LIGHTNOVELONLINE Chapter 40
Rika sped up her bike as she reached the enemy lines, which, seeing her and her squadron of hoverer bikes approach, opened fire on them. She counted in her head for the right moment to announce her order, and when it came…
"Fire and disperse!" She shouted in the coms, and all the hoverer bikes fired rockets, before splitting up and retreating.
A number of explosions shook the Ionian lines, and both Rika and Ticia could hear the cries of their enemies.
“Agh!”
“Help me!”
The Ionians were in disarray, but those that survived focused their fire on the bikes, however, they were too agile, and Rika's troops managed to get away without losing anybody. Rika knew this wouldn't last however, and so did her soldiers. It was just due to luck and surprise that they were able to not lose anybody.
“First phase done. Group A, prepare to engage in the second phase.” She ordered the troops, knowing well that doing the same thing again and again would just lead to more losses in this situation.
““Yes, general!””
“Ticia.” She said, addressing her subordinate.
“Is it my time?” Was the answer she received, Rika had no doubt Ticia was smiling under her helmet, which she was. Ticia had been itching to fight from the moment they entered the battlefield.
“Yes, show them hell.” Rika replied as she made the engine of her bike work harder. In the following assault, she would only be the driver and assistant of Ticia.
“Then full speed ahead!” Ticia declared, and immediately after, their bike advanced towards the enemy lines, followed by others.
“Launch the smoke screen!” Rika barked an order in the coms, while at the same time activating the grenade launcher at the front of the bike. It fired five times consecutively into the enemy lines, the grenades creating smoke as they rolled.
Ticia’s HUD immediately passed to heat vision, and as they met the confused enemies, she began shooting them with her pistols. Rika also switched to heat vision.
“Gah!”
“Wh-where?!”
The Ionians fell one by one in the confusion as Ticia did not miss one shot.
“Switch to heat vision! Don’t let them come again!” An Ionian officer yelled, and the troops obeyed, but it was already too late. By the time they did so, Rika and Ticia were already within their ranks.
“Whoah!?”
“Agh-!”
Rika and her men did not even bother to dodge the infantrymen, charging into them. They were making use of their vehicle’s speed and maneuverability to pass through the gaps of the enemy vehicle’s formation. On her side, Ticia continued her onslaught, unperturbed.
“Rika, to the right!” She told Rika as her instincts told her to move right.
“Roger that!” Rika immediately turned right, and soon after an explosion was heard. If they had not turned right, they would have been blasted by it.
“Your instincts are as good as ever!” Rika commented, sweats on her back.
“Of course!” Ticia immediately replied, continuing to blast away. “Don’t think I’ve rusted just because I have daughters now! Ah, could you turn left, between those two armored cars?”
“On it.” Rika saw where Ticia wanted to go, and immediately made the turn, seeing that there were too many infantrymen in front of her, she fired the plasma machine guns.
"Agh!"
"Wh-"
The confused men, who did not expect to be attacked, fell, leaving the passage clear for Rika and Ticia.
"Nice, nice, now go straight ahead, I see a command car." Ticia said as she put away her pistols, and unstrapped herself.
“I’ll see you in a few seconds!” She told Rika, before jumping from the bike, onto the armored car. She searched for the trap on the vehicle.
“Found it.” Immediately, she shot the trap’s lock, before opening it by force, and throwing a bunch of grenades inside and closing it again. Ticia then looked around, and jumped on the roof of the armored tank to the left. Not soon after, an explosion reverberated, and the command car was nothing more than a smoking pile of metal.
“Over there! On the roof!” One soldier spotted Ticia and shouted, and the soldiers around began shooting at her. Under the rain of laser beams, Ticia jumped from vehicle to vehicle, firing back at her enemies. Until she reached the end of the vehicle line.
“She has nowhere to escape now! Kill her!” A man shouted, which Ticia immediately recognised as an inspector, but she did not bother with him. She jumped instead, even though there were no vehicles to jump on.
The humming sound of a hoverer bike became lowder and lowder, and to the surprise and amazement of the Ionian soldiers, Ticia landed on her foot on a hoverer bike that immediately disappeared in the smoke again.
“That was a close one!” Rika told Ticia as the latter strapped herself again after managing to balance herself on the bike.
“Yeah, but hey, it’s not our first rodeo!” Ticia said back with excitement.
“You’re right.” Rika agreed, a devilish smile on her face. “But it might be the first where you’ve done such crazy things!”
“Hehe, praise my armor for that!” Ticia said smugly.
“Nope! I’m just gonna keep Nia for myself and rain her with praise!” Rika declared, unaffected by Ticia’s smugness, and instead fought back. She just loved the modifications the little girl had brought to her bike.
“Hey! Who gave you the right to do that!?” Ticia protested, just like Rika had expected. “Besides, if you praise her too much, it’s going to get to her head! Do you know how annoying she can be when that's the case!?”
“I don’t know.” Rika just laughed, amused by the fact that her subordinate immediately switched from a battle frenzy to a serious mother in an instant. “But that's something you’ll have to deal with yourself!”
“You really…” Ticia sighed, and the two of them continued to talk about silly things as they retreated back to the Borkian camp without further engagement.
***
“Would you look at that… Seems like the party began without us.” Berdo commented, seeing smoke rise from a pile of armored vehicles displayed on the screen.
“See girls? All of that is probably your mother and Rika’s doing.” He said as he turned towards the four girls, who were sitting next to him and looking at the display with stars in their eyes.
“Wow, mom did all of that?” Nia said in amazement.
“As expected from mommy!” Licia said, as if the achievements of Ticia were her own, and her sister Lidia nodded in agreement.
“Miss Rika and mom are so strong…” Mia commented, in full admiration.
“Gahaha! They sure are! Those girls…” The old man could not help but laugh. “But I can't let them have all the glory.” He said with a fearless smile. “Alright my devils, it’s time for us to join the fray!”
““Yes sir!””
“Good, let's show them what we’re made o-mh?” He stopped in his tracks, noticing the gazes on him. Four, actually.
“Wha-what is it, kids?” He asked, unused to those gazes.
“Can I drive the vehicle?” Nia asked without an ounce of hesitation.
“Uhm, no?” He said. He wasn’t going to let a kid drive his prized half track!
“Aww, come on! Pretty please?” Nia pleaded, making puppy eyes.
“Ugh!” A critical blow was mad on the old man. C-can’t, I must resist!
“Wh-what about you girls?” He asked, avoiding eye contact with Nia.
“We want to man the guns!” Licia declared without an ounce of hesitation. which left Berdo speechless.
What are these girls… He thought to himself. They had seemed like normal kids to him, but he was now reminded that those little kids were actually clones. Of course they would not do things a normal kid would do…
Berdo’s half-track was entirely automated, except for the driving, but it was possible to fire the guns manually….
He could command any action from his command post, and would usually have one or two subordinates around to help him, but this time, he had made an exception for Ticia’s kids, and was the only adult present.
“No, girls, your mom would probably kill me if I allowed that.” He said seriously. He wanted to make the clone girls understand that this was a step too far for them right now.
Ticia allowed them to come with me, meaning she’s put her trust in me to protect them! Berdo thought to himself, he did not want to anger Ticia!
He said this to himself, but…
“...Please? We just want to help mom…” Licia pleaded, and she and her sisters joined Nia in making puppy faces.
“D-don’t be like that, please, I can’t allow this, no matter what…” Berdo stuttered, resisting the pressure that was growing, the clone girls were actually making him feel guilty for refusing!
But as he thought that the kids would understand his point, he noticed something. Tears were beginning to gather in the eyes of the kids.
Oh shit! He panicked. If Ticia learned he made the kids cry, he would be as good as dead!
“O-ok! You can do what you want!” He ended up saying.
“Really?! Thanks, gramps!” Nia said, her expression changing immediately, and so was it for the other girls. That was when Berdo realized he'd been tricked!
“I’ll take the driving seat then!” Nia jumped in joy, sitting on Berdo’s laps. The other girls also went to the gun positions. Mia seated herself in the co-pilot seat, manning the frontal machine gun, while Licia went in the turret on the half track, where a rapid-fire cannon was present. As for Licia, she played the role of the observer and communications.
“Alright! We’re all ready!” Licia declared, her voice coming from the coms. “Let’s go!”
““Yeah!”” The clone girls replied with energy, resolute to enter the battlefield.
“Y-yeah…” Berdo replied a bit later, sweat running down his back.
I’m doomed, aren’t I? He thought to himself, thinking about Ticia giving him a smile with a terrifying aura, just like he felt before. I guess I’ll just have to plead for my life…
***
“Resupply is done, general!” A man saluted as he said this to Rika, who nodded. Right now, they were resupplying in the base of the 303rd mixed infantry division. This was Rika’s third time resupplying her munitions in this battle, and while she was doing so, Ticia had stayed on the front, keeping the enemy busy with a few men.
The logistic team of her brigade had installed themselves there, and were busy resupplying the troops each time they came. Still they received some help, the survivors from the 303rd mixed infantry division, under 1st lieutenant Andrew Tilton, were helping wherever they could, despite Rika advising them to rest longer.
That man sure is energetic despite being a newbie… She could not help but comment to herself. She was not sure what motivated the man, but his help was precious, as casualties began to rise in her brigade’s rank.
Then, it’s time for me to join Ticia, but before that…
“Has there been any news from the higher ups?” She asked one of her subordinates, who shook his head.
Playing the deaf card, I see… They’re really intending to make this battle my last… She thought to herself, hiding her disgust behind her poker face, before driving towards the battlefield with her trusty bike.
The battle was intense, while some of her troops continued to raid the enemies with hoverer bikes and jeeps, the rest of her men held the barricade that the men from the 303rd had made, defending the line and providing fire support to the raiding team.
Still, despite that, Rika had no problem finding Ticia in all this chaos.
After all, where there’s the most chaos, that’s where Ticia is. She said to herself with a small smile. Ticia had always been strong, but she could not deny that the armored skinsuit had rendered her old subordinate even more powerful. An armor that made her even more visible, being shiny white and all…
She arrived at the scene, and immediately, Ticia jumped on the bike without saying a word, and Rika went to another zone of the battlefield while hearing the curses sent at them from behind.
“There’s no end in sight!” Ticia commented after a while, to which Rika agreed. The Ionians were throwing everything at them, for some reason… She wondered just how many enemies she and her brigade had killed now…
No, not quite right… She corrected herself. Indeed, the Ionian forces were sending a lot of armored vehicles and men to them, but Rika had noticed the absence of a peculiar corps…
There’s no Republican commandos… Weird, why are the Ionians throwing so many resources at us and not sending their elites…
That was a point she could not understand, but before she could ponder more on the situation, Ticia’s voice ringed in her ears.
“Rika, more are coming on the left!”
“Again?” She looked where Ticia was pointing, and true to her old subordinate’s words, more vehicles were coming their way. When is this going to stop?
Fortunately, good news came.
“General Rika Doesson, this is the second in command of the 15th Mechanized division, we’re entering the battlefield.” A voice said in her coms.
Finally! She said to herself, relieved the old man was here, but then, a question popped up. Why was the second in command saying this to her?
“Thank you, but where’s General Poltok?” She asked the other person.
“That…” The man seemed hesitant. “I apologize for my general’s absence, he said he would go to the front by himself and left all command to me…”
“What?” Rika frowned. “What does thi-”
Before she could finish her question, an explosion came near them, and an armored vehicle both Rika and Ticia knew well appeared, it was Berdo’s half-track.
“Wha- Gramps!? What’s he doing here!?” Ticia exclaimed, unaware of the conversation Rika just had, although she too was surprised by the half-track’s sudden entrance.
“Wait a minute, I’ll ask for a direct call.” Rika dialed quickly on the panel in front of her, and after a few rings, the screen came to life, but to Rika’s surprise, the person she saw on the display wasn’t the old man…
“Wha- Lidia!?” Ticia exclaimed, Rika was sure her subordinate was seeing the same thing as her on the HUD of her helmet. “What are you doing!?”
“I’m in charge of communications, mother.” Lidia replied matter of factly, as if nothing was wrong.
“I can see that, but what about gramps!? Where is he?!” Ticia replied back, asking the question Rika wanted to ask. But before Lidia could answer, they overheard voices.
“Hey kid! Turn right or we’re going to smash into that truck!” They could hear the panicked voice of Berdo, and the laugh of a kid in the back.
“Haha, don’t worry, gramps! I know what I’m doing! Kind of…”
“How can I trust those words if you add that at the end?!”
As both Rika and Ticia were wondering what was happening, the screen now showed another point of view, where they could see a very happy Nia on the driving seat, with a pale-faced Berdo behind, and a smiling Mia on the side.
“It’s fine, it’s fine~.” Nia insisted, making a strong turn to the right. Rika and Ticia could see the half-track nearly flip to the side as the scream of an old man was heard, before hitting the truck and going on its way. “See? nothing happened! I’m a pro!”
“This is not fine at all…” Berdo mumbled, a hand over his heart, he was getting too old for those kinds of things…
“Uhm, gramps, I think you should trust Nia more…” Mia commented, trying to support her sister.
“...Girl, if you want me to trust your words, you should at least look at me in the eyes with a serious look instead of blasting everywhere with a smile on your face…” Berdo commented with an incredulous look that Rika agreed with.
“I’m not shooting randomly though?” The girl tilted her head, not understanding. “I’m just shooting the targets Lidia is highlighting. Besides, mom said I should smile and express myself more often!” She said finally looking at Berdo with a smile on her face.
“...That’s not what I meant, Mia…” Ticia mumbled, seemingly exasperated by what was happening.
“Fueh? Mom?”
“Oh, hey mom! We’ve come to help you!” Nia declared with a proud look.
“You girls… What the heck are you doing…” Ticia asked with feelings of exasperation that Rika could only sympathize with.
““Helping our mother?”” All three clone girls tilted their heads cutely, not understanding what they did wrong.
“That’s not what I meant-” Ticia began to refute the girls, but before she could do so, Lidia spoke up with urgency.
“Enemy to Mom and Miss Rika’s right flank!”
““!!!”” This caused both Rika and Ticia to look to their right, and indeed, a light tank was pointing its main gun at them.
Crap! Rika cursed, she had been distracted by what was happening in the half-track!
“I got it!” A new voice said in the coms, and soon after, the cannon on the half-track turned towards their direction, and fired a salvo of laser beams that pierced the light tank’s armor, who stopped moving immediately.
“You too Licia!?” Ticia exclaimed as a new face appeared on a different camera.
“Hey mom! Look, I’m shooting enemies with a cannon!” Licia said like an excited kid telling her parents what she is doing at an attraction park.
“...Gramps, I hope you can explain this to me…” Ticia said after some time, anger seeping from her voice.
“S-sorry, I couldn’t resist their pleas…” Was the reply they got from the old man who was sweating bullets now. Rika sympathized with the old man’s fate, so she admonished Ticia, so that they would not repeat the error they just made twice.
“Ticia, if you please, can we settle things once we’ve defeated the enemies?” She asked
“...Right, sorry Rika.” Ticia replied after taking a long sigh, before saying one last thing in the coms. “You girls, expect to receive additional punishment once all of this is settled…”
““Why!?”” The girls cried out in protest, but Ticia had already cut the communication line, and instead focused on shooting all the Ionian soldiers that entered her sight with an even faster rate. It felt as if she was venting out her anger on the poor souls to Rika, but how could she blame her? Ticia had sent her kids over to Berdo with the expectation that they would stay put so long as they were under surveillance, but who would have expected them to overwhelm the old man and take control of the half-track!?
Again, Rika reassessed that they were clones. After all, only clones would do things like that, right? No, perhaps it’s because they’re Ticia’s clones… Ticia’s the only one I know who does crazy things on the battlefield… Yeah, that’s the reason.
After reaching this conclusion(?), Rika refocused on the battle…
***
The battle continued like this for a few more hours. The Borkians massacred the Ionians, but the latter kept sending wave after wave of men, which Rika, Berdo and their men kept pushing back.
Finally, a silence emerged on the battlefield as no more Ionians presented themselves. The only noises present were those of the smoking carcasses, and the grunts of the wounded, dying men.
“Phew….” Ticia sighed, feeling exhausted, she was happy to have a helmet right now, or else, she would face the horrible burnt smell that was in the air. Something she knew well, but never got used to…
She was so exhausted from the intense battle, well, everybody was, except four, small new recruits. The clone girls were happy with their first battle, and Ticia was just too exhausted to scold them. I’ll do that later…
She let out another sigh, before refocusing. I’ll see if Rika’s finished.
She went over to the camp, ignoring the looks soldiers were giving her on the way. They were curious and grateful to her, but had received orders not to address her. Soon enough, she spotted Rika in a discussion with Berdo and a young man.
“Rika, are you done?” She asked, too exhausted to bother with formalities.
All three turned towards her, but before Rika could say anything, the young man asked, frowning.
“Excuse me, but could you identify yourself?”
“She’s just a friend.” Rika said before Ticia could say anything.
“A friend?”
“Yes, a good old friend of mine, without her the casualties would have been higher.”
“I see…” The man did not comment further.
Ticia was happy he did not comment, but most importantly, she felt even more happier at Rika’s words. The woman declaring to other people she was a friend, rather than a subordinate, made her in a good mood for some reasons.
“And to answer your question, Ticia, yes, I’m done counting the casualties.” Rika said a bit sadly.
“...How many?” Ticia ended up asking after a bit of time.
“A lot, girl.” Berdo replied in Rika’s place. “Rika lost a quarter of her troops, and I lost nearly the same amount.”
“As for the 303rd mixed infantry division, it’s as good as annihilated…” Rika continued, which made the young man sigh.
“I’m the highest ranking officer who survived.” He said, sighing again. “And only around 3000 men survived, with more than half seriously injured…”
“I see…” Ticia said, but did not comment. It was war, losing comrades was normal, and she knew that giving empty condolences would not bring them back, nor console the living. The battle has been won, the casualties were heavy on their side, but they had managed to survive, yet… None of them felt like they won.
“This whole assault is weird…” She mumbled out loud.
“Agreed.” Rika nodded to her mumble. “It’s strange that the Ionians deploy so many means, yet don’t deploy their commandos they’re so proud of…”
“Strange indeed, but what’s more worrying is the silence we received from our allies…” Berdo added, a hand under his shin. “The situation was this critical here, and I don’t think there were that many troops attacking the other divisions, so why no support?”
“...The only answer I have is that they were trying to weaken us.” Rika concluded.
“That’s most probably it, we’re all neutrals here, after all…” Berdo pointed out, to which the young man reacted.
“Well, my division’s officers seemed like they changed sides…” He said, sighing. “But I wouldn’t be surprised if it was just for this…”
“So we all agree on this.” Rika said, sighing. “The Twill faction is trying to get rid of us.”
“Well, not the Twill faction in particular, girl.” Berdo added. “It might be an agreement between the factions that agreed to send us here…”
“This is why I hate political stuff… It’s too bothersome.” Ticia mumbled, which made Rika laugh weakly.
“It’s so like you to say that, Ticia.” She said with a weak smile.
“Guess so…” Ticia replied, she couldn’t deny that she said this everytime Rika was into politics…
“Generals!” A soldier came up to them in a hurry, distress visible on his face.
“Speak, soldier, we’re listening.” Berdo said with an aura of authority. He was the one with the highest grade right now after all.
“A huge amount of troops have been spotted over the horizon!”
“Oh, did that Fika boy finally move?” Berdo frowned. “If so, he’s late.”
“N-no sir! They aren’t General Fika’s troops!” The man denied, and the mood suddenly turned serious between the group.
“...Who are they then?” Berdo asked.
“We don’t know, but judging from their uniforms, I think they’re Borkians!” The man replied, which only made them frown further.
“Then what’s the problem?”
“They’ve taken an offensive position and are pointing their weapons at us!”
““!!!”” A wave of surprise washed over them, before Berdo cursed out loud.
“Shit!”
“Seems like somebody wants us dead…” Rika commented with a grave expression, before turning towards Ticia. “Ticia, this is our problem, you don’t have to meddle in it.”
“What are you saying at this point in time, Rika?” Ticia replied, somewhat angry, she had done all this and now Rika was chasing her away? “I’m already deep in this shit, so whatever happens, me and my daughters will stick around.”
“Ticia…” Rika could not hide her emotions this time. She nodded, before yelling out loud. “Men! We have a treason case! Get ready for battle!”
The soldiers immediately prepared themselves despite being exhausted, while Ticia and the others went to face their new foe.
“This is… Felgoron?” Rika immediately noticed the man at the head of the hostile troops.
“Who?” Ticia asked back, she had forgotten about that man long ago.
“Well, well, well… Would you look at that, ‘former’ brigadier-general Rika Doesson…” Felgoron said, an irritating smug on his face as his voice reverberated with the help of a tool.
“What do you think you’re doing?” Rika asked back, hostility in her voice.
“Me? I’m just obeying my superiors! Look! Your backer and your own family were oh so kind that they lent me a whole regiment of soldiers wearing armored skinsuits just to face you!” Felgoron said, laughing evilly.
“...” Rika’s face paled in understanding, those people were not here for all of them, but just for her. The Twill faction might have chosen to eliminate her silently, but it seemed like other factions did not.
“Oh look at your face, it’s the first time I felt joy looking at it!” Felgoron continued to laugh, misunderstanding the expression on Rika’s face. “If you survive this, I’m gonna make you regret preaching me…”
“Hey fat man!” Berdo suddenly yelled. “I don’t know what you’re doing, but don’t expect me to just stand there and watch!”
“Oh, it’s the old crust. I would advise you to stand aside, my backers have a lot of power, you know?” Berdo’s threat did not intimidate Felgoron in the slightest, the man would walk over both of them if needed.
“Like I care! Men! Get ready!” Berdo shouted decisively, and the young man next to him also declared his support for Rika.
“I shall help too, we’re not many, but we owe you our lives.”
“...Thank you…” Rika simply said, seeing that she had allies. Still, a whole regiment of soldiers in armored skinsuits would be formidable opponents, losses would be even higher after that…
“...You want to fight? Ha!” Felgoron sneered. “Very well! Men! Entertain me!” He looked at his troops. “Make sure Rika Doesson feels pain, and if you find kids with white hair, get them to me no matter what!”
“Oh hell no!” This time, Ticia reacted, that man was after her daughters too!
“Oh, there’s an adult one too?” Felgoron finally took notice of Ticia, but he too, seemed to have forgotten about her. “Excellent! Men-”
*Kaboom*
Before he could finish his words, explosions came from behind him.
“Wha-!? What was that!?” He asked in a state of panic.
“S-sir, we got attacked from behind!” One of his aides announced.
“Who dares to be in my way!?” Felgoron yelled, furious.
“W-we don’t know! They don’t have any ensign of affiliation, and all of them have white hair!”
““!?!”” Ticia, Rika and Berdo froze when they heard that. There was only one type of person who had white hair…
“H-hey, Ticia…” Rika asked for confirmation, but Ticia did not seem to hear her.
“No way…” She mumbled to herself in disbelief.It was just a thought, but perhaps…
Ticia was taken out of her thoughts by the sound of a growing scream.
“Kyaaaaa-Ouch!” Two figures, one of a kid, the other of a young adult woman, landed roughly on the ground, creating a cloud of dust. “Uuuuh~, that was a rough landing…” The youngest one mumbled.
“Apologies, Prime Sister Vinia.” The other replied.
“Oh, that’s not your fault, 99, who would have expected the jetpack to have a malfunction? Besides, we reached our goal!”
There could be no error on the little girl’s identity for Ticia.
“...Vinia?” She asked in complete disbelief as the dust finally settled down.
“Oh, hi mom!” Vinia said happily, hugging her mother on the spot.
“...What have you girls done…?” Ticia could ot help herself but blurt out, beginning a staring contest with the other figure. Both recognised what the other was…
“We wanted to help you! So we’ve made more sisters!” Vinia said happily, but seeing that her mother had stayed frozen, her mood soured. “Sorry, I know you didn’t want to, but we were too worried…” She then went to the one she had called sister. “Uhm, let me present her to you! This is ECG-099, and she’s my favorite little sister!”
““...”” Both continued to stare at each other. Somehow, even with the clone in front of her wearing a helmet, she could tell what the clone was feeling. It was small, but she could feel happiness, expectations, and a yearn to be recognised, just like the Null class clone girls… There was no doubt, this girl was one of her clones…
Finally, after what felt like hours to Ticia, ECG-099 spoke up.
“...Mother.” Those were the only words she said, before saluting with a hand over her heart.
Ticia did not react, her mind in shambles.
…Oh god, I’m done for… Just how many more daughters did I get behind my back!?
She yelled to herself in her mind, not even noticing that she had accepted ECG-099 as her daughter without even flinching.
