Pirate Commando

!	This is a rare creature/object. It may only be scanned in one or few encounters.

This article is about the Space Pirate Commando class that Samus Aran encountered on planet Aether. For the class encountered around the time of the Great Invasion, see Commando Pirate.

Pirate Commando
A Pirate Commando
Featured in	Metroid Prime 2: Echoes
Knownlocales	Torvus Bog, Sanctuary Fortress
Behavior	Sentient aggressor
Attacks	Pulse Cannon, EMP grenades, energy scythe
Weakness	Any weapons
Battle music	Space Pirates

Pirate Commandos were a specially-trained group of Space Pirate in Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, designed to "hunt the Hunter". They were equipped with improved conventional Pirate weaponry, but also had powered energy shields, boostpacks, and a specially designed grenade launcher. Pirate Commandos also have armor that can even be compared to Samus's Power Suit. They were deployed on Aether, but were no match for Samus or the Ing. Only Hunter Ing were allowed to possess these prized warriors (and even then competition among them was fierce), thus creating a Dark Pirate Commando, a far more dangerous being.

History

The Pirate Commando was fought on Aether in Echoes. These Commandos were unique in appearance compared to the other Pirate Troopers, in that they were taller and wore distinctive helmets and armor plating. They also possess much more combat training than standard Pirate troops. Pirate Commandos were well armed, carrying a shoulder mounted grenade launcher with EMP grenades, a scythe for melee encounters built into their arm rifles, as well as a powerful deployable shield attached to their left arm which could deflect projectiles. The shield prevented the Pirates from utilizing their weapons while in use, however. They frequently used their thruster systems to evade fire, whilst working in a team to bring down Samus.

A squadron of Pirate Commandos entered Dark Aether on a reconnaissance mission from their base in the Agon Wastes. When Samus enters the Dark Agon Wastes later on, she finds the entire Squadron deceased, due to a multitude of causes. These include exposure to the atmosphere of Dark Aether, explosion of Phazon canisters, attacks from the Ing Horde, and even friendly fire. Scans suggest that the friendly fire was due to panic in some cases, and in others shots to the top of the spinal cord as a punishment for cowardice, a common practice amongst Pirate Commandos. Later Samus discovers remains of three Pirate Commandos at the Phazon Grounds in the Sky Temple Grounds. They are being used as a food source for Dark Tallon Metroids, with one of the Metroids visibly carrying a deceased Commando shortly before dropping it as the darkling spots Samus. Scans reveal that one Pirate Commando was taken by surprise by the Metroids, as indicated by his near-full ammo supply. The other "went out fighting" as his ammo supplies are empty.

The threat potential of Commandos was elevated greatly when they were possessed by a Hunter Ing. As well as greatly increasing their damage ability and health, the Dark Pirate Commando gained a number of other devastating weapons. New abilities included the power to fire chunks of dark energy which could obstruct the visor, as well as to phase out of reality, thus becoming intangible. However, for some reason, a Dark Pirate Commando cannot use the shield or thruster functions used originally. Despite these shortcomings, taking down a Dark Pirate Commando Unit makes for a difficult task. Oddly, nearly every Pirate Commando Samus fought on Aether was Ing-possessed, making encounters with unpossessed Commandos a very rare fight in comparison.

A crew of one hundred Pirate Commandos appears in the non-canon Metroid Prime: Episode of Aether, invading the Crest under the leadership of a boss who resembles a tougher Pirate Commando. One Pirate Commando wields a handheld gatling gun, which is taken from its corpse after Samus effortlessly wipes out the pirates despite being far outnumbered.

In Metroid Prime 3: Corruption, Pirate Commandos are replaced with the similarly-named Commando Pirates.

In Combat

Pirate Commandos naturally start the battle with straight up rapid fire (similar to Trooper Pirates from Metroid Prime) with some distancing themselves or running closer while firing. Their bullet fire travels far but is still limited in range. When Samus hides behind cover, they attempt to close in for a cleaner shot. If Samus gets too close, the Commandos in question will unleash a swift blade strike (sometimes followed up by another swipe) upon the Hunter. At mid-range or if Samus is too far away from bullet fire, Commandos tend to unleash an EMP grenade from their shoulder mounted cannon, the blast can harm Samus at close range but otherwise will greatly disrupt her Visor upon explosion. At times they will activate a small round orangish energy shield from their left arm which repels all direct beam and missile attacks. This shield only lasts for a few seconds upon being deployed however before dispersing. During activation, a Commando will attempt to always face Samus directly as to not be struck from behind.

In the Torvus Grove, Commandos are capable of performing a dash behind tree roots, allowing them to escape from Samus's weapon fire. Their massive numbers in the Sanctuary Entrance encounter allow for swarming tactics and can easily overwhelm Samus if she is not careful. However, Commandos perform less dashing during the second encounter, most likely due to the lack of ground space available as this could easily cause them to fall into their doom. Curiously, if Samus hugs close to a door, the Pirates distance themselves away either by running or back-stepping away and proceed to take cover if available (such as behind a crate, firing from their hiding spot until Samus moves closer toward their cover, where they will abandon their position and return to their standing position. While hiding, Commandos have been shown to quickly turn and fire from behind themselves, a trained tactic likely used to prevent ambushes. If no suitable cover is available, A Pirate Commando will close in on Samus and assault her with rapid fire and heavy weapons.

Pirate Commandos are resistant to most weaponry but can virtually be taken down with just about any weapon within Samus's arsenal. A Super Missile will naturally cause knockback, allowing for additional attacks (or for pushing them into their doom in the case of the Sanctuary Fortress encounter). An Entangler shot can freeze them, allowing a Missile to shatter them instantly. During both encounters, Commandos can be lured toward a pile of Phazon canisters, where the explosion can be used against them (they may survive this explosion on Hard Mode however, unless weakened beforehand). The shield isn't large and the accompanying Pirate can still receive damage if aimed at an area outside of the shield's circumference (specifically the backside, though Commandos always try to adjust their bodies to always face Samus). Weapons with a large blast radius such as the Darkburst, Sunburst and Sonic Boom (via Sequence Breaking) may still harm a Commando if aimed away from a shield's direct range and if not repelled. If Power Bombs are obtained via Sequence Breaking, Pirate Commandos can be incinerated easily similar to a Phazon Container explosion. A well placed Screw Attack (also via Sequence Breaking) can also inflict incredible damage. Interestingly, if executed while their shield is active, it may destroy it, preventing further usage in combat. Commandos also receive flinching damage and knockback from both the Annihilator Beam and Imploder respectively (both via Sequence Breaking) and receive heavy stun damage from the latter. Both the shield and standard projectile fire can easily be seen using the Echo Visor (also via Sequence Breaking).

Locations

• Command Center (unscannable)
• Phazon Site
• Save Station 3
• Oasis Access
• Torvus Grove
• Sanctuary Entrance
• Phazon Grounds

Logbook entries

Pirate Commando

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes

Temporary scan

Morphology: Pirate Commando
Elite Space Pirate shocktrooper.
Well-armed and armored, dangerous at any range. Limited-use shield repels most attacks.

Logbook entry

Dedicated to "hunting the Hunter," Space Pirate Commando units have been equipped with the latest weapons, including a variable Pulse Cannon, e-grenade launcher, and energy scythe. Powerful thrusters carry them at high speed over any terrain. A portable barrier shield repels most attacks, but can only be deployed for limited periods.

Development Data

Unused Logbook data seen in the Bonus Disc.

Internal data within the final version of Metroid Prime 2: Echoes names the Pirate Commando as CommandoPirate.

In the Metroid Prime 2: Echoes Bonus Disc, Dark Pirate Commandos appear in the Command Center. Internal data reveals that these enemies were originally intended to be standard non-possessed Pirate Commandos. In the final game, this "dark" model was used for the Dark Pirate Commandos. This seems to explain why Dark Pirate Commandos appear more often and why they were featured more prominently in promotional material when compared to their light counterparts. If this was the original intention, then, given the Commando's original "dark" armor color (which resembles the Dark Suit) heavily implies that the Pirate Commandos were equipped with Dark Suit technology, possibly salvaged from deceased Luminoth (in the final game, only the Ing have a Dark Suit under possession, at the Dark Agon Temple). This would further make sense as the "dark" model has an orange visor and no traces of visible Pirate body parts; full covering would be more suited for protection against Dark Aether's atmosphere.

Unused Scan Data can also be found within the Bonus Disc, with a Logbook entry viewable via hacking. The model used is the same one seen in the demo: the "Dark Suit" Commando. The creature's name is Commando Pirate (matching its final internal name). One notable difference seen exclusively in the Bonus Disc is an additional line of text at the end, which references a unique ability. According to text, this "Shadow Cloak" appears to be an ability similar to the "Time-Space warping" ability of the Dark Pirate Commandos in the final game, suggesting this ability on the normal Commandos was carried over to the dark variant instead. Besides this, much of its entry appears almost identical to the final, with minor changes to text such as capital letters.

Pirate Commando

Metroid Prime 2: Echoes Bonus Disc

Logbook entry

Dedicated to "hunting the Hunter," Space Pirate Commando units have been equipped with the latest weapons, including a Variable Pulse cannon, E-Grenade launcher, and Energy scythe. Powerful thrusters carry them at high speed over any terrain. A portable Barrier Shield repels most attacks, but can only be deployed for limited periods. Finally, they possess a "shadow cloak," which renders them insubstantial and invisible. Employing this device leaves an energy decoy behind; this can confuse your targeting systems.

Trivia

• A Pirate Commando's EMP attack is similar to that of a tactic shared with an Elite Pirate from Metroid Prime. Both types of Pirates utilize a shoulder mounted cannon and fire at Samus when too distant.
• A Pirate Commando's standard bullet fire is capable of being reflected off a locked door and even another Pirate Commando's active shield.
• A Pirate Commando's rifle weapon appears attached to much of their right arm in a similar fashion Samus wields her Arm Cannon. It is possible this similarity was intentional and may be an attempt at copying Samus's style, as Pirates have been know to reverse engineer Samus's technology in the past (the term "hunting the Hunter" may possibly allude to this mimicry).
• The Death Ball (via hacking) is capable of destroying an active shield without killing a Pirate Commando if one inches slowly.

Gallery

Model.

Promotional render.

Pirate Commandos overlook a ledge.

A Pirate Commando uses its thruster system and shield to slide down a ramp.

Close-up of the shield. Here, the Commando has its circumference extended.

Two Pirate Commandos in Torvus Grove.

One Pirate Commando stunned by the Disruptor (via Sequence Breaking).

Samus battles two Pirate Commandos in the Torvus Bog, New Play Control! and Trilogy.

Both normal and Dark Pirate Commandos at Torvus Grove (via Sequence Breaking).

Samus battles two Pirate Commandos in the Sanctuary Fortress.

A Pirate Commando covered with electrical energy from the Annihilator Beam (via Sequence Breaking) while another Pirate has its shield active.

A Pirate Commando positioned for cover-fire, taking refuge behind a crate.

Samus destroys a Commando's shield, avoids a quick slice from the scythe, and receives a quick bullet hit.