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June 2, 2131 

 

Omega blacksite: 131

 

Subject: Operation Apollo's Arrow

 

Operative: Niles Gantz

 

This file is classified above top secret. Only agents with Pantheon level clearance may access or read it. Any unauthorized agents found reading this file will be mentally adjusted. All other staff will be eliminated.

 

"Are there any others on scanners 044?" a man looking at a targeting screen asked. "Negative pilot Gantz. Only the four highlighted are present" a voice responded. Niles steadied his breathing as his new machine held the plasma sniper firm. It was called the STRIKE X. Only two in the world. One piloted by a now famous Union pilot and the other him. His had been modified for stealth and speed. Perfect for his skills. The machine was barely a week old and he had racked up 13 kills with it. Leaps and bounds over the old STRIKE model. Niles had heard a rumor that Omega was going to step out of the shadows to assist the Union. The war was going that badly. A year ago around this time, Niles was sniping targets that were deemed "unacceptable". Possible threats to the new non-aggression pact between the Union and Lunar League. The name Dimensional War would've sounded like the fantasy of a sci-fi writer and soldiers as tall as office buildings? The ravings of a madman. Yet here he was, killing enemy officers and peering down a weapon not made on Earth.

 

"What are they doing all alone in the middle of the Black Forest?" Niles asked. "Unknown. Possibility of recon scouts is likely" his artificial intelligence responded.  

"Well, I see a captain, lieutenant, and two privates in my sights. Prepare to jam the comms. I don’t want them to radio for help" he said. "Jamming. You can proceed" she said. Niles aimed his rifle at the captain first. Fire control adjusted for wind, Earth rotation, and gravity pull for the plasma bolt. First time Niles did this he couldn't believe he had sniped someone at over 3 miles. Now, it was as common as rain. He pulled the trigger with a thought. The bolt ripped from the rifle at subsonic speed...

 

"And after we link up with our forces holding this Stuttgart city were going to back up our forces in France" the captain said. "Will we have time to "observe" the local humans?" a private asked. The captain laughed. "Sure, just leave some room for the banquet Infantry 506 prepared for us" *SQUELCH*

 

One moment their commanding officer was joking about eating humans and the next her head was gone. Cauterized sizzling flesh and noxious smoke was all that was left. Her giant body fell to the ground with a thud. "ENEMY SNIPER!" the lieutenant screamed picking up her weapon. A plasma bolt burned through her armored uniform right through and out the back. She lay on the ground gasping and twitching. The two privates grabbed their rifles and fired at his general direction. It was night and they couldn't see him. "I can't see them! Infrared doesn’t do shit!" one screamed. Niles grinned. "I see the cloak is working well" Niles said taking aim once more. Tiny explosions behind him as their fire struck trees and the ground didn't rattle him at all. He fired again. "That's three" he said watching one take a shot right through her heart.

Niles always took his time with the last target. It was like a victory lap for him. He saw as he zoomed to max magnification. She was young to be a soldier but it wasn't a shock to him. The briefings told him that solders in the Empress's military could be as young as 14. Judging by her panicked face as she radioed for help, she was at most 16. Niles felt no pity for her. SHE invaded his world. Killed innocent civilians. No matter how young or cute she looked, Niles knew she was responsible for a human dying. Either under her giant boot or down her gullet. She was an Ingress and no matter what the news said all of them were dangerous. He watched her frustration as all she got was static on her comm. She ran for shuttle. "Think again little miss giantess" he whispered taking a shot. His shot was low. Intentionality low. The bolt severed her right leg and she fell into the dirt with a vibrating thud. He could hear her shrieking in pain. "Drop the cloak" he commanded.

 

Niles flew over to her. The young giantess shaking from pain and shock of a missing leg suddenly saw two metal feet in front of her. He looked up to see a grey machine her size with glowing red eyes. "No..." she whined at the mechanical monster peering at her. Niles bent down. "You Ingress may think that Earth is for the taking but you will see that humans are not so easily beaten. Then again...maybe you won't" he said pulling a long knife off a weapon hardpoint from his waist. "Please...I'm just a solder. I've never killed AAACK!" she spouted as he thrust the blade into her stomach. With exceptional coldness, he held her down with his left hand and worked the blade up her sternum. She convulsed until she died. Niles shook off her blood and bits of meat from the blade before returning it to his waist. "You know what they say about me 211? That I'm a ruthless bastard. Was it necessary what I just did. Nope. But I'll tell you this. Any Ingress finding her body is going to rethink about being here in Earth. I may be a bastard but I'm a thoughtful one" he said closing the giantess eyes with his metal hand. "Understood pilot Gantz" 211 said.

 

"211. Set course for base. Time to punch the clock and call it a day" he said. The STRIKE X took flight and flew back to its base. Niles yawned as he stepped out of his cockpit. The hangar was always cold. Either from being cut into a mountain or it being in the Alps it always had a chill in the air. "Jesus. Look at his knife" a technician said. Niles paid them no mind as usual and proceeded to the control room for debrief. There sat a lone woman playing with her heels and smoking a cigarette. "Another job done Gantz?" she said turning her gaze to him. "Just a simple recon team. Nothing of note" he said. She stood up and walked over to him. Her hand touched his face. "Nothing gets to you does it Niles?" she asked. He gripped her hand and held it. "A proper soldier doesn't let things get to him Hestia" he said. The woman pulled her hand back. "I see. I have a special mission for you tomorrow. The Pantheon has decided to do something about a pesky ability those Ingress have. You've seen how fast they heal haven't you?" she asked. "Yes. The first time I slashed one with my knife it barely slowed her down. Watched her skin just close up" he said.

 

"Exactly, we have in the makings a solution to that problem. We need some "outside help" though. Take a look at this" she said punching up a picture on the screen. "Dr. Mayra Vierness. A 24-year-old Ingress scientist that specializes in Ingress genetics. You're going to capture her and bring her here" she said. "Me? You know that is not my specialty. I'm a shooter not a kidnapper" he said. "I'm aware of that. I didn't say she would be unguarded and we need an experienced soldier to extract her" Hestia said. "Very well. Prepare the mission doc for me" he said. "I knew you would agree" she said. Niles ignored her as he left the room. Niles made his way to his quarters where he took off his uniform and showered. As the water cascaded down his body, he remembered the young giantess he sliced up. He wasn't sorry for what he did be he understood serving her people. The shocked look on her face as the blade opened her up is what stood out in his mind.

 

As a trained sniper, details are everything. Those large inhuman amber eyes had the same look as when a human met their end violently. The way she bit her lip in pain. Every reaction identical to a human and that pissed him off. Giant aliens were one thing. Human looking ones made this war surreal. Rule number one for an assassin was to never think of your target as a person. Always a target. No backstory. No bio. Just enough to identity, track, and eliminate. Ingress were no different. They ranged from 150 ft. to as tall as 240 ft. as far as he'd seen of their troops. They could be hurt. Killed. If that was true, then he knew he could end their lives as easily as if they were human. In theory at least...

 

He remembered his first Ingress kill. His mental acuity made him a perfect pilot for the first batch of STRIKE's built just two months prior. However, he found out very quickly that his style of killing did not match the capabilities of the machine. He was no dogfighter. In your face combat wasn't his thing. His mission was to take out a group carrying artillery to Munich. A small band of 5 Ingress. He was wary. A plasma launcher would obliterate him armored or not. A plasma vulcan would shred him. Fortunately, they were using ground transport to travel. The Union Space Force still had ships in orbit trying to fight back with orbital strikes when lucky enough not to be in a heavy weapon's crosshairs. One call and a laser battery would rain down hell. Niles waited till they set up camp. Even giants had to sleep.

 

It was a new moon which aided him greatly. Pitch black except for the lights in the tents. Two males stood watch on the perimeter. He took them easily with his retractable blades. No alarm. He crept to the right tent that his scanners showed one occupant. The Ingress was rolled on their side. A blanket pulled up over her. Like this, there is an optical illusion of size. A giant person surrounded by giant things makes them seem normal size when seeing it all through a screen. He readied his blade. Suddenly the target rolled onto their back and he paused. He saw her easily through the night vision camera. She was young. 15. Cute. Probably her first posting. The creak of his hydraulics woke the giantess from her slumber. Glowing eyes staring at her in the dark. "Shit" he said as she opened her mouth to scream. He quickly clamped his hand over it muffling it. She struggled and him being smaller gave her an almost equal footing in strength. She slammed her bare foot into his chest almost knocking him back.

 

Her giant foot causing his armor to groan as it impacted. Niles stabbed her in the throat and pulled the blade right. Her blood squirted between his metallic fingers. He only let go when she expired. He stared at the giantess' blood dripping onto the grass. It disturbed him to look at her with eyes frozen in shock. The gaping 14 ft. gash across her throat. The soldier in him told him she was an enemy combatant. The human being in him told him she was just a kid. The dangerous seed of doubt planted in his mind. A loud moan nearby reminded him that there were two left. Niles stepped out of the tent and walked carefully to the other one.

 

"This beats our frozen over shithole of a world doesn't it?" a female asked. "I have to agree commander" a male replied. Niles peered into a torn hole in the side. He was surprised to see two of them naked. Similar age around 25 or so. The male positioned between her legs. He moved and she arched her back. "Deeper. I know you can go deeper. Don't make me rethink you as a choice for this month" she said. The giant slammed his cock into her forcefully making her grin. "That's better. Hand me another" she said. "Another what?" Niles wondered. He forced his camera and the sensors barely made out a sound. It was screaming. "Oh my god" he muttered as he saw the male holding a boy, a young boy no older than 11 between his fingers. His blood ran cold as he lowered the wailing kid into his lover's mouth like a grape and swallowed him whole. That seed of doubt disappeared right there and then. He aimed his laser cannon right at the man.

 

"Ooohh...yes. Now fuck me hard" she said. The man was grinning until a blue beam of light burned through his skull. His body collapsing on top of his commander. Niles ripped through the tent as the commander screamed for help. "Enemy attack! Sound alarm! Fuck off me!" she yelled pushing his body off her. Niles shot her with a autocannon round taking her left arm off right at the shoulder. "Nobody is going to help you" he said. The naked giantess looked at the bleeding stump of a shoulder. "No uniform. No shields.  Sucks right? No what else sucks? Being eaten" he said deploying his blade. Niles sat the STRIKE on her legs and held her down with his left arm. With pinpoint precision, he sliced into her stomach. She shrieked in pain. She he tore her open she nearly passed out. "On no you don't" he said slapping her. His scanners found him. Niles yanked the boy out of her eviscerated stomach. He was still alive.

 

"We are not your food. You can die now" he said stabbing her in her heart. Niles stood up off her and looked at the boy. Weakened from lack of oxygen and stomach acids. He broke open a cage and the captive humans scrambled out. There was 9 of them. A man and woman were screaming up at him pointing to his hand. Niles lowered it and they cradled the boy sobbing. "His parents" he said. They were saying something he didn't understand. "044. Translate for me. I can’t make out the language" he said. "Standby...language is a dialect of Romany. They are praising God for you saving their son. Do you wish to reply?" his artificial intelligence asked. "Yes. instruct them I was never here. A group of resistance fighters saved them.  Tell them to wait here. Help is on the way" he said. "They wish to know why you don't want anyone to know about you" 044 said. "You don't thank the devil for doing the devils work" Niles said. " Niles contacted his base and told them the situation. They leaked word of civilians saved by resistance fighters. Niles took the weapons back to base to be reversed engineered.

 

Niles turned off the shower and stepped out. He dried off and on his bed was sitting Hestia. "I'm not in the mood" he said taking off his towel. Hestia sat down and unbuttoned her uniform. She casually tossed it on the floor. "Didn't you hear me?" he said. "Don't be that way. The you enjoy these late-night meetings as much as I do" she said licking her lips. "Hestia..." he growled. She slipped off her skirt and sat on the edge of his bed. "You know what I love about you? That detached way of things. No strings or hang ups. A man that knows what he wants" she said. Niles shoved her onto her back. Hestia giggled and pushed her nyloned feet against his chest. "I slit open a girl like she was a fucking fish tonight. When I say I'm not in the mood I mean it" he said tossing her uniform back at her. Hestia stood up and got dressed. She kissed his lips. "Maybe after you come back?" she said. Niles laid down as soon as she left. Nobody knew the unique relationship they had. It was only he that she treated this way. He didn't mind fucking her. Not really. He just didn't see why he should celebrate his latest kills in such a way. Niles fell asleep not long after. 

 

The city was burning. The smell of smoke filled his nose. People fleeing for their lives in the streets. The best incessant thuds of footsteps. He watched through his scope as giants destroyed any opposition. Union tanks, artillery, and troops vaporized by plasma weapons. Jets flew overhead bombing Ingress troops to little effect. Niles took off running. His car was parked underneath the hotel he was staying in. He found it and tore down the street. He watched an Ingress woman slam her fist through a building and then kicking it. Her laughter echoing in the street. A friend of hers stomping on anyone in the street. He made a sharp left. The car hit a large pothole and bounced. In his rear view, he saw it was actually a footprint with caked blood flattened in it. By sheer luck he made it to the city limits. A woman and child desperately flagged him down. Against better judgement, he pulled over. "Get in!" he screamed. As they ran to him a blue glow became brighter. An explosion flung his car into the air and it landed upside down in a drainage ditch.

 

Niles felt blood dripping from his forehead. The emergency crash system I. His car saved his life. He pulled himself out and limped onto the road. He looked around for the woman and child.  Huge scorch marks lay where they had been. They we're gone. Dust and ash. The only thing left was a singed toy bear. Niles turned his gaze back to the road and continued...

 

Niles awoke gasping. "Shit..." he said. It had been some time since he had that nightmare. It was a memory of the day the Ingress came to Earth. The clock said 0616. "Might as well get up" he said. After cleaning himself up he made his way to command. "You have that assignment ready?" he asked Hestia. "That I do. Intelligence places your target in Mannheim. The file will be uploaded to your machine. About last night..." she said. "What about it?" he asked. "Even a soldier needs to be human now and again" she said. Niles grabbed her by her shoulders and kissed her roughly. "I'll keep that under advisement" he said leaving.

 

His machine sat ready in the hangar. "She's restocked and fueled up" a tech said. Niles gave him a thumbs up and he climbed onto the giant hand. It carried him to the cockpit and he buckled in. "How are we this morning 044?" he asked his digital friend. "All systems nominal. Upload complete of mission file. Care to review it?" she asked. "Later. Gives me something to read along the flight" he said. Niles took control and made his way to the launch platform. "You are cleared for takeoff Omega 1" control said. "Understood. Niles Gantz in the STRIKE X Omega. Taking off!" he said throttling up. The machine lurched into the air and flew away fast. He adjusted his heading and cloaked.

 

"ETA to target is 2 hrs. 3 minutes" 044 said. "Roger. Display target data and summarize" he said sipping a coffee. "Target is a Mayra Aster. Age 26. Species Ingress. Approximate height is 169 ft. Member of the Imperial Ingress military. Target is a geneticist" she said displaying her picture. Niles was surprised at how she looked. He was expecting some dumpy giantess scientist. She was anything but. Very attractive. Black hair reaching down her back. Skin like roasted almonds. And peculiar eyes like polished brass. "I see. And she's in Mannheim?" he asked. "Intelligence places her at a research lab located outside the city" she replied. "Opposition?" he asked. "One Ingress dropship. 3 drones. 8 soldiers. 2 officers" she replied. "That's lighter than expected" he said. "Due to the April Shower incident, mass defections have plagued the Imperial Ingress military. Between the loss of North America and that, they have been forced to redeploy their forces to hold England and France. This has been complicated with the withdraw of the Ark" 044 responded.

 

"Withdrawn where?" he asked. "Last report has it flying westward towards Central Asia" she said. "Won't that have them fly past us?" he asked. "If you mean Germany, yes. As an impact to our mission? Unknown" she said. "Great. Fucking great" he said taking another sip of joe.

 

"We are approaching our destination" 044 said. "Understood. Dropping to the ground. Secure exhaust and baffles. I want us silent" he said. "Understood" she said. Niles landed a quarter mile from the lab. "Passive scan only" he said. "Scan has detected two guards on perimeter. One plasma vulcan and a vehicle. Unknown in the lab structure" she said. "I'll have to do" he said snaking towards to lab. Niles silently snuck behind a guard in the back of the prefabricated building. With a quick thrust, the guard was paralyzed and died soon after. With that one down he snuck around and found another guard. He was looking towards the city. "Wish I was there having fun instead of here" he muttered. An invisible hand covered his mouth and a wrenching force twisted his head. The bones in his neck cracking loudly. Niles dropped the body and looked around. "So far so good. Scan him" he said. 044 scanned his body. "Adjust cloak for chamo mode" he said. His machine flickered briefly and turned into the dead guard.

 

Niles placed a hand on the large wall. "Ultrasound" he said. The high frequency waves painted a real-time picture of the interior. "8 more inside" he said. Niles made his way into the lab. "Anything up soldier?" a female soldier asked. "No ma'am. Just hitting the head" he replied. "Carry on then" she said. Niles breathed a sigh of relief as he passed her. He saw more people but almost all of them were lab technicians. He began wondering if his target was actually here. He made his way to the main lab. There were two guards at the door. "State your business" one female asked. "I was asked to assist moving equipment" Niles replied. "There was no word of this. Standby while we confirm" she said. Niles knew this wouldn't work. He waited until she turned her gaze to her radio. "Here we go 044" he said. Niles grabbed her and twisted her arm. With her in a lock, he grabbed her pistol and shot the other guard. He shoved her to the floor and coldly shot her in the head. Alarms went off. "Jam comms!" he ordered.

 

Niles kicked the door open and found three technicians along with numerous cages. "Damn. How many did they take?" he muttered. "86 humans are present in this room pilot Gantz. Most likely they come from Mannheim itself" 044 responded. "That was rhetorical 044. There! Confirm target!" he said spotting a technician. "...confirmed. Target match" she said. The shaking floor meant he would have company soon. Niles turned around and saw the soldier from earlier aiming her rifle at him. She got off her shot first. The hit knocked him backwards. "Shields at 82%" 044 said. Niles returned fire with his plasma cannon. She was killed instantly. People panicked as they fled. "No" he said coldly as he began shooting every giant he saw except for one. Mayra trembled against a wall as Niles turned his attention to him. "I'll be damned. This wasn't in the file" he said seeing that she was very pregnant. "Please...please don't kill me" she muttered. Niles roughly grabbed her by the arm and yanked the giantess to her feet. "Come with me" he said leading her out the room. Niles could hear people begging in German to free them. He knew there was no way he could. He couldn't even call for help. "Sorry" he said to them.

 

Within a minute, they were both outside. "Pilot Gantz. There is a problem. Radar detects three drones on hot approach along with a dropship. ETA is one minute 14 seconds" 044 said. "I thought you jammed their comms" he said. "I did. They must've noticed the jamming and tried to contact the lab. With no answer, they dispatched their forces to investigate. Suggest leaving immediately" she said. "No shit. Cloak won't work. Not with her in my arms. This bitch really limits my options. 044. Paint target" he said. His machine touched Mayra's neck. "Ouch!" she yelled. "I just put a tracker on you. Try to run and I'll find you. Run and I'll shoot your legs off. I only need you alive. My orders don't say in one piece" he told her. Niles took to the air. Aerial combat wasn't his specialty. The drones and dropship were in formation. Niles kicked it into afterburner and climbed. The drones followed.

 

"Enemy drones have target lock" she said. "Ignore! Target the dropship!" he said. Targeting cursors lit up the ship. He cooked off shot after shot. Not much damage was done. "Tough fucker" he said dodging fire.  "Suggest you aim for the engines" she said. Niles felt the machine shudder as he hit the air brakes as he zoomed from the right. A heavy barrage hit the right engine and the ship veered. Weapon fire from it had stopped. Niles dove for the ship to get the kill. "Target lock" she said. Niles pulled the trigger as he stared into the enemy cockpit. Two giantesses watched in horror as the enemy fired right at them. The cockpit erupted in a sea of fire. The ship tumbled out of the sky. Twisting and turning until it struck the droid and exploded into a 2000 ft. fireball. His triumph was short lived though. A series of hits knocked him out of the air. He barely managed to stop from crashing. "Shields down to 29%" she said. Niles flew into the air.

 

A drone made a pass for him and he banked hard. It followed and he held out his blade and dropped the throttle. At that speed the drone sliced itself apart. The pieces exploded. The shockwave shook Niles as he fought to regain control. He increased speed and climbed as the two drones circled around. It turned into a wheel of death. All of them firing at one another. Their bolts caught on the centrifugal force missing their targets. "Faster 044!" he yelled. "Inadvisable pilot Gantz. G forces are at safety maximum. Any faster and you will suffer G LOC" she said. "Override. I give you control!" he said. "Understood. Increasing to Mach 3. 165 degree turn" she said. The force slammed him back into his seat. His vision greyed. He faded out. The machine shook once again waking him. "Target destroyed. Remaining target responding" she said. Niles shook off the dysphoria and looked over.

 

"Oh shit! Dump weapon power to forward shields!" he yelled as he saw the drone making a kamikaze run. It was literally tearing itself apart to match his turn. A bright flash and a colossal explosion knocked him out of the sky. Surprisingly, he was alive and the machine intact. "044! Report! No response from thrusters!" he said yanking the throttle as he spun down towards the ground. "Shields down to 2%. Weapons offline. Reboot started. Thrusters offline. Physical damage detected. Cloak damaged. Damage to cockpit detected" she said. "Damage to..."*BOOM*"      

 

Niles groaned in his seat. A slight breeze touched his skin. Shafts of daylight intruded in the cockpit. There was indeed a hole in the cockpit armor. Niles willed the STRIKE X to stand up. his main camera saw Mayra desperately trying to flee in a vehicle. "Potshot 044" he said. Error messages came up as he tried firing a plasma shot. "No matter" he said taking ahold of his knife and expertly tossing it at her. It missed her by a foot lodging itself in the steering wheel. She shrieked slightly. "Going somewhere?" he asked the shaken giant alien. Niles weighed his options. He couldn't fly anymore. Walking with her would slow him down and no telling if more Ingress would show up. "Guess we're driving back" he said shoving the giantess to the passenger seat. The immense topless vehicle sagged as his armored body got in. "Isolate frequency and start" he said. The machine hummed to life. "Set waypoint for base" he said. "Suggestion pilot Gantz. Take this route" 044 said. "That will add almost an entire day 044" he said. "April Shower has disturbed the local geothermal activity in this region. It will obscure infrared scanners" she said. "Agreed. Proceed" he said. The waypoint was set. Almost three times as long in distance, 744 miles, it would take almost two days.

 

"Fuck this thing is slow" he said after two hours. "It’s designed to withstand any terrain. Wasn't built for speed" Mayra said. "Didn't ask you" Niles said. "What are you going to do with me?" she asked. "I have some friends who need your help with a problem and I'll leave it at that" he said. Niles watched closely at his scanners. His weapons were back online as well as his shields but flight was still a no go. Thankfully he didn't detect any enemies. "You're not Aaron Pherson are you? Even though you have the same machine" she said quietly. "No" he said. She looked out as they moved through a valley. "Your world is so beautiful. Are there other places like this?" she asked. Niles stopped the vehicle. He pulled his knife out. Mayra quickly leaned against the door. "Let's get something straight. This here what you're doing. This trying to talk and be friendly shit won’t work on me" he said touching the blade to the top of her shirt collar. "I hate all of you. If it was up to me I'd gut your giant fucking ass and leave you to rot in this fucking valley. And to answer your question, yes there are more places like this but not as many now that your people blew up a colony and had the debris rain down on us like fucking End of Days. Do yourself a favor and shut the fuck up" he said. Niles put it in drive and continued.

 

Neither said a word until the sun began to set. Mayra squirmed in her seat over and over. "What" he said coldly. "I need to pee like really bad" she said. Niles looked on his scanners and saw he wasn't being tailed. The Rhine ran right beside them. The sun was setting and he was exhausted as well. "Fine. We'll set here tonight. Go piss over there but no funny shit" he said turning the vehicle off. His GPS had him almost half of the way back. 40 miles north of Karlsruhe. At this rate, he figured he'd be back at base this time tomorrow. Mayra slid her panties off and turned her back to him. She squatted down and relieved herself of hundreds of gallons of urine she had been holding for hours. She sighed in relief and wiped herself with a large fern.

 

"I'm hungry" she said to him. "Sucks to be you. You'll survive a day without food" Niles replied. "I'm pregnant. I need to eat or I'll get sick. You don't want me sick right?" she asked. Niles sighed. "044. Scan for wildlife" he said. "A heard of deer is close by. Locations are now on your HUD" she said. "I'll be back" he told Mayra. Niles returned 15 minutes later his hands full of partially crushed deer. "Can't believe I’m doing this" he said. Mayra wasn't there. "I warned her" he hissed. Niles ran about until 044 showed where she was. She was right at the edge of the river. "What did I say?" he asked her. "I wanted to rest my feet" she said kicking her giant feet in the water. "I got food" he said handing her his catch. She frowned. "Sorry if it isn’t your daily helping of humans" he said. Mayra looked at him with a wounded expression. She sat quietly as she ate the raw meat. Niles watched uncomfortably as a few smaller fawns were swallowed whole. The ground was littered with broken antlers.

 

"I don't eat humans. Never have" she said. Niles popped his hatch. He needed to stretch. "Don't get any ideas. She can easily kill you herself. Understood?" he said. Mayra glanced at him curiously and suddenly she jumped. Niles fell to the ground as 044 aimed her guns. "Don't shoot! The baby just kicked" she said. "How far along are you?" Niles asked. "Just over 5 months. I'm due next week" she replied. "Great. Another Ingress" he said. "The baby isn't Ingress. It's a hybrid" she said. Niles looked at her with a mix of shock and disdain. "Wait. I've heard of this. That breeding program. That's what that lab was" he said with anger. "Yes. We are under orders to impregnate females old enough to carry children. If the fetus is our size its left to mature. If not..."

 

"If not you terminate it" he finished. " I admit it is not an agreeable situation" she said. "Agreeable?! You turn us into toys and food! If it's not that you rape us! That bastard child you carry is proof of that?! " Niles yelled. Mayra looked down at her feet. "You know nothing of me" the giantess said sternly. Niles walked very close to her stopping precariously close to her bare feet. "I know enough" he said. "Oh really. Let me tell you somethings about me. My dream is to joined with a good male. A kind male. A cute compassionate male of my choosing. That's not going to happen. Humans have no fucking clue how easy they have it here. Warm sun shining down on you. Blue skies. Real fucking weather. My skin tone is rare among my kind. Do you know why? Because most of my race died the day missiles rained from the sky. Imagine. Radioactive oceans. Hard on a people that rely on the sea for food. You leave your cities and worry about traffic or the weather. We leave ours and worry about radioactive fallout hot zones."

 

"I love science. I became one to try finding a solution to our infertility problem. And when one comes along I'm ordered like thousands of other girls to strap into a table and spread our legs while someone strip mines us for eggs to be inseminated with alien semen. 1 out of 10. That's the birth rate. For every 1 birth 10 die. We would've went extinct within 4 generations. I love humans. I think they're cute and lovable but if they save my race then by all means. Either by the Empress rule or by the growing coexistence movement" Mayra said. Niles began clapping. "Good job. Did you give that speech to the man you raped?" he asked. Mayra touched her belly. "I... I cared for that man. A dangerous thing to feel let alone say. Heinrich was...important to me" she said looking down. A tear rolled down her cheek. "He had been captured like the others and brought to my lab. Word came down for us to choose a male and impregnate ourselves with his seed. I choose him."

 

"He was like the others. Scared to death of what we would do. I strapped him down and stroked his penis to erection for the vacuum tube to collect his semen. The others told me that they would love it. "Men are the same normal or tiny. Stroke or suck and they'll give you that stupid grin" they said. Heinrich didn't grin. He just cried. It got to me. Every day he would cry as I collected another dose. A fellow tech said it was because of his age. Just like Ingress males, teenagers gave the best results. Heinrich himself was around 16 and he could be milked twice or three times a day. By the end of the week, he just turned his head and asked for me to get it done quickly. His spirit was broken. Defeated. The tiny boy felt hopeless and it was my fault. I just broke down crying in front of him pleading for forgiveness."

 

"I took off his restraints and hugged him tightly. He didn't cry or anything. I placed him back in his cage and quietly left. Later that evening though the feeling of holding him kept me awake. It felt right. Natural. I snuck back into the lab and took him out of his cage. I say him on the table and looked at him. He knew something was different when I didn't restrain him. He didn't fight me as I gently touched him. Must've been an hour I kept petting him until he spoke. He asked my name and I asked his. That's now it started. Every night for the next week I snuck into the lab to be with him. Talking. Me telling him about our world, our species. It was around this time rumors of a soldier that sided with humans came out. It gave me hope that maybe things would change. On the 6th night though we slept with one another. My mating cycle kicked in and when I saw his cute little naked body I lost control."

 

"Before he could say good evening I was jamming him up my pussy. God it felt so good! I felt like by body was on fire! The best part was he wasn't scared. He was enjoying it! His little legs kicking inside me. His adorable face sticking out from between my labia. When I came I screamed I loved him. We were both shocked at that. I hadn't felt that awkward around a boy since I was a kid. I was so happy when he said it back. Happy enough I cleaned him up with my tongue. I let him have his way with me almost all night. When it came time for the morning shift to start we began discussing the possibility of escaping. It...it never happened. When I began my shift later that evening he was not in his cage. I asked around for the missing human. "Oh him? The commander decided to have some fun with him" one person said. I demanded to know where he was. "From what I heard she's still using him" she replied. I dashed to her office and found them both."

 

"She was buttoning up her uniform when I opened the door. "Is there something I can do for you?" she asked me. "I was looking for my specimen. Heard he was with you" I said. "Oh. Well I borrowed him for a bit. That time of month you understand. Unfortunately, he didn't survive. No worries though. We have plenty more" she said picking up his body and dropping him into her mouth. I wanted to scream, shout, do something as I watched him slide down her throat. All I could do was just stand there. "They really do taste delicious. Go on. Back to work and I expect you to be inseminated by the end of the week. Stop stalling. We all have to do our part" she said. I went back to the lab and just sat at the table. I didn't cry or weep. Just sat there. The next evening I gave instructions to use his semen for my insemination. There was just enough for a viable sample. Now I carry his baby. A part of him with me" Mayra said quietly stroking her belly.

 

"If you didn't like why did you stay?" Niles asked. "You know what they do to deserters? To their families? The deserters you hear about now take enormous risks. Believe me. I would've if I could've ahh...AHHH...AAHHHCHOO!" she sneezed. "Did you just sneeze?" Niles said disgusted as she wiped her nose free of snot. "You never heard anyone sneeze before? Goddamn cold" she said sniffling. "Wait. You have a cold? How?! You Ingress supposed to immune to diseases!" Niles said. "Don't be stupid. While it's true we're immune to Earth germs, we still get sick from ones from the homeworld. It's a fact. Germs live and evolve right beside any other life forms" she said. "I didn't know that" he said. "I think there's a great deal you don't know about us. Our species was originally from Earth you know. Goes a long way to explain why we look so similar" she said. Niles quickly looked dead at her.

 

"Not possible. There would be fossil evidence of that!" Niles said. "There is. Surely you heard. It was widely broadcasted" she said. Niles looked disturbed. "044. Do you have access to all civilian frequencies?" he asked. "No" she said. "Explain. You have access to military commsats" he said. "Unknown. Access to certain frequencies has been firewalled. Reason unknown" she said. "Guess your friends are keeping secrets too" Mayra said. "You shut up!" Niles hissed. Niles hopped back into his cockpit. "044. Access civilian commsat. Any one you can find. Has to be at least one you can find" he said. Niles waited patiently as the computer cycled through frequencies. One by one said access denied which made no sense to him. 044 was an A class A.I. Hacking a civilian frequency would be beyond easy for it. "Frequency locked and accepted. Displaying now" she said. "A weather station out of Southeast North America?" Niles asked.

 

"As cleanup and body continues from the April Shower tsunami, many people are left wondering what to do about the Ingress quitting the military and joining the defense of Earth. Witnesses say that one even gave her life to save thousands trapped in a hotel in Miami. As you can see more than a few Ingress have begun helping here. Some even grieving for the loss of life. Miss! Yes you! Can you bend down and give us your take in all of this. Keep the camera centered on her" the female reporter said on the screen. Niles watched as a young giantess around 17 or 18 bend on her knees. My name Is Trisha Stewart reporting for Union Southeast Weather. "Uh...hi Trisha" the shy girl said. "People out there would like to know why Ingress like you are helping humans" she said. "Trisha. Can you step onto my palm? Promise I won't hurt you but to get a better answer it's best you see from our point of view" she said. The reporter and cameraman stepped into her palm and she curled her fingers to make sure they didn't fall. The view rose high into the air and stopped.

 

"Look out that way and what do you see?" the giantess asked showing a view of the city westward. "Jacksonville. The part that wasn't hit" Trisha responded. "I see something incredible. Never have I seen a city so majestic and beautiful. From where I come from the air is recycled. Day and night simulated against a dome. How could I participate in the destruction of it!  Humans are small and fragile. I can hold you in my hand with no effort at all but does that mean I'm better than you? No. You have blue eyes like me. Two arms and legs. Fingers and toes just like me. We are so similar it's scary. Could you murder a civilian? I watched what my commander did in Orlando and it disturbed me. I watched the Empress use a ship designed to save our people as a weapon and it sickened me. A human once said that evil triumphs when good men do nothing. I decided to do something. Anything to stop this senseless violence. I... hold on. I need to put you down" she said. The giantess our the two down and the scene shifted to her helping pull back a collapsed wall. "I found more! Right there. Right..." The giantess yelled until her hand picked a victim up.

"Focus in on her hand" the reporter whispered. The camera zoomed in to her hand. It was a girl at most 8 years old. She wore a dirty, mud stained bikini. She wasn't moving. Niles could tell she hadn't drowned or been dead for long. She had died from dehydration. The giantess gave the body to one of the emergency responders and walked to the edge of the ocean and sat down. She began bawling her eyes out. Her sobbing caught on camera. "My god. That's...maybe we should cut to commercial." the reporter said quietly. Niles reclined against his seat. He looked over at Mayra who was now asleep. He switched to thermals and looked quietly at the heat silhouette of her unborn baby. For the first time in his life he questioned his duty.

 

For the next few hours he skimmed frequencies while eating an MRE. A few he could lock into. Most of them ham radio frequencies and off the beaten path so to speak. Reports of Ingress uprisings throughout the globe. The battle for London would soon begin. Joint task forces modeled after the infamous Stray Dogs popping up among the way. Then there were reports of refugees appearing. Ingress ones. The more he listened, the more the Ingress appeared less of the horrific threat Omega painted them to be. He couldn't explain it as propaganda. He hopped out of the STRIKE X. And walked over to Mayra. He was inches away from her toes. Never had he been this close to an Ingress. Always separated from them by three feet of nanocarbon armor.

 

Her big toe alone was bigger than he was. He admired her feet. A vein the size of a garden hose fed it blood and oxygen with biomechanical precision. Her toenails, the biggest one the size of a car door, was like a pink sea shell. Neatly trimmed and filed. Smooth as glass to the touch. He could even faintly see his reflection in it. Her feet didn't stink as she had washed them but they still had a trace of sweaty smell to them. The air was warm naturally and geothermally so it was no shock the pregnant giantess perspired. His hand felt the pad of her big toe. Slightly moist to the touch and warm. His fingers traced the prints of her toe pad like an intricate drawn maze. Swirls and lines like any human being except much bigger. He remembered what she and that giantess on the news cast had said about them being so similar. "Amazing" he mumbled. Mayra mumbled in her sleep and flexed her toes. Niles jumped back a bit. He looked up at her laying on her side. Some of her hair had fallen over her face and part of it rose and fell as she breathed. He almost laughed at how absurd it looked.

 

The more he watched her sleep the more he doubted his mission. A soon to be mother. So close in fact she was leaking milk all over the top of her shirt. A disturbing thought occurred to him. "Agent Gantz to base. Come in" he said over a secured comm. "We read you Gantz. You are overdue" Hestia said back. "There was trouble. Unable to fly back. Forced to travel on ground. Target is secure but target is with child. Advise" he said. "...understood Gantz. As long as target is healthy it will not jeopardize the mission" Hestia said. "And of the child? Are we prepared for such an issue?" Niles wondered. "Adjustments can be made. The child will be classified as Code Sierra for the duration of the Operation" she replied. Niles felt his blood run cold. "Understood. We shall arrive around this time tomorrow. Gantz out" he said. Niles kicked a rock. "Code Sierra. Expendable hostage asset" he said.

 

"Why were you shouting?" Mayra said rubbing her eyes. "Nothing. Back to sleep. Long day tomorrow" he said walking back to his machine. Niles awoke to the sound of splashing. He hopped out of his machine as he saw that she was gone again. Sure enough he found her at the river once again but this time naked. "Having fun?" he asked. She jumped in fright. "Didn't mean to scare you? You hungry?" he asked. Mayra made no attempt to cover herself. In fact she was quite surprised not to hear the gruffness in his voice. "I was washing the sweat off me. Yeah...yeah I am" she said. "Stay here" he said. Niles got in his machine once more and hunted around. Dear wasn't plentiful as much this time. Understandably, she had eaten an entire herd yesterday. He did luck into a pack of wolves. Probably attracted to the various scents Mayra gave off. Niles scooped them up and squeezed gently until they stopped moving. "Can't imagine how anyone could feed a giant population without..." he thought.

 

He made it back to her as she was wringing her clothes free of river water. "Food" he said dropping the pack on the ground. Mayra didn't complain this time but dangled a wolf by the tail curiously. She dropped it into her mouth and swallowed making predator prey. Niles watched her eat. She was still naked allowing the morning sun to dry her off. "Like what you see?" she asked finishing her canine breakfast. Noel's huffed and looked away. "Woke up this morning and my shirt was totally soaked with sweat and milk" she said. Niles just mumbled and nodded. "I'll be glad when the baby is born. Especially the swelling in my feet. See how swollen they are?" she asked. Niles gave a slight glance. "You didn't even look. Is it because you got a nice look last night?" she asked. Niles spun around in shock. "Yes, I was awake" she said. Niles began to walk away. "I'm sorry. I didn't mean to embarrass you. I just...I just wanted not to feel scared" she said quietly. Niles glanced back at her. He had to admit it to himself. She looked almost unearthly in her beauty in the morning sun. That saddened look in her eyes made him feel uneasy. "My organization won't harm you. They'll see to your needs" he said. "It's still a prison Mr..."

 

"Gantz" he said. There was a pause. "Did you mean it last night? About running away from the military?" he asked. She nodded. Niles sighed. "I'll give you a little more time to get yourself ready" he said. "Please...don't go" she said. Niles saw she was sweating more than usual. Breathing harder. "What's wrong now?" he asked. "I... I feel...sorry there's no easy way to explain. Females of our race instinctively crave the affection of males during the last part of pregnancy. I don't have anyone else so please...stay close. Your smell helps" she said. Niles looked at her dumbfounded. "Don't know whether to be disgusted or proud" he said. "Please take it as a compliment" Mayra said with a smile. "You're not going to try raping me are you? I'm warning you..." he said. Mayra held her hand up and coughed. She kept coughing for a moment more. "I’m not like that I told you. You are cute though" she said. "...likewise" he said quietly. "What was that?" she asked. "Nothing" he replied. "No. You said likewise" she said. Niles smiled just for a moment and then stopped. "Five minutes" he said walking off. Mayra sighed and touched her breasts. She relieved her swollen tits of milk right into the river hoping it would give her some relief. She watched the small man leave her sight wondering if he was telling the truth. Apparently, seeing and hearing the broadcasts had done something to him as she hoped. She knew full well that knowledge can be a source of change. Rested and ready, they loaded up into the Ingress vehicle and left. 

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