Three Square Meals Ch. 075

"Let me guess, there's more Houses in this new alliance?" he asked, looking pensive.

Edraele nodded, and replied, "We think all of them have thrown in their lot with House Perfaren."

John winced, and exclaimed, "All of them! I thought alliances were extremely rare?!"

Edraele nodded, and replied, "Such a vast coalition is unprecedented. For the last several days, I've been attempting to reach out to various Houses, to see if the pressure we applied had borne fruit. They're all refusing to take incoming calls from me. I tried contacting some of the more remote Houses as well, but I've been facing an identical comms blackout."

"They won't open comms with any of us, either," Kali confirmed, sounding nervous.

Valani looked apprehensive, as she cleared her throat, and said, "I think all this might have been my fault." She ignored the supportive words and denials from her fellow Matriarchs, and stepped over to John, as she continued, "I accidentally met with Tashana a couple of times before she left, and she was deathly afraid of you, and what you might do to the Maliri. I only just remembered it now, after seeing what's been happening with House Perfaren, but I mentioned to her that I'd been having problems with my Fleet Commander on that border."

"There's no way you could have known what she was about to do," John said, taking her hand in his and smiling at her supportively.

"We think Tashana slipped into House Perfaren territory," Edraele summarised for him. "She must have convinced Tsarra Perfaren that the Mael'nerak threat is real, and they've been working nonstop to gather allies."

"Hold on, let me think a moment," John said, clenching his jaw as he stared at the map. He narrowed his eyes, and continued grimly, "We've got to assume your theory is correct, that they've managed to recruit all the other Houses against us. How do we stand in a knockdown fight against their forces?"

"They slightly outnumber us, by a margin of perhaps twenty percent," Edraele said soberly. "Although, all vessels in my fleets have been upgraded with Trankaran engines and retrothrusters."

"And we've got the Invictus," John said, then grimaced as he added, "When it's finally spaceworthy."

"What should we do?" Kali asked, looking at him with wide eyes.

He closed his eyes for a moment, trying to put himself in Tashana's position. He knew she hated Irillith and Edraele, blaming them for everything that had happened in the Unclaimed Wastes. However, he'd seen how terrified of him she was, and armed with whatever knowledge she had gathered about Progenitors in her research, he knew that opposing him had to be her highest priority.

"I want you to move all your fleets to Genthalas. Tashana and her Matriarchs aren't interested in territory, they want to take out everyone in this room," John said, looking at each of them in turn. "We'll need everything you've got to stand off against Tashana's rebellion. Whichever fleet gets here first, we'll start upgrading those ships with Trankaran engines and thrusters. I planned to give all of you access to some more of my tech so you could upgrade your fleets, but we won't have time for major refits now. Will any of your Fleet Commanders give you any difficulty about moving your forces?"

Nyrelle smiled at him, and brushed her hand through her long flowing white hair, as she replied, "Since we've been with you, they wouldn't dream of disobeying us. Kalmaera has been helpful and eager to please."

"Good, just let me know if you need me to intervene," he said, supportively. Turning to look at the map again, he asked, "I need to know two things: How long until they finish amassing all their forces, and how long will it take them to fly to Genthalas?"

Edraele and the others shared pensive glances, until she replied, "I'd estimate four days for forces from the furthest-flung Houses to assemble. Then three days for their armada to arrive at Genthalas." The young Matriarchs nodded their agreement with her hasty estimates.

John nodded, and said authoritatively, "We'll assume only two days for them to gather enough ships, just in case they don't wait, and try to catch us unawares. However, they'll still need three days to get here. So we need to prepare for a massive battle in five days, ladies."

"A battle this closely matched, involving every ship in the Regency, is going to be a bloodbath," Leena said quietly, sounding more than a little scared.

"We'll be looking at Maliri casualties in the tens of millions," Valani agreed, having gone deathly pale.

"I'm going to try and make sure it doesn't come to that," John replied, reaching out to put a comforting hand on her shoulder, then looking around the group and meeting each of their frightened gazes.

They nodded, drawing strength from his supportive smile and confident bearing.

*Rachel says it's going to be tight,* Alyssa warned him. *You better get back here. We need everyone working balls-to-the-wall to get this crate hammered back together in time!*

*Alright, I'll head back in a minute. We'll review and see if there's anything else we can scratch from the refit, while we just focus on getting the Invictus ready for battle,* John agreed, doing his best to keep his worry from his face.

He beckoned the young Matriarchs over for a group hug, and when they'd gathered to him, he said to them in a calm, steady voice, "Now, It's important that you don't go worrying yourselves sick, wondering what might, or might not happen next. I need all of you fresh and alert, so that we can react quickly and efficiently to anything unexpected that crops up." He smiled at Edraele, and beckoning her over, he added, "That goes for you too, beautiful."

Edraele put her arms around, Nyrelle and Valani, and said obediently, "I'll try to just focus on the tasks at hand. I'll recall all my border forces, and marshall them at Genthalas."

"Thank you," he said, giving her an approving smile. He looked at the four young women around him, and continued, "Can all of you do the same for me?"

They all nodded, looking at him with big eyes, the nervous tension quite apparent in their beautiful young faces.

"You're all good girls, and I'm very proud of you. We've made our strategic decisions and now we just need to wait to see how this plays itself out. Just focus on gathering your forces as we discussed, and if circumstances change, we'll adapt to them," he said, locking eyes with each of them, as he looked around the group.

"I'm so glad you're here to help us get through this!" Kali exclaimed, her indigo eyes full of gratitude.

He leaned in and gave her a tender kiss, and said, "Everything will be alright. We've got one huge advantage that Tashana's Matriarchs don't have."

"What's that?" Valani asked him, hanging on his every word.

"All of us genuinely care for each other, and want to do our best to improve the lives of billions of Maliri. Knowing that we're doing the right thing makes a huge difference to morale, and the women under your command will already know about the impact you've made to the worlds you govern," he explained, looking into her lovely teal-coloured eyes.

"John, can we meet up for a team-building session tonight?" Nyrelle asked him, her dark-blue eyes flashing with excitement.

He smiled at her, and replied, "That's an excellent suggestion, Matriarch. I'll bring my crew too, if that's alright? They've been dying to meet all of you."

Nyrelle nodded eagerly, and the others smiled at her, then nodded too, equally as excited as the lusty House Aeberos Matriarch.

*Celebrate the news that we're about to face an empire-wide civil war, with an orgy?* Alyssa asked him, curiously. He could feel her flush of arousal across the empathic bond, as she added, *I like your style, Mister Blake!*

Edraele met his gaze across Nyrelle and Valani's shoulders, and said, *Thank you for putting them at ease, John. You did a superb job of keeping your worries so well hidden. If I couldn't hear your thoughts, I'd never have suspected.*

*It's my job to shoulder that burden of responsibility, so they don't have to,* he replied, dropping his confident bravado for a second, as he met Edraele's probing purple gaze.

Alyssa's soothing purr coasted through his mind, as she murmured, *And it's our job as your Matriarchs, to reward you for your diligence in your new role. We're going to be very good girls for you tonight, handsome.*

Edraele's full lips lifted up into a beautiful smile, and she nodded, as she stared at him reverently.

***

Tashana gave the young House Perfaren Matriarch a reassuring pat on the shoulder, and said in her rough voice, "I have every confidence in you, Tsarra. You can do this."

Doing her best to fight down her nerves, Tsarra nodded, and then turned in her chair to face the screen. She glanced at her assistant, Renelle, who began the recording, then stared at the camera, and said decisively, "My name is Matriarch Tsarra Perfaren, and I lead the Maliri Freedom Alliance. The Matriarchs who stand with me profoundly reject your attempts to subjugate our civilisation, Progenitor. We will not bow down for another of your kind, like our ancestors were forced to for the Mael'nerak, and we will fight you to the last woman, to protect the Regency! On behalf of all the Free Maliri, we declare war on you and your Thralls, enslaver!"

With a curt nod to Renelle, the recording was ended, and she slumped in her chair, glancing at Aadya and Tashana with a worried frown. "How was that? Did I sound nervous?" she asked, lifting her ragged thumbnail to nibble on it, before forcing herself to clasp the armrests of her chair, to keep her anxious hands occupied.

"That was perfect!" Tashana said, her violet eyes flashing with excitement. "You didn't seem nervous at all."

Aadya smiled at her youthful Matriarch, remembering well her vicious predecessor, and felt profoundly grateful that Tsarra had been the one to inherit her position, rather than her two spiteful older sisters. She nodded her agreement with Tashana, and said, "You had just the right amount of gravitas, Matriarch. Your speech was very inspiring."

Tsarra looked immensely relieved, and she said, "I was sure you'd be able to see I was shaking with nerves!"

"Should I arrange for your declaration of war to be broadcast to our worlds, Matriarch?" Renelle asked, her tone respectful, as she looked at Tsarra.

After a moment of indecision, Tsarra nodded, and said, "Yes, do that please, Renelle. Oh, and don't forget to send a copy to the other Matriarchs too! It's important they see what we're transmitting to the Progenitor and his Thralls." She blushed then, remembering that a Matriarch shouldn't be so polite to one of her servants.

"At once, Matriarch," her assistant replied, smiling at her before bowing and leaving the room.

"Is Edraele still attempting to contact you?" Tashana asked, her tone pensive.

Tsarra nodded, and replied, "She's been trying to reach me daily for the last several days."

Tashana's eyes narrowed suspiciously as she asked, "You haven't viewed any of her messages have you? It's imperative you don't expose yourself to her lies and insidious influence!"

The pressure on the young House Perfaren Matriarch had been intense over the last few weeks, as over a dozen Houses looked to her, to organise and lead their unlikely coalition. Overwrought with the stress, she frowned at the masked woman's tone, and Tsarra bristled as she replied, "Of course not! Why are you treating me like some half-witted fool? I listened to your warnings!"

"I'm sorry, Matriarch. I'm just worried," Tashana replied, averting her eyes from Tsarra's indignant glare. She went quiet for a moment, then added urgently, "We can't afford to take any chances with the other Matriarchs, though. I think you should destroy any comms beacons around Valaden Space. We need to contain and isolate House Valaden territory, and quarantine the Progenitor and his Matriarchs in Genthalas, before he can corrupt any more Houses!"

Tsarra darted a worried glance at Aadya, and the older Fleet Commander nodded, as she said, "I know such a thing is unheard of, but it's a sensible precaution."

"Alright, issue the command then, Aadya," Tsarra said, as she rose from her chair. She shivered, as she continued, "I'd better go and prepare for my meeting with the Alliance. I can't let the other Matriarchs see how scared I am..."

"I'll issue your command to the appropriate fleet assets, immediately," Aadya replied, while dipping her head to the younger woman a respectful bow.

Tsarra started to walk for the door, with Tashana and Aadya falling into step beside her, and the House Perfaren Matriarch sounded apprehensive, as she asked, "Are you sure it's wise to charge headlong for Genthalas? You advised me previously that the station's defences are formidable..."

"We have no choice," Tashana replied, her rough voice insistent. "The longer we wait, the more time John Blake has to enthrall more of the Maliri. We have to strike as quickly as we can, while we still have an advantage in numbers."

Aadya nodded, as she replied, "It's their most powerful defensive asset, drawing them away from it will be almost impossible." She sounded resigned to the decision, as she continued, "If we're going to confront the Progenitor and House Valaden, we have to prepare for a battle around Genthalas Shipyard. I've drawn up plans for numerous different scenarios involving an assault on the station."

Tashana smiled grimly behind her mask as they walked along the corridor, and she sounded confident as she said, "Even if we can't kill him outright in the battle, we just have to damage his forces enough to make him abandon his Maliri Matriarch and flee. That's how Mael'nerak's foul dominion was finally overthrown."

"I hope you're right," Tsarra said, sharing a nervous glance with Aadya, as they approached the meeting room. "We're gambling everything on this strategy."

"I've heard it from Mael'nerak's Matriarch herself," Tashana replied, her faith unshakeable. "Valada, my ancient ancestor, was the First Matriarch of what was to become House Valaden, and she left a warning for future generations. Mael'nerak was attacked, and was forced to abandon her when he left. That was what freed the Maliri from his tyranny ten millennia ago."

Aadya's normally-calm face was tense with worry, as she said, "We do have the advantage in numbers, but that's balanced by Genthalas. If he doesn't flee, and his forces don't surrender, the scale of death and destruction will be too terrible to contemplate."

"Trust me," Tashana said, not wavering for a moment. "It's our single best chance of defeating him."

With that, they walked into the meeting room, and prepared themselves to convince thirteen other Matriarchs of the validity of exactly that strategy.

***

Receiving Tsarra Perfaren's declaration of war invigorated John, the girls, and the Maliri, with renewed focus. With a dramatic deadline now set, work on the Invictus continued at a frantic pace. The Maliri engineers finished the superstructure after two more days, and the empty shells of all the new rooms were completed by the third. Power and data cables were put into place for all the new facilities, although construction for a number of them had been postponed, with the push to get the Invictus combat-ready paramount. While hundreds of engineers laboured away inside the assault cruiser, even more burst into action, rapidly cladding the entire outer-hull in Alyssa's quad-shaped Crystal Alyssium armour plating.

As soon as Dana had finished constructing the Tachyon Drive, it was swiftly installed in the refurbished Drive Room, the power-hungry device hooked up to dozens of power relays, to provide it all the energy it needed. John and Dana called for Alyndra and her group of white-haired technicians to visit them in the Invictus' cargo bay afterwards, and they presented the astonished women with the now-obsolete Power Core and Tachyon Drive that had just been removed from the Invictus, along with the schematics to build more. There was no rest for the redhead after that, as she immediately got to work on creating smaller versions of the Progenitor devices, that would be installed in the Raptor.

The Invictus had started the refit at a trim five-hundred metres, which was the standard size for a Terran Federation cruiser. With the additional superstructure in place, it had been extended to a burgeoning length of seven-hundred-and-fifty metres, making it comparable in size to a battlecruiser. It took nearly three days to affix all the new armour plating into position, but Rachel grinned with satisfaction when the grey, denuded vessel, was a resplendent sparkling-white once again.

It took John a few attempts to get the Pulse Cannon barrels exactly right, but one of the advantages of working with a psychically-reformable material, was that he could simply melt the alloy into a big floating ball, and start all over again. Eventually, he received an approving nod from Dana, when she examined the first one he was happy with, and he proceeded to blitz through the rest of the sixteen that were required.

Alyssa worked on the twelve huge, forty-metre-long howitzers that would be required for the new batteries in the mid-section, and she finished at roughly the same time as John completed the last of the Pulse Cannons. After a quick game of rock-paper-scissors, John began to form the plating for the inside of the turret wells. Alyssa was overjoyed to have avoided working on any form of armour plating, and she only teased him lightly for losing. As the victor, she worked on the sixteen new ten-metre barrels for Dana's latest toys, which would be mounted on the underbelly of the Invictus.

Teams of engineers worked frantically to assemble the rest of the weapons, while secondary teams laboured on the turret housings which would support all this new firepower. Meanwhile, a number of the existing Beam Lasers on the underbelly were moved to new hardpoints, making room for the new weapons, and providing an even spread of weaponry over the hull. By the time the engineers had finished armour plating the Invictus' hull, the Pulse Cannon turrets were fully built, and ready to be installed on weapon hardpoints.

It was at that time Edraele contacted John, warning him of a massive incoming armada. Sensors on the edge of Loraleth territory had picked up several hundred vessels crossing over the border with House Perfaren, and just as John had predicted, they ignored all House Loraleth's worlds, as they made a beeline for Genthalas Station. Ships from John's forces had been arriving at the station daily, and it was now a race to get all the vessels there in time, before the invaders arrived.

Knowing they only had a couple of days left to finish the work, had everyone working long shifts to wrap up the final stages. By the evening of the fifth day, the last of the new huge cannons had been lowered into place, massive hull doors were aligned and secured for the additional hangar, and the launching mechanism for Dana's secret project was hastily fixed in the bow of the ship.

John and the girls met up on the maintenance gantry overlooking the Invictus that evening, to see the final results of all their hard work. All the weaponry was exposed from the hull, revealing the forbidding arsenal contained within the ferociously upgraded vessel.

Shaking his head in wonder at the glorious sight, John put his arm around Rachel, and said, "You excelled yourself, honey. I can't believe we managed to get everything finished in time."

"Not quite everything," she admitted, with a resigned expression on her beautiful face. Ticking off the unfinished items on her fingers, she continued, "We had to postpone refurbishing the Officers' Lounge, and we still need to construct the Observatory. We haven't made a start on Jade's-"