The Rebel encampment had been remarkably easy for the strike team to infiltrate, to the point where the squad’s leader was suspicious that their operation may have been compromised. Col. Alvarez and his team had encountered minimal resistance as they swept through the jungle compound; the hatch leading to the underground bunker was their objective and thus far only two paltry sentries had stood in their way.

With a quick sweep of the area to make sure they weren’t being observed, the Colonel set his men to work opening the door. Mere moments later, the squad engineer reported that the door could be freely opened… it wasn’t locked to begin with.

“Somethin’ ‘aint right here. Keep your eyes peeled.” Ever since the uprising had begun, the Colonel had been on the front lines; breaking fortifications, shattering supply convoys, intercepting raiding parties. Though none in command made a habit of saying anything directly for the sake of morale, it was common knowledge that Alvarez was the lynchpin holding together the army’s presence here.  They had done their best to evenly distribute the glory… until their new chief financial backer had decided to take things in a new direction. ‘A Hero was needed’ she’d said, ‘and Alvarez was that Hero.’

His media profile had certainly blossomed, much to his chagrin. As a long time military man, he knew the value of subtlety; a word which apparently meant nothing to his benefactors. One absurdly dangerous assignment after another had made him wonder if his backers had any knowledge of scale or proportion when it came to picking fights. The Colonel had always drilled home the importance of not engaging in battles you cannot be sure of winning; these new assignments threw such wisdom to the breeze.

And yet… this assignment seemed uncharacteristically easy. More on edge than during any previous fire-fight, the Colonel and his team descended into the neon glow of the concrete bunker corridors. He brought up the map they’d been provided with, retrieved from an intercepted rebel supply convoy. Navigating quickly through the maze of grey corridors, the Colonel grew increasingly concerned with each empty hallway, each deserted room. With two doors left to go, he ordered the squad to halt.

“Alright team, something is definitely rotten here. The Rebels are traditionally a pretty paranoid bunch, and the notion that we could just waltz into one of their primary ammo dumps is completely ridiculous. That room ahead could be a deserted ammo stockpile just waiting to be blown to bits… or it could be a trap waiting to be sprung. So keep your wits about you and your trigger fingers itchy. Let’s go.”

To the Colonel’s utter lack of surprise, the door to the room marked ‘Ammo Dump’ on his map was unlocked. Pushing it open slowly, he was greeted with a vast underground dome, dimly lit by some feeble overhead lamps and filled with piles of indistinct supplies. Signaling to his breaching pair, the Colonel levelled his assault rifle and watched as the two soldiers slipped quickly into the dome, pressing themselves up against the nearest available cover; a few stacks of wooden pallets.

Two at a time the rest of the team swept into the room, checking around for any sign of resistance. There was nothing; no guards, no cameras, just a dimly lit room full of crates and barrels. However, that wasn’t all.

“Sir!” One of the men whispered as he approached, “These crates… they’re all empty.”

“… That’s it; we’re leaving.”

As the words left his mouth, three things happened at once.

First, the door they had entered through slammed shut, a deadlock sliding into place and sealing them inside the dome. Second, the dim overhead lighting kicked into full force, joined immediately by a flurry of blinding spotlights all around the rim of the chamber. Finally, an alarm klaxon blared to life; the soldiers were dazed from the sudden light and deafened by the intense noise. Professionals though they were, it took them several precious seconds to recover their senses… by that point, the carnage had already begun.

Alvarez watched an explosion of crimson erupt from one of his squad-mates as they were torn to shreds by a hail of bullet-fire. It looked at first like the concentrated effort of an entire squad of rebels, but when the Colonel whipped his assault rifle around the side of his crate to take a shot, he found himself staring at only a single opponent; though they were a big one.

Lumbering forwards confidently, the figure would’ve been intimidating enough considering they were clad from head to foot in plate metal and Kevlar, but their sheer size was unprecedented. At a glance, the Colonel estimated the rebel juggernaut was at least nine feet tall, which went some way towards explaining the thing that concerned Alvarez most; the Gatling gun in their hands.

Bullets from his own team pattered off the figure like rain, thudding into the armour and getting either deflected or absorbed without leaving so much as a scratch. The retaliation from the Colonel’s squad was short-lived however, as the behemoth simply waded forwards, laying down a blanket of bullets that reduced man and cover to pieces with impunity.

Soon, the only one left was Alvarez. Despite his frantic assault though, the lumbering human tank didn’t seem interested in firing back. Indeed, once they were satisfied that the Colonel’s team was dead, they dropped their weapon with a casual ‘thud’ and strode towards Alvarez, disregarding the stream of curses and ammunition thrown their way.

Backed up to the wall, the Colonel’s gut had fallen away completely. It had been a trap; that inescapable reality was horrifying enough, but they had been trapped by a single man! The horrifying ‘click’ of his assault rifle sealed the dread in his stomach as the figure stood before him, towering over him like some mythical golem brought to life.

“Yeah, see, we’re gonna need to take that away from you. It’s not that I don’t trust you Colonel, but it’ll be easier for all involved if Maria there assumes responsibility for your weapons.”

The voice rang out from a loudspeaker somewhere in the room; it was casual, chatty even… but most striking to the ears of Alvarez was the name spoken. Maria? This behemoth in front of him was a woman?! With a screech of twisting metal, the colossus yanked the assault rifle from his grip, bending it out of shape with a hefty squeeze of her gloved fingers and tossing it aside.

With deftness that seemed unfitting given how heavily armored she was, she briskly swept the Colonel from head to foot, removing his backup pistols, his knives and even his hidden suicide pills. She didn’t even need to look; she knew where everything was.

“Well, now that’s over with, I reckon I can let Maria introduce herself properly. She’s been lookin’ forward to this day for a long time; she’s a real big fan of your work. She desperately wanted to meet you in person.”

Mere feet away from Alvarez, the massive form of Maria set about unbuckling her armour; shedding it with casual disdain. First to come off was her helmet; a mop of thick, black hair flopped out over her head as she tossed the headgear over her shoulder. Her skin was tanned and as she caught the Colonel’s eye, she flashed him a lopsided grin. To Alvarez, the expression was the sort of thing he saw on the face of his daughter when she saw a boy she thought was handsome. However, Maria was not some simpering little teenager… and that grin of bashful admiration was clearly hiding a wolfish hunger.

Piece by piece the entire suit of armour came off until all that was left was combat shorts and a singlet; even the boots and socks had been peeled off, much to the distaste of the Colonel’s nose. The tropical heat had done a number on the phenomenal female and her body was drenched in sweat. It glistened on her exposed skin; the toned muscle of her legs and arms, the ample swell of her chest beneath the flimsy singlet, and her exposed midriff that would’ve made some of the Colonel’s gym buddies blush with shameful inadequacy. The curvaceous rebel may have been round in all the right places, but any allure she may have had was lost on Alvarez; this woman had just casually cut down his entire squad in a matter of seconds… and now she was standing in front of him, gazing down silently into his face, waiting for him to make a move.

“Well? Come on? You know how to show a lady a good time, don’t you Colonel?”

Clenching both fists and teeth at the same time, Alvarez wound up and poured his entire weight into a punch that landed squarely on Maria’s chin. Her head tilted upwards roughly an inch, her eyes closing in response as her entire body tensed. Before the Colonel could deliver another strike Maria’s knee rammed into his gut, knocking him back against the wall and sending him sprawling to the ground, wheezing from the force of the impact. For her part, Maria waggled her jaw curiously and grinned down at Alvarez once again, totally unfazed by the hit.

In spite of the fact that the Colonel was coughing on the ground, Maria didn’t move; she simply stood, waiting quietly for him to stand up again. After a few seconds however she had clearly gotten impatient; seizing him by the collar the tanned titan dragged Alvarez to his feet and took a step back, tapping her cheek invitingly.

“… You’re God-damn sick you are!” The Colonel growled as he aimed his strike instead at her throat. The hit would’ve been enough to incapacitate a man his own size; but against Maria, it might as well have been a love-bite. She chuckled happily for an instant before she snatched his wrist in one of her meaty hands, hoisting him into the air like a ragdoll. Thrashing about as he was pressed against the Amazonian woman’s body, his face practically smothered in her voluminous cleavage, the Alvarez took the only option available to him. He slammed his leg as hard as he could into her crotch.

The instant he’d landed the hit, the Colonel knew it had been a mistake. Maria’s thighs clamped down like a vice-grip, his leg almost snapping in two under the pressure. Her lips had parted; a flush of crimson appeared in her cheeks as she stared hard at Alvarez. At first it seemed like he’d managed to stun the behemoth… but a moment later, the grin returned to her face.

“Travieso.” The Colonel’s entire world went black for a few moments as his mind reeled from sudden pain; Maria had headbutted Alvarez, a perversely affectionate look on her face as she did so. With a universal un-clenching of her body, the Herculean rebel released her grip on the Colonel and let him flop to the ground, blood trickling from a gash in his forehead. He rolled back and forth for a few seconds, stunned and in disbelief as to what was happening.

“Levántate!” She barked the order at him, but his mind was in no state to be receiving commands. Groaning in exasperation, Maria stooped down once again and pulled the Colonel to his feet, holding him by the shoulders until he was able to steady himself. Once she was satisfied with his balance, she took a few extra steps back and raised her fists in a boxing pose. The Colonel, still partially dazed, adopted a more defensive pose, hoping to dodge out of the way of her sledgehammer blows instead of trying to take her head on.

Alvarez started to circle Maria, never taking his eyes off hers. She gazed back intently, that manic, enthusiastic smile never once leaving her face. The instant she was between him and the wall, the Colonel started backing up into the room. An idea was forming in his head as he stepped back gradually, making sure not to simply dash and give the game away.

Maria was happily enjoying the little game of cat and mouse, keeping pace with Alvarez and considering whether or not to make the next move herself or to let the little man do it for her. Shuffling along the dirty floor with his combat boots, the Colonel waited until he could feel loose dirt and stones underfoot.

Preparing himself for the inevitable pain of what was about to happen, Alvarez shifted forwards and lashed out with a hefty boot at Maria’s gut. The strike hit home; she hadn’t even bothered to block it. As he’d expected, the hit didn’t even make her grunt. A moment later her hands were on his foot and had whipped upwards, flipping the man off balance and sending him crashing to the floor.

The instant he was on the ground, Alvarez made his move.

Seizing a handful of dirt and rocks, the Colonel flung them in the Amazon’s face, a muscular forearm flicking up to shield her eyes from the attack. Launching himself a few meters away, adrenaline pumping through his limbs, Alvarez landed beside the one weapon Maria hadn’t snapped like a twig; her Gatling gun. Skidding behind it, the Colonel grabbed hold of the two handles and tried to lift.

It didn’t budge. Heave as he might, Alvarez couldn’t shift the weapon so much as an inch, let alone lift it. Maria had recovered by this point, and as she watched the Colonel struggle with the weapon she just giggled in amusement, fingers over her mouth.

After a few seconds the sight had evidently bored her; she strode briskly over to her opponent, sending him scuttling back in angry dismay from the weapon. Casually, Maria stooped down and scooped up the gun in one thick hand, rattling it back and forward before she lobbed it at the Colonel.

“Tomar!” She called out as the hefty weapon slammed into the Colonel’s chest. The weight was more than sufficient to send the man sprawling onto his back, pinned to the ground and winded by the impossibly heavy cannon.

Grunting with exertion, Alvarez could only struggle helplessly as Maria strode over to him. She planted her massive, meaty feet either side of his head, looking down at him beneath her as he lay trapped under her discarded gun. She shook her head in amusement, placing her hands on her hips as she watched the Colonel fail to extricate himself.

His eyes went wide as she lifted one of those colossal feet over his face; each one was big enough to completely cover his entire head, and she brought it down with a casual press until he was smothered by it. Perhaps she thought she was being gentle, or perhaps she knew exactly how rough she was being; either way, the Colonel was bellowing with pain and anger. Chuckling deeply, Maria twisted her sole back and forth across her foe’s face.

Once she’d satisfied herself with using the Colonel’s skull as a door-mat, Maria retracted her foot slightly, planting it on the Gatling gun and lightly shoving it off her play-thing. Alvarez didn’t have any time to recover however, as the rumbling rebel had something far heavier to drop on him; herself. With a casual grin on her face, Maria lowered herself none-too-gently onto the battered soldier, letting her monstrous backside slam into his chest with the force of a plummeting fridge.

A spray of blood shot forth from his mouth as his whole body jerked beneath the impact, the crimson wad splattering across Maria’s thigh. In spite of the injuries she was inflicting on him, some part of the amazon was still treating the whole thing like a vigorous first date; with a look of romantic concern on her face, she leaned down and wiped the flecks of blood from the Colonel’s face with her thumb.

Pain wracked Alvarez from head to foot, though the most pressing case was located in his torso; he was sure that the impact from Maria had broken several of his ribs and he was likely bleeding internally. Somewhere inside that psychotic, childish brute of a woman, she had to know that he wasn’t going to survive the encounter. And yet still she seemed to approach beating him to a pulp with horrifying tenderness.

For a brief moment, Alvarez made eye contact with Maria through his swollen, purple sockets. In that instant, despite all his pain, despite the incredible agony, he could see the allure in that woman. Something primal deep in his addled mind found her raw power deeply enticing, but he also retained enough sense to know that he was only subconsciously scouring his options for a way out. He doubted flattery would work, even if he could speak her language. The same thought played on repeat in his head, growing louder with each passing second: You are going to die, Alvarez. You’re going to be murdered by an Amazonian rebel in hot-pants.

Before he had time to react, Maria had leaned right down until her face was filling his vision. Her lips pressed hard against his, leaving a long, hungry kiss on his mouth before she leaned back up, her meaty fingers wrapping around his throat. He felt as though the end was drawing near as she exerted a mere fraction of her strength, squeezing his esophagus shut and pinning him in place. She didn’t even bother to disguise how much she was relishing the moment; her eyes were narrowed, her teeth chewed on her lower lip and a pink hue had entered her cheeks. With every choking gurgle that escape the Colonel’s mouth, Maria only tightened her grip in excitement.

In an instant, she’d risen to her feet, dragging Alvarez up with her like a rag-doll. What little strength remained in him shot to his arms as he tried uselessly to pry loose her fingers from his throat. She giggled as though he’d tried to feel her up, watching on bashfully as his reddened face started to slacken under oxygen deprivation. His struggles gradually lessened as he felt his death approaching.

“Maria; liberarlo.” The voice from the loud-speaker rang out again, though this time it was in person.

The titanic woman turned her head to look at the source of the sound, dropping the Colonel like a sack of potatoes. Alvarez couldn’t twist any part of his body to cushion the fall; he hit the floor hard and tried to stay conscious as a pair of high heels marched towards him beneath a business skirt. His vision blurred as he squinted upwards at the unfamiliar face of a short-haired brunette, rectangular spectacles balanced on her nose and a smirk of satisfaction on her lips.

“Good afternoon Colonel. I’m sure I don’t need to introduce myself.”

Even though he’d never seen her face, he knew he recognized the voice of his benefactor. He opened his mouth to reply, but his lungs burned in his chest and he found himself unable to summon words.

“No need for talk; I shan’t waste yours or Maria’s time,” she flashed an affectionate smile at the rebel who stood at least twice her height, “I really only came here to personally thank you for helping our cause so much. Nothing cripples the morale of an army quite like the death of a Hero after all, and even though you survived one too many suicide missions in my opinion, it turned out to be a blessing in disguise. Maria here was more than happy to volunteer to take you on, and given how irritating you’ve been for my country, I was okay with letting her have her fun.”

Alvarez tried to move. He tried to speak. He tried to do anything but lay there slowly dying, but he just couldn’t manage it.

“Anyway, I’ve got business to take care of, but since we’re both here, I’ve got one last thing to say to you.” She slipped a pedicured foot out of one of her polished heels, spreading her toes out in relaxation before pressing her sole down against the Colonel’s face. It wasn’t nearly as painful or smothering as when Maria had done it, but his face was so heavily battered that the slightest touch sent lances of pain through his nerves. He could do nothing but endure the grind of the woman’s foot as she pressed his cheek into the dirt.

“Adios gusano despreciable.” She said with finality. Removing her heel from the Colonel’s face, she slipped it back into her heel and turned to leave, strolling away briskly. A moment later, Maria’s meaty figure stepped back into view, her impossibly powerful body looming over the fallen soldier like a demi-God. With one eye now caked shut with blood, his one good eye peered up towards her face. Deprived of depth perception, her height felt infinitely magnified; the combination of his own physically feeble condition, coupled with her imposing figure, made him feel like little more than an insect in the dirt… and given the way she was raising her leg over his skull, it seemed she was about to dispatch him like one.

“Adios amante.” She rumbled with a wink, the Colonel’s own smeared blood still visible on the ball of her foot.

The moment seemed to drag on forever as her sole descended on his head like a sky of falling flesh…

… and a heartbeat later, Colonel Alvarez was no more; his skull squashed like a ripe tomato beneath Maria’s tread. The fact that he was dead didn’t stop Maria from continuing to enjoy the moment, the hot, wet feeling of his blood seeping between her toes sent spasms of delight up her spine even as the crunch of his bone fragments under her grinding heel drew forth a groan from her throat.

After a minute or so of this however, the excitement gradually faded, replaced with a lingering sense of melancholy. The fun part was over, and now there was only one thing left to do before the day was up. Sighing deeply, Maria bent down and effortlessly lifted the Colonel’s corpse by the leg, dragging it behind her through the underground compound.

She whistled casually, ignoring the glances by her fellow rebels as they watched her lugging the still-bleeding corpse of her latest victim to join the rest. Eventually, she stood at the edge of the colossal turbine, peering down at the rapidly spinning blades. Far beneath them through the gaps, she could vaguely make out the sight of several colleagues scrubbing the iron floor; no doubt still cleaning up from the last time. Waiting patiently for one of them to look up and see her, she grinned and hoisted the corpse bodily over the side of the protective railing.

A long cry of dismay was audible even over the sound of the whirring turbine as the Colonel’s remains collided with it, drenching the workers below with blood, viscera and pieces of ragged cloth; not to mention spraying Maria herself with a fine rain of crimson.

“DE NUEVO MARIA?!”

“Oops.” The amazon shrugged unapologetically, grinning from ear to ear before turning on her heel and sauntering back to her bunk.