Invasion: Return of the Progenitors by Size Master

Giantess World

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Author's Chapter Notes:

and now for part 2

"17. 17 are free. I put them to sleep" she said almost collapsing. Chad caught the massive woman just before she fell to the floor. "I know why they are here. They are looking for him. Hart" she said. "What? Why?" he asked. Aeris was dazed. "Unknown" she muttered. "Cyrus to Colonel Raam! Their objective is Dr. Hart! I repeat. Their objective is Dr. Hart!" he yelled. "Are you sure?!" Raam yelled over the sounds of gunfire. "Aeris out a bunch to sleep but confirmed it in their minds! We have to find him!" Chad yelled. "Nobody knows where he is! Try the lab!" Raam shouted. Chad carried Aeris with him as he made his way to the lab. It was dark and he tried the lights. Nothing. "The emergency generators are running aren't they Ai?" he asked. "Confirmed. I'm picking up ozone in the air" she said. Chad switched to night vision. "Oh shit" he said seeing a dead giant soldier in the center of the giant lab. "Small holes near the heart. This was done with a human scale weapon" Ai said zooming in. "The smell of ozone was from the discharge" he realized. "Did Hart do this?" Ai asked. "I plan to find out. Are the cameras still working?" he asked looking at the destroyed camera inside the room. “Barely" she replied.

"Overlay a map of the enemy for me. God, I hope I'm wrong" he said. He watched as 10 blips propped up. 4 were bunched on the west area. Another three on the south. But 3 were heading fast for the hangar. "Diversions! The others are diversions!" Chad yelled. Chad moved as fast as he could with Aeris in tow but she was slowing him down. By sheer luck he saw Kana. "Kana! Thank god! Take care of her! I’m heading to the hangar!" he said literally shoving Aeris into her arms. Kana looked on confused as Chad thundered off. Chad got there just in time to Dr. Hart closing the hatch of an ACE. Its pilot crushed flat just feet away. Hart and two Ingress took off at high speed. "Where do you think you're going?" Chad muttered kicking the throttle and chasing after them.

Hart and the others had a decent lead and Chad wasn't gaining on them. However, they did notice his pursuit. The two Ingress turned on their backs and aimed their rifles at him. Chad watched as they turned to SMG mode. A hail of positron fire strayed at him. Chad dodged most of them but was hit by a few. "Shields down to 81%" Ai said. "Open a channel to him! Force the connection if you have to!" Chad yelled. "...connection established" she said. "Hart! You better explain this shit!" Chad yelled. "What's there to explain? I got a better offer from the opposition" Hart replied. Chad fired potshots at him hoping to at least slow him down. He watched as the enemy ACE motioned for the two to break off and engage. "Son of a bitch is buying time" Chad muttered. The Ingress caught up to him within two seconds. Chad was forced to fight. Chad was shocked to see his opponents were better than the rest. No doubt they held the best for escort duty. It pulled out a shotgun and went to fire. Chad deflected the arm. As he readied a drawn sword Ai shouted. "Behind us!"

The other had flew around for a pincer move. He had just enough time to parry the blow as he turned. Now this close he could see they were women. Women in their late 30's. It made sense to him now. These two had had at least 15 years of combat experience already. Hell, maybe 20 if they were once part of the Empress' army back during the War. These two veteran giantesses could tear him apart and he knew it. Chad angled his head at the one who just attacked and fired off his autocannons. The knock back stunned her and fractured her visor. Half of it fell away and her hair spilled out. He saw the look in her right eye. Void of emotion but staring into him as if scrutinizing his hybrid soul. "Pistol mode" he heard the other say. The other Ingress fired point blank into his head.

Chad flinched and fell back. The giantess wasted no time switching modes back to SMG. Chad fired his gauntlet cannons rapidly to discourage her. It worked. He was draining her shield quickly but her partner put a halt to it. A swipe of her sword cut into the chest armor. The sound was horrible to his. The screech and groan of metal being torn. "Damage to secondary armor! Any deeper and it would've hit the reactor!" Ai yelled. Chad watched as Hart was Getting further away. He had to do something quick. "Their teamwork is too good! We got any drones left on the base?!" Chad yelled. "We do! Three!" Ai yelled. "Send them here top speed! Fast as you can and I mean fast!" Chad yelled. "They aren't loaded!" Ai yelled. "Don't give a shit! Do it!" he yelled. Ai sent out the command and three drones took off from the hangar. Ai had disengaged the safety systems to top their speed limits. They were literally catching on fire from air friction as they passed Mach 4.

"They'll be he in 30 seconds!" she yelled. "30 seconds..." he muttered. Chad couldn't move around too much if his plan was going to work. Worse yet he had to keep them still until the last possible moment. The one with the sword was most dangerous. He would parry and she would slip in a slash. They weren’t deep but she was getting closer in killing him. Chad raised his arm to fire off another shot at the gun toting one when the others sword came down. Chad yanked back but not fast enough. "Shit!" he yelled seeing the blow cut his right hand clean off. That cannon was done for and he would be soon. "Shields down to 23%!" Ai yelled as another bolt hit them. "Cut the engines on my mark!" he said. He watched as two fireballs screamed toward him. "NOW!" he yelled. The engines went dead and he fell away from them. They motioned to pursue until the drones hit their target.

Two large explosions rocked them. "You used the drones as missiles" Ai said astonished. Chad held his breath. If they survived, he was screwed. Two massive bodies fell from the blast cloud past him. He watched them hit the ground with a colossal thud. They didn't move. "Restart engines. We're gonna get that fucker" he hissed. And with that they resumed their chase.

"Chad he has over a 20-mile lead and we aren't catching up" she said. "HART! HART! Answer me!" Chad yelled over the comm. "Lt. Cyrus? You're still alive? Like a goddamn bug you are" Hart said. "Traitor! Why?!" Chad yelled. "I made an offer to him and he finally accepted" Hart said. "OFFER?! What could you want to sell out so many lives?!" Chad screamed. "My true body. All you fools have no idea who or what I truly am. I am not human. I'm Ingress" he said. "...Impossible. You're...you're my size. Human" Chad muttered. "Believe me I know" Hart hissed. "You're insane. You actually think you're Ingress" Chad said. "I don't think. I know. My name isn't Hart. It's really Harin Lycus. 1st. lieutenant of the 212 battalion. R&D division of Her Majesty's army. Long live the Empress"

"When the war had just started, we discovered that humans carried genes we needed to fix Ingress one’s damaged generations ago by exposure to radioactive fallout. Our salvation lied in your tiny puny bodies. Me and a few others volunteered in the first experiment to see what would happen if your DNA was implanted into an Ingress body. It was a fucking disaster. We mutated within days. Our own accelerated healing abilities made the change spread like wildfire. Within a week the subjects were...like you. Like me now. The one called Baris promised me he'd restore my Ingress body in exchange for the locations of cities with high Ingress populations. A simple request really" Hart said chuckling. "How? How did..."

"How did I contact him? Simple. I just piggybacked my transmission though a civilian channel. With so many trying to call loved ones in St. Petersburg it went unnoticed. He didn't answer right away. Guess he thought the offer was trivial and beneath him. Something changed his mind yesterday. Wonder what that was. Maybe your freak alien girlfriend perhaps?" Hart said laughing. "HART! Selling us all out! Even your own species?! You won't make it to him!" Chad yelled. "I beg to differ as you'll see why soon on your radar" Hart said. As the two raced over the ocean, Chad had Hart sighted on radar. Suddenly 12 blimps popped up ahead of him. "Chad..." Ai said. "Son of a bitch" Chad hissed. Chad broke off the pursuit. "This isn't over" Chad said. "You're right Lt. It's just beginning" Hart said. The comm went dead as Chad beat his fists on the consoles.

An hour later, Chad was sitting next to Nara who was lying down in the wrecked sickbay. Kana and a few drafted soldiers and personnel were busy with triage. The captured Ingress were being held in the brig. "He sold us out. All of us" Chad told her. "Never liked that guy. Fucking creepy. Nara said. "How is she?" Chad asked. "Better now. She said she'll be fine tomorrow if they're no more attacks. I think she tried to make a joke" Nara said grinning. Raam sat next to them. "Colonel. I'm sorry I couldn't stop him" Chad said looking up at the giant. "You did what you could soldier. I can't ask for anything more. I informed HQ what happened. They want us in Washington ASAP. We're going to redeye it there tonight. Sorry Nara but you're going to have to recoup on the way there" Raam said. "Understood sir" she said. "I have more news. We were able to stop Baris from taking Paris" he said. "That's great news!" Chad said. Raam shook his head. He tapped his omnitool and showed the both a picture. A burning crater 10 miles wide in the middle of the city.

"The detonation took out the hub. No clear number on civilian losses yet but it's estimated to be around 4700. Another few hours and we could've got them all out. The sick and infirm were the ones hit hardest. If Hart or whoever the fuck he says he is hands Baris that information, he will expand his army considerably. Two steps forward and one step back" Raam said shaking his head. "Be on the Tarmac at 2100" he said leaving. Chad was laying close to Nara. His watch said 2208. Out the window he saw ACE's flying escort near the transport. Nara was deep asleep and snoring. He chuckled at how cute it was to see her cheeks puff up as she let loose a snore. Her breath was warm on his small body as he drifted off to sleep. He hoped his failure to capture Hart wouldn't be the cause of their defeat. What he knew was he had to be stronger. Better than he was. He needed strength to overcome the bleak future.

It was 8 a.m. as Chad and Nara were in their rooms changing into their dress uniforms. Chad was tying his boots as Nara was slipping on a pair of giant nylons. Both were nervous about the meeting that was supposed to take place at 9. The Joint Chiefs of the Union Military were going to be in attendance. The biggest problem was any plan would have to include Aeris being the one to lead the attack. No doubt this would cause some issues concerning loyalties and people with grudges. Already the losses had exceeded a staggering 116,000 military lives and the civilian death toll was in the millions. It was like Hitler's little sister helping the Allies on the condition she lead the Normandy invasion. Chad heard a knock on the giant door. "Come in" he said. There stood Nara in her nice uniform. Chad thought it looked very pretty on her. Her gigantic black heels shined to military perfection. It had boosted her already titanic height another 18 ft. "Raam is down in the lobby waiting for us" she said bending down and picking him up.

It seemed undignified for him to ride in her breast pocket and it was all about airs today. Chad sat in her hands as she rode the elevator down. "You need to relax. Those big wigs pick up on people who try to impress. Just answer their questions honestly and Aeris if you're listening, don't do anything crazy. These guys are wound thighs as it is" Raam said getting into the giant vehicle. Chad had been to D.C. plenty of times but it was the first time for Nara. "It's pretty" she said. "You should see it in April. Those ancient cherry trees are in full bloom" he said. Nara admired the old architecture of the Capitol dome. She saw the Washington Monument and blushed. Chad lowered his defenses and took a casual peek into her thoughts. He motioned for her to bring him to her face. "You ain't the first to think that but I'm guessing the pointy top would be painful after climbing up it" he whispered. Nara frowned at him for invading her privacy. As they neared their destination, they saw air patrols all over. After going through 3 checkpoints they arrived. UNAB. Short of Union North American Branch. Today however it served as the meeting point for the entire Western Hemisphere.

The three entered the building the size of 40 city blocks and as tall as the Sears Tower. It was busy inside. "Someone was supposed to meet us" Raam said. Raam approached the recreation desk. "Excuse me miss" Raam said addressing the giantess tying away on her terminal. "ID please" she said roughly. Raam pulled out his card and she scanned it. "Ah. You have a meeting at 0900 in room 8" she said. "Yes that's..."

"Your guests need to scan as well and I'll send someone to get you" she said. Nara held out her card and scanned. Chad however had a harder time. "Close your eyes" she said annoyed. Chad faintly heard her thoughts as she grumbled about processing small people. A laser swept over his body and beeped when it touched his tiny card. "There. Have a seat" she said. The three went over to the window and sat down. "Fucking bitch. She hates her job so much she needs to get another" Nara said. "She's probably worried Nara. Look at these people. Like they're in a rush" Chad said. People were moving about with a brisk pace about them. "Hope you keep that open mind Cyrus. I doubt you'll find many soon" Raam said. "I didn't take you as a pragmatist sir" Chad said. "I’m not. I’m a realist" he said.

"Excuse me!" a small voice said. Everyone looked around. "No down here!" the voice said again. They traced the voice down to the floor. At Nara's feet was a small human sized woman dressed very like Nara. "Are you our escort?" Raam asked. "Yes sir. 1st Lieutenant Danica Stafford at your service" the tiny girl said saluting them. "Okay then. Please lead the way" Raam said. Nara had to stifle a laugh as the diminutive woman rode her little hover scooter. It was necessary seeing the building itself was every bit of 2 miles across "My god it's huge. Like a small city" Chad said. Incredible, isn't it? Most of the city was destroyed during the war and when the Union accepted Ingress into its ranks they built this as a sign of cooperation" Danica said. She putted down the edge of the hallway designated for human sized people as she led the group to the room. It took 7 minutes to get there even for Ingress strides. The girl saluted and left them.

The room was the size of a gymnasium. Even so it still felt cramped for them. All in all, there were 7 high ranking generals. 4 of them human and three Ingress. Screens in front of the humans so one could see their faces clearly. Holo screens encircling the table with three others on it. "Colonel Raam, 2nd Lieutenant Cyrus, and 1st Lieutenant Nermani reporting as ordered" Raam said saluting. "1st Lieutenant Nermani? Don't you mean Aeris?" one of them said. "Sir. As I am now I am Nara Nermani. Aeris is aware but is right now letting me speak for fear of a misunderstanding" Nara said. "I see" the small General said. Chad caught his tone. Raam gave him a "I warned you" look. "First matter of hand is this Aeris being. I've read the report you sent out and I'm skeptical as to how we can trust someone who can turn on her own kind so easily" an Ingress woman asked. Nara closed her eyes and let Aeris take over.

"Easy? Oh no. Not easy. Do you have family?" Aeris asked the giantess twirling her stylus. "I do. Two hybrid boys. Therefore, I'm more concerned than most" the Brigadier General responded. "I want you to think about them right now. How it felt to hold them. Love them. Have that feeling? Good. Progenitors have no concept of that feeling or virtually any others for that matter. When I first came here I did what I was told. Out of curiosity I took this form and with that the emotions that came with it. Confusing and frustrating. Especially when it came to matters of the opposite sex. This one for example" she said pointing to Chad. "Made me feel what you'd call lust but then I came to know that which is love. He taught me many emotions. Sadness, grief, the comfort of friendship, and most importantly the diversity of that which is life. We have no concept of familial bonds. We are generated from two of our kind's energies and then taught to fulfill the prime directive of our belief. To direct the evolutions of corporal beings. Hybrids are a dangerous flaw in the plan but this hybrid man here is proof that mistakes don't necessarily mean failure."

"Hybrids are a species that deserves the chance to grow just as humans and Ingress did. For you to say what I chose to do is easy is like saying the choice for Ingress to integrate into human society was easy" Aeris said. Raam smiled for he knew her words made the General sound like a hypocrite.

"I see. Miss Aeris...what can you tell me about the one called Baris" a human General asked. "He is exceedingly dangerous right now. The only reason hybrids are alive right now is due to his refusal to revert to his true form. Baris has had a streak of pride about him even before coming here. Long ago he once scoured a world because life there evolved outside of his plan. He disintegrated their ozone layer within a day. It was his choice to use Ingress to kill hybrids. A surgical method necessary to avoid harming Ingress and human populations" she said.

"But his actions caused the deaths of thousands of Ingress!" one shouted. "Acceptable losses for him that can be replaced within a few generations. He doesn't think in terms of years or even centuries. He thinks in terms of eons. Even if half the populations of humans and Ingress perished, if the other half holds genetic viability then that is acceptable" Aeris said. The room was stone silent. "There is a silver lining to this. When we have these forms, our power is thousands of times lesser. But make no mistake. Our minds still work just as well. Try to outthink him in terms of strategy outright and you'll lose" she said. "Then how can we beat him?" a woman asked on the screen. "That body of his has limits. Our minds think at light speed but our reflexes don't move that fast. Distract him. Entice him. Throw off his concentration and maybe we have a chance. I will say this though. Any plan we make here must include me. I’m your best defense" she said.

"We tried killing him with a light speed weapon and he just shrugged it off. How did you harm him?" another General asked. "By surprise. He never expected me to shoot him and even then, that attack could've destroyed something as big as this complex. I squeezed the attack to the size of an atom. Not easy I can assure you. Far as I can tell you have no weapons capable of such power and efficiency" Aeris said.

"Our Marduk cannons had no effect on him" a General muttered to another. "We could see into reengineering it" another said. "There isn't time for that! That monster is heading to Nice right now where there is a sizable Ingress colony there!" a General on screen shouted. "Hart" Chad muttered. "We had a defector in our mist at Victoria Base. He escaped and gave sensitive information to him. Ingress populations" Raam said. The generals looked at one another. "We received that information and we're trying to evacuate them from those locations but the native populations don't want the Ingress there" someone said. "An understatement. There were violent protests in London and Madrid today. The people are reaching a breaking point!" a General said. "Everyone calm down! We're here today to begin a plan! Let's concentrate on that for the clock is ticking!" Raam shouted. All of them became quiet and began to discuss strategy.

Hours upon hours passed as they spoke. It was apparent that some nation would have to be sacrificed to buy time but none would agree. After all it's not easy to offer up your country to be invaded. The General in charge of U.K. operations refused to sacrifice London. The General in charge of European Operations argued they had lost too many already to simply give over Spain and Italy. Most were obliged to agree with the losses of France and Germany that day. "We need a consensus! The enemy has been sighted just west of Nice!" the General said. They pulled up a satellite feed of the area. It was nighttime for that area and was dark. Being evacuated there was no lights. It seemed quiet until they switched to infrared. Thousands of small red dots appeared. "God in heaven" someone muttered. "Aeris" Chad said. Aeris was sitting down looking at the screen. "Gentlemen and women. It seems Baris made the choice for us. Evacuate the Ingress away from the United Kingdom and destroy the communications hub there. Dissaway him" she said. Chad looked at the giantess as she sternly looked at the screen.

"Unacceptable! I've had it with this pointless meeting! I'm ordering a full launch of missiles at his location" the UK General yelled. His screen turned off. "General Steed! Come back at once! You do not have clearance to use antimatter weapons!" the giantess General yelled. No response. "It won't work" Aeris said. They looked at her until an information flash came on screen. "Launch detections" Raam said reading the screen. "16 inbound missiles. Type 4. Impact in 6 minutes" he said. The giant sat down to watch it unfold. The missiles themselves were the size of a soda bottle so it was nearly impossible to see them in the night sky. Chad walked on the large table closer to watch. It was a long 6 minutes.

"Impact in 5...4...3...what...what happened?" Raam asked seeing the blips disappear. There was a massive flash of light that blinded the satellite. When it cleared, they saw him and his army still there and very much alive. "What happened?!" someone yelled. "He shot them down" Aeris said. They looked astonished. "Why are you surprised? Have I not told you that our mental abilities exceed our physical ones? If he can sense an Ingress a hundred miles away, then he can sense a missile coming at him. Now you just pissed him off" Aeris said. "So what do we do?" the woman General asked her. "Destroy the hub immediately and evacuate the Ingress. Pray he doesn't come over there just out of spite" she said. "Get Steed back on the line. I don't care what it takes" another General said. Minutes later Steed was back. "The plan is to evacuate the Ingress to the US and destroy the hub" she said. "You know what he will do to the people there?!" Steed yelled. "If he does something it's because you antagonized him even further" the General said.

"If I may interject, I have an idea. A crazy one though" Chad said. "Make it good Cyrus" Raam whispered. "If we get Ingressa to fight him we can force him to turn his attention on them. It is his endgame, anyway right?" Chad asked. "How would you propose this?" the Ingress female asked. "Well they have to know what's been happening right? If we send a delegation including Aeris. Show them how powerful she is, maybe we can scare them into joining us" Chad said. "I'm not going to bully a nation Chad" Aeris said. "No, not like that. Just a demonstration and then show that you're on their side" Chad said. "We'll discuss the matter. In the meantime, you are dismissed" the giantess General said. Raam and Chad saluted and they left. The three stood in the lobby. "This is a stretch. Ingressa is all about neutrality. They see themselves as another option to integration" Raam said.

"I know but desperate times call for desperate measures" Chad said. Aeris' stomach growled loudly. "You two go get something to eat. I'm heading back to the hotel. Haven't slept in almost two days" the giant said yawning. An hour later, Aeris and Chad were at a restaurant eating. It was late and before they knew it they were the only diners there. There was a human sized table on top of Aeris' Ingress sized one. Aeris was spinning her giant fork in her noodles deep in thought. Chad had just finished his course and was looking at her. "Credit for your thoughts?" he asked. "Thinking about my parents. Well, Nara's parents" she replied. "And?" he asked. "I can feel Nara wanting to see them but she's scared. She is trying to hide it" Aeris said. "We should see them anyway" he said. Aeris lowered her head and when she raised it her expression changed. "Not that simple Chad. You have no idea what she's like when she angry and she was fucking pissed on that call!" Nara said.

"Then put her in her fucking place! Jesus. You want this hanging over your head the rest of your life? What's going to happen when we have kids? You gonna let her talk shit about them too?" he said. Nara frowned. "No" she said coldly. Chad sighed. He wanted her to relax. He saw they had a 120-ft. tall piano. "Hey! Is there anybody left her that can play that!?" Chad shouted. A young hybrid man was collecting dishes stopped and turned to him. "Uh...I can a little" he said. "100 credits and do your best" Chad said getting off his small chair. He walked over to Nara and had her lower her hand. Chad stepped onto the fleshy surface. It was slightly shiny from sweat. Poor girl was nervous. "Is it okay for Aeris to do this? She keeps asking what this like" Nara said. "Sure" Chad replied. She lowered her head once more and Aeris was back.

"So what do we do now?" Aeris asked. "Listen to the music and let your feet do the walking" he said. Aeris seems unsure of his answer but listened as the waiter began playing the only tune he knew. 15 ft. piano key hammers struck cords 40 to 100 ft. long belting out "Over the Rainbow". Chad was surprised to see someone even younger than him knowing a song over 200 years old. Aeris began moving her feet left and right slightly stumbling. "Why do females wear such tortuous footwear?" Aeris asked speaking about her heels. "People think it makes their ass stand out more. Of course, this was before giant women lived on Earth. Plenty of big ass to see now" Chad said grinning. Aeris chuckled and shot him a look. She slipped off her giant heels and stood in her stocking feet. "Much better" she said flexing her ankles. Aeris moved back and forth with the small unrequited love of her life in her hands. She wanted to hold him closer as she listened to the beautiful air vibration filling her basketball sized eardrums. Chad noticed her palms were soaking wet with sweat. So much he could faintly hear a squishing sound from her skin. Her breath was shallow and face flushed. "I don't think she would mind you know. Hugging me I mean" Chad said hearing that thought in her mind. She raised him to her chest and gently held him there. "So this music. It's nice" she said. "Yeah it's an old tune from long ago. Sung by a girl that ends up in a strange land called Oz" he said. "Sounds familiar" Aeris said softly. Aeris looked down at him and picked him up to her face. She winced. "It's just a kiss Nara!" Aeris said. Chad watched as the two minds argued. "Okay. A peck" she said. Aeris gently kissed him but stuck out her tongue and licked him in the end. "Sorry! You have to yell so loud?!" Aeris said. "Nara she was just being naughty" Chad said shaking off some saliva. "See Nara?" Aeris said. The glow in her eyes left. "That shit ain't funny to me" Nara said. The waiter stopped playing seeing a very weird conversation. It was quiet for a moment until there was a small beeping noise. "My wristcomm is going off. A caller I don't recognize. Uh...hello?" Chad said answering. "Is this Lt. Cyrus?" a familiar voice asked. "Yes who is this?" he said. "Brigadier General Pathos. The Ingress general who you friend admonished" she said. Chad remembered her now. The one with two hybrid sons. "I remember now. What can I do for you ma'am?" he asked.

"I was intrigued by some of the ideas you have. Can you meet me at the address I'm about to send to you? I rather discuss them tonight while they're still fresh. Oh, and can you not bring Lt. Nermani?" she said. "Nara and Chad looked at one another. "Why not?" he asked. "To speak frankly, I still don't trust her and any plans we discuss tonight would rather not be overheard" she said. Aeris took over. Her eyes glowing intently. Chad, saw she was pissed. The waiter nearby took off in fright. "Is that an order?" he asked. "Yes" she said. "Very well but I will inform my commanding officer of this" he said. "Agreed" she said. Chad closed the comm. He immediately called Raam and told him the situation. "Careful with her Cyrus. She's been known to be a little hard of her subordinates to get what she wants. Or so I've heard" he said. "You're not coming?" he asked. "No, she wants to see you alone. How's Nara taking it?" he asked. Chad was standing on the table and glanced over at her. She was drumming her fingers hard enough to carry a vibration under his feet. "She's been in a better mood" he replied.

"I see. Tell Nara...tell them both that not all of them feel that way" he said. Nara heard him and nodded with a slight smile. "Yes sir I will. Cyrus out" he said closing the call. "Hope all this didn't ruin the evening" he said. "Not a round of nice sex won't cure" she said. She picked him up and kissed him before placing him on the floor. "See you back at the hotel" she said. Chad waved as he stepped outside. He flagged down a human sized taxi. "This address please" he told the driver. "They closed at this time buddy" he said. "I'm not from here. What's at this location?" Chad asked. "The Smithsonian Air and Space Museum" the driver replied.

The taxi arrived at the destination within 10 minutes. Sitting casually on the steps was an Ingress woman dressed in civilian clothes. The giantess was staring up at the stars as she smoked a 7-ft. long cigarette. Chad almost didn't recognize her but he confirmed it was the Ingress Brigadier General from earlier. Chad approached her. "Reporting as ordered ma'am" he yelled up getting her attention. "At ease Chadwick. May I call you Chadwick?" she asked. "I prefer Chad really" he replied. "Chad it is. Come. Walk with me" she said stamping out the big cigarette not far from him. Being a 190-ft. woman she had to wait for him to match her distance. She motioned for a giant teen wearing a private uniform to open a door for her. Chad stepped inside the large complex with her.

Chad had never been here before but he could see the machines and exhibits all around. Each once carefully spaced out for giant tourists. There was a minimum of light and it was just the two of them. "Impressive, isn't it? 250 years of innovation all under one roof. I'm fascinated by Earth history. Like Ingress history in so many ways. The rise of empires and their fall. The will to survive the worst of calamities. Allow me" she said placing him on her shoulder. Chad held on to her shoulder length blonde hair as she walked to another wing. Chad was kinda put off how she didn't even ask permission to pick him up. She stopped before an exhibit. "Fascinating" she said looking at it. "Little Boy" Chad reading the inscription on the plaque. "The original flattened a human city with ease and it's so small. Well to someone like us anyway. Damn thing could fit right up my...ahem. This bomb and its predecessor ended one age and began another. Something similar happened to the Ingress homeworld. You ever been there?" she asked. "Only once" he said with disdain.

"It was beautiful once. So like this world. Vacation spots all over the southern archipelago. My family was originally from there. My great grandparents owned a winery there...until one person ended it all. Ended things for millions. Chad saw easily what she was hinting at. He saw a directory on the wall and spotted an exhibit on it. "Can we go down this hallway for a moment?" he said. The giantess shrugged and proceeded down it. "Right here" he said tugging on her hair. "I've never seen it before but even how primitive it looks it's still kinda neat looking" he said. "The X-Plane. First commercial aircraft to reach space" she said. "One person can make a difference. His courage to try to do something unheard of changed history. It showed humanity that space travel wasn't just for military or select people" he said. Pathos glanced at the man on her shoulder. She thought for a moment and started walking once again. Her giant sneakers squeaked against the hard floor as they passed into another wing. She finally stopped at one exhibit. She placed him on the floor and got on her knees. "Look at this here" she said pointing. Chad looked at a particular exhibit. Inside an armored clear case was a necklace. Or more precisely Tibetan prayer beads.

"Here is the collection of prayer beads wore by the Dali Llama the day of the Tibetan Massacre" the plaque said. Chad knew full well what this meant. "Some things are so similar. We had resource conflicts back on the homeworld as well before we discovered fusion technology. I read about this not long after the War. I wanted to go see this land called Tibet. Land of mountains and faiths. Then I heard about this. Almost a full century has passed since this. You know the story don't you?" she asked. Chad looked up at the woman looming over him with a callous and somewhat frightening look on her face. "Of course I do. Everyone who has taken a history class in high school does. In 2053 the petroleum supply was dangerously low and China was scrambling to keep any resource rich country in their control. Mainly Tibet. Tibetans thought it was the perfect time to declare independence and had a Tibetan born general in the Chinese army to lead the rebellion."

"Well, China sent troops of course to quell the rebellion but it wasn't going well. Guerilla tactics was wearing them down fast. The Chinese army got crueler. Dragging people from homes. Shooting many in the street. The Dali Llama preached peace and an end to the conflict but many feared for his life. They put him on a transport to leave the country. Turns out this Tibetan General leaked the information to Chinese intelligence for a share in the resources they were fighting over. As the plane taxied out a Chinese jet bombed the runway to stop it. It caused the jet to veer right into a massive pothole made by the explosions and tumble over at over 125 mph. The jet burst into flames killing all aboard including his Holiness. Miraculously, his prayer beads survived. His death rallied every Tibetan in the country to fight and after two bloody years Tibet gained independence" Chad said.

"One person's betrayal extended that conflict for two years and led to the deaths of over 100,000 people" Pathos said. "But they gained independence" Chad retorted. The giantess shook her head. "They would have gotten it eventually. China was running on fumes by 2055; literally" she said. "So you think Aeris is going to betray us? That's the point in all this right?" Chad said with a sharp tone. She narrowed her eyes. She wasn't accustomed to be talked to this way. By a lower ranked officer or by a small human. She reached into her pocket and pulled out a black piece of plastic as big as he was. She touched it. A holographic picture formed. On it was her and two boys her size. "Dylan and James. My twin boys. Dylan is a bookworm and smart as can be and James is more into sports. Dylan is shy and quiet while his brother is outgoing and chases girls. They..." she was saying before she turned her head. Chad felt a tear splash into his head. She was trying hard not to cry.

"You're asking us...asking me to trust a person whose only other member of her species we've is hellbent on exterminating hybrids like my sons. She has killed thousands already and you three are telling to just trust her now. Excuse me if I'm not as fast to trust her as I have more at stake than you or Raam" she said. "She might be pregnant" Chad said without missing a beat. Pathos was startled. "I think she just as much on the line as you do too" he said. The news left her speechless. "If you can't believe in her then have a leap of faith" he said. "Alright. Maybe I am being unfair. I do have a stubbornness problem. I've heard in whispers people call me the Unreasonable Bitch" she said. Chad tried his best not to crack a smile. "It's okay to laugh because it's true. I learned long ago you sometimes have to put foot to ass to get shit done. You can imagine how difficult that is when dealing with people your size. After decades people still kinda fear us most especially Ingress women. We have a reputation that kinda lingers. Dominating, aggressive, even callous."

"During the Osaka battle on the last day of the war I was in command of an integrated battalion. Human and Ingress. We had to take the mountainside to set up a firing position and there was heavy resistance. I had two choices. Either rush them or wait for reinforcements. I chose the former. The humans didn't want to go and even challenged my authority. We didn't have time for that. I used my plasma pistol and ignited the ground in front of them. Made it so they couldn't fall back. An Ingress could easily step over the flames but not a human. They went. We took that hill that day and set up plasma cannons. Decimated the enemy below but I lost over half my human forces. I wasn't charged. Got results and saved thousands of lives after all. Still though I can remember watching them die. Most of them vaporized but some were close enough to be crushed under a boot or even eaten."

"There was...there was a young man I found minutes after we took that mountainside. A human. He was one of a hundred or so under my command. His lower half was crushed into the dirt. He was crying for his mother. He was a kid! Couldn't have been more than 17! He was in shock and crying "mommy" over and over. As the others set up the weapons I knelt over him watching him suffer. My orders brought this upon him. No way in hell he would survive. His fucking intestines were smushed out of him. His body just didn't know to die yet. I'll never forget what happened next. He looked dead at me and smiled. He called me mommy. He thought I was her. Did I look like her or was his mind that gone I didn't know. He started breathing hard and now the pain was overtaking any adrenaline and shock. I put my finger under the back of his head and placed my thumb on his mouth. It twisted my fingers quickly to the right."

"I didn't even hear his neck break. Didn't feel it either. Humans...humans are so fragile and weak compared to us and here they were fighting to free us of a generations old tyranny. My soldiers aren't just soldiers to me. They're family and every loss is like losing a child to me. I'm only hard because I know they can take it. So, will ask one final time. Can I trust Aeris with my family?" Pathos said. "Yes" Chad answered. "I'll hold both of you to that" she said holding out her hand. Chad shook her finger before stepping back into her hand. As they were walking back to the front Pathos spoke.

"Kane had a point back there. People are losing their shit out of fear. We can't fight riots and this war at the same time" she said. "I know. People need hope. Something they can rally behind. Make them remember that unity and strength is what is needed" Chad said. "How? A propaganda piece, a symbol of goodwill?" Pathos asked. Chad thought for a moment until he saw a sign over a part of the wing that read "Dimensional War". "I have a crazy idea that might work. Can you take us in there?" he asked. Pathos walked down the hallway until Chad had her stop Chad was very happy to see a particular exhibit. He saw it once as a child before it was an exhibit and dreamed of being in it ever since. To him this was beyond perfect.

"What about that as our symbol?" he asked pointing to a very famous mech. "Whoa. You don't mean this old thing?" she said. What they were looking at was none other than the STRIKE X. The very same machine Aaron Pherson used to kill the Empress and end the War. One of the most infamous mechs the world had ever known. "Why not? This machine was revered by Ingress as a liberator and kicked much ass at the same time" he said. Pathos thought about it. It was true that many felt hope just seeing it in combat. Even when she saw it she stared in awe. A machine her size piloted by a tiny human that saved lives with death. "Yeah. Yeah that could work. We will have to do something about the colors though. Jet black doesn't scream friendly" she said. "How about white? Like a white knight?" Chad asked. Pathos grinned. "Hell yeah. I'll get it done and have it transported to Cairo" she said walking again to the front door.

"Cairo?" he asked. "Yes Cairo. We are going to use that area as a staging area for operations. One last thing. Under my authority I'm field promoting you to Captain. Now go back to your girl. I'm sure she's waiting on you" she said stepping out the main door. She sat Chad down and called for a pickup. As Chad got into the car and rode off, the high-ranking giantess sat down and lit another cig. "Chad Cyrus. Looks just like his father. Speaking of which" she said touching her wristcomm.

"Yes Rex I know how late it is but I figured you'd want to hear something..." she said taking a drag on her cigarette and blowing the large amount of smoke into the air.

Chapter End Notes:

It seems that Pathos and Rex know one another. Maybe there's a hidden history beween the two. Chad gets to live one of his dreams getting to pilot a legendary mech but can he handle its power? One thing's for sure he won't have long to find out. Baris has taken notice of Ingressa and is spoling for a rematch with Aeris. Find what Ingressa is truly like and much more in the next chapter "Believe in me that believes in you"

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