One-six halted his work and looked up at Lenn.

“Do you want the short explanation or the complete one?” He asked in his usual monotone voice.

“The full one.”

“Well, as you may know, we are clones and not actually real people,” One-six said, picking up his tools and continuing to work on his plane. “But of course, we didn’t know that until a few days ago. We’ve always only been taught to follow orders and to fight. We were never taught to think about anything else other than fighting. They don’t treat us like people, and so they didn’t give us names like normal people. We only have code numbers.”

“You look pretty human to me.” Lenn reassured him.

“Only on the surface, that is. Because we are clones, they have full access to the design of our bodies. So, they modified our brains, made it so that we would become the ideal soldiers. Cold blooded, clear thinking and well disciplined. They removed our ability to feel emotions, our ability to think for ourselves, and our ability to be free.”

“So is that why…”

“That is why we are always so monotone with our speech and our expressions. It’s not because we were trained to be like this, we were built to be like this. We have never smiled in our lives, cried out in anguish, or even felt anger. Well… not purposefully anyways. They try their best, but the brain always adapts to fix itself.” One-six hopped down from the wing to help Two-six carry some boxes. “I have shed tears before, without knowing what it meant. One-five has lost his temper before, but none of us realized it either.”

“Guess they aren’t that great at genetic engineering, huh?”

“I guess not. But that makes it even more frustrating. We sort of know how it feels like, or rather, how it will feel like to feel emotions, but we don’t understand it. I know I’ll feel sad if I lose something important to me, but I don’t know what it means to feel sad. I don’t know why I’ll feel sad.” One-six paused. “Anyways, about why we want to destroy our city…”

“Yeah?”

“When we sneaked out of our base that night, we found the incinerators they use to recycle us once we reach the end of our service lives. Once we get old enough, we are thrown into a recycler, broken down into our component elements, and then used to make new clones. We weren’t scared to die, no, we simply felt betrayed.”

“And is that why you flew out to shoot me down?”

“Yeah. We didn’t know what to do, but we knew that we had to do something. So we decided, for some reason, to meet with our enemies. We wanted to know if it was normal for soldiers to be recycled once they get too old, we wanted to know if our way of life was even human or not. Of course, at the time we knew nothing about our origins, we knew nothing about our true selves. It was only after meeting up with Mr. Takeshi that we found out about cloning.”

“So you went back for vengeance?”

“Not exactly. We didn’t quite know what we were going back for. We just had an address we had to go to, and that was it.”

“So did you go to that address?”

“Yeah.”

“What did you find there?”

“A factory which manufactured soldiers. Rows upon rows of not-quite-people, ready to be delivered to which ever squadron or division that needed them. It was the first time we realized that, we too, came from a place like that. And we realized that all the soldiers are also clones. Million of not-quite-people, living under a lie.”

“So you decided to destroy your own city?”

“No. That alone wouldn’t be enough for us to become genocidal. But when we found out about The Weapon, we knew we had to act fast. If Europa were to take over the world, then millions more, possibly even billions, will suffer under the technology of cloning. We knew that we had to stop the attack, and this is the only solution we were given.”

Lenn nodded after One-six finished his explanation. Silence once again descended upon the hangar.

“What about you? Lenn?” Two-six asked. “Why do you seem so keen to help us while the rest of your team seems to dislike us?”

Lenn was caught off guard by the question. He was surprised that Two-six had been able to pick up on such a detail. “You know… we’re more similar than you may realize,” Lenn muttered while tightening down a nut.

“How?” One-six asked.

“Do you remember, during our self-introductions, when I refused to speak about my past?”

“Yeah.”

“I believe my teammates had pulled you aside and told you themselves, right?”

“…yeah.”

“What did they say?”

“They told me that your parents were killed during an earthquake when you were just four years old, leaving you an orphan who later joined the military when you got old enough. Also they said you had a little sister, who was unfortunately also killed during the earthquake.”

“Do you believe them?”

“I don’t see why not.”

Lenn chuckled wryly. It hurt his pride a little to know that he is such a good liar. So good, in fact, that even the people he was closest with didn’t know. Even a soldier trained in interrogation and espionage didn’t know.

“That’s all a lie, you know.” Lenn said, picking out another nut from the box and began tightening it down to a separate bolt. “None of that is real. It’s all made up.”

One-six paused for a moment. “What do you mean?” He asked.

“Like you, I never had parents. I never had a little sister. All of that is made up. I was alone from the moment I remember.”

“So you are saying that you too, are a clone?”

Lenn laughed, the sound of which echoing through the quiet and spacious hangar. “No, sorry, I didn’t mean what I said literally.”

“So what are you saying?”

“The majority of New Asians are poor, dirt poor, so poor they can just barely buy enough food to survive. My parents were no different. So when I was born, they just threw me away, left me to die on the streets because they didn’t have the resources to care for me. Through some series of miracles, I fell into the hands of a care center, who took me in and nursed me into a big strong man.”

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There was silence as they continued to work on their planes. One-six quietly processed Lenn’s words. Maybe, he could understand how Lenn feels. After all, he too, was alone from the moment he woke up.

But that never really bothered him, since everyone around him was alone as well. But for Lenn, it probably was much more difficult.

“Why the lie then?” One-six asked.

Lenn sighed. “Every day when school ended, I would remain when my friends were taken home by their parents. Sometimes their parents came with snacks or toys. Sometimes they would even share a little with me. But never once did anyone come with anything that was intended for me. I was always given the spares, the surplus. I was always the odd one out. But at least there were a few others, who were alone just like me.”

That alone probably would have been fine. He was too young at the time to really know the implications of everything, so as long as he was cared for, he was happy. But that changed on that day, when flames rose high into the sky above the care center.

“That day, for reasons I still don’t know, something in the school caught fire. We didn’t have fire alarms in the school, that wasn’t allowed for in the budget. So by the time we were aware of black smoke seeping through the door, we were already trapped in an inferno.” Lenn had stopped working on his plane, and was now lying on top of the wing looking up at the ceiling with his head resting on his hands. “Our teacher ran away to help. He told us he would come back for us, and that we should stay and wait. I watched as he made his way down the hallway into the thick smoke, and I watched as the floor gave out below him.” Lenn choked up a little.

One-six took notice. “You don’t have to talk about it if you don’t want to.”

“Well anyways,” Lenn said after recollecting his wits. “I lost many of my friends that day, many of whom were alone just like me. The school was destroyed, and I was sent to a military academy. As I grew older, I began to understand the situation I was in. I began to understand how alone I was, how unwanted I was. I hated the world, I hated everything. I wanted to blame my parents, but I don’t even know what they look like. So I chose the war as the focus of my hatred. I learnt to love everything else, but in turn, I learnt to hate the war with every ounce of my existence. I blamed Europa for causing my suffering, I blamed the idiots up top who kept this war going.”

“So is that why you want to end it so badly?”

“I guess? But over time, that hatred began to wear off. I realized deep down, that I didn’t really care much about the war. It was really more of a… excuse of sorts, which I used to direct my hate away from everything else.” Lenn stopped, feeling a bit bitter to reveal all his weaknesses like that. “Look, I needed a way to keep going forward in life, okay?”

“Yeah I get it.” One-six replied, like an understanding father. Lenn looked up, and there was no sign of hostility in his eyes. “I think we have all learnt to do that as well. Or rather, they taught us to do it.”

“You mean like… by teaching you to focus on the war, they are diverting your attention away from all the problems?”

“Yeah…”

Lenn inhaled deeply and chuckled a little, wanting to lift the gloomy atmosphere somewhat. "Ying is kinda like me, I guess. She's never told anyone the details of her past, but we know she lsot her parents when she was young."

"Is that why she talks so little?"

"Probably..." Lenn mumbled. "Ahh... I wish I could talk to her more and know her better. She's like a ball of mystery, and I just want to know." He felt his chest warm a little. "But... I mean... there's not much time left. And if we manage to stop the attack, I don't know whether we'll go our separate ways or not."

"Well then do it now. Talk to her now, ask her all the questions you've ever wanted to ask." One-six told Lenn.

Lenn grimaced a little. "Now may not be the best time."

There was a loud clank as the canopy of the F-51 lifted open. One-five and Two-five seemed to have finished their software checks, and were clambering out of the cockpit. For the first time Lenn noticed just how unique and pretty Two-six's differently colored eyes are.

One-five noticed Lenn sitting atop his VX-200, and asked, “Since when did he come here?”

“A few minutes ago,” One-six answered. “We were just having a chat.”

“What did you two talk about?”

“Why we want to oppose Europa, and also why Lenn wants to help us,” One-six said, gesturing towards Lenn with his free hand.

One-five tapped his fingers on the fuselage of his plane irritably, and scratched his hair with his other. “So you told him about our betrayal?”

“I’d rather call it a rebellion.”

“No it…”

“One-five, I understand that the pure and supreme image of Europa you used to have in your mind may have been somewhat destroyed by our recent findings. But please, do not maintain any hard feelings.”

“I…” One-five tried to speak up, but One-six’s words had gracefully and respectfully destroyed any chance he had at a comeback.

Lenn couldn’t help but chuckle at the exchange. It was refreshing to see the “villains” act so human and so lovable. In many ways the European pilots are far more mature and experienced than he himself is, but in other ways, they were no better than children.

“What about you?” One-six asked. “How do you plan to help us if your friends don’t want to?”

“I don’t know… Maybe I’ll fly my plane by myself and do whatever I can. I mean… I’m not really the main part of the plan, it’s you guys who matter the most.” Lenn mumbled, fumbling with the tools in his hands. “I’m being selfish aren’t I? I should have listened to my team. I should do what would help them the most. If I convince them to take part in the plan, I’ll endanger their lives for something which may turn out to be pointless.”

One-six stared at Lenn. “Yeah… you are being pretty selfish. But so are we for asking you to take part in the first place.”

“No it’s fine. Even if I need to go alone, I’d go. That’s probably better, isn’t it? If I get shot down, I’ll be the only casualty, and my team will still be safe.” Lenn wondered, a painful smile on his face. He was faced with a very hard dilemma.

But that dilemma was very quickly resolved as Rei, Kang and Ying burst in through the door.

“Don’t you ever say that,” shouted Kang, pointing up at Lenn. “What ever you do, we’ll be with you!”

Lenn couldn’t help but smile as he slid down the side of his aircraft. “You guys must have been eavesdropping?”

“Yeah…” Kang chuckled.

Ying held out a fist and thumped it gently against Lenn’s chest. “Didn’t we swear that we’d fight together until the end of time?" She smiled. "I refuse to answer any questions you ask me now, because that assumes we will part ways after the successful operation."

“Yeah… keeping a positive attitude is great an all...” Lenn drooped his head. “You know, this is going to be incredibly risky right?”

“That’s what we’ve done all our lives.” Rei laughed. “But thanks for reminding us.”

Lenn began laughing too, and so did Kang. Even Ying joined in with a suppressed chuckle.

And so it was decided. Lenn and his team would all take part in the crazy plan which One-six had come up with. Though the plan had not yet been finalized, it seemed doable, just barely.

Together they worked on their planes, chatting with each other idly the entire time. Rei, Kang and Ying, who had used to be somewhat weary of the Europeans, now seemed much more comfortable around them. They seemed to almost be treating them as friends, but there still remained a hint of tension. After all, they did spend their entire lives fighting each other. A few heartfelt chats wouldn’t fully nullify the hard feelings between them.

The sky had just about turned dark red when they finished working. They were packing away their tools, when distant sirens began to blare.

“What’s going on?” Lenn asked to no one really in particular.

“I think we should go check.” One-six blurted out, dropping the box of tools on the ground and running towards the exit, the others following suit.

They charged into the dusk light and made their way down towards the main body of the town. A worker was running towards them, and they stopped him as he passed.

“What’s going on?” Lenn shouted above the sound of the sirens.

“They’re coming! The Europeans! They’ve come to kill us all!” He turned to look at One-six and lifted a finger to point at him. “It’s all because of you! You’ve doomed us all!” He cried, breaking away from Lenn’s grip and running away into the trees.

They stood there frozen, confused at what the man had crazily shouted. One-six was the first to act. He grabbed Lenn and One-five, who then grabbed the others, and began running towards the trees.

“Why…” Lenn began to ask.

“They’re raiding this place!” One-six answered him. “They want to wipe this place from the map.”

“How do you know?”

"I've been there and I've done it."

"How does the town know?"

“They’ve probably got radar or something. Or the people on watch spotted the planes as they approached.” One-six explained, not slowing his steps. “Large towns like Valkyria often have smaller satellite settlements who can relay early warning information to it.”

As they approached the edge of the town center, they heard the terrifying roar of glide bombs as they descended from the heavens.

It started off as a quiet whistle, then turned into a loud ripping noise as the bombs tore through the air towards them.

“Get down!” One-six shouted, shoving them into a small gap between two buildings as the bombs landed.

As the last sliver of the sun dipped below the horizon, the first explosions rocked the little town.