All Comments on 'Three Square Meals Ch. 050'

John says , no getting hurt, stay safe, now go get those 10 destroyers and 2 cruisers. Girls John claims to love and protect he sure gets them in some danger.

Excellent chapter! You are worrying me with the ‘Progenitor blackouts’, but I’m sure you have a plan for that storyline. Keep up the good work. (I say as I realize the story may already be finished)

Rachel's greif: lead the Invictus crew to the wiping out of the Cobras and rescuing of a few prisoners / hostages, ... and at the ending were Rachel hugs her father and says that she forgives him, this left me with teary eyes, ... excellent chapter, ... I do wish that they took some photos and video to show Henry Voss, and especially of Rachel dispatching Morgan, Henry really should have seen that, ... and Calara's family would've appreciated seeing it as well, ... thank you, ... ;-) ttfn

Wonderful. Beautifully written quite believable and very entertaining.

Thank you so much. Terrific job. I really can't wait for the rest.

With the Ashanath upgrades, and all the 'requisitioned' Maliri tech: sensors, shield modulator, targeting system, and Maliri Crystal in the rail guns, ... and the air purifier, ... not to mention the assault cruisers' Invictium Armor, and the extra thrusters, bonus, ... they were just a bit too much for those other cruisers to handle, ... nice fighting / battle scenes and Raptor pilot Jade was awesome, .... they all were exceptional, .... ;-) ttfn

patiently waiting for the yellow N

-- Some really nice battle sequences, the Invictus with only a slight power advantage, but with a great skill and accuracy advantage, ... this is as close to 'normal' as the Grand Engineering Overlord will let the Invictus get to, .... because it is full speed ahead for more and more improvements, .... they've been to Ashana, and soon they'll have Trankaran and Maliri tech as well, they just need to pick up some advanced Brimorian shields to complete the planned upgrades, ... just Awesome!! ;-) ttfn

*** Spoiler Alert*** I do hate when Irillith kills (de-res) those cute little purple pixies, ... this is my ump-teenth time through and I can't help but think of Faye, ... sigh, sob, anguish, .... I miss her, .... :-l ttfn

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

"Any last words?"

Can’t call progenitor John due to mind shield issues? Well just pick up the phone and use the local telephone service. What’s the issue?

AKA . Tneys already used the suit coms system on the ground in the base…. “He called the girls and the helmets stoped the sound from travelling…”. So just call progenitor John on his suit telephone. Maybe try “Hey fuck stick stop going off mission. Later in the series you,l be dragging us over the coals for this very thing so get your fucking ass back here before we class you as hostile because you’re sabotaging this mission. Gross dereliction of duty and conduct unbecoming an officer.” Yep something like that.

My point is that the plan was for Allysa to handle all the coms as a relay so the ground crews weren’t detected. They had a few paragraphs on this and Illrith was amazed at allysa’s range. Then once on the ground John basically says stuff it use suit coms and then they do. So now John’s out of communication and I don’t know how as the new protocol in use is suit coms and mind shields don’t do shit against those. So why don’t the egg head bitches just call him on the telephone (aka the Blondie song). See the gaping error and plot hole? You can’t have it both ways.

Oh by the way, the good doctor should relieve John of all combat duties since EVERY time he goes off book or out of control and is a danger to the mission and the troops.

Also how to disable generators…. High power rifles full auto, stand off and each girl picks a generator building and fires into it. If two layers of ship armour plating are easy to defeat then a bit of concrete is no probs and the generator is gone too.

I don’t know if this is relevant or not, but I don’t remember Irilleth terminating the AI sprite she sent to that Malari ship back when they avoided a fight heading back to Geniya station, and that ship wasn’t destroyed. Could that be the/a source of the evil AI? We know from Irilleth’s interactions with the AI in this chapter that they can snap and start hating organically on a dime…

Lovely ending.

If you overlook the shallow and repetitive sex scenes, there is a good story amongst the residue.

What this story possibly might have been had a content editor got involved....?

Sure lucky the mercenaries have no signals intelligence. We will go on to find that none of the empires have signal intelligence!?

This actually pisses me off. It happens here, it’s happened before and it happens in the over hundred to come chapters.

Fuel in this universe is HELIUM it’s been said so many times. Helium is an inert gas, it’s a noble gas which by very definition is 100% stable there is no chemical reaction in which it can take part in. The only thing you can do is fuse it. That would be nuclear fusion inside a star. And not even a normal main sequence star either as it doesn’t have the power. You need star at the end of its life that pulses creating acceptable extra high compression and heat.

So the universe is powering everything on nuclear fusion using helium, not even the easy way using hydrogen. Helium will never explode and if you have a tanker with a 1000kg bomb on it and you blow that bomb then the resulting explosion will be less than 1000kg since the super chilled helium will suck the heat/life out of half the explosion.

Damn onion ninjas are at it again! ;_;

I am sure this has been mentioned before, but,.. early in the chapter the new weapons were called predator railguns before being correctly called punisher railguns later in the chapter,.. And I agree that punisher was a better name for them, over the original predator label,.. This chapter was, once again, lot's of fun, thank you! ;-) TTFN

Why did the girl ask Rachel if John was her boyfriend? At her age she to would be thinking about superheroes not about relations

Because I don't like to read in my browser, I put your text in a PDF (pandoc markdown to pdf). It has now 1410 pages, and I'm not even in the middle of this still unfinished story. Amazing!

I love how all the details just overlap almost perfectly (almost, because from time to time there's something which doesn't feel right, like when Irillith took out her helmet in the center of a crowd of humans without any reaction whatsoever in the precedent chapter; but in a work of that length, it's almost impossible to avoid these little problems). I have a strange attraction/repulsion for the violence of your world, like how a retired military can command to a civilian (is the Federation a military dictatorship?) or how the murder of that many people is considered normal, even if they are criminals. Extrajudicial killings are crimes against the human rights in the actual earth. But it's coherent, and that's what's important in a story, it doesn't have to be a moral tale, and especially in an erotica website ^^.

I agree monkey on my 3rd read through I have noticed more small subtleties that I didn't notice before like Irillith looking sad at Alyssa's question. I assumed the g force thing was about strain being put on her body rather than blood.

This chapter was filled with amazing action, and packed full of intense emotions! It could scarcely have been better, well done, and please keep writing,.. I loved it!

So this is my second read through of Three Square Meals and I keep being amazed at the forethought and planning that must have gone on to plot out all the crossing story-lines and make them work in the overarching travels through the Universe. To have this emotional and dramatic plot point planned out for Chapter 50 but still fit in with the other story-lines, giving shadowed references and hints towards further calamity but not to feel forced or manufactured.

With the foreknowledge I have of what is to come I can see what story-lines have been woven into this chapter and it really amazes me that this level of craftsmanship is given away freely for everyone to enjoy. The scene near the end where Rachel dispatches the last mercenary who was involved in her mothers death was really touching and leading into the cathartic return to her home worked so well to round up such a roller-coaster chapter. Well done Tefler!

I noticed one issue while reading though, Jade increases her density to counteract the effects of high G-force and at one point, 'feels faint', but she doesn't have blood so she shouldn't be affected like this. High G's, can pull the blood away from the pilots brain, resulting in decreased brain activity and unconsciousness when tolerance is breached. Pilots are trained to tense their bodies and often wear suits to apply pressure so that the blood stays where it's needed most instead of pushed to the extremities which I'm assuming is why you have Jade change her density, but without a blood supply I don't know how that would help. Anyway.... still a great read. :)

Well done. Truly a fantastic story and superb writing.

Thanks for posting. 5 stars, of course.

This is one of my favorite chapters, and I’ve been looking forward to it since I started this re-read. Intense action and true deep emotion at the end. Very well crafted.

MY eyes are leaking for Rachel,,,,, finally putting to rest her mothers death and forgiving her father... what a huge weight off her chest and mind.... what an amazing story and chapter.... wow

This whole story is so awesome that I keep going for the next chapter and always forget to leave 5 stars... Guess I'll have to read it again :)

The roller coaster of emotions in this chapter was amazing. The other chapters in this epic tale earned their five star rating from me, but this one moved to another level. Thank you for a story that moved me to tears. Six stars on this one.

To quote my favorite line from Supernatural "I laughed, I cried, I puked in my mouth a little." All around a great chapter.

Probably repeating many other comments but that was a wonderful chapter.

From the exciting battle scenes, to the light hearted dialogue with the little girl wanting a boyfriend like John, to the closure between Rachel and her father. This was truly a perfect chapter.

That moment where you aren’t reading the story for the erotica anymore but for the emotions, the action, and all the feels. Thanks. It’s amazing.

Right in the feels.

Tears again, damned good writing Tefler. Dawn

You know it's good we it moves you to tears. Great story.Dawn

One hell of a chapter. Enough said. Moving on 🚀 with this epic.

Action packed mission with half the stuff going wrong, straight into a tear jerking memorial service and reunion... Bravo... This was an odd mix of emotions you have aroused in me... I find myself teary eyed at the end... But in a good way... Lol

An Action packed, murder mystery. This is really good. Am i repeating myself?

You are a very talented writer.

Good mix of action And Sex.

Thank you for a wonderful story.

Red8_2Play

I've been reading this story a few hours a day for the past week and just finished this chapter, awesomely well written and thought out, I'm glad to see it moved on from sex and swollen bellies ( don't get me wrong nothing wrong with sex stories it's why we're here lol) to more action and back stories with plots and sub plots yet to be determined, another 50 chapters please lol

I have been reading this series for days, and yes-sex- but I have become so involved in the characters. I've never commented before, but I've been reading your work for days, unable to put it down. It's wonderful. And when Rachel saw her moth again? A tear welled up in my eye, I shit you not. Well done.

Superb writing,very good storyline.

Welcome Dennis,

That was not a lazy comment. It was a great comment on the story.

The AI is pretty terrifying in this story and I will stick with that aspect of AI because I will never stop if I diverge into other possible version s of AI.

The pruning of AI is a clear control. Module control and autoscrub in a pattern locked system would give you almost nowhere for an AI to fit. You limit system versatility but optimise the roles needed so it would be workable.

Isolate every computing system and deny code propagation between them.

Systems are only data sources to each other. Data has clear validation.

Set up backups that cold boot from limited default state images. Tripwire systems with conservative parameters, so they shut down and switch to the backup.

Double backup allows one system to be in monitoring mode where it checks agreement with the active system and you can scrub active, switch monitor to active and switch cold boot to monitor.

Having a defensive AI is fairly interesting but I am sure that it could go very wrong.

Having a cyborg, well I wanted the Maliri to be wireheads. They always wear their armour. I knew they were going to have AI. It would make problems in the story. Irrilith healed of her Cyberporting implants might be awkward.

The AI is a source for too many spoilers so I will shut up now, before I get in trouble.

-fathersin

Well, as this is my first comment on what has already been the best thing I've read all year (and it isn't over yet!), I'd like to take a moment to mention how superbly written this is. The ability to juggle multiple plot lines, while keeping them all relevant is sadly something that evades me, and has transformed your story into a novel. With any good novel, comes the fans, and with the fans, come your Fandom. I've been checking back every day like an addict ever since chapter 2, and have been trying to satisfy myself with the comment section, which seems to grow each chapter in complexity, and various opinions. Speaking of, it's my turn to drop one in:

AI - Overpowered at the moment, however I feel that one of a few scenarios can happen to 'balance' an offensive AI.

1) I'm not sure if you recall, but this isn't the first time they've run into an AI in person, referencing the rogue AI from an earlier chapter that communicated in binary, if memory serves. Obviously AI research is still thriving, even if it is behind closed doors. Perhaps a breakthrough can be made in terms of 'passive' AI's, as a part of a firewall. If an AI attempts to attack/control/etc something, the 'resident' passive AI will automatically be 'woken' to defend the system, before being 'put to sleep', or discombobulated, ready to defend the system on a moments notice. This would mean that hacking skills would be much more useful, as perhaps a skilled hacker could be able to sneak info, or perhaps fool communication rigs without triggering the defending AI. This would both help defend the ship against the rest of whomever may have an AI, to use against John, and help balance the situation.

2) John (after his little mental break from reality) will flat out refuse to use an AI, regardless of how 'safe' it might be. Like the earlier Sprite said, all it has to do is remove the oxygen, or blast the air locks wide open, and especially with open 'elevator' shafts, it wouldn't be long before an AI had control of one of the most powerful ships in the region. Not to mention being able to take over any enemy ship at a moments notice. It seems the only weapon against such a beast would be another AI, and when you fight fire with fire, the only result is everyone dying through homicidal AI's.

3) Dana will be able to revolutionize the 'hacking deck' (she may not be the most computer literate, but I'm sure that with some explanation, she would be able to improve the standard build), to the point of being able to possibly create a benevolent AI. Said AI (in order to assuage any paranoi from such an action), could then be inserted into a cyborg or clone of some such (naturally being busty, etc), with all the limitations that would come with such a body. No wireless interface, 'limited' (for an AI at least) processing power, and a perfect candidate for some high G dogfighting.

I'm sure there are more possibilities, but I've spent far too long typing this on my phone at 3am already. As chapter 51 is already written, it'll be interesting to see if any of my ideas are close to the mark, or if I'm barking up the wrong tree. Either way, I eagerly await it's release, and congratulate you again on such a well written novel.

Cheers!

Dennis (yes, I'm anonymous, but I'm lazy :p )

It's always nice to hear from a new reader, so thanks for taking the time to comment, and for your kind feedback. Glad to hear you enjoyed reading the story so far!

Chapter 51 is out this morning, so I hope you like the next installment. :-)

I thought I would read a few episodes and see what was up and ended up "binge" reading the whole series in about 36hrs. Being a Tom Clancy, Dale Brown and Stephen Coonts style military techno thriller fan and growing up on sci-fi classics I love it! Really enjoyed it and looking forward to more! Thanks Tefler!

Going after legitimate business like the Armoured Cobras is wrong. What is to stop them coming after you?

So murder and kidnapping of innocent children and women is a legit business model?

LMAO

Exhibit some psychopathically typical responses, which is much different than saying they are psychopaths.

He will also have enemies among the entitled elites.

A few Friends with the right influence are great but...

Invictus and the Lion's will be an opportunity for manipulation among many and he will scare the hell out of others for various reasons.

Imagine you make FTL drives for every Terran ship. You need that tech. If it goes elsewhere you are ruined. If you get it you can write a contract to replace so many FTL drives you will need to add production capacity.

Imagine you are a magnate with so much for on you that lacking a conscience has been critical to your success. You count on your ability to get away with shit. Going after legitimate business like the Armoured Cobras is wrong. What is to stop them coming after you?

Psych testing has shown that about 50% of CEO's are sociopaths and the other 50% indicate to an extent that they are likely skilled mask sociopaths, really good at "being nice."

In addition to being popular with the common person, John has won the hearts, respect, and minds of the rich and powerful. Tfed is responsive to this group, judging from chapter 50.

TFed is fighting an unpopular war, due to the difficulties they are having in fighting the Kintark. John and his crew are the only positive PR they have and the power of public opinion, even in a militaristically oriented society, cannot be understated. As long as their designs go along with John's, they will allow the status quo to continue.

The frequently posting "Anonymous" writes...

> Sure but they only have clear intel on the FTL drive. Is that one known tech worth the potential negatives of taking the ever popular Lions of the Federation out of the feel good new?

I'd say yes. The ability to outmaneuver ones enemies is a very powerful technology. John's ship is so fast that it would allow them to get reinforcements from one start to another before the battle is over. That is HUGE. He isn't just a little bit faster, he's immensely faster than the federation. It's like moving from trains to airplanes. Fortunately he only made that speed clear to Charles so perhaps nothing will be done about it.

First points on perceptions. The TFed made a huge PR investment in the crew after the Dragon's March battle. Huge kudos also from destroying the pirates and rescuing 400+ from the Kirrax. Tefler doesn't take it anywhere but saving the Excelsior's passengers and crew plus destroying more pirates would have made the Halonet. So reigning John in would have to be subtle not blunt you would think?

Tefler has also written in a TFed high command and government focused on the Kintark and just shy of going to war. So in the scheme of things Commodore Blake is an asset but small potatoes. Clearly some elements in the high command want him controlled or dead. Would they want the tech? Sure but they only have clear intel on the FTL drive. Is that one known tech worth the potential negatives of taking the ever popular Lions of the Federation out of the feel good new?

Will they try anyway? I'm looking forward to reading how Tefler plays with that plot.

Well, John's public image might not change that much, depending on how much and what information the Feds decide to release. As Tefler pointed out in a comment earlier, the Feds don't want it known that a merc band that turned out to be dirty had done jobs for them in the past. So if anything, his public image might improve a bit, if it changes at all. Or the Feds could just cover the entire thing up and possibly explain the merc group's destruction as the result of an internal power struggle that turned violent, and not mention John's involvement at all.

However, how the Feds view John is another matter altogether. This event might make them start thinking that John is getting just a bit too powerful to remain outside their control. I imagine that they're going to start trying to find a way to rein him in, whether he likes it or not. We saw a little bit of that after the Iota-Leonus incident, when John questioned whether he was being pulled back into the military. I highly doubt the Feds like the idea of having a single ship which is strong enough to fight off an alien invasion, or destroy an entire mercenary group on its own, running around in their territory without them having some sort of control over it.

It could be that Vice Admiral Charles Harris is pulling some strings in the background to keep the higher-ups off John's back, without telling John about it. But if John continues to pull stunts like this, Charles isn't going to be able to protect John's independence for much longer.

"John is a rich playboy vigilante just like Batman. This last attack was completely vigilante style justice and I foresee his public image changing and his next interview will not be so pleasant."

Soooo taking out a merc group who has made their money on extortion and murder while returning captive family members, two of them children, of some of the rich and famous is going to hurt his public image? Chuckles softly. I don't think so.

John is a rich playboy vigilante just like Batman. This last attack was completely vigilante style justice and I foresee his public image changing and his next interview will not be so pleasant.

I know I have been quite on the last couple chapters but it has been enjoyable reading the story over sometimes I even pick up stuff I missed previously I'll be up to read 51 as always and Probably miss stuff but this seem to possibly be another info dump chapter coming up with finding by the AI and the debriefing probably not only with the crew but Charles again.

Chapter 51 has been submitted. It should probably be up by Friday.

You ask about independent and likable female characters who aren't being nailed by the protagonist?

Jehanna Elani, the reporter from Terran Federation Network News comes to mind. She's a recurring character and there's a good chance we'll see her again.

Detective Karen Walsh of New Eden PD has only appeared once, but she also fits the bill. Maybe we'll even see her again some day.

Lauren the salesgirl at Olympus Shipyard may have made less of an impression than Karen Walsh, but I seem to remember that she got a second appearance.

I'm sure there's been some others who just aren't occurring to me right now since its been a while since they had their only appearance. Most characters in this story only get to appear in a single scenario and then John moves on to the next campaign zone. There are only a few exceptions to that rule.

Ummm.....no. We already had one...the wife of the child held by the pirates and those who were fed eggs on the kirricks hive ship. We do not NEED one of the protagonists getting killed.

It will happen.

In order of likelihood, by my best guess.

Ceraden

Vice Admiral Charles Harris

Calara's Father Jack

Their friendly TFNN reporter after they get friendlier but before they add her to the crew.

Sensei Yamamoto

Any of Calara's brothers.

Irrilith in a heroic redemption, after she equips Invictus with a stable AI.

Dana

Rachel

Calara

Jade

Alyssa

John

Any of the girls is likely to be resurrected after they die.

no, not just no, but fuck no, you want progenitor john to snap and just kill everyone everywhere? that's how you make it happen.

Slinkky, you said, "Obviously it was the strongest and most numerous enemy they have every taken on. What surprised me is that they didn't even get beat up in the process." Well this was a guerrilla operation with a level of surprise. Serious advantages for the Invictus and her crew...none of whom are average beings.

Dana gives them one heck of a tech advantage.

Jade gives them one helluva fighter pilot who is almost totally immune to g-forces, has a true hunter/killer instinct.

And the obvious list goes on.

Also:

No commander in their right mind would believe a single ship with a total of 6 crewmembers would attack such a fortified installation. What actually surprised me is that Allysa, an 18 year old, made some exceptional in-scenario combat decisions with limited training or experience. That goes beyond just being intelligent...it borders on clairvoyance.

It is possible that Alyssa was just picking up memories from Rachel.

I do not think so. The creeps that Alyssa gets from the Invictus Med bay tell me so but now that I think of it that could be picking up memories from John.

I suspect that Tefler had this story planned, and there is a something ahead for us to find out.

John jumps out of the story, kicks your ass, and jumps back in the story.

Craving satisfied. ;)

Now you can enjoy the chapter if it doesn't have much action in it. :)

I'd like to have a death written in... Just something to shock the story not that you need it to progress the story but just to add a little grittiness. The crew seems too indestructible. I feel like the psychic echoes are just too much of a stretch, but the touching of Rachel's head to help her relive the past was a great play to set her up for the bonding that you glossed over(which I thought was really apparent). I do wonder if the comments help steer the story at all.

Is it just me or does anyone else enjoy reading all the comments almost as much as each chapter?

Don't remember comments on the "sprite" AI but I'd love to see Dana and the girls get a hold of and influence it's programming/personality. A little scary it can become so vindictive after a few harsh words.

You know after a chapter like that nothing interesting will happen next chapter. It will still be ok but I always crave a good ass kicking.

Obviously it was the strongest and most numerous enemy they have every taken on. What surprised me is that they didn't even get beat up in the process.

You said, "I just realized... This is the first chapter containing a major battle where the crew sustained no major injuries or damage. They're getting incredibly dangerous."

And the bridge crew took out over a dozen enemy vessels, the gunship took out 9 tanks and a dozen fighters, along with destroying a highly fortified base and rescuing hostages. Yeah, they are really getting to be bad asses.

I just realized... This is the first chapter containing a major battle where the crew sustained no major injuries or damage. They're getting incredibly dangerous.

This is an excellent read.

I just had to. You know half of those who follow were thinking it! lol....Gonna be hard for Tef to beat this chapter though. His lead up to this chapter did not pay it due homage IMHO. Just read it for the third time and still cried at the end.

Today the part of "random asshat" is played by PussyLickersRus.

Chapter 51 isn't up yet?!!!! LOL

Came for the sex but stayed for the sci-fi story. At this point I don't think I even need the sex scenes. At the rate you've been writing you seem to add a new chapter every 5-6 days. Can't wait for the next one.

really enjoyed this chap. wondered about some details: no reg comms w john when he turned on his mind shields? didn't irrilith get promised a fight? nice action scenes tho.

Five stars again looking forward to the next chapter.

You are right, worst target ever for an assassin. A hunter of humans depends upon planning and exploiting habits that make the target vulnerable. Impossible to plan much against a target like John who seemingly, from the standpoint of the hunter, is totally random in his actions.

Thank you for the backup on Progen John and integration of his progen persona. I agree with you that Irillith would be a wonderful outlet for his needs, but I am thinking Jade would be as well. She has shown a predilection to being 'mastered' by a strong personality. Perhaps, between the two of them, John can find a more healthy outlet for his progen side's needs other than beheading everyone.

By my count, this magnificent space opera now comprises 651,121 words excluding chapter headings.

I can't wait until you add "Princess Bitch" to the harem, and swell her belly out and make her what her species was made for.

So if Dana scooped a mech from the base, assuming that is what John loaded inside the Raptor for her, who would pilot it on missions? Dana is my bet.

I can picture her knocking down buildings and bridges and wreaking havoc. I love Dana.

I'm sure that the assassin has not been forgotten. There's just nothing worse for an assassin than a target with no set pattern of movement and behavior. John is constantly in the progress of moving to a new place and doing something new. To make things even worse, John is also in the fastest ship in the known galaxy, so the assassin would have to figure out John's next stop and get there before John has started to go there.

I honestly feel bad for the assassin. Worst job ever. I appreciate that he tried to lay a bait to lure John to him. (The bait was even both money and good will -- two things for John to bite at.) Then John just doesn't give a fuck about either aspect of the bait. Worst target ever.

As PussyLickersRus says, it's clear that John's Progenitor instincts are beginning to strongly influence his decision making process. That has been clear for a few chapters, but then he goes on to make a significant point I hadn't considered about how one integrates a fragmented or conflicted personality.

PussyLickersRus is absolutely right! In order to integrate his Progenitor side, first John will have to accept that part of himself. To do that he has to accept his instinctive need to dominate and control. I'm sure that his love for Alyssa and the other girls will help keep him from flipping to the "dark side" of his mind, but without an aggressively dominant outlet he cannot truly be his full self.

Thank goodness we've got Irillith here! She's the perfect sub to dominate and punish until both of them are happier people. It actually helps him that she's so very different in temperament from his other girls. She really needs a strict and punishing master or she just cannot be happy.

I don't think you forgot about the assassin who was sent to kill John and its crew? Not that I've any problem with it, it's just been a while you mentioned him so just checking if there will be another confrontation of invictus with an assassin's ship. That will be so cool! I think John should have the complete power at his disposal by than to make the meeting more interesting. ;)

WP

Anon: Concerning her being a prime suspect for the mole: If she knows that they were warned, or suspects it she would be led to investigate the presence of a mole, yes. But: she is not privy to the AAR, so why would she? There is no indication that she knows anything other than the mercs were eliminated. So, assuming she was not the mole, why would her mind even go there? She is most definitely the source of the leak, so if John and the girls work it out in the AAR, which they have not had yet, they can merely have that investigated…as that would not be worth her time.

Teffler: you said: “’This is not in keeping with John's char’ You think he's behaving out of character? How interesting... ;-)”.

Ok, this is the second time you have given a hint, and those who read critically recognize there is a crisis point coming for John and his Progen side. How you handle that will be very interesting. Obviously it will involve Alyssa…but, knowing a bit about psychology, I know John has to be ready to deal with his alter ego and be willing to incorporate it into his understanding of himself…something he has had difficulty with in the past (hence the multiple personality issues he is having). I am thinking this would require a ‘spirit walk’ type of scenario rather than a ‘sit on your lap talk’ because of John’s extreme level of denial that is feeding the need for dual personalities. But you already know this, judging from your storylines.

Interesting questions! Please see my answers below.

1) "why always three round bursts when one round is more than enough?"

John used three round bursts against the merc in the generator room, and the first three mercs in the Command centre, because he was firing on low powered mode, and they were still armoured. He dispatched the five in the Command and Control room with single, high-power shots.

Similarly, the shots from Rachel that took off Colonel Morgan's hands, and eventually killed him, were single rounds fired on high-power as well.

2) "did John even notice the two smears behind the control room doors caused by his entrance?"

He heard the sounds of them getting crunched, but they just got tallied off with the other five as he was looking to eliminate the seven remaining mercs in the command centre.

3) True. A resilient co-pilot/gunner would definitely be handy!

4) I'll go into Irillith's hacking in more detail in a future chapter, as there has been lots of interest expressed in it.

Damn Tef, that's cold.

So, I reread the chapter, something I rarely do so soon after initial release, and there's a few things on my mind.

First, why always three round bursts when one round is more than enough? Sure, I understand they want to make sure the target is dead, but damn if that isn't a bit overkill with these new 20mm rounds. It just seems like a waste of ammo to me.

Second, did John even notice the two smears behind the control room doors caused by his entrance? Methinks the answer is no. Also...ouch.

Third, Jade needs a copilot/gunner with her on the Raptor that can keep up with (and survive) her piloting. That should help significantly the next time the gunship has to deal with a bunch of fighters. Either Dana fabricates some sort of high-G pressure suit so anyone can be Jade's copilot, or they find another Nymph, perhaps one with a better memory of the days before humanity found them?

Fourth, to those who are talking about Irillith's hacking ability being mostly centered around her AI, remember when it took her only eight minutes to get through the firewall on the Invictus? Yeah, no AI assistance on that. She uses the AI only when time is of the essence, such as when she needs to hack an enemy ship, or when there's a task that would normally take hours or days for her to do manually, such as sort through and collect a whole lot of information, like the video feeds from the Invictus or all that data on the Armored Cobras and their criminal acts. Long story short, Irillith is a decent hacker in her own right, even without the AI.

Mercenary Lieutenant Daniel Clark was picked up by an expedition from the Terran Federation fleet. Following standard protocol, they swept the base, looking for any survivors. He ranted about a terrible massacre in the Barracks, but as that had been blown apart in the generator explosion, they dismissed his claims as the ranting of a lunatic.

He and the handful of other survivors were then transferred to join the prisoners from the captured Cruiser. They were quickly tried and convicted on dozens of counts of kidnapping, and ten cases of murder, which were tied back to the group over the last decade. The group was executed for their crimes less than five days later, the Terran Federation moving swiftly to silence possible leaks from the Armoured Cobras, about being hired by the military.

I won't go into that great detail in the story, but as you expressed an interest in his fate, there it is.

...or did they leave that poor "guide" to die in a cell in the bunker... by not telling anyone he is in there in a place where everyone else is dead... and taking the keys with them.

That's just cruel.

Generic AI is probably a scaffolding system.

Probably only a few reusable functions that might only be a thousand code lines each.

It is then a matter of putting those together in a form structure that expands itself.

Then train it towards generic tasks like processing sound data and image data, so that it can gain awareness, and most importantly, self optimisation.

When it is well understood, it can possibly be recreated within a day or two.

If Irrilith can build her own AI from scratch, then she is dangerous as long as she has system access.

Irillith isnt some super hacker shes used an Ai to do it every time so think what happends when John takes her toys away ...... she cant controll it it tryed to kill her and the rest of the crew rember it was like "Filthy organic. Let's see how you like a few hours without oxygen" so shes not all powerfull and its like a one hit wonder cause it need time to wipe its memori banks and creat a new one after each use

its like saying im super fast cause i got a car and u dont

Do you know how I KNOW you're a good writer? I come to an erotic website and read one of your chapters and I get all misty eyed at the end. Damn fine work. Thank you.

I think that the Kintark and Kirrix are both going to be much more important in season 2 of this show. Season 1 is about John discovering what he is and gearing up his ship with all the tech known by the major species. Then in season 2 he's going to go in search of his mother through Kirrix space, a dangerous quest that will require all the power he gained in season 1.

We'll definitely get back to the Kintark. Either in season 2 or season 3. They're being set up as a major antagonist for later.

Well written for fifty chapters and looking forward to more. We've got PJ (really like this instead of Pro-John-itor) coming out and setting a stage for confrontation within John Blake & the girls, Irillith getting "seduced" slowly but surely by all the Good Vibes and camaraderie. Looking foward to her having to come to terms with her needs and desires, as well as recognizing a new path to take in future chapters away from her mother. Keep it up, my man!

As for Irillith not getting her hunting in, I think some of you might have missed it in the briefing: John was gonna let her do some hunting of the Cobras after dealing with the group on SerpentHold and they dealt with the deployed assets doing that garrison job for Tetra-Cola. This is now moot as the Commander of the Cobras pulled his men off the job and supplemented his forces with assets from the Red Hornets PMC on the way back to Beta-Draconis, so no chance for "big game hunting" for the Sapphire Psychopath...at least not this time. The future is still unwritten.

Now we wait for Fifty-One.

Amazing chapter can't wait for 51 holy shit that big battle was like watching a movie you need to make this a book so how long until the next chapter I can't get enough. 5*****

Some people like to complain about how the sex messes with the pacing of the story, but I honestly missed it when we had a chapter without it.

Also, I feel like Irillith got a lot less bitchy a little faster than I'd like in this chapter. I would have liked to see more of her feeling conflicted and fighting all of her sexy emotions a little longer before she finally becomes a slut for John. Honestly, her seduction is probably the arc I'm most excited for, and wouldn't mind having it dragged out if that's what the story calls for.

All that aside, this was such an amazing chapter! A long and in depth account of an intense battle. Feels like a while since we've really had a major tactical encounter. I'm not counting the Fulmanax since that was just get in get out go boom, so really the last one was the battle with the Kintark. Far too long!

Incidentally, what's going on with the war with the Kintark? The earlier chapters made me think that the conflict with them was going to be a major theme as the series develops. I suppose we need to find out more about the Progenitors and where they fit into all of this first, but I don't see John or Calara or Rachel just abandoning the Federation to a losing battle.

I suspect Irrilith was satisfied with the thousands of crew on the cruisers that her hacking killed, The ramming would probably have given her a particular thrill. IRILLITH HAS BEEN CRAVING A GOOD RAMMING!

Ceraden said he had five daughters I think and one is dead. At that rate he will need to have eighteen more children to do his part to keep the population stable and he would need to keep having those children until he was over a thousand years old.

That is a vulnerability.

Why haven't they taken over the galaxy?

Maybe they have. We don't know how extensive their territory is.

They might be fighting wars elsewhere against challenging foes. You do not open new fronts unless you want to fail. They are fighting each other it seems and they do use the AI against each other. Civil war of a severe degree is a likely cause for the low activity at the space stations. They are depopulating themselves. Ceraden lost a daughter as one possible example.

They don't seem to be socially inclined towards repopulation if mating is a business transaction, and not one they approach gladly.

I suspect that AI is an old tech. The habit is too routine.

Maliri were scary anyways so scary lasers good, scary AI bad is a bit silly.

Another great read, keep them coming...