Assault on the Pirate Homeworld



The Assault on the Pirate Homeworld was a full-scale attack commenced by the Galactic Federation on Urtraghus, near the end of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption.

Background
The Pirate Homeworld was the first planet to be struck by the Leviathans under Dark Samus' control. Its impact spread corruption throughout the planet and the Homeworld was quickly beginning to become like Phaaze, the Leviathan's planet of origin.

Finding the Pirate Homeworld
Sector Zero on Norion was attacked by the Space Pirates at the beginning of Corruption. The Federation sent Samus Aran, Ghor, Rundas and Gandrayda to the planet to assist in repelling the attacks. After reactivating the planetary Defense Cannon, Dark Samus appeared and attacked all of the Bounty Hunters, leaving them crippled. After regaining consciousness a month later, Samus discovered that the other Hunters had been dispatched around the galaxy, Rundas and Ghor to destroy the Bryyo and Elysia Seeds, respectively, while Gandrayda was to locate the Pirate Homeworld. All lost contact with the Federation after landing on their planets. Samus killed Rundas and Ghor when they attacked her, having succumbed to their Phazon Fever and defecting from the Federation. After destroying Elysia's Seed, Aurora Unit 242 contacted Samus to tell her that they had located an emergency GF communication capsule from Gandrayda, which revealed the location of the Pirate Homeworld. Samus infiltrated the planet, discovering that it was protected by a defense system that kept the Federation from planning an assault.

Disabling the Defense System
After killing Gandrayda, who had joined the Space Pirates after succumbing to her corruption, Samus was tasked by Fleet Admiral Castor Dane to disable the Defense System. To do so, she had to explore the Homeworld and even return to Elysia to gain the upgrades necessary for the job. Samus entered the Command Station and climbed to the top, disabling a switch using her X-Ray Visor. This opened up three Phazite panels on the defense system generator, and also alerted the Pirates. Samus fought her way through them, destroying the Phazite cores using the Nova Beam. Doing so revealed a Bomb Slot back at the top of the generator. Once Samus activated this Slot, the planetary shields were disabled, and the Federation immediately began attacking.

Federation Takeover
The Federation stormed the planet, driving many Pirates underground, though some still appeared to attack Samus and the Federation Marines. The Federation disabled all Pirate Alarm System technology and eliminated many Pirates, making exploration easier for Samus. Dane called Samus to the Skyway for a new task.

The Skyway
The Skyway was a cargo route going directly to the heavily guarded Pirate Homeworld Seed. Dane assigned twelve Demolition Troopers for Samus to lead. Samus and the Troopers raced to the final room in the Skyway, taking out Pirates and their creations. Samus had to ensure that at least four Troopers remained at the end of the journey, since there were four locks on the door leading to the Seed. She did so, and the Troopers opened the entrance for her. After destroying a Commander Squad, Samus invaded the Pirate Seed and defeated Omega Ridley, a Phazon-reenhancement of her arch-nemesis. The destruction of the Seed meant that the Homeworld would begin being purged of its Phazon corruption.

Aftermath
Dane discovered the Leviathan Battleship, an outfitted Leviathan controlled by a mysterious Pirate Code. Samus had to obtain this Code (though she may have done so before the assault began) and take control of the Battleship. She encountered little Pirate resistance on the Homeworld. When the Battleship was taken, Samus was called to a rendezvous point with the Federation Fleet, who flew into a wormhole created by the Battleship to reach the small star galaxy, and Phaaze. Whilst the Fleet fought the Pirates in a final battle, Samus confronted Dark Samus on Phaaze for the final time. Samus killed her, and the stolen and corrupted Aurora Unit 313, and the Fleet and Samus escaped through the wormhole again right before Phaaze destabilized. The destruction of Phaaze dealt a severe blowback to the Pirates, who would be weakened, and finally destroyed for good by Samus in Super Metroid.