Three Square Meals Ch. 104

Drawing his sword, John activated flight mode on his suit and floated over to the relevant section. Dana was right; with a precise two-handed chop, he effortlessly cut through the titanium structure, feeling only the barest tug of resistance. John looked closer to make sure his incision followed the marked line, removing only the unsalvageable sections. Nodding with satisfaction, he looked up to find Dana watching him, the redhead carefully examining his handiwork.

"Perfect! Now we've got another 85 to go!" she turned and waved at the field of floating golden arrows that covered the flank of the ship.

John let out a playful groan of protest, then made his way to the next one.

***

"Hi Charles!" Alyssa gushed, giving him a warm hug as he walked into the Invictus' Cargo Bay. "Glad you could make it."

"Well you have got my curiosity piqued, young lady," he said, his moustache twitching as he smiled. "You've made some pretty bold claims..."

She sashayed towards the ramp. "I'll try not to leave you disappointed..."

He chuckled and tried not to blush, having got somewhat used to the blonde's playful teasing. "Where's John by the way? I need to discuss the bounty on the Hera with him."

When Alyssa exited the Invictus, she turned and pointed upwards at the rear of the battlecruiser. "He's helping with the repairs. He'll be down soon."

Charles strolled over to join her, his curious gaze sweeping over the damaged rear-section of the ship. He spotted his friend instantly, John's white and gold armour looking spectacular as it gleamed in the well-lit docking bay, making him stand out against the backdrop of plasma ravaged hull. He seemed to be attacking the Invictus with his sword, the long blade rising and falling as he swung at the battle-scarred ship. It was like watching some valiant knight doing battle with a great dragon, then Charles realised he'd seen John do exactly that only the previous morning.

"What on Terra is he doing?" he muttered, with a frown of confusion.

"There's method to his madness," Alyssa replied, sounding oddly distracted.

When he lowered his gaze to the young woman beside him, he couldn't help gaping at her in astonishment. "How are you doing that?!"

"Telekinesis," she nonchalantly replied, as she manipulated the vast ball of sparkling white metal that slowly floated out of the Cargo Bay behind them.

She made it form a series of different shapes as she strengthened the Crystal Alyssium, each reshaping hardening the metal's crystalline lattice. When she had shaped it for the ninth time, she gestured imperiously at the metal, drawing out streams of the liquid alloy and forming it into a set of eight armour plates for the Invictus. Once they were done, she let them float to the floor, then shaped the next set... and the next... stacking the armoured panels high.

"Is all your equipment made from the same metal?" Charles asked in an awed whisper.

"Pretty much," Alyssa replied, as she worked through her supply of Crystal Alyssium. "Not all the internal components, but our weapons and armour use a lot of it."

He shook his head in disbelief. "The rate you're making new plating is incredible!"

She sighed and nodded. "Unfortunately, there is one massive drawback to doing this..."

"What's that?" Charles asked, unable to take his eyes off the floating plates.

"It's really boring!" Alyssa replied, winking at him impishly. Finishing off the last of her rotating globe of metal, she looked up at the Invictus' pockmarked flank. "Now, let's replace some of that busted armour..."

The blonde gestured towards the battlecruiser with both hands, then made a beckoning motion with each. To Charles' utter amazement, Alyssa began to rapidly denude the Invictus of armour, a steady stream of scorched metal plates wrenching themselves clear and tumbling to the ground. The ringing sound of metal striking metal began to echo around the docking bay as she methodically stripped that section of the hull.

"It'd take a hundred men working flat-out to match that pace!" Charles exclaimed, his eyes following the cascade of armour plates.

"Still think two days is undoable?" she replied, arching an eyebrow. Raising her hands upwards, a dozen of the freshly created armour panels followed her command. Alyssa effortlessly slotted them into the recently vacated alcoves, then reached for another set, neatly sliding them into position.

Charles patted her on the shoulder and smiled. "Alright, that's enough... I'm convinced."

Alyssa grinned at him, then looked skyward in alarm. "Look out!"

He yelped in fright as a huge section of superstructure dropped off the Invictus, descending through the air towards him. It began to slow, then hovered there harmlessly, until Alyssa placed it gently on the deck in a suitably large spot she'd picked out for it.

"I thought we were done for!" he exclaimed, his pounding heart threatening to burst from his chest.

Alyssa giggled at the shocked expression on his face, which slowly faded as Charles realised he was never in any real danger. "Sorry, I couldn't resist," she said with an apologetic smile.

"You got me there," he admitted, wagging a chastising finger in her direction.

Charles looked up at the rear of the ship again and spotted John flying over to the next section of the ragged wound in the Invictus' hull. The gleaming white sword flashed in a long arc as he began to hack at the titanium beams, surgically removing the damaged superstructure.

"He's just going to chop out the rest of that wreckage then he'll be right down," Alyssa said, anticipating Charles' next question. She gestured towards the crates in the Cargo Bay and levitated out another large block of Crystal Alyssium. Glancing at Charles, she asked airily, "Now that Lynette's started sinking huge amounts of cash into Olympus, doesn't that make you one of the most important admirals in High Command?"

He looked at her in surprise, then gave her question some thought. "I suppose you're right. I've been so busy making plans to expand the shipyard that I've not really had a chance to think about the political ramifications. I'm not interested in all that game-playing to be honest, but if it makes it easier to requisition the resources I need at Olympus, I'm hardly going to complain."

"What do you think of Lynette?" Alyssa asked, watching him curiously as she began psychically shaping more armour plates.

"I think she's going to be an excellent Fleet Admiral," Charles replied, making no attempt to hide his admiration. "I always knew Lynette was a skilful political operator, but she also seems to be a decisive leader with a razor-sharp focus on improving the Terran Federation. After nearly twenty years of poor leadership under Sutton then Buckingham, she's a real breath of fresh air."

"She seemed nice enough when we first met," Alyssa said offhandedly as she manipulated the orb of liquid metal. "But as I've got to know her better, I really started to like her. With only a few exceptions, I haven't had too high an opinion of the Admiralty, so it was nice to realise they weren't all a bunch of assholes."

"I hope I was one of those exceptions," Charles said, smiling at her.

She nudged him with an elbow and grinned. "Of course."

Looking up, she raised her left hand and caught another huge piece of cremated superstructure in a telekinetic grip. Alyssa lowered it to the deck, placing it next to the first, then continued working on shaping armour plates.

Charles watched her for a while, mesmerised by the shifting metal. "Even though I'm seeing this with my own eyes, I still find it hard to believe the things you can do..."

"I thought you saw the video of us in action against the Kintark?" she replied with a gentle smile.

He turned to look at her, struggling to reconcile the friendly blonde with the ferocious Lioness that had torn through the Kintark forces attacking the Citadel. "I saw you fighting on Terra, but it was like watching an action holo-movie. I suppose I figured it was some kind of optical illusion; that you couldn't possibly be throwing around Kintark tanks like they were a child's toys." He glanced up at his old friend again and added, "And seeing John fight the Emperor like that... it made me wonder how well I ever really knew him; I had no idea he was capable of doing the things he can do."

Alyssa caught another huge chunk of battered ship, then set it aside. "Actually, until very recently, nor did he." She gave Charles a sympathetic look. "John has a bunch of new abilities, but he's still the same guy you've been friends with for all these years."

Charles shook his head and smiled. "Actually, he really isn't."

She let the Crystal Alyssium sink to the floor, turning to give the older man her undivided attention. "What do you mean?"

"I always liked John. He was an excellent marine and a good man who really cared about the troops under his command," Charles said, lost in his memories.

"I sense a 'but' coming..." Alyssa said, studying him in fascination.

"He was friendly enough with those he liked and trusted, but John always kept a really tight rein on himself. Thinking back, I struggle to remember a time when he ever seemed to be truly happy... and it was much worse after he retired. The last battle we fought in hit him badly; he lost most of his friends in the fighting and seemed to blame himself." Charles' face shadowed with sadness. "I tried to get him to go for counselling, but he refused. I was really worried about him."

"You thought he might commit suicide!" Alyssa exclaimed, her eyes widening.

Charles met her concerned gaze and gave her a curt nod. "I've seen it before... I lost a few good friends that way after they retired." He sighed and glanced up to watch John working on the Invictus. "He'd chosen a lonely life for himself, just him and that freighter... That's why I pushed for him to stay on the books as a special ops consultant. I hoped that keeping the ties to the military would help him feel connected and give him a sense of purpose."

Alyssa slipped her arms around Charles and gave him a fierce hug. "Thank you so much for looking out for him. You were a good friend..."

He patted her awkwardly on the back and smiled at her when she released him. "He's been a changed man in the last six months... happier now than I've ever known him. I have a feeling that's largely thanks to you."

"There's nothing like the love of a good woman," she replied, with a twinkle in her cerulean eyes.

Charles laughed and nodded his agreement. "Yes, I can see that. As I said, John's not really the same man I knew all those years ago... but that's actually a good thing."

"Thanks for telling me that, I really appreciate it," Alyssa said, squeezing his hand. "John doesn't really talk about his past all that much. I know he blamed himself for Galon Prime, or at least he did until Irillith found out what really happened; Fleet Admiral Sutton always intended to bombard the rebel civilians, he planned it out weeks before."

"Wait... what?!" Charles blurted out, his eyes widening in shock.

Alyssa carefully explained everything that the Maliri hacker had discovered about the incident, looking at the older man with sympathy as a flurry of emotions crossed his face.

"That bastard actually tried to pin that on us!" he snarled, his moustache quivering with anger. "When the public was outraged by the civilian death toll, High Command tried to blame the ship Captains for being overzealous. They destroyed a lot of good men and women with those accusations... I only avoided it because the Invictus was too badly damaged in the battle to be dragged into the orbital bombardments afterwards."

"I'm so sorry," Alyssa said quietly.

He let out a heavy sigh, then gave her a look filled with gratitude. "That battle gave me plenty of sleepless nights over the years... thank you."

John landed silently beside them, the anti-grav generators in his suit letting him descend without a sound. He pulled off his Paragon helmet and put a gauntleted hand on his friend's shoulder. "I'm sorry, Charles. I should have told you straight away..."

Alyssa gave him a supportive smile. "You only found out two days ago. I'm sure Charles understands that you've been a bit busy recently..."

Charles nodded and said, "You've got nothing to apologise for, John. The last couple of days have been so manic, I wouldn't have had a chance to even think about it anyway."

Looking relieved, John glanced at the ship. "Let me get out of this armour, then we can have a drink and a chat." He smiled at Charles and added, "I can't wait to hear how much you're offering me for the Hera..."

Alyssa watched the two men walk towards the Invictus, a fond smile on her face. She quickly installed the new armour panels she'd just created, then hurried after them. *Lynette, grab your uniform and meet me in the main bedroom!*