Ellen Ripley

"Final report of the commercial starship Nostromo, Lieutenant Ripley reporting. The other members of the crew — Kane, Lambert, Parker, Brett, Ash and Captain Dallas — are dead. Cargo and ship destroyed. I should reach the Kansas in about twelve days. With a little luck, the Kansas will pick me up. This is Ripley, one of the last survivors of the Nostromo, signing off."

- Ripley

Ellen Louise Ripley was a well known Human female Starfleet Marine born on Luna in 2332. In 2367, Ellen was a member of the Federation's First Contact Team which while on an expeditionary mission to planet LV-426, while there Ripley, Typhuss James Halliwell and Sarah Mackenzie had discovered the planetary bio-hazardous species the Xenomorph. Her exploits were well-known among certain groups that dealt with the Aliens and one of the most experienced individuals known to have survived encounters with the Xenomorph.

Early life
Ellen Louise Ripley was born on January 7th, 2332 on the Olympia colony on Luna to parents Marianne and James Ripley. She eventually met and married her husband Alex, and during a layover between trips they conceived their first child. Ripley allowed the pregnancy to come to term, eventually resulting in the birth of her daughter Amanda. Alex would later leave Ripley when Amanda was 3 years old, and had no further contact with either Ripley or his daughter. Ripley's friend Typhuss James Halliwell, was a second father to Amanda when she was just 3 years old and Typhuss was also her godfather snice Amanda's birth.

USS Kansas (2360-2371)
In 2360, Ripley served on the USS Kansas, a Galaxy-class starship with the rank of Lieutenant. Ripley was the Chief of Security aboard the Kansas. Ripley became friends with most of the crew of the USS Kansas including Typhuss James Halliwell, Kara Thrace, Sarah Mackenzie and Julia Harris.

Nostromo Incident
In 2367, Ripley, Typhuss, Sarah first encounterd the Xenomorph on a freighter, the Nostromo. The remaining surviving Starfleet personnel and crew members ultimately decided on destroying the Nostromo in order to kill the alien. Only Lieutenants Ellen Ripley and Typhuss James Halliwell and Major Sarah Mackenzie escaped the destruction of the Nostromo in the shuttlecraft Narcissus. Unknown by her that the creature had also snuck onboard the shuttlecraft by camouflaging itself in a small crevice, but Ripley finally manage to kill it by blowing it out an airlock and igniting it with the engines. Ripley activates the shuttlecraft's auto pilot and sets it on a course for the Kansas. It would remain on auto pilot in space for twelve days until it was recovered by the crew of the USS Kansas. The crew was immediately transferred to the USS Kansas for medical care. Ripley was visibly traumatized by her experience and had recurring nightmares related to the creature.

LV-426 Incident
"I am not going back, and I am- I would not be any good to you if I did."

- Ripley, to Burke and Gorman

Later that year, Ripley encounterd the Xenomorph during an investigation mission on LV-426 after the colony lost contact with Starfleet Command along with Sarah Mackenzie, Dwayne Hicks and Typhuss James Halliwell. The only survivors of the rescue attempt include Corporal Dwayne Hicks, Ellen Ripley, Newt, Sarah Mackenzie and Typhuss James Halliwell. After the mission to LV-426, Ripley was visibly traumatized by her experience and had recurring nightmares related to the creature.

2371
In 2371, the USS Kansas's mission was to meet the USS Yorktown at Deep Space 9 for final crew members and personnel before continuing on to the Gamma Quadrant for it’s mission of exploration. While at DS9 Captain Walker received his final orders via Commander Benjamin Sisko. The standing orders were primarily exploration and the Kansas was only to fire in defence and only if communications were unavailable. Captain Walker relayed the orders to his ship and departed DS9 and entered the wormhole officially starting its first mission into the Gamma Quadrant. Two weeks later the Kansas came under attack from a Jem'Hadar attack ship, while retrieving one of her long range shuttles. The Kansas managed to destroy the ship after hails were ignored by the Jem'Hadar. Due to extensive damage on the star drive section, Captain Walker gave the order to return to the wormhole. The Kansas arrived at DS9 requesting permission to dock at one of the upper pylons Commander Sisko agreed. Walker gave his report to Starfleet Command via subspace. Ripley was then assigned to other Federation starship, Ripley leaves the USS Kansas after eleven years.

Later career
In 2378, Ellen was promoted to Captain, Ripley still held the rank of Captain in 2389. By 2389, Ripley was assigned to Starbase 240 as a Marine Detachment commanding officer, in command of a Starfleet Marine battalion.

Personality and traits
"That's the grenade launcher... I don't think you wanna mess with that." "You started this. Show me everything. I can handle myself." "Yeah, I noticed..."

- Hicks and Ripley

Ellen Ripley was a strong willed woman that had a degree of professionalism while on the job and would follow the rules. She kept her calm in certain situations that meant life or death. She would also get emotional at times, such as discovering Starfleet's secret orders (actually Section 31 impersonating Starfleet officers) as well as finding her dead crewmates. When the mission started to unravel when the Marines were in the atmospheric processor, Ripley took charge and took the shuttle to rescue the survivors of the ambush. She later told the Marines that they couldn't help their comrades that "survived" as they were being cocooned by the creatures. She later changed this attitude when she went back to rescue Newt, who she grew close to with loosing their families and dealing with the creatures. The events on LV-426, would traumatize Ripley and effect her greatly after returning to the Federation. She suffered from nightmares related to the creature and lost her flight status.

Equipment
Although Ripley, by her own mission, was not a soldier, she would arm herself with whatever came to hand if it would help her survive. Aboard the Nostromo, she armed herself with one of Parker's custom-built Flame Throwers, although when cornered by the Alien aboard the Narcissus she resorted to a more rudimentary harpoon gun to finally kill the creature. After spending some time with Starfleet Marines on LV-426 and being faced with the precariousness of their situation, Ripley had Hicks instruct her on the use of various equipment, including the M41A Pulse Rifle and M240 Incinerator Unit, both of which she would later combine together (in a strictly non-regulation manner) when attempting to rescue Newt. Ripley also made use of flares as well to illuminate and to mark her path inside the hive.