Three Square Meals Ch. 118

"All's forgiven," she replied with a gentle smile. "Am I forgiven for being a bitch?"

"You could never be a bitch."

"I think the Hive Mind might disagree..."

He laughed and gave her a big hug. "Alright, fair point."

John looked up and realised that the rest of the girls were there too, watching with fond smiles on their faces.

"God... I missed all of you," he said, beckoning them closer. "Definitely time for a group hug!"

He was quickly enveloped by the other four Terran girls, as well as Helene, and the Nymphs, all of them eager to simply touch him again. That physical contact was electrifying and they all felt it as they embraced.

Alyssa stepped aside to make way for Sakura and John wrapped his arms around the Asian girl like he never wanted to let her go. "I let you down... it won't happen again."

"Actually, I would've been fine, but I ignored Alyssa's orders about noble self-sacrifices," she replied with a grin. Sakura kissed him, then added, "Don't feel guilty. You were caught by surprise by a clever ambush... None of us would have seen it coming either."

"Thank you," he said, hugely relieved that she wasn't upset with him.

Dana frowned and said, "Alright, enough with the apologies already! We all love each other... yay!" Her eyes gleamed with excitement as she continued, "Don't you want to hear what we've been up to while you were having fun in Kirrix Space?"

"Having fun?" he asked, raising an eyebrow.

She turned and looked pointedly at the four hive ships that had been smashed across the spaceport. "It sure looks like someone had a wild party!"

He chuckled and shrugged. "The Kirrix forgot to stock up on whiskey, it wasn't much of a party..."

"The guests got a bit rowdy though..." she said with a grin.

"Maybe a bit," John replied with a self-conscious smile. He looked at the crowd of Menganus IV colonists watching their reunion closely. "I really want to catch up properly, but we need to get those people settled in the hive ship and heading home. I assume you had no problems building the Tachyon Drive?"

She snorted and waved a hand dismissively. "Of course not! Actually, Faye had the maintenance bots put that together. It's down in the Cargo Bay waiting to be transferred to the hive ship."

"Where is Faye?" John asked, having noticed that she wasn't with them.

"She's busy organising the maintenance bots," Alyssa replied, glancing at the Invictus. "She said she'll welcome you home properly later."

"Sounds intriguing," he said with a grin. "Okay, let's get started."

Rachel cleared her throat. "I wouldn't mind taking a look at the ancient hive queen you encountered. Whereabouts is it?"

He turned and pointed towards a broad tunnel on the far side of the docking bay. "Down there... it's a bit of a trek."

The brunette looked at him in confusion. "Alyssa said it was still alive... aren't you worried it'll escape?"

John paused then slowly shook his head. "No, not really."

Alyssa slipped her arm around his. "Why don't you show us? The girls can organise provisions for the colonists and upgrade the hive ship."

They all nodded, looking confident as they fanned out to help prepare the colonists for their voyage home. John offered Rachel his other arm and they strolled across the docking bay towards the tunnel. The colonists darted them a few curious looks as they passed, but their attention was quickly drawn to the grav-carts full of food and drink that Calara and Sakura drove out for them.

Alyssa glanced at the mangled remains of the Kirrix defenders smeared across the shattered wall and raised an eyebrow. "You definitely weren't taking any prisoners."

"Funnily enough, I never thought to ask if they wanted to surrender," he said, his expression grim.

They entered the tunnel and it didn't take long to reach the first group of defenders. Rachel's eyes widened when she saw the carnage, but chose not to comment as they walked along the middle of the passageway, passing bloody scenes of slaughter on both sides.

"That was considerate, leaving a nice clear path for us to walk through the mess," Alyssa joked, but even she sounded a little unsettled. She stared at a juggernaut corpse that was partially embedded in the wall, the force of the sword blow having driven it deep into the shattered resin bulkhead.

John watched Alyssa and Rachel as they walked down the tunnel, each of them darting shocked glances at the bloody remnants of the Kirrix defenders. There wasn't much left of the drones, but the girls were both used to seeing Kirrix troopers being blown to pieces, especially after watching hundreds of them get mown down by Reaper Cannon fire. However, it was the shattered bodies of the juggernauts which really made them stop and stare. Each of the Kirrix behemoths had been dispatched with brutal efficiency... titanic blows cleaving them in half or simply smashing them into the closest wall or floor.

They continued onwards, walking along the gore-free middle section of the tunnel, where the colonists had cowered as they watched John execute his killing spree. There were no more jokes from Alyssa as the three of them descended deeper into the Kirrix stronghold, the silence only broken when they reached the massive room that was a confluence of at least a dozen tunnels.

"Holy fuck..." Alyssa whispered, gazing out over the gruesome battlefield.

"Calara predicted you were going to paint the planet green," Rachel said in a hushed voice, her grey eyes sweeping over the macabre piles of broken corpses. "She wasn't kidding..."

John stared at the thousands of mangled insectoid bodies bathed in a lake of green blood. "It was effortless..." he murmured, turning to face them. "I don't even remember half the fight... I was busy chatting with Alyssa, Edraele, and Jade for most of it."

Alyssa studied a juggernaut that had been viciously disembowelled, the enormous wound splitting its body in half vertically. "I heard your thoughts, but I had no idea..."

The girls stood in stunned silence for a minute, awed by the aftermath of the ferocious retribution John had unleashed on the Kirrix.

He watched their shocked reaction with mounting worry, his anxiety deepening when he saw a flicker of fear cross Rachel's face. John turned away, then said quietly, "I never thought I was capable of this kind of destruction. It scares me, so I can understand why you two must be terrified..."

He was surprised when they immediately hugged him, both girls looking up at his face with concern.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Alyssa exclaimed, giving him a disapproving frown. "I was just surprised at how powerful you'd become... I was thinking I need to raise my game!"

Rachel looked into his eyes and said earnestly, "I could never be afraid of you, John; I know you'd rather die than hurt any of us." She looked pensive as she continued, "But it just occurred to me that if you're capable of violence on this unprecedented scale, then what can the other Progenitor do?"

John sagged with relief as all the tension left him and hugged them both closer. "I'm sorry I doubted you, I should have known better."

He looked over their heads at the charnel house beyond, then felt a shiver run down his spine. He couldn't help picturing thousands of Maliri bodies hacked and butchered by his malevolent Progenitor nemesis.

"No way... that's not happening!" Alyssa said vehemently. "We're going to train and prepare, then when that Progenitor stops hiding, we'll take his black ship and shove it up his ass!"

Rachel smiled and nodded. "A dreadnought colonoscopy... that seems appropriate."

He couldn't help laughing at that charming image. "He has behaved like a gigantic asshole... it should fit."

The girls giggled and hugged him tighter.

Alyssa snorted and rolled her eyes at him. "I can't believe you thought we were scared of you! You're too much of an old softie for that."

"Guilty as charged," John said with a smile. He glanced at the bloodbath in front of them and winced. "Although the Kirrix might not agree with you."

"I don't really give a shit what they think," Alyssa said with a nonchalant shrug. Her eyes began to glow and she levitated off the ground. "Now, I don't know about you two, but I have no intention of wading knee-deep through Kirrix gore. Do you want a lift?"

"Absolutely!" Rachel exclaimed, followed by John quickly nodding his agreement.

Alyssa gestured and telekinetic platforms shaped like her hands appeared on either side, hovering at waist height. "Hop on."

They did as she asked, sitting on the glowing hands, which carefully lifted them off the ground. Alyssa began to float across the room, with her telekinetic projections following obediently behind until they reached the far side. They landed in a clean spot, then walked through the broken doorway, stepping over the shattered remains as they headed deeper into the nest.

"You must have killed at least 50 of those guardians," Alyssa said, nodding her approval as they passed piles of scorched corpses.

"Dana's runic penetrators were brilliant... they worked like a charm," John said heading towards the forest of chitin columns. Suddenly, he turned and looked at the blonde with concern. "We're approaching the infestation room... trust me, you don't want to see this."

Alyssa nodded and stepped closer to him, closing her eyes and waiting patiently. John scooped her up effortlessly in his arms, then carried her through the huge chamber, winding his way between the pillars.

Rachel gasped when she saw the scale of the destruction ahead, with scores of pillars blown to pieces and the ceiling collapsed in several places. "That must have been a hell of a fight!"

John glanced at his arm and grimaced. "It was... Facing three hive queens at the same time was as close a call as I've had in a long time."

Alyssa opened her eyes to take a peek, then quickly squeezed them shut. "That was a mistake," she muttered, putting a hand over her eyes. "This place is alive with ghosts..."

"The Mhoirad?" John asked as he skirted around piles of debris.

"They looked terrified," she replied with an involuntary shiver.

Walking through the infestation chamber, John said quietly, "Definitely don't look here..."

She buried her face in his chest. "I can feel them..." she whispered. "Terror, agony, despair... this place reeks of it."

He clenched his jaw and strode onwards, fighting down his anger.

Rachel glanced at him and asked, "Are you okay?"

"The Kirrix exterminated over a billion sentient creatures here. We might have wiped out the Kirrix in this system, but it makes no difference to the Mhoirad; they're still just as dead."

She rubbed his back and gave him a look of sympathy. "It must have been awful experiencing all those psychic echoes and watching their civilisation brought to such a horrific end."

John nodded, his eyes hardening. "The Mhoirad were one of the most benevolent species I've ever encountered... but the Kirrix viewed them with nothing but contempt. Ultimately, a bunch of cruel parasites thrived off the cold-blooded murder of kind and friendly creatures... it's the sheer injustice of it all that gets me so angry."

"Would extinction of the Kirrix balance the scales?" Rachel asked without judgement.

He let out a heavy sigh. "Would it bring back all the species the Kirrix slaughtered?" John shook his head. "No... they're long gone and we can't bring them back. It might make me feel better to see the Kirrix wiped out, but the Mhoirad wouldn't actually want that, they didn't believe in getting revenge."

She looked at him in surprise. "So you've decided not to exterminate them? I was sure that you'd be more inclined to see the Kirrix removed from the galaxy after what you witnessed here."

John met her curious gaze. "Coming here was a real eye-opener. I learned that Mael'nerak nearly wiped out the Kirrix but stopped around the same time as the Shroud came into existence. I don't understand what the point of the Shroud was exactly, but if he'd finished the genocide, he would have inadvertently saved dozens of other species from extinction. I personally don't believe the Kirrix will ever stop what they're doing. As soon as they convince themselves that Alyssa and I aren't a threat any more, the raids and abductions will begin again."

"So what are you planning to do?" Rachel asked, her eyebrows climbing.

"I'll still give them a chance to reform as long as they heed Alyssa's threats," John replied crossing the clearing in the infestation chamber. "But if they start the raids again, they'll be done. I'll finish what Mael'nerak started and personally oversee the extinction of the Kirrix... and there'll be no stopping this time, not until every last trace of their vile civilisation is eradicated from the galaxy."

The brunette was quiet for a long moment, lost in thought. "The amount of lives Mael'nerak influenced is staggering. I can barely even imagine what it must be like to wield that kind of power... to literally reshape this segment of the galaxy as you see fit."

"The other Progenitor is trying to do the exact same thing," John said, his eyes hardening. "Encouraging the Drakkar to wipe out the Ashanath then setting the Kintark and Terrans against each other... he was planning to kill billions of people."

"Yes, but we stopped him," Alyssa said with a smile of satisfaction. Still shielding her eyes, she glanced up at John. "Are we past the infestation area yet?"

He looked down at her and nodded. "Yes, but now we're walking through the prison. It's probably going to be even worse..."

She shuddered and kept her eyes averted. "Okay, just tell me when we get there."

They walked past piles of broken cages, where Jade had barged her way through the enormous chamber, the bulk of her dragon form flattening everything in her path. Rachel looked unsettled and she walked closer to John, hooking her arm through his.

"You okay?" he asked, glancing at the brunette.

"I've never been anywhere with such a dark sense of... I don't know... foreboding?" her voice trailed off, Rachel unable to find the precise words to describe her feelings of unease.

"This place echoes with the screams of a million anguished souls..." Alyssa whimpered, squeezing her eyes tightly shut and placing her hand over her ears. "I can hear them... the tortured death cry of an entire civilisation..."

"I shouldn't have brought you here," John said, pausing and looking at her with concern.

*Keep going,* she thought to him, her telepathic voice strained.

They covered the last hundred metres in silence, approaching the tracked cart and the battered Kirrix corpses that surrounded it. The hive queen was still where John had left her, slumped on the back of the mechanised vehicle. Rachel ignored the scorched guardians and juggernauts, her focus solely on the ancient behemoth, who she studied in fascination.

*Could you put me down please?* Alyssa requested, sounding pensive as she tried to block out the disturbing visions.

John did as she asked, steadying the blonde on her feet before he released her. Alyssa took a deep breath, then sank to a crouch, gathering her will and drawing psychic energy to her. The hexagonal overhead lights flickered ominously, then she unleashed a psychic shockwave that made the debris and dust ripple across the floor. John wavered, suddenly feeling dizzy, and he dropped to one knee as he reeled from the unsettling sensation. Rachel looked just as disorientated, wobbling unsteadily until she collapsed beside John and clung to him for support.

"What the hell was that?" he asked, looking at Alyssa in shock.

She let out her breath and slowly opened her eyes. "I'm surprised you didn't recognise it. I've done it before..."

Frowning in confusion, John watched Alyssa rise to her feet and look around, no longer showing any signs of distress. "The visions?"

"Gone... at least temporarily," Alyssa said with a smile of relief. Offering them both a hand, she continued, "I created a null zone. While it's in effect, the psychic echoes have been repressed."

"This was different to what you did on Ashana," John insisted, shaking his head. "I didn't even feel that the first time... but I sure as hell noticed this one!"

She looked surprised to hear that. "I'm pretty sure it was the same... maybe a bit more powerful?"

Rachel attempted to summon her grey healing aura, but when nothing happened, she shook her head in amazement. "How fascinating..."

"Are you feeling okay now?" Alyssa asked John as he stood.

He shook off the slight feeling of disorientation and nodded. "Yeah, I'm good... it was just a surprise."

"I'm sorry," she apologised, stroking his cheek. "I thought you'd be completely unaffected like last time."

"Ah... Alyssa? I think you might have lobotomised the hive queen..." Rachel said, having walked around to study the front of the hulking creature.

John and Alyssa joined her, staring up at the wizened face of the Kirrix leader. Her mandibles sagged open, drool leaking from the corner of her maw as she wheezed rattling breaths.

"Actually, that was me," John confessed, staring up at the huge creature with sincere regret. "I think I accidentally wiped out her mind when I absorbed all her memories..."

Alyssa shook her head, a flicker of a smile teasing her lips. "Maybe leave the telepathy to me from now on, handsome?"

He nodded ruefully, then let out a heavy sigh.

Rachel slipped her hand into his to give it a comforting squeeze. "It was an accident... don't feel bad."

John tore his gaze away from the hive queen's vacant-eyed stare to look at the concerned young woman beside him. "I don't feel bad about lobotomising her... just that it was over so quickly." He glared at the malevolent creature that had presided over the extinction of three sentient species. "Kirzuxa deserves a lifetime of suffering for all the atrocities she committed. I'm just upset that I never got a chance to punish her for everything she did; I was feeling quite creative..."

***

Dana wrinkled her nose in distaste as she unplugged the strange chitin-coated power cable. "Okay, haul that hunk of crap out the way."

Four maintenance bots levered up the strange resin bolts that fixed the Kirrix FTL drive to the floor, then picked up the obsolete device and floated to one side. Dana beckoned another four of the helpful robots closer, watching carefully as they moved the spherical Tachyon Drive into position. When the redhead gave them a thumbs up, they placed the housing carefully on the deck and bolted the device into place, using multi-tools built into the palm of their hands.

Faye walked over to her friend and studied the end of the Kirrix power cable. "Um, Dana? I don't think the Kirrix adhered to the Higgins-Larriman Standard of port conventions when they designed their cabling."

Dana looked at the crimped end of the cable with concern. "Shit!"

The purple sprite glanced at the D-shaped port on the Tachyon Drive and ruefully shook her head. "No, that definitely won't fit..."

Suddenly Dana's eyes widened and she reached into the pouch on her belt. "Wait a minute... what's this?" She produced a titanium device approximately the size of her clenched fist. "Is this a Kirrix-Terran power port adapter?" She slotted the cable into the device with a satisfying click, then plugged it into the Tachyon drive. "Well, what do you know? It fits!"

Faye laughed and nudged her with an elbow. "You had me worried for a moment!"

Dana winked at her playfully. "Can you let Irillith know we're all set?"

There was a momentary pause, then the Tachyon Drive hummed with power, lights activating around its circumference.

The redhead's eyes began to glow with a soft golden radiance as she studied the newly installed component. "Looking good... Power levels are stable, hyper-warp inducer is primed and ready."