed into the deck where she had been, leaving a sizable dent.

Sneaky bastard's smarter than I gave him credit for.

Samus changed into morph ball mode, narrowly missing the charged shot that flew above her. She darted off through the crates while Kanden fired sporadically. Once she put some distance between them she reverted to normal, snapping her arm cannon up and locking on to Kanden.

Another barrage of missiles jolted his aim and sent him staggering. He howled in anger and shook off the pain. Before Samus could follow up an electric pulse emanated from him, causing lightning to crackle across his body.

A note popped up in Samus's HUD. Error. Target displays electromagnetic shielding. Missile lock impossible. "Disable autotargeting." She snapped as Kanden fired back at her. Autotargeting disabled. Manual aiming engaged.

She aimed at Kanden, who still hadn't taken cover, and fired a super missile. It slammed into him and threw him back into a wall. He dragged himself to his feet, ignoring the beam shots that were slamming into him. He retaliated with a trio of stinger-like missiles. Samus locked onto a nearby crate with her grapple beam and swung it to intercept them, blasting them out of the air.

While she did that Kanden looked around him for anything to give him an advantage. His gaze fell on a power cable running along the wall near him. If he had the necessary mouthparts, he would have smiled.

He punched his hand through an access panel and into the cables. Electricity jumped across his body and towards anything within range. He staggered as a missile hit him in the side, turning his gaze back to Samus. The electricity twisted across him, now being drawn towards the Volt Driver.

Oh shi-

A cluster of lightning bolts leapt from the barrel and hit Samus. Her visor degraded into static as her shields fell rapidly. She collapsed into morph ball and rolled behind a crate. Kanden let out a noise that could have been a laugh and fired on the crate, melting the front half into slag. Behind it, Samus reverted to her normal form as her visor returned to normal.

I can't take him out while he's charged up like that, but he won't leave his new snack to come get me.

Another bolt hit the crate, melting more of it and sending a small shock across the surface.

Not like that seems to be an issue for him. Although…

Samus activated her scan visor and looked over the surrounding area.There. She grinned under her helmet as she switched to the plasma beam and shot another segment of the cable, melting it in half. Kanden grunted in confusion as his power source cut off.

Samus emerged from behind the crate, strafing him with beam shots and missiles. He roared in anger and charged towards him, firing blindly as he came. Samus backed up slowly, ignoring the inaccurate shots that flew around her. Likewise, Kanden ignored the numerous shots that hit him, howling a wordless battlecry.

He may not be a great shot, but if he gets up close he has all the advantages.

Samus looked around her as she backed into a ship. "Engage gravity module!" she commanded her suit as Kanden closed the last few meters. Gravity module engaged. She leapt upward as Kanden lunged to seize her.

As he passed under her she flipped so her boots impacted the underside of the ship, the gravity module locking her in place. She launched a pair of missiles at Kanden's back and detached, intending to put some distance between them.

It was a mistake. Kanden leapt at her and they collided in midair. The impact threw Samus off course and sent them both over the edge of the landing platform.

A note appeared at the bottom of her HUD. 30 seconds to impact. She tried to bring her arm cannon to bear, only for Kanden to force it aside. He didn't seem to care that they were falling, intent only on the fight. His other fist slammed into Samus's helmet, snapping her head back.

She tried again to aim at him, but without anything to brace against she couldn't break out of his grip.20 seconds to impact. She slammed her fist into his side but he ignored it. He punched her head again and again, then brought both hands down on her head in an attempt to crush her skull.

The blow fractured the visor but failed to cave in the helmet. Before she could tumble out of reach he seized her head in both hands, squeezing to crush it as electricity poured from his hands into her suit. 10 seconds to impact. Her shields were falling alarmingly fast, but her cannon was now free.

She pressed it into his side and fired of a trio of point blank plasma beam shots. He howled as the energy melted through his armor and into his flesh, his grip on her head loosening. 5 seconds to impact. She brought her arms up between his and forced them apart, breaking his hold. Her left hand shot out to clamp onto his chest plate as the thrusters on her back fired. She brought up her legs to brace against Kanden's chest while he tried to aim at her head, ignorant of the impending impact.

They slammed into the lower decks of the hangar, causing a large crater. Samus leapt backwards off her unwilling crash-cushion and fired an ice beam shot at his head. As she landed, the wounded and blinded Kanden stirred, trying to drag himself up right. Before he could right himself, Samus locked onto him with her grapple beam and spun.

Kanden was dragged out of the crater and thrown through the air, slamming into and collapsing the cockpit of a ship. As he fell to the deck, a super missile intercepted him and sent him tumbling across the ground. Even with such grievous injuries he began to right himself, the plates of his chest creaking as they bent back into proper shape.

Samus stalked towards him, arm cannon raised. Kanden looked up at her and went to stand, only for his leg to collapse under him. A missile shot stopped him from aiming at her, forcing him back to the ground. Samus appraised him for a minute as he already began to stir and shifted her aim.

A series of missiles and plasma beam shots struck a support column, melting and obliterating its connections. When it was sufficiently weakened she locked onto it with the grapple beam and pulled it towards Kanden. He had just enough time to look up and see it before it slammed into him.

Samus strode over to the rubble, waving the dust aside. Kanden's head and arm were uncovered, but the rest was trapped beneath the debris. He looked up at her and tried to raise his arm. Samus's boot slammed down on it, pinning it to the ground. She shoved her arm cannon into his face and charged a plasma shot.

"So who hired you?" she asked. "Space Pirates? Some gang? Or did you just decide to come kill me yourself?" Kanden growled and looked up at her, squinting past the glare of her cannon. "Not… here to… kill you." he spat in mangled Common. "I need… your help."

Samus blinked in surprise. Well… shit.

AN: First off, if you're reading this story because you followed me as an author while waiting for my other story, sorry about that. That one ahs some issues I'll explain in the next chapter that make writing it a bit difficult.

If not, hooray for new readers! Two things to address about this story. One: The scene in the beginning with Rundas was not intended to be a date. If you wish to interpret it as such, go ahead. Two: The reason Kanden has all that stuff he didn't in the game is because I figured Samus isn't the only one who adds to her arsenal. The extent of his upgrades will be explored later.