G-435

"Hiveworld"

G–435,^[2] also dubbed Achilles 2.4,^[2] later known as Hiveworld,^[3] having initially been given the misnomer "Homeworld"^[4] by some human scientists, was the fourth of ten^[3] planets orbiting the star Achilles Two^[1][2] in the remote Achilles System. It was a major Xenomorph hiveworld, and was also home to several other species.

Overview

Description

Hidden by twin binary stars, G–435 was at least the size of Earth and featured three major continents and a small ocean.^[5] While the Xenomorph population on G-435 was ultimately determined to not be indigenous, it was unknown how they arrived there in the first place; whether they were intentionally imported, or part of an experiment that had gotten out of control, or from a crashed ship, was academic. Regardless, the Xenomorphs made the world their own and built a number of gigantic Hives, at least one of which housed a Queen Mother.^[6]

Flora and fauna

While the planet featured minimal vegetation,^[2] it hosted indigenous lifeforms, with several avian, mammal or reptile species most likely to play host for the Xenomorphs.^[6] Dr. Waidslaw Orona, once theorized about the possibility of a species thought to compete with the Xenomorphs, thus becoming their only natural predator, but this only remained speculation on his behalf.^[7] The Xenomorphs on G-435 were stronger and quicker than their off-world counterparts, with some appearing to have exoskeletons of varying hues. This quirk may have signified hive allegiance; it was theorized that the color shift was a byproduct of chemical pheromones released in the presence of other hives.^[6] Several Xenomorph types were known to live here such as Facehuggers, Royal Facehuggers, Chestbursters, Crushers, Praetorians, Queens, Empress, Palatines and Queen Mothers. Human and Predator-spawned Drones as well as Runners were not in evidence, due to a lack of such hosts.

Locked in a constant state of dusk, the climate was hot and humid, and the atmosphere was breathable for humans.^[2] While the terrain was mostly flat, the planet was covered with shallow salty seas and swamps, and desert wastelands.^[2] The areas overrun by Xenomorphs were also covered with Hive resin. G-435's scant resources amounted to little more than Royal Jelly and Xenomorphs.^[2]

History

Prior to physical exploration of the planet, research based on a Xenomorph in captivity on Earth led Dr. Waidslaw Orona to speculate about a Xenomorph "homeworld" in a report titled Theory of Alien Propagation. Initially christened "Homeworld", this was later dismissed and designated as just another hiveworld.^[1] It was however, still colloquially referred to as "Homeworld" by some, in the ten years following the "Alien–Earth War".^[4]

In the 2190s, an expedition led by Billie, Wilks and a synthetic copy of Ellen Ripley landed on the planet to abduct the Queen Mother,^[8] starting a civil war between two young Queen Mothers.^[9] An expedition led by billionaire Daniel Grant to retrieve Royal Jelly in order to synthesize a highly addictive drug called Xeno-Zip landed in the middle of this schism and nuked the Red Xenomorph hive, killing the Red Queen Mother; queenless, the rest of the Red Xenomorphs were eradicated by the opposing blacks.^[10]

Behind the scenes

This hiveworld is dealt with in the four first Aliens comics series.

Some different examples of its habitats are shown in the comics, including mountainous terrain (Aliens: Book 1), desert-like steppes with some greenery (Aliens: Genocide), swamps (Aliens: Female War, Aliens: Genocide) and caves (Aliens: Genocide). Also, some examples of other G-435 indigenous species are also shown in these series. There are about four different examples of hives shown in each of the locales.

Queen Mothers: On the issue of the Queen mother of G-435. As per the comics, there was a sort of "super" (not the word used for it in the comics) Queen Mother on the planet that was sending signals out to all the Aliens, at least the ones who had taken over the earth, including the Queens on earth—her signals were also being received somehow by the synthetic Ellen Ripley. This one was captured at its swamp-like hive by Wilks, Billie and the Ripley synthetic, brought back to earth and destroyed. This did serious harm to the Aliens on Earth but did not wipe them all out (all of this information from Aliens: Female War).

Meanwhile back on the hiveworld, once the Super Queen was dead, the Royal Guards split into two factions with two newborn Queens (one red-colored and one black, though the comics editors have said the coloring was just to be able to tell apart the factions and didn't necessarily need to be taken as literal). This lead to a genocidal war between the two factions (red and black) of Xenomorph on the hiveworld (this according to Aliens: Genocide). After the earth had been reclaimed from the Xenomorphs (which took about two years according to Aliens: Crusade), a Grant Corporation mission to the hiveworld sent to try and capture one of the Queens disrupted the war, killing one of the Queens. Meanwhile, Xenomorphs and their hives continued to dot the cosmos.

Hives: The mountainous, temple-like hives on G-435 were first depicted in Aliens: Book One. The design was reused in the first AVP comics series for a hive on another planet, then multiple other Aliens comics (such as Aliens: Hive and Aliens: Labyrinth). The construction of such a hive was shown in Aliens: Theory of Alien Propagation.

Another form of the Alien hive, made up of four pod-like spherical structures connected via rocky tethers in swamp-like area, was first introduced in Aliens: Female War as the home of the Queen Mother and shown again in Aliens: Genocide. The construction of such a hive was shown in Aliens: Genocide.

Gallery

Celestial object adjacent to G–435

A star map showing the location of G–435

Appearances

• Aliens: Outbreak/novel
• Aliens: Theory of Alien Propagation (theorized)
• Aliens: Female War/novel
• Aliens: Genocide/novel
• Aliens: Music of the Spears/novel (mentioned only)
• Alien: The Roleplaying Game

References