Comments (Page 172)

- It's WHY it was "late" to pick up Ripley and Newt from the processor, NOT because it had to "circle around because the platform was getting unstable".

Indeed I had this theory all along. The company always wanted the organism - hence they put Ash on the Nostromo. Surely they would have given Bishop the same instructions - to make sure Burke wouldn't fail. And as soon as Burkes' plan was discovered Bishop could be even more confident, as the others would think they had found the mole.

It's possible that the queen laid an egg or two after entering the Sulaco and before revealing itself. But I think a) the time would have been too short and b) it missed its "eggsack" (which Ripley blasted with her Grenade Launcher).

Its very very unfortunate that this story arc wasn't developed further in Alien 3 because it would have all the more created an atmosphere of a) the feeling that no one could be trusted and b) that the company is even more sinister as they would do the same treacherous thing again (also I think the Idea of the wooden Planet, populated by monks, would have been so scary because it would have summoned this queasy feeling about sects and religious dogma - it would have been fabulous!).

As to where Ridley Scott is going with the Covenant sequel I don't know. Not developing a) the Engineers story arc and b) choosing the Alien to be a creation of a Robot whose circuits popped due to a lack of maintenance is a catastrophe. In my humble opinion the only way to fix this in a sequel is to a) reveal that the Planet 4 beings were not Engineers but merely another creation of theirs (otherwise the nimbus of the Engineers, letting themselfs be wiped out so helplessly and poorly, would be irreparably damaged) and b) that actually WY isn't under human control anymore but David (prior to the Prometheus mission) has hacked skynet-style into their system and HE is the one in control, communicating via Engineer emitters on a hidden, encrypted frequence to earth, arranging the Covenant mission to be launched, implementing a course right by Planet 4 while at the same time deleting it from the star maps - which is why they were surprised when finding it. Of course he would need to be the one who - again via Engineer technology - caused the neutrino-eruption just in time when the Covenant was a stones' throw away from Planet 4 (if Ridley Scott chooses the neutrino burst to be naturally caused and just a coincidence that it happened near Planet 4 would just be to implausible and my suspension of disbelieve couldn't handle it). If the humans aren't in control anymore this would bring back the element of Lovecraftian horror, which is to say that the humans actually were in control only for a blink of an eye - from when the LV 223 Engineers died 2.000 years ago until Weyland created David. Before 2.000 years ago and again since David was created the humans are merely puppets of powers they cannot understand, helpless while living under the ridiculous illusion of being in control. But ignorance is bliss and they do not know that their days are all but soon to be over.

Fascinating discovery... I too am shocked we've never looked deeper into this. It certainly sheds some light on those odd inconsistencies. Featured this topic so more can see it, nice post!

Isolation was really good. Maybe a combo of that with some of the action from CM could work.

The text is from the Aliens Colonial Marines Technical Manual released in 1995. Not from the Aliens Colonial Marines Game released in 2013.

As for the game, I agree that the gameplay mechanics were very bad on release, but in my opinion the Templar GFX v6 mod completely turned it into a new game.

The story of the game and it’s DLC: Stasis Interrupted, in my opinion, was very good and tied into the ACMTM very well. Again, that is my opinion.

But I’m one of the fans whose Aliens franchise ended at Aliens. Alien 3 was a let down (Hicks and Newt dead), A4 was satire, Prometheus was not really Alien, and Covenant killed the mystery for me.

For people like me, Aliens (1986) and the Technical Manual (1995) were the end of the franchise. I think the ACM game was written more for people like me than for the average fan.

With it being a sequel to Aliens and bringing Hicks back, etc. But that’s my opinion.

Alien fans may have missed those points since the game was so bad that they may not have even payed attention to the deeper and finer points?

Intriguing, good stuff.

Alien CM may have had a great story, but I saw so many reviews that said the game itself was horrible that I skipped it.

Aliens Colonial Marines and Stasis Interrupted had amazing stories that were a sequel to Aliens and even brought back Hicks.

Blackout is A:I sequel. Then comics: Resistance & Rescue.

I remember playing this. For a game based on a movie it actually wasn't bad.

There are enough shooters out there. An Isolation sequel would be better.

Ingeniero the evolution of a competing species, pushing aside the Xenomorph. 

I love looking at predator-prey relationships :)

The proposed competing species would have to have evolved with the Xenomorph species within their native ecosystem for such an initiate co-evolutionary path to develop. 

This would also show that the Xenomorph is not an apex predator in its native environment - but a meso-predator existing in a very competitive (low capacity / high demand) ecosystem.

Although it might seem to devalue the species knocking them off as Apex Predators it adds some interesting dynamics and depth to the species to explore. This also doesn't mean the Xeno cant be an Apex when inserted into a new ecosystem like Planet 4 :)

Ditto what Leto said  

No. In the comic book Life and Death, the black goo led to the degeneration of Aliens. The Queen could no longer lay healthy eggs, and the chestbursters were born dead and deformed.

Interesting that Alien: Labyrinth (1993-1994) Dark Horse does feature a form of proto-black goo - degenerative to the Xeno - has again been explored recently in Life and Death. 

Sounds like it would have been an over-hyped game kit-bashed with a bunch of pop video game tropes, with an uninspired nostalgia-filled generic plot.

Try Again.

hmmm..good one.

Guess i'd use sound to drive them to the surface thumpers or ultrasonics to debilitate....then pick them off. Wreck their hearing? Blind them with light(like David)

Flood the caves with rocket fuel and set it on fire?

Set up ant-gravity fields and pulp them.(set the gravity waves to heavy or light to float them)

Poison gas..nerve agent or something to put them asleep? 

It looks good, but doesn't really seem to have a LEGO-y vibe at all imo.

That is great scenario I Raptus....the evolution of a competing species, pushing aside the Xenomorph. 

Xenotaris' thoughts above regarding that the competing species might become a more dangerous form are reasonable due to the mutability seen on Planet 4.  Still, that is a novel approach in the trojan horse organism.

"So maybe the BEST OPTION has to be to go down to the HIVE and maybe Fill the Place with Combustibles with Powerful Explosives."

Combustibles have worked against the Xenomorph on LV-426....they would just need to use enough.

 Prometheus: Fire and Stone

The Engineer weapon below would wipe out the Xenomorphs in short order.

No. In the comic book Life and Death, the black goo led to the degeneration of Aliens. The Queen could no longer lay healthy eggs, and the chestbursters were born dead and deformed.

I think the blackgoo would just end up evolving them to a more dangerous form 

Bio-engineered Black Goo which affects the Xenomorph Horde the way the Engineers were rendered on Paradise - into immobile, deformed statues of bio-matter. But that of course assumes Xenomorphs are not immune to the effects of the pathogen, given it is what gave them life in the first place.

Some deadly virus / black goo could do the deed.

If nuking it from orbit won't work for some reason, nuke it from the ground.

Thats the SPIRIT ;)

Some Great Points/Finds Ingeniero

This is the kind of stuff that intrigues me.. lets look at the Xenomorph/Black Goo in the Context of a Weapon to basically KILL!

For the Company it was always a FOLLY to obtain a Xenomorph for what Purpose?  To use as they are as a WEAPON? 

*A Parasitic Organism you cant really CONTROL

*A Parasitic Organism that could Procreate out of CONTROL.

*A Parasitic Organism that has a Instinct to Procreate/Create a HIVE and would do everything in its POWER to meet this Objective.

We saw the Marines could Match a Xenomorph at Range, and you have to Wonder would Concentrating on more Advance Weapons Technology, Bio-Engineering Super Soldiers or using Synthetics as Military Personnel.  Are these all NOT more reliable/Controllable KILLING MACHINES?

When we come to the Black Goo this is more of a ENIGMA but you have to WONDER, do the Engineers possess other Weapons/Technology that can Destroy a World?

The Black Goo seems more Efficient than the Xenomorph if you are Desperate and Want to Destroy a Target with No Consideration of the Aftermath implications?  Unless the Xenomorph has a LIMITED LIFE SPAN then it does-not make a Better Weapon than DROPPING some Black Goo!

Which brings us to the SACRIFICIAL GOO, looking at what we are shown about that Scene, can we SAFELY assume that if this Substance was Rained Down upon the Engineer rather than Consumed would it NOT have a similar Effect?

Bombing a World with Sacrificial Goo by the Thousands of Urns would surely be a GREAT Weapon... especially in terms of to CLEAN UP a World.

This is NOT to change the Subject to the Xenomorph/Black Goo as a Bio-weapon.. but it is to ASK about maybe there are other Benefits with the Xenomorph or the Experiments that lead to it..  Which means what the Engineers were doing on LV-223.

And so if there are ways to attempt to UTILIZE such Organisms for the Purpose of Genetic Enhancements, and to try and Obtain some kind of IMMORTALITY from them.

Then this would give us another way to look at WHY the Company are Interested in such a FOLLY and WHAT maybe the Engineers had been attempting to do.

And i think if we look at RIPLEY 8 then maybe this is the Ultimate Potential and maybe the Engineers were attempting Similar?

I love the bowl too and that is the exact image I though of above BigDave.  Great catch Dark Nebula.

The Walter on Planet 4 was a little rusty with the Neomorph attack so we would need a few of the Walter Marine version in order to take on the hive.  

Here below is another reference to 8.

"We've got eight more recharge cycles to go before Origae-6?"

Alien: Covenant novelization, page 42.

In regards to 8, I do believe they are tying this to an attempt at Immortality by the Company.  Peter Weyland verifies this motive (at the expense of all others if need be) for his mission shortly before the end of Prometheus.

Michael Bishop developed multiple successful lines of Artificial Persons and should have looked back on his career with stoic satisfaction but had regrets in his failure to retrieve the xenomorph.  This regret below, I believe, ties to medicine that could have been developed with had they captured Ripley or the xenomorph on Fury 161. 

"his failure to convince Ellen Ripley of the xenomorph importance was his greatest professional regret." 

The Weyland-Yutani Report, page 139.

He was into it...he died during elective surgery ("an elective operation to upgrade his neural synapses.") trying to continuously improve his body.  Another way to look at it is that Michael Bishop couldn't get his mind around his failure on Fury 161 and tried to improve it to cure this.  Maybe.

Pharmacology

In the Weyland-Yutani Report, the COMPANY STATEMENT OF INTEREST describes the vision driving the multinational across the core systems.  "PHARMACOLOGY" is the first in a list of areas (PHARMACOLOGY, BIOENGINEERING, DEFENSE) that hold: 

"possibilities we can't yet dream of-are without limit. We have the resources, all we need is the Xenomorph."

The Company cites priorities and Pharmacology and Bioengineering are in the top 3...and that the Xenomorph is the way.  

Planet 4

That makes Planet 4 look somewhat even more like a drug trial, medicine testing.  Medicine that, of course, extends a lifespan...tending towards an attempt at Immortality.  And of course weapons testing (biological, mutagen-based).  

There certainly is a Good Amount of ALIEN games as in based on and around Alien Life Forms or those that are similar to ALIEN Franchise Games.

Regarding Franchise Games though... or others in General i have not really played Games much the Last 4 Years.

My Technology is not up to the Games Mentioned in the OT

I did have ONE GO on Isolation but i only got a bit Further than the Xenomorph Reveal... (killed by Goons while watching the Xenomorphs First Kill).

But many Years ago i did enjoy a Fair Share of Alien Based Games, by that not just the ALIEN Franchise... which include the likes of the OLD SCHOOL versions of X-COM ;)

I was really Impressed by the Game Aliens versus Predator 2 (2001) it was a Improvement on the First One (1999), the Alien Franchise has had a lot of MISS games than HIT though.

The First Franchise Game i remember was ALIENS on the ZX Spectrum.... that was Pretty Hard and quite Intense for a OLD GAME.

ALIENS ZX Spectrum

They still make Games for that OLD SYSTEM... here is a 2019 ALIEN Franchise Game, that is a lot like ALIEN 3 the Game that came out back in 1993.

Aliens Neoplasma

I think that depends on how your looking at it... In REALITY then i guess there is NO real IMMORTALITY not of the kind where a Persons Soul/Spirit or Consciousness can exist once the Body has Perished.  But in such a Reality then Xenomorphs simply dont exist. However its a Unknown to what Horrors may lie out there in the Galaxy however ;)

I think Immortality does link with the Franchise to a Degree though, and the closest we had seen to this are Ripley 8 and David 8.

Now regarding the Immortality of the Body then nothing is really Truly Immortal, but somethings could be closer to some Immortality but only as FAR as increasing the Life Span/Reduce Deterioration of a Body.

For many People (who are otherwise in a Happy/Content State of Mind)  i am sure they would WELCOME any way that they could Extend their Lives.

We know this was something that Weyland had Desperately tried to achieve, and i think we could look at the Engineers as i feel some of them would have wanted to achieve this too.

This Topic was to look at ways to obtain that, especially within the Realm of Science Fiction.

On Multiple Levels i think its a Interesting Topic, even if we come down to Dr Shaw, would her Research and Findings have any EFFECT on her Faith?  A Magical Afterlife in the Spiritual Pane of Heaven.... as this is what she CHOOSES to Believe but its interesting to Speculate if she ever has doubts about this?

I think when looking at the Scope of Would-Be-Gods we could Speculate as to WHO had Created them?  It does leave the Door Open for something more Lovecraftian where there are other ways to Explore Immortality.

In space, no one cares what you believe in. ©

The only immortality is the immortality of the body.

"Seriously....a 100 years is a long time to live...can't imagine a billion...that's a lot of free time! Hope I'd at least get good at guitar."

Thats a Excellent Point...

As Immortality could be a CURSE... it depends on what you have to Occupy yourself if you was Immortal.

Imagine if by some Freak Occurrence you became Immortal, you Body would Regenerate, you would not Suffocate from lack of AIR or Drown..

Some Catastrophe happens to Earth and the Planet becomes like MARS... Hundreds of Thousands of Years Pass....

You are ALL ALONE...  the same applies if you was Immortal as described and you was Stranded on a Moon or Dead Planet with NOTHING... yet you can-not DIE... or if you have become some Spiritual Form... with Self Consciousness but NO BODY and you remain like this for ETERNITY.

With NOTHING to do, and being ALONE then IMMORTALITY can become a ETERNAL PRISON with NO RELEASE...

The Ultimate HELL!

With Nothing to do, and only your own thoughts to get you by, HOW LONG before Mentally you would really SUFFER?

If only you had stuff to Entertain yourself, but after Thousands of Years would you NOT be Bored?

What if you had a way to CREATE something to Occupy yourself, Companionship?

Certainly... i think they will give us something different, that would NOT be based on HR Gigers influence, we can see this from the Design of the Derelict Ship. 

The Organism in the CHAIR is interesting as this does-not match the description of the Starbeast or Dead Pilot from O'Bannon's Original Story, and it does-not match any of the Concepts either.

So Aesthetically it looks like they will be giving us NEW/FRESH designs.

What seems MOST interesting to me is that looking at the Comic Pages we have been shown..  is the Dialog and Scenes seem to be the Exploration of the SNARK Crew to Locate the Source of the ALIEN Signal which is the Derelict Ship.

So the NEXT SCENE is when they have CLIMBED up to the CONTROL ROOM of the ALIEN SHIP.

The Comic Cover and Image that Leto had shared, do we ASSUME this is the Control Room?  In effect our Space Jockey?

However this does-not look like its DEAD well not Skeletal, but then if its some kind of SUIT or some Organism that is Plant-like (Treeman) then i guess it could look like a WITHERED kind of TREE.

So i think they for Certain are giving us CREATURES that look different to described and designs as far as the DRAFT and Concepts... we we could be in for a SURPRISE when we get to see the Parasitic Organism.

Can we assume they will KEEP to the Life-Cycle of the Starbeast?  So we would have some Egg/Spore Stage, a Face Hugger like Stage, Chest Buster and Adult?

Or maybe they will CHANGE some of the Story/Plot too?

I guess Time will Tell ;)

Interesting Scenario..... I kind of UNDERSTAND why we can RULE-OUT using a NUKE as well, its the Simple Solution but i Guess a NUKE that would do the Trick would render a Radius by the Hive as USELESS for Habitation for a LONG TIME.

I think to Truly come up with a Answer would depend on needing more Information regarding the Location of the HIVE.

*How Far under the Atmospheric Processor are we talking.

*Is the HIVE in a Cave System or Excavated Cavity, or is it some Human Excavated/Constructed Environment of Tunnels and Constructed Corridors?

Then a lot would also depend on what we know about the Xenomorph, for example WHAT is the Life Expectancy of the Organisms?

I say that because the Biggest Weakness for the Xenomorph is that it requires a HOST in order to Procreate.   If the Queen has a Limited Life Span and the Xenomorphs, then you could just WAIT it out and all that Remains are the Eggs.

Trying to COMBAT the Hive with another Organism is a Interesting idea, but then i think it depends on what becomes of the Invasive Species you use to ERADICATE the Xenomorph?

If you Genetically Engineer another Organism to do the TRICK then you would have to make sure this Organism has a KILL SWITCH or a Limited Life Expectancy.  Or else you would be just replacing the Hostile Xenomorph with another Hostile Organism.

Still its a Interesting Idea I Raptus one that would make a Good Scenario to do a Comic with, because it would look at the Hubris of maybe having a Engineered Eradication Tool, become a Problem.  Especially if the Trojanpede would some how EVOLVE or pick up Traits from the Xenomorph and then become a Organism that can itself become out of Hand.

For me the Option would depend on HOW FAR under the Atmospheric Processor the HIVE is and what kind of Environment are we talking where the Hive is. 

With ANTS you can just Pour Down some Toxin/Chemical or a Mix of HOT Water and Sugar/Honey and it will Flush Out the HIVE.

So do you Flush the Underground Hive out with something that would KILL the Xenomorph?  Do you Fill the Place with a GAS and then Ignite this?

Alien 3 seemed to show the Xenomorph can Handle Extreme Temperatures while with Aliens we know they can be Destroy with Explosives. 

So maybe the BEST OPTION has to be to go down to the HIVE and maybe Fill the Place with Combustibles with Powerful Explosives. 

The Xenomorphs would likely DEFEND any attempts to Enter the HIVE...  We dont fully understand HOW they detect Prey/Organisms.

We can ASSUME that a Face Hugger would NOT be interested in a SYNTHETIC and maybe the Organisms cant detect a SYNTHETIC as easy as a Living Organism, and so its a case of SENDING down some Synthetics to Carry Out the Task.

But this is NOT as Interesting as Fighting Fire with Fire and using some other Organism. 

If you studied the Xenomorph enough maybe you would have some kind of Virus or Substance that would have a Adverse Effect on them... so Biological Warfare could be the Answer, but then it depends on WHAT kind of Biological Warfare and its HALF-LIFE.

They say "An all new Alien with an all new Alien!" Everything will be new, as if Giger and Scott influence never existed. I hope it will be a worthy new Alien, although by the tree looking beast I have some doubts about it.

That's a tough one and it would be a long game. Since nuking from orbit is not an option, perhaps a more ham fisted approach might work. Arm a synth or other non organic remote controlled vehicle with high powered conventional explosives to navigate close enough to the queen and then detonate.

on this same topic there is precedent within the Alien Extended Universe - namely Alien: Labyrinth comic and novel. In this case the hive is destroyed by a black mold pathogen which rendered the xenomorph sick and infertile.

Explained below by Alien Theory 

^ Now who has the courage to make that a movie!

My answer lies in the realm of natural precedent and life history traits of species we have on earth. Namely Cuckoo's and their parasitic brood traits. 

In essence the most efficient way to destroy the hive is to kill the Queen. No easy task. 

But taking the traits of the cuckoo's and establishing them within a hypothetical competitor species of the Xenomorph would make for an interesting new dynamic to the Xenomorph evolution. 

Like little Trojan Horse's all cuckoo species (Birds, wasps, fish etc) sneak into a competitor species nest and add their own perfectly mimicked replica's. When the cuckoo egg hatches it either ditches its 'siblings' or eats them. The unwitting parents than raise the parasitic species as it own. More in the video below 

My idea would involve a competitor species (something akin to a burrowing centipede) penetrating a hive and depositing a perfectly mimicked facehugger egg directly into the hive. The replica egg however has a developing juvenile inside not a facehugger. Eventually it hatches a hatchling - which like most cuckoo's - is at least initially similar to its host juvenile. The juvenile is geared to quickly mature and then hide until it is strong enough to slay the queen and enslave or kill the drones. 

For this to work the species would have to have an established and long founded co-evolutionary history with the xenomorphs to so perfectly adapt itself to being a brood parasite. This co-evolution would in turn lead to adaptive traits of the xenomorph to combat brood parasitism in their hives. Like the Superb Fairy-wren the Queen Xenomorph might imprint each freshly laid facehugger egg with a specific call. The Facehugger within the egg responds to the call in some way (double-taps the egg-wall perhaps). Drones are taught the call and routinely check all facehugger eggs. If one doesn't respond accordingly the egg is destroyed as a potential brood parasite egg. 

Call it a Trojanpede lol  

double post

"A silver spacecraft entered the Sol system. It was home. Returning in time to witness the funeral of their mother, Earth.

It had returned many times in the past, five billion years previous at the evaporation of Earth's oceans event, some three billion years earlier to view the extinction of life.

After watching the death...The starship turned and dove into the red giant.

One could only handle so much immortality."

Seriously....a 100 years is a long time to live...can't imagine a billion...that's a lot of free time! Hope I'd at least get good at guitar.

"It would make sense if Peter's AI is pulling the strings"

Thats certainly the PLOT idea i explored with my Prometheus 2 that i worked on in 2013 ;)  and we have had Ridley Scott suggest the Future Movies will be more about A.I and so if think if the Weyland-Yutani company is RAN by A.I with Mankind not even aware (Matrix) then this would explain why Humans were sent out as Folly to obtain the Xenomorph.  But then Humans can be Selfish/Wicked SOB's too.

For a A.I then the only Benefit of a Xenomorph would be as a Weapon or a Tool to Eradicate Humans.  I think they would make Unlikely Android Pets ;)

"In Ripley's case though, clones seem to die out sooner than the original"

In terms of Real Science then Indeed Clones seem to have Shorter Life Expectancy, but we can only Speculate on Ripley 8 and i guess you could MERGE her DNA with Genetic Engineering to UNLOCK some Longer Life Expectancy.

However if we assume that she has a Limited Life Expectancy (this would be Beneficial in the USE of a Super Solider which we see with the Replicants from Blade Runner) then we could WONDER what if say a Ripley 8 has a Life Span of say 4 Years, or any Lesser Time but you would TAKE SAMPLES of he DNA every Few Weeks.

Could this Obtained DNA be used to CLONE her again and she would have the Memories Imprinted from her Last Sample of DNA?   This would in effect mean she could be Resurrected over and over MIND, BODY and SOUL.

Now lets go to the Xenomorph in Context to this Topic.

If we look prior to ALIENS then RS had the idea the Xenomorph has a Limited Life Span, and he indicated that in ALIEN the Xenomorph had done its JOB... the Egg Morph and was looking for a Place to DIE.

Its FUN to Speculate what this could indicate, if we look at Ripley 8, then WHAT IF the Xenomorph can Pass on Genetic Memory Transfer...  and if we look at this in Context to ALIEN DC alone... could the EGG MORPH contain a Organism that would contain the Xenomorphs Memories?

But that Scene may not be CANON and we have to ACCEPT what ALIENS shows us.... but the Prequels would indicate that the Origins of the Xenomorph come via some other Related Organism and Experiments the Engineers had conducted on LV-223... but i only want to look at this in Context to this TOPIC... which is IMMORTALITY.

If we Speculate the Xenomorph had came from something FAR Ancient that the Engineers had-not Created, but this Ancient Parasitic Organism also had some Genetic Memory Transfer and lets say they USE the Egg Morph to give the Organism a Resurrection before its OLD SHELL would DIE.

This would be  Organism the Engineers would be Interested in as FAR as trying to UNLOCK the KEY to Immortality... which we ULTIMATELY see a Successful Result of sorts with Ripley 8.

THIS could be a Origins we could use to INTRODUCE the Starbeast a Organism that has a Parasitic Life Cycle just as explained with O'Bannon's Orginal Idea... if these Organisms enter a Stage where before they would DIE they could EGG MORPH a  Organism so that this would then RESTART the LIFE-CYCLE and if this could PASS ON the Starbeast's Consciousness/Soul then i think such a addition would be Interesting and give GOOD REASON for the Engineers to maybe Discover and attempt to Experiment on such a Organism.

While Off Topic a little.... i think such a Origins Story would work and bring a ALIEN and Lovecraft feel back to the Story, and also give a GOOD reason for the Pursuit of the Sacred DNA of such a Ancient Beast as a KEY to Unlock Immortality.