Melinoe Ch. 26-30

0o0

Everyone on Deirdre felt the transition from hyper-warp to normal space.

While her four wives continued their intimate moments, Agatha collected and correlated data from Deirdre's sensors. The bulk freighter was realigning and Agatha quickly defined its projected course as she extrapolated their destination.

A dim system stripped of easily harvestable resources over a hundred seventy years earlier. The system had no name, its red dwarf star only a numeric designation. Agatha estimated a thirty-eight hour transition if the freighter's hyper-warp was consistent.

The Ghusmik Urr was laid down in the Hyshi shipyards of Nethril. Agatha knew the freighter was over a century old; she even knew how many times it was upgraded and when. How often it received maintenance and how many credits it cost to refuel. Agatha even knew about every Ornalith who had ever registered to serve on the freighter including everything about the current crew and its Captain.

Agatha didn't need to hack into the freighter, she already possessed the information. The Ghusmik Urr was built by Kylex Group expressly for the Golamar run. Its range was immense, the capacity was exceptional... It was not particularly swift, however. All of this information was obtained through Astrid's visit to the Kylex Group Headquarters.

Along with many interesting statistics, Agatha had specific details on a quiet arrangement initiated as a response to Fud Peu's purchase of Golamar. Project G. was a loophole cutout subcontract protecting Kylex Group from any criminal liability. The independent Captain who actually made the journey to Golamar, however, was completely culpable. It was a high risk high reward proposition that attracted a number of ethically questionable individuals.

The reprobate currently taking advantage of Project G. was Captain Finnizik Virt; an Ornalith of dubious origins and the previous Captain's first mate: Virt ran the simple, surreptitious route from Nethril to Golamar with needed supplies.

The route went from Golamar to Depot 03 with materials produced by the platform for wholesale by Nef then back to Nethril with other products to fulfill Kylex Group's contracts. The illicit metal ingots were a personal cache of treasure, Nef's share of the take.

Agatha knew the metal outlet on Depot 03 had the capabilities to smelt and reform most metals and, as it turned out, it was a costly misstep for Nef to forgo reshaping Astrid's purchase.

The Ambassador's staff discovered two paths to the same conclusion.

Agatha smiled, her beautiful wives were progressing brilliantly.

0o0

Max, Joon, Vika, Paula and Agatha lathered up in the steamy confines of the CQ showers. "Haste," Joon stated looking at Max, "Let's you be super quick at anything?"

Max nodded, then clarified, "It seems to let me move as quickly as my perception permits under Maneuver."

"How long?" Vika asked.

Max shook her head, "Not long at all, about three seconds."

"How often can you do it?" Paula asked.

A blank expression followed by a shrug was Max's answer.

Vika nodded, "We must find out."

After the shower the ladies dried then redressed in BDU's Agatha had advised everyone of the thirty-eight hour travel time as well as dinner.

"How far beyond Trankaran borders is this system?" Paula asked.

Joon responded, "Not far, this freighter is just slow."

Agatha nodded, "The Ghusmik Urr was not built for speed, but endurance and capacity."

They walked together to the Mess.

Max raised an eye, "Are Astrid and Samira joining us?"

Agatha nodded, "They are on their way, Astrid was briefing Samira on her production plans in cyber-space.

Max sat in her seat next to Joon, "That sounds ominous."

Agatha shook her head, "I am not going to spoil it, you'll have to wait for Astrid to tell you."

"What am I telling?" Astrid said, as she and Samira walked into the Mess.

"Us about your deadly drone forces." Joon replied.

Astrid and Samira took their seats. The Dronemancer looked at Max and Joon with a frightening grin, "It's going to be awesome!"

Samira nodded her agreement.

"I've only just started, but with Samira's help, I think we can make some real progress." Astrid continued, "The goal is to upgrade all the drones Ambassador Zess gave me."

Max nodded, "If you need any additional support, just ask."

At that moment Agatha brought out dinner... Pesto Chicken Rotini along with an Avocado Salad, with Cherry Tomatoes and Crisp Cucumber slices.

The family ate quietly, with appreciative, happy noises and compliments which were music to Agatha's ears. Afterwards Agatha removed the ruins of dinner and laid out tea and coffee with cinnamon twists.

"What does Durendal mean?" Joon asked, as she raised an eyebrow at Samira.

"Enduring Brand." Samira replied, then took a sip of coffee.

Joon narrowed her eyes, obviously needing more information.

Samira put down her coffee mug, "Durendal was the sword of Roland, a knight of Charlemagne's court and supposedly the first Paladin. There were twelve Paladins altogether, but Durendal came to be owned by Roland."

"According to legend, the sword was capable of cutting through giant boulders of stone with a single strike, and was indestructible."

Joon blinked, "Wow... That sounds amazing."

Samira smiled, "I doubt my Durendal is quite that powerful, but the symbolism still translates, Enduring Brand... Eternal Sword."

"The 'holy blade' of a Paladin is a standard in the Fantasy genre."

Joon pursed her lips in thought, "Holy."

Samira nodded. "Does the Fantasy Priest Class have something like that?" Joon asked.

Samira smiled and nodded, "Yea... Themselves."

Joon blinked, "What do you mean?"

Samira smirked, "In the Fantasy genre, a Priest can become an Avatar of their Deity."

Eyes wide, Joon looked shocked.

Samira nodded, "It's a big deal, high level Paladins can do it too, but Priests and Clerics get that Ability pretty early on.

Joon sipped her tea, her eyes unfocused, deep in thought. Samira shared a look with Max making sure her Dame Captain understood. "I understand you also made a Discovery?" The Paladin's statement became a question with her eyebrow raised.

Max nodded, "It's a step up in Maneuver, called Haste."

Samira beamed, "That is fantastic, Haste is really powerful."

Max shrugged, "I need to practice, but yea, I can definitely see why it is powerful."

Vika and Paula shared a smile, having witnessed the effect and Samira tilted her head, "How fast does Haste let you go?"

"The same speed as I perceive in Maneuver, about four times faster." Max replied. So, my perceptions and body movements are reacting in real time during their activations.

"You said you get about three seconds of Haste, so twelve seconds while in Maneuver." Samira postulated.

Max nodded, "Yea, about that, I could swing the Nagamaki twenty times."

"Whoa." Samira said, "Twenty swings of a six foot polearm in three seconds.

That sounds fucking scary, Boss." Samira grinned.

Max blinked.

Dame Captain Max Anders thought about what Samira just said. It did sound scary, maybe Haste was just the sort of Ability Max needed in melee combat.

"I will work with Max tonight." Vika proclaimed while studying Max's face.

Max shared a look with Vika, then nodded, "That sounds good."

Joon looked at Paula, who raised her eyebrows at the look. "I would like your help with something in the office." Joon requested.

"Yes, M'lady." Paula smiled, then sipped her tea.

Joon put her hand on Max's, "Sweetheart, I'm going to do some Priest research."

Joon and Samira shared a look of confirmation and Samira smiled, "I just forwarded a copy of my big Fantasy Gaming folder to your inbox."

"Oh, goodness... I hope it isn't too much for my little inbox!" Joon winked at Samira.

Everyone giggled.

0o0

Max locked eyes with her tiny opponent. Vika was wielding the two short batons that she had helped Samira make to simulate wakizashi while Max held the long length of conduit that represented a nagamaki. The weights and shapes of the batons were off, but they were close enough to practice with.

Vika's intimidating glare still impressed Max. No matter how imposing Max thought herself, she was still only a fraction of a Largath. Max nodded and smiled, ceding the aggressive test of wills to Vika. The tiny redhead, raised on Larga, smirked and started her dance. Max felt Maneuver color her perception, and the universe slowed.

Agatha sat in her spot against the bulkhead, she was very interested in the match. Her wives circled each other, it was obvious that Max was under the effects of Maneuver. Agatha could feel Vika's apprehension, even though she was in many ways a more effective combatant.

The tiny rogue suddenly came in, Max used her advantages of height, reach and Maneuver ruthlessly.

It did not seem to matter.

Vika Shadowstepped repeatedly in rapid succession, appearing seemingly at random around Max: left, right, front, back, above or below, Vika struck from everywhere. Strikes to legs, arms and back left Max frustrated...

Then suddenly, circumstances changed.

Max became a blur, every time Vika teleported, her towering opponent reset to reacquire her target and struck out.

Haste rebalanced the contest...

Vika's Shadowstep allowed her to strike from anywhere, however it did not enhance her speed or perception. Max could use Haste to gain advantage, but only intermittently.

The ebb and flow of the contest ranged all around the hold: one moment Max was barely defending against relentless strikes from any direction and the next Vika repeatedly Shadowstepped away in desperation from a monstrous assault.

After nearly twenty solid minutes of this exceptional melee, the pair came to a stop. Batons dropped to the ground as Max and Vika both collapsed together, panting, they laid on the shock-lite covered deck, grinning broadly.

"Ten seconds." Vika huffed out between breaths.

Max nodded, "Feels like... An eternity."

Vika scoffed, "To you, it's forty."

"Yea..." Max panted, "But when I am Hastened."

"Devastating." Vika finished.

"I lost count of hits." Max confessed.

Vika giggled, "Me too."

Agatha pushed herself up to her feet, then walked over to the two prone women. They were both naked, covered in sweat and smiled at Agatha standing over them. "Seventy-eight for Max, Two hundred six for Vika." Agatha smiled at their reaction. "That was an extremely impressive display," Agatha praised her wives.

She almost felt sorry for the pirates...

Almost.

0o0

Samira watched mesmerized as Astrid crafted drone armor before her eyes with Sorcery. The process in an odd sort of way reminded Samira of knitting.

She carefully held the drone in question with four cybernetic hands and the Sorceress somehow extruded dozens of threads simultaneously: she held a sizable chunk of the metal in her off hand.

Astrid's manual dexterity wove those Oricalcum threads into a dazzling pattern. The pattern was sandwiched between thin Sorcery crafted plates of deep violet. Astrid had memorized the layout of every drone, so every armor plate clicked into place.

She had also used the time during fabrication of components for scaled down and refined versions of T-Fed ship weapons to upgrade her coworkers along with Oricalcum armor. The tiny one-fifteenth scale versions of laser cannons that would be installed in her Security drones packed a powerful punch; increasing the combat effectiveness of the small drones exponentially.

They retained the impressive optical and sensor packages of the Dauzakai base configuration so the added armor would turn a cursory combatant into an efficient, lethal, and near indestructible soldier.

Astrid had considered trying to make a one tenth scale gatling laser for the Security drones but decided accuracy and stopping power was more important in their role. Samira knew this was only the first of many steps in Astrid's plan as this ambitious Dronemancer was strengthening all of her power base.

The heavier combat drones were the ones getting a pair of redesigned one quarter scale gatling lasers as that type of weapon was designed to saturate an area with direct fire: making them perfect for the fire support and anti-personnel roles in drone doctrine.

Then there were the Battle drones, Samira knew Astrid had a lot in mind for them. The Hoverbike sized interceptors had already been stripped of their standard armament and were no longer armed with anti-ship suicide charges. Astrid was redefining their role and she intended them to fill a more defensive niche as an armored unit.

The Battle drones would boast the maximum offensive weapons Astrid could manage. A half-sized gatling laser paired with a quarter sized laser cannon. There was literally no room left for another weapon. The two Battle drones were now Astrid's primary vanguard units, offensively and defensively.

Astrid was only able to make these improvements because of the properties Oricalcum possessed. She could shape or apply it with Sorcery based on the scale she could perceive; with optical enhancement she could even make circuitry.

Samira was astounded how much detail went into just upgrading the drone armor. "Say... Astrid?" Samira started.

Astrid didn't drop a stitch, "Mmm?"

"How hard would it be to improve my limbs with Oricalcum like this?" Samira asked.

Astrid's focus didn't change, she seemed to be mulling over an answer. "I would need to consult with Agatha, but I think it would be relatively straightforward."

Samira liked that answer. "Perhaps we could look into it after we deal with Freeport?" Samira inquired.

Astrid stopped and looked into Samira's eyes, "Yea, that sounds good."

They shared a smile, then Astrid continued with her armoring. Samira couldn't help but feel blessed, her best friend and wife was a sexy, brilliant, Sorcerous-Engineer. How lucky could a cyborg get?

0o0

Jooniper Smith frowned.

The Terran Federation Special Envoy to the Minor Empires, Licensed and Accredited Medical Practitioner and moderately popular holo-net celebrity was stuck. She went over the list four times, she kept getting tripped up over the Deitie's spheres of influence.

One word really... Chaste.

Athena was a 'chaste' goddess, the text said a priest following her had to be as well. Joon found the concept unacceptable, it was a deal breaker. For as long as she and Max had been together Joon realized she was a sexual creature. Additionally, having a wide variety of exceptionally attractive wives had Joon resolved she could never be chaste.

Athena's lack of musical influence was also concerning, but the deity that had been suggested for her did have some excellent aspects. Joon had to admit, though, it was by no means a good fit.

Jooniper Smith frowned.

"If you're not careful you'll get stuck like that, M'lady." Paula said softly.

Paula had also been reading over the data Samira had sent. The two wives shared a meaningful look. Joon sighed, "I can't help it, Athena just isn't my deity."

Paula nodded, "Yea, I noticed the chaste thing.

Joon whimpered: it was adorable. The voluptuous First Lieutenant shifted in her comfortable office chair. "There are over a three hundred deities in this list, there has to be someone who works for you."

Joon tilted her head, "You're right, I can't just expect everything to just fall into place, I need to work at it."

She went to the beginning of the list; something told her to just look at goddesses. Soon Joon worked her way through a variety of the 'A's' then stopped on a symbol: three interlocking circles within a triangle, the symbol of Angharradh an elven goddess.

Joon gasped, when something clicked in her brain.

Paula looked over at what made Joon react, she noted it, then brought up the same file and began reading. Joon and Paula read through the description and shared a knowing look of affirmation.

Angharradh was the Triune Goddess, her spheres of influence were many. Knowledge, life, war and peace, she was the primary deity of elvish women and within her three aspects everything important to Joon could be found: Health, music, diplomacy and romance. This was no chaste Deity; this was a Goddess who represented all aspects of women. Joon swallowed, she nodded to Paula.

Paula studied Joon's face.

"Yes..." was all that Joon was able to get out before tears began to fall.

Paula got up and knelt next to her petite senior wife pulling her into a comforting embrace.

"It makes perfect sense, you're our 'elvish Lady' after all."

They stayed in that hug for quite a while. Joon realized that a connection had been made in her mind, one that hadn't formed with Athena. Still embraced with Paula, Joon sent a soft thought to Agatha. *Did you know who would appeal to me?* Joon inquired.

*Not exactly, Mistress, the choice was yours, I made plenty of room for you.*

Joon thought about that, *Thank you... It was important to have that freedom.*

Paula pulled back from the hug, "It's getting late, M'lady."

Joon smiled softly, "Yea, but I am glad we did this."

"Me too, finding just the right place is very important." Paula related.

Joon raised an eyebrow at the Witch, "Do you feel comfortable with us now?"

Paula nodded, "I definitely do, the cottage deep in the woods is my cozy little home now."

They both giggled softly, stood up and headed to bed.

0o0

Seven beautiful, naked women were stretched out on the triple sized pedestal bed. They had discussed what they did after dinner, and everyone was impressed with Max and Vika and the family cheering Joon for finding her Fantasy Deity.

Paula apologized to Samira for jumping the queue, but Samira just smiled and asked if Paula wanted to make up for it and in answer, Paula shared a naughty smile with Samira all the way across the huge bed.

Samira positioned Paula on her back with her head between Max's knees before the cyborg gently straddled her Captain-wife's legs, easing her pussy onto Paula's mouth.

Max enjoyed Samira's expressions as Paula sucked on satin swallowtail lips.

Samira carefully ground her wet vulva onto Paula's tongue. The Security Chief eyed her Captain-wife through half-lids, leaning over to kiss Max's member while enjoying her ride. Max had Joon in her usual spot, cuddled up on her left side, Agatha was in the same spot on the right with Vika spooned in behind Joon and Astrid spooned in behind Agatha.

They watched Samira bathe Max's cock with her tongue as she continued to ride Paula's face. It was an erotic display that everyone also found comforting. Soon, Samira climaxed in Paula's loving mouth and that is when Max filled Samira.

Max was amazed that Samira took it all.

After a quick wash, Paula cuddled in behind Vika and Samira did likewise with Astrid. The seven drifted off one by one. Agatha was waiting for them, she went to work instilling a complete data briefing on Golamar to ensure her wives would understand the layout, size and scale of the platform.

0o0

Teffa's empty stomach was pitching a fit, so she opened her eyes. She was entwined with the most beautiful creature she had ever seen.

The smallish Major-domo watched the enchanting Slarmian Pilot slumber. The two lovers had gone to Teffa's room and spent twelve hours together. They'd occupied themselves in a myriad of ways in Teffa's bedroom and bath.

Teffa heard and felt her tummy growl again and it was then she realized they had both been absent from dinner the previous night.

Teffa was suddenly worried she had insulted Agatha, and her stomach lodged another complaint. Teffa gently unwound from around Zuki, slipping onto the floor. The Embassy's newest employee didn't rouse.

Teffa smiled, she quickly pulled on her housecoat and slithered through her apartment, past the common room and into the kitchen: her morning routine of making coffee and tea took shape. She noticed a note on the counter, it was in flowing Slarmian script and addressed to her. --There is Megu in the fridge, Lakita made a lot more than she intended to. Please help yourself, feed Zuki. I hope you enjoyed yourselves. I am so happy for both of you. ~Ags--