The Hunted (nBSG)

[masterarminas]

Captain Malcolm smiled as the media clustered around him. And finally, he held up hands and they—eventually—quieted down. “Thank you all, but please, if you want to make to heroes of people, I suggest you look at the rest of the men and women and children who served with me on Virgon, and with Samuel Anders on Caprica, and with Tannin Roan on Tauron. With all of the other survivors who labored each and every single day we were down there to survive—to fight back—to find a way to come home.”

“All of us have lost a great many people we cared for, whether you were aboard this Fleet on the eve of the attack or trapped behind the lines on the Colonies or on this ship sent far away for nothing more than to learn. And yes, to answer your question, Miss Palacios, I take my responsibilities as the sole living heir to the Virgon throne seriously. I take my responsibilities to the Virgon people seriously. And I shall endeavor to do all within my power to ensure that my people—all of the people of the Twelve Colonies—remain safe and find a new home.”

“James McManus,” the next reporter said. “Rumor suggests that you are planning to declare yourself as an official Presidential candidate in the upcoming election, Prince Hamish—what is your stance on Vice President Baltar’s allegations concerning the illegal actions of the President?”

Hamish frowned. “I have no bloody idea—I just arrived on this ship hours ago, I haven’t heard the allegations, and I have made no statement or taken any action that even suggests that I am running for that office. However, I will say this in response to the rumors that I have heard.”

“As a citizen-subject of Virgon, I hold that our civil liberties are the core of our strength as a people. We must retain that principled core or we will weaken and degenerate into some barbaric mob. As the Crown Prince of Virgon, I will be fighting to preserve the freedoms and liberties that those who came before us have won. Earlier today, I met with Marshall Bagot, the Delegate of Virgon to the Quorum. He is a good man, I believe, and I will be supporting his fight to ensure that liberty remains alive among our people.”

As another reporter began to ask a question, Hamish held up his hands. “There are plenty of other people on this ship that deserve your attention today, my friends. And for myself, I haven’t eaten in twelve hours and I am famished—so if you will excuse me, I need to find a meal.”

“And there you have it, folks,” James McManus said into his microphone, the report going out live over the wireless to the ships of the Fleet. “Prince Hamish will be running for the office of President to restore the freedoms and liberties that Roslin has robbed you of. This is James McManus, reporting from Scorpia.”

“That isn’t even close to what he said, James,” Playa Palacios said as she tucked her recorder into her bag. “What’s your game?”

“You don’t really think Roslin is going to let Baltar continue to run against her after that stunt in the Quorum, do you, Playa?” James smirked. “According to my source on Galactica, he is in their brig right now. That means we need a new candidate, and if he doesn’t want to run—who cares? If he’s elected, he will take the office; they all do. Anyone but Roslin, I say.”

“She’s not that bad—she’s no Adar,” the only veteran journalist in the Fleet protested.

And James snorted. “Oh, she’s just as bad as Adar. Only she has a sweet smile while she cuts off your legs. Oh,” he said, snapping his fingers. “You hear anything today about a ship called Joyita?”

“No, why?”

“One of the pilots started to say something but then a ranking officer whispered in his ear, and he dropped it. I figure if they don’t want anyone talking—it must be good.”

She shook her head. “I’ll ask around, James.”

“Fine. If you find anything, we can share the byline,” he grinned.

“We’ll talk,” Playa answered and she shouldered her bag to find the next person to interview.

[masterarminas]

“I cannot believe you volunteered us for this shit detail,” Skulls said from the ECO station in the troop bay of the Raptor. “Right now, Scorpia is the place to be—hell, any ship in the Fleet is going to be party central, Racetrack. But no, you go and volunteer us for long-range patrol. Thanks.”

“Can it,” Racetrack snapped. “I need to get my head clear, Skulls, and I can’t do that back in the Fleet.”

“Touchy,” he murmured and then he went back to examining his board.

The mission was simple—survey the systems that surrounded the nebula currently hiding the Fleet and see if there were any Cylons around. Simple and boring. Well, with the exception of if they actually discovered Cylons, in which case it might become rather terrifying. And coincidentally, scan for new sources of tylium, water, and breathable air.

Currently, the Raptor was in a dispersed binary system with two yellow suns. Both well within the range of having inhabited planets. But the first of the pair had been a bust—and now this second appeared to be the same. And then Skulls jaw dropped.

“I’ll be damned!” he cried. “Racetrack—that gas giant! One of its moons as a breathable atmosphere!”

She looked down at her equipment and she grimaced. “Barely breathable. Not pleasant, though.”

“Oxygen and argon, we can do worse and if the Fleet runs out of air, you won’t care how it smells. This is . . . oh, FRACK!”

“Skulls?”

“There is a ship in orbit.”

“Cylon?”

“Nothing like any Cylon ship I’ve seen,” he answered. “Small thing. Can’t be a warship.”

“You never know,” Racetrack said. “Get it on tape.”

“Recording. Wait,” he said. “I’m picking a transmission from the surface. Garbled.”

“See if the system can clean it up,” Racetrack ordered.

Skulls played with the broadcast for a few moments, muttering to himself. “Wrong frequency for the Colonies—or the Cylons. Damn, that’s weird—it’s repeating.”

“Like an Emergency Broadcast?”

“Yeah, I can’t make any sense of the words.”

“Tie in the translator—maybe it is some obscure dialect,” Racetrack said.

“That did it,” said Skulls after a moment. “I’m playing it.”

"Mayday, mayday, this is Colonial Marine Rifle Detachement Sulaco. Heavy casualties suffered. Immediate evacuation required on Acheron. All ships. Mayday, mayday, this is this is Colonial Marine Rifle Detachement Sulaco. Heavy casualties suffered. Immediate evacuation required on Acheron.” And the message kept on repeating.

Racetrack swallowed. “Did they just say Colonial Marines?”

“What are they doing so far out here?”

“Spin up the FTL, Skulls. I think we need to get this back to Galactica.”

[PhilosopherOfSorts]

Wait...What?

[masterarminas]

“Mayday? What the frack is a mayday?” asked Saul as he listened to the recording in Admiral’s quarters on Galactica. “They keep saying that word—it must be important.”

“Colonial, Marine, Acheron—those words I recognize,” said the Admiral. “But it certainly has the feel of a distress call, doesn’t it?”

Saul nodded. “But if they are Colonials, then why are they using such an obscure language? And why didn’t they preface it with krypter?”

“What if . . .,” Helo began and then his voice trailed away.

“Captain Agathon,” Saul said sharply, “if you are CAG then you speak your mind at meetings! Not as disrespectfully as Starbuck, but if you have something to add, belt it out!”

“What if these aren’t our Marines?”

“Say again?” asked Adama.

What if they belong to the Thirteenth Tribe?”

Adama exhaled and he nodded. “It is a possibility, but what if they are Cylons?”

“The ship isn’t any Cylon design we have ever seen—it isn’t any Cylon design that Athena has ever seen,” Helo argued. “But that is beside the point. Whoever it is down there, Admiral, they are asking for help.”

“Oh, boy,” said Saul. “You can’t save the universe, Helo!”

“No sir, Colonel Sir. But you can save one life—or a dozen—or a hundred. If you try. Admiral, these people could be a long-lost expedition from one of the Colony worlds, or they could be the Thirteenth Tribe, and maybe something else entirely different. But they are asking for help. If it were our people down there, and someone else heard their krypter call, wouldn’t we want them to help our folks?”

Saul snorted, but Adama waved him back down. “All right. Who do we send?”

“Can’t be Galactica, or Pegasus, or Scorpia,” said Saul. “We need those ships here and Scorpia needs to finish repairs—so do we. And I’m not about to risk a Bezrek on a wild goose chase, so that leaves Anubis or just a Raptor flight.”

Adama nodded. “Sending Anubis would get her and her crew out of the President’s line of fire for a few days—contact Major Caldwell. Inform her that I need her to report aboard immediately for a briefing. And Saul, get with Scorpia’s Marines—they have already worked with Caldwell’s people, and have Aisne assign . . . a platoon. That should be enough with what they already have.”

“And in the meantime, I’ve got more paperwork to attend to,” the Admiral said. “Let me know when Caldwell comes aboard.”

[FaxModem1]

So, this just became a crossover with Aliens?

[MondoMage]

"Mayday, mayday, this is Colonial Marine Rifle Detachement Sulaco. Heavy casualties suffered. Immediate evacuation required on Acheron. All ships. Mayday, mayday, this is this is Colonial Marine Rifle Detachement Sulaco. Heavy casualties suffered. Immediate evacuation required on Acheron.” And the message kept on repeating.

Well, that was unexpected. Not sure if it's a good move or not, but I've enjoyed this story immensely so far, so I have no problem waiting to see how this goes. At least it wasn't Forward unto Dawn or somesuch.

If this is the same ship, then I assume something happened to render the Sulaco incapable of breaking orbit, or something that kept the survivors from getting back to the ship. Something that did not happen in the movie. Interesting. Xenomorphs loose in the Colonial Fleet... that has the potential to get really ugly, really quick.

Oh, and the Colonials are just going to love Bishop. The concept of androids in general should really drive them up the wall, but actually meeting one? Behavioral inhibitors notwithstanding, Roslin is going to have a stroke.

[Borgholio]

So, this just became a crossover with Aliens?

Dunno if I really like that idea. This story is interesting enough on it's own merits. Could just be recycling the names though.

[White Haven]

The Sulaco bit actually makes my substantially less interested in where things go from here. At first, it was just a single rock hitting the pond and watching the ripples go where they may. A sizable and multifaceted rock, yes, but one rock. Now the pond's just being shelled from shore-based artillery.

[Skywalker_T-65]

Well, assuming this isn't just name recycling...I look at it this way. No one (that I know of) likes the way nBSG ended as far as Earth goes. So this could just be a way of fixing that...giving the Colonial's an Earth that isn't prehistoric, but at the same time, isn't Halo or something like that.

I dunno though...that's just how I'm justifying it

[Borgholio]

Well if this is BSG in the Aliens-verse, just as long as they don't go the "Xenomorphs invade the fleet" route. It's been done before with just about every other Sci-Fi series on the boards.

[Crazedwraith]

I bet Weyland-Yutani would just love to have a monoply on BSG FTL drives...

[MondoMage]

Well if this is BSG in the Aliens-verse, just as long as they don't go the "Xenomorphs invade the fleet" route. It's been done before with just about every other Sci-Fi series on the boards.

A fleet of invididual ships would (should) be a lot harder for Xenomorphs to fully infested than would a colony or other mass concentration of breeding stock. At least if those in charge are on the ball, that is. You might lose a ship or three before the nature of the problem becomes apparent, but effective quarantine procedures would keep the majority of ships safe. Now, if they lost one of the warships that would cause other problems, but that's a whole 'nother matter. And that becomes a problem only if the landing party is foolish enough to bring something obviously alien (facehugger, for example) back with them. I don't think Adama or Lorne would go for that. They've got a lot of civilians to worry about, and that would likely be an unacceptable risk.

So it is entirely possible for this to be happening in the Aliens universe without actually involving the Aliens, except as background chatter. Kinda fun to discuss, but until the next update we're spinning ourselves up for potentially nothing. If nothing rose, MA is good at pulling surprises. Can't wait to see what this one is.

[Eternal_Freedom]

I have a suspicious feeling that Lorne's decision to keep those three Hades missiles will pay off. After all, it's the only way to be sure.

[masterarminas]

“And the result of this interrogation?” asked Laura.

Adama shook his head negatively. “Baltar insists that both the sidearm and the nuclear weapon were in his lab—he claims that he forgot the pistol was in his possession and he put inside a filing compartment and left it after Kobol, Madame President. Either he has an exceptionally strong will, or he actually believes that someone stole the device from his lab.”

“But the coincidences . . .,” started the President.

“Cannot be proven to be active lies by Baltar,” said the Admiral. “It strains the imagination that they are coincidences, but even under chemical interrogation he has stuck to his story,” the Admiral shook his head. “Although, I do believe the good scientist really has need of seeking professional help. One or two times, it was if he was answering questions someone else was posing—not us. And the new Court that the Quorum put into place will not allow us to continue to hold him, not on the full array of charges we wanted.”

He frowned. Newly installed High Justice Romo Lampkin—one of the few professional attorneys-at-law remaining in the Fleet had, on behalf of the Quorum, issued an order demanding that formal charges be filed or the Vice-President released.

“Without corroborating evidence,” Adama sighed, “there are only two things I can charge him with. The first is failing to inform me immediately that he lost a nuclear weapon. And that is only if we consider him part of the Fleet—as far as civilian law goes, technically his only crime in that regards, as the Justice told me earlier today, is improper storage and disposal of hazardous materials. The second is possession of handgun without a proper permit.”

Laura threw up her hands and cursed. “We know that he had to play a role in this—and we cannot do a thing to him?”

“His political career is over, Laura,” Adama said and he had a crooked smile on his lips. “Someone released to the Fleet that a nuclear weapon for which he was given responsibility found its way into the hand of terrorists—he will not be President.”

“And legally he will get a slap on the wrist!”

“And so will the majority of the Pegasus crew,” said Adama. “Lampkin and I had a little chat about the matter—and he has pledged, publically pledged—that he will investigate the accusations against the Pegasus crew. Privately, he told me this entire thing is a bloody mess. Before the attack, if something like this would have happened, every man and woman on that ship would have been cashiered or incarcerated—or shot. He knows we cannot do that—we cannot afford the luxury of doing that—and while is conducting a judicial review of the situation, most of the crew will receive nothing more a note in their file. He did tell me that if he feels that the charges of rape can be proven, the individual in question will stand trial. And Major Shaw will probably be standing trial as well for her role on Scylla; the recordings were rather damning in that regard.”

“I noted that you assigned him a security detail,” Laura said quietly.

“Yes. The Gemenesse are furious that he invalidated your order over abortion. He’s already been hung in effigy on several of their ships—and I don’t want them moving from an effigy to the real thing.”

“Your Commander Lorne will be happy,” Laura said bitterly.

Adama said nothing, until Laura got herself back under control.

“At least we are safe from the Cylons at the moment,” she said.

Adama shook his head. “That is a pipe-dream, Madame President. Once the Guardians discover the properties of this nebula, they will search meticulously—I know them. It is only a matter of time before they find us, which means as soon as our repairs are completed, the Fleet needs to move—and move fast.” He paused. “We have the coordinates where Caprica suggested for a rendezvous—and they still have our POWs, Laura.”

She glared at Adama, but he sat there unfazed until she looked away.

“We need to get those people back,” the Admiral said softly, “and if they are serious about combining forces against the Guardians, we need to consider their offer.”

“But this ship you found—the one you sent Anubis to investigate,” Laura began.

“Could be anything, Madame President. We won’t know until Caldwell returns. And there is another matter we must address—soon.”

Laura frowned and she nodded. “Joyita. I’ve heard that certain reporters are asking questions.”

“Right now, Scorpia’s people are keeping their mouths shut, but that won’t last. We need to get ahead of this, Laura. And we owe it to Tory and Saul and Galen and Ellen that the news is broken to them gently before they get ambushed with this.”

She fumed, but she nodded. “And that ass Lampkin has already informed me—Commander Lorne gave him a full briefing, were you aware—that there is no charge which he and the Court will sustain against them,” she said bitterly.

“At the least, he delayed the elections for four weeks—eight weeks from today. That gives you an opportunity to repair the damage that Baltar dealt you, Laura,” Adama said with a grin.

“But now Zarek has thrown his hat into the ring—and there are rumors that Prince Hamish is considering a run as well,” and she paused, then chuckled. “Here I am, after we have united with nearly fifty-five hundred new survivors, worried about an election for an office I never dreamed I would hold.”

Adama just waited.

“What if that ship belongs to the Thirteenth Tribe, Bill?” she asked.

“In that case, Madame President, the election will be a foregone conclusion—if you are the President who managed to guide us to Earth.”

“The thing that worries me about that,” Laura said softly, “is what if they are not ready for the Guardians or the Cylons? What if we lead them there—and see the slaughter repeated?”

The Admiral frowned and he shook his head. “If—IF—that ship belongs to the Thirteenth Tribe, then at the very least they are a space-faring civilization. An interstellar civilization—there is no world in the system that Racetrack surveyed that could support a sizeable colony able to build a ship,” he sighed. “But we will not know until we make contact—we have no way of knowing at this time how long that distress beacon has been activated.”

Laura nodded. “Send a Raptor to meet with Caprica at the coordinates you gave her, Bill. And arrange a new rendezvous to continue our discussions,” and she sighed. “And release Gaius fracking Baltar from the brig.”

[masterarminas]

There may not be any more updates today. An idiot one block over cut a natural gas line. So far, they aren't evacuating my sub-division, but half the counties fire-trucks are on scene and we are waiting for the gas company to get down here. And the smell is QUITE strong.

MA

[masterarminas]

Don't worry, I haven't completely lost my mind here.

I selected the Aliens setting because of the following:

1. Colonial Marines . . . automatic plothook.

2. They have synthetics (I prefer artificial person, myself) . . . so the 13th Colony has their own Cylons or do they?

3. The technology level is generally the same. Big difference? Sulaco covers 0.74 light-years per day, while the Colonies have their instant-jump fold-space drive. Both have anti-gravity, both rely PRIMARILY on kinetic weapons and missiles and nukes. BUT, the Earth of this setting ALSO has directed energy weapons (but no shields) which should come as a MAJOR SUPRISE to the Cylons.

That was the big three reasons. And LV-426 is just 39 light years from EARTH. Now think about this. This is the Earth of 2179, just a few centuries from now. Earth with BILLIONS of people and major colonies. All ripe for attack by the Cylons.

Can this be interesting? I hope so. Anyway, it isn't nearly as much of a curb-stomp Cross-over as a lot of people like on this site. I mean mixing Star Trek and BSG, or Star Wars and BSG, or 40K and BSG, the power levels are just so dramatically different.

Here, not so much. And that gives me (and you the reader) a chance to focus on the story and not on the huge gaping holes in plot because of the technological disparity.

Now, I am not using the far-left field A vs. P stuff, or integratng the Predators, or having the Aliens change their own DNA with each host (silly idea) and I think you might like where this goes.

Anyway, that is my thoughts. I hope that you guys continue to read and offer me your opinions.

MA

[Borgholio]

Well my opinion is that if you avoid anything other than a "passing" mention of the Xenos and focus on the rest of the universe (and yes, the Aliens-verse is pretty big and has much more to it than the Xenos), then it could be quite interesting. Too much plot revolving around Xenos, however, won't be good.

[Themightytom]

I think it's a reasonable crossover, and that the hesitation from the other readers is more because the alien Franchise is more scifi horror, while nbsg is made for TV. most readers don't blink at say a babylon 5 / nBSG crossover, or a nBSG Star Trek crossover, and there's such a disparity between THOSE two that it's usually story-breaking. This is why I think it is a stylistic compatibility issue more than anything else.

Aliens, specifically was more action than horror.

nBsg is darker than it's predecessor and many of it's contemporaries.

it IS late in the game to add such an entirely new dimension. it might not be a terrible idea Stephen, to button up The Hunter, and launch the Aliens crossover as a sequel? I mean you're the writer, no one here could possibly claim you haven't wowed audiences so far both with this storyu, and your others. That being said, so far we've been focusing on the whole Scorpia crew, and development, which set expectations think the two have plenty of common ground. Given the title "The Hunted" adding a few xenomorphs is not unreasonable, and I would seriously love to see a squad of Centurions sent in to clear LV426.

Bishop is not only common ground, he could be an alternative for the guardians. as he seems to have pretty sophisticated senses and artificial flesh.

[ThatOneCatC]

Interesting crossover and I think it will be fun to see where you take it. Hopefully the Xenomorphs will not become the prime villain. It seems the BSG humans have enough on their plate as it is. Fortunately they also have the ability to nuke it from orbit.

It is the only way to be sure.

[Borgholio]

I can see a few raptors going down to the surface, rescuing the marines, seeing for themselves a few Xenos, taking off, then nuking the site and heading back to Earth. That keeps the Xenos from being too big of a deal and lets the story move onto more interesting things.

[dragon]

Don't worry, I haven't completely lost my mind here.

That was the big three reasons. And LV-426 is just 39 light years from EARTH. Now think about this. This is the Earth of 2179, just a few centuries from now. Earth with BILLIONS of people and major colonies. All ripe for attack by the Cylons.

By the official website for Prometheus they have colonies as far out as 1130 light years Capelli in this case which is a mining colony. So seems like they would have picked something up before then.

link

[masterarminas]

Anubis emerged from FTL just outside of the moon’s orbit around the gas giant. Major Sam Caldwell nodded as the DRADIS display came back on-line and stabilized—just that one strange looking ship. At three hundred and eighty-five meters in length, it was even smaller than Sam’ very ancient Battlestar. But well armed for its size, she thought as the systems high-lighted two twin KEW turrets on the dorsal and ventral surfaces, eight missile tubes along the flanks of the spiky nose, another eighty tubes on the ventral surface—for orbital bombardment, perhaps? No point defense that she could see, but the strange ship carried two very large (even larger than the bow-guns of a Mercury-class Battlestar) structures set outside her hull to the port and starboard. She wasn’t certain of what they were—there were no muzzles, no accelerator coils, no recoil compensators, no magazine feeds—but they just looked like some sort of weapon.

No flight deck, but the images showed five large bay doors on the lower surface—perhaps for their versions of the Raptor.

And she noted why the Raptor had not picked her up earlier. Just like her own Anubis, this Sulaco was apparently designed deliberately to generate a minimal signature on DRADIS. It had not responded to her hails, but it was definitely powered up, retaining its heat. She nodded to her helmsman who held the little Battlestar at a safe distance.

“Ma’am,” said Conner Horn, the Sagittaron who manned her combined tactical/sensor station. “That same message is repeating from the surface—and I am detecting another transmission directed at the ship in orbit.”

“Hail them, Mister Horn,” she ordered.

****************************************************

Bishop ignored the raging winds as the gas giant slowly shrank towards the distant horizon and his fingers flew across the keyboard as the dish adjusted itself to align with Sulaco so that he could remote pilot the remaining Cheyenne in her bay.

And the remote terminal suddenly crackled with sound. Words emerged, laden with static from the atmosphere, but words. And Bishop raised an eyebrow. They had spoken in a dialect of Greek.

“Battlestar Anubis to Colonial Marines, we have received your transmission, respond please.”

He activated the comm unit and adjusted the microphone pickup and answered in Greek. “Bishop, responding, Anubis.”

“Bishop, Anubis, do you require assistance?” the voice on the far end of the link asked.

“Eight survivors Sulaco Marine Rifle Detachement require immediate dust-off,” he answered.

There was a pause. “Evacuation?” she asked.

“Evacuation. We need immediate evacuation.”

“I have three Raptors en route to the surface, Bishop. We are detecting a beacon near your location.”

“That is the landing pad, Anubis—we will meet you there,” he paused. “Exercise extreme caution—the area is infested with large numbers of a highly dangerous xenomorph species.”

****************************************************

Sam looked at her crewmen and then she shook her head. She understood the components of the word—strange shape—but the context?

“Repeat the last, hostile lifeforms?”

“Animal lifeforms, not terrestrial,” the wireless spoke.

She nodded and Horn began passing instructions to the Marines and crew aboard the three Raptors.

“ETA to Raptor landing is ten minutes,” she broadcast.

****************************************************

“Understood. We will meet you at the port,” Bishop said and the transmission ceased. He put down the terminal and changed frequencies on the comm-unit.

“Bishop to Corporal Hicks, please respond.”

“Go, Bishop,” the voice of the senior surviving Marine said.

“A rescue party is en route to the surface, Corporal Hicks—ETA to landing at the port ten minutes and counting.”

“What the . . .,” Hicks started, and then he stopped. “We can sort this out later, I need to get everyone moving. Meet us at the port!” And the transmission ceased.

“I will meet you at the port,” Bishop said to no one in particular. And then he began to cautiously make his way through the rough terrain down the slope of the hill towards the landing pads.

[MondoMage]

Okay, that helps pin things down a bit more. Eight survivors... that would be Ripley, Hicks, Newt, Bishop, Hudson, Gorman, Burke, and Vasquez. If this is where (time-wise) I think it is, things are going to be hopping when they come racing out to meet the Raptors. Most likely with a whole bunch of Xenos right behind them. Should make for some interesting times, to be sure.

And I can't wait to see the reactions when the Colonials realize what Bishop is. And Burke when he realizes how much money the Colonials FTL system is worth.

[LadyTevar]

maybe the Xenos can get Burke beforehand. He was such a shit.

I was wondering if they'd find Bishop, Newt, and Ridley in stasis or not. Do we get to see "Leave her alone you Bitch?"

[MondoMage]

I was wondering if they'd find Bishop, Newt, and Ridley in stasis or not. Do we get to see "Leave her alone you Bitch?"

Doesn't look like it's going to go down that way. Although the Colonials and the Colonial Marines haven't gotten off the planet yet... anything could happen. But I kinda doubt it. Plus, I always figured that while Ripley was definitely regaining her confidence throughout the events on Acheron, it wasn't until Newt was taken that she transitioned fully into bad-ass Ripley. However, that also means she hasn't come to trust Bishop yet. The dynamics of this meeting are going to be really interesting, to say the least.