- "It's what we call a 'shake and bake' colony."
- ―Van Leuwen (from Aliens)
Hadley's Hope was a human terraforming colony that was established by Weyland-Yutani sometime in the twenty-second century on LV-426, and which by 2179 maintained a constant population of 158 colonists. It was subject to a major Xenomorph infestation that ultimately all but destroyed the complex.
Overview
As a terraforming colony, the settlement's main function was ensuring the continued operation and maintenance of the nearby Atmosphere Processor. Named after its founder, Curtis Hadley, the colony itself was fairly small, home to some 158 workers and their families and overseen by administrator Al Simpson. Despite the now breathable atmosphere created by the Atmosphere Processor, the planet's surface was still an unpleasant place to be, racked by savage winds and electrical storms, and as a result most of the colonists tended to remain indoors.
The colony complex itself was centred around the operations centre, and also featured a small medical facility in the main building and a bar for recreation in one of the outlying structures. There were also garage facilities for maintaining the colony's fleet of Daihotai Tractors and other vehicles. It was linked directly to the Atmosphere Processor by means of an underground tunnel that allowed travel between the two locations without having to venture into the often severe storms outside.
History
Infestation
Following the rescue from deep space of Ellen Ripley, Weyland-Yutani representative Carter Burke contacted Hadley's Hope administrator Al Simpson with orders to investigate the co-ordinates Ripley had provided for the location of the derelict Engineer spacecraft, although he withheld the nature of what the colonists were likely to discover. Simpson subsequently dispatched prospectors Russ and Anne Jorden to investigate the ship, wherein they discovered thousands of Xenomorph Eggs. Russ was immediately impregnated by a Facehugger.
While details of subsequent events remain unclear, the infestation apparently spread rapidly, whether by accident or design (evidence was later found of active research into the Xenomorphs at the colony, at least during the early stages of the outbreak). A Xenomorph Queen soon developed, setting up her Hive in the Atmosphere Processor, and captured colonists were taken to her for impregnation. Despite frantic attempts by the surviving colonists to fend off the Xenomorphs, including the construction of heavy welded barricades within the main operations building, the entire colony was soon overrun and virtually all of its inhabitants either killed or used as hosts for more Aliens, save for one young girl, known as "Newt", who had managed to evade capture.
Investigation
With all contact with Hadley's Hope lost, the United States Colonial Marine Corps dispatched a ship, the USS Sulaco, to investigate. Upon arrival the Marines found the colony damaged and deserted, and soon discovered Newt hiding within the extensive ventilation system of the operations building. After tracking the other colonists to the Atmosphere Processor, the Marines moved in to investigate, but were quickly overwhelmed and most of them killed. With their dropship destroyed and no way to evacuate the planet, the survivors took up refuge in the operations centre, setting up sentry guns to help defend the area.
Destruction and second infestation
The ruined Hadley's Hope after the destruction of its Atmosphere Processor.
While the survivors of the incident — now reduced to three and a badly damaged synthetic — were ultimately able to escape, the colony's Atmosphere Processor was badly damaged and eventually went into meltdown, exploding with the force of a thermonuclear weapon. While some of its structures remained standing, the colony was essentially destroyed, and the Hive inside the Atmosphere Processor was obliterated with the loss of many of the Xenomorphs there. However, several survived and before long a second Queen emerged and established a new Hive in the sewers beneath Hadley's Hope itself.
A second detachment of Colonial Marines, aboard the USS Sephora, was subsequently dispatched to LV-426 to investigate the loss of the Marines from the Sulaco. When the Sephora was destroyed in orbit they too were forced to seek refuge within the increasingly ruined Hadley's Hope, now being battered further by the Sephora debris raining down on it. In a repetition of earlier events, the Marines were all but overrun as they attempted to make their escape, and only a few survived the ordeal to successfully evacuate the planet.
Appearances
- Aliens/novel (First Appearance)
- Aliens versus Predator (video game)
- Aliens: Colonial Marines (video game)