Three Square Meals Ch. 100

***

Baledranax glided back towards the Citadel, his huge reptilian eyes narrowing as he watched the Lionesses amongst the golden-armoured troops. The weapons they were using were astonishingly powerful, blue streams of laser bolts melting through tank armour with almost as much ease as they were gunning down his troops. Having no desire to be on the receiving end of one of those salvos, he banked to his right, putting the partially demolished fortress between himself and those guns.

"MELKADIAN, HOW GOES THE BATTLE?" he rumbled into the comms-device hooked into his ear.

There was still no answer, the Grand Prelate having been suspiciously silent for the last few minutes.

"ANSWER ME, MELKADIAN! HAVE YOU ROUTED THEIR FLEET YET?" Baledranax rumbled as he landed behind the Citadel, his huge claws ploughing furrows through the muddy ground as he skidded to a halt.

Aside from Melkadian's frustrating lack of response, everything about this invasion had unfolded exactly as his enigmatic benefactor had predicted. While the Kintark Empire had long had a very lucrative history of dealing with the Brimorian Enclave, Baledranax had been astonished when they agreed to trade their precious shield generator technology.

He had to admit that the terms of that deal were a masterstroke of diplomacy. In exchange for those shields, the Kintark Empire promised the Brimorians unrestricted oceanic planet colonisation rights, in what was soon to be conquered Terran Federation territory. It cost the Kintark Empire next-to-nothing, as oceanic worlds were of little real value, but he had gained so much from it. The Emperor's forces had rolled through the Dragon March with almost effortless ease, proving the priceless value of that shield technology.

Furnishing Baledranax with the traitor had also been a huge boon. Norwood had come up with the foolproof plan of circumventing the Dragon March's defensive lines, allowing the Kintark forces to cut off all communications and capitalise on that surprise to rush all the way to Terra. The traitor had also sold out his old comrades by outlining their tactics and strategies, making the outcome of the battles even more stacked in the Kintark's favour.

The fleet battle around Terra was proving to be a one-sided slaughter and Baledranax knew it wouldn't be long until the last of the Federation forces capitulated. When the Federation's fleet was crushed, the Terran peoples' subjugation as a slave species would effectively begin. The totality of the Kintark Empire's victory over the Terran Federation would only add to the legend of Emperor Baledranax.

The last obstacle to breaking the Terran Federation was now facing him on the battlefield, but even then, his shadowy ally had provided everything needed to destroy this opponent. Even though Baledranax had been warned about John Blake's ability to manifest psychic powers, seeing him ignite his sword with blue fire had come as a shock. But the device the dragon had just activated worked exactly as promised, reducing the Lion to just a mere mortal... and no normal man could stand against Baledranax's vast draconic might.

Tucking his torn wing onto his back with a snarl of pain, the huge dragon felt that familiar itching sensation as his wound started knitting itself back together again. He'd spent many of his formative years brawling with Kindralax to refine his skills in combat and was used to healing vicious cuts from his brother's claws. Even Vilandrith could be a handful when she was in heat, and more than once he'd had to regenerate some savage wounds when she got more... primal... in their couplings.

Whirling around, Baledranax searched the sky for his foe, sharp eyes spotting the white-armoured figure as he plummeted towards the ground. Crouching down behind cover of the Citadel, the dragon watched John Blake dropping far too quickly, which meant he'd have to sharply arrest his fall before splattering into the ground. Baledranax didn't suspect for one moment that the Lion was going to drop to his death, so he aimed the two Plasma Cannons on his back at a point below the falling man.

Knowing he'd have to time this perfectly, he flexed the muscles in his shoulders, firing both shoulder-mounted cannons. Two huge plasma bolts shot out towards John, and Baledranax chuckled with triumph as John slowed his descent at the last minute, the roiling green balls intercepting the falling figure with a verdant plasma blast...

John was watching the ground as he activated the grav generators in his armour, waiting to time it at the last moment. He didn't see the massive plasma bolts arcing towards him until it was too late, one of them narrowly missing, but the second hit him square in the chest. His shields were blown out in an instant, unable to stand against the destructive power of the Kintark heavy weapon, and he was hurled backwards by the force of that impact.

He spun head over feet until he slammed into a ruined bunker, the crash knocking the wind out of him, and leaving him dazed. Fortunately, his shields protected him from being completely doused in boiling plasma, the few droplets that did land on his Paragon suit quickly fizzling out, their corrosive nature negated by the runes inscribed on the armour plates. John groaned at the pain he felt all over his body, having a whole new set of bruises to go with the ones from the dragon's tail slap.

Baledranax gaped at John, his jaw dropping open in utter disbelief that the man had somehow survived being shot by weapons normally mounted on a spacecraft. Even if the plasma blast didn't kill him outright, it should have melted his armour into a pile of glowing sludge, but the Lion was still alive and his white Paragon suit looked to be unscathed. The dragon shook off his shock and his lips curled back into a feral grin of anticipation at the thought of tearing John apart instead. The Emperor's massive claws dug huge trenches into the ferrocrete courtyard, as he set off in pursuit of his quarry.

As John hauled himself upright, he felt the ground tremble as the Emperor stalked towards him, Baledranax's deep mocking laughter making his hair stand on end.

"YOU DID SAY THIS WOULD BE OVER QUICKLY, LION," the Kintark Emperor boomed, his rumbling voice full of scorn. "I HAD HOPED YOU MIGHT MAKE FOR AN INTERESTING CHALLENGE... ALAS, YOU ARE JUST AS PATHETIC AS BUCKINGHAM..."

The dragon pounced forward, moving incredibly quickly as he lashed out with a powerful swipe of his claws. John tried to dodge aside, but Baledranax was too fast and his massive blow slashed John across the chest, carving great furrows across the embossed golden lion. John was smashed through the burned out remains of the bunker, ferrocrete exploding in a shower of dust and blackened debris. He tumbled across the next row of fortifications and slammed into a sundered wall, where he collapsed in a heap, his back burning with pain.

Baledranax climbed over the ruined bunker, the partially demolished walls collapsing under his great weight. "ANY LAST WORDS, LION? BILLIONS ARE WATCHING YOUR DEMISE... PERHAPS YOU SHOULD APOLOGISE TO THE TERRAN FEDERATION FOR FAILING THEM SO BADLY?"

***

Ailanthia watched in fascination as the black-armoured red dragon prowled across the battlefield, bearing down on John Blake who lay crumpled on the ground. "It looks like Blake is done, My Lord."

Her Master gripped the edge of the table, and to his Matriarch's astonishment, concern marred his handsome features. "Get up, you fool! Fight back before it's too late!"

Running her hand over his shoulder, Ailanthia purred, "Why not just let Baledranax finish him? It's nearly over now anyway... why prolong the inevitable?"

A riot of emotions passed over her master's face, many of which Ailanthia had never seen before. His expression was horribly conflicted as he glanced at the console beside him, before his gaze flickered back to the enormous dragon looming over John Blake. Torn with indecision, his hand wavered over a button that would dramatically shift the balance of power in this fight.

***

The Invictus shook violently and Faye's luminous eyes got even bigger. "We just lost a starboard power regulator!"

Irillith darted over to Calara and crouched down beside her. "I know you want to save as much of the Terran forces as you can, but destroying the Invictus and getting us killed won't help John against the Progenitor!"

"The Kintark must be getting desperate..." the brunette murmured, her hands moving in a blur over the battle group interface as she issued more orders to the Terran and Maliri forces. "After Dana wiped out their carrier groups, they're almost out of strike craft."

"We're getting pretty desperate too!" Irillith protested, glancing at the damage control status and wincing at the riot of red. "You have to pull the Invictus back!"

Calara watched as the Kintark forces seemed to throw caution to the wind and surged forwards, the cruisers and battleships charging at full speed to finish off the Terran fleets. "Launch all bombers!" she called out to all the carrier captains under her command.

All of the Terran and Maliri carrier groups had been waiting for just such an order, their bomber wings prepped and ready to launch. The largely-untouched Terran carrier forces catapulted hundreds of bombers into the battle, while the faster and nimbler Maliri bombers streaked out of six enormous carriers. At the same time, Lilyana's fleet changed course and ramped up their speed, moving around to flank the Kintark armada as it rushed the Terran lines.

"All ships engage!" Calara cried out, giving the counter-attack order to every ship in her fleets.

There was a very brief lull in the fighting, almost as if the Terran and Maliri forces had taken a collective breath before unleashing their full fury on the charging Kintark. The Galaena Serine and her two sister battleships opened the onslaught with a crippling Nova Lance salvo right across the Kintark bow. Hitting them perpendicular to their charge meant that scores of Kintark ships were in nice orderly rows, increasing the devastating impact of those incredibly powerful weapons. Whole formations of cruisers were vaporised by those concerted blasts, leaving a gaping hole in the middle of the Kintark charge. The Maliri ships were still fully shielded, so Lilyana had no qualms about bringing her fleet into medium range, hitting the stunned Kintark forces with the full might of her Pulse Cannon and Beam Laser batteries.

At the same time, Dacres' fleet ploughed into the port flank of the tattered lizardman armada. His ten battleships were armed with heavily upgraded weaponry, all the energy weapons boosted by Ashanath Power Cores and cooled by heatsinks from Kintark ships captured in the Battle of Regulus. In the Vanguard of their spearhead formation was the Hyperion, the mighty battleship hell-bent on avenging its original crew that had been slain by Kintark plasma fire. The Terran fleet was nearly able to match the carnage caused by the Maliri, skewering green armour with brilliant orange beams and ripping apart hulls with devastating Heavy Cannon salvos.

All the battlestations and gun turrets around Saturn opened fire, hundreds of Beam Lasers and Heavy Cannons pulverising the invaders. Finally, the surviving Terran battle groups reversed course, no longer retreating, but charging forward to close the gap with their tormentors. At the forefront were the Odin, the Thor, and the Zeus, bringing their full complement of guns to bear, including their Singularity Drivers which had more than enough unshielded targets to shoot at.

It was as if the Kintark forces were engulfed in a never-ending firestorm, the ships leading the charge simply disintegrating under that withering onslaught. Vessels deeper into the ranks were hardly in a better position, as they faced wave after wave of Terran torpedoes, huge explosions tearing through the Kintark cruisers and battleships. Even the Kintark command ships bringing up the rear weren't safe, finding themselves targeted by Maliri strike craft. Golden-hulled fighters cleared a path through the broken remnants of the Kintark fighter cover, leaving the swift, shielded Maliri bombers to sail in unopposed and wreak havoc with powerful torpedoes.

Calara sagged back in her seat as she watched the Kintark armada collapsing, as ship after ship was blown to pieces. The Empire had suffered a cataclysmic reversal; the battle which had once appeared to be a foregone conclusion in their favour had turned into an unmitigated disaster. The Kintark tried to fight back, targeting the Maliri and advanced Terran ships as a priority, both of which were inflicting massive damage and were closest to their forces. However, those ships were also fully shielded and almost completely unscathed, making them the best suited to safely absorb those hits.

Irillith watched the near-total destruction of the Kintark force in open-mouthed astonishment, before turning to look at Calara with newfound respect in her eyes. She patted her on the arm and said softly, "I'm sorry for doubting you. I always knew you'd win this for us."

The Latina looked forlorn as she gazed across the endless sea of smashed Terran and Kintark ships, with thousands of vessels obliterated and millions of crew dead.

"It doesn't really feel like we won..."

***

The dragon reared up, massive forepaw raised with full set of claws extended, as the Emperor prepared to deliver the killing blow. John levered himself upright, his eyes widening as Baledranax towered over him, a gloating look of triumph in that terrifying draconic gaze. He scrambled to get into a crouch, waving his arms around as he pretended to be knocked senseless, and considering how battered he felt it didn't take too much acting to be convincing.

Baledranax caught the movement out of the corner of his eye and snarled with anger, bringing his clawed hand down in a massive overarm blow. The emperor's forearm descended like a cat's paw pinning a mouse. "TIME TO DIE, LION!"

As Baledranax's huge set of claws descended, John activated flight mode and hurled himself to the side, the anti-grav generators speeding his desperate leap. The Emperor's forelimb clipped him as he dodged aside, but he narrowly avoided being crushed and impaled by claws. That scaly limb smashed into the ground, the force of that monstrous blow was like an earthquake, shaking the foundations of the nearby wall and breaking off chunks of the shattered battlements. If John had been on his feet, the tremors would have knocked him off balance.

Holding his sword in one hand and his Quantum rifle in the other, John slammed his Crystal Alyssium sword into the black armour protecting the back of Baledranax's hand, the blade shrieking as it cleaved through the thick metallic plating. Grabbing his Quantum rifle, he jammed it into that black-armoured limb then pulled the trigger, unloading at point-blank range on full auto. Close enough to be inside the dragon's shield, round after hyper-accelerated round slammed into the Emperor's black armour. The first few bullets blasted huge holes through that plating, splintered armour fragments exploding outwards with the force of each impact. Dozens more burrowed deep and bored through the forelimb, blasting a horrific exit wound on the opposite side.

Baledranax howled with the pain and lurched backwards, spraying a fountain of thick yellow blood and liquified dragonflesh from his tattered forepaw. He jerked his claw back, trying to shake off his attacker. John released his grip on the sword's hilt, flipping himself up into the air, the Crystal Alyssium blade left impaled in the back of the Emperor's mangled limb. Baledranax tried to bite him as he sailed over the dragon's shoulder, but John had just enough presence of mind to use his grav-generators to push himself aside. Those fearsome jaws slammed closed inches from his right leg as John cartwheeled past the dragon's head.

John spotted his target as he tried to stabilise himself, a flash of purple catching his eye, and instead of trying to get clear of the enraged dragon, he angled himself towards it. Crashing into Baledranax's armoured hide, he bounced across the ridged plating, each impact making him groan in pain. Hugging his Quantum rifle close to his chest, John tried to ignore everything else... the bellowing dragon, all the pain from his battered body, and the fact that he was plummeting towards the ground. Sliding past that black protrusion on the dragon's back, he aimed at the purple light and pulled the trigger.

The Quantum rifle barked again, John emptying his magazine as he fired the remaining dozen rounds. Falling headfirst as he was, John's aim was severely compromised, bullets spraying wildly over Baledranax's back. He managed to hit with two bullets, the first deflecting harmlessly off the armour plating, but the second smashed into the side of the device with a loud crack. The Quantum round pierced through the armour and into the machine's internals, destroying incredibly complex and sensitive components as it ricocheted inside.

Baledranax whirled around and batted John out of the air, sending him crashing into a pile of ferrocrete rubble. "YOU'RE ONLY DELAYING THE INEVITABLE, LION!" the Emperor roared in anger.

A moment later the purple light on the device flickered and died, deactivating the psychic dampening field surrounding the dragon. John felt a rush of energy that almost lifted him off the ground, his body fully infused with psychic energy once more. The connections from his Matriarchs were thrown wide open and he drank deep, like a man dying of thirst stumbling into an oasis.

*Oh, thank God!* Alyssa cried out in relief as their minds were connected once more.

*John! I was so worried!* Edraele exclaimed, voice fraught with panic. *Something was blocking me from you!*

*Master!* Jade gasped, sounding terrified. *Are you in danger?!*

John could feel his body rapidly healing as the energy poured through him, strained and bruised muscles rejuvenating as he tapped into the psychic power from his girls. Focusing his will, he began to accelerate, his body moving with unnatural speed. He flipped up to his feet, landing nimbly with his hand outstretched towards his sword, which was still impaled in the back of Baledranax's claw.

*Sorry girls, no time to chat now!*

***

Ailanthia grinned in delight as her master laughed uproariously; she adored the sound of his laughter as it echoed around the sombre room.

"Oh, that was marvellous!" he exclaimed, a broad grin on his face. "I haven't had this much fun in... well... forever!"

"He's surprisingly resourceful, My Lord," Ailanthia noted, watching as John Blake's eyes glowed with a bright blue light, psychic energy coursing through him once more. "If he actually harnessed his powers properly, I imagine he'd become quite the adversary."

Her master nodded his agreement, then smiled as he pressed the button on the adjacent console. There was a bright flash on the Emperor's back as the broken remains of the psychic dampening device exploded. "Looks like you're on your own now, Baledranax..."

***

The Emperor heard the loud crack from the explosion on his back and he froze, a look of horror on his draconic face. Baledranax twisted his long serpentine neck around, so that he could look back over his shoulder at the blackened ruin fastened to his back. Before he could do or say anything else, he felt a sharp tugging in his forelimb, followed by a lance of pain as that accursed sword was ripped out of his body. He hissed and whipped his head around, fixing John with a furious glare. His expression turned to one of alarm, as he saw that sword fly through the air and sail straight into the Lion's hand.

"We could have been allies, Baledranax," John said, as he slowly turned to face the dragon, ichor dripping from his blade. "We could have worked together against a common foe..." His sword burst into flame, azure fire licking hungrily up the blade as the conflagration intensified. "But you've chosen your fate now..."