Lucky leapt off Dawn’s palm and onto the soft ground covered by aco, a short green weed that covered most of Home’s forest. A mild fog blanketed the ground , covering most of the aco and low level flora, forming a natural lasagna of sorts.

While he pranced around in the park Dawn relaxed by sitting in a corner and observing the coming and goings of the park visitors. She kept an eye on Lucky, making sure he wasn’t getting into trouble with people or animals, his curiosity was not always a strength.

 Dawn enjoyed the  tranquil morning hours, she could relax and watch the world go by. Right now, it just consisted of Lucky exploring every nook and cranny in the park while people brought their own pets out for walks or did their morning exercises.

 Her mind was not focused on current events but was reliving the events of the previous night. All Dawn could think of was the kiss, her first kiss with Graham. Her finger pressed against her lips as she felt them, lingering over the spot where she had made contact with Graham.

 Just thinking about it released pleasent waves of euphoria but why though, she wondered. Her brow furrowed as she reflected on her friendship with Graham.

 Friends, that is what they called themselves now. One word summed up their relationship so well but did friends kiss each other? She bowed her head in thought, she had never kissed him before. Why now? Why kiss him? Was he truly a friend? Or had he become something more without her even realising it?

 While Dawn deliberated, Lucky found a small mole like creature while exploring the park.. Instinctively, he chased the smaller creature around until it burrowed itself into a small mound, a hole the only sign it was even there.  

 Lucky paused for a second to decide; should he or should he not thrust his snout inside? It didn’t take  him long to settle on his decision: thrust.

 Which proved to be a mistake as several small but sharp claws slashed at his snout, the sudden sharp sensation of pain sending him squealing and back towards Dawn who gently picked him up.

 “ What’s the matter Lucky?” Dawn cooed as he curled himself up against her finger, whimpering. Dawn held him up against her eye while nudging his body to check for injuries.

Nothing, except for a couple of small scratches. She giggled to herself while he nuzzled his snout against her warm skin, barely the size of her digits but unlike most people, he showed no fear of her.

 “ Oh Lucky, you’re such a coward.Which teeny thing did you upset this time?” Dawn asked in a teasing tone.

 Lucky made a weak growl, conceding defeat.

 “ You may be a coward but you’re my coward,” She laughed to herself as he eased into a sitting position, legs and tiny arms under his torso.

  “Just wish you would like Graham, he isn’t going to take me away from you,” Dawn said to him while his eyes closed.

  Lucky purred contently as he decided to take a nap, he didn’t want to discuss Graham anyway. The little attention grabber was not fit to be with Dawn anyway Lucky thought to himself.

With Lucky abstaining from the conversation, the incident reminded her of the day she met Graham for the very first time.

*******

“Sorry! I’m not used to big crowds?” Dawn smiled sheepishly as she stepped her way through the student body, careful not to step on people.

The gate was too short for Dawn to pass under but she was tall enough to step over it. Dawn chose a less crowded section and stepped over the wall with her long slim jean covered legs. She wore a white top handed down to her by Jessica-she enlarged it with her own powers- and covered with a thin but insulating grey jacket on this cool morning.

 She stopped to look back at the arch, covered in stone serpents with their tongues out, hissing at some imaginary creature. It was an odd school, she thought but then again, who was she to judge? She was an oddity too, normal people were not the size of buildings!

 It was at this point that Dawn felt something hit against her sneakers hard. She looked down and gasped at what she saw.

--------

  Graham was running from George and Edmund , the only people who seemed to take great delight in his misery. He wished he was faster but his obese frame only slowed him down. Worse, he crashed into what felt like some huge freshman.

 Graham was a heavy guy so if he could run into something and be the one who came off second best, that person was strong;and strong people tended to get mad at him. The reasons were stupid but plenty, from not helping them with their homework or just plan old wanting to pick on the fat nerd.

“Oh,I’m so sorry…” He rubbed his head but realised he was not looking at a person but a foot, a foot the size of a bench. As his vision cleared and he saw less stars, he realised that the comparison was inadequate, this foot had to be at least twenty feet long, perhaps even bigger. He looked up, past legs taller than the school and up on to a shirt revealing hints of a flat stomach, past the willowy chest to a very concerned looking  girl , her round face framed by a head of long white hair that fell down to her shoulders.

 “Are you okay?” That was all she said. Graham didn’t say it then but he found her looks captivating.

----------

Dawn bent down, worried she had hurt him through her own carelessness. She didn’t need any more accidents in school, it was through accidents she found herself bounced from one school to the other, none of them keen to have her once the complaints started coming in. Adder High didn’t have the best or even a decent reputation, closer to mediocre than acceptable but its principal had accepted Dawn without Tucker having to present a case for her.

 “Oh my,” Graham exclaimed in shock as he backed away , hands pushing against the ground while still on his bum.

“Y-you’re Jessica’s daughter!”

“Oh, you know me, I didn’t think anyone here did,” She replied. Dawn slowly bent over and pushed Graham towards her with her palm.

 “ O-of course we do, you’re famous! Your dad’s an alien and your mom is a legend! You’re the first alien-homean person ever. You’re living history!”

 Dawn found his nervousness to be off putting but his compliments were very soothing, turning her pale cheeks cherry red..

 “ Oh that’s very nice of you but are you fine? You hit my foot pretty hard,” She bit her lip, hoping he’d say nothing was wrong.

 Graham patted himself , checking for any bruises or broken bones. Dawn watched as he did so and from the lack of yelps, she guessed he must have been alright. Nothing that needed immediate medical attention.

“I’m fine,” Graham stood up. Good thing he did too for George and Edmund arrived on the scene, both wide eyed as Dawn’s form filled their vision.

“Who’s the freak?”Edmund’s ill informed comment coming as a stark contrast to Graham’s knowledge of her, Dawn grimaced at the former’s words. This was a much more familiar feeling.

“Sh-she’s new,” Graham stepped back, behind Dawn’s foot as they advanced although not as confidently thanks to the new player on the battlefield.

 Dawn considered shifting her leg and giving up Graham but the thought of throwing him to those imbecilic wolves made her feel sick.

 “ Okay Tall as Trees, hand him over and we’ll be out of your hair. Trust me, you don’t want to mess with us,” Edmund bared his teeth. George on the other hand seemed to just stare at her like some dumb ape, jaw open so large you could fit an entire burger inside.

 Dawn picked up Graham, wrapping her fingers him like a protective cocoon before turning her attention to the two boys.

 “ Try me,” She bared her teeth back.

 “Well, consider yourself lucky Graham you got a girl to fight your battles for you. Just, I didn’t get your name. You are…” Edmund looked on with impunity.

“ Dawn. Dawn Martel,” Dawn stuck out her chin confidently. If there was one thing she could do, it was stand up to bullies who dealt with their fists. That was easy.

“Good luck Graham but Dawn, you know what they say...the bigger they come the harder they fall,” He turned and left, pulling George along.

 Graham looked up at his saviour, she was amazing! In one moment she had sent those two packing!

“T-thank you Dawn,” Graham wanted to kiss her hand but Dawn stopped that.

“Please, you don’t have to worship me. I’m nothing special, just a person like you trying to fit in. I didn’t get your name,” She asked.

 “ Graham, Graham Everly. I hope we have classes together.”

 Dawn nodded, “ I hope we do too.”

******

Lucky’s content snores broke her, the little reptile was louder then he looked.

“I wonder if Graham is thinking the same. Oh what am I saying, he’s so clever I think he’s got it figured it out,” Dawn stood up and began to head home, making a note to call Graham to see if he wanted to hang out.

 While she  grappled with her feelings over Graham, others from a distant planet were more certain of their feelings over a certain giantess.

******

 “ Ah Private Uganadason, good to see you,” Ambassador Severus smiled warmly at the young cadet. Like all Dolorians, he resembled a humanoid lizard but with opposable thumbs.

In front of him  and Severus was the latter’s colleague from the planet Etrusca, Proximo Aretino. Both resembled the people of Home except for a larger and more muscular build with paler skin; but still shorter than the Dolorians, Idi had several inches on both men.Both wore purple ambassador uniforms, symbolic of their King’s royal colour. However, the two men were very different in build.

Severus was bald with a couple of scar, likely from some wild animal across his face. His eyes were a shade of brown , almost coal like. Proximo had reached old age some time back with a well kept beard that descended past his pectorals. He was thinner , close to gaunt but was able to walk unaided.

 “ You called for me Ambassador Arcus?” Private Idi stood at attention, waiting for the order.

 Severus chuckled at Proximo who returned a knowing smile.

 “ Now now Idi, no need to be formal, this is a very informal meeting. You can go with first names if you wish.”

Idi put himself at ease, his chest deflating over his sand coloured uniform, important when fighting on the surface of Doloria, eighty percent of its land was desert.

 “ Idi, you have been selected for a very special project,” Severus said while Proximo keyed in a six digit code for the lift.

Idi did not smile where most would upon receiving such praise but he did speak although his voice was as bitter as bile,  “ Sir, forgive but what would you want with a lowly private like me? A private from an honourless family?”

Idi hated to even bring that up but then the  military didn’t show the same leniency 18 years ago when his father had been shamed by the government for letting the Home soldiers break free. The worst was the giantess they had, she destroyed an entire base just by growing to her full size. After she escaped with the rest, his father was to be discharged immediately for overseeing the fiasco; Captain Uganda had salvaged some honour through hara kiri, a single shot to the head from his own pistol.

 “ Ah,” His eyes glinted at the mention of his family. Severus never understood why reputation was so important on Doloria. His family would have been dead thrice over if they adopted the same system on Etrusca!

He chuckled at that thought.

“ I never understood your honour system but I’ve read about it. As for why we picked you, its because you’re the perfect candidate for the mission,” a perky bleep from the lift interrupted him as the metal door retreated into the wall.

 The three of them went in , Idi surprised when Severus entered the number for the bottom floor; the lowest floor was accessible for only a select few. On the screen, another prompt to enter the password.

 Idi watched wordlessly as Severus did so, the sudden jerk an indication of their descent into the lower floors. Normally the lift would get you there in a blink of an eye but he could feel time pass by, none of the three men saying a word.

 “ We’re here,” Proximo held the door open as it came to a sudden stop.Idi let Severus pass first before stepping through.

“See anything you like?” Proximo laughed heartily but Idi wasn’t laughing, he awestruck. They appeared to be in a hangar but what was inside wasn’t any sort of spacecraft he recognised. He had studied Dolorian military history but what was at the center didn’t follow any of it. No, it seemed alien in nature.

 It looked like a Dolorian but made completely of metal, pistons and hydraulics were visible at the joints as techinicans and workers welded tiles on to it. He could even spot what looked like armour plating being added to its limbsIt hands were razor sharp although Idi did not know what it was supposed to grab with hands like that, he felt closed fists would have been better.

He assumed it head would look like a Dolorian although that part was currently missing.

 Severus placed a hand on the tall Dolorian and whistled , his shrill tune echoing off the hollow space they were in.

“ It’s a fusion of Etruscan mecha tech with Dolorian biology, I hear the view from the cockpit  is quite breathtaking, once its finished of course ” He remarked while patting Idi on the back.

Idi snapped out of his trance and managed to ask some questions but he could not mask his excitement.

 “ Forgive me but what is it supposed to do?”

   Proximo tittered, “ My dear..lizard, it’s the latest in defence.  Project Rhodes we call it, based on the principle that  the best defence is a good offence.”

“And you’re first in line to pilot it when we deploy it,” Severus added.

Idi felt weak in the knees, this was all too much. He’d live with the shame of his family name’s , all because of his father. The other kids had taunted him for it, adults shunned his mother and him for it. It should have been someone with a better reputation, better test scores but they had settled for him. A grin formed, slowly seeping across his scaly face.

 “ Thank you, both of you, I will not let you down. I will perform to my best once we let it out in the desert,” Idi’s remark causing Proximo to look surprised, as if he’d said something wrong.

 “ Severus, you didn’t tell him?” Severus shook his head.

“We’re not going to the desert little Idi, we’re putting it on Home where you will help Doloria address 20 years of injustice.”

Idi tried to answer but all the came out of his throat was a croak, he struggled for words but instead he fell to his knees.

 “ Sir, how? Home is protected by the Republic! We’ll never even get the codes to bypass the first line of defence.”

 Severus tapped his forehead before smiling slyly, “ You leave that to our friends from Etrusca. You just get yourself inside when the time is right and defeat  the monster known as Jessica.”

 Idi’s lip quivered, he had heard Jessica was revered on Home, his geography lessons told him that the people of Home gave her the treatment reserved for royalty. It was even said that she had an entire planet who worshipped her as a goddess.

 How though, he asked himself every day since the attack, how could a murderer be treated like a hero? A woman like her, killing hundreds of his people , crippling thousands more. She had intruded on their space!

 “ I’ve been waiting for 18 years, suffered the slings and arrows over my father’s soiled name,” His eyes narrowed in quiet rage.

“I will do as you ask, it would be a pleasure to go to Home and bring her back. To let her live untouched while my people are still scarred from her atrocities is a grave injustice. I’ll bring Home to its knees too, they deserve it.”

“Good, very good.That is the sort of thing we expect from a our number one pilot. Now get yourself some rest and,” he put his finger to his lips.

“Do not breathe a word to the others, I am sure you know what happens if you let this slip.” Idi nodded silently and went back to the lift. He took it up to the first floor, Severus smirking as he watched the numbers on the lift flicker.

 “ Good boy, tragic past but so eager to correct it,” Proximo commented as he walked towards the mecha.

 “  Indeed Proximo but that’s what makes him so perfect. He won’t even question us on any missed detail as long as he gets to fight her. A shame she won’t go to trial although what we’ll do to her, she will long for a lifetime on Doloria.”

Proximo chuckled to himself, it was good to finally be working on top secret project again.

“ And if he should kill her in the fight, even better. We’ll know she isn’t the best fighter out there. Idi clears his family name and gets honoured,” Proximo air quoted the last word.

“While we continue our search for the galaxy’s greatest fighter. Win-win but the Rhodes is a good combat suit, our dear prince could wear if it comes back undefeated for the games.”