1 март 2497 г. - Aliens dead orbit.

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In 2496, several hundred years after the incident that destroyed the Marion and the limonite mine on LV-178, the planet has been terraformed and settled by humans, who have renamed it New Galveston. However, the supposedly successful terraforming has started to run into problems, with a large area of landscape reverting to a state of the toxic desert, dubbed the Sea of Sorrows by the engineers tasked with correcting the problem. In charge of the team investigating the issue is ICC engineer Alan Decker; while surveying the area, an industrial accident leads to Decker becoming seriously wounded, and he is evacuated off-planet for treatment on Earth.

On the way to Earth, Decker hunts for the cause of the problems on New Galveston by trawling through historical files and learns of the previous existence of the trimonite mine directly beneath the Sea of Sorrows. Judging Weyland-Yutani criminally negligent for overlooking or ignoring such a serious source of pollution, he writes a damning report blaming the company for the problems on the planet and submits it to his superiors.

Arriving back on Earth, just in time to celebrate the year, 2497, he finds his report has not been well-received — after refusing to alter his conclusions, he is suspended without pay pending an investigation. To make matters worse, he finds he has begun suffering from seizures and experiencing disturbing nightmares, both apparently triggered by his accident on New Galveston. The situation comes to a head when four unidentified men break into his apartment in the middle of the night and bludgeon him unconscious.

Decker awakes to find he is aboard a ship returning to New Galveston. He quickly learns that his kidnappers are part of a mercenary crew led by Manning, who is working for Weyland-Yutani employee Andrea Rollins. Meeting with Rollins, Decker learns the reasons behind his current predicament — during the seizures he experienced while being treated after his accident, Decker seemingly described the species Xenomorph XX121 in some detail, despite there being no possible way he could know about the creatures. Taking this as a sign the Aliens may be found somewhere on New Galveston, Rollins has launched the current expedition to the planet in the hopes Manning and his men can capture a live specimen for the company. Having also learned that Decker is a low-level empath and may have some form of psychic connection with the Aliens, Rollins has forcibly recruited him to the mission so that he can assist the mercenaries. Decker attempts to refuse, but Rollins reveals he is a descendant of Ellen Ripley and therefore legally liable for the destruction of the Nostromo hundreds of years before; she offers to have this considerable debt written off if he assists with the operation. With little alternative, Decker reluctantly agrees to join the team.

Arriving at New Galveston, the team descends to the surface and enters the trimonite mine, which has since been reactivated. They head straight to the lowest level, where the derelict spacecraft and adjacent alien settlement previously encountered by the crew of the Marion have been uncovered. The mercenaries begin securing the area, although three of their number are almost immediately attacked and taken by the Aliens, which have been lying dormant deep within the alien city. Splitting his forces, Manning leads the bulk of his team, along with Decker, in search of his missing men, leaving others to secure various key areas of the mine.

Manning follows his captured mercenaries into one of the strange silicon tubes that have appeared throughout the derelict chamber; within, the team is attacked by Aliens but manages to fight the creatures off and even capture one of them alive. However, when they try to return to the main chamber and regroup with the rest of their men, they find the Hive-like tube has been altered behind them and now leads elsewhere. Sensing a trap, Manning and Decker elect to find another route out.

Elsewhere in the mine, other mercenaries begin to be attacked by the reawakened Alien. The survivors band together with a group of Weyland-Yutani scientists from the alien dig site who were also assaulted by the creatures. Led by Cho, the mercenaries' chief communications tech, the group attempts to secure the area and await Manning's return. Lost within the maze of silicon tunnels, Manning's mercenaries are forced to abandon their captive Drone and fight for their lives. The attacks on them increase in their ferocity, the creatures targeting Decker specifically, somehow aware that he is descended from Ripley and seeking revenge for her prior slaughter of their kind. By the time the survivors escape the tubes, only Manning, Decker, and six others remain, and they find they are now several levels above Cho and the rest of the team.

The situation deteriorates further when one of the researchers with Cho's group suffers a breakdown and, desperately hoping to stop the Aliens from escaping the mine, destroys the access elevator with a grenade launcher — Cho executes him for his treachery, but the mercenaries are now stuck and the mine is beginning to burn. In desperation, Cho's group attempt to evacuate via an emergency stairway, but before they can begin the daunting 7,000-foot climb, they are overwhelmed by Aliens and either captured or killed.

Likewise trapped by the destroyed elevator, Manning leads his own band of survivors to a secondary elevator, but this too fails, forcing them to proceed on foot to the emergency stairwell. Along the way, they stumble upon a Queen in her Egg chamber — while they are able to destroy the Queen, two of the mercenaries are subdued by Facehuggers. They reach the access shaft and manage to climb to the surface, where they find the Aliens have already captured the person who had been working there. They narrowly make it aboard an evacuation dropship and flee back to their ship in orbit, taking the two subdued mercenaries with them.

Once aboard, Weyland-Yutani scientists recover the Alien specimens the team has returned while the crew destroys the mine and everything around it with an orbital strike, sterilizing the area. Decker meets with Rollins again and warns her against trying to contain and research the Aliens, but she flatly rebuffs him. Nevertheless, she upholds her end of the bargain now that he has assisted the company in reaching its goal and promises to wipe Decker's slate clean. Decker enters hypersleep for the long journey home, while Rollins sends a message to her superiors reporting their success.

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