Aether

Aether is a planet in the Dasha system, in the periphery of Galactic Federation territory. Local lore describes the planet to have been "a fertile, aged world, with bountiful fields and oceans". The paradise did not last forever. A phazon meteor struck the planet, despite the efforts of the local inhabitants, the Luminoth. Massive environmental damage and a war between the two dominant races, the Ing and the Luminoth, devastated a good portion of the population. Extreme climate shifts left most of Aether uninhabitable. The northern regions of the planet still support life and have served as a phazon mining post for the Space Pirates.

Dark Aether

Approximately five decades prior to the events of Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, a phazon comet struck the planet's surface, splitting the planet's energy flow in two, thus creating the alternate dimension, known as Dark Aether. Inhospitable to normal life, Dark Aether developed an ecosystem of its own, supporting strange hostile creatures known as the Ing. The Ing engaged in war with Aether's dominant sentient species, the Luminoth over the control of the planets natural energy. The energy was regulated by devices built by the Luminoth called Energy Collecters. The devices provided the Luminoth many technological wonders, including a weather control grid and a teleportation network. Dark Aether had similar devices, linked to its planetary energy.

Space Pirates arrive

After the fall of the Luminoth, a Space Pirate science teams detected the precense of phazon on Aether and shortly there after the Space Pirate High Command authorized the deployment of a mining team. The team found large amounts of valuable phazon, but soon fell under attack of the Ing. The science team found ways to utilize the Dark Beam created by the Luminoth to open spatail rifts into Dark Aether for mining operations. After entering Dark Aether, the Space Pirates soon faced a new threat: Dark Samus, mistaking the creature for Samus Aran.

Outnumbered by the Ing, the Space Pirates called for reinforcements, which the High Command was happy to send out. The ship carrying the reinforcements was shot down by a Federation vessel. In the conflict, both vessels suffered heavy damage. After the Federation lost contact with its Marines, Samus Aran was called in to investigate. Upon arrival Samus found the planet in a state of transdimentional flux, split into two worlds. Aether and Dark Aether.

Inhabitants

Luminoth

The Luminoth are a peaceful, highly advanced, sentient species that have previously inhabited large areas of the planet. In her logbook, Samus estimates that their technology is on par with that of the Chozo. Their civization was brought to an end by the phazon comet. A handful of the Luminoth survived in protective stasis, in wait of the crisis to clear. The species is capable of flight and psionics.

According to Luminoth lore, the species did not originate on Aether. They were explorers of the galaxy, meeting with a vast number of "enlightened minds" such as the N'Kren, the Ylla and the Chozo.

Ing

In the Luminoth language "ing" stands for terror. The species is capable of morphing itself to numerous different shapes. These variations serve a wide variety of purposes. Everything from storing valuable items to waging war. The Ing are also able to take control of other lifeforms as well as their deceased bodies.