Three Square Meals Ch. 131

"I know enough..." Alyssa replied with a curt nod. Her eyes suddenly went wide with alarm. "Arjun's topping himself! He's dying!"

"Where?" Sakura snapped, activating psychic speed.

Alyssa pointed towards the right side of the building. "East wing, third floor, eighth window!"

Sakura took off like a shot, leaving a white blur behind her as she sprinted full-tilt across the manicured lawn. She leaped high into the air and activated flight mode, then smashed through the upper-storey window in a shower of glass fragments.

It took a second for Alyssa to realise that there was an unusual subconscious amongst the sea of humanity. The persona was quite different from any Terran she'd encountered on the Khatri estate; an innocent alien mind that was shockingly familiar.

"A Nymph!" she gasped, grabbing John's arm.

John half-turned to look at Alyssa, not sure he'd heard her right. "What?!"

"They've got a Nymph in there!" Alyssa exclaimed, her eyes wide in astonishment. "I felt her mind!"

Reaching for his rifle, John glanced back at the huge building. "Where is she? Is she in danger?"

"Underground, below the main building..." Alyssa replied, picturing the Nymph's precise location. "It must be some kind of basement or dungeon."

Sakura sprinted back across the lawns with a convulsing man draped over her shoulder. She skidded to a halt and dumped him on the ground in front of Rachel. "Probably cyanide," she noted with professional detachment. "I recognise the seizures and his lips have turned blue."

Rachel dropped to one knee, her eyes already alight with a soft grey glow. "I'll cleanse his blood of toxins and search for any damage to his heart or brain, just to make sure."

"John... you've got incoming!" Irillith warned him, her beautiful azure face appearing in his helmet GUI.

*Sister!* Jade cried out, the joy in her voice impossible to miss. *There you are!*

John looked skyward and gaped at the massive green dragon that was diving straight towards the Khatri mansion. He'd seen Jade in action many times before, but there was something deeply shocking about seeing a colossal mythical creature winging its way across the skies. She hit the roof of the stately home with a deafening crash, sending tiles, bricks, and timber exploding outwards with the impact. The crowd had no way of missing Jade's dramatic entrance and the swell of angry mutterings had been replaced by shocked screams.

Following in Jade's wake were her Nymph sisters, the four nimble birds of prey swooping down low, to land on the ground outside the mansion. Their forms blurred in a variety of colours, with each shimmering haze of blue, brown, amber, and hazel growing larger by the second, before fading away to reveal several huge snarling tigers. Pacing back and forth, they looked to be waiting for something as they cast baleful feline glares at the frightened crowd.

"John, what's the plan?" Dana muttered, holding her Tachyon rifle in a tight grip. "Are we cleaning house?"

"Hold on a minute," he replied, holding up a hand. "Let's deal with this asshole first."

Arjun Khatri coughed and spluttered as the poison was expunged from his body, until he managed to regain his breath. He whimpered when he saw the imposing white-armoured figures standing before him, then tried to crawl backwards, his face contorted in a mask of fear. A big telekinetic fist popped into existence above him and clamped down around his arms, pinning their suspect securely in its grasp before hauling him into the air.

"Now, let's see what you've been up to..." Alyssa murmured, her eyes glowing with a fierce inner light.

"Leave my husband alone!" a red-shrouded woman screamed, emerging from the stately home and running towards Alyssa.

The blonde glanced at her, then her eyes narrowed with disgust. "You sick bitch."

A telekinetic hand appeared and back-handed Arjun's wife, smacking her to the ground. She moaned as she clutched her face, an ugly welt appearing where the blow had struck.

"Meera!" Arjun sobbed, his expression contorted with anguish.

More booming crashes could be heard from inside the mansion, growing steadily louder by the second. The imposing pillar-lined entrance to the grand building seemed to explode outwards as Jade's vast draconic form smashed her way through. She roared in triumph, the reverberations from that deafening bellow powerful enough to be felt through Paragon armour. The Khatri clan cowered before her wrath, so terrified that they were rooted to the spot and unable to flee.

*I freed her, Master!* Jade exulted, stalking across the grounds. She narrowed her eyes as she passed Arjun's reeling wife, then stepped on the woman with a sickening crunch. *These monsters have been torturing her for years... Ailita's been enslaved by the Khatri family for generations.*

Arjun howled in agony, tears rolling down his cheeks as he stared at the bloody smear that used to be his beloved wife. "Oh God! No! Meera!"

"Err... where's your new sister, Jade?" Dana asked the hulking dragon.

Jade crouched down low to the ground and the scales on her left flank began to ripple. A beautiful nude girl slipped out of the dragon's torso, landing gracefully on her feet.

"Master! This one is so happy to see you!" Ailita exclaimed with joy, her eyes automatically seeking out Arjun Khatri. "Do you wish to continue the game?"

She suddenly hesitated and brushed her tousled dark locks aside, then peered at John in fascination. "It's you..."

"They've been torturing her?" John asked Jade in horror, his heart aching for the sweet-natured young woman standing before him.

Jade nodded, her enormous scaly head bobbing up and down. "I can feel her surface memories... she was handed over to her current master when his father died. Arjun and his wife have been abusing Ailita for seventeen years."

John suddenly spotted a faint line snaking across the lawn, linking the enslaved Lenarran with her master. He felt drawn to it... like it was an open book... and he was deluged by a burst of nauseating imagery. Horrible scenes played out before him, of endless debasement and torture inflicted on an innocent creature that only wanted to please her master. Well-dressed audiences looked on with amusement, their jeers and mocking laughter drowned out by piercing screams.

He ripped off his Lion helmet and fought back the violent urge to be sick.

Calara rushed to his side, her hand steadying him. "John! Are you okay?"

Drawing deep breaths, his chest heaving, John slowly straightened. "Leave him till last," he muttered, in a dreadful voice bereft of mercy.

Lionesses eyes turned cold as Alyssa informed them of what he'd witnessed. Rifles were slowly raised, while the quartet of prowling tigers stalked towards the Khatri clan, ready to hunt their prey. The Invictus dropped down out of the heavens, spotlights along the underbelly of the hull turning night into day and banishing the shadows from this foul den of sadistic fiends.

A Tachyon Lance barrage began the carnage, pulsing azure beams blasted through the ancient mansion and obliterated everything in their path. They were quickly joined by the staccato bursts of Tachyon rifle fire, cutting down the cruel monsters that had defiled the planet with their presence for so long.

Arjun Khatri watched the slaughter in open-mouthed horror, his mind balking at the sight of everything he held dear being torn down and annihilated. A hulking orange tiger disembowelled his brother with a casual swipe of a huge claw, the Governor screaming in terror as he dropped to his knees, until a savage bite crushed his head. His son opened fire with an assault rifle, the bullets plunking harmlessly off a black and silver-striped monstrosity. The tiger snarled at him and pounced, snapping Balvan's spine as he was crushed under heavy paws.

John could see Arjun breaking before his eyes, the man's tentative grip on sanity loosening by the second. But it wasn't nearly fast enough. The thought that Ailita was still tethered to this sadistic beast rankled John's soul and he was filled with a sudden desperation to free her from bondage.

"This is for all the marines on Olympus!" John snarled, raising his fist towards the glowing telekinetic hand wrapped around their prisoner. "Burn, you piece of shit!"

Blue flames burst forth, immolating Arjun Khatri in a blazing inferno. For a split second, the traitorous ex-admiral wailed in agony, before his flesh was charred down to his bones. Ailita watched her master and tormentor being incinerated without so much as a flicker of emotion. The instant the conflagration ended Khatri's life, the psychic link between them was broken and the Nymph's soulful brown eyes locked onto John.

"Are you this one's new master?" she asked, her pretty face lighting up with a hopeful smile.

John turned to her and nodded. "Yes, Ailita. I'm your new master... for as long as you need me to be."

The Nymph looked overjoyed, completely oblivious to the raging gunfights and starship bombardment in the background. She walked towards him with eager anticipation on her face, which was quickly replaced by a look of frustration.

"Master... this one cannot picture your perfect mate!" Ailita protested, staring at him with consternation.

"I'd like you to shift to your original shape for now... the one given to you by Mael'nerak," he said, meeting her troubled gaze.

She looked at him with wide eyes, then nodded obediently. "As Master commands."

The nubile brunette shimmered and contracted, becoming smaller as she reverted to her Lenarran form. Like the rest of her sisters, she'd originally been a petite, green-furred, bipedal cat, but she differed to the last four Nymphs in that her coat was plain and had no markings. Ailita looked at her new master with a puzzled frown, finding these interactions with him to be quite peculiar.

"Is Master satisfied with this one's new appearance?" she asked with a tentative smile.

John nodded and trailed his finger along her jawline. "You look beautiful, Ailita. Don't worry, this is only temporary; we'll decide on a permanent form for you later."

She trembled in ecstasy as he caressed her, a bewildered but joyful expression on her face. "Master must be incredibly powerful to block this one from his thoughts!" she exclaimed, fawning over him.

Alyssa walked over to join them, sidestepping Arjun's smouldering corpse. "Ailita, when you first saw John, you said: 'It's you...'. Who did you think he was?"

The Nymph looked at her in confusion. "This one does not recall. Are you Master's mate?"

Jade crunched over the drive to stand beside them. "Ailita's memories are gone now... wiped clean when John claimed her."

"She won't remember anything that they did to her?" John asked, looking up at the dragon with concern.

"Nothing at all," Jade replied. "You are her entire world now, Master. There was no time before this moment from Ailita's perspective."

John pulled the slender catgirl into his arms. "You're safe now, Ailita. No one's ever going to hurt you again."

She snuggled into his embrace, her fingers drifting over the Lion-embossed chestplate. "Would you like to remove your armour, Master?" she enquired, a seductive glimmer in her feline eyes. "This one longs to give you pleasure..."

"Just be patient for a little while longer," he said gently, patting her back. "I'll need you later."

The Nymph let out a relieved sigh. "This one will do whatever Master desires!"

"I know, honey," he said, his expression filled with a mixture of sadness and pity.

Jade nuzzled him affectionately with her huge draconic maw. *Don't be sad, John. You're telling her exactly what she needs to hear. Ailita might not understand how important this moment is right now, but she's taken her first big step towards freedom.*

John glanced back at the Khatri mansion, which had been reduced to a smouldering pile of embers. The hover-cars lined up on the drive were now burning wrecks and mangled corpses were strewn over the once-pristine lawn. Many of the Khatri clan had attempted to flee the slaughter, but Jade's sisters had hunted them down, all except the pitiful handful that were shrouded in white. The survivors were all young men and women, not old enough to have participated in the corrupted decadence their family had revelled in for centuries.

"Still want that interview?" he asked Jehanna, who had witnessed the end of the Khatri family without uttering a word.

She nodded and moved into position so that she was facing the demolished mansion. Jehanna waited until Jade had reverted to her catgirl form and guided Ailita aside, then activated her camera which she focused on John.

"Admiral Blake... what message would you like to send to anyone who is too spineless to confront you personally and chooses to attack your friends and family instead?"

"Arjun Khatri was a craven worm who thought he could hurt me by going after the people I care about," John said, his eyes glinting with anger. He gestured to the apocalyptic scenes behind him. "But bringing these criminals to justice had nothing to do with a personal vendetta. During our investigation into the mastermind behind the massacre on Olympus Shipyard, we discovered endemic corruption within the Khatri family, who have abused their position of authority on Mazaya for generations."

"I noticed that several members of the family were spared," Jehanna noted. "Were they innocent of all wrongdoing?"

"They were innocent of crimes carrying a capital penalty," John clarified, his expression grim. "I do not make the laws in the Terran Federation, nor am I above them. I was presented with an opportunity to root out a vile cabal, who had descended to depraved depths while hiding behind a mask of civility. Evidence of their crimes will be made openly available, now that these monsters have been brought to justice. The citizens of the Federation deserve far better from their leaders and I hope that with the removal of the Khatri menace, the people of Mazaya will now flourish."

Jehanna gave him a grateful smile. "On behalf of the long-suffering population of this planet, thank you, Admiral Blake, for their liberation from tyranny."

***

High Prelate Zorlin rubbed at his tired eyes, two sets of eyelids flickering down and to the side as he stared at the holographic map. The image showed the Kintark Empire and the systems that had been conquered by the invading Enclave armada. He could tell the progress of the Brimorian forces by the systematic elimination of the Comms Beacons in those sectors, as they ruthlessly swallowed up huge swathes of Kintark territory.

He ran the simulation again, showing the Brimorians fanning out like a swarm of locusts, gobbling up everything in their path. They had started their depredations in the hook-edged junction between the two galactic empires, known informally as Kirgenoth's Expanse, after the Kintark Emperor who had overseen the settlement of those colonies. As the Brimorians intruded deeper into Imperial territory, their rate of advancement had slowed, with the leading edge of the invasion corridor broadening by the day.

By Zorlin's estimate, it would take the Enclave forces at least six more days to reach Kinta, which was more than enough time for the Maliri fleets to arrive and bolster his defences. He tapped a claw on the map controls, adding an overlay which displayed the Maliri Protectorate above the Empire. Fleet Commander Aadya had been sending him regular progress reports, tracking the current position of the Maliri expedition as they rushed to intervene. It was astounding to see just how fast those golden-hulled warships could travel in hyper-warp and he thanked the gods that they were now allies and not enemies.

His lip curled into a sardonic smile, revealing a row of jagged teeth. It struck him as ironic that the Kintark Empire was now placing all its hopes of survival on the same species that had placed them in this jeopardy in the first place. If the Maliri had not interfered in Baledranax's invasion of the Terran Federation, the Kintark Empire would have doubled in size, and the Brimorians wouldn't have dared to turn on their old allies.

"Sssuch isss the fickle fortunesss of war," he muttered with weary resignation.

One of the Tactical Officers reviewing defensive strategies in the Command Centre turned to the Kintark senior officer, his scaly face twisted with worry. "High Prelate, we have received the latessst updatesss from the Imperial Commsss Beaconsss in the path of the invadersss. The resssults are... not asss we predicted."

"Ssshow me the mossst recent data," Zorlin ordered, gesturing towards the holographic map.

The tactical officer gave him a curt nod, his scaly claws clacking as he tapped out a short sequence on the console. Zorlin kept his eyes on the map and watched as the latest data from that evening was updated to the glowing red star chart. At 8pm that night, a Comms Beacon was destroyed right in the centre of the invasion corridor, which was to be expected as Brimorian scouting forces had been cutting off communications before each wave of planetary sieges. However, instead of more Comms Beacons being destroyed along the horizontal border of encroachment, another was destroyed directly behind it several hours later at midnight.

For the first time in days, the Enclave no longer seemed to be making incremental encroachments along the entire front, but forcing a bulge directly on the path to Kinta. Zorlin's eyes widened in horror as he saw the sudden shift in Brimorian tactics. He tapped out commands on the interface to calculate how quickly the Enclave forces could arrive at the Kintark homeworld, his clawed hands trembling with fear. When he looked up and saw the projection... and that the Maliri line of reinforcements would not make it in time, he let out a low moan of horror.

Lurching away from his chair, he sprinted out of the Command Bunker, rushing to inform the Empress of the dire threat they now faced. Frightened Kintark officers watching his panicked flight with dread, their reptilian gaze flicking back to the nightmarish scenario depicted on the map.

***

Alyssa and Irillith entered the Briefing Room, joining John and the rest of the Lionesses who were seated around the long table. Out of the six Nymphs aboard the Invictus, only Jade was present, while her four catgirl sisters were keeping Ailita company in the Lagoon.

Trailing her hand across John's shoulders before taking her seat, Alyssa said, "We sent the list to the Federation fleet."

"You were able to identify everybody?" John asked in surprise.

"I drew up a list of all the Khatri family members present on the estate and included a brief summary of the crimes they committed. Everyone we executed was guilty of capital offences. With the evidence I provided, they were all open and shut cases."

"I also linked video extracts with a map, identifying the corpses and their locations," Irillith stated nonchalantly as she stretched her tired muscles. "If DNA evidence is needed to link them with their victims that should make it far easier to find."

"Nice work," John said, nodding to both appreciatively. Focusing on Alyssa, he continued, "So what did you find out from Arjun Khatri?"

"Other than the fact that he was a cruel, sadistic asshole?" she asked, shuddering with revulsion. "Yeah, he did it alright. He came up with the plan and recruited Almada and Petran. They just wanted revenge against you and Devereux for forcing them to resign, but Khatri was completely delusional. His family was disgraced when he was kicked out of the military."

Calara nodded her agreement and interjected, "Nobody resigns from the Admiralty at his age. The salary and perks are astronomical when you reach that rank and you're given almost unlimited power; admirals milk it for as long as possible. It must have been obvious to everyone he was forced to resign."