The Sagant 23rd was not the most remarkable of regiments. It was one of thousands all across the Republic, fighting against the many menaces that bore down upon humanity. Sagant was a Hive Planet, cities covering the whole of the surface and so when it came time for tithes the most abundant resource it had was people. People that could hold weapons and be trained to fight among the starts. Being a tithe was a thing to be proud of for most upon Sagant. A great parade was held upon the world before the new regiments were sent off to do their duty.

Of course, all of that was the propaganda. The glory of dying in battle was rather lost the regiment after easily half of the numbers it had started with had died in its first 5 years of service. Those new recruits that were brought into the regiment were treated to a regiment of veterans, ones that had an idea just what the galaxy could throw at you. Among those that were the original tithes was Florina. Flo to her friends.

Sergeant Florina came from a long line of veterans from Sagant. Her ancestor had served in the 19th, the son after her in the 20th, and so on down the line until it reached her. It was rare for any enlisted family to last in such long service and to retirement no less. All of her family had reached ripe old age. That was because they followed the Rules. They had kept Florina alive and well for 5 years as well. The Rules were the code by which Florina’s family stayed alive. One. Always keep your head down. Two. Don’t rock the boat. Three. No heroics. Lastly, if a big girl told you to jump you asked her how high.

That of course led Flo to her rather unenviable situation. The Sagant 23rd had been stationed on a planet that was being overwhelmed by the Swarm. Of course, that also meant RGTS were around. The Silver Blades Chapter of RGTS had stationed one of their companies here and naturally that meant that they were working rather closely with the regiments stationed here. Most of the RGTS kept to themselves, not wanting to walk among the inferior humans. Of course, you had plenty of exceptions. Like these special examples.

Flo stood with her back straight as a trio of tall and rather beautiful women bore down upon her, dressed in military fatigues. There was a rather busty looking blonde with hair cut right below her ears. A dusky skinned woman with a particularly eye catching pair of violent eyes. Lastly a redhead with a particularly scandalous looking shirt that showed off her well-muscled stomach. Flo winced as the blonde pushed at her shoulder.

“Hey, you, aren’t you gonna apologize? You bumped into my friend here.” She gestured to the redhead.

The push was enough to completely shove Flo to the ground. Flo was not a weak woman by any stretch, the steel haired sergeant certainly able to hold her own. Compared to these RGTS however she might as well have been a child. She looked up at the three woman and cursed her stupidity for having drawn their attention. She inclined her head to the redhead. “I’m sorry. I didn’t notice you.”

Wrong choice of words as the redhead introduced her boot to Flo’s face. Not a kick but pushing her flat on her back and pressing the sole of the combat boot down on her. “Didn’t notice me? Well that’s rude; you humans should notice every RGTS walking around. Or did you mistake *me* for one of you?” She asked.

Flo squirmed and winced as the woman ground the sole of her boot into her face, getting dirt and mud all over it. “N-no, I just wasn’t paying attention. I’m not as attentive as an RGTS!” She managed to get out, muffled from under the boot of the other woman.

The redhead ground the sole of her boot in for a good few moments longer before lifting it up. “I can buy it; you humans are useless for anything I swear. Should just sit back and watch us do all the hard work.” The redhead remarked.

There was not a bone in Flo’s body that felt insulted by that. She was too eager to scurry away before they really got mean with her. Instead she just bobbed her head, not daring to stand up. “Y-yeah, we’re all real grateful you guys are here! I’m sure you’ll crush all those Swarm bugs!” She said, shamelessly feeding the ego of the three women.

The tanned one chuckled. “Might want to be more attentive, we might crush you by accident with the rest of the swarm. We can’t *constantly* be checking our boots for friendlies after all.” She mused.

Oh they’d do it as well. Flo recognized the type. They were new girls. Really young. Probably never actually seen the Swarm outside of a simulated environment. They’d absolutely crush their own soldiers by *accident* along with the enemy. Flo had seen it way too many times to count and would probably see it again. The steel haired woman bobbed her head. “Yes, of course, I’ll never make that mistake again. Thank you!” Flo said as she got up and scurried away into the nearest barracks.

Once inside she could hear them laughing to themselves as they continued their walk. No doubt anyone in camp would think twice about bumping into them accidentally. Flo had just had the misfortune of being the example. There were plenty of people that would have protested the treatment she had gotten. Plenty of people that would have argued with the trio. They would have gotten it much, much worse. It was just a lot easier to nod your head and agree that you were weak and pathetic compared to the RGTS.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Flo slammed herself right into the side of a wall, narrowly missing a jet of greenish ichor that flew through the shattered window to her right. It hit a man that had been too slow to find cover and he screamed as his armor and flesh started to melt away. Another blast hit him and his skull ended up being exposed before his corpse fell over. The acid projectile continued to sizzle away at the floor, making holes in the concrete floor.

Three seconds on, three seconds off. That was the rule for the swarm acid projectiles. She counted under her breath as more acid flew through the windows, fired from organic cannons upon the body of lesser swarm troops. “Now! Volley fire!” She commanded the rest of her squad.

Everyone came out of cover after the three second mark and opened up on the dog sized insects, laser rounds frying through their carapace and sizzling into their flesh underneath. They were extremely stupid creatures with simple thought patterns. They had no idea how to take cover. They only knew how to fire their weapons. The volley shredded through the monsters out in the ruined streets, spraying yellow blood upon the ground and sending gore flying all around.

“Move up! Next building!” The sergeant ordered.

The assault on the city of Tarken had come much sooner than anticipated. The guard had wanted to wait for more reinforcements from the neighboring sectors. They had been vetoed by the RGTS who wanted immediate action. As such the assault was with far less guard troops than would normally be on such a thing. The casualty reports coming through were staggering, though no shock for the Sagant 23rd. They had fought Swarm all their service. They were specialists aside from the new recruits.

As Flo stormed out into the streets with her men she could see the carnage and the destruction. The city had been hit first by the Swarm invasion and one couldn’t see a living soul around, only bones here or there. No moss or mold or insects. Everything had been stripped of life in this city, all to feed those goddamn bugs. The air was filled with their fighter craft dueling with massive winged abominations and the ground shook with the force of artillery barrages in the distance. As well as the rumbling of RGTS steps in what Flo hoped was the vast distance.

She kicked open the door, leading not with her rifle but a rather shorter submachine gun, the weapon far better suited to close quarters combat. The ones leading the squad inside after her bore shotguns. It was just as well as when the entered they found a number of rather twisted looking Swarm grunts lunging at them with razor sharp claws. They leapt up into the air, ready to rend them limb from limb.

Florina didn’t hesitate to level her weapon at the bugs, firing with a full auto burst of hot lead. The shotguns from the men at her side roared to life and blasted them into a fine cloud of yellow gore. Behind them were another trio and Flo ducked. As did those at her side. When the ducked, the men outside the door turned the corner and let loose with a barrage of laser fire, bathing the room in a red lights show. When all was said and done the building was cleared of the Swarm.

Florina led her men through the building, only to find that the other half of it had been completely destroyed. Blown up by artillery by the looks of it. Unfortunately that rather left little cover as a group of the acid spitters were milling about in the building opposite them. They immediately opened fire on her squad as soon as they saw her, the wet tearing sound of their weapons being fired still as disturbing as the sight of the acid melting a man.

Florina hit the deck as soon as she saw the sight and fired away, switching to her rifle seamlessly and letting loose a short controlled burst of laser fire. Two of her men were hit directly from the blasts and went down screaming. This wasn’t good. There was no cover here; they were going to be picked off with ease. “Fall back; we’ll lead them into a kill zone in the other building!”

As soon as the Swarm soldiers paused for three seconds the woman stood and followed after her men. They would pursue. Once the Swarm had a target in sight they’d pursue with animal doggedness. They needed to make it back to the other building or they’d be caught with limited cover. She was breathing heavily and adrenaline was pumping through her veins as she assessed that she had five other people left in the squad. They needed to meet up with another squad. Regroup.

Flo could see the doorway and her men making their way across the street. She was almost there- BOOM!

There was a ringing in Florina’s ears as the steel haired woman was vaguely aware she had been flung back against a wall. Hard. Enough that she had trouble catching her senses. She blinked as she tried to reorient herself. The doorway and indeed most of the wall had been completely blasted away. Her rifle lay nearby, snapped in two. Florina coughed, blood tinging her lips as she managed to make out the sight beyond the rubble. In the place filling the street was a single armored boot. She could see it through the gaping opening that had replaced the wall.

An RGTS she realized. What the hell was one of them doing in this part of the city!? They were supposed to be further to the north where all the big Swarm monsters were. She was vaguely aware as well that the single armored boot had completely crushed her squad. Florina stared at the boot beyond with no small amount of shock, her ears slowly coming back to her. Enough that she could hear booming words from on high.

“I’ll crush all of you little fucking bugs! Can’t believe these human are having a problem with *this*!”

She recognized the voice. The redhead from earlier. She frowned. That fucking moron. She was going to get herself killed out in the open like that. More importantly though, she was going to get *Florina* killed. The steel haired girl could hear them. The scrabbling of the Swarm bugs she had led here. Only now it was Florina stuck in a killzone. Not good. She needed to get moving very fast.

Flo staggered to her feet, her legs like jelly after being tossed back and she was fairly certain something was broken. Nonetheless she managed to force herself forward, clutching her submachine gun hard. She was, rather crazily, running right towards the armored boot that had crushed her squad. A single shift of her foot and that would kill Florina just as easily. However she had no choice. It was cover and if the option was melted by Swarm acid or crushed under RGTS boot then she was going boot.

She rounded the toe of the woman’s boot as she heard the roar of the giant’s gun above, exploding into the city. Crazy bitch, the job was to save the city, not blow it up. An acid projectile smashed into the toe of the woman’s boot, not doing much to the armor but narrowly missing Flo. The woman rounded the other side of the redhead’s foot just in time and winced as she noticed half of the corpse of one of her soldiers sticking out from under her foot. He’d never stood a chance.

She dove for the cover of the other building, not nearly as damaged as the last one and it was not a moment too soon. Above the RGTS had attracted the attention of one of the airborne insects which proceeded to ram itself right into her chest. It exploded into an acidic burst in a kamikaze attack, acid raining down around where Flo had just been standing. The redhead toppled back and fell with a great rumbling crash. Enough that Flo feared the building wouldn’t hold up. It shook at her very bones as the RGTS was toppled over.

She could hear her screaming, enough that it almost shattered her eardrums. The steel haired woman managed to look out into the street and wince as she saw her shrinking back down to a human height, struggling to get her armor off. Smart move but that brought problems with it. Namely that she’d have no more protection against the claws of the Swarm. She managed to get out of her ruined armor, shockingly, tripping and falling on the rubble her fall had created now only in a skinsuit.

The Swarm that had been coming for Flo ignored where she had fled and instead turned their attention to the exposed RGTS on the ground. Florina could see them leveling their fleshy weapons towards her. RGTS or no, she’d be melted into a puddle of slurry same as anyone else. “Run for cover you idiot…” She muttered under her breath from her own cover.

Instead of that of course, the RGTS picked up her weapon and fired off at the line of Swarm. “You bugs d-don’t scare me!” She shouted as she fired at them.

Florina could see how events would play out in crystal clear detail. They’d shoot at her and kill her. Maybe she managed to kill two of them, but she’d be very dead. Like insanely so. Flo could however use the opportunity to run the hell away while they murdered her. That was what the Rules would dictate. Never be a hero. Heroes die. Heroes get shallow graves. However Flo’s body acted on impulse, one that she would otherwise never have.

She stood up from behind her cover and blasted away at the Swarm grunts with a full auto burst from their flank, shredded them in combined fire with the RGTS. They didn’t expect it and never got a chance to get off a single shot. Of course that wasn’t the last of them. The rest of them didn’t have a shot on the redhead but they certainly had shots on Florina. Nothing for it, Florina surged forward.

Acid sprayed past her, narrowly missing her body. A gob of it came so close she could almost feel it sear away at her face. She dropped her submachine gun and pulled out her pistol and a knife. The last case scenario and the worst case but she had to do something. She fired into one of the monsters during her three second grace period. Her bullets smashed through the carapace. She smashed her knife up to the hilt into the eye of another of the Swarm, drawing a screech from it as she tackled the monster. It twitched and writhed as Florina forced it right in the blast of the last of its comrades. The acid melted away at the monster she used as a shield.

Florina shoved her impromptu shield away and fired the last of her clip into the monster, reducing it to a twitching mess on the ground. Florina let out deep and gasping breaths as she stood surrounded by the corpses of the Swarm. What… the hell had she just done? Broken one of the sacrosanct Rules of her family that was what. The steel haired girl had little time to ponder that as her attention turned to the RGTS. It was pretty easy now to see why she hadn’t run. Her leg was stuck under some rubble she herself had created.

Florina rushed over to the redhead, reloading her pistol as she did and holstering it. She was scanning the skies and the streets around them. Plenty of other Swarm would have noticed the RGTS fall down and would be on their way. They liked to take down the bigger things first Florina found. “Hey, you alright?”

The redhead looked at the woman approaching her in disbelief. “W-what chapter are you with?”

So she didn’t recognize her then. Well that was good. Would make this less awkward. “I’m with the Republican Guard. Sergeant Florina, Sagant 23rd.” The woman offered the RGTS a salute. “I saw you go down and figured you could use an assist.”

The redhead blinked. “G-guard? No way, there’s no normal human that would just charge those bugs like that.” She said.

She was shellshocked. Florina at least was familiar with that expression as the shaky mannerisms. Flo could sympathize but now was not the time to be dealing with this. She got down on her knees and started working to free the woman’s leg. “Doesn’t matter who I am, ma’am, we need to get off the street to somewhere safe.”

“B-but the battle, m-my sisters have to be avenged.” She babbled, looking confused as though she hadn’t thought to free her leg.

Not good, this one wasn’t mentally sound at the moment. If she went and did something stupid it would get them both killed. “Listen. We can avenge your sisters. But first we need to get you off the street. You don’t have armor. Your leg might be injured. You’re a liability like this.” Could still probably crush Flo’s spine with a pinkie but still.

“I-I…” Her eyes were unfocused, Flo needed to get her to focus. Her hand moved without thinking.

SMACK

There was a sharp sound of flesh upon flesh as Florina slapped the redhead. It had actually broken a couple of fingers she was pretty sure, the steel haired woman wincing hard at the sound of snapping bone. “I am ordering you, as a sergeant, help me free your leg and let me take you somewhere safe. *NOW*!” Flo barked in a voice she typically reserved for new recruits.

That seemed to knock some sense into the redhead at least. “U-understood!” She said as she started tearing away at the rubble with a pace that Flo couldn’t hope to match with her now broken fingers on one hand. The redhead pulled her leg free at last and staggered slightly but seemed to be able to walk. Flo nodded to a building nearby. If there had been Swarm inside they would already have been out here attacking. “In there. Come on.”

Had she really just slapped an RGTS? There went another rule out the window. Oh she was so dead as soon as the RGTS came to her senses. If she was lucky she’d be dead actually. It was a pretty gross crime for a human to assault an RGTS. Why the hell had she bothered to save this stupid smug bitch? Too late for regrets now. Flo opened the door to another room inside the building. Looked like an apartment complex. The ground still periodically shook outside from artillery and no doubt other RGTS.

The steel haired woman slumped back on a rather dusty looking couch and winced as she held her wounded hand in her other hand. With the adrenaline wearing off she could feel the pain now. She looked up at the RGTS. A young thing it looked but still easily a head over her. “We’re going to hunker down here for a second, alright?”

“Right. Understood.” The girl nodded.

Flo reached into her breast pocket and used her good hand to pull out a pack of smokes. The grey haired woman placed on between her lips and pulled out her lighter with shaking fingers. She lit up the cigarette and took a long drag before exhaling a toxic cloud above her. Nothing like a smoke to remind one that they were still alive.

“Got a name? Or just red?” Flo asked.

The RGTS nodded. “Sona.”

“Well Sona.” Flo leaned forward, sticking the cancer stick between her lips as she rifled around in her ammo belt and pulled out two clips for her pistol, placing them on a table in front of her. “I’ve got two mags left for this. I doubt somehow that skimpy suit of yours is hiding extra ammo for that big honking rifle of yours. Unless its between your tits.” Flo said at length.

The woman frowned. “If you are a human you are being very cheeky you know.” The redhead remarked.

“I just fucking slapped you, think that’s about as cheeky as it gets.” Flo said as she replaced the clips on her belt. “So we’ve got whatever you have left in that rifle. Plus about three clips of small arms fire. Left my combat knife in that one Swarm bug.” She mused. “Two grenades. Couple of flares. That’s about all we’ve got between us as far as I can see.”

Sona frowned. “I can grow and-!”

“Get melted by one of those fliers now that you ain’t got any armor.” Flo finished.

Flo pulled out a map and placed it on the table. It was marked with the site of the major offenses. She pointed to the southern part of the large city. The RGTS leaned in to look it over with her. “Way I see it. We got two options. Try to find some friendlies by heading south back towards the main battle line. Or head east where we’ve already cleaned out most of the bugs. From there we can make it back to our lines. Then you can have me massage your sore feet from walking so much, or whatever you RGTS gals do.”

The redhead actually managed a chuckle. A bit of levity. Good. Meant the shock was probably starting to wear off. “I’ll hold you to that, Sergeant. In any event, we should head south and see if we can run into any allies. They might have supplies for us. Medical supplies would be especially appreciated. In your case I can imagine.”

Flo nodded. “Was my thought of our best chance as well. We head south then after we catch our breaths. No growing. Last thing I need is a giant puddle of gore.” Flo couldn’t believe this. She had expected a standard offensive but now here she was with an RGTS. Well, she supposed stranger things had happened.

The Silver Blades Chapter was a relative new chapter among the RGTS. About five centuries ago the Golden Blades Chapter had a split and from that split came the Silver Blades. The split ultimately came over recruitment. The Golden Blades believed it was much more vital to seek out skilled individuals with the factor, so as not to dilute the quality of the RGTS. The Silver Blades believed that breeding those with the factor was the way forward and resulted in more soldiers to be used. So it was that the Silver Blades became one of the larger chapters and the Golden Blades had fallen into obscurity.

While they had a handful of veterans, the Silver Blades was a young Chapter. About 90% of the Chapter forces were less than a hundred years old. 50% were under fifty years old. The Scouts tended to have accelerated education, making it so that they could be ready as early as 18 years old. Quantity was vastly more important to the Silver Blades than quality. The youth of the chapter often resulted in very high casualty rates. Of course, the youth were never told this when they were sent out into battle.

The Swarm were bugs. Insects. Big ones but they were ultimately just things you could squish underfoot. These were the things that Sona had been taught from an early age. The Naa were big stupid brutes that could be beaten by any RGTS. The knife ears were fragile little beings you could shatter with a flick. Sona had been taught from birth that the enemies of the Republic while many, were no match for the power of the RGTS. She believed it as well. Whole heartedly. Why wouldn’t she? She had never been told anything to the contrary.

That was why, when she had been in battle, in her first real battle, it had been a shock. The propaganda she had been fed was peeled back bit by bit. The first was when she watched her sergeant torn to bloody ribbons by a Gigant. Never in her wildest nightmares would she have expected such a being to exist. It was huge; a full head taller than she was at her full size and its claws could tear power armor like it was paper. She watched in horror as it tore her sergeant to pieces, its great toothy maw chopping half of her head off with a horrible crunch.

The second had been watching her sisters go into battle against the Swarm. They hacked the Gigant to pieces with sheer numbers, only to be set upon by a swarm of their fliers, acid eating away at their armor and skin and bones and melting them before her eyes. They were girls she had grown up with. She watched the illusion of the invincibility of the RGTS melt away, literally, right in front of her eyes as they screamed.

The last had been looking upon it. Upon the leader of the Swarm on this world. It was easily the same size as the Gigant, holding a boney sword in all four of its claws. Its baleful eyes glowed with a malign intellect as it watched more of her sister’s attack. They never stood a chance. No matter their skill, their size, or anything else they just never measured up. They were cut down. Right in front of Sona they were cut to gore.

She ran. She remembered her power armored legs moving without even thinking about it. Her eyes were wide and her mind couldn’t process what she had been seeing. The Swarm were bugs. They were insects you could crush easily underfoot. Pests and no real threat to the RGTS. This was the lie she repeated over and over in her mind as she fled north, to a place where the lie was reality. The towering redhead stomped through the northern part of the city, her armored feet crushing through buildings and streets as she leveled her rifle at just any patch of the Swarm she could find. She hadn’t been thinking, hadn’t wanted to think. She just did what was natural to her mental picture of the Swarm, not caring if she stepped on humans.

Sona was pulled from her thoughts as she leaned against a doorway, holding her rifle tightly in her fingers. She had realized it at the time. She had nearly died. Died not against a massive Broodlord or Gigant. It would have been against small Swarm bugs she could normally crush dozens of in a single step. If it hadn’t been for… Her eyes turned to the woman still sitting on the couch and enjoying her cigarette.

Florina. A human. She almost didn’t believe that she was human. Sona went over the sight of her charging forth from nowhere and slaughtering all of those Swarm. It had been incredible. A sight she would attribute to an RGTS. Humans were small, cowardly, weak. These were words she had been taught as well. They scurried underfoot, trampled more often than accomplishing anything. Despite what Flo might have thought, Sona did remember her face now that she had somewhat recovered from her world shattering around her.

Flo had been knocked into the dirt. She had put her boot over her face and made her agree how rude she had been bumping into her. Yet, this same squirrely and not exactly intimidating looking woman had come to her rescue. It was hard for her to understand. The redhead sighed and dismissed the thoughts from her head. It didn’t matter at the moment. There was still a battle to fight and she had to recover her honor. She had dishonored the sisters that had fought and died. She had been scared and run. Sona wasn’t going to run this time.

“Right. Break time over. Time to earn our paychecks, Sona.”

The voice broke Sona out of her thoughts. Flo stood up and wrapped a bit of cloth around her broken hand, wincing as she did. “Paychecks?” Sona asked. The hell was a paycheck?

Flo rubbed at her temples. “Oh right, I guess you don’t worry about money or things like that. Poor figure of speech. Let’s get moving I mean.”

“Could have just said that you know. If we’re working together at the moment, need to keep our communication concise and understood.” Sona said with a frown.

The human actually had the gall to roll her eyes at that rather reasonable suggestion! “Yeah yeah, I’ll keep the words simple for ya.” Simple! Sona gritted her teeth and glared at the woman outright as she turned her back on her.

Flo pulled out her pistol and held it in her good hand and started making her way through the building. Away from the street. “Why are we going this way?” Sona asked.

The human looked over her shoulder at the slightly taller woman. “The streets are a death trap. If we go strolling through them we’re going to get killed. The alleys are our best bet. Tighter corridors mean more chances for any shots we make to count. ‘Course, the Swarm probably has a few buggers in the alleys as well.”

Why hadn’t she thought of that? Sona had no idea. She had never really fought in cities before. All of her actual practical training had been in the wilderness. “You make it sound like the Swarm can think.” She remarked as they left through the emergency exit into a rather dirty looking alleyway. She checked the corners with her rifle. She had ten shots left in this thing. Had to make them count.

Flo didn’t respond immediately. She walked into the middle of the alley down a flight of stairs. The human squatted down and ran her fingers along the dirty ground. Looking closely Sona could see it as well. Patterns in the dirt. Patterns that went towards where they needed to go. The sergeant knew the Swarm, better than Sona did it seemed. She didn’t even need to be told what to look for, she just looked for it. It was a curious thing.

“They can. On some level. The big ones anyway I think.” Flo said.

Sona scoffed. “The Swarm are bugs you can crush underfoot-.”

“How’d that work out for you earlier?” Flo asked sharply. “Looked like you were about to be bug food, big girl.” The steel haired woman remarked.

Sona gritted her teeth. She was right. It was a lie of course. A lie that had nearly cost her everything. Sona followed after Flo down the alley. Her skin suit was at least useful for silence, the suit possessing pad around her feet that deadened noise. The redhead cleared her throat. “You know, I liked you better when you were agreeing how weak humans were. A lot less lip.” Sona said.

Flo hesitated a step, barely noticeable really. Surprise maybe. “So you *do* remember me eh?” The steel haired woman mused. “Don’t really see how my keeping my tongue curbed here would help keep us alive. You don’t seem to know shit about the Swarm, so really the more I mouth off, the higher our odds of living to the next day.”

The sheer gall of this human was impressive. She had expected her to be cowed by remembering being under her boot however it appeared that was not the case. Much as Sona would have liked to remind her of her place… this was not the time or place and she supposed she did still somewhat owe Florina. They stopped just outside the alley. There was a massive crater in the street and on the other side was another alleyway. Flo poked her head out and looked from one side to the next. “Coast is clear.”

As they crossed Sona looked around at the crater around them. There were plenty of dead swarm inside of it. As well as a handful of humans. They all looked like they had been flattened and compressed. “What could have done this?” She mused.

“If I were to guess, I’d say this is one of your footprints.” Flo remarked as they entered the next alleyway.

“One of my…” She had been standing inside of her own footprint was her first thought. An odd one at that. The next was the fact she had flattened so many under just a single step. It was enough to bring a smirk to her lips. “Well, those humans should have watched where *I* was stepping. Their own fault for being underfoot.” She said with a shrug.

“Guess so.” Flo said curtly, not rising to whatever smug bait that Sona was placing.

It felt odd to Sona, sneaking through the streets. She could hear the sounds of the battle above and the quaking of the artillery upon the earth. The distant shots of the infantry of the Guard. It was the eternal soundtrack of the city it seemed. Of course there was also the screams of those dying and the sickening wet noise of the acid blasters of the Swarm. It was something that Sona had never imagined. This was a real battle. Not a simulation. Not a mock fight. This was real. This was what it really meant to fight the foes of the Republic.

Her fingers strayed to her neck, scratching at her implant. All it would take was a thought to let her increase her size. Of course what had happened before was still fresh in her mind. Sona lowered her fingers. It wasn’t an option. She had to play human it seemed for a spell. They made their way through the alleys of the city, avoiding the Swarm as best they could. The further south they went, the closer the sounds of battle grew. Looked like they were close now. Very close to the lines of battle.

Flo lifted a hand to stop Sona as they reached a corner. “Looks like four of them. Spore Mines. Traps probably for anyone coming up the street beyond.”

“Spore mines?” Sona cocked her head.

“They release a deadly gas when they pop. Can turn your insides to goo. Not fun. They’ll detect us if we try to go through them. If we blast them the gas will linger in the air…” Her eyes turned upwards. “How high can you jump?” She asked.

“Compared to you? Pretty high.” Sona said with a smirk.

“Think you could launch us up on the roof?” Sona looked up at the distance of the buildings on either side of them. It would be a bit of a jump but she could do it. If she had her powered armor it would be the simplest thing, but that was past hoping for. She was going to get chewed out so hard for losing that. She winced as she imagined the Captain’s lecture for losing chapter equipment like that.

“Sure. Just hold on.” Sona gripped Flo without warning by the collar and squatted down, her body suit stretching enough to really show off her flawless body before suddenly she launched herself and Flo up into the air, cracking the ground where they had been standing a little. The air rushed past her face as she reached out and grabbed the edge of the roof, pulling herself and her human passenger up onto it. She tossed Flo, who was rather shaking in clear shock, onto the roof before her. The redhead chuckled.

“What? Afraid of heights?” She asked with a lifted brow.

Flo managed to take deep calming breaths. “J-just didn’t expect it is all.”

Humans. She rolled her eyes and used their new elevated position to look around. Her heart almost stopped when she got a good long look around.

“A fucking Broodlord!? Y-you have to be kidding me!” Flo cried out.

There it was, towering in the distance. The monster that had killed her sisters. The four armed monster was to the south and it looked like it was completely ravaging the friendly lines with nothing there to stop it. No RGTS was around and Artillery barrages were simply bouncing off of its hide. Sona looked it in terror, remembering the sight of those eyes of malign intellect. The sight of her sisters being cut to ribbons so easily.

“Well. South is a shot idea. We need to get the fuck out of here.” Flo remarked, rubbing her temples and clearly trying to stay calm.

“And let that thing run wild!?” The redhead asked incredulously.

Flo looked at Sona like she was crazy. “You wanna fight that thing? Be my fucking guest. I have done my hero work for the day. The smart thing is for us to head east and hope to Napolin that they don’t turn towards our main frontal base.” The grey haired woman said.

Sona, deep down, wanted to run again. She wanted to hide and cower just from the memory of her sisters falling around her. The idea of seeing those eyes again had her pissing herself. However. She looked at it. There were no other RGTS around. They had all been killed by the monster. She was it. Sona was the only one that could do this. She closed her eyes and held her finger to her neck.

“You can run and scurry like a mouse, Florina. I’m going to fight. Even if I die I’ll beat that monster for what it has done.” She gritted her teeth.

She felt a hand on her wrist as she touched her neck. Florina had a scowl on her face. “Are you a fucking idiot? Look at those artillery rounds bouncing off of it. Do you really think you can beat that thing if those aren’t even scratching it?” She demanded.

Sona snatched away her hand, glaring down at the human. “Whether I can or not doesn’t matter. I have to try. I ran from that monster once. I won’t do it again!” She said.

Sona had decided. Even if she was going to die, it would be in the same battle all of her sisters fell in. It was not going to be skulking and scurrying away like a frightened mouse. She was RGTS. She was better. Better than the human standing before her. Better and worth more than the whole army that was being massacred by that monster. She had to show them all. Show the world what the strength of an RGTS was. With that thought firmly in her mind she ran, jumping from the roof with the cries and protests of Flo left behind. She had saved her life. Now it was time that Sona use that life for something better. She wouldn’t run! Not this time!

As she ran she placed her finger back to her neck and started to swell in size rapidly. Her form filled the streets as the smaller swarm noticed her. They started firing at the giant woman as she bulldozed her way through the streets, the redhead’s skin suit getting singed and burned. She didn’t stop even then, her strides smashing and crushing every lesser swarm monster under foot. She was a wrecking ball of destruction upon the streets, not even noticing the friendlies that were blasted aside or crushed with the bugs. It was their own fault for getting in her way.

She leveled her weapon at the monster as it started to turn. She needed to be smart about this. The artillery was hitting its hardened shell. Which just meat she had to hit it in other places. She had ten shots. Time to make them count. She fired away, her first one smashing into the monster’s arm. The great hulking beast let out a shriek of agony as it’s lower arm was blasted away into a fine yellow goo, one of its swords flying away from its grip. The thing turned its eyes upon her, glowing with murderous intent. Sona didn’t cower from them this time. Not with all these humans watching. She couldn’t let them think she was like them, cowardly and small! She was an RGTS!

She opened fire as the beast came stomping towards her through the city, her next shot smashing into its torso. It bounced away harmlessly. Another towards its leg. It also bounded away, the massive shell rolling through the street and crushing small houses and those taking cover inside of them. She fired away, her legs screaming for her to run from this monster but she refused to listen to them.

It was almost upon her now, its blades rising up to cut her down just like it had for all of her sisters. She fired her last shot and it flew true and strong right into one of those terrifying eyes. It stumbled forward and let out a shriek of agony, its blades still falling but now she could see an opening. Sona dropped her gun and leaped forward, passing through the blades and onto the other side. She rolled out along the ground, her massive body crushing anything and everything under its might. Soldiers and lesser Swarm were mere yellow and red splotches adorning her form.

She had no time to waste. She surged to her feet, reaching out and grabbing the fallen sword of the broodlord from its blasted hand and turned to face the monster. Her eyes were filled with a fire few could ever fathom as she swung the weapon towards another arm. The weapon sliced through as though cutting through butter. The broodlord let out a cry of agony as it matched its remaining blades with the RGTS, swinging them in a dazzling and impressive display of skill that she simply lacked. She could feel cuts open upon her skin and blood flowing freely from multiple wounds. However through it all she had a smile on her lips.

“I’m not going to lose to you, not in front of all of these humans! They need to look up and know. Know I can do things they never can!” She cried as she swung the blade with all of her RGTS granted strength, pushing the monster back and swinging its weapons wide. She saw her chance. Her blade swung down and cut through bone and flesh and carapace, the alien weapon severing the head of the great beast and sending it flying.

The corpse stood for a moment longer before it slowly toppled over. Sona stared at the fallen monster and smiled her same smile she had held through the fight. Eventually she wobbled in place. A friendly commander could only watch in utter despair as the champion of the hour stumbled back a step, her ample rear over him and all his troops before slamming down and crushing them all. Sona fell over, out cold.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

Instead of what she had feared, discipline and ridicule from losing her armor and indeed fleeing from battle; Sona had been hailed as the hero of the hour. The young RGTS had been granted every medal the guard regiments that had been present could throw at her, indeed her own Chapter had given her the Silver Sword. It was a medal given to those in her chapter that had accomplished things well above the call of duty. The medal came with a personal power sword with the chapter iconography upon it. It was a rare honor, especially for one so young.

Sona had spent the past week recovering onboard the vessel over the planet. Evidently after her deed the Swarm had fallen into complete disarray on the planet and were now quite easy pickings for the Guard. The redhead couldn’t believe it. Couldn’t believe she had actually defeated a broodlord. All of her sisters had fallen. Her sergeant. They hadn’t stood a chance. However she had managed to beat it. Of course, she hadn’t been blind. She would never have managed to defeat the swarmlord if it hadn’t been for a certain human saving her life. That particular detail was, naturally something that had gotten omitted from the report.

“Are you serious?” The captain of her company regarded Sona with a serious expression.

She nodded. “Yes. Very. A human struck me while I was on the planet. Slapped me in the face. She was also very rude. Called me stupid and simple a couple of times.” Sona said.

The captain frowned. “Well. We can’t have that. I can draft up a request she be tried and executed for such an offense if you like, Sona. I am fairly certain everyone on the planet knows they owe you their lives.” She said, picking up a datapad and already writing out the request.

Sona shook her head. “No, no. I think that would be harsh. Humans need to be shown their place though. If she is allowed to mouth off like that to every RGTS… well then no one would fear us. So I would be happy to educate her.” Sona said with a smirk.

The captain actually chuckled. “Ah, the fruits of youth.” She shook her head. “I’ll arrange the request sent directly to her regimental commander.” The woman said before standing up and gripping the woman’s shoulder. “I don’t usually see potential like yours, Sona. Even I would have trouble accomplishing what you did. Strive to be a sister the others would want to be like.” She said with a soft smile, adjusting her glasses up the bridge of her nose.

Sona nodded, feeling incredible pride welling in her chest. To earn such praise from a veteran like the captain. She saluted the woman sharply. “Yes Ma’am! I won’t let you down!” She said.

It wasn’t long after that, about exactly a day that Sona found herself waiting in the hanger bay of her company ship. She was dressed in military fatigues and watched a particular shuttle being landed. It opened up and there she was. That had been rather quick she had to say. One of Florina’s hands was wrapped in a cast and she was carrying a duffel bag that likely held all of her possessions. She had that same easy look on her face as she had possessed before though it was a tad more… strained Sona noted with mild amusement.

Sona didn’t walk over to her. No, no, she let Florina walk over to her. The grey haired woman slowly made her way over to Sona, looking not exactly eager to do so. Florina did an elaborate bow. “All hail the savior of the hour. We should all be kissing her toes and thanking her for our lives.” She said.

“I mean there will be *plenty* of time for kissing my toes later yes.” Sona said with a chuckle. The wince that drew from Florina was quite funny to her. “You can feel free to thank me by the way.”

Flo looked at her incredulously. “You got me expelled from my regiment, stripped of rank and literally given over to the RGTS to be ‘disciplined’ for the rest of my natural life. And you expect me to thank you.” The grey haired woman said slowly.

Sona shrugged. “I mean you can always kiss my boots in gratitude instead. That also works.”

“You have to be out of your mind. Starting to regret saving you from those bugs.” The woman remarked.

Sona wrapped an arm around the shorter woman’s shoulder and smirked as she led the helplessly weaker human along through the halls of the ship. “Florina, you should be happy. You made it possible for *me* to stop the broodlord. If I had died it would have killed countless more. I mean, no one will ever mention or sing about your part of the tale. But I know. Which is why I helped you out. Since now, you don’t have to worry about being tossed onto random battlefields or dying forgotten somewhere cold and alone. All you need to do is worry about one person. The only one that matters to you now really.”

Florina shoulders shivered a little at the words. “D-don’t suppose you mean Napolin?” She asked.

“Me. I mean me.” Sona said, her fingers squeezing just the slightest bit into Florina’s shoulders. “I remember *all* of those things you said and did. So you can start making them up to me so we can start on the right foot.” She grinned.

Flo swallowed hard as she noticed Sona moving her free hand towards her neck. “H-hey, this is a really weird idea of gratitude you know. I’d have settled for just a thank you card. Don’t really care if you get the credit.” She said.

Sona placed her fingers on her neck and slowly started swelling upwards in size. God it always felt better than sex, the feeling of the power flooding her veins. She slowly went from holding onto Flo’s shoulder to holding her between a pair of fingers. The woman fell out into the palm of her hand. “I am grateful you saved my life, its why you are here. This is much better life thank just dying on the frontlines somewhere.” Sona said. “You get to be a hero’s pet.”

Flo fell out into the palm of Sona’s hand. “W-wait!” She got out before Sona curled her finger around her. God this felt great. Everything Flo had said to her, all those little jabs or insults and that slap had really been festering in her mind. Now she had the woman. Literally, she owned her now. She had won the day. Flo got to be her spoils. Just like her shiny new medals or her sword. The redhead was on cloud nine as she made her way back to her room.

The door slid open as she walked into the small room. There had even been talk of upgrading her quarters for what she had done. Sona tossed the tiny woman onto a table in front of a couch. The grey haired woman looked dazed and confused as Sona went ahead and started tugging the laces off of her boots. She loosened the tongue of the footwear and finally freed a bare foot to the open air. One far larger than Flo.

The woman fell over onto her back as a bare heel slammed down right in front of Flo, the creamy and large expansive of skin towering over the human. She slammed her other foot down beside it, flexing and curling shapely digits in the free air above Flo. The redhead had a smile on her lips as she looked up at the ceiling. “Man my feet are *killing* me, Florina. Didn't you mention before that you’d give me a nice massage after all was said and done?” She mused.

Flo looked up at the towering feet of the RGTS, both many times her size. How could she even begin to massage the massive pair of feet? However she doubted that Sona wanted excuses. Flo still had her Rules and they applied now more than ever. Sona owned her. She was basically her glorified slave. How old was this girl? Like 18 probably. So she was like ten years Flo’s junior. The woman felt a hot wash of shame at being told to just massage her feet, but she still shuffled forward and lifted her hands up.

Sona meanwhile set her hands behind her head as she at last felt Flo get to work, rubbing her tiny hands against the heel of one of her feet. “You know I learned something. Something really important on that planet. Humans are weak. Pitiful really. Kinda useless. They need someone to protect them. That’s why the RGTS are here. To protect the human race. So the human race can show some gratitude every now and again.” She shifted a foot to look at the tiny woman pampering her. “Don’t you think so, Florina?”

The woman hesitated before nodding. “Yeah.”

“You’d have been killed by that broodlord, correct?” Sona asked.

“Of course.” She said as though it were common sense.

“That broodlord was better than any human on that planet right?”

“It was yeah.”

“I beat that broodlord. So, I guess that makes me so much better than any human around. Aren’t you grateful you get to be owned by someone so great?” Sona asked.

Flo hesitated the longest with that question. “Y-yes. I am, Sona.”

The redhead laughed. “Just checking. You can keep working.”

Florina had been at many high and low points through her life. She had been among the height of promotion as she had been made a sergeant at a young age and she had also been low in being humiliated by a few random RGTS at times. This however had to be the lowest point of her life. The very bottom of what it meant to be human. Of course, even she couldn’t say anything about it otherwise… well.

She looked at the expanse before her. It was quite large. A long roving leather highway that descended down into darkness. In the darkness she could see the patterns that were toe prints. Her toe prints. Sona, her owner. The word still sent a shiver down her spine. It had been a weak since she had literally just been handed over to the redhead. Like there had been no real formal hearing. She had been accused and sentence in the same day and shipped off to the hero of the hour. This, one of her boots. This was her home now.

Flo swallowed hard as she looked up out of the opening. Napolin, it was high up. She could also see something tracing around the rim. A single pale bare toe, like a shark it circled above. Occasionally the sight of a creamy bare sole blocked out the light of the room. It sent rumbled through this boot. The boot that was her home. Florina watched a pair of toes pinch the opening and she stumbled in place as the boot was lifted up, unable to hold her balance as gravity sent her tumbling towards the toe section.

“Flo, you know what I feel?” Sona mused from on high, her voice rumbling though Flo couldn’t see her face.

Don’t say it. Please, not again. Flo shut her eyes and managed to hold herself back from weeping. She’d take twenty four hour march. Anything but what she knew, deep down was coming. She was all splayed out in the toe section of the boot, Sona occasionally letting the boot sway in the air. A pair of fingers replaced the shapely toes, stopping the swaying and feeling like Flo was about to lose her lunch. Flo barely got any sleep because Sona just didn’t sleep. At all. When Flo had informed her she needed sleep the redhead had scoffed.

“I feel like going for a nice walk through the ship.” Sona said. “So be a dear and make sure my right foot is as pampered as possible will you?” She rumbled. “You do a great job at it.”

Flo felt her heart sink as beautiful bare toes filled the space that was the only way in or out. They were her tormenters, having toyed with her small form and dirtied her with sweat and grim many a time. They were flawless today though, shapely and impressive things that slid along the sole of the boot towards her. The world tipped in the opposite direction and she rolled towards the row of toes. They lifted up, trapping her underneath them and pinning her under the row. They squished into her form, pressing her to the leather below. She could hear a rustling outside. Sona tying her boot up. That meant this was her day now. No joke she was spending at least a few hours in here.

The toes curled up around Flo, encouragement. Prompting. Sona idly telling her to get to work without needing any verbal communication. Flo actually did manage a sniffle. This was her life now. She should have let those bugs end her. Maybe, one day, Sona would slip up and she’d be freed. Now this was her punishment for breaking the rules of her family. She lifted her back up and rubbed her whole body up against the row of toes above her. The dark cramped space was too small for her to move her hands properly. She had to use her whole body to give Sona her attention.

All at once the whole world shifted violently, vertigo overcoming her as the toes lifted up before pressing down on her, squishing her against the surface below. She was tapping her foot, making sure Flo was in just the right place to her liking. This continued for a full minute, Sona moving her foot side to side and tapping it a few times until Flo was just right. She curled her toes up around Flo, squeezing the air from her before she started walking.

One never would have thought of walking as an earth shattering event. However for Flo it was. Sona lifted her foot up, the stomach of the smaller woman doing flips before bringing it down. The row of toes above pressed down on her, mauling her form as they lifted up and then squished down on her. It was to the point where the boot didn’t just have toe prints. It had a Flo print under the arch of her toes, her outline forming in the bootsole.

Sona went about her day and Flo’s job was simple. She sat there and provided something nice for her toes to come down on. When she needed to fidget, that was the worst. The toes curled up around her or tapped against her, squeezing the air from Flo. However it was a simple job. Flo didn’t need to do anything. She just needed to be under her toes to make Sona happy. It was an awful job but brainless.

Eventually the movement stopped. She was probably sitting down. She felt gravity shift horribly, the boot swinging around and her sense of direction thrown off. Sona had crossed her leg. Flo had no idea which way was up and which way was down really as the redhead threw it off by simply idly crossing her leg. Her foot bobbed ever so, shaking Flo up and down and continuing to slam her into the toes above her. The digits were her constant companions now. Sona loved having Flo at her feet she found.

The bobbing stopped but now the redhead’s big toe idly mashed down onto her face over and over again. Flo flailed and squirmed as much as she could when she couldn’t breathe, trying to squirm from under the massive digit. She pushed against it with her arms straining painfully. It was like trying to move a mountain, Flo suffocating from the big toe over her face. She wept as it was lifted off of her. “Pl-please Sona, stop. You-you’re the biggest and best! Please let me, mmmgfffff!” She was muffled by the big toe of the redhead again.

It was then that she did it. She had discovered it the other day completely by accident. It had earned her a reprieve. It was utterly humiliating but Flo was at her limit. She licked. She let her tongue leave her mouth and licked the bottom of the big toe smothering her. Immediately it lifted off and Flo took a deep gulping gasping breath. It had worked again! She had the taste of her toe in her mouth but at least she was able to breathe in.

She felt something shift and heard a rustle from outside. Untying. She was untying her boots! Flo felt elation, joy, true happiness as she felt the toes slide off of her. Her naked form was covered in faint foot sweat but she could breathe the fresh air coming into the boot. It was divine, sweeter than any fresh water or booze. Flo laid out in her impression within the boot for a good solid few moments before a shadow appeared again.

Sona’s hand, her fingers groping around in the boot until she gripped Flo’s tiny and sore form. The grey haired woman gasped as she was exposed to the light of the world beyond. “S-sona!” She gasped.

“…So like this?” She asked, Flo feeling herself moving through the air.

“Splay ‘em a little more.” This was a voice she didn’t recognize.

Flo managed to blink away the light and then saw where she was going. Right between the big and second toe of the redhead. “Son-!” She was cut off as Sona shoved her face first into the webbing between her toes.

“There ya go, now just floss up and down.” The unfamiliar voice said.

Flo found her form being rubbed against the webbing between Sona’s toes, covering her form in the faint moisture and whatever boot lint had gotten between there. She tried to open her mouth to scream as Sona flossed her between her toes but when she did she was rewarded with bits of dead skin and grime into her mouth. She swallowed reflexively and felt revulsion at the action. Oh Napolin what was happening.

“So just once a day? And they’ll be as smooth as yours?” Sona asked with amazement. “Feels pretty good.”

“Yeah, I use serfs though. They are way better at it. Even can get them to lick while ya do it. Dunno how well trained yours is. Make sure you get her between each toe. You’d be shocked how much lint and sweat gets between there. Its *great*.” The unfamiliar voice said with a chuckle.

Sona laughed. “She’s pretty aware of her place. Watch. Flo, lick.”

Flo wanted to say something like fuck you redheaded bitch. Wanted to scream her denial as she was rubbed between Sona’s big and second toes. What would that get her though? Punishment or something. In the end Sona would still just rub her between her toes. If she cooperated maybe she wouldn’t go back in the boot. It hurt but Flo let her tongue loll out and felt revulsion at the very idea of doing this every day. She wriggled and squirmed and writhed as Sona used her as she pleased.

“Woah, she’s pretty obedient! And look at her wriggle like that, that’s exactly what you wanna see. You sure she’s not a serf?” The unknown voice asked.

Sona rewarded Flo by switching to the next toe over. “Nah, she’s a human I met on the planet. Really mouthy but knows her place at least.”

This was hell; this was actually hell as Sona flossed her between all of her toes on both feet. Her tongue was dry and her naked form was covered in grime and sweat. The redhead finished up and held Flo out for examination before their eyes. Flo could see the other woman clearly. She was a busty blonde with a smirk on her lips. Beautiful as all RGTS were. She eyed up Flo in a way that made her shiver. Like she wasn’t even a person.

“She did a good job looks like. Might have to snag her from ya one day. Congrats again about that slaying that broodlord thing. Shame about the other girls but just the facts of life there.” She said to Sona.

Sona rubbed the back of her head and laughed. “It was really nothing, compared to what you’ve done anyway Sergeant.” She said, a tinge of her own hero worship in her voice.

Flo watched the other RGTS pat her on the shoulder. “I’ve done a lot because I’m like two hundred years old. I bet when you’re my age you’ll be chapter master.” She said with a grin. She got up and brushed herself off. “Anyway, shouldn’t keep you so long. I’ll catch ya around Sona.”

Sona smiled before looking at Flo. “You need a bath. But first, got a few more people to meet. Soooo…” Sona lowered Flo into her other boot.

“W-wait, Sona! Please!” Flo panicked as she was lowered down. This was her life now and it was terrifying. Sona had to stop. Surely she couldn’t be serious!

Sona didn’t wait and rolled her eyes. “Yeah, yeah, six hours of sleep I remember. You’ll get it. I asked the Sergeant about it and she said you guys actually do need it so don’t worry.” She boomed.

A new row of toes came down into the boot to meet her, wriggling eagerly after Flo’s pampering of them. Flo didn’t mind admitting she screamed.

Most days in Florina’s life these days went as follows. She woke up in the sole of Sona’s boot. She ended up underfoot for most of the day. Sona took her foot out. Sona dragged her between her toes for a bit. Sona tossed her back into the boot for a full 8 hours of sleep. Rinse and repeat. It was routine by now and some might consider that mind bending. They might consider that enough to break a woman. However Florina was very good at keeping herself sane just by thinking that she could be dead. For whatever reason Sona kept her alive. So that was enough.

Some days were different. Some days Sona was at human size and Florina was granted the privilege of walking her wherever she wanted to go. Sometimes it was to the mess hall, sometimes it was to a rec room, sometimes it was just to the hanger since Sona seemed to enjoy watching the shuttles take off from the Silver Blades Battle Barge. Today she was following Sona through the halls of the vessel to a different place. The redhead was as tall and impressive looking even when not a literal giant. Florina would have found her attractive if not for the whole, you know, literally ruined a career and made her into a slave thing.

Finally they arrived in what appeared to be a rather large training room. There were various instruments that would be used to push ones limits. There were weight of various shapes and sizes, equipment for training ones’ body to the limit. It was scaled for normal human size and also for an enlarged scale. Sona was wearing a more casual wear as opposed to her full power armor. Florina wondered if she had actually been here already, just when underfoot. It was not only likely, it had probably happened.

“So, one of the girls actually said that humans could beat RGTS in combat sometimes. *And* that they actually have some worth beyond being bystanders.” Sona said aloud as she looked over shoulder at Florina. “Can you believe that?” She asked with a little chuckle and a shake of her head.

“Of course not. T-that’s silly, Sona.” Florina said in agreement. It was more to kiss ass than what she actually thought. Florina believed it was probably possible. After all, a veteran human like herself knew some tricks.

Sona smirked. “See? You get it. Humans are weak and it is RGTS that protect them. Like sure, I guess it’s useful that you guys can throw hundreds of thousands of yourselves to slow down some enemies, but *we* are the ones that actually stop them.” Sona said. She pointed at a pair of weights that looked like the typical hand held 10 pound weights a number of housewives might lift. “Lift those for me.”

Florina lifted a brow. “Uh… sure, whatever you say Sona.” Exactly, she would definitely take not being in a boot for the rest of the day. This was the closest thing she was getting to a vacation. She walked over to the pair of weights and gripped them and immediately tried to lift them. She might as well have tried to lift a tank. Florina’s arms jerked up and were stopped dead as they tried to lift weights that were so ungodly heavy she doubted the strongest human alive could ever lift them.

“Well? C’mon Flo, I said lift them.” The redhead said, walking up behind her.

“I’m, urk! Trying!” She said, her face going red and then going purple as she couldn’t budge the weights, even with her robotic arm. It was literally beyond her ability to fathom anything being so heavy.

Sona chuckled and waved Flo aside. “Ok, Ok, I’ll stop being mean. Here, watch.”

The redhead reached down and picked up one of the weights as though it was as easy as picking up a handgun off the floor. She even tossed it up in down on her hand. The motion was enough to slightly shake the ground under Florina as the impact the weight had with Sona’s hand was enough to go through her whole body and into the floor. Flo swallowed hard as she tried to fathom the level of strength that Sona actually had. Oh she knew that RGTS were strong but she was just now getting an idea of just how strong.

“These are made for RGTS in mind, so these actually weigh like 10 tons each.” She said casually as she let it fall to the ground with a massive echoing boom.

10 tons. That was five times the weight of a car. And Sona just casually lifted it up in her hand like it had been nothing. Florina felt her mouth go dry as she stared at the redhead in abject disbelief. There was nothing that could be so strong. It was absurd. However it appeared that it was true. There was no human, alive or dead, that could lift 10 tons on their own. Sona however, she had just treated it like a menial task. Sona giggled at the look on Flo’s face and pointed at a weight set behind her.

“Those over there. They can reach upwards of 2,000 tons.” She said casually.

“Th-that’s insanity. Do you lift that much?” Flo asked.

Sona blinked at the question. “Well yeah. A bunch of times. They are like finger training when you grow bigger as well.”

Florina couldn’t even imagine any human standing up to an RGTS after hearing that. It didn’t matter how skilled one would be. Sona, no, every RGTS was just too strong. The grey haired soldier had thought watching some big body builders lift about a thousand pounds for a few moments was impressive. Sona lifted magnitudes higher than that. The thought was enough to cause a cold sweat to break out over her.

“Anyway, let’s get to the real reason I brought you hear.” Sona said as she started walking over to what looked like an area for sparring. “I want you to try to budge me even one centimeter. You’ve got one minute to do it. If you do that, I’ll tell the Captain to reinstate you in the guard.” The redhead said.

The words almost sounded unreal. Before watching and listening to that, Florina might have thought she’d have a change against Sona. After watching that? She had about as much chance as an ant did at lifting a fully grown human being. However the promise was there. If she could actually do it… she’d be let go. She wouldn’t be a slave to the redhead anymore. Florina curled her fingers into fists. This was her chance. Hell, it might be her only chance to get free from this endless smug hell that her life had become.

Florina didn’t need any further prompting as she surged forward. She had learned her lesson from before when slapping Sona. She led with her metal hand, aiming a punch right for Sona’s face. Her metal fist collided with the face of the redhead, however instead of any cries of pain there was… nothing. Sona didn’t even look phased and she certainly hadn’t been budged a single bit. The redhead looked down at her fingernails idly and blew on them.

“You can start anytime ya know right? Clock is ticking.” She said.

Florina decided to go low this time. So what of Sona was big and strong, if she could unbalance her she could win this! She gripped at the bare ankles of the redhead and tried to pull as hard as she could, trying to send her sprawling back. She might as well have tried to move a tank on her own. She pushed forward and then pulled back, her face turning as red as it had been when she had tried to lift those weights.

“Flo, honey, I know you love my feet but might wanna actually take this seriously.” Sona said with a fond giggle.

Finally the grey haired former soldier just said fuck it and jumped up on Sona, wrapping her legs around the redhead and trying to use her full body weight to at least cause the woman to stumble back or something. She struggled and strained but there was not even a reaction from Sona. No shuffle or motion of her having any trouble holding up Florina’s full weight. It was really sinking in what this was. This was just Sona proving her own point to herself. That humans were pathetic.

“And time.” Sona lifted her arm up and curled her finger against her thumb near Florina’s chest. She lightly flicked the woman.

For Flo it was like being punched hard square in the chest. She was sent sprawling off of Sona’s body and to the mat below on the floor. She groaned, lolling her head from side to side, coughing a bit from the bruising that impact had surely given her ribs. She tried to rise up and she was rewarded with a bare foot she was very familiar with pressing itself down on her chest right atop her right breast. Flo tried to rise up but it was completely useless, Sona had her utterly pinned.

The redhead’s toes proceeded to idly flex and curl upon Flo’s breast, the grey haired woman flushing a brilliant color as this girl easily a decade her junior toyed with her like that. She tried to shove her off or wriggle away but it was no use. Sona could do whatever she wanted. She had a smirk upon her lips.

“It’s just like I told her. Doesn’t matter how old or strong or skilled or determined a human is. They are just completely outclassed by an RGTS.” She said with a shrug, squeezing her big and second toes together right where she knew Florina’s nipple was and drawing a gasp from the human. “I mean, hey, it’s not a bad thing. Not your fault you were born small and weak and I was born big and strong. It’s just how it is. Nature really. And just like nature, the weak exist to serve the strong. Don’t you think so?” Sona mused, curling her toes to the point it was painful for Flo.

“Y-yes Sona! Yes you are right! We’re just fucking bugs you can crush out of hand if you want! We’re nothing compared to RGTS!” Florina screamed at the top of her lungs.

The squeezing continued for a moment longer before finally she took her foot off of Florina’s chest… and proceeded to place it over her face. “See, that’s why I like you, Florina. You get it. You are really the ideal human in my opinion.” Sona actually blushed at that admittance though Flo could only see the bottom of Sona’s perfect sole.

Flo knew she didn’t want words as the response. She knew exactly what Sona wanted and Florina was perfectly willing to give it to her as long as she didn’t try to do that again. She started licking at the foot that was pinning her head to the mat below. She could feel as soon as she did Sona’s toes wriggled in delight. “Mmmhmm… just like that. Oh right, get between the toes this time. You *always* miss that part silly.” Sona chuckled as she allowed Florina to humiliate herself. That hadn’t been a fight for freedom. It had just been a statement. A statement of fact and harsh reality.