Alien: Genesis. My ideas for an Alien TV series. Part Two. Pilot Episode Breakdown

Alien: Genesis.

Pilot episode breakdown.

EPISODE ONE: Behemoth.

The first episode has to set the scene and show that this is indeed the Alien universe even though no live Xenomrphs appear, and it should be a reasonably "Epic" episode.

We are introduced to the crew of the USCSS Crazy Horse, a Weyland-Yutani Deep Salvage Vessel operating out on the frontier. The episode prologue features a very hazardous salvage operation, tense and suspenseful, and we get a small insight into the crew's dynamics. The ship's MU.TH.UR (Mother) computer will actually be a featured character. The salvage operation is successful.

Back on earth, we are introduced to Melkonis and Roby, two senior executives in charge of research and development for Weyland-Yutani's Bio-Weapons Division. The galactic communications network has picked up fragments of a corrupted distress signal from the vincinity of the Epsilon Eridani system, from a Weyland-Yutani explolatory science vessel, the USCSS Leviathan, which went missing five years previously. Apparently the Leviathan encountered a derelict alien spaceship (there is encrypted data in the corrupted transmission that is of great interest to the Bio-Weapons division).

The USCSS Crazy Horse is the nearest ship in proximity to the Epsilon Eridani system, although there is another ship that can reach Epsilon Eridani a few weeks after the Crazy Horse. We find out that they are far more interested in locating and claiming the derelict alien ship as soon as possible, rather than discovering the fate of the missing Leviathan and any possible survivors, although it is a priority to retrieve the ship's logs if the Leviathan has indeed survived intact.

We find out that Weyland-Yutani have a major competitor corporation, BioTech Systems, and we a get small insight into corporate machinations. They must at all costs reach the derelict and claim it before BioTech Systems' ships can (it is possible that BioTech Systems have also intercepted the Leviathan's distress signal).

Out on the frontier, the USCSS Crazy Horse is ordered to proceed to the Epsilon Eridani system, to ostensibly investigate and salvage what they can from the USCSS Leviathan, and rescue any survivors, (although the real agenda is for them to claim the derelict for Weyland-Yutani, and retrieve any information from the Leviathan's database).

The Crazy Horse sets course for Epsilon Eridani, and the crew enter hypersleep. Months later the Crazy Horse is approaching the Epsilon Eridani system, when there is a minor malfunction in the ship's drive engines. Mother revives the captain, and he replaces the faulty module. The captain is preparing to re-enter hypersleep for the final few months of the journey to the Epsilon Eridani system, when the ship encounters the derelict Space Jockey warship. The gargantuan alien ship is of a much different configuration than the derelict on LV 426, and more than one hundred times the size, but obviously a product of the same biomechanoid technology. The crew are revived from hypersleep, it seems they have struck it rich wth this discovery, the shares and bonuses they will receive will be enough to ensure that none of them will ever have to work again for the rest of their lives.

It is determined that the Space Jockey ship is a derelict: It is drifting at sub-light speed, in an elliptical orbit around Epsilon Eridani. There is no radio traffic, no life signs are present, no energy sources are detected, and the semi-organic nature of the vessel causes some doubt over whether it is actually a technological artifact or the remains of some space-dwelling lifeform. Mother detects faint traces of charged ion particles in the objects wake, possibly exhaust from a Faster Than Light propulsion system.

An encoded transmission is sent detailing the alien derelict. This is done secretly without the knowledge of the captain or the Crazy Horse crew. We do not know who is the intended recipient of this message and we do not see which of the crew sent this transmission. (This plot point is optional).

As the Crazy Horse shuttle approaches the derelict, they see what appears to be blast damage surrounding a vast orifice and they detect metallic debris, which scans reveal originated from an earth vessel, possibly a shuttlecraft judging by the amount of debris. They decide to see if it is possible to enter the derelict through one of three orifices in a central section. The salvage crew go EVA and discover that the orifices are screened by a strange membrane, invisible to the eye, spongy and gelatinous to touch. They discover that this membrane can be penetrated, and they surmise it functions as a type of "Airlock" containing the atmosphere within, whilst allowing egress and ingress to the vessel. They enter the orifice.

The crew explore the derelict and are awed at the biomechanoid alien nature of the derelict Behemoth. They observe the skeletal internal stucture of the derelict, and one of the crew notes that it feels like being inside some vast, once living organism. Scans indicate the derelict is approximately well over a hundred thousand years old. Communications to the Crazy Horse are down, and they speculate that their signals are blocked by the bulkheads of the alien vessel. There are still no life signs or energy sources detected, so they aren't too worried by the loss of comms and continue investigating the Behemoth. They find the skeletal remains of the Space Jockey pilots (three of them equidistantly spaced about the chamber, as well as Space Jockeys fused with some type of Giger tech). They discover a vast hibernation chamber, with thousands of stasis tubes containing nine feet tall, albino humanoids (a military force of the slave/clone Promethean Engineers, attired in the black biomechanoid garb of the survivng Engineer in Prometheus). Many of the stasis tubes are damaged, and the humanoids within these show hideous chest wounds.

Investigating further they discover ancient remains of Xenomorph reproduction, decayed Facehuggers, shriveled Eggs, and fossilized Xenomorph remains, and of course they don't understand what these remains signify. They encounter a chamber that is closed off by an impenetrable, opaque membrane barrier, and behind this opaque barrier we see an Egg Silo containing hundreds of thousands of eggs (and possibly a very brief glimpse of a hibernating queen).

In deep space we see a small military vessel, a fast cruiser, not a battleship, the USCSS Valley Forge, en-route to Epsilon Eridani. We are introduced to a Weyland-Yutani commando squad, comprised of ex-Special Forces soldiers and ex-Colonial Marines. These commandos are corporate "Troubleshooters" for the Bio-Weapons division (basically they clean up any messes caused by Bio-Weapons division "Research" into hostile organisms conducted on "Independent" colony worlds, as this type of research is banned by ICC regulations in the core systems).

Back aboard the Crazy Horse the flight crew detect a small energy source has activated on the derelict and it is probing the ship, an energy beam begins to drag the Crazy Horse inexorably toward the derelict Behemoth. Apparently some kind of automatic docking tractor beam. The ship can not break free from this energy beam and they can not raise the captain and salvage crew aboard the Behemoth.

Back aboard the derelict the Crazy Horse crew discover an apparent hangar deck, containing many of the Juggernaught class Space Jockey ships, and also the USCSS Leviathan. There are no signs of life and only minimal emergency power, as the ship's fusion reactor is in standby mode. They discover two hypersleep capsules that contain survivors, although there is insufficient power to revive them without re-booting the reactor. They download the ship's logs which are encrypted and transport the hypersleep capsules back to their shuttlle. The shuttle leaves the Behemoth and returns to the Crazy Horse, apparently it is too small to trigger the "Docking Mechanism." This was obviously what happened to the USCSS Leviathan, and if the Crazy Horse cannot break free, they will suffer the same fate as the Leviathan.

The captain is appraised of the situation and the engineer proposes loading the shuttle with fuel and explosives, and remote piloting it into the Behemoth's docking orifice before detonating it, hopefully freeing the Crazy Horse from the docking beam. The captain surmises from the blast damage and the metallic debris they encountered, that this is exactly what the Leviathan crew attempted, and it was obviously unsuccessful. The captain proposes an alternate plan to re-boot the fusion reactor and detonate the engines of the trapped USCSS Leviathan, thus severely crippling the derelict and freeing the Crazy Horse. This is the suspenseful climax to the episode as the captain would have to set the Leviathan's engines to self destruct, and escape back to the Crazy Horse before detonation.

The plan is successful, the captain manages to escape, the Crazy Horse is freed and although the Behemoth is not destroyed by the detonation, the explosion has changed its trajectory and it will fall into the local sun in a matter of weeks.

The USCSS Valley Forge intercepts the Crazy Horse and the Weyland-Yutani corporate commando squad take the two hypersleep pods into custody, along with the encrypted logs downloaded from the USCSS Leviathan. They warn the Crazy Horse crew that any mention of the Behemoth or the Leviathan will violate a non-disclosure clause in their contracts, and would mean lengthy terms of imprisonment, followed by unemployment and poverty if they speak of these things. The Behemoth is classified as Weyland-Yutani property as it had been discovered by their science vessel five years previously, and the crew of the Crazy Horse are pissed because they feel they have been screwed by the company and will receive no shares or bonuses, pertaining to any discoveries contained within the Leviathan's encrypted logs, instead of striking it rich as they believed when they first discovered the derelict Behemoth.

SAMPLE SCENE: The USCSS Crazy Horse encounters the derelict Space Jockey Behemoth in deep space.

EXT. DEEP SPACE - THE FRONTIER.
Weyland - Yutani Deep Salvage Vessel USCSS Crazy Horse.

INT. USCSS CRAZY HORSE - BRIDGE.
The Captain is sitting at the pilot's console, recording a log entry.

CAPTAIN BLAKE. - Deep Salvage Vessel USCSS Crazy Horse. Captain's Mission Log #42. Mission Elapsed Time 24 months. Shiptime 23.55. 10/31/15. The crew's tucked in and we are on course for the Epsilon Eridani system as ordered, ETA is two months. Mother dropped back to sub-light and got me up to check out a minor malfunction in fusion grid feed regulator unit E.R.B9. I've replaced the faulty feed regulator and monitored the replacement module for two days at sub-light speed. There have been no further problems, and drive engines check out within specified tolerances. Commencing acceleration back to superluminal speed, all systems nominal to profile, the ship's locked down and I'm heading back to the freezers after dinner.

He switches off the holographic log recorder.

BLAKE - And after a little me time. Switch off the bridge smoke detectors please Mother.

The Captain retrieves a fat cigar from a pocket on his coveralls, lights it and sits back in the command chair. He reaches down to a small utility case next to the pilot's seat and pops the lid, revealing a chilled six-pack. He plucks out a frosty can of beer, opens it and gulps down a mouthful.
He raises the beer can to a surveillance camera.

BLAKE - Happy Halloween Mother.
He taps a control on a panel set into the arm of the pilot's seat and loud rock music fills the bridge, thumping drums, pounding bass and buzzsaw, distorted guitars. The captain taps along with the music, beer in one hand and cigar in the other, feet propped up on the pilot's console.

PA - Say your prayers little one/Don't forget my son to include everyone/I'll tuck you in, warm within/Keep you free from sin/Until the sandman has come/Sleep with one eye open/Gripping your pillow tight/Exit light/Enter night...
Enter Sandman - Metallica.

The music cuts out abruptly as a warning alarm sounds. The captain is all business.

MU.TH.UR - WARNING - PROXIMITY ALERT. WARNING - PROXIMITY ALERT.

BLAKE - What have we got Mother? Let's have a look.

The steel panels that cover the viewport open. There is nothing to see. No Stars.

BLAKE - I've got nothing on visual, whatta we got on the sensors?

MU.TH.UR - Proximity sensors detect an object ahead 500,000 kilometres. Collision Course.

Blake checks the readouts on his monitor screen.

BLAKE - Jesus Christ it's fucking massive. Slow us down, match velocity, and give me a parallel trajectory 50,000 klicks proximity.

MU.TH.UR - Performing course correction burns.

The ships thrusters and engines burn accordingly.

BLAKE - It's too big to be a ship, its gotta be a rogue asteroid or a comet, might be worth tagging. What's it made of?

MU.TH.UR. - Analysing structural composition.

BLAKE - Put it up on the viewscreen.

The screen is black.

BLAKE - Reduce magnification by 10

The camera pulls back. Still black.

BLAKE - Reduce magnification by 100.

Camera again pulls back. The object is revealed.

BLAKE - My God.

It is: a derelict Space Jockey ship. It is of a much different configuration than the derelict in Alien though obviously a product of the same alien technology. Gargantuan in size, it dwarfs the derelict on LV 426 x 100.

BLAKE - It's not human but that is definitely a product of technology. Wake up the crew Mother, we just struck it rich.

MU.TH.UR. - Initiating crew resuscitation procedure.

INT. HYPERSLEEP VAULT - USCSS CRAZY HORSE.
The seven hypersleep capsules cycle open. One already open.

EXT. DEEP SPACE - THE DERELICT.
Close Up on the derelict Behemoth. It is the size of a small moon.