Acheron (LV-426)

"It's a rock. No indigenous life."

―ECA representative regarding LV-426 (from Aliens)

Acheron (LV-426)
Diameter	12,201 km
Species	Humans (formerly)
Points of interest	The Derelict Hadley's Hope Ilyium Range

Acheron, formal designation LV-426, is one of three known moons orbiting Calpamos, which is located in the Zeta II Reticuli system, 39 light years away from Earth. The moon was given its common name by the early human colonists who settled there.

Terrain and Climate

LV-416 seen from orbit.

Acheron has a 12,201 km diameter at its quadrant points QBR 157 052 and has a molten lava base. The planet maintains a gravitational field equivalent to 0.86 of that on Earth, implying the moon is made of incredibly dense material given its small size. When first discovered, the moon was highly unstable with volcanic activity. The main crust was formed mostly out of igneous rocks. The moon's geological structure has led to the conclusion it is a recently captured body, entering Calpamos' orbit within the last 40 million years or so. Indeed, the rings around Calpamos itself are thought to be the remnants of a previous satellite that was broken apart by the gravitational shift induced by Acheron's arrival.

The planetoid's indigenous atmosphere was described as "primordial", consisting mainly of nitrogen, water vapor, carbon dioxide, trace particles of oxygen and small concentrations of methane and ammonia. It is constantly racked by strong winds, although the moon is too small for potentially dangerous very large storms to form. Needless to say, LV-426 under native conditions was inhospitable to human life.

Geographical features

The Ilyium Range is a mountain range on the Acheron moon, located near to where the USCSS Nostromo discovered an abandoned alien vessel in 2122.

Species

Acheron has no indigenous life forms, and it is not the Xenomorph homeworld; it was simply a planet upon which an Engineer ship, containing Xenomorph Eggs and possibly live subjects as well, crash-landed. According to Weyland-Yutani surveys, Acheron was simply a dead rock.

Establishments

Acheron is best known for the terraforming colony of Hadley's Hope, established on the moon in the mid-22nd century for the purpose of processing the planetoid's atmosphere to create a suitable environment for large-scale human habitation.

History

LV-426 was first detected by Weyland Corp astronomers on May 14, 2039. The moon was subsequently catalogued by a French deep-space probe. The first comprehensive survey was not carried out until the 2130s, after the USCSS Nostromo set down on the moon in 2122.

The Nostromo touched down on LV-426 in response to a mysterious signal emanating from the planetoid, per standard Weyland-Yutani protocol. In reality, the signal had previously been detected and decoded by Weyland-Yutani, and the Nostromo had been pre-selected to investigate, with the android Ash surreptitiously placed aboard to ensure the safety of any lifeforms that were discovered. Though the Nostromo was severely damaged while landing on LV-426, a three-man exploration team, consisting of Captain Dallas, First Officer Kane and navigator Lambert, proceeded to explore the planetoid's surface and eventually discovered a Derelict spacecraft that was responsible for transmitting the signal. While exploring the Derelict's interior, the crew came across the fossilized remains of the ship's pilot and thousands of Xenomorph Eggs stored within the ship's cargo hull. Kane was subsequently impregnated by a Facehugger and was taken back to the Nostromo for treatment. The Nostromo departed soon afterwards, but the Xenomorph implanted in Kane's chest later birthed in space, leading to the Nostromo's destruction.

Colonization

Following the loss of the Nostromo, the incident was covered up by the Weyland-Yutani personnel involved. This, coupled with the fact the Derelict was later damaged by volcanic activity that caused its emergency beacon to go offline, meant that in time LV-426 passed back into obscurity. Approximately thirty-seven years after the USCSS Nostromo set down on the moon, the Weyland-Yutani Corporation established the terraforming colony of Hadley's Hope there, constructing an Atmosphere Processor to make the planetoid's atmosphere breathable. The early colonists christened the moon Acheron.

Another twenty years later, Russ and Anne Jorden, residents of the Hadley's Hope colony, were sent to investigate the Derelict on company orders, its location deduced from the testimony of Ellen Ripley, the only survivor of the Nostromo who had just been rescued from deep space. Russ was subsequently impregnated by a Facehugger during his investigation of the ship, sparking a full-scale outbreak at the colony. A Queen established a Hive in the colony's Atmosphere Processor, and the Xenomorphs killed or captured, cocooned and impregnated all but one of the colonists, Rebecca Jorden, daughter of Russ and Anne.

A short while after this, a unit of Colonial Marines was dispatched aboard the USS Sulaco to investigate the loss of contact with the colony, accompanied by Ellen Ripley. After several battles with the Xenomorphs the resulted in the deaths of most of the Marines, the creatures' Hive was destroyed when the Atmosphere Processor's reactor exploded. Only Ripley, Rebecca Jorden, Corporal Dwayne Hicks and the android Bishop escaped. Unknown to them, the Hadley's Hope Queen had stowed away on board the Sulaco, but was subsequently ejected into space by Ripley through an airlock.

Despite the explosion on the planet, several Xenomorphs had survived in the ruins of Hadley's Hope, and a second Queen soon emerged. The Queen and her brood were discovered by a Weyland-Yutani team led by Michael Weyland, which had set up the Origin research facility around the Derelict to study the Xenomorphs. A second group of Marines, hailing from the USS Sephora, subsequently landed on LV-426 and engaged both the Weyland-Yutani forces and the Aliens. The research facility was overrun, although several personnel, including all the surviving Colonial Marines, managed to escape aboard a Weyland-Yutani starship.

Behind the scenes

LV-426 was first introduced in the 1979 film Alien, though it is not named and is simply referred to as a "planetoid" or "ball". In the 1986 sequel Aliens, the name LV-426 is given, while the name Acheron appears in the novelization. In a behind the scenes interview, director James Cameron points out that Acheron is taken from Dante's Inferno, where Acheron is a river in Hell, shrouded in fog and beset by constant lightning storms. Cameron suggested that the planet may have earned the name from an early colonist with a literary interest and a sense of irony. On the timeline of the official viral website for Weyland Corp, as part of the promotion for the film {{{1}}} , the planet's name appears as officially Acheron LV-426, bringing both names together. The planet was originally going to appear in Prometheus, but ultimately the planet LV-223 was used.

The name Acheron is reused in the novelization of Alien³, although it was repeatedly misspelled as "Archeron" in early editions. LV-426 is mentioned again in the musings of Dr. Mason Wren in the novelization of Alien Resurrection, in which the researcher reflects that the loss of the Derelict was a great setback. Unlike earlier novels, the planet is once more referred to as LV-426.

Trivia

• A planet called "LV426" appears in the video game Mass Effect: Infiltrator as a reference to the Alien franchise. The original Mass Effect also featured a star system named Acheron.

Appearances

• Alien/novel/comic (First Appearance)
• Aliens: Apocalypse - The Destroying Angels (indirect mention)
• Aliens/novel
• Aliens: Newt's Tale
• Alien³ (novel, mentioned only)
• Aliens: Colonial Marines Technical Manual
• Aliens: Earth Hive (mentioned only)
• Aliens: Nightmare Asylum (mentioned only)
• Aliens: The Female War (mentioned only)
• Alien Resurrection (novel, mentioned only)
• Aliens vs. Predator (video game, mentioned only)
• Aliens: Colonial Marines/Stasis Interrupted (video game)