"Reporting as ordered sir" Chad said saluting. "At ease Lt. Cyrus" Colonel Raam said. It wasn't often Chad ended up in Command & Control. The size of it was like a football field. The holographic table alone was the size of a swimming pool. Chad walked up the stairway leading to the top of the table. "We collected the data from your ACE. We saw how the IFF was a liability" he said. "Permission to speak frankly sir?" Chad asked. Raam nodded. "Liability doesn't cut it. We got fucked in the ass because of it. I'm the only living pilot out of training here now, except Nara" Chad said. Raam knew that Chad being barely 20 years old and just graduated, hadn't seen real combat before. Never seen comrades die before. "I'm not flying with a chained AI again" he said.

"We're looking into unlocking the AI system. As you learned in training those AI's are chained to prevent another Debra incident" Raam said. To what he was referring to, Debra was the AI Omega used to pilot their own STRIKE II unit. A ruthless artificial intelligence hell-bent on killing Ingress. Civilian or otherwise. Thousands died because of it. Ever since, AI's were restricted class B basic function. All higher functions such as emotion and independent decision making was restricted or "chained". "Over the last two hours we've learned a little about what we're dealing with. First of all, there are two of them. Dr. Hart the monitor please" Raam said. Dr. Hart was standing on the table not far from Chad. An older man in his early 50's that called Geneva his home. Chad knew him because word was he was an eccentric genius. And by eccentric they meant crazy. The good doctor popped Prozac like they were skittles.

Chad watched the projection fill the air. "Jesus. So that's what they look like? Looks like a big glowing man" Chad said. "We suspect a male as well" Dr. Hart said. "What was the giveaway? The big glowing dick?" Chad asked. Hart rolled his eyes at him. "This satellite footage was taken in St. Petersburg Russia. This one was taken nearby in New Perth. As you see they are the same type" Raam said. "Nara mentioned it was a her. She said they as in more than one. She said they were called Progenitors" Chad said. "Progenitors of what?" Raam asked. "Gentlemen my I continue?" Hart asked. "We know what caused the Ingress pilots to turn on us. It was this" Hart said bringing up a picture with a wavy line. "Looks like a frequency line" Chad said. "Very good Lt. Precisely what it is. We've known for some time that Ingress brains are different from humans or even hybrids. Autopsies during the war confirm that as the first autopsies done to hybrids. Wish I was there for that. Probing a giant brain. Learning its secrets" he whispered.

"Ahem. As I was saying they are different. Ingress biology has evolved to accommodate their giant size. A nervous system 15 times more efficient than a human to be able to move at a decent speed. Without they would lumber about like an elephant. A heightened metabolism for cell regeneration. Acute senses. All of this is regulated by a more robust brain. This also causes their brains to work on a different wavelength. The energy field you flew into operates at that wavelength. This field covers the city and extends to as far as 10 miles outside this base...and it shows signs of growing. Look at this" Hart said switching to another screen. "An RF scan of the city. See that haze around the city?" he asked. "Yeah we do. Is that the signal?" Raam asked. "Indeed. Now look at the center" he said. Chad looked at the center of the city. It was pure white. "It's being focused there and it's shrinking. Compressing. Computer models say it will expand again in 21 hours 17 minutes and this time it will encompass the entire northwest region of Australia" Hart said.

"Any way to stop it? Block the signal? It's going to take longer than 21 hours to get enough ACE's to even hope to defeat the city's defenses. "This magnificent creature is using our own communications system as an amplifier. Destroy the communications network and in theory that can stop it" he replied. Raam thought about how that would be possible. "It's simple Colonel. A powerful blast of energy should destroy the creature and the network. Being made of energy it still has to adhere to thermodynamics. Energy can't be created or destroyed. Only changed. Some kind of power must keep it contained. Overload it and you kill it. Its energy will disperse. "How can you possibly be so sure with barely knowing anything about it?!" Chad asked. "Logic boy. It hasn't taken over our satellites yet because it can't. So therefore it has limits. A finite amount of energy. Energy can’t be contained unless a force acts on it. Hence its form. Take out the force holding it together and kill it" he said. "And if it reforms?" Chad asked. "Then we're simply fucked" Dr. Hart said.

"I'm no scientist bit I'm guessing it would take a massive amount of energy to kill something this big" Raam said. "Well she is a 6,744 ft. tall collection of energy so...8 megatons?" Hart said. "Are you...stupid question. That would mean the death of over 160,000 people" Raam said. "To save billions. Have you seen the death toll coming out of St. Petersburg? 19,000 within the first hour alone. Satellite images show Ingress patrolling the street for hybrids" he said. "I'll contact Union Headquarters for orders about that. Lt. Cyrus. Report back in one hour. I'll have a plan by then" Raam said dismissing him. Chad couldn't believe what he heard.  A real world threatening event and they were considering wiping out a major city to stop it. Possibly two cities. The thought of flying for fun seemed a dream again. Chad went to the canteen to get a drink.

He sat outside sipping coffee looking in the direction of New Perth. Smoke still billowing into the air. He didn't even notice the thuds coming from behind.  Blast of air nearly knocked him off from where he sat as Dr. Zoris sat next to him. "Mind if I sit with you?" she asked. "No" Chad replied. Zoris slipped off her giant slippers and rubbed her nylon feet. "Been on my feet since 0500 today. Exhausted" she said. Chad didn't say a word. "Worried about Nara? She's better now since you spoke with her. Speaking English again" she said. Chad nodded. "That's good" he said. She was surprised to see little reaction. "What's really on your mind? Tell me" she said standing up and walking in front of him. Zoris enjoyed the cool concrete of the hangar for a moment before sitting down in front of him. Her legs on either side of him. Causally blocking him from leaving. "Doctors orders?" he asked. "A friend’s orders" she said warmly. "Don't even know your first name" he said. "I'm Kana. Nice to meet you Chad" she said. Chad chuckled. "Oh so you can smile" she said.

"Just got out of a meeting with the colonel. Same thing is happening in Russia. It's bad enough they're thinking about destroying the cities" he said. Kana was surprised to hear this. "This your first time dealing with something this bad?" she asked. "All my life I grew up hearing what the great Rex Cyrus and Chen Wei did in the war. How I was the son of war heroes. I just wanted to fly. Hearing about True Way killing people it seemed so far away. Living in bases was lonely but you always felt safe. See that horizon over there? There could be a mushroom cloud over it this time tomorrow. The wreckage of people I flew with is still out there!" Chad yelled.  "So you're upset you can't have the life wanted? Guess little Chad here is growing up" Kana asked mockingly.

"Look I don't need this right now" Chad said walking over her leg. Kana shifted her leg causing Chad to fall to the floor. " You stay right here. I'm your friend so I'm not going to tell you ehat you want to hear. I'm going to tell you what you need to hear. You think you're the only one to have their life not turn out the way they want it too? You think those in that city out there wanted this? Let me tell you a story Chad. When my parents first arrived here my mom was pregnant with me. Utterly poor and homeless. My earliest memories are of living in a damn tent freezing my ass off in some place called New Jersey. Times were tough for us. The Union was stretched thin trying to rebuild broken cities and care for so many refugees. I didn't even have proper shoes until I was 5. Things got better eventually. We moved into a prefab house the government built. I began to go to school. I even made human and hybrid friends."

"I miss them. It was always fun to carry them around in my hands. Not long after I turned 16 though things changed. I had dreams of working around the world in the peace corps. Ingress tech didn't solve all our problems. Just look at True Way. During summer break from school, there was a trip to Italy. An earthquake devastated an area a month before so they were sending volunteers for relief. They really needed people our size most of all. So there I was lifting and moving rubble. Clearing roads and carrying supplies. We did a lot of good. Then we got ambushed by three Ingress carrying rifles and jetpacks. True Way heard about us being there and didn't like the idea of us helping humans. I was a little ways off washing my face in a river when I heard the blasts. When I got there I saw they had crushed dozens of humans underfoot, shot the Ingress and hybrid giants. They all were sitting down casually eating some. I still remember them screaming. Good hearing can be a curse sometimes."

"I was so scared I stayed hidden until I heard a scream that actually knew. It was Mr. Hanes my civics teacher. I had a crush on him. I would fantasize in class how I would hold him in my hands. Kiss him. Anyway...I heard him screaming in pain. The leader of the three was a woman Ingress. She was torturing him. Holding him close to the fire and laughing at him crying out in pain. "Cute little legs. Shame if something happened to them" she said cruelly. Then I heard a faint snap and Mr. Hanes screamed. She had broken his leg like it was a matchstick. I was so angry I charged at them barehanded. I tackled her from behind causing her to drop him. I punched her over and over until one of them struck me with the butt of his pistol. The throbbing of my head almost drowned out their voices. "Kill this fucking species traitor" I heard her say. One of them however decided to use me for "fun". I could feel him tugging off my shoes and shorts. Clawing at my panties. On the ground I saw Mr. Hanes alive barely. He was looking at me. "Please don't look" I whispered at him."

Then as the bastard was taking off his pants, a plasma bolt shot him in the chest.  The terrorists were so confident in their attack they didn't bother to run after doing their deed. It was over in seconds. Peacekeepers had been dispatched due to someone getting off a distress call before dying. I was overjoyed to be saved from such a fate and then remembered Mr. Hanes. I screamed for someone to help him. An Ingress woman in a combat suit took off her helmet. I watched her sit down near him. "He's going into shock" she said reaching into a pack on her belt. With beautiful delicately fingers, she administered aid to stabilize him. I'll never forget her. She looked only a few years older than me. Maybe 22 or so. Her red hair cut short with eyes so steady they looked like they could see into your soul. I felt a blanket draped over me by a STRIKE pilot. "Are you alright young lady?" the pilot said as his cockpit hatch opened. I just started crying right there. The tiny man walked over to my leg and patted it. "It's going to be okay" he said soothingly. He was so nice. He even let me pick him up and hug him."

"When I got back home I knew what I wanted to do with my life. I could do more with a scalpel in my hand than a sandwich. I wanted to not just save lives but protect them too. I graduated and joined the Union military medical division. So my advice to you is this. Life rarely goes the way we want it to. It's how we deal with our setbacks that ultimately defines what life we will have. So buck up pilot and keep moving forward" Kana said. Chad felt ashamed. His worries seemed so trivial. "Thanks Kana" Chad said. "If you want to thank me you can rub my feet" she said. "Thanks but Nana would get jealous" Chad said chuckling. "Had to try" she said standing up. Chad couldn't help but notice how pretty the giantess Doctor looked with the setting sun behind her. Like a sun goddess towering over him. She didn't look her age. She looked like she was 17 with her fair skin. Dark hair reaching her shoulders with faint purple eyes like dusty amethyst. It was a mystery why she was single especially seeing how flirtatious she was. Chad's wristcomm was summoning him back to C&C. "Got to go" Chad said walking away. Kana picked him up quickly and brought him to her face. "Be safe out there flyboy" she said giving him a peck on the head with her giant lips.

Chad returned to the room where Raam and Hart was waiting for him. "Just spoke with HQ and we've come to a compromise. We will be sending in a one-man team in there to destroy the communications hub inside the city. That man is you Lt. Cyrus" Raam said. "Me?!" Chad asked. "Yes you. You are the only pilot left that has passed training. All the others haven't even graduated from the simulators yet. Your mission is to infiltrate the city and take out the hub. Do not engage this creature. Failure to complete the mission and we got to go to plan b and I don't want to do that" Raam said. "What is plan b?" Chad asked. "We glass the city" Hart said looking at a screen. "That the compromise. If that hub isn't down within 22 hours, I am to launch a sparrow drone equipped with a tactical Nova missile. A missile with a grape sized antimatter warhead the size of a magic marker. Small and undetectable with an 8.2 megaton yield" Raam said seriously.

Chad was speechless. "Report to Hanger B. We got a specialized ACE set up for you. Good luck and Godspeed Lt." Raam said saluting. Chad left the room and passed by the med center. He figured if this was a possible suicide mission he had to see Nara. Nara was lying on her side. She wasn’t chained anymore. Her eyes were closed and she was breathing slow. She was sleeping. "How bad was it?" Kana asked him. "Bad enough this might be the last time I see her" Chad said moving the walkway over her bed. He lowered it and stepped onto the giant bed. Chad sat down a few feet from her face. Her giant lips slightly parted as she breathed. It wasn't the first time he did this. Watch her sleep.

3 weeks ago...

It was his first time. Chad had never had sex before until that night. His friends teased him about being a virgin but the truth was he wanted the right girl. Seeing how much his parents loved one another made him believe in waiting for that one that would take his heart. He still remembered how it felt to slide his cock between her lips as she held him gently. How soft the color of her eyes were. How he could see every line of color in her irises. Pupils so black they felt like they would swallow his soul. Those eyes trained on him.  Nara's moan as she sucked his tiny member caused a vibration right through his crotch. It was enough for him to cum. Chad grinded his crotch against her lips as he fired off shot after shot of semen into the giantess' mouth. "So tiny and yet so yummy" Nara said savoring the miniscule load on her tongue. Nara eyed him mischievously as she licked her lips. Next thing Chad knew he was being shoved into her mouth.

His ears popped from negative pressure as she sucked on him. Chad was scared shitless. It would take almost no effort to swallow him alive. Even if by accident. However, her mouth was level and beside the moaning he was comfortable. Her tongue pinned him to the roof of her mouth. Not hard but enough to keep him from slipping back to his doom. Her moans became louder and more high pitched. Light flooded his eyes and he felt himself falling into her hand. Chad was slightly peeved at how she didn't even ask to suck on his body but that went away quickly. "I'm ready for you baby" she said lowering him to her wet cunt. Chad had glanced at it when she undressed but now that he was mere feet away from the largest (and first) pussy he ever seen was mind blowing. The heat it gave off was enough to make him sweat. Her pubic hair was slick with her juices that stained the bedsheets. "Please fuck me. Don't make me beg" she hissed.

Chad walked closer and squeezed her swollen clit above his head. Nara let out a funny squeak. Chad grinned at how sensitive she was. Her toes gripped the bedsheets and she sucked in air to gasp every time he did. It was like finding an ecstasy button for her body. Squeeze it and she gets more aroused. Nara knew him by now. What he liked or didn't. What turned him on. "Stop teasing me" she said sucking on her thumb trying to look innocent. That there was enough for him to ram his tiny pecker into her. Nara couldn’t help but give a grin at how well she played him. Chad laid on her crotch as he humped her slowly at first but getting faster. "You like this baby?" he asked. Nara nodded innocently. Chad kissed her crotch as he stopped. Nara was about to protest until Chad himself climbed in feet first. Chad gripped the outside of her labia and began to pull himself in and out. Nara fell backwards groaning. Chad couldn't see her face but her could see her giant tits moving up and down as her breathing became more erratic. 

Chad felt her sweaty hand envelop his body and began to thrust him in and out even faster. "OH GOD! OH GOD!" she screamed over and over until Chad felt her walls constrict around his lower body hard. A forceful jet of warm sticky wetness gushed around his body. So forceful he swore some shot right up his ass. Her pussy walls were built to milk a dick bigger than he was and now they were squeezing him for whatever a tiny human could give it. Chad discovered at that moment one could feel motion sickness and euphoria from cumming in his giantess girlfriend. Both lovers were exhausted. Chad just laid there limp hanging out of her sloppy cunt. Nara pulled him out slowly to check on him. "Chad that was so good. Chad? Chad?!" she yelled. Chad wasn't moving until he scooped off some of her cummy juices and sucked it off his finger. "You taste delicious" he said. Nara was relieved he was okay and just cuddled him to her right breast. For the next hour or so they both talked. About their dreams and families. Nara loved hearing about his parents. Stories about the infamous Stray Dogs. They seemed more heroic than the stories her parents told of the war. What stories her parents told were full of death and destruction. How the Empress would have them terrorize the populace or fight the Union. It was rare for someone to hear both sides of a conflict so vividly. She loved him. He never complained at how forceful she was tonight. She thought she went too far sticking him into her mouth.

It was a guilty fantasy of hers (one of many) for years. Sucking on a cute human male just to see if there really was a taste to them. There was. Chad tasted like sweet ham to her palate. The thought of her lover at the mercy of her tongue was what made her wet. What endured her to him was he trusted her that much. "If you want to hear more then just ask my parents" Chad said. "You want me to meet your parents?" she asked surprised. "Why not? They'll love you. We're supposed to get leave before being assigned to New Perth. Come with me" he said.  Nara thought for a moment. She had never been asked to go meet anyone's parents before. Nara, being a child of enemy soldiers, didn't have an easy childhood. Never invited to sleepovers except one time and that was enough for her. Only allowed to date Ingress males and even then the same stigma. Chad thought he said the wrong thing when he saw tears coming out her eyes. Nara hugged him close not saying a word except..."yes". Nara dozed off and Chad stayed against her soft warm breast admiring her strong and steady heartbeat. There was little light but he could see her soft lips that gave him his first blowjob. Eyelashes that looked like they would tickle if they touched his skin. He swore he would lose his virginity to that special girl. "She's the one" he whispered before falling asleep.    

Now...

Chad got up and walked over to her lips. He got on his knees and kissed her. "I love you so much. I have to go now and I don't know if I'm coming back. I just wanted to tell you that" he said to her. Chad was sure she couldn't hear him but a single tear rolled down from her eye slowly. Chad watched it sparkle in the light. Like a slippery diamond falling down her giant cheek. Maybe on some level she could hear him or maybe her soul did. Either way, Chad knew if he didn't leave now he never could. Chad let himself take one last look as he walked down the catwalk to the main floor.

Chad sat patiently in the hangar until he was called. "This looks very different from the others" he said looking at the 180 ft. tall mech. "Because it is" a mechanic said. "This is the stealth variant of the ACE. Light armor and weapons. Advanced avionics and sensors. Thermal baffles to hide infrared signatures and best of all a fully functioning holo cloak. It can make you invisible or create an illusion of an Ingress instead of a combat mech" he said. "Incredible" Chad said staring at the black painted ACE. "Yeah. One of the few things we can thank Omega for. Lifted the tech from them just after the war. Whoever designed this was a genius. Now hold out your arm" he said. The mechanic removed chad's wristcomm and clipped on a new one. "This will sting" he said pressing a button. "Ow!" Chad said feeling a sharp pain. "Since you're piloting an advanced unit and you'll need all the help you can get; you get the nano enhancement like a real assigned pilot" he said. Chad looked at his wristcomm. It didn't seem different but he knew he was the real deal in his blood literally.

Chad tested the connection by thinking of the stealth ACE lowering its hand for him. It did. Chad stepped in and rode it to the cockpit. He sat down and studied the layout. It wasn't much different except missing a few weapon layouts. It took a minute to get used to it. The tactile sensors were directly connected to him. He could feel the coldness of concrete under the mech's feet. The slight breeze in the air. He and the ACE were one. So much in fact he felt a presence around him. "We need to get going" he said. "Preflight is already done Chad. We can leave as soon as we get permission" a female voice said. "AI?" Chad asked. He knew the generic voice but this one was more personal. More human. "Yes it's me. Shall we radio Control?" she asked. "Y-yes. Open a channel" he said. The program did as instructed. "Permission to take off Control" Chad said stepping onto the runway.   "Lt. Cyrus. You are cleared for launch" Control said over the comm. The sun had finally set and the runway lights lit up in front of him. "Let's do this" Chad said throttling up. The ACE hovered for a brief moment before jetting into the sky.

"I suggest we fly no faster than 200 mph. We don't want to leave a contrail" the AI said. "Agreed. Engage the cloak" he said. The image of the mech shimmered for a second before it disappeared. "Hmm...we might have a problem. A storm system is rolling in. The cloak acts funny when exposed to water. Distorts it slightly" the AI said. Chad was getting more impressed at how responsive it was. "Why are you impressed with me?" it asked. "Wha? No nothing" Chad said. "I understand it's your first time being nano linked but I can read your thoughts" it said. "I've never encountered an AI so responsive before" he said. "That's because I'm unchained" it said. Chad was stunned. "Don't worry. I won’t try to take over the world or anything" it said laughing. Chad was even more stunned. It was laughing. "I'm not an it. I have a name you know" it said. "What is it?" he asked. "Ai. A play on words. Ai is a Japanese name for a female and it is identical to the initials for artificial intelligence. Call me Ai please" she said. Chad smiled. Ai as she called herself seemed nice and very human. Easy to talk to.

"You have an opinion about this mission?" he asked. "I think we're screwed honestly. We can get in there no problem but evading thousands of enemies and this Progenitor? Keep in mind this thing shut down machines easily. She won't have to shoot us down. A snap of her fingers and we'd be helpless. Statistically...the plan to destroy the city has more of a chance" she replied. "Thanks for being honest" he said. "Lying won't help and I plan to do all I can to fulfill your mission. Don't give up hope Chad. That probably is the best weapon we got right now" she said. Chad couldn't understand why it was so dangerous to unchain an AI. Surely the Debra incident was a fluke. He couldn't imagine Ai being a homicidal killing machine. Yes, he only knew her for 10 minutes but it was something he could sense from her. Like meeting someone and knowing you two would be friends. Chad spoke to Ai to pass the time. He told her what happened earlier with the battle and how he had to punch out Nara. Ai even said she was sorry he had to go through that. Then a sudden wind shook the mech.

"The storm is almost on us. Increase speed to 225 mph. so we can get to the city before it rains" she said. Chad remembered the contrail issue. "A gamble but it should be dark and windy enough to obscure it" she replied. Chad inched the throttle up. It was a race. Lightning was getting closer. Winds picked up. "There it is. Throttle down" she said. Chad slowed down as they approached the city perimeter. Searchlights aimed up and forward swept the sky and ground. Plasma turrets were powered up. Civilians and soldiers stood at the walls with rifles, pistols, and whatever could be used to melee someone foolish enough to breach the defense perimeter. All of them Ingress. "My god" he muttered seeing an Ingress girl holding a broken concrete pillar used to hold up bridges or overpasses in her hands. She couldn't have been no older than 7. A zoom closer showed stains of blood on it. He felt droplets of water hitting the hull. It was beginning to rain. "Stay focused. We need to land" Ai said. Chad held his breath as he flew over them slowly.

He passed the perimeter and touched down in a quiet alley away from prying eyes. The rain came down hard now. "You mind if I chose what holo form we use?" Ai asked. "No. Go ahead" he replied. Ai let out a hum as she concentrated. "There" she said. Chad was curious to how they looked now. He bent down and looked into a puddle formed from caved in street. "Holy shit" Chad said. The form she chose was that of a teenage girl. Maybe 17 or so. The form looked Japanese. "Fitting right?" she asked. "Uh...sure" he replied. Chad looked at his arms and legs. A simple shirt, jeans, and sneakers, all white. "Where is the hub?" he asked. "5.3 miles from out location. North by northeast" she said putting a waypoint on his HUD. They began to sneak toward it using alleys. A mile in, the buildings were either short or knocked down and gave them the first real view of Aeris. Both were astonished. A titanic naked female made of light was sitting there...looking bored. Well as best one could tell since she had no facial features.

"She really is made of energy Chad. I dare not scan harder though" Ai said. Chads heart began to race as they snuck around her. Aeris looked at their direction quizzically. They stopped. "Fuck! Did she see us?!" Chad asked. "She's not moving “Ai replied. Aeris looked away. Both of them breathed a sigh of relief and continued walking. "We're halfway there. Wait! Three Ingress approaching!" Ai said. Chad turned and faced the three coming toward him. Two males and a female. Two of them in their late 40's. One of the males was considerably younger. "Jesus" Chad muttered seeing the male to be a preteen boy. He didn't dare lower his guard. The young giant was carrying a plasma pistol and knife. Possibly souvenirs from an ex-soldier parent. "Young girl. Did you find any more hybrids?" a man asked. Chad didn't answer. "Answer. Aeris demands us to work faster" he said. "No...no I didn't" Chad said. He nearly stuttered hearing his voice be that of a girl through the external speaker. "Keep...hold on. One found a hiding place and is asking for help to dig them out. One block up" the giant said looking at his phone. "What do we do?" Chad thought. "If we run we get shot" Ai replied.

They reluctantly followed them. "Here in the subway corridor. I caught one looking for food and made him tell me where there were more" an Ingress woman said waiting for us. "Did you kill it?" the female that was with us asked. "Of course" she replied wiping blood from her lips. "Chad. She's not wrong. Sonar confirms that there are 7 of them inside" Ai said. The Ingress, including Chad and Ai began digging. "I can't just watch them die" Chad thought. "I have an idea that might work. It's a stretch though. Give me full control" she said. Chad sat back and let Ai take over. He wondered what she would do. Soon, they had cleared away the rubble protecting the hybrids below. Men, women, and children cowered in front of them. Chad could hear them begging not to die. Praying to god. A male reached out for the closest one. Ai blocked him. "Allow me. I haven't caught any yet and I'm hungry" she said. Chad watched their reactions. "Very well" a female said.     

Ai had the mech lay on its front and stuck its head and arms into the hole dug out. She switched to night vision to see. Chad saw them all hunkered down pressed against a collapsed pillar. To the people inside it must've been terrifying. From their perspective, a giant Asian teenage girl was staring at them. Watching them. Ready to devour them all. After all, the voices outside were loud enough for them to hear. This young giantess begging to eat them. What they heard next surprised them all. "I'm not ehat I appear to be. I'm a machine. I need you to do exactly as I say. Now stand up and stay still" Ai whispered. Ai caused the holo cloak on her face to flicker briefly to prove to them what she said. They stood up and stayed still. Her eyes flared slightly and shot off a beam of light that slowly swept over them. "What are you doing?" Chad thought. "Scanning them so I can replicate their forms. Let me concentrate" she thought back. A few more seconds passed and one of the Ingress asked what was taking so long.

"They're in there good. Almost got them all" Ai said back. Ai had finished. "A scan ahead shows a deeper tunnel. Go that way" Ai said illuminating the way. The small hybrids scampered off.  Ai concentrated and Chad watched as 7 people appeared in her closed fists. Ai got up. "Got them!" she proudly said. Chad held his breath. "Eat them so we can go" the impatient giantess said. They all watched as Ai shoved the fake people into a holographic mouth. She made a point to exaggerate swallowing. She did the same to her other hand and left one. A man in his early 20's. Ai programmed him to act accordingly. "Please don't do this! I have a wife and kid!" he screamed. Ai placed him in feet first and slurped him in. Only his head poked out between her lips. "HELP! SOMEBODY HELP ME! I DON'T..." he screamed until she sucked him all the way in. Ai swallowed with a loud gulp. She manipulated the image of her throat to bulge slightly to simulate his body. Seconds later she patted her stomach and belched.

"Good. We can proceed" the female said. "It would be better to split up. Find more faster that way" Ai said. The older giantess looked at her. "Agreed. Call for help if you can't get to any like we did" she said. The group walked off leaving them there. "Thank god that worked" Chad said. "No kidding. Thought I oversold it for a moment" she said. "No. Oscar worthy" Chad said. Chad wondered how many hybrids were left. How many were hiding this way. How many weren't as lucky as the group they saved. As they got closer, they saw actual soldiers patrolling the street and square. All of them carrying heavy positron rifles. "If they catch us they'll destroy us for sure" Chad said. "There might be a way to deal with this. I warn you it won't be pretty" Ai said. "Given the alternative..." Chad said. They waited patiently for one to separate themselves from the others.

A female Ingress wearing a combat suit began a patrol of a nearby abandoned building. They hid behind a wall. "We take her out and take her form and gun" Ai said. Chad agreed. They could hear her giant footsteps crushing glass and debris as she got closer. Chad's heart beat faster. The ambient glow Aeris gave off in the distance didn't help. The giantess soldier passed them and the ACE immediately grabbed her. One arm went around her waist. The other her neck gripping her face. The woman grunted as she tried to move her head. Her face was now pointed at his camera. "Oh fuck! We can't do this Ai! I know her!" Chad yelled. "She saw us and we need her form. We can't risk her waking up" Ai said. Chad suddenly found himself not in control. Ai had locked him out. He heard a whirr as the hydraulics in his right shoulder powered to full. It jerked to the right hard. *SNAP*. The giantess' neck snapped under 100 tons of force. Vertebrae stronger than iron broken by mechanical force. The giantess went limp in his arms. "You have control" Ai simply said. Chad lowered the body to the floor. "WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT?!" Chad yelled. "I took control when I saw the mission in jeopardy. It doesn't matter if you knew her. She was an enemy that had to be neutralized" she said coldly. Chad realized how dangerous an unchained AI was now. They had an advantage over the human mind and it was they could turn off their emotions to do what was needed. A conscience made of algorithms that could be disabled with a simple command. "How did you know her" Ai said scanning the body. "Oh you care now?" Chad asked. "I do" she replied. "She was my first flight instructor when I joined. Gave me real shit when I puked in the simulator. I realized later she was tough only to build confidence. Might've flunked out if it wasn't for her pushing me to get better" Chad said. Chad took a moment to move her hair from her face. "Goodbye Lt. Cairn" Chad whispered.

After the scan was done, Ai transformed the cloak. What was an Asian teenager was now a 24-year-old blond woman. "Transformation complete. Would you like to see?" Ai asked. "If it's the same to you I'd rather not" Chad said. They stepped out of the building holding the rifle. The hub is in that building there. Sublevel 3" Ai said. They began to walk toward it. "Is your patrol complete?" a giant asked. "Yes. beginning patrol of this area" Ai said. "Understood. Keep watch for possible Union incursion. They won't sit idly by as Aeris charges up to increase her sphere of influence" he said. They watched the giant walk away. "Amazing! How perfect her control is!" Chad said. "Indeed. It must use an enormous amount of energy and will to do this. This must be why she needs to charge up" Ai said. Getting into the building was easier than expected. Chad worried it was too easy. They passed a dozen soldiers and civilians to get to sub level 3.

"Behind these doors" Ai said. There was a large door in front of them and two soldiers standing guard. There was a keypad. "Don't suppose you have the code?" Chad asked as they walked to it. "I will shortly" she replied. The fake form of the two got real close to the keypad. Chad saw she was trying to hack it. "You forget the key?" a soldier asked. "Y-yeah. Just trying to remember" Ai said. "Come on. Damn encryption" Ai said. "Faster Ai. They're looking at us" Chad thought. "I'm doing the best I can. Most of my processes are tied up keeping the cloak active" she said. "Aren't you supposed to be patrolling the outer perimeter?" the other soldier asked. "I finished and am now making sure no human sized hostiles snuck in" Ai replied. Chad could hear them grip their rifles harder. "Ai?" Chad asked nervous. "Access granted" the keypad said. Ai made the machine nod and walked into the room. The door shut behind her.

"Surprised nobody is in here" Chad said. "They must be spread thin. We better get to work before someone shows up" she said. The communications hub was three times their size. A cube shaped pillar with glowing parts. "This Aeris is in there alright. Normally this glows blue not pink" Ai said. "And this controls all communications for the city?" Chad asked. "Yes. All outgoing and incoming comm traffic is processed here. We destroy this and the city goes deaf and her amplifier is gone. Uh oh" Ai said. "Uh oh? We can't afford an uh oh" Chad said. "The hub casing is armored. Probably to protect it from terrorists from doing what we're trying to do. I don't have any heavy weapons. Just the two plasma blasters" she said. "What about this rifle?" Chad asked. "Okay. That will work but it will take a few shots to break the casing. Keep in mind once we fire the first shot alarms will go off" she said.

"We came to do a job right?" Chad asked taking aim. "That we did. Shotgun mode" Ai said transforming the gun. They pulled the trigger. A cascade of energy hit the casing causing a minor explosion. Alarms and red lights immediately went off. "I'm going to seal the door!" Ai said. Ai fired a concentrated stream of energy welding the door closed. They could hear people beating on it. Over and over they shot the hub and had to stop when the gun overheated. Just then the doors were blown open. 4 soldiers came flooding in. Their shots sent them sprawling to the floor where they quickly pulled themselves around the hub for cover. "How's the casing?!" Chad yelled. "Cracked but not enough! We need a hole big enough for the charge! This casing was designed to withstand a 20 kiloton explosion!" Ai said taking potshots. "Is it hot? I mean really hot!" Chad asked. "900 degrees kelvin" she replied. "This time I'm the one with the plan. Drop your cloak. We don't need it now but we do need the extra power for the plasma blasters" Chad said.

Meanwhile at Victoria base...

"Physically she's fine but I am getting a strange reading concerning her brainwaves. Like they're in flux" Kana said. "A side effect of the control?" Raam asked. "Probably but it could be a sign of mental trauma or worse insanity" she replied. "Could altering an Ingress brain waves protect them?" Raam asked. "No way of knowing an even if so, making Ingress go crazy isn't a good solution" she said. "Understood. Hopefully Lt. Cyrus will complete his mission before the deadline" he said. "And that is?" she asked. "18 hrs. 47 minutes" he replied. "Understood sir" she said closing the vid call. Dr. Kana Zoris made her way back to the room where Nara was. "Wakey wakey Nara. Time for another brain scan" she said opening the doors. Inside was not Nara. On the floor however was two guards. One knocked out and the other barely awake. Both were bleeding. "What happened?!" Kana asked. "She...she overheard what was going on. Both missions. She attacked us and ran" the giant muttered before passing out. Kana hit the alarm.

"Security! We have an escaped patient! Patient is considered mentally imparted and dangerous. Use non-lethal force only!" she yelled over the comm. Kana could only imagine what was going through Nara's mind. She figured she was running to the hangar. Kana made her way there. "Patient found! Send additional backup to the hangar!" she heard over the speaker. Kana arrived just in time to see her roundhouse kicking a guard. Nara was still wearing her gown. "NARA STOP!" Kana yelled. Nara looked at her. She went over to a flight pack and put it on. She bent down to pick up a rifle. Kana saw that she had taken out 4 guards already before she saw her take out a fifth one. Kana remembered that Nara was exceptionally gifted in combat. Nara slipped on a visor and looked around. She was ignoring Kana but didn't ignore the two mechanics. One her size and the other human. When they say her looking at them they bolted out the hangar. Of course the human sized one didn't get far though. Nara seized him up.

"Give me his transponder code!" she yelled. The small man in her grip was too frightened to respond. "Tell me!" she yelled squeezing. "NARA STOP THIS!" Kana yelled. More guards came in with guns drawn. "Don't shoot!" Kana said getting in front of them. "Stop squeezing! Here!" the tiny mechanic said tapping his omnitool. Nara's visor beeped. Nara tossed him into the air aside. Kana dove to catch him and barely stopped him from becoming a splatter mark from a 150 ft. fall. "You won't make it! There's no guarantee you won't be controlled again!" Kana yelled. "Got to try for his sake" Nara said running out the hangar. Nara streaked into the sky and left a sonic boom. "She's insane. She doesn't even have a goddamned suit on!" a guard said. Kana said nothing. She didn't know to either root for her or condemn her actions.

"Up ahead in the city" Nara said looking at the visor HUD. Normally this would feel like a dream to her. Flying through the air in barely any clothes. Feeling the breeze between her toes. The clouds running through her hair. All she knew in her jumbled mind is her chosen mate was facing death. The man not even 1/100 her size had made such passionate love to her and contemplated making her his wife. No way in hell would she lie in bed and let fate decide their lives. Nara flew as fast as she could without a shield. Even then she could feel her skin heating up from air friction as she passed Mach 2. She claimed even higher and held her head down and gasped for air. Air that burned her lungs but she gave not one shit. She flew so fast her grown caught fire and she tore it off. The naked giantess was tearing through the skies and woe be unto thee that got in her way...

"It's overheating!" Ai said as she kept the steady stream of plasma fire on the casing. More soldiers advanced. They figured they had maybe a minute before they got close enough to melee them.  They had already gunned down 4 of them but for every one they killed three took their place. They began to spread out left and right to flank. They held their fire for fear of shooting the hub but that problem would soon disappear. A small explosion in the ACE's left wrist signaled a fatal overheat of the plasma blaster. He immediately switched to using the right one as warnings popped up on his screens. "What's the temp now?!" Chad yelled. "4000 kelvin!" Ai yelled. "Good enough! Vent the liquid nitrogen from the thruster baffles on it!" Chad yelled. To those who could see them they saw this mech rubbing its ass on the hub. It was enough to give them pause. Chad heard metallic cracking. "It's working!" Chad yelled. "The sudden temp drop is causing it to fracture! Genius!" Ai said. "Route available power to the shoulder hydraulic!" he yelled.

The hydraulic whirred up. They both yelled as the machine punched with all its might the casing. It shattered like glass. The inner workings were exposed now but so were they. The cockpit popped open. "Set the charge!" she yelled. Chad hopped out of the mech with a bomb the size of a pebble. A special made antimatter bomb with a 5 kiloton payload. Designed to take out anything within 5 city blocks. So small it was almost impossible to diffuse. Ai grunted as a shot tore through the shields and blew off her left arm. "It's set. Get us the fuck outta here!" he said getting back in. Ai punched the throttle and mowed down the solders at the door. She blasted through the hallways and blew away the elevators that took them down flying right up the shaft.

They climbed into the air as soldiers and civilians below took shots at them. A flash of light behind them signaled the bomb detonating. the shockwave raced toward them shaking the machine like it was a toy. Buildings fell. People below were either killed by the compression wave or sucked up into it only to die from falling or debris. The dust cloud blinded Chad and Ai. Sensors didn't work. They had to believe that their flight would take them to safety. Their hopes were dashed as a purple hand came out of the dust cloud right at them. Chad was thrown forward as their momentum was halted. A force blew away the dust and they saw the female glowing giantess holding them as they were a troublesome rodent. Aeris held the machine between her fingers. She wasn't happy. They destroyed her precious hub halting her plans for spreading her mind control signal. She felt the thing to be nonliving. A battle construct of some kind. She wanted to know who did this. Chad saw his cockpit hatch shudder for a moment before being torn away. A monolithic glowing pink face was staring at him. The face got closer to him. He could feel static electricity in the air. 

High above just a few miles away, Nara had begun her descent. The air screamed around her as she dove from 40,000 ft. She could see the glowing figure. It was the biggest brightest thing in the city. She knew it was what controlled her. She pressed a switch on the side of her wrist to throttle up. She was going to hit it fast and hard. All of a sudden the air was filled with bluish green plasma bolts and red positron blasts. The air defenses had caught on to her as well as people below. They plan to blow the intruder out of the sky for their glorious mistress. One shot would all it take to kill Nara. She had no shields. No armor but she cared not. With a simple word she transformed the rifle to sniper mode. The visor gave her crosshairs to which to aim. Her gun made the familiar *choom* sound it always did as she rained hell down on them. As she got close to the deck she pulled up and blasted past them. She had killed a dozen of them. A well timed shot blew a turret up with the ones manning it.

Normally, she would be impressed with her accuracy and skill. Not now. Her mind felt something creeping in as soon as she had hit 15,000 ft. A loathsome voice was getting louder and as much as she fought it, it was winning. "Kill all hybrids" it kept saying. Nara screamed and shook her head. It took all her willpower not to give in. A glimmer of hope was getting closer. The transponder signal was half a mile away. Just a few seconds more.

"I'm impressed you delayed me so. I sensed a matter/antimatter explosion just now. Your species as come considerably far to accomplish such things. Ah. A hybrid I see. Baris was right to be so wary of your kind" she said shaking the trapped ACE. Aeris shook so violently the straps holding Chad in broke. Aeris had her other hand out and he fell right into its open palm. To her it was like catching a flea. For he was no bigger than a grain of salt in human perspective. Chad felt like he was standing on a live electrical wire. He hair stood on end the static electricity was so strong. The air stunk of ozone. The surface was smooth to the touch but warm. Tiny arcs of energy raced through her hand like blood pumping through tiny capillaries. Aeris moved her head to stare at the puny creature before her. She could crush him into so much dust if she wanted. Far more vulnerable than the Ingress. Just the thought of it caused the energy in her to pulse. Aeris wondered what the creature felt at this moment. How much terror? What was his name? Would knowing give her more pleasure? She wanted to know for reasons she didn't. Aeris decided to probe his mind.

She had been in a hybrid's mind before on the moon. Slightly difficult to do but still easy enough if it's just him. Chad felt a tingling in his head. Then the tingling turned into a migraine. He swore a tiny female voice was in the back of his mind. Chad blocked it out. Aeris moved her head back in astonishment. "How? How can you block me?" she wondered. She tried again but all she managed to do was make his nose bleed. Aeris felt a new emotion. Anger. "Aberrations!" she yelled. Chad watched as the pillar like fingers began to retract around him. She was going to crush him out of spite now. Chad was afraid but excepting. He did his job. Saved lives. Ai saw he was about to die and fired off plasma shots into the titanic face. Aeris was annoyed enough and it stung. Aeris tossed the mech as hard as she could. Chad watched as the ACE crashed through two buildings and disappear. He heard an explosion. Chad hung his head. Another lost friend. His last hope he held onto was Nara would be safe. As her fingers got closer and her palm scrunched up a positron blast struck her where her eye would be.

Aeris jerked her head. "UNBELIEVABLE!"  Aeris howled. That shot did more than hurt her. The energy where her eye was changed color. It had faded and was less energetic. Chad immediately looked to where the shot came from and was aghast in shock seeing it came from a naked flying Ingress. Chad couldn't see the face well but he knew that body better than any man alive. It was Nara. Nara fired again right into Aeris' forehead. It hurt her but this time she didn't stagger. With lightning speed, she seized Nara right out of the air and held her. She brought her closer. Nara was trembling. Shaking her head. "How can you resist me?!" Aeris yelled. As she did her eyes glowed brighter than before. Nara aimed her gun but didn't fire. Her arm dropped and she let the fun fall to the ground 5,000 ft. below. "That's more like it" Aeris said relaxing her grip and letting Nara stand in her palm. Nara instinctively scrunched her toes on the warm surface. She looked right at Chad and was about to jet over to kill him until Aeris stopped her.

"These emotions are...strange. Anger, pleasure, power. So foreign. I felt anger before but now with the two of you in my hands. Power and something else I can't identify. I should kill you right now hybrid but I'm curious. If I took corporeal form, would I understand them then? Would I feel more pleasure killing you little hybrid? I should find out. Luckily I have the perfect DNA donor right here. I will absorb you little Ingress. Are you ready?" Aeris asked. "As...you...wish...Aeris" Nara said. Aeris took Nara between her fingers and touched her to where her mouth would be. At first nothing happened. Chad watched as Nara's hands breached the energy form. Slowly, Nara sunk into her where the mouth was. Aeris placed her finger on Nara's bare ass and pushed her in. She did the same thing again pushing against her bare feet until Nara was fully enveloped by her form. A second later Chad saw something he'll never forget. Her hair began to dissolve. Then Nara screamed as her skin was disintegrating.

"NO! LET HER GO! LET HER GO YOU FUCKING MONSTER!" Chad shrieked. Chad watched in horror as Nara stopped screaming. She had gone limp as her muscles were broken down. A few seconds later only her skeleton remained. And just as fast, that too was gone. Nara Lessis of Hawk flight was no more.

Chad just stared at the glowing face. Tears streamed down his cheeks. It was like Aeris killed a part of his soul. He didn't have the energy to even curse her. He just sat there staring. Aeris touched her chest where an orb of energy began to glow brighter than any other part of her body. The energy spread all over her. A white light drowned out the pink energy of Aeris. Aeris gasped as she began to change. Chad didn't care at first but he saw something happen. Aeris began to shrink. As she did she grew black hair. The glow of her body dimmed and skin replaced it. Tanned skin. She grew nipples for her new breasts. Black short coarse hair for her pubic region. Aeris groaned as she literally grew a vagina, clit and uterus. She let out and eek as her body formed a rectum. Still she got smaller. Chad was astounded as her old face began to give way to a familiar one. She stopped shrinking just as her eyes formed. "It can't be" he muttered as two sea green eyes emerged. The same eyes he got lost in the first night he and Nara had sex.

Aeris was now 180 ft. tall. The same size as Nara was. Aeris held onto him firmly. "No. Some kind of trick. She can't be Nara" Chad said. Chad looked down at her crotch. Chad knew she had a birthmark the size of a basketball near the right side of her labia. "No" he said in disbelief seeing it on her too. Aeris raised him to her face and smiled. "Hello Chad" she said grinning. "Nara?" he asked seeing a glow in her eyes.