3 days after recruiting Edraele as a second Matriarch to his network, John called a 'family meeting' in the Matriarch's suite of the House Valaden palace. They all gathered at the table in the dining room, which was more than big enough for their purposes.
At one end, John and his Angels sat in the same layout they took in the Briefing Room on the Invictus and also usually how they slept in their bed at night. At the other end, Edraele sat at the foot of the table. 4 other Maliri women sat next to her. 3 of them were her most trusted team of assassins: Luna, Almari, and Ilyana. They would now be functioning as the future queen's personal bodyguard. The fourth was Makaela, Irillith's second cousin and the one in charge of the massive Genthalas Shipyard that orbited Valaden. All 6 Maliri at the table had waist-length manes of snow-white hair.
"Ok, meeting to order," John called. "We've got a lot that needs to get done. We need to work out the best way to get it all accomplished in the right order. Let's just go over all the objectives. I need to recruit the other 18 Noble House Matriarchs under Edraele and officially unite the Maliri under my rule as King. We also need to do something about Admiral Lynton and all she's doing at this other Progenitor's command, what with the Kintark war and Nexus getting started up again. As Lirrash has informed us, there's a civil war in the Trankaran Republic led by the 'Glowing Queen', who is almost certainly the rival Progenitor's Thrall. We need to go to the Unclaimed Wastes to rescue Tashana. And, last but not least, we need to avenge Rachel's mother at the hands of the New Eden Serpents. Thoughts?"
"I think my issue actually is 'least'," Rachel spoke up. "In the grand scheme, me getting some closure is lowest priority compared to all the other shit we need to handle."
"By that logic, though, get the smallest thing out of the way first," Calara countered. "And since we need to make a trip to Trankaran space anyway, we can easily stop by New Eden on the way to do the investigation and see what's what with the Serpents."
"There's another reason to go to Trankaran space, actually," Edraele spoke up. John had done his best to heal her mind, and while she'd never be described as 'sunny', Edraele was much less prickly and prone to random assault as she'd been before joining the network. "I brokered a deal with the Trankaran Ambassador to the Maliri for Trankaran Engine technology. He vanished, along with a down payment of half a billion credits. Until such time as we unlock Progenitor Engines, Trankaran Engines will do as a stopgap. They're the best in the Galactic League. A Maliri ship can't go to investigate, but you all are free to fly wherever you want. Off the top of my head, you could work out a deal with the Senate to solve the civil war in exchange for even better Engines than I bought."
"Sounds like a solid case for our next stop to be the Trankarans with a detour for Rachel's problem," Jonah hummed.
"But what about the Maliri?" John reminded everyone.
Irillith chuckled. "As I'm sure you've noticed, most every Maliri will do anything you ask them to. Even via recording. You can make a message asking each Matriarch to come to Valaden and await your return to crown you King. I can hack it into all their systems and then we're free to fly off to the Trankarans while Mother gets ready to host the first gathering of all Noble Houses in living memory."
"Better make it every Matriarch and their families," Makaela spoke up. "I know that the first thing I'd do if Edraele had mysteriously flown away from Valaden would be to try to stage a coup in her absence. Best to gather every single noblewoman. And since John's equal opportunity, the noblemen can come along as well."
"I'd like to raise a point," Lauren added. "Even with the genetic programming making it so easy, the Maliri deserve to have a ruler with a Maliri name. That's just proper branding. There'd be some dissonance with King John Blake, it sounds too Terran. Plus, it might come in handy if the rest of the Galactic League knows there's some mysterious faceless king who united the Maliri but not precisely that it's a Terran war veteran. John can maintain some anonymity until the right time to reveal himself as King to the rest of the empires, and the Maliri, especially the men who are immune to most of the programming, can have a leader who resonates with their culture."
"Fair enough," John nodded to his Negotiator, acknowledging the good point. "So, what are some good names or titles anyone can think of for my Maliri alias?"
Luna raised her hand. She spoke, her voice sweet and smooth as honey even though it had been damaged to a husky rasp in a gas attack decades ago. The magic of the Change. "I know the perfect one. Mael'nerak translates from Ancient Maliri, or rather Progenitor, as 'evil enslaver'. He ended up anything but, but the point stands. Having just met John, the most obvious title or name that stands out is 'the righter of wrongs'. Or, to translate, Baen'thelas."
"King Baen'thelas… I love it!" Alyssa grinned.
John put it to a vote, and it was unanimous. "Ok. My Terran name is John Blake, but when it comes to all things Maliri I'll go by Baen'thelas. Now, back to the planning. We send a message to every Matriarch and her children to come to Valaden. Meanwhile, we take off to New Eden and the Trankaran Republic afterwards. With our Progenitor Tachyon Drive and Alyssa working her magic, we'll be back in less than a month unless there's some emergency or some other detour pops up. I can recruit all the Maliri nobility and officially set myself up as King. What then?"
"While you're busy filling up Jade to nurse all the Maliri rulers, I think we're due a major refit of the Invictus," Dana spoke up. "We can upgrade all the Lasers with Maliri equivalents with our own tweaks, and by that point we'll also have Trankaran Engines. Plus, the Ashanath should have produced enough of the necessary exotic elements for me to make a Progenitor Power Core, they can send a shipment for us to pick up at Geniya. And I swear on my honor as Grand Engineering Overlord that I'll crack Crystal Alyssium by the time we get back here and can dock at Genthalas for the upgrade. If I get at least as big a team as I got at Ashana, I can get the Invictus to be more deadly than your average Battleship in less than a week!"
"Once you've solidified your power base as Maliri King and the Invictus is as strong as we can make her, I say we'd be in a good enough position to reveal our secret to High Command. We can go to expose Lynton and stop Nexus and the Kintark war in their tracks," Lirrash suggested, planning ahead.
"And then save Tashana. It sucks to leave her for last, but frankly if she's survived the Unclaimed Wastes for this long, she should last another few weeks," Zanthus chimed in.
John had everyone go around to make sure they got everything and no one had anything else to add. Finished, he nodded. "Ok, well, then we're wasting time. Irillith, let's record that public address, and then let's all head back to the Invictus. Next stop: New Eden."
A few minutes later, John cleared his throat and waited for Irillith to signal she'd started recording. "Hello. My name is Baen'thelas. You may think of me as the second coming of Mael'nerak. But rather than coming to punish bad girls, as the story goes, I'm here to reward all the good Maliri girls and boys. I invite you, members of the Maliri Noble Houses, to come to Genthalas Shipyard. My ally, Edraele Valaden, has assured me that you all will have safe passage past the border. I'm afraid I have urgent business elsewhere, so I won't be there to greet you personally. But if you can just play nice and not get into trouble until I come back, I promise to give each of you a wonderful Gift. I look forward to meeting all of you, ladies and gentlemen." John flashed his most charming smile.
"Oh, that's good. They'll be crawling over each other to get to the nearest spaceworthy ship after watching that. Well, the women at least. I imagine the sons and brothers will either ignore you as delusional or follow along just to see what's driving their female relatives so gaga," Irillith commented. A few minutes of typing at Edraele's desk, and the file was uploaded into the personal emails of every member of the Noble Houses in the Maliri Regency.
"You really make that look easy," John said, impressed at Irillith's phenomenal talent for hacking.
"Maybe it's genetic. Mael'nerak invented Nexus all by himself, after all, and he is my great-something-grandfather," Irillith chuckled.
Edraele had arranged transportation, and after a hug goodbye and a promise to 'be good', John left his future Queen and her personal Angels in the network behind. The hover-cars soon reached the starport, and the Invictus' crew returned to their home. John pressed a hand to the DNA scanner for the airlock.
"Oh, John, how good to have you enter me again," said a sultry female voice out the intercom.
"Sparks," John huffed, more amused than annoyed.
"I couldn't resist!" the redhead giggled.
They all got up to the Bridge and Jade piloted them out of the gravity well of Epsilon Aquarii. Alyssa was busy plotting their route, taking full advantage of warp tunneling and their Progenitor Tachyon Drive. "2.5 days to the border, another 2 to New Eden, 1.5 from New Eden to the Trankaran Republic. Any specific stops along the way?" the blonde posed even as they jumped into hyperwarp.
"We can afford a quick stop at Geniya to check in on Ceraden. And Port Megara is the Terran post closest to the Trankaran border. Calara and the rest of us can visit Dylan, that's where he's normally posted, right honey?" John checked.
"Yep! Oh, it'll be nice to see him again so soon. Ever since we all joined the military, we're lucky to meet in person more than once a year," the Latina Angel agreed eagerly.
"The Engineers kept themselves busy while we were all in the palace refitting all the wiring, sensors and circuitry with the Maliri stock we got at Geniya," Zanthus reported, having checked in with his fellow Ashanath with Telepathy. "They also upgraded the servers as best they could, so combined with all the spare drives we bought, we've fully backed up everything on Valada's personal console."
"Sweet! Now I can finally rip it apart and get into the guts of how Mael'nerak upgraded a Progenitor computer!" Dana chuckled almost maniacally.
"And once you put it back together, might be worth making our own AI assistant," Jade spoke up. "Alyssa, safe to presume we're giving Beta Persei a wide berth?"
"Oh, most definitely," Alyssa nodded to the Nymph. "No tussling with Nexus again until we have our own AI crewmate to counter-hack him and help us out with those freaky remote ships."
"Well, then, I suppose it's time to get back to training if that's all," John said. "Irillith, work with Alyssa on Spirit-Walking. It's a long shot, but combined with your Electrokinesis I'm hoping you'll be able to somehow do a Psychic Hack."
"Normally you'd need major cybernetic upgrades to do 3D immersion in cyberspace. The magic version should prove much more convenient," Irillith grinned eagerly.
The crew spent the rest of the day on Deck 7 either training or, in the Engineers' case, working on more upgrades to all their gear. After a filling dinner, John was just debating what to do with his evening load when Irillith came up to him. She looked very hopeful. "John… I know you consider me part of the family already. But it's as a sister, since I'm not part of your harem. If you'll have me, I'd like to change that."
John blinked, then grinned. He cupped Irillith's cheek. "You're sure about this? There's no going back. Once you give yourself to me, I'm never letting go."
"Make me yours, John," Irillith breathed, her violet eyes without a trace of doubt.
John swept his first Maliri Angel into a kiss and carried her back to his quarters. The rest of the harem either chuckled and went to get drinks or followed to enjoy the show.
The next day and a half was pretty quiet. There was a small incident when they were passing through House Ghilwen territory with an attempted Interdiction, but they were so fast that the ships had no hope of getting into position fast enough to snag the Invictus. In the afternoon of the 3rd day of their journey, they pulled into Theta Aquarii and docked at Geniya, the Maliri trading outpost nearest the Terran Federation border.
Irillith got dressed in Paragon Armor before leaving the Invictus. *It's inconvenient, but I'd be arrested for the capital crime of exposing myself before aliens by the males if I didn't,* she explained to the chorus. She'd gotten strong enough to maintain active links with everyone but hadn't reached the point of Bonding with anyone yet.
*Seriously? You'd be executed?* Jonah checked.
*There are only 2 immutable laws agreed upon and abided by all of the Maliri Regency: no sharing our Laser tech with aliens, and never being seen out of armor by aliens. Given how universal and respected they are, they well might be surviving edicts of Valada,* Irillith explained.
The crew went through Geniya to Ceraden's offices, where the Maliri male and John's friend was anxiously waiting. "My friend! You survived against the Fulmanax and Edraele?!" he asked almost before the crystal doors had closed behind the party.
"Yes and yes," John chuckled. "Were you really that worried about us?"
"I mean, I knew you weren't worried and you explained why, but it was hard to take it seriously when I knew how dangerous the threats you were facing would be," Ceraden tried to explain. "I suppose you truly are an almighty Progenitor," the trader chuckled a bit breathlessly.
"Speaking of, have you given thought to my proposal? I'm eager to secure your financial services to handle my wealth, Ceraden. I can pay you by commission, or with admission to my network, or any kind of favor you could ask for," John checked.
Ceraden gulped. "Let's take this to my study," he said.
They all went through the offices to Ceraden's inner sanctuary. As soon as they were unlikely to be intruded on by another Maliri, Irillith unlocked her helmet and took it off. Ceraden froze when he saw her.
"Irillith? You… you're so beautiful!" Ceraden said breathlessly, seemingly mesmerized.
Rachel's eyes started to glow as she assessed all of Ceraden's vitals. "Okay, for the record, Maliri males go into heat when they see white-haired females. As memory serves, he mildly despised her, but right now Ceraden is ready to tear out of his armor and mount Irillith in front of us."
"I-I would never!" Ceraden protested, though his helmet remained locked in staring in Irillith's general direction.
"So, would the reverse be true? Would white-haired men be extremely desirable to black-haired women?" John wondered, amused more than anything at the effect his Intelligence Officer was having on his old friend just by breathing.
"Not sure, the genetic programming isn't as precise as computer code, but everything would be designed to follow the standard Progenitor formula. Male Maliri Angels might have no special effects other than being freed from the programming," Rachel mused.
Irillith, with a mental nudge from Alyssa and Jonah, got an angelic grin. "Ceraden, agree to join John's crew as our Financial Officer and you can have me however you want, whenever you want."
"Ready to serve, Commodore Blake!" Ceraden immediately snapped to salute John.
John tried to keep a straight face. *Honey, handsome, this is underhanded, even for you two,* John projected to his Matriarch and Patriarch.
*You got a crush on him, he has a skillset we don't have but would prove useful, and one more member of the harem. Name one con to this,* Jonah thought, not even slightly guilty or ashamed at the maneuver.
*Plus, we need at least one Maliri male for the crew, just to round out all the bases,* Alyssa practically giggled.
John wondered at what point his future wives and husbands blatantly seducing more members had become ordinary to him. "Ceraden, are you sure? You want to join us?"
"Part of me wanted it when you offered, I was just too scared to throw away the life I'd built for myself. Unless you say no, I'm all aboard, John," Ceraden said, in the trance caused by the genetic programming being totally honest.
John decided that was good enough. "Get out of your armor."
24 hours later, after Ceraden woke up from his first dose and made arrangements to pull up stakes and join the crew, the Invictus flew out from Geniya and resumed course for New Eden. The standard tour and answering of questions later, Ceraden decided to get down to his first major job and do a full audit of John's finances. Between his natural talent and the beginnings of the Change enhancing his brain, he had a rough understanding by dinner.
"You seriously have let over half a billion credits sit stagnant in a single checking account since you acquired them? Not even transferring some to a high-yield savings account or a trust for retirement, you've been carrying around your whole fortune in a standard credit chit?!" Ceraden demanded, having built a head of steam before the meal started.
"Um, yes," John said, feeling vaguely guilty.
"Oh, John, oh, John, no, no, John! One hack on the bank you use and you'd be back to being penniless!" Ceraden huffed. "Give me full access to everything and I'll at least get you secure before I start investing and setting up passive income streams."
John did the necessary procedures to give Ceraden full power to move all his money around before knocking out the man for a 4 hour nap. John endured plenty of good-natured ribbing from the other Angels at Ceraden's tongue-lashing. By the time Ceraden woke up, the mood had gone from teasing to feeling John should remind Ceraden of who was head of the family. Ceraden proved to have no complaints to John 'establishing dominance'.
2 days after leaving Geniya behind, the Invictus pulled into the Procyon system. On the second orbital path around the single star was New Eden, essentially a planet-sized gated community. The richest citizens in the Terran Federation and foreign billionaires and trillionaires all considered it a point of pride to have a residence on New Eden. Jade got them into geosynchronous orbit over the capital city, Albion.
John looked at Rachel, who was staring at the planet on the holographic System Map with pained eyes. "Have you been back since you enlisted?" he asked gently.
"Not once, I just packed a bag and left after filing for emancipation," Rachel sighed. "When we track down the original kidnappers and deal with them, I need to visit my mother's grave. I'm sorry for asking even more than I already am, but I need to say goodbye properly."
"Whatever you need, honey," John promised his Medical Officer and lover.
Rachel gulped and then set her shoulders. "You and I are going down, obviously. Who else should come?"
"Our first stop is the Police HQ to go through all the old case files around the Serpents' kidnappings," John thought aloud. "Calara for analysis, Irillith to run the searches. Lauren, too, just in case anyone tries to throw around red tape. Everyone else can stay up here."
"Get into Paragon armor. Makes a better impression than civilian clothes, formal or otherwise," Alyssa recommended.
John got into his personal suit of armor, noticing something new. Dana or someone on the Engineering Team had placed a small holo-projector over his left breast. As soon as he locked the armor, a holographic representation of a male lion's head appeared, with fur and eyes that matched John's own coloring. He noticed the same, only with the appropriate sex, on all the others.
*Might just have been a PR stunt by Admiral Devereux, but we might as well milk it. Make 'the Lions of the Federation' our thing, at least while acting inside Terran space. Act like we're a special unit instead of just a retired consultant and his private crew,* his Chief Engineer explained in the chorus.
*Plus, with the opaque visors, it's a handy way to distinguish us from each other,* Zanthus added.
John agreed it was a nice touch and then led his 4 Lionesses down to Deck 9 and the Raptor. Flying the dropship himself, he got them out of the Hangar Bay and down into the New Eden atmosphere.
"Incoming dropship, identify and state your purpose at New Eden," came the expected hail from Flight Command.
"Commodore John Blake, here to investigate a cold case. Please alert Albion PD to expect me and my team presently," John said clearly.
In the militocracy of the Terran Federation, a Commodore was a bit of a Big Deal. "Right away, Commodore!" the Flight Command tech agreed before ending the transmission.
John followed the flightpath already programmed into the Raptor's Nav-computer. It led him to a tall skyscraper, the roof filled with landing pads, almost every ship or hover-vehicle having the characteristic paint job of Terran Federation law enforcement. John set the Raptor down on a free landing pad, then stood. He and his 4 female Angels all went down and out the airlock. They caused quite the stir as they headed for the entrance to the Police HQ.
John was just reaching for the door when it opened and a young woman with a shield hanging round her neck came out. She jumped when she saw John in armor. "C-Commodore Blake!"
"Yes, that's me. And who are you, miss?" John said politely. He made sure to keep his Punisher Railgun with the safety on and at rest position.
"Detective Karen Walsh! Flight Command let us know you were coming and I volunteered to be your liaison. What brings you here?" the young detective said, seeming to have a small case of hero worship.
"Please lead us to your data archives. We need to investigate a murder that happened 10 years ago," John said succinctly.
"Follow me," Detective Walsh nodded before turning and leading them into the building. John didn't think he imagined the hushed whispers and gawking that followed in their wake. Seems their 'legend' might have been more popular and widespread than he imagined.
Detective Walsh eventually led them to a large server room. She waved her ID badge over the reader and led them in. Irillith, moving with confidence, went up to the nearest data-jack and linked her vambrace to the Albion PD systems. She typed lightning fast, spelling out a specific set of criteria before launching a search. When the first few pings of results came back, she unhooked a holo-projector from her belt and attached it to the glass wall. The relevant files appeared in the air in front of them, where Calara immediately began to speed-read.
"You're investigating the New Eden Serpents?" Detective Walsh asked after a minute, realizing the theme of all the case files being pulled up.
"Suffice to say they came to my attention," John said vaguely.
"The lead investigator in every Serpents case was Detective Cliff Buckley. Is he still on the force?" Calara asked.
"Yes, Captain Buckley is in charge of the precinct now," Detective Walsh confirmed.
A tall but chubby man in a suit came charging into the server room. "Get away from there! I didn't authorize you to access our archives!"
"No, but I did. And as a Commodore, I outrank you and every civilian on this planet," John said drolly. "And who might you be?"
"This is Captain Buckley," Detective Walsh said, seeming a bit embarrassed.
*Irillith, do I even have to ask?* Calara projected to the hacker.
*I'd be insulted if you did,* the Maliri joked before sending another search, this time into Cliff Buckley.
Lauren decided to try things her way and see if they were faster. "Captain Buckley, confess your sins," she said, her voice echoing slightly as she used her Influence.
"I lost my virginity to the family dog. I did speed in college. I killed a hitchhiker in a hit-and-run. I worked with the New Eden Serpents. I embezzle from the city," he started to rattle off, his eyes going dull and slack as her psychic power compelled him to be honest.
"Go back to the Serpents," Lauren said with an eye-roll.
By that point, Irillith and Calara had caught up. "Every kidnapping victim had a police escort and he sold them the route data as well as calling away the escorts at the right time. Seems he got a 5% cut of each ransom," Calara listed off as Irillith projected all the damning evidence. "There's more, 2 other detectives were on to him and he alerted the Serpents. They were killed in a driveby the next day." The audio file of the call between Buckley and one of the Serpents played for them and all those watching from outside the server room to hear.
"Why? Why did you help the Serpents?" Rachel demanded of the hypnotized Buckley. Lauren repeated the questions.
"First it was gambling debts. Then I knew Morgan would kill me if I backed out or tried to narc. After a while it even got fun to have all that money coming in," Buckley admitted in his trance.
"Who's 'Morgan'?" John posed.
"Semias Morgan, was an Army Colonel who got dishonorably discharged when he got caught in bed with an underage daughter of an Albion councilman. Has a major hardon against all rich people, he did the kidnappings as much for revenge as to get all the money," Buckley confessed.
"Where are they now? What did they do with all that money?" John pressed.
"Bought a bunch of surplus Federation hardware and started a Mercenary Company. The Armored Cobras, based in Beta Draconis. Still do the kidnapping, just diversified from New Eden to other planets, probably do some other illegal shit. I don't care, I just take my cut when I tip them off for a juicy target," Buckley said tonelessly.
"I think that's enough to work with," John said to himself. He turned to Rachel. "He's an accessory to your mother's murder. How do you want to deal with him?"
Rachel debated demanding the personal satisfaction, then she noticed the outraged expressions on all the spectators' faces. A rather poetic idea occurred to her. "He's a cop killer. Let his men deal with him," she decided.
"You will not run," was Lauren's parting command before John and the rest of them left the room.
Detective Walsh jogged to catch up with them. "Where are you going? What will you do now?"
"Beta Draconis, of course. We got a nest of cobras to crush," John said coldly.
A New Breed
John came out of his Briefing Room, the whole crew having just finished their planning on the assault on the Armored Cobras' base. Part of him dreading the upcoming conversation, he went to his Ready Room. Lining up all the files he planned to send, John finally pulled up the relevant comm code and called his old CO.
Vice Admiral Charles Harris appeared on the vid-screen. "John," he nodded, his eyes guarded. Things had been decidedly cool, downright frosty between the two between first John trying to recruit Charles as an Angel and then their disagreements over how to handle the traitor Admiral Lynton.
"Charles," John returned the greeting.
"That vacation was actually a bit nice, so thanks for that," Charles said. "But I got the feeling that whatever reason you called me for is going to piss me off. Well, let's get to it."
John sighed. "I don't try to cause you headaches, Charles. But since you asked, here's some light reading." John sent the first data packet.
Charles reviewed the files on his end. "The Armored Cobras? I heard of them. Less than a decade old, but they got chops. Federation even outsourced a couple operations to them. What's your interest in them?"
"They started out as the New Eden Serpents," John said plainly. "They kidnapped and ransomed numerous spouses and children on New Eden 10 years ago, killing any whose families refused to pay. Once they had the start-up funds for the hardware and clean IDs, they established the Armored Cobras and started raking in the credits with mercenary jobs. But the kidnapping never stopped. Here's a list of victims, including the 6 they currently have stashed in their headquarters this very second." He sent the second packet.
Charles frowned as he read all the data. "Damn. This is like Grant all over again, scum getting away with shit right under our noses. But John, what exactly are you planning to do about it?"
"I'm planning to infiltrate their base and rescue their victims while the Invictus deals with the ships they left behind in Beta Draconis. The majority of their forces are currently at a job guarding a Tetra-Cola plant. I'll leave getting the warrants and a force big enough to terrify them into compliance instead of going down fighting to you. Or, if that's too much trouble, the Invictus will go after their fleet once we're done with the base," John stated.
Charles blew out a breath. "Have you thought about the PR fallout from this, John? Exposing a treasonous Commander like you did with Grant is one thing. Cowboy justice against a civilian organization, especially one favored by certain members of High Command, will see you in jail instead of these Serpents or Cobras or whatever."
"I'm doing this either way, Charles," John said. "But just to make sure everyone comes away a winner, own the story. Claim that High Command ordered us, the Lions of the Federation, to investigate the Armored Cobras after a whistleblower alerted you to their crimes. Get a couple juicy interviews with the hostages I rescue, and the public will be fully in High Command's corner for helping reunite those wives and children with their families with the Lions as their instrument."
Charles hummed. "... That could probably work. But this isn't really a 'consultation', John. Don't pretend that this isn't personal somehow. This will piss off at least one Admiral, and I lack the means and increasingly the inclination to bail your ass out the fire."
"As I said, I'm doing this, Charles. Whether I get praised as a hero or cursed out as a vigilante really doesn't matter to me," John spelled out for his former friend.
"... I'll contact Admiral Devereux, let her know what you're planning and how we can spin it. But you owe me now, understand John?" Charles finally sighed.
"Perfectly," John nodded. He ended the call. Then he sighed and hung his head.
*He'll come around… at some point,* Alyssa offered, though her usual optimism felt muted.
*Well, that, or he won't. And then he'll die and we'll go on without him,* John thought darkly. *But let's not get into that now. How long until nightfall on SerpentHold?*
The Armored Cobras' main base was on a planet they'd bought and partially terraformed in Beta Draconis. Renamed SerpentHold, the conditions were cold and windy in most areas of the planet, including where the main headquarters for the Mercenary Company was built. The plan was to wait for natural darkness to fall over the base and then move in with a ground team. For the occasion, Dana was coating their normal snow-white glittering Alyssium armor with a coat of black paint, the Engineers doing the same for the Raptor. While the ground operation to rescue the kidnapping victims and rig the base to blow was going on, the Invictus would deal with the portion of the Cobras' fleet left to guard the system while the rest were off at the Tetra-Cola job.
Irillith, blowing past top-dollar Terran cybersecurity as if it were, quote, 'the halfhearted efforts of a third-rate apprentice', had gotten a full list of materiel for the Cobras. The Company's fleet consisted of a Carrier modified for mech drops, 3 Cruisers, and a dozen Destroyers. She'd also, with some digging, found Colonel Semias Morgan's emails and learned he'd recently secured a partnership with the Red Hornets to get their infamous Rapier-class Fighter squadrons. 1 Cruiser and all the Destroyers were guarding SerpentHold while the rest were with the Red Hornets' forces at the Tetra-Cola plant a few systems away. There were also a full dozen Tanks stationed in the HQ along with all the rest of the Cobras' weaponry.
John was hoping to stealth in with Dana to set the charges at each generator and take out the base when they left, Rachel for any healing and also because she wanted to kill some Cobras herself, and the Marines with Jade providing cover and exfiltration in the Raptor. Everyone else would be up on the Invictus working their magic in taking on a baker's dozen decommissioned naval ships. And unlike the Chendar pirates, these were military-trained crews and the ships were in pristine, modern condition. But John had every faith in his Angels to win against the odds.
*4-ish hours,* Jonah answered John. *Knowing you, you want to run some squad drills with the superbrain twins and the Gray gyrenes. They're already down at the Firing Range.*
*Have dinner ready before we head out,* John thought wearily before getting up to do something productive before it was go-time.
3 hours later, they were all sitting down to eat in the Lounge.
*Funny thing, I set up a monitoring program for the fleet at the Tetra-Cola plant. They've abandoned their posts and are on a vector back here to Beta Draconis. No way they'll get here in time to stop us, but it's worth remembering. Morgan must have somehow learned that Buckley sold him out,* Irillith alerted the chorus after a bite of tilapia.
*Well, they'll be flying right into their own downfall. I got an email from Charles, Devereux approved the warrants and a fleet big enough to arrest and detain them all is inbound for the Tetra-Cola plant. We can alert them and have them come here instead,* John nodded as he took a sip of wine.
*So Morgan is going to get back to SerpentHold to find half his ships as wrecks in space and his precious home base as a smoking crater. Then he'll either have to come quietly or go down in a blaze up against the T-Fed… I'll call myself content in either case,* Rachel thought, her thoughts cold as the arctic.
*I only wish I didn't feel like deadweight while all this is going on,* Ceraden admitted. With the whole network loaning energy to help his Change, plus Lirrash giving an energy massage to stimulate the psychic metamorphosis, he was already in the 6'2, brawny form of a male Angel. He'd yet to select a psychic Gift to ask from John, apart from the standard Telepathy.
*How do you think the Engineers feel every time there's a fight?* Zanthus chuckled. *Believe me, Ceraden, you'll get your baptism by fire at some point, being on this crew. Savor the peace while it lasts.*
They finished the meal and made all the final preparations before the operation began. John, Dana, Jade, Rachel and the Marines were loaded into the Raptor and waiting for the signal that night had hit the Cobras' HQ on SerpentHold.
*And… now. Last light of sunset should be gone, minimal visibility,* Alyssa alerted them through the chorus.
*Wish Irillith luck on her first Psychic Hack,* John told his Matriarch before nudging Jade to take them out the Hangar Bay. The Nymph took them out in 'stealth' mode of minimal power and took them on their flightpath down to the base on the planet.
All eyes on the Bridge went to Irillith, who took a deep breath before closing her eyes. With the odd psychic jerk necessary, she detached her spirit from her corporeal form to do a Spirit-Walk. As she'd only done in practice over the last few days, she stuck her finger in the data-jack at her console. A disorienting rush later, Irillith found herself in the Invictus' digital network. Since she was a ghost and all, she flew up and over to the comms relay.
Irillith had learned over trial and error that in the absence of a keyboard to type at, when she was in a Psychic Hack she could summon representations of all her favorite programs or protocols just by wishing for them. Praying to whoever was listening she didn't cock it up, Irillith cloaked the comms signal and sent out a brief burst to give her a chance to jump from the Invictus to the network of the Cobras' Cruiser. She appeared on the outer edge of the enemy's cyber realm, hopefully with the mercenaries none the wiser that the Invictus was in the system.
Irillith walked right up to the 'firewall', though it seemed laughable to call it as such. She'd been very thorough in upgrading all the Invictus' cybersecurity to her personal standard, and she'd been practicing her Psychic Hacks on the Invictus' own systems. The Cobras' barrier to prevent unauthorized entry was like a screen door next to a concrete wall in comparison to what Irillith had been prepared for. With an idle thought, she conjured a password-cracker and let herself into the Cruiser's network after less than 10 seconds, the cyber alarm not even going off.
The Invictus' crew waited patiently, noting Irillith's eyes moving like she was in REM sleep, as their shared lover combined computer science and psionics to hopefully slave the biggest threat in the enemy fleet.
Irillith ghosted like a ninja around laughably simple guard programs and obvious traps in the mercenary ship's systems. One by one, Irillith got to the major nodes and installed her personal favorite override program. Holding the links like puppet strings made of light, Irillith returned to the comms system and 'sent' herself back to the Invictus and her body.
The Maliri hacker opened her eyes and grinned. She cracked her knuckles and opened her console's holo-screen. An interface that looked very similar to a popular videogame showed how she had full control of the Cobras' Cruiser. *Tell me who to shoot first,* she projected at Calara.
Calara coordinated with Jonah and allotted their first targets. *Well, let's get this party started,* Calara thought before having Dana send them back to full power and firing Beams at the nearest picket group of Destroyers.
While the Invictus and the slaved Cruiser started to attack the dozen Destroyers from both sides, Jade brought the Raptor to hover over the southern entrance into the compound. Dana piloted a drone with an attached EMP down and set it off, turning off the cameras and spotlights in that section of the base. A quick drop to ground level later, John, Dana, Rachel, and the dozen Ashanath Marines were out the Raptor. *Be our eyes from above, and if the alarm is raised give 'em hell, honey,* John sent to his beloved Nymph.
*Don't die, John. We have plans, remember?* Jade sent, in echo of when they'd parted during the Port Medea attack.
*Indeed, I do. And don't get shot out of the sky by a tank either,* John added before refocusing on his ground team. *Follow me,* he ordered before jogging up to the gate. With a simple allocation, Dana and Rachel shot the gate guards in their towers dead with their Punisher Railguns. The hyper-accelerated rounds weren't affected by the constant gale in the slightest. John reached the ferrocrete gate and focused. With a simple application of Telekinesis, he opened the door and led his team into the Cobras' base.
In space, the Invictus had already taken out the first group of 4 Destroyers with minimal damage to Shields with Jonah's phenomenal piloting. Meanwhile, the group Irillith was targeting was in disarray, the Armored Cobras' apparently trying to work out why their own ship was firing on them and reluctant to return fire. The last group, though, was in formation and bearing down on the highly upgraded Assault Cruiser.
Moving swiftly and silently, John and his ground team moved like they were the wind through the Cobras' base. They got to the main generator, taking out every guard before they could raise an alarm. Dana placed enough charges in key points to start a runaway explosion that would take out half the base in one big boom. The other half would be taken care of by the backup generator, which was their next stop.
Once the charges were set at the backup generator, John led his team up to the main building, following the overlay of the base in his HUD that Irillith had generously provided. At the doors, they were stymied by the lack of a keycard. Shrugging, John cracked his knuckles and then tore the door off its hinges with his Psychic Strength. He chucked the foot-thick barrier to the side and brought up his Punisher Railgun just as the first Cobras came to investigate the noise.
Superior armor, superior reaction time, superior weaponry, plus psychic powers against baseline Terrans. Simple math, that.
After clearing the ground floor, John found the highest-ranking corpse and lifted his keycard. He and the team went down to the basement, finding the bunker where the Cobras kept their kidnapped hostages. A swipe of the card, and the vault door opened to let them in. John felt his blood heat up when he saw the 5 cells. 4 women in age range from mid-20s to early 50s, the wives of rich men in the Federation, and a brother and sister both younger than 10 half-heartedly playing with wooden blocks in their cage.
*Free them and explain the situation, I'll clear out the rest of the building,* John ordered before taking off with Psychic Alacrity.
Rachel found the control panel and opened every cell door. "Be calm! We're the Lions of the Federation, we're here to rescue you," she called out through her Paragon Armor's speaker system as the kidnapping victims stood and regarded them fearfully.
"The Lions? You mean from that fake attack on Port Medea they hyped up?" frowned one of the women.
"Madam, I assure you, that attack was very real. I had the Kintark bloodstains to wash out my armor to prove it," Primus stated through his mind-translator, the robotic voice somehow even dryer than typical of the device.
"You mean we're free? We can go back to Mommy and Daddy?" asked the little boy, who couldn't be more than 5.
"That's right, little man. Our boss is making sure the building's clear, then we'll walk right out and into our fancy dropship and back to our big ship in space," Dana said with a gentle tone to the child. "We're taking you all back to New Eden, and the Federation will arrange transport to your home planets from there."
A few minutes later, an alarm went off. The ground team went on alert and set up a firing line facing the bunker door.
*Incoming,* John warned them before stepping in, his armor splattered with red bloodstains that stood out against the black paint. "Thought one guy was already dead, managed to hit the alarm button when I wasn't looking. The whole base is mobilizing," he said aloud, keeping the kidnapping victims in the loop. John swiped the stolen keycard and the vault door began to close.
"Well, then why the hell are you locking us in here?!" demanded one of the victims.
"Believe me, we'll want the extra barrier for what's next," John said dryly. He and his Angels formed a huddle around the kidnapping victims, who obeyed orders to crouch down. John raised Psychic Shields around them all before giving Dana a nod.
"Hold onto your butts!" the redhead said with rather inappropriate cheer before hitting the button on the detonator.
Back with the Invictus, they'd lost Shields but their Alyssium armor plating was proving all but impervious to the Laser Cannon fire coming from the remaining 2 Destroyers. If anything, they were getting surplus energy as the built-in capacitors absorbed all the incoming laser bolts. Irillith, having finished off her own group, decided to fell 2 birds with 1 stone and disabled Engine safeties on the Cruiser before sending it at ramming speed for the nearest Destroyer. The explosion on collision was enough to distract the survivor, and Calara took advantage mercilessly. And just like that, the space battle was won decidedly in the Invictus' favor.
John flexed his Telekinetic dome once the last of the rubble had settled, leaving him, his Angels, and the kidnapping victims in the one clean spot in the broken bunker. Activating the lights built into their helmets, John and his team cautiously led the lightly coughing victims through the dusty ruin of a room to the door. Acting with unified will, John and the Marines moved all rubble in their path with Telekinesis. In a matter of minutes, they'd gotten back to ground level to find the whole of the Cobras' base was now so many chunks of ferrocrete and destroyed vehicles and scorched earth.
Jade, in the Raptor, touched down in the nearest open spot with the grace of a swan. The loading ramp dropped.
"Come along," John ordered, Rachel holding both the boy and girl's hands as the Marines formed a box around them all. They all got into the Raptor, which flew up out of the atmosphere and docked with the Invictus with little ado.
John led all 6 victims up to his Ready Room and then went to get unarmored. He spent 20 minutes calming down the women and children, his Angels helpfully bringing blankets, fresh clothes, and hot chocolate. Once the hostages were as settled as they were going to get, John returned to the Bridge and his Command Chair. *ETA on the rest of the Cobras and the Hornets?* he checked.
*Another good 6 hours. The T-Fed arrest force will be in system in less than 5. They'll fly right into their own cage,* Irillith reported, finding a great deal of humor in the scenario.
*Rachel, is there anything else you need?* John checked with his brunette genius. The whole point of this exercise, really, had been for her benefit.
Rachel closed her eyes. Then she laid out her plan to Lirrash and Irillith.
Within a minute, a call to Semias Morgan's personal communicator went through. A bald, scarred man with a certain roguish air to him appeared on the vid-screen. "Who is this? How'd you get this number?!"
"I'm Rachel, one of the Lions of the Federation. When you get to Beta Draconis, you will find all your men dead and equipment destroyed. Just thought you should know," Rachel said, her face blank and voice cold.
Morgan's face sneered. "Yeah, right, bitch. You probably haven't even gotten there yet."
Rachel wordlessly sent the most recent Tactical Map data, along with an orbital image of the smoking base.
The ex-Colonel's jaw dropped, before he turned red with fury. "YOU CUNT! HOW?! THAT'S IMPOSSIBLE!"
"It's no less than you deserve," Rachel said, her stormy gray eyes as closed off as bank vaults.
"Why? The fuck did I ever do to you?" Morgan demanded.
Rachel paused. "Do you remember the Voss kidnapping?"
Morgan frowned in thought. "Yeah, some rich bitch we grabbed back on New Eden. Her tightass husband wouldn't pay up so we killed her. What's that got to do with anything?"
Rachel leaned forward and pierced Morgan with a glare that even scared John a little. "Her name was Catherine Voss. She was my mother, and I loved her very much." Then she hung up. The doctor turned to Irillith. *Did you do it?*
*Soon as he arrives in system, the ship will self-destruct,* the hacker reported, having pulled off the hack in the background while Morgan was talking to Rachel.
*That's enough to satisfy me,* Rachel nodded. She went up the steps to John's Command Chair and gave him a tender kiss. *Thank you so much for letting me put my mother's soul to rest.*
*Of course, honey. I love you, after all,* John grinned into the kiss.
In a matter of hours, the Invictus was back at Procyon. John, Jonah, Alyssa, Dana and Rachel all loaded into the Raptor. They dropped off the kidnap victims at Albion PD with a half-stunned Detective Walsh. That done, John flew the dropship towards the coordinates Rachel had provided.
They got hailed a full mile from their intended destination. Such was the size of the Voss estate. "Inbound dropship, this is restricted airspace. Identify or we shall alert the authorities of your trespassing," said a professional sounding security tech.
Rachel leaned forward and held down the intercom. "This is Rachel Voss. I'm here to visit my mother's grave. Or has my father put me on the proscribed list?"
There was a beat of stunned silence. "... Proceed, Miss Voss," came the polite reply.
They reached a mansion that would dwarf even Versailles on Terra. *Damn, babes, is your dad compensating for something?* Dana joked, trying to lighten the mood her girlfriend was in.
*He started with less than 10 thousand credits to his name and a dream. Now he's one of the richest men in the Federation, and he's determined to prove it beyond all doubt. He has such a chip on his shoulder from being 'new money'. Mommy told me how he was happier as a millionaire than a billionaire. The more he had, the higher he climbed, the more he felt like an outsider in the circles of the elite and felt the need to show them up,* Rachel thought dully.
John landed the Raptor on a free landing pad. Rachel wordlessly guided the party out of the Raptor and across the grounds. After a goodly hike, they reached a spot overlooking the lake. A grave marker rested there. 'Catherine Voss, Beloved Wife and Mother' read the inscription above the birth and death dates.
*She loved this spot,* Rachel thought to the chorus, getting lost in memories. *In the summer, we'd play down here every day. We'd go paddling on the lake in the rowboat. We'd have 'sleepovers' in the lake house that felt more like a home than the mansion. We'd sip hot chocolate on a picnic blanket and count the fireflies.*
Alyssa, her eyes glowing, reached out a hand to gently press her fingers to Rachel's temple. *I know, I can see it. And so can you now.*
Rachel looked around, Alyssa projecting all the psychic imprints and remnants she could sense into her field of vision. Tears, both of loss and happiness, welled up as Rachel watched one replayed scene from her childhood after another. Learning to ride a bike on that path. Cuddled between Mommy and Daddy on the porch swing of the lake house. That day they went out on the boat and Daddy fell in, coming up with a lilypad placed right on top of his head, her and Mommy laughing so hard they fell in too. She turned to the grave marker, and saw more. So many imprints of her father, visiting and laying fresh flowers, begging for forgiveness, wailing where no one could see his loss and regret. How he hated himself for sacrificing Catherine on the altar of his pride and how he'd lost their precious daughter in the aftermath. A side of her father she'd never seen before.
Rachel took an hour to just soak up the sights, have a good cry, and pay her respects to her departed mother. John and the others gave her whatever space or comfort she needed. When she felt ready to finally leave the past behind, Rachel led them back towards the Raptor.
A man Rachel bore more than a passing resemblance to, wearing a suit that cost more than most cars, was waiting by the Raptor watching their approach.
*Get in, I'll be along in a moment,* Rachel projected to the chorus. She went up to meet Henry Voss, the father she'd abandoned and she'd thought incapable of loving anyone but himself.
Her father's usual stoic, authoritative mask was absent now. He looked from her with such tenderness and hope, then back towards the lake and it morphed into festering pain. "Rachel… I'm so sorry," Henry managed as for the first time in her life, he cried in front of her.
Rachel stepped forward and wrapped him in a hug. "I forgive you, Daddy." Quietly, Rachel's Gift alerted her to her father's medical condition. She pulled back. "Why didn't you tell me you're sick?"
"What do you mean?" Henry blinked.
"Do you not know yet? You have arrhythmia," Rachel said solemnly.
Henry's eyes widened. "How did you know that?! The doctors would never tell, the NDAs–"
"I know the same way I'll fix it," Rachel said, her eyes starting to glow. She cupped her father's face and sent a wave of healing energy into his body. On top of the irregular heartbeat that would have slowly killed him, she restored every other system as best she could. By the time she ran out of energy, Henry Voss had the body of a man half his age in the peak of good health. Rachel lowered her hand, smiling at her father's shocked face. "I'll explain when you call me. I'll send you my comm code. I used to hate you, Daddy, but I always loved you too. Remember that."
Then, before her father could react, Rachel walked into the open airlock of the Raptor, which took off into the air and back to the Invictus.