When you begin a new game, you get the message and voice-over:

THE LAST METROID IS IN
CAPTIVITY. THE GALAXY
IS AT PEACE...

Bounty hunter Samus Aran, the series' protagonist, then gives you a summary of her previous adventures:

I FIRST BATTLED THE METROIDS
ON PLANET ZEBES. IT WAS THERE
THAT I FOILED THE PLANS OF
THE SPACE PIRATE LEADER
MOTHER BRAIN TO USE THE
CREATURES TO ATTACK
GALACTIC CIVILIZATION...

(Cutscene of Samus defeating Mother Brain.)

I NEXT FOUGHT THE METROIDS ON
THEIR HOMEWORLD, SR388. I
COMPLETELY ERADICATED THEM,
EXCEPT FOR A LARVA WHICH,
AFTER HATCHING, FOLLOWED ME
LIKE A CONFUSED CHILD...

(Cutscene of the Metroid larva hatching.)

I PERSONALLY DELIVERED IT TO
THE GALACTIC RESEARCH STATION
AT CERES SO SCIENTISTS COULD
STUDY ITS ENERGY-PRODUCING
QUALITIES...

(Picture of Samus handing over the Metroid.)

THE SCIENTIST'S FINDINGS WERE
ASTOUNDING! THEY DISCOVERED
THAT THE POWERS OF THE METROID
MIGHT BE HARNESSED FOR THE
GOOD OF CIVILIZATION!

(Picture of scientists studying the Metroid.)

SATISFIED THAT ALL WAS WELL, I
LEFT THE STATION TO SEEK A NEW
BOUNTY TO HUNT. BUT, I HAD
HARDLY GONE BEYOND THE
ASTEROID BELT WHEN I PICKED UP
A DISTRESS SIGNAL!

CERES STATION WAS UNDER
ATTACK!!

*** Upon receiving the distress call, Samus immediately heads back to  ***
*** the Space Colony at Ceres Station, only to find it deserted...     ***

Once the elevator lands, you have control of Samus.  Use this opportunity to test your abilities, and familiarize yourself with the basic controls.  In order to proceed, drop down the platforms to the door on the right.  All the doors in Ceres Station are automatic, and do not require you to shoot them to open; simply walk up to them.  (Just like at the supermarket…)

The next room is just as empty as the elevator room; proceed through the door on the far right.  Another stairway; head down to the door on the right here to reach the research lab.  The lab itself is a shambles—the scientists are dead, and the Metroid larva is gone.  Where the heck did it go?  Head through the door on the right to enter another empty hallway, and go through the door at the end.

Well, there's the Metroid, safe and sound and still in its vial!  What the… the door behind you is locked!  Something sinister is at work here.  Sure enough, out from the shadows Ridley, Samus's old nemesis, appears.

    RIDLEY
  HP: 2000
  Attacks: fireball 3, body 5, tail 15.

Power Beam – 20 (100)

Grabbing the Metroid vial, Ridley will proceed to attack Samus. There are two things you can do at this point:

1. Fight him.  With the super-weak Power Beam you have now, it takes 100 shots to drive him off.  Notice that near the end Ridley drops the Metroid; stay back, as he will quickly recover it and fly off.
2. Throw yourself at him.  Seriously—let him hit you with his tail a few times.  If Samus's energy drops below 30, Ridley will simply fly off as if you had fought him.  Takes less time, but it's a little less honorable.

In either case, as soon as Ridley flies off, the base's self-destruct sequence will engage, and the door unlocks.  You have one minute to get off the station before it explodes!  Simply backtrack the way you came, avoiding debris and steam as best you can (they will stun you for a moment if you come into contact with them, but won't hurt you).  By the time you reach the elevator room, the station is tilting, making it difficult to jump up the platforms.  Once you reach the elevator platform, though, you're safe.

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