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The facility's entrance, Central Mining Station.
The Space Pirate mining facility is the base of operations for the Space Pirates in Metroid Prime 2: Echoes. It is a former abandoned Luminoth mining facility in the Agon Wastes before the Space Pirates capture it.
Background[]
Following the loss of the bases on Tallon IV in Metroid Prime, the Pirates seek to regain their ground. They discover the presence of Phazon on planet Aether, and are given permission by High Command to investigate. The problem with this is that Aether is in the Dasha region, which is located on the fringes of Galactic Federation-controlled space. This necessitates the creation of a stealth field to hide the Pirates' activities on the planet. Also complicating matters is repeated attacks on the Pirates by shadowy creatures that cause considerable damage to the base, necessitating the sending of more combat troopes.
In the base, the Pirates discover a dark energy weapon and a spatial anomaly. Using the weapon energizes the Portal, which leads to a mirrored version of Aether, Dark Aether, the home of the creatures who have been attacking them and the location of the majority of the Phazon they have detected. However, this land is poisonous, and its very atmosphere is toxic to the Pirates. While Science Team begins developing protective armorsuit technology, more troops and supplies are being sent in to assist the ground operation.
Yet another complication arises. "Samus Aran", supposedly garbed in a new Power Suit, appears and begins attacks on the base. The Pirates discover, however, that she is more interested in obtaining Phazon than engaging them, and only when they get in her way does she fight them, and quite brutally. Calling her the "Dark Hunter", the Pirates learn mostly to ignore her until she releases several captive Tallon Metroids, hacks their Datanet, and cripples their stealth field generator. The Pirates fear detection, though this fear never becomes reality.
However, a Space Pirate starship carrying the requested supplies is shot down by the G.F.S. Tyr, which pursues the Pirates to Aether. The ship crashes and is fashioned into a wall in Central Mining Station. When the Tyr sustains damage, the Pirates grow frustrated that High Command is not ordering them to attack, even as the GFMC Task Force Herakles crew is slowly dying one-by-one at the hands of Dark Splinters. The Pirates begin to become possessed by the Ing, which are also responsible for the murder of the GF troops.
Samus Aran's arrival on Aether is the final nail in the coffin of the Pirate operations. A Pirate scout witnesses an encounter between Samus and the Dark Hunter in a Phazon site. Believing that the two hunters are enemies and not allies, the Pirates gain the idea of hiring Dark Samus to kill the real Samus in exchange for Phazon. However, they do not have time to put this plan into action because of their limited resources, and at the end of Echoes, Samus has left her dark doppelganger for dead on the collapsing Dark Aether.
The actual base goes unnamed in the game. It is the Galactic Federation Data entry "Anhur Incident" in Metroid Prime 3: Corruption which names the base.
Aftermath[]
Following Dark Aether's destruction, Samus departs Aether in search of a new bounty. This provides the Pirates some time to collect what little Phazon remains on the planet. Unknowingly, they collect the destabilized particles of Dark Samus, who regenerates herself using their Phazon supply aboard the Colossus. She then takes over the Pirate ship and becomes their new leader, leading to the events of Metroid Prime 3: Corruption.
Enemies[]
- Pirate Troopers
- Dark Pirate Troopers
- Pirate Grenadiers
- "Vigilance" Class Turrets
- Tallon Metroids
- Infant Tallon Metroids
- Pirate Aerotroopers
- Dark Samus (Boss)
List of rooms[]
- Central Station Access
- Central Mining Station
- Command Center Access
- Command Center
- Security Station B
- Biostorage Access
- Biostorage Station
- Storage B
- Security Station A
- Bioenergy Production
- Storage C
- Ventilation Area B
- Save Station B
- Sand Processing
- Main Reactor
- Storage D
- Ventilation Area A
- Transport to Sanctuary Fortress
Development notes[]
In the internal list of room names, the entire facility is referred to as "Alamo". This is most likely a reference to the Battle of the Alamo, a pivotal moment in the Texas Revolution where Mexican troops assaulted the Alamo Mission in what is now San Antonio, Texas, and killed all of the Texan defenders. Samus, in the same way, sieges the Pirate base and destroys it, which is also situated within a desert-like environment. The connection is further referenced by one sentence in Space Pirate Logs: "Here we shall make our stand." Retro Studios, the company that created the Prime series, is based in Austin, Texas.