May and June ended up being the coldest on record. The ash and soot from the colony debris strikes blocked some of the sun’s rays. Compared to what could have happened though we got lucky, damn lucky. It wasn't just Earth though that had it rough. The Ingress homeworld was going through its own change as we found out at the end of June. The homeworld was going through a civil war.
It began with Leila's broadcast. People wanted peace. It served no purpose to kill the people who might save your race and losing a quarter of your population from a retaliatory strike didn't help. People protested the war. Many wanted to go to Earth for a chance of a new life with a cute human. Others wanted to conquer and enslave it. The generation fueled by propaganda ringing in their ears. It seemed that old political lines were dividing the populace. When omega squad attacked though it convinced some in the upper ranks that this war could ultimately destroy them. Since it began, it had wiped out half the population.
Protests turned to riots and eventually a mistake and a life lost kicked it off. An anti-war protest turned violent and rocks were thrown at militia assigned to disperse the crowd. An 8 year old boy who followed his older brother imitated him by throwing rocks. One hit the face of a militia soldier and in anger shot in the direction it came. The boy was struck in the chest by a plasma bolt and fell dead. The brother saw this and screamed seeing the smoking hole in his dead baby brother's chest. People turned to see the terrible sight and sent them into frenzy. They jumped the militia who was now firing into the crowd. One person recorded the event and later shared the video. It was a rallying cry to any who opposed the war.
Later that week, citizens stormed the local base and seized it. They took the weapons and distributed them to any who wished to fight. Skirmish after skirmish was fought until the war supporters were driven out of the city. They retreated to one of the other cities and saw that the video had gone viral and uprisings were taking place there. With their numbers though, they held the city. One city was supporting the rebels, another supporting the throne, and the third being torn apart by the two.
"Ms. Kincaid. We need more help if we're to liberate 3rd Eden from the Hawks" a man said to a woman in her 30's wearing plain clothes. "And where do you propose we get help Ambrose? Our Dove forces are stretched to the limit fighting off incursions and the military in that suffering city. "Doves and Hawks, that's what we're calling ourselves now? We the peace promoting Doves and the war-mongering Hawks." the young man asked.
"Yeah that's what the people call us but don't change the subject. Where can we get help?" Kincaid asked. "We could ask the humans to help us. I heard from a Hawk defector that they have weapons that can pierce their shields. If we could-" "You honestly think they will help us after devastating their world 2 months ago?!" Kincaid asked. "Well they didn't kill the refugees from 2nd Eden. Last comm transmission said they were being taken care of at a makeshift center" Ambrose said. "True...alright. Send a squad to Earth and for god's sake make sure they're unarmed. Last thing we need is a misunderstanding" Kincaid said.
Yes, Ingress refugees were coming in from the homeworld. It began just over a month after the "April Shower" disaster. The Union and resistance forces had no clue what was coming. They expected a combat force but were met with Ingress men, women, and especially children streaming out of the vortex. 8 at a time every few days appeared in random locations. They told stories of neighbor vs. neighbor, friend vs. friend, people wanting something different from Earth killing each other in the streets. It would have been funny if it wasn't so sad when they asked for a nice human to be friends with or mate with.
They were scared shitless thinking the humans might kill them when they heard about the disaster weeks before. Many humans wanted to. The only things holding them back were their pitiful faces and the pictures of Ingress saving the cities and people with their weapons. Leila told the populace that there were others like her and now there was proof. One after another former soldiers laid down their arms seeing the refugees pile in. One terrible affair in Cairo made it all too real the enormity of defecting from the military.
For the first time in thousands of years, it was cool in the desert...at noontime. It was a cloudy day like it had been for 3 1/2 weeks since the bombardment. The sooty sky was choking out the harsh desert sun and it was pissing off the Ingress commander for that region. Commander Belka had grown accustomed to sunbathing nude using one of the great pyramids as back rest. She was a cousin of the imperial family. She had Rosen to the rank of commander not by battle prowess but by bloodline and it pissed people off. It didn't help that she was a control freak. So she wiled away her time in the sun making the people wait on her hand and foot.
She would order them to do things like apply gallons of lotion on her skin or clean the sand from between her giant toes. Since the vast majority of the people were Muslim, it was an affront to them that this naked female would order them around the way she did. She noticed this of course and delighted in this torment. In the beginning, they would fight or protest their treatment. To break them though she didn't kill the protesters. No that would be too easy for her. She targeted their families. She had probes that monitored for Union incursions retasked to follow them back to their homes. One family met a gruesome fate. In the middle of the night, she ripped off the roof of a house. The frightened man realized he had been tracked and begged forgiveness. "Forgive you? No, you will be made an example of" she said plucking his three kids from their beds and eating them one by one.
The man cried at seeing his children devoured by the giantess while his wife went insane at the sight. Belka had grown weary at her screaming and wailing and raised her sandal clad foot. She slipped off her sandal and letter sweaty sole hover over the woman. The shadow cast by the moon encompassed her victim. "Please not my wife! Isn't losing my children enough punishment?!" he cried out in Arabic. "Maybe, but I want to feel her worthless body crunch under my soft feet. I want you to watch her life ooze out and know that you brought this on them. If only you obeyed your new goddess" Belka said slamming her foot down on the woman.
Her scream was silenced immediately followed by a large crunching of bones and cartilage. She shuffled her foot over the splatter and a faint squelching was heard and blood seeped and squirted out over her foot. In the moonlight, the blood was like black ink but the man didn't see this. His eyes were closed shut, his mind collapsing under the grief. He didn't care when she lifted him from the destroyed house. He hoped she would kill him and send his soul to be with his family. She didn’t kill him though. He was to made an example remember? She raised her foot off of the flattened body and ran her finger over the bloody smear on her sole. Cruelly, she rubbed his dead wife's blood over his body and snapped his arms and legs with her fingers and left the broken man in the center of town with a warning. "This protester's family is dead because of him. Disobey your overlords at your peril" written in blood.
It took the fight out of many. The only ones left were people with nothing to lose. Some were caught and executed in various ways. Crushed or eaten usually. Others were just ripped apart like paper. That was then though. As Belka tried to amuse herself with memories of her ruthlessness, two of the remaining members of her squad were having a busy conversation.
"Do you realize Freeya what you're saying?!" a man in his late 20's asked. "Yeah I do Midas. I want to leave this war and live as a human. Don't you?" the 22 year old woman with brown hair asked. "I...I don't know. When we first got her I believed in conquering this place to save our people but hearing that broadcast does have me rethink some things. Seeing how she treats the humans makes me feel uncomfortable" he said.
"Why because it reminds you that it might happen to a girl like the one you've been seeing?" Freeya asked smiling. "YOU KNEW?!" Midas yelled. "Shhh! Keep it down! Of course I knew. A woman knows when her mate I screwing another woman behind her back even if she's tiny. I thought you would only pleasure me during our assignment together" she said. "I did promise to fuck you when mating day came every month. It's just what I feel for the human girl is different from what I feel for you. I think humans call it love. Don't you want to fuck and pleasure a mate not for procreation or mandate but because you care for them?" he asked.
"How did you meet the girl?" Freeya asked. "It started a few days after we arrived. Remember how we all got drunk the night we beat back the human military? Well I was kinda out of it and stumbled around the city. The humans were looting part of the city and I saw this girl fighting another girl in the street for food. The older girl, like 24 or 25, was really fuckin' up this poor girl just wanting not to starve. I don't know if it was the liquor or my temper but a grabbed the older woman off of her and crushed her in my hand. I let her body drop onto the pavement next to the girl.
"She must have been in shock because she didn't even try to run away when I reached for her. I could see her better now as I held her. She was bloody and bruised but I could see she was like 17 or so. She just stared with frightened eyes wondering what I would do to her. Not thinking, I licked her face waiting to clear away the blood and tasted her skin. She tasted like salty junk food if you believe it. I licked again, her tiny head moving with my tongue. I wanted more.
I slowly took off her dirty clothes not caring about her hands pushing away my fingers. I took care not to hurt her as I slid off her tiny sandals. My poor human looked so defeated in my hands. She gave a slight whimper when I began licking and sucking her tiny feet. I licked her slender golden legs free of sweat enjoying her taste. Then I came to her pussy which I sucked into my mouth. She screeched as I sucked away. Her hands beat my lips for a minute before she just grabbed them and rode it out. I guess she just gave up fighting what I was doing. Next thing I know she's cumming in my mouth. It didn't end there though. I was kinda horny now" he said.
"You didn't?" Freeya asked. "I did. I unzipped my fly and began jacking her tiny body along my shaft. She gave this rising and falling yelp as I masturbated with my human sex toy. When I came, I held her pussy over my cockhead and blew into her. She was soaked from head to toe in my cum. I carried her to the Nile which seemed like forever walking to it listening to her quietly cry. I washed her clean in the water and dropped her off where I found her" he said.
"It didn't end there did it?" Freeya asked. "No...it didn't. A few days later I was patrolling the street like assigned and it took me to where I found her. She must have lived nearby because I saw her again but this time two men were beating the life out of her. Maybe it was because I raped her or maybe they thought she was an Ingress sympathizer, I never asked. I slammed my foot down on one crushing him into the pavement and kicked the other into the next sector. I still remember the splat sound he made when he landed. Anyway, she was hurt. She was hurt bad Freeya. Barely alive and still bleeding. I did the only thing I could think of and I still wonder why I did it. I gave her a drop of nano-aid" he said.
"You did what?! Nano machine first aid is just for us! Did you even think of what it might do to humans?!" Freeya yelled. "Yeah I know but it worked! She healed up in minutes but the machines gave her a fever. I took her to my post in sector 3 and hid her in a house. For days I cleaned her tiny body of fevered sweat and fed her food and gave her water. She muttered don't hurt me in her sleep. Was she referring to me or them I don't know but she woke up after 4 days being in a fever. She gave me this expression of sheer terror. I explained to her how I found her. She cried asking why I saved her"
"I replied...I had to. I don't know why. I said I was sorry for what I did. She was cold to me for the next few days. She told me she couldn't go back and I told her to stay here where she could be safe. I came by every day to give her food and water. Slowly she warmed up to me. She told me her name was Shiera and she was 17. Every day was better than the last and we grew...close. Last night we mated because we both wanted to. I think I really love a human girl Freeya" Midas said.
"Then come with me! Bring her along too!" Freeya said. "Go where?" a voice said behind them. "C-Commander Belka! We didn't know you were there!" Freeya said. "Have been since the part "come with me". I know you're not planning to desert like some other traitors I heard about" Belka said. "Aren't you tired of the fighting and killing? Don't you wish to have children? Living in peace with humans can give us this!" Freeya said. "You can get children with the plans set forth by the Empress" Belka said. "I want to experience love! “Freeya yelled.
"I want nothing to do with this thing humans call love! Their kind exists to serve us! WE ARE THEIR GODS! THEY LIVE OR DIE BY OUR CHOICE! Big creatures eat and dominate the small ones. It is nature" Belka said. "IT IS NOT MINE!" Freeya yelled. "Enough of this prattle! You will assume your duties like your fallen comrades or be executed as traitors to the Empire!" Belka yelled pulling her pistol and aiming at Freeya. Freeya closed her eyes prep airing to die and heard a telltale *doof* of a pistol being fired. Freeya not feeling pain or being dead opened her eyes to see Belka dead in the street. She glanced over to see Midas holding a smoking pistol with shaky hands. "I had to....she was gonna" he said before Freeya hugged him. "It's okay Midas. She would have killed us" she said. "Oh shit I killed my superior officer! Oh fuck, she's of the royal family! We are so fucked!" Midas said panicking.
"Calm down! You're right though. We stay here we're fucked for sure. We gotta leave. They'll send troops here when the commander doesn't report in" Freeya said. "Where can we go?" Midas asked. "The closest human controlled city is a place called Damascus. From there we can start over and to where we want" Freeya said. "I can't go without Shiera" Midas said. "Fine, grab her but be quick. The sooner we leave the better" Freeya said. After acquiring food and water for their journey, the two left the city and marched into the desert. The people of Cairo cheered thinking the Ingress gave up occupying the city but their hopes were dashed a week later...
Ingress were defecting left and right and not without notice. The crew of the Ark was gossiping about what transpired. "Did you hear we lost another squad? This time in Berlin" one soldier said. "That makes like 8 this past month right?" Another soldier said. "8 we know of. Who knows how many we really lost since the Empress blew up that human settlement in space two months ago" the soldier replied. "God what was the Empress thinking when she did that? I can't even think about how many of our brothers and sisters died when the debris hit this planet" her friend said. "She wasn't thinking about us that's for sure. Since this war started, we've lost more than we ever gained. Hell we're standing in what supposed to be a safe haven for our people. She cared not for its safety when she ordered it brought here" the soldier said.
"What are you gonna do? I mean about the transmission" the female soldier asked. "What can I do? I thought about defecting until the Empress announced reproductive programs with the humans on board. The idea of being a father has been an appealing one to me. If I can inseminate a human female then I have no reason to leave. The thing they call love sounds odd and uncomfortable to me. Excuse me, I have a duty shift that starts in 20 minutes" the male solder said leaving.
The female soldier just stood there perplexed. She wanted to hear his thoughts on the matter. She needed to hear him say "yeah let's try living with humans". Her uneasiness with her feelings made her question what she was doing and figured asking her friend might give her some insight or possibly a green light to feel what she felt. Dejected and now more confused, she made her way to the canteen. She saw her fellow squad mates and sat down for chow.
"Sup' Atreya, heard the latest story about the new guy they found in Detroit?" a female soldier asked. New guy?" Atreya asked. "You know the one they found in that human base in Detroit all chained up. Ned is his name" the solder said. "Oh yeah the weird one. What did he do this time?" Atreya asked. "Apparently they went out to attack a human base outside of a city called Buffalo. The guy was sniveling all the way there in the shuttle but when they touched down and he saw a human he went nuts!"
He started firing wildly into the enemy troops blowing them away. The man was a killing machine! When he lost a squad mate he just picked up her rifle and fired away with both weapons; his and hers. The look on his face as he killed them...they said it looked like he was possessed. He just kept muttering "stop hurting me" as he killed them" the woman said.
"That's pretty fuckin' creepy" Atreya said. "Oh it gets better. After the humans surrendered and we scouted the base for any hidden troops or weapons, a private spotted Ned reaching around in a building for something. The private asked what he was doing and he said he was looking for someone. Before she could say anything he pulled out a young human girl around 8 or 9 years of age. Apparently he had found a hiding place the humans used to secure their children. She heard him say "you're not Amanda" just before he ate her. The guy kept doing it eating the females until only one was left. He was holding a girl maybe like 10 and even at her tiny size the private could hear her screaming"
"She was screaming not for him to eat her. He said he wanted Amanda. The girl screamed that she was Amanda. I guess it pissed him off because what he did next was kinda cold blooded. He said "you can't take away my pain. Only Amanda can do that. You're not Amanda you fucking liar" the crazy bastard threw her into his mouth and chewed her up. The look on his face scared the poor private shitless. He was smiling like he was enjoying the best food he ever ate but at the same time crying. What did they do to him in Detroit Atreya and who the fuck is Amanda?" The woman asked her. They didn't know Amanda was the human girl Ned cared for back on the homeworld.
"Attention squads 21 through 44. Report to labs 1 through 9 for mandatory insemination procedures" the PA said. "Well that includes us. Hope they got a cute human this time for me. That last one was old and fat. See ya around Atreya" the woman said getting up and walking off. Atreya hung her head. Every day she saw and heard things that bothered her. This latest tale about Ned though had made up her mind. She was leaving she decided but the question on her mind was how...
If was going to do it she would have to do it soon. Word came down that they were leaving D.C. airspace since their mission to strengthen the Ingress North American hub was completed. She knew she couldn't use a shuttle. The hangar was too well guarded and the ship's AA would blow her out of the sky. There was one last idea. In the armory, there were personal flight packs issued for shock troops. These were brand new and their purpose was to give battle proven officers extra firepower for base assaults. It would be guarded but now as tightly as the hangar.
Atreya hid near the armory door and waited for a shift change. Moments after the shift change, she saw her chance. She had purposely waited for the new shift to check in and give her a time window to escape. "Something I can do for you lieutenant?" a private asked. "Just admiring the new hardware" Atreya said eyeing the two soldiers. "Yeah they're something all right. Top speed is Mach 3 and is armed with two mini plasma vulcans. There's even an option of a missile launcher for it" the proud soldier said." Good to know" Atreya said. Without warning, Atreya grabbed the soldier’s friend's face and slammed it into the wall knocking her out.
"WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!" yelled the soldier. "I'm leaving this place. I'm convinced there's more to life than conquest or mass murder and I'm aim to find out for myself. Sorry but I can't let you warn anybody" Atreya said pointing her sidearm at the soldier. The soldier's eyes filled with tears of fright. They pleaded to Atreya not to kill her. "If I'm going to change I might as well start here" Atreya though using the butt of the gun to knock the soldier out. Atreya slipped on the flight pack and made her way to waste disposal nearby.
She had worked out her plan in advance and knew that opening the trash chute wouldn't set off alarms. She fell out of the chute and plummeted to the ground. She quickly activated the flight pack which deployed expandable wings and the jet engine roared to life. A helmet formed around her head and gave a HUD for her to see out of. There was only one place she could think of where she would be safe...Los Angeles. She set her course and roared off.
She knew she had to keep a low profile. After some debate, she decided to keep her IFF on. It was a double-edged sword her IFF. It would act like a beacon for any Ingress nearby but it would also keep her from getting shot down by them. Of course the opposite was true if she flew near a human controlled city. It was a dangerous game she was playing and as long as there were no intercepts or flyby's no one was the wiser. She had to set down pretty often. The flight pack was designed for short range travel only. Its fuel lasted every couple hundred miles or so. The neat thing about it was the fuel was liquid oxygen so all it needed to do was let the fuel tank "breathe".
She sat down again this time somewhere in western Kentucky. She had been traveling for almost 3 days. Avoiding Ingress and human territories was increasing travel time considerably. She rested in a dark grove only lit by the full moon. She was starving. Atreya unbuckled the flight pack which was hissing as it refueled. She hoped she could eat some local animals or maybe some fruit. She eventually stumbled upon a farmhouse with a single light. She peered inside to see a family of four eating dinner. Her mouth watered at the sight. In the back recesses of her mind, she could hear it saying to eat them. Their flesh will sate your hunger. She quickly dismissed the thought and chalked it up to not having anything to eat in three days.
The temptation was killing her. She was about to give in when she heard a sound...*moo*. She glanced over to see a barn and then she heard it again. She pried off the roof and saw a herd of cows. "Oh thank god!" she cried as she picked one by one up and devoured them. The family had 23 cows but after Atreya they ended up with 5. She made sure not to eat all of them. She figured the human family might need them during this terrible time. She dropped a few cows in a pouch to eat later. The poor things mooed panic stricken in the pouch. Atreya patted her stomach belching.
Apparently, her loud belch alerted a member of the family. Little Billy trotted out of the house under orders of his father. His father mistook her belch as thunder and told his son to make sure the barn was secured. As Billy neared the barn, he saw a barn with a missing roof and a giantess patting her bloated belly. His 12 year old body was frozen in fear. The only thing her did was make a gasping yelp. Atreya looked over to see the small human boy and recognized him as one of the family she saw earlier.
"Umm...hey heh heh" Atreya said nervously laughing. The boy screamed when he saw her looking right at him. Atreya picked him up and sat him in her palm. "Hey easy now! I'm going to hurt you!" she said. "Please don't eat me!" he cried. "I said I'm not going to hurt you! That includes eating you so don't cry okay!" she said in a comforting tone. "You promise?" Billy asked still scared. "Promise" she said. She found the tiny boy cute. Holding him was like playing with a small mouse. A warm feeling was taking over her. One similar to how she felt about pets back home. She felt guilty about her previous thought of eating him and his family.
"If you're not going to eat me then why are you here?" the boy asked. "I stopped by to rest and to find something to eat. Those animals in that building hit the spot. Hope you don't mind" she said. "You ate our cows!” the boy yelled. "Not all of them!" Atreya said not wanting to come off as a glutton. "Put him down!" came a voice from the ground. "I wasn't going to hurt him. I just came to eat some livestock" she said putting the boy down in front of the father holding a shotgun. "Dad she ate some of our cows" Billy said. "Bitch we need those cows for food!" the man yelled.
"Please forgive me! It isn't much but here's some money. Sorry I only have pocket change on me" she said dropping a coin the size of truck tire on the ground. It landed with a heavy thud. "Holy shit! Is that solid gold?!" the man said seeing the coin. "Yeah is that a problem?" Atreya asked. "N-no problem lady! Thanks! I can feed my family on this for a year!" the excited man said. "Really? That's pocket change to me...Anyway thanks for the food. I have to leave soon" she said. "Where to?" he asked. "Los Angeles. I figure I'll be safe there with the ones called Leila and Aaron" she answered.
"They're not in Los Angeles right now. They supposed to be coming to Dallas tomorrow as part of their relief tour. Or at least that's what resistance radio says" the man said. "Oh thank you sir! The truth is I want to meet them really bad! I have so many questions to ask them like what love is and how to live among you. I have to go now. Thanks for being so sweet" she said patting the man's head. The man grinned at the attention he was getting from the giantess and watched her walk back to her camp. His grin was interrupted by a smack on the back of his head. He turned to see his wife decisively not grinning. "What I was being nice. I was afraid she might snap if I was rude to her honest!" the man said. "Whatever you pig. Get back in the house!" the wife said kicking him in the ass.
Dallas was warm even with the cool temps brought by the disaster created overcast sky. Leia sat in a chair near a huge stage. She chose not to wear her uniform thinking it would send the wrong signals. Instead she wore a loose white dress with strappy sandals to accent her beauty and to give off that sexy non-threatening vibe. She was nervous. They had visited a few cities already but not one that had been hit so hard by April Shower. Dallas was hit by a chunk of debris the size of a city block and caused the deaths of over 100,000 lives. She wondered if they would blame her for it. Not she specifically of course but she might give their hate a face. "It's almost time" Aaron said. "I'll be right out honey" Leila said taking a deep breath. "Relax babe. Everything will be fine. We got security and me if anything goes wrong. What could happen to you in Dallas?" he said.
"Get ready Rogers. She'll be out any minute" Lilith said. "Yeah I know. I'm zeroing the rife now" Rogers said. They were given the task of assassinating Leila and if possible Aaron. The hope was it would look like an Ingress attack and discredit the peace process and the dreams of coexistence. Right now Rogers held an Ingress sniper rifle. One he could dump after the deed was done and incriminate the Ingress. He perched his frame near a damaged apartment and activated the cloak. No one could see him.
Leila walked out onto the stage and to her surprise spotted a few Ingress among them. They cheered like she was a rock star. Leila was brought to tears seeing the two races cheering for her. She waved to the crowd and saw an Ingress girl running through the crowd shouting.
5 seconds ago...
"Error corrected for gravity and rotation. Ready to fire" Lilith said. "Good. Take this you hypocrite bitch!" Rogers said squeezing the trigger.
3 seconds ago...
"Miss Leila! Let me shake your hand! I want to shake the hand of the person who gave me the courage to start my life with the human I love!" the 19 year old giantess said running to the stage. The security backed off seeing she wasn't armed. Leila extended her hand as the girl jumped up on stage.
Now...
A splatter of blood and brains erupted from the girl's head. Leila was showered in the gore. A second later was the sound of the rifle being fired, the sound waves just now reaching them. Leila just stood there in complete shock staring at the headless corpse at her feet. "Get her to cover NOW!" Aaron shouted. "Please tell me you know where that shot came from Sarah" Aaron said. "Tracked the trajectory 5.2 miles east of our location. Showing it on the HUD" she said. Aaron kicked the throttle to afterburn and zoomed to Rogers’s location.
"Shit! Fuckin' bitch got in the way of my shot! What are the odds?!" Rogers yelled. "No time to wonder we got company in like 10 seconds" Lilith said. Rogers dropped the rifle and started running from the area. He didn't dare take off. The dust off might have given him away. "No one here! They can't have got far! Not even a 200 ft. person can move that fast!" Aaron said. "I'm scanning the area. Hmm...someone was here. There are giant footprints in the street leading that way" Sarah said. Aaron followed them until he was literally face to face with Rogers. Of course he couldn't see him due to the cloak but Rogers could see him all too well.
"Shit what now! If I move he'll see the footprints and dust. If I take off he'll feel the wind and dust. Lilith lock on to him" he said. "Are you crazy? We'll lose the cloak the second we fire. I can't do both!" Lilith said. "We can't move and if he decides that someone is here by the off chance they detect us; they fire and with our shield down we're scrap. Besides we can't sit here forever hoping he won't see us. Every second that goes by is a higher chance he puts two and two together. He's an arrogant prick but not a stupid one. Do it" Rogers said.
"Something's weird is going on Aaron. I keep sending radar pulses and it's like a hole right here. I would at least get an echo from the street but it's like nothing right here" Sarah said. "Yeah I don't...what the fuck?" Aaron said seeing two metal feet shimmer into view followed by legs. He watched it come into view until a blue glow was seen. *BTOOM!*
Aaron's STRIKE X was thrown into a building by the blast. He glanced up to see the impossible. A STRIKE X was standing over him ready to fire again. "Fire again! We need to keep him down!" Lilith said. Rogers charged another shot and fired. This time Aaron rolled the dodge the blast. Seeing how the element of surprise was gone, Rogers took to the air.
"Lock the bastard down! He's not killing anyone else!" Aaron radioed to local troops in the city. It didn't do any good however. Rogers was in full egress at Mach 4. In no time at all, he was clear of the city but not Aaron. Aaron saw he was losing ground. The machine was just too fast for him. He powered up his positron cannons and waited for his crosshairs to turn green. He fired...
"Bank left!" Lilith shouted. Rogers jerked the control stick and suffered a glancing blow from the red beams. It was enough to slow him down. He realized it would come down to a dogfight. Aaron was to heavily armed to evade. Rogers began firing quick bursts at Aaron hitting a few times. Aaron twisted and turned firing back. To his dismay, he saw that the frame was more maneuverable than his. He wasn't doing enough damage and his shield was losing power.
Rogers saw it he was winning and his ego got the best of him. "Is this all you got hero? Surely you can do better. After all, you're the great Aaron Pearson right?!" he yelled. "Rogers it that you?!" Aaron yelled. "Yeah the one and only" Rogers said.
"You piece of shit, you're ruining everything! Go BITS!" Aaron yelled. The BITS responded and flew off his back. They fired wildly at Rogers. Was it due to Aaron's unfocused rage or Rogers’s maneuverability no one knew but not one shot hit the mark. "Stop toying with him and kill him!" Lilith said. "Fine, I'm growing bored with him anyway" Rogers said to her. He watched Aaron charge at him firing his spent uranium rounds. Rogers dodged closely and fired a light burst into Aaron's STRIKE's head.
"Ah the camera! Switch to backups!" Aaron yelled. The secondary system came online just in time to see a rising fist coming at it. Rogers coldly uppercutted the machine and fired off a blast at the same time. It sent Aaron flying through the air and landed over 200 ft. away on his back in the Texas dirt. "Unhg...Sarah..." Aaron mumbled mouth full of blood. "Shields have failed Aaron. We need to withdraw!" Sarah yelled. "We....can't...run away. He'll kill them. He'll...kill...her" he said hurt. Rogers stepped over Aaron's machine and cruelly stood on its arms pinning it down. "You know I thought you would put up a better fight."
"I can see now you're just a spoiled kid in a machine. You're only a badass when you’re inside a cockpit, never on the ground like the other grunts" Rogers said. "There's more to me the just the machine" Aaron said pulling the trigger on the only free weapon he could aim. His spent uranium cannons only made loud clicking sounds. "Knew you would try that. My girl Lilith counted your rounds as you fired them off. Great girl for not being human. Let me feel you something since you're my "old buddy". After I'm done killing you, I'm going for your new murdering freak wife. Of course I won't kill her right now. Too much security after all but she needs to sleep eventually. One night I'm just going to show up next to her and make her suffer for what she took from me. Wonder if she will like being raped with this pigsticker here?"
"Yeah shove it right in there and when she gets that broken helpless look, you know the one right after all the shit we've seen, then I kill her. I'M GOING TO RAM THIS FUCKIN' BLADE RIGHT THROUGH HER STOMACH AND KILL THAT ABOMINATION GROWING IN HER!!!" Roger screamed with all the hate in his heart. Rogers raised his Excalibur sword over the cockpit knowing it was the only one hit kill weapon he had. It seemed it was all over for Aaron but fate was not done with him yet...
As Rogers raised the blade, out of nowhere came a torrent of plasma bolts slamming into him and sending him tumbling into the dirt. "Heard. Every. Word" came a female voice hovering over them. It was Atreya. They couldn't see her face due to her helmet but she was pissed. Her plasma vulcans smoking was evidence of that. She had picked up the transmissions and fired as soon as she was in range. "WHO THE FUCK DARES-" Rogers yelled. "I dare" Atreya said coolly aiming again. "Godammit! Told you to stop playing with him! We can't fight both!" Lilith said. "We can take em'!" Rogers said. "Not with our shields at 30% we can't!" Lilith said.
Rogers thought very quickly on how to escape. He needed a distraction. Rogers charged up a shot and instead of aiming at Atreya aimed at Aaron. "NOOOO!" she screamed jumping into the way. Rogers smiled and fired. The hit pierced her shield of course and luckily only blew off her wing. Aaron had recovered enough to stand and caught the falling giantess. When he looked for Rogers he was gone. "Sarah?" he asked. "Gone again...like a ghost and I can't use that trick again if he's in the air.
"Are you okay?" the giantess asked. "That was my question. Thanks for saving me" he said. "I guess I should introduce myself. My name's Atreya" she said. "I'm Aaron. Sure you're okay?" he asked again. The giantess took off her helmet and let her hair blow around in the dry Texas air. Her beauty caught him by surprise. "Ummm...I'm worried about my wife. Come back with me. We can always use a friendly Ingress face with us" Aaron said. "I'd love to. You're the reason why I'm here, well part of the reason" she said giggling. Aaron blushed wondering if she was flirting with him.
Leila was in hysterics by the time they came back. Her face was clean but her mind still felt the clumps of brain tissue it. When they told her Aaron had left for the assassin and the firefight. She feared the worst. She feared it was a trap not just for her but for him. She was relieved to see him flying back but also put off seeing the pretty Ingress teen with the raven hair and caramel colored skin. Aaron touched down and dropped Atreya to her feet. He popped the cockpit and stepped out.
He was immediately snatched up and held tight by Leila. "Oh thank god you're safe honey!" she said hugging him. Atreya watched with childlike curiosity. Leila noticed her staring at it made her uncomfortable. "Darling...who the fuck is that?" Leila said eyeing the pretty giantess. “This girl saved my life from Rogers” Aaron said trying to break her jealously. “I see…wait did you say Rogers?” she asked surprised. “Yeah, he’s the one that tried to kill you honey. He really hates you for something you did before you changed” Aaron said. “When am I going to stop paying for my past mistakes?!” the woman said crying. “Aaron patted her cheek trying to comfort her. Atreya watched slightly jealous of the couple.
The next day they got to know each other. Leila began to forget her jealously and actually admired her for her courage. Atreya told them how widespread Leila’s message went. It was causing chaos in the ranks. “Yeah, they’ve tried to keep it under wraps but soldiers are going AWOL right and left!” Atreya said to the couple. A beeping on Aaron’s comm alerted them to an incoming transmission.
“Lieutenant, what’s your situation there?” General Longstreet asked. “Currently secure sir but with an enemy that can turn invisible…” Aaron said. “Yes, we have no idea where that bastard Rogers got that tech. Apparently, we got a faction, a human faction, working against us and they’re well-armed” Longstreet said. “Sir we are preparing to leave Dallas tomorrow. We’re thinking about changing the schedule in light of recent events” Aaron said. “That’s why I called you. We need you and Leila to come to Miami. We got ourselves some Ingress guests that came from their homeworld there” Longstreet said.
“What’s so special about some more refugees?” Aaron asked. “They’re not refugees. They’re soldiers and from what we’ve heard we might just have found a way to turn this war on its head” Longstreet said. Leila and Aaron looked at each other. “Roger that sir. We’re on our way” he said closing the channel.