The Galactic Federation was a collaboration between several alien species, which somehow developed into a primarily human-led organisation that appeared to have fractured into two factions. The first faction, which will be tackled below, is concerned with the Federation’s mission to maintain stability and prosperity in the galaxy. The second faction will be examined in a follow-up feature, about their illegal programs and shady missions that have been carried out in complete secrecy.
History
The Galactic Federation was formed in 2003C.C (Cosmic Calendar) to promote trade, cultural exchanges and technological advancements between many different alien species, including humans. It is still unclear based on Earth’s timeline when this was exactly and which alien species were the original founders, but humans were most likely not among them. This was based on the fact that the events of Zero Mission did not address the original Metroid game’s depiction of the Galactic Federation, wherein the instruction manual showed an image of four alien species discussing the formation of the Federation with no humans in sight. The Chozo were not a part of this new formation, but they did serve as advisors, in the hopes that future endeavours by the Federation would create and maintain peace throughout the galaxy. They created the Galactic Federation Police for this very cause as a countermeasure, primarily against the Space Pirates and the Kriken Empire, both factions posing a considerable threat to the entire galaxy.
With this backstory, another dilemma came to mind: how did humans since then acquire so much power and influence that they possibly overruled everyone else? Do other alien species have, or have ever had, decision-making rights of the highest order ? The number of species the Galactic Federation Army and Police were originally composed of is also unknown, but humans appear to constitute the largest majority of it during the Metroid crisis, since no other species have been seen among them, excluding bounty hunters. The earliest sign of human Galactic Federation outreach within the Metroid universe was the incident on K-2L, where Samus and her family lived until Ridley and the Space Pirates destroyed the colony. A planetary system hologram projection on the Phendrana Space Pirate base did not show the planet K-2L despite it being a neighbouring planet to Zebes. It could be that the planet orbited around another nearby star or that the Space Pirates destroyed the planet shortly after Samus was rescued by the Chozo, and this would explain why it was not included in the holographic projection.
Modern Galactic Federation history began in the year 20X5, when the Space Pirates assaulted the research vessel Marina in orbit around SR388. The ship had captured an unknown lifeform, which came to be known as the Metroid. The Metroid Crisis followed as the Space Pirates started Metroid breeding and experiment programs throughout the sector. Samus was hired to seek out the Space Pirates and Mother Brain and destroy them in order to stop their threat. Following the aftermath of Mother Brain’s defeat on Zebes, and the defeat of the Space Pirates aboard the Frigate Orpheon and Metroid operations on the planet Tallon IV by Samus, the next Galactic Federation ordeal occurred in the Dasha Region. The G.S.F. Tyr, a patrol ship, intercepted a Space Pirate ship down to the planet Aether but lost sight of them. The Tyr continued on to establish a temporary defence post there after their ship was damaged by storms. The survivors of the GFMC Task Force Herakles, as they were called, were eventually all killed or possessed by the Ing Horde. Reinforcements were later sent to Aether to assist the Luminoth in rebuilding their civilisation after the destruction of the Ing, but also to extract any Phazon still present there and eliminate any Space Pirate forces that still lingered.
The real involvement and capabilities of the Galactic Federation were on full display during the Phazon Madness. Dark Samus and her enslaved minions of corrupted Space Pirates launched a full-scale invasion against the three Federation planets: Norion, Bryyo and Elysia, in the Kalandor Region. With their newly equipped and advanced P.E.D. weaponry, reverse engineered from Space Pirate Phazon-based technology, they could counter the Phazon-enhanced pirates. Since Samus, Rundas, Ghor and Gandrayda were corrupted by Dark Samus during the Norion invasion, when they barely managed to destroy the incoming Leviathan seed, the Federation could now begin preparations to push back the enemy forces. Some time after this the Federation, under the command of Admiral Dane, had dispatched the other three bounty hunters to Bryyo, Elysia and the Pirate Homeworld to destroy the Leviathans that crashed into these planets and had begun spreading Phazon corruption. Despite being equipped with P.E.D. devices, they all succumbed to and became corrupted by Phazon. Samus tragically neutralised them all, and once she contacted the Federation about the coordinates of the Pirate Homeworld, they launched their own invasion on the Space Pirates. Victory was assured and with the destruction of Phaaze, the Galactic Federation started to turn their focus on the Metroid threat looming on the Space Pirate horizon. At some time between the Phazon Madness and the Metroid Crisis regarding SR388, the Federation launched Project Golem, a military campaign aimed to create Mech suits that tried to emulate Samus’s Power Suit technology. Elite troopers were called the Federation Force, who underwent extensive training and carried out missions in the Bermuda System. Space Pirate activity was present on the planet Bion, as they had gotten their hands on advanced technology left by an ancient civilisation which could manipulate physical size. Meanwhile, Sylux managed to break into a secret Galactic Federation base, releasing a lone Metroid that had been hatched there for unknown reasons
Thwarting the Space Pirates’ relentless efforts to avenge their defeat during the Phazon Madness, the Federation once again sought Samus’s help on SR388. The Metroids had evolved and spiralled out of control, and Samus was ordered to kill every single one of them to stop their threat once and for all. Successful in her mission, she managed to bring back the last Metroid in captivity to the Ceres Space Colony for further research. Ridley and the Space Pirates launched an attack on the colony shortly thereafter, taking the last Metroid with them to Zebes. After the defeat of Mother Brain and the destruction of Zebes, the last Metroid was dead, leaving the Galactic Federation and Samus victorious and the galaxy at peace, except it was not.
One of their last known operations led to Commander Adam Malkovich and his 07th Platoon investigating the BOTTLE SHIP, a derelict military Federation research ship. With the sacrifice of Adam and the aid of Samus in stopping the illegal and dangerous bioweapon programs that were conducted there, only Anthony Higgs managed to survive from the entire platoon. An artificial intelligence seemingly made out to be Adam aided Samus in her last known mission on the B.S.L. Station to stop a new threat, the X-Parasites. Like the BOTTLE SHIP, this station carried out illegal bioweapon research for military purposes, with the ultimate goal of creating Metroids based on the DNA found on Samus’s Varia Suit left by the last Metroid. How much Adam knew about the illegal Federation programs being conducted, or whether he was a part of it, is currently unknown. The question remains though, did the Galactic Federation abandon their mission for selfish desires? Or were these illegal programs a part of a sinister group within the Federation?
Physiology
Since the only species we have seen are humans, they are pretty much the same as present day people, although depending on how long they have been traveling in space, they might have evolved their immune system slightly. Different experimental drugs and medicine could also have strengthened or mutated their bodies to extend their life expectancy and decrease their susceptibility to diseases.
Culture and Technology
Curiously, there is not much culture depicted anywhere in the Metroid universe regarding the human-led Federation. Each sector is overseen by a Federation governor, but how they divided these sectors is unclear. Colonies such as K-2L were likely scattered across multiple planets, but whether they were all human-based or not remains unknown. Through flashbacks via Samus’s memories, she used to be stationed at the Galactic Federation headquarters on Earth under the command of Adam Malkovich, and the city appeared to be quite futuristic in technological infrastructure. A certain level of environmental awareness was also seen since the capital city itself was built on the ocean and the buildings were seemingly designed to give room to natural sunlight. Natural territory such as forests and mountains appeared to be in the surrounding area, indicating that humanity had learned to live in harmony with nature to some extent. The relationships with one another were notably friendly and engaging, at least within the Galactic Federation HQ, and traffic seemed to be calm and not overflowing with vehicles. Other notable traits were the offices, such as Adam’s, having a function or appearance with few differences from present day offices. A desk and chair, a bookshelf and framed photos were some of the items found in his office. Flying vehicles have been the norm for quite a while, and Fuel Gel was and is used as the primary energy source throughout the Galactic Federation territories.
Weaponry and War
The war against the Space Pirates has been the primary military campaign since 20X5 due to the immense threat that the pirates pose. Other military operations conducted by the Federation included the defence outpost against the Ing on Aether, the war against Dark Samus and the Space Pirates during the Phazon Madness, the Bermuda System war against Space Pirate retaliation, and numerous other campaigns wherever they were needed. The military was largely equipped with Federation Power Suits at any given time during the Metroid timeline, differentiating in appearance, especially notable between the Federation Troops during the Phazon Madness and the BOTTLE SHIP incident. The different classes of military units likely wore variations of these suits as well, such as the Demolition Trooper and the Galactic Federation Special Squadron that had big domed helmets instead. The 07th Platoon’s Power Suits were likely lighter, more agile and had a blue complexion to them, possibly created in order to carry out more specific missions by the Federation. They also carried different types of rapid-fire assault weapons and explosives. An upgrade to their arsenal from physical ammo to energy-based weapons could have been developed after the demise of the Ing, likely because of the numberless units the Ing Horde sent. Other experimental advanced suits and weapons were created, most notably the Shock Coil and its companion Power Suit that Sylux stole from the Galactic Federation.
Aurora Units were initially created for scientific research twenty years prior to the Phazon Madness, then over time became the central network of Galactic Federation communication, military, business and research development. Each Aurora was a sentient organic supercomputer established on core worlds all over the galaxy, and Olympus-class Battleships that were big enough to have one. The Olympus-class battleships such as the Tyr, Valhalla and Olympus were the backbone of Federation military might, with each carrying several smaller warship classes such as Stiletto-class fighters and Aries-class transport ships. Other ship classes included Griffin-class frigate ships and the experimental Delano 7, which was stolen by Sylux. The Federation Force had newly developed Mech suits designed to oppose Space Pirate forces, and only the most elite soldiers could handle them. Other weapons used by the Galactic Federation included P.E.D. Assault Rifles, Freeze Guns, prototype Plasma Guns, Rocket Launchers, Humility Auto-Turrets and Submachine Guns. The majority of their military complexes were virtually just advanced versions of present-day structures and cargo holds, containing advanced industrial machines such as the RB176 Ferrocrusher. Highly advanced and powerful laser cannons were also developed to stop interplanetary threats such as asteroids and Leviathans, as shown in the Norion invasion.
Future
The Galactic Federation is currently the dominant force in the known galaxy, or at least that is the impression one would have after the events of Metroid Fusion. It is safe to say that Samus is now also a target to them, but whether that concerns the entirety of the Federation or only a part of it remains to be seen. With the Space Pirates seemingly defeated, the Kriken Empire would surely become their next focus since they are the only real threat remaining from everything we know so far. Sylux is also a primary concern; how he will shape the history of Metroid and the Galactic Federation in particular will be interesting to observe. I do not believe the entire Federation is corrupt, otherwise the other alien members would surely have intervened by now, especially civilisations such as the Vhozon, a species that puts justice above all else by any means necessary.
With people like Adam and Anthony, there will be others that will try to unveil and stop these illegal military programs that in the end would pose as much of a threat as the Space Pirates once did. Perhaps Samus will lead the way one day, whether she wants to or not, forced into situations by circumstances that could arise that would be impossible to ignore. Theoretically, the Galactic Federation still keeps an outside appearance as defenders of the galaxy. In the background, shady operations have been conducted in secrecy, but as this feature was written, it remains to be seen just how deep this conspiracy goes.
Written by Quadraxis