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XCOMUFO & Xenocide

CTD - Alien Harvest


Guest Azrael Strife

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Thanks Az, I won't let you guys down!

 

As a side note, I don't think any changes to Alien Breeding will be necessary.

there hasn't been a new draft in a loooooong time! Asty? How is it coming?

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  • 8 months later...

A new applicant has some very interesting ideas to this matter, and I guess/ am afraid we can't really wait for Asty to return. However, here is his PM, I would love for all of you to have a quick read and post your responses here. Thanks

 

[...]

 

I feel the report is an excellent chance for the player to get his/her first up close and personal information on how the aliens behave. With this in mind perhaps we could include some grizzly and unexplained phenomona in amongst the scientific explinations we all love so much. This would give the player an impression that these aliens are evil swine and definitely worth exterminating. We could even have the aliens perform experiments on cattle before returning them to Earth with hideous deformities. I've used our old friend Billy Bob Tiny Taylor to facilitate this but it could just as easily be included in the scientists report.

 

They took my cows, all of them! They took them and they done real nasty things to them. I found two of them this morning cut right up the middle, all their insides missing too.

 

They took my cows, all of them! They took them and done real nasty things to them. I found them this morning. Two of them were cut right up the middle, all their insides missing too. One was missing it's spine and brain. And my dog, ole Bessie'll never be the same. They took her eyes and her tounge.

 

We don't need Xcom, we need the SSPCA! (Scottish Society of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals). Those alien bstrds!

 

Next a few points on the scientific angle.

I heartily agree with Astyanax that the aliens harvesting bio-mass for mitochondria is unfeasable. It is mentioned that these can be gathered from plant tissue. I would like to add that mitochondria are also present in micro-organisms. The aliens could easily grow these and harvest all the mitochondria they need without ever visiting Earth. Or even abduct some bakers yeast ;)

This is also true of the plant cytoplasm. ATP could be easily harvested from micro-organisms. Why would the aliens bother to risk a journey to a hostile planet when these materials are readily available at home.

 

- The Aliens graft mammalian mitochondria into baby Aliens during their incubation so that the next-generation Aliens have greater endurance. This could explain why Aliens get tougher as the game goes on.

 

This is an astounding idea! I love it! This is just the kind of creepy behavior you would expect from evil aliens. However I'd drop the use of mitochondria. They're just a small component of the greater whole the aliens would use for such a project. And I can't see any logic for these alone creating noticably more powerful aliens. Also, simply grafting the mitochondria would only have a short term effect as the cells would begin to produce their own (and new cells would be produced) and over time the old grafted mitochondria would denature and be replaced. For an effect to be acheived the aliens could graft the useful parts of acquired genetic code into the DNA of newly created alien clones (I know clone is the wrong word). The tissue they collect could be viewed in terms of bio-mass. They would need large quantities of new minerals, protiens and adipose tissue to effectively "build" new aliens.

Sorry to bump in, so ignore me if it's already said, but don't Aliens harvest cows to incorporate some of their body parts (like uterus) in their cloning (or replicative) devices?

 

Yet another fantastic concept. The collection of reprodictive organs to facilitate reproduction may be unpleasant but it provides an excellent reason for alien harvest. Perhaps we could also have them collecting stem cells from feotuses? This may upset some kiddies and sensitive types though but we don't need to specifically mention where they get them. A vauge impression would be enough.

 

but largely it is found that larger muscles (such as the heart) in the body are favoured.

 

I'd include the liver in this sentence. It contains lots of things the aliens would find useful. And I included the brain simply because it freaks people out. :devillaugh:

 

but it is generally found that larger muscles such as the heart and organs including the liver, kidneys and brain are favoured.

 

By doing this, the next generation of Alien possess far greater endurance than the previous.

 

Why limit this to endurance? Especially when the gene grafting model I proposed earlier is used the aliens could improve themselves in a variety of ways which would better explain them getting tougher as the game progresses.

 

the pancreas is always left

 

I didn't see any explination for this. Did I miss it? I'm really interested and would love to know. I'm as baffled as those scientists!

 

A possible suggestion to this is that the Aliens return the mutilated cattle to Earth merely to create a sense of panic among the population, although some are so bold as to say that it is a grisly prank.

 

I like this a lot. It fits well with those aliens being a nasty bunch. I would have thought they were just throwing away bits they don't need but I think this has more dramatic effect and would definitely keep it.

 

maybe mitochondria can be used in some obscure manufacturing process to make performance-enhancing or recreational drugs

 

Mind blowing! I'd like to know how Kikanaide came up with this idea. In my opinion this should definitely have a place in the final draft. As far as I can see it's the only feasable reason given for the aliens to desire mitochondria specifically. They could suspend the mitochondria in a nutrient broth and add the correct mRNA to trigger the production of a desired compound.

 

I'm tugging on the leash at the prospect of writing up a fresh draft of this work! I am, however, aware that many of my ideas are quite radically different from those already stated. So I thought it best to run it by your good self to see what you thought first. Perhaps you could also do me the favour of forwarding it to some of those involved? I'd like to hear their opinions.

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I'm tugging on the leash at the prospect of writing up a fresh draft of this work! I am, however, aware that many of my ideas are quite radically different from those already stated. So I thought it best to run it by your good self to see what you thought first. Perhaps you could also do me the favour of forwarding it to some of those involved? I'd like to hear their opinions.

 

When can he start ;)

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types of comments:

 

Original original

socratesmcgonagal

kafros

 

 

I feel the report is an excellent chance for the player to get his/her first up close and personal information on how the aliens behave. With this in mind perhaps we could include some grizzly and unexplained phenomona in amongst the scientific explinations we all love so much. This would give the player an impression that these aliens are evil swine and definitely worth exterminating. We could even have the aliens perform experiments on cattle before returning them to Earth with hideous deformities. I've used our old friend Billy Bob Tiny Taylor to facilitate this but it could just as easily be included in the scientists report.

 

Good point, but I'll disagree on one thing. Recall the ending sequence at the original game. In addition, have a look at our current storyline. The Aliens are neither evil, nor sadistic. They are more like prey. Even the OverMind is a hunter hunted. I think that the X-Corps would understand the alien threat, but they'd also understand that the Aliens don't want o exterminate us, more like assimilate us.

Now, concerning cattle, If I Remember Correctly, they did it in order to get their food, it was a..... damn I forget the word... they were "getting used to" the enviroment. If you have some ideas to support the experimentation stuff, I'm with you

 

They took my cows, all of them! They took them and they done real nasty things to them. I found two of them this morning cut right up the middle, all their insides missing too.

 

They took my cows, all of them! They took them and done real nasty things to them. I found them this morning. Two of them were cut right up the middle, all their insides missing too. One was missing it's spine and brain. And my dog, ole Bessie'll never be the same. They took her eyes and her tounge.

 

We don't need Xcom, we need the SSPCA! (Scottish Society of Prevention of Cruelty to Animals). Those alien bstrds!

 

Next a few points on the scientific angle.

I heartily agree with Astyanax that the aliens harvesting bio-mass for mitochondria is unfeasable. It is mentioned that these can be gathered from plant tissue. I would like to add that mitochondria are also present in micro-organisms. The aliens could easily grow these and harvest all the mitochondria they need without ever visiting Earth. Or even abduct some bakers yeast ;)

This is also true of the plant cytoplasm. ATP could be easily harvested from micro-organisms. Why would the aliens bother to risk a journey to a hostile planet when these materials are readily available at home.

 

Are they hunting then? Of course then we could ask "why don't they hunt elephants or whales then?", hehe. But, why the experimentation then, why would they need dog eyes, human or spider eyes would fit better

 

 

The Aliens graft mammalian mitochondria into baby Aliens during their incubation so that the next-generation Aliens have greater endurance. This could explain why Aliens get tougher as the game goes on.

 

This is an astounding idea! I love it! This is just the kind of creepy behavior you would expect from evil aliens. However I'd drop the use of mitochondria. They're just a small component of the greater whole the aliens would use for such a project. And I can't see any logic for these alone creating noticably more powerful aliens. Also, simply grafting the mitochondria would only have a short term effect as the cells would begin to produce their own (and new cells would be produced) and over time the old grafted mitochondria would denature and be replaced. For an effect to be acheived the aliens could graft the useful parts of acquired genetic code into the DNA of newly created alien clones (I know clone is the wrong word). The tissue they collect could be viewed in terms of bio-mass. They would need large quantities of new minerals, protiens and adipose tissue to effectively "build" new aliens.

 

Aha, just read this one. It also fits better with the Ventriculant idea and it's easier to give a reason for the abductions of humans.

 

 

Sorry to bump in, so ignore me if it's already said, but don't Aliens harvest cows to incorporate some of their body parts (like uterus) in their cloning (or replicative) devices?

 

Yet another fantastic concept. The collection of reprodictive organs to facilitate reproduction may be unpleasant but it provides an excellent reason for alien harvest. Perhaps we could also have them collecting stem cells from feotuses? This may upset some kiddies and sensitive types though but we don't need to specifically mention where they get them. A vauge impression would be enough.

 

Yea, but with dont they produce their own organs then? I guess they don't know humans genetics good enough, and that's why they study us :P. Fits well

 

 

but largely it is found that larger muscles (such as the heart) in the body are favoured.

 

I'd include the liver in this sentence. It contains lots of things the aliens would find useful. And I included the brain simply because it freaks people out. :devillaugh:

 

 

 

but it is generally found that larger muscles such as the heart and organs including the liver, kidneys and brain are favoured.

 

By doing this, the next generation of Alien possess far greater endurance than the previous.

 

Why limit this to endurance? Especially when the gene grafting model I proposed earlier is used the aliens could improve themselves in a variety of ways which would better explain them getting tougher as the game progresses.

 

Add better adaptability (damn that's the word I forgot some mins ago!)

 

 

the pancreas is always left

 

I didn't see any explination for this. Did I miss it? I'm really interested and would love to know. I'm as baffled as those scientists!

It mostly contains digestive enzymes and hormones regulating the metabolism/digestion. Most alien species are supposed to be unable to eat. They are fed with some prepared form of liquid food (I have to read the Alien Nutrition CT again)

 

A possible suggestion to this is that the Aliens return the mutilated cattle to Earth merely to create a sense of panic among the population, although some are so bold as to say that it is a grisly prank.

 

I like this a lot. It fits well with those aliens being a nasty bunch. I would have thought they were just throwing away bits they don't need but I think this has more dramatic effect and would definitely keep it.

 

Not baaaad, although we must first make sure that we know what they really need and why. What's left is used for those tactics

 

 

maybe mitochondria can be used in some obscure manufacturing process to make performance-enhancing or recreational drugs

Mind blowing! I'd like to know how Kikanaide came up with this idea. In my opinion this should definitely have a place in the final draft. As far as I can see it's the only feasable reason given for the aliens to desire mitochondria specifically. They could suspend the mitochondria in a nutrient broth and add the correct mRNA to trigger the production of a desired compound.

 

Jaaaaa jaaaa I'm in on that, but first I'll have to make some research on the matter

 

Thanks for collecting all this interesting information, it'll prove useful :)

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Ok here it is. Took a lot longer than I thought but it was much more of a challenge than the raptor autopsy and I wanted my first post to be a good one. I'm fairly pleased with it but I'm sure there's room for improvement. I tried my best to use ex con's and astyanax's work so most of it will be in there somewhere. Please let me know what you think.

 

ALIEN HARVEST

 

X-NET ENTRY//4286435.377/AJU/PEGASUSNET/XC/AC/ALIEN HARVEST

 

"They took my cows, all of them! They took them and they done real nasty things to them. I found 'em this morning cut right up the middle, all their insides missing too. There aint nothin' left for me to sell." -Billy-Bob Tiny Taylor, eye witness of alien harvest.

 

Harvesting was among the first alien activities which took place on the ground, the first signs of which were cattle mutilations in the southern states of the USA, North Africa and in some parts of Europe. The aliens have many uses for terrestrial fauna; the most predominant being simple sustenance, although there are many others. As the harvests became more frequent world governments have been forced to acknowledge the problem with less scepticism and have become very concerned as to how to deal with the problem. Various leaks to the media have created a growing cloud of anxiety amongst the populous and a call for something to be done about the alien menace.

 

An alien harvest site is unmistakable. Skin, bones and assorted internal organs litter fields where livestock had been grazing the night before. A closer forensic examination of a number of these abduction sites has revealed some interesting information. Although there is some variation, large muscles and organs such as the heart, liver, intestines and brain are generally favoured. The pancreas and gall bladder are always discarded as these contain digestive enzymes which are of no use to the aliens. Early speculation that the remains were returned to Earth to create public hysteria have been discounted by a study of bloodstains on the ground. Patterns created by arterial bleeding show that the victims have been at least partially butchered in mid-air before entering the UFO and unwanted body parts discarded.

 

Another indication of harvesting activity is the invariable presence of crop circles. These are unique patterns are made by flattening out sections of a field and are found mainly in cereal crops. Evidence suggests that these crop circles hold information about the location and nature of the harvest target but we have been unable to interpret these ourselves. The public discovery of these has lead to wide spread denial of all alien connection with crop circles and members of the public have been paid by world governments to "confess" to making the crop circles themselves as a hoax.

 

Although we still don't have a complete picture, the reverse engineering of equipment found aboard UFOs and intercepted hyper-wave transmissions have given us a great many insights into the uses the aliens have for harvested body parts. Most of the muscle and adipose tissue as well as the livers are broken down into their constituant protiens, sugars and fatty acids using a combination of specially engineered enzymes and an advanced form of fractional distillation. These are then used to create a nutrient broth which can be easily absorbed without any further digestion. During this process ribosomes are isolated from the cells and immersed in a bath of protien rich fluid. By adding specifically engineered mRNA to this fluid the ribosomes can be made to produce a variety of medicines and performance enhancing drugs. Unfortunately we have as yet been unable to reproduce this process in the lab. Perhaps the most sinister reason for harvesting terrestrial life is the assimilation of it's genetic code. We have some solid evidence which suggests the aliens have been grafting useful sections of DNA onto that of their own during the embryonic stage of life. They are not only using this technique to increase their adaptability to the climate and atmosphere of Earth but are also creating new aliens which are stronger and tougher than their forebears. Because of this we can expect battles to become more difficult with every new generation we face.

 

Although alien harvesting creates a great deal of public concern, not to mention material damage, it remains a low priority on X-corps list of problems when compared with other alien activities.

 

"This'll knock a few bucks off the budget, fetch the sausage making machine." -Rob Thornton, X-corps catering division, upon seeing an alien harvest site.

Edited by socratesmcgonagal
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  • 4 weeks later...

I now have a little more free time on my hands, so I thought I'll just pop in and start correcting a few CTs.

It is a nice CT, but there are some consistency issues you should address.

Usual scheme: red: deletions, blue: additions or comments

 

ALIEN HARVEST

 

X-NET ENTRY//4286435.377/AJU/PEGASUSNET/XC/AC/ALIEN HARVEST

X-Net://Pegasus.net/Alien/Research/Alien Harvest

The x.net headers really should be unified/standardized.

 

 

"They took my cows, all of them! They took them and they done real nasty maybe "incredible" or just "these" - remember, this man should rather be terrorized by what he saw than excited things to them. I found 'em this morning cut right up the middle, all their insides missing too. There aint nothin' left for me to sell." -Billy-Bob Tiny Taylor, eye witness of alien harvest. Don't make it too much according to scheme. I am a bit afraid that these stereotypes could destroy the mood of the game, could interfere with the dark atmosphere we are trying to set. Yes, it is a fluff, but it is a fluff at the beginning of a text, and fluffs don't need to be funny, they are just a window to the "real" world.

 

Harvesting was among the first alien activities which took place on the ground, the first signs of which were cattle mutilations in the southern states of the USA, North Africa and in some parts of Europe. I'll try to rephrase this, thus eliminating the double "first": "Results of the harvesting process were among the first Alien ground activities to be reported. Cattle mutilations could be seen all over the world, with a focus on southern states of the USA, North Africa and parts of Europe." The Aliens have many uses for terrestrial fauna; the most predominant being simple sustenance, although there are many others. As the harvests became more frequent world governments have been "were" don't jump the tenses forced to acknowledge the problem with less skepticism and have become very concerned as to how to deal with the problem. Hm, I don't know, maybe enhance the "skepticism"-part. I would suggest something in the lines of "were forced to take the reports seriously. Various task forces were established which brought up a very concerning link to enhanced Alien activity in the areas where cattle mutilations had been found." Various leaks to the media have created a growing cloud of anxiety amongst the populous and a call for something to be done about the alien menace.

 

An alien harvest site is unmistakable. Skin, bones and assorted internal organs litter fields where livestock had been grazing the night before. A closer forensic examination of a number of these abduction sites has revealed some interesting information. Although there is some variation, large muscles and organs such as the heart, liver, intestines and brain are generally favoured. The pancreas and gall bladder are always discarded as these contain digestive enzymes which are of no use to the aliens. Early speculation that the remains were returned to Earth to create public hysteria have been discounted by a study of bloodstains on the ground. Patterns created by arterial bleeding show that the victims have been at least partially butchered in mid-air before entering the UFO and unwanted body parts discarded.

 

Another indication of harvesting activity is the invariable presence of crop circles. These are unique patterns are made by flattening out sections of a field and are found mainly in cereal crops. Evidence suggests that these crop circles hold information about the location and nature of the harvest target but we have been unable to interpret these ourselves. It is a nice addition to the text, but I wonder, should we really put this in? I mean, I don't see a reason why such a highly advanced culture should feel the need to create crop cycles just as a street sign. I mean, they got a PSI-link, what do they need crop cycles for? The public discovery of these has lead to wide spread denial of all alien connection with crop circles and members of the public have been paid by world governments to "confess" to making the crop circles themselves as a hoax.

 

Although we still don't have a complete picture, the reverse engineering of equipment found aboard UFOs and intercepted hyper-wave transmissions have given us a great many insights into the uses the aliens have for harvested body parts. Most of the muscle and adipose tissue as well as the livers are broken down into their constituaent proteiens, sugars and fatty acids using a combination of specially engineered enzymes and an advanced form of fractional distillation. Wait a minute, we already have a solution for this, try to make the CT consistent with the alien food CT (posted at the bottom) These are then used to create a nutrient broth which can be easily absorbed without any further digestion. During this process ribosomes are isolated from the cells and immersed in a bath of protien rich fluid. By adding specifically engineered mRNA to this fluid the ribosomes can be made to produce a variety of medicines and performance enhancing drugs. Unfortunately we have as yet been unable to reproduce this process in the lab. Perhaps the most sinister reason for harvesting terrestrial life is the assimilation of it's genetic code. We have some solid evidence which suggests the aliens have been grafting useful sections of DNA onto that of their own during the embryonic stage of life. They are not only using this technique to increase their adaptability to the climate and atmosphere of Earth but are also creating new aliens which are stronger and tougher than their forebears. Because of this we can expect battles to become more difficult with every new generation we face.

 

Although alien harvesting creates a great deal of public concern, not to mention material damage, it remains a low priority on X-corps list of problems when compared with other alien activities.

 

"This'll knock a few bucks off the budget, fetch the sausage making machine." -Rob Thornton, X-corps catering division, upon seeing an alien harvest site.

ALIEN FOOD

X-Net://Pegasus.Net/Alien/Research/Alien Food

 

The nutritional logistics of the Alien Forces always were a mystery to us, however, after detailed analysis of the food pods found within captured UFOs, we do have an idea of the Alien diet. Until now, expectations were that the aliens, although savage, would have a fairly normal diet by earth standards. The collected data now seems to draw another picture.

 

Studying the food pods on alien crafts, we discovered something we can only describe as bio-engineered digestive system - allowing a very sophisticated refining of “standard” food components to a parenteral administrable nutritive.

It seems that the Aliens put high effort in designing a system which is easily operated – even by non technical personnel. It consists of several tanks that, although connected by a sophisticated net of tubes and wires, work very much like our own digestive system.

 

In the first tank any – preferably digestible - material can be inserted. It is then, regardless of its previous state, broken down mechanically and lubricated to form a mash which is pumped to the next container. In here, the pulp is sterilized and predigested by a strong acid strongly resembling the content of a human stomach.

The next step is a re-neutralization of the mass, followed by the administration of a number of different enzymes – we found peptidases, saccharidases, nucleases and lipases – which begins the actual digesting process resulting in single amino acids, monosaccharides, nucleotides and nucleosides as well as free fatty acids and glycerine.

The system uses carrier proteins to bind the needed compounds in the digestion product and transport them across an artificial membrane into the final sterilized nutrient solution. The transport process itself is facilitated by dielectric attraction and repulsion between membrane and carrier protein.

 

Interestingly enough we found that several of the used proteins are pretty similar to those found in earth life - human and animal alike. We suspect that the Aliens used their research on earth life to design a digestive system which is highly adapted to the earth flora and fauna.

 

The major advantage of this system despite its easy and safe operation is that only usable food compounds are resorbed and later released into the nutrient in a standardized concentration; any non-usable or dangerous molecules remain in the supernatant and are pumped out of the system.

 

The design of the system allows various inputs; an analysis of the food mash showed traces of human flesh, animal flesh, various grains as well as green plants.

 

"Whoa! Alien steak? Cool!"

Dr. Andrews - X-Corps Scientist and hobby cook.

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