Reconnaissance by McDead

Andrew hadn’t been working for the Godslayers for very long – heck, he wasn’t even anything special before his higher-ups inadvertently chose him of all people to join this secretive group, trusted with a strange secret that was tough as it was to keep under wraps. He had expected it to be like one of those secret government agencies he’d see on TV; strict, cold, a little… lenient when it came to moral code. Granted, the place was pretty strict – the boss had a reputation, after all – but other than that everything was going surprisingly well! The people were kind and helpful, the facilities were warm and comfy, and the pay wasn’t even that bad for what they had to do! What, check on a few people of interest and make sure they didn’t do anything weird? That’s child’s play. Or at least, it was until he found out who he’d be keeping watch ­on.­

The fact that the term ‘metahuman’ was being tossed around was already a lot for Andrew’s young mind to comprehend.
“So superheroes are real?” He’d ask with wide eyes and an open mouth.
“Hah… not exactly,” his captain, Ms. Natalia Wilson, would reply: “These aren’t heroes, I’ll tell you that much. And they all have a specific power shared between them.”
Andrew would ask further, but the idea of it wouldn’t really get into his thick skull for a while. They couldn’t possibly be all that, right? Natural laws of physics forbade it! It had to be some code he wasn’t getting or some exaggeration on their part to get him ready to work. But again, and again it was drilled into his head…
But there was no way they could be real.

It was a bright, sunny day on Andrew’s first trip out to the mountains. He was relaxing in a dark green jeep alongside his partner, Jerry. Andrew’s gaze was unfocused – he was daydreaming away to himself before Jerry gave him a sudden slap on the arm to bring him back to his senses.
“Pay attention, Andrew!” Jerry told him with a frown on their face: “You’ll want to keep track of this path to and from the base. You might need to walk it one day, after all.”
“Wait, seriously?” Andrew blinked: “Hey, no way! Why? I’ve already finished my physical training.”
“Well, in case you lose the vehicle, of course!” Jerry reminded him with another slap against the arm. Andrew grumbled as he pulled his arm in and gave it a rub. The both of them felt pretty hot and sweaty wearing their uniforms in the insulated jeep but Jerry refused to let Andrew open the windows. ‘It’ll be good for you to get used to the heat’ they’d tell him. Andrew just thought Jerry was being an asshole. The jeep tipped a little as it began scaling a steep hill, the thick tires clutching onto and grinding against the gravelly earth. As they began to reach the top of the hill, however, a high-pitched beeping sound went off in the jeep. Andrew covered his ears. “Ugh, what…?”
Jerry snapped their fingers in Andrew’s face to get his attention before pointing to the screen on the dashboard – a blue dot in the middle of the screen representing the two soldiers and their jeep and a red dot in the top left of the screen, representing… something. Jerry pointed ahead of them: “Watch…”

The jeep slowed to a near halt as it reached the peak of the hill. On the other side, the slope tumbled down into a wide valley, partly filled with water and a thin stream running through the beautiful landscape. Below, at the bottom of the slope, were small rocks piled up from some settled landslide. Andrew leant forward to admire the view – it all looked particularly good in the shine of the late morning sun. Jerry abruptly grabbed his head and spun it to the left, making Andrew grunt in discomfort.
“What do you—”
His voice suddenly sputtered out as he saw her.

Wandering through the valley was a woman. She had long, thick brown hair and wore a leather longcoat and boots that looked much too heavy for such a warm day. Her eyes were a beautiful purple colour. Her pace was slow – she seemed to be enjoying the scenery around her. But that wasn't the most intriguing thing about her; was she wearing gauntlets? Shining, bulky bronze gauntlets upon each hand. Certainly a strange choice of attire – it tipped Andrew off that something was amiss. Then he noticed that he could hear her footsteps. Thump, thump, thump they’d go. Then he realised she was stepping through… trees? Then he noticed an odd golden glint in the woman’s eyes. Then he realised that this woman was a good few hundred feet away from them and was walking at a much lower altitude, but she was both eye level with the jeep and her face was clear enough that he could recognize her eye colour in the first place. Everything clicked in Andrew’s head and his jaw dropped, while Jerry simply grinned at his reaction. The giant didn’t seem to notice them – she just thundered onwards proudly while the two soldiers watched her. After a moment Jerry stretched and revved the jeep back to life again: “Well, let’s follow her.”

“Wait, what??!”

The jeep rumbled down the hill and made its way into the trees, using cover to keep itself unnoticed by the giant they were tailing. Even underneath the canopy, Andrew could see the looming form of the huge woman through the sunroof, and as they got closer he could feel the quaking of her footfalls grow increasingly potent.
“… Holy shit, you weren’t lying, huh…?” Andrew murmured as they went, unable to pull his eyes away.
Jerry rolled their eyes: “Right, because we’ve been lying to you this whole time. Sure.”
They continued on just behind the giant, but the trees were growing sparser the further they drove. Jerry slowed down to accommodate and the giant began to make distance, so Andrew had to lean closer to the window to keep sight of her full form.

The giant’s foot fell one final time and suddenly fell still, as if something had spooked her. Jerry slowly, quietly, brought the jeep to a halt and the two watched closely; Andrew in awe, while Jerry seemed more tense and cautious. There was the sound of rushing wind as the giant spun round on her feet, her boots grinding into the soft earth, and her gauntlet raised to aim right at the jeep beneath the trees. Her vibrant golden pupils sparked, and her gauntlet began to glow. Andrew gasped – if what he’d been taught meant anything, that was a bad sign.
“Oh shit—Jerry! We gotta go!” Andrew shouted to Jerry. He waited for the jeep to begin going back the way it came but nothing happened. He turned to his partner; they were keeping perfectly still, forehead beaded with sweat but nevertheless not moving a muscle.
“Jerry…? What are you doing??” Andrew shouted as the glow began to worsen: “We have to leave! Or get or guns! Or something! She’s gonna…!”
“Shush,” Jerry snapped right back at him, though their eyes were trained on the charging weapon of the energised giant. Jerry stayed put and Andrew froze up, not knowing what to do. They both winced as the glow shone like the sun, and…

… it faded. The sparks along the giant’s arm died down and she lowered her hand, looking down at the little jeep with a smirk and a look of impressed amusement. She clenched her hand into a gentle fist as she let out a snort, the sound shaking the air almost as much as her steps did. She gave the jeep a wink before turning back on her heels and continuing her stroll.

“Wh… what…?” Andrew began. Jerry raised their hand and snapped their fingers to get his attention again.
“Whatever you do, do not indulge her,” Jerry told their partner with a serious, sincere tone. Their face softened a little as they realised Andrew was blushing. “And no, you can’t ask her out.”
Andrew blinked – that only made his face even redder: “I--! I wasn’t—you didn’t—I wouldn’t—” He bit his lip: “… Shut up and don’t tell the guys, okay?”
“Hm. Maybe. We’ll see,” Jerry returned as Andrew sat back in his chair and crossed his arms. They began their drive again, following the massive woman on her walk, and Andrew looked out the window dreamily. Not at nothing this time, but at the walking superwoman looming over them.