Three Square Meals Ch 79 - Complete!

On the psychic echo commentary above, what if Alyssa's mind flaked out on the Legacy because her third helix was overloaded by Mael'Nerak's psychic echo mind meld?

Big Dude

As long as the 'protein makeover' is administered AFTER she is healed. Might be a bit squicky otherwise ;)

andrew finlayson

Exactly. If necessary, Alyssa could even check to make sure no one is home...

Then John give her the old protein make over

MJHSharkbait365

Basic physics says that the stronger you make something the more brittle it becomes. That isn't a problem on the Invictus, where it's other property of absorbing energy is more critical in many ways. For body armor I would guess there is a sweet spot where there is enough flex so that it does not shatter but hard enough to protect. We haven't seen Dana incorporating any sort of rebar matrix which would reduce its propensity to shatter. I suspect she will slide towards a lighter/agility based armor set next and need rebar and a more scale/ring type of build. (they have added two agility based fighters in Sakura and Tashana) And don't think I don't notice the similarity in Tashana and the Gunfighter class in SWTOR either!... I miss my Smuggler sometimes, but hated the overall game design.

Daniel Sifrit

So here's another idea for Athena...John and Co find a woman on life support, basically brain dead. Rachel can heal the body, and Athena can then merge with no feelings of guilt.

No standard ships could keep up with the Invictus' speed and maneuverability... the only way I could possibly see it happening was if they were Maliri ships, with full Dana-based upgrades, and John&co. have shown a distinct reluctance to share most of their Progenitor-based higher tech advantages... they can't be certain they won;t fall into the wrong hands.

you know i was thinking hard and i dont know if i missed it in the comments earlier. but since thr invictus is pretty much the size of a battle cruiser with the firepower of a dreadnought. Coupled with the fact that Calara is using it more and more for handling fleet operations(first with the terrans, then the malari and now the grays) wouldn't it make even more sense to start the next round of upgrades to set the ship up more along the lines of a command cruiser for a flag ship. i am not the brightest person here but it feels like the idea of having part of the hanger devoted to drones for everything from battle-space monitoring to anti-fighter patrol. hell you cold even add a type of drone that a faye avatar could ride in and attack to a enemy hull and help irilith with the hacking i am sure keeping a single ship like a destroyer and or a corvette or 2 around would make even more tactical sense since the invictus has progressed from being a fourth rated ship of the line(maybe even a fifth rate) to know easily being a second rate (maybe even a fourth rate depending) she would warrant having a personal screen of either corvettes or destroyers. maybe even a small fighter screen. but again what do i know. =P

Morris Crawford

I'm waiting to see the Ahanath's reaction when the shaping starts without a psi-shaper in sight! Also, since Etherium (the standard Ashanath armour) is supposidly easier to shape than either Invictium or Crystal Alyssium I wonder how many times Alyssa could shape that.

ringill

So here's a thought. The damage to the Raptor cannot easily be fixed, since Alyssa was only able to forge deca-shaped Crystal Alyssium in the heat of the moment after Jade's death. But the Ashanath have those psychic shaping machines to make the job easier. Admittedly, they are a bit too frail to do the job at the moment, but surely Dana could beef up the construction. Might we see deca-shaped armour for the Invictus et al in the not too distant future?

andrew finlayson

And, as it is Tefler's story he has the right / duty to ignore all of us.

Wookey

I agree that there is tension in the story about Athena and Faye, who long for a physical form. But, this does not need to be resolved yet and may be dealt with gradually to savor the dilemma. Tef is great at patience and letting us fans ponder alternate ideas.

Benj

This is dangerous territory for sci-fi writing. Once you start to allow multiple copies of a character, the whole story can become corrupted. No time travel, cloning, parallel dimensions, dreams, etc. Once this door is open, it is nearly impossible to go back.

Benj

I get the feeling that Dana upon seeing the new material of the "legacy" will have another materials epiphany for the Invictus. I don't think he wants a spiked ship like I picture the "badguy" as having. But I get the feeling the ship is more of a cocoon that the progenitors create. The thing had a damn cruiser or battleship ram into it at full speed and nothing happened to it. That material has got to be stabilized in some pseudoscience sci-fi psionic Uber concoction.

Grimlakin

Another thought that would provide a way of keeping Athena and Alyssa would involve cloning Alyssa and having Athena inhabit the clone. Also, of Alyssa's memories up to a certain point would also be transferred to the clone.

Just gonna throw this out there and see what it stirs up. What about the idea for saving Athena be to impregnate Allyssa and have Athena inhabit the baby instead. That way in a sense she still merges with Alyssa but isn't lost in the process.

MJHSharkbait365

I'm aiming for late evening UK time, as soon as I finish part 2. Roughly 24 hours from now. :-)

Tefler

When is Ch 80 coming out? Am bored at work and need a distraction.

Wookey

Grim , I think it's a matter of prospective . We've seen them in battles &come out unscathed but in this battle the sheer numbers leadto having some damage . Yes thier armor was chewed up but they are unharmed still ing fighting shape whie the enemy is destroyed

bigdawguw65

Yes the Invictus blows through the black armour like its not there. The thing with the shields is a simple numbers game. Enough ships can fire enough shots, so that even with crapy hit ratios, the shields overload. Stalin famously said, that quantity has a quality of it's own.

I have a question in relation to this chapter and maybe it's just perception on my part. I need to make a few things I understand clear first. 1. Nobody else has laser weapons as powerful as the Invictus crew. 2. Nobody else has armor as good as the Invictus crew. (please note both statements are true to our current knowledge perhaps other than the big black progenitor ship.) So can someone please explain to me how the Invictus isn't able to blow through this black armor like paper towels as opposed to the tissue paper of other regular armor, and how the eff is the Invictus armor getting overloaded by crap tactic barrage of third rate energy weapons?

Grimlakin

Tefler, status on Chapter 80 and how the new computer working out???

BSP complains that John is making youthful mistakes. First, risking himself for others. Second, becoming famous. Third, ignoring the financial realities of kingdom management. Fourth, lacking spiritual intelligence. This reminds me of an old dog watching a young one chase squirrels. I actually hope that John and BSP can become friends over time, but the galaxy may not be big enough for both of them.

Benj

Is there any chance that you can release these chapters in pdf format?

Andrew Hughes

Yes good idea. Similar suggestions; Skaði (anglicized Skadi/Skathi), Norse godess of mountains, skiing and bowhunting, Macha or Medb/Maebh/Maeve (Old Irish/Modern Irish/Anglicized respectively), both godess warrior queens of Irish legend (we know Dana has a thing for Irish mythology), or Artemis, Greek godess of archery and hunting

SpamSpamBacon&Spam

Btw, Tefler, I love the idea of getting this in ebook format. I wanted to re-read the story, so I put everything into word docs and converted it to my kindle. Chapters 1 to 70 took 6 books, and probably should have been broken up more! Can't wait for them to get released!

Just wanted to point out that there's been no indication of where the Legacy was found. Don't forget the Greys controlled a vast area of space before TFeds showed up. Could have found the Legacy near the planet where Jon's mother was, and missed the part of the ship that crashed.

Oh, and Tefler, you inspired me to get off my ass and write again. :P Thank you kindly.

Lord Winter

So, Tefler.... Other than tiring, why haven't they max shaped all the armor? The Paragon suits (keep getting cracked and have to be remade), the Invictus (keeps getting hull plates replaced), the Valkrie (utterly destroyed in the first deployment)..... The only things max shaped are the Raptor (thanks pissed off Athena) and the swords are nearly max shaped.

Muledrvr

The Maelnerak died for love, so Tef may imply that immortality is lonely by definition. If John dies, it will be to save one of his girls or children.

Benj

Why no female progenitors? This is largely a story for men, but I think that it reveals an underlying belief among men that women are less ambitious. This story implies that there may have been women progenitors in the past, but they are no longer either due to suicide or self sacrifice for their children. Progen men are more self-centered, which is an essential trait for immortality.

Benj

Karma. Is it possible that to create life, a progenitor must destroy life? He may be wiping the Board clean so that he can create better worlds than the half baked ones of Maelnerak. Maelnerak did the same. While space may seem infinite to us mortals, immortals see it as scarce, because their powers are not limitless (can not create stars, planets, etc.). The progenitors are playing an endless game of monopoly.

Benj

If so, this would suggest that the Maelnerak is John's father or that John is the reincarnation of the Maelnerak who has finally returned to the Malari.

Benj

Is the Legacy the same ship that John's mother found?

Benj

Another option for a ship solution for the primary hangar is having it being remotely piloted from the Invictus. If there is space they could add an extra room off the combat bridge and setup a remote bridge or cockpit stations if Tefler chooses multiple ships. Could also be a viable solution to the mech piloting problem. Could be a viable stepping stone for allowing Faye to eventually take over control of the ship/s and mech. It would give her multiple input sources to learn from and perfect her combat programming.

I wonder whether John will explain the effect of non-sharing with Ullrean. Will be interesting whether he takes any responsibility for the unnecessary loss of at least an extra 100 ships.

Wookey

If there is a greater Progenitor empire, "half baked" probably refers to the fact that the other empires think they are really in control.

Lord Winter

So here's a thought that I was mulling over, fell free to incorporate any part you want Tefler ;p lol. So this chapter mentioned a possible addition of a custom built Destroyer for the primary hanger. Which is a great idea and with the likely Dana upgrades will end up being a Pocket Heavy Cruiser/Battlecruiser. It might have the bare minimum of a command bridge but will most likely end up being piloted by Faye. So if that's the case how about an alternative option that's based on the force multiplier idea mentioned in the past. The primary hanger should have enough space for at least either Two Frigates or Three Corvettes (possible Six Corvettes). Where with the Dana's upgrade that would be like Two Pocket Cruisers or Three (or Six) Destroyers. Or even a Frigate and Two Corvettes. Now that may be massively OverPowered but it could be a viable option. The Corvettes provide the ability to have a drone/fighter like force without the downsides of having drones/fighters. If there is space for Six Corvettes then they could be specialised, for example two could be decked out with close support weaponry which never stray far from the Invictus. Could even be described in the story as looking like the little feeding fish that attach/follow sharks around. You know preventing pests getting on the host ;) lol. If the John and the girls are never going to be flying the potential crafts, which is highly likely, then my personal favourite for custom built ships for the primary hanger would be a Frigate and Two Corvettes. However, if it will be piloted by either John or the girls then go with the original idea of the Destroyer. Haha now how is that for a rant :p lol. Whatever you actually decide to go with Tefler will be awesome and I highly anticipate the eventual reveal :)

Yeah Jedi that something that's popped into mind on a few occasions. Normally the thought is accompanied with a *gong chime* or *ding* than one of the many possible permutations of "you have levelled up" lol. Tefler if you don't want to reveal BSPs level in comparison to John then how about Alyssa/Athena and Mael (sp?) before he abandons the Maliri?

Mech upgrades: Faye as pilot...LOL (Dana is grounded). A miniturized engine in each foot as well as a backpack instead of thruster on it's back. Gatling gun integrated into the forearm rather than hand held for both stability and greater mobility without tying up a hand. Four arms, two for sword play/etc. And two for above forearm gatling guns. A detatchable, reloadable, external armory for each Gatling gun for more ammo. Sonic cannons integrated into the palms of Gatling gun arms. Shielding 8 folded Crystal Alyssium plating Gatling lasers for point defense system. Progen server for command and control. Miniturized Torpedoes that are shielded and use a progen power core as the warhead (programed instant overload)...they are just too dang effective even with shields up not to have them.

PLRus--Founding member of the TSM F5 club.

By the way, Tefler: Since you have chosen Vlkyrie as the name of the Mech, thinking Freyja would be appropriate for the destroyer escort

PLRus--Founding member of the TSM F5 club.

I am thinking the nasty in the astral plane IS BSP...whom John has given notice to with the javalin of power strike from out of nowhere. AND: I also think that is where the final battle will be fought.

PLRus--Founding member of the TSM F5 club.

I had a thought recently. This story, that of John's "coming of age," seems a lot like an RPG. This is likely not the first time this thought has crossed my mind, and it is likely to be shared by others as well, however this is perhaps the first time I had thought to try to put the relative power and strength of John and the BSP into terms of RPG character levels. If John could be considered to be at level 1 at the time of meeting Alyssa, and let us say he is now at level 20 at the time of the Battle of Ashana, what level is the BSP at in comparison? Tefler, with your background at the Games Workshop (I believe you have mentioned you worked there in the past), I'm sure you've given this some thought and might have an answer. Would you be so kind as to share? I highly doubt it'll reveal all that much, so it's not likely to be a spoiler; it'll just give us much to speculate on and ignite our already smoldering imaginations to imagine what more John can gain to bring himself to the same level as the BSP. So please, do tell. It'll at least make Crazy happy and keep him occupied until the next chapter.

Jedi Khan

Think your looking for shadows on a sunny day but like you said there all kinds of hints & clues scattered thru these chapter that keep we readers sharp , on our toes & imaginations cooking .

bigdawguw65

Here's a couple of things for people to mull over, it seems that Magaruk crashed into the Progenitor ship as he tried to leg it out of the battle. We then switch to a sinister onyx chamber and some sort of galactic chess playing nutjob, presumably the other Progenitor, having a jolly good laugh about having arranged to take out both the Drakkar and Ashanath. The next line is "What IS he doing, Ailanthia?" which on first run through I thought was said Progenitor taking about John but after another pass, and a bit of creative thinking, could it be he's actually talking about the fellow in the onyx chamber and that there are in fact 2 other Progenitors out there? Or the other Progenitor and an as yet unidentified other race? Then there's the Progenitor's conversation with Ailanthia and her thoughts about it, it would seem that he's suddenly treating his Matriarch a little more how John treats all his women so why now? Is there some sort of astral bleed from how John treats his Matriarchs, and his extensive harem, that's affecting how the other Progenitor sees his Matriarch? Another pair of excellent chapters which, all too typically (a very good thing, honest!), generate probably more questions than they do answers.

ringill

Yes, I don't think I'll make any more edits now, unless people spot spelling errors.

Tefler

I'm aiming for a first draft version of chapter 80 by the 31st May...

Tefler

Thanks GrandPam! I nearly took that line out, so I'm glad I left it in there. :-)

Tefler

Yeah, it's been fun watching the numbers slowly creep up! I wonder how many of the 1000+ patrons read the comment threads but choose not to join in. I find them fascinating reading!

Tefler

Thanks Daniel, I'm glad you enjoyed the battle! I've quit my job, and I'm focusing full time on writing now. I'll stick to roughly the same new chapter output as before for the coming month or two, as I want to focus on sorting out the early chapters as ebooks as soon as possible. :-)

Tefler

Thanks Jim! It was a really fun chapter to write! I'm always looking for ways to improve my writing and I've been experimenting with the structure recently and the use of more similes. I'm glad to hear it's paying off!

Tefler

its probably obvious though is this the final final everything done to it version of 79

Its that old Tefler lives in England but writes for a primarily US audience thing. Cross-Atlantic mis-appropriatism. LOL

Wookey

Don't forget the Valkyrie, Wook.

Lord Winter

As always: Great story! Love the way how you keep us spellbound throughout the whole story so far! I know I'm struggling with the metric system but err I'm not sure about this sentence: Practically every square foot of the thirty-metre-tall warmachine It sound perfectly right but shouldn't it be: Practically every square metre of the thirty-metre-tall warmachine

Kin Asdi

Dang tefler at this rate you might break 2 grand before much longer what's the ETA on the next chapter? We needs our fix man 😵😵😵😵😵

Mark Hall

BSP plans seem to set the various Empires ( which he calls half baked) at one another . If John hadn't already screwed up Lynton's plans Terra would be destroyed(by Nexus) & the Terran Fed fleet decimated (hate to use that term) , The Trankarans would be embroiled in a civil war & the Ashantah literally gobbled up by the Darkkar. Although BSP told Lynton not to hurt him & has not tried to attack him so far the Darkkar have come close to killing him a couple times & his allies the Kintark also have tried to kill him .So to did Nexus . So I don't see him as a big savior of John , just someone that doesn't want an open fight with him ...Yet. I haven't seen any nurturing or teaching or any real attempts to aid John from BSP so doubt he is setting him up to rule the Galaxy . I wonder if BSP is aware that John is sharing his powers with the girls & elevating them to semi Progenitors , might come as a real big surprise one day .

bigdawguw65

Looking forward to JFL's idea of Invictus opening up with 2 destroyers being launched. One called Bob. The other 42. Lol. That triumvirate plus the Raptor would be scary

Wookey

One of the best lines in the chapter: "“Damn, a split,” he muttered to himself in irritation" LoL! Although, the rules stickler in me wants to point out that since more than 1 sword swing was needed to dispatch the two remaining, John technically did not get the spare.

GrandPaM

Not that far away from $1700 Tefler..... one more chapter and I think you will crack $1700 and 1100 Patrons

Wookey

Perhaps the progenitor is upgrading john so they can all take on the nasty in the astral plane? Or is only John that has been having those nightmares?

rich ed

Don't forget about Master Assassin vs Sakura

Wookey

Great chapter. The battle was awesome and the way you work the plot threads is amazing. Very well done. And how are things on the job front? Are still 'gainfully' employed or are you already an 'unemployed, writer?

What does BSP stand for? I've always thought it was black ship progenitor but I'm pretty sure thats not it

Nice! Thanks for letting me know. :-)

Tefler

BSP and Progenitor John the same people. BSP left a shadow of himself in John as a control.

Lets see, Lets see, we have the: Maliri - Johns in charge Ashanath - Capitulated totally to John Rock Folks - Revere John and could easily be allies Human - Revered and soon to 'lead' there military at the very least That leaves only: Lizards - Active war - I sense a giant lizard that is going to be gutted soon :P Brimorans (SP) - Unknown Ensuie(SP) - Unknown For looking to 'knock off' the peaces of the board the BSP looks to be setting his 'son' up for a very easy leadership of this corner of the galaxy. And why do I say his 'son?' The BSP seems to be the one that John's mom freed from the lost planet hence no fleets of thrawls and this was her 'reward?' ~sets his chin in his fist and looks down over his glasses at Tefler~ verrry interesting ;)

That was one of my favourite chapters, loved it it had everything from battles to loving moments between such lovely characters heroism too just fantastic your getting so much better at delivering your ideas in written word I love it thank you so so much tefler.

Jim lynch

Don't think John's mother is enthralled to BSP , tend to think Mael-nerak is his father from what we've seen so far . The whole question of who is his father , is BSP same Progenitor that attacked Mael 10,000 years ago or is a new player on the scene , just how many Progenitors are or have been prowling around this section of space is the biggest mystery of this story . Why is BSP hovering around the edges stirring up trouble instead of what we seen of Progenitors sweeping in & conquering with thrall armies ? what motive does he have for watching/testing John instead of trying to take him out ? 79 chapters in & we just getting more question...I LOVE IT!!!

bigdawguw65

I'm still hoping for an eventual meeting of John and his mother enthralled to BSP, I think that it would be very interesting to see how BSP could use that relationship against John and see how far John is willing to go for a mother who abandoned him, granted she was enthralled...

Jared

Just spotted this: Alyssa shot her a teasing grin and replied, *Ah yes, so we were. Sakura certainly seems pleased with her Cryokinesis.” It starts off as telepathic then ends as normal speach, from the context I suspect it should be telepathic.

ringill

The Maliri, unlike John, were under no obligation to come to the aid of the Ashanath, nor did the Ashanath ask. For Edraele to send warships to Ashana without an invitation would be quite the bad idea politically, especially since they would have to cross through Terran space as well. Besides, the Maliri ships couldn't hope to keep up with the Invictus, and would have slowed John down if he had to travel with them.

Jedi Khan

I wondered , when John got the first message about the Invasion , why the Maliri didn't offer to help ? Seems that especially Edraele would want him to take some support along but seeing how he rejected the idea of having Maliri piloted fighters in the hold I can understand . Unlike other Progenitors he wouldn't sacrifice his thralls but only wants to defend them .

bigdawguw65

I'm hoping to cover all that in the upcoming chapter, so hopefully it should be an entertaining read!

Tefler

Thanks! I like leaving a chapter on something like that, not so much as a cliffhanger, but just as a fun way of bringing the chapter to a close.

Tefler

Yeah I thought you guys might like that little teaser thrown in there. Sorry to anyone who was rooting for drones or fighters. You'll eventually see why I didn't go along that route (other than the justifications given in the story).

Tefler

Cheers Larry, I'm pleased you enjoyed it!

Tefler

Cool, glad you liked the second half. I was worried it might be too anticlimactic, as I originally intended to end the battle with the evil Progenitor scene. Dana had been worried about John's reaction as soon as the mech got trashed, so it seemed a fun, if lower key, way of ending it.

Tefler

No problem! :-)

Tefler

I'm using Office 2007, so I'm not sure if it's still supported! I'll check it out.

Tefler

Thanks Anthony, I'm glad you liked it!

Tefler

I think the Ashanath should be ok, at least for now. True they're pretty fucked up but so are the Drakkar. That invasion fleet seemed to be a large chunk of their total numbers completely destroyed (hence the BSP knocking over their piece, signalling he thinks the threat is eliminated). The Terrans may be interested (and they have form for taking from the Ashanath) but a stern word from John should sort that. Other than that, the biggest threat would be the Kintark or the Brimorians as we know they're both being manipulated by the BSP. Having said that, the BSP knocked the Ashanath piece over too, so he seems to think they're no threat any more, so I can't see him bothering to attack them again soon, especially when the Terrans are putting up such a strong fight

SpamSpamBacon&Spam

lol John, I think you're seriously overestimating the size of a destroyer and how much space it would have. A destroyer is only 200 meters long, and you want to fit it with more stuff than what's in the Invictus, which is currently 750 meters long? The singularity drivers alone are 400 meters, twice the length of a destroyer, and we don't even know how big the Quantum Flux Cannons are (massive, I bet, considering the Legacy only had one). Even externally mounting the bulk of the weapons isn't going to help much, considering the limited surface area that would be available.

Jedi Khan

Since John and crew left the Legacy shortly after Rachael used her abilities, my guess is that the only Drakkar alive in that ship were the ones who had surrendered to John in the command Center. I do think that Dana might want to ask John, Sakura and Rachael why they didn't implement the "Wonded Warrior Protocol" on board the Legacy.

So, the Ashanath fleet is in shambles. Even though they may have won the day, I doubt they have enough ships to patrol their borders, let alone defend them. Hell, I bet even a single battle group, not even a full fleet, could overwhelm what remains of the Ashanath military. I certainly hope they have the means to quickly repair and rebuild, but even if they do, I imagine it would take years to recoup their losses. I wonder if they would consider asking either the Maliri or Terrans for help? Maybe a ship purchase program, or the loan of a battle group or two to help patrol Ashanath space until they recover? Maybe both, with the Maliri loaning some ships and crews, while the Ashanath buy ship hulls from the Terrans and refit them? This leads me to another thought. Where the hell was all the civilian merchant traffic that should have been moving around? I can imagine that the Ashanath issued an alert to their own merchants warning them to stay away, but what about foreign merchants? Did the Ashanath set up some kind of automated broadcast at their borders warning of the invasion and/or closing the borders? And I'm led to yet another thought. What is going to be the TFed's take on the battle? I can't imagine they would remain ignorant of the battle for long. Sure, they're not about to know anything about the brief "civil war" among the Maliri, seeing as how the Maliri are a secretive lot but the Ashanath are not, so TFed Intel has got to be keeping an eye on things there. It would be interesting to get the TFed perspective on what happened, and what their response might be to it at some point.

Jedi Khan

There is a little nod to Dana's brilliance you forgot to use and I think it's a missed opportunity. In my head I named it "The Wounded Warrior Protocol" when Dana designed the Paragon Armour. I think that it would be a nice touch to have it activated already on Racheal and Alyssa, by Sakura, before John comes to see them. Obviously John has forgotten it totally. But Sakura would not. Expecially since you did not really say that all Drakkar had been cleared from the Legacy at that moment, Sakura would have at least an eye to a defensive position and having Rachael and Alyssa in lock down for Medical Transport just makes sense. Plus you have not used that bit of Tech yet, as far as I can remember...

I want to see Jon and the high council, then the repair and minor refit. Then off to the humans for the award ceremony and the inevitable attempted betrayal by the military only to have the line soldiers tell them unequiciolly no making Jon the commander of all human space as well. Just saying...

Grimlakin

Fantastic chapter Tefler. Looking forward for interaction between John & girls (one-on-one interaction), Alyssa debrief & interaction between John & high council.

Thoughts on the destroyer-class ship. Armament: Externally mounted to save internal space for munitions power cores, etc. (except for items 1, 2 and 5). 1. A set of Quantum Flux Cannons 2. A double barrelled singularity mass driver 3. 30 photon pulse lasers on gimbal mounts 4. 48 pulse cannons 5. Banks of fire and forget, target discriminating, shielded, armour piercing, high speed torpedoes with a miniaturized Progen Power Core which doubles as the warhead. 6. 30 updated, gimbal mounted gaus cannons Power and Drive Train and Command and Control 1. 4 engines 2. enough thrusters to allow the destroyer to jink and jive like the Raptor 3. 6 to 8 Progen Power cores (1 to 2 for the Quantum Flux Cannons, 3 for the photon pulse lasers, 1 for the singularity driver, 1 for the pulse cannons/gauss cannons and 1 for the shields, engines, thrusters, and FTL drive). 4. 3 auto targeting, error correcting, anticipatory target aquisition (based on Maliri tech), Progen server based targeting computers (one each for the photon pulse lasers and pulse cannons and one for the torps, Quantum Flux Cannons, and singularity mass driver. Crew Space: 1. One centrally located, highly protected, pilot station/combat bridge accessed through a drop-down self-sealing, command chair. 2. Combat bridge is force field protected against breaches as well as surrounded by hardened Crystal Allysium casing (folded 8 times). 3. 3-d holographic interfaces

PLRus--Founding member of the TSM F5 club.

Ah, well spotted, thank you!

Tefler

I loved the last line, great ending!

Considering Progenitor John is an internal personality of John's, I don't think it's very likely that he'd be manifesting in Alyssa. Especially since Athena would already be there and could likely guard against something like that. ~Morningfrost

Morningfrost

Wonderfull ending to the chapter Tefler. I love the idea of the Invictus having the <a href="https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/USS_Defiant" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">USS_Defiant</a> aboard! Pretty soon the BSP is going to be left in the dust tech wise and the final confrontation will need to be hand to hand ;)

Great chapter. love it

The group set off across the room, heading back the way John had entered. The footing was treacherous, with the floor awash with blue blood and they picked their way around the mangled Drakkar corpses, their twisted bodies showing horrific injuries. John studied them as he walked by, eyebrows climbing as he saw the brutally smashed remains of a Drakkar battlesuit. The black carapace had been absolutely pulverised, looking more like a crumpled soda can ++than++ a formidable piece of body armour.

Has anyone picked up the vibe that Progenitor John maybe manifesting through Alyssa? Either than, or she might have gotten more than just the skills from her Progenitor modifications.

Big Orca

Nice 2nd part well written my friend

Warren Thomas

Love it thank you

Mjk154

I think that the original mech might never fly again. It's weapons might be used in a second version, but the head might not be the location of the pilot.

I figured that in the heat of the moment John, Sakura and Rachael just forgot about that feature. Alternatively, John might have decided to simply not use that feature since carrying them would be a more "personal" touch. That question might be one for Dana to ask John in the general debriefing.

Yea cool stuff, question why not use the suit med-vac in the suits on asl and rac ?

Thanks again Tefler. Go to Microsoft store and download free app to save as PDF files.

Open the word doc in safari, then tell your iPad to open it in iPage.

Big Orca

I did some research on that, but couldn't find any definitive answers. I watched some cool videos of tank shells getting stuck in armour though! I'll make a minor correction to that effect.

Tefler

Thanks Mattias, It was a fun chapter to write!

Tefler

Ah, I'm sure he'll find out eventually, but will it be too late by then? :-) Glad you enjoyed it!

Tefler

Thanks Carl! I just watch the movie playing in my head and then write down what's happening. :-)

Tefler

Unfortunately when I switched machines, I lost the addin for publishing a pdf in word. I'll try and figure out how to get it back.

Tefler

Nice catch! Yeah, I forgot about that, thanks!

Tefler

Well done Tefler. Another great chapter.

Anthony Kester

." Species: Progenitor - slightly fatigued... otherwise unharmed." Umm minor wound on right arm?

andrew finlayson

She might as well start teaching Faye to fly a mech, only way that sucker is going out again is with a "disposable" pilot. LOL.

Daniel Sifrit

Just a minor quibble about shaped charges... if they don't penetrate the energy does indeed blow backwards -- just not quite as focused. It has to go SOMEwhere and it didn't go through a hole in the hull!

Daniel Sifrit

Thanks for the new chapter. This story just gets better and better. An AI, souped up, destroyer tagging along as extra firepower will be awesome. Please let it be so :-D

The evil progenitor's plan is pure genius. Thanks for this Tefler. Will John realise in time that he is playing into the evil progenitor's hands?

John Jameson

Can't wait !! :)

Derek B

Alternatively please upload a PDF version

Wookey

Any tips on how to download and read on iPhone &amp; iPad?

Wookey

I took the "you're grounded" to mean her ride was U/S and wouldn't fly again.

Smart wombat

I totally agree with Byroz that you have an "Incredibly impressive talent you have for turning the written word into a highly addictive drug."

Poor thing! She's grounded?! She might even be sent to her (shared) room until she understands what she did wrong and what she needs to do so that it never happens again?! Of course, that does put her in a position where he can help her achieve that understanding!

Evan

In that case, I'm glad I didn't add any spoilers! I really hope you enjoy the chapter! :-)

Tefler

You're quite welcome!

Tefler

Yay, I managed to hold out reading it until the full chapter was out, though it has taken a huge amount of will power to do so. Incredibly impressive talent you have for turning the written word into a highly addictive drug.

Byroz

Thank you!

Evan

Great

thank you

keen_FlattendHedgeHog

I've been making good headway on chapter 80. I'm hoping to have that done by the end of the month!

Tefler