I was talking with my friend and we were discussing were the alien franchise went wrong.
We decided the turning point was the 3rd movie, as although I liked it, it made the second kinda pointless and got rid of some good characters.
We both suggested ideas for an alternate storyline to Alien 3 and I came up with this. The film begins near the end of Aliens...
Hudson wakes up with a start. His head is dripping with sweat. His vision is blurry. His face feels numb. He tries to move but realises he is pinned against the wall with sticky black resin.
Trying to control his breathing, which is coming in short gasps, he looks around. He hears the sound of explosions, alarms blaring, the hissing of exposed vents, and everything that has transpired violently rushes back to his mind. Then Hudson thinks he sees figures in the shadows. He cries out for help, but with no answer. After his eyes adjust he sees the figures are the bodies of several of his platoon attached to the hive walls, their bodies contorted, their heads held back, mouths open, as if crying out to God. Their ribcages are fully open, bent outward like twigs, exposing a glistening lump of shredded organs which seep onto the grill floor below. One of them is Detriech. He is still holding his flamethrower against his chest, as if standing to attention.
Did he still have his rifle? Looking down, he sees his rifle is still there... but there is something on it... Hudson's eyes widen. A facehugger. It's legs are curled up like a dead fly. Hudson's mind immediately flashed up images of the colonist they found and her agonising screams as the monster tore out from within. His heatbeat becomes a frantic rhythm. He struggles to break free, but with no success.
Then he stops. Above the faint explosions and sirens, he can hear crying. It is coming from his far left, but Hudson's head is restricted. He cannot see the source of the sound.
'Hello?! Hello!" hudson shouts. "Who's there? Please help me... please!"
Nothing.
A simulated female voice crackles over the intercom, announcing the imminent explosion that will engulf the colony, wiping out everything in 10 square miles. The explosions are now visible down several corridors, lighting up the corpses suspended on the walls like a twisted art gallery.
Hudson panic turns to anger. "Look, I can hear you, I know you are there, now this whole place is gonna blow!! I need your help! Who are you!"
A weak voice is heard.
"H-Hudson?"
It is Burke.
"Burke? You f*cking slimeball... Guess you never made it out either, huh? Well normally I'd kick your ass, but both my legs are glued to the god-damn wall, so I'll delay the asskicking until later. I have no intention of dying here, man! Do you hear me?"
Nothing.
"Do you hear me Burke?! I have no intention whatsoever dyin here like those f*cking colonists or this chicken-sh1t outfit! And I don't think you do either, when there is still money to be made, huh? So for the moment let's be friends, Ok? So... Can you reach my rifle?"
Suddenly drones start rushing down the corridor. Hudson holds his breath, but they scurry by, ignoring Hudson and Burke completely. They seem to be concerned about something else toward the centre of the hive. They rush past, squealing in anger, and are gone.
After a few seconds, Burke responds. "She gave this to me."
Hudson snaps out of a fear-induced trance "What? What are you talking about Burke? Can you hear those alarms? The reactor's gonna blow!"
"The grenade." Burke continues. "She knew I was going to die in pain, and she gave me this to make it painless... Do you think that means she forgives me?"
"Burke? What are you doing?"
There is a small beep. Hudson recognises the sound instantly, and closes his eyes.
There is a bright light, then the sharp pain, then nothing.
When he comes to, he feels a grid pressed against his face. He realises he is on the floor. He is free! He gets up, then immediately winces and collapses. Embedded in his leg is a piece of shrapnel. His hand trembling, he slowly pulls it out and cries out in pain. He shuffles to his feet, limps over to where he was embedded into the wall, and picks up his gun. He looks at the digital display, which glows red under the glistening slime.
It reads '00.'
He lets the rifle drop to the floor, and looks around for an escape. An elevator! Hudson goes as fast as his injured body will permit, his teeth clenched, trying to push away the pain searing from his leg.
A creature drops from the ceiling right in front of Hudson. He takes a couple of steps back, but trips on the hive flooring, and falls on his back. The Alien rushes up to him, it's mouth wide open. Then it stops. It seems to look straight at Hudson through it's eyeless face. It begins to make a strange swaying motion over him, as if smelling the air. It stays still for a second, growls, and leaps over him and into the Hive.
Hudson gasps with relief, but is brought sharply back to reality by a nearby explosion, which showers him in chunks of the hive wall. He picks himself up, and continues to the elevator.
He throws himself inside, collides with the far wall, and rolls toward the elevator control panel. Frantically pushing the button, the elevator doors slowly creak shut, jets of fire licking through the grate as the corridor erupts in flames.
Hudson watches the Hive segments lessen and lessen as the escalator accends past each floor. He winces under a new pain, coming from his chest. It is what he had feared. If he could get the the Sulaco somehow... Maybe Bishop could take it out of him... before... If he made it out...
The elevator jolts to a stop, and the doors slide open. There, on the landing bay, is the other dropship!
"Haha! Hicks! You son-of-a-bitch!!"
Hudson drags himself across the platform, explosions covering the sky around him. The dropship thrusters roar to life. It's taking off!
"Hey, man! Don't leave, man!' he yells, throwing himself at the dropship door which lies open. As he scrambles up the stairway he feels the ground disappear from beneath him. With every bit of strength he has left, he pulls himself inside. Dragging himself through the crew area he looks around. He sees Hicks on the far wall, but he is strapped to a chair, bandaged and out cold.
The dropshop is hit by a blast wave and spins out of control. Hudson is thrown like a ragdoll about the compartment, and the last thing he sees is the observation panels rushing up to meet him.
Hudson awakes to silence. Only the distant hum of electricity. Picking himself up, he crawls out of the dropshop.
He is in the Sulaco! But there is no sign of life. He calls out to anyone but nobody replies. He ventures out on the cargo bay. His foot catches on something, making him stumble. He spins around, and looks at the floor.
An acid burn.
Could they be on the Sulaco?
He calls out again.
"Anybody? It's Hudson!! Hello? Bishop? Vasquez?"
He suddenly clutches his chest, as a sharp pain rushes from his heart and races across his body.
"Bishop! Bishop, man I need you help! Bish..."
He looks down and sees a pair of legs sprawled over a crate. It's waist oozing out white circuits like milk.
"Bishop? What the f*ck is going on?"
Suddenly he feels a movement underneath his vest, a wet sensation tricking down his belly, and then pain. Pain like he had never experienced before. He tries to scream, but his air is swallowed up. He can only gasp as he lies twitching on the floor, his knees pressed against his chest as the convulsions take over.
"Game over, man." he whimpers. With a pop followed by a splash, his organs spill out onto the cargo bay floor. A Queen writhes amongst the entrails, like a fish out of water, the small bloodied jaws squealing the announcement of her arrival. Then the queen looks around, and slowly begins to feed on Hudson's remains. She will need the energy for the journey ahead.
TWO WEEKS LATER
The Sulaco drifts silently through space towards earth.
The ships computer fires up, lightlng up the Hypersleep chamber. An electronic voice is heard.
"STASIS... INTERRUPTED... MULTIPLE... UNKNOWN... LIFEFORMS... DETECTED IN... CRYOGENIC... COMPARTMENT."
Ripley's eyes snap open. She looks up, but there is only darkness. Then she sees shafts of light appearing and dissapearing. The whole window of the chamber seems to be moving... Then she realises the entire pod exterior is covered in facehuggers. There is an audible hiss as they press themselves against the glass. They are slowly eating their way through. She panics, and grabs the intercom.
" Newt! Newt, can you hear me?"
She is replied by a high pitch scream.
"Newt honey, hold on! I'm coming for you!"
Ripley thinks fast. She had an assualt rifle which she had left across the room in a locker. If she could get to it... She grabs some of the bedding from behind her head, ripping it into long shreds. Then she starts crambing it into her mouth.
She takes a long, deep breath through her nose, closes her eyes for a second... then activates the door.
There is a hiss, and the door begins to rise. Ripley puts both feet against the door, pushing out as hard as she can, sending facehuggers left and right. She jumps to her feet and runs across to her locker, a trail of around fifty facehuggers scurrying behind like a swarm of crabs.
She gets to the locker, grabs the gun and sprays bullets at the floor, sending digits and pieces of tail in the air in a fountain of acid.
The facehuggers on Newt's chamber leap off toward their new prey. They are eaten up as Ripley spends another clip.
Ripley runs over and opens up Newt's pod. Spitting out the rags onto the floor, she asks "Are you ok?"
Newt jumps into Ripley's arms.
"You said we would sleep all the way home."
Ripley looks down at her.
"I guess I was wrong, Newt."
So there you have my alternate Alien 3 film... The rest plays out kind of like Alien, but with a queen... And hundreds of facehuggers. Hicks is killed by a chestburster, which produces a drone, and Ripley races to save Newt, stop the Sulaco from getting to earth, and destroying them once and for all.
What do you think?
