USM Auriga

A military research vessel where escaped Xenomorphs forced survivors to steer a collision course with Earth.

The USM Auriga is a United Systems Military spaceship set 200 years after Alien 3, where scientists created Ripley 8 using DNA from Fiorina "Fury" 161. Aboard the Auriga, Ripley is cloned and an Alien queen is surgically removed from her body; the scientists raise it and collect its eggs, with abducted humans in stasis delivered by mercenaries. When the Aliens escaped their enclosures by burning through barriers with acidic blood, they killed most of the crew, including General Perez and Elgyn. Realizing the ship's default emergency command would return it to Earth, Ripley 8 and surviving mercenaries attempted to destroy the Auriga before arrival.

Quick Facts

Affiliation

United Systems Military (USM)

Key personnel involved

Dr. Wren
General Perez
Dr. Jonathan Gediman
Annalee Call
Ripley 8
Elgyn
Jo

Notable event

Xenomorph escape and collision with Earth

Lore & Background

The USM Auriga operated as a mobile laboratory for the United Systems Military, utilizing abducted humans delivered by mercenaries to host Xenomorph embryos. Scientists raised adult Xenomorphs and collected eggs while keeping Ripley 8 alive; she possessed enhanced strength, acidic blood, and a psychic link to the creatures due to genetic contamination. The ship contained a grotesque laboratory holding the results of seven failed cloning attempts, where one survivor begged for euthanasia. When mature Xenomorphs escaped by killing one of their own and using its acid, they captured Dr. Jonathan Gediman and killed crew members who failed to evacuate. The queen's hybrid offspring recognises Ripley's clone as its mother and kills the queen.

Reader's Guide

It houses the cloning labs containing Ripley 8's predecessors and the nursery for the Xenomorph queen, which eventually births a hybrid offspring. Key locations include the laboratory where Ripley 8 incinerated failed clones and the chapel where Call connected to the computer systems. The vessel's default emergency protocol to return to Earth serves as the central ticking clock for the plot. The survivors head for the mercenaries' ship, the Betty, to destroy the Auriga before it can bring the Xenomorphs to Earth.

Did You Know?

A laboratory on board contained the grotesque results of seven failed attempts to clone Ellen Ripley before success was achieved.
Annalee Call, the newest crew member of the mercenary ship Betty, was revealed to be a synthetic "Auton" capable of interfacing directly with the ship's computer.
Dr. Wren was killed when the injured Purvis grappled him and Purvis's Xenomorph embryo emerged.