A military fetish costume

Samus was the type who felt most comfortable in her power armor. Despite its weight and cumbersome shape, having the familiar weight of an arm cannon made her feel at ease, and the protective shell made her feel confident and ready for anything. Of course, even in her zero suit, she still oozed confidence. She was a seasoned veteran of combat who'd been through not only fights, but infiltrations, extractions, and even crash landings in hostile territory.

Not a lot shook Samus, but finding that someone had changed her into an entirely new wardrobe in the brief few seconds when the lights went off did cause her to gasp uncharacteristically.

The familiar blue suit had been taken somewhere. In its place was something that others might call a military uniform, but no one in space as she recognized would do so. It wasn't the fit of a Federation soldier. Her upper body was clad in a tight, forest camo flannel top, tied beneath the swell of her breasts, high enough to show off her fit abdomen. Beneath the shirt, she saw a black sports top, low cut to show off plenty of cleavage. On the lower body, she wore matching camo shorts with a discrete zipper, short enough on the legs to show off plenty of her thighs and low enough to show off more of her hips than the two-piece version of her zero suit she sometimes wore. The outfit included brown leather gloves, tall black combat boots, and a pillbox cap to match the pattern of the clothing.

The camo wasn't going to be much good here, and one had to question if it'd be much good anywhere, considering that so much of her flesh was still exposed.

It wasn't that much more revealing than the zero suit, actually, but it did make her uneasy. Who would do something like this and why? "K? Is this you?" she asked out loud, speaking into the high-tech earpiece she'd been left. No answer, as expected. His message certainly cast him under suspicion, but with no idea who or where he was, there wasn't much she could do to press him.

Another message came through, once again in text, and once again, not suited to answer her question, only its own interests. "The mission hasn't changed, Samus. Continue to the inner area. If you get there and complete your mission, the credits are all yours. I'll even throw in a hint about the real purpose of this Federation base."

The credits felt like a distant concern right now, as badly as Samus needed them, but what he'd said about the real purpose of the base intrigued her. His words read as though there was more to this than a new frontline against pirates. She needed to know and she highly doubted that any of the legitimate soldiers here were going to give her the answers. K might be deliberately misleading her, but if there was something to learn, she would need to stick to the mission.

"Why the outfit?" she repeated, staring at the very broad expanse of her flesh now visible from her abdomen down to her pelvis. No answer. "There's something you have to learn about working in a team, K. You aren't the first handler to keep me in the dark, but in the end, I'll make my own calls. You can work together with me, or I can cut you out of the decision-making."

Even after the threat, no answer.

She'd often been told she was cold, or not much of a conversationalist. She was starting to understand how her allies felt.

Samus didn't put much stock in the Federation ever helping her with no strings attached, nor did she really want them to see her in this strange costume, but she was willing to set those two misgivings aside for the sake of getting some answers. She made her way to the first checkpoint, holding her fists at her side in a stance that failed to hide her mounting frustration.

"Samus... Aran?"

The second soldier to greet Samus didn't sound nearly as confident as the first. That first one had been surprised to see the feminine beauty in the flesh, but at least her attire had matched what people said she wore. There was no explaining the get-up she was wearing this time, and as a guy working his first day on the job and dealing with a strange blackout, he wasn't in the mood for surprises.

The third guard, one in a somewhat different mood, appreciated the view they were getting. "That's her, alright. I guess she can cut loose after all when she's got a plum mission, huh?"

"No," Samus answered flatly, lowering her eyebrows. "That blackout a moment ago. What was it? My clothes-"

"Yeah, about the blackout," the serious-faced guard interrupted her, raising one hand. "Not to be a bother, ma'am, but orders have changed. That blackout corresponded almost exactly with your arrival through the front on the way to checkpoint alpha. Word is, it also happened right when you got into the camera's blind spot. You were authorized to carry in a paralyzer-"

"-Which I no longer have," Samus pointed out, opening her empty hands.

The man soldiered on. "But we don't want any surprises with this new get-up. With the strange circumstances, I'm sure you'll agree precautions are necessary."

"What sort of precautions?" the bounty hunter questioned, raising her eyebrow and crossing her arms at her chest.