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Alien-Species
By : moviefan
Category: 1 through F > Alien (All Movies) > Alien (All Movies)
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Chapter List
- 1
- 2
- 3
(A/N: Ok, chapter two is here. We'll be getting some more character introductions and a bit of data dumping, but events are going to start to be set into motion for the rest of the story.)
Disclaimer: I own nothing.

Chapter 2: New Specimen
The full science team watched as the shuttle pulled up to the Atlas. In addition to Scotts, Fritz, Rogers, and Sanders, there was also Dr. Samantha Ramirez, the last member of their team. She was the youngest member of the team, but was undeniably brilliant. She was on the smaller side, but that had only seemed to make her more aware of her surrounding than usual. Her long brown hair was pulled back into a braid that ran down her back, nearly down to her rear, a few shades darker than her tan skin. He green eyes stared curiously at the shuttle as she, like the rest of the team, wondered what new specimen was being brought to them.
Two days prior, Fritz had told them the message from the Company. She didn’t have many details herself, only that some time ago, the Company had sent a team consisting of six androids and one human to the moon LV-426 to seek out any sign of life that might still remain after the destruction of the colony that had been living there for years.
Allegedly, a hostile lifeform had wiped out the colonists, and then the marines that had been sent as a rescue party. According to the report, something had been found and brought back, but due to the possible danger the specimen presented, it was decided that it should be brought to the Atlas for the time being.
Alarm bells had gone off in Scotts’ head upon hearing this. Before he had come to the Atlas, when he had first been picked for the project, he had done as much research on the Company as he could. He remembered reading the reports on LV-426 in regards to the alien lifeform found on it. Much of it was classified, but there was enough for him to get the gist of things.
Plus, people talked. In nearly all cases involving the alien species, dubbed the Xenomorph, a former employee for the Company named Ellen Ripley had done everything in her power, even giving her own life, to see to it that the Company never got their hands on the creature due to how dangerous it was. There were rumors though that a cloning process regarding her and a Xenomorph were being done by a different branch of the Company, but how much was truth and how much was rumor, Scotts wasn’t sure, and it wasn’t his business anyway since it was unrelated to the project he had been hired for, so he had dismissed it.
The team gathered around at the docking gate as the shuttle settled in. A few minutes later, the tunnel connecting the shuttle to the Atlas opened its doors, and four people made their way down it to the science team. Or perhaps “people” wasn’t exactly accurate since three of them were androids. And while it wasn’t uncommon for space teams to have an android with them, it was almost unheard of for the team to be almost entirely made up of synthetics.
Most androids were only given a single name, so it was no surprise when the three androids introduced themselves simply as Cypher, Lana, and Dawn. And while androids technically didn’t have genders, Cypher was clearly designed and programmed as male while Lana and Dawn were female. Furthermore, Lana and Dawn were very obviously the same model, having an exact identical appearance, the only exception being Dawn’s hair was blonde and Lana’s was black.
This wasn’t too unusual, as appearance wasn’t all that important when it came to designing androids. In fact, Synthetic Component Designer, Michael Weyland, whose ancestor, Charles Weyland, the Chief Executive Officer of the former Weyland Industries before it merged with the Yutani Corporation after he disappeared during an excursion to Antarctica back in 2004, had even designed the Bishop android 341-B based on his own appearance.
None of the androids were much to look at, with very standard appearances that could easily get them lost in a crowd, but it was their functions that were the most important, not their appearances. Which, now that Scotts thought about it, made him wonder why they didn’t have any androids assigned to the project regarding Alice. Androids could act as scientists almost as well as humans could, and there would be no fear of Alice breeding with any of them since they couldn’t reproduce. Was it perhaps a concern that they could have their data stolen by foreign powers, or was there another reason? Scotts wasn’t sure.
The only human of the group was Lieutenant Eddie Houtras, a military man who had accompanied the android team. He was a large man with a dark complexion. His head was shaved completely as opposed to the standard military buzzed fashion, and he was packing so many muscles that they were clearly visible through his military uniform. His eyes were hard, likely due to his experiences in the army, and his expression seemed frozen in a permanent look of absolute seriousness.
Being in charge of things on the Atlas, Fritz stepped forward after Cypher, seemingly the head of the android team, gave his greetings and made the introductions. “It’s a pleasure to meet you. My name is Dr. Regina Fritz. This is my team, Doctors-”
“We have been made aware of who you are,” Cypher interrupted dismissively. “Forgive me for my rudeness, but we are most anxious to see our delivery properly contained. Is the room ready?”
Fritz’s bottom lip thinned out in her annoyance at being interrupted, but she said nothing about it. Instead, her gaze shifted to the dolly, upon which a cryogenic freezer rested that both Lana and Dawn were pushing. “Yes, we have it prepared. I will take you to it.”
A smile spread across Cypher’s face. “Excellent. We can exchange pleasantries and inform your team of all you wish to know once the specimen is secured. Please lead the way.”
Fritz did so, with the androids and Houtras walking after her, the team of scientists following close behind.
“I thought there were supposed to be seven of them,” Ramirez commented to her team, keeping her voice low.
Apparently, not low enough, for Cypher answered without so much as glancing back. “Oh, there were. I’m afraid three of our artificial personnel did not make it back with us. Fortunately, Lieutenant Houtras was the only human life amongst us, and so we were able to escape with a specimen without the loss of any human life.”
Houtras’ eyes hardened. “It should be human lives that I’m protecting, not a bunch of tin cans and their science project. This was not why I joined the military.”
“Duly noted,” Cypher replied, sounding disinterested. “Your complaint will be taken straight to the top.”
A frustrated huff of breath escaped the lieutenant, but he said nothing more to the android’s sass. Scotts nearly raised an eyebrow at his, finding Cypher’s lack of empathy to the loss of three of his own kind to be rather peculiar, even for an android. While by law it was now required that androids were programmed by default to never harm or allow harm to come to a human being, they did hold compassion to other androids as well as humans. He must have been programmed to see to the delivery of the specimen as his primary directive and not be bothered by any consequences of his mission.
“How’d they die?” Sanders asked, even though ‘die’ may not have been the correct terminology when it came to androids.
“Encounter with hostile lifeforms,” Cypher replied simply. “Part of the reason we need to get the specimen into containment. We do not want to take any chances.”
He said nothing more on the subject, and they continued the rest of the way to their destination in silence. The room that was prepared was right next to Alice, containing a table and chairs, a few bookshelves, and a bed. It was equally as secure as Alice’s room, and was meant to be a second place to contain her in case anything happened to her current room.
The canister was wheeled into the middle of the room, and then Dawn knelt down next to it and pressed a few buttons on the control panel. A light began flashing, indicating that the cryo-freeze was being reversed. Everyone else watched silently for a minute or two as the unfreezing process took place, eager, to see what was inside.
A beep sounded, and the flashing light became a steady glow. Lana then unlatched the canister and opened the top, allowing a thick cold vapor, as if from dry ice, to pour out. Then she and Dawn reached inside and pulled out what lay within.
The team of scientists had been waiting in anticipation to see what was inside, but quickly felt their spirits dashed when it was revealed to be a large leathery egg. Definitely not an egg from Earth, but an egg all the same.
“That’s it?” Rogers asked, unable to keep the disappointment out of his voice; he had clearly been hoping for something more. “All that for an egg?”
Cypher held up an index finger and shook it slightly. “Appearances can be deceiving. It’s an egg, yes, but not like any egg you’ve seen before.”
“Of course not,” Sanders replied dismissively, “it’s alien, but it’s still an egg.”
“It’s far more alive than your standard egg,” Cypher calmly explained. “In a way, you can even say that it’s a lifeform in itself.”
Scotts cocked his head to the side as he studied the egg. It certainly looked more fleshy than an eggshell, it’s center being almost translucent. He also noticed an X shaped slit on the top of it, which had him raise an eyebrow as he suddenly thought about sea anemones.
From the window of the next room, Alice was looking at the egg as well, her usually stoic expression now holding traces of curiosity, both at the newcomers and at what they had brought. But even though several inches of the hardest glass known to man separated them, she was getting an eerie, unpleasant vibe from the egg that made the hairs on the back of her neck stand on end.
Rogers brought his hands up in dismissal. “Well, this has been enlightening. Come get me when the thing hatches, whenever that is, and we’ll actually have something to work with.”
Her turned to leave, but Cypher’s voice stopped him. “If you wish for it to hatch, then we will need you present. The more of us here, the better. You see, these eggs do not hatch, for lack of a better word, unless there are other lifeforms nearby different from its own kind. A rather curious evolutionary trait. Possibly to preserve the life inside for as long as possible.”
Ramirez’s eyebrows rose with interest. “Why does it need other lifeforms nearby to hatch?”
“Prey,” Houtras answered in a cold voice.
“Indeed,” Cypher agreed. “Which is why the moment it hatches, we’d best vacate the room and seal it inside. For now though, we need you all present to coax the lifeform inside it out of dormancy.”
Fritz’s brow narrowed as she began piecing details together. “Is that why your team consists mostly of synthetics? So you would not be recognized as hosts?”
A smile spread across Cypher’s face, and he looked impressed. “Well done, Dr. Fritz. Indeed, it was decided that a team of artificial personnel would be best suited for this mission since the lifeforms we encountered would not be able to make use of us. However, the hostility of these creatures was not to be denied, which is why we still lost three of us.”
Something Cypher had said, the way he had phrased his words, had caught Scotts’ attention. “What do you mean by ‘make use’ of you? You mean as a food source?”
“Among other things,” was Cypher’s vague reply. “We will explain everything to you once the specimen has hatched. It shouldn’t be much longer now.”
And so they waited. Minutes ticked by where they watched the egg, waiting for something to happen. Living things usually took a few minutes to wake up after being thawed out from cryo-freeze. The process wasn’t all that different from hypersleep, which was used for long space travels, but thus far, the egg showed no signs of life. Alice quickly grew bored and left her place by the window, but the others continued to watch and wait.
Finally, something happened. A loud hissing noise was heard, like air escaping, and it came from the egg. All those present were suddenly on high alert, their attention now completely on the egg.
Slowly, the top of the egg opened, the X-shaped slit sliding its four edges back as if it were unfolding. Cypher slowly raised his hand and motioned for them to back away. “Everyone, please leave the room and lock the doors,” he ordered.
No one contradicted him as they all backed out of the rom. Ramirez hit a button, and the door slid shut, then pressed another button to lock it. The door was mostly glass though, the same kind as Alice’s room, allowing them to still see inside, and even Alice returned to the window to observe once more.
Inside the room, the creature inside the egg had detected the presence of other lifeforms and rose from its slumber. With the egg’s pouch open, it tore through the thin membrane covering and began to climb its way out, sensing that the lifeforms that had awoken it had retreated, but were still nearby, and it tried to pinpoint their location.
The scientists looked on with great interest as what seemed to be long, boney, slime-covered fingers appeared at the top of the egg. Something was crawling out of the egg, but it was too far away, in the center of the room, for them to get a look at what was inside just yet. Thus far, it didn’t look like it was going to be anything pleasant.
“This is being recorded, is it not?” Cypher asked, not taking his eyes off the emerging creature.
Fritz was unable to look away as well, but gave a small nod. “We have built in cameras in this section of the station for the purpose of monitoring Subject 4G2A.”
That seemed to be good enough for Cypher, whose full attention returned to the alien. More of it had emerged, and part of its main body could now be seen. The boney fingers, now grasping the edge of the egg, seemed to be spider-like or crab-like legs, though they did indeed seem to move more like fingers. What the rest of it looked like, the scientists could only guess, but the androids seemed equally as fascinated.
Suddenly, with surprising agility and mobility, the alien sprang from its egg, leaping straight across the room, and slapped against the glass of the door, making all those standing behind it leap back in surprise. With the alien now fully removed from the egg, they now got a good look at it.
It did indeed resemble a spider-like creature with pale, flesh colored skin. Its legs took up the front of its body, and two sacks rested on either side of it just beneath is legs. A long tail hung down beneath it, whipping around in a frenzy. With it pressed against the glass the way it was, its underside was revealed to them, and it almost resembled a woman’s genitalia. And from its vagina-like opening, an appendage that looked very much like a phallus emerged, rubbing over the glass.
Its slimy underside allowed it to stick to the glass for a few moments before it dropped down. It immediately got back up though, and threw itself at the glass again, but achieved no better results. And after several rather aggressive pounces, it seemed to give up on trying to get through the glass, and instead began scurrying about the room, looking for a way out. At one point, it leapt up onto the table and then jumped at the window separating it and Alice, causing her to hop back in surprise, then it began running around the room again, its tail trailing behind it.
As the alien scurried around the room, both Cypher and Fritz leaned in close to the door. “You do remember the accommodations I mentioned?” the former asked. “This creature can produce acidic excretions. We don’t want it melting its way through.”
Fritz nodded, not taking her eyes off the alien. “This is four inches of metallic glass. It won’t be getting through here so easily.”
Cypher nodded, satisfied by this, and they proceeded to watch the alien run about for the next few minutes. Finally though, it seemed to realize that it could not get out, and it turned to look at them. Though it seemed to lack eyes, it was very clearly looking at them, or so it felt.
Rogers finally tore his eyes away from the alien and looked at the androids. “What the hell is that thing?”
Cypher smiled widely. “I believe Dawn and Lana can answer that.”
(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)-(-)
As it turned out, the answer to Rogers’ question consisted of an entire presentation that had been put together during the journey back from LV-426. While Houtras had been in hypersleep, the androids did not require to be put in such a hibernative state, and so had been able to go over their research and create said presentation.
Both groups now stood around a projection table as Lana and Dawn booted it up while Cypher provided some backstory. “The specimen you have just witnessed is a lifeform the Company has been trying to obtain for quite some time now. They first became aware of it over 200 years ago. It was apparently discovered on a crashed extraterrestrial ship on Acheron LV-426, one of the four moons of Calpamos, the fourth planet in the Zeta² Reticuli system, located approximately 39 light years away from Earth.
“The crew of the USCSS Nostromo was the first to make contact with the lifeform, but any attempt to obtain a specimen failed. LV-426 was later colonized, and this colony eventually encountered these lifeforms, which spread their nest to the colony. Due to a few mishaps, the colony and the nest that had spread to it were wiped out during a meltdown.
“Another specimen was found to be on the ship with the survivors, but was, unfortunately, lost as well. Thus, the Company decided to send a new team made up primarily of artificial personnel to find the original extraterrestrial ship the Nostromo came across in the hopes of obtaining a specimen.”
Scotts soaked in all this information, his brain working furiously. Some of this was familiar to him. He had read about it in the confidential files regarding extraterrestrial activity, where he had read up on the cases Cypher had mentioned.
“I looked into these case files,” he told him. “These creatures were labeled as extremely hostile. They’re responsible for over 150 deaths. In fact, there was a former employee, Ellen Ripley, who gave her life in an attempt to wipe these things out. She believed that if they were ever brought to Earth that it would mean the end of the human race. And based on the death toll involved with them, her concerns seem justified.”
His statement was met with silence by everyone. Even Fritz, who usually regarded anything a man had to say with condescension, seemed to be taking what he said into consideration. Cypher, however, gave no emotional reaction, which wasn’t necessarily uncommon for androids.
“While it is true that the species is highly aggressive and hostile,” he replied, sounding as if he were choosing his words very carefully, “so are many animal species on Earth. If the correct precautions are taken, there is no reason the situation would not be manageable, just like with any dangerous animal.”
Scotts had to admit, he had a point, but he wasn’t entirely convinced. It appeared that Ramirez wasn’t either as she spoke up. “Ellen Ripley died trying to see to the extermination of these creatures. If she truly believed these things were this much of a threat, then perhaps whether anyone interacts with them or not should be taken into consideration.”
Scotts gave a nod in her direction. “I’m inclined to agree.”
Cypher raised an eyebrow. “With all due respect, Dr. Ramirez, Dr. Scotts, while Ellen Ripley was indeed correct that these creatures pose a notable threat, just as any dangerous creature, her opinion on the matter is, and I believe you would agree, rather biased due to her experiences. There have been countless instances where people have been attacked by wild animals, and have developed a paranoia and deep hatred of the species. A diver, for example, that had been attacked by a shark, may develop a great disdain and even a phobia of sharks due to the experience, and thus view them all as nothing more than ruthless killers the world would be better off without, despite all evidence to the contrary. Or perhaps a similar situation would arise with a hiker’s violent encounter with a bear.
“With Ripley’s bad experience, not to mention the undoubtable PTSD she developed, and her need to be in therapy afterwards, coupled with the shock that she had been in hypersleep for nearly 60 years, during which she lost her entire family to time, it is more than safe to assume that her opinion on the matter is not to be fully taken at face value. And if you read her report on her encounter, I’m sure you’ll have found it to be rather paranoid and biased.”
Scotts’ brows furrowed. He had, in fact, read Ripley’s report, and he had to admit, it was a rather doom and gloom account. His time studying psychiatry did indeed give merit to Cypher’s claim that Ripley’s judgment had been clouded due to her experience. And his point that if the correct precautions had been made, that the situation might not have been so tragic, as such was the case with the precautions taken regarding Alice, was also something to consider.
Ramirez, however, didn’t appear to be convinced. “I read those reports as well,” she said, sounding even more uncertain than Scotts had been. “Several times actually. Some of what I read, aside from the threat the aliens presented, was rather concerning. If I recall, the science officer on the Nostromo was an android who was ordered to bring back a specimen back at all costs, even at the cost of the crew. This was also the case for every interaction with the aliens in question; the people were always expendable. And no, this was not just Ripley’s reports; I dug further, since I wanted to know everything regarding extraterrestrial life.”
Scotts’ eyebrows rose at this. He had read Ripley’s claim that the android, Ash, had attempted to bring a specimen back at all costs, even attempting to kill the crew to do so, but when he had investigated the situation further, this seemed to have been chalked up to the android malfunctioning. And his model had been known for having glitches. This was also prior to all androids being programmed to never harm or allow harm to come to humans. The explanation had seemed reasonable, and so he had dismissed any concerns he’d had about it, but if Ramirez had found actual orders, and on more than one occasion, that bringing back a specimen took priority over the lives of others, then that was concerning.
Cypher cocked his head to the side. “I have no knowledge of such things. However, I can assure you that if those orders were given, they were from a long time ago. It is irrelevant anyway, as the situation is completely different from back then. Circumstances have changed, as have priorities. The specimen was brought to the Atlas specifically to avoid presenting any potential threats to society.”
“And what about the rumors that the Company is attempting to clone Ripley?” Ramirez challenged. “I heard a few of those circulating while investigating.”
Scotts nodded in agreement. “I’ve heard them as well, but I never thought about them much. Why would the Company want to clone the person who intentionally sabotaged their attempts to get one of these specimens?”
Before Cypher could provide an answer, Fritz cleared her throat. “Wild rumors are commonplace among any work force, especially so in fields of study like ours. I would think, Dr. Scotts, that you would be smart enough not to put such merit in mere rumors with no evidence to back them up.”
Scotts considered retaliating, but at that moment, the hologram protector powered on, and Cypher turned to it with a smile. “Ah, I see we’re ready. And now, if you please, I will allow Dawn and Lana to take over from here.”
Dawn pressed a few buttons on the control, and a hologram of the egg they had brought appeared. Everyone gathered around as the three-dimensional transparent model rotated in front of them.
“We spent several weeks observing the species,” Lana explained as she presented the hologram to them. “Using the information we already had on these creatures, we have managed to provide a lifecycle display for these creatures that have been dubbed as Xenomorphs XX121.”
Scotts already knew the name from reading the reports, but this was apparently the first time Rogers had heard it, and a snort of laughter escaped him, drawing everyone’s attention. “Sorry, but the name sounds like it’s from that old kids show, Power Rangers.”
No one else seemed to find this funny, and Fritz in particular seemed especially displeased. “If you are finished,” she said in an especially condescending tone, “perhaps we can stay focused.”
Lana gave Fritz a grateful nod and returned her attention to the hologram. “All stages of the Xenomorph begin with an egg. This stage can almost be considered a lifeform on its own, similar to how the Portuguese man o’ war jellyfish is made of multiple lifeforms. The egg preserves the infant Xenomorph inside, where it remains dormant until it detects another lifeform different from its own nearby. At which point, the egg will open, releasing the infant Xenomorph.”
Dawn pressed a few buttons on the control panel, and the hologram of the egg opened, and the creature they saw before emerged from it. The egg then faded out, leaving only the spider-like creature behind.
“This is the first stage of the Xenomorph’s lifecycle,” Lana continued. “This stage has been dubbed the Manumala noxhydria, or simply the Facehugger. Rather than truly living, it serves only a single purpose, and that’s to find a host to impregnate.”
Sanders, who apparently had also not read the files that Scotts and Ramirez had, blinked and shook her head. “Excuse me, did you say ‘impregnate’?”
Lana nodded. “Indeed.” The hologram of a human appeared. “Facehuggers will seek out any suitable host, at which point they will attach themselves to their prey’s face and put them into a coma in order to lay an embryo in the host.”
They watched as the hologram of the Facehugger crawled up the image of the human, wrapped its tail around their neck, and latched onto their face, its legs grasping their head like a hand.
Rogers gave a brief nod. “Facehugger. Seems appropriate.”
The hologram then changed to show a close up of the Facehugger on the human’s face while providing an internal view of what was happening.
“The Facehugger will keep its host alive as it impregnates it. After gestation, with its purpose fulfilled, the Facehugger will detach itself from its host and die. The embryo, however, will go on to attach itself to the inside of the host, much the way standard impregnation with mother and child occurs through mating. It will then grow and develop, taking on traits of its host, presumably for the purpose of adapting to its host’s environment and obtaining useful traits from its host. This whole process takes place over the course of just a few hours. The gestation period varies based on the species of the host and the type of Xenomorph it is, of which we’ll get into later.”
As Lana had been talking, Dawn had moved the presentation along, and the hologram of the Facehugger had detached from the human, put some distance between them, then rolled over and died with its legs curling up like a dead insect.
“So these creatures are parasitic,” Fritz surmised. “This doesn’t seem to be a symbiotic relationship.”
Lana shook her head. “It’s not. The Xenomorphs are entirely parasitic.”
“More like rapists,” Ramirez commented dryly.
“To us, perhaps,” Dawn replied. “To them, this is merely their lifecycle. In fact, there is a species of wasp that lays its eggs inside living caterpillars that later eat their way out. It’s not so different.”
“Except it’s not an impregnation,” Fritz countered, somewhat hostile. She studied the hologram of the dead Facehugger. “Is the Facehugger a separate lifeform from the embryo it injects into its host, or does it gestate its own essence of sort in them and sheds its previous form?”
A smile spread across Cypher’s face. “That is one of the mysteries we hope to solve. Since the Facehugger still lives for a brief period after impregnating its host, it can be theorized that it is separate. Or perhaps they are the same creature, and this brief period of life it exhibits is merely reflexes imitating life. Or perhaps its acts like a worm cut in half, or the severed arm of a starfish, only it will not grow a new body. Thus far, we believe, once more, that it is indeed similar to the man o’ war, with it being multiple organisms making up a single creature.”
He nodded to Dawn, and she moved the presentation along, the hologram now displaying the full human again.
“After the embryo fully develops,” Lana continued, “the Xenomorph enters its next stage, one that we call a Chestburster. True to its name, this creature hatches its way out of its host, typically bursting out of its chest, killing it in the process.”
Sanders’ hand went to cover her mouth as she watched an eel-like creature emerge from the chest of the human in the hologram. It wriggled free, and the human disappeared as the presentation zoomed in on the serpentine creature.
“This is a very short-lived stage,” Lana explained. “In just a few hours, the Chestburster will grow in the way a tadpole does into a frog, or a larva into a wasp, shedding its skin and entering its final stage, a fully developed Xenomorph, typically about seven to eight feet tall. Their physiology varies depending on what kind of host they had, a result of what we refer to as the DNA reflex, but their overall form is basically the same.”
The image of the Chestburster grew to a large size, developing limbs and losing its serpentine form to reveal a rather monstrous bipedal creature with a long cylinder-shaped head, a lethal tail, deadly claws, and what appeared to be four tube-like dorsal spines growing out of its back. Its skin seemed to possess a mesoskeleton outer shell that almost gave it a biomechanical appearance. It seemed to lack cheeks, rather, its upper and lower jaws were held together by strands of sinew.
“Juvenile Xenomorph’s can be identified by their smooth carapace craniums, while older, more mature ones develop a rigid texture. This also seems to stem from each Xenomorph developing into the kind that its nest needs.”
The smooth, dome-like carapace on the Xenomorph’s head developed the ridges in question, but Lana merely glossed over this detail before moving on.
“From what we have determined, there are three main kinds of Xenomorphs, and they act as a hive, not unlike ants or bees. The most common of these are the drones or workers, scientific name, Internecivus raptus. Their primary purpose is to expand the nest and obtain more hosts for other Facehuggers. They drag their still living prey back to the nest, where they cocoon them to be hosts.”
The image suddenly changed, and another larger Xenomorph appeared. It was almost identical in appearance to the previous one, with a few small distinctions. Aside from being larger, it stood up straighter, while the previous one slouched more. Its tail was now thinner, lacking the plate-like ridges down its length, and ended in more of a hook that was more similar to that of a scorpion stinger rather than a spear.
“The second kind can be classified as a soldier or warrior, Linguafoeda acheronsis. They’re even more aggressive and are more likely to kill prey rather than bring them back as hosts. Their primary function seems to be to find food and protect the nest. While both soldiers and workers will take on each other’s roles at times, they do seem to stay mostly true to their primary function. Which brings us to the last type.”
Dawn hit a button, and the Xenomorph shrank down to a much smaller size, but only to have a giant monstrous creature appear beside it as a size comparison. This creature was still clearly a Xenomorph, but very different in appearance. Rather than a long domed-shaped head, it was almost shaped more like a crown, and it also had two additional smaller arms growing out of its chest. Most notable though, was the giant mass of flesh that it sat upon, very reminiscent of a termite queen with its massive egg sac.
“The queen,” Lana explained. “Typically about 14 to 15 feet tall, it serves the same function of queens in the insect kingdom, like bees, ants, and, most similarly, termites. She’s completely immobile due to the size of her ovipositor, but no less deadly than her offspring, and she spends her days laying eggs to start the cycle all over again, usually producing 15 an hour.”
The image of the queen shrank down, and holograms of the soldier and worker Xenomorphs appeared, along with the egg, Facehugger, and Chestburster.
“Each stage of the Xenomorph is dangerous in its own right. Their primary method of attack are their tails and an extendable pair of inner pharyngeal jaws that can reach up to half a meter, and are capable of biting through certain metals.” The holograms of the three Xenomorphs stabbed with their tails, and then opened their mouths and shot out a second set of extendable jaws that snapped at the air. “But they also have a great defense mechanism, as each stage possesses a type of molecular acid for blood, which they are also capable of spitting. Their adaptability is immense as well, allowing them to live in almost any environment.”
Scotts’ eyebrows rose with interest. From what he was hearing, these Xenomorphs would make a spectacular specimen. He could see why the Company would want them for their bio-weapons division.
“In addition to adapting to their environment,” Lana continued, “Xenomorphs will also convert and reshape their environment to be more suitable for them and their hive. In fact, without a queen, both soldiers and workers will try to create a new nest and increase their numbers. Somehow, they are able to produce a secretion and use other organic and inorganic material to construct new eggs. How they are able to do this is, as of yet, unknown, but it is something we hope to figure out; it could even be of great benefit for improving and expanding human reproduction. It’s presumed they will do this until a new queen is born to start a new colony.”
Another Facehugger appeared, only this one was larger, had webbings between its legs, and spikes going down its back. “These have been dubbed Royal Facehuggers. They develop when an egg is exposed to a kind of royal jelly, much like the way new queen bees form. Unlike they’re kin, Royal Facehuggers are capable of implanting an embryo in more than one host. The first embryo is always a queen, and any that follow are either soldiers or workers, presumable to protect and aid the new queen in creating a new nest. In fact, the royal jelly is even capable of turning standard Xenomorphs into queens. It’s really quite intriguing.”
Sanders let out a snort of laughter. “Intriguing, maybe, but I don’t see how exactly their reproduction or development can benefit humanity. And with how big the human population is, I don’t think we need any help with it anyway.”
“We may if one of these things gets loose on Earth,” Ramirez argued. “I can see why Ripley was so paranoid. A single Xenomorph could actually start an entire plague of its kind. From the sound of it, these things are akin to parasitic locusts whose sole purpose is to wipe out and replace other species with their own. Their whole function is to breed more of their kind by killing off other species. They’re basically living viruses.”
Dawn gave her a blank look. “Your concerns have been considered already. Why do you think we brought the specimen here instead of taking it directly to Earth? It’s so we can learn everything we need to about it so we can take the proper precautions for when we do eventually bring it to Earth.”
Rogers nodded at the images of the Xenomorphs. “It’s going to be hard to do that unless you’re able to bring your Facehugger to adulthood.”
Cypher raised an eyebrow at this. “And what makes you think we won’t be able to?”
No one said anything as he let these words sink in. The implications slowly registered to Scotts, and he felt his stomach drop out from beneath him.
“You can’t be serious!” he exclaimed in outrage. “You can’t sacrifice an innocent life just to get one of those…” he motioned towards the image of the Xenomorphs, “monsters!”
Cypher cocked his head to the side. “And why can’t we?”
“Because it’s murder!”
“Calm down!” Fritz scolded him. “No one said anything about murder. If you had been paying attention, you would have heard them say that these Facehuggers will use any suitable host, not just humans. Perhaps they plan to use something like a cow, or maybe chimpanzee if they want to use something close to a human. Even if they did want to use a human, there are plenty of criminals on death row who could be used so their deaths wouldn’t be in vain.”
Sanders shook her head in disgust. “That’s no way for a person to die. Not even an animal. It’s sick and barbaric.”
“As was much medical science,” Fritz countered, “and yet look at the wonders it’s done in the long run. I think we can all agree that it was worthwhile, even if it wasn’t the most pleasant way of finding those answers. The point is moot anyway, as we don’t know what the Company’s plans are yet.”
Scotts’ eyes returned to then holograms of the Xenomorphs, and he wondered just what exactly the Company’s plan actually was.

(A/N: And that's chapter 2. I said there'd be data dumping, but I hoped it was informative. I've always been a big Alien fan, but it still took quite a bit of research to get all this information. But now that all that is done with, we can get to the main focus of the story from here on out. I know that everyone here is an original character, but based on how this chapter and last chapter went, you can probably tell who the main character is. Or can you? Expect a lot of twists and turns you wouldn't expect to occur. By the way, I don't know if you could tell, but I named Dr. Scotts after Ridley Scott. I just couldn't resist. So let me know how you think of the setup, and we'll get to the main story next time. Which leads to this important announcement.)
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Alien-Species	By : moviefan Category: 1 through F > Alien (All Movies) > Alien (All Movies) Views: 2131 -:- Recommendations : 0 -:- Currently Reading : 1
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