H  A  R  D  W  A  R  E
                              by TJ Rappel

                                  O N E

	"Hiroji! Oi, Hiroji!! Doko des'ka?!"

	Hiroji-san's head popped up from behind a half-assembled repulsorlift
engine. "Over here, Sammer. What took ya??"

	"Well, you wouldn't have been waiting so long if--"

	"...if I didn't move around so much, yeah, I know," he said,
wiping his greasy hands off on an even greasier rag. "Hey, you know I do my work
on the sly...can't afford to stay in one place when the Federation would
impound everything I got here in a heartbeat."

	Samus grinned. Indeed, here she was, reknowned hero of the galaxy,
honored by the Federation--and still getting custom-made gear from the same
old mechanitronic greasemonkey she got it from when she was just starting
out in the bounty-hunter trade. Really, there was no one better; if Samus
couldn't get it done herself, she paid a visit to him. Hardened though she 
was from her experiences throughout the universe, she had a soft spot for 
her old pal Hiroji--and he always came through for her in a pinch. 

	Besides, very few people got away with calling her "Sammer."

	"Brought the ride in for a tune-up. Can you have a few of your
bots on it today?" she asked.

	"For you, the galaxy, Sammer." He smirked crookedly as he motioned
out the window with a jerk of his head. Samus looked, and sure enough, half
a dozen technician droids were already tinkering with her ship as it hovered
in the hangar of Hiroji's garage, tethered to refueling and battery-charging
terminals. Currently located on the first moon of the planet FC-886, the 
station was actually a large spacecraft carrier with just enough room for 
Hiroji's operations--and, of course, the accomodation of very, 
very select customers.

	"Come on out back," he said, "I got somethin' for ya."

	"The reason you contacted me?" Samus asked, trying to hide the 
excitement in her voice, which was rather out-of-character for her. "Is it
done?"

	Hiroji just continued to grin as the door to hangar 3 slid open with
a whoosh. There, secured to a huge recharging frame, was the equipment
that Samus had dreamed of, helped design, and was now a reality.


	A rush of adrenaline surged through Samus as she stared in awe at
her new battle mech. Standing nearly 4 meters tall, it looked very similar
to her famous armor, but bulkier and much, much more powerful. And, at the
moment, with multitudes of thick cables snaking out of various exposed jacks,
attaching it to the recharging facility, and lit from below, it had a 
very intimidating, almost sinister, appearance.
	
	The hatch in the chest was split wide open, revealing the cockpit.
The beast was not a hardsuit to be worn so much as it was an exoskeleton
to be driven. As its pilot sat in the padded, contoured seat in its torso,
her arms and legs fit snugly into those of the mech and could control them 
easily with the aid of powerful servomotors. The right forearm, like that of 
Samus' armor, was a weapon--a monstrous cannon that could easily obliterate 
a ship the size of Samus'. Two huge turbo afterburners grew from the 
machine's back and almost looked like the wings of some mechanized demon. 

	"Are we happy?" Hiroji asked smugly.

	Lost in admiration of the beast, Samus remained silent and strode
up to it. She placed a hand on its polysteel exterior, and gave Hiroji
a slight grin. Hiroji had his answer.

	"Now as you know, you can use the same datafilm body glove you're
wearing with your armor." He handed Samus three small encased CDs. "Here's
the software for it. It's all to the specs we hammered out. The unit can
be attached and stored in the hull of your ship, and can use the same
energy recharging equipment as your other gear. Any questions?"

	A quiet "No" was all the still-stunned Samus uttered.

	Hiroji cleared his throat. "Then I guess there's the little matter
of, er, the, um...the bill."

	Samus snapped back to reality. "I guess so," she said, withdrawing
her credit chip from the small pouch she was carrying on her hip.

	"Killer gear like this don't come cheap, of course."

	"Hey, just what do you think I do with the bounty I collect? I 
AM a...commisioned agent, you know."

	Hiroji chuckled as he accepted the credit transfer from Samus' card.
As he handed the card back to her, his tone changed a bit. "Y'know, Sammer,"
he started, "I know this thing is one beautiful piece of equipment. For all
I know it's just another toy for your collection. And you know I never doubt
you. But really, Sammer...what the hell are you gonna NEED it for??"

	Samus looked at Hiroji, then at the mech.

	"We'll see, Hiroji-kun...we'll see."




                                 T W O

	Grainy, flickering images of Samus played out on a large,
two-dimensional rectangle floating in midair. The quality of the video was
rather pathetic, but there was no mistaking the abilities of the fierce warrior
who leaped, flipped, and destroyed with perfect precision. A flash of light
enveloped the screen, and instantly the view changed to that of random static.

	"That's the extent of the footage, sir," said a slender man wearing a
business suit, as he ejected the small videodisc from its player. "There's not
much documentation on her to be found. These few discs we have here represent
all the visual data that exists."

	"Frustrating," replied the tall, well-built man, as he leaned back in his
chair and stroked his chin, "but intriguing. I've never seen anyone or anything
like her. We certainly could use her. Do we know how to contact her?"

	"There are ways," answered the officer. "We'll find them."

	"Do that. Good work, Simmons."

	"Thank you, sir. We'll let you know if anything develops."

	As Simmons left the room, Mr. Hammer stood up, adjusted his kimono, and
turned to look out the window at both the city below him and the night sky
above. "Ms. Samus Aran," he mused as a sly grin overtook his face, "I look 
forward to working with you."




                              	T H R E E

	Samus plopped down on the weight bench and promptly started mopping the
sweat off her face with a clean white towel. She sat there to catch her breath
for a moment, then stood up again and walked to the small refrigerator she kept
in the corner of her home gym and grabbed a nutrient drink. "Nothing better than
a cold drink after a workout," she thought as she popped the cap off the bottle
and proceeded to chug the contents.

	Just then, a sharp electronic tone sounded from her vid-phone, startling
Samus and causing her to choke and dribble a little of the liquid down the front
of her polyspandex workout tights. "Ah shit," she grumbled, wiping it off with 
her towel as she made her way to the phone.

	She pushed the CONNECT key on the small, wall-mounted console and was
surprised to see the screen light up with a graphic that read "NO VIDEO." She was
used to seeing this on the phone line that she kept for business purposes, but
it was unsettling to see it on her personal system. Who could have gotten this
number?

	"Uh...yeah?" was her wary greeting.

	"Good morning, Ms. Aran," said an electronically altered voice. 
"I regret that I cannot reveal my identity to you, but I represent a client who
has a very lucrative offer for you. We wish to meet with you as soon as possible
and discuss the possibilities of permanent employment."

	A job offer. Permanent, even. "How am I supposed to meet with you if you
don't let me know who you are?" Samus asked suspiciously.

	"Don't worry. We'll find you. Please be at transport station Gamma on
NH-577 tomorrow at 1200 hours. Gate 53B. We look forward to seeing you." With
that, the screen went blank and the line was disconnected.

	Samus' mind was instantly ablaze with doubt and questions. How would they
find her? Very few people knew the woman beneath the armor. Then again, they did
contact her using her personal number, the one only a small number of Samus'
close friends had access to. Obviously they had been doing their homework. An
unusually large amount of homework for a simple job offer.

	The whole thing stunk, and Samus knew it. While the idea of permanent
employment was somewhat appealing to her -- no more hiding, traveling, and
secrecy -- it wasn't safe. If she stayed in one place, she could be easily
found and picked off by a family member or colleague of some former bounty
of hers who might be harboring a vendetta.

	Then again, she did like the sound of the phrase, "very lucrative." And
since she had nothing else on her plate for the time being, she figured she'd
at least see what's going on.

	"What the hell," she thought. "After some of the things I've been through,
I think I can handle a few business guys if things turn ugly." Chuckling to herself,
she grabbed the rest of her nutri-drink and headed for the shower.




                             F O U R

	"It's done, sir. We'll be picking her up tomorrow on NH-577 and bringing
her to you for your meeting."

	A broad smile stretched over Hammer's chiseled face. "Fantastic. You gentlemen
never cease to amaze me with your resourcefulness. This will be a great leap forward
for our cause."

	"Thank you, sir, and I agree," said Simmons. "Soon, nothing will stop us."
He motioned to the door. "Shall we?"

	Hammer nodded and strode out the door. In his heavily decorated black military
uniform, his red cape flowing behind him, he proudly made his way to the assembly
where his thousands of soldiers and followers would hear him speak about the New Era
and the future of the galaxy. He would inspire his troops and those who took his word
as gospel to risk their lives and fight in his name. They would overtake their enemies
and force them to join their ranks. His was a world of iron-fisted law. His law.

	As he assumed his position in his lofty pulpit high above the perfectly-
ordered masses of humanity below him, intense spotlights hit him and made him look
as though he were the only star in the sky. He raised his fist in the air in a
salute to his people, and at that instand, several enormous battle mechs on either
side of the pulpit raised their fists in an identical fashion, and huge red banners
bearing the insignia of the Hammer and Thunderbolt unfurled all around the coliseum.
The roar of the masses was deafening.

	He was the ruler of this world, Acheron6. Soon he would rule more.




                             F I V E