Clone Girls

“...Are you sure?” A worried Rika asked Ticia, but the latter had already made up her mind.

“Yes, I’ll join you in this battle.” Ticia said back, and the both of them stared at each other in silence, Ticia showing her resolution, and Rika weighting her words. They were interrupted by Berdo.

“Ahem, sorry girls, but we really don’t have the time for that. Rika, get your men ready.”

“...Yes.” Rika nodded slightly, finally breaking eye contact with Ticia. She went towards the desk and opened a drawer from which she pulled out a small communication device.

“Men, this is your general. Red code, I repeat, red code. Every man in fighting condition must immediately arm himself and go to the designated rally point.”

After making this declaration, she put down the communication device and went back to Berdo and Ticia.

“Ticia, I accept your offer. Welcome back into the unit.” She said briefly, reaching for a handshake. Just like Berdo said, it was not time to hesitate.

“It’ll be my honor, general.” Ticia smiled back, and accepted the handshake.

Then, rustles came from behind the curtains, and her four daughters appeared.

“We’ll fight too!” Declared Licia, full of determination. Her sisters nodded in agreement.

“...Alright.”

“But mom-Eh?” Licia began a reply, but stopped. Surprisingly, her mother had agreed. Nobody expected this from Ticia, so they all looked at her in surprise.

“We really can?” Licia asked in confirmation.

“Yes, I don’t really want to, but whatever I say, you girls are still going to come, am I right?” Ticia sighed. By now, she knew how her daughters operated. And true to her words, her daughters looked away, unable to refute what she just said.

“You girls are really…” Ticia sighed again, a little exasperated that what she said was actually true. “Anyway, I might have agreed to your plea, but I don’t want you girls to go running around, so you’ll stay with gramps the whole time, alright?” She declared, pointing to Berdo.

“When did I agree to that?” The old man said with a frown on his face.

“Hm?” Ticia sent him a smile with an overwhelmingly pressuring aura as a result, which made him retract his words and look away.

“N-no, nevermind, it’s fine. They can stay in my half track…”

Ticia rolled her eyes at this, before looking at her daughters with a serious look. “Do you promise to stay with gramps?”

““Yes! We’ll be under your orders, gramps!”” All of them said at the same time, even bowing towards Berdo.

“Y-yes, this old man will take care of you.” The old man mumbled, startled by this act. He mumbled to himself.  “Why are they calling me like this?”

“You don’t like it, old man?” Rika asked from the side, to which Berdo  shook his head and began to laugh.

“Gahaha! No, I like it! I never felt more motivated than right now!” He declared, a smile on his face, and both Rika and Ticia rolled their eyes at this answer. This old man was just too soft on kids…

“Alright, I’m gonna get the half track, so get ready to move when I come back!” Berdo declared, leaving the tent in a happy mood. When he left, Rika began to move towards her desk again.

“Let’s get things prepped up fast.”

“Roger.” Ticia replied, and began to help Rika like it was her usual thing to do. As for the clone girls, they went back towards the bed, saying they wanted to prepare something.

Things moved quickly after that, Rika sent more orders to her subordinates through communications, while Ticia checked their equipment.

Man, I didn’t lose my hand. Ticia thought, smiling wryly. The both of them usually divided the tasks like this before going out.

“Ticia, come help me for a bit.” Rika suddenly said as she brought a box full of equipment.

“Roger, what do you need?” Ticia said, joining her as they reached the hoverer bike.

“I’m going to fix some weapons to the bike, can you help me?” Rika said, putting the box down. There were a variety of weapons in that box…

“Sure, what are you equipping this time?” Ticia asked, used to this. This was a modification Rika had made so that she could bring more punch power into her missions, and it sure did a good job at converting a civilian bike into a small arsenal of demolition.

“As much as possible. The more weapons, the better.” Rika said back, already focused on fixing a box full of missiles to the side of her bike.

“Eh? But wouldn’t this break?” Ticia asked back, unsure. Rika had never used all the modifications at the same time…

“No.” Rika shook her head, before giving a wry smile to Ticia. “Thanks to your genius mechanic of a daughter, my bike has never been in a better shape.”

“That girl, really…” Ticia sighed, knowing what happened with just those words. She really needed to make sure Nia did her work in moderation sometimes… Well, in this case, it’s to our benefit, so I guess it’s fine…

The both of them went to work, attaching missile boxes and rocket launchers to the sides of the hoverer bike, two plasma machine guns on each side facing the front, and one grenade launcher at the forefront of the bike. The bike now had an arsenal of weapons, and would be a true foe in mobile warfare.

“So, what about me, where’s my bike?” Ticia asked as she got up. She would usually take a bike and follow Rika around, but this time, Rika shook her head.

“You’ll ride with me this time.” She said, putting a hand on the bike’s seat, which could easily take two people.

“Oh, I see, just like old times.” Ticia said back, a small, nostalgic smile forming on her face. In the first years of their collaborations, the both of them only used this bike. Rika froze for a moment, before smiling wryly.

“...Yes, just like old times.” She said back, as a wave of nostalgia also washed her.

“Mom, mom!” A voice suddenly exclaimed, and when Ticia turned, she saw her daughters running over to her.

“Yes, what is it, dears?” She asked with a motherly voice, which made Rika think that Ticia had entered ‘mother mode’.

“Here, your armor.” Licia said, raising the piece of armor she had in her hands. The other clone girls did the same.

“Thanks. Eh? What are those?” Ticia asked as she saw her armor. There were some drawings on it now…

The forearm parts were now covered in flames, red on the right, and blue on the left one. The shoulder pads had also been colored on the outlines with some orange and purple. The tibia protectors were now brown, and her kama also had some yellow lines drawn onto it. It was a very colorful and questionable choice of colors, but Ticia did not comment on it. She only saw this as her daughters taking care of her in their own way. In fact, there was another addition to the drawings, one which made Ticia smile warmly. To the right side of the stomach part, there was a cute chibi version of Nia, giving a thumbs up and winking, no doubt this was the work of the clone girl in question.

“Hehe, we decorated it while you were busy.” Licia said, happy of her work.

“This way, we’ll always be with you!” Nia added, to which her sisters nodded.

“My sweet girls! Thanks! I love it!” Ticia said, her heart warmed by the gesture. She immediately gave a hug to each girl, which made them giggle. As this was happening, Rika frowned.

“...How did you girls find the painting equipment for this?” She mumbled, unsure where the girls got the material to paint.

“Oh, there were some buckets of paint over there, so we used them.” Nia said as if it was a matter of fact.

“Oh, right…” Rika had totally forgotten that she was planning on repainting her bike, she guessed she would have to do it another day…

“Mom…” Mia approached her mother with an hesitant look, something hidden behind her back.

“Yes, Mia?” Ticia asked warmly.

“H-here! Take my helmet!” Mia said in a rapid manner, raising her helmet towards her mother.

“Eh? But Mia, you love this helmet…” Ticia said with some worry, well aware that Mia used it as a plushie when she did not have it on her head.

“Yes, that’s why I’m giving it back to you, please use it for protection. I don’t need it anymore.” Mia said back with resolution, which touched Ticia.

“My timid girl has finally grown out of her shell.” She said, patting Mia on the head, before taking the helmet. “Thanks, Mia, I’ll cherish it.”

“I just received a message from the old man, he’s waiting outside.” Rika said from the side. While Ticia was having a touching mother-daughters moment, Rika had been busy coordinating her men and relaying information.

Ticia nodded in silence, acknowledging what Rika said. It was time. She gave a last hug and a peck on the forehead to each of her daughters.

“Girls, it’s time for you to go with gramps, whatever happens, listen to what he says, alright?” She said with a serious look, to which they nodded.

“Yes, Miss Rika, please keep mom safe.” Licia added, looking towards Rika.

Rika nodded. “I’ll try.” 

“Eh? I can keep myself just fine?” Ticia mumbled, but her words fell on deaf ears.

“Yes, thank you, Miss Rika. Then, we’re going!” Licia said, and the girls bowed one last time before leaving the tent, leaving Rika and Ticia in an awkward silence.

“...Why do I feel like they trust you more than me?” Ticia finally said, sadness in her voice.

“Oh, I don’t know? Maybe it’s because I’m more reliable than you?” Rika replied, teasing her subordinate.

“That- well, I guess that’s true.” Ticia ended up saying in defeat, unable to find a counter argument. Rika was more reliable than her, and it’s not like she had been a good mother until recently…  “Ah, can you help me put on the armor?” She asked Rika, changing the subject.

“Sure.” Rika nodded, and took the chestplate into her hands. “...I’ve been meaning to ask, but what’s the material of this armored skinsuit?”

“Durium, at least that’s how A-4 calls it” Ticia replied as she fixed the forearms parts.

“Durium?” Rika frowned. “That’s new…”

“So you don’t know either, huh? I think it was a well known alloy back then…”

“Better keep this a secret, then.” Rika concluded, this alloy might bring problems towards them if revealed to anybody.

“Yeah.” Ticia agreed. As Rika began to attach the chestplate Ticia turned her head towards her. “By the way, what do you think of the design of my armored skinsuit?”

“Too much white and shiny, you’ll immediately become the spotlight on the battlefield.” Rika immediately said, crushing whatever hope Ticia had to boast about her armor. “Who even thought this was a good idea?”

“Ugh…”

“Oh, Ticia…” Rika sighed, from Ticia’s reaction, she had guessed the design came from her. “Looks are one thing, but think of camouflage too, please.” She chided her subordinate with goodwill.

“...So you do agree that it’s a cool design?” Ticia asked, noticing that Rika had not said anything about the armor’s looks except for its color.

“...” Rika said nothing, she just smiled, but it was a smile that said long to Ticia. That, and the fact that Ticia was beginning to feel pain from her chest area.

“Agh! W-wait, Rika, too tight!” Ticia said in a panic.

“It’s fine, it's just your chest, it’s nothing much if it's for your protection, am I right?” Rika said, as if it was none of her business.

“A-alright, I get it! I’m sorry! I’ll reflect on my mistake next time! S-so please lessen it!” Ticia exclaimed in her panic, and Rika finally relented. The rest of the armor was put on without further problems.

Once this was done, Rika turned on her hoverer bike, and mounted it. Ticia did the same, and strapped herself into position behind Rika.

“You’re ready?” Rika asked as she put on her helmet and goggles, a smile forming on her lips.

“Ready!” Ticia replied as she put on her helmet, and took her two pistols in hands. Rika nodded, and the hoverer bike slowly departed from the tent.

Outside, a swarm of hoverer bikes, hoverer jeeps, trucks and various armored vehicles were waiting for them. Rika took a breath in, before yelling.

“9th assault brigade, time to move! Let’s help our comrades from the 303rd!”

 

***

 

“Agh!”

Screams echoed through the battlefield, in between the noises caused by the weapons as Borkian soldiers fell one after the other under the waves of Ionian soldiers.

“Keep it up, men! We have to hold the enemies no matter what!”

1st Lieutenant Andrew Tilton yelled his orders, he had managed to build up a barricade with whatever materials he and his men found lying around, and before he knew it, other soldiers from his division began to rally around him.

Things had happened so fast, he had a hard time following up with the situation. He woke up this morning from the growing sound of battle, and just as he was questioning what was happening, a man on guard duty came up to him, announcing the dreadful news that the enemies had flanked them, and were now attacking them from two sides.

He immediately went into action and rallied the men of his escort platoon, which had been attached to the 303rd mixed infantry division, but as he did so, more and more dire news came from the front line. The first line of defense had been breached, and so was the second. The only thing that kept the Ioninas from entering their camp was the third line of defense, and judging from the testimonies of the men who retreated, it wouldn't last long.

At first, he awaited further orders from his superiors, but as time passed, and no directives came, he took it upon himself to build a new line of defense with whatever materials they had. and it seems he was right in doing so, as not soon after, Ionina scouts were spotted, and small skirmishes began to ignite.

Then, as he questioned a wounded soldier who had managed to fall back to his makeshift line just before their camp, had told him with a tinge of despair.

“G-gone, they’re all gone!”

“What?”

“The whole command center has fallen!” The man cried out, before beginning to plead for a retreat. Andrew made eye contact with the medic from his platoon, who put the man to sleep before he could demoralize the troops further. He might be just an officer of an escort platoon, but Andrew was not someone who fell back from a fight, and so he hurried up his fortification efforts, until the head of the Ionian troops presented themselves

And now there he was, holding the line by himself as no superior man in rank presented himself to take over.

Damn those guys! He cursed his superiors. They were the ones responsible for the situation the division was in.

Andrew was just a new graduate from the military academy on Borkian Prime, but had ended up at the head of an escort platoon for various reasons. A few days ago, and as he got appointed to the 303rd mixed infantry division, a gathering had been announced by the general, in which the middle aged man declared that the division was to be sent as reinforcement to Brellia 7. If it was only that, that would be fine, but Andrew could not help but notice the presence of officers who were not part of the division, and in fact, looking at the glances the higher ups were giving them, and from the praise he was giving to field marshall Barry Twill, Andrew could deduct that those men were from the Twill faction.

That’s when Andrew had a bad premonition. His division was part of the neutrals, and now, one faction had approached them to send them on the battlefield? Something was wrong, and Andrew could tell they were sent to do the Twill faction’s bidding.

But what could he say? He was only a 1st Lieutenant, and an escort one at that! If he were to express his concern, he would only be looked at with scorn and contempt.

Still, he thought he should give it a try at least, after all, his general was known as a cautious man. Surely he would listen to him.

But it was at this moment that he caught a conversation going on between some officers from his division, and the officers of the Twill faction. Both sides were discussing on friendly terms what their next move would be, and when the division would officially become part of the Twill faction. At that point, Andrew made a U-turn, and came back to his men. There was no point in discussing, his faction was not ‘neutral’ anymore…

And so, they joined the efforts of General Fika against the Ionians. And Andrew had to admit that they were put on a relatively calm part of the front, as unlike the other units, they did not meet republican commandos, but just conscripts.

This led to a laid back situation in the officer corps, and the troops in general, which explained to him why the line had fallen so quickly. Nobody expected the enemy to attack them!

“Status report! What happened to our reinforcement request!?” He yelled to his radio operator, hoping for some good news. Earlier, General Fika had promised to send reinforcements, but he had yet to see some coming from the nearby divisions.

“General Fika has ordered the 15th Mechanised division and the 9th Assault brigades to come to our help! They are currently on the way!” the operator announced, some hope in his voice, but Andrew was different.

That fucking stupid general! Andrew wanted to blurt out, but abstained. Both of the units the general sent their way had their camps situated on the other side of the frontline. It would take a moment for them to arrive. Still, he kept a confident face in front of his men.

“Good!” He forced a smile. “You heard that, you lots, we’re going to be reinforced by two elite units! Let’s show them we aren’t inferior!”

““Yes, sir!”” The men yelled back, fuelled up with the desire to prove themselves. Rika was known to handpick the soldiers of her brigade, so it might be their chance to get a promotion.

“Agh!” Another one of the men fell, Andrew had no choice, and while cursing at his luck in his mind, he mounted on the barricade to raise the morale and give more orders.

“Keep the machine guns running! I don’t want one of those Ionians to get to us!” He yelled, before spotting a man crying over the body of his fallen comrade. He pulled him up and yelled. “No time to mourn, soldier! Get the hell on the wall and keep shooting!”

“Y-yes!” The man said, weakly, obeying his superior’s orders, Andrew felt bad, but he had no choice. Every man counted right now.

“Snipers, sharpshooters! Anybody who’s good at aiming, I want all of you to focus on their officers!” Andrew continued to yell. “Get some grenade launchers! Throw hell on them!”

“S-sir! Incoming tanks to the right!” A man yelled, his face becoming pale. Andrew immediately went over to the man, and saw what the man was worrying about. Three Ionian tanks were coming their way.

“Quick! Anti-tank team!” He yelled, and men equipped with anti-tank magnetic rifles and rockets took position next to him. “Rockets on the first in the middle, riffles on the ones on the side! On my command… Now! Fire!”

The men fired, and fortunately for Andrew, the rocket hit the first tank, making it explode in flames and injuring the nearby ground soldiers. The other two were also hit by their shots, and stopped moving. Andrew could see some crewmembers bail out from the tanks.

“Three tanks down!” The lookout exclaimed, and a cheer erupted from the barricade. Andrew also sighed in relief. He only had around 2000 men under his command, counting those that joined him. Way more than the hundred men he commanded initially. And despite their inferiority in number, they were holding the line. Thank god there’s no artillery barrage or aerial support, or else, we'd be dead by now…

But he spoke too soon, the lookout yelled again, this time, with even more fright in his voice. “I-incoming more tanks!”

“How many?!” He yelled back.

“A-at least five, sir! They’re accompanied by armored vehicles this time!”

“Shit!” This time, the curse escaped his lips. There were simply too many of them. His team could take out at least four, but by that time, the remaining tanks would be aiming at them, and not to mention the armored vehicles, his position would simply be overwhelmed.

What to do… He searched for an answer. He could bring his second anti-tank team, but then he would leave the left side exposed. Another solution was to just give the weapons to the soldiers and form another team, but since they were not trained to use the equipment, their efficiency would be lowered, besides, judging from the position of the enemies, they did not have the time necessary.

While he was in his thoughts, his anti-tank team did not lose their calm. They frantically reloaded, before aiming and firing again. They hit two tanks, to the cheer of the man on lookout, before reloading and repeating their actions.

Seeing his men continue to fight despite knowing the situation was doomed. Andrew pulled himself together. He went to the man in charge of communication. “Any news?”

“No, sir!” The man said back, it meant that none of the divisions nearby had answered his distress call.

“Give it to me.” He asked the man to give him the communication, if they refused to listen to a soldier, then they would listen to an officer.

As if. He knew that was wishful thinking, and yet, he tried.

“This is 1st lieutenant Andrew Tilton from the 303rd mixed infantry division’s 60th escort platoon, our situation is critical, I repeat, our situation is critical! We won’t be able to hold for much longer!” He said, trying to keep his voice as stable as possible, and to his surprise, he got an immediate answer.

“This is Brigadier-General Rika Doesson, leading the advanced detachment, we’ll be arriving in a few minutes.”

Finally some good news! He exclaimed in his head, feeling relieved. Not only that, it’s her! He could not help himself but remark. Rika’s feats on the battlefield were subjects of discussions and admiration within the military academy by the students who idolized her. She was young, suffered a grievous injury, and yet got back on her feet and managed to get her rank by herself. When Andrew heard the 9th assault brigade was coming, he did not expect this legend to be at the head of the reinforcements, just like in the rumors.

“Oh thank god.” He exhaled, feeling very tired yet relieved. “You do not know how happy we are…”

“Calm down, lieutenant, you still have to hold for at least 5 minutes. Can you send words to your superior that I want to talk with him about coordination?”

“...Impossible, they’re all dead. I’m the one in charge right now.” He replied seriously, to make the living legend on the other side know that the situation was that critical.

“...Very well.” The feminine voice acknowledged, not questioning what Andrew said. “Lieutenant, I need you to give me a precise report of the situation.”

Andrew then told Rika how much the situation was critical, that he only had less than two thousand men now, and that the enemy had deployed armored units.

“I see, you’ve done well holding this long. I’ll make sure to notify Major-General Poltok about your deeds.”  And with that, the conversation line was cut by the other side. Andrew immediately went to the barricade.

“Keep it up soldiers! Brigadier-General Rika is leading the charge and will be there in a few minutes!”

The men raised another cheer at his words, the reinforcements were here, they did it, they survived until the end.

It was then that their cheers were interrupted by an explosion that sent Andrew to the ground. He raised himself to see what had happened, only to see a crater not far from him and his men. The tanks had missed them by a hair…

This meant that the next shot would not miss, and a wave of realization washed over him. They… would not make it, or at least, few of them would survive…

He raised himself, acceptance on his face, but determined to fight until the end. His men did the same, and took back their positions. But fortunately for them, it was a fate that lady luck had not accepted.

Andrew only saw a missile fly straight, coming from behind him. It was then followed by other projectiles in all sorts. The missile went straight over their barricade, and hit dead on the nearest tank, making it explode. The following projectiles also hit the other armored vehicles at the front, making the enemy  assault falter for a moment.

““...”” A small silence ensued, until Andrew heard the sound of multiple engines, this time not coming from the Ionians, but coming from behind him, and as he turned, a hoverer bike stopped in front of him. The driver had characteristics he recognised immediately.

“General Doesson.” He said, saluting on the spot, albeit sloppily.

“At ease, lieutenant.” The voice, identical to the one he had heard through communications, replied. “You’ve done well. Tell your men to get some rest, we’ll take care of the rest.”

And as soon as she came, the Brigadier-General was already gone, but this time, other bikes joined her. Andrew stayed there for a while, still in disbelief of the luck he and his men just had, before sitting on the spot.

“Men!” He yelled one last time. “Our reinforcements have arrived, you can get some rest. Let those Ionian bastards taste the power of our elite troops…”