The spy and the bounty hunter

LexCorp Facility, Planet Andrigon

Natasha looked down on the planet of Andrigon as the SHIELD shuttle descended to the planet's surface. It was a barren, desolate world in a remote part of the galaxy... but it was a habitable one. Located on the fringes of charted space, far from the vast majority of galactic colonization efforts. Luthor had bought the planet, claiming it as part of LexCorp's colonization initiative. But both SHIELD and ARGUS had their doubts. Fury was the first to act, sending Natasha on a recon mission -- whatever Luthor and Doom were up to, there were likely answers here.

As she stepped off the shuttle and onto the planet's surface, the shuttle pilot spoke. "Good luck, Miss Romanov. Radio me when you're ready for extraction."

"Understood," Natasha quickly acknowledged before the shuttle flew off.

It was only a matter of time before either SHIELD or ARGUS (the Authority of Representatives for the Galactic Union's Security) sent someone. Rival organization ARGUS' task ****, dubbed the Suicide Squad, were effective, but often racked up quite a body count; squad members (and married couple) Harley Quinn and Poison Ivy in particular could be unpredictable in their methods. Still, while it was likely that this mission could and would be wrapped up cleanly, ARGUS head Amanda Waller would not be happy with SHIELD beating them to the punch.

The science labs' security was a challenge -- LexCorp's tech was, as expected, top of the line -- but it was nothing the Black Widow couldn't handle. Within minutes, the spy had successfully infiltrated the facility and was quietly making her way through its halls. However, on this rare occasion, someone had discovered Natasha hiding in the shadows -- and was pointing some sort of arm cannon at her.

"Not another step."

Natasha put her hands up and turned to face the figure towering over her. Whoever she was, she was wearing an armored suit unlike anything she'd seen before -- and having worked alongside Iron Man, she'd seen all kinds of armors. The armored figure was pointing a massive arm cannon at Natasha -- but she obviously wasn't LexCorp. Who was this woman?

"I take it you're not supposed to be here either?" Natasha said calmly, trying to get a read on this armored mystery woman.

"No. But I am curious as to why SHIELD's top spy is poking around LexCorp offices... although I'm sure there are a million reasons."

Natasha raised an eyebrow, her curiosity piqued. "You know who I am?"

"You don't become a top bounty hunter in the galaxy without learning about its major players."

That's when it hit Natasha -- this was Samus Aran. She'd read SHIELD's dossier on her. She'd taken out the Mother Brain and the Zebesian Space Pirates. She'd brought countless dangerous galactic fugitives to justice.

"You're Samus Aran. I've read about you," Natasha answered. "I think you can lower that gun -- I don't think we're enemies here. Whatever you're here for, I'm not here to stop you."

Samus thought about it for a moment and lowered her arm cannon. "I'm here for a bounty. A scientist named Bolivar Trask. If you're not here for him, we don't have a problem."

Bolivar Trask was an infamous robotics expert -- he was the man who created the Sentinels, robotic weapons meant to contain and control mutants in the galaxy. They were defeated by the combined efforts of the X-Alted Queendom and the Dominion of the Brotherhood, and Trask was to be tried by SHIELD for his crimes, but he had somehow dropped off the grid. According to the info provided to Samus, he had been hired to work at LexCorp under an alias.

Natasha wondered who had issued the bounty on Trask. She had no love for the man, especially given her alliance and... relations with the Queens of X, so she was more than willing to help bring him in. But to who, she wondered? The Queens? Magneto? Either way, bringing him in would be doing the galaxy a favor.

"I'm here for information, nothing more. So no, I'm not your enemy. In fact, I think we can help each other out."

Samus' curiosity was piqued. "I'm listening..."