Three Square Meals Ch. 021

"Holy shit Dana! What did you do to this rifle?!" John exclaimed.

"Strictly speaking it's not a rifle any more, since I've replaced the rifled barrel. You're now the proud owner of a Railgun." The redhead informed him with a grin.

"I put in a slightly larger smoothbore barrel that is flanked by magnetic rails and the second magazine contains sabots that allow the projectile to accelerate along the electromagnets. There's now a power supply built into the stock, which accounts for some of the added weight." she explained gleefully.

"I kept the main ammunition as standard caseless, just in case you need to salvage for more ammo when out in the field." she added, impressing John with her pragmatic design. "The Sabot casing magazines can hold enough for 250 rounds, or five full clips of conventional ammo."

"Surely all that would have added a lot more weight than this?" John asked with confusion. "This XR75 only feels maybe... twenty percent heavier than the old XR73?"

"I created a synthetic polymer based on the material the Kirrix use to make their light weight chitin carapaces." Dana explained. "I replaced as much of the outer frame and internal structure as I could with that." she said proudly.

"This is all absolutely amazing, but the noise this monster makes is deafening. I don't think it's going to be practical to wear noise cancelling headphones when we're out on a mission." John said doubtfully.

The redhead sauntered up to him with a sassy sway to her hips. She pressed a button on the barrel just below the muzzle and a small green light came to life with a soft glow.

"Have another go." she said encouragingly.

John went to put the headphones on again, but Dana stopped him with a raised hand. "You won't need those." she said confidently.

John smiled at her self-assuredness and then pressed a button on the wall of the firing range that removed the last target dummy and placed another at the end of the range. He placed the headphones on a nearby table and then brought the weapon to his shoulder, glancing at the redhead for a moment before preparing to fire. The girls had all removed their headphones too and they winced as John readied himself to shoot again.

"Pkow." The railgun murmured before the hollow point round slammed into the target dummy, blasting a big hole through its chest.

John shook his head in wonder, turning the weapon in his hands as he looked at it in amazement.

"How did you even manage to come up with the idea for this?" he asked curiously.

"Well the mass drivers on the Invictus got me thinking about the concept initially." the redhead explained. "When I encountered the noise problem, I remember the sound dampening field from the nightclub back on Gravitus, so I built in a miniaturised version to suppress the soundwave from the muzzle." she said with a wry smile.

"Well you've surpassed yourself this time honey. This railgun is phenomenal!" John exclaimed with delight.

He carefully placed the heavily enhanced XR75 on the nearby table and then swept up Dana in a hug, giving her a big kiss. She sighed happily at his passionate display of affection.

"There's a few issues I still have to work out though." She apologised with embarrassment, when he finally let her go.

"The rails generate a surprising amount of heat, so you won't be able to use full auto until I can come up with a solution. Even using burst fire for extended periods of time could end up warping the barrel." she admitted glumly.

"With this kind of stopping power, even using burst fire seems like overkill!" John said, buoying up her spirits.

"Well I have tripled the muzzle velocity." Dana agreed with a big grin. "Just don't use armour piercing unless you're trying to take out a tank!" she laughed.

John laughed along with her and then stepped aside from the range to let Alyssa have a go with her own copy of the new weapon. The beautiful blonde girl pressed buttons on the panel to remove the damaged dummy and bring up another one at the end of the range. She slotted in the two magazines and then activated the sound dampener in the barrel before raising the railgun to her shoulder, feeling the additional weight.

"It's a good job you've been feeding me a high protein diet!" she said to John impishly. "I'm going to need to stay nice and strong to use this beast effectively!"

They all laughed at her lewd comments, before she turned back to focus her attention on the range again.

"Prrrkow!" the weapon chirruped quietly as she sent a three round burst slamming into the target dummy.

The rounds blew apart the dummy's torso just above the waist, cutting the poor inanimate figure in half.

"Oh yeah..." Alyssa said, grinning at her oldest friend appreciatively.

Dana grinned back before wagging her finger. "Remember, not too much of that please!" she admonished the other girl.

Alyssa nodded with a smile.

"How about you two?" Dana asked Calara and Jade. "Would you like a try as well?" she invited them.

"I'll stick to the normal rifles for the moment." Calara declined. "I'm still working on improving my accuracy." she explained.

"No problem Calara." Dana said with a smile. "How about you Jade? Would you like a go?"

Jade shrank back, a troubled expression on her face. "No!" she blurted, "No, thank you Dana..." she murmured quickly.

"It's fine Jade." John said reassuringly. "It might actually be a good idea for you to learn how to use handguns, as I'd like you to be able to protect yourself." he said reasonably. "I certainly don't mind." he said with an encouraging smile.

"Please do not order this one to fire a weapon master!" Jade pleaded, her hand held to her head as though in pain.

"Hey, it's ok!" John said in alarm, striding over quickly to hold the Nymph in his arms. "I promise I'll never order you to do anything you don't want to!" he said comfortingly.

"Thank you master!" Jade sighed with relief as she sagged into his arms.

John shot a concerned look at Alyssa who shrugged her shoulders, bemused at the green skinned alien girl's strong negative reaction.

"Ok let's go and have some lunch." John said, as he stroked Jade's back soothingly.

"Thanks for all your hard work Dana." John said sincerely. "You've done an incredible job on the guns." he said appreciatively with a warm smile.

Alyssa stepped up to the beautiful auburn haired girl and surprised her with a loving, sensual kiss.

"What was that for?" Dana said when they finally pulled apart, her eyes wide. "Not that I'm complaining!" she added with a shy smile.

"John was thinking about doing that, but he's busy at the moment." Alyssa grinned mischievously, causing everyone except Jade to chuckle at her.

John suggested they go and eat, before leading the way up to the officer's lounge, guiding the Nymph at his side who still seemed out of sorts. He quickly put together a tasty lunch and then they finished off the meal, with Jade gradually returning to her normal carefree happy self.

After they'd eaten, Dana asked Jade if she would like to accompany her to the engineering bay, to help her with the modifications to the body armour she was making. Jade nodded agreeably and headed off arm in arm with the perky redhead.

"What do you think happened to Jade at the firing range?" John asked Calara and Alyssa once they were alone. "Have you seen her react like that before?" he said, his voice concerned.

"She seemed genuinely distressed." Calara said, sounding worried. "I've never seen her get upset about anything else."

"She was behaving like some kind of extreme pacifist, but she showed no hesitation against that gang back on Gravitus." John said, confused.

"I got her to do some test firing on board the gunship." Alyssa volunteered. "She loved firing off all the Raptor's weapons." she said, equally puzzled.

"I'll give her some time to calm down, then maybe I'll ask her what the problem is." John suggested.

Calara and Alyssa looked at each other and shrugged, not having any answers for him.

"Ah well, It's probably nothing to worry about." John said with a shrug.

They retired to the sofa's in the officer's lounge and just chatted together for a few hours, enjoying each other's company. John sat in the middle with his arm around Calara on the left and Alyssa on the right. It was strange just being the three of them again and it reminded John of the brief time they had together as the happy trio.

"So I've been meaning to ask..." He said tentatively. "I seem to be accompanying you on a trip to visit your family?" John asked Calara with a smile.

"Ah yes..." The brunette said, blushing prettily.

"I'd be honoured to go with you." John said, smiling at her fondly. "Although I hope your dad doesn't have a big shotgun!" he grinned.

Calara laughed good naturedly. "He's quite protective and so are my brothers. You could be in for a rough time!" she grinned back at him.

"It'll be worth it!" John said with a smile, earning himself a loving kiss from Calara.

"What's the plan exactly?" Alyssa asked curiously. "Do you want to just go with John as a couple?" she asked guilelessly. "Your mother already knows you two are together." she said, recalling the conversation between mother and daughter Fernandez.

"That would be much easier for me to explain to everyone." Calara admitted. "But it feels really dishonest, especially considering how close you and I've become!" she said, looking at the beautiful blonde guiltily.

"Well I'm happy to go along with whatever you want to do." Alyssa said helpfully. "I'd love to meet your family and I'd be proud to go as your girlfriend, but I realise that might be a difficult one to explain." she said with an understanding smile.

"I'll make a decision about what to do later, but for now let me just say thanks, I really appreciate it." Calara said, smiling at the blonde girl lovingly.

The Latina stood up with effortless grace and glided over to sit next to her teenage lover, showing her appreciation with tender kisses. John watched entranced as the two young girls enjoyed their passionate embrace. He loved the contrast between the beautiful blonde and the gorgeous brunette as their soft lips brushed together, tongues flickering into each other's hot little mouths.

Alyssa could read his increasingly aroused thoughts and all the things he wanted to do to their nubile young bodies, so she gently broke away from Calara's kiss. She rose elegantly and offered the Latina a hand, encouraging her to stand as well.

"Come on, let's go to our room." She said to Calara. "John wants us to be loving, appreciative girls for him." she said smiling at him seductively.

The girls turned and began to sashay out of the room, leaving John to follow in their wake. Calara looked over her shoulder at him, her eyes twinkling happily and he found himself getting an erection that could have been used to break rocks.

The next few days passed by in a blur for John. When he wasn't training Calara in martial arts, he was having fun swimming with Jade and he also kept busy cooking up something tasty for the crew of the Invictus at mealtimes. Of course he availed himself of his growing harem to their appreciative delight, taking advantage of one accommodating young woman after another. He marvelled at their complete lack of jealousy and how the girls even seemed to get aroused when one of them arrived at the dinner table with the evidence of his lust filling out her rounded belly. He was certainly not foolish enough to complain about his current situation, so he simply relaxed and enjoyed himself.

They all awoke one morning to find that Dana had got up already and had left them to sleep in. She arrived a few minutes later, bounding into the room excitedly, her youthful enthusiasm somewhat out of keeping with her luscious sultry figure and elegant poise.

"I've finished working on the body armour!" the redhead gasped excitedly.

The currently half-dozing bedmates begin to stretch lazily, preparing reluctantly to get up from the comfy bed.

"Come on! I want to show you what I've been working on." she said with a grin.

"Sorry Jade, I mean: We've been working on." she smiled at the Nymph affectionately.

"This one didn't really do much except try on a lot of armour." Jade said with some bemusement.

"But you looked so good while you were doing it!" Dana laughed happily.

"Seriously though, thank you for being such a patient model, you were a big help." she said appreciatively to Jade.

"I was more than happy to help you Dana." The nymph said with a warm smile.

They got up and dressed and then followed the animated redhead as she skipped energetically down the corridor ahead of them and called the elevator. Her buoyant good mood was infectious and soon John and the other girls were smiling happily too, anticipation building to see what their imaginative chief engineer had cooked up this time.

Dana surprised them by pressing the elevator button for the command deck rather than going down to her workshop. Her eyes twinkled impishly as she noticed their momentary confusion, but they all knew better than to ask why, knowing they would get a "Wait and see!" in response.

The elevator doors chimed quietly, the doors swishing open and they waited for Dana to leave the elevator first so that they could follow her. She surprised them again by leading them to the door that went into the briefing room and she delighted in their bemused expressions as they followed her inside.

Along the back of the meeting room, two large frames were set against the wall, eight feet in height and filled with complex looking machinery. Directly in the centre of each frame there was a human sized alcove, that was backed by comfortable looking padding. To either side of the alcove, there were two sets of robotic arms fixed into each of the frames, one set at arm height, the other level with their thighs. The motionless robotic arms seemed to be holding armoured plates at the ready in their metallic clutches, the arms spread wide as if offering a warm and welcoming hug. Directly above the alcove a hydraulic lever reached outwards, an armoured chestplate held firmly in its grasp. Finally the fully enclosed helmet of the Phalanx Alpha body armour could be seen suspended just above head height in the alcove.

"What is it?" Alyssa smirked. "Some kind of incredibly elaborate sex toy?" she joked.

"Very funny..." Dana said and rolled her eyes.

"Jade, would you be so kind as to assist with this demonstration?" She asked the green skinned alien girl politely.

"It would be my pleasure Dana." Jade replied with a happy smile and she moved confidently to stand in the slightly smaller of the two alcoves.

"John, how long did it take you to put on your old armour?" she asked him leadingly.

"Approximately two minutes." John replied. "A little faster if someone could help with making sure all the ceramic plates were properly fitted in position.

"Ok, interesting." Dana said with a degree of showmanship.

"And how long did it take to put on these new sets of Phalanx armour?" she asked with a smile.

"Around double the time, so four minutes." John supplied helpfully.

"As we all know, every second counts in a combat situation!" Dana said with wide eyes. "Four minutes is a lifetime!"

"Come on, get on with it!" Alyssa laughed at her friend making such a meal of the demonstration.

"Alyssa! Behave yourself." John admonished the blonde girl. "Please continue Dana." he said, smiling encouragingly.

"Thank you John." Dana said with a slight nod of her head.

Dana held up a portable chronometer for everyone to see, the setting showing a stopwatch, currently set to 0:00.

"Ok ready Jade... Go!" she exclaimed, pressing the button on the stopwatch.

Jade leaned back into the alcove and stepped into a pair of armoured boots, whilst raising her arms out to the side and slipping her hands into armoured gauntlets. The robotic arms sprang into action, the hydraulics humming happily as the arms brought the armoured plates around to softly click into place over Jade's legs and arms. At the same time, the hydraulic lever curved downwards clicking the armoured chestplate into position and the helmet smoothly lowered over Jade's beautiful features, hiding her cute smile from view.

John's sharp eyes spotted Jade's left hand make a curious movement with her thumb and then there was a strange series of soft clicks, sounding somewhat like someone running their fingernail down a comb. Jade stepped out of the alcove, now completely equipped in the body armour.

"Fully armoured in..." Dana glanced at the stopwatch where she had paused it. "Eight seconds!" she crowed.

Calara, Alyssa and John broke into a spontaneous round of applause, genuinely impressed by the astounding improvement in gearing up time that Dana had made. Dana grinned in delight and took a little bow. She turned to wave to Jade to do the same and the Nymph giggled tinnily from inside the armour, before taking her own bow. She stepped back into the alcove, making the same thumb to palm motion with her left hand which was followed by the rippling clicking noise. The robotic arms glided down and removed the limb and chest plates and Jade was able to step out of the armour once the helmet was raised from her head.

"Ok I'm dying to know..." John said with a grin. "How did you do it?" he asked Dana, burning with curiosity.

She smiled at him happily and reached over to one of the arm plates, skilfully unlatching it from the robotic arm. She glided over to him and tilted the arm plate over so that he could see where it would join with the other half of the armour that was currently suspended in the alcove.

"I copied the Kirrix design." she admitted honestly. "I split the armour suit directly down the side and then added these metallic hooks in place along the joins. The robotic arms simply guide this piece into position atop the other and then the hooks lock the armour into place."

"Ingenious." John said admiringly.

"Yeah, it was a good design by the Kirrix." Dana agreed.

"Not them, you!" John grinned.

"Thanks John." Dana beamed up at him happily.

"I think you might have invalidated our warranty though..." he said with a grin.

Dana giggled happily.

"Would you like to try on your own suit?" she asked him eagerly.

"Ok." John said tentatively, looking at the robotic arms with a fair bit of apprehension.

Dana laughed at his trepidation. "Don't worry it's perfectly safe. There are sensors in place on the arms that check to make sure you are properly positioned before they secure the armour plates."

"Alright, I trust you." John said with a smile.

He walked up to the larger suit of armour's alcove and stepped back into it the same way Jade had done, slipping his feet into the armoured boots and holding out his arms so that he could slide his hands into the armoured gauntlets.

"Ok now on the right gauntlet, feel for a button on the side of the thumb. If you press that, it will activate the robotic arms." The redhead explained carefully.

John followed her instructions, finding the button easily and then the automated arms moved down, securing him into the armoured suit. It felt a little disconcerting to be suddenly fully enclosed in body armour, but he knew he'd get over that in no time.

"Now press your left thumb to the centre of your palm." Dana called out to him in a loud voice.

John used the optical recognition HUD in the helmet to activate the delicate sensor arrays for the helmet, which could enhance sound and also project his voice.

"There's no need to shout," John replied calmly. "I've activated the audio filters, so I can hear you clearly."

Dana nodded her relief and then smiled as he pressed his left thumb to his palm, which triggered the rapid whirring of clicks that locked the body armour suit into place.