Ing Horde



The Ing are a warring, ferocious race of tribal beings native to Dark Aether, and are the arch-nemeses of the Luminoth. During the Golden Age of the Luminoth, a stellar object (now revealed as a Leviathan) struck Aether with such great force that it caused a rift in space and time, creating Dark Aether and helped Erebus von Maul a.k.a The Emperor raise an army. After having fought the Luminoth for decades of war, the Ing were on the verge of defeating them, having stolen all but one of their planetary energies, and with all but one of the Luminoth in stasis tubes in the Great Temple. However, after Samus Aran came to Aether, she eliminated their kind by destroying Dark Aether. Since their dark-aligned bodies could not stand Aether's different atmosphere, they were left without a dimension to reside in and collapsed within it. While Ing appear as nearly every Darkling creature in Metroid Prime 2: Echoes, there are much fewer "pure" Ing, and they are always found on Dark Aether. The reason behind this is that Ing, in their true forms, cannot survive outside of their dark world; as such they possess beings from the opposite dimension and by doing so, gain the ability to resist to the atmosphere of the normal dimension. Most "pure" Ing appear as stationary and largely ignorable growths, such as the Bladepod and Ingclaw, but the Warrior Ing and Hunter Ing strains of Ing are much more formidable. These Ing are best fought from the safety of a Light Crystal, which produces a field that they cannot penetrate. Even when Samus obtains the Dark and Light Suits, the Light Crystals can still be energized with the Light Beam or Annihilator Beam in order to produce deadly traps for the Ing. While Ing generally appear in quite small forms, such as the Inglet or Ingstorm, Warrior Ings are almost the same height as a Luminoth. Samus also encounters two Warrior Ings who have been mutated after absorbing her stolen equipment, the Jump Guardian and the Boost Guardian. Though each type of Ing has its own strengths and weaknesses, they share a common weakness to light energy.

During their war against the Luminoth, the Ing would generally attack by forcefully possessing nearby creatures or machines, which would darken their form, and generally increase their offensive prowess. They preferred to possess creatures with a natural talent for combat, such as Aether's predators, the Luminoth warmachines and the Luminoth themselves. Later on, the extraterrestrial Space Pirates and Metroids became favorite hosts. These possessed creatures were dubbed "Darklings" by the Luminoth. Though these hybrid creatures were generally more powerful than their original forms, they gained the Ing's signature weakness to light energy. Specially armored Luminoth and Samus were safe from Ing possession, the latter from having acquired the Energy Transfer Module, which constantly generates light energy from within. It is unknown if any of the Darklings living on Light Aether survived the destruction of Dark Aether. The eldest and highest ranking member of the Ing Horde is the Emperor Ing, who resides within the Sky Temple.

It is the keeper of Dark Aether's primary energy source, which it feeds upon in order to grow in power

When Ing are still larvae, they are constantly in danger and travel in swarms to lessen this threat. As such, they grow to be aggressive and hateful of all other living things, making perfect soldiers. Ing Larvae are not common around Dark Aether, and are only found in the Ing Hive. It is unknown how these creatures are produced.

Warrior Ing are the basic soldiers of the Horde. They are somewhat powerful, exercising extra-dimensional laser attacks along with various kinetic offensives. Like most Ing, the Warrior Ing can melt into a shadowy fluid, and slide across surfaces. Warrior Ing have only one eye, though with multiple pupils. Warrior Ing tend to congregate about rooms of importance, usually containing a Sky Temple Key or power-up.

The Ing also retain elites to help in destroying specific enemies of the Horde, called Hunter Ing. These creatures are viewed as the second most powerful of all Ing, second only to the Emperor. They can avoid damage by phasing out of the local timespace, and are the only ones allowed to possess Pirate Commandos

When faced with large amounts of enemies, the Horde depends on the Ingstorm, tiny Ing that float in the air and emit a destructive energy that can chew through any substance. Luminoth are easily eradicated by Ingstorm. They are only found in the Ing Hive, Sky Temple Grounds and Dark Agon Wastes. The Light Suit is the only known item that can guard against the Ingstorm's corrosive attacks

Of course, not all Ing are used as soldiers to attack the Luminoth. Some, like the Inglets, are worker drones who labor for the Horde, carrying around vital materials and essentials for the soldiers. When attacked, Inglets can defend themselves, although their attacks are somewhat pathetic, and they can be destroyed easily. Inglets can, like Warrior Ing, shift into a liquid state and flow around areas. They are easy to destroy by Luminoth, and Samus as well After the destruction of Dark Aether the dark universe was on the verge of collapsing. When the universe had almost been diminished the remains of Dark Aether were again energized by phazon and began to reform. Ing from Nexus (the orginal homeworld of the Ing) cam to again colonize the planet. They began to evolve and became more intelligent. The first of new Ing were beginning to expirament on their brothers hoping to create better soldiers and superior numbers. These scientist ing worked until they perfected the Ing genetic coding allowing them to walk among the Universe of Light at will. The Emperor was pleased and ordered the creation of his army. Within days the scientist ing created the Soldier Ing. They were far superior to their warrior ing ancestors and just as dangerous. With the soldiers created the scientists made weapons that used dark energy and phazon for the army. WIth the Soldier Ing a success the scientist began work on other expiraments to create even more variations of Ing. With the Army growing and weapons being manufactured the scientist began work on creating Commanders of the Horde. With candidates hand-picked by the Emperor himself from Nexus the process of creating the Commanders began.

Ing Classes:

Beserker Ing:9ft tall Ing designed to be for taking on armored foes and enemy armor. They can take more damage than any Ing and they cripple any enemy offense. If enraged it will lash out against any enemy target and destroy it or die trying. Their weapons include Dark Plasma Cannons, seeker missiles, and darkling tenacles that can come from their back, hands or any other part of their body.

Assassin Ing:Mercenarys of the Ing that follow orders designed to take out enemy targets through hand-to-hand combat or medium range weapons and get out without being detected. They are also able to run faster than other ing and they have knife like fingers. Weapons and equipment include:dark energy knife,shotgun,stealth field generator,thermal visor,shield generator, and grenades.

Soldier Ing:Built to fight/repel enemys in any situation ,climate, and terrain the soldiers are 1st to be deployed with the Commanders and last to leave. They are an excellent force to deal with when massively group and quite hard to take down when in smaller groups. Weapons and Equipment:Assault rifle,pistol,dark plasma grenades,shield generator, and thermal visors.

Sniper Ing:a Ing class built to take out high priorty tagets by long range to medium range weaponry and cut down ranks of the enemy forces. They have pin-point accurate precision and can relay tactical data to the rest of the Horde. Weapons and equipment:Sniper rifle,shotgun,grenades,thermal visors,stealth field generator, and Shield generators.

Commando Ing:Elite combat ready Ing trained for Covert Operations and to fight against overwhelming odds. They usually consit of a squad of 4 and deploy from drop-ships. They will give their lives to complete the mission or die trying. Weapons and Equipment:Assult Rifle, pistol, plasma beams, plasma grenades, stealth field generators, and shield generators.

Xenomorph Ing:Created for close encounters and gathering infomation the Xeno Ing are almost undetectable in darkness and can take out targets if needed to with there razor sharp teeth and tail. They can also spit acid at hostiles when they get to close. They can climb on any solid surface which is useful in listening in and ambushes. Xeno Ing are also used as guards for the Emperor. They are also equipped with an advance auto-turret system mounted on their back. In the days of the Emperor Ing's absense they served as the Elite guards of the Emperess Dark Samus.

Ninja/Stealth Ing:Warriors trained to follow targets remaining undetectable and take them out in a flash and get away quickly. They have been trained to crawl over walls when neccisary and ambush enemys. They carry ninja stars made from Dark Aetherian Steel (quite useful) which they can use with super-human presicion and force. Weapons and Equipment:Ninja stars, Stealth field generators, shield generators, assault rifles, smoke grenades, hidden blades, and daggers.

Cloaker Ing:Most unseen of the Ing they watch their prey waiting for the perfect moment to strike. With the ability to completely turn themselves invisible they can track their targets and lure them into unsuspecting areas. They can work alone or in squads of 4. They are only seen when they speak to their superiors and they have a great handful of knowledge about medical treatment. They are completely undetectable by thermal scans to keep security around a target away. Weapons/Equipment:Quantum Cloaking generator, phazon gas grenades, code cracker, Dark Crystal Rifle, and combat knives. Spec Ops Ing:An elite branch of Ing Commandos deployed for precise tactical support. They train on Dark Aether in the Dark Agon plains. They are deployed on missions from survellience to sabotage. Utilizing the latest in Ing armor, weapons, and genetic enchancements they are a force to be reckoned with. They serve their master to their last dying breath and will never reveal an intel to the enemy if he is captured. They work best in squads of 5. Weapons/Equipment:Dark Energy Assault Rifle, Phazon spike grenades, Dark Charges, Neuro-Optical enchancer, Combat knives, and Dark Energy Blades.