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The Cloned Aliens were a mutated variant of the original species that were spawned from the Queen extracted from the eight clone of Ellen Ripley. The cloning process used to acquire Ripley 8 and, subsequently, the Aliens resulted in the Queen and her Drones becoming altered through the unintentional inclusion of human DNA.
Appearance & Abilities[]
At a distance, the Cloned Aliens bear a strong resemblance to their Acheron counterparts, their smooth dome skulls in particular. Upon closer inspection however, they possess several unique differences resulting from their contaminated DNA. Most obviously, their skin has a distinct shimmering green hue not seen on the original Aliens, making them more insect-like in appearance. Instead of biomechanical tubes, their necks are covered with flesh-like matter, a change that may relate to their ability to roar in a fashion not seen on Acheron. Their bodies also adopt a partially quadripedal stance like that of the Dragon, with digitigrade hind legs, rather than the primarily bipedal posture of other human-spawned Aliens. Their tails have flat ridge of spines at the base of the blade, making them excellent swimmers.
The Cloned Aliens are notably capable of breeding far more quickly than the normal Alien variant, a characteristic credited by Dr. Wren to unintentional alterations incurred during the cloning process used to create them. This allows them to multiply even more rapidly, and causes them to quickly overwhelm the Auriga. In terms of physical ability, they are comparable to other human-spawned Aliens, being capable of battering down steel doors and tearing open metal grates and floors with their bare hands. They can spit acid, often aiming for a victim's face to blind and subdue them. They also possess heightened agility, with some even seen to dodge incoming weapons fire.
Intelligence[]
As a side-effect of the cloning process that created the Cloned Aliens, the creatures have access to Ellen Ripley's memories through their Queen, although they do not apparently fully understand these memories. Through this connection, the Aliens consider Ripley 8 to be one of their member and consequently spares her when she is captured whilst trying to escape the Auriga, delivering her unharmed to the Queen.
The Cloned Aliens are shown to be aggressive, cunning and intelligent, displaying impressive problem solving skills and the ability to learn rapidly and even set traps to lure and ambush victims, as proven when a Drone used discarded weapons to lure Frank Elgyn to his death. The Cloned Aliens were first able to escape their containment cells on board the Auriga by killing one of their own and using the effects of the dead creature's acidic blood to melt through the enclosure's floor and allow the others egress. Similarly, one particular Drone was shown to learn almost immediately that disobedience would result in punishment in the form of a freezing nitrogen spray, and later used the same spray to eliminate USM personnel searching for it.
History[]
Following the events on Fiorina 161, blood samples of the deceased Ellen Ripley were collected from the planet and used as the starting point in an ambitious program to clone Ripley and, it was hoped, the embryo of the Alien Queen that had been growing inside her at the time of her death. After 10 years of experimentation and 7 failures that only resulted in the creation of horrifically deformed mutants, the program apparently succeeded and the Queen embryo was harvested by United Systems Military scientists aboard the Auriga. However, the cloning process had not been a perfect success, and unbeknownst to the scientists the DNA of the Alien and Ellen Ripley had become mixed in the process, endowing both the Ripley clone and the Queen with anomalous traits and abilities, traits that were passed on by the Queen to her offspring, resulting in the Cloned Aliens.
The USM begins the re-population process of the Aliens by impregnating the many human hosts that were provided by Frank Elgyn and his group of mercenaries. The Aliens eventually escaped from their captivity and wreaked havoc on board the Auriga and resulted in the ship to automatically set a course to Earth. Due to the effects of the human DNA, the Queen underwent a drastic transformation in her reproductive cycle, her egg sack changing into a functioning female human-like womb. As a result, it ceased laying eggs. The Queen gave birth to a new form of Human-Alien hybrid called the Newborn, but it turned on its mother and slew the Queen. With the Hive left leaderless and no humans left alive on board the Auriga after the Betty escaped, the remaining Aliens prepared to enter hibernation until the situation changed. However, soon afterwards, the Auriga crashed into Earth and exploded, killing all of the remaining Aliens on board.