Three Square Meals Ch. 070

She grinned at him, then closed her eyes and took a calming breath, concentrating as he'd showed her. When her eyes snapped open, she charged towards him, moving so quickly that he was having trouble making her out in the blur. Twin ninjato whistled towards him, and he parried in desperation, his sword whipping around to deflect the lightning-fast attacks. White stabbing blades seemed to be coming at him from all over the place, and he whirled around, acting more by instinct than judgement as he frantically blocked her strikes.

Sakura back-flipped away, moving with a beautiful yet terrifying agility, before skidding to a graceful halt. She nodded, impressed that he'd been able to hold off her storm of sword blows, before she said, "I'm amazed you're able to parry all my attacks. It looks like you're moving in slow motion to me, but you're still able to hold me off!"

John breathed heavily, taking advantage of the momentary lull in combat to catch his breath. He smiled at her and said, "You'll find I've got a few surprises left."

They both knew it was bravado though, and that he was pushing himself to the limit to keep her flickering blades from striking his armour. Sakura smiled at him, and said, "Let's see how you cope with something a little different..."

Her posture changed dramatically, and she slowly lifted her left arm behind her, her sword raised high, while the other pointed towards him fully outstretched. Raising her left leg with a dancer's grace, she bent it at the knee, toes pointed down. There was an artistic beauty to those moves, a deceptively smooth elegance that entranced an opponent with their effortless perfection.

Sakura suddenly exploded into action, cartwheeling towards him in a flash of shimmering white. She led with a lunge which he barely managed to block, but then she was spinning to the side, ninjato working in a lashing rain of blows that were nearly too fast for him to see. She started striking high, but as soon as he moved his Odachi to protect his head, she dived low, slashing at his legs as she whirled by. He heard the clang of her swords as they struck him, his right thigh vibrating with the strength of her blows.

He dipped his sword again trying to protect his leg from her whirlwind of swords, but she darted off to flank him, blades whipping across his back and arms now. Knowing that he'd been convincingly defeated, he relaxed his posture, and lowered his guard. Sakura reacted immediately, stopping to face him a couple of metres away, her face lit up with a half-disbelieving grin of victory.

Bowing to her respectfully, he gave her a warm smile as he said, "That was very impressive, Sakura. Congratulations, it looks like you've grown beyond anything I can teach you."

She glowed under his praise, before tilting her head to one side as she studied him quizzically. She was about to say something, but stopped before she spoke, looking away into the distance as she listened to her Matriarch's telepathic voice.

Smiling at him, she bowed deeply to him in return, then said, "Do not be disheartened, young neophyte. You are but part of the way on your path to enlightenment." With a wink, she added, "Was that suitably Zen enough for you?"

He laughed as he replied, "My very own wise and ancient swordmaster, just what I've always wanted!"

Sakura faked a pout as she said, "Hey, I'm not that old!" Then she grinned and joined him in his laughter. Eventually she added, "I'd love to teach you Wushu forms, if you're interested? It's a radically different fighting style, but you might find some of the moves useful."

John nodded eagerly, and replied, "That would be fantastic, thank you! Any way you can help me improve my swordsmanship would be much appreciated." He chuckled as he added, "Perhaps you better rein in the psychic speed though, just to give your student a chance to keep up with you."

She gave him a curious look, then nodded, and began to explain the tenets of the ancient Chinese art of Wushu.

***

John was in for a fair amount of ribbing that evening, as the girls congratulated Sakura on her triumphant victory. She enjoyed the banter immensely, sharing jokes with the girls at his expense, while flashing John the occasional glance and a smile to check he wasn't offended by anything she was saying. He was touched by her concern for his feelings, but he hadn't minded losing to her in the slightest. His main goal had always been to help train her into an extremely skilled combatant, who would be able to protect the girls from all kinds of threats...

*She was right the other day, you are a good teacher,* Alyssa thought to him, cuddling up beside him on the sofa. Her voice throbbed with emotion as she continued, *You're very calm and patient. Good qualities for a father, too.*

He turned to look at her, and saw a warm, doting look in her eyes as she gazed at him. He leaned in and kissed her, losing himself in those clear blue orbs, pulling her closer as she sighed with happiness. When they finally separated, there was a hushed quiet in the Ready Room, and they saw that the girls were watching them with gentle smiles on their faces.

John cleared his throat, feeling a little embarrassed, and said, "Alright then, not that I'm trying to change the subject or anything, but does anyone have anything to discuss?"

"Other than how adorable you two look together?" Calara asked him with a broad smile.

He chuckled and replied, "Yep, something other than that."

"I've got something!" Faye said brightly.

John turned her way, looking interested as he asked, "Go ahead, what have you got for us?"

"I just thought I'd let everyone know that we'll be entering the Unclaimed Wastes tomorrow morning," she replied informatively.

Seizing the opportunity she'd given him to switch conversation topics, John asked Calara, "Anything we should be especially wary of? I take it you've had a good chance to review the data that Edraele sent us."

The Latina nodded, and replied, "I'll give you a full brief on Underworld itself when we get closer, I'm still reviewing the data on the refinery. The Unclaimed Wastes doesn't have much in the way of inhabitable planets, and the systems I've reviewed seem to mostly be gas giants with the occasional barren moon. That's probably why no species has attempted to claim this region of space."

Irillith nodded in agreement, and said, "The area is full of rich asteroid belts though, which brings in independent miners attracted by the promise of valuable ore hauls."

"Why haven't the Maliri annexed the area?" John asked her curiously.

"Without any governing body providing a military presence, the area is anarchic and rife with pirates. They prey on the miners and traders from minor civilisations," she explained, trying to remember what she could of that area of space. "With all the internal fighting amongst the Maliri, no one individual House can spare all the ships needed to clear the area out, so it's been left a lawless wasteland."

"Have we got anything to worry about? Regarding the pirates, that is?" John asked the two women.

"I doubt anything's fast enough to catch us," Alyssa interjected with a grin.

Irillith nodded, and replied, "She's right. With Faye watching the long-range sensors, we'll be able to skirt around any traps and outrun any pursuers."

"What about Interdiction Beacons?" Dana prompted them, thinking about the Battle of Regulus.

Calara frowned, and replied, "That's quite sophisticated tech. I doubt pirates would be able to get their hands on any."

Alyssa looked thoughtful for a moment before she said, "I'll review our flightpath, and keep an eye out for anywhere that looks like a good ambush location, just to be on the safe side. Avoiding those should only add an hour or so to our journey time."

"Sounds like we've got everything covered," John said, smiling at them in appreciation.

Calara gave him a curt nod, and replied grimly, "And if we haven't, and we do get intercepted by pirates, they won't live to regret it."

****

Faye kept a close watch on the long-range sensors that evening and during the night, carefully heeding Irillith's words of warning about House Ghilwen springing an ambush. It was serene up on the Bridge however, with only a few civilian ships appearing on the Sector Maps, as the Invictus raced between the stars.

She watched with fascination as Sakura knelt down to service John both last thing at night, then first thing the following morning. The thought of being that intimate with him was tremendously exciting, but such thoughts inevitably triggered a critical error in her custom programs, which superimposed her own image over that of the submissive Asian girl. This would then tie-up at least six of her avatars to... attempt to restore the original video image... which would involve intensive scrutiny for hours at a time.

Despite her best intentions, watching John hold Sakura in place while he filled her belly caused that self-same error in her programs. Faye took a close look at the image of the winged purple girl hungrily gulping down John's cum, and with a resigned expression on her face, and the hint of a smile, she devoted half her active processing streams to look into the issue. With avatars Primary through to Senary now hard at work on the video problem, and Denary through to Duodenary monitoring the long-range scans, it only left her three active avatars to work with.

With a decisive nod, she added Septenary and Octonary to troubleshooting the video problem, which left Nonary to inform John that they had just crossed the border into the Unclaimed Wastes. She popped into existence in front of him while he was drying himself off, and did exactly that.

"Any sign of House Ghilwen forces?" John asked her as he strolled out of the bathroom, leaving Sakura to savour the loving attention of the other girls still in the shower.

Shaking her head, Faye replied brightly, "There were no Maliri military vessels anywhere near our flightpath!"

"How about pirate ships? Have you started picking any of them up yet?" he asked her, as he strolled into his walk-in wardrobe.

"I did detect one group of armed ships on the edge of our sensor radius, which included a cruiser and three destroyers. I think we must have been outside their sensor radius though, as they made no moves to change course to intercept," she replied, watching him get dressed with big luminous eyes.

He turned and smiled at the digital construct, and said, "Brilliant job as usual, Watch Commander."

Faye gave him a dazzling smile in return, and said, "I'm so glad I'm able to do something useful to help out."

Tucking his top into his comfortable gym trousers, he said sincerely, "You're making a hell of a difference, Faye. We feeble organics need our rest, and quite surprisingly, I sleep like a baby having a malevolent, psychotic AI watching over us."

She giggled cutely, then said, "That's wonderful to know, just in case I need to murder you in your beds." She paused then, and gazed into his eyes as she added, "Thank you for telling me that. I'm so glad you trust me to look out for all of you."

Alyssa led a flushed Sakura into the wardrobe then, and started to help her get dressed in comfortable training gear. John watched the two of them together, comparing them physically to see how Sakura was progressing with the change. Apart from her rounded belly, and her darker, golden-brown skin, the two girls shared an almost identical physique. It was always astonishing to see the results of the Change, and this time was no different.

*Not yet,* Alyssa thought to him with a cautionary glance. *Wait until you've restocked, and the two of you can celebrate properly.*

*There's no rush,* he replied with a smile.

Alyssa shared a tender kiss with Sakura, and the two stared into each other's eyes as the blonde Matriarch spoke telepathically to the raven-haired beauty. They exchanged a secret smile, before Alyssa waved them both goodbye. She intercepted a sombre-looking Calara as she exited the bathroom, and then dragged the protesting brunette back into bed. John and Sakura smiled as they strolled down the corridor to the grav-tube, accompanied by the delightful sound of Alyssa and Calara giggling playfully together back in the bedroom.

Sakura glanced his way repeatedly as they walked into the grav-tube and floated down to Deck Seven, a thoughtful expression on her face as she studied him. It wasn't unusual for there to be a comfortable silence between them, but he wasn't used to this level of scrutiny. Wondering what she had on her mind, he decided to speak to her about it after lunch.

They walked along the corridor to the Firing Range, and he opened the door for Sakura, then waved her through courteously. He followed her in, then strode over to the weapon racks, with her at his side.

"Ready to try the Punisher rifle?" he asked the Asian girl with an indulgent smile. She seemed a little distracted, which came as a surprise to him, as she was normally so focused and determined.

Sakura snapped herself out of it, and grinned back at John as she replied, "I've been looking forward to getting my hands on that for over a week!"

He picked up a magazine of crystal-tipped twenty-millimetre rounds, then handed the railgun over to Sakura.

Shaking her head in amazement, she said, "It -is- lighter! You'd never believe it with the size of this beast!" She hefted the weapon to her shoulder, pointing downrange, and she added, "It feels amazingly ergonomic, almost like the weapon was custom-designed for me!"

He chuckled and replied, "It was, after a fashion." When he saw her look of confusion, he continued, "Alyssa worked with Dana extensively to make sure it was a comfortable fit for her, which meant it was perfectly designed for you as well."

Nodding her understanding, Sakura picked up a pair of targeting glasses from the firing table, and sighted down the range again. She laughed, and said, "I don't know why I trained so hard to improve my aim. With this targeting reticle, it'll be like shooting fish in a barrel!"

"There's no substitute for the old Mark I eyeball, you never know when you might have to shoot without a helmet," he explained with a smile.

"Oh, I don't know about that. My cybernetic eyeballs had quite a few handy gadgets installed," she joked with a grin.

He nodded, and said honestly, "True, but they weren't anywhere near as beautiful as your real eyes."

She turned and gave him a tender kiss, giving him a close up view of those enchanting dark-brown orbs. They shared a smile, and he handed her the magazine for the railgun.

"Alright, better switch to low-power, or Sparks will kill me," he whispered conspiratorially.

Sakura slapped in the magazine, seeing the ammo-counter change to "0/50" in the HUD displayed in her glasses.

"Why is the ammo counter telling me I've got no ammo?" she asked him, sounding puzzled. She tilted the rifle to its side, so she could inspect the ammo counter above the magazine slot, and added, "The readout above the mag says I've got fifty rounds."

"The zero is a count of the number of grenades you've got loaded. I've been caught out by that before too," he admitted. John pointed out the second magazine slot to her, and continued, "The twenty-five-mil grenades slot in there."

She looked at him with an eager grin, and he smiled as he shook his head, chuckling when she pretended to pout in annoyance.

Standing at a firing position, she aimed down the range at a dummy, and carefully positioned the reticle over her target. Gently squeezing the trigger, the rifle vibrated in her hands, accompanied by the quiet whisper, "VrmPkaow."

The heavy slug punched a fist-sized hole through the range dummy, blasting a shower of polycarbonate chunks out the back. The poor lifeless figure shook violently with the impact, and would have been knocked flying backwards if it wasn't firmly secured to its stand.

"Holy shit!" she gasped, staring at the sparkling white rifle in her hands, then at the devastation it had caused to the dummy.

He smiled at her knowingly, and said, "It's very different firing one yourself, isn't it?"

"Can I fire one round on full power? Please?" she begged him.

He shook his head, and replied, "You'd blast a big hole through the wall at the back of the range. Dana needs to set up multiple layers of armoured plating before you can try that."

"Okay, I understand," she replied reluctantly. Glancing over at the weapon racks, her eyes locked on the big white rifle mounted at the far end, and she asked, "How about letting me shoot that instead?"

John grinned at her, and said, "You want a go on the Justice rifle? Alright, I'll show you how to power it up!"

They spent a few hours with Sakura melting down target dummies using the laser rifle, and John let her snap off a few rounds using a Punisher pistol as well. After spending days on end practicing with the comparatively puny XR75 rifle, the destructive capabilities of their standard-issue firearms were a joy to behold. Eventually her stomach returned to its normal size as she absorbed his load, and they returned the guns to the weapon racks so they could move on to duelling in the Dojo.

Sakura went quiet again as they walked down the corridors, appearing to be lost in thought. John hit the button to open the door into the equipping room, then gestured for her to proceed before him. Gearing up for combat in the Dojo had become second nature by now, and when they were both fully armoured in Paragon armour, John waited politely for Sakura to retrieve her ninjato from the weapon rack. She didn't wait for him as she usually did, instead darting through the door to their right. He could hear her tapping buttons on the simulation control panel inside the room, and wondering what she was up to, picked up his Odachi and walked in after her.

While the Dojo itself looked identical to all the other times they'd been in there, the atmosphere inside the room had changed dramatically. They were no longer standing in a place of peace and tranquillity; the shards of soft light angling from the windows above had been replaced by angry flashes of lightning, while the room echoed with the deafening peal of thunder. John turned to look at the mountains outside, and saw they were being lashed with rain as a terrifying storm raged around them.

Sakura was waiting for him near the centre of the mats, and she held both ninjato in an offensive stance as she waited for him to join her. He could only assume by her posture that she wanted to move straight into a sparring match, rather than spend more time teaching him Wushu forms. They shared a brief but respectful nod and she closed her eyes for a second, before she began to shimmer.

John frowned, about to ask Sakura what she was up to, when she charged towards him, moving so fast he could barely keep track of her. She whirled around him, dodging his tentative strike with contemptuous ease, before surging forward and slashing her blade across his throat with a sharp clang of metal on metal.

"You are dead," she said coldly, backing away across the training mats and adopting another offensive stance. Her eyes narrowed, and she snapped, "Again."

John felt a shiver run down his spine when he saw the chilling way she looked at him, and he was about to ask her what was wrong, when she launched herself towards him in a furious tornado of flashing blades. He did his best to parry, but her swords were moving so fast that every time he tried to block her strike, she stabbed him with her second weapon.

"You are dead," she repeated, moving back to the starting position once more.

"You are dead." "You are dead." "You are dead."

Over and over she cut through his defences with ease, moving too fast for him to possibly counter the blistering slashes from her twin ninjato. The lightning arced across the sky, while thunder boomed around him, punctuating each killing blow with a cacophonous bass rumble.