"You okay Aaron?" Leila asked her husband. "No, I'm not and I don't think anyone is after what we all heard at the briefing yesterday" Aaron replied. "Yeah, the enormity of what we're up against and the consequences if we fail..." Leila said. "Exactly. I guess that's why the General gave everyone downtime today. Gives people a chance to get their affairs in order, be with loved ones..." Aaron said. "Like those two over there?" Leila said pointing to an Ingress man with a woman on his chest. He was petting her body as he stared at the setting sun. "Yeah like them. This is why we fight right? For a chance at happiness?" Aaron asked.

"For a chance at freedom honey. My people are enslaved just as much if not more than the humans they oppress. The sadness is many will have to die before they can be free" Leila said wiping away a tear. "Leila, I just want you to know, if I don't come back tomorrow..." Aaron said before he felt her hands grip his body. DON'T!...don't say it. You will come back to me Aaron Pherson or so god help me I will drag you back from the afterlife myself!" Leila said clutching her human husband to her chest and crying.

27 hours and 33 minutes earlier...

At Fredericksburg, Virginia, entire regiments had been gathering for the last 4 days. The troops numbered over 17,000 with as many as 37 Ingress as support. It was the most the Union could really afford seeing how skirmishes along the east coast were tying up other forces. Division commanders walked to HQ to hear the briefing for the fight to retake D.C.

"Ladies and gentlemen. You know why you're here. High command has chosen to launch an offensive and retake D.C. and wipe out the enemy control hub for the North American region in one fell swoop. I won't bullshit you when I say we must win this one. This operation has been registered as Operation Cortèz. For any history buffs in the audience can tell you this is not a good name. For all you others that slept through history class, Hernàn Cortèz was a conquistador who ravaged the Yucatan centuries ago. What you should fear is he burned his ships upon arriving giving his troops an incentive in carrying out his orders and to not take failure as an option"

"What this means for us is this. High command is determined to see this enemy hub fall one way or another. If we lose this fight...they will deploy antimatter bombs and vaporize the Capitol. The only reason they are giving us a chance is because of the millions still living in the city. You got your work cut out for you as you will see in a second" General Longstreet said.

The General pulled up an image on the holo-screen. "This is a satellite image of the city 24 hours ago. We can confirm from infrared scans that at least 112 Ingress are present with a possible 14 more underground or in buildings. To make matters worse, heat scans detect multiple heavy plasma weapons at their disposal" he said. "Jesus...it's gonna be a slaughter" one captain said. "The odds age are against you but you will have some help. The 8th Fleet that was hiding in reserve in the North Atlantic will lend support with railgun and missile strikes. At 0715 two days from now, High Command will launch diversionary attacks on Pittsburgh and Philadelphia. This will hopefully pull some of their forces away but don't get your hopes up. There's a good chance they might call for backup from Baltimore. Get your groups ready for a fight. We will depart for D.C. At 0600 in two days" the General said.

"The Shrikes are ready to kick ass now sir!" an Ingress man said with a collected yell from outside. "As is the Eagles!" an Ingress woman said with the same fanfare. "I'm glad to hear that but you'll just have to wait your turn Commanders Arulis and Treska" the General said smiling. "Dismissed!" he shouted saluting them.

As scheduled, the amalgamated army marched at 0600 straight for the Capitol. Not since the days of the Civil War had such a military presence marched toward the Capitol. Around 0800, they neared Alexandria and saw the telltale signs of previous battles. Craters and destroyed building littered the roadways but was eerily silent. "See anything yet Sarah?" Aaron asked. "Not yet but you can bet your ass they have scouts assigned around here to alert D.C. of possible attack" Sarah answered. "Keep your sensors peeled" Aaron said watching the monitors.

"Won't need to. Just got a flash message of them launching a shadow drone for recon. We're ordered to stop until it returns" Sarah said. The entire army came to a stop and waited. "We got company. Another one of your groupies I bet" Sarah said sarcastically. An Ingress man walked over to Aaron and extended his hand. "Sorry sir but I wanted to shake the hand of the human who first showed my people a better way to live" the enthusiastic man said. Aaron extended the STRIKE X's metal hand and gently shook it. He saw on the screen that the Ingress soldier was not much older than he was. He appeared to be 21 at the most.

"No problem soldier. Just saw the light first is all. What's your name soldier?" Aaron asked. "1st class private Balthus sir of the fighting Stray Dogs!" the man said saluting. "At ease Private. I don't go for salutes. Ask anyone who served with me and they'll tell you that" Aaron said to him. "O-okay sir. It’s just overwhelming to meet someone like you. You and your wife is it, wife right? You changed my life. It made me realize I wasn't alone in how I felt" the man said.

"How you felt?" Aaron asked. "Yeah, I was one of several who were assigned in controlling Cleveland but I didn't have the stomach for it. The only people I killed were ones trying to kill me, never for fun. That kind of made me the joke of our outfit. I ended up falling in love with a human girl I saved from being killed one day. My commander was having a bad day one day and decided to use humans to vent her anger out on. She demolished an apartment building by kicking it over and over and started crushing the fleeing inhabitants. When I saw her about to crush this beautiful, small, frail looking human girl, I stopped her by pushing her on the ground."

"The smart girl fled when she had her chance. My reward for saving her was a public flogging for "insubordination". They whipped me until they grew bored and left me tied to a brownstone high rise for the rest of the day. I blacked out for a few hours and woke up to a sight I'll never forget. The girl had come back and was now staring at me crying. I was naked and dried blood covered my skin but this human took pity on an Ingress. I searched my mind to say something like leave me alone or I don't want your pity. What I ended up saying was "don't cry. It's not your fault"

"It is! You saved my life and they punished your for it!" the tiny thing cried to me. "Hey if a few cuts and bruises was all I had to pay to save your life then I got a hell of a bargain" I said to her with stupid looking grin. She ran up to my leg and hugged it crying. I just let her do because it felt nice for me and it seemed to give her comfort as well. I sent her away after she calmed down. I didn't want to the others to see it. We met during the night a few times and got to know her. Her name was Heather and she was 23 years old. She told me she lived alone in the city with her parents living in Seattle. She asked me the same questions about myself and seemed relieved that I hadn't killed any civilians"

"I set her up in a penthouse apartment since her old apartment had seen better days. The perks of being an invader right hehe. Anyway, not long after that the broadcast of you and your wife went out. It was then I decided to leave my old life behind.  The next day Union forces took advantage of the confusion the broadcast created and attacked my old squad. They nearly killed me until they saw me take up arms and kill my old commander. Ever since that day, I joined the Stray Dogs. The same group that nearly put me 6 feet under" Balthus said.

Aaron smiled at the story. "What do you plan to do when the war is over?" Aaron asked. "Well...that's the question isn't it? Heather and I have talked about getting married and hearing about your wife getting pregnant has given her some ideas. Say, can I ask you a question?" Balthus asked. "Shoot" Aaron answered. "How do you and you wife...you know... The size difference and..." Balthus trailed off.

"Ah you mean how I got her pregnant. Science is your friend dude" Aaron said laughing. "Well I figured that. Don't get me wrong, you're not the biggest... But I was wondering about the sex part" Balthus asked blushing. "Ah you're a virgin" Aaron said. "Not so loud sir! I and Heather haven't got to that part yet. We fooled around some. Licking and petting but I'm afraid I'll hurt her" Balthus said. "The same way I and my wife do. Very carefully and it helps to have a safe word" Aaron said smiling.

"Hate to interrupt such enlightening conversation but telemetry from the drone shows three Ingress scouts couple of miles from here" Sarah said. "Don't tell me. They want us to go in" Aaron said. "Nope" Sarah said. "Atreya then? Somebody who can hit them fast and hard" Aaron said. "Negative. They sending in a Trojan horse" Sarah said changing the screen. One the screen and soon overheard was an Ingress shuttle flying overhead. "Whoa...one of ours?" Aaron asked. "You don't read shit Aaron. That's a shuttle captured by the 25th regiment flown by their commander. Heard she's a hell of a soldier too" Sarah said.

Commander Delana was at the stick of the shuttle with two other Ingress. The plan was to kill the scouts without alerting others. The trick was it had to be up close and personal. The shuttle's weapons were too flashy and would be detected by troops in D.C. No way to hide those flashes. Delana touched down in Alexandria's airport and was greeted soon by the three scouts. "Halt! Your visit is not authorized!" one said drawing down on her and her two team members. "Easy soldier. We're here under orders from her Majesty. Word is an attack might be coming soon. Is this the only presence in the city?" Delana asked. "Yes, the humans have long fled so no large occupying force is needed here. Our job is just to use the city as an early warning post" the soldier said. "Good to know" Delana said pulling out her pistol.

Her other members of the team mimicked her drawing weapons. They fired into the surprised scouts before they could raise their weapons. "Objective complete. Early warning post neutralized" Delana said over her comm. "Excellent. Return to primary formation" her comm said back.

The soldiers were unnerved seeing the abandoned city. Now and then they heard something move. Some speculated the city wasn't as abandoned as they believed. Atreya had her eye focused on her HUD. She could see heat signatures out there and they were definitely not some small animal like a dog or rat. It was getting to her. A flash of movement to her right and she quickly reached out at it. She felt something warm and squirming. She pulled her hand back and was surprised to find she had caught a child. The child was filthy and young. Atreya had a hard time making out her age due to all the dirt on her face but guessed it to around 6 or 7 years of age.
She acted like an animal in her grip. She snarled and bit at her fingers. "Easy now! I'm not gonna hurt you!" Atreya said in a soothing voice. The child looked at her confused and began struggling again when Atreya raised her to her face for a better look. "It's okay. I'm not going to hurt you. Let me get a better look at you" Atreya said licking her thumb and gently rubbing the child's face. "I thought there might be a cutie under all that dirt" Atreya said smiling. The child began to settle down listening to the giantess.

"What's your name? I'm Atreya. Ah Tray Ah" she said pointing to herself. The girl tried speaking but what came out sounded broken. The girl closed her eyes like she was trying to remember something. "M...M-Michelle" the girl mumbled. "That's a pretty name Michelle" Atreya said. The girl finally smiled at her. "Sweetie what are you doing here all by yourself?" Atreya asked her concerned. "Not alone. Others" Michelle said pointing to a half-buried entrance to a subway. "Sir, we might have a situation here. I found a young child and she says there are others underground. Permission to investigate?" Atreya asked.

"Permission denied. We need you and the others at the engagement point by 0930 hrs." General Longstreet answered. "Sir I have my flight pack. I can easily make up the time flying" Atreya said. "Hmm...very well. I'll have a few troops to with you. One because the survivors might not like an Ingress finding them and second to babysit when you leave" General Longstreet said. Atreya and three soldiers went over to the entrance and began to dig away the debris to it. It was greatly hidden. It looked collapsed to the uninformed. 

Yells and shouts were heard as the rock and concrete were cleared. People inside feared that the enemy had finally found them. When the soldiers walked in, they were relieved to see the military had come. Their relief turned into screams when they saw Atreya's eye fill the entrance. "Easy people. That Ingress is on our side!" a soldier yelled. "No, she tricked you into finding us! She'll eat and kill us all!" a woman screamed. "No ma'am. This lady is part of the Union army. There have been a lot of changes since you all have been hiding.

No one was buying it until they saw Michelle walk past the soldiers. "Oh god Michelle! We thought the worst when we couldn't find you" a woman said hugging her. "Okay lady. Michelle okay" Michelle said. "You spoke!" the woman said surprised. Michelle scampered off down the tunnel. "That girl has been through so much. When they first came here, we hid in our apartments. Michelle lived a few doors down from me with her mother and older brother. For the first day, we just listened to the explosions and screams. The next day we watched them round up people. Michelle's family like me hid but it did no good."

"They scanned the building and found people hiding. There was a loud crash that shook our floor. I didn't know what I was thinking but I had gone to Michelle's family's apartment to see if they were okay. Their door was barely hanging on but I could see what was happening. The Ingress had snatched her mother and her 15 year old brother out of the destroyed living room. They said loudly "all those who disobey will die". Then as I watched they cruelly threw them into their mouths and swallowed them. Out of the corner of my eye I saw Michelle hiding in the kitchen. She had seen the whole thing. The poor child had pisssed herself in fear seeing her family eaten."

"The Ingress moved to another floor and at that moment I quickly ran into the room and grabbed her out of the kitchen. We ran down to the maintenance room and found a sewer grate and climbed in. Ever since, more and more people have fled down here. We only go up to find food and supplies. Some don't come back..." the woman said starting to cry. The people had been silent as she told her story and now heard a stifling sob but not from the woman.

It was obvious that it came from Atreya. "Private...see to the people and address their needs. Contact HQ after you're finished" Atreya said deploying her wings on her flight pack and taking to the skies. She felt the wind dry her tears but they didn't stop them. She wondered in her short flight how her people who, if she believed the stories were once like them, could be so cruel.

0922 hrs...

Atreya landed next Aaron and a group of troops. "Thought you'd miss the party. Did you finish that business in Alexandria?" Aaron asked. "Let's just finish this" Atreya said coldly. "We go in after 0930" Aaron said. "Why then?" Atreya asked. "Beats me. Command is hush hush about it. We'll see in 8 minutes" Aaron said. Everyone waited to see what would happen. It all began at 0929 hrs. "Up there!" Sarah shouted. Aaron looked up as well as many others to see a lone shadow drone streaking toward the city. A minute later, multiple whistling sounds were heard. Aaron knew that sound...

Helldart missiles were falling toward the city until they split off. Hundreds of them falling like exploding steel rain. The explosions peppered the old Capitol. "Alright everyone! Their signal dampeners are down! Communications and radar is back online. Our boys in the water gave us a window. Let's use it!" General Longstreet yelled over the comm. They poured over the Potomac like a wave.

The sounds of yelling and tank tracks filled the air. Three Ingress near one of the entryways into the city were the first to engage the invading force. They were still stunned bum the sudden missile attack and tried radioing their HQ. "Attack! ALL UNITS ATTACK!" the General yelled over the comm. Every soldier who had a bead on the Ingress fired their weapons. They blinded them with laser fire. Angered, the Ingress returned fire with their pistols. Each shot from them killed dozens of Union soldiers. The General's plan for a beachhead was to swarm the enemy with numbers. The problem was a swarm is an easier target. After a few minutes of laser, rocket, and grenade fire, their shields failed. They tried to fall back but a tank shot blew off one leg and severed the spine of another. The third was struck in the face with an RPG.

The two tried crawling away screaming not to kill them. Their answer was solders getting closer and shooting them in the face hundreds of times. Three Ingress down, over a hundred to go. Now able to march forward, multiple objectives were ordered for the many squads. Aaron's job was to take out the air defenses. "We got our first target. Air battery over near the Jefferson Monument" Sarah said. Aaron took to the sky but flew swooped down quickly flying barely over the buildings.

In under a minute, he saw his target on the HUD. He appeared so fast that the two Ingress stationed there couldn't even raise their weapons. Aaron fired his plasma cannons into one Ingress woman's chest killing her outright; the other though used the time bought by her friend's death to pull her pistol out. Aaron gripped her wrist with his metal hand and snapped it effortlessly. The young giantess screamed from the pain. Aaron could see her tears eyes on the screen. He raised his other hand and fired the plasma cannon in its wrist. The woman had a look of shock on her face and blood began to drool out of her mouth. Aaron dropped her body on the ground. "War, what is it good for?" Aaron asked. "Absolutely nothing" Sarah replied. "Getting into my music now?" Aaron asked. "Yeah there's some good one in there. Come ‘on we got 7 more to take out.

One by one Aaron took out the air defenses. By the last one though, the element of surprise was gone. When the other defense batteries failed to check in, the last one was put on high alert. Aaron flew up and was hit immediately with plasma vulcan fire. He fell onto the street crushing some cars. "Damage report" Aaron said shaking the stars out of his eyes. "Shields at 76%.  Thruster systems rebooting" Sarah replied. "Scan the building. Any humans inside?" Aaron asked. "Shows clear, why?" Sarah asked. "If we can't take them from above then we'll take them from below" Aaron's said charging into the skyrise.

He slammed into the building brutally and the old concrete gave way like a gingerbread cookie. He quickly aimed upwards and charged both plasma cannons. He watched the monitor read the charge. The destroyed room glowed blue until he saw the charge hit max. He pulled the trigger.

The plasma bolts shot from him incinerated the lobby and cut through each of the 50 stories like a hot knife through butter. The ingress on the roof knew something was wrong when the building buckled but had no time to do anything as the charge bolts came to roof level and bathed it in 20,000 degree twin beams of light. Their screams lasted until their bodies were seared to ribbons. The building collapsed with Aaron still inside.

Thankfully, Aaron was able to dig his way out. "That was crazy you bastard! What if our shields couldn't handle the weight of the building falling?!" Sarah yelled. "A necessary risk" Aaron answered. "Explain that to Leila or you unborn child" Sarah said. "Aaron cringed at that thought. “Point taken. Thanks Sarah" Aaron said. "No problem. It's my job as your OS and as your friend to point out when you're acting like an asshole" Sarah said.

With the air defenses down, Phase II began on Operation Cortèz. UCV Enterprise was the carrier in the 8th Fleet. Now with the skies safer to fly in, its Valkyrie squadrons took off for the city. Aaron flew overhead looking for more targets. Now and then he would see an. Ingress on the ground either taking cover behind a building recharging their shields or firing on soldiers. He would blast them as he flew over. The once beautiful historic city was becoming a burning charnel pit. It got worse when he saw a blue flash and a mushroom cloud.

"It was only a matter of time! Here come the plasma cannons!" Aaron said. "Aaron...the Stray Dogs were fighting over there" Sarah muttered. "Oh man..." Aaron said. Aaron jetted over to the blast site and saw an Ingress woman charging the cannon again. Past the smoke, he saw an Ingress lying in the rubble of a building. The Ingress stirred and sat up. Even though his face was bloody, he could see it was Balthus. Aaron remembered how the giant told him of the love and wishes of the new life he had. "NOOOO!" Aaron screamed charging his positron cannon. He fired.

"Die you traitor!" The Ingress woman yelled as she sighted Balthus. She began to pull the trigger until her sight was filled with red light. The blast pulverized her until only meat and blood remained in a crater where she stood. Aaron touched down relieved he was in time to save the giant. Balthus regained his vision to see that his squad was gone. The only evidence they ever remained was some melted equipment and the remains of their two tanks. "They're all dead. THEY'RE ALL DEAD!!! I'm alone..." Balthus said crying for his lost friends. "Balthus...Balthus!" Aaron yelled. The giant just cried with his head in his hands.

Aaron slapped the giant with his metal hand as gently as he could with seriously hurting him. Balthus snapped back to reality to see Aaron. "You're not alone! Everybody is your friend here not just the Stray Dogs! I am your friend. When this is over, I will be honored off you joined my squad" Aaron said. "Y-you would?" Balthus said wiping away his tears. "You wouldn't be the first stray dog I took in. Ask my dad if you don't believe me. Now watch your ass soldier and report to the nearest battalion!" Aaron yelled. "Yes sir!" Balthus said saluting.

Moments later, Sarah picked up the Valkyrie flights entering D.C. airspace. "We got 37 incoming friendly birds coming in...wait...oh fuck...Aaron we also got 12 enemy drones as well" Sarah said. "Shit, they'll tear them apart. Let's back them up!" Aaron said taking off again. Aaron flew quickly to the jets which were surprised to see him. "Attention Valkyrie flights. 12 enemy bogeys coming to intercept! I'll provide cover for you. Proceed to targets!" Aaron said over the radio. "Brave words" Sarah said. "Yeah time to walk the walk" Aaron said picking out the lead drone.

Aaron waited for target lock and fired. The drone was struck with plasma fire and blew up. The other 11 split up and began firing at Aaron. Aaron dodged and rolled as he returned fire now and then killing one but they were too well coordinated and agile. His shields were draining to fast. "Sarah, ready the BITS!" Aaron yelled. A targeting HUD changed and one by one 4 enemy drones were locked on. "GO!" he yelled. The BITS flew off his back and circled him. They fired at their targets and bingoed them. "Again!" Aaron yelled. Another 4 were locked on and the BITS spun around and angled for their programmed shots. Another 4 were vapor.

"This is going better than I thought it would" Aaron said scanning for more threats. "That's because you're not seeing the battle data I'm getting. God Aaron, it horrible" Sarah said. "How horrible?" Aaron said not smiling anymore. "37 enemy Ingress dead but we've lost over 4000 troops and 13 tanks plus 11 friendly Ingress" Sarah said. "Who's winning this?" Aaron asked. "Hard to say. It's gonna be a photo finish in this race and you know the penalty for second place “Sarah said. "Roger that. We'll link up with the fighters and pave some road" Aaron said spotting a fighter group to his 8 o' clock.

"Garuda wing follow my lead. We're going in fangs out!" Aaron said forming on their wing. "Roger that Lt. Call the ball" Garuda 1 said. Three Ingress caught his eye. They were sniping and using the Library of Congress as a barrier against return fire. Independence Avenue was becoming a kill box. "Garuda wing, target acquired. Begin attack run" Aaron said. Aaron and the 5 fighters banked hard and throttled down. Each one lined the targets in their HUD's until the crosshairs turned red and that oh so sweet sound of target lock sounded. Aaron fired his plasma cannons and the fighters dropped MOAB's. The blast was deafening. They banked around to see the aftermath. The three snipers were dead and the building was missing an entire wing.

"Christ. So much history lost" Aaron whispered. "Don't worry Aaron. All those books people see in there are just good copies. The real ones are kept under the building in a reinforced vault" Sarah said. "I didn't know that" Aaron said. "Yeah, one of those little secrets of D.C." Sarah said. "Garuda 1 awaiting further orders" he said over the radio. "Copy Garuda 1. Scanning for targets. Standby" Aaron said. "Roger Lt. Standing....AHHHHH!" he said as Aaron watched his plane explode. "Aaron, on our six!" Sarah shouted. Aaron pulled up aft view on the HUD. An enemy shuttle was following them firing its plasma vulcans.

"Garuda team break formation!" Aaron shouted. The squadron flew off in multiple directions as Aaron hit the air brakes and throttled down. The shuttle flew right over him and he took advantage of that. With a low powered plasma shot, he blew out a hole in the floor which he used to gain entry. Inside were the pilot, gunner, and copilot. The gunner was closest to him and he rushed her. He grabbed her by the shoulder and used her as a shield. It didn't work. The copilot pulled her pistol and fired anyway. Aaron was stunned how cold they were to sacrificing her life. He gritted his teeth and threw the lifeless body on top of the copilot. She fell to the floor with a thud.

While the copilot tried to push off the dead giantess on top of her, Aaron lined her head up and let off a small plasma burst. Her head popped like a balloon. "Serves you right" Aaron said coldly. The pilot now just stared in shock. The giantess pissed herself as blood and brains coated the cockpit. "Please don't kill me!" the giantess begged. Aaron looked at the young giantess terrified she was going to die. "Move" he said. The giantess moved out of her seat while Aaron sat down. He was relived the controls were pretty straightforward. He flew the shuttle over the Potomac and stopped.

"Remove your weapons and get out" Aaron told her. The girl dropped her pistol and combat knife and opened the charge door. Barely looking back, she jumped. It wasn't a long fall for someone her size. Like 25 feet from a human perspective. She landed in the river with a splash. She tried to stand up but winced as she felt her leg was broken. It hurt like hell but was relieved she didn't die like her crew did. Within minutes, 43rd battalion surrounded her. "I surrender! I SURRENDER!" she shouted. Many wanted to just kill her. She was too big a threat. "Hold your fire!" A large voice shouted. The giantess turned to see a familiar face. "Varron!" the giantess shouted.

"Sir, you know this girl?" A Lt. shouted. "I should. She's my little sister" Varron replied. "So you threw in with the humans. You don't think you'll win this fight will you?" the giantess asked. "For your sake Tyana, you better hope we do. Men escort the lady to fire base 4 and watch her like a hawk" Varron said watching his sister hopping out of the river.

Aaron had gained control of the shuttle and chose to use it. He flew back into the fight and made his way past enemy lines. He found a juicy target. The enemy had set up a fire base of their own closer to the center of the city. 11 Ingress were out in the open. A few were on lookout with sniper rifles, another was on cannon duty, and the rest coordinated attacks. "Shuttle 3 is approaching" one officer said. "Shuttle 3, you are not cleared for this airspace. Withdraw" the Commander said over the comm. If they could see the cockpit better, they would have seen Aaron's frame's eyes glowing and visualize him inside grinning...

"Say hello to my little friend!" Aaron said firing the plasma vulcans on the shuttle. He strafed the shit out of the base, killing 5 outright. All the ones with weapons died. The others scattered. He scanned for more enemies and they found him first. The ones that scattered began firing at all sides into the shuttle. He heard their shots shredding the hull and eventually they made their way inside. He turned the stick and fired the vulcans again. A circle of death was carved out by him as he finished his 360 degree assault. "Anyone else wants this!" Aaron yelled.  "Aaron to our side!" Sarah yelled. Aaron jerked the stick but not fast enough. A commander, barely alive, had charged a plasma cannon and fired it.

In less than half a second, the blast tore the wing off the shuttle causing it to go into a tailspin. Desperately, Aaron kicked the cockpit door open and jumped. He tumbled onto the street and saw just in time the spinning shuttle slam into the ground exploding. The explosion took out the fire base and everything in three blocks. Aaron didn't want to think about the loss of civilian life in the nearby buildings. "Damage report Sarah" Aaron asked. "Shields have failed but can recharge. Armor down to 76%. Suggest we leave this area and stick to the ground till the shields fully recharge" Sarah said. Just then, another flash of light and a mushroom cloud rose into the air. "Hopefully not too long" Aaron said.

Aaron and Sarah skulked through the city waiting for the recharge. It would have been sooner but Sarah was using more resources on making sure the areas were clear. "Aaron, we got a problem. My scanners indicate 7 Ingress coming our way down Pennsylvania Avenue" Sarah said. "Ours?" Aaron asked. "Negative, all our Ingress have human troops with them. These are all alone. I don't know if we can take them with our shields at 38%" Sarah said. "Hence the problem" Aaron said. "Wait, something's happening. One by one they're stopping...and falling. What the hell?" Sarah asked.

4 blocks from Aaron and Sarah...

"This is too easy Lilith" Rogers said skewering another Ingress woman in the back. "Obviously. I don't have to drop the cloak to swing a sword. Remind me again why we're doing this?" Lilith asked. "Because Omega ordered us to. They rather have this new alliance take the city then watch it get blown to shit. If a friendly Ingress gets in my way...too bad for them" Rogers said. "Yeah, I remember. Just don't like helping Ingress is all" Lilith said. "I know. Turns my stomach too but orders are orders" Rogers said decapitating another confused Ingress.


"A ghost! A ghost is killing us!" an Ingress man yelled. "Shoot it!" one screamed. "There's nothing to shoot...ACCCK!" the giant yelled feeling a ghostly blade plunge through his stomach. Now only one Ingress was left. The young woman, barely out of the academy, watched her friend's blood drip off the invisible blade after it had been pulled from his body. "Please don't kill me whatever you are! I WAS ONLY FOLLOWING ORDERS!" the teen giantess screamed until the cold invisible blade slowly cut into her throat and turned. "So am I" Rogers said swing the sword free of blood. The giantess fell on the street clutching her bleeding throat gurgling her final breath. Her carotid artery spewed blood on the cars and street and some fell on Rogers STRIKE X. She barely made out the form that killed her before she succumbed.

"They're all stopped. Scanning the area...oh shit Aaron! That radar hole is there!" Sarah yelled. "Rogers" Aaron said gritting his teeth.  Aaron's anger clouded his judgment again as he ran to Pennsylvania Avenue. He got there and saw the bodies on the street.  "I know you're there Rogers. Show yourself or I blast this whole street back to the Stone Age" Aaron hissed over the comm. Aaron watched Rogers decloak into view. "You want a rematch Aaron? Fine, I'll kick your ass again!" Rogers said raising his plasma cannon at him. Before they could fire, they were interrupted by plasma bolts from above. 10 enemy Ingress wearing flight packs similar to Atreya's swooped down and surrounded them.

"The dreaded black armor...and now a blue one" one Ingress whispered. "Got a plan for this one might hero?" Rogers asked. "Yeah if you're not too much of an asshole to help me" Aaron said. "What you got in mind?" Rogers asked. "Back to back" Aaron smiled. Rogers quickly shifted over to Aaron. The movement shocked the awestruck Ingress to start firing. Aaron and Rogers returned fire, spinning in a circle to maximize their offense and defense. One by one the Ingress fell to the bizarre tactic. When the smoke cleared, only Aaron and Rogers were standing. "Nothing to it" Aaron said. "Owww..." Sarah moaned. Aaron read the readout. The shields were down and his armor was now at 47%. Burn marks painted the dark covered armor even blacker.

"Damn, Rogers is here too..."  Aaron said. Aaron watched Rogers raise his hand and charge his cannon. "You'll never get a better chance" Aaron hissed. Rogers lowered his hand. "No, not like this. I'll fight you another time when you're fresh" Rogers said jumping into the air and flying off. "Sarah, find us a parking structure where we can hide till you feel better" Aaron said pissed. "Found one 2 miles from us. On your HUD. I'm sorry Aaron. If I was just..." Sarah said. "Not your fault. You're doing great sweetie. You're not invincible" Aaron said walking to the waypoint.

Aaron punched the levels of a parking structure so he could fit or blow off steam and crawled inside like a child playing hide and seek. There he waited till his shields recharged and hoped they wouldn't be found. An hour passed as he listened to frantic calls for support and tremors from explosions. He hated not being able to go out there. "Recharge complete" Sarah said. "Good, now let's go out there and win this" Aaron said.

The battle was slowly turning in the Union's favor but they had to pay for every square mile of the city. Heavier weapons were being used and the city was being littered with craters. The Natural History Museum became history when it was hit with a plasma cannon blast. The Vietnam Memorial became a pile of stones from a plasma grenade. It was becoming clear that this might be a Pyrrhic victory. Rogers continued his rampage of death. When he saw a fire base of 9 Ingress near the Washington monument, he chose a very twisted way to take it out. He de cloaked just long enough to blast the base of the obelisk. He yelled "TIMBER!" as it fell on the base crushing the Ingress there.

One by one, the Ingress fell back. Some wondered where the backup from Baltimore was. They didn't know they were killed by Rogers and Aaron. A shadow drone followed them and relayed firing coordinates to the two battleships in the Chesapeake Bay. The battleships Soyuz and Serapis fired their railguns hitting any Ingress in the open. Ingress panicked and chose to leave those not killed. Their comrades calling out for nano-aid left to die on the broken streets.  The finishing blow came when Ingress chose to refuge behind the last line of building for defense.  A defense line near the Capitol Building stretching over a mile, manned by 18 Ingress, prepared for the worst and the worst came.

They couldn't see the subs sitting in the Potomac or the Bay and they didn't see them firing their cruise missiles. 10 high powered missiles streaked toward the line and detonated. No one had time to wonder if they survived because a lone shadow drone fired a tiny missile no bigger than a pencil. A small missile but a very powerful warhead. The Ingress had no clue it was armed with a tiny antimatter warhead the size of a pinhead. When it went off, the blast silenced the firing line with a burst of pure energy of 5 kilotons. It was enough to attract attention all over the city.

Everyone knew it was a human weapon and not an Ingress one. The blast was orange and yellow and not the blue hue of deadly plasma. Enemy Ingress tried radioing for support only to be met with silence. Seeing now it was futile to defend the city further, the Ingress began to surrender. The city was becoming quieter by the minute but that didn't lower the danger. Not at all as Aaron soon found out.

"Lt. Person come in! Lt. Please respond!" the General yelled into the comm. "I'm here General. No need to shout" Aaron said chuckling. "I'm not calling for shits and giggles son. We got a situation. A big one" the General said. "Go ahead sir" Aaron said. "Satellites have picked up a lone Ingress running at over 300 mph for the Pentagon...and it's not one of ours" the General said. "She going to radio for support?" Aaron asked. "Negative, we already confirmed we took out their last radio relay an hour ago. I think they're going for a scorched earth play" the General said. "What are you saying general?" Aaron asked confused. "They're gonna take out the city with an old secret buried in the Pentagon" the General said.

"Very few know this secret Lt. a secret hidden for over 150 years. The Pentagon has an old fission-style reactor powering it. If they crack it and set off a meltdown...the city will be a dead zone for 50,000 years! Stop them at any cost! You hear me!" the General yelled. "Loud and clear sir" Aaron said. Arron throttled up and took to the sky. He banked over and saw a woman running fast and straight for the Pentagon. She crushed cars and bodies as she ran. She ran with a purpose...vengeance.

"I can't contact anyone! Not even the Ark! Everyone's either dead or captured and this city has fallen back into the hands of the humans! If they want this city so badly then they can have it! I'll use their own technology and turn it into their graveyard!" the giantess screamed running to her destination. Aaron fired at her and barely missed hitting the ground and knocking her down. Aaron touched down in front of her. He looked at the woman. She was in her mid-30’s and had a small scar over her eye. A shock of crimson red ran through her black hair. Aaron saw from her composure she was no ordinary soldier and an emblem on her uniform. The emblem triggered a memory of a conversation he had with Leila once.

One month ago...

Aaron lay on top of Leila's bare chest. They had relaxed with a night of passionate sex to get their minds off the devastation of April Shower. They dreamed of the beautiful stars hidden behind clouds of soot and dust. Leila, I've been wondering something. Our military has special groups of elite fighters does yours do too?" Aaron asked. "Why ask me that?" Lila wondered. "Well...a lot of people lately been calling me a badass and I've been wondering if your people have them too. Really good soldiers that we might have to face one day" Aaron said. "Only one group comes to mind Aaron but they're not a fighting unit."

“They’re called the Black Guard and their main purpose is to guard the royal family. They get the best equipment and training. Many dream of joining them. They have an emblem on their uniform of a sword sticking in a skull.  You see one you run Aaron. I mean it" Leila said. "Hey I'm a badass remember!" Aaron said laughing. Leila picked up her naked husband with two fingers around his hips and brought her to her face. She was not smiling. "They will kill you. Do you understand! THEY WILL KILL YOU! You've never fought someone like them before! They are the elite of the elite!" Leila yelled. "Okay I got it! I'll run if I see one!" Aaron said wincing at the sound of her loud voice. "Promise?" Leila asked with pleading eyes. "Promise" Aaron said. Leila kissed her husband's face with her enormous lips and laid him on her bare breast...

Now...

"Sorry honey. Promises are made to be broken and I can't run from this one. Too many lives at stake" Aaron said raising his plasma cannon. The giantess charged him at lightning speed tackling him with her shoulder. He was knocked to the ground but unharmed. "So you're the infamous black demon that my people have come to fear. Expected you to be taller" the woman said pulling out two short swords. The woman dived at him swords pointing right at his body. Aaron quickly jerked the controls and spun on the ground away from her just in time.

"Faster than you look!" she yelled taking a swing at him. Aaron stepped back to avoid the hit which struck anyway but just left a scrape on his armor. Aaron was tired of being on the defensive end and activated his BITS. He launched them all 4 targeting her. He fired. As if in slow motion, the woman seemingly danced around the shots getting closer and closer to him until she took a double swing and struck solidly. The gash penetrated the first layer of armor.  "Armor down to 40%!" Sarah yelled. "What about shields!" Aaron yelled. "Shields won't protect us from melee attacks!" Sarah answered.

"Jesus, Leila was right. This bitch is in a class all her own. She used some kind of crazy martial art to avoid my shots!" Aaron yelled. "I noticed and she's kicking our ass!" Sarah said. Aaron gritted his teeth and fired his plasma cannons in short bursts. Each shot missed except the last one which struck her shoulder. She gripped it in pain and cursed him. She was lucky it was a quick shot and not a charged one or she would be missing an arm. Aaron jumped at the fallen sword and gripped it. Now he had a better chance...

"You think this will matter human! I am an Ingress elite you low class vermin!" she snarled. She charged him and this time Aaron was better prepared. He fired his spent uranium cannons onto the street kicking up dirt and concrete. The cloud blinded her and Aaron used his infrared to see her through it. He kicked out and connected with her chest sending her to the ground. He swore he could hear a crack of rib bone. The woman staggered to her feet and remembered her training. She closed her eyes and breathed deep. Aaron fired into the cloud but missed. Before he could ask why, she appeared from the cloud and stabbed the STRIKE X.

"Armor down to 19%! We can't take another hit like that" Sarah yelled. "I KNOW DAMMIT!" Aaron yelled. Aaron heard the screeching of metal as she pulled her sword from the STRIKE X's skin. "Sarah we need help and fast. Where's Garuda squadron?" Aaron asked. "They won't get here in time!" Sarah yelled. "I don't need the planes" Aaron said. "Ohh...I get it. Hold on!" Sarah said. Sarah sent an encoded data stream to Garuda 3.  "Garuda 2, something's going on with my weapon systems!" Garuda 3 said. "Is it a malfunction?" Garuda 2 asked. "I don't know but my targeting system just locked on to something 5 mikes out! Holy shit my scrambler missile just fired on its own!" Garuda 3 yelled seeing the missile streak from his jet.

The elite giantess had skillfully grabbed Aaron's arm and twisted it behind him. The groan of steel joints signaled that this fight was nearing its end. The giantess took her blade and thrust it into the STRIKE X. Aaron screamed as the enormous blade breached the cockpit and barely missing him. A sharp metal slab of sword 3 feet wide and the tip was only inches from him. If it wasn't for the last bit of armor plating deflecting it, Aaron would have been bisected. "This ends now" the giantess snarled retrieving her other sword dropped when Aaron was stabbed. "You got that right bitch. AARON NOW!" Sarah screamed.

 Aaron kicked the throttle as hard as he could. The STRIKE X ripped away from her grip just as the missile dropped from the sky. The giantess looked up hearing the high pitch rocket motor and said..."no". The missile hit her dead on sending her flying through one building and landing on top of another. Her shield protected her from being killed by the blast but not the kinetic impact of it. She groaned from the pain and tried to move. When she did she felt a sharp pain that made her grit her teeth. She glanced down and saw her left leg was broken very badly. The bone was poking through the skin.

A deep thump thump sound was coming closer. She groped around for her weapon and couldn’t find it. Then a shadow over her blocked out the sun and lunged at her. She felt the blade rip through her flak jacket and straight through her flesh. She screamed from it. When she opened her eyes, she saw Aaron standing over her just watching her bleed out with imagined mocking eyes. “Using a missile is cheating” she said. “No it’s war” Aaron replied. She growled like an animal and tried to stand with her broken leg but this time she felt nothing, not even the pain. "My readouts say I severed your spinal column. You're finished" Aaron said.

The giantess smiled and started to laugh. A laugh that sickened Aaron. "YOU THINK YOU WON! YOU ONLY DELAYED THE INEVITABLE! My Empress has plans for your world and when she's done it will be a ruined wasteland!” she yelled. “I’ll stop her evil fuckin’ plan” Aaron hissed. “How do you plan to do that? She surrounded by an entire squad of Black Guard and you barely beat me! MARK MY WORDS HUMAN! YOU MAY HAVE WON THE BATTLE BUT YOU WILL LOSE THE WAR! HAHAHAHAHHA!" *Btooom!* went the sound of a plasma cannon.

"Still laughing?...I thought not" Aaron said coldly at the headless corpse before him. Aaron gripped his side in pain. He just now realized he was wounded. "Sarah I don't feel so..." he said fainting. “Aaron...Aaron!" Sarah yelled taking over the controls. She kicked in afterburners and raced to HQ. She quickly landed and gave Aaron over to the medics. Aaron awoke 18 hours later. He felt a warm moist breeze near him and turned to see it was Leila's breath on him. She was asleep with her head poking into his tent. Aaron stretched and felt a slight pain on his side. He raised his gown and saw a scar. The movement awoke his wife.

"Oh thank god!" she said snuggling him. "Down girl! I'm still sore. What happened to me anyway?" Aaron asked. "I can answer that young man. It seems you were hit with shrapnel in that last fight you were in. You were wounded and bleeding but I guess the adrenaline kept you from feeling it. You lost a decent about of blood when your computer friend brought you to us. It was touch and go there until you wife donated some blood for you. Remarkable stuff Ingress blood. All of it type O and contains their regenerative properties. That stuff may put me out of business" the doctor said chuckling.

"Is the battle over?" Aaron asked concerned. "It's over. We won" Leila said looking away. "How many?" Aaron asked knowing that expression. "11,300 human soldiers KIA. 1,890 human soldiers MIA. 34 friendly Ingress dead and we lost the battleship Serapis. Aaron the civilian death toll...last revision put it at 2.7 million" Leila said letting a tear drop from her eye. Aaron closed his eyes and pounded his fist on the bed.

"I know how you feel honey. You need to tell yourself that it's worth it. That's how I cope with seeing my people's bodies in the city" Leila said stroking his head. "Leila, before I killed that elite, she said something ominous. She said the Empress had a plan to decimate Earth. We need to find out what she meant" Aaron said. "We are already interrogating the ones who surrendered including someone you know" Leila said. "Who?" Aaron asked confused.

 "Ned. He was taken alive when Vasquez recognized him. He put up a hell of a fight too. Reports put his killing spree at over 600. A lot of people want him dead" Leila said. "Jesus, how did he get mixed up in this war? He supposed to be at a secured base!" Aaron's said. "Nobody knows. He's under sedation" Leila said. "I need to see him" Aaron said. "Later. You get some rest. The General supposed to make an announcement at 1300 tomorrow" Leila said.

The next day, civilians came out of hiding and welcomed their liberators. To their shock, Ingress was with them. They were later told of the union between Leila and Aaron and how many Ingress switched sides because of it. Now was the grim task of rebuilding and disposing of the dead. "Ready to go?" Leila asked. "Let me finish changing. Don't need anyone to see my ass in this breezy gown" Aaron said. "Oh it's not so bad" Leila said giggling. "I know you like it. You enjoy kissing and licking it so much I got the idea" Aaron said laughing. Leila blushed at the memory.

"Ready. Oww..." Aaron said gripping his side. "Better let me carry you. It's a long walk to the memorial" Leila said gently picking him up and resting him on her shoulder. Aaron used her rope-like hair for balance as she strode through the city. Everywhere he saw was marked in some way by the battle. A giant body here, a crater there. D.C. hadn't suffered this much damage since 1812. In 10 minutes they made their way to the Lincoln Memorial. It was intact except for Lincoln's statue. The cruel elite warrior had destroyed it with her bare hands seeing it as a symbol of humanity.

The soldiers seeing Aaron cheered for him. The attention made him blush as he waved to the crowd. Thousands gathered for the announcement. Leila politely sat down and they both waited. At 1300 hrs, General Longstreet appeared on the steps. Clapping and salutes filled the air. The General raised his hand for them to quiet down and glanced over for his queue. The cameraman gave a thumbs up and the General spoke.


"Soldiers, our new Ingress allies, the great people of Washington, D.C. I stand in front of a memorial of a leader who was faced with a war that would test and change a nation. Like the other day, he was confronted with a battle that would mark a turning point in the war. When that battle was over and his forces were victorious, he spoke words that still ring true to this day even after 288 years later. He spoke of all men being equal and not letting his nation perish from the earth. Allow me to paraphrase some of those words."

"I hold these truths to be self-evident that all life was created equal regardless of size. And all people have the right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. Especially life and liberty. The Ingress live under the yoke of tyranny and our salvation for our way of life is to liberate our enemies of this oppression. Not so our nation will not perish from the Earth but so the Earth will not perish itself. Another great leader stood on these very steps a century later with a dream. I have a dream too but it is not just my dream."

"It is the dream of that Ingress woman with her husband an unborn child. It is the dream of countless soldiers and Ingress who died to liberate this city. It is the dream of millions. The dream of integrating with our new Ingress brothers and sisters. It is the dream of being judged by ones actions and not their size. It is a dream we must all share or all who gave their all will have died in vain. We can mourn today but we must dream tomorrow" the General said stepping away from the podium. Cheers and claps thundered around the memorial. "A dream" Leila muttered wiping away a tear.

The crew of the Ark was dead silent. The broadcast left everyone speechless. Not because of the speech but the fact their North American hub had fallen. "It doesn't matter" the Empress said. "Majesty, surely the fall of the hub will hurt the war effort. Should we send troops to retake it?" a young brave officer asked. "I said it doesn't matter. Not as long as there’s another source of humans ready for us. How soon will we reach London?" she asked. “ETA is 1hr. 43 minutes” the helmsman said. “And has the word been given to wrap up operations in the cities by next month?” the Empress asked.  “By your command Empress” the comm officer replied. “Good then. We can proceed with Project Baikonur” the Empress said with an evil grin.