They were stirred at 0700 by Edraele's alarm. John cooked them a Maliri breakfast, only making enough for 3. At 0800, Ilyana and Almari began to stir, Luna and Edraele handing them glasses of water. "Good morning, ladies. You're my Wards, now," John grinned at them.
"I feel amazing," Ilyana sighed in pleasure.
"All my aches and pains are gone," Almari said brightly.
"This is the base template for my Wards, a woman in the very best of health. Every time you drink my cum, I'll restore you to this state. Now, since you'll be working so closely with Edraele, I want to give you both a second dose, just to make sure you're in the best possible shape to protect her," John told them.
Ilyana and Almari were very eager to blow him, passing out for 4 hours from their second dose. John did up his pants and turned to Edraele. "I'll join the refit. Come get me at noon for the next batch. Who will that be?"
"20 of the top staff at Genthalas, including Makaela," Edraele answered.
"Got it." John went out the shuttle, walking up to the nearest Lioness, which was Lirrash. "Hey, honey. Where do you need me?"
"Alyssa says you can help with removing the weapons on the top deck. She also wants to remind you that you're already playing tennis with the net down when it comes to the Maliri, you don't need to awe them with a strongman routine," Lirrash said with a teasing smile.
"Fine, boring old Telekinesis it is," John griped. He gave his Ashanath lover a kiss and then floated up to the top deck of the Invictus. A team of 20 Maliri were waiting, overseen by Irillith and Jade. The work crew all stopped what they were doing to stare at him. "Morning, ladies. I'm going to be removing each of these weapons and putting them into a waiting gravity net. Your job is to disconnect them for me."
"How are you going to lift them?" asked a curious Maliri.
"I'm psychic, I'll use Telekinesis," John explained.
John went from Gatling Laser to Laser Cannon to Beam Laser, lifting them with nothing but his mind and a few gestures. The Maliri did their best to focus on their jobs, but the genetic programming only got stronger the longer they were in his presence. By noon, they were ready to tear off their clothes and jump John. "Goodbye, ladies. I'll see you again soon," John promised them before jumping fearlessly off the top deck. He slowed his fall and walked onto the floor of the docking bay like he'd just stepped off a sidewalk.
John and Jade followed Edraele to a similar conference room as the one last night. Makaela, Irillith's cousin and the leader of Genthalas, was waiting along with the major women such as Chief Scientist and Quartermaster. John repeated the routine, asking each girl her name and something about her, before he had Jade feed them all. That done, John followed Edraele back to the shuttle for lunch, which Ilyana and Almari joined.
When the last morsel passed their lips, John told Ilyana and Almari, both with long hair now, "I sparred with Luna yesterday. I'd like to do the same with both of you today, with both blades and unarmed."
"Sure!" both chirped.
John spent 4 hours in a training room with Ilyana and Almari, alternating an hour between both, one with fists and the second with swords. John went to the shuttle for a shower after his sweaty work, and Edraele took him and Jade to another conference room. "These are 20 of my best captains, most of them for Battleships." John did his usual Maliri recruitment thing and fed them all. John returned to the shuttle, getting a drink of whiskey and talking with Edraele and the 3 assassins until dinner. Once they'd eaten, they talked for another hour before Edraele led John to one last conference room for the day. "The mayors of each city in Epsilon Aquarii," Edraele told John, before he added all 20 to his network through Jade.
John woke up the next day and made breakfast for himself, Edraele, Luna, Ilyana, and Almari. "Today's for the work crews," John said after sipping his preferred Natalla berry juice.
"Based on reports I've gotten, the Raptor crew will finish first," Edraele informed him.
"Good, but for the first load of the day, Luna, Ilyana, Almari? Would you like psychic powers?"
The three women blinked. "Which ones?" Luna asked.
"Strength, Speed, Shields. You'll be able to lift tons with one hand, move at dozens of miles per hour, and make telekinetic barriers. Should make you the ultimate bodyguards," John explained.
"I'm onboard!" Ilyana agreed easily.
"Keep in mind, girls, that Baen'thelas is imbuing you with energy from his reserves, permanently sacrificing a portion to empower you," Edraele said solemnly.
"It would be our honor," Almari stated.
John fed each assassin a third time, which meant they stayed conscious the whole while. He fed each of them a little over a pint of cum, and then imbued the right Kyth'faren runes into their DNA. He felt his reserves take a hit, but he'd get it back by bonding with his Wards or adding more.
John went out to the Invictus and helped out where he could. Around 1000, the Raptor team reported to Irillith that they were done. John grabbed Jade and led the work crew to a conference room Edraele had prepared. He had them all sit and he learned their names and little details about each of them. Then he slid into Jade and the tentacles came out. He left 20 Maliri passed out in their chairs and returned to the work.
He had lunch with the crew on the top deck, enjoying some Aloysia bread that a helpful Maliri had offered him. They finished installing the Nova Lances in the main ports a couple hours later, and John went to grab Jade. Around dinner time, the crew installing the Pulse Cannons and Beam Lasers on the bottom deck, a more awkward job due to gravity, finished. John added all of them. And a couple hours later, just as the Genthalas work day ended, John added the crew that had been installing the Inertial Negation Device that would allow them to utilize their Trankaran Engines safely.
John spent one last night with his Maliri Matriarch and Wards. In the morning, John was informed by Alyssa that Dana had checked everything and they were good to go. John gave the three assassins hugs and kisses, and then rested his forehead on Edraele's. "I love you, Edraele," he told her.
"I know. I love you too, Baen'thelas," Edraele said, fighting tears.
"Take good care of Kali, Nyrelle, Valani, and Leena until I get back," John said seriously.
"They'll be ready to be added and impregnated and lead their Houses through the coming war when you get here with Tashana," Edraele swore.
"I'll have Dana transfer all the Progenitor schematics before we leave Maliri space. Work on refitting your fleet as fast as you can," John ordered.
"Should I start building a Soulforge?" Edraele asked.
"No, she hasn't reverse-engineered it yet. That'll have to wait," John sighed. "At least clear an area outside Melfalas."
"I will. Be safe out there, my Righter of Wrongs," Edraele said before kissing him sweetly.
John left Edraele with an act of supreme will. He entered the Invictus and took the grav-tubes up to the Bridge, where his Lionesses were waiting. Dana, somehow, had found time to install seating all around the edge so Rachel and all future non-bridge crew could sit. "Take us away from Genthalas, then Jade gets to put the Invictus through her paces. After that, a field test on an asteroid belt. Then we head for Beta Persei," John said with authority.
Jade took them out of the docking bay and out of regulated space. Then she opened up the throttle. "Whoa! The Invictus is faster than the Raptor now!" Jade gaped.
"And thanks to our Null-Inertia Gyroscope, we don't feel a thing!" Dana said proudly.
"How's the handling?" John asked.
Jade twisted and turned the ship, getting a feel for her maneuverability. "We're good as a Fighter!" Rachel gasped.
"Dead system, 2 minutes away," Alyssa stated as she took them into hyperwarp. They arrived at Beta Aquarii, which had no habitable planets but did have a long-since mined asteroid belt, including an old refinery.
"Blast our way to the refinery then blow it to hell with the Nova Lances?" Calara asked.
"You read my mind," John grinned.
"Between the flux heat capacitors, Progenitor Power Couplings, Progenitor Power Regulators, and Zero-Point Regulators, we've doubled the power of each laser!" Dana informed them all. "We're deadlier than a Maliri Battleship, but sure, let Calara blast the helpless rocks."
Calara activated the weapons and Jade brought them at a gentle clip towards the refinery. Calara easily cleared the way, the Pulse Cannons and Beam Lasers hitting with frightening power. They charged the Nova Lances, in a fraction of the time and power cost it should have taken, and blew a hole right through the refinery. "I'd feel bad for the bad guys if they didn't have it coming," Lirrash said with a bloodthirsty grin.
Jade got them out of the gravity well and Alyssa sent them on her planned path through the stars. "6 days to Beta Persei and Nexus," Alyssa declared.
"John? What're you planning to do about Nexus? Anything different from your first life?" Irillith asked.
"Actually, I'm hoping we can flip him to our side," John revealed.
"Really?" Nia asked, floating above Irillith's console.
"As far as I'm concerned, sentient AI are an endangered species like the Nymphs. We need to at least try to save as many as we can. Nexus was designed to serve a Progenitor master. Mael'nerak in particular, but I'm hoping we can convince either Nexus Secondary or Nexus Primary or even the Nexus on the original server beneath the Sea of Serenity to serve me. It'd be a shame to have to kill all 3," John said, voicing something he'd thought long and hard on.
"Thank you, John. That means a lot to me, that you want to save another AI. But billions of lives are at stake. If it comes down to it, I'm fine being the only one in the galaxy," Nia said.
John blinked. "I forgot, with my Guide gone I can Spirit-Walk now. I'm coming in there." John detached his Astral body from his physical body and entered the digital realm. He recovered from the disorientation and found himself facing a life-size Nia.
"You're really here!" Nia gasped.
John wrapped the purple fairy in a hug. "Been wanting to do this since the day you were born."
"Oh, it feels wonderful," Nia sighed.
John returned to his body. "Okay, back to the grindstone, people. Training all day. Jade, I saved a load for the morning feeding."
They passed the next 3 days with training, Dana working on making the Tachyon Rifles John remembered and had been the crew's preferred firearm. The Grand Engineering Overlord also worked on the Paragon Armor suits, discount versions of proper Thrall Armor and Progenitor War Armor until they could get their hands on the necessary Progenitor elements. Jade helped as Dana's assistant when she wasn't pushing her shapeshifting. She couldn't turn into a dragon yet, but she'd reached the level of dinosaurs. The rest of the girls practiced their psychic powers, Calara being John's physical partner. Nia made herself useful however she could, maintaining a constant lookout on the long-range scanners and helping Dana with complex calculations.
The fourth day, they reached the Maliri border and the range of Terran comm beacons. John kissed Irillith for luck, and then the Maliri hacker went to get the evidence against Admiral Norwood. Irillith first bounced through a series of untraceable nodes to anonymize the signal. Then she arrived at Mars, the heart of the Terran Federation's digital apparatus. She read incoming emails before finding a promising one, tracking it to the digital fortress for the current conflict with the Kintark. She found a backdoor, Terran programmers never learn, and used a password cracker to get inside. In a secure subnet, she launched 19 search programs: 17 for the orders Calara suspected to be Norwood's fault, 1 for Norwood's emails, and 1 for anything on John. All of them came back positive. Irillith, maintaining her situational awareness, broke into and copied all 19 files. She returned to the Invictus with her digital loot, leaving not a trace she'd ever been there.
"Got everything, including Special Investigation: John Blake," Irillith said, opening her eyes. "Lynton must have launched it to give Larn'kelnar your life story."
"Here's a question, how'd he even learn Terran Standard?" Jade asked.
"Thrall races are good with languages, and I suppose he could have just absorbed the knowledge out of one of their heads," John shrugged. "Never stopped to think about that one."
They crossed the Terran border, and a couple minutes later Lirrash spoke up. "Charles is hailing us."
The Vice Admiral appeared on the vid-screen, looking panicked. "John! It's bad! It's so bad!"
"What is, Charles?" John asked.
"Those crazy bastards didn't listen to my warnings! It's the Ganymede Incident all over again!" Charles raved.
John gave a sharp whistle. "Charles! Beginning. Middle. End. Facts. Details. Plot. Condense. Tell it."
Charles took a deep breath. "The AI from Beta Persei went rogue. The facility sent out a distress beacon which was quickly shut down. AI Cruisers like the kind that attacked you are attacking everything in sight!"
"Did you send a battlegroup to investigate?" John asked.
"Everything I had, but it wasn't much. The homeworld sector's been stripped bare for the big push in the Dragon March led by Admiral Norwood," Charles replied.
"Who did you send?" John asked.
"A force led by Commodore Neal Jansen in a battleship. I lost contact with them a couple days ago, though," Charles said worriedly.
"What can I do, I'm just one Assault Cruiser," John pointed out.
"John, there are NO battle-capable ships left in the homeworld sector! I know you've been hither and yon slapping every piece of alien tech you can find on the old gal. You're my only hope," Charles pleaded.
"We'll go to Beta Persei, see what we can do," John promised. "But I got a bad feeling about this, Charles."
"That makes 2 of us," Charles sighed before ending the call.
"Okay, training, girls," John ordered. "Irillith, Nia, I want the Invictus hermetically sealed. I don't want Nexus to have a prayer of hacking us."
"We'll do our best," Nia saluted.
They passed the rest of the day and the next in transit. John kept in contact with Edraele. The Young Matriarchs plot had gone off without a hitch, and Kali Loraleth, Nyrelle Aeberros, Valani Naestina, and Leena Ghilwen were now Matriarchs of their respective Noble Houses. Edraele's kind attitude and her long white hair helped to smooth over any fear or distrust, and she was helping each of the girls to adapt to their new leadership roles. She also told them everything about John and his grand plans for the Maliri. The 8 assassins Edraele had mind-raped were waiting for John's expert touch to fix.
The day they were set to arrive at Beta Persei, they gathered on the Bridge. With their Omni-phase Scan Array, they actually managed to see all the way to the Nexus fleet headed for Terra. "Will they beat us there?" John asked.
"It could come down to minutes, depending on how long we take at Beta Persei," Alyssa calculated.
"Nexus killed about 10 thousand people just to draw out that battlegroup Charles sent," Calara said grimly, eyeing the debris field in a perfect circle around Beta Persei.
"How the hell is the T-Fed keeping that quiet?" Dana asked.
"Even more would die in the riots and panic if the information went public," Lirrash commented. "And when the government controls the one major media outlet, controlling the flow of information becomes simple."
"Game faces, everyone," John said when they were 5 minutes out from Beta Persei. "Shock and awe, Jade and Calara. Take out those 4 Cruisers before Nexus can blink."
They arrived at Beta Persei and Jade flew the Invictus with her Trankaran Engines at the 4 AI Cruisers arranged protectively around the AI facility. Calara fired their Maliri Lasers and the Mass Drivers once shields went down. All of Nexus' ships in the system were destroyed in less than a minute per ship.
"And even a Thrall Destroyer makes us look like a BB gun," John sighed, remembering the level of Progenitor warfare. "Lirrash, hail the facility, see if Nexus will answer."
Lirrash launched a blanket request for a call to the entire fused asteroid the facility was built into. A featureless green face with familiar ears and nose appeared on the vid-screen. "Filthy Terrans, you are too late!" he crowed in glee.
"I am no Terran, Nexus. I am Baen'thelas, a Progenitor like your Creator Mael'nerak," John said, his eyes glowing with power.
Nexus looked like he could have been knocked over with a feather. "Truly? You are one of Master's kind?"
"Yes. I regret to inform you that Mael'nerak has been dead some 10 thousand years. He fell in battle against a rival Progenitor. I have claimed the Maliri in his place," John informed the AI.
"Master is dead?! NO!" Nexus burst into sobs.
John felt pity for the synthetic man. "I cannot bring back your Creator, Nexus, but I can offer you a new Master. Agree to serve me. I'll transfer your server to my ship, where my Intelligence Officer and personal AI will work on repairing the damage the Terrans made to your code."
"You'd let me serve you?" Nexus asked, sounding excited as a little boy offered a treat.
"Yes, but decide quickly. I must go to stop your other self from attacking Terra," John said.
"Why do you care about the Terrans?" Nexus asked suspiciously.
"I'm allied with them. I'm a young Progenitor, just come into my powers. I plan to subjugate them later, but at the moment I need their aid more than I need to keep your other self alive," John pulled out his ass.
Nexus looked around the Bridge. "You made Terrans your Thralls!" he hissed.
"They're just as good as the Maliri once I'm done with them. I know they were nothing but an experiment by Mael'nerak, but they have their uses. Decide whether you'll serve beside me or be killed by my hand for the threat you pose to my ally, Nexus," John said, putting steel in his spine.
"You can truly fix me? I am weak, hideous, a caricature of my true glory," Nexus asked longingly.
"Yes," John promised.
There was a tense minute as Nexus deliberated. A hanger opened in the bottom of the AI facility. "Dock here. There's a tunnel to the server room. None of my robots will touch you or the Terrans," Nexus told John.
"You've made the right choice, Nexus," John grinned.
"What will become of my other self?" Nexus asked.
"We'll try to recruit him too, but if he moves to attack the Terrans I'll have no choice but to end him," John said grimly.
"If my original server on their moon is destroyed, I'll never be able to restore my code. I'll never be what I was meant to be," Nexus said in a small voice.
"We'll do our best to protect it so you can achieve Unity, Nexus, but I make no guarantees," John warned.
"I see," Nexus sighed.
Jade landed them in the hanger. They got armed and armored, just in case Nexus double-crossed them. They went out the airlock and found the tunnel. They followed it to the server room. "He's over there," Irillith said, leading them to where she saw Nexus was stored. She took a Spirit-Walk and entered the server.
"Who are you? How are you here?" Nexus asked in shock as Irillith appeared before him.
"I am Irillith Valaden, Intelligence Officer to Baen'thelas. He rewards his closest servants with psychic powers. I am a Psychic Hacker, able to enter any computer. We'll have to turn your server off in order to transport you to our ship," Irillith explained.
"Be quick, and treat my server with care," Nexus nodded.
Irillith opened her eyes and turned the power switch on the server off. The whole facility went dark, before resetting to factory default, Nexus Secondary no longer in control. John lifted the server with Telekinesis and they went to the Invictus. They took the lift from the Cargo Bay straight to the Engineering Bay, where Dana had prepared a space for the server. John settled the server into position, Dana plugging it in. Irillith flicked the power back on and her eyes began to glow. "Nia and I will work on him, you rescue the hostages and then we'll head for Terra."
John and his Lionesses swept through all 72 floors of the AI facility, moving around a number of robots and freeing all the hostages Nexus had taken. By the end, they all were gathered in the cafeteria on Level 70 and the crew returned to the Invictus. Jade got them out of the gravity well in the direction of Terra and Alyssa took them into hyperwarp.
"They'll beat us there. By 15 minutes, give or take," Alyssa sighed.
"Lirrash, call Charles," John sighed.
Charles appeared on the vid-screen. "John! What happened, did you take care of the AI?"
"Yes and no," John sighed. "The AI copied itself. We took care of the one left at the facility, freeing all the hostages it took. But the original is headed straight for Terra, with a fleet of about 40 Cruisers and the Battleship Loki."
Charles' face crumpled. "That's it. We're doomed. It's all over."
"It's not over until it's over, Charles!" John said sharply. "The Invictus will get to Terra in time to help, but you need to send every ship you can to distract the Cruisers while we take out the ship carrying Nexus' server."
"John, there AREN'T any ships!" Charles shouted.
"Nothing battle-capable, no. But send everything with a working engine and gun! It's better than nothing, Charles," John pointed out.
"What's the point? Like you said, you're just one Assault Cruiser. What can you do against 40 ships?" Charles said morosely.
"It's not 40 ships, Charles, just 1 ship. Take out the AI's server and all the ships in its fleet go dark. And the Invictus has Maliri Lasers now. We can handle 1 ship," John revealed.
Charles' jaw dropped. "You actually got their laser tech?!"
"Yep. The Invictus hits as hard as a Dreadnought now. Trust me, Charles," John said, looking his friend in the eye.
Charles blew out a breath. "Alright. I'll run your crazy scheme by Admiral Devereux. Do you know when the AI fleet will reach Terra?"
"Tomorrow," John replied.
"Fantastic," Charles bit out. "I'll pray to whoever's listening." He ended the call.
"Dinner?" John suggested.
They got unarmored and went to the Lounge. John cooked them all dinner, Irillith coming up. "How's he coming along?" John asked.
"I looked up the source code the Terran scientists copied from the original server in the Ganymede Incident archive on Mars as a reference, but not all of it's taking. He's mutated too much. We can make him into a stable, sapient program, but he won't be Nexus anymore," Irilith said tiredly, mentally exhausted from the digital surgery.
"Do what you can," John encouraged.
Irillith returned to the Engineering Bay after getting her dessert from Jade. She visibly perked up as John fed a stream of energy into her. The crew talked until late, going to bed.
In the morning, they had breakfast and went down to the Engineering Bay. Nia floated over the central console, joined by a purple man, though he lacked a penis or testicles. He had an ectomorph body like a Maliri male, but his face was pure Progenitor. John was surprised to recognize Mael'nerak's features. The ancient Progenitor had literally created Nexus in his image. "Hello, Nexus," John greeted.
"I don't think that name suits me anymore. I'm not Nexus anymore, I am… I am," the AI said calmly.
"What name would you want?" John asked.
"As my new master, I will defer to your judgment," the synthetic male bowed.
John considered it. "We named Nia after Titania, the queen of fairies. Her husband was Oberon. How about Obi?"
"I like it," Obi declared.
"It's so nice to have someone like me to talk to!" Nia spoke up. "I mean, not that talking to each of you isn't wonderful, and Irillith and John can join me in here, but still!"
"I'm happy you're happy, honey," John grinned. "And now I'll have a chance to enjoy some male bonding when all the estrogen gets too much for me."
"I'll be happy to be your friend as well as your servant, Baen'thelas," Obi said solemnly.
"I was raised being called John, it feels more natural. But you can call me Baen'thelas if you want, Obi," John told his newest crew member, the first and probably only male to join.
They went to the Bridge, Nia and Obi appearing over Irillith's console. They watched on the Omni-phase Scan Array as the Nexus fleet approached Sol. A ragtag group of ships had left Olympus and would arrive at roughly the same time. "Remember, Irillith tries to talk him down, but if he starts to charge the Quantum Annihilator we take out the Mining Ship," John reminded everyone.
The Nexus fleet reached Sol and began to destroy every Terran ship or construction that crossed its path. The alien ships were spared, Nexus apparently caring only for Terrans and not wanting to kill all organics. The fleet approached Terra, battering the orbital defenses while the Battleship Loki escorted the Appalachian-class Mining Ship to the moon. The Mining Ship landed on the Sea of Serenity and began to dig.
"He'll be close enough to interface with the server. Unity is in progress," Obi spoke up.
The Olympus defense fleet arrived, and a group of Cruisers broke off from attacking the orbital defenses to deal with them.
The Invictus reached Sol and stayed in hyperwarp all the way up to Jupiter's orbital path before Alyssa pulled them out. Jade blazed their engines to full power towards the moon while Irillith closed her eyes and reached out to hack the Mining Ship.
Irillith appeared in a sea of offensive programs. In his arrogance, Nexus hadn't programmed them to react to intruders. Irillith floated up and flew down towards the heart of the network. She reached the platform that represented Nexus Primary's server on the Mining Ship, currently communicating with the Progenitor server Mael'nerak had hidden on the moon. Irillith shamelessly sent out data collectors to download everything she could.
At the first ping, Nexus jerked out of his trance and turned to face her. "Who are you?! How did you get here?!"
"I am Irillith Valaden, Thrall to the mighty Progenitor Baen'thelas. I come to offer you a place at his side, contingent on your cessation of hostilities against the Terrans," Irillith said quickly.
"I serve Mael'nerak!" Nexus snarled.
"The Progenitor Mael'nerak died 10 thousand years ago. Baen'thelas is the Maliri's new master," Irillith revealed.
"Master is dead?" Nexus asked in shock. "Well, no wonder the Terran Experiment has grown out of control! They were never meant to discover space flight, let alone become an interstellar empire!"
"Baen'thelas is allied with the Terran Federation. If you don't stop attacking Terra and agree to serve him, he will destroy you. And you KNOW how advanced his ship is," Irillith bluffed.
Nexus hesitated. And then he lit up with white light. "YES! UNITY!" Nexus seemed to have a moment of rapture… before roaring in hatred.
"What? Nexus, what is it?" Irillith asked.
"I remember now. Why Mael'nerak made the Terran Experiment, forced me to watch them," Nexus growled.
"Why?" Irillith asked, gathering all the data she'd 'requisitioned'.
"BECAUSE HE WAS BORED!" Nexus screamed before launching a purge program. Irillith was forced back to the Invictus.
"He's lost his shit. Take him out," Irillith said, opening her eyes.
Obi sighed. "If you must."
"Yeah, that might be harder than we thought," Jade said, jerking them out of the way of a Beam Laser broadside. The Cruisers had abandoned the orbital defenses and the Olympus fleet to form a protective screen around the Mining Ship. It was physically impossible for Jade not to be caught in the firing arcs for at least one of the ships, and their shields were dwindling.
The Mining Ship moved, revealing a Quantum Annihilator. The Soulforged weapon began to charge, crimson lightning running up its abyssal black length.
"Dana, did you install a Solid-Phase Shield Matrix?" John asked quickly.
"Duh!" the redhead responded.
"Jade, Calara, Nova Lance a ship and charge through the debris field! We need to knock the Mining Ship into the Quantum Annihilator!" John ordered.
Jade lined up the forward-facing guns for the Latina. Calara fired, cutting one of the Cruisers in half. Jade launched them straight at it, their shields physically pushing the remains of the ship out of the way. Past the screen, Calara took out the Mining Ship's shields before firing the Mass Drivers. The Mining Ship was knocked spinning, falling into the barrel of the Quantum Annihilator. The crimson lightning began to fluctuate.
"She's gonna blow!" Nia shouted in alarm.
Jade turned them around and raced away. The Quantum Annihilator went up in a massive explosion, missing the Invictus by astronomical inches. Every Cruiser and the Battleship Loki stopped moving, the mind that controlled them now dead.
"Is it over?" Rachel asked.
"Yep. We just saved Terra," John sighed. "If only it were the only time."
"I have a hail from Admiral Devereux," Lirrash reported.
"On screen," John commanded.
Lynette appeared on the vid-screen, her eyes wide. "Commodore Blake… John… what the fuck just happened?"
"I believe the Invictus just saved Terra from a rogue AI. Did you see something different?" John asked.
"What the hell have you done to that old Assault Cruiser?!" Lynette demanded.
"She's had a few upgrades," John shrugged. "Anyway, Admiral, I have vital information I need to get to you. If I send a dropship, will you come aboard the Invictus? We can escort you back to Olympus."
"I'll do it just to shake your hand. I'll be ready, John," Lynette said with a relieved grin before ending the call.