Jim groaned in pleasure as Clara rubbed his shoulders, enjoying the rough kneading sensation of the amazon sized catgirl’s thumbs against his back. He was finally back at his “normal” height of around five feet ten inches, though he’d been down to half an inch the night before and it seemed like everywhere in between.

“How are you feeling?” she asked softly.

“Considering what I’ve been through?” He chuckled, “pretty good.”

His eyes glowed purple a moment, and he felt Clara’s thumbs rubbing into his back increase in size, eventually his lower half left the bed he was sitting on as he shrunk into her grasp. A single thumb continued to rub his back, stronger, but still gentle, causing him to sigh happily again. A moment later he focused, the four walls of the room seeming to contract and get closer as he returned to his normal height.

“So it’s all figured out?” Clara asked, leaning over to hug the smaller man. Her pink hair pressed against his face and he felt the tickle of her tail as it lightly brushed his ear.

“Yeah,” he said, “I think I can do it at will, to myself or…” he grinned at Clara, “anyone else.”

She rolled her eyes, “I’m pretty sure I can still take you even when you make me small.”

It was true, after getting the hang of size changing he and Elara had decided to try making Clara even smaller, and had found that they couldn’t get her blow the six foot mark no matter how hard the two of them tried. It was like trying to compress a balled up piece of paper, past a certain point it just wouldn’t get any smaller. What was even more bizarre was that, according to Elara, it took roughly the same amount of effort to make him a few inches tall as it took to bring Clara from 90 feet down to just over seven.

“You know,” he said, a small grin tracing over his features, “you’ll need to be a lot nicer to me now, or poof! You’re small.”

“We both know the only real difference between me at ninety feet and me at seven is what position I’m going to pin you in,” she purred.  “Still, I’m happy we figured this out.”

“It’s been pretty great,” he mused, letting her play with his hair, “you even let me be on top once.”

“Not just that,” she laughed, “I mean… now that we know how this works… I’d like to go to Earth with you.”

“You’ve been to Earth,” he said, not sure what she meant, “you invaded it, remember?”

“No,” she sighed, “I mean… I want to go with you, and do things without everyone freaking out because I’m a ninety foot alien. Sure, I’ll stand out a little bit because of the ears, the tail… but at this size? We could just be a pair of humans on holiday somewhere.”

He thought it over, “we should,” he said finally with a smile, “I’m sure Isstvell and Lyrei will be able to get by without us for a week or so.”

Clara beamed excitedly, “I want to try driving one of those wheeled transports,” she said eagerly.

Jim blinked, “I don’t think you’ll find a car very exciting compared to a starfighter, but sure, you can borrow my old truck.” He had a sudden thought, “Huh, you know it’s probably still back at the old farmstead, I never went back there after we got grabbed the Aelmari that first day.”

“It could be fun to revisit,” Clara said fondly, “though it’s just going to be the two of us I think,” she jerked a thumb at Elara, still sleeping in the bed they were sitting at the edge of, “that one’s still freaking out over being small, she’s doing better since she’s just around humans in here, but I don’t think you’re ever going to convince her to shrink down again after this mission.”

“We should probably wake her up,” Jim said with a sigh, “we’ve got to start planning how we want to do this.”

Clara grabbed a pillow and jokingly tossed it at the sleeping woman, causing her to grunt in surprise and start awake.

“W-What!?” Elara snapped, her eyes briefly flashing violet.

“Jim said to wake you up,” Clara said innocently.

Elara raised an eyebrow at him, “I mean, I didn’t say throw a pillow,” he protested, but Elara was already holding a hand out at him, a brief flash of purple energy hit his chest, and there was a fuzzy electrical feeling as the room expanded away from him.

Elara sat up and stretched as Clara gleefully held Jim’s shrunken form in front of her, “Are we in a hurry?” Elara asked with a somewhat sleepy smile.

“We’ve got time for…” she licked Jim’s tiny form, causing him to shiver as she did so, “breakfast…”

Jim felt the glow of psychic energy wrap around him, and he was pulled out of Clara’s hands as he flew through the air towards the other side of the bed. The soft palm of Elara’s hand caught him, her brown fingers wrapping around him as she leaned back in the bed held him over her face.

“I could use a little pick me up,” Elara mused, “to help me get out of bed.” She reached up and stroked his hair with a single finger. She sat up, letting the blanket fall off of her to reveal her body, still naked from the night before.

“Sweet,” Clara said excitedly, crawling over the bed towards them, “Hey, since we figured out the whole shrinking/regrowing thing, could you maybe just… hit me with the purple?”

“What?” Jim laughed.

“You know, when Elara blasts us all with that big wave when she finishes,” Clara explained, “she was putting all of her energy into shrinking and regrowing you last night, so she never did it.”

“Hmm…” Elara muttered, stroking her chin as she regarded the human clenched in her hand. She smiled, “what do you think? Has our kitty been good?”

Clara’s face burned with embarrassment, and Jim could tell she was about to leap at them, but she held herself back. He snorted, enjoying Clara’s reaction.

“She did stay up all night helping us figure out our powers,” he said. “I’m game.”

Elara smirked, then glanced at the waiting Clara. Slowly she let her hand carrying Jim drift downwards, lifting the covers near her waist and framing the bed like a dark cavern mouth which she was feeding him into.

He was brought down her body, past her hips, and eventually she gently placed him down between her legs, allowing him to face her opening, the sweet musky smell of her arousal already wafting out towards him. She gave him a sweet wave, and then simply dropped the covers, leaving him alone in the darkness with her waiting womanhood.

Elara simply crossed her arms behind her head, laying back and waiting. Clara scowled, seemingly annoyed.

“That’s it? You’re not gonna shove him in or threaten to eat him or anything?” She protested.

“I don’t like to play games,” Elara said with a happy sigh, “besides, he knows what he’s doing.”

Beneath the blanket Jim crept forward, using his hands to feel his way along her massive leg. It didn’t take him long to reach the end, and from there he trailed his fingers along the smooth skin until he felt the wet entrance, causing her entire body to shiver with anticipation.

Slowly, he forced his way in, the slimy wet lips parting to allow him entrance. He felt the world shake as he gritted his teeth and crawled deeper within her. The world grew tighter around him, and the pink walls were briefly illuminated as he was wrapped in the purple glow of Elara’s psychic grip, forcing him deeper still and into position.

Elara hissed in pleasure, gripping the blankets on either side of her as pleasure rocked up her body. She fought the urge to use her telekinesis to grab the shrunken man inside her again, mentally forcing herself to let him move on his own.

Moving inside of her had become something he’d become very good at, and as the silky liquid from the fleshy walls seeped into him he knew he was on the right path. Every time he moved, touched her, the muscles holding him quivered, sending him further in and sending her closer to the edge of orgasm.

“Come on,” Clara whispered excitedly, watching the other woman’s face contort, “finish her off!”

Jim couldn’t hear Clara, but he was thinking the same thing. He began thrashing his body in a rhythm he’d practiced well, and with a grin he saw the inside of Elara illuminated again as his own eyes glowed violet. He visualized Elara’s body, tendrils of his own energy manifesting and running across it, toying with her clitoris, her nipples, cradling her head.

The effect was immediate, and he grunted with shock as the walls of her canal suddenly clenched tightly around him.

“Whoah,” Clara breathed excitedly, from her perspective it was as if bands of purple energy had appeared from nowhere and had begun toying with Elara, teasing her and driving her to new heights of pleasure.

Jim felt the familiar rush of energy as his own orgasm neared, and with a mental chuckle he decided to put his briefly heightened psychic strength to good use.

Clara’s eyes went wide as those same psychic tendrils began to appear in the air around her, “Oh,” she whispered, a grin flashing across her face as they wrapped around her limbs, “Oh Stars yes!” she grunted suddenly as they pulled her up into the air, forcing her into a spread eagle position as Jim willed them to begin teasing her in time with those enacting his will on Elara further down the bed.

Elara gasped and focused her energy on Clara as her orgasm reached it’s peak. She felt the shrunken human caught within her struggle futilely against her as she clamped down on him, crossing her legs even as the purple tendrils groped at her most sensitive areas.

Like a damn bursting Elara came, gushing a tide that forced Jim out and lit the room as the clone delivered a beam of purple energy directly at the still floating Clara. She cried out a mix of groans and swears as the wave seemed to carry her backwards for a few minutes, every single second feeling like an eternity as Clara’s own ecstasy joined her friends.

Slowly, gently, the limp form of the amazonian Catgirl floated to the floor as the feeling left all of them. Clara panted for a minute, then sighed happily as she stared at the ceiling. For her part Elara lazily reached beneath the covers, fumbling around until she found the wet form of the shrunken man, stumbling around in the gap between her thighs.

She was about to grab him and bring him back up to her face, but there was a quick flash of energy and then he was growing back to his normal size, pushing his own way up past the blanket and sighing as he flopped his head back on another pillow. Elara blinked, then relaxed, sidling up next to him.

“I keep forgetting,” she said with a small smile, “I’m… human sized right now. It’s strange, laying next to you in bed like this, knowing I should be able to hold you in my hand…”

“We’ve figured this whole size changing thing out,” he said idly, “you could always make yourself small again if you wanted.”

She shuddered a moment, “Uh, no… it’s not so bad down here with human sized… everything I suppose, but I’d rather be at my normal size.”

“I think it’s fun,” Clara said with a giggle, climbing her way up to the edge of the bed, “it freaked me out a little at first, but I don’t mind being this size now and then.” She sighed and propped her head up on one hand. “Lyrei and Isstvell are coming down in a few hours for their big speech, are you going to get all big to join them?”

“Yes,” Elara said, running a hand through her silver hair, “the King believes the Star Cult’s power would be best broken if a “messenger” of their goddess was present.”

…

King Alphonso of New Aragon sat astride a horse, alongside his wife and one thousand of his loyal soldiers. The horse was for show of course, his men either stood in ranks, or atop single man hovercraft, their lances pointed upward and their standards billowing in the wind. The sword at his side was for decoration too, as was his wife’s, if it came to it they had a deadly protector they trusted well. Behind them Sarah stood, her plate armor and cloak abandoned, her glittering green armor catching the light as her hair waved slightly in time with the flags.

The king had ordered them all gathered outside the city, on a vast plane where farms and hills stretched on one side to a far distant series of mountains, and on the other the expanses of a great freshwater lake.

“Is all this necessary?” Jim muttered, looking at the assembled knights. He felt a bit more secure now, back at his normal height he no longer had to look up at the other humans, but the whole thing felt too ceremonial for his tastes.

“Peasant blood,” Clara teased, gently shoving his back, “these people are warriors, like mine, they want to dress up in their finery for big occasions.”

The two of them were back further behind Sarah, standing near a series of retainers. Jim glanced warily at a group of perhaps a hundred black robed figures, the emblem of the Star Cult brightly sewn onto their clothing in shimmering silver thread. They didn’t know what was coming, only that the king had summoned them all to this meeting ground outside the city.

The cultists gasped, and whispered to one another excitedly as Elara stood up from behind a row of buildings. She had a somewhat embarrassed look on her face, and Jim smirked. For this reveal to work, they’d regrown her, naked, down by the city’s docks. At least a few workers had gotten a look at her, no matter how hard they’d tried to clear the place out, and she’d quickly donned the familiar business suit and sunglasses that she and her clone sisters wore at their mistress’ behest.

“People of New Aragon,” she said slowly, “You have been lied to. Your goddess is a fraud, using your faith to ensnare you!”

There were murmurs from the crowd, the cultists, the knights, only the king’s own party remained silent. Elara sighed, continuing to walk until she was in front of the massive grouping of humans, her ninety foot height looming over them and allowing them all to take her in.

“I was one of their servitors, for years I collected humans for them. There is no paradise waiting, only an eternity of captivity and display in their collections.”

“Liar!” One man shouted, “This is an illusion, a trick of a greedy heathen of a king!” With a shout the man pulled a knife, running towards the king’s entourage. To his credit Alphonso didn’t so much as glance backwards, and when Sarah almost casually closelined the man and began disarming him the king only had the barest hint of a smirk in one corner of his mouth.

“This is no trick,” Elara said, real sorrow in her voice, “The Archons they… they promised me, they promise us, things as well… it is all a lie, a manipulation so that we continue to play their games.” She steeled herself, “I… we, have come to liberate New Aragon, to return your destinies to you.”

There was a flash of blue as columns of light appeared on either side of Elara. Standing over her by a head Isstvell and Lyrei came into focus on either side of her as the smoke cleared, giving the assembled humans their friendliest smiles.

Aelmari couldn’t teleport, the “beam down” maneuver that they were famous for was in truth simply an orbital drop with some creative flourishes. Still, the Aelmari didn’t discourage rumors about it, and from the shocked expressions of the gathered human host they’d managed to impress. Even a number of the cultists were gaping, whispering amongst themselves.

“Hi!” Lyrei said cheerfully, breaking the silence, “I’m Lyrei, and this Isstvell, we’re scouts for the Aelmari, and we’re here to rescue you!”

“Blasphemy!” Another cultist shouted, “those fools on the station Tizona have abandoned their duty, aliens walk our sacred soil!”

“A messenger of the goddess is with them,” A priestess said doubtfully, “could it be that these are… goddesses as well?” The priestess bolted away from the others, causing a ripple of shock as she threw herself to the ground, “All hail the NEW goddesses!”

“What?” Isstvell began, her eyes going wide, “No that’s not-“

“I’ve never seen the old goddess,” One man shouted, “but the new ones are right there!”

“They are but vile temptations,” Another snarled, “You will suffer for your lack of faith!” He slugged the first man across the face, causing a spray of blood from a broken nose as the cultists began brawling amongst themselves.

“No,” Isstvell said nervously, “P-Please stop-“

“Men!” The king shouted, “Bring our friends in the priesthood under control!”

One unit of the assembled soldiers moved to surround the cultists, separating them and beginning to tie the hands of the more violent members.

“Oh my,” Lyrei said, frowning, “Jim, there is a standard holo-recording for primitives, it explains that we Aelmari aren’t divine beings… could you perhaps distribute it in the city for us?”

“No, wait!” Clara said excitedly, running to the group of cultists, “I AM CLARA,” She shouted, holding her hands above her, making sure they could see her cat ears and tail swishing behind her, “Messenger of the new goddesses and reaper of souls!” The cultists cried out and cowered, and she grinned, “That’s right, if you’re not good I eat your soul in the afterlife, I-“

She was cut off as Isstvell leaned over, plucking the tiny Glalan up in the middle of her speech, “I’m sorry about that,” Isstvell said in an uncharacteristically pleasant tone. She shoved the struggling and protesting Clara in between her massive breasts, muting her, as she knelt down in front of the crowd of nervous humans, “I’d like to deliver a standard Aelmari divinity disclaimer, we do not claim godhood, demigodhood, divine descent, or any knowledge of the existence or nonexistence of souls or an afterlife. Furthermore, the Aelmari do not claim knowledge, endorsement of, or hostility towards any gods, goddesses, pantheons, or other beings of worship on your planet.” She paused a moment, then frowned, “except in this case I suppose, your goddess is an advanced alien who wishes to kidnap you.”

…

When the chaos of the Aelmari introduction had died down they’d all met in an empty field near Sarah’s lander. The king was flanked by a pair of stern looking knights, and Sarah hung back from him, casually leaning against a nearby rock. Jim and Clara were standing beneath Isstvell, Lyrei, and Elara, who, true to what she’d said before, didn’t seem at all inclined to make herself human sized again. For her part Clara hadn’t requested to be made big again, yet.

“Did we accomplish the desired goal?” Isstvell asked, looking at the human city a few miles away.

“That and more,” the king chuckled, looking up at the trio of giants, “the power of the Star Cult is broken, some are declaring allegiance to the new goddesses, some are simply disbanding, and others still are saying the old goddess will chase you two out of here, but the important thing is none of them are marshalling forces against me or starting riots.”

“Good!” Lyrei said cheerfully, “I really hope they get over that new goddesses stuff though… we’re really not supposed to let primitive beings start worshipping us.”

“Didn’t you say there were some primitive planets where you two were worshipped as gods?” Clara asked, crossing her arms and looking up at them.

Isstvell sighed, “Sometimes it happens no matter what you say, and they always make ME the evil god in their pantheon.”

“I could’ve been the evil god,” Clara muttered. “Whatever, so what do we do when their boss shows up? Shoot her? Shrink her? Maybe one then the other?”

“We won’t be able to shrink her,” Elara said quietly. She shifted uncomfortably, “they have powerful psychic abilities, her defenses will be too strong for it.”

“I was kind of leaning towards violence anyway,” Clara admitted, winking at Jim with a smile. “So she’ll be here sometime tomorrow, right?”

“So her cult says,” the king nodded.

“So we set up an ambush,” Jim started, “wait until she lands and then spring the Aelmari and Clara on her?”

“She’s not going to come down alone,” Elara said, “she’s going to have a large group of my sisters with her, and like me they’ll have weapons that can harm Lyrei and Isstvell.”

“Hmm…” Clara thought a moment, “Hey Elara, can you pick me up real quick?”

Elara frowned, then bent over to pick up the still human-sized catgirl. As soon as she did so Clara leapt up into her palm, then sprinted up her arm before the other woman could react.

“OW!” Elara slapped a hand to her face as Clara’s relatively small claws raked across the bottom of her chin, “What the hell was that for?”

“Okay look everybody!” Clara said, pointing to the bleeding cut, “the real Elara has a cut on her chin, this way we avoid any of that which one do we shoot stuff!”

“We could have just marked her with nanites,” Sarah said, smirking at the scene in front of her.”

“I don’t trust any of that,” Jim muttered, “but… yeah, we could have used a pen or something.”

“So this goddess, Archon, whatever,” Sarah said, looking up at Elara, the bounty hunter extended the steel claw from it’s housing, “Can she be poisoned?”

“I don’t think so,” Elara said, biting her lip, “We… we don’t know much about our masters, only that we are to obey them, and I didn’t serve mine directly. Still, we are told a few things, they say they’ve moved beyond the flesh.”

“So they are using machine bodies?” Lyrei asked, “that’s not entirely unheard of, perhaps an organic nervous system housed in-“

“No,” Elara said firmly, “I don’t mean they’ve constructed artificial ones; they haven’t replaced the flesh they say they’ve moved BEYOND it.”

“I guess we’ll see what it means firsthand,” Jim said grimly.

…

The Archon Lady DeLana relaxed, watching the stars go by overhead as she walked through the majestic garden of redwood trees. A few stretched over her head, and she breathed in the smell of the small forest she carried with her as the ship’s atmosphere unit produced her requested morning fog.

“E-Excuse me my lady,” stammered a servitor.

DeLana’s mood instantly soured, and she turned her massive form to regard the ninety-foot woman, who didn’t even come up to DeLana’s own waist. Slowly she walked towards the clone in the business suit, smirking at the fear visible on the other’s face even with those reflective black sunglasses.

“Yes?” She asked in a booming voice, “go on dear, what is it?”

“The planet we are approaching,” the servitor said with a gulp, “our human agents reached out through our psychic network to let us know that there are other goddesses claiming the humans there!”

DeLana froze, briefly her physical form flickered, and violet light reflected in the glasses of the nervous servitor as the Archon angrily collected herself. The pink skinned body returned, focusing down on her with a sneer.

“Which of my sisters is trouncing about in MY garden?” She snapped, her voice becoming rough and distorted.

“It’s not another Archon!” the servitor said hurriedly, “based on the description they’re Aelmari!”

DeLana thought this over, stroking her chin as she enjoyed the servitor’s fear, “How many?” she asked, “are they there to harvest the planet’s humans?”

“J-Just two,” the servitor stammered, the Archon’s black eyes were deeper and more unnerving than her own mirrored glasses.

“Two Aelmari, alone, in an isolated region of space,” DeLana mused. She snapped her fingers, “Is there a Glalan with them? A servitor?”

“There are reports of a rogue servitor with them,” the clone said, “she’s speaking out against us even now…”

“I know who they are!” DeLana said excitedly, practically jumping her physical form for joy. She flickered out of reality again, causing her servitor to jump, though this time the Archon seemed… happy? “Quickly dear,” she said, “go prepare a special human stasis tube! And prepare a display, I want a rundown on the Arnett boy’s life, with special sections on each of his companions, or what we know about them anyway.”

“Yes my lady,” the servitor said, giving a curt bow, “What about our landing? Should I order us to remain in orbit?”

“What!?” DeLana exclaimed, “of course not, order a standard landing and proceed exactly as we would have!”

“My lady,” The servitor said slowly, staring up at the pink skinned goddess, “Are you not concerned this could be… a trap?”

“Of course it’s a trap!” DeLana said in exasperation, “Servitors, you simply have no vision!” She leaned down, causing the smaller woman to back away nervously, “We are going to get to witness them in action! Think of the story! And when my sisters gather to compare human collections, why I’ll show them this Jim Arnett boy, and they’ll hear how he almost got us! It’ll be thrilling!”

“Y-Yes Miss,” the servitor said with a gulp, “thrilling. I’ll give the orders.”

DeLana turned back to her cultivated redwood forest, sighing with anticipation, “I can’t believe I’m finally going to meet them all!”

…

“Here it comes,” Jim muttered, watching the massive starship enter the atmosphere. It was a black oval against the sky, miles in length, and as it hovered menacingly over the human capital Jim felt the wind whip his hair around. He scowled, he knew from traveling the stars that immense ships like this had any number of systems that allowed them to move through atmospheres quietly and peacefully, regardless of their size. The loud humming and the howling wind in it’s wake were for show.

“What does God need with a starship?” Jim muttered to himself.

“I’m guessing those are our party guests,” Clara said, sidling up to him and throwing an arm around his shoulder. The amazon sized catgirl hugged him close, “everyone else is in place, should we get down there too?”

“Might as well,” he muttered.

He watched as the giant ship began to descend, half of it was an opaque black that seemed to absorb light, the other half was transparent, like a crystalline glass that reflected rainbows as the light hit it. Inside Jim could see a vast forest, waterfalls, hills clouded in an eerie and oddly inviting fog. It swirled and Jim could swear that at the top of the flowing waterfall within he saw someone, a pink being with jet black eyes he could see even from where he stood. It seemed as though the being, far and beneath that glass shield though it was, made eye contact with him. He blinked and it was gone, the shrouding fog consuming the artificial hill within the starship once again.

…

Elara, Isstvell, and Lyrei watched as the ship landed, seeming to merge with the earth. With a high and slippery noise like the hiss of a stick swung quickly through the air the massive craft embedded itself in the abandoned farmlands outside the human capital. In the distance a circular portal opened on it’s surface, two rows of silver haired giants marched out, the familiar pantsuits and shining black sunglasses visible against their brown skin even from this distance. Each carried a holstered silver pistol, and a suitcase across from it.

The three giantesses were beneath a camouflage netting that Sarah and Zeph’s replicator had made for them. It wouldn’t stand up to more rigorous detection methods, and even the human knights arrayed in front of the city could doubtless tell that something was “off” about that particular patch of earth and sky, but it would hide them until their enemies got closer.

“The sunglasses aren’t just for show,” Elara said quietly, “they’ll detect this netting as soon as the servitors approach the city.”

“By then it will be too late,” Isstvell reassured her. She paused and looked down at the clone, “why weren’t you wearing yours when you fell into our trap back on Marrek?”

“If I’d been wearing mine, I’d have shot Lyrei and Clara and taken Jim to my masters,” Elara said with a smirk, “luckily for all of us they’re a bit itchy around the ears, best mistake I ever made.”

…

Twenty of the ninety foot tall women walked in a pair of columns towards the city, a single leader, Absinthe, at their forefront. She had long dealt with humans, and had taken her name from an earth drink her most valuable collected human had enjoyed. As a messenger and servitor of the Archons she knew her place in the universe, and if not at the top, it was very close.

Her mouth twitched in irritation as she saw none of the Star Cult among the ranks of humans awaiting her, instead they stood, mounted on their primitive war machines, with those ridiculous spears raised in the air, their red and yellow banner flying defiantly in the wind. The Lady DeLana had said to proceed as normal, and she allowed herself a smile… an improper greeting would of course be met with some punishment, perhaps seeing a few of their compatriots crushed beneath a heeled shoe or blown to pieces by blaster fire would force these humans to be more respectful?

“King of New Aragon,” she said in a pleasant tone that dripped with hostility, “Where are your priests? Where are your finest men and women to be appraised for ascension?” She glared down at the tiny human, just barely out of stomping range. He didn’t flinch, nor did he show her any sign of fear.

“There will be no more offerings,” The king shouted loudly, “I, Alphonso of Burgundy, KING of New Aragon, offer you this one chance to leave peaceably.”

“Do you think the three fools hidden beneath the camouflage netting will be able to stop me from grinding your bones into the dirt?” Absinthe asked, her hand drifting towards her gun. At the signal the twenty women behind her fanned out, each one drawing their own pistol. “Come out Aelmari, this is truly the most pathetic ambush I’ve ever-“

She gasped as a purple light hit her, it seemed to dance to each of her sisters in the blink of an eye, then the sky was suddenly getting farther away. She tried to hold her clothes against her as they expanded around her, and she heard her followers screaming in terror as their guns became too heavy to hold, the massive weapons clattering to the ground as they looked up at their collars, their suits forming tents and trapping them inside.

Absinthe crawled, now naked, down her own shirtsleeve, panicking as she tried to formulate a plan. She blinked as she reached the end, and realized there was a black wall in front of her, no, not a wall, a shoe.

“Hello,” Elara said, smiling down at her now human sized clone-sister. She reached down and plucked up the naked Absinthe, who struggled feebly in the other woman’s grip. Absinthe glanced around for help, but realized that all of the servitors were now small, some just moving lumps in piles of oversized clothing, others were creeping out, naked and afraid as the army of knights, now their own size, advanced on them.

“Is that all of them?” Jim called up to Elara. The purple glow left his eyes as Elara nodded. He sighed and fell back, letting Clara catch him.

“You okay?” She asked.

“Resizing that many people,” he muttered, “it just took a lot out of me, it feels like I just ran five miles.”

“It will pass,” Elara said, regarding her captive again as the Aelmari came up behind her. “Now what do we do with my errant sisters?” Elara pondered.

“Please don’t hurt them!” Lyrei said eagerly, looking at the scurrying women. “I mean to say… if you could be reformed-“

“Clone or not, we’re not all the same,” Elara said tersely, “But if you insist…” she reached down to pick up one of the discarded suitcases, flipping it open and revealing a double row of clear plastic looking tubes.

Absinthe’s eyes went wide, “No!” she protested, trying to squirm her way out of Elara’s fingers, but the giant just gripped her tighter as she was brought down to the stasis-tubes. Absinthe felt herself tumble in, then a brief chill, and then the world left her.

“Gather them up,” Elara said, “toss them in these for now, it won’t hurt them to see how the other half lives.”

Before the knights could reach the fleeing women Isstvell and Lyrei easily snatched them up, one by one lowering them into the waiting stasis tubes. There was a hiss as each one was frozen in place, some had confused looks, others clawed at the glass, frozen with rage-filled expressions, a few looked resigned to their fates. When they had all been stored Elara snapped the briefcase shut, hiding them all from view.

“So where’s the boss?” Jim asked, letting Clara steady him.

“That was amazing!” a low female voice echoed in his head, and he could see from Clara’s expression that it was in hers as well. “Truly inspired! I’ve never seen psychic abilities used in such a fashion! You’ve reduced them to human size and trapped them within their own stasis tubes! Remarkable!”

“Who are you?” Jim thought back, using his own psychic abilities to probe for the source.  

“The Lady DeLana!” she sent back eagerly, “I’ve waited so long Jim Arnett! Is Clara here too?”

“She is,” he replied tersely. “You’re an Archon… and I recognize that name, you used to be Elara’s master?”

“Oh! All five of you, here!” there was something like a squeal, “the entire set!” Jim scowled as she ignored his question, “Gather your friends Jim Arnett, come and meet me! I’ve prepared food and drink!”

“Go fuck yourself,” he replied psychically.

There was silence, then she replied again, colder, less friendly, “You chose to play with me, at every opportunity for submission you made an opposing move. You may not back out now, meet me or this planet and everything on it will be blown to cosmic cinders.”

As if to emphasize her point the ship in the distance lit up with angular red lines. The ground beneath them shook, subtly at first, then harder, causing the men to fall over and even Lyrei and Isstvell to struggle to stay upright.

“We’re coming,” Jim replied bitterly.

As soon as it had begun, the shaking stopped.

“Everything okay?” Clara asked nervously.

He sighed, “I know you’ve been enjoying your time down here with me… but I need you to get big again.”

…

Clara, now at her full ninety feet, held Jim in her palm as they looked up at the hungry black maw of the ship’s entryway. Elara stood at her side, and Lyrei and Isstvell flanked them, heated balls of plasma at the ready. The five of them were before it alone, they’d insisted the King and his men stay behind.

Jim stood up, the shimmering green battlesuit hugging his body, “I guess there’s nothing left to do but go in,” he said.

“So do we shoot her when we see her or…” Clara muttered hesitantly. She was now wearing one of the cast off business suits from one of the now shrunken servitors, a pair of the silver godkiller blasters hanging from her belt.

“She’s gone as far as to threaten to destroy the planet if we don’t speak with her,” Isstvell said, “We may as well see what she wants.”

“If she DOES start destroying the planet, the very least we can do is finish her off too,” Lyrei said, an uncharacteristic anger on her face.

“It had to be DeLana,” Elara said softly, “not just any Archon, but my very own…”

“She’s not,” Jim said fiercely, “she’s not yours, we’re not hers, and she’s going to know it before this is over.”

The five of them entered the black portal, ready to confront the Archon.

…

Jim had been on enough spacecraft by now that he wasn’t impressed by most of them, but the Archon vessel was something new. Like an Aelmari ship it was almost seamless everywhere, not a button or dial to be seen. It lit the pathway before them, a soft tonal music playing as it seemed to welcome them as they walked through it. Unlike an Aelmari ship, with it’s sterile white and blue color scheme and lighting, this ship was a flat dark grey, with occasional pink veins pulsing along the ceiling. He grimaced in discomfort as he watched them, they seemed to grow thicker as they continued down the hall. Nothing guided them, but somehow, they all seemed to know the way.

The hallway ended with a vast open area, and the redwood forest, waterfalls, and artificial mountains of the Archon’s garden awaited them. A massive table was set a few hundred feet into the grass, at the head a giant woman, with pink skin, pale blue hair, and jet black eyes waited for them. The table was angled upwards, with a steplike pattern of level sections carved into it to allow species of various sizes to sit at it. It was clear that there were two places set for ninety foot giants like Clara and Elara, then another two higher up for the hundred twenty foot Aelmari.

The woman, DeLana, smiled as she saw them, “Jim Arnett!” She said excitedly, “and this must be Isstvell, Lyrei, and Clara!” She glanced at Elara, “and I believe we used to work together! Come, all of you, sit!”

With seemingly no other choice, they approached the table. One plate held a very earthlike steak, potatoes, and greens, another held a large fish the size of a whale, and a series of what looked like giant clams. Clara frowned as she sat at the seat with the seafood.

“Crimson Sea oysters are extinct,” Clara said quietly, setting Jim on the table. She picked one up, slurping it out of the shell, her eyes going wide as the taste hit her. “This is great!” she said.

“And for Mr. Arnett I’ve prepared grilled mammoth!” DeLana said eagerly.

Jim looked down the sloped table, at the very end a smaller table had been prepared, seemingly for him. A large cut of red meat, the black lines across it suggesting it had been prepared to perfection, waited for him. Cautiously, he walked to it, and sat down. He cut into the steak, and savored the rich flavor, unknown on Earth for thousands of years.

“I’m sorry,” DeLana said cheerily, “I wasn’t sure what the Aelmari would like, so I just scaled up one of the more popular Earth dishes.”

Lyrei and Isstvell stared at their respective gigantic cheeseburgers, along with a red box inscribed with an “M” the size of a house overflowing with French fries.

“It will do,” Isstvell said with some distaste.

“What do you want with us?” Lyrei asked, looking up the table at their hostess, who had begun cutting into her own meal, a purple veined meat that Jim didn’t recognize.

“To bring you all into my collection of course!” DeLana said, taking a sip of a deep red substance that looked like wine. “Stasis tubes for larger beings are something of a new concept, but I have my ship replicators working on some for all of you.”

“Archons only collect humans,” Elara said uncomfortably, “My Lady-“ she shuddered and stopped herself, forcing her gaze to meet the smirking Archon she steeled herself, “Your kind only likes humans.”

“Elara, you’ve grown so much,” DeLana said approvingly, “I remember when I ordered you disposed of, I never thought I’d hear of you again! Now you’re using psychic powers, making friends, it’s such a delightful story!”

“You didn’t answer the question,” Isstvell said, staring at her own untouched meal.

“Yes,” DeLana said with a sigh, “You might say that I’m hoping to start setting trends. Humans are a wonderful collector’s item, but conventional wisdom has always been that humans without offworld influences were the most valuable, but I think that with the Aelmari having spread your species throughout the galaxy, what makes a human valuable is going to change.” She beamed down the table at Jim, “and that’s where you come in.”

“I’d rather not be collected,” he said bitterly, “and for that matter I don’t understand this obsession with us in the first place.”

“Ah,” DeLana said, “I think some explanation is in order.” She waved her hand, and with a glow of psychic energy a stasis tube floated from somewhere into her hand. She glanced at it and smiled, "The sheriff of Silver Flats,” she said fondly, “here you are Jim, simply touch it.” The tube hovered down the table, and the four giantesses that had come with him followed it with their eyes as it landed softly in front of him.

He stood up from his small table and regarded it suspiciously. Slowly, he approached it. There was a man inside, a rugged fellow in a wide brimmed hat, with an antiquated revolver drawn and a snarl on his face even in his frozen state. Jim looked up the table, his four friends watched impassively, while DeLana eagerly prompted him further. With a sigh he laid his hands on it.

Suddenly he was in the Arizona Territory, adrenaline filling his body as he fired his colt single action at the incoming riders. He shouted a battle cry as he threw the empty gun aside, drawing a bowie knife and sprinting towards a bandit even as the bandana clad outlaw leveled his own pistol.

He gasped, suddenly he was back on the enormous table, stumbling backwards from the frozen cowboy. His breath heaved as he looked up at the pink skinned giantess, then back to the tube again in wonder.

“Humans have nascent psychic abilities that can be harnessed artificially,” DeLana explained. The tube glowed purple and levitated back towards her, she clasped it in her hand and stroked it lovingly, before she levitated it off in an unknown direction. “Every human we take,” DeLana said with relish, “we take their entire life, their story, and we can relive it in their place… the highs, the lows, the absolute heartache of defeat and lost loves, the triumph of victories and the jubilation of a life well spent.” She sighed happily, “humans are the ultimate prize, and that’s why we’ve cultivated you since we discovered you so many millennia ago.”

“Well that’s done Star sludge,” Clara said, slamming her glass down and wiping her lips, “thanks for the food, but-“

“Oh Glalan,” DeLana giggled, “humans aren’t the only species we toyed with…”

Clara frowned, “What do you mean?” she asked quietly.

“Your excursion to earth,” DeLana explained with a smug grin, “it was a sort of… prank, it got out of hand.”

“A prank?” Clara whispered.

“Yes,” DeLana said, leaning back in her chair, “some of our servitors hinted to marauder captains that Earth was a valuable planet, obviously those of us who were responsible were disciplined…”

“Hundreds of Glalans and thousands of Humans died,” Clara said, horrified, “I almost-“

“But you didn’t,” DeLana said, leering at her, “and that’s what makes what happened next so exciting!”

“We saved the Earth,” Lyrei said quietly.

“And why did the Aelmari suddenly feel the need to warp into such a backwater system?” DeLana asked eagerly.

“There was a distress call of unknown origin,” Isstvell said, confused, “likely a passing shipping freighter…”

“A PASSING SHIPPING FREIGHTER!” DeLana laughed uproariously, “Dear me no, we had our cultists call you using a few pieces of technology we left them for just such an occasion. We’d have liked to have sent someone else, but that Aelmari worldship was the only one nearby which could save the Earth in time, and believe me it would have been quite the snafu if the cats had actually managed to destroy the planet!”

The five of them were silent as their hostess laughed, a bitter cruel noise that echoed off the pearly glass dome overhead and through her redwood garden.

…

The pair of Archon servitors looked down at the pathetic human crew of the space station Tizona. As per the protocol, the two of them had boarded the station and forced the human crew to wait in the massive common area. The two giantesses operated the controls that had been built in for them when the station had originally been gifted to the humans, for as long as their master’s ship remained in the system the two of them would be operating the station, rather than the normal crew. The dozen or so humans glared up at them angrily, a far cry from the gleeful submission of years past.

It didn’t matter, Clarice decided, she glanced at the other servitor and grinned, briefly exchanging mocking messages about the humans via thoughtspeak. Adoring humans, angry humans, it just didn’t matter.

The station rocked suddenly, and the two servitors scowled, pulling their weapons.

“Unauthorized docking in progress,” the station intercom declared. “Airlock 1 breached, defensive measures have been disabled.”

“What in the stars,” Clarice muttered, gesturing for her sister to follow her as they sprinted towards the airlock.

They reached it and leveled their weapons at it as it hissed open. The two of them peered into the empty chamber suspiciously. Slowly, they crept forward, keeping their blasters leveled. As they entered the station’s boarding chamber they glanced around, looking for anything out of place.

There was a flash of green as Sarah dropped from the ceiling, and each Archon servitor felt a quick sting on the back of her neck. Each slapped at it, then looked down at the human woman on the floor, wide eyed. One tried to step on her, but as the heeled shoe clacked to the ground she was already becoming shaky and weak. Sarah smirked as the other tried to draw her blaster, but it clattered to the floor after falling from her quivering hands. The two servitors slumped, a cold sweat appearing on their heads.

“You can come up now Zeph,” she said.

“A-Are they dead?” Zeph called up from their ship.

Sarah shrugged, “They will be by the time you get up here, yeah.”

…

“So you want Jim for your collection,” Elara said, looking up the table bitterly, “and what of us?”

“It won’t be the same of course,” DeLana mused, looking at all of them, “but I’d like to display all of you alongside Jim here, at least some of the time. For the most part I’ll just keep Jim frozen, the rest of you will accompany me in other ventures I think.” She grinned, “I’ve got a party coming up, and I want everyone to experience the wonderous space adventures of Jim Arnett! And they’ll want to SEE his Aelmari companions, the Glalan he befriended, the Servitor he stole from the Archons themselves!”

“I think we’re going to miss it,” Jim said, exchanging a few neuronet messages with Sarah. She’d taken the station, and that meant they controlled the orbitals. He reached for the glass that DeLana had set for him, sipping it he realized it wasn’t water, it was moonshine whiskey, the same as his grandfather had supposedly made. He chuckled a moment as the warmth hit his belly.

“Oh?” DeLana said, steepling her fingers, “You’ll ALL be coming with me, if it’s any consolation I think I’ll spare New Aragon for now, but the rest of you-“

“Is this a game to you?” Jim asked, fighting a smirk. “You just don’t seem to realize your situation.”

DeLana frowned, “It’s a game to all of us, you, me, them… I think that perhaps you are the one forgetting yourself,” she said finally. “It is a game, and this dinner is simply me being a good sport because I’ve won. The Aelmari are strong, but they’re just machines, I can shut them down with a thought.” She gestured to Clara, “and the Glalan, she’ll instinctively follow the strongest person in the room, and that is me,” She grinned down at Elara, “and my servitor, she’s going to gladly return to my service now that I’ve welcomed her back.”

Jim stared at her a moment, incredulously. Then he started laughing, and despite his size it echoed through the redwood forest just as loudly as DeLana’s own had.

Purple energy crackled around the Archon as she stared at him, her frown turning from confusion to anger. Briefly her form disappeared, replaced by a cloud of crackling energy only briefly in the shape of a woman, but she returned just as quickly.

“What’s so funny?” she demanded.

“You’re so wrong!” Jim wheezed, “you’ve come all this way, your species has pulled off all of these amazing feats, and now, in the final moment, you’re going to lose because you’ve misread all of us so badly!” Jim laughed louder, going from simple jubilation to outright mockery.

“Stop laughing,” DeLana ordered, clenching her fists. “Finish your meals and prepare yourselves for-“

“GET HER!” Jim shouted, purple energy surrounded him as Clara drew her weapon, Elara’s eyes glowed purple, and Lyrei and Isstvell raised their hands, plasma balls materializing in the air.

The look of shocked surprise on the Archon’s face was the best thing he’d seen all day.

…

Sarah walked confidently into the station, deliberately ignoring the Tizona’s crew as Zeph’s two hundred foot form plodded behind her. She turned to face the assembled knights, the crew of the space station.

“Okay,” she said, hands on her hips, “I’ve killed the two ladies they sent up here to babysit you, does anyone here have any loyalties to the Star Cult or the Goddess they’d like to disclose?”

One man stood up near the back, his black beard shining slightly in the station’s fluorescent lighting, “None of us are their adherents,” Cervantes said firmly, “Every man here is loyal to the king and New Aragon!”

“That’s good!” Sarah said, “and if anyone has any hidden loyalties, be aware that I can have Zeph here stomp you,” she grinned wickedly, “or better yet she could swallow you whole, and you’ll slowly digest in her-“

“Sarah!” Zeph cut in, stomping and causing the ground to shake, “Stop it! I’d never stomp or eat a human!”

Sarah sighed, looking up at her two hundred foot friend, “Well THEY didn’t know that,” she said bitterly.

“Y-You’re not going to make me pick up strange humans are you?” Zeph said uncertainly. The knights were now looking at the pair with some confusion, and Sarah sighed with exasperation.

“Okay,” she said, trying to recover the situation, “If any of you are Star Cultists, I’ll just kill you with this,” She extended her claw with a springing sound, causing the men to leap back in surprise, “Zeph, can you please go check on the standard size species controls?”

The red skinned giantess nodded at her human partner and plodded over to where the two servitors had stood only moments before. She clacked a series of keys and pulled up a series of menus on a massive screen.

She looked back down at the assembled humans and bit her lip, “You tinies know how to use this thing, right? Did they leave you guys an admin password?”

“We were entrusted with many aspects of this station,” Cervantes said, “but the sacred password was not given to us.”

“Try admin,” Sarah suggested.

“It’s uh, not in English,” Zeph replied. She typed in “admin” phonetically using the alien keyboard, and was rewarded with an angry buzzing sound. “Nope,” she said.

“They have disabled our holy weapons while their goddess is in this system,” Cervantes explained, “she fears the guns of this station!”

“As she should,” Sarah muttered, “she really gave you guys some top-of-the-line hardware…” She thought a moment, “Zeph, what do we still have control over?”

“Life support, station comms, entertainment, and navigation,” Zeph said, clacking the keys and searching for workarounds.

“Navigation,” Sarah muttered. Suddenly she had an idea, and her face lit up with a grin, “Zeph, could we… bring the station down? Planetside I mean.”

“Uhhh…” Zeph gulped and looked at the giant sized monitor, “I suppose we COULD Sarah, but that doesn’t mean we-“

“Do it!” Cervantes said excitedly, stepping away from his men, “Tizona is the glorious sword of New Aragon, the defense against all inhuman forces which would defile her!” He sighed, clasping his hand to his metal clad chest, “if our would-be goddess is such a force… then let her be crushed by the very weapon she gave us!”

“You heard him Zeph!” Sarah said excitedly, “okay boys, does this thing have escape pods?”

The men exchanged glances and a few whispers, before the group ran as one towards a group of doors on the far wall. They hissed open, one after the other, as men ran into them, preparing themselves for evacuation.

“Cancel the three ring circus,” Sarah said with a smile as the alarm klaxons rang out, “save one for the bearded lady.” She glanced at Cervantes, who was looking out the viewport towards the planet with a grim certainty, “You’re not going?”

The knight grinned and looked at her, “I promised to defend this station to my dying breath, and I shall.” He took a breath, “Sarah, it’s a lovely ship, I think I’m going down with it.”

Sarah gasped, “Cervantes, that’s so noble, before you die, could I have the pleasure of a kiss from such a man as you?”

The knight’s face burned red, “Wh- Sarah, you’ve never… I mean you and I aren’t…”

“This could be my last chance,” she said, fighting a pouting lip.

“Well,” Cervantes said uncomfortably, “All right,” he walked to Sarah, his arms outstretched.

He grunted as the amazon slipped behind him and gripped him around the neck. He gasped for air and clawed at her arms as the sleeper hold took effect. When he went limp Sarah chuckled and tossed him over her shoulder, grunting slightly at his weight. She walked over to an escape pod, tossed the unconscious knight in, and hit the “launch” button.

“He’s going to be pissed when he wakes up,” Sarah laughed, looking at Zeph’s embarrassed expression.

“He seemed to want to go down with the station,” Zeph said, shifting slightly.

Sarah rolled her eyes, “Cervantes is a great guy, but he’s way too into this whole knighthood thing, trust me in like a month he’ll be happy I did this.” She clapped her hands, “Okay, let’s throw some pop music over the loudspeakers and head out of this system!”

“You don’t want to go help the others?” Zeph asked uncertainly, “they might still need assistance down on the planet.”

“Nah,” Sarah said with a grin, “I’m not going to play human toy for the Aelmari when the rest show up. I helped them this far, they can do the rest on their own.”

Zeph bit her lip a moment, and then sighed, “Sarah,” she said finally, “we both know you’re going to feel bad and turn around fifteen minutes after we use the dimensional drive to leave this system. You’ll turn back and show up to help after asking me what you should do, well I’m skipping it and just telling you now.”

“What?” Sarah exclaimed, “I’m a cold blooded mercenary Zeph, I’m out of here and-“

“It costs about ten thousand credits in fuel to turn a dimensional drive powered ship around mid-flight,” Zeph said firmly, “and if you want to do the dramatic about-face then it’s coming out of your share of our next job.”

Sarah’s eyes widened, “I-Is it really that expensive?” Zeph just nodded, “Well I just won’t come back then!” Sarah countered, “They’re on their own, it’s a harsh universe!”

Zeph just sighed, “Sarah, come on.”

“Fine,” Sarah muttered, “set the station to crash on the Archon’s ship with a delay, we’ll fly down there and see if they need any help.”

…

The Archon’s toy forest burned and her fake river hissed steam as the battle raged. She had raised a psychic shield immediately, but while both the human she’d hoped to collect and her former servitor were nowhere near her level of psychic power, she was unable to focus on them with the two Aelmari and the Glalan firing on her with every movement she made.

“SHUT DOWN!” She screamed at the Aelmari, purple waves colliding with their heads to no effect.

“It’s been tried,” Isstvell sneered, hurling a white hot plasma ball at the Archon. It dissipated against a purple shield, but the pink skinned being noticeably winced as it made contact.

“You are machines!” DeLana protested feebly, “you can’t deny-“

“We can,” Lyrei finished, hurtling her own projectile.

“Keep pressing her,” Jim said, his eyes glowing purple as Clara carried him forward in her palm, firing the silver Godkiller pistol with her other hand. He was doing all he could to disrupt her attempts at psychic counterattacks, and Elara was doing the same.

The psychic shield flickered, and the next heated globe of Plasma struck DeLana’s chest, causing her to briefly flicker into a crackling purple silhouette. The Archon screamed angrily, and lightning threw Isstvell and Lyrei through the smoke of the burning forest, beyond Jim’s vision.

“This is for every Glalan you got killed!” Clara screeched, tears in her eyes as she fired the pistol again and again. The white bolts of energy made contact with the Archon, causing the electric form to stagger back into the treeline.

Elara didn’t say anything, hovering with her hair splayed above her head as her own purple lightning crackled out at the fleeing Archon.

There was a sudden gust of air, blowing the smoke by all of them as the Archon appeared in her preferred pink skinned form again, those baleful black eyes gazing down at all of them as her height increased over the treetops.

“Do you think you can defy me!?” She hissed, “We are masters of your destinies! You are but PLAYTHINGS!”

“DeLana the Archon,” Isstvell spoke in an authoritative voice, white energy crackling around her eyes, “Under Aelmari law, and in service of The Mission, I am ordering you to submit to our judgment.”

“Your judgment!?” DeLana hissed, her black eyes went white, and the dome above her cracked as purple energy flooded the former garden chamber, “What right do you think you have to judge one such as me!? Who do you think it was that wiped out your forebearers? Who nursed your pathetic progenitor AI until it turned into something useful!? YOU ARE A PROJECT!” She screamed.

The world seemed to slow, Jim looked at Lyrei and Isstvell, but the two of them seemed reserved. As one they seemed to blank out, raising their hands to the gigantic psychic being. A beam of pure white flew from each of their hands, and both he and Clara gasped in horror as black cracks went up the two Aelmari’s arms, marring their blue skin.

“The Second Mission,” they said in unison, their voices distorted, “is Revenge.”

A final pulse went out from the two scouts and DeLana’s scream echoed so loudly that Jim, Elara, and Clara covered their ears. Throughout the entire planet of New Aragon men, women, and children clasped their hands against their ears, dogs howled and cats hissed, the animal kingdom writhed in the shared agony as the Archon experienced true pain.

Lyrei and Isstvell fell to their knees, their conscious minds returning to the forefront as they knelt among the burning redwoods. Elara’s eyes returned to normal as her feet met the ground again, and she gasped as she stumbled towards her friends. Clara kept her gun trained on the smoke in the direction that DeLana had disappeared in, but she slowly walked towards them as well, Jim had curled into a fetal position in her open palm.

“Is that it?” The catgirl hissed, “Is she dead?”

“No,” Elara said bitterly, “she’s hurt, but she’s already pulling herself back together.”

“W-We are spent,” Isstvell sputtered, attempting to get to her feet. She stumbled and Elara caught her.

“I d-don’t recognize that part of our p-programming,” Lyrei said, struggling with the words, “R-Revenge?”

“If she told the truth, it sounds like the Archons killed the people who made you originally,” Elara said, scanning the smoke for signs of movement, “and they programmed you to hold a bit of a grudge.”

“I’m with them,” Clara muttered, “are you blueskins recording this? Everyone on Glalan Prime is going to want to see this, stars, the whole galaxy.”

“We’re recording it,” Lyrei said, seeming to pull herself together.  

“She’s coming back,” Elara said frightfully as the wind began to howl, “I-I don’t have much left, and she’s so strong! We can’t stop her!”

“Broadcast what she said,” Clara said quietly, “Aelmari scouts should be able to do that much, right?”

“It’s going to the Matriarch now,” Isstvell said bitterly, struggling to keep upright.

“Jim!” Sarah’s voice echoed over the suit neuronet, “are you guys still on that big black ship?”

“Yes,” he sent back, irritated, “I think we’re fucked; can you use the station’s guns on this thing?”

“The station’s coming down in about five minutes,” Sarah sent back, “look up!”

Jim glanced skyward, and his eyes went wide. The Tizona was falling through the atmosphere, the black sphere of the station going red hot as energy built up, it lit the sky like a second sun.

“Fuck me,” Jim muttered, “EVERYONE!” He shouted as loud as he could, “we’ve got to get out of dodge right now!”

The four giantesses looked up with him, “Well,” Clara said, “It’s been fun everybody, but I think I’d like to head home.”

“Tell your friends your ride’s waiting at the ship’s exit,” Sarah thought at him, “get your asses over here or I’m taking off!”

…

The five of them raced through the ship, Jim was limp in Clara’s hand as she hefted Lyrei’s own lifeless form over her shoulder and Elara dragged Isstvell.

“Wait!” Elara shouted, dropping her own Aelmari and heading down a cooridor.

“Oh what now!?” Clara moaned.

Elara ran back to them, holding a suitcase in her hand. Briefly she unclasped it, revealing a dozen humans from various eras frozen inside. She snapped it shut just as quickly. Clara just groaned and shifted Lyrei’s weight.

“We can’t leave them behind!” Elara said, attempting to heft her own Aelmari over her shoulder again.

…

Sarah tapped her foot nervously, “Where the hell are they?” she muttered, sparing a glance up at the mile wide fireball coming down on the planet. “ZEPH!” she shouted.

“We’re primed and ready whenever you want to take off!” her partner replied from inside the ship.

“Not yet,” she said aloud, forgoing their neuronet.

Her eyes went wide as she saw the two smaller giants struggling to heft the Aelmari over their shoulders. Elara had a massive suitcase in one hand, and Clara held Jim tightly as the group struggled to reach the ship.

Sarah scowled, “Zeph, get down here, we need a big girl to help carry some things! I’m piloting!” She sprinted back into the ship, hoping to reach her own control panel in time.

…

DeLana’s body reformed, assembling itself in the burned ruin of her garden one crystalline piece at a time. Her black eyes were hollow, angry, and she snarled as she looked around the clear domed area for her wayward playmates. This was NOT how the game was supposed to go, discipline was needed, she would-

She was aware suddenly of the alarms from somewhere, why weren’t the servitors dealing with whatever that was? She sighed angrily, more discipline, she decided, and the fires were all out, what was that orange glow? She looked up, and the black eyes went wide with shock as she saw the burning fireball of the space station entering the atmosphere above her.

“No,” She whispered angrily, “NO! THIS IS CHEATING!”

…

“I would just like to say,” Jim began aloud as Clara held him up to the viewport, “there is nothing more satisfying than watching something blow up while you fly away from it.”

“I’m with you on that,” Clara said smugly, eyeing the rising mushroom cloud and shockwave. “It’s kind of nice getting to watch it from a passenger seat instead of being the one who’s got to do the white knuckle escape from the incoming explosion.”

“You’re not the least bit worried?” Elara said, strapping her safety belt as the ship lifted higher.

“We’re far enough away that the shockwave shouldn’t damage the ship,” Zeph said, and the ship tossed a second later, nearly causing Jim to fly out of Clara’s hands, but it steadied itself again just as quickly. “The city has a bombardment shield that should keep the debris out from a near miss like that,” the red skinned giant explained, “we’re passing inside it in a few seconds.”

“What about the Archon?” Clara asked, holding Jim up to her face eagerly, “psychic people, is she…”

“I think she’s gone for good,” Elara said with a sigh, leaning back in her chair. “I guess we know how to kill them.”

“Yeah,” Clara said sarcastically, “we’ll have to keep a spare battlestation to drop on them from orbit, you know, just in case.”

…

The Aelmari cruiser arrived a few hours after the battle was over, the massive blue ship hovered down into the atmosphere, drones flying out in various directions as it scouted the planet and began disseminating the Aelmari’s medical nanites into the atmosphere.

Isstvell and Lyrei had seemingly recovered, enough to stand on their own anyway, and the five giants and two humans waited while the Aelmari greeted the human delegation. Maeve, Shaerra’s second in command, spotted them and smiled, approaching when she was done with the king.

“Do you have the kidnapped humans?” She asked. Elara hesitantly handed the Aelmari leader the suitcase containing the stasis tubes.

“Excellent,” Maeve breathed with a sigh, “There is no telling how these humans will react when they are unfrozen, we’ve prepared human therapists and what we hope to be a relaxing environment to-“

“Will they have the option to return to Earth,” Isstvell asked sternly, cutting her off.

“Certainly,” Maeve said with a smirk, “I’m glad we were able to resolve things without threats on the bridge of a starship this time.” She looked at the assembled humans, who had begun a victory parade back towards the city, leading the blue giants towards their streets. “I wonder how many of these ones will want to come with us?” Maeve mused, “I must commend you Isstvell, Lyrei, your gentler approach to human adoption has been wildly successful, according to our surveys the humans trust us much more now.”

“How convenient that doing the right thing was popular,” Lyrei commented, “Isstvell, weren’t we on vacation before all of this?”

“We were,” the other scout replied. “Clara, Elara, Jim?” The five of them began the walk back towards Sarah’s landed ship.

“And what about you mercenary?” Maeve asked Sarah, she looked up at Zeph’s towering form and gave what she hoped was a warm smile, “would you consider coming back to our worldship? We can provide you all manner of luxuries, and like Mr. Arnett we can even make sure you have ample adventures, if you want.”

“I’ve already got one giant I’m taking care of,” Sarah joked, jerking a thumb over her shoulder at the two-hundred-foot Zeph, “Tell Shaerra we’re squared up.”

…

With nowhere else to really go the group found themselves back in their suite on Procyon, Sarah had said a few quick goodbyes before she and Zeph had once again flown their ship into the blackness of space.

“Do you miss her?” Clara asked, holding him lazily above her face as she lay on her bed.

“We’ll probably see her again,” Jim said dismissively.

Clara shrugged, lowering Jim down between her breasts, “I guess if you want to play with a girl closer to your own size it’s not as hard to find one now…” she grinned, “then again, maybe you still prefer your girls a little… bigger?”

Lyrei barged in suddenly, an embarrassed Isstvell behind her, “A-Are you going to make yourself smaller?” the blue elf asked urgently, “what about Clara, could you maybe shrink her too?”

“What!?” Clara exclaimed.

“We never got to play with Clara while she was small,” Isstvell said, pleadingly looking at Jim, “and if you got even smaller it would be… enjoyable for us.”

“No way!” Clara declared, “I’m the one who does the playing with people, not the other-“

A bolt of purple energy snaked it’s way in from the suite’s common area, striking Clara, who gasped in surprise as she began shrinking out of her silver bodysuit.

“You’re welcome!” Elara’s voice called.

Jim tumbled down to the bed as Clara got smaller, the two hungrily leering elves crawling up on the bed and examining their prize.

Clara stuck her head out of the massive hole where her neck used to be, and gulped nervously, looking up at the blue giants. She spotted Jim and looked at him pleadingly, but he just chuckled and crossed his arms.

“Uh, so let’s just be gentle and-“ the catgirl began, but Lyrei quickly snatched her up, causing Clara to yelp with surprise, her tail hanging down from the bottom of the Aelmari’s hand.

“What is it you always say to Jim when you two play?” Lyrei said gleefully, “something about how bigger life forms get to order the smaller ones around, yes?” She leaned forward and licked Clara, her gigantic tongue all but enveloping the catgirl’s face, “Usually there’s a comment in there about the food chain, isn’t that right?”

“Y-Yeah,” Clara said, looking at Lyrei’s lustful face in awe, “the food chain…”

Lyrei licked her lips teasingly, “would you like to see what it’s like to be a little lower on it?” Lyrei said in a sultry voice.

“Sure,” Clara said, eyes wide, as though she were hypnotized.

With a chuckle Lyrei slowly brought Clara to her mouth, releasing the Glalan and letting her tumble inside. The giant’s tongue immediately found the wet and dripping opening between Clara’s legs, and Clara grunted with pleasure and began to wrestle feebly with it as it moved against her.

“Don’t swallow,” Isstvell said, a mischievous glint in her eyes, “I want a turn with her.” She turned back to Jim, who had watched the whole thing in an aroused state of shock, his erection painfully visible even through his clothes. “Get out of the clothes,” she ordered with a grin. He reached down for his pants but Isstvell cleared her throat, stopping him, “Shrink yourself out of them.”

He looked up at the giantess and did as she asked, feeling his clothes rush against his skin as she grinned down at his diminishing form. The purple glow of psychic energy briefly lit his rapidly darkening world as his clothes fell over him like a tarp. A moment later he was vaguely aware of something overhead gently nudging the clothes away, searching for him. His shirt was suddenly lifted into the air, causing him to tumble out of it into his pooled pants.

“Amazing,” Isstvell breathed. As she leaned over him her face filled the sky. Jim watched as a fingertip several times larger than his entire body came down on him. He wasn’t sure what she was going to do, but he lay still, letting the immense goddess prod him.

Suddenly he gasped as he was lifted up, Isstvell had done something to make her fingertip… sticky!? He struggled against it, but whatever she’d done held him as tight as cement as she lifted him into the air. He fought a quick surge of panic at seeing the massive room, but Isstvell’s smiling face, mountainous in appearance, reassured him somewhat.

“Look at you,” she breathed, her eyes wide, “stuck on my fingertip, my very own human…” She licked her lips, slowly her tongue traced out to him, no longer a writhing snake but an immense and unstoppable force that coated his entire body with her slick saliva. He coughed for a moment, before it retracted, leaving him soaked and still stuck to the giant Aelmari’s finger.

“Sorry about that,” she said with an embarrassed smile, “everything must be so difficult at that size, I’m sure the smallest things are just overwhelming…” her face brightened, “don’t worry though, I know someplace safe for you.”

Jim’s world blurred as he was brought lower, and with a shimmer Isstvell willed her clothing to disappear, revealing her perfectly sculpted naked form. He found himself clinging to her fingertip before her massive opening, glistening with anticipation as her finger brought him closer, the fresh sweet smell of the Aelmari washing over him.

Normally at his full size there was some resistance when he was pushed inside the most intimate part of a giantess, but now, at bug size, rather than doll size, it was a simple motion of Isstvell sticking her finger inside herself, gasping at the sensation. She withdrew it slowly, the human having peeled off and been trapped within her.

As he squirmed she breathed in excitedly, feeling the diminutive human try to fight an alien pussy that easily compressed around him. He was so small he couldn’t really even maneuver on his own, easily getting stuck to the sides every time he triggered a convulsion of pleasure in the massive chamber around him.

She lay on the bed next to Lyrei, enjoying her prisoner’s movements with a happy sigh. She looked over to see the other scout had released Clara from her mouth, and was holding the soaked catgirl with two fingers. Clara had a goofy post-orgasm grin, her mussed pink hair giving her a spent look.

“Rest up,” Lyrei said with a giggle, “I think I’m going to need to send you into Isstvell to find Jim…

“Goody,” Clara managed as Lyrei brought her down between a pair of massive blue breasts.

…

Elara was in her own room, simply reading. Every now and then she smiled as sensed a flash of psychic energy from the other room, probably Jim, though increasingly she could pick up some signals from Clara too. She sighed and looked out at the golden and brass of the massive city outside the window and smiled, feeling content. She looked up at a sky, so well lit by the sprawling metropolis below that only the brightest stars were visible, and she wondered which one she and her friends would visit next.