Sisters of Fire and Rain

"This is your new little Sister!" Mel pushed the little Rena in front of a pouting little Rin. 

"Hello..." She muttered shyly. 

"Huh? This one looks really weak. I don't know if she'll make it in Rin squad." The little girl grinned. 

"Who you calling weak!" Rena lunged at Rin, grabbing her by the collar. 

"Oh? This one does have some fight in it!" Rin grinned wider.  "Maybe you will make it after all." 

"Now, now." Mel got in between. "Sisters shouldn't fight." 

The two little girls pouted, turning away from each other. 

Rena had no idea why she was remembering that moment now. That was the first time she ever met Rin. She guessed that it was true, in the moment of your death, your life flashed before your eyes. She explained the plan in detail, marking out what exactly needed to be done in order.

"We need to execute this perfectly." Rena said. "One misstep will be fatal."

"Okay." Hina said. "Sisters!" Her voice rang out. "Does any sniper have visual on the Shadow?" 

"I can see it." A voice answered. 

"Me too." Another Sister answered. 

"Same for me. I can see it a bit through a crack." Rin said. "Can't shoot without exposing myself though." 

"Will that be enough of a distraction, Rena?" Hina asked. 

"Depends." Rena said, leaning back against the wall. "Rin."

"Hm?" She asked. 

"If you miss, we'll all die." She said. 

"...Of course I won't miss." Rin assured. "Who do you think I am?" She said, pulling out a side compartment on her sniper rifle, revealing a gem inside. 

"I know you won't." Rena smiled. "You're my big sister after all." 

"Everyone ready?" Hina asked. 

"Yes." They all responded. 

"Fire!" 

Two Snipers popped from their cover, taking aim. The Shadow noticed them, quickly drawing back its bow. Gunfire rang out, the bullets clattering against the barrier with an explosion of fire. Rena moved, sprinting and sliding across the slick ground, scooping up the sniper rifle into her arms and coming to a stop in the prone position.

Rell leapt out of cover, shadow sprinting towards Rin's position as she emerged, dropping prone on top a pile of rubble. Rell slid down next to her, channeling his Nin and placing it on the crystal. Shadow Nin flowed through the sniper rifle, lighting it in the soft dark red glow of Shadow flames. Rin took aim, zeroing in on the target. 

The Shadow fired two arrows aim at the two snipers positions. the arrows found their marks, hitting and killing the two Sisters. Rena took aim, zeroing the rifle and charging her Nin. 

"This is..." She muttered. 

"Our power." Rin said. 

Rin fired, a Shadow Nin bullet soaring out the rifle towards the Shadow. The bullet smashed against the barrier, shattering it instantly. 

"Boom." Rena muttered, pulling the trigger on her rifle. 

The ice bullet dug into the Shadow's chest, tearing into it and expanding out with jagged ice. The spikes tore through its body. It tried to lift its arm, but failed. The humanoid gave one last growl, before falling to its knees, finally falling over and dying. 

"Hit." Rena said over the light orb. "Target down." 

All the survivors breath a sigh of relief, coming out from their cover at last. 

"You did it Rena!" Rin's voice cheered. 

"No, we couldn't have done it without you or Rell." Rena assured, a faint blush on her face. 

"That truly was excellent work Rena." Hina said. "Let's regroup, see who we have alive. Stand by while I make contact with Elena's group." 

"That's most of Charlie dead. Half of Delta, and a good amount of Bravo." Mira shook her head. "Only squads without any casualties are Alpha and Foxtrot." 

"We can't be too sure." Hina shook her head. "I can't get in contact with either Elena or Astra." 

"Wait what?" Rell shook his head. "We have to look for them." 

"That's not our priority." Hina shook her head. "We need to continue with the mission or else this whole thing will be a waste of lives." 

"Major, you know what i'm going to say." Rin jumped in. "We're not leaving Elena behind, no matter what."

"We can't compromise this operation. This is the first inch we'll make in this century long war." Hina scolded. "Stop thinking so selfishly." 

"Hey you're forgetting one important thing." Rell came between, staring at Hina in the eye. "This whole thing only works cause I'm onboard. The only reason I'm working with you all is because Elena asked me to. If she's gone, I'm gone." 

Hina glared at Alpha squad. it seemed they had all made up their minds. 

"I'm with these guys." A pink haired Sister said. "I'm Yana by the way." She waved at Rell, winking cutely. "Foxtrot squad is what it is today cause of Captain Astra. I know i'm only acting captain for this mission, but it sucks. I'd rather not make this a permanent position." 

"I agree." A short red haired Sister jumped in. "Captain Astra promised me a drink from the Commander's personal stash, so i kinda want her to pay that."

"You too Jina?" Hina sighed. 

"And the rest of Foxtrot." Jina shrugged, lifting her massive battle axe over her shoulder. 

"I would like to save Elena and Astra as well." Rena said, approaching with a bloodied sniper rifle over her shoulder. "We've lost too many Sisters already. We need to save who we have left." 

"Why is it every Sister, including myself, are so stubborn?" Hina shook her head. "Fine. We'll divert and rescue the two of them, if they're still alive. However, if we can't find any trace of them, we'll continue with the mission. Any objections?" 

No one said anything. 

"Very well. Move out!" She directed. 

"Rena!" Rin leapt at her little sister, taking her into a deep embrace. "You're amazing!!" She cried. 

"Ah! Sis! We're on the mission, this isn't really the time!" Rena protested, trying to shove Rin off, her face completely red in embarrassment. 

"Look at how cute my super strong little Sister is when she gets embarrassed!" Rin said, rubbing her face against Rena's cheek. 

Rena kneed Rin's stomach, hopping back, taking deep breathes to cool her fluster.

"Ow! What was that for?" Rin pointed. 

"You were going way too overboard Sis!!" Rena protested, waving her arms wildly. 

"That's because I love my little sister so much." Rin grinned, putting her hands on her hips.

"MMM!" Rena made an embarrassed noise, hiding her face away for a moment, before turning back to her, collecting her resolve. 

"Hmm? What is it?" RIn asked, tilting her head. 

"I'm so, so sorry about hitting you before." Rena said, tears welling up in her eyes. "I shouldn't have done that." 

"Idiot..." Rin muttered, her own eyes misting up. "I know I was being a jerk. I shouldn't have talked to you like that..." 

"It's just cause... Big sis is so amazing... and I'm just... well I'm just me..." Rena choked, tears fully pouring down her face. 

"I'm sorry too." Rin said, walking up and stroking her little sister's head. 

"Rin!" Rena said, embracing her and crying into her shoulder. 

"I'm so proud of you." Rin said, comforting her. 

"How did you figure out Nin rifles could use other people's Nin?" Mira asked as the two Sisters rejoined Alpha squad. 

"Yeah, I knew it was possible, but the trick was hardly used back in my time." Rell said. "In fact i'm pretty sure it was my old squad mate who thought of it." 

"Oh, that's easy." Rena grinned, reaching into her pocket and pulling out the copy of West: A Holy Knight Sharp Shooter's Memoir. "I read about it in here." 

Rell's face dropped. 

"This is..West..." Rell shook his head. "His book, I remember him writing this." Rell remembered. "Wait... When did he write this again? I remember him writing it but... but something isn't right..." Rell stared at the book in confusion. 

"Hey! Elena and Astra are in trouble!" Hina said, storming towards the group. "I was only able to talk to them for a short time before they cut off."

"Where are they?" Rin asked, still wiping tears from her eyes. 

"Towards the city center. We need to hurry." Hina said. 

"All right. Let's go then." Rin directed.