Why did the E.E.V not have any weapons stored inside?

[Xenomrph]

Yeah, but if they were able to arm some of them (or even just Ripley) I suspect they could have shot and killed 1 Alien without losing TOO many of their numbers. The reason they all died is partly because they were unarmed and constantly fleeing.

Even if they waited until they believed Ripley's story and then made a concerted effort to flush it out and kill it, at worst they'd have lost Boggs, Rains, Murphy, Clemens, and Andrews.
Sure they're not trained soldiers, but obviously once Andrews bought it they started listening to Ripley. Ripley knows how to kill Aliens using guns, she mowed down like 6 in close quarters in the Queen's chamber with the same magazine and they almost got the drop on her. Dillon and Aaron probably know how to take care of themselves with a gun, and I bet at least a handful of the other prisoners have used a firearm before in their lives.

Point is I'm pretty sure that if the prisoners worked together they could have taken out 1 Alien using some guns.

But you're right about the narrative - in fact, wasn't there some script draft that had Hicks survive the EEV crash and he actually has a pulse rifle with some bullets, but manages to miss the Alien when he has the opportunity to shoot it?

[SM]

Might've been in the Anchorpoint script.

One Alien versus a bunch of dudes with guns in a non-pressurised environment, yes, would lead to a dead Alien fairly sharpish.

Which is why it's not good having such a situation continue for any length of time if one wants an entertaining story.  Have to remove the chance to simply shoot whether it's threat of acid damage, rupturing cooling systems, or minimal ammo.

[Xenomrph]

I'm not sure it was the Anchorpoint script, I could've sworn there was some script that was essentially the same as what the movie ended up being, only Hicks survived the crash. He ended up being the only survivor of the movie aside from Morse, too.

But yeah, it solves the narrative problem by having minimal ammo and Hicks ends up accidentally wasting it, so they end up being back at square 1.

[SM]

Don't recall any Alien3 script with Hicks other than Anchorpoint.

[StrangeShape]

I have no problem with EEV not having weapons stored

1. This is like a mini hospital, it has tubes to sustain life, the bio scanners etc. Its lilke a medical capsule, not a tank
2. The universe is not at war. Why would someone assume that the safe boat would land on a hostile planet and pack it with weapons?

My only problem with EEV is the ridiculous flaw of it not being able to land (!!!), a parachute of some kind would have been logical. Its used by NASA for decades

[SM]

It was damaged during the evac in the novel.

Sadly this wasn't conveyed in the film at all which made it look dumb.

[StrangeShape]

Sadly this wasn't conveyed in the film at all which made it look dumb.

Unfortunately.

[Xenomrph]

2. The universe is not at war. Why would someone assume that the safe boat would land on a hostile planet and pack it with weapons?

Well because it's a military vessel, often sent on combat operations. Sure this isn't the grim dark future where there is always war, but in most circumstances if a combat-ready ship is forced to evacuate the crew it's likely because of something combat-related. If you have to evacuate your combat ships a lot due to mundane mechanical failures and other non-combat-related things, odds are you designed your ship poorly.

[StrangeShape]

2. The universe is not at war. Why would someone assume that the safe boat would land on a hostile planet and pack it with weapons?

Well because it's a military vessel, often sent on combat operations. Sure this isn't the grim dark future where there is always war, but in most circumstances if a combat-ready ship is forced to evacuate the crew it's likely because of something combat-related. If you have to evacuate your combat ships a lot due to mundane mechanical failures and other non-combat-related things, odds are you designed your ship poorly.

Yeah but the ejected EEV will more likely drift in space or end up in a very different place. Plus, the EEV's are for cryotubes, so that means the crew isnt fighting or at war or in a war zone at the time. And since there's no war in the universe (at least none was ever hinted), theres no reason to assume the rescue boat will coincidentally run into hostile situation

[Richardus]

This is like a mini hospital, it has tubes to sustain life, the bio scanners etc. Its lilke a medical capsule, not a tank[/i]

I agree E.E.V is to sustain life such having bio scanners, rations and first aid. What I do question is why it did not require few firearms e.g. one or two pulse rifles or even handgun as safety precaution just in case. I 'm not saying it should be equipment with whole assembly of weapons for full scale war. Just as safety measure. Just like in AVP when Alexia questioned Adele having firearm all way in Antarctic and she explained she did not indeed using it just to have one in case.

[StrangeShape]

But not everyone on Sulaco was a licensed marine. What if the ship was full of survivors? Even Ripley and Burke couldnt carry a gun. Who would know which EEV would be full of civilians or even maybe some prisoners, and which would have been filled with marines?

Or take the movie itself as an example. Lets say the EEV had a couple of pulse rifles. Now, doube Y chromosome convicts recover them...

[Xenomrph]

2. The universe is not at war. Why would someone assume that the safe boat would land on a hostile planet and pack it with weapons?

Well because it's a military vessel, often sent on combat operations. Sure this isn't the grim dark future where there is always war, but in most circumstances if a combat-ready ship is forced to evacuate the crew it's likely because of something combat-related. If you have to evacuate your combat ships a lot due to mundane mechanical failures and other non-combat-related things, odds are you designed your ship poorly.

Yeah but the ejected EEV will more likely drift in space or end up in a very different place. Plus, the EEV's are for cryotubes, so that means the crew isnt fighting or at war or in a war zone at the time. And since there's no war in the universe (at least none was ever hinted), theres no reason to assume the rescue boat will coincidentally run into hostile situation

The point is that whatever forces a combat-ready ship to evacuate its crew is likely something hostile (since it's a combat-ready military ship generally sent into presumably-hostile situations, otherwise why bother sending in armed Marines?), so packing some weapons isn't really unreasonable.

[StrangeShape]

2. The universe is not at war. Why would someone assume that the safe boat would land on a hostile planet and pack it with weapons?

Well because it's a military vessel, often sent on combat operations. Sure this isn't the grim dark future where there is always war, but in most circumstances if a combat-ready ship is forced to evacuate the crew it's likely because of something combat-related. If you have to evacuate your combat ships a lot due to mundane mechanical failures and other non-combat-related things, odds are you designed your ship poorly.

Yeah but the ejected EEV will more likely drift in space or end up in a very different place. Plus, the EEV's are for cryotubes, so that means the crew isnt fighting or at war or in a war zone at the time. And since there's no war in the universe (at least none was ever hinted), theres no reason to assume the rescue boat will coincidentally run into hostile situation

The point is that whatever forces a combat-ready ship to evacuate its crew is likely something hostile (since it's a combat-ready military ship generally sent into presumably-hostile situations, otherwise why bother sending in armed Marines?), so packing some weapons isn't really unreasonable.

But here's another point. Sulaco was an old, armored freighter but it was still more of a cargo ship according to Syd Mead - http://www.jamescamerononline.com/SydMeadQA.htm

[Xenomrph]

It has a bunch of big guns on it, and it has onboard nukes for nuking sites from orbit (when that's the only way to be sure).

It's definitely a combat-ready ship, carrying combat-ready personnel loaded for bear (with multiple dropships filled with missiles and stuff).

If we're going with stuff not in the movies, there's always the Technical Manual that gives full specs on the Sulaco. Old? Maybe, but a cargo ship she is not.

[StrangeShape]

Its not some comic book EU knowledge tho. The guy who designed it said its not a warship and never designed it as such. An armored freighter, but not a warship