Federation Marine

Federation Marines are members of the Galactic Federation Marine Corps, also known as the GFMC, who wear advanced powered armorsuits. These suits allow them to use potent weapons and resist heavy damage in battle; few can match them in combat. One of the most common sights on Federation worlds, the Marines are the rank-and-file soldiers of the Galactic Federation.

Although they are mentioned frequently throughout the series in the instruction booklets, they are first introduced in Metroid Prime 2: Echoes when a Space Pirate Frigate crashed on Aether and they met the Ing. Echoes tells the story of GFMC Task Force Herakles's fight against the Ing Horde, revealing much background information about the Federation Marines. They travel around the Federation in patrol ships. The Marines mostly fight against the Space Pirates that attack planets, space stations, and other places located in the Federation universe. Unfortunately, even the weapon of a Pirate Militia, with more damaging projectiles, can be used to kill troops quickly.

History
It is unknown why the Federation first deployed these troops, but they seem to have retconned the Federation police, which could mean they were meant to counter the Space Pirates.

Operations
The marines, as the main ground and shipboard forces, have likely participated in many missions, two notable ones are depicted in the games:

The Aether Incident
While on patrol in the Dasha Region GFMC Task Force Herakles (on board the GFS Tyr) engaged a Space Pirate frigate near a planet called Aether. When the Pirates retreated to the planet the GFS Tyr followed in pursuit, but was damaged in a storm during approach. They were forced to land in the Temple Grounds, and set up their base camp there while they waited for Federation to respond to their distress signal. They split into two teams; Team One tried to repair the Tyr, and Team Two searched for the Space Pirates. Both teams were doing fine until they stumbled upon the Splinters. Team Two attempted to wipe out the Splinters, but was slowly worn down. Eventually a large swarm of Dark Splinters wiped out all of Team One. Later, the only remaining member of Team Two was killed by wildlife.

Space Pirates and Phazon
During Dark Samus' command of the Space Pirates, multiple space battles were fought at Norion, the Pirate Homeworld, and Phaaze, while marines protected the ships from boarding craft and were used as ground troops at Norion and the Pirate Homeworld.

Equipment
Federation Marines wear protective armour suits which increase their durability, and wield rapid firing assault rifles. The design of these differs between games.

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes and prior
Their armour was a metallic gray color and had large shoulder and knee pads shaped in the symbol of the Federation. They also had orange highlights on their shoulders in Hunters, as well as slimmer arms.

The GF Marines are armed with rapid-fire assault weapons that fire energy charges, though their actual workings are unknown as of this time. The weapons feed off of an energy cell of some sort, which fit into the rear of the weapon. The weapons themselves are not attached to the armor; both spare Marine assault weapons and emptied power cells can be found around the crash site of their crashed ship on Aether, and Marines can use either this assault weapon or other, similar weapons that can easily be mounted (such as the PED trooper's PED laser or the Missile Trooper's missile launcher). The GF assault weapon has no iron sights, and presumably relies on a heads-up display linked to the wearer's armor to accurately pinpoint targets. The power cells are believed to be rechargeable, but constant attacks by the Ing were implied to have worn down their available energy cells considerably via consecutive attack waves. The weapon is balanced enough to be wielded one-handed.

In combat, the GF trooper's assault weapon lays down a withering hail of firepower, boasting both good accuracy and a surprisingly-fast fire rate. Dark Troopers - functionally the Ing-animated corpses of GF Marines - are capable of slowly and methodically wearing down Samus' shielding if she dawdles around too long in areas where they are. It is implied that if they were used by the actual marines, they would be much more effective due to superior marksmanship and accuracy.

The weapons are implied to have a fold-out bayonet under the frame, rather like the scythe-like blades favored by Space Pirates. A foregrip below the weapon's barrel enables it to be easily stabilized for full-auto or long-ranged fire, and is designed to act as a brace when using the weapon in close-combat.

Metroid Prime 3: Corruption and after
The Marines' armour is different in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption. It is possible that this is a redesign or a different model (maybe a version better suited to shipboard combat). It is much less bulky, darker, and has blue highlights in place of the orange in previous models. The chest plate armour is also in the shape of the Federation symbol.

The helmet is smaller and is shaped more like the human head, and the visor is more like a "T" shape than the Federation symbol. A raised triangle on the visor's top is similar to the one seen on Samus' Fusion Suit.

They retained the rapid fire weapons, now referred to as assault rifles, yet they are sleeker, cover more of the arm, and have half the rate of fire. The visual and audio effects made when firing seem less like projectile fire, possibly retconning the earlier mentioned use of ammo, although it may be possible that the weapons have become more advanced between Echoes and Corruption and have been converted to energy weapons to prevent an overdependence on ammo or is a different model issued for shipboard combat. The rounds themselves seem more like energy weapons than before.

Missile Troopers
The Dark Missile Trooper from Team 2 is a boss in Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. He acts almost completely the same as any Dark Trooper, only with more health and fire missiles instead. The reward is a missile expansion. The strength and variety of Missile Troopers is unknown, as only one is encountered, and it was possessed by an Ing.

Demolition Troopers
Demolition Troopers are members of the Galactic Federation who are outfitted with explosive weaponry for special missions. They are only featured in Metroid Prime 3. While capable of destroying the strongest of barriers, they have weaker armor than most marines and often rely on others to cover them while in battle, i.e. they are not as capable in combat as traditional marines. They look almost identical to standard marines but with slight differences in armor structure (mainly on the back) and with orange highlights instead of blue. Their visors are orange and in the shape of a T. They carry explosive packs on their backs, and are armed with the standard assault rifles (again, with orange highlights). Supposedly, the orange or yellow highlights are just one variety as one trooper says "Our group color is yellow." indicating the highlights may vary from one team to another. It is also possible that by "Group" the Marine was referring to Demolition troopers in general (Thus the group color of standard marines would be blue).

"PED" Marines
Federation "PED Marines" were Federation Marines of the Galactic Federation with a Phazon Enhancement Device attached to their suit. Only elite troops were allowed to use the devices. With the attachment of the PED, PED Marines could utilize Phazon to increase the power of their armor. While active, the "PED" enhanced the attack and defense systems of their suits, making them much stronger than normal troops. Unlike users of the Space Pirate PED, (who seem to have no care for the health of their comrades), none of the Federation PED marines showed signs of Phazon sickness.

Deceased PED Marines can be found prior to the Aurora Chamber on the wrecked vessel, the G.F.S. Valhalla. According to scans on the two deceased marines, their suits were presumably overloaded by a Phazon grenade thrown by a Space Pirate, as they are surrounded by Phazon that is apparently "in the process of absorbing the dead bodies." While the suits on the dead marines are no different from any other PED Marine, their suits have two protruding blades similar to wings. This may be an extra storage device for Phazon or it may be a different variety of PED Marine equipped with a jet pack. Unfortunately, as no living variety of this Marine is encountered they cannot be scanned as a new creature.

PED marines were not seen before Metroid Prime 3: Corruption as the technology used by them was a recent development, and it became useless not long after being put to use as all Phazon was eventually rendered inert after the destruction of Phaaze and all Phazon.

Dark Troopers
Dark Troopers are reanimated Galactic Federation Marines that have been possessed by the Ing Horde. When Samus Aran, (who was looking for the missing GFMC Task Force Herakles on Aether), finds them they are not fully possessed and have slow, zombie-like reaction times, however their weapon systems are fully functional. Single charged shots can easily kill them, although whether this is indicative of standard trooper durability is unknown. Their eyes are a solid purple, as well as their skin. They are only featured in Prime 2.



Brawl sticker
The Federation Trooper sticker automatically gives any character it is assigned to a Super Scope in The Subspace Emissary.


 * Federation Trooper Metroid Prime 2: Echoes - Carry Super Scope (All)

Rescued Marines
There are five Marines of notable mention in Corruption. During the Pirate invasion on the G.F.S. Olympus, five Marines can be saved from death by Samus. Rescuing each of them will reward Samus a Blue Credit.

The first and second Marines can be found in the Port Observation Deck. As Samus walks through the room, a Space Pirate Boarding Pod crashes into the wall. Pirate Militia emerge and attack the Marines, but Samus kills them and saves them. In this case, the Marines' weapons will also damage the Pirates, so saving them does not require so much effort.

The third Marine is located in the Xenoresearch Lab room, being attacked by a pair of Crawltanks that had wounded him prior to Samus' arrival. After being rescued, he appears to be in pain, though insists that he is in good condition if Samus continues to talk to him. After being saved, he managed to get to safety by the time Samus returned to the room as a trio of Space Pirates attempted to steal the Energy Cell after arriving via a Boarding Pod.

The fourth Marine is located in the Lab Access room, alongside a companion. They managed to hold their ground against a pair of Pirate Militia until a Stiletto-Class Fighter crashed into the hallway and exploded on contact, destroying itself and its pilot. The ensuing explosion caused the remaining Pirates and the Marine's companion to be sucked out into the vacuum of space, killing him as well. A faulty sealing mechanism prevented the door from sealing off the damaged hallway, forcing the Marine to hold on for dear life or else be sucked out into space.

Samus, however, arrived and managed to shoot the locking mechanism above the door, causing it to seal off the exposed area and allow the ship's artificial gravity to come back into effect. Now safe, the Marine promptly secured the area. After sealing the doors, he falls down. He humorously attempts to stand but stumbles back to the floor and remains in this position. He is voiced by Christopher Sabat, the voice actor for Rundas.

The fifth and final Marine is located in the Repair Bay Shaft room. This Marine was pinned down inside the hallway just before the hangar bay by a pair of Aeromines. His weapon was ineffective against their shields.

It is interesting to note that when the Aeromine had its shield down his weapons still did nothing. This may be because the developers may have wanted to imply in a greater way that the Marine is helpless unless Samus saves him. After Samus had unsealed the door and activated the bridge extension mechanism, she managed to attract the Aeromine's attention. After she destroyed them and the rest of their squad, the Marine went on to secure the area.

Trivia

 * The Biologic's research team members from Metroid Fusion look similar to the Marines found in Metroid Prime 2: Echoes and Metroid Prime 3: Corruption; however, the research team members have never officially been related to the marines.
 * The first voice-acted line of dialogue in the Metroid series is spoken by a Marine in Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. During the scene portraying the soldiers' fall at the talons of the Ing, the Marine on top of the Tyr alerts his comrades with a cry of, "Incoming! They're closing in fast! I need backup! I need backup!"
 * Federation Marines are featured in the start-up video of Metroid Prime: Hunters, encountering the Bounty Hunter Sylux.
 * When Gandrayda tricks Samus by pretending to be a Marine, she uses the designation NZG41, which may give some insight into how Marines are numbered and may possibly indicate ranking.
 * The Galactic Federation Army 07th Platoon is seen in Metroid: Other M. These soldiers have blue-colored armor and large orange visor. The large shoulder pads and cross-shaped structure affixed to the breastplate have been eliminated. These troopers are shown as working with Samus Aran during her time with the Federation. Army soldiers resemble Marines, but with smoother, sleeker armor features, a different color scheme, and wield a projectile-based assault rifle and a Freeze Gun.
 * A dead body resembling a Federation Marine or another type of GF soldier can be found just outside of Kraid's room in Super Metroid. Sbugs can be seen feeding on it.
 * Sylux's suit has a similar appearance to all of the Marines' suits. This may refer to the fact that Sylux steals equipment from the Federation.