Three Square Meals Ch. 109

Faye banked the Raptor sharply around, heading for the fourth drop location in the alien encirclement of the city. A forest of sickly green beams flashed up towards the Raptor, the invaders desperately trying to shoot down the gunship as it roared overhead. The crackling columns of energy sailed hopelessly wide, the neutron beam batteries never designed to track something moving so fast.

"Next drop point in ten seconds!" Faye warned them.

John spotted more green out of the corner of his eye, but this was a far more pleasing shade, reminding him of a tranquil forest steeped in shadows. Jade stood beside him and gently traced his jawline with her dark-green fingers, her shining eyes drinking in every detail of his troubled face. She leaned in and kissed him passionately, silencing the plea for caution on his lips. When the Nymph pulled back, she slipped the dress from her shoulders and threw it back into the Raptor. Despite her standing there gloriously nude, he could only stare into her enchanting emerald eyes as she gazed at him intently.

"You just have to believe..." she urged him, her body starting to shimmer in a verdant haze.

Jade backed away, keeping her eyes locked with John as she let herself fall from the Raptor. He watched as she plummeted towards the ground, her form growing larger by the second. Suddenly the blurry outline snapped into sharp focus as a creature from myth and legend dominated the skies above Carolus III. The Jade dragon tucked her wings in tight, her sleek aerodynamic form diving towards the insectoid army below.

"Please be careful, John," Faye begged him as she stepped up to his side, her elfin face fraught with worry. "I don't know what I'd do if something happened to you." Her cupid bow lips twisted into a strained smile. "Other than subjugate humanity of course..."

He couldn't help laughing and gave her a look filled with gratitude for lifting his mood. "I love you, Faye. Help take care of the girls for me."

"I will," she promised, her expression turning joyful. "And I love you too!"

John glanced down at the city flashing by below. "I guess this is my stop."

He inhaled deeply and launched himself from the Raptor, closing his eyes as he focused himself for the fight to come. When he opened them again, his view of the city was suddenly filled with ochre hued enemies scurrying across the ground, the Kirrix herding their terrified victims into the hive ship. John's eyes flared with a blazing blue fire... it was time to do what a Progenitor does best.

***

"Full reverse, Faye!" Calara requested, glancing at the mass of sensor contacts closing on her position.

Her eyes flicked to the left on the Tactical Map, watching the Valkyrie racing towards Carolus III's upper atmosphere to intercept the Kirrix dreadnought. Scores of drone fighters shifted course, peeling away from the main swarm to pursue the mech instead. As much as Calara wanted to help Sakura, she had more than enough on her own plate to deal with; the Invictus now stood alone against the remaining twenty-seven massive capital ships.

Faye cast a wary eye at the approaching Kirrix armada. "Maybe I should just turn around? We'll get away much faster!"

"No, not yet," the Latina replied, twisting the controls to aim at the next set of targets.

Calara's slender fingers danced over the weapons controls, reminding her of the hours she spent practicing the piano when she was a child. Instead of clear musical notes, her complex sonata produced a stream of ferocious blue beams that systematically stripped the leading drone carriers of their shields. The Singularity Drivers fired continuously to take advantage of that vulnerability, the only lulls in the carnage when the Invictus swung its bow about to point at the next capital ship marked for destruction.

Suddenly Faye hissed, "Calara! We've got company!"

The Latina's eyes darted over the Tactical Map in alarm. "Where?!"

"Behind us," the purple sprite whispered, staring up the ramp towards the armoury that overlooked the Combat Bridge.

Calara glanced at Faye then twisted in the Tactical chair to see what she was looking at. The flash of light green hair drew her attention to the armoury window, where she locked eyes with Helene's baby-blues, the beautiful teal-skinned girl staring back at her in fright.

The Latina darted a worried glance at Faye. "What do we do? John doesn't want Helene exposed to combat!"

"You take care of the Kirrix, let me handle this," Faye replied, patting her reassuringly on the arm, before bounding up the ramp towards the aquatic girl.

Helene looked anxious as she rose from her hiding spot crouched behind the window. "I'm sorry, Faye, I just wanted to see what was happening. With John and the girls in danger, I can't stop worrying about them..."

Faye hesitated, knowing all too well the feelings that the teal-hued girl was describing. "I do sympathise, it's horrible being left to worry when your friends are in danger... but John doesn't want you involved with the fighting."

"But I won't be fighting!" Helene pleaded in a rush. "I could just watch them on the little screens there... then I'll know they're okay."

Turning to look back down across the Combat Bridge, Faye saw the bank of holo-images that showed the helmet camera footage being broadcast from John and the girls. "I don't think that's a very good idea..."

"Please, Faye," Helene begged her. "I promise I won't be any trouble and I won't get in the way."

The elfin girl nibbled nervously at her lip. "Okay... but only for a few minutes. I don't want you watching when they board the hive ships. Alright?"

"Oh, thank you so much!" the aquatic girl gushed, hugging Faye tight.

Calara had heard most of the exchange and she glanced back at Faye with a raised eyebrow. Faye gave her a helpless shrug, then took Helene's hand and escorted her down to the Security Station.

The Latina watched with concern as their guest sat in Sakura's seat in front of the bank of holo-screens. *Alyssa... Helene's here on the Combat Bridge, she's watching all of you fight. Is John alright with this?*

There was a long pause, then the blonde replied, *He said to let her stay. I think he's trying to change her mind about fighting alongside us, but don't let her see the infested colonists, okay?*

Calara watched Faye hovering protectively beside the aquatic girl. *Don't worry, Faye's looking after her.*

***

Tashana had already tapped into her inner flame by the time she landed on the Kirrix vessel and tiny fire sprites were playing chase around her curled fingers. From her vantage point atop the hive ship, she had a clear view of the scene of Terran misery below, where Kirrix troops herded the terrified civilians towards the bowels of the monstrous ochre craft. Those prisoners all knew that the hideous alien spacecraft was to be their grave.

She glanced at her twin as Irillith landed beside her. "Rill, can you cripple the hive ship? I want to free those people."

"Your will be done, Revered Leader," Irillith said with mock deference, her violet eyes starting to glow with a bright inner light.

There was a crackle of ozone in the air as Irillith held her arms apart, writhing electricity arcing down from her shoulders to dance across her fingertips. She channelled her will, pouring more of her psychic might into that gathering of elemental forces, until seething coils of lightning whirled chaotically around her. Dropping to one knee, she touched her hands to the armour plating, the discharge of such colossal amounts of energy marked by a deafening peal of thunder. A jagged stroke of lightning scorched system after system throughout the Kirrix vessel, culminating in several violent explosions as power regulators overloaded. The hive ship shook violently with those detonations, then went dark and still as the tremors subsided, smoke belching from gun ports across the blackened hull.

Tashana faced the Kirrix troops who had stopped what they were doing to stare up at the smoking hive ship in astonishment. Flame sprites leapt from her open palms, growing larger as they capered in circles around their creator, holding hands and giggling together. The Maliri pyromancer made a pushing motion with both hands and the dozen fiery elementals sprinted across the upper gundeck before leaping fearlessly from the edge.

The Kirrix saw the flaming figures plunging towards them and raised their neutron rifles, sending a hail of green bolts towards the orange sylph-like females. The few shots that managed to hit zipped harmlessly through the burning sprites, mundane weapons incapable of disrupting those eldritch spirits. The fiery girls landed in graceful rolls, then bounced to their feet and used the momentum to flip into cartwheels. They rolled through the crowded plaza below, their path running along either side of each line of Terran prisoners.

The civilians cried out in terror, huddling to the ground to escape the flames, but the elementals never so much as touched the mass of humanity. Unfortunately for the Kirrix, they weren't so lucky, the blistering heat incinerating the insectoid soldiers where they stood. Each acrobatic flame sprite left an infernal wall of fire in their wake, the flames roaring with an insatiable hunger and scorching all in their path. Hundreds of Kirrix troops staggered around, their armour wreathed in flames as they were cooked to a crisp. Amongst that nightmarish field of fire, Kirrix Juggernauts skittered away from the flames, long black legs desperately scrabbling backwards to keep themselves from being roasted alive.

"They look a little hot under the collar," Irillith said with a smirk, standing beside her sister as she swung the long barrel of her Reaper Cannon towards the plaza.

Tashana drew her pair of Reaper pistols and aimed at the black carapace of a retreating Juggernaut. "They've had a busy day. I think they need to rest... in pieces."

Irillith laughed and glanced at her twin. "Wasn't that from 'Kirrix Wars IV: Call the Exterminators'?"

"It seemed appropriate..." Tashana replied with a grin.

The Maliri sisters opened fire, bright blue streams of laser bolts streaking out to hit the huge Kirrix monsters. The bolts blasted through that thick black plating, the Juggernauts letting out shrill screams as they were struck dozens of times, their thick chitinous armour pockmarked with glowing holes.

Irillith's eyes narrowed as she held down the trigger on her Reaper Cannon, aiming her shots at a Juggernaut's thrashing head. It bucked and thrashed under the onslaught, a bolt hitting it in the eye and leaving a melted ruin in its place, while more of the salvo burnt sizzling furrows through its brain. The hulking monster feebly tried to raise its claws in a final act of defiance, but it stumbled and crashed to the ground, twitching violently in its death throes.

Tashana swept her stream of laser bolts around the second thrashing Juggernaut, blowing apart its four legs in a vicious azure hail. Brutally dismembered, it toppled over on its side, flailing claws desperately trying to drag its quadriplegic form away from the sizzling wall of fire that crept inexorably towards it. The Maliri pyrokinetic moved on to the next target, leaving the crippled monster to feed her flames.

The twins made short work of the surviving Juggernauts and soon every last Kirrix was reduced to an immolated corpse, their smouldering exoskeletons popping as they cooled. The flames burned themselves out at Tashana's command and the civilians gaped at the charred hellscape surrounding them. The once terrifying alien horde had been incinerated to a bug, with palls of greasy black smoke spiralling skyward from their funeral pyre. The Terran prisoners looked around in wonder for their saviours, but the pair of Lionesses had already moved onward to the next hive ship, soaring high on pillars of golden flames.

***

The second Paragon suited fire-team landed at the same time on the curved back of a hive ship, with Rachel immediately reaching for her Reaper Cannon. They were on the edge of a broad marketplace, fruit and vegetables scattered haphazardly around toppled stalls, evidence of the terror instilled in the citizens of Reitberg when the Kirrix had invaded. She darted a pensive glance at the long lines of prisoners being herded towards them like cattle and could see their broken spirit in the way they shuffled forward, all hope lost as they surrendered to the inevitable.

"How can they treat people like that?" she wondered in an appalled whisper.

"They're just an evil bunch of fuckers..." Dana muttered under her breath, the coronas around her pupils blazing with a fierce golden light as she focused her will. "Just the worst scum in the galaxy... we're doing a good thing putting these shitheads down."

The brunette looked at her girlfriend with concern. She could hear the flicker of uncertainty in the redhead's voice, almost as if she were trying to convince herself that her actions were fully justified.

Rachel stopped closer to Dana, placing a comforting hand on her shoulder. "Absolutely. They're the vilest of depraved monsters," she agreed, her voice gentle and reassuring. "And those poor people are innocents... they're good, kind-hearted souls who never deserved to suffer like this. Can you save them?"

"Those fucking bugs are gonna pay!" Dana snarled through clenched teeth, eyes narrowing with barely suppressed fury.

Her gauntleted fists were surrounded with a pulsating golden light, which seemed to shine with an ever-greater intensity as the seconds rolled by. She raised one clawed hand towards the ranks of Kirrix troops, long arcing lines forming on the ground around the prisoners, the golden curves appearing like the gradients on a topographical map. The lines were closest together by the civilians, then spaced out as they reached their insectoid guards.

A disconcerted chittering filled the air as the Kirrix troops began to waver, stumbling backwards as the metal in their weapons and armour was repulsed by powerful magnetic fields. The Juggernauts were unaffected, their shiny black carapaces made from incredibly tough chitin; they could only look on with confusion, unable to comprehend what was happening to the smaller drones. Dana intensified the strength of the magnetic fields she'd created in the marketplace, then crouched down with her second hand outstretched, the nimbus of power around her gauntlets growing ever brighter. She touched the beige surface and rippling waves surged out over the armoured hull, buckling and twisting armoured plates in their wake.

Rachel waved her arms in the air to keep her balance on the vibrating ship, the tortured groan of metal filling the air. "Woah! What's happening?!" she called out in alarm.

The quaking intensified and the groan from the stern of the ship became a shrill shriek, engine exhausts contorting under the pressure from the massive forces at work. They collapsed inwards as though a giant had crumpled them with a contemptuous twist of its colossal hand.

"Nearly there..." Dana murmured, ramping up the strength of the magnetic waves she was pouring through the hive ship's hull. She could feel the metal in that reinforced armour and the way it was responding to her psychic manipulation. "Just got to keep the field contained a little longer..."

The brunette stumbled as the armour plating she was standing on twisted violently. Giving up trying to stay upright on the quaking hull, Rachel activated flight mode so that she could hover a foot above the trembling surface. She glanced off to her left and her breath caught as she saw the flanks of the hive ship bulging ominously, the grating squeal of snapping beams bringing the cacophony to a deafening crescendo.

A section of the hull exploded outwards, armour plates disintegrating in a storm of metal flechettes. Those razor-sharp chunks careened off the magnetic barriers protecting the civilians, bouncing back and forth between each group and lacerating the aliens caught in the middle. A jagged shard two-metres across whipped through the Kirrix ranks, sawing a drone's legs off and sending the severed limbs flying. More segments of the ship erupted, unleashing a metal storm on the cowering Kirrix troops and tearing them to pieces.

The terrified colonists huddled together, watching wide-eyed as their tormentors were sliced to ribbons. The exploding outer shell of the hive ship cleared away the Kirrix drones with the efficiency of a shotgun blast, leaving a sticky pool of viscous green blood slopping over the carpet of severed limbs. Even the Juggernauts staggered under the onslaught, dozens of metal chunks embedded in their thorax and abdomen.

"And you didn't hit a single colonist..." Rachel marvelled, staring out over the charnel house surrounding the hive ship.

The prisoners were still crouched down on the ground for safety, but now that the terrifying metal hail had abated, they were starting to realise that it had only targeted their captors. Lifting their heads up to look around, the civilians could only gape in astonishment at the denuded hive ship and the eviscerated remnants of the Kirrix forces. Rachel lowered the barrel of her Reaper Cannon to aim at one of those tottering Juggernauts, lighting up the mangled beast with laser fire.

Dana surveyed her handiwork with satisfaction as she joined her girlfriend in mopping up the crawling survivors. "Why can't all our fights be like this?" she asked, blasting fist-sized holes through the screeching Juggernaut. "They're evil bad guys, so it's our job to kill them... and it feels great!"

The brunette nodded, watching as the huge black insect she was shooting at was chopped in half by her stream of blue laser bolts. "You're right... it's nice not having to deal with any moral ambiguity," she agreed, looking for her next target.

Rachel darted a quick glance at Dana and studied her carefully, but the redhead appeared to be calm and composed as she gunned down another Juggernaut. Relaxing, the brunette picked out another target of her own, this one impaled to the ground by a long spear of twisted metal. As she zoomed in on it with the Reaper Cannon's targeting scope, the sun glinted off its shiny onyx carapace, catching her eye. That sent her mind spinning and she couldn't help thinking what it would be like to be aiming at another black-armoured foe... but one not nearly so hideously alien. Could they be so dispassionate firing on altogether more familiar opponents? Ones that were in fact only a distant cousin to humanity?

*Let's not dwell on that for now,* Alyssa said quietly. *And please keep those thoughts to yourself for the moment, okay?*

*Don't worry, I understand what's at stake,* Rachel replied, her expression sombre as she joined Dana in shooting glowing holes through the last of the Juggernauts. *We need to prepare for the battle to come... we can't rush him into it.*

Alyssa let out an anxious sigh. *I know.*

***

Helene's eyes darted from screen to screen, unable to believe what she was seeing. She paused to stare at the footage from Alyssa's helmet camera, watching in awe as the blonde unleashed her wrath on the horde of alien invaders.

The blonde's gauntleted hands were held out before her, eldritch vortexes hurtling around her splayed fingers. Alyssa looked down into the packed courtyard below, then clicked her fingers and pointed towards the massed squads of yellowish-brown insectoids who were jostling Terrans towards their ship. All about them a glowing phalanx of weapons formed in the air, the telekinetic blades glinting ominously in the sunlight. They began to spin, whirling like buzzsaws as they carved a gory path through the Kirrix, hacking the shocked aliens apart in an orgy of bloody retribution.