Author's note:

This story is my personal thoughts on the background story to the Metroid games. Samus Aran, Ridley, Chozo and other names I probably missed are all property of Nintendo Co.  I will be deviating considerably from what the Nintendo power comics had detailed and may be common knowledge.  Just saying Chozo rescued Samus and gave her the powersuit so she could become the guardian of the galaxy just doesn't make enough sense to me.  How can the Chozo (as powerful as they seem) just thrust that responsibility upon the poor girl?  And wouldn't it make sense for her to work with the Federation if they do stand for order and peace in the galaxy?  Anyway this is my first attempt at a fanfic believe it or not, and I probably bit off more than I can chew, but I'm determined to make something of it.  Note this was started before Metroid Prime and so please excuse any continuity messups. All comments and criticism are accepted of course.

Hunter's Dawn

            Dawn approached the sleepy Earth colony, slowly waking its inhabitants from a peaceful night's rest.  The small colony was established a few years ago on the planet Polaris IV, in a system on the outlying edges of the Galactic Federation.  Rolling plains and grasslands cover most of the surface, which is also dotted with small lakes and rivers.  A rather boring place, the planet boasts no significant resources, is far from the major galactic trading routes, and has no strategic importance in its location.  The hundred colonists, merely living out their lives and of their children's in a quiet lifestyle, farming the land for food and mining the hills for metals.  Such a place should garner no interests of anyone's.  In fact it didn't even rate high enough to have a proper name, only a simple alphanumeric designation of K-2L.  But that is not so.  Moreover, there are multiple parties who have taken interest in this uninteresting settlement.

"They are most fascinating, are they not?"  A tree overlooking the colony said, or rather that's what it would appear if someone were close enough to hear. 

"Oh truly mesmerizing," it answered itself in a lighter sarcastic voice, "how did we ever get assigned to this backwater hole in the first place?" 

A chuckle, "You complain about that, yet you are every bit engrossed in these people like an energy leech to an electro plasmic conduit."

"Only to keep you entertained my love."

The tree was actually an observation post of a Chozo couple, they had arrived with the original colonists and have been watching them ever since.  Sitting among the branches and using some nifty instruments, they would be able to watch and listen as the colonists go about their lives.  Sometimes they would don camouflage suits to get even closer and better observe the social behaviours of the people.

"Well keep an eye on the Olana family, their harvester got a fuel line knocked loose as Junos was bringing it back in last night.  I wonder who will get the blame."  Koolan speculated as he focused the macrobinoculars on that piece of machinery.  His mate, Zerana, answered, "Oh yes, his brother skipped the maintenance rounds the other day to meet that female friend of his in the town square." 

"The Daleen girl, do her parents know?"

"Not yet."

"Looks like there will be some major explanations to be had before this day is done."

"I'm sure they will be understanding," Zerana said with a grimace, the Daleens were known to be over protective of their offspring.

"She'll be grounded for a week."

"Two."

"You're on." Koolan said.  He flicked his gear over to infrared scan and observed one particular house.  "Ah, our little friend is awakening."

As the two were watching the colony stir into consciousness, a small light began blinking on a console inside the Chozos' home cave.

***

"Honey!  Better get up now, breakfast is almost ready."  Called a woman's voice.  "Yes mom," the nine-year-old girl mumbled back.  She cracked opened her eyes and saw her mother dial down the opacity of the phototropic window, flooding the small bedroom with rays of sunlight.  "Looks like another beautiful day, we'll be waiting for you downstairs." Said Kathy Aran, as she walked out the door. 

Samus groaned as she dragged herself out of bed, stretching off the usual aches and soreness that accompanies being in a too comfortable position for an extended period of time.  She looked out the window at the surrounding town; a cargo skiff was floating down the road towards the spaceport, probably delivering tritium fuel.  Her neighbour was already out tending his hydroponics garden, which Samus had accidentally damaged last week.  Her speeder bike's repulsor had field failed and the crash had thrown her into the garden, but Samus was lucky to escape with a few scrapes and a mild scolding.  She heard the local avians chirping and saw a six-legged scavenger dart away into the nearby forest.  It indeed looked to be shaping up to a beautiful day, so why did Samus feel a slight shiver down her back?  Probably nothing, she thought while getting dressed before heading downstairs.

"Good morning sweetie," said Morgan Aran as she appeared in the kitchen, "Sleep well?" 

"Yes."

"I finished fixing your bike last night so you can ride it to school again, but no more smooshing into people's gardens alright?"

"Ooh! Thank you daddy!" Samus squealed, and hugged his neck.

"Okay," he gargled and gently pried the little arms from his collar "my you're getting strong"

Samus giggled and started attacking her breakfast like a clawcat.  Morgan poured himself some caf as Kathy placed a stack of grainbread on the table and thought this was the perfect living. The family had used to live on Earth in one of the most urbanized cities on that planet.  He had been an officer in the Federation Marine Corps, but later been transferred to Intelligence where his analytical abilities had been more valuable.  His wife, Kathy, was a biogenics researcher at the Federation's foremost research facility.  It had been a decent life; until the agency downsized him and research funding was cut for Kathy.  With the birth of their daughter, both parents yearned to be free from the oppressive environment of Earth and the Federation. 

So they had gathered their belongings and left for the outlying colony they lived in now.  Morgan worked at the colony's comm centre, receiving and transmitting information and messages, at the same time maintaining the outdated equipment so that he could perform his primary job.  Kathy took a position at the med centre, although a far cry from the facility on Earth, she is still able to help heal the sick, and that's all it's all about wasn't it?

The proud father looked at his daughter; her tousled blonde hair drooped down to her shoulders, those bright green eyes full of excitement and intelligence.  Samus loved it here. She loved playing in the open spaces, she loved racing with friends around on her speeder bike, heck, she even loved school

Samus had finished her first slice of grainbread and was reaching for a second when the morning air was pierced by a sudden supersonic screech that caused the entire house to shudder.

"What was that?" asked Kathy as she steadied the table.

"Probably just teenagers with a new afterburner for their airspeeder, they don't have anything better to do than be annoying and rattle a few windows, nothing to worry about." assured Morgan

The next sound they heard was something to worry about.

It was the detonation of a proton bomb, and it did considerably more than rattle a few windows.  The shockwave completely shattered them, sending shards of transparisteel into the Aran's kitchen. 

"I didn't know teenagers could be this annoying!" shouted Kathy

"Me neither!"  Morgan said and picked his way to the hole where a window should be.

Looking out, he saw columns of black smoke in the direction of the spaceport and town centre. A sudden orange bloom punctuated another massive explosion that seemed to engulf the entire port.  There go the fuel bunkers he thought, and then spotted a quartet of blue ships flying through the flame. Morgan yelled "Get Samus down to the subfloor now!  They're coming back this way!" Kathy had a look of panic on her face, but Samus just seemed to be irritated by the loud noise and not frightened at all. 

 "What?  Who is it? Who's attacking us?"

***

"Pirates!" gasped Koolan.

"What? Are you sure?" asked Zerana in disbelief.

Koolan readjusted his macrobinoculars and tracked the flying craft.  Indeed it was a space pirate's ship, the blue crustacean broad swept hull with laser cannons at the tips of stubby wings was unmistakable. 

"Positive," He answered, "We need to get back to the cave, they won't find us there."

"What about the colony, we can't just leave them!" Zerana said.

 "There's nothing we can do now, the ship's power cells have been dry for years," Koolan hesitated, "and you know the rules."

The pair scrambled down the tree and fled towards a hole in the ground as explosions lit up the countryside.

***

Morgan made his way to the back of the house where a display case held his commendation and other decorations.  He was frightened, what are space pirates doing attacking a colony like this?  But his old marine training kicked in and kept his mind cool.  All right, Samus should be safe, time to break out the stash.  He tapped a quick rhythm on the side of it, and a large hidden drawer slid open.  All the weapons he had ever used while in service were here.  He kept them unloaded of course but the ammunition was just in a drawer underneath.  Being on a frontier world, Morgan wanted to be prepared for anything, though this was not how he wanted to be tested.  Lifting a heavy anti-armour particle cannon, he slapped in a power pack and checked the charge.  Four rounds, better make them count and ran out the door. 

Kathy had taken Samus down to the storage area of their home and situated her on the floor among plasteel containers of items the family had no use for, but did not want to get rid of.  She kissed her on the forehead said, "You stay down here, do not come up no matter what.  I will be right back." And dashed back up the stairs.

Now fearful and confused, Samus had just nodded and wrapped her arms around herself and whispered, "Come back mommy."

The four pirate fighters shrieked over the settlement, firing green pulses of coherent light as they flew.  Wherever the laser blasts hit, they melted duracrete, slagged buildings, and turned vehicles into instant funeral pyres for the occupants inside.  Morgan cringed as they strafed the nearby comm centre and reduced his workplace to a pile of scrap metal, the transmitter antennae bursting into a million fragments.  Now the colony couldn't even call for help.  He hefted the cannon onto his shoulder and braced his legs to resist its recoil.  Morgan looked through the targeting eyepiece and centred the crosshair on one of the fighters.  His heart pounded in his ears as he heard the constant tone of a target lock and pulled the trigger.  With a roar, a blue bolt leapt from the muzzle of the cannon and crossed the two hundred meters in a fraction of a second.  The projectile smashed into the underwing of a fighter, ripped a gash through the superstructure and obliterated the cockpit.  That fighter spiralled off in an un-aerodynamic decent and slamming into the ground, detonating its unused fuel and weaponry like an oversized firework.

***

Nazak had clawed back on the yoke when he saw the flash of light, breaking hard to starboard and called a warning to the rest of the flight of crab fighters. Unfortunately at least one had either grown complacent after successfully strafing the colony's spaceport or was a fool.  A combination of both, he thought, but took satisfaction in that the pilot would make no more mistakes.

"Rapier one, report." the comm crackled.

"Transports and communications have been disabled, nothing will be getting off world.  We took one loss from ground fire, no energy signature was detected so it must have been personnel based." Said Nazak.  He continued his loop until he was back on the original flight path, searching the ground for the source of fire, then spotted a glint of metal in front of one of the homesteads.

"Acknowledged, Rapier flight return to the Gilded Claw."

"What? We can finish the job."

"Return immediately!"

"Understood." Nazak growled, he turned his fighter towards the smoky sky and headed back towards space.  

***

Morgan watched the remaining fighters loop around the colony and then punch back to space.  His moment of relief died an instant later when he saw another ship begin to descend into the atmosphere.  It was a large, blocky transport lumbering towards the ground, eager to discharge its cargo of pirate raiders.  He raised his weapon once again and fired.  The projectile impacted a meter away from the transport's hull, the ship's energy shield crackled, dissipating the shot.  Morgan fired again, and once more, but the shielding was too strong.  Both attacks flashed against the invisible bubble and no damage was done.

The transport landed and ramps immediately unfolded to disgorge the contingent of pirates inside.  What was a town of peace was now a slaughterhouse of death.  Groups of pirates ran from the ship and fired upon the shocked civilians.  With blaster rifles held in their claws, the pirates were a horrific image.  Their pointed narrow faces held no emotion and their slender sulphurous yellow eyes were cold and pitiless.  No compassion was offered, no surrenders accepted.  The stench of burning flesh filled the still air as colonists, young and old, were cut down, their bodies blasted apart by energy bolts.

"Morgan catch!" Kathy shouted.  Morgan dropped the now spent cannon, and turned to see his wife toss a pulse rifle towards him.  Catching it, he saw that it was already loaded and flicked the safety off.  Together they ducked behind the low duracrete wall in front of the house. 

"I thought you hated guns." Said Morgan, noticing a carbine in her grip.

"I do, but I hate being helpless even more," Kathy replied looking over the wall, the pirates were advancing towards them.  She aimed carefully and snapped off a shot at a hundred meters that a pirate took full in the face.  Green ichor exploded from the head of the unfortunate pirate and its body dropped lifelessly to the ground.  "Especially when our daughter's life is in danger."

"Now I remember why I don't get you angry.  Is she safe?" Morgan asked as he too opened up on the pirates.  Those with some sense dove to the ground and sought cover, the others charged towards him.  The staccato bursts of fire from Morgan echoed in the air as he stitched a pattern of deadly energy, dropping four more enemies.

"As safe as possible, I sealed the entrance pretty well but there's no telling if they may find it." Kathy fell back down as blaster bolts flashed over her head.

Morgan nodded grimly, "We can't hold out much longer, but the more we kill now, the less who will be searching later." and both rose slightly to shoot at a group of pirates off to the right.  Then his rifle locked open on an empty magazine, Kathy's weapon similarly exhausted a second later. 

Kathy pulled a pair of pistols from her waistband and handed one to her husband.  "Last stand?"

"You bet." And gave her a quick kiss.

Together they leapt up over the wall and rushed at the green figures in a low run.  The pirates were clearly surprised by the move, and all their shots went wild.  The Aran's were much more accurate.  Kathy's two rounds burned into the torso of one pirate while Morgan dispatched another with a double tap to the head.  But that first volley was all they would get.

The crisscrossing lines of fire were bound to find a target, and Kathy took a blow to the side.  The impact spun her around, presenting a large profile that invited a torrent of fire, and blaster bolts riddled her body as she crashed to the ground.  At the same time Morgan felt an impact on his right shoulder that twisted his aim, the painful blow causing his last shot to narrowly miss the reptilian head of another pirate.  He felt another bolt enter his abdomen and a burning inferno of pain shot through his entire body.  Morgan tumbled to the ground, and the pistol dropped from his hand.  As his vision ebbed, he saw a pirate point his rifle at him, but his last conscious thought was for the safety of his daughter.

***

On the bridge of the Gilded Claw, the captain listened to his underlings' reports.  Minor casualties were taken but the entire colony had been ransacked.

"Ssensorss report no unaccounted lifeformss in the colony and ssurrounding area." One of them hissed.

"Very well," The captain punched his console with a purple talon and transmitted a message into deep space, then turned to his helmsman, "I don't know why we're here but as soon as the transport is back, we leave at once."

"Yess captain Ridley."

***

            Broken pieces of debris crunched underfoot as Koolan and Zerana walked through the colony.  Zerana held a scanner showing one lifeform, but faint. 

            "Over here." She said, pointing to the blasted remains of a house.

            Together they shifted the collapsed walls and uncovered a trapdoor.  Koolan pulled a cutting tool from his belt and cut away at the edges.  Removing the hatch, he went in, and came back out holding the body of a girl.

            "She's not injured, just sleeping." Koolan said in amazement.

            "Indeed, what do we do now?"

            "I do not know.  That message we detected from the pirate frigate had a Federation encrypt on it.  There probably won't be any hope of rescue for her."

            Zerana stared at the sleeping child, so many hopes and dreams, dashed to pieces in a matter of minutes.  The Chozo had long ago decided to withdraw from the spotlight, and only observe from without and never to interfere with the dealings of the galaxy again.  But…

"There is something about this child, I can sense it in her aura." She said.

"Agreed, but can we take her in?  The Conclave would never allow it."

"The Conclave doesn't have to know."

            At that moment Samus' eyes fluttered open.  She stared at the alien faces, their dark coloured down and large blunt beaks looked particularly frightening. 

            "Shh, be not afraid little one," Zerana said soothingly, "You are among friends."