History of the Space Pirates

Space Pirates have been responsible for some of the most disastrous events in Galactic history, such as the Phazon crisis, and have been responsible for the raid and capture of over 200 planets, including Zebes, Bryyo, Norion, Elysia, Tallon IV, Naishii, Jigrad, and K-2L. The following is a full account of their history.



Pre-Zebes History
Space Pirates have been present since the early days of the Galactic Federation. They quickly established themselves as a fearsome force, necessitating the formation of the Galactic Federation Police. The Pirates were notorious for raiding vessels in an instant and disappearing the next. However, their target was not always just the cargo. The Pirates would also lay claim to entire planets, establishing the now-captured planet as their territory and its natives as their slaves. They were known to be so zealous of their right to rule that they would even refer to themselves as the rightful inhabitants of the planet.

The Federation Police ordered the arrest of anyone affiliated with the pirates, but the Pirates were very mysterious and difficult to track in the vastness of space. The Police were eventually forced to turn to Bounty Hunters, paying high prices in exchange for captured pirates.

The Invasion of Zebes
Zebes was the perfect candidate for a Pirate military base. The planet was the correct size, inhospitable to most life forms yet similar to the climate on SR388, was far away from the ever-scrutinizing Federation's eyes, and was home to the Chozo, a peaceful race of avians who were the most technologically advanced race in the history of the Universe, and yet were largely defenseless due to their pacifistic nature. Though the Chozo had bulked up their defenses after an attempted Pirate raid years ago (in which they also had the assistance of the Federation),, they did not anticipate the Pirates using stolen technology in the Space Pirate Flagship to harness the gravitational field of a micro black hole and break through the Planetary Protection Shield. Several Chozo were able to evacuate to an unknown destination. A team consisting of Samus Aran, Mauk, and Kreatz were given 48 hours to handle the situation before a full strike would begin, where they would discover what had occurred. About a dozen Chozo remained as prisoners (including Platinum Chest), and Mother Brain voluntarily became the new "Master" of the Pirates, along with Grey Voice as a commander. Samus refused to join them and was promptly swept aside by Ridley, who thought that welcoming her to their ranks was a joke.

The Pirates made use of the Chozo bioengineering technology that was once used on Samus to adapt their own bodies to the planet. Kreatz and Mauk remotely commanded their ship to attack the biotech machines, which killed the Pirates in them and distracted Ridley from killing the prisoners, who escaped with the team. Grey Voice then made his attack on Mother Brain with an ancient Chozo weapon that was not in her databanks, revealing that the Chozo had planned to stay to ensure that she would not fall into Pirate hands. However, they had not anticipated the arrival of a pirate rescue party. Ridley interfered with the attack on Mother Brain, so Grey Voice escaped to assist the escaping party by destroying the pursuing spacecrafts. The Space Pirate Flagship intercepted them, but Commander Adam Malkovich in the Federation Army Special Ops Battleship Vixin IV arrived to assist them and destroyed the Flagship.

The Ultimate Weapon
Prior to the battle of Zebes, a Federation's Planet Reclamation Division team was dispatched to the uncharted planet, SR388, in the year 20X5 in the history of the cosmos. The team discovered that 80% of the planet's native animals were dead before discovering the Metroids, which led the team to believe the organisms were the culprit. Another team was sent to capture a Metroid alive. The creature was held in suspended animation, but after their findings were reported, the Pirates attacked the team and stole the Metroid. The Pirate Science Team began performing research on the captured Metroid; their findings were a Space Pirate's dream come true. The Metroid could leech life from victims, was impervious to most weaponry, and could be cheaply cloned by exposure to beta rays for 24 standard hours. A suggestion was put forth that the Metroids could be used as bio-weapons, and thus began the Pirates' greatest campaign yet.



The Reemergence at Zebes
A three-way simultaneous attack was launched by the Pirates to test the power of the Metroids. No Pirate casualties occurred; it was a success. An assassination attempt was then made on Chairman Keaton with a Mimic. By now, the Federation Police had begun an investigation into the intercepted distress signal from the raided frigate. After a long and desperate search, the Federation Police managed to track the Space Pirates to Zebes. The Federation ordered an invasion but the Pirate resistance was strong, and the Federation army was unable to rescue the planet.

The situation looked grim: the pirates now had access to a powerful new bio-weapon, and if they were left alone for too long, the pirates would launch a mass attack on the Federation capital worlds. Civilization would end. But then came deliverance in the form of Samus Aran. The mysterious bounty hunter had been orphaned in a previous pirate raid, raised by the Chozo, infused with their blood, and was regularly hired by the Federation, succeeding in missions thought previously to be impossible. She appeared to be the galaxy's last hope. After much debate, Samus was sent to Zebes with the following objectives: Exterminate all Metroids on planet Zebes and eradicate the mechanical life-form Mother Brain.

Samus's "Zero Mission"
Upon arrival, Samus set out to kill the two generals in charge of the base. Kraid was the first target, and was terminated during their encounter when the stress from the battle caused the floor to collapse, killing him. Ridley, who Samus had a personal vendetta against as he was personally responsible for the death of her parents, had just arrived on Zebes at the same time Samus arrived at his living quarters. Ridley attacked Samus in a ferocious melee, but he was no match for her and was defeated when her missiles penetrated his chest, combusting him. However, Ridley was not dead and was eventually found by pirate search parties and was not only healed, but genetically enhanced by the Pirate Science Team, leading to his transformation into Meta Ridley.



The Destruction of Tourian
Samus, meanwhile, had made her way into Tourian, where she discovered that the Pirates had underestimated the Metroids' intelligence. The Metroids had broken out and all pirate personnel present during the breakout were killed. Mother Brain, however, was fully protected by her Chozo-built facility and remained completely unharmed. As a result, Metroid cloning had proceeded normally as though nothing had happened, increasing the Metroid population to an astonishing level. Samus proceeded to exterminate all the Metroids she found and made her way to Mother Brain. Mother Brain was terminated during her encounter with Samus, but just before she died, Mother Brain initiated the countdown for the self-destruct mechanism of the Tourian facility. Samus barely made it out alive. Unfortunately for her, Mother Brain had also managed to send a distress signal to the pirate frigates Orpheon, Siriacus, and Vol Paragom, which were in orbit at the time. Samus would not succeed in exterminating all the Metroids; the remaining survivors, as well as Ridley, Kraid, and Mother Brain herself, were found and given emergency resuscitation.



Crisis at the Mothership
Samus was quickly tracked down following her escape, and was eventually shot down by Space Pirate Fighters. She crash-landed on Zebes's surface, and the resulting explosion destroyed both her Power Suit and her Gunship. Though the Space Pirates presumed her to be dead, Samus managed to survive and had sneaked onto Ridley's Flagship in hopes of hijacking a ship. Unfortunately, she was spotted several times by the crew, and was forced to flee into the now-ruined Chozo city of Chozodia. When the pirates saw her again, she was equipped with a new and more powerful Power Suit. She invaded the Pirate Mother ship, killing all who tried to stop her. Eventually Samus came face to face with Mecha Ridley, the great robot built in Ridley's likeness and prototype to Meta Ridley that was overseeing the operations on the Mother ship. Samus destroyed the beast, but as a last resort, it set off a countdown for the self-destruct system of the Mothership. Samus managed to hijack a Pirate vessel and escape while the Pirate Mother ship exploded violently in the valley it had landed in. The Pirate campaign at Zebes had failed. The galaxy was safe...for now.

Discovery at Tallon IV
The three pirate frigates Orpheon, Siriacus, and Vol Paragom had managed to escape safely, having been in orbit at the destruction of the base on Zebes. The remaining Metroids had been rescued, but were now on restricted feeding schedules due to low supplies. Ridley was on the Orpheon, being refitted with his new cybernetic body. Orpheon headed out farther into the Zebes system, eventually settling on Tallon IV while the other frigates went to unknown locations. While searching the planet for supplies, the pirates discovered another miraculous power source: Phazon. The mysterious semi-sentient liquid had been brought to the planet by a Leviathan 50 years earlier and had wreaked havoc on the Chozo community on Tallon IV until "The Cradle" had been built, a massive shield that prevented the Leviathan from spreading any more Phazon. Science Team's tests with the recovered Phazon opened up many possibilities with the mutagenic substance. Subjects who were exposed to it experienced increased muscle mass and incredible physical augmentation, as well as access to supernatural powers. However, they also experienced insanity, increased aggression, brain tissue deterioration, and, eventually, death.



The Campaign at Tallon IV
Science Team was undeterred by these setbacks and asked for the excavation of more Phazon as well as for testing to see if there was any way to penetrate the Cradle's shield. As the Pirates began building a base on the planet's surface, the Science team started initial testing with Parasites, creating Parasite Queens onboard the Orpheon. They also began work on Project Helix, a project with the goal of creating Phazon-enhanced pirates. However, the project's initial results were disastrous; few subjects managed to survive such intense mutations. This was quickly remedied with a different strain of Phazon code-named Vertigo that was discovered during experiments with Parasites. With this, the Science Team managed to create a small force of Elite Pirates and a single Omega Pirate. During this time, a team of pirates were still trying to pierce the Cradle's impenetrable barrier that prevented entry into the Impact Crater, the source of the Phazon on the planet. Analysis of the crater revealed bizarre life form readings emanating from an unknown, massive creature locked away deep inside the impact site by the Cradle. At an undetermined point in time, Science Team began work on another project: reverse engineering Samus's weaponry. Based on detailed accounts from witnesses and data lores, the Pirate Science Team managed to equip special Pirates with a noticeably weaker version of Samus's beams. However, all attempts to reverse engineer the Morph Ball were discarded, as the test subjects simply ended up horribly crushed and mangled. Unexpected knowledge of Phazon's life-giving power resulted in the creation of Thardus, which had to be quarantined in the Phendrana Drifts. At some point, inside the Orpheon, two of the three Parasite Queens broke out of their capsules and began a rampage on the Orpheon with their Parasite brood. The damage became so severe that the ship was crippled in orbit and was rendered unable to land. The occupants of the ship were forced to make an emergency evacuation of the frigate and sent out a distress signal, which was picked up by an unlikely candidate: Samus Aran.



The Cleansing of Tallon IV
Samus arrived in her newly restored Gunship and, upon investigating the frigate, found that the only pirates left were dead or badly maimed. After confirming the death of one of the Parasite Queens, she discovered the second escaped Queen had nestled in the reactor core and battled it. Upon its death, the Parasite Queen fell into the reactor, causing a chain reaction that destroyed the frigate from the inside out. While searching for a way out, Samus encountered an awakening Meta-Ridley, who's resurrection had very recently been completed. He fled Orpheon and went onto Tallon IV with Samus in pursuit. However, she soon fell behind and had to track him on foot. Meta-Ridley presumably alerted the Space Pirates of her presence, yet all pirate attempts to stop her were useless. Samus blasted through all the traps and obstructions they had left for her, killed their Metroids, destroyed Thardus, slaughtered all the Elite Pirates, and even succeeded in killing the crown jewel of Project Helix: the Omega Pirate. Just before she could enter the Impact Crater with the keys required to access the Cradle's shield and kill the Phazon Core, Metroid Prime, Meta-Ridley flew in to terminate her personally, but his attempts were in vain. Samus managed to burn off his wings and then overload his life support, bringing him to near-death once more. The Chozo statues around the Artifact Temple then came to life and shot beams at him, causing him to misstep and fall off the mountain. However, Ridley survived the fall and would return in the following years. At any rate, the mission to Tallon IV had failed. Metroid Prime was killed and all the Phazon on the planet had presumably vanished. However, the discovery of Phazon was an important step for the Pirates; not all was over for them yet.



The Campaign at Aether
The presence of Phazon was discovered on Aether, a planet with a fragile dimensionality. Long ago, after an impact from a Leviathan, the planet had split into two separate dimensions, Light Aether and Dark Aether; the inhabitants of each dimension, the Luminoth and the Ing, respectively, immediately engaged in a great planetary war. Due to their larger numbers, The Ing had gained the upper hand; the Luminoth, despite their superior technology, had long since retreated, abandoning even their stronghold at Sanctuary Fortress. Having all gone into suspended animation save for their Sentinel, U-Mos, they waited for a miracle. A Space Pirate militia was given permission by High Command to investigate; soon, a frigate made its way to the Dasha region, where the Aether system was located. This would be a risky mission as Aether was located on the fringes of Federation space, so the pirates made it their first priority to set up a stealth shield. After several days of searching, the pirates discovered the Dark Beam. The discovery was reported to High Command, where it was later revealed to that its purpose was to allow access to Dark Aether through Dark Portals. Dark Aether, which housed the Leviathan, held great supplies of Phazon and the Space Pirates began mining operations there.



Dark Samus
However, progress was slow, impeded by Dark Aether’s poisonous atmosphere, the ferocity of the Ing, and by a mysterious, shadowy being the Pirates called the ‘‘‘Dark Hunter’’’. It would conduct frequent raids on the Pirates, seeking their Phazon, not their destruction, and exhibited such cruelty as the true Samus Aran had never shown. It also freed Metroids, rather than destroying them, having had a previous connection with them. The pirates mostly learned to ignore the Dark Hunter... until it destroyed the stealth shield, exposing the pirate's presence on Aether. The pirates hurried to fix the shield, but the damage was already done.

Federation Interception
A brigade of Federation Marines managed to intercept a pirate frigate headed to the Dasha region. A chase ensued, and the frigate was badly crippled and eventually crashed. The pirates' activities on Aether might have ended right then and there if the Marines' ship hadn't suffered a malfunction due to the stormy interdimensional atmosphere of Aether. After several weeks of scouting, the troopers were killed during repeated assaults by Dark Splinters. Their distress signal was intercepted by the true Samus, who soon arrived to investigate Aether and look for survivors. By then, most of the pirates had been possessed by the Ing. However, the few remaining pirates were able to observe that the two Samuses were enemies, which gave them the idea of recruiting Dark Samus to work for them: Phazon in exchange for the head of their common enemy.



The Seeds of Scheming
Unfortunately, the pirates did not have time to execute this plan. Samus destroyed Dark Aether, purging all Phazon from the planet and leaving Dark Samus for dead after a climatic battle. Samus had left the planet, and almost all the pirates that had come on the mission were dead. The mission at Aether might have been a complete disaster for the pirates and, to make things worse, the Federation soon arrived on Aether and took samples of the precious Phazon deposits. However, they left a great deal of Phazon behind. The pirate battleship Colossus managed to hurriedly take most of the Phazon and escaped from Aether. However, once they were in space, it was discovered that, along with the Phazon, the Colossus had picked up the remains of Dark Samus, still in molecular state after her last encounter with the real Samus. Confined in this storage area of the Colossus, Dark Samus absorbed all the recovered Phazon, re-energizing herself, and eliminated a third of the Colossus's crew in minutes. She then brainwashed the remaining pirates to do her bidding.

The corrupted clone warped their minds with promises of incredible riches and power. With the pirates so suckered into her megalomaniacal schemes, a quasi-religious cult began to form around her and the pirates began following her every whim. She taught the crew of the Colossus how to turn their battleship into a mighty craft fueled by Phazon. But, they did not get to celebrate for long. Dark Samus vanished mysteriously, leaving no clues as to her whereabouts. Some pirates suggested that she would never return, and that the pirates should return to their daily lives. Such naysayers were killed, and any who doubted Dark Samus’s eventual return soon learned to keep their mouths shut. Dark Samus did return, along with a gigantic Leviathan. Some, afraid of the unknown, refused to follow, resulting in their deaths.

Her faithful disciples accompanied her on it and were the first to bear witness to the planet Phaaze, the homeworld and origin of all Phazon. Dark Samus then revealed her scheme to harness the power of Phaaze and use it to spread Phazon across the universe. To do so, they needed to take control of Phaaze itself, along with the Genesis Chamber, so that production of Leviathans could be sped up and allow Phazon to be spread much more quickly throughout the universe and infect countless worlds with the poison. How to do this was a dilemma, but an opportunity soon presented itself with the aid of the Space Pirates's inside agents within the Galactic Federation.

The Valhalla Raid
Two months after the events at Aether, the crew of the GFS Valhalla were holding a training mission in the Klar Nebula. The Valhalla was an immense battleship, an incredible bounty even by Space Pirate standards, but with the information supplied to the pirates by their agents within the Federation, along with their tamed metroids, the pirates had all they needed at their disposal to successfully slaughter the crew and plunder the ship. The savagery of the attack was astonishing, even by Space Pirates standards, and, unusually, only two things were stolen: the Energy Cells and, more importantly, the Aurora Unit 313.



The Pirate Homeworld
With the Aurora captured, the Pirates returned to Phaaze, where, through the influence of Phazon, the Aurora Unit became symbiotically one with the planet. With the entire planet now under their control, Dark Samus began her master plan. A Leviathan was sent to the Pirate Homeworld, though not with the pre-approval of the inhabitants there at the time. All attempts to stop it were futile, and the planet began to become corrupted. Meta-Ridley was chosen as its Guardian, and he slowly became a Phazon-enhanced being. The Phazon also had the side-effect of becoming the Pirates' life-force and ending up completely possessing their minds.

The Leviathan’s impact, however, did not go unnoticed by the rest of the galaxy. Skytown’s Aurora Unit 217 picked up the impact and tracked its origins to Phaaze, realizing that this was the living planet the Elysians found centuries earlier. Dark Samus realized this just in time to send a mysterious virus via the Aurora Unit 313, poisoning the entire Aurora Unit network in order to cover up the information leak.



The Great Invasion
Once the Leviathans finished maturing, Dark Samus launched a mass Pirate invasion upon many Federation strongholds so that the Seeds could reach their intended destinations: Norion, to gain control to the Federation’s base there and cripple the fleet, Bryyo, to cut off the Federation’s supply of Fuel Gel, which was mined there, and Elysia, to gain control of Skytown, an important observatory which held vast archives of information and rare Chozo technology. The attack on Bryyo was successful, with the Seed firmly planted. A Mogenar war golem was corrupted and became its Guardian. A Pirate energy shield was placed over the seed and two generators were created to maintain it: one in Bryyo Thorn Jungle and one in Bryyo Fire. A Pirate base was also established around the Thorn Jungle generator. Elysia’s Leviathan was initially successful, as it missed Skytown but succeeded in striking the planet itself. The sentient Elysian droids there were corrupted and their leader Helios became the Guardian. Generators were set up far below on the planet's surface, and a forward base with a successful Metroid breeding program was constructed in the Xenoresearch Labs in the western portion of the floating city. Norion was far more risky than the others because the Federation fleet was stationed there. A mass Pirate assault commenced, with Dark Samus and Meta-Ridley coming to personally ensure its arrival. The Federation attempted to hold them off, but the pirates managed to shut down the planetary defense system. However, they were unaware of the fact that Samus Aran herself and three other bounty hunters, Rundas, Gandrayda, and Ghor, were present at the time of the attack. The hunters rushed to restore the generators powering the base's cannon, which would allow them to destroy the Leviathan. Just before they could do so, Dark Samus rushed in and knocked them unconscious with a powerful Phazon blast. Samus managed to activate the cannon in time, sending a powerful laser that destroyed the Leviathan.

The hunters managed to survive Dark Samus’s attack, but as a result, their bodies were now self-generating Phazon with no additional side effects. The Federation saw fit to install them with PEDs to take advantage of their condition. Samus remained unconscious for one month, but the three other hunters were dispatched to investigate the Pirates; Rundas to Bryyo, Ghor to Elysia, and Gandrayda to the Pirate Homeworld. However, their corruption, thought to be benign, soon began to overpower them. Ghor and Gandrayda succumbed and joined the pirates under Dark Samus’s influence. Rundas's corruption is a source of debate, as he never truly joined the Space Pirates (although he is mentioned in their logs, so they were aware of him and thought of him as one of their commanders); eventually, however, even he fell to the power of Phazon. The Pirates themselves, meanwhile, took the liberty of setting up many security systems to protect the Leviathans from any possible attack.



The End of the Phaaze Catacylsm
Samus Aran arrived on Bryyo after regaining consciousness (one week after the others ceased communications), now able to take full control of her Phazon. She then proceeded to destroy the Leviathans on Bryyo and Elysia. All Pirate attempts to stop her failed, and she eventually arrived on the Pirate Homeworld. There, she infiltrated the base and deactivated their planetary shield generator, allowing the Galactic Federation’s fleet to arrive. Samus herself led a team of Demolition Troopers into the base and gained access to the Pirate’s Leviathan seed. After defeating the Pirates on their homeworld, the Federation took control of the captured Leviathan battleship and warped to Phaaze. The Pirate fleet made one last stand at the Battle of Phaaze, but they were all ultimately destroyed when the planet exploded, wiping out all Pirate ships that failed to reach the wormhole in time.

The 4th Zebes Campaign
What happened after these events is uncertain, but it is clear that things were not good for the Space Pirates. Their homeworld was in Federation hands, their Metroid supply had been eliminated, and the Space Pirates no longer had a supply of Phazon. Worst of all, Samus Aran was still alive. All they had left was a remnant of their forces that was busy restoring the base at Zebes. With this, the Pirates decided to return to their original plan of cloning Metroids. The base at Zebes was rebuilt, and all their original leaders -- Kraid, Ridley, and Mother Brain -- were resuscitated and returned to operations. The Pirates also made use of several new allies: the Ki-Hunter and three new generals: Crocomire, Draygon, and Phantoon. Chief Hardy neglected to have the Federation Police examine this planet since the Pirates there had already been defeated once before.



The Destruction of Ceres Space Colony
Samus returned from SR388, the homeworld of the Metroids, where she had just finished exterminating all of them except for an infant which she had witnessed hatching and decided to spare. She entrusted it to the scientists at Ceres Space Colony, who believed they could harness its power for the good of mankind. But as soon as Samus left the station, Ridley and the Space Pirates broke in and killed all the scientists, intending to steal the infant Metroid. Samus returned in time to attempt to fight off Ridley, but he escaped with the Metroid and set off the self-destruct for the station. Samus barely made it out alive.

The Destruction of Zebes
Samus managed to follow the Pirates to Zebes, where she infiltrated the base in her search for the infant Metroid. By the time she arrived, the Pirates were well into their plans for Metroid cloning. Unfortunately for the Pirates, conventional beta-ray cloning was far too slow to enable a final stand; the Pirates began using cheaper and faster methods, but they were only able to produce Mochtroids, which were feeble imitations of Metroids at best. The infant Metroid itself was incredibly enhanced by unknown methods and became the Super Metroid. Ultimately, Samus killed all of the Pirate leaders and made her way to Tourian, where she killed all of the cloned Metroids the Space Pirates had produced. She was no match for the Super Metroid, but it recognized Samus at the last instant and spared her life. Samus then fought a revived Mother Brain, whose enhanced mechanical body nearly killed her. In the end, the Super Metroid sacrificed itself to save Samus’s life and gave her Mother Brain’s Hyper Beam in the process, allowing Samus to defeat Mother Brain once and for all. Mother Brain’s final act was to set off the planetary self-destruct. Samus escaped safely, but the Space Pirates were all destroyed in the explosion. The Space Pirates were gone, their plans for galactic domination shattered beyond repair... At least, that was what the universe hoped.

Evil Reborn
With the defeat of Mother Brain, the death of Ridley, and the utter destruction of the planet Zebes along with what remained of the Space Pirate forces; the state of the galaxy had seemingly become more peaceful. This would not prove to be the case however as various persons within the Galactic Federation conspired to recreate the galactic menace as biological weapons of mass destruction for use in the military. Despite near total disapproval by the leaders within the Federation Congress, a select few within the Federation's scientific community saw the potential in the possibility of using one of the most vicious races in existence as a tool of near unstoppable force. To this end the rouge scientists secretly used captured wildlife from Zebes, including some Zebesian Space Pirates. The scientists then moved their specimens and research, backed by a secretive and corrupt part of the Galactic Federation, onto a research colony called the Bottle Ship. Led by the enigmatic Madeline Bergman, the scientific team began to experiment on bioforms not only from Zebes, but from several other planets as well. It was soon discovered however that the Zebesians aboard the ship were mindless and blood-thirsty, acting on the most basic of instincts. This setback brought to light what was missing from the equation needed in an effective army, a leader; the Mother Brain. Why the Pirates were feral onboard the ship was never explained and contradictory, since Pirates were known to be intelligent long before Mother Brain took over as leader in the past, although that intelligence could have been obtained from Ridley, who has been their previous commander before Mother Brain.

The Birth of MB
Thus the team set about creating the A.I. of the original Mother Brain with the successful experiment resulting in the birth of the other Mother, MB. MB worked just as they had hoped and she successfully integrated and enhanced the reasoning of the resurrected pirate armies. However an unforeseen event would occur that would forever change the course of fate for the science team, the discovery of a DNA strain on Samus' Power Suit from something even more terrifying than a Space Pirate; a Metroid, more specifically, from the Baby. This startling turn of events lead those aboard the Bottle Ship to abandon the original plan of a Pirate army in favor of one comprised of genetically engineered Metroids, leaving the fate of the reborn Zebesians in limbo for a time. The modified Metroids were moved to Sector Zero, a replica of Tourian, which also contained MB's original form.

MB Betrayed
In time, it was realized by the scientific staff that in order for the newly created Metroids to follow MB's orders flawlessly that she would have to assume the form of a living creature, which was achieved in the form of a human female android. In time Madeline Bergman, MB's creator, developed a mother-daughter dynamic with her creation and this bond would strengthen as time went on. However, with MB's extended contact with the first of the newly revived Metroids, something unexpected happened that no one had anticipated, MB began to develop human emotions. The implications of these turn of events were considered dangerous by all aboard the Bottle Ship and it was deemed necessary that MB's emotions be erased before she became uncontrollable. When she discovered what they planned to do to her and her despair at the inability of her mother to help her, MB displayed the very actions that the scientists wanted to prevent. She became violently enraged and used her link to the slumbering Zebesians (along with the other creatures aboard the space station) to awaken and slaughter all aboard the Bottle Ship except her once cherished mother, leaving a saddened Madeline to contemplate what she had unleashed upon the galaxy in the form of the Pirates, Metroids and MB. MB's new goal was to bring war to the Galactic Federation by colliding the Bottle Ship with Federation HQ, thus unleashing near-indestructible Metroids, Pirates and various other creatures on the organization. .

The 07th Platoon's arrival
The stricken colony however sends out an automated distress signal that is received by a group of Federation police enforcers - the 07th Platoon, lead by commander Adam Malkovich. Also within range to receive the signal was the hunter Samus Aran, who immediately set out for the beacon's location. Upon arriving Samus met up with the 07th Platoon members and set about exploring the research station for survivors and answers to the unknown fate that had befallen the ship. Along the way, Samus encountered a mysterious creature with an air of menace to it as well as captive allies of the Space Pirates, the Ki-Hunters. Sensing that there was a more sinister presence at work, she made her way to the Exam Centre where she is ambushed by Zebesians. Although she manages to slay them, the team is attacked by a horde of bioforms lead by the mysterious creature who had now grown into a larger and deadlier form. After fending off the attack and forcing the creature to retreat, Samus gives chase to the monster and eventually corners it in the Geothermal Power Plant. In a shocking revelation she discovers that the monstrosity, now fully grown, is in actuality her nemesis; Ridley, who the scientists had unknowingly cloned from the DNA found on her Power Suit. After fending off his vicious blows, she just barely manages to defeat him. In a fit of rage Ridley attempts one last attack before fleeing to another section of the ship.

Conspiracy revealed
After returning to the bridge of the Bottle Ship Samus meets MB, whom she had previously met and who had introduced herself as her mother Madeline to protect her identity. MB decides that Samus is too much of a threat to her mission of revenge and tells her about the entire scheme of cloning the Metroids, purposely leaving out the crucial fact that they could not be frozen, thus ensuring that Samus would fall in battle. However Adam intervenes and reveals this crucial info sacrificing his life to detach the Sector containing the deadly strain of Metroid and destroying it, himself and all of the Metroids, completely ruining MB's plans of using them for war. The vengeful hunter then once again goes after the space pirate Ridley only to discover that he had been attacked and killed by a Queen Metroid. After confronting and just barely killing her in a heated fight, she discovers the true Madeline Bergman who reveals that the one she knew as Madeline was in fact MB. However, before the two could do anything, MB appears, with Freeze Gun in hand, intent on killing Samus once and for all. Madeline, however, pleads with the android, imploring her to recall her human side with the promise that she'll never fail her again. MB lowers her weapon, only to be ambushed by an entire regiment of Federation troopers who had boarded the now immobile station. Angered beyond reason MB thaws out and summons all of the Zebesians and creatures aboard the bottle ship to slaughter everyone. In a desperate attempt to stop MB, Madeline herself shot her daughter with a Freeze Gun which unintentionally allowed the troopers to shoot and shatter her internal servers, killing her. With the death of MB, the Zebesians once again reverted to their bestial instincts and their threat to the galaxy was seemingly ended for good.

The Destruction of the Bottle Ship
After it was declared by the Galactic Federation that the Bottle Ship was to be destroyed Samus returned one final time to retrieve something irreplaceable, Adam's helmet. Along the way she confronted the last remaining pirates aboard the ship, destroying them as she went. Samus discovered that not only was Ridley's body missing but that the activity of the lifeforms aboard the ship had increased dramatically despite MB being deceased. Upon making her way to the command bridge, Samus confronted an old foe in the form of the Space Pirate Phantoon, who had assumed control of all the experiments aboard. Smashing through the bridge in an attempt to kill her, it ultimately fell in battle and floated away into deep space and exploded in a burst of light. After retrieving the helmet, the self-destruct for the Bottle Ship began, leaving Samus just six minutes to escape with her life. Many of the remaining Zebesians appeared to attack but she managed to evade them and left just as the count down ended. The resulting explosion wiped out the last of the Space Pirates aboard, seemingly ending one of the last of Samus Aran's confrontations with her most hated foes. However, she would soon find out that another research ship contained captive Pirates.

Other notable events
This section covers events in the History of Space Pirates that, while they only involved a small percentage of Pirates, are important enough to have affected their entire race on a small or grand scale.

K-2L Raid
"Kill as much as you want! Have fun!"- Ridley during the raid.

On the year 2000 of the history of the cosmos, a Pirate fleet led by Ridley made its way to the planet K-2L, sensing large amounts of fuel and plunder. K-2L was a colony under the territorial ownership of Earth which was primarily a site for mining Afloraltite, which was used for fueling ships' ignition modules. Rodney Aran, who was in charge of the mining facility, realized an attack was coming after heavy Electromagnetic waves surging through the area started toppling any ship that tried to leave.

The Pirates swept through, stealing all they could and killing everything. Samus Aran, then 3 years old, had a frightening encounter with Ridley himself, who seemed saddened in response to Samus naively asking if they could be friends. Ridley shot a projectile, but Samus's mother, Virginia Aran, pushed her out of the way and was scorched.

Eventually, the attack came to a close when Rodney sacrificed himself to destroy Ridley's flagship by using a welding laser to ignite the Afloraltite inside, causing the ship to violently explode. While this was likely a minor event for the Space Pirates as a whole at the time, it was a turning point that would decide their eventual fate, as this event was permanently ingrained in Samus Aran's memory and led to her desire to destroy the entire Space Pirate race.

Weavel's Hunt
Sometime between the Space Pirates' campaigns on Tallon IV and Aether, a mysterious telepathic message originating from the Tetra Galaxy was broadcast throughout the universe. The message was spoken in various languages, dialects, and even slangs, but all interpretations retained the same meaning: "The secret to Ultimate Power lies in the Alimbic Cluster."

Naturally, the Space Pirates must have been curious about such a compelling message, and so they sent Weavel, a former Space Pirate who had been critically injured years earlier in a fight with Samus Aran and was later rebuilt as a cyborg. Weavel's mission was to collect the eight Octoliths, which were required to activate the Alimbic Cannon to open up the Infinity Void and allow access to the Oubliette, where the ultimate power was likely held.

Weavel was unable to gain all the Octoliths before his old foe Samus Aran, but he was able to get to the Oubliette well before she did. There, Weavel and the other hunters that had embarked on the quest discovered the Seal Sphere, which they began firing at in hopes that it held the ultimate power inside. To their great horror, the Seal Sphere instead contained Gorea, a monstrous entity who was personally responsible for the extinction of the Alimbics. Gorea immediately lashed out with his tentacles, grabbed the hunters, and began assimilating their weapons, including Weavel's Battlehammer. Samus alone remained behind to kill Gorea while Weavel and the other hunters fled in shame to their ships. All of them managed to escape just in time as the Oubliette exploded behind them, thanks to Samus Aran.



BSL X-Outbreak
After the Bottle Ship incident, a few Space Pirate specimens were transported to the Biologic Space Laboratories research station before the X Parasite epidemic. What purpose the Zebesians served onboard the BSL was never revealed, though the ship was seemingly created only for observation and study of various bioforms. Upon the outbreak, X began infecting everything they encountered, including the captive Zebesians. The X also infected numerous Zeros, which evolved soon into Ki-Hunters, known allies of the Space Pirates. Samus Aran fought numerous X-infected Pirates and even encountered an X-infected version of Ridley's clone, who had been previously created by scientists on the Bottle Ship. The X were able to wield considerable power with the Pirates (creating powerful Gold Space Pirates) and even created an aquatic variation, a result of an ordinary Pirate's DNA combining with a Skultera's. Eventually, with the help of Adam, Samus Aran made certain that the X, along with all the Pirates they had infected, were destroyed when the BSL station self-destructed on SR388's atmosphere.