#phrygis

But in such a weakened state, the Federation would still have to contend with the Space Pirates themselves, who would lay claim to all of the resources left behind in the great emigration, and use it to bolster their non-Metroid forces for a final invasion; And God forbid, they would be able to engineer Metroids without a weakness to cold! It truly seemed like the end of the Federation to many, and a new age of Space Pirate dominion where all species bowed before the 'stronger' ones.

In the meantime, many were focused on just surviving; Plenty weren't ready to just uproot everything, just yet! But a minority can still be a lot of people when we're speaking in the billions, if not trillions, here.

Vho accepted everyone for free; Say what you will about the Vhozon, and you can say a lot. But they were consistent to their standards of morality, freely taking in refugees, providing housing and food, etc. Of course, they also took the opportunity to push their Codex onto said refugees; Many criticized the Vhozon for taking advantage of the Metroid Crisis this way, or only letting in people who would convert.

The Vhozon adamantly insisted otherwise; It was in their code regardless to let people in. They were just also obligated to spread the word, but if refugees did not listen, they would not listen and would still be protected. Naturally, a lot of people found gratitude to the Vhozon and ended up becoming receptive to the Codex, and the popularity of the Crusaders of Vho surged.

For a high-ranking Vhozon such as Noxus, it emboldened his righteous fervor, and seeing how Metroids could drive such large numbers made him dedicated towards wiping out these demons. Indeed, the Crusaders of Vho saw how easily the galaxy could teeter into chaos, saw how uniquely suited they were for handling this crisis, and how much people appreciated them for it... For many Vhozon, it was their destiny, and vindication.

Phrygis was also very popular; The native Phrygisians had the innate ability to create ice, which made them seem very safe as neighbors and allies to refugees. Now, the abilities of Rundas are like comparing an Olympic athlete to an average human; His cryokinesis far exceeds the typical Phrygisian, through concentrated training and effort.

But anything is still better than nothing; Phrygis' own citizens stood a better chance than probably anyone else of surviving a Metroid invasion. Refugees prepared for colder weather, rooming in at cities designed to be of more hospitable temperatures.

Phrygis' economy also boomed; The Federation made sure to pay Phrygis ample seguru for taking in these refugees. It also paid them plenty to manufacture Ice Missiles, as a reliable means of freezing Metroids; The Federation had plenty of concussive weaponry, but freezing weapons were, up until the Metroid Crisis, seen as very situational and not worth the funding.

Being able to generate ice made it cheap for any Phrygisian to create ice-based products; It was one of those things where if it came to you for free, you may as well make the easy cash there, even if you also intended to pursue other careers as well.

A lot of people/worlds DID try to take advantage of the Metroid Crisis, price-gouging refugees; But the Federation put their foot down and warned otherwise. It promised to pay back, but also made it clear it would take martial action if it considered the situation unreasonable.

As the Federation's focus on Phrygis increased tenfold, it also invested in Phrygisian units. The use of specialized soldiers of more esoteric, combat-capable species had always been a thing, but never with such a slant towards Phrygisians. The Federation continued this program, even after Mother Brain had been destroyed, and the Metroids cleared from Federation space; The threat of a second Metroid crisis always lingered, as long as any still existed within Space Pirate hands...

It was a new age for the people of Phrygis; One, Rundas, saw just how useful he was to the Federation and realized an economic opportunity, even if he was also motivated by heroics and altruism. Already famous for being the only off-world Phrygisian bounty hunter, Rundas hired his services out to the Federation multiple times, with the Federation having already been looking for him with or without the call.

His feats in rounding up remaining Metroids made him another hero of the Metroid Crisis, alongside Samus; In some ways, Rundas was a more public one, working alongside the Federation, and on Federation worlds where civilians might've still lingered and seen him in action. He did not turn down any interviews, and the people of Phrygis began to regard Rundas as more of a hero following this turn of events. He would be hired to help train other Phrygisians in honing their abilities of cryokinesis, and there became much more of a market/trend for these lessons on Phrygis. When Rundas died in the second Metroid Crisis (also known as the Phazon Crisis), a state funeral was held for him.

Indeed, Phrygisians are among the last prey any Metroid would consider; Their bodies are naturally frozen, so unless a Metroid was starving and/or had nothing else to feed off of, it would avoid Phrygisians. When the Federation had secured a Metroid egg, a Phrygisian unit was stationed as a contingency measure. When Metroids were cloned on the BSL station, a Phrygisian Unit was also present; They were all killed, like every other Federation employee, by the X. A second unit had been sent to capture the SA-X, but the mission was canceled when Samus Aran obliterated the BSL and SR388, and all X present on either location.

Even in the aftermath of the first and second Metroid Crises, many refugees still opted to stay on frozen worlds such as Phrygis anyway; They felt safer there, they wanted to play it safe. The second Metroid Crisis proved a point to them, as did Samus Aran exposing the Federation's failed Metroid breeding program. Many refugees had made friends in their new homes, including with the locals.