Set in the year 2159, 37 years after the destruction of the Nostromo , the crew of the mining vessel is orbiting the planet LV-178 . Led by Chief Engineer Chris "Hoop" Hooper , the miners discover a rare, incredibly hard mineral called trimonite deep within the planet's caverns. However, alongside the mineral, they unearth a hibernating nest of Xenomorphs . The Nightmare Begins
In , written by Tim Lebbon , the story bridges the gap between the first two films, Alien and Aliens . The Discovery on LV-178
: To preserve the timeline of the films, Ripley's memories of these horrific events are wiped by the ship's medical pod. Alien: Out of the Shadows
Trapped between the Xenomorphs on the ship and the inevitable crash, the survivors must descend back to the infested mines of LV-178 to retrieve a needed to power the Narcissus for a final escape.
During the chaos, the Marion picks up a distress signal from the Narcissus , the escape shuttle carrying . Ripley is brought aboard, but her arrival is complicated by the fact that she has unknowingly been kept in stasis for decades by Ash , the malevolent synthetic from the Nostromo whose AI consciousness survived and uploaded itself into her shuttle's systems. Desperate Escape Set in the year 2159, 37 years after
: Most of the crew is whittled down by the aliens during the mission. A scientist named Sneddon sacrifices herself to kill a Xenomorph just as a chestburster emerges.
The situation turns catastrophic when two transport shuttles, the Samson and the Delilah , attempt to flee the planet while being overrun by the creatures. The Delilah crashes into the Marion , causing massive damage, killing the captain, and knocking the ship into a that will eventually lead to its destruction in the planet's atmosphere. The Return of Ellen Ripley The Nightmare Begins In , written by Tim
: Ripley and her cat, Jones, are placed back into stasis on the Narcissus . Hoop, however, is forced to stay behind to manually release the shuttle's clamps from the Marion , leaving him stranded as he watches Ripley drift away into space, knowing she will have no memory of him or their struggle.
