Aliens - 1986 movie (was Dog Soldiers)

[Raellus]

My copy of the Colonial Marines Technical Manual arrived in the mail today. It's pretty dang cool. I especially like the little color blurbs between tech entries- they really add a lot of flavor to the otherwise fairly dry techical text. The multiple mentions of various OPFOR groups (Beebops, Bugboys, Slinkers) make me really curious about the conflicts that the USCMs engaged in outside of the Alien engagements committed to film, since very little additional context was given. It's clear that the Beebops are a nickname for Japanese forces, but the others are anyone's guess. Was the author just shooting from the hip or is there some more fleshed-out USCMs mythos* out there that I'm not aware of? Either way, he did a really convincing job.

On a T2K-related note, the USMC tanks ( including the M40 Ridgeway [sic]) look very much like the LAV-75 (with a dash of Merkava mixed in).

*I've seen covers from a comic book series based on the USCM but I haven't read or looked within.

[raketenjagdpanzer]

Originally Posted by Raellus

My copy of the Colonial Marines Technical Manual arrived in the mail today. It's pretty dang cool. I especially like the little color blurbs between tech entries- they really add a lot of flavor to the otherwise fairly dry techical text. The multiple mentions of various OPFOR groups (Beebops, Bugboys, Slinkers) make me really curious about the conflicts that the USCMs engaged in outside of the Alien engagements committed to film, since very little additional context was given. It's clear that the Beebops are a nickname for Japanese forces, but the others are anyone's guess. Was the author just shooting from the hip or is there some more fleshed-out USCMs mythos* out there that I'm not aware of? Either way, he did a really convincing job.

On a T2K-related note, the USMC tanks ( including the M40 Ridgeway [sic]) look very much like the LAV-75 (with a dash of Merkava mixed in).

*I've seen covers from a comic book series based on the USCM but I haven't read or looked within.

I remember back in the day, even before filesharing became so rampant, having a (bad) scan of it and thinking the same thing about the M40. Also, I kinda prefer the whole USCM book as a stand-alone item with the xenos being nothing but background clutter. Which it works out they are!

[JHart]

Was the author just shooting from the hip or is there some more fleshed-out USCMs mythos* out there that I'm not aware of? Either way, he did a really convincing job.

If I recall correctly, when Ripley was being debriefed by the corporate suits, one of the suits said that there was no recorded contact with sentient aliens.

Hudson complains of a "bug hunt", which I always assumed that humans had to deal with non-sentient xenos on colony worlds.
Frost mentions of having relations with an alien.

Of course the Predators may just be waiting for the humans to become a bigger threat before picking a fight.

You know, I just had the thought that maybe Weyland-Yutani had such a hard on for getting an Alien specimen to develop weapons is because they know that Predators exist

[Targan]

Originally Posted by JHart

You know, I just had the thought that maybe Weyland-Yutani had such a hard on for getting an Alien specimen to develop weapons is because they know that Predators exist

I agree. From post #63 of this thread:

Originally Posted by Targan

As was the crew of the Nostromo in the original Alien film. It seems that a prime directive had been secretly inserted into all the master computers in the Weyland-Yutani starship fleet in an effort to find alien technology. Of course once the Alien Vs Predator films came out we could understand why. Weyland Corporation knew of the existance of extraterrestrial intelligent life late in the 20th or early in the 21st century and then spent the next couple of hundred years looking for it off-planet.

[Legbreaker]

Originally Posted by Raellus

Was the author just shooting from the hip or is there some more fleshed-out USCMs mythos out there that I'm not aware of? Either way, he did a really convincing job.

The RPG details a few other alien races, but nothing with anything like the intelligence displayed by the Aliens. There's Arcturians (Frost mentions them in the Sulaco mess hall), Blackbody Coral, Harvesters, Hyper Algae, Morphers, Panamar Plankton, and Brachous Slugs. Only the Arcturians and Harvesters pose any threat to humans, and the Arcturians no threat to anyone with rock to throw. The others are actually useful in one way or another.

The RPG also splits known space into sectors, each controlled by a different corporation, or syndicate of corporations. Earth is a cesspool which the corporations try to avoid as much as possible except when they need someone expendable.

[Raellus]

Interesting. Thanks for the info, Leg. The CMTM seems to present a slightly different picture than the RPG, then. Although it implies that corporations are still very powerful, the basic economic-political unit seems to be international alliances in the vein of a more pumped-up EU type. The CMTM mentions the United Americas as being the "national" entity which the USCM serves. It specifically mentions that Panama and Argentina are both part of this organization, loosely implying that all of the Americas are members as well. Although it looks like big multinational corporations can sway these political entities, it looks like nation-states or confederations of said still have the final say.

Also, Earth in the CMTM doesn't sound too bad. The USCM has several major bases there still.

I'm thinking out loud now. I mean, if corporations totally ran the show, they would likely have their own organic military forces, right? Also, from the existence of the United Americas, one could extrapolate there are similar confederations for other regions. A new EU, an African Union, some East Asian union, SW Asia union, perhaps? I dunno. It's fun to think about.

[raketenjagdpanzer]

I kind of like the "universe" as presented in the CMTM (what I recall, again, from the scan I'd seen years back), such as it was.

[Legbreaker]

The CMTM was written with reference to the RPG as well as the movie, however it's very much from the viewpoint of the marines who've never encountered anything all that nasty besides other humans. Post "Aliens", provided the information got out, things might change somewhat.

Originally Posted by Raellus

I mean, if corporations ran the show, they would likely have their own militaries, right? Also, from the existence of the United Americas, one could extrapolate there are similar confederations for other regions. A new EU, an African Union, some East Asian union, SW Asia union, perhaps. I dunno. It's fun to think about.

In the RPG, yes, absolutely. The Corporations certainly do have their own armies, often filled with head hunted ex-colonial marines. Although they're more involved with security and corporate espionage, they do from time to time engage in "traditional" battles. The Corporate militaries are also much better equipped than the Colonial Marines.

The time of ALIENS is a chaotic one. Humanity is expanding into the stars and establishing new outposts and new colonies, but society is in danger of unravelling. The Nations of Earth have lost most of their power, and in their place the Corporations which led the way into space stand as the new rulers of Humanity. The transition of power from the Nations to the Corporations is an uneasy one, and confrontations are common.
Because of this, there is far more violence now than there was a generation ago. The Corporations used to be sensible enough to settle matters in court and take their legal losses with restraint. Now, issues which would normally go through the legal system cannot be allowed to drag on that long, especially if the case might end unfavourably. Everyone is more desperate than before, and Corporate and Mercenary forces are much more eager to cut out a piece of the future than ever before. Companies are changing hands so rapidly, with debts left unpaid and countless promises broken, that dozens of financial entities might hold title to a single piece of valuable property.
In the midst of the chaos, the Colonial Marine Corps stands as Humanity's peacekeeping force. It is the Corps which is charged with seeing that disputes are settled through law rather than violence, and which protects Colonists from unknown dangers and from sabotage by rival Corporations. Unfortunately, the Colonial Marine Corps depends on the Nations of Earth for financing and technology, and the Nations are no longer strong enough to support them. Because of this, the Colonial Marines are few in number and many places are beyond their reach. At the same time, Corporate military forces are more numerous and better equipped, and an increasing number of Colonial Marine commanders owe their real loyalty to Corporations rather than to the Corps. Faced with dangerous life forms, Human criminals, Corporate militaries, and internal corruption, the Colonial Marine Corps attempts to safeguard the future and well being of Humanity.
One good thing is that battles are now fought on a smaller scale than the wars of earlier centuries. The transportation of troops and equipment from world to world is expensive and time consuming, and the sophisticated military equipment being used means that the military profession belongs to an elite group of capable, highly trained people. Combined with the desire of the Corporations to avoid the destruction of factories and other economic resources, these facts have created military forces that use small numbers of well-equipped troops for clearly defined missions. For the Colonial Marine Corps, these Missions range from conflicts with Corporate forces to assaults on renegades and confrontations with new and dangerous life forms.

Because of the costs involved in sending troops across space, the Corporations prefer to have the Colonial marines do much of the heavy lifting whenever they can, much like occurred in the second movie.

[raketenjagdpanzer]

The CMTM also mentions the US Army in a couple of spots, IIRC, once in a throw away line and another time in the organizational section. But nothing that would really give an idea of what the Army is, what role it fills, etc.

[Cdnwolf]

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1446714/

The prequel???

[raketenjagdpanzer]

Originally Posted by Cdnwolf

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1446714/

The prequel???

Yeah, you didn't know about that one?

Looks fantastic, I can't wait to see it.

[James Langham]

Originally Posted by Raellus

My copy of the Colonial Marines Technical Manual arrived in the mail today. It's pretty dang cool. I especially like the little color blurbs between tech entries- they really add a lot of flavor to the otherwise fairly dry techical text. The multiple mentions of various OPFOR groups (Beebops, Bugboys, Slinkers) make me really curious about the conflicts that the USCMs engaged in outside of the Alien engagements committed to film, since very little additional context was given. It's clear that the Beebops are a nickname for Japanese forces, but the others are anyone's guess. Was the author just shooting from the hip or is there some more fleshed-out USCMs mythos* out there that I'm not aware of? Either way, he did a really convincing job.

On a T2K-related note, the USMC tanks ( including the M40 Ridgeway [sic]) look very much like the LAV-75 (with a dash of Merkava mixed in).

*I've seen covers from a comic book series based on the USCM but I haven't read or looked within.

You may now see where I got the inspiration for my article techniques...

[Raellus]

Originally Posted by James Langham

You may now see where I got the inspiration for my article techniques...

Ah, yes. In the right hands, it definitely works.