Chapter 135 - A reminder of what's at stake...

The Raptor blasted through Kinta’s troposphere, leaving white contrails in the gunship’s wake as it roared towards space. It didn’t take long to punch through the wispy cirrus clouds and the crew’s destination soon came into view, the Invictus hanging motionless in orbit above the planet. The gleaming white battlecruiser was like a bastion of serenity amongst the burning wreckage of the invasion armada, where hundreds of Brimorian warships had been reduced to little more than glowing debris and jagged chunks of scrap metal.

“Now there’s a sight for sore eyes,” Dana said with a sigh of relief. “I can’t wait to get the hell out of here.”

John shared her sentiments and put his arm around the pensive redhead. “Yeah, I know what you mean.”

Their ground assault on Kinta had been successful from a strategic point of view, but the tragic fate that had befallen Tamolith’s family had taken a heavy toll on everyone.

As Jade guided the gunship towards the open hangar doors, John said quietly, “I know it’s late, but let’s get together for a debrief before we call it a night. I think we should discuss a few things before we get some sleep.”

“Sure,” Alyssa agreed. “Where do you want everyone to meet up? The Briefing Room or the Observatory?”

“The Briefing Room,” John replied without hesitation.

She nodded her agreement, realising he wanted a more formal setting. Standing on tiptoe Alyssa kissed him on the cheek. “I’ve let the rest of the girls know. I’ll head up to the Bridge, set a course for Genthalas, and join you as soon as I’m done.”

“Thanks, beautiful.”

The Raptor drifted towards the centre of the landing pad and piloted by Jade’s expert hand, it touched down without so much as a quiver. The girls began to disembark as soon as the landing ramp had been deployed, but John was still up in the cockpit with the two Nymphs. He waited patiently as Jade went through the shutdown routine with Betrixa, before she finally dismissed her distracted student.

The blonde catgirl sprang out of the co-pilot’s chair and rushed to join him, a dazzling smile on her pretty face. “Hey, John! Sorry to keep you waiting.”

“It’s no problem ... I told Jade I didn’t mind,” he replied, slipping his arms around her waist.

“What’s up?” she asked curiously.

“I wanted to thank you for earlier ... and apologise for not being there when you woke up.”

“I didn’t take you for a love ‘em and leave ‘em kind of a guy,” she replied with a mock pout.

“Actually, I think I’m more the love ‘em and keep ‘em type,” John said with a wry smile. Looking into her eyes, his tone turned serious as he continued, “Holding you in my arms while you slept was wonderful and I hated having to leave. Unfortunately, I had to deal with the Tamolith situation as quickly as possible otherwise I would’ve stayed with you.”

“I-I know,” she faltered, startled by his earnest reply. “I understand, Master ... I promise I wasn’t offended.”

He brushed his fingers through her soft blonde hair. “I just wanted you to know how happy I am that you chose to stay with me of your own free will.”

Betrixa giggled, then reached down to lovingly caress his groin. “Don’t you mean: stay with this gorgeous hunk of manliness?”

John chuckled at her playful retort. “Of course, how could I forget.”

The tawny catgirl hesitated, then looked up at him with her big sapphire eyes. “John ... I was just joking about that before. I really meant that I love you ... and I want to stay with you forever.”

He rewarded her with a tender kiss. “I know, honey.”

She snuggled up against his chest, practically radiating happiness and contentment. John stroked her back, enjoying the feelings of affection and protectiveness she stirred up in him. Hidden behind Betrixa’s irreverent and playful nature was a sweet-natured and sensitive woman ... and it was always a privilege when she let him see glimpses of the other side to her personality.

Movement from the pilot’s chair drew his attention as Jade rose from her seat. Her emerald eyes drank in the sight of them embracing, her joyful expression closely matching Betrixa’s ... except for the flicker of timeless wisdom in her warm gaze. It was a sharp reminder that both Nymphs were actually thousands of years old, an observation that jarred with the youthful exuberance of the girl in his arms.

He shared a look with Jade, who was listening to his thoughts. They had discussed this before and John knew that there was no subterfuge on Betrixa’s part. When he became her master, John had shaped the boisterous Nymph’s personality, defining every aspect of her nature for the foreseeable future.

“Do you think you’ll enjoy Betrixa’s company for the rest of eternity, Master?” Jade asked, hugging her sister from behind.

Glancing down at the cheetah catgirl, John saw that she was looking up at him with an impish grin.

John couldn’t help returning Betrixa’s infectious smile. “I might be a bit biased, but I think she’s adorable ... you all are.”

“Yay!” Betrixa exclaimed, giving him a gleeful squeeze.

He kissed both Nymphs, then reluctantly pulled away. “As much as I appreciate you two lifting my spirits, we’ve got a debriefing to get to.”

“I think the debriefing might be a problem,” Betrixa said with a frown of concern.

John paused as he was about to leave the cockpit. “Really? How so?”

“I’m not wearing any briefs,” she replied solemnly, unzipping her form-fitting bodysuit to prove it. “See ... no panties!”

“She’s right, Master. None of us are wearing any,” Jade agreed, as she flounced over to her discarded dress. “The girls all go commando in their jumpsuits.”

He groaned as they headed down in the grav-tube. “For that terrible pun, you two can help me put my armour back on.”

“I thought we were done fighting for today?” Betrixa asked with a puzzled frown, as she followed him into the gunship’s forward loading area.

“We are, but I still need to stow away my gear and this is the fastest way,” John explained, leaning over to pick up his lion-embossed chestplate.

Assisted by the two eager Nymphs, John was able to don his Paragon suit without too much difficulty. It took over a minute to lock all the armour plates into place, highlighting just how much of a difference Dana’s equipping frames made. His helpers might have been able to finish a little faster with greater focus, but he had no intention of objecting to their wandering hands. When John was fully equipped, he returned to the gunship’s Armoury to safely store his Paragon suit and runesword.

I’ve plotted a course to Genthalas and we’re heading out of the system, Alyssa informed him. Her tone took on a teasing lilt as she continued, Are you planning to join us at some point, or are you having too much fun playing with your Nymphs?

We’re on our way, he replied, accompanying Jade and Betrixa out of the Raptor.

They rose up in the blue anti-gravity field, passing deck after deck until they reached the Bridge. Alyssa was sitting in the XO’s chair and she gracefully descended from the Command Podium to greet the new arrivals. Betrixa stood on tiptoe to kiss John on the cheek, then bounded down the ramp to take her place at the Pilot’s Station.

“You shouldn’t run into any problems,” Alyssa informed the eager catgirl. “Everything’s all set.”

John paused for a moment, wondering if they should hold position so that Betrixa could join the briefing too.

“It’s okay. She volunteered for this,” Jade said, slipping her hand into his.

Betrixa twisted in her seat to nod in confirmation. “I didn’t really do anything in the battle except watch Jade. Go ahead without me ... big sis will keep me up to speed.”

“Big sis?” John asked his Nymph matriarch with a raised eyebrow.

Jade shrugged amiably, her feline eyes sparkling with happiness.

Alyssa brushed her fingers along his arm. “John, the Kintark fleet commander wanted to speak with you. High Prelate Zorlin asked if you could contact him at your convenience.”

“Sure. I’ll give him a call as soon as we’ve reviewed the battle.”

They entered the Briefing Room, where the rest of the crew were all waiting for them, sitting around the long conference table in their usual places. The mood was uncharacteristically sombre, with all the girls from the ground team looking subdued. John pulled out a chair for both Alyssa and Jade, then took his seat at the head of the table.

“Alright, we’ll keep this short,” John said, glancing around at the pensive faces. “Before I start, do any of you want to discuss something first?”

Calara drew his attention when she shifted position in her chair, her agitation plain to see.

“Why did you recruit Tamolith?!” she blurted out indignantly. “After what she did to Mateo and all those Federation prisoners at Xen-Nuchek, she didn’t deserve it!”

Surprised at her outburst, he glanced at Alyssa. “I thought you said everyone supported the idea?”

“We all appreciate that it was a tough decision,” the blonde replied diplomatically, studying her girlfriend. “Some of us are just a bit more enthusiastic about the outcome than others...”

John turned his chair to face the Latina. “I understand why you’re upset, but I didn’t have a lot of options. My other choices were basically to kill Tamolith and put her out of her misery, or leave her to take out her grief on the Kintark. If I’d done either of those things, the Empire would have been left in turmoil for months, if not years, and billions of people would have suffered for it.”

Calara frowned, shaking her head in disapproval. “I just don’t like the idea of recruiting anyone for political expediency. It was completely different with Chancellor Niskera; she’s a good person, who cares deeply about serving the Trankaran Republic. Niskera was a brilliant choice to become the Glowing Queen ... but Tamolith’s a narcissistic and manipulative murderer!”

Leaning back in his seat, John let out a heavy sigh. “You’re right ... but saving lives wasn’t the only reason I agreed to change her.”

“Why did you do it then?” the brunette asked, looking at him quizzically.

“I had one job to do on Kinta: protect Tamolith and her family ... and I failed,” he said, his expression reflecting the guilt he felt. “She adored her children and I wasn’t able to save them.”

“But that was the Brimorian’s fault, not yours!” Calara protested, leaning forward to clasp his hand. “You can’t blame yourself for what those cruel monsters did.”

“Offering hope to Tamolith was an act of mercy, not a reward,” Helene interjected, her quiet voice carrying across the silent room. “Tamolith was in so much pain ... I’ve never felt anyone in such anguish.”

Dana looked equally perturbed. “She’s right, Calara. You were lucky you were up on the Invictus and didn’t hear Tamolith howling with grief ... I don’t think I’ll ever forget it. She was just ... destroyed. It was like her heart had been ripped out when she saw what happened to her kids.”

Calara bit her lip and turned back to John, her gaze filled with sympathy. “I’m sorry ... I didn’t realise how awful that must have been.”

“It was heartbreaking,” he agreed, squeezing her hand. “I know Tamolith has done some terrible things, but I wouldn’t have wished that kind of pain on my worst enemy. I had to give her some kind of hope, or she would’ve killed herself in her grief ... or taken out her rage on a huge number of Kintark.”

The room went quiet as Calara considered that, before she finally nodded her acceptance.

Irillith was the first to break the awkward silence. “If it makes it any easier, Tamolith going through the Change isn’t going to be quite the reward you think it is.”

“What do you mean?” Calara asked, her brow furrowing in confusion. “If I was given the choice of going through the Change again, I’d say yes in a heartbeat. It was a wonderful experience.”

“Yes, but you were a good person to begin with ... all of you were,” the Maliri replied, glancing around the table. “But if you’re not a good girl, then the Change comes with a sting in the tail.”

Rachel’s grey eyes suddenly widened in understanding and a flicker of remorse crossed her features.

Irillith saw her reaction and nodded. “If I know our Baen’thelas ... the Kintark Empress is about to grow a conscience. Tamolith has done some terrible things in the past ... and now she’s going to have to deal with a large serving of guilt.”

The slight tremor in her voice made it obvious to everyone in the room that the Maliri was speaking from experience.

Tashana put her arm around her twin, a look of sympathy on her azure face. “I forgave you weeks ago for what happened between us. You don’t still blame yourself, do you?”

“Your banishment was my fault ... or at least, the old version of me was responsible,” Irillith said softly as she hugged her sister back. Her violet eyes flicked across the table to their fiancé and gave him a grateful smile. “But John helped me see that I’m not the same person any more ... that I’ve changed on a fundamental level.”

“You were a good girl until the original version of Edraele brutalised you,” John agreed, making eye contact with her. “Now you’re the woman you should have rightfully become.”

Pulling back from Tashana, the Maliri hacker nodded. “Tamolith isn’t going to have that justification to fall back on. She’s got a lot of very painful soul searching ahead of her.”

Suddenly concerned, John glanced at Alyssa. “Is she going to be alright on her own?”

The blonde rubbed his arm fondly. “Don’t worry, I’ve had a lot of experience dealing with someone suffering from a guilty conscience. I’ll do my best to help Tamolith try to come to terms with what she’s done until you can devote the time to make her one of us.”

“Thank you,” he said gratefully.

Dana crinkled her nose with distaste. “So how’s that going to work exactly? Are you going to turn into a giant and actually fuck Tamolith?”

John laughed and shook his head at that disturbing image. “I’m not having sex with a dragon!”

The redhead smirked, but wasn’t to be deterred. “What then? I want details!”

“Well ... I was hoping to continue using Jade as an intermediary,” he replied, glancing at his Nymph matriarch, who immediately nodded her consent.

Rolling her eyes, Dana persisted, “Yeah, but you promised Tamolith kids. How’s that supposed to work? Is Jade going to knock her up for you? Is it actually possible to put a Progenitor bun in a dragon’s oven?”

John shot a helpless look at Rachel. “This was your bright idea. Do want to jump in?”

The brunette’s grey eyes glittered with anticipation. “I suspect that when the time comes, you’ll be able to service Tamolith personally.”

“You really believe I can turn her into a normal woman?” John asked, looking sceptical.

“You’re forgetting just how potent your cum actually is. It acts as a psychic catalyst that gives you unprecedented control over body manipulation ... but it will also apply the Thrall template on a female until she adheres to that shape. Admittedly, this is just a theory at this point, but I strongly suspect that given enough ... encouragement ... Tamolith will reduce in size until she exactly matches our proportions. The converse certainly applied with Alyssa growing nine inches to meet the Thrall template.”

“Yeah, but Alyssa is Terran, which is very closely related to a thrall species,” John countered. “Size is obviously a huge issue, but Tamolith’s also a reptile!”

“I know!” Rachel gushed, thrilled at the prospect. “I can’t wait to observe her transformation from a cold-blooded species to a warm-blooded one!”

“How is that even possible?”

“The most likely solution will be to increase her metabolism until she achieves endothermy and Tamolith can stabilise her own body temperature. To an outside observer she won’t look any different with that change, but the internal modifications will be profound. As for her appearance ... shedding scales, reducing mass, modifying her skeletal structure; altering Tamolith’s posture and aesthetics shouldn’t be an insurmountable task.”

Dana tapped her chin thoughtfully. “If you do manage to compress her down that much, I wonder if it’ll affect her muscle density?”

“I’m fascinated to find that out too,” Rachel agreed. “The alternate is that she’ll simply expunge the excess mass.”

The redhead’s lips twitched with suppressed mirth. “Damn ... that’d be one hell of a dump!”

“Sparks...” John admonished her, rolling his eyes and trying not to laugh. He focused his attention on Rachel and continued, “You sound confident that Tamolith shouldn’t be in any physical danger from going through the Change.”

“If she was going to suffer an adverse reaction to ingesting your cum, we would’ve most likely seen it when Jade first fed her,” the brunette explained. “To avoid the risk of complications, when you do start pushing Tamolith through the Change, I think you should dedicate as much time as necessary to fully complete it.”

“So I’ll probably have to schedule that after the Progenitor War then,” John said, finding himself in agreement with the brunette. He looked around the table at the group. “Alright, let’s move onto the combat debrief. Have we got footage of the space battle that we can review?”

Irillith reached for the remote. “The Invictus automatically logs the combat data we see on the Tactical Map. I’ll queue that up for you and include the comms traffic from the Valkyrie as well.”

It only took the Maliri a few moments to display the holographic representation of the Kinta system. She began the recording and they all watched in awe as the Invictus tore through the Brimorian ranks, obliterating squadron after squadron of alien warships.

“Holy shit...” Dana muttered, staring at the map with wide eyes. “They got totally fucking wrecked!”

“That would be my professional opinion as well,” John said, leaning back in his seat.

He glanced at Calara, the Latina looking despondent as she stared at the Brimorian battleships that were bombarding Kinta.

“Come here, honey,” he insisted, opening his arms.

Calara did as he asked and sat sideways across his lap.

“You did everything you could to impede the Brimorian invasion,” he said, stroking her back as he studied her troubled face. “The fact that you reduced the number of fleets in that armada from seven to three is astonishing, but you also managed to delay them for hours. If it wasn’t for you, the Kintark fleets would have been completely destroyed and the Brimorians would have slaughtered millions more civilians on Kinta.”

“I know ... but I should have drawn up contingency plans to counter an attack on the homeworld,” the brunette said, with a heavy sigh. “I made a huge mistake not predicting an orbital bombardment and thousands of Kintark are dead because of it.”

John watched her for a long moment, then asked quietly, “So why didn’t you predict it?”

“Because it made no fucking sense!” Calara exploded, stabbing a finger at the holographic map. “They murdered thousands of defenceless civilians for no reason! The thought of randomly committing an atrocity like that would never even have crossed my mind! What kind of heartless monster would do that?! How can I possibly anticipate that level of insanity?!”

“You can’t ... and that’s my point,” John said gently. “There’s an important lesson to be learned here; you can’t expect your opponents to think in a rational or honourable way. When we go up against the Progenitors, you’ve got to realise that they’re even worse than the Brimorians. You remember what Larn’kelnar was like; he instigated wars that slaughtered millions of people, just for his sick entertainment. The Progenitors are vicious, cruel, and capable of the vilest acts of depravity.”

Calara had been breathing heavily after her outburst, but she calmed down as she listened to him, then sat back to consider his advice.

“From a strategic point of view, you just won a massive victory,” John said sincerely, looking into her eyes. “You devastated the Brimorian invasion force, crippled half their fleets and wiped out all their combat capable warships. To top that off, the Deep Pool still has no idea that we were involved or that their armada has been annihilated. Nearly all the Kintark warships survived intact and we managed to protect the vast majority of the civilian population on Kinta. Tamolith is now a staunch ally, and our intervention to protect the homeworld will encourage the Kintark populace to rally behind that alliance. We achieved every strategic goal we could have possibly hoped for.”

She leaned into him and rested her head against his shoulder. “Then why doesn’t it feel like we won?”

“Because you still have empathy and compassion for the innocents that died,” he replied, holding her close. “It might have been a strategic victory, but it came at a heavy price in civilian lives. I don’t want us to ever get into the mindset that it’s okay to sacrifice innocents and win at any cost.”

Calara nodded and kissed his cheek. “I won’t ... not ever.”

“Good girl,” he said, returning the kiss. Making no move to shift her from his lap, he turned to Sakura. “You did an excellent job demolishing those Brimorian capital ships. The Kintark would’ve taken heavy casualties if you hadn’t assisted them.”

The Asian girl gave him a shy smile. “I didn’t do much really. The Valkyrie is so powerful now that it was like shooting fish in a barrel.”

“I realise you could’ve taken out that entire fleet on your own, but the Kintark fleets needed that victory after seeing their homeworld bombarded. You also handled the interactions with High Prelate Zorlin with a degree of finesse that allowed them to keep their self-respect. It was very impressive, Sakura ... well done.”

She blushed, glowing from his praise. “Thank you.”

Looking at Irillith next, John smiled. “You nearly gave me a heart attack when those two Enclave battleships charged towards the Raptor.”

“Until it started raining Brimorians?” the Maliri hacker guessed with a wry grin.

“Yeah, exactly. Alyssa said you pushed yourself really hard ... how many battleships did you capture?”

“All of them that were bombarding the planet,” she replied with satisfaction, before her smile quickly faded to a frown. “I tried splitting my subconscious to hack more simultaneously, but the most I could manage was two.”

“I thought you had five under control at one point?” John asked with confusion.

She shook her head. “I kept losing focus when I pushed myself too far and broke my connection with every ship I was linked to. Time was of the essence, so I built a simple set of instructions that I executed in each battleship as soon as I hacked their firewalls. The two battleships that you saw were actually under remote control at that point.”

“You did well to push your limits and adapt to the battlefield,” he said, giving her an encouraging smile. “When we end up fighting Thrall ships, you’ll be our secret weapon. We’ll need you ready to improvise like that again.”

Irillith tilted her head to one side, then her face lit up in a dazzling smile. “You’re right! I can’t believe I didn’t see it before! All the thrall ship classes are built to the same specifications, which means they’ll be operating identical hardware and software. I’ve been worrying about trying to increase the number of vessels I can control simultaneously, but all I need to do is hack into each vessel then activate pre-written scripts! John, you’re a genius!”

“Ah ... thanks?” he said, blinking in surprise.

The excited Maliri turned to Calara. “We’ve got to get our hands on Larn’kelnar’s fleets as soon as possible! Once I’ve analysed their code, I should be able to tailor a suite of scripts for each ship classification and any scenario!”

“You’ll get no argument from me there,” the brunette agreed, pleased to see someone else share her enthusiasm for salvaging those vessels.

John could see Irillith was lost in her thoughts, so he glanced down at Calara. “How did the Nymphs perform on the Invictus, Captain Fernandez?”

She sat up straight, her tone serious as she gave her report. “They did a sterling job, Admiral. Leylira handled the Invictus precisely as ordered, keeping us well clear of debris and out of range of the Brimorian guns. Marika and Neysa also showed great promise on gunnery duty, helping me mop up the retreating Enclave forces.”

He listened attentively, then turned to look at the three Nymphs. “Thank you for training so hard for this, it really paid off. You’re making a tremendous difference by supporting us with those roles; it frees up the rest of the girls to join me on combat missions.”

Marika, Neysa, and Leylira were all suitably overjoyed to hear his warm praise.

Leylira tentatively raised her hand. “Master ... will we be able to join you in the future too?”

“Yes ... eventually. When I can make you as resilient as Jade is now, we’ll review your combat status. The unfortunate reality is that we’ll soon be facing Thralls, who’ll be equipped with very powerful squad weaponry. I’m not willing to expose any of you to a threat like that until I’m convinced you can shrug off tachyon bolts.”

“We’ll be visiting Maliri territory soon,” Jade said, studying him speculatively. “Will you still be able to feed my sisters when you also need to expand Edraele’s network of wards?”

John leaned back in his chair and thought about that for a moment. “I’m going to delegate that decision to my matriarchs. The three of you are well aware of what my priorities are.”

Alyssa caressed his hand. “I’m sure we’ll be able to work out which deserving tummies need filling up next...”

Jade nodded enthusiastically. “You can leave that to us!”

I’m alight with anticipation, my Lord, Edraele crooned, sounding equalling thrilled.

“Alright, next up is the ground team,” John said, his gaze sweeping across the seated girls. “Do you want to review individual helmet camera footage?”

The girls glanced at each other, then shook their heads.

“It would make for very depressing viewing, John,” Tashana said quietly. “The Brimorian marines were cruel and merciless, gunning down Kintark civilians with impunity. I encountered a group shooting unarmed men, women, and children fleeing the city ... and punished them accordingly.”

Dana nodded, her expression grim. “The Brimorians are total assholes. I don’t know about everyone else, but I’m starting to give even less of a shit about wiping those fuckers from the galaxy.”

Rachel let out a sad sigh. “It appears that it isn’t just the Deep Pool that are responsible for the various atrocities the Enclave has committed over the last century. Based on the behaviour of the troops we encountered, I can well imagine the Brimorian populace being fully complicit in everything that happened to the Abandoned.”

Tapping his finger on the table, John scowled into the distance as he considered the ramifications of taking drastic measures against the Enclave.

Covering his hand with her own, Alyssa squeezed it gently. “We’ll support whatever decision you make, but we’ve got more important things to worry about first. Let’s just focus on finding Kythshara and requisitioning Larn’kelnar’s fleets for now ... forget about dealing with the Brimorians until we have time to actually deal with them properly.”

He gave her a grateful smile. “Good advice, thank you.” His gaze flicked to Jehanna, who was sitting next to the Maliri twins. “So, how did our newest recruit perform on her first combat mission?”

“She’s an excellent marksman, has a solid grasp of squad tactics, and showed no hesitation in executing the mission objectives,” Alyssa replied, sharing a meaningful look with the dusky-hued beauty. “I’d have no hesitation in bringing Jehanna along for future missions.”

“Looks like you were right all along ... she really is a perfect fit for the team,” John said, giving Jehanna a warm smile. “Well done, honey.”

The rest of the girls clapped her on the back and enthusiastically congratulated Jehanna on her performance.

“Thanks everyone,” she gushed, glowing with pride at their effusive praise. “I’m still finding it hard to believe that I’m actually one of the Lionesses now.”

“That reminds me,” John said, turning to Sakura. “Please can you get Jehanna qualified on assault rifles. We need her fully trained before the next battle.”

“We’ll start first thing tomorrow,” the Asian girl agreed.

“Thank you,” he said appreciatively. “That just leaves Alyssa, Jade, and Helene.”

“I performed a routine role in this battle that wasn’t worthy of note, Master,” his Nymph matriarch stated modestly. “However, Betrixa was an attentive student and is eager to practice piloting the Raptor. I’ll begin training her in earnest when we return to Genthalas.”

“Good. I’d like you to be available for ground missions as soon as possible,” John said, nodding his approval.

“I swept the palace and cut down about 800 Brimorian marines,” Alyssa said with a nonchalant shrug. “They were having a great time shooting fleeing civilians in the back, but it stopped being so funny when they were the ones running for their lives.”