Chapter Twenty-three

Remembrance and Change

A few hours passed and within the darkness of the foliage, they all rested together. This small group of xeno's, tired from a rather emotional day. They lay upon the dirt and upon the grass in silence as some slept and others thought of their fallen sister. Astarte was thinking of their next step. The silence had let her go over her plan, over and over again. She needed to find one that would make sure she did not lose anyone else. She refused to lose anyone else. She had already lost Evelynne, she had lost Amara and now one of her sisters who had only known freedom for a short while. Time which she had spent trying to help her get Evelynne back, time that she could have spent living her newfound life. Astarte shifted and a sharp pain rain through her body from multiple areas. She needed a new plan that also involved not being so injured that she could not move.

Astarte tried for another position that might be better but it only caused her hip to spike with pain. She let out a low growl which had not been quiet enough to go unnoticed. Rose lifted her head from its resting place upon her hands and looked towards her. They shared a glance and said nothing, they didn't need to. Rose got to her feet and made her way in front of Astarte and sat back down.

"Your wounds are not getting better, we need to speed up the process." She said as she looked her over from top to bottom.

"What did you have in mind?" She asked, not really knowing what she was getting at.

"A cocoon. We need to find shelter and then get you into a cocoon. I had to put a few of our sisters within the labs inside them. Whenever the scientist went too far and injured us badly, mother taught us how to build a cocoon around one another. It always sped up the healing." She explained. It made sense to Astarte, even though she had never done it herself. She looked at Rose, nodded and moved to stand. Rose shot her hands out to help her sister, which Astarte was glad for. Slowly she got to her feet, despite the burning protest from her body.

"Let's wake the others. You have the lead." Astarte said as she put all her weight onto her good hip. Rose nodded and turned towards her resting sisters.

"Sisters, wake up. Time to move, we have a plan."

Astarte watched as each one of the xenomorphs slowly began to move and come back to life, escaping the zen like sleep state that they were in. They all got to their feet and stretched in various ways before circling up around Rose. They all waited pactientaly to hear the plan.

"Astarte need more time to heal, but not here. We need to find cover and cocoon her, it will help with her wounds." She explained. "Cleo, you and Rachel search for a cave, or group of rocks. Anything that we can hid in for a while that would be hard to find." The two Xeno's nodded and took off into the forest.

"Marry, Claire. We will wait until they return and help Astarte get to the location. Take turns to help, it will go quicker if we rotate." Astarte was impressed with Rose's ability to take charge and organize. A welcomed surprise.

It did not take long before each of them felt something within their minds. A feeling of happiness and accomplishment. They knew that either Cleo, or Rachel, had found somewhere suitable for what they needed. So, with the help of her sisters, Astarte made her way, following the pull within their minds.

The trek was a bit longer than they had thought, they traveled through dense brush and over a small stream, through tall trees and large flat of rocks. Finally, they could see Cleo in the distance, through the wall of trees before them. She sat upon a small hill and waited for them all to reach her. Upon their approach, Astarte was glad to hear Rachel approaching from their flank.

Once at the hill, she could feel the glee from Cleo, proud that she was the one to find the location. Astarte crested the hill and did not see anything at first. But then she looked at her feet, where a large hole was visible between the cracks of the rock within the dirt. Vegetation lined the opening as moss and roots hung from its rocky edge. Cleo had found a cave system.

"It goes quite deep and opens up into a much larger cavern." Cleo explained.

"Well done, Cleo. This is perfect." Astarte looked at her and sent her warm feelings. "Let's get inside."

"Let me, sister." Rose called forth as she made her way to the opening.

She slipped inside and crawled along the rocks that created the shaft. She disappeared around a corner that was only ten or so feet down. They did not wait long before following her, letting Astarte go down next. They all helped as much as they could and she was glad for it, her body was still rather soar and stiff, not letting her descend gracefully.

As she climbed down and braced herself with her hands, it was then that she came to realize that a few of her fingers were broken. Which did not make the climb upon the rocks easy. With everyone's help, they slowly descended into the earth, deeper and deeper from the surface. Taking multiple turns and bends in the hard rock. Until they came to the cavern that Cleo had mentioned. It was massive, stretching seventy feet long, twenty feet high and thirty feet wide. Astarte could hear the sound of trickling water somewhere as she looked over the massive room. There were stalagmites and stalactites covering every surface of the floor and ceiling. It was rather beautiful.

As her sisters entered the space behind her, she could feel their excitement grow as they all took off to explore the space. Astarte herself only moved enough to find a good place to sit, nothing more. She watched as her sisters explored the walls and ceiling, Rachel had found the small water source on the far side and was now splashing within its cold waters. It was a nice escape from the reality that was above them. She even felt her own body relax. After some fun playful games of tag within the cave, Rose finally came back to sit beside her.

"Shall we?" That was all she asked. Astarte nodded but she did not really know what to do.

"What's the best way?" She felt the mental smile from her sister.

"Just curl up and stay still." Astarte nodded and moved to the cold, stone floor that made up the cave.

She felt the cold floor on her exoskeleton. It was a pleasant contrast to the burning that was happening in multiple locations. She watched as Rose held her hands in front of her mouth and called forth the resin that all drones had within them. She placed the first handfuls near her tail and stretched the material as far as it would go before calling forth more of the sticky substance. It did not take long for her other sisters to realize what was happening and come to join Rose in her efforts. Soon, with the help of all her sisters, she was almost fully covered by the newly created resin cocoon.

As they placed the last handfuls upon her head, she felt a wave of happiness within her mind that was coming from all her sisters. She knew she would be well protected as she healed within her protective shell.

"Get well sister, we will not leave your side." Rose told her as she stretched the last of the resin over her head.

"Thank you, sister. Thank all of you." She sent out the best feeling of happiness she could to all of them.

She let out a large sigh as she settled into position, letting the warmth of the resin soak into her hard exterior. She listened as her sisters moved away from her resting spot, letting her slip into the sleep state they all knew so well. As the zen like state took over her mind, Astarte was left with her own thoughts.

"I'll save them, I'll…save them all. I have to protect them…protect my sisters. I need to be…strong for…for them. Stronger for…them. Protect…stronger…" Were her last thoughts before she slipped away.

Ten days later.

She shifted. Something was uncomfortable, her body didn't feel right. Something itched. She tried to reach up to her face and scratch the spot that needed to be scratched but found that she could not move her hands. Something had them stuck in place. It itched so bad. She pushed her arms out hard and found that they hit something hard, something that was surrounding her. She pushed harder, she needed to scratch so bad.

As she pushed, she felt whatever was around her, cracked and gave a small amount. She heard a snapping sound as her hands suddenly shot forward and through the hard surface. She felt open air around which allowed her to flex her clawed hand. Her muscles were stiff. She attempted to reach her face but found that her hands were still being restricted by whatever she was inside. As her vision cleared, she realized that she was wrapped within something, some kind of bubble. She needed to get out, needed to scratch so bad. Her whole body was starting to itch and become uncomfortable.

She pushed out with all her limbs, including her tail. She found that she had to push hard but eventually she felt the bubble crack and chunks of it pushed away. Her body unraveled as the walls of the cocoon gave way under her weight and strength. She stretched out, covered in slime and feeling much better now that she could move. She brought up her rather heavy head as she found her footing and sat on her rear. She brought up her arms and looked down at her clawed hands as she flexed them a few times. They felt…different.

A noise caught her attention. She instinctively snapped her head in the direction, wanting to locate the source. She searched for a moment before she watched a xenomorph crawl over the rocks that were in front of her. Something in her mind told her that she was safe, that this entity before her was a friend. A name came to her mind.

"R…Rose?" She asked, reaching out with her mind.

"Yes sister, it's me. How do you feel?" She watched as one after another of the Xeno's that had been in the cave made themselves known. They all slowly approached. She could feel happiness flow her mind that were not her own. It felt nice. There was also something else, a level of caution that seemed odd.

"Astarte? Is that you?" One of them called.

That name… Yes, Astarte. That was her name. She…she had been hurt, badly. They, her sisters, had put her into a cocoon to heal. She remembered. Taking in a deep breath, she lifted her head and let the air escape in a huff.

"Yes, sisters, It's me." She looked out to her family and felt something strange. Feelings of confusion and a small amount of fear. "What is wrong?"

"You are different, Astarte. You have changed." Marry told her.

Astarte, confused, looked down to her hands, they did seem bigger than before. Her claws were longer and more muscular, so too were her arms. She looked to her legs and tail. They too seemed bigger and more armored than before. As she moved her head, it was then than she noticed how much more weight it seemed to have. She reached up with her hands and was surprised to feel exoskeleton where it shouldn't be. Her head had grown into a crowned carapace. She was so confused. Thankfully, her sisters stepped in.

"Sister, you are a Pretorian! You changed into a royal guard!" She looked to Cleo who had made the claim. She looked back to her own hands, not knowing what that meant. Mother had mentioned something about royal guards of the hives, but nothing much more than that. She looked back to Cleo.

"Pretorian?" She asked.

"Yes, you are much bigger, much stronger. You have more armor than normal, and you have a crown just like mother." Cleo explained. Astarte could feel her excitement within her own mind.

Astarte balled her hands into fists and flexed as hard as she could. She did feel stronger. Suddenly, the itchy feeling set in with a vengeance. Her hands unfolded and shot to her face and began to rub. She could feel layers of slim coming off of her exoskeleton, it felt so good. Her hands moved from her face to her neck, rubbing hard on every inch she could.

Suddenly, she felt multiple hands from her sisters begin to rub and scrap off the slim from her body. They were reaching areas that she probably would not be able to. It all felt so good. Pure bliss for Astarte, one that she gladly let her sisters give her. So, she stayed still as they all helped to remove the outer covering. Inch by inch, they helped Astarte. It took a while to finish, they made sure they did not miss anything. Astarte felt so much better with the itching feeling gone.

"Here, this way sister." Claire called out as she moved further into the cave. Astarte, standing to her full height for the first time, was excited to see just how tall she was. Standing at a good ten feet tall, she looked down at her sister. She could tell that she was much larger than she had been before and enjoyed it. She took her first steps to follow Clair and could feel her weight as it slammed into the stone below. Her footsteps echoed within the cave. As she approached Claire, she was surprised to see a large pool of water that was near the far wall of the cave.

"Come, wash off the rest of the cocoon. It will feel nice." She did as Claire said and approached the pool. She hesitated as her foot came to the water's edge, but as she slowly lowered it into the water, she embraced the feeling of the cold liquid.

It felt wonderful upon her hard exterior. She then walked in up to her waist and then sat down with a large splash. The cold water sent a shiver up her body and into her crowned head. It felt wonderful and the cool temperature seeped into her body, cooling off her interior. She felt her breathing slow and her body relaxed. She was taken from the moment when she heard her sister enter the water behind her, causing her to spin in place to face them. One by one the xeno's entered the pool with a splash. She sat in silence as they all came to circled her and waited in silence. She did not know if they were waiting for her to say something, or just enjoying the water. So, she stayed silent and just enjoyed the moment. A few minutes passed as the xeno's all enjoyed the cold water of the underground pool before the silence was finally broken by Marry.

"We are still going to find father, yes?" She asked. Her serious tone caused Astarte to tilt her head and look at her sister.

"Of course we are, he is our family and is with many of our sisters. Or so I've heard."

"How?" Asked Rachel. Astarte let out a mental laugh.

"A friend hear it on the news."

"What is news?" Cleo asked.

"It's how humans share information. They call it news." There was a round of 'ooo's from the xeno's. The sad truth that they had been kept in the labs quickly sunk in at that moment. They really knew nothing of the world they were in. Honestly, Astarte could not claim that she knew that much more than they did. She had not been exposed to much either. She kept talking, wanting to break the silence.

"He was last seen on the far east coast. We will keep heading that way in any way we can. We need to find him so he can help find Ev-" She froze at the memory of her friend.

She had almost forgotten what she had found out at the lab, how her friend had been declared dead. She let out a sign. So much had happened, she tried to hold back her anger and sadness but changing the subject instead. "Amun can help us find mother." It was Rose that approached her and said something that she had not expected.

"Your friend…the scientist said she is dead. I am so sorry." She sent Astarte all the kind feelings she could. Apparently, she had not done well enough to avoid the subject.

"She was…I first…I…" Astarte struggled to find any words for a response. So, she simply let her head fall towards the water, staying in silence.

"Sister…" Cleo asked causing Astarte to look up at her.

"I am ok." A lie. "She was the first kind human that I had met. They wanted me to kill her after they tossed her into my room. I…I refused. I was not going to be the monster that they wanted me to be." She explained. "We cannot become monsters. We cannot give into what they think we should be." She felt the agreement from each of her sisters. "They want us as machines, they want us to do as they please and as they command. Never again. We will find our family and live as we want, live as we should. They will never take another sister from us and never take us from our family." Astarte could feel the fight growing in each of her sisters.

"No more…they will take nothing more from us." She continued. "They may have created us, molded us from their own hands, but they will find that our will is now ours. That our souls are our own. That they are ours to control and do with as we see fit. Never again shall we be forced into cages and labs, into glass boxes to be sold and traded." Astarte stood within the pool, looking down at her sisters. "Never again shall we be products of science." She let loose a shriek that rattled the cave.

This roar was nothing like the one she had made for her fallen sister. This was one of war, this was one of malice. This one was a message and a promise. Her sisters joined her in this trumpet of anger, this horn of the apocalypse.

'Never again' sang their song of fury and rage.