All Comments on 'Three Square Meals Ch. 056'

I think it is now clear what the Ashanath were hiding in the secret area near the Progenitor murals. They actually have an ancient Progenitor ship which they have analyzed to create their advanced warp drive and engine technology. The beginning of this chapter makes that pretty clear.

The reason that Dana feels she already knows the answer about what is wrong with the Ashanath technology is that it is copied (incorrectly) from a Progenitor ship and she has subconscious access to the correct schematics.

Unfortunately I don't know exactly what sort of psychic power is being developed by Irrilith, but we've already seen that it only activates in the presence of technology. Where there are no devices, like the gym, it does nothing to her eyes. Going by that, there's a very good chance that the comments in the last two chapters are correct.

You leave it THERE?!?!?!? Argh!!!!!!!!!

Well, Irillith is about to "discover her upgrade I believe. That will be something to read as Tefler tells us about what she is capable of now.

Ooh.... Armor upgrades.... I think we might be seeing a suggestion I offered to him... Heh heh heh....

Irillith's laser rifle being inspected and upgraded and possibly integrated into the existing assault rifles... Neato. lol

Hmm, just like Drow, the scheming never ends... Pretty sure that engineer didn't get the upgrade, and has NO idea what is about to happen. Plus the other Houses are completely clueless heh heh heh.

As stated a strong continuation of a good story.

I think Irilith is indeed getting hooked up with some psychic talent, but I am not sure what it will be, maybe a direct link to Faye?

Dana will enjoy playing with the Maliri lasers, the armour and of course the engines, she is the Chief Enegineer Overlord. I think that the upgrades will make the Invictus a pocketsize Battleship, enormous firepower in a small (relatively speaking) ship.

The fight against Edraele by the other matriarchs will be fun to watch, because the engineer who tattled about Edraele is under het control, more or less. I think Edraele is playing the Maliri-kind of politics with her biggest enemies, in order to bring the Maliri again as a bonded race to John. By the way, the story was all true, but not the complete and whole truth, so the matriarchs have come to conclusions, which will set them in a losing position. Three against two matriachs and John, I will not take bets on the outcome.

Thanks for the story Tefler, enjoy the time off due to your in-laws and have a good vacation.

Over in wait-mode for the next chapter (well, I have other stories to follow while waiting).

Herman Grootaers

Very dramatic teaser at the end. I am totally sucked in by the cliffhanger. I can just see a very sexy emperor Palpatine, with great skin and a nice rack, saying "It was *I* who allowed the Alliance to know the location of the shield generator. It is quite safe from your pitiful little band. An entire legion of my best troops awaits them. Oh, I'm afraid the deflector shield will be quite operational when your friends arrive."

Duun-duun-dun-dundundunn!

You're spoiling us.

Me gusta.

:3

the four matriarchs seem to missed the engineer white hair change.

also if she was a traitor / spy from before she also neglected the whole "and I am bonded to Edrael" part, and not giving any details about John.

It is a bit stranger as Edrael shouldn't be scheming anymore..

Irillith? definitely something to do with her upgrade.

I would like to see someone try and stop John before leaving the Maliri space just to get then blown apart in 2 seconds.

I agree to some extent; the matriarchs do not know the signifigance of the spy's white hair, and off course Eldraele is playin politics Maliri style, thus layer on layer of misdirection, missing the necessary knowledge, and not getting all data confirmed, that is a recipe for disaster for those houses.

I think that this is the first step of Eldraele to unite the Maliri in one nation, with her as the Matriarch of all Matriarchs, ruling for John. It will need John and Alyssa to finally get it done, but she is laying the foundation.

What worries me more is the fact that Irilith collapsed, not one of the Terran-based crew has shown this issue, and Jade also did not do this. Maybe there is a simple answer to this question, but I am thinking that it does not take three square meals for the bond to create with Irillith. Her DNA is tailorred for a Progenitor-bond, and that can cause a lot of nice problems for Tefler to sort out; i.e. to write about for us.

Jade's DNA is modified for dominance by other races, not only for Progenitors; maybe as a gift to important persons of other races by a Progenitor. John's relation with her is maybe the first Progentor-Nymph couple which could explain why she did not show this symptome.

Well, my thougts, so they may be of no value...

In wating mode, and enjoying the comments for now.

Herman Grootaers

intriguingly interesting, well thought out, written, and presented. Keep up the excellent work....... I've been hooked since the first chapter....

One of the few writers on here who keep putting out good work in this genre, thanks

I think tefler just gave us a teaser to build suspense for the next chapter which will only probably comeout in a week or two. Dam that guys a tease.

I read through so fast I completely MISSED the white hair of the engineer.... Yes, it's a trap.... That will be 3 Houses down and 11(?) to go? lol

That's the only thing I can think of. Irillith is a technomancer. She can psychically acces technology. That's what the flickering dots are about. I could be wrong but this makes most sense.

Hmmm.

Ever baby sat a server rack?

Lot of led flag bit indicator lights.

You can even learn some of them while you are bored.

Reading Storage

Editing to Storage

Network Recieving

Network broadcasting

System waiting

System Busy

Memory Paging

Secure channel access

Modes 0to255 aka FF

I really haven't had anything to comment on for the past few chapters cause it's all been pretty perfect.

Then I realised I had a pet peeve. You called the psi-detector a "futuristic looking ray-gun device" for the second or third time in a row. And my peeve is that everything's pretty futuristic anyways in this universe. And even "ray-guns" are kind of a reality with laser rifles and melta guns... I meant fusion cannons. So is it really necessary to describe the psi-detector that way every time? As I said before, it's a pet peeve and I really hope I'm not coming across as overtly critical.

And as usual, I have a few requests to make.

With respect to the weapons, will we ever see hand held "meltas" (tech sourced from the Tranks) or pulse contained-plasma weapons (ala Tau Pulse/Plasma Rifles from WH40K)?

And obviously my previous requests for Faye's android body and a Trankaran crew member still stand.

And oh. The other commentators suggested Irillith might be a technomancer. If that's what you're gunning for then it's a brilliant way of circumventing the loss of her AI deck, in my opinion.

If John's wonder-sperm can cure genetic ailments, grow organs and knock-up females across species (Terran, Maliri and Nymph) and if the other Progenitor could affect the Trankaran glow-queen the way he did, then I'm pretty certain John would be able to knock-up a Trankaran with ease. Even Faye's organo-metallic body shouldn't pose a problem for him. I can just about imagine miniature purple AI children running about with the other onyx, blue, green and flesh coloured John-spawn.

Tell the in-laws they have to go home early. Tell the wife you are sorry but the holiday plans have to be canceled. Now get you butt back to writing and get that next chapter out ASAP. :)

Did I say I hate cliff hangers

Dave

I expect Faye to find Irrilith somewhere in the network. I am not sure what Edraele, or the engineer, hope to accomplish with starting an all-out war. Even if Edraele is victorious, so many lives will be lost.

I have kept up with this story since it started. It is well written and has obviously caught the attention of many, many followers. I hope that it continues for another 56 chapters.

Tefler you "EVIL!" person you... now we wait for what 2 weeks till a "NEW!" chapter. ;-( Oh Well

Rhetorical Question: Can John control whether a Thrall's hair changes color?

Considering the "shocking" increases to the Invictus' Hyperspeed, it is entirely possible that he will be back to Maliri Space within a few days of the "Assassination Attempts" on Edraele. And since it's not reasonable for those operations to be instantaneous, the other Matriarchs would not even suspect their operatives had been captured for days. Imagine, if you will, that Edraele fakes her own death and sends those Assassins home with slightly distended bellys... Undercover Double Agents at your service!

Faking her death here would mean there would be no suspicion on the return of the operatives (at least three should not be sent back to "earn" the hard fought success of the mission). It would also put the Matriarch's in a position of carving up the Valaden Worlds and possibly some infighting between them. If a good number of Edraele's ships are ready by then...

This is going to be fun.

Patrick L.

Can't wait for the next one...and the one after that...and the one after that...and th...

Ah...you get the idea.

Sorting out the Admiral will take about 1 day. Three more days to get there, 2 days to get back (after the upcoming engine upgrade)...That is 6 days. It will take 3 days for the assassins to attempt their strike....which is a total set-up by Adraele: without question. It will be another day for the 'turned' assassins to strike back at their respective houses and another 2 days for them to amass a coordinated attack, if at all possible. That is 6 days...so a strategic move by Adraele...Upgrading just a few of her ships with the new tech would be enough to swing the balance in her favor to outlast the remaining day until the Invictus arrives. I see the Invictus arriving just in time to tip the battle.

Alternatively, all the matriarchs of these major houses are killed by their own assassins and House Valaden absorbs their holdings and becomes the defacto ruler of the Maliri.

Irilleth is becoming a biological computer. The linking up of the computer systems to her is what overwhelmed her. This will give way to Faye being more trustable with things as Irilleth will be more than a match for the sprite should a confrontation be necessary (which I SERIOUSLY doubt).

When was Irilith ever linked to a computer? Yes the flashes in her eyes are probably her psychic powers finally manifesting but I don't see it associated with any computer.

I hope that House Valaden surprises their enemies...

I'm also curious about that eventual meeting between

John and that mysterious killer-

There's that treacherous Admiral thing to settle first...

Nice going, Tefler...

I loved chapter 55 but i was hoping chapter 56 would take us back into the main story in Terran space so it kinda dragged for me but i'm not complaining because as a whole this story is awesome....Now we just have to wait for chapter 57 :/ lol

You said, "When was Irilith ever linked to a computer? Yes the flashes in her eyes are probably her psychic powers finally manifesting but I don't see it associated with any computer."

If you go back and read the last two chapters, only when she is in proximity of computers does the eye thingy or her passing out occur.

I love this story, it's more than good enough to keep me coming back for more and there is always more to be had. The plot really seems like it's heating up too, I look forward to seeing how all the schemes tie together.

I notice that the apparent traitor engineer from House Valaden had snowy white hair. None of the other heads of houses noted that change which is supposed to be the mark of a low class woman from earlier chapters. We know that it is the result of John's cum being fed to the women that were part of his upgrade support engineers and that it changed their personalities. It seems unlikely that one of those women who were so enamored with John would be a traitor to Edraele who is a matriarch bonded to John. I suspect all is not as it seems to be.

It's a trap and John's new blue babe is gonna be a technomancer this is gonna be bad ass

So his mother is still around protecting her son clandestinely from the progenitor shared mind space?

Nothing else to comment because the other comments already stole my thunder, good work colleagues! And even better work Tefler.

BTW. Pocket battleship? I hope there is no Rio de la Plata, but John is not the bad guy...

I have read all the comments, and even placed some comments in this chapter (also in some other discussions of other chapters).

I am now rereading the last chapters and I think Irillith's talent for hacking is growing on steroids, and she is going to be able to read the output of screens at a refresh-rate higher than is just normal. She is going to be speed-reading a screen, so fast like Rachel is digesting a DNA-sample, and Dana is reading a schematic of an engine or laser, or assembling a new element.

That said, it will be a transition-time for her, and a meal out of John's gonads is going to help her. Technically she is not ill, but the adjustment takes longer, and is stronger because of her own DNA.

It looks like John will have to have a few months of work (and pleasure) for him after he has finished his quest of finding his mother (and I hope she is alive when we reach that stage). She may have some more clues for Alyssa and Eldraele.

For the Maliri technicians, well, maybe they also enjoy a level of increased competence. That would be a bonus for Eldaele and her house.

Herman Grootaers

Another brilliant chapter, Tefler. Absolutely love the journey you're taking us on.

What I really like, though, and nobody has mentioned it yet, is that despite all the super duper tech they have, their kick ass combat skills and the way they're all developing their psychic strengths etc etc, Lasagne & Garlic Bread is still the lunch of champions!

Edraele is plotting something. A trap perhaps? But to what end? Obviously she still wants control of the Maliri race, but now she plans to put them at John's command, instead of having John at hers. Although, a hostile takeover via violence doesn't seem to be her style anymore, not after her personality rebuild. Perhaps the way around that it to make it an act of self-defense rather than aggression? She can't help it if she has to reluctantly crush four other houses in order to stop their insurrection against her. Plus, I don't really see John and the crew getting involved in that fight. Edraele seems to be keeping her plans to herself, if she is indeed orchestrating this. The only way they'd be there for the fight is if Edraele told them it was coming and/or they turn around to get Irillith medical help and happen to be there when the fight takes place.

Also, it seems that the Maliri as a whole have no clue what white hair signifies. Only a few who are familiar with their Progenitor history would know, so those who don't know just write it off and ignore it. It's long hair that they pay attention to, as in Maliri culture, that reportedly signifies a "loose" woman.

Poor Irillith. First flickering spots on the edge of her vision driving her mad, and now she's gone and jacked into the Matrix. I'm guessing we're either going to see her standing next to Faye on the consoles, or she's going to become one with the ship, a. la the last episode of Firefly style. Hm. A thought. Maybe Irillith and Faye can do a body swap of some kind? Not sure how'd that work, but we are talking Sci-fi physic stuff here. Just hope Irillith doesn't lose her body. That'll suck big time for everyone.

Anyways, have fun with the in-laws and the holiday. You've earned it. After 56 chapters of almost non-stop writing, I'm rather surprised this is the first break you've taken, even if it wasn't your idea. Just don't keep us waiting too long for the next chapter after you get back, okay? Much appreciated.

I love the story but even Charles Dickens would tell you for God's sake pick up the pace.

I think Edraele is setting up a power grab. With her going up against four (not three) other Houses of the Maliri Regency, three of those top ranked behind the House of Valaden. If she can neutralize or eliminate those as a threat, the other house's compliance should be a cake walk for her to gain control of the Maliri Regancy or maybe take her place as Queen of the Maliri. Is this a personal power grab or just the best way she thinks for her to accomplish John's goal of bringing change to their society? In todays military we have what is called "Commanders Intent". The commander states what his intent or goal is and subordinate commanders do their part to support and accomplish the intent as they see best. This frees up the senior commander from having to micro-manage the action and allows flexibility of subordinate units. They know what the desired goal of the commander is.

With Illirith maybe her "gift" is kicking in. Is it one that John or PJ was wanting?

love the plots and plotting!

Now although many suspect Edraele will have some plan to counter this assasination, i want to point out that there hasn't been any significant negative plot point for the past 3 or 2 chapters. So if tefler decided to put, lets say a significant character death or some tragedy, the next chapter would be the best place to drop one. So just in case you're considering it..... don't please! I wanna see john meet edraele again and poor Illirith to bond with her mother finally.

* maybe Edraele is plotting.

* or maybe this white haired engineer is a thrall of other progenitor.

* and the person(maybe it is other progenitor or a close ally of ancient

progenitors or a guardian of progenitors i.e. his father) who is stirring trouble just to awaken

Progenitor-John(maybe the LAST of it's kind), to preserve the species.

Hoping maybe not john but one of his sons would be weak willed and will give in to

their progenitor side.

--SKS

this is the first time I am posting a comment, and no... I dont know why i didnt comment earlier.

and tefler you should know you must have thousands of fans who doesnt comment, so do not count number of your fans by the number of comments..

I have read each and every comment here..

there are some very deep thinkers just to name a few (pussylickerbus and slinky etc).

I enjoy reading their comments.

No need to say you are an AWESOME writer I think you have magical hands.

Again I thank you for sharing this story I'm beginning to hope it never ends. Hope to see the next chapter soon.

Is going to be the party afterwards.

All these white hair House Matriarch sitting in the lounge of Edraele shuttle as they travel back from a date with John at Geniya Station.

Just sipping wine and forgiving each other old grudges.

You killed my daughters!

You would have killed mine but I still wish I could make it up to you.

Loraleth finally plays peacemaker. Ghilwen! Get your ass naked because I think Edraele is offering to kiss it a lot, and I will be dammed if I am going to miss seeing that!

I've been wondering for some time now how meany people are reading this great story. I wonder if Lit. tracks reader numbers and if Telfer can access those numbers.

It would be interesting to know just how popular this story is.

Maybe other authors that post comments here would know the answer to the question also.

Dave

At the bottom of the page it says how many has read this story. Right above where you change the page.

But how many of those 6014 views are just me, refreshing the page so I can see if there's a new comment?

Hopefully those views are all unique IP address, but I just don't know for sure.

Hi Redleg and others who are offering good ideas on Edraele's motives.

One of you posed whether she was acting in self defence. Didn't spot anything hinting of a threat by the other Houses. But the Drow never let a good grudge go so hey, Tefler can fill that in with one paragraph.

I liked the use of commander's intent. John says "Go forth Edraele and fix this fucked society". I think your pulling a long bow string to have her trying that on with the other Houses when she hasn't got her shit sorted at home.

Anyway love the debate.

Dana said, "We probably do have the space available for a second Core, but the problem is all the power conduits. It would take weeks to set up and install all those, as well as routing through all the power feeds to the prow weapon arrays."

Not entirely true Dana: The power conduits are already run from the original power core to the Nova Lances...one just needs to go from the original power core to the second power core with the power feeds....oops!

You would be right pussylicker but you assume the cables and converters can handle the extra electrical energy. I think what Dana was most concerned about is that the Nova Lances are almost too much for the power feeds themselves including converters etc. Its another problem for her to address, but it will probably get to the point where building a new vessel is a much more economical idea and quicker with mental crystal shaping. Who knows, Dana might have to start playing with superconductivity?

This is my first time commenting, but there is a missing subplot in this story. Alyssa has been with John the longest, but it has still been many months. Now, she and Dana may not know, due to being orphans on Karron, but Calara, Rachel and Irillith should all know when their birthdays are. Jade may or may not know when hers is, due to her long lifespan and the fact some of her memories were supressed. At some point they should have a birthday party, either for an individual or as a group.

I agree with you that the lines and relays/converters are probably maxed out and that's why they will need new ones to handle the extra load. (think Star Trek.... those relays are always blowing out lol)

However, since they are already in the future, and dealing with such tremendous power flows already, I am betting that super conductivity is already where they are at. Even that has physical material limits.

But then.... How did they get the new core, and not upgrade the lines. And when Dana upgrades the existing core to what it should be (since she "found" errors when repopulating the schematics), if the power lines are maxed out, won't they need new ones then also? Hmm... The things we think of when we wait too long for the next chapter LOL.

We haven't waiting too long for the next chapter yet. It's only been three days! And this chapter was only three days after the preceding chapter through some arcane fate.

The waiting has only begun. Check back in five days. Then we'll have had a good long wait. Five days after that, the sanity of the comments page will have truly broken down.

Thank you for your response.

Not sure I am assuming anything about the cabling. The power conduits have already proven they can handle the energy the current power core can dish out. I was thinking more of a dedicated system...so the Nova Lances could power up independant of the other ship's systems. Those power couplings are already run from the initial power core to the Nova Lances...would be much simpler just to disconnect the existing power leads from the power distribution node and connect them directly to a second power core. No rewiring needed...just extend what is already there to another core that is dedicated to the Nova Lances so there is not a ship-wide drain on the other, leaving them vulnerable to counter attack. They could charge up the Lances independently of all other ship's systems and fire when ready.

I'm inclined to agree with Dana's assessment of the situation, that while they might have the space to add a second power (seriously, just how much empty/unused space does the Invictus have?!?), it would take an rather long time to get it installed and the new power feeds run. Simply switching the power feeds from the existing core to the new one won't necessarily work, because those feeds likely power more than just the Nova Lances.

In constructing the ship, engineers would have designed it in such a way that there are likely up to eight main power feed lines, two to a quarter of the core, that then go off to power the rest of the ship. At least two of the feeds would be dedicated to the engines, while the rest carry power for all the rest of the ship's systems, including weapons. As those feeds stretch across the length of the ship, they will have various junction boxes that split off to provide power to different sections, so if one of the main power feed lines were to be disconnected from the power core, it would take everything it is connected to further down the line with it.

There is also the fact that if they did put in the second core and the Nova Lances ran off of dedicate lines that powered nothing else, they would still need to reroute the lines to go from the new core to the Lances, as well as reroute every other line to go around the new core, because the new core isn't going to be sitting next to the old one in the same compartment. The compartment just isn't big enough to hold two power cores. Simply moving one end of the lines to the new core would require adjusting the lines, either by adding additional length to reach the new core or cutting the lines to be shorter so there won't be any excess coiled up in some crawl space (because that's inefficient and Dana is anything but inefficient).

And we haven't even gotten to the talk about the structural changes they would have to make to create a new space suitable for a power core.

So in the end, it is simply far easier for Dana to do the inevitable upgrade to the power core and use the existing space than it is to create a whole new space for a second core and have to reroute lines around it. Even if Dana ends up having to replace all the power lines with new ones that can handle the increased load, that still does not involve any structural changes or rerouting.

Also, it could turn out that the upgrade Dana is going to do the power core could potentially double the output of the current one. Even doubled, that is an insane amount of power. Their existing core has 12 times the power of the original that it replaced. And what they have is already the equivalent of a battleship-class core, which is crazy for a cruiser-class ship. They could very well end up with enough power to equal a dreadnaught. With that amount of power at their disposal, there won't be any power drain due to charging the Nova Lances, or anything else for that matter, and that will probably still hold true even after they upgrade the shields.

Well, maybe there is a problem with the power-core and the FTL-engines, not technical but a design-error, which does not affect the working but the efficiency. The first steam-engines were not efficient, while the engines before electricity took over the powering of trains was greatly improved for example. If someone gets the hand of a design or an engine or power-core itself and does not fully understand what is happening internally, the result can be a functional engine/power-core but not performing at maximum efficiency.

Dana will do a make-over of the engines and the power-core, but she is now busy with improving Irillith's laser, which is her speciallity (weapon upgrading i mean). After that is done, she will be busy with the armour, and when she has some free spare time in between, she may be finding the improvements she wants to make on the engines and power-core.

I think that the distributionsystem from the power-core is already at least at 80 to 90 percent of its capacity, so attaching the Nova-lasers on it will result in shunting energy from other systems, as stated in chapter 55. Redesigning is a necessity, not for the lines itself, but how and where lines are connected to the main bars from the power-core. Even a second power-core will have that result.

A complete redesign for the Invictus is probably not necessary; it out-performs all ships currently encountered. I think they will return to the Valaden-homeworld after they have informed Charles on the Terran Traitor, or take action directly if Charles is involved, just in time to see the results of Eldraele's politiking Maliri-style (or preventing a total disaster).

Yust my thoughts, they may be worthless.

Herman Grootaers

Sylvester, you said, “I am not sure what Edraele, or the engineer, hope to accomplish with starting an all-out war. Even if Edraele is victorious, so many lives will be lost.”

It has been my experience that Despots rule through fear. Fear does not create a lot of dedication when the object of fear is removed. All Edraele has to do is dismantle the ruling houses to take over their regencies.

In setting up this misdirected attack, she is controlling the scenario. She takes out their best assassins in one fell swoop (imprison them or convert them are my guesses) and leaves the three greatest houses under her vulnerable to counter attack. Then she merely has to bring each Matriarch before her and wipe their personalities (something she would have learned from Progen John—remember she has ALL her memories and is a gifted psychic).

After rebuilding their personalities to be subservient to her, she rules by proxy in their regencies…and no one defies her ever again…If the 4 largest houses name her Queen, what are the remaining minor houses going to do about it? Eventually they are all turned and she has succeeded in her promise and dream in one fell swoop.

When John returns in a month, the Maliri will be united under one Queen and he can convert legions in a matter of a week…talk about creating the needed power base to fight the Evil Progen!

Don't be too picky with the reason for the impossibility to install a second power core. It is just a plot device to force Dana to improve the existing one. But, if you need a reason: Linking two cores together will reduce the stability of both cores in case of an emergency. If on core fails the other may follow, because of the sudden load change. And this is just one idea.

I've had another thought (yes, I do that a lot), and I'm kinda surprised I haven't seen it brought up in the comments yet.

You know how they're plating the entire ship, making weapon parts, their body armor, and now even their bed frame in a metal alloy that contains Etherite crystals, and the reason for using Etherite crystals is to make the metal alloy malleable to physic manipulation? Well...what's to prevent someone else who is a powerful physic, like say - I don't know - the other Progentior, from coming along and just ripping all that metal away?

Yeah, they're making themselves super resistant to weapons, but it seems to me that they're creating a massive vulnerability to physic abilities. I wonder how that's going to get addressed, if it ever does. So far, the only defense we've seen against physic abilities has been the use of null zones, and those aren't mobile, i.e. they don't move with the caster. Alyssa could probably create a ludicrously massive null zone in space, but as far as we know, it won't move with her, so all an enemy would have to do is draw the Invictus out of the null zone and then it's game over. That also begs the question, do null zones even work against Progenitors like it does against lesser mortals?

(Let's assume this psychic is strong enough to reforge triple-forged Crystal Allysium.)

How close do they have to be to use their abilities to reforge the hull? Are you thinking this would be relevant in ship to ship combat? Do you know what distances in space are like? It wouldn't be odd for ships in space to shoot each other with lasers from a mile away. They're not likely to be within 30 feet unless they're ramming each other.

Or are you considering the possibility that the psychic will use their ability to sabotage the ship while it is docked?

Yeah, I know. LOL I meant in general, not right this moment..... LOTS of speculation and ideas flying around when we wait for the extra long chapters lol

And a lot of interesting comments too! i had been re-reading the earlier chapters and it finally came to me that the images were some kind of manifestation of latent psychic ability. As for a body swap, or Irrilith becoming one with the Invictus and/or hacking deck and Faye gets installed in the Maliri's body, what a curious thought. I think it would allay fears that Faye will go nuts, but eh, it makes for suspense. Maybe another body will become available for Faye although there doesn't seem to be a need. Well, unless she needs a physical hole for commandant cumsalot to stuff.

I think everyone missed the point by the way, or is it just me? Irrilith had her first anal play experience and it was pretty fucking hot. Can't wait for John to really break her in but slow progress is excellent. Thanks for writing so fast, so well and so carefully.

I got curious a few days ago. We know that the Invictus is 500 meters long. I forget if the other dimensions are mentioned when they get the ship. I googled up the largest ships here on earth. The largest was a super tanker at about 434 meters. It has since been dismantled. A US aircraft carrier is about 334 meters in length. That has roughly 6000 men and women as crew. There are only 7 on the team on the ship. A ship that can hold, say, 4500 crew. I think the exact number was mentioned when they got the ship. That is a LOT of dead space that isn't being used.

Now, in adding a 2nd core, they would have to remember structural integrity when cutting out deck space etc. Not to mention running all the lines to connect up where ever. I tend to agree, that if they chose to run the cores "in-line", there could be "harmonic" issues potentially. If a 2nd core was used, it should be stand alone, and dedicated to certain systems.

The hull. We don't really know what kind of range the Alyssium et al can be manipulated at. How powerful would a Progenitor need to be (or Alyssa) in order to affect the hull? As mentioned, space battles tend to be fought at thousands of meters, tens of kilometers to hundreds at times. Movies, TV shows, and stories like this, compress travel times and all to make the story better. I know if it was me, I would should at what ever range is effective for the lasers etc. On earth, 500m for an airplane in the air is considered way to dang close. (near miss or more correctly near hit :p) The pilots and all get into trouble for it.

Now that I went back and reread what I wrote.... 500m of hull plating all around is a HUGE amount of plating.. Some of the refits have gone too fast LOL. Gotta stop looking at the details.... :P

A null zone.... Hmm... Should the be someone powerful enough to affect the plating at a great distance, I wonder if Alyssa could have the null zone attached to the ship itself, instead of a fixed point in space/on a planet. Then, the null zone would travel with the ship and the plating would be protected.

Its not an issue. Its been stated earlier that distance, size, and strength all affect how much power/energy is required to reshape etherite materials. Distance has an exponential effect towards that power/energy. And the ashanath, a very psychically active people use an etherite/aluminium alloy which is much easier to manipulate while requiring special equipment in order to manipulate, even then they only do single shaping because of the exponential difficulty in reshaping. And they are considered the most powerful psi around.

Last tidbit is that it seems the properties of etherite aren't exactly known to the wider galaxy because of so few psychic active people. The progen matriarchs wouldn't exactly have the knowledge or possibly the fortitude to reshape the hull simply based on how the progens focus on quantity over quality.

Hope this perspective helps with figuring this out,

Shadow

In my opinion having a second core is not necessary. Always the approximate area of a ships core will be targeted by enemy ships thereby increasing vulnerability, so i prefer the upgrade on the existing one,as suggested by Dana😈

Basic tech like Capacitors and power conductors need attention.

With new elements they should have new developments in those fields.

The Nova Lances could be given capacitor banks, and the armour absorption could be increased and made more reliable.

Yup. It would take 20000 plates of 10 feet length and width more or less.

Alyssa would need to form 10 of them per minute non stop to be done within less than 2 days.

Seems more like a 30 day job at least.

Imagine that it did take that long and there was poetic licence to keep the next five chapters from being about adventures in a Maliri space dock.

Reality as a factor is very over rated in fiction.

Things that have been hinted at but haven't had much plot movement lately

Upgrade with the Bimorians. I can't remember which system. I read 30 chapters yesterday and couldn't find specifics. What are the Bimorians like? What will the final configuration of the ship be like?

John's sword training. Will he defeat his master? What will his reward be?

While we're all in stasis waiting for Tefler to deal with real life, I was wondering if we've ever been given an explanation for the Malari so obsessively hiding their appearance behind masks and armor suits. Not talking reader guesses, but by Tefler, in the story. If it's there, I missed it, and would appreciate a pointer in the story.

Of course, seems like that's starting to unravel, but it was a capital crime (chapter 44 page 1) up until recently, along with selling weapons tech. The latter makes obvious sense. If Progenitor knowledge is/was not widely known among the Malari, why was hiding their appearance so important?

You can tell from the comments how engrossed we are, when we're privately designing plausible space ship components in our heads.

I personally love this Game of Thrones shit with the Maliri. Clearly the engineer spy was flipped by John/New Edreale and Edreale's Machiavellian plotting has remained intact with the personality shift. I theorize she's going to attempt to convert the assassins with John to place them (with dyed hair) close to the hungriest enemies of Valaden. Regular John may succeed in conquering the Maliri with "kindness" (gallons of it) where Pro-John-ator failed.

It makes sense that New Edreale or the engineer would act, even independently, in the interests of John and the Maliri species. His girls are known for their initiative. They gave the perfect bait to the hungriest, most predictable mice. Love it.

THAT is a FANTASTIC idea. Channel excess power prior to and during a battle to banks of super capacitors could cut the charge time from the main engines to next to nothing. Recharging the capacitors would take some doing....but those monsters are a one shot kill anyway.

Tefler gives away small clues as to why the Maliri wear their all encompassing armour. First point is it adds to the mind games that they love to play as all the other races all have theories on why they wear the armour. Second point is that it hides the fact that the gender ratio is completely out of whack to what other races would consider a normal gender ratio. The third and final point, Tefler hints at but doesn't explicitly tell the reader, actually has to do with the Lenarrans (Jade's Race); the Maliri would have taken notice of what happened on Lenarra and to avoid a similar fate created their armours and then imposed the law making it a crime worthy of capital punishment to remove it in front of outsiders all to avoid the Lenarra Rush happening to them.

I'm not sure distance is quite the factor it used to be with regards to psionic powers, especially after Edraele has affectively said distance doesn't matter when it comes to communicating with and sending energy to John. Something having to do with the Astral Plain and all that. So if distance isn't a factor for telepathy and energy delivery, why would it be for telekinesis?

As for the Ashanath and their stuff, while they are all psychic, they are much weaker than Alyssa; even when she first meet them, she was multiple times stronger, and she's only gotten stronger since. The machine that the Ashanath use to manipulate their Etherite/aluminum alloy is an amplifier, as they do not have the power on their own to work the alloy. Alyssa overloaded the machine the Ashanath gave them in short order, as she became much too powerful for it.

Also, while Etherite is pretty much unknown to anyone outside of Ashanath, with John and his girls being the exception, that doesn't mean the Progenitors don't know about it. And that's who I'm worried about when it comes to exploiting this possible vulnerability the Invictus now has, as they would be the only ones strong enough to match Alyssa.

Anyways, enough about that. Let's talk patterns. Anyone notice any subtle patterns in this story that Tefler hasn't addressed explicitly? We all know about that pattern where the night after adding a new girl to the harem, John has that freaky dream. Then there's the pattern where a chapter that has a major event or fight in it tends to have little to no sexy fun times in it, while the chapter that comes immediately after is loaded with sex. Tefler has acknowledge this pattern, even going so far as to say he adopted it after someone suggested it in the comments a good while back.

What I'd like to know is are there any other patterns that aren't so obvious? I think I've spotted one, and it has to do with candidates for the crew and the races.

So, we know that there are five major races in this sector of the galaxy: humans, Ashanath, Maliri, Trankaran, and the shield specialists (I always forget their name, probably because we haven't seen them yet). The pattern I've noticed is that John seems to pick up girls in an alternating pattern in the order I've listed the races. The first members of his crew are all human (except Jade, but she's not from one of the major races). The next major race we encountered was the Ashanath, and John skipped recruiting from their number because well...they creep him out. The third race encountered were the Maliri, and John got Irillith and Edraele. The fourth race is the Trankarans, and John didn't recruit from them for the same reason he didn't from the Ashanath.

See the pattern yet? If this pattern holds, the next race that John goes to deal with, the shield specialists, will result in not only the shield upgrade, but also a new crew member. Now I understand this is a broad pattern, and could be refined even further with some thought and analysis, but it's a pattern nonetheless.

So, anybody else notice a pattern, or perhaps want to refine the one I've mentioned here?

Anon, you said, "Yup. It would take 20000 plates of 10 feet length and width more or less."

Or, it would take only 500 plates that were 20 feet by 20 feet...which is more realistic.

Errr....1250 that were 40 X 40....sheesh my math is horrible after Tequila...lol

I don't think Tefler has outright explained why the suits are a requirement for every Maliri. Terra Lupis brings up some great points below. The crux of it to me, is say for a second they didn't wear suits. Then enemies could figure out eventually that their entire male population is on their more vulnerable trading space stations(are males even on the outer planets?) So if a race wiped out the Maliri space stations with the intent of genocide/conquest(or even just a drastic opening move in the beginning of a war), then the Maliri are screwed. Basically it all comes down to:

1) Severe lopsided gender ratios

2) Practically a complete separation of the two genders(Wasn't it mentioned male children go to live with their fathers? We know the vice versa is true.)

3) By having no suits, such things as their population decline would likely become more evident.

On another topic, I am really curious how John's sword fighting is going to come in to play. At this point, we have seen no evidence of his sword training in actual combat, right?

Against the mercenary group and the assassination mission of the Queen, both of those times when the sword was used, Progenitor John was in complete control. There seemed to be no elegance or finesse involved. PJ just rolled over people with silly amounts of strength and/or speed. Alyssa is also going to remake his sword again which gives me nerd chills lol. I guess we might not even see the result of his training until his next fight against humanity's reptilian enemies they are at war with or the the huge 4 armed brute raider/gladiators(sorry, forgot both race's names). Anything besides those 2 races so far and it probably won't be much of a CQC fight anyways.

First time posting on Lit, lurked here for several years, but never saw a story that had this kind of discussion going on really. Cheers fellow fans! You rock Tefler!

We never had it explained in the story, but I was assuming that the reason for the suits is to hide from the Mael'narak. Probably their ancestors decided that the best way to keep from being enslaved from the Mael'narak was to hide their identity (they probably weren't known as Malirai back then) so that he doesn't come for them.

The reason that Projohn said that they wouldn't need the suits anymore is because he found them.

As far as ship size you have to think along the lines of a submarine. What the size is on the outside doesn't mean how much living space is on the inside. We have the tail which houses the FTL field generator, then four massive sublight engines, then a power core which is basically a fusion reactor so you have to have some fuel tanks. All of that would take up the rear 25-33%. In the bow you have the 200 meter long mass drivers which the ship is built around. Then you would have water and air reclamation systems with storage capacity. Power relays out the wahzoo. Main power conduits wouldn't be copper wire but more along the lines of plasma conduits.

Think of something like this,

http://i32.photobucket.com/albums/d33/redleg55/judicial_class_star_cruiser_by_marcusstarkiller-d88xxr6_zpsadcjxpq1.png

A little more details and I could maybe draw it out.

With the Maliri women if they were anything like the old Eldeara and Illirith,,, how does the country&western song go,, "It's hard to kiss the lips at night that chews my ass out all day long". If they were all total bitches no wonder the men headed for the hills.

The invictus should still have plenty of room if they did add another power core. It originally held a full ship crew and an attachment of 200 marines. They have filled some of that space, but don't they still have an entire deck they don't use?

Seems I overshot my crew estimate by about 5 times lol (if I remember what I guessed) I decided to go back and look to see how bug the crew was:

"This ship used to house 300 rowdy marines and a navy crew of 40. Now there's just the two of us!"

So we have the ships crew deck for 40... Er.... Say 6 officers and 34 crew? Hold on, let me go read the first visit some more....

"The Commander's quarters are the biggest, they're down at the end" said John, pointing down the corridor. "The XO's quarters are at the end on the right".

They walked down the corridor, passing a half dozen doorways. They checked a few of them and found them to all be identically furnished and comfortable. When they got to the end of the corridor, they were in for a surprise.

"That's odd" John said, as they reached the blank wall where the door to the XO's quarters should have been...... "

So, 6 doors, plus the missing XO's door, and the Commanders door. That should be 8 officers. Maybe more if they doubled up a couple. That leaves 32 down on deck 3 for the crew. (where Irillith was stashed)

OK, so the barracks was refitted into/added to the cargo bay, and then cut up some for Dana's "shop". The gym, pool, shooting range, and the medical facilities etc.

Hmm... Some of the available space was taken with the added automated cleaning bots and other automation stuff. Still.... That's a LOT of frickin room left for 7 people LOL.

The stuff we discuss when there isn't a new chapter up yet... LOL

That photobucket link didn't work for me. :(

But I kind of picture the Invictus like an imperial star destroyer star wars style, without the command tower at the rear. And a lot smaller. Maybe an Acclamator-class assault ship, only smaller still. (Wookipedia says it had a crew of 700 and had 16,000 clone troopers.) Well, anyway, that's what "I" picture in my head as I read. :P

You make us sound like crack addicts desperate for their next fix, huddled around a fire arguing and nothing to pass the time.

A much bigger Normandy

I am not altogether sure as to weather John would want to bestow this gift, sub-consciously it evokes a being able to force a sentient AI system to do what she wants, This goes totally against what Irillith has become maybe she is on her way to become a Tenoscope; Re: Brian Lumley's Necroscope Books; The AI system wants to help, because it is compelled to, not because it is forced to, wow!, that's deep!!

The picture I have in my head for the Invictus is a scaled down version of the UNSC Spirit of Fire from the Halo Wars game. That shit apparently held a crew/personnel of nearly 11,000... It was also 2.5km in length hence the 'scaled down' statement.

MIKE: You know what will need "fixed" engine schematics and a second power core? Wormhole travel.

Go back and check out chapter 29 for details on the mystery ship. Sounds like a lot of power needed. Additionally, now knowing how upgraded the Invictus sensors are, i wonder if the mystery ship saw them enter and that's why they jumped. Not likely given the investment in the Drakkar, but you never know.

I am in in favour of hot alien ladies joining the crew.

Since Maliri are more sporty and sleek than Terrans...

Who votes for very tall and extremely curvy Brimorians. Give them red skin as several others have mentioned already so that the alien girls are a match set of red blue and green.

Not a democracy of course. Suggestions are not often discouraged by Tefler so I am going to have fun and suggest away.

Interesting to see any alien crew. It allows the special abilities of the Terran girls to be so extreme if they can be the normal ones.

Maybe a Kintark first. It seems like Kintark might be mostly male. Possibly they are colony builders with an egg laying Queen. Not sure what John could do with one of those for crew.

Could this week DRAG any slower? Really this suckz. The waiting suckz. Miss the story line

Decades before, she had belonged to an eccentric old fellow who had nicknamed himself the 'Collector'. The extremely wealthy man had been a benign master, who being too old to require her more sensual services, had meant for a calm if rather dull few years under his care. The man had been obsessed with collecting exotic creatures and as one of the few surviving Nymphs, Jade had been the pride of his collection. She recalled his assorted variety of animals and remembered a many toothed aquatic predator the Collector had told her was called a shark, a huge fish that hailed from legendary Terra.

Grey, sleek and angular, the Invictus had the same lean look as the Shark, the command deck and the fire control tower behind it even reminded her of the dorsal fin atop the ancient aquatic killer. The caudal fin was there too, but on the Invictus it housed the shield generator, flanked by the four mighty engines that allowed the assault cruiser to surge through space with such ferocious speed.

I like to imagine the Invictus looks a bit like either a scaled up Thrasher-class destroyer or a Cyclone-class battle cruiser from the MMO game Eve Online.

In an otherwise vacuum of space n relative calm..Tefler continues to drift in abandon glee and glide through his band of relatives. Meanwhile.. a Projen-Tef continues to write through Chapters 57 to 97.. whereas the real Tef is oblivious to this very fact. His mind-shield fractured by an incessant MIL..His matriarch is clueless n his thralls (us fans) are drumming up an offensive against The Queen.. Chuckles plz.. ;-) ;-)

Your holiday is up Tef.. thought I'd remind you on behalf of the Terran treaty of Nerd-dom n fan-dom..!

~~ Neil

You said: "the reason for using Etherite crystals is to make the metal alloy malleable to physic manipulation? Well...what's to prevent someone else who is a powerful physic, like say - I don't know - the other Progentior, from coming along and just ripping all that metal away?"

For one reason, the Progen would have to know it was psychically reactive...which is a stretch. Second, a progen wants to feel his/her adversary die under their hand...a pride thing. Third, John/Alyssa could do the same thing or create a null zone so null effect.

I would think Alyssa would want to at least quad shape the crystal alyssium panels around the shield generator and engines.

We have not heard about the increased resiliency of the new armor yet. I am assuming that information will come when the suits are unveiled?

Faye controlled,

armored bots

with a pulse laser cannon arm that rotates around the forearm,

anti-grav cyclics,

grenade launcher fingers (different charge rates per finger for selective critical radius engagements),

and a body shield on the non-cannon arm to give bot and biologic cover from opposing fire.

They also need

a high pitched, high volume, directional sound device that works with an interactive com link with the other suits to disorient opponents while protecting the crew,

Enhanced pneumatics to allow for just tearing through ship walls or prison cages when ordinance would cause collateral damage,

An environmental system for cooling the pulse cannons or the entire bot in high heat engagements would be cool as well.

Such bots could be very effective in both repelling and engaging in ship-to-ship boarding actions.

And while on that note, the gatling lasers inside the Invictus need upgrading to Maliri standards as well.

One thing that Tefler hasn't brought up for a while was the ominous ending of chapter ?? (posting this with minimal sleep) when Dana first created the bots, one of the heads shines an ominous red light after Dana turns off the lights and leaves the Engineering Lab. This may indicate rogue programming that Faye may have to contend with as it would endanger John and the rest of the Invictus crew. After the threat is eliminated Faye would then be confronted by John about her 'reckless' actions only to find herself defended by both Illrith and Dana who investigate why the bots went rogue and find the piece/s of coding that caused the problems.

Tef did want to finish all the upgrades in one single chapter.. hence, I don't think we'd see any new alterations until they hit the Brimorians.. minor upgrades n inventions from the stables of Dana are bound to happen time and again but nothing more to do with an entire overhaul.

~~Neil

Ok…the Gatling lasers are now pulse cannons which are more efficient and as powerful as laser cannons which were used at close range to finish off shields, cut off power cores, engines, cannons, etc. on opposing ships at relatively close range. But they are now as maneuverable as the point defense Gatling lasers that were previously only useable against fighters and antipersonnel lasers while at dock.

Beam lasers were 1.5 times as powerful before the refit. Now they are twice as powerful. The Invictus went from 6 forward to 24 with 360 coverage. That means they have roughly 12 times the total firepower of the originals…with each one hitting as hard as 3 times the original beam lasers. So just two of the upgraded beam lasers now have the power of all six of the originals.

The Invictus could now engage 3 cruisers at a time with twice the firepower those cruisers possess without having to meet them head on or be exposed to their broadsides from fixed cannon emplacements.

This does NOT take into account their tactical maneuverability that is well beyond what most species (Jade excluded of course) can endure which will make the Invictus almost impossible to hit except by accident.

While we do not know about how much more impact and laser resistant the new armor is, it was already stout enough to deflect a mass driver round (though with some deformation) and could reflect 60% and absorb 30% of a laser attack until the capacitors blew.

Now they are more materially resilient (just the crystal was roughly 6 times more resistant to deformation than the original titanium base—I believe Tefler mentioned 2 inches of the crystal was as strong as a foot of Titanium) and the new material is more reflective than Alyssium…judging from Tefler’s descriptions of its ‘sparkle’. If it is just 10 percent more reflective, that means 0 damage from laser blasts while the capacitors are working. And if they are 20% more reflective the capacitors will last a LOT longer. And depending upon the thickness of the new armor, they may very well take zero damage from mass drivers as long as they are not perpendicular hits (deflection).

Basically, the Invictus could be more than twice as hard a target to kill…..when it is hit…which is much less likely. And this is with the near 100% hit rate Calara can accomplish against multiple targets simultaneously with an anticipatory avionics package

Pocket Battleship my butt….more like a small battlegroup killer.

Your story has kept me awake at night several times. It's so hard to tear myself away from the story. Great plot, good sex and perfect characters that make me feel if there real as if they will jump out of the story and talk to you. Thank you for writing a story like this. Many say there is story's like this there rare to find but never found one Like this with the space aspect. Thank again for a wonderful story.

The Invictus now has the firepower of a dreadnaught and the armor of a battleship coupled with the speed and maneuverability of a PT boat. On top of that, the sensors extend the weapon range and ability for tactical planning.

It rates to go up against an entire fleet as long as the tactical officer is good. Since Calara might be the best tactical officer in the galaxy it is now hard to imagine them losing a fight. The only reason that they'd have trouble with a normal battlegroup would be if they were trying to defend a station from assault. That would dramatically cut down on their tactical options and require them to take more hits. As always, offense is easier than defense.

Not to mention how strong the raptor is now. I meann six turented laser cannons plus a pair of beam lasers coupled with the new engines, thrusters, and armour. I bet it will be a nightmare to contend with in battle.

Black357

Ok....so now they can hit as hard as (if not more so) than a Defiant class Starship (and yes, it was to be a line of ships).

Just can't wait for more !!

You said, "Not to mention how strong the raptor is now. I mean six turreted laser cannons plus a pair of beam lasers coupled with the new engines, thrusters, and armour. I bet it will be a nightmare to contend with in battle."

And those 2 beam lasers are as powerful as the original 6 beam lasers on the Invictus Assault Cruiser's original load out. Think about that for a moment....

The 6 turreted laser cannons are now powerful enough to cut cannons, shield generators, etc. off a hull of a cruiser class vessel. Think about that for a moment...

The thrusters and inertial dampening system on the Raptor means NOTHING can out maneuver it in a dogfight...not even close. AND: since the dampening system is anti-grav...there are no more G-Forces...meaning no limit to loops, turns, rolls, or acceleration. Think about that for a moment....

That raptor could now go head to head with a cruiser, not be out gunned, and probably win due to the maneuverability difference. Think about that for a moment.... :-)