Three Square Meals Ch. 089

"It'll take us three hours, seven minutes to reach the Alpha Tauri system," she informed him, having calculated a flight path the instant he'd decided to help the Trankarans. "I've plotted out a course already; I'll lay it in right now."

He patted her on the bottom, earning a cheeky smile as they split up to take their seats. John looked around the Combat Bridge and saw that all the girls were watching him attentively.

"Alyssa tells me that you're all aware of my decision; that we're going to aid the Trankarans against the Kirrix and attempt to rescue Chancellor Niskera," he said, glancing at each of the girls in turn. He saw unquestioning support in the steady gazes focused on him and nodded, realising that Alyssa was correct. Turning to look at his beautiful olive-toned Tactical Officer, he continued, "I have it on good authority that we're not running headlong into a suicide mission. I trust Calara's judgement wholeheartedly and if she thinks there's a good chance of saving Niskera, I think we should take it."

"I'll spend the next couple of hours analysing everything Thandrun sends us," the Latina informed them. "I should be able to give you a more detailed briefing before we hit the Alpha Tauri system."

Faye fluttered over to the Tactical Station. "While you were returning to the Invictus, the Trankarans sent us lots of data files! I uploaded all of them to your Tactical Console."

"Fantastic, thank you!" Calara replied, swiftly checking through the list of documents. After a few seconds spent reviewing them, she smiled at John, looking relieved.

He nodded in return, then leaned forward in his chair as he addressed the group. "I'm not sure how much Alyssa has told you about my reasoning behind this decision, but I'll tell you anyway, just to give you the bigger picture." After taking a deep breath, he continued, "The Trankaran rebellion seems to have left the Republic crippled. I hoped they'd be able to get themselves back on their feet once the rebels gave up, but it seems the Progenitor knows them far better than I do."

"The Trankarans were already floundering in the face of this Kirrix assault, but without their Chancellor, it'll be much worse. It would be worth rescuing Niskera for that reason alone, but she seems to be a kindred spirit, trying to build alliances with the other galactic empires. If we can save her, I think she'll be a strong supporter of the alliance we're trying to build to stand against the Progenitor," he said, carefully explaining his reasoning.

"The Chancellor seemed like an intelligent and capable leader," Irillith said, her violet eyes studying his face as she remembered their last meeting. "It would be tragic to lose someone of her calibre."

"I agree, I got the same impression," John said, looking thoughtful. "Niskera might be able to encourage the minor empires to join our alliance as well. She's obviously built up a rapport with them."

"So what's the plan?" Dana asked, bouncing in her seat. "We go in guns blazing and blow the crap out of the Kirrix?"

John looked at the exuberant redhead and smiled. "That's one option. We could also attempt a stealthy approach, making use of the shuttle we took from Mikaboshi."

"Pfft, sneaking around sucks ass!" Dana snorted, shaking her head and waving a hand dismissively. "Something's bound to fuck up, then we'll be caught with our pants down. Either way, if the Kirrix are laying siege to this underground fortress, we won't be able to get in there without killing a shitload of them."

"The stealth shuttle has very limited troop capacity," Sakura said, looking doubtful. "Even if we were able to execute a smooth exfiltration and managed to slip the Chancellor and the alien representatives past the Kirrix, I doubt we'd have enough space to evacuate them all."

"I just wanted to mention it so we could explore all our options," John said, keeping his tone neutral. "So we're decided then? We smash the Kirrix, teach them a lesson for attacking the Trankarans, and fight our way through to Niskera and her troops?"

"Fuck yeah!" Dana crowed, grinning in excitement.

Calara had a grin of anticipation on her face too. "We don't really do stealth. I assumed from the start that we'd be planning a full-frontal assault."

"Alright, it seems we're all on the same page," John said with a smile, leaning back in his chair. "I was thinking Jade, Calara, Dana, and Irillith on the Invictus. Your job will be to hit the Kirrix fleet, keeping them distracted while we send in a ground team to rescue Niskera."

"Actually, I'm not going to be much use in a fleet battle," Irillith said, giving John a rueful look. "Some of those Kirrix derelicts still had power, but their computer systems are completely alien to ours... The Invictus wasn't even able to create a digital bridge to their ships! Without a rudimentary connection, I'm not able to subvert their systems. I can't hack them..."

John shared a worried glance with Calara, seeing her expression grow more anxious as she was forced to re-evaluate her initial assessment of the impending battle. "That's... unfortunate," she said, looking grim. "Irillith turning enemy ships against one another is a phenomenal force multiplier. Give me a few hours... I'll try to adapt our tactics to compensate."

"Sorry," Irillith said, giving them an apologetic look.

"No need for that, it's not your fault," John said, giving her a reassuring smile. "In that case, I'd like you to join the ground assault team with me, Alyssa, Rachel, and Tashana."

Irillith nodded, an eager gleam in her eyes. "Of course, I'll be happy to."

"You haven't mentioned me yet," Sakura said, gazing at John and holding her breath. "Does that mean...?"

"Yes, you'll be providing fire support in the Valkyrie," John said, smiling as she pumped her fist in the air. "We could have used you for the ground mission, but the Valkyrie is packing too much firepower to let it sit out the battle. I'd like you to help clear our landing site on Khalgron."

"I won't let you down!" the Asian girl said, looking thrilled.

He gave her an appreciative nod, then turned to look at Faye, his expression serious. "We need a pilot for the Raptor, Faye. Are you comfortable flying the gunship while still acting as secondary gunner on the Invictus?"

"Absolutely!" she agreed immediately. "I can easily cover both roles simultaneously."

"Excellent, thank you," John said, looking pleased. "As soon as you drop us off on Khalgron, I want you to provide cover for Sakura while she keeps the Kirrix clear from our departure point. Once we're all aboard, we all dock with the Invictus and get the hell out of there."

"Shit, I forgot!" Dana blurted out, scowling in irritation. "I figured out how to eliminate that signal delay you mentioned, but I've been so distracted by Faye's body, I haven't had a chance to fix it yet. We'll need to go outside on the hull to make the modifications, so unless we delay our departure, we won't be able to upgrade the comms array before the battle. We can't do it in hyper-warp."

Faye gave Dana a shifty look. "Actually, I already fixed it."

The redhead blinked at her in surprise. "How the hell did you manage that?"

The purple sprite twisted her hands together nervously. "You mentioned your plans to modify the pulse generator, so I've been checking your schematic repositories and waiting for you to draw up blueprints. The signal delay has been inhibiting my piloting efficiency by fourteen-point-three-seven percent, so I was very anxious to resolve the problem. I assigned two of my boys to upgrade the comms array while the rest worked on upgrading the heatsinks on the Pulse Cannons. I had intended it to be a surprise, so... Ta-dah!"

Dana couldn't help laughing and she grinned at the sprite. "That's awesome! Thanks for sorting that out."

"I should be the one thanking you," Faye replied, beaming at her in delight. "I'll be able to react to threats almost instantaneously now!"

"Talking of upgrades, are there any last-minute preparations we can make?" John asked, looking intently at his smiling Chief Engineer. "We've got about three hours before the battle."

Dana frowned and tapped a finger on her chin. "I've had some ideas, but they're all for big projects. I'd like to upgrade the Gauss Cannons, Heavy Cannons, and Punisher Gatling to take advantage of the tech I developed for the Quantum rifles."

"I was thinking more along the lines of anti-personnel weapons," John said, looking thoughtful. "The Quantum rifles have incredible stopping power, but if the planet is crawling with Kirrix, ammo might become a problem. Can you upgrade a couple of the Justice lasers to take advantage of the new tech we've acquired?"

Dana suddenly sat bolt upright, a light of inspiration in her eyes. "Oh fuck! That would be perfect!" Springing to her feet, she ran towards the ramp. "I know just the thing! Give me an hour, then I'll need one of you to do some psychic shaping!"

John watched in surprise as Dana sprinted up the slope, pausing only to grab one of the Quantum rifles from the weapon racks before she leapt into the grav-tube.

Jade rose from her chair and smiled. "I'll go and see if she needs some help." She glanced towards Calara and added, "Dana did some active scans of the Kirrix vessels while you were visiting the Trankarans. She uploaded the results to Tactical for you."

"Those will be a big help, thank you," the Latina said appreciatively.

As Jade passed John's seat, he reached out to catch her hand. "Can you ask Dana about upgrading the Paragon suits with helmet cams? Jehanna requested some combat footage..."

The Nymph gently squeezed his hand. "I'm sure Jehanna will be very appreciative, Master."

"Ah! So that was the real reason we're charging into battle?" Alyssa asked, giving him a playful grin. "We're risking life and limb to help you get laid?"

The girls laughed and John smiled at the good-natured ribbing. "Alright, I confess. Rescuing Niskera is just a cunning pretext to seduce Jehanna into bed again."

Jade nodded thoughtfully. "The decision to fight the Kirrix makes more sense now. Jehanna's a very beautiful girl... she'll make a fine addition to your harem of permanent mates."

Thinking she was serious, John looked at the Nymph in surprise, but the twinkle in her emerald eyes gave her away. He laughed as he rose to his feet. "You're getting as bad as the rest of them. I'm sure Progenitors aren't supposed to put up with all this teasing from their women."

"Perhaps I need to be spanked for my insolence?" Jade asked hopefully.

John gave her a playful smack on her bottom, feeling her firm cheek tremble with the impact. "That'll have to do for now, we haven't got time for anything else," he said with a smile. Looking around at the rest of the group, he added, "We better get to work. I'll contact Niskera and confirm she's still actually alive; we'll abort the mission if they've already been overrun."

"I've transmitted the tech schematics to the Trankarans and our flight-path is laid in," Alyssa informed him, glancing at the sector map. "We'll be jumping out of the Delta Corvus system in fifteen seconds. If Faye can watch the Bridge, I'll take care of the psychic shaping Dana needs."

"No problem!" Faye said, skipping over to the Command Station and hopping up onto John's console.

"I'll spend some more time practicing in the Valkyrie," Sakura said, giving John a passing kiss, before jogging up the ramp towards the grav-tubes.

John turned to look at Irillith and Tashana. "Could you two check our gear please? We'll need combat webbing loaded with lots of spare ammo and grenades."

The sisters shared a smile and nodded, pleased to be working together.

Turning to look at Calara he said, "You've got two hours, thirty minutes, then we'll reconvene to view your mission briefing."

"...And preload everyone," Alyssa added, darting a coy glance at John.

"That too," he agreed, doing his best to suppress an eager grin.

The rest of the group split up then, hurrying off to complete their tasks. John decided to make the call from his Ready Room, so he took the express grav-tube up to Deck Two, then walked through his bedroom, past the Officers' Quarters and up one more level. Faye was waiting for him on the Command Deck, perched on his Command Console, and she greeted him with an energetic wave.

"Didn't I just leave you in the Combat Bridge?" John asked curiously, walking down the ramp towards his Ready Room.

"I actually prefer it up here on the Command Deck," Faye replied, her face uncharacteristically serious. Wriggling her compact little bottom, she added, "This console is much more comfortable!"

John looked at her in confusion for a moment, wondering how a digital creature could find one console to be more comfortable than another. He caught the look of anticipation in her luminous eyes and realised she was joking. When he started to laugh, Faye looked delighted, a glorious smile lighting up her face.

"I've updated your comm interface with Chancellor Niskera's contact details on Khalgron," she informed him.

Impressed by her initiative, John gave her a grateful grin. "Fantastic! Thanks, honey!"

Entering his Ready Room, John strode briskly over to his desk and sat down in his high-backed leather chair. He activated the console, then searched for the new contact details, finding them highlighted in red to make them even easier to locate. Swiping his hand across Chancellor Niskera's name, he sat back in his chair, wondering if they were close enough to make direct contact. After seeing the wrecked comm beacon that morning, he could only assume that the Kirrix would have destroyed any others they encountered.

The holo-screen flickered for a moment, until it solidified into a grainy image of the Trankaran Republic's emblem. The hammer and anvil symbol wavered a couple of times, making John think he was about to lose the connection, but after thirty seconds it faded away to be replaced by Chancellor Niskera's haggard face. She looked drawn with exhaustion and her orange, pupil-less eyes were riven with fear.

"Thandrun! It's far too dangerous! You must not-" Niskera stuttered to a stop, her eyes widening as she realised who was contacting her. "By the Great Maker! Commodore Blake!"

"You've no idea how glad I am to see you're still alive, Chancellor!" John exclaimed, not bothering to correct her on his rank. "We're coming to rescue you! What's your situation there?"

He could see that she was trying to be brave, but Niskera was clearly terrified, her broad, flat features twisted with anguish. The sound of gunfire echoed in the background, accompanied by rumbling roars and shrill high-pitched screams. There was a thump of an explosion and dust showered down on her head, making her cower in fear.

"It's hopeless! The Kirrix are closing in... there's too many of them!" She shook her head, wincing as she did so. "Tell Fleet Warden Thandrun to abort the attack on Alpha Tauri... Tell him that I order him to return to Trankara! My final message for the Senate is to beg them to forgive all rebels for past offences; the Republic must stand together to save our people!"

John shook his head firmly. "No. I'm coming to evacuate you and any survivors. You can give Thandrun whatever orders you like when you're safely aboard the Invictus. We'll hit the Alpha Tauri system in just over three hours, so I need you to hold on for just a bit longer."

She looked at him in shock, unused to her commands being so bluntly ignored. There was a huge crash from somewhere in the fortress and Niskera looked over her shoulder, shaking with terror. She seemed to be on the verge of breaking under the strain; it was a haunted look that John had seen too many times in his past.

"The troops have been so brave, but they're facing an endless swarm..." Niskera whispered, her voice wavering. "It's only a matter of time..."

"Chancellor, keep it together!" John snapped curtly. "Your people need you to stay strong!"

Niskera looked like she'd been slapped, and she took a shuddering breath then nodded slowly.

Softening his stern tone, John's voice was soothing as he said, "Niskera, we'll be there soon, I promise." When she looked more stable, he continued, "Who's your highest-ranking military officer there? I need to speak with him urgently."

"Sub-Warden Dhormun, I'll get him for you," she replied, giving him a brave but quivering smile.

Niskera's anxious face disappeared from the screen and John could only listen impotently as the sound of intense fighting raged somewhere close by. After a couple of minutes wait, a male Trankaran's angry face loomed into the camera.

"I don't have time for this!" he snarled in a deep bass rumble, glowering at the screen.

"Are you alone Dhormun?" John asked abruptly, the look he gave the Trankaran causing the Sub-warden's malachite eyes to momentarily widen.

The armoured Trankaran turned to his right and grunted, "Would you give us a moment please, Chancellor." After waiting a few seconds, he turned to look at the screen again. "Alright, she's gone."

John leaned forward and said quietly, "We're mounting a rescue mission, but we won't reach the system for another three hours. Can you hold out until then?"

Dhormun's eyes lit up with hope for a second, but his expression soon darkened. "I don't know..." he admitted, his slab-like features set in a bleak mask. "The Kirrix sent in shock troops... creatures we've never seen before. They're nearly impossible to take down!"

John fixed the Trankaran with a level gaze. "Dhormun, the Republic is on the verge of collapse. Without Niskera, your people are doomed. She must survive... at any cost... do I make myself clear?"

The Sub-warden slowly nodded, his expression hardening. "I understand. By my honour, we'll protect her!"

"We'll be there as soon as we can, you have my word," John said, his voice throbbing with sincerity.

Dhormun raised a clenched fist in salute and was about to reply when there was another crash behind him.

"Sub-Warden!" a panicked Trankaran soldier called out. "They're breaking through in the East wing!"

Turning back to look at the holo-screen again, Dhormun said defiantly, "We'll hold, but don't take too long..."

Abruptly the connection cut out and John was left staring at static. He eased back in his chair, unclenching his hands from the armrests and trying to relax the tension in his shoulders. Now wasn't the time to let himself get keyed up for a fight, that time would come soon enough. He turned and looked out of the window to watch the stars sweeping by, losing himself in that glittering view.

He'd seen how desperate the Trankaran situation was on Khalgron and knew the Trankarans could be overwhelmed at any moment. Meanwhile, the Invictus was sailing headlong into a huge Kirrix invasion fleet, exposing the girls to tremendous danger. If Dhormun and his men couldn't hold the line, then John would be putting the lives of his entire crew at huge risk for naught.

At that moment he realised the irony in the girls' absolute trust in his judgement, when he was having such sincere doubts himself. He was half-tempted to ask Luna to sail across Terran Space to race to the Trankarans aid, but a decision like that would have serious ramifications and would need to be carefully considered. He was a Vice Admiral now and probably had the authority to grant them permission, but a fleet of previously unseen Maliri warships sailing brazenly across another Empire's territory? He didn't need to be a political mastermind to know that the Admiralty would have a few choice things to say about that!

Having to think about that kind of political fallout made him miss Edraele all the more, and he was startled to realise how much he'd come to rely on her wise counsel. Edraele's incapacitation couldn't have come at a worse time, but there wasn't anything he could do about that now. As he lost himself in the stars once more, he wondered if the other Progenitor was out there right now, watching him dance around like a puppet as he dealt with one emergency after another.