A:CM plot surprisingly close to Aliens Colonial Marines Technical Manual (1997)

Started by gold, Sep 16, 2016, 10:15:32 PM

Author
A:CM plot surprisingly close to Aliens Colonial Marines Technical Manual (1997) (Read 31,219 times)

gold

gold

Edit: when reading this remember that D15 is Science Division within WY.

In the Aliens Colonial Marines Technical manual (1997) it states that the Shinyo Maru was sent as an extraction team to LV 426 to investigate the disappearance of the Sulaco (and Carter Burke) and rescue survivors.

But the Shinyo Maru found D15 Science Division already there (WY faster-than-light ship: Resolute),...a blue-on-blue was narrowly avoided through share negotiations by Trudeau.

This is where the plot of Sega Aliens: Colonial Marines and the Stasis Interrupted DLC videogame comes from.

From the ACMTM:

COMFILE /28//sic.shinyom/1119476/savA
SAFARI FLASH.
TO: MANDEC RDIV
SUBJ: REDDOG ONE. EXTRACTION TEAM ON STATION EFFECTIVE SEP 132130. OBJECTIVE 2,000 METERS NE. WILL EXPEDITE. CAMLAC 2 OUTFIRE REPORTS FRIENDS PRESENT IN FORCE. REPEAT, IN FORCE. REQUEST WEAPONS FREE. STANDBY.

PLAYBACK FF//3945698/w-yut.Gwy/Res/C39 Sep 14 23:59:00 2179

"The Shinyo Maru confirms, sir. Science Division are on-site at the derelict. Tanaka wants orders. Should he arrange an accident?"
"Not yet. Tell him to keep his powder dry. First I need to negotiate with Trudeau on a secure line. If he's smart, he won't try and muscle us out of the bonus share."

COMFILE /28//sic.shinyom/234288/savH
FLASH.
TO: MANDEC RDIV
SUBJ: REDDOG ONE. ALL ONE BIG HAPPY FAMILY HERE. HAVE RECOVERED TWO LOST BABIES. SHARE PROSPECTS EXCELLENT. MSG ENDS.

END PLAYBACK


The A:CM game neatly follows on from the Technical Manual:

The crew of the Shinyo Maru rediscover the derelict and find D15 (Science Division) already there. This is the Weyland Yutani FTL Resolute as shown in A:CM.

A "blue on blue" is narrowly avoided by financial negotiations regarding the share value. They then recover two eggs for the Science Division. The Origin facility is established immediately, continuing Project Ilythia on site. The Shinyo Maru is already gone by the time the Sephora arrives, but the Resolute is still there.

So the Resolute (D15 Science Division) arrives first at LV426 after Carter Burke's botched mission. Then the Shinyo Maru (Weyland Yutani) arrives, but "keeps its powder dry".

The poor Sephora (sent by the Marine corps who don't know anything) arrives last.

The plot of A:CM is actually carefully thought out, it really gives off that 1986 Aliens corporate vibe as illustrated in the movie and the A:CM TM. The plot is actually surprisingly consistent and good.



EDIT: Science Division (D15) is actually the shadowy component in WY. Taken from the TM:

""Christ, yeah. Oh, the one thing that did check out was Ripley's claim about Ash. Someone did order a synthetic aboard the Nostromo as a replacement Science Officer shortly before it left Thetis. I don't know who it was made the order, but it would imply that Science Division was running the show—"

—As they are now. What goes around—"

"Problem is, we're still in the dark; without the data held by D15 (Science Division)-"

"Listen, CONRAD and Tokyo have given me a wide degree of latitude on this, but I'm under orders. All I can say is that Bioweapons and D15 have got the situation locked down tight. I can't tell you anything else."

"Rumiko, have you read this?"

"Yes, I had the testimony downloaded to my terminal." "Where in hell did they get this from?"

"I do not know. Science Division are saying they have a new data source. They are holding back until the bonus situation is cleared."
(the datasource is= See my post below)


Xenomrph

Yeah, A:CM's plot drawing from the last chapter of the Tech Manual was one of the things I liked the most.

SM

Writing in video games is generally neither here nor there for me, and while I don't dispute it's always fun shooting Aliens, this was quite possibly the worst written video game I've ever played.

(Also, as an aside, CMTM was published in 1995)

Local Trouble

Was "oorah to ashes" from the CMTM or was that a Mikey Neumann original?

Xenomrph

Quote from: Local Trouble on Sep 18, 2016, 02:44:49 AM
Was "oorah to ashes" from the CMTM or was that a Mikey Neumann original?
That shit was a Mikey Neumann original.


Quote from: SM on Sep 17, 2016, 10:23:01 PM
Writing in video games is generally neither here nor there for me, and while I don't dispute it's always fun shooting Aliens, this was quite possibly the worst written video game I've ever played.

(Also, as an aside, CMTM was published in 1995)
The nuts and bolts dialogue had issues, but I was okay with the overarching plot for the most part (and as mentioned, I liked that it drew from the ending of the CMTM),

Local Trouble

Was it your ideal sequel to Aliens?

windebieste

windebieste

#6
Quote from: Local Trouble on Sep 18, 2016, 08:29:57 PM
Was it your ideal sequel to Aliens?

Given that it's already got a sequel, then it's still open for one.  At least one in spirit, but let's take it in an altogether unexpected direction.

After events of 'ALIEN 3', the crew of the Patna discover the location of the Sulaco.  They go and investigate.  A boarding party of 5 APE suited WY enter the ship and explore the empty vessel.  They recover the ships closed and encrypted security recordings.  On the return journey to their boarding craft to return to the Patna, they discover some eggs - 2 are open, 1 is sealed.  One of the Mercs gets face hugged and the other 4 have to drag him back onto the boarding craft and return to the Patna.

Back on the Patna, the WY science personnel break the encrypted recordings and discover how the eggs got aboard the Sulaco, which they find out by watching recordings of what happened in the dropship bay with Ripley battling the Queen.  They find out that 3 proto  huggers had been drop from between its legs and they hastily speed into safer places amongst the cargo and other equipment.  Viewing other recordings shows them growing into eggs, with 2 of them opening and escaping aboard the EEV with the survivors. 

Meanwhile, the Alien inside the previously face hugged merc emerges.  He dies as expected and the Alien is now loose aboard the Patna.  The armed crew go searching for the creature not knowing that it has since grown by the time they find it.  Having abducted several WY personnel and egg morphed them, there's now more of them.  The Aliens slowly begin to outnumber the pulse rifle wielding WY personnel.  Even fully armed, they fall to the growing numbers - in desperation, some fire fights with the Aliens results in loss of life as acid blood creates hull breaches. 

APE suits, pulse rifles and Aliens; all fighting in cramped locations aboard the Patna - a nice fresh take that retains all the established concepts and adds a few fresh ones.  Eventually, the Aliens take over the ship and Weyland (not played by Henriksen) is finally confronted by them.  He is abducted and cocooned, the ship is now a hived up hulk, lost in space.

THE END. 

Finally, we get a voice over just before the credits roll, a quote from 'ALIENS':  "All this... This bullshit that you think is so important, well, you can kiss all that goodbye!"

...and so, Ripley  'gets the end she deserves' - by having the Aliens wreak vengeance upon WY.  lol.

Of course, this idea retcons 'ALIENS: Colonial Marines', but I don't think most people will mind. 

-Windebieste.

Nostromo

Quote from: windebieste on Sep 18, 2016, 10:06:40 PM
Quote from: Local Trouble on Sep 18, 2016, 08:29:57 PM
Was it your ideal sequel to Aliens?

Given that it's already got a sequel, then it's still open for one.  At least one in spirit, but let's take it in an altogether unexpected direction.

After events of 'ALIEN 3', the crew of the Patna discover the location of the Sulaco.  They go and investigate.  A boarding party of 5 APE suited WY enter the ship and explore the empty vessel.  They recover the ships closed and encrypted security recordings.  On the return journey to their boarding craft to return to the Sulaco, they discover a few eggs - 2 are open, one is sealed.  One of the Mercs gets face hugged and the other 4 have to drag him back onto the boarding craft and return to the Patna.

Back on the Patna, the WY personnel are trying to break the encrypted recordings and discover how the eggs got aboard the Sulaco, which they find out by watching recordings of what happened in the dropship bay with Ripley battling the Queen.  They find out that 3 proto  huggers had been drop from between its legs and they hastily sped into safer places amongst the cargo.  Other recordings show them growing into eggs and 2 of them opening. 

Meanwhile, the Alien inside the previously face hugged merc dies as expected and an Alien is loose aboard the Patna.  The armed crew go searching for the creature not knowing that it has since grown by the time they find it.  Having abducted several WY personnel and egg morphed them, the Aliens slowly begin to outnumber the pulse rifle wielding WY personnel.  Even fully armed, they fall to the growing numbers - in desperation, some fire fights with the Aliens results in loss of life as acid blood creates hull breaches. 

APE suits, pulse rifles and Aliens; all fighting in cramped locations aboard the Patna - a nice fresh take that retains all the established concepts and adds a few fresh ones.  Eventually, the Aliens take over the ship and Weyland (not played by Henriksen) is finally confronted by them.  He is abducted and cocooned, the ship is now a hived up hulk, lost in space.

THE END. 

-Windebieste.

I like this story. A lot more details can be added but nice setup for an Alien type of movie and does not ruin continuity. Can also put a good crew member or civilian or company person to stay alive and create a nice sequel or 2.

Local Trouble

Local Trouble

#8
Am I the only one who never wants to see the head of Weyland-Yutani, much less Weyland himself?

I thought Welles and Fox from the Gibson script were good follow-ups to Burke.  I would have preferred them to Bishop's creator showing up just to show Ripley a friendly face.

windebieste

How about:  Morse and his newly acquired female android companion (that looks suspiciously like Charlize Theron) escape from the infested Patna on the boarding craft back to the Sulaco.  lol. 

-Windebieste.

Local Trouble

Does Morse's vow of celibacy also include androids?

windebieste

Well, that's the big question, isn't it?

Personally, I think Morse would be a great anti-hero - and easy to portray.  Any male British actor of the right age prepared to shave his head and say 'Aw, F*ck!' could just about play the role.  We really need to see a change up from what's becoming the trope of 'Ripley saves the day'.  I think anti-hero is the way to go.

It could be like, well, I guess... Snake Plisskin in Space.  lol. 

-Windebieste

gold

gold

#12
The game with the TemplarGFX mod graphics is actually a completely different game to the stock version. Most reviews on youtube are pretty unanimous that it looks and plays as a great game and feels a true sequel to the '86 movie. It had some memorable quotes too: e.g. Hicks' (Michael Biehn) "Watch the blood!" during firefights.


Edit: I've been thinking about this for weeks now, and I think I solved how the entire Aliens, Alien 3, CMTM logs, and the game tie together.

Bear with me, and remember (the greedy) Burke acted alone in Aliens, to not split his shares of success with anyone at Science Division (Bioweapons projects). That's been accepted for a while now.

I realised that (Patna) Bishop at the end of Alien 3 was the human Michael Bishop after all and not an android. Not only that, but the Michael Bishop executive in WY (see end of CMTM) who sends the Shinyo Maru is an android himself, an impostor/spy controlled by the real (Patna) Michael Bishop (working at D15 science division).

It's how science division is "always one step ahead" of WY as described in the CMTM. They have a man on the inside.

From CMTM (discussing the Bishop 341-B synthetic onboard Sulacos' remains):

"PLAYBACK DD/ cont// ref 17:10:28

"This is very strange, Leigh."
"Hmm? What have you come up with?"
"Look at the android data we captured here. All we received, more or less, were the android logs - all it saw or heard or downloaded; but this comes with a lot of contextual and semantic baggage - code from the operating system. It looks really odd - I've tried running it through ERAP, but my computers just can't make head nor tail of it."
" A custom mod?"
"More than that.This was one very special android. Just look at these responses — this thing was a lot smarter than your usual synthetic; it was making up some of its own emotional responses to events."
"Well, it's a company-built machine. I would have been surprised if it didn't have something buried deep in the system."
"Yeah, but this is more than that — there are these weird reactions to Ripley-"




I think I finally figured out why they added that section to the Technical Manual. It never made sense to me before.
If I'm right, it does now.


Also from the CMTM:


"Rumiko, have you read this?"
"Yes, I had the testimony downloaded to my terminal." "Where in hell did they get this from?"
"I do not know. Science Division are saying they have a new data source. They are holding back until the bonus situation is cleared."



The datasource is Sulaco's 341-B Bishop.


Bishop 341-B aboard Sulaco was feeding data all throughout the Sulaco mission to the real Michael Bishop working for Science Division (D15) onboard the Patna. The "strange reactions" mentioned in the CMTM (above) were because 341-B's  "behavioral inhibitors" were conflicting with the "custom chip". The strange, own emotional responses towards Ripley were because it knew the truth. It knew the ultimate aim of Science Division and was actively taking part in the deception. Hence the above paragraphs in the CMTM.


As soon as the potential of LV426 becomes evident through Burke's transmission and 341-B's (nefarious) reporting, Science Division dispatches two ships to LV426 (Stasis Interrupted spoiler):




1. The bioweapons research vessel Legato.
http://avp.wikia.com/wiki/USS_Legato

Which arrives at the (post nuclear blast but undamaged) derelict site, collects eggs, but finds no queen and is sent to intercept the Sulaco because it knows (through 341-B) the only queen in existence now is onboard the Sulaco (inside Ripley.) It intercepts and docks with the Sulaco, towing it back to Origin Facility. All while having experimented with the eggs it collected on LV426 on colonist hostages, throughout its intercept journey.

(Stasis interrupted spoiler) But mayhem breaks loose with both tethered ships becoming infected, the Legato being destroyed by a colonist (Elisabeth), Hicks being freed and escaping with Stone, Ripley (infected by a queen) jettisoning in the EEV to F161. The Sulaco continuing on its new programmed route back to LV426 (to be boarded by the surprised Sephora weeks later, who has no idea what happened onboard her).

With the loss of the Legato, the U.S.S. Sulaco (now considered "lost") became the makeshift (but primary) research vessel for Science Division at Origin Facility. A fitting end to the "unluckiest ship in the fleet" as the CMTM and novels call her.




2. The Science Division command ship Resolute.
http://avp.wikia.com/wiki/Resolute

To oversee operations at LV426, loading of eggs for experimentation on the Legato and starting Project Ilithyia at the derelict (named after the Ilium range on LV426.) Coincidentally the choice of that word is interesting, it is a variant of the Latin Ilia (one side of the pelvic bone, groin). The Ilium mountain range on LV426 prophetically symbolises not only the pelvic shape of the derelict spacecraft (and phallic shape of the Xenomorph cranium), but Ilium also means birthing in Latin in addition to meaning from Ilion (from Troy / Trojan, where the Greek soldiers "birthed" from the belly of the Trojan horse inside the city of Troy). Also Ilithyia is the Greek goddess of childbirth.

The Resolute is headed by a synthetic Bishop (who, as everyone knows by now, through carelessness on Gearbox' part is incorrectly referred to as "Weyland" throughout the game. Then again, his full name in the canon may be named after Michael Weyland Bishop, either a relative of THE Weyland or a coincidental middle-name likeness). That would explain why in this franchise; androids who admit to being androids call themselves Bishop, while those feigning to be the human Weyland, refer to themselves as such. Gearbox may have been a step ahead of all of us.




By the time (the real) Michael Bishop (Science Division) onboard Patna arrives, he travels straight to Fiorina 161 and not to LV426. Bishop knows (through 341-B) that there is no more queen on Acheron, the only remaining queen is inside Ripley, who has been jettisoned to Fiorina 161. The Patna travels straight there.


He himself doesn't care about eggs, he is after the grand prize, the queen herself (inside Ripley).

As we know, Ripley dies, along with the queen. (The real) Bishop is hit over the head and bleeds like a normal person, and screams "I'm not an android you moron!!". (Stasis Interrupted spoiler) Hicks is taken prisoner and tortured (by the synthetic Bishop captain of the Resolute) to reveal the code to his After-Action Report and distress signal (both incriminating), to prevent further investigations by a rescue party at LV426 and jeopardize Project Ilithya.

The real Bishop (aboard the Patna) is long gone by this point, unknown where to. Project Ilythia (Resolute) eventually manages to create a new queen on LV426 (see: second Acheron queen)
http://avp.wikia.com/wiki/Second_Acheron_Queen


By this time the Science Division spy inside WY (synthetic Michael Bishop) has (as a formality and long overdue) dispatched the Shinyo Maru to LV426 which arrives weeks later on Sept 14th 2179 and finds the Resolute (Science division) there already: (from CMTM)

COMFILE /28//sic.shinyom/1119476/savA
SAFARI FLASH.
TO: MANDEC RDIV
SUBJ: REDDOG ONE. EXTRACTION TEAM ON STATION EFFECTIVE SEP 132130. OBJECTIVE 2,000 METERS NE. WILL EXPEDITE. CAMLAC 2 OUTFIRE REPORTS FRIENDS PRESENT IN FORCE. REPEAT, IN FORCE. REQUEST WEAPONS FREE. STANDBY.

PLAYBACK FF//3945698/w-yut.Gwy/Res/C39 Sep 14 23:59:00 2179

"The Shinyo Maru confirms, sir. Science Division are on-site at the derelict. Tanaka wants orders. Should he arrange an accident?"
"Not yet. Tell him to keep his powder dry. First I need to negotiate with Trudeau on a secure line. If he's smart, he won't try and muscle us out of the bonus share."

COMFILE /28//sic.shinyom/234288/savH
FLASH.
TO: MANDEC RDIV
SUBJ: REDDOG ONE. ALL ONE BIG HAPPY FAMILY HERE. HAVE RECOVERED TWO LOST BABIES. SHARE PROSPECTS EXCELLENT. MSG ENDS.



So a blue-on-blue friendly fire over shares is avoided but it is all a theatre. (Science Division D15 / Patna) Michael Bishop (the android creator) is playing everyone for a fool, including his own Science Division boss (Trudeau) in "agreeing" to the financial negotiations with his own puppet (synthetic) Michael Bishop the WY employee, who everyone thinks is human.

I guess when you are the original human, after whose likeness countless androids have been modelled, you really do have immense power if you are cunning.



In fact, the Sulaco Bishop synthetic, 341-B, ITSELF smuggled the alien facehugger onboard the Sulaco into the hypersleep chambers.


- 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".

- It's WHY the CMTM mentioned it had a unique custom chip installed by an unknown party and strange, conflicted reactions towards Ripley.

- It's WHY it had no problem nuking the atmospheric processor.

- It's WHY it lied to Ripley on Fiorina and made no mention of the Legato docking, Hicks, Stone, etc.

- It's WHY the Patna (real Bishop) travels straight to F161 in the canon.

- It's WHY Andrews' message gets such a quick reply from the Patna regarding Ripley, they knew and were enroute.

It knew all along that Science Division's plan was safe.


The CMTM and plot of the game is genius how it ties everything together.

PS: and if the ENTIRE franchise (Prometheus prequels, Alien, Alien: Isolation, Aliens, Alien 3, Alien Resurrection, CMTM, Aliens: Colonial Marines, WYR) is CANON as Fox have repeatedly said (much to everyones confusion), there you have it:

Hicks alive (Video game)
Ripley alive (Resurrection)

That explains Blomkamps vision, and explains those weird Alien type appendages, masks, etc. on Ripley's face in his concepts. All it needs is a way to transport Hicks into the future from 2179.

A possible line from Blomkamps movie:

Hicks to Ripley, Ripley to Hicks

"I watched you die."

SM

SM

#13
The best bit of genius for mine was how it made the whole escape from Hadley completely redundant by leaving the colony almost entirely intact after a 40 megaton nuclear blast.

Quote- 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".

Why did it jeopardise the specimen by going to pick up Ripley and Newt instead of flying away?

Also how did the suddenly evil Bishop send "live" data when there was no communication uplink after the destruction of the APC?

As it happens I was having a play of Stasis Interrupted yesterday and only just noticed - the fire that caused the evacuation was almost completely absent.

Local Trouble

Quote from: SM on Sep 19, 2016, 02:02:36 AM
The best bit of genius for mine was how it made the whole escape from Hadley completely redundant by leaving the colony almost entirely intact after a 40 megaton nuclear blast.

Wasn't that also a Mikey Neumann original?

AvPGalaxy: About | Contact | Cookie Policy | Manage Cookie Settings | Privacy Policy | Legal Info
Facebook Twitter Instagram YouTube Patreon RSS Feed
Contact: General Queries | Submit News