THREE SQUARE MEALS CH. 014

The elevator swished open quietly and John, Alyssa, and Calara darted into their respective positions on the bridge. Sparks turned to face them as they arrived on the Command deck.

"We're getting an incoming distress call from a freighter. They've been disabled by pirates and are being boarded!" Sparks said with alarm.

"Alyssa, plot a course to their location. Calara, shields up and weapons armed, we're going to need to strike quickly," John ordered decisively.

The girls sprung into action as they responded to his commands. Holographic images sprang into existence in the middle of the room, as Alyssa rapidly charted a new course in the system map to the scene of the battle, and Calara activated the Invictus' weaponry. The rotating image of the assault cruiser showed the armoured hull sliding back, revealing the formidable arsenal at their disposal.

"Weapons hot Commander!" Calara reported, as the Mass drivers, laser cannons, beam lasers and point defence all glowed menacingly on the weapon loadout display for the Invictus.

"Two minutes until we're in range," Alyssa stated calmly, as the assault cruiser swung in a smooth arc to adjust to the course change.

Sparks turned her attention back to the long range scanners as it began to display the information it had gathered from the initial sensor sweep.

"I'm picking up five ships John," the redhead called out. "Only one has an active transponder. That's the freighter Calypso. The rest have their transponders switched off."

"See if you can hail the freighter, Sparks," John asked.

Calara activated a couple of controls on her console, and the weapon loadout of the Invictus disappeared, replaced by a glowing hologram showing the local system map instead. John leaned forward to study the image as more details were revealed, the ship scans becoming more revealing the closer they got. The Calypso had suffered damage to its engines, and a sleek looking corvette had sidled alongside it, now attached by the docking collar to the freighter's starboard flank.

A shocked gasp interrupted the quiet focus of the bridge. "That's the Griffon!" Calara exclaimed.

"Are you sure?" John asked. There were hundreds of Corvettes in the Terran Federation Navy and they looked largely the same to him.

"Yes, there's no question. It's a Marlin class Corvette, and look at the rear stabilisers! They were upgraded just before the ship left Port Heracles!" the Latina insisted.

Before they could react to this startling bit of news, the vid-feed crackled, and an image of a panicked woman filled the screen.

"We're being boarded!" the brown haired, middle-aged woman shouted as gunfire echoed in the background, followed by shrill screams. "Please help us!"

John leaned forward and replied in a steely voice, "This is Commander Blake of the Assault Cruiser Invictus. We'll be with you in just over a minute, so try and hold out as long as you can!" More gunfire drowned out the Calypso Captain's response and the line went dead.

The three remaining ships, two battered looking Lexon class frigates and a blunt nosed corvette, were providing cover for their pirate colleagues who were performing the boarding action. The pirate vessels had picked up the incoming Assault cruiser on their scanners, and the worn looking ships were turning to engage.

Sparks watched the unfolding engagement with awe, the pivoting pirate craft looking menacing as they turned in their direction, with many weapon barrels being brought to bear. On the other side of the holographic map, the Invictus surged forward with deadly purpose, looking like a sinister predator as it descended on the smaller vessels.

"Thirty seconds until we're in range!" Alyssa announced.

"Lieutenant take them out fast, so we can save the freighter!" John urged.

Calara's eyes narrowed in concentration, as she focused on the holographic targeting matrix floating in front of her face. "Yes, Sir!" she responded grimly.

Sparks watched the tactical map with bated breath, as their assault cruiser bore down on the weaker enemy vessels. The long cones displaying the fire arcs of their weapons brushed over the approaching Pirate ships, and Calara sprung into action. The map illuminated brightly as the ship's vibrant coruscating beams blasted out, caressing the frigates lovingly. Three beams hit each craft squarely, overloading their shields in a crackling instant, and followed through to gouge glowing trenches in the thick armour on the front of the pirate ships.

"Firing main guns!" Calara called out a second later and the ship trembled with the recoil, as the 200 metre long magnetic rails of the Mass drivers launched their shells at Hyper warp into the burning frigates.

The first frigate shuddered as both shells slammed into its port side, knocking it sideways. The shells detonated a second later, and the entire left side exploded outwards, showering the area with debris. The second frigate was hit head on, the Impact from the shells devastating the bridge and instantly killing their command crew, even before the enormous explosive force obliterated the front half of the frigate.

Sparks could see icons showing that the Mass drivers were reloading and that the beams were cooling, as the Invictus finally closed to laser cannon range. Now in range to fire back, the blunt nosed frigate opened up with its two pairs of three laser cannons as it charged in bravely. Half the incoming laser fire sailed past harmlessly as Alyssa half rolled the Invictus but the other three blasts of energy all hit squarely, and were harmlessly absorbed by their shields.

"Shields at 97%, John!" Sparks said excitedly, and John glanced at her, smiling at her enthusiasm.

With Alyssa's skilful roll, the Invictus now faced the passing corvette with its bristling top deck, sixteen turreted laser cannons now able to track the target as it appeared in their firing arcs. Calara opened fire with a ferocious broadside, and the corvette's weaker shields shorted out after the first few impacts, leaving the lightly armoured hull exposed to a blistering barrage. The hull lit up as laser cannon fire tore it to pieces, ripping the ship in half with explosions.

"Nice work ladies," John congratulated them both, as they neutralised all active pirate ships in just under ten seconds.

Alyssa brought the Invictus around to flank the Griffon, and she smoothly docked the two craft, their assault cruiser dwarfing the corvette.

"Do you want me to disable their engines?" Calara asked John cautiously.

"There's no need, I can keep them immobilised with the tractor beam!" Sparks interjected.

Her fingers pressed a number of controls on the console, and the corvette was enveloped in a shimmering purple field, locking it in place.

"They aren't going anywhere!" Sparks grinned happily.

"Nice work" John grinned back at her, before turning towards Alyssa, and rising from his chair. "XO you're with me, let's get suited up fast!"

The young woman nodded, and darted down the illuminated steps of the command podium to call the elevator.

"Calara, keep an eye out for other pirates. Separate the ships if you have to fight, but we need to protect the Calypso from any further attacks," he ordered, as he jogged down the steps to the waiting elevator.

The Latina nodded, but looked over at Sparks as they shared a worried expression. The last thing they wanted to do was to abandon their friends with a horde of angry pirates.

John and Alyssa raced down the corridor on Deck Two, and darted into their walk-in-wardrobe to hurriedly suit up in their combat armour. John finished gearing up first, and after picking up an assault rifle from the weapon rack, he slammed a magazine home in the bullpup slot, and sighted through the scope. Alyssa had finished getting ready, so he handed her the rifle and a couple of spare mags, before picking up the second matching assault rifle and loading it. Grabbing a few spare mgazines for himself, he turned and followed his lover out of the room as they made their way back to the elevator.

He could feel the pre-combat tension building and he glanced over to Alyssa to check she was ok. The teenager looked back at him confidently with a sparkling smile, and he felt reassured that she would be able to handle herself. The door swished open, and they both got in, taking the lift down to the lowest deck, where they jogged up to the airlock, and John placed his hand on the DNA reader. A flickering green light travelled across the panel, and scanned the DNA in his hand, beeping quietly in recognition, followed by the airlock door spiralling open in front of them.

They stepped inside the airlock, with John closing the inner door to the Invictus behind him. He produced the small chrome decryption device from a container on his belt, and feeling a strong sense of déjà vu, he hooked up the device. It hummed happily to itself when he placed it on the airlock door to the corvette Griffon, and they hugged either side of the doorway while they waited for it to do its work. After a few moments there was a dull thunk from the door in front of them, and the sturdy airlock door rotated upwards, granting access to the ship. John cautiously peered out but could see no welcoming reception from the pirates, so he retrieved the device and stashed it back on his belt.

The two of them stepped out into the corridor and followed it around the corner as it led deeper into the ship. John could see that the ship was already looking like it had seen better days, after nearly a month in the pirates less than tender care. He listened carefully for the sound of any nearby marauders, but the only noise he could hear was the muted sound of distant gunfire, coming from what he could only assume was the freighter. They performed a quick sweep of the ship, and John confirmed his suspicions; that the undisciplined pirates had all joined the boarding action, and were probably not even aware that their colleagues had already fallen prey to the Invictus.

They found the airlock on the other side of the Griffon already open, as was the interconnecting airlock on the freighter Calypso. John took point, and moved quickly and steadily down the first corridor, listening out for the marauding pirates, and following the sounds of combat. To an unknowing observer, John and Alyssa moved fluidly as a single unit; he moved up to the corridor and covered the right, the blonde moving simultaneously to cover the left. What that observer would be oblivious to, was the silent stream of thought commands John was giving to Alyssa as he led her into the ship.

*We're approaching another cross section. I can hear sounds ahead, but check the left in case the pirates split up, I'll cover the right.*

*Nicely done. Check our rear every twenty paces or so, just in case anyone slipped around behind us. I'll cover ahead.*

They stopped at the latest intersection, as John tilted his head slightly, listening intently. *I can hear people talking to our right. I'll take the lead, you follow but face behind us and watch in case it's an ambush.*

They walked quietly down the corridor, seeing an open doorway to the side, sounds of talking getting louder.

"It's seems like such a waste," a voice said, as it drifted into the corridor.

"I know, but that's what the Captain ordered," a gruff voice said in return.

"They wouldn't mind if we had a go first would they?" the first voice said lecherously, followed by the sounds of female voices sobbing in despair.

"How would they know?" the gruff voice chuckled evilly.

John clenched his teeth with anger and got in position by the doorway. He peeped his head around for a split second before ducking back, glimpsing two figures standing over three kneeling ones.

*Kneel and take the left,* he thought to Alyssa. He hugged the wall, making room for her to crouch and ready her weapon, while he sighted his rifle on the pirate to the right.

"Brrt!", "Brrt!" The two assault rifles chattered simultaneously as caseless hollow point rounds slammed into each brigand from behind. Their heads exploded, showering the opposite walls in gore, and the pirates slumped over lifelessly. John walked into the room, checking for any more pirates he might have missed.

"Oh thank you!" one of the kneeling women gasped. "They were going to rape us!"

"You're safe now. Take their weapons and barricade the door" John said, nodding towards the pistols the pirates still grasped in their nerveless fingers.

One of the other terrified women looked up at him with wild eyes and sobbed, "But you can't leave us!"

"We have to save the rest of the crew," John replied brusquely.

"Don't worry! We'll be back to check on you, once we've rescued everyone else," Alyssa said, smiling at them reassuringly.

Leaving the women to follow his instructions, John and Alyssa moved back into the corridor, and headed back to the previous intersection.

*Be careful now, the others might have heard our gunshots,* John warned Alyssa, and she nodded as she glanced at him.

They could still hear the sounds of a gunfight around the corner to their right, and after quickly checking the other corridors, they moved to follow the sounds again. A set of double doors was wide open, and the flash of gunfire could be seen coming from in the room. John darted silently across to the other side of the door, so that both he and Alyssa could get into position on either side of the doorway. He glanced into the room and saw that the freighter crew were in a dire situation.

"Surrender and we'll spare your lives," a hulking pirate barked, his voice sounding harsh and strangely metallic. The pirate boss, and around a dozen of his men, were spread out behind overturned tables in what used to be the ship's mess. They were armed with a variety of pistols and rifles, and were shooting at the kitchen sporadically.

"Fuck you, slaver!" came the reply from the far side of the room, where two men were huddled behind the kitchen unit, firing wildly with their pistols. Blood was sprayed over one side of the kitchen, and John could see a body on the floor to their side. He spotted a door behind the brave freighter crewmen, and terrified faces peeked around the corner, watching the exchange.

*There's a lot of them,* John warned Alyssa. *Take the right side and work your way to the centre, I'll take the left.*

The resolute teenager crouched to avoid crossing lines of fire with him, and sighted the far pirate on the right through her scope.

*OK, go!* John thought, giving the signal to his young lover.

They strafed along the row of marauding pirates, round after round slamming into unarmoured flesh, turning this end of the room into a charnel house of red ichor, as blood sprayed in riotous abandon all over the upended tables. The pirates were taken completely unawares, and were unable to react in time to the shocking appearance of the attackers behind them. One of them close to the middle leapt over the table, in a desperate bid to escape being killed by Alyssa, only for the two freighter crewmen to shoot him as he exposed himself from cover.

John blasted the last of his pirate targets, bullets stitching their way across the man's chest as he whirled to face him. The man cartwheeled backwards and crashed into the tables, accompanied by the sound of an ominous click as John's magazine ran empty.

Alyssa had taken out five of her six designated targets, the Calypso crew shooting the sixth, so she targeted the burly pirate leader. Aiming for centre mass, she fired two bursts at his chest as the pirate Captain whirled to face them. The bullets ricocheted harmlessly with metallic sounding pings, leaving the hulking brute unscathed. Now they could see him clearly for the first time, it was apparent that the pirate leader was a heavily augmented cyborg. His torso and right arm were blocky and armoured, his normal body parts changed for bionic replacements.

"I'm gonna fucking rip you apart!" The enraged cyborg bellowed with a synthetic roar, as he charged towards the two of them.

John was reaching for a spare mag to reload his assault rifle, when the Pirate Captain barrelled into them. The pirate clipped Alyssa's arm with his bulky shoulder, knocking her sprawling down the corridor before he then slammed into John. The impact of the cyborg's four hundred pound frame sending him sailing through the air, before crashing into the wall opposite, knocking the wind out of him.

The furious pirate Captain stalked after him, before reaching down with his cyber-arm, to grab him with his massive metallic fist. The powerful servos whirred loudly as he hauled John up off the floor, and slammed him repeatedly into the wall.

"You little insect!" he roared in John's face, before hurling him down the corridor.

John groaned in pain, his back and shoulders throbbing from the brutal battering, and he desperately tried to reach for his rifle and magazine that had been knocked just out of reach. The cyborg stomped up, and booted the rifle out of his outstretched fingers, before leaning down again with his bulky augmented arm to pin John to the floor.

"Brrt!", "Brrt!", "Brrt!" Alyssa's rifle barked as she fired three bursts, all aimed for the Pirate captain's head this time, but again the rounds ricocheted away harmlessly.

"Hahahaha!" The cyborg chortled insanely as her shots bounced off his skull. "Armour plated cranium bitch!" he snarled defiantly.

The murderous pirate levelled a broad barrelled grenade launcher in Alyssa's direction and looked down at John, as he writhed futilely under the cyborg's pinning hold. "Say goodbye to your whore!" the Captain snarled, grinned evilly, as he savoured the desperation in John's eyes.

"I've got to save her!" John thought frantically, as he fought with all his strength against the relentless power of the Cyber-arm.

"Raaaarrrrhhhh!!!" he bellowed, as his vision seemed to narrow into a tiny tunnel, completely focused on the homicidal cyborg's arm that was preventing him from protecting his woman.

Alyssa stared at the blunt muzzle of the grenade launcher, feeling a chill run down her spine, knowing she had nowhere to hide. When the Pirate Captain charged them, she had been knocked back along the corridor, and the nearest doorways were too far away for her to dart to safety. She watched helplessly as John flailed away under the pirate's implacable grasp, the Cyborg narrowing his eyes and grinning malevolently, as he prepared to end her young life.

Suddenly the pirate lurched to the side, tottering over to slam head first into the wall. She could see his dazed expression turn to one of shock, as he was suddenly twisted again, and slammed into the wall on the opposite side of the corridor with overwhelming force. John rose smoothly and with deadly purpose, the pirate's cybernetic arm clenched in his hands. He put his booted foot against the pirates torso, and hauled back with both arms, ripping the bulky cyber arm away from the pirate's torso to the accompanying screech of twisting metal. The pirate was unbalanced at having the weighty limb ripped so unceremoniously from his body, and he crashed over on to his side with a noisy clang.

John casually tossed the hundred pound arm aside as if it weighed nothing, and the cyborg watched him incredulously as the man bore down on him.

The Pirate Captain still had the grenade launcher clenched in his fist, and he swung it around, preparing to fire at point blank range. John caught his arm in his right hand, just below the wrist, and then chopped down with his left, breaking the marauder's forearm with a sickening crunch. The cyborg stared at his ruined arm in horror as John knelt on his chest.

"Time to die," John said, his voice low and menacing.

He grabbed each side of the Pirate Captain's head in his hands and pulled. The Cyborg's strangled metallic death screech echoed down the corridors, as John ripped the slaver's head clean off his body. Suddenly exhausted, John slumped backwards, letting the pirates lifeless head slip from his fingers and roll off to the side.

Alyssa dashed up to him, her face full of concern. "John, are you ok?!" she asked, her voice full of worry.

She cupped his head in her hands and looking into his eyes, but she couldn't pick up any thoughts from him and he seemed to be dazed. Alyssa shook him gently, and he gradually regained full consciousness, his eyes becoming bright and focused again.

"What happened?" John asked, bewildered.

"Let's discuss it later," Alyssa said firmly, as she helped him to stand.

John picked up his assault rifle and magazine from the floor, wincing at the sharp pain in his back and shoulders from where the cyborg had tried to insert him into the wall. They walked back to the mess hall, where the two crewmen from the Calypso were cautiously checking on the pirates that John and Alyssa had gunned down. More freighter crew were coming out from the storage area behind the kitchen, looks of relief etched on their fear drawn faces.

One of the crew, the brown haired woman who had spoken to them earlier, stepped forward holding a makeshift trauma bandage to her left arm.

"Thank you Commander! You saved us!" she said passionately.

The rest of the Calypso's crew had gathered around, and they echoed their Captain's words, thanking John and Alyssa profusely.

"We rescued three women in another room back there too," Alyssa said. "We were going to let them know when the rest of the ship was safe."

"Oh thank God! Bless you, the pair of you!" one of the men blurted. "I'll let my wife know the coast is clear," he added, heaving a sigh of relief as he moved to leave the room.

John waved away the thanks from the crew of the Calypso, nodding graciously.

"We better get back to our ship," he told the freighter Captain. "Will you be ok here?"

"Our engines took some heavy damage, so we'll have to wait for assistance from Port Heracles," the Captain replied. "You go ahead though. Terran Federation patrols responded to our distress beacon, and said they'd be arriving in two hours. We never would have survived that long, if you hadn't arrived in time, though!"

John smiled and said reassuringly, "We'll return to the Invictus and cover you."

He turned to face Alyssa, smiling at her as he said, "Come on, honey, we should let the others know we're okay."

The beautiful blonde nodded and waved goodbye to the Calypso crew. They clapped and cheered as the two of them left, the applause echoing down the corridors as they walked back to the Griffon to get to their ship.

"Are you ok?" Alyssa asked him as soon as they were alone, her voice tinged with concern.

"I feel drained and my back feels like I just wrestled a bull and lost, but other than that I'm fine," John said honestly.

"You managed to rip apart steel with your bare hands," Alyssa said, feeling awed as she remembered John tearing the cyborg's arm off his body. "I've never seen anything like it!"

"Adrenalin rush I guess," John shrugged. "I just knew I had to stop him from hurting you and then I sort of blacked out."

"Well thank you for saving me," she said as she smiled at him gratefully, realising that John had no answers to explain his mighty surge of strength.

They arrived at the docking collar between the Griffon and the Invictus, and John activated the airlock into the Assault Cruiser by placing his hand on the DNA reader. The airlock door spiralled open, and they headed into the ship, with Alyssa sealing the airlock behind them.

"We're back on board," John said into his watch communicator after he got through to Calara. "Disengage from the Griffon and provide cover for the Calypso. Relief will be here within two hours. We're going to our room to get out of this gear".

"We were so worried about you two!" the image of Calara said, forgetting to call him Commander she was so overwhelmed with relief.

John smiled at her affectionately, and said, "We're fine, honestly. We'll catch up with you soon."

Calara grinned at his smiling face and waved goodbye. "Executing your orders, Commander," she said cheerfully, ending the call.

John slumped, having put on a brave face for the Latina, and walked wearily to his quarters with Alyssa watching him closely as she kept him company. They entered their walk-in-wardrobe, where the beautiful blonde helped him gingerly peel off his armour, trying to be careful not to hurt his back or shoulders.

Sparks walked in on them just as Alyssa had taken off the last of John's armour from his upper body, exposing his muscular chest and arms.

"Oh my god! What happened to you?" Sparks gasped in alarm, seeing the black and purple bruises covering his back.

"A run in with an insane cyborg," John said, wincing as Alyssa helped him remove the armour from his legs.

"I got bashed about a bit," he admitted, downplaying the encounter.

"It looks like you got run over by an ore hauler!" Sparks said with concern, as she gently ran her fingers over the mottled bruises on his back.

Alyssa quickly stripped out of her own armour, leaving it all in a jumbled pile on the floor.

"Come on, let's get you cleaned up, and then you can have a rest," the beautiful blonde said comfortingly.

Sparks went ahead of them to turn on the shower, and stripped off to join them, as John and Alyssa stood under the soothing warm water. The girls cleaned him up tenderly, washing the gore from the fight off his face and hands. Sparks looked puzzled at how he got so drenched in blood, but a glance from Alyssa told her not to ask.

John stood under the relaxing streams of water, letting the girls clean his body. He realised that Alyssa still had questions about the brutal melee onboard the Calypso, but he had no real answers, and was too weary to care at the moment. Alyssa moved into his line of sight as she washed his chest and he noticed the angry red welt on her left arm, from where she had been clipped by the cyborg.

"Honey, you're hurt!" he said in alarm.

"It's nothing serious," Alyssa said, shrugging it off.

She smiled as she read his concerned thoughts, and said placatingly, "Okay, you can give me a full tummy after the shower, I'll be good as new in no time."

Nodding languidly, John let the girls lead him from the shower, and he stood swaying as they gently dried him off. He followed them into the bedroom, and gingerly lay in the centre of the bed, being careful not to aggravate his sore back and shoulders. Alyssa moved between his legs, and began to suck on his cock expertly, soon having him rock hard and ready for action. John ran his hand through her soft blonde hair as she made love to him with her mouth, urging him to fill her stomach with his load. John wanted his potent cum to get to work on her immediately, so he made no effort to hold back. In record time Alyssa brought him to orgasm, and then sucked hungrily to make sure he gave her every last drop of his spunk.

She saved the final mouthful for Sparks as she crawled up the bed, pushing the redhead on to her back, and moving in to give her a loving kiss so they could share John's cum. Both teenagers then carefully cuddled up with John on either side, bracing him with their firm, warm breasts. He smiled contentedly, and fell asleep almost immediately.

Sparks reached over John to rest her hand on Alyssa's swollen belly, stroking the heavily rounded sphere with a gentle touch, and enjoying seeing her blonde friend's blissfully happy expression. This was the first time in quite a while that Alyssa had been able to swallow down a full load of John's spunk, having shared him so generously with Calara, and then Sparks, over the last few weeks. The beautiful blonde girl relished the contentedly full feeling, and Sparks loving caresses of her sperm stuffed stomach was the icing on the cake. The girls were tired after all the excitement that morning, and they soon dropped off to sleep as well.

John slept and another dream disturbed his rest. This time he dreamt that he was kneeling before the luminous figure that had saved him in the previous dream, bathing in the soothing glow that emanated from her. He did nothing but soak in her radiance, arms spread wide to welcome the gentle warmth, his body feeling like it was tingling pleasantly all over.

He started awake, and a glance at the ship's chronometer told him he had slept for just over an hour. He stretched, being careful not to wake the girls, and was pleasantly surprised to realise that the soreness in his back and shoulders had disappeared. In fact he felt like he had just had a full night's sleep and was raring to go again.

Remembering that Alyssa had been injured in the fight too, he looked over at her left arm with concern. Seeing nothing but unblemished bronzed skin, he thought he might have misremembered which arm had received the angry red welt, so he carefully extricated himself from between the girls so that he could take a better look at Alyssa's right arm. He scrutinised her limb closely, but it matched the left, with a smooth expanse of fresh young perfect skin.

"Checking to see I'm not broken?" Alyssa whispered to him, smiling.

"Sorry honey," John said bashfully. "I didn't mean to wake you up, I just wanted to see how bad the hit on your arm was. Which one was it again?"

"My left," she said, with conviction. She rolled on her side to show him the spot where the Pirate Captain had bashed into her, but was surprised she couldn't see anything untoward there.

"Flawless again," John smiled, stroking her beautiful teenage flesh lovingly.

Alyssa smiled, cupping her rounded tummy full of cum with both hands, and said, "This is potent stuff!"

Sparks leaned up on her side, and asked him, "How's your back feeling, John?"

"Sorry honey, I didn't mean to wake you up too," John apologised, which was met with a warm smile of forgiveness.

"Actually, I feel great! There's no soreness at all, and I feel completely refreshed," he said, happily.

Sparks rose from the bed smoothly, and then gracefully glided around to the other side to check his battered back.

"Wow! The bruises have all gone!" Sparks said stunned.

She ran her hand delicately over his back and shoulders, tracing the areas that should have been an ugly mottled patchwork of black and blue. Seeing no evidence of any kind of injuries, she moved forward to wrap her tanned arms around him, pressing her big full breasts against his back and kissing his shoulder tenderly, her long hair brushing softly against him. John reached back to caress the side of her face affectionately.

"I wonder why you healed so fast," Alyssa said, looking up at him with a puzzled expression on her stunningly beautiful face.

"I can understand us healing when our bodies feed off your cum, but this doesn't make much sense," she continued. "Do you think your orgasm triggered your faster recovery?" she asked him doubtfully.

"Hmm, that doesn't sound right to me," John replied. "It must be the love of a good woman that did it," he added playfully.

"Good women!" Sparks insisted, grinning at him happily. "You know I'm hopelessly in love with you John."

John turned and picked up the lovely redhead, sitting her in his lap, her toned thighs wrapped around him. "I've fallen in love with you too," he told the girl with heartfelt conviction in his voice.

"Oh, John," Sparks sighed, melting into his arms.

Alyssa lay on the bed watching the two of them kiss lovingly, happy tears welling in her eyes. She was delighted to see her lover and best friend falling for each other, and she felt a warm glow in her heart, knowing that she had been able to bring about such a dramatic change for the better in her old friend's life.

The poignant moment was interrupted by the flashing of the communicator, indicating an incoming call. Alyssa reached over to answer the communication, and Calara's beautiful face filled the view-screen.

"Sorry to interrupt your rest," she apologised . "I just wanted to let you know several ships have appeared on the long range scans. From the transponder codes, it looks like it's the relief you mentioned. They are reading as a group of Terran Federation vessels."

"Thanks Calara, we'll be right there," John said, looking over Sparks' shoulder where she sat in his lap.

Calara smiled at them affectionately and ended the call.

"Come on you two lovebirds," Alyssa said, grinning playfully. "You can make her your woman later" she added good naturedly, causing Sparks to blush.

John looked back at the blissfully happy redhead "Sorry honey, duty calls. We'll continue this later, I promise!" he said, smiling at her.

"Consider that a date!" Sparks said, beaming back at him.

The three of them dressed quickly and headed back up to the command deck. Icons showing a Terran Federation Cruiser and three Destroyers were highlighted on the tactical map, as the incoming vessels approached their position. John had just settled in to his command chair when the flashing light on his console indicated an incoming hail. He pressed the button to receive the call and the view-screen in the centre of the bridge flickered into life. A distinguished looking man with greying temples and wearing a Terran Federation Navy uniform filling the image.

"This is Captain Flintlock of the cruiser Indomitable, please identify yourself assault cruiser," the man requested politely.

"This is Commander John Blake of the Invictus. It's good to see you Captain," John replied.

"The distress beacon from the Calypso reported a pirate attack, do you know what happened to them?" Captain Flintlock asked curiously.

"We destroyed two frigates and a corvette, then boarded a second corvette to help the freighter crew fight off a pirate boarding action," John explained.

"It sounds like we were very lucky you happened by Commander," the Captain said gratefully. "But your ship is registered as a civilian vessel?"

"I'm ex-navy, currently retired," John explained.

"Well thank you for your assistance Commander Blake," the Captain said, a new tone of respect in his voice.

"The docked Corvette is the Griffon, it was captured by pirates over a month ago. Can I leave that and the Calypso in your custody?" John asked.

"Of course. We have repair crews that can assist the freighter, and I can spare some men to get the Griffon back to Port Heracles," Captain Flintlock replied. " Are you in a hurry to get somewhere?" he added with a smile.

John nodded and said nonchalantly, "Actually yes. We think we've identified the source of the attacks and are going to eliminate the pirate base."

"You're going to do what?!" Captain Flintlock gasped, looking stunned.

"I'm lucky to have a gifted Tactical Officer and she figured out the source. We believe they're based in the Chendar system," John said, smiling at Calara, who blushed at his praise.

"Do you want us to take care of them?" the Captain volunteered immediately.

"Thank you Captain but this is personal. We have a score to settle," John explained.

"I understand Commander," Captain Flintlock said nodding. "When the Calypso is under way, we'll head towards the Chendar system in case you need assistance with the cleanup."

"Much appreciated Captain. Invictus out," John said, and they closed the call. He then turned to smile at the beautiful blonde at his side, and said, "OK Alyssa, let's resume our course, if you please."

"Already on it," she replied, grinning at him. She powered up the massive engines on the assault cruiser, and the ship turned smoothly to her new heading, before leaping into Hyper-warp.

"John, while you were on board the Calypso, Calara and I found something interesting," Sparks said tentatively.

"What did you find?" He asked intrigued.

Sparks looked over at Calara who nodded and continued their tale. "You did well getting this one to join us," Calara said, smiling at the redhead affectionately, and causing the girl to blush.

"Sparks hacked into the Griffon, and downloaded the ship's log, the navigation logs, and their tactical maps," the brunette said, clearly impressed.

"Not only that, but she scanned the wreckage of the two destroyers and the corvette, and managed to break the encryption on their blocked transponders!" Calara went on.

"I've managed to put together a complete order of battle for what's left of the pirate fleet, and I've confirmed that they're definitely using the Gas mining facility as a base," she said, as she pressed a few buttons, bringing up the listings for the pirate fleet.

John was astonished as he glanced through the itinerary of decommissioned Terran Federation vessels, and he finally exclaimed, "Twenty ships! How could they have bought and outfitted so many ex-Navy vessels?"

"That's the other thing John," Calara continued grimly. "I've been studying the listings for ship registrations, and all these old military vessels were decommissioned from the salvage yard at Port Heracles. They should have had their weapons stripped, and then the hulls sold off to salvage dealers, but that didn't happen."

"This stinks of corruption," John said, his jaw clenching in anger.

Calara nodded, confirming his dark suspicions as she said, "They were all bought by the same buyer, a Mr Everett Hitch."

"And who authorised the transactions?" John asked forebodingly.

Calara's face looked bleak when she replied, "Commander Rupert Grant."

"Grant! I knew I should have put a bullet in that bastard's head!" John fumed.

Sparks looked at Calara, Alyssa, and John, seeing a wide range of emotions on their faces: sadness, shock, and anger respectively. "Sorry to Interrupt, but who is this 'Commander Rupert Grant' guy?" she asked curiously.

"We had a run in with him at Port Heracles. He's the Commander of the station, and in charge of this sector," Alyssa explained. "Plus he tried to ruin Calara's life!" she added angrily.

"I hate him already!" Sparks said vehemently.

John blew out his breath in a big sigh. "OK, we'll deal with Grant later, we need to focus on the Pirates for the moment," he said calming down.

He looked through the listings for the Pirate fleet, and called out the ship classifications as he read them, "Corvette, Corvette, Destroyer, Frigate, Corvette... Heavy Cruiser!"

He looked over at Calara in shock, and asked her in disbelief, "That can't be right?"

"I'm afraid so, John," she said soberly.

"How in the hell did they get their hands on that?" John blurted out, before slumping back in his chair.

"That's bad, right?" Sparks asked, concerned.

Calara nodded grimly, and brought up the detailed specifications for the Heavy Cruiser as she replied, "The Heavy Cruiser Stalingrad is armed with six beam lasers, and eight heavy cannon on both the port and starboard sides. It's designed to use broadsides in combat, but also has full coverage with a defence grid, and laser cannon turrets."

She brought up the weapon arcs for the formidable looking ship. At just over seven hundred metres, it was significantly larger than their Assault Cruiser.

"Can we fight that thing in the Invictus?" Sparks asked, her voice tinged with worry.

Calara paused for a moment before continuing, "Yes, but it's going to be a very tough fight."

Silence descended on the bridge as they absorbed this troubling news.

"Wait a moment," Alyssa said brightly. "Look at the yaw and pitch ratings for that ship!"

They all looked up at the detailed information displayed in front of them, but nothing immediately jumped out at the others why this would be good news.

"That thing turns like a brick!" the beautiful blonde said excitedly.

"Oh, very nice Alyssa!" Calara said, catching on to what her friend had spotted.

Sparks was still mystified, and she glanced at the Latina, hoping for an explanation.

Calara looked hopeful for the first time, as she exclaimed, "Look at the fire arcs! The heavy cruiser's main guns have no rear coverage. If Alyssa can manage it, we can get behind them, and they won't be able to broadside us!"

"Damn, you girls are good!" John exclaimed. "I knew I kept you ladies around for something," he joked with them affectionately, and the girls all grinned back at him happily.

"OK, let's take a look at the tactical maps from the Griffon," he said to Calara.

The Latina brought up the System map of Chendar, which showed the Gas Mining Facility, as well as the patrol routes of the pirate ships stationed at the base.

He looked up at the holographic map, studying the pirates thoughtfully, before he said, "If we hit their patrols first, we should be able to take them apart piecemeal. They are pirates, not Elite military crews, so if we smash them hard and fast, we should be able to wipe out most of their picket ships before the rest can react".

"Very good, Commander!" Calara said, sounding impressed. "Then we engage whatever's left, cleaning out the smaller ships first, and finally take on the Stalingrad."

"We could always wait, and join up with the Terran Federation patrol," Sparks suggested logically."With another four friendly ships, surely this would be a lot easier?"

"That's true," John admitted. "It would be much easier with Flintlock's assistance."

"We would have to wait at least another day to synchronise our attack with the other ships. They are currently repairing the Calypso, and the Invictus has been heavily modified, so we are much faster than they are," Alyssa informed them neutrally. "However, I can get us there in another three hours," she added confidently.

"That's another day of pirate attacks on innocent people," Calara said passionately.

John looked at each of the girls in turn, then said, "This is going to be a nasty fight, and our lives are going to be in considerable danger. I want you to tell me your honest opinion; attack, or wait?"

"We strike!" Calara said intensely.

Sparks glanced at the brunette, and then back up at John, recalling their earlier conversation "Attack," she said solemnly.

Alyssa knew John's thoughts, and agreed with them wholeheartedly "It's payback time," she said in a low voice.

John nodded his agreement as he said, "Unanimous then. It's judgement day in Chendar." He then leaned forward as he outlined his plan, "Calara I think your original idea is still the best. We sneak in under cover of the asteroid belt, and perform passive scans of their ships. We can disable anything with heavy life readings, just in case those ships are holding slaves, and we eliminate everything else."

Calara turned to look at Alyssa, and said, "If we go in with minimal power, we won't have the shields up in the asteroid field. Will you be able to navigate us through cleanly?"

"Oh please!" Alyssa said boldly, waving away Calara's concerns with a dismissive hand. "It'll be like going for a joyride in a mining cart!"

They laughed at her brazen confidence, which lightened the mood somewhat.

"Ok I want you girls to go and rest for a couple of hours," John said firmly.

He silenced their chorus of objections with a stern look, and said, "It's going to be a tough fight, and I want you all well rested. This isn't up for negotiation."

Seeing his determined expression, the three teenagers rose, and headed to the elevator obediently. He came to meet them at the elevator door, and they each gave him a kiss goodbye.

"Now no mischief, get some sleep if you can. You're going to need all your energy," he told them firmly.

The girls laughed and waved him goodbye as the elevator doors shut. John walked back up to his command chair and sat down in it, the burden of responsibility weighing heavily on his shoulders. He was going to lead three teenage girls into battle against 20 to 1 odds. He wasn't exaggerating earlier, the girls were absolutely amazing, but was his confidence in them making him take too big a risk?

Putting aside his fears for a moment, he contacted Vice Admiral Charles Harris, using a secured channel on the powerful communications relay built into the Invictus. Even using a top of the range Hyper-pulse communicator, it still took a few minutes to establish a connection to his old friend.

"John! It's good to hear from you," Charles' friendly voice said, as the image of the distinguished military man filled the view screen.

"Thanks Charles, it's good to speak to you too," John replied.

"Having problems with the Invictus?" Charles asked with a hint of worry in his voice.

John grinned at him, and said, "Oh no, nothing like that, the old girl has been amazing! Thanks for those extra modifications you made to the Commander's Quarters by the way"

Charles laughed, pleased that John had appreciated his gift. "You're welcome. What did your XO think?" he asked, his eyes twinkling mischievously.

"Alyssa liked it very much" John grinned at him.

"You lucky rascal, she's one hell of a woman John!" Charles said, whistling appreciatively.

"Yeah, she's amazing," John concurred.

"Well, I'm sure you didn't call to tell me about your love life. What can I do for you?" Charles asked curiously.

"Two things. Firstly, I need to report some damning evidence of criminal activity by Commander Rupert Grant," John reported.

Charles looked thoughtful, and said, "I remember that officer from your report a few weeks ago. What's he done now?"

"Assisting piracy, corruption, culpable homicide, treason..." John listed the man's crimes grimly.

Charles looked grim as he said, "You better send me what you've got. What's the second thing?"

John paused for a moment, before he replied to his old friend, "We're about to assault a pirate base. If we don't make it for any reason, I want you to know all the details."

Charles waved a hand dismissively, and smiled as he said, "The Invictus can handle anything pirates can throw at you. You'll be fine."

"They have twenty ex-military vessels and one of them is a Heavy Cruiser," John told him soberly.

"Don't be ridiculous!" Charles scoffed. "No pirate could possibly put together that kind of a fleet."

"I'm sending you the details of their full roster of ships," John replied. "In any case, there's something else going on; some other group has been funding these pirates, I'm sure of it."

"You're serious?" Charles said, looking shocked. "You can't face those kind of odds, John, that's suicide!"

John smiled confidently, and said, "I've got a hell of a crew."

"Well I wish you luck John, but I hope you don't need it," the Vice Admiral said, his frowning face lined with worry.

"We'll see you in a week," John grinned boldly.

"You have some balls!" Charles laughed. "Ok I'll see you then"

They ended the call and John was left with his thoughts. Two hours later, the elevator door swished open, and the teenage crewmembers of the Invictus walked onto the Command Deck, to take their places on the bridge. Alyssa gracefully ascended the command podium, walking up the illuminated set of steps to the Commander's chair.

"Hey handsome," she said affectionately, giving John a kiss. "We've all just eaten, and I thought you might be hungry too," she said, presenting him with a delicious smelling plate of food, and a bottle of water.

"What would I do without you?" John grinned at her as he took the plate and bottle eagerly.

John ate as the girl's prepared themselves for the upcoming battle, and ten minutes later, the Invictus jumped into the outskirts of the Chendar system and left Hyper-warp. They could see nothing on the long range scans but they put all systems on low power except for the engines. Alyssa brought them in closer towards the long deep asteroid belts that orbited the star, and reduced engine power as they approached.

Thousands of huge rocky asteroids spun and drifted slowly in the field, all that remained of two planetary bodies that had collided millennia ago. Ramming any of these moving hazards could prove fatal to the Invictus with the shields down, even with the thick armour plating protecting the hull. Alyssa was confident however and she guided the Assault cruiser through the asteroid belt with an agility that one would have thought impossible in a ship that size. Sparks watched in alarm as they seemed to swing perilously close to vast asteroids, but their skilled navigator never wavered and the enormous hunks of rock sailed past harmlessly. She eventually brought them to a stop in an impact crater on a behemoth of an asteroid that spun lazily at the edge of the belt.

"Excellent job, honey," John said to Alyssa, impressed by her skills. She smiled back at him proudly.

"OK Calara, passive scans only, what can you see?" he asked the eager Latina.

The brunette brought up the tactical map of the Chendar system, showing the Gas mining facility looking like some kind of bloated red arachnid in the centre of the map. The Invictus was lurking in the bottom right corner, the graphical representation of the Assault cruiser partially obscured by the asteroid belt. The rest of the map began to populate, as more information came back from the passive scans.

There were three groups of picket ships moving in lazy loops around the outskirts of the pirates base. Five more ships were docked at the base itself and a group of seven were heading out of the system, on a path that would take them fairly near the Invictus' current location in the asteroid belt. All the ships had deactivated transponders, so the identity of each vessel remained hidden.

"Let me see if I can shed a bit more light on the situation," Sparks said impishly, as she began to hack the encryption on the blocked transponders using the same algorithm she had developed earlier. Within moments the tactical map redrew itself, showing the precise identification of each ship.

"Excellent work Sparks!" John said enthusiastically. At a stroke she had eliminated a huge element of the unknown and it would make their planning for the rest of the battle incomparably easier.

The picket groups each consisted of a frigate with two corvettes and the outbound ships were a destroyer , two frigates and four corvettes. The final group docked at the Gas mining facility was the heavy cruiser, a destroyer and two corvettes.

"I thought there were only supposed to be twenty ships? What's that?" Alyssa asked, pointing at a mystery vessel that was docked alongside the Heavy Cruiser.

"I can't hack that code," Sparks admitted.

"It's big, whatever it is," Calara replied, looking at the mass readings for the unknown craft.

"OK, same plan as before," John said. "We hit that leaving group and smash them as quickly as possible. Once they're all destroyed, we move on to the picket ships. When we lose the element of surprise, I want an active scan of the ships near the pirates base."

"Yes, Commander," the girl's all chorused together, no-one joking now, the stakes too high.

"Life sign readings from the Passive scans?" he asked Calara.

"Low on all vessels, except the Heavy Cruiser, and the mystery ship," the brunette responded immediately.

"It's clean up time," John said, glad to not have to worry about innocent victims on the outlying ships.

"Weapons hot and shields up, let's eliminate that first group," he ordered.

The destroyer was the biggest ship, blocky and menacing, just over two hundred metres in length, and sat in the middle of the formation. The frigates were smaller, coming in at approximately half the size and they flanked each side of the command ship. Finally the four much smaller corvettes ranged out in front of the formation.

The Invictus leapt out from the cover of the asteroid, and pounced on the departing ships as they cruised by, oblivious to the danger they were in. Alyssa had waited until the pirate craft had travelled past their position, so when the Invictus surged out, they were directly behind the enemy ships.

Calara's right hand triggered the powerful beam lasers, and all six hit their targets in the rear. The two frigates didn't have shields active, so the beam lasers cored through their engines, slicing them in half, and punched into the central hulls of the pirate ships. One of the beams penetrated through the entire length of one frigate, vaporising the bridge. The other was hit at a slight angle and two of the beams blasted out of the side, depressurising the ship. Crippled, both frigates began to spin lazily, all engine power destroyed as they continued their forward momentum.

"Firing main guns!" Calara called a second later, as her left hand cycled through the weapons.

The Invictus trembled with the recoil, and the four heavy shells blasted out from the enormous weapons, slamming into the rear of the shieldless destroyer. There was very light armour over the engines, and the shells penetrated deep into the hull, before a chain of explosive detonations obliterated the command ship, scattering thousands of chunks of debris in a wide radius.

"Nice shooting Calara!" John said, impressed by her accuracy.

Sparks was amazed at the sheer destructive capability they had at their command. Hitting unshielded vessels magnified the effectiveness of their weapons substantially.

The four remaining Corvettes did not react immediately, as they were caught completely by surprise. By the time two of the Corvettes had begun to take evasive manoeuvres the beam weapons had cooled and were ready to fire again. Calara caressed the trigger and the six beams blasted out, three per Corvette. The Corvettes had managed to raise their shields, but it did little good and the brilliant beams of energy instantly overloaded them before punching straight through the lightly armoured hulls. One Corvette exploded a second later, the other had been skewered through the power plant, instantly taking out all power.

By the time the last two Corvettes had powered up shields and begun to react, the Invictus was upon them, the laser cannon batteries now in range. Alyssa pushed the nose of their Assault Cruiser down so that they would eventually fly under the fleeing Corvettes and Calara was able to open up with the sixteen top deck laser cannon turrets. Each of the Corvettes was bombarded by an unrelenting hail of laser fire and both exploded seconds after their shields were overwhelmed.

"Outstanding!" John exclaimed, the first contact going better than he could have ever imagined.

The girls all grinned up at him, delighted at the one sided fight.

"Time for those picket ships," John said, looking up at the tactical map. The entire fight was over in just under 30 seconds, and so far none of the other ships had reacted to the devastating surprise assault.

"One minute until we reach the first group," Alyssa called out, as she brought the Invictus about in a smooth graceful arc to engage its next victims.

Finally realising what had happened, the first of the picket groups moved to engage them, seeming unaware at just how heavily outclassed they were. With the pirate vessels heading directly towards them, the Invictus was in firing range within forty seconds. Calara instantly gutted the frigate like a skilled fishwife, the six beam lasers punching through the shields and then slicing the frigate in half.

Suddenly shockingly aware of their impending doom, the remaining Corvettes turned to attempt to flee, but they were not fast enough to escape the Assault Cruiser's hunger for blood. Alyssa kept their course steady and on the same plane, so that Calara was able to broadside each routing Corvette with 12 laser cannons, the bottom deck turrets also able to add to the salvo. Unsurprisingly, the terror stricken pirate crews were killed moments later as each Corvette was ripped apart by powerful, military grade laser cannons.

"Moving to engage picket group two," Alyssa said confidently, as she pointed the Invictus towards the next three ships.

"Picket group three is fleeing!" Sparks said, pointing at the third group that was turning in the opposite direction to the Invictus and desperately running for safety.

"Let them go," John said, "if we can eliminate the second group quickly, we might be able to hit the Heavy Cruiser while it's still docked."

"Thirty seconds until we engage the second picket group," Alyssa noted.

"Active scans on the Heavy Cruiser and the mystery ship, when we get within range, Calara," John ordered.

"Yes, Sir!" the brunette acknowledged, as she prepared to fire on the last picket group.

"What are they thinking?" Sparks wondered aloud, shaking her head in bewilderment at the pirates stupidity. The second group came within reach of the Invictus and the ship devoured them in coruscating blasts of laser fire.

"Active scans, please," John requested.

"I'm picking up just over one hundred life signs on the Heavy Cruiser," Calara said as she read the report from the scans. "Over five hundred on the other ship."

"It looks like most of the slaves have been transferred to our mystery ship," John surmised.

"Sparks, can you bring up an image of the ship please?" he asked the eager redhead.

"Sure John, there we go!" she said, as an image filled the screen in the centre of the bridge.

The Mystery vessel was bigger than their cruiser, at well over nine hundred metres in length. It had ribbed plating across the top that bristled with weapons, while the underbelly of the ship was segmented, and bulged with spherical compartments. Sparks thought it looked like some kind of enormous mechanical insect.

"Those bastards, how could they?!" John exclaimed, while Calara gasped in horror.

"What's the matter?" Alyssa asked, surprised at such a strong reaction from her friends.

"That's a Kirrix hive ship!" Calara said, her voice laden with dread.