Chapter 13: Spoils

Belle continued rampaging and devouring Rigglen. Even as the people screamed and bowed with submission, she paid it no heed. Her fingers found them all the same, and they and their edifices went into her gob and into her brutal mechanical gut.

At least, until about a third of the city was in shambles--or digesting inside her. At that point, she stood up and spoke while walking out.

“The rest of you are spared.”

She stepped over the wall on the south end, doing her best not to make any more damage.

“As you repair yourselves over the coming months, remember my mercy, and let the cracks in the shape of my feet remind you and everyone else in this country what happens to those who resist me.”

Belle moved over towards the former Illinois Independence Alliance’s military, which was being rounded up into two groups as she requested. It was not yet finished, though.

“I’ll be back, hurry up now my loyal servants.”

She chuckled as she moved off towards Terrastead, which was fully evacuated. There was no pretense or fanfare, she dug her hands into the town and started devouring it. More fuel for the engines, both literal and figurative, of Belle. At a mile in height, she was able to finish the town with just one break in between. Of course, she was growing as she ate. The process was a tad slow to her, but definitely visible to those below. They saw her exterior lightly shift as it briefly melted to press forward, than rapidly cool.

She grew in proportion, with her minibots working in tandem to keep it that way. Dozens of feet at a time, she expanded. Her digestive system was handling its fed matter much more efficiently, as were the minibots. She wasn’t just bigger over the past weeks, but more efficient, more in-tune with herself. She could even feel the minibots if she focused, and found their crawling a pleasant tickle rather than the disgusting skittering sensation she had felt when she first woke up in her brass body.

Belle sauntered back over to the battlefield, right outside the city where the former enemy force had at last been broken into two groups as she had ordered.

She settled her toes outside the smaller group, letting her brass digits loom precariously close to those masses. Her big toes loomed over 50ft in height on their own.

She addressed them.

“Congratulations, you’ll be put to use in my divine army.”

She pivoted her right foot on its heel, and let the shadow of her smooth brass sole hang over them.

“Just remember, it’d be easy to end you all should you turn against me. Once second chance is more than enough.”

Her foot slid back to its former place with a thoom, many of the soldiers it just shadowed now shivering in fear.

“A second chance is also more than many get~”

Belle walked over to the other, larger group. She sat on her haunches, straddling them as toes tug into the earth.

“You all will serve as an example instead, and a meal.”

She reached down and took a handful of the captured ex-enemies, devouring them quickly. Of course, those stuck in that group tried to run away, but Belle’s forces had penned them in with a circle of geartanks and soldiers. Anyone pushing hard against the boundary was shot.

Belle heard.

“Shoot them in the stomach or legs, my digestive processes are better when they are still alive. My body’s lovely and complex like that.”

Belle reached in for another fistful, letting her fingers spread so the captured prisoners drifted into her mouth in steady clumps. Her tongue was outstretched, she simply gulped them down as the subtle jets within her maw blasted them with gouts of steam and misted ‘spittle’.

General Kadwell’s voice came over the loyalist channel.

“Belle, won’t the make it difficult to get others to stand down in the future?”, she sounded slightly irritated, which Belle graciously overlooked.

“You are thinking too simply. This will have our enemies surrendering before our forces even show up. I’ll spread the word right now via radio.”

Belle reached down for another handful, while her ‘radio-senses’ latched onto any channel in her formidable range. She spoke over all those channels at once, knowing the message would be propagated from then on.

“This is Belle, rightful god of this nation. To all those who resist my hold over the government, rejoice at this opportunity. Anyone who surrenders in the next month, before combat starts with my forces, will be spared. Your cities will be intact, your lesser towns merely evacuated. Resist and I’ll smear a third of your city under-step, and send at least three-fourths of your people to my stomach: soldier or no. You cannot resist me forever, your defeat is inevitable. Be wise, and submit now. You don’t want to end up like these former soldiers, do you?”

Belle swallowed her latest handful, letting the noise of the gulp carry into the message via a microphone within her form. She hadn’t used it before, instead using ‘radio senses’, but she felt the gesture would add a bit of extra flare.

That done, she finished her messaged and smiled.

There were still plenty of soldiers to eat. Another handful and she spoke to Kadwell again over one of her own channels.

“See to it that the message I sent gets reiterated. I expect your work to become a bit easier in the coming days.”

“As you wish, Belle.”, said the general back.

Another handful, then another. Pretty soon there were just a few cowering dozen left, penned in on one corner, clutching their knees in despair and hopelessness.

She, of course, ate them too.

Belle rose up to her full height, feeling all the people instead her stomach shift with that movement. She laughed as they screamed, cooking alive as one big bunch of agonized, scalded humanity.

“I trust you know how to train new troops and all that. You’ll get our new lucky recruits up to speed. I’ll be back at the camp once I finish off the infrastructure of Bolmore.”

“Of course, Belle. As you wish. Come on, we’re retreating to camp, mission completed. Good job, soldiers.”, said Kadwell over the radio.

Belle laughed as she stood outside Bolmore. It was completely empty of people, her troops having evacuated them now back towards Rigglen.

Belle feasted, as she had done before.