Three Square Meals Ch. 110

He smiled as he gazed into those happy emerald eyes. "I know exactly how she felt! Being with all the Nymphs at once... that was intense."

"They're responsive girls and desperate to please their master," Jade said, looking thoughtful. "I think my naughty sisters might have added their own little contribution to the sensations I was feeding you."

John carefully extricated himself from Helene, giving her a soft kiss on the cheek and pulling a blanket over her sleeping form. He looked around at the four Nymphs, who were all slumbering peacefully, serene expressions on their beautiful faces.

"I can feel you changing them," Jade whispered, hugging him from behind. "Making them just like me."

"I'll try my best, but I managed to achieve perfection on my first try. I don't think I'll be able to recreate my masterpiece," he replied, turning and wrapping his arms around her.

She blushed, sensing he was being sincere despite the playful nature of his reply. "Beginner's luck?"

"Exactly," he agreed, holding her close.

"Do your best, I've got every faith in you," she said, giving him a sensual kiss.

They rose to their feet and crept off the bed, being careful not to disturb the sleeping inhabitants. It didn't take either of them long to get dressed and they padded out of the Observatory, the door closing quietly behind them.

Jade was quiet as they crossed the bridge and headed for the grav-tube, nibbling at her lip as though building up her courage. "John... can I ask you something?"

He raised an eyebrow. "You know you don't even have to ask. What's bothering you?"

She hesitated, looking surprised at herself for even raising it. "I'm getting very fond of Helene..."

"Oh!" John exclaimed, not expecting that. He smiled and slipped his hand into hers to give it a supportive squeeze. "I've not had a problem with the other girls pairing off. You have my blessing if that's what you're asking for?"

"I just felt something between us today... but..." she trembled, unsure of herself.

John stopped and pulled her into his arms. "What's the matter, honey? Why are you acting so worried?"

"I thought I would always just be devoted to you!" she whimpered, clearly upset. "It feels like I'm betraying my Master!"

He cupped her face in both hands. "You've grown in leaps and bounds, Jade. You've become one of my matriarchs... and you're connected to your four sisters in a way that's completely new for you. Perhaps it's only natural that now you've opened your heart for those nymphs, you're willing to consider a closer relationship with one of the other girls?"

She nodded, looking thoughtful. "Maybe so."

John smiled at her and continued, "Having said that, you'll always be my devoted little Nymph and I'll always be your loving Master."

"Forever yours." Jade gave him a shy smile, looking relaxed once again.

He nodded, giving her a tender kiss. "You don't have to rush into anything. Just wait and see how things develop between you and Helene. If the two of you make each other happy, then that's great." He slipped his hand down to possessively caress her lower belly. "But she'll need to be comfortable with me keeping you constantly pregnant for decades to come..."

Jade's breathing quickened, her skin going from cool to hot in an instant. "Of course, Master..."

"Good girl," he said, grinning when he saw her face light up with a dazzling smile.

They walked into the grav-tube hand-in-hand and floated up to Deck Two. John wasn't sure what to expect in his bedroom, although he did find himself wondering if he might interrupt a Sapphic orgy.

"The orgy was earlier, handsome," Alyssa replied, waving at him with a piece of French Toast when he entered the room. "We all worked up an appetite and decided to have brunch."

Dana nodded, sipping a cup of coffee. "You gave us a delicious light snack for breakfast, but nowadays we have to share your load eight ways." She let out a wistful sigh and glanced at Alyssa. "You were so lucky having him all to yourself... breakfast, lunch, and dinner for a whole month!"

"I was a growing girl, I needed lots of protein," Alyssa replied, rubbing her bronzed tummy as she blew John a kiss.

Calara slid off the bed with a tray in her hands. "You must be starving, you haven't eaten anything today," she said with concern.

John's stomach rumbled its agreement. "This smells amazing, thank you," he said appreciatively, giving her a grateful kiss and taking the tray.

"I'll never get tired of cooking for my darling fiancé," the Latina replied, her brown eyes sparkling.

John followed her back to the bed and the girls spread out into a semi-circle, making room for him in his usual spot with his back against the headboard. There were smiling faces all round, the girls looking relaxed and happy as they finished off their brunch.

"Everyone seems in a very good mood," he cautiously observed, sipping his coffee.

Sakura nodded, a satisfied smile on her face. "We saved hundreds-of-thousands of civilians from a horrible death. I'd consider that a good morning's work."

"That it was... and it goes without saying that I'm very proud of all of you," John agreed, making eye contact with each of them in turn.

They sat up straighter as they responded to his praise, darting smiles at one another.

"Before we review the battle, I think we should discuss the Kirrix," John said looking around at the group. "We've all heard a brief summary of Alyssa's confrontation with the Hive Mind. I'd like to hear everyone's thoughts."

"I must admit, I'm intrigued to know more about this 'Shroud', and its effects on the Kirrix lifecycle," Rachel said, her grey eyes bright and alert. "Is there some kind of virus infecting the Luphids? That might explain why they're no longer viable as a host species, if they're transmitting some pathogen that inhibits the Kirrix grubs' ability to establish contact with the Hive Mind."

Alyssa slowly shook her head. "No, it's not a virus. The Kirrix seem to be under the impression that it's some sort of vast psychic dampening field." Grimacing with distaste she continued, "They seem to be using sentient hosts as a kind of... booster... to compensate for its effects."

"The area of influence must be immense if it's blanketing the entirety of Kirrix Space!" Tashana exclaimed in astonishment.

"From the brief flashes I got, I had the impression that it covers Terran Space too," Alyssa said with some hesitation. "If the Kirrix discovered that its border ended inside Federation territory, they would have thrown everything they've got into a massive invasion. They're desperate to escape from under the Shroud's influence."

The Maliri girl frowned, looking sceptical. "Surely we would have been aware of something like that? I've never felt anything inhibiting my Pyrokinesis."

"The Kirrix have been dealing with this for millennia," Alyssa replied, recalling the snippets of memories. "The Shroud was here long before we were born, so we've never known anything different."

"Any ideas on when it was created?" John asked, glancing at the blonde.

She hesitated for a moment and slowly shook her head. "Nothing concrete. I just know it's very, very old..."

"Could it be a Progenitor construct?" Irillith asked, voicing what they were all thinking. "The obvious creators would be Mael'nerak or Ranagon."

Alyssa tilted her head to one side as she considered her answer. "I'm not sure, but it's a definite possibility. I saw flashbacks of a Progenitor slaughtering the Kirrix and pushing them to the brink of extinction, so they were at war with each other in the past. The images were hazy though... they'd been passed down by members of the Hive Mind for the last ten-thousand years."

"Were any of those images associated with the Shroud?" John asked, before taking a bite of his French Toast.

"The Hive Mind only showed me their recent attempts to re-establish their old symbiotic lifecycle with the Luphids," she replied. "It ended in disaster and the drones were completely messed up. They couldn't speak to the Hive Mind and went crazy, so they had to be put down."

"So if we could neutralise this Shroud, then the Kirrix would be able to return to a peaceful existence?" Rachel asked, looking hopeful.

Sakura's almond eyes narrowed with anger. "Their ruling caste condoned the rape and murder of millions of sentient creatures! Not only that, but they butchered countless children and fed them to their young! They need to answer for all those horrific crimes."

"Are you proposing we finish what that other Progenitor started?" John asked quietly. "Genocide of their entire species?"

"I'd certainly have no hesitation executing every last member of the Hive Mind," the Asian girl said, her voice like ice. "They're part of a collective consciousness, so they're all equally guilty."

"Something messed the Kirrix up a long time ago... and that wasn't their fault," Dana said quietly. She raised a hand when Sakura started to protest and her expression turned grim. "I would feel sorry for them, but they've behaved like class-A dicks for thousands of years... Those fucking assholes deserve whatever's coming to them."

Calara had remained quiet throughout the discussion and she darted a pensive glance at John. "What do you think we should do?"

He sighed and looked up at the ceiling, mulling her question over. "My instincts tell me to wipe them out. That the Kirrix are a blight on the galaxy and should be exterminated..."

Sakura nodded her approval. "I couldn't agree more."

John's expression flickered with worry as he continued, "But I discussed this kind of scenario with Faye recently." He glanced at the purple girl and she gave him an encouraging smile. "When my instincts tell me that xenocide is the right thing to do, I'm more than a little worried where that path might lead..."

Alyssa clasped his hand supportively, interlacing her fingers with his. "I honestly don't know what to do either," she admitted, conflict in her cerulean eyes. "The Kirrix do feel remorse for using sentient creatures as hosts... but they have no intention of stopping."

Dana shrugged. "Well I can't exactly make us a Quantum Annihilator anyway, so it's not like we're about to go on a planet nuking rampage."

"I propose we treat the Kirrix exactly as we always have," Irillith suggested. "Kill any that cross our path... but I don't think it's worth our while going to the effort of wiping them out."

"What about the Shroud?" Tashana asked with interest. "Should we try to find out what's causing it?"

"Does anyone have any ideas how to investigate it further?" John asked, looking around at the group.

The girls thought about it for a moment, then each of them slowly shook their heads.

"I wasn't even aware the thing existed, so I haven't got a clue how we can find out more about it," Alyssa said with a troubled frown. "The Kirrix don't know much either, they just remember a time long ago when it wasn't there..."

John nodded, a resigned expression on his face. "I'm not inclined to go out of our way to help the Kirrix, but I don't see how we could anyway. Besides, we've already got too much on our plate without looking for more to deal with." After a reflective pause he continued, "Do any of you have other thoughts on the Shroud? If not, we can review the battle, then decide what we're doing next."

There were shakes of the head around the semicircle, so he nodded towards Faye to proceed.

She sprang from her chair and bounced over to the foot of the bed. "I've prepared the footage, so we can watch each of you in turn. Would you like to start with Calara and the fight against the fleet?"

"Sure, go ahead," John replied, before taking a big bite of his french toast.

Faye started the recording, showing footage from the Bridge alongside a holographic depiction of the Tactical Map, which re-enacted the battle as it unfolded. The Invictus ploughed through the Kirrix fleet, systematically slaughtering them with a devastating combination of laser beams and hyper-accelerated shells. Faye looked shifty when they saw Helene get escorted onto the Combat Bridge and she threw an anxious glance in John's direction and paused the video.

"I had a good chat with Helene this morning," he said, with a reassuring smile. "It shocked her to see everyone in action, but now she understands why I wanted to keep her from the fighting. She actually felt sorry for all of you, worrying that you'd be upset at having to kill so many Kirrix."

"But we barely batted an eye," Rachel said softly, reaching for Dana's hand.

John's expression was unreadable. "I know..."

The redhead glanced down at her girlfriend's fingers interlinked with hers, then looked around at the girls' sombre expressions with a confused frown on her face. "We just decided that the Kirrix were a bunch of bastards; why should we feel bad about fucking them up?"

Rachel stroked Dana's hand and murmured, "He's worried about our lack of compassion; that it's linked to the changes he made to us."

"Yeah, I get that..." Dana said, rolling her eyes and smiling disarmingly at John. "We all know you've spent months beating yourself up about being a naughty Progenitor and taking advantage of us poor defenceless little girls." Her voice turned serious and she looked around at her friends. "But the Kirrix are child killers, rapists, and murderers on a galactic scale. Why the fuck should we give a shit about slaughtering them?"

"She's right," Sakura quickly agreed. "If we felt no remorse after fighting a morally grey battle, I think we'd have cause for alarm." Her eyes locked on John and she said firmly, "But that's NEVER happened in all the time I've been with you. You've always made sure we're fighting the good fight."

Alyssa nodded, glancing at John. "She's right. I've been with you from the start; everyone we've gone up against deserved to be killed: pirates, slavers, rapists, murderers... the galaxy is a better place with them dead."

"What about the Kintark?" Dana asked, a flicker of sorrow in her eyes.

Irillith raised an eyebrow. "You mean the xenophobic monsters intent on enslaving and exterminating humanity?" She glanced at the redhead and snorted as she shook her head. "I won't be losing any sleep over what we did to them."

"They weren't all bad though," Dana insisted. "That was just that Melkadian asshole..."

Sakura gave Dana a sympathetic look and shook her head. "The Kintark armada gunned down thousands of escape pods in the Dragon March, then they incinerated millions of civilians with an orbital plasma bombardment of Unity City. It wasn't the Grand Prelate who did that... the crews of every ship involved in those massacres were guilty of war crimes."

Calara nodded, her expression grim as she locked eyes with Dana. "If you hadn't intervened, the Federation fleets defending Terra would have been wiped out to a man. Then Melkadian would have begun his plans for genocide... I doubt any of the Kintark officers would have objected, not with the Emperor there."

Irillith nodded. "I trawled the Kintark fleet archives after the battle... not a single official protest was raised over the atrocities in the Dragon March. They would have continued following the Emperor's orders like the obedient Imperial soldiers they were trained to be."

Dana's face lifted into a smile of profound relief. "So they really did deserve it? I wasn't sure if you were just telling me that to make me feel better."

"Bad guys, like I said," Alyssa agreed, nodding to her friend.

Rachel looked at John with concern, seeing him lost in thought. "John... are you okay?"

Jade gave the brunette a brilliant smile. "He's had an epiphany!"

Drawn from his reverie, John looked at the girls as if seeing them for the first time. "I was just thinking that maybe I've been looking at all this from the wrong angle." Seeing that all the crew were listening to him attentively, he continued, "There's no question that all of you have gone through profound changes. I've helped nurture you into..." he paused, looking for the right words.

"Remorseless killing machines?" Irillith offered with an arched eyebrow.

Tashana shook her head in disapproval and nudged her sister. "Don't be flippant, Rill, this is important."

Sakura's brown eyes gleamed as she stared at John. "We're your instruments of justice in an unjust galaxy."

He hesitated then slowly nodded. "As long as we make sure we're always fighting for what's right, the moral issues I've been struggling with... they no longer seem quite so important."

Dana grinned at him. "Yeah, I totally agree. We killed a shitload of bad guys today and saved a bunch of innocent people, we should be happy about that!"

Alyssa leaned over to kiss John on the cheek. "If it wasn't for you changing all of us, everyone on Carolus III would have died. You did that... you led our assault on the Kirrix to save those people."

He put his arm around her and smiled. "I can't claim all the credit, but thank you, I appreciate the thought."

Dana glanced at the frozen holographic images. "Now that we've agreed we gave the Kirrix a righteous ass kicking, can we get back to talking about how awesome the Tachyon Lances are?"

John laughed and nodded. "Go ahead."

Faye resumed the playback and the Invictus proceeded to tear apart the approaching Kirrix drone carriers with terrifying azure-beamed broadsides.

"The Tachyon Lances really are amazing, Dana," Calara said, her eyes lighting up. "The sheer power of the Nova Lances is hard to beat, but the Tachyon Lances aren't far behind and they're so much more practical! Being small enough to fit in turrets meant that I was able to unload incredible firepower from any direction. The rapid recharge rates and extended range turned the battle into a one-sided bloodbath!"

The redhead watched the unfolding battle with a smile of satisfaction on her face. "Yeah, they're badass alright."

"Speaking of the Nova Lances, is there any chance you could upgrade them?" Calara asked hopefully.

Dana thought about it for a moment, then nodded, a wicked smile on her face. "Yeah, I reckon I can come up with something fun."

Irillith frowned as she watched the Invictus filleting an ochre ship with a Nova Lance blast. "I remember you saying that Nova Lances are the Maliri's crude imitation of a Tachyon Lance... but their firepower is just... breathtaking. I don't understand how a derivative can be so much more powerful?"

The redhead listened with interest, then smiled. "Yeah, I see where you're coming from." Dana gathered her thoughts and took a deep breath before launching into her explanation. "Nova Lance tech is nowhere near as sophisticated, with crazy energy requirements, a ten-second firing initiation sequence, and long recharge times... but with all the advanced tech we've installed, we've cranked the weapon up to absurd levels." She studied the shattered Kirrix hulk. "The Progenitor Power Core, Kintark heatsinks and Vulkat Eternity Crystals combine together, resulting in ridiculous overkill."

"Is it a bit like comparing a sledgehammer to a rapier?" Sakura suggested, glancing at the Chief Engineer. "A long swing time compared to a swift stab, but the target ends up just as dead."

"More like comparing a sledgehammer against twenty rapiers with that massive difference in energy requirements," Dana replied, with a smile. "But yeah, pretty much."

"I can't wait to see what an upgraded Nova Lance will be like," Calara said, her voice filled with longing.

"We'll get together and talk design specs," the redhead agreed, sharing a grin with her. "We've got a few options, so I'd like your input on the kind of thing you're looking for."

"Any time!" the Latina eagerly agreed.

John patted the enthusiastic young woman on the shoulder. "I don't think there's much else to say about the battle itself. You made it look easy of course, but I've come to expect nothing less."