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Three Square Meals Ch 72 - Complete! (Patreon)

Published:
2017-03-10 17:19:54
Edited:
2017-03-11 22:33:37
Imported:
2021-01

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Content

Chapter 72 is done! 

Maybe this is the devil's chapter? We did just reach 666 Patrons!

Cue Damien music...

I hope you enjoy the chapter, I'll look forward to hearing your thoughts!

Tefler

Comments

Anonymous

Finally!

Anonymous

All praise the mighty Telfer!!!!

DCM

ahhhhh

Anonymous

Yessss.... that's the stuff

Brent

Ah here we go!

Anonymous

it's fun to be on the computer when this email comes in!

Nekronom

Gotscha

Muledrvr

Dang.... 30 seconds of notification, and I still can't get comment lol. Can't read for a few hours :'(

Jim lynch

Oh my god what to do 1 read now can't wait any longer 2 wait till bed time and read it then oh what to do what to do Sod it im reading it now hahaha I can't wait a second more.

Anonymous

Thank you for posting this just as I finish work and am about to make the long bus journey home.

Sid1712

Yes, finally. Thank you Tefler :)

Anonymous

Voyerism. Kinky. Then again, this entire TSM is.

Anonymous

Three hours left till the end of the work day and all of a sudden I'm feeling sick I think ( cough cough ) I need to go home and rest.😉 Thanks for getting me out of work early Tefler.

Evan

Thank you, Tefler. I had time to read it before my conference call! Great chapter! I don't want to post any spoilers yet, but I will comment that Faye needs to be aware in order to be called, even if she's filtering out anything other than such a call, in order to grant privacy as requested, until she's called. The real question is... is all the data recorded, even if not reviewed? That may make a difference, later.

Daniel Sifrit

...we can build it. Make it better...

Patrick Briley

Excellent work as always Tefler. I wait with baited breath for the next chapter.

Anonymous

Ah the cliffhanger. Always with the cliffhangers. Why must you tease us so?! As always another great chapter.

Anonymous

Yeah that cliff hanger is a good one, and a fantastic chapter as always. Alas now the torturous wait for the next chapter begins again.

Grimlakin

Well that was a technical cliffhanger if I ever saw one.

Anonymous

Arrrgggg. I hate when I find the end. Thanks again and another great read Tefler. I'm glad I joined the ranks of your patrons so I can read the chapters that much sooner. Seeing the last few earlier has been nice. I also selfishly increased my pledge to help you reach your goal faster. I'll hold off on any spoilers for now as I'm sure most folks haven't had a chance to read it yet.

Anonymous

Awesome chapter, I really like it. Seems the crew has a bit of a challenge on their hands with Tashana! One thing though, is the name of the station right? I seem to recall a Geniya station, or similar, not the name used here. Or are they simply talking of a different station?

Tefler
>>4228467

Great, I'm glad you enjoyed it! Geniya station is the closest one to Terra, but Genkiri station is the closest to where the women were kidnapped. It's on the 'edge' of the Maliri border to the Terran Federation, closest to the Unclaimed Wastes (and the Ashanath).

Tefler
>>4228437

Unfortunately I have to end the chapters somewhere. :-) Thanks for joining the Patreon site and increasing your pledge, I appreciate it!

Anonymous

Great chapter, things with Tashana are going about as well as I expected - meaning they're not going at all. She's really going to get a shock when she sees that her mother has been enthralled as well. And dangit Tefler, you did it again! You set up an awesome girl-on girl scene, then just cut away from it. I love seeing John & the girls together, but there's so much opportunity for girl-only scenes that just goes un-used!

Anonymous

Great chapter!

Old Salt

An absolutely awesome chapter. I am amazed with your writing. You have so many story sub-arcs that you move along in parallel and keep in all so interesting that we all can hardly wait for the next chapter. Great work!!

DCM

The Underworld battle was awesome. And John agrees! Good job Tefler! I've been downloading the early chapters from Lit for ease of re-reading. What a pain. Since I am enthralled by the story I must resist reading anything as I am moving the files around, otherwise I might wake up 14 hours later and very thirsty.

Anonymous

Ok so now 2 or 3 chapters in Maliri space right Tef ?

Jim lynch

Noooo I need more I really need more I need to o know what Dana is thinking what tashana is going to do how John will convince her he's a good guy fighting an evil proginator. I am so looking forward to the rebuild now all the new tech the invictus or a new ship she builds is going to get come on tefler hurry up with chapter 72-73-74 they will be amazing just like the previous 72 have been 10 out of 10 yet again

Anonymous
>>4227807

it's not so much that faye is aware, it's that the security software is still monitoring the areas. faye's just a person who can monitor it all of the time. but I agree, that it needs to be logged.

Anonymous

just read it, like it. must read more, almost made it to the top of the cliff, now it's out there again (ahhhhhhh!)

Anonymous

You stopped about ten pages short... Where is the rest ?

Anonamoose

Donna and her Tech is my favorite part! You're Leavin another Cliffhanger in a different way

Anonymous

That was just part 1 right? There's a part 2 that will be posted in a few hours.....Right???

Amathew2

Hey Tef fantastic work as always, quick idea for helping with Tashana. You could have Fay show her the security footage of Irillith being healed after their battle with the evil Trankarins. Then show her post healing med scans with no tumor and then the drastic changes John has made to her personality. Maby have her throw in some TFNN footage of his exploits in helping people and being pretty much a hero. Probably won't convert her overnight but may help convince her he's not the evil progenitor she thinks he is. Anyhoo, great chapter and I can't wait to read the next one.

DCM

I was thinking about the amount of commentary and had a thought...Three Square Meals radio show. You could read for John, then you get some 18 year old's for each part, then we can skip the editing...see you can keep telling the story non stop! Chapter ends when every one falls asleep. Oh, but you still need the script. Dang. Never mind. There goes another great idea. I guess that is desperation.

Anonymous

Tashana needs some hands on talking too or give her a punching bag :)

bigdawguw65

Another great chapter , it's amazing that you have so many balls in the air (besides John's Quad , lol) What's happening on the ship ,the restart of Underworld , the continuing reshaping of Maliri society , the coming updates & refitting of the Invitus , helping Tashana , Irillith , & Edraele reconnect & heal . I'm enjoying every second of it . One thing about the chapter that puxled me was the size & scope of The Underworld & Hades's pirates band .In the build up I envisioned a huge station & he did have a pretty vast Armada of Warships & Raiders ,also a pretty big army of pirates & mercenaries to guard it but only 6 slave girls? I realize that he really didn't have use for the Underground once it was cleaned out & the slaves were returned but seems short sided to leave the facilities & trading center open to whoever & whatever might come along & start up again where Hades left off . Also will Tashana , if or when she does come around , will she remember about the Vizier & company & the staff rearming the station ? Will Dana realize the spiffy new toy sonic gun comes from another possible Progenitor slave race ? question upon question Anyways Congates on another stellar chapter

Anonymous
>>4230831

Yes Tashana needs to start talking that's for sure.

Youkai-sama

Another eventful chapter, speedily consumed. =) I'm interested to see how you let Tashana learn the truth. She's got bout 5 kinds of the wrong idea as it stands. XD And I also look forward to the swoleness of tech the Grand Engineering Overlord has in store for us.

Anonymous

hi, felt somewhat mundane after the last chapter, I was probably too keen on the follow on. It is all a bit predictable - not that it lacks imagination but the structure/texture of the story is very cozy now - how could it be any different after 5.84 gazillion words. Then again last chapter was different and amazing for it. The baby is back to babbling 'mum' after it said 'dad' once.

Anonymous

What's with this holograms from eyes, I thought Irillith can do it cus of her cyber inclinations but now Dana too hmm. To be honest it diminishes uniqueness of each girl.

Anonymous

So I get the Email . Go and download the chapter. Open it with my word processor and it tells me I have 91 pages to read. Great I reading away and enjoying the heck out of the chapter. So I get to the bottom of page 90 and Dana projects the schematics. Go to page 91 for the rest of the story and it is a blank page AAARH. Have I ever said I hate cliff hangers.

Anonymous
>>4231235

I have the felling that as soon as they dock at the ship yard Tashana is going to escape into the ship yard and give John and friends a hard time tracking her down.

Anonymous

(reading...Page 90...ah, a short page...Page 91...!??? blank!?? What? NOOooo!...where is MORE!!?? Auuugh!) OK a schematic....what was that about? must be the wormhole drive technology. We still need better shields though too... Damn now I have 2 more weeks to wait! At least nobody died this time. That said. Tashana is being treated with TOO MUCH deference here. I can easily picture an irritated Alyssa or Rachael, or even Faye shouting something like: "SILENCE, TASHANA! Listen Up! You have NO IDEA what you are talking about or dealing with here, and whatever it is you THINK is going on is JUST PLAIN WRONG! Now shut up and start listening! Here is what is REALLY going on here. First, John is NOT like Mael'nerak! Second, we are NOT merely the thralls you think we are!" (Alyssa could easily back this up with psionically blasting this same message into Tashana's mind as she shouted it.) "Now, are you going to be smart and start asking intelligent questions - and then LISTENING to the answers here, or are you going to continue to be stuck in the unending loop of suspicion and paranoia , and seeking an escape of some sort as you are now? Understand this too. I'm GIVING YOU FREE CHOICE HERE. Use it wisely." Yeah , seems to me that the 2nd day or at latest, the 3rd day, on the way to Valaden, something like that should have happened.

Anonymous

You called??? The Omen movies were about an evil child who was a second born twin called Damien. I got teased about that during school because I am a second born twin called Damien!

Anonymous
>>4231431

I'm with you she is acting like a little kid so treat her like one, listen to what the adults are saying.

Mkrayn

Dudes and Dudettes. Please do us all a favor and don't post spoilers in this thread. I go on here to get the chapter and read a FOOOKIN' slew of spoilers from "GrandpaM". I don't know about you but I cannot see words and not read them. I don't want to know any of that. I want to open this like a present on Xmas morning without someone telling me what I'm gonna get. Please, please, PLEASE...

Anonymous
>>4232003

Come on mark. The spoilers aren't in the book/story. Read that if you don't want to hear about the chapter. I mean, this thread is the chapter announce thread. It's GOING to be about the chapter.

PLRus--Founding member of the TSM F5 club.

The problem with Tashana is her tumor is adversely affecting her mental stability. I suspect she is going to be severely hurt in a fight, trying to hurt John, and John must forcibly heal her. That is about the only way this is getting done.

Anonymous

Another Great Chapter. I like the change of pace in this, and know that each chapter will get better as you continue to guide the TSM story with each pulse pounding chapter. Thanks and be well. Looking for the next chapter already!

Wookey

Agree with GP, that Tashana needs some sense talked in to her. Rough 13 years will get a lot better if she starts listening. Had envisioned Alyssha doing a mind walk. Wrapping her in white cloud then sorting her sh&t out. Instead she will do stoopud stuff and have to be bailed out.

Muledrvr

Yup.... A tough nut to crack, that one.... We'll Tashana has partial unflattering knowledge of "the Mael'Nerak" (sp). From what SHE "knows". she has every right to be paranoid and terrified. She has no reason at all to listen to, much less believe what she sees as "thralls" and a Progenitor construct. I would be rather terrified and skeptical myself lol.... (I wish I could figure out how to do paragraphs here...) Tashana is planning on escaping and warning her mother about John. Boy is she gonna be surprised and horrified when she sees her mother's white, long, hair... So, Underworld is not Progen tech... The crew didn't recognize any writing. There went that theory... Enshunu knows how to turn it on. That will be a future problem for the Invictus and crew....

Muledrvr

Yup, something extreme might have to happen to get through to Tashana.

Anonymous

Another Great Chapter Tefler. You started a new story threads how can you remember all these story arcs. Tashana is thinking when she get back to valdan she inform her mother about John. She will be in hell of suprise when edarale told her I am matriarch of John & I have reunited Malari so John can rule Malari regency. thank you Tefler once again for great chapter

Muledrvr

I have a question..... Since John accidentally has two Matriarchs, how do the girls get distributed? Is it a conscious/unconscious deal? They get "assigned" as asked/assumed? I did have a thought about it over the last few days. Maybe, it is racial... There is a human Matriarch, they get the human girls, a Maliri Matriarch gets the Maliri. But that theory gets blown away with Irillith, and Jade too, I guess. Probably some sort of subconscious deciding going on. So far......

Anonymous

First time other races (terrans & trankarans ) sail through malari space. So when John become permanent resident of Malari, I think other races can travel through malari space. & First time terran girls saw inside of malari ship(other than John & girls) also they saw irillith without body armor So they saw only blue skin girl not malari. Any thoughts

Anonymous
>>4232458

Yes funny thing would be if Underworld had some hidden weapon or ancient knowlege but Dana just took a glance and said nah its too old to do us any good. Wonder how that turns out.

Anonymous

Just a suggestion here when John and crew will be at Valaden there could be this little side threads to let us know what's going on around Maliri space or a status update from Maliri spies ( I assume they have spies ). Clarification I meant not in Maliri space but everywhere else.

Anonymous
>>4233869

I asked it a while back and there was not a good answer. I took it to mean, wait and see.

Anonymous

Need.....more.....

PLRus--Founding member of the TSM F5 club.
>>4230944

I disagree. Much like their intellectual abilities are profound, but specialized. Dana is all about materials science and engineering so she is able to project schematics while Irillith is all about cyberspace and programming so she can project archived video. I see it as more a development from their own intellectual specialties.

PLRus--Founding member of the TSM F5 club.
>>4230932

I guess I missed the tension on the ship surrounding Tashanna; including her plans to escape/revolt/save the Maliri. Oh, and I missed the portents of awakening the defensive grid and refining side of the ancient facility by a hostile race that makes it a very strategic forward base of operations against the Maliri Regency and others. Not to mention the reveal of the schematic by Dana....was it the worm-hole stellar drive or was it the energy weapon the BSP used? Sighs deeply: Tefler's writing, after you begin to see his foreshadowing techniques, is somewhat predictable....but that is because you have become a more critical reader of his style from exposure to it over time. Once you learn a writer's style, they all become somewhat predictable, so I do not see your criticism as being quite fair. If Tefler were still THAT unpredictable after this many chapters then the story would lack coherence and not be the well written epic it has become. Just my 2 cents.

PLRus--Founding member of the TSM F5 club.
>>4228670

Yeah, that is going to end badly. I can see Tashana getting all fired up and going after John and the girls only to be subdued and forcefully changed rather than killed because she is just too dangerous to leave as she currently is. That tumor has to go.

Anonymous

Thanks for a great chapter. I don't mind the cliff hangers, though I do jump up and down a bit. Love your work. Not sure where I could post a comment on grammar so I will post it here. If possible, could you please refrain from using "us" when "we" is called for to be grammatically correct. I know it is common usage, but.....ughhhhh it drives me nuts.

Anonymous

He turned to look at the blonde at his left, who gave him a broad grin as she read his salacious thoughts, and said, "Talking of being good, or not in this case, how on Terra did you tag all the bad guys in red like that?"

PLRus--Founding member of the TSM F5 club.

Okay: I am thinking: time for another upgrade wish-list. Upgrades for the Invictus: 1. Mess Hall upgrades 2. Worm-Hole Stellar Drive upgrade 3. An upgraded FTL drive 4. Power Core upgrade (possibly even multiple units running in series/parallel/backup configurations) 5. Mass Driver upgrade for greater speed/fire rate/distance 6. The addition of substructure for additional hard points 7. The addition of upgraded Gauss cannons on gimball mounts 8. Upgraded Crystal Alysium to counter plasma armaments 9. Heat sink upgrades to help in power/energy amplification of the Nova Lances and Lasers. 10. Multiple reshapings of the Crystal Alysium up to 8 times so it can withstand the BSP's energy weapon. 11. Further upgrades to the cyber defenses as well as against intrusions like Sakura accomplished to include Nexus servers and backups for each of the critical ship systems, a dedicated counter-attack server. 12. Cabling to provide the necessary bandwidth to handle the information transfer rates between the nodes of the Nexus servers and ships systems. 13. Cabling (with next generation heat sinks) to handle the increased power output of the new power core(s) 14. A shield upgrade so the ship can be relatively invisible, like Sakura's scout ship. 15. Thruster power upgrades due to power core and heat dissipation advances. Upgrades for the Raptor: 1. Worm-Hole Stellar Drive upgrade (if space is available after Gauss Cannon additions as it is more a luxury rather than a need for a gunship). 2. An upgraded FTL drive 3. Power Core upgrade 4. The addition of substructure for additional hard points 5. The addition of 2 to 4 upgraded Gauss Cannons on gimball mounts 6. Upgraded Crystal Alysium to counter plasma armaments with just one additional shaping. 7. Heat sink upgrades to help in power/energy amplification of the Lasers. 8. Further upgrades to the cyber defenses to allow for a dedicated and secure high bandwidth link to the Invictus and prevent hostile hacking/takeover. 9. A Nexus server on-board to house a copy of Faye. 10. A shield upgrade so the ship can be relatively invisible, like Sakura's scout ship. 11. Thruster power upgrades due to power core and heat dissipation advances. Upgrades for the Paragon Armor and hand weapons: 1. Incorporation of the nano-weave of Sakura's invisibility cloak on her scout ship. 2. Upgraded Crystal Alysium to incorporate resistance to plasma weapons. 3. Upgraded power cores, Crystal Alysium parts, and heat sinks for the Laser Rifles bringing the available power up to original Terran Beam Laser levels. 4. Upgraded railguns with the updated materials for use as mass drivers. 5. Creation of stun pistols from the sonic weapon Dana acquired.

Tefler
>>4233528

Yeah she knows all about the sex-borg! ;-) To create new lines, hold down shift + enter at the same time.

Tefler
>>4233601

I keep a few notes on ongoing story arcs, but most of it's rattling around in the old noggin. I'm please you liked the latest chapter!

Tefler
>>4236448

Shoot me a message with an example, and I'll be happy to take a look. If it's in speech, it might be deliberate as she does like to mangle the language!

Anonymous
>>4236798

Upgrade Maliri fleets and build few backup ships with Progen tech just in case. Hmm and maybe some planetary defenses just in case too. If Valaden will be their home they should make a fortress out of it.

Chefy

Ey Tef, great work as always. The part where the Enshunu arrive in Underworld could have been a bit more developed in my opinion. Just how powerful are the Enshunu? If the vizier knew about the secrets of the ancient refinery certainly they would have made more effort to take it especially when they made a deal with Hades to activate the rest of the defences when he gets the control rod. I'm surprised the vizier came with just one cruiser. Was he going to double cross Hades by only partially activating the systems in Underworld or use the defence system to take out the pirate ships. 3 cruisers and a battleship that make the backbone of the pirate fleet doesn't seem much if the Enshunu were more advanced than the pirates. Will you write later on what the vizier plans to use Underworld for? When Tashana reveals her ordeal in exile will the Maliri go to war with the Enshunu? Especially if the entire Enshunu are a sadistic race that deserves to be wiped out. Sigh. Now it's the long wait for the next chapter. I read very quickly this chapter as soon as it was posted. I'll try and savour it a bit more then read the older chapters.

Anonymous
>>4239099

One idea is to have him call to a small fleet that was running silent to head into the station. It can imply he was considering double crossing Hades.

Anonymous
>>4234216

While that was true I don't think they know just yet what they saw. They saw a blue girl, a green girl and a purple girl. Why is the blue one special?

Anonymous

The ratio character development/plot movement/titillation was quite different in this chapter. last chapter we had good development of a complex character, a very interesting alternative perspective and a fair bit of complexity/grey. This chapter, by comparison, pales. I’d be quite pleased to wait longer if that gave you an opportunity to weave a more complex/carefully thought web. I’m not convinced that the right metric here is number of words written. Perhaps a better metric might be the number of times we read what you have read.

Anonymous

love typos...we read what you have written. ;)

Tefler

I've been making a start on Chapter 73, and went back and changed the ending very slightly for Chapter 72. The new version has Irillith projecting schematics instead of Dana. I also fixed a couple of errors that people have pointed out, so thanks guys for letting me know about those!

Anonymous

Another good chapter, Tefler, and thank you. However, I have to say that I was a bit disappointed by it as I don't consider it as being up to your usual standard. Chap 71 was great in terms of the changed POV, the detailed background info you managed to seamlessly insert into the story, with the quirky little turns of phrase you regularly come up with (still LOLing over the "sex with an angry blender" line) and the brilliant descriptive sequences when it came to the action scenes, etc. The half dozen or so chapters prior to that were also brilliant with all of the above, plus some superb character development (mainly Sakura). This chapter, however, came across to me as "rushed" and was more like a superficial nightly News bulletin than the wonderfully complex & detailed chapters that I have come to know and love. It seems this is a "draft copy" to be fleshed out later in your own inimitable way, rather than a completed chapter. Don't get me wrong, I love the ideas you have introduced in this chapter and can't wait to see where you'll be taking us with them. I just think you've let yourself down to some extent and short-changed your wonderful cast of characters a bit with this one. I hope you take my comments in the spirit in which they were meant, and can't wait to see what you come up with next. Cheers

Jedi Khan

Well, can't really say we didn't see that coming. We all knew Tashana was going to be a tough case for John, but I think we're only now realizing just how tough it'll be. She clearly doesn't trust any of the girls, absolutely hates Irillith, and is terrified at the sight of John. The only one she'll tolerate is Faye, and that's only because she believes an AI can't be enthralled. With regards to how they can try to get through to her, perhaps John can try talking to her over the intercom, since Tashana is terrified of the sight of him. She might respond to the rationale that if she can't see him, she's safe, considering that she doesn't appear to have considered the possibility that she can be hurt by him even when he's not in the same room. Speaking of John, I know that his spunk is a cure-all, but he seriously needs to stop using it as the first resort for helping to heal people. His girls have the ability to do the same exact stuff in a less awkward way for all involved. Rachel is a doctor, the best in the galaxy, but yet John doesn't seem to want to let her do her thing. Those six women they rescued from Hades? Rachel could have helped fix their physical injuries just as effectively as John; maybe not as fast, but certainly as effectively. As for the mental trauma the women had, Alyssa could have done the same thing John did with her ability to spirit walk, but to hide the fact she's a psychic, could have set up a sort of hypnosis therapy session for each of the women. Who knows, the women might have believed a hypnosis act more than they would have John's healing man juice. Also, now that the women have no scars or injuries to back up their stories of having been kidnapped and tortured by pirates, their families, loved ones, and the authorities, might start thinking of them as runaways who are making up a sob story to try to garner sympathy in the hopes of having their disappearances overlooked.

Anonymous
>>4241799

The girls could beat up John in front of her that should work :)

Jedi Khan

Here's something else I thought of a little while ago, when Irilith and Faye were talking about replacing all of the Invictus' servers with Progenitor tech: what would happen if the BSP happened to have a sort of master key that would allow him to get access to and gain control of any Progenitor based hardware/software? That would suck immensely if, after all the effort Faye and Irllith put into upgrading the ship's network, the first time they go up against the BSP, he inputs a code and suddenly has full control of their ship. I had kinda forgotten about this until it was mentioned in this chapter that Irillith couldn't even connect to the Underworld's network, let alone hack it. This tells me that whatever race built that station, their computer tech was fundamentally different from the Progenitors, and subsequently from the tech standards used by the Progenitor's creations (i.e. Terrans, etc). This could mean that the station's network is considerably more secure than a Progenitor one would be, and it certainly would not be susceptible to a Progentior override code. The rest of the station's tech might not have been much use to the crew, but I imagine that they missed an opportunity to get a real, distinct advantage over the BSP by not examining the Underworld's network.

Anonymous
>>4242139

It's okay, Jedi. They're going to get a chance to have to go back to Underworld, in order to take on the Eshunu (I think that's what they're called, the ones that enslaved Tashana) at some point in the near-ish future. I agree with what you're saying about the tech from there, and think they missed out on an opportunity, but I also believe that Tefler is wiley enough to want to try and slip it past John and the gang (and probably some of us, too).

Anonymous

Tefler, any chance you could do a comprehensive release of everything to date in .pdf or .doc? Maybe as a patrons-only perk for us? I'd love to be able to keep it on the phone for down-time reading. Thanks, in advance.

Anonymous
>>4242773

I downloaded the Patreon app on my phone its nice to tap a button and read through the chapters.

Evan

Has anyone else noticed that Tashana's psychic abilities - in fact, her rage driving them - immediately vanish as her rage turns to fear whenever she sees John - a Progenitor - in person? I wonder if that's a designed flaw, so that Maliri with psychic abilities won't be able to use them on a Progenitor as an opponent in battle? Training with a Progenitor is quite different than fighting with one, and Sakura had a hard time even attacking John as she did to try to help him to bring out his speed ability, and she's not Maliri. I wonder if the ability to feel hate and rage towards a Progenitor - at least in visual contact - is also removed from the makeup of the Maliri. Obviously, they're designed to be incredibly and inexorably drawn to a Progenitor. Perhaps that is why Tashana tries so hard not to even look at John? How much does she know about the genetic predispositions programmed into her race, and herself? Obviously, she didn't know about the tumors prior to this point, but what else does she know... or not know? But back to the original point, I can see a Progenitor allowing for fear, but not allowing for anger, hatred, rage, etc.. Thoughts?

Muledrvr
>>4244392

Hmm, it is a nice thought, but I see a something different. Your comment made me think of Edraile being able to use her ability against John, till she got afraid.... I think the biggest detriment to the psychic abilities is fear. Fear is very powerful and can impact normal abilities. The best marksman on the range, doesn't miss at all, could get into combat the first time and then can't hit the broad side of a barn, because of fear. Tashana has a HUGE amount of fear of John, because of what she "thinks" she knows about Progenitors. I could see that effecting her ability greatly....

Anonymous

There is something that I think people are missing, Risk Aversion.  The longer a beings life, the more risk averse they tend to be. Progenitors would avoid personal danger.  They have Thralls and technology so that they don't need to do dangerous things themselves.    They want to live forever, literally.  Another Progenitor is a massive risk.  Taking on entire empires is a massive risk.  Better to use the considerable experience and divide and conquer.  Make the different empires not trust each other and wear out each other's defenses.  That makes him safer as there are less weapons available to point at him. I think the same may hold true for the Malari who live a long time compared to Terrans and with a declining population.  I suspect those Malari carriers carry drones not piloted ships.  Why waste a pilot with 80-200 years experience in a flimsy craft?  Keep them on the carrier safe and have them guide the ships remotely.  When you talk about charging in and doing things dangerous i just don't see it with BSP.  They send in fleets and super weapons. I suspect that progenitors run away to fight another day.

Anonymous

While we wait for the next chapter I had another thought... What if the creatures in John's dreams are really dead Progenitors or their ancestors and they are trying to find a vessel to take over and come back?  Initially they were pleased and "guiding" John to conquer masses of females and then seemed to get upset when he wouldn't.  It could also be that they somehow feed off the standard Progenitor / Thrall relationship.  Either they get power or even more twisted some of the Thralls are offered to the creatures in exchange for knowledge or power.  John is rocking the boat by not feeding them and it could be seen as him tormenting the poor hungry monsters.

Anonymous
>>4245723

What if those creatures are some peaceful species and are pissed John invades them in their sleep :P

Anonymous

A couple of observations: didn't John have a session with Edraele's bodyguards that was not with Jade. I agree Tashana seems to be headed to try and remove the tracking device herself. I hope that they are able to finally get through to her. It also sound like John will be meeting with all the House Matriarchs and maybe some key officers for each. He should be in high demand during the refit. It intrigues me to know the requests John had for Dana to include in the refit. Tefler, maybe those key officers should be summoned to Valaden or Genthalis to escort their Matriarch home.

Anonymous

@Tefler, How quickly will Edraele be notified if Tashana's tracking implant is removed or interfered with? I would strongly suspect that removing the implant itself is not so casually simple a matter, or Tashana's previous "owners" would likely have detected and removed it from their property as they were inflicting her many injuries or during her many torture/discipline sessions. Therefore, it must be interfaced with important circulatory/nervous system (or other) vital functions to strongly discourage anybody from casually interfering with it or removing it. Someone in Edraele's position would not be likely to take chances with "lesser measures" than assuring that her tracking device would not be casually or easily removed. So, for the sake of argument, if Tashana is somehow able to remove the implant herself without causing herself great harm in the process, Edraele might get notified rather quickly (unless Tashana has sufficient medical/micro-electronics knowledge herself to foil that notification mechanism also) ...and simply alert John mentally about her actions in disabling/removing the tracking implant.

Anonymous

I think a few chapters back John was talking with Edraele and she indicated that the tracking device was reporting that Tashana was still alive. There for the device reports location and life signs. If it were to be removed it would report Tashanas death and every one should know in short order.

Jedi Khan
>>4248860

It seems to me from the story that no such notification was sent to Edraele because it appears that Tashana discovers the implant at least a day or two before Dana's big schematic reveal at the end of the chapter, and there's no subsequent scene showing the crew reacting to the news of her removing the implant. Of course there are three other options here: first being Tashana has yet to actually remove the implant, even though it was implied that was her purpose for ducking into the bathroom. Second is that Edraele did get the notification and ignored it as a glitch, preferring to believe that since Tashana was in John's care, he would never have allowed her death. Third is that the implant doesn't push notifications to Edraele, instead requiring that she actually check the status of the implant to get an update, in which case Edraele doesn't really have a reason to check considering she knows Tashana is alive and on her way home with John.

Wookey

700 coming up today. Tefler is less than 2 weeks away from going full-time!! Yippee. 3 chapters a month.

Evan

Congratulations on number 700, Tefler!

Tefler
>>4252684

Thanks! I'll create a post when I get home (it doesn't work on my phone!).

Jedi Khan

So I was just thinking, with the Invictus about to be tied up in dry dock for a few weeks, what are the girls going to be doing when they're not in bed with John? Dana is definitely going to be supervising the refit in its entirety, and I'm sure a couple of the girls will have their own tasks to perform for the refit, such as Faye and Irillith upgrading the network. Will the girls command teams of engineers like they did on the first refit at Genthalas, or will they let the Maliri be a bit more autonomous? Since Dana is basically going to be holding court with the Maliri engineers, I figured why not let some of the other girls mix it up with their Maliri counterparts? Rachel can have a nice conference with the Maliri doctors, learning more about Maliri medicine and then applying her genius there. Jade can probably find some pilots or fighter jockeys and do whatever it is pilots do when socializing. For Clara, I'm willing to bet that Edraele can arrange for a little war game simulation that she can observe, analyze, and then take part in. Wouldn't that be something if she takes command of one of the smaller house fleets and ends up schooling the Valaden fleet commander? Maybe put her in the Maliri equivalent of that one unbeatable test from Star Trek, whatever it was called, and have her ace it without cheating? Sakura could have a few training sessions with Edraele's bodyguards in a sort of cultural exchange beat down, and a few rounds of capture the flag to test infiltration and security techniques. Alyssa of course will be glued to Johns side because she will not want to miss any of his "outreach" sessions with the Maliri women.

Anonymous
>>4256056

You forget that a number of those "out reach" sessions will require Jades assistance, since all it takes is only a mouthful... lol.

Jedi Khan

So, speculation time. Anyone have any ideas on what would have happened if John had managed to hold onto Faye as he was yanked out of the Cyber Realm? Maybe she would have ended up like you and me, Jedi. A voice in John's head. As if he doesn't have enough of those as is. That is an interesting thought though, crazy. I only wonder if she would still maintain a connection to the Cyber Realm and have a new presence on the Astral Plane or a psychic connection to John, possibly making her a digital matriarch. Or would she be yanked completely out of the Cyber Realm, losing her connection there and become a denizen of the Astral Plane/John's mind? If she did get yanked completely out, hopefully she could be put back in.

Anonymous
>>4256874

As a program I assume she would fade or disperse. She can't exist without hardware.

bigdawguw65

Risk Aversion : Brad D Back in the Battle of Regulus some wondered why BSP didn't confront John & company when he had the advantage but instead left > I said at the time I didn't think BSP was in his black ship , Lynton only communicated with his Matriarch Ailanthia & he wouldn't want her to try & confront John alone . Since he can communicate with her anywhere he doesn't need to put himself in danger by being in his Black ship & might still be back on the Kintark Home World keeping himself safe . Here John show's how different he is from the other Progenitors . He would never risk or sacrifice any of his "girls" to stay safe himself rather he puts himself in danger to protect them . Maybe this is a first step in getting beyond Tashana's fear , tangible proof John isn't like the Progenitors she knows of from history .

Anonymous
>>4260734

What is the point in living forever if you throw it away? An immortal can not comprehend endangering his life for a mortal. "They are just going to die anyways, what did you accomplish?" It makes immortals into massive cowards. At least that is my theory.

Grimlakin

I still lead to a cuthulean race of old one like creatures the progenitors keep in check. I think John is the first to embue so much power into his girls effectively making them a more focused version of a progenitor. Each specialized in a specific way... Other than Alyssa of course.

PLRus--Founding member of the TSM F5 club.

Hummmm....."Spotting one of the cleaning robots gliding along the corridor, he stripped off his perspiration-soaked shirt then crumpled it into a ball, and scored a three-pointer dropping it into the laundry hopper on its back. He blinked in surprise when the cleaning bot raised its arm to give him a high-five as it rolled by, and he did so in a daze, then watched in amazement as it trundled into the grav-tube before dropping down out of sight. Shaking off his shock at the uncharacteristic mannerism from the automaton, John jogged back to his bedroom." Tefler doesn't do that without a reason. So, obviously someone is tampering with their programming. I vote Faye. Why that is occuring is another question. Any ideas?

Jedi Khan
>>4278948

Just having fun? It's not like Faye has much else to do, especially when she can do 12 things at once. lol

Jedi Khan
>>4278986

Faye's server is the only one on board that's Progen based. The automatons still run on Terran servers, although I imagine Faye's done some tinkering with the programming. Maybe her tinkering has left some sort of imprint of her personality on the programs? It could be that if she does enough tinkering, she'll end up accidentally creating a new AI.

Anonamoose

I see a lot of people commenting about immortals being cowards and I agree. Being immortal does not make you invincible, though being invincible(cannot die) would make you immortal (infinite lifespan).

DCM

Now that I've downloaded the whole story...bound to gave missed one in there somewhere...I am doing still another read through. I got to Chapter 29-1 and realized while John and Calara are cooking (Jade got lost somewhere) that process makes this amazing high tech world feel very normal, comfortable, and loving. This dish's name isn't brought up and I felt a certain loss at that. The joy of each crew member at meals encountering either dishes of their youth or amazing new tastes (after a life of protein bars, rations, and rat stew) helps make thus story more believable. Tefler, I vote to keep the gastronomic reviews. When you feel it works, of course.

Tefler
>>4297762

Actually i remember someone leaving a comment after that chapter asking what they had for dinner. It's funny how the little details can end up making a scene much more memorable!

DCM

These people lead this crazy bizarre (could this story ever go mainstream?) life, crazy biology issues, the very latest tech, theories, and imaginings of future space travel, a travelogue, a military and vigilante adventure, tactics and martial arts, a sex romp, a love story, a psychic adventure....it's too crazy but we love it. Through all of that we notice what they have for dinner? This story is just plane fun. I have tried to explain it to friends that might enjoy it. "Well, there's this guy, John, and he has 4 testicles...". I haven't been too successful.

Anonymous

I had a tactical question about the latest Drakkor raiders. What would have happened if prior to the dropship connecting the Ashanath opened their outer airlocks? The place between that and the bulkhead they dropped would become vacuum and when the Drakkar connected would they be able to open their air locks? Would the safeties have stopped them? If they did it anyways would it have injured them?

Grimlakin

So no pressure but uhhh... Next chapter?

Tony Bates
>>4310015

typically, he has been spreading them out every 10 days or so.... a good sign is when Crazy; that's Jedi's better half, starts acting up the next chapter is close.

Jedi Khan
>>4307341

The purpose of an airlock is to act as a sort of transition zone between areas that differ in air pressure, in this case the pressurized interior of a ship and the vacuum of space. Airlocks are built with two doors, one for each pressure zone and neither can be opened at the same time as long as the pressure differential exists; in order to open one door, the pressure in the airlock must match what’s on the other side of the door to be opened. It is possible to override this safety mechanism in order to vent the pressure from the higher side to the lower side, but it is not recommended unless in certain circumstances. In the case of the Drakkar boarding the Ashanath, the Ashanath opened their airlocks presumably either before they attached or immediately after they attached, in order to keep the Drakkar from cutting them open. Having the airlocks cut open would mean there would be a hole that must be fixed before the Drakkar boarding craft can be removed. If the Ashanath had opened their airlocks before the Drakkar attached, then the area between the airlocks and the first sealed bulkhead would be a vacuum. This would force the Drakkar to either a) cycle their airlock repeatedly in order to allow a few raiders to board at a time thus keeping the Ashanath ship a vacuum, b) pressurize the empty space in the Ashanath ship to allow the Drakkar airlock to be opened without issue, c) depressurize their boarding craft to equalize the pressure, or d) override the safeties on their airlock anyways and deal with the sudden drop in pressure that would result. Judging from the fact that there have been no scenes so far in an environment that requires a pressurized suit, such as going for a walk in the vacuum of space, and the fact that we have not seen any pressurized suits in use (I’m certain the Paragon armor is, but we just haven’t seen it used that way), we can probably assume that pressure suits are not common in this universe, even though they should be standard safety equipment aboard ship. If there are pressure suits aboard ships, they probably aren’t rated for combat and/or there isn’t enough for all the people aboard, just for maintenance crew if needed. Given the Drakkar’s redundant organ structure, they can probably deal with low pressure environments, or sudden decompression as long as there remains some pressure and an atmosphere to breathe. However even they can’t survive a vacuum without a pressure suit. Looking at the scene itself, we are shown the Drakkar being sucked out of the Ashanath ship when the Invictus cuts the dropships away, which tells us that the space between the airlocks and the bulkheads was pressurized. This means that either the Ashanath waited until the dropships attached before opening the airlocks, allowing for the pressure to remain equal between the two spaces, or that the Drakkar spent the time to pressurize the Ashanath ship before boarding.

Anonymous
>>4306084

"Well, there's this guy, John, and he has... Like 7 or 8 girlfriends..." Would be more successful :-)

Anonymous

While reading this on SOL I noticed something.  You say that Irillith is a blond when John leads them to the bed. Was that intentional? John reached out and gently held Irillith’s arm as she was about to leave, and said, “Can we speak to you for a moment before you go?” The Maliri girl nodded immediately, and replied, “Of course, what did you have on your mind?” Jade waved them goodbye, and John led the two blondes to the bed, where they climbed on and sat in a circle. He stayed quiet, not answering her question for a moment as he tried to figure out how best to answer it.

Jedi Khan
>>4319616

Irillith is what's known as a "platinum blonde," I believe, due to her white hair. Sort of like how platinum is sometimes referred to as white gold in the jewelry business.

Anonymous
>>4319616

I have never heard the two called the same thing. They are in fact significantly different. <a href="https://www.whiteflash.com/about-diamonds/jewelry/white-gold-vs.-platinum-difference-is-price-1285.htm" rel="nofollow noopener" target="_blank">https://www.whiteflash.com/about-diamonds/jewelry/white-gold-vs.-platinum-difference-is-price-1285.htm</a>

Jedi Khan
>>4319616

You learn something new every day. As a bachelor, I've never had cause to actually look up terminology and metal differences in jewelry. The only jewelry I've ever dealt with is my high school class ring and I've long forgotten where I hid that. If someone had told me there was no difference between white gold and platinum except price (and I'm sure someone has), I'd believe them. I'm much more familiar with computers, where names can change prices easily. For example, take two PCs that are identical in every respect in terms of hardware, appearance, and price, then when you slap a brand name like Apple on one, it instantly becomes as much as 20% more expensive than the other (no offense to the Apple fans out there).

Anonymous

I was thinking about this while waiting for the next chapter... What if Progenitors aren't really allowed to kill each other?  We know that John's father was marooned on a planet that was inside a nebula which made it hard to find.  That sounds like a nice prison.  The wreckage could have been the result of a parked ship shot from orbit or forced to crash.  I could see the Progenitors acting like nobles in the middle ages.  The armies attacked each other and died, but the nobles were captured and ransomed.  Part of the reason was there was a gentleman's arrangement that the nobles not be targeted.  What if the Progenitors in general won't target each other either mostly do that they won't be targeted themselves?

Jedi Khan
>>4330817

That could be possible. Another reason for that is probably because they have such a small population and low birth rate (of Progenitor children) that they can't afford to kill each other as a form of population control. As for a planet hidden inside a nebula acting as a prison, that does sound decent. Another good idea for a planet prison would be to surround the planet in black holes, sort of like The Maw in Star Wars.