Three Square Meals Ch. 078

"It's an excellent plan," Rachel said, nodding as she considered their options. "We'll drastically reduce the number of Ashanath casualties with that approach."

"We can all work our way towards the High Council simultaneously," Alyssa added, sensing that he was wavering.

"You can't fight at super-speed though!" John protested.

The blonde girl laughed in amusement as she said, "I don't need to, handsome."

As much as John wanted to obstinately refuse, he'd trained with Sakura for weeks and he'd seen Alyssa in action before. He knew just how lethal they could be when the gloves came off. With a resigned sigh, he nodded to them both, saying, "Alright, we'll play it your way, but if any of you get in trouble, you're to call me for help immediately. Am I understood?"

"Yes, John," they all replied obediently, sensing that he wasn't in the mood for banter.

He nodded, making eye contact with each of them in turn. There was nothing more to be said and they couldn't afford to waste any time, so he turned and leapt through the protective force field that was shielding the Hangar from the vacuum of space, activating flight-mode on his Paragon Armour as he did so. The yellow sun made his gleaming white armour sparkle in the light, the golden lions emblazoned on his chest and shoulders looking proud and regal as he raced towards the rear of the Ashanath ship.

***

"They're away," Tashana said, watching as John and the three girls fanned out to board the Legacy from multiple entry points.

"I'm just guiding the Valkyrie into the Launching Bay," Jade announced, not looking at the holo-cam as her attention was focused on her delicate manoeuvres. "We'll both be aboard in under a minute."

With a worried expression on her face, Faye said, "I'll take a couple of the boys to meet Dana and help her to Medical."

"I'm fine," the redhead replied, waving a hand dismissively, but they could all see she looked a little pale.

Shaking her head, Calara said in an authoritative tone, "John had to rush your healing. You need time to fully recover."

Dana looked like she was about to object, but after pausing for a second, she gave the brunette a sly smile as she countered, "How about letting me rest on the Combat Bridge? The Chief Engineer's chair is very comfy..."

Calara rolled her eyes and said, "Fine, but let the maintenance bots help you out of the mech. That wreck is dangerous at the moment."

The redhead nodded, her holographic face scowling as she attempted to use retro-thrusters to reposition the Valkyrie under the maintenance gantry.

Taking advantage of the brief lull in combat, Calara turned her attention back to the Tactical Map to assess the overall picture of the battle. She frowned as she studied the chaotic fighting between the Ashanath and the Drakkar, shaking her head with disapproval. The Ashanath seemed content to simply slug it out with the Drakkar ships and a brief glance was all it took for her to realise that their forces were completely uncoordinated and leaderless.

"Can you patch us into the Ashanath Command Network?" she asked Irillith, turning in her chair to look at the Maliri girl.

Irillith slowly shook her head, shrugging helplessly as she replied, "I'm not picking up any comm traffic between the Ashanath vessels. Either their inter-fleet communications system is so sophisticated we can't even detect it, or there's a more likely reason: they aren't using one."

The very idea was galling to Calara, but she couldn't argue with Irillith's analysis of the situation. Rather than relying on guesses, she decided to confirm their speculations. Picking the nearest Ashanath cruiser at random, she hailed the damaged vessel, then watched as the grey face of its commander appeared in the holo-screen.

"This is Leader Haltarnus," the Ashanath stated in his whispery voice, sparks fizzing in the background from torn cabling where part of the ceiling had collapsed.

Calara nodded to him respectfully and replied, "Commander Calara Fernandez here, in command of the Invictus." She leaned forward in her chair and continued, "Are you using any form of communications network to coordinate your forces? Your fleets don't seem to be operating under any kind of cohesive strategic or tactical direction."

Haltarnus paused, remaining silent for a couple of seconds before answering, "The High Council have been... incapacitated. Our telepathic command web is silent but filled with fear and pain."

The Latina's brown eyes widened in surprise and she exclaimed, "Of course you'd use telepathy to communicate!"

"Yes, as I have just stated," Haltarnus replied, his eerie speech modulator managing to convey his confusion.

Calara flushed at her outburst, then asked intently, "How does a telepath join your Command Web?"

***

*Sure, I'll give it a shot,* Alyssa replied, giving her lover a supportive telepathic smile. *Just give me a second.* She straightened up her approach towards the Legacy's airlock by holding out her right arm and briefly activating the vambrace's retro-thruster.

Alyssa reached out with her mind to peel her spirit form from her body, watching as her approach towards the silver-hulled ship began to slow to a glacial pace. Her perception of the Astral Plane had shifted slightly and she could feel them out there now - the hundreds of Ashanath minds acting like a lodestone, drawing her in. She didn't resist their magnetic pull, but erring on the side of caution, she only let them sweep just a tiny part of her consciousness into their collective sub-plane, where the minds of all the Ashanath Fleet Captains were congregating.

The sudden onrush of thoughts was bewildering, with scores of desperate voices clamouring for the Invictus' help against the Drakkar onslaught. She could barely feel herself think over the din, but her mind had become highly attuned to dealing with a multitude of telepathic conversations and she adapted quickly, shrugging off the initial shock.

"Hello everyone," she said in greeting, but her friendly words were drowned out in the tumultuous noise of fearful voices.

Alyssa quickly realised that she had no chance of making herself heard, what with the entire Ashanath Fleet teetering on the edge of panic. Committing the full weight of her mind to the sub-plane in a sudden surge, her astral presence blazed like a super-nova as she revealed the full extent of her psychic splendour. The telepathic command web was stunned into an awed silence as hundreds of Ashanath gaped at her magnificent radiance in wonder.

Now that she had a moment's peace to study the Astral sub-plane, Alyssa could feel the dark undercurrent of fear that pervaded the place. She flooded the telepathic command web with a wave of soothing calm, countering the negativity and gently swaddling the fearful minds around her. The effect on the morale of the distraught Ashanath Captains was astonishing and within the space of a second she had rallied the entire fleet, filling them with a renewed sense of hope and confidence.

"HELLO!" she boomed, her voice thundering across the sub-plane. Dialling it down a little, now that it was obvious she had their attention, Alyssa continued, "The High Council is still alive and we're rescuing them from a Drakkar boarding action. Until they're back in action, I'll be helping coordinate the battle with the Drakkar, so listen closely to any orders you receive. The Invictus is heading back into the fight."

She began to relay Calara's tactics to her stunned audience, the Ashanath rushing to follow her orders once that initial shock had worn off.

***

*Alyssa? Are you okay?* John asked as he landed on the Legacy's silver hull, then swung himself inside the open airlock. He hit the button to seal the outer airlock door, then added, *We were talking and you suddenly went quiet.*

*Sorry, just setting Calara up with command of the Ashanath fleet,* she replied, but he could tell by her tone that she wasn't feeling very apologetic at all - quite satisfied with herself in fact.

John shook his head, never ceasing to be amazed by the magnificent young woman. He hit the button to open the inner airlock door and it opened about a foot before suddenly jamming. The power had flickered off in this section of the Legacy, leaving him standing in the dark. John glanced at his HUD and activated thermal imaging, watching as the corridor ahead was painted in shades of cool blue. Slinging his Punisher rifle over his shoulder, he gripped the door with both hands, then shoved it open using his enhanced strength. The doors creaked open, accompanied by the protesting squeals of the door mechanism.

Readying his rifle again, John took a quick look to his left, before stepping out into the corridor and heading right, towards the sound of distant gunfire. The overlay map confirmed he was going in the right direction, with a mass of red contacts tracked in this part of the ship.

*Edraele, are you there?* he asked, reaching out to his Maliri Matriarch.

*Of course, John,* she replied, responding to him the instant he asked for her. *I've been listening to your inner voice and receiving a running commentary from Alyssa, so I know you're storming the Ashanath Progenitor vessel. Do you require psychic power?*

*Yes please,* he replied gratefully. *I used up a big chunk of my own reserves flash-healing Dana. I need to keep enhanced speed active for as long as possible.*

*I'll keep feeding you from my energy network for as long as I can,* Edraele replied, sounding eager to help.

He felt a sudden delicious flow of energy from her, like someone turning on a tap of ice-cool water for a man parched with thirst. He drank deep from that stream of power, using it to activate his psychic speed and maintain the ability in his mind. All of a sudden, his brisk but cautious walk down the corridor became a blistering rush, still maintaining the advantage of a wary approach, but moving as fast as if he'd sprinted along the silver-walled hallway.

It didn't take long to reach the savage rent in the hull where the Drakkar had ripped their way inside. The lights were flickering intermittently in this section of the ship and jagged shards of metal were strewn all over the floor, where a rotating drill had bored through and torn open a huge hole for the Drakkar to board. There was no activity in this section of the corridor, but the sound of fighting had intensified with the sound of high-pitched lasers alternating with the throaty rumble of some kind of heavy-calibre weapons.

*No contact yet,* he murmured to Alyssa as he set off again, frowning at the sight of a shredded Ashanath crewman, the flesh stripped from his bones.

*Rachel and I have just landed, Sakura will be touching down in thirty seconds,* Alyssa updated him, her playfulness subsiding as their situation became much more dangerous.

John raced down the corridor, speeding along at his accelerated walk. The reflective silver surfaces of the hall made it obvious that this part of the ship had all been constructed by the Ashanath, but as he followed a ramp down, then took a sharp left, that abruptly changed. The aluminium alloy that the Ashanath had used to rebuild the ship ended at a serrated tear only a few metres from the turn. He turned off thermal-imaging to get a better look and shivered at the sight ahead of him.

The corridor beyond was built from some kind of lustrous black metal, with maroon lighting set into the floor that shrouded the passage in a sinister red gloom. Despite the foreboding appearance of the original Progenitor construction, it also felt eerily familiar, the architectural style resonating deeply within him. John wasn't sure which to be more unnerved by, the frightening look of the place, or the fact that it felt oddly comforting.

Putting such disturbing thoughts behind him, he swept onwards, encountering more of the butchered Ashanath crew. They'd been torn apart, devoured by the raiding Drakkar forces, who'd left nothing but bloody carcasses strewn about the floor. It was not as though this place needed dismembered corpses to appear any more intimidating, but the Drakkar seemed fully intent on turning the Legacy into a horrific charnel house.

John approached an intersection and from their position on the overlay map, it was clear that the Drakkar had split up to hunt the Ashanath crew. The sound of gunfire was loudest from his right, so he wasted no time in taking that turn, hurrying towards the sound of conflict. A bright orange laser bolt sizzling across a corridor was the first sign of battle, answered by a Drakkar's roar and the thump of some kind of vicious weapon in return.

Speeding up to the corner in a cautious walk, he glanced around to take a quick look, then grimaced in revulsion at the butchery ahead of him. The Drakkar were engaged in a running battle with fleeing Ashanath crew, but they clearly weren't trying to kill them outright. The wounded had been pounced on by Drakkar warriors and the corridor was filled with the Ashanath's agonised, drawn-out screams, sounding shrill through their voice modulators. As distressing as those high-pitched cries were, they at least drowned out the disgusting sound of the Drakkar gnawing voraciously on Ashanath flesh.

Jaw clenched with anger, John raised his Punisher rifle and took aim at the closest of the black-armoured Drakkar, its chunky battlesuit reminding him of a Bract beetle's shiny carapace. He set his weapon on low-power mode in an effort to maintain the element of surprise, then aimed at the back of the Drakkar's head and squeezed the trigger. To his astonishment, the railgun slug bounced away harmlessly, a red dome flickering into view. It was barely visible in the dim illumination, but just enough for him to realise the Drakkar was protected by some kind of energy shield.

*The Drakkar in black armour are shielded,* he warned Alyssa, pulling back around the corner and shouldering his Punisher rifle.

*I'll inform Sakura, she's just boarding now,* Alyssa replied a moment later. *No contact with the Drakkar for Rachel or me yet.*

John took a firm grip on the hilt of his crystal Alyssium sword, pulling the long white blade over his shoulder. He paused for a second, then asked, *You know what I've been planning. Do you think they're ready?*

*Yes,* Alyssa replied simply.

*Then you know what to do,* John said decisively, before stepping out into the corridor.

Eyes narrowed in righteous fury, he stalked towards the closest of the feasting Drakkar, his sword gleaming ominously in his gauntleted hand.