John and the rest of the Angels were awakened by the feeling of the bed bouncing. "Wake up, wake up! I want to show off the Invictus 2.0!" Dana shouted like a child on Christmas morning.
A lot of good-natured grumbling later, the crew were all dressed for the day and following the bubbly redhead as she led them down the hallway for Deck 2. She paused at what used to be the elevator doors, now replaced by two grav-tubes. "Same deal as the Raptor. Blue goes up, red goes down. Faster movement speed than the old lift, and no having to wait around for it to arrive. We'll shave minutes in any combat or crisis scenario!" Dana reported brightly.
"Brilliant idea, honey," John nodded with approval.
"And to discourage any more Drakkar or other baddies from just breaking down the door…" Dana said leadingly, before taking out a remote. She pressed a button, and a bulwark dropped, blocking the grav-tubes. Simultaneously, two Gatling Laser turrets popped out of the wall, aimed so that either could focus on the grav-tubes or turn down either side of the hallway. "The same's been installed on every deck. Each hallway is a killbox, same with the Bridge."
"That'll come in handy next time we have boarders," Alyssa noted brightly.
"Automated firing or manual control from the Bridge?" Calara asked curiously.
"Both, though the algorithm I roughed out is a bit basic so you or really any Angel will do a better job using them remotely," Dana answered. "Now, let's get a quick breakfast, then I want to show off what our new Power Core and Tachyon Drive can really do!"
'Breakfast' for Lirrash and Zanthus involved splitting John's morning load. While John and the two Ashanath were occupied with that, the rest of the Angels made a fast but filling breakfast. Once everyone was fueled up for a few hours, Dana led everyone up to the Bridge. "Alyssa, kindly find and take us to the nearest dead asteroid belt," she requested with a grin.
The blonde Matriarch went to her Navigator station and ran a quick search. She plotted a route with her typical warp tunneling technique and blinked at the predicted ETA from the Nav-computer. "Triple the speed of our old FTL drive. I know the Grays had Mael'nerak's tech to reverse-engineer, but that's just crazy stupid fast."
"Yeah, but all that does is make me really want to get a good look at the Progenitor Tachyon Drive on the Legacy and see if I can crack it where the Ashanath failed," Dana said with an excited grin. "Lirrash said both the Tachyon Drive and Power Core are only half the power of what presumably comes standard on a Progenitor Dreadnought. And why settle for what we got when we know there's a chance we could double it?!"
*I wish you the best of luck, Dana, but even your genius might be stymied by the puzzle that is Progenitor-level technologies,* Lirrash informed her fellow Angel solemnly.
*If anyone in the universe could do it, it is Dana,* Zanthus countered. The Ashanath male had joined the crew and harem in the first place because he was besotted with Dana, so he naturally came to her defense and was her personal cheerleader.
"Settle down," John ordered gently. "Let's just get to this asteroid belt and see how the new Power Core affects our weapons loadout. We can worry about touring the Legacy after we deal with the Drakkar raiders."
Jonah, in the XO chair, took control of the Invictus and guided them out of the drydock and out of Ashana's atmosphere. He blinked. *Red, you forget to mention something? The handling is a lot better for some reason.*
*Oh, right. Since we have so much spare juice, I had the Ashanath install retro-thrusters all over until we doubled our original count. Still barely makes a dip at 100%, so it's practically for free,* Dana revealed.
*More maneuverability is always a good thing,* John thought, radiating how pleased he was with Dana's initiative.
They reached the Nav-Beacon at the edge of the gravity well and Alyssa activated their new Tachyon Drive, accelerating the Assault Cruiser to hyperwarp velocity. In less than 10 minutes, they arrived at one of the nearest neighboring systems to Ashana. No colonies, and long since mined for all useful resources. There was an asteroid belt that was nothing but worthless rock, perfect for target practice.
Jonah brought them in, and Calara activated the weapons systems. *Want me to test each weapon individually or shall I just go nuts and call it a learning experience?* Calara posed to John.
*Whichever you'll have more fun doing,* John thought lovingly.
Calara rolled her eyes at the sappy answer, though her heart warmed at the gesture. Focusing, she grabbed the joysticks of the weapons controls and focused on one particular asteroid. She remembered how she'd first tested the Invictus' weapons on an asteroid back when she first joined the crew. This one was over twice the size. She figured it would serve as a decent benchmark of how significant Dana's upgrades had been.
Determined to not rest until the asteroid was gravel, Calara got into the zone and began to fire.
Less than 2 minutes later, there was nothing but a dust cloud where the asteroid used to be. The others on the crew had hanging jaws, both at Calara's sheer deadliness and the clear improvement in the strength of their various Lasers and the Mass Drivers.
Calara swiveled to face Dana at her Engineering station. *What did you do to the Mass Drivers? You mentioned an upgrade yesterday in the shower, and whatever it is, it clearly works. We didn't just recharge in a third the time from the new Power Core, penetration was significantly greater.*
*Integrated Tachyon tech along all 4 barrels!* Dana reported cheerfully. *Each shell is riding a wave of faster-than-light particles the same way the Invictus goes through space in hyperwarp! Normally a big no-no in a gravity well due to the risk of collision, but since ballistics are designed to crash into shit anyways, I figured it was a good idea!*
*I tend to agree,* John thought a bit dumbly. He, like Calara, had noted the similarities between this fire test and the last. By one metric, they had doubled their effectiveness in combat, taking down an even bigger target in less time. *Between this level of destruction and all the advantages of our new Alyssium armor… well, I wouldn't want to be the Drakkar right now.*
*Speaking of, how do you want to handle hunting them all down, Johnny boy?* Jonah posed to the 'retired' Commander.
John steepled his fingers, considering the problem. *We can't just go charging into their base at Kappa Indarran, that's suicide. We pack a bigger, harder punch now, but going up against a Battleship let alone another 3 Cruisers is just stupid. What we need to do is somehow separate them and take down each Cruiser, one at a time.*
*Well, the Drakkar are basically humanoid sharks. Let's go fishing! Dangle some bait then we'll catch them unprepared,* Jade suggested, her cat-like eyes dilating as she prepared mentally for a game of predator and prey.
*That's not a bad idea,* Calara, the Tactical Officer, spoke up telepathically. *The Ashanath probably restricted shipping around Kappa Indarran as soon as I identified it as the system the Drakkar are camped out of. After a couple days, they must be getting hungry. Have the Ashanath send a lone ship on a flightpath reasonably close to Kappa Indarran. The raiders won't be able to resist. We'll shadow the ship and take out the Cruiser the Drakkar send.*
*Sounds like a plan,* John nodded. John turned the Command Chair to regard Lirrash where she and Zanthus were standing at the edge of the room. *Lirrash, Zanthus, either of you happen to have Ularean's comm code?*
*I do,* Lirrash nodded. John noted her head, bald up until that point, was now covered in short, snow-white bristles. The Change must be giving her hair. Why that color, he had no idea, but he imagined it would look beautiful on his Ashanath lover when she'd fully grown the characteristic mane of a female Angel. *For that matter, I might as well take up the post of Comms Officer on the Bridge. Zanthus is here as Dana's Assistant, I should serve some kind of function outside my duty as Ambassador for my people and the psionics instructor.*
*If that's what you want to do, honey,* John agreed. They did need a Comms Officer after all, and Lirrash would only have to do the work when they were all on the Bridge. Otherwise, she could easily continue as their teacher in psychic powers and what Mael'nerak had taught the ancient Ashanath about Progenitors.
Jonah activated the Comms Officer station without prompting. Lirrash glided over and took her seat. She familiarized herself with the comm interface and input the code she'd long memorized for the Senior Councilor of the Ashanath Collective.
The vid-screen came on, revealing the face of Ularean. Like all Ashanath, he had smooth gray skin, all-black eyes, a slightly larger head than a Terran, and no visible ears. The white robes of the High Council and the ceremonial chain of his Senior Councilor position gleamed in the light of his office. "Ah, JohnBlake. It is good to hear from you. May I ask why you are calling?" His Telepathy was translated by a computer, robbing all the emotion and tone from his natural mind-voice.
John gave a friendly grin. "First off, my thanks to the whole Collective for the refit of the Invictus. The parts you provided and the tireless efforts of the engineers you gave us have greatly improved our performance. These upgrades will serve us well against the Drakkar and in the future against other enemies."
"Your thanks are received and appreciated. However, Councilor Rathus has repeatedly begged that I ask whether the goddess DanaBlake will consent to teach at our Engineering Seminary. If she refuses on that front, over half the engineers who worked on the Invictus have made inquiries whether they may join your crew as you permitted for Engineer Zanthus. I feel confident saying that it was my people's pleasure to work with such a genius, so do not consider yourself in our debt in any way," Ularean said through the translator, his mouth slightly quirked up.
John chuckled even as Dana got a flaming blush. "I'm afraid she's staying with me, so Rathus will have to be disappointed. As for extra crew members… well, I'll get back to you." The truth was John would have to give that some thought. The officer positions on his crew were composed of the members of his harem. He'd have to seriously ponder whether it was worth filling Deck 4 with extra crew that weren't necessarily part of his network and future family. Dana certainly wouldn't mind having extra hands to work on all her projects. And given the amount of scraps they got into, John wondered if it would be beneficial in the long run to borrow a contingent of Ashanath Marines.
Refocusing on the issue at hand, John spoke again to Ularean. "Now, Ularean, I'm not one to renege on a deal. I promised to help you with these Drakkar raiders, and I intend to follow through. We've come up with a plan to take out at least 1 of their Cruisers. We want you to send a ship on a flightpath we'll provide, to tempt out one of the Drakkar ships. You have my personal guarantee we'll intervene before the crew are in any real danger."
"I am uncomfortable using my people as bait," Ularean said, his small grin replaced with a frown.
Dana spoke up. "I have an idea! There's a way we can draw out the Drakkar without any risk of Ashanath life! But it'll take a few hours to set up what I'm thinking of. I'll send the instructions to Rathus, he gave me his comm code. For now, though, can you just go along with our current plan? Seriously, that ship won't even lose Shields, we'll step in so quick!"
Ularean's face showed no sign of what he was thinking, the Ashanath had very unexpressive faces due to much fewer facial muscles compared to a Terran. Finally, his mind-translator stated "I will consent to sending a Cruiser along the path you will provide. I am putting my trust in you and your crew, JohnBlake. Please do not break it."
"You have my word," John vowed.
Over an hour later, the Invictus was in stealth mode, every system bar life support and the Tachyon Drive at minimum power. As invisible to Drakkar sensors as could be reasonably expected, they were traveling closely behind an Ashanath Cruiser with its characteristic saucer shape. In fact, Alyssa had them so close that she finally just muted the alarm from the Nav-Computer insisting it was too dangerous being that near to another vessel in hyperwarp. She was confident she wouldn't crash them into anything, and John trusted her to do her job.
*Waiting for an ambush is both boring and stressful, does that make sense?* Zanthus posed to the group after a tense few minutes of silence.
*I tend to agree, handsome,* John nodded to his newest male Angel. *Calara, any premonitions like the Interdiction a few days ago?*
*When I know, you'll know,* the Latina promised. Sure enough, she felt an instinctive apprehension well up from nowhere a little while later. A quick check with her Prescience confirmed it. *4 minutes, 10 seconds.*
*Game faces, people,* John projected, mentally preparing for combat.
Accurate to the second, a Drakkar Cruiser appeared from hiding and Interdicted the Ashanath Cruiser. The Invictus, practically in said Cruiser's shadow, dropped out of hyperwarp in the same system a split-second later. Almost before the Ashanath crew could launch a distress beacon, Jonah and Calara were working in concert to rip the offending raiders to shreds. The Drakkar weren't the brightest species, but they could recognize that the Invictus was a much bigger threat than their standard prey. Almost a dozen Beam Lasers lashed out from the pitch-black vessel towards the glimmering white of the Invictus. John had time to reflect on the nature of light vs. dark and how dramatic this must look from an outside perspective while his Angels performed to their usual standard. In less than 3 minutes, the Drakkar's Shields were overwhelmed, a hit from the Mass Drivers blew a hole through their super-steel armor, and Calara managed to clip the enemy's Power Core with a freakishly accurate Laser Cannon bolt. Before they could even launch dropships, the Drakkar went up in a fusion explosion that barely left behind any detectable debris.
*... That was too easy,* Alyssa thought in shock, amazed at how fast and decisive their victory had been. She had every faith in Calara's gunmanship, Jonah's piloting and Dana's genius in planning the upgrade, but still.
*Yeah, but that was just 1 Cruiser. 2 more and a Battleship to go,* John noted soberly. One easy battle didn't mean the war was a foregone conclusion. Still, he allowed himself to be cautiously optimistic about their chances. *Let's escort the Cruiser back to Ashana. Dana, what's this decoy you thought up and how long will it take to build?*
*Basically, a remotely-piloted Freighter dragging a string of hacked transponders. To the Drakkar, it'll look like a convoy of passenger liners, they'll be drooling buckets and unable to resist,* Dana revealed even as Alyssa got them back into hyperwarp towards the Ashanath homeworld. *Should take about 4 hours to program the ship and the transponders, assuming they started the moment I uploaded the plans to Rathus.*
*I thought hacking transponders like that was illegal. The Brimorians almost started a war when they tried that during a smuggling operation into the Trankaran Republic about a century ago,* Calara frowned in confusion.
*Normally, you'd be right, Calara. But two factors make this situation unique. Firstly, the Drakkar raiders with the Onyxium armor pose a genuine threat to the safety of the entire Collective if left unchecked. Ularean was on the verge of declaring a state of martial law before you arrived within our borders and our fortunes changed dramatically. He can sign such a state of emergency into being anyway and thus have legal immunity from typical Galactic League penalties regarding tampered transponders,* Lirrash spoke up, her years as a politician and legislator shining through. *Secondly, the Drakkar are not signatories of any Galactic League treaty. So long as they are the only non-Ashanath besides us to detect the fake transponder codes, there is no ground for legal recourse against the Collective. This is a brilliant maneuver, one which I praise Dana for conceiving.*
*Oh, stop,* Dana blushed at the compliment.
*In that case, we might as well plot the ambush better than we did this battle,* Jade mused, her cute face set in concentration. *If we can pick any system in Ashanath space as the battlefield to draw out the Drakkar, we should give each one serious consideration. Might even set up a few traps or 'surprises' for the Drakkar while we're at it.*
*We got 4 hours, let's get to it,* John decided.
The crew escorted the Ashanath Cruiser that had so bravely volunteered as bait back to the Grays' homeworld, most of the crew's attention on plotting how to stack the odds obscenely in their favor for the next confrontation with the Drakkar. They took a brief break for lunch, fueling up and relaxing with more light-hearted topics. Then they contacted Ularean again and made the arrangements.
By 1500, the Invictus was lying in stealth mode in the Gomeisa system, an uninhabitable system relatively close to Kappa Indarran. The crew watched and waited, observing the Ashanath Freighter on autopilot, a tug trailing a line of reprogrammed transponders in its wake.
*Fuck, I think we tried too hard. I'm picking up both the remaining Drakkar Cruisers on approach vectors,* Dana groaned in the chorus, sending the relevant data from the long-range scanners to the holographic display over the Bridge.
John frowned as he regarded the two alien ships approaching the system, set to arrive from different directions at different times. *Calara, can we pull it off or should we try again later somewhere else?*
The Latina used a mix of her tactical genius to run game theory and good old gut instinct as she calculated the odds of victory given their preparations and the upcoming scenario. *We'll win, but it won't be for free. Shields will go down for sure, the new Alyssium armor will get a field test. How bad it'll be will depend on bad luck and how skilled the enemy crews are.*
*I'll take those odds,* Jonah thought with a bloodthirsty smirk. *We're a Progenitor and his Angels, they're just dumb sharks. How bad could it be?*
*Pride goeth before the fall, handsome,* John cautioned, though he couldn't deny part of him shared the sentiment. *Get us into position, we're going through with the 2-for-1 special.*
Alyssa, Jade, Lirrash and Zanthus were on the edge of their seats, nonessential during naval combat on the Bridge. They would only be spectators as the other Angels and John led them into battle against the alien raiders.
The first Drakkar Cruiser arrived, moving to intercept the Freighter only to pause as the crew seemed to realize that what their Tactical Map and what their eyes were showing them didn't sync up. Jonah quietly got them into position behind the Drakkar Cruiser, still at minimal energy to avoid detection. Calara took a second to prepare, and then opened fire with the Beam Lasers, announcing their presence and nearly halving the Drakkar's Shields in one stroke.
The Drakkar swiveled with eerie speed; much like their weapons, the shark-like aliens cared more about overwhelming power than grace or safety concerns when it came to Engine and retro-thruster strength. Jonah pivoted and moved the Invictus with much more finesse, but was unable to completely avoid a blinding broadside of answering Beam Lasers from the enemy Cruiser.
*Shields at 72%!* Dana warned the crew.
Jonah and Calara barely heard her, working in tandem, literally sharing one mind as they coordinated to maximize the lethality of the Assault Cruiser. The Invictus and Drakkar Cruiser danced around each other, trading laser fire, wearing down each other's Shields in fits and bursts. The Drakkar had just lost all Shields when the second Drakkar Cruiser arrived in Gomeisa. Seeing the fate of their brethren, they soared at speed through the system towards the Invictus.
Now outnumbered, John gave the order to make use of their hidden home-field advantage. Jonah sent the Invictus on a tactical retreat, provoking the damaged and the fresh Drakkar Cruisers to give chase. The Invictus lost Shields a minute into the pursuit, but luckily the Alyssium armor plates proved to be just as effective as Dana had promised. Where Jonah's phenomenal piloing couldn't dodge the Drakkar's Laser fire, the supermaterial reflected or absorbed almost all of the energy from the enemy Beams until they barely scratched the Terran ship.
They flew past one particular asteroid, unremarkable apart from the fact it was highlighted on the Tactical Map on the Invictus' Bridge.
*Blow it!* John ordered as soon as the Drakkar were in range of the blast radius.
Dana hit a particular button, sending a comm burst from the hyper-pulse communications array. Less than a second later, the encrypted signal was received and the rudimentary computer on the other end executed its only programmed response.
Enough military-grade demolitions charges to crack a small moon detonated simultaneously, turning the asteroid the Drakkar were passing into an astronomical grenade. The first Drakkar Cruiser, its Shields barely regenerated from zero during the course of chasing the Invictus, was overwhelmed. The entire front half of the Cruiser vanished in the explosion, the shrapnel from the explosion depressurizing the ship before the sheer heat and force of the blast flash-cooked any who wouldn't have suffocated. The second Drakkar ship fared better, but its Shields were still overloaded and it was sent reeling to crash into another asteroid in the belt. The impact wasn't enough to kill everyone aboard, but that's where the Invictus came in.
Jonah twirled their ship like a ballerina, bringing the fire arcs of their Mass Drivers to bare. Literally as soon as physically possible, Calara fired the hyperwarp shells at the Drakkar Cruiser. Her aim was preternatural, taking out the aliens' Engines and starting a chain reaction of explosions as the fuel stores ignited. Within a minute of the asteroid bomb going off, all life signs aboard both Drakkar Cruisers were fading or already gone.
Unfortunately, the Drakkar just LOVED their boarding actions, and had teams already loaded onto their dropships. 4 ships, too small for hyper-warp capability but still big enough to carry whole squads of Drakkar raiders, launched out of the doomed Cruisers and went for the Invictus. Being much smaller and lighter, they moved almost too fast for Calara to track as they made to dock with or simply ram the Invictus.
Almost.
John and Alyssa were already armed and armored and making for the grav-tubes by the time the lone surviving dropship successfully clamped onto their airlock. They sank like stones in the anti-gravity field from the topmost deck down to the ground floor of their home. Dana had already dropped the bulwark to further block the Drakkar from entering if they managed to beat down the airlock. Still, John took issue with random aliens busting down his front door and invading his ship without permission.
John hid around the corner, Alyssa taking similar position on the other end of the hallway. With a nod and a telepathic command, John had Dana lift the bulwark, which he could hear the Drakkar already banging against.
Jade, not wanting to be left out of the whole operation, took manual control of the Gatling Laser turrets built into Deck 9 and started to mow down the lime-skinned humanoids as soon as they were revealed on her targeting matrix. While Mael'nerak had for some reason programmed Nymphs to never willingly pick up a physical weapon, that genetic command evidently didn't cover pulling triggers on a joystick. Jade took out a good 80% of the Drakkar crew before the biggest, meanest-looking Drakkar roared something in his native tongue and a couple of his underlings carrying Heavy Lasers blasted both turrets out of existence.
Which is where John and Alyssa stepped in. Between their Railguns utterly ignoring the typical magnetic repulsion built into Drakkar armor and their lethal application of psychic powers, the remaining Drakkar were cooling corpses within a minute of them entering the fight. The Drakkar warboss was the last to fall, screaming a deathcry and charging despite his many bleeding wounds to try and cleave John with an overhead chop with his shield-sword. John literally caught the blade with his hand, then just punched the Drakkar in his shark-like face, thus collapsing the raider's skull.
John kept his grip on the shield-sword as the Drakkar collapsed in a dead limp to the floor. He regarded the alien weapon with curiosity. *Seriously, should I hold onto this? Using it last time was so much fun, plus with Psychic Alacrity and Strength I could be the deadliest swordsman in the galaxy if I really tried.*
*Doesn't fit your image as the white knight,* Alyssa told him jokingly. *Sparks, we got any leftover Alyssium? I think our man really wants a pointy toy to play with.*
*About half a cube, which should be just enough for a decent broadsword. You can research sword design and work out the perfect shape with John while I'm busy coordinating all the repairs back on Ashana,* Dana huffed. *New airlock doors, 2 Gatling Lasers to replace the ones they blasted, and I want to double-check whether all the armor plates are functional after all those beams got through when Shields went down. Still, if we don't drag our feet about it, we could make it to Kappa Indarran and finish this whole thing before bedtime!*
*6 months these raiders have plagued the Collective, and we might eradicate them all in a single day… how terrifying a Progenitor and his Thralls can be when determined,* Zanthus mused, manually linked into the chorus since he hadn't bonded with any of them yet.
*Not 'a' Progenitor, John. And not Thralls, Angels,* Lirrash corrected her fellow Ashanath recruit with a mental smile.
John and Alyssa returned to the Bridge, where a group hug was held to celebrate their victory. One trip back to Ashana and into drydock later, the Invictus was good as new by the time they were all sitting down to dinner.
*Any questions, concerns?* John posed to the chorus, somewhat distracted considering Lirrash had him down her throat while Zanthus all but worshiped his quad with mouth and gentle hands.
*If my analysis was accurate, there's at least the Drakkar Battleship and quite possibly another Cruiser waiting for us,* Calara thought in all seriousness. *The Cruiser could be in drydock and unable to join, but I still wouldn't like our odds in a straight ship-to-ship battle against a Battleship. Dana and the Grays did good work, but that's still a whole other weight class compared to an Assault Cruiser.*
*What are all the different ship classes, again?* Jade asked curiously. She was hardly unintelligent, but one didn't exactly get lessons on Galactic League naval warfare while serving as a mindless sex toy to a string of pirates.
*Not counting dropships and Fighters and Bombers that are too small for FTL Drives, and accounting that individual species can deviate from the norm for cultural reasons, most empires stick to the same basic types of ship. Working from the smallest up, you've got Corvettes, Frigates, Destroyers, Cruisers, Carriers, Battleships, Dreadnoughts, and Battlecarriers. There's different loadouts and subtypes within each group as well. The flagship of almost every navy in the Galactic League is the most recently built Battlecarrier,* Alyssa informed her Nymph sister. She'd had a lot of time to do research on the Holonet and listen to war stories from John. *For example, the T-Fed has the Retribution of Zeus, which basically has all the weaponry of a Dreadnought and the carrying capacity of a Heavy Carrier.*
*And anything from a Battleship up even crossing the border is grounds for war,* Jonah added. *The Drakkar would be in deep shit if they were members of the League for having one in Ashanath space. And the fact Olympus is building a couple new Dreadnoughts is a bad sign that a full-scale invasion by the Terrans or the Kintark is in the offing.*
*When the board isn't in your favor, flip the table,* Dana mused. *Who says it has to come down to a knock-down brawl between the Invictus and the Drakkar Battleship? I could hack them and start the self-destruct, we could do a boarding action and wipe out the crew from within, and let's not forget that we basically have the whole Ashanath navy at our disposal. We could bring reinforcements and blow the Drakkar base to kingdom come even with their Onyxium armor.*
*Let's start off with a simple scouting mission and work out the details from there,* John decided before his endurance was breached and he began to fill up Lirrash's belly.
A half hour later, the Invictus took off in hyperwarp for Kappa Indarran. John and his harem passed the time with idle conversation, getting to know both Lirrash and Zanthus and integrating them into the fold. An alarm let them know when they were 5 minutes out from their destination, and they put their game faces on. Down to minimal energy before they were even subluminal, the Invictus pulled into the temporary home of the invading Drakkar.
Jonah feathered the retrothrusters and brought them through two asteroid belts until their passive scans were able to pick up all the data from the Helium-3-laden gas giant that Calara had determined was the source of the Drakkar's fuel.
*Dumb bastards, didn't even set up sensor nets around their base,* Calara thought derisively before focusing on the sensor data. *Oh, I hate it when I'm right. Temporary drydock, gas refinery, Onyxium-plated Battleship, and two Cruisers getting fitted with the new armor.*
*In other words, we're fucked if they find out we're here,* John thought with grim amusement.
*So, what's the plan of attack?* Alyssa posed to the chorus.
*Wait… Dana, are the sensor's glitching?* Jade spoke up, her cat-slitted eyes narrowed in focus.
The redhead frowned and ran a quick diagnostic. *Not that I can tell, why?*
*Then, what's that flickering over…* Jade's thoughts were drowned out as Lirrash let out a blood-curdling scream over their Telepathic links.
*Lirrash! What's wrong?* John demanded, wondering what could possibly have eked out such terror from his new Angel.
*PROGENITOR!* came the barely coherent reply, Lirrash trembling and her all-black eyes blinking rapidly as she stared transfixed at a certain spot on the holographic map.
The name of John's species was met with confusion, dread, and then their own levels of survival-based fear as each member of the chorus processed the meaning behind Lirrash's thought. One and all, the crew of the Invictus looked at the map, each eventually spotting what Jade and Lirrash had already seen.
The area the ship occupied on the map was staticky, barely noticeable except as a faint blur. Once every 10 seconds though, there was a flash of the massive Progenitor Dreadnought as whatever stealth technology concealed it had to recharge. In those blinking glimpses, John and his Angels absorbed the sight of a truly massive ship. An even deeper and shineless black than the Drakkar ships, the Progenitor ship had a harsh, angular profile that stretched over 2 kilometers from bow to stern. And even with only a brief look that lasted barely a heartbeat, it was clear the vessel was armed to the teeth.
"Our Father, who art in Heaven, hallowed be thy name," Calara said numbly, bone deep certainty that she and everyone she loved was doomed to obliteration settling into her soul.
*It was an honor and a privilege to have met you all, for however short a time,* Zanthus thought, brave and resigned to death at the moment of truth.
John just stared, unable to look away from the cloaked ship. It was frightening. It was dangerous. It… felt so familiar.
The minutes crawled by, and their continued survival and lack of any response eventually made it through all their heads.
*Is there any chance he doesn't know we're here?* Dana asked hopefully.
*An Omni-phase Scan Array operating at less than 30% power can pick up ships over a light-century away from Ashana on the Legacy. He saw us coming,* Lirrash thought with absolute conviction she was right.
*Well, guess we found out where the Drakkar got the bright idea for Onyxium armor. They had a sponsor,* Alyssa thought faintly, trying to make sense of the situation.
*So what's he waiting for? He knows we're here, he knows we wiped out the other Drakkar. Is the sick fuck just going to watch or something?* Jonah thought belligerently. He did not react well to fight-or-flight tension.
Before they could speculate any further, a shimmering ring of energy appeared from nowhere in front of the Progenitor Dreadnought. It widened to a circumference larger than the ship, then moved like a hoop to consume the whole thing. When it dissipated, the deadliest class of ship in the Milky Way had vanished from the system.
Tension ebbed like water from a pierced balloon from the Bridge of the Invictus.
*Ok… what the fuck just happened?* John asked once his heart stopped trying to beat its way out of his ribcage.
*The fisherman let the minnow go,* Jade thought, sounding oddly certain. *We are beneath his notice at our current level. Until John comes into his full powers and poses a genuine threat, we are simply not worth the effort of ending to his mind, whoever this Progenitor is.*
*If that's the case, then I've never been happier to be deemed insignificant!* Dana thought with a burst of breathy giggles tinged with hysteria.
*Well, after that, taking on the Drakkar doesn't seem so scary anymore,* Calara said with a faint attempt at humor.
*Speaking of… thoughts?* Jonah posed to the group, moving past or repressing the horror of the last 10 minutes.
*HE was here for a reason. Why he's supporting the Drakkar, we might never know. But their supplies of Onyxium are coming from somewhere, and I'm willing to bet there's a fresh shipment being unpacked at this very moment,* Lirrash mused, focusing on rational thought and logic to help process her fear.
*That might be worth a quick 'requisition',* Alyssa thought playfully. *And while we're sneaking in, might as well do something to sabotage or fuck up the ships while we're close, right?*
John got a slow grin. *I have a plan,* he announced to the chorus.