Chapter 75

***This article contains spoilers.***

## Highlights

* John's wards don't keep him from the pocket plane, but they hide him. The previous monstrosity he faced was just one of the many pawns of a mastermind behind the pocket plane.
* The Invictus refit is complete. Now it's 750 meters long and has Singularity Drivers.
* The Maliri Freedom Alliance is comprised of all Noble Houses outside of John's allies, and they're determined to destroy him and free the Maliri.
* Using a simulation game, Team John prevents a battle that would've crippled the Maliri at best.
* Tashana chooses to have John to heal her and wipe her memories of her banishment and abuse. Now the Valadens think she's been on a research expedition for 13 years before having trouble in the Unclaimed Wastes.
* The Ashanath get attacked by Drakkar raiders and they have to recall their forces to Ashana. They need JohnBlake's help, even if they're worried he's claimed his inheritance. The Legacy project is almost complete. Desperate times call for desperate measures.

## Summary

Ceraden and Myriana travel in the Galaena Serine, a Maliri Shandrass-class battleship, from Geniya Trading Station to Genthalas Shipyard. It’s been fifteen years, three months and ten days since Ceraden's been, the last time being for Sylmae's funeral. It was also the last time he'd seen his daughters.

When they arrive, Luna escorts them to Edraele. Myriana can't wait to see her again. To Ceraden, the encounter begged the question of *how an engineer knew the most powerful and tyrannical Matriarch in the entire Regency, let alone one of her dreaded assassins.*

Edraele smiles at a shocked Ceraden, apologizing for the theatrics. If she had asked Ceraden nicely, he would've been convinced she had some horrible fate planned for him. His four daughters enter the room, asking him to forgive them for treating him badly.

Matriarch Tsarra Perfaren calls Matriarch Gaenna Baelora, who accuses her of trickery for removing all fleet assets from Gaenna's border. Tsarra says she was moving them to respond to a new threat, and then Tashana explained. Horrified, Gaenna offers her help.

Pregnant engineers from the first refit returned from Geniya. Five confess they never went to Geniya and want John to be their baby daddy.

John more than quadruples Edraele's energy by getting to know all of the Maliri he's added. Enforcing the compulsion to obey had significantly inhibited the psychic energy they could contribute.

The bodyguards, no longer has a discordant aura. Now they are white-haired and free of Edraele's compulsions.

John goes to dinner with Alyssa and Edraele at Ralomoire, and sees Ceraden, which was Edraele's surprise for John. The chefs turned out to be the young matriarchs: Kali Loraleth, Nyrelle Aeberos, Valani Naestina, and Leena Ghilwen.

John finds out the four unruly noblewomen were Ceraden's daughters. Edraele had only told Ceraden that John is related to the Mael'nerak, but a benevolent version instead. He has psychic powers that let him heal the trauma Maliri society inflicted on Ceraden's daughters. Edraele *technically* told the truth. Ceraden didn't ask about specifics.

John goes Spirit Walking to talk about wards with Athena, who is scared that it'll only be weeks until merging. Bonding with Edraele moved up the timeline. John needs to weave a tight set of wards around himself so that he doesn't accidentally drag Alyssa and Edraele with him, and remember to close all the gaps this time.

John constructed it using the runic language of the Progenitors. He chose the nebulous rune that represented the Astral Plane, the warding rune for protection, and the shadowy rune for concealment, and linked them into runic phrases of Eldritch power. It was primitive, but it would do.

*The swirling mists came for him that night, some otherworldly horror in the Astral Plane drawn to him like a beacon, just as he’d feared would happen. The feelings of mind-numbing terror were muted this time, and he felt like he was able to view them dispassionately, almost as if they were tangible things, on this Plane of dreams given physical form. With a start, he realised the leviathan was swathed in an insidious psychic aura that would worm its way into a man’s soul, filling him with paralyzing terror, and leaving him vulnerable to ruin.*

*Although he couldn’t see anything more than a few feet in any direction, what with the obscuring nature of the fog that pervaded this realm, he could -feel- that something was hunting him. It was vast, ancient, and possessed of an alien and unnatural intellect that left him quaking, even with his protective wards in place. Although he desperately wanted to exit the dreamworld, he had no way of forcibly ejecting himself, not while the hideous presence was blocking the exits as it had done before.*

*Something titanic loomed overhead, eerie wails and discordant cries trailing in its dreadful wake, but the shroud of wards held strong, hiding him from the Astral behemoth. He heard something else skittering nearby, his mind conjuring frightful images filled with eyes and fangs. Then, yet another antediluvian monstrosity lurched past, unseen, but its dread presence left a wake of horror in its passing.*

*He quailed, as he suddenly realised that whatever hideous abomination lurked there, as the mastermind behind this pocket plane, it was not the creature that attacked them last time. That massive titan was but one pawn in this terrifying legion of slavering monstrosities, who were searching for him in vain, and so hungered for his flesh.*

*The minutes stretched out for what seemed like an eternity in that damnable place, but his wards held strong, shrouding him from the monsters’ malevolent intent. Then, just like that, the confining blocks were removed, and he was able to burst clear, his eyes snapping open as he returned to reality again. His heart hammered in his chest, but it wasn’t with the same feeling of unspeakable horror as before. He quickly calmed himself, then smiled at Edraele and Alyssa, as they hugged him tightly.*

John has parental abandonment issues, so he declines the to impregnate them the five engineers. Fortunately, Myriana had already reached out to them with an alternative.

Edraele calls for John. They believe Tashana convinced Tsarra, and they've been working nonstop to gather allies, and now have every remaining House. (There are 19 ranked Houses in total.) John tells everyone to move their fleets to Ganthalas to have their engines and retrothrusters upgraded as soon as possible.

John's crew and the young matriarchs get together for a "team building" exercise.

Tsarra records a declaration of war. "*My name is Matriarch Tsarra Perfaren, and I lead the Maliri Freedom Alliance. The Matriarchs who stand with me profoundly reject your attempts to subjugate our civilization, Progenitor. We will not bow down for another of your kind, like our ancestors were forced to for the Mael'nerak, and we will fight you to the last woman, to protect the Regency! On behalf of all the Free Maliri, we declare war on you and your Thralls, enslaver!*"

They plan to destroy the comm beacons around Valaden to isolate the Progenitor and his Matriarchs, and attack Genthalas, their most valuable defensive asset.

Tashana says that even if they can't kill him, they just have to damage his forces enough to make him abandon his Maliri Matriarch and flee. That’s how Mael'nerak was finally overthrown. Valada had left a warning for future generations. Mael'nerak was attacked, and was forced to abandon her when he left. That was what freed the Maliri from his tyranny ten millennia ago.

The Invictus had started at 500 meters. The additional superstructure extended it to 750 meters, making it comparable in size to a battlecruiser.

Dana gives Sakura an overview of the Invictus decks. Starting at the top and working down:

1. There's no Deck 1, as that’s the Command Deck, which sits on top of the Invictus.
2. Taken up by the six huge turret wells, which will keep the new cannons protected behind armour plating, until exposing the ship's guns for combat.
3. Still being built
4. The armored Combat Bridge and Singularity Generator room
5. Power Core Chambers and the ammunition magazines
6. Primary Hangar
7. Primary Hangar
8. Primary Hangar
9. Primary Hangar

Dana goes over the upgrades.

* Two new airlocks, on the port and starboard side, mainly for ease of access.
* Now there's a bend in the corridor, so that if they're boarded from both sides simultaneously, defenders in the reinforced sentry station in the middle can’t be caught in a crossfire.
* Pop-out turrets in the walls, and pop-up barricades for cover in the floors.
* Small secured armory at the bend in the corridor
* The decking can be electrified to stun intruders, and when the blast doors have been lowered, there is knock-out gas to incapacitate people caught between them.
* Repositioned the airlocks' sensors to a non-standard location, to make them much harder to find and block. They’re also shielded, so simple scanning devices won’t pick them up, either.
* Modded the cameras to add thermal and mag-vision, and motion scanners have been built into the walls that are designed to detect disruptions in airflow.
* In the future, the Gatling Lasers will be replaced by Sonic Cannons.
* The Primary Hangar is now double the height.
* Deck 5 contained the two new Power Core Chambers, along with the magazines for all the new ordnance-based guns.
* Twice as much wardrobe space.
* Much larger bathtub and shower.
* The red button by the cabinet by the bed activates the ship's internal defenses. After pressing it, the heavy blast doors slam home in the corridor outside the bedroom, and two concealed panels on the back wall to either side of the bed slide open. There are more grav-tubes concealed within that lead to a platform overlooking the Combat Bridge through a broad, clear-crystal window. Enough armor-equipping frames for everyone are set up against the back wall of the room, and there are two ramps that lead down onto the Bridge itself. On the starboard side of the platform was another grav-tube, built into the wall, that leads to the Secondary Hangar Bay with the Raptor. There’s a door at the bottom of the tube that’s hidden from the Hangar side, so invaders won’t be able to spot it.
* Slots in the stations to hold rifles in case artificial gravity is lost mid-combat.
* Two more engines, and the extra thrust from them countered the additional mass we added to the midsection of the hull. There is *a shitload of* spare power at the moment, so Dana added more retro-thrusters—way more than needed to counter the added weight.

Calara and Dana go over the Invictus gun upgrades.

* **Pulse Cannons:** Sixty-four, fast-tracking, providing full coverage against missiles, torpedoes, and strike craft, and capable of firing up to thirty-two cannons in any direction.
* **Beam Lasers:** Twenty-four (sixteen on the topdeck, eight on the underbelly), capable to firing twelve in any direction on the horizontal axis. (Unchanged.)
* **Gauss Cannons:** Sixteen, all mounted on the underbelly. Dana upgraded *the shit out of them*. They work by magnetizing coils around a barrel, and accelerating slugs to hyper-speeds. They hit twice as hard as the Terran version, and fire three times as fast. They’re designed to rip through and tear apart armour plating, setting the target up for salvos from the Beam Lasers. They're light enough to track strike fighters with them if needed.
* **Heavy Cannons:** Six pairs, light enough to mount on pivotable turrets, so they can be fired in a full broadside from the topdeck. They reload every ten seconds, which hasn’t changed from the original design, but now they hit about as hard as the old Mass Drivers. Their shells are customized to punch through armor plating, and to detonate as soon as they hit the hull beneath. Stripping reflective plating off a target’s hull will leave them vulnerable to energy weapons.
* '*Nova Lances:* Two, with a forty-five degree front-mounted fire arc. Triple the range of a Beam Laser, and capable of obliterating a Terran Battleship in a single lethal blast. Now there's enough power to fire *those fuckers* every sixty seconds, and it doesn't require shutting down half the ship to do it! Installing the Maliri power relays got rid of the high-pitched whine when they were charging up!
* *Singularity Drivers:* Two. Normally only mounted in a dreadnought, the 400-meter barrels mean they can only fire directly forward, and they take a little while to power up. When they do, it'll be possible to fire the equivalent of a Mass Driver slug every second, at triple the old range.

Calara runs a simulation of the battle. Assuming their forces will only break at 90% casualties, taking into account that the Matriarchs in charge are viewing this confrontation as a last stand for their species, the best case scenario obliterates their forces, and leaves John's fleet at 37% strength. Combined Maliri personnel deaths would total just over five-million, with the loss of 657 cruiser class vessels, or larger.

In worst case scenarios, the Invictus is lost with all hands, and both sides effectively wipe each other out. Maliri fatalities would exceed eight million, Genthalas Station and over 850 large vessels would be destroyed. In worst case scenarios where they survive, they ecould potentially prevail with less than five-percent of their allied forces still intact. That would leave the Regency unable to defend itself from any external threats.

John doesn't want a pyrrhic victory. But he has an idea, and he just needs an asteroid belt.

Tashana has one of her frequent nightmares of when she was first exiled, when her weaponless shuttle she was given was sundered by the pirates. Except in this one, the pirate who’d been the first to brutally ravage her was the despicable tyrant who was hell-bent on enslaving the Maliri.

Earlier that week, John had been with each young matriarch on their own. He had arranged to see all of them on the same day, so when he went to sleep that evening, he’d been pulled into the dreamworld again that night, just as he expected he would. However, he’d worked to improve the Progenitor sigils in his wards, and had once again managed to elude the ancient horrors that stalked him relentlessly in the Astral Pocket Plane.

The white-haired Lilyana called John. All forces have gathered in Lambda Aquarii. She asks why they don't fight in Epsilon Aquarii to make use of the additional defenses, but John wants to avoid a battle if possible.

Tsarra told Tashana they detected John's Terran cruiser, but it was going at a speed too quick to catch even if they tried, triple their hyper-warp speed. The Invictus hailed them, but Tashana snapped not to answer it.

They receive a software package, but Tashana says not to open it; her sister's a hacker. Incoming messages from the other flagships in the fleet say they received similar packages, and are holding them in a secure subnet, but haven’t accessed anything.

For some reason the Invictus is heading directly to Lambda Aquarii, but that's basically an empty system.

Rachel receives messages from all the allied Fleet Commanders. They've assembled their fleets on the outer edge of the system, as John requested.

Calara realizes just the Maliri on their side could destroy the Terrans Federation or Kintark Empire.

Alyssa notes that going twice as fast is amazing, but it’s halved their warning time on the sensors.

Tsarra and Tashana watch as the Progenitor's ship races back and forth in front of the neat lines of his fleet. It flies perpendicular to the rows of vessels until it reaches one end of the formation, where it loops around and rushes back the way they'd just come.

Aadya is confused. It’s like he’s showing off the capabilities of his ship, and the fleet at his disposal. Normal doctrine would be to conceal your strengths, and only reveal them when striking to your advantage.

No mines, no gravity inducers, no sensor nets, and there’s nothing concealed in the asteroid belt. The entire system is barren.

Tashana suggests he's just grown overconfident and doesn't want to damage Genthalas. Tsarra agrees. They're going to prepare the armada for battle. Suddenly, the Invictus starts displaying its weapons by shooting an asteroid belt. It's spelling out words: "Play the game."

Matriarch Gaenna Baelora calls and says the software package the Progenitor sent is some kind of gaming simulation.

The game is a tactical simulation with a VI version of Faye for interaction. The **white** is John's side, and the **red** is Tsarra.

Aadya plays it, and she accuses the white side is cheating because Maliri cruisers can't move that quickly. Faye tells them about the Trankaran engines and retrothrusters and shows them.

Aadya complains again, this time about Pulse Cannons. Faye shows them the schematics.

The Invictus performed a short-range hyper-warp jump for 2.38 seconds. Aadya complains. Faye shows the math.

Aadya asks Faye about a steadily-increasing number floating above their heqds. Faye explains it's a tally of the slain Maliri in their forces. Standard complement on a Kelamaen class carrier is fourteen-thousand personnel,

Faye informs them when their flagship is destroyed, and asks if they want to start a new game, or see the conclusion. Tsarra wants the latter. Their forces lost 4,947,000 personnel, including all Matriarchs and Fleet Commanders. All cruiser-class or larger vessels have been destroyed. The white side had 1,800,000 fatalities, with 34% of fleet assets destroyed.

Tsarra realizes the Invictus attacking the asteroid belt was just to prove that this simulation is accurate, and that John Blake’s ships can do everything in the simulator.

Aadya faced one defeat after another. Her most successful attempt still left over a third of the white forces intact, with the Invictus still operational, to the cost of every single red ship in their armada. Her most crushing defeat was when she threw everything she had at the Invictus.

Aadya says John must be a tactical savant. Faye informs her the simulation was actually built by Irillith Valaden, and the tactics developed by John Blake’s companion, Calara Fernandez.

Other Matriarchs call, demanding to speak with Tsarra. They think it might be wise to parlay with John Blake. Aadya and Tsarra agree they can't fight John. He was warning them not to throw their lives away. "*You’re just fucking cowards!*" Tashana raged, her temper flaring. She sneered with contempt, as she added, "*Go on then, become one of his mindless whores! I’ll never-*"

She's knocked sprawling to the ground in a daze, as a guard thumps her on the back of the head. Tsarra tells her to let her cool down in the brig.

Tsarra asks Faye what the purpose of the game was.

"*This simulation was designed to show you the horrible consequences if our forces should attack each other. It’s only a harmless game, but if we begin the battle in earnest, the outcome will be terrible for both sides. John doesn’t want anyone to get hurt, and only wishes to arrange a parlay, to try to come to some kind of peaceful resolution to this conflict.*"

They ask Faye if Tashana was right about John being a Progenitor like Mael'nerak.

"*Tashana correctly identified John as a Progenitor, but she doesn’t understand that he’s not the same as Mael’nerak. He wanted to explain to her that he’s trying to help the Maliri, to heal the terrible wrongs that were done to your people, but she’s too frightened of him, and can’t be reasoned with. Your DNA was tampered with by Mael’nerak. The gender imbalance in the Maliri is unnatural, and your bodies were modified by him, to provide endless armies of soldiers. John only wishes to help you. Maliri society has been corrupted by the skewed gender imbalance, with the males fleeing to the border stations to escape the murders and assassinations. If this isn’t corrected for future generations, the Maliri will eventually be doomed to extinction. You are free to leave, if you wish. John’s forces will not pursue you, and will grant you safe passage back to your own territory. But, I urge you to talk with him, instead! Let him help you, as he’s helped the other Matriarchs who have allied with him. He’s offering you a bright, happy future. Please, at least hear him out.*"

Alyssa and John fly the Raptor to the Perfaren battleship, where Tsarra and the other matriarchs are waiting. Tashana actually did them a favor by gathering all the matriarchs in one place!

Tashana wakes up with a bump in the back of the head. She suspects John would be coming there to seem nonthreatening. She realizes she had ended up doing his work for him. Her rage is fanned by the flames of Tsarra's betrayal. She shatters the crystal door with the flames she's now submerged in. She sends flames to melt straight through the roof. She sprints in the direction of the hangar. *There is no fear, only the fire, the deadly heat a precious gift to burn away the wicked.*

Alyssa watches John through the cockpit as he works his magic on Tsarra. Suddenly, her mind is flooded with an angry voice, and what seems like swirling images of fire. *Stay strong, don’t let the fear distract you! The flames, burning so bright ... beautiful, pure, your liberator and saviour...*

It's Tashana's voice. *John, look out!*

Tsarra introduces John to the 13 other matriarchs, who are spellbound by him. Suddenly, he hears Alyssa's voice. *John, look out!* He saw Tashana’s furious violet eyes blazing a split-second before a vast cascade of flames blasted out towards him. He activated psychic speed, and could have easily dodged, but Tsarra would have been incinerated. He scooped her up in his arms, and hurled himself clear, shielding her body with his own.

The fire scorches his back, causing him to cry out and stumble as he runs. He manages to push Tsarra clear as he loses his balance, and she slides across the floor away from him as he crashes to the deck.

Alyssa watches in horror. *You fucking bitch!* She telekinetically backhands Tashana and sends her cartwheeling back through the door. She practically jumps out of the Raptor. She's done playing nice. Tashana is dead. *The lighting in the hangar flickers and dims as white swirls of eldritch energy cascade down her arms to gather around her slender fingers.* John telepathically tells Alyssa not to kill her. It's not her fault. Alyssa thunders at Tsarra to help him, and rushes towards the door out of the hangar.

She deflects a burst of flames with her white hexagon shield. She dramatically reduces the eldritch power coiled around her fist, then pushes out, sending a hail of stinging telekinetic projectiles. There is a startled cry of pain from behind the sheet of flames, and they gutter and die as Tashana dives for cover, disappearing through a door in the corridor.

Tashana leaps into a lift, headed for Deck 12. The airlocks. She's planning on suicide. Alyssa takes the lift after her. '*I think twins are hot!' he says*, Alyssa grumbles.

Tashana 's hand is trembling as it hovers over the button the outer airlock door button. She had lost her cowl and mask when Alyssa had smacked her out of the Docking Bay, and the blue skin on the back of her shaven head was crisscrossed with ugly scars. Alyssa begs her not to do it. Tashana tries to slap the button, but is blocked by Alyssa’s invisible wall. Eventually she realizes it's futile, and the look of despair in her eyes is heartbreaking. Alyssa presses the button to open the inner airlock door, but Tashana had sealed it from the inside, so she opens the door telekinetically.

"*You’ve already won! What more do you want from me?!*"
"*Sit down, we’re going to have a little chat.*"

Alyssa explains that John is different. She even offers to have Rachel help her instead. She explains that they want to help Tashana because John loves Edraele and Irillith, and why Edraele and Irillith are different now. She releases her barrier, putting both of their lives in Tashana's hands. She just asks that Tashana talk to Faye and watch the footage. Tashana agrees, and they go to the Raptor.

John sustained severe third-degree burns across his back. He’s anaesthetised, and aboard the Raptor.

On the way to the Raptor, Tashana picks up her mask, now smashed and distorted by fire. Now its grin just looked like it was crying. Alyssa tells her she won't need to hide behind it anymore, whether she chooses Rachel or John.

*The mask had been the face of Malifica, the persona she’d hidden behind as an arena fighter first, then a freed slave, and finally, a smuggler. It had helped protect her from those pitying and horrified looks, letting her forget for brief moments everything that had been done to her. While it offered protection, she suddenly realised that it was also a golden cage, keeping her trapped behind its concealing embrace, and preventing her from having any real interaction with the world. While that had been a blessing in the Unclaimed Wastes, she realized she’d never be able to truly experience life while hiding behind it. She let the mask fall from her fingers, then watched as it dropped to the deck with a metallic clang. When she turned away and followed Alyssa to the gunship, she didn’t look back.*

The Matriarchs send their fleets back to their territories and come to Genthalas in their flagships.

Alyssa carries the unconscious John telekinetically up the aft grav-tube. Sakura takes Tashana to John's Ready Room for Faye to show her the videos.

Faye offers to show her anything, but notes that Alyssa recommended each girl's transformations. Tashana requests when her sister was shot.

*Watching her twin begging for help while convulsing in agony was an oddly conflicting experience, and Tashana sat back to try and make sense of it. While there was a brief moment of satisfaction at seeing Irillith suffer, she was surprised to find that joy was quickly replaced by feelings of pity and sympathy. Tashana knew pain and suffering like two old friends, and as much as she’d wished to introduce her sister to them both, to finally witness it in all its gory, merciless detail felt hollow, and filled her with sadness.*

Tashana then watches six hours of videos of everything. She realizes Faye's in love with him. Faye would give anything to be in Tashana's place, because the offer for Tashana is really to join their family.

John wakes up feeling refreshed. Tashana made a decision. She wants Rachel to treat her. John agrees, but he asks if she can provide information on Mael'nerak because it might help him protect the Maliri from the other Progenitor. Tashana was startled. Alyssa explains. John addresses her argument about John enslaving the Maliri, whether or not he's "good." She eventually admits she was wrong about him.

Tashana changes her mind. She wants John to heal her. As she's sleeping off his load, Alyssa reaches into her subconscious to find out if she wants a fresh start, with wiped memories. She did.

John tells Edraele and Irillith he'd have to remove their memories of the banishment as well. The story will be that she went off on an archaeological dig in the Trankaran Republic for thirteen years, before traveling into the Unclaimed Wastes to do more research. She got into trouble, so they rescued her. Tashana's subconscious recommended it. She said she’d been going on longer digs for years, with both of them paying her progressively less attention over two decades.

Edraele and Irillith give him their permission, and then gave him a mother and daughter double blowjob. "*Please don’t get my daughters pregnant until you’re back at Genthalas. I’d like to be there to kiss your balls when you do. I’d love to say hello to my grandchildren when you’re pumping them into my girl’s wombs.*"

Tashana wakes up. She remembers everything, but feels nothing about it. She wants John to wipe her memories. She says she made one friend, Bull, but aside from that it was all bad. Before they start, she goes in the wardrobe for a minute, comes back, and then asks him not to wipe that last memory.

In the High Council Chamber on Ashana, Senior Councillor Ularean and Councillor Talari telepathically talk about the recent the recent patrol cruisers lost to Drakkar raiding forces. They decide to recall all of their forces and garrison their worlds, because Drakkar raid on one of the colonies would be terrible.
They wonder if JohnBlake claimed his inheritance, since he utilized a thrall’s weapon to destroy the vessel housing the AI. Despite the terrible risk, he might be their only chance of survival.

Ularean asks Talari how the Legacy project is going. Talari says it's almost complete, but using it will draw attention.

Desperate times call for desperate measures.