It has been a year since Sammus fought and destroyed M’other Brain. The experience left her drained and questioning her desire and ability to continue in her line of work. Since that time she has been healing by taking a step back from the field and serving in an advisory role for a group of promising young bounty hunters.  Floating across galaxies in a self-funded space station, Sammus spends her days training the group of ingénues in all her skills.

One afternoon during a session she is pulled aside by the ship’s captain. For the past several hours the crew has been picking up distress calls and SOS signals that have been sent by Lib Front, a group of self-proclaimed freedom fighters on a nearby planet. Most notably they have been adamant that they are being attacked by a legion of alien soldiers operating under the leadership of a warlord known only as Light Sammus. Carrying a price tag of millions, Light Sammus has been rumored to be the force behind the destruction of countless civilizations across the galaxy, but most importantly for Sammus, her presence has meant the ruin of Sammus’ good name.

Without a moment’s hesitation our young heroine issues a code red, instructing her students to immediately disembark from the space station as it has now become mission control for the journey to capture Light Sammus. Welcome to Prime.

As Sammus begins suiting up she is overcome with emotions. What will happen down there? She had just barely escaped her encounter with M’other Brain alive and she’s heard many stories about Light Sammus over the years, none of which seem promising for a positive outcome. She hesitates for a moment and then boards the pod that will be transporting her out of the space station. After getting the okay from Captain Casey she launches into outer space and toward her fate.

* * *

Sammus disembarks from the pod just minutes after a bumpy landing on an abandoned highway. As she steps out onto the road she surveys her environment. Dark clouds stretch as far as the eye can see, temporarily ignited by flashes of lightning across the gray sky. She can hear the syncopated rumbling of gunfire in the distance. Her eyes rest on the ruins of a large city a few miles off. Through her helmet she zooms in to get a better look around. The skyscrapers are covered in vines, monorail cars are spotted with rust, and the rest of the city’s infrastructure is crumbling. Spray-painted on billboards and buildings are messages and warnings, presumably scrawled by the group of freedom fighters that first alerted Sammus’ crew to their existence — <<Liberate>> <<Class warfare begins now>> <<New Feudalism>> <<The end is near>> — Shaking her head she mutters, “Looks like the end already came and went.” She sighs and begins walking toward the city to get some leads.

Sammus is startled as she hears someone calling her name. She turns around, ready to attack when she see’s two of her students running toward her, both donning armor suits. Out of breath they slow down as they approach her. “What are you doing here? I thought everybody left the space station and headed back to their home planets,” Sammus says. The taller student perks up. “I know, but we realized at the last minute that we wanted to help you. You’ve been training us so hard for the past few months and we had to pay it forward. Rr…pay it back rather.” The other student nods. Sammus smiles and then shakes her head – “I’m sorry team, but you guys don’t have enough experience. If I work with anybody they’ve got to be on my level. Don’t have time to babysit. Have a safe flight home.” As they start to protest Sammus turns and runs off down the abandoned highway towards the city.

Just a mile away from entering the city limits, Sammus is ambushed by a group of soldiers who begin firing at her. Although she has been out of practice for a year, she immediately recalls techniques that she learned from her close friend Chance Fischer, who accompanied her the year prior in her quest to find M’other Brain. She fires off her blaster cannon, eliminating her aggressors in seconds. As the sole remaining soldier shoots at her, she drops into a morph ball, and barrels towards him. Without a moment’s hesitation she leaps up and fires off a final blast, evaporating the soldier instantaneously. In the distance she notices her students struggling to fend off attacks from another group of soldiers. Racing forward she fires off three rounds from her blaster cannon, incinerating the enemies in mere seconds. As her students stand, paralyzed, shaking and stunned she yells, “Both of you get out of here! These are the big leagues!” The two race back towards their pod as Sammus returns her gaze to the city.

Entering the city limits, Sammus walks past a tavern from which she can hear faint music. She walks into the bar as the patrons freeze, and the bartender lets out a scream, hiding behind the bar. “Relax!” Sammus barks, putting her hands on her hips. “I’m not a soldier. I’m a bounty hunter looking for leads to find Light Sammus.” The bartender peeks up from behind the bar as the patrons look to each other for reassurance. Finally one woman seated at the bar says, “We gave up being stressed about her a long time ago. Sorry can’t tell ya nothin’.” Another man chimes in: “Yeah we’d rather just go back to living our lives and hopefully Light Sammus’ll leave us alone.” Sammus shakes her head in disbelief. “So you mean to tell me that Light Sammus comes to your planet, kills thousands of people, raises hell, destroys your cities and you all have no problem sitting here getting drunk all day as if nothing happened?” The room sits in silence and then they all nod in unison, turning back to the bar and continuing their respective conversations. Rolling her eyes, Sammus kicks open the saloon style doors and steps back into the street.

As she walks through the city, she spots a man hiding behind a car. She approaches the vehicle, blaster cannon pointed. Their eyes meet, and she motions with her hand for him to stand up. Shaking, the man steps out from behind the car and puts his hands up. “Please don’t hurt me…I swear I used to be part of Lib Front but I’m not anymore!” She lowers her blaster cannon. “I’m not on Light Sammus’ team,” she says as he lets out a deep sigh of relief and drops his arms. “You looked a lot like the descriptions I’ve heard of Light Sammus so I wasn’t sure.” Sammus shrugs. “I’m on your side. We heard your distress calls. I’m a bounty hunter and I have a personal issue I want to sort out with Light Sammus.” “Well now that I know you’re an ally you should follow me back to my headquarters where we can meet up with the boss and you can receive your orders.” Sammus growls and shakes her head. “I take orders from nobody. Either you help me find Light Sammus under my rules or I find her myself.” The man scratches his head. “But we don’t have any info about Light Sammus’ whereabouts.” Sammus shrugs and walks off, muttering, “Good luck.”

After several hours walking aimlessly around the city Sammus returns to her pod to provide an update to mission control. Before she has a chance to say anything Captain Casey exclaims, “So glad to hear from you! Good news, Sammus.” She waits for a moment before telling him to proceed. “I just received a call from the Intergalactic Defense Council. Because of your excellent work in the field they want to award you a medal of honor.” Sammus smiles. “Well that’s great Captain—“ “That’s not all,” he interjects. “They’re offering you a position as a commanding officer in their standing army. You could get out of the field once and for all and do what you’ve been doing for the past year on a larger scale! I’ll prepare the champagne up here,” he chuckles. Sammus’ smile fades as she considers what she’s just heard. After a long silence, she sighs. “Tell them I must decline their offer.” Before Captain Casey can get in a word, she continues, “In the ten minutes of fighting I’ve had here, I felt a rush like I’ve never felt before! They’ll have to drag me out of the field kicking and screaming. I can never be a paper-pusher. That’s just not me. Anyways, just wanted to let you know I was okay and that I haven’t had much luck with any leads yet.” Without waiting for a response she signs off.

As the morning turns into afternoon, the heat becomes unbearable. Sammus takes off her armor suit, resting it next to the pod as she sits inside and turns on the air conditioning. Within moments she drifts off to sleep.

* * *

She is awakened in the middle of the night by a large explosion just a few feet from the pod. Another bomb goes off seconds later, closer this time. Grabbing a gun that rests next to the control panel, Sammus races out of the pod as a third explosion engulfs the ship and her armor in flames. She continues running down the highway for several miles, clutching her gun and trying to ignore the burning in her thighs and chest. As she slows down, she is overcome with a sense of dread. Now she has no communication with mission control and worse still, the armor that has always protected her is gone. How will she find Light Sammus like this? More importantly how will she survive at all?

Now miles away from the city, Sammus looks around for somewhere to hide until the morning. She quietly slips into the forest that lines the side of the road, walking past a sign that reads, “Beware the fog.” Her lack of armor immediately makes itself apparent as she swats bugs and tries to avoid snagging her spandex on wayward branches. She notices a small foggy clearing up ahead as well as a pond. Suddenly her throat begins burning and she erupts into a hysterical coughing fit. Clutching her gun, she covers her mouth and nose with her arm as she races forward through the noxious gas. She starts to grow dizzy and her breath becomes strained and short. Her world begins to morph in front of her as well. The trunks of trees contort into ghastly looking faces, their branches turning into spindly appendages and the sky becomes tinged with an orange hue. A large hairy beast rushes out from behind a tree towards her, howling and snarling wildly. She fires at the beast with deadly accuracy, sentencing it to the ground after one shot. As she approaches the body, she covers her mouth in horror. Lying in front of her is no longer a beast but one of her students. “Why…?” He asks, his eyes closing. As she looks across the pond she spots another sign that reads: “Beware the fog. Risk of hallucinations.” She stares at her student on the ground for a moment and then runs past the clearing, shaking and fighting tears.

By morning, Sammus has come upon a settlement deep in the forest. The encampment is spotted with tents consisting of tree branches, and animal hides. A group of roughly 10 men and women sit around the last embers of a camp fire in the center of the grounds, talking amongst themselves as children run around, laughing and pretending to spar. As she crouches behind a bush she overhears two individuals discussing the potential whereabouts of Light Sammus’. She waits for nearly an hour until she feels satisfied that they will not hurt her. Clutching her gun she steps out into the clearing as everyone turns towards her. “Hello…Don’t be alarmed! I’m an ally…” she says as she begins to grow dizzy. The world quickly fades to black.

* * *

She awakens lying on a bed of grass in one of the tents, a young woman fanning her with a fan made of reeds. An older woman sits next to Sammus cross legged pressing a cool cloth against Sammus’ head. “Welcome back,” the elder smiles as Sammus sits up slowly. The two exchange stories for over an hour, as young men, women and children poke their heads into the tent out of curiousity. “So you’ve got a lead on where I can find Light Sammus?” She asks as the old woman nods. “A defector who recently joined our camp provided us with a map straight to the center of Light Sammus’ operation. He knows most of the access codes. He’s out hunting right now, but when he comes back I’ll connect you two.” Sammus smiles weakly shaking her head. “You know…I don’t even know what I’ll do if I do find Light Sammus at this point. My armor was destroyed in an explosion and all I’ve got is a gun and a little bit of ammo. I need my armor to survive,” she laments as the old woman pats her arm. “Listen child. You came into this world with all the tools you’ll ever need to be successful. You never need anything else.” Sammus sits for a moment pondering her words, as the old woman stands up and shuffles to the other side of the tent.

After a lengthy conversation with the defector from Light Sammus’ team, Sammus leaves the camp and heads in the direction of Light Sammus’ underground compound. Within several hours she is deep within a forest. Through the foliage she can spot an armed guard. As she plots her next move a fog begins to settle around the area. Suddenly her throat begins constricting and she falls to the floor.

* * *

When Sammus reawakens, she is draped in darkness. Her back is pressed against a cold smooth surface, and her arms are stretched above her head with a set of chains at her wrists tethering her to the wall. She takes a step forward, tugging at the shackles but stops as soreness begins radiating through her upper body. Cold, confused, and exhausted, she breaks down and begins to cry. Suddenly she jumps as she detects the sound of chains moving in close proximity. “Who’s there?” She whispers. After a violent coughing fit, the other person introduces himself as Open Mike Eagle, a bounty hunter who had met his fate similarly, collapsing after an encounter with a poisonous agent and awakening to find himself in this cell. He continues, lamenting that he doesn’t know who has captured them, he’s not even sure how long he’s been in captivity and that only once every few hours an armed guard comes in to take him to eat and relieve himself. “Next time they come,” he assures her, “I’m making a break for it.” For the next few hours they woefully exchange stories. Suddenly they hear the sound of approaching footsteps and keys jingling. Out of the darkness a rectangle of light appears as a door across the room opens. The silhouette of an armored guard appears. She glances over at Mike Eagle who looks back at her and nods.

As the guard begins to unchain Open Mike Eagle, Eagle attempts to kick him in the stomach. Without a moment’s hesitation, the guard fires at him in the heart, killing him instantly. Sammus stares at his body, bewildered as the guard turns to her. “The boss wanted to meet with you anyways, so let’s go. And no funny business either.” She says nothing as he begins to unshackle her from the wall.

* * *

The guard leads her down a dark corridor, her hands cuffed behind her back, until they arrive at a large white door at the end. He types in a passcode onto the keypad next to the door and in seconds it shoots open. Across the room stands a person in full body armor, arms crossed. They step into the room, the door automatically shutting behind them. “Take off her cuffs and leave us!” She barks, as the guard nods, unlocking Sammus’ chains. After typing in a passcode he hurries out of the room as Sammus stands, throat dry, eyebrows furrowed. Light Sammus laughs, disrobing from her armor suit. “You know I’ve been waiting for this for a long time!” She pulls off her helmet and Sammus’ heart stops. Standing before her is an exact clone of herself, wearing a menacing grin. Light Sammus pulls off the rest of the suit as Sammus shakes her head slowly. Before she has time to make sense of the situation, Light Sammus lunges at her, fists balled. Crossing her arms across her face, Sammus blocks Light Sammus’ first attack. They immediately begin sparring in a tet-a-tet bout that lasts for nearly an hour. Unsurprisingly the pair seem exactly evenly matched. How can Sammus win in a battle against herself?