** Hello all! Hope you are having a great day! I just wanted to leave a little note to say how much I appreciate how many of you take time to read these little projects of mine. What started as a way to increase my skills has definitely taken on a life of their own. And the fact that so many of you have read them just warms my heart. So thank you, all of you. And as long as I can, I will continue to tell these stories. Cheers!**

Chapter Five

Truth of the Situation

Normally, Astarte would snap violently awake whenever she had been gassed and moved, this time something was different. Her mental awareness slowly grew over what felt like hours, with only the smallest hints of reality slipping into the dark veil that had grasped her mind. It started with small things, a sound from her right, a flash of light from in front of her, an object moving above her. More and more, she started to notice things again. Reality seemed to almost be reassembling itself before her, one small particle at a time.

As more and more came back into focus, she found herself lacking the ability to move. Something was wrapped around her wrists and ankles. Even her tail had been pinned in place by some kind of cold device behind her. Her elongated head, being as large as it was, could still not see what it was behind her.

With her head pinned in place, she could still see a window upon the wall in front of her, large and smooth, separating her from whatever, or whoever, was behind it. There was a sudden small tickle within her mind, telling her that there was someone behind that slick surface. Something she could only feel. They felt… familiar. As her mind shook itself from the fog from the chemical induced sleep, she reached out.

"M-mother?" She called out, not sure if there would be an answer.

"A… Astarte? Is that…you?" Astarte rejoiced at the familiar voice within her mind! But something was wrong, something behind the tone of her mother's response.

"Yes! Yes, it's me! Are you here? Are you behind this window?" She asked, excited of the prospect to perhaps finally see her mother. Her vision darting back and forth, looking for any sign of her through the glass.

"Daughter, I don't…don't know. I am still in the… same restraints I always… am." She responded, with a bit of confusion in her voice. "I'm just glad you… are here. I thought they took… you away."

"No, mother, I am still here. I was with a woman named Evelynn who, I think, they wanted me to kill. But I didn't, just like you said." Astarte explained to her mother while her gaze quickly scanned the room around her. Four metal walls were all that accompanied her.

"That is… wonderful, my daughter. We need to make sure that…we do not give in...to what they want. We cannot…become monsters like them."

"Yes, mother." A silent pause filled her mind. "I would like to see you now." Her excitement was coming to a boil. She started to test the restraints that held her in place. Moving her head as much as she could to see the device that was holding her. She could see no way of helping herself, the scientist had not taken any chances of her getting free. Flexing her hands to test the strength of the material, she found the metal unforgiving. Her legs were firmly in place and there must be a dozen or so clamps holding her tail as she tried to move it. Her mother's voice cut her trail of though.

"My daughter, I don't think…that I am near you…"

Suddenly, something moved in front of Astarte, her adrenaline spiked, and she began looking for any threat that might appear. However, what she saw next, she had not expected.

Just in front of her, rising up from the floor, was a cage. But it wasn't empty. There was another xenomorph behind the tick bars! When her sister finally found her gaze coming to stop upon her trapped body, she froze. They stared at one another in silence, not knowing who each other was.

"Mother… there is someone with me, another xenomorph." There was a pause before a response. She felt a small wave of warmth flush through her mind.

"Astarte, that is…your sister. Meet Amara, she is… one of your older sisters." After her mother's voice finished the statement, Astarte heard a new voice within her mind.

"Hello Astarte, it's nice to finally meet you." The words were kind and warm which excited Astarte. It was almost as if the two had known one another for a lifetime. Happiness filled the xeno's mind as she looked to her newfound sister. She had never thought she would get to meet any of her family. She was not even sure if they were real.

"Hello!" She responded enthusiastically. "I'm so glad to meet you. I have so many questions for you. How long have you been here? Have you been to many rooms in the facility? Can you-"

Her line of questions was cut off by the sound of the metal cage from around Amara being pulled up and into the ceiling. It lifted until it had disappeared completely, leaving the two alone in the room. Amara, free from her cage, calmly walked towards her sister. Astarte could do nothing but let loose a low thrum from her throat, for she was still firmly held in place by the metal restraints.

The two were almost face to face when a sudden noise from behind Amara grabbed both of their attention. Amara turned around quickly to see what was happening. The spike of adrenaline within Astarte's mind had not gone unnoticed as Jolene's voice ran through both of the xeno drone's heads.

"What is… is it? What's happening?" She asked in a mild panic. It was Amara who answered first.

"There was a door behind me, it's now open." She explained. She did not move as four humans entered the room. Two of which were armed with rifles. Between the other two, one looked like a scientist, with a longer coat and some sort of data pad. Then, she saw the last human, who was the odd one out.

He was being dragged in by one of the armed soldiers, barely able to stay on his own two feet. Once they were far enough in the room, he was tossed further in, landing hard on the metal floor. He let out a low groan of pain as his hands clutched his lower ribs.

Astarte studied the man on the floor, noticing that the second time she had met Evelynn she had been in a similar state. She could feel her anger growing, knowing that the man had probably been treated in a similar fashion as her missing friend. She felt her hands tense, and her lips pulled back to show off her razor-sharp teeth.

"Amara, what is happening? What are they doing with this man?" Astarte asked her sister.

"I…I don't know. Just stay still and do as we are told. Whenever they have guns, it usually means they will not hesitate to kill us." She explained to Astarte as she slowly made her way between the men and her, protecting her with her own body.

"Amara, what do yo-"

"Quiet, Astarte. Just be still." Amara cut her off. There was a moment of sharp tension in the room. The two xenomorphs looking across to the humans, the smaller mammals staring back from behind their helmets.

The only real sound was the heavy breathing of the man on the floor. That was until the voice of the scientists filled the room. It was strangely smooth and calm. As if he was trying to soothe any anger that was in the room.

"Experiment with number one-three-five and zero-zero-five. Control signals and consequences. Volunteer Devin Ericson will be used as the control." He spoke as he looked upon the data pad in his hand. His fingers hitting a few different buttons on its touch screen. "We will start with recognized commands with zero-zero-five."

The scientists head lifted from the data pad and looked towards Amara, his hand leaving the pad and went out in front of himself, extended towards the free xeno. His pointer and index finger raised towards the ceiling while his ring finger and pinky were tucked under his thumb. He then pulled his hand towards his chest and spoke.

"Zero-zero-five. Approach."

As if not in control of her own body, Amara started towards the man.

"Amara?" Astarte asked, fearing that something was wrong with her sister. She felt the familiar warmth of her mother within her mind.

"Astarte, don't worry. She…is fine. This is just…how they tell…us what they want. With simple…hand signals and c-c-commands." As she explained this to her, it did not make her comfortable. The fact that her sister did not seem to be in control of herself was uneasy.

"You mean how they control us?" There was no response from her mother. So, she turned her mind to her sister. "Amara, what is going on."

Even as she reached out, she could tell that her sister's mind was only half there. As is most of it was being forced aside by something unseen. She did not like this, not one bit. As she watched her sister walk towards the man, she struggled within her restraints.

"Halt." Barked the scientists while his hand quickly made a fist. Amara stopped moving and Astarte unconsciously froze, some part of her mind responding to the command as if it had been for her.

"Good…Down." He commanded with another hand gesture. This time it was a simple finger that pointed towards the ground. Amara, watching the man's hands, crouched to the floor with a small hint of hesitation. "Good." It was the only response from the man as he hit something on his data pad.

"Up" Amara rose to stand on her two feet.

"Danger." The drone's tail came up and over top of her head as she crouched low, her claws coming out in front of her. Astarte could do nothing but watch as her sister was forced to perform these odd orders. She could see that her sister did not really wish to perform them, but there was still that invisible force that was compelling her.

"Amara, what are you doing!?" She called out once more.

"Be…be quiet Astarte. Do you want them to hurt us? Just be quiet and do as they say." Her words had gone from that of a loving sister, to that of a cold machine. Something with no soul.

Astarte tested the strength of her restraints once more as the experiment continued. The scientist kept putting out orders.

"Let's try the hard one…" He pointed towards the man who was still laying on the floor. He pointed all four fingers at the injured man. "Kill."

Astarte froze at the word and her gaze snapped from the scientist to her sister. She also felt the shock from Amara sneak into her mind, she did not want to kill the man either. Astarte watched as her sister looked to the defenseless man who had no idea that he had just been given a death sentence. However, Amara did not move, there was too much contradiction in her mind, keeping her body still.

"Kill!" The man barked louder, obviously not enjoying the amount of hesitation from his subject. Astarte noticed that her sisters' hands flexed, her sharp talons pointing outward.

"Amara…don't…don't do it." Astarte started to fight against the restraints with all her might. She needed to help her sister, she needed to get free, she needed to help her sister. She began to shake violently, trying to break free from the device holding her. Still no luck. As her gaze was locked onto her sister, she did not notice the scientist moving to push a button on his pad.

The pain that followed afterward almost knocked Astarte unconscious. Thousands of volts of electricity flowed from the restraints that held her and into her midnight-colored exoskeleton. Because of her biology, nearly all of the electricity fanned out across her body, not seeming to travel from one point to another, but spreading out along every inch of her exterior.

Her body tensed as she let loose an ear-piercing screech. The world started to spin, she could not focus on anything, there was only pain. After an agonizing few seconds, it stopped. Her body went limp, but she was still conscious. The only thing she could focus on was her breathing which was hard and labored.

She almost missed her sister screaming out for her.

"ASTARTE!" Amara took a quick step towards her sister before she was cut off.

"STAY!" The doctor yelled. The command froze the concerned xenomorph in place. Something about the command overrode her desire to tend to her sister, something implanted deep within her subconscious. Amara wanted so desperately to help her sister, she hated to see her being hurt.

Astarte's mind was spinning, her vision could not focus on anything. The colored pheromones in the room looked like a giant smudge of color across her vision. As her mind slowly came back to her, she was able to get a few words to her sister.

"Don't…d…don't do it…Amara. D-don't kill…him." She did not want her sister to become the monster that they wanted her to be. She knew that they had to be better than that, that they had to choose the better path.

After her words, she could feel the confusion and fear from Amara who stood, frozen in the middle of the room.

"Astarte I…I can't watch you get hurt. I-"

"NO!" Astarte cut her off. "I can take it. Do not do as they tell you. This man is innocent. Do not kill him." Her anger covered her words like thick oil.

As she finished her statement to her sister, the doctor behind her became impatient and barked another command. "Come." There was obvious annoyance in the human's voice.

As Astarte looked past her sister to the human, she felt and noticed the fight from Amara's mind and body as she protested the command. Something deep within her mind was being pulled by the commands. The doctor again barked his order.

"COME!" This time, his finger hovered over the button on his data pad. The fear of pain ran through Astarte's mind which must have been noticed by Amara because she watched her sister snap around quickly to face the man. She then hesitantly took a few steps, the smile on the human's face grew as he watched the creature obey.

As his smile grew, Astarte's dread did as well.

"No…no no no Amara wake up. You need to fight him, don't listen!" She yelled from her restraints. She once again began to push against the metal that was holding her in place, looking for any signs that it would give way. All the while, her sister approached the scientist and the man upon the ground.

"Good…now, Kill." He said once more while showing the same hand command to Amara. There was a moment of hesitation from the xeno that did not go unnoticed. The human's smile quicky fell to a scowl. "Kill or I hurt your sister again."

The comment received a physical twitch from Amara. It also grabbed Astarte's attention. The electricity was not pleasant in any sense, but the horror of having to watch her sister take a life was much worse.

"Don't Amara! I can take it, just don't do it!" She tried to send as much emotion to her sister's mind as she could to reinforce the statement. Somehow, when she noticed Amara not moving, she knew that it had gone unnoticed.

Amara's large head turned towards the man on the ground, her tail slowly raising up behind her, clawed hands becoming flexed. Astarte began to thrash violently in her restraints once more, she had to stop her sister, she had to save this man's life from ending. This must have done something because it granted her a glance from Amara. It also caught the glare of the doctor who must have been tired of not being listened to.

His finger pressed hard onto the data pad again.

The blast of electricity snaked its way across the exoskeleton of Astarte, its familiar pain still lingering from the first time it made itself known. Her body convulsed as the muscles under her hard exterior tensed harder than they ever had before. Her head snapped back within the restraints, her jaw clenched and nearly broke her teeth as it clamped down. Even with all this going on, she was somehow able to sneak out a few words through the pain.

"Amara…d-don't…do it." She felt a new pain as her sharp claws began to dig into the palms of her large hands. Her acid blood coming forth.

"Astarte! I…I have to! I can't watch you get hurt!" She hear in her head.

"Nnnnnnnooooo! D-don't! I…I can take it!"

"Astarte! They are going to kill you!"

"Don't…don't let them…turn you into a monster! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!" The pain increased as the doctor across the room slid his finger up his touch screen, increasing the voltage that ran through Astarte. The hiss that somehow escaped her clenched jaw could have broken glass.

Then, in an instant, it was gone. Her body was numb as her body went limp, heavy within the metal contraption. The electrical shock was over. Her mind was groggy and shrouded in a heavy fog as her head pulsed in pain. However, it did not take her long to realize what had happened.

She struggled to focus. Part of her did not want to, fearing what she would see. But she had to, had to know if what she feared had come true. As her gaze cleared, she came to see her sister looking at her intensely, probably wanting to know if she was ok. However, it was the tail blade that was inside the human on the floor that Astarte was fixated on.

"No…" She whispered as she looked from the man to her sister. She froze as watched the life leave the body of the innocent man who had now been murdered. "How…how could you?"

"I…I had to. You are more important to me than any human ever could be. Can't you see that?" Amara told her as she pulled her tail from the man. A stream of blood following the sword like weapon.

"I can see." She responded as she looked back to the body on the cold, cruel floor. "I can see that you would rather be a monster than a sister." The words hit her sister like a truck. Astarte felt the disappointment and pain from her. She did not care, what her sister had done was unforgiveable in her mind.

"Astarte…What I did kept you alive. You have no idea how many of our sister have been killed with these experiments, how many of my sisters I have watched die. These humans, these animals mean nothing to me anymore. I want my sisters alive."

Astarte could feel the anger and rage from Amara's mind as the words ran through her head. She knew that she was not lying. This brought a sharp sting of sadness with it.

"…How…how many?" Astarte asked, bring her head back to look to her older sister.

There was a long pause from Amara.

"How…many." This time, her words had a tone of rage.

"Too many, Astarte. And I won't let it happen again." Amara told her. She watched as her older sister began to take a few steps towards her but was caught by a sound from the doctor.

"That's enough zero-zero-five. Back to containment." He commanded as he pointed to a spot on the floor where the cage had first arrived. In silence, Amara slowly made her way as the cage appeared from the roof. She entered the opening of the cage and sat quietly inside the small area, making sure to face away from Astarte.

Astarte could not believe what had just happened. The disappointment in her sister was overwhelming. Had what her mother taught her not been given to all her daughters? Jolene wanted her to never kill, never take a life and become the monsters they wanted them to be. So, what had just happened? The confusion rushed through her mind like a hurricane.

As the cage slowly began to disappear into the floor, Amara turned her head towards her sister one last time as she disappeared.

"I'm...I'm so sorry sister." She told Astarte as the last of her disappeared into the metal floor.

"I'm sorry too, sister. I am sorry that you were forced into this." Sadness took over her mind. "I am sorry our family had to endure this. It should not be this way."

It was that moment that she realized that there was a presence missing from her mind. That familiar feeling of someone being nearby. She reached out to find it but came up with nothing.

"Mother…mother where are you?"

No response.

"…Mother…I need you…Mother?" She was left in silence as the humans left the room, leaving the xenomorph in her loneliness.

"Mother?" Were the last words she spoke in her mind that night.