Three Square Meals Ch 95 - complete!

Not sure if you're still notified of comments on older posts, but while re-reading ch 95 I noticed, when Edraele & John contacted the other matriarchs, you've written 'The faces of the nine remaining Maliri House Matriarchs...' but IIRC there's 19 houses in total, and 5 young matriarchs + Edraele on the ship with John, so the mention of nine there & further on should be thirteen I believe...

I fixed it, thanks for letting me know! :-)

Tefler

Found a typo while re-reading the chapter: Nodded her understanding, Doesn’t sound right at the beginning of a sentence - either adding she or changing nodded to nodding makes more sense to me but maybe I’m wrong!

Koa

Brimorian involvement at ambassador level with Kintark and progenitor facilitating or driving the tech transfer? I would suspect this is another part of the other progenitor's plans that destabilise the region. I also wonder about Brimorian shield tech, has it been upgraded by ToP like the Kinrark armour? Will this kick-start another round of invention from the Grand Engineering Overlord? In some ways I hope not as it means Tefler is reusing an old idea, but OTOH it also means that ToP is also repeating himself and that's sloppy, open to John intervening because he knows the pattern. AH and another thing, don't think I didn't spot the comment about ToP not filling the vats.

Smart wombat

I don't think they made a trade for the tech, and it probably isn't their best either. From Tefler's description of the Brimorian ambassador to the Maliri, it seems that they are evolved from aquatic reptiles such as sea snakes. It could be that they see the Kintark as being an alpha predator species and will therefore bow before the Kintark rather than risk being seen as prey, which is probably how the Kintark view the Terrans.

Jedi Khan

Anyone's else curious what the Brimorians traded their best shield tech for? If it wasn't for ship weapon/engine tech, they may have just cut their own throats. With the Kintark nearly invincible now, without John to stop them from destroying the Terrans, nothing would stop them from turning on the Brimorians next. Just curious if the Brimorian ships will also get some upgrades soon or if this entire trade was maybe one Brimorian ambassador selling secrets.

It happened to me, as well. What I ended up doing was saving it, then clicking the download button on the browser and clicking on the downloaded file.

The upgraded shielding was mentioned by Lynette after reviewing the sensor recordings, when she was arguing with Buckingham about involving John. On the other hand, when John does get involved, Sparks will be able toget her new shielding without them going to the Brimorians.

Added to Timeline.

Dark Storymaker

I knew Maddox would be a problem but didn't think he would be this much of one . By not relying Galen's warning that the Kintark were up to something with their fleet he's put the TFed in even greater danger , also didn't seem to hear if Camilla mentioned the increased power of the Kintark's shields it's a rather big issue . AS to where they are going Camilla did say they were heading for Terra , would be the most devastating attack they could make with their massed fleet before the Federation could rally their own forces . Just killing time waiting for 96 . Wish there was something special we fans could do to celebrating when Tefler hits Ch. 100 , a Invictus shaped cake perhaps (joke)

bigdawguw65

Tefler, I have a problem. It sees the document as a .zip file. Has this happened to anyone else? If so, how do I open the actual chapter?

Terra_Lupis

You do yourself a disservice sir, there's a whole new paragraph popped up in there!

ringill

I've posted the FINAL version. No major changes since the last update, just fixed one or two more typos. :-)

Tefler

I just re-read chapter 66 and at the end the Kintark Emperor asks to see the Brimorian Ambassador. Damn, this battle was set up a long time ago...

Bah.. i wanna read it...but waiting for "final" version...

After thinking about it more, Lynette or the other female admiral we saw will get the best body sculpture of her life when this done and finally make head admiral. That allows them to free up the fleets along the alliance borders. Possibly even go after the hostile races.

I could see Jon directing crew and ships for refit and repair to the malari shipyards that still are not at full use. Would see the Terran fleet recover faster and effectively force them into his hands. Their by stretch his presence and resources even more. He's going to snap... Or at least that is the goal.

Grimlakin

if you have it on microsoft word, go to 'find' on the top right and search for *** and you'll have an easier time finding it

Forbsey

Ok, I skimmed for the add-on scene on all 98 pages and didn’t find it - anyone have the page number it’s on?

Koa

congrats on making $2600/chapter

I noticed everyone seemed to forget about Norwood and his dread.

What is the basis for knowing the Kintark are headed to Terra? They could just be talking over the Dragon March out heading towards envy number of other targets. Think ship yards, military bases, academies, mines, factories, etc... It has already been established they have a poor/non-existent sensor net or the traitor helped them bypass it.

Just so patrons know, there has been an update on the patreon app recently (I use galaxy 7) where typing doesn't fade your writing out of the typing box, seems cleaner also.

Forbsey

Maybe Faye has a digital split after some psionic event with John, causing her to have a digital offspring? Or capability to do so. Cyber realm required

Forbsey

In a future chapter, I would like a trip to the cyber realm. We have not had one for some time and Tef has a fantastic imagination exploring what this is like. Might there be another Faye like character, possibly a sister found in the destruction of BSP tech. Like Jade, I think Faye could be a great maternal figue for a budding AI.

Benj

I will buy the new ebook as well. I am looking forward to comparing the old chapters to the ebook.

Steven Allen

Tefler. thanks for the update. I'll buy it as soon as Amazon has it up on their site.

I agree. If they were prepared to take her using the tranq, why not just do it straightaway? A lot less chance of anyone getting injured needlessly.

Sounds great! Thank you for the update. Looking forward to it.

Evan

She doesn't return from her meeting or make contact with the story so her editor calls John to see if she's gone wandering off with him again. Irillith does a bit of hacking and the poo hits the fan. There's of course no guarantee she's still on Terra, Weber's secret installation could, probably would, be somewhere isolated like Mikaboshi's base.

ringill

I've written a few thousand words of chapter 96, but I wanted to finish off the eBook editing first, so the text is all ready when the cover is done. I should be finished with that today and I'll get stuck into the latest chapter again. I've planned out quite a bit of the next few chapters and I'm looking forward to writing them! :-)

Tefler

Any status report coming our way soon? Like it seems you are focusing of finishing off editing for eBook 2 and 95 maybe? Are you mainly doing that and planning ahead for the subsequent chapters? The amount of scenes to plans... you are a professional scene writer juggling all that, has a circus offered you a position? If so, please decline :)

Forbsey

I've nearly finished editing the second eBook, which means I'll just be waiting on the coverart. I'm going to add a new backstory flashback scene to chapter 13, so hopefully that'll make for an interesting read! :-)

Tefler

If the Kintark have/had any intelligence gathering capabilities (they were at peace for a long time before this, traders come and go, seems to me they would know about Olympus) then their next target would be Olympus to completely cripple their fleet repair and fleet making capabilities.

one thing I forsee from the end of the next big battle (which presumably will destroy both main Terran and Kintak fleets) is a progenitor getting to turn over more chess pieces on the assumption that he has destroyed two more empires militarily. shame Olympus and Henry Voss s building a whole new one

Just read the updated Ch. 95 and "WOW!" With comments like "her light green eyes, the colour reminding him of a fern dappled in sunlight" your writing continues to amaze. Love this whole series...best of the best!!!!!!!

Arrowglass

No,he used the correct military terminology

Braw

It's been shown with the Malari that one feeding is enough to connect a woman to her matriarch, meaning energy can be drawn. Though we haven't seen it in a few chapters, they created a machine that can detect these connections, and trace them. Even if Allysa can't pin point her location, this tool can, through simple triangulation. The question in my mind will be 'how' they are alerted to her peril, (Alyssa emotions, TFed media, hacking of data regarding Dragon March comma black out, one of the admirals going behind buckinghams back, etc.) and whether or not John has time to go save her - after all if Earth is destroyed, it's a safe assumption to make that she dies as well :p

Dennis Banfield

Earlier reply from tefler pins it at about a week

Dennis Banfield

not sure if anyone has pointed it out yet telf but page 54 in ch95 "“Belay that order, Captain Skotari, Captain Tovaskaya,” Captain Fowler said sternly, drawing stunned looks from his two friends." probably should be delay that order?

rich ed

Tefler, any word on timing for the second book?

ETNSosa

What sensor net? It has already been established that they have been using their ships to detect and act upon any transgressions. That was the whole point of sending out patrols. That the Kintark changed out the transponders on their ships to secretly pull them back from the borders so that they could be refitted without notice has also been made clear. What was not made clear, however, is how they fooled the much more advanced Maliri sensors, if they did at all, since those sensors would not have been relying on easily falsifiable transponder IDs, given the Maliri culture of treacherous behaviors and rampant xenophobic behaviors towards any encroachment upon their borders. If the Maliri detected Elite Imperial Guard ships and said so, they should have actually been such. I'm still waiting to find out more about that.

Evan

Given his most recent attitude, I don't think Buckingham is going to leave anyone any choice as to what happens to him. He and Weber, in their minds, are doing what they are "for the good of the Terran people". His best option is to get killed in the upcoming battle.

Wow! What a chapter!

Raymond Jeffries

Buckingham doesn't *need* to be crushed... he could be relieved of command and institutionalized due to his obvious mental illness, instead. There's no doubt that there has to be *some* mechanism whereby the Fleet Admiral can be relieved of his position without his consent. The only question is whether or not the other Admirals have sufficient intestinal fortitude and devotion to the continued survival of the human species to undertake the necessary procedures.

Evan

From reading all the comments Tefler, you might get a riot soon if you don't give us a good Buckingham Crushing soon!! :)

Kalen Turner

In the kid napping....one guy with a gun, another hiding with a darting device? Could it be two competing groups? That seems like a odd team.

DCM

I'm just wrapping up the edits at the moment. I spoke to the artist and he thought another week for the cover to be finished. :-)

Tefler

My guesses for the next few chapters... I suspect that they will hear from the editor that she went missing after a shaddy meeting.  The body was found of the guy she was to meet and her car is still in the garage.  He will contact the police and eventually John.  How long he waits before calling will determine the order and priority of subsequent events. John will head back to that planet and have Irrilith hack into the police network to find out everything they know.  She will investigate the dead guy and find he is not what his cover said he was.  I am not sure if he is an intelligence guy, tf armed forces, mercenary or hired thug.  This determines the order and priority of subsequent events. At some point they determine that a portion of the admirals are involved and rescue everyone.  What else they find at the same facility and during the investigation adds fuel to the later fire.  Jehemma, with Faye and Irillith assisting, then puts together an expose which stuns the public.  It includes the kidnapping of its citizens, refusing to help the Trankarins, the rot disease origin, the initial events that started the Kintark war, the capture and experiments on nymphs and whatever else they have found. But they end the broadcast with news of the invasion and telling the public and troops the focus should be the Kintark and there will be time to clean house later.  He demands Buckingham be arrested but he is on a ship and refuses to surrender himself.  Irillith remote hacks him and contains him before he can flee. One of the admirals, probably Lynette, is appointed head admiral and puts John in charge of the defenses.  They use mine and interdiction tricks to soften up and slow down the invasion force.  Camera is once more in charge of the fleet engagement and so the Invictus places less of a role.  It would suck for her but she may lose a family member and might have to be the one to order the ship forward to save the rest....

Something that was not clear is why the Terrans think Terra is the target. Did I miss something?

Not entirely true. If you read 94 where Chancellor Niskera is now the "new" glowing queen, you would see Alyssa can detect her emotions while Alyssa can telepathically communicate to Niskera. So it would follow the same path for Jehanna!

Big Dude

Another thing is the way the Maliri behave around John. In the earlier chapters they are curious about the first aliens in Maliri space but in in later chapters his mere presence cause Maliri women to enter a kind of awed state. Is this ever adressed and if so where?

Not directly related to the chapter discussion but I'll through it in here anyway. I've been re-reading the old chapters in between waiting for new updates. Currently I am on chapter 47 (getting the mission from Edraele to acquire Trankeran engine schematics) and I came to this line: "*Can you warn Dana to take steps to make the Invictus more secure,* John said firmly. *We don't want Irillith snooping around and stealing all the tech we've acquired.*" Now, when I read this the first time (before I was a Patreon-backer) I took it for what it was, secure the ship from our passenger. As I read the following chapters with Irillith effortlessly hacking into the Invictus with the crew being completely unaware, that thought shifted to "Oh, this is some kind of reveal. Eventually it will turn out that everything Irillith have been doing will backfire somehow!". But that never happened. I never never mentioned it in the comment section on Literotica because by then the latest chapter was around the 70-ish mark and I figured that it didn't matter. With the editing for the ebooks however I thought that I at least would take the opportunity to bring it up and ask: What kind of security actions did Dana take, other than removing sensitive information "off-grid" (if memory serves me right)

Correct me if I am wrong, but Jehanna has only had two doses so she is not connected. They can not trace her as they did Calara.

A military Government would go some way to explaining the spread of the Terran Federation, lots of exiles and political refugees moving continuously to the periphery. That would also explain some of the indifference to the fate of the fringe worlds. OMG... a Firefly scenario.

History must be really sideways if the Admiralty feels that it's the Terran Government. Jehanna's kidnapping almost guarantees that the Lions will turn up, with the bonus of being able to track her psychically.

Remember how far John and the girls have come and listen to this song: <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Q46xYqUwZQ&amp;index=2&amp;list=FLeRLix5rHHx3AizTNNH_ulA" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Q46xYqUwZQ&amp;index=2&amp;list=FLeRLix5rHHx3AizTNNH_ulA</a>

Forbsey

John has always let his girls get the justice they deserved. In this case Momma Jade is going to be one pissed off Kitty! And all of the girls love and support Jade. And god help him if something happens to Jehanna. Once the news agency contacts John about her going missing they will be able to track her like they did Calara.

Roy Meyer

squash him with the mech. crunchy go squish

As I said previously..... damn you Buckingham...... squash him with a boot

This brings to mind a song by Hollywood Undead, The title is City. <a href="https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/hollywoodundead/city.html" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.azlyrics.com/lyrics/hollywoodundead/city.html</a> <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sx4g3Zz45cA" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sx4g3Zz45cA</a> Let's watch this city burn From the skylines on top of the world 'Til there's nothing left of her Let's watch this city burn the world Or… Let's watch this planet burn From the attackers in orbit of the world 'Til there's nothing left of her Let's watch this Admiral burn the world

You have provoked emotions in me Tefler not the ones I like you to invoke I want to wring Buckinghams's fucking throat oh well time to pray that John somehow can make in time. Still a great chapter.

Pretty sure it's all still in the Astral Plane. Like, she went from the level where the creatures are hunting to wherever the Ashanath sub-plane is located. ~Morningfrost

Morningfrost

Uh, Hold the Phone! 'Ularean stared at her in open-mouthed astonishment. “Alyssa! How wonderful it is to see you again! I heard your call, but how did you-” Alyssa rushed over to him and wrapped his frail body in a fierce hug. “Thank you, Ularean! Thank you so much!”' Did Alyssa just TELEPORT!!!!!!!!!!!??????????

PLRus--Founding member of the TSM F5 club.

Donovan: I hope you don't mind me being conservative. I would not mind you being liberal if you were. I do mind either side trying to censor the other, though. And I do mind the news being reported with a political agenda. Just report the verified truth and all sides of a disagreement and let us decide. My opinion is there is WAAAY to much hate being espoused on all sides. And hate is always devisive. Everyone just needs to get laid and chill.

PLRus--Founding member of the TSM F5 club.

This time I waited, (as in, I haven’t been checking email or Patreon, so didn’t know this was posted) lol. Time to see earth burn. ( let’s watch it burn, let’s watch the city burn the world) ( the city is so pretty, do you want to burn it with me? ) it’s also nice to know that Buckingham has a hyper inflated ego, although... this seems familiar. Is this being modeled after western politics? Oh, wait, it’s just human politics, and power corrupting (you’re only human, you’re only human) stupid whispers

\

Mjk154

on your E-Book #2

Mjk154

I suspect that some of the admirals (Jayanti, Caldwell, and Deveraux) may realize that Buckingham has lost it and switch back to siding with John. But we shall to wait and see what Tefler has in store.

LunarLilith

how about an update onyour

Mjk154

Also notice, thus far the Leviathan has only made physical attacks on the astral plane, the only psychic attacks have been to create overwhelming fear in their minds. Perhaps the Leviathan can't do physical psychic attacks, like the spears and darts Aly can form? Unless I missed something somewhere, then disregard all of the above.

Can you kill Buckingham and the other admirals now?

Sounds cool, she could also do a Maliri each reaching upwards, House insignia on their backs, to hold something a gem or representation of John, or a rune

I certainly did! I've fixed that one too, so thanks for letting me know.

Tefler

Nice, thanks! I've just fixed that.

Tefler

Also, Alyssa has found a way to really hurt the Leviathan. Well, actually knock it on its ass. John has done this with a lance and a sword as well. Also, John can create a runed shield that the Leviathan cannot easily penetrate....With his increase in power, and forming a dual front attack, the two of them could defeat it. Yeah, I can just see the evil smirk on her face, "THAT will teach you to mess with MY MAN!" LMAO

PLRus--Founding member of the TSM F5 club.

Ok...what suggestions do we have for the Crown for Edraele? I am thinking a base with a band with circles, each having a house insignia with house colors, five arches moving up from the band and connecting above made up of two lions each with a male lion in full stand, roaring defiance. What are all your thoughts my fellow Patrons?

PLRus--Founding member of the TSM F5 club.

also: Galen’s cruiser was already stationed near the starpoint, so he watched and waited as the bedraggled line of Terran warships inched closer on the map. Did you mean starport?

LunarLilith

Looking at the latest version from this morning, I saw this: The assassin turn to stare at the map, feeling a shiver run down her spine. Should that say turned?

LunarLilith

Actually Evan: The Brimorians may be just as in the dark as the Terrans were about the Maliri ship capabilities, except the Terrans have seen the Invictus at work. With the Maliri fleet flying a third faster than they were capable of before, they are well nigh twice to three times as fast as Brimorian ships in FTL speed and the Maliri Battleships could very well stack up against the Brimorian Cruiser Class vessels in agility at battle speed. And with the new heat sinks and progen power relays/cores, the first ships that do something stupid will send an instantaneous message...though I doubt that will happen. The Brimorians know about the 'warning' just like all the other races. Nope: The Brimorians will back off and watch and hope for the best.

PLRus--Founding member of the TSM F5 club.

Thank you, I fixed that in the version I uploaded this morning! Glad you liked the bit about the decking. ;-)

Tefler

Ah well spotted, thanks for letting me know!

Tefler

No problem!

Tefler

“Jade? What are you playing at?” he asked, frowning at him in disapproval. “I thought I told you to stay out of the way, this is going to be dangerous!” I think that should be frowning at her. btw, loved the bit in this scene where John comliments Alyssa on the reinforced deck!

ringill

diving c everyone on the otherside

You know, it occurs to me that the Brimorians, having just engaged in secretly providing Shield technology to the Kintark, might be a bit nervous about suddenly have a potentially hostile (and overpowering) fleet passing through their space, citing an obscure treaty provision that had been all but forgotten for many hundreds of years. Will they have the temerity to try to interdict them, or even intercept them, even if only to do a passive scan, much less an active one (which could be considered a hostile act)? The Brimorians should know that their shields, as powerful as they are, are no match for the Maliri weaponry, and that’s before the rather significant upgrades that this particular fleet has just undergone, which they know nothing about. They may, however, take note that the speed of the fleet passing through their space is far greater than any that they had previously witnessed the Maliri vessels using... and that may well give them pause, too.

Evan

Thank you for the update. Minor typo in the update: any ships that does attempt an interdiction -&gt; any ships that do attempt an interdiction

Evan

Just re-read the chapter... My initial reaction to the admirals a few chapters back, was that Weber had gone around the bend. I'm still convinced he has, but I'm equally convinced Buckingham is either right there beside him or edging ahead.

Thanks for the Maliri Fleet / Brimorian Border insertion Tefler. It flows much better now!

Big Dude

cheers mister

Braw

I've just added a newly edited version of chapter 95 to the post. I included a number of minor edits, but also added a brief scene with the Maliri fleet... :-)

Tefler

Some of the admirals might not be completely convinced Terra is the next target. However, by taking the fleet protecting Terra to meet the Kintark as far from Terra as possible would also protect the more strategic target of Olympus Shipyard.

Some might be - it would depend on their size and layout. Granted some might need to be reactivated pronto.

Talk about cliff hangers, I am waiting to be pushed over the cliff. Very good reading keep up the good work, don't take too long on the next chapter!

It's likely because for some reason, when you download it, your PC is thinking it's a ZIP file rather than a .docx file. This has been happening for the last few chapters for some reason. To work around this, find where your browser downloaded it to, remember that location, then go into your word processor. From inside your word processor, got to File&gt;Open, then navigate to the download location and select the file. It should open without issue then.

Jedi Khan

I am getting an error when I tried to download the file

people outside your house waving signs; 'give Faye her body, give Faye her body.' still the chapters have been very appreciated, and the content dose not always have to be massive action, sprinkles of action are good too.

keen_FlattendHedgeHog

So it should, thank you!

Tefler

What a chapter. I have to say I wasn't that happy with 94 because it dragged along and it got too quiet for my liking. But now you ramped the shit up in 95. Our reporter just kidnapped in the right moment for John to save terra again. An invasion of huge scale. And finally fayes body coming together soon. But please don't denie her a body for longer just because the crew has to save terra again. Thank you for this great chapter!

MaydaysSin

Did Edraele say the Maliri had thousands of mothballed defense stations on the Brimorian border? Those could still be useful again or repurposed into Alyssa's trade stations.

Mark P

Tefler another amazing chapter but also fuck you! Cliff hangers are the worst! Keep up the great work and I can't wait for the next chapter!

Kalen Turner

I so hope your right! that would be amazing!

Kalen Turner

If you imagine the solar system the ships are in as a sphere, it starts to make more sense. Typically solar systems are formed as disks, with all of their strategic locations on a '2D' plane. So while there is inherently some '3D' to a fight, they will tend to concentrate on a 2D plane. As for the ships trying to escape, it is my knowledge that the ships have to escape the gravity well of the system before jumping, and the quickest way out is a straight line tangential to the curve of the sphere of the solar system. If they had split up, 2 of the 3 ships would have had to go further to get to the edge. Not to mention herd mentality, safety in numbers and all that. To be fair, they were all in a high stress environment, and with the enemy fighter/bomber superiority, I doubt any of them wanted to take a detour, and risk being caught out by the torpedoes.

Dennis Banfield

Exceeding expectations yet again.

“not sounding phased in the slightest” should that be “fazed”?

Big Orca

Well someone just ended the invasion before it began. Grabbing one of the girls is insuring that John and the crew will stop at nothing to get her back. Poor dragons for getting in their way shealds or not. Jehenna will get her third feeding because of the rescue to heal her because she can't wait for Rachel

wildcat 1986

Can't wait for John to absorb his guides knowledge and power. Probably has knowledge of how Maelnerak won first time and maybe all the BSPs weaknesses and new ways to defeat him.

Mark P

Wow thank you. I am overwhelmed at the moment. But so is everyone else here.

DCM

Yep, it's getting pretty hectic at the moment! :-)

Tefler

Nice, thanks Bob and glad you enjoyed it!

Tefler

All what? The battle with the Kintark? That probably took about 20-30 mins I'd guess.

Tefler

Hey Tefler, another great chapter. On page 64, She managing to yank it out. How about managed instead of managing. Love the chapter, Bob!

Wow, it's on now. With the new shield tech I don't think the Invictus alone is going to be enough to save the day. Hopefully, the High Command come to their senses and "Retire" Buckingham. Man's a fucking disaster. Sooo many cliffhangers. Tef you're juggling more balls than the Maliri Matriarchs ;-&gt;

VycronDyz

No, Faye kept that out of it. Just shots of the Raptor, Invictus, John and the girls.

Tefler

Jade can't form complex machines. Guns and explosives have chemicals in them, moving parts. She doesn't work that way, but she can form solid metal shapes. Like knives and stabbing weapons. ;-)

Tefler

Tefler, was the mech shown in the videos that the Terrans saw?

BTW Tefler, all that happened in less than 3 hours? Hint hint!

Big Dude

Okay: It takes 2 or 3 days for the Invictus to reach the core worlds, depending on where in the core worlds you are going. That gives John about another day, day and a half at most, to get the message. That is more than enough time for people to figure out there are no comms, absolutely nothing, coming out of the Dragon March and raise a public alarm. However, as has been said, Alyssa should be able to feel Jehenna's emotions, just like she can Niskera's. AND, John told Faye to keep a close eye on the Dragon March...which she would be especially diligent to do. Plus, the Maliri fleet can take a detour to Terra as they move towards Trankaran space and probably not loose but a day or so since the distance they have to travel to get to Trankaran space would be greatly reduced. I forsee this scenario: John takes another day and half to get the Matriarchs pregnant, That makes five more feedings with two and a half Matriarchs to go before Faye gets suspicious of the comms blackout and Jahenna wakes up and figures out she is in trouble. That gives him just enough time to impregnate all four of them, leaving out Edraele and Luna. That also gives John a heck of a lot more psychic power. Then the Maliri Fleet gets diverted from Brimorian space to engage at the core worlds while the Invictus high tails it into the conflict. We then have a battle of 5 armies with the traitor Norton, the Kintark, the Maliri, the Terrans, and the Invictus/raptor/valkyrie. It all converges right when the Admiralty have done an initial engagement and realize they are hopelessly outmatched with the Kintark. The Invictus takes on Norwood's Dreadnought by taking out its escorts and Irilith takes over digital command of the Dreadnought, turning it against the Kintark and tipping the balance of power strongly in favor of the Terran/Maliri/Invictus alliance. All this is witnessed by everyone in the Core Worlds and John is named defacto hero and ruler of T-Fed. And SURPRISE! The Kintark ruler is aboard Norwood's Dreadnought. Jade and the ruler have a knock down drag out winner takes all fight where Jade gets all primal on his lizard ass and just flat out embarrasses him before all Kenta and Terra...ending the war before it gets too much more bloody and both fleets are decimated. This turns both fleets into powerful members of the Alliance. Immediately afterwards, Jehenna and the Nymphs are rescued. And Dana gets her shield tech, John takes Norwood's dreadnought as a prize of battle, The Dreadnought and Maliri and a contingent of Kintark all move to Trankara to push back the kirrix. The rest of the fleet moves out to protect the outer rim and push back the kirrix from that direction. John and the Invictus begin the search for mom and dad.

PLRus--Founding member of the TSM F5 club.

xd, I can see them coming and attacking the shipyard. Charles contacts John. John and the Maliri arrive and NOVA LANCE their asses back into the stone age! Or, Charles being at the admiral level now has access to certain data streams and he contacts John for help. Then all hell breaks loose. This thread won't be over until January 2018. I don't see Tefler killing off Charles. Otherwise that delivers all out war until February 2018. Great chapter Tefler. Yeah I was sad for Captain Camilla Tovaskaya watching her friends all die. Then to have Devereaux suggest calling John was a stroke of genius Tefler! Also one thing I noticed about these space ships battles. It seems most people fight on a 2D level. John seems to think 3D at times and 2D at other times. If you remember the Wrath of Khan, Kirk dropped 2000 kilometers down in the gaseous cloud and then came back up later behind Khan. The three captains went in a straight line away from the Port hence the Kintark came on the same plane and decimated two of the three. Just my farthing!

Big Dude

Ah nice, thank you!

Tefler

“This is the first you’ve done this isn’t it?” First time you've done this?

andrew finlayson

Crikey that was one heck of a chapter! Got to feel sorry for the young Matriarchs, it looks like at least some of them are about to be baby blocked again, this time by the Kintark and Terran High Command.

ringill

Fucking awesome. But arghhhh so many cliff hangers. Now i can’t wait for 96. Keep up the awesome work

David

I like how this Admirals assume Kintark will attack Terra, what if they will attack Olympus shipyard, much better target from military point of view.

The trouble is that we are all cracked up!

Wookey

What will be the tipping point for John to face his guide? I feel that while that is the catalyst for the end of the series, it is seemingly close at hand? T-Fed core worlds being invaded seems like more BSP interference. And while BSP might be tens of thousands of years old, he probably inherently has the tech.

Daniel Polster

I am hoping that the admirals get together and oust Buckingham.

What did I say about them gotdamn Admirals. 😡

Youkai-sama

Wow great chapter, especially liked different points of view nice. I just wonder about 1 thing is Jades armour a metal kind of armour or organic kind because if its metal does that mean Jade can change into body armour or a gun now ?

It's always fun to keep you guys on your toes! :-)

Tefler

Thanks CJ! I actually would have used several more in that battle, but didn't want to switch to the Invictus crew, because the change in tone would have been a bit jarring. It was an interesting change to write it all as one scene, as I used to write the very early battles. It would be difficult to rewrite the very early ones, simply because they didn't have a lot of crew to switch to!

Tefler

I do have a reputation to maintain! :-)

Tefler

Yeah he was a likeable guy, it was sad to see him go. :-(

Tefler

Haha! It hasn't even been a day yet! :-)

Tefler

Yeah fate does seem to keep conspiring against them from ever getting into Brimorian territory! Hopefully he'll get there one day...

Tefler

Yeah there were a ton of cliffhangers in that one! Chapter 95 would actually be the end of eBook 17, so quite a few compelling reasons to get eBook 18 I'd imagine!

Tefler

It's great to hear you enjoyed it! I had fun writing the final battle for those two captains, it was a chance to flex some different writing muscles. :-)

Tefler

Thank you! :-)

Tefler

I did the last of the editing on Chapter 94 and just posted the FINAL version. Apologies to all those waiting until I'd finished it to read it! :-)

Tefler

Also the withdrawal is back 😵😵😵😵😵😵

Mark Hall

I knew those admirals were crazy but this is insane they just might doom humanity just so they can get at John

Mark Hall

REALLY hoping one of the admirals will ignore Buckingham and contact Blake. I mentioned before that I'd like to see him go trying to put his insides back on the inside, but I'm not sure evisceration is good enough for him any more...

I got home really late last night and was just thinking about going to bed, but then I remembered that the next chapter was due and had to check first. I'm so glad I did. Another amazing chapter, Tefler. I get this terrible feeling that John isn't going to ever get to buy Bromorian shields, but if Dana gets the plans from a nearly destroyed Kintark ship, I'd be just fine with that. Maybe, Irilith can requistion them for her. I only got to read it once last night, but I will take another look tonight and see if I can spot any grammatical challenges.

LunarLilith

Another awesome chapter Tefler. So much going on in chapter but John is not aware of some things happening. You have manged to break your records of number of cliffhangers in chapter. Cant wait to see how John save Terra again, smash kintarks and give retribution to Vincent. I think he has given order to kidnap Jehanna.

Yes, no more withdrawal for Ch 95 just Ch 96 withdrawal starting

Stealthq

Wow Tef you keep smashing out awesomeness! I love the character building chapters for 2 reasons one of which is that i know that an action chapter is around the corner and anticipation builds. Great chapter! Sad to read Gallen's fate, but we all see secretly wish for a hereos death and those 2 captains deserved their place in Valhalla. Can't wait for John and Alyssa's wrath. A dragon emperor's head mounted in the ward room will look good on the invictus!

Is it just me, or does anyone else think that John will re-task the Maliri fleet currently enroute to Trankaran space, to join him in the 'Battle of Terra - 2'? The fleet is just 4 hours away from the Brimorian border, so they can change course for the homeworlds and arrive in about another 4 days? I know they're closer to the kirrix territory, but their hyperwarp speed is more than twice that of the Kintark. John will send the Matriarchs back to Genthalas in their Batlleship and will join the action at Terra.

What a stunning story for Ch. 95. A cliffhanger of course, well done!!!!!

Arrowglass

Will it be the Invictus coming to the rescue, or The Invictus and an upgraded Milari Battleship is my other question.

Hey everyone, Thanks for all the great comments, I'm glad you found the latest chapter interesting! While I was writing this chapter I decided to sketch out the scenes for the next few chapters... I'm glad I did, there's a lot going on! :-) Thanks to the relevant patrons for their character ideas on the trio of Dragon March captains, they were fun to write about! Tefler

Tefler

Is it the 10th yet?

James Glass

I cannot articulate how I feel right now,"AAAAARRRRRRRGGGGGGAAAAARRRRGGGGHHHH!!!!!!!1!!!1!1!!!ELEVEN1!1!1!!!!!1!11!!!!!!ONE!!!!!!1!!1!!!111!!!!!" is probably the closet I can come to describing my combined rage at Buckingham, the Kintark and the Brimorans, my fear for Jehanna's safety and the feeling of loss from the deaths of all the people on Port Medea and in the Dragon March fleet.

Malthe Mørk Mejlby

Not gonna lie, I had some tears over the loss of Galen, was really hoping for him to be a star player in the TFed. Watch John roll the Tanks, Ashanath and the Maliri to save Terra and crap all over High command

Don't forget to also find the files on the nymphs

Malthe Mørk Mejlby

I might have gone with as powereful of a Matriarch, but it still works as is, from what I remember.

I think borrowing a cruizer from their fleet and Dana sifting for new tech would be in order

Forbsey

I wished one of them asshole admirals would of stood up a shot that idiot Buckingham, Great chapter and back to the cliffhangers lol.

I REALLY hope that Jehanna ends up being saved and being the one to one off Buckingham. Buckingham just f'ed up majorly.

Anonamoose

Nice chapter, Tefler! Back to the nail-biting cliffhangers, I see... Really good use of cutovers to build tension. Might be a good idea to apply this technique more liberally to the earlier chapters too, when converting them into ebooks. Great read, can't wait for the next one!

CJ Mora

If the Kintark stripped their fleets to attack Terra, then John doesn't have to rush to Terra...just fly into the Kintark empire and bump-off the emperor (and rest of the ruling family), and the war will be over.

CJ Mora

So hopefully Alyssa will sense that Jehanna is in trouble and then they will go to her, hack into the Military servers, and find out about the Invasion. The Invictus should be able to pick off a few Kintark ships at range and/or divert part of the invading Armada. Calara needs to be there if there's to be any hope of beating the Kintark.

Yep. Didn't see any of that coming. Awesome chapter, Tefler.

ETNSosa

essentially F8ck you Buckers and mates

Wookey

I have to agree, very tense and tragic, and ending with assholes trying to undo all the good John has done. Excellent writing to evoke such emotions.

Hey tef! "Tsarra bit her lower lip, then purred, “I might not be as powerful a Matriarch as Edraele..." maybe it can be: i might not be as powerful as a matriarch as edraele is...? ;)

Joel San Buenaventura

Have put a few pictures in Community with my thoughts

Wookey

Tefler this is some of your best work yet, I felt my heart racing with every word. You my friend are a writing an Epic the likes of which haven’t been seen since Homer wrote his Odysey.

Amathew2

Holy shitballs...

Amathew2

Yeah, I feel almost as bad as I did when Jade died. This is awful.

Hunter

Nope, only two times. Which is not normally enough for anything.

Like Alyssa sits up suddenly and says Jehanna! Not Jehanna as a tear runs down her cheek. Something like that?

Brillig

CLASSIC TEFLER JUST CLASSIC

Jim lynch

OK, quick question... I don't recall if John fed Jehanna sufficiently for her to *talk* to Alyssa. Does anyone remember?

andrew finlayson

Somehow I think Jade is going to give him one of John's replicas in double size on each end as a split roast until they touch and her claws emerge. Jehanna will have the story of his downfall and he will have been lost in battle.

Master Laurent

Holy hell. I'm still crying. Bravo Tefler, bravo. I'm off to go re read that again.

Dennis Banfield

And it will be 10 days TSM Time - March 1st Earth Time It will be 4 days until the Kintark are at the core worlds and that long for the TFED Fleet to get into defensive positions. It will take John 2 days to find / Save Jehanna and Jade’s Sisters Info From Charles / Kintark invasion - two days of travel to the Kintark Home world where the Invictus will devastate the remaining homeworld fleet and then John with have his death match with the Kintark Emperor that will a day long ground battle to get the the Emperor Two days for the Great Tefler’s Curve Balls. And I am sure that the Ashanath will get attacked and the Kirrix will also attack the Trankaran worlds. Some How I think that Progenitors have some major power over the Brimorian’s - maybe they have some link to the Astral Plane and John is going to find a way to control them all just with thoughts. Kind of like Niskera and the Trankaran’s.

Master Laurent

Oh wow I hope devroux goes behind Buckingham’s back to contact John and then John can learn about the numphs and Buckingham can get a public ass kicking from John. What a fucking cock he is I really hope John fucks up Buckingham big style and the marli and John can save the day again. Plus John needs to save Jehanna too then find out just what the admirals have been up to. How can any person who’s whose threw the ranks to lead the federation be so fuckin stupid and careless with trillions of lives at stake ? It baffles me I just really really hope he gets what’s coming to him but publicly humiliate him and fuck him up too lol.

Jim lynch

Bravo, Awesome Chapter, So Many Cliff Hangers and Active Story Arc’s. As Predicted: 1. No Faye’s Body this chapter. 2. Attack via Dragon March New Predictions: 1. Only one Pregnant Matriarch until they go and Save Jehanna 2. Shit is going to hit the fan when the Maliri try to travel through Brimorian space because they are in bed with the Kintark 3. Who Kidnapped Jehanna? - Guessing it was Buckingham’s goons 4. Hopefully they fixed the one heavy cannon while transferring the Cargo 5. John Feeds Dana over the next two days and she has an epiphany on progenitor weapons 6. On the way to save Jehanna, the Kintark march unencumbered to the core worlds and it is not until John talks with Charles or Irillith hacks the defense grid to find out what is going on that the shit hits the fan. 7. Jehanna being kidnapped leads to the discovery of the already captured Jade’s sisters, and she pulls a pulp fiction on the base where they are being held during the rescue. 8. John ends up having a one - on - one fight with the Kintark Emperor, Unable to defeat the mass of ships, Carla determines the best thing is to take the head of the snake off and the Invictus goes to the Kintark Home world after saving Jehanna and Jade’s Sisters. At least 5 Chapters / 3 months to cover the above topics before the Core Worlds are safe and John &amp; Crew are on the way back to put Buckingham and the asshats in the ground. Have Fun, Off the grid for the next 10 - 20 days, please wish me luck and thanks for this Gift Tefler!

Master Laurent

This was a fucking great chapter! The only downside now is that the wait for the next chapter is going to be hell

I'd say awesome chapter but somehow I just don't like the way that ended ...... But seriously Telfer awesome writing just end happier :)

Derek B

What do you want to bet that one of the girls let slip the origin of the Rot virus?  Coupled with being left defenseless against the Kirrix I can see the border worlds splitting off and maybe even joining the Trankarian alliance.

In case its hard to tell this was hands down one of my favorite chapters, i loved all the plot lines ramping up while our favorite crew is still in RR mode, my only regret is how i will handle the anticipation for the next over the next couple weeks:)

With the holidays likely to mess up your writing time should we expect just a single supersized chapter for December or do you think you will still manage 2 separate ones?

If there are so many ships, could the Invictus really stop them? Offensive is easier than defense.

Another exceptional chapter Tefler. I don't know how you do it, but I'm glad you do. The scenes with the Maliri matriarchs are very sexy. I'm so excited for Faye's body, I can't wait. I wonder if it will allow her to join Alyssa's matriarch network?

zingowner

Wow, the Terrans are so fucked

I wouldn't worry about Buckinham to much. John has to make an example out of someone, that mountain wasn't good enough I guess

ItWasn7Me

When she SAW John’s startled expression

holy shitballs batman! fantastic chapter. Buckingham is about to be found wanting....

rich ed

So is someone going to get in touch with John to tell him Jehenna is missing, and when he rides to the rescue, he ends up saving earth again. much to Buckinghams fury?

Oh My God! I'm so angry I could chew nails... Damn Tefler, you made me feel some kind of way. Excellent writing. Cant wait for the next chapter, or perhaps the one after. Another EPIC battle is a brewin'

lol oops! Well spotted, thank you. :-)

Tefler

"...there weren't many shops left in attendance." ships?

zingowner

Isn't he just. :-)

Tefler

it was an accident. will try to be slower in future.

Wookey

Only one thing to say......... Buckingham, you're a fucking idiot!

andrew finlayson

Page 12, You (many) should be may now address me as Queen Edraele, for I am now leader of the Maliri.

great TY

Mjk154

thank you Tefler your work is greay tY

Mjk154

"I would prefer not to rule you directly, only offer my support... I have decided to elevate Edraele Valaden to... Queen Edraele." Hmmm

John Jameson

It shouldn't take me long, I'll do it tomorrow morning. I just want to reduce the repetition of a few phrases. I'll add a note as soon as I'm done! :-)

Tefler

Yay no more withdrawal

Mark Hall

Well spotted, thank you!

Tefler

Nice, thanks!

Tefler

And I don't even celebrate Christmas lol

Not just Literotica regarding ch 94. :-p I also prefer to wait for the final version. I hate partially edited writing. :-p

Stijn Van Hove

Im gunna count this as the first of 25 days of Christmas. Thanks!

Starting the Coffee - Nice, 30,696 words in this chapter, Thank you Tefler.

Master Laurent

Awesome! And "flurry of moment" should be movement I believe. :)

yuss thanks telf! love your work

rich ed

cheers fella

Braw

poop, late

"evenings events" -&gt; "evening's events"

Evan

:-)

Master Laurent

Lol, you guys crack me up

MJHSharkbait365

Refreshing the page every minute helps !

Which in itself was an accident

Wookey

Grrr yay

Muledrvr

Yay

Jim lynch

Okay, third... :-)

Evan

first: POOOO! Wookey beat me by a seconde!

PLRus--Founding member of the TSM F5 club.

Firsrt

Wookey