Three Square Meals Ch. 109

***

Calara watched as the first wave of Kirrix drone fighters hit the leading edge of the Pulse Cannon firing arcs. Faye opened up with the Invictus' defence grid, sending an unending sheet of blue laser to intercept them. The alien strike craft were rapidly blown to pieces, leaving a sea of glowing debris behind the battlecruiser as it continued to reverse course.

The Kirrix drones were desperately trying to dodge that azure onslaught, rolling and jinking to try to throw off Faye's aim. However, as her Singularity Drivers executed another drone carrier, she noticed that several squadrons of fighters stopped their erratic manoeuvres, flying in an unerring straight line before being annihilated by Pulse Cannon fire.

*Looks like the drone carriers are directly controlling the fighters,* Calara informed Alyssa, lining up her Nova Lances on the next Kirrix capital ship. *Drone wings stop dodging when I take out their mothership.*

*It's probably a Hive Lord or Broodmother controlling the pilots,* the blonde replied after a brief pause. *Rachel thinks it's probably some kind of psychic backlash when you blow away whatever's directly commanding them... a bit like what we saw aboard the hive ships.*

There were a dozen drone carriers remaining and Calara kept a close eye on them as they suddenly halted in their pursuit, retro-thrusters burning bright to turn the enormous vessels.

She glanced at the purple sprite piloting the Invictus. "It looks like they're running, Faye. Full power to the engines, let's finish them off."

Faye nodded, shutting down the battlecruiser's retro-thrusters and ramping up the six Trankaran engines on the rear. The Invictus leapt forward, chasing after the fleeing Kirrix capital ships as they began to thread their way back through the vast sea of wreckage left behind in that trail of devastation. Hundreds of exploding drones added to that mass of shattered insectoid vessels, forming a sprawling hazard for spacecraft attempting to fly through those broken remains. The drone carriers shuddered as they collided with broken chunks of mangled ships, gouging deep furrows in their hull and buckling armour plates.

"Are you sure it's a good idea flying through that?" Faye asked, watching the impacts with concern. "Should I try and follow the paths those drone carriers are making through the debris?"

Calara kept her eyes on the Tactical Map and shook her head. "Keep going as you are for a moment, I want to test something..."

Following the Latina's request, Faye maintained the Invictus' pursuit course, flying directly into what little was left of the Kirrix drones. She flinched as the bow plunged into the leading edge of that debris, but the melted wreckage didn't crash into their sparkling white plating, instead it was battered out the way, leaving the Invictus untouched. Faye pulled up footage from the hull cameras and watched in fascination as the ship's shields prevented anything from making contact with their hull.

"Solid-Phase shields," the Latina murmured as the debris was harmlessly pushed aside. She glanced at the shield status display, and saw a slight drop in the field strength with the repeated impacts. "As long as the shields are up, nothing can get through."

Faye smiled with relief, then glanced at their teal-skinned guest who was staring in shock at the Paragon suit camera footage. Placing her small purple hand on Helene's shoulder, Faye gave her a gentle squeeze and asked quietly, "Are you sure you're okay?"

"I didn't know it would be like this..." Helene replied in a hushed voice, her eyes sweeping over the carnage on the bank of holo-screens.

The Lion and the Lionesses were crushing all their enemies before them. Every time they grounded a hive ship, they slaughtered the Kirrix indiscriminately, stopping any more Terran prisoners from being loaded. A brilliant flare of orange caught Helene's attention and she watched as Tashana immolated another squad of Kirrix soldiers. They flailed around, trying in vain to douse the terrible flames until they finally succumbed to the inevitable, their charred corpses piling up on the ground. The aquatic girl quickly turned away, no longer able to watch any more.

Faye knelt at her side, looking up into Helene's troubled blue eyes. "Do you see now, why John wants to spare you from becoming like the others? He needs you, Helene... they all do."

"They need me?!" she asked incredulously. "They're like gods from the ancient myths... how could they possibly need me for anything?!"

"Because they're not gods, they're just people... and they're doing whatever they can to help those in trouble." Faye lifted Helene's chin then gently caressed her cheek. "But now you've seen them fight... seen the kind of things they have to do to protect everyone. The fighting takes its toll, but you can be there to help them hold onto themselves."

"I'd do anything for them, but I don't know what I can do to help," the teal-skinned girl said, looking helplessly at her diminutive friend.

Faye gave her a sympathetic smile. "Talk to John. He'll know how... he always does." She glanced at the disturbing images, then blinked and deactivated them. "I think you've seen more than enough. Let me take you to the Lagoon... the Nymphs will be wondering where you are."

Helene nodded and gave her a brave smile as she tried to forget about the unsettling things she'd seen. "Okay..." She clasped Faye's hand. "And thank you... for helping me understand."

***

John nodded to the crowd of grateful civilians, giving them a reassuring smile. "Go on now, get to safety. We'll finish off the last of the Kirrix, then the Federation Navy will be here to provide aid."

They thanked him profusely, then turned and hurried away from the corpse-strewn streets. After marooning his third hive ship, John had massacred the Kirrix troops who'd been trying to hurry their prisoners inside, saving that group of Terrans from the horrors of infestation.

He glanced up at the dreadnought that still hovered above Reitberg's city centre. It was listing severely now, oily smoke billowing from scores of locations all over its pockmarked hull as it teetered over to starboard. *Alyssa, can you give me a status update on the girls?*

*Sure, handsome,* she replied agreeably. *Faye took out several hive ships in the Raptor, including a couple allocated to Jade and the twins. That meant they finished early, so they've started boarding actions.*

*Jade, how are you boarding those ships?* John asked in confusion. *Aren't you much too big to fit inside?*

*Oh, I'm not bothering to go in, Master,* Jade replied cheerfully. *I just tore the side off each ship and bit the Hive Lord in half. Then I did the same a bit further along to the Broodmother... after that the Kirrix troops just wandered about in confusion. I've still been killing them, but they haven't made any effort to come after the prisoners. The Terrans freed themselves and are gathering outside.*

*I've been clearing the hive ships as I went,* Alyssa replied with affected nonchalance. *So, I'm just kinda bored at the moment, waiting for you guys to catch up.*

*How the hell did you manage that?!* John asked, looking back at the scenes of desolation around him. *I've been tearing through the Kirrix as fast as I could... and you don't even have super speed!*

*Don't feel bad, you've done really well,* Alyssa replied in a playfully condescending tone. *Like I said before, I don't need speed to get the job done... I've got plenty of tricks of my own.*

John glanced at the hive ship behind him, thinking about the various psychic powers his fellow Progenitor had at her disposal. Her ability to tag friend or foe would make it easy to isolate the Terran prisoners from their Kirrix oppressors, then she had a whole host of talents to end the threat posed by the alien marauders.

He let out a frustrated sigh and grumbled, *That's cheating.*

*All's fair in love and war,* she purred, a teasing lilt to her voice.

John stared at the hull, his eyes narrowing as he found himself wishing there was some way he could see what was going on inside. His eyes suddenly began to ache, a disconcerting pressure building behind them. John gasped as his pupils flared, the muddy beige hull shimmering eerily in front of him.

*Hey! Don't hurt yourself!* Alyssa warned him in alarm, sensing his sudden distress.

*John, what's happening? Are you alright?!* Edraele asked urgently.

Too stunned by what he was seeing, John didn't answer. The hull seemed to bleed away, turning transparent and allowing him to see straight through it. He couldn't help gaping in wonder as he backed away, slowly turned his head from left to right as his psychically enhanced vision allowed him to easily search the decks. Although the creatures inside the ship appeared hazy and indistinct, it was still easy to tell the Terrans apart from the six-limbed Kirrix forces, with the prisoners sealed inside rows of cages. The layout to this hive ship was identical to the one he'd stormed with Alyssa six months earlier, but now he knew with certainty where all the Terran civilians were being held.

*Edraele... I'd like a bit more power please,* he said with a feral grin.

She could sense his elation and responded accordingly, throwing her connection to him wide open and pouring energy across to flood his body. *I've got plenty more, just let me know how much you need!*

The runes on John's blade pulsed in time with his heartbeat, growing brighter as he pumped eldritch power into the sword. He drew the weapon back, letting his will build to a terrifying peak... and exploded into action. The blade whistled as it cut through the air, followed by a deafening boom as he released the wave of force. It slammed into the hive ship, carving out a deep chasm that ran above the entire length of the infestation chamber... the location of all Terrans aboard the ship. Stepping forward he raised the sword above his head then chopped down, unleashing a second blast wave that hacked the grounded vessel in half from topdeck to keel.

Now that the prisoners had been safely separated from the rest of the ship, John charged at the rearmost section, letting out a primal roar as he channelled his will through the blade in a savage uppercut. The hull caved in, a huge furrow smashed in the flank of the vessel, the titanic forces unleashed tipping the entire ship over. It actually lifted off the ground, clearing dozens of metres before crashing on its side and skidding until it came to a halt.

*Holy fuck...* Alyssa murmured in awe.

*Oh, Master... that was magnificent!* Jade gushed, sounding absolutely thrilled.

Edraele was stunned as she asked in a hushed whisper, *Did I just hear you right? You knocked over a 900-metre ship?!*

*No! He didn't just knock it over...* Alyssa crowed. *He sent it flying!*

John panted as he lowered his blade, staring wide-eyed at the Kirrix vessel he'd just smashed through strength of will alone. *I just... I don't even know how I did that!*

*You've been holding yourself back for months,* Jade insisted. *We've all felt it... the power growing within you as you got stronger.*

*And you bitch-slapped your guide,* Alyssa reminded him. *You've unlocked more abilities and the strength to use them.*

*They're right, John,* Edraele said softly. *You've been building towards this moment for quite some time.*

John caught movement with his peripheral vision and turned to see Alyssa landing beside him. Her cerulean eyes smouldered with excitement as she tugged off her Paragon helmet and bounded towards him. "Is it wrong that I found that fucking hot?"

He drove his sword point-first into the ground, then removed his Lion helmet and pulled her into his arms. They gazed into each other's eyes, then kissed passionately, the battered hulk ignored behind them.

***

The Invictus glided into the wake of a fleeing drone carrier, taking advantage of the path the much larger Kirrix vessel had already ploughed through the sea of debris. In a burst of blue light, the forward mounted Tachyon Lances cut through the carrier's shields, then sliced the capital ship in half, the beams dissecting it across its breadth. A grim smile of satisfaction appeared on Calara's face as she counted only six remaining Kirrix ships left.

Suddenly, the Tactical Map seemed to come alive with a flood of red-circled contacts, all surrounding the Invictus as it sailed through the wreckage. Faye shot the Latina a look of panic. "Kirrix dropships all around us!"

"Assuming manual fire control with the defence grid!" Calara gasped, clutching the weapon controls and concentrating Pulse Cannon on the boarding craft at point-blank range.

"They must have drifted clear of that drone carrier on low-power and hid in all the debris!" Faye exclaimed, wringing her hands with worry.

The dropships began to explode as unerringly accurate laser bolts tracked them down, but there were over a dozen lurking amongst the wrecks, to close to stop them all. The Kirrix ships charged towards the battlecruiser, engines blazing at full burn as they rushed to land on the hull. Calara felt a sinking feeling in her chest as she blazed away with the Pulse Cannons, realising she couldn't stop the Kirrix in time and dreading the thought of repelling multiple boarding actions.

The lead ochre dropship suddenly slammed into the Invictus' shields, breaking apart and spewing flailing Kirrix marines into space. One after the other the boarding craft were smashed to pieces and battered out of the way as they attempted to close, the shields as unyielding as a sheet of deca-shaped Crystal Alyssium. The Invictus raced out of the ambush, with the attackers swept clear.

"The solid shields!" Faye exclaimed, beaming at the Latina. "I hadn't thought about them stopping dropships!"

Calara blinked in surprise then gave her purple companion a sheepish smile. "I should have expected it... but it's hard to forget years of ingrained training."

Faye gave her a reassuring pat on the arm. "Don't worry, I hate it when we get boarded too." She returned her smile and added, "Just remind me to turn off the shields when John and the girls come back in the Raptor!"

***

Sakura jogged along in her anti-gravity field, the Valkyrie mirroring her actions as the mech ran across the hull of the Kirrix dreadnought. She reached the edge of the topdeck and leapt clear, pivoting so that she could face the ship as she descended. After wrecking most of the engines and clearing scores of retro-thrusters from the flanks, now she needed to destroy those on the underbelly to finally bring this beast down to the surface of Carolus III.

A green flash left her temporarily blinded and she squeezed her eyes shut against the glare. "What the hell was that?!" she cursed aloud, rubbing her face.

"The Valkyrie was shot at point-blank range by what appears to be a neutron beam," Dana's helpful automated voice replied. "Your shields are down to 17% strength and you'll be... totally fucked... if you let yourself get shot like that again."

Sakura bent at the waist, hands held out directly behind her as she activated her retro-thrusters, and the Valkyrie surging forward to hit the hull with a clang. She drove her sword into the hull, then blearily opened her eyes again and was relieved to get her vision back as the dazzling imprint on her retinas faded.

Aiming her Tachyon Lances at the Neutron Beam barrel that jutted out of the hull beside her, she opened fire, twisting so that she could scythe that blast through the rest of the weapon battery. She'd been caught out once before, taking a neutron beam blast at point blank range as she ran over the topdeck. Her shields might be in a poor state, but the mech hadn't been damaged yet and there was no way she was going to return to the Invictus with the Valkyrie shredded... again.

Descending more cautiously now, she stuck close to the hull until she reached the underbelly. Sakura navigated the mech's control interface and began another active scan, the Valkyrie's sensors sweeping over the dreadnought. While she lacked the sophisticated sensor array installed on the Invictus, Sakura wasn't trying to ferret out all the dreadnought's inner secrets... she was simply searching for the location of all the retro-thrusters. They began to appear in her targeting overlay, highlighted and circled in red which made them stick out like a sore thumb against the ochre background.

Faye popped into existence, her friendly purple face set in a mask of concentration. "I've been performing calculations to estimate the total thrust needed to keep a vessel of this size aloft. I predict that destroying thirty-six retro-thrusters will be the tipping point where they are forced to land."

"Thirty-six... no problem," Sakura said, with a grateful smile. She lined up a shot on the closest of the marked components and blasted it with a Tachyon Lance beam, then cycled to the next and obliterated that as well, before promptly destroying yet another.

"Wait!" Faye squawked in a panic, frantically waving her hands. "Not all in the same place, or one end will sink like a stone!"

Sakura frowned at her companion, trying to relax again after the sprite's strangled cry of alarm. "You could have warned me first!"

Faye blushed and shifted in embarrassment. "Sorry about that, I was a bit distracted."

"That's not like you," the Asian girl replied, rotating the mech and aiming at a pair of retro-thrusters on the opposite side of the keel. "What was so distracting?"

"We just had a bit of a false alarm with some dropships..." the purple sprite replied, looking abashed. Her expression turned to one of awe as she continued, "And you won't believe what John's been up to!"

***

John and Alyssa watched as the huge dreadnought began to drop, the ungainly tilt to the hull making it drift towards the eastern side of the city.

"Very nice," John said with admiration, his eyes darting towards the sparsely developed outskirts dominated by open fields. "I assume that was intentional?"

Alyssa winked at him. "A joint effort by Sakura and Faye."

He smiled back, then pulled on his Paragon helmet and glanced at the HUD chronometer. "Twenty-five minutes until the fleet drop in. How're we looking in space?"

"Calara wasted everything," Alyssa said with a blasé shrug. "The Tachyon Lances are incredibly powerful... but they're Thrall tech, so we knew they'd be badass. She knocked out the entire Kirrix fleet before they could even close to beam range."

John nodded thoughtfully, turning to look at the mangled remnants of the hive ship behind him. "Maybe it's time..."

Alyssa placed a gauntleted hand on his chest. "You know we'll back you all the way. The Maliri will understand if you want to take a little detour..."

He patted her hand, while watching the dreadnought as it sank ever closer to the ground. "Let's focus on getting this mess sorted out first. I want to check out that command ship, free the prisoners, and see what else is lurking in there..."

"You're thinking some kind of boss creature?" Alyssa asked, eyebrows lifting speculatively.

"Yeah, maybe," he replied, staring at the eerie design of the alien dreadnought. "Rachel had a theory that there was some kind of higher intelligence controlling the Kirrix. That's the biggest ship we've seen of theirs so far."

"She wants to come with us," the blonde informed him with the hint of a smile. "Rachel's very enthusiastic about taking a look."

"Have her and Dana meet us at the crash site," John said, nodding his approval. "Jade, the twins, and Sakura can free everyone from the hive ships while we board the dreadnought." He glanced skyward and added, "Can you ask Calara to bring the Invictus down for close fire support?"