The thing that awoke her was the scent; the scent of humans. Ali wrinkled her nose and opened her eyes slowly. Both Timothy and the third stage were gone. Ali raised her head more and sniffed the air. The scent smelled like sweat and fear. But Ali grew angry when she recognized the scents of Ripley and Newt. How dare Ripley come here and ruin Ali's fun? She peeked from around Aglaia's head and saw that Ripley was holding Newt in the middle of a dozen or more eggs. Ali smiled.
Suddenly, Aglaia shuddered beneath Ali as she woke up. Ali could hear Aglaia hiss in annoyance when she spotted Ripley and Newt. Ali looked around and saw a couple of Warriors appearing out of the resin walls to come and aid their Queen. But Ripley had other plans; she set Newt down on the ground gently and held up her fire arm. Fire whooshed out of it into empty air and Aglaia hissed. Ripley then pointed the fire arm down at the nearest egg to her.
Now that Aglaia knew what the weapon was capable of she spoke, All of you, back up slowly. You will have your chance to extract your revenge, but I want none of my unborn babies to die in the process.
The Warriors backed up slowly and disappeared back into the resin walls. Ali remained where she was, as far as she could tell Ripley hadn't seen her yet. Suddenly, she heard Aglaia speaking to her and she focused her attention back on Aglaia.
Ripley had picked Newt back up and was slowly backing up for the exit when one of the eggs nearby blossomed open. That seemed to set Ripley off. She raised the gun as golden fire leapt out of the end. The dancing flames swallowed up the eggs in its path and Aglaia and Ali shrieked as one. There was a click then a loud watery explosion and Aglaia screeched again; this time in pain. Ali looked back to see the liquid that had cushioned the eggs in the ovipositor pouring out of a gaping hole. Another explosion and a second hole appeared. Aglaia was thrashing around now, almost threw Ali from her back. Another jet of fire filled the air and Ali had to take cover again behind Aglaia's crest.
Ali jumped down as the throne holding Aglaia up crashed down. Aglaia continued to screech in pain as Ripley and Newt ran out the exit. Ali was torn between helping her Queen and stopping Ripley. Suddenly, Timothy appeared to block off Ripley's escape. Ripley didn't even pause as she sent a rain of bullets into Timothy's head.
"No!" Ali screamed as Timothy fell over limp and Ripley shot at him again. Her voice was lost amid the screeches coming from Aglaia.
Anger filled her thoughts and mind. Ripley had made the Ali mad when she attacked Aglaia, but it was personal now that Timothy was dead. She took a step forward to follow Ripley.
Ali! Remember your mission! Aglaia commanded as she pulled herself free of her ovipositor. I will take care of the humans.
Ali nodded and turned her attention away from Aglaia as the Queen strode after the humans. She reached down and grabbed one of the eggs, picking it up awkwardly. She realized that she couldn't carry two eggs at the same time. She sighed and called a Warrior toward her. It came forward slowly. It gazed at Ali before bending down and picked up an egg next to her.
Ali smiled and led the way out, ignoring the lifeless body of her only friend as she made her way out of the Hive, carrying the one egg awkwardly in front of her. Warning lights began flashing and a female voice warned her that she needed to reach minimal safety distance. Ali ignored the electronic voice and continued moving through the Hive until she was standing in front of the elevators. She punched the button for the right elevator and she watched as it slowly lowered down toward her. She looked over to the left one and saw that it was moving up. The elevator reached her and opened; empty. Ali stepped inside and set the egg on the ground and pushed the up button after the Warrior had followed her in. The door closed and the elevator made its ascent. The left elevator had made it to the top and Ali heard a screech; Aglaia. Ali willed the elevator to move faster; she wanted to join Aglaia in the killing of Ripley.
The doors opened slowly and Ali saw the second drop ship being knocked over toward her and Aglaia, who stood waiting. Ali grabbed the egg in both hands and ran, the Warrior following behind, around Aglaia as the Queen jumped and landed in the front landing gear. Ali jumped as well and landed in one of the back landing gears, the Warrior next to her. The landing gear began to rise and Ali was worried it would crush them, but it stopped, leaving them both enough space to move around. The escape from the planet was a rocky one; the ship was constantly buffeted and always bumping into things. Finally, Ali felt the ship picking up speed as it cleared the nuclear transmitter. Suddenly, the ship was rocketed to the side and Ali could see a bright light filtering in from the crack in the landing gear. The planet and Ali's home had been destroyed. Ali closed her eyes, trying to control her fury as the ship continued to rise into space.