Michael sighed with relief as the airlock to the cargo bay opened up; warm oxygen rich air perfectly attenuated to human life flushing into the room with a soft hiss. It had been over a week since he breathed air this fresh, and he made sure to savor every breath as from tomorrow onward he would not get to see this place for at least another 2 months.

               Just looking around he could tell that the station was much busier than usual. Large containers of what were obviously food and weapon reserves were stacked in piles as high as Nephila’s ankles, and workers of all species rushed around with cargo in hand.

               “Move it! Come on now, we have to get this stuff to the outer bulkheads in less than an hour.” Yelled an Atlantian quartermaster through the intercom, “And you two” he added.

               Nephila looked down towards Michael; he looked just as confused as she was, which was a stretch considering she didn’t understand how anything on the station worked.

               “Hey buddy, get your giant pet out of here. You’re scaring my men. I don’t want her stomping around; we’ve already had enough crushed workers for one day.”

               Michael could feel Nephila’s shoulders become as tense as rocks, and understandably so. She had gone from being respected and even feared to once again being discriminated against. Her massive hands clenched together with enough pressure to crush stones, as she suppressed the desire to go on a stomping spree throughout the station.

               Nephila spotted an access corridor across the room, and began carefully working her way across the room; occasionally stepping into the middle of a group of workers or onto some cargo.

               “Not bad. You only managed to destroy a few tons of supplies.” replied Michael while watching a member of what appeared to be an insect-like race try and pry another worker out from underneath a pile of boxes Nephila knocked over.

               There was a laugh from the nearby raised walkways, “No fatalities huh? Well, that was boring.” Said Athena whose raven black hair reached all the way down to her waist, “Remind me to sign you up for dance classes Nephi because you have impeccable balance.”

               Nephlia sighed. Athena was the closest thing she had to a mother; she could at least try and show a little compassion for her. Still, Athena’s warped sense of affection was better than none at all.

               Athena’s head snapped to the doll-like man perched on Nephila’s shoulder like a bird. “Michael! Are you going to be joining me for dinner.” Yelped Athena as if suddenly remembering something.

               “I wasn’t aware we were having dinner? I figured I’d rest for a while…” He replied half-heartedly, his mind more focused on the unusual activity throughout the station than food.

               “Michael Michael Michael, tsk tsk tsk.” she said with mock disappointment, “You and Nephi here are about to embark on a very dangerous journey; its tradition to eat a large meal before an away mission.”

               The station vibrated slightly from what seemed to be a distant explosion. “Fine.” He said, “But could you explain to me what’s going on around here.”

               “I will, I will. Just… act casual.” Said Athena who began to walk back to her room right as what looked like a group of soldiers walked by.

               Nephila could feel that something was off as she walked back to the house. There were no giants or people roaming the station, usually at the very least she would have another giant or two stalking her, but not today. She wasn’t even being pressured about not wearing her collar; something Athena was adamant about in the past.

               They reached the room in silence. Then Athena simply unlocked Nephila’s room, ordered her inside, and waved for Michael to come with her.

               “I think that today must be a rather slow day. Don’t you agree?” asked Nephila.

               “Not at all.” She replied dismissively before activating her powers and flying into the entranceway next to her room with Michael.

               ****

               Michael looked up at the elaborately decorated doorway of Athena’s home. A pure mahogany door surrounded by chiseled walls of marble and studded with diamond and gemstones. A typical Atlantian home for someone of her status.

               Athena landed next to him, and with a simple wave of her hand the twin doors opened into a large decorated interior multi-leveled courtyard the size of Nephila’s room. He always admired how vain some people could be.

               There was an awkward silence. Then Athena noticed him looking around the room, “Has anyone ever told you why Atlantian homes are so big Michael?” she said in her usual quirky tone.

               The station shook again, this time with stronger vibrations. “History isn’t one of my strongest subjects.” replied Michael, looking around as Athena led him into a large checkered room, in the center of which sat a table big enough to sit 20 people.

               Athena took a seat and snapped her fingers, instantly replicating a banquet on the table from the stations energy reserves. “It’s really interesting actually.”

               “A long time ago when we lived only on earth, supplies were limited. There was only a certain amount of wood or stone to build with.” She explained snapping her fingers again, causing the food smothered plates to conveniently levitate to within arm’s reach. “But as mankind expanded into the stars, we became greedy. Now the house of an average Atlantian is the size of what used to be a city.”

               “So… are you going to tell me what’s going on around here?” he asked.

               Athena sighed, “The rebellion has occupied this sector, including the station.”

               Michael felt his heart skip a beat. It had been only a week, and the rebellion has already pushed the government back this far, “I don’t understand? The front lines were at least 100 light years away, they would need to have taken the Kelipsis sector…”

               Athena looked away awkwardly, “How many are dead.” He demanded.

               “The most conservative estimates say around 30 million.” She said

               Michael couldn’t believe his ears. The senate had placed some of its finest soldiers in that sector; many of which he had fought with before. The news was soul crushing, even to someone as battle hardened as he was.

               “Is there anything I can do for you?” she offered in an attempt to ease his pain.

               Michael pushed the terrible news to the back of his head; his mission took priority, “I could use information on the giants.” He asked.

               Athena was not in the least surprised by his response. All true members of the Atlantian military, particularly those of Michael’s political class had that same holier-than-thou attitude of duty and honor. It was admirable in a way, even if secretly she pitied him for being so cold.

               “Well… there’s not really much to tell. Most giants are so uncooperative when we capture then that we need to wipe most of their memories just to get them to comply.” She began to elaborate, “In other words, we know next to nothing about their language or society. If they even have either of them”

               “What we do know, we’ve gained through experiments.” She added.

               “You see, we humans have 5 fundamental emotions. Fear, Surprise, Disgust, Happiness, and Sadness. However, we figured out that the giants have 6. One extra, and one different.” She continued.

               Michael was secretly a little shocked to hear this; after all, Nephila as well as the other giants he had encountered looked and acted exactly like humans. It seemed like the only difference was the enormous size disparity.

               “For one, the giants don’t feel disgust… like at all. You can surround them by death or disease and they just won’t be affected by it at all. No doubt you’ve observed their lack of modesty, which in my opinion is a direct consequence of this.” She explained as if lecturing a class before chugging down a large cup of wine.

               “So? What about the two emotions they have,” he asked genuinely interested.

               “Well, the first one we simply call ‘unity’ for lack of a better term. Think of it as a positive bias towards a person or object the giant has known for a while. Simply put, the more time you spend with a giant, regardless of how pleasant the experiences, the fonder the emotions they begin to develop towards you. It gives them an extraordinary capacity for forgiveness, as you no doubt have observed.” She explained snapping her fingers.

               A holographic view screen appeared; on it was a view of Nephila’s room from the top-left corner. She was sleeping on the couch, enormous ropes of hair drooping over the side of the oversized piece of furniture.

               Michael didn’t find this unusual until he spotted the small pillow nestled between her breasts. It was the same pillow he’d been using last week whenever he used the couch. “Like I said,” continued Athena, “giants develop unusually strong attachments very fast. It’s what makes them such good pets.”

               Athena snapped her fingers, deactivating the view screen. “The second emotion we simply refer to as ‘obsession’. This one is pretty crazy…”

               Suddenly the station rocked violently. Metallic beams creaked and groaned as the station vibrated from the impact of a massive force. In the distance, an emergency alarm could be heard.

               [Warning! Station shield integrity at critical levels. All non-combat personnel please evacuate.] said the computerized voice over the stations intercom.

               “What the hell is going on? Are we under attack?” yelled Michael as an entire level of Athena’s garden collapsed into a pile of dirt and concrete.

               Athena rose to her feet, her usual aloof expression replaced with one of determination. “Dammit, they started early! Ugh, I knew I should have made you two leave as soon as you arrived.” She said, “It’s no longer safe on this station. Go get Nephila and meet me at the elevator to the surface. It’s time you two started your mission.”

               Michael ran as fast as he could to the nearest wall he knew bordered Nephila’s room. Raising his hand, Michael concentrated what was left of his energy preserves into the air. Within seconds a ball of super compressed air as hot as the surface of the sun formed in front of him.

               I hope she’s alright. He thought as he fired the ball into the wall causing a massive explosion, and creating a hole large enough for him to get through.

               He flew through the hole and immediately located Nephila, struggling to open the door. Her fingers red from trying to pry open the immense re-enforced titanium alloy door.

               Michael waved his hand and signaled the door to open, “Come on. The entire station is about to blow.”

               Tears streamed down her gigantic face, and her eyes were wide with shock. Her entire world was literally collapsing around her, and all she could do was watch helplessly. “I was afraid you abandoned me.”

               “First rule of being a soldier is to never abandon your teammates. Now let’s get out of here!” He said motioning towards a hole in the interior bulkhead, before flying in that direction.

               Nephila smiled; renewed confidence bursting forth, instantly replacing fear with courage. Deep down she knew he would never abandon her, just as she would never abandon him.

               The journey to space elevator was a harsh one. Most of the stations systems had been de-activated by weapons fire; forcing the two of them to crawl, smash, and cut their way to the central axis where Athena was waiting.

               “Get inside.” Said Athena opening up the elevator.

               A thick wall of flesh tightly closed around, and before Athena could react she found herself pressed into Nephila’s warm chest. “I’m going to miss you.” Said Nephila whose voice, thundered despite the cacophonous symphony of explosions surrounding them.

               Athena looked up into the gigantic smiling face of the girl she had raised and for the first time in hundreds of years was genuinely moved. This was possibly the last chance she had to tell her how she felt, “Nephila,” she said pressing her body into Nephila’s shoulder, “It’s probably too late for me to tell you this, but you’re the closest thing I’ve ever had to a daughter. Please… come back to me.”

               Athena could feel her body tense, massive muscles thicker than her arms shaking  from a sudden rush of both happiness and sorrow. “I will. Stay safe…mother.” Said Nephila before entering the elevator with Michael.

               The doors shut, and the emergency lock was set in place. Out the window Michael could see what looked like at least 5 senatorial battalions bombarding the station. Judging from the damage they received he could tell that any attempt to retake the station was doomed to failure.

               It was clear that their goal was destruction; total war.

               Michael looked over at Nephila. She stood silently, watching the station she had learned to call home burn without end; fresh tears the size of his head flowing across the gentle curves of her face.

               Despite the size disparity, He knew that look well. He had seen it many times during both this war, and the one that preceded it. It was the classic face of sorrow.

               ****

               The elevator pod came to a crashing halt as it smashed into the foundation of the space tether; pieces of complex machinery and electrical components spewing from the barely functioning construct like a silicon and stone geyser.

               “Are you alright Nephila?” shouted Michael, his voice echoing throughout the vast cargo bay where Nephila was standing.

               “I’m fine,” she responded, “But I can’t see anything.”

               “Looks like the stations power system was hit,” he deduced, “Listen up, I can’t use any of my abilities, so it’s up to you to get us out of here.”

               “How?”

               “The metal is probably weak enough for you to rip apart,” he said spotting a large jagged gash where light was pouring in.

               Nephila scanned the darkness until her eyes fell upon the same tear Michael had spotted. Jamming her fingers inside, she pushed the metal apart like it was wet tissue paper; her arms bulging as she ripped the wall apart.

               Quickly she grabbed Michael from the Atlantian portion of the cabin and leapt out, into the harsh wilderness; unaware of the many pairs of eyes that watched over their shoulders.