She slumps over in defeat, breathing heavy. A sound behind her catches her attention. She moves over to the adjacent lift cage and looks down.

ANGLE DOWN THE SHAFT: showing the second lift slowly coming up. Clouds of fire explode all around it. Ripley and Newt back away from the doors. She checks her gun. The counter reads empty. Ripley drops the weapons.

Picking up Newt, they back up toward the railing. There is no place to run.

Multiple explosions detonate in the complex far below and all around.

Huge fireballs well upward through the machinery. The platform bucks wildly.

Nearby, a cooling tower collapses with a thunderous roar and the shriek of rending steel. Chaos and destruction totally surround them, offering no reprieve. The lift stops. Ripley and Newt stare transfixed as the safety cage opens.

Flashes from the explosion give a glimpse of the apparition within. Then, it moves in full view. The Queen has come.

RIPLEY (to Newt, low) Close your eyes, baby.

ANGLE ON RIPLEY AND NEWT: as the Drop-Ship rises right behind them, its hovering jets roaring. Newt sees it first.

NEWT: Look!

Ripley sees it too. She looks back at the lift. The creature is screeching maddingly at them, moving forward.

Ripley lifts Newt onto the loading stairs extending from the ship's side. She crawls up, turning to help Ripley up.

NEWT: Come on! Come on!

Ripley grabs on and crawls up.

Just as Ripley gets half-way up the ramp, a tremendous explosion rips through the complex below. She quickly moves inside, hitting the close button on the ramp, while running to a flight seat with Newt.

The explosion hits the ship, slamming it sideways. Its extended landing legs foul in a tangle of conduit, grinding with a hideous squeal of metal on metal.

INT. / EXT. DROP-SHIP - STATION: Ripley cradles Newt and begins strapping in. Bishop wrestles with the controls.

The landing legs retract, ripping free, but still trailing some debris. Ripley slams her seat harness home.

RIPLEY: Punch it, Bishop!

The entire lower level of the station disappears in a fireball. The air vibrates with intense heat waves and concussions. The Drop-Ship engines fire. Ripley is slammed back in her seat.

The ship vaults out and up, Bishop standing it on it tail, pouring on the gees. Ripley and Newt see everything shake into a blur.

EXT. STRATOSPHERE: The Drop-Ship lunges up out of the cloud layer into the clear high night.

Below, the clouds light up from beneath from horizon to horizon. A sun hot dome of energy bursts up through the cloud layer, whiting out the frame. The tiny ship is slammed by the shockwave, tossed forward...and climbs, scorched but functioning, toward the stars.