Hey, I'm back! I just had to finish up my final exams in school, so now I am able to get more done with this fic in a shorter period of time! In any case, I hope the last chapter wasn't too disappointing, but if it was, I will try to make up for it.

Star, completely broken and crying after what had just transpired before her, was rushing to try and make it back home to tell her mother what had happened. Running at this point was absolutely nothing to her, since the only pain was in her heart, and she felt nothing in her legs or lungs.

"...I… I-I still can't believe this..." Star said to herself. "...D-Daddy's… g… gone…!"

Still rushing at top speed and shortening her breath from continuing sobs, she eventually managed to find Kira's isolated house thanks to the familiar layout of the landscape that she had memorized over the few years of her life, even if from a distance.

Every now and then, she had to stop and rest, because she was getting much too tired to keep going in a single run. Whenever she did… she always observed the surrounding animals and other wildlife.

On one instance of a brief rest, a monarch butterfly was flying around nearby, and made its way towards Star. She held up her hand, and the small, fluttery creature took a rest from its flight on it. Star looked very closely at it. It may be a small living being… but she could sense its emotions… its intelligence… how she wished she could have its level of freedom… and beauty.

After a little while, the butterfly took off from Star's hand into the air once again, and she watched as it flew out of sight. Some more flying creatures caught her attention: some birds were flying past… and it looked like some parents helping their young to fly.

Hearing some rustling nearby… Star looked in the direction of the noise to see a mother fox escorting her offspring… and in another direction, she saw a duck walk off dry land into a pond to start swimming… with a group of ducklings following behind.

All of this parental imagery was thoroughly painful to the young female Xenomorph. She could no longer take the suffering. By the time she had arrived back home, she made her way into the house, trying to sense Kira's presence to see if she had managed to make it out yet.

"M-Mom...?" Star called, still in tears.

She began searching the house. There were no lights on, which seemed to indicate that nobody was home... or Kira was back and just sleeping.

"...Wh-where are you, Mom?" Star called again.

She searched the house, starting in her parents' bedroom. Kira was not there. The house seemed deserted.

"Mom... I-I've got terrible news...!" Star said, beginning to cry again. "...D-Daddy's gone! He's... g-g-gone...! I couldn't s-save him..."

With nothing else to do, and with the now-coming feeling that Kira was not coming back, Star laid on her bed in her bedroom, forcing out what little tears she had left as they slowly dripped down her cranial carapace.

She laid sulking, worried that she was now completely orphaned. Her father dead… her mother possibly being locked up… this would most definitely leave her with nothing but her own instincts to survive. But…

...she had absolutely no experience with hunting.

Despair-ridden, hopeless, and depressed, the young Xeno girl ended up losing track of time and falling asleep. She had immensely tired herself out by running a long distance and crying for nearly an hour.

(XXXX)

Kira eventually made it back home after her interrogation. She was worried that Weyland would try to place her under surveillance if they had reasonable suspicion that she was indeed hiding Xenomorphs in her residence… but since they could not connect her to any of the accusations, it was hopefully unlikely.

She made her way up to the house, and after entering, began looking around to see if Aster and Star had made it back yet.

"Aster? Star?" she called, walking into the foyer after closing the door. "Are you two back yet?"

In a moment, Kira began to hear some slow footsteps, and looking upstairs… she saw her daughter, slowly trudging forward with her head hung low.

"Star! You're okay!" Kira said, making her way up the stairs.

Star picked her head up a bit to look at her mother. "...M-Mom..."

Kira's smile faded. "What's wrong? Where's your father?" she asked.

Star began sniffling again… and this made Kira start to fear the worst in a matter of seconds.

"...He… he d-didn't… make I-i-it..." Star stammered.

Tears began to fill Kira's eyes. "N-no… you mean…"

Star began to cry once again, wrapping her arms around Kira. The latter also began to let her tears run down her face as she hugged the young Xeno girl back.

"S-so..." Kira began. "...tell me what h-happened..."

Star began by telling her about hiding in the cave, being attacked by a large, brown-fur-covered creature that Kira was able to deduce was a bear, which injured Aster, followed by her helping him to walk out of the cave, only to get shot by a hermit and severely damage his vital organs along with his fractures. She went on to explain that he knew he was about to die, and bid her his final farewell while she stayed by his side until his soul left his body.

Kira continued to hold her daughter in her arms.

"Star… I'm so sorry..." she said. "...I h-hoped you two would be… a-alright… but..." she trailed off.

"And I'm sorry, M-Mom… I-I should've… been more careful..." Star uttered.

"It's not your fault, sweetie..." Kira said. "...you couldn't have… kn-known..."

She lowered her head as she had to take it all in… the love of her life was now gone… and all she had left was his offspring… who was living proof of their love for each other…

"...C-could I at least… see his b-b-body…?" Kira asked.

Star, slowly and reluctantly, nodded. "...Y-yes, Mom… I remember wh-where it happened..."

Without much delay, Star and Kira set off, in the direction that the former had come back home from… and with the morning light to guide them, Star knew all too well the route back to where Aster had died.

"S-so… it was right around here..." Star said.

She had led Kira to the spot where she had spent a good long time, crying her eyes out next to Aster as he lay dying, coming to terms with his imminent demise. However, there was a bit of a problem. Nothing seemed out of the ordinary… but that was exactly the problem...

...Aster's body was nowhere to be found.

"Star? Are you sure… that this is where… Aster… h-he..." Kira could not bring herself to say it again.

"He… he was right here! I remember!" Star said. "This is RIGHT where I left him!"

"But then… wh-where could he have… b-been moved to…? And… by who…?" Kira asked.

"Wh-what if those bad people… c-c-came and… took Daddy's body…?" Star asked.

Kira clenched her teeth nervously. She hoped that he would never end up back with Weyland… even if he was already dead. It would only be better if he were given a proper burial, rather than having his body unwittingly donated for science…

(XXXX)

Sugarcube and Chase had both run off on their own, trying to allude the WY agents that had been dispatched. They did not have a good sense of direction of the surrounding area, given that they never had the opportunity to explore any place.

"How will we know if Dad is okay?" Chase asked.

"We've just got to pray and hope that he can get himself out… and if I know your father as well as I think… he can do just that!" Sugarcube said.

The two Xenos continued to try and keep a low profile while moving to stay in what little darkness there was left, now that the sun was rising on the Eastern horizon. However...

...the two were certain that they were not alone. Both of them could sense some brainwaves… which felt very… focused to the two Xenos…

"...Mom?" Chase asked.

"Just stay calm, Chase..." Sugarcube said. "...the last thing we want to do is cause a scene and draw atten—AACK!"

She stopped speaking as there was a loud crackling sound, and she fell to the ground. A metallic device had appeared, stuck to the side of her ribcage. Chase's heart jumped at the moment it happened.

"Mom! What happened!? Are you ok—AAAAAY!" he stopped speaking abruptly as he felt an immense, painful jolt surge through him, causing him to lose consciousness. He had been stuck by an identical device that had appeared in his mother's side.

It was a Weyland-made electroshock projectile charge… and they happened to be fired off by a WY sniper who happened to be nearby, his team having detected nonhuman bio-signs in the area.

"Delta-Bravo, this is Blaze." the sniper said in his transceiver earpiece. "Confirmation: Niner-niner-five. Xenomorph Drone specimens subdued. Preparing armament and restraints for transporting specimens to secure confinement facility. Over."

"Copy that. Over." the control team commander responded.

With that, the team prepared their rifles and cuffs to put on Sugarcube and Chase, as well as a portable rolling platform that would easily load them into the truck.

"Move in!" the squad leader said. "Assume secondary defense! Do not engage specimens unless they become aggressive!"

"Affirmative!" the subordinate security agents responded.

They had managed to, after a somewhat-complicated process, managed to load Sugarcube and Chase onto the mobile platform, and get them into the armored vehicle… and then they were off to the secure captivity facility in question...

(XXXX)

Meyers and Baldwin were both in hiding once again, now that it was daytime and the two had to remain off and Weyland-Yutani property if they were to avoid being captured again. Needless to say, it was fairly boring having to hide with nothing to do… so Baldwin more or less decided to chat.

"So… you said back in that computer-world that… you were bullied and abused?" Baldwin asked.

Meyers gritted his teeth as his eyes fell to the floor.

"...It was truly the worst point of my life." he began. "My father was a strict disciplinarian… if I did the slightest thing wrong, he would strike me over the head… or pull of his belt and hit me in the thigh… and my mother… she wanted nothing to do with it all, so she got a divorce, and just up and left me behind...

"As for school, it was horrendous. The schoolchildren all ganged up on me, and the teachers and other faculty simply told me to 'ignore it' or 'deal with it like a maturing young man'… what was I supposed to do!? They twisted my name around and called me things like 'Huge My-ass'!"

At that moment, there was a WY security truck passing by, forcing the two to duck. They hoped they would not be spotted… and fortunately for them, luck was on their side. But… something about the vehicle piqued the interest of one from the pair...

"Well now..." Meyers spoke, looking at the armored truck. "...it would seem that they have caught some specimens!"

Baldwin raised a brow. "How can you tell...?"

"The constant blue light on the emergency lighting; it means there is a specimen on board the transport." Meyers said. "Typically, that information is confidential… but I have nothing to lose by revealing it to you!"

"So… does that mean… that actually caught those oversized space-bugs?" Baldwin said.

Meyers nodded. "Indeed they have! Our report worked! And now… we simply have to wait for the right moment to get back at those two brats who ruined my chances at having this world all to myself!"

(XXXX)

With no signs of Aster after extensive investigating, Kira and Star both decided to start heading back home. They were both still immensely distraught and grieving over their loss. The corrosion of the soil from his acidic blood was in the same spot, from what they found… but there was no sign of a struggle, let alone any movement. There were no drag marks in the ground.

It seemed that Aster had disappeared without a trace following his death… but how, the two could not say.

Regardless, all they could do was head home and work out a plan to stop Meyers and Baldwin from causing any more harm. Just when Star thought that her emotions had been spent… something ended up happening that forced her back into a state of turmoil once more…

...Star…

...Star… please…

...help me, Star…

Star stood more upright, having been slouching over in a depressed state while walking, as she knew that voice all too well…

...it was Chase. He had awoken from his short period of unconsciousness, and was calling out to her.

"Mom..." Star spoke.

Kira looked up. "Yes?" she responded, silently.

"...Chase is in danger!" Star said.

"What?" Kira asked. "What are you talking about?"

"I hear him calling me… he needs my help!" Star said, suddenly able to feel the direction from which Chase's telepathy was coming from. "I have to help him!"

With that, Star took off in a direction away from the house, right as they were about to make their way across the final small valley to it. Kira tried to stop her.

"Star, no!" she called. "Come back! I DON'T WANT TO LOSE YOU TOO!"

It was no use; Star had already gone far beyond earshot. For a young Xenomorph Drone her age… she was really fast. Kira was left sulking, mainly due to Aster being gone… and her worrying that Star could end up meeting the same fate.

All she could do was pray that Star would be alright… and that she knew what she was doing…

Well, things are getting pretty bad, it seems! We'd better hope Star can finally get her chance to shine as a hero! If things don't go as planned… she could meet with a terrible fate… but I can't give out spoilers! So, let's just all wait for the next chapter to see what comes of this. Keep holding on...