Tournament - Middle-Earth vs. The Xenomorphs

[corvette1710]

      The Xenomorph Queen hissed in pleasure. No sickly, grey beings pervaded her hives now. They were diseased, scrawny things who could put up little resistance against her drones. The eggs she’d laid put them to good use, though. Their feeble weaponry, slings and bows by her estimation, could little pierce the hide of her children. She had lost a few, it was true, but they had served their purpose in the end.

 

      Now, she reached out telepathically in the night, sending visions of herself far and wide to entice newcomers to her hive, that she might make them of her own. She could feel their differing physiologies; the material they would bring unto her would be extensively useful.

 

      Her first outsider quarry was a group of stout biped men with weapons befitting their stature. They’d posed some small challenge to capture, but she would allow a few to escape: at least, after they had been impregnated, and she would stay the hand of her hatchlings until they had returned to their homes. Then, she would allow her seed to propagate similarly across the planet.

 

      For, of course, this was her only objective: Control the planet through her progeny. And there was plentiful wildlife to turn to her own, from grey-blue, violent bipedal creatures to proud, strong, long-maned, hooved quadrupeds. They all fell to her dream assault, her immense telepathic presence turning her into their deity. They marched en masse into the mines to be turned, their numbers becoming hers as they were impregnated and parasitized.

 

      Word had begun to spread among the kingdoms of a terror inside Moria. The tales told of a great dark monster with crystalline teeth and a black crown, who turned men and beast alike unto its brood.

 

      The problem in the kingdoms’ communications came in the form of secrecy and deceit: None were willing to admit that their dreams had been pervaded with terrifying, awe-inspiring images of this Lord of Night, as they had taken to calling it. They could see it in their sleep, feel its presence looming in their mind when they were waking, and perhaps most frighteningly, they were hesitant to kill it, as it exuded magnificence and power, and to attempt its destruction may only incur its wrath and end its splendor.

 

      Thus the delegation at Rivendell, excluding those who had once felt the corruption of the One Ring, spoke endlessly of containment over eradication. The kingdoms of Gondor and Rohan were represented appropriately, but not by those men who had felt the vitriol the Ring evoked. Thranduil himself appeared to represent Mirkwood, and Elrond was the host of the invoked gathering. A near-nameless dwarf king represented his entire race, and the Hobbits didn’t bother to send a delegation. No other races had been invited or informed to appear to discuss the greatest evil since Sauron begat the War for the Ring. Ergo, neither orcs, goblins, or werewolves, nor trolls, ents, or spiders were allowed to discuss their fate, as the elves detested them each but for ents, whom they respected but thought their numbers too few.

 

      In essence, the Fellowship lived on in memorial action, though many of the peoples of Middle-Earth had fallen back into their ways of petty discourse and war.

 

      In Rivendell did the convention speak in hushed tones, fearing the inferring of fear amongst their number by another, in that such a showing would emplace weakness upon their people in the minds of potential enemies.

 

      And so, speaking from false boldness, the many chose to send forth parties of their own toward Moria, to collect in Rivendell and ride southward thus.

 

      In one month’s time, the assorted factions had gathered themselves for a journey to Moria from Rivendell and marched forward, spirits beginning low as their visions of a desolate future under the Lord of Night where its spawn reigned made them more certain of their failure.

 

      The Queen met their forces with several thousand of her own drones and warriors taken from the miles surrounding Moria. Her brood had converted the mines’ walls to a resinous compilation of her own making, which allowed them places to hide and ambush them as her forces feigned weakness, gathering inside the mines for the war party to follow.

 

***

 

               “Thus we must take this task above all others upon ourselves: To slay the Lord of Night and bring an end to the terror of its brood. Who among you cannot speak to the horrors you have endured to reach this place? Not one, I can be assured. It is not in spite of your ordeals, but because of them, that you have found the courage—nay, the will—to fight to end night’s reign over Middle-Earth. It is for you that I raise my sword, and for each other and all others that you must as well. By the end of our great mission, each and all of us will be as the great heroes of old!”

 

               Aragorn punctuated his speech by raising his sword. Fifty thousand men, dwarves, and elves raised their swords with him.

 

*****

 

So, in summary: fifty thousand men, dwarves, and elves, led by Aragorn, have to enter Moria, navigate the mines, and fight about ten thousand drones and warriors before finally reaching the Queen in the deepest part of the mines and killing her as well.

 

Assume the numbers to be something like 40,000 men, 9,500 dwarves, and 500 elves, and 8,000 drones, 2,000 warriors, a handful of praetorians, and the Queen.

 

Of the Fellowship, only Aragorn and Legolas are present.

[Callisto]

Learn More About
Middle-Earth
Read more about Middle-Earth at Wikipedia
Official Site: J. R. R. Tolkien Links: Wikipedia Comic Vine Lord of the Rings Wiki

The Xenomorphs
Read more about The Xenomorphs at Wikipedia
Official Site: 20th Century Fox Links: Wikipedia: Xenomorphs Essays on the Xenomorph's biology 20th Century Fox's Official 'Alien' Site

[Macklemore]

I feel like a lot of the casualties here would be cause of the fact that they are not aware of the Xenomorphs acidic blood. Legolas would be MVP, if Middle Earth does happen to win.

[RakaiThwei]

I do not see this ending very well for Middle-Earth. As a matter of fact, a situation DID occur like this canonically within the Alien franchise as far as the new, canonical EU material is concerned-- at least new, canonical material under the Disney banner, anyway. In the new novel, ALIENS: Phalanx, there is a medieval world called Ategina which once was thriving and full of life-- until the first Xenomorph outbreak occurred. Over 90% of the human population of Ategina was decimated and perhaps even used as breeding stock for the Xenomorph who more or less took over the planet, and drove the remaining human population to mountain strongholds... but even then, the Xenomorphs were reaching those strongholds.

https://avp.fandom.com/wiki/Aliens:_Phalanx

https://avp.fandom.com/wiki/Ataegina

If the Xenomorphs essentially took over a medieval world in their respective universe... I see this happening no differently.

[corvette1710]

4 hours ago, Macklemore said:

I feel like a lot of the casualties here would be cause of the fact that they are not aware of the Xenomorphs acidic blood. Legolas would be MVP, if Middle Earth does happen to win.

Well, there have been some parties that went into Moria and survivors were allowed back out, so they know the acid blood exists; they may be overconfident in the durability of, say, mithril gear or something, though.

3 hours ago, RakaiThwei said:

I do not see this ending very well for Middle-Earth. As a matter of fact, a situation DID occur like this canonically within the Alien franchise as far as the new, canonical EU material is concerned-- at least new, canonical material under the Disney banner, anyway. In the new novel, ALIENS: Phalanx, there is a medieval world called Ategina which once was thriving and full of life-- until the first Xenomorph outbreak occurred. Over 90% of the human population of Ategina was decimated and perhaps even used as breeding stock for the Xenomorph who more or less took over the planet, and drove the remaining human population to mountain strongholds... but even then, the Xenomorphs were reaching those strongholds.

https://avp.fandom.com/wiki/Aliens:_Phalanx

https://avp.fandom.com/wiki/Ataegina

If the Xenomorphs essentially took over a medieval world in their respective universe... I see this happening no differently.

I think these are to some degree analogous, but there is something to be said for the preternatural skills and abilities of elves in particular. And as far as the world at large, we can't really be sure how Middle-Earth's magical beings would take to fighting the Xenomorphs. A lot of LotR magic is kinda handwavy and indirect, so I left Gandalf in particular out of this scenario of invading Moria.

[RakaiThwei]

4 hours ago, corvette1710 said:

Well, there have been some parties that went into Moria and survivors were allowed back out, so they know the acid blood exists; they may be overconfident in the durability of, say, mithril gear or something, though.

I think these are to some degree analogous, but there is something to be said for the preternatural skills and abilities of elves in particular. And as far as the world at large, we can't really be sure how Middle-Earth's magical beings would take to fighting the Xenomorphs. A lot of LotR magic is kinda handwavy and indirect, so I left Gandalf in particular out of this scenario of invading Moria.

Well, sure. The denizens of Middle Earth are going to be an asset to have but as far as the Elves are concerned, they don't seem to be any less squishy than your typical human. Aside from them having some enhanced abilities and being damn good sharpshooters with the arrows-- we know that they are just as mortal as far as wounds are concerned as anyone else, unless there is something going on to support them which enables them to either resurrect from or avoid death. And from my knowledge of Tolkien, Elves are only immortal in terms of age but can be killed by conventional means.

I can see the Elves putting down a number of Xenomorphs, but eventually... the numbers likely might get too much for them, and if the Praetorians are involved, I highly, highly doubt the arrows are going to go through the exoskeletons of those Xenomorph variants, especially if that variant is known to tank M41A Pulse Rifle rounds that are 10mm armor piercing explosive tipped caseless. And even with USCMC high powered snipers, it's still damn hard to kill a Praetorian.

I mean, the way I see it... A lot of humans are going to die or be used as breeding stock for the Xenomorphs, the same applies to Elves, the same applies to the Dwarves. Only thing is, the Elves are going to be harder to take down. Not impossible, but just harder than a Dwarf or a Human.

[Fox]

This is a fun match.  Excellent use of the Fantasy vs. Sci-Fi theme. 

I do have some quibbles about it from the Tolkien side, because if this takes place after the Lord of The Rings then all the Elves should have left the shores of Middle Earth and sailed into the West.

I also figure the Middle Earth forces would have used scrying magic to figure out how screwed they were gonna be, and then just buried the place for eternity.

Ignoring all those possibilities and the forces of Middle Earth throwing caution to the wind in a bid for exterminating the Hive... yeah, I'd say they are likely doomed.  Because we know that it's a Plot Device of the Alien series that one face-hugger always gets away to start the cycle anew.

The set-up is well presented, but it's more of a cerebral analytics exercise than a gripping personal drama which I find more entertaining.  It doesn't leave me feeling particularly invested in the characters involved.  I guess I hope Middle-Earth pulls through because reasons.

Great match, thanks!

 

[corvette1710]

11 hours ago, Fox said:

This is a fun match.  Excellent use of the Fantasy vs. Sci-Fi theme. 

I do have some quibbles about it from the Tolkien side, because if this takes place after the Lord of The Rings then all the Elves should have left the shores of Middle Earth and sailed into the West.

I also figure the Middle Earth forces would have used scrying magic to figure out how screwed they were gonna be, and then just buried the place for eternity.

Ignoring all those possibilities and the forces of Middle Earth throwing caution to the wind in a bid for exterminating the Hive... yeah, I'd say they are likely doomed.  Because we know that it's a Plot Device of the Alien series that one face-hugger always gets away to start the cycle anew.

The set-up is well presented, but it's more of a cerebral analytics exercise than a gripping personal drama which I find more entertaining.  It doesn't leave me feeling particularly invested in the characters involved.  I guess I hope Middle-Earth pulls through because reasons.

Great match, thanks!

 

Yeah, my Tolkien knowledge is pretty shaky. I just like the themes of the match more than anything, like how the whole verse is about hoping against hope and fighting for good because good is what's worth fighting for, while Alien-verse is about how the universe is indifferent to us and xenomorphs themselves are an active plague on every other lifeform in the universe that there really isn't a cure for.

 

Glad it was interesting.

[DSkillz]

Another good match, corvette, but I get the feeling that without the explosives and advanced weaponry from the AvP universe, Middle-Earth might be screwed here against the Xenos.

[Gizmo Hibiki]

Yeah, I do noty see this ending well. Sure the Middle Earth warriors are formidable against many kinds of monsters, but the xenomorphs aren't one of them. It's one thing if it was maybe the Predators, but the aliens are a liability fighting in close combat. Just one small cut got them squirting acid blood that can burn through floors of a spaceship, what makes anyone think their armor is gonna stand a chance? Unless they be all wearing mythril armor, they would at least gain half the damage, but even then its a stretch. Sorry to say, but the xenomorphs got this in the bag.

[Callisto]

Match Final Results

Member Ratings:
CBUB Member : 5 Stars
CBUB Match Judge : 4 Stars x 2
CBUB Match Judge : 4 Stars x 2
CBUB Match Judge : 4 Stars x 2
CBUB Match Judge : 5 Stars x 2
CBUB Match Judge : 4 Stars x 2
CBUB Match Judge : 4 Stars x 2

FPA Calculation:
3 + 10 + 0 + 0 + 0 = 13 Total Votes
( (3 * 5) + (10 * 4) + (0 * 3) + (0 * 2) + (0 * 1) ) = 55 Total Stars Score
55 / 13 = 4.23 Total Rating

MATCH SCORE
Middle-Earth: 4
The Xenomorphs: 14