Three Square Meals Ch. 075

"We'll have the best time!" Alyssa said, beaming with happiness, as she walked over and put her arms around the two women.

Jade turned around to look to the right of the bedroom, and was surprised to see there was only one door on that side now. "Why did you move the walk-in wardrobe?" she asked Dana, looking bemused.

"Come and have a look!" the redhead replied, skipping over to the door, and beckoning the Nymph with her.

Jade gasped when she gazed through the door, and got her first look at the greatly-expanded new bathroom. "This looks amazing!" she gushed, her emerald eyes opening wide.

As the girls darted inside and swooned over the vast bathtub and much larger shower, John smiled at them, as he said, "I don't think Charles ever envisaged I'd be having quite so much fun, when he refurbished the ship. We were long-overdue an upgrade." He shared a look with Dana, and raised an eyebrow, and she gave him an excited nod in return.

Alyssa's eyes sparkled as she listened to his thoughts, then ran her fingers along the bathtub, and said, "We'll be able to have all sorts of soapy fun in here."

Dana nodded and grinned as she said, "Exactly!" Walking back into the bedroom, she added, "Alright, back to the serious stuff now. This is the important bit."

John led the somewhat reluctant girls back into the bedroom, and they gathered in a semi-circle around Dana, as she waited for them by the foot of the bed.

"What now?" Jade asked, looking around curiously.

Grinning at her friend, she said, "I'm going to need an actor and a couple of actresses to make this more authentic. John, Calara, Sakura, could you get on the bed please?"

John laughed, but did as he was bid, offering a hand to the two of them, as they kicked off their shoes to join him. He lay back in the middle of the bed, with the Latina and the Asian girl sitting down beside him.

"Hello," Sakura said, with a flirtatious smile.

"Hello, right back," Calara replied, and the two shared a kiss, before snuggling into John.

Dana held up her hands, and said in a dramatic voice, "Now, imagine the scene! Our lusty hero has just fucked his beautiful wenches senseless, and is enjoying a well-earned nap!"

Rachel giggled at her lover's theatrics, until the redhead shushed her to silence. Meanwhile, Sakura grabbed a couple of pillows, and handed one over to Calara, with a grin. The Latina laughed, and they stuffed them under their tops, to make it more authentic.

"Oh no!" Dana cried out, sounding alarmed. "They're under attack!"

Faye was watching Dana like a hawk, and eagerly waiting for her signal - a nod towards the trio. As soon as she received it, the purple girl leapt up onto the bed, and announced, "John, wake up! Incoming baddies! We're about to be interdicted!"

"What are our hero and heroines to do?" their auburn haired narrator asked her giggling audience. She turned to Jade, and asked, "What do you think, my lovely green temptress?"

Jade smiled at her, then said, "They run back along the corridor, then go up in the grav-tube to the Command Deck?"

"What if the ship was ambushed, and has been interdicted? The ship's been compromised and there's already bad guys aboard!"

With a frown on her verdant face, Jade glanced at the walk-in-wardrobe, and replied hesitantly, "John and Sakura go and get their armour and weapons, and fight off the intruders? Calara's a bit stuck, until they can clear a path to the Bridge. All of you girls would be."

"Exactly!" Dana exclaimed, with delight.

Walking over to the cabinet by the bed, and pressing the red button she'd installed months ago, Dana activated the ship's internal defences. A second later, they heard the heavy blast doors slamming home in the corridor outside the bedroom, and two concealed panels on the back wall to either side of the bed slid open. Her audience stared at those hidden alcoves in fascination.

"Let's go!" Dana exclaimed, then sprang into the alcove on the right.

Irillith chuckled at Dana's antics, as she handed Calara and Sakura their shoes. They quickly slipped them on, and abandoned their pillows, then joined the others at the alcoves. There were more grav-tubes concealed within, which seemed to drop down a couple of levels. John took the lead, and stepped into the red glow, and he gasped as he felt himself sink like a stone, dropping at a far faster rate than was usual in the standard grav-tubes. His fall was rapidly slowed as he reached the bottom, and he managed to make a graceful landing, before stepping out of the tube. He grinned as he saw the next room, his expression mirrored by the girls when they dropped down both tubes, and moved to stand beside him.

"Welcome to the Combat Bridge," Dana said, encompassing the large room with a sweeping gesture of her hand. She was already fully armoured, and carrying a Punisher rifle in her right hand.

John smiled at her, then turned to look at the girls, and said, "Over the last few months, we've been getting into progressively more dangerous battles. When we're on the Combat Bridge, I want everybody fully equipped for a fight."

Dana grinned at them, as she added, "Get geared up, guns as well, and I'll show you to your stations."

Jade looked pained, and said tentatively, "Dana... If it's okay with you-"

With a quick glance at the distressed Nymph, Dana gave her an encouraging smile, and beckoned her over, as she said, "Of course we didn't mean you, Jade! You're perfect as you are!"

Jade sighed with relief, then glided over to join the waiting redhead.

They were all standing on a platform that overlooked the Combat Bridge through a broad, clear-crystal window. Enough armour-equipping frames for everyone had been set up against the back wall of the room, and there were two ramps that led down, onto the Bridge itself. On the starboard side of the platform, was another grav-tube, built into the wall.

"You added a new grav-tube to the Combat Bridge?" Sakura asked, sounding surprised. Walking over to the anti-gravity shaft, she peered down the hole, and added, "Where does it go?"

"The Secondary Hangar Bay with the Raptor," Dana replied, with a wide smile. She glanced at John for his approval, as she continued, "I figured we might need to get down there in a hurry, to repel boarders. There's a door at the bottom of the tube that's hidden from the Hangar side, so invaders won't be able to spot it."

"It was a brilliant idea, Sparks. Well done," John said, appreciatively.

She grinned at him, and was about to accompany Jade down the ramp to the Combat Bridge, but she saw the puzzled look on Sakura's face, and asked, "You're looking confused. What's up?"

The raven-haired girl gave Dana an apologetic smile, and replied, "I don't know the Invictus' deck layout quite as well as you guys. Would you mind just giving me an overview? I'm not sure where we are now, in relation to the old decks."

Dana smiled at her indulgently, and slinging her rifle over her shoulder, she said, "Get your armour on, and join me down there. I'll show you the floor plan."

While the redhead and the Nymph strolled down to their stations, the rest of their group stepped into the equipping frames, to get suited-up in Paragon armour. With a series of rippling clicks, they were each sealed in their body armour, and they grabbed Punisher rifles, before jogging down the twin ramps onto the Combat Bridge itself. It was a tighter, more compact version of the Bridge up on the Command Deck, with stations laid out in the same familiar arrangement. They all fanned out to take their positions, glancing at Dana, who nodded to each of them, to confirm they had reached their correct places.

She hit a button on her engineering console, and a holograph appeared in the centre of the room, showing a detailed overlay of the Invictus' deck plans. Pointing towards the middle section, Dana said, "I'll just give you a quick reminder of the new deck levels. Starting at the top, and working down, there's no Deck One, as that's the Command Deck, which sits on top of the Invictus. Deck Two is taken up by the six huge turret wells, which will keep the new cannons protected behind armour plating, until we expose the ship's guns for combat. Deck Three is still being built, and we'll construct those rooms when we get a chance."

"Where are we now?" Sakura asked, tilting her head to one side as she studied the map. "I got a bit thrown after the drop in the grav-tubes."

"The armoured Combat Bridge is on Deck Four, putting us right at the centre of the ship. Just ahead of where we stand now is the Singularity Generator room, and beyond that are the four-hundred-metre-long Singularity Driver rails. Deck Five has the Power Core Chambers and the ammunition magazines, and Decks Six to Nine are taken up by the new Primary Hangar."

Their Asian Security Chief grinned at her, and said, "Got it, thanks!"

Irillith had been studying her IntOps Station, and had spotted what looked like a rifle-sized rack built into the end of her console. Measuring up the Punisher railgun against it, she asked, "I assume these slots in our stations are for the rifles?"

"That's right!" Dana agreed, pleased that someone had noticed the new feature. "Obviously, you can't hold a gun while you're manning your station, but now they're at hand if things get really hairy!"

Irillith nodded, and fit the weapon into the slot, watching inquisitively, as it was held firmly in place by self-locking restraints.

"That's in case we lose artificial gravity mid-combat," Dana noted, watching Irillith's curious expression. She mimicked grabbing the railgun, and added, "Just hold the rifle by the grip, and the restraints will unlock automatically, letting you pull it out."

When Irillith placed her armoured hand on the rifle grip, a light on the base flashed green as it scanned her DNA, and the weapon was released from the slot. "Very nice!" she said, flashing Dana a smile, before returning the weapon to the slot.

Dana grinned at her, then turned to look at John, and said proudly, "I've timed how long it takes to get from bed to being fully geared and at my Station, and I've done it in fifteen seconds!"

He shook his head in amazement, and said, "Outstanding work, honey. The whole refit has been inspired!"

"Thanks for trusting me with everything," she replied, her tone earnest, as she looked into his eyes. He could see the sincere gratitude, as she continued, "I never thought for one minute, that I'd ever get to work on something so awesome!"

"Speaking of which, just look at all that firepower!"Calara said breathlessly, pointing up at the Invictus Weapon Loadout display. Her brown eyes gleamed with barely controlled excitement, as she added, "It wasn't just Dana's dreams that came true with this refit!"

"Break it down for me, Commander," John said, his stern voice ringing with authority. He met her hungry gaze, and smiled, as he added, "What's the Invictus' complement of guns?"

Calara kept her intense gaze locked on his, as she reached behind her and tapped in commands on her console, highlighting the weapons by group on a rotating model of the Invictus. Her tone was formal, but she couldn't conceal her enthusiasm, as she replied, "First up, we've extended the defence grid, Admiral. Sixty-four fast-tracking Pulse Cannons, providing full coverage against missiles, torpedoes, and strike craft, and capable of firing up to thirty-two cannons in any direction."

"Good. What else?" he asked, leaning forward in his Command Chair.

"Our Beam Laser batteries are unchanged. We've got twenty-four in total, sixteen on the topdeck, eight on the underbelly, and we've got the capability to fire twelve in any direction on the horizontal axis," she replied, cycling through the weapon emplacements. Calara grinned, as she continued, "Then we've got the Gauss Cannons. Sixteen in total, all mounted on the underbelly. Dana, want to tell us more?"

Their Chief Engineer was leaning nonchalantly against her Station, and she tapped a button, bringing up schematics for the new weapon. "I upgraded the shit out of them, but that goes without saying," she added, with a sly wink. "They work by magnetising coils around a barrel, and accelerating slugs to hyper-speeds. I reduced the calibre from the Terran Federation's original design so we could carry more ammo, then slapped on Kintark heatsinks, and juiced them up to the tits with power."

"How much more powerful are they?" John asked, fascinated to hear about her upgrades to the innovative Terran weapon.

"They hit twice as hard as the Terran version, and fire three times as fast," she replied, with a sly grin. "They're designed to rip through and tear apart armour plating, setting the target up for salvos from the Beam Lasers."

Calara looked delighted, as she added, "They were light enough for Dana to mount them on fast-tracking turrets, despite their ten-metre barrels! That means we can track strike fighters with them, if we have to!"

"Why mount them all on the underbelly?" John asked, glancing at the display of the Invictus.

"Hardpoint limitations, mostly, but the Invictus is so mobile, it shouldn't be a huge problem," Calara clarified for him. She looked excited, as she added, "We used up all the space on the topdeck with the big guns! Six pairs of Heavy Cannons, light enough to mount on pivotable turrets, so we can fire them in a full broadside from the topdeck!"

"They reload every ten seconds, which hasn't changed from the original design," Dana explained, bringing up the next schematic. She gave John a wicked grin, as she added, "But now they hit about as hard as our old Mass Drivers! I've customised their shells to punch through armour plating, and to detonate as soon as they hit the hull beneath. The effect on a ship's armour should be fucking brutal-"

"-allowing us to strip reflective plating off a target's hull, and leave them vulnerable to energy weapons," Calara finished for her.

"That's just what we needed, girls," John said, nodding his approval. "Very nicely done."

"Which brings us to the real heavy hitters," Calara said, changing the weapon loadout once more. "A pair of linked Nova Lances, with a forty-five degree front-mounted fire arc. Triple the range of a Beam Laser, and as I'm sure you remember, capable of obliterating a Terran Battleship in a single lethal blast."

Dana gave John a wicked grin, as she added, "But now we've got enough power to fire those fuckers every sixty seconds, and we don't have to shut down half the ship to do it!" She winked at him, as she added, "Plus, the Maliri power relays we installed got rid of that high-pitched whine when they're charging up!"

He chuckled at that, and said, "Thank God for that!" After a moment's pause, he raised an eyebrow, and continued, "I know you've been saving the best 'til last..."

"We've now got two Singularity Drivers!" Calara said, a look of wonder in her eyes. "Only normally mounted in a dreadnought, the four-hundred-metre barrels mean they can only fire directly forward, and they take a little while to power up. When they do, we'll be able to fire the equivalent of a Mass Driver slug every second, at triple the old range!"

Dana nodded eagerly, and added, "Nothing can fuck up a heavily-armoured target like they can!"

John gazed at the rotating image of the Invictus, with a sudden sobering appreciation of the colossal weight of firepower they could now bring to bear. He shook his head in wonder, as he said to her, "You told me months ago that you'd eventually make the ship powerful enough to go toe-to-toe with a capital ship... I didn't believe you at the time, but now we're packing more firepower than a dreadnought!"

"Just think what it'll be like, when I get the rest of the Progenitor tech," she said, with an acquisitive gleam in her sky-blue eyes. "We'll be able to rip through fleets like we're swatting flies!"

It was quiet on the Bridge while they tried to come to terms with the level of destructive capability at their disposal, glancing at each other with wide eyes.

Calara suddenly frowned, and admitted, "As good as my weapon controls are, there's no way I can aim and fire so many different weapons at once."

John nodded his agreement, and said, "It might be sensible to give Jade fire control of the Singularity Drivers. I'm guessing you need to manoeuvre the ship to line up any shots, so the Pilot's already basically in charge of aiming them."

"That does make sense," Calara conceded, a flicker of disappointment crossing her face. She smiled then, and added, "I can still give her aiming advice!"

Alyssa smiled at the Latina, and said, "We can handle all that by telepathy. Just pass anything on to me, and I'll advise Jade accordingly."

John looked at the Nymph, and asked, "Does that sound good to you, honey?"

Jade's emerald eyes were wide with excitement, as she replied, "Just tell me what you want me to shoot at, and I'll line up the shots!"

"I'm happy to act as a secondary gunner!" Faye volunteered, bouncing up and down enthusiastically. "I've been using the Pulse Cannons a lot recently, and I think I'm getting much better with them!"

"That's true, you've improved a lot," Calara said, giving the purple girl an encouraging smile. She hesitated a second, then added, "I might need to take control occasionally, but as long as you're happy with that, then making you the permanent Pulse Cannon gunner sounds like a great idea."

"Yay!" Faye squealed, clapping her hands together in joy.

John glanced at the weapon loadout display, then said, "Alright then, Commander. That leaves you the Nova Lances, the Beam Lasers, the Gauss Cannons, and the Heavy Cannons. Can you manage all that lot?"

The Latina grinned at him, and replied, "That's perfect, Admiral! I can handle all those simultaneously, no problem!"

"It looks like we're all set for the battle tomorrow, then," Alyssa said, turning in her Executive Officer's Chair to look at John. She looked worried, as she added, "How are we going to play this, anyway? I'm assuming you're planning to try and do something to avoid a massacre, but I haven't heard anything concrete from you, yet."

John nodded, but his expression was one of pure frustration, as he replied, "I've been wracking my brain to think of something, but I'm not sure how we can avoid a fight. If we can't communicate with Tashana's Matriarchs, we've got no way of talking them out of a battle!"

Calara turned in her Tactical Chair, and her expression was grim, as she said, "Dana equipped the Combat Bridge with a specially designed holographic suite, which I've been using as a Fleet Command interface. Faye helped me configure it with all our Maliri Fleet assets, and I've spent days running simulations against their forces, using data gathered from the border sensor nets and intelligence from our allied Houses. If it comes to a fight, I believe we'll be victorious."

John studied her face, and could see the bleak outlook painted as clear as day across her lovely features. He took a deep breath, then asked, "Let me hear it, Commander. What's the best case scenario?"

"I've assumed their forces will only break at ninety-percent casualties, taking into account that the Matriarchs in charge are viewing this confrontation as a last stand for their species. The best case scenario obliterates their forces, and leaves our fleet at thirty-seven-percent strength. Combined Maliri personnel deaths would total just over five-million, with the loss of six-hundred-and-fifty-seven cruiser class vessels, or larger," she informed him, in a chilling delivery.

"Fuck me... That's the best case scenario?!" he asked, truly appalled at the projected loss of life. "What about the worst case?"

Calara sank back in her Tactical Chair, and replied dejectedly, "There were scenarios where the Invictus is lost with all hands, and both sides effectively wipe each other out. Maliri fatalities would exceed eight million, Genthalas Station and over eight-hundred-and-fifty large vessels would be destroyed. However, I assume you meant, worst case scenario where we survive?"