Three Square Meals Ch 81 - Complete!

Ekhm I was not saying that the weapons Drakkar used are not of Progenitor origin, as to what they could use I mentioned Kintark heat sinks and Uderworld as not Progenitor based, because my point was John and crew could use tech alien to BSP to suprise him in final battle ( pls don't make me clarify that any more... ).

xd The Drakkar were using weapons & shields given to them by BSP (they refered to him as the Dark One )along with the black armor. It's a knock-off down grade of Progenitor tech but still Progen. As to the Underworld it isn't based on Progenitor tech since Irillith nor Dana could hack it , but doubt it's superior to Progen tech since he wiped them out long ago. Sure it will prove to be a bugger to deal with when they go back because of it's unfamiliarity but have faith in Dana & crew .

bigdawguw65

With all due respect Dawg, While I was reading the "Play the Game" part of the story I was thinking of War Games, I have/had it on Betamax, VHS, Laser disk, DVD and now digital download. The problem was the brain cells that I have killed over the years combined with the senior moments and I missed the reference. Btw, Huskies are a great breed if you understand the requirements of ownership. Had a friend that owned one and the dog loved to RUN and RUN and RUN and the only way to stop if it got away was to tackle the dog from a bike and it would lick your face because it missed you!

Master Laurent

Glad you realized the reference , in the original story line of "War Games" they used Tic-tac-toe to teach the AI the futility of thermo-nuclear war . Once you start everyone loses . Might this be a way to teach Faye that any interference she might take would only lead to disastrous results ? Some of the most awful outcomes have come from well meaning ideas & ideals .

bigdawguw65

Sorry for not being precise was thinking of the weapons Drakkar used. Not Progenitor based technology that's my point :)

xd, I don't think it ignores shields. I believe we saw the shields of the Drakkar dreadnaught withstand a couple shots from the Legacy's Quantum Flux cannon. A strong enough shield should be able to stop a Quantum Flux weapon just as readily as it would any other weapon. As for the Underworld, Irillith couldn't hack it because the technology is completely alien and incompatible with existing Progenitor based technology as well as her abilities, which are Progenitor based as well.

Jedi Khan

Lets asume it was a weapon no shield will stop, unless Dana thinks of something... Here's another idea, what if some technology in this quadrant of space is better than what BSP have ( like Kintark heat sinks ) and can ultimately tip the balance of power in favor of John. Oh forgot about the Unerworld, do I remember it right and even Iririth couldn't hack that place ?

sign reads 'danger, do not feed the wild Dana'

keen_FlattendHedgeHog

Also just thought if they are "Mini" Quantum Flux weapon I hope that the Ashanath would still have problems breaking them down and recreating them. I think that the BSP may have "Personally" produced them.

Master Laurent

Exactly, that is why I have been saying that the next chapter may be filled with many new insights and as I posted above, we may be several chapters before we get to the ceremony. I even asked for your feedback Jedi, I do not know if you have seen the post. With Dana having the Projen Flashes when she sees Projen Tech I can see her looking at the Drakkar items and having a flash and then going into one of her hyper-focus / manic modes until she is able to deliver the goods.

Master Laurent

Keen, Hitting myself on the head doing the Homer Simpson "Doooohhhhh" I just remembered "Play the Game" - Darn Senior Moments. I consumed the first 70 chapters over a weekend and that may have been a part of my late night reading and still a little slow on the recall. I have killed to many brain cells with Tequila and other things. I did live in SoCal for 10 years

Master Laurent

Here's a question for everyone: what the hell kind of weapons were the Drakkar using when they boarded the Legacy? I hadn't really thought about it too much until Master Laurent got me thinking about the other types of weapons. I'm thinking these weapons are an entirely new beast, something we've only seen once before and much, much larger: Quantum Flux weapons. The only time we've seen a confirmed Quantum Flux weapon is when the Legacy took on the Drakkar dreadnaught. However, given the evidence presented in John's fight with the Drakkar on the Legacy, I'm inclined to think the Drakkar were using hand held Quantum Flux weapons. Here's my evidence: we know the Paragon armor suits are equipped with a magnetic field that is designed to detect and deflect solid projectile rounds away from the armor, however we didn't see that magnetic field being triggered by the Drakkar's weapons, so not a solid projectile. That leaves some form of energy or plasma weapon. It's not an energy weapon because a grazing shot managed to take a chunk out of John's armor and draw blood; had it been an energy weapon, it should not have been able to penetrate the armor so easily and the wound would have been cauterized on contact, so no bleeding. It's not a plasma weapon because the shots weren't leaving behind burning fires like a plasma weapon would, and again, like the evidence against it being an energy weapon, it took a chunk out of John's armor and drew blood, both of which plasma wouldn't do. So, by process of elimination, I suspect that the weapons the Drakkar were carrying to be some form of Quantum Flux weapons. If that is indeed the case, Dana is going to flip her shit when she finally gets to have a good look at them.

Jedi Khan

You rock, and your points are the exact reasons that I created the info in the community section, that way we can get a group discussion going on to help catch all of the little details.

Master Laurent

have sent my Invictus Weapons fitout v4 to Tefler to publish - if he is ok with it. A few points • Hard to distinguish between Refits when done on such a regular basis • Looking for any and all corrections that people might have; • Red is for upgrades still to come; and • Happy to update as further upgrade/changes made.

Wookey

Way ahead of you, even provided some contributions on other weapons. :-)

Jedi Khan

If you look in the community section I acknowledged you in the FAQ's and with almost each post I copied, it was getting old starting every copy with deepest respect to Jedi Khan - if you look you will see what I am talking about.

Master Laurent

go ahead and use the comments, I don't mind. Just remember the source, k? ;-) As for my work, it's nothing so lofty as a project administrator. My position is a bit unusual as it's an amalgam of service desk, SNOC (server/network operations center), and incident management team. I'm basically the low man on the totem pole, but even the low man holds the pole up. I take phone calls and emails from customers and convert them into tickets for the techs to work on, triage automated alerts and send them off to the techs to work as needed, and when the fit hits the shan, I run an incident management tech bridge, engaging the appropriate techs to resolve the issue, make sure they keep working the issue, and convert their techno babble into (hopefully) understandable updates sent off to upper management. I consider it a good day when I don't have to sit on a phone bridge because that means nothing's broken.

Jedi Khan

Jedi Kahn, in regards to your work, so you are an IT Project Administrator that has to herd cats! when the Big Dog comes into the room!

Master Laurent

Jedi Khan, With deepest respects and I have referenced you where necessary, I have started several weapons posts in the community section with a hope of creating a living document that Wookey is currently working on with Tefler. I have copied your response to me from Lit and incorporated it as a part of the discussion points. I Trust that you are ok with this, if not, I will remove them :-(!

Master Laurent

Heh. And I'm the guy running the phone conference when things break, making sure people are working to fix it, and reporting to upper management. Speaking of Lit, I just put up a nice lengthy comment in reply to your query regarding weapons and how they are different. Hope it helps!

Jedi Khan

Thanks Jedi, I have enough trouble keeping up with Patreon and Lit. I never knew of SOL before Tefler. Yes and I do the really weird stuff, I am a Disaster Recovery Planner. i.e I am paid to think of the worst things that can happen that would disrupt business services and figure out how to still keep up and running. Fun Fact, do you now the reasons for the original DARPA network project (Now the Internet)? Design an infrastructure that could survive a nuclear attack? Another fun fact to do know why a page not found is a 404? - because the Universities in Atlanta did not want to participate. 404 is the area code for Atlanta, GA - Fun Fact!

Master Laurent

lol engineers are a breed apart, that they are. May the god of 3SM (Tefler) hear your plea and take mercy upon your OCD, providing you the details you so desperately crave. :p p.s. I believe SOL has a word count for the story. It's currently north of 1.6 mil. ;-)

Jedi Khan

Greetings Jedi, I have read the story, many of the chapters a couple of times that is why I made the reference the way I did. However, many of the tests did not provide the detail that I am looking for. and the one that had a dual purpose was the Maliri civil war that Tashana had instigated. As an engineer by I am OCD about certain details, ie Weapons capabilities - especially how every uverse has a slightly different twist on their interpenetration of the terms. Remember "Assumption is the Mother of all Fuckups!"

Master Laurent

lol Master Laurent, did you not read the story? It's a reference to one of those weapon tests you're talking about. Except this one served another purpose aside from just testing the weapons.

Jedi Khan

Keen, I do not understand your comment, if you can point me to some game that this is based off of I would gladly do the research. - Sorry keen, Jedi just pointed out that I missed a quote - my bad because I love obscure movie references / quotes and I missed 3 words in a story that must be over 1.2M+ words by now. (Math 81X15K words per chapter) BTW, nice reference!

Master Laurent

play the game...

keen_FlattendHedgeHog

Just a thought, in the past retrofits, John and the team always did a weapons test - poor asteroids. If I may humbly request, can you provide an in-depth description / destructive strengths of the weapons. I see this as a dialog between John, Dana and Carla during the weapons testing. I can almost hear the joy in Dana's voice as she describes how she improved each weapon and how they kick ass!

Master Laurent

To be fair, a lot of that is just us and JFL dragging our conversation over there.

Great Discussions going on @ Literotica in the Chapter 81 comments section

Master Laurent

Very interesting observation Ben , had never really thought about it since all robotic/AI stories seem to take Asimov's Three Laws as a given . If she doesn't have them then the usual story line doesn't count here . All we have is that she loves John & the girls & wants to protect them & just wants to help . We've seen so far as she developed that she has gotten their trust , not by robotically (sorry for the pun) following some rules but reasoning with them , especially John & earning each additional degree of trust . The biggest thing she must learn & understand is the difference between living & existing .

bigdawguw65

I agree completely with you Ben. She just does not have enough maturity to deal with the uncertainties of life at this point and time. It will come, IF she is allowed to continue.

PLRus--Founding member of the TSM F5 club.

I know that Tefler is a master of aligning every jot and tittle with the master plot arc. So I believe it is telling that Caldwell made that call right before the awards ceremony. Especially given his attempt in the aftermath of the Battle of Regulus to grab John's tech. Of course, the tech John is about to give them will have the opposite effect John seeks. Now that they will have what they want, they don't need John anymore...or so they think. Remember how scared the Ashanath were of John even though they could read the minds of his crew? The T-Fed does not have that luxury...and the Admiralty is scared shitless of him and his crew. This awards ceremony is the equivalent of the Ashanath statue folks. There is a major power play about to be unleashed against John...and I am afraid Faye is going to be smack dab in the middle of it all.

PLRus--Founding member of the TSM F5 club.

Hoping for Wednesday, have to do a work thing Through Saturday with no access :-(

Master Laurent

Tefler did post a word document listing the Invictus' weapon load out at the various stages of the story. Look for the "Invictus Weapon Loadout" tag. You should be able to filter the posts for it as well.

Jedi Khan

How much longer until the next chapter I'm going through withdrawals

Mark Hall

Two words......Personal Shields

PLRus--Founding member of the TSM F5 club.

That was Progen John. John blocks himself unless he has no choice.

PLRus--Founding member of the TSM F5 club.

That was referencing taking out the Dreadnought's shields.

PLRus--Founding member of the TSM F5 club.

John does not need to install the rules of robotics, but he does need to teach her a few lessons and the ability to implement them. She lacks coping skills. Basically she is a teenager with a shotgun. Maybe this is why nymphs can't use guns.

Benj

I am worried that Faye might attack the Federation out of a need to protect the crew. She might even be manipulated by BSP, if he figures out this weakness. John made a powerful ship without proper command authority. Faye could gas the crew and run amok in hysterics if the Federation seems to captured John or any member of the team.

Benj

I am worried about Faye going mad from OCD on past injuries. I would hate to see her become a threat in her attempt to "save" the crew.

Benj

That would have been a fun idea to include. There weren't any Ashanath around while she was completing the repairs this time, otherwise I would have done so.

Tefler

I'm glad you enjoyed it! I liked writing the dinner scene, it was fun to have them getting together for a chat. :-)

Tefler

Yeah John looks very much like Mael'nerak and the Progenitor stirring up trouble (Lynton recognised the two as being the same species).

Tefler

Still thinking that Tashana has more gifts on the way!!!!!

Master Laurent

I am thinking that on your wall of Post-it notes you have a breakdown of the armaments for the Invictus. Can you place a copy in the community section? I can almost see each type of weapon having its own Post that can be commented on and updated as the design is enhanced.

Master Laurent

Many have speculated on the conversation with Admiral Edwin Caldwell. The options are really too many to assume anything. From fearing John, Learning what happened with the battles in the different empires, to an entirely different plot arc. Looking forward to your twisted answer.

Master Laurent

I am so looking forward to Dana’s vacation feedings in the insights she is able to gain. John has already demonstrated his ability to perform upgrades on-the-fly, I would assume that two weeks so focused feedings with the intent I’m giving Dana more insight and knowledge would benefit greatly. And from my posts on chapter 79 and 80, “MORE POWER! aaarrrrhhhhhh, aaarrrrhhhhhh, aaarrrrhhhhhh!” all I know is that Dana is going to be very busy over the next month! Not to mention the design of the Invictus II once she has unlocked more of the progenitor secrets and enhanced them with her own special sauce!

Master Laurent

On the subject to Faye, I believe she has the ability to enhance herself. She demonstrated this early on and I can only imagine it has become stronger. Looking forward to the twists and turns with this story arc. Hoping they are consistent with her struggles and she does not go too far off the deep end. I am seeing this more as a learning experience for her with a couple bumps along the way.

Master Laurent

I am starting to understand why the progenitor created Thralls. With great power comes great responsibility and many enemies. The Thralls are loyal without question once John has given them their magic dose. I can foresee way too many problems doing public activities.

Master Laurent

I am also wondering about the foreshadowing with Admiral Lynette Devereux and the shit storm that will be caused if the crew have to defend themselves at the awards ceremony. John demonstrated in the caverns his ability to create a shield when he was performing the genocide for Edraele several chapters back.

Master Laurent

I was looking forward to the awe of the Ashanath while Alyssa was performing the repairs in the drydock. Like the Maliri dry dock experience with John. You have always done such a good job with the telepathic dialogue Alyssa is able to pick up.

Master Laurent

Bravo Tefler! I am just completed my fourth read of chapter 82. So much great character development. The dinner scene was awesome. As I stated in one of my comments above, I pity the fool that pisses Faye off.

Master Laurent

OK, so the next group of posts are separate so people can comment on each topic.

Master Laurent

Ladies and Gentlemen, I think we forgot these two sentences We shall intervene momentarily. Prepare yourself, Gabrielle, a firm female voice commanded, echoing eerily as it reverberated through her mind. The voice belonged to Ailanthia, her Master’s Matriarch.

Big Dude

Yeah, I mentioned that yesterday I think....Deveroux

PLRus--Founding member of the TSM F5 club.

It was part of the briefing John and Calara gave the Admiralty on the Retribution of Zues.

PLRus--Founding member of the TSM F5 club.

What happens if a "body" becomes "available" during the upcoming Raijin affair for Mikaboshi and is "brain dead"? This body can be used for Athena to occupy through Irillith and Alyssa entering that realm for Athena transfer?

Big Dude

How does Devereaux know that Lynton was behind Nexus? Irillith hadn't discovered that information the last time John talked to her (reveal from ch 65) and it didn't come up when John talked to the Admiralty after the battle of Regulus. All Devereaux should know is that Lynton was one of the (presumably many) advisers on Von Brandt's project. Am I forgetting a conversation somewhere?

Ah, how much free will does a progenitor truly have since they seem to follow similar life styles? Who programmed the Progenitors? Teffie, we got another book here, "Progenitor Tales" and still another, "The Galaxy Before the Progenitors."

DCM

a fascinating idea. perhaps the random part needs to be examined and learned from. though humans in general are genetically self-correcting over the generations, so we are random; inside base restrictions.

keen_FlattendHedgeHog

A thought here. Mael let Terrans develop naturally, allowing random event control their development under the watchful eye of Nexus. John, and Alyssa are progenitors from Human gene pools, therefore that random nature to the Human part of the Genome may well give them an edge against BSP. BSP is standard Progenitor (preprogrammed and guided as all Progeintors are), and is already wondering what John is up to, which seems more in line with the random Terran DNA.

Thank you, Tefler!

Evan

I finished editing this chapter and have added the final version. I didn't add too much this time, just a few extra lines here and there. I've written 4.5k of chapter 82 and I'll get stuck into that today!

Tefler

What about being able to acquire the telepathic computer interface for,Faye? And change Calara so she's telepathic? She could make the perfect telepathic command node for,the ship. (Or make all the girls telepathic to each other and Faye) wouldn't that help make Faye feel more included with the family? All of the internal communications she can join in on. Lol.

I liked the armored malari name dropping part. Lol

So, Faye's obviously gearing up to do something she's fairly sure the others are not going to like but believes to be necessary to keep them safe. What could it be that she's going to do? It could be the cliche of AI enslaves everyone for the good of mankind sort of thing, trapping the crew on the ship and not allowing them to leave, or perhaps she's going to upload herself to the galactic net and take over there, subjugating everyone else to keep the crew safe? Whatever it is she decided to do, I'm sure we'll find out soon. Interesting reveal about the Brimorians. An aquatic species, hm? Do we know if Jade has shown a particular preference for fish yet? Hopefully the Brimorians aren't fish, or else they might have to be careful around Jade. And speaking of the Brimorians, what the hell makes John think he can get away with calling himself a merchant after all the fame he's built with the TFed by killing stuff and doing general non-merchant stuff? If there really is as much bad blood between the Terrans and Brimorians as John suggests there is, the Brimorians will have definitely heard of him and there is no way they will deal with him as a merchant. Unless he comes across a rebel faction that convinces him the Brimorians need a regime change and are offering up their best shield tech to make it happen, John is going to end up having to "requisition" the tech. Next on my list is these new trade stations Alyssa is setting up along the Maliri border. Are they going to be the standard TFed stacked dinner plate design, or are they going to be designed by Dana to not only handle the predicted crazy amounts of traffic but also serve as a sort of fortress in the event the TFed gets crushed and they are driven back towards Maliri space (Dana really needs to up her game and design a Death Star)? Will they have a lion motif to remind people who the benefactor is, or just be plain and unassuming? Also, who's going to run them, a private third party that Alyssa contracts, the TFed, or perhaps Alyssa via her shell companies? The Progenitor tech...now that Dana has gotten a look at the real deal, is she able to improve upon it in her own unique way or is the Progenitor knowledge that John's given her telling her "Nope, this is the pinnacle, there is no room for improvement"? How do we know that her "unique" tech style is not actually Progenitor style? Maybe the Progenitor tech she's finally seen is outdated Progenitor tech and any improvements she makes won't be "Dana improved" but simply "next level Progenitor" improved. What if the BSP has newer, better Progenitor tech than what Dana has found/unlocked? That'd be a bit problematic unless Dana can improve on the tech somehow in a way the BSP can't counter. Speaking of improvements...Rachel. Just what are the limits of her ability? We know she can heal injuries that are fatal, just as long as the person hasn't died yet (death being the cutoff point for healing, right?), and she can get a read of a person and their injuries with just a touch, but what else can she do? Can she modify a body like John can? Does she have to touch a person's physical body to get a read, or can she get a read remotely by using a blood sample like the one she "requisitioned" from Ulearan? Given her ability to regrow organs and knit flesh with her mind, what if, after further development and more juicing up from John, she's able to pull together organic molecules and sculpt a body from scratch? Would she then be able to give it life or would it just be a cadaver? Last thing, I promise (for now)...an idea for Tashana and Irillith so they can attend the award ceremony: why not have them wear something like Tashana's mask from when she was in the Unclaimed Wastes, just less creepy? It would hide their heads so people can't see their faces, skin, ears, hair, etc. and gloves would hide their hands. It won't do much to hide their *ahem* feminine figure, but it would certainly keep people from seeing their beauty. This is of course an option if they can't scrounge up two sets of standard Maliri armor that hides everything, curves and all, for both of them. Or if they can't get masks or standard Mairi armor, perhaps the helmet of the Paragon armor can be turned opaque/mirrored to hide their faces? They need not identify themselves as Maliri if they wear something other than standard, recognizable Maliri armor, but if they introduce themselves as Irillith and Tashana Valaden, I'm betting the Fleet Admiral and those who were with him during their meet with John at Regulus will recognize the name since John mentioned their mother as being a powerful figure among the Maliri. It would be like a subtle insider warning to the upper Admiralty that to mess with John and his crew is to risk incurring the wrath of the Maliri. Whether or not Admiral Deveruex will get the message depends on how much Fleet Admiral Buckingham told her about his talks with John. Okay, I'm done for now. Where's chapter 82?

Jedi Khan

Looks like Faye is going to do something that will take the group out of combat/danger. Maybe an indecent at the award ceremony?

I made the observation awhile back that sending an Maliri escort for John & Co. would make a lot of sense since his Maliri crew members are actually heirs to the House Valaden , so a "Honor Guard" would seem prudent . Unfortunately while it might dissuade a TF attempt ,Mikaboshi could care less . There is no need to discuss John's stature as "King" or Consort at this time I think. As far as I can remember there has also not been any mention of John's "parentage" in all the publicity about the "Lion" , might that be part of Adm. Devereux plan to rein in John's popularity in the TF?

bigdawguw65

Thanks Morris. :-) I tried to handle that scene as sensitively as I could. I thought it would be interesting to see John's more compassion side, letting Tashana take full control of the encounter to make sure she felt safe and unthreatened.

Tefler

A shitload! In all seriousness, yes, they will have to resupply at some point, but they're still okay at the moment. They only just left Genthalas, so were fully stocked before the battle. :-)

Tefler

Ditto

GrandPaM

you know we all looked over a very human and very real moment in the story. dont get me wrong i am just as worried about faye as the next TSM addict. but let us go back to the scene between john and tashana. I personally felt that this added a level of realism and humanity and demostrated that although they are all powerful and ass kicking sexy ass people. they are still mortal. the way that the scene unfolded and played out was about as real as it can get and i applaud you tef on the way you skillfully manuvered thru what could have been a preverbial mine field from hell. I also feel that this could possibly play a larger roll down the road for both tashana and for john.. it may actually be one of the things that when he faces his evil self may be a catalyst to allow him to overpower evil john.. or it could also be the knife in the back with the reminder of what being nice and kind get syou

Morris Crawford

Hey Tefler got a question for you. How much ammo can the Invictus carry for the ordnance based weapons. The battle for Ashanath was huge and they had to expend a ton of ammo taking down all those black huled ships. John is going to have to resupply soon. It the crystal allysium tipped shells something Dana and the maintenance bots can make or is it another trip to Genthlas. Something I neve recall being mentioned but would add another of those little details for additional realism.

MJHSharkbait365

Great idea,but.... (isn't there always a but?) All the guns seem to be DNA activated/keyed. No DNA on the bots, no working triggers. :(

Muledrvr

Well.... This can go a few different ways. I would HOPE that someone would notice the obvious.... A well publicized, public event, for the Lion. The crew knows, and so does Edraile, that they are hinting the Assassin Mikaoboshi. Edraille has experience on both sides of assassination. Sakura has probably done a couple of public kills when she was (forgot the name). Calara should at least have a quick thought on the matter. SOMEONE should think "hey, this would be a good chance for him to attack".... I would hope... LOL Tashana and Irillith can be ready in armor as a QRF (Quick Response Force). This might be the impetus for John to make full shielding instead of small buckler styles (girls in trouble, must protect). We know the Alyssa/Athena will put a smack down on anyone around, and might possibly get a psychic nibble of impending thoughts from evil doers. Such as the mystery T-Fed officer in cahoots with Mikaboshi. If a hijacking of the Invictus is planned, Faye will of course be front and center for that action. The QRF could be defending the ship, or defending the crew at the ceremony.

Muledrvr

Bigdawg: I am thinking that Admiral Devereux will be badly hurt and brain dead, thus providing a body host for Athena. Now whether she masks as Devereux within the Admiralty to give John and Co. inside information or breaks with T-Fed is another question.

PLRus--Founding member of the TSM F5 club.

He means final kai. In previous chapter posts, Tefler adds in the words "final version" and usually a short sentence or two saying the final edits are in for the chapter when all parts of the chapter are edited and posted. eg: in the chapter 80 post he put *** Update Jun 7th (09:00): FINAL version! ***.

David Shmilowitz

You mean ... ""COMPLETE"" or in the files ... V1 / v2 / v3 +++

... just look for the ***FINAL*** tag ...Tefler, Patreon does not offer a "TAG" -THING.....

It would be bad for Jon. Especially if the king of the malari talk leaked. Right now according to the admiralty he is a unknown quantity that can be managed and manipulated for political gain. Once he is the leader of two other major space fairing races his place in the hierarchy changes drastically.

Grimlakin

Yes. John Wayne.

Muledrvr

John F makes a good comment about a Marili escort. That would go a long way towards raising John's stature with the Terran Admiralty. It would give him more eyes and ears against any issues. Also, i vote for the twins to go to the ceremony...they deserve it...and in armor. They might be considered "agents of a foreign power." It might be a very good thing for Terra to be respectful of the Maliri matriarchy, owing then for helping save Terra as well. The beginnings of a trade delegation also.

DCM

well it will be interesting to see how tef handles the logic loop that all Ai's seem to fall into. She is so determined to protect the crew that she may reach the logical conclusion that to protect them she needs to control what they do. or in my crazy, dillusional mind what i can see happening since she already promised to do whatever it takes to help them and protect them she may be creating a series of new "boys" that she can use in combat and or assist on away missions. you figure they have the tech for it and they have the knowledge so yea i can see that happening quicker then Fae going down the logic loop path

Morris Crawford

As the SEC likes to make you say: "past performance is no guarantee of future results"

Malthe Mørk Mejlby

I know we TSM fans are a little worried about Faye , her "Plan" & her continued future , but I think we need to have more faith in Tefler . His story has never really fallen into the cliché story lines that plague many great Sci-Fi tales so far & I'm sure he has a marvelous , inventive & sexy way out of this dilemma. (DON"T DISAPPOINT US)..hehehe As to the Assassin's plans , he really doesn't have any idea what he & his team are facing & is in for a big surprise . but I can see some of the speculation about collateral damage coming about & still hope to see Jehanna join the crew .

bigdawguw65

Very good point! I was thinking of Pulse Cannons... Thanks, I'll fix that immediately! :-)

Tefler

I have full confidence that the plot arch of 'insane faye' won't be contrived or cliche. Simply because in the last 80 chapters I never once had that nagging feeling you get when you read a bad plot twist. Thanks for making this story more and more interesting with every chapter tefler!

Another great chapter Tefler. Just one question, there are 24 Beam lasers on Invictus As photon lasers are direct replacement of beam lasers so They have to make 24 Photon lasers (24*3=72 as one photon laser have three barrels) not 64 photon lasers as you mentioned in chapter

You could find a simple docx to pdf converter on the app store. Alternatively you can use any number of ereader apps that can display docx. Alreader for example

Hey Tefler, could you also please upload a PDF of the final version, so that people on mobile can read it as well? I only ask because I can't open .docx on my phone, and I won't be able to access a computer for another week...and I know that in Microsoft Word and OpenOffice, it's fairly simple to export a document as a PDF.

cittran genericlastname

I suspect not. Rachel's geared for diagnostics and healing, not transformation. That seems to be John's particular gift.

Chester Orland

Could Rachael's new powers allow her to temporarily change the skin color of the Maliri?

seems to me there will be a lot of 3SM readers fretting over Faye's plans. Myself being one of them while we wait for the next thrilling instalment....

rich ed

That would be a shame, she's come along so far from her humble beginnings!

Tefler

"Or is she looking up between kisses maybe" I was thinking along those lines, but I admit, the way it's worded makes it unclear. I'll have a think about how to rephrase it, thanks! :-)

Tefler

At least 3 cliffhangers in this one! I wonder if I can manage to top that next time? ;-)

Tefler

Cheers Wookey! I'm always nervous about how you guys will react to a chapter, so it's great to see you liked it! :-) I can't wait to get stuck into chapter 82, it should be a lot of fun to write!

Tefler

I figured there's no way they'd be able to put the same kind of plans into motion as the BSP, so it was fun to write their reaction to the Drakkar attack from their somewhat limited perspective. Faye will be interesting, I hope everyone enjoys what happens with her! :-)

Tefler

Hey Laurent, I'm really pleased you liked the chapter! It was actually a really fun one to write, with everything that happens with the twins, the dinner and discussing the upcoming plans. As you say, there are a lot of story arcs on the go at the moment, quite a few of which will be tied up in the next couple of chapters - I'm really looking forward to writing them! :-)

Tefler

Glad you enjoyed it Larry! :-)

Tefler

That's the way Tef has always phrased it.

I really hope Faye don't go all bat shit crazy on John and the girls I really like her character and would hate for them to have to put her down

Mark Hall

Should that be "boy toy" or "toy boy"?

Big Orca

We are on the same damn page.

Grimlakin

Is Faye really about to go full psycho girlfriend? She has a plan, that makes her upset, to keep the crew from ever being harmed again? Is she going to seal them all inside the ship or something? Frankly I'm more concerned about that than Mikaboshi. It was always a given that he was going to attack the ceremony. Unless Norwood got there first, I guess. The question, in my mind, is how much of the TFed high command gets taken out as collateral damage? In one fell swoop, John and Charles could be left as the highest ranking officers in the TFed. Just that quickly, John has de facto control over another part of Mael'nerak's Empire, or perhaps I should start thinking of it as Baen'thelas' Protectorate.

Had the same thought. Like, "The galaxy is a dangerous place for my friends! Need to slit their throats in their sleep to keep them from suffering!" Type deal. Poor Faye ): I'd hate to see her purged. But john and the girls need to survive, so whatever has to happen must, you know?

Ziggy

I don't know that I like where things are pointing with fae. Seems... Stereotypical. Maybe I'm jumping to the wrong conclusion of betraying them for their own good sort of thing. Thoughts?

Grimlakin

Ohoo yeah, so many options, so little time!

"Tashana kept kissing her neck, but kept her eyes fixed on John’s face as he stared down at them."----So Tashana is above of Irillith with her face pointed down in her sisters neck. How can she maintain kissing her sister and looking up at John at the same time? Or is she looking up between kisses maby? Or am I reading that wrong?

Amathew2

That was awesome but damn that cliffhanger

Mark Hall

Loved it. Absolutely loved it. So much going on. So much to look forward to. Roll on Final version. Roll on Chapter 82.

Wookey

... I wonder which girl will either die (berserker john anyone?) or be captured... lol. Maybe he will try to steal the ship? Lol. Berserker Faye....

That was an enjoyable read, Tefler, and I see you responding convincingly to the complaint that John and his crew are too perfect. The nicest example is John and Tashana misidentifying their apprehension about wiping out the Drakkar. (Tashana is too savy to imagine that making friends with one of a species means that they are all nice.) Also John and crew seem not to understand the scheming within the admiralty - perhaps they would through more consultation with Edraele - setting up a potential conflict of interest for Charles. Finally, there is Faye, and I imagine you have a plan to make this plot point not a cliche. I hope so, anyway.

John Jameson

Speechless I am. What a chapter. What foreshadowing. What a cliffhanger. Outstanding!

Awesome! And you delivered as promised. However, I find you to still be sneaky! You answered many questions, and laid the groundwork for so many more to be addressed. The true trait of a gifted storyteller. The biggest issue that I have is that I will have to wait another 10 days(hopefully) until I get to see chapter 82. I truly enjoy how you’re able to incorporate the fandom responses with your own nuances. Bravo! One of the questions I have based upon the revelations from chapter 80 and the legacy is when is Dana going to be able to start working on the progenitor armor? I can see a nice trip to the Maliri shipyard and reactor in order to create the new compounds. Now that I think about foreshadowing in chapter 80 about how Dana felt like a child in the chemistry class, I can see this coming about after she goes on her next two weeks diet. It is amazing how you give us the answers, we just have to open our eyes and see them before them. Anxiously awaiting the next installment, Master Laurent

Master Laurent

My oh my oh my....

THE DUKE IS JOHN

Mjk154

tef Iknow your an Enlish man but did you have to put a new post againts A Quite Man .

Mjk154

You got it by 10 seconds.... lol

Muledrvr

Well spotted, thank you! :-)

Tefler

Tefler When they sit down to eat the marliri meal you wrote ,, the brunette should her head , don't you mean shook lol

Jim lynch

I second Tom's Comment.

YOU GOT TO BE KIDDING?!

WooooHoooo Another wait is over

Show of hands: who has the sheer mental strength to hold off reading until the final version?

Hah! Nice catch, thanks. :-) Yep, with the helmets off I forgot all about the rest of the armour. I'll ammend that to make more sense!

Tefler

Tefler, maybe I haven't gotten to it yet, but, when did Dana and John remove armor? Helmet off, Rachel arrives, red head clothes fly, jump in bed... etc... left a couple steps out, but no mention of the rest of the armor.

Muledrvr

Thank you!

Evan

Greetings Lord Winter, With the rise in Tefler's Patreon supporters going well, I am reminded of the following expression, "Pigs Get Fat, Hogs Get Slaughtered". By his work and commitment, Tefler has demonstrated a Honor not found in many. Honor earns Loyalty! Now I am off to read Chapter 81!

Master Laurent

Thank you kind sir! Made my day!

Big Dude

Yeaaaaaahhhhhhh!!!!

Master Laurent

Hey Tef, something occurred to me just now. I've noticed that some authors on SOL who sell their work offer the unedited version for free. You've no doubt attracted attention from within Patreon itself, perhaps a similar model where the fully edited version is Patron-only might increase your subscriber base? Just an idea.

Lord Winter

YEAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Mark Hall

Nice, on a day off too 😀

Axi

First at last lol

Jim lynch

Thanks

Walter Henderson

Woo I'm on a break

Muledrvr

Fantastic

Jim lynch