“When things are at their worst, they can always get worse.” –Imperial Saying

The raid was nothing like how the holovids depicted. Actually. In many ways, it was worse. The holovids didn’t capture the choking and stagnant smoke from burning homes and people, the distant and not so distant crackle of gunfire, nor the way the vessels hovering above the colony’s atmosphere blotted out the sun. Fighter engines screeched in Elana’s ears, the wind kicked up from their departure whipping her flight jacket up around her.

The hanger was a bustle of activity, combat boots clattering loudly to and fro with a semblance of strained order. Pilots hurried towards their fights as fast as they could; meanwhile others like Elana were rushing towards the lines of 50 meter tall mechs standing inert at the other end. It had happened so suddenly that the mech pilot had barely managed to slap her fatigues on, her red short red hair still a bedraggled mess. Her breath came out hard and heavy as she sprinted across the hanger, ducking a weaving her way around flight crew.

“Elana! The fuck is going on!?”

A short and runty figure started running alongside her, the man looking around the place with a pallid expression. The young woman shrugged as best she was able though it was unlikely it registered with the run. “Raid! Dunno who yet, just heard the sirens! Better get to your mech!” She got out in puffing breaths.

“Raid!? What suicidal pirates would be dumb enough to attack this deep in Republic space!?”

“The really ballsy kind I guess!” She managed to get out a breathless chuckle.

A chuckle that only masked just how stunned she was as well. No alert from the ships in orbit, nothing detected on the forward sensors. Whoever they were they’d hit so hard and so fast that there hadn’t been time to react before boots were planetside and the sirens went off. The city was ablaze, the smoke and smell of death and destructions carrying even this far. The vessels hovering above were laying down an orbital bombardment, some of the shells coming a little too close to their base for comfort. They needed to get mobilized and head to the city fast.

Elana practically leapt into the elevator leading up to her own mech and smashed a sweating, shaking hand on the controls to ascend. The thing lurched beneath her as it slowly, far too slowly for her comfort started upwards. She leaned over the side and started yelling down to the man below. “Get to your mech, Levi! We’re sitting ducks here in the base!” She shouted.

Levi didn’t need to be told twice and started stumbling and tripping past the launch crews doing last minute checks on the mechs. His was right next to hers, so wouldn’t be much of a stretch to think he’d be ready around the same time she was. None of the other elevators had been used that she could see and looking out on the mad scramble below Elana couldn’t spot the Captain or anyone else in her squad. She bit her lower lip, nervously flicking a red bang from her face as she pressed the ascend command again, as though it might make the elevator go faster.

A loud explosion boomed out in the distant, though not distant enough to feel comfortable. Elana braced herself against the rail of the elevator, the ground shaking from what had doubtlessly been a shot fired from one of those massive ships above. There was a slight ringing forming in her ears, compounded as another shell impacted the earth. This didn’t feel like a pirate raid. It seemed like a well-organized military attack.

“LT! Your systems are all ready to go! Fuel cells locked into place! Weapons primed and ready with live rounds!” A voice came over from the com on her elevator’s control panel.

Small as it was, it jerked the mech pilot back into reality. “Understood, get your crew clear.”

The elevator lurched to a halt with the ambient hiss of hydraulics following. She vaulted over the rail and onto the parapet, bootsoles clattering loudly as she ran towards the cockpit in the mech’s head. The mech itself looked vaguely like a human shaped suit of armor, boasting a rather sterile blue steel color and a 09 stamped onto its right chestplate. The head was open and ready to receive its pilot. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Levi had gotten to the top right behind her. Time to get out there then.

Palms sweating and head feeling heavy and fuzzy she hopped into the cockpit ran a diagnostics check briefly on impulse. All systems were ready to go. She flicked a switch, another hiss of hydraulics bringing the face of the mech down. The main control module slid up to meet her and her chair, she managed to note, had been messed with. Fuck, it had taken forever to get the thing just right. She managed a nervous chuckle as she set her hands on the controls; clearly the stress was getting to her.   

The scaffolding that held Elana’s mech in place slid out of the way and gave her room to get out. The crews below, noting the whirring of the servos in the mech coming to life, were quick to scramble out of the way of the massive piece of hardware. The metal feet of the mech clomped forward, moving along the clear path with the natural freedom of movement as any human might have displayed. Thanks to the screens open before her Elana was able to avoid squishing anyone on her way out of the hanger. Now that would be ironic, her first kill being a friendly.

The sight of the moving suit of armor was impressive to say the least. The 50 meter marvel of engineering towering above the rank and file, making the fighters look like little toys in comparison. Normally Elana would have felt some surge of power, handling hers. Now however she had more pressing matters. Like how close the next round of bombardments sounded, smashing into the earth and messing with her mech’s balance. A few quick adjustments fixed that problem right away.

She emerged out onto the tarmac of the open base, vehicles swarming around with some carrying troops and others wounded. The numbers of actually surviving wounded on those transports looked rather depressingly small. Elana winced as she finally saw where the bombardment was commencing. The east end of the base where most of the infantry barracks were located were almost completely leveled by the barrage from orbit. Her fingers tightened around the controls. That was where Cap had been staying.

The sound of metal against tarmac sounded out beside her and a window opened to her side, Levi’s pallid and sweating face filling it. “Shit, where’s everyone else?”

“Looks like the Cap might have gotten taken out on that last barrage. Dunno where the others are. Maybe they got away, but looks like we’re on our own.” She managed to sound surprisingly calm despite being piss scared.

She started checking the command frequencies as they stepped out of the way to give the crews space to work. “What’re we going to do then, Elana?”

Fuck if I know was what she wanted to snap. It wasn’t like she was like a senior officer or anything. “We establish contact, get our deployment orders and a better idea what we’re up against. Dunno about you, but I’d rather not be walking blind into whatever this is.”

That seemed to calm him somewhat, though he still looked jittery as hell. Elana put it out of her mind and kept flicking through frequencies, picking up a great deal of static. What wasn’t static was pretty incomprehensible regardless, lots of yelling and explosions. Elana licked her lips until she found something. Looked like the planetary commander’s channel.

“This is Lieutenant Elana Fairbrook, Super Heavy Armor Squad 6. We’re at Gamma Base just outside of the capital. I’ve got one other squad mate with me, but my superior is MIA. Need deployment orders.” She managed to say crystal clear.

After a moment a response. “Lieutenant, you don’t know how happy I am to hear we’ve got fresh SHA units. This is Colonel Varus Bradshaw. I’m sending you deployment coordinates inside the city now.” The voice was crisp and clear, calm under fire clearly.

A map window popped up on her HUD and Elana promptly transferred it over to Levi. “Sir, if you don’t mind the candor, what the fuck is going on?” She asked as they started rushing down the road leading out of the base. Looked like they had left not a moment too soon. A minute after they were stomping and clomping down out of the base a massive explosion rocked the world, shaking the ground. The hanger behind them was a twisted wreck, flames and smoke rising steadily.

“Oh fuck oh fuck oh fuck!” Levi cried, looking remarkably close to panic.

“Calm down. We’re heading into a warzone. Remember the Cap’s lessons.” She managed to avoid screaming at him, running her fingers through her hair. When did she need to be the one keeping a grip on things? “Any idea who these guys are, Colonel?”

After a moment the colonel’s voice came again, sounding remarkably grim. “The Colossus Armada. The 4th Raiding Fleet by the looks of it.”

Elana’s felt a chill hand seize her heart and the servos of her mech nearly stalled as she missed an adjustment for rough terrain. Levi, seeming impossibly, paled even more and swallowed visibly. Visions of monsters tearing apart tanks in their bare hands, crushing companies underfoot swam on the surface of her mind. There was a pregnant pause before Levi found his voice and managed to speak up.

“A-Are you certain?” He asked.

“Considering I’m seeing them tear through our infantry like their paper dolls, yes, I’m pretty sure. Their ship’s broadcasting signals match up with them as well.” The colonel sounded irritated by the pointless question.

Static suddenly filled the com and Elana felt her stomach drop through her feet. She didn’t know of the command post had been taken out or there was just interference but there went their only line of command communication. Regardless, they still had their objective. The pair brought their rifle’s to bear, the weapons more than capable of annihilating a platoon with a well-placed shot and managed to reach the suburbs quite easily. It was here they got their first sight of the enemy.

Elana zoomed in at sight of the silhouette. At first she thought it was another mech crouching down with its back from them. That was until it, or rather she, stood. Clad in a patchwork suit of flak armor with a pistol upon her weapon belt she towered a 50 meters tall. Rather well endowed with red hair pulled into a tight ponytail. As she turned and managed to lock eyes on them Elana noted that she had something squirming between her lips. With no small measure of disgust and horror the young pilot made out the kicking legs of some hapless civilian.

Sneering, the Colossus slurped up her meal and swallowed, bringing her pistol to bear against the mechs at range. The round pinged harmlessly off of Elana’s frontal armor. The giant woman’s eye’s widened as a pair of rifles were brought to bear against her. Fueled by vindictive anger both pilots opened fire without mercy, the form of the massive woman falling onto her back and crushing a good number of residences. She didn’t so much as twitch, blood pooling in the streets and flooding them.

Elana stepped closer to the corpse and scanned the area. No more hostiles. Looked like this one had just been looking for easy picking. “Well that wasn’t so bad.” She remarked as her mech shifted from one foot to the other, servos whining as she did. The pilot winced as she detected a ground vehicle crunch under the machine’s heel like a soda can. Well that was probably coming out of her cred stick.  

Levi, for once, looked vaguely relieved. “Yeah. Let’s hope they’re all that dumb. Can’t believe she ate that person though! She looks so…”

“Human? Apparently they were once upon a time. Least that’s what people say. Who knows? Let’s keep moving into the city, see if we can’t contact the colonel again.” Elana said, discretely scraping the car from her mech’s heel before getting a move on.

They were rather fortunate it seemed. No more contacts outside of the city just yet and as they entered what had been the gleaming capital of a thriving colony world there was only signs of battle to see. Well, as much of a battle as it could be. Above there was the roar and screech of engines as the fighters engaged the Armada fighters, the dogfights at least seeming somewhat equal though the Colossus piloted craft were vast they still crashed from an engine taking a laser burst.

The streets were a mess of mangled bodies. Impressions of footprints were dug into cracked asphalt. More disturbingly were the red splotches and squished corpses within them. People, vehicles, traffic signals, hardly seemed to matter to these giants. While some of the prints seemed to match the ones of their last kill, there were some that doubled that. Then there were others were buildings in wide streets had been knocked aside, the step of one foot filling the street.

Once in urban conditions it got a little easier, check your corners, stay low, watch the scanner for life signs and check your feet for civilians. The latter wasn’t a problem. The civilians had either all been killed, captured, or were wisely hiding in the buildings away from the giant things trying to kill them. The echo of their mech’s metallic steps pretty much made stealth impossible so they just had to hope the Colossi they met might be caught off guard.

This was distinctly not the case when she checked around a corner and was greeted by a hail of controlled and disciplined fire. The rounds pinged off her armor, but one scored a glancing hit on her cockpit and rattled her. Her sensors were brought all out of whack and she pulled back behind the measly cover provided by the building. Glass was blasted away by the rounds, the integrity of the structure compromised.

Levi popped a few plasma rounds off around the corner, judging from the loud cry one of them elicited he’d at least injured one. “Looks like they are using lower caliber mech grade weapons. Solid projectile as opposed to energy.” Her remarked as he popped out a smoking spent energy cell and slid another one into place.

Elana nodded to the window at the corner of her HUD as she recalibrated her sensors. “Looks like it. Long as they don’t hit the joints or cockpit we should be-”

Whatever she was going to say was cut off by the fact the top of Levi’s mech exploded into a shower of white hot metal and shrapnel. A “Got em’!” being heard in the general direction of their enemies.

Elana stared at the now fuzzy screen where she’d last seen her comrade in barely contained shock. Must have been a heavy weapon. An Anti Mech Rocket maybe. Regardless there was no surviving that. Elana was paralyzed for a long moment, staring blankly where Levi had been. Her heart was thudding in her chest and though she knew she needed to move her hands were frozen on the controls. She’d just watch a comrade die figuratively feet from her.

“Lieutenant Fairbrook. What’s your position and status?”

The grainy sound of the colonel’s voice suddenly came through her com, bringing her back into reality. The pilot looked up. Risky. But it was clear if she stayed here she was going to end up like Levi. Certain death or likely death. What a choice. Nonetheless she flicked a switch near her and pulled down on a throttle on the controls. Flames sputtered to life at points around her mech before it shot up above the buildings.

“My squadmate’s down. Engaging a trio of hostiles near the rendezvous point.” She managed to report without stuttering, a heroic effort in and of itself.

“---- point ---- oup---- 12----”

Elana saw a fighter zeroing in on her position as soon as she hit the skyline, though it was cut short by a trio of their own fighters blasting at her engines. The young woman didn’t have time to salute them however as she was busy lining up the targets in the streets below. Her quarry rather lacked the ability to fly, unfortunate for them really as her targeting computer got a nice long look at the slow panic on the trio of giant women before they were cut down by a nice round of energy blasts.

The pilot landed near them quickly, not wanting to press her luck. They were all dressed the same as the last one had been and one indeed seemed to have an Anti-Mech gun. Looked like it was halfway through reloading. Elana reloaded her energy rifle and started down towards the rendezvous point in the city center.

“Can you repeat that last bit, Colonel? You’re breaking up.”

Static was her only answer. Elana felt ice water in her veins. On her own it looked like. She licked her lips, sweat slickening her grip on the controls. The deeper into the ruined city she got, the worse feeling she got. The pilot was extra careful to check her sensors. She also kept very low, watching the skies. Last thing she needed was to get popped off by one of their pilots. At least her own would be able to see her IFF signal.

As she peeked around a corner into the city center she managed to mute a strangled gasp as she forced herself back. Standing there, in the midst of smoking armor and looking rather unconcerned with the fighters buzzing around in the air was the biggest Colossus she’d seen. The few she had today were about the height of her mech, maybe a little taller. She was easily four times that size.

She was dressed in a vaguely military manner. A set of fine looking riot armor adorned her body, the clothing beneath a grey and white camo made for urban warfare. Fingerless gloves wrapped around her hands, her bare arms bearing some manner of black fire patterns on them. Her blonde hair was pulled into a ponytail, her blue eyes looking around at the city scape with something that bordered on amusement. A couple fighters actually tried to fire on her, their small rounds pinging off her combat gear like they were nothing. The blonde sneered and swatted her hand out, smashing into them and sending them spinning to the ground like they were flies she’d found particularly annoying. They crashed into a building, spilling concrete and glass upon the streets.

“Krieg. Most of the ground teams are reporting in. Except for squad six, out in the eastern part of the city. Just lost contact with them.” A colossus that maybe came up to her knees reported.

Elana felt fear lance through her once again. Krieg. The leader of the 4th Fleet of the Colossus Armada. Aside from the leader of the Armada, Tsukasa Aiko, she was perhaps the most infamous Colossus in the Armada. Even people that hadn’t seen a Colossus once, like Elana knew her name. Pirate, slaver, butcher, reviled by both the Imperials and Republicans with a bounty that stretched into astronomical levels on her head.

She had also shifted her blue eyes to look right at her.

“Well… looks like I’ve found out why. One of the Normie toys.” She smirked.

Elana felt the thunder of her footfalls, her combat boots shaking the world at least as much as the orbital bombardment had. She was walking right towards her. The massive woman had a huge toothy grin on her face, displaying a set of rather sharp teeth. Like those of a shark really. The pilot had the feeling that at this point it was do or die. Likely the Colonel and co. had gotten the misfortune of meeting this warlord. Or more accurately, met with her bootsole.

With a cry Elana activated her jets and took to the sky, drawing her mech’s combat knife and screeching right towards the towering woman’s face. Her eyes actually widened in shock as Elana managed to slash a shallow cut into her cheek on the first pass.

“Gah! Fucking fuck! Shoot her down already, you shitheads! You waiting for an invitation!?” She yelled, holding a hand to her stinging cheek.

OK, so putting herself directly in the guns of that nice little cadre below had been an extremely poor idea on her part. This was even more evident as, despite evasive maneuvers, a lucky shot slammed into one of her jets and sent her spiraling to the ground below. Elana let out a scream as she braced herself for the crash landing though it was certainly nothing like she’d imagined it might be.

Even strapped in as she was, the pilot was lurched about here or there. Elana felt spots dance before her eyes as her head smacked into a lever beside her seat, dazing her for a bit. The ride was certainly bumpy as she crashed into a couple of buildings, a shower of concrete coming down around the mech.

“Systems compromised. Propulsion unavailable. Locomotion Systems unavailable…”

The perky and rather upbeat computer proceeded to list off pretty much every system status to the dazed pilot. Still, through the head of the mech she could see things through her visor. Her blurry vision made out something getting closer. Why were her ears ringing so badly? Sparks erupted erratically from the console near her and she vaguely managed to get back into something of a focus just in time to hear the computer say something that sent the cold hand of fear gripping her heart.

“…Unsafe cockpit conditions. Initiating ejection in ten seconds.”

Elana’s eyes widened. “Nononono, abort, abort! Pilot override!”

“Five seconds, four seconds.”

Elana started kicking the console in desperation, looking around for the manual override. She tried to reach for it before hissing in pain from the movement. So close.

“Please, no! Don’t! Didn’t you fucking hear me you piece of shit; I said Pilot overrid-aaaaaaa!”

Elana’s words were cut off into a scream as the head of the mech popped open and her seat was ejected high into the air. She closed her eyes and felt rather like she was about to vomit from the rapid movement and acceleration after that crash landing. The pilot started to feel another lurch as she was about to descend, her chute activating automatically. Suddenly the sensation stopped. She wasn’t moving. Much at least.

The pilot, heart thundering in her chest, managed to open one eye. The other soon followed. Below there was meters of empty sky, a drop that was sure to have a nice Elana shaped splatter if she free fell. That actually seemed preferable considering her chute was now dangling between the massive fingers of none other than Krieg, her startlingly blue eyes boring into her. Her mouth, her impossibly large mouth stretched into another toothy grin. The sight of those teeth brought back memories of that poor sod one of the Colossi had devoured. Krieg though. It would be like swallowing a mint for someone as massive as her.

“Mechs am I right? Those damn ejector programs. So… inconvenient.” The blonde drawled.

“I…I… P-please…” Elana stuttered out, pinned to the spot by those impossibly blue orbs.

Krieg drew the pinkie of her other hand against the shallow cut on her cheek, licking at the blood there. “Hey, you actually wounded me so that’s something. I mean, you’re gonna wish your whore mother hadn’t brought you into this world. But hey, can feel good about that.”

Elana didn’t have time to say anything else as the colossus brought her over to one of her rear pockets and dropped her into it, snapping it back into place once its new occupant was nicely acquainted with her shapely rear. The pilot meanwhile was left to stew in the darkness, her mind gibbering with terror.

It hadn’t taken long for Elana to unbuckle herself from her seat. Lot of good it did her in the depths of her captor’s pocket. She constantly found herself shifted around and pressed against the rump beneath the fabric before her. Just trying to keep herself from being tossed all around was quite the effort. In the back of her mind she wondered just how long it would take for her to squish if Krieg forgot she was there and sat down. Probably less than a picosecond. Robbed of the safety of her mech Elana was quite aware of how vulnerable she was before these women. No. These monsters.

Occasionally, when she wasn’t focused entirely on trying not to be plastered against Krieg’s rear she managed to make out her booming voice and those of her subordinates. There was the occasional screech of engines and the din of gunfire. Those grew fewer as time went on. Was simple stuff really, orders to the other Colossi. Whatever else could be said about her, it appeared the infamous woman was a decisive commander.

“…Loaded and stored aboard the ship. Might as well check for the Factor. Lost a few girls, have to make up for it.” Was one particular tidbit that had Elana musing over it for a bit.

No time to reflect on it as Krieg started walking again, rhythmically slamming Elana against her ass with each step. The pilot had never thought she’d have sympathy for loose change but she was quickly gaining it. Climbing out was laughable. As though she could manage to climb that distance without losing her balance. The red head also doubted she’d survive a leap from the warlord’s pocket to the ground.

After a long while a shadow fell over the tiny woman. The familiar fingerless glove clad hand descended from on high. One nearly crushed her, Elana’s heart pounding as the giant woman groped around for her carelessly. Two of her searching digits came closer to her and she found herself kicking out desperately, trying to melt into the fabric of the pocket. Whatever this woman had in mind for her, if she left this place she wasn’t living. That’s what she convinced herself of. The fingers found a grip on one of her legs, pinching it between them.

“No, gah, ah! Let me go! You can’t do this!” She screamed, as though the merciless woman could hear her or feel her squirming and writhing upside down.

Looking rather like an ant gripped by one of its miniscule legs or a fly by the wing, Elana found herself dangling upside down before Krieg’s face. Her lips were set in a frown now and her brows were knitted into a scowl. Those blue eyes, they bored into her and brought her struggles to a half. This woman was the type who wouldn’t hesitate to rub her out between her fingers and wipe what was left on her pants. Maybe pissing her off wasn’t exactly her brightest idea. The pilot fought to keep panic from her face and failed.

The massive woman brought her towards the ground, bending down before releasing her none to gently. Elana landed upon the cold mental surface of what felt like a ship’s floor. Surprisingly the young junior officer found human hands helping her to her feet. Women. There were a large number of women all gathered and cluttered upon the floor of what looked like a hanger. A hanger with plenty of Colossi hanging around, stocking weapons, moving crates, and what looked like whatever they’d managed to take from the surface including people.

“Hey, Elana!”

Elana recognized that voice and felt all too much relief when she saw a stocky black haired woman pushing through the crowd. She was dressed in combat armor though looked like that hadn’t done her much good. A lieutenant’s bar was placed on her color. Elana met up with the other woman, who promptly wrapped her arms around her in a crushing hug.

“Ah, Beth, watch it! Still walking off being stuffed in a pocket after that crash landing.” Elana hissed.

The other junior officer winced as she backed up. “Sorry, sorry. Just… well, considering things. It’s good to see you aren’t dead.”

“Yeah well… most weren’t so lucky. Levi…” Elana trailed off, wincing as the memory of her squad mate exploding in a shower of shrapnel.

Beth’s rather rough face turned grim. “Yeah. I know the feeling. My platoon…” She shook her head.

Well at least there was a familiar face amidst the sea of women. Elana looked around, getting on the tips of her toes. There must have been hundreds of them. All sprawled out on the floor like so many ants. She looked up at the towering blonde above. Was she planning on playing exterminator then? Elana shuddered at the thought, all of a sudden wanting her mech back.

“Any idea what’s going on?” Elana asked.

Beth shook her head. “No more than you do probably. Got picked up by one of these bitches. Apparently she thought I wasn’t appetizing after eating her way through an apartment’s tenants.” She snorted. “Fuck her then right?”

Despite the circumstances the pilot managed a thin smile. “Clearly poor taste.”

“Damn right. Bet I tasted better than any of those poor sons of bitches.”

They shared a laugh before plopping down on the floor. Seemed like there were still more of their numbers being added to. Every now and then one of the massive women would stomp up, depositing a few confused women onto the floor before walking off to go about their business. Went on for hours it seemed like. Were they on one of the massive ships that had blotted out the sun? Seemed like no one had any idea. A few lucky people found friends and family members. Though, Elana had to wonder as she glanced up at the leader of their captors again, how lucky were they really?

“So that’s her then?” Beth asked. “That’s Krieg?”

Elana nodded. “Yeah. After Levi… after he got blown up, I killed the three that did it. I was trying to rendezvous with Colonel Bradshaw. Turned out she got there first.”

“I’d have probably shit myself, mech or no.” The infantrywoman chuckled nervously.

“Well, managed to not do that. Pretty sure they don’t have spare pants in my size here.”

“Probably not.”

Evidently the last of the Colossi had made their delivery as said massive blonde turned towards the small puddle of people at her feet and looked down. The warlord squatted down and started spinning the tip of a combat knife on the floor. A rather frightening grin stretched across her features as her eyes took them all in. Rather like how one takes in their favorite colors of certain candies.

The crowd stared up at her looming form nervously. Especially watching that knife. It was huge. The biggest slab of metal Elana had seen. Mech swords weren’t that big. At least she hadn’t seen one that was. She nodded over to someone unseen. A 50 meter colossus stepped forward with some kind of equipment in her hands. The woman looked completely nerve wracked as she looked at Krieg. After a while the blonde final spoke.

“Well. It’s your lucky day gals. Or maybe not. Depends really. See, we seem to have taken a few losses on that raid. Unfortunate really. So we’re going to be having a Recruitment Drive. Sounds fun right? Here’s how it works. My lovely assistant over here- yes you, shit for brains- is going to wave her scanner over you. If she finds that you have the Colossus Factor, you get recruited. It’s great. Here, go ahead and show em’.” Krieg waved a hand over the group.

The shorter Colossus swallowed hard and set the scanner working on the far side of the crowd. A faint green glow fell over each person it passed over in turn. Right as she was about to near the center of the pool of bodies Krieg lifted a hand. The woman squeaked in fright and flinched as though expected a blow, freezing her scanning on the spot.

“So… anyone so far?” She asked.

“N-no boss. All normies so far.” The assistant stammered.

It seemed pretty amazing that anything as big as any Colossus could be cowed. It appeared that the warlord was quite good at creating fear even among being as big as her own people. Elana shuddered to think about how she treated what she might view as ‘lesser’ beings. That was likely not pretty.

It appeared her thoughts were fairly prophetic as the spinning knife slammed down upon the floor in a slicing motion. It slammed down and effectively split the group in half. Those caught under the massive knife were sliced in various manners, screams and blood curdling cries for help turning Elana’s face pale and Beth’s stony. Krieg’s eyes were wide with glee as she started moving the knife, forcing the people on the other side to run or risk getting crushed. It was a stampede. The people on the other side could only watch and wonder if they shouldn’t get running.

“Turn and run and I don’t care if you’ve got the factor or not, I’ll eat you all.” The warlord promised.

Despite not exactly having a clue what this factor was. It seemed rather the ticket to survival. So it was that no one dared run. After all. What if they had it? They might get out of this alive. Pack mentality took over. Elana was rather ashamed she was as paralyzed by it as anyone else. She was human. She didn’t want to die. Not eaten alive at least.

It was fortunate then for the runners, Krieg clearly wasn’t going to eat them. However as she tugged at the laces of her combat boots and kicked them off it was clear she had different things in mind. The warlord peeled off black socks and tossed them on either side of the group. Normally this likely wouldn’t have weighed much even for her, but it was laden with sweat and as such crushed any unfortunates that got caught under the socks. Those that were crushed found themselves pinned and trapped under a salty, sweaty hell. They were the unlucky ones, robbed of good air and forced to suffocate beneath the attractive blonde’s socks.

Elana wanted to look away from this next part as Krieg sheathed her knife but she couldn’t. The blonde’s face was split with a grin as she started chasing around the tiny failed prospects with her feet. They tried to scatter in all directions but their fate was clearly sealed. She brought her pale bare sole over one fleeing group, bringing it down abruptly and ending their screams. There was a sickening series of crunches and pops and splatters that followed. The warlord chuckled as she dragged her foot back, a long streak of red left where once there had been people.

“Well one person’s misfortune is another person’s good luck I always say.” She mused aloud as she popped a small splinter group under her big toe, twisting it slightly before chasing more stragglers.

Elana heard retching around her as others watched and she found herself holding onto Beth’s shoulder for support. This woman… she was pure evil. She made a game of butchering civilians, squishing them like bugs like some bored little girl. Elana watched with encroaching dread as she finished off the last few people, red splotches now dirtying her soles. They were next. Or more to the point, she was certainly next. The red haired woman found herself unable to crack any joke to relieve the tension. People were crying in one another’s arms, convinced that the last sight they’d ever see in this world was the underside of this cruel woman’s pale sole.

Krieg idly sliced the last of the survivors in half with her toenail and left her to bleed out. Her blue eyes returned to the rest and she grinned that horrible grin. “Let’s hope you all have better luck eh? I mean, sure, only one in every million humans has the Factor. But hey. You might get lucky. Maybe you’re that one in a million.” The derisive snort told everyone what she thought of those odds.

With a nod from her master the scanning Colossus started again. As the green glow got closer and closer Elana found some mild comfort in grasping Beth’s hand. If they were going to die, they’d die together. As the glow grew closer the pilot closed her eyes. This was it. Was going to pass over and she and everyone else was going to get crushed under this evil woman’s toes. In a more sarcastic state of mind she might have thought that at least she was pretty attractive. As it was, those thoughts failed her.

“Hey, we got one!”

Elana opened her eyes and looked up at Krieg’s face in the distance. She lifted a brow. “Oh yeah? Well, whatdya know. Who’s the lucky lady?”

The Colossus moved her scanner. “Her. The one with the… red hair.”

For a long, long while Elana didn’t register the finger pointing down right at her. Given the fact Beth lacked red hair the pilot swallowed hard. Her heart stopped and she dared not look behind her at the expression of the blonde. Beth looked down at her in shock as though looking at her for the first time or something. There wasn’t a sound for the longest while until Elana felt a tugging at her jacket.

“Elana!” Beth grabbed onto her legs and Elana tried to grab her fingers but she ended up shaken off with ease. Elana stared in panic down at her friend, trying and failing to squirm her way out of the jacket. It was to no avail and eventually she found herself face to face with Krieg once again. As soon as recognition flared in her blue eyes, her expression turned a very dangerous calm as she held her hand out for the scanner. She ran it over the tiny woman struggling in her fingers and looked at the results.

“Well. What’re the odds eh? Pity. Was looking forward to eating you. Red heads tend to taste…” Elana suddenly found herself brought right in front of Krieg’s massive lips. They parted and a wave of humid air assaulted her. Saliva broke and formed from the roof of her cavernous mouth. Her tongue writhed and wriggled like some kind of living organism. Her sharp teeth looked fit to impale her. It was the back of her throat, that slimy black, pulsating pit that led to hell itself that actually got Elana screaming in hysterics. The tip of her tongue ran down Elana’s front, coating her in a thick layer of saliva. “…spicy. Mmm…”

The mouth shut and left Elana almost catatonic in Krieg’s fingers. The blonde sighed. “Ah well. Guess you’ll be making up for killing my girls then. Congrats. You get to live, I guess.” She said with an inordinate amount of disappointment in her tone.

‘You get to live’. Singular. That spurred Elana awake right quick. “Wait! No! Please don’t eat them! Please, I’m begging you! If there’s a shred of humanity in you, please, please don’t! I’ll do whatever you want!” She begged desperately.

The blonde fixed her with a look of amusement. “You’ll end up doing whatever I want anyway. News flash, tiny, I ain’t human anymore. None of us are. You won’t be either here in a bit. But sure, ya know what, you’ve convinced me. Tell you what. Offer me something better than eating about… let’s say, a hundred humans, and I’ll leave em’ be. Hell, I’ll drop em’ planetside myself.”

“I…” Elana found herself at a loss for words.

“You’ve got twenty second. Make it good.”

Elana’s face crumpled with despair. “B-but! I can’t give you anything! You know that!”

Krieg was apparently looking at a watch on her wrist. “Sounds like a personal problem to me.” She remarked. “Also, ten seconds.”

“Th-that’s not fair! You evil fucking bitch!” Elana started kicking and screaming.

“Hey, life ain’t fair. And that’s Miss ‘you evil fucking bitch’ fuck you very much.” The warlord retorted. “And time. Welp. That was twenty second I’ll never be getting back.” She noted with a sigh.

“Wait, please!”

Krieg rolled her eyes. “Give it a fucking rest already would you? Hey, Mary, take Miss Please Don’t over here to the Doc for her awakening will ya? She’s giving me a headache. Need to clean up here.”

“Sure thing Boss.” The other Colossus looked relieved and took Elana’s struggling form before beating a beeline for the nearest exit.

It wasn’t fast enough for Elana to miss the parting words of the Warlord. “Sorry ‘bout that time waster, folks. Now then, let’s get to your maiden voyage into my stomach shall we?” She was certain the laugh that followed would haunt her nightmares for as long as she lived.

One thing was certain; the ship she was on was massive. There was plenty of room for Colossi of varying heights to mill around, going about their duties or engaging in idly chatter. None of them reached Krieg’s massive height but a few looked like they might stand at eye level with her crotch. Maybe at a less panicky time, Elana might have actually wondered what dictated the height of Colossi, at the moment however she was squirming and struggling between the fingers of one of the crew.

Not that it seemed to do much other than irritate the Colossus. Indeed she just ever so slightly increased the pressure her fingers had on her chest and all at once Elana felt like her ribs were about to shatter. She pounded at the woman’s thumb, her breaths rather shallow right about now. Likely if she squeezed any further, her head would pop right off her shoulders. Her vision started to turn red as the squeezing continued for a moment longer before her captor relaxed her grip ever so.

Instead of struggling now the pilot was on the brink of sobbing bitterly. She was being taken from her home, her friends were dead, and she was completely powerless. The red head wished she had her mech back. Getting blown up in battle would have been better than this. She was nothing compared to these women. Even what looked like the smallest of their numbers could treat her however she wanted without fear of reprisal.

After a while they entered a place thick with the scent of oil and elbow grease. The young junior officer sniffled as she looked around at the room. Cables and wires seemed to snake across the floor at random, a mishmash of various machines located around the space. Some looked inert while others whirred with constant life. The various benches and tables around the space had schematics and diagrams scattered about them with no real conscious reason for the order of their placement.

Sitting at one of the tables, hunched over what looked like some kind of cybernetic arm, was a blue robed figure. Robes that were conspicuously open at the front, exposing a good bit of smooth skin and ample assets that shamed pretty much any woman Elana had met. Looked about in her early thirties. Extending from her back were a pair of metallic arms, manipulating other tools with the same dexterity a human hand might possess. Her single almost shaped human eye was closed, the metallic blue lens that composed her right eye whirring slightly as it came into focus on something minute.

“Hey, uh, Doc. The Boss sent me down with a girl we took on the raid. Got the factor.”

The dark haired woman looked up from her work. Honestly, part metal or no, Elana found her startlingly beautiful. As she stood from bench the woman towered over Elana’s escort twice over though the rather genial and easy grin that came to her lips was oddly comforting. Her eye whirred as it focused on the tiny pilot. The woman laughed, a lovely sound really that set even Elana’s nerves at ease somewhat.

“Nice, she’s a real cutie. Look forward to… working with her.” She said. Her lens closed a bit like a camera lens before opening in what Elana realized was a wink. The pilot flushed red. “Go ahead and set her down, I’ll take it from here.”

Relieved to be rid of the squirming tiny woman the Colossus did just that before leaving the mess of a room. The so called ‘Doc’ cleared aside her work and set her hands under her chin as she regarded the tiny woman standing before her with that same friendly grin. Both of her hands, at least, appeared to be made of flesh and blood. The way she leaned forward also caused her ample breasts to sway in a manner that had Elana feeling a tad self-conscious. She shuffled from foot to foot nervously.

“So. Names Itsuki Aga, nice to meet ya miss…?” The woman extended her pinkie out to Elana.

The stunned pilot considered the somewhat grease stained digit presented to her before touching her hand to it for a rather improvised handshake. “Uhhh… Lt. Elana Fairbrook.”

Itsuki’s dark human eye seemed to gleam with mirth. “Oh? An army gal? I do love me a lady in uniform ya know.” She flirted shamelessly.

Elana blushed furiously which drew more laughter from the massive woman looming above. “Ohhhh, you’re just so cute I could keep you all to myself! I’d give you a wittle teeny bow and a pink dress. Maybe paint your nails, doll you up a bit. Mmm…” The woman sighed at the end.

After crashing, being trapped in a back pocket for hours, and coming to grips with the fact that pretty much everyone she knew was dead Elana was pretty caught off guard by her new situation. Which was apparently being considered a possibly nice pampered pet for this new woman. She took a visible step back, not escaping the augmented sight of the Colossus before her. Her cheeks puffed out in a rather pronounced pout.

“I wasn’t being serious; Krieg would have a conniption fit probably. Jeez, learn to take a joke why don’t ya?” She said.

“Hey, I’ve had a pretty fucking stressful day, lady. So excuse me if I’m a bit lost on the jokes from one of you.” Elana shot back.

To her surprise the woman held up her hands in supplication. “Alright alright, simmer down. Let’s get this show on the road then. Go ahead a strip.”

Elana blinked. “I…You…What.”

“Strip. As in, ya know, take off all your clothes. I mean I can do it for you if you really want…” The lewd grin that flashed on her face told Elana that would be one of their preferences anyway.

“Fuck no! Why the fuck do I need to do that!?” She screamed, hugging herself.

Itsuki slapped at her forehead. “Oh. Right. You probably have no idea about the factor and all that. Getting ahead of myself. Let’s see here… I know I have the educational holovid around here somewhere…”

The massive woman stood up from the bench again and started padding her way around the room on bare feet, nimbly dancing over exposed cables as she started rummaging around shelves. She muttered to herself as she walked into a side room, leaving Elana staring after the woman and wondering just how comforted she should actually be with being here. On the one hand she didn’t seem utterly cruel. On the other she seemed a few bullets short of an ammo clip.

There was a crash of metal a moment later followed by some rather creative swearing. Before too much longer the strange woman hopped out of the room with a noticeable limp and bearing a chip between her fingers. She grinned widely as she placed the thing into the side of the table. A holopict flickered haphazardly to life, sputtering rather erratically before Itsuki smacked the side of the table a few times. Elana ended up falling onto her ass from the shaking of her floor and staring up at the now much clearer projected image.

The image depicted Krieg looking down at some papers in her hand. “You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me right? This is dumb and you’re stupid.” She seemed to be looking at whoever was recording.

“C’mon, Krieg! Where’s your sense of fun? You’ll be informing the future generations. I mean, I could always get Tsu on the horn…” The voice sounded suspiciously like Itsuki.

The merciless warlord let out a weary sigh. “Fucking fine. Should shoot you for insubordination…” The woman grumbled before clearing her throat and looked at her script.

“Greetings and salutations, soon to be sister. You must be asking yourself, ‘golly, what’s this Colossus Factor these sexy giant ladies keep talking about all around me?’” Krieg narrowed her eyes.

“Need to be perkier. C’mon, emote a little!” Came a voice Elana didn’t recognize.

The blonde lifted her free hand to present this unseen person with her middle finger, continuing to read haltingly. “Well fortunately for you I’m here to dispel all your questions and uplift your ignorant mind into the ap- ap- how the fuck do you say this word?”

“Apotheosis, dear.”

“Right, Apotheosis of knowledge.” The warlord finished.

Elana was currently wondered how the hell she was supposed to take her seriously anymore after watching her stumble through a presentation with the ability a middle school student probably surpassed. Despite herself the pilot found herself weirdly entertained by the display. The holovid zoomed in on Krieg’s face, which was slightly flushed as she subconsciously looked at the recorder every now and again. Finally she tossed the papers away.

“Gah, fuck scripts. Right, here’s the brief tiny. The Colossus Factor’s a genetic mutation that occurs in one in a million females. Congrats, you won the lottery.  Upside, you get to become nearly immortal. Downside… can’t really think of one on the top of my head.” The warlord fixed a defiant glare to the people behind the recorder.

“Hey! I spent like a whole night typing that up!” Itsuki protested.

“Yeah, well, thanks. I’ll wipe my ass with it later.” The warlord snorted.

“I’m telling Tsu you big meanie!”

“Yeah? Well go ahead! See if I care!” Krieg glared behind the recording for a moment before turning her attention back to the audience, namely a bizarrely amused Elana.

“Anyway. Since you’ve got the Factor, you’ll be made bigger, stronger, faster, and just all around better. You stop aging normally and get bigger as you get older. It’s fucking great. The metal bitch showing you this will handle the whole thing. So just listen to her. Welcome to the family or whatever.” Krieg waved her hand dismissively. Another argument followed which was quickly followed by a scuffle going on behind the recording before it cut.

Well. One thing was certain; all of these girls were completely crazy. Elana looked up at Itsuki, who had a rather amused grin on her face as she shut off the holovid and leaned back in her chair. So. They wanted to make her like them. That seemed a bit… well after the wild series of events today she really wasn’t sure what to make of it. She looked around the desk she was located upon, the landscape of discarded pens and datapads making her feel even smaller now that she thought about it.

“So yeah. That’s the long and short of it. You’re going to become a Colossus. Congrats!” The overly perky woman said with a smile.

Elana thought about the city. About all those people just killed because they were underfoot. She thought about Krieg just crushing over a hundred people because fuck it. Then she thought about her being the one to do it and shuddered. That’s what she’d be turned into. Some kind of monster. Her fingers curled into fists as she let that simmer in her stomach for a bit, keeping to her silence.

“…What if I say no?” She asked.

Itsuki actually looked surprised by that. “Why would you want to say no?” She sounded bewildered by the very idea.

“Because it would turn me into a monster. And, you know, because you all just destroyed my home and killed my friends for fun.” Elana managed to keep herself from shouting.

The woman actually laughed at that. “Elana, dear, that’s the sob story of like 90% of the Armada. You don’t think everyone just signed up did you?”

Still she obviously decided to humor the question. “Lesse though. I mean you could say no. Krieg would probably eat you if you were lucky. Maybe crush you like a bug. Probably what most of the girls would do as well. If you weren’t lucky… well. Let’s just say she’s pretty creative at breaking people.”

Elana’s heart raced as she remembered staring down the blonde’s throat, her slimy tongue coating her front with saliva. It raced faster as she realized that was the last thing her friend Beth had likely seen before making the actual plunge. That thought was finally, after the whole day’s events, what broke her dam completely. A shuddering sob worked its way out of her, tears forming in the corners of her eyes.

“Hey now, shhh, don’t cry.” The giant overlooking her made soothing noises as Elana cried her heart out, a pinkie rubbing itself down the length of her back softly.

It was hard not to cry. The most harrowing day of her life had just ended. Now she had the choice of becoming a monster or possibly face a fate worse than death. It was too much. How could anyone expect to handle that in the span of a day? And this was the normal way of recruiting?

“Tell you what. If you really, really don’t wanna go through with it. I’ll tell Krieg there was a malfunction and we lost you.” Itsuki offered, her voice soft.

Hope flared in Elana’s heart as she looked up at the kindly face of the woman. “R-really?” She managed to choke out.

The woman nodded, leaning over Elana. Her warm breath washed over the tiny human, goosebumps forming upon her skin. “Certainly. Though, I’d probably keep you to myself. I could use a new pet. My last one… she kinda sorta got underfoot. Poor dear. I’d be very careful with you though.” She promised, a sheepish look crossing her face as she mentioned having squished her last pet.

Elana’s breath caught as Itsuki’s other hand opened her robe just a tad, giving her a much better view of the swells of cleavage contained within. They swayed enticingly, large enough for her to be smothered within them. The pilot found her mouth dry as she looked at this woman, this mixture of metal and flesh. What a choice. Live as a monster, or live at every whim of this woman she’d just met. There was a part of her that found the temptation was there. A very short sighted, immediately seeking comfort from emotional distress part.

The pilot managed to find her voice. “I… I… I’ll become a Colossus.” She stated.

Itsuki pouted slightly. “Phooey. I had the best dress for you and everything. Oh well. No cutie pie red head for me. Go ahead and strip then. Can’t have any clothes with you in the vat.”

“Vat?”

The woman smirked. “You didn’t think it was just a magic wand and poof you’re huge didja? Now stop questioning and take off those clothes! C’moooon. This is like my favorite part.”

Elana flushed crimson and sniffled miserably. She wondered if Itsuki even properly grasped how she felt at the moment. Maybe she didn’t care. The perky woman certainly seemed friendly enough but it was quite clear her terms of acceptable treatment were fairly different from the norm. Slowly, Elana took off her jacket and lifted her shirt up over her head. This was humiliating. She was starting to wonder if the whole pet thing wouldn’t have been such a bad deal. The lens of Itsuki’s right eye whirred as it zoomed in on Elana, the woman quite shamelessly ogling her.

“Are all Colossi as, ah, friendly as you?” Elana managed to ask as she started untying her boots.

“Some. Though none are as devoted to helping out newbies as me.” She puffed out her ample chest, knocking the desk a bit and shaking it.

Elana cursed as she lost her balance again. There was one upside to being big. No losing her balance like that again. She grumbled as she managed to tear off her boots and socks, working her pants down her legs. A glance out of the corner of her eye showed Itsuki was biting her lower lip. Considering the place she worked the pilot was willing to bet she didn’t get many visitors. Idly she wondered if that lens doubled as recording equipment. All of a sudden Elana really, really didn’t want to know.

She hesitated when it came to her underwear, turning around to keep herself just out of view before covering her modest assets as best she could. Her freckle coated pale skin was nonetheless on full display. Itsuki licked her lips as she leaned in, her smirk wide. She was also still plenty big enough to likely make a tidy meal of her Elana noted with a dry swallow. Irrational? Sure. But after her… run in with Krieg’s mouth. That thought wouldn’t be leaving her mind anytime soon.

“You sure you don’t wanna just be mine? I promise I would only tease you some of the time.” She questioned with a chuckle.

“Ah, uh, yeah. Pretty sure.”

Itsuki shrugged “Alrighty then. Time to get you situated then.”

Without further preamble Elana found herself gripped between Itsuki’s thumb and forefinger rather uncomfortably. The woman hummed slightly as she padded over the mess that was the floor of her domain. She walked into a side room and inside were a trio of massive tubes, filled with some kind of bluish substance. The glow filled the chamber as Itsuki walked up a ramp. One of the mechanical arms on her back flicked a switch and one of the vats opened up.

She brought Elana up to her lips and pressed her up against them for a little kiss. It was overwhelming, the soft cushions of flesh overpowering her with ease. It felt strangely… good in a way. The woman giggled at Elana’s stunned expression and waved to her. “Something to give you good dreams. See you in a couple of months, Elana.”

“Wait- wha- aaaaaa!” Elana found herself free falling through the air towards the open vat below, flailing her arms and legs about.

She splashed into the open vat like a pebble in the middle of a lake. The thing immediately sealed shut above her, trapping her in the water. The woman reflexively held her breath and tried to kick at the glass to the outside. She caught a glimpse of Itsuki’s departing form, the door sliding shut behind her and leaving her trapped and alone and clearly about to drown. She couldn’t hold her breath any longer and opened her mouth, expecting to die as liquid filled her lungs.

As it was however, she found that for some reason it didn’t cause her to drown. In fact, despite being a bit thicker, it felt like she was still regulating air through her body. However, after a time, it started to make her feel drowsy. Elana caught her eyelids drooping lower and lower before they shut completely. With that she was off to sleep, the rigors of her day melting away into a blissful slumber.

Dreams Elana certainly had as her body changed and she slumbered for weeks on end. However most, despite Itsuki’s rather lovely parting kiss, weren’t pleasant. Nightmares haunted her in the vat, her mind as active as ever and seeming to possess the goal to scar her for life. The first few days, for instance, saw her enjoying a rather horrific recurring nightmare.

Sharp, bloodstained white teeth snapped at her from below, drawing a shriek. Warm humid breath wafted up, washing over the red head’s naked form. Her legs were pinned between a pair of fingers, forcing her to look down below. She could almost see her reflection in the teeth, her terrified face beyond frantic as she squirmed and waved her arms to try and escape her situation. It was to no avail, the gulf between their strength was laughable.

The sharp teeth parted, lips pursing to blow a shock of cool air up at Elana. The tiny pilot gasped, goosebumbs forming over her skin and an involuntary shiver tearing through her. Her breathing was coming out in shallow gasps, green eyes wide and glancing around for some escape. Any escape. A slimy tongue appeared from behind the lips below, dragging itself over them quickly before vanishing again.

“Eh, just finished off a hundred of you squirts. But I’m sure I can squeeze in one more. That should be some kind of record I swear. Like who can eat the most hotdogs ya know?” Krieg said.

Elana let out a wordless squeak that might have intended to be a vocalization but died halfway. The massive blue eyes rolled in their sockets, and a snort blasted air over the helpless pilot. “No snappy last words? No begging? Well that’s fucking boring. Oh well.”

The blonde positioned her thumb under the red head and before Elana could react she was flicked skyward suddenly. The pilot flailed her arms and legs in open air, the rush of the wind screaming in her ears and stinging at her as she rose and then quickly fell. Was rather like as though the warlord had flicked a piece of popcorn up above her open mouth. Below, far, far below her throat opened up just waiting for Elana to fall right in. The pilot found that it felt like an eternity that she was forced to stare at her doom below. She fancied she could still hear the screams of those past meals that Krieg hadn’t just chewed up. Elana vaguely wondered which would be less painful.

However instead she ended up landing on Krieg’s cheek and bouncing off of that. The warlord let out a curse and Elana let out a scream as the metal floor rose up to meet her below. There was a faint splat and a crack before Elana’s world erupted into the purest agony. Upon the landing, pretty much every bone in her body snapped and splintered. Unfortunately, due to the dream thing, she didn’t die. Instead she was left staring in voiceless pain up at the massive woman towering so far above her.

“Ah shit! No one saw that, didn’t happen.” The blonde glared around at faceless subordinates.

Krieg’s blue eyes fell upon Elana and she crouched down. A blonde brow rose as she noticed a bit of twitching. The fingers of the warlord cast their shadow upon Elana once again as she gripped her limp form between them. The woman idly flicked a few hairs sticking to her form and looked satisfied.

“Eh, five second rule.” She said in her normal casual fuck it all manner before promptly tossing Elana into her mouth.

The pilot found herself trapped in complete darkness in the dank humid fleshy hell. The sickening noise of sloshing saliva filled her ears. A fat gob of saliva dripped down on her head, the liquid spreading down upon her back. Desperately Elana tried to cling to Krieg’s tongue, the rough taste buds below rubbing abrasively against her. They pulsated with delight, apparently the pilot tasted good. The sounds of the massive woman’s normal bodily functions were magnified many times over. The only sounds she could make out were them and her own heavy, panicked breathing.  

“Oh God, oh God, oh God!” She repeated.

The tongue below promptly slammed her against the row of razor sharp teeth nearby, the hateful knives slicing at Elana’s arm and drawing blood. She shrieked in pain, inadvertently swallowing a mouthful of saliva. She coughed and sputtered, hacking loudly as she was brought lower than she’d thought possible. Just a snack for this massive woman. She didn’t even see her end coming. There was a sharp stabbing pain for a moment, before it all faded away, chewed to pieces by the cruel colossus.

This happened, again and again. Sometimes the torment changed. Occasionally Krieg just squished her like some bug under her thick combat boots. Others she swallowed her whole and alive. The worst one was when she’d tossed her into her boots however. The sweaty, salty hell had been more than she could handle without vomiting before the colossus slipped it back on and crushed her under her walking stride. The nightmares went on and on for weeks. However, every now and again, something more pleasant took hold…

___________________________________________________________________________

“Make sure to get in between those toes now, cutie pie. No complaints! Was on my feet, like, all day!”

The cheerful voice of Itsuki called out to Elana, booming in her tiny ears. She was wearing a little pink dress in this iteration and had a frilly pink bow affixed to the top of her head. The feet of the woman towered above her form, casting their shadow down over her. The plush surface of the bed under her feet seemed to sink downward towards the heels of the cybernetically modified woman, like sink holes.

Judging from the slight odor of sweat mixed with oil she certainly wasn’t kidding. Indeed, little smudges of the fluid were there upon the soft doughy flesh of Itsuki’s sole. Above toes flexed and curled, joints popping slightly. Elana didn’t fear them though. At least not like she might being at, say, Krieg’s. It was the most degrading thing imaginable to the pilot of course, but a part of her, a very small part of her liked it.

The tiny pet slid down and swallowed hard as she pushed her hands into the skin of the dark haired woman. A small mercy was that the feet of the mechanically and biologically gifted woman were absent of callouses, soft as you please. This made her ‘job’ such as it was easier. Sometimes Elana could close her eyes and pretend she wasn’t just the property of this flirtatious and lewd girl. Didn’t last long when she opened her mouth to tease her.

“C’mon! Put your back into army girl. Let’s see those muscles at work.” She called.

“Easy for you to say! You’re the one lying on her back and not down here.” Elana shot back.

A giggle met that as Itsuki sat up and shifted her foot aside to look at the pink clad pet. “Hey, not my fault you were like ‘I like being tiny, please take good care of me Miss Aga.’ Pretty sure you chose this, so quit yer bitchin’.” The woman stuck out her tongue.

“H-Hey! I never said that!”

“Details details, I’m not feeling much down there by the way. You suck at foot massages cutie pie.”

Elana flushed furiously and strained against Itsuki’s foot, putting her all into the effort. Out of sight one of the woman’s mechanical arms grabbed a glass of sweet tea and brought it to its mistress’s lips as she relaxed once again. It didn’t take long for Elana to get coated in both her own sweat and the sweat lingering from Itsuki’s long day. Oil coated her fingers and her muscles felt raw as she worked. This was her life then. Servant, plaything, and pet to the playful woman. Elana could almost cry.

Eventually the part she hated most came up as Itsuki laid her feet down flat, splaying her toes slightly. Elana got on her hands and knees and swallowed her pride, her tongue peeking out to lick between them. Her self-worth was easily annihilated by this; indeed part of her wondered why she did it. The dream went on however as usual, her tongue assaulted by the salty taste and her ears picking up the ambient noise of some holoscreen activating. Some comedy judging from the occasional laughs from Itsuki.

After a time Elana squeaked as she felt her leg gripped between a pair of large fingers. “Wait, I’m sorry, I won’t mess up again!” She cried, shielding her face.

A giggle sounded out. “Calm down. Jeez, Krieg must have traumatized you. I swear, she’s too into the whole stompy kill eat thing. Just want to reward you for a… semi-decent job. Not perfect, but hey, you’ll get there.”

The pilot felt herself plummet, only to bounce off of one of Itsuki’s prodigious breasts and land between them. The sound of her heartbeat below drummed faintly, her breaths echoing in her ears. Elana felt the warmth of her body around her and looked upwards and her smirking face. There was that confusion again, those odd feelings. Whatever else she was she was certainly as attractive as they come. Hell, if it wasn’t for the massive size difference Elana might even call her her type.

Her dreams of Itsuki were markedly more pleasant than those involving Krieg. The woman was as playful and teasing as she’d been before, off putting but cuddly almost. Some dreams she played dress up with her and gushed about how cute she was. Others were… less chaste. Her imagination ran wild with what a mechanically gifted girl like her was capable of in those regards. Of course, even the ones with Krieg were preferable to the nightmares that assaulted her in the last few weeks of her transformation…

______________________________________________________________________

The blue sky was endless before her. The red head was also walking for some reason. She wasn’t sure where she was or why she was walking but so it was. It was aimless really or so it seemed. Her bare feet connected with a cool crunching moss below and that was pleasing enough. Just like the back yard back home. Got all dry and crunchy. The sensation drew a smile from her and she finally looked down below.

An expanse of grey concrete jungle was below at her feet, seeming to stretch endlessly. Her toes filled the streets, their shadows falling over countless people as they screamed and ran in their presence. The smallest twitch brought with it tremors that shook the cityscape below. Buildings collapsed in a cascade of concrete and glass, the occupants screaming and crushed by debris. Above the freckled face of the red head loomed, peering down from on high like some biblical goddess. The people running and screaming below in the city under her feet were like microbes, dust perhaps.

“Wha- n-no…” Elana whispered.

She lifted her foot up and from the bare wrinkly sole debris rained below, crashing into the city streets like meteors from on high. The shadow of her foot, inky and dark and seemingly inescapable, fell over another section of city nearby. The small step back brought with it another crunch, the screams of thousands instantly silenced as it landed with the force seemingly impossible to measure. The world shook. Buildings not even close by collapsed and fell from the force.

“I’m sorry! Shit! Nononono! This isn’t happening!” The massive woman exclaimed.

The sound of her booming voice rang out over the world below, a magnitude of decibels higher than anything else. The eardrums of those closest to her burst nearly instantly, clutching their skulls and dying merely from her words. Windows shattered, raining down like knives upon the city below and the citizens. She couldn’t even see this; they were too small for her to notice her voice ending thousands of insignificant beings as easily as her foot had.

A glance back showed a path of destruction she had just walked.  Craters in the shape of her footprints coated the ground, smoke and fire rising up all over the place. She was too big. Too massive. The only thing she could do was destroy and hurt. Elana felt tears rising to her eyes. She clutched her stomach, moaning at how sick this made her feel. A few stumbling steps backwards ground out more of the city below. Oh god what had she done? What kind of a monster was she!? She was worse than Krieg, worse than any Colossus!

She lost her balance and started to fall backwards. Her rear cast its shadow down below, the fabric of her fatigues becoming the sky of many. It seemed to linger there for a while before screaming down through the sky. When it landed, crushing untold lives under Elana’s ass, it shook the world once again. This was worse than her step. The world itself cracked under the sheer force of the blow, fissures opening up to swallow building and people down into a long, long fall. 

“No… Oh God no… please, why is this happening!?” She ran her hand down her face, looking at the devastation she’d wrought.

Tears cascaded down from her face. Fat salty droplets that flooded the streets below, many drowning in them. At this size, she didn’t even need to try to kill people. It just happened. Her smallest twitch, involuntary responses. The red head essentially couldn’t not hurt people. She was a monster. A monster! There was no joy in this, none of the inhumane glee the raiders had shown. There was only ashes in her gut as she curled up on the ground, just trying not to move. If she didn’t move, didn’t talk, she couldn’t hurt people right?

Her body suddenly started to swell, as though attempting to dash such desires. Her form stretched outwards, her growth crunching out more and more of the ground beneath her. “Nonono, please stop it! No more! No more!” She screamed at whatever was causing this.

Her form broke through the atmosphere of the world itself as she grew, outgrowing the whole of a continent. Her petite feet dipped into the little pool that had become the world’s ocean. Still it didn’t end. Fleets of vessels in orbit fired upon her, the mighty rounds of even a Battlecruiser flashing about her harmlessly. At first they stung. Then she barely felt anything at all as she kept growing and growing. As she quickly began to match the planet in size a few of the closer ships collided with her modest chest. They broke apart, their hull’s cracking under the force and sending thousands of crew out into the deathly cold of space.

“God stop… please…” She begged breathlessly.

It never did stop. In every iteration of the dream she kept growing and growing, destroying the planet itself as she outgrew it. Her form always became celestial, a cosmic form of destruction that ended billions of lives. Worlds dashed to dust against her bare skin. Whole systems barely were larger than her smallest toe. If ever there was a god like force upon the galaxy, she fit the bill. Elana cried and cried, denying it every time. She wanted to be normal. A human. Not this. Not ever. Fate, however, had more malicious plans.

“Drainage in Process. Drainage in Process. Subject 1 has reached optimal parameters.”

The computerized voice sounded muffled in Elana’s ears. A pair of tired, groggy green eyes opened slowly. The world was tinted in blue. Beyond the glass, blurry figures stood. They were hard to make out as her eyes tried to adjust. After a few months of inactivity, it turned out they required a bit of time to catch up. Her entire body started to make her aware of an ache, like her body was suddenly one single massive sore.

A flushing noise sounded in her ears and Elana was made alert as she looked up and then down. A grate had opened up below and the blue liquid holding her in suspension started to rush down it. Her arms flailed weakly as she hit the glass, moving closer and closer to the floor. The water rushed down away from her head as she knelt upon the floor of her tube. The red head gasped loudly and hoarsely, air, actual real fucking air blessed her lungs. She started coughing soon after as her body adjusted, hacking and sputtering on her hands and knees.

“Drainage complete. Releasing subject. Please stand clear.”

The glass wall separating her from the blurry outside suddenly raised, her skin making a squeaking noise against it as the two surfaces rubbed against each other. Elana fell forward onto the outside floor, flopping down upon it like a beached fish. Her lips even parted in desperate gasps for air between the coughs. She was covered in the blue substance, her red hair slick and matted down. It stuck to her lower back, having grown quite a bit in the long months she’d spent inside there.

“Hey, ya know, she doesn’t look to bad actually. Up close now. Couldn’t make out her face before really.”

That voice. It sparked a reaction. Fear. The nightmares of shark like teeth, blonde hair, those cruel blue eyes that pierced the soul. Krieg. The woman stood above her once more. She was dressed in combat fatigues, her thick boots not far from Elana. The woman squatted down from on high to look down at her, like she was some kind of new bug she was on the fence about squishing out of hand.

“She’s just the cutest thing, Krieg! Can’t believe she gave you a scratch, looks harmless.”

Itsuki. Her bare feet nearby curled idly against the floor, shifting from one to the other. The whir of her distant mechanical eye above sounded out for a moment. She walked past her to some console. Odd. Her steps didn’t thunder upon the ground like they had before. Elana tried to push herself upwards with her hands and marveled that she actually seemed to be bigger. Much, much bigger. Eyelevel with her mech most likely. Of course, she couldn’t exactly stand and indeed flopped right down onto the floor. Droplets of blue spattered upon the blonde’s casual clothes.

Immediately a large hand clamped around the back of her neck and lifted her up slightly. “The fuck? You trying to ruin my pants now? Don’t see me coming over to your place, bleeding or spilling shit all over your shit do you?” She growled.

Elana’s silence only seemed to irritate her further as she raised her voice. “Well fucking do you!? You fucking deaf you chicken shit!? Answer me!” She shouted.

“Now Krieg…” Itsuki’s voice was admonishing.

“Hey, hey, *whistles*. Shut up Suki. We’re trying to have a conversation here.” She cut her off.

Elana tried to speak, forcing her ill-used vocal chords into use. The sound that came out of them was hoarse, scratchy. “I-I shorry.” She managed to get out, coughing for the effort.

She was fearful that Krieg wouldn’t let it go but thankfully the grip upon her neck left her. A snort sounded out from above. “I bet you are. Welcome to the big girl’s world now, Hündin.” The blonde stood to her full height and started pacing around her smaller prone form.

A large black boot set itself upon her back and Elana let out a cry as it started grinding into her weakened spine. A cruel chuckle came from above as Krieg pressed down, the harsh patterns of her bootsole biting into the pilot and new Colossus’s bare back. Her foot was still huge, Krieg being roughly four times her height. Trying to crawl away was a fool’s errand. Her arms, her muscles were too weak. Krieg was also too massive.

“You thinking I fucking forgot about you cutting up my face? No, no, no, can’t let something that rude go.” She grinned out of Elana’s sight, grinding her sole harder against the smaller Colossus.

“Ahhhhhhhh! I shorry, I shorry!” Elana screamed, cursing her mouth and lack of inflection.

“Oh? You aren’t having a good time? What’s the matter? Am I hurting you? Well too fucking bad. You see, here, on this ship. In this Fleet. I’m the one with the dick here. You’re my bitch. That’s all you are. All you’ll ever be for the rest of your miserable fucking life.” She hissed, licking her lips.

“Ahhh, fock you!” The pilot screeched on reflex, her vocal chords screaming from the usage.

Krieg blinked, leaning over. “I’m sorry I, ah, didn’t quite catch that. Say again?” Her heel abruptly pressed hard against the small of Elana’s back drawing an elongated screech of agony.

“…That’s what I thought you said.” The warlord stepped off of Elana’s back and snorted in derision, spitting a gob of saliva on the fallen pilot’s head as she did.

Her eyes turned towards Itsuki, who was managing to make herself very extremely interested in a screen nearby. The blonde whistled and pointed to the agony ridden Colossus at her feet. The usually perky woman had fallen a tad silent in the face of the display of sadism. She dutifully padded over to the groaning form of her charge on the floor, less than half her own height.

“Peel her ass off the floor and fix her up. Want her ready for duty whenever.” Krieg said airily.

“Where are you posting her then?” Itsuki asked.

A snort. “Dunno. Official footstool? Bootlicker? Maybe bullet shield. I’ll figure it out.”

“Tsu wouldn’t…”

“Tsu ain’t fucking here is she? No. Last I checked I commanded the 4th Fleet. So do what I’m telling you.”

The sound of fading clomping steps signaled the merciful exit of the blonde. Elana sobbed miserably on the cold floor, wet, naked, and battered. She was only vaguely aware of a gentle shushing and a pair of firm hands lifting her up into Itsuki’s arms. Her head ended up resting against one of the woman’s breasts, the fabric of her clothes getting soaked with tears and the blue liquid she’d been bathing in for months.

“Shhh… shhh… it’s okay. Krieg can be a bitch but she’s not all that bad. I’m sure she’ll treat you fairly.” Elana doubted Itsuki herself believed the lie. Still, that she bothered trying to lie to make her feel better felt… oddly comforting.

The larger woman set her down upon a long operating table. One of her metallic hands grabbed a scanner and started moving it over the pilot’s body, the good doctor frowning slightly. Elana suddenly became aware of something. Her mouth felt incredibly dry and her throat parched despite being immersed in that liquid for months. She opened and closed her mouth, her throat managing to get out dry and painful sounding scratching noises.

“W-wader, pease.” She managed to gasp.

Itsuki smiled wanly. “Hey now, slow down. No talking, doctor’s orders. Your muscles, pretty much all of aside from your vitals need to be rebuilt. So will be another few days before you can walk around and talk well.” She giggled. “Bonus for me, love freckles on a lady.”

Elana managed to flush darkly before a needle was jammed into a vein on her arm, the liquid within apparently the closest thing she’d be getting to hydration. The red head slumped back against the table as Itsuki produced a number of other needles and set them out next to the operating table. She affectionately moved a strand of wet hair from Elana’s face and chuckled as she looked down at her.

“Can tell you one thing. Long hair, definitely not for you. Anyway. Suppose this is welcome to the Colossus Armada.”

Welcome indeed. To an organization that raided, enslaved, and killed for seemingly just pleasure. With an immediate superior that appeared to be thinking of all sorts of ways to make her life absolute living hell. The only thing she had close to a friend was an incredibly flirtatious doctor. Elana got the feeling that her tenure with this press ganged membership would be short and painful, or long and agonizing. As the second needle was pressed right into the sensitive ball of her foot, she predicted the latter.

Blaring alarms had Elana shoot bolt upright. It was the second time in recent memory she’d been awoken by sirens. Immediately the red head regretted her sudden motion, her vision blurring and pain flaring up over her form. She looked around, her vision hampered by the flashing red lights around the room. Eventually her eyes came back into focus and she looked down over her nude form. Right. She was here. On that ship. She curled her fingers and moved her arms, her muscles actually responding so it was a marked improvement from before.

The alarms rather demanded haste but Elana didn’t know what they were for or what was going on. She winced as she dangled her feet over the side of the operating table and managed to lower herself to the ground. Her bare toes cringed away from the cold metallic floor as though stung and the pilot found herself wobbling to keep her balance. It was like remembering how to walk. Considering she’d apparently spent months floating in stasis that was not inaccurate.

Suddenly there were sparks that started to sprout from the bottom of the door that led into the lab. Elana squinted at them before wincing as a sharp noise sounded out through the lab. The sound of Itsuki’s voice filtered through a loudspeaker of some kind. “Elana! Thank God you’re okay! I’m sorry I couldn’t make it back to the lab. When the boarders hit I got trapped down in the engines.”

A camera in the corner swiveled slightly to indicate the metallic woman could indeed see her. Elana squinted at it. “Itsuki… wait, slow down. What’re you talking about? Boarders?”

“Yes. Rival Armada, the Metal Heads. Came out of nowhere. They’ve got mechs and some marines onboard now. Krieg is trying to rally the rest of the fleet but they’re making their way up to her.” Itsuki sounded breathless and there was the faint sound of gunfire in the distance. Mech laser rifle discharges.

Elana blinked and looked at the sparks as they slowly started traveling around the doorframe. Apparently these boarders were coming to break in. She slowly and groggily assessed her surroundings, still half asleep. Weapons. Armor. She needed something to defend herself with or a way out of the room. She stepped forward, leaning heavily upon the table as she did. Her legs slowly were remembering how to move but they needed to do so much, much faster or she’d be going back to sleep. Permanently.

“Weapons, you have any weapons or an escape route out of her Itsuki?” Elana asked.

A pause followed by some gunfire responding to laser fire. “Yes, there are a few mech laser rifles I was tinkering with in the back! One should be on top of the workbench. I see the hostiles outside your door. One mech, three squads of marines. The only way out is through that door. Hope you’re good with a gun army girl.”

Elana clicked her tongue and started moving towards the back room, wincing with every step as her body protested the movements so soon after being more or less repaired from scratch. The redhead couldn’t give a flying fuck whether Krieg got iced; in fact she was silently rooting for these boarders to put a round in her skull. Hell normally she’d be fine with the whole lot of them getting blow to space dust. However, she was also on the ship. Self-preservation was a rather strong motivator it turned out.

In the back she found the weapon on the workbench just as Itsuki had instructed and slid a power cell into it. It felt odd, holding this. As in actually holding it. It had seemed to her not too long ago when just this gun might have towered over her. She’d needed a mech just to use it. Now it rested easily in her hands. Her finger curled in front of the trigger guard and she brought it to her shoulder experimentally, the now 50 meter tall woman feeling just a bit more secure with the weapon.

She managed to find some clothes lying around, a greasy and stained shirt and some cargo shorts. Not exactly Elana’s first choice, but was better than being naked. The young woman left the room and noted the progress the sparks were making. Wouldn’t be long now until they broke the seal on the door. The red head hurried over to one side of the door, pressing her back against the wall. Now more awake she could actually feel her heart hammering in her chest, cold sweat perspiring in a sheen across her clammy skin. Sweating fingers were wrapped around her gun. She remembered how easily her mech had dispatched that Colossus. If she hesitated for an instant, that would be her.

The sparks stopped and there was a bang upon the metallic door, the thing groaning slightly as another bang followed after that. The thing promptly slammed into the floor and Elana raised her weapon as she heard the whine of servos. She remembered her training. Where mechs were at their weakest and where to shoot. Joints, cockpit, and back. Time seemed to slow down as the mech stepped into the room, not detecting her immediately right next to the doorframe.

It was an ugly thing. Skeletons had been chained to it at intervals, dangling in a macabre display of trophies. There was rust here or there upon its form, metal seemingly patched over places where it had seen past battle. The design was archaic, at least three models older than the one Elana had been using. She also noted that the cockpit was covered in thick layers of metal. The joints however were fairly exposed.

There wasn’t even time to think as Elana opened fire upon the mech, aiming for the arm joins. A series of blue flashes lit up the room, the laser searing through exposed conduits and melting metal instantly. The man inside called out in alarm as Elana fired another salvo from her rifle, searing through one of the mech’s arms entirely. It smashed to the ground with a loud metallic clang, echoing out through the space.

Unfortunately the thing still had one good arm. Which it used to smack the rifle out of Elana’s hands and then wrap its fingers around her neck. The red head’s eyes bulged as suddenly intense hydrolic pressure was squeezing upon her windpipe. A chuckle came from inside the mech, projected upon its speakers as Elana fought to jerk its arm and hand away.

“Didn’t think one of you bitches would be in here. Looks like my lucky day eh girlie?”

Elana opened and closed her mouth, her face turning red and gaining faint tinges of purple as she kicked at the things shins, her bare toes doing little to hurt it. If anything it seemed to amuse the pilot more as more pressure was applied to her throat.

“Not a bad looker, pity you shrews are more likely to eat a man as fuck him. Also that you scratched my paint job.”

She heard a few chuckles below as a number of rough looking men and women filed in just out of the corner of her eye. They were so… small. It hadn’t really hit home what she was until she looked at what she had been. Had she ever been that small? Was that what she’d looked like to these Colossus? Likely she’d have felt vertigo were it not for already seeing black spots start to creep into the corner of her eyes. The only sounds that managed to leave her mouth were faint croaks as she desperately tried to get air.

Her hands flailed, hitting the thing before her. Then she felt one of her hands sink into something. The pressure let up from around her neck and she felt something squirming in her grip. Elana took a long and deep breath, coughing and hacking as she withdrew her hand. It had punched just under where the cockpit was the most heavily armored. Her knuckles were bloody and had skin peeling off them but in her hand was the pilot. He looked positively piss scared, squirming in her hand like some kind of lizard a child had found in their backyard.

“W-wait! Please, I’m sorry! I wasn’t really going to kill you, you gotta believe me!” The man called out.

Elana recovered her breath, her throat feeling raw and as her free hand felt at it she noted bruises likely were going to form. Least it appeared she’d avoided brain damage from lack of oxygen. Anger welled up in her as she looked at the pathetic man in her hand, rage burning behind her eyes. The red head was so tired. Tired of being helpless, tired of being beaten around by everyone and anyone. This man, he just had the misfortune of being her breaking point.

She didn’t register the crack of his bones at first when she curled her fist up around him. What registered first was the blood squeezed out of his form, seeping from her fingers and dripping down to the floor below. Her fingers had increased the pressure upon him by an unimaginable magnitude, literally forcing blood from his body like an overripe fruit. It was warm and sticky and wet upon her hand. She opened her hand, red pooling upon her palm as she looked at it for the longest while.

A stinging sensation came at her legs, snapping her attention to the squads at her feet. Elana growled. At any other time in this situation, Elana probably would have spared them. They were pitiful after all, unable to do more than irritate her. As it was however she was finding her mercy rather lacking after just having nearly been strangled to death. Her eyes narrowed and she lifted a bare foot above the squad, a sneer curling her lips.

Its shadow fell over the smaller humans and they scattered before it fell. One woman with a Mohawk and ragged clothing tripped and fell before being able to make a proper getaway. She looked up just in time to see Elana’s soft creamy sole dominate all of her senses. The scream she let out was cut off abruptly as there was a spurt of blood beneath Elena’s foot, bones cracking audibly. The woman growled as she lifted her foot and started stomping wildly at the remaining men and women.

Eventually they tossed down their weapons and tried to surrender. One young man did so just as Elana’s foot started to come down. “Oh god, please, I’m begging you, no!”

Elana’s foot stopped mere inches from crushing him. That was when it slammed home for her. This wasn’t battle. This was murder. Slaughter. Everyone deserved a chance to surrender. She set her foot upon its heel and turned it slightly. She noted the young man had pissed his pants and was actually crying. With a long a weary sigh she moved her foot back and set her hand on her hip.

“Right, you all wanna live another five minutes? Stand over here.” She pointed to the downed man.

The other survivors took one look at her bloodstained feet and quickly tripped over themselves to stand there. She reached down and, rather awkwardly picked them up. Elana looked around the room for somewhere to keep them until the fighting was done and walked over to a pair of discarded boots. She assumed they were Itsuki’s. Without further preamble she turned her hand, sending the protesting prisoners tumbling into their temporary cells. With that out of her conscious she retrieved her rifle and headed out of the room, checking corners like she had been trained naturally.

There were dead Colossi upon the floors, mech rounds having torn open holes in the massive women. Elana snorted as she passed them by. Good riddance to bad rubbish far as she was concerned. Only half decent Colossus Elana had met thus far was Itsuki. The rest could burn as far as the freshly minted giant woman cared.

The halls of the ship flashed red and alarms were blaring, the contrast of colors disorienting Elana. The young woman could feel adrenaline coursing through her veins. After her near death experience back there she was rather wishing for her mech armor back. These rather flimsy clothes wouldn’t do much for her. Nor would they stop actual weapons made to kill Colossi. She remembered how easy her weaponry had brought down Colossi and swallowed hard.

The slick blood on her feet left large bloody footprints in her wake, a gruesome trail she was hoping no one was going to have time to track. Occasionally there was a groan from the distance inside the ship. That’s right. There was a battle in space going on. Elana had been trained on space combat but not on when one had to actually fight inside a ship. Generally it was assumed a mech would do most of the fighting outside the ship. The bridge sounded like the place to be. As much as Elana didn’t care about her ‘comrades’ dying it wasn’t like she had anywhere else to go.

Eventually she managed to locate a terminal next to a dead woman and started working at it, the technology finicky at best. She managed to get it to cough up a map of the ship. After a brief inspection she noted she was a couple levels below the bridge. However there was an elevator a few halls down. With a nod she kept going on her way, bare feet slapping loudly against the cool metal floors despite her attempts to mitigate the noise.

As she rounded the next corner she immediately was caught by a few squads of human sized soldiers. Cries of surprise came from below followed by a peppering of small arms rounds upon her massive form. Elana rather marveled at just how useless the conventional weaponry was against her. At most the rounds itched when they hit her skin. She slung the rifle onto her back and set a hand on her hip.

“OK, enough of that. Just toss down the guns. Not going to hurt you if you just give up.” She offered.

One of them tossed a grenade at her. Now that one actually did sting at her shins. “Ow! Muthafucker! OK, fuck it, no more miss nice army girl!”

Elana stomped forward, her steps shaking the ground under the squads ever so and her scowl positively thunderous. Without any preamble she started stomping. It was frighteningly easy to just splatter the little bastards against the floor, turning them into a gooey reddish paste with ease. Her own strength in this state almost frightened her. She’d known she’d been made big before but this was the first time she actually *felt* it. She was huge. Massive. Able to end the lives of otherwise hardened warriors under her toes like bugs!

The soldier blinked. Wait what? No. No, what the fuck was she thinking? That wasn’t what she wanted. That said, taking stock of the dozens of new stains upon the floor now there was no denying she wasn’t effective at the killing aspect. Elana frowned and shook it aside. She winced as she looked at her much redder feet now, gore sliding from between the toes. Did this place of towels or something? She was really going to need a shower or something after this. Of course the one thing they wouldn’t have in the lab; shoes her size. Naturally.

After making her way carefully down the hall Elana found her way to the large industrial elevator. She set it towards the bridge and allowed herself to lean back against the railing, a shuddering sigh escaping her. She ran a hand down her face; it came away drenched in sweat. Her heart was thundering in her chest and her breathing was heavy. One would think after the past while she’d be used to near death experiences but apparently that was not something one adapted to easily.

As the elevator rumbled upwards the din of gunfire grew louder and Elana moved towards one corner of the elevator, crouching and pulling her rifle out. She checked the charge in it. Enough for ten shots. More than enough to deal with any mechs she might find. Or Krieg. That last thought sent her pulse skyrocketing. She could do it too. She *would* do it. The bitch killed her comrades. She killed friends and murdered countless innocents for her sick fun. Elana wished it had been her she’d squeezed into paste in her hand.

With a hiss of hydraulics the elevator was brought to a halt. Beyond it she spotted mechs beyond cover as Colossi exchanged fire with them from within the bridge. Elana thought about it for a tick before taking aim at one of the mechs. She needed to keep on living for her vengeance. She wouldn’t get a shot at Krieg if she died here. The soldier lined up her sights to the nearest mech and fired into the small of its back, a pulse of plasma sheering through the weaker section of armor. It groaned for a moment before collapsing into a heap of twisted metal, pilot utterly vaporized.

“What the fuck!? We’ve got enemy reinforcements!” Broadcasted one of the mechs.

Elana fired off another disciplined shot, sheering off the leg of one of the mechs by shooting the place where the joint was before ducking into cover from a hail of plasma bursts. It was so much different firing one of these for real instead of inside the mech. The thing jerked her shoulder uncomfortably even with proper firing discipline. A small price to pay for that kind of killing power she supposed. She just wished she had some damn autotargeting.

Her arrival seemed to give the defenders in the bridge some confidence as the mechs found themselves attacked from both sides. With this their defensive position began to crumble and with their lines of retreat cut off it was a slaughter. Elana felt elation each time she pulled the trigger, earning a squirt and spray of oil fluids from wherever she hit. Her training made her quite the expert on handling enemy mechs, even dated models like these walking fossils. Each jostle of the rifle into her aching shoulder reminded her that she wasn’t a frightened rabbit. She was a soldier. For the first time since that battle she felt like one again.

Soon enough the last mech was either destroyed or disabled. Those in disabled mechs soon found themselves with the worst fate as the defenders gleefully set upon them, prying open the metal shells to get at the screaming pilots within. Elana felt queasy as flashbacks to being ejected from her mech went through her mind. She nearly threw up as she watched one girl with green highlights in her black hair opened her maw nice and wide before dropping a screaming pilot in. She swallowed him whole with a satisfied sigh.

Elana walked past them and into the bridge. It was here she saw a number of dead Colossi being dragged away by their comrades and the injured being helped away. Itsuki was there and spotted her, bounding over to Elana with concern in her eyes. Well, eye. It was hard to tell what was in her other eye on account to it just being a lens and all.

“Elana! So you made it out okay? Phew. Sorry about the cut in contact. They made a push as you saw. Nice work by the way. Would have lost a lot more girls without that quick assist.” She chuckled, patting Elana on the back with a winning smile.

The soldier girl now rather wished she’d waited but didn’t say that. “Yeah well, figure they’d probably shoot me as much as any other big girl. So…”

Itsuki smirked, crossing her arms in just the right way to push up her ample assets. “More than likely.” Her eye turned down towards the woman’s blood caked feet. “I see you had fun on the way here.”

An all too familiar laugh froze whatever Elana had been about to say in her throat. Her eyes turned towards the other end of the bridge where, upon the steps having a wound on her shoulder tended to by a nervous looking Colossi, sat Krieg. She offered Elana a toothy smile that brought Elana right back. Back to her nightmares. Back to being helpless. Back to this monster eating her friends.

“So I guess she ain’t a pussy after all. Could have fooled me when she pissed her pants that first time.” The warlord remarked.

Elana’s veins washed over with fire as she pushed Itsuki aside with a snarl and lifted her rifle up in one fluid motion, pointing it right at Krieg. No one had time to react. Everyone in the room was frozen in place, shocked that anyone would dare pull a gun at Krieg. The warlord thought. She just stared Elana down. A grin twisted her lips, revealing those monstrous teeth as she waved off the woman at her shoulder. She stood slowly and held out one arm in a welcoming gesture.

“C’mon then. Fucking do it! C’mon! Shoot me! Go ahead!” The warlord shouted with a crazed look in her eyes.

Elana hesitated, taken aback by the look. Krieg walked over towards Elana. She still towered over her. Until she crouched and gripped Elana gun in her hands. She pointed the rifle towards her forehead, licking her lips. Her gaze bore into Elana. The depths of sheer madness in them were unknowable. Elana felt like she was going to fall in. To drown in the orbs as they stared at her.

“What’s the fucking matter? Where’s that hard bitch that cut my face? Or that one that just iced those mechs? Maybe…” Krieg’s tongue flicked across her lips. “Maybe you just don’t care I murdered all those people? They tasted *so* fucking good. Oh man, they were kicking and screaming the whole goddamn time. I fucking whipped off my pants the second I got back to my room and got off on it. Oh yeah, I fapped so damn hard at their squirming around in my belly.” The woman said.

Elana roared in anger. “Fuck you, bitch! FUCK! YOU!”

*Click*

Elana opened her eyes. She had pulled the trigger. However Krieg still had her head. She looked down. The power was empty. She was out of ammo. The woman swallowed hard and looked at the warlord, whose expression was still frozen in maniacal glee. After a moment she tossed back her head and let out a peal of crazed laughter. She stood, staggering back. The blonde hugged her stomach, most of the tension from everyone else in the room fading away.

“You actually fucking did it. Phew, lass, you’ve got balls and something swinging down between those legs! Here I thought you’d be a fucking toe licker.” The warlord laughed before letting out a wince from her injured shoulder. “Fucking hell.” She cursed in pain.

The rifle clattered to the floor from Elana’s hands and she fell to her knees. She looked at her hands. What the fuck had just happened? She swallowed thickly as she looked back up at Krieg. The warlord had resumed her seat and gestured at Elana with an errant wave of her hand. “Right. Someone give her some dead girl’s room. Get her some actual shoes yeah?” She commanded.

Just as Elana was being numbly led away Krieg stopped her with a few final parting words. “Oh right. Welcome to the Armada.”