====Transbreed Versus Purebreed====
Drones, Runners, Warriors, and Predaliens are known as "transbreed" Aliens. Different types of hosts produce different transbreeds, many of which possess attributes and abilities superior to those found in their hosts. Aliens such as Praetorians, Queens, Carriers, and Ravagers, however, are considered to be "purebreed" Aliens. They can spawn from any host and more purely represent the multi-species interstellar parasite that is the Aliens. While transbreeds enable Aliens to adapt to a target species, purebreed Aliens enable them to overpower it.
''Creating More Transbreed Aliens - ''Aliens create more of their kind by infecting other species. To do this, Aliens typically attack an enemy until it becomes unconscious, so that a Facehugger can safely attach itself. After this, a Chestburster is born, which subsequently cocoons itself before turning into an adult Alien. The type of adult Alien created typically relates to the type of victim that was impregnated. Generally speaking, more advanced species produce better Aliens.
''Creating A Queen - ''The Aliens can spend infestation points to morph a Praetorian into a Queen. The Praetorian is the basal "purebreed" Alien, and it is able to turn into other advanced Alien species besides the Queen. To create a Praetorian, the Aliens must morph an Egg into a "Praetorian Egg". This kind of Egg produces a "Praetorian Facehugger", which can create a Praetorian from any host. Both creating Praetorian Eggs and morphing a Praetorian into a Queen require small infestation point expenditures'''.'''
''Creating Other Purebreed Aliens - ''To create Carriers and Ravagers, the Aliens must expend infestation points and morph available Praetorians. This activity may only be performed when a Queen already exists and only after the Praetorian subspecies has been upgraded.
====Upgrading Aliens====
An Alien hive may upgrade all the instances of a particular subspecies through the Queen. The Queen alone can access the vast genetic database evolved by the Alien species to select the appropriate counter-evolutionary response to threats currently being experienced by the hive. Naturally, rapidly evolving her brood in this way costs infestation points.
'''''Earning Infestation Points''' - ''Aliens earn more infestation points by rendering active enemies unconscious, whether by attacking or facehugging them. Unlike other species, Aliens do not need to spend infestation points on ordering reinforcements; instead they spend them on upgrades, creating Hive Nodes, and morphing Eggs and Praetorians.
'''''Regeneration''' - ''All Aliens can regenerate when in contact with the hive web, the repulsive black secretions found in Alien hives. The Runner and the Predalien, however, have advanced metabolisms and can regenerate whether near hive web or not. This latter kind of "roaming regeneration" does not occur while a Runner or a Predalien is actively taking damage. It "stacks" on top of standard hive-based regeneration though, enabling these organisms to regenerate quite rapidly when in the hive.
'''''Spore Sight - '''''Hive Nodes, Runners, Praetorians, and Queens emit spores. Spores coat living organisms and grow upon them for an extended period of time. Spores have numerous sensors and relay what they "see" by encoding this information on ambient radiation that bounces off of them and finds its way to other Aliens. This "spore sight" enables the hive to track hosts long after they have left the vicinity of any nearby Aliens. Naturally, spores defeat Predator cloaking'''.'''
'''''Acid''' - ''All Aliens have blood that is remarkably caustic. Unsurprisingly, several Alien subspecies have adapted to use their blood as a weapon. After striking an enemy, Alien acid damages it for some time before neutralizing, causing horrendous, semi-permanent wounds on organic targets. Furthermore, kinetic armor is less effective while being burned by acid and Aliens instinctively leverage this effect by purposely tearing into the sizzling wounds of their victims. All Aliens are fully immune to the effects of their acid.
'''''Strengths''' - ''The Aliens are easily the most numerous of species, since they are able to infect most life forms of dog-size or larger, and, unlike other species, can replenish their numbers free of cost. They are also tough physically, with Alien subspecies like Predaliens, Ravagers, and Queens capable of becoming nearly unstoppable juggernauts. Of all the species, the Aliens are the most difficult to cut off from fresh reinforcements and upgrades; killing a Queen in her hive is no small feat.
'''''Weaknesses''' - ''Aliens must work hard to generate reinforcements, frequently needing complete victory in combat to ensure readily available hosts. If a hive falls behind in its growth, it may become unable to win further battles and therefore unable to recover from losses. Aliens also have few ranged attacks, causing them to rely on overwhelming numbers and brute force. Lastly, Facehuggers and Chestbursters are easy to kill and hence a vulnerable link in the Alien [[Xenomorph life cycle|reproductive cycle]].
Purebreed
Hive
Produced by the Drone and by the Queen when she lays her egg sac, the Hive is a living creature that steadily grows acid-secreting tendrils into the environment. These tendrils leech nutrients from surrounding materials and use them to grow a living web that provides nutrients to the Xenomorph, enabling them to regenerate when touching it. When a Hive dies, its ability to supply nutrients dies with it, causing hive web around the node to wither and die.
While armored and able to regenerate quickly, the Hive has no ability to attack a threat. It is particularly susceptible to armor-piercing and fire-based weapons which can cause significant damage in a short period of time. The Hive also produces spores which can coat a living organism and grow upon them. These spores enable the tracking of potential hosts long after they have left the vicinity of the Hive.
Ovomorph (Egg)
The Ovomorph (or Egg) is laid by the Xenomorph Queen and is used to incubate a Facehugger. When an suitable host wanders close to an Egg, the Egg awakens the Facehugger it contains and hatches. Once the Facehugger is safely away the Ovomorph dies. Eggs are typically kept close to the Hive where they can be defended from harm as Ovomorphs are unable to defend themselves.
Should the Hive be at risk of depopulation a younger Queen may instinctively produce larger, hyperfertile Eggs. These Ovomorphs are swollen, oversized, and contain multiple Facehuggers. When they hatch, they release their contents under pressure and essentially throw their cargo toward nearby hosts. Should they come under attack this may also occur as a defense mechanism. If the Queen feels her reign is threatened she may also choose to stimulate the production of Royal Ovomorphs. As its name implies, the Royal Egg produces a Royal Facehugger capable of producing a Praetorian from any kind of host.
Facehugger
The Facehugger is used to propagate the Xenomorph species. The creature attaches itself to the facial area of a host and impregnates it with a Chestburster, the parasitic larval form of the Xenomorph. Commonly suitable hosts are incapacitated and brought to the Hive by the larger Xenomorphs, but the Facehugger is also capable of self locomotion and can leap great distances to attack prey. When implanting the parasite, the Facehugger will sedate the host thereby rendering it unconscious and unable to fight the implantation. There are no recorded instances of hosts surviving once they have been impregnated. The type of Alien that is produced by a Facehugger's impregnation typically depends upon the type of host.
In an unusual turn the Facehugger loses health as it exerts itself as it will breakdown its own internal organs for sustenance. Should the creature remain dormant it could, theoretically, have an unlimited lifespan. When the Hive is threatened or low on numbers the Queen can trigger a Facehugger to implement a process known as Binary Parasitism. This will cause any Chestbuster Parasite to separate into multiples while being incubated in a host, allowing for twins and even quadruplet Xenomorphs to gestate.
If the Queen feels her reign is threatened she may also choose to stimulate the production of Royal Ovomorphs. As its name implies, the Royal Egg produces a Royal Facehugger capable of producing a Praetorian from any kind of host. The Royal Facehugger is a larger, more armored version of the common Facehugger. This Royal Facehugger is tougher, has a longer roaming range, and can leap further than the common Facehugger.
Praetorian
The Praetorian is the most basic purebreed Alien strain and is created from any type of host via the Royal Facehugger. The Praetorian is always available to the hive no matter what kind of hosts are nearby, making it easy to ensure that the hive has a force of Praetorians it can draw upon in an emergency. Incredibly dangerous in combat, the Praetorian possesses incredible durability, a hardened exoskeleton, armor-piercing claws, and the hideous ability to disgorge vast quantities of acidic blood on its enemies. The Praetorian's distinctive head crest is also a source of Alien Spores.
In a Praetorian the digestive and vascular systems are not separate entities which allows the Praetorian to vomit vast quantities of its own acidic blood while in combat. This, coupled with its razor claws, allow the Praetorian to be an effective combatant against any armored forces it encounters. Typically a Hive will feature several Praetorians in reserve to ensure the continued survival of the Hive by creating a new Queen. This occurs by the activation of a genetic trigger inside the Praetorian that enables it to cocoon itself and regenerate as a Queen. There can be only one Queen, however, so remaining Praetorians genetically "de-trigger" after this happens.
Queen
The Xenomorph Queen is the leader of the hive and the source of the Xenomorph Ovomorph. A hive may only have one Queen at a time and all Queens come from a Praetorian that has undergone royal transformation. One of the most deadly creatures ever encountered, the Queen is an enemy that can only be neutralized with overwhelming force and is extremely dangerous when confronted.
The Queen's primary mission is to expand her Hive and she is in complete control over the genetic configuration of the Hive itself. The directives of the Queen are inescapable for the Hive and all Xenomorphs are subservient to the wishes of the Queen. When forming a Hive the Queen will distend her abdomen into an Egg Sack and will begin the process of generating ovomorphs and Xenomorph spores. The Queen is able to release herself from her 'throne' at any time; however, she will be required to generate a new egg sack to resume production of eggs as she cannot generate new Ovomorphs while mobile.
In combat the Queen is capable of striking enemies with bone-shattering blows that send most man-sized creatures hurtling through the air making her a capable fighter in a last stand situation. While her attack is powerful, it relies on concussive impact and has no armor-penetrating effect. Thus, heavily armored opponents are more likely to survive her strikes. When the Hive is threatened the Queen responds proportionally and can enhance her resilience. The Queen will begin to growing hardened chitin that will deflect all but heavy munitions and will force her progeny to attack without mercy.
Transbreed
Drone
Drones are considered to be the workers of the Xenomorph Hive and they perform a variety of peripheral roles including dragging hosts back to the hive for impregnation and moving Eggs. While considered weaker than most other Xenomorphs, the Drone is no less deadly than its brethren. The Drone can develop a cyst-filled acidic froth that it can choose to spit on potential hosts, making it the only long distance Xenomorph combatant. These cysts invade the victim's body through the resultant acid-induced wounds, whereupon they cause tumors that use the host's body to generate nutrients beneficial to transbreed Chestburster development. Accordingly, adult transbreed Aliens from cystically infected hosts are tougher than usual. These tumors are difficult to treat; however, a patient able to reach Sickbay in time can be healed.
Aside from the Queen, the Drone is the only Xenomorph capable of creating a Hive which Xenomorphs use to regenerate. It places these nodes within the hive to extend its reach or in in remote locations to enable more combat-oriented Aliens to recover from the ofter dangerous task of securing hosts. The Drone also has no armor and is vulnerable to almost any weapon.
Runner
The runner is the primary scout used by the Xenomorph Hive and is capable of reaching incredible speeds. The Runner has a high-output metabolism that allows it to never tire and can leap onto prey with incredible force. The Runner commonly leaps at its victim's neck, which it strikes viciously on impact. This causes damage that is often unexpectedly severe from a creature of the Runner's size. Thanks to its high speed metabolism the Runner can heal at truly astounding rates when not under attack.
The Runner develops a large number of subcutaneous stinger-tipped venom sacs across its extremities as it ages. When in contact with a victim, the stingers will inject high concentrations of Alien spores that multiply in sufficient quantity to turn bodily fluids black and soupy, sickening and nauseating the host in the process, making them easy prey for more powerful Xenomorphs. These spores allow the Runner to track a target via the ambient radiation they release.
The Runner is unusual in that is contains a cartilaginous framework throughout its body that expands inward when exposed to heat. This creates enormous pressures inside the skeletal system that allows it to suddenly and violently explode should the creature die while overheated. This explosion causes the cartilage to shatter, creating biological shrapnel that strikes everything nearby. Despite this the Runner has no armor and its claws have a hard time penetrating armor. As such, it cannot withstand prolonged combat with most enemies.
Warrior
The Warrior is a fast, tough, and savage combatant that serves as the Xenomorph equivalent of infantry. Large numbers of Warriors are good for wearing down biological enemies, given that acid causes wounds that are very difficult to heal. Shortly after birth the Warrior develops hardened chitinous ridges that enable it to penetrate tougher armors. In addition to this it develops redundant life support systems which enable the creature to continue to operate even after sustaining crippling damage such or losing limbs. Warriors also develop enhanced regeneration capabilities should it be able to reach the Hive, allowing it to restore itself to perfect health.
Even in death the Warrior is dangerous because, if it is killed by weapons that cause massive physical trauma, its pressurized bloodstream causes the creature of explode and shower the surrounding area with acid. Flame, however, can impede this process and impact the creatures regenerative ability.
Ranger
The Ranger is a heavy assault organisms that is tougher than the Warrior and capable of inflicting more damage. While it does not have the protective armor of the Warrior, it constantly secretes a flame retardant coating that makes the creature impossible to ignite and generally resistant to heat damage.
Like its counterpart the Runner, the Ranger has a powerful metabolism that allows it to heal itself, even when away from the Hive. The Ranger's bite also injects its prey with an acidic saliva, allowing the creature to quickly drain and consume the nutrient slurry that results to replenish its health. The Ranger has a natural heat resistance as its secretions absorb heat and evaporate, creating a flame-extinguishing cloud around the creature. Accordingly, it cannot be set on fire. As the creature engages in combat, it accumulates growth hormones in its body. When enough hormones have accumulated, the creature can pause to molt when unthreatened making it tougher than before.
