ALIEN: The Weyland-Yutani Report (S.D. Perry, 160 pages)

[Xenomrph]

and does the events of the origin project being left out mean that colonial marines if officially non canon?

Correct.

Kind of unfortunate, in my opinion.

[HuDaFuK]

In Aliens, Ripley said that her crew was wiped out in less than 24 hours so one would presume that was from the moment of contact until Lambert's big moment.  But granted the officers could have snuck off to fill out all sorts of reports within that time before all the excitement.

She meant from when it was born, I guess. Because Kane's clearly under for quite a long time, and don't Parker and Brett specifically say their repairs will take around 24 hours, and they don't even leave LV-426 until they're done?

[Xenomrph]

Yeah, Parker estimates that the repairs will take about a day, and Kane is under for pretty much that entire time.

[HuDaFuK]

So lots of time for Lambert to write a brief report. Especially as a navigator wouldn't have a whole hell of a lot to do while they're just sat there not moving.

[Perfect-Organism]

Parker's estimations seemed to me to be hyperbole.  Brett gave one figure, then Parker gave another one.  They were trying to make it look like they were doing more work than they really were.  Ultimately, they did not even finish all of the repairs because Dallas gave the order to take off without them.  It's tricky to pinpoint exactly how long it took.

[HuDaFuK]

Regardless, it still obviously took plenty of time for Lambert to jot down a quick report. They had a serious electrical fire on board. It would've taken hours to fix at the very least.

[Perfect-Organism]

Certainly seems like a shorter gestation than Ripley's Queen doesn't it?  In Alien 3 it felt like days went by.  I never really analyzed it too closely, but the way Ripley healed so quickly was amazing.  Perhaps the queen aids in healing before she kills you?

[Corporal Hicks]

The longer period can quite easily be explained as being precisely because she had a Queen gestating inside of her. I also don't think it would be a stretch to say that the chestbursters are capable of providing some additional protection to the host through accelerated healing (I assume you mean her recovery from coming out of hypersleep like she did?) It would make sense they'd want to keep their meat cocoons all healthy. And there does seem to be some sort of genetic crossover during the process so it's possible the embryo can lend its accelerated metabolism and healing.

All hypothetical, of course.

[Xenomrph]

The other (less interesting) explanation is that Alien gestation lasts exactly as long as the plot needs it to.

[426Buddy]

The other (less interesting) explanation is that Alien gestation lasts exactly as long as the plot needs it to.

It is the same for the strength of the acid as well unfortunately.

[HuDaFuK]

The other (less interesting) explanation is that Alien gestation lasts exactly as long as the plot needs it to.

The idea of a Queen taking longer at least seems to make some kind of logical sense.

I also liked the explanation in the novelisation of Resurrection that says Purvis has a medical condition that slows down the growth of the Chestburster inside him, hence why he's still walking around so longer after everyone else has popped, but it never made it into the movie.

[Perfect-Organism]

The other (less interesting) explanation is that Alien gestation lasts exactly as long as the plot needs it to.

The idea of a Queen taking longer at least seems to make some kind of logical sense.

I also liked the explanation in the novelisation of Resurrection that says Purvis has a medical condition that slows down the growth of the Chestburster inside him, hence why he's still walking around so longer after everyone else has popped, but it never made it into the movie.

Oh, that is interesting.  Imagine if the Chestburster actually cured diseases while inside prior to popping?  That would double the horror.

[HuDaFuK]

Oh, that is interesting.  Imagine if the Chestburster actually cured diseases while inside prior to popping?  That would double the horror.

Well according to some old articles on Alien biology Chestburster development causes a whole lot of fatal cancer, so even if you somehow survived the birth you'd soon die anyway.

Yeah, that idea was in ACM, but the concept actually pre-dates the game by like 20 years so I feel OK approving it

[Corporal Hicks]

Oh, that is interesting.  Imagine if the Chestburster actually cured diseases while inside prior to popping?  That would double the horror.

Well according to some old articles on Alien biology Chestburster development causes a whole lot of fatal cancer, so even if you somehow survived the birth you'd soon die anyway.

Was that in the old magazine?

[HuDaFuK]

Yep. Really love those articles. Shame they only ever did the two.