Three Square Meals Ch. 059

John laughed, and threw his hands up in the air in protest as he said, "You had weeks to work up to that!"

She shrugged unsympathetically, and said, "Yeah, but you're a Progenitor, and I'm just a lowly Terran. Besides, Crystal Alyssium is harder to shape, so if you're going to be any use, you'll have to get up to speed pretty sharpish."

He quirked an eyebrow at her lack of sympathy, and said, "It better be a damn good secret!"

She gave him a wicked smile, then gestured for him to proceed.

Taking a deep breath, he concentrated on keeping calm and centred, before raising his right hand and making the Alyssium cube float into the air. He focused his will on the metal, melting it with ease, and letting it roil in the air as a liquid metal orb. After it had spun through a couple of revolutions, he imagined it turning into a rectangular block, and it obeyed his mental commands, moving into that new geometric form.

He let it rest for a few seconds, giving the Etherite crystals time to harden into a resilient lattice. Once he was sure it had been successfully double shaped, he melted it down again. The metal was starting to get slightly more sluggish when he tried shaping it for a third time, as though it was fighting back against being manipulated in this way. His brow furrowed as he concentrated harder, and it solidified into a cube once more.

Alyssa suddenly leapt to her feet, and cried out, "Hold on a minute!"

He watched her curiously as she looked around the Cargo Bay, before finally finding what she was looking for. With an imperious wave of her hand, she summoned over a piece of Crystal Alyssium armour plating for the Invictus, and it floated over to join them obediently.

"I've shaped hundreds of these bloody things," she grimaced, giving the armoured panel an unkind look. She looked down at him, and said, "For extra bonus points, when you quad shape the metal, make it into that!"

John looked up at her incredulously, and complained, "It's getting a lot harder now! Wouldn't it have been a good idea to practice that earlier?!"

She gave him an encouraging smile, and said, "You can do it, I have total faith in you."

He could hardly back down after she said that, so he studied the section of armour plate as it rotated slowly in front of him.

"That's right," she murmured. "Try and memorise the precise shape. The slight curve, the exact dimensions, you'll find your mind will instinctively know how to copy it."

John had a whole host of doubts about this, but he tried to shove them aside, and listened solely to her advice. When he was sure he had an exact replica of the armour plate in his mind, he looked at his triple-shaped Alyssium cube, and melted it down into a liquid metal sphere once more. He knew it would get harder attempting to shape it again, but he was shocked at how stubbornly the metal resisted his will. He gritted his teeth, and stared at it through narrowed eyes.

He shot a glance at Alyssa, and drew a little extra energy from her. She felt the slight pull, and smiled at him in encouragement. With a herculean effort, he hurled his willpower at the stubborn metal, and it begrudgingly began to lengthen and elongate under the mental onslaught. It stretched out at a torturously slow pace, but it obeyed his commands as he forced it to form into an exact replica of the Crystal Alyssium armour plating. When he was finally done, he let it clatter to the floor, and he collapsed on the Cargo Bay deck, labouring for breath.

Alyssa was on him like a shot, kneeling next to him with her cerulean eyes wide with shock. "I can't believe it! That was incredible," she gasped in wonder. "I never thought you'd be able to triple-shape it without weeks of practice, then you go and knock it out of the park like that!"

He laughed weakly, and when his breathing was steady once more, he pulled her in for a hug, and asked, "So you were just play-acting? I thought you were being an unusually hard taskmistress."

She nodded, her expression one of awe, and she replied, "I know -exactly- how fucking hard shaping that shit is." She shook her head in amazement and marvelled, "Quad-shaping on your first go, that was totally awesome!"

He cuddled her in his arms, enjoying seeing her look of open admiration, and he said, "You were a good motivator, thank you."

She hugged him back with a happy grin on her face, then her expression turned lusty, as she asked him, "Would you like to hear my secret now?"

He nodded, then looked down as she pulled off his belt, and unbuttoned his trousers. "What are you up to?" he asked her in surprise.

"Trust me," she purred. "You'll want me on my knees with your cock down my throat when I tell you this."

She stripped him off, then got him to sit on one of the ore containers as she knelt down submissively in front of him. She met his gaze, and stared at him as she slowly inched her way down his length. He groaned when she reached the base, and ran his fingers through her soft blonde hair as she hummed around his length, the vibrations feeling sensational.

He managed to keep it together long enough to gasp, "Tell me this secret!"

Alyssa began to swallow, the muscles in her throat massaging him as she replied, *Irillith's thinking about letting you fuck her in the ass.*

John stared at her in disbelief, and he could see her smile as his cock jerked in her throat. *There's no chance of that, she hated the idea!* he thought to her in shock.

*Irillith's been pretending to be a good upstanding Maliri, but she's watched hours of you screwing us like that, and she's intrigued by the idea,* Alyssa replied, sucking on him lovingly. *Just think, you'll be the first and only man she'll let in there. You can be kind and loving, and break in that spectacular blue ass the right way. She'll love it so much, she'll give it up for you any time you like after that.*

He groaned wordlessly, his quad rising as he got turned on at a very rapid rate, Alyssa knowing exactly what to say to him to push his buttons.

*I'll be there too,* Alyssa purred, ramping up the suction, and making his toes curl. *I want to suck on her clit, and make her cum with you stretching her ass. Think about her clamping down on you when she orgasms, just as you pump your cum into her.*

That was quite enough to tip him over the edge, and he yelled out as he came, blasting a huge load down her willing throat and straight into her stomach. He'd skipped any action that morning or lunchtime, and it was a tremendous relief to empty his quad as she sucked him furiously. When he was done, Alyssa let him slither out of her throat, and she grinned at him as he blinked at her in a daze.

"Good secret?" she asked him mischievously. Without waiting for a response, she leaned forward and whispered, "Please don't say anything to her, and let her come to you whenever she's ready. I wanted to let you know beforehand, so you can be supportive and reassuring, rather than shocked and horny."

John laughed lightly, and helped her to her feet. Alyssa was a pro at carrying his heavy loads now, and she rose with effortless grace as she stood before him. He placed his hand on her swollen tummy, and said, "You can count on me. I'll take good care of her."

"Good boy," she said to him with a contented smile, as he placed a tender kiss on her rounded belly.

***

"So why are we heading to Deck Three, exactly?" John asked as he stepped out onto the aforementioned level with Alyssa at his side.

She squeezed his hand with hers, and replied, "I think it's to do with Faye's surprise. Calara asked that we all gather there for her debrief on the debris field wreckage." As they walked along the corridor, she nodded towards the first door on the right, and said, "That one, opposite your training room."

John hit the button, and waved her through courteously. She inclined her head in gratitude, then glided through the doorway and into the room. They were the last to arrive, and the others were sitting around on comfortable looking chairs in the big, empty room.

"You guys look like you had a good session," Dana smirked, looking pointedly at Alyssa's impressive new curves.

The blonde girl grinned as she ran her hands over her abdomen, and said with a grin, "Oh yes, it was the first psychic-shaping session I've actually enjoyed!" She glanced at John, and added, "All innuendo aside, he was great. Quad-shaping on his first try!"

John took a theatrical bow as they applauded. He smiled at them, and said self-effacingly, "In all fairness, I was working on the old Invictium alloy, which is a lot more responsive than Crystal Alyssium. I did find using Telekinesis much easier than learning to manipulate elements though, so all that practice time I've put in has really paid off."

Rachel looked intrigued, and she speculated, "I wonder if there's a hierarchy to these abilities. Pre-requisites if you like."

"What do you mean?" John asked her, as he and Alyssa walked over to take their seats.

"Well, Irillith needed to know how to use Astral Projection first, before she could use her Technokinesis. Perhaps being comfortable using Telekinesis is a precursor to elemental based psychic abilities?" she postulated as she mused over their powers.

He laughed and said, "So basically, you're saying I've been learning to run before I could crawl?"

She smiled, then nodded as she replied, "Essentially, yes."

"Sounds about right," he quipped as he rolled his eyes. He looked over at Calara, who had Faye fluttering at her side. Both of them looked eager to start, so he smiled at them and said, "I hear you two ladies have something interesting to show us?"

Calara rose from her chair, and said, "I was planning to show you the results of my analysis up in the Briefing Room, but Faye had the brilliant idea to set up a Tactical Holo-suite for exactly this kind of presentation." She glanced at the tiny AI at her side, and said, "Can you start the simulation please, Faye?"

With a sparkling smile on her diminutive face, Faye made a gesture, and the lights dimmed, until they were looking at a simulation of the Beta-Persei system. The view was centred on the metallic asteroid field which contained the R&D facility, but just as they recognised that landmark, she zoomed out the magnification. The image scrolled across space, stars twinkling in the background, until the view was repositioned on a Battlegroup of Terran Federation ships.

"Charles' Battlegroup," Calara explained, her expression grim. "I recreated the battle based on the debris patterns and the final positions of all the wrecks."

They watched as the fleet of ships began to head in-system, spreading out into an attack formation as they moved to engage an as yet unseen foe. The vessels looked extremely lifelike, and had been modelled with a high degree of precision, even going so far as to show the flare of retrothrusters as the ships changed heading.

The Battlegroup consisted of eight modern cruisers, two light carriers, two dozen destroyers, and was led by a battleship tagged as the 'Heimdall'. As per Terran Federation doctrine, the destroyers spread out to make a protective picket line around the bigger ships. The Battleship spearheaded the formation, with four cruisers per flank, while the carriers were tucked away at the rear. Waves of fighters and bombers began to launch from the carriers, assembling into wings of strike craft, which held back, as though waiting for the opportune moment to attack.

Jade shook her head in confusion, and asked, "Why would they move to attack such a huge number of AI ships?"

Calara gazed up at the simulation, and replied, "Keep watching, and you'll see."

The Battlegroup moved forward with confidence, and as Faye zoomed out the magnification, they could see it was on a direct intercept course with the R&D base. The space station was centred in the belt, just as they remembered, hanging there serenely amongst the wide field of metallic asteroids. There were a number of ships in defensive positions around the massive research facility, and they were represented by a handful of red silhouettes tagged with question marks.

John looked at the Latina for an explanation, and she said, "I have no way of knowing exactly what those ships were, but there were definitely other ship classifications involved in this battle. Commodore Jansen must have felt confident he could defeat them, because he launched a direct offensive."

She turned to look at the simulator again, and they watched the closing ships with a feeling of rising dread.

"This is awful, it all seems so real," Rachel said, sounding unsettled. "I just want to yell at them and tell them to get the hell out of there."

Calara nodded sympathetically, and as the Terran ships closed on the asteroid field, Jade spotted movement on the asteroids. "The hangars..." she murmured quietly, transfixed by the unfolding scene.

Just as the Nymph spoke, AI cruisers began to pour from the concealed Hangars in the asteroids. The field had gone from being a picture of quiet tranquillity, to coming alive with a teeming horde of AI controlled ships. The lean AI cruisers surged out of their concealed homes, looking like a swarm of angry hornets in search of an intruder. It was disconcerting to see the way they moved, carrying out their manoeuvres in perfect synchronisation, and making it quite obvious it wasn't regular Terran crews flying those vessels. The Battlegroup of Terran Federation ships immediately began to react, frantically forming into a defensive formation as the dozens of hostile vessels rushed towards them.

"Why don't they jump out!" Rachel cried out in alarm. "Can't they see they're doomed!"

"They can't," Alyssa replied grimly. "They're too far from the Nav beacon. The system's gravity wells are preventing them from executing an emergency hyper-warp jump."

Waves of AI cruisers began to engage, hitting the line of destroyers with accurate Beam Laser fire. The Terran picket ships were overwhelmed by hit after hit from the orange coloured beams, and one after the other, the destroyers were blown apart. The Terran cruiser crews were highly skilled, and despite the daunting odds, they carefully focused Beam Laser fire on AI ships, stripping their shields then quickly switching to fresh targets. As soon as the shields winked out, their Heavy Cannons could go to work, and the powerful ordnance smashed into the grey Titanium plating with devastating effect.

Six of the slim, older classification cruisers were blown apart in rapid succession, and when the AI fleet closed to short range to engage with Laser Cannons as well, the Heimdall opened up with its fearsome arsenal. The kilometre long vessel had deadly batteries of Beam Lasers, Heavy Cannons, and missiles, and the first salvo ripped apart four robotic cruisers in a matter of seconds.

John found himself completely absorbed by the battle playing out before him, and despite already knowing the tragic outcome, he felt a surge of hope after witnessing the battlegroup reap a heavy toll on the AI ships. Sadly the tables turned swiftly, and as more AI cruisers closed the distance to point blank range, the Heimdall and her supporting cruisers struggled to coordinate their fire. The bomber wings began their attack runs, with the fighter escorts running interference, but the mass of Gatling Lasers from the closely clustered enemy ships met them with a lethal curtain of orange laser bolts.

They all watched in horror as the cruisers were mauled, the strike craft blown apart, and the light carriers quickly destroyed. The Heimdall held fast in a valiant last stand, but the sheer weight of incoming fire eventually took out its shields, and the mighty ship was slowly torn apart. It was like watching a proud stag being brought down by a pack of wolves, and they all felt a keen sense of loss when the valiant ship finally exploded.

There was deathly silence in the Holo-suite as they stared at the simulation of the vast debris field, now recognising the spread and distribution of wrecks from their brief glimpse of the real thing. The AI ships circled the battlefield, firing Gatling Lasers sporadically despite there being no Terran ships left to offer any resistance.

"What are they doing?" Dana asked in a subdued voice.

Calara looked bleak as she replied, "Gunning down escape pods."

The redhead looked appalled, and she gasped in horror as she watched the AI vessels ruthlessly execute the survivors.

Rachel abruptly turned away from the massacre, and pleaded, "Can you turn it off? I can't watch any more."

Faye nodded, deactivated the simulation, and then brought up the lights again. Witnessing the loss of so many Terran ships, along with the slaughter of their brave crews had shaken the audience, and they stared at each other, feeling numbed by the disturbing imagery.

John heaved a big sigh, then asked Calara, "You're certain that's how the battle played out?"

"There's a small margin of error based on my predictions for their firing accuracy. I would estimate perhaps four percent either way, but the debris patterns track the weapon impacts fairly accurately," she replied, her voice sober.

"How many ships did the AI lose?" he asked, his eyes narrowing.

"Fifteen," she stated without hesitation. There was a brief pause before she continued, speaking cautiously now, "I don't know their precise order of battle, but Irillith's estimation of approximately fifty AI cruisers does tally with the rate they were able to eliminate each of the Terran vessels. Charles mentioned that the battlegroup destroyed two cruisers en route to the base, and with the four we eliminated, we have to assume that there are at least twenty nine cruisers under Nexus' control."

"Fuck me..." Dana muttered under her breath.

Calara continued relentlessly, "Nexus also has whatever small fleet of ships lured in Commodore Jansen and his battlegroup. Based on the confidence with which he initially engaged, I would estimate a fleet of no more than half the fighting strength of the Terran battlegroup. That could still mean perhaps five more cruiser class vessels and some kind of command ship."

"Thirty five ships," John stated, his voice sounding hollow, as he stared off into the distance. He realised the girls were all watching him intently, so he pulled himself together, and did his best to radiate confidence. His tone was strong and vibrant as he said, "Alright then ladies, we know what we're up against which means we can plan our attack. How do we defeat a fleet of that size?"

"Smash that Nexus fucker!" Dana swore vehemently. She glanced at Irillith and asked, "If we can wreck the command ship, that should knock out all the rest, right?"

The Maliri girl looked pensive as she replied, "Nexus is intelligent, and it's quite possible that it might have predicted that vulnerability. It might have moved the primary server to one of the cruisers to just blend in with the rest, as a bigger vessel would be a more obvious target. Then again, it might have installed backups in each of the smaller ships, making a distributed network. If it's done that, we'll have to destroy every last ship to stop it."

Faye fluttered in the air looking agitated, and John looked her way, saying, "Go ahead, Faye. I respect your opinion, and If you've got any insights for us, I want to hear them."

She looked at Irillith, and said respectfully, "I'm really sorry, I don't want to contradict you, Creator, but I don't believe Nexus would think that way."

Irillith smiled at her and said, "That's alright, I'm hardly an expert on rampaging Progenitor AI. What do you think it would do instead?"

The four inch tall sprite took a big breath and said, "I've been reviewing my logs of everything we know about Nexus. It hates Terrans, it views them with contempt, and we think it might be some kind of failsafe to end the Mael'nerak's genetic experiment on Terra. It's spoken about wanting to achieve Unity, and a need to fulfil its mission. Finally, it took its time to slaughter every Terran survivor in that battle, but it's been ignoring Terran civilian ships on the way to Terra."