Origae-6

Well i have not read the Covenant Origins Novel....

It seems it is a Distant Planet that they have Vetted, and so maybe some kind of Telescope like Detection, that results in a Probe that is Sent out that sends back Readings to Indicate its a Ideal Candidate and then the Covenant Mission is then Commissioned.

I think we can Safely Assume this World would be Perfectly Habitable as in they would NOT need any Space Suits.

But it would be a World that is NOT as Perfect as Earth, but one where over Time the Planting of Vegetation, Trees would make it much more like Home ;)

I would Speculate maybe its mainly some kind of Savannah or Steppes type Location.

I would even consider calling the Human Ship that would be arriving if we went for a Plot set after the Covenants Ill Fated Expedition on Origae-6, i would consider calling the other incoming ship the USCSS Savannah or even the USCSS Magellan

Here is maybe what Origae-6 could look a bit like as the Covenant looks to find a Place to Land.

Biomechanical

I think there is a problem with the concept of “biomechanical”. There are, at least, two ways to look at this:

1. It’s just the look of the xenomorph (aesthetics).
2. The xenomorph is a blend of biology and mechanical parts.

In actual fact, most biological lifeforms contain mechanical parts, e.g. skeleton. On the other hand, “mechanics” can also be a craft where you create “living” things in a lab from chemical and electrical components.

To me, the original alien monster looked pre-eminently biological: drooling jaws, secretion, eggs, procreation (through hosting), instincts etc.

Furthermore, we have robots, synthetics, androids, replicants, cyborgs (some humans are, in fact, a blend of biological and synthetic parts: pacemakers and artificial hearts) etc.

I think we need a clarification of certain key concepts in order to have a meaningful discussion . . . But perhaps in another thread . . . :)

"The problem of getting a "Lovecraftian" alien movie, in the sense that it's "cosmic horror of the unknown", is that everything about the xenomorph is known to us"

...only if we continue to use the tropes established thus far.

As I keep saying, the Alien franchise was built on the back of Aliens, the ideas introduced in Alien have all but been forgotten.

The Alien from the first movie is distinctly different to the Aliens in Aliens and beyond, which opens two possibilities IMO...

1 - There are many different variants of the Alien, and/or

2 - The Alien is uniquely and infinitely adaptable.

If we hold #2 to be true then nothing about the Alien is known to us, only the specimens we have had limited exposure to.

This IMO is where the future of the franchise lies; with revealing that the Alien is not just a eusocial or otherwise bioweapon but something incomprehensible, something truly unknown and unquantifiable, and therefore truly a Lovecraftian terror.

More landscapes

@chli, Giger popularised ‘biomechanical art’ in the 1970s, so within the context of Alien I think we know what we’re talking about. His distinctive style throughout Necromonicon depicts creatures that are clearly biological but  have the texture and form of being machined. You could say that something as ordinary as a crab meets the basic requirements of being biomechanical, but Giger’s depictions usually have a lustrous grey metallic sheen that often blends into parts that look machined or carved from ceramic or metal.

I'd tease the surface.....beautiful green world.

You're stuck in orbit(David/Daniels and Tee took the cargo hauler and are missing) ...No way to get to the surface. Cargo hauler is beyond repair....You can't 'land' the Covenant. (It's not like the Prometheus spacecraft....where you could land, jump out and go for a stroll.)

You have a thousand humans trapped in orbit.

Probably have to call for help? (Capt. Dallas in the area? )Maybe the Nostromo(with a different crew + Ash)

How frustrating would it be? Your final destination is just out of reach. have to turn back and find the nearest Earth colony? Or hope the space marines arrive within a couple of years.

I wonder how they expected to transfer everyone to the surface of Origae 6? 10 at a time(in the now destroyed lander)? The cargo hauler can hold 4 or 5?

Certainly there are Good Points regarding what the Space Jockey/Derelict scene came across as.... It was a Enigma for sure.

It is something that has Evolved over the Years though from the Beginnings that would have been more Lovecraftian to what seems so FAR away from such NOW... (thanks to Alien Covenant).....

If we cast our EYES back to ALIEN then we was left Wondering about the Pilot, the Ship and that Cargo.... and WHAT the Connection was....

Starbeast gave us a Giant Alien Race who just happened to come across this World and Curiosity Killed the Cat as they Entered the Pyramid and attempted to take a Part of the Starbeasts Life-Cycle to Study....

By the time this Developed to Alien there was what must have been a Connection between the Xenomorph, the Ship and the Pilot as they had kind of a Shared Aesthetic.  As now this Giant Alien Being had amassed Thousands of Starbeasts if you would in the Cargo Hold.

For quite some time it was indicated by Ridley Scott that what was being shown was a BIO-WEAPON... it was a bit Ambiguous, as we could argue was it something Discovered that was USED as a Bio-Weapon just as the Weyland-Yutani Company would do IF they had obtained the Organism.

The Prequels had came along to help Solidify that by showing us the Xenomorph was a Engineered Bio-Weapon, and with Spaights work it appeared to indicate it was Re-Engineered from something else they Discovered....   Prometheus made it very Ambiguous only showing us they had the Black Goo that had similar Traits and was used as a Bio-Weapon.

At this point then Gavin as you said, there could be Various Xenomorphs around, but likely as Engineered Variants but thats not to say some could EVOLVE on their own as its a Very Adaptive Organism....

The Black Goo and Evidence of Experiments on LV-223 could also had opened the Door to many Variations..

But we was still NOT shown HOW it connects 100% to the Xenomorph, or from what Origin/Connection the Black Goo would have...

In HINDSIGHT....

They could have gone and introduced a TALLER more Ancient Species that had Attempted to Destroy the Engineers, but Succumbed to one if their Cargo.. some Many Many Thousands of Years ago..

The Engineers then Reverse Engineered their Technology, and had also Re-Engineered and Experimented on the Cargo to Create the Horrors on LV-223

The Engineers could have been Permitted the Technology, they could have had some Created for them and they PERFORMED a Purpose for some other Species before they Rebelled and this Triggered the other Species to Attempt to use the Xenomorph on them...

I think such Revelations would have gone some way to Appease a lot of Fans!

But then we GOT ourselves Alien Covenant.... which has Taken the Enigma and Lovecratian Horror away from the Xenomorph and also the Space Jockey Race too... as far as Engineers...

We can all WISH we could UNDO certain things, or just Choose they NEVER happened.... or Clutch at Straws in the Hope we get a REBOOT or a Sequel that would Clearly show us things that would please Fans....

Maybe its TIME to just MOVE ON?

Accept Things......  and so Accept those Eggs, that Pilot are maybe NEVER going to be what most of us would have wanted!

HOWEVER... all is not LOST!

Because we still have to ask about a ORIGIN.. if the Xenomorph is a Bi-Product of the Black Goo and Various Experiments, i think we can still ask to WHERE did this all come from?

Where did the Derelict/Juggernaught Origins come from?

So we can go back to a ORIGIN that these all Stemmed from another Species that we can Explore in more of a Lovecraftian Way.... a Introduction of the Starbeast Species!

@chli

Certainly you could consider that we are Bio-Mechanical, we are a Machine, just Organic... this is referenced in the Drafts to Alien Covenant in that the Engineers had attempted to make Good Machines (as in Humans).

In context to the Franchise, when i bring up Bio-Mechanical i mean as in something that has that HR Giger Aesthetic....   SPECIES series also has this Aesthetic.

To me the 1979 Xenomorph looks more like its 70% Organic, and the Rest somewhat Mechanical to a degree.  With Aliens the Xenomorph appeared to me more like 80% Organic, and it gave the impression it was more of a Exo-Skeleton Alien Organism like say Insects, Arachnids and Crustaceans

with the other Movies that Followed the Xenomorph started to appear more and more Organic.

"I wonder how they expected to transfer everyone to the surface of Origae 6? 10 at a time(in the now destroyed lander)? The cargo hauler can hold 4 or 5?"

It seemed the Ship was Modular and so likely the Cabin Compartments could be Separated and taken down with the Loader/Lander.   This would leave us with a Skeleton of the Ship that would Contain the Bridge and Control Section and Propulsion etc.

So indeed without that other Lander, you could Speculate that they would be Stranded...  what we would get then would be a Horror on a Space Ship, which we already saw with Alien and the Last Scenes of Alien Covenant.

Someone had pointed out on here that the Origins Novel indicates the Covenant Ship can Land on a Planets Surface.

A bit off-topic, but . . . :)

I take it then that when we’re talking “biomechanical” we mean the gigeresque aesthetics (the look) not whether the xenomorph is biomechanical in itself?

If the xenomorph is created, engineered, it could be a mixture of organic and synthetic components but if the creature is a species it would be purely organic, biological (but with a mechanical look).

Certainly that seems a way to look at it, in that if it was a Naturally Occurring Organism it would be Biological, the Queen actually looks much more Biological than any Mechanical/Synthetic Aesthetic.

If we look at the Xenomorph from Alien Covenant then what we see is something that is Mostly Organic Looking, and so IF they continue with the route that this is the Precursor to the Xenomorph in ALIEN then it could look like that something Synthetic has been Engineered into the Process.

Where as the 1979 Beast was based of HR Gigers Design Aesthetic and they should also taken on board how he saw that Shared Aesthetic with the Ships in that they are GROWN and that they are a Amalgamation of Organic and Mechanical Aesthetics and that the SHIPS would Produce the Eggs thus this is WHY the Xenomorph had that Aesthetic.

So it was Truly ALIEN.

But ALAS...

@NTFS

Certainly would be Interesting if during the Landing they Detect a Ancient Ruined Building.

All we can do is SPECULATE about Origae-6 and the ONLY way we would ever get to see this Place is depending IF we get a Continuation and then its a case of WHY/WHEN would David go to Origae-6 and IF he does-not then WHEN/WHY would the Company go to Origae-6

Example of an ancient ruined building which is barely recognizable.

This would be a bit of fun...

Certainly some Remnants of a Long Lost Civilization with the remains of Hangers and other Landing Platforms/Run Ways would be Interesting.

Love the ancient astronaut Nazca lines! That gets my vote.

I think it should be a lifeless world to save on budget.

I'm starting to think there would should be a security force among the Covenant colony? 

Wonder how they studied Origae 6? With a space telescope?

That means the image is 1700 years old.....much can change in that time..Earth went from living under the stars to traveling to them in span.

Asteroid collision could have wiped the surface...happens on Earth and maybe the Origae system doesn't have a Jupiter to gobble up stray killer asteroids.

I get the Impression that Oriage-6 would have been a Primordial Virgin kind of World.  It seems it is suitable to be able to Inhabit but it would likely not have the Diversity of Flora and Fauna that Planet 4 or Earth has, but it would be a World where you could introduce Plants and Animals from Earth and they would Flourish.

How would such a World connect to the Engineers though? If we are going to make a Connection then in this case it would be a World that maybe is in its Final Stages of being Ready to begin a Engineers Seeding.

In which case if the Engineers discover that Humans are off to this Primordial Virgin Planet, they would want to STOP them so they dont TAINT this World.

We could also consider that it was a World that had some Ancient Civilization that was Hundreds of Thousands of Years OLD and had been Eradicated say 35'000, 70'000 or 150'000 Years ago....   And is in the Process of Recovering Ecologically for the Engineers to then ONE DAY go ahead and Re-seed.

But then we dont know what Origae-6 would be like so it could be a more Baron, Desert like place that is Habitable just as say the Middle East is and we could still have it that there are Remnants of a Ancient LONG GONE Civilization.

I think when looking at the PLOT we have to ask what would DAVID have to gain..... he surely would NOT want to have Daniels Alive..... 

So if he pretends to be Walter, and the Colonist help to Build this World they intended, and then discover that this WORLD had ONCE had a Civilization before, those Colonist would be Interested.

IF however he uses some Colonist to Build a Basic Colony, that is mainly out of Wood.... so more like a Ancient Medieval Settlement that would have some Stone Buildings but mainly would be Wooden...   then ONCE he has this.

He then KILLS the Colonist and then he Raises (maybe Engineers) those Human Embryo's then to them he could give them ANY kind of History and Origin to their kind, even proclaim himself as Creator.

For such a PLOT... those Creations Humanity MK2 of David's would surely have some Questions if they Uncover Ancient Ruins of a Long Lost Civilization, especially if David informed them that on this WORLD there was Nothing and that David Created them from Nothing.

So David in this case would NOT want them to go and make some Archeological Discoveries ;)

IF we assume such a Plot....  a mainly Wooden Village where Hundreds or Thousands of Human Children from those Embryo's are raised with NO KNOWLEDGE about the Covenant Ship and its Adult Colonist.

How would those New Colonist that are a bit different, feel when another Human Ship turns up, especially one with a WALTER Synthetic... can you imagine what those Raised Children would think?

They see Humans who look similar to them but a bit different, they see another being WHO looks Identical to their GOD/CREATOR..... what happens when those Raised Children would then Discover that David is NO God, and that their Origins are from Mankind, and that their Would be God is Actually a Creation of themselves, well their TRUE Ancestors.

This is HOW i Interpreted Ridley Scotts comments about Alien Awakening, and this is the Plot (in Part) that i had for my idea on a Alien Covenant 2 which would have been Alien Ascension.

I mentioned this many Months before the announcement of Raised by Wolves, which seems to have a similar Plot... so i wonder if Raised by Wolves is in Part what RS had planned for Awakening that he had decided to make into a TV Series as he felt his ideas would NEVER get to see the day of LIGHT as a Alien Covenant Sequel?

Or there is another option.

What if an incoming humans (from Earth) have a sinister agenda. They may even try to disable or destroy David. And, if David was kind to their children, then David's children can look at people from Earth as evil. Idk how... (plot hole) ...but they can get Juggernaut with alien eggs and try to come to Earth with righteous anger and destroy humanity. Like David with Engineers. But pilot was infected by facehugger and the ship crashed on LV-426.

Such a turn will give a) the dead Space Jockey a more sinister note. b) It will explain how the company became aware of Alien. c) And in the end, there will be no thought about how to turn David into a Space Jockey or infected him with Alien.

'he Raises (maybe Engineers) those Human Embryo's'

I can't believe David would want to raise humans...This sounds like something Walter would do... David has had enough of humanity. I do agree he'd probably engineer the embyros to his liking.

If they travel to Origae 6 ...I really not sure how they would tie the prequels to the original series? 

Maybe Dallas or any of the Nostromo crew have a son/daughter or relative on the Covenant? I don't know.

Maybe the Covenant colony is such a spectacular failure...W T have to start terraforming worlds near Earth....one of the explanations for terraforming a small rocky world like LV-426...they're really scraping the bottom of the barrel with that moon! Rocks, lava and small!   LV-223 should have been higher on the terraforming list(it was probably terraformed first?).

Certainly Leto

We dont know how those Created/Raised Children of David would React to incoming Humans, they could be caught in a Conflict of Loyalty to David or feeling Betrayed for his Lies.

The Potential for one of his Creations becoming the Space Jockey is something that could have been a Option.

So David could Engineer those Human Embryo's to be Different, to be a Race that Relies more on Telepathic Communication, a Race that has a Faster Growth Rate from Infant to Adult.  A Race that has a degree of Regenerative Ability and so they would Reach Adulthood in say 5 Years and then Naturally have a Life Expectancy of say 300 Years.

This would Certainly be a Plot Convenience for when Humans Turn up to Discover Giants..

But these beings DONT have to be to TALL though, they could be 7ft but i think having them use some of the Unused Concepts as far as No Ear Lobes and Elongated Skulls would be ideal.

David had after all conducted similar Experiments on Engineer Infants.

So something a bit more HUMAN than this would NOT go out of Place.