Metroid Prime 2: Echoes

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Introduction.

The Luminoth.... For centuries, this sentient race of moth-like beings has
lived in peace on their home planet of Aether. Centuries ago, during
their Golden Age, they lived free of conflict and suffering. The
Luminoth had developed four Energy Controllers that would harness the
power of Aether itself, and disperse it throughout the land for all to
use. These four Energy Controllers were built at the top of their sacred
temples in each land; Agon, Torvus, Sanctuary and the Great Temple
itself. Because the Energy Controllers drew power from Aether itself,
whosoever controlled them could control the planet itself. Then, 80
years ago, a great meteor struck Aether. The meteor contained large
amounts of Phazon, a radioactive substance that was terribly chaotic and
unstable, capable of wiping out an entire ecosystem. The collision of
the meteor and the high quantities of Phazon created a dimensional rift
on Aether, creating a parallel world. This world would come to be known
as Dark Aether, Aether's poisonous twin. The Ing Horde, terrifying
beasts born of this darkness, attempted to claim Aether as their own.
When Dark Aether was created, the planetary energy held within the
Energy Controllers was divided amongst the two worlds. After long years
of war, the Luminoth devised a method of turning the tables on their
opponents; the Energy Transfer Module. With this device, Luminoth
warriors could venture into Dark Aether and take back the energy within,
transferring it to Aether. When all the energy from one world was gone,
that world would collapse and cease to exist. However, the Ing stole
this technology, and the Luminoth's plan backfired. One by one, Aether's
Energy Controllers fell to the hands of the Ing, and the Luminoth were
driven to the brink of extinction, until only the Main Energy Controller
remained. Soon, the Ing will win the war and plunge Aether into eternal
darkness, unless they can be stopped. As a legendary bounty hunter,
Samus Aran has been sent to Aether by the Galactic Federation to track
down a missing team of Galactic Federation Troopers that was in pursuit
of a band of Space Pirates. Space Pirates, whom Samus vanquished during
her previous operations, are a race of villainous creatures bent on
universal domination. After their fall on the planets Zebes and Tallon
IV, they set out to find a new source of Phazon. As if a great war, a
missing squad of soldiers and a band of dangerous creatures weren't
enough for Samus, a great evil also stalks Aether, one whom has returned
for vengeance in a brand new and deadly figure....

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Walkthrough.

This section describes the game with full detail. When you read through
the walkthrough, take note of CAPITALIZED words, which indicate
important items such as new enemies, suit augmentations, weapon
expansions and more. The walkthrough has been divided into the following
thirteen chapters:

1.      A World Apart.
2.      The Ing Horde.
3.      The Hunter's Echo.
4.      Dark Agon Temple.
5.      Metroid Pinball.
6.      The Depths of Torvus.
7.      Swamp Thing.
8.      Heavy-Metal Hunting.
9.      Seeing Sound.
10.     Attack of the Skyscraper.
11.     The Nine Keybearers.
12.     The King of Ingland.
13.     Prime Revenge.

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Chapter 1: A World Apart.

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Chronologically, Metroid Prime 2: Echoes takes place soon after the
first Metroid Prime. A short while ago, Samus received word that the
Galactic Federation Squad Bravo had gone missing on the planet Aether
after pursuing a fallen Space Pirate warship that the squad had battled.
Samus's contract agreement required that she locate the missing troopers
and assist them. After Samus tracks the team's location and arrives on
Aether however, a strange atmospheric storm causes her to make an
unscheduled landing on Aether's dangerous surface.

This is where your game begins. The planet Aether is divided into five
areas, each containing unique environments, wildlife and architecture.
These areas are connected by transports that take you from area to area.
Additionally, each area has a light and a dark side, but you needn't
worry about that just yet. The room you begin in is the Landing Site,
which is within the Temple Grounds area. You can always return to the
Landing Site to use SAMUS'S GUNSHIP. Although the ship is incapable of
flying after the crash, its save and ammo refill functions remain
intact. Take a few seconds to get used to the game's controls. Veterans
to the series will find that they are the same as before. Using your
Scan Visor, scan your ship to download it as an entry in your Log Book.
To exit the room, walk forward from your ship and target the gray
webbing ahead. Shoot the green center so that the web dissolves. Repeat
this process on two more webs to reach a blue door. Use your Power Beam
to open the door, and continue.

The passage beyond is the Hive Access Tunnel. Up ahead, the path will
split into two directions, but the left fork is blocked by a gate with a
strange violet symbol on it. You have no choice but to take the path on
your right. Drop down into the foggy pit at the end of the path.

After you drop to the bottom of the pit, you'll be in Hive Chamber A,
the first chamber in a series of derelict caverns filled with danger.
The room is filled with various boxes and crates; scan if you must, and
then head towards the back end of the room. You'll find the exit blocked
by a GF GATE MK VI, a Galactic Federation security gate operated by a
pair of locks just above it. To open the locks, scan the control panel
module next to the gate. This will open the locks above the gate. Shoot
the locks to raise the gate, and then continue down the path until you
can go no further. Once again, an indestructible obstacle bars your
path. The control panel to this gate isn't openly visible, but if you
follow the cables that run along the ground from the door, you'll find
the control panel hidden in a crevice on your right. Scan the controls
to cause the gate to retract. Once you're in the second half of the Hive
Chamber, turn right and locate the rotating hologram in the back of the
room. This is a Map Station. Step into the hologram to download the area
map from the station. You'll find an area Map Station in most of the
other areas, but this one only provides a partial map of the Temple
Grounds. A second Map Station that you'll find later on will allow you
to upload the rest of the Temple Grounds layout. Now, turn left and
shoot the gray webbing out of your way to get to another blue door.

The Hive Tunnel is pretty creepy, and it quickly becomes apparent that
something very wrong happened to the Bravo team. Dead Federation
Troopers hang from the ceiling, while rogue insects scavenge their
bodies. Take a moment to scan the corpses, which will provide clues as
to how the troopers died. Also, scan the WORKER SPLINTERS prowling
around. The Worker Splinters seem too preoccupied with the troopers to
give you any trouble, and they aren't that dangerous anyway. Blast them
all with the Power Beam, and then continue by shooting down another gray
web ahead. Continue to the next room.

The Command Chamber is the center of the Galactic Federation's ill-fated
underground base. There are more splinters and dead feds inside,
including the soldier in front of the entrance who can be scanned for
the trooper log of GSGT C. BENET. The control panel Benet was trying to
operate lacks power, so you'll have to find an alternate way around. To
your left, you'll see a cargo gate. You can use your Morph Ball to slip
underneath the structure, but don't roll under before scanning the
trooper along the wall for the log of SPC B. REEVS. On the other side of
the cargo gate, follow the scurrying splinters into a small opening in
the back wall. The tunnel leads to a chamber in the back of the room.
Use a Morph Ball Bomb to break apart the obstacle midway through. When
you emerge on the other side, pass through the littered corpses and head
to the back of the chamber, behind the center structure. The circular
device on the other side is a BOMB SLOT. After scanning it, roll into
your Morph Ball, and then bomb-jump (use a bomb to propel yourself
upwards) up into the slot. Drop another bomb while inside to activate
the slot. This will restore the power to the control panel back in the
main chamber.

Things go wrong from here on out. As soon as you try and make your way
out of the room, something creepy happens to the dead troopers within
the room. A dark mass of a mysterious shadowy substance seeps into their
bodies and somehow brings the troopers back to life! Scan these newly-
animated DARK TROOPERS and prepare to fight. They aren't really that
tough to defeat, but you must battle about a half dozen of them. Dodge
their blaster shots and bombard them with Power Beam blasts. Collect any
pickups (health units and missile ammo) that appear and roll back
through the tunnel.

Back inside the main Command Chamber, a few of the troopers that were
lying dead before will also become possessed with the strange dark
substance and attack you. Use missiles to kill them quickly if you want.
When the calm is restored, return to the control panel that the trooper
named Benet was attempting to open. With the power restored, you can
scan the control panel and move the cargo gate out of the way, exposing
an exit along the left wall. More zombie troopers will attack you from
the path beyond. Defeat them and continue until you reach the blue door.

The Hive Storage holds nothing interesting other than some large boxes
that can be shot open for pickups. Use missiles or the Charge Beam to
break open the larger crates. Turn a sharp left and continue through the
passage to the next blue door.

Your second peculiar encounter with the mysteries of Aether will be
within Hive Chamber B. As you step into the room, a dark being that
resembles Samus will appear from the fog and drift through the room,
before disappearing into the portal in the back of the chamber. You'll
have no choice but to follow the dark hunter into the dimensional rift.
The portal will warp Samus to Aether's parallel dimension counterpart;
Dark Aether. This is Samus's first taste of Aether's dark side. Even the
air within this twisted land of darkness is toxic to most life forms
that breathe it. Samus's only means of protection from the atmosphere is
the glowing crystal generating a protective bubble of light around her.
When Samus emerges, she confronts the dark hunter, who is busy absorbing
energy from the blue Phazon behind her. Dark Samus shoots out the
protective light crystal, and then leaves Samus for dead as a watching
pack of shadow creatures attack. Samus manages to escape just in time,
but at a great price. When she returns to the Hive Chamber, she finds
that the shadow monsters managed to steal her gear before she was able
to get away. Your Missile Launcher, Morph Ball Bombs, Boost Ball and
Spider Ball have all been pillaged by the shadow creatures of Dark
Aether, leaving you only with your basic equipment.

The portal you reemerged from has burnt out, so you have no chance of
reclaiming your lost gear right now. You'll have to do without it and
continue to the end of the room. The exit to Hive Chamber B is blocked
off by another solid gate, and this time there are no control panels to
this gate to grant you access through it. To get by the gate, shoot the
green, acidic plant forms growing near the base of the gate. After you
shoot them all out of the way, a Morph Ball tunnel will be revealed
along the right wall. Roll through the tunnel to get to Hive Chamber C.

Four more possessed Dark Troopers will attack you once you roll out of
the tunnel. Without your trusty missiles, they'll be a bit tougher to
defeat. Use the Charge Beam to deliver a single-hit kill to the zombie
troopers. Now, blast the crates to your right to reveal a door to a Save
Station. By stepping into this station, your energy will be restored and
you'll get to save your game. Use this station before moving on. To exit
the hive network, use the second door back in the main chamber.

There is a small elevator in the Hive Transport Area that will take you
out of the hive system. To operate the lift, scan the control panel next
to it and then step into the hologram that appears. After your ascent,
you'll find yourself on the other side of the Hive Access Tunnel, which
you previously couldn't get through thanks to the gate with the purple
symbol. Another similar gate blocks this end of the passage, so you'll
have to turn around continue through the blue door at the far end of the
room.

The Industrial Site's main clearing is closed off by another GF Gate.
Scan the control panel and then shoot the two locks to open the gate,
just like before. There is plenty to scan inside the Industrial Site. As
you step out into the open, look for the GREEN KRALEE on the wall, above
a ledge on your left. Green Kralee are pretty harmless and spend their
time prowling amongst walls and other surfaces. If they get in your way,
just blast them. Continue forward and then turn to the right. Up ahead,
you'll find a control panel. Scan the panel to raise the large cargo
crate in the path out of the room. With it out of your way, head right,
but stop to scan one of the three objects along the back wall before you
get too close. SPLINTER COCOONS each house a dormant splinter. By
shooting the cocoons, you'll eliminate the splinter inside, but you'll
also awaken the remaining splinters. If you approach them, all three
will emerge and attack. Either way, you'll end up fighting SPLINTERS.
Splinters look just like Worker Splinters, but they're more aggressive
and will attack you, so destroy them before they cause you too much
trouble. Ignore the door with the purple symbol on your right, and climb
up to the ledge on the left side of the room. Follow the ledge up and
around to the front of the Industrial Site. Shoot the Green Kralee on
the wall as you make your way to a gap. The large metal bridge ahead is
a GF BRIDGE. To lower it across the gap, scan the nearby control panel
and then shoot the pair of locks at the top of the bridge. Cross the
bridge to the opposite ledge and use the blue door here.

In the Collapsed Tunnel beyond, scan the deceased trooper, PFC M.
VERONI. The tunnel is blocked off by rubble, but there's a Morph Ball
tunnel along the ground that takes you through the obstruction. After
going through, shoot the pair of Green Kralee on the other side and
enter the next room.

Step out into the Temple Assembly Site and watch the short introduction
to the Temple Grounds. The Temple Grounds acts as a hub to the three
other main areas, and it also surrounds an ancient temple at the top of
a mountain. But before you can explore these new areas, you'll need to
seek further clues as to what happened to the doomed Galactic Federation
Troopers. You'll see a few Splinters roaming around, so shoot them and
then climb up to the ledge in front of the sealed gate. More Splinters
will attack you from their cocoons when you get up there. Now turn from
the gate and locate the control panel in front of one of the six
statues. Scan the panel to lower the suspended crate that's hanging off
to your left (the same crate you moved earlier). When the crate drops,
its weight will weaken the cable holding it. Shoot the cable until it
snaps, dropping the crate to the ground. You can now jump onto the crate
and use it as a platform to reach the door in the back. You'll have to
return later to see what's behind that red door near the entrance.

In the Dynamo Chamber, scan the open gate above you. A GF GATE MK VII
has no locks, but a nearby control panel can be used to operate it. The
gates can also be broken when you use the Power Bomb, which you won't
get until much later. Ahead of you, you'll see another gate. To the left
of this gate is the device that operates both gates. Scan the device so
that the gate ahead of you opens and the one behind closes. You won't be
able to go back to the previously-explored rooms anymore, until you find
an alternate way. Anyway, shoot the Splinters that appear from the other
side of the gate and proceed.

The path through the Communication Area is pretty straightforward. Walk
along the path, killing Splinters as you go, until you see a gate. Walk
around the gate and scan PFC L. BROUDA, the fallen trooper. You'll also
find a control panel near the trooper. The panel affects the radar dish
above you, but because of atmospheric interference, the dish's
transmission will fail when you scan the panel. Continue down the path,
and defeat the Dark Troopers that rise from the dead at the end.

When you get to the Trooper Security Station, some Splinters and a
GROWLER CLASS TURRET will attack you. To kill the stationed turret,
shoot it with a single charged shot. If you hang back far enough, the
turret will start to kill the Splinters in the room for you. Be sure to
scan the Growler Class Turret before you leave, because they're
exceedingly rare to find. The path ahead is blocked by more Mk VII
gates. The gate on the right has a control panel behind it, but you'll
have to get in front of it to be able to scan it. Locate the Morph Ball
tunnel along the right wall and roll through to get to the panel. Scan
it, and SPC M. ANGSETH, before rolling back through the tunnel. The
panel will cause the gate on your left to open and close erratically.
Roll through the gap while the gate is open, but don't let it close on
you. Use the blue door at the end of the tunnel.

Enter the GFMC Compound. This is the site of the Galactic Federation
team's initial landing on planet Aether. Walk forward until the cut-
scene plays. When Samus checks to see if a nearby fallen trooper may
still be alive, she finds a record log of Bravo team's operations on
Aether. The team was battling a Space Pirate vessel above Aether and
managed to ground the defeated frigate. When the troopers pursued
however, they were forced to crash-land when their ship was damaged upon
passing through the strange atmospheric storm. The team split into two
groups; one to stay and repair the ship, and one to establish a nearby
ops base. Unfortunately, both teams were slaughtered when a swarm of
dark-possessed creatures invaded the premises. After the scene ends,
you'll be free to explore the rest of the room. When exploring the
compound, watch out for the cliff behind the ship with the pretty view.
If you fall, you'll start back at the top of the cliff with ten less
health points. Also, make sure to scan as much as possible to update
your Log Book. Start by scanning the Galactic Federation ship, the GFS
Tyr. Now, scan the bodies of the dead troopers in the area for the log
entries of CAPT A. EXETER, SPC F. TRIPLETTE, PFC G. HALEY, PFC S.
MILLIGAN, LCPL J. BRODE and PFC I. CRANY. Crany's body is located on a
ledge in front of a yellow door, in front of the ship. After scanning
everything, enter the ship and walk towards the back end. Scan the
closed door along the back wall to reveal a Map Station behind. Step
into this station to upload the rest of the Temple Grounds layout. After
that, head back outside and find the large yellow and black crate in the
clearing, to the left of the Tyr. Charge your Power Beam and shoot the
crate to reveal its contents; the MISSILE LAUNCHER. Lucky for you, this
weapon in particular happens to be a spare that the GF Troopers left
behind. After you reclaim the weapon however, you'll be attacked by the
same dark-possessed creatures that defeated the troopers. Several DARK
SPLINTERS will warp into the room, ready to pounce. Dark Splinters
behave similarly to regular Splinters, but the added dark substance
possessing them makes them stronger and tougher to kill. What better way
to test out the Missile Launcher then on them? After the Dark Splinters
are defeated, head back inside the ship and locate the opening along the
right side. Jump out onto the ledge and head left until you find a
control panel. This panel will activate the KINETIC ORB CANNON on the
floor next to it. For a Log Book entry, most Kinetic Orb Cannons must be
scanned before you activate them. This is the only one that can still be
scanned after activating it though, so don't miss out on the Log Book
entry. Roll into the Morph Ball and use the cannon to blast yourself
over to a ledge on the other side of the room. From here, you can leap
over to the ledge with the red door. Use a missile to break the red
blast shield covering the door, and then head through to the next room.

Enter the Sacred Bridge. The way through this short room is blocked by a
large gate up ahead. To get past it, you can roll through the small
Morph Ball tunnel to the right of the gate's base. Before going through
however, scan the body of PFC E. DENYS, nestled inside the left tunnel.
His entry should be your final Trooper Log entry. Anyway, when you roll
through the hole, you'll end up inside a pit. Scan the large wasps that
appear to attack. WAR WASPS usually emerge from their hives and will
continue to attack until the hive is destroyed, but these solitary
specimens don't have a hive to work from. Kill them before they fire
their toxins at you. Now, scan the control panel on the ledge ahead of
you to activate the Kinetic Orb Cannon on the ground. Use the cannon to
blast yourself up to the exit door.

When you get to the Sacred Path, you can scan the WAR WASP HIVE to your
right. Before more War Wasps emerge from the hive, shoot it with a
missile. Unfortunately, there are more hives within the room, so shoot
as you go, or just try to ignore the wasps. To proceed, you'll have to
find a way up to the ledge at the back end of the room. A Morph Ball
track will take you there, but the entrance to the track is sealed
behind the stone wall on the left side of the room. Use the Scan Visor
to locate the weakened section of this wall. Shoot it with a missile to
crumble it. In order to break through the wall completely, you'll have
to use the Kinetic Orb Cannon in the back of the room. The cannon can be
found at the base of the ledge in the back. Its control panel is tucked
away in a corner next to it. Use the cannon to blast yourself through
the weakened wall. The path inside will lead you to the Morph Ball
track. Follow the track until you emerge in front of a blue door. Take
note of the dead creature lying next to the doorway. This is the body of
a Luminoth, the sentient residents of Aether. The Luminoth are nearly
extinct, but their copses and ruins can be found almost everywhere on
Aether, and some will provide useful information when scanned. This one
won't help you however, so just use the door next to it.

The transport in Temple Transport A will take you up to a new area, the
Great Temple. Scan the control panel in front of the transport platform,
and then step into the hologram. The Great Temple is sacred to the
Luminoth and is the home to the very last of their kind. As far as size
goes, the Great Temple is the smallest area in the game, but it's still
fairly important. It serves as the crossroad to different sections of
the Temple Grounds, which in turn take you to the three other main areas
of Aether. After you ride the transport to the top, walk up the path and
use the blue door.

The access passage to the transport connects you to the Temple
Sanctuary. As you pass through the room, you'll be notified of a Save
Station behind the left wall up ahead. As you walk forward, a swarm of
flying creatures will pass overhead. These are SANDBATS, and if you can,
try to scan them before they disappear. Sandbats travel in large groups
and fly in fast, cyclical patters, but they aren't much of a threat to
you. Don't worry if you missed the chance to scan them now; they're
plentiful in the next area. The Save Station behind the wall can be
reached by rolling under the small opening to your left. It's
recommended that you save and heal before you enter the next room.

This following room is the Temple Sanctuary, the Great Temple's main
room. When you approach the center, a force field will enclose you
inside the room and you'll be forced to fight Splinters that emerge from
their cocoons on the ceiling. Before the fight actually begins, the
Splinters will be overcome by dark matter, turning them into Dark
Splinters. Try to conserve your missiles as you fight them and stick to
the Power Beam. Pick off the splinters one by one until all are
defeated. Try to grab the pickups they leave behind if you get hurt.
After the battle, the massive cocoon hanging from the ceiling will
rupture and a huge ALPHA SPLINTER will emerge to attack. If you want a
full Log Book, scan the Alpha Splinter immediately, because it won't be
long before the creature becomes possessed by more dark matter,
converting it into the DARK ALPHA SPLINTER. Both the Alpha Splinter and
the Dark Alpha Splinter are a one-time deal for scanning, so make sure
you've tagged them both. In both forms, the Alpha Splinter attacks by
lunging at you from a distance. When it becomes possessed, it will also
inherit the ability to shoot blasts of dark energy at you before it
strikes. Stay locked on so that you can dodge and evade the splinter's
attacks when necessary. If you have missiles, now is the time to use
them, but otherwise use charged Power Beam shots. Keep smacking the Dark
Alpha Splinter until its health drops. Because it's a mini-boss, you can
tell how much life is left in the bug by looking at the health meter
that appears on your screen.

After the Dark Alpha Splinter is defeated, it will leave behind a
strange luminous device, the Unknown Technology. When you approach it,
the device will absorb itself into your body. To exit the Temple
Sanctuary, use the only door in the room that isn't blocked by a
Luminoth gate. This door isn't the same door you entered from though, so
you won't be able to save just yet. The door takes you to the Controller
Transport. Scan the control panel and then ride the small lift to the
top of the shaft. Enter the blue door up here.

Grab a seat kids; it's storytelling time.... As you approach the center of
the Main Energy Controller, you'll meet an actual living, breathing
Luminoth. His name is U-MOS, and he is the Sentinel of Aether and the
very last active Luminoth that remains. The remaining survivors of the
Luminoth race are held within stasis chambers down in the Temple
Sanctuary. After U-Mos greets you, he'll tell you the history of Aether.
Ages ago, the Luminoth had built Energy Controllers to harness the
planetary energy of Aether and supply their civilization with it. They
lived in peace and prosperity, until a meteor fell from the sky and
struck Aether with great force. The meteor's impact devastated the land,
turning green fields into desert and great forests into swamps.
Additionally, the meteor caused a convulsion in time and space, creating
a rift between light and dark. Dark Aether was born. When the planet
divided, so did the Energy Controllers and their power. Half of Aether's
energy went to Dark Aether, and half remained in Aether. However, with
Dark Aether also came a terrible horde of beasts known as the Ing. The
Ing waged war against the Luminoth, possessing Aether's native creatures
and attacking the Energy Controllers. Eventually, the Luminoth came up
with a way to beat the Ing, by using the Energy Transfer Module. They
could use the module to take back the energy from Dark Aether and return
it to Aether. Should one world lose its energy, it would cease to exist.
However, the Ing stole the Energy Transfer Module and in turn used it to
steal the energy from three of the Luminoth's four Energy Controllers,
weakening the world. Now, the only active Energy Controller left in the
hands of the Luminoth is the Main Energy Controller, which U-Mos was
left to guard. U-Mos asks for your help in fighting the war against the
Ing. The device you just obtained in the Temple Sanctuary is the
reclaimed ENERGY TRANSFER MODULE. This object will allow you to transfer
energy from Dark Aether's Energy Controllers to Aether, restoring the
power to the Luminoth. After talking to U-Mos, he will restore your
energy and update your Scan Visor, allowing you to open the violet
Luminoth gates you've been coming across. Afterwards, scan both him and
the ENERGY CONTROLLER behind him for Log Book entries. Your mission now
is to seek out the remaining Energy Controllers and bring their energy
back from Dark Aether. If you ever get stuck in your mission, you can
return to the Main Energy Controller and seek guidance from U-Mos.
Before leaving, scan the violet symbols near the entrance to upload the
Luminoth Lore, ORIGINS, to your Log Book. Give old U-Mos a wave goodbye
and head back to the Temple Sanctuary.

=============

Chapter 2: The Ing Horde.

=============

Three Luminoth gates block the remaining exits in the Temple Sanctuary.
Two of them are locked by symbols that your Scan Visor's translator
cannot yet decode, including the door taking you to the Save Station.
The Luminoth gate on your right, however, is coded with a violet symbol.
Scan the gate to lower it, and then enter the new path.

This access passage leads to another transport. Scan the mysterious
blobs of light floating around. LIGHTFLYERS are energy-based drones that
drift in the air. They shoot bolts of electricity at you if you get too
close for comfort, so take them out from afar. Lightflyers have an
additional feature that makes them useful to you, but you won't find out
what it is until you find one in Dark Aether. Two more Lightflyers can
be found as you walk to the end of the passage. Use Temple Transport B
to get back down to the Temple Grounds.

The room you end up in after going back down the transport is the Temple
Assembly Site. Scan the Luminoth gate in front of the transport door to
get back to the center of the room. When you head to the back of the
room, several Splinters will attack from their cocoons. Kill them
quickly before the dark matter that appears turns them into Dark
Splinters. After you destroy them, use a missile to break the red blast
shield covering the door along the right wall. Enter the door afterwards
to get your first ENERGY TANK. These valuable items increase your
maximum health capacity by 100, and for every one of the fourteen total
tanks that you find, you'll last that much longer in battle between
saves. Now backtrack to the Industrial Site, which is the next major
room from the Temple Assembly Site's south entrance.

From the Industrial Site, you can head back to your ship in the Landing
Site to save and restock on your missile ammo reserves, or you can
continue to the next area. If you want to heal and save, head to the
door leading into the Hive Transport Area. Instead of taking the
elevator down to the hives, scan the violet Luminoth gate in the back
blocking your way to the Hive Access Tunnel. Bring down the second
Luminoth gate after the door, and then continue until you reach the
Landing Site. To continue, head back to the Industrial Site and locate
the Luminoth gate in the back left side of the room. When you bring down
the gate, scan the body of the Luminoth lying behind it for the J-FME'S
TESTAMENT entry. This lore piece falls under a category in your Log Book
known as Keybearer Lore. Whenever you scan one of these from the bodies
of the fallen Luminoth warriors, try to remember its location because
it'll be important near the end of the game. Now enter the door behind
the body.

The door takes you to the Agon Transport Access, which leads to the
transport that will take you to the next area. The tunnel is being
patrolled by a Green Kralee, so kill it to avoid contact. Before you
take the transport down, turn to your left at the Transport to Agon
Wastes and find another gray web. Your first MISSILE EXPANSION is hidden
away behind the web, so shoot it down and grab the item for an extra
five missiles. Throughout the game, you'll be able to collect a total of
49 Missile Expansions, each increasing the number of missiles you can
carry by five. Now walk out by the cliff and scan OUR HERITAGE (a piece
of Luminoth Lore). Lastly, scan the control panel that activates the
transport and ride down to the Agon Wastes.

The Agon Wastes area used to be a fertile plain of grasslands, but is
now nothing more than a scorched and barren wasteland. This area is also
where the Space Pirates have managed to establish a research base, and
it's also the first area in which you'll get to explore Dark Aether.
Inside the Transport to Temple Grounds, scan the bluish cactus-like
plants growing along the edges. These are AGON BEARERPODS. They're
plentiful in the Agon Wastes, and serve to supply you with pickups by
shooting them open.

Continue to the Plaza Access and scan the flying LUMITES that you see.
Lumites are relatively harmless for the most part, but are painfully
annoying in Dark Aether. They can shoot light energy at you, and they
can also become invisible. Shoot or ignore them and continue to the end
of the room. You should also scan the tall SANDGRASS before exiting.

The Main Plaza is the focal point of the Agon Wastes. Several doors lead
to and from the plaza, including a door on your right blocked by a red
blast hatch. Your goal however, as indicated in the introduction cut-
scene, is the blue door at the far end of the room. As you head to the
red door, just past the small clearing, watch out for the SANDIGGER that
surfaces from the soil. These big worms are double-ended, so you'll have
to destroy the head and the tail to ultimately defeat the creature.
Watch out for the green fluid that the Sandiggers spit out as well.
Shoot the red door with a missile afterwards and head inside to save. If
you didn't get to scan the Sandbats earlier, you can do so now as they
swoop past the Save Station, or back outside in the Main Plaza.

Head back out to the Main Plaza and make a right from the Save Station
doorway. Cross the second clearing and kill the additional Sandigger
that you disturb. Behind the clearing, jump up onto the ledge that leads
up and around the south wall. Turn right when you find the Agon
Bearerpods to face a column of black stone. The base of the column is
made of weakened stone, so fire a missile at the fracture point to
topple the structure. Use it as a bridge to reach the central platform,
but watch out for the Sandbats that will begin circling the bridge. Walk
through the small pathway in the center structure (ignore the orange
hologram for the moment) until you reach another collapsible column of
black stone. Create a new bridge and cross to the next ledge. Turn left
and follow the ledge until you get to a metal gate and a few more
bearerpods. Face away from the metal structure and leap over to the
topmost part of the central platform. Cross the bridge beneath the
ornate solar lenses to reach the designated blue doorway.

There's treasure inside the Mining Station Access tunnel, but nothing
within your current capabilities to obtain, so just roll through. When
you emerge, use the door to get into Mining Station A. As you approach
the clearing in this large room, you'll provoke a group of the infamous
Space Pirates. The deadly Space Pirates come in many different
varieties, each one more dangerous than the last. Pirates are
intelligent foes; they are capable of dodging weapon fire and they can
even use mounted turrets against you. The three that appear here are the
basic PIRATE TROOPERS, armed with energy blasters for long-range attacks
and melee scythes for close combat. Use missiles to take them out
quickly. Once the room is clear of its Space Pirate infestation, hop on
the platforms on the other side of the room behind the cascade of
flowing sand. Ignore that blue door and continue to the right. You'll
encounter a crawling bug called a BRIZGEE. Brizgees have a poisonous
stinger at the tip of their tails that they will use to defend
themselves. They also have a durable shell of hardened sand around them
that only missiles can penetrate. Use one missile to crack a Brizgee's
shell, and then use Power Beam shots or additional missiles to destroy
it. Now turn to face the center of the room and jump to the three
platforms in the clearing. Turn from the third platform and jump back to
the ledge above the blue door. From the orange Luminoth gate, make your
way around the room until you reach your third Brizgee, but watch out
for the sand currents that can push you back down to ground level.
Eventually you'll find another collapsible stone column that will make a
bridge for you to the red door. Use a missile to enter the door.

The Temple Access passage will take you to the Agon Temple. As you pass
through, be ready with the Scan Visor so that you can scan the
SHRIEKBATS that attack you. Shriekbats are territorial flying creatures
that will dive-bomb you kamikaze-style when you approach their roosts.
Simply shoot them as they fly at you or step back to avoid them. Use the
door at the end to get to the Agon Temple.

The coliseum-like Agon Temple will take you directly to the Agon Energy
Controller, but you won't get through without a fight. Step into the
central enclosure and prepare to defeat a new mini-boss. The exits to
the enclosure will seal, and the ALPHA SANDIGGER will rise and attack.
Like the Alpha Splinter, it is highly suggested that you scan the Alpha
Sandigger immediately because in a few seconds, it will turn into
something else (thanks to the possessive darkling energy that appears)
and you'll have missed your shot at the Log Book entry. Try to dodge the
sandigger's attacks until it becomes the BOMB GUARDIAN. Guardians are
darklings employed by the Ing Horde to guard the weapons that they stole
from you. They possess Aether's native predators and not only guard your
gear, but they also use it against you. That being said, you can tell
from the Bomb Guardian's name and its attacks that it will use your
Morph Ball Bombs against you. After scanning the Bomb Guardian, target
its head and avoid it as it slithers along the ground. As it moves, it
will drop bombs in its path continually. They don't cause much damage,
but it's still wiser to avoid them and the creature itself. When the
Bomb Guardian's tail glows pink, lock on to it and start shooting.
Occasionally, the Bomb Guardian will raise its head and glow. Before it
unleashes a massive spray of bombs, target the head and blast it to
damage the guardian. Repeat this process about four times to vanquish
the creature. The Bomb Guardian will also from time to time make a dash
for you, so be quick to dodge its speedy strike. When it dies, you'll be
able to reclaim the MORPH BALL BOMB. Collect it and the pickups, and
then use the bombs to break down the blue glass gates enclosing you
within the arena. Use the door on the opposite side of the entrance.

This door takes you to the Controller Access. Every temple has a
Controller Access room that follows it, in turn preceding the Energy
Controller itself. All Controller Access rooms are designed identically;
use the Bomb Slot on the Luminoth security statue to rotate the room's
walls and reveal the doorway to the Energy Controller.

This is the Agon Energy Controller, one of the Energy Controllers whose
energy has been depleted by the Ing Horde. When you find the energy in
Dark Aether, return to this room to restore the Energy Controller's
power. Like in the Great Temple, this room is supposed to be guarded by
a Luminoth, but this one is dead. Nevertheless, he managed to leave
behind a hologram message before his passing. Scan the hologram
projector next to the Luminoth's body to hear the message of I-Sha. Like
U-Mos, I-Sha will give you a bit of Aether history, like how the
Luminoth managed to develop a system of Light Crystals to protect them
from Dark Aether's poisonous atmosphere. I-Sha will also tell you how to
find the Dark Agon Energy Controller. In order to reach the Dark Agon
Temple, you need to find three Dark Temple Keys hidden throughout the
Dark Agon Wastes. After your chat, I-Sha restores your health and
updates your Scan Visor, allowing you to scan amber Luminoth symbols.
Use this new ability to upload SAVING AETHER into your Log Book, the
Luminoth Lore hidden behind a nearby structure on the left side of the
room. Now you can head back to Mining Station A, the room in which you
battled the Space Pirates. On your way there, prepare for bombardment
from War Wasps that have colonized the Agon Temple.

Mining Station A is now populated by Lumites. Ignore them and find the
Luminoth gate with the amber symbol, across from the Temple Access door.
Bring the gate down, and then enter the Sand Cache to find a MISSILE
EXPANSION. Now roll back through the Mining Access Tunnel, and as you
do, use a bomb to break down the block of sand in the middle of the
path. You'll fall into a Kinetic Orb Cannon that will launch you up to
an ENERGY TANK. Now head back to the Mining Plaza.

When you get to the Mining Plaza, cross the bridge and drop into the
lower trench of the central platform. Scan the amber symbols here for
PARADISE. Now, turn and hop down towards the amber Luminoth gate at the
north side of the room. After you open the gate, use a Morph Ball Bomb
to clear away the rock blocking the Morph Ball tunnel. Roll through to
find the Agon Map Station. You'll also be able to scan the translucent
plants growing inside the chamber; BLUEROOT TREES. Although harmless,
these phantasmal plants blind you if you walk through the larger ones.
Now you can return to Mining Station A.

There are only two other doors inside the Mining Station that you
haven't been through yet, and only one of those is accessible at the
moment. The door is across from the Mining Access Tunnel entrance and
underneath the Sand Cache door, behind the falling sand. When you get to
the Portal Access room, you'll have to use the set of Kinetic Orb
Cannons to launch yourself up onto the path above the structure blocking
the passage. After being blasted up to the top of the structure, roll
along the tunnel and drop off at the end to the other side. When you
reach this side, turn to face the dead Luminoth. Behind its body is a
MISSILE EXPANSION. Roll behind the structure next to where the Kinetic
Orb Cannon lies to get it. Continue through the blue door at the end of
the passage.

The next room is the Portal Terminal, your gateway to Dark Aether.
Before you can do anything productive however, you'll have to kill a few
Pirate Troopers. At first, there are only three pirates in the room, but
as soon as you kill them, a few more will appear. To add to the fun, Ing
darklings will appear as well, converting the unwilling Pirate Troopers
into sinister-looking DARK PIRATE TROOPERS. Dark Pirate Troopers use the
same weapons as their un-possessed selves, but the added strength of
dark energy makes them much tougher to take down. Keep moving and use
missiles to damage them quicker. Once you defeat the pirates, the Bomb
Slot in the back of the room will become active. Climb up to the slot by
using the large ramp in the back, but don't forget to scan LIGHT OF
AETHER, located to the left of the ramp. When activated, the Bomb Slot
will activate the conveyer system on the wall next to it. Using the
Morph Ball, enter the conveyer belt and let it take you to the path
above. Follow the path until you get to a red block. Use a bomb to clear
this block away. When the block is removed, the first solar lens in the
room will adjust to become a platform. Follow the Morph Ball path until
you emerge inside a circular hole in the wall. Kill the attacking War
Wasps, and then jump across the newly-created platform to reach a second
conveyer belt and Morph Ball path. Repeat the process inside this
tunnel, bombing the red block out of the way and aligning a second solar
lens platform before using it to reach the next tunnel. When you jump
across to the second platform, scan the bugs crawling around the next
Morph Ball tunnel. PILLBUGS roll around inside tunnels causing trouble,
but they can be killed using Morph Ball Bombs. While they're fairly
common, Pillbugs are hard to come by in a way that you can scan them, so
don't miss this opportunity to do so. When you enter the tunnel, bomb-
jump up the path and deal with the Pillbugs until you reach the final
red block. Destroy it to align the third and final solar lens. The
lenses will concentrate a beam of sunlight onto the device in the front
of the room, which in turn will feed power to the portal machine in the
back of the room. By scanning the control switch on the portal machine,
you'll activate the portal and take your first real trip into Dark
Aether.

Before you go and start causing trouble to the Ing, there are vital
things about Dark Aether that you need to know in order to travel safely
through the dark realm. The atmosphere in this world is poisonous to
most life forms, and that includes you. Being exposed to Dark Aether's
atmosphere will cause you to take heavy damage at an alarming rate.
Although you'll be able to reduce and even completely cut the damage you
take from this darkness later in the game, the only way you can stay
safe now is by staying inside the glowing, bubble-like 'Safe Zones'.
There are three main kinds of Safe Zones. Some are generated by the
Luminoth's Light Crystals, such as the first one after the portal area.
Others, known as Light Beacons, must be shot with a beam weapon to
function, and they only last for a short amount of time. Lastly, Safe
Zones are sometimes produced by certain enemies, or remain constant to
surround key areas, like portals and Save Stations. All Safe Zones will
recuperate your lost energy when you stand in them at a rate of about
one energy unit per second. It isn't a very reliable way to heal, but
it's much better than nothing when the air around you drains your health
at a much faster rate.

To begin, quickly dash forward from the initial Safe Zone and scan the
LIGHT CRYSTAL producing the second Safe Zone. Now scan ahead to find the
glimmering LIGHT BEACON. Both Light Crystals and Light Beacons can be
influenced with different beam weapons, and each form can be scanned for
unique Log Book entries. Also, when you get the chance, scan one of the
slender, black BLADEPODS growing in the area. Bladepods are found almost
everywhere in the Dark Agon Wastes. They are the dark equivalents of the
Agon Bearerpods. If you run low on health or ammo, shoot the Bladepods
open to reveal possible pickups. Now, shoot the beacon ahead to activate
the Safe Zone, and then run over from there to the Light Crystal
surrounding a Bomb Slot. Back in Aether, this Bomb Slot was partially
visible, but unusable due to its state of dimensional flux. When you
activate it, the gate in front of you will open, and the same gate will
open back in Aether, exposing a new path in both worlds. The door here
leads to the next room.

Inside the Crossroads room, quickly shoot the beacon ahead so that you
don't lose health. When you reach the first stable crystal, you'll be
attacked by dark creatures. These are INGLETS, the weakest members of
the Ing Horde. Like all Ing, they can dissolve into a puddle of dark
goop and ooze around to a new location. To attack you, Inglets fire
blasts of dark energy at you, but they're fairly easy to kill and a good
source of pickups. Shoot the Bladepods in the room to collect additional
pickups. Activate the next Light Beacon and then use a missile to open
the red exit door. Follow the path through the next room until you reach
a Save Station in the back. Ignore any Inglets that get in the way, as
they'll only slow you down and prolong the time you spend in the
darkness. From the Save Station, you can scan the swarm of NIGHTBARBS
flying nearby. Nightbarbs are Dark Aether's version of the Sandbats.
There's a blue door next to the Save Station that will take you to the
next room.

Enter the Duelling Range and turn left, and then walk to the next Safe
Zone. As soon as you enter it, a new enemy will appear. This mighty
beast is a WARRIOR ING, the very same type of creature that stole your
gear earlier. Warrior Ing are the most common and standard of the Ing
Horde, but they're still quite deadly. Like most creatures of Dark
Aether, Warrior Ing hate light and will take a lot of damage from light-
based attacks, but without anything of that sort, you'll have to stick
to the Power Beam or Missile Launcher. Warrior Ing can convert
themselves into puddles of darkness and move around, and you won't be
able to target them or effectively damage them while they do so. To
attack, the Warrior Ing will summon concentrated beams of light energy
and fire them at you, and it'll also slash at you with its sharp legs.
Later on, Warrior Ing will even try to possess you by turning themselves
into darkling energy and covering themselves over your body. The Ing
won't actually possess you, but it will cause significant damage while
it's touching you, so do your best to avoid this attack. Although this
Ing probably won't do that, it's good to be prepared for later
encounters. Do your best to stay inside the Safe Zone until you kill the
Ing, and then move on. Go to the next Safe Zone, in front of a black
door. Turn right and scan the creature ahead on the ledge that's
producing a mobile Safe Zone. Rare LIGHTBRINGER constantly generate Safe
Zone bubbles around them, and you can use them to cross dangerous
expanses of Dark Aether. They cannot hurt you or be harmed in any way
until you have the Dark Beam, but why would you want to destroy such a
useful creature anyway? Wait for the Lightbringer to come by and then
step into its Safe Zone. Let it walk you to the next crystal. It moves
slowly, but patience is the key. From the crystal up by the sealed door,
you need to shoot a beacon on the central platform of the room and then
use the next Lightbringer on the bridge from there to reach the door on
the east side of the room. Travel quickly through the Junction Site
tunnel, using Safe Zones and Bladepods to acquire health if needed.

When you reach the Judgment Pit, step into the luminous Safe Zone in the
center of the clearing. A new beastly-looking Ing will appear and wage
battle with you. Meet the JUMP GUARDIAN, an Ing guardian who has taken
control of the Space Jump Boots. Scan the mini-boss as soon as you can,
and then begin fighting. The Jump Guardian shares most of the same
abilities as the Warrior Ing, with a few added tweaks thanks to its
jumping ability. Like the Warrior Ing, it can fire light energy at you
and slash at you. And while it can't melt away and reform elsewhere, it
can leap incredible distances. Whenever the Jump Guardian lands after it
leaps, it creates a great shockwave that will damage you if you get hit
by it. Use your own jumping ability to avoid the shockwaves. Continue
firing missiles and Power Beam shots at the Jump Guardian whenever you
get the chance. As it jumps, the guardian will protect itself with a
force field, so wait for it to land and start running around before you
continue shooting at it. If the Jump Guardian moves too fast for you to
hit it, try peppering it with uncharged Power Beam shots. The lower the
Ing's health gets, the more franticly it will start running around and
leaping, giving you less of a chance to damage it while its force field
is down. Once you defeat the Jump Guardian, take your SPACE JUMP BOOTS,
which allow you to jump higher by leaping a second time while in midair.

The door back to the Portal Site is on the south side of the room.
Before returning to Aether though, use your new boots to explore the
rest of the room. Make your way up to the red door above the entrance in
the same way you got up earlier in Aether to reach the temple. Use a
missile to open the door and head through to the Dark Agon Temple
Access, which precedes the Dark Agon Temple itself.

You need three keys to open up the lock system that allows you into the
center of the Dark Agon Temple. As of now you have none, but you can
find the first by turning left and continuing until you find a blue
door. Make sure you activate the Safe Zones as you go along. Inside the
closet-sized Trial Tunnel lies the DARK AGON TEMPLE KEY 1, the first key
to the Dark Agon Temple. There isn't anything else you can do now in
Dark Aether, so head back to the Judgment Pit and enter that blue door
that takes you back to the Portal Site.

There is no Safe Zone inside the Portal Access room, but there is a
Lightflyer you can gun down to make your own Safe Zone. In Dark Aether,
killing a Lightflyer will produce a temporary Safe Zone, but once it
expires, the Lightflyer will revive itself, so be hasty to cross. When
you get to the Portal Site, go ahead and activate the portal to return
to Aether. By the way, if you want two new Log Book entries, scan the
active LIGHT PORTAL before you return. Scan any active DARK PORTAL to
get the second entry.

Now you're back in Aether's Portal Terminal. Remember the door in Dark
Aether that you opened with a Bomb Slot? Well the same door is open back
in here, so avoid the Pirate Troopers that appear and head into the next
room on your left. To advance in the Transport Center, you need to use
another Bomb Slot to bring down the gate in your way, sequentially
revealing a free MISSILE EXPANSION. In the next room, avoid the Sandbats
and roll down the sand river until you reach the Save Station next to
the Mining Plaza.

=============

Chapter 3: The Hunter's Echo.

=============

For your first real trip to Dark Aether, that wasn't too bad. Now that
you own the invaluable Space Jump Boots, you'll soon wonder how you ever
got along without them. Many new areas are yours to explore, while many
old areas, like the Mining Plaza, are much easier to travel through.
After you save, head back once again to Mining Station A.

When you get to the station, climb up to the eastern ledge of the room,
where the main sand current is coming from. There's a crude Luminoth
statue towards the back in front of the metal sand processing gates. Use
the Space Jump Boots to hop onto the flat upper surface of the statue.
Turn towards the right wall (from the statue's point of view) and jump
into the path that leads to the metal bridge up ahead. When you get
inside the bridge, scan the control panel to adjust the sand processing
equipment so that a new door is revealed behind the Luminoth statue. And
need I point out Luminoth Lore: CATACLYSM, which is quite obviously
placed? I didn't think so. Head back out to the statue and use it jump
up the new door.

When you pass through the next room (the Central Station Access), you'll
hear pirate talk up ahead. There are two pirates guarding the entrance
to the Central Mining Station and if you sneak up on them, you can use a
missile to blow up the Phazon containers next to them. The intense
explosion will decimate the pirates before they know what hit them. If
they do happen to see you, shoot the containers anyway, since they
probably won't be able to get far enough away from the blast to save
themselves. You'll find a red door hatch at the end of the passage, so
use a missile to get through.

Walk out into the Central Mining Station until the pirates in the room
start attacking you. Some of the pirates will flee aboard some sort of
transport vehicle instead of fighting you. As soon as you can, scan the
vehicle before it flies out of sight. PIRATE SKIFFS are used to
transport pirate forces into and out of the heat of battle. Although
they're weaponless, they cannot be destroyed. If you missed this
opportunity to scan the skiff before it flew off, don't worry; there
will be other chances. When you kill the first set of pirates, two more
will bring themselves into battle. Go postal on these troopers and then
prepare to fight the final wave of pirates. The last two troopers,
rather than fighting you head on, will operate the large mounted
VIGILANCE CLASS TURRETS from the upper ledge and start bombarding you
with these heavy-duty weapons. Do you want a full Log Book? Then listen
up; this next bit is for you. Scan. Now. These pirate-operated turrets
will only show up here and now, and once you destroy them both, you will
never get a second chance to do so again (despite the fact that you'll
be able to use them later on...). Keep dodging the turrets' slow but
devastating blasts and pummel them with missiles until they explode.
When you destroy a turret, you'll also kill the pirate manning it. After
the battle, the exit door at the other end of the room will unlock. If
you need health or ammo, break open the Space Pirate crates inside the
room to reveal pickups before leaving.

The next room connects to the Command Center, but the exit door at the
end of the passage is dark, something your current beam weaponry can't
handle. There's an alternative way in by taking the Morph Ball tunnel
beneath the floor. Use a bomb on any of the two weakened portions of the
floor panels to get underneath. Use an additional bomb to clear away the
crates, and then roll through the red tunnel.

When you enter the Command Center, you'll still be beneath the floor,
completely undetectable by the pirates above you. As you roll beneath
their feet, several pirates will run into the active Dark Portal in the
back of the room. Before you can learn anything more, you'll have to
find a way out of the floor tunnel. The path ahead is laden with
electrical traps that will damage you when you touch the active bolts of
electricity. Carefully get past the first two traps, and then take the
right path to the end to get a MISSILE EXPANSION. Backtrack to the main
path, and then continue carefully through the straightforward tunnel
until you reach the opening in which you can un-morph. When you emerge
from the floor, some of the remaining pirates will attack you. The exit
door will also seal itself behind a large blast gate, so you'll have to
find the controls before you can proceed. After wasting the pirates,
scan everything in the room. There is a lot of information to scan here,
so don't miss any of it. Five of the computer monitors on ground level
contain the Space Pirate's logs entries LOG 44681, LOG 48853, LOG 50086,
LOG 54421 and LOG 62217. Also, the two holographic models of AETHER and
DARK AETHER can be scanned for Research entries. After you finish
scanning, look for the control panel to the right of the inactive
portal, which will activate the small lift next to it when scanned. Use
the lift to reach the upper level of the room. Hop across to the west
ledge and turn right, then continue walking. The door up ahead (not the
white door on your left) is locked, and it'll only unlock when you
defeat the wayward Pirate Trooper that appears in front of it. An
additional trooper will begin shooting at you from the glass control
room on your right. Take him out now so that you don't have to deal with
him when you loop around. After you kill the first pirate, the door will
unlock.

The Security Station passage is blocked by a metal gate, but a separate
path loops around to your right, leading you to the door to the Command
Center's control room. As soon as you enter the room, you'll have your
second encounter with Dark Samus. The evil being will crash into the
room through the ceiling before drifting mysteriously away into the
background. After the encounter, follow the right path to the door,
which you'll need a missile to bust through.

When you get into the control room of the Command Center, scan the
control panel amongst the computer monitors to open the blast gate back
in the main part of the room. Retrace your steps back to the room and
use the exposed doorway to get to the next room.

The Biostorage Access passage is fiercely guarded by a pair of HUMILITY
CLASS TURRETS. The turrets are nearly identical to the GF Growler Class
Turrets, but they pack a slightly harder punch in their shots. Use a
missile to take them out quickly. And as if the security in the room
wasn't tight enough, the path to the blast shield-blocked exit door is
set with a laser grid security system. Don't touch the moving laser
beams as you pass. You may find it easier to travel through them with
the Morph Ball. Use a missile on the exit door and enter the Biostorage
Station.

When you enter the Biostorage Station, another Pirate Skiff will take
off from the ground, but not without leaving some Pirate Troopers for
you to play with. After you destroy the troopers, head to the back of
the room and activate the lift to get up to the upper walkway. Walk
around the path, passing the black door, and then cross the bridge to
the platform ahead. A few more pirates will appear up here as well. When
you get to the platform, take a look inside the tank. The red creatures
feeding on the pirate carcass inside are none other than TALLON
METROIDS. Metroids are parasitic life forms that originate from the
planet SR388. During the Space Pirate operations on Zebes and Tallon IV,
the pirates managed to breed a handful of these creatures in an attempt
to use them for biological warfare. The Metroids here won't attack you,
so walk around the right side of the tank to get to the other side. Note
that if you scan the Metroids being held within the smaller stasis tanks
along the right wall, they won't count for your Log Book, but they will
yield some interesting information nonetheless. On the other side of the
tank, scan the computer monitors for LOG 63622, and then take the door
to exit.

Shoot the turret in this next passage and then move forward to find a
Bomb Slot. Activate it to rotate the security gate along the perimeter
of the room. The rotated gate will expose a new path to the exit door,
but it'll also close off the entrance from the Biostorage Station. Reuse
the Bomb Slot if you wish to return.

The spacious Bioenergy Production center is the final major room before
you get to a Save Station, so if you're low on health, you only have to
hold out a bit longer. Unfortunately, when you enter the room, you'll be
ambushed by a pair of dreaded PIRATE AEROTROOPERS. These flying Space
Pirates use jetpacks to maneuver through the air with unmatched agility,
all the while firing a deadly barrage of energy blaster shots and
torpedoes. Don't get too discouraged though, because the Pirate
Aerotroopers are still weak to missiles. When you shoot them down, make
sure to dash out of the way to avoid their explosive suicide strikes.
When the dust settles, you'll be free to explore the rest of the room.
The exit door is high above on the other side of the room, so you'll
need to find some way to get up there. Along each side wall is a set of
computers and control switches. Walk up to the computer platform to the
right of the entrance and scan the central control panel. This will
raise three sets of adjustable storage racks in the center of the room.
Now head over to the opposite side of the room. Each rack corresponds to
a dual set of controls that will raise each of the three sections of
each rack for every time you scan the controls. You'll need to arrange
the racks so that they create steps to the doorway above. Scan each of
the power modules first, and then scan the small nodes on either side to
arrange the blocks (they are labeled Alpha, Delta and Gamma). Before
making the stairway to the exit door, arrange the racks so that they
take you up to the south wall. When you do, you can use the racks to
reach an ENERGY TANK on the upper ledge. After you obtain it, rearrange
the racks to get to the exit door. You'll know when the racks are set
properly to reach the door when you see a brief cinematic and the Pirate
Fear theme music resumes.

Beyond the blue door lies Ventilation Area B, a short but mildly complex
Morph Ball tunnel. The lower path through the tunnel is blocked by a set
of deadly blue lasers. They leave you with no other option but to take
the upper path, which is riddled with red laser traps that go on and off
at regular intervals. Hone your bomb-jumping skills and time your moves
carefully as to avoid getting hit by the lasers. Twice, you'll also need
to bomb some obstructions out of the path. When both obstructions are
destroyed, the blue lasers blocking the lower path will disappear,
meaning that if you ever pass through this tunnel again, you can take
the safer lower path.

The next room (accessed through the red door) is a handy Save Station.
In addition to taking this chance to heal and save, you can also scan
LOG 67135, which, like the actual Save Station, is located inside the
glass enclosure. Continue through the next door, to the Sand Processing
room. Kill the turrets in the back of the room, and then use a missile
to break apart a weakened section of the glass half-pipe, to the left of
the turrets. Take the door at the end of the passage and prepare for
your fourth mini-boss battle.

This room is the Reactor Core. Upon entering, you'll begin to hear the
distinctively creepy theme of Dark Samus, which you'll hear many a time
as you reencounter the foe over the course of your mission. Follow the
path around to the left until you reach the opening into the main area
down below, in front of a black door. Samus will jump down from the
drop-off and confront her Phazon-hungry doppelganger. Dark Samus isn't
really human, nor is she Samus's dark copy born from Dark Aether. She is
in fact a reincarnated Metroid of unknown origins, previously known as
Metroid Prime. When Samus battled Metroid Prime on Tallon IV, it took
all of her strength to defeat the creature. Just as Samus managed to
seemingly destroy Metroid Prime however, the wicked entity managed to
absorb Samus's Phazon-infused Power Suit, using it as a sort of
exoskeleton to survive in. Dark Samus's purpose on Aether is vengeance
on the hunter, but on the way she'll absorb as much Phazon energy as
possible to enhance her strength. As Samus and Dark Samus prepare for
battle, the two hunters exchange Arm Cannon volleys, and the true battle
begins.

Start, as in any boss battle, by scanning Dark Samus. In your Log Book,
she's listed as DARK SAMUS 1, an obvious suggestion that this won't be
the last time you duel the dark hunter. She isn't terribly difficult the
first time around, but her impressive arsenal and lightning-quick
strikes shouldn't be taken lightly. Try to stay locked on to Dark Samus
and fire away with shots from your Power Beam. Stay away from missiles,
because Dark Samus will simply generate a Phazon energy barrier on the
spot to deflect them. Also, try to keep good distance between yourself
and Dark Samus, because if you get too close, she'll use that same
energy barrier to damage you. Dark Samus uses several attacks, including
the rapid-fire Phazon beam you witnessed during the opening cinematic.
She can also utilize a Missile Launcher similar to your own, and a few
more powerful techniques that she uses during the second half of the
battle. The key to defeating Dark Samus is to get her while her shield
is down. One you knock about half of her health off, Dark Samus will go
spastic and the second phase of the battle will begin. Your foe's new
aura of Phazon energy will give her protection against all of your
attacks whenever she's making an attack on you. You'll only be able to
hit her as she floats around the room; any attack on her while she's
making a move will just bounce off. The Charge Beam can be rather
inaccurate at times, so use the faster uncharged shots against her.
Additionally, Dark Samus will use much stronger moves during the second
stage of the fight, including powerful Super Missiles and a Phazon
charge attack in which Dark Samus uses her own body as a devastating
energy projectile. Her techniques will make short work of the
architecture here, so don't be surprised if one of the four corner
pillars you used for cover is suddenly not there anymore. The central
Phazon tank is stable enough to withstand her onslaught however, so use
that to avoid her relentless attacks. Eventually, you'll beat Dark
Samus, causing her to explode into a mass of Phazon particles. Is she
gone for good? Don't count on it, but at least she's out of your way for
now.

To escape the lower chamber of the Reactor Core, use the elevator that
presents itself after the battle. Before you leave, scan the tanks of
PHAZON along the wall. Phazon is much more common in Dark Aether, but
deadly all the same. Should you ever encounter it, don't make contact or
you'll suffer radiation damage. After you get back up to the upper
platform, you'll find a blue door. The way back to the Save Station is
blocked by a metal gate, so check inside Storage D to see if you can
find an alternate way out.

Inside this small storage chamber, you'll find the DARK BEAM, an ancient
Luminoth weapon that utilizes dark energy to damage foes. The Dark Beam
is very unique. Its properties make it an effective weapon against
enemies you find in Aether. The Dark Beam's charged shot is pretty cool
too; once it strikes, the dark particles of goop will hunt down any
nearby enemies and surround them in darkness, temporarily immobilizing
them. Just beware; the Dark Beam runs on an ammunition system. After you
collect it, you'll begin seeing different types of Dark Beam Ammunition
pickups. The good thing about these pickups is that they will
automatically be drawn in towards you, rather than just floating in the
air like regular pickups (though you can still use your Charge Beam to
draw them in as well). A single shot from the Dark Beam requires one
round of ammo, while a charged shot requires five. If you run out of
ammo for the Dark Beam, you can still charge the beam to fire a normal
shot, in case you need to use it to open the black doors. After you get
the beam, scan Pirate Data LOG 69898 and head back out to the Reactor
Core. Use the Dark Beam to open the metal gate that blocks your way. The
gate will open when you hit the crystal on it with dark energy. Now
retrace your steps to the Save Station and take a respite.

=============

Chapter 4: Dark Agon Temple.

=============

As great as the Dark Beam is, it's meant to have synergy with the Light
Beam, another Luminoth weapon you'll be able to obtain shortly. Without
it, you won't be able to use the Dark Beam to its fullest potential.
Aside from tracking that down, there's also the matter of collecting the
remaining Dark Agon Temple Keys that you need to see to. Whenever you
return to the Reactor Core, use the black door on the left wall to get
to the Security Station that links to the Command Center, where you
encountered Dark Samus prior to the battle.

The gates that blocked your way earlier can be opened similarly to the
gate in the Rector Core. Target the light crystals on the gates and
shoot them with the Dark Beam. You can also scan LOG 70136 along the
left wall before continuing to the Command Center.

When you reach the Command Center, skip through the room and try to
avoid the Space Pirates that attack. These pirates are PIRATE
GRENADIERS, special troopers equipped with grenade launchers rather than
blasters. Grenadiers will lob their explosives at you, and they have a
pretty good reach, so don't underestimate them. Their only real
disadvantage is that they can only effectively damage you from a
distance. If you get close to them, they won't be able to hit you. Also,
the grenades they fire are somewhat slow and take time to reload, but
they do hurt. Continue through the Command Center and the Biostorage
Access until you reach the Biostorage Station.

The second time you visit this room, the tanked Metroids along the walls
will break free and attack. Traditionally, Metroids were defeated by
using ice attacks to freeze them, and then missiles to shatter their
frozen bodies. Although Samus has long since abandoned her Ice Beam, the
Dark Beam's charged shots will affect the Metroids similarly. Hit each
Metroid with a charged Dark Beam shot to encase it in dark matter, and
then fire a missile destroy it. Metroids can also be defeated with other
weapons, but it takes longer. If a Metroid attaches itself to you, it
will begin to sap the life out of you. To get it off of you, roll into
the Morph Ball and drop a bomb. After you kill them all, use the lift to
get to the upper walkway. Enter the black door on your right by using
the Dark Beam, and collect the MISSILE EXPANSION inside Storage B. Now,
return to the Command Center.

Defeat the Pirate Grenadiers in the Command Center again, and then walk
over to the portal in the back of the room. Some portals, like the first
one you used in the Portal Terminal room, are operated with machines
that must be scanned in order to activate. Most however, like the one in
this room, are activated whenever you shoot them with either the Dark
Beam or the Light Beam. The Dark and Light Beams activate Dark and Light
Portals, respectively. Use the Dark Beam to activate this portal, and
then step into it to enter Dark Aether.

There is no way back out through the Doomed Entry once you head through;
there is no return portal, and you don't have the Light Beam to energize
one anyway. You'll have to tough it out and venture into the gloomy
chambers of Dark Agon Wastes to find the Light Beam and the remaining
Dark Agon Temple Keys. You needn't look far for the first of the
remaining two, as it's floating in the air up ahead. You won't be able
to get to it from the ground though, so you'll have to make your way up
to the top platforms. Turn right and activate the nearest Light Beacon,
and then quickly get to its protective Safe Zone. Continue around this
side of the room until you get to a beacon in front of a white door,
directly across from where you entered the dark world. Up ahead, past
the door, you might see a floating cloud of darkness. This is a
NULLIFIED CRYSTAL, which you should scan. Crystals covered in dark
energy cease to function, but shooting them with the Power Beam will
clear them up and restore their Safe Zones. You can also use the Dark
Beam to create your own Nullified Crystals and NULLIFIED BEACONS, but as
they are in no way helpful to you, only do this to scan them for
Research entries. Reenergize the Nullified Crystal and then head over to
its safety. Once inside the Safe Zone, turn towards the rocky outcrop
next to it. Use a missile to destroy the small Luminoth statue
protruding from the rock. The space behind the statue will reveal a
LIGHT LIFT CRYSTAL. Like the other light crystals you've seen, a Light
Lift Crystal will energize when you hit it with its opposite energy; the
Dark Beam. Lift crystals often function to move certain platforms or
obstacles out of the way or to lift you to new areas. Shoot this crystal
to lower the rock platform so that you can jump onto it. Once on it,
jump to another rock platform on your left and then turn around to leap
over to the ledge with a black door, directly above the white door.
Watch out for the floating DARK PREEDS as you jump from rock to rock.
Preeds are filled with deadly gases that will release and disperse when
the creature is destroyed. Avoid the Dark Preeds and don't waste ammo
shooting them, since they'll only reappear from the openings in the
ceiling. Anyway, you'll be able to reach the DARK AGON TEMPLE KEY 2 from
the ledge up here. Now leap over to a second black door, located on a
ledge on the north side of the room. Be quick to cross, since you have
to travel through a large expanse of dangerous atmosphere to get to the
door.

Use the three Safe Zones in the Oasis Access to heal for a bit if
needed. When you enter the second Safe Zone, a vicious Warrior Ing will
attack you. Like the Space Pirates in the Central Station Access, this
Ing can easily be defeated or seriously damaged by shooting the nearby
barrels of Phazon. Just be sure to be far enough away from the Phazon
blast, or you'll take a tremendous amount of damage as well. Use the
door at the end of the passage.

The Dark Oasis splits into two paths, but the one on the left leads to a
dead end. Turn right and walk to the door at the end of the passage.
Watch out for the annoying Inglets that attack too. The inactive Light
Portal next to the doorway will take you back to Aether, so remember to
return here when you get the Light Beam and the last Dark Temple Key
shortly.

In the Hall of Stairs, walk around the central pillar and stand in the
Safe Zone. Look up at the pillar from here to find the Light Lift
Crystal high above. Shoot the crystal with the Dark Beam to lower the
pillar. Now, the crystal will become a DARK LIFT CRYSTAL. In future
encounters with these items, shoot them with the Light Beam to reverse
the function of the Light Lift Crystal. For now, just scan the crystal
and jump up onto the pillar, and then turn to jump over to the ledge
with the red exit door. Blow the door hatch apart with a missile and use
the Save Station beyond before continuing.

The Bitter Well tunnel is similar to its counterpart in Aether, the
Ventilation Area B tunnel. You can use bombs to break the rocks in the
lower tunnel, but you'll have to endure some Phazon radiation. If you
fall into the Phazon pit, bomb-jump to escape. To cross the gap safely,
bomb-jump up to the upper path and roll to the edge of the platform.
Bomb-jump sideways to clear the gap. When you exit the tunnel, avoid the
additional Phazon laying around and take the exit door.

The Phazon Site chamber is littered with spilt Phazon and the carcasses
of the perished Space Pirates who you witnessed venture into Dark Aether
earlier. It's no wonder the pirates died; not only is there Phazon
everywhere, but there are hardly any Light Crystals in the room at all.
To make things harder for you, the exit door all the way across the room
is barred by a set of security lasers, so you'll have to find three
control panels that will deactivate them. Ride the elevator down to
ground level and then turn to the right. Use the beacons and jump up
onto the ledge along the wall. The first control panel is located near
the end, next to a Light Beacon. Scan it, and then turn towards the
center of the room. The moving platforms up ahead will take you up to a
ledge high up on the right wall. Use the beacons to travel from platform
to platform in safety until you reach the ledge. Scan the second control
panel, and then jump down to the nearest floating platform. The third
control panel is behind a set of crates down below to your right. Hop
down and scan it, and then quickly get to the exit door. If you need to
heal, break open the Bladepods and pirate crates for pickups, or wait
inside a Safe Zone. Afterwards, use the door to exit the room.

In the Watering Hole, you'll need to jump across more platforms to reach
the exit door on the far right end of the room. As you pass through the
room, you'll be attacked by invisible creatures. The second platform in
the room has a Nullified Crystal, so shoot it so that you don't continue
to take damage. Once the Safe Zone has been produced, the invisible
creatures will reveal themselves to be pesky Lumites. In Dark Aether,
Lumites like to hover over your Safe Zones, shooting energy blasts at
you. If you can't see them, look for the disturbances on the surface of
the Safe Zone bubble. Also, if you fall or get knocked off the platform,
you'll have to look around for a step to get back up. After the second
platform, cross over to the red door. On the way, you must go through a
cloud of poisonous gas secreted by the INGCLAWS on the wall. Speed is a
good thing here. When you reach the red door, use a missile to open it.

Finally, you'll reach the Feeding Pit. Take the path with the Light
Beacon slightly to your left down to a Light Crystal. Up ahead, in the
mucky purple water, you'll see a pair of great pillars similar to the
one in the Hall of Stairs. Each of the pillars has a lift crystal that
will either lower or raise it to adjustable heights so that you can
reach the black door up above on your left. The water that the pillars
are standing in is highly polluted, so don't touch it. Activate and jump
over to the beacons behind the pillars and then turn to locate their
crystals. Shoot them both with the Dark Beam to lower the pillars.
Before jumping onto them, eliminate the circling swarms of Nightbarbs so
that they don't get in your way. When the pillars are lowered, Safe
Zones will appear on top of them. Jump from pillar to pillar until you
get up to the black door.

Ing Cache 1, the small room beyond the door, holds the LIGHT BEAM. The
Light Beam is the Dark Beam's opposite. Whereas the Dark Beam is quite
effective against foes in Aether, the Light Beam absolutely shreds Dark
Aether foes, including the wicked Ing. The Light Beam's shots can burn
right through foes and set them ablaze, while the powerful charged
blasts will spread in a shotgun-like fashion, increasing their strike
area. Also, the charged shots will home in on enemies if you're locked
on to them. Like the Dark Beam, the Light Beam uses ammo, but it uses
its own set of Light Beam Ammunition pickups. Interestingly, when you
destroy an enemy with the Light Beam, it will most likely release Dark
Beam Ammunition, and if you destroy an enemy with the Dark Beam, Light
Beam Ammunition will be released, effectively keeping a balance between
the two weapons. The Light Beam will activate/open Light Portals, white
doors and Dark Lift Crystals. Like the Dark Beam, if you run out of ammo
for the Light Beam, you can still charge the weapon and release a normal
shot if needed.

After you have the new weapon, head back out into the Feeding Pit. Turn
left and jump down to the Light Crystal in front of the white door down
below. When you enter the Safe Zone, Lumites will crowd the area and
attack. Shoot the crystal with the Light Beam to form an ENERGIZED
CRYSTAL, which generates a Safe Zone of intense light that will destroy
enemies on contact. When the Lumites hover over your Safe Zone, blast
them all away in one strike by energizing the crystal. You can also use
the Light Beam to make ENERGIZED BEACONS, which, like Energized
Crystals, can be scanned for Log Book entries. Use the white door
afterwards.

The short Feeding Access Tunnel is barred by a WEBLING. Weblings are
very rare, so scan this one immediately. Like the gray webs found in the
Temple Grounds, Weblings will dissolve once you shoot them. However, the
only weapon that can destroy a Webling is the Light Beam. Destroy the
pair blocking the path, and then continue through the white door at the
end.

Now you'll find yourself back in the Doomed Entry. Several Dark
Splinters have taken over the room, but the Light Beam will make quick
work of them. You can take most of them out by shooting the Nullified
Crystal with the Light Beam anyway. Before you head back to the Dark
Oasis to use the portal, you'll want to use either the black door or the
white door on your left. It's up to you which path to take, since both
lead to the same room. The upper path contains a few Dark Splinters,
while the lower path contains a group of DARKLING TENTACLES. These
creatures lurk in the walls and swing their sharp tentacles at anything
that comes near. Shoot them to force them back into their crevices for a
few seconds, long enough for you to pass. Avoid the dark water in the
lower path as well, and use the set of doors at the end of either the
upper or lower passage to get to the Battleground.

The final Dark Temple Key is waiting for you in the center of the
clearing. When you approach it, the Ing will reveal their trap and
ambush you, taking the key with them. In order the retrieve the final
key, you'll have to defeat six Warrior Ing. As soon as the battle
begins, scan one of the dark webs that have fixed themselves over both
of the exit doors. ING WEBTRAPS are just as rare as Weblings and will
disappear forever after their six Ing masters are defeated (but are
otherwise indestructible). After the webs have been scanned, turn your
attention to the attacking Ing. While defeating six Warrior Ing at a
time may seem difficult, remember that the Ing hate light, and the Light
Beam will wreck them in only a few shots. Start shooting the ones that
show up in front of you with charged shots. You can also try shooting
the Light Beacons around the room with the Light Beam as the Ing slither
past them for an easy kill. If you run out of ammo, shoot the Bladepods
in the room with the Dark Beam so that they expel Light Beam Ammo. After
defeating all six Ing, the DARK AGON TEMPLE KEY 3 will be yours, and the
Ing Webtraps will release you from the room.

Now that you have the Light Beam and all three Dark Agon Temple Keys
under your belt, you can return to the Dark Agon Temple, but you'll have
to backtrack all the way to the first section of the Dark Agon Wastes
that you explored to get there. Return to the Dark Oasis (go through the
Doomed Entry and use the black door on your left) and take the path on
your left to reach a white door. Enter the room and use the Ammo Station
inside. Not counting Samus's Gunship, Ammo Stations are only found in
Dark Aether. They completely refill all of your ammo reserves, from
missiles to the Dark and Light Beams. After you use it, head back out to
the Dark Oasis and use the portal at the other end of the room to return
to Aether's Main Reactor. Use the nearby Save Station to save your
progress.

When you return the Command Center to get back to the Central Mining
Station, take another detour to the Biostorage Station. The third time
you visit this room, it will contain two new scan entries. First, scan
the pod-like METROID COCOONS hanging from the upper platforms. These
cocoons are designed to transport and house INFANT TALLON METROIDS,
which will soon emerge if you approach the cocoons. The cute little
Infant Tallon Metroids are newborn larvae that lack the energy-
absorption abilities of the regular larval Metroids. They can't really
latch onto you like an older Metroid can, but they can still ram into
you for some damage. The Infant Tallon Metroids also love Phazon, and if
they come into contact with the Phazon puddles lying around, they'll
mutate into regular Metroids. Scan the two new entries and then return
to the Command Center.

Avoid the Pirate Grenadiers and make your way up to the top platform of
the room, where you'll find a white door. The new path through the
Command Center Access will take you to the upper platforms of the
Central Mining Station. When you emerge from the passage, you'll be
facing an orange force field in the back of the room. Turn to either
side and step into one of the hologram models of the Vigilance Class
Turrets. When you do, you'll be able to enter the turret cockpit and use
it. When you use a turret, you'll only be able to move it with the
Control Stick and fire its energy blasts with the A Button. Use the B
Button to get back out of the turret. It's also important to keep track
of your health while in a turret. The health bar (labeled "Turret") will
tell you how much energy the turret has left before it's destroyed.
Energy Tanks are irrelevant; if the turret is destroyed, you go with it.
Using the left turret, start by shooting the small generator beneath the
parked Pirate Skiffs on your left. The skiff will fall to the ground and
form a platform that will allow you to reach the ledge behind it. Now
target the small generator way in the back, along the wall and to the
left of the orange force field. Lastly, shoot the generator off to your
right and on a ledge. If it helps, use the right-hand turret. After this
generator is cleared away, some Pirate Troopers will emerge from the
space beyond and attack. Decimate them with the turret's powerful
blasts, but keep an eye on your health. Now the path to the orange force
field is clear. Exit the turret and hop down to ground level, and then
use the Pirate Skiff that you dropped to jump over to the platform in
the middle of the room. By the way, if you didn't get to scan a skiff
earlier in battle, you can do so now without having to worry about it
flying away. From the platform, jump to the opposite side to where the
pirates attacked from and turn left to go down the path. Scan the
computer screens here for LOG 71599, the final Space Pirate Log. Turn
and walk down the ledge in front of the force field and use the Morph
Ball to slip into the tunnel next to it, on the left side. You'll end up
behind the force field. Here, you can grab your very first BEAM AMMO
EXPANSION. These expansions add to the amount of Dark and Light Beam
ammo you can carry by 50 each, giving you 100 rounds for both beams for
now. There are three more of these items that you can collect in the
game. Also, scan the body of the Luminoth warrior in here for the J-
STL'S TESTAMENT log, another important Keybearer Lore to remember. Roll
out of the chamber and use the door down below to get back to Mining
Station A.

When you return to the Mining Station, you'll have to defeat a few
Pirate Aerotroopers. Afterwards, you can go to the Portal Terminal to
return to Dark Aether. However, since you do have a big battle coming
up, it wouldn't hurt to grab an extra Energy Tank while you're still in
Aether. Instead of going to the Portal Terminal, use the door in Mining
Station A that will take you to the Agon Temple. When you get there,
roll around the perimeter of the temple, going left from the entrance.
You'll have to use a Morph Ball Bomb to break through a set of sand
blocks that bar the path to the black door on the west end of the room.
Use the Dark Beam to open this new door.

The tunnel beyond the door is the Mine Shaft. When you enter the tunnel,
you'll see the Energy Tank above you on your right. Start by rolling to
the left in this circular Morph Ball tunnel. A short ways in you'll find
a block of sand. If you get on top of the block, it will dissolve and
you'll fall all the way to the bottom of the shaft. Roll across the
block quickly to avoid falling through. The rest of the path is infested
with Pillbugs. After you pass the sand block, roll until you get to the
first vertical path. Defeat the Pillbugs prowling around the immediate
area and then double-bomb-jump up the vertical path to get to the ledge
above. To perform a double-bomb-jump, set the first bomb, and then set
the second just before the first one detonates. Set the third when you
reach the highest point of your ascent from the first bomb. When you
return to the ground, the second bomb will launch you up to the third,
which in turn will launch you up even higher, completing the double-
bomb-jump performance. Now, from this ledge, bomb-jump even higher to
another ledge and follow it to a drop. Get on top of the stack of sand
blocks and continue rolling to the left as you fall through them so that
you end up in the correct path. Don't roll too far into this path
though, or you'll hit another block of sand and fall through. Keep going
until you get to another stack of blocks. Roll left as you fall again to
end up inside a hidden tunnel. Bomb-jump up to the new path (it's hard
to see from inside the hidden tunnel) and then continue until you reach
the ENERGY TANK. It's hard to get, but Energy Tanks are always worth it.
Since the door at the other end of the Mine Shaft tunnel is blocked by a
purple door hatch, roll back out to the Agon Temple and continue back to
the Portal Terminal.

When you get to the Portal Terminal, be quick to use the portal before
you stir up the War Wasps. Once you return to Dark Aether's Portal Site,
take the left path and go through the Crossroads and the Save Station to
reach the Duelling Range. Use the Dark Beam to open the door in the
room's western side. When you enter Ing Cache 4, roll up into the Morph
Ball and grab the MISSILE EXPANSION hidden in a small crevice, below the
door. The rest of the small room holds nothing of interest expect for a
few Inglets.

Return to the Duelling Range and take the far door to get back to the
Judgment Pit. The Lightbringers inside the Duelling Range are gone, so
you'll have to suffer more damage from Dark Aether's toxic air and
Warrior Ing attacks than before. When you get to the Judgment Pit, climb
up to the top of the room and use the black door across from the Dark
Agon Temple Access entrance. This small room is another Save Station.
Use it before you continue to the Dark Agon Temple, and try to have as
much ammunition for your weapons as you can before saving. Now take the
path leading to the temple.

After you've acquired the three keys to the Dark Agon Temple, a hologram
will appear in front of the temple entrance. Step into the hologram to
lower the gate in front of you. Enter Dark Agon Temple's arena, and
prepare to battle your first true boss.

Yeek! The Dark Agon Energy Controller is guarded fiercely by an angry
trio of massive worms. This is the boss of Agon, the mighty Amorbis
worms. Amorbis is an Energy Controller Guardian and you won't be able to
get to the Energy Controller without getting by this monstrosity. Like
any boss, the first step to battling Amorbis is scanning it. Amorbis can
be scanned twice in its two distinct forms for separate Log Book
entries. When you begin the battle, scan one of the Amorbis worms while
they're in their tunneling phase, AMORBIS 1. Amorbis is in fact three
individual worms, each capable of separating and connecting to the dark
energy sphere in the middle of the arena. As the worms tunnel in and out
of the soil, try blasting them with your most powerful weapons. The
charged Light Beam is a particularly effective weapon; not only does it
cause a lot of pain to Dark Aether natives like Amorbis, but it also has
the ability to home in on locked targets, which is a good thing against
the hard-to-hit worms. While any weapon can be used against the
tunneling worms, none of your shots will actually damage Amorbis. Just
keep pounding at the worms as they dive in and out of the soil. Watch
out for them too so that they don't land on you or tunnel up from
beneath you. It's a good idea to watch your radar or look for soil
disturbances to know where an Amorbis worm will surface from. Also, try
to stay inside one of the Safe Zones, but also try to collect the
pickups that Amorbis drops whenever it gets hit, so that you stay as
healthy as possible. After you damage an Amorbis worm enough, it will
reconnect itself with the dark sphere and draw power from the object.
The worm's enhanced abilities will turn it into a new creature, AMORBIS
2. Scan this form as soon as you can. Amorbis's second form can't tunnel
through the soil, but it can use a variety of potent dark energy
attacks. Amorbis has the ability to snuff out your Safe Zones too with
blasts of dark energy. If this happens, move on to a new Safe Zone
rather than wasting time trying to reenergize this one. Amorbis's weak
point is its head and it continues to be weak against the Light Beam. If
you're running low on Light Beam ammo, use missiles instead. After
enough punishment, the shell around Amorbis's head will crack and fall
off. Now Amorbis will start inhaling through its exposed mouth. Roll
into the Morph Ball and let Amorbis suck you in. Once you get sucked
into its mouth, drop a bomb to damage the creature. Amorbis will flail
around in pain, damaging the dark energy sphere in the process. Amorbis
will then detach and the cycle will resume. Collect the pickups that
spew from the cracked dark sphere and continue battling the Amorbis
worms. Keep hitting them with missiles or the Light Beam whenever you
get a clear shot as they burrow through the sand. Once you manage to
inflict enough damage to them again, two Amorbis worms will attach
themselves to the dark sphere and reconvert themselves into their
strengthened forms. Repeat the process of blasting off the armor around
their heads and then letting them inhale you through their mouths so
that you can plant bombs in each of them. When fighting multiple worms
in their second phase, they may sometimes come together to create a
great beam of dark energy. As the beam circles around them, just jump
over it to avoid the damage. Amorbis is immune to attacks while it's
firing this beam, so wait for the worms to finish before continuing your
attack. When you reach the third cycle of the battle, damage the
tunneling Amorbis worms one more time so that this time, all three worms
reappear and attach themselves to the dark sphere. Repeat the same
process as before, bombing each worm one by one. The Light Beam, ever
wonderful, should be your weapon of choice throughout the battle until
you run out of ammo. After you defeat the Amorbis worms, they'll
disintegrate into dust, leaving the dark energy sphere so damaged that
it finally bursts and reveals your hard-earned reward. This new power-up
is the DARK SUIT, armor of Luminoth design that significantly reduces
the damage you take from Dark Aether's atmosphere. Before, you took
damage from the air at a rate of about five energy units per second.
Now, you'll take damage at a rate of one unit per second, which means
you can stay in Dark Aether longer without having to rely so heavily on
Safe Zones. Spiffy.

After you collect the Dark Suit, take the north door to the Dark
Controller Access. Use the Bomb Slot on the Luminoth statue to rotate
the walls and reach the Energy Controller, just like in Aether. When you
approach the Energy Controller, your Energy Transfer Module will take
action and drain it of its energy. Once the transfer is complete, you
can return to Aether and take the energy back to the Agon Energy
Controller.

As you make your way back to the Portal Site to escape the dark world,
angry Ing will attack you along the way in the Dark Agon Temple, Dark
Agon Temple Access and Judgment Pit. Also, the Portal Site itself is
being occupied by a few Dark Pirate Troopers. Defeat them by energizing
the room's Light Crystals, or simply ignore them and use the portal to
return to Aether.

Go back to the Agon Energy Controller and watch the lengthy series of
cut-scenes as the power of the Agon Wastes is restored and channeled to
the Great Temple at last, and the local weather finally clears up. Now,
backtrack to the Transport to Temple Grounds near the Mining Plaza and
seek out U-Mos at the top of the Great Temple, where he'll guide you to
your next objective.

=============

Chapter 5: Metroid Pinball.

=============

Once you get back to the Temple Grounds, you should have little trouble
finding your way to the Temple Assembly Site to use the transport to the
Great Temple. That being said, you may as well take a few quick detours
to nab an expansion or two. From the Industrial Site, take the path that
leads back to the Landing Site. Save, heal and restock, and then return
to the Hive Access Tunnel. Drop down the pit that leads to the hive
network you explored in the beginning of the game.

When you get down to Hive Chamber A, the dead trooper in the room will
awaken and attack. This possessed trooper is a DARK MISSILE TROOPER, and
he's another mini-boss. Don't worry though; he's arguably the easiest
boss in the game to defeat. Make sure to scan the Dark Missile Trooper,
and then start blasting him with charged Light Beam shots. The battle
will be over shortly afterwards. Offensively, the Dark Missile Trooper
fires missiles at you, but they're relatively slow and inaccurate. After
you bring him down, the Dark Missile Trooper will leave behind a MISSILE
EXPANSION. Now continue making your way through the hives.

Hive Chamber B hides another expansion for you. Go all the way to the
end of the room, and then use a bomb to break open the damaged cover
over the sealed Morph Ball tunnel, next to the open tunnel you used to
exit the room. Roll into the tunnel and grab the MISSILE EXPANSION. Now
take the other tunnel to get to Hive Chamber C, and then use the nearby
elevator to get back up to the Industrial Site.

From the Industrial Site, make your way back to the Temple Assembly
Site. Head out into the middle of the room and kill the War Wasps that
attack. Now hop over to the door that takes you up to the Great Temple.
Turn from this door and use your Space Jump Boots to jump over from one
of the statues to a ledge on the south side of the room. Follow this
ledge to a Morph Ball Tunnel, and eventually another MISSILE EXPANSION.
Now, instead of going up to the Great Temple just yet, take another
brief detour to the nearby Communication Area. You'll have to Space Jump
up to the upper path of the Dynamo Chamber and kill a few Splinters on
the way.

When you get to the Communication Area, hop onto the ledge on your left,
near a War Wasp colony. There's a glass cover fixed into the ground, and
a MISSILE EXPANSION beneath it. Use a Morph Ball Bomb to shatter the
glass and obtain the expansion. Before leaving, hop up to the very upper
ledges of the room by using the stone statues. Look for a bridge that
leads to a blue door. Enter the small Storage Cavern A and scan the body
of the deceased Luminoth for D-ISL'S TESTAMENT. Suspiciously enough, the
Luminoth seems to be the only thing of interest in this room. Perhaps
better equipment will shed new light on the matter, so remember to come
back here later....

Head back to the Temple Assembly Site and use the transport to get up to
the Great Temple. When you pass through the Transport B Access, you can
collect the first of two expansions within the Great Temple area. Kill
the Lightflyers so that they don't cause trouble, and then face the door
leading to the Temple Sanctuary. Look for a Morph Ball tunnel along the
left wall, halfway into the passage. Use bomb-jumps to get into the
tunnel and reach the winding path to the hidden MISSILE EXPANSION.

When you get to the Temple Sanctuary, you'll be able to open the amber
Luminoth gate and expose a new path, but you won't be able to use the
door beyond until you visit U-Mos. Until then, the doorway will be
blocked off by a strange psychic barrier. Head up to the Main Energy
Controller and see what U-Mos has to say. U-Mos is grateful that you
restored the power to the Agon Energy Controller, but now you must seek
the temple in the Torvus Bog region and do the same for its Energy
Controller. Return to the Temple Sanctuary, and then use the door behind
the amber Luminoth gate to get to the next transport passage.

Transport C Access is blocked off by a stone monolith with a strange
crystal on it. Shoot this dark crystal with the Light Beam to move the
statue out of your way, and continue through the passage. Watch out for
the two HARMONY CLASS DRONES hovering at the end of the passage. Harmony
Class Drones are energy-based maintenance drones that hover in the air,
dropping energy charges at anything that passes beneath them. You can
use any weapon to kill them, but the Dark Beam works the best. Be
careful when you charge your beam weapons near them, because the drones
will be drawn towards the charging energy. After you scan and destroy
them, use the elevator to get back down to a new section of the Temple
Grounds.

Enter the Meeting Grounds. When you first get into the room, you'll have
to bring down an amber Luminoth gate to get into the rest of the room.
The Meeting Grounds has another door on your left, but you can't open it
yet, so take the path through the glass half-pipe ahead. Watch out for
the War Wasps and Sandbats, and make sure you scan the Luminoth Lore,
AGE OF ANXIETY, located high up on the left side of the half-pipe.
Follow the path to the next room.

The Hall of Eyes will lead to a dead end, but there's a portal along the
wall that you can use. Head to the back of the room and jump up to the
ledge with the green door. Turn and kill any War Wasps, and then use the
portal. The portal will take you to a room within the Sky Temple Grounds
called the Base Access. Use the door on your right to get to the
Abandoned Base.

The Dark Suit really helps when exploring this long path, as there are
no Safe Zones in the Abandoned Base until the very end. Without it, you
won't be able to make it through the dark atmosphere and Ingclaw gas.
Keep walking forward through the masses of Ingclaws and then turn when
the path goes left. When you pass through the small clearing ahead,
several darkling creatures on the wall will awaken. These things are
CORRUPTED SENTREYES, drones used by the Ing to guard important
locations. They do their assigned jobs by firing deadly laser beams at
anything in their line of sight. You can disable a Corrupted Sentreye
temporarily by shooting it, but only a charged Light Beam shot will kill
one. Just don't use the Morph Ball near them, or they'll go berserk on
you. After the Corrupted Sentreye clearing turn left and jump up onto a
ledge at the very end of the passage. There is a Safe Zone here,
surrounding a Luminoth transport platform, so use it to heal if you
need. The transport platform is operable, but you have to release it
from its holding position first. Use the pistons behind the transport to
get up to the Morph Ball ring surrounding it. Four Bomb Slots, located
around this ring, can be bombed to release the transport platform. The
trick is that whenever you bomb a slot, a barrier will close down next
to it and prevent you from passing through. This means that you must
bomb them in a certain order so that you can still access the remaining
Bomb Slots after using one. If you get stuck inside the ring, you can
always bomb the nearest slot again to raise the barrier. Start by riding
up the piston on your left (assuming you're facing the transport
platform from the back of the room). Roll past the first Bomb Slot, and
then activate the second one. Bomb the following two in order, and then
ride the other piston back down to the ground. Since you still have to
activate the first Bomb Slot, reenter the first piston, and then use the
Bomb Slot to release the transport platform. Step into the hologram that
appears on it, and then let it ferry you to the other side of the room.
When you ride the transport platform, you'll be locked in throughout the
duration of the ride, so you'll only be able to shoot and move the Arm
Cannon manually. Shoot the Nightbarb swarms that fly at you while you
ride the platform. At the end of the ride, hop onto the ledge and use
the Light Portal.

When you emerge in the Path of Eyes, back in Aether's Temple Grounds,
some Prate Troopers will attack. Try to defeat them before they turn
into Dark Pirate Troopers (though it's not like they'd be any tougher
when you use the Light Beam). To proceed down the path, shoot the
crystals on the statue ahead to move it out of your way. When you reach
the circular clearing after the turn, kill the Pirate Grenadier that
appears from the ledge up ahead. Turn from that ledge and shoot the
second statue's crystal to move it into the center of the clearing. Jump
onto it and then leap over to the ledge to continue. Lastly, shoot the
statue across from the shallow pool of water to move it into the center
so that you can get across to the other side. At the end of the path,
you'll come to a Luminoth gate. Look for the Morph Ball tunnel next to
it to find a hidden shortcut that connects to the room's entrance.
You'll need to use the Light Beam to move one final statue out of the
way so that you can use the shortcut in future passes through the Path
of Eyes. Scan the hologram of THE WORLD WARPED, and then bring down the
Luminoth gate back outside to get to the next room.

Walk along the wasp-infested cliff until you reach the next doorway. Use
a missile to break down the door hatch, and then take the Transport to
Torvus Bog. The Torvus Bog was once a great forest, but when the meteor
struck Aether long ago, water from the ocean was sent in and flooded the
land, turning it into a treacherous swamp.

When you get down to the Transport to Tempe Grounds, look on the other
side of the ancient machine behind you for your first Torvus Log Book
entry. TORVUS BEARERPODS are fairly common in the Torvus region. Shoot
these caches open to reveal their pickup contents, but wait for the
deadly gas that they release to settle. Afterwards, take the door out to
the next passage. Avoid the Shriekbats in the Temple Transport Access
and look up to scan the TORVUS HANGING PODS. Similarly to the
Bearerpods, you can shoot these plant forms down to reveal pickups. Take
the door at the end of the passage that will take you to the Torvus
Lagoon.

Although the Torvus Lagoon isn't an overly large room, there are plenty
of things to do and scan in here, as well as a few doors that connect to
other various places. This includes the black door shown during the
introduction, underneath the water level. Scan the Luminoth lying on the
shore for S-DLY'S TESTAMENT. Move forward towards the water, and then
scan the creatures that rise from the surface. These are SHREDDERS,
floating plants that travel in small groups to attack intruders. As they
hover towards you, they'll begin to bloat up with air. Rupture them with
missiles before they get to you. To your left, behind the Luminoth's
body, fire a missile to unlock the door taking you to a Save Station.
Now head back outside and dive into the water. Note that the doors above
the water level are blocked by a set of gates, so you'll have to find
another way around them. The black door is in the back of the room, to
your left. As you swim over to it, scan the school of HYDLINGS swimming
around. Hydlings pose little threat to you, as all they do is swim
around with little purpose other than to provide a wealth of pickups for
you when shot at. An entire group of Hydlings will often yield enough
pickups to completely restore your health or ammo. Use the black door to
get through to the next room.

The Path of Roots begins underwater, but the exit door at the end is
above the water level. Gun down the Hydlings in here and then roll
beneath the metal structure to the other side. Use the steps to jump out
of the water, and head through the door.

The next room is the Great Bridge. There are a few enemies lurking
beneath the waves up ahead, which will attack when you get close enough.
SHRIEKERS are fairly annoying creatures that fire sonic blasts at you.
Because they can become invisible, battling them without the proper
sonic-detection gear is pretty much impossible. Even scanning them is
somewhat of a pain to do. Try to ignore them and look up to scan the
hexagonal 'eyeballs' stationed amid the branches and trees. SENTINEL
CRYSTALS serve no purpose to you (other than as scan entries), but they
are used by the Luminoth to monitor activity in the Torvus Bog. Once
both the Shriekers and the Sentinel Crystals have been downloaded into
the Log Book, use the door to the right of the entrance, blocked by a
red blast shield.

The tunnel within the Portal Chamber will connect you to the Torvus
Lagoon, and it requires the Morph Ball to get through. On the way,
you'll see a portal and an expansion, but both of these can only be
reached from Dark Aether. The door at the end will dump you behind a
metal gate in the Torvus Lagoon. Scan the control panel next to you to
lower the set of gates and raise the bridge to the white door on your
left. While you're at it, take the opportunity to save.

The white door leads to a small boring passage known as the Ruined
Alcove. Several Shredders will attack you from the shallow puddle in
this room. Shredders will stop appearing after you get your next
upgrade, so if you haven't scanned them yet, do so now. A second white
door at the end of the passage takes you to the next room.

When you step into the Forgotten Bridge, you'll be attacked by two
frightening new foes, the GRENCHLERS. These reptilian beasts are
difficult to defeat and can cause a lot of pain in return. Amphibious
creatures, Grenchlers will pursue you both on land and underwater, and
they're also capable of leaping pretty high. They normally attack by
mauling you with their tooth-filled jaws, but they can also fire bolts
of electricity at you from their horns if you get too far away from
them. The Grenchlers' only weakness is their backsides, but they have a
protective shell that will need to be broken off before you can damage
their vulnerable areas. Lock on to a Grenchler and jump around it so
that you can get a clear shot at its back (it's hard to do because the
Grenchler will always try to be facing you), and then let fly with
something powerful. The charged Dark Beam is particularly effective at
freezing and damaging a Grenchler. After the shell breaks off, continue
to give the Grenchler additional punishment to its backside until it's
defeated. After you kill both of the Grenchlers, scan the BLOATSAC pods
growing around the edge of the water. Now head to the back of the room
and use the round platforms to reach a ledge, leading to the large
bridge that spans the length of the room. This bridge can be rotated by
using the Bomb Slot at the beginning of the bridge. The only problem is
that this Bomb Slot is in a state of dimensional flux, meaning you can
only use it from Dark Aether. Cross the metal bridge to the far ledge,
and use the portal to warp yourself to Dark Aether's version of this
room.

When you enter the Dark Forgotten Bridge, cross the metal bridge again
to find the Bomb Slot, fully stable. When you use it, the bridge in both
worlds will rotate so that it leads to the door on the south side of the
room. Here in Dark Aether, that door will be blocked off by a green
blast shield, so you'll have no choice but to return to Aether. Hop down
from the bridge and scan the large creature floating in the water. The
DARK PHLOGUS waits in water until its prey comes near. When it opens its
mouth, shoot its insides to flip the creature over. You can now use the
Dark Phlogus as a platform to reach the other side of the toxic pond.
You should also scan the blue INGSPHERE CACHES growing in the area,
which are found almost everywhere in the Dark Torvus Bog. They can be
destroyed to reveal pickups. Lastly, scan the blue DARK SENTINEL
CRYSTALS found in the trees. With your new scans, hop up onto the
platforms and reuse the Light Portal.

When you return to the Forgotten Bridge, the Grenchlers won't be there
anymore, but another nasty new enemy will appear. These enemies are DARK
PIRATE COMMANDOS, elite members of the Space Pirate forces that have
fallen prey to Ing possession. Dark Pirate Commandos are frighteningly
tough to beat, mostly due to the fact that they can phase in and out of
existence at lightning speed. They also have an impressive arsenal of
various deadly weapons, including a visor-disrupting EMP grenade
launcher and a dark energy blaster. The best way to beat the Dark Pirate
Commandos is to use the Dark Beam, surprisingly. Try to target one of
the pirates, and then hit it with a charged Dark Beam blast to freeze it
in place. Follow up with a missile to shatter the pirate. Often when the
Dark Pirate Commandos attack, they will lock you in whatever room they
appear in, but they'll flee on their own if you manage to avoid them
long enough. After the Dark Pirate Commandos are gone, climb up to the
bridge and cross it to a new door. Right before this door is a free
MISSILE EXPANSION.

Enter the Abandoned Worksite and turn to the right. Drop into the water
down below and scan the SPORB growing on the left wall. A dormant Sporb
is impossible to defeat, but once it attacks, you can target the
predatory plant and destroy it. Normally, a Sporb will only attack if
you're using the Morph Ball. They can shoot a spray of poisonous barbs
at you or grab onto your Morph Ball with an extendable tentacle to give
you a good thrashing. Defeat this Sporb, and then use the Morph Ball
tunnel along the right wall (the entrance is on the ledge at the
beginning of the room). If you didn't kill the Sporb, it will be hard to
get through this tunnel. Bomb-jump to the end and then use the second
red Morph Ball tunnel to get to the other side of the room. There's
another Sporb and a Morph Ball tunnel on this side, as well as an
expansion that's out of your current reach, but you needn't bother with
any of that just yet. Use the white door at the end of the passage to
exit.

You'll emerge inside the Great Bridge. Immediately scan the control
panel in front of the entrance that will activate the Kinetic Orb Cannon
on the opposite ledge, in front of a green Luminoth gate. Head over to
the cannon and let it blast you over to the bridge. Cross the bridge,
kill the attacking Shriekbats, and then enter the black door.

There's an Energy Tank inside the Temple Access that can only be reached
from the upper tunnel. Roll into the Morph Ball and bomb the black
circular covering on the floor, closest to the entrance. You'll fall
through a hole and end up in the bottom path of the tunnel, with the new
ENERGY TANK. Head back to the Great Bridge and use the Kinetic Orb
Cannon to get back up to the upper path of the Temple Access. Follow it
to the next door to get to the Torvus Temple.

When you walk into the Torvus Temple, a Pirate Skiff carrying a pair of
Pirate Troopers will take off, but not before deploying its troops.
After you destroy the two pirates, an additional pair of Pirate
Aerotroopers will fly in and enter the fray. Three missiles per pirate
will defeat them, but as always, watch out for their suicide strikes.
After they're defeated, the Pirate Skiff will return, leaving you to
fight the final wave of Space Pirates. Kill the half dozen or so Pirate
Troopers, and then use the crates around the area to restock on pickups.
After the pirates are defeated, you'll be able to grab the SUPER
MISSILE. The Super Missile is the Charge Combo for the Power Beam. To
use this mighty weapon, charge the Power Beam and then fire a missile
while charging. The Super Missile is very powerful, but it uses up five
missiles per shot. You can use Super Missiles to open green door
hatches, such as the one at the top of the Torvus Temple. Ride the
elevator that the Super Missile upgrade was resting on to reach the
green door and then blow the door open.

Head through the Controller Access room by using the Bomb Slot on the
rotating Luminoth statue. When you reach the Torvus Energy Controller,
scan the hologram next to the Luminoth's body to play the recorded
message. Like the Agon Energy Controller, the Torvus Energy Controller
was once guarded by a Luminoth sentinel, but this one has also long
since passed away. A-Voq's recorded image will instruct you to locate
the three Dark Torvus Temple Keys so that you can reach the Dark Torvus
Temple. In the process of listening to A-Voq, you'll also learn how to
translate emerald Luminoth symbols. One of these symbols can be found
within this room, the DARK AETHER log (not to be confused with the
Research entry of the same name). Afterwards, return to the Torvus
Temple.

Now that you can decode emerald Luminoth symbols, you'll be able to scan
a number of things that you've passed along the way. When you return to
the temple, scan the emerald symbols in the center of the clearing to
activate an elevator platform. This elevator will take you to the
temple's underchamber. There are four doors leading away from this
chamber, including one blocked by a green blast shield. Open it up and
take the lower path through the Temple Access to get to the Great
Bridge. There, scan the Luminoth gate on your right, behind the Kinetic
Orb Cannon, to get to the Torvus Map Station. As you can see by studying
the map, a large portion of Torvus is flooded beneath the Torvus Temple.
You'll get to that later, but now cut through the Great Bridge again to
get to the Path of Roots. Avoid the Shriekbats and scan the hologram of
THE ING ATTACK. Now head back to the Torvus Temple underchamber.

When you get back to the underchamber, scan the Luminoth gate on your
right to get to the Underground Tunnel. Immediately upon entering, roll
underneath the floor grating with the Morph Ball to grab a MISSILE
EXPANSION tucked away in a corner. Walk further down the path to find a
lone Grenchler. Because of the confinement within the tunnel, it will be
a bit harder to maneuver around this Grenchler and get a good shot at
its back. On the other hand, you can use your new Super Missiles to tear
the beast apart once you get your shot. Continue down the path and use
the Morph Ball to get through the small opening. Avoid the two Sporbs
that attack once you roll out, and then turn left. Scan the hologram of
OUR WAR BEGINS, and then use the white exit door on your right.

When you reach the spacious Torvus Grove, run over to the opposite door,
but watch out for the Phazon barrels. When you try to exit, the doors
will seal and a band of PIRATE COMMANDOS will attack. Pirate Commandos
are very similar to their possessed variants, but they lack the ability
to phase in and out between dimensions. Nevertheless, they are still a
force to be reckoned with, trained solely for the purpose of "hunting
the Hunter". Pirate Commandos attack by firing the usual laser bolts at
you, but they also come with an energy blade that they can use to cut
through you in close combat. Defensively, they can also generate a
portable arm shield that will deflect any incoming attack. The shields
can't be sustained for very long, but the Pirate Commandos are
invulnerable while they're active. Use the Dark Beam or the Super
Missiles to defeat them, and then exit via the door opposite to the
white entrance.

When you get to Meditation Vista, scan the portal machine and let it
warp you to the Gloom Vista. Now exit through the same door and enter
Torvus Grove's dark counterpart, the Polluted Mire. The mire is home to
a pair of wicked HUNTER ING. Hunters are, as the Log Book puts it,
cunning and relentless. Like the Dark Pirate Commandos that they
possess, Hunter Ing can phase through existence, making them very
difficult to hit. They attack by striking you with their many tentacles
as they float around you. The Light Beam is the best weapon to use
against the Hunter Ing, but because they can be so difficult to hit,
your best bet is to lure them close to you and then decimate them with a
well-times Energized Beacon. To escape from the room after the Ing are
defeated, look for a platform near one of the tree's roots. The
platforms lead up and around the edge of the tree, and eventually to a
ledge with a black door on it.

Take the door to the Dark Falls, and use the Save Station within it.
This is the last Save Station before you fight a tough mini-boss, so
it's a very good idea to use it. From the station, go around the south
side of the room to get to the next door, which leads through a tunnel
within the Dark Forgotten Bridge. Use the two Lightflyers here to make
Safe Zones as you cross the poisonous air. Head through the white door
at the end.

When you get inside the Dark Arena Tunnel, use your Morph Ball to get
through. Most of the tunnel is made up of a series of sand blocks that
will vanish when you touch them. After you fall through, bomb-jump up to
the other side of the tunnel and enter the next room, the Dark Torvus
Arena. As soon as you enter, a scary-looking Ing will retreat into a
Morph Ball tunnel at the end of the half-pipe. Also take note of the
Dark Temple Key high up on the right side of the half-pipe, and the
several Dark Preeds floating around. You won't be able to get the key
until you deal with the Ing, so follow it into the tunnel. Use the Safe
Zone at the bottom of the half-pipe to heal as much energy as possible
before entering the tunnel.

When you enter the arena, the tunnel will seal itself off, trapping you
inside until you defeat your newest enemy; the ill-tempered BOOST
GUARDIAN. This Warrior Ing has learned how to proficiently wield your
Boost Ball, making it one of the most difficult bosses in the game. Make
sure you've already obtained the five possible Energy Tanks before
fighting the Boost Guardian. You get no Safe Zones during this fight,
but pickups will show up regularly. Scan the guardian as soon as the
battle begins. At first, the Boost Guardian will behave and attack in
similar ways to a regular Warrior Ing. It can shoot light energy at you,
swing at you with its claws and it can attempt to possess you by hurling
itself at you. You won't be able to use your Morph Ball when the Ing
hits you with this damaging attack. Start by hitting the Boost Guardian
with your most powerful weapons, preferably either the Light Beam or the
Super Missiles. The Boost Guardian will melt away into dark goop from
time to time, so just wait for it to relocate itself elsewhere. After
some time, the Boost Guardian will use its Boost Ball ability. You can
tell it's about to do this when your shots deflect off of the guardian.
Roll into the Morph Ball so that the camera zooms up and out for an
easier view. As the Boost Guardian rockets around the room at high
speed, bouncing and ricocheting off walls, do you best to avoid it until
it liquefies or hits one of the four pillars in the room. The guardian
will convert back to its fluid form and start hunting you down. Whatever
you do, stay as far back from the guardian as possible, because if it
hits you, you'll hurt badly. As it oozes around, drop Morph Ball bombs
in its path to stun it. Keep dropping bombs until it rolls back into its
Boost Ball. Continue to avoid it, and wait for it to dissolve into
liquid again. Eventually your bombs will force it back into its solid,
Ing form. Roll out of the Morph Ball and shoot it with more Super
Missiles or charged Light Beam shots. The cycle will probably continue
again at least two or three, but eventually you'll get the Boost
Guardian's health down to zero. Throughout the battle, you'll have to
watch out for annoying Inglets. They spawn during the guardian's pinball
craze, usually when it hits one of the four pillars. You can bomb the
pests if you want, but the Boost Guardian will probably destroy them
anyway when it boosts through them. Use the health pickups that they
leave behind. Ultra Energy Units (yellow capsules that heal 100 energy
units) will be unearthed whenever the Boost Guardian smashes through one
of the pillars, so collect those as well whenever possible. When the
battle ends, take your newest prize, the BOOST BALL. While in Morph Ball
mode, charge up your ball with the B Button and release to boost for a
short distance. The Boost Ball can harm enemies if you run into them
while boosting, but its main purpose is to help you use half-pipes and
Spinner devices. It can also combine with the Spider Ball, but you won't
need to worry about that until much later on. Take the pickups as well
and exit the arena.

=============

Chapter 6: The Depths of Torvus.

=============

When you get back outside to the half-pipe area, test out the Boost Ball
by boosting from one side of the half-pipe to the other. Continue
gaining momentum until you boost all the way up to the DARK TORVUS
TEMPLE KEY 1, the first of three Dark Torvus Temple Keys. Continue with
your skater pro theatrics to exit the half-pipe, by boosting up to the
ledge on the right side. Exit through the door up here.

To get back across the Dark Arena Tunnel without falling through the
vanishing blocks, charge up the Boost Ball and zoom across the blocks
before they disappear. Continue through the Dark Forgotten Bridge tunnel
and the Dark Falls (save here) to the Polluted Mire, and finally to the
Gloom Vista. Use the portal to get back to Aether, and then head back to
the Torvus Grove.

You can now take a break from the unpleasantness of the bog to go hunt
down a few out-of-the-way additions to your steadily improving arsenal.
When you reach the Torvus Grove, look for a half-pipe configuration in
front of the white door, opposite to the door you entered from. Face the
door, and use the Boost Ball to boost up to the half-pipe's right-hand
ledge. Walk around this ledge and continue to make your way around the
room until you reach a black door.

The next passage is the Grove Access. The Save Station found here in
Dark Aether is gone, but you'll find something else just as useful;
KROCUSSES. Okay, maybe they aren't as useful as a Save Station, but they
do add another page to your Log Book. Krocusses aren't anywhere near
worth the time and effort in trying to kill and they're pretty harmless,
so simply continue to the Forgotten Bridge.

The metal tunnel at the top of the Forgotten Bridge will allow you to
reach the portal that you used the first time you entered this room.
Near the entrance, you'll find a small device on the floor known as a
SPINNER. Enter the Spinner by rolling up into your Morph Ball. Once you
get inside the device, use the Boost Ball to activate the Spinner's
controls. Keep boosting inside the Spinner until the caged window behind
it lowers, allowing you to get to the main part of the room. To exit the
Spinner, drop a bomb. The lowered window also forms a platform that will
let you reach that portal, even from the other side. Before you exit the
tunnel however, kill the Lightflyer and continue down the tunnel. Use a
missile on the red door to get to the Plaza Access.

When you get inside the Morph Ball tunnel, you'll have to bomb-jump over
a set of metal blades, and then use the Bomb Slot on the other side to
rotate the blades so that you can get to another portion of the tunnel.
After a bit of bomb-jumping, you'll reach another set of blades. Use the
second Bomb Slot nearby to rotate these blades and expose a hole in the
wall. When you get to the second section of the tunnel, use the Boost
Ball to boost up the sides of the half-pipe. Boost up to the right-hand
ledge to snatch a MISSILE EXPANSION. Now roll back to the Forgotten
Bridge. It's possible to continue through the Plaza Access to get to the
Torvus Plaza, but the room is pointless without the Spider Ball.

When you get back to the Forgotten Bridge, jump down to ground level and
head through the Ruined Alcove to get to the Torvus Lagoon (all three of
these rooms are now occupied by Grenchlers). Take the nearby transport
to get back up to the Temple Grounds. When you get to the Path of Eyes,
take the shortcut through the tunnel to get to the entrance. Use a Super
Missile to open the green door, and continue through the Hall of Eyes to
get to the Meeting Grounds.

Walk up the path in the Meeting Grounds until you find the glass half-
pipe. Boost up to the upper right-hand ledge and roll into the small
Morph Ball tunnel. Follow the path to the Service Access. As you roll
through the tunnel, you'll need to boost across another set of vanishing
blocks. If you fall, take the green door on the left side to reenter the
Meeting Grounds and try again. The Morph Ball tunnel will continue
through the Path of Honor and eventually drop you off at a huge room
known as the Hall of Honored Dead.

The Hall of Honored Dead lies in the center of the Temple Grounds,
beneath the shadow of the towering Great Temple. Your next power-up is
being held inside a containment tank in the center of the room. The only
way to get to it is by rotating the rings on the floor in a way so that
they line up like pieces of a puzzle. The rings are rotated in sections
by spinning the four Spinners at the base of the giant Luminoth statues
around the room. You'll need to rotate them from the outside in, so that
they glow yellow. Start by using the purple Spinner. Spin it so that the
outer floor ring locks into place twice. Now use the blue Spinner and
lock in the next set of rings once. Next, spin away at the yellow
Spinner and lock the rings in three times. Lastly, rotate the red
Spinner once to complete the puzzle. An array of solar lenses will rise
from the floor and focus solar energy into a concentrated laser beam,
which will shatter the central containment tank. Walk over and grab the
SEEKER MISSILE LAUNCHER. This weapon allows you to charge your missiles
by holding down the Y Button. Pass the cursor over multiple enemies to
acquire up to five targets, or fire multiple missiles at the same
target. The Seeker Missile Launcher also comes with an extra five
missiles, adding to amount of missiles you can carry (you should have 85
now). Test out your neat new toy on the circling Sandbats. Afterwards,
locate the door to exit the room. There's an active portal up on a ledge
in here, but you won't be able to reach it from this side. The exit door
is blocked by a purple door hatch. To break this hatch, use the Seeker
Missile Launcher to target the five purple nodes around the door. Shoot
all five nodes at once to break the hatch.

Walk through the Path of Honor to get to the Service Access. Avoid the
Lumites and use the door on the south end of the room to get to the
Landing Site. When you enter from this door, scan the Luminoth body
lying against the stones for the M-DHE'S TESTAMENT log. Now hop down in
front of your ship and turn back towards the ledge. If you want to get
back up, shoot the dark crystal on the stone monolith beneath the ledge
so that it moves outwards and makes a step for you. Save at your ship
and then head to the Industrial Site by using the other door in the
Landing Site.

From the Industrial Site, take the Transport to Agon Wastes and continue
through Agon until you reach the Agon Temple. From the temple's
entrance, head down the left path to reach the black door taking you to
the Mine Shaft. There's an Energy Tank in the Mine Shaft's Morph Ball
tunnel, so get it if you didn't before. Drop all the way down to this
Pillbug-infested tunnel to find the exit door. The door is blocked by
another purple blast shield. Use the seeker missiles to break down the
hatch to enter the next room.

When you enter Mining Station B, turn to the right and drop down into
the main clearing (ignore the first control panel that you see for now).
While you're down here, scan the orange bugs crawling around the area.
KRALEE are close relatives to the Green Kralee found in the Temple
Grounds, but they have the ability to warp to Dark Aether and back at
random intervals. Like their green cousins, Kralee are fairly harmless
and are best ignored. Head over to the opposite wall and use the Bomb
Slot next to the deceased Luminoth. The slot will begin spinning the
large drill blade at high speed. As soon as you exit the Bomb Slot, a
timer will begin ticking. When the time runs out, the drill blade will
stop spinning. Quickly enter the side room along the north wall and scan
the control panel in the back behind a half-pipe. The control panel will
activate a Kinetic Orb Cannon. Use it to blast yourself up to a ledge.
Up here, use the second Bomb Slot in the back to raise the rotating
drill blade so that it strikes the wall and reveals a portal. If you
couldn't get up to the second Bomb Slot in time, you'll have to go back
down and reuse the first one. Scan THE STELLAR OBJECT (the amber
symbols) and hop down to the half-pipe in front of the Kinetic Orb
Cannon. Use it to boost yourself up to a Morph Ball tunnel on the left
side. Follow the tunnel and let it dump you onto the drill blade. From
here, you can use the blades as a walkway to reach the portal. Fire it
up and head through.

The dark equivalent to the Mining Station is the Trial Grounds. As you
walk forward, a swarm of Nightbarbs will swoop out from the cavern up
ahead, to the left of another dead Luminoth. Wait for them to pass and
then enter the cavern. The Nightbarbs will continue to circle back
through the cavern, but all you have to do is activate the nearest
beacon so that they run into it on their way through. When you get into
the cavern, use the steps on your right to get up onto a ledge. Hop over
to another ledge with a Light Beacon on it, and then again to the blue
door.

Use the Morph Ball to get through the tunnel in the Dark Transit
Station. As you cross, swarms of Nightbarb-like creatures will swoop
through the tunnel. On the other side, use the door to get to the
Duelling Range. You won't be able to go far into the room thanks to the
metal gate in front of the door. Just use the portal on your left to
return to the Mining Plaza. Now, take the same path back through the
Transit Station to get to Mining Station B. On the way through the Morph
Ball tunnel, you'll have to avoid the Sandbat swarms and use Morph Ball
Bombs to break apart the rocks blocking the path.

When you emerge into the Mining Station from the Transit Station tunnel,
you'll be able to grab the DARKBURST sitting on this ledge. This bad boy
is the Charge Combo for the Dark Beam, but in order to use it, you'll
have to burn up five missiles and 30 rounds of Dark Beam Ammunition per
shot. The Darkburst is an incredibly powerful weapon that creates a
black hole when it strikes, sucking up any enemies in the vicinity into
oblivion. If you want to test it out, use it on the two Pirate
Aerotroopers that fly in after you grab it. To exit the room, use the
control panel in the back of the room to activate a Kinetic Orb Cannon
that will send you back up to the entrance.

Climb to the top of the Mine Shaft, and then continue through the Agon
Wastes until you get to the Transport Center, the room next to the
Portal Terminal. Use the half-pipe in this room to boost yourself up to
the ledge on your right (assuming you're facing away from the Portal
Terminal entrance). The left ledge has a door, but the right ledge has a
portal that will take you to the Crossroads, where you can grab a
MISSILE EXPANSION. The portal only goes one way though, so you'll have
to go next-door to the Portal Site and use the portal there so that you
can get back to the Transport Station and boost yourself up to the other
ledge. Use seeker missiles to destroy the purple door hatch when you
reach the ledge, and then take the transport down to the Torvus Bog.

When you return to Torvus, walk to the end of the short passage in the
transport room and use another five missiles to open the purple door
hatch. This door will take you back to the Torvus Temple's underchamber.
Use the Morph Ball to roll under the thick branch in front of the door.
There is only one other doorway down here that you haven't used yet, and
to reach it, you'll have to roll down a red Morph Ball tunnel in between
the transport door and the door to the Underground Tunnel. Use a Super
Missile to open this new door, and then take the elevator in the
Underground Transport to get to the depths of Torvus.

Step out into the Hydrodynamo Station. A good portion of this room is
flooded, which is where most of the doors that lead in and out of here
are located. Look up and scan the floating PREEDS. Preeds, just like the
possessed Dark Preeds you saw back in the Dark Agon Wastes, will release
a volatile gas when you destroy them. Wait for the gas to settle after
you kill them before continuing. The Preeds will continue to appear
through the holes in the wall unless you use missiles to destroy the two
circular openings that they emerge from. Use the rotating platforms
ahead of you to reach the top of the room, and then use an additional
missile to get inside a Save Station.

After you save, go back out into the Hydrodynamo Station and dive into
the murky water. There is a ledge just beneath the water's surface that
you can stand on to get a better look at what terrors lurk below. Locate
and scan one of the large fish swimming around the room. BLOGGS are
fearsome aquatic predators with jaws filled with sharp teeth and a mouth
large enough to eat you with. To defeat a Blogg, wait for it to swim
towards you when it makes its attack. The Blogg will spiral forward and
open its jaws just before it reaches you. Shoot a missile down its
throat to split the beast. Once you kill both Bloggs, head down to a
large round platform in the middle of the room, down below. If you fall
all the way to the bottom accidentally, you can use a current from the
set of vents along the south wall to push yourself back up. From the
platform, turn towards the north wall and leap over to a ledge with a
control panel on it. Get behind the panel and scan it to extend a
portion of the ledge directly above you. Now head back to the central
platform and roll into the glass tube in the middle. The Kinetic Orb
Cannon at the base of the tube will blast you to the very top of the
room. From here, you can jump back down into the water and use the
extended portion of the northern platform to reach a MISSILE EXPANSION
and a purple door hatch. Open the door and head through to the next
passage.

Walk forward through the submerged portion of the Training Access until
you get back above water level. The creepy music that accompanies you
and the blue Phazon particles floating in the air can only signify one
thing; Dark Samus is on the prowl. As you head to the end of the tunnel,
a blue streak of light will fly past you and into the next room. Follow
it into the Training Chamber.

When you step out into the Training Chamber, the blue streak will appear
in front of you and reform itself into the figure of Dark Samus. Don't
fret about having to fight the dark hunter this time though, as all
she'll do is mock you before disappearing again. Anyway, there are two
Bloggs in the water than need killing. By defeating them, the underwater
Spinner below will activate. Use this Spinner to rotate the floor so
that the groove along it aligns with the either the red or the blue
paths that take you to the doors on either side of the room. It's up to
you which path to take, since you're going to have to come back and use
the other one that you didn't use the first time in a short while. Go
ahead and take the red path to a black door, so that you can scan the
hologram of RECOVERING ENERGY along the wall.

When you enter the Transit Tunnel East, roll up into the Morph Ball and
let the current on the floor push you up to the Kinetic Orb Cannon. Keep
moving through the glass tube network until you go as far right as you
can go. Let the currents push you up to a second Kinetic Orb Cannon,
which will launch you over to the tunnel's exit.

When you get to the Catacombs, scan THE NEW TERROR, the Luminoth Lore
piece just above the portal on your left. Both this portal and the door
on the far side of the room are inaccessible, but you can still take the
black door on the right side of the room. To get to it, dive into the
water. Defeat the two Bloggs and trek through their murky turf until you
reach the other side. Use the rubble to get up onto the platform above
the water's surface. From here you'll be able to reach the black door,
but don't leave without scanning the dead Keybearer for G-SCH'S
TESTAMENT. Make your way through the Catacombs Access tunnel, and watch
out for the Brizgees.

This tunnel will take you right back to the Hydrodynamo Station. Turn on
your Scan Visor right away and scan the control panel in front of the
door. This will allow you to get back to the same door you just came in
from should you ever need to again. Also, whenever you enter the
Hydrodynamo Station after having killed the first two Bloggs, they'll be
replaced from that point on by several BLOGGLINGS. These young Bloggs
are far more docile than the adults, and they'll usually attack only
when you provoke them. The Blogglings also lack the hard armor of an
adult Blogg, so you can defeat one by hitting it with a missile or
charged beam weapon. Use the Kinetic Orb Cannon down below to shoot
yourself back up to the Save Station, and then retake the path that
leads to the Training Chamber.

As you pass through the Training Access tunnel a second time, scan the
SEEDBURSTERS crawling around. Seedbursters are small plant-like
organisms that travel in large groups. They defend themselves by
launching seeds at you. Shoot them for pickups and enter the Training
Chamber. Kill the newly-established Bloggling population and use the
underwater Spinner to rotate the floor so that this time, the blue path
lines up. Enter the tunnel to reach a white door.

This next passage is Transit Tunnel West. Drift up to the Kinetic Orb
Cannon hologram to boost yourself through another tunnel. When you reach
the main part of the tunnel, roll forward and destroy the blue portion
of the floor with a bomb, which will let you get to the Bomb Slot
beneath you. The spinning propellers up above will create a current too
powerful for you to get through, so you'll need to use the Bomb Slot to
reverse the flow of water. If you ever need to get back through the
tunnel from the other side, you'll have to repeat the process using the
second Bomb Slot. Bomb-jump back up to the upper path and then continue
through the tunnel until you reach the exit door.

The door will take you to the Gathering Hall, another large, half-
submerged chamber. The first thing you should do when you enter is dive
into the water so that you can kill the Blogg swimming around down here.
Also, head over to the far end of the room and scan the underwater
hologram of NEW WEAPONS. Similarly to the Catacombs, the Gathering
Hall's far door is inaccessible, and you'll want to find a way over to
the side door so that you can reach the final control panel inside the
Hydrodynamo Station. This door is pretty high up though, so you'll have
to do a bit of portal jumping before you can get up to it. To get across
to the Bomb Slot on the far ledge, target the crystals beneath the
floating platforms that look like venomous, spiky sea creatures. One
shot each with the Dark Beam will flip them over. Exit the water via the
steps near the entrance, and then hop across the first flipped platform
to the next ledge. This ledge has a laser emitter on it that can be
rotated to point towards the Luminoth statue in the back of the room,
but the Spinner used to operate only functions from Dark Aether. Jump
across the second spiky platform from this ledge to get to the Bomb
Slot. When you use it, the portal along the wall underneath the water's
surface will be revealed. Dive into the water and use the portal.

The Crypt is the dark equivalent to the Gathering Hall. The puddle of
water in the center of the room should be avoided, since the water will
poison you if you tough it. You'll still have to kill the Dark Pirate
Commandos that attack though. Start by firing the Light Beam at the
room's Light Crystals, in case the pirates teleport themselves to that
spot. Use the Dark Beam otherwise to defeat them. Afterwards, use the
platform on the north side of the room to get up to the ledge with the
laser emitter on it. Use the Spinner at its base to rotate the laser so
that in Aether, it points toward the Luminoth Statue. Return to the
Gathering Hall by using the portal. Note that the door at the end of the
room is blocked off by an energy shield, so you'll have to deal with
that later.

When the laser hits the statue in Aether, a new platform will extend
between it and the far ledge with the Bomb Slot on it. Flip the spiky
platforms over anew and climb out of the water to get over to the
platform. Jump over to the platform at the base of the statue, and use
the Kinetic Orb Cannon to launch yourself up to the white door. Follow
the Gathering Access passage to another white door that takes you back
to the Hydrodynamo Station, but be very careful not to disturb the
Preeds within the small space of the tunnel.

Once again, you'll find yourself facing a control panel in the
Hydrodynamo Station. When this one is scanned, the large platform at the
bottom of the room will rise and expose a new doorway. The raised
platform will also block off the Kinetic Orb Cannon that will launch you
up to the surface, so you won't be able to save before venturing further
into the depths of Torvus. Pray that you don't get killed....

When you enter the Hydrodynamo Shaft, hop down the steps around the edge
of the room to get to the bottom. The steps wind around the room's main
chamber. Look inside the chamber to scan the king of all that is nasty
underwater, the ALPHA BLOGG. You'd better scan this monstrous fish now
while it's safe to do so, and not in a few moments when you have to
fight him. You didn't think he was just going to swim around and look
decorative, did you? Anyway, you'll also find a school of Hydlings
floating around near the bottom, which are perfect for refilling your
health and ammo reserves before the Alpha Blogg battle. You'll specially
want to fill up on Dark Beam Ammunition. (Here's a very reliable trick
to max out your ammo for both the Dark Beam and the Light Beam: when
both beams are pretty close to being filled up, shoot a group of
Hydlings with the Dark Beam to release Light Beam Ammunition. Don't
collect the pickups; instead, shoot more Hydlings with the Light Beam to
release Dark Beam pickups. Now collect both the Dark and the Light Beam
Ammunition pickups to completely max out the ammo for both beams. Use
the remaining Hydlings to refill Missile Ammunition and energy). Anyway,
use the blue door at the very bottom of the chamber.

Drop down to the bottom of the Main Hydrochamber and enter the blue door
down here to get to the Hydrochamber Storage. In here, you'll find your
next upgrade, the GRAVITY BOOST. This power-up does a number of useful
things that will improve your travels through aquatic environments.
Firstly, the Gravity Boost will negate the liquid friction around you,
meaning you can travel through water as easily as if you were traveling
on land. Also, the Gravity Boost will vastly improve your vision
underwater, allowing you to see deeper and clearer through Torvus's
murky water. And lastly, the Gravity Boost lets you jet through the
water by pressing and holding down the B Button after performing a Space
Jump underwater. The jet boost will only last for a few seconds, but
it'll be enough to get you to new areas. After you take the Gravity
Boost, head back out into the Main Hydrochamber.

When you reenter the Main Hydrochamber, the Alpha Blogg will come
crashing through the ceiling with a jaw full of meat-ripping teeth.
Rather than there being a reward for defeating this mini-boss, you
simply get to keep your Gravity Boost and live to tell the tale. Because
you weren't able to save before opening the path to the Hydrodynamo
Shaft, it's highly advisable to beat the Alpha Blogg on your first try.
Like the Boost Guardian, he can be tough to kill unless you have a good
idea of what you're doing. If you didn't scan him earlier in the
Hydrodynamo Shaft, this will be your only other chance. The Alpha Blogg
fights almost exactly like a regular Blogg and can only be defeated in
the same way; hit him in the mouth when he lunges at you to take a bite.
The Alpha Blogg is much larger and tougher than a regular Blogg however,
so if you're still using missiles, you'll have a harder time beating
him. As the Alpha Blogg swims around, lock on to him and try to keep
your distance so that you have more time to react when the fish strikes.
Occasionally, the Alpha Blogg will fire sonic blasts at you from his
mouth which will mess with your vision if they hit you. Fortunately,
these blasts are slow and easy to avoid. When the Alpha Blogg strikes,
wait for him to open his jaws before hitting him with something strong.
The Darkburst works wonders against the Alpha Blogg, and a single hit
will be enough to drain him of half his energy. If you have enough ammo,
you can use an additional well-timed Darkburst blast to finish him off.
If you don't have enough ammo, use Super Missiles or charged Dark Beam
shots. It can be hard to hit the Alpha Blogg at the right moment, which
is why the more powerful and damaging weapons are ideal. Whenever the
Alpha Blogg strikes, remember to step out of the way after shooting him,
or he'll end up slamming right into you. The Gravity Boost will help
immensely when fighting the Alpha Blogg. After he is defeated, use the
Gravity Boost to jet up to the platform on the wall in front of a halted
propeller blade. From there, jet over to the platform on your left, and
then again to the exit door.

=============

Chapter 7: Swamp Thing.

=============

After you escape from the Main Hydrochamber, kill the Hydling group in
the Hydrodynamo Shaft again to regain ammo. From the lower area, turn to
face the platform above the spinning turbine. With your new Gravity
Boost, you'll be able to float up to the platform above this turbine and
use the portal in the back. The portal will take you to the Undertemple
Access. The only thing can do within this room for now is take the DARK
TORVUS TEMPLE KEY 2 in front of you. Turn around and reuse the portal
after you have the key. When you return to Aether, climb to the top of
the Hydrodynamo Shaft to get back to the Hydrodynamo Station. With your
Gravity Boost, you'll be able to jet up to the top of the room to save
without having to use the Kinetic Orb Cannon.

After you save the game, you'll want to get back to the Catacombs, one
of the three chambers that surround the Hydrodynamo Station. The
quickest route to get there will be by using the white door down below,
but there are actually two reasons why you should take the long way
through the Training Chamber instead.

The first reason is a new scan. When you enter the Training Chamber, the
Blogglings swimming around down below will be consumed by darkling
invaders, turning them into DARK BLOGGS. While they certainly aren't as
deadly as the Alpha Blogg was, Dark Bloggs are still tougher to kill
than regular Bloggs. It may take two or more missiles to the mouth to
defeat them. It would be better to simply ignore them. You don't have to
rotate the room's Spinner to reach the side doors this time, as you can
simply boost over the cage barriers on either side of the room to get to
the doors. Enter the black door to get to Transit Tunnel East.

The second reason to take the long way to the Catacombs is the Energy
Tank now obtainable within the Transit Tunnel. When you get to the main
section of glass tubes, roll over to the first vertical tube from the
entrance. Double-bomb-jump up this tube to reach the first Bomb Slot.
The slot will reverse the current flow within the fourth vertical tube
so that it flows upwards. Get beneath this tube and double-bomb-jump
again to reach the second Bomb Slot at the top. The current will push
your Morph Ball a lot farther than normal when you double-bomb-jump. As
you rise from the first bomb, drop the second bomb just below the peak
of your ascent. Do this twice in a row to reach the Bomb Slot. This slot
will reverse the water flow in the second tube. When you activate it, a
timer will start. Hurry up and repeat the double-bomb-jump process
inside the second tube to reach the ENERGY TANK before the time runs out
and the current pushes you back down. After you have the tank, roll to
the right to get to the Catacombs.

The Catacombs is now home to a pair of Grenchlers. You'll want to defeat
them now, because they'll tear you up otherwise. Dive into the water
afterwards and look for a small cavern underneath the portal on the left
side. Use the Gravity Boost to jet up to the Bomb Slot, which is
inaccessible otherwise. The slot will lower the metal restraints
surrounding the portal up above. Climb out of the water and leap over to
the platform to use the portal, which will take you to the Dungeon.

As soon as you emerge, scan the prowling DARK GRENCHLERS in the room.
Dark Grenchlers are nearly identical to regular Grenchlers, but they're
a bit more resilient and tougher to kill unless you use the Light Beam.
Don't waste precious ammo fighting them; just scan them and exit through
the room's only door on the north side.

Make your way through the Undertransit Two as quickly as possible. Avoid
the crushing pistons and continue until you reach the Sacrificial
Chamber. The massive beast lumbering around above you guards your next
power-up, but you can't get to the upper part of the room from here.
Cross over to the white door on the opposite side, but watch out for the
Hunter Ing.

The Undertransit One tunnel hides another expansion for you. It's hard
to see yourself inside the pipes, so it'll be a bit tricky to get to the
expansion or the exit for that matter. It's not easy to tell where the
pipes have openings or gaps rather than solid barriers. Just work your
way to the very bottom and go left. When you can go no further, bomb-
jump up and over to the next half of the tunnel. Now drop down to the
very bottom tube once again. Roll to the right, bomb-jump up to the
left, and then bomb-jump again to the right to get the concealed MISSILE
EXPANSION. To escape, take the bottom tube and go left all the way, and
then bomb-jump up to the exit.

The room that follows is the Crypt, which you explored prior to
obtaining the Gravity Boost. To deactivate the orange force field that
blocks your way into the rest of the room, shoot the crystal in front of
you with the Dark Beam. This will also activate a series of retracting
platforms around the room that will take you up to the white door high
up on your left. Kill the Dark Pirate Troopers that appear and jump from
platform to platform until you reach the exit, but be careful not to
jump over to the next platform when it retracts into the wall. Shoot the
Darkling Tentacles in the Crypt Tunnel and use another white door to get
to the next room.

The Undertemple Shaft is Dark Aether's version of the Hydrodynamo
Station, with doors leading to the surrounding chambers and a Save
Station at the top that can be reached with a Kinetic Orb Cannon. Drop
down to the bottom of the room and use the stone steps along the walls
to reach the central platform, above the Safe Zone. A pair of Hunter Ing
will appear down here, so if you want, use the Light Beam on the Light
Crystal and try to lure the Ing into their own deaths. Use the Kinetic
Orb Cannon on the platform to launch yourself up to the top of the room.
Now jump over to the ledge with the red door and use the Save Station,
but watch out for the Dark Preeds up here. After you've saved, drop down
onto the platform midway through the shaft. Locate the opening along the
wall (with a Safe Zone) to get inside the metal bridge beneath you. You
can rotate the bridge so that the opening will face the north door by
using the Bomb Slot. Mind the dead Luminoth and enter the
Sacrificial Chamber Tunnel.

The first portion of this tunnel is filled with Ingsphere Caches. Use
them to get as much Light Beam or missile ammo as possible. Towards the
end of the tunnel, you'll find some venom weed. If you touch these toxic
plants, you'll suffer damage, so just shoot at them to make them
withdraw into the ground for a few seconds. Use the door at the end to
get to the upper portion of the Sacrificial Chamber, where the next
guardian awaits you.

The Sacrificial Chamber is home to a nasty, darkling-possessed beast of
a Grenchler known as the GRAPPLE GUARDIAN. The Grapple Guardian has
adapted itself to use your Grapple Beam. It can use the Grapple Beam to
hook onto magnetically-charged objects and reel them in. (What, did you
think it would use its newfound ability to swing from the ceiling like a
circus trapeze performer for your amusement? No). In truth, the Grapple
Guardian isn't terribly difficult to defeat, but like any Grenchler, it
can cause a great deal of damage in a small amount of time. It shares
the same weakness as its brethren; a weak backside protected only by a
shell of armor that can be broken off. The trick to beating the Grapple
Guardian will be getting it to expose its back to you so that you can
blast at it. To do that, you'll have to take advantage of the Grapple
Guardian's one other weakness, which is its sensitive eye. After you
scan the guardian, its eye will turn purple, which means that you can
now lock on to this weak point. If you don't scan Grapple Guardian, you
won't be able to target the eye, and of course, you'll also miss your
shot at its Log Book entry. As the beast stalks around the room, fire
Super Missiles at its eye. After you stun it, the Grapple Guardian will
fire its Grapple Beam and attempt to latch itself onto you. When it does
this, get behind one of the glowing, blue poles in the room so that one
is between you and the Grapple Guardian. The poles are charged with
magnetic energy, so when the guardian uses its Grapple Beam, it will
hook itself onto the pole and get stuck. Quickly maneuver around the
struggling Grapple Guardian before it breaks free, and then blast it in
the back with the Super Missile/Light Beam. After enough times of
repeating this process, the Grapple Guardian will be reduced to about a
quarter of its health. Its armored shell will break off, and the Grapple
Guardian will begin to attack in an angry craze. Avoid it as much as
possible as it tries to trample you, and keep shooting it in the eye
with Super Missies. You won't be able to provoke the Grapple Guardian
into getting itself stuck onto the magnetic poles, so after you stun it
by damaging its eye, quickly get behind it and shoot at its back before
it snaps out of its daze. Alternatively, you can continue to shoot the
Grapple Guardian in the eye with the Light Beam after it has been
stunned. After the Grapple Guardian finally dies, it will leave you the
GRAPPLE BEAM. The Grapple Beam can be used to swing across gaps by
attaching it to GRAPPLE POINTS (small nodes marked with special Grapple
icons, and worthy of a scan). After you collect the Grapple Beam and the
bevy of pickups that the guardian left behind, the room will remodel
itself so that you can no longer use the two side doors until you get
rid of the obstructions in front of them. Climb onto the ruined Luminoth
statue and turn around to face into the room. Use the Grapple Beam to
swing over to the exit door, and then return to the Undertemple Shaft.

When you get back to the shaft, use the Grapple Beam to swing over to
the door taking you to the Crypt. Use the portal there to get back to
the Gathering Hall, and then climb out of the water on the north side so
that you can use the new Grapple Point to swing over to the platform in
front of the Luminoth statue (rather than having to flip the spiky
platforms over). Use the Kinetic Orb Cannon to exit the room, and then
head to the top of the Hydrodynamo Station to save.

Use the nearby Underground Transport to get back up to the Torvus
Temple, and then take the path through the Temple Access to get to the
Great Bridge. Finally, daylight! Enjoy it while it lasts, because you'll
have to make one more trip to Dark Aether soon to reclaim what is
rightfully yours; a new visor. From the Great Bridge, blast yourself up
to the metal bridge and then jump over to the white door that leads to
the Abandoned Worksite.

When you walk into the room, jump up into the air and grab onto the
Grapple Point with the Grapple Beam. Swing over to the ledge to grab a
MISSILE EXPANSION. Now swing over to the opposite ledge and tunnel
through to the other half of the room. Climb up to the door at the end
to get to the Forgotten Bridge. When you get there, leap from the center
platform of the bridge towards the metal ledge sticking out of the wall
next to the waterfall. From this ledge you can reach the portal that
will take you to Dark Aether's Dark Forgotten Bridge.

Now that you have the Super Missiles, you can open the south door to get
to the Brooding Ground tunnel. This passage can only be crossed by using
the LIFTVINE CRYSTALS in the mucky water. Shoot a Liftvine Crystal with
the Light Beam so that it rises out of the water to form a platform to
the opposite ledge. If you shoot the plant's crystal with the Dark Beam,
it will shrink back into the water again. The Liftvine Crystal will only
stay raised for a few seconds, so quickly shoot the Dark Preeds and
cross over to the other half of the room by using the Morph Ball tunnel.
Leap down to the doorway at the end of the second half of the passage.

The last Dark Torvus Temple Key lies within the next room, the Venomous
Pond. As soon as you enter to room, roll into the Morph Ball tunnel on
your left to get to a ledge directly across from the key. From here,
you'll be within grappling range of the DARK TORVUS TEMPLE KEY 3. Before
you return the three keys to the Dark Torvus Temple and fight whatever
foul creature awaits you there, take a detour through the black door
down below on the east side.

The door will take you to the Portal Chamber. Travel through the Morph
Ball tunnel to reach the other side. When you get to the other end, turn
around to face away from the exit door. To your left is another path
that will take you to the small clearing in front of the tunnel. Use the
portal there to enter Aether so that you can grab the MISSILE EXPANSION,
and then return to Dark Aether. Use the piston along the wall to ride
back up to the exit, and then head through to the next room.

The Poisoned Bog contains only one other accessible door, which is the
purple one on your right. A second door on your left will take you to
the Dark Forgotten Bridge, but new weapons are required to open the
yellow hatch on it. Watch out for the Hunter Ing that pops out of the
water and jump over to the ledge in front of the right-hand door. Use
seeker missiles to destroy the purple hatch and enter Cache A to grab
your second BEAM AMMO EXPANSION. Afterwards, return to the Venomous Pond
and use a missile on the red door across from the Portal Chamber
entrance to find a conveniently-placed Save Station.

After you save, use the white door on the room's western side. Take the
tunnel through the Dark Torvus Temple Access to get to the Dark Torvus
Temple. Do not step into the shining hologram in front of the key locks,
or you'll initiate the boss battle without being able to explore the
small chambers behind the temple. Take the left Morph Ball tunnel
directly across from the entrance to find a door with a green hatch. Use
a Super Missile to open the door and get the ENERGY TANK on the other
side. Now roll back out to the temple and use the other hidden door
(behind a large tree branch) to use the Ammo Station. Now step into the
hologram within the Dark Torvus Temple to begin the boss battle.

The central platform will rise to the upper arena as dark water pours
into the room, forming a moat around Samus. Before she can fight the
guardian of the Dark Torvus Energy Controller, she must free it from its
cocoon. The cocoon is held in place by four supports. Target each of the
cocoon's supports and shoot them until they break, releasing the beast
inside.

The boss of Torvus is Chykka, a massive, rapidly-mutating insect larva
with bipolar light and dark properties. Chykka is a boss fought in two
completely different forms in succession, each with its own health
meter. First you must battle the CHYKKA LARVA as she swims around you in
circles, launching dark energy attacks at regular intervals. Then, as
poisonous water mutates the Chykka, she'll evolve into her winged adult
form, and the real fun will begin. Several times during this battle,
you'll have to scan Chykka and her local minions in order to fully
complete your Log Book. As the Chykka Larva swims around your island,
fire uncharged Power Beam shots at her surfacing gray head to deal small
chunks of damage to the beast. Occasionally, you'll have to watch for
the DARK SHREDDERS that appear out of the water. Like their cousins on
Aether, the Dark Shredders will float towards you, filling with gas
before bursting in your face. Before they become too much of a
distraction, blast them with missiles. They'll appear regularly
throughout the battle with the Chykka Larva, so use them as a source of
pickups if needed. Occasionally, the Chykka will dive into the water
before leaping up into the air to fire a glob of dark matter at you.
When Chykka splashes back down into the water, she'll create a tidal
wave of dark water. Dodge the glob of darkness and jump over the wave of
foul water to avoid damage, but stay within the Safe Zone. If you can,
be ready with a charged Light Beam blast to hit Chykka when she leaps
into the air. You can use your radar to locate her, or look for bubbles
on the surface that signify where the Chykka will leap up from.
Sometimes, rather than leaping up into the air, Chykka will leap up onto
your platform and try to ensnare you with her long, sticky tongue. Use
Light Beam shots to loosen Chykka's grip. After she releases you, the
dazed Chykka will slowly begin to sink back into the water to repeat her
routine. Before she sinks out of view, target Chykka's stomach and blast
her with a Super Missile. Chykka's stomach is her key weakness. Whenever
she surfaces to try and eat you, repeat the process of blasting her with
Super Missiles after you've stunned her. Chykka is a creature of light
and darkness, so the Dark Beam will be effective as well, but it isn't
as accurate or as quick as your other weapons. Chykka can be tough,
especially with the Dark Shredders that harass you, but eventually
you'll overcome her. Unfortunately, the Chykka Larva is only half the
battle.

Chykka will retreat into her cocoon again to heal and evolve. The
central island will divide into four smaller islands, each with their
own Safe Zones. Now the dragonfly-like adult CHYKKA will emerge from her
cocoon and attempt to finish you off. The adult Chykka is by no means
any easier than the larva, but at least the Dark Shredders won't be
pestering you anymore. Chykka is a light-based creature, so the Light
Beam won't be as effective anymore. As the agile Chykka flitters in
front of you, start firing Power Beam or Dark Beam shots at her. Chykka
is so agile that she can dodge missiles and Super Missiles on the fly,
so you'll have to try your luck with the rapid-fire weapons. To defend
herself, Chykka will fire a stream of dark water at you from her mouth.
Jump over this attack to avoid damage. Keep shooting Chykka until you
stun her. Once she becomes immobilized, Chykka will hover in midair and
expose four weak points on her wing joints. To hit these joints, get
behind the stunned creature by swinging over to another platform, by
using the airborne Grapple Points around the room. Chykka will lean to
one side when she gets stunned, so swing over to the platform she leans
towards to get a shot at her wing joints. Each of the four joints will
need to be hit in order to damage Chykka. You can hit them all at once
with seeker missiles (and repeat the process four times), or you can use
one Super Missile per joint every time you stun her. After all four of
Chykka's joints have been hit, the boss will plunge into the water.
Chykka will reemerge with the added strength of darkling possession,
transforming her into the DARK CHYKKA. Although Chykka's dark side
shares the same life meter as the regular winged adult, she's treated as
a distinct Log Book entry; the third of four Chykka variations. The Dark
Chykka is considerably easier to battle than the regular Chykka. While
most of her body is impervious to damage, her robust egg sac is
especially vulnerable to light energy. Use charged Light Beam blasts to
tear away at the dark insect. Dark Chykka doesn't gain any new attacks,
but it does have the ability to spawn a swarm of infant CHYKLINGS,
winged newborns that have skipped the normal larval stage of Chykka
development. When Chykka spews her Chykling swarm, scan them to complete
the Chykka section of your Log Book. Chyklings do their best to defend
their mother, but they are slow, weak and defenseless. Use the Darkburst
to destroy the entire swarm and release a tremendous amount of Light
Beam Ammunition. Continue fighting the Dark Chykka until her dark
influence wears off and she converts back into the regular Chykka.
You'll need to repeat the tedious process of damaging Chykka's wing
joints after you stun her repeatedly. This time however, Chykka will
start swooping at you sometimes. When she charges, use the nearest
Grapple Point to swing to safety, and then fire a Super Missile at her
while she circles back in front of you. She won't be able to dodge it
while she's flying around the temple arena. After hitting Chykka's four
wing joints again, she will turn back into Dark Chykka, complete with
her spray of infant Chyklings. Additionally, the platforms in the room
will begin to sink beneath the water, so you'll have to find new ground
if your feet start to get wet. This time around, you'll be able to
defeat the Chykka once and for all.

After you silence Chykka for good and the water level recedes to normal,
collect her treasure: a multitude of pickups and the DARK VISOR. This
handy eyewear allows you to detect certain invisible enemies and objects
that phase in and out of the two words (like Dark Pirate Commandos,
Hunter Ing and Kralee). You can also use it to locate certain objects
that are otherwise simply invisible to the naked eye, such as the series
of platforms in the room what will take you up to the Dark Torvus Energy
Controller.

Collect Dark Torvus's energy and then return to the temple. Use the lift
to get back down to the underchamber, and use the Ammo Station to
restock on your weapons. Now backtrack to the Dark Forgotten Bridge so
that you can use the portal. When you return to Aether, head back to the
Torvus Temple and the Torvus Energy Controller to return the energy of
Aether. After the energy is restored, the sun will finally shine over
Torvus Bog, and you can now return to the Great Temple to receive U-
Mos's word.

On your way back, you'll probably have to pass through the Great Bridge,
so be prepared for a Dark Pirate Commando attack. The good news is that
you can use the Dark Visor to track their every move, making them not as
painfully annoying to defeat as before. Head back to the Torvus Lagoon
through the Path of Roots to get a MISSILE EXPANSION, by grappling over
to the metal structure. When you return to the Torvus Lagoon, dive into
the water just below the Save Station and use the Gravity Boost to reach
another MISSILE EXPANSION way in the back of the room, above a patch of
venom weed. Try using your Dark Visor down in this water; you might see
something interesting....

When you get back to the Temple Grounds via the nearby transport, take
the long way through the Path of Eyes. Halfway through the room, you can
use the Light Beam to move a stone statue out of the way of a green
door. Use a Super Missile to get to the Windchamber Gateway. Launch
yourself across the gap by rolling into the Kinetic Orb Cannon. You
can't open the door on the other side, but you can grapple over to a
nearby platform to grab an ENERGY TANK. Now backtrack to the Meeting
Grounds (more Dark Pirate Commandos will attack here) and use the
transport to get up to the Great Temple.

U-Mos will thank you again for your help. Now your mission is to seek
out the temple within the Sanctuary Fortress. This region was once an
important Luminoth stronghold, but it has long since been overrun by the
wicked Ing. The machines that the Luminoth built to protect the fortress
turned against them and joined the ranks of the Ing Horde. After
speaking to U-Mos, return to the Temple Sanctuary and scan the final
emerald Luminoth gate to get to Transport A Access, a room you haven't
been able to get to since the very beginning of the game. Watch out for
the Lightflyer and roll into the hole along the right wall to get to a
Save Station. Now use a Morph Ball Bomb to break the small clump of rock
next to the Save Station. The exposed path will take you underneath the
station, to a hidden MISSILE EXPANSION. Now continue down the Transport
A Access path and use the transport that will take you back to the
Temple Grounds.

=============

Chapter 8: Heavy-Metal Hunting.

=============

I bet you feel all confident going down to your next mission, now that
you've bested the Ing twice. Well, things will only get tougher from
here. The denizens of the Sanctuary Fortress won't give you much of a
warm welcome, and the Ing have never lost a battle in the Ing Hive, the
dark version of the fortress.

When you reach the Temple Grounds, you'll be in the Sacred Path. Not
much has changed in here, other than the fact that you can now reach the
portal along the left wall. Regardless, you'll want to take the blue
door at the end of the passage instead. Watch out for the numerous War
Wasps in the room, and continue to the Sacred Bridge.

The Sacred Bridge is blocked off by a gate. To bring down this gate,
you'll need to use the Seeker Missile Launcher to hit five nodes around
it, similarly to a purple door hatch. The nodes can only be seen when
you use the Dark Visor though, so pull it up and target the nodes. After
the gate comes down, jump over to the exit door.

The next room is the GFMC Compound, where the GF Troopers landed their
ship. The area is being patrolled by three Pirate Troopers. Eliminate
them so that you can explore the remainder of the room in safety. The
door on your right leads to the Trooper Security Station, but you won't
get far without the Power Bombs. From the Sacred Bridge entrance, roll
into the Morph Ball tunnel on your left to get in front of a yellow
door. From there, Space Jump over to the top of the GFS Tyr. Walk down
to the back of the ship and grab a lonesome MISSILE EXPANSION. Now enter
the door to the right of the Tyr by scanning the emerald Luminoth gate
that blocks it.

When you turn the corner in the Fortress Transport Access, a LUMINOTH
TURRET will begin firing at you. While similar in design to the
'Humility' and 'Growler' turrets owned by the Galactic Federation and
the Space Pirates, Luminoth Turrets hit much harder, and they're tougher
to destroy. Luckily, they're easy to dodge, so get a lock on this turret
and fire away. The flames from a single Light Beam shot will be enough
to destroy a Luminoth Turret. A second turret can be found further down
the passage, just past the bright beam of light. Remember to scan the
Luminoth Lore, THE SKY TEMPLE, before using the transport to get down to
the Sanctuary Fortress.

The Sanctuary Fortress is a land unlike any other you've explored.
Rather than an area of wildlife and natural scenery, the fortress is a
spectacular and futuristic maze filled with stunning lights and
technology. The fortress was once one of the Luminoth's final
strongholds, but when the Ing conquered it, they abandoned the fortress
and their once loyal machines to the Horde.

There's nothing too exciting in the Temple Transport Access, other than
the pair of Luminoth Turrets guarding the end of the passage. After you
defeat them, scan the control panel to your left to bring down the gate
that blocks the rest of the passage. As you walk down to the end of the
path, scan the small, orange drones crawling around in circles on the
right wall. SERENITY CLASS DRONES are small, boring machines that don't
really do anything except travel in large groups along walls. They're
completely harmless, but you can shoot them to reveal pickups if needed.
When you get to the end, use the Spinner device on the floor to rotate
the security ring blocking the exit.

The cool-looking and spacious Sanctuary Entrance is your first true
taste of the Sanctuary Fortress. As you cross the large bridge to the
white door way on the other side of the cliff, a group of Pirate
Commandos will appear to attack you. The regular Pirate Commandos are
getting hard to come by, so make sure you've scanned them before
eliminating this bunch. Use Super Missiles or the Darkburst to defeat
the pirates quickly. If you want to have a little fun with them, try
blowing them up with the Phazon barrels, or try knocking them over the
edge of the bridge with a Super Missile blast (a single hit won't kill a
commando, but the fall will). Once the pirates are defeated the doors
will unlock. Destroy the many Luminoth crates lying around for pickups
and then use the white exit door. Ignore the many Spider Ball Tracks
winding around the room, because you can't do anything with them just
yet.

The next passage (the Power Junction) contains two groups of OCTOPEDES,
small messenger drones that crawl in circles around the sides of
tunnels. You can't get by them while they march around the tunnel, so
start shooting them to send them bouncing along the passage. Octopedes
are mildly explosive, so stay clear after you hit them. You can use the
Dark Beam to kill the group without worrying about them detonating. Kill
both groups and then proceed.

When you enter the next room, use the Dark Visor and the seeker missiles
to open the gate up ahead, just like you did in the Sacred Bridge. When
the gate lowers, a REZBIT will emerge from behind it. Rezbits are among
the most painfully annoying and dangerous enemies in the game so don't
be fooled by their small size. These nuisances hover in the air looking
pretty until you get too close. The little buggers will then unleash all
hell upon you, attacking with a barrage of laser beams and energy
blasts. Additionally, Rezbits are well-shielded and have a very unique
and effective defensive mechanism. After their initial attack wave,
they'll put up an impenetrable defense shield that no weapon can get by.
Then, they may continue their attacks, or infect you with a virus. When
a Rezbit begins to charge up, back away from it fast before it infects
you. If you get hit, the virus will screw up your suit, making your
vision horrible and your movements choppy. You won't be able to do
anything until you reboot your suit. As the game will tell you, reboot
by pressing the L, R and B Buttons simultaneously. If you get infected
in Morph Ball mode, your vision won't be impaired but you won't be able
to use any of the Morph Ball's functions or unroll from it. Rezbits are
light-based enemies, so the most effective way to deal with them is by
freezing them with Dark Beam energy and then scattering their pieces
with a missile. If you can, try killing it before it notices you, so
that you don't suffer too much pain. Once the Rezbit is defeated, hop up
onto the platforms next to the inactive combat drones walled up on
either side. From there, jump over to the exit door.

Enter the Reactor Core and prepare for another nasty mechanoid
encounter. The drone that attacks you is a Quad. Quads are poly-
structural security drones that can function as separate units or as a
single one. Scan the QUAD CM (the head) and the QUAD MB (the body and
legs). While the head module specializes in long-range energy blasts,
the body uses melee tactics for close combat. When separated, the units
will continue to attack without hindrance. To defeat a Quad, you must
destroy both the head and the body. It is recommended that you destroy
the head first, and then the body. Use a Super Missile to destroy the
Quad Control Module. If you kill the body first, the head will begin to
use energy shields of light or darkness to defend itself. If the shield
is purple, use the Light Beam to disrupt it. Use the Dark Beam if the
shield is white. The head won't use the light-dark shield to protect
itself while it's still attached to the body, so it will be much easier
to defeat the Quad if you save the body for last. To destroy the body,
wait for it to use its spinning vortex attack. Charge up the Boost Ball
and then smack into the drone to unbalance it. When the Quad trips, it
will flash a red weak point beneath its legs. Use the Boost Ball to
boost through it, or lay a bomb on it to destroy the Quad Main Body.
After you defeat the Quad, more Rezbits will emerge from the central
chamber. Avoid them and head down the right-hand hallway, towards a red
door. Open the door to find a Save Station. After having fought Pirate
Commandos, Rezbits and a Quad, you'll definitely want to use it.

The only way onward after you save is by climbing to the top of the
Reactor Core, through the mob of unmerciful Rezbits. Walk into the main
chamber and use the Dark Beam to kill the two Rezbits down near the
ground. The third Rezbit will be found higher up. Ignore the Kinetic Orb
Cannon in the back and start climbing by jumping on the platforms around
the room. When you get to the top, use the east door to exit.

The next room is the Minigyro Chamber. As you'll come to find out, the
Sanctuary Fortress is filled with neat little puzzles that you'll have
to solve in order to continue with your mission. In the area ahead,
there are four color-coded gyroscopic rings spinning around. In order to
get through the Morph Ball tunnel on your left, you'll have to halt the
rotating rings so that the gap running through them lines up to form a
straight path. The rings will only lock into the correct position if you
bomb their corresponding Bomb Slots within the tunnel in a certain
order. Scan the hologram in front of the entrance to learn which order
you'll need to use the slots. The rings must be bombed in alphabetical
order: amber, cobalt, crimson and emerald (or more simply; yellow, blue,
red and green). Enter the Morph Ball tunnel and use the Bomb Slots
around the rotating rings in that color order. If you mess up the order,
you'll have to redo the whole puzzle. After all four rings are aligned,
roll through the new tunnel to get to the exit.

When you enter the Hall of Combat Mastery, head down the left path and
watch out for the Quad here. As always, defeat the head first, and then
the body. In this case, if you do defeat the body first, the head will
simply reattach itself to the other littered MB's lying around.
Fortunately, the spare bodies won't attack you if you don't let the head
get to them. Turn the corner and head down the path until you get to a
glass tunnel, just past a pair of inactive combat drones. Follow the
tunnel to a portal machine, and give it a scan to reach the Ing Hive.

The first room in the Ing Hive is the Culling Chamber. Walk out into the
small rocky clearing and turn right to find a blue doorway. Scan one of
the dark worm masses growing nearby, which are INGWORM CACHES. Now use
the door to get to the Hazing Cliff. There are a few new enemies in this
small room that need scanning. First, scan the DARK TALLON METROID that
rises from the abyss below. Metroids possessed by Ing are weak to the
Light Beam, but they behave similarly to the originals. Avoid falling
off the ledge and continue to the back of the room. The tunnel in the
back is blockaded by a pair of DARK DILIGENCE DRONES. Like the Dark
Tallon Metroid, these drones can be destroyed easily with charged Light
Beam shots. Don't get too close to them tough, or they'll mess with your
vision. Destroy the two, and then grab the MISSILE EXPANSION behind
them. Now backtrack to the previous room.

When you get back into the Culling Chamber, hop through the opening
along the wall on your right that leads to the rest of the room. You'll
notice a Dark Temple Key inside the wall once you get inside. Without
the Spider Ball, you won't be able to do much more than stare at it.
Continue down the hall and use the black door along the right wall at
the end, but watch out for the Warrior Ing. Now use the elevator in this
next room to get up to the second level of the Ing Hive.

The room after the elevator is the Hive Dynamo Works. Hop down from the
ledge and walk forward until you get to the edge of the chasm. There is
a portal on the other side of the chasm, but you can't reach it unless
you use the Grapple Point to swing across. First, you'll need to destroy
the Nightbarbs swarming around it. If you're low on ammo for the Light
Beam, vacuum them all up with the Darkburst. Now swing over to the other
side. The portal is blocked off by a force field, but it can be
deactivated by shooting its five control nodes with the seeker missiles.
The nodes are located on the wall across the chasm. Turn on your Dark
Visor, and then blast all five nodes before a second Nightbarb swarm
shows up (they'll mess with the Seeker Missile Launcher's targeting).
Now use the portal to get back to the Sanctuary Fortress.

When you return to Aether's Dynamo Works, a pair of Quads will attack
you from the hallway behind you. Ignore them and head through the black
door in front of the portal. When you enter the Dynamo Access, scan the
spinning DILIGENCE CLASS DRONE blocking the path. Diligence Class Drones
produce rotating beams of energy around themselves, but you can use the
Morph Ball to slip in between the beams if you're feeling brave. Then
again, why bother; these drones are exceedingly vulnerable to the Dark
Beam, and a single shot will destroy one. Like the Dark Diligence
Drones, they also mess with your visor if you get too close to them. As
you move further into the room, you'll find the path blocked by a wall
of Spider Ball Track. To get by this obstacle, you'll have to roll
underneath the glass floor. Use the Morph Ball to get beneath the floor
by entering through the small opening. As you cross, watch out for the
MECHLOPS (scan them from above the floor). These drones are Luminoth
replicas of Tallon IV's Triclops creatures. If they catch you in their
powerful jaws, they'll carry you to the entrance and spit you back out.
To destroy these annoying creatures, drop a bomb near them. The Mechlops
will go for the bomb instead of you, and be destroyed as a result. Avoid
the second Mechlops and exit the floor on the other side. Watch out for
the Diligence Class Drone that guards the black exit door.

The next room is the Main Gyro Chamber, a rather confusing room at
times. Ignore the lift control panel on your left and look for a Morph
Ball tunnel along the right wall. Bomb-jump your way through the tunnel
and continue through the first open ledge to a second tunnel. Follow
this tunnel until you reach a red door. Use a missile to get to a Save
Station. Now return to the room and use the Bomb Slot in front of the
large window. This slot will project a security code puzzle that will
allow you to use a second Bomb Slot after you solve it. You must align
the nine colored lenses in a row with their respective beams of light.
The puzzle is similar to a Rubik's cube, and there are three lenses of
each color (blue, red and green) to work with. Target the gray nodes in
between the lenses and shoot them to rotate the lenses that surround
them. Even if you're no good with Rubik's cube puzzles, it isn't that
difficult to work out. After you solve the puzzle, the second Bomb Slot
will rise up from the floor on the right-hand side. Bomb this slot to
deactivate the outer dynamo ring whirling around outside. When the ring
comes to a complete rest, it will form a walkway around the center of
the room. Roll back through the first Morph Ball tunnel along the wall
and then jump onto the walkway. Walk around it to get to the opposite
ledge. As you walk, avoid the inside of the ring, because the other
rotating dynamo ring will hurt you if you get hit by it. Also, if you
fall, use the lift in the back to get back up to the entrance. Anyway,
when you get to the other side, roll through another tunnel along the
south wall to get to the other side of the main entrance. Use the
Spinner along the left wall to connect both sides of the room. Ignore
the white door, and take the lift on this side up to a new blue door,
and head through to the next room.

The Sanctuary Fortress's Temple Access, like every other Temple Access
room you've been through, will connect you to the temple. As you
approach the balcony, whip out your Dark Visor and use the seeker
missiles to shoot the control nodes on the wall ahead of you. This will
activate the Kinetic Orb Cannon below, which lets you get back up to the
balcony once you jump down from it. Anyway, when you go down, a Quad
will drop down from above. Rather than destroying this one the old-
fashion way, roll into the Morph Ball and enter the Kinetic Orb Cannon.
The cannon will blast you through the Quad, destroying both the CM and
the MB. If you try to fight it head on, more CM units will appear from
above until you destroy the body. After you destroy the Quad, take the
far door to get to the Sanctuary Temple.

The majestic Sanctuary Temple has three other doors, and the far one
will take you to the Sanctuary Energy Controller. Drop down to ground
level and watch as the resident Quads get possessed by a cloud of
darklings. The byproduct of this parasitic fusion will be the Dark
Quads. Dark Quads only appear in two different instances, so scan both
the head (DARK QUAD CM) and the body (DARK QUAD MB) now for individual
Log Book entries. Dark Quads fight in the exact same fashion as regular
Quads, and the added energy of the darklings doesn't make them much
tougher to kill (unless of course you decide to destroy the body first).
Don't get a Quad CM by itself, or else it'll follow you around the room
as you climb up to the top. Head to the back of the temple and use the
scaffolding around the large mechanical limbs to climb up to the top
platform (you'll have to grapple across a gap on the way). From the top,
face the south end of the temple and swing across two Grapple Points to
reach the door to the Controller Access and Sanctuary Energy Controller.

The dead Luminoth hologram of O-Lir will give you his tragic tale of the
Sanctuary Fortress. After the message is over, you'll have your energy
restored and you'll be able to scan cobalt Luminoth holograms from then
on. As before, scan the hologram within the room for a new entry, AGON
FALLS. Now head back to the Sanctuary Temple.

The Quads in the temple have been replaced by MEKENOBITES. Mekenobites
use magnetically-charged legs to cling upside down to metal walls and
ceilings. They also use their magnetic abilities to guide their
explosive projectiles towards you. Mekenobites can only be defeated with
the Seeker Missile Launcher. Target their two spindly legs and shoot
them down at the same time to send the Mekenobite falling to the ground.
Be careful though, because a downed Mekenobite will self-destruct in a
few seconds. In any case, don't bother going down near them unless you
have to scan them. From the central platform, swing over to the cobalt
Luminoth gate and scan it to get to the next room.

The voluminous Workers Path canyon is void of any enemies, populated
only by the cool little maintenance drones that hover all over the
Sanctuary Fortress. Cross the first three platforms and then turn around
when you get to the final one. Scan the console along the side of the
second platform to activate the Kinetic Orb Cannon that will blast you
to the other side of the canyon. A similar Kinetic Orb Cannon can be
activated on the other side to get back to the entrance. Use the door
when you get across to reenter the Dynamo Works.

The Dynamo Works is actually divided into two sections that can only be
accessed from different parts of the Sanctuary Fortress. It is in this
portion of the room that you'll battle your next adversary, the large
Pillbug rolling around in the tunnel ahead of you. This is the SPIDER
GUARDIAN. The entire battle with this guardian takes place in Morph Ball
mode, so the only time you'll be able to scan it is out here before you
enter the tunnel ahead of you. When you're ready, enter the tunnel. Okay
then....

The Spider Guardian is one of the most irritating and discouraging
bosses in the game, so it may take more than one attempt to defeat it.
Luckily, the reward for taking down this nasty bug is the coveted Spider
Ball, so give it your all. The key to beating the Spider Guardian is
having good timing and being able to recognize its patterns. Above all,
you need patience and diligence. If you lack these qualities, it would
be best if you find somebody else to fight this battle for you, or you
may end up throwing something hard and sharp at an innocent bystander.
The battle against the Spider Guardian will be divided into four or six
stages, depending on how you look at the last portion. The bug will use
its acquired Spider Ball energy to freely travel along the Spider Ball
Tracks around the room. It will always follow the same path unless you
find some way to alter the path. Your goal is to first stun the Spider
Guardian, and then find a way to alter its routine path so that it runs
into one of the electrical generators in the room and damages itself.
The guardian's path can only be altered by using the Bomb Slots
throughout the Morph Ball maze, but these slots will only become active
when the Spider Guardian is stunned. Also, at any point during this
fight, you can use the X Button to zoom the camera in or out of the
maze. To begin the battle, wait by the lower corner and study the Spider
Guardian's movements. It will move in a circle around the track, so it
will be easy to calculate when you should stay put and when it is safe
to move. If you touch the Spider Guardian's magnetic field, you'll take
massive damage. The color of its magnetic field also indicates the bug's
speed. If the field is blue, the Spider Guardian will be moving at a
normal, medium pace. If the field is red, the angry bug will be booking
at a faster pace. After you stun the Spider Guardian, its magnetic field
will turn green, indicating that the guardian will be moving at a much
slower pace. Start by bombing your way up the path on the left side of
the Spider Ball Track. When you get to the top ledge, roll to the right
and drop down to the ledge with the Bomb Slot on it. Wait at the very
left side of this ledge, as far as you can go without falling off. When
the Spider Guardian is about to pass by, drop all of your Morph Ball
Bombs and move away from the edge. If timed right, the guardian will
pass just as the bombs detonate in its face, stunning the creature. At
this point, the Spider Guardian will turn red and start moving faster.
After you stun it a few more times, it'll turn green and the Bomb Slot
will activate. Bomb the slot quickly to alter the Spider Guardian's
path. When it smacks into the blue generator down below, it will
electrocute itself and take damage. Now follow it through the new course
to the second stage of the battle. Stage 2 and every other stage
hereafter will follow the same concept; stun the Spider Guardian
sufficiently, and then use the Bomb Slot in the area to alter its course
and force it into hitting the electrical generators. This time they'll
throw in a half-pipe to make things more interesting. Boost up to the
top of the left ledge and follow it to the right until you get to a
small gap. Drop down the gap, but keep rolling to the right so that you
land on a small shelf down below, about halfway up the wall. Now wait
there until the Spider Guardian passes by, and then roll off the shelf,
dropping bombs in the guardian's path as you fall. You can also try
boosting up to the right side of the half-pipe to drop bombs at the end
of the Spider Ball Track when the guardian is nearby, but it's much less
reliable. Stun the Spider Guardian three times to activate the Bomb
Slot, which is just above the half-pipe. To reach it, boost up the left
side of the half-pipe again and drop down onto the ledge that extends
after the Bomb Slot activates. Follow the ledge down to the slot, and
bomb-jump up to it to change the guardian's path. If you don't reach the
slot in time, you'll have to do the whole stage over again. Stage 3 is
very similar to Stage 2 in that you must use a half-pipe to get to where
you can bomb the guardian. Boost up to the right ledge and wait for the
guardian to pass. You'll have to drop down as it turns the corner to
bomb it at the right time, and you may end up taking some damage. Also,
if you happen to be boosting up either side of the half-pipe when the
Spider Guardian is on its way nearby, lay bombs in the path and hope
that they detonate when the guardian gets to them. Repeat the process of
stunning the Spider Guardian until the slot activates. Like in the last
stage, this Bomb Slot is centered in the wall, and you can only get to
it when the ledge beneath it extends when the guardian is stunned. After
the Spider Guardian electrocutes itself for the third time, follow it to
the fourth and final stage. As you follow the path to the next portion
of the maze, blow up the Luminoth crates along the way so that they
release blue Large Energy Unit pickups, healing 50 points of health
each. You'll need all the energy you can get, because Stage 4 is
definitely the toughest stage of all, and the Spider Guardian's stinging
magnetic field won't be any gentler on you. This time around, you'll
have to activate three different Bomb Slots and make the Spider Guardian
hit three accompanying energy generators. And as if that weren't bad
enough, the second and third Bomb Slots will only become active after
you bomb all of the slots that precede it. In other words, you must
first bomb the first slot to make the Spider Guardian hit the first
generator. Then, you must use the first Bomb Slot again, and then get to
the second Bomb Slot to make the guardian hit the next generator.
Lastly, you've got to hit all three Bomb Slots to finish the battle once
and for all. You'll also have to smack the guardian around quite a bit
with bombs before you get a green light. Fortunately, the Spider
Guardian will normally stick to the bottom portion of the maze. If you
need a break from the battle, just stay on the upper paths so that it
can't reach you. So, first stun the Spider Guardian and then activate
the Bomb Slot on the far left side of the second path. If the guardian
is coming towards you and you can't escape, stun it and then boost past
it during the few seconds that its magnetic aura is down. After the
guardian hits the first generator, stun it again and then reactivate the
first Bomb Slot to energize the second, higher up above. Bomb your way
up to the second slot and use it before the maze resets itself. Lastly,
bomb the first two slots and then work your way up the third slot after
you stun the guardian once again. The second and third slots are
annoyingly placed at the top of a small incline, so it's even harder to
bomb yourself up to them. You'll need precise timing to reach these two
slots. Once you manage to bomb all three slots, find a way out of the
Spider Guardian's path as it rolls into its own death. Victory is
finally yours!

Bomb yourself up to the tunnel in which the Spider Guardian went through
just before it died. Follow the tunnel to the end to get the SPIDER
BALL. The Spider Ball allows you to travel along SPIDER BALL TRACKS (you
can scan the tracks for a Research entry), letting you reach new places.
The Spider Ball also combines with the Boost Ball. If you boost when
clinging to a track, you'll launch yourself outward and be able to reach
other areas. After you grab the upgrade, roll back through the maze.

So where to go from here? Your first priority will be to save, since you
probably don't want to have to fight the Spider Guardian ever again. Now
that you have the Spider Ball, traveling through the Dynamo Works maze
will be much easier. Just watch out, because the maze is now filled with
regular Pillbugs. When you get to the intersection of the third and
fourth wall, climb up the vertical piece of Spider Ball Track to get to
a new ledge. Bomb-jump up to the path above and follow it to a MISSILE
EXPANSION. If you keep going through this tunnel, you'll be dumped in
the other section of the Dynamo Works, and you'll be saved the trouble
of having to backtrack through the rest of the maze, as well as the
Workers Path and the Sanctuary Temple. Head over to the nearby Save
Station in the Main Gyro Chamber, but take the opportunity to scan the
Spider Ball Tracks when you get to the Dynamo Access for the Log Book
entry.

If you do choose to go back through the temple, climb up the Spider Ball
Track along the sides of the mechanical limb closest to the Temple
Access doorway and use the Boost Ball to boost over to the Spider Ball
track beneath the ledge. Follow it up to the door, and use the Kinetic
Orb Cannon in the Temple Access to get back through the room (watch out
for the Rezbit). Regardless of which path you take, find a way to get to
that Save Station.

=============

Chapter 9: Seeing Sound.

=============

Your enjoyable escapades in the Sanctuary Fortress will have to be set
aside for now, because it's time to pick up a few upgrades scattered
throughout Aether that you can collect now that you have the Spider
Ball. After you use Save Station B, next to the Main Gyro Chamber, head
through the room until you get to the chamber's main entrance. Next to
the east black door, scan the control panel that will activate the lift
behind it. Ride the lift down to the lower corridor of the Main Gyro
Chamber. All you'll be able to do for now is scan the cobalt hologram of
SHATTERED HOPE. Now return to the upper floor and take the black door to
get to the Dynamo Access and Dynamo Works.

The only way out the other end of the Dynamo Works is by using the
Spider Ball Track that goes up to the ledge in the back. After you climb
up to the doorway, scan the Luminoth's body for C-RCH'S TESTAMENT,
another Keybearer Lore entry. Now take the Central Area Transport East
down to the Hall of Combat Mastery.

When you emerge into the Hall of Combat Mastery, scan THE FINAL CRUSADE
and use the Spider Ball Track ahead of you to reach the main portion of
the room. If you want another Missile Expansion, you can use the Spider
Ball Track on your left along the wall to reach one, but be warned: it's
a tough cookie to get. It's at the very end of a grueling Morph Ball
maze of flames, lasers and Phazon. Enter the Spider Ball Track maze and
work your way down to the conveyer belt running along the lower path.
The belt will push you over to the left side of the maze. Bomb-jump up
to the Bomb Slot and activate it to reverse the direction of the
conveyer belt. Now roll through the bottom passage to the very end, but
watch out for the flames along the way. Now bomb-jump up to the next
path but watch out for the moving lasers. The lasers move from side to
side, so carefully follow them to the end of each path and then bomb-
jump to the next path before the lasers come back. In the next portion
of the maze, bomb-jump up to the three moving platforms to get to the
top. You'll need careful timing in this section, because the platforms
are directly in the path of more alternating lasers. Work your way
through the maze until you reach the Phazon pit. Bomb-jump up onto the
first moving platform to cross the Phazon. When it reaches the end of
its path, jump up and grab onto the second platform. This platform is
magnetic, so you'll be able to cling to it with the Spider Ball. Drop
down onto the final platform and then grab the next piece of Spider Ball
Track. Follow it to the very end and bomb-jump up to the MISSILE
EXPANSION once you reach it. For all that trouble, an Energy Tank
would've been favorable, but what can you do. Exit the maze and use the
door at the end to get to the Minigyro Chamber.

When you cross through the Morph Ball tunnel in the Minigyro Chamber,
you'll have to watch out for a trio of Harmony Class Drones. Wait for
them to drop their explosives onto the path, and then roll through
before they drop another one.

When you reach the Reactor Core, kill the Rezbits and drop down to the
very bottom of the room. Use the Kinetic Orb Cannon along the back wall
to blast yourself up to a sphere of Spider Ball Track, and be ready to
grab onto it when you reach it. Another power-up awaits you at the end
of this Morph Ball puzzle, but it isn't as difficult as the one in the
Hall of Combat Mastery. From the top of the sphere, crawl up to a second
sphere higher up, but watch out for the bolts of electricity that run
through the connecting piece of track. From the second sphere, locate a
red dot and boost off from it to cling to another sphere. Repeat this
process until you get to the final sphere, from where you can boost off
to a piece of regular Spider Ball Track on the wall. As you cross the
spheres, watch out for the two that are electrified, because they'll
knock you off of the track. Follow the winding Spider Ball Track to the
end, and boost over to the next piece. Follow this track to get an
ENERGY TANK. Now drop back down to the bottom of the Reactor Core. When
you get to the outer corridor down below, walk down the right-hand
hallway to reach a cobalt Luminoth gate. Scan this gate to find the
Sanctuary Map Station. Now use the south door to get back to the Reactor
Access, and continue through this room to the Power Junction.

You aren't the only hunter scouring the Sanctuary Fortress, and Dark
Samus will remind you of that when you get to the Sanctuary Entrance.
The dark being will crash in from the sky and destroy the Sanctuary
Entrance's bridge in a fit of rage. Luckily for you, the Spider Ball
will still let you cross to the opposite ledge, albeit in a slower and
slightly more tedious way. Locate the Spider Ball Track along the wall
on your left and follow it across the canyon. When you reach the Spider
Ball Track ring, boost off from its outer edge to reach the next portion
of the track, which will take you to the other side.

Continue through the next passage and use the transport to get back to
the Temple Grounds. From the GFMC Compound, dash through the Sacred
Bridge and Sacred Path to get up to the Great Temple, and then ride the
transport here that will take you back down to the Meeting Grounds.
Continue through the area until you reach the nearby Transport to Torvus
Bog.

Now, trek through the bog until you get to the Torvus Temple, and use
the Underground Transport nearby to reach the depths of Torvus. When you
return to the Hydrodynamo Station, use the very bottom door to get to
the Hydrodynamo Shaft. Kill the Hydlings for pickups, and then keep
going to the Main Hydrochamber, where you battled the Alpha Blogg. Avoid
the Blogglings and use the Spider Ball Track along the back wall to
reach a portal. When you use it, you'll end up in the Undertemple.

The time has come to fight another guardian. The POWER BOMB GUARDIAN is
a darkling Sporb with the ability to launch Power Bomb explosives at
you. You'd think that such a powerful Chozo weapon would be tough to
obtain, and that its current owner would give you hell, but in truth
this guardian is a cakewalk, especially when you compare it to the last
guardian you battled. The Power Bomb Guardian sits at the very top of
the room's central column, launching its explosives at you from the
safety of its perch. Your weapons are useless against the Power Bomb
Guardian, but all you have to do is use the network of Spider Ball
Tracks in the room to reach four Bomb Slots located around the top of
the chamber. When you bomb all four slots, the Power Bomb Guardian will
be destroyed. Sure, you'll have to deal with the guardian's explosives
and the Inglets it summons, but at least the bombs are slow and somewhat
weak (but they will knock you off the track if you get hit). Some of the
Bomb Slots are tricky to get to, so you'll have to do some quick bomb-
jumping to get to them. After each slot is bombed, the bridge above the
Power Bomb Guardian will weaken, until eventually it smashes right onto
the vile plant and squashes it. After the battle is over, use the Spider
Ball Track to get up to the top of the bridge so that you can grab the
POWER BOMB. Power Bombs are incredibly powerful explosives that can
destroy most enemies immediately. Use them sparingly however, because
they come with very limited ammunition. Power Bombs can break anything
made of the Denzium alloy, and they can also open yellow door hatches
such as the exit door at the end of the bridge.

Climb up to the top of the Undertemple Access, shooting down the vicious
Darkling Tentacles along the way. Use another Power Bomb to open the
door at the end to get to the Undertemple Shaft. Because you only start
with two Power Bombs, be on the constant lookout for the glittering
Power Bomb Ammunition units until you can obtain a few Power Bomb
Expansions. Use the Kinetic Orb Cannon in the Undertemple Shaft to blast
yourself up to the Save Station. Now head down to the lower set of doors
and grapple over to the north door taking you to the Sacrificial Chamber
Tunnel. Follow the path to the Sacrificial Chamber.

The former locale of the angry Grapple Guardian is now occupied by a
deadly duo of Hunter Ing. The Dark Visor can still be used to track
them, but the magnetic poles in the room can make your vision fuzzy.
Don't spend too much time fighting the Ing unless you need Power Bomb
ammo. Use a pair of Power Bombs to break down the obstacles that block
both of the lower exits. Now take the west exit to get to the Crypt, and
use the portal in the back to get to the Gathering Hall.

When you get to Aether, hunt around for Power Bomb Ammunition until you
refill your stock. If need be, return to Dark Aether and blast a few
Ingsphere Caches, or take a detour to the Hydrodynamo Shaft to kill the
Hydlings. Once you have two Power Bombs, use one to shatter the glass
floor at the bottom of the Gathering Hall. The space underneath it has a
drainage hatch that holds all of the water in the room. Use the second
Power Bomb to break the hatch and drain the room, converting the glass
chamber into a half-pipe. Use it to boost yourself up to a stretch of
Spider Ball Track on either side. It doesn't matter which side you boost
up to first. Follow the track around to the other side and wait for the
next piece of track to come within boosting range. When you cling to the
moving piece of Spider Ball Track, swing around to face the other side
and boost over to a Bomb Slot. When you use the slot, one of the
Luminoth statue's eyes will glow. Repeat the exact same process on the
other side of the half-pipe to make both of the statue's eyes glow. This
will deactivate the force field in front of him and extend a platform
next to him, which will allow you to jump up to the statue. Go to the
room's entrance and grapple to the newly extended platform, and then
turn again to get the MISSILE EXPANSION. Now use the Kinetic Orb Cannon
below you to reach the upper exit.

From the Gathering Hall, make your way back to the Hydrodynamo Station
and jet up to the top of the room. Take the Underground Transport up to
the Torvus Temple, and take the passage through the Temple Access to
reach the Great Bridge. Use the Kinetic Orb Cannon on your right to get
up to the bridge. If you have to, defeat the Dark Pirate Commandos so
that the doors don't lock on you. When you reach the bridge, use a Power
Bomb to blow up the chunk of Denzium rock on the east end. Roll through
the exposed tunnel to get your first POWER BOMB EXPANSION. The opposite
end of the tunnel is also blocked by a Denzium boulder, but you can
simply roll back through the first entrance if you don't want to waste
ammo.

Take either door on the east end of the Great Bridge to get to the
Torvus Lagoon, and then save your game. Now take the transport nearby to
return to the Temple Grounds. When you reach the grounds, walk through
the Path of Eyes and use the door halfway through it to get to the
Windchamber Gateway. Use the Kinetic Orb Cannon to boost across the
canyon, and then open the yellow door with a Power Bomb (also, if you
didn't get the Energy Tank earlier, use the Grapple Beam to get it).

The room beyond the door it the Grand Windchamber. There are four
phantom Spinners in this room that only work in Dark Aether. Start by
defeating the Pirate Aerotroopers, and then continue walking along the
right ledge until you reach a portal. Use it to warp yourself to the Ing
Windchamber. Now you'll be able to use the four Spinners in the room to
rotate the rings around the center platform. Each ring has two color
settings, and when you align them so that they all glow in either of the
colors, you'll be able to use the Seeker Missile Launcher to activate
their controls. To get from Spinner to Spinner, use the Kinetic Orb
Cannons on each platform to boost through the room. When you try to
align the colors of the central rings, the nodes will align on the south
end of the room when the rings are yellow, and the north side if blue.
After you hit both sets of rings with seeker missiles, a set of Grapple
Points will extend from the center platform back in Aether, and the
rings will fall away into the abyss. Return to the portal to reenter the
Grand Windchamber. Now use the new Grapple Points to swing across to the
northern platform, where you'll find a Kinetic Orb Cannon. Use it to
blast yourself up to the central platform, where you can grab the
SUNBURST. The Light Beam's Charge Combo burns up five missiles and 30
Light Beam rounds per shot, but it's fairly powerful. The blast moves
slowly, but it will set enemies in its path ablaze and incinerate
anything it strikes. Not to mention, it's cool to look at and fun to
play around with. After you grab the Sunburst, defeat the band of Dark
Pirate Commandos and swing over to the eastern platform. Follow the path
here to a doorway.

Roll through the Windchamber Tunnel and use a Power Bomb at the end to
bust open the yellow door hatch. This door takes you back to the GFMC
Compound. Take the nearby Transport to Sanctuary Fortress and ride down
to the land of lights and sounds.

When you reach the Sanctuary Entrance, you'll have to cross over to the
other side again by using the Spider Ball Tracks that span across the
gap. Before you continue through the fortress, turn to the left on the
other side and follow the glass walkway to a cracked pane of glass. Use
up a Power Bomb to break down the glass pane, and step into the lift to
ride up to a small balcony. Scan the control panel up here to activate
the two Kinetic Orb Cannons outside. Ride the lift back down to the
glass walkway and head straight forward to the first Kinetic Orb Cannon.
Roll into it so that you get blasted over to a ring that encircles the
platform behind you. Locate the Spider Ball Track that goes up from this
ring and ride the rails to the top of the platform, where you'll find a
turret hologram. Recall that earlier in the game you used the Space
Pirates' Vigilance Class Turrets to find a Beam Ammo Expansion in the
Agon Wastes. Step into the hologram to enter the heavy turret again.
You'll need to use the turret to destroy three structures: the fractured
side of the south mountain, the wall above the white doorway, and
lastly, the spiky protrusion to the right of the white doorway. After
you hit all three, follow the Spider Ball Track back down to a second
Kinetic Orb Cannon and let it blast you back to the main ledge. When you
get back in front of the white door, head east and jump up onto the
ledge in the corner. Here you'll find Luminoth Lore: TWILIGHT and a
Spider Ball Track. Ride the track up a bit, boost over to the opposite
piece, and then boost back to a third piece again. Follow this track to
the ledge above the white door, and scan S-JRS'S TESTAMENT. Now use the
Kinetic Orb Cannon behind the Luminoth's corpse and let it blast you
over to the opposite cliff. Grab the POWER BOMB EXPANSION and then drop
down onto the main ledge. Follow the Spider Ball Tracks back to the
white door and continue through the Sanctuary Fortress.

Defeat the drones in the Power Junction and enter the Reactor Access.
The two large combat drones on either side of the room will finally
awaken one after the other and attack you. INGSMASHERS can be tough
opponents to bring down, but they aren't very common. After you destroy
all of the Ingsmashers in the Reactor Access and the Hall of Combat
Mastery, they'll disappear from the game for good, so scan one before it
is too late. Ingsmashers were developed by the Luminoth to do just what
their name suggests: smash Ing. Unfortunately, the Ing corrupted the
Luminoth's prized combat drones and turned them against their former
masters. Ingsmashers have an impressive arsenal and a tough defense.
There are two ways to take down these imposing beasts. First: the
Ingsmasher's tough body armor can be damaged with Super Missiles, but
the drone will probably generate a protective light-dark energy barrier
similar to those used by Quad CM units. If the shield is a dark purple
color, only the Light Beam will be able to disrupt it and damage the
Ingsmasher. If the shield is white, use the Dark Beam against it.
Offensively, the Ingsmasher will pound its clubbed fists into the ground
and create powerful shockwaves. To avoid getting hit by the waves, jump
over them. If you get too close to the Ingsmasher, it will swing its
heavy clubs at you, and if you get too far, it will fire missiles at you
from the cannon on its back. Just keep pounding away at the Ingsmasher
and avoid its attacks until it is defeated. Second: Drop a Power Bomb.
End of story. After you destroy the first Ingsmasher, the second one
will attack. Defeat it using whichever strategy you find most
convenient, and then proceed to the Reactor Core to save. The doors in
the Reactor Access will lock until you defeat both of the Ingsmashers.

After you save, work your way to the top of the Reactor Core and head
through the Minigyro Chamber to get to the Hall of Combat Mastery. When
you enter the room, you can use the Spider Ball Track in front of the
entrance as a shortcut to the portal, and doing so will allow you to
avoid most of the Ingsmashers. Just before the portal, use up a Power
Bomb when you're within the glass tunnel to shatter it and expose a blue
door along the wall. The door will take you to a transport, but watch
out for the Quad that patrols the hallway along the way. The transport
will take you down to the Agon Wastes for a quick expansion detour.

When you reach Agon, use an additional Power Bomb to break through the
yellow door. This will take you to the Ventilation Area A tunnel. This
is the only room outside of the Dynamo Works in which Pillbugs can still
be scanned, just in case you missed the entry earlier. You have to look
down the Morph Ball tunnel and wait for one to flash by. Anyway, roll
through the tunnel until it intersects with a second tunnel. Roll to the
right but stop when you get to the first Pillbug 'loop'. Kill the
Pillbug, and then perform a double-bomb-jump to get to the top of the
loop. Now double-bomb-jump again from here to get to the path above, and
continue jumping until you reach the MISSILE EXPANSION. Now continue
rolling to the right along the bottom tunnel to get to a white door.

This door will put you inside the Main Reactor, which is still in ruins
from your battle with Dark Samus. Scan the Luminoth in front of you. B-
STL'S TESTAMENT is the final Keybearer Lore whose location will play an
important role later in the game. After you scan the body, use the
Spider Ball Track along the wall to get back down to the lower area.
There's a second Spider Ball Track next to this one that lets you get
behind the wall, near the Phazon vats. Each vat has a moving piece of
Spider Ball Track above it that you can boost over to from the initial
track. As you boost from track piece to track piece, time yourself so
that you make it through the gap in the grating and reach the next piece
of track. If you fall, you'll land in Phazon and you'll have to start
over. When you get to the end of the room, use a regular bomb on the
glass cover on the ledge to expose a MISSILE EXPANSION, and then slip
through the gap in the grating to return to the main part of the room.
From here, continue to the Sand Processing room.

On your first trip through the Sand Processing room, you may or may not
have noticed that most of the room is essentially a large half-pipe. You
can use the Boost Ball to skate up the sides of the configuration, but
there isn't much room to do so because of the large pile of sand, the
metal structure and the hole that leads to the door. Try boosting up to
the ledge opposite of the hole, and then use the Morph Ball tunnel in
the wall to get to a control room. To use the Bomb Slot in here, scan
the computer monitor next to it to energize it. When you activate the
slot, the pile of sand outside will drain through a grate and expose a
MISSILE EXPANSION in the back of the room. The downside to this is that
you can't use the sand to get back up to the other end of the room, so
you'll have to boost up the side of the half-pipe to do so. After you
grab the expansion, continue through the Save Station room and the next
Morph Ball tunnel to get to the Bioenergy Production facility.

One more expansion in Agon ought to do it before you return to the
Sanctuary Fortress, and it's located in the small room on the east side
of the Bioenergy Production. To begin, eliminate the Metroids that have
run rampant in the room. To conserve ammo, lure them all towards you by
pelting them all once with the Power Beam. As they hover around you
ready to attack, roll into the Morph Ball and eliminate them all in one
blinding flash of a Power Bomb explosion. Now scan the control panels
along the south wall to raise the storage racks in the middle of the
room high up into the air. You needn't rearrange their positions this
time, but you do need them raised so that you can use the Spider Ball
Track at the very top of the center rack. Head over to the back corner
of the western control bridge and locate the Spider Ball Track. Ride the
track up to the ceiling and follow it through the short tunnel (release
the Spider Ball when necessary, but grab onto it again when you have to
cross the gaps). Continue around to the outside of the track and boost
across the three sections of Spider Ball Track until you reach the one
closest to the storage racks. Boost off from the track and grab onto the
storage rack, and then roll to the other side of this track to get
directly across from the ledge in front of a green door. Charge up the
Boost Ball and then rocket yourself over to the ledge. The door up here
requires a Super Missile to open, but you'll get your five missiles back
when you get the MISSILE EXPANSION inside. After you get it, backtrack
all the way to the transport near Ventilation Area A and ride it back up
to the Sanctuary Fortress.

Your next objective is to get back to the Main Gyro Chamber, but you
have one more detour to take before you do that. When you return to the
Hall of Combat Mastery, use the portal to get to the Ing Hive's Culling
Chamber. Walk into the main part of the room and head to the back of the
first hallway. Use the Spider Ball Track nearby to get inside the wall
before the Dark Pirate Commandos cause too much trouble. Follow the
tunnel's Spider Ball Track to the ING HIVE TEMPLE KEY 1. You'll need to
bomb a set of blocks on either side of it to get it. If you fall into
the Phazon, use the track nearby to escape. Now backtrack to the portal
to reenter the Sanctuary Fortress.

As you cross the Hall of Combat Mastery to get back up to the Main Gyro
Chamber, watch out for the remaining Ingsmashers that awaken from their
slumber. If you managed to grab some Power Bomb ammo pickups recently,
you'll be set to take them out quickly and painlessly. Take the nearby
Central Area Transport East to the Dynamo Works, and then continue to
the Main Gyro Chamber.

When you get to the chamber, make sure you save. Now head to the top
floor of the room by using one of the lifts by the entrance. Check out
the area in front of the window and locate the pile of debris along the
left side. Use a Power Bomb to clear away the junk and free the Bomb
Slot trapped beneath. When you use this slot, another Rubik's cube
puzzle will appear. After you align the colored lenses like last time, a
second Bomb Slot will appear from the floor as well. Bomb this slot to
halt the inner dynamo ring outside of the window. When the ring locks
into place, it will be at a steep angle so you won't be using it as a
walkway. Head back down to the main floor and use the Morph Ball tunnels
to get to the outer walkway. Walk over to the edge of the inner ring
with the Spider Ball Track on it. Use the track that encircles this ring
to roll to the other side. When you reach the end, boost off of the
track and smash through the cracked window above to get to a yellow
door. Use another Power Bomb to get inside.

When you enter the Checkpoint Station, you'll get to witness Dark Samus
effortlessly slaughter a group of Dark Pirate Troopers guarding a batch
of Phazon crates. Aether is not a happy place is it? It's Samus versus
Space Pirates versus Ing versus Dark Samus, and no given party seems to
be showing any compassion for the others. Anyway, turn to the right and
walk down the path. Wait for the large gates to open, and then loop
around to the main enclosure. Dark Samus has disappeared again, but you
can follow her by using the door along the back wall. Before leaving,
shoot the many Luminoth crates lying around for energy and ammo.

Dark Samus is busy soaking up a large batch of Phazon in the Aerie
Transport Station. When she faces up to Samus, the dark hunter activates
the transport control panel, sending them both skywards through the
Aerie Access. You've put off fighting your rival for long enough, so
it's time to see who's done a better job at improving their armaments
over the course of exploring Aether.

The second match again Dark Samus will take place as the transport
rockets upwards towards the Aerie, where it will then continue until a
victor is decided. Turn on your Scan Visor and scan Dark Samus, now
dubbed DARK SAMUS 2. Dark Samus uses a lot of her old tricks, but her
new abilities make her much more difficult to defeat than the first time
around. She uses a variety of Phazon beam weapons and missiles systems,
and she has boosting abilities frighteningly similar to those of the
Boost Guardian. Her agility also lets her dodge most of your stronger
attacks, but the Power Beam is a good choice until you get to the Aerie.
The pillars in this room provide good cover from many of Dark Samus's
attacks, but not all of them will be able to withstand the damage. Some
of her attacks have the ability to encase you in Phazon energy,
rendering you immobile and damaging you at the same time. Tap the B
Button to escape from her Phazon prison, and continue your retaliation.
After you hit her enough with the Power Beam, try using the Dark Beam.
The Darkburst is the most effective weapon to use against Dark Samus,
and if each shot hits her right, the battle will be over much quicker.
Even the regular charged Dark Beam can be very damaging to the dark
hunter. However, don't even think about using something as expensive as
the Darkburst unless Dark Samus is gliding along the ground. If you
shoot her while she's up in the air or launching an attack, your blast
will deflect harmlessly off of her. Also, try to hit her dead-on when
she glides towards you. When Dark Samus takes sufficient damage, she
will cloak herself and become completely invisible. When this happens,
switch to your Dark Visor. After enough punishment, her cloaking ability
will overload and you'll have to switch back to the Combat Visor to
finish her off. When you beat Dark Samus, the injured being will blast
her way through a window and tumble down towards the shimmering lights
of the Sanctuary Fortress, defeated once more.

Follow Dark Samus outside to the ledge overlooking the Sanctuary
Fortress. Turn left and walk along the edge of the room until you find a
portal in the back of the Aerie. Use the portal to get to the Hive
Summit. When you get there, recharge yourself by shooting the Ingworm
Caches growing along the wall, and then retrace your steps across the
ledge to the shattered window. Use the Spider Ball Track on this ledge
to get into the rest of the room. When you get inside, locate the
Spinner on the east wall and use it to rotate the Spider Ball Track
structure in the center of the room. Now climb the rails, boost over to
the next section of track, and then continue until you reach the end.
Boost off from the track to get to a ledge. Now jump over to the center
platform and use the portal to return to the Aerie. From the center
platform, leap back over to the east ledge and collect the ECHO VISOR.
This neat sonic imager allows you to see sound waves produced by certain
invisible objects and devices. After you obtain the new visor, you'll
need to find a way to get the Aerie transport working again. Turn on
your Echo Visor and look for the three sonic transmitters in the room.
These transmitters emit a sonic frequency that keeps the transport
deactivated. Target the transmitters and shoot them all to activate the
transport, and then ride back down to the Aerie Transport Station.

One last obstacle separates you from the Save Station next to the Main
Gyro Chamber. When you reenter the Checkpoint Station, the two exit
doors will lock. The Echo Visor will reveal that the doors are being
locked down by a pesky sonic drone hovering in the corner. Destroy it,
and then return to the Main Gyro Chamber to save.

=============

Chapter 10: Attack of the Skyscraper.

=============

The next item on your agenda is a highly-anticipated, old-school Metroid
weapon found deep within the Sanctuary Fortress. The path to this
elusive power-up will be long and tiring, with one minor mini-boss along
the way to bring you misery. After you save the game, head for the
Reactor Core, down in the first level of the Sanctuary Fortress.

When you enter the Reactor Core from the Minigyro Chamber, drop down to
the bottom to use the Save Station, but climb your way back up to the
top afterwards. Now use the west door at the top of the room, blocked by
a yellow door hatch.

This short passage is the Transit Station. Turn right and destroy the
Luminoth Turret on the ceiling before you head out into the main
chamber. As you continue through the room, look for the cracked pane of
glass along the left wall. If you use a Power Bomb next to the glass, it
will shatter and reveal a portal. Use this portal to get to the Hive
Portal Chamber. Walk forward when you emerge and get ready to fight the
Ingsmasher that breaks through the opposite wall. Ingsmashers found in
Dark Aether are the Ing-possessed variants of their light cousins, the
DARK INGSMASHERS. Dark Ingsmashers are nearly identical to regular
Ingsmashers in both appearance and attack methods, but they have more of
a weakness to light. You can waste time trying to shoot through its
light-dark shield and avoid its attacks, or you can dispose of it
quickly with a Power Bomb. After you destroy the Dark Ingsmasher, use
the portal in the back of the chamber that it emerged from. The portal
takes you back to the Transit Station, though you'll be within a sealed
chamber, cut off from the rest of the room. Use the Morph Ball tunnel
along the left wall to get to another similar chamber, and use another
portal here to return to Dark Aether. Follow the Spider Ball Track here
to get to yet another portal, and use it to reenter the Transit Station
one last time. Now follow the new Spider Ball Track to a hidden POWER
BOMB EXPANSION. Roll back out to the main chamber and use the west exit
to escape from the room.

The next room is the Main Research, and there are plenty of things to
see and do in here. First off, drop down to the bottom floor and defeat
the pair of Quads. Now look up at the central containment tank and scan
the CARETAKER CLASS DRONE. You'll have to fight this rogue maintenance
unit soon, but you won't be able to scan it after this. Now turn towards
the yellow door on the west side of the room and scan TORVUS FALLS, the
hologram next to it. Also, if you want another Missile Expansion, turn
towards the north wall. The surface of this wall is lined with a Spider
Ball Track maze and various obstacles. From the floor, follow the maze
upwards. If you want to skip the first set of obstacles, you can enter
the maze from the right side by double-bomb-jumping from the ground. As
you go, you'll need to avoid the mechanical limbs and the damaging
obstructions that will smack you off the maze. Also, you'll need to
bomb-jump to new sections of the track whenever you get to the short
gaps. Go up and around and then bomb-jump up to a moving piece of track,
but drop down to the next path before you hit the electricity. Avoid the
upcoming moving gear and then bomb-jump up to the MISSILE EXPANSION in
the center of the maze. After you've done all that, turn on your Echo
Visor and locate the three sonic transmitters signaling their
frequencies towards the locked sonic gate on the south side of the room.
Shoot them all to lower the gate, and use the portal behind it.

The portal will dump you at the Staging Area. Two Hunter Ing will greet
you when you enter the room. Avoid or kill them, and then use the Echo
Visor again to locate four sonic transmitters in the room. When these
devices are deactivated, the sonic gate along the north wall will open
to reveal a control panel. When you scan the panel, the floor around the
central containment tank will rise up and form a platform around it.
More importantly, you'll now be able to reach the portal beneath the
tank. Use the Safe Zone around the portal to heal as much as possible
before you head back through.

When you return to the Main Research, use the Spider Ball Track inside
the tank to climb up to another ring of Spider Ball Track. The Caretaker
Class Drone will come down and face you. The battle with this mechanized
mini-boss takes place in your Morph Ball, and it will be your Spider
Ball and Boost Ball combination abilities that will be tested. Although
the strategy to defeating the Caretaker Class Drone is simple, it can be
a bit frustrating at times if you don't understand what is going on. The
drone will glide along the same Spider Ball Track that you're on using
its mechanical limbs. These limbs will damage you if they make contact
with you, and they move at a faster pace than you, so you'll have to
boost from one side of the ring to the other to avoid them. Whatever you
do, don't fall off of the Spider Ball Track, because the Caretaker Class
Drone will electrify the floor if you stay on it for too long, causing a
lot of damage. If you do fall, use a bomb to propel yourself back up to
the track. Every so often, the Caretaker Class Drone will extend a
flashing red sensor from its body. If you line yourself up correctly,
you can boost through the sensor and damage the drone. Each time a
sensor is destroyed, an energy pickup is also released. After you
destroy the sensor three times, the drone will extend its main control
module. The module only appears for less than a second, so stay alert
for it. Boost through it to complete the first stage of the battle. The
Caretaker Class Drone will retreat higher up into the tank. Follow it by
using the vertical Spider Ball Tracks. The second stage is pretty much
the same as the first, except that the Spider Ball Track ring is broken
up into two sections, making it a bit more difficult to hit the drone's
sensors while staying on the track. After you destroy the drone's three
sensors and its control module again, follow it upwards to the final
stage. The track in this stage is divided into three sections,
significantly restricting your mobility and making it more dangerous to
boost across. As the battle progresses, the Caretaker Class Drone will
use more of its limbs at any given time, and it will get more creative
with them, changing their directions at random. After you destroy the
drone's final main control module, it will self-destruct. Follow the
Spider Ball Track up to the glass tunnel above, which leads to a blue
door. Use this door to proceed.

Central Area Transport West doesn't actually contain a transport; you
have to make your way up to the top of the shaft yourself by using the
Kinetic Orb Cannon on the floor. As soon as you enter the room however,
the cannon will seal itself beneath a glass tube. The tube is held in
place by a sonic drone, so use the Echo Visor to give it a spanking. The
Kinetic Orb Cannon will launch you through a series of cannons that will
eventually put you at the top of the room. Before you exit, drop back
down into the hole to the platform down below. Locate the three tunnels
along the wall and enter the left tunnel to drop down into a small maze.
Continue dropping to the right from this tunnel to find a MISSILE
EXPANSION. Now blast yourself to the top of the room again and exit.

Central Area Transport West leads to the Watch Station, back in the
upper level of the Sanctuary Fortress. The Watch Station is a fairly
large room with four doors and a portal in it. For now, you're going to
want to use the portal to enter the Ing Hive, but you'll have to travel
across the impressive Spider Ball maze along the back wall to get to it.
Start by crossing over to the northern ledge by using the revolving
platforms that circle around the room. The room's only sign of hostile
life is the pair of Rezbits, so take them out quickly from afar to
minimize the damage they do to you. Now hop over to the ledge in front
of the white door and scan SANCTUARY FALLS along the back wall. From the
door, turn to the right and jump over to another ledge from where you
can use a Spider Ball Track. Don't follow the track all the way down to
the blue door; instead, bomb-jump up to the second track and take it to
the central platform, where you'll find a Kinetic Orb Cannon. Use it to
launch yourself towards the back wall, but be ready to grab onto the
Spider Ball Track when you get there. Drop down and bomb-jump through
this first piece of track until you get to a spinning disk. The disk
will carry you over to the next portion of the maze, but you'll need
precise timing to get off of it without hitting the red square at the
end, which will knock you off the track and force you to start over. As
you ride the spinning disk, try not to move around; simply let the disk
carry you through. If you do move, your bombs won't follow you and
you'll mess up the timing of your bomb-jumps. You need to bomb-jump off
of the disk to get to the next track before you hit the red square. Use
the thin red lines just before the red square as cues as to when to lay
the bomb. Continue through a few more of these spinning disks until you
get to the large patch of Spider Ball Track. Two additional paths lead
away from the bottom of this rectangular patch, one of them leading to a
Bomb Slot and another leading further into the maze. The Bomb Slot will
reveal the portal down below, but once you use the slot, you'll need to
redo the entire maze from the Kinetic Orb Cannon if you want to get the
prize at the end of it. If you take the left path from the rectangular
patch of Spider Ball Track, continue through more Spider Ball disks and
tracks until you reach a glass tunnel. Roll through it until you reach
the intersection that leads behind the wall. Continue to the back of
this tunnel to find an ever-rare BEAM AMMO EXPANSION, netting you
another 50 rounds of Dark and Light Beam Ammunition. Now roll back out
to the glass tunnel and follow it to the end to get back down to the
main platform. Use the new portal to get to Dark Aether's Arial Training
Site.

After you drop down from the portal, turn to the right and jump over to
the doorway on the ledge. Don't stay in the room for too long, because a
band of Dark Pirate Commandos will appear soon after you enter. The door
will take you to an enormous void known as the Judgment Drop. To get
over to the far ledge all the way on the other side, you're going to
have to grapple across three Grapple Points. Use seeker missiles to
destroy the Dark Preeds before you swing however, because if you bump
into them while swinging, you'll fall away into nothingness. When you
reach the far ledge, turn to the left and jump down onto the floating
platform. From here, jump over to the ledge below to use a one-way
portal to Aether's Grand Abyss. When you reach the abyss, jump back onto
the floating platform, and then turn to jump up to the upper ledge,
where you will find a door. There are no Grapple Points in the Grand
Abyss, so you won't be able to make it back until you explore the next
room.

The door at the end of the short passage takes you to the Sanctuary
Fortress's Vault. Eliminate the Rezbit on the bridge ahead of you and
cross over to the center platform. The vault contains your next power-
up, but it wouldn't be a very good vault if it didn't need to be
unlocked first. Enter the chamber and drop down to the lower floor. Now
turn back towards the door and scan the control panel by the vault
opening. The control panel will lower the bridge above and allow you to
reach the portal beneath the entrance doorway. Head over to the portal
and use it to get to the Vault Attack Portal. When you get to this room,
turn around and grapple across the large gap to get to the west ledge.
As you cross, swarms of DARK WAR WASPS will appear from their hives to
pelt you with their venomous projectiles. Dark War Wasps are rather hard
to come by, and they are only found here and in the Service Access (in
the Temple Grounds, after you obtain the Dark Visor). Apart from being
able to take more hits than an ordinary War Wasp, they aren't all that
different. When you reach the opposite ledge, activate the portal
machine by scanning its control panel, and then warp yourself back to
the Vault. In order to release your new upgrade from the vault chamber,
you must point four laser emitters around the room towards the chamber
so that when fired, they unlock it. Four more Rezbits are the only
opposition you will meet as you try and rotate the emitters so that they
point towards the center of the room. Use the series of platforms on
either side of the portal to get to the first set of laser emitters. The
devices are rotated by using the Spinner at the base of the laser
emitter platform. After you defeat the guardian Rezbits and rotate the
lasers, hop down to the last set of laser emitters. The Rezbits like to
hide on top of the platforms, looking like part of the platform
architecture until you get too close. Both sides of the room have two
lasers each; one in each corner. After the yellow dots on the lasers are
all pointing towards the center of the room, return to the portal
machine so that you can head through the Vault Attack Chamber again to
get back to the opposite side of the Vault. Cross the bridge to the
central platform and use the Bomb Slot in the back of the vault chamber
to activate the four laser emitters. If all four lasers were rotated
correctly, the vault chamber will lift and the SCREW ATTACK will be
released from its prison.

The Screw Attack is Samus's trademark ability, allowing you to cross
great horizontal distances by performing energized spins in midair,
known as Screw Attacks. To perform a Screw Attack, you have to jump
forward after performing a Space Jump. You can continue to Screw Attack
by repeatedly pressing the B Button, up to five times in sequence.
Although the Screw Attack is primarily a movement system, it can also be
used as a weapon. An enemy that comes into contact with you while you're
Screw Attacking will take damage. While this invulnerability is nice,
you can't change directions while you Screw Attack, so you shouldn't
rely on it as a way to dispose of most foes.

After you get used to Screw Attacking (it can be tricky), use your
newfound ability to get to the exit door. When you get to the Grand
Abyss, you'll need to Screw Attack all the way to the other side. You
only get five Screw Attacks at a time, so make them count. When you
enter the Watch Station again, a pair of Pirate Aerotroopers will crash
the party. Screw Attack over to the door on your right that leads back
down through Central Area Transport West and to the Main Research.

When you get to there, use the portal to get to the Staging Area again.
Now jump onto the walkway surrounding the center tank. From the walkway,
leap over to a platform on the north side of the room, which in turn
lets you get to the west door. Move quickly to avoid the Inglets.

The room beyond is the Central Hive West Transport, and like its
counterpart in Aether, it isn't actually a transport. You have to get up
to the top yourself. With the Screw Attack, you'll be able to get to the
top of the shaft by Wall Jumping through the WALL JUMP SURFACE system
along the sides. Wall Jump Surfaces are patterned surfaces only found in
Dark Aether (by coincidence). To use the Wall Jump Surface, face it and
Screw Attack into it. When you make contact with the surface, press the
B Button again to launch yourself backwards over to the other surface
running parallel to the first. Continue bouncing back and forth across
the Wall Jump Surface until you get to the top of the shaft. Use the
door up here to exit.

When you enter the Aerial Training Site from this door, you can grab the
ING HIVE TEMPLE KEY 3 in front of you. The key is inaccessible from the
rest of the room thanks to the red energy field that blocks it in. If
you scan the control panel next to the key, the energy field will
deactivate and you'll be able to Screw Attack over to the portal on the
north side of the room. Before you head through to the Sanctuary
Fortress, use the Wall Jump Surface to the right of the portal to reach
a MISSILE EXPANSION up on a ledge above you. Now reenter the Watch
Station, defeat the pirates, and then use the white door on the east
side of the room.

The Watch Station Access passage connects to the Main Gyro Chamber, so
you'll be able to save your game at last. Turn to the left and jump down
to the lower ledge, and then grab the easy ENERGY TANK within the small
chamber behind you. To cross the gap in the passage, you can either
Screw Attack or you can lower the two Grapple Points ahead of you by
scanning the nearby control panel, and grapple across. When you get to
the Main Gyro Chamber, remember to save.

Ing Hive Temple Key 1 and 3? Check. Ing Hive Temple Key 2? Um, nope. The
final Ing Hive Temple Key is located within the dark mirror of the Main
Gyro Chamber, in a section of the Ing Hive you probably haven't explored
yet. Don't worry though; the path to it and the Hive Temple is fairly
straightforward. However, that doesn't mean things will get easy once
you return the three keys to their proper location. Then again, how hard
could it be to retrieve the Hive Energy Controller's power? Very.

From the Main Gyro Chamber, take the east black door to get to the
Dynamo Works. Use the portal in front of the entrance to get to the Hive
Dynamo Works. Now take the white door in front of the portal to reach
the Hive Dynamo Access. The end of this room is blocked off by a sonic
gate, meaning you'll have to use the Echo Visor to get through. Before
you shoot the sonic transmitters, use the Light Beam on the beacon to
destroy the Warrior Ing that challenges you. Now deactivate the four
sonic transmitters to gain access to the Hive Gyro Chamber.

This chamber is shaped just like Aether's Main Gyro Chamber, but it's
easier to get through because you don't have to use the Morph Ball
tunnels along the walls to get past the windows, because this room
doesn't have windows. Turn to the right and leap out into the main
chamber. Use the Spider Ball Track that starts off at the bottom to
reach the sphere of Spider Ball Track in the middle of the room. As you
travel across its surface, lay bombs to deter the Darkling Tentacles
that will bat you off the track otherwise. Roll up to the top of the
sphere, and then follow the new path up to the top of a short piece of
track. The circle at the very end of the Spider Ball Track indicates
your Boost Ball launch point. Boost from it to reach a ring of Spider
Ball Track up above. Now boost through the ring to collect the ING HIVE
TEMPLE KEY 2. With all three Dark Temple Keys, you'll be able to reach
the Hive Temple. The blue door on the upper south end of the room will
take you there, but first enter the blue directly opposite to it on the
north end. Use the revolving platforms around the center sphere to get
to the top level of the room, where the blue doors are found. You can
also boost off from the Spider Ball Track sphere to get up there.

The northern blue door takes you to the Hive Gyro Access. Turn to the
right and loop around the corner to get to the end of the room, but
watch out for the Warrior Ing. The door in the back takes you to the
Hive Ammo Station. Use it to fully restock on all of your weapons before
you head back to the Hive Gyro Chamber.

When you return to the Hive Gyro Chamber, use the platforms below you to
get to the Save Station directly beneath the Hive Gyro Access doorway.
The station is blocked by a red door hatch, so you'll need to burn a
missile to use it. Now climb back up to the top of the Hive Gyro Chamber
and Screw Attack over to the south door. When you get to the Hive Temple
Access, return the three Dark Temple Keys to gain passage to the area
beyond. If you want, use the beacon and the caches in the room to heal
any damage you might have lost since your save. When you're ready, enter
the Hive Temple.

Upon entering the Hive Temple, you can arrive with style and ride the
elevator down to ground level, or you can simply jump down and save
precious health. You'd better play it safe and approach the gigantic
robot in the middle of the arena as quickly as possible.

Towering at least a hundred feet above the temple floor, the gigantic
QUADRAXIS is the guardian of the Hive Energy Controller. This rogue
security unit is armed to the teeth with vicious weaponry and
devastating melee attacks, and it won't go down without one hell of a
fight. There are no Safe Zones in the Hive Temple, so this battle will
call for a good amount of Energy Tanks. Like the bosses of Agon and
Torvus, Quadraxis can be scanned multiple times for separate Log Book
entries throughout the battle. Quadraxis is capable of operating as
separate units, or as a single unified entity, just like the Quads it
resembles. As a whole unit, Quadraxis will take up one third of the
battle, but it only needs to be scanned once. Quadraxis is pretty well
armored, but its foot and knee joints are weaker than the rest of its
body. After you disable the main weak points, Quadraxis's legs will be
rendered useless. Lock on to one of its four knees and get ready to
blast it with either a Super Missile or a charged Light Beam shot. The
armor around Quadraxis's knees will glow blue, indicating when you can
damage it with your weapons. Most of the time, the knees that are
vulnerable will be in the back, making it somewhat of a chore to get a
blast in. Additionally, the armor only remains vulnerable for a few
seconds, so don't hesitate to shoot once the kneecap glows blue.
Quadraxis attacks with a multitude of powerful projectile weapons and a
few very powerful physical attacks. Its primary weapon system is an
annihilating blast of heat-seeking energy that Quadraxis shoots several
times at once. It can also fire guided energy missiles and rapid-fire
laser rounds. The most destructive of Quadraxis's projectile weapons is
its deadly targeting laser blast. When the boss uses this attack, it
will try to get a lock on you. An "Enemy Locked On" message will flash
on your screen just before Quadraxis strikes. To break the lock, roll
into the Morph Ball and boost away before the blast is fired. Quadraxis
will often stomp on the ground with all four legs to generate damaging
shockwaves that radiate along the ground. These shockwaves are produced
by the glowing red orbs at its feet. If you damage these areas,
Quadraxis won't be able to create shockwaves when it stomps. Lay bombs
under its feet or boost through the flashing orbs to destroy them. Like
the Quad MB units, Quadraxis will also use a powerful vortex spin
attack, often right after it uses its targeting blast. The vortex spin
is so powerful that Quadraxis will suck you in like a vacuum into a
deadly hurricane of spinning legs. To avoid getting pulled in, use the
Boost Ball to get away. You can also try laying a Power Bomb at its feet
whenever you get sucked into its vortex attack. The Power Bomb will
destroy all of Quadraxis's foot joints and keep you safe from its
shockwaves until you damage its knees again (the flashing red orbs will
reappear then). You will take damage in the process, but you may as well
do some damage in return. Also, each time you smash up Quadraxis's knees
or feet, it will drop several pickups across the arena. After you damage
all four of its armored knees, take the time to gather the spilt pickups
before the next stage of the battle begins.

After you cripple Quadraxis's legs, the head module will detach from the
body and continue its assault as it floats around the room. Scan the
defeated body of Quadraxis and the floating head for new scan entries;
DAMAGED QUADRAXIS and SHIELDED HEAD MODULE, respectively. As its name
implies, the Shielded Head Module is protected by an energy field that
gives it complete invulnerability. Although it is immune to your
weapons, it still relies on the body to remain active. If you turn on
your Echo Visor, you'll see a transmission antenna on the body relaying
power to the head module. If you cut the source of the emission, you'll
deactivate the head's shielding. The head module will continue to attack
with the same projectile assaults as it did during the first stage of
the battle. Don't waste time on it and concentrate on destroying the
Damaged Quadraxis's antenna. Use the Echo Visor to target the antenna,
and then let fly with something strong like Super Missiles or the
Sunburst to destroy it. The damaged antenna will no longer be able to
transmit power to the head, disabling its defense shield. The head
module will turn into the STUNNED HEAD MODULE. In this mode, the unit
will try to summon Dark Quads to its defense while it tries to
reestablish a connection with the body. Target one of the three antennae
around the head unit's hull and blast it with Super Missiles to destroy
it. The Dark Quads that Quadraxis convenes can be avoided for the most
part, unless they really start getting in the way. Each time you destroy
one of the Stunned Head Module's antennas, it will revert back to being
the Shielded Head Module, and you'll have to destroy the antenna on the
body again to further damage Quadraxis. Keep an eye out for pickups and
don't get cornered by the relentless Quads. The second stage of the
battle will end after all three of the Stunned Head Module's antennae
are destroyed.

Quadraxis's badly-damaged head will bounce across the arena like a
wrecking ball, exposing Spider Ball Tracks along the outer edges of the
boss's legs. Scan the head one more time so that you can complete the
Guardian section of the Log Book with the FINAL HEAD MODULE. The head
module's inner armor will be exposed after the final stage begins,
revealing two weak points that can be bombed to finish off the boss for
good. The surface of Quadraxis's head is magnetized, meaning you can
cling to it with the Spider Ball. First though, you'll need to stun the
floating head. Lock on to it and blast it once with a charged Light Beam
shot. As the drone floats around the edge of the room in its daze, look
at which direction it's moving in. Get ahead of it and climb to the very
top of the Spider Ball Tracks along Quadraxis's legs to intercept the
head. As the head module floats by, boost off from the track's boost
point and grab onto Quadraxis's shiny dome. Now roll into one of the two
weak points and lay a bomb to damage Quadraxis's inner workings. After
you bomb the weak point, Quadraxis will regain consciousness and
continue its attack. Repeat the same process once more to finish off the
boss the Ing Hive once and for all. During the final stage, Quadraxis
will use the same high-powered laser attacks as before, but it won't
summon any more Dark Quads while it's stunned (tough luck if you missed
both of the scan opportunities).

After you defeat Quadraxis, collect the ANNIHILATOR BEAM power-up it
leaves for you. The Annihilator Beam is the final and most powerful beam
weapon. It uses ammo from both the Dark and the Light Beams, so it will
deplete your supplies quickly, but it's worth it. The Annihilator Beam's
uncharged shots can home in on enemies, even if you aren't locked on to
them. The charged disruptor blast, while slower and more unwieldy to
use, can paralyze enemies for a sizeable amount of time, leaving them
vulnerable to continued attacks. The Annihilator Beam can also open gray
doors and activate both Dark and Light Portals.

After you collect the power-up, Quadraxis's wasted body will dissolve
into goop and a large platform will rise up from the center of the
temple. Use the Spider Ball Track along the sides of the platform to
reach the top. From here, Screw Attack over to the south gray door. Use
the Annihilator Beam on this door to open it. After you pass through,
repeat the familiar procedure of obtaining the Energy Controller's core
power and then return to the Hive Temple.

Screw Attack back to the center platform, and then turn towards the west
door and Screw Attack to it. Use the Annihilator Beam again to open the
door, and then head through the Temple Security Access. This passage
contains a cloud of INGSTORMS. These floating particles are actually
collections of microscopic Ing, seemingly harmless until you walk
through the cloud. Ingstorm clouds are so corrosive that they can eat
through your Power Suit in a matter of minutes. Hurry through the cloud
to avoid as much damage as possible, since lagging in an Ingstorm is
never a good idea. However, take the time to scan the particles from a
safe spot. The door at the end will take you to the southeast side of
the Aerial Training Site.

When you enter the Aerial Training Site, use the Annihilator Beam on the
nearest Light Crystal and Light Beacon to produce a SUPER CRYSTAL and
SUPER BEACON. Super Safe Zones not only incinerate any dark creature
that makes contact with them, but they also have the mesmerizing effect
of luring Warrior and Hunter Ing into their own deaths, while having a
similar hypnotic effect on Inglets. The Dark Pirate Commandos in the
Aerial Training Site won't be affected by them this way, but they're
both good for scan entries. Screw Attack to the portal on the other side
of the room to reenter Aether. Now Screw Attack back across the Watch
Station to the southeast blue door to enter the Sentinel's Path.

The walkway back to the Sanctuary Temple is guarded by an aggressive
pair of Mekenobites. Target their legs with the Seeker Missile Launcher
and knock them off their perches. When you get about halfway through the
room, look along the left wall for a sonic gate. This type of sonic gate
can only be opened when you use the Echo Visor alongside with the
Annihilator Beam. Look at the gate through the Echo Visor and shoot the
orange center icon with the Annihilator Beam to listen to the gate's
audio lock code. The gate will release four notes in a particular order,
representing the order in which you must activate the corresponding keys
to open the gate. The sonic gate's keys are located in the area in front
of it. Shoot them to transmit their sonic code to the gate. Because
there are only three keys to this gate, one of them will have to be shot
twice. Study the notes each key produces and the order of how you must
activate them to unlock the gate. After you shoot the keys in the
correct order, the gate will unlock and you'll be able to grab the
MISSILE EXPANSION in the space behind it. Now use the gray exit door to
reach the Sanctuary Temple.

From the temple ledge, Screw Attack over to the main platform and then
grapple or Screw Attack across to the Controller Access doorway. When
the core energy of the final regional Energy Controller is at last
reinstated in its proper place, the cybernetic rain that fell over the
Sanctuary Fortress will cease and a starry twilight will cover the
skyline. Now return once more to the Sanctuary Temple and Screw Attack
over to the opposite doorway, leading into the Temple Access.

Before you return to the Great Temple, use your newfound abilities to
grab a pair of expansions located in the Temple Access and Main Gyro
Chamber. The first can be found underneath the glass floor of the Temple
Access. Use the Kinetic Orb Cannon to blast yourself to the top balcony,
and then turn on the Echo Visor to locate the single sonic transmitter
in the room. When you deactivate the transmitter, the cannon stopper
will slide forward for a few seconds (until the timer expires). Hop back
down to the lower level and reuse the Kinetic Orb Cannon. This time,
when it blasts you back through the room, the stopper will drop you down
into a hidden tunnel that takes you beneath the floor. Roll towards the
back of the floor space and grab the MISSILE EXPANSION. To escape from
the floor, use the Spinner next to the expansion. Now blast yourself
through the room one more time to exit.

The second expansion is hidden inside the dynamo core of the Main Gyro
Chamber. Use the elevator in the lower level, near the black door, to
reach the very bottom of the room. If you didn't scan the cobalt
hologram earlier, do so now for a Luminoth Lore entry. Now head to the
back of the room to reach the bottom of the central chamber. The sonic
gate in the back operates just like the one in the Sentinel's Path, so
you'll need the Annihilator Beam and the Echo Visor to solve this
puzzle. The three keys that unlock this gate are located down the
corridor from which you emerged from. After you shoot the keys with the
Annihilator Beam in their correct order (remember, one repeats), the
gate will open to reveal a Kinetic Orb Cannon. When you use it, the
Kinetic Orb Cannon will blast you through the spinning dynamo core,
shattering it to pieces. A POWER BOMB EXPANSION will fall from the
center. After you grab it, use the cannon again to smash through one of
the upper windows. Now use the nearby Save Station, and then head all
the way back to the Main Energy Controller in the Great Temple.

=============

Chapter 11: The Nine Keybearers.

=============

U-Mos will share with you information regarding a fourth Dark Energy
Controller, located within the very heart of the Ing's territory. The
final Energy Controller and the supreme leader of the Ing Horde reside
within the Sky Temple, the dark fortress high above the Sky Temple
Grounds. U-Mos will then grant you the amazing LIGHT SUIT, in hopes that
you will use his gift to help vanquish the Ing once and for all. The
snazzy Light Suit completely nullifies the harmful effects of Dark
Aether's atmosphere, and it allows you to withstand other poisonous
agents of the dark world such as purple water and Ingstorm clouds.
Additionally, the Light Suit will allow you to travel through beams of
light and teleport yourself from area to area.

Your final mission on Aether will be to find a way into the Sky Temple
Energy Controller and eliminate the leader of the Horde once and for
all. The only way to reach the Sky Temple is by going through the Sky
Temple Grounds, the dark version of the Temple Grounds area. The
entrance within the Sky Temple Grounds however, a room known as the Sky
Temple Gateway, is sealed with a lock that requires nine special Dark
Temple Keys to open. These keys are scattered throughout Dark Aether;
three are found within the Sky Temple Grounds, while two are found in
each of the other areas of Dark Aether. Finding nine hidden keys within
all of Dark Aether may seem like a near-impossible task, but luckily for
you there are several clues within the game that will guide you to their
whereabouts. By now, you should already have scanned the nine bodies of
the fallen Luminoth warriors that contained the Keybearer Lore. These
Log Book entries each contain a highlighted word within their text that
indicates which room the Luminoth was found in. It just so happens that
the hidden Sky Temple Keys are located within Dark Aether's version of
that very same room. If you can remember where you scanned each
Keybearer Lore entry, or decipher where the clue within the entry text
points to, you'll be on the right track to grabbing the key. If you
still get stuck on your quest for keys, visit the entry point of the Sky
Temple itself, the Sky Temple Gateway. Within this room, you'll be able
to scan new pieces of Luminoth Lore known as A-Kul's Clues. Each clue
gives further information as to where the keys are hidden. And lastly,
you can use the Dark Visor while exploring rooms in Aether to find the
keys. All nine keys are hidden inside Flying Ing Caches, special
darkling storage units employed by the Ing to guard their valuables.
Flying Ing Caches are normally invisible, but they can be detected with
the Dark Visor, even in Aether. If you find the mysterious outline of
something floating in a room, you'll know that the dark version of that
room holds your key. After you collect all nine keys, you can return
them to the Sky Temple Gateway to gain admission into the Sky Temple. In
addition to collecting the nine Sky Temple Keys, you'll also want to
grab every last expansion and suit upgrade left in the game before you
battle the final bosses.

Where do you begin your quest? It doesn't matter in which order you
collect the Sky Temple Keys, but it wouldn't be a bad idea to set off
for the Landing Site first to get a fresh start with your ammo and
energy. After U-Mos bestows you with your Light Suit, take Temple
Transport C down to the Meeting Grounds. Cut through the Service Access
and enter the Landing Site to use your gunship. After you save, turn on
your Dark Visor to look around the room. The ominous delineation of a
Flying Ing Cache can be seen to the right of your ship, indicating the
location of your first Sky Temple Key. To get to Dark Aether's version
of the Landing Site, head back through the Service Access and the
Meeting Grounds to get to the Hall of Eyes. When you get there, use the
portal to enter the Base Access.

The first time you visited the Base Access, you didn't have Super
Missiles. Now that that's been long since taken care of, use a Super
Missile on the green door down the path to your left to get to the War
Ritual Grounds. If you use the Annihilator Beam to create Super Safe
Zones, the Inglets in the room will be unable to assume their solid
forms, making them harmless. Also keep in mind that even though you will
no longer take damage from Dark Aether's air, you can still use Safe
Zones to heal damage.

Walk up the path in the War Ritual Grounds until a pair of Hunter Ing
attack you. Use the Annihilator Beam to charge up the beacon in the
center of the room, turning it into another Super Beacon (try activating
it before the first Ing appears, or your Annihilator Beam will go for it
instead of the beacon). After the beacon is energized with annihilating
energy, sit back and watch as both Hunter Ing drift into their demises,
one after the other. After you pass the half-pipe, turn on your Dark
Visor to locate the control nodes around the gate in front of you. Use
the seeker missiles to bring down this gate, and then step inside the
space beyond to grab a MISSILE EXPANSION. Now use the door on the south
end to exit the room.

Tunnel through the Shrine Access until you get to the other side.
Several Corrupted Sentreyes will try to slash you down with their laser
eyes if you aren't careful. Shoot them with the Power Beam to immobilize
them temporarily, or use charged Light Beam blasts to destroy them
permanently. Now use the Seeker Missile Launcher again to open the
purple door on the north side of the room, near some Phazon. Walk down
the Gateway Access passage, shooting and/or avoiding the Darkling
Tentacles and Phazon puddles as you go. The door at the end will take
you to the Sky Temple Gateway itself.

The Sky Temple Gateway sits directly beneath the towering Sky Temple
fortress floating high above the dark land. Without any Sky Temple Keys,
the hologram in the middle of the room won't appear, but you can still
scan each of the pillars around the room for a bevy of Log Book entries.
Scan M-DHE'S KEY, J-FME'S KEY, J-STL'S KEY, B-STL'S KEY, S-DLY'S KEY, G-
SCH'S KEY, S-JRS'S KEY, C-RCH'S KEY and D-ISL'S KEY. If by any chance
you have already collected a Sky Temple Key, the hologram in the center
of the room will be present. If you step into it to return the key, the
pillar with the corresponding A-Kul's Clue will no longer yield a Log
Book entry until you head back to the Shrine Access and then come back.
In addition to the nine A-Kul's Clues, you should also scan A-KUL'S
TESTAMENT from the body of the Luminoth resting at the base of one of
the back pillars. A-Kul was the tenth Keybearer, but she managed to
return her Sky Temple Key to its lock, meaning you won't have to find a
tenth key. Now that you've scanned 100% of the Log Book's Lore section,
return to the Shrine Access.

The south end of the room contains a green door that takes you to the
Defiled Shrine, Dark Aether's version of the Landing Site. Drop down
from the ledge and make a few Super Beacons for the Warrior Ing to kill
themselves with. Now use the Dark Visor to locate the invisible FLYING
ING CACHE floating near the back end of the room. Shoot it once to
disable its invisibility, and then scan it for a Log Book entry. With
its cover blown, the Flying Ing Cache will begin floating around in
panic. Give it additional punishment so that it relinquishes the SKY
TEMPLE KEY 8. Now return to the Base Access and use the portal to reach
Aether's Hall of Eyes.

Dash through the Path of Eyes and use the north door to get to the
Windchamber Gateway. Use the Screw Attack to get across this room and
the Grand Windchamber quickly. When you reach the GFMC Compound, use the
door that leads into the Fortress Transport Access. After you kill the
Luminoth Turrets, walk through the passage until you reach the bright
beam of yellow light. When you step into the light while you have the
Light Suit, you will be teleported to a small chamber above you. Grab
the ENERGY TANK up here, and then beam yourself back down to the main
tunnel. Now return to the GFMC Compound.

When you reach the compound, use the door on the ledge that will take
you to the Sacred Bridge. Cross through the passage to reach the Sacred
Path, and then climb up to the right-hand ledge of this room to get to a
portal. When you use the portal, you will enter the Profane Path.

A pair of Dark Pirate Commandos haunts the Propane Path, so use the Dark
Beam or the room's Light Beacons to destroy them. Now turn to the right
after you emerge from the portal and hop up onto the ledge in front of
the sonic gate. Use the Echo Visor and the Annihilator Beam to unlock
this musical gate, using the keys nearby. The gate will open to reveal
the game's final BEAM AMMO EXPANSION, maxing out your Dark and Light
Beam with 250 rounds total for each. Now use the north door to exit. To
cross the next room (the Phazon Pit) safely, use the Grapple Beam to
swing over the Phazon, but watch out for the Dark Tallon Metroid.

The Phazon Grounds is a large stretch of land teeming with Dark Tallon
Metroids and filled with radioactive Phazon (imagine that). From the
entrance, start shooting at the Metroids in the immediate area. One of
the Metroids has managed to capture a Pirate Commando. Despite the fact
that the pirate is dead, you can still scan it for a Log Book entry if
for some reason you missed them at the Torvus Grove and Sanctuary
Entrance, but it will be your very last chance. You should also scan the
DORMANT INGCLAWS thriving in the area. Dormant Ingclaws do not expel
toxic breath, but they remain indestructible. After you have your scans,
walk towards the cliff in the back of the room. The structure far out in
the space ahead contains an expansion, but you can only reach it if you
Screw Attack or use the Dark Visor to locate a series of invisible
platforms that lead to it. Try Screw Attacking to avoid the Metroids
patrolling the route across the gap. After you collect the MISSILE
EXPANSION, return to the other side and use seeker missiles to open the
purple door on the southeast end of the room.

The next three rooms, the Reliquary Access, Reliquary Grounds and Ing
Reliquary, are all filled with Ingstorms. Thankfully, the Light Suit
renders the Ingstorm particles as nothing more than harmless dust.
Without the Light Suit hoverer, you won't survive to the Ing Reliquary,
no matter how many Energy Tanks you've acquired and how healthy you are.
Pass through the Reliquary Access, and then walk through the Reliquary
Grounds until you see a ledge on your left. Hop up onto it and then leap
onto the pillar on the other side of the ledge. From the pillar, jump
even higher to reach the upper level of the room. Cross the bridge to
get to the Ing Reliquary. Use the Dark Visor to find the Flying Ing
Cache in this room, and then collect the SKY TEMPLE KEY 7. Now return
through the Reliquary Grounds. The Warrior Ing oozing around can't be
defeated with Super Safe Zones, but you can still use the Dark Visor to
target them even in their liquid forms.

Anyway, return all the way to the Profane Path and use the portal to
reach the Sacred Path. Now return once more to the GFMC Compound, and
use the southeast door to get to the Trooper Security Station. To get
through the room, use a Power Bomb to break down the metal GF gate
blocking the path. Use the exit door to reach the Communication Area,
and then continue through to the Dynamo Chamber.

The lower path in the Dynamo Chamber is sealed by a pair of GF Gates Mk
VII, so you'll need Power Bombs to break through. If you use a third
Power Bomb on the patch of Denzium rock along the wall, you'll uncover
another POWER BOMB EXPANSION. If you need more Power Bomb Ammunition for
this room, kill the Splinters in the upper path. Now continue through
the chamber to get to the Temple Assembly Site.

Use the GF crates in the Temple Assembly Site to get pickups if you
want, and then head to the back of the room. To the left of the door
leading to the Collapsed Tunnel is a stone monolith with a dark crystal
on its side. Shoot the crystal with the Light Beam to move the monolith
out of the way, revealing a portal in the corner. Use this portal to
enter the Sky Temple Grounds again.

The Plain of Dark Worship is an eerily quiet room with a steady
population of Ingclaws growing here and there. Head to the very back of
the room and collect the lone MISSILE EXPANSION waiting for you at the
base of the Ingworm mass. After you grab it, a pair of Warrior Ing will
appear. Destroy or ignore them, and head back to the entrance. Use the
Seeker Missile Launcher to open the purple door next to the portal, and
enter the Lake Access tunnel. As you pass through this room, shoot the
venom weed in the path to avoid damage.

The Accursed Lake contains the final Sky Temple Key within the Sky
Temple Grounds area. A few Hunter Ing will emerge from the purple lake
after you enter, and if you need a beacon to energize, you'll find one
down the path on your left, just past a gap. The Flying Ing Cache is
hovering over the southern shore of the lake, so pop him and grab the
SKY TEMPLE KEY 9. If you find that the key is out of reach, use the
Screw Attack, and remember that the dark water won't hurt you anymore.
After you collect the key, return to the Plain of Dark Worship and use
the portal to get back to the Temple Grounds.

Now that you are three keys closer to your goal, use the transport next
to the Temple Assembly Site to reach the Great Temple. Head up to the
Main Energy Controller and then step into the shining hologram in the
center of the room, behind U-Mos. The Light Suit will allow you to warp
from Energy Controller to Energy Controller by stepping into the energy
transport system holograms. Just select which area you'd like to go to
and you'll be off in a flash of light. Teleport from the Great Temple's
Main Energy Controller to the Agon Energy Controller.

After you emerge into the Agon Energy Controller, head out to the Agon
Temple and turn right once you get there. Follow the path to the black
door that leads to the Mine Shaft. Roll through the Morph Ball tunnel
within the shaft, and use the exit door at the bottom to reach Mining
Station B. Drop down to the main clearing and eliminate the Sandigger
that surfaces from the soil. Afterwards, head towards the south end of
the room and use a Power Bomb to break down the weakened Denzium rock.
Use the exposed white door to get to the storage cavern and grab the
MISSILE EXPANSION inside. Now return to the temple through the Mine
Shaft tunnel.

From the Agon Temple, head to Mining Station A, south of here. When you
get there, destroy the pair of Pirate Aerotroopers and jump down to the
floor level. Your Power Bombs will once again uncover the secrets behind
the Denzium rock. Break the chunk of rock along the eastern wall to
expose a Kinetic Orb Cannon. The cannon will launch you up to a Spider
Ball Track sculpture, so be ready to grab onto it. Roll to the left and
drop down to the lower track. Bomb jump back up to the higher track
after you get past the obstacle, and then drop and bomb-jump again once
more to get the MISSILE EXPANSION. Now roll through the Mining Station
Access tunnel to reach the Mining Plaza.

Head into the center of the Mining Plaza and whip out the Echo Visor.
Under its vision, you'll be able to locate three sonic transmitters
around the room. When you deactivate each transmitter, one of the solar
lenses in front of the bridge will move into position so that they focus
the sunlight towards the device along the west wall. When all three
sonic transmitters are shut down, the three lenses will magnify the beam
of sunlight so that it reaches the device and opens it. Screw Attack
over to the revealed alcove and grab the ENERGY TANK.

After you obtain the tank, enter the Save Station cavern and save your
progress. Now jump up onto the ledge to the right of the sand cascade
and enter Morph Ball tunnel to get through the room. When you reach the
Transport Station, continue through to the Portal Terminal and use the
portal machine to get to the Portal Site in the Dark Agon Wastes. Now
head back across the room and use the door that will take you to the
Judgment Pit.

Use the Annihilator Beam to defeat the Warrior Ing in the Judgment Pit.
There aren't any expansions in the room, but there is one in the nearby
Junction Site tunnel. When you roll through to the center of the tunnel,
use the Spider Ball to ride up to the Bomb Slot above. The slot will
rotate a portion of the tunnel, allowing you to drop down and grab the
MISSILE EXPANSION. Climb back up to the Bomb Slot to return the tunnel
to its original position so that you can escape.

Return to the Judgment Pit and climb up to the eastern ledge of the
room. Use a Super Missile on the green door hatch to enter the Warrior's
Walk passage. Walk forward until you see Phazon beneath the floor
panels. You can use Morph Ball Bombs to destroy a section of the floor
panels so that you can get underneath. Quickly dash through the burning
Phazon and grab another MISSILE EXPANSION tucked away in the back. Jump
back out and use a second Super Missile to open the exit door.

When you get to the Battleground, fight off the Warrior Ing and then
turn on your Dark Visor. One of Dark Agon's Sky Temple Keys is located
within this room, but it can only be reached when you enter the room
from the upper portion of the Double Path. Before you loop around
through the Doomed Entry to get there, expose the Flying Ing Cache and
destroy it to release the key. When you enter the Battleground from the
Double Path's upper tunnel, kill the Ing again and then either Screw
Attack over to the west ledge with the key, or use the four invisible
platforms. If you Screw Attack make sure that you don't accidentally
bump into one of the platforms. After you grab the SKY TEMPLE KEY 1,
return to the Doomed Entry and use the south white door.

When you reach the Feeding Pit, use the Dark Visor to hunt down the
mischievous Lumites in the room. Now dive into the dark water and scour
the back edge of the room for a small cavern, which contains a POWER
BOMB EXPANSION. Jump out of the water and climb up to the east door.
Continue through the Dark Agon Wastes until you get to the Phazon Pit.

You'll need to defeat the Dark Tallon Metroids in the Phazon Pit before
they cause too much trouble for you. Lure them all towards you and then
decimate them with a Power Bomb or an Energized Beacon when they get
close enough. Now hop up to the second moving platform in the room. From
this platform, you should be able to Screw Attack over to a door on a
ledge along the east wall. Use the Annihilator Beam to open the door,
and then step inside the room to grab the SONIC BOOM, the final suit
upgrade. The Sonic Boom is the Annihilator Beam's Charge Combo. It costs
a whopping 30 rounds of ammunition from both the Dark and the Light
Beam, but it is unquestionably the most powerful weapon in the game. The
Sonic Boom fires a destructive blast of sonic energy with lightning
speed, capable of obliterating multiple enemies instantly. Not only is
it powerful, but it's also very fun to play around with. After you grab
it, step back out into the Phazon Pit and use the north lift platform to
exit.

Make your way to the Dark Oasis, but remember to use the Save Station
along the way. When you reach the oasis, defeat the Inglets along the
path and get in front of the first blue door on your left. Use a Power
Bomb to destroy the weakened Denzium portion of the opposite wall,
revealing a large chamber within the Dark Oasis. Without the Light Suit,
you wouldn't be able to do anything thanks to the Ingstorm clouds and
the dark water. Dive into the murky depths and locate the submerged
Flying Ing Cache. This one holds the SKY TEMPLE KEY 2. After you grab
it, exit the chamber via the rock platforms in the water, and then use
the white door at the end of the passage to get to an Ammo Station.
After you restock on everything, you should have 230 missiles, 8 Power
Bombs and 250 Dark and Light Beam Ammunition rounds. Use the portal near
the entrance to get to the Main Reactor.

Use the Spider Ball Track in the back of the Main Reactor chamber to get
to the white door on the west side. Roll through the Ventilation Area A
tunnel and open the blue door at the end to get to the Sandcanyon. The
Sandcanyon can be crossed by using the set of Kinetic Orb Cannons, but
only with the Screw Attack will you be able to reach the platform in the
middle of the chasm. When you Screw Attack to it, use a Power Bomb to
topple the large sculpture next to it. After the sculpture falls away,
grab the POWER BOMB EXPANSION that is left behind and Screw Attack to
the west side of the Sandcanyon.

After you exit the Sandcanyon through the white door, you'll be back in
the Agon Temple. Turn to the right and walk down the path. You'll need
Morph Ball Bombs to clear the sand blocks out of the path so that you
can get to the Agon Energy Controller. When you reach it, use the energy
transport system to warp yourself to the Torvus Energy Controller.

You only have four Sky Temple Keys left to collect, but there are still
a few expansions here and there that still need collecting. Between the
keys and the expansions, there are nine items waiting to be grabbed in
Torvus. Head to the Torvus Temple and drop down to the bottom. If you
choose, you can battle the Shriekers here by using the Echo Visor. Use
the lift in the middle of the temple to get to its underchamber, and
then take the path through the Underground Tunnel to reach the Torvus
Grove.

When you reach the grove, destroy the Dark Pirate Commandos that lock
you in, and then use the Scan Visor to locate two of the giant tree's
thorny roots that are infused with trace amounts of Denzium. Both of the
roots can be destroyed with Power Bombs, but you only need to burn one
if you drop it directly in between the roots. After you destroy them,
the unbalanced tree will topple over and a MISSILE EXPANSION will be
revealed in the wall. Grab it, and then head out to the Meditation
Vista. Walk to over to the edge of the cliff behind the portal and Screw
Attack over to the moving platform out in the trees ahead. You'll need
to carefully time your Screw Attacks because otherwise you'll miss the
platform and fall. After you reach it, let it take you to an ENERGY
TANK. Now Screw Attack back to the Torvus Grove.

Use the half-pipe in front of the white door in the Torvus Grove to
reach the ledges up above. Screw Attack over to a black door, and skip
through the Grove Access to get to the Forgotten Bridge. Walk down the
upper tunnel to get to the north door, and then enter the Plaza Access.
If you didn't earlier, get the expansion here by using the Bomb Slots.
Roll through to the end of the Morph Ball tunnel and use the exit door.

The tranquility of Torvus will be shattered once again when a pair of
Dark Pirate Commandos invades the Torvus Plaza. Use the Dark Visor and
the Dark Beam to eliminate them. The Torvus Plaza contains a hidden
Energy Tank, but it's located at the end of a very complex Spider Ball
puzzle, high up at the top of the room. Roll into the half-pipe and
boost up to the first section of the Spider Ball Track on the right-hand
wall. Follow the track to a log with a catwalk over it. Carefully roll
across the catwalk and bomb-jump up to the next piece of track at the
end. Follow this track to another catwalk, and then bomb-jump up to the
next portion of the track. Watch out for the Sporb up here that will
gladly throw you off the track. When it strikes, dodge it and use a
Power Bomb to destroy it. Continue bomb-jumping through this section of
the track until you get to a pair rotating pieces. Bomb-jump up to the
next track by timing yourself to reach the rotating Spider Ball Track,
and then roll up and around to a third catwalk. Continue through the
Spider Ball maze's rotating sections until at long last you reach a
ledge with a Kinetic Orb Cannon. The cannon will launch you across the
room to the well-disserved, final ENERGY TANK. Now drop back down to the
entrance and head back to the Forgotten Bridge.

Use the portal in the Forgotten Bridge to get to the Dark Forgotten
Bridge. More Dark Pirate Commandos will seal you within the room when
you enter, so kill them right away. Use Power Bombs to destroy the
southeast yellow door in the room, and head through to get to the Putrid
Alcove. When you cross through this room, shoot the Dark Phlogus in the
water to pacify it, and then lay another Power Bomb near the right wall
to find the game's last POWER BOMB EXPANSION. After you grab it, use a
third Power Bomb to break open the hatch over the exit door.

The door leads to the Poisoned Bog. Defeat the Hunter Ing that splashes
out from the vile water and then dive in afterwards. When you get to the
back of the pond, turn to the left and look for the Flying Ing Cache
within the underwater nook. Kill it to get the SKY TEMPLE KEY 3. Now you
can return to the Dark Forgotten Bridge to use the portal, but if you
want you can take a short detour to restock on your ammo with the nearby
Ammo Station.

After you return to Aether, make your way to the Torvus Temple and use
the Underground Transport to get to the Hydrodynamo Chamber. After you
use the Save Station, drop down to the very bottom of the room to get to
the Hydrodynamo Shaft. Kill the Hydlings for pickups if you want, and
then use either the portal in this room or the one in the Main
Hydrochamber to get to the Undertemple, where you fought the Power Bomb
Guardian earlier. Use the Wall Jump Surface in front of the portal ledge
to reach a MISSILE EXPANSION above you. Afterwards, fight your way
through the Hunter Ing in the main chamber and climb up to the
Undertemple Access. Now return to Aether and go back to the Hydrodynamo
Station.

To get Dark Torvus's last Sky Temple Key, use the black door in the
Hydrodynamo Station that leads to the Catacombs Access. Take the tunnel
to the Catacombs, and use the portal on the platform in the back of the
room before the Grenchlers take notice of you. When you reach the
Dungeon, slay the pair of Dark Grenchlers, and then dive into the water
near the portal. The Dungeon's true treasures lie beneath the gloomy
waves. Turn to the right and scan the boulder-like thing along the wall.
This is a WATCHDRONE, the last new enemy cataloged in the Aether
Creatures section of the Log Book. Watchdrones are indestructible
machines that the Ing have enslaved to guard important items. No matter
how hard you hit it, the Watchdrone cannot be destroyed. The only way to
get it to move out of your path is by activating the Light Beacon above
it. The drone will shift forward to avoid the light, allowing you to
roll through the pathway. Turn left in the next portion of the chamber
and continue until you find another Watchdrone. Move this one out of the
way, and then use the Dark Visor in the third chamber to hunt down the
Flying Ing Cache, who will release the SKY TEMPLE KEY 4 when shot. Now
return to the upper portion of the room and use the portal to reenter
the Catacombs.

When you emerge into the Catacombs, turn to the left and hop over to the
ledge with the gray door on it. Open the door to get to Transit Tunnel
South. Use the Kinetic Orb Cannon (just like in the other two transit
tunnels) to get to a Morph Ball maze. Roll to the right and keep
dropping until you can go left to find a Bomb Slot. When you activate
it, the current spewing from the yellow dot in the path above will
change the direction of its flow. Bomb-jump up to the vertical shaft
directly on top of the dot, and double-bomb-jump to reach the ledge up
above. The double-bomb-jump will require careful timing thanks to the
slow movement of your Morph Ball in the current. Now continue rolling to
the right and use the next upward current to bomb yourself up to another
ledge. Go over to the next Bomb Slot and use it to reverse the water
flow in the adjacent vertical pathway. Now continue to the right and go
underneath the path you just reversed. Double-bomb-jump up to the next
path and follow it to a third Bomb Slot in the upper right-hand corner
of the maze. This slot will reverse the flow of water in the previous
vertical shaft, allowing you to double-bomb-jump up to a MISSILE
EXPANSION. Bomb-jump up to the path to get back to it without falling to
the very bottom. Once you have the expansion, roll down to the bottom
pathway and continue all the way to the right to find the exit to the
Gathering Hall.

Cross the Gathering Hall with the Grapple Beam or Screw Attack and take
Transit Tunnel West to get to the Training Chamber. When you drop into
the water here, avoid the Dark Bloggs and locate the Spider Ball Track
to the left of the Luminoth statue. You'll have to boost off from the
first section of track to another piece a little ways up and then again
to get to the right side of the statue. Drop down from the large section
of Spider Ball Track onto the Luminoth statue's platform. Activate the
Bomb Slot on the statue to move it forward, revealing a MISSILE
EXPANSION behind it. Another Spider Ball Track will also be revealed
behind the statue, so use it to reach a yellow door hatch. Blow it away
with a Power Bomb to open the door.

The door leads to the Fortress Transport Access. Use the rotating set of
platforms to reach the opposite ledge. If you fall into the water,
you'll have to contend with an angry Blogg. Use the door on the other
side to get to the Transport to Sanctuary Fortress. The Sanctuary
Fortress is the only area left with any Sky Temple Keys or expansions in
it; your final mission is quickly coming to an end.

After you arrive at the Sanctuary Fortress, take the path through the
Torvus Transport Access tunnel. Two groups of Octopede drones patrol the
tunnel, so use the Dark Beam to prevent them from exploding. Use a Power
Bomb at the end of the tunnel to get to the Main Research room. Head to
the back of the room and use the Spider Ball Track to reach the door
taking you to the Transit Station. Make your way to the bottom of the
Reactor Core after you head through.

You can save now if you like, or you enter the Sanctuary Map Station on
the other end of the Reactor Core's lower hallway. When you enter the
Map Station, head down and step into the beam of bright yellow light to
get to a MISSILE EXPANSION, hidden in the chamber above. After you grab
this expansion, you will have obtained 100% of the power-ups in the
game. Now head back out to the Reactor Core and climb up to the top of
the room. Make your way through the Minigyro Chamber and use the portal
machine in the back of the Hall of Combat Mastery to enter the Ing Hive.

The Culling Chamber has a blue door on the other end that you probably
haven't used yet. If you didn't get the expansion in the Hazing Cliff
yet or scan the Dark Diligence Drones there, take the door on your right
after you emerge from the portal. Otherwise, head out into the main
portion of the room and use the Spider Ball Track on the wall ahead of
you to get to the blue door. If you take the long way around to the
door, you'll have to deal with three Dark Pirate Commandos.

Get across the gap in the Unseen Way by Screw Attacking across, or use
the Dark Visor to find the 'unseen way'; an invisible platform that will
ferry you across to the other side. When you enter the Hive Reactor,
drop down to the bottom of the room before the annoying Inglets attack.
When you reach the bottom, a Dark Ingsmasher will attack you. Lay a
Power Bomb at its feet to destroy it, and then turn right along the
hallway to find an Ammo Station. The opposite end of the hallway
contains a red door leading to a Save Station, but don't use that until
you've used the Ammo Station. Now open the south door with a Power Bomb
to proceed.

When you enter the Hive Reactor Access, a swarm of Nightbarbs will swoop
into the room and begin circling around the main chamber. Shoot the
Nullified Beacon on the platform ahead to generate a Safe Zone, which
will wipe out the entire Nightbarb cloud instantly. Now cross over to
the opposite side, but be careful not to fall into the bottomless gulf.

The next passage is the Entrance Defense Hall. Towards the end of the
tunnel, an ING LARVA SWARM will rush towards you along the ground. Scan
the swarm before it passes by, but try not to let the Ing damage you.
The Ing larvae will launch themselves at you to protect the group. Use
the exit door at the end after you pass them.

The door will take you to the Hive Entrance. There is a Flying Ing Cache
in this room, but it's located on a ledge above you, and you won't be
able to reach it from this side of the room. Look out towards the great
gap ahead and use seeker missiles to eliminate the Dark Preeds floating
in the air. After you've destroyed them all (there are quite a few),
Screw Attack all the way over to the opposite cliff. When you get there,
step into the beam of light to reach the ledge directly above you. From
this ledge, you'll be able to Screw Attack back to the opposite ledge
with the Flying Ing Cache on it. Shoot it down to obtain the SKY TEMPLE
KEY 5. Make sure you don't touch the red beam of light in the back
though, because it will inflict heavy damage to you. Drop back down to
the entrance and return to the Hive Reactor.

Use the two stations at the bottom of the reactor, and then climb up to
the Unseen Way. Cross over to the Culling Chamber and use the portal to
return to the Sanctuary Fortress. Now use the Central Area Transport
East to reach the Dynamo Works.

The final Sky Temple Key is within the dark reproduction of the Dynamo
Works, but you can't get to it from this side, so don't bother using the
portal in front of the black door. To get to the other side (where you
battled the Spider Guardian), head through the Main Gyro Chamber to get
to the Sanctuary Temple, and then Screw Attack over to the east door.
Screw Attack again to get through the Workers Path, and then enter the
Dynamo Works' Spider Ball maze.

Go through the maze until you reach the very end, where you obtained the
actual Spider Ball upgrade. When you get there, use a Power Bomb to open
the yellow door in the back, which will take you to the Dynamo Storage
chamber. Use the portal in here to reach the Hive Cache 3. After you
emerge from the portal, use the blue door to get to the Hive Dynamo
Works.

From this side of the Hive Dynamo Works, you'll be able to reach the Sky
Temple Key, but you'll have to roll through the tunnel in the wall
first. When you get to the main chamber, use the Spider Ball Track on
the wall and ride it up to the end. Boost off from the track so that you
can latch onto the floating spheres of Spider Ball Track ahead. These
two spheres have small red dots on their surfaces that indicate the
point from where you should boost off from. When the spheres align,
boost off from the first to get to the second, and then boost over to
the track along the side wall. Follow this track to a ledge, where
you'll find the last lurking Flying Ing Cache and the SKY TEMPLE KEY 6.

Hurray! All nine Sky Temple Keys have been obtained! Screw Attack back
over to the tunnel and use the portal in Hive Cache 3 to reenter Aether.
Make your way back to the Sanctuary Temple and use the nearby Sanctuary
Energy Controller to whisk yourself back to the Great Temple. After you
get there, head down to the Temple Grounds and stop in the Landing Site
to save, heal and restock at your ship.

=============

Chapter 12: The King of Ingland.

=============

With the nine Sky Temple Keys at hand, you'll be well-equipped to face
the game's final bosses. You should now have 14 Energy Tanks, 255
missiles, 250 rounds of Dark Beam and Light Beam ammo, 10 Power Bombs
and every suit upgrade in the game (including the optional Darkburst,
Sunburst and Sonic Boom items). Your Log Book should also be completely
filled save seven Creature entries. From the Landing Site, head through
the Meeting Grounds to get to the Path of Eyes, and then use the portal
to get to Dark Aether. Make your way to the Sky Temple Gateway from
there.

Step into the red Sky Temple Gateway hologram to return your nine keys.
Remember though; don't go near the hologram if you haven't scanned the
nine A-Kul's Clues from the pillars around the room. After the keys are
returned, a bright beam of light will extend from the center of the room
and connect to the Sky Temple. Step into the light to be teleported up
to it.

After Samus reaches the Sky Temple Energy Controller, a many-tentacled
something appears from the ceiling and snatches the core of the Energy
Controller. The Sky Temple contains only three rooms, but it's almost a
prefect inverse of the Great Temple. To reclaim the core of the Energy
Controller, you'll have to climb up to the top of the Sky Temple and
take down the absolute ruler of the Ing Horde. Climb up to the upper
ledge of the Sky Temple Energy Controller and use the Save Station in
the back before you do anything else. Now turn around and Screw Attack
across the room to get to a blue door. You can also walk around the
upper ledge to get to the door, allowing you to shoot the Ingworm Caches
along the walls for last-minute pickups. When you reach the Sanctum
Access, Wall Jump up to the top of the shaft and use the final blue door
to get to the Sanctum, the lair of the Ing ruler.

The Energy Controller's core has been left to sit in the middle of the
Sanctum floor. When you drop down to ground level, a huge dark mass of
tentacles will form around the core and sheath it from your reach. The
king of the Ing Horde and the boss of all bosses is the mighty Emperor
Ing, the oldest and strongest Ing in existence. His craving for power
has led him to abduct the Energy Controller's core essence and absorb
high amounts of Phazon energy. Don't take him lightly, and be ready with
your strongest weapons. The battle against the Emperor Ing will take
place in three stages. As soon as you begin, scan the trunk-like EMPEROR
ING BODY and the EMPEROR ING HEAD that sits on it. The Emperor Ing will
use his many tentacles to whip you around the room. Lock on to them and
start blasting them with charged Light Beam shots. When the Emperor Ing
swings his tentacles in a wide arc around him, jump to avoid getting
smashed or knocked backwards into the Phazon pools. The tentacles will
sometimes converge to generate a ball of dark energy that the emperor
will fire at you. After each tentacle takes enough damage, it will
retract into the Emperor Ing's body and release pickups. When all of the
emperor's tentacles have been damaged, the outer shell of his head will
retract and the EMPEROR ING EYE will be exposed. The eye is made up of
pure energy, but it is protected by a partial energy barrier that blocks
any attack. Luckily, the barrier doesn't completely cover the Emperor
Ing's eye. Lock on to the eye and circle around the emperor so that you
can get a shot through the rotating energy barrier. The Emperor Ing will
siphon power from the Energy Controller's core and fire it in
concentrated beams at you. If the beam hits you, you'll be knocked
backwards into the Phazon and you'll lose any charge on your beam
weapons that you had before getting hit. If you need to, jump over the
beam of energy to avoid it and get a clearer shot at the Emperor Ing's
eye. The Light Beam is the most reliable weapon to use against the eye,
but you can also use the Sonic Boom to shred large amounts of energy off
of the Emperor Ing's health. Just be careful when you use it through,
because you can easily end up wasting your shot without inflicting a
direct hit. After a minute or so, the Emperor Ing Head will reform
around the eye and a new set of tentacles will emerge to continue their
rounds. Repeat the process of eliminating the tentacles so that you can
damage the Emperor Ing's eye. During the later portions of the battle,
the Emperor Ing will create Light Portals out of thin air, using them to
transport his tentacles closer to you. When the tentacles begin to glow,
step back from the Emperor Ing so that he still won't be able to reach
you. The Light Beam should remain the weapon of choice throughout the
battle, but you can also use the Annihilator Beam or the Seeker Missile
Launcher to hit the tentacles as they flail about. Keep shooting until
the eye is exposed again. If you want an easy shot at the eye, be ready
with a charged Light Beam blast and fire at it as soon as it appears;
during the first few moments, the protective energy barrier won't shield
the Emperor Ing's eye from your attacks. Continue battling the Emperor
Ing until his health drops to zero. Don't forget to scan the Emperor
Ing's head, body and eye before you defeat him. Unfortunately, this
segment of the fight isn't even half the battle.

After the Emperor Ing has been dealt enough punishment, he will form a
durable shell around himself to protect him while he mutates and
recovers his energy. The EMPEROR ING CHRYSALIS is impenetrable by
conventional weaponry, but its surface is charged with magnetic energy,
meaning it's possible to stick to the Emperor Ing with the Spider Ball.
As soon as the second stage begins, scan the emperor's new form and use
the Spider Ball to cling to his surface before you get consumed in toxic
dark vapor. The shell of the Emperor Ing cannot be damaged unless you
weaken it with explosives. Eleven weak points around the shell can be
hit with Power Bombs to crack the Emperor Ing Chrysalis. However, the
Emperor Ing isn't completely defenseless while he recuperates himself.
In addition to the deadly cloud of toxic gas that fills the room during
the battle, the Emperor Ing will also spawn blobs of dark Inglet goop
from the top of his shell that will hunt you down as you travel across
the surface. Use Morph Ball Bombs to destroy these Inglet-like blobs.
Also, when you approach the weak points on the Emperor Ing's shell, he
will defend himself with tentacles that will deter you from the
openings. The only time you can damage the Emperor Ing with Power Bombs
however, is when these tentacles appear. Look for dark bubbles around
the weak points that indicate when the tentacle is about to emerge and
when you can drop the bomb. If you get lucky, you can use a single Power
Bomb to hit two or three weak points at once. Simply roll along the
surface of the Ing's shell and keep Power Bombing the exposed weak
points that you pass. As the battle progresses, the Emperor Ing will
produce more toxic vapor, making it almost impossible to avoid the
damage and see the oncoming Inglets. The good news is that you can
pretty much completely recover all of your lost energy and restock on
your ammo by destroying the Inglets and the tentacles on the Emperor
Ing's surface. This way, you'll always have enough Power Bombs to spare
and you'll be better off for the last stage of the battle. The second
stage will end after all eleven weak points on the Emperor Ing Chrysalis
are destroyed.

When the Emperor Ing emerges from the chrysalis, he will attack in a
serious rage. He wasn't kidding around when he made it clear that he
would defend the core of the Sky Temple Energy Controller to the death.
During the Emperor Ing's respite within the chrysalis, he underwent
drastic alteration due to his exposure to Phazon energy, turning him
into the vicious MUTATED EMPEROR ING. The Emperor Ing's final form
greatly resembles the spider-like Warrior Ing, and he uses several
abilities that reflect those used by his brethren. The Mutated Emperor
Ing can only be damage when you strike at his heart. The heart is
located deep within the emperor's mouth, but it is protected by a red
energy barrier that you must first breach before you can damage the Ing.
When the battle begins, charge your Power Beam and fire Super Missiles
at the Emperor Ing's mouth to damage the energy barrier. If you get a
good shot at it, one Super Missile should be enough to break through the
barrier. Once the heart is exposed, the Emperor Ing will change the
polarity of the energy surrounding his heart. The energy protects the
Emperor Ing from his own polarity, but it makes him vulnerable to beams
of opposite polarity. Use darkness against light and vice versa to
destabilize the Emperor Ing's heart. It can be a bit tricky to hit the
heart however, because the Emperor Ing's legs will often get in your way
and block your shots. Also, the Emperor Ing likes to close his mouth
from time to time, and he'll do so instantaneously to block your
attacks. When the Emperor Ing's heart glows purple, use charged Light
Beam shots to devastate the creature. When the heart glows a brilliant
white, you'll need to use dark attacks against him. Unfortunately, the
Dark Beam is much too slow and inaccurate to hit the Emperor Ing's heart
outside of a good deal of luck. Use uncharged Annihilator Beam blasts
instead, since they too use both dark and light energy. The Emperor Ing
will only leave his heart exposed for a few minutes before the red
energy barrier reforms again. Keep hitting the creature with Super
Missiles to get a shot at his heart. Sometimes, it can be difficult to
tell whether or not the energy barrier is active or not. If your shots
make the Emperor Ing flash yellow, you're only stunning the creature.
When the Ing flashes red with each hit, he's taking damage. It's also
possible to strike at the Emperor Ing's heart from behind. If the Ing
has his back to you (such as after his charge or jump attacks), try
shooting him through the hole in the back of his head. The Mutated
Emperor Ing uses a wide array of attacks. Like the Warrior Ing, he can
summon beams of light energy and fire them at you. However, because the
Emperor Ing is much more powerful than a typical Warrior, he can fire a
lot more of these beams at once. To avoid them, jump up into the air or
dodge to the side. The Emperor Ing also has a few damaging melee
attacks. Whenever the emperor shakes his head or rears back, be ready to
sidestep out of his way before he charges. The charge attack is fairly
powerful, and the Emperor Ing is quite fond of using it. Also, the
Emperor Ing will try to leap up into the air and try to crush you. Upon
landing, he'll generate a wave of dark energy that you must avoid by
jumping over. If you keep moving around, you'll minimize the
effectiveness of the Emperor Ing's physical attacks. When his heart is
exposed, the Emperor Ing can fire blasts of energy from his horn. The
attributes of these blasts are tied to the polarity of the Emperor Ing's
heart. If the Emperor Ing has a heart of darkness, the blasts he fires
will also be dark, and if you get hit by them you will be covered in
dark matter. Tap the B Button to escape from the dark encasing. When the
heart of the Ing is white, this attack will instead ignite you if it
strikes. The flames will continue to burn and damage you for a few
seconds. Space Jump to avoid both of these unforgiving attacks. The
Emperor Ing's final ability is also linked to his polarity.
Occasionally, the Emperor Ing will summon a swarm of small agile
creatures that will fly around and act as scapegoats, preventing you
from being able to target the Emperor Ing. When the emperor is dark, he
births a swarm of Nightbarbs; if the emperor is light, he will create a
swarm of luminous wisps that behave similarly to Nightbarbs. When the
darkling swarm appears, switch to the Dark Beam and use the Darkburst to
vanquish the entire swarm in one blow. In the process you will also
release Light Beam pickups. Keep using Super Missiles, the Light Beam
(charged) and the Annihilator Beam (uncharged) to damage the Mutated
Emperor Ing's heart.

Eventually, after a long and difficult battle, the Emperor Ing will
finally be defeated and the Sky Temple Energy Controller's core will be
released from his body after he dissolves into darkness. When the core
is absorbed into Samus's body, Dark Aether will become unstable and
begin collapsing around her. In eight minutes, the dark world will cease
to be and everything inside it will be gone forever, including you! That
gives you that much time to find a way back into Aether.

When the timer starts, a platform will rise up from the Sanctum floor
and allow you to escape the room. Climb up to the top of the platform
and then Screw Attack over to the exit door. Drop down to the bottom of
the Sanctum Access and enter the Sky Temple Energy Controller. The Save
Station in the back of the room is inactive, but the good news is that
your health will be fully replenished after you defeat the Emperor Ing.
Unfortunately, none of your lost ammunition will be restored, so if you
want, use the Ingworm Caches around the room to restock on Dark and
Light Beam rounds. Be quick though, because you've still got a long way
to go before you reach safe ground. Use the energy transport system to
get back to the Sky Temple Grounds.

=============

Chapter 13: Prime Revenge.

=============

When Samus returns to the Sky Temple Gateway, the exit will seal itself
with a mountain of Phazon. If you were wondering what became of Samus's
demented twin, Dark Samus, wonder no more. The large amounts of Phazon
within the Sky Temple have attracted Dark Samus to the grounds, but her
vengeful motive will spur the two hunters into a final showdown. Dark
Samus has absorbed so much Phazon energy that she has become dangerously
unstable and chaotic. Her new sinister form is comparable to her
original essence; the core of Metroid Prime. Let the death match begin!

Dark Samus must be defeated in the allotted time given before Dark
Aether self-destructs and takes the two of you with it. If you do die,
whether at the hands of Dark Samus or from Dark Aether's inevitable
implosion, the game will allow you to restart your game from the
beginning of the final countdown. Select "Yes" when asked if you'd like
to restart from your previous save. If you select "No" or quit, you will
have to restart from wherever you actually saved last, be it at the
Landing Site or the Sky Temple Energy Controller. Hold this in mind as
your health begins to drop or the time begins to run out. As soon as the
battle against Dark Samus begins, scan her skeletal figure as DARK SAMUS
3. During the first part of the match, Dark Samus will flit around like
she usually does, launching her attacks here and there. As before, keep
your distance from her and don't use missiles against her; in both
instances she will use a shield of Phazon energy to damage you or
deflect your shots. Dark Samus's main attack is an enormous Phazon wave
that she will sweep across the arena. Jump to avoid this attack, and
keep moving at all times. The radioactive aura of Phazon energy that
Dark Samus generates when she uses this attack makes her invulnerable
against your weapons, so wait until she finishes. Dark Samus will also
cloak herself and become completely invisible to the naked eye. Even the
Dark Beam won't help you find her, so turn on the Echo Visor to track
her down. Dark Samus will only become visible again when she uses her
main Phazon beam attack, but she can only be damaged when she becomes
invisible. If you have enough ammo left over, use the Sonic Boom or the
Darkburst to rip her apart. Otherwise, stick to Super Missiles or Dark
Beam blasts. After Dark Samus loses about a third of her energy, she
will assume a different form. A single shattering Sonic Boom blast may
be enough to get her to that point in one hit.

Dark Samus will be christened as DARK SAMUS 4, the final entry in your
Log Book. Her new form will become an entity of pure glowing Phazon
energy, and the only way to damage her will be by overloading her with
the very same Phazon energy that she uses against you. Dark Samus will
ascend into the air in a veil of Phazon. While cocooned inside this
Phazon orb, Dark Samus will use two attacks. Most of the time, she will
launch Phazon-charged missiles that will inflict high amounts of damage.
To avoid her projectiles, move to the side or move forward so that they
fly over your head instead. Occasionally, Dark Samus will fire spray of
slower-moving Phazon particles that will arc in the air before
descending like meteors towards you. When she uses this technique,
charge your beam weapon and move so that the floating particles land
directly into your Arm Cannon. After you absorb the Phazon energy, aim
at Dark Samus again and unload the Phazon blast onto her. During the
entire process, maintain your lock on Dark Samus so that you don't have
find her again after your Arm Cannon's energy glows blue, in which time
she may escape or hit you with another Phazon missile. If you do stay
locked on to her, your targeting reticule will shift upwards when the
Phazon particles fly, making it easier to absorb them without losing
your lock. After Dark Samus takes the hit, she will quit her insanity
and begin darting around the arena again. Luckily, she won't become
invisible or use any of her previous attacks, and you can continue
damaging her while she floats around. The cycle will repeat several
times throughout the course of the battle. Each time Dark Samus envelops
herself in the orb of Phazon energy, get ready to catch her Phazon
particles so that you can rebound them back at her. This will be the
most effective way of damaging the dark entity until you defeat her. The
more you damage Dark Samus, the more she will use the Phazon particles
against you, and the more Phazon blasts you can return to her. After you
ruin her for good, your mission will be complete. Congratulations,
you've beaten Metroid Prime 2: Echoes!

Dark Samus will attempt to reach you, only to burst into a wave blue
particles. As Samus watches, Dark Aether begins to collapse around her
while the survivors of the Ing Horde make one last desperate attempt to
stop her. A portal appears behind the collapsing mountain of Phazon, and
Samus narrowly escapes the doomed world before it is finally wiped from
all existence. Samus returns triumphantly to Aether, greeted by a crowd
of eternally-grateful Luminoth. If you got the next best ending sequence
(by collecting at least 75% of the power-ups in the game), you will also
see Samus in the Landing Site, without her helmet or Power Suit. If you
ended with 100% of the game's power-ups, you will get an extra treat
after the credits; above Aether, a blue cloud of Phazon particles unites
into a familiar humanoid figure....

By beating the game, several hidden features will unlock, like Hard
Mode. Select this option when you start a new game file for an even
tougher bounty hunting experience, where enemies hit twice as hard and
take much longer to die. If you beat Hard Mode, you will unlock the
Storyboard Gallery, one of the Image Galleries in the Main Menu. The
Rough Sketch Gallery will be unlocked when you beat the game normally,
while several other hidden galleries can be obtained as you fill out
your Log Book. Additionally, you can unlock many hidden features in
Multiplayer Mode by playing through 1P Mode. While the Multiplayer Mode
is already outfitted with its basic components, including four default
stages and a default soundtrack, you can unlock more stages like Spires
and Pipeline, and more soundtracks like Dark Echoes and Pirate Fear by
completing certain tasks in 1P Mode.

After the credits roll, you'll be asked to save the game. This will only
save any unlocked features you've obtained. When you play the same game
file again, you will start at wherever you saved last, before the
Emperor Ing battle.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Inventory.

Armor.
VARIA SUIT: Samus's Power Suit upgraded with Varia Suit technology. The
default suit is equipped with specialized visor technology, beam and
concussive weapons and Morph Ball technology.
DARK SUIT: Significantly reduces the rate of damage Samus takes from
exposure to Dark Aether's atmosphere. It also reduces the damage Samus
takes from enemy attacks.
LIGHT SUIT: Completely protects Samus from exposure to Dark Aether's
atmosphere and water. It also allows Samus to travel through light paths
and between Aether temples and it protects her from enemy attacks better
than the other suits.

Visors.
COMBAT VISOR: Default visor. This shows heads-up display, radar, mini-
map and environmental threat meter.
SCAN VISOR: Allows Samus to scan objects for information. Scan objects
that are highlighted in red, blue or green. This visor can be used to
activate control panels and download information into the Log Book.
DARK VISOR. Allows Samus to detect certain objects and enemies that warp
in and out of Aether and Dark Aether.
ECHO VISOR: Samus can detect sound waves and locate certain enemies and
sonic devices.

Beam Weapons.
POWER BEAM: Default beam weapon. It has the fastest firing rate and
distance. Use it to open blue doors.
DARK BEAM: Fires blasts of dark energy that can slow some enemies down
or encase them in dark matter. Charged blasts will seek out nearby
enemies after contact. Use this beam weapon to open black doors. It has
limited ammo, but expansions can be used to enhance the Dark Beam's
capacity.
LIGHT BEAM: Fires a beam of light that can ignite or incinerate foes.
Its charged shots can home in on enemies when locked on. This weapon
opens white doors. It has limited ammo, but expansions can be used to
enhance the Light Beam's capacity.
ANNIHILATOR BEAM: Fires blasts of annihilating energy combined from Dark
and Light Beams. Normal shots seek out targets even without a lock.
Charged shots can paralyze foes when hit. Use this to open gray doors.
This beam uses ammo from both the Light and Dark Beams.
CHARGE BEAM: Charge up a beam weapon to fire a stronger shot. While
charging, the Charge Beam can draw in pickups nearby.

Missile Systems & Charge Combos.
MISSILE LAUNCHER: Fires concussive missiles that home in on locked
targets. Missiles destroy Brinstone objects and red door hatches, but
use limited ammo. Use expansions to enhance the Missile Launcher's
capacity.
SEEKER MISSILE LAUNCHER: Charge missiles to acquire up to five targets.
Use this weapon to open purple door hatches and defeat multiple enemies.
CHARGE COMBO: Weapons that combine the power of the Charge Beam and the
Missile Launcher. While charging a beam weapon, fire a missile to fire
that beam weapon's Charge Combo. (See specific Charge Combos below).
SUPER MISSILE: This is the Power Beam's Charge Combo. It costs five
missiles to fire. The powerful Super Missiles can home in on locked
targets and open green door hatches.
DARKBURST: This is the Dark Beam's Charge Combo. It costs five missiles
and 30 Dark Beam ammo shots to fire. The powerful Darkburst creates a
black hole that destroys any enemy in the vicinity.
SUNBURST: This is the Light Beam's Charge Combo. It costs five missiles
and 30 Light Beam ammo shots to fire. This powerful weapon fires a solar
blast of energy that can incinerate nearby enemies.
SONIC BOOM: This is the Annihilator Beam's Charge Combo. It costs five
missiles and 30 ammo shots from both the Dark Beam and the Light Beam to
fire. This is a very powerful weapon that creates a supersonic shockwave
that can destroy most enemies instantly.

Morph Ball Systems.
MORPH BALL: Allows Samus to explore new areas by fitting into smaller
spaces.
BOOST BALL: Allows Samus to charge up her Morph Ball and release for a
short burst of speed. The Boost Ball can damage enemies, be used to
activate Spinners, travel up half-pipes and boost from Spider Ball
Tracks.
SPIDER BALL: Allows Samus's Morph Ball to cling to Spider Ball Tracks
and travel to new areas.
MORPH BALL BOMB: Small explosives that can destroy Talloric Alloy
objects. Allows Samus to perform bomb-jumps and double-bomb-jumps.
POWER BOMB: Powerful explosive weapon that can destroy Denzium objects
and yellow door hatches. The Power Bomb has limited ammo, but expansions
can be used to enhance its capacity.

Movement Systems.
SPACE JUMP BOOTS: Samus can jump higher by jumping in midair before
landing her first jump. Space Jump to reach new areas.
GRAVITY BOOST: Samus can see and travel through water without hindrance.
When Space Jumping underwater, Samus can also jet through for a short
distance by holding down the B Button a third time.
GRAPPLE BEAM: Samus can attach to Grapple Points (indicated with Grapple
icons) and then swing to new areas.
SCREW ATTACK: When Samus Space Jumps, she can leap again to perform a
Screw Attack, up to five times in succession. Screw attacks can damage
enemies and they allow Samus to travel great horizontal distances. Use
the Screw Attack to ascend Wall Jump Surfaces and reach new areas.

Miscellaneous.
ENERGY TANK: Permanently increases Samus's maximum energy capacity by
100.
MISSILE EXPANSION: Increases the number of missiles Samus can carry by
five.
POWER BOMB EXPANSION: Increases the number of Power Bombs Samus can
carry by one.
BEAM AMMO EXPANSION: Increases the number Light and Dark Beam Ammo Samus
can carry by 50.
ENERGY TRANSFER MODULE: Allows Samus to transfer energy from an Energy
Controller in Dark Aether to its counterpart in Aether.
DARK AGON TEMPLE KEYS: Three keys that must be obtained in order to gain
access to the Dark Agon Temple.
DARK TORVUS TEMPLE KEYS: Three keys that must be obtained in order to
gain access to the Dark Torvus Temple.
ING HIVE TEMPLE KEYS: Three keys that must be obtained in order to gain
access to the Hive Temple.
SKY TEMPLE KEYS: Nine keys that must be obtained in order to gain access
to the Sky Temple.

Pickups.
SMALL ENERGY UNIT: Replenishes 10 units of energy.
MEDIUM ENERGY UNIT: Replenishes 30 units of energy.
LARGE ENERGY UNIT: Replenishes 50 units of energy.
ULTRA ENERGY UNIT: Replenishes 100 units of energy.
MISSILE AMMUNITION-5: Resupplies Missile Launcher with 5 rounds of ammo.
MISSILE AMMUNITION-10: Resupplies Missile Launcher with 10 rounds of
ammo.
DARK BEAM AMMUNITION-5: Resupplies Dark Beam with 5 rounds of ammo.
DARK BEAM AMMUNITION-10: Resupplies Dark Beam with 10 rounds of ammo.
DARK BEAM AMMUNITION-30: Resupplies Dark Beam with 30 rounds of ammo.
LIGHT BEAM AMMUNITION-5: Resupplies Light Beam with 5 rounds of ammo.
LIGHT BEAM AMMUNITION-10: Resupplies Light Beam with 10 rounds of ammo.
LIGHT BEAM AMMUNITION-30: Resupplies Light Beam with 30 rounds of ammo.
POWER BOMB AMMUNITION: Resupplies Power Bomb with 1 round of ammo.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------

Log Book.

During your game, it is important to scan almost everything. A large
portion of the data you collect will be stored in your Log Book. The Log
Book, much more complex than it used to be, is divided into three
categories: Creatures, Research and Lore. Each of these sections is
divided further and further until you can single out an individual
entry. For simplicity, this list is organized into ten categories: the
three subcategories of Creatures (Aether, Dark Aether and Offworld), the
four subcategories of Research (Aether Studies, Luminoth Technology,
Mechanisms and Biology) and the three subcategories of Lore (Luminoth
Lore, Space Pirate Logs and Trooper Logs). By filling the Log Book, you
can unlock special features in the Main Menu like Image Galleries. Fill
40% of your Log Book to get the Promotional Gallery, 60% to get the
Character Gallery, 80% to get the Creature Gallery and a full 100% to
unlock the Boss Gallery.

Aether.
1.      Alpha Blogg
2.      Alpha Sandigger
3.      Alpha Splinter
4.      Blogg
5.      Bloggling
6.      Brizgee
7.      Caretaker Class Drone
8.      Diligence Class Drone
9.      Green Kralee
10.     Grenchler
11.     Growler Class Turret
12.     Harmony Class Drone
13.     Humility Class Turret
14.     Hydlings
15.     Ingsmasher
16.     Kralee
17.     Krocuss
18.     Lightbringer
19.     Lightflyer
20.     Luminoth Turret
21.     Lumite
22.     Mechlops
23.     Mekenobite
24.     Octopede
25.     Pillbug
26.     Quad CM
27.     Quad MB
28.     Rezbit
29.     Sandbats
30.     Sandigger
31.     Seedburster
32.     Serenity Class Drone
33.     Shredder
34.     Shriekbat
35.     Shrieker
36.     Splinter
37.     Sporb
38.     Vigilance Class Turret
39.     War Wasp
40.     Watchdrone
41.     Worker Splinter

Dark Aether.
1.      Amorbis 1
2.      Amorbis 2
3.      Bomb Guardian
4.      Boost Guardian
5.      Chykka Larva
6.      Chykka
7.      Chyklings
8.      Corrupted Sentreye
9.      Damaged Quadraxis
10.     Dark Alpha Splinter
11.     Dark Blogg
12.     Dark Chykka
13.     Dark Diligence Drone
14.     Dark Grenchler
15.     Dark Ingsmasher
16.     Darkling Tentacle
17.     Dark Missile Trooper
18.     Dark Phlogus
19.     Dark Pirate Commando
20.     Dark Pirate Trooper
21.     Dark Preed
22.     Dark Quad CM
23.     Dark Quad MB
24.     Dark Shredder
25.     Dark Splinter
26.     Dark Tallon Metroid
27.     Dark Trooper
28.     Dark War Wasp
29.     Emperor Ing Body
30.     Emperor Ing Chrysalis
31.     Emperor Ing Eye
32.     Emperor Ing Head
33.     Final Head Module
34.     Grapple Guardian
35.     Hunter Ing
36.     Ing Larva Swarm
37.     Inglet
38.     Ingstorm
39.     Jump Guardian
40.     Mutated Emperor Ing
41.     Nightbarb
42.     Power Bomb Guardian
43.     Quadraxis
44.     Shielded Head Module
45.     Spider Guardian
46.     Stunned Head Module
47.     Warrior Ing

Offworld.
1.      Dark Samus 1
2.      Dark Samus 2
3.      Dark Samus 3
4.      Dark Samus 4
5.      Infant Tallon Metroid
6.      Pirate Aerotrooper
7.      Pirate Commando
8.      Pirate Grenadier
9.      Pirate Trooper
10.     Preed
11.     Tallon Metroid

Aether Studies.
1.      Aether
2.      Dark Aether
3.      Dark Portal
4.      Energy Controller
5.      Light Portal
6.      Phazon
7.      U-Mos

Luminoth Technology.
1.      Dark Lift Crystal
2.      Dark Sentinel Crystal
3.      Energized Beacon
4.      Energized Crystal
5.      Liftvine Crystal
6.      Light Beacon
7.      Light Crystal
8.      Light Lift Crystal
9.      Nullified Beacon
10.     Nullified Crystal
11.     Sentinel Crystal
12.     Super Beacon
13.     Super Crystal

Mechanisms.
1.      Bomb Slot
2.      GF Bridge
3.      GF Gate Mk VI
4.      GF Gate Mk VII
5.      GFS Tyr
6.      Grapple Point
7.      Kinetic Orb Cannon
8.      Pirate Skiff
9.      Samus's Gunship
10.     Spider Ball Track
11.     Spinner
12.     Wall Jump Surface

Biology.
1.      Agon Bearerpod
2.      Bladepod
3.      Bloatsac
4.      Blueroot Tree
5.      Dormant Ingclaw
6.      Flying Ing Cache
7.      Ingclaw
8.      Ingsphere Cache
9.      Ing Webtrap
10.     Ingworm Cache
11.     Metroid Cocoon
12.     Sandgrass
13.     Splinter Cocoon
14.     Torvus Bearerpod
15.     Torvus Hanging Pod
16.     War Wasp Hive
17.     Webling

Luminoth Lore.
1.      Age of Anxiety
2.      Agon Falls
3.      A-Kul's Testament
4.      B-Stl's Key
5.      B-Stl's Testament
6.      Cataclysm
7.      C-Rch's Key
8.      C-Rch's Testament
9.      Dark Aether
10.     D-Isl's Key
11.     D-Isl's Testament
12.     G-Sch's Key
13.     G-Sch's Testament
14.     J-Fme's Key
15.     J-Fme's Testament
16.     J-Stl's Key
17.     J-Stl's Testament
18.     Light of Aether
19.     M-Dhe's Key
20.     M-Dhe's Testament
21.     New Weapons
22.     Origins
23.     Our Heritage
24.     Our War Begins
25.     Paradise
26.     Recovering Energy
27.     Sanctuary Falls
28.     Saving Aether
29.     S-Dly's Key
30.     S-Dly's Testament
31.     Shattered Hope
32.     S-Jrs's Key
33.     S-Jrs's Testament
34.     The Final Crusade
35.     The Ing Attack
36.     The New Terror
37.     The Sky Temple
38.     The Stellar Object
39.     The World Warped
40.     Torvus Falls
41.     Twilight

Space Pirate Logs.
1.      Log 44681
2.      Log 48853
3.      Log 50086
4.      Log 54421
5.      Log 62217
6.      Log 63622
7.      Log 67135
8.      Log 69898
9.      Log 70136
10.     Log 71599

Trooper Logs.
1.      CAPT A. Exeter
2.      GSGT C. Benet
3.      LCPL J. Brode
4.      PFC E. Denys
5.      PFC G. Haley
6.      PFC I. Crany
7.      PFC L. Brouda
8.      PFC M. Veroni
9.      PFC S. Milligan
10.     SPC B. Reevs
11.     SPC F. Triplette
12.     SPC M. Angseth

Copyright 2006 Ryan N. Parra-Merrell.

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