A deep sigh escaped Samus' lips as the displays of her cockpit faded out, the ship having settled down into a resting position in it's home hangar.

She ran one hand through her tussled hair and closed her eyes for a moment. It had been a long trip and she couldn't wait to get back into her apartment and take a proper shower.

She finally got up out of the pilot seat and headed into the back of the ship to grab her essentials and take them up with her, but she stopped as she passed through the tech area to have another wistful look at the Varia suit, resting safely in it's spot. It would be a while until she would use it again, with her planned break.

Turning to leave, she briefly stopped again. Next to the suit was a metal case, resting on the small tech desk. A few days ago, she had found a broken Federation drone drifting by itself and had taken it aboard in hopes of salvaging it.

Pushing her bag up under her arm, she took the case into one hand and headed out, down the ramp, before heading up towards the apartments.



Another long sigh escaped her, though this time it was one of relief. After changing out of the skintight Zero Suit, taking a long, hot shower and putting on some fresh underwear and a shirt, she finally felt like she had made it home.

Tying her hair up into a ponytail again, she sat on the couch in the main room of her apartment and crossed her legs, ready to relax and not think of work.

If only she hadn't left that salvage case right in the middle of her table.

She sighed and leaned forward to open it. This would be the last thing. Take care of this and she could finally stop working for a while. Browse shops, go to the movies, maybe just sleep in every day.

She opened the case and lifted out the drone. It was nearly spherical, about a foot in diameter, with a single display and a number of small compartments along the surface, painted in Federation colours. She started tapping the hatches firmly until she found one that opened upon the touch, revealing a small remote or control unit.

The display of the remote flickered to life, showing a number pad and a few quick-access touch buttons, though none of them were labelled. Samus pressed one that seemed the most likely to be some sort of Start button and the drone's display started flickering as well.

Quickly scanning the numbers and codes displayed, she could gather that it had been in the middle of some kind of task as it was shut down, likely by force. She inspected the remote for a moment longer and determined that it couldn't be a weapon drone, otherwise the display would have been more secure and would be more clearly labelled.

Grabbed by curiosity, she set the drone down and stood up, taking the remote and pressing the same button again. The drone whirred and beeped, before the display switched to the Federation logo and hovered off of the table, about eye level of Samus.

"Well, that was easy."

"Identi- ident- identify- identify-", the drone buzzed, cutting itself off with quiet whirring every time.

"And that should be easy to fix, too.", Samus said confidently, turning around to get some of her tools. As soon as she turned her back and started moving away, the drone let out a high-pitched beep.

"Iden- identi- do not re- do not res-"

Ignoring the buzzing voice, Samus headed for the door to her store room where she had left the tools, when, with a sudden snapping sound, something seized both of her wrists and yanked at them. She dropped the remote in surprise and pulled back. She was released and stumbled forward, but her wrists remained behind her back. She turned her arms and looked down at her wrists to see slick metal cuffs on both of her wrists, with a thin wire connecting them wrapped around several times.

"Oh, so you're an old restraint drone." She turned to the small hovering machine and stood straight. "Samus Aran, Federation Special Forces, Code 475--"

"Resisting Arrest", the drone whirred, not even analysing the input.

"Wait, no I'm no--" Samus was cut off by another compartment opening and releasing a thin metal appendage, forcing itself in her direction. She tried to duck away from it, but didn't react in time.

A small, lengthy piece of rubber was pushed between her lips, which immediately expanded, pressing against her teeth and forcing her jaws open. Samus shook her head and tried to push it with her tongue, but the sides of the gag released small wires, wrapping around the back of her head, holding itself firmly in place.

As she was still trying to get rid of it, the drone whirred again and a small piece shot at her torso, wrapping wires around her body and arms, just below her chest, the ends snapping into place and pulling tight.

Quickly, she looked around for the remote and spotted it lying on the floor. But before she could duck and grab it, another compartment opened and shot something at her legs, more wire wrapping around her ankles and yanking her off balance as the appendage didn't release properly, pulling her ankles back up towards the drone halfway before dropping them.

She slammed onto her carpeted floor and grunted, trying to reach and feel for the remote.

"Criminal read- ready fo- ready for transport"

She finally felt it at her fingertips and tried to pull it over, her fingers touching the display, making the drone beep again.

"Commen- commenc- commencing heavy restraint"

Oh no.

Samus tossed herself onto her back and turned, seeing the drone hover down, several compartments opening at the same time.

"Phhf ohhff!"

She pulled her legs back and kicked them forward, hitting the display. The drone whirred and buzzed, the display flickering.

"Welco- welcome new use- usssseeeerrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr-"

It collapsed onto the floor, unmoving. Samus groaned and leaned her head back. This was not how she wanted her first day off to go.

After taking a moment to catch her breath, she sat up and shuffled onto her knees, managing to push herself up by the couch and get on her feet. Turning back to the store room door, she shifted her weight and started hopping towards it.

It took almost a full minute for her to reach the door and a little longer fiddling with the opening mechanism, before she could finally access her tools. Even then, finding the right one and managing to snap and disable the wires took far longer still.

When she was finally free of the wires, she stuffed the drone and all of it's parts back into the case and sealed it.

Now she was ready for a home vacation for sure.