The alien attack.

Calvo was only able to sleep fifully that night knowing that a group of guardwomen were close by and well armed with the mobility of a transport. He was dozing when the sound of another battle erupted on the hill where he had seen the troop carrier land. Automatic blaster fire and shrill alien battle cries pierced the silence. He rolled awake and glanced quickly at Twelve. She was how he'd left her hogtied and gagged, her wrists and ankles secured tightly together behind her. She squirmed around and stared up wide eyed at the sounds of conflict from the hill. Calvo looked up at the high ground, muzzle flashes could clearly be seen and the dull crack and blossom of light from grenades.

The firing became more sporadic, from what seemed only a single rifle moving steadily further away and a glow began to suffuse the hill as something in the guardwomen's camp started to burn. The shooting petered out and Calvo watched as multicoloured flames began to lick skywards as the blaze on the hilltop intensified. Calvo figured the only thing up there that could burn like that was the troop carrier. If he was right it could only be a matter of time before the fuel and ammunition...

"WHOOOSH BOOM"

The **** of the explosion reached Calvo before the sound, the shockwave rippling down the hillside and shaking the trees violently. A huge fireball mushroomed up and the sound of the blast echoed back and forth from the hills and valleys around.

Eighteen had crawled out of the shelter after the clones V and Stripe when the alien attack had begun. Naked with her mind still slowed by the aftereffects of the natives ****, she'd stared incomprehensive as the twins had stood their ground and fired long bursts from their blaster rifles into the surrounding foliage. Such was the suddeness of the attack that the clones were nude except for their military boots and ammunition belts. The crop haired sisters exhorted their foes to come out and fight, their magnificently toned bodies illuminated by the muzzle flashes of their rifles as they poured fire towards the hidden aliens in the dense scrub.

The guard captain ran up to the three guardwomen firing a rifle from the hip. The officer's face ran with blood from a gash on her temple and her expression was grim.

"The lieutenant," She yelled. "Has anyone seen the lieutenant?"

The clones shook their heads and continued raking the bushes with auto-fire. Eighteen stared dumbly at her red haired commander, who seized her by the arm and struck her face with a hard open handed slap.

"Pull yourself together guard." She shouted, thrusting a pistol into Eighteen's hand. "We're in the fucking shit. Help the others, I'm going to find the lieutenant."

The captain threw a pair of grenades into the treeline and charged into the darkness. A volley of obsidian tipped spears arced through the campsite and one of the clones screamed as one struck her in the shoulder and she fell to her knees with one harm hanging uselessly at her side. Her sister stood over her, cursing defiantly as she sprayed rounds in the direction of the unseen aliens. Her magazine ran empty and she fumbled at her belt for another as a group of blueskinned natives charged screaming from the trees with warclubs raised. The clone gripped her rifle by it's barrel and swatted aside the first of the attackers, her huge breasts swinging as she moved. She clubbed down a second native before a thrown warclub struck her knee and she collapsed with a pained yelp. In an instant the aliens were upon her, overwhelming the desperately struggling valkerie through sheer weight of numbers.

A spear flashed past Eighteen's head as the remaining blueskins closed on her. Firing wildly she ran for the trees and crashed through the ring of hunters encircling her. Sprinting as fast as she could she outpaced the natives, the sound of their pursuit falling steadily behind her. She continued running for several minutes before resting once she was clear of the hill. She could hear no sounds behind her and she wondered if the aliens were still following, as she turned to look back an explosion rocked the night. Eighteen stared horrified as the hilltop was engulfed in a ball of fire. Had any of her comrades survived?