Ash (Earth-7149)

"I admire its purity. A survivor... Unclouded by conscience, remorse, or delusions of morality."

- - Ash to the survivors of the Nostromo

Ash (serial number: ASH666-5) was a Nexus-6 Replicant operative of the Weyland-Yutani Corporation infiltrated as a crew member of the commercial freighter Nostromo, where he served as the ship's replacement science officer. He served as a member of the crew during its final voyage in 2528 following its encounter with a xenomorph on Acheron, which led to the destruction of the ship and the deaths of all crew members, with the exception of Ellen Ripley. His true nature as a synthetic and sleeper agent were kept hidden from the rest of the Nostromo's crew, as well as his secret assignment to capture a living xenomorph specimen from LV-426 in the Zeta Reticuli system and deliver it to ONI so humanity could weaponize the species in an attempt to use them as bioweapons against Insurrectionists in the Insurrection.

Early life
"My usual science officer has been replaced – no reason given. The new guy is more than capable, I'm sure, but only getting two days' notice for this kinda thing is shitty."

- - Captain Arthur Dallas Ash was constructed by the Weyland-Yutani Corporation on late October 9th, 2548. Little is known about his early activities, although it is known that the company utilized him in various espionage capacities against rival companies. When the agency partially decoded a mysterious transmission hailing from an unidentified object in the moon LV-426 in the Zeta Reticuli system, they assigned Ash to serve under Special Order 937: to pose as the science officer aboard the commercial freighter Nostromo, replacing the existing crew member with the intent on retrieving an alien creature Weyland-Yutani likely knew they would find in order to weaponize it and under it as a bioweapons against Insurrectionists during the Insurrection, which could potentially turn the tide on the war.

He replaced the former crew member two days before the Nostromo left Thedus, which left the ship's captain, Arthur Dallas, highly suspicious and angry at the whole situation, as he had not been informed about the replacement. Before the crew entered cryosleep and jumped to slipspace, Ash performed health check routines in each and every crew member, including the ship's cat, Jonesy.

Investigation on Acheron
"There is a clause in the contract which specifically states any systematized transmission indicating a possible intelligent origin must be investigated."

- - Ash to Dennis Parker After MOTHER, the shipboard artificial intelligence of the Nostromo, discovered Ash's designated signal on Acheron, Ash took measures to ensure that the crew should investigate it as per Weyland-Yutani protocol. During the whole procedure, Ash concealed the true nature of the signal and his operations, even Mother itself: he claimed the signal was undecipherable, but Ellen Ripley was quick to determine it was a warning. After Thomas Kane returned to the Nostromo with a Facehugger on his face, dragged by Dallas and Joan Lambert, Ash allowed them to enter the ship despite Ripley's direct orders not do so, breaching quarantine regulations, which made Ripley suspicious of Ash and Dallas.

After the Nostromo left Acheron, Ash went out of his way to ensure Dennis Parker's suggestion of placing Kane in cryosleep so that he could be examined on Earth was undermined, knowing it would be potentially dangerous on the human homeworld and put his cover at risk. He attempted to pry and remove the Facehugger from the comatose Kane at the orders of Dallas, but failed in every attempt, finally giving up once the creature's acid blood nearly led to a rupture the ship's hull. After the Facehugger died by itself, Ash started to study it, discovering the ability of the proto-xenomorph to self-replicate its cells through polarized silicon. He apparently learned nothing of interesting, and kept his deductions to himself.

Hunting the Alien
"Don't touch it, don't touch it!"

- - Ash to the rest of the crew After Kane woke from the coma inducted by the Facehugger, Dallas proposed a final meal before the crew entered in cryosleep and performed a slipspace jump again, only for a Chestburster to erupt from Kane's chest during the celebration, killing their fellow crew member, as Ash prevented the creature from being attacked by Parker with a kitchen knife, and allowing to escape through the ship. Ash then supplied his fellow crewmen with motion trackers in order to locate the Alien. Dallas used one of it in conjunction with the crew to hunt the creature in the Nostromo's ducts after the Alien killed Samuel Brett, only to be ambushed by the creature and seemingly killed himself, leading the crew to burst into panic while he remained suspiciously calm.

Destruction
"You admire it... I admire its purity. A survivor... Unclouded by conscience, remorse, or delusions of morality. I can't lie to you about your chances but... you have my sympathies."

- - Joan Lambert and Ash Following Ripley's increasingly suspicion towards Ash and his inability to provide the crew any insight on the Alien, she secretly hacked Mother, and discovered about Special Order 937 and the status of the crew as expendable assets for his retrieval mission. Ripley then approached Ash to confront him, leading him to attack her. He held her down and strangled her by forcing a magazine down her throat. Before he was able to kill Ripley, Ash was decapitated by Parker with Lambert's help, and the crew discovered him to be a synthetic. Even headless, Ash continued to attack Parker, until Lambert stunned the synthetic with knife. Ripley then reactivated Ash's remains and interrogated him about the Alien, where he mocked them, saying they would not survive the Alien and that the creature was a "perfect" weapon. She then finally deactivated him, while Parker burned what remained of him with his M7057 flamethrower.

Legacy
"There were problems and a- a few deaths were involved."

- - Carter Barke Ash's betrayal against the crew and Ripley led her to develop posttraumatic stress disorder and comorbid generalized anxiety disorder, but above everything, an intense hatred and mistrust towards synthetics. This came into play when she met Bishop, a UNSC Navy synthetic executive officer of the UNSC Sulaco, when she was deployed as a civilian consultant among a UNSC Marine Corps' unit to the colony Aegis VII in 2536. She eventually came to trust and even befriend Bishop after he risked his own life to save her and Rebecca "Newt" Jorden from the xenomorphs. Ash's betrayal also led Ripley to largely mistrust the Office of Naval Intelligence.

Personality
"The earlier models have always were a bit... twitchy."

- - Bishop to Ellen Ripley As a Nexus-6 Replicant, Ash could easily pass himself as a human, replicating the species' emotion and mannerisms in a way that the untrained crew of the Nostromo did not realize they were crewed with an android. Ash appeared to be outwardly calm, intelligent, and collected, considering himself to be above some of his fellow crew members, such as Dennis Parker and Samuel Brett. Ash had no qualms about eliminating or sacrificing his entire crew in order to complete his mission and directive to the Weyland-Yutani Corporation's: recovering the Alien and return it to one of their facilities. Through the xenomorph's tenure on the Nostromo, Ash aided the alien to escape and survive more than once, however in ways that wouldn't give up his cover as an ONI agent and synthetic. In order to effectively appear loyal, he supplied the crew with apparels such as motion trackers after Thomas Kane's death.

He was unable to fully manipulate Ellen Ripley, who became instantly suspicious of him once he broke the Weyland-Yutani Corporation health protocols to allow Captain Arthur Dallas and Joan Lambert to enter the Nostromo with an impregnated Kane. After his cover was discovered and he was severely damaged by Ripley, Parker and Lambert, he taunted the three survivors, saying they would have no chance against the grown xenomorph that he had been studying. As expected from an ONI operative, Ash was an adept liar, keeping the entire crew under the shadows regarding his true mission and the nature of the Alien, contributing to the death of most of the crew, ironically, including his own.

Equipment
As the science officer of the Nostromo, Ash utilized many tools at his disposal, most of those which were located at the infarmary and laboratory of the freighter to study the Facehugger.