All Comments on 'Three Square Meals Ch. 056'

patiently waiting for the yellow N

***Spoiler Alert*** Those darned Old Matriarch B****es, ... but I have already read these chapters, and Edraele is working her own plan and those old crones are soon to be toast, .... and the fallout will shake up the entire Maliri Regency, .... read, enjoy, more fun times are ahead, ... ;-) ttfn

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

"We're fucking badass!" Dana immediately squealed with delight.

***spoiler alert*** Irillith's eye problem is just her psychic ability becoming manifest, .... and with John boosting her power level, she will have an awesome and unique psychic ability, *** .... ;-) TTFN

Great story! Great read! Great fantasy! Loving it!

Really, I doubt that last statement but am expecting another great yarn.

I love the way you put this together, the Milirie are conniving race and what would you expect from them?

This is one of the most, if not THE most addictive story I have ever read on Literotica! I am loving the adventure.... and for those who want to nitpick at details and the improbability of what our Lion and his crew get up to, look up the meaning of the word "fiction". If you still don't get it, then, stop reading!

Haha "There is also perhaps a little too much of a horny man's wet dreams for my taste." I mean, this whole story is pure male fantasy. I agree that it's a lot of fun though! For me, I just acknowledge that it's pure male fantasy and entirely unrealistic, and then just enjoy it. It's well written, and creative, and a nice little fantasy.

Personally, I'm not a big fan of lesbianism scenes, but to each his own. There is also perhaps a little too much of a horny man's wet dreams for my taste. Still, I love the story. As a scientist it makes no sense at all, but it is fun. That's what I like most about this series; it's a fun story. Good job! I also like the building of familial bonds. That's cool. I see the Maliri as being like the drow (dark elves) of DND (or Baldur's Gate computer RPG). Irillith reminds me a whole lot of Viconia from Baldur's Gate, and that is the name I use for her because I like it better.

Alrighty then, we have Spaceships and high Energy weapons, and we have political scheming and traitors, also we have improved technology and upgraded (by our auburn tressed Dana) tech too... And then we have psychic powers: Telepathy, telekinesis, pyrokinesis, cryo-kinesis, electro-kinesis, and Enhanced strength and speed... and more to come(?)... Thanks Tef!! ;-) TTFN

Shocking. I don't believe it.

Plots, scheming, back-stabbing, treachery and counter plots and schemes.

Can't sleep now. On to the next episode.

Well written Tefler.

what attention to detail, the only thing I missed was the conversation with John and Edreal where John gives her the schematics to the Trankaran engines... this is a great story.... love it

Apologize for verbose regurgitations of some commenters.

Thank you very much for the sacrifice of your time and effort, made each week to craft a story that has several plots and allows the reader to become involved by taking the clues you leave to guess the what will happen next.

CONGRATS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! What is that?...... 10,000 words for a penny? LOL I'll see about voting more often :p lol

You teasing bastard. You're excited for chapter 57 to come out because you look forward to our comments? It's like you know there's something in there that will get us all hot and bothered, but yet you refuse to come right out and say it. There's a special place for teases like you in the afterlife Tef, and you'll be head of the class when you get there.

5 cents an hour, huh? I'm pretty sure we can easily double that for you Tefler. Just open up a Patreon account and watch the money start flowing. All entirely voluntary of course, it's not like you'd be charging for this work so I don't think Lit would require you to take it down. Best check with Lit first though, just to be safe.

Congratulations on the award Tefler! It is very well deserved for all the effort you have put into the story! It could be a good idea to start a thread for 3 square meals in the authors hangout section of the forum! Ive seen a few authors do this for long running series and they are always well received!

Ahh, you guys think you have me all sussed out by now, eh? :-)

It's been fun reading your comments, and I just wanted to say thanks to everybody for all their kind words. It's tremendously rewarding to receive such positive feedback, and makes it a pleasure to write each chapter. I think I'm just as excited for a new chapter as you are, but for me, its because I get to read the comments afterwards, which are always fascinating!

I've been having fun with Chapter 58, and Chapter 57 has been through the first round of moderation. All being well, it should be up on the site tomorrow.

By the way, a big thanks to all of you who voted for Chapter 33 way back in April. It won second prize in the April readers awards!

$100... my glorious first payment in my budding writer career! I must be making nearly 5cents/hour, at least! :-D

Tefler

I agree with you. I have been calling Alyssa an Anti-Progen for several chapters now. And I agree about the discrepancies you brought out. And that is Tefler's M.O. to a capitol T. His intricate integration of foreshadowing is well beyond even the average professional writer. Something I have also commented on before. Things just don't add up yet...which, in Tefler's universe, usually means we have not been given all the information yet.

Please moderate faster. I need my fix or i'll go into withdraw :)

I am still not convinced that Alyssa and "the radiant ally" are the same entity. We know that John has a second personality from his father's side. The radiant ally John perceived might be his mother's side fighting for him. We also know that DNA encodes a lot more than some fenotypes in this universe. I suspect that when conceiving a child, a lot of the personality and somehow memories of both parents is copied over if they have a third DNA string, creating some kind of re-incarnation through DNA.

Progen John recognised Alyssa when he fought her. The way he said things, it didn't sound like he was referring to the time on the Invictus though. I am guessing somewhere in the past they fought against each other, and Alyssa was either a former matriarch, or a construct of the Progen race that went rogue. She might not be a Progen per sé, as I would expect all Progen's to share the dark traits of ProgenJohn.

Just had a thought... I think John "created" a Madame Progenitor in Alyssa. We know (kinda :p) that Edraele is sort of the "normal" progen matriarch type. Alyssa is something FAR more. There are hints that Alyssa might have a hidden 2nd personality inside here also. Only it is "white", not black like John's was.

John claims to have worked with Alyssa to protect the girls from PJ. Alyssa doesn't remember. During one of the introspection sections of 54, John thinks about working with his "radiant ally". (Alyssa's 2nd half). Later, next chapter I think, Alyssa says she has no memory of working with John. Alyssa was also working on "instinct", not knowing how she did it, during the psychic battle with PJ.

I could be off, and will wait with the rest of you to see how Tefler plays this out, and everyone learns more about these new abilities.

I was wondering the length, but thanks for the double update! This story reminds me alot of a sci fi Tabletop RPG. Am I wrong to see the similarities? Id love for you to Dm/GM a game for me. =}

I wasn't sure if you meant how long as in length of the chapter, or time until it's ready. So I'll answer both!

It's about 20k words (6 literotica pages).

I'm aiming to finish editing tonight, so allowing a couple of days for moderation, it should be up on the site by Thursday.

Tefler

I'm pretty excited for 57. How long about is it going to be?

I have written my DNA comment without knowing your, more detailed, comment. I am always pissed when there are unqualified quotes like, we don't use 90% of our brain, DNA, etc. Or something is "useless" like the appendix

, which's function was found out just recently.

So I agree with you.

Cheers Nekronom

"They sign their name on their creations..." she whispered.

I think by this above statement tefler is going to build John's family tree going back to min of 10 million years back ☺.

I so need my next fix! Wednesday is just a pinhole of light at this point! I am going to DIE I tell you! ;-)

PLRus bouncing of the walls. And now Tefler is rolling everywhere. You know... you've got anywhere between 0 and 7 legs. Use them.

(Also: Looking forward to the next chapter!)

I've sent chapter 57 to my editors, and I'm going to make a start on 58 while I'm on a roll! :-)

You can probably expect to see 57 up on the site by about Wednesday.

Hope you had a nice weekend

Tefler

Thank you, exactly my point. Ignorance does not mean useless. It means we have reached OUR limit of understanding. It is the height of Hubris to dismiss our own ignorance.

Examples of this (many of these just in my lifetime) include the Earth being the center of the Universe. The Earth being flat. The seas just ending and flowing over the edge into oblivion. Submarines, hand held calculators and computers, robots, cars that drive themselves, automatic transmissions, airplanes, gasoline engines, lasers, integrated microcircuits, electric lights, telephones, cell phones, space travel, oh...and let's not forget my alien ex-wife (trust me on that one) just to name a few of the more obvious examples.

Not useless, but not jet understood. There are vast amounts of repetitive sequences that may have an impact on gene regulation by influencing the folding pattern of the DNA on the Histones, provide anchor points for regulatory proteins...

Is a University of Oxford release that was written intentionally for shock value. What is not said is the study assumes the rest of the DNA strand is useless because the researchers don't know what it all does. Looking at the protein sequences common between all mammals and concluding that the rest of the DNA is useless clutter is not an accurate assumption according to the scientific method...which is what this study did. Ignoring completely that mammals are not the only life on this planet.

Kind of like me seeing a tank for the first time and calling it useless because we do not know what it all does. Pretty silly, really. AND, for going to the grocery store, it may be useless, but in a ground war, it is indispensable.

Quite frankly, we have no idea what interactions there may be with that part of the so-called 'useless' DNA strand and that part the Oxford article calls useful. To dismiss our ignorance is pure folly.

Until you start looking like a centepede.

Yup, just looked it up. 98.8% of DNA useless

Human genetic variation is around one half of one percent of the total human genetic code, btw. AAAND: Human genetic codes are approximately 60% to 80% the same as frogs...depending upon the type of frog.

Not really confident in your 90% junk in the genetic code assertion.

You said, "I don't think it would really be that much of an issue since about 90% of our DNA is left over junk from past virus and bacterial infections and such."

Perhaps you might want to rethink your assertion there. You miiiight be juuust a bit off on your assertion. ;-)...trying to be nice. (thinking you meant waaaay less than 1%--much more than that and it is not human DNA anymore and the offspring is naturally aborted.)

And if John's mother was a matriarch he could have up to 50% of her DNA...no way to know what that percentage would be with a Progen male supplying the sperm.

However, since John's sperm 'fixes' genetic defects it is a non issue anyway when it comes to fathering children from his mom.

Well, only 1/3 of his DNA would match his mom's, IIRC, he changes the DNA of those he takes in. So in reality, since there is already a vastly lesser similarity than normal, I don't think it would really be that much of an issue since about 90% of our DNA is left over junk from past virus and bacterial infections and such.

That John can rescue his mom from Progenitor-Steve, or whatever his name is.....as she has clearly been helping to heal and protect John.....and that as a perfectly preserved immortal 18 yr old, 60 yr old.... join his thrall as the third co-matriarch.....bear his Progenitor childrennnnnnnn........OMG

Shiver me timber

Does anyone have a rough idea about the total world count of TSM?

It was a while back as in Chapter 20ish where they rescued Jade I think. There were other women on a ship controlled by a hive mind. I think that is what anon was talking about.

If interested, you can re-read the scene I speak of. Chapter 53, start at the top of page 14.

I'm not Tefler, so he would of course know better then I. The only time I recall the girls being trapped on a ship together, was when progenitor John ordered them all to stay aboard their own ship, the Invictus, when they arrived on Irillith's home-world.

A reminder to you Tefler somewhere in the earlier part of the story when the mysterious ship took the women captive, we never quite figured out what it was. Do you plan on going back to this and doing a reveal? Could this ship class be one that the Dark Progenitor made?

Thanks

I've been getting back into my stride after my holiday, and taking a sneaky couple of days to complete Halcyon 6 - Starbase Commander!

I'm up to 10.5k words at the moment, so I'm hoping to finish this chapter in the next day or two, before handing it over to my editors.

Tefler

Any update on ch57 ?????

I need another fix... 6 pages was SO not enough...

This story has been more than worth the time invested to read it... And I am suitably impressed by the quality of the writing... Absolutely nothing that I've noticed in these stories has detracted from them and my enjoyment of them...

Please keep them coming...

This is a brilliantly written story and i cant wait for the next episode.

Well done!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

What is the complaint over length? It's long,, so? This isn't so much old fashioned print media. If it was you could break it up into 4 books or more and make it an anthology. To me this is more of what is called a "Fanzine" (a Hugo award category). If Tefler wants to keep putting out a chapter or two a month I'll keep reading it. It's a big story, yes, hard to keep continuity, maybe. But that is what separates the men from the boys. He has put enough hints of sub-plots into the story he can keep it going. The good thing is in a fanzine if you screw up a fan will send you feedback and you can correct it.

Then again he has created his universe. With the start of the Truckstop series he has created (what I think the term is) a "story arc". He could wrap up the major sub-plots in TSM, take a break and work on Truckstop for a while and then maybe come back to the adventures of John and the girls. They are going to be immortal now right?

Babylon 5 was a great series that had far more than a few twists. I had almost forgotten about it until you mentioned it. Perhaps it is apropos because it seems the crew John's mother was on, like the crew of the ship the commander's wife was on, inadvertently revived the progenitor/shadows

Hi Dave,

Yes, in general you are absolutely right! Too many authors, especially here, on this site, pile characters and subplots to a heap they finally can't manage. I have seen many such stories. So your warning is adequate. But, with TSM I always had the impression, that Tefler knows what he is doing. DS9 may not be the best example, as you stated rightly, Babylon 5 may be more adequate (But I was a DS9 fan for years), I just wanted to express my feeling, that there are many episodes, even if they stretch over more than one chapter. Each of these where completed, even if they are part of a master plan.

Tefler - I'm glad to hear you have the ending plotted out. It's a pet peeve of mine that far too many stories, particularly in the SF&F category, tend to just go on and on with no resolution. I like it that you are starting to flesh out your universe with other stories ie: your Truckstop Takedown piece you released the other day. Nicely written by the way, I thought your style demonstrated a nice evolution in your story telling abilities.

Nekronom - I don't think the DS9 analogy is quite correct. Personally I thought DS9 was the best of Star Trek franchise because the characters were so messily complex. This allowed for a lot of room to bounce DS9 story lines all over the place. My key point though is that even though life on the space station went on and on, some subplots like the wormhole and the Cardassian conflict drove drama in multiple episodes, for the most part each episode was it's own story with a beginning, middle and end. Three square meals chapters are as advertised, parts of one long story.

Methinks he is braking up the wrong tree. This is not a novel but more a series of story's bound together by a greater storyline. I think of it like DS9 from the Star Trek universe. Lots of episodes with a final solution. And I must say I can't get enough episodes. For a novel he would be right, but this is more a fairy tale where you hope it will have more to come. Keep up what you are doing Tefler it's great as it is!

Is the antichrist. ;-)

refrain from asking if it is posted yet. Tefler will be too distracted to write... Must refrain from asking if it is posted yet. Tefler will be too distracted to write... Must refrain from asking if it is posted yet. Tefler will be too distracted to write... Must refrain from asking if it is posted yet. Tefler will be too distracted to write... Must refrain from asking if it is posted yet. Tefler will be too distracted to write...

Smirks again: "Draaagon Maarrrrrch"

Jedi, you said, “I think it might be some new kind of drug I've been hearing about called TSM. Some real potent shit that stuff is. The highs from that are epic, but the withdrawals are a bitch.”

I AM CAUGHT! LOL….

I am in serious withdrawal and may not survive! Who knew cold turkey could be so dangerous a dish!

Hi Dave,

Interesting feedback, thanks for taking the time to leave that.

I actually have the rest of the main plot planned out already, and I'm working through my plan a bit at a time. Some of the things that have happened might seem irrelevant, but are ultimately critically important to the overall plot.

In any case, things will start to heat up, with sub-plots getting wrapped up as we progress through the tail end of the story. There's other stuff happening as well, and all their seemingly random adventures are linked to the main plot, but I can't go into detail on that because it's a reveal for later.

It's been a great learning experience writing this story, and one that I've thoroughly enjoyed over the past 9 months. Hopefully everyone will enjoy the way it comes to a close, and then for my next project I'll try and write something that isn't quite so epic in scope!

Tefler

Your story got off to a great start but in my opinion you've gotten so lost in detail that you've forgotten to advance your plot in any meaningful way. A good story has a beginning a middle and an end. Your story is now at somewhere around a million words, War and Peace had a little over 587,000 and the entire King James Bible has only 783,000. At your present rate you'll be at two million before you complete it. I can easily see you'll abandon it out of boredom or the rest of your life will take over precedence before you get a chance to finish it at the present rate.

If you distill your story down to it's essence, John has picked up five women, gotten into a few scrapes and given his spaceship a tuneup. He's also discovered that feeding women his cum has given him and them superhuman abilities. (Check out ElSol's Setting fire to the Rain story on that other erotic story website to see how he handled the exact same plot device if you haven't already done so). However your main antagonist, the shadowy figure of John's nightmares, presumably the other progenitor, remains a vague slightly menacing figure in the background. Actually even John's motivations are ill defined, at least Progenitor John had a goal he wanted to accomplish. A million words into the story we still have no idea of what Alfred Hitchcock called The McGuffin is (the thing everyone wants/desires that drives the plot forward) in this story.

The current plot you are working on, stopping the traitorous admiral, is another example of a sidetrack to your main plot. They should have gone to rescue Tashana since the thing John needs most right now is intel on what the progenitor, his major antagonist, capabilities are and what he's up to. Tashana is the only one mentioned so far in the story who might be able to supply that sort of info. With apologies to George Lucas, John needs to figuratively travel to Dagobah to meet his own personal Yoda so he can learn to use the force.

My advice to you would be figure out how you are going to end this story and then work out how you can reach your conclusion by chapter 70. Do this and at the pace you are writing, you can wrap this story by Christmas and either get your life back or move on to the next challenge.

You think coffee is what has Pussy wired up so much? Nah, coffee isn't nearly strong enough. He's obviously hyped up on something. I think it might be some new kind of drug I've been hearing about called TSM. Some real potent shit that stuff is. The highs from that are epic, but the withdrawals are a bitch.

Your choice is a title unassuming and until I saw it show up at #56 I brushed it off. After popping over and checking it out (starting at the beginning), I couldn’t stop reading it. It’s turning into a novel, and I just hope you stay inspired and continue writing.

I’m looking forward to see if Irillith is getting sick because she’s leaving her home world or if it was an intentional act. Additionally, with your addition of the AI Faye I’m wondering if she’ll ask Dana why the other AI’s turned on their creators and became hostile (as she has been treated with kid gloves). With the security upgrades Faye’s making to the Invictus she needs to ensure she can’t be hacked as well. It’s an outstanding story and I would hate to see it destroyed from within. John Has conquered his demon for the time being at least and having Faye go rouge would be expected but wrong at the same time.

That was a frenzied bout of commentary!

Glad to hear you're excited about a return to Terran Space. After all the alien action in the last dozen chapters or so, I think it's well past time I wrapped up several Terran based subplots.

Would someone take Pussy's coffee away from him, so he can stop ricocheting off the walls ;-)

Mal

What if sensei IS the assassin?....... Yes we still need his back story, but John has to beat him in order to get the story.

Hmm, the assassin pulled some "thing" out of "cold storage". Is that sensei?

Oh, when I started reading through again, I started thinking that the assassin is NOT a Progenitor, like someone suggested. Some things don't add up.

Dragon Maaaarrrrrch ;-)

It hurts my sides.... :-)

EVERYONE'S mouth drops open when a Nova Lance cuts a Heavy Carrier in half with one shot???

The Kintark will learn how to say "WTF"! And the Terrans will blink and exclaim "Holy S@#T!"

And the Fed ships just sit back and watch Calara and the Invictus/Jade and the Raptor wipe some Kintark backside!

Is it ready yet? Is it POSTED yet???? I am just gonna DIE!!!!!!!

Can you tell I am excited about going back to the Dragon March? lol

Dana gets the bright idea to use capacitors to store the necessary energy for the Nova Lances for a one shot kill opportunity against the first carrier without sacrificing energy for the rest of the battle.

So this is what I am anticipating. Calara's family are in mortal peril from that Admiral's traitorous machinations and John and Co. uncover it just in time to save her Father, Brother, and countless other lives by taking on a Kintark battlegroup and kicking butt and taking names. The Raptor single handedly kills off all the fighters and bombers assigned to kill off dad and then saves bro's ship from annihilation by a Kintark Cruiser.

The Invictus kills or captures two heavy carriers, 2 dozen assorted battleships, cruisers, frigates, and umpteen dozens of fighters, repels boarders, launches a boarding action with battle bots and faye to rescue prisoners on the second, now disabled heavy carrier in the middle of the battle, and everyone gets a nova burst medal for outstanding kickassidness!

"I'll make sure to add more detailed descriptions on the ship types when we get back to the Dragon March!"

WOOOOOHOOOOO!!!! We are going back to the Dragon March??!!!! I mean I understood we were going back to take care of the Admiral....but nothing was said about cleaning up that boarder skirmish at the same time!

SPOILER!!!!! lol

Welcome back Tefler! We MISSED you!

I agree. But I have been wondering about some type of closure for Sensei. He has a story to tell that has not been told.

My fantasy is his wife was killed by an agent of our beloved assassin and he has trained his entire life in case the opportunity should arise for justice. Wouldn't it be awesome if the assassin is in the same vicinity or planet where Irillith's sister is? And when John can give him the opportunity to find said assassin he does so...with a quad shaped Crystal Alyssium sword made to his specifications?

What a fitting and story appropriate ending to that plot line.....wink wink.

Can't wait for more.

Wouldn't it be a nice gesture for John and the girls to send a special quad formed sword to the sword master as a thank you? Maybe after the next battle, John comes to realize how much he's improved thanks to his sessions.

This is by far the best story I've read on this site. No other writers that I've liked their stories have kept the chapters flowing at a regular rate. AND most stories have been left hanging for months or even years with no updates.

Keep up the good work !!

Classifications arent completely dependent on size. Destroyers would be akin to small but heavily armed fleet warships, whereas frigates would be akin to slightly larger, not as heavily armed patrol/recon ships. So classificatipn comes down to the role said ship is to have. Taken into consideration are long range endurance, firepower, defense and the like. But as eve obline has demonstrated, classifications are made by the people creating the verse you're following.

Hope this has helped, shadow.

Tefler,

On your list a frigate should be smaller then a destroyer, if you follow surface navy traditions. Anything smaller then a corvette would be a sloop or patrol boat but in the future anything smaller then a corvette would be maybe for planetary defense or replaced by a fighter or bomber launched on patrol from a carrier or base.

I've been away on holiday for a week, so I've only made a start on chapter 57. I'll crack on it with tonight, and it will probably be up on the site by about Tuesday next week.

I wrote a short story that I submitted before the weekend. It's set in the same universe but has completely new characters. Look out for "Truckstop takedown" to be available tomorrow or Wednesday depending on moderation. It's a car wars (mad max) inspired tale, so I hope you enjoy it.

Thanks for all the comments, I've thoroughly enjoyed catching up on them. :-)

Tefler

Is there an ETA on the next chapter? i'm a book junkie lol - Tazzy

I think I did a list of ship classifications in one of the comments ages ago, but I'll list their comparative power again below. I'll make sure to add more detailed descriptions on the ship types when we get back to the Dragon March!

Strike Craft (these have different roles, so are hard to compare):

Fighter (Good v strike craft)

Bomber (Good v large vessels)

Dropship (few guns, lots of troop capacity)

Gunship (Multi-role)

Federation ship classifications:

Corvette

Destroyer

Frigate

Light Carrier (not including firepower from loaded strike craft)

Assault Cruiser

Cruiser

Heavy Cruiser

Heavy Carrier (not including firepower from loaded strike craft)

Battle Cruiser

Battleship

Dreadnought

I know this is Tefler's world, and he may do things differently, but I assume that he researched assorted S/F worlds/realms.

When I was looking for ship sizes, I found lots of comparison charts with pictures for Star Wars, Star Trek, Babylon 5, and many more. Granted, they didn't cover weapon types and effectiveness, but there were ship lengths and types, i.e. scout, civilian, cruiser, etc.

A little poking around on google pics and you'll find what you need. :)

Okay....this is my understanding of the Ship Classes in Tefler's Universe....I am sure others can give additional information.

Dreadnaught class carriers have singularity drivers instead of mass drivers. Very powerful but dependant upon other ships for protection and provide massive amounts of fighter support. The singularity drivers are fixed so they have to face their enemy head on. Not very maneuverable in tactical situations.

Heavy Carriers are next with less firepower / fewer fighters...but still formidable.

Next is a battleship. They are broadside specialists with heavy cannons and heavy armor...and slow turners...tougher and faster than Dreadnaughts but cannot project power like a Dreadnaught or Heavy Carrier.

There are Heavy Cruisers, too...more maneuverable, less firepower than a Battleship...less armor.

Destroyers are similar to Heavy Cruisers but they have more cannons, heavier armor, not like a Battleship...but more than the Cruiser class.

Cruisers are more agile, less armor, more for tactical operations in a battlegroup. Mostly used to escort Battleships or Carriers. The Invictus is a specialized Cruiser called an Assault Cruiser because they usually have a detachment of Marines on board for boarding actions. They are more of a special opps craft.

There is a light cruiser for small interdictions or patrol craft. Not much on firepower or shielding.

Bombers are slow, brooding things, very little armor and mostly just launch missiles against larger ships.

There are several types of Fighters. Some for troop transport and close air support, like the Raptor, and others are pure fighters. No armor to speak of and light guns.

With the Invictus upgrades, she could take on a whole battle group, even with a heavy carrier and have a tactical advantage. The sheer number of fighters on a Dreadnaught might overwhelm the Invictus with a massive, coordinated assault...but that would be unlikely as anyone seeing her would underestimate her abilities and not send enough to do the job the first time, which would be a deadly tactical error.

So earlier this week I was curious about sword fighting and when it would come into play. The most likely scenarios for epicness is the Drakkar. It seems to be a male dominated society. I don't think we even saw a female Drakkar. Possible future crew mate? It makes you wonder what a female Drakkar looks like. Vastly different from the males?

When John visits an alien society he seems to always do it big. Walking away as an ally, ambassador, or some position of power. It was mentioned that the Drakkar promote through battle and within their society through the gladiator pits. How awesome would John in a Drakkar fighting pit be?

The Drakkar might of been a "failed experiment" because a progenitor might be not ideally suited to control them. John could potentially win them over b/c he could beat them through skill and finesse with a sword. Avoiding his progenitor powers could earn him massive respect and then to seal the deal he could use the strength/speed of a progenitor when his own skill with a sword has been established. Kind of like how he held back in the first fight against Calara's dad in their dojo.

So for the uninformed, would someone mind kind of breaking down the ships and sizes? If it's really good we could probably get Tefler to tweak it as it relates to the story and submit it on his page for people. What I would like to know is where do ships rank on the food chain, likely crew and possible marine attachment numbers, weapon power and quantity, speed/maneuverability, size, etc.

Off the top of my head I've heard assault cruiser(Invictus - and no longer in production?), cruisers, heavy cruisers, heavy carriers, destroyers, battleships, fighters, bombers, and the list goes on....

Like what out guns what?

It just makes it hard for me to get into some of these awesome space battles when I can't really picture what is what.

My thoughts exactly russ 😂. I'm usually a lurker but i thought it necessary to bring the raptor into this conversation.

Black357

OMG! PLR is absolutely right. The Raptor is now a pocket cruiser with the maneuverability of a mosquito. That is freakin' insane!

I would like to think that the invictus looks like unsc infinity

Honestly Tefler you should come up with a way to give Faye a tangible organic body

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.... :-)

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 !!

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

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.

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.

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.

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

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.

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.

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?

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

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.