THE LORE: Updated 12.04.26

THE COMPANY AND THE UNIVERSE

We are establishing a new company in the Alien Universe called Vanguard Asset Recovery Corp (VAR.C).

This is a universe where bio-mechanical engineering and experimental procedures have been going on for many years.

To get your family out of debt and almost a free ticket to giving your family a financially stable life, a family member becomes a workhorse for the company. They are property of the company.

THE SOLDIERS AND THE STAKES

VAR.C obtains highly lucrative contracts to extract assets belonging to other mega-corporations including Weyland Corp. Most of the workers who do the dangerous jobs for this company do so for the exact same reason as Harper. The Retrieval Soldiers who do the physical extraction are also the company’s property working to repay multi-generational debt.

When Harper refuses to hand the child, over she is essentially stealing from the client who contracted VAR.C to retrieve their property. VAR.C would have to cover the full cost of this equipment and the value of the data which would likely ruin and bankrupt them.

Crucially if the soldiers fail to bring back the asset under these circumstances their families would also no longer be living in the financial stability they earned. They have every personal incentive to retrieve the child. Killing Harper to get the child would be a perfectly acceptable outcome for the soldiers.

CORPORATE NEGLIGENCE AND THE PILOT

Vanguard Asset Recovery Corp treats their field teams with complete apathy. The corporate handlers routinely withhold vital mission details from the crew including the exact dimensions and weight of the target asset. This is incredibly dangerous for the extraction pilots. A pilot needs precise weight calculations to ensure they bring a ship with the correct cargo capacity, thrust capabilities and fuel reserves. When the pilot complains about the massive server core being dragged up the ramp she is genuinely angry because the company set her up to fail. She was forced to fly blind without the proper load parameters which puts the entire crew at risk during liftoff.

THE EXPERIMENT AND THE PRODUCT

The Company wanted the ultimate retrieval unit. They needed someone who could walk into a fully infested colony, pick up a lost hard drive or any item they need to retrieve and walk out without firing a shot. When the asset is of any real size or weight, like a server, then a team of Retrieval Soldiers are sent in once the Mapper has done their best to clear the area of Xenomorphs.

They spliced human subjects with the specific pheromonal and biological signatures of Xenomorph hive resin. They tried to make a human smell like the walls of a hive, so they simply blend into the background and the Xenomorphs do not realise they an alive being.

THE JOB OF THE MAPPER

They are sent into a facility or a derelict ship to locate the object the company wants retrieved.

They communicate the route to a team of Retrieval Soldiers waiting to come in. The comms are only one way to ensure no sound should emit from the Mapper.

They place explosives on their way back out of the facility after finding the object. They are careful not to blow up the object of course but only the Xenomorphs infesting the location. Then once the charges are detonated a crew of Retrieval Soldiers go in safely to retrieve the item. The Mapper also informs the Retrieval Soldiers of any unexpected hazards.

The item is usually a server which cannot be accessed remotely. These servers are usually big and heavy so it requires a team to carry it out of the location.

OUR LEAD PROTAGONIST: HARPER

Harper has been injected with a substance which will ensure the Xenomorphs cannot even smell her. We call it Resin.

The little equipment she carries on her is soaked in the same organic materials as a hive wall.

To a Xenomorph she simply does not exist. Her smell registers as environmental background noise. To a drone’s senses she is literally just a piece of the hive wall. They will not attack her but they will not obey her either. This creates pure unadulterated suspense. A Xenomorph will casually walk straight past her in a dark corridor or even crawl directly over her if she is hiding on the floor. She has to stand absolutely perfectly still while a nine-foot apex predator breathes in her face just assuming she is part of the furniture.

She must be very careful to not let them touch her, bump into her or hear her.

Harper does not act like a tortured victim. She is a cool chick who covers up her trauma with a warm, sarcastic and highly upbeat personality.

Due to what she does in order to avoid the Xenomorphs and to get to certain parts of the facilities she is best compared to Lara Croft or Tom Cruise. This will give us scenes of great agility. It is likely she was assigned this job role due to her agility and youthful age.

THE TRAGEDY OF THE RESIN

The resin does not necessarily have a foul smell to humans but it alters her biology in permanent and tragic ways. Because the substance is spliced directly into her DNA it is constantly present in her sweat, tears and saliva. This makes any form of physical intimacy or romantic connection nearly impossible. She can never lead a normal life outside of her job. Furthermore the extreme genetic splicing renders her completely sterile. She can never have children of her own. She literally sacrificed her own future family to pay off the debt for her current one.