All Comments on 'Three Square Meals Ch. 079'

As normal, it never fails to please. Keep up the good work.

Thanks! It's great to hear you enjoyed the chapter. :-)

Tefler

I thoroughly enjoyed reading this chapter. I only wish I could give more than 5 stars. I'm looking forward to reading much more. Thank you for sharing this story with us.

Awesome, great read..

I fucking love these stories! The battles, the love! I wonder if Sakura is going to get a girl friend like Dana and Rachel, Alyssa and Calara. Also can't wait for sexy fu. Time with the twins, that will be a hot chapter!

If I was a publisher, leaving that there.

Yes, I know, this chapter is just out, but chapter 80 is already under the loving, tender care of the editors (FatherSin and who more?) as stated on the Patreon-page.

So the betting is on when will it appear here.

A fine read Tefler, thanks for the update on John's travels.

As a reminder to myself, are the Eshunu the red-skinned race which have taken over the Waste-Land space-station? Then we have a few more problems to resolve because the Inheritance is Mael'neraks's ship and not the ship of John's father's ship unless he abandoned his old ship - to be found and restored (in a way) by the Ashanti - and build himself a new one to become stranded in the system John's mother found him.

Great chapter, lots of new details to digest! Can't wait to re-read it tonight and try to decipher your breadcrumbs!

Thanks again for sharing this with us!

hillcountrycowboy

Hey Tef, Thanks for a great read! I loved every minute of it. In fact I had to take an hour break in the middle so I didn't finish to fast .

@PLRus just in case you didn't see my response on chapter 78, I want to call attention to it because I love the fact that TSM is becoming a fandom/community, and the best part of a fandom, for me, is not generally the content, sorry Tef, I do love the story. However, the best part of any fandom is the conversations, socializations, and debates (on literotica is that a master debate?)

Always in awe of the work you put in the chapters. You may need professional editing (presentation and order) but otherwise it's up there with best of works I've read online.

Keep at it mate.

Matt.

Awesome chapter! I suspect the greys are due some serious upgrades. They were way too vulnerable. Plus it would be very interesting if their fascination with the girls might somehow figure into the repopulation efforts.

Magnificently done! Having John activate the girls like he did, was well played! I did not see that one coming! Five stars and my hats off to you! On another note, thank you, for your advice. Hearing that you wanted to see what sort of a story I could make out of my ideas has inspired me to write and I think I've taken a good couple of first steps! You sir, are an exemplar of both a good writer and a good man. Again, thank you!

So I am loving how often you update your story and the chapters you are coming out with. What I also loved was a story like Truckstop takedown, where it adds a little more to the universe. You could even take points of view of different races and do these one off stories that help flesh out the universe. Just curious if you'd be doing anymore since you've referenced titanium Jake a couple times, tieing the stories into the same universe. Excellent work as always, and working on getting my accounts in order to support you on patrion. Was a little worried about John and PJ coming out during the sword fight, but the whole surrender line let me know it was okay.

So Dana really did have reason to be worried. She had in depth knowledge of how bad the mech really was...

I'm hoping John uses his knowledge that he can just pull energy on a more frequent basis. As much as it means the battle with the Grand Overload could have been avoided, I hate it when a series unveils an new ability and then NEVER uses it again. (I always think of the Bleach anime and the "Spirit Ribbons" ability. It is only ever used 2-3 times and then dropped.)

The second half of the battle was fun to write, so I'm glad you guys enjoyed it. :-)

Chapter 80 is nearly done; I just have a few more scenes to write and some editing to do. I'll add a comment here when it's finished!

Re: Sid0604 - There's still lots of chapters to go. I tried to plan out exactly how many and I thought about another thirty... ;-) (not that I've been saying that for over a year!)

Re: Anon - Thanks, it's nice to hear you liked it!

Re: CreepyDragon - Cheers for the enthusiastic feedback! I always hope the action chapters live up to expectations, they're much harder to write than bridging ones. :-)

Re: Gregsjin - I'll have to look into getting it published soon. I plan to make an effort to redo the earlier chapter as a "special edition" for the ebook!

Re: hping - I'm expecting probably towards the end of next week, depending on editing and moderation time.

Re: hillcountrycowboy - No problem, I hope it stands up on the re-read!

Re: Okamiyasha - You're welcome, glad to hear you enjoyed it! I enjoy the discussions too, you'll often see me use elements from those fan conversations in the story.

Re: Anon - Each chapter takes about 50 hours to write, so its good to hear that pays off!

Re: chip812 - I wasn't sure about ending it there, but several people have mentioned they liked the last line, so I'm glad i did. I launch straight into the Valkyrie review in chapter 80.

Re: SwirlingJedi - Thanks very much and It's great to hear that you've decided to start writing yourself! You had loads of great ideas, so I'm pleased you decided to go for it! :-)

Re: DpEmpire - It's nice to be able to maintain a fairly regular release schedule, so new chapter should be appearing every ten days or so. The idea of more one-offs is an interesting one. I'm tempted to try doing relatively short 4 chapter mini-series, which would make a complete, self contained book. I'll look into those once the main story is complete!

Tefler

I finished up to chap 78 about a week ago and it was so good I had to start again lol.i just finished the major terrain battle when I noticed the new chapter.well done again.i can't wait to see what happens next.(and when is he gonna stuff Jehanna full of progenitor cock? Lol.)

Thanks for a great yarn!

The story is great. The character development of each of the characters is great. I know that the story is not finished yet but the non-stop winning is becoming old and monotonous. The long sleeping period of Alyssa is the first time anyone came away from a battle with any effects lasting longer than a day. Even Jade came back from the dead.

I'm not saying that the book is bad or in need of a major rewrite...but IMHO there needs to be some kind of heartbreaking loss for our hero. I know that it won't be popular...but it will make the story awesome.

First of all, is anyone else amused that John uses "Jesus Christ!" as a curse when it's looking more and more like John is the actual son of the Maker? It's still conceivable that Mael'nerak isn't his father but the odds seem to be increasing. All we need is a resurrection scene to complete the Christ analogy.

There's an awful lot to unpack in Alyssa's vision of Mael'nerak aboard the Legacy as well as the description of the BSP and his Matriarch. The number of Maliri visions and the implied span of time are very strong, but not complete, evidence that the Legacy was Mael'nerak's ship at one point. Regardless, the vision showed Mael'nerak fighting another progenitor's thralls during the era of the Nexus files, tens of thousands of years before he was finally driven away (at least 62K years before present based on his facial hair). I don't think we can rule out BSP being the same enemy from this era. Aillanthia's light green skin isn't too far from yellow.

Ultimately, Mael prevailed in this ancient battle. Did he kill his rival? Did he drive him away? Did his flag ship, the Legacy, become so damaged that he just decided to build a new one? We don't know and that information is necessary to determine John's parentage.

If Mael didn't need a new ship, then he clearly didn't crash on Arcadia and father John. If he did need a new ship, then either he or his brother crashed there. Hopefully, we'll find out when and where the Ashanath recovered the Legacy in the next chapter. That information will help us narrow down the possibilities.

While I'm thinking about it, maybe we'll find out why Mael created the Ashanath. Explanations were given for the Trankarans, Terrans, and Drakkar but not for the Greys.

On another note, I'm looking forward to finding out what Dana discovers when she uses her new abilities to examine the Legacy. The word 'capacitor' came up too many times in this chapter for me to not expect an upgrade on that front, at the very least.

-aderi

I don't want to step on my crank here, but not a single shot fired from the planet defense lasers? John and the girls saw the lasers defending the progenitor tech bunker. I assume the whole planet must have lasers, or else an enemy could approach under the horizon, land, and advance over land, never exposed to the lasers. But, even if the laser emplacements are only adjacent to the bunker and not distributed around the planet, the lasers still had visibility of the battle since Jade saw the Legacy rising from the bunker. So, anyway, in a battle so close to the planet Sparks almost gets incinerated in the atmosphere, the planetary defense lasers never fire a shot?

Hi Tefler,

I agree with a previous anonymous comment saying you might want to consider some permanent loss to the crew. Again, I would like to emphasize it is just my advice and I know other people feel differently. I think a loss will make us more attached to the characters as there is a chance they might be lost. I think that major characters have to be killed off for this to work, not just minor characters only introduced for one or two chapters. A good example I encourage you to look at, if you haven't already done so, is Game of Thrones (the books). I also think writing about the characters reactions to a loss and also how they cope would make them more human and allow readers to emphasize with them more. Because, at least for me, I still feel they are a little shallow because they seem to be leading almost perfect lives, making them slightly not relatable to me. Of course, at the end of the day this is your story and I will fully support any decision you make. I also want to say I really enjoyed this series and have been following it since Chapter 5 (the wait times between make me sad though :) and see the increase in your skill at writing and character development as an amazing feat. Thank you so much for sharing your stories with us!

Sincerely,

Jason

Timtom ++ the ability to pull energy risks wringing girls out to dead husks. John is not inclined to do that with no ability for them to say they are ok.

The major loss sounds like a great idea and would deepen the story. But this is an entertainment, space opera of the classic kind. The amount of whining about Irrilith being such a bitch and the PJ version of John shows that it betrayed the audience to hint at unpleasant consequences. That was balanced by how appreciated and admired those twists were after the reveal but a straight loss without payoff would be like going to movies and being told that burnt turds were the new snack of choice to replace popcorn.

Basically, why take a chance of alienating part of the fan base by killing someone off? I for one, would probably end the series there. It is a terrible idea. Why fix it if it isn't broken? Just keep writing and do you. Though a major loss would wreck my confidence and interest in the story.

To me, perma-killing a major character would be way too heavy for a story that so far has mostly been lighthearted humor and action (and inflation). Risk of character death adds dramatic tension, but I feel like actual character death would change the tone of the story to the point where it would become something totally different from what it is today.

Of the options presented for using the extra space, I think I like more dakka the best. I know a bunch of people like it, but the ship inside a ship idea doesn't work for me. I sort of liked the idea of fighters, but John's dead against it. Faye controlled drones also appear to be out. More raptors would be less flimsy, maybe with some of the extras stripped out to lighten up the new ones. After all, the raptor is theoretically a troop transport, so removing what amounts to a big empty room would make it both lighter and stronger. The FTL drive would also be a candidate for removal. I don't know if more raptors/heavy fighters works as well when the pilot doesn't have Jade's physiology though. Maybe they should go back and sign on some Trankaran ladies.

Tefler, I've read everything you've posted here and have loved every second of Mr. Blake's Wild Ride. You just can't find this sort of 60's-era space opera story anywhere these days; publishers and authors have been catering to a more cynical crowd.

That said, could you PLEASE, for the LOVE OF GOD, never use the phrase "contemputuous ease" ever again? You've used it at least 30 times, and it's quite a glaring writing crutch. It doesn't help that the word "contemptuous" is followed by "ease" 95% percent of the time; it gives the appearance that the word isn't a natural part of your vocabulary.

"Alyssa casually batted aside its weapon with a contemptuous backhander"

So only 50% of the contempt is easy in this one. :-)

I'll bear that in mind for future chapters, thanks!

Tefler

I would most strongly plead against this suggestion. I totally agree with "No losing Anyone" Anonymous that it would be inappropriate for this type of light space opera, and deeply, deeply upsetting to a large slice of the readership, myself included. Like him, I would probably leave, very upset.

I totally concur with Father Sin's comments.

If you look back to the halcyon year of space opera, this is clearly in the vein of the work of EE Doc Smith's Lensman and Skylark series, which I first avidly read in the 60s and have re-read numerous times since, just as I will no doubt continue to re-read 3SQM. He had no major character loss at all through either series, and to be honest I loved the work for it.

So I would strongly advise against this suggestion, as it is not appropriate for the genre and would leave a substantial segment of the readership feeling very badly betrayed. Let's keep it for other darker stories written in slightly different genres, and continue to revel in the sheer joy of this wonderful, wonderful series.

Like many others, when Tefler finally comes to the end of this I will be traumatized, and I will only be able to cope thanks to the knowledge of the upcoming sequel he has mentioned, and in the meantime diving into a word by word re-read (#4 by then, I suspect)....just as I did with Galactic Patrol, all those years ago.

Tef - WELL DONE, this has brightened my life and given me a wonderful form of light relaxation that is very eagerly awaited!!

Timbo

This story is a retro fun Space Opera , lots of action , some great sex & comedy mixed into a fun adventure . Not every tale has to be dark & real life , hopefully we are allowed to have a little fun & laughs , it is fiction . Ever since the rise of the Dark Anti-hero it seems that we can't have a light action adventure where none of the good guys have to die just to Heighten the Drama or make it more REAL Life . So if you want to see some of the crew or good guys die just look for another story & let us enjoy this fanciful tale . There is enough drama with the questions about John's parentage , The Progenitors & Astral beings & evil villains (BSP,Mitaboshi, Kintrak ,etc ) to keep us on the edge of our seats . IMHO Thanks for listening

Tefler used "contemptuous" and "contemptuously" in chapters 56 to 79 only seventeen times. 7 times he used "contemptuous ease". Please note that these 24 chapters contain more than 750'000 words. Where is the problem?

Please don't kill one of the main characters.

Norbert

Tefler, the after battle speech of John is always the same 'you all were amazing..' , just wanted to ask you if you can change it a bit..😅

when i went to new stories i was surprise to see the new chapter there and not in my feed can someone explain that? btw awesome chapter keep it going

Dont kill anyone off I'd definatly stop reading at that point. I Dont think I could handle that. Lol

No main character dying please, seriously. Unless you can contrive some acceptable way (I think this is borderline impossible, given how the Invictus' crew is woven together) to have the whole crew say good bye when the person goes (The only candidates I see for this are Athena and Progen-John).

I also think you've sort of dumbed Faye down, she seems rather quite emotionally susceptible now, even Alyssa's far better than that. She's an advanced artificial creature running 12 avatars at once - that's massive leeway for growth in capability right there. I've seen a few shows/read a few books with AI in them and I've gotten accustomed to their 'more' rational approach to matters, so I found it a bit strange that Faye got distracted from protecting everyone else because Alyssa was in danger. I see so much potential for her growth, e.g assistance from Dana/Calara/Illirith/Jade for improving her flight and shooting skills to a very high level and she should be able to shoot for whoever is in the Raptor at any time. Also she has access to the entire holonet for learning, that's another big opening!

But wait, there's more 😋. I really hope the Invictus doesn't get bigger than is now, there's just something about being small but mighty that makes my hair stand on ends when I'm watch/reading action stuff. Keep it compact, but extremely powerful. I'm sure Dana will come through!

Ok that's it. For now. Keep up the awesome tale!

A fan of the 🦁

I saw something about contemptuous ease earlier, which reminded me of one I noticed - the phrase, 'a couple of'. It may be just me, but I feel you use it a lot. Try alternates: pair, two, duo, brace. Hope I'm helping not disturbing!

A fan of the 🦁

I'm not sure I get the point of those readers who think an actual death of one of the main characters would add a necessary level of grimdark realism to this story. That ship sailed a long time ago. I'll admit that I was annoyed when the magic healing started since it meant that the crew simply can't face an existential threat. After bringing Jade back from the dead and granting Rachel healing powers, it's going to be hard to take any attempt at tension seriously.

Beyond that, the only main characters the story could survive the deaths of are Sakura and Tashana. They aren't really that important to the narrative, yet, especially Tashana. She still has no purpose aboard the ship and no useful skills aside from being able to shoot straight. If they do bring the reporter, Elani or whatever, on after the award ceremony, she'd be pretty disposable.

The only "death" we're likely to see is Athena's merge with Alyssa and PJ's with John. Frankly, I'll be surprised if Athena is still there when Alyssa wakes up. I've never understood the audience's desire to save Athena. She's a glorified help file. MicroSoft's Clippy with psychic powers.

Athena: "It seems you're fighting an Astral Behemoth. Would you like some help with that?"

John: "Yes, please"

Athena: *Gives bad advice*

Everyone: *nearly dies*

John: *figures that shit out on his own*

What's more, any way to save Athena is a way for PJ to escape. Seems like someone in the story should have noticed that.

"The amount of whining about Irrilith being such a bitch and the PJ version of John shows that it betrayed the audience to hint at unpleasant consequences."

I was thinking more about the complaints when Alyssa roughed up Sakura a little to get John to pull his head out of his ass and start using shields. Years ago, I was in a hand-to-hand class where, in order to get used to the idea of hitting and being hit, we each had to slap, and be slapped by, everyone else in the class. I wonder how many of those whiners would have made it to day two.

And while I'm thinking about stuff from a few chapters ago, does anyone else remember that Alyssa supposedly added something extra to John and Sakura's swords that wasn't revealed? Seems like that should have come out in this chapter when they finally got a chance to use them.

"She's a glorified help file. MicroSoft's Clippy with psychic powers."

*giggles* Of course, I was never on the Save Athena bandwagon. This raises a question though: Do Dana and Rachel get psychic buddies now? Are they full fledged psychics like Alyssa, or limited psychics like Irillith and Tashana? If I was to guess, I'd go with the latter.

"I was thinking more about the complaints when Alyssa roughed up Sakura a little to get John to pull his head out of his ass and start using shields."

John being such a dip is starting to get real old. Every single time he/they want him to learn something new, it's like pulling teeth. Magic is real, you've been seeing and doing it for months, get over it.

...isn't Calara now the only (physical) crew member without some sort of overt super power? Sakura has (at least) super speed, psychic vision, and icy touch, and Jade has shape changing turned up to 11. We got a hint that something was up with her a while back, when she had problems with the DNA reader, but it hasn't been payed off yet. It sure would have been convenient if she had telepathy in that last battle.

That reminds me, I was surprised when Calara took over command of the Ashanath that she didn't move to the Tactical Simulator room that she used during the Battle of Regulus.

Another five stars (should be ten at least) it's a rare story that I can't get enough of and hope it goes on for a long time.

I agree with you on Calara. She's the only Terran who hasn't had her third strand activated and telepathy is the only useful skill I can think of to add to her stats. She's already superhuman when it comes to her job skills. She's only left the Invictus for combat once that I recall (Underworld) so she doesn't need any DPS type powers.

On the other hand, how useful would telepathy be when fighting alongside anyone but the Ashanath? They're the only race we've encountered that would have an Astral Command Net. Well, maybe the Bolons would but they aren't important. I don't think the Terran commanders from the Battle of Regulus would have reacted well if they started getting orders from a voice in their heads.

Hey, perhaps that's what the Ashanath were created to be, psychic relay stations for Mael'nerak's fleet.

-aderi

I still think it would be a waste to make the currently unused space on the Invictus into a parasite destroyer hanger (More Guns!), but I thought of a better idea. We've already seen Faye pilot the Raptor through hyperwarp between Regulus and Port Medea, so why make the destroyer a parasite at all? In fact, installing a server for Faye on the destroyer would be no problem (still pulling for Faye to become a node distributed cluster :) The other bonus is they could have more than one destroyer, or other classes of ships (corvettes, frigates, light (compared to the Invictus) cruisers, etc)

On to the BSP. First, his ship shrugged off a direct collision with that Drakkar ship. That thing has got to be tougher than old boots. Second, while technical victors, he obviously considers the Ashanath neutralized as a fighting force. Hopefully we see John convince them to go on a war footing now and start pumping out warships. That way, they can deliver the final boot to the BSP's butt when we get to the Big Climactic Battle (and orgy :) Last, this chapter eliminated any doubt in my mind that the BSP might be Mael'nerak. He must either be Mael'nerak's enemy from 10,000 years ago or a newcomer.

My current favorite theory (this will probably change after the Ashanath reveal) is that the BSP is the Progenitor that ruled over the Achinoth 70K years ago. Why would Mael'nerak eliminate the entire species if he didn't have to? Alyssa's vision tells us he was fighting another Progenitor at the time.

I'm thinking that Mael'nerak drove the BSP back to wherever they came from and established his own rule. 60K years later, Mael's brothers remember that they need to kick his ass and send their strongest to do just that.

Mael barely wins and winds up crashing his new ship into Arcadia with no thralls after cutting Valada loose. He's injured in the crash and goes into cryostasis. 10K years later, Jessica Blake revives him. He's still mortally wounded and impregnates her to make sure that his less evil version of a Progenitor's racial memory survives.

Unfortunately, making Jessica his new Matriarch echos through the Astral and alerts the other Progs that things of interest are still happening in our sector. BSP comes to investigate the territory that was once adjacent to his and starts fucking with Mael'nerak's creations until Mael'nerak comes out of hiding. But that's not what he gets. He gets a Progenitor whelp who has no idea what he's doing. BSP is expecting John to be a fully trained/programmed Progenitor and doesn't understand when he behaves otherwise.

Why is this my favorite theory you might ask. Pathos. I'm still hoping for a scene where John and his wives travel to Arcadia and reunite with his parents. Mael'nerak teaches John the things he has refused to learn and then they defeat the BSP together and go on to <vader>rule the Galaxy as father and son</vader>.

-aderi

Everyone is talking about what kind of weapons could be shoved into the empty bay. Didn't Dana say she would need a lot of dedicated room to install a wormhole generator if John would ever let her know how it worked? Given how frequently the Invictus shows up late to a fight, fast travel might be more strategically useful than a few more guns.

-aderi

So, our black-shipped friend thinks both races are off the battlefield now. Clearly, he is trying to take out one race after another. However, when the industrial strength of a major country, and in this case planet, is not touched, the ability to rebuild a fleet when the economy is put on a war footing is not to be underestimated. If you add a technological advancement, the new fleet could be more powerful than the past one in short order. The Americans started World War 2 with seven aircraft carriers. During the war, they built 160 new carriers including 24 Essex-class craft.

Blackie obviously has a pretty good handle on the military capability of John and the ladies. He clearly wanted a well-balanced battle that would cause maximum carnage. The question is, is Blackie trying to build up John's capabilities, or simply weaken his allies? Also, to my first point, is Blackie weakening empires or ultimately strengthening them? His disdain for them doesn't suggest he has any respect for the races and that he is trying to forge and temper them in fire.

So, what surprises could John have for Blackie? John's not the first to have a close relationship with his Matriarch. John's father had that, and he protected his thralls too. Is having two Matriarch's an unexpected advantage? Perhaps the three strands development will be decisive in the inevitable battle. What are we to make of 'the forbidden knowledge line though'. Clearly, John is playing God, but progens create whole races -- that's actually a God rather than playing one.

I am all for John starting to build his own fleet, and I understand an author's desire to not split up his main characters. Furthermore, a ship inside a ship could certainly provide a major element of surprise in a battle. However, to me, a ship in the hanger deck seems odd. I like the idea of an externally mounted, detachable ship better. I would love to see say three ships for the hanger all controlled by Faye, but not with her existing avatars, but with new capabilities thanks to new data cores. Furthermore, I would like it if these additional avatars were not visibly a humanoid, and Faye to not remotely pilot these ships, but for her avatars to be built directly into the ships. Furthermore, I would like for these ships to have no crew areas and life support. It would be a great surprise -- much like when on Battlestar Galactica, the Galactica crew learned there was nobody in the cylon fighters. I would also like it if Faye found she developed a different side to herself that when she was in battle she felt more serious because of her ship avatars. (Just me daydreaming.)

With Dana's new abilities, I hope she realizes she made a major mistake with her Mech. It might make sense for battling large aliens or cyborgs in a cave setting or the like, but otherwise, you are better with aircraft and other vehicles. Hand-to-hand combat, even with a mech, is a last resort. (That said, I get the mech is, in part, just for reader/author fun.)

Have we really seen the power of having a freeze ray yet? Perhaps if it makes armour brittle it will have a special purpose. Not sure it would be at the top of my special abilities list if a genie granted me a superpower wish. Kind of reminds me of the Justice League Wonder Twins.

Someone commented about John being a bit lame at times. Perhaps, the barrier that makes psychic powers so hard for him also holds him back in other ways -- kind of like good Captain Kirk.when he gets split into good and evil in the Enterprise transporter.

As for character deaths, this is not a 'Will they make it, will they make it?' kind of story for me. I seem to enjoy -- first the way they surprise others, next the way battles surprise us and the mythology and world building in the galaxy, The sex in this isn't really important to me. At this point, I think I would prefer a Robert Heinlein level of sex (from Stranger in a Strange Land and Friday). That said, I would like to see a fight for control via sexual influence over Blackies Matriarch and thralls.

I would also like to see John and the gals starting to put together the pieces of a larger plan and resistance (over multiple chapters) rather than just training up skills and levelling up the ship while they race from crisis to crisis. Everyone is supposed to be so smart, it's time to start showing that they are thinking more than one move ahead. I would love to have them realize this. It would be great if the least likely person in the world pointed this out to them. Seeing John put more pieces actively on the board, like Calaras dad, his admiral friend, the reporter and the races that owe him like the Asgard, cough, I mean Ashanath ;-) would be fun. They have shown amazing tactical abilities, it's time for more strategic thinking.

Finally, I would like to see John work with his sword master to further control himself. It would be cool if John realized (and it happens) that his self-control is going to be important in the larger battle. He could pick his tutor to help with this because the guy is already so good at getting under his skin. It would also be good if in the process of helping John, the teacher became the student and found his own peace. (Sakura too.) This doesn't mean people have to abandon a search for justice -- just seek it from a more grounded place. Seems like Alyssa could use a bit of that at the moment too.

Please don't take any of this as whining. I really enjoy the story and mostly just felt like chatting.

&quot;I would also like to see John and the gals starting to put together the pieces of a larger plan and resistance&quot;

I almost closed my BSP comments with the Jade-ism &quot;Still the mouse :(&quot;. Strategic planning has been on there to-do list for at least a little while, but they haven't quite gotten around to it yet. I agree that they really need to get to it. The BSP is clearly toying with them at this point.

A thought just occurred to me: Based on his reaction, I wonder if the BSP considered the devastation of the Drakkar fleet a net-positive? Going in, he had to only be expecting the Drakkar to flatten the Ashenath, not both fleets being crippled. Granted, he's seen John in action before, so he could have anticipated John doing serious damage to the Drakkar, but I wouldn't think he expected them to be quite so thoroughly crushed. On the flip side, the BSP has also lost a handy tool for sowing chaos in the region. Certainly not his only tool though. I'm sure it's come up before, but I wonder if he's had anything to do with the Kirrix incursions. He's definitely still involved with the Kintark.

I like him to build a self defense for the galaxy but i think he started it already without knowing it

he's given the miner race a way to improve the engines of they ships

he's given the blue girls more better ftl,power cores,engines, guns

greys am guessing he help they ships somehow likey guns

as he be going to earth at some point he's likely give them something

than the race with better sheilds maybe a trade could be setup

Giving cala telepathic powers could be good so she enter the net the greys have dont forget the blues white hair tonic girls in command of they ships so maybe they can setup one to ?

What is your understanding of BSP's statergy? Is he weakening the galactic races to conquer them later, or is, as someone else suggested, he trying to forge them into weapons for some purpose? Maybe to fight a worse threat.

He may just be bored. After millennia of doing whatever you want this may just be his version of playing Total War or Civilization. Toying with lower lifeforms to past the time in a boring century.

It was mentioned that if John hadn't arrived then the Grey's would have gotten annilated and that doesn't seem to fit BSP's plan. But his ship was there at the battle. He may have waited till the Drakkar had won the space battle and then destroyed their ships.

He also didn't seem to care that the Grey's had a half repaired Progenitor ship. If he thought it was a threat he could have used his own weapons after it was crippled to completely destroy it. He depleted a Terran Dreanaughts shield in 1 shot from 1 gun. A full broadside from everything he had could take out a planet.

Did John and crew even see him during this battle? They detected him at the Battle of Regulus after he watched them use their full strength. Do they know he has now seen their new and improved Invictus battle-crusier as well as the Raptor and Valkirye mech.

On a final note who wants his matriarch to be another nymph. Green skin and a definite master complex. How awesome would a shapeshifter fight be, changing between large strong forms and small agile forms, each Nymph trying to find a counter to the other. A test of strength and imagination. I know it could be from a race that has a small presence in space, or even one from millennia ago but a man can dream.

Any update on when the next ch is coming tefler ?????

I hope we get to read it this week

Yeah, it's possible that BSP didn't anticipate how effective John and the gals would be. His celebration could have been because the battle went unexpectedly well. However, the little we have seen of BSP, he hasn't seemed at all surprised.

Here's another question -- What does BSP gain by destroying the last Drakkar ship? One ship does not make that much of a difference. Does a 'no survivors' situations spook the Drakkar more, or prevent a recounting of the battle? There are other survivors though. Was BSP eliminating the last military leader? Is BSP simply ruthless? Or, did Tefler just want to make it interesting, with no real reason?

I don't think BSP went out of his way to destroy the last Drakkar ship. He just couldn't be arsed to get out of the way when it crashed into him. They're abominations and I'm sure he plans to wipe them all out when he's done with them.

If I had to guess at his motivations, I would say he's just taking his time to tear down everything that Mael'nerak built. I think that he's confused by John because he doesn't know that John has suppressed his instincts, powers, or genetic memory. Would he even know that was a possibility to consider?

What I find interesting about BSP's strategy is that he isn't just smashing the inhabited planets like Mael did to the Achinoth or Mael's nemesis did to the planets in what is now Trankaran space. There's no doubt that he's capable of it. All he's really done is trick the various races' militaries into destroying each other or themselves. Perhaps once he's done that, he'll bring in his own invasion/colonization force.

-aderi

Has anyone commented yet that BSP's ship apparently didn't even take a scratch from a collision with a cruiser at full speed? And if I'm not mistaken an onyxium-armoured cruiser at that. (He wouldn't let the crash happen if he were to take damage to his ship, he'd just blow it to bits...)

Say what you will about Crystal-Alyssium (not sure how to spell that one ._.), but as Jade demonstrated with the raptor and a torpedo, even at least eleven times reshaped Crystal-Alyssium is nowhere near that level of immunity to physical weapons/damage.

If you ask me John's nowhere near taking on a real progenitor yet. Neither in ship to ship combat nor in a direct fight.

You know what that means... MORE CHAPTERS1!!1!11!!

Umm...the Torpedo has more damage in a more limited space than a ship colliding...explosive penetration as opposed to collision. Additionally, if you read again you will note the Raptor shielding didn't get damaged, only the gimbal mount did...which was only 1 shaped I believe. And the resiliance of the Raptor is such that it could actually ram a Terran battleship and not receive damage. Athena was going to do it to save John from the assassin's ship if you recall.

I sure hope you are correct in the more chapters theory. It has been commented on previously in speculation that the BSP had much better armor, but it was not confirmed until now.

P.S. Those reading this may not know me, I am trying to take a more active position in the community. I have been reading for probably almost a year... damn, has it really been that long?! 9 months! That is a baby grown from conception to birth... wow, sorry for the rambling I am just gobsmacked at this.

Excellent work as always, Tefler! I'd hate to mess with perfection, but I have an idea for a new and exciting act to thrill and titillate your audience, myself included.

So, I noticed you never have the girls give John any anal stimulation except for the one time on Gravitus. I don't know if there was a massive feedback from your straight male audience over it being 'gay' or if you just decided that the alpha male should never be the receiver, always the giver. Either way, I think I have a compromise that should make a great stand-alone scene.

Based one everything you've written, it seems clear Progenitors have ALL the psychic powers. Ergo, if Jade can shapeshift, it follows that John and Alyssa can too. Not nearly as dramatic as her Beast Boy level transformations, but a genderbend shouldn't be beyond reach. I just find the idea of 'Al' sticking it eagerly but tenderly to the nervous 'Joan' with Dana cheering from the sidelines extremely hot. Plus, Alyssa is the only one of the girls that can really be considered John's 'equal' so it could be seen as more of an act of power exchange between loving, trusting soulmates than John deciding he'd prefer being fucked to doing the fucking.

Just a suggestion. Keep on doing what you're doing, it's most definitely working!

(on literotica is that a master debate?) Thinking you mean a Master Bater. (Groans himself--sounded better in my head).

Anywho...sorry to punnish everyone ;-) BTW: I agree on the comments from readers. Some don't share our enthusiasm, though. (chuckles).

Not sure how you missed it but this is an alpha male harem fantasy. Alyssa won't be pegging John anytime soon.

Also, it was made clear that Jade's shapeshifting is biological in nature, not psychic. The psychic energy is what lets her violate conservation of mass while shifting.

-aderi

I would just like to append that it is also why john was able to resurrect her, because she is physically different from most of Mael'Nerak's biological creations.

Quantum Flux Cannons, A fleet of raptor gun ships & a Wormhole generator in the main hanger bay there could put the Wormhole generator & Quantum Flux Cannons on deck 8 & the Fleet of raptor gun ships. VIPER

There is no way they would have enough power for a Wormhole Drive and Quantum Flux Cannons, not to mention the hardpoints to mount the latter if they decide to fill up the hangar bay with more ship(s).

I think once Dana gets all the necessary schematics, they will have to work with the Maliri to build a new ship, or extend the Invictus again.

I don't really like the idea of building a bunch of smaller vessels to fill the large hangar bay. I'd much rather see one ship with a large amount of firepower that is as fast and as maneuverable as the Raptor.

Either way, whatever they decide to fill it with will be a custom design by Dana. I doubt it will look anything like the Raptor.

First time commenting, love your work Tef.

In regards to the whole character death idea, no one has to die. Just let one of them get kidnapped by BSP or the Japanese guy and lose their connection with A (or keep them knocked out). Make them grieve, move on, and whoops she's on the ship unconscious ( Maybe a severed limb).

As for BSP, he was probably going to use the Drakkar as his army to cause destruction on a greater scale, and he doesn't want people knowing about his actions. He was going to end up getting rid of them anyway.

As always, pumped for the next chapter, keep up the good work.

Very earlier sakura's ship had invisibility mode even her suit had the same though dana had know about it but the same was not installed on any of the paragon armour or the invictus.Has she forgotton about the same because it would give them a very strong advantage in battles.

Comments telfer???

Even the mech could have been upgraded with it which could have saved it from getting actual position to get implade with the dropship..

Pars001 in one of his stories combines a hologram projector with a shield generator to create a "Solid AI"

I'm enjoying the roller coaster ride no end.

Les

Any update on ch80 ???????

Because you already posted it on patreon on 1 June

I hope we get to read it soon tefler

I'm just finishing off editing at the moment and adding a couple of scenes. I had a few days off, so I haven't been able to look at it until today.

Tefler

Back to your writers dungeon

*cracks whip*

Poor Dana. Seems like she can't catch a break. but then again, as i remember, a few chapters ago, she swore vengeance against rachel for tying her and torturing her for hours for the sake of "science". Love spanking! heh.

Maybe now, she can make some evil plan with john to ambush rachel and return the favour.

About having characters get injured or killed, i'll say this: it can be done either way, but it's going to be very difficult to write a story in which characters can't get hurt and suffer truly dire consequences, either within the story or plot-wise. Take dana for example. If her injuries took days or weeks to heal, rachel could show off her new abilities in a much more fitting way.

i think now that the progenitor has been discovered, we're probably going to be experiencing a few curveballs that a progenitor's abilities can't heal. having one of the girls stranded, or being forced to take on a TRUE boss battle on their own(like a powerful enemy thrall) from their perspective. Having a character honestly think they're going to die can be just as valuable.

Also, rachel shouldn't just use her powers on others. use them on herself! have her meditate or something and she could basically have a healing factor like wolverine or deadpool. She could just wear a specially designed helmet/mask to protect her head instead of that bulky suit and just take anything that the enemy can throw at her!

Sakura also has a small healing factor, since she can just freeze a part of her body to stop bleeding.

Still when can we expect ch 80 here on lit ????

As they are going to earth for metals, Sakura ex-boss is going to see her fixed up i wonder what he do ?

Dana, the orphan, should be thinking long term when she builds the next ship. Personally I'm hoping for a massive crystal Alyssium hull and superstructure with an easily replaceable ablative, stealth friendly, outer shell (John and Alyssa are going to get tired of buffing out the scratches from 12X reformed Alyssium).

I hope it is big enough for all the toys (new weapons, translocation/warp engine, etc.) as well as serving as a permanent home for John + crew + age 0-teen kiddos. Lets be honest, John isn't going to want to be king of the Malari; exhausting; he would end up neglecting someone eventually if he tried.

Dana needs to make plans using all known modern tech, Progenitor tech (from her brain and from the Legacy), the other ancient civilization (which will require returning to the pirate/mercenary den/Ancient refinery)... there are some evil slavers still there that need to die anyway; ideally a psycho cyborg will be found there as well.

I'd also add ample expansion room, massive storage/cargo capacity, atmospheric flight/landing/aquatic maneuverability, robotics labs/manufacturing, medical/research facilities, Progenitor standard redundant computer networks and libraries, a solarium/garden/pool/rec room, entertainment/holo suite, and guest quarters (in addition to Johns supersize bed), and a docking platform for their current ship.

Dana... have fun!!!

-TM

I don't think I've ever read a story on this site in which the author so routinely delivers such amazing material. I don't comment on every chapter so as not to come off as the psycho fan, but you continue to impress on an epic order. Keep up the great work. I can't wait to read the next chapter.

The Drakar ship crashed into BSP's shield (not the armor). A trip to Brigamorian space is overdue. I know, I f...ed the spelling. :-)

Maybe the tech is on the Legacy awaiting discovery by John's crew.

Easynuhman.

Does anyone else get the whole "There can be only one" vibe from this story? Maybe it's just me. It seems the BSP is creating chaos to test John's skills for the up coming battle between the 2 of them.

Could BSP have made sure he destroyed the last onyxium armored Drakar ship? Not to mention taking out another war boss, leaving the Drakar even further weakened?

Or maybe he just don't care lol

hillcountrycowboy

Well I hope you submit ch80 by Friday tefler so we can read it by Monday

The sooner the better

Could the Progentor referenced in this chapter be Ma'al?

In a previous chapter it stated he hated making the Drakker. But only made them to stop his brother. Now he has a chance to get rid of them and use a John to do it. Also now his old ship is made clear to John, who I believe is his son.

Bsp can not be mel because of this line "She had dreamed of this moment for eons "

Lovin the story.

Ok.. story comment.. you already set this up with Faye/Dana in the ready room. In todays world there are lifelike dolls made... feel like, smell like, etc... you can order breast style, face, pussy, height, figure etc... robots also... cybernetics... dana/faye project to give Faye a life like body... independent AI... with the program in the body.... yummy ...Suprise!! (Oh Yeah)

Love your work... Thank You

Tefler ???????

Ch80 ???????

I finished chapter 80 yesterday and I'm just awaiting final editor feedback. I'll probably submit it here for moderation tomorrow.

Tefler

“I don't comment on every chapter so as not to come off as the psycho fan, but you continue to impress on an epic order. Keep up the great work. I can't wait to read the next chapter.”

Wait a minute! I resemble that remark! LOL. Not even nonplussed you would call me out. ;-). Jedi, can crazy come to visit here on Lit? We could really have some fun messin with some heads here.

Meh being psycho is more fun than sanity. Sanity is as overrated as... something super overrated.

BruceWo has been taking all the bullets for you guys. He must have a very thick hide

The joker is sane, but acts insane, I think that insanity is overrated as well.

Wise man once said: man who stuck his dick in peanut butter was f-in nuts.

Nah, that is just Jared Leto's joker, the joker is meant to be batshit, not regular ol' halfshit crazy.

Are you the wise man or the subject of the wise man's quote? Just outta curiosity.

I am far from wise. I am part of the crazy club but I have not done that.

My reality vision speaks to me of women and men, wise and crazy. The point it made was twofold, there was no point...and no difference: Only agreement that such distinctions were necessary...thou that is a lie.

Hi there

Was wondering when John and the girls was going back to earth and if so when as I would like to see them get there medals for saving the planet

Thinking about Chapter 82.

Russ, are you posing?

Fan52

So very....everything...man, the images you paint...the graphic depiction of each scene...your thesaurus must be getting really ripped up...again, both 78 and 79 were excellent to outstanding...nuff said. Thanks again Teff for this outstanding work of scifi with a touch of fantasy.

Hi tefler

Good one this one

Hope the next one will be as good

Ok. I am old enough not to be 'in the know' about current acronyms. Posing?

Great story as always, when will you be posting the next chapter

I've just submitted Chapter 80, so you can probably expect to see that here by Monday or Tuesday next week!

Tefler

Tefler, I think you submit the new stories on Fridays just to torture us Literotica readers knowing it won't be looked at until Monday. lol

Seriously, many kudos for your writing. I'll just do breathing exercises so won't go into hyperventilation due to TSM waiting anxiety. :-)

Yeah, he knows we couldn't stop if we tried. He has as much leverage as a drug dealer. Except he is the only distributor.

Thanks for letting us know you submitted the next chapter! I'll try to not check the site obsessively all weekend even though I know it will probably be Monday soonest when it's posted. I'm enjoying the odyssey so much! Thanks for sharing your work with us.

hillcountrycowboy

Tell me about it! Not to mention my ADHD makes me have issues with managing excitement including over minor stuff, anyways... errrgh I am gonna die before chapter 80 comes out!! >.<