Three Square Meals Ch 98 - complete!

Damn, I wrote this in the wrong spot...

DemonHunterCole

Tefler in Chapter 98, Zulkat instead of Vulkat

DemonHunterCole

Added to Timeline

Dark Storymaker

@Tefler/Patreon, A post of mine in response to Cody is gone. Did Patreon delete it? Why? Should I repost my comments?

Yes. And I started in on the relationships between electromagnetism, energy waves, and gravity as expressed in modern string theory...and got immediately shot down by some. Those forces are all related at the Quantum level, but the math is a bit esoteric to say the least and not everyone is willing to accept it yet. So I let the discussion pass. Suffice to say, energy, in any form, is related to all energy in all forms, including mass. We do not understand it all yet, but we know what we are looking for and we know it exists. And we are getting ever closer to the full answer.

PLRus--Founding member of the TSM F5 club.

Wasn't there something early on about inertia independent mass deflection as a separate system from shields?

PaigeFault

CK, interesting ideas. Hopefully, if Vulkat micro missiles can bypass the Invictus' shields, the heavily shaped and Runed Crystal Allysium hull plates can turn or withstand their impact.

I've run into a consistency problem with sheilds. We've learned that Sheilds are very good at mittigating kinetic damage and need to be erroded with energy weapons. The Brimorians have the best known sheilds yet have problems with Vulcat missiles which would nominally be kinetic weapons. One way I've thought of to reconcile these contradictions is if the Vulcat missiles travel through hyperspace like FTL ships, thereby bypassing the sheilds and emerging close to or even within the target. The best defense may be an FTL interdiction field. FTL flight needs to happen outside our normal universe since a collision with even a single hydrogen atom when traveling may times the speed of light would vaporise a large chunk of any ship and deep space has plenty of hydrogen. Not to mention the gravity distortion caused by an object as it approaches C. The flip side is NASA's research into "warp bubbles" where the ship moves in a bublle of normal space propelled by warping the space outside the bubble. Athough Quantum Gravity theory may negate the principle. <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcubierre_drive" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alcubierre_drive</a>

"The resident Kintark Cruiser causes a fuss and the Invictus takes digital command of it, killing the crew. " Nah, doesn't seem like something John would do. Maybe force the crew to abandon ship due to an Irillith-faked reactor breach, THEN steal the ship.

andrew finlayson

My Chapter Predictions: Chapter 99 - 1 TSM Day Jan 30th Vulcat boarding action and Irillith computer attack to get specs on growing the crystals and how they are used. Admiral Harris finds out about the Kintark and figures out where Admiral Devereux is being held (which happens to be where Jehenna and the other Nymphs are being held). *Sub Plot * Fleet is appraised of Kintark invasion and we see several sub plots with the Battle groups. And, Dana figures out how to use the eternity crystals to double the energy output of the Photon Mrk II laser batteries and point defense batteries along with doubling the shield strength over Brimorian standard. Cliff hanger at the end of the chapter = Kintark reach the edge of core worlds and John has returned to an attempted double cross by the Deep Pool. Chapter 100 - 1 TSM Day - Feb 11th John has to 'explain' things to the Deep Pool and Alyssa takes over the Deep Lord's mind to get things done. The resident Kintark Cruiser causes a fuss and the Invictus takes digital command of it, killing the crew. John, frees the Nymph and the forgotten, and gets the best shield generators the Brimorians have. In the process, Dana figures out the Quantum Drive unit and has it installed by the time the shield generators and heavy cannons are fixed/upgraded to Quantum Heavy cannons. John realizes the Eternity Crystals are too dangerous in the hands of the Brimorians and keeps them to himself...having Dana install them on the shields and power distributors. Forward units of TFED ambush the forward units of the Kintark, creating a debris field that helps to take out a good number of the vast Kintark fleet. *Sub-Plot* - Charles gets a message to the Maliri through diplomatic channels and Edreale gets in touch with John. Chapter 101 1/2 TSM Day - Feb 25th John uses the Quantum drive and appears in T-Fed space with the Kintark Cruiser in tow (as if the Invictus has been captured) just as the battle has begun in earnest and T-Fed's battle plan fails due to being woefully outnumbered. The Invictus approaches the Kintark Dreadnought acting like a prize of war then the Kintark Cruiser and Invictus take out the escorts as Irillith takes over the Dreadnought. All hell breaks loose as the T-FED fleets rally behind the Invictus. Buckingham goes ballistic and his insanity becomes obvious to Caldwell who takes him into custody and instructs the fleet to follow the Invictus' lead in the battle. *Sub-Plot* - Admiral Weber makes a bee-line towards the secret base to kill everyone and destroy any evidence. The Terran gunships take a major role in the battle and are aided by the Raptor. The mechanized units take on landing craft and are aided by Sakura in the Valkyrie. Chapter 102 – ½ TSM Day - March 10th TFED Battle cut short by Alissa making head Kintark sue for peace. Alissa gets into Buckngham's mind and finds out about secret base. Then it is a race to beat Weber there. Chapter 103 – 1.2 TSM Day – All hell breaks loose at the secret base.

PLRus--Founding member of the TSM F5 club.

*may raises his hand and grins impishly* well, wouldn't tonight be the perfect time to publish the new chapter?

MaydaysSin

I miss the 3 chapters a month...

DemonHunterCole

Dunno about the rest but I reckon all the Abandoned will be offered to be rescued/relocated, will stay in the Lagoon for the journey back, &amp; will settle back on Terra (great humanitarian story for Jehanna to cover... Oh wait... where IS Jehanna... double bogey for TFed leaving Abandoned &amp; kidnapping Jehanna &amp; Nymphs) or possibly even offered somewhere on Oceanus if John &amp; co save earth a 2nd time...

Chapter Predictions: Chapter 99 - 1 TSM Day Jan 31th Vulcat Engagement Admiral Harris Freak out *Sub Plot * Claymore fighters practice / Something Else Cliff hanger at the end of the chapter = Kintark reach the edge of TFED Sex Scene, loading up the girls before battle Chapter 100 - 1 TSM Day - Feb 14Th Vulcat Engagement Part 2 Grand Engineering Overlord get hands on Progenitor Tech and Eternity Crystals TFED / Kintark battle starts Sub-Plot - Jehanna @ lab and found out missing Chapter 101 1 TSM Day - Feb 28Th Return to Brimorian Space Maliri engage with Kirrix in Trankaran Space John Deals with Deep Pool Jade picks up her GirlFriend on Brimorian home world TFED / Kintark Battle Continues Grand Engineering Overlord starts to implement Progenitor Tech and Eternity Crystals / new shields. Sex Scene After Battle BSP Makes an Appearance Tefler Twist = Progenitor John becomes a God to the Brimorian’s Chapter 102 - 1TSM Day - March 10th TFED Battle raging John &amp; Crew are notified of Kintark invasion Sub-Plot - Jehanna @ lab and rescued along with Jade’s Sisteres Maliri / Trankaran push deep into Kirrix Space Ashanath / Maliri come to the aid of the TFED with Drakkar ground troops Tefler Twist - Evil John Makes an appearance - Cliff Hanger Tefler works on 4th Ebook Chapter 103 1 TSM Day - March 30Th TFED Battle Raging - Kintark loosing / Heavy TFED Losses Alyssa is very angry Mama Bear @ Lab while rescuing Jehanna with Jade a close second rescuing her sisters. John battling Evil John mentally and out of commission Invictus get’s in the fight - New Shields installed / Progenitor Upgrades from Dana Faye has moment over the danger BSP Twist Part 2 Chapter 104 - 1 TSM Day - April 12th TFED Battle almost over John on road to recovery Jehanna starts to broadcast events - starts revolt against Admiralty Maliri / Trankaran inflect heavy losses to Kirrix Grand Engineering Overlord has several revelations after digesting info from Vulcat trip Tefler Twist - Group from Unclaimed wastes attack Maliri territory Just my predictions, off to drink a bunch of beer!!!!!

Master Laurent

I think he will decide how many with her as well as their gender. John would likely remove the imprinting and master propensity. Keep the shapeshifting though.

Forbsey

Well, I was thinking again (I know, scary--right?) When Jade has babies, with her basic DNA being feline, she is most likely going to give birth to a litter of bipedal---KITTENS!!!! Can you imagine the interactions with John's other children? Will Jade's children have her propensity to take on a master? Will they imprint on the other kids? Will they be able to shape shift? Also, John's children with the others: John has the ability to control the DNA of his offspring (we know male or female). We also know that John can make one a Progenitor or not. Does he decide all his children are Progenitors or does he decide to not make them Progenitors? THAT, is the question!

PLRus--Founding member of the TSM F5 club.

Seems my prediction of Jan 28 being the finish date for the chapter won’t come true :( .

Sid1712

Any day now. Any day...

Jedi Khan

It is Past Midnight Tefler Time so probably no news tonight! :-(

Master Laurent

Real Genius really is real genius...one of my fav movies. If I had a way to do it (but I don't) I'd do a 2001 + 2010 double-feature. (I'm still waiting for someone to step up and make the 3001 movie).

GrandPaM

For what it's worth, Tefler just posted Chapter 98 to SOL, so, based on his history, when he does that, he comes out within a day or so with an update as to the next chapter.

Evan

Yes, Giorgio starring Luciano Pavarotti for a palette cleanser?

commatoes

OK, so I am going nuts waiting for a status update. The End of the Month is 5 Days Away, Fuck-nuts (My alter-ego - maybe something like Jedi’s “Crazy”) has been going off the rails today. My solution? He is now attached to a chair, comfortably sitting with access to drink and snacks. I have lined up 3 obscure but great movies for him to watch this evening, hoping that these gems will be bad enough to be good and keep him occupied so I do not have to resort to Plan B, 64oz of 8% beer. My Criteria for picking movies for Fuck-nuts is Simple. Comedy, Minimal Violence, Not a Block Buster, and have some intelligence, so ALL WILL FERRELL MOVIES ARE DISQUALIFIED! Movie line up Tonight: The Pentagon Wars Remo Williams, the Adventure begins Real Genius Movie Lineup for Tomorrow 1941 The Princess Bride Blazing Saddles And then the First Seasons of the TV Show SOAP! OK Community, What are your suggestions?

Master Laurent

I am not sure I agree with you, I can see Dana designing a new station with armaments and facilities that will create a new standard in the TSM universe

Master Laurent

I'm guessing I'm not the only one who expects John / Edraele / Alyssa to click regarding turning the mothballed Maliri defence stations into fully fledged trading stations, rather than building from scratch

BTW, I am ok if the update says 2 weeks or 2 Months, You are the Author and we are your fans and the creative process can not be rushed.

Master Laurent

Now would be a good time for the Current Status Update (Chapter 99) - Hint, Hint, Nudge, Nudge. /^——^\ V o o V | Y | \ Q / / - \

Master Laurent

That is a possibility, since the Ashanath and Bolon both have similar tech that translates their telepathy into audio via some sort of interface. Not sure why the crew hasn't thought of that with regards to Faye. Maybe there's a limit to how far away the tech can pick up telepathy from? Or maybe it's because Faye is always watching and listening through the cameras on the Invictus, so it wasn't really necessary to have the telepathy to digital tech.

Jedi Khan

Could psionic detector-type technology be incorporated into Faye's body or into the Invictus &amp; Raptor to allow her to chat telepathically with Alyssa?

You are not alone RA!

14 days and no word :( my fingernails are almost gone. your writing is like a drug it feels so good and the withdrawals suck

That is why I keep introducing new things to discuss so that the intervening time to release seems to go faster.

Can we have a status update for Ch 99 please Mr Tefler?

Braw

The end of the month draws nigh. Per chance the next chapter too?

Jedi Khan

Could be that the overlapping shields would interfere with each other, unless they are perfectly in sync, much like a wave. Plus there is the issue of power consumption, as a ship likely does not have enough power to run two shield generators at the same time. That includes the Invictus, even with all the power at it's disposal, the vast majority of that power is already in use for other systems.

Jedi Khan

OK, ok... shields go up instantly, right? They go down relative to the amount of energy used to erode their strength -- too much, real fast. Got it. Then they recharge quite slowly in combat situations. OK, I get that, too. So, why not use more than one field generator? When one of them goes from green to amber, the next one flashes on and goes to green, allowing recharge time for the other one, providing continuous shields. What's wrong with that idea?

After catching up on the comments from the past couple days I thought I would throw out an idea that would satisfy Faye's need to protect the team and keep John happy as well. I would suggest adding a small mobile platform for the Reaper cannon's to attach to during ground operations. On this platform would be a fire-team or squad class shield generator, a comm unit, and a secondary weapon such as a Sonic cannon (to suppress instead of just killing) or grenade launcher (this also allows the system to be effect after the Reaper is disconnected). Total size should no more than triple the Reapers width and height while not effecting the length. In the event that the team enters an area were this isn't usable it can be left behind as an emplacement to guard the EXFIL with a VI or Faye as the operator. Include a recall function in the event a different EXFIL is used.

Cody Strong

Fair point

It was mentioned earlier in the story that it just seemed to be a Progen template for energy fields...which kind of begs the question about the Kirrix being a progen creation.

PLRus--Founding member of the TSM F5 club.

Okay, I have a question. If the Brimorians are any example, they have allowed other races to have diplomats at their trading stations. I am curious...don't the Terrans have one? It seems to me that Devereux would have gotten a lot further more quickly if she had contacted the Terran diplomatic office directly.

PLRus--Founding member of the TSM F5 club.

Is there any consensus on the repeated appearance of the hexagonal shape littered through the story? Off the top of my head it was used in the Karron docking force fields when they visited in the Invictus, extensively on the Kirrix hive ships, as well as the psychic shields generated by John, Alyssa, Sakura and Tashana.

Still think there is a lot of psychic energy around the Invictus. I think that since that Irillith can go into the Cyber Realm, John can do some cyber upgrades as well. Maybe this is how the cleaning bots have been upgraded. I have hope that he can do something for Faye upgrade wise.

Yea, I sense a Dana influence on that one, even though it hasn't been spelled out yet.

Cignal

Ok guys, yesterday's speculation about combat automatons was fun, and I appreciate the community's help in thinking it through. There is something else briefly mentioned but not fully explored related to the Cleaning bots and the maintenance bots (the Boys). The Invictus had cleaning bots when John acquired the ship. They keep the ship corridors, rooms and their clothes clean and in good repair. They seem smaller and more limited than the Boys, but have begun to show some quirky behaviors that are so far unexplained. Such as the basketball catch of clothes tossed by John followed by a little robotic victory dance and high five. Or when one of them pestered Jade about helping them to clean up the Play Room after an XO catch-up session. What is going on here? Why are they behaving like that? Have the Boys shown similar development? Has Faye or Sparks modified their programming, or is something else going on? Ghost in the machine?

You might try submitting it to StoriesOnlne (<a href="http://storiesonline.net)" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">http://storiesonline.net)</a> as they do have non-sex stories as well.

Evan

I wanted to ask Tefler a question, I have an unfinished story I have been sitting on for a few years (a spur of the moment write) and am thinking of adding to the Literotica collection. My story is however not an erotic one and doesn't fit into the type. The basis is a girl who was raised by an adoptive parents when they found her, she is special as she is by all intent and purposes an Angel. Growing up with a good education but no social skills attempts to join human society after being secluded for her safety. I've only done a few chapters and still have ideas for more but no motivation unless encouraged. Would Lit accept it? Or is there another similar site?

Forbsey

Maybe instead of an entirely new body, a mech suit that she puts on like the other girls for combat. Giving her the height like the other girls but the suit has space for extra ammo, utility items (grenades, etc) and her weapon could instead be a shield regenerator that she targets to John and the girls to help them recharge. She could change mode to be a defensive/offensive weapon too. Maybe the eternity crystals could power it?

Forbsey

Evan, Firstly, if Faye remotely operated an Escort combat automaton, neither she nor the device would be considered expendable. It would be like her wearing Crystal Allysium Armor, Dana's upgraded shields, and weaponized for high intensity combat. Her existence would not be threatened as she is linked to the Escort electronically from her server. She could sever the connection at any time with no physical risk to herself. If the Escort is damaged, it can be programmed to return on its own; and if it cannot, they can use the anti-gravity evacuation system linked to Paragon armor and tow it where it could be repaired. Secondly, Nexus -- a Progenitor device -- went mad then rogue after humans disassembled it then tried to reverse engineer it to make their own AI. They made mistakes reassembling it and drove Nexus homicidal. That has not happened to Faye, a Maliri AI. It probably won't happen to Faye or the Boys (Dana ensured they were not AIs). Weaponized Escorts are thus not/not AIs; they are programmable combat automatons. They have no personalities (intelligence), only heuristic software and programming, like the ship's external defenses against unwelcome entry, or the reflexive system that engages automatically -- shields up, weapons hot -- if they are interdicted and forced out of hyperspace by a hostile ship. Escorts would not rebel because they could not rebel. Thirdly, yes Progenitors are innately powerful; but they do use tech to augment their capabilities. That is why Dana is so important as she channels Progenitor technical schematics and adapts them to their needs. Fay already flies and fights the Invictus and the Raptor. So, Escorts could be viewed as simply another type of weapon system, a tech assist, not a new team member -- which would allow John to pursue his missions with an additional degree of combat capability. I see no obstacle to Progenitors adapting technology to achieve general and specific goals. Escorts would be this type of tech assist in combat situations.

ML he was simultaneously doing book 3 work too IIRC so that's what's taking so long. He was shooting for the end of the month for next chapter

Dennis Aston

OK, Getting out the Algorithm - Tefler posted that he was working on Chapter 99 on Jan 15Th. I know he said the end of the Month, however, given 10 Days for standard chapter, hoping for something over the next couple of days. :-)

Master Laurent

Kin, I am ok with the Story Arc's and I am ok with the slowed pace of the story, I am just looking for a little change up in the snuggle scenes, and or some more "Non - John" time with the Grand Engineering Overlord and her adventures. Dana is such a great character and Tefler has done such a great job of bringing her to life I would like to see more Dana and some of her process. Like how we are seeing Faye when she is with the Avatars

Master Laurent

MasterL I do read some frustration in your lengthy comment.. :-) I might have another insight which could play a significant role: because of the many interesting story arcs Telfer has managed to create, the actual pace of the story has been slowed down quiet a bit. Don’t get me wrong; I do love all those unsolved and intriguing little sub-plots but they take up a lot of space. I guess many are willing to take that for granted but sometimes I have the feeling that the main storyline is affected by it a little too much.

Kin Asdi

Greetings Great Community!!! With deepest respect to all parties, Thank you for helping making this such a wonderful experience. Last week I reread Chapter 98 for the Second Time. I have spent the 2.5 hours reading and thinking about all of the 430+ Comments. I have let several days pass before I shared my thoughts. I so Love this Community and the Inspired Dialog that is created by this Magical Author and this Journey he has embarked upon and invited us all to join along with him. Thank You, Thank You, Thank You Tefler for such a wonderful Ride and allowing us to come along, it is GREAT. We all know that nothing is perfect, however, this ride has been amazing with a couple of “Speed Bumps” and “Hazards” along the way. All of which Tefler has been able to overcome with his Amazing Talent!!!!!!!!!! IMHO we have all witnessed the progression of tremendous growth from the early chapters to the current offering. To use an analogy that I am sure I will get crucified for, but Fuck it, this is my post. In the Beginning, Tefler’s work was like McDonalds, Consistently above average that left one satisfied. Now, His work is like fine dining, Amazing Quality, a more discerning crowd with some that are just experiencing Uni or Durian for first time, while still delivering the consistent quality of McDonalds in the background for the inexperienced. It has been an amazing opportunity over the last two years experiencing your growth as an author. Thank you again for this opportunity and the amazing story you have shared with us, please never stop! Your mind offers a spring breeze of creative life and hope that few ever replicate or can even comprehend. How Else Can I say it, TEFLER, YOU ROCK. Some Thought if I may, and remember, Opinions are like Assholes, Everyone has one. However, I am going to also echo some of the thoughts from the comments, maybe with a little more clarity, maybe not. I think that 90% of the Community will agree that the focus of TSM is not a Stroke Story. If fact, if you have not become so devious and burying little key story points in the middle of the snuggle scenes I think most would just skim over the that part of the story. That being said, other than when the Matriarchs were being given a child it almost seems like you have become predictable with two major sex scenes with John and then a couple of actions scenes. I so wish I had no life and I would go back and break up the stories by Content Type and see the Ratio’s - A SWAG Example with NO FACTUAL BASIS: 33% - Sex Scenes 10% - Main Character Development 17% - Battle Scenes 35% - Sub-Plots 5% - Technology in the Story - Should probably be a sub-plot The thing is, I am sure that the “Girls” are having fun also. It would be fun IMHO to see Dana overwhelmed with lust while waiting on a mass fabricator and start to Tease Rachael and have that turn into a full on scene with Jade, given the story arc from Chapter 98. Or, Instead of a full on sex event, you could play it out like a tease while they are working on the suite where Dana starts to tease Rachael when Rachael has her hands full and must accept the teasing, the entire time offering up threats of revenge. I really feel like we are missing some great character development while they are all working on different things on the ship. How about what the boys are up to during the day while upgrading different things on the ships. You have gone out of your way to provide them with some questionable personality traits and it would be interesting to see them develop verses a sex scene with John where he fucks the daylights out of them over and over again, enjoying how they look with Curved Stomachs. You eluded to the responses by the girls with your dialog with Faye about the post feeding Girls, Maybe the Girls could show up already stuffed and we get a small dialog on how they got that way, And Who the Fuck am I to make any Comments???? I am a loyal reader who loves your work and only wants to see it get better. Why I am writing this, simple, If I am becoming frustrated with the Sex Scenes to the point where I want to do analytics on your writing and several other have commented on how this is no longer a “Stroke” Story, Like in Real Life, Variety is the spice of life and you have one hell of a lot of Variety to Choose from. Hearing “Go Fuck Yourself” From the Community ringing in my head, and I agree. That being said, I hope you see that nothing has been said with any malice or intent to be negative, just a point of reference on my experience hoping to get some CONSTRUCTIVE POSITIVE feed back from the other one way or another. Awaiting for the next chapter with Baited Breath ML

Master Laurent

I was thinking about John's allowing the girls to create an automated army (of one or more automatons) for Faye to inhabit (or operate, if you prefer) to protect the girls (since he would consider their safety before his own), and after some consideration, I don't think that John would do it. There are three primary reasons for this. 1 - Faye is not a disposable 'thing' to John to be used as an expendable defense, and he never wants her to think that she is. She is valued and has value, and she should always recognize that, no matter how many or what type of bodies she's operating. John would be concerned, rightly or wrongly, with the psychology of the issue. This ties into my second reason. 2 - In the past, treating cybernetic organisms as expendable things has not worked out well for the Terran Federation. They always end up feeling like they are not being treated appropriately and rebel. Based on that history, it's a really, really bad idea. 3 - It doesn't seem to me to be in the Progenitor mindset, which certainly influences John, to operate in this fashion. They do much, much better creating lifeforms to do their work for them, while simultaneously using those lifeforms to empower their own abilities to heights much greater than could be achieved by any mere physical mechanism. Consider that John can't have enhanced the girls to do anything beyond the capabilities of a Progenitor, so a Progenitor who hordes all of his power for himself could, theoretically, be able to do all that the girls can do, plus all that we've seen Progenitor John do, plus a whole lot more. There are no limits to what a Progenitor could possibly be capable of, whereas mechanisms are strictly limited in what they can do. I believe that Mael'nerak didn't create Nexus to do what he couldn't, but rather, what he would be too bored to do for himself.

Evan

I like your thinking on this.

GrandPaM

It’s not like she hasn’t done the same thing with the raptor

This is an excellent idea Faye could start the conversation “John, I know you said you wanted to protect my body, but I still want to be able to help protect everyone by going with you on missions. What if Dana, Irillith and I could create a bot/body that could go with you and add a lot of firepower? It would be like one of my avatars, not my primary body, but my battle avatar.” Throw in a few pleases....

It also solves the problem of Faye’s anxiety over not being able to protect everyone in combat but also keeps her primary body out of the line of fire if she takes over one of the boys directly

Sure, Dana chose to forego making weapons bots at the time because of the difficulty writing code for them that discriminate consistently and correctly in a shoot, don't shoot situation. But that was a long time ago in the context of TSM. That was before Dana's triple helix was activated; before Sakura, Irrilith, or Tashana joined the crew; before Faye migrated to her Nexus server; and before Rachel's autopsies built up a database on combatant species and their vulnerabilities. After all of that, I believe Dana, Irrilith and Faye would be able to write software and code resilient enough to turn the boys into defensive field Escorts. One Escort per every two field operators seems a good balance to me. John will feel ever so much better, with an Escort keeping the girls safe, when he is not there to protect them.

Ok, seriously, you geeks. Here is something to chew on while we wait. Remember when Sparks created the 'boys'? Calara suggested that they were ideal for gun platforms. Faye has already used them for internal ship defense; and suggested they could be deployed as defensive cover on Maya's World. What if two of them -- encased in Crystal Allysium, shielded and armed with crew serve weapons like Reaper Gattling Guns, sonic canons and grenade launchers -- had accompanied John's team when they saved the diplomats from the Kirrix? The firepower they brought to bear would have been formidable and decisive. Similarly, if John takes the stealth shuttle to board a Vulkat ship to requisition Eternity Crystals, he could take one or two armed boys along to defend them. As Calara noted, this evolution from worker bot to weapons platforms would be logical, and in other hands, inevitable.

Thanks for the insight! You ever going to write this all up somewhere, a sort of Behind the Scenes ebook, perhaps?!?

7OO Tnega Terces

Regarding the Terran Federation government: It's a military-run dictatorship, very similar to the Federal government in Starship Troopers. They have pretty strict control over the media, and I focused on TFNN just to make them a familiar face, rather than flit between lots of news channels. Most of the media sources are churning out military-authorised propaganda, although TFNN is the major and "official" source for most High-Command PR efforts. That's why TFNN going off-message with the Lion propaganda came as such a shock to Buckingham and co. As to how the Terran Federation became a military dictatorship. I think I've mentioned before that TF is basically modelled on how I play 4x space strategy games: aggressive and expansionistic. It's very easy on those games to not give a shit about "the people", treating them as a mere annoyance that has to be managed, keeping public approval up to avoid rioting and anarchy on your planets. So the Admiralty in the story behave the same way. When you are surrounded by hostile alien species that can't be reasoned with, then security becomes an even greater priority than it is in modern politics. The TF has been in an open state of war with the Drakkar and Kirrix since making first contact with them, centuries before the events in the story. So with stakes so much higher, then it seemed likely that the military would play far more prominence than in modern politics. When you have hundreds of worlds within a galactic empire, then I think democracy will be sorely tested as a government model. Imagine having just 1 Senator there to represent all of Earth's interests (all 7+ billion currently). Each planet would have wildly different interests, so I suspect that most worlds would have fairly autonomous control once the population reached a suitably large size. They would gather collectively to discuss common interests within the Federation, security being the primary topic of discussion.

Tefler

Thank you, Tefler, for the update!

Evan

Hey everyone, Sorry I've been a bit quiet recently. I've had a few internet issues and I was busy getting stuck into chapter 99. I've been reading your comments as usual and it's been fun reading all the speculation. :-) I'm aiming to get the latest chapter done by the end of the month and I'm well on track for that.

Tefler

Like a cartoon dog? ;-)

Purely plutonically of course but god I love you all. So fun to nerd out in here. Thanks Tefler

Dennis Aston

GrandpaM: I don't disagree with what you are saying necessarily but I've been in the military. Just because it makes sense to you and I doesn't mean it will be done that way. Military organization's are like any other, there is a political element at the higher levels, budgets to think about etc. At the lower levels people just try to get by, "Good enough for government work" is a common saying. I know what you are saying but sometimes people can get in the way of truly great things

Dennis Aston

Tefler give me some sweet sugar.

Mapstar

He said he would have it out by the end of the month, he is also working on eBook3

Forbsey

Any update on chp 99

I tend to agree that more than a few hours of complete comms blackout from the Dragon March would be headline news. Family members calling, normal military and trading traffic, relayed reports, furloughs...the list would be endless. A comms blackout would be noticed and commented on almost instantly.

PLRus--Founding member of the TSM F5 club.

*empowered = un-powered-up (i.e. awaiting remote startup commands)

GrandPaM

Further thoughts on the TFed situation: No military and/or intelligence organization would fail to have "black" failover, empowered backup comns relays available to supplement or relieve equipment failures or covert counter-COMMs operations by adversaries. This too undercuts Tefler's storyline on the Kintark invasion. Again, people (even those in the intelligence corps) talk. With a recent history of having senior-level Admiralty members defect abd/or commit treason, those guys would be seriously suspicious of EVERYONE'S trying to operate ANY sort of dark/black operations - especially if there is ANY appearance that such operations may be able to be working against TFed interests. Abandoning the outer systems to gather a massive fleet in one spot would be assured to trigger such thoughts from the intel-type officers...especially given recent trechary.

GrandPaM

I imagine any of the girls can, they just choose not to. The bonds between the girls is based on love, trust, and respect. That allows them to be able to have some privacy in their own mind if they so desired. All they would have to do is ask and Alyssa would allow it, unlike in a traditional Matriarch/thrall relationship. Although, I'm sure that if Alyssa really wanted to, she could bust through the mental blocking rather easily.

Jedi Khan

Okay, even further evidence that Jade has become a Matriarch: She frowned and apologised telepathically to the blonde, then said, "Perhaps I better just block Alyssa out of my mind for a few hours? I'm not sure I'll be able to stop thinking fishy thoughts." "Okay, but keep your connection active with me," John said firmly. "Of course," Jade said, giving him a solemn nod. There has been no indication that anyone other than a Matriarch (or Progenitor for that matter) can 'block' Alyssa's psychic connection.

PLRus--Founding member of the TSM F5 club.

I believe at that point, John had not yet realized he had psychic powers. That scene you mention was probably Tefler foreshadowing that not only was the metal psychically reactive, but it was reacting to John as well. Otherwise, no, there has been no further mention of that info since.

Jedi Khan

I know that this is a little off chapter, but I was rereading some of the older chapters when I came across something that I don't think was ever brought back up. In chapter 38, John and the girls have just finished installing the new heatsinks on the ship. Jade and John were making out on the outer hull. After he and the girls left, there is this paragraph: Unnoticed behind them, the hull of the Invictus was shrouded in a faint nimbus of light, the radiance centred where the amorous couple had been kissing. It slowly faded out of sight as the group walked away, leaving the jet black hull glistening with a dark sinister lustre. I was wondering if anything came of this info or if it got forgotten in the background of the other conflicts?

If John does not get his hands on the Brimorian shield generators before they get back to the Terran Core Worlds, then neither the Invictus, Raptor nor Valkyrie will have them installed when they arrive at the battle. Sure, Dana's quantum shells will probably take down the new Kintark shields, but their own vessels will not have comparable or superior shields. That represents a serious risk. Dana said it would probably take her a week to theorize, design, build and install prototypes of the upgraded shields. It may take the Invictus less time than that to drop into Terra. Conundrum...

Bigs... Only Celphna was referred to as a gift. The others -- mates? Concubines? -- were described as in a traditional submissive posture. Assuming after centuries of exploitation, Nymphs are truly rare, then that makes Celphna even more desirable. I do not think all the others are Nymphs. In that estimation, the Deep Lord must know she is Lenarran, in order to fully appreciate her value as a gift.

It appears that they are amphibious, considering they have vendors in a market that other races can visit without having to wear underwater gear.

Jedi Khan

i think it is implied that they throttle their FTL speed in brimorian space, mainly because the reason for doing it in the first place hasn't disappeared. (not to be seen as threatening) getting a one-up on some surprised frogpeople seems like a nice thing :P

Opening of the chapter introduces the Deep Pool , stating that all the Lords were attended by their respectfully kneeling mates , as was tradition . Could they all be nymphs ? Is being a Lord of the Deep Pool get you a nymph of your own ? We all know that Athgiloi stated his was a gift , seeming to indicate a recent event but maybe we're reading more into it . A lot we don't know about what's up yet .

bigdawguw65

A question just occurred to me. I don't know if this was addressed in later edits, but is John keeping the Invictus' FTL speed down for the entire duration of their stay in Brimorian space or was that just for the border entry approach? If they're keeping their full FTL speed a secret from the Brimorians, then all our time estimates for whether or not John can make it back to Terra in time to save the day could be off by at least a few hours, if not even half a day. We may need Tefler to answer that question if no one can find reference to it in the last couple of chapters.

Jedi Khan

I picked up on that too

I'm just re-reading the series :p great way to spend the time waiting for the next chapter XD

Dennis Banfield

He lives! And Crazy has started cussing up a storm again. Damn. He did not like hearing that we'll have to wait at least another week for the new chapter.

Jedi Khan

I've had some internet issues over the last couple of days, so unfortunately I haven't had an opportunity to respond to everyone's recent comments. I've been working on eBook3 for the last week, but it's been quite slow going as a lot of these chapters I haven't looked at in nearly two years. That's meant rewording lots of sentences as well as sorting out punctuation and grammar issues. I'll get stuck into chapter 99 soon, then aim to have that finished by the end of the month. :-)

Tefler

Hey TS. Thanks for the feedback! It's always nice to hear from someone new. Thank you for pointing out the discrete/discreet mixup, it was one I hadn't really thought about before, so I would have kept making the same mistake. :-) I've fixed it in my master copy of chapter 98. I was aware of the Luna/Lunacy similarity and considered taking it out, and subbing something else in instead, like "madness" or "raving".

Tefler

I would be ok with book3 too, either or:)

I certainly hope Tefler's silence over the last few days has been an indication that he's got his nose to the grindstone working on chapter 99 and not an indication of something else.

Jedi Khan

Hi Tefler, I'm a big fan of TSM, and fairly recently joined Patreon to show my gratitude for a well-crafted story. I haven't posted feedback before, but rest assured if I'm any indication, for every visible piece of appreciation, there's 5 lurkers that also enjoy your works. Just wanted to pass on a couple of small editing suggestions: You tend to use the word discrete when you really might want to use the word discreet. I saw this in chapter 98 and a previous one, so you may want to scan past chapters. Discretion is the practice of being discreet. "Discreet implies the showing of reserve and prudence in one's behavior or speech. Discrete means something quite different: “distinct, separate, unrelated.” --dictionary.com Also, Luna is quoted as saying “I don’t want to hear any more of your lunacy.” Since the word Luna is from the latin word moon, and lunatic or lunacy is intermittent insanity attributed to the moon, I'm thinking the proximity of her name and the condition she is suggesting may undercut the message. Hope this helps, and keep up the good work!

I wonder if it'll come with a flake?

*drums fingers waiting for 99* :-)

If you look at the Overview, you'll see that Tefler posted: Status - 15th January: I'm currently working on Chapter 99 of Three Square Meals!

Evan

That story is not new, with the first chapter having been posted back in 2000, and the most recent one in 2002. That probably explains why I haven't heard of it, since it was posted long before I joined the site. I might take a look at it later.

Jedi Khan

New amazing story to read on literotica it’s called The Ancient Prophecy it’s brilliant kind of like lord of the rings with gods devils orcs goblins I’m not into that kind of thing but this is amazing author is called Viper.

Jim lynch

<a href="https://pastebin.com/6L63ukNA" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://pastebin.com/6L63ukNA</a>

I last read the Jan 12th version. I usually download it and read it on my computer, then use track changes to see the differences between it and the next update, but this time I read it on my mobile, so I don't have a copy of that version to do the comparison to see what's different. Does anyone have the Jan 12th draft for me to use so I don't have to re-read the entire chapter trying to spot what's different this time?

7OO Tnega Terces

JFL, I believe it was mentioned on the first trip to Geniya station that Rachel was able to determine that all the Maliri they saw on the way to meet Ceraden, guards included, were men based off of how the Maliri stood and walked, even when armored. The first female Maliri they saw was Irillith.

Jedi Khan

John's not worried about the Maliri in general fighting, hence why he was able to send a fleet off to fight the Kirrix in Trankaran space. What he has issue with is having Maliri aboard his ship for the express purpose of fighting. He knows that if he has more Maliri (or women in general) aboard, he's likely going to form an emotional attachment to them, which will result in him being devastated when and if one of them were to end up KIA. The best way to ensure their survival would be to enhance them like he has the crew, however not only will that guarantee he forms an emotional attachment, he also believes he doesn't have the time to invest to make those enhancements while also being fair to his current girls. As for the Maliri males, with the way their society is now, there simply isn't enough men around to allow for them to serve alongside the women in the military on the front lines. It'll be a number of generations before the gender imbalance is corrected enough for that to happen. Yes, the men can and will fight now, but likely only if their stations are threatened.

Jedi Khan

The men are techs and merchants and sperm doners. ALL the guards and troops are females. But I agree, the Maliri are going to be more active. That is why John is giving them the best tech...including the new shield tech.

PLRus--Founding member of the TSM F5 club.

I think John is going to have to come to grips with his reluctance in using the Maliri in this war against BSP . I know his doesn't want to appear to be a typical Progenitor , using his thralls as disposable cannon fodder , but they have a stake in the outcome of this war too. Not using all available assets in battle is not only dumb but in the end might mean sacrifice everyone &amp; everything . Also we haven't heard anything about Maliri males , they were used as guards &amp; troops at the trading stations &amp; should be willing to do their part in saving their race from slavery or extinction . I'm sure Ceradan would do anything to protect his reunited family . John has had no reservation in having Ashanta , Tarnkarans , Drakkar &amp; Humans fighting , so he's going to figure out a way to feel comfortable in using his strongest allies too. The Maliri females have grown up as warrior women &amp; I think he's doing them a disservice in treating them as someone to be coddled .

bigdawguw65

ROFL...lets see if we can get several of the Lionesses on the list instead of just one this year.

Cody Strong

Hey all! Literotica has started up their awards season again! Nominations are now open for the 2017 Reader's Choice Awards - Special Categories! See the link below for the official posting on Literotica's forums. Tefler was nominated for - and won! - Most Influential Writer, as well as Sexiest Male and Female Characters from the special categories for the 2016 awards, so let's do it again this year! Note: You must have a Literotica account in order to submit nominations, and limit one nomination per user account per category. If you have a Lit account to comment on Tefler's stories over there, your account will work on the forums where the nominations (and later voting!) happen. Check it out and nominate Tefler! Nominations end March 31st! <a href="http://forum.literotica.com/showthread.php?t=1468747" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">http://forum.literotica.com/showthread.php?t=1468747</a>

Jedi Khan

I would say that the chances of Tfed not being hacked is approaching 0, has young Maliri girls are trained by hacking Tfed.

interesting take on the ancient program, i immediately assumed it was a lurkerprogram made by the other progenitor to keep tabs on johns progress. The abondoned are most likely terran colonists who have been enslaved and genetically altered by the brimorians to serve more effectively under water. This could then become the reason that John gets some righteous anger to give the brimorians some clobbering time. Every scene with the brimorians almost screams: "We are the Baddies!"

So...how goes it with chapter 99? Crazy's taking a break from his ranting after chapter 98, but if it turns out 99 isn't coming out soon, then he's likely to start back up again.

Jedi Khan

A healed dead thing?

Dennis Aston

Just a thought...if Rachel could heal the Vulkat...what that might mean!!!!

Arrowglass

Oh man, Nymph sighting with Cephna there. Can't wait for the deep lord and his mate to meet John. For the time being I'm going with the abandoned being descendants of Terran colonists who interbred with Brimorians. What is so special about Helene that drew Jade to her besides her looks though? I think the ancient program stalking Irrilith (she needs to create cyber minions like her sister does with her pyro powers) is Vulkat in origin, what with their artificial intelligence and insect like characteristics. Dana's escalating dismay about encountered giant spider zombie cyborgs was my favorite part of the chapter. At least they aren't aquatic too right? The reports of Devreaux's demise are greatly exaggerated. However she also behaved in a very foolish manner. She could've contacted the Maliri from somewhere other than Tfed headquarters. I like Rachel's plan to spend more time with John, she could've just asked though. Please no Maliri marines unless John upgrades them all to Luna levels. Even then he would be dangerously far on the path to being Mal to me. Thanks for the chapter Tefler! Keep up the good work at your own pace.

I believe it is corrections

Forbsey

Anyone know if Tefler added any new scenes to this chapter or if it was just corrections?

DemonHunterCole

My, not mum. 😓

DemonHunterCole

wasn't it deliberate due to the increase in size?

@Tefler In chapter 78 during the Battle for Ashana you refer to the Invictus as a battlecruiser instead of an assault cruiser, is this a mistake or a deliberate choice to upgrade the classification because of the upgrades during the second Genthalas refit?

Malthe Mørk Mejlby

We know that John can 'connect' to Cyberspace... and Faye is an entity of Cyberspace... so, can John establish an 'active' connection to Faye? What would be the results of such a connection? Would he then be able to have some connection to her without having to Astrally project, thus not having to defeat his Progenitor Guide to do it?

Evan

Is Chapter 99 due next, or are we waiting for updates and Book 3 next before work starts on the next chapter?

Per comic book rules, even when you see a dead body that does not mean that character is permanently dead.

Thoughts about the eternity crystals, and crystals already used in normal settings. Mum recollection is that diamonds are used in lasers to focus the beams. Now I know that Dana has used Malari Crystals in almost everything since they stole the tech after their first visit with the Malari. It would not be impossible that Dana could use these superior crystals to increase weapons, shields, and even FTL Speeds. Or is it possible that the crystals will help with the wormhole generator?

DemonHunterCole

Hi Tefler one of the place u have mentioned as Zulkat instead of vulkat

I have been off the grid for 4 days and we are already @ 331 Comments, I know that I have some reading to catch up on before I start to Pontificate my speculations in attempt to cover up my longing for Chapter 99, hopefully it will be the end of the month, can not take a February release!

Master Laurent

I really like Faye's internal monologues as she reconciles her earlier observations of where she fits into the crew relationships now that she has a body and can physically interact. Looking forward to her first date with John where she will kiss him for the first time, but maybe not get to third base. I wonder if Dana's suggestion that Faye's body be designed to handle large amounts of liquid possibly makes her a reservoir for topping up the girls to achieve an active connection with John if Jade is not available.

Evan...if she's a Nymph then Athgiloi is her Master , from what we've learned so far once a Nymph is accepted she is totally sub-servant to her new master , she couldn't be beholding to who ever gifted her to him . So if she is a "mole" or spy for whoever gave her to him , she is something other than a Nymph . Who gifted her is the real question &amp; could revel lot about how involved BSP is in the Kintark/Brimoian partnership . It seems from the discussion in the Deep Pool that the Kintarks are expecting them to support their invasion &amp; battle with the T-Fed but they seem to be willing to wait &amp; deal with the weakened survivors .

bigdawguw65

I’m also looking forward to finding out more about the origin of the hidden security program in the Brimorian Cyber-Realm, which appears completely unknown to the Brimorians and several thousand years old. It would appear to be too young to be of Mael’Nerak’s creation, too old to be Terran, and its six-limbed construction indicates to me that it might be of non-humanoid origin.

Evan

I’m looking forward to finding out that Celphna is a Nymph, but the question in my mind is, who was she a gift from? Was it from the BSP, the Emperor, or another? If it is as I suspect, then I also question as to the identity of her True Master, and whether or not she’s playing a role, although it may be that it is as it appears.

Evan

JFL: I agree with you. When John, Rachel, Dana and Jehanna were shot with tranquilizer darts, there was no thump or pain or inability to breath. I think she is dead.

Comic book rules apply? Unless you see a dead body, they are not dead.

commatoes

Nice. Any update on ebook 2 being available in my country tefler ? It might help to sustain me till ch 99 :)

Sid1712

I just updated the post with the FINAL version. :-)

Tefler

Hmm...so I take it some of us think Devereux is not dead: "Devereux felt a thump in her back and she crashed to the floor, pain blossoming in her chest. She tried to crawl towards the door, but she had no strength in her arms and it hurt to breathe... she was so close... Then blackness... and with it a final surge of despair. She had failed and she knew humanity was lost." While I can agree Tefler did not say she was dead, A thump in the back with pain in the chest is pretty definitive. But if she is not dead, the only place they could hold her would be their secret asteroid base where Gynamede used to be.

PLRus--Founding member of the TSM F5 club.

I

I suspect that Lynnette is being kept out of the way until an accident can occur. Now she is under arrest, possible being kept sedated, and will just happen to be on a ship near the front lines...

Buckingham may see her as a traitor, but there has to be a system in place to charge and convict an admiral of treason. Until that process has run it's course she's still an admiral and the guards wouldn't dare shoot lethally.

That would be something special if Faye could be brought to life as suggested by Leon Shelton! In a totally different vein, is Admiral Lynette Devereau (if she survives being shot in the back) being set up to become a Lioness herself now after a dramatic rescue and then eventually the new Fleet Admiral when the Kintark and/or John finally "clean house?"

Arrowglass

The talk of the infinity crystal makes me think it might be able to be used to bring Faye to Real Life by John with help from Rachel. It could be kind of like the crystal in Jade. Just throwing that out there, who knows what it can do besides enhancing shielding as the Brimorians say it does. Could the forgotten ones be from Terra and the reason for the mermaid stories of ancient times.

Leon Shelton

And every other powered appliance on the ship work three times stronger or faster.....Including heat sinks....Continuous fire Mark II Photon Lasers anyone?

PLRus--Founding member of the TSM F5 club.

Also, possible crew for the new ship

Stealthq

What if the infinity crystals allow FTL drives to run even faster? They are tied into the drive power mechanism allowing the tachyon flow to cycle quicker and now the Invictus will fly through space 3X faster! My four farthings!

Big Dude

I was wondering just what these infinity crystals might be &amp; if only the up till now undiscovered Vulkat has them how did the rest know what they were &amp; what they can do ? Are they up till now just a hypothetical extrapolation of known crystals ? I'll admit I'm not to strong on the Science of Sci-Fi but enjoy listening &amp; learning from those who know so much more . From what's been said so far they seem to be a game changer &amp; I hope that John doesn't reward the Brimorian treachery with any . If they do get them , when they get back John can just tell The Deep Lord that they can keep their shields(since they already have the plans) &amp; he'll keep the crystals &amp; bye .

bigdawguw65

In the diner she did the equivalent of searching google maps for "embassy". A public, open network that grows organically over the geography of a city is likely to match more closely to the terran norm of point-to-point networks and protocols, while a purpose-built secure network confined to the space of a ship and built all at once can more easily be built to match their evolutionary ideals.

Since we're speculating... imagine if the crystals could interact with psychic energy... giving a boost to John's network of psychics.. :::face palm::: that just gave me the popup in my mind "Call the Progenitor Psychic Hotline within the next 10 minutes to quadruple your psychic output! Remember, this offer is only good for the next ten minutes!"

Ok I am speculating today on what the possible uses of these Infinity Crystals might be: We are told they would increase a regenerative shield strength. Since shields absorb energy weapons it is reasonable to assume these crystals work with the natural processes of the shield generators to improve efficiency. If that is the case, then everything that deals with energy could be affected. Moving from a 30% efficiency rating to 90% would triple the already about to be 2.5 times improved shield strength making them 7.5 times stronger, thrusters, engines, power couplings, capacitors, computing power, heat sinks, energy weapons and Quantum shells all three times more efficient/effective. The Nova Lances could be either 3 times more powerful or fire every 20 seconds, The Mark II Photon Lasers could fire continuously or output 3 times the power (or some combination of both). The FTL drive, which is already 5 times faster than Terran Standard would now be 15 times faster. Faye could have triple the processing power (so she could now have 36 avatars), the Invictus could travel 3 times faster both in FTL and sub-light. The hand held weapons 3 times more powerful or have constant fire...

PLRus--Founding member of the TSM F5 club.

Since the Vulkat are cyborgs, I wonder if Irililith or Faye could take them over? Could they re-write their programming and friend-foe protocols? Would be interesting if John turned up to the Battle of Olympus with a horde of cyborg zombie spiders, just in the nick of time.

VycronDyz

Calara complains during martial arts training that John cheats when he uses psychic speed. She uses psychic prescience to compensate when Sakura amps up her psychic speed. Sakura said even though she has superior strength and speed, Calara is still a tricky opponent. So even though all the crew share the same gift/change template/abilities at the upper limits of human potential, it seems to me that psychically enhanced speed and strength are orders of magnitude superior to the standard template .

I have an idea on the dragons;)

just imagine a hot chick with extra legs, hot extra legs. hmm, how did that happen i wonder... honestly how would kirrix turn out? drakkar? vulkat? empress dragon?? these and more are very, very serious questions. (PS for the dirty minded; just the end results).

keen_FlattendHedgeHog

ROFL, yet!!

Off Topic...one thing I do appreciate about the introduction of the Vulkat Zombie Cyborg Spiders , for once no one has suggested adding one to the crew . :-)

bigdawguw65

Question about Norwood &amp; his ship ..who is crewing it , his own men who deserted with him or Kintarks? Could make a difference if he realizes in time he's being duped . Haven't really heard anything about it , it seems most of the slaughter of innocents is being done by other Kintark ships.

bigdawguw65

Dr Dadd...John has enhanced each of the girls a bit differently depending on their jobs/skills . Sakura &amp; Clara in speed &amp; strength for combat &amp; also the twins because they pretty much are his ground shock troops . All of human crew members were enhanced early to greater than usual humans but further enhancement has had more to do with what skills they need to succeed &amp; survive .

bigdawguw65

Or.. will this be the Battle of Olympus?

GrandPaM

Forbsey, Deveroux is dead.

PLRus--Founding member of the TSM F5 club.

I have had similar thoughts at a few points, so score this comment as a "me too", M3!

GrandPaM

Buckingham is going to be thoroughly discredited for his inane decision to leave the border worlds defenceless. I see either Deveroux or Charles to become fleet admiral. Deveroux seems to be turning a new leaf, despite her not being too bad in the first place. It might be a good idea to bring in a militia force for all Tfed civilians to help supplement military forces. Like the game star citizen has.

Forbsey

you know it will be! :P

John told Edraele after his talk with the Deep Lord that after his Brimorian/Vulkat adventure, he would return to the Terran Core Worlds to wrap up a few loose ends. Whether he is prewarned or just drops into the Battle of Terra unannounced, it could be epic!

When Devereux arrived in Olympus, it said one and a half days until zero hour, T-36. At roughly the same time, John departed Brimor for the Vulkat. 7 hours travel time puts us at T-29. Estimared time needed for locating and retrieving the crystals 5 to 9 hours, median 7. This gives an expected time of T-22. Travel time back to Brimor + exchange of goods and services 9 hours, T-13. Sometime around that point, Charles should realize something is afoot and give John a precautionary call, then head for Tera with all the reffited ships he's got. As soon as he's in range of the upgraded sensors, He'll tell John to make it post haste. I'd guess we're in ch. 100 from the return to Brimor onwards. This makes me very certain , John will be at the second Battle of Tera.

@Tefler when editing the coming ebooks, you need to pay attention to what thoughts Edraele and Alyssa might have heard and which they wouldn't have. I've noticed several times where Edraele comments on stuff someone told John when she wouldn't be able to know what was said. And I believe Alyssa mentioned (after the first Genthalas refit) that she wished she could hear the other side of conversations (between John and Edraele) but later (Before meeting Edraele again) Edraele and Alyssa are commenting on what the other said to John without him telling them.

Malthe Mørk Mejlby

It's one of my top 5 favorite scenes.

DemonHunterCole

Might it be waiting for it's Progenitor creator to reappear like Nexus . Maybe it's Ragadon's AI left behind to monitor the Vylkat or Brimorians &amp; sees in Irillith the handy work of a Progenitor &amp; that's why it didn't attack or notify Brimoians that their system was hacked , but just retired back &amp; continued to monitor .

bigdawguw65

DCM, I like the idea that John develops some kind of rapport that brings the Vulkat into his alliance.

Agreed. How many times can you write about John making love to his girls before it is just adding to the word count? I think it is long past that point. Also less about how guilty John feels all the time and there will be pages empty to fill with battles and fighting. You are making him to be very needy all the time and needing constant reassurance from his women that he has nothing to feel guilty about. Apart from that it is great.

“Oh my God!” exclaimed Dana, her eyes going wide with fright. “The Vulkat are fucking spiders?! I hate spiders!” Dana wrinkled her nose in disgust and shuddered violently, “Come on... cyborg spiders?!” “Zombie cyborg spiders?!” Dana squeaked. “You’ve got to be fucking kidding me!” Freakin Hilarious!

PLRus--Founding member of the TSM F5 club.

A few phat finger issues, sorry

DCM

Try this angle.... The Vulkat are Progenitor thalls, they wake up to John, attack the Kirrik and Kintark with John, fulfill their destiny by eating most of the T Fed leadership, and got back into far orbit waiting for the next time they are needed. We discover the Brimorians’ world was destroyed in the Progenitor Wars and Mael put them on Heken’s planet thinking they could all get along. Have I missed anything?

DCM

John and Alyssa are the only ones with cyber realm experience or spirit walking.

Timbo wrote after Ch. 95 that he looked forward to the Maliri twins combining their powers somehow and speculated on how that would manifest. When Irillith got the creeps after being surveilled by an unknown agency (the dark digital presence) within the Brimorian cyber realm, John asked her and Faye to come up with a way to provide backup to their hacker. What if Tashana becomes that backup and learns to detach her spirit self to support her sister in cyber space. I don't know what that would entail, but they could avoid detection by avoiding using the comm array, and sneak across a psychic bridge to plunder target computer systems with greater security.

Could the Vulkat possess some worm drive technology system that Dana recognizes from her inspection of the Ashanath based progenitor ship? Then magically John arrives in the nick of time?

Big Dude

I noticed that, too, Bigdawg. That is why I speculate that it is a minion of the Vulkat, but may not have been created by them. Indeed, this tech predates the Brimorians and may predate the Vulkat as well.

About the dark digital entity in the Brimorian internet system , everyone has jumped to the conclusion that it's from the Zombie Cyborg Spiders of Vylkat but it might be a Tefler red herring . It only has 6 legs ! spiders have 8 . &amp; it used one of it's "legs" to spear the hunter program , more like a scorpion or bee/wasp rather than grab it with a web &amp; bite it . Just something about it that seems off , to easy a clue from the Mater of Cliff Hangers . Jusy my 2 cents

bigdawguw65

This side trip to the Desolation of Vulkat has gripped my imagination. This high risk/high reward venture is a tempting opportunity for sure. As an alternative service for the Deep Lord, they gain schematics and scaled versions of the tech for imediate installation. The mystery of the Vulkat only stands in their way. What if the Vulkat are ancient zombies animated by their cyborg implants for real? What if they were dead like this for eons? What if their real mental existence is a program within their cyber realm and they form a collective mind/consciousness like the Ashanath aspire to? What if this interactive consciousness resides within the Eternity Crystals linking their fleets? The Brimorians do not know how to make these crystals. They salvaged the ones they have along with bodies of the spiders from defeated Vulkat vessels. But like the Ashanath with the Legacy, Brimorians do not fully understand the mysterious tech and can only make less than fully effective use of it. In this case, they cannot even make copies, but depend on the salvaged supply. Ok, what if when the Brimorians installed the Eternity Crystals, without their awareness, a shard of the Vulkat digital consciousness infested the Brimorian fleet? What if the dark digital entity/program is a minion of the Vulkat? Now, imagine that the Eternity Crystal is not Vulkat in origin but a remnant of even more ancient Progenitor tech. After Dana upgrades the crap out of their shield projectors, the Incivtus might then approximate the shield strength of the BSP.

Tefler: I have noted a bit of a discontinuity. Your description of the Brimorian networking I think is misplaced. Irillith would have experianced the same thing when she went into the kiosk at the diner.

PLRus--Founding member of the TSM F5 club.

So, in short, what I'm saying is that there is NO WAY that the conversation between Charles and Lynette went down the way Telfer says (once those 4 fleets showed up - or even once the orders that they would show up appeared in the secure message traffic, for that matter).

GrandPaM

A general comment on the TFed situation: People talk - especially ship Captains and Admirals. Once 4 fleets appeared around Olympus, *EVERYONE* from ensign's and above would be talking - and once the commanders of those fleets spoke to one another (and to Charles, specifically), there would be NO WAY IN HELL that any secrets - especially about what the hell is happening to draw the border fleets to Olympus - would not have emerged...at least as speculation. Also, COMMs blackouts for major installations like Port Medea and the Dragon March do not go unnoticed for more than a few hours... especially among the ship captains and fleet Admirals (Rear-/Vice- admirals especially) who KNOW what loss of COMMs can mean, both strategically and tactically (once the health pings from the comms beacons went silent, the COMMs team admirals would scream bloody murder to their local chain of commanders - Admirals, field commanders in particular, make it a POINT to know about these sorts of things). The ABSENCE of the Dragon March's fleet - coupled with the comms blackout for that region - these very smart military commanders would absolutely be talking to one another, and since they all know how to add - and would do so damned quickly - the situation would in NO WAY remain a secret for nearly as long as Buckingham would like. Put Lynette Devereaux's visit into that cocktail, and Charles would be 30 shades of stupid not to put together that there is likely big trouble coming their way REAL DAMNED SOON... and it probably involves the Kintark in some big way. ...and once Charles sussed out all that, he'd have some serious questions for the rest of the Admiralty and want to know why HE was not "in the loop" on important and serious shit happening.

GrandPaM

“I don’t want to hear any more of your lunacy.” Luna saying she has had enough of Edraele's lunacy....EPIC!!!!

PLRus--Founding member of the TSM F5 club.

So I'm getting way ahead of myself here, but I can't help imagining the potential for a crew member with control over water now that Helene is in the picture. Specifically, I'm imagining the potential combo attacks with other girls. With Sakura, throw a wall of water and freeze it into a hail of ice spikes. With Irillith, fill a room with shallow water and electrocute everyone at once (alternatively, have Sakura freeze their feet to the ground). With Tashana, water plus fire equals deadly jets of superheated steam (maybe in a situation where they're trying to minimize the damage of fire). I'm sure there's more possibilities, all pretty badass.

ncamferd

What about giant man-sized hairless cyborg rats.

"..body beneath her. Repositioned her legs as he'd..." Repositioning?

zingowner

Just had to be giant spiders! Come on what’s next a race of giant clowns!

I relally enjoyed this new chapter. I felt like it had a lot more switches to subplots, wich i really like. Because sometimes i get a bit satiated from reading a lot of 'plot'. It's nice and all, but i wanna know what happens when they arrive at (destination)!

Well, considering that the TFed has fought the Brimorians to a draw in the past, I imagine the TFed has some way to counter powerful shields. I just finished hypothesizing a few posts up that it was likely TFed missile tech that lead to the draw, since missiles have been observed to pretty much bypass shields entirely. Since Brimorian shields seem to shrug off a lot of energy weapon damage, and the Terran's favorite projectile weapons are useless against shields, the TFed would have had to find some alternative means to counter. That leaves either overwhelm with numbers or find a weapon that works. My guess is that the Terrans tried numbers for awhile, until they found a weapon that worked, which was likely missiles. However, a drawback of missiles is that they're big and bulky, so ships can only carry a very limited amount. Unless they have some means of reloading from inside the ship, what they have in the launch tubes when they leave port is all they have aboard. Once those are fired, they'd have to return to port to reload, or get the assistance of a supply ship, which would leave both ships vulnerable during reloading. Hopefully the TFed admirals realize that they aren't fighting the Kintark that they're used to, instead fighting an opponent more like the Brimorians. That way, they can likely switch to whatever tactic the TFed used to counter the Brimorians back in the day. Humans are nothing if not ingenious and adaptive (Buckingham probably being the exception).

Jedi Khan

The two sides seemed to have evolved similar fleets &amp; tactics , as often happens to enemies that have extended exposure to one another .Nothing engenders change like getting beaten in a battle &amp; both sides have had a lot of chances to weight what works in battles against each other . Often it's a major new tactic or weapon that dictates who wins a battle .for example new shields from Brimorians on Kintark ships or John's upgrades to the Invictus .

bigdawguw65

Crystal Heart, you mean like Jade has a crystal where her heart would be? Could it possibly be related tech, I wonder.

Smart wombat

No, it's on Terra. It's TFed military HQ.

Jedi Khan

Devereaux was shot at the Citadel. Is that on Olympus Station. I forget...

Ok, word of advice; don’t read this chapter (or most any other 3SM) while on break at work with a bunch of construction workers! I got all emotional especially the parts around the Edraele and Luna scene! I had to make an excuse to leave the room otherwise I would’ve faced some serious wisecracking from my co-workers! Another great chapter that leaves one wanting for more! Thanks Tef! Only error I spotted: then, thank ladies,” John said,

Koa

Well, considering she was back on Terra when she had her unfortunate "accident," I don't think Charles is going to be much help from Olympus.

Jedi Khan

But what is Rachel up to with her counseling sessions with John? She said she will leave the big things alone, but what are the little things she will pursue? She knows he is sacrificing his own potential by powering up the girls. She also knows that he can't achieve his full potential until he overcomes his Guide. I suspect she wants to fix those things, too.

What if Olympus station is the first priority target of the Kintark invasion fleet? Charles' efforts to upgrade the fleet becomes even more important. If they can effectively meet the Kentark, then hold them in place for the broader TFed fleet, they might be able to save Terra from destruction. Then Buckingham, who wants to utterly destroy the Kintark Empire, runs into John during a raid into Kintark space to challenge the Emperor. A reconning...

I fear she is dead, and Charles has no clue why.

Love that we're left with a cliff hanger for Devereaux's condition, is she really dead or will Charles or his aide rescue her in the knick of time. Either way I think John will get a call about Buckingham losing the plot.

Terra_Lupis

Another fantastic Chapter Tef. lot of things are up in the air. I have full confidence in you, You will resolve all threads in perfectly.

The Invictus' point defense grid with its Maliri beam weapons has been very effective against missiles.

I'm wondering if they are the local equivalent of the Fulmanax (sp?) and John will start out on the idea that they just look icky, but find out they aren't the villains that is assumed. It may well be them that have hacked the Brimorians, so they arent the mindless zombie spider killing machines that people assume

So, who wants to guess that John is about to run into another Progenitor's version of the Drakkar, i.e. hastily created shock troops? I just hope that after John's interaction with them, they don't "wake up," and start a massive buildup and expansion program. That would suck majorly. For the Brimorians at least.

Jedi Khan

Thats good to hear Telfer. I just how much it is. Thats great you already ahead on the next chapter!

Great chapter as always. Now it's time to cut back on the sex and get to the fighting. Just a suggestion :)

Akamai Kekoa

That's a possibility I had thought about too. Good idea. I'm interested to see what develops with them in the future.

ETNSosa

So, it looks like time is getting pretty short for the Invictus to get back to Terra. A while back I raised the question of teleportation...and now I'm beginning to wonder. Lol

I hear you! That was my plan as well for all of 4 hours, then my nerve broke! I must admit I now read the comment here for a few hours before I decide if I have the courage to actually read the update...

Timbo

Mother trucker!! Nice chapter Tefler.

Grimlakin

Tefler, since 98 is available, perhaps it's time to update the overview to show that you're not still working on 97? :-)

Evan

Hope the TFed has some "Missile Boats" laying about. Sounds like mass missiles are quite effective against Brimorian shields.

VycronDyz

The timeline is under the reference documents but here it is <a href="https://drive.google.com/open?id=1IuVYDZf4kOOwO_mLg4vOrjS6m8swdGxiAn_KbPjY9_A" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://drive.google.com/open?id=1IuVYDZf4kOOwO_mLg4vOrjS6m8swdGxiAn_KbPjY9_A</a>

Cignal

;-)

Tefler

Brimorian Network sound like the old Token ring network.

The abandoned sound like Terran colonists / soldier that were on the Brimorian world when the Terrans pulled back.  They were subjected to gene therapy to breath underwater and work.

Some interesting plot developments, really enjoyed this one Tef.

I've been seriously tempted to let the story sit until Tef gets 2 or 3 chapters out, so the suspense is a bit less...just can't make myself do it! Lol

Perhaps you need an assistant?

GrandPaM

So Deveraux being cut off halfway through her call What's the chance that the Maliri don't have Tfed's coms hacked, and will know slightly more than Tfed assume. call to john gets cut off and Maliri intelligence rips off all the calls round it, which has them calling Edraele, and she calls John because half the terran comms netwwork is dark where the Lizards turn up. Tfed may want to keep it quiet but the Maliri may not let that happen

Thanks for all the feedback everyone! It's always a relief when a new chapter is favourably received. :-) I'm itching to get going on chapter 99, but I'm also looking forward to rereading (and improving) chapters 21-30. Even though I'm writing full time, it still feels like I don't have enough time to do everything!

Tefler

Thanks! It was fun to write about some new species for a change and made an interesting change of pace.

Tefler

Well spotted! Thanks for letting me know. :-)

Tefler

I'd love to do that, as well as a proper epilogue showing how their lives progress as the years roll on. I'll definitely do it, but it probably won't be until after the sequel.

Tefler

You're welcome! I work better with a deadline, but the pressure isn't too bad. :-) I try to write 3k words a day which is usually no problem at all.

Tefler

Thanks for letting me know. :-)

Tefler

Well spotted, thank you!

Tefler

MJH go to Tefler's main page &amp; look on right side ,gray box marked reference documents...it's right on top of page

bigdawguw65

If the lower cadre is still in fear of the old Edraele I'm sure he wouldn't risk not passing the info on . It's bound to raise some flags with her since she knows the TFed would never under usual circumstances try to communicate with the Maliri &amp; that Devereaux is tied up with John &amp; the sudden cut off is a clue something fishy is going on .

bigdawguw65

Celphna might not be a Nymph/Lenarran but BSP's equivilant species . It stands to reason that if each Progenitor has their own Thrall race (different colors) like some one mentioned in an earlier post , that they would have other their own means to supply their power cum to them . I proposed long ago that was Mael's reason for creating the Nymphs &amp; why once he stopped conquering other races he freed them . I agree she is Nymph like in her speech &amp; devotion &amp; that she was gifted to the Deep Lord , maybe as part of the deal with the Kintark for their tech , or as a reward from BSP since he was involved with brokering the deal in the first place.

bigdawguw65

Would anyone please be so kind to post the running timeline reference doc again. Seem to have lost my link to that little gem.

MJHSharkbait365

Does anyone think that Pertharis will report the strange attempt by Admiral Devereaux to communicate with a Matriarch up the chain to Edraele? Perhaps that brief info. will make it back to John, and raise a flag?

Great job Tefler, another fine addition to the collection. I love the new side stories that you've added with the Brimorians.

Helene isn't, but I would guarantee that the Deep Lord's concubine is one. The affected speech and the way he said she was 'given' to him leads me to believe that.

ETNSosa

I would think that one Nymph could recognize another Nymph no matter what form they took , so doubt Helene is one . More lean to Gramps idea of a terran hybrid either by terran , brimorian science . That was meant to inhabit water worlds , but got left behind after last war between T-Fed &amp; Brimorians .

bigdawguw65

How many times can I add my name to this list? Because I am so ready for some resolution.

DemonHunterCole

Hi Tef just want to let you know that on page 48 after the sparring match with John Sakura and Calara you have a sentence that states: they spend the afternoon with Luna teaching.... that should be Sakura i guess

Richard de Leeuw

Thanks oh Master of Cliffhangers

Kim Biel-Nielsen

So who's ready for this arc to be over and done with? Not because it's a low/quiet point and we want to get on with things, but because Tefler's (seemingly) being a sadist with the mounting tension and dragging this out just to torture us.

Jedi Khan

John didn't give the TFed the Maliri weapon tech. Just the Ashanath power core and FTL drive, as well as the Trankaran engines. Whatever boost to weapons the TFed has gotten, they got from the advanced Kintark heat sinks they acquired in the aftermath of the Battle of Regulus.

Jedi Khan

The Kintark battle is definitely looking pretty rough. But I going to put my money on good old Charles. I’m betting he has enough of the T-fed fleet upgraded for them to hold there own. Gonna say the Ashanath power cores and Malari weapons will evenly offset the Kintark shielding. Basically the advanced tech cancel each other out and the fleets are once again evenly matched. Won’t that be a surprise for the Kintark when there shiny new shield start getting holes blown through them.

MJHSharkbait365

“spent the rest of the afternoon with Luna teaching John” should be Sakura rather than Luna I believe. Also there is a part I think that says “boys and girls are physical different” should be physically

I'm still holding out that maybe she got stunned...

TFed is all T-f*cked yeah?

Sharil a.k.a. Memeranglaut

That was very much the wrong person to put a bullet into, Tef. Why? Why did that have to happen? *sigh* Crazy, proceed to vent for me, will you? One profanity laced rant, coming right up! *deep breath* Mother fucking son of a javelina scrotum licking bitch!!!! That...!!!*ranting continues in background* There, that's better. While Crazy does that, let me just say I fear for the future of the alliance. The TFed was going to be the second strongest member of the Alliance after the Maliri, but with the Kintark now just little more than day away from Terra, and John even further, things are not looking good. I sure hope the Brimorian business is dealt with quickly. Oh, is Crazy done already? *deep breath*That bloody puss filled...!!! *ranting continues, unabated* Nope. Well, please tell me you'll have chapter 99 ready by the 20th since you've already written 2k of it? We desperately need to see this finished. The tension is brutal. Crazy's got a full head of steam and plenty of material to work with, so the sooner the next chapter comes out, the sooner he can stop his ranting. *profanity continues in the distance*

Jedi Khan

Just thought of a great idea for chapter 100... A time jump to 6-18 months in the future when everything presently an issue is resolved, that foreshadows upcoming plot points. Maybe John screws each of the girls during this time.

DemonHunterCole

I totally agree ebook 2 is fantastic

Jim lynch

Fantastic chapter :) so many things up in the air... Let the waiting begin Btw absolutely fantastic job on e book 2 great new content really helped polish it up. Looking forward to the next e book as much as the next chapter

I agree. The wait is unbearable.

DemonHunterCole

Ohhhh bollocks how can you torture us with an ending like that arghhh I need more tefler get typing please.

Jim lynch

WOO-HOO! I KNOW WHAT IM DOING TONIGHT!

George41

Thank you Telfer. I really enjoyed that chapter. I hope you never under presure into putting chapters out to fast. I rather wait longer myself for yourwork, not that any chapter has bad at all. I just realize how much you have to do with writing then working on your ebooks. Just know that enjoy your hard work.

I'm thinking that they're some kind of hybrid slave race of Brimorian and Terran. They refer to the Terran language as the Old Tongue. Maybe a gift from BSP? Maybe an abandoned project or abandoned humans? There's not enough description but I think Celphna is just a female Brimorian.

***SPOILER ALERT*** Kinda... Anyone else suspect that Celphna and Helene are nymphs?

DemonHunterCole

"pushed it out the way." Pushed it out of the way?

I wouldn't be surprised if he's in league with BSP.

DemonHunterCole

I didn't care for Buckingham before. Now he's down there with Norwood scum.

This is why I didn't want to read the same day. I'm on edge from the suspense of the upcoming war and the fact that Jehenna is still prisoner. At least with Calara it only lasted one chapter.

DemonHunterCole

A cutlass might work. Or an epee. I would have to go digging through my history books to look and see if there were any Spain-specific swords.

ETNSosa

Holy Batman, more questions and plot threads develop.

DemonHunterCole

Great chapter Tefler! I don't know how you do it, but you always keep me on the edge of my seat. Well done! Can't wait for the next one. *MINOR SPOILERS* What kind of sword do you guys think Calara will get? I'm personally rooting for chain blades like Kratos lol. My initial thought was a bow staff, but a sword would be more useful. If we're trying to make some kind of cultural connection then either a rapier or a machete lol, but I can't see a rapier being particularly useful. Also, a falcata but that's Roman (just has a Spanish name lol).

Thanks! Glad to hear you enjoyed it. :-)

Tefler

Damn, I thought it might have been her, but I couldn't remember. I'll either change this chapter or go back and tweak the old one. :-)

Tefler

Wonderful work, Tefler. Look forward to the next installment.

ETNSosa

Hey Tef, Rachel is the one that hates spiders she said it to the rest of the crew when Jade was show cassing her shapeshifting training. she asked Dana to tell her when Jade changed.

Exactly....

- A quick note from what sanity I have left. Fantastic chapter. And on with the rest of my brain- WHAT WHAT WHAT WHAT!! And I thought you were juggling plot lines before??? *rocks back and forth* Ten days... just ten more days.... *refresh*

Dennis Banfield

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS! a big THANK YOU!

Big Dude

Thank you Tefler, you’re the man.

MJHSharkbait365

Nice!!

Whee dinner reading and a work delay....

Muledrvr

Yayhoo! Thks Tef.

Yay but i had to go out so missed it by 30 minutes

Muy Excelente, Señor!

yuss, thanks telfer

rich ed

Thanks

Yah

Thank you, Tefler!

Evan

Woot!

Dennis Banfield

Thanks

Benj

Yay

Muledrvr

Thank you, Tefler :)

ETNSosa

Cheers mister

Braw

Not first!

DemonHunterCole

Thank you.

Negative Energy

:-)

Master Laurent

Yes

Sweet! First! Suck it! Sadly, got some work to do first. Once that's out of the way, I'll dig into the chapter.

Jedi Khan

Awesome! Thanks!

holy XD

ChrisW

Hey!

Jedi Khan