All Comments on 'Three Square Meals Ch. 047'

Awesome as usual 😀😀

I'm really enjoying the series so far

Seemed to read to fast, but thanks as always man

Thanks again! This chapter opens up many questions and concerns and i enjoyed it immensely. I definately do not trust Irillith!

I don't think Irillith is that much of a problem as everybody is implying. She has been reluctant to go with her orders several times.

She tried to complain about making John fight the Fulmanax, she tried to warn her mother about messing with the Mael'nerak, and she has tried to avoid joining his ship, and every single time she had to do it anyway under orders of her mother. She acts bitchy, and may seem to deserve a good kick to the teeth, but the royal bitch here is her mother, and maybe even her society.

We may see another side of her eventually, but that doesn't mean she will not make trouble before long.

I was just thinking, we really don't know the maliri society.

We had some notions given by Ceraden, that may be exaggerated or biased by his own feelings, and we just had a small glimpse with the lashing.

But how representative is this? Is this common across all maliri territories? Is this restricted to matriarchal worlds? Is Edraele's matriarchy specially sadist?

The lashed female was being punished by her own trainer. Is it some kind of "military" training or all population is treated the same?

There are just too many unknown details to pass judgment on every maliri, even those details we "know", we don't really know. And even those characters we "know", we don't really know either...

We have seen the pattern of the Maliri. There was no deal.

Edraele is scared.

She can be managed.

I have read the story and I came to the conclusion that Alyssa is the Matriarch of John's pride.

I am wondering if it happened because she is the first one to bind with John, and that her DNA was altered by her three meals, but why did the DNA of the rest of the pride, except Jade of course, not change?

Work for Rachel.

It will be a good to see how Irilith integrates with the crew, but all kind of problems may occur, from shunning to hazing; I hope it will be that the good sentiments in the pride will prevail.

Reading the comments about her, well, we can agree that she is a royal pain in the ass, but her education/conditioning can be the cause of it. Unlearning the education/conditioning will take time, maybe more time than we think.

The same goes for her mother, who maybe have realised that Alyssa is a Matriarch in her own right. If not, then we can expect more fireworks between Alyssa and the Matriarchs, because only one can be the leading Matriarch. Maybe this has led to the cruel education/conditioning of the Maliri Matriarchs...

Thanks for the story,

Herman Grootaers

alyssia powers and abilities seem to grow with need but she can control them, john's abilities show when in need (prog-john) but he is not able to master them when he is "himself".

as for irilith, why not just allocate a prison cell to her and be done with her? no snooping around or undue interactions, and also you get to check her gear and all.

John = Professor X and Cyclops

Alyssa =Jean Grey

Jade = Morph

Dana / Sparks = Beast?

Rachel = Moira MacTaggert

Calara = ?

Edraele =?

Irillith = ?

I'm just saying it kinda fits. Lol

That wasn't quite the bitch slap we were expecting Alyssa to give Edraele, but close enough. Honestly, that seemed like a rookie mistake on Edraele's part to ignore someone else who was capable of spirit walking like that, and she paid for it. Too bad the scare Alyssa put into her didn't have nearly the same impact as the scare Irillith got from John.

To the people who have been complaining about the possibility of Irillith joining the crew because she's such a bitch...calm down. There's a way to fix that. Remember the change that John's spunk causes includes a personality tweak, so if it somehow happens that Irillith is allowed to go down on John, that bitchiness is likely to disappear. All the other personality changes we've seen among the girls have been relatively subtle, especially since we didn't get to see much of their personalities before joining the crew; Irillith's change will be the most striking since we've seen so much of her already. And now that it's been revealed that she's a decent hacker, I'd say that the odds of her joining the crew have gone up a bit.

However, there does seem to be another candidate from the Maliri race: the mysterious Tashana. She's been mentioned twice now, apparently isn't welcome among the Maliri since she was banished by Edraele, and seems to be somewhat of an expert regarding Progenitors.

Farther in the future, it seems that the reporter lady - I forget her name - has been made a candidate for joining the crew, simply by having John and Alyssa fantasize about her. Wonder what role she'll fill on the ship? PR chief?

Love this strange twist, will john now have a blue skinned crew member?

still not clear what the meaning of Edraele's quest, but love the story.

More, More, More....please

I agree with most that it seems like an awful deal to return all the way back to the middle of Maliri space for the laser weaponry, way too high risk, terrible decision making on his part, especially as all he really needs are the blueprints anyway and he could make any deal he wanted at Geniya station.

I'm not remotely surprised that Edraele underestimated Alyssa, she's 18(therefore looks very young) and the Maliri would know human lifespans, sounds like it, acts naive when necessary. Although I suppose Edraele was incredibly stupid to ignore a Terran suddenly appearing the ethereal realm. Alyssa's power is clearly well beyond Edraele which means future interactions between them are going to put the Matriarch on full guard, especially after they extract a lot of information from Irillith. She's already terrified of John.

I don't think they need her for her hacking ability, Dana is already an expert and more than capable of expanding her skillset in those areas of science. Jehanna is just a matter of time at this point.

A lot of Maliri society seems very inwardly focused and it's not remotely surprising that they don't want a war with the Terran federation despite probably being able to win as any house that was significantly weakened would probably end up getting eaten alive by the others. Their structure would also give them a significant disadvantage as the vast majority of their society has no experience with the rest of the universe and those who do, the males, might not be that inclined to help a society they all despise.

Thanks for the new chapter! I continue to enjoy the adventures of the crew of the Invictus. I am a bit saddened that John and Alyssa didn't seem to even consider that Edraele could be the one behind the Fulmanax incident. (I know we can't always expect to see every thought that crosses their mind, but I would expect that to be relevant to the story at hand and thus have it included in the story.)

I think that an interesting solution to the Irillith problem would be to recruit her. Her personality would be molded to a better one, and a means of motivating John to deal with Edraele would be provided. I'm surprised that Alyssa hasn't spotted that yet. It would also provide a means of insider information on the Maliri that wouldn't be passing through untrustworthy female Maliri first.

To Herman Grootaers, I am not the author, but I suspect that the original Progenitor Matriarch system involved the first choice of a sustained sexual partner who would then be the "controller" if you will of the other female underlings, or "thralls." The Maliri matriarchs would be descendants of the original matriarchs (at least the Eldritch bloodlines) and would have attempted to retain some of the political structure the Progenitors imposed on them. Thus, the Maliri are a remnant of the Progenitor thrall societies.

I'm not sure how closely you've been reading, but Tefler has been very clear that the DNA of all of the crew has been altered by their meals, not just Alyssa. (Although we haven't really been shown Alyssa's original DNA information. She might have inherited Matriarch suitability genes and that is what allowed John's Progenitor side to activate and begin the process. Exploring what being a Progenitor means is something I look forward to. Is a Progenitor a distinct race or merely a gene set that can be activated in any compatible host species? I want to know.) I suspect that Alyssa's matriarch status is what has allowed for her advanced psychic abilities. This is also why she could overpower Edraele: Alyssa is a true Matriarch while Edraele is a mere remnant of the original matriarchs and not quite in the same class.

I don't follow the comments closely, so I don't know if anyone else has picked up on this, but the hints have been very well placed so far: Alyssa (as the Matriarch) is helping suppress John's Progenitor side. During John's dreams, his Progenitor side pushes him to embrace his destiny of destruction and domination, while the warm glowing presence (which I am assuming is Alyssa through the Matriarch link) suppresses those impulses and encourages John's virtuous behavior. This implies some interesting things about the Progenitor-Matriarch relationship that I need more examples of to be sure about, but it looks like the Progenitor's can be heavily influenced by their chosen Matriarch. The other examples we have so far with John and Alyssa are when Alyssa is knocked unconscious during combat: then John's progenitor side emerges and destroys all enemies in his path. The Progenitor personality does seem to be influenced by Alyssa anyway (or maybe it's just too weak to overthrow John's human side yet), or maybe the Progenitors are not the totally evil, all-conquering monsters implied by what the Ashenath and Maliri seem to know.

I wonder when the assassin and the mysterious black ship (with another Progenitor on board?) will make another appearance. If there is indeed another Progenitor wandering around space (and the implication is that there is at least one, maybe two others), why haven't they been creating more of an empire? Perhaps they are hiding in a region of space too far away from the Terran Federation's knowledge to appear.

Anyway, whether or not I'm right about any of this, it has been a pleasure to follow the adventure. I eagerly await the next chapter.

It's clear that you're fishing for a way to make Ilirith join their crew so that it makes sense. It seems forced. You're also trying to make John look like diplomat or something, but to also look like a strong warrior. In reality, you make him look like a piss-poor businessman and an all-brawn type of character. Alyssa is the one that actually thinks. It is strange that John's hackles aren't rising when meeting Edraele, because she is a total polar opposite from what they were seeing on the planet. I mean there was that Maliri girl being brutally whipped, and there was Edraele all pleasant and acting as if she didn't even know of the story behind Fulmanax. If a leader doesn't know what's going on in his or her realm, they don't stay leader. Period. That means John is simply acting superbly stupid for not knowing that. He seems to have beyond naive outlook on how the universe works. And he's supposed to be forty? Seems more like twenty to me judging from how he thinks and acts! I really wish he had more backbone and principle to say "goodbye and good riddance" to the maliri as a whole, and then go figure out all the things he wanted from them on his own. He should be capable enough for that. Or Dana and Rachel should.

great chap. john will save irrilith :)

John's motivations behind his actions will become clear next chapter!

I've written 13k so far, but I'm in two minds about making it a long one or not. We'll see...

Tefler

Initially John displayed much determination and confidence in making important decisions. Now he is constantly nagging Alyssa and others to support his every move.

A lion does what he wants without asking any lioness in the pride how she feels about it.

I miss the early chapters John. The one who cared about his crew, but haven't turned into a complete pussy in the process.

(Chapter 43 page 1). He could have been bugged, he could have been ... forcibly debriefed ..., or he might just be an honest Malari patriot shmoozing with the Terran trader and reporting back. His absence at the time of their departure to the Malari homeworld fits.

Just pointing out that the foreshadowing about coincidence stands up.

Another vote for there's no Trankaren blueprint deal to be chased, it's about getting Irillith on board the Invictus. But that might not end up as Edraele intends...

As the girls become more and more capable it makes excellent sense to poll them. When they are green recruits you tell them what to do. When they are full junior officers you want their opinions.

Tricky shit keeps happening to them. They need all resources engaged to stay on top. You act like they are bitchy air headed bimbos without opinions worth knowing. Take that test over.

You act like it is an admission of weakness for John to have made smart girls into geniuses and then try and use their brains. Take that test again.

They are smarter and sexier than you are used to. Just change your perspective.

If you missed it, Edraele is probably thousands of years old and had enough bluff skill to pass herself off as a sweet old lady.

Tefler almost literally put the words in John and Alyssa thoughts. *She must be selling us bullshit but damn if she isn't a great at sales.*

Ok, think about this for a minute. Alyssa was in shock still from what happened and temporary memory loss due to that shock is normal. Alyssa will remember, just a matter of time.

As for the naiveté’, John suspects Alyssa got attacked by Edraele, but Alyssa will clue him in, when she remembers more about what happened. And then John will realize he should not go back into deep Maliri space. Given the way Tefler has worked his story so far, I am sure he will not make the apparent, child-like naiveté’ permanent with such glaring examples of duplicity, for example: believing blue biotch acted on her own (intimating she cannot be trusted) to being immediately placed on this special mission (because she could be trusted) when Maliri society has shown it treats failure concerning such things VERY, VERY harshly.

Even if it has to come from Calara’s ability to track things together, it will all come full picture. With Tefler’s writing ability he is not going to let such an obvious hole in his storyline gain traction.

Don’t think for a second that the blue biotch Irillith on the Invictus is a disinterested bystander.

I am wondering if the side trip concerning Rachel’s parents might make a difference for her, getting away from Maliri politics and culture for a bit, along with the personality tweaks John can provide, may make things interesting. And, I strongly suspect this whole mission will get sidetracked or at least substantially changed before it is all over with, to John’s advantage, and for the safety of the crew.

AAAAnd, I have figured out who John’s mother is….. ;-)

And don't think that John and Alyssa didn't notice Irrilith's reaction to her mother saying she went off the reservation.

Perhaps we are not all so stupid to think we know everything so we are more apt to ask for input before making important decisions? Bay of Pigs or Brexit anyone?

While an avid fan of Literotica, My normal visit was about once a week.Take it as a huge compliment that I check the site every day for updates on Three Square Meals. Well Done!

@PussyLickersRus

How'd you figure out who John's mother is?, We've been in Maliri space for 3 chapters and she's Terran. Tashana doesn't sound like a viable option for a number of reasons and we haven't met anyone else who could fit that bill.

@Dry_Opinion he's made girls who are far more capable than he could ever dream to be in areas other than ground combat and leadership, both of which he has many years of experience in. In the end he may end up being usurped by a female marine commander in that role as well although that would require a lot of retraining or a psychic to maintain efficiency. He's also stuck in a bit of a hard place personally as this is a personal drive for knowledge for him, finding his roots and his mother. It's a bit selfish of him to keep driving them to dangerous places in search of completing that quest even if he knows they'll back him to the end.

General Thoughts

It's certainly an unpleasant naivety for the reader from John but at the same time there are two things at work. Firstly, Edraele's mission aligns with theirs are therefore completing the trip while seeking information from all involved including their unwilling passenger isn't really an issue. Secondly they carry virtually zero personal risk(from the Maliri) until they cross back beyond the trading post at the Maliri border and they clearly weren't going to get the lasers this time around. Irillith can easily be handled by the team.

It's a weird feeling as a reader as we're at an incredibly open ended part of the story, it can go so many places from here.

Who said Tashana was a Maliri?

What you are doing is called exhausting a metaphor. They are not really a pride of lions.

fair enough, it never does actually say that, good point

I check once a week for an update.

I find the comments amusing. Readers have so many variables and opinions. Write your own story if you don't like the scenarios tefler is painting. Not an easy task.

I like the story. Seems like it can go on another 40 plus chapters.

Keep writing your story the way you see it.

Cheers.

In the last two chapters I believe you've jumped the shark because you've proven after 45 decent chapters that our progenitor protagonist is a complete moron. Too bad he wasn't swallowing his own quad juice to improve his brain power like the girls. He is first duped in committing genocide which he shrugs off as "oh well" and now he's been turned pirate/criminal in hopes of stealing engine schematics which was a horrible deal accepted in a few seconds. All for a little information and new lasers? He's got Dana and the secret of the crystal tech. What does he need their lasers for now? Get back to fighting rogue AIs and searching for Terran traitors.

In a direct quote from TVTropes.org's page on "Jumping the Shark", I give you this:

"Jumping the Shark is the moment when an established long-running series changes in a significant manner in an attempt to stay fresh. Ironically, that moment makes the viewers realize that the show's finally run out of ideas. It's reached its peak, it'll never be the same again, and from now on it's all downhill."

And thus, in the grand spirit of internet comments, anon, I address your comment with the following reply:

"I call bullshit."

I explained in the comments on the last chapter that the crystal tech isn't what makes the Maliri lasers powerful. The Maliri use that technology to make armour and clear crystal domes.

Regarding them turning pirate/criminal, where did you get that from? Edraele only cares about getting the schematics, not how they acquire them. That doesn't mean John and the girls have to steal them, as they can still follow up on the half completed deal.

As for: "A little information"

The Maliri are by far the strongest source of potential information that they have encountered yet. The ashanath knowledge of John's species was based on millenia old stone pictures.

Finally, I'm curious to hear what course of action you think John should have taken after the fulmanax encounter. What would "intelligent" John have done instead?

Tefler

I think you've continued to do a fantastic job with this, and the debate in the comments is proof that people care about your characters and story. I, for one, am excited to see Irillith become part of the crew, even if it does seem a little forced. That character arc would be very interesting.

Can't wait for the next part!

I am with Anon, it's a good story. If you don't like this one there's plenty of dross to switch to. I enjoy reading a good critique of Tefler's work but only when it is accompanied with some logical analysis or sensible options.

I think this time round there a lack of objectivity in some comments.

I am consistently pleased and surprised by the quality and quantity of your writing a and editing. Very well done, thank you. The story is first rate and the plot intriguing.

50% of readers will feel scared that the characters they love are risked and ruined by "mistakes" they are making.

Getting criticisms is a whiny form of flattery. In every case of ohno syndrome what the complained needed to do was ask what they missed because each one had tunnel vision. The story they saw was simpler and narrower than what was written.

Just because you did not pay attention to an important detail that you did not see as interesting or relevant does not mean you can call bullshit on the parts of the story that you are sure of.

Good habit is to phrase a concern as a question first. Save the complaining.

This works both ways. Irrilith will restrain her bitchiness if she becomes crew but it will still be there. They stay the same person with attitude assist. She will be something like an intelligent officer and powerful, playing devils advocate and proposing devious plans. Jade will make an interesting partner. I see them being a fuck fight couple.

when it comes to Genocide, we even get the thought process from the crew on page 3 of chapter 46, there isn't anything that can be done so nothing changes, at least for the moment. Maybe there will be a window for some kind of justice later.

When it comes to the engines, all they need is the top of the line engines and Dana can make a schematic anyway so no need to steal in any situation unless the engines cost more than John's current networth, a situation also easily resolved by selling some of Dana's tech.

Thanks to all, who pointed out missing details in my comment. Truth be told, I was disappointed after reading the chapter - so it was more emotional than logical feedback.

Now that I've calmed down:

1.Opinion uninformed

> When they are full junior officers you want their opinions.

> You act like they are bitchy air headed bimbos without opinions worth knowing.

> You act like it is an admission of weakness for John to have made smart girls into geniuses and then try and use their brains.

Agreed. I too want their opinions, just after John (the leader and most experienced combat officer) gave his first. Otherwise it reads like girls are coming up with decisions and John simply agrees all the time. So it is not that I don't like girls having opinions, it is I hate John not having his own opinions at all. He has lost his position as the leader and should be downgraded to a servant for the girls. At this point he is more of a milking cow anyway.

> They are smarter and sexier than you are used to. Just change your perspective.

They have more skills in their respective areas. That does not mean they are smarter over all.

Also John is the only one with 40 years of military strategy\tactics experience and dealing with various species. He knows from experience how to avoid traps and cut best deals better than anyone on that ship. Or at least he should ...

2. PussyLickersRus

> Perhaps we are not all so stupid to think we know everything so we are more apt to ask for input before making important decisions?

You do not ask a medic, an engineer or a pilot how they feel about Irillith joining the ship. You ask John (the leader and most experienced combat officer) to consider that he is taking a potential spy abroad his ship. You ask him to consider being fulled once by Maliri and having no guarantees on getting the weapons. Is the risk worth it?

And then you ask for input before making important decisions. Otherwise, let the girls make all decisions and command the ship.

3. Inevitable_

>@Dry_Opinion he's made girls who are far more capable than he could ever dream to be in areas other than ground combat and leadership, both of which he has many years of experience in.

Exactly my point. Leadership - positive vision, passion, risk assessment, ability to inspire among others. Haven't read inspirational speech or positive vision from John in a long time, apart from when he comes up with creative ways to fuck his girls. And even then they demonstrate more leadership than him.

4. @Dry_opinion

> What you are doing is called exhausting a metaphor. They are not really a pride of lions.

Why all the pride comparison, medals, armors with lions? Am I the one exhausting the metaphor?

5. Fonzie has jumped the shark

Agree with the comment.

He can't really give his opinion first as it inherently colours their view given the dynamic of him being a progenitor. It's far safer and more logical for him to take their perspectives first and then decide on a course. Better leadership in my mind as well but that is subjective I suppose.

The reality is that the only place he really needs to give direct immediately followed orders are in combat and he hasn't delegated that task yet at any point, Progenitor-John aside and at that point he's more or less incapable.

As far as negotiations go, he's not really had much in the way of power when it comes to the Maliri and the current deal he's struck isn't a negative for him as until they come back to Maliri space, he's just continuing his own mission with an annoying psychopathic passenger, it may even save him a lot of money.

As far as Irillith goes, it is a family more than a crew for those types of decisions and I stand by my comment above with regard to not colouring the opinions of his crew by letting them all speak first and deciding based on that. It would be relatively easy to satisfy your concerns by Tefler having John overrule a more or less unanimous decision by the crew but there's no particular reason to do that either unless it makes sense for a story reason and I can't envision one at this time.

Has there been much need for positive vision in a while?, the start of the next chapter is the first freedom they've had in about 5 chapters, they've been more or less locked on a path since they started with the Maliri. Once you're committed down a path you have to ride it out and see what happens. I just don't share your concerns in this regard.

"I too want their opinions, just after John (the leader and most experienced combat officer) gave his first."

Interesting. In my experience, leaders tend to gather everyone's feedback first, then make their decision based on the advice given, weighed with their own opinion. If the leader states their opinion first, then people are often reluctant to counter it.

There are dozens of examples of this in Star Trek the next generation. Worf makes some recommendation to shoot phasors of launch torpedos, then Picard ignores him and does something else. He's always asking his officers for their opinion first, (or they just volunteer it anyway) then decides on a course of action afterwards.

"Also John is the only one with 40 years of military experience "

He is 40, he was in the military for 10 years.

"You do not ask a medic, an engineer or a pilot how they feel about Irillith joining the ship."

It's not just their ship, its their home as well. Besides, what does it hurt asking them for an opinion? If he made all the decisions and just said "stfu I know more than any of you", wouldn't it make for a boring story?

>I'm curious to hear what course of action you think John should have taken after the fulmanax encounter. What would "intelligent" John have done instead?

Here's my idea.

After making sure Alyssa has recovered enough, but before reaching Maliri's home, John demands a meeting with Irillith (reason is not important). Meanwhile Dana and Nymph damage Irillith's ship engines. That ship should have Maliri weapons aboard. Now John and Dana suggest helping with the engines, while Nyph takes weapons blueprints or any other vital info (morphing creature is a perfect infiltrator in my opinion).

Having Maliri weapons info, John travels to Valaden and forces the Matriarch to give up much more information on Mael'nerak as a guarantee for their deal.

In the end, "intelligent" John has info on Maliri weapons and info on Mael'nerak.

"Intelligent" John would have used guerrilla tactics: deception, sabotage and espionage (see https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Strategy_and_tactics_of_guerrilla_warfare#Tactics)

Why did I choose Guerrillas? -

"Guerrilla warfare is a form of irregular warfare in which a small group of combatants such as paramilitary personnel, armed civilians, or irregulars use military tactics including ambushes, sabotage, raids, petty warfare, hit-and-run tactics, and mobility to fight a larger and less-mobile traditional military." (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Guerrilla_warfare)

"John demands a meeting with Irillith"

Irillith answered the call, refusing to look directly at him. "Our business is done Mael'nerak. I have no interest in meeting with you, we have nothing to discuss. My mother will speak to you tomorrow when we arrive at Valaden." The view-screen crackled as she abruptly ended the call.

So what now? She's scared of him, and the first thing she does when she arrives at the planet is to go and meet with her mother to convince her to banish him from Maliri Space. The last thing she'd consider is going aboard his ship, or letting him aboard hers (remember how cagey the guards were about letting non-maliri near their ship?)

"Meanwhile Dana and Nymph damage Irillith's ship engines."

So even if she agreed to a meeting, immediately afterwards Irillith's ship's engines mysteriously get damaged? You don't think she'd immediately smell a rat, and call for backup?

If he was just going to kill the Maliri, and steal what he wanted, he would have done so as soon as they were a safe distance from Geniya Space Station. Cripple their engines, shoot out any turrets in their fire arcs, perform an active scan, take out their life support. Now the Maliri are all dead, quick spacewalk to the shop, cut off a beam laser, back to the ship and off they go. Got everything they wanted in several hours.

Why not go full evil? Same as above, but just board the ship, slaughter the crew, capture Irillith, rape her and force her under his control. Extract all information she has on the Progenitors, and space her afterwards. Job done.

Obviously I'm not going to have him do those things, but I'm just pointing out that there are MUCH more expedient ways of doing anything, if you aren't constrained by any kind of morals or ethics.

"Having Maliri weapons info, John travels to Valaden and forces the Matriarch to give up much more information on Mael'nerak as a guarantee for their deal."

How is he going to force her to do anything? Just because he has somehow acquired Maliri weapon technology in the scenario you describe above, how does that give him more cards to play? If he in any way reveals that he has stolen their tech, she might well try to have him killed immediately.

If he seems more interested in Progenitor knowledge than access to weaponry, then Edraele simply requests that he finishes her mission, then she'll tell him everything he wants to know as a reward. I don't see how he gains any kind of leverage here.

You make valid points. I agree - girls should voice their opinions first.

Still, it looks to me that John's reasoning gets lost. Tefler gives each girls perspective with reasons and emotions behind them, while he leaves John's perspective, reasons and emotions not explained.

> He is 40, he was in the military for 10 years.

My bad. Somehow I though he was in the military from childhood. Did I miss the 30 years of his life before the military explained, or is it another mystery?

Now that was the most polite S-L-A-M I have ever witnessed.

"Somehow I though he was in the military from childhood. Did I miss the 30 years of his life before the military explained "

He grew up with his grandparents, helping them in their restaurant while going to school. He joined the military aged 18, and served for 10 years. He retired, not wanting to see any more of his friends get killed, and bought the Fool's Gold. He then lived as a trader for 11 years, before finally making the Tyrenium deal on Karron, and meeting Alyssa.

All of this has been mentioned in previous chapters, so none of it should be a mystery.

What? You mean to say this is YOUR story? That you know how it is going to end and we are just along for the FREE ride? HOW DARE YOU SUGGEST YOU HAVE THAT LEVEL OF CONTROL OVER THIS STORY! ;-) LOL. Please forgive my 'DRY" humor.

"Tefler gives each girls perspective with reasons and emotions behind them, while he leaves John's perspective, reasons and emotions not explained. "

This is a valid criticism. I didn't go into this detail in his telepathic discussion with Alyssa, but perhaps I should have. I go over his reasoning in more detail in the next chapter.

Ah, I remember now. Thanks.

Indeed, I have magnified John's military skills in my mind. Guess he is not the genius strategist I envisioned him to be ...

Well it is starting to make a lot more sense to me. Thanks again for taking the time to explain it all.

No problem. Please don't take my replies as an attack, I was simply trying to explain some of the reasoning behind their actions.

I can't reveal everything, but there's more going on behind the scenes here. There's a couple of clues as to Edraele's real motivations in chapter 47, but they are subtle and it doesn't look like anyone has picked up on them yet. Either that, or they are not saying anything to avoid spoiling it for everyone else!

If I recall correctly, John spent the last 11 years as a trader, that would be after he left the Marines. 10 years in the service, 11 years as a trader, that would only leave 19 years unaccounted for. I recall that John's Grandparents raised him and owned a restaurant that he worked in until he enlisted. Please - if you are finding this grand epic adventure (in my humble opinion) either/ or too difficult to follow or just plain not to your liking, instead of attempting to influence the storytelling of someone else, write your own or seek something you like. It just seems less than constructive criticism and more like you are saying "this is how it should go because of my personal opinions." The reason for this post is to ask you to please pay attention or leave, the time Tefler has taken to hold your hand and walk you through the story cold have been better used writing more chapters for the rest of us who love the story. Thanks for listening to my dry opinion and I wish you and yours a safe and happy life.

Happy 4th of July weekend everyone!

First off, bravo, Tefler! Absolutely superb story. And like so many of your "crew" I am eagerly awaiting each new "meal."

Well, that's enough of that.

My take, for what it's worth (and I reserve the right to be wrong), is that Tefler is carefully NOT giving us complete access to ANY of the story's characters for more than brief moments. For what it's worth, I applaud that choice, because it'd be tedious as hell and leave little room for surprises.

If we know chapter and verse about everyone's motivations, and their full thoughts about any given situation or problem, the only way Tefler can surprise us is by revealing a previously-hidden blind spot. That only goes so far.

In any event, Tefler, write the damned story your way. You're doing an incredible job. And I will eagerly await the next gift from a marvelously talented author.

Thanks for John's background info.

I agree with some of your points:

1. My criticism is not constructive enough. - I'll work on that.

2. I take valuable time from Tefler. - Fixing the first point should fix this one also.

I don't agree with other points:

1. Attempting to influence the storytelling of someone else - This is the reason we have feedback. I believe that pointing out questionable choices to the author will prevent their development on the early stage. Or at least make the author aware that more explanation is required.

2. Write your own or seek something you like - I like this one. I care for it. That is why I spend so much time on comments. I won't give up - I'll work on my constructiveness and make sure to value Tefler's time. But don't ask me to quit.

Wish you and yours a safe and happy life as well. I'd be happy to see you rate my level of constructiveness on the upcoming chapters.

Cheers!

There's a couple of clues as to Edraele's real motivations in chapter 47, but they are subtle and it doesn't look like anyone has picked up on them yet.

I have a general idea of what it is, I just don't see it going anywhere(grandiose plans rarely do). What's the point of a massively overbuilt shipyard, engine designs and a Mael'narek... The only question is whether her plans are limited to the Maliri or the known universe.

Another great chapter as usual it looks like Alyssa is getting even more powerful can't wait to see where this goes how much longer until the next chapter tefler?

I think we can ALL agree that Edraele is a bitch and I think she has had plenty of involvement with progens in the past given that she knew about the mind shield and admitting that she knew progens jelously guard their tech.

One questions though, is this Thashana woman johns mother? It kinda makes since, because she (Edraele) said something along the lines of "decades have past since she learned the phsyic" thing. That would fit in with the timeline, because Johns mother "escaped" from his father before he was born. Also, that would confirm my theory about Edraele knowing johns father and potentially being one of his fathers mates. I guess that would make Edraele Johns aunt or something and Irilith his cousin? I don't know how you feel about fictional incest Tefler, but it doesn't bother me at all. Just sayin.

Also, one grammar mistake was on the fourth page that really stood out to me, it was "could saw" when it should of been "could see" . Hopefully you get around to correcting it later. All in all, a FANTASTIC chapter, I really like the kinda slow non-violence ones over the shootem up chapters. Just my preference, it's nice to slow down after all the excitement.

Sincerly, A guy who has been reading since chapter five came out. (I should really get a literotica account ;)

we have picked them up. the clues are there, just like always... these hints in advance before exposing a plot point create a much fluid story. I'm looking forward to having a misandrist crew member on board. dana won't let her spy on stuff n she can't take on any of the crew... it'll be interesting...

-devil

I've picked a lot of clues along the story, some I got right, some I got wrong, and some are unresolved, but I try to avoid commenting on them to avoid spoiling the story for other, specially when a clue can mean several different things.

Out of curiosity I tried to review my previous comments, and found that many of them have vanished (which I don't mind). Just checked up to chapter 21 and all my comments up to there are missing. Either they got lost when the edited chapters were submitted, or otherwise deleted.

I remember a time when Tefler replied me he avoids responding to those who get too close to be spoilers, so I guess I was too close then, and I've tried to be more careful about what I say ;)

Anyway, the most interesting thing in my opinion is that we are assuming a lot of things. We don't really know many details about the maliri, or the progenitors, or the ashanath or any other species. Their ideological background and motivations may very well be opposed to what we are assuming.

The greys could be posing as benevolent allies just to gain something (protection?) while holding back information. Or be just plain wrong on their interpretation of the ancient "treasures".

The maliri could be already working under a progenitor, and trying to gain John's help to rid them from him. Or be just fanatical about their origin as progenitor "chosen" people, and want to ingratiate with John in the way they think is expected from them. Or Edraele may be trying to manipulate John to gain advantage/control over the maliri.

The progenitors could be the ruthless conqueror the ashanath think, or could be some kind of life guardians, creating new species via manipulation of lower beings, removing those species who became problematic (like overpopulated, overexpanding humans), or anything in the middle.

At this point, most of what we have are incomplete information, "in story" suppositions and our own assumptions.

About your comments: I definitely haven't deleted them.

I've noticed some weird behaviour on the "view all comments" links though, and comments do sometimes go missing and aren't visible.

I have submitted a handful of edited chapters, but that shouldn't knock out the existing comments.

I hate to say this because John strikes me as being a a damn good strategist but for his military career he was likely much more gifted with balls than brains if he ended up seeing too many of his friends die. Nothing wrong with his brains but he has literally more in his scrotum than any other two brave men combined.

Going back to the consult with crew argument even though it is well covered and cleared up.

Definitely ask junior officers first. You want perspectives and their ideas of what is important. You want them to catch anything you missed and for confidence in the chain of command you let them help you before you start. Wisdom is picking the right time to keep your mouth shut.

You do not want them to get into "Follow my plan!" mode right off the bat. If senior officer speaks first and then a junior officer adds something that changes the plan then confidence is decreased.

You do not want the most experienced officer to lead off, because he needs to know how close they are first. He will end up laying out details where they have already gotten there. His version if he goes first is probably much longer and wastes more time than letting them go first. This is all situational awareness 101 from command school. You guys slept through that class?

First, I'm giving your story five stars, because it's amazing.

However, what bothers me about this chapter isn't quite what has been pointed out by others in this (very long) comment thread, so I thought I would chime in.

John was a *trader* for over ten years, right? As in, he cut deals for a living?

What sort of trader, agrees to a handshake deal like this, with someone he *knows* is untrustworthy without any sort of payment up front? Especially, without even trying to *negotiate* a partial up-front portion of the payment? Would you take on a mission where you were expected to risk your life, and were promised payment on delivery by someone you knew to be untrustworthy without even trying to negotiate the bargain?

In some sense, the Maliri hold the cards in this negotiation, yes. However, John, as an experienced trader, didn't even try to negotiate? Why?

Damn Tefler!

You are writing like a man possessed, I just hope your editors can keep up with you!

Thanks for some good news this weekend :)

Cheers,

Xentian

"without any sort of payment up front?"

The Maliri having already paid half for the engine tech (assuming that isn't a lie!) is the partial payment. They are going to Trankaran Space next anyway, so when they get there, all they have to do is pay the other half in the Awesome Ship Upgrades shop, and be on their merry way. I'm sure it will be that easy, right? ;-)

"However, John, as an experienced trader, didn't even try to negotiate? Why?"

All will be made clear in chapter 48! Which has been submitted, so you can probably expect to see it on the site Monday/Tuesday.

Should pick up cargo more often.

Anything good for trade at Geniya?

I did notice also that the tally of comments sometimes do not match with the given total, but refreshing the page helps, sometimes 3 or 4 times will give the correct number.

I think this has to do with the fact that a number of 'servers' serve the webpages due to the load, and they are serving from a cache which is 'local' to the server. This cache will be refreshed after it becomes stale; which is depending on a set of parameters which is set by the sys-admins of LitErotica.

However, only the last comments should be reloaded into the cache, so missing comments in the list must be done by someone else with sys-admin rights or by the owner of the list, who says that he did not do that.

Herman Grootaers; a semi-retired sysadmin

> "without any sort of payment up front?"

It seemed fair to me since John didn't give them anything either. Actually the Maliri have given John more at this point since they gave him a lead on some hot engine technology. He's given them nothing in return except for a promise.

It's possible that John might take the engine tech and skedaddle with it.

I love how much of a cult following this story has. It's pretty entertaining to read the comments a day or two after the story comes out.

You said, "I think we can ALL agree that Edraele is a bitch and I think she has had plenty of involvement with progens in the past given that she knew about the mind shield and admitting that she knew progens jelously guard their tech."

Your conclusion about Edraele having involvement with progens in the past is erroneous. In Edraele's own thoughts after the encounter, she regretted banishing the one person she knew who had that intimate knowledge (a bit of foreshadowing there folks, go back and read it).

As for Edraele's motivations: Why does she have such a powerful pain reliever by her bedside? Why did she send Irillith with John to get the engine tech? These are important questions, and the answers will push this story into the future.

Let's look at the big picture that has been painted so far: Progen re-expansion into the region, the mental attacks on John (he is the ONLY real threat), and the need for Edraele to get the engine tech to meet the coming threat she sees. And let's not forget the spark the Ashanath ignited when they took Progen tech (the ONE direct insight we have from an early chapter where a Progen thinks, "They will pay! They will ALL pay"!).

Frankly I am a bit amazed many readers have not put this all together yet.

The Maliri are building up to a war footing: (Huge and mostly unused space station, a push to have more children (admittedly that is a thinly supported supposition), the desperation of Edraele.

The one thing that might be off is the stolen tech by the Ashanath starting this whole story, it might actually be because of the loss of John's mother.

Don't forget the offer of the Ashanath to have Dana join their Tech school as a teacher. They are having problems unlocking the Progen tech they are guarding.

Did Edraele banish her because of the threat she represented?

Edraele MAY have told Irillith to JOIN or make herself invaluable to the crew of the Invictus to attempt to manipulate John into fighting this battle with the upcoming Mael-Nereck for them, she cannot know he is already motivated to that end. Also, she cannot know what John's semen will do to Irillith. If it cums to that (sorry for the pun, just couldn't let that one 'slide'), Irillith will just give John the tech for the lasers. In any event, Edraele gets exactly what she wants, John gets what he wants, and, by the time this is over, the Maliri and John are in alliance, whether they like each other or not.

A quick question? Ummm....Dana has given the body armor a magnetic field generator so they deflect small arms (kenetic) fire. Why has she NOT scaled that up to do the same for the Invictus to increase their survivability against mass drivers?

would also tend to work against laser weaponry as it is susceptible to redirection due to magnetic fields.

Such tech could also possibly substantially increase the gravity well of the Invictus, keeping others from escaping into hyperwarp, or allow the Invictus to counter any nearby gravity wells so they could jump into hyperwarp from anywhere they pleased...including drydock...though that could cause some disastrous counter effects to the drydock.

AND projecting the center of such a gravity well could influence or redirect laser, fire, mass drivers, plasma weapons, and SINGULARITY drivers.

such a gravity well could be used as a weapon to implode an enemy ship or rip apart parts of the ship if the Invictus were to jump while close to the enemy in little 'pop' jumps where they pop in and pop out before an enemy could set up their defense grid and react?

"Dana has given the body armor a magnetic field generator so they deflect small arms (kenetic) fire. Why has she NOT scaled that up to do the same for the Invictus to increase their survivability against mass drivers?"

She looked into it, but sadly the magnetic fields disrupted the shield harmonics. It was therefore an either/or, and the shields were a better option.

Actually I didn't think of It, but it's a good idea. ;-)

It would work well against conventional munitions, like the heavy cannons that were mounted on that pirate heavy cruiser.The Mass Drivers accelerate shells to hyper-warp velocity though, so a field powerful enough to deflect those would have to be insanely powerful.

Edraele staggered back to her bedroom, and collapsed on her bed, fumbling blindly for the medication that she kept by her bedside. She pressed the dispenser to her temple, then clicked the button, and almost instantly the familiar soothing waves of pain-relief cascaded over her. She lay perfectly still, not wanting to move a muscle until the medication had run its course.

She shivered as she recalled the sheer amount of raw power that girl had commanded, feeling real fear for the first time in more decades than she cared to count. Edraele thought back to Irillith's desperate words of caution, and with disturbing clarity, now began to realise just what might have frightened her daughter so badly. Still, there were much more important things at stake now, and after that little encounter she was more resolved than ever.

For the first time in well over a century, she felt a slight pang of regret over her actions. If she hadn't had Tashana banished, she might have been able to offer some valuable insight into this current predicament.

Thanks for the feedback, but not necessary....I LOVE YOUR story, just throwing out stuff that seems a bit interesting to me as side-bars. Hope you don't mind.

It's interesting to read people's speculation on the story arcs. :-)

Yeah, there really isn't much need for the Invictus to have a magnetic field to protect it from kinetic weapons when it already has shields that do the same. I believe it was noted in an earlier chapter that the mass drivers are normally only good against unshielded targets. Plus that pirate cruiser with it's cannons really did a number on the shields, but that means the shields did protect against those relatively well. Keep in mind, this was before all the upgrades that have been done.

Although, that doesn't mean Dana can't find some way to incorporate magnetism into the ship's defense. Perhaps she could magnetize the armor plating? It's not a field per say, as the magnetism wouldn't extend more than an inch or two beyond the surface of the armor, but it could help with improving the structural integrity of the armor, increasing it's resistance to impact damage. It would also increase the chance of reflecting laser/beam weapons too. Of course, it would make sense that the magnetism would conflict with the shield harmonics if the shield hugged the lines of the Invictus rather than forming a bubble around it. Maybe it could be set up that the magnetic reinforcement kicks in only if the shields go down or are offline, that way there's little to no conflict with the shields?

Another idea is that Dana could create some type of magnetic shield to use inside the ship, possibly as a way to create barriers and seal off sections in the event of another hostile boarding. Or barring the use of magnetism, she could just create some relays that funnel off some of the excess power of the ship's shields to use as barriers. It's not like they don't have power to spare from that silly power core of theirs.

Jedi_Khan, I do like and agree, for the most part, with your ideas on magnetism for the Invictus; however, I must disagree with you on one point. Whereas you feel shields are enough to deal with kinetic projectiles, I feel they are not. My hypothesis on the matter is that protection using the magnetic fields IS needed.

Why? I'd like to say that the shields of a craft are more intended to stop energy weapons and keeping the mass drivers from penetrating the hull is simply a bonus. If you need to recharge the shields after they take a pounding then this would imply, to me, that energy is being used to protect the vessel. What are laser weapons? Energy weapons. Plenty of ships here seem to favor using energy weapons over kinetic...unless I've managed to forget something. More specifically, I'm willing to bet that the lasers here are light based weapons since the use of focusing crystals are mentioned in the story, I believe. Probably works the same way a magnifying glass works with sunlight...only on a larger scale. Much larger.

This brings us back to kinetic weapons and shields. If shields are using energy to protect the ship then they'd most likely not be intended for kinetic weapons. "But it has been mentioned shields are enough to stop the mass drivers." Fair point but, like I said, they only stop the shells from penetrating the ship's hull. That doesn't mean the hull doesn't take any damage. It'd still take some from the impact of the shell although an explosion occurring in space is a wasted explosion since they don't work so well in vacuums. So if the hull does take damage then consecutive shots to the same area may end up penetrating the hull at some point. But why is the shield stopping a shell meant to penetrating a hull if it's meant for energy weapons? My hypothesis here is that either the shields: 1) may actually generate a weak magnetic field that does manage to slightly tamper the mass driver's shells enough to keep them from penetrating, 2)since we're dealing with energy that burns the shields may burn away some of the shells and let the hull withstand the impact intact, or 3) it works like an extra, but thin, protective layer that somehow reduces the inertia of the kinetic weapons projectile enough that the hull can withstand it; like holding a sheet of plastic wrap in front of you and then have people throw sharp rocks (kinetic projectiles) and water (lasers) at you.

I was also thinking manipulating such a massive magnetic field (it being lines of force that create gravimetric fields on a planetary level) could also affect the gravity well of the ship and/or affect or negate solar system or planetary gravity wells and allow them to go into hyperwarp from pretty much anywhere.

As most here may know, gravity is a function of mass and is caused by the combined atomic and (we are coming to believe) sub-atomic or Quantum space which is full of charged particles such as electrons (and even smaller forces). This is why, even though your hand and a tree are actually mostly empty space (until we began to recognize Quantum space in which the laws of Physics as we currently understand them do not apply) you cannot just move your hand through the trunk. The collective attractive force of the sub-atomic structures of your hand and of the tree prevent it at a subatomic level. Indeed, it can be said that your hand never actually touches the tree at all, because the repulsive forces of your hand and of the tree interact to prevent such a true 'touching'. What you are really feeling is the sum of the sub-atomic repulsive forces. These repulsive forces, on a macro scale (your hand or the tree in this case in respect to the sub-atomic particles) are EXTREMELY powerful and will cause deformity of any object before an actual collision could occur (a scrape or contusion or even broken bones should you attempt to hit a tree trunk).

So, if you can project the power of those forces using Quantum mechanics, you could actually change the flight path of a planet, sun, or even an entire solar system, given enough energy. If shields are already doing this against mass drivers or cannon shells, then the energy issue is irrelevant. By the same token, and using much less energy, you could counteract the effect of planetary gravity wells on your ship or redirect the mass of shells coming at you. Redirecting those shells does not take that much energy, the speed of the shell is not the issue, it is the mass of the shell. That mass will move in the form of an arc if acted upon by a projected gravity well, following a path like the curve of a planet or basketball.

ALL energy forms (mass being one of them) are affected by that gravity well. Can you imagine the effect of projecting a strong gravity well into the command center of a spaceship? Instant incapacitation of the ship AND death to any living thing in the vicinity.

Before you say this is all preposterous and beyond the scope of this story, I remind you of two instances in this story where that is already being done:

First: the mysterious black ship that was with the pirates at their main base that seemed to disappear into an event horizon. THAT is one of the applications of being able to project a gravity well...the creation of a Worm Hole.

Second: the dreadnought class ship at Olympus shipyard which had singularity drivers instead of mass drivers. THAT is another application of projecting a gravity well towards a known target.

The black ship was in Ashanath space, my bad.

It's been through the first round of moderation, which took a little while, probably because of the 4th July celebrations.

I expect Chapter 48 will be up tomorrow morning.

man why after 43 great chapters are u making john in to some one who keeps making horrible choices its getting so frustrating to see him keep doing the same stupid shit over and over and hes just like ooo whell im a puts u can keep pushing around and please manipulate me dont worrie ill just sit here and take it and not punish u i mean really u had him commit geniside and he was like grr all u get is a strong talking to man... Where is the john of old where he had values and wanted to do the right thing the last chapter 4 doesnt even feal like the same chacter where is BAD ASS john im tyerd of seeing Pussy little john ok rand over

love the story u have a very creative mind and hope john wake up soon as always a soled 4 stars

Don't worry, chapter 48 should answer your questions.

It's a little bit funny seeing all these hard science comments from the same people who are now talking about the ship's "shields" since WTF is a ship's shield? Is it magnetic? Is it gravitic? Is it a manipulation of the strong and weak force?

Perhaps the reason that Dana isn't using magnetics to improve our anti-laser defense is because that is a part of what these mysterious "shields" actually do!

Shield technology is something that is not very well understood, since it is mostly the realm of Sci-Fi. Real science has been trying to work out the mechanics, but has for the most part not been successful. One theory is that any shield that stops laser energy will inevitably block all frequencies of light in order to function properly, leaving you with a blind ship, something that is conveniently ignored by most Sci-Fi stories. The other theory is that the shields are plasma based, with plasma being the fourth state of matter (solid, liquid, gas, then plasma). Since plasma is created from superheated gas, you would effectively be wrapping your ship in a cocoon of super hot material, which could potentially block both light and physical objects, again leaving you with a blind ship and possibly melting your hull.

There's also the issue of how do you generate the shield? If it's plasma based, you would need the material to create the plasma, and then some way of keeping it in place around your ship enough to protect but not melt you. Science theorizes that you would use a magnetic field to contain the plasma, so that is where the conflict with generating an additional magnetic field on top of the ship's shielding comes into play.

Star Wars has sort of worked around this issue in that there are two types of shields that work independently of each other: particle and ray shielding. Particle shields reportedly use less power than ray shields and are designed to stop physical objects travelling at sub-light speed; ships use particle shields to protect their hulls from the various bit of debris that floats around in space, although hit the shields hard enough and it'll overload. Ray shields require more power and are on-demand sort of things. They are meant to stop energy based attacks but will allow physical objects through. Whenever you hear someone in Star Wars say "angle the deflectors" that's ray shielding.

As for you PussyLickersRus, gravity and magnetism are two very different forces. Magnetism is quite powerful, but over a very limited range, and only affects that which is susceptible to magnetism; there are a number of materials such as wood, plastic, and some metals that magnets have no affect on, and it can be countered by another magnetic field. Gravity, however, is comparatively weak, but has a much greater range and affects everything. There is nothing that cannot be affected by gravity, and if you tried to counter gravity with another gravity field, they'd simply pull each other together; you can't counteract gravity unless you have enough speed to escape it.

Magnetism is generated by alternating electrical currents, or in the case of planets, a rotating molten core, whereas gravity is simply an aspect of mass. All mass has gravity, even your PC has gravity, but it is very weak. If you want to increase the strength of either magnetism or gravity, you have to add more of their respective source; energy for magnetism and mass for gravity. It's not until you get to the planetary scale of mass that you start to notice the affects of gravity, whereas magnetism can be seen in something as low power as a fridge magnet.

In reference to a planet's magnetic field, yes it does cover a very large area, but it is extremely weak, even more so than a fridge magnet. Earth's magnet field, for example, has been measured at about 0.25 to 0.65 gauss (gauss being the unit of measure for magnetism). A strong fridge magnet clocks in at around 100 gauss. So you could potentially create a massive magnetic field, but it would be incredibly weak unless you pumped crazy amounts of energy into it, likely many times that of what the Invictus could generate.

In order for them to generate an appreciable gravity well, they would need to have mass equal to that of a moon or planet. Again, something the Invictus simply does not have. When it comes to the black ship's wormhole drive and the Terran's singularity gun, those are completely in the realm of Sci-Fi and operate on principles that are unknown to us.

As for your idea of ignoring planetary gravity wells for going into warp, that it probably more of a safety mechanism than an actual hard limitation. If you hit a planet, it doesn't matter if you're going sub-light or FTL, you're going to have a bad day, so the FTL drives likely have a safety feature built in that will prevent FTL while within a certain range of a gravity well, since those are usually created by planets. Interdictors likely work by somehow simulating a gravity well's shadow or otherwise tricking an FTL drive into thinking that there is suddenly a planet in the way. The way to ignore the limitation of a gravity well or interdictor is to simply disable the safety, but then you run the risk of smacking into an actual planet or star that's uncharted.

For the first time I find myself reading along...no idea how new this story is, and I hit the end!

I read in the comments that the next chapter may be available this very morning, this is getting close to real time story telling.

This story has really drawn me in, I am enjoying it very much. Thank you.

If you can manipulate some particulate matter or photons at a quantum level...

Create them with massive quanta absorptions.

Give them a spatial reference fix.

It is an exaggerated aerogel almost.

The massive quanta would give them huge relative inertia so that their spatial fix by the shield emitters is almost an inherent property. Think of them as having a huge liquid tension and wrapping around the ship like a bubble.

Their massive quanta absorptions would mean that they are energy sponges.

You might create something along these lines with a resonant photon pseudoparticle.

You have to have quantum dimensional folds linking somewhere close but separate and a depletable mass that is expended to generate your shield pseudoparticle photons.

It already more than approximates bullshit so there is not much point in talking about bubbles of negative space, and how inertial damping that prevents everyone going squishy during space travel are related or alternate types of tech.

"As for you PussyLickersRus, gravity and magnetism are two very different forces."

Well, yes and no. At the Quantum Space/Time level those distinctions tend to blur. There are several theories out there that have promise in explaining Quantum Space/Time and some of those theories make no distinction between magnetic and gravitational forces…again, we are talking Quantum level stuff here where regular laws of Physics just do not apply.

At the Quantum level, energy is energy, whether it be a magnetic field or wave or gravitational energy or wave. Or a particle that changes state at any given instant between a particle or energy wave. Indeed: At the Quantum level, items can exist in more than one place at a time...including gravity, light, or particles.

The latest research on Gravitons suggests gravity, while a function of mass, is not fully explained by mass at the Quantum level. http://www.livescience.com/50119-superconductors-physicists-gravity-particles.html. Antigravity is one of the cutting edges of physics and is deemed so important that NASA has research projects devoted to it.

"You can't counteract gravity unless you have enough speed to escape it."

Superconductors have been shown to be able to counteract gravity and literally float over a plate. Superconductors are mostly non-metallic ceramics which are not normally susceptible to magnetism. Magnetic rail trains defy gravity all the time for a near frictionless propulsion system…even when standing still. Defying gravity is really pretty easy…as mentioned, antigravity is the cutting edge today.

"So you could potentially create a massive magnetic field, but it would be incredibly weak unless you pumped crazy amounts of energy into it, likely many times that of what the Invictus could generate."

Well, not if you could control gravitons. We have evidence they exist, just not proof yet. Kind of like air was back in the day. And it is this control of gravitons that allows a black ship, like the one in Ashanath space, create a worm hole to fold space and would allow a Terran Naval Vessel to have singularity drivers. Since the story already has these in it, why are we creating an issue now about being able to control magnetics and gravity? (By the way, magnetics would not deflect a non-metallic projectile...it would have to be antigravity...if we are being picky).

The ground under our feet counters gravity but it uses electrostatic force. That does not equal antigravity. It still keeps the world from collapsing and pulling us into a singularity.

Orbital velocity keeps Earth from falling into the sun. That is kinetic energy and that is also not antigravity.

Magnetic force is also not antigravity.

Quantum physics can do crazy stuff.

Gravity can do crazy stuff.

Quantum physics and Gravitational theory are still unreconciled, in fact unification of those scales into a single theory is the holy grail of physics.

Best guess is that you need more dimensions to define reality and how many dimensions is a great question. You get weird players like surfers doing math that delivers a Buddhist mandala looking depiction of reality.

You get nutcases like me that do six dimensional sudokus as an exercise in how to reconcile intersecting sets. 9x9x9x9x9x9 means I automate most of the solution because no time for filling almost a half million matrix cells. Interesting fact but you need to use the larger set type like hex sudokus to solve logically in more than 6 dimensions. I want you to ask yourself why solving seven, eight, and nine dimensional sudokus of a nine element set are strange games. As a hint; count the constraints required. 2d imposes constraints of membership in 3 intersecting sets per matrix cell. 3d imposes 6. 4d has 7constraints because it is only a non congruent set of 9 x 3d sudokus.

By seven dimensions you have too many constraints and you need to solve by including some imaginary number factors. Fuck that most days.

i'm going to resist a HUGE urge to make a joke about living in the parent's basement...

Only thing I'd like to see different is Alyssa stomping a mud hole in Edraele and walking it dry.

Maliri women travel in packs, Johns women are a pack as well. Are they heading to the bathroom. hahaha. So if the progenitors once ruled the maliri, john should have some control over Edraele and Irillith ?

Good chapter.

Mind tingling chapter for this story. 🚀

Just gets better and better. Loving it! Thank you. Dawn

Your characters have went from intelligent and perceptive to idiots ever since they left for this area.

I simply don't understand why...