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Three Square Meals - Chapter 150.3 (preview) (Patreon)

Published:
2022-03-28 10:20:03
Imported:
2026-06
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Hey everyone,

I left you on a bit of a cliffhanger at the end of 150.2 so here's a preview of the next chapter that ties up a few of the leading subplots that went up to the throne room scene.

I'm going away for a few days, but I'll be back on the 1st April and will wrap this up then. 

It was great to hear that you enjoyed the last chapter. I planned the final scene out over 2 years ago (around chapter 126), so it was very satisfying to finally add it to the story.

Cheers!

Tefler

P.S. I've made this a paid post and will just add the rest of the chapter to it when it's completed.

Comments

Robster

Nice Tefler .. enjoy your days off 😉

Emma B

Nice….never had two chapters in one day…..

Emma B

I guess everyone else in Europe and America is either busy at work or sleeping….one of the few times we Asians had it lucky…..lol

Diego

Alyssa is a genius. She has just given a masterclass on how to eat your cake while keeping it too...

John P

The dialogue here doesn't fit. Alyssa *has* been reckless and irresponsible in her recruitment in the past - and not just recuitment! - and John had good reason to react the way he did here. This should have been the moment for Alyssa to show her contrition, ie. "I've learned from my mistakes and this is proof."

TF4EVA

so now Tashana and Illirith should be able to go planetside?

Bp Hlpt

Thanks, Tefler!

BrianM

Thanks Tefler and enjoy your break away!

Dads Gonna Kill Me

Since John has Claimed the Larathyrans, we all kind of assume that Xar now knows. Wondering if Zar will come to GK in his sleep, Torturing Him and make him Leave Terran Space and go find John. We can get a glimpse into How Evil Zar can Be, how much the other Progenitors fear / loathe him...

TF007

Loved the preview but still want more😁. Enjoy you trip.

TexanInParis

I'm confused about how chapter "150" goes together. The original 150 that I downloaded on March 1 starts out: “After you, Sparks,” John said, gesturing to the blue anti-gravity field. Word says it contains 3,400 words. 150.1 that I downloaded on March 23 starts out the same way but contains 20,751 words. 150.2 that I downloaded today starts out: John collapsed on the bed and groaned as his muscles ached in protest. It contains 20,877 words. And 150.3 (also today) starts out: John panted for breath, feeling groggy after his senses had been overloaded by the incredible intensity of his climax. It has only 1,933 words. Do I put together 150.1, .2, and .3 back-to-back to get the full 150?? Or is 150.3 really the start of 151??

Timtom

Any update on the dragon queen?

Michael56Smith

,19: ... Timtom, do you mean the dragon Empress? Tamolith? Yeah, and I also wonder how the Kintark are doing? And is High Prelate Zorlin impressed with Tamolith yet? ;-) TTFN

Michael56Smith

.20: Wow, last week, the completed #150.1 and now, all in a couple of days, the blueprints for the Raptor 2.0, chapter #150.2, and now a nice preview of chapter #150.3 (And that brings chapter #150 up to around 42K words so far, yay!), ... I like that you mention coming back on April 1st, April Fool's Day, as I expect that a fair-sized group of your rabid fans will conclude that you mean to finish off #150.3 on that day. Can you say: APRIL FOOLS! And then Tef can conclude this installment a few days later, and then further release TSM chapters #150.4 and #150.5 later in April, wow a 100K mega chapter! (With some bad ole space battles too?!) Thank you Tef! - This has been a lovely Spring so far, hope your new roof remains watertight! ;-) TTFN

Michael56Smith

.22: The Larathyran's are now 'claimed' by John, with Auralei as his 4th Matriarch. And we have found out how one load of progenitor spunk can Enthrall thousands at their 30th year Ceremony of Allegiance, ... John might try this on the entire Maliri fleet, and also on the various home worlds he visits, starting with the lovely and extremely smart Matriarch of House Eshenestra, Farnanise. A few thousand on each home world to start, ... ;-) TTFN

Michael56Smith

.25: And should John use some version of this Ceremony of Allegiance, with a functional trace amount of psychic spunk used to enthrall many thousands per cum load, if this works to restore a better gender birth ratio for the Maliri, and later the Laranthyran's (Baen'thelans?), then John would be all for it. --but not the entire over 30 years old female population, like the evil progenitors do, .... ;-) TTFN

Michael56Smith

.26: thoughts on the blue pulse alerting Xar'azaith: Possibly, as it is out from under the shroud, but way back when PJ was claiming Edraele as his Matriarch, ole Xar had already (by a few months) sent in Karn'kelnar to check things out. (Bad choice Xar!), but will this pulse be a signal that alerts Xar'azaith to the claiming of Larn's former Empire, by someone not under Xar's tight fist. And might he then guess that it has to be John, or at least John related? It is too bad that Gahl'kalgor is now under the Shroud, seeking Terrans, or Xar could recall him to investigate, ... now will he/she/it send another Asshat to jump in and take a peek? Calara might get a shot at a Progenitor Dreadnought sooner than she thought! Multiple space battles as Tef promised! -- oh, wow! ;-) TTFN

2ndAndrocentric

Monty Python style sarcasm ON: OK, now I'm angry. How dare Tefler release so much stuff at once. I have a real job. Not telling fairy tales, but delivering medical care...well, OK, sometimes the 2 are indistinguishable these days of COVID-1984, alphabet mafias and Archbishop Faucci's Inquisiton BUT, it ios a job. After an intense monologue in my head, I have a one party verbal contract with Tefler that he is not allowed to release anything new until I have read the last bit 5 times, spent at least 2 nights in directed vivid dreaming figuring it out, and posting profound commentary. HOW DARE Tefler put me under such pressure! I already have a 4 person psychiatric team dealing with my TSM obsession and they need a break too! Stop releasing superb chapters deeply insightful of the human psyche or else, or else I'm going to cry. MOnty Python Sarcasm off. I am now going to read this preview. I felt the need to comment that the end of 150.2 was superb. YOu keep what you break, like it or not. If you are a man who wears a white hat with a black band (being a normal male REQUIRES the black band or as Dune put it, the place were women are terrified to go), you own, protect, provide, fix and cherish what you break. This is the ancient contract hardwired into human genes from the time that the human child became THE most resource intensive offspring of all. Now I am going to read this preview, Monty Python Sarcasm partially ON: because I am satisfied that I've once again done what I want here. To remind all of us that Clown World and the gods of the Marketplace will never replace the gods of the copybook headings.

Pat White

What a teaser. Nice work Tef. I can wait to see what happens.

2ndAndrocentric

“Before you tell me off for being naughty, just AWNSERING (anser) me this question: is the only thing I spotted wrong. Tefler's portrayal of 18yo Alyssa from Karron remains consistent, believable, fun and a perfect "funny man" partner to John's "straight man" comedy routine. My kids, as well as many of their friends grew up with me adapting the Abbot and Costello routine "Who's On First" to the first day in a classroom. I have had the pleasure of now adults who still remember some of those stories I would tell even though I spent so little time with them. If you've never seen Abbott and Costello perform "Who's On First?" you have missed one of the greatest comedy acts of all time.

Azwiz

GR8 stuff Tef . Nice of you to take us off the cliffhanger and back to the cliff .

jdg45

.36 The whole Larathyran empire must be in a similar state to Larathyra. No power, food supplies, technical knowledge etc. Maybe, assuming Maliri/Larathyran antagonism is avoided, Maliri engineers and planet governors will have to be drafted to save the empire by utilising some of the requisitioned fleets to visit all planets. John will want to save them all. So much to do...

Bp Hlpt

There hasn't been a single comment made about the effectiveness of the new engines, no official statement that installation has been completed, no tests runs, not even any indication that they have been started up. There was no statement from John, Alyssa, or Calara that they were now headed to Larathyra. In fact I didn't even realize that they had left the fueling station until Alyssa made the comment while getting ready to eat pizza that they would be arriving at Larathyra in a couple of hours. Looking back I realize now that they had spotted a couple of the missing destroyers earlier, but it wasn't completely obvious that the Invictus was moving at the time. Did I miss something somewhere?

TP

Tefler called this a preview of the chapter I suspect he wrote this scene and would write the chapter intro and planet arrival and blend it in. Overall the claiming of Larns empire/thralls will be much more important. Too short, wait this is supposed to be cliffhanger relief.

Bp Hlpt

I understand and agree. But the engines were installed in 150.1. I expected talk about the engines to occur in 150.2, which is essentially complete. Yes, we're not sure where this snippet of 150.3 will end up in the chapter, but I would have expected some talk about the engines to have occurred before now. Were they able to get to Larathyra faster because of them? The new Rapter seems faster/quicker (speed/acceleration) with the Progenitor engines, so why no mention of the Invictus' performance?

Stephen Paynter

Question: Now someones been added to John's team, while not under the shroud, should we expect another involuntary visit to the astral plane?

Creative Amoeba

A second thrall race! I expected that this would happen. I wonder if the gladiatora's race will make three!

Creative Amoeba

I tried to give both positive and negative (with good intentions) feedback. I really liked this passage that Tefler penned! Jade shook her head and whispered in his ear, “You showed you respected her by not holding back. She was very, very turned on at being dominated like that, Master... and it made me love you just a little bit more.” “Only a little bit?” he teased, giving her a fond squeeze. She pulled back to gaze into his eyes. “Imagine the sun is my love for you. Now picture a blazing bonfire a hundred feet tall. The bonfire’s impressive... but not if it’s built on the surface of the sun.” “That’s a lot of love,” John said sombrely. “Mmmhmm,” she agreed. I love Jade! She's a great character!

AzureReader

Tef - please make time for the requisite review of upgrade stats by Dana. We know engines (on the Invictus and Raptor) are faster and tachyon guns on the Raptor hit harder. They haven’t had time to install main guns on the Raptor. Knowing they have even a slight speed, maneuverability, and firepower advantage will give Calara tactical options for the upcoming fights.

AzureReader

It would be cool if the Raptor had rail guns as powerful as Dana could make that fire runic penetrators similar to their rifles but the full length of the Raptor. It seems like some of the other physical ordinance is about size of projectile to cause maximum damage. But with accurate targeting of a power core, which is their typical MO, you really only need a relatively small caliber round that can penetrate the armor. This is how the A-10 kills tanks which often don’t look like they were hit on the outside until you see the small hole in the armor. A 70 meter long gatling railgun firing 4000 rounds a minute of 50mm runic penetrators designed to go through black armor would be fucking badass. Like the A-10 the Raptor can’t carry big caliber guns that a capitol ship can but it still can be extremely effective against armor with a different approach.

Who Me

Only problem - a limited number of rounds that Raptor 2.0 could carry for any projectile weapon

Bp Hlpt

Ch 150.3 Typos There are several instances of extra spaces. There are 8 instances of extraneous spaces at the end of a paragraph: They can be fixed by using your word processor to find a space followed by a Paragraph End Mark, set it to replace that with just a Paragraph End Mark, and replace all. Other typos: just answering me this question: -- answering me > answer just answer this question: Obviously none of us are going to say -- add comma after "Obviously" Obviously, none of us are going to say Therefore you’re in violation -- add comma after "Therefore" Therefore, you’re in violation

Michael56Smith

There were several aside comments by different sources, about theCeremony of Allegiance, 30 year old's enthralled from trace amounts of cum drunk from a small cup, and then Valeria has some concerns about the waste of a full load of Progenitor psychic spunk which could be used to enthrall thousands, ... Tef handled my concerns quite well, ... now it is my thinking that the throne world is the only Larathyran world that has ALL of its mature females enthralled then husked by Larn'kelnar, I think that the other worlds of the Empire might only have had a few thousand (10K to 20K?) thralls in key positions, so these planets could fairly easily carry on after the horror of the mass husking deaths. These worlds could also provide a few engineers, doctors, and administrators, etc. to aid in Laranthyra's restoration. John could get a Maliri fleet to aid in this. checking in with all the Laranthyran worlds, (10 - 20 of them? or 100 of them?) ;-) TTFN

Mellowfellow

I've always felt that it's somewhat disquieting how passive and accepting John is towards Alyssa's habit to keep secrets and manipulating things to go her way. I've realized it's because Alyssa removes agency from John by making decisions in his stead, even if he'd make the same choices in the end. John just brushing it off when this happens further encourages repeat instances. Just my personal thoughts.

John Jackson

Any ETA on a complete chapter 150? I’m trying to hold off downloading until you have had time to compile all the parts together and catch up on all the typos the eagle eye’d community has spotted

Sceptre

John, this chapter is going to be epic. If you start it now, you'll only wear out your F5 key. If you can hold off taking a peek until it's done, you will be well rewarded and your stomach won't get that queasy feeling the rest of us are enduring. Hang in there!!

andrew finlayson

Well, Tef did say that he expected TSM to run about 120 or 125 chapters. So here we are, 150 baby and no end in sight :)

Robert P. Heck

Tefler, the Raptor 2 needs a rear-facing camera to check what's behind it before the rear ramp will be used.

Michael56Smith

.96: Okay, Tef is due back any day now, and we can all begin to drool, and press F5 in hopes of reading the next instalment, but I strongly suspect it will likely be a while, ... and if his is making #150 somewhere around 100K words (at 20K per installment) then after completing #150.3 he will need to dazzle us with two more sub chapters, #150.4 and #150.5, before closing #150 complete in May or June? I am very curious how his fevered mind will approach the next few chapters. What get resolved? and Who or what will create new problems to solve? and Where will The Invictus's first wormhole jump take them, ....? .... ;-) TTFN

Michael56Smith

.97: P.S. I strongly agree with Robert that the Raptor 2, needs a back facing sensor system, A dedicated rear facing video might be a good item to have, ... oh, wait, doesn't the ships' sensors already cover in all directions, ... One other thing that I would love to see onboard is an AI or even a very advanced VI on the Raptor, just to keep them out of trouble. ... ;-) TTFN

Michael56Smith

.98: And speaking of Artificial Intelligence, we have Dana with one of Mael'neraks solder robots onboard to study, ... might she develop a security 'bot to serve and protect and to carry extra weapons and ammo too. And, months too late, a follow along crash cart, that can operate in the field, for Doctor Rachel, ,,, for when just a bandage or a little pill would do, and to be used as a floating stretcher for any non-crew members in need, ... ;-) TTFN

No one

I like that you had been developing John's character and pushing him forward but I felt this was a step back. You were moving him towards not needing Alyssa to be his "wicked conscience" anymore but you put the two back in that pattern here. It makes John a very passive character and really it makes all the stuff the Guide was saying true. I know you want to show he's not like the other Progenitors but in the end he is a godlike character in a power fantasy.

Teun Segers

Alyssa grew up in an extremely harsh environment and as such it would make sense for her to be much more mature than she is depicted now. This also completely undoes all her character development in the story so far; never has she been this childish. Same goes for John. I would hope he would show some of his new found confidence at this point. Honestly, I strongly dislike this preview and I hope Tefler reconsiders.

syed fahad

Got charged for 2 chapters?

Per Simonsen

if 150.3 is 1 chapter then this is becomming to expensive plus its 2.5$ now ... hmmmm

Bp Hlpt

Maybe if Tefler changed the Patreon signup page to say "per ~20k words" instead of "per chapter" it would cause less confusion?

Steve

Can we not talk about costs? But sure, let’s go ahead: TSM is the most expensive piece of lit I ever paid for. And will do so. As long as Tef is good to his word (got that?) and churns out this amazing work. You are not bound to stick around and you are not bound to your pledge on Patreon. Just lower your pledge if you must and can’t walk away completely. If you count the folks here and take this times two you got the lowest income per month for Tef. I expect that is still sufficient for a modest living arrangement. But please stop nagging about costs. And you are charged with your pledge amount plus local tax per 20k commit.

Tefler

Hey everyone, thanks for the feedback. :) Regarding Alyssa's "immaturity" in this scene, the tone is actually very similar to the scene in chapter 126 when they first made the bet about John owing Alyssa a favour. She was making plans to encourage John to recruit a Larathyran back then, which is why she made the bet with him in the first place. This pre-empted John's change in personality when he absorbed the guide, and as she said, he was dealing with a lot at the time and she didn't want to burden him with anything else. Regarding her teasing him, they often interact together that way. When it's just the two of them, Alyssa tends to be a lot more playful with John than she would be in front of the girls. She was also delighted that he broke the terms of their bet, thus earning herself another favour. From John's point of view, this wasn't a step backwards for him in terms of feeling guilty about recruiting a new girl. It was more he felt he'd breeched Auralei's trust at how much he enjoyed the thrill of claiming Larn'kelnar's daughter. However, once Alyssa explained Auralei'd background, most of John's concerns were addressed, because Alyssa anticipated he'd feel that way afterwards and found out all the relevant information. If Alyssa had told John everything before he recruited her, it would've completely ruined the surprise, for both him and you, the readers. As she likes to say "Where's the fun in that?" From a writing PoV, by setting up the scene that way, I was able to fill in a lot of Auralei's parental background in a few short paragraphs. Alyssa addresses John's misgivings and resolves the problem, without pages of moral handwringing. Now he's been brought up to speed, he can handle the situation accordingly. Anyway, this is just the opening scene. I'll expand on everything as the chapter continues.

Cassandra Wren

Hi Tefler. I'm a new-ish subscriber and am still thoroughly enjoying 3SM, the evolution of the story and characters is superbly crafted. I find myself checking in regularly to see if the next bit has been released. I know that you have a lot of threads to pull on, with some major tangles to deal with coming up, but I hope that we find out about the results of some of the older threads that haven't been pulled in a little while? For example, what of the Kintark Queen, what of the rebellious Maliri faction that helped set up Walker, what of the abandoned, what happened to that space station that they rescued Tashana from, and whatever happened to Allysa's trading post plans for the Terran/Maliri border?

Michael56Smith

.125: Forgetting Gahl'kalgor, his invasion fleet and all the other dozens of Asshats waiting in the wings, ... just those loose threads that Cassandra Wren mentioned would be enough to keep this series going until Chapter #200, easily, ... I am Much impressed that Tef has answered a few of the mysteries that have cropped up, like how could Larn'kelnar enthrall to many that at least on his home/throne world that ALL of the mature females were husked/drained of life. And the reveal that the smart and lovely Auralei turned out to be a direct relation to ole Larn was certainly a surprise. So, plenty of goodies to get Tef's creative juices churning over the hundred and fifty chapters, or so, ... ;-) TTFN

jdg45

.125 TSM is currently almost written by the hour. So much is happening concurrently that it is easy to overlook the timescale. LOTS to come. Cannot wait! F5? Rereading is only just keeping me going at the moment... :)

jdg45

.126 Hi Tefler. Please advise us if a chapter has been updated for typos. Thank you.

Brian Woods

Sooooo…given that Tefler has alluded to another favor for our resplendent teenage Matriarch, does old Mikey get his fervent wish for another Matriarchal addition from the Galkirans? When John absorbed his guide and reorganized his connections, he noticed a black thread coursing through the center filled with Domination and Leech runes. Theoretically, that thing probably attributed to the network being devastated by John’s absence from them all, and would likely lead to the mass suicide of every connected thrall should they survive a Progenitor’s death. And, although it hasn’t truly been confirmed, maybe the network continues to exist even after a Progenitor is gone like how John’s still functioned after he disconnected. If so, will Alyssa use said favor to save the lives of the remaining Galkiran’s by forcing John to enthrall Valeria, or am I just speculating into thin air? Odd possibilities arise, now that the battle is soon to be upon us…

Bp Hlpt

Another 150.3 typo: *Ith bregnol, hast elair imenn’eier voluith,* -- [ Alyssa must have actually spoken this so that everyone could hear, and if she hadn't, would her "dulcet tones" made "the exotic language sound like liquid honey"?? ] "Ith bregnol, hast elair imenn’eier voluith,"

Paul Mansur

I would like to reread the whole series does anyone have a tip on the best way to do that?

Paul Mansur

*forehead slap* I mean like where can I find the best complete list of the chapters... I know literotica used to have them... is it all still there? Where do you go when you want to reread it... smart-ass lmao

neil

yes literotica has chapters 1 to 140 still available

Paul Mansur

Thanks guys. I appreciate it

Kev Curtis

Is there single file (.pdf) version?

Mike Saxion

It is equivalent to approximately nine full size 450 page books. So no. No .pdf.

Bp Hlpt

If you really, really wanted to, you can make a PDF for yourself fairly easily, at least for chapters 1-140 using Calibre. Calibre has an extension, FanFicFare, that allows you to download directly from many different sites, including Literotica. It can download an entire series, such as TSM, and put it into a single file, with various formats available. after downloading into Calibre, Calibre can convert that file into various other formats, including PDF. Be aware that the PDF won't have all of the PDF features you might want, including a linked table of contents, at least it didn't for me when I tried it. But it was one file. It was also 43MB in size and had about 12,300 pages, so I don't know if I would suggest this approach, but YMMV. :)

Mike Saxion

Np Hlpt. Thanks for the reminder to everyone about copyright law. Copyright law still applies.

Bp Hlpt

Just for fun, I'll throw out another thought, proving how little we know, or at least I know, about the depth of the connection between the progenitor and his thralls. ( My statements below are what I remember, so please feel free to correct anything I say.) I believe that the thrall's hair is somewhat an indication of the connection, correct? And that this is only true for a thrall species, so it is only true for the Maliri among John's girls, and doesn't apply to the Kintark or the Trankaran either, correct? I'm only taking about hair, not other body modifications, attitude or temperament, sexual proclivities, or anything else, just hair. Anyway, John claiming the Maliri doesn't change their hair, the vast majority of them still have short, dark hair. When he adds a girl to his network with a small load through Jade, such as the engineers or the first feeding of the matriarchs, their hair turns white but stays short, though they still have to sleep it off. When he then gives them a more substantial load, including the new matriarchs in pairs, they get long hair. That covers John. [ Totally as an aside, over time, will short white hair grow long? No indication, and it hasn't been long enough to happen yet. ] Larn didn't know what white hair meant. His matriarch's hair had just turned white at the very end and none of his other thrall's hair was white. Rahn - I don't think that Jessica's hair is white, but she wasn't a member of a thrall species, so it wouldn't count. I don't remember if we've seen any of Rahn's thralls to know if their hair was white. He hasn't commented on the Maliri's hair, but he can't be in their presence without them attacking him, so that's understandable. Mael - Yes, Valada's hair was white. And weren't Mael's blue skinned thralls with white hair the ones that were pictured in the Ashanath cave drawings? I don't remember if their hair was long or short, but it was white. So did this mean that Mael had a deeper connection with his thralls? The cave drawings had been recovered from a world whose inhabitants had been wiped out, so it was back when Mael was still warring, though under the shroud, not that I think that the shroud has anything directly to do with it. We'll have to see what happens with Auralei's hair when she wakes up. She'll have had a full load, but is outside the shroud, so... Anyone else have thoughts about hair?

2ndAndrocentric

So I have an idea why the women are so thirsty after the first feeding. Draining the life force (husking) somehow dehydrates thralls from the "water of life" (as Rachel and Dune put it). OK, perhaps when that first connection is made, a bit of the woman's life force is sucked in order to make the bond. Not enough to injure them, just enough to tie their very lives to the progenitor. Remember John said there was no way to separate the husking from the bond. This was not so about the "leech" black thread. In the Space Opera mythos, it seems logical that a bit of the woman must be used to as John said "anchor" the bond to her. Now for all you fans of conservation of mass/energy well, maybe a bit of mass becomes energy? OK, I know, this is a trashy Space Opera and here we are quoting E2=m4c4 + p2c2

Bp Hlpt

John has now claimed the Larathyrans, and repairs to the fusion reactor and other infrastructure have begun. As soon as John and the girls have had a debrief session, I assume while Auralei is sleeping, I would expect John and the girls to also discuss everyone's thoughts on what to do next regarding the Larathyrans. As has been mentioned, I agree that as a very early step it will be essential to find out the status of what is going on on all of the Larathyran worlds. We've been told that all Larathyran fleet crew have been husked, and have seen that the same is true for all of-age women on the homeworld. Is the same true for the rest of the empire? How many worlds/Larathyrans are we taking about? Is there anyone of-age available to step in and try to keep things together while John, his crew, and the Maliri leave to fight the progenitors? Yes, they were planning to take all of the thrall ships back with them for the progenitor war, but do they really want to leave the Larathyrans defenseless, now that they are claimed by John? No, they can't bring them back with them, and no they can't afford to leave many/any Maliri there to help train the Larathyrans to be able to crew what few, if any, ships they decide to leave. Theoretically, I suppose they could leave some of the Maliri ships with a bare crew, but I had thought that they would need every single ship and crew member for the progenitor war. That is the highest priority. What about Auralei? Do they take her with them or leave her as the ruler/matriarch, still in touch with John through Alyssa? Does John/Jade take the time to give Auralei any thralls of her own? I'd think whether there are any of-age women on the other Larathyran worlds, and thus able to help manage things, will be a factor. In the meantime, while we understand John will now want to help the Larathyrans more than he might have originally planned, which will take time, that takes time away from any more improvements to the Invictus and Raptor, not to mention preparing the Maliri and thrall ships for the coming war. We also know Nathan is about to be in big trouble, and the longer that Gahl is left free to roam through Terran space the worse it is going to be for everyone, so...

Bp Hlpt

I would also hope, whenever John and company decide what to do about the Larathyrans, John will then do an empire wide speech, sort of like the speech he did across Lilyana’s fleet in Chapter 128 after the fleet had defeated the Kirrix and rescued the Trankarans. That was the first time John acknowledged himself as the leader of the Maliri Protectorate, and now that he has claimed the Larathyrans, he is their leader as well, and they need to know who he is and what is going on.

Lawrence

I still think John has committed a serious breach of Progenitor Etiquette by claiming more than one Thrall Race. It would not be in Xar’s interest to allow this as his game is to pit Progenitors against each other. This could be a big advantage for our Heroes, but there are likely to be unpleasant repercussions.

Diego

Re: Larathyran population numbers, it's mentioned when Calara and John look at the galactic map that the Larathyran Empire has dozens of worlds, so I d say between 40 and 70. Now, considering the logistics of Thrall use in the soul forge and the fleets assembled there, I think it's reasonable to think that most of the population (80%?) lives in Larathyra. I think the total population of the empire didn't exceed 250 million, and of them about 15 million were males and 50 million women under 30, which are the only ones who survived.

Mike Saxion

I believed we would see the remaining portion of 150.3 by now. Since April has its own obligations.

Creative Amoeba

Rachel is supposed to be the Sherlock Holmes and capable of making a psyche dossier of individuals like Hades. I found the story of bringing Tashana into the fold to be entertaining, even if not very believable. It reminds me of Desert Storm. We put the military thump down - but what was next. Here, their plan was 'get Tashana'., but what then? You mean out of all of them - Rachel, John, Irrilith, Edraele, everyone else - that none of them could have predicted how Tashana would have acted - and had a plan of action for it? Really, John should have crammed some cum into her and solved some of those problems. It would have been a healing balm to many and headed off a disaster. Sometimes people's noble efforts are just silliness. At this point, it revolves around John actually being confident in his own goodness and the worth of what he is offering - not enslavement but a ticket to a better life - a righter of wrongs.

Bp Hlpt

DemonHunterCole and Mike Saxion - Have faith, and patience. Believe me, I know it's hard. It is probably just the new publishing pattern Tefler's had for the last few months: 11/19 - 144 -- balance from prior month (free) (21,302 words) 11/30 - 145 -- [paid] (21,066 words) 11/30 - 146 -- placeholder [paid] 12/1 -- billed for 2 paid posts for Nov 12/29 - 146 -- balance from prior month (free) (21,205 words) 12/31 - 147 -- partial [paid] 1/1 -- billed for 1 paid post for Dec 1/23 - 147 -- balance from prior month (free) (20,020 words) 1/31 - 148 -- partial [paid] 1/31 - 149 -- placeholder [paid] 2/1 -- billed for 2 paid posts for Jan 2/19 - 148 -- balance from prior month (free) (20,636 words) 2/26 - 149 -- balance from prior month (free) (20,868 words) 2/28 - 150 -- partial [paid] 3/1 -- billed for 1 paid post for Feb 3/23 - 150.1 -- balance from prior month (free) (20,817 words) 3/27 - 150.2 -- [paid] (20,959 words) 3/27 - Extra -- Raptor blueprints (free for >=$2 level) 3/28 - 150.3 -- partial [paid] 4/1 -- billed for 2 paid posts for Mar Several Good points about Tefler: 1) He's kept his word and always (eventually) posts free chapters after a prior partial chapter 2) He's maintained his new standard of ~20k words (average - 20,859 words) 3) He's posting more - ~1.5 posts per month vs <1 post per month over the last 2 years 4) He threw in a freebie for those at >=$2 level - Raptor plans 5) He has communicated a little bit more, but still not a lot New reality -- He hasn't posted any content prior to the last 10 days of the month, regardless of his intentions and goals. This kind of goes along with his "works best under pressure", I guess. I hope this aspect improves, along with the number of posts per month and his communication, but since he officially only ever "owes" us the balance of a partial paid-for chapter, nothing more, and he has ALWAYS provided that, every time, we have no right to complain - EVER.

Creative Amoeba

Did John get his inspiration about how to avoid the Maliri civil war by watching WarGames, 1983?

Creative Amoeba

Anyone who has fired guns much realizes that great accuracy with a pistol is harder than with a rifle. I wonder why the girls trained with a pistol first?

2ndAndrocentric

Since I broke another F5 key, it is time for another unsolicited, unwanted, non canonical short story: Hats: Black, Grey and White with a Black Band, (title from a friend). *John, we have a problem* *What sort of problem, Alyssa?* *Calara, Helene, Rachel and Sakura have gone dark.* *Dark? What do you mean dark?* *A few seconds ago they were there happily chattering away in my head and now they’re just gone. No warning, I can’t feel a trace of them at all and even their representations are just gone.* “Excuse me ladies,” John said to the council of Matriarchs “but something urgent has just come up and I need to speak with Alyssa.” As the Maliri matriarchs looked at him, some astonished and others worried, Edraele who had of course heard the conversation added “Baen’thelas is communicating telepathically with Alyssa. Neither he nor we need to leave at this moment though that might change. I will continue the meeting on his behalf for now as I am also hearing everything they are discussing. I am sure you all have many questions about this interruption but right now none of us have answers to most of them. Our role is to support Baen’thelas, and right now he cannot be interrupted. He may be sitting there but he is trying to pay attention to Alyssa telepathically. Please let us speak together in hushed voices as to the routine matters of running our respective Houses. We were discussing mining for Onyxium and Phelora was speaking.” With that John closed his eyes and tuned out the meeting as he continued conversing with Alyssa. *So there was no hint of warning?* John said, *It sounds like someone ambushed them with an Eldritch inhibitor. Had they been in pain or died, there would have been a flash of it emotionally. That’s hopeful anyway.* John could feel Alyssa relaxing a little bit over their bond as she said *So what should we do now? Obviously I am getting the rest of us on the Invictus and coming to get you right now. I am also contacting Lynette to surround Maria’s house as they were in the middle of wedding plans. Anything else you can think of until we get there.* By this time John had concentrated on his own internal network vision and could see that indeed the 4 girls were no longer there. *Sounds sensible to me, but you stay on the Invictus. I am going to run over there as I can get to the Invictus probably before you get even to the bridge.* With that John became a blur not even bothering to update Edraele as he knew she was listening to every word. A few seconds later on Genthalas the DNA scanner lit green as John heard from the programmed response of the ship in a tremulous voice “Oh John, I am so excited to have you back in me!” Unfortunately John was not in a mood for the light hearted banter with Dana. A moment later he was strapping into his armour, getting a gun, magazines and his sword. He barely had enough time to say to several other Lionesses “Meet you in the combat bridge.” Before running full speed and sitting in his command chair waiting for the rest of the team to join him. He decided to open a channel to flight control at Genthalas and tell them he was leaving immediately for Terra; to clear all traffic civilian or military on the way there. Alyssa sat next to him and without a word began plotting their course as the rest of them took their seats anxiously. There was a terse silence on the bridge as with their graceful maneuvers each took their stations. The Invictus rose and left Genthalas at what for any other ship would be a reckless speed towards the Navbeacon and was bathed in a blue tachyon field shortly before even reaching it. Alyssa was silent as she began the astonishingly complex calculations to slingshot through various star gravity wells and yet avoid crushing other ships in their bow wave. All the lionesses kept quiet, as did Edraele knowing that the fastest way to get there was to stay out of Alyssa’s mind as she concentrated on the vital task of navigation. Even John shut his mind down and went into that peculiarly male zone often referred to as “the nothing box” where literally, he thought of nothing at all. A few moments later Alyssa punched in the first few maneuvers and with an audible sigh informed everyone telepathically she was ready for conversation again. *OK everyone, we have about a half an hour before I need to start making course corrections. The bottom line is that Calara, Sakura, Helene and Rachel suddenly dropped out of psychic link. There was no warning and both John and I think this was some sort of Eldritch inhibitor field. There’s no way of knowing if they’re OK or not so we’re all headed to their last known location. As you all know, Lynette has agents watching the Fernandez house constantly and a cruiser in orbit. She tells me the agents went in and found the house empty but no sign of a struggle at all and the cruiser Epiphron in orbit reports no traffic outgoing. The whole planet, in fact the whole system, is on total lock-down. Dana, I need you to access Mael’nerak’s cloak breaker network and let us know if any cloaked ship has been near the area.* *On it, give me about 30 seconds.* John added “Irillith, hack into every security system surrounding the Fernandez household. I want to see everything that happened now.* Before Irillith could respond Alyssa added *Lynette just contacted me, one of the portable detectors the agents brought in noted some sort of gas in the air rapidly vanishing. It seems somewhat similar to some of the nerve agents used to knock people out.” ThEy’re trying to get a more detailed analysis now.* “Why wouldn’t the alarms go off at the house?” John asked. “Because they’re cut off and instead a very sophisticated system is reporting false data.” As Irillith’s eyes continued glowing she had a very irritated look “I’m in there right now and they’re trying to redirect even my cyber form somewhere nearby. Hold on, I’m sending the location of where the false signal is coming from… it is the house right in front! That can’t be right, that’s where most of the security detail is based at!” As John pondered that Neysa added, “John, I took over the communication station here from Rachel. I am getting an urgent call to you. I think you ought to see this.” With that the image of a child like bright purple T. Rex with a green belly and a friendly smile came on. “Hello John, and friends, call me Barney.” The grotesque caricature obviously designed to terrify children said in a friendly voice. “Who the fuck are you and what have you done to my girls?” John replied in a slow, cold, calm unhurried voice. “I know this looks really bad John, but I promise I have no intention of harming them, you, or in fact anyone else. I just want to stop killing people. For over a hundred thousand years I have slain trillions for that evil bitch in the Astral. Had I known how boring an immortal life of slaughtering I chose was, I would have rather have died when the dark bargain was offered me. Now I cannot even wish to die, because I would even be more of a grotesque puppet then. However this corner of the galaxy came to be out of their influence, I want in. I’ll gladly cut myself off from my entire empire; if only I am allowed a small corner for me and my matriarch to live alone. You can have it all, my dreadnaught, and all my empire. I am even willing to put myself at your complete mercy, but only when I have your word not to harm me or my matriarch. After you hear what I have to say, I will release your women and submit myself to you.” Switching to ancient Maliri without thinking about it, John screamed “Bullshit! Give me the truth right now or I will find and kill you!” Putting down the useless furry purple hands and with the same idiotic grin from what was a poorly made costume, “Barney” continued, but in Terran. “John, I am not just a Progenitor, I am one of the oldest if not the oldest of them all on the material plane. I have survived long enough so that even you would never find me. I am speaking Terran to you so all your crew can understand me. I repeat, I am no threat to you. I just want to take a really long vacation where my dreams are not haunted, and my actions not forced. I want to live like your father did for thousands of years, except with the only woman I ever might learn to love. I had a little chat with your father, it was very enlightening. I’ve also been going through your entire career, even things from before you joined the Terran military. You’re a man whose word I can trust. I am staking my life, and that of my matriarch on it. I didn’t get to be this old in relentless warfare without…how is it one of the ancient Terrans said? ‘If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gained you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle.’” “Well John, I have not lost a major battle in thousands of years, and have never lost a war. Unlike most of my kind, I do not overestimate myself, nor underestimate my enemy. I do not stand a chance against you, but you cannot ever hope to find me should I choose to hide. You were made to wipe out Progenitors. I am a Progenitor. I have your women to bargain for my life without looking over my shoulder forever. As for this costume, you have 2 Maliri on board, and I need to discourse with you as calmly as possible. Besides, being alive as long as I have, boredom becomes a major problem. One begins to develop an odd sense of what is entertainment.” “So what exactly do you propose?” “Your women will currently sleep for another 4 hours or so. I will leave them in a location where anyone can retrieve them, or they can simply contact you themselves. No ambush, no need to even come yourself or send friends. You should check them all out carefully to be sure there’s no psychic tracker and scour their minds for any kind of booby traps like what the Achonin left in Jade. All I want is for you to pick a location deep inside the shroud where I and one other will never be hunted, and give me your word. It does not need to be a whole planet, maybe an island, but please let it be a pleasant Gaia like place. Neither of us will ever leave without your permission, on penalty of death, and you can monitor us all you want. I am not looking for privacy, but neither do I want to be a subject of study or a tourist destination. After that I will do whatever you want with my empire. Leave the ships I brought here, send the thralls back in transports and then cut the bond. Or I can send them all back in the warships and then cut the bond. If you prefer I can cut the bond now but I don’t advise it. A bunch of thralls in warships without direction is a recipe for heartburn, chef. You tell me. I can give you advice, or just shut up and stay oput of your way. You seem to be doing very well without any advice from me. I just don’t want to kill anymore. That’s it John.” Sitting there trying to make sense of it all John remembered what had gotten him to where he was. He was a team player. Sure, the “head honcho” as Alyssa would sometimes remind him, but as Alyssa also reminded him with her whole life, he was no longer ever alone. “I need to discuss this with my team. How do I let you know my decision?” “In 2 hours your women will reappear in your network unharmed, but in deep sleep. 2 to 3 hours later they will awaken and be able to contact you. At that time they will have a device that will reach out to me through the Astral. If I don’t hear from you by tomorrow, I will assume you reject my offer. In that case, I will have no choice but to hide forever from you, which would benefit neither of us. You can make any counter offer you want and if it at all reasonable, I will take it. Anything else John?” “I will let you know then.” “Very well, for my sake I hope you can believe me when I say…” then with a childlike tune in the background the grotesque purple dinosaur began to sing: I love you, you love me. We're as happy as can be. With a great big hug And a kiss from me to you! Won't you say you love, …. Me, …. too?” Realizing this was a subtle but AN (happy now judgy 45?) effective form of torture, John horizontally crossed his outstretched hand across his throat in the universal siGN (feeling less judgy now? see below comment) to cut all communications. Alyssa broke in, “Well John, at least we know ‘Barney’ there has had enough practice with torture. Can you imagine sitting watching something so hideous singing that every day?” Breaking the fourth wall: the author certainly can. He sat there with his kids enough times in front of the TV to wish for a speedy death. Now, I have grandchildren, but somehow, it has gotten better. The only reason to have children, is to get grandchildren. Or maybe just like Merlin, I am beginning to age backwards.

2ndAndrocentric

If interested, I can post another story "Moment(s) with Matriarch(s)" that I have half done or post a part 2 to hats. Thank you to my detractors, I do too good a job of lauding myself and need balance in my life.

Brian Woods

Something interesting to tide us over until the next chunk of story is dropped: I noticed a very odd statement back in section 2 of 150. When the maintenance bots were helping to install a new bed after John took care of Betrixa, the first one to answer didn’t portray his speech in the usual manner, but instead answered cleanly and concisely. Given how Daphne mentioned in the previous blurb that the Collective was beginning to express emotions, would it be fair to say they are starting to be more like her, that is to say evolving along the same path? How intriguing if so…

bjcreek

Great reading, Tef. Thanks so much!

Russell Hermen

When will be part2 be released looking forward to it

TF4EVA

Good question Russell and one that will probably elicit a whole lot of replies complaining about supply, cost and storyline. That in turn will see a 'defensive' response from some outlining how lucky and spoilt we are. Everyone's entitled to having a view. Unlike each new fresh chapter after 150 chapters I think we are still getting the same views being expressed. No wonder then I like you Russell - and many others, I'm looking forward to the next installment and happy to reread past chapters (selectively), exercise F5 and read the comments in the mean time.

Creative Amoeba

I made a post that I am trying to find. Is there a way that you can search for posts based on the author? Can people delete posts? Probably, I just can't find it, or it didn't get posted somehow in the first place. Another question is: are all the earlier chapters kept somewhere on this site, so they can be downloaded?

Michael56Smith

.251: Press F5 (with crossed fingers), ... Oh, we're Tefler-man-iacs, ... ;-) TTFN

2ndAndrocentric

3 Hats …as Trois would say it with a wink, “Monsieur, part me, sil vous plait…” Previously Troy, because even every good woman is still a honey trap. As John stood there with his eyes closed trying to decide he became angrier and angrier. He was suddenly reminded of how much difficulty he had as a young marine with classes on “situational ethics”. To see life as a zero sum game was the easy route, and that was the trap here, again. His success was driven from rejecting that idea. Every time he gave some power to a girl, it weakened him. When he had re-forged the bond, first eliminating the compulsion to obey and then not just eliminating Leech; but taking away a little of his soul so he could give a permanent thank you to every woman in his network it weakened him. He had never done it to gain power, but that is precisely what happened every time. The “specialist” Lionesses were born, each far more capable with a given ability than he would ever be. Without the compulsion to obey, they would at times go off script, even putting everyone at risk. However, the initiative, the gains and the ferocious devotion each girl had for him surpassed anything he lost. He thought of what Jade had mentioned that comparing the love of one of her still partially enslaved sisters to hers was like a bonfire on the surface of a star. He had not come this far by listening to Edraele when she would say “You can’t save everyone.” No, dammit, he would die trying to save everyone. Fuck the needs of the many, or the needs of the few. This was all for one and one for all, and like it or not, he was the one. As he got angrier, John yelled at himself *THINK John THINK! There’s got to be a better choice and it is up to YOU to figure this out!* In the silence after screaming at himself he could feel the fear from his 3 matriarchs. *Sorry girls, I am just screaming at myself, I meant none of you by this. Just let me calm down and think a moment.* “Barney” decided to interrupt, “Hello John, I am unwilling to keep this connection longer and give you a chance to trace me. What is your answer?” At that moment John thought back to when he was 11 years old. Because he was a hybrid between a Terran and an unknown species, the school system had brought him in for testing. He vividly recalled a kindly older woman who put 4 toothpicks in front of him and asked how many triangles he could make with them unbroken. Putting one to the side, John told her that given enough time, he could make an infinite number with just three. Then, looking harder and thinking about timespace, he picked up just one and declared he needed only one toothpick and without breaking it, could make an infinity of triangles. He had scored just slightly above normal on general intelligence testing, but on occasion, there were flashes of something profound. That is what he needed right now. Focusing on memory of that astonished woman, he opened his mouth without any plans or thoughts. It was time to let himself speak. “Barney, you’re the cheese on the trap and you don’t know it is a trap for both of us. I am not going to be the mouse or the cat this time, not when there this trap was set by a very big dog. I need more time to plan the response. You said you trusted my word, I promise you right now not I or any of my crew will make any attempt to trace you starting right now until we finish our next conversation. Alyssa, tell Dana and Irillith to immediately stop any attempt to know where “Barney” is at or how he is communicating.” “Done, anything else John?” Alyssa said. “Just stay by my …” “Where else would I be, you lunkhead?” said Alyssa in fake annoyance. In reality she was desperately trying not to stare at John in rapturous adoration. “Barney” would you care to wait or preferably set up another place in a few hours where I can contact you again?” “There was a long pause and the videofeed pulled back so that “Barney” could be seen sitting next to what John realized was a caricature of a baby triceratops in the reverse coloring of “Barney” the young T. Rex. “John, this here is Baby Bop.” Who promptly bopped “Barney” on the head as she said “Fucking idiot making me wear this shit! John, kill this asshole and I will serve you as long as you promise me never to develop a sense of humor.” Laughing, “Barney took off his headgear and “Baby Bop” did the same. “Barney was the typical looking Progenitor, but as “Bop” stood and furiously tore of the rest of her costume it became clear she was not the typical Thrall. She had short black hair, and a very dark almost black grey skin with pointy ears like one would expect but, she was much shorter, John guessed about 5’5”; and she had small breasts, certainly no bigger than a B cup. She did have the general proportions of a fit human female but stockier, with less of a curve at the waist and a more muscular upper body though definitely not as a male would. Then she stared at the screen and John noticed something very peculiar. Her scleras were bright yellow like a wolf and the round iris was so black it was impossible to see where the pupil began. Bop sat down, crossed her legs and looked very irritated to be there. Without warning and without moving from her seat, she suddenly struck “Barney” across the chest with her forearm and knocked him backwards while a wicked grin broke her face. Barney had not stopped laughing the whole time and stammered, shaking with laughter to right the chair and sit down again, He took a long breath and said. “Oh John, do you see why I want to try and love my matriarch? Can you think of a more difficult and amusing project to occupy the next few millennia and keep the boredom of immortality away? She is incorrigible. Her entire race is like that, which is why eventually Xar had to replace them with a more domesticated breed. As far as I know, I am the only Progenitor left that has these little furballs.” At this “Barney” ducked a fist coming for his face while laughing again. In a dramatic imperious voice while waiving his fingers at her, “Barney” announced “Stop, your Master commands you! No more bopping from Baby Bop!” With a roll of her eyes, “Baby Bop facepalmed and groaned. “John, if you think you’ve seen your Maliri girls get fierce at the sight of another Progenitor; you have no idea how much power I am draining to keep her sitting there looking at you. This particular model in the past was occasionally known to kill their own Progenitor, and then instead of committing suicide or going into depression; going on out of control homicidal rampages that not even Xar could stop other than killing every single one. These little precious jewels became too vicious for even Xar to handle and here I am, going out of my way to provoke them. Well, boredom is a real problem for immortals and this little jewel helps that. As to fur-balls, yup, they have hair on both ends.” With that “Bop” looked over with murderous intent and visibly shook under the restraint of the Bond from bopping “Barney” again. “Ah, the point has been made; you may go now ‘Bop’. No need to stare at John anymore.” The camera once again focused on him alone with an expression of amusement, but also hunger. “OK”Barney”, what do you want to do?”inquired John again. “I am intrigued by your suggestion that I am part of a trap and do not know it. I think you might be correct though I can only see the outlines of your suggestion. You like rescuing wounded little birds. Here I am, a hawk that claims to be wounded pleading for rescue for himself, and his own little bird. Xar certainly knows how recalcitrant I have become. I have wondered why I have sent no challengers, nor been asked to kill another for 10,000 years. My empire has grown and my fleets no longer facing attrition with it. I thought that I was being kept in reserve to come after a threat like you; but that might not be the whole story. Clearly Xar knows that once under the Shroud I would betray her. So sending me here never made sense to me. My legions sure, but I could have been kept under the Shroud and though less effectively, been used to direct them against you. You’re right John, there is a trap here for both of us but I don’t exactly know what it is, do you?” “I have my suspicions but I need time to flesh it out. Again Barney, what do you want to do?” “Aw hell, best place to hide something is under your nose John. There’s a small chamber right under you where me and “La Fiera” are. I’m going to leave my little “Fiera” behind for a bit and you please get your Maliri away from here so we can have a pleasant conversation. If you kill me, so be it, I will haunt you from the Astral. If you let me live, then I will find some way to entertain myself, I always do. Just have everybody step aside and I am coming up in a minute.” In a minute, once Irillith had ascended away from the chamber below the Fernandez home using her Paragon suit; the ground under John began to vibrate and as he stood away “Barney” minus all his coustume levitated up through a temporary tunnel which he sealed behind him appearing through the floor. “Alrighty then, ta-daaaa! I told Baby Bop to stay put and I’ll get her later when we’re done and you stash us away somewhere.” “That’s a dramatic entrance.” chimed Alyssa. “Dimensional gates are so yesterday’s news.” Retorted Barney. “Look, just stay in the Fernandez home for now.” Said John calmly but firmly, “Neither you nor any of your thralls to step one foot in or out of the perimeter marked by the walls roof. Also you’re to stay on the first floor, no tunneling or any of that. Do you mind if the security detail hangs around?” “Not at all, Just warn them to wear very thick armour if they hear noises and come near the bedroom. La Fiera is in a foul mood right now and when like this, I only know one way to calm her down.” As he wiggled his eyebrows at Alyssa, who blushed and looked away. About four hours later, once the other girls had fully recovered above the Invictus from the toxin, with some help from John’s cum and they had all had a chance to discuss things, John, Rachel, Sakura, Calara and Alyssa entered the Fernandez residency all in Paragon armour, and sat down in the living room. John wanted Rachel there for the observational skills honed into her through medical school, Sakura for security and Calara because of both her perceptiveness plus the possible use of looking into the future in case something was going to go horribly wrong. Alyssa was there of course because, she was Alyssa after all. “Barney” came in followed by two Terran men in sentinel armour who were shadowing his every move, except in the Master bedroom where “Baby Bop” was currently asleep with a dopey grin on her face. He sat down in a sofa facing them. John waved the security detail away. Considering the power of a Progenitor, they were really an useless formality anyway. “Tell me, what would happen where you to cut your bond to your thralls?”asked John. “They would come and try to slaughter everyone near where they were. Like I said, these are not ordinary thralls. These women are, well, like comparing feral wolves to well behaved Yorkies. Since my empire is far from here, I suggest you let me do that when they’re over there.” “And what if there was a new Progenitor with no race yet claimed, kept in hiding near, either near here just outside the Shroud and possibly another near your empire that could step in and claim them?” suggested John. Startled “Barney” sat straight up with wide eyes. “Then the most aggressive women in the galaxy, manning by far the largest most advanced fleet, would come under the control of an idiot who Xar could easily manipulate. Their already legendary levels of aggression would be fueled by a hatred for both of us.” “Hell hath no fury like a woman scorned.” added Rachel who had received something of a classical Terran education. “Oh yeah, and neither are these thralls ordinary women, nor the very strong Bond needed to keep them calm. Cut that and Hell had better watch out!” chuckled “Barry” as he shook his head beginning to understand how he had been played to become his own unwitting executioner. “I really have been an idiot John, thank you for saving both our lives; and that of our thralls. What do you propose now?” “They’re not thralls.” “Excuse me?” “I told my father so I am surprised you don’t know this already. John got up with his back to “Barney” pointed at the women and said in a very firm, loud voice: “THEY…” “are NOT…” “thralls, mine or anyone else’s. I have freed them from ANY compulsion.” Smiling Alyssa added, “True, we’re your devoted love slaves, your property and your obedient right now very wet fuck toys.” John removed his helmet and let it drop to the floor, groaned, facepalmed and dropped into a plush chair between the sofas. He was the picture of despondency. At that “Barney” stopped looking at John and riveting his eyes on Alyssa said while forming a wry smile: “My little fur-ball looks just like that sometimes. I think we ought to compare notes.” “Sure, why don’t we let John here save the galaxy, again, and then maybe we can have a chat about how to keep ourselves entertained? I keep warning John that if he doesn't do a good enough job of it, there’s plenty of other men I can torture.” At this the other girls lost their composure and began laughing. Even Calara’s eyes stopped glowing as she lost focus and could no longer see a few minutes into what was looking like a very good future. “”Are you two finished with the sexual bantering?” In perfect unison, same tone, exact same timing both Alyssa and “Barney” responded. “Yes, John, whatever you say, John.” Which prompted another round of laughing, this time everyone even John managing a chuckle. “Look Barney, what you need to do is change the Bond. Yes you will have to cut it first, but if you can get your matriarch to agree and prepare your network; you can forge the kind of Bond that I have. Stronger, free of compulsion and Leech, and with the kind of reciprocity that your women will find very rewarding. Then I can treat you like an ally. Your women will stay under the shroud but away from Maliri space. You guard your frontier and I guard mine. You have put your life in my hands. I am returning the favor, and by reducing the borders I need to guard, becoming stronger. Plus we have the same goal, as does my asshat of a father whose life I spared. It is time that I trust you back." “So, they really don’t have to obey you? They won’t go crazy if you die and they STILL follow you? OK that’s weird but it certainly explains the enormous power that you get from each one. The amount of energy to enforce compulsion as well as Leech is significant. Look John, at this point I am completely at your mercy, and despite the fact I thought you more cunning and powerful than me; I realize I STILL underestimated you! Your not a Progenitor John, you’re something else entirely aren’t you?” John stood and decided that it was time to repay Alyssa for her bantering so he suddenly closed his mind. He took his Runesword out and looking at it made the runes glow with a brilliant blue light. Holding it aloft he announced with a reverberation in his voice “I am Kyth’vindathys, the Vengeance of the Kyth’faren reborn.” At this “Barney” cringed back in his chair. That sword wanted to burn his soul and that was no joke. For a moment he thought himself doomed before reason assured him that he was in fact, safer than ever. John sheathed his sword, took off his right gauntlet and stepped towards “Barney” who instinctively rose. “But,” John said in a very serious voice while extending his hand, “you must first make with me the most ancient and solemn of all vows between men.” “Barney” blinked a few times and fearfully took John’s hand. “Repeat after me: Bros before Hoes!” Somewhere nearby inside a sentinel suit, Mad Jonah was smiling. Things were going better than planned.

Michael56Smith

.257: You sir, MUST have your head examined, ... and then ignore any psychiatric advice given, ... just stay clear of the rubber rooms, ... and I am also a candidate for professional help as I quite enjoyed your little unsanctioned journey through Tef's 3 square meals series, ... I may be doomed, ... ;-) TTFN

Creative Amoeba

These comments are mostly directed towards what I read in the middle chapters. I don't really like Alyssa or maybe it is that I don't like how John has made Alyssa or maybe it is I don't like how Tefler has made John. For a lot of the story, Alyssa was more powerful than John and led the group in many ways. Alyssa is devoted to John and became what John wanted her to be. I understand that people that read this kind of story have their own sexual 'preferences'. I am a more romantic, traditionalist. I could tolerate lesbianism. I guess he would have a hard time satisfying all the women himself. I hated it when the women chose their own special lesbian lover in addition to John. I hated it even more when Alyssa was wishing for her own dick and having sex with new girls before John. (Except for Maliri under Eladreal.) Well, in a way Alyssa had the bigger dick at the time anyway. She teased, bossed, and made her own decisions - usually to John's benefit, which speaks poorly of John's state. Currently, the power level has probably swung to John over Alyssa, but who knows what the future holds. At least, Jade's heart is truly John's even if she participates in female orgies on the side. This is simply my opinion and viewpoint; I believe we are all entitled to one. I guess in the end, my comment is 'Let there be battles!"

Kensyi

So, I think I might have interpreted something wrong, and I am not sure on it so I was hoping someone might help clear it up. When Daphne taps Alyssa on the temple and says I'm always watching, I kinda took that as a semi threat to indicate that she knows that Alyssa never saw Faye as "one of the girls" but I don't think that was how she meant it, but I'm not sure, there are little moment when I feel like I am reading the series wrong, like the way certain characters interact is through my lenses and not the way Tefler intends. Little help.

Michael56Smith

.278: did anyone else notice that free-bee Chapter #141 dropped yesterday, ... that has meant Tef is ready to drop a current chapter on Patreon in the past, ... fingers crossed, ... ;-) TTFN

Tefler

Hey everyone, It was interesting reading the comments regarding Alyssa and how she's actually the one in charge etc. I saw those comments crop up a couple of years ago, with a few readers expressing irritation with the way Alyssa behaves. In one of the chapters after John merged with his guide, Alyssa basically explains her motivations. She's totally selfless, always acting in his interests. It might seem like she was scheming for her own benefit, but everything she pushes for (in particular recruitment) is always done to either: 1) Manipulate scenarios for John's benefit and shoulder the moral burden for him. 2) Aid their mission by recruiting women with needed skillsets. 3) Push John into actions which will help him psychologically. Even when it looks like she's bucking his authority, the above always applies. Recruiting Auralei is a case in point. If Alyssa had explained all her reasoning at length beforehand, extolling the benefits of recruiting a thrall from another seed species, and downplaying any negatives, she could have convinced John that it was the correct course of action. However, if she had done so, she would've added to the various burdens that he was shouldering at the time she first considered the idea. Instead, she handled the setup herself, made a game out of it that circumvented his moral objections, while making sure that the spirit of John's beliefs were not violated. Even winning another "favour" is essentially pointless. If a situation came up in the future that Alyssa saw as greatly advantageous to John and his cause, she'd be able to argue articulately enough to persuade him it was the correct course of action.

Tefler

All the women that Alyssa has pushed John to recruit have become invaluable assets to the team. John also cares about them all deeply and is extremely grateful to have them in his life. If he really objected to Alyssa's recruiting efforts, he'd tell her she wasn't in charge of recruitment any more, and that would be the end of it. Alyssa would shift to a purely advisory role with regard to recruitment, listing the various benefits to recruiting each girl in as logical way as possible. However, that would be really boring, and this story is meant to be an erotic sci-fi tale. By acting the way she does, Alyssa pushes John out of his comfort zone, and let's him experience lots of fun sexual adventures that he'd be reluctant to initiate himself.

Puttanegra Ficondo

Tamolith and Niskera seem the oddballs but are similar to each other - they are an emissary for John allowing him to rule a race by proxy. I wonder if something similar will happen for the Brimorians. In a way, Lynette is part of this category as well. Talking of which, Tamolith should have appeared in Alyssa’s network by now, but we heard nothing about it.

jdg45

.295 Updated Chapters. I saw on Discord Tefler was working on Ch 141 for the Literotica post. So for idle interest I downloaded today from Lit and Patreon. Patreon, same as original - 31,212 words. Lit, obviously spelling and edits - 31,278. Supporting patrons, I think, also deserve the revised chapters???

Steve

And you cannot get them from lit? Of course, you already did that! Stop whining and press F5

TF007

Praying for Good Friday miracle and maybe a chapter drop.😁

stephen mincher

speculation The Achonin created the ‘shroud’ L was sent to deal with this debilitating effect( John+girls power upped coming out of shroud).(75,000 years ago) Without the negative force of X L starts to be creative instead of default P destructive, e.g A,Humans, white metal. The lack of negative force means the thralling is purer leading to white hair. R was sent to find out what had happened to L and eliminate same.(40,000 years ago) Ditto for G. The shroud seems to alter a P usual modus operandi (kill as many souls as you can) re:R arranging to eliminate his boss, G playing with J,L doing away with the need for a soul forge. There is one way to save everyone and that would be to expand the shroud( it might be possible that the A were in the process of doing that when L was sent to deal with the issue.

Myrnalin

@Tefler Is there any correlation between the name of the ship and The Invictus Games?

stephen mincher

Yeah I know, meant to tidy up then hit post. Thanks for the tidy, appreciated.

Michael56Smith

.316: Oh, we're Tefler-man-iacs, and we're Zany to the Max, ... ;-) TTFN

AzureReader

The Easter Bunny didn’t send us a TSM chapter. 😥

Mike Saxion

TSM 142 is now released on LIT

Michael56Smith

.327: (Varoom, varoom!) well, with chapters #141 and #142 released to Literotica this past week, ... Tef should be about to drop another 20K on us, completing #150.3 at least, and maybe another teaser by months end, ... ;-) TTFN

jdg45

.327 Yes Lit is behind. Now much more than previously. That is what persuaded me to become a Patron. No regrets :)

2ndAndrocentric

I was thinking of how to better explain Alyssa's relationship to John better. I found this quote from chpt 143 from when John was under an Eldritch inhibitor inside a robot on Kyth'shara and Alyssa cut off from him that might help: "John had ridden that same euphoric high [killing a million Kirrix by hijacking the Queen's network] and Alyssa realized that she’d only felt a glimpse of what it had been like until she experienced it for herself. She smiled to herself with satisfaction, knowing that she was one step closer to him now, and better able to support him as a result." Alyssa is so desperate to be a help to John, to be at his side and cling to him, that she even changed her species to match John to both of their surprises. Some women embrace the role of helper to such a degree that they become desperate to help when they see their man hurting themselves; as John does by trying not to not have so many women in his harem. For John, each woman represents power which he needs to survive Xar's intent to kill him. So Alyssa has no desire or intention to be boss actually. She is just desperately in love. You see this also in this chapter as she tells John that it was cruel of Mael'nerak to kill himself in order Valada live. That she would rather die than be without John; whereas from John's perspective Mael'nerak did the right thing. John wants Alyssa, loves her. Alyssa feels she needs John like you need air to breathe. He is not just the centre of her world, he IS her world. That may change when babies come but for now, she has no desire to challenge John. As in 137 (138?) when John takes away her memories of selling her body for food; there had never been another man, there never would be another one, there was always John. I understand Alyssa, having one myself. They're at times feisty things, a wife that clings to you and has built her entire life around you. A husband who crushes such a spirited one is an idiot. A husband who never draws a line and says "no further, apologize and back up" is another kind of fool. Marriage is a dance rooted in human biology. Learn to dance. It gives better rewards than learning to code (Fortran IV. punchcards baby!).

Kensyi

I hope we see 150.3 here soon really hoping Tef keeps the twice a month schedule he talked about

TF007

3 hours to go

TF007

40 minutes

Bp Hlpt

I had no idea that Prince Harry was a TSM fan. I mean why else would he have helped found the Invictus Games?

2ndAndrocentric

Perhaps part of the discrepancy in word count between Literotica postings and here are the chapter titles? Personally I enjoy reading the titles.

Michael56Smith

.362: Speculation: The Ancient Marilri word that Mael'nerak may have used to describe the Nymphs would translate to either "BIMBO" or "live in whore" or "Nanny, sex-doll", ... ;-) TTFN

Michael56Smith

.363: (okay, I have tried to write this two previous times) In the greater part of the galaxy where the Asshats live, make war and die to feed the Devourer, Xar'azuith, according to some lore passed down from on high (Tef), when a progenitor dies, his empire gets a new young progenitor in the making, ... these spoilt brats never have the word no used towards them, ... And when they become adults, (mid-twenties just judging by Rahn, Mael, and Larn), they pump a big load of psychic cum into a willing (or not) pretty girl, to make his first Matriarch, he then enthralls millions while building his Soul Forge which he uses to construct his War Fleets that he then uses to make continual War. Now when I refer to Terran boys entering their teens, they tend to get horny, ... Now what horrible things could have occurred during that lost decade before the neo-Progenitor comes of age? Also, from the lore, Nymphs can only be breed by a Progenitor, ... And Nymphs were created by a Progenitor :(Mael'nerak at least, but maybe earlier), ... My question is: were the Nymphs made to help those nasty little monster-kings over those years of puberty and into adulthood? ;-) TTFN

Tom Ray

when are we going to see an update?

Bp Hlpt

Since it is looking more and more like we won't get another installment until the last minute this month, I figured I would throw out some thoughts about how John might deal with Gahl. I know there have been many guesses as to potential matchups, John-Gahl, Sakura-Valeria, or Luna-Valeria, with or without a null zone being involved, but when, where, and how will these be set up? It seems, from the various trophy rooms that have been found, that it at least ends up progenitor vs progenitor, but how does it start? Thrall vs thrall? It must, for Xar's sake. From Larn's tactics, it seems likely that the progenitors usually let the thrall ships battle first while the progenitor stays cloaked until they see a good opening. I have no idea how John will deal with Gahl, especially in time to help Zelig. John has no way to know about Gahl right now. The only way I can see that John will find out Gahl is there is if Lynette tells Alyssa, and how will Lynette hear about it until someone tells her, and how/why will that happen until Gahl is already there, assuming that Gahl doesn't block the communication from Zelig to Lynette? When John does find out, then what? We'll ignore for the moment the problem John has of how to get the Larathyan nation back to working levels and provide protection for them, all in a reasonable amount of time. He won't want to just abandon them when he has just got there. And we'll just have to keep in mind that this kind of problem will occur for each progenitor that John defeats, making the problem exponentially bigger over time. We'll also ignore the fact that the Maliri are busy trying to get Larn's old fleets of ships back to Maliri space, so they will be of no immediate help against Gahl, and Maliri space is currently defenseless. Both of those facts will cause John endless worry. How will John get to Zelig to help? For a wormhole generator to be built by Dana she needs the material. Yes, she has the specs/blueprints for it, but only using the black metal. It can't be made out of CA, AFAIK. MAYBE out of Mael's white metal, but Dana doesn't know how to make that either. She might be able to figure that out once she examines Larn's soulforge, but it won't be instantaneous. So some amount of time will elapse, then however much time it takes to actually build it, IF the right materials are there, and Dana doesn't know what those are at the moment, then however much time it takes to charge the wormhole generator, hopefully less than twelve hours, then, finally, John has the means to get to Zelig's location. Other ways for John to get there? He can go back the way he came. Twenty-six hours or so to travel to Larn's warp gate. He can transmit instructions to the Maliri through Edraele to have it charged by the time he gets there, so that will save some time, but then, once back in Maliri space, he still has to travel from Maliri space to Zelig's location, another 24 hours or more? Either way, miraculous wormhole generator creation, or bat-out-of-hell flying by Alyssa, I can't see John being able to get to Zelig's location in less than 48, or more likely 72, hours, absolute minimum, AFTER he finds out that Gahl is already there. And even IF John does get there, so what? I don't picture Gahl being the type to just casually chat with Zelig during John's travel time. But even if Zelig is still alive, AND Gahl has hung around, (Why would he?), the Invictus currently cannot defeat a progenitor dreadnought in battle, so there is still that problem to solve. Just throwing out ideas, what if John ignores/sacrifices Zelig, or just understands that he cannot get there in time, or finds out that Zelig is already dead, and so decides to try a different approach? We don't know how the warp gates work. When you are at one warp gate, how do you know the "address" of the warp gate at the other end? Do you have to know it, or can you look it up somehow? So far, since Larn was looking for Mael's and Rahn's old gates and couldn't find them, and Gahl built his own as well, it seems you have to already know it somehow, But if John can find out the "address" of Gahl's newest gate in Kirrix space, maybe through Irillith's hacking abilities, he could go directly from Larn's gate to Gahl's newest gate, where Gahl's fleet is, and get there in ~26 hours, days before he could get to Zelig's location. Rahn said he gave John 'tactical acumen' - so the other progenitors do not expect his 'non approved' attacks. So what happens if John just shows up? Will the thralls know he is a progenitor? They won't recognize him by his ship (not a dreadnought), but he's not in a thrall ship either. They'd recognize him through a comm link, but even if they did, and believed it (why is a progenitor not in a dreadnought?), would they just say. "OK, we'll wait until Gahl gets here." Doesn't seem like good battle tactics, but I'm sure that Gahl would insist that he battle John, not the thralls. And once Gahl does show up, do the thralls just sit back and watch? Maybe John attacking the thrall ships first is a good 'non approved' tactic. It would be a hell of a space battle, but between the latest Invictus improvements, Irillith's hacking abilities into thrall ships, Alyssa's/Jade's/Sakura's piloting and fighting abilities, and the surprise factor, I can see John having a very small chance of defeating Gah's fleet and leaving before Gahl can get back. Gahl would find out John was there and battling his fleet, but unless he already had his wormhole generator charged, it would take him 12 hours or more to get back. This also assumes that Gahl hadn't already dealt with Zelig and gone back to join his fleet. Even if Zelig was still alive at that point, I don't think it would occur to Gahl to use Zelig and his fleet as a hostage to get John's attention, because I just don't think that progenitor's think that way. But I do think that Gahl might try to get back if he heard his fleet was being attacked. Or he might decide to fall back and regroup, maybe get another fleet before trying to attack John again. If John can defeat Gahl's fleet and get away, it would probably buy him some time, maybe enough time to have Dana figure out Mael's white metal, get the Invictus updated further, get Larn's fleet back to Maliri space, etc so as to be on more equal footing for future progenitor battles. BUT, and this is a very BIG BUT, would John fight a thrall fleet? The girls don't seem to have a problem, but John wouldn't even fire back at a thrall that was firing directly at him back on Kythshara until he found out it was just a robot. John still sees the thralls as victims, wounded little birds, and he wants to save them all. The closer he gets to the Larathyans and the more time he spends with them, the more he will feel like that, I'm sure. Very admirable, but... Considering the time and space travel necessary, I'm not expecting a "battle" for a while, but who knows? We can only hope.

2ndAndrocentric

Etymology Rant One of my beliefs is in what Jung called "archetypes". I believe strongly in the power of the subconscious being influenced very early by an old book "psychocybernetics" which basically is an old message: form a clear goal in your mind and your subconscious will guide you. Time and again we see something similar in how the psychic powers are learned and it constitutes another thread in TSM. I highly doubt that when Tefler chose names, he was aware of the actual history of the words. He might have chosen "John" for it often being slang for the customer of a prostitute (I do NOT know), but I doubt Tefler actually knows what John really means. Here is a list of some of the actual meanings of names for some of John's team. Perhaps it is all coincidence, lots of coincidences, but we know how John feels about so many coincidences. I believe that a good storyteller's unconcious mind guides him in ways he is not aware. John – Jehovah has favoured, in other words what John often thinks of himself: the luckiest son of a bitch in the galaxy who does not deserve his good fortune. A-Lyssa not insane, ie rational which is appropriate for her as she acts crazy sometimes but in fact is very rational, often more than John. Calara – bright, knowing consistent with her prescience Dana – Not from the Hebrew (God is my judge) but Celtic Not her actual name, Sparks is better and means exactly that, needing no explanation. Dana is a Celtic mother goddess but the etymology is murky beyond that. Rachel – Ewe, a female sheep. Consistent with her very docile nature. Jade – a stone, just as she appears to Alyssa inside...also means a colic, like a stuck gallbladder stone, a real pain. Irillith, Edraele and Tashana: no results on etymology search because I don’t have a Maliri database! Helene – etymology is apparently not clear, possibly the bright one but speculative. Lynette 1570s, "semi-circular partial horseshoe," from French lunette (13c.), literally "little moon," diminutive of lune "moon," from Latin luna (see luna). Later applied to a wide range of objects and ornamentations resembling more or less a crescent moon. This fits because she is half a Lioness having completed the Change but not going to receive the Gift owing to Adm Harris Luna the Maliri does not count because it is Maliri and I have no Maliri etymology source. BTW Marie/Maria, by far THE most popular name of all is a perfect name for women. It means bitter. Find me a truly contented woman and then we can argue.

Bp Hlpt

Isn't it wonderfully fascinating how passionate we can get about discussing people, metals, places, and capabilities that don't exist?

Bp Hlpt

Thoughts about the ralative strengths of CA, black metal, and Mael's white metal. I know all 3 of the metals are getting close. In Ch 142, John was only able to cut a sliver out of Mael's bunker wall, while he had been able to cut all the way through Larn's vambrace with his sword. In Ch 143, against Mael's pyramid while trying to rescue Irillith, Alyssa was able to barely put a hole 2-3 ft wide [the beam as wide as a dinner plate ... then the beam tripled in width] through one wall, even though she had been able to punch a hole through several layers of Larn's shuttle's hull plating big enough for her to walk through, and much quicker. Back in Ch 121, Sakura was only able to plunge her ninjato a few inches into the surface of the foot-thick door to Larn's bridge, which she was then able to shatter with her psychic cold ability. [If she’d struck a titanium door with that amount of force, she would have cut through it like butter.] So I don't think titanium will be of any help in improving any of the metals. In Ch 120, Larn had been unable to break into the Raptor with a psychic axe, but his thralls had then been able to shatter the crystal canopy with ease with their underslung cannons. I believe I remember Dana and John agreeing, somewhere in Ch 143 or 144 or so, that the orbital defenses around Kythshara, both the white metal they were made of and the weapons they contained, were not strong enough to keep a progenitor and his dreadnought at bay, hence the pyramid trap for the progenitor on the surface, but were meant to destroy any thrall type ships. The field that drove the thralls mad would keep the progenitor from bringing them with him to the surface in his dreadnought, forcing him to deal with the pyramid alone. And, of course, the shuttle's black bed was destroyed with Helene's love. The white metal it was turned into is NOT the same as Mael's white metal. So, what can we gather from all of that? The black and white metals are definitely close, and from reviewing the above I honestly am not sure which is stronger. There hasn't been any true direct comparison of the two using metal of the same thickness and dimensions, in the same application, and against the same weapons or psychic ability wielded by the same person at the same level of their power. Sometimes psychic ability seems a better weapon against one of the metals, other times not. I'm sure which psychic ability and who wields it are factors. Though I don't guess that Larn's axe was a true test of CA, but rather against Dana's runes, which even John and Alyssa can't easily defeat psychically. I don't think those tests of John's sword and Sakura's ninjato were true tests of CA against the black or white metal either, because of the addition of psychic and physical strength being employed. In both cases, the weapons were also both runed, so there is that to consider as well. As to how CA matches up at this point? I think it is still the weakest of the three, even 35-times shaped. For me, the true measure is that neither John nor Dana believe that it is up to being used in certain very demanding applications. Dana hasn't even tried. She knows it won't work. I'm hoping that Dana will work her magic and figure out a way to start with something equivalent to the white metal, which requires a forge AFAIK and is NOT multi-shaped, add something to make it shapeable, and end up with something better than either the white or black metal, ie stronger, yet thinner, lighter, and less mass, and not require a forge, though one could be used. A soul forge, or Mael's equivalent, seems to be able to spit out whatever parts are needed, which is fine, but Dana and John have agreed that being able to make what they need on-the-fly on-board ship has some huge advantages at times.

Dads Gonna Kill Me

I still just wonder if the answer is Helene. Can she tap into the souls that are bound into TBE black metal, can she in a cathartic way release them all from their pain, show them love(?) ... Can their sacrifices to their previous progenitor be used to create the new white as she releases their souls...

FractalF

Can a Progenitor claim multiple Thrall races? Or given their proclivity to just blow up planets, would they just commit genocide and not bother claiming a second race?

Bp Hlpt

Another thought to keep us all amused. I think we've agreed that Gahl most likely found out about the name "Baen'thelas" through Larn: Larn > Xar > Gahl I do believe that Xar absorbing 'spirits' after his minions, eg Larn, are dead, includes absorbing their knowledge, but how did Larn learn of the name  Baen'thelas? In Ch 121, while Larn was addressing John aboard Larn's dreadnought, he said: "Ah... Admiral John Blake, Lion of the Federation has finally awoken from his slumbers," Larn'kelnar said with a mocking smile. "What a mouthful... For the sake of brevity, I'll just call you John." It would have been appropriate for Larn to have thrown in the name Baen'thelas there as well, if he knew it, but he never brought it up anywhere in that chapter, nor anywhere else that I have seen. But just because he didn't bring it up doesn't mean he didn't know it. We really don't know what all that Larn knew. Larn had been in the area under the shroud for quite awhile, since before John went to Karron and hooked up with Alyssa and "come into his own" much less become Baen'thelas. Larn could have had various communication systems bugged throughout the space under the shroud. He seems to have had relations with most of the "bad" species in the area in order to stir up trouble (I don't know about the Kirrix), and had his spies in the Terran federation. But I don't remember John being referred to as Baen'thelas by anyone other than the Maliri, or John referring to himself as that outside of the hearing of the Maliri. Then again, Larn had placed a tracker on the Invictus, could he have had it bugged as well? Is that what Faye had found? Is that why, and why at that time, Larn even went to Arcadia and found Rahn? Had he heard that John was heading there to search for Jessica? Once he knew John was going there it would have been easy for him to beat John there by days using his wormhole generator. Why else the "coincidence" of them all being there at the same time? So who knows? If not through Larn, I don't know how Xar/Gahl knew. Xar's information sources are a bit of a mystery.

IanBio

SInce we are clearly all going slightly insane with the tension of waiting - here is my tuppence worth (sorry my American friends - look up tuppence!

IanBio

I still wonder what frightened Mael so much about the terrans he created that he put a permanent quantum destroyer in place with an AI sentinel to watch out for trouble. There is something rather major about the Terran race. I wonder if this is when we see it emerge. One random idea, I wonder if Alyssa can "claim" the whole race as she is already a Terran matriarch - sending a psychic pulse across the whole planet as happened with the Lathythrans. Then she might focus their innate psychic power and defeat, or at least delay, Garn.

Mike Saxion

Maybe Tefler does want a paycheck this month.

Sceptre

I think he must be trying to finish the entire chapter and because it's a massive battle chapter, it's taking extra time. I'm pretty nervous for this chapter if I'm being honest. The fight with Larn was costly. I still long for Faye's return, but this fight has the potential to be colossal by comparison. The potential is also there, that we may come out of it missing more of our lovely lionesses. I'm not sure I'm eager to go there. Let's let him take his time and get this chapter right. A lot's riding on it.

Michael56Smith

.424: Oh boy, we are down to the final week of April, ... in this week Tef must finish at least the remains of the 20K words on chapter #150.3 and at least a partial chapter more to get a paycheck this month, ... and possibly more, ... he could surprise us by completing #150.4 as well this month, ... maybe? ;-) TTFN

TF4EVA

is it too early to F5?

Brian Ward Hutchins

I would not start the F5 until Friday afternoon - it may be a Saturday night upload.

Chicken

I suspect it will be sooner than that as Tef has to get out the rest of this chapter and at least the start of the next for a payment this month. Fingers crossed we will see it “soon”

AzureReader

Where these subsections of ch. 150 start and end is somewhat arbitrary. I suspect Tef will write as much as he can and call the last few paragraphs the beginning of 150.4. There is always hoping Tef is working on both 150.4 and 150.5 at the same time for the sake of continuity and will drop them both before the end of the month.

Michael56Smith

.432: Yes TF4EVA, we are there (here?), ... On early morning on 04/27/22, Tef released the completed chapter #150.3, and he promises a #150.4 before the groundbreaking chapter #150 is over with. ;-) TTFN

TF007

F5…F5…F5