Three Square Meals Ch. 015

"Holy fuck!" Alyssa gasped in shock at the sickening sight.

"It's the Hivelord!" John said grimly, "Aim for the back, its unarmoured there!"

The two of them dropped to one knee and began to open fire on the grotesque abomination, rounds punching straight through the Hivelords unarmoured abdomen and spraying green blood out the side of the creature. The Hivelord screeched in fury and pulled its ovipositor out of its victim with a sickening plop. It turned towards them, its mouth opened wide to bellow it's rage, only for Alyssa to blast the creature right between the jaws, her armour piercing rounds shooting through its mouth and punching into the nerve clusters at the back that led up to its brain. The Hivelord staggered to one side, crippled by the deadly shots and crashed to the floor in a tangle of twitching chitinous limbs.

"That was a hell of a shot!" John congratulated the young woman, amazed at her uncanny accuracy.

She grinned at him and tipped an imaginary hat, making him chuckle. They stood and cautiously walked into the room, looking for any more hostile aliens, but finding that they were now alone with the captured humans.

Pleas for help and desperate cries to be released began to echo around the chamber, as the terrified prisoners realised that against all odds, they had been saved by these two unknown heroes.

"We'll get you out, don't worry" Alyssa called out in a loud voice.

John found a nearby console that operated the cages and began to open the chitin doors one by one. The prisoners within began to climb down the ladders that led up to each cage, in a desperate hurry to leave this horrible place. A small group of people went to help the abused victims on the central platform and after five minutes all the prisoners had congregated fearfully in front of John and Alyssa.

"Now follow behind us" John ordered them, "We'll lead you out".

They began to trace their way back up to the hangar, passing through the deafening wall of sound in the Kirrix nest and then up the ramps that led to the upper decks. As they reached the long corridor that would eventually lead them to the hangar, John's sensitive ears began to hear the distant sound of gunfire coming from ahead of them. Recognising the sound of Terran Federation assault rifles, he led Alyssa at a hurried pace to see what was happening in the Hangar.

John walked through the ornate archway that led into the huge hangar to see that they had stumbled into the aftermath of a pitched battle. Parked in the middle of the hangar was a bulky Terran transport and a heavily armed gunship hovered nearby, facing the other side of the Hangar. Armoured Terran troopers had fanned out in a line and were gunning down the remnants of a Kirrix force that had tried to storm their landing site. The hexagonal tiled wall opposite was a mosaic of green blood and ichor, the corpses of bullet ridden Kirrix soldiers slumped where they had fallen prey to the accurate fire from the marines. It had not all gone the humans way however and over a dozen Terran troopers either lay dead, or writhing in agony from Neutron weapon hits.

An armoured soldier was standing next to the transport, issuing curt commands to a couple of attentive officers. One of the officers saw John and Alyssa and pointed them out to the figure, who whirled around to face them. The stern faced man strode up to them purposefully, the eagle insignia on his shoulder pad informing John that this was the leader of the Marine troopers.

"Commander Paul Richards TFMC" the grizzled veteran informed John as he reached the doorway and saluted respectfully.

"Commander John Blake, TFMC - retired" John said in reply, smiling as he returned the salute.

"Not much of a retirement John" the marine commander said, smiling grimly.

"I don't know, it has its perks" John replied grinning, as he glanced at Alyssa.

"You've done a hell of a thing stopping these Kirrix. We saw your handiwork in the hangar when we landed" Paul said, clearly impressed. "Where's the rest of your team? Not too many losses I hope?" he asked soberly.

"It was just us two" John replied nonchalantly. "We've taken out the hive guard, the Broodmother and the Hivelord and there's several hundred freed captives in need of an evac, if you can help us out?".

"You're kidding right?" Paul said, looking in disbelief at John and the teenage girl at his side and then over their shoulder at the huddled throng of humanity massed behind them.

John shook his head, and smiled at Alyssa with pride.

"Well god damn!" Paul exclaimed, before he burst out laughing, his face lighting up in a big grin.

"What I could do with a few squads of troopers like you two!" he said wistfully.

John smiled graciously. "We're in a hurry to chase the Pirate leader who sold all these people to the Kirrix" John explained "Can we leave you to mop up here and look after these prisoners?" he asked politely.

Paul looked at him in stunned amazement.

"Are you off to fight the war with the Kintark single handed as well?" Paul said, bursting into another round of booming laughter.

"We'll take care of things here" the Marine Commander grinned, once he had stopped laughing. "I'm just glad you're on my side!"

The two men shook hands firmly and John led Alyssa back to their captured Kirrix dropship. They climbed on board and the young blonde fired up the ship's engines and sealed the airlock, before taking off and gently pirouetting the dropship around to face the hangar exit. She powered up the engines and they left the Kirrix hive ship behind them.

John used the communicator as they left the hive ship, calling Calara to let them know they were safe. The gorgeous brunette's concerned face filled the holo-image.

"Oh thank goodness!" She exclaimed "Are you two ok?" She asked worriedly.

"We're fine and we rescued the prisoners!" John replied happily.

"Thank god for that!" Calara replied, sighing with relief.

"We'll be there soon" John said fondly. "You did a hell of a thing today Lieutenant"

Calara looked back at him and smiled proudly.

"See you both soon" she said and blew him a kiss.

Alyssa brought the dropship around to the side of the Invictus and then eased it into the Hangar bay as soon as John had opened the hull doors. They disembarked, eager to leave Kirrix technology and the blood soaked ship behind them. As they left the hangar, they passed a couple of cleaning robots who had stopped at the pile of Kirrix corpses, paused as if unsure how to proceed. The automatons eagerly began to clean up their bloody green footprints however, soaked as their boots were in Insectoid gore. Having pity on the cleaning robots, John and Alyssa left their bloodied armour in a pile in the Hangar bay to collect and clean later, rather than tracking blood all over the spotlessly clean ship.

John looked at the ammo counter on his Assault rifle as he placed it carefully by the armour, the digital readout showed him he had fifteen rounds left. Alyssa smiled at him wryly, and showed him her own rifle which cheerily displayed that she had nine remaining bullets.

"Thank goodness for Commander Richards" John said, shaking his head at how close they came to disaster.

They took the elevator up to the bridge and the door swished open quietly. Calara and Sparks rose out of their chairs and dashed up to meet John and Alyssa and hugged them both with relief.

Before they could get to congratulating each other on their extraordinary victory, the Communicator began to flash and chime, indicating they had an incoming call. John darted up the illuminated steps to the command podium and pressed the button to answer the hail.

Captain Flintlock's face filled the vid-screen in the bridge.

"Commander Blake!" He said happily "I've just spoken to my Marine Commander and he told me quite a tale" the older naval captain said, smiling in amazement.

"I've never known Commander Richards to exaggerate, but he tells me you took out the Hivelord, the Broodmother and scores of Kirrix troops, whilst managing to rescue over 400 captives?" the naval Captain said incredulously.

"Not only that" Captain Flintlock continued, "my crew tell me you destroyed 13 pirate vessels before taking on and disabling the Kirrix Hive ship?"

"Yes, that about sums it up" John replied. "It's been a busy day!" he said with a mastery of understatement.

Captain Flintlock laughed out loud. "I'd say it has Commander!" he said in wonder.

"Thanks for sending in the reinforcements" John said appreciatively "How did you get here so quickly though? I thought you were going to wait and repair the Calypso?" he asked, puzzled.

"I received orders from Vice-Admiral Harris to get to the Chendar system immediately" the Captain explained. "I left the rest of the patrol behind to assist the Calypso and we headed here as fast as we could".

"Well we hate to leave you to clean up after us, but we want to finish off the last of the pirates" John said apologetically.

"It's my pleasure Commander" Captain Flintlock said as he saluted. "You and your crew should be very proud, you saved a lot of lives today"

John nodded appreciatively and returned the salute and the Captain ended the call.

"Alyssa can you lay in a pursuit course for the Pirates please" John requested.

"No problem" the beautiful blonde teenager responded as she turned the ship around and they powered away from the gas giant. As soon as they had cleared the gravity well, the Invictus leapt into Hyper warp.

"Fourteen hours until we're in range to use the Interdictor" Sparks said, calculating the pursuit time based on Alyssa's flight path.

They all breathed a huge sigh of relief and slumped collectively in their chairs, the tension draining from them as the adrenalin wore off.

"I can't believe we managed to do it" Calara said in a quiet voice.

"I've never seen shooting like that before, you handled the Invictus' weapons like they were part of you!" John exclaimed in amazement to the brunette.

"and if it wasn't for you" John said to Sparks "we would never have been able to catch the Kirrix in time, or be able to chase after the pirates!" John said astounded.

"What about Alyssa's flying!" said Sparks. "How she managed to get this huge ship to dance around like that I've no idea!"

"You should have seen her on board the Kirrix ship" John said proudly. "She was like a Valkyrie descended from Valhalla!" he said enthusiastically.

"I'm not sure what that is, but I'll take it as a compliment" Alyssa grinned at him broadly.

"You should, you were amazing today honey." John said before turning to face all three girls.

"You all were. Several hundred people will live solely because of your actions" he said emphatically.

The teenagers sat there in stunned silence as the enormity of the day's events began to sink in. John let them sit quietly for a few moments to let them truly appreciate how much good they had accomplished in such a short time.

"Come on" he said gently. "let's all get cleaned up and I'll cook us a celebratory meal"

The girls nodded at him willingly, feeling slightly overawed by what they had managed to achieve today. They rose and joined him at the elevator and they took the lift down together in comfortable silence. Walking in pairs hand in hand, the crew of the Invictus stripped off in the Commander's quarters and went into the bathroom. John activated multiple shower heads in the huge cubicle to cover everyone in warm, soothing streams of water and they all got in. The girls washed him and each other, just enjoying feeling the touch of each other's toned bodies and revelling in being alive against all the odds.

They took a look at Alyssa's wounded shoulder, but the injury didn't seem too bad. John rubbed the blonde's toned slim tummy gently and she looked up at him, noting his concerned expression and nodded.

"Later" she said, smiling lovingly "you promised Sparks an important date first" she said, looking at him and the redhead affectionately.

John leaned down to kiss the lovely redhead, enjoying the feel of her full warm breasts against him.

"I'm ready" she said, looking up at him with love in her eyes.

Calara and Alyssa glanced at each other and smiled happily.

"Come on John, let's set the scene in the bedroom" Calara said eagerly. "A girl's first time should be special!"

Alyssa bit down on her lip and her heart felt heavy, suddenly feeling saddened at her own awful first experience with a man. She suppressed the feeling immediately, not wanting her friend to see her reaction and risk spoiling the occasion.

"You wait here" Alyssa said to Sparks, "we want it to be a nice surprise!" She beamed a warm affectionate smile at her oldest friend.

Sparks smiled and nodded, feeling her excitement begin to grow and butterflies did somersaults in her stomach.

John, Alyssa and Calara left the redhead to enjoy the warm water of the shower and they dried themselves off quickly to go and set up the room. John dimmed the lights, so that the room was bathed in a romantic glow and then Alyssa darted off to retrieve some candles from the playroom. She returned and lit them up around the room, the dancing candlelight adding a certain mystique to the romantic setting. Calara returned from her room cupping something red in her hands, which turned out to be rose petals. She carefully scattered them around the bed, adding the finishing touch to the room with a flourish.

"Where on earth did you get those from?" Alyssa whispered, astonished.

Calara flushed, looking a bit embarrassed. "They were from a rose I was given from the first boy I thought I loved" she said, smiling at John and Alyssa. "It turned out I had no idea what love really was" she continued.

John and Alyssa wrapped the beautiful brunette in a loving embrace, touched by her heartfelt words.

"Alyssa!!" Sparks' frightened shriek pierced the tender moment with shocking abruptness.

All three of them leapt to go to the bathroom, before Alyssa held the other two back with her upraised hand. They waited in the bedroom pensively, worried for their young friend.

"What is it honey?" Alyssa said, her voice maternal and caring.

"My face, it's bleeding!" Sparks exclaimed in shock, opening her hands to show reddened lumps cupped between her fingers.

"Let me see" Alyssa said, darting into the shower quickly and looking at her friends face with deep concern.

Alyssa gently brushed her fingers over the redheads face, noticing with surprise that the horrifically scarred, red angry skin covering the side of Sparks' face seemed to shift slightly at her delicate touch.

"There, there, it's nothing to worry about" she crooned softly to her oldest friend, her fingers moving deftly as she carefully peeled away a section of partially hanging skin.

"You're ok now, just let me check you over" she whispered reassuringly to the frightened teenager.

Alyssa's sombre mood from before and her worry about her friend evaporated in an instant, as she struggled to contain her delirious excitement.

I was right! she exulted.

Under the disfiguring scar tissue that she was tentatively removing, supple fresh young skin was gradually revealed. Her agile fingers moved swift and sure over her friends face, carefully peeling away the hideous old skin and revealing the healthy, rejuvenated skin beneath.

"Just close your eyes a moment" she whispered to her friend "This won't take long"

Sparks closed her eyes immediately, her trust and faith in the blonde girl absolute.

"Is it bad?" She asked, her voice tremulous.

"You're going to be just fine, trust me" Alyssa said, confidently.

Alyssa's elegant fingers danced over the frightened young girls arm and shoulder, removing scarred old tissue and uncovering acres of tanned unblemished flesh. Her quick, nimble hands had the girl completely cleaned in just under a minute and she then washed the scaly red remnants away and down the drain.

"Ok come with me, but keep your eyes closed" Alyssa said in a voice that was soothing, but brooked no argument.

The redhead followed obediently and Alyssa towelled her dry, using the hand held moisture extractor to blow dry Sparks' long hair in a few moments.

"Ok take my hand and follow me" Alyssa said to the young woman and guided her watchfully in to the bedroom.

John and Calara gasped in shock, which caused Alyssa to throw a frown in their direction and Sparks to turn her head slightly, with a worried expression on her face. The beautiful blonde girl led her friend into the walk-in-wardrobe and positioned her in the middle of the cleverly angled mirrors, that allowed the subject in their focus to view themselves from all angles.

John and Calara had followed them in, mouths agape.

"Ok, you can open your eyes now" Alyssa said lovingly.

Sparks opened her eyes cautiously and found she was standing in her friends wardrobe space in front of their mirrors. She looked at the mirror directly in front of her, not recognising the stunningly beautiful girl who looked back at her curiously.

"Who's that? Is this mirror broken" she asked puzzled, the ravishing girl in the reflection also wearing a bewildered expression.

"That's you Sparks" Alyssa said gently. "You're healed".

"It's me... what?" Sparks said turning to look at her friend, wondering just what was happening.

Out of the corner of her eye, she noticed the figure in the mirror copying her exact movements. She walked forward and the blindingly beautiful young woman in the reflection moved up as well and stared in wonderment back at her.

Finally realising and understanding what Alyssa was trying to explain to her, she reached up with an elegant arm, her fingers trembling as she softly touched the side of her face.

"My scars..." she whispered in shock "... they're gone"

She turned her body to look at her arm and shoulder, seeing the lovely bronzed skin for the first time.

"It was all true" she gasped incredulously "I never believed you, but you were telling the truth"

She stared open mouthed in wonder at the young woman standing in front of her, finally seeing herself as she really was for the first time. Tall, athletic, slim, lithe and oh so breathtakingly beautiful. She moved her hands up to cup her big, gravity defying breasts and feeling the firm weight as they filled her hands. She turned her body and it moved gracefully and elegantly, the movements heartbreakingly smooth and fluid. She looked in amazement at the reflection that showed her from behind, staring at the perfectly rounded spheres of her buttocks and the smooth acres of bronzed flesh on her back, up to where it was obscured by her hair.

"My hair" she said, reaching up with unbelieving hands to gently touch the luxurious softness of her long silky hair. No longer the brash ginger that she had kept cut brutally short and spiked, her hair had changed colour; now a dark sultry auburn, that complimented her lovely figure and complexion perfectly.

Finally she could fit in with the gloriously beautiful Alyssa and Calara. Finally she deserved to truly call this place with these wonderful people her home, she thought to herself.

Her eyes welled with tears and she turned to her friends, overcome with emotion.

"Thank you" she gasped "Never in my wildest dreams..." she faltered unable to continue for a moment.

"I can't ever repay you for what you've done for me" she said simply.

Alyssa let out a happy sob and rushed into her friends arms to hold her in a loving embrace. Calara was crying softly herself, overcome with happiness for Sparks and she moved forward to encircle the redhead in her arms.

John gulped down the lump in his throat, his heart touched by the sincere gratitude from the young woman.

"You already have, just by being with us" John said as he moved in to wrap up all the girls in his strong arms.