Chapter 84

***This article contains spoilers.***

## Highlights

* Mikaboshi wants to make Calara the new Shinatobe, planning to put her in an Asian body. The team rescues her from Yomi-no-kuni, his hidden base. Sakura gets her revenge.
* Alyssa doesn't completely absorb Athena, despite needing to drain the last of her essence to fulfill her maximum potential.
* Jehanna Elani joins the team, and gives an interview where John demonstrates what happens to his enemies (\*pause\* the enemies of the Terran Federation) with a Nova Lance obliterating Mikaboshi's base.
* Fleet Admiral Vincent Buckingham, Admiral Carl Weber, and Admiral Edwin Caldwell are certain John will instigate a coup. Admiral Jayanti Mishra isn't. Admiral Lynette Devereux is still shaken from the ceremony, worried that she'd massively underestimated John.

## Notes

### Miscellaneous

* Amatsu Mikaboshi wants to make Calara the new Shinatobe, planning to put her in an Asian body. Calara isn't scared. The certainty in Calara's voice leaves Mikaboshi badly shaken.
* Alyssa doesn't completely absorb Athena, despite needing to drain the last of her essence to fulfill her maximum potential.
* Avery Gibson, the Editor-in-Chief at TFNN, is surprised at the tone of the official response from High Command about the shocking attack on the Lionesses at the Enigma nightclub. It is considerably cooler than the previous line they’d been pushing regarding the Lion of the Federation.
* Jehanna Elani wakes up on the Invictus after all the action happened. She calls in TFNN with an exclusive interview. Gibson only watches the first 30 seconds before deciding to air it.
* Admiral Carl Weber wants to impound the Invictus. Admiral Jayanti Mishra argues they have no justification. Admiral Lynette Devereux was still shaken from the ceremony. She'd massively underestimated John. Weber, Caldwell, and Buckingham are certain he'll instigate a coup. Mishra isn't.
* The Admirals suddenly discover that TFNN ignored their official statement, airing the interview instead, where John explains what happened with the assassins. He demonstrates what happens to his enemies (\*pause\* the enemies of the Terran Federation). In the background a Nova Lance beam obliterates Mikaboshi's base.

### Calara's Warning

"Seventeen," Calara stated solemnly.

Mikaboshi lunged forward, his frantic face hovering above the olive-skinned girl. "Seventeen? What the fuck’s that supposed to mean?!"

"How many minutes you have left," she said quietly, her gaze filled with pity. "I won’t spoil the surprise for who does it."

### Athena's Merge

“Come to me, Athena,” Alyssa purred, opening her arms in invitation. “You have a beautiful voice and I wish to add it to our chorus...”

“But ... I thought?” Athena replied, staring at her counterpart in wonder. “You need to drain the last of my essence to fulfil your maximum potential!”

“Where’s the fun in that?” Alyssa replied with a playful smile. She leaned in and added with a staged whisper, “Now when John’s fucking me, he’ll be doing us both! How hot is that!”

Athena stared at her Progenitor mistress in stunned disbelief for a moment, then began to laugh, shaking her head in amazement. Alyssa joining her in a duet of melodic laughter that echoed around the Astral Plane.

“Merge with me now; everything will be alright,” Alyssa said gently, wrapping her arms around the other girl. “You’ve looked after me all these months, now let me take care of you.”

With a hopeful expression on her face, Athena closed her eyes and slid into Alyssa’s glowing body. She was giving up her independence on the Astral Plane for a chance at so much more.

John watched in astonishment until there was only Alyssa kneeling in front of him on their bed. “What just happened?” he asked, thoroughly bemused.

Alyssa let out a happy sigh. “Athena’s a part of me now ... but I didn’t take everything. I can feel her here,” she replied, tapping her temple. “When you created Athena, you formed her from my mind. That’s why we couldn’t give her a body of her own.”

John frowned as he said, “Why didn’t you tell me what you were planning? The poor girl was so scared.”

“I’m really sorry I couldn’t warn you beforehand. I had no idea if it was going to work, and I didn’t want to get your hopes up,” Alyssa said, moving closer to him across the bed. “It was only at the last moment when the barrier separating us had fallen away, that I knew I could keep Athena intact.”

“So what now?” John asked, looking at her in confusion. “Can I still speak to her?”

Alyssa shook her head. “No, it doesn’t work like that. She can speak to me directly and now she’ll be able to experience everything that I do.” Straddling his lap, she linked her arms behind his neck and gave him a kiss filled with promise. “I plan to help her experience lots of very naughty things...”

### Jehanna's Interview

The door opened and Rear Admiral Carmela Morena poked her head around the door. She looked badly shaken as she said, “TFNN have ignored the official statement we put out this morning!”

“What the hell are they playing at?!” Vincent Buckingham snorted in disbelief.

“You need to see this!” Carmela said, dashing across the room to grab the remote and activating the huge view-screen at one end of the meeting room.

They all recognised John standing next to TFNN’s Lead Anchor, although he was wearing a suit of intimidating body armour minus the helmet. Through the Raptor’s lowered loading ramp, they could see a mountain in the background, with the Invictus floating nearby.

“-so we tracked the group responsible for the explosion back to their lair,” John replied, turning slightly and gesturing towards the mountain.

As if on cue, the mountain top shimmered and changed shape, revealing a huge grey stone citadel that had been cleverly concealed behind the illusion created by banks of holo-projectors.

“It’s remarkable that such a group could exist so close to the heart of the Terran Federation,” Jehanna said, shaking her head in amazement. Her beautiful face took on a grim expression as she added, “I’ve seen the casualty reports from the Enigma nightclub bombing and it appears twenty-seven people were seriously injured, and another eight were killed.”

Across the bottom of the screen, pictures of the dead scrolled past. At the forefront were two famous holo-movie actors, followed by a couple of attractive young women described as “guests”. Two bouncers scrolled by next, the list of the dead ending with pictures of a handsome man and beautiful woman identified as host and hostess of the VIP section at Enigma.

John nodded and he said in a sombre tone, “The group was a coven of assassins who’d been operating from this base for over seventy years. We’ve uncovered their list of contracts and what we found was shocking. Over nine-thousand people have been murdered by this organisation since its inception.” Turning to look at the camera, he added, “Rest assured, everyone associated with this nest of killers will be brought to justice. I passed on the list of clients who had placed contracts with these assassins to Law Enforcement agencies in the early hours of this morning.”

Nodding in agreement, Jehanna said, “I’ve been able to confirm that thousands of high-profile arrests are now being made, from corporate executives through to senior figures in well-known crime syndicates.”

“We’ve seized the assets owned by this organisation. I’ll ensure that surviving family members of the victims will receive compensation,” John said, looking towards the camera with a sympathetic frown.

Jehanna turned to gaze at the imposing grey fortress and asked, “What are you planning to do with this nest of evil?”

John’s eyes narrowed as he replied, “I wanted to take this opportunity to make a statement ... I will not tolerate attacks against my crew. Should anyone seek to pursue a similar course of action, I am pleading with you to think again. Such a path will only lead to one inevitable outcome. I consider myself to be a loyal and honourable friend to my allies...”

Jehanna nodded and interjected, “That goes without saying. Your defence of Terra and your decisive intervention to save the Terran Fleet at the Battle of Regulus are well known, and were honoured only yesterday.”

Looking directly at the camera, John said sternly, “But I want to demonstrate what happens to my enemies...” He paused for a couple of seconds, before continuing, “ ... the enemies of the Terran Federation.”

In the background, a huge ball of light was growing in front of the Invictus, blazing with a radiance so bright that it hurt the eyes to look at it. After building to a crackling crescendo of power, the colossal conflagration of energy was unleashed as a brilliant white beam, that completely obliterated the grey stone fortress from sight. The battlecruiser pivoted slightly, strafing that beam sideways until it dissipated a few seconds later.

It took the stunned audience in the Fleet Admiral’s briefing room a second for their eyes to adjust, but when they did, the entire mountain top had been totally annihilated. There was now a flat, glowing plateau where the fortress had once been.

“One inevitable outcome,” John stated again for emphasis.

Jehanna smiled at the camera and said, “I for one, will sleep more comfortably in my bed knowing that someone like the Lion of the Federation is watching out for ordinary Terran citizens. It’s heart-warming to know that such swift and ferocious retribution await those who dare to prey on the good citizens of the Federation.”

“I’m just happy to do my part, Jehanna,” John said, giving her a respectful nod. “I consider it a privilege to be able to protect the citizens of the Terran Federation from evil, whatever the source.”

Giving him a grateful smile, Jehanna looked into the camera. “That concludes this exclusive interview for TFNN. My thanks to Vice Admiral John Blake, Lion of the Federation, and truly a champion of the people.”

“It was my pleasure,” John replied, saluting the camera.

The image cut away, returning to Bill Armstrong in the TFNN studio.

The Admirals looked at each other aghast. It seemed quite obvious who the real audience for this demonstration had been – the five men and women sitting around the briefing room table.

“What are we going to do?” Carl Weber asked, his eyes wide with fear.