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LV-223 is one of three known moons of the gas giant Calpamos, located in Zeta2 Reticuli. The moon has a large system of mountains, deserts, and valleys.

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Climate

The atmosphere is composed of 71% nitrogen, 24% oxygen and 3.7% carbon dioxide, with traces of argon and other gases. The air on LV-223 is nearly identical to Earth's atmosphere, but contains a much higher concentration of carbon dioxide (CO2) making it toxic for humans to breathe outside (Earth levels of CO2 currently average about 0.04% for comparison). Ford mentions that a human will only survive for two minutes without the necessary equipment to be outside.

Species

It is uncertain if there were any existing life forms before the Engineers arrived. However, at some point, a group of them constructed an outpost on the planet. It is suggested by Janek that it was some type of military base set up by the Engineers to build biological weapons, before an incident compromised their operation. There is also a worm-like lifeform found within which is speculated to have been indigenous to the planet. After going through a mutation process similar to Fifield's, it's believed the worm-like lifeforms become the lethal Hammerpede.

Over a century later, a lush jungle had grown over the moon, containing many new species, including monkey-like creatures, Deacon Sharks, and mutated factions of ants. In 2179, Xenomorphs arrived at the planet with the Onager, but were trapped in the ship until released in 2219, by the crew of the Geryon, that quickly adapted to the role of apex predator.

History

At some point, the Engineers on LV-223 initiated a plan to wipe out humanity for reasons unknown by releasing a pathogenic agent known as Chemical A0-3959X.91 – 15. However, they apparently lost control of it and led the Engineers there to die off. Multiple surviving Engineers preserved themselves in hypersleep pods; four of them took refuge within the Hypersleep Chambers of one of their ships, but only one of these four survived, while only a few others were known to be hidden across different sections of the planet.

In 2089, archeologists Elizabeth Shaw and Charlie Holloway discovered a star map among several unconnected ancient cultures within a cave during their expedition on the Isle of Skye. They interpreted this as an apparent invitation from the Engineers. Shaw then contacted Peter Weyland, the elderly CEO of Weyland Corporation, for a proposal in order to gain enough funding for an expedition to follow the star map. Weyland agreed with the proposal and funded the creation of the scientific vessel USCSS Prometheus to follow the map that led them to LV-223.

On April 4, 2090, a probe sent by Weyland arrived to survey the moon. Before it could complete its readings however, it was promptly stepped on and destroyed by a passing Engineer.

In 2093, after the Prometheus finished its two year voyage, the ship arrived on LV-223. The Prometheus crew explored the moon's surface where they came across the Engineer's structure. The crew entered the structure and discovered the bodies of some Engineers, as well as several Steatite Ampule urns stored within the structure. The crew's interference caused the pathogen stored within the urns to melt. A few crew members were exposed to the pathogen, and in the ensuing chaos most were killed. The android David successfully found the last living Engineer and informed Weyland, who was secretly aboard the ship the entire time; he had intended to make contact with the Engineers, hoping that with their advanced technology, they could satisfy his own obsession with searching for immortality. Weyland and his team went to the Engineers' ship to commune with the last Engineer. However, upon waking, the Engineer decapitated David after a brief conversation and killed Weyland along with the entire party, save Shaw, who managed to escape.

The Engineer reactivated his ship and headed for Earth to carry out his original mission to wipe out the human race. The remaining crew later sacrificed themselves and the Prometheus to destroy the Engineer's ship. The angered Engineer survived and attacked Shaw within Prometheus' lifeboat. Shaw released the Trilobite she had extracted earlier from her womb as the result of having sex with Holloway who was infected by the pathogen, which restrained and impregnated the Engineer while Shaw escaped. Shaw recovered David's remains from the crashed Engineer ship, and the two activated another Engineer ship and left LV-223 for the Engineer Homeworld. In the crashed lifeboat, the impregnated Engineer died, birthing a Deacon. In the years that followed, the Steatite Ampules aboard the Engineer ship containing Chemical A0-3959X.91 – 15 spread across LV-223, accelerating the development of the world's ecosystem, introducing a ubiquitous assortment of organic life and a breathable atmosphere.

In 2179, eighty-six years after the Prometheus incident, a Xenomorph outbreak took place on another of Calpamos' moons, LV-426, the creatures having been stored away in egg form aboard another Engineer vessel that crashed there long ago. The creatures proceeded to wreak mass havoc on the native human terraforming colony of Hadley's Hope, and during the chaos, a group of colonists fled in a haste aboard a cargo freighter, the Onager. They didn't realize until much later that they had unwittingly brought several Xenomorph stowaways with them. Because of the ship's minimal flight range, the colonists were forced to set down on LV-223. The Xenomorphs on board the Onager subsequently massacred the escapees over the course of several days. However the Xenomorphs where then trapped in the ship.

About forty years later, in 2219, a second human vessel, the Geryon, arrived at LV-223 as part of a documentary film expedition, with the ulterior motive by the expedition's captain, Angela Foster, to discover the fate of Peter Weyland and the Prometheus. Setting down on the moon in a number of smaller ships, the team was almost immediately besieged by the Xenomorphs released from the Onager, and the situation was further complicated by the infection of the Construct known as Elden by Chemical A0-3959X.91 – 15, transforming the synthetic into a form of Engineer-hybrid organism which developed an empathic link with the Xenomorphs. Soon after, a clan of Yautja arrived in the system, drawn to the chaos, and ambushed the Geryon and stranded the remaining humans on LV-223. The conflicts between the different species continued to escalate, during which the two of the surviving Engineers were awakened from stasis and began attacking the other groups, intent on continuing their mission to wipe out humanity.

Eventually, one of the two Engineers was killed and only four humans (including Foster) remained alongside a Yautja, Ahab, who formed an alliance with them. The five individuals braved the Xenomorphs and the rogue Elden for a time until they managed to reach a temporary safe distance, after which they set up an encampment until a possible rescue.

Appearances