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Metroid Prime 2: Echoes

This guide was written, contributed and copyrighted by me, known here as 
lighterfluid6. Don't plagiarize, or use this guide giving yourself 
credit. This guide is not to be posted in any website other than 
gamefaqs.com, ign.com and associated websites. To contact me, email me 
at redshift71388@aol.com or IM me at redshift71388 (do not contact my 
previous addresses, ChaosUnit22). If you do contact me, do it only to 
ask for help that you feel isn't covered in my guide, or for any 
constructive criticism and appraisal. Do not, under any circumstance, 
contact me asking me to join your special forum, be part of some special 
group, or make small talk. If you ask a question about the game, make 
sure the guide doesn't cover that. That is all.

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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.

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

Chapter 1: A World Apart. 

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

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