Three Square Meals Ch. 121

Chastened, she quietly whispered, *I'm sorry, my Lord...*

Larn'kelnar glanced about the room and spotted another group of Blake's thralls skulking over by the far wall. They'd been firing tachyon bolts at him throughout the battle, briefly pausing when John engaged in melee. Larn'kelnar had ignored them as they were only having a minimal impact on his shield, but now that he was paying attention, he spotted a soft grey light shining in the eyes of the thrall on the right.

"There you are..." he said with a wicked grin.

His obelisks switched targets, all three of them focused on Blake's thrall. She somehow managed to raise a shield before the first beam struck, the spinning orb appearing just in time and deflecting the throbbing purple energy. Her shield turned opaque, although what that signified, Larn'kelnar wasn't sure. A second beam blasted her, smacking her back into the wall, then she was hit by a third... her psychic shield deforming as it tried to withstand the terrible firepower being hurled at it.

Astonished that she was still standing, he hurled a javelin across the room, piercing the severely weakened shield and impaling the thrall through the chest. She toppled backwards, clutching at the savage wound, the javelin having skewered her right through her body.

"Now... time to finish you off," he muttered under his breath, turning to glare at the motionless assassin.

***

"Rachel!" Dana screamed, skidding across the ground to her lover.

"He's going for Sakuuura..." the brunette moaned, her eyes rolling back from the pain as she passed out.

Shaking with rage, Dana whirled around, her eyes blazing with a golden light. "You fucker..." she hissed, slamming her fists into the deck.

There was a horrible cracking noise followed immediately afterwards by what sounded like a grotesque gurgle. and as Larn'kelnar stalked towards Sakura's prone form, he suddenly tripped over. The black decking beneath his feet had melted, turning into a gloopy quagmire that quickly swallowed him to the waist. He looked down at the floor in horror as he sank into his own ship, the viscous metal just as suddenly solidifying, leaving him entombed in the floor.

A black sphere appeared above his head, golden light limning the circumference, as the distortion in space-time groaned into existence. He looked up in fear at the miniature black hole, feeling the gut-wrenching draw of the gravity well. Imprisoned in the floor as he was, that irresistible force threatened to rip him in half, sending pain shooting through his body. His helmet tugged clear and tumbled into the event horizon, crumpling into a tiny ball of black metal as it was crushed to oblivion.

***

Larn'kelnar looked around in a panic, knowing he only had seconds to act before he was ripped in half. The assassin was still unconscious, glowing telekinetic hands dragging her away from the vortex swirling above his head. He discounted John and the white-armoured thrall, as he was sure they would've tried something like this before if they had the capability. The realisation that this was something new made him pause to think; Blake seemed to have scattered abilities through his minions, which could only mean another thrall was finally revealing her powers.

That thought shocked him to the core, the sheer extent of the psychic abilities John had given to his minions beyond belief. Larn'kelnar didn't have time to dwell on that now though, as he twisted around, trying to get a look at the group of thralls behind him. He spotted her immediately, the blazing golden light from her eyes almost obscuring her glare of pure hatred. Seeing no sign of a shield, he summoned a score of telekinetic darts and hurled them at her, piercing her body in a dozen different places.

She collapsed with a strangled cry, red spurts of blood spraying in the air.

Larn'kelnar glanced fearfully above him and sagged with relief as the singularity winked out of existence. Badly shaken, he pulverised the deck with force waves, breaking apart the mangled metal and allowing him to pull himself clear.

He looked up, just as John barrelled into him, sending them both hurtling across the room.

***

Ailanthia's fists crumpled up the bedsheets as she listened to snippets of the battle through her master's frantic thoughts. "No... this can't be happening..." she whispered with dread.

Blake was nothing but a clown... a simple-minded buffoon that had provided hours of amusement to her and Larn'kelnar. They had laughed as they watched him rush from one end of the Terran Federation to the other, unknowingly dancing to their tune. How could he have neglected his joke of a ship so badly, yet enhanced his thralls beyond all reason? Never in a million years, would Ailanthia have suspected the battle would have turned out like this. How she wished that Larn'kelnar had listened to her while Blake was still restrained and just executed him.

*I need more energy!* Larn'kelnar screamed, sounding terrified.

She cringed at his desperation, looking inward at the decimated remnants of her psychic network. All the thralls had been tapped of energy and she'd already started draining them of their life force. She dreaded to think how the Larathyran Empire was going to defend itself after this debacle. At this rate, half her legion of thralls would be little more than withered husks and the borders would be defended by deathly-silent ships full of corpses...

*I shall give you all you need, my Lord,* she replied obediently, feeling a mounting sense of dread as she drained the life out of another thousand thralls.

***

John had knocked Larn'kelnar to the floor and was now raining blows down on him in a fury. *I should never have listened to you!* he roared at his guide. *I knew you never gave a shit about the girls... They're all hurt because of your goddamn plan!*

*But it's working...* the Guide said quietly.

*Shut the fuck up!* John snarled, channelling psychic energy into his sword and making it blaze with power.

He battered Larn'kelnar's shield and smiled with grim satisfaction as hexagons wilted under his berserk assault. Larn'kelnar lashed out again with a force wave, but John was expecting it this time and caught himself in a telekinetic net, quickly bouncing back to land on his feet.

"I'm going to tear you apart!" he snarled, hammering the hex barrier with a relentless series of pounding strikes. "You can't hide behind that fucking shield forever!"

He seemed to speed up, the blows raining down even faster until the shield finally disintegrated, Larn'kelnar unable to repair the scores of destroyed hexes in time. John's sword flashed down, vivid blue flames igniting along its length as he hacked the Progenitor's hand off at the wrist. The pain was indescribable as John immolated the stump, Larn'kelnar staring at his burning limb in horror.

The terrified look in Larn'kelnar's eyes was unmistakeable as he scuttled backwards, desperate to escape as he summoned a fresh hex-shield to protect himself. All three obelisks spun to focus on John, the swirling energy at their apex pulsing rapidly as they hit him with a trio of beams. John cursed as he was knocked sideways by the combined strength of that barrage, his Guide straining to fortify the shield as it was pounded by vast amounts of malevolent energy.

*Edraele, I'm in trouble!* John blurted out, frantically working with his guide to stop the shield from collapsing.

*I'll give you as much energy as I can!* the Maliri matriarch promised. *But we can't defend against a sustained psychic attack of this strength for much longer! We're burning through power at an incredible rate!*

Larn'kelnar summoned a gushing blast of water and doused his burning limb, managing to extinguish the flames but still feeling that searing agony where his hand used to be. He focused on healing himself and was shocked at how sluggish his body was to respond to the regenerative energies. While he struggled to rebuild his dismembered hand, he glanced over at John who was still trying to protect himself from the furious beam bombardment.

John's blue barrier was weakening, with hexes not being repaired and replaced quickly enough to fully protect him. Larn'kelnar reached for his sceptre, the Eldritch Focus device leaping over to his outstretched left hand. He pointed the sceptre at a cluster of cracked hexagons over John's leg and launched a pair of grey javelins at that point. The first easily shattered the already compromised shield, allowing the second to plunge through and strike John in the thigh. John cried out in pain as the grey lance struck his cuisse for the second time, but now there were no runes to protect him. It speared straight through the Crystal Alyssium plating and out the other side, spraying red blood across the white armour.

Alyssa saw John clutch at his wounded leg and grimace with the pain, her heart lurching to see him injured. Her eyes blazed with anger as she glared at Larn'kelnar, her emotions surging between fury and frustration after seeing so many of her attacks negated by his spinning shield. The spinning was the problem, so maybe she should do something about it... Raising her arms, she summoned several glowing telekinetic hands, the fingernails of these projections ending in long razor-sharp nails.

*You're using too much power!* John's guide barked at Alyssa as she summoned two javelins.

The hands lunged forward to grab Larn'kelnar's shield, digging their talons into the rotating surface. There was a hideous grating squeal, like fingers being scraped down a chalkboard, and the shield slowed its spinning until it was dragged to a screeching halt. The Progenitor looked up in shock, seeing his shield vibrating impotently as it tried to break free. That was when Alyssa hit him from behind with a double-tap, her first telekinetic javelin obliterating only one hexagon, but that opening was all that was needed. The second plunged into the back of Larn'kelnar's thigh, mirroring John's injury as the glinting spear of bright white energy sheared through his armour.

*Listen to John...* Alyssa said quietly to the guide. *Shut the fuck up.*

Narrowing her eyes, she focused on the glowing lance impaling Larn'kelnar that still hadn't dissipated. It might have cost ten times the energy... but it was worth it.

***

Larn'kelnar yowled with agony as the javelin skewering his leg sprouted barbs and began to spin, shredding flesh and bone alike. He'd never known pain like it as the javelin liquefied his thigh like a demented blender, bone fragments adding to his torment as they ripped through his muscles. He collapsed, the limb no longer able to hold him up with half of it gored out. Struggling to stay conscious, he slammed a telekinetic fist down on the top of the writhing spear, smashing it back out through the rent in his armour.

Dazed with the pain, he threw down a telekinetic wall, desperate to stop that thrall from a repeat performance. Cowering behind his makeshift cover, Larn'kelnar drew deep from his psychic reserves, the soothing waves of healing rapidly rebuilding shattered bone and re-growing shredded muscle and sinew. The agony abated, but he could feel a deep weariness setting in after so much healing in such a short period of time.

He directed the three Disintegration Matrixes at the bitch who'd just caused him so much torment, desperate to see her writhing in agony. They blasted her again and again, but she held strong, her own shield spinning now to help withstand their attack. Blake was back, his long blade rising and falling as he tried to hack through the shield, but Larn'kelnar wasn't going to be distracted again, he wanted her dead. Glaring at the blonde, he intensified the frequency of the blasts, determined to see her destroyed. She'd been a thorn in his side for too long already and had proved just how dangerous she could be.

Suddenly a huge shadow fell over him and he looked up in fright as an immense green dragon just seemed to appear out of nowhere. Lightning crackled over its terrible claws as it raked his shield, then it opened its enormous maw and clamped down, blasting the barrier at point blank range with an enormous lightning bolt. The shield collapsed under the onslaught and the dragon's maw snapped shut on his left shoulder.

Larn'kelnar screamed in terror as he was picked up in the air and shaken violently from side to side. The black metal plates crumpled under the phenomenal strength of her jaws, teeth piercing the mangled metal and biting through his flesh. Jade shook harder and with a gruesome ripping sound, she tore his arm from his body, hurling Larn'kelnar across the room to slam into the wall.

Struggling to stay conscious, he threw up another shield and directed the obelisks at this latest threat. They blasted the dragon, hitting her in the flank and coring through her enormous armoured bulk as she roared in pain. Suddenly the obelisks began to tremble violently, the beams stuttering to a halt as their forms turned insubstantial... seconds before all three winked out of existence. He stared at them in shock, not quite believing what was happening.

*Ailanthia...*

*90% of your thralls are husks, my Lord!* she cried out, no mistaking just how terrified she was. *I can't give you enough power to keep your constructs going anymore!*

He lurched unsteadily to his feet, backing away from John and Alyssa as they stalked after him. *Ailanthia... prep the shuttle! They're too strong!*

*On my way, Larn,* she replied, sobbing with a mixture of fear and relief.

Opening a gateway, he staggered through... and lurched into a wall in the corridor outside. He tried not to collapse as he panted for breath, throwing his precious reserves into regenerating his arm as he fled down the corridor.

***

"What the hell?" John blurted out, his sword swishing through the air where Larn'kelnar was standing seconds before.

Alyssa whirled around, her eyes wide. "Where the fuck did he go?"

*He stepped through a dimensional gateway!* his Guide declared enthusiastically. *They're only short range, we have to hunt him down before he escapes!*

"You two heard that?" John asked, running for the door.

Jade and Alyssa both nodded. A dragon and a Terran mirroring the same actions would have been amusing... if the situation wasn't so dire.

He slapped his hand down on the rune beside the doorframe. "I'm going after him..."

"Wait, John!" Alyssa called out anxiously. "We should come too!"

John shook his head. "You won't be able to keep up... we've both got speed. Protect the girls in case this is a trick and he doubles back!"

"Please be careful!" Alyssa begged him, hating to see John go alone.

He waved goodbye, then rushed through the door. *How are the girls?*

*The twins are stabilised but both of them are critically injured. Sakura's conscious but her arm's useless and she's had her foot blown off... so she's obviously in a lot of pain. Dana's in a bad way and Calara's trying to wake Rachel... but we're all running on fumes, we don't have a lot of power left.*

John sprinted down the corridor and saw an elevator close seconds before he could reach it. He watched the numbers on the display count down as it dropped into the bowels of the Progenitor dreadnought.

*No! Don't be a fool!* his Guide snapped incredulously as he realised what John was planning.

John deactivated his psychic speed as he dove into the next elevator and hit the rune to follow his quarry down. *Stabilise the girls, then hold onto all the power we've got left to heal them. Just wait until I've dealt with Larn'kelnar, in case he does come back to attack you.*

*We will... I love you,* Alyssa replied, blowing him a telepathic kiss.

*He'll escape... Larn'kelnar won't rest until you're dead!* the Guide berated him. *This sentimentality is as ridiculous as it is pathetic! You risk everything for a handful of disposable thralls!*

*They're not disposable, they never were,* John said quietly. *Larn'kelnar fought by your rules and he just got torn apart by me and the source of my sentimentality. I wouldn't exchange one of their lives for that bastard, he's not worth it. Besides, you saw what happened; Larn'kelnar's almost completely tapped out... Jade ripped his arm off and those obelisks all faded away. Escaping with that dimensional gate then regenerating his missing arm must have used up whatever he's got left...*

*You hope...*

***

Larn'kelnar glanced at the elevator deck display, watching it sink through the levels, his fear ebbing away as he put more distance between himself and Blake. His breathing was laboured, the strain of that ferocious combat taking a heavy toll, along with the debilitating exhaustion associated with such extensive healing. He flexed the fingers on his re-grown right hand, then stifled a yawn as he glanced at the misshapen stump below his left elbow.

As he stared at the regenerating limb, he shook his head in disbelief. He'd never come so close to death in all his long years and it wasn't just once he'd nearly been killed, but multiple times. He wasn't sure his heart could take any more shocks, not after being on the receiving end of so many deeply unpleasant surprises. He didn't even have a name for some of the powers Blake's thralls were wielding and that terrifying monstrosity at the end... that had been the final straw.

He wasn't even sure if it was a telekinetic construct, but those massive jaws felt real enough clamped down on his shoulder. Larn'kelnar shivered with fear as he remembered being shaken around like that... he never wanted to go near whatever that beast was again. The elevator doors opened and he stepped out, jogging unsteadily towards the shuttle bay as he watched his limb fully regenerate right up to his fingers.

Sighing with relief, he knew he was safe now; even walking with psychic speed would make him quicker than any normal person could run. Remembering that Blake had enhanced speed, Larn'kelnar tried to speed up to an accelerated sprint to be on the safe side, then felt a dizzying sensation that made him stumble. To his irritation, he realised he didn't have enough power left in his reserves to maintain his psychic speed.

*Ailanthia... I'm nearly there. I need some more-*

*They're all dead...* she said quietly. *I drained the life out of every thrall in your network...*

The magnitude of that admission left him reeling as he staggered along the corridor. His empire lay completely undefended, his fleets nothing more than silent tombs for the hundreds of thousands of thralls that had once obeyed his every whim.

"Larn'kelnar! Stop slithering away, you craven worm! Face me!"

Blake's bellowed challenge echoed down the corridor, that eerie reverberation making his shout all the more unsettling.

***

Sprinting down the corridor, John shook his head in irritation. *What did you do that for? I thought you were desperate to stop him escaping!*

*You were right...* his guide grudgingly admitted. *He's completely tapped out.*

*And if he wasn't?* John asked, jaw clenching in anger.

*I would've taken steps...*

John bit back his retort, knowing bickering with his guide was pointless. Any attempt at compromise or reason with the guide would be a waste of time. His malignant second personality was nothing like him... they shared no common ground on anything.

The guide laughed, the mocking sardonic bark setting John's teeth on edge. *Now, you know that's not true...*

John saw Larn'kelnar stumble around the corner at an intersection up ahead and tried to run faster, but being healed multiple times had taken its toll. With all the stress and horror of the attack on the Invictus, then the capture, then the fight, he felt like he was on his last legs. Fortunately, by the way Larn'kelnar was lurching unsteadily down the corridor he was in just as bad shape.