Three Square Meals Ch. 075

An image appeared, showing a double-helix spiral, with key information highlighted in the code. Startled gasps echoed around the Bridge, with the crew staring at each other in shock.

"John only wishes to help you," Faye continued, her tone sincere. "Maliri society has been corrupted by the skewed gender imbalance, with the males fleeing to the border stations to escape the murders and assassinations. If this isn't corrected for future generations, the Maliri will eventually be doomed to extinction."

Tsarra felt a shiver of fear run down her spine, and she instinctively knew the VI was telling her the truth. Her own experiences with the truculent prized breeding males on the border stations only confirmed Faye's warning. When the young Matriarch looked around the Bridge, she saw similar looks of dread appearing on her crew's faces, as they came to the same bleak realisation.

Faye spread her hands, palms upraised, and continued, "You are free to leave, if you wish. John's forces will not pursue you, and will grant you safe passage back to your own territory." The VI clasped her hands together in a pleading gesture, and continued, "But, I urge you to talk with him, instead! Let him help you, as he's helped the other Matriarchs who have allied with him. He's offering you a bright, happy future. Please, at least hear him out."

Letting out a ragged sigh, Tsarra looked to Aadya, who appeared lost in thought, her brow creased with worry. The Matriarch reached out to gently touch the Fleet Commander's arm, and Aadya jumped, before looking intently into the younger woman's probing gaze. Seeing the question in her dark-green eyes, Aadya slowly nodded.

Tsarra turned to address the Comms Officer, and said, "Prepare to hail the Invictus."

***

Alyssa banked the Raptor out of the Invictus' hangar, and glanced over her shoulder at John, grinning at him as she said, "The House Perfaren matriarch was gorgeous! Are you going to share the love with the rest of the Matriarchs, or give her the special full-belly treatment?"

John smiled back at her, and replied, "Neither at the moment. We've got two vast armadas facing off against one another with lots of nervous fingers on triggers. Leaving them leaderless for a few hours while the Matriarchs sleep off brunch probably isn't a good idea."

He glanced over at the Tactical Map where both Maliri fleets were currently in a state of limbo, floating there in space while they awaited word from their Matriarchs. Following the terms of the truce, all strike craft had been recalled to their carriers, and vessels on both sides were now arrayed in non-combat formations. Each ship had a red icon next to it indicating that shields were deactivated, and John knew that their weapons were powered down too.

Laughing happily, Alyssa shook her head in wonder, and said, "I can't believe you managed to get them to talk to you! I love these wild plans you come up with, it's so exciting when they work." Glancing at him over her shoulder, her cerulean eyes sparkled, as she added, "If you aren't planning on stuffing the Matriarchs full of cum, how about I lighten your load instead?"

He pointed at the golden Maliri battleship they were swiftly approaching, and chuckled, as he replied, "Just concentrate on flying, you little minx. We'll have plenty of time to celebrate later."

Alyssa winked at him, then faced forward again, making minor course corrections as she followed the flight path to the Perfaren battleship. Just like the Encaren Valar - the House Ghilwen battleship they'd landed on a few weeks earlier - the large hangar bay on Tsarra's flagship was located at the rear of the vessel, below the huge engines. The crystal bay doors were opened already, giving them a clear view inside the high-arched interior of the hangar.

"There's Tsarra!" she noted, looking out of the window at the beautiful Maliri woman who waited near the landing bay. The House Perfaren Matriarch had a brilliant smile on her face as she waved at them, all sense of decorum forgotten in her excitement. Alyssa grinned at John, and pointing to the crowd of elegantly robed Maliri Matriarchs who waited back near the entrance to the hangar, she added, "Looks like the rest of the House Matriarchs are eager to say hello, too!"

John rose from his chair and gazed out the window, while resting a hand on Alyssa's shoulder. He looked down at her, and said, "Tashana actually did us a huge favour, gathering them all up like this. Once I've had a long chat with them and calmed this situation down, we can all head back to Genthalas. With Jade's help, we can finally get all the Maliri working together."

Alyssa brought the gunship down to land on the landing pad, then reached up to stroke his hand, and said quietly, "I'm proud of you, John. It's amazing seeing you help the Maliri like this, and it feels wonderful knowing I'm a part of it."

He squatted down beside her, and staring into her enchanting blue eyes, he said, "I couldn't do any of this without you. Thank you, for everything."

They shared a tender kiss, until he stood up straight and smoothed out his smartly-tailored suit. "I better go," he said, giving her a warm smile. "I'm trying to make a good impression; I shouldn't leave them waiting."

"Don't do anything I wouldn't do," she teased him, with a lusty grin.

He chuckled, and waved goodbye as he left the cockpit.

***

Tashana groaned, and felt the bump on the back of her head. There wasn't any blood, but the thump from the rifle had hurt like hell, leaving her dazed while they dragged her away from the Bridge. She looked around the tiny, austere cell, her eyes narrowing as she was outraged to realise she was now in the ship's brig. After all the effort she'd gone to, convincing the House Perfaren Matriarch and her thirteen peers about the threat the Progenitor posed, she couldn't believe they were just going to throw it all away like this. Her fiery anger simmered away, offering her a blissful release, if she were to just embrace it.

She sat up on the narrow bed and did her best to calm down, massaging her temples as she desperately tried to work out her next move. If Tsarra had spoken to the Progenitor, then Tashana knew she would already be hopelessly fascinated by him. The House Perfaren Matriarch would be eager to meet him in the flesh, just as Valani Naestina had longed to see him again, after their initial brief contact back on Genthalas. That meant a meeting in person, where the Progenitor could make her his Thrall, which would have to either be on the Invictus or on this battleship.

Considering the Invictus as a possibility for a moment, Tashana quickly dismissed it. The Progenitor would want to seem unthreatening, and would make an effort to meet Tsarra in familiar surroundings. That meant he'd likely be coming here, confident in the debilitating effects he had on the Maliri, and ready to enthrall the last Matriarchs that opposed him. She trembled in fear at the thought of the Progenitor being so close by, until she suddenly realised that by gathering all the Matriarchs together like she had done, she'd inadvertently done his work for him. Rather than slowing down his conquest of the Maliri, she'd likely accelerated it by weeks, if not months!

Letting out a furious sob, she felt that spark of rage within her, the flames burning bright, as she fanned them with her fury at Tsarra's betrayal. Tiny tendrils of fire burst forth around her hands, the orange zephyrs dancing playfully across her fingertips. Doubt, fear, and self-loathing were burned away in the delicious heat that swelled within her, and she submerged herself in the flames, as they spoke to her with their siren call.

Rising to her feet, she pressed her hands towards the door, blackening the crystal portal with the intense heat from her fingers, and causing it to crack sharply as the door shattered. She heard cries of alarm coming from the corridor to her left, so she pointed her fists upwards, sending sheets of flame into the ceiling. Melting straight through the roof with her fiery conflagration, her eyes narrowed in anger and she intensified the blaze. The ceiling collapsed as she burned through the support beams, bringing down that section of the corridor in a blazing ruin.

Darting into the smoke-filled passageway, she sprinted away to the right, wanting to quickly distance herself from her cell. Tashana had grown up around House Valaden's vast military, and she was very familiar with the layout of a Shandrass class battleship. She knew that the hangar was only three floors above her head.

There were more startled cries coming from the corridors she sprinted past, the fire alarm beginning its high-pitched warning dirge. She spotted movement up ahead, but she had already reached her goal - the lifts that led to the upper decks. Slapping the button on the wall, she dived inside as soon as the door let out a soft chime, partially drowned out by the undulating wail of the fire alarm. Dousing the flames from her right index finger, she pressed the brightly-lit gem for the 7th floor, the crystal door to the elevator swinging closed a moment later.

She let the swirling blaze engulf her hands again in a thrilling rush, and she stared at the smouldering flames in fascination. Their bewitching dance fortified her, keeping her mentally strong for what she had to do next. There was no fear, only the fire, the deadly heat a precious gift to burn away the wicked.

***

Alyssa smiled to herself as she watched John through the cockpit canopy, her handsome man working his magic on the House Perfaren Matriarch. The young Maliri noblewoman blushed a dark blue as he took her hand and kissed it chivalrously, her green-eyed gaze thoroughly captivated as he spoke with her.

She smiled as she listened to John's thoughts, hearing how he carefully watched everything he said, trying to be friendly and put her at ease. Alyssa knew it was all unnecessary, and he could have simply asked Tsarra to kneel down and open wide, before packing her grateful belly with as much cum as she could manage. The fact that he tried so hard to get to know these Maliri girls beforehand, and took the time to explain how he was going to heal them, made her love him just that little bit more.

*Tsarra Perfaren lost all her family to assassinations,* Edraele informed her thoughtfully. She sounded eager as she added, *Do you think John might approve of adding her to my special group of orphaned wards?*

Alyssa felt a flutter of arousal at the thought, and she quickly replied, *He's quite smitten with the 'Young Matriarchs', as he calls them. I don't think he'd need much persuading there, but we can raise it with him tonight.*

*I'll look forward to that,* Edraele replied, sending her a telepathic kiss.

The blonde teenager grinned to herself as she teased her fellow Matriarch, *How about you? I know he'd just love to-*

Before Alyssa could finish her sentence, her mind was flooded with an angry voice, and what seemed like swirling images of fire.

*Stay strong, don't let the fear distract you!* the angry voice snarled to itself. It continued, sounding almost trance-like as it intoned ominously, *The flames, burning so bright... beautiful, pure, your liberator and saviour...*

*That's Tashana's voice!* Edraele called out to her, in alarm.

*John, look out!* Alyssa cried out to him, rushing to the cockpit window and searching for him urgently.

***

John smiled at the charming young Maliri woman, who was staring at him in awe. Alyssa was right, Tsarra certainly was a very beautiful girl, but he tried to keep his thoughts clean as he gave her a warm smile.

"Would you be kind enough to introduce me to the other Matriarchs, Tsarra?" he asked pleasantly.

His question roused her from her stunned state, and not taking her eyes from his face, she said breathlessly, "Of course, I'd love to, John!"

The thirteen other Matriarchs were similarly spellbound, and hadn't moved a step since they'd laid eyes on him, standing a little distance away from the landing pad with the parked gunship. John gave them a friendly smile, and he suppressed a chuckle when he saw the older women blush furiously. He'd spoken to all of them before the meeting, just using voice comms initially, and calmly reiterated his message from the simulation. He explained that he meant them no harm, and was just trying to help undo what Mael'nerak had done to the Maliri.

His reassuring baritone voice had soothed tensions, and it hadn't taken much more persuading to then move on to a slightly unnerving conference call, where the fourteen women stared at him, quite enraptured. As the most highly-ranked Matriarch amongst them, Tsarra Perfaren's battleship had been selected for the meeting, the decision made almost as soon as he raised the question of location. He found it curious that the Matriarchs automatically deferred to Tsarra based on House Rank alone, when she was clearly the youngest and least experienced of the group.

*John, look out!* Alyssa blurted out, her desperate cry shocking him from his idle thoughts.

Before he could reply, he caught a bright flash of movement by the hangar door, twin orange balls of light shrouding the approaching woman's hands. He saw Tashana's furious violet eyes blazing in her golden mask a split-second before a vast cascade of flames blasted out towards him, the raging inferno howling as it hungered for his flesh.

Acting purely on instinct, he activated his psychic speed, the conflagration slowing to a crawl as it inched towards him from just feet away. He could have easily thrown himself clear, but Tsarra would have been incinerated in his wake, and he didn't even pause as he turned and reached for the terrified young woman. The amber hues of the flames were reflected in her wide green eyes as he scooped her up in his arms, and hurled himself clear, shielding her body with his own.

Then there was just the pain.

Searing, agonising pain, as the fire scorched his back, causing him to cry out, and stumble as he ran. He managed to push Tsarra clear as he lost his balance, and she slid across the floor away from him, as he crashed to the deck, his uncontrolled speed slamming him into the Docking Bay wall.

***

Alyssa watched in horror at the events unfolding in the hangar, her shock paralyzing her for a second, as Tashana hurled a writhing sheet of flames at John and Tsarra.

*JOHN!* she screamed, her heart clenching in panic, as she saw him burst free of the flames, before skidding into the wall.

*Burned...* he replied weakly, and she could feel the blistering pain across their empathic bond.

"You fucking bitch!" she screamed in fury, her telekinetic backhander catching the pyromaniac across her masked face, and sending her cartwheeling back through the door.

Alyssa left the cockpit in a sprint, diving into the grav-tube and bouncing off the rear wall, as she turned and landed nimbly on her feet. The moment her boots hit the ground, she was running again, tearing towards the front loading ramp in her urgent need to protect John.

Edraele's fearful voice reached through Alyssa's seething anger, and she faltered, *Alyssa, please-*

*We tried to be nice, but now she's fucking dead!* Alyssa snarled, leaping clear of the loading ramp, her body shrouded in a white light as she floated through the air. The lighting in the hangar flickered and dimmed, as white swirls of eldritch energy cascaded down her arms to gather around her slender fingers.

*Don't kill her...* John groaned, his telepathic voice faint and unsteady.

Alyssa whirled around, her incandescent gaze falling on John's scorched body. He was slumped against the hangar wall, his suit jacket burned away, leaving his back a red sheet of agony. To see him brought low like this made her heart flutter in her chest, and when he pitched over, she quailed for a moment as she feared the worst.

*Not her fault...* he gasped, as he lay prone on the decking, alive, but in a world of pain.

She caught a quick flash of movement by the door as a pair red boots disappeared from sight, Tashana fleeing from where she'd been slapped into the corridor.

Spotting Tsarra Perfaren, who was staring at her in a mix of terror and wonder, Alyssa pointed at John, and thundered, "Help him!"

As her booming, amplified voice echoed around the hangar, Tsarra ran over to John's side with a low cry, raising the intercom on her wrist to call for assistance.

"Now for you," Alyssa spat furiously through gritted teeth, rushing towards the big door that was the only way out of the hangar.

The moment she glided through the doors, a bright burst of flame licked down the corridor, scorching the walls as it reached for her. Alyssa simply raised her left hand, and a shield of white hexagons sprang into place, deflecting and containing the flames. The inferno intensified until it was white-hot, cracking the walls and ceiling as the flames were swept harmlessly aside by the impenetrable shield. The hellfires incinerated everything but the gleaming wall of hexes, which were severely tested by that blistering heat, but still stood unbowed by the assault. Alyssa glided towards the twisted source of the inferno, a grim smile of anticipation on her face, as a whirling white storm swirled around her flexing right hand.

*I promised Edraele and Irillith...* John murmured, his weakened voice drifting through her wall of hate. *They'll never forgive themselves if you kill her.*

It took a moment for his words to sink in, and letting go of her anger with an exasperated sigh, Alyssa rolled her eyes, and snorted, *Fine! We'll do it your way,* She paused for a moment, then asked hopefully, *How about smacking her around a bit? I might knock some sense into her.*

She waited for John to reply, but she could feel the waves of pain radiating from him as he finally lapsed into unconsciousness. Without her anger clouding her mind, she was overwhelmed with concern for him, and she reached out urgently to Rachel, and gasped, *John's been hurt! Ask Faye to bring the Raptor back, then get over here! He needs you!*

*I'm already on my way to our hangar. Faye's connected to the Raptor, and is heading to the Invictus,* Rachel replied, her voice soothing. Sensing Alyssa's confusion, she added, *Edraele told us what happened.*

*Thank you,* Alyssa said gratefully to the Maliri Matriarch.

Part of the ceiling collapsed with a tortured groan, the melting superstructure no longer able to withstand the ferocious heat from Tashana's assault. Alyssa blinked in surprise at the noise and shower of debris, almost forgetting about her assailant as she tried to organise help for John. Glancing up the corridor, she dramatically reduced the eldritch power coiled around her fist, then pushed out, sending a hail of stinging telekinetic projectiles at her assailant. There was a startled cry of pain from behind the sheet of flames, and they guttered and died as Tashana dived for cover, disappearing through a door in the corridor.

Striding after her, Alyssa groaned when she reached the door and realised the Maliri girl had leapt into a lift. Hitting the glowing gem on the wall to summon another, she paused to note the floor count, watching as it reached the lowest level. Sometime during Tashana's assault, the fire alarm had been triggered, and Alyssa winced against the harsh noise as she stepped inside the lift and hit the button for Deck Twelve.

*I'm chasing Tashana, and she's running to Deck Twelve,* Alyssa said to Edraele, her voice throbbing with urgency. *What's down there? Anything I should know about?*

She could sense Edraele's confusion for a moment, then a sudden surge of fear, as she gasped, *The airlocks!*

Alyssa frowned, her brow creased with worry. She'd never forgotten Irillith's desperate suicidal plunge on Trankara, and now that Tashana's plans lay in tatters, it seemed as though she planned to end her suffering in a similar fashion. The lift dropped down the levels, moving at what felt like a glacial pace in her heightened state of awareness.