All Comments on 'Three Square Meals Ch. 039'

I was not surprised, but I am still awed by the large perk Rachel discovered. As she said, "we'll need to be very discerning about who we invite to our little group."

Thanks for another chapter!

Hope you don't mind a little constructive critique.

Mr Yamamoto was able to "harmlessly deflected the stroke, with the perfect ringing note of steel against steel." without actually being present in the room. Changing the room's visual appearance by the simulation system is one thing. Having simulation system create a steel out of thin air to deflect John's attacks is taking it too far.

Could you explain how that works? Am I missing something?

Thanks for sharing the inspiration.

Another great chapter.

Since it repairs the damage from aging then could it also be a fountain of youth. I would like for a girl from John's past to join the crew. Probably someone who also served on the Invictus with him. She could provide a different perspective on John as she knew him when he was around the same age as the girls. With all these mysteries floating about it could be a good way to explore Johns past.

I also like his sword instrutor and look forward to learning more about him.

Would love to read a special chapter from the point of view of the mysterious figure that has been watching them. From the broken lamp I assume she(?) was affected by her observations.

Thanks and keep up the good work.

very fun chapter, loved the dolphin bit and Jade's overall happiness in a paradise made for her. Also loved you letting us in on the secrets of Oceanus at the very end.

Having to wait a bunch of days for the full medical report is going to be agonizing.

Couple of notes:

" Dana and Rachel had seen this demonstration of psychokinesis a few times before now,"

Should be Dana and Calara

Also I'm completely exhausted and not sure which chapter it's done in or I'd check now but wasn't his armour triple plated and the girls armour double plated at the start?

P.S intrigued to here Yamamato's story.

Keep them coming! It's like what being addicted must feel like, I check everyday to see if it's there. I can barely wait for the each new chapter. Then when it's posted I tell myself I'm going to only read half so it will last longer, but then I devour the entire chapter in one gulp.

always like a story where the characters need to actually learn / practice and work for something rather than "magically" acquiring talents.

also Jade finding she can transform easier now and talk to other species is cool, I could see her having some sort of "pets" like humongous alien dogs / animals she's able to command and assist in future battles.

Even in the quiet interludes you continue to surprise me with something that grabs my interest and makes me impatient for the next chapter. I can't say I'm completely surprised that the potential exists for immortality. I do wonder if Rachel will get to study John in a way that will illuminate how John being half human impacts his Progenitor inheritance. Does it enhance or reduce the potency of his gifts? Is it the only reason that John is able to keep from becoming a destroyer of worlds? Are all Progenitors essentially half-breeds? Is Jade a member of a race made/customized specifically by the Progenitors to make the perfect minions?

I'm really looking forward to learning the answers to many of these questions. You've been hinting at a lot of really interesting things that haven't been explained yet and I really want to know. Guess I'll just have to be patient like everybody else.

Please keep the chapters coming!

It is obvious you have this story completed in some form, else the foreshadowing you use would not be so refined. The steel-on-steel I anticipated, as it would be necessary for realistic training. I am assuming there is an intricate inclusion of mini tractor beams to create the resistance necessary along with the obvious audio to accompany the scenario.

I also anticipated the end result of the genetic changes...though I will not spoil the reveal for those who have not figured it out....again, your foreshadowing techniques are very refined....kudos.

Being a diver myself, the description of Jade's and the troupe's first impressions of the reef brought back vivid pictures in my own mind. I appreciate your attention to detail. Which also brings me to another point. At times your descriptions in the narrative are absolutely amazing at pulling out the third eye vision one gets while reading a good work. Some consider this filler, but we all know these vivid descriptions pull the reader into the story through imaginative visions, making it just that much more real.

An example of the somewhat glossed over scenes I would have appreciated more of this is when Alyssa was repairing the Invictus. There was really no description of the damage, which was a little disappointing. I attribute some of that to the critique about the seemingly repetitive sex scenes in the earlier chapters and I have enjoyed your response to that critique. However: I would respectfully ask you don't go to far either way with that?

To close on a positive note: LOVE your style and accomplished form. The storyline is absolutely captivating. Keep it up!......and write FASTER!!!!!! lol.

Just finished rereading this whole series and I've got to say I'm really hooked on this story! One thing that immediately came to mind when they were discussing the properties of the allysium was that, as long as a laser impact didn't overload the capicators it would do no damage to the ship. With this in mind would it be possible for them to intentionally allow some laser blasts past the shields to harmlessly impact on the hull thus maintaining shield integrity to protect from projectiles?

This would give them a significant tactical advantage. Perhaps also even channelling the energy stored in the capicators back into the shield's/weapons.

From previous chapters they seem to be having quite a problem with baddies that have the projectile redirection system (I forget what you called it:)). My understanding of sci-fi science isn't too great but it might be possible to impart enough energy into a projectile to turn the mass into energy/plasma. This could be a way to overcome this issue(perhaps as an alternate fire method with slower fire rate).

Anyway just a few thought I've had. Keep up the good work!

While it might be possible to allow shots past the shields to recharge things, that would only really work in practical usage if the shields could be controlled in sections as opposed to all at once.

In reference, see Star Citizen and how shields work for larger ships in their design methods.

:-)

I know exactly what you mean. The foreshadowing is so well done! It drives me crazy staying silent when people comment about matters close to this without seeing it.I just grit my teeth to refrain from ruining it.

I am terribly relieved to know that someone else sees what I see. Finally a comrade sharing the burden of secrecy. Thank you for sharing that,

Your story is pretty amazing.

It almost makes me feel guilty that I am reading it for free, but I can tell that you are enjoying the writing, so thank you for sharing.

I think i'v said it before..alotta chapters ago..but it bears repeating since your writing skills are now extremly good instead of just really, really good..like they were when you started this. You can write a full chapter about the grass growing in your yard, or on some disant planet even and I would read it with the same thrilling anticipation I had while reading every other chapter thus far. If you havn't had anime and manga companies flooding your e-mails with job offers by now then this world truely is full of stupid morons. I could tell from your very 1st chapter that you had skills and by chapter 3 the entire world should have seen the same. Just your ability alone to keep a story going while keeping it fresh and suspensful and exciting while showing no evidence of boredom all this time should be more than enough reason for someone in such a thriving industy to want to reach out and "bring that talent home", so to speak. I do look forward to WATCHING Three Square Meals someday..if that doesn't happen then there's truelly no helping this world. And i'd like to end this with a "THANK YOU", for staying on your own course storywise and not getting caught up with trying to please the critics and idea havers out there. It's YOUR story. It's in YOUR head. Nobody can write it better than YOU. I'm just amazed at how fast you're writing it. I'm not worthy. I'm not worthy....

Thanks for the compliment.

Tefler, I am sending you some private information that I hope will help polish up a few rough edges. Your skills at storytelling are waaaay beyond mine by the way. And when you finish, you really should present this to a movie producer.

I WANT MORE AND I WANT IT NOWWWWWW!!!!!!! LOL

I've come down with a deadly bout of man-flu, so I'm out of action at the moment. I've written the first 6k or so words of chapter 40 before the weekend, but haven't written anything in a few days. Chapter 40 will probably be out early next week.

I'm glad you liked the chapter, and thanks for the notes on the name mix-up I've fixed that for a future edited version.

"wasn't his armour triple plated and the girls armour double plated"

Yeah that's right. Triple shaping his armour was what weakened the psi-shaper in the first place. Why do you ask?

Hi Tefler,

Sucks to hear you're sick

As for why I asked about the triple shaped armour

"The redhead clicked a button on the remote and the holo-image changed. "Now here is double shaped black Invictium at a microscopic level. I'm sure you can see how much more intricate the lattice structure is, and my tests have proven that it is much more resilient, as you already probably guessed after that Kintark Royal Guard attack on John. It turns out that it becomes progressively tougher and more reflective with each reshaping, in a linear scaling model," she explained carefully."

In my haste to find the quote, I forgot to say hope you feel better soon as well

Thanks for leaving the feedback Dry_opinion, I don't think I've seen you comment before.

With regard to how it works, and how the blades are able to connect with each other: It's done through a combination of force fields and tractor beams that allows their blades to present resistance to each other. The steel on steel is just a simple sound effect from the simulator. The safety measure built into the simulator prevent them from physically harming one another, and instead display the death animation to the loser when the opponent inflicts a fatal or debilitating hit.

Hope that makes it a little clearer.

"It is obvious you have this story completed in some form, else the foreshadowing you use would not be so refined."

I'll let you in behind the curtain a little bit to explain how I work. I basically have a main plot arc, and then a few dozen subplots that are running concurrently. I have a number of key "scenes" that I've thought about beforehand, and then just see where the mood takes me as I write each chapter. I start writing and just flow through scene after scene, adding in little hints to things that I know are coming soon, and recently I've been jotting down a few key things that I want to happen in that particular chapter, and then crossing them from my list as I get there.

Some things I've planned out in detail, like the Progenitor physiology, what is happening and why. That way it can stay consistent throughout the story, without any inconsistencies (and if there are any, its usually intentional). I've written Rachel's research show and tell, which basically turns my notes into dialogue and interaction between the characters. It's in chapter 40, so I hope you enjoy it.

The next time the Invictus gets damaged, I'll make sure I tell you exactly what happened. :-)

"Just finished rereading this whole series and I've got to say I'm really hooked on this story!"

Great, I'm glad you enjoyed it!

"as long as a laser impact didn't overload the capacitors it would do no damage to the ship."

Yep, that's correct.

"With this in mind would it be possible for them to intentionally allow some laser blasts past the shields"

That's very sneaky, and is a great way of abusing their effective immunity to laser fire (at least low powered shots). I was going to respond that the shield needs time to power up after they switch them off, but that's clearly not the case, because when they turn them on at the start of a fight, they activate at full power...

The only real downside is if they get shot at by someone using conventional munitions before they were able to get the shields up in time. It does take a few seconds to activate the shields, so that time delay alone might make toggling them off and on in combat inadvisable.

Thanks. I could have soldiered on and churned out some more of the chapter, but if I'm not firing on all cylinders, lots of mistakes will slip in.

Regarding the armour shaping presentation from Dana: I see what you mean, and it sounds a bit confusing from the way I wrote it. She was referring to the fact that reshaping the armour makes it much tougher, but the way that sentence was phrased makes it sound like she was referring to double-shaped rather than in broader terms (ie the triple shaped suit that saved him from injury).

I'll go back and rewrite it a little to make it less ambiguous.

Your health is obviously more important than our story addiction....winks....seriously though, hope you feel better soon.

First of all, I'm joining everybody, who wishes you quick recovery. Get well soon.

Second, it was very nice of you to take time and respond to my comment. Thank you.

Third, is my responses to the "The dojo simulator" comment below the quotes from that comment.

> I don't think I've seen you comment before.

My first comment was for chapter 38. There was nothing constructive there - just kudos.

>With regard to how it works, and how the blades are able to connect with each other: It's done through a combination of force fields and tractor beams that allows their blades to present resistance to each other.

Still have problems with that:

1. Force fields and tractor beams would have to generate blade resistance in random places, because the opponents are constantly moving.

2. The resistance would have to be generated instantaneously, because as Mr. Yamamoto said "Your strength will do you no good here, only speed and skill"

3. The resistance would have to be generated in a very precise point where the swords connect. Having a large resistance field will prevent movement of swords and opponents.

If there is a technology to control metal in these 3 ways - you practically have Magneto powers. Portable dojo simulator would be enough to kill a squad of enemies using metal manipulation for small metal pieces (bullets) or even parts of the enemy armor.

4. Not every block of the sword is intended to stop the opponent's motion. Sometimes blocks redirect the attack letting the blade slide (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K0oSM-z5714).

In this case the resistance should correspond to the exact position of the blade in all 3 dimensions, while precisely matching the strength of the block.

Again, I think that such technology would rather be used for real combat, than for a simulator.

Hope you understand that my intentions is to make the story more believable and not to just bash you with critique.

Thanks for sharing the inspiration

Sorry u were ill and glad to hear that you're doing better. Please continue with this series. In luv with the characters and storyline.

Absolutely love the story. Love the direction it is moving in. the tension, mystery and foreshadowing creates a real 'gripper'.

I am over 70 and also, have never backed away from a good scrap.

Love the characters.!

I am so very impressed by STRONG, INTELLIGENT women, but not dominant ones.

It has never been explained about the abundance of water and the wonderful gourmet meals aboard the 'Invictus". there must be a classic explanation.

The Invictus was originally built to house several hundred marines. The water would have a recycling component to it. And, have you ever fed A marine for A day? LOL.

I've been assuming that food preservation technology should advance with in pace with the ability to travel faster than light. It's such a low hanging fruit that I don't need to know how they preserve high quality ingredients. I simply believe it shouldn't be difficult in comparison to the rest of what we see.

As for the water? Recycling water is reasonably easy so it should be nearly unlimited. And their food reserves are HUGE since the Invictus was created to house a troop of marines.

With apologies to Dry Opinion, I saw the same thing but from reading the story a d connections I have made I have spotted a story path that is likely intended to populate the ship with virtual Marines.

I expect John's Sensei to virtual assist against boarding action in future episodes.

Terrible with names and Japanese are too tricky to remember.

AI is going to come first.

I dunno about the Sensei VR Defense. I can see some type of AI development, though...initiated by the psycho-interactive Alyssium. AI marines, possibility if they are made of the Alyssium. And I can see John developing even stronger psychic powers than Alyssa, something he already seems moving towards. If not AI, then Alyssium automatons, perhaps?

Don't forget the teaser about Dana adapting the psy-shaper technology. The implications there are enormous. Anything from enhancing John and Alyssa's psychic powers to providing a communication channel with a self-aware Alysium intelligence....even having a measure of control over Alysium VI/automaton marines.

I spent most of today and some of yesterday writing again, and I've now finished chapter 40 and handed it over to my editors. It will probably be up on the site towards the end of the week, going by previous editing and approval times.

Quite enjoyed this chapter. For once they weren't rushing off to somewhere to save someone/something.

This also made me thinking that if you went on vacation we would have to wait for a long time for a new chapter! :P (Ofcourse you can take a break from writing sometime, youve earned a vacation.)

Also glad you are feeling better, hope it wasnt to bad.

Anyway keep it up! I saw you posted a first chapter of another story so I'm going to check that out too.

- Me

Was starting to worry a bit. Looking forward to Chapter 40! I must admit, my mind has gone in so many directions trying to anticipate what comes next...the mark of a good story. PLEASE look into submitting this to a producer for a movie? Perhaps a series?

I think you guys are going a little over board with the semi-Intelligent Alyssium angle. It's not necessary. We already know that Invictium is energy absorbant, and that Alyssium will be the same. That scene outside the ship only needs two things to be true for that reaction. That Alyssa and the crew leak a bit of Psychic Energy, and that the Alyssium can absorb Psychic Energy. The iridescant effect is just a foreshadowing that there will be a Psychic Battle in the future (and that it reflects a portion of that energy back as visible light). Progenitors can be nasty...

Ps. Been re-reading the whole story. Mostly solid. I just want to point out that Planets are numbered and Stars are alphabetized. Alpha Centauri-B is the second star in at least a Binary system. Alpha Centauri 6 is the 6th planet (it can be confusing whether it orbits A or B, but usually the stars are too close together to worry about that). Interestingly, the "Greeks" (alpha, beta, gamma, delta, etc.) are in reference to the star's place in a classic constellation. I say "interesting" because, usually these stars are no where near each other in space. The ancients had no knowledge of any depth to space.

No analysis or critique from me, just a super big helping of gratitude for the hours of enjoyment you have given me. I am totally hooked on this series.

Everyone is getting all fancy with force fields and such. If that was the case he could have used his own blade and not the practice piece. Much better to train with what your going to use. Much simpler would be inertial dampening tech built into the practice blade that is fed info via sensors in other equipment.

Wow, fantastic work. I'm pretty blown away by the scope of this story, only a few others have caught my eye in this way and I'm glad I perused your work.

I had seen this story floating around for a while but funnily enough, was just put off from reading it because of the title. Man that was confusing, one day I decided "what the hell." Started reading and was hooked by the end of chapter two.

My only real complaint--if it can even be called that--is that I need to wait for the next chapter! Why!?

Thanks for the awesome story!

When will chapter 40 and on be on site?

Is just being edited at the moment, so assuming I submit it for approval tomorrow after making the edits, then there's a 48 hour wait before it goes live. Therefore, it will probably be up on Friday.

I'm hoping to finish chapter 41 tonight too, so you can probably expect that by Monday or Tuesday next week.

Thanks for leaving the nice comments. It's always rewarding to hear that people have enjoyed what I've written.

Thanks anon for that information about the greek letters being used for stars and the numbers being used for planets. You learn something new every day!

Just waiting for the editors to catch up. Both 40 and 41 are long chapters, so will take a little while to go through it all.

I'm very happy to hear that I'm going to be seeing not just one, but two new chapters soon.

Especially since I am hoping that Rachel's research show and tell in chapter 40 will finally confirm something that PussylickersRus and I have long suspected.

Happy, happy!

Gah, you don't know how much you miss something until....

I hope I can hold out until the next chapter makes it through the pipelines!

It normally takes at least 2 days to get approved, so you might see it on Saturday if we're lucky.

My editors are taking a look at Chapter 41 now too, so that will probably be up on the site early next week (maybe Tuesday?).

It's been funny how many emails I've received asking when the next chapter would be out, as well as people worrying that I had stopped. I think everyone got used to the one chapter a week pace I was setting. :-)

No offense intended, but I ignored your story completely until chapter 5 came out. The regular update schedule was a big selling point to me. Normally I ignore new authors putting out stories with "Ch. 0x" at the end. It makes me extremely nervous seeing that a brand new author left a zero for the ten's digit. However your regular updates convinced me to give it a chance.

At this point I'm hooked even if you take a month off, but I really love seeing a fresh chapter at least once a week.

Not that you want to take it in that direction but can we assume if his mother is alive she's still young and serving another Progenitor whether it's his father or someone else?

I've finished the edits on that chapter and submitted it too. It normally takes a few days, so you can probably expect to see that one on Tuesday next week.

Back to Chapter 42! :-)

It is extremely likely that if his mom is alive, she is still youthful and serving another Progenitor.

The youthful part is nearly definite. Rachel hasn't given her presentation yet, but based on what she said informally (and Tefler's foreshadowing) I strongly suspect that a Progenitor's mates do not age. It's just the "serving" part that is in doubt. I say that it is only "extremely likely" because she left this Progenitor in order to give birth to John. That puzzles me a bit. Perhaps she has resistance to being bound or John's father died. Perhaps when a Progenitor's mate is pregnant she becomes temporarily bound to protect the child over the father and did what was best for him. Perhaps her Progenitor thought it was necessary to hide one of his children and she was taking care of the task.

As for John's mother returning to a Progenitor master after giving birth, it could be that she was never unbound or that she could no longer live without a master so she had to return to find a new one.

It would be incredibly weird for John to bind his own mother, but there are several points to make. First of all, he's never actually known her except as a photo and a concept. This means that emotionally, in many ways, she's mostly a stranger rather than a mother to him -- they have no shared experiences. Secondly, if he kills her mate, she might need a new Progenitor mate to be happy. I'm sure he wouldn't like her to be suffering. Thirdly, Progenitor psychology and biology has a greater hold on John than he'd like to believe. He might have an instinct to bind any woman for whom he has feelings even if the concept of being with his biological mother makes him uncomfortable.

Or perhaps his mother can live unbound and happy and once she is freed of her master they can finally get to know each other as mother and son. I really do not know. Too many variables are still unrevealed.

I think part of it was that you were updating in the comments here but not on your bio, so unless someone actively reads the comments, they were out of the loop on how things were going on your end.

Not necessarily..

We don't know if the effects are permanent. His mother could start aging again as soon as she left his father.

Also, remember the girls changed to what he wants them to be. Maybe a regular progenitor won't make his females immortal. It's even possible they keep them under the initial effect (make them forget what happened, behave like a sex zombies). I like to imagine that John's effect on the girls is something unique and not the rule for all progenitors. Let's wait for Tefler's vision on the subject.

BTW, I'm tired of reloading every hour waiting for the next chapter. It was supposed to be available today.

It"s available now!!! YES!!!!

Hot Damn, spectacular. There is just to much to try and comment on.

Congratulations on a full raging story that's still warming up. Let alone the comments, are they getting more numerous and lengthy.

Strnge thing for me, Jade meeting the dolphins and adapting to their world. It has me thinking of our own, the only life we know of is here. Your story is about life and lives that are important to us. We pass by so much in our daily rush to work and play.

The ending of this chapter how Ghost Busters of you, key master,gate keeper. I couldn't heip it the thought /visual just popped into my head. My mind a terrible waste.

I've enjoyed reading your comments on earlier chapters too.

I had to think a minute about the ghostbusters reference, but I know what scene you are referring to. Yeah, I can see the similarities, but no, I wasn't thinking about that at the time (subconsciously maybe?).

Anyway, nice to see you catching up on the recent chapters. I Hope you continue to enjoy the rest!

I use to many word to convey some simple ideas. Its just for fun,and the visual just popped in. The storm blowing, their room open to the world, I imagined some kind of alter in their room, the girls are the alter. And John begining to fulfill his Progenitor roll, it's becoming more prominent.

Can't wait to catch you, I would read faster butt..............This is just plain Badass

Telekinetic splash during her big O.

Tefler spills in comments of Ch57 to answer questions about who was sneaking around, because there was nobody sneaking around.

Just a little bugged about the math regarding invictuim's durability. Let's give titanium an arbitrary defence rating, like 5. Invictuim, being twice as strong, would be 10. Double shaped invictuim would be twice as strong as normal at 20. 4 times titanium. Triple shaped would be at 30, 6 times the strength of titanium. And so on. I'm a math guy so things like this annoy me a little, but I am loving the story.

The scaling for Alyssium goes like this:

Alyssium:

Shaped / Reflect / Absorb / Thickness (compared to Titanium)

Single / 50% / 50% / 3x

Double / 55% / 45% / 4x

Triple / 60% / 40% / 5x

Quad / 65% / 35% / 6x

Penta / 70% / 30% / 7x

Hex / 75% / 25% / 8x

Sept / 80% / 20% / 9x

Octo / 85% / 15% / 10x

Nine / 90% / 10% / 11x

Deca / 95% / 5% / 12x

The values for Invictium are:

Shaped / Reflect / Absorb / Thickness

Single / 35% / 60% (5% damage gets through) / 2x

Double / 40% / 55% (5% damage gets through) / 3x

etc

Tefler

The scene in the bedroom with the whole wind and crashing lightning... I can almost feel it. That was some really good writing. And the denouement was perfection.

I am enjoying your story immensely. These harem stories tend to get pretty repetitive, but you manage to keep it incredibly fresh.

2 weeks worth of cum in stasis containers, could he turn himself into a hot chick? Asking the important questions here.

I think that might be a little too much for most of our readers here. But I can't help chuckle at the thought of John's two week therapy being the perfection of HRT. Maybe the crew should kidnap Lt Adams the next time they're on Olympus, or maybe not..... 😂😂😂

1. When she has a baby her and the baby swim like dolphins or sharks would be so cool. 2. Her flavor besides mint is pistachio. Or if her son if her baby first babytime is a boy or twins one girl one boy girl spearmint and boy pistachio. Are they going to breed more than once per mommy or what if all got twins or triplets or the human Boyd has four eggs. The green girl might make more or less than a human. Just food for thought. Anonymous bcuz no account but call me rathej

In chapter 39, there are a couple of beautiful exchanges. First, Dana, Alyssa, and John share these words (ch39, p.2)

The only one who hadn't said anything was Dana, who was busying eating, but kept glancing back at the door longingly from time to time. "What's up honey, not having a good time?" John asked her when he noticed she had stayed quiet. "Oh, sorry! I was a bit distracted," the redhead apologised, flushing a little with embarrassment. Alyssa grinned at her old friend, and shook her head affectionately. "She can't keep her mind off her research projects. Playing with all the toys you've given her is basically a 24/7 vacation for our lovely Chief Engineer," she explained with a look of amusement. Dana looked sheepish, and when John looked at her, she nodded. "I can't help it! There's so much awesome stuff I'm itching to research and build!" she said eagerly. "Well it's your holiday, and I want you to do whatever makes you happy," he told her indulgently. "Just make sure you join us for mealtimes though, okay?" "You're the best!" Dana said with a grin, and then wolfed down the rest of her breakfast.

Second, Dana and John (ch39, p.1):

"I also wanted to tell you how lucky I feel that you're on the ship with us," he told her sincerely. "I love having you around regardless, but beyond that, you've probably done more to aid our success than anyone else aboard, what with all the upgrades to the Invictus and our gear." "I think we're all lucky to have found each other," Dana told him, as she stared into his eyes. "Living apart, we were small, little things, but now we're together, we've grown to become powerful."

Took a vacay while another Progenitor was stirring up trouble across the Galaxy. Reckless strategy in my view.

Unless, he became a master sword weilder during the supposed off time. Then master strategy. Pun intended.

Rupert is prominent in this chapter. What is Telfer up to?

when would Alyssa or Dana ever experienced a thunder storm or even rain?

some comment is needed by the narrator

This is such a fun story, I'm excited to keep reading!

Thunder Storm

I think the author is foreshadowing here.

A great storm is brewing .... a whole Lot of Troubles ahead".

Okay, so I've had a few things going through my head as I've been rereading this story, mainly thinking about the enormity of the Invictus. This chapter has Alyssa replate the entire ships armour plating, in an afternoon. The ship is 500 metres long, to put that into context, the worlds largest passenger liners are less than 370 metres long and the largest oil tanker is less than 460 metres long. So if you were to see any huge ship in the world currently, you can bet that the Invictus is longer than them.

Now that we've appreciated the scale of the ship, how would any one person be able to do maintenance on the entire exterior of it in one afternoon?! It boggles my mind! I know she's using psychic powers to lift the plates off, reform them and then replace them but just imagine the largest ship you've ever seen and then guess how many 1m² armour plates would it take to cover the outside. I just can't get my head around it...

That was a well told chapter Tef! The gang went on vacation, and you made it quite the adventure... good job! Critical training was accomplished, and necessary work on the ship and the Raptor as well as upgrades were completed... research was both ongoing and completed... And Jade learned how to transform into the Oceanus version of a bottle nosed dolphin! Too bad Rupert the robo-butler wasn't feminine enough for John to want to recruit it, lol... I can hardly wait for chapter #40 and the Maliri... ;-) TTFN

Rachel is only 18! She should not yet have enough age-related DNA damage to notice that it had been repaired. Unless DNA damage is measurable by microscopic analysis a couple of decades before physical symptoms of aging become noticeable on the body...

First steps towards becoming a master swordsman 🔥🔥

He already has a sword unique in the universe. Interesting, can't wait to find out where this leads 💥💥💥

one comment of the obnoxious English misuse. "Smelt" is a FISH, not an olfactory sense of past odor. SMELLED is the proper use of the word in proper tense. Author is obviously of the publicly educated realm..... duh!

alyssa and dana know lightning and thunder?

Tilipia may be a fresh water fish, but its main purpose is to clean the tanks of the fish farms. Tilapia are waste eaters. Even cajuns who will eat almost anything DO NOT eat tilapia CajunBear

For coming back to explain how the lamp was broken, because it wasn’t clear and seemed to be a strange coda to the chapter. I have to admit I was expecting more from the island for 350k…was I the only one a bit underwhelmed by the 2 weeks? I mean, cool, isolated, but when I imagine spending that much I think I would expect some seriously cool experiences, not just privacy and fancy rooms.

Yamamoto: "you're dead, .... again!", .... not the best teacher, ... I wonder what John is paying him, ... ;-) TTFN

@ Texster. For that cash you don’t get more but you get less. Unlike say Thailand, you don’t get the hordes of locals trying to sell you stuff or all the other tourists on your beach and you get complete privacy 24/7. For the rich and famous privacy and quiet tranquility is what they are paying for and not as much for the beach. After all a beach on a tropical island is still just a beach on a tropical island. But now you have the entire island that would usually have thousands of tourists and staff and locals on it plus all the buildings and traffic that would entail. Whilst the Invictus crew had none of that.

So now it comes down to ‘opportunity lost’ Oceananus has lost the opportunity to sell holidays to any other person on that island while Invictus was there. So while they were there John had to effectively pay for their holiday PLUS every body else’s holiday that would have been normally there on a busy holiday island. Thus the price. The planet is a business not a charity so that means that the rich have to make it worth the while of the Oceanaus company for restricting the islands to one client at a time.

Also there is a huge operational war fleet in orbit, paid for, crewed and maintained wholly by the holiday costs.

Now real numbers. 2 adults at the best resort in Boracay in the Phillipines, it’s in a national park right on the beach and has 2 beaches that are private as in only for resort guests unlike the rest of the very crowded island and the cheapest suite they have is like a huge huge luxury 1 bedroom apartment with its own private deck that you walk off onto the grass then the sand. So that 10 years ago cost me $1100 USD A NIGHT for 5 nights. That was also at shoulder season and it’s $2500USD in peak.

You get free breakfast cold hot stuff made just for you all the fresh barista coffee you want, free hight speed boat transfers to the resorts own wharf, free non powered water watercraft, free shuttle to the town area, free mask and snorkel and fins and on and on and on.

So in effect $350K is actually underpriced by a factor of 10 or even a 100 for having an entire ultra luxury villa with everything included including underground starport all on your own private island that gives you absolute 100% privacy guaranteed. For a rich woman wanting to nude sunbath on a beach then that planet is the only place she can do that. Well unless she buys her own planet and installs her own blockaiding war fleet and IT crew for tech protection. See how even $35mill USD would be cheap?

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

"It's endless,"

... with what John is paying out for the Oceanus vacation (>350,000 to 500,000 credits at a guess), plus clothes (Bikini's etc.) for the girls, and whatever John is paying Yamamoto to kill him over and over again, ... John is spending quite a bit, ... ;-) ttfn

I love these. Tefler is the best.

My only observation is this. Take the next two paragraphs. One is from the story. The other is slightly edited. And decide for yourself what you prefer.

Jehanna nodded, her face turning serious. "A Kintark warband attacked the Iota-Leonis system, heavily outnumbering the Terran forces stationed there. All could have been lost if not for Commodore Blake and his crew, who defended the starport and protected our ships, rescuing well over a thousand Terran Federation personnel. Not only that, our hero managed to capture the flagship, along with several hundred Kintark warriors.”

Jehanna nodded, her face turning serious. "A rampaging Kintark warband attacked the Iota-Leonis system, heavily outnumbering the stoic Terran forces stationed there. All could have been lost if not for Commodore Blake and his stalwart crew, who defended the starport and protected our ships, rescuing well over a thousand brave and loyal Terran Federation personnel. Not only that, our bold hero managed to capture the flagship of the warband, along with several hundred Kintark warriors," she said, her face filled with wonder.

I know they’re supposed to be “laying it on thick” but there’s this small difference between that and padding the word count

One has the feeling that the 'Sword if Damocles' is beginning to quiver in anticipation....

Thank you Tef for letting us explore your 28th century galaxy along with John and his girls, .... it is so much fun, ... John takes his lovely crew on a special vacation, and Jade gets to spend lots of time with her new dolphin buddies, ... and the girls get lots of good food and drink, ... also lots of sand and sun, ... no mention of tan lines though, ... this was almost as good as a space battle chapter, so keep it up Tef, you are doing good, ... ;-) ttfn

patiently waiting for the yellow N

28th century secluded beach vacation: ... with what John is paying out for the Oceanus vacation (>350,000 to 500,000 credits at a guess), plus clothes (Bikini's etc.) for the girls, and whatever John is paying Yamamoto to kill him over and over again, ... John is spending quite a bit, ... ;-) ttfn

Yeah, a beach / island vacation on Oceanus is expensive, .... but John has been 'paid' over a billion credits from the T-Fed Military (250K, 600K, 200K, 20K, minus a cool 150 K for a Cruiser = close to 900K remaining, even after the girls, especially Dana go on a wonderous spending spee) ,,,, So the expense of Oceanus is a drop in the bucket for that rich trader, John Blake, the Lion of the Federation, ... and with Dana, Alyssa and all the help of the Ashanath engineers, John's cruiser is the 'best' in all of the T-Fed, ... and his crew - tall, gorgeous, intelligent, capable, ... quite beautiful and damn near perfect, ... if all the other Progenitors do as good as John has, they must all be very happy, ... ;-) ttfn