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USS Otago

"You know her. She was made to last!"
―(from Aliens: Dark Descent)

The USS Otago was a converted Andastes-class light assault starship assigned to the United States Colonial Marine Corps. In 2198, it was caught up in a Xenomorph outbreak on Lethe.

Overview

The USS Otago, originally an Andastes-class troop carrier, was converted by the United States Colonial Marine Corps into a light assault starship following the Tientsin campaign, and was later used as a mobile base of operations in a similar fashion to the giant Conestoga-class and subsequent Bougainville-class transports. Although smaller than either, it bore a similar visual profile to the aforementioned ships, with an antenna array at the fore and an long, angular hull that tapered into its propulsion unit. It came equipped with the necessities to maintain a detachment of Marines including a barracks to house them, a training bay to improve their skills, a laboratory, a medical bay to treat wounded, a sizable command deck, hypersleep chambers, and a workshop to produce weapons and supplies. The vessel also contained a single hangar with a dorsal blast door capable of deploying a single UD-4 "Cheyenne" Dropship, as well as any attending ground vehicles such as the M577 Armored Personnel Carrier, or the smaller M540 Armored Recon Carrier. The ship was also outfitted for atmospheric flight, able to maintain an aerial position and it could deploy landing gear.

Despite its smaller size and lighter armament, the Otago was incredibly robust, and able to take heavy, sustained bombardment from powerful satellite weapons that destroyed other ships with ease. It was also equipped with an energy shield that granted it further durability. Even after taking a pounding, it proved capable of surviving an orbital entry and crash-landing in Earth-like gravity, taking only days to repair sufficiently before becoming space worthy again.

The structural layout of the Otago also includes a psychiatric care unit with holographic walls, a memorial for deceased personnel, a large reactor room, and a cargo-bay for storage.

History

By 2198, the Otago served as the primary home for a USMC garrison stationed in orbit around the moon of Lethe. Under the command of Captain Cochrane, it was set to undergo proving trials and maneuvers with assistance from the nearby Pioneer Station. This routine procedure turned into a nightmare when a Xenomorph outbreak on Pioneer necessitated the activation of the Cerberus Protocol, placing the system on lockdown. Automated defense satellites opened fire on the unprepared warship, inflicting heavy damage and forcing it to crash land on Lethe's surface. An attempt was made to soften the landing using the ship's landing feet, but to little effect. Despite the damage of orbital entry and impact, the ship fortunately came to rest upright in an open valley and its condition was stabilized. The command staff were all killed by the crash, although Cochrane lived long enough to confer Otago's command to Sergeant Jonas Harper.

Over the coming days, the Otago was rapidly repaired and turned into a static base of operations for the Marines, as well as a secure haven for survivors of the outbreak which had also been spreading across the moon as well. The collapsed interior was reopened, allowing more room for functional facilities and personnel. Although well-secured against alien incursion, it nearly fell to internal sabotage by Weyland-Yutani Corporation employee Donald Becker who, in cooperation with the director of Weyland-Yutani's Lethe operations Barbara Pryce, disabled the defenses, let a Xenomorph Warrior loose from the lab, and opened the hangar to a Weyland mercenary's dropship to allow them to capture the craft while the Marine fireteams were away. However, Deputy Administrator Maeko Hayes managed to kill the mercenaries with an ARC while the Xenomorph killed Becker. She then managed to lure the creature into the reactor room, where it was fried by an electrical discharge.

As Lethe was scheduled to be scoured with nuclear weapons to erase the outbreak, the Otago's crew managed to fix it well enough to become space-worthy with little time to spare as the missiles began to fall. Upgrades were made to the shielding that allowed Otago to shoulder past the barrage of satellite fire (although only just) and escape to deep space with civilian and military survivors of the outbreak.

Crew

Civilians

  • Doctor Donald Becker (KIA)
  • Deputy Administrator Maeko Hayes (joined later)
  • Duncan Torrance
  • Joe Macallan
  • Doctor T. McNeil
  • Robert Victor Rheb
  • Lise Varl
  • Theo Stern (KIA)
  • Cassandra Harper
  • Numerous rescued Lethe citizens

Colonial Marines

  • Captain Cochrane (KIA)
  • Sergeant Jonas Harper (KIA)
  • Sergeant Rico Martinez (KIA)
  • Doctor Marla Bookard (KIA)
  • Doctor Saira Kabiri
  • Chief Engineer Alice Corrigan
  • Corporal Willa Hunslet
  • Esteban Ruiz
  • Aveline Latimer
  • Ezekiel Smith
  • Elizabeth MacDonald
  • Jessica Webb
  • Leon Sharp
  • Sandra Kurtz
  • Jack Neron
  • Achille Mauri
  • Luna Sainz
  • R Lee
  • K Owen
  • T Ruslanov
  • D Abkazian
  • M Wong
  • K Rose
  • Sergeant Titus Connor
  • Sergeant Leo Alvarez
  • Javier Cabal

Trivia

  • The Otago's name references a sailing cargo barque Otago, the only sea-going command of Joseph Conrad, captained by him in 1888-1889.

Appearances