Licia ran as fast as she could through the forest, not looking back as laser beams passed her. Despite that, she shot back with her carbine from time to time, relying on her instincts to aim at her chasers.
“Gah!”
“Shit! Where is that kid!?”
“She ran over there!”
“Kill her!”
She heard the Ionian soldiers shout as one of her random shots found its target, and the soldiers reaffirmed their intention to kill her.
Licia took a sudden turn to the right, and continued to run. She wanted to make a stand and fight back, but she knew that the enemies were just too numerous, and that she wouldn’t stand a chance.
But that's a good thing though. She reminded herself. The more people chasing after me, the less people after Lidia.
Something unexpected had happened, and now she was in a difficult situation. Who could have expected that the Ionian Republic’s base would be attacked by other people? Still, despite that, Licia thought more about her sister’s safety than her own.
I hope they managed to escape… She thought as she again took a turn, this time to the left.
***
Going back a bit in time, Licia had found a place to hide from where she could survey if the escape route of Lidia would be safe. If some lone soldier were to pass by, she would simply kill them, but if they were more numerous, she would contact her sister and inform her that her exit point had been compromised for a while.
Still, the back of the laboratory seemed tranquil, and no soldiers patroled aroud that zone. That in itself was strange. Why were there no guards here? Licia did not know, but it did play in her advantage, so she wasn’t gonna complain.
And so, she waited patiently for Lidia to contact her, hoping that nothing grave had happened to her sisters. She truly hoped they were still alive, as their death would devastate her. She had not been the greatest sister to ever exist, but now that her emotions were in order, she wanted to protect her sisters, and excuse herself.
After a while, her communication device lit up with life, and Lidia’s voice reverberated in her ear.
“01, I found 09 and 10, proceeding with their liberation.”
Licia immediately tensed up. She had found them, but how were they? Were they…still alive? She immediately asked this.
“This is 01, well done 07, what is their state?”
After a while, a positive answer came back.
“... 09 and 10 are conscious and lively, but weakened due to what they’ve been through. They should be able to move, though.”
Licia let out a big sigh of relief. I’m glad, the worst case scenario hasn’t happened…
But now that she thought about it, there was another problem that had to be dealt with. If her sisters were in a laboratory, that meant that they had become subjects of analyzes, or worse, experiments. Not a lot of time had passed between their capture and now, but still, judging from the state Lidia described her sisters were in, something had happened. They needed to be sure the less information about them would be spread, so they would have to deal with this if they did not want to endanger their other sisters…
“Good, if possible, could you destroy any unwanted information?” She asked her sister. She would normally have given the order to Lidia, but Licia was so relieved her sisters were alive that her tone had become softer than usual.
“I’ll do that after further checking on both of them.”
Lidia replied, and Licia nodded in agreement. Mia and Nia were the first priority.
“Very well, be safe, 07, 01 over.” She said as she ended the conversation, letting Lidia do the rest. Her sister would probably call her again to get the confirmation that the escape route was still secure, so she had to make sure it was.
Fortunately, no soldiers passed by, so Licia remained there, surveying the surroundings. It was truly lucky of them.
We’re lucky, with this, our sisters will be safe, and we’ll reunite and be together forever! Licia thought, already projecting herself into the future. Nothing will separate us ever again!
But that was then…
*KABOOOM*
Lidia heard a huge explosion, and the ground under her feet suddenly shook.
Wha-what just happened? She thought in a panic, like every soldier around, probably, only to see a huge cloud of smoke not so far from her. The explosion came from the camp.
Immediately after, her communication device came back to life, and she heard her sister’s worried voice.
“01, 01 do you hear me? Was it you?”
Lidia asked, but Licia was only confused. Why do you think it’s me? I wouldn’t do something like that?! She immediately answered.
“No, it wasn’t me!”
“What’s happening outside?”
Lidia asked, wanting more information. But Licia had not much too. From what she could hear though, it seemed that a fight had begun.
“I can hear gunfire and screams, it seems like the base is being invaded by another party! Join me fast, we need to get out of here!”
“Roger!”
After that, Licia observed her surroundings with tension. The atmosphere had changed. Something was happening, and it had the chance of foiling their whole rescue mission! Judging from the chaos around her, the fight had yet to reach the laboratory, but from the panic, she guessed the Ionian soldiers were getting pushed back. They had to hurry and escape before their window of opportunity closed!
Unfortunately though, that window of opportunity slammed shut faster than Licia had thought. A group of Ionian soldiers took position behind the laboratory.
“Secure the position!” One of the men barked orders. Licia identified him as the officer of this group. “The general is inside the research center, we must protect him at all costs!”
““Yes sir!”” The men replied in unison.
This is bad! Licia immediately panicked. I need to find a way to make them leave!
She thought for a moment about her options, but none came to mind as satisfying except one. If she wanted to make them leave the place, then she had to take direct action. Meaning she would fight the soldiers.
Yes, I’ve got no choice at this point. She thought, seeing the number of soldiers, there was a big chance that she would not be able to kill them all, so she had to hurry and eliminate as much as possible without being found out!
Unfortunately, somebody had already found her.
“Eh?” A sudden exclamation came from behind Licia, and when she turned, a Ionian soldier was standing there with a surprised look.
Oh crap! Licia reacted by reflex, and shot the man immediately, killing him before he could say anything. But the sound of the blast allerted the others.
“!!! Gunfire to our right! The enemies are already here!” The officer yelled. “Suppression barrage! Get ready to take the enemy down!”
Immediately after, numerous laser beams came to Licia's position, and she dodged them thanks to her instincts.
This is bad! I need to deal with this now! She thought. Licia was not worried about her own situation. She was only worried about the fact that her sister’s escape route had been compromised! She moved to a different location under the fire, and shot back.
“Gah!”
“There! The enemy is here!”
The Ionian soldiers reacted to her shots, firing even more precisely on her position. But that was not the worst…
“Command, we found the enemy at the back of the research center, requesting reinforcements immediately!” The officer yelled into a communication device. Now more enemies would be coming her way!
This is really not good… I need to do something! Licia thought, her precise shots killed one ennemy each time, but even if that was the case, she would be overwhelmed if they were too numerous. Besides that, she was running out of hiding spots from where she could shoot back safely. She needed to come up with a solution.
I got no choice then. She thought after calculating the only option she thought would help her sisters escape, she immediately contacted Lidia.
“07, this is 01! My position has been compromised. I repeat, my position has been compromised!”
“What? Are you alright?!”
A worried voice asked back, to which Licia replied with confidence.
“I’ll manage, but you’re on your own from now on, you need to find a new exit while I distract them!”
She actually lied though, the number of enemies shooting her was increasing by the minutes. It seemed that as the Ionian soldiers were getting pushed back, they fortified themselves around the research center.
“...Roger, 01, please stay safe and contact me once it’s over.”
Lidia replied, a voice still filled with worries. Still, she was glad her sister understood that the situation had changed.
Sorry Lidia. Licia apologized to her sister in her mind, knowing that she just put more pressure on her sister. I’m putting all the responsibilities on getting our sisters out of here on you now.
Licia took a deep breath of air and closed her eyes, calming herself. Wait for the right moment to strike… She thought, concentrating on one voice in particular, the one that was barking orders here and there.
She identified it quickly, and immediately after, she relied purely on her instincts as she fired with her carbine.
“Hurry! Kill tha-Gah!”
“Officer down!” One of the man yelled as the loud voice was interrupted abruptly.
I did it! Licia rejoiced, she only managed to do this thanks to her instincts and the knowledge she had. I’ve never been this happy to be that person’s clone! She ended up thinking, thanking Ticia for her unbelievably good genes.
Now, step two. Licia thought as the gears shifted in her mind. She got out of her position as the barrage of laser beams stopped, and immediately unleashed one of her own by shifting the V12 carbine to burst mode.
“Guh”
“Wha-”
“A kid!?”
Multiple confused voices came back as Licia was fully exposed, but she did not care, she simply continued blasting. And to make her plan work better, she taunted her enemies.
“Hey you suckers! Can’t even shoot down a kid? What a bunch of useless guys!” She shouted, even pulling her tongue out at them. Licia had never been this vulgar to anyone, but it’s not like she disliked doing this kind of thing to her enemies. After all, she truly disliked them.
Her taunt seemed to have an enormous effect too.
“Th-this little brat…”
“Who’s a sucker!? I’m gonna show you how much of a man I am!”
“Hehe. You’re gonna call me daddy when we’re finished!”
Ugh, that one’s disgusting. Licia reacted to the last comment, immediately killing the man with a shot to its genital parts. Which frightened her enemies for a brief period. Licia was truly like Ticia, merciless to her enemies…
“What? Nothing to say back? You really are a bunch of cowards, not even fighting back against me!” She taunted them again, to great effect.
“K-kill her!”
“Destroy that enemy of men!”
The soldiers shouted, and Licia only smiled. The Ionian soldiers were enraged, and they only saw her in their eyes. Holding a position? Who cares about that! Their honor as men would not permit them to be taunted by a small girl!
“H-hold on! We need to keep the posi-” One of the officers said, trying to reign in the troops, but before he could finish, a laser beam reached his head, killing him instantly. Licia would not let anybody foil her plan.
“Catch me if you can, suckers!” She exclaimed as she ran in the opposite direction.
“Follow her! Don’t let that kid go away!” One of the men shouted, and immediately after, most of the soldiers began chasing after Licia.
Licia was satisfied with the results as more laser beams were directed at her. But this was not enough for her. She wanted to make sure her sisters would go back safely!
Step three: Gathering even more people! She declared in her mind as she zigzagged through the alleyways of the camp, shooting here and there at random people she met, and shouting more insults and taunts at them. Then, a devilish thought crossed her mind. Each time she crossed the path of a man, which was actually always since there seemed to be no female soldiers here, she shot the guys in their genital parts, to the horrors of her pursuers. And it had a bigger effect than she thought.
“Agh!”
“How is she so fast!?”
“Anybody! For the sake of our manhood, kill that little nutcracker now!”
W-whoah, there's so many of them now! Lidia was surprised by the number of soldiers chasing after her. Her ruthless tactic had been a bit too effective… She would not be surprised if she were told that at least half of the base’s soldiers were after her life now. She noted deep down that aiming for the genital parts of a man was a sure way to gather attention.
Well, I guess this is enough. She thought as it was becoming harder and harder to dodge the laser beams. I have caused enough chaos without meeting this second army, it is time for step four!
Licia made a sudden dash towards the forest, where there was more covers for herself. Her objective was simple: Making sure her pursuers would be as far away as possible from her sisters!
“She’s going into the forest! After her!”
She smiled as she heard the soldiers shout that, with this, she now only had to lose her pursuers inside the thick vegetation of the forest, and kill a maximum of them!
I’m simply a genius, this plan is perfect! She thought proudly as she went deeper into the forest, but never had she thought that her enemies would be this persistent…
***
That was the plan, but why can’t I get rid of them already!? Licia cried out loud in her mind as her pursuers seemed unperturbed by the loss of their comrades. Each time one was shot down, two would take his place next, and they would always find her despite her finding good hiding spots.
“Just die already, little nutcracker!”
“Yeah, do a favor to all of us men and have a quick death before you can harm more of us!”
The men shouted after her, clearly still affected by Licia’s ruthless tactic.
Wh-what’s up with them?! Why are they so persistent about this?! Licia thought as the men continued to shout such things.
Clearly, Licia had underestimated how much men cared about this part of them. She knew it was an important reproductive organ, but she did not understand why they reacted like that!
In truth, the Ionian soldiers were in an extremely bad mood. Because of Ionian military rule, they had no ways of relieving themselves, so they were extremely frustrated! Most of them were not soldiers by career, but simply conscripts with a minimum amount of training and a mediocre pay. And now here they were, in the middle of nowhere for more than a month! Of course they would react in such a way if a child hurt their pride as a man like this! Licia had now way of knowing that however…
While Licia knew what was the use of ‘that’ for a man thanks to her implanted knowledge, she was still too young to deeply understand how much some men were proud of it…
But anyway, she now had to find another way. Licia quickly thought of another plan. If losing them isn’t working, then I guess I’ll just have to separate them into small groups and then kill them one by one!
The question though, was how? How would she make the men separate into small groups to pursue her? She had no idea, but she needed to find one, and quickly.
She took another turn to the left and hid behind some bushes, but a surprise waited for her there.
Behind that bush were the bodies of Ionian soldiers she had just killed before, their bodies still warm. Licia… had been circling around the same point.
Dangerous! Licia immediately thought of moving, but as she was about to do so, a quick glance at the bodies stopped her in her tracks. She eyed one part of their equipment in particular… Wait a minute… I can use that!
Licia immediately jumped into action, she undetached the men’s belts and took out the grenades as quickly as possible.
“What the hell is she doing?!” One of the men exclaimed as he saw her do that. “Not only does she destroy our balls, she’s also gonna expose it?!”
“What?! Outrageous! Kill her!” The men exclaimed, reinvigorated as they began to shoot at Licia again.
There clearly was a misunderstanding there, but Licia was too occupied to even react to it. She dodged their shots with ease, belts in hand.
Let the show begin… She thought darkly as a smile appeared on her face. She was beginning to enjoy this. Her smile terrified the poor conscripts, who immediately associated her with some kind of monster.
Licia threw one grenade after the other, running between groups of Ionian soldiers as she did so, and using her height to her advantage. The following scene could only be described as gruesome…
“Oh shit! That’s a gre-”
“Agh! Careful there!”
“Who’s throwing those grenades?! Hey! Friendly fire here!”
The soldiers became confused as more grenades were thrown, but Licia did not stop there. Each time she could, she would reach out to one of the fresh bodies and take their grenades, throwing more at her enemies.
Red splattered everywhere as blood, body parts and random pieces of fleshes were thrown into the air. The ionian soldiers were into a huge state of confusion over what was happening, and to aggravate things, each time one of them tried to take command, a laser beam would find its way to his head.
“Hehe.” Licia smiled, happy of the results of her hard work. She too could not be spared from the splattering of blood, but she did not care, she continued her actions, still with a smile on her face.
“D-devil…” One of the men who saw her face muttered, before crying on the spot. "Please spare me!"
“She’s a devil! There's nothing we do can beat her!” One other exclaimed.
“I don’t want to die!”
“Please spare me!”
More and more men exclaimed. After witnessing such a gruesome scene, they had forgotten about their pride.
“What are you all doing?! Shoot that kid down!” One of the men said, still determined to kill Licia, but most of his surviving comrades had changed their minds.
“Who cares about her!? I don’t want to die!”
“Yeah! On second thought, I’d rather be castrated than die like this!”
“Let’s run away from this hell!”
Conscripts began to flee one by one, and as more did so, more followed.
“W-wait, you guys! We need to kill tha-” One of the men still motivated tried to say, only to be shot down by Licia.
This is my chance! I won’t let any of you run away! Drunk in her killing spray, Licia followed after the men, killing as much as she could.
“N-no! I don’t want to die like this!”
“Pl-please spare me, little nutcracker!”
“I-I don’t need you to do it, I can do it myself!”
Fear was so strong within the conscripts that they began to leave everything behind them. Weapons, gears, and even their wounded comrades. Panic was such that some even proposed to castrate themselves in fear of Licia.
Licia did not care though. She just continued to shoot her enemies, instilling more fear into them. She even played on their fear, shooting at the enemies' crouches when she could.
But then, something Licia had not expected happened.
“What are you all doing, soldiers?” One man who had just arrived shouted, he had a different uniform compared to the others, with brown markings on it. Behind him stood men in green armored skinsuits.
“I-it’s an inspector!” One of the conscripts shouted. “H-he came with the commandos!”
“Men!” The inspector shouted. “Kill all those traitors who retreat!”
The commandos did not reply, they just shot the conscripts who froze from the order.
“Gah!”
“Pl-please spa-”
“If you want to survive, then continue ahead and kill that child!” The inspector shouted to the conscripts. And immediately after, like beasts fearing for their lives, the conscripts made a U turn and returned the way they came.
“Eh?” Licia was surprised, she did not expect this at all! Her first reaction was to take cover from the barrage of laser beams coming her way, she then began to throw the last grenades she had.
““Gah!””
The grenades proved effective, but to Licia’s shock, the men continued on. It was like a wave of zombies, the conscripts were more terrified of the inspector than they were of her!
I need to fall back! She thought as she began retreating further into the forest, but just like before, even though she shot them, her enemies were still behind her!
Still, Licia was confident she would be able to survive. I just need to make the same move as before…
She immediately moved to the position of a body, but as she was about to brab the belt…
“!!!”
Laser beams, ones more precise than those from before, came her way. Licia rolled on the ground and evaded them, but she came face to face with another problem.
“Got you.” One man in an armored skinsuit was standing in front of her, pointing his gun at her.
Lidia immediately reacted and shot a precise burst of laser beams to one part of the armor, killing the man before he had the time to react.
Fortunately Lidia told me how to deal with them. She thought as she quickly ran from there. On the way to the Ionian base, her sister had told her the way their ‘mother’ dealt with the commandos.
‘Shooting precisely at the same point will render their armor meaningless.’ Her sister had affirmed at the time, before boasting. ‘Just by looking at mother, I was able to do the same thing!’
Licia did not really believe her sister at the time, but now that she had verified it for herself, she could only acquiesce to the effectiveness of his method. It’s easier than I thought, actually. She thought, but nobody else except Ticia would say those words though.
But as she was distracted like this, Licia finally made an error. She tripped on a tree root.
“Eh? Kya!” Licia ended up rolling on the ground. And when she finally stopped, she painfully raised her upper body, only to see an arrangement of guns pointed her way.
“It’s over, kid.” The inspector said. “You’ve done enough damage by yourself, any last words?”
“...” Licia did not answer. She instead analyzed the situation, only to reach one conclusion.
I’m done for… There’s no escape this time… She thought. Right now, she had been encircled by her enemies, and all were pointing their guns at her, ready to shoot her if she dared to even mone one centimeter.
Strangely enough though, she was calm as death stood in front of her.
I’ve surely done enough by now… She thought as her mind was on her sisters. She fully believed that Lidia had managed to find a new escape route, and that her sisters were now far away from here. This thought reassured her.
If that’s the only way I can redeem myself as their older sister, then that’s fine… She thought, accepting her fate. Her only regret was that she could not present her apologies in person to her sisters, most notably to Ria, who she felt she had hurt badly.
Ria, Lidia,... Vinia… I’m sorry I wasn’t a good older sister…
But it was then, as she resigned herself, that a communication came from her communication device in her ear.
“Close your eyes, now.”
The voice ordered, and Licia unconsciously obeyed and closed her eyes.
“What? Accepting your fate huh?” The inspector said, sneering at her. “Very well, I’ll make it as painless as-”
Before he could finish though, Licia heard the sound of something landing on the grass at her feet.
“Wha- Grenade, take cover!” One of the Republican Commandos shouted, but before anybody could move, the grenade detonated, and a huge amount of light was delivered. So much so that even Licia, who had her eyes closed, felt it.
“Gyaaah! My eyes!”
“It’s a flashbang!”
The Ionian soldiers shouted in agony, none of them had managed to protect themselves from the light, even the commandos.
“Wh-who’s the idiot who threw a flashbang!?” The inspector yelled as he rubbed his eyes, now red. But before he received an answer, laser beams rained upon the Ionian soldiers.
“Gah!”
“What’s hap-Guh!”
The soldiers, still confused and blinded, began to shoot here and there, causing friendly fire, and more chaos.
“Protect the inspector!” One of the Republican Commandos shouted, and his underlings immediately formed around the said inspector who was rubbing his eyes.
“Shoot them! Kill anybody who’s shooting the others!” The Inspector exclaimed in his rage, and the commandos obeyed without questioning the order. Slightly protected by their helmets, they had been less affected from the flashbang.
More chaos reigned in as more and more people killed each other, the situation had become a mess, and in all of this Licia still had her eyes closed.
Wh-what’s happening? She asked herself, unsure of the situation. But somehow, everytime she was about to open her eyes, a voice she was familiar with ordered her.
“Keep your eyes closed until I tell you to open them.”
The voice was cold, and yet, it did not frighten Licia. In fact, each time she heard it, she felt the urge to listen to it.
The situation gradually calmed down as less people were now alive. The commandos had eliminated every conscript around them, but had suffered heavy losses somehow. Now, only three of them remained, with the inspector hidden behind them.
“You… This all your fault!” The Inspector yelled as he pointed at Licia. “Kill her!”
““Understood.”” The commandos obliged, but before they could make a move…
“Not on my watch.” A voice suddenly said, and the commandos immediately fell down on the ground, dead.
“Wh-who are you!? What do you think you're doing!?” The inspector exclaimed, and Licia could not help herself anymore. She slightly opened one of her eyes, and what met her sight was a scene of carnage.
Right in front of that scenery were two people though. One was a male, on his but and clearly panicking, the inspector. The other was a woman in a white skinsuit, that Licia immediately recognised. …What is she doing here…?
The woman silently pointed her pistol at the inspector, who panicked.
“W-wait, you can’t kill me! I-I’m a high grade inspector! There will be consequences if you kill me!”
The woman did not shoot, instead, she spoke to the man. “Just now, you asked me what I was doing, right?”
“Y-yes?” The man asked, clearly confused, but perhaps he would live to see another day. Licia was also confused. What is she doing?
“Well, I’ll answer you.” The woman said in a casual tone, before changing to a very serious one. “What I’m doing is pretty simple. I’m just protecting MY daughter from scums like you!”
“Wha-” Before the man could express his confusion, the woman shot the man in the head.
““...”” Silence reigned for some seconds as Licia stared at the person’s, no, at Ticia's back, before Ticia herself turned to face her and removed her helmet.
“Found you.” Was all that Ticia said as she stared at Licia, who stared back at her.
This was the reunion between Ticia and her favorite, rebellious daughter…
Chauchat
Author's monologue:
Hey there! I'm back with another chapter!
And late again.. Is this becoming some kind of tradition, I sure hope not... But anyway, the reason this time was that I slightly changed some details in this chapter because I wasn't satisfied, but now? It's good, I think. The flow of this chapter was quite diract anyway, and it only concentrated on Licia.
Writing aside, remind me to never anger Licia... Or Ticia for that matter... How scary...
But yeah, the Ionian soldiers and inspectors are based on some historical events, which I guess some of you might have found the common points, hope nobody was offended.
If you foud their way of doinjg things stupid, then that means I got it right. The Ionian Republic has a mass of poorly trained conscripts, so organising them is hhard. Besides, the inspectors are just making more of a mess of their military. Still, since they have so many people, they've managed to become a major power within the galaxy!
Then what's comming next? How will Ticia repair her relationship with Licia? How will Licia take it?
The answer will be in the next chapter!
With that said, I'll meet you al in the next chapter!
Licia ran as fast as she could through the forest, not looking back as laser beams passed her. Despite that, she shot back with her carbine from time to time, relying on her instincts to aim at her chasers.
“Gah!”
“Shit! Where is that kid!?”
“She ran over there!”
“Kill her!”
She heard the Ionian soldiers shout as one of her random shots found its target, and the soldiers reaffirmed their intention to kill her.
Licia took a sudden turn to the right, and continued to run. She wanted to make a stand and fight back, but she knew that the enemies were just too numerous, and that she wouldn’t stand a chance.
But that's a good thing though. She reminded herself. The more people chasing after me, the less people after Lidia.
Something unexpected had happened, and now she was in a difficult situation. Who could have expected that the Ionian Republic’s base would be attacked by other people? Still, despite that, Licia thought more about her sister’s safety than her own.
I hope they managed to escape… She thought as she again took a turn, this time to the left.
***
Going back a bit in time, Licia had found a place to hide from where she could survey if the escape route of Lidia would be safe. If some lone soldier were to pass by, she would simply kill them, but if they were more numerous, she would contact her sister and inform her that her exit point had been compromised for a while.
Still, the back of the laboratory seemed tranquil, and no soldiers patroled aroud that zone. That in itself was strange. Why were there no guards here? Licia did not know, but it did play in her advantage, so she wasn’t gonna complain.
And so, she waited patiently for Lidia to contact her, hoping that nothing grave had happened to her sisters. She truly hoped they were still alive, as their death would devastate her. She had not been the greatest sister to ever exist, but now that her emotions were in order, she wanted to protect her sisters, and excuse herself.
After a while, her communication device lit up with life, and Lidia’s voice reverberated in her ear.
“01, I found 09 and 10, proceeding with their liberation.”
Licia immediately tensed up. She had found them, but how were they? Were they…still alive? She immediately asked this.
“This is 01, well done 07, what is their state?”
After a while, a positive answer came back.
“... 09 and 10 are conscious and lively, but weakened due to what they’ve been through. They should be able to move, though.”
Licia let out a big sigh of relief. I’m glad, the worst case scenario hasn’t happened…
But now that she thought about it, there was another problem that had to be dealt with. If her sisters were in a laboratory, that meant that they had become subjects of analyzes, or worse, experiments. Not a lot of time had passed between their capture and now, but still, judging from the state Lidia described her sisters were in, something had happened. They needed to be sure the less information about them would be spread, so they would have to deal with this if they did not want to endanger their other sisters…
“Good, if possible, could you destroy any unwanted information?” She asked her sister. She would normally have given the order to Lidia, but Licia was so relieved her sisters were alive that her tone had become softer than usual.
“I’ll do that after further checking on both of them.”
Lidia replied, and Licia nodded in agreement. Mia and Nia were the first priority.
“Very well, be safe, 07, 01 over.” She said as she ended the conversation, letting Lidia do the rest. Her sister would probably call her again to get the confirmation that the escape route was still secure, so she had to make sure it was.
Fortunately, no soldiers passed by, so Licia remained there, surveying the surroundings. It was truly lucky of them.
We’re lucky, with this, our sisters will be safe, and we’ll reunite and be together forever! Licia thought, already projecting herself into the future. Nothing will separate us ever again!
But that was then…
*KABOOOM*
Lidia heard a huge explosion, and the ground under her feet suddenly shook.
Wha-what just happened? She thought in a panic, like every soldier around, probably, only to see a huge cloud of smoke not so far from her. The explosion came from the camp.
Immediately after, her communication device came back to life, and she heard her sister’s worried voice.
“01, 01 do you hear me? Was it you?”
Lidia asked, but Licia was only confused. Why do you think it’s me? I wouldn’t do something like that?! She immediately answered.
“No, it wasn’t me!”
“What’s happening outside?”
Lidia asked, wanting more information. But Licia had not much too. From what she could hear though, it seemed that a fight had begun.
“I can hear gunfire and screams, it seems like the base is being invaded by another party! Join me fast, we need to get out of here!”
“Roger!”
After that, Licia observed her surroundings with tension. The atmosphere had changed. Something was happening, and it had the chance of foiling their whole rescue mission! Judging from the chaos around her, the fight had yet to reach the laboratory, but from the panic, she guessed the Ionian soldiers were getting pushed back. They had to hurry and escape before their window of opportunity closed!
Unfortunately though, that window of opportunity slammed shut faster than Licia had thought. A group of Ionian soldiers took position behind the laboratory.
“Secure the position!” One of the men barked orders. Licia identified him as the officer of this group. “The general is inside the research center, we must protect him at all costs!”
““Yes sir!”” The men replied in unison.
This is bad! Licia immediately panicked. I need to find a way to make them leave!
She thought for a moment about her options, but none came to mind as satisfying except one. If she wanted to make them leave the place, then she had to take direct action. Meaning she would fight the soldiers.
Yes, I’ve got no choice at this point. She thought, seeing the number of soldiers, there was a big chance that she would not be able to kill them all, so she had to hurry and eliminate as much as possible without being found out!
Unfortunately, somebody had already found her.
“Eh?” A sudden exclamation came from behind Licia, and when she turned, a Ionian soldier was standing there with a surprised look.
Oh crap! Licia reacted by reflex, and shot the man immediately, killing him before he could say anything. But the sound of the blast allerted the others.
“!!! Gunfire to our right! The enemies are already here!” The officer yelled. “Suppression barrage! Get ready to take the enemy down!”
Immediately after, numerous laser beams came to Licia's position, and she dodged them thanks to her instincts.
This is bad! I need to deal with this now! She thought. Licia was not worried about her own situation. She was only worried about the fact that her sister’s escape route had been compromised! She moved to a different location under the fire, and shot back.
“Gah!”
“There! The enemy is here!”
The Ionian soldiers reacted to her shots, firing even more precisely on her position. But that was not the worst…
“Command, we found the enemy at the back of the research center, requesting reinforcements immediately!” The officer yelled into a communication device. Now more enemies would be coming her way!
This is really not good… I need to do something! Licia thought, her precise shots killed one ennemy each time, but even if that was the case, she would be overwhelmed if they were too numerous. Besides that, she was running out of hiding spots from where she could shoot back safely. She needed to come up with a solution.
I got no choice then. She thought after calculating the only option she thought would help her sisters escape, she immediately contacted Lidia.
“07, this is 01! My position has been compromised. I repeat, my position has been compromised!”
“What? Are you alright?!”
A worried voice asked back, to which Licia replied with confidence.
“I’ll manage, but you’re on your own from now on, you need to find a new exit while I distract them!”
She actually lied though, the number of enemies shooting her was increasing by the minutes. It seemed that as the Ionian soldiers were getting pushed back, they fortified themselves around the research center.
“...Roger, 01, please stay safe and contact me once it’s over.”
Lidia replied, a voice still filled with worries. Still, she was glad her sister understood that the situation had changed.
Sorry Lidia. Licia apologized to her sister in her mind, knowing that she just put more pressure on her sister. I’m putting all the responsibilities on getting our sisters out of here on you now.
Licia took a deep breath of air and closed her eyes, calming herself. Wait for the right moment to strike… She thought, concentrating on one voice in particular, the one that was barking orders here and there.
She identified it quickly, and immediately after, she relied purely on her instincts as she fired with her carbine.
“Hurry! Kill tha-Gah!”
“Officer down!” One of the man yelled as the loud voice was interrupted abruptly.
I did it! Licia rejoiced, she only managed to do this thanks to her instincts and the knowledge she had. I’ve never been this happy to be that person’s clone! She ended up thinking, thanking Ticia for her unbelievably good genes.
Now, step two. Licia thought as the gears shifted in her mind. She got out of her position as the barrage of laser beams stopped, and immediately unleashed one of her own by shifting the V12 carbine to burst mode.
“Guh”
“Wha-”
“A kid!?”
Multiple confused voices came back as Licia was fully exposed, but she did not care, she simply continued blasting. And to make her plan work better, she taunted her enemies.
“Hey you suckers! Can’t even shoot down a kid? What a bunch of useless guys!” She shouted, even pulling her tongue out at them. Licia had never been this vulgar to anyone, but it’s not like she disliked doing this kind of thing to her enemies. After all, she truly disliked them.
Her taunt seemed to have an enormous effect too.
“Th-this little brat…”
“Who’s a sucker!? I’m gonna show you how much of a man I am!”
“Hehe. You’re gonna call me daddy when we’re finished!”
Ugh, that one’s disgusting. Licia reacted to the last comment, immediately killing the man with a shot to its genital parts. Which frightened her enemies for a brief period. Licia was truly like Ticia, merciless to her enemies…
“What? Nothing to say back? You really are a bunch of cowards, not even fighting back against me!” She taunted them again, to great effect.
“K-kill her!”
“Destroy that enemy of men!”
The soldiers shouted, and Licia only smiled. The Ionian soldiers were enraged, and they only saw her in their eyes. Holding a position? Who cares about that! Their honor as men would not permit them to be taunted by a small girl!
“H-hold on! We need to keep the posi-” One of the officers said, trying to reign in the troops, but before he could finish, a laser beam reached his head, killing him instantly. Licia would not let anybody foil her plan.
“Catch me if you can, suckers!” She exclaimed as she ran in the opposite direction.
“Follow her! Don’t let that kid go away!” One of the men shouted, and immediately after, most of the soldiers began chasing after Licia.
Licia was satisfied with the results as more laser beams were directed at her. But this was not enough for her. She wanted to make sure her sisters would go back safely!
Step three: Gathering even more people! She declared in her mind as she zigzagged through the alleyways of the camp, shooting here and there at random people she met, and shouting more insults and taunts at them. Then, a devilish thought crossed her mind. Each time she crossed the path of a man, which was actually always since there seemed to be no female soldiers here, she shot the guys in their genital parts, to the horrors of her pursuers. And it had a bigger effect than she thought.
“Agh!”
“How is she so fast!?”
“Anybody! For the sake of our manhood, kill that little nutcracker now!”
W-whoah, there's so many of them now! Lidia was surprised by the number of soldiers chasing after her. Her ruthless tactic had been a bit too effective… She would not be surprised if she were told that at least half of the base’s soldiers were after her life now. She noted deep down that aiming for the genital parts of a man was a sure way to gather attention.
Well, I guess this is enough. She thought as it was becoming harder and harder to dodge the laser beams. I have caused enough chaos without meeting this second army, it is time for step four!
Licia made a sudden dash towards the forest, where there was more covers for herself. Her objective was simple: Making sure her pursuers would be as far away as possible from her sisters!
“She’s going into the forest! After her!”
She smiled as she heard the soldiers shout that, with this, she now only had to lose her pursuers inside the thick vegetation of the forest, and kill a maximum of them!
I’m simply a genius, this plan is perfect! She thought proudly as she went deeper into the forest, but never had she thought that her enemies would be this persistent…
***
That was the plan, but why can’t I get rid of them already!? Licia cried out loud in her mind as her pursuers seemed unperturbed by the loss of their comrades. Each time one was shot down, two would take his place next, and they would always find her despite her finding good hiding spots.
“Just die already, little nutcracker!”
“Yeah, do a favor to all of us men and have a quick death before you can harm more of us!”
The men shouted after her, clearly still affected by Licia’s ruthless tactic.
Wh-what’s up with them?! Why are they so persistent about this?! Licia thought as the men continued to shout such things.
Clearly, Licia had underestimated how much men cared about this part of them. She knew it was an important reproductive organ, but she did not understand why they reacted like that!
In truth, the Ionian soldiers were in an extremely bad mood. Because of Ionian military rule, they had no ways of relieving themselves, so they were extremely frustrated! Most of them were not soldiers by career, but simply conscripts with a minimum amount of training and a mediocre pay. And now here they were, in the middle of nowhere for more than a month! Of course they would react in such a way if a child hurt their pride as a man like this! Licia had now way of knowing that however…
While Licia knew what was the use of ‘that’ for a man thanks to her implanted knowledge, she was still too young to deeply understand how much some men were proud of it…
But anyway, she now had to find another way. Licia quickly thought of another plan. If losing them isn’t working, then I guess I’ll just have to separate them into small groups and then kill them one by one!
The question though, was how? How would she make the men separate into small groups to pursue her? She had no idea, but she needed to find one, and quickly.
She took another turn to the left and hid behind some bushes, but a surprise waited for her there.
Behind that bush were the bodies of Ionian soldiers she had just killed before, their bodies still warm. Licia… had been circling around the same point.
Dangerous! Licia immediately thought of moving, but as she was about to do so, a quick glance at the bodies stopped her in her tracks. She eyed one part of their equipment in particular… Wait a minute… I can use that!
Licia immediately jumped into action, she undetached the men’s belts and took out the grenades as quickly as possible.
“What the hell is she doing?!” One of the men exclaimed as he saw her do that. “Not only does she destroy our balls, she’s also gonna expose it?!”
“What?! Outrageous! Kill her!” The men exclaimed, reinvigorated as they began to shoot at Licia again.
There clearly was a misunderstanding there, but Licia was too occupied to even react to it. She dodged their shots with ease, belts in hand.
Let the show begin… She thought darkly as a smile appeared on her face. She was beginning to enjoy this. Her smile terrified the poor conscripts, who immediately associated her with some kind of monster.
Licia threw one grenade after the other, running between groups of Ionian soldiers as she did so, and using her height to her advantage. The following scene could only be described as gruesome…
“Oh shit! That’s a gre-”
“Agh! Careful there!”
“Who’s throwing those grenades?! Hey! Friendly fire here!”
The soldiers became confused as more grenades were thrown, but Licia did not stop there. Each time she could, she would reach out to one of the fresh bodies and take their grenades, throwing more at her enemies.
Red splattered everywhere as blood, body parts and random pieces of fleshes were thrown into the air. The ionian soldiers were into a huge state of confusion over what was happening, and to aggravate things, each time one of them tried to take command, a laser beam would find its way to his head.
“Hehe.” Licia smiled, happy of the results of her hard work. She too could not be spared from the splattering of blood, but she did not care, she continued her actions, still with a smile on her face.
“D-devil…” One of the men who saw her face muttered, before crying on the spot. "Please spare me!"
“She’s a devil! There's nothing we do can beat her!” One other exclaimed.
“I don’t want to die!”
“Please spare me!”
More and more men exclaimed. After witnessing such a gruesome scene, they had forgotten about their pride.
“What are you all doing?! Shoot that kid down!” One of the men said, still determined to kill Licia, but most of his surviving comrades had changed their minds.
“Who cares about her!? I don’t want to die!”
“Yeah! On second thought, I’d rather be castrated than die like this!”
“Let’s run away from this hell!”
Conscripts began to flee one by one, and as more did so, more followed.
“W-wait, you guys! We need to kill tha-” One of the men still motivated tried to say, only to be shot down by Licia.
This is my chance! I won’t let any of you run away! Drunk in her killing spray, Licia followed after the men, killing as much as she could.
“N-no! I don’t want to die like this!”
“Pl-please spare me, little nutcracker!”
“I-I don’t need you to do it, I can do it myself!”
Fear was so strong within the conscripts that they began to leave everything behind them. Weapons, gears, and even their wounded comrades. Panic was such that some even proposed to castrate themselves in fear of Licia.
Licia did not care though. She just continued to shoot her enemies, instilling more fear into them. She even played on their fear, shooting at the enemies' crouches when she could.
But then, something Licia had not expected happened.
“What are you all doing, soldiers?” One man who had just arrived shouted, he had a different uniform compared to the others, with brown markings on it. Behind him stood men in green armored skinsuits.
“I-it’s an inspector!” One of the conscripts shouted. “H-he came with the commandos!”
“Men!” The inspector shouted. “Kill all those traitors who retreat!”
The commandos did not reply, they just shot the conscripts who froze from the order.
“Gah!”
“Pl-please spa-”
“If you want to survive, then continue ahead and kill that child!” The inspector shouted to the conscripts. And immediately after, like beasts fearing for their lives, the conscripts made a U turn and returned the way they came.
“Eh?” Licia was surprised, she did not expect this at all! Her first reaction was to take cover from the barrage of laser beams coming her way, she then began to throw the last grenades she had.
““Gah!””
The grenades proved effective, but to Licia’s shock, the men continued on. It was like a wave of zombies, the conscripts were more terrified of the inspector than they were of her!
I need to fall back! She thought as she began retreating further into the forest, but just like before, even though she shot them, her enemies were still behind her!
Still, Licia was confident she would be able to survive. I just need to make the same move as before…
She immediately moved to the position of a body, but as she was about to brab the belt…
“!!!”
Laser beams, ones more precise than those from before, came her way. Licia rolled on the ground and evaded them, but she came face to face with another problem.
“Got you.” One man in an armored skinsuit was standing in front of her, pointing his gun at her.
Lidia immediately reacted and shot a precise burst of laser beams to one part of the armor, killing the man before he had the time to react.
Fortunately Lidia told me how to deal with them. She thought as she quickly ran from there. On the way to the Ionian base, her sister had told her the way their ‘mother’ dealt with the commandos.
‘Shooting precisely at the same point will render their armor meaningless.’ Her sister had affirmed at the time, before boasting. ‘Just by looking at mother, I was able to do the same thing!’
Licia did not really believe her sister at the time, but now that she had verified it for herself, she could only acquiesce to the effectiveness of his method. It’s easier than I thought, actually. She thought, but nobody else except Ticia would say those words though.
But as she was distracted like this, Licia finally made an error. She tripped on a tree root.
“Eh? Kya!” Licia ended up rolling on the ground. And when she finally stopped, she painfully raised her upper body, only to see an arrangement of guns pointed her way.
“It’s over, kid.” The inspector said. “You’ve done enough damage by yourself, any last words?”
“...” Licia did not answer. She instead analyzed the situation, only to reach one conclusion.
I’m done for… There’s no escape this time… She thought. Right now, she had been encircled by her enemies, and all were pointing their guns at her, ready to shoot her if she dared to even mone one centimeter.
Strangely enough though, she was calm as death stood in front of her.
I’ve surely done enough by now… She thought as her mind was on her sisters. She fully believed that Lidia had managed to find a new escape route, and that her sisters were now far away from here. This thought reassured her.
If that’s the only way I can redeem myself as their older sister, then that’s fine… She thought, accepting her fate. Her only regret was that she could not present her apologies in person to her sisters, most notably to Ria, who she felt she had hurt badly.
Ria, Lidia,... Vinia… I’m sorry I wasn’t a good older sister…
But it was then, as she resigned herself, that a communication came from her communication device in her ear.
“Close your eyes, now.”
The voice ordered, and Licia unconsciously obeyed and closed her eyes.
“What? Accepting your fate huh?” The inspector said, sneering at her. “Very well, I’ll make it as painless as-”
Before he could finish though, Licia heard the sound of something landing on the grass at her feet.
“Wha- Grenade, take cover!” One of the Republican Commandos shouted, but before anybody could move, the grenade detonated, and a huge amount of light was delivered. So much so that even Licia, who had her eyes closed, felt it.
“Gyaaah! My eyes!”
“It’s a flashbang!”
The Ionian soldiers shouted in agony, none of them had managed to protect themselves from the light, even the commandos.
“Wh-who’s the idiot who threw a flashbang!?” The inspector yelled as he rubbed his eyes, now red. But before he received an answer, laser beams rained upon the Ionian soldiers.
“Gah!”
“What’s hap-Guh!”
The soldiers, still confused and blinded, began to shoot here and there, causing friendly fire, and more chaos.
“Protect the inspector!” One of the Republican Commandos shouted, and his underlings immediately formed around the said inspector who was rubbing his eyes.
“Shoot them! Kill anybody who’s shooting the others!” The Inspector exclaimed in his rage, and the commandos obeyed without questioning the order. Slightly protected by their helmets, they had been less affected from the flashbang.
More chaos reigned in as more and more people killed each other, the situation had become a mess, and in all of this Licia still had her eyes closed.
Wh-what’s happening? She asked herself, unsure of the situation. But somehow, everytime she was about to open her eyes, a voice she was familiar with ordered her.
“Keep your eyes closed until I tell you to open them.”
The voice was cold, and yet, it did not frighten Licia. In fact, each time she heard it, she felt the urge to listen to it.
The situation gradually calmed down as less people were now alive. The commandos had eliminated every conscript around them, but had suffered heavy losses somehow. Now, only three of them remained, with the inspector hidden behind them.
“You… This all your fault!” The Inspector yelled as he pointed at Licia. “Kill her!”
““Understood.”” The commandos obliged, but before they could make a move…
“Not on my watch.” A voice suddenly said, and the commandos immediately fell down on the ground, dead.
“Wh-who are you!? What do you think you're doing!?” The inspector exclaimed, and Licia could not help herself anymore. She slightly opened one of her eyes, and what met her sight was a scene of carnage.
Right in front of that scenery were two people though. One was a male, on his but and clearly panicking, the inspector. The other was a woman in a white skinsuit, that Licia immediately recognised. …What is she doing here…?
The woman silently pointed her pistol at the inspector, who panicked.
“W-wait, you can’t kill me! I-I’m a high grade inspector! There will be consequences if you kill me!”
The woman did not shoot, instead, she spoke to the man. “Just now, you asked me what I was doing, right?”
“Y-yes?” The man asked, clearly confused, but perhaps he would live to see another day. Licia was also confused. What is she doing?
“Well, I’ll answer you.” The woman said in a casual tone, before changing to a very serious one. “What I’m doing is pretty simple. I’m just protecting MY daughter from scums like you!”
“Wha-” Before the man could express his confusion, the woman shot the man in the head.
““...”” Silence reigned for some seconds as Licia stared at the person’s, no, at Ticia's back, before Ticia herself turned to face her and removed her helmet.
“Found you.” Was all that Ticia said as she stared at Licia, who stared back at her.
This was the reunion between Ticia and her favorite, rebellious daughter…
Chauchat
Author's monologue:
Hey there! I'm back with another chapter!
And late again.. Is this becoming some kind of tradition, I sure hope not... But anyway, the reason this time was that I slightly changed some details in this chapter because I wasn't satisfied, but now? It's good, I think. The flow of this chapter was quite diract anyway, and it only concentrated on Licia.
Writing aside, remind me to never anger Licia... Or Ticia for that matter... How scary...
But yeah, the Ionian soldiers and inspectors are based on some historical events, which I guess some of you might have found the common points, hope nobody was offended.
If you foud their way of doinjg things stupid, then that means I got it right. The Ionian Republic has a mass of poorly trained conscripts, so organising them is hhard. Besides, the inspectors are just making more of a mess of their military. Still, since they have so many people, they've managed to become a major power within the galaxy!
Then what's comming next? How will Ticia repair her relationship with Licia? How will Licia take it?
The answer will be in the next chapter!
With that said, I'll meet you al in the next chapter!
