Samus discovers the Space Pirate Mothership.Īlone, Samus Aran successfully landed on the surface of Zebes, which was, in fact, the planet where Samus had been raised as a child by the Chozo. Meanwhile, in a room hidden deep within the center of the Pirate Fortress, the preparations for multiplying the Metroids were steadily progressing. They launched a full assault on the planet, though Pirate resistance was strong, causing the Federation Police to retreat. After a desperate search, the Federation officials discovered the Space Pirates' base of operations on the planet Zebes. If the Space Pirates were able to breed the Metroids and use the creatures as biological weapons, the destruction of all galactic civilization would be inevitable. The hypotheses that the Metroids were responsible for one of the greatest mysteries in the entire galaxy - the extinction of all life on planet SR388 - was generally accepted as fact. Furthermore, it was possible to replicate Metroids in vast numbers by exposing them to beta rays. The Space Pirates' objective was to acquire these life-forms: known simply as Metroids, these floating organisms were incredibly dangerous, as they could latch onto any other organism and drain its life-energy. In the year 20X5 of the Cosmic Calendar, the Space Pirates attacked a deep-space research vessel and seized capsules containing samples of an unknown species that had been discovered on planet SR388.
