Xenomorphs

*"The perfect organism. Its structural perfection is matched only by its hostility."*

- Ash (from Alien).

Xenomorphs are a large, predatory Alien species that rely on forced impregnation of other species to reproduce. They are easily identifiable by the shriek that can be heard from over five kilometers away. Visually they are notable for being over two meters tall with a black, highly reflective carapace that has been said to "glisten" even in the dark. They are virtually impossible to kill without military grade weaponry - rumours circulate that they may be vulnerable to extreme temperatures. They have been aggressively expanding across the outer rim worlds of the galaxy, leaving only death and viscera in their wake. They have an insect-like society with distinct roles, primarily: A queen, responsible for birthing Xenomorph eggs, a "facehugger" that implants live embryos into human hosts, and various warrior and worker species that gather live hosts and bring them to the nest for impregnation. Nests can typically be found near man-made or naturally occurring sources of heat, such as nuclear reactors and terraforming equipment. Nests should be reported to the local USCM branch immediately. Curiously, they have no known means of space travel, and all observations of the species made so far indicate that they lack the intelligence necessary to operate even basic machinery. Survivors claims that the Weyland-Yutani corporation is a common sight on recently infested worlds although they have staunchly denied any involvement with the species.

The Xenomorphs are extremely dangerous and should not be approached under any circumstances. If you do happen across any member of the Xenomorph caste, your only priority should be escape. Teams of highly trained USCM marines have been engaging the Xenomorphs recently in an attempt to curb their rapid expansion. Such actions do not seem to have impacted the Xenomorph numbers whatsoever and it appears that they have begun pulling back from the outer rim worlds. If you live on one of these worlds, do not expect rescue.

## Behaviour

Xenomorphs can appear through various incidents, including They Mostly Come At Night, Crashed Ship Parts, and infected pawns that may wander onto your map. Once there, Xenomorphs will try to form a hive and make it grow by hunting down and capturing pawns around the map and bringing them back to said hive to infect with a Face Hugger.

## Life Cycle

*The full life cycle of a Xenomorph is implemented.*

### Face Hugger

The life cycle of a Xenomorph begins with an egg, called an Ovomorph. It contains a Face Hugger. Xenomorphs will bring back hosts to their hive to place near the Ovimorphs, to allow a Face Hugger to hatch and then attach to the cocooned host. After a period of time, the Face Hugger will impregnate the host and eventually fall off and die.

### Chest Burster

After a while, an impregnated host, will wake up, and if not cocooned, will proceed to function as normal, while the Chest Burster gestates. Once gestation is complete, the host collapses in pain, writhes around on the floor, and then the Chest Burster explodes from the hosts chest, killing them. The newbown Chest Burster will proceed to try and flee, and hide until fully grown.

A Chest Burster will become invisible once it gets a certain distance away from hostile pawns, and will regain visibility if in range again.

### Adult Xenomorphs

Once fully grown, the Xenomorph will join a hive if available, otherwise, they will attempt to start their own by kidnapping potential hosts, cocooning them, and waiting for cocooned hosts to transform into Ovimorphs.

## Gallery

* Ovimorph
* Face Hugger
* Chest Burster

## Types of Xenomorphs

* Runners
* Drones
* Warriors
* Predaliens
* Xenomorph Queen