The Space Pirates were interstellar nomads, technologically advanced in both space travel and weaponry.
When they plundered the Metroid population that had been discovered by the Galactic Federation on SR388, they recognized in
them massive military and energy resource potential. They immediately invaded the nearby planet of Zebes, wiping out all life
(including most of the indigenous Chozo) and building a massive network of research facilities below the planet's surface.
Deep below the surface of Zebes, the Space Pirates researched Metroids for many years, even as a young girl
orphaned by their raid on the neighboring planet K-2L was growing up amoung the Chozo. Trained as a warrior and infused with
Chozo blood, Samus Aran donned a Chozo-made Power Suit and cut a swath through the Space Pirates' operation, destroying everything
in her path, including the gargantuan mainstays of the Space Pirate army. Ridley and Kraid. She eventually made it to the
core of their base, destroyed all the Metroids she saw, and seemingly blew up the Mother Brain.
But the Space Pirates were far from finished. They immediately split their survivors into two main camps.
One headed to Zebes to begin rebuilding their ravaged facility and resuscitating Mother Brain, Ridley, and Kraid. The second
set out in search of a planet with powerful energy resources. They didn't search far before they discovered Tallon IV, which
was still emanating huge pulses of energy from the Phazon contained beneath the Chozo temple. Entranced by the massive potential
of the strange mutagen, they immediately moved in, retrofitting their laboratories, transporters, and life-support systems
into the Chozo Ruins.
As the Space Pirates mined the Phazon and experimented with it, they found that its capacity to mutate was
unlike anything they'd ever seen, and they promptly started combining it with indigenous life-forms. They refined their operation;
powering their machinery with thermal-powered engines sunk in the molten depths of Tallon IV, they drove deep mineshafts and
mined more and more Phazon, shipping it to their two main labs in the Phendrana Drifts, where sub-zero temperatures made specimen
containment safer. Research leaped forward: by harnessing Phazon's power, they were able to create untold horrors that soon
patrolled the dark caverns below Tallon IV's crust.
The Space Pirates also transported many species to their orbiting ship for zero-G Phazon experiments,
unaware that Samus Aran had finally tracked their ship to its low orbit. As they continued with their unnatural experiments,
Samus sped toward Tallon IV, preparing to wipe them out once and for all...
