USCSS Torrens

"She was a wreck when I bought her. I had to take a lot of contracts to get her into shape, but now she more than pays for herself"

―Verlaine (from Alien: Isolation)

The USCSS Torrens,^[1] registration number MSV-7760, was an M-class commercial transport starship^[1] privately owned and captained by Diane Verlaine, registered out of Saint Clair. In 2137, the ship was chartered by Weyland-Yutani Corporation to transport a small team to Sevastopol Station, where the flight recorder unit of the missing USCSS Nostromo had been recovered.^[2]

History[]

Fateful Trip[]

On December 11, 2137, the USCSS Torrens traveled with Amanda Ripley, Christopher Samuels, and Nina Taylor to retrieve the flight recorder unit from USCSS Nostromo. Upon arrival at Sevastopol Station, the crew found the station damaged and communications with its occupants scrambled and unintelligible. Unable to dock due to damage to the dry dock, Ripley, Samuels and Taylor attempted to spacewalk to the station to investigate, but their EVA line was severed by debris from an explosion and Ripley was separated from the others. Captain Diane Verlaine of the Torrens then tried to contact Sevastopol, asking what happened and whether any of the EVA team made it on board. She reported that the Torrens had taken damage in the explosion and was pulling out of Sevastopol space in order to begin repairs. The radio booster Verlaine fitted to Samuels' spacesuit was damaged during the crossing, leaving the group unable to communicate with the Torrens. After losing contact with the group, Verlaine flew the Torrens around the station while shining a light to locate the group; she came across the Sevastopol Spaceflight Terminal where Ripley was, but the terminal shutters closed and cut Ripley off from view.

Rescue[]

Sometime later, Verlaine and Navigation Officer William Connor witnessed the USCSS Anesidora explode on the starboard side of Sevastopol, taking out the station's orbital stabilizer array. Verlaine contacted Sevastopol and offered to rescue survivors. Eventually, Ripley realigned Sevastopol's communications array to contact the Torrens and asked for an extraction. Verlaine told Ripley there was nowhere for the ship to dock and that the Torrens' umbilical wasn't built for a towing platform below the spaceflight terminal; Ripley would need to extend the tow platform clamps station side. Verlaine then maneuvered the Torrens into position at the tow platform.

End of Sevastopol[]

In the towing platform's control room, Ripley discovered that the personal umbilical was removed during the decommissioning. However, she realized she could use a maintenance rig and an EVA suit to get to the Torrens. However, as Ripley was putting on a suit, a Xenomorph dragged her into the vents and cocooned her in a Hive. After Ripley was able to escape, she contacted Verlaine was told that the Torrens was being dragged down with Sevastopol. Verlaine told Ripley to get to the maintenance platform to activate the emergency release. As Ripley made her way to the platform, Verlaine activated the Torrens' engines. Just as a group of Xenomorphs were about to attack, Ripley freed Torrens just as Sevastopol began burning up in the atmosphere of KG-348.

Fate[]

As Verlaine moved the Torrens to safety, Ripley made her way into the airlock. Unfortunately, while docked to the station, a Xenomorph snuck on board the Torrens and presumably killed Verlaine and Connor on the bridge. Ripley tried to access the bridge, only to be confronted by the Xenomorph. Cornered in the airlock, Ripley blew herself and the creature into space. Ripley tried to contact the Torrens but received no response. Three days later, Ripley was rescued.

Crew[]

Diane Verlaine — Captain
William Connor — Navigator and Communications Officer

Trivia[]

The Torrens continues the tradition of giving spacecraft in the Alien franchise names that reference Joseph Conrad. However, in this instance the name refers not to his literary works, but to a real-life clipper ship that Conrad served on before becoming an author.
The ship's interior is modeled after that of the Nostromo, its deck plan being an almost exact match of A-deck on the ship from Alien.