Clone Girls

“...There’s a lot of activity over there…” Laura commented as she observed the activity on the elevator’s platform. A lot of sentry clones armed to the teeth guarded the place, either patrolling or standing still, weapons at the ready.

“See? I told you taking the main elevator is a bad idea.” Ticia said back with a haughty tone as she observed the movements of the people on the platform too. It honestly made sense to Ticia, since the central elevator could be considered a weakness of clone installations. Whoever controlled it could access various floors without much problems. 

Laura nodded at her words.

“Yeah, you totally jinxed it for us.”

“I didn’t jinx it.” Ticia replied harshly, which made Laura sigh.

“Chill, it was just a joke, alright?” She said lightly. “You’re the one who knows how clone installations work here.”

“...I do know some stuff, but I don’t know everything.” Ticia replied after a brief silence. She had felt confident in the past that all clone installations were relatively similar, but this clone installation showed her overwise. Or perhaps this was the installation that was the exception out of the book. She also had to admit that she should have been more attentive on how a clone installation worked. It would have made her avoid a lot of problems by now…

Makes me regret not listening to A-4’s instructions for new clone installation managers… Ticia thought as she turned to face the group.

After more than six hours of navigating through the maze that was this clone installation, their group had finally reached the central elevator, but not without some fights. They had to pass through four other chaotic rooms on the way, which Ticia and her daughters bulldozed through like the first one. This had the result of their group growing in size however, as more clones, seeing their peers following after Ticia’s group, joined in in order to survive.

In fact, the clones were more numerous than Ticia and Laura’s group now, which had caused another amount of stress on Ticia as she expected the group to try to dictate things on them, or do something unpredictable.

The clones did not do so however. To Ticia’s surprise, they remained quiet all the time and followed orders. Even when she complained about them, none showed anger, but accepted the criticism instead and even felt sorry. 

In fact, the clones could not be said to be a bother. Each time they approached a dangerous zone, the clones would make sure to not disturb the ECGs and actively help out instead, going as far as taking some casualties in the process.

Ticia had to admit, she had underestimated those clones. While the look of worries were evident on their faces, none of them panicked in the face of danger and instead acted appropriately. It was a huge difference from when she first met them, where they were panicked and did not know what to do, but Ticia somehow understood why.

A part of it was probably because of their sudden awakening, which made them slightly at a loss over what to do now. Another one was that they did not have someone to lead them anymore. Either way, because of these elements, the low class clones had a hard time acting by themselves.

Ticia was sure about that last part since the clones were quite efficient once you gave them orders. In fact, and much to her surprise, Bronz was actively coordinating herself with the clones, giving them orders on how to assist her and her sisters. Even the other ECGs easily accepted the new arrivals. The clones were now taking orders from the ECGs as if it was the most natural thing to do… 

If there was one thing that shocked her though, it was how the clones literally threw themselves at their opponents as if it was nothing during those moments, not caring about wounds or dying. Those who were too wounded ended up being left behind, or dragged away by an ECG if they were near one…

Ticia once yelled at one slightly injured clone in anger, lashing out. She asked him why he threw his life away while fighting, to which the bewildered clone answered this was the only way he was taught to fight. This left Ticia speechless for a moment and she became unable to say  anything more but curse at the clones’ previous owners.

Moreover, seeing that even the young clones who had yet to mature also joined in the effort had forced Ticia to backtrack a bit on her previous thoughts.

I guess they’re not as much of a heavyweight as I thought…

Once the clones had a weapon in hand, they added more firepower to Ticia’s group. The fact that they did know how to shoot proved that they also had some knowledge as to how to behave as a soldier even if they were not combat types. Ticia guessed this had something to do with their previous owners.

Like Laura said, I should chill out… Ticia once again sighed. As time passed since Jinxy’s fall, her rationality slowly came back. She tried her best to hold her anger in. She knew that the clones or Laura did not do anything wrong, there was no need to push her frustration on them.

She then glanced at the young laborer clone not far from her. The young girl fidgeted as she looked her way with curiosity, but when their eyes met, the girl was startled and looked away in a hurry. Ticia was not concerned about it however, but rather, she noticed the light burn marks and cuts the girl had on her, as well as the carbine she held. That girl had more than once been close to death. In fact, she probably would have been, had it not been for a tactful intervention from Fana, who pushed the girl behind her at those times. 

First thing would be getting the young clones out of the frontline, it just doesn’t feel right to have them here.

Perhaps because Ticia now had daughters, the thought of letting those young clones on the first line didn’t fit right with her compared to before. She silently decided to have them near her most of the time. Since the ECGs were always putting top priority to her protection, they would also be somewhat protected.

Until we leave this place, I’ll protect the kids, but not after.

Despite being extremely curious about the Averuncum project and the Eve-class clone that was linked to it, Ticia was still fixated on leaving this place.

As for what to do with those clones after she got out of this place, Ticia still did not care. She already had enough problems as it is, and smuggling a few two hundred clones or so didn’t sound like something she could do silently, even with the full cooperation of Nathalia and the academy.

“So? What do you recommend we do now?” Laura suddenly asked, breaking Ticia out of her deep thoughts.

“There are small passageways everywhere between floors. There should be some staircases here and there.” Ticia replied back. While those places would most likely be guarded too, she did not think it would be on the same extent as the central elevator.

“No elevators?” Laura asked.

“There probably are, but would you find another one big enough for this group?” Ticia replied back. “Also, elevators are dangerous. You might be able to see through things, but if we happen to get straight to a place where the enemies are regrouping, we’re done for.”

“Fair enough.” Laura easily accepted Ticia’s words, nodding. Ticia then looked towards the old clone. He seemed a bit exhausted due to his age but did not complain. He had become Ticia’s great source of information though, so she would not let him rest that easily.

“Is there any staircase nearby that can lead us to our destination?” She asked. The destination she implied was, of course, the entrance.

“There is, but we’ll have to go even deeper…” The old clone replied.

“How many floors deeper?”

“About twelve floors.”

“Twelve?!” Ticia couldn’t help but exclaim. “Just how many floors does this installation have!?”

“A-about a hundred. I’m not really sure, the number of floors we had access to was always restricted…” The old clone replied, albeit a bit surprised.

Ticia sighed.

I feel like this place just wants me to go deeper…

She then looked towards Laura. The young woman had a knowing smile on her face, as if happy to know they would be together a bit longer.

“You still want to go deeper?” She asked Laura.

“Yup. I need to get Stuart Deguer out of here.” The woman from the empire replied, a serious look on her face.

“He’ll probably be in the lowest floors, you know?” Ticia commented.

“The same goes for that Eve-class clone.” Laura replied with a big knowing smile, rendering Ticia speechless for a moment. The woman had been listening in on her conversation with the old clone, not that she had made it a private one.

“...By going down this far, we should reach the floors where the rebels are kept.” The old clone suddenly added.

“Agh, shoot. I hope they’re not as energetic as the ones we’ve seen before.” Laura couldn’t help but say out loud while thinking about the detective clones they had met on the way. Some could be reasoned with, but a great majority of them seemed to have lost their sanity, lashing out towards the sentries or Laura’s clones when they met them.

“...Staying here longer won’t bring us anything but danger.” Ticia commented as she glanced towards the central elevator. “Let’s mo-”

*BOOOOOOM*

““!?!””

Just as she said those words, a huge explosion reverberated, making each member of their group on high alert. The explosion came from the elevator room, and with a glance, Ticia confirmed that smoke was coming up from one side.

Not only that, the sentries who became alert from the explosion were now receiving fire from the same part. A group of around fifty people suddenly rushed out from within the smoke, firing back at the sentry clones as they did so. Those people wore a set of armored skinsuits Ticia was way too familiar with… 

“It’s the Ionians!” Laura shouted from the side, half-cursing their luck. With their grand arrival, the clone sentries were now moving all around as if they were ants whose anthill just got trampled!

“They’re charging straight into the sentries!? Are they idiots!?” Laura could not help but comment as those people charged straight into the sentries’ formation.

Ticia’s reaction to this was also one of bafflement, but she quickly got back on her feet.

To say that she didn’t see red when she saw the people responsible for the loss of her daughter would be an understatement, but would it be worth taking revenge if it meant endangering all her daughters? Ticia forcedly reasoned herself that it was not worth it.

“We need to get out of here before we’re caught in the crossfire.” She said with some urgency.

“Wait.” Laura stopped her before she could begin to move. “Don’t you think this is our chance?” She said with a serious tone of voice.

“...You can’t be thinking of taking the elevator right at this moment, right?” Ticia asked, having a bad feeling.

“Why not?” Laura replied, still looking serious. “Look, I understand this sounds risky and reckless, but if we manage to do it, we’ll win a lot of time.”

“And you think we can do it with our current group?” Ticia argued back. “Look, you want to go down, I get it, but this is simply asking for our death.”

“No, think about it.” Laura insisted. “The sentries are currently focused on the Ionians. If we can make our way through fast enough and without making too much of a fuss, we should be able to reach it and make it down.”

“...” Ticia remained silent. Laura would not back down, that she knew by now, which left her with two choices. The first one was to part ways with the woman here and go their separate ways, leaving Laura to carry out her plan by herself. The other would be to join forces with her and agree to her plan.

Ticia favorized the first option at first, but some things held her back from immediately acting upon it. She could not deny that her group had avoided much trouble thanks to Laura’s cybernetic eyes for the little price of some detours here and there. If she left without Laura, she would not only lose that advantage but also the robots who, despite their annoying programming, had revealed themselves to be quite useful.

Another problem would be what to do with the clones. Ticia was not the one who said she would take them along, and she still thought that way despite her recent experiences. She just did not want to have the responsibility over them. The problem was that the clones still followed her despite that instead of clinging to Laura, which she had a hard time understanding.

Using them as meat shields could also be an option since they surprisingly proved somewhat willing to do so from their previous squirmishes, but it would leave her with a bad aftertaste. Not to mention, she did not want to be a bad influence on her daughters, so she ruled that option out as a last desperate mesure .

Ticia then glanced towards the central elevator.

The second option, while it had its own dangers, also had some good points. The lift platform itself was big enough to take all of their group at once and more. It was also enclosed by thick walls delimiting it from the rest of the room. If they managed to make it there, they would only have to protect themselves from one direction. She had no doubts her daughters, who excelled at defense, would be able to hold the line.

The main problems would be whether the lift platform was present on this floor and the reactions of the sentry clones themselves.

Ticia glanced at the sentry clones currently firing back at the Ionians commandos, or more specifically at their armors. It did not seem to be made out of Durium, but the dark gray metallic appearance still left a robust impression. The explosion had not left a majority of the sentries untouched however, as some dents and sometimes holes could be seen here and there.

Ticia wondered how many consecutive shots would it take to pierce through the armors of the sentries who had not been wounded, but she quickly deduced it after witnessing the fire exchange with the Ionians.

As for the sentries’ weapons, it varied greatly from small arms to machine guns. She didn’t spot rifles or sniper rifles, only some assault rifles here and there. The rest of the sentries were equipped with either submachine guns and some machine guns of various sizes. Moreover, they had no grenades or explosive equipment.

While it would seem like heavy equipment at first glance, it wasn’t. Sure, those weapons had impressive cadences of fire, but for laser beams weapons like theirs, it did not mean much when facing armored skinsuits since the power put behind each laser beam had been reduced for the increased fire rate, which was why Ticia wasn’t the biggest fan of those weapons in the first place. 

Here however, they would work in her favor since those laser beams would be effectively absorbed by her daughter’s energy shields and their armors would withstand the rest.

Another thing she noted was the lack of coordination the sentry clones had. They just kept shooting while standing still, much like the previous ones she had met before, albeit without the armor. This meant that they were much more easy targets than Ticia first thought.

Taking all of this into account, Ticia also couldn’t help but consider the option with more favorability.

There was only one element she needed confirmation on…

“...Is it there?” She asked Laura.

“Yeah, it’s there and ready to take us in.” Laure grinned fearlessly.

Ticia nodded, satisfied. If the person who currently had better vision than her could confirm that the elevator was here, then what more could she say?

A slight glance towards Bronz also confirmed that the ECG was in favor of taking the elevator, while Rebot-ia herself was nodding vigorously while making a check mark right next to an animated picture of Ticia taking the elevator.

This is a gamble, but let’s try it…

“Alright, let’s take the elevator.” She declared.

“Heh. I knew you would end up agreeing. Simply going around while avoiding danger doesn’t fit you.” Laura remarqued with a smirk, to which Ticia rolled her eyes. What did the woman know of her to say that when it had yet to be a day since they first met?

But… she’s not wrong. Ticia thought to herself, a small, fearless smile also appearing on her face. I’ve always done dangerous things and survived to tell the tale. Precaution is a good thing, but it can prove bad if you do too much. It might even end up hurting my daughters instead of protecting them. I should act when I can… Jinxy would want it this way.

She then looked towards the clones. Most of them had understood the meaning of the conversation between Laura and her and were preparing themselves. A good part of them still looked anxious, but each understood that they had to put their lives in danger if they wanted to follow after Ticia and Laura. Apparently, staying behind was not an option they considered.

As Ticia herself took her rifle in hand, she felt a slight pressure coming from Bronz. She instantly knew what it was about and could not help but smile wryly. She faced the ECGs, all looked at her. The clones also looked her way.

“Your orders, Mother?” Bronz asked. Ticia had to wonder whether this daughter of hers was setting her up.

“We’ll be moving from this position to the lift platform. There’s a high chance we’ll be under fire as we do so. You can fire back, but never stop running towards your objective. The younger clones shall be put under protection by the older ones, Is that clear?”

They nodded at her words. Ticia continued soon after.

“Then, we’ll take the gamble. So if I can say one last word to you all before going, it’s this one: Survive.”

As she said those words, Ticia smirked under her helmet. The reaction was just as she had expected. The ECGs saluted, as if expecting that word from their mother, while the clones looked surprised. They probably never expected to hear those words.

Ticia did not put more attention on them however.

“Rebot-ia, once this is done, we’ll have a good talk. It’s not empty words, it’s a promise.” She said to the AI as she checked her equipment. She had managed to go back to normal for now, but she knew she needed to empty her worries and pains somewhere, or to someone.

“Sure! Don’t hesitate to tell me your worries!” The AI replied in delight, before smirking. “You can also talk to Rika about it all, and even Meiko and Atrax-ia! We’ll listen and be there for you!”

“Yeah…” Ticia smiled bitterly. There were a lot of worries she had kept for herself and she knew that she had a tendency to want to deal with all of them by herself. This could not continue. She had her daughters, who now had grown up to be reliable. She also had Rika whom she knew she could rely on. Meiko could also provide some advice as a mother herself.

Once we’re back, I’ll tell them about my plan to build up a safe place we can all live in without troubles. She decided.

Once ready, Ticia looked towards Laura. The woman had also finished preparing and was now waiting for her. She nodded back, signaling that she too was ready. Ticia glanced in front of her. The battle between the clone sentries and the Ionians was still ongoing. Ticia thought to herself that some ‘lost bullets’ could happen to hit the Ionians by pure ‘coincidence’, no, she would be sure to fire their way if an opportunity presented itself, but would not pursue them either.

“Then I’ll be charging first this time!” Laura declared before running out of their hiding position, followed by her robots. They were followed by the clones and the ECGs led by Bronz. Finally, Ticia, Fana and the ECGs from the second squad closed the march.

Their group did not fire at the enemies, focusing on running towards their objective instead. It worked for a moment until they were finally seen by both groups.

Before they could do anything though, Ticia’s group opened fire on them. The sudden barrage caught the sentry clones by surprise, and a good majority of those who were present on the group’s way fell just like that.

“Their armor isn’t that resistant in the end!” Laura exclaimed, laughing her heart out as she sent salvos after salvos of laser beams while running. 

The clone sentries turned their way, but when they were about to shoot, they got shot in the back from the Ionian side.

“Boss! It’s the clones! They survived!” One Ionian commando suddenly exclaimed.

“I can see that, N3.” The boss calmly replied as he kept shooting from behind one of the debris from the explosion from before. “We have something else to do right now. Eliminate those ‘things’ before moving on.”

“B-but they’re also shooting us!” Another one, a female commando, exclaimed as a laser beam grazed her armor.

“Less talking. More shooting.” The boss replied.

Meanwhile Ticia’s group was making better progress than they had anticipated. The clone sentries, who had numbers as their only advantage, could not seem to determine whether they had to shoot the Ionnians first or Ticia’s group, making them turn around to face one group each time one of them fell. Still, the numerous laser beams flying around still ended up coming towards Ticia’s group.

The ECGs dedicated themselves to absorbing the hits, but it was not enough. Some laser beams passed and hit the clones.

“Agh!” One unfortunate clone got hit in the leg and fell. He thought he was done for, but surprisingly, one of the ECGs raised him up and pushed him on some other clones who had momentarily stopped.

“Survive.” Was all the ECG said to the bewildered clones before continuing to advance.

Witnessing the scene, the clones finally understood something. This wasn’t something similar to how their former owners who ordered them to do mass charges without a care for the wounded or the dead. This time, they were ordered to ‘survive’, not to fight until death, but simply survive…

From that point on, clones began to act more carefully.

“Hey you! Stay in line! You’re gonna get shot if you advance more!”

“Stay behind the Eve-class clones! Make sure to support them from here while keeping yourselves safe!”

“We have to follow our new order!”

Such words were heard here and there as clones began to help those who did not die or were not fatally wounded after being hit. Their coordination grew as a result, making the whole group gain in efficiency.

“Kyah!” The young clone laborer Ticia was familiar with tripped over a dead clone body and  fell to the ground because she did not look in front of her and focused on shooting the enemy.

Fortunately for her, Ticia was just behind her.

“Get up, we’re nearly there.” Ticia said as she helped raise the clone to her feet, before keeping her right next to her. When she looked in front of her, most of the group had made it to the lift, those remaining being her, the ECG second squad, and some clones that were lagging behind due to injury or fatigue.

The ECGs already on the lift established a defensive formation under Bronz’s leadership while another group of ECG went back to drag some wounded yet still alive clones on the ground. A valiant act that surprised Ticia, yet also worried her as the concerned ECGs received their enemies’ attention too.

“Fire back at those ‘things’!”

“Don’t let them take more of us!”

The clones, growing in motivation and showing none of the worry and anxiety they had on their faces before, actively fired back at the sentry clones once they arrived at the lift. That was something that did not escape Bronz’s sight, and she actively coordinated them.

Soon enough, Ticia and the remaining stragglers were all on the lift.

“We-we did it! We survived!” Some clones suddenly yelled. He was followed by relieved sighs from his comrades.

Perhaps it was a bit too soon to say that, Ticia thought, since they were still receiving fire from the sentry clones, but Ticia would not reprimand the clones. They had done well. A quick assessment told her that out of the two hundred or so clones in their group, only fifty to thirty had died, which was more than Ticia had first expected.

About a third of them were injured though, going from light to serious wounds. Those clones were currently being treated by other clones who had gathered medical supplies on their way to the central elevator.

The young clones also seem to have survived. She remarqued as she noticed the small group of twelve clones that gathered up on one side, being escorted by five ECGs. Ticia silently decided that she would have to praise those daughters of hers later for keeping an eye on them.

She then saw Laura and some clones gathered up at the other end of the lift, in front of a panel.

“So? Can you make it work?”

“Yes ma’am. But, there might be some problems with getting through security…”

“No problem, I’ll deal with that. I wouldn’t be called a Phillian overwise.” To those words, Laura giggled a little before taking out some tools from who knows where and opening the panel.

Ticia joined the group. She wordlessly observed the panel as Laura concentrated on it, her face very different from the laid back one she had all the time.

Much to her misfortune, they seemed to be at the highest floor right now. This elevator would not bring them up…

This place truly is different.  Ticia once again assessed. Based on what the clones told us , we are currently on the third floor. If we need to go down just to take the opposite entrance… Yeah, this place is a fucking maze where you’re not supposed to come back from.

She felt a slight migraine over this.

“There!” Laura suddenly exclaimed. The elevators' lights suddenly lit up as a slight hum could be heard. 

“The lift is working!” The clone exclaimed, much to the relief of those around him. Their gamble hadn't been for nothing.

“Great!” Laura exclaimed. “Now direct us to go do-”

*BOOM*

““!?!””

A sudden flash of light suddenly blinded Laura, Ticia, and all the clones present, before they heard some shouts.

“Flashbang!”

“Some people passed through!”

“They’re not one of us!”

“Activate the lift, now!” Laura shouted while covering her eyes. “Ticia!”

“On it!” That was enough to make Ticia rush back towards the entrance of the lift despite the aftereffects of the flashbang.

What welcomed her sight was a group of sixteen Ionian commandos engaging in close combat quarters with some ECGs. The clones surrounding them hesitated to intervene, fearful to hit the ECGs while a majority of them still protected the entrance from incoming laser beams.

“Those fucking bastards!” Ticia fumed. Can’t they leave me alone already!?

She wasn’t going to lose another of her daughters to this group.

She then spotted one commando with a hammer engaged in a fight with Bronz. The ECG was struggling on the defensive as she protected herself with her shield.

Those moves… I recognize them! Ticia’s eyes grew wide. She knew it was unlikely, but perhaps there was a chance it was the Ionian that tried to harm Licia in the past.

“Fana, with me! We’re taking down that one!”

“Yes!”

She ordered and rushed straight towards the commando, knife in hand and followed closely by Fana. The commando noticed her and backed away, avoiding her strike.

“...Hello again, Clone Mother.” The commando, no, Mark Carwight, also known as N1, greeted her.

“So it's really you again!” Ticia shouted back. She wanted to lash out at the man immediately but knew it would be a bad move.

“Sorry, but apparently the higher ups hate my guts. They ordered my group on this suicide mission.” Mark said without intonation in his voice.

“So you knew it was a suicide mission and yet you still did it?” Ticia asked back, from what she’d seen of the man, he did not strike her as the most patriotic man…

“Good soldiers follow orders.” Mark simply replied. Ticia could not understand him.

“...Bronz, go back to commanding the others.” Ticia ordered her daughter with a cold voice. Bronz herself hesitated for a second, before nodding. She also knew she was needed elsewhere, even if she would rather protect her mother right now…

“Another duel?” Mark asked, but Ticia shook her head.

“No, not this time.” She said, before lunging forward. Mark dodged to the side, only to be met by the thrust of a bayonet.

He crouched, avoiding the strike from Fana before deciding to focus on the ECG. He closed in, knowing full well that Fana would not be able to strike him with her rifle from so close. He was half right. Fana was unable to deal a strike to him, but she put her rifle in front of her, protecting herself from the incoming hammer strike and pushing Mark away with the butt of her rifle. Another incoming strike from Ticia tried to make him back away from Fana, but again, he saw it coming and stayed close to Fana.

Seeing this, Fana dropped her rifle and reached for a knife on her belt. She was however too late as Mark used the opportunity to strike Fana on the head with his hammer.

*gooong*

“Wha-” 

He was slightly taken aback to not obtain the expected result. Fana’s helmet endured the strike of the hammer, with only a slight bent on the place it impacted and cracks forming over the left side of the visor.

This was something that Ticia had found out in the past. Apparently, Aereum was more durable than Durium when it received a direct impact. 

After once learning of the story of how Ticia’s helmet broke from Licia herself, Fana had expected Mark’s strike and willingly took it in order to bait Mark in. She grabbed his arm that held his hammer in a flash before pointing her knife at Mark’s throat.

Ticia was also a bit surprised by the quick end of this fight, but decided not to show it.

She pointed her pistol towards Mark's head and nearly pulled the trigger uncounsciously. This was the man who had once caught Mia and Nia and then later chased after Licia. He threatened her with her favorite's daughter's life and he was the main reason why Jinxy was gone! Just thinking about it made her pull the trigger slightly.

She caught herself before completely doing it however.

Honestly, I just want to kill him, but… I have some questions for them…

Ticia needed answers in order to protect her familly from other threats. This person probably had some.

“If I were you, I’d surrender.” She said while gritting her teeth. 

“...Yeah, we’ll surrender.”

To her surprise, Mark immediately gave up and let go of his hammer. Fana then proceeded to disarm him completely.

Looking around, Ticia saw that all sixteen commandos had been defeated and were now on the ground. None of them were dead, they had just surrendered…

Why do I feel like I haven’t won at all… Ticia thought to herself, but the commandos were disarmed and listened to the orders from their captors. The ECGs seemed a bit rough on them, but Ticia could understand why.

It was only once all had settled down that Ticia noticed the lift was going down.

“Which floor are we going to?” She asked Laura who joined up with her.

“I don’t know.” Laura replied. “Because of that fucking flashbang, I messed up on the pannel. Seems like we’re going down to around the middle floors…”

“Shit.” Ticia cursed.

“My bad.” Laura apologized. “My intention was to let you go to the floor where the entrance was, then continue down the floors.”

“What happened, happened.” Ticia said after a long sigh. “Besides, I’m sure the problem can be fixed. We just have to fix the panel, right?”

“Yeah, fortunately.” Laura agreed. “It’ll take half an hour, but I should be able to fix it.”

The lift then stopped and its door slowly opened. They had arrived. The ECGs took defensive positions, expecting sentry clones to be there, but what met their eyes surprised everyone present there.

The sentry clones were indeed present, but none of them were alive. Their corpses had been piled up on the side of the room.

“What? Who did that?” Laura asked, knowing well that she wouldn’t get an answer.

Bronz made a hand sign. A group of ten ECGs slowly stepped out of the elevator’s cage, ready to fire. Slowly, the squad advanced, but nothing happened.

“Wait.” Laura called out. “Don’t move further. We’re surrounded.”

As if her words were the cue, clones began to pop out from behind crates, walls and entryways. Each had a weapon in hand raised towards Ticia's group. Their equipment also seemed makeshift.

“Mother, should we-”

“No.” At Bronz’s question, Ticia simply shook her head. The number of clones surrounding them right now was not small while Ticia’s group was tired. 

Besides, they aren’t shooting at us immediately. Plus, if you look at their current equipment, I have a feeling those clones aren’t sentries.

Despite her words, Ticia remained ready to shoot at any moment, so were the ECGs, some of the clones and Laura.

A heavy silence settled as both groups stared at one another, before one female clone advanced towards them, weapon pointed towards them.

“Who are you people? Identify yourselves.” The woman asked menacingly.

“The ones responsible for liberating you.” Ticia immediately replied, trusting her guts.

“Hey, Ticia?” Laura called out, a bit unnerved by what Ticia just said. Her statement could be taken in multiple ways.

Ticia simply made a sign telling her to trust her.

“Why?” The woman asked.

“We want to meet someone who’s jailed way down there.”

“For what reasons?”

“I’m not willing to tell you.”

“Oh really?” The woman frowned at the exchange.

“Yeah. I can’t be so friendly to people pointing their guns at me.” Ticia replied while smiling fearlessly. The woman just nodded at her words.

“Understandable, but we can say the same about your group.”

“How about this then? We all lower our weapons after counting to three.” Ticia suggested, but the opposite woman shook her head.

“No, I don’t trust such methods. Last time someone told me that he shot half my section dead.”

“My condolences.” Ticia replied. “So we’ve reached a deadlock, it seems.”

“It seems so.”

“...”

“...”

Both sides stared at one another within the heavy atmosphere. Sweat trickled down Ticia’s forehead as she wished her hunch to be true. The silent deadlock remained for a few more seconds, before…

“...Lower your weapons.”

““Yes Ma’am.””

At the orders of the woman, the troops lowered their guns without hesitation, showing off their coordination and trust of superiors. 

Ticia did the same on her side while letting out a huge sigh of relief. All the people in her group lowered their weapons after her.

“Thank you, now we can talk. But first could you at least present yourselves?” She asked.

“Fine. We are those who rose in rebellion against our masters.” The clone answered shortly, expecting Ticia to understand, which she did.

I knew it. She told herself as she smiled, before slowly removing her helmet. Bronz and Fana also caught on it and did the same, followed by some other ECGs. At these actions the opposing clones’ eyes grew wide from surprise, which made Ticia keep smiling as things were now going her way.

“Well then, Rebels. Why not discuss for a bit?”