The sun beamed down onto the ravaged training field, a wide open plain littered with the corpses of torn-apart tanks lying sunken in the midst of dry and cracking mud. Sitting centre in the vast expanse of the wasteland was Emma, cross-legged and resting her head on her hand looking thoroughly bored. Jack watched from the runway, taking his notes as always, wiping away a bit of sweat that pooled on his forehead. He looked up for a moment and his eyes caught with Emma’s. With a grin and a cheeky wink, she pursed her lips into a kiss and blew it his way. Jack went back to his papers. 

“A terrifying sight aye?” came a deep voice from behind.

He was about to turn, but he suddenly found Colonel Trent at his side. A pudgy, heavy-set man, his white uniform ladened with medals and ribbons, Jack wondered how he had crept up on him for he should have heard all the jingling metal from a mile away. 

“Quite so sir.”

Trent watched the test. A boom from far away came. Whistling through the air, a shell struck Emma. A thundering boom came as a fireball enveloped her muscular body. Once the smoke cleared, she brushed her shoulder, sighed and went back to sulking. One struck her arn, then one on her chest, the next on her side. Another and another, on and on, tanks reigned hell upon her, firing from all directions. She never flinched or winced in pain. Apart from that little display, Emma was just sitting there, a dull frown upon her immaculate features. In complete contrast, the man beside Jack was beaming a great smile on his fat round face, at least, that is what Jack assumed was happening. It was hard to tell beneath that black mass of a knotted unkempt beard.

“Look at her, those tanks are giving it all they got! No quarter at all I dare say. That sort of barrage would have men ducking for cover and crying for their mothers, but to her!” he scoffed, “to her, it's nothing! She might fall asleep any minute!”

Jack found it hard to believe this man was a colonel. He thought they should be stern, focused, strong in both body and mind. Trent came off more like a drunken jovial dolt than an experienced commander. Appearances  

“Indeed. Nothing at all sir.”

“Ah, but where are my manners, how’s the arm, Major Lovells? You fit and ready?” The fat man turned to face him, still beaming that bright smile of his.

“Stiff, but healing well enou-”

“Good to hear, good to hear!” Trent’s roaring voice cut him off, “I’m going to need a man of your talents by my side for this little project." He bellowed a laugh as if he has just told the funniest joke ever uttered by humankind.

"Ready to make the next step in your career soldier?” he stretched out his hand.

Instantly, Jack accepted. “Yes, of course, sir. Thank you for the opportunity.” Trent’s grip was powerful, dominating even. It took him by surprise. He never expected such a short man to have that much strength. When Trent let go, Jack’s hand was marked red. 

“Brilliant! I knew when I first lay eyes upon you, I thought to myself, by God, Major Jack Lovells, that damn fine officer wasting his time away in logistics, any self-respecting man worth the stars on his uniform would want a man of his calibre close at hand!"

Jack frowned for a moment. He wasn't used to such praise. Nevertheless, he straightened up as thought at attention. "Thank you for the confidence sir."

How did someone like you get to Colonel I wonder? Family maybe? Connections in the Assembly? He doesn't look like a military man.

"I must admit, I was sceptical about this whole operation,” Trent turned to his right and started a slow plod down the runway. Jack followed, keeping a small step behind the Colonel. Shells continued to whistle through the air and strike Emma all the while as he spoke, “a serum that could turn the smallest of women into hundred-foot tall beasts? By god it sounded like the researchers had gone mad!”

“Hard to believe at all sir.”

“Indeed, a right odd mess this! I had to see it to believe it, and no sooner after the display of their first successful experiment had the head of research come begging the chief of staff, you were made assistant! Stranger still, on the same day, Emma here had grown even taller and more powerful!”

Fortunate indeed. Unfortunate for the Commonwealth.

“Coincidence sir,” Jack took a sideways glance at Emma. She was staring at him, eyes fixed on their movements, “nothing more.”

“Coincidence!” he scoffed, “come now Jack. Coincidence, chance, whatever you want to call it, they are lazy excuses meant to hide cause and it's the cause I am interested in. Whatever caused her growth, I intend to find it and exploit it.”

Trent gave a glare over his shoulder, an almost knowing look. One that understood that Jack had played some role in Emma becoming stronger, but couldn’t figure out why.  

Does he know already? 

Trent halted, turned to his left and pointed at Emma, “now then, what do you make of her Major?”

Jack tucked his notepad into his pocket, “make, sir?”

“What do you think, does she scare you? Terrify you?” Trent grinned, “make the blood rush down south?” 

The colonel was inspecting him, his brown yet bloodshot eyes going up and down, down and up.

She’s exactly what I need, what I wanted.

“She’s a soldier,” Jack sniffed, “nothing more.”

“Just a soldier!” Trent smiled and clapped Jack on the back, “come now, speak freely Major! How do you really feel?”

Jack stared out, watching as shell upon shell continued to pound her. Buildings would have been reduced to rubble, armour divisions reduced to smoking husks under such a barrage. Here she was, bored and uncaring as though it was like an inconvenient light drizzle. The corner of his lip curled into a smile.

More than a soldier. A weapon, pure and destructive beyond anything I know... and I get to influence it, command it.

“Emma is quite the…” he paused, looked to the floor, weighed his words carefully and then looked up, “specimen. I feel she will be our greatest asset against the Commonwealth.”

“I concur Major,” Trent smiled though it was impossible to tell if was satisfied with the answer, “we are going to need soldiers like her in the near future. Change is on the wind, a breeze carrying the sweet smell of victory I dare say.”

Jack’s eyes widened. His heart pumped a little faster. An involuntary slither of a smile formed, cracking his icy and uncaring visage, “it’s true then?”

Trent hummed musingly, “The Commonwealth is on its last legs. Its politicians squabble and throw fists in congress, its oligarchs line their pockets with stolen wealth, and the citizens starve and go without.” 

A coldness came to his voice. It was the now words of a wizened military mind, not that of a bumbling oaf, “but like anything on its legs, there will always be other vultures looming above, wanting their portion of the carcass, and there are some vicious birds circling above it.”

A bellow came from an officer, his order to cease firing echoing across the field. The tanks halted. Emma stood up, stretched, placed a hand on her hip. It was then she realised her singlet was blown to pieces. She looked down, and with an annoyed frowned etched on her features, Emma realised her bare chest was on display for the base. Ripping off the remains, she tossed the rags behind her and into the air. Garbled echoes came. To Jack, they sounded like panicked and horrified cries. Off in the distance, a crew scrambled out of their tank. Jack saw a few dots running far away as an ominous shadow formed over them. Four men, sprinting as fast they could. They managed to leap just in time as her singlet smothered their now abandoned vehicle. Displaced air whipped up a cloud of dirt which blasted all the onlookers. Jack and Trent shielded themselves as the wind roared past them. Emma heard all the commotion and looked over her shoulder.  

“Oops…”  she boomed. Uncaring to her nudity, Emma marched over. Her heavy powerful footfalls made both Trent and Jack bounce on the spot. In a few mere strides, she cleared the distance and collected her ruined singlet. Lifting the mound of clothing revealed a crumpled tank, thoroughly flattened into a barely recognisable mass of metal.

Trent roared with laughter, “a fine display! By god, she'll give those Commonwealth lads a fight!”

Jack coughed into his hand, “should we check if the men are okay sir?”

“Hmm? Oh yes yes of course,” he brought his hand to his mouth and yelled, “medics!”

A small jeep came racing on the training field. It bounced around as it hit every bump and hole along its path towards the dazed and worried tank crew stuck out in no man's land. Emma loomed over them, hand over her mouth as if pretending to be shocked and embarrassed. The medics hopped out of their jeep and tended to the men, trying their best to ignore the two-hundred-foot-tall woman and how her toes rivalled them in height. Once they had been checked over, the crew were escorted onto the jeep and then were driven away. With all the entertainment over, Emma yawned and stretched.

"I must inquire something Major, does she not care at all for... modesty?"

"I don't believe so sir. She's had malfunctions with her clothing before and no longer minds being nude whatsoever."

"Hmm. It wouldn't be a good look if were sending a super soldier in stark naked would we? In any case, I believe we can dismiss her for now Major!"

"Right sir," Jack cleared his throat, "Private Emma!"

She snapped to attention immediately and marched over to them. He looked over to Trent to see how he was faring. The Colonel was cool and collected, a grand smile stretched across his wrinkled features. It almost looked like he was enjoying it. Each heavy booming thud from her footfall was making them both sway about. Emma strode over and soon overshadowed them. Jack was fairly surprised at how Trent kept his nerve. He certainly did not appear the part, but there did seem to be a cunning and stalwart man beneath all the flab. Being this close to Emma made one realise their impotence. When someone's small toe is taller than you, anyone would feel helpless and afraid. Yet here were two men almost completely unbothered by her height and power.

"You are dismissed," Jack pointed to his left, "return to your hangar for a debrief."

Emma nodded and gave them a casual two-finger salute. She marched towards her hangar, her earth-rumbling gait making the men bounce on the spot. Jack turned his head to watch her leave. Her body positively shone thanks to the strength of the sunlight striking her sweat-coated muscles. She was swaying her hips, humming to herself as if she did not have a care in the world. Within moments, she made her way along the runway, crouched down, squeezed through the hangar doors, and disappeared beyond. Jack frowned. Her new size had given her more mass. In turn, she was now leaving deep footprints in the runway. Jack made a mental note to try and keep her away from the strip as much as he could. It would be a waste of manpower and materials to keep filling them in.

“Where was I?" Trent broke the stillness, "ah, I was about to say how our good friends over in Kilburg are looking over the seas and are ready to dig their talons in for a piece of the eastern coast. A nice foothold on yet another continent. Then Talisars is hoping to make the hop into the south, shoring up the Confined Seas and wanting to profit from all the trade…”

Trent turned and slowly made his way down the asphalt strip. Jack followed a step behind.

“And then us from the West.”

“No dust on you is there?” Trent grinned, “of course, we will have the hardest time of it. The Commonwealth bled itself badly in the last conflict, but they are no fools. There will be a fortress waiting for us. Lines of concrete bunkers, barbed wire and mines stretching for miles. Worse still, us attacking might unify the country. All the squabbling might end once they all have one target they can focus on. Which could mean...”

He started mumbling to himself. Weighing up options, strategic considerations, thoughts about how best a grand operation like this could play out. There was the keenness Jack had expected. The man was taking in all angles, all approaches. He must have seen the exhibit and realised how much of an edge soldiers like Emma would provide in such a world-altering conflict. Not only would she bring the Commonwealth down, but Emma would also become the very embodiment of the Union's strength.

"Best let me worry about the details Major."

“Of course sir.”

“But I can tell you this much, that lass there," Trent pointed at the hangar, "she is the key. A squad of them surging forward, the Union's invulnerable supersoldiers conquering and destroying anything in their path. Gods above, they will clear the way and we can roll right behind them. With a bit of luck, we can settle our quarrel with the Commonwealth for good."

The thought overwhelmed Jack. To think he would see the Commonwealth fall but also be in command of the weapon that would see its end. It was almost too much to bear. He imagined Emma charging forward, a score of batteries firing at her as she went about flattening the fortifactions beneath her tread, how platoons of men would throw down their weapons, running away before squashed like bugs beneath the descending boot. Then he saw her in the middle of one of their cities. How would their citizens fare seeing Emma, who was taller than any of their proud skyscrapers happily crushing her way through their metropolis? How would they feel watching their once proud defenders cower and beg for her mercy? If their moment together caused her to grow, he would keep doing it. He wanted Emma to be taller, to be stronger than anything the Commonwealth had. Just conjuring up images of this impossibly mountainous woman being able to bring the Commonwealth to its knees through mere footsteps, it was enough to drive him mad. When Jack felt his manhood twitch, he refocused himself. The last thing he needed to do was embarrass himself in front of a superior officer.

"When will that happen sir?" Jack inquired.

"Sooner than you think," that knowing smile came back to Trent, "if we can figure out the reason for Emma's growth, we can remove the unpredictability that's causing the higher-ups to be so nervous. Once it's all noted down and perfected, I can begin broadening out our group, then we can find our merry bunch a role in the upcoming operation."

"Understood sir." Jack bit his lip.

He has to know.

"Which reminds me Major," Trent stopped in his path and turned to face Jack, "I've assigned your new quarters."

"Oh?"

"You'll be bunking alongside Emma from now on. I've already taken the liberty to set up your new office and bed right in her hangar."

He knows.

"Very good sir."

"Perfect." Trent clapped Jack on the good shoulder, "see to it she gets the right company. We wouldn't want our ace against the Commonwealth to feel all alone, right Major?"

"Of course sir. I'll watch over her."

"Good man, good man!" Trent stroked his beard, "keep this attitude up, I might be talking to Colonel Jack Lovells soon." A mischievous smile leered, "and you might be addressing me as General before long. Now get along, you have a supersoldier that needs attending to!"