Xenomorphs vs Covenant(Smaller scale.)

[Laird]

The scenario is the following a Covenant cruiser is out at the outter rim of the Milky way exploring what they believe to be a Forerunner structure. Well exploring the structure reveals areas with leathery looking eggs, when approached by one of the exploration teams the eggs become active and several species of covenant are face hugged.(A few dozen Grunts, several jackals, a few Elites, and some brutes) with their fallen commerades taken aboard the cruiser to the medical bay for observation and treatment,several of the embryos hatch and escape to the vents and other hiding places in the ship.(Say 50 drones, a queen, and a few of the royal guard seen in the first AVP video game.) after several hours several crew members go missing(they are captured and facehugged, we all know the story.) Can the Covenant forces subdue this foe similar to the flood before they are overwhelmed?

[Peptuck]

Hunters.

That and the plasma weapons used by the Covenant should be able to make short work of the Xenomorph drones; hard to use your acid blood as a weapon when your enemies' weapons cauterize your flesh on contact.

The only problem is the preponderance of Grunts and Jackals in relation to the heavy hitters and toughest fighters in the Covenant; Grunts and Jackals would fall to xenomorphs like wheat. Brutes would probably suffer, too, as they lack energy shields and use metallic blades....but then again, they are insanely tough as long as they can keep their heads protected.

[Tasoth]

How hot does covvie plasma run? In Alien 3, we see a drone take a bath of molten lead and come right out. While the mean sunuvabitch is probably far from perfectly fine, it had enough spunk to give chase and try to kill ripley. Also, I don't think we ever see bugs go down to flamethrowers in Alien or Aliens. Ripley toasts the eggs, but it seems like any alien she shoots at with her 'thrower just kind backs off untouched. While not as hot as molten lead, an incendiary gel does some pretty horrific things to human flesh. How does plasma stack up to these two? And the question is would a bug be able to shrug off glancing plasma hit or even a direct hit or two? Really, Alien 3 gives them some freakish thermal protection and thats before you start including the various comics and stories, which I really don't think need to be dragged in as it literally turns the bugs into ninja gods of terror and death with some of the shit they do.

[Commander 598]

Xenomorphs don't exactly just sit there and let you shoot them...

[Molyneux]

I'll call foul: what reason is there to believe that Elite energy shields would allow an Elite to be facehugged? They blow up Floor spores just fine on contact.

We've seen Elites perform feats that show their strength to be at least on the level of a Xenomorph, probably significantly higher, and they're generally versed in melee combat. One-on-one, an Elite armed with a laser sword would chop a Xeno into quivering bits, and it seems reasonable to assume that the energy shields would vaporize the acid blood in case of splatter.

In the Xenos' favor, grunts and Jackals would most likely fall like wheat, and given their odd method of sensing, Elite stealth would probably fall flat.

Given a commander half as competent as, say, the Arbiter with any decent Covvies under his command, it seems reasonable to assume that they would either slice and dice the Xenomorphs, or scuttle and abandon the ship.

[Darth Ruinus]

I'll call foul: what reason is there to believe that Elite energy shields would allow an Elite to be facehugged? They blow up Floor spores just fine on contact.

I thought we couldnt argue with the terms the OP put down?

BTW, I always got the feeling that spores were like balloons, given the popping sound when they die. (Dont know much Halo, just play the games)

One-on-one, an Elite armed with a laser sword would chop a Xeno into quivering bits, and it seems reasonable to assume that the energy shields would vaporize the acid blood in case of splatter.

How many Elites carry energy swords?

In the Xenos' favor, grunts and Jackals would most likely fall like wheat, and given their odd method of sensing, Elite stealth would probably fall flat.

As far as I know, some victims are taken so that a face hugger can lay eggs in it, which would mean lots of new aliens, while the Covenant lose people.

[Peptuck]

I thought we couldnt argue with the terms the OP put down?

Nah, its happened before. When an OP presents a scenario that depends on nonsensical criteria that isn't explained with something like "Q farted, and this is what happened" its open season for the powers of logic.

BTW, I always got the feeling that spores were like balloons, given the popping sound when they die. (Dont know much Halo, just play the games)

They pretty much are, and they're also incredibly fragile; one spore popping kills others in close proximity.

But Elite shields have shown the ability to take punches from cyborgs in powered armor who can shatter concrete. Facehuggers would bounce off.

How many Elites carry energy swords?

Quite a few; more of them carry them in Halo 2 than in Halo, and I've seen the occassional Elite pop out a sword without warning. Ultras are particularly ready to pull swords out if an enemy closes to melee,a nd with their boosted shields, they can take an insane amount of damage.

As far as I know, some victims are taken so that a face hugger can lay eggs in it, which would mean lots of new aliens, while the Covenant lose people.

Takes time. Covenant ships appear to lack internal sensors, though, judging by First Strike, where Cortana had to track Covenant in the Ascendant Justice by tracking hatch openings or comm signals, but a xenomorph makes some noise and environmental damage moving around, and that would show up pretty quickly.

Worst comes to worst, the Elites will pull what they did in the Halo Graphic Novel: scuttle the ship or call for help to destroy it.

[Darth Ruinus]

but a xenomorph makes some noise and environmental damage moving around, and that would show up pretty quickly.

What? They make noise? From the movies I remember them as being stealthy killers, up to the point that they were literally behind people before they noticed anything.

And whats this about environmental damage?

[Lord Revan]

but a xenomorph makes some noise and environmental damage moving around, and that would show up pretty quickly.

What? They make noise? From the movies I remember them as being stealthy killers, up to the point that they were literally behind people before they noticed anything.

And whats this about environmental damage?

dunno about noise but Xenomorphs do drool acid (in addition of having acid blood)

[Peptuck]

but a xenomorph makes some noise and environmental damage moving around, and that would show up pretty quickly.

What? They make noise? From the movies I remember them as being stealthy killers, up to the point that they were literally behind people before they noticed anything.

And whats this about environmental damage?

I should have clarified: they'd make a "racket" that would show up on sensors. Unless they're adept at picking locks or otherwise using electronics, they'd have to bust open grates or hatches to get aound in the ductwork, and that would show up on the ship's internal sensors.

My apologies. Its late and I'm out of caffine >.>

[Molyneux]

Facehuggers would bounce off.

That sounds like something that'd be awesome to see.

A lone Elite walks into a room full of facehugger eggs, plasma rifles at the ready...

The eggs split at the top, and facehuggers pounce the Elite one after another!
...only to bounce off, flying around the room. A few scuttle back for a second try.

Elite: "...was that supposed to do something?" *opens up with plasma rifle barrage*

[Darth Wong]

Yay, more xenomorph wanking. They have no weapons but claws, for fuck's sake.

The Queen's lair will be easy to locate, and they'll just go in there and burn everything down, including her. Frankly, the warrior units are simply not a thread to a well-armed, numerous force. Everyone seems to have forgotten that the Marines in Aliens were poorly led, caught by surprise, and beset with a series of absurdly unlikely bad coincidences, yet they still killed far more of the enemy than they lost. One squad took out so many xenos that by the end of the movie, there was only a handful left to defend the Queen herself. And Ripley finished them off herself.

Once they do that, all that's left is finding any facehuggers that might have gotten loose and are crawling around in the ductwork. Even if some of them get by, they'll know what it means when someone is nailed by a facehugger so they'll just kill him to end his suffering and eliminate the drone. This would never be anything more than a minor irritation.

[Peptuck]

Not to mention the Covenant already have plenty of experience with infectious parasitic organisms who feed off their hosts: the Flood.

SOP for the Covenant when they encounter someone caught by a facehugger would be to burn the unclean body and carry on with the hunting of the silly alien drones infesting their ship. Consider that a single Elite team would probably mop the floor with a Colonial Marine squad, and unlike the Marines, they are well-trained and armed for exactly the kind of close-quarters combat the xenomorphs focus on.

The Elites wouldn't even need to bother getting Grunts or Jackals for a sweep-and-clear. They'd just assemble a few strike teams of Elites and maybe Brutes, with Hunter support, and burn the infestation with plasma and energy sword.

[Ford Prefect]

Not to mention the Covenant already have plenty of experience with infectious parasitic organisms who feed off their hosts: the Flood.

Except of course that the Flood actually made use of ranged weapons. I distinctly remember getting assaulted by anti-tank missiles by those zombie bastards.

[Lord Revan]

Not to mention the Covenant already have plenty of experience with infectious parasitic organisms who feed off their hosts: the Flood.

Except of course that the Flood actually made use of ranged weapons. I distinctly remember getting assaulted by anti-tank missiles by those zombie bastards.

I've played only Halo (PC version) but there the use of ranged weapons by the Flood was rather uneffective (they used them, but accuracity and ROF were non existant (plus you could normally take them out with few well place grenages)

[Ford Prefect]

I've played only Halo (PC version) but there the use of ranged weapons by the Flood was rather uneffective (they used them, but accuracity and ROF were non existant (plus you could normally take them out with few well place grenages)

It's still a heck of a lot better than the xenomorphs, who have never made use of any ranged weapons at all, unless there's something in a comic which I've never read.

[Lord Revan]

I've played only Halo (PC version) but there the use of ranged weapons by the Flood was rather uneffective (they used them, but accuracity and ROF were non existant (plus you could normally take them out with few well place grenages)

It's still a heck of a lot better than the xenomorphs, who have never made use of any ranged weapons at all, unless there's something in a comic which I've never read.

as far as I know there's no single case of Xenos using anything but their natural weapons (aka claws, tail, jaws and such)

[Molyneux]

Yay, more xenomorph wanking. They have no weapons but claws, for fuck's sake.

Claws, teeth, spiked tail, and acid blood/possibly spit.

The xenomorphs still go down hard, but I just felt it worth mentioning; I'd lay odds some overconfident Brute smashes a xeno, either with a hammer or bare fists, and ends up splattering itself and the troops around it with acid. Even Brutes aren't dumb enough to do it more than once, though.

[Peptuck]

Not to mention the Covenant already have plenty of experience with infectious parasitic organisms who feed off their hosts: the Flood.

Except of course that the Flood actually made use of ranged weapons. I distinctly remember getting assaulted by anti-tank missiles by those zombie bastards.

I've played only Halo (PC version) but there the use of ranged weapons by the Flood was rather uneffective (they used them, but accuracity and ROF were non existant (plus you could normally take them out with few well place grenages)

In Halo 2, they're monsters at a distance. Sniper rifle and rocket-launcher armed Flood are a serious menace, and shotgun armed Flood kill me far more than any Jackal sniper has ever managed to do.

Not to mention they have no problem using vehicles against you.

[Lord Revan]

Yay, more xenomorph wanking. They have no weapons but claws, for fuck's sake.

Claws, teeth, spiked tail, and acid blood/possibly spit.

which have effective range of?

Mike's point was that Xenos are 100% melee range figthers.

[Molyneux]

Yay, more xenomorph wanking. They have no weapons but claws, for fuck's sake.

Claws, teeth, spiked tail, and acid blood/possibly spit.

which have effective range of?

Mike's point was that Xenos are 100% melee-range fighters.

Ah...I just figured it didn't make sense to leave out their other natural weapons, given that they're going down to Covenant forces pretty damn quick.

It'd be pretty cool to see, say, a Xenomorph queen going down to a multi-needler barrage, though. All those pretty pink sparkles and shards of flying exoskeleton...

[DesertFly]

It'd be pretty cool to see, say, a Xenomorph queen going down to a multi-needler barrage, though. All those pretty pink sparkles and shards of flying exoskeleton...

Considering the hard and smooth curved surfaces that Xenomorphs are made of, needlers are probably the worst weapon to attack them with. The needles would mostly bounce off or slide to one side or the other. Standard plasma weaponry would be a better second, but the Covenant would probably have to resort to melee attacks (i.e. energy swords) and explosives to deal the most effective damage. Not that I think the Xenomorphs would be able to do anything to Elites. Grunts and Jackals would have a tougher time of it, especially in narrow corridors, and Hunters, although almost certainly immune to infection, could have a bit of trouble if an alien attached itself to the back of one. Guess it's a good thing there are two of them.

[Peptuck]

Considering the hard and smooth curved surfaces that Xenomorphs are made of, needlers are probably the worst weapon to attack them with. The needles would mostly bounce off or slide to one side or the other.

Yeah, kind of how they bounce and slide off the solid battle armor of a Spartan....oh, wait.

Or how they bounce of the metal walls of the interior of a Covenant ship....oh, wait.

Needlers don't do very well against the heavy armor of combat vehicles, but they do just fine against personal armor, and the xenomorphs do not have exoskeletons that are that durable.

[Vendetta]

Also, I don't think we ever see bugs go down to flamethrowers in Alien or Aliens. Ripley toasts the eggs, but it seems like any alien she shoots at with her 'thrower just kind backs off untouched.

That's cause they're out of range. I don't think we ever see an Alien hit by a flamethrower in Aliens.

Anyway, a covenant plasma rifle should deliver roughly 2-4.5 MW sustained, at roughly 330KJ per shot (rate of fire is variable) (calcs from the weapon stats provided on Bungie.net). Quite what that's going to do to a xeno I don't know, as their resistance to thermal and electrical effects is largely unshown. We see one survive a molten lead bath, but then it also survived having that lead dropped on it, and that shit should have been heavy, more than enough to crush the little bastard, if it was analogous to the ones in Aliens, which could be squashed by a mid size APC.