All Comments on 'Three Square Meals Ch. 045'

It seemed like a good place to end the chapter. ;-)

I had originally planned to wrap up the Fulmanax encounter nice and neatly at the end of this chapter, but as I'd spent quite a bit of time adding more descriptive detail, this one grew a lot larger than I had intended.

Anyway, hope you enjoyed it, and hopefully chapter 46 will be up on the site by Friday.

Cant wait for the next chapter already :(

Cheers!

Xentian

Words like that make me worry about how much control John has over himself. His sudden knowledge of how to use strange Mael'nerak powers worries me even more. Racial memory? Knowledge acquired through psychic link? Possession? Double personality?

I feel that the danger of death awoken more of his releasing what you could call the demon inside. I feel now it's gonna be up to Alyssa's job to pull him out of it once the danger has passed. Now I have a feeling someone's life has almost become forfeit to the crew because I feel they will realize their was no research station.

I hate you for making us all wait so long but fucking well worth the wait love that some of johns powers are starting to show up 5 States as always

There is no other way to describe how amazing your worl has been, and is. This story is without a doubt the best one in this site. I can't wait, yet again to see what is in story for Lion's Pride.

yes, john should be that powerful and more...

y do I think u got the blue flames n the controlling sword from either thor or the new god of war trailer from e3?

-devil

The blue flame isn't a new development, it's just the same reaction the ship hull had a while ago. The allow reacts to psychic powers.

And his acting differently in combat isn't new either, he already went into "autopilot" at least twice. If he retains any sort of control this time, THAT would be new.

It's plainly evident there was no station there. No matter how small it was, there would be some kind of path or road to reach it, to deliver supplies for the staff, and specially to deliver materials during the original construction. So far there was no sign of anything like that.

Irillith deserves a kick in the teeth, but most probably wouldn't think she did anything wrong.

Wow, just wow.

John is in a "berserk" state, and in this state he is using his psyonic powers to the fullest, while in a "normal" state he can not access them. He is really, really pissed off, because one of his Pride is injured and he is betrayed by Irilith, who is a proxy for her mother.

Irilith now knows that she is caught between Scilla and Charibdis, John who will figurally flay her alive and her mother whose orders she cannot ignore, even when John is recalling her orders. I wouldn't be in her armour when hell is loosened on her, although she is a victim of the circumstances, but her behaviour did not make her friends with the Pride, which is the deciding factor of becoming a member on the Invictus.

I hope Rachel can help extracting Alyssa, because her injuries are not killing, but very disabling, even for John's sperm to heal that will take some time.

I wonder how this battle will end...

A real pleasure to read even afte the long waiting.

Herman Grootaers

P.S. 100 comments for this chapter before the next is on-line???

I need more.

Thanks for sharing this wonderful story with us.

Tefler likes to drop hints pretty often that makes sense only after we know what they signal. gives the whole story a cohesive quality. one of the advantages of writing so often... u can remember and write nuanced.

kudos! I'm inspired to write more often now

-devil

I read all 45 chapters over a 3 day period, an exceedingly well written story, of sustained content. Similar in magnitude and scope of Estaki's Red Sister series, so a serious pat on the back for this. Now I am unfortunately limited to the pace of your out put for more chapters. One of the best that I have read ever.

Mal

PussyLickersRus was right in his comments on CH44.

You're a Sadist...

So much hate...

I stayed up all night to be there for the midnight Pacific time "new stories update" I admit I got to it a little late due to some World of Warships, but a cliffhanger like this? You should be hung from a cliff by your thumbs.

(really though amazing story, 7 pages is awesome, I "think" I'm glad John finally has awoken his progenitor side, I'm going to guess that there's a bit of genetic memory that has kicked in, I know he's Pissed with a capitol P about Alyssa being injured but I'm guessing that it is now within his power to send energy to speed her healing. I'm glad Irillith is scared shitless, I'm assuming that this "sonic torpedo" was sabotage and it was there to draw the big bad bug out to begin with. I hope he gets his girls out and when they get to her mother she's thrown into the "royal chamber" after being drug there by her throat. She was warned about treachery, now it's time to face the consequences. I really hope the girls can bring John back to earth so to speak. His strength of character is part of what we have invested in the emotion of this story. I'm hoping this is a controlled "emotionless" rage. (I've been stabbed and shot at, bouncer in south phoenix in my young dumb days, and it always brought things into sharp focus, I was Pissed, but it always brought clarity, Assess the situation, Designate the threats, Deal with the most prevalent/closest, Continue till the situation is under control, Apply first aid.) I was taught that when you're in a "for real" fight, you turn off emotions as best you can, feelings are for when you're done. Be cold, calculating, and absolutely ruthless. I'm not talking about a "i've had too many drinks and got lippy so i need to be taken out to a taxi and sent home" that's what patience is needed for. I'm talking about dealing with murderous intent, guns, knives, clubs, etc. And I can still remember the adrenaline crash after. When the past 10 minutes catches up to you and the wounds start ache, and you have to deal with the cuts and bruises and police. It's overwhelming. And I hope that John can find his center faster than I did. It usually took hours to fully calm down for me. I'm hoping his psychic connection with the girls is now open and he can read them and it brings him down when the threat is dealt with. I don't want him to go too far down the rabbit hole. I know he's the progenitor, and the girls will follow him no matter what he does at this point. He could go full Sith, and they would still love him, but I hope he comes back quickly. Anyway, enough rambling.

Again thanks, keep up the good work, less cliffhangers, we're going to be here reading it till the end and you know it. We're already hooked, no need to keep yanking the line. :p

Rachel better have crazy skills.

Doctor type skills.

Alyssa better be okay or Calara is going to lose it Irrilth will need to find a new ride.

*pre-recorded message* No one is in the brain right now, please write your message across the forehead and this sack of flesh will get right back to you after the awesome dude posts the next chapter online of The Greatest Story on Earth. Thank you for your concern, and please, don't write with permanent marker.

After last week, saying and I quote: "I've written 16k so far of the next chapter, but I think I'll make it a long one rather than leave you on an annoying cliffhanger." from the man himself Tefler, this is in obvious contradiction to what we have here in front of us. How do you plead?

Seriously though this story is amazing and I can't get enough of it. I just wish it was already published so I could read it all at once without having to wait. Keep up the good work Tefler and I hope to read the next part soon.

I had originally intended to wrap up that encounter in one chapter, but it was getting longer and longer. When I reached the point where I ended it, I just couldn't resist, sorry! :-)

It's always wonderful to hear that you've enjoyed a chapter, and it's great to see quite a few comments from new readers as well. I hope you all continue to enjoy what I have planned for the future!

Incidentally, I was thinking about how many more chapters there will be, and to cover everything in my current story plan, will take probably another thirty. So lots more to come!

Tefler.

I don't think she was injured o think the pain was caused when John lost control. It has before caused her emotional distress when he has gone into these states before. Waiting on pins and needles for the next chapter. I have a feeling Dana is gonna get her hand on irllith's gun which she would be able to reverse engineer for their weapons and possibly leave irllith on the planet.

Why isnt Alyssa picking up anything telepathically from the hive mind?

Is John even in control here? Or, are we seeing another progenitor taking the wheel?

Sonic weapon? Why is Dana not drooling [more] over this? And, wouldnt dense rock *help* a sonic weapon penetrate?

When is John going to figure out that Irillith has been playing him?

Also, is Dana going to hint at why she was so interested in the crystal tech?... The material strength may be an indicator; probably stronger than whatever was used for the deck and bones of Johns ship.

Finally, when is the evil AI going to try to take the ship? Now would seem a perfect opportunity.

-TM

Five stars again, despretly wanting to read the next chapter.

Kudos on creating such an exciting and complex world. I've read some comments and they are very constructive, yet emotional. It is very rare on this site (IMHO) that the comments are so detailed and logical. The readers must be smart people, who are very passionate about this story. Hence the author must be a clever and inspiring man himself. Thanks for being all that and thanks for having the discipline to deliver these chapters so often.

P.S.

I haven't read this chapter yet - just the comments. Still they were inspiring enough for this admiration outburst. Cheers!

Every time this has happened in the past it was John acting to protect Alyssa. This is no different. Now his power has become fully realized, yes, she will have to help him hold onto his humanity, of which I have no doubt she will. He loves his girls too much to let that go. As for Alyssa being hurt, the blue bitch will have some explaining to do...but I sensed from the script she has realized her stupidity and also realized her mortal danger. She will not betray him again, nor take him lightly. One thing that has been instilled in Maliri women is the respect for those who can wield true power. John and his girls went from chattel to demigod status in one fell swoop.

Yeah, Yeah, leave us another cliffhanger after you promised not to....I got your game. :-) LOL. Ok...gotta re-read this now. Shame! Shame! Shame!

That's some right scintillatin' story telinn's right thar!

Can't wait for the next chapter! This is on par with Etaski's Drow stories. Very. Good. Stuff!

Once again their armor failed.

I'm not referring to being stomped by a 50 foot monster but to getting damaged from the regular warriors claws! goddammit this is double (or triple?) forge alissyum! and their natural claws are stronger?? FAIL.

As for the sonic device, my guess is it can only be an A-bomb or the equivalent.

Now to Irillith and John's slave remark, I only hope that she will submit to him after this end and be treated as such (not part of the harem), to help him take control over her mother assets also.

Be waiting for Friday as promised.

Damn... That was awesome. The new tech, a new species, and blue bitch getting the shit scared out of her. But that cliffhanger though, perfect ending. Thanks for the extra details too.

Got a couple questions and some ideas. Was it just the sabots in the clip and the rounds in the mag? (Which chapter did the railguns show up in?) With their new load out, why don't they bring any armor piercing rounds? Or explosive rounds? Kinda like an underslung grenade launcher. Is it possible for Dana to add personal shields to the armor?

Great story as always. Keep going and don't ever stop.

-Wolf

I don't think It will be Irillith that joins the Invictus. My guess is Tashana mentioned in the second to last paragraph. That is unless I'm forgetting that her fate was mentioned earlier.

Hey there Wolf. I dont think Tefler indicates the mag or clip mix beyond having lots of rounds. However as you are implying mixing types in one clip or mag only makes sense if you know what you're up against.

Railguns. Go back to the chapters on refit at the Ashernath homeworld.

AP rounds. These are discussed in the same chapter above. Also in the battle with the Kintark. So be patient. Tefler is a vacuum cleaner. Nothing is by chance and the previous reference plus your comment may see these rounds appear - at his choosing.

Explosive rounds. Good idea. I'm sure Dana will develop somethong to make the enemy's eyes water. Same with the granade launcher I'm guessing.

Battlecruiser

Awesome story that fucking cliff hanger though Alyssa better be OK or I'm gonna be pissed I hope that blue gutter slut dies

I want to see the next chapter and then the next and then...

I am looking forward to more is the pattern.

If Irilliths rifle is more powerful than ship mounted gatling lasers but has cooling issues, Dana is going to have a field day upgrading the Invictus... as well as their own rifles! I wonder if Irillith is going to find out just how good the Invictus is against laser based weaponry.

Regards,

Xentian

I'm really worried about Alyssa. Although I don't think she is physically hurt I think that John is drawing so much phsyic power from her it's hurting her. Also, about John being a douche and "evil" as irillith called him, I think that is just a normal progenitor defense mechanism. Or it is at least his.

In earlier chapters when all seems lost he goes over 9000 and doesn't remember a thing that he did to survive and then he crashes. I think this is the case. He is just shutting off his Terran mind and probably shifting into badass progen mode. This also explains why John referred to irillith as "slave". In his progen survival mode he probably recognizes her species and he *remembers* that the malari serve him in some way.

I hope I am correct and everything will be fine again in future chapters. Hopefully irillith will be more kind to him and his harem. Have a good night and I am looking forward to more!

Sincerly, A guy who has been reading since chapter five came out.

One of my favorites. Looking forwRd to when John meets his own kind.

are for making large windows on the ship like the maliri armored...

This is the second time they encounter an alien where their hollow point rounds do not penetrate the target. I believe they used hollow point to prevent poking holes into spaceships when missing a target, but I think they should learn their lesson by now - especially when fighting enemies outside a spaceship.

Then again, the story would have been less interesting in that case. Great work as usual :-)

Shroomzilla is fucked. It hurt Alyssa and incurred John's wrath. John's dangerous enough on his own, now he's in Progenitor mode with a flaming sword. Ain't nothing surviving that.

I was thinking of suggesting that whatever powers John has are not psionic in nature, but as a previous commenter mentioned, the blue flames of John's sword seem to be a much more noticeable and tangible manifestation of what we saw the Invictus' armor do after John had a heated make-out session with Jade. So it is possible that he does have psychic powers, but his power is so absolutely overwhelming that the psi-detector that Dana built can't detect it. It's just like how when the new power core was installed on the ship and Dana couldn't get a power reading until she adjusted the scale to a high enough level.

Also, I'm willing to bet that if Rachel were to collect a DNA sample from John right now, she'd find that a lot more of his DNA has become active, including a good portion that is related to Progenitor racial memory, which is what is controlling John in this state.

However, I don't think the triple-helix DNA structure is indicative of having psionic abilities. It just allows for a greater and more complex variety of genetic combinations, some of which lead to psionic powers. It's all about how the strands connect to each other that determines what traits a person has.

As for why John and team aren't using armor-piercing rounds it's because the rounds would have too much penetrating power when fired from the railguns. Forget about the rounds punching through the hull of a ship in the event of missing the target; even if the rounds did hit the target, they'd just put a small hole in the unlucky body and then keep right on going through whatever is behind it, including a ship's armored hull. Note that I said "small hole." AP rounds would not cause enough trauma to a normal target to be effective, hence the use of the hollow-points. Hollow-points are normally used against unarmored bodies and cause massive internal trauma. However, when fired from the crew's railguns, the hollow-points now have enough power behind them to punch fist sized holes through body armor, possibly even the armor John is wearing. The AP rounds in contrast would just keep right on going, like I said. AP rounds would first need to penetrate tank-like heavy armor, like what Shroomzilla has, and what the Kintark Royal Guard had, before they did real damage.

Of course, we're talking about relatively small rifle caliber rounds here. I can only imagine what it would be like if they were to start using larger caliber rounds, such as a 30- or 50-cal. Hell, at calibers that large, hollow-point (if they even make a hollow-point that large) would have the penetration of the small caliber AP rounds when fired from a railgun.

Oh, before I forget. I noticed several times that Tefler has pointed out that Dana has a golden corona as part of her irises. I can't help but think that's going to be significant at some point. Maybe for when she eventually develops powers? Yeah, she may not have the triple-helix DNA like John, Alyssa, and Jade do, but did Alyssa have triple-helix before meeting John? We don't know, so unless they somehow get a hold of whatever medical records might exist for Alyssa from before she meet John, it's a possibility that John's spunk gave her the triple-helix DNA. And if it gave Alyssa a third DNA strand, it might do the same for Dana and Clara eventually. They just might have to consume enough first.

P.S. Tefler- thirty more chapters? Yes please!

That was great, thanks for the chuckle! :-)

I've read all the recent comments, but not had a chance to reply. I'll do so later once I've finished chapter 46.

Tefler

Dude? Figure out how to make money of this and turn it into your day job. 700 pages or so within less than a year sounds like a career option.

So we have the conclusion by Rachel that the Progenitors, Terrans, and Maliri are genetically related. I think it's hard not to add the Lenarrans based on Rachel's reporting on the DNA similarities, and Jade's own assessment that she can breed with John. Odd that wasn't mentioned in the story, but onwards...

I have another little techy issue with the story, reconciling these genetics with the Terran archeological record for human evolution, but the timeline (10 K - 20K years) makes it at least plausable. Although I think you end up with the Progenitors descended from stone-age terrans somehow ... But as slinkky, I think, advised a few dozen chapters ago, let's not look too closely at the science, and let it get in the way of a great fantasy yarn. BTW, I'm still waiting for the promised explanation of where Jade's tiger's extra 750 pounds of mass comes from. Did I miss it? Rachel remarks on it explicitly on Chapter 41 page 1, but I never saw an explanation.

But accepting the genetic commonality and staying within the story's own precepts, I'm increasingly curious about the Creator's (i.e., Tefler's 8-) view of this and how that drives the story. "... the Maliri were modified to be... breeding stock... for use by the Progenitors in their armies."

The Lenarrans are ... modified to be ... perfect concubines? From chapter 17 page 1: "Lenarra .. was sparsely populated by by an exclusively female species and lived in a primitive hunter gatherer society. ...They are naturally able to read the desires of males and then shapeshift to exactly resemble what that man finds most attractive"". So maybe only still in existence at all because of their long lives, hanging on like castaways on an R&R planet after being abandoned by the Progenitors?

[ And as an aside, how compelling is this Sci=Fi story on an internet porn site that it's got me and others citing chapter and verse in the comments. Just wow. ]

So what are Terrans? Either the root stock of the Progenitors (see above, and if not that, please provide _some_ rationalization of the fossil record) or created by them to be ... what? Why? An experiment that didn't work? 8-)

And another story observation prompted by re-reading that account of the Lennarans in chapter 17. "... Terran Federation acquired [from the Ashanath] was ...Lenarra". So while it's reading quite a bit into this, I'm thinking that Terra itself was also likely in Ashanath space. And then recalling that the Ashanath thought that John's girls were super-hot, which at the time I thought an odd reaction from aliens. We never see Ashanath, much like Malari. I'm going to guess that they're genetically related to Progenitors [and the rest] as well. Bred as the tech caste?

Or maybe the Progenitors were designed by the Ashanath as a warrior caste to deal with the Drakkar and the like, and like all AIs, got out of hand? Calara thought they were hiding something about the Progenitors. Nah, the Ashanath wouldn't call them 'Progenitors' then, would they? Which takes us back to the prior guess. Can't wait for Rachel to get some Ashanath DNA. 8-)

Again, "I'm increasingly curious about the Creator's (i.e., Tefler's 8-) view of this and how that drives the story." That doesn't mean I'm asking for spoilers. Just please make the story hang together with internal consistency, and please don't leave the questions it raises unanswered before you're done.

Thirty more chapters! Joy! Yes Please! Take your time, I know it will end sometime, and I'm in no hurry. And if you need another of these: Thank You!

I believe that hollow point rounds were first invented to be able to expand inside the target, causing massive rupture sounds that were hard to heal from. Given the nature of the ammunition, wouldn't they be more effective against the mushroom soldiers, casting the wounds to explode and disable the target easier? Just a thought...

@Jedi_Khan: You suggest that the psi detector couldn't read John because his output is too high. That is possible, but I don't agree. I believe that the reason it cannot detect his aura because his psionic shields are simply too powerful. They completely shield him from detection.

@Anonymous: You said, "But as slinkky, I think, advised a few dozen chapters ago, let's not look too closely at the science, and let it get in the way of a great fantasy yarn."

Not what I said. I said that I wasn't bothered by lack of conservation of mass and energy as I was when young since now physics is suggesting that we only see a fraction of the mass/energy which actually exists in ways that affect our world, but remain undetectable to our senses. Physics is getting to the point at which it suggests things being possible in the future that were previously only possible in fantasy. As a result I'm willing to believe that all kinds of crazy science are possible even if our current understanding doesn't quite cover it.

Though I am adoring the discussions of the possible physics behind the engineering in this story. Just because I don't need the explanations doesn't mean that I don't like to see it explained.

An interesting comment, thanks for leaving that. Some of the things you've asked about I can't reveal because of spoilers, but I have answers to all of them, I'll just be revealing them over future chapters:

"So we have the conclusion by Rachel that the Progenitors, Terrans, and Maliri are genetically related."

Her implication was that Terrans were seeded on Earth by the Progenitors, (rather than the Progenitors being descended from humans).

"reconciling these genetics with the Terran archeological record for human evolution, but the timeline (10 K - 20K years)"

The last time the Ashanath believe the Progenitors were active was ~10k years ago, but they found pictographs dating back further than that. The Ashanath don't know any more than that (or at least that's all they revealed to John), so the Progenitors could well have been around for much longer. If the Progenitors were around this section of the galaxy prior to that, they could have theoretically seeded Earth with Terrans at any time beforehand.

"I'm still waiting for the promised explanation of where Jade's tiger's extra 750 pounds of mass comes from. Did I miss it?"

It's coming, Rachel had a backlog of research to plough through. :-)

Regarding questions about the Maliri and the Lenarrans: I can't really answer those because of spoilers, but I'll get to them eventually.

"So while it's reading quite a bit into this, I'm thinking that Terra itself was also likely in Ashanath space."

That's correct. All of Terran territory used to originally be owned by the Ashanath. As the Terrans developed FTL travel and began to aggressively expand their territory, the Ashanath peacefully ceded worlds to them.

"I'm going to guess that they're genetically related to Progenitors"

That one will have to wait until Rachel can conduct some DNA analysis on the Ashanath. ;-)

"Thank You!"

You're welcome! I'm pleased you're enjoying the story.

"Why isn't Alyssa picking up anything telepathically from the hive mind?"

That's a very good question. I'll delve more into the intricacies of telepathy at some point, and give you a clearer explanation of how it works.

The rest are great questions too, but I can't answer them because of spoilers.

"Also, is Dana going to hint at why she was so interested in the crystal tech?"

She's interested in collecting any new tech she can get her hands on, but I'll reveal how she plans to apply that particular bit of Maliri tech in the next few chapters.

"Was it just the sabots in the clip and the rounds in the mag?"

Sorry for the early confusion. I had previously assumed the terms "clip" and "mag" were interchangeable.

The modified XR-75 bullpup railgun has two magazine slots. One in front of the trigger guard, that houses a custom magazine with 250 sabot casings. The second magazine slot at the back of the weapon takes standard issue Terran Federation 50 round magazines.

As another commentor mentioned below, they've previously been using caseless hollow point ammo to avoid shooting holes in ship hulls with AP rounds. With hindsight, they would have been handy against the Fulmanax behemoth, assuming it had the same weak spot (the nerve cluster) as the warriors!

The exit wound and overall damage of AP rounds is much smaller than those created by the HP rounds though, so that would have created its own issues.

I've always liked the idea of underslung grenade launchers, and with Dana breaking out the explosives, they might well make an appearance!

"Great story as always. Keep going and don't ever stop."

Thanks for the kind words. :-)

How thick is the hull of the ships? Only reason I ask is I dont think small arms fire even AP rounds shouldn't penetrate the hull of a war ship.

A small arms round is going to chew up bulkheads and internal systems of a ship when it is an armour piercing railgun with muzzle velocity of 30 kps plus. Even on the firing range the chief engineer decided that they should avoid training with the hollow point railgun and she never allowed the armour piercing. Over 100000 feet per second for those who don't metric. That is a low guess. I suspect it is more than double that.

It is heavy weapon power. In kinetic energy terms it is better than a 50 calibre and even a 25mm bushmaster that sits atop a Bradley AFV. Those throw projectiles that are much heavier but they do not throw with comparable velocities.

The real magic is the recoil handling because the railgun weapons are also very lightweight.

When going into combat situations the girls really need to be carrying around sealed vials of Johns cum for medical emergencies. (Wow not a sentence I ever expected to say) Fantastic work again thanks Tefler :)

@Tefler - You're most welcome for the chuckle. You're welcome to use Shroomzilla in the story, if you'd like. It sounds like something Dana might come up with to describe that Fulmanax behemoth.

Also, a possible suggestion for a new type of ammo for the railguns: maybe Dana can figure out a way to miniaturize the shells used by the ship's railguns. Those seem to have a armor penetration capability followed by a delayed explosive warhead that detonates shortly after impact. Dana might be able to craft an AP round that has a small amount of explosive in it that will go off inside the target. Even an amount of explosive the size of a firecracker would be devastating if it goes off inside something. Although, she might have to use a larger caliber round than what they are currently using.

@slinkky - That is a possibility as well, but wouldn't his shields be detectable as well? They would only stop unwanted access to his mind, not necessarily hide his presence. Either way, this is likely something Tefler will have to settle in a future chapter.

@AntiPriuSS - I would imagine ship hulls to be at least a foot thick. And you're right, AP rounds wouldn't be able to penetrate a ship's hull. But that's only if they're fired from a conventional weapon. John and crew are using railguns, which fire rounds at exponentially higher velocities than convential weapons. It's that extra velocity that gives the AP rounds greater penetration, potentially enough to punch through a ship's hull.

Okay. I am being a pig, but it took John long enough to rule for a blowjob to start every morning. If you are a guy, and you could make that rule, you would, and it wouldn't take that long.

What blew me away more was the field test.Calara has a brand new groove. The Invictus just became a whole new brand off trouble.

I think it would be cool if you had a couple chapters in advance. You could then post them in a regular time schedule. It would also give you some breathing room. I love the series, checking everyday to sate my addiction, loved this seven pager.

I love that real John came out, I wonder if it will turn into an alter ego or whether he will be able to coexist with both sides of his lineage simultaneously.

Looking forward to it, great work!

As epic as this story is and although its killing me to wait between chapters (i also dont cope well with tv shows lol). However one of the best things about this story is the comments discussing and comparing very theoretical technology.

But again tefler an amazing chapter and i really enjoyed it being abit longer than pervious ones. The cliffhanger was also very welcome keeping up suspense on this very enjoyable journey. Sign me up for a signed copy of a hardback version when it gets published.

Creyni

"John fixed her with a steely gaze and said in a voice as quiet as the grave, "It goes without saying that if this is some kind of trap intended to hurt me or my crew, there will be unpleasant consequences."" He warned her. She did it anyway. John meant it when he said, "there will be consequences."

Now, one thing I am curious about, The laser rifle emitted a sound like a conventional rifle? Since lasers are silent (the high pitched ring is a Hollywood thing), I am wondering what made such a "surprisingly loud" sound.

Very strong lasers when fired in atmosphere could cause the instant ionization of air molecules which would produce an effect simmilar to lightning producing thunder. The phenomenon is known as laser induced plasma channels, and can even conduct electricity. Something for Dana to tinker with! A Laser/Taser or arc rifle would be extraordinarily effective against shields, being able to dump energy into them overloading them quickly!

Hope that satisfies you :p

Regards,

Xentian

great chapter, extra length too!

i'm not sure if this has been posted previously, but i wondered that john would just go attacking a fungoid population en masse without knowing their side at all, maybe theyre benevolent even.

I'm guessing there would be a capacitor/electrical discharge type sound at the weapon, but in atmosphere, I'm guessing the larger sound would be on the destructive end, especially if it's a pulsed beam rather than a continuous beam. If it's high power enough, it will ionize the atmosphere and any moisture/dust in it. While not "LOUD" I imagine a high power laser would make a bit of noise.

Ablative armor is a wonderful thing. Having a super strength HARD fracturable crystaline layer over the 3rice formed 'Alyssium' armor is a great idea. Right now US troops use a BoronCarbon Ceramic plate, designed to fracture to disburse energy and break up incoming projectiles. Having extra insurance against rail rounds is always a plus, and if you can work in reflective/refractive properties, that would reduce laser damage as well.. or even using that instead of titanium/whatever alloy is mixed in with the current armor double your pleasure, double your fun, double layer double strength armor for ev-er-y one!

...

It's been through the first round of moderation, which means it will probably be available to read tomorrow morning.

NNNNNOOOOOOOOOOOOO......

took nap.

Oh. oh well. not your fault.

/sobs quietly in the corner...

...the DEA. This story is more addictive than drugs. It's even giving people like poor FknRa here withdrawal symptoms.

Maybe it'll help if you don't tell us when you expect chapter 47 to be out, Tefler. Just let it be a surprise. After all the begging and pleading others will do to find out when the next one will be, it'll be a happy surprise. If you want to really build the suspense, you can drop hints at how big chapter 47 will be, but no matter what, don't mention anything about progress or when it'll be out. It would also be mean if 46 ended on a cliffhanger too, but we all know how much you like being mean.

The chapters should come slower so that the story is not so disruptive. I would rather be patient than spend my life holding on for the next hill or twist in the roller coaster.

I tried to stop reading and let the chapters post, intending to catch up whenever I felt like it.

That did not work.

This story has keep me up way pass time I should be sleeping for work. Thank you for read. Also great work. I like the long story's.

That was a long gap between 44 and 45. Hoping we don't have to go quite that long again. Need my fix man. Keep it up!

Unless the sex is revealing something towards the plot line or a new species/talent

Yeah, I thought about that, the laser being so powerful it created a plasma interaction with the moist atmosphere--turning the water vapor in the air directly to plasma. And the humidity down there would just add to that. Also the vaporizing of the targeted Fulmanax. But, by the time I thought of all that it was submitted and I couldn't recall it.

Just go away! Good thing you are Anon! You would be lynched! LOL

I was up until 3:15am this morning reading chapter after chapter until I finally had to go to sleep. So enjoying this totally different and entertaining story line!!!

I am so hooked. Thank you for this super story.

I really liked this battle, I thought it was really well done.

One quibble though : "John had no time to respond, he just opened up on full auto with his railgun, sending dozens of rounds slamming into the Fulmanax behemoth. He might as well have been using paint-balls for what good it did him, and his bullets ricocheted harmlessly off its reinforced hide."

I just can't see that. I get it that the hide was extremely tough, that's a great plot point, but ricochets don't make sense. If the hide is flexible, the bullets are going to either penetrate or embed themselves in it. The bullets would only ricochet if the monster were covered in rigid plates, like an insect species.

So while it makes perfect sense that the railgun rounds were completely ineffective, it only makes sense if the ineffectiveness were caused by the giant creature harmlessly absorbing all the bullets, rather than having them ricochet off. So no harm done to the story at all. I still think this is one of the best chapters yet, I'm excited to read the next one.

Amazingly, the story is actually better on the second time reading than the first. Awesome.

what a chapter,,,,, Irillith is in trouble when they get done.... battling the Fungoid.... this is really getting good..

???

Without all the sex this would still be a great story! Because of the length of this story I’ve begun skipping past the sex scenes As they have begun seeming redundant and boring, but I’m loving the story. This could be a sci-fi tv series.

First I'd like to say the sex is a necessary component. They are great but they a representative of something important so I just deal with them. Also I love the swagger of his progenitor side. Though he annoys me to no end for reasons that will become apparent

Frighten Friday was describing herself 😂 *Irillith snorted dismissively and said, "Don't be fooled by their seeming aloofness. They are dangerous and unstable creatures, prone to random acts of violence."*

Seriously thou, John turn a page.

Make me turn one as well.

If they get out of this the cold princess and her manipulative mom has a case to answer. Ultimate set up

A lying b***h, Irillith is a lot of trouble for our heroes. And then a stone pillar crashes down on John and Alyssa, but it stops for a short time, until big fungus foot stomps on it. And then, A far less pleasant John rises, lifts the rock off and proceeds to slice and dice some huge 'sroom butt, with a blazing blue flaming sword yet. Ole Tef has to come up with a number of brilliant explanations to clear up some of this mess. ;-) TTFN

I do not like Irillith, and I really do not like it that John let her manipulate him. When a protagonist lets an antagonist do that to him, that kind of behavior is usually enough to make me stop reading a story.

John, Illrith and Leanne that shit. John is getting scammed, I know it you know it and even John knows it deep down. But just like Nigerian Princes 20 years ago and whatever it is today it comes down to greed. If the scammer dangles a carrot that’s enticing enough and it’s what the person wants then greed takes over and drives all decision making. The person will even make up plausible, to them, excuses for any holes in the scammers story.

John is greedy, he was willing to pay hundreds and hundreds of millions of credits for laser guns. Now he has the chance to get them super cheap right from the top. John’s a trader so likes to deal and he is being offered what he wants and can’t get elsewhere and he’s greedy as he can see that he’ll save a bundle.

There was no way that he wasn’t heading to Valdara to see Eradale and he happily made excuses for the flimsy bullshit flumax off mission excursion. Never once did John ask the most important question, “WHY”.

WHY would the eldrich enabled Queen want to meet a Progenitor and his crew?assume she knows everything since she is breaking every single rule that caries a death sentence.

WHY would an heiress and a Queen who are fucking rich even care about a single fit out of a ship with lasers. Sales is a bit below the job of the Queen.

I call Eradale a Queen since she’s the head of a ‘noble house’ so isn’t that a Queen? So that makes Ilrith a princess or Heiress.

I just thought I should explain a possibility for John’s decision making. This series rocks and it’s in a different universe I think of it as the STARSHIP TROOPERS Universe. Also for the sake of the story and expediency you just have to let some stuff go.

Also the oral sex and cum swallowing and bloated tummies was cemented very early on. So that means it’s integral to the story and is the MAIN MECHANISM of how the entire story works. So that means it can’t be gotten rid of. For those that are sick of it then read another story that isn’t tagged with it or hope that or hope in the coming chapters some episodes are just mentioned in passing rather than blow by blow accounts.

John head get Hot now, literally 🔥🔥

This is a real "Page Turner".

Yes John’s a bit of a fool, but let’s be honest if he’d always done the sensible thing there’d be no story, he’d have handed Alyssa off to the authorities and we’d be reading something else. I’m a hard core sci-fi reader in the normal world, this is not that, nor does it pretend to be, it’s repetitive sex and dodgy space adventures. Accept it folks or move on, I hear the werewolf stories are good? On the plus side, I don’t recall reading about mushroom monsters anywhere else, and they’re worth the entry fee lol ! 5⭐️ For creativity.

"MOVE SLAVE" Scared the shit out of her .

Hope John manages to control the beast within. 5⛤

Oh, In the underground cave with the big mushroom creatures, ... the crews' railguns are not too effective, ... Irillith with her laser rifle is barely any better, ... then John gets smashed under a big ole pillar and comes up with a real attitude and he sets his sword aflame, ... look out fungus baddies, ... Irillith is a real ass pain, ... the girls should have brought some floating cameras along with them, to record what happened, or at least Irillith (the Maliri) should have, ... so she could inform her mother that this was a real Progenitor, ... ;-) TTFN

I go back to John having been a marine who saw decades of combat, and then I go all the way back to his weapon purchases back on the Terran planet. It is absolutely implausible that he wouldn’t purchase something larger than combat rifles, and it’s even more implausible that he would go into an enemy “nest” with so little firepower (or so few rounds). I also can’t imagine he would attack without getting a better description of the battlefield and the opposing force (which he would have expected illereth to have from the Maliri “scientists”).

Compelling battle once begun, but tough to believe the circumstances that led to the battle.

@ Texster. I agree. The yanks have the SAW squad automatic weapon with every squad all the time. Full auto increased rate of fire with large capacity belts. So yeah it’s reasonable that John’s team would have one of them as standard. In this case it would be a beefed version of their gun with larger capacity and faster firing.

Also MOST of their troop engagements have required better ammo than shitty low penetration hollow points. A bullet designed to kill a 100 kilo human that’s 30 cm thick isn’t going to kill much heavier thicker enemies. The bullet won’t have the energy or the penetration to reach vital organs. If it did it would just be shooting straight through a human. (Hollow points are prohibited by the Geneva Convention). So… rescuing Carla there was a cyborg = AP, rescuing Rachel dragon and armoured lizards = AP and now flumax with fat heads = AP. So yeah most infantrymen engagements has needed AP SO WHY DON’T THEY CARRY IT? Sure not every bullet but carry a mixed load out.

Marine my fucking ass. More like a cock sucker. He took 4 girls into combat. Illrith is an unknown, Dana is a combat virgin, Rachel had a catastrophic meltdown the last time and Allysa is the only dead cert. so off they stroll and oh no! Our weapons are totally inadequate for the task at hand. What to do??? Push on to disaster further into the unknown but hostile environment or withdraw and equip properly? We’ll push on with noobs and a psychopath while relying on a single person for fire team coordination and ground to ship coms.

Stupid tactics stupid weapons they are basically digging a hole through their heads in 3 shots. Each bullet digs a little deeper. So 500 rounds is really only 166 rounds of ammo since it’s a minimum 3 shot kill type of hunt. AP would hold together and tunnel through to the weak spot in one go while HP splatters on the surface (almost). Some Raufoss rounds would be nice armour piercing exploding incendiary rounds Al, in one bullet. Deep AP penetration through armour, then a small grenade goes off inside the target doing massive shrapnel and expansion damage while igniting 2000 °c plus incendary charge. It was originally a 50BMG bullet but the yanks made it into a 30 cal round for their combined infantry sniper rifle as well. Yeah so that’s prepared and that’s what a marine should be doing, preparing and planning.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

"Just relax, and let it flow through you,"

... so, John is the devil? (Evil Progenitor?) ... but he's our f***ing hero, .... a really split personality? ... smh, .... ;-) ttfn

It seems Irillith has seen the light.

patiently waiting for the yellow N

They were set up like a bowling pin….

... Tashana? who? her stories? ... ;-) ttfn

(PJ) the evil progenitor side to John, is loose and he is chopping up and setting fire to the big bad mushrooms, (are they tasty that way?) .... and our lovely Alyssa is badly hurt, and the traitorous Irillith is one lying b****, .... they really need to get the f*** out of there ASAP, .... I am breathlessly awaiting the next Awesome chapter, ... ;-) ttfn