Cleveland gulped then turned to Richelieu for assurance. If someone were to tell her she'd one day be fighting an evil clone of a hero she looked up to, she'd think they were crazy. Yet, here she was in the biggest battle of her life.
Her sisters were miles below, fighting tooth and nail alongside everyone else in the fleet against overwhelming odds and here she was, about to face her hero. Could she do it? Could she fight the same woman she looked up to for so many years? Could she raise a hand against her?
The answer did not come as Keres charged forward on an intercept course for Cleveland. She was ready to strike when her fist was blocked by Richelieu.
"Cleveland what's the matter with you?" she shouted and snapped Cleveland from her daze.
Richelieu turned and fired at Keres. The latter leapt back and avoided the attack then took a defensive stance.
"I'm sorry," shouted Cleveland.
"Focus Cleveland," she said, trying her best to sound calm "this isn't like the training matches on the base. One wrong move and that thing over there buries you."
'Thing?' repeated Cleveland while Richelieu went to face Keres. 'Why is she calling her sister a thing?'
As soon as that question popped into her mind, the answer quickly followed.
'Ah, that's right, I feel like an idiot for not realizing this sooner. I'm not the only one here struggling. Richelieu is having a much harder time than me. Having to face your sister, even if it is a clone must be taking a lot out of her.'
Cleveland then slapped herself on both cheeks a few times and shook her head.
"A lot of people are counting on me," she said as she formed her rigging "I can't let them down."
With that said, Cleveland charged forward and engaged in the fight with Keres.
Richelieu attacked with a high kick. Keres ducked down and did a leg sweep knocking Richelieu off her foot. She fell and Keres was about to strike her with a foot to the stomach when several shots hit her from the side. This was followed by Cleveland ramming an elbow into Keres and pushing her back a little.
The momentary distraction gave Richelieu the time needed to get to her feet. Strictly speaking Cleveland was severely outmatched in this fight. The Jean Bart clone had better reflexes and combat skills. Then there's the fact that she's a battleship while Cleveland's a light cruiser. She had to move before Keres overwhelmed her opponent.
Cleveland leapt into the air and spun around to deliver a kick to the head. Keres raised her hand up to block then grab Cleveland's foot and fling her away. Before she could hit though, she was caught by Richelieu, who gently put her on the ground.
The two wordlessly agreed on a plan then went on the attack.
Cleveland fired at Keres while Richelieu strafed to the side. In response, Keres formed her rigging and fired at Cleveland. The light cruiser quickly darted to her right to avoid the attack. She may not match Keres in terms of power, but she certainly had her beat in terms of speed and manoeuvrability.
Richelieu meanwhile also formed her rigging and fired at Keres to keep the pressure off Cleveland. The target saw this and now shifted to attacking her. Richelieu fired a second barrage but Keres ducked and weaved her way through it all. She neared Richelieu and fired. At this distance it was impossible to dodge the attack resulting in Richelieu being sent high up before crashing down.
Keres saw Richelieu's body did not move and was content. She turned around and paid for that mistake as Richelieu rammed both cannons into Keres and fired.
Cleveland watched as Keres was sent sailing in the air. To her horror though, the Siren clone recovered and fired at Richelieu. Richelieu saw the barrage coming and tried to move but felt a sharp sting on her left side. She saw a deep cut in her right leg, no doubt caused by the last attack.
Richelieu would have been hit were it not for Cleveland rushing in and pushing her away and getting hit instead of her.
"Cleveland," she cried out but had no time to relax as Keres came upon her with little remorse. She fired at Richelieu who bit back the pain and moved to the side. Then, she came in close and struck Keres with a punch to the face. Trouble was, Keres took the attack and didn't even flinch.
Keres quickly retaliated with a punch to Richelieu's face sending her staggering back. Richelieu tried to raise her hands up to block but Keres hit her in the side and forced the air out of her lungs. She staggered to her right and paid for it as Keres hit her right on the ear. The force of the impact along with the sudden ringing in her ears made it impossible for Richelieu to remain standing.
Keres did not waste the opportunity and fired a point-blank barrage at her opponent. Richelieu was sent flying back a good distance before her body hit the ground with a sickening thudding noise.
Cleveland meanwhile managed to get to her feet. It didn't take her long to notice Richelieu's body a good distance away from Keres before turning back to her opponent. Keres started to her and Cleveland in response started firing.
Rather than dodge, Keres tanked the attacks head on as the force behind them did little to damage her. At best, it created a few scratches and nicks. That was nowhere enough to slow her down.
Seeing that weapons were not doing the job, Cleveland also darted to Keres. When she was close, Keres came at her with a right fist and Cleveland quickly moved behind her. She tried a leg sweep but Keres seemingly sensed the attack coming and leapt up.
Cleveland was stunned as Keres turned in the air and pointed her rigging at her opponent. She fired and Cleveland was sent flying back much further than Richelieu.
Cleveland tried getting up but felt a terrible pain in her shoulder. She turned and saw a gaping wound in her left side and felt her vision blur. She could feel her body slowly give up on her and thought momentarily it would be a good idea to close her eyes.
Then, she slapped herself hard in the face and shoved the pain away. If she fell now there'd be nothing to stop this monster from going after her sisters or anyone else in the fleet.
"I'm stopping you," said Cleveland, raising both fists up "no matter the cost."
Keres seemingly smiled at the statement as she now broke into a run to quickly close the distance. Cleveland braced herself for the attack and was surprised to see Keres get sent flying to the side by a kick from nowhere.
A now dumbfounded Cleveland turned in the direction of the attack and saw a wounded Richelieu coming next to her.
Keres instantly rose to her feet and fired wildly at the pair. In response, Cleveland and Richelieu ducked and weaved their way through the barrage doing their best to close the distance. Richelieu took a few hits to both arms but she did her best not to focus on that for now.
When they came close, Keres shifted from her rigging to her fists and charged at Richelieu. Before she could land an attack though, Cleveland hit her on the side of the face with a flying kick. Keres flinched a little, turned and was greeted by a fist to the face from Richelieu.
This moved her back a little but not enough. Keres tried coming again but this time got a kick from Cleveland to the gut. Richelieu came right after and used a leg sweep to knock Keres off her feet. Before Keres could hit the ground, Richelieu raised her one good leg high up then brought it down hard on Keres' chest, sending her crashing into the ground.
The two moved back and waited for their opponent to recover. The saw Keres rise then fire at them before charging to them like a wild animal. The target was Richelieu and Keres attacked with a straight right. Richelieu raised both arms to block but the force of that attack echoed through her injured arms and made her cough up blood.
The feeling in her arms vanished as they became limp and dangled to either side of her. Keres was about to fire a close barrage at her when Cleveland came from behind. She grabbed Keres' face then pulled her back so she'd hit the ground hard.
Cleveland saw Richelieu's arms and quickly understood what happened. Keres tried a leg sweep on Cleveland but the latter jumped up and fired at her. The attacks landed but did little damage.
As Keres came up to face Cleveland, Richelieu now came behind and hit Keres in the back with a kick. The kick hit her right in the spine causing a torrent of pain to shoot up her body.
Keres swung out wildly, her fist catching Richelieu to the side of the head and sending her to the ground. Cleveland fired at her then came close and kicked Keres in the chin. Before her opponent could react, Cleveland took a step back, charged forward and delivered a dropkick to Keres' chest, sending her crashing to the ground.
She quickly went over to Richelieu and picked her up. Her arms were busted, her leg was badly injured and there was a big gash on the side of her head. She was in trouble.
As if reading her thoughts, Richelieu looked at her and said "I can still fight" in a determined voice.
"There's a difference between how strong you think you are and how strong you actually are," said Cleveland "we have to end this."
"I have an idea," said Richelieu "but it'll be risky."
"No other choice then," said Cleveland and heard the plan. She was right, this was a risky plan.
The two waited for Keres to get to her feet. Despite the beating she took, they both knew their opponent had more stamina than either of them combined. They had only one option.
Cleveland and Richelieu looked at each other one last time then started running to Keres. Seeing this, Keres pointed her rigging and fired. The two then moved away and came at Keres from both sides.
Keres continued firing at both of them. Her firing at random points made it hard for Cleveland and Richelieu to dodge, resulting in them taking on more injuries as they got closer.
Cleveland could feel her stamina giving out as each breath became harder and harder. Yet, she persisted against the attacks. Richelieu took several shots head on with each hit releasing a new wave of pain over her body.
Keres increased the speed of her attacks but it still wasn't enough. The two kept coming to her regardless of how injured they were.
When they were close enough, Cleveland broke into a slide while Richelieu leapt up. Keres could not understand what they were doing and didn't react in time. She paid for it as Cleveland's kick land right in Keres' chest while Richelieu's kick hit her on the side of the head. The force was enough that it separated the skull from the rest of the body causing Keres to fall flat like a sack of rocks.
With the little energy she had left, Cleveland crawled over to Richelieu who now lay on her back, doing her best to stay conscious.
When she saw Cleveland holding her hand, she asked "is she… is she dead?'
Cleveland looked at the heap and was silent for a moment. Time seemingly stretched on forever as she was looking for any signs of activity. After what felt like an eternity of looking for something and seeing nothing, Cleveland finally responded.
"She's done," she said, sighing in relief "we… we did it."
"Then, please excuse me," said Richelieu to her "I want to close my eyes… and rest a little."
Cleveland did not respond. She simply watched as Richelieu did what she said. Soon enough, Cleveland also fell unconscious.
(AN: Sorry for not uploading yesterday. Also, I'm glad my story finally reached 20K viewers)