Clone Girls

“Hold your horse, eldest sister. We’re on a mission.”

“R-right. Sorry.” At Nicia’s words, Licia straightened herself, her face a little red from embarrassment. “Inspect all cells and see if there are any others!”

They all nodded. As they looked around, they managed to get the keys to the cells from one of the dead guards.

“I found more of them! There are 6 big specimens here!” Vinia declared out loud.

“I found a few big kittens here!” Nillia added from the other side of the hall.

“Just how many of them are there!?” Evelyn exclaimed out, horrified by the number of Manuls the Borkians had managed to smuggle.

“Ah! This one’s orange!”

“Seriously!? They truly managed to get that one!?”

Licia jumped at her sister’s comment.

“Not just one… I see more over there…” 

“This is crazy…” Evelyn felt lightheaded.  The number of Manuls captured by the Borkians was way more than she imagined. A few could have been passed under the bridge, but so many captured Manuls could cause an outrage in the Pellian system. It could cause a war!

“...They don't really look in a good state.” Miria let out as she stared at the poor cats. Most of them looked exhausted and seemed to have no will to live. They barely reacted to the girls. 

Manuls are sensible creatures who need a lot of space, and generally dislike humans. Gathering them up like this cramped place with no freedom was like a death sentence to them.

The Borkians probably did not pay attention to such things. Animals were animals after all in their eyes, so they just had to treat them as any other cat.

The few that remained somewhat energetic. They growled and hissed, their eyes never leaving their new visitors, but they did not move otherwise.

“Nicia, Mia. Check their health.” Licia ordered. Both sisters nodded before doing a quick check up on the animals using their hand scanners.

The Manuls growled even more as the two Null CGs approached them, but they understood that Nicia and Mia did not approach them with ill intent. They let the girls do their job.

“...Some of them are lightly wounded, but nothing looks drastic." Mia reported. 

“They are ‘merchandize’ after all.” Licia sighed, feeling anger towards the owners of the Malaise Tower.

“Easy now, Elder sister. If we cause too much trouble mom is gonna get even more angry at us.”

“Oh…”

“Plus, Manuls are sensible creatures, the more you make big gestures, the more they are likely to get scared.” Mia added to Nicia’s chiding, calming their eldest sister.

“The more urgent problem is their mental state though. Some have lost the will to live, they won’t stay alive long…” Nicia continued, a grave look on her face.

“That can’t be… Eve, is there anything we can do?” Licia asked her blue haired friend.

“Erm, I don’t think we can do anything…” Evelyn replied, somewhat unsure.

“Not even a hug? Or petting?”

“No, that won’t work, eldest sister. Leave them alone.”

Nicia once again said to her eldest sister, who looked at her as if to ask what she could do. Nicia however could not do much. She was a doctor, not a veterinarian. She had studied animal biology, but not to the point of being an expert. Mia was more knowledgeable and capable in that field.

“Eldest sister!” Vinia suddenly rushed towards Licia, a panicked look on her face.

“What is it?”

“I’ve read the logs, it appears one of the big cats was taken to the auction already! It seems to be the mom of the big kittens!”

“What did you say!?” Licia exclaimed.

More than the fact that one of them had already been sent to the auction floor, what made Licia and her sisters angry was the fact that she was the mother of the kittens present here.

They separated a family. That’s something the Nulls could not tolerate.

“All of you, stay here and bring the cats out. Vinia, you’re coming with me, let’s save the big cat!”

“Y-yes!”

***

Meanwhile, Nia and Lotte kept guard around the truck.

“Wow, it sure is boring to be on guard duty…” Nia remarked as she let out a yawn, looking towards the star filled sky. The noise from the surrounding busy streets could be heard, but it did not seem to bother her as she talked out loud.

She was laying on her back on top of the truck while Lotte was checking the wheels one more time. 

“...”

“Hey, you listening to me, Lotte?”

“Yeah yeah, I am.” Lotte replied in an annoyed tone.

“Are you perhaps worried?” Nia asked as she rolled around, going from laying on her back to laying on her belly. Her head was just over the side, where she could look down on Lotte who was just down below. 

There was a bit of silence before Lotte replied.

“Not really…”

“Don’t worry too much. It’s gonna be fine, probably.”

“Probably?”

The last word did not put Lotte at ease. She stopped what she was doing, frowning as she looked up towards her friend.

Nia got up and jumped down from the truck, landing near Lotte.

“I mean, come on. It’s not like anything CAT-astrophic will happen, right? Heh, get it? Because we’re saving cats.” She smirked at her joke.

“...” Lotte simply looked at her as if she was junk on the side of the street.

“W-why are you looking at me like this? I thought that was pretty funny?”

“I’d give it a 0.5 out of 10.”

“Not even one complete point!? S-still, it’s better than zero…”

“Why are you even making jokes like that in this situation?” Lotte ended up sighing at Nia’s antics. She had to admit though, looking at Nia’s ahoge moving around as she talked, but that was another matter.

This kind of interaction has become their usual conversation nowadays. Nia made some horrible or nearly good jokes and Lotte simply gave her impression. It was not something that Lotte disliked, in fact, she liked Nia’s laidback attitude. However, she did not think it fitted the current situation…

“To destress?” Nia said, tilting her head as if Lotte asked the most obvious thing in the world, to which Lotte sighed.

“You don’t look that stressed out to me…”

“Because I’m not. I’m doing it for you, idiot.” Nia replied, a smug look on her face that instantly annoyed Lotte.

“Who’s the idiot? Remind me who taught you the laws of Rimanowich?” She replied back with a smug look on her face.

“Oh come on! It just wasn’t part of my knowledge range! How can you expect this old me to know a book this brand new!” Nia exclaimed dramatically, referencing the fact that most of her knowledge came from the UFG database.

“...Aren’t you not even one year old?”

“A lady never tells her age.”

Lotte rolled her eyes. Nia joked about it but she knew very well. Their age was not something the Null CGs kept secret.

Still, Nia was right, this small exchange was enough to calm Lotte down. She smiled as she was about to continue the conversation.

“Sure, whatev-!?”

Nia suddenly placated Lotte against the wall, hand right above Lotte’s shoulder as she got very close to her.

“Shh…. People are coming…” Nia said with a serious look as Lotte was more than bewildered by the sudden ‘aggressive’ move. She simply nodded in response, avoiding eye contact.

They were so close Lotte could feel Nia’s breath, and her friend's ‘assets’ stuck to her, making Lotte’s heart rate go up for some reason.

Steps could be heard in the distance, growing ever so closer. At some point they heard the banter between two guys.

“And so I told him- Huh?” The two male, who seemed to be private soldiers on a patrol, froze for a moment as they spotted Nia and Lotte.

“Tch! Someone got lucky here…” One whispered to the other.

“Two girls huh? Maybe we could…”

“You want to die? Look at that one’s belt.”

Lotte could clearly hear them. She felt disgusted by their conversation. Upon closer look, she noticed Nia had made sure her handgun was clearly visible. 

…Is what she should have noticed were it not for Nia’s ‘assets’ blocking her view and making her thoughts go astray…

The two soldiers continued their conversation in the meantime. 

“Tch! Why are they even doing that here? They could have done this somewhere else. There are more than one love hotels around here…”

“Maybe a kink? Anyway, let’s continue our patrol.”

Nia and Lotte remained in the same position until they could not hear the steps of the two men. Once she confirmed they were gone, Nia released Lotte and let out a sigh.

“Phew, that was close, wasn’t it? ...Eh? What’s wrong?” 

Nia went back to her usual casual mood and released a sigh of relief. But she stopped when she noticed Lotte had not moved.

“N-nothing…” Lotte said, avoiding eye contact as her face was as red as a tomato.

To say she had expected Nia to do something like that was not something she ever thought.

Nia was also feeling awkward now…

“W-what’s with that reaction? Don’t tell me I made you fall for me? As expected of me! haha!”

“~~!...”

“...Wait, for real?” Nia could not help but be stupefied when Lotte did not answer to her joke and blushed more instead. 

“I-it’s all because of my older sister!” Lotte suddenly said in self defense, bewildering Nia even more.

She knew that her sister liked girls, and she had once tried to pull Lotte into that same world, without Lotte really wanting to. Lotte had not much interest in love, but perhaps she had more similarities to her sister than she was willing to admit…

“Eh? What does she have to do in any of that?”

“Because she-”

*KABOOOOM*

““!?!””

Just as she was about to give her reasoning for blaming her older sister, there was the sound of an explosion. Both turned in surprise towards the origin of the explosion and much to their surprise, smoke was coming out of the Malaise tower.

“W-what the heck happened!? Wasn’t this supposed to be an infiltration operation!?” Lotte exclaimed in pure bewilderment. Just what had gone wrong?

“Beats me. But this looks serious. Get the truck ready Lotte!” Nia said, switching from her joke mode to her serious mode.

“O-ok!” Lotte rushed towards the conductor’s cabin.

“Nia, do you copy?” A voice came from the coms just at that moment. It was Ria.

“I do. What the heck happened over there!?” Nia asked.

“Eldest sister blew up the auction hall!”

“What?! But why!? This was supposed to be a sneak in sneak out mission!”

“I know. But what can I say? I was not expecting this either!”

“Damn it! What now?”

There was clear confusion as to what and why this happened, Nia cursed. Their mother would definitely not spare them after this and both she and her second older sister knew it.

“Get the truck ready! The others are linking up with me soon. Lidia is already enacting a diversion.” Ria gave her orders.

“What about Eldest sister?” Nia asked back as she jumped into the conductor’s cabin, right next to Lotte.

“Last words I got from her was that she’ll link up with us at the truck- Gotta go, I got some company!” Ria said, before Nia and Lotte heard some yells and gunfire in the background and Ria hung up.

“Ah fuck fuck fuck! We’re so fucked now!” Nia kept cursing, her face pale and filled with sweat. She didn’t want to even think about what was waiting for her when they came back home…

Doing the plane game once again? Probably not happening. At this point Ticia might just stick a rocket to her back and launch her into orbit!

“W-what’s wrong? What’s happening?” Lotte asked, afraid of Nia's sudden outburst.

“Looks like my ‘dearest older sister of them all’ decided to do some fireworks. Well, it ain’t time for that. Go grad the guns, we’ll be moving out as soon as they arrive.”

“Got it.”

“Also…” Just as Lotte was about to move, Nia let out other words in an unusual meek voice. “This might be the last day we see each other… My mom is gonna kill us now…”

“...Eh?”

***

From the smoke, Licia and Vinia emerged. They had rushed here as fast as they could, causing a ruckus with the security. Licia killed anyone standing in her way. Only one objective was in her mind : Saving the mother of the kittens. She could not imagine herself being orphaned and she did not wish the small Manuls to be orphaned.

Vinia followed along, similar thoughts in her mind, though she seemed slightly more concerned about the wreck they made as they advanced than her older sister…

At some point they met a few staff members that were transporting what seemed to be one of the next articles to be sold in the auction. Those were explosives. In the rush, Licia blew them up, which opened a path towards the stage. 

Now there they were, on the stage of the opera where the auction took place.

The smoke of dust and debris filled the stage, but Licia and Vinia walked calmly on it. They only had one objective. Free the Manul mother that was still in her cage.

The big manul also spotted them. She stared at them, eyes filled with cautiousness as she was analyzing whether the new arrivals were a danger to her.

“Vinia, get her out of this cage!”

“Yes Eldest Sister!”

At her eldest sister’s command, Vinia nodded. She moved next to the cage.

“Hisss!” The Manul hissed at Vinia, issuing a warning to not come closer. Vinia did not heed it and approached. She held the bars of the cage with her hands and then-

*Knnnnclangclangclang*

“!?!”

She folded the metallic bars using all her strength.

This was a Willia level of achievement, which could only be replicated by Vinia since the last NullCG had all the gene enhancements of her sisters minus Ticinia.

“Hup! There you go! You’re free now!” Vinia happily declared to the completely baffled Manul, who slowly retreated to the back of the cage.

“Ah, please don’t resist, you’re being liberated!” She said as she put a foot in the cage, yet as the Manul still remained fearful, Vinia decided time was lacking for negotiations.

“Hup!”

“Mau!?”

In a breath, Vinia lifted the magnus Manul and carried it above her head. The poor animal was more than surprised and let out a yelp.

“The Manul is secured, eldest sister!” She then said to Licia.

“As expected of my little sister!” Licia cheered, seemingly happy. “Now, let’s go-”

“W-wait, you can’t! this is merch-”

Just as she was about to leave, one man who was in a fancy outfit approached her, he seemed to be the presenter of the auction. Licia did not care at this point and simply shot him dead.

“We’re liberating the cats!” She said out loud to no one in particular.

Of course, now that they had done all this mess, escaping was easier said than done. The security will ramp up with all this mess.

Profiting from the still ongoing chaos, the two sisters rushed out of the scene from the way they came.

The Manul did not seem to understand what was happening, but for now she remained calm, not resisting Vinia’s grip.

Shouts soon followed after them, and laser bolts began to fly towards the two Null CGs.

“Keep running Vinia! I’ll cover you!” Licia said, shooting at incoming enemies with two pistols in hands.

As they descended the floors in a hurry, a voice came through their coms.

“This is Ria. The others have linked up with me. Where are you?”

“The cat has been secured! We’re moving back!” Licia replied.

“Understood. We’ll begin moving the animals to the truck. I’ll keep the twins with me and wait for you! Ria over.”

“Lidia here. I’ve dealt with the biggest security teams. Any orders?” 

“Well done Lidia! Join the others, we’ll meet at our entrance point! Licia over.” Licia replied. 

Certainly, while there were some pursuers, there were less than Licia thought. The small teams opposing them were not enough to threaten her. She could deal with them on her own. 

The problem was the Manul. After a while, she began to move restlessly.

“Hey! Stay put please! Ah-!” 

As Vinia pleaded with the cat to remain calm, she lost grip on her. She could have kept holding her, but tightening her grip meant hurting the animal, which Vinia was reluctant to do.

As a result, the Manul was now free and she rushed forward.

“We must not lose her! Hurry Vinia!”

“Y-yes!”

Both Null CGs doubled their pace in order to follow after the big cat.

“Over there!”

“Got that thing under control-gah!?”

Some guards tried to stop the Manul, however, they were quickly stomped or mitten then thrown to the side by her.

It was truly a sorry fate for the ill-equipped guard, but one the Null CGs did not particularly pity.

At some point, one guard fired his weapon at the Manul, but his laser beam got absorbed by the fur and the animal seemed unphased.

“What is this? Is she resistant to laser weapons?” Vinia asked out loud in wonder.

“I don’t know, but I like her fighting spirit! Come on Vinia, let’s show her we’re on her side!” Licia said back.

The two girls provided support to the rampaging beast. After a few more seconds it calmed down, stopped, and stared at the two nulls.

“Did she understand we’re on her side?”

“I think so!”

The Manul came closer, staring at them before sniffing them. Licia was quite delighted to be able to see the huge feline from this close, but she somehow managed to keep herself together and no squeal.

After this quick moment, the Manul lowered herself to the ground and stared at Vinia, tilting her head toward her own back.

“Eh? Does it want us to ride it?” Vinia exclaimed in surprise.

“For real!? Let’s do it!” Licia could not hide her joy anymore. “Come on Vinia, go on, I’ll be right behind you!”

Vinia nodded at her older sister’s urging, after gulping, she approached the Magnus Manul who was still staring at her. 

She touched the fur. It was soft. She had not paid attention earlier but now she felt it. After a breath, she got on the back of the horse sized cat.

“Great! Now it’s my tu-whoa!?” 

“E-Eldest sister!?”

Just as Licia was about to join in, the Manul hissed at her before biting the back of the collar of her clothes. She was basically being dragged around by the beast.

Before Licia could even say anything, the Manul began moving again as new guards appeared at the end of the corridor.

“Go that way please!” Vinia said as she fired at the guards with her weapon, tentatively asking the great cat to follow her instructions.

Surprisingly, it worked. The Manul turned the way Vinia wished.

“I don’t understand everything that’s happening, but keep doing what you’re doing Vinia!” Licia shouted from her position, where she was struggling to keep herself from dangling in the air and tried to help.

The Manul was more agile than the Null CGs thought. It managed to quickly move through the building and back to the point where the Nulls had entered the tower.

There were a lot of bodies lying around, proof that the fight here was intense.

“You’re finally he-!?” Ria was about to sigh in relief, but was simply baffled by the scene in front of her.

“Heya Ria! Look, we’ve got the cat!” Licia said, still singing around as the Manul did not release her from her jaw’s grip.

“Wait, sister, you’re wounded!? Are you okay!?” Vinia exclaimed, noticing fresh bandages on Ria’s arms. 

“Just flesh wounds. I’m still active.” Ria replied.

“That’s no good! Hey kitty, can you take care of my sister ?”

“Hiss.”

Licia tried talking to the Manul, but only received hisses.

“...Let’s get moving.” Rubbing her head as if she had a headache (which she clearly had now), Ria turned around, but just as she did the Manul hissed before blocking her path.

“...What does it want?” She looked at Vinia, who seemed to understand the cat, at least more than her idiotic eldest sister.

“Hmmm… I believe she wants you to get on her back? Perhaps she thinks it’ll be faster that way.” Vinia said, tilting her head.

Ria looked at the Manul, the big round yellow eyes stared back at her. The Manul lowered herself to the ground and Ria let out a sigh.

“...Got it. Miria, Tiria, get on.”

““Yes.”” The twins followed after. There was not really much place for a fourth person however.

“But you’re the wounded one, sister…” Vinia said worriedly.

“I can run just fine.” Ria replied, insistence in her voice.

“Just grab her tail and hold tight!”

“...Eldest sister, are you serious right now?” Ria was just baffled at her sister’s order.

“I’m here…???”

Just then, Lidia arrived. She froze at the scene.

“Perfect timing Lidia. Grab the cat’s tail.” Licia said, not even explaining.

“...” Lidia quietly looked towards Ria, who just sighed, then they both looked towards the big Manul, who was staring back at them with her big yellow eyes. Its expression clearly told them she was not keen on the idea.

““Yeah, that’s not happening.”” Both concluded.

“We’ll just run behind you all.” Ria said, sighing once again.

“Alrighty! Let’s go now!” Licia shouted, seemingly happy despite the fact that her position had not changed.

And just like that, the manul rushed out of the building followed by Ria and Lidia. 

A barrage had been built in a hurry right outside, which the big cat effortlessly destroyed as it rushed forward.

On her back, the Null CGs provided fire support with their firearms.

Thanks to that, they managed to arrive at the truck in a record time, losing their pursuers for the time being. 

“...What the heck am I witnessing?” 

That was the first thing they heard as they approached the truck. It came from Nia, who seemed flabbergasted.

Licia was finally released, and the three sisters got down from the Magnus Manul’s back. Ria and Lidia arrived soon after, the sprint had taken their breath away and they were gasping for air. Keeping up with the Manul had taken every effort they could muster. The others present at the scene just stared in pure amazement at the scene.

“Your kids are in there.” Vinia said as she patted the side of the Manul. Although she seemed slightly displeased by the gesture, the big cat let it go.

It just so happened that at the same time, the kittens transported by Evelyn’s group right before poked their heads out of the truck.

“Mau!” In what seemed like a meowling but reassembled more a groaning, the Manul mother rushed to her kittens and began sniffing them before licking them.

“Waaah! So cute!” Ticinia said as she watched the scene. She was not the only one as Vinia and Licia also had similar faces.

“No time for that, get into position!” Ria had to remind them.

They had lost their pursuers, but it did not mean that would be the end of it…

They needed to get back to the academy as fast as possible.

“The Borkian Academy is a place they cannot enter easily. We’ll be safe once there.”

Atrax-ia had guaranteed them that whatever happened. So long as they managed to get to the academy, they would be safe and their pursuers would relent. They decided to trust the AI.

Eight of them would take position into the truck. Nia would drive while Lotte manned the machine guns placed in the conductor’s compartment on a ringstand. Ria and Evelyn would take position in the turret above the truck and Mitia and Tiria would man the two bubble turrets at the end of the truck. nicia and Mia would remain with the Manuls to check on their condition.

Willia and Nillia would lead the convoy with the jeep, while Licia, Lidia, Ticinia and Vinia would take the hoverer bikes. Licia took Rika’s favorite.

“All units, onward!”

““Roger!””

Their road had already been planned in advance, though they expected it to be interrupted here and there. It would in the end change depending on the level of resistance.

And just as they expected, they quickly fell on a barrage.

“This is the Borkian Military’s 608th Armored Regiment, surrender now and you will not be harmed!”

“The Borkian Military?” Evelyn frowned. She had expected police cars and private armored vehicles, but not tanks to be stopping their path!

“That’s a bit unexpected.” Ria added. “But it is within our calculations. The police department won’t make a move on us.”

‘Why’ is what Evelyn wanted to ask but did not have the time to do so. 

A voice she knew very well came from the coms. It was Licia.

“Nope!” She said, before accelerating her bike and jumping over the barrage. The other three bikes followed right after while the jeep and the truck took a turn to the left right before the barrage.

“A-after them!”

A part of the vehicles went after the hoverer bikes, while the rest went after the truck. By this point, the Nulls had abandoned any thought of discretion.

“All guns out! Fire at will!”

Ria gave an order and all the firing positions became visible, surprising the enemies.

“Agh!”

“Guh! What’s up with this firepower!? I thought we were just facing a truck!”

“Enemies under heavy fire.”

“Continuing suppressing.”

Miria and Tiria mowed through the light armored vehicles pursuing them, their eyes shining as they synced themselves using their ability.

“Block their path!” A man shouted.

A few tanks began appearing at the front of the path, blocking the truck's way.

“Evelyn, fire at the building above them.” 

“G-got it…” Evelyn nodded at the second Null CG’s order. The stress was taking a toll on her as she began realising how the situation had spiralled out of control…

A shot was fired, exploding right on the building next to the newly made barrage. The rubles rained on the soldiers who stood next to the building while enemy tanks prepared to shoot at the truck. 

“Nia, evasive maneuvers! Willia, Nillia, take care of the rest!”

““Roger!””

The truck began to zigzag around as enemy soldiers began to fire at it.

“Damn it! Tanks! Destroy them!”

“B-but the merchandi-”

“Does it look like I care? Hurry or we’ll be the ones dead!”

The enemies began to order their counter attacks. They had been ordered to take back the merchandise no matter what and take their enemies alive if deemed possible, but looking at the firepower facing them, it appeared their officers decided their lives mattered more.

Before the tanks could fire a shot in anger though, rockets flew their way.

*Kaboooom!*

““Agh!””

The tank forming the center of the barrage exploded after being hit by one of the rockets and the debris flew everywhere.

At the same time, another shot from the truck’s cannon dealt a blow to one of the other tank forming the barrage, neutralizing it. The jeep then went behind the truck, who rushed forward and rammed into the barrage at full force.

“Gah! Get to cover!”

The panicked men fled everywhere while the truck easily tore through the burning tank and continued its path, followed along by the jeep who quickly took back its place at the front.

“Nyahaha! Nothing can stop the combined genius of I and Lotte’s combined brain power!” 

“Stop joking around and drive this fucking truck correctly god damn it!”

Nia laughed like a crazy person while Lotte tried to keep herself together. She didn’t mind shooting at people, she’d done that before. But the piling stress made her rebuke each and every one of Nia’s comments.

Nia seemed unbothered by it though. She was in her own world at this point, too focused on driving while in battle.

“Keep going! Atrax-ia will update the way for us!” Ria said to the rest of the team. The path kept changing on the map, but that was because the AI, who had remained quiet all this time, was updating the GPS in real time in order to create the most optimised trajectory while avoiding civilian areas where innocent people would get involved.

Meanwhile, the four Null CGs on their bike made a mess of the enemy troops.

Their havoc was so great they managed to get the attention of a good part of the Borkian garrison in Borkian Prime City!

“Keep following my lead Vinia!” Licia said as she fired a salvo of missiles towards a nearby building that had been filled by soldiers.

“Yes Eldest sister!” Vinia said back, pushing the gas of her hover bike. The machine’s hum grew louder as its engine was pushed once again. The last Null CG quickly caught up with her eldest sister, firing the bike’s integrated machine guns on the enemies in front of them.

Lidia and Ticinia quickly joined the formation and they sped up once again.

“Alright! We’ve caused enough mayhem! It’s time to link up with the others!” Licia said in a happy mood.

“Sister! Is it really alright to cause this much chaos? Won’t this put us in a difficult position later on?” Ticinia asked, worried about the consequences of their actions. To say she was the only one worried was far from the truth. All Nulls were worried about it.

By this point, they all knew they had gone too far. The situation had gone way out of the proportions they thought of, and since none of them had even bothered to cover themselves up, everyone would know it was the clones who did it.

Of course it would put their mother and her faction into chaos. Their mother would probably be extremely angry at them, and more than half of them were already dreading what came afterward…

“Might as well fuck them around!” Licia said. “I know what you’re worried about Ticinia, I’ll take responsibility. I was the one who dragged you into this just because I wanted to save cats.”

“Sister…”

“I don’t regret it though! They were so fluffy!”

““...””

Any shred of respect the sisters had left for their oldest sister vanished with that one comment.

“Ticinia, it’s okay. Mom won’t kill us, probably.”

“T-that’s not very reassuring, seventh sister.” Ticinia was not very reassured by Lidia’s comment.

They jumped over another barrage set up by the military as they spoke. Vinia and Lidia threw a bag of grenades at the men below as they did so before speeding away. They continued their conversation in the meanwhile.

“...Rika will make sure mom doesn’t go overboard.” Lidia said, confident in her statement.

Certainly, Rika would make sure Ticia would not scold them too hard. She had a gentle character and spoiled them after all. If they pleaded with her, then maybe-

*Clunk*

Just then, smoke came out of Licia’s bike.

“Oh shit! I’ve put too much strain on the bike!” The girl exclaimed.

Her three sisters looked at the state of Rika’s favorite bike, then at their own hover bikes which were also Rika’s properties. It was not good to see. Metal pieces had been folded in weird places and there were dents here and there.

The image of Rika cherishing her bikes came to their mind before they all looked at each other and said at the same time.

““We’re fucked. Rika is gonna kill us…””

***

After an hour and a half of running around in the city, the group finally managed to get back to the academy safely.

As soon as they entered the perimeter of the academy, their enemy stopped pursuing them. It was as if the academy was some sort of sacred ground where no fight could take place, and although it left the girls wondering what kind of deal Atrax-ia managed to break to get this kind of status, they were thankful.

Still, at some point midway through the chase, they had noticed the number of enemies going after them reduced. Perhaps some other parties had helped them, maybe even their mother. 

The thought that it was their mother who helped them sent chills down their spines however, because that meant that Ticia learned of what they did while they were doing it, and not before. Somehow, they were thankful their mother did not learn of all this after the facts. Perhaps the situation could have been way worse because of that.

“The Manuls have been safely rescued and their wounds have been dealt with. The mission is a complete success!”

“Is it now?” Ria asked, sighing. She was only worried about what was about to come next as they approached the barracks they lived in. Her sisters mirrored her expression.

“Don’t worry, as I said before, I’ll take full responsibility for this, whatever that may be. I dragged you all into this.” Licia said in a serious tone.

“Y-you can’t take all the responsibility on your own! I-I’m the one who…” Evelyn bit her lip, not finishing her phrase. There were a lot of things on her mind and although she was thankful to the Null CGs, the dominant thought in her mind was regret. She should never have allowed things to go this far… Now she was worried about the consequences for her people.

But Licia had none of that. She wanted to direct all the blame to herself and said she would directly face any punishment their mom imposed by herself.

None of that reassured the Nulls however. 

In this downcast atmosphere, Lotte, who was the only one who did not seem to be concerned about the consequences, felt awkward, but she couldn’t just bail out of the group now. For her best friend’s sake, she decided to face the consequences together.

““...”” 

Following right behind them were the Manuls, who all looked around in the darkness, scurrying their surroundings. It seemed that for now, they would follow the CGs without the girls telling them anything.

The one at the forefront of them was the Magnus Manul mother Licia and Vinia had rescued. She seemed more imposing than the others. Mia had some theories as to why these animals, who usually prefer solitude, stuck together, but she had no time to study as the thought of her mother’s wrath filled her mind…

And their worries were correct.

The first thing Ticia did when the girls came back was-

*SLAP*

“You’ve disappointed me.”

She slapped Licia right in front of everyone while saying these words…