LV-223: RUMOR CONTROL

In search of both immortality and humanity’s origins, the SEV spacecraft the USCSS Prometheus set down on LV-223 at the end of the 21st Century on a mission led by Weyland CEO Meredith Vickers, Drs. Elizabeth Shaw and Charlie Holloway, and company founder Peter Weyland himself. Here, the expedition discovered a series of temples built by an alien race that Dr. Shaw referred to as “the Engineers.” Investigating the nearest structure, the crew found evidence of a toxic outbreak that wiped out the Engineer outpost. That toxin was Chemical A0-3959X.91–15, a viscous black fluid that acts as an evolutionary accelerant on any biological host it contaminates. Through a series of tragic events, some of the crew became infected with the accelerant, resulting in many deaths. A lone Engineer awoken from cryosleep killed Peter Weyland and most of the remainder of the crew. As the Engineer attempted to launch one of its species’ Juggernaut spacecraft on a mission to wipe out humanity, Captain Janek of the Prometheus ignited the SEV’s ion drive in the atmosphere and rammed the alien vessel. The Prometheus was obliterated and the Juggernaut crippled. Only Dr. Shaw and the mission’s synthetic, David 8, survived, escaping LV-223 in another Engineer Juggernaut and heading towards the ubiquitous Planet 4 in Sector 87. Much of what was there when the USCSS Prometheus was destroyed remains on LV-223 nearly one hundred years later. Contaminated by the released accelerant, however, the planet has undergone a metamorphosis in the valley where the damaged Juggernaut crashed. A lush jungle has taken root, producing a breathable atmosphere for those that stay in the area. Abhorrent mutated creatures inhabit the jungle zone, and a strange biomechanical structure has grown there—a living mountain that the moon’s fauna are wary to approach. The Engineer temples and Juggernaut hangers beneath them are still intact, as is a vast supply of Engineer ampules filled with Chemical A0-3959X.91–15. It’s power cells long dead, the Prometheus’ lifeboat still lies on the surface, as does a surprise: the Class 7 Excavator Vessel known as > the Onager. A short range orbital craft assigned to Hadley’s Hope, the ship was used by a group of colonists from Acheron to escape the alien infestation of their colony and make an emergency landing here. Unfortunately, they brought several Plagiarus praepotens with them, and the Xenomorph species turned the Onager into a makeshift hive. The colonists are believed dead. Just like all other biological life, the Xenomorphs have proven to be susceptible to the accelerant as well—resulting in bizarre mutations amongst the hive.