Wikitroid
Register
Advertisement
Wikitroid
M4 art BSL research station

The Biologic Space Laboratories research station.

The Biologic Space Laboratories research station is a large research station orbiting the planet SR388 in its solar system. Its purpose is to research various life forms from an untold number of planets in each habitat. The vessel is operated by Biologic Space Laboratories. The station was later overrun by X Parasites who killed off its entire crew, setting the events for Metroid Fusion.

There are some signs that the B.S.L has some relationship to or is possibly a recreation of the ringleaders' BOTTLE SHIP of Metroid: Other M, as many of the specimens onboard (noticeably Zebesians, Nightmare, and a clone of Ridley) were transferred to make their reappearance in Metroid Fusion. Additionally, all 3 sectors of the BOTTLE SHIP have a counterpart with the same environment on the B.S.L, and was later discovered to house a secret facility for breeding Metroids. Furthermore, the Japanese version of Metroid Fusion indicates that the whole conspiracy onboard the B.S.L, from housing bioweapons and Metroids to attempting to capture the X Parasites, was the work of rogue Federation officials.[1] However, the B.S.L was supposedly designed for research and peaceful applications only, or so the Federation claims.

Complete Map of the BSL Station

Biology[]

The B.S.L station had many unique creatures captured from SR388 and Zebes and possibly other planets, as well as transferred specimens from the BOTTLE SHIP.

Overview[]

BSL interior

The different sectors of the B.S.L

The B.S.L research station appears to have been a hollowed-out asteroid with a docking ring around the widest portion of the asteroid.

Here is a simple overview of the different parts of the station:

Main Deck

  • This area contained elevator access, storage, etc. It linked all the other parts of the station together and consisted of several sub-sections:
    • Docking Bays
      • This is where Samus first entered the space station. Her Starship was located here.
    • Quarantine Bay
      • This is where the X-infected components of Samus's Power Suit were kept, and therefore the birthplace of the SA-X. The SA-X used a Power Bomb to escape containment from this room, the ensuing explosion being the catalyst for Samus' arrival on the station.
    • Habitation Deck
      • This area contained the living quarters for the crew and the researchers. It is also where Samus found the Etecoons and Dachoras, a few of the only creatures aboard the station that had not been infected by the X (the others being the various stages of Metroids).
    • Central Reactor Core
      • This area is found covered in vines and Kihunters prior to defeating Nettori; afterwards, the area is cleared of vines and is fully functional.
    • Reactor Silo
    • Operations Deck
      • This is where the controls for the station's main operations, such as orbital position and the self-destruct mechanism, were located.
    • Main Elevator
      • This was the main entrance to the 6 sectors.
    • Sub-Zero Containment
      • This is where the cloned Ridley's drained husk was transferred to from the BOTTLE SHIP.

Sector 1 (SRX)

Sector 2 (TRO)

  • This sector was used to research creatures living in humid, jungle-like habitats, most likely based on the tropical sections of Brinstar in Super Metroid.

Sector 3 (PYR)

Sector 4 (AQA)

  • This sector was used to research marine creatures. This was most likely inspired by Maridia, the marine biome on Zebes.

Sector 5 (ARC)

Sector 6 (NOC)

  • This sector was used to research nocturnal and cave-dwelling creatures.

Restricted Zone

  • This facility is where the top-secret Metroid breeding project took place and is possibly a recreation of Sector Zero.

Each main portion area has a color represented on the diagram seen during Navigation Room briefings. Each Sector also has a color representing its overall theme, which can also be seen within the Sector elevator or their respective main halls.
From top to bottom:

Area Color
Operations Deck White
Docking Bays White
Habitation Deck Unknown, as no Navigation Rooms exist in this area.
Main Deck Dark Green/Turquoise Green
Sector 1 Yellow
Sector 2 Green
Sector 3 Red
Sector 4 Navy Blue
Sector 5 Cyan
Sector 6 Violet
Reactor Silo Dark Green/Turquoise Green
Restricted Zone Gold. This area appears on the Navigation Room diagram once the area has been discovered and jettisoned.

While the Main Deck held facilities related the station's operations and the living quarters for the scientists, Sector 1 represented the ideal Metroid breeding environment from SR388, and the other sectors represented different environmental climates: desert/volcanic, forest/tropical, aquatic/seabed, ice/arctic, nocturnal/cave. Accordingly, each sector housed different species. Sectors 2 to 6 were simply stereotypical habitat patterns used to research creatures from different planets, unlike Sector 1's strict replication of a single planet's ecosystem. Additionally, each of the six Sectors also contain two transport tubes/tunnels that connected to its neighboring Sectors (displayed in the diagram).

During Fusion[]

X infestation[]

When Samus Aran was attacked by an X Parasite on SR388, she was transported to Galactic Federation HQ. There, large portions of her Power Suit were surgically removed and transported to the research station, leaving her stripped of all of her upgrades save the basic Power Beam, and creating the Fusion Suit. However, while in the Quarantine Bay, the infected components and upgrades of her Power Suit formed together to create the SA-X. The SA-X used a Power Bomb to escape the Quarantine Bay, releasing all the X the scientists had unwittingly brought onto the station in the process. As a result, every (non Metroid) organism aboard the station was infected, save for a small group of Etecoons and Dachoras that happened to coincidentally be the very same group Samus saved from the self-destructing planet Zebes.

Samus, having been provided with a new Starship and the Fusion Suit, was sent to investigate the explosion. She soon learned the fate of every living thing aboard the station and subsequently set out to exterminate the X, even if it required her to destroy the station and herself.

Metroid breeding program[]

As Samus explored the station, she came across a Restricted Laboratory. Here, she learned that the Galactic Federation had been using the station for a secret Metroid breeding program. However, an SA-X, as the original had asexually reproduced into several copies, locked down the lab perhaps accidentally and caused it to self-destruct, ultimately destroying the program.

Destruction[]

Samus soon found out that the Galactic Federation planned on using the X for military purposes. However, she was strongly against this as she knew how dangerous they were. Her Starship's computer tried to stop Samus by locking her in a Navigation Room. Samus demanded to be released, but the computer had its orders to keep her from destroying the station, so the Federation could arrive. When she mistakenly called the computer Adam, her private name for the computer, it awakened to the fact that it was the real Adam Malkovich, Samus's late commanding officer. Adam agreed that the X are too dangerous, and he devised a plan to ram the station into SR388 using the station's propulsion system, killing all the X on board the vessel and on the planet to rid the universe of their existence. Samus set the station to crash into SR388. As Samus left the station after confronting both an SA-X and an Omega Metroid, it crashed into SR388, destroying the research station, the planet, and all X on both. The X were not rendered fully extinct by this however, as Metroid Dread revealed that there were more of them contained on planet ZDR.

Official Data[]

Official website[]

"The six-sector Biologic Space Labs research station was designed to hold specimens in self-sustaining ecosystems mimicking those of the organisms' native planets. Even extreme conditions, ranging from a planet's molten core to sub-arctic temperatures, can be replicated."

Metroid Fusion manual[]

BIOLOGIC SPACE LABS
"Metroid Fusion takes place aboard a gigantic space station, home to Biologic Space Labs research facilities. Here is a simple schematic of the station."

Trivia[]

  • The B.S.L is the last of five space stations to be destroyed, the other four being the Frigate Orpheon, Oubliette, Ceres Space Colony, and BOTTLE SHIP.
  • The original design of the B.S.L in the beta version of Metroid Fusion looks quite similar to the G.F.S. Olympus' design. By contrast, its final design resembles a more organic version of the BOTTLE SHIP, possibly hinting at a connection.
  • Interestingly in the Instruction Manual of Metroid Fusion, the colors of some areas of the B.S.L do not match with what is seen in the in-game's model. In the manual, Sector 3 is pink, Sector 4 is orange, Sector 6 is teal, the Reactor Silo is Navy Blue, and the Operations Deck is Violet. The Habitation Deck is shown in orange, despite the lack of a area color in-game due to there being no Navigation Rooms present on-board the Habitation Deck.
  • Oddly, although the Docking Bays appear to be in a higher elevation above the Main Deck area, Samus actually climbs upward from the Docking Bays into the Main Deck area.
    • It is unknown if the position of the Docking Bays on the diagram corresponds to the unused Docking Bays area, as the unused rooms appear on the same elevation plane as the Main Deck, with the Reactor Silo directly below both areas.

Gallery[]

References[]




Advertisement