A week had gone since Los Angeles had become aware of the Ingress family and Rogers mysterious disappearance. Leila was now pregnant with Aaron's child. With Cindy's knowledge and the help of some lab assistants, it was actually easier than any thought possible. Leila's womb took to the hybrid embryo like it was meant to be. They all were ecstatic about the possibility of the first real union between human and Ingress. Now it was coming time to begin the marriage ceremony. A great detail was put into the planning. Many knew of the historical importance but others knew of the propaganda windfall it was coming. Leila had planned this of course. It was her suggestion to use her comm to broadcast the ceremony over all channels including the ones to her home world.
"Alright, it's almost time. You ready kid?" Uncle Lewis asked. "No, but we’re doing this anyway. I love this woman and now she's carrying my baby. I'm a nervous fucking wreck here" Aaron said fighting with his tie. "You'll do fine nephew. Everybody gets the jitters at the altar" Lewis said slapping the groom's back. "Yeah but how many grooms have a pregnant giantess as a bride?" Aaron asked. Aaron felt like he would throw up in front of the enormous crowd but wisely concentrated on something else. Thousands came out to the ceremony held on the beach. Tiny flashes of cameras were like stars to the approaching giantess. Lisa was the flower girl walking happily in front of the bridal procession. He wore a large flowing white dress and held a basket the size of a house filled with flowers. She skipped along tossing handfuls of flowers. People below had never seen it rain flowers until now.
Leila was stepping cautiously. Her gown caused some trouble walking and last thing she wanted to do was crush someone flat into the sand with her bare feet. In her hand were cherry trees in full bloom as a bouquet. Kelly and Cindy brought up the rear holding the back of the gown. They were dressed in white also and had a look of almost giddiness and wonder. After all to the four of them, this was totally new. There is no such thing as marriage in their society. Monogamy went extinct during the nuclear war and was stricken from the record. Speaking about it was considered detrimental to the population rebuilding plan and was taboo. They all wondered, including Lisa, what else they had missed out on.
As they bride approached the stage. She glanced over to General Longstreet and gave thumbs up. This was the signal to expect the incoming broadcast. Leila tapped a series of codes into her comm and a green light lit up on it. Everywhere around the globe, every device capable of seeing a vid comm lit up and showed the ceremony. People wondered what the Ingress wanted to threaten or destroy next. To their surprise, they saw an Ingress woman in white standing next to a very human man dressed in a tux. Now the next chapter in the future of humanity would begin...
"We are gathered here today in the sight of god to unite this man and Ingress woman in holy matrimony. Do we have the rings?" the chaplain asked. Julie gave Leila a gold band while funny enough and to a few gasps, a ring the size of a monster truck tire was hauled by a forklift to the stage. "Now do you Leila, daughter of Ingram take this man to be you lawfully wedded husband? To love and to care for, for as long as you shall live?" he asked. "Y-yes. I do!" she stammered. "Now do you Aaron, son of David, take this woman to be your lawfully wedded wife, to love and to care for as long as you live?" he asked. "Yes...forever and ever" he said lovingly. "Now to exchange the rings. This might take a minute so take your time" the chaplain said chuckling.
After some fumbling around, they changed rings and put them on their fingers. "If there is anyone who wishes to object, speak now or forever hold their peace" the chaplain said. "No one better not" Leila whispered. "Easy bridezilla" Aaron whispered grinning. "By the power vested in me by god and the state of California, I pronounce you man and wife. And let no man...or Ingress tear this union asunder. You may now kiss the bride" he said. Leila picked up Aaron and gently kissed him. Aaron's head was nearly sucked into her mouth by the emotional kiss of the crying giantess. Cheers rang from the crowd. People could see that her emotions were genuine and they hoped...or prayed that this historical moment would be the cornerstone for a moment toward peace. To make sure it would have the biggest impact on everyone, Leila made an announcement...
"Thank you all for coming and to those watching this broadcast, I have an important announcement. As you can see, not all of the Ingress wish to fight you. There are others out there sympathetic to peace and coexistence with the people of Earth. I and my new husband are just a few of many out there. In fact, I right now am bearing his child. That's right a child of both races, human and Ingress. A child conceived in love. My people fight to stop the extinction facing them but have been raised to believe that conquest is the way. It is my hope that the ones who see this broadcast reconsider what humanity has to offer. A home and a future for my race. What my people ignorantly fight to seize, people like my husband freely give in love and compassion. To all Ingress who can hear my voice, seize your future not by a gun, but in the arms of a loving human" she said before terminating the transmission. Leila had no idea what her broadcast would do to the future of both worlds...
"What do you think?" Jennifer asked Rogers. "They love each other but it ain't gonna change shit. I've seen what the Ingress is capable of. A few might see the light but the others are just gonna use us for slaves or food. Ingress are monsters through and through" he said biting his lip. "Good answer" Jennifer said. The two stepped out of car parked in front of an abandoned warehouse in Detroit. A few years after Detroit filed for bankruptcy, the US government stepped in with a plan to revitalize the city. The plan was to renovate the abandoned warehouses and factories into military vehicle construction sites. The workers that built Chevys and Fords now built Humvees and tanks. This practice continued well into the era when the nations united under one government. As can be expected, the Ingress had a fight of their lives when they invaded the city. It was like punching a bee’s nest. Very quickly, they were defeated but with cost, over 30% of the city was in ruins with over a million dead. Nowadays though, the city was under martial law with Omega squad controlling it.
Jennifer led Rogers to a door in the warehouse that opened revealing an elevator. They descended floor after floor until the elevator stopped at a level marked B51. "Welcome the Omega HQ" Jennifer said. "Fuck this place is deep. Why so far underground?" Rogers asked. "You will see why shortly but first I want you to meet Colonel Graf." She said leading him to a room filled with holo screens. "Sir reporting back from Los Angeles" the woman saluted. "At ease Lt. Spire. Good to have you back. Mustn't have been easy crisscrossing enemy territory. This the new recruit you told me about?" the man asked. "Yes sir. I believe he has potential" Jennifer said. "Let's find out. Take him to...orientation" he said. Jennifer and Rogers left the room and walked down a long hallway. “What’s orientation, I learn some secret handshake?" Rogers said grinning. "That's what we call it when we need to see if a recruit has the balls to do what's necessary to fight the enemy. If you do, then you will be inducted into Omega Squad" she said.
They reached the end of the hallway were a fingerprint scanner was on a wall. Jennifer planned her hand on the scanner which beeped and turned green. The doors opened and Rogers saw why their base was so deep. Inside was an Ingress female no older than 16 naked and in chains. Rogers noticed how frightened she was and cringing at the two approaching humans. "Do you like Shakespeare Rogers? He coined the phrase a "pound of flesh" when one is done wrong. You were done wrong when they took your family from you. Come and receive your pound of flesh" Jennifer said taking a sharp blade and ramming it into the leg flesh of the teen giantess.
The girl screamed from the pain and felt agony as Jennifer pulled the blade across the flesh literally cutting the meat from her leg until a chunk of flesh was in her hand. Rogers nearly threw up at the bloody sight. "Eat it and half of your orientation will be complete" she said. Rogers shakingly picked up the flesh and begun to consume it. The irony wasn't lost on him. He had seen Ingress eat humans but now it was humans eating Ingress. He choked down the meat and wiped his mouth. It nauseated him to no end when he felt himself actually full.
"Good. The weaklings usually back out right there but the hard part is yet to come. Time to go to containment area B" she said leading him out of the room holding the sobbing giantess. 10 minutes later they were at the next containment area. As before, Jennifer scanned her hand and the door opened. Inside was an Ingress male that was familiar to Rogers. "Holy shit Ned!" he yelled. "Yes you know this man don't you. He was supposed to go to the Phoenix base but there was a change of plans. Our operatives had the higher ups change the delivery order to have him shipped here. We wanted to interrogate him but he seems not to want to cooperate. Something about too many of his kind is dead already. Fortunately we found out that Ned here has a weakness for small young things. In fact it's almost time for lunch Ned" the woman said.
"No please not again! I told you all I know! I swear OH GO I SWEAR!" he pleaded. "No you haven't honey. You've yet to tell me the current fighting strength of the Ingress on your homeworld” Jennifer said. "I'm just a fuckin' lab tech lady! I'm not in the military!” he said. "Don't believe you. All your kind is in the military. Begin the feeding" she yelled over her comm. Two giant vice grips grabbed Ned's mouth and forced it open. A metal catwalk extended toward his mouth and Rogers stood in disbelief in what he saw next. Two soldiers were pushing a naked woman around 19 or 20 toward him. Ned was crying knowing what was coming.
"Please let me go! I won't do it again honest!" she cried. "Silence. You have been found guilty of prostitution and stealing food and the sentence is death" one soldier said. The woman stood on the edge begging to be spared. Her answer was a hard push into the awaiting mouth. The vice clamped the mouth shut and titled his head back. His gag reflex took over and carried out the execution with an audible gulp. "Now Ned I suggest you cooperate or maybe I'll bring in some orphans next time" the cruel woman said. "YOU BITCH, HOW CAN YOU DO THIS TO YOUR OWN PEOPLE?! I HOPE YOU BURN IN HELL!" Ned yelled crying at the struggling in his stomach. "What do you think of what I did Rogers?" Rogers couldn't believe what she had done. She had fed a human being to this gentle giant. Rogers forced himself to answer.
"If it saves lives in the long run, I don't care" he said. "Couldn't have said it better myself. Now let me take you to briefing center and show you what you'll be doing for now on" she said. They rode the elevator to level 13 and walked into a room with multiple screens and maps. Each one gave a real time report of the war. Casualties, troop movements, all were shown. "Good work agent A. Your data has been invaluable in creating the Reaper. Oh and I hear congrats are in order in getting married and what is this about starting a family? Hope this won't affect your work in any way" Colonel Graf was saying to a familiar woman on the screen. "No sir, I'm as committed to the cause as ever" the woman said. In the background a voice was heard yelling "Amy, come back to bed. It's late honey. You need to rest more now that you're pregnant" "Be right there Rick. Just finishing some work. Gotta go Colonel. Agent A signing off" Amy said.
"Sorry about that. Was busy talking to one of our agents in Luna City. Did he pass the induction?" Graf asked. "With flying colors. All he need now is some training and background info" Jennifer said. "Good, let's get started. The roots of Omega Squad goo all the way back to the birth of the Union. When the old governments merged, their elite squads were merged into one with the sole purpose of preserving the Union by any means necessary. The Spetsnaz, Mossad, GSG9, Delta Force, just to name a few were the first Omega Squad. Their first mission was assassinating any government leaders that threatened the Union with WMD's. This is the true secret of why the Union quickly became the only government on Earth."
"Over time, we manipulated or dispatched any who might have caused chaos in the world. The days of tin pot dictators were over. In fact, it was through us that the conflict with the Lunar League was stopped from becoming a war. The few who know about us in the Union have come to call us "firefighters" because we put out the fires that threaten peace and harmony before the infernos of chaos take over. We do this proudly, willingly, and we do it by any means necessary. Of course this means our role is more...hands on now. If fact, how would you like to command Operation Morningstar?" The Colonel asked.
"Me? I just got here!" Rogers said. "Oh I know son but you're the best qualified since you've been there before" the Colonel said. "You mean..." "That’s right son. We're going back to their world. Of course you won't be going alone. Lt. Spire and Sgt. Reynolds will be joining you...along with Lilith." The Colonel said. "Lilith?" Rogers asked. "Ah yes... Lt. Spire, take Rogers to the hangar bay to meet her" the Colonel ordered. Jennifer saluted and took Rogers to the hangar bay on level 5. The door opened and Rogers saw a large familiar machine. "The STRIKE X! How did you get Aaron's machine from him. Wait...that's not his machine. The color is off and it's missing its cross thingy on the back" he said.
"Yes, this is our new machine we call "the Reaper". We "acquired" the designs from Agent A. But before we go into what it can do I should introduce you to Lilith" Jennifer said. She pointed Rogers to an elevator that took him up to cockpit level. Rogers knocked on the hatch to greet the pilot. He got no response. He knocked again and this time it opened. "Huh...nobody here" he said. "What do you want? I'm busy calibrating my systems" a female voice said emanating from the screen. "Is this Lilith?" he asked. "Yeah I'm Lilith. The OS for the Reaper. What the fuck you want I'm busy" the rude OS asked. "Like Sarah only bitchier" Rogers said. "Don't compare me to my big sister! She's gone soft on the Ingress while I still remember my purpose; kill ALL Ingress!" She said. "Then I apologize. That's why I'm here too. My name's Rogers, nice to meet you Lilith" Rogers said. The voice just gave an unimpressed humph.
"Now, now, be nice Lilith. This man was chosen to lead Operation Morningstar. He might even be your pilot" Jennifer said. "I'll be the judge of that. Has he been briefed on the mission plan?" Lilith asked. "Not yet. We plan to at 0800 tomorrow" Jennifer answered. "Alright, then leave me alone until pilot selection. I'm still getting used to all the systems on this body" Lilith said. Jennifer waved bye to the 200 ft. dark blue machine and led Rogers to his quarters. "This you quarters when you’re not out on missions. “I’ll be back to get you at 0730. Have pleasant dreams" she said shutting the door. Rogers lay in his bunk wondering what he had gotten himself into. He had eaten the flesh of an Ingress like a wild savage and condoned the feeding of a fellow human being to an Ingress man under the form of torture. As second thoughts crept into his mind, the memories of his family did so as well. "I'm doing this for them" he said drifting off to sleep.
Jennifer came and got Rogers at 0730 and walked together to the canteen. Over breakfast, they exchanged life stories. Stories about what they did before the war. More often than once did Jennifer became hushed about her missions for the Union. "Rogers and Spire reporting for briefing" Jennifer said saluting. "At ease and take a seat. Rogers, what do you know about the early days of dimensional travel?" Colonel Graf asked. "Uh...well it was hit and miss. Some planets were deserted or full of people. After a year or so though restrictions were placed on where people could go. Then about 18 or 19 years ago they started the vacation off world fad" Rogers said.
"Yeah most people know about that and the restrictions. Many were told the restrictions were to prevent another outbreak of Neo Influenza or a superior race from attacking us...that worked out great. Anyway, what if I told you another reason was because to prevent environmental disasters? I'm not talking about flu's or out of control plants. I mean the earth threatening shit" Graf said. "Like what sir?" Rogers asked. Graf pulled up a picture of a crater in the desert. "This was dimension experiment facility 3 circa 2090" he said.
"Hey I've heard about this place in history class. It blew up when their reactor malfunctioned" Rogers said. "That was the official excuse. The real reason might have halted the experiments and that would have been bad for business and the military. The real reason Rogers was to cover up an unfortunate accident. The staff there opened a vortex to an uncharted world. What they didn't know was on that world their sun had gone red giant already. The resulting blast of solar energy decimated the facility. After that, the process of probes was used. Still dangerous but far more manageable damage wise."
"Our plan is to go to the Ingress homeworld and hack their dimensional transport network to recreate this accident. Since their vortexes are hundreds of times more powerful, the effects will be more severe. I will leave you and your other squad mates to pilot selection. Get ready to dust off in 48 hours. Dismissed" he said.
Rogers understood what they had planned. This was an efficient way to attack a city inflicting WMD style damage without trucking around bombs. He wondered why the Union never thought about it themselves. What he didn't know was the Union had thought about it and decided not to. The reason was to strengthen ties to the Lunar League by relying on them for support. They had long term thinking in mind. One by one each team member tried Lilith's piloting program. By luck (or fate), Rogers was best suited for the task. His quick reflexes and snap judgments impressed Lilith. "So I pass?" Rogers asked. "I could do worse. Now I guess I should tell you what I'm equipped with" Lilith said.
"First of all, I'm designed for stealth and maneuverability, not all out combat. As you can see, I lack the BITS system and the positron cannons. What I make up for in lack of firepower, I make up for I specialized systems. Did you notice anything odd about my paint job?" Lilith asked. "We'll I did notice a funny sparkle to the blue paint" Rogers answered. "That sparkle as you call it is actually many thousands of tiny cameras and projection systems. When I turn them on..." Lilith said raising her mechanical arm... "This happens"
Rogers watched as the arm disappeared from view. The arm was invisible and he could see right through it. "Whoa, where did it go?" He asked. "Still there dumbass. I'm equipped with light negative skin. It records the surroundings and projects it on my skin" she said. "You can cloak?!" He asked. "I did mention stealth right. You didn't think it just meant radar did you?" she asked. "That is fuckin' cool" Rogers said. "Glad you approve. Now I'm equipped with the standard plasma cannons on my wrists like my worthless sister as well as the cannons on my head but here's something she doesn't have" Lilith said.
Rogers looked on the screen and read the readout. "Excalibur blade? Looks like a big sword" he said. "Not just a sword. An expandable sword with a monofilament edge. Damn pig sticker can cut through steel like butter" Lilith said proudly. "What about armor?" He asked. "That one is tricky. I'm equipped with the new shields but the armor is only 3/4 that of my sister. This has the obvious disadvantage but gives me the advantage of being lighter, faster, and more maneuverable. So do you like it?" she asked. "You're a bona fide killing machine. Yeah I like it. That pretentious kid Aaron strutted around like he was the all-powerful hero. As a wise man said...wait till they get a load of me" Rogers said chuckling.
Soon the 48 hours were up and the 3 man squad departed for enemy territory. As soon as they arrived, Rogers noticed something was different. When he came here before, the other city was bustling with people in the streets. This time it was nearly deserted. What they didn't know was the city was under martial law. Leila's announcement had shaken the status quo and the government was trying to keep order. The talk of protests and the populace begging to go to Earth was destabilizing order. Already a few people had disappeared off the street and were never heard from again. The government's martial law was causing more strife than curing it. This was not to say that it wasn't totally ineffective. If they hadn't enacted martial law there would be chaos in the streets (everyone wanted to go to Earth and not as soldiers). It was working barely but the strain was coming to a bursting point. One thing would or could set things off...
"Probe indications put the transport hub for this city 4 miles south of our location. Let's move out" Rogers said. The three stuck to alleys and backstreets. It was creepy not seeing anyone. When they heard footsteps, tow scattered for cover while Rogers cloaked his Reaper. They watched as a woman and her young child hurried home carrying food. "We could kill them" Lilith said. "No save that for later" he said. "You better not be getting soft Rogers" Lilith warned. "I'm not. Any exposure might endanger the mission. Mission first, killing later" Rogers said.
In less than three hours, they arrived at their destination. They expertly infiltrated the hub. Rogers was deeply impressed at their expertise. As they neared the platform, they noticed 3 guards standing around it and another Ingress that looked like a tech working on the terminal connected to it. "Stay here. I'll handle this" Rogers said. Rogers cloaked himself and walked close to one of them. He stopped and poked out from behind a corner. "Lilith, tell one of them to come to the room next to us" he said. "Soldier come here for a minute" she said over her speaker. The young teen soldier followed the voice and entered the room. She fumbled for the light. "Yes, who is it?" she asked. "Death" Rogers answered decloaking. The girl couldn't get off a scream as she was impaired by Rogers' Excalibur. A slight gurgle escaped her lips as crimson life flowed out of her. In seconds she was dead. Rogers just let her body slide off his blade.
The other guard, a man in his late 20's, wondered where his superior went. He walked to the room and saw the dead girl on the floor but before he could speak, a swish of air and his giant head ended up rolling on the floor. "Two down, two to go" Lilith said. The third soldier was getting pissed. She walked to the same room swearing. "If you two are mating again while on duty I'm...oh god" she said seeing the bodies on the floor. A sound to her right caught her ear and she turned to see a blue robot her size dripping in blood. Its eyes glowed red like brimstone as if it was mocking her. She opened her mouth to scream but was quickly covered by a metallic hand. "You think I'm soft Lilith? Watch this" Rogers said.
Rogers gently took the Excalibur and ran it down her uniform, cutting it cleanly away. Now she was naked except for her boots. Rogers admired her muscular, giantess body. He figured she was no older than 30 but she still was sexy with her supple tits the size of a backyard swimming pool. On the monitor, he could see tears coming from her eyes, tears of sheer fright, and tears of someone afraid to die. "You're a real sexy monster ain't ya? Nice tits that could please any man" he said squeezing one painfully with a hydraulic boosted grip. The giantess squealed in pain until her let go. Her tit was red and bruised with a noticeable hand print. "Like that? Oh no? How about this then" he said jamming a finger up her snatch. The giantess screamed into the metal hand from the cold pain of the violation. "How does it feel to be helpless?" Rogers asked.
He pulled his hand back. He wanted to hear her answer. "Please don't hurt me anymore. I was drafted last week. I don't wanna fight. Have mercy!" she cried. "Mercy! MERCY!? Where was your kind's mercy when my home, my fuckin' family was obliterated before my eyes? You want mercy from me? Fine, here's my mercy" Rogers said gripping her neck and quickly jerking it to the side. The snap was loud; very loud. The woman just dangled in his grip dead. "A quick death. That's the extent of my mercy" he said dropping the body. "Color me impressed" Lilith said. "Good, don't question my intentions again...ever" Rogers said.
The Reaper stepped out of the room covered in blood. The tech saw it and pissed himself. He reached for his comm and was shot in the hand by Jennifer. "Oh no you don't. If you help us you live. Got it?" Jennifer asked. The man nodded yes. Lilith interfaced with the system hub and uploaded a virus to it. It was a simple task since the tech guy disabled security firewalls and subroutines along the way. In less than 10 minutes, the job was done. "The virus will spread to connected hubs in about an hour or so. We can leave shortly but the next I time they try to open a portal to Earth they will get fucked. Ahem" Lilith said. "Oh right the tech guy" Jennifer said. Jennifer pointed her laser carbine at him. "Wait you said if I help you you'd let me live!" he cried. "I lied" she said pulling the trigger. The red beam of light burned into his forehead and into his brain killing him instantly. The giant man lay on the floor dead not realizing what part he had played in the future to come.
The team departed moments later. The Ingress bodies were discovered later of course but a citywide search revealed no bomb or humans. They figured that their recent incursion ended in retreat. As the team arrived back at HQ, they were met with a horrifying sight. Bodies were everywhere. Some were crushed, others were incinerated. Jennifer tried to reach anyone on the com to no effect. She led the team up emergency crawl shafts and service corridors to the command center. It was trashed but one monitor was still working. She booted up the surveillance system and gasped. She saw that the containment blocks were empty. Their prisoners were gone. She pulled up the last footage before the system was down. People shouting and telltale blue beams shot past the camera. Then two Ingress soldiers appeared shooting off the chains on the female Ingress. "We were attacked from outside. Oh shit Colonel Graf!" she said. She went through the footage and with relief saw that some personnel escaped out of one of the emergency exits leading to the surface. "Come on people. Nothing left for us here. Let's go find our friends" Jennifer said solemnly.
Like clockwork, 3 days later it was time to send more troops to Earth. All 4 remaining cities activated their transport hubs to devastating effect. The vortex opened inside the red giant star and its incinerating energy rushed out like a dam bursting. It was quick; very quick. The blast wave radiated outward vaporizing all in its path. As it traveled, it vaporized buildings, houses, and people, anything its 5000 degree heat touched. The air was quickly expanded and a shockwave toppled any buildings not vaporized. In the end, over a third of the cities were in ruins and a total of 50,000 were dead with many thousands more now dying from radiation sickness. If the Ingress were on the endangered species list before, it was certain they were now.
As the Ingress died by the thousands, the Empress was dealing with problems of her own. The broadcast had sent the troops into doubt. She was losing the support of her people. She needed to show them that might and overwhelming force was the way to deal with the humans. She evilly decided to kill two birds with one stone. Earlier, she had commanded her sensor officers to determine how the intruder got to the Ark without being detected. Their conclusion was he came from space. The Empress deduced that the humans had military support and infrastructure in space. She ordered them to scan for any habitable structures in range. What they found was April colony. Earth's rotation had brought it into the Ark's scanning radius. She couldn't know that it was the moon that was ending support since it was too far to scan.
"Launch combat drones. Set target for the human structure at these spacial coordinates" she ordered. "How many Empress?" the weapons officer asked. "All of them. I want that colony destroyed by the end of the day" she said. The weapons officer thought it foolish to send all the drones. That would leave the ship more vulnerable than before but dare don't say anything. He programmed the target parameters and coordinates into the combat OS and launched them. One by one they streaked off the hangar decks of the ship until all 300 were in flight. People hiding from the Ark saw the streaking contrails reaching into the sky and wondered if they had launched missiles to destroy any settlements that caught their eye. It wasn't of course but the effect would prove to be the same.