Three Square Meals Ch. 063

"Sounds like a good idea," John agreed. "We don't want you putting yourself at risk if we can help tip the odds in your favour."

Glancing at Alyssa, Irillith said agreeably, "We can start practicing when things quieten down." She turned to look at the Sector Map, and asked, "Did you have any problems breaching the border into Kintark Space?"

Turning away from her search through the New Eden criminal database, Calara replied, "The Kintark have substantial forces patrolling the border surrounding the invasion route. I suspect they're trying to prevent the Terran Federation from punching through and opening up another incursion into their Empire." She smiled as she continued, "However, with our speed, and the huge range of our sensors, Jade was able to weave a safe path between the detection radii of their patrol fleets."

John shared her confident grin as he said, "There aren't many asteroid belts along the border, so they don't have a comprehensive sensor net like the Ashanath. Now that we've successfully slipped past the patrols, as long as we steer clear of any systems, we should be able to stay undetected."

Alyssa's hands swept over her console, and the Mar'Katrach Nebula appeared as a holographic image, floating before them in the centre of the Bridge. The Nebula was absolutely breathtaking, displaying a riot of brilliant colours that had them all gazing at it in amazement. The centre of the nebula was a rich aquamarine colour, with long snaking tendrils in orange leading out from the centre to bleed off around the edges.

"There's a neutron star in the middle, called the Mar'Katrach Pulsar. It's the remnants of a supernova, and there's a pulsar wind nebula in its shell which generates all these amazing colours," she explained to her captivated audience.

"It looks so beautiful!" Faye said, looking at it in wide-eyed astonishment. "What's it made out of?"

"Gas plasma mostly," Alyssa replied with a shrug. "It's radioactive, but not to a level that would make it dangerous for us. The main problem is the effect it has on sensors; the interference it generates would completely block Terran and Kintark long range sensors. According to Dana, our enhanced Maliri-based sensor array should only lose about half its effective range."

John was pleased at the excellent tactical advantage this gave them, but after thinking about it, he asked in confusion, "How can the Kintark navigate in there if they're flying blind?"

Alyssa eyes were unfocused for a second as she discussed it with Dana, and she said a moment later, "Sparks reckons they're probably using a pathway of beacons. If the signal they pump out is strong enough, then ships would still be able to pick them up against the background interference using their short-range sensors."

Calara nodded, and said brightly, "That's kind of like using a safety line in a blizzard!"

Her blonde lover looked confused, not understanding the reference, but John nodded, saying, "Yeah, that's a good analogy." Turning to Alyssa he said, "You make a safety line by driving poles into the ground, and linking them with some rope, making a trail between buildings. If a blizzard hits, which is like a heavy rainstorm but with loads of snow instead, then you wouldn't be able to see more than a few paces in front of you. Instead of getting lost in the storm, you can follow the rope trail between the poles to travel between buildings."

Finally understanding, Alyssa nodded her agreement, and said, "Sounds like a similar idea. Anyway, Dana thinks that's the most likely explanation."

John heard Jade humming a happy tune to herself as she left the Medical Bay on Deck Seven, and began to make her way to the Bridge. He turned to watch her arrive as the melody echoed up in the grav-tube, and she stepped out onto the Command Deck a few seconds later. She was still naked, but her titanic breasts had returned to their normal size, and she strolled out brazenly before heading down the ramps to the Pilot station. The uninhibited girl gave him a cheeky wave as she passed the Command Podium, and then started to put on the clothes she'd left in a haphazard pile when she'd stripped off earlier.

"I better go back to my station, unless you've got other ideas," Irillith murmured, looking pointedly at his hand resting on her toned abdomen.

John pulled her in for a kiss, then said, "Afraid not, we'll have to be on alert now. We should be arriving at the nebula soon."

"We'll be there in ten minutes," Alyssa agreed.

Calara suddenly sprang into a flurry of activity, her hands flying over her Tactical Console, as she said, "John, I think we might have a problem..."

Irillith hopped off his lap, and quickly descended the steps, freeing up John to lean forward and ask the Latina, "What's wrong?"

"A Kintark fleet, a big one!" Calara replied as she hit a button, then gazed at the Sector Map as it sprang to life in the middle of the Bridge.

He could clearly see the Mar'Katrach Nebula on the huge holograph, the blue and orange swirls dominating the area of space ahead of them. There were dozens of systems scattered around this sector of space, the stars twinkling against the black backdrop of the Sector Map. However there was something far more pressing that had drawn Calara's attention, and she quickly highlighted dozens of ships on the extreme edges of their sensors. The huge armada appeared to be pulling back from some distant border location, and was now vectoring in towards the nebula.

"We're much faster than they are," Alyssa informed them, noting the hyper-warp speed of the Kintark vessels. "We'll arrive at the nebula about twenty minutes before they do."

"Can we just wait them out, then pounce on the base when they've left?" Jade suggested.

John shook his head, and replied, "A fleet that size could be refuelling and rearming for days. We can't afford to lose that much time." He looked at Calara and asked, "Can you tell what type of ships they are?"

"Definitely military," she replied without taking her eyes from the map. "There's no way civilians would be using a military resupply station. I can't tell you specifics until we get a lot closer, but if they're coming from the border, they'll probably be ships-of-the-line. I'd guess cruisers, carriers, perhaps even some battleships, and supported by a host of destroyers."

Narrowing his eyes as he gazed at the map, John said, "We'll hit the base hard before they arrive. If we can devastate the refuelling and rearming capabilities, it'll put that big fleet out of action for longer."

Calara nodded eagerly, her dark-brown eyes flashing with excitement as she said, "I can cause an awful lot of damage in twenty minutes."

He stared at the nebula, but he couldn't see any facilities or ships in that swirling mass of colour. He looked at Alyssa, and asked, "Are we still too far out from the nebula? Is that why we can't see anything?"

"We should start picking up the base when we're a couple of minutes from the edge of the nebula," she confirmed for him. "The interference to the sensors is too great at this range."

It was a tense few minutes as they watched the Sector Map like hawks, waiting for any sign of what awaited them inside the turbulent clouds of plasma. When the glossy white representation of the Invictus was nearly upon the Nebula, Jade suddenly sat upright and pointed to the map.

"There, I can make out sensor contacts!" Sure enough, dozens of contacts began to appear, although they seemed much more indistinct than normal.

"There's dozens of them!" Alyssa remarked in surprise. "And we're only seeing the outer edge of the base."

John leaned in nervously, and asked Calara, "Those can't all be ships can they, Commander?"

The Latina was looking worried, as the huge sweep of sensor contacts started to fill the Mar'Katrach Nebula as the sensor array began picking up even more targets. She was checking the signal details in a hurry, and after a long and tense pause she said, "It's a mix, some ships, some structures, but we're too far out for me to tell you any more than that."

"Alright, let's scout it out, and find out what's waiting for us," John said decisively. "The Kintark forces will be totally blind in there, so we should be able to gather more intel without being spotted."

Calara nodded respectfully, and said, "Good plan, Admiral."

He gave her a brief smile to acknowledge the compliment, then replied, "Shields up, and arm weapons, Commander."

The Latina sprung into action, activating the Invictus' weapons, and powering up the shields. The sparkling white armour plating peeled back to reveal the assault cruiser's formidable arsenal, and the dozens of Beam Lasers and Pulse Cannons smoothly rotated into ready positions.

"Jade, take us in," John said to the Nymph.

The green-skinned girl grasped the controls eagerly, getting ready to take over as soon as they dropped out of hyper-warp. "Will do," she replied, acknowledging his order.

The gravity well from the neutron star centred in the nebula was huge, and the safety protocols kicked in, dropping them from hyper-warp at the edge of the nebula. The field of sensor contacts was vast, and when Alyssa switched the Sector Map to the System Map, John felt a growing sense of alarm as he counted well over one-hundred contacts in range.

Now that they'd drawn closer, Calara was able to start identifying the vessels behind the sensor contacts. She began matching ship classifications from the Ship Almanac, when she suddenly gasped in shock, and blurted out, "Planetary Invasion craft! There's dozens of them!"

Sure enough, the System Map now began to display a huge formation of the enormous troop transports, each of which carried two thousand soldiers. The invasion force was arrayed off to one side, leaving a wide field of refuelling stations and munitions dumps clear for the incoming fleet.

"Fuck me..." he whispered under his breath. Sharing a look with his Tactical Officer, he said, "The Kintark must have something big planned! There's at least one-hundred-thousand troops out there!"

She frowned, and exclaimed, "They can't have just left all these ships undefended! Those are significant military assets."

"They didn't," Jade said, pointing to the map again. "There's some big ships over there..."

All eyes on the Bridge swung to that location on the System Map, and they spotted a fleet of ships heading towards a brightly glowing line of navigation buoys, which highlighted the path out of the nebula. There was a huge Kintark battleship in the centre, flanked by four cruisers, and followed by two bulky carriers. Surrounding them in a picket formation were at least a dozen destroyers, and the entire fleet was creeping carefully through the ephemeral nebula, feeling its way toward the nav-buoys.

Calara highlighted the battleship in the targeting view, and a magnified image of the ferocious looking craft appeared to the side of the System Map. The kilometre-long vessel was covered in shimmering green plating, which looked like scales as they interlocked over the curved hull. Interspersed amongst all that armour, the surface bristled with dozens of Plasma Cannon gunports, along with the telltale launching racks for Plasma Missiles.

"I don't believe it!" Calara gasped as she stared at the ship. "That's the Merlan'tok!"

"What's special about it?" Faye asked her curiously, surprised at her outburst.

She stabbed a finger at the huge Kintark battleship, and said, "Those bastards killed Commodore Walker and wiped out his fleet! We have to get some payback!"

"How long until they jump out?" John asked Alyssa, throwing her a quick glance.

She gazed at the map, calculating the travel time based on their sublight engine speed, and answered, "Six minutes."

Turning to Calara next, he said sternly, "Commander, I need an objective analysis. Which of these assets has the highest strategic value?"

His firm tone had the same effect as if he'd dumped a bucket of cold water on her head, and she immediately reined in her emotions. With a quick glance at the map, she replied in a clinical, dispassionate voice, "The troops. Wiping them out will have a significant impact on the Kintark Empire's invasion plans. The battleship and carriers can project substantial firepower, and the time and resources invested in constructing fleet assets of that size are considerable. However, destroying all these refuelling stations and munitions dumps will have an immediate and dramatic strategic effect on the Kintark's ability to resupply vessels near the border."

John froze as he listened to her, vivid memories of the siege at Galon Prime flashed through his mind. He remembered being packed into a planetary invasion ship with hundreds of his fellow marines, his heart gripped with fear at the thought that the vulnerable craft could be ripped apart in an instant. What made it worse was the knowledge that he was totally powerless inside the transport, his life completely at the mercy of the fates.

"We can't just kill them all..." he faltered. "I've been in their place, I know what it's like."

"We haven't got time to destroy everything," Calara replied, looking at him in confusion.

Alyssa shot her a pointed glance, and said quietly, "He means the soldiers in the invasion craft..."

"We could let the battleship leave, then cripple the invasion craft," Irillith suggested. "It would be slower than just destroying them though, so we won't have time to take out the supply facilities."

"Let me hit those in the Raptor!" Jade exclaimed, spinning her chair to gaze up at John. "They aren't shielded, so I'll be able to rip right through them!"

Calara nodded eagerly, letting herself get caught up with the Nymph's wild enthusiasm, and said, "The Merlan'tok has its shields down. We could ambush that fleet as they fly out blind and cut them to pieces! That would give Jade another six minutes to clear out more of the base."

Irillith looked thoughtful as she pondered Calara's suggestion, then she smiled as she said, "We could still hit the invasion craft once we take out that fleet. We should have enough time left to wreck most of them as long as we don't get tied down into a lengthy engagement with the battleship's fleet."

"It sounds like a good plan, John," Alyssa said, turning to face him. "What do you think?"

John weighed up the value of the assets they were poised to attack, against the threat posed by the nearby Kintark fleet. He looked around the Bridge at the girls' eager faces, and although he was worried for their safety, he couldn't disagree with Alyssa's assessment. "Alright, let's do this," he said decisively.

His gaze settled on Alyssa, and she nodded before he voiced his thoughts, saying, "Sure, I'll fly the Invictus."

Jade sprang to her feet, and started running up the slope to the grav-tube. John moved faster, intercepting her at the back of the Bridge, and pulled her into his arms for a fleeting kiss. "Stay safe, no taking risks," he told her, his tone deadly serious.

She traced her finger along his jawline, then said earnestly, "I'll be careful, I promise!" With an eager grin, she bounded away, and dived into the grav-tube.

He turned back towards the Command Podium, and called out to Alyssa as she jogged down the steps, heading to the now-vacant Pilot Station, "Engage the Merlan'tok immediately, XO! We need as much time as possible on those invasion ships afterwards."

"You got it, handsome," she replied with a big grin.

He paused half way up the steps, then walked over to the IntOps station, and asked Irillith, "Can you cyberjack Kintark vessels?"

Her expression turned sombre, and she hissed, "Sssalar merta ith nosssharlisss!"

He frowned in confusion, and said, "Sorry, my Kintark's a bit rusty."

"Mine isn't," she said with a sparkling smile. "I said: 'Their deaths will be glorious!'"

Chuckling he gave her an appreciative grin, and then turned back to the Command Podium, darting up the steps so he could take his seat. *Can you get Dana up here, or is she in the middle of something important?* he thought to Alyssa.

The blonde was sitting in the Pilot's seat now, her hands on the flight controls as she powered up the Invictus' four massive engines. *She's assisting with the surgery, but Rachel says she can manage the last stages without her,* she replied, without turning around.

*Better have all hands on deck,* he said with a note of caution in his voice. *This is going to be close, and I don't want things getting ugly.*

*Whatever you say, John,* Alyssa replied, her tone respectful, and with no hint of her normal teasing playfulness. A moment later, she added, *She's on her way.*

The only person on the Bridge who wasn't keyed up for the fight was Faye, who was looking a little forlorn as she sat on the console in front of him. "What's the matter?" he asked her in surprise when he saw her downcast expression.

"I wanted to help out," she replied quietly, her tiny face looking sad. "If I'd had some time to practice flying the Raptor, I could have flown that for Jade while she concentrated on her shooting."

"But we need you here," he said with a frown. "I gave you fire permissions on the Invictus' internal and external anti-personnel batteries, and we upgraded all the external Gatling Lasers to Pulse Cannons, remember? This is going to be a bloody, point-blank battle, and Calara's going to have her hands full aiming the Beam Lasers and Mass Drivers. She won't have time to accurately fire the Pulse Cannons as well."

Faye's eyes went wide with wonder, and she gasped, "You're letting me fire the Pulse Cannons?!"

"That's right, and I expect you to follow Calara's orders to the letter," he said firmly, gazing at her awestruck face.

"I won't let you down, John!" Faye declared as she leapt to her feet.

"I have every confidence in you," he said encouragingly, and she grinned at him, before flying over to join Calara.

The brunette flashed John a smile, then turned to look at the purple sprite who was alighting on her Tactical Console. "I'm going to give you a very important job, Faye," she said, her voice deadly serious. "I need you to take out any strike craft that launch from the carriers, we can't let any escape to harass Jade in the Raptor. If she has to stop and fight them off, in puts her in grave danger, and she won't be able to destroy as much of the supply base."

Faye's luminous eyes looked huge as she gazed at Calara, and said, "You can count on me!"

The Latina nodded, then said, "Until any strike craft appear, I want you to focus fire on whatever I'm shooting at, unless you think my target is already incapacitated. The faster we can take these ships out the better, and we need to exploit them being shieldless as much as possible."

"Got it!" the AI creature replied, although she was starting to look nervous at the level of trust that was being placed in her.

Calara went to give her a reassuring pat on the arm, but paused with her hand halfway, and smiled instead. "You'll do just fine," she said encouragingly, then took a firm grip on the weapon controls.

***

The big Lizardman officer stood by his Command Table, on the platform that arced out above the darkened Bridge-Pit. In a circle below him, his officers laboured frantically at their stations, running through a simulated drill. Prelate Khardas was freshly promoted to commander of this state-of-the-art cruiser, having previously been part of the Kinta homeworld fleet, working as subordinate to Grand Prelate Melkadian.

Khardas had been overcome with gratitude when he'd received this promotion from his Commanding Officer, a Kintark he felt nothing but the utmost respect for. He'd clicked his long teeth together with pride when he'd been informed that his cruiser, the Jernak'tor, was being assigned to High Prelate Vraktrin's fleet. Vraktrin was a hero amongst the Kintark, who had built a remarkable reputation for resounding victories aboard his flagship, the mighty battleship Merlan'tok. The Empire's Information Bureau broadcasts had sung his praises for weeks, after his glorious victory against the despicable Terran Federation war criminal, Commodore Walker.