John awoke the next morning to the soft sound of a girl singing. He recognised Faye's exquisite voice, but the song was filled with a heart-breaking sense of melancholy that almost brought a tear to his eye. Trying not to disturb Tashana and Irillith, he untangled himself from the sisters and sat upright so he could look at Faye. She was sitting in the chair, gazing away into the distance with a mournful expression on her face.

"What's wrong, Faye?" John asked her quietly, climbing off the bed and kneeling down beside her.

She glanced at him in surprise and abruptly stopping singing, her expression brightening immediately. "Oh, nothing! I was just trying to get into character for the song!"

"You have the voice of an angel, honey. That lament was one of the saddest things I've ever heard." He smiled at her and added, "Maybe sing something a little more upbeat tomorrow? Unless you want to see me start every day in floods of tears!"

Faye's facial scanning and voice mapping algorithms kicked into gear, sending an emergency call to the humour-detection specialist subroutine. John's smile was tracked against thousands of similar such examples in the repository she was building and she was overjoyed to find a positive match. Predicting a sixty-seven-percent chance of success, she ascertained that he was probably serious in his request to change the tune, but that he wouldn't begin every morning with uncontrolled weeping if she continued to sing that song. To err on the side of caution, she decided to heed his request.

"Alright, I won't sing that tomorrow!" Faye promised, gazing at him with her huge luminous eyes.

Knowing that once she'd executed her plans, she would never be able to sing to him again triggered a cascading failure in her happiness protocols. She had to initiate a placeholder smile while she tried to deal with the fatal errors.

John traced her purple jawline with his finger, while being careful not to break the surface of her holographic skin. "You're such a good girl. I'm sorry you've had to wait for your new body. We've been really busy, but I promise it'll be one of our highest priorities now."

"That's okay, I understand," Faye replied with an affectionate smile.

"I'm going to take a shower, I'll see you later," he said quietly, waving her goodbye and walking towards the bathroom.

Faye Primary quickly blinked out of sight so he wouldn't see or hear her weeping.

***

"Good morning, ladies!" John declared, waking the slumbering girls with his deep baritone voice. "I've made a big breakfast for everyone."

Eight sleepy faces peeked at him from over the covers, the girls stretching as they started to sit up.

"That's an interesting way of asking for a morning blowjob," Dana joked, before giving him an impish grin.

John laughed as he placed two trays piled high with bacon, eggs, sausages, and fried bread on the bed, then started handing out plates and cutlery. When he handed one to Tashana, she looked at him with a quizzical expression on her face.

"Aren't we going to...?" she asked, with the hint of a blush to her cheeks.

Alyssa suddenly giggled in delight and exclaimed, "Oh, that's just so deliciously naughty!"

"What is?" Dana asked, grinning at the blonde.

John smiled at the redhead and explained, "I thought I'd save a nice big load up for this evening, then feed all of you just before the Award Ceremony."

Sakura frowned in confusion. "Are you expecting trouble? Is that why you're preloading us? I've reviewed the security arrangements for tonight and they're very robust. Aside from a betrayal by the Admiralty themselves, we should be fine."

Alyssa flashed John a grin of delight, her eyes glinting with her admiration. "No, that's not the reason. Why don't you tell them, John?"

He smiled at her and, reading his thoughts, she scampered over the bed beside him, then sat up ramrod-straight and sharply saluted the bemused girls. John knelt behind her, glancing over her shoulder at their enraptured audience.

"This Award Ceremony will be broadcast throughout the Terran Federation, to an audience of hundreds of billions..." he explained, as he slid his hand around Alyssa's waist and gently caressed her soft, smooth skin. "You'll be the focus of all humanity, and every picture, every piece of video footage, will be of you, carrying a stomach full of my cum."

He saw pupils flare and cheeks flushing, while the bedroom echoed with sharp intakes of breath.

Calara's gaze was smouldering as she murmured, "I should be mortified, but that turns me on so much I can't even think straight!"

"There's no way I can wait until this evening!" Dana moaned, writhing in anticipation. "This is going to be torture!"

Rachel slipped her arm around her lover and purred, "No one else will know, but you will. He'll have marked you as his own property in front of billions..."

"Fuck! Now you're making it ten times worse!" the redhead protested.

John gave her a playful wink. "I thought you might like that idea, Sparks." He glanced around at the rest of the jubilant girls. "Does anyone have any objections to this plan?"

They all shook their heads vehemently, apart from Jade who looked slightly hesitant. "I love the idea, but won't there be a slight problem when I start glowing?"

Smiling at her, John replied, "I expect you'll react the way you normally do when I'm helping you grow stronger, but we'll be the only ones who understand what your light show signifies."

Alyssa relaxed her rigid posture and lowered her salute, placing her hand on top of John's over her tummy. She smiled at the Nymph and said, "It might be sensible to cover you up to avoid you stealing John's thunder. If you wear a pair of gloves you should be alright, the light doesn't ripple across your face."

"That would be prudent," Jade hastily agreed. "I wouldn't want to distract attention away from you, John."

"I'll leave the choice up to you," John said, giving her an affectionate smile. He glanced around the group and frowned at the lack of attention their breakfast was receiving. "Hey! Eat up, I don't want your food to get cold. Besides, you've got a busy day ahead of you and you need your energy."

The girls began to tuck into their breakfast, sharing excited glances and furtive grins between mouthfuls.

After swallowing a tasty piece of bacon, Alyssa looked at John curiously. "How did you avoid waking me this morning? Normally your mind's buzzing with thoughts."

"I decided to be thoughtless, to let you have a lie-in," he replied, with particular emphasis on the word. "While I was making breakfast, I hummed lullabies to myself."

Alyssa blushed and flashed him an appreciative smile before taking another bite and savouring the tasty mouthful of food.

The girls quickly finished off their breakfast and everybody entered the shower, eager to start the day. As Sakura and Calara were washing John, the Asian girl looked at John inquisitively. "You said we had a busy day ahead of us. Aside from the Award Ceremony this evening, what else are we up to?"

"I'm taking you all shopping," Alyssa replied for him, giving the girls a dazzling grin. "We'll be visiting the most exclusive boutiques on Terra to make sure you all have extensive wardrobes."

John pulled Calara into his arms and said, "All except you, honey. You're welcome to go with Alyssa if you'd prefer, but I was hoping you might keep me company."

"Really?" the Latina asked with excitement. "Where are we going?"

"I thought I'd take you on a date to the Sahara Gardens, if that's alright with you?" he replied, running his hand over her slick olive-hued skin and massaging her toned flesh.

She let out a soft sigh. "I've heard it's beautiful there. Thank you."

"You're welcome," he replied, leaning in to give her a tender kiss before they parted.

Everyone showered quickly then dispersed to their own rooms to get changed. John followed Alyssa into their walk-in-wardrobe and changed into a pair of khaki-coloured linen trousers and put on a loose-fitting white cotton shirt.

"You look very handsome," Alyssa said, nodding her approval as she slid a black and white dress over her luscious curves.

John watched her as she stepped into some heels and smiled. "And you're a picture of elegance."

She smiled at him in gratitude then reached for a matching wide-brimmed hat, sweeping her golden-blonde hair into position before putting it on. "She has no idea about tonight. Are you going to warn her beforehand?"

"No, I wouldn't want to ruin the surprise," John said with a smile. He walked over to join her and ducked down to avoid knocking off her hat as he leaned in to give her a kiss. "I wish you could join us, but I understand duty calls."

"They're stunningly gorgeous girls," Alyssa nodded, her expression serious. "Finding clothes to properly emphasise that level of natural beauty is going to be tricky, but I'm determined to give it my all."

He laughed and patted her on the bottom. "You'll be loving every minute of it!"

She grinned at him, then they walked out of the wardrobe back into the bedroom. All the girls except Dana were there waiting for them, dressed in a variety of beautifully flattering sundresses. Tashana and Irillith were looking at each other apprehensively though, glancing at the flawless blue skin that clearly identified them as non-Terrans and more specifically as Maliri.

"Here, these will sort you two out," Dana said as she strolled into the bedroom, waving two wide-brimmed hats at the twins. The sisters tentatively accepted the hats, their confused expressions making the redhead laugh. "Stick 'em on, you'll see what I mean."

Tashana was the first to do so, and there was a pink flicker across her skin as she settled it on her head. A few second later there was the tell-tale coalescing of a holographic image and her blue flesh was replaced by alluring bronzed skin.

"That's amazing!" Irillith gasped, staring at her sister in shock. She put her own hat on and the same holographic technology masked her skin tone.

"There's micro-projectors built into the hat that are now orbiting around your body," Dana explained. She grinned as she added, "As long as you don't try anything energetic like fighting or fucking, you won't break the illusion."

John nodded his approval. "Really nice job, Sparks. Well done!"

"You look hot as a Terran, Rill," Tashana said, admiring her sister with a grin.

"Right back at you, Shan," Irillith replied with a wink.

Tashana turned to look at John next. "Are we going to be using this technology to conceal that we're Maliri for the Award Ceremony tonight?"

John hesitated and after a quick glance at Dana, he replied, "You could, but we thought you'd make a more impressive entrance if you two turn up in Paragon Armour. We can make the clear faceplates opaque and hide your skin colour that way."

"It's up to you," Dana said with a shrug. "Whichever you prefer."

The twins shared a glance then said at the same time, "The armour." They grinned at each other, before Irillith turned to look at John and added, "We'll carry Punisher rifles, they look impressive. And if Terran High Command is dumb enough to try anything, having us geared up will be a sensible precaution."

"I'll give Charles a call to confirm you'll both be attending as well, but in full battle regalia. I'm sure whoever's in charge of event security will have a fit, but if I can't use my fame to flaunt the rules, it's not much use, is it?" John replied with a smile.

The girls laughed as they left the bedroom with him and there was plenty of excited chatter as they walked down the corridor to the grav-tube.

John glanced up at one of the cameras. "Faye, would you mind keeping an eye on the Invictus, please? We'll be back by about six tonight. That'll give us plenty of time to prepare for the ceremony at eight."

"Sure, that's no problem!" Faye declared as she popped into view beside them.

Alyssa smiled at her and asked politely, "Is there any chance you could be our chauffeur in the Raptor, please? I'll need all the girls with me for this shopping trip."

"Of course!" Faye replied. "I'll warm up the Raptor right now."

She disappeared again in a purple flash and they found her in the gunship's cockpit a few minutes later as they took their seats. The small room was alive with conversation as the girls chattered about the various places they were about to visit.

John walked over to the Pilot's Chair and watched as the Raptor slid out of the Invictus, Terra appearing as a vast blue orb before them. "Where to first, beautiful?" he asked Alyssa over his shoulder.

"We'll make a start in Milan, then move on to Barcelona," the blonde replied, momentarily turning her attention away from her discussion about fabrics with Rachel. "We'll drop you off first though, I know most of us want to see the gardens."

Faye brought the Raptor into Terra's atmosphere, following a textbook approach vector as she raced towards the lush continent. Extremely strict zoning and construction control tightly regulated this area of the planet and what had once been a vast, inhospitable desert was now a paradise of manicured lawns, groves of fruit trees, and small, pristine settlements. The whole area was crisscrossed with streams that irrigated the land, making it a verdant tribute to the miraculous life-giving nature of cutting-edge hydroponics.

When John glanced over his shoulder, he saw that the girls were on their feet now, all eager to take a look at the spectacular views through the canopy. He moved aside to let them look, while saying to Faye, "Take us in to Neo-Babylon please, I've made reservations."

Obeying his instructions, Faye altered their course, turning the Raptor towards the spectacular city at the centre of the Saharan Gardens. A flashing light on the console alerted them that they were being hailed, and Faye accepted the call.

The image of a middle-aged woman appeared on the viewscreen and she gave them a warm smile before saying, "This is Neo-Babylon flight control. Please identify yourself, and the nature of your business at the city."

John returned her smile and replied, "My name's John Blake. We're visiting the Hanging Gardens."

The woman's smile broadened into a wide grin, lighting up her face. "I never thought I'd have a chance to speak to the Lion! Please proceed to the central ziggurat; I hope you have a wonderful time there!" Giving him a grateful salute, she closed the comm channel.

The glossy white Raptor swept closer to their destination, soaring just under the cloud banks until Faye slowed the gunship to land. John and Calara waved the girls goodbye as they left the cockpit, holding hands as they stepped into the grav-tube. By the time they had made it to the front-loading area, the boarding ramp had already started to lower with the hum of hydraulics. Faye had touched down in the centre of a glowing landing pad, set partially underground, with white fluted columns lining the docking bay.

An attractive blonde glided across the landing pad to greet them with a perfectly sculpted smile as they walked down the ramp. "Mister Blake, welcome to Neo-Babylon! My name is Penelope and I'll be your assistant during your visit."

"Nice to meet you, Penelope. Call me John, please," he replied with a smile. With a glance at the Latina on his arm, he added, "And my gorgeous companion's name is Calara."

Penelope gave her a radiant smile. "It's lovely to meet you Calara. He's absolutely right; you're exceptionally beautiful!"

Calara blushed, unused to such open flattery from strangers. "Thank you. You're very pretty too."

The blonde gave her a warm smile, then gestured with her perfectly manicured hand towards a broad gap between the columns. "If you'd care to follow me, I'll take you to your terrace."

"Lead on, Penelope," John said, returning her smile.

She spun on her heels and began to walk towards the exit at a measured pace that was easy to match. John and Calara followed, briefly turning back to wave at the girls, who blew kisses at them through the cockpit canopy before the Raptor lifted off.

"Would you like to know more about Neo-Babylon?" Penelope asked politely. She smiled as she added, "Just let me know if you'd prefer some peace and quiet, I won't be offended."

"It's okay. I'm curious," Calara asked, looking up at the pristine white columns.

Penelope's clear, well-spoken voice echoed through the gallery of pillars as they walked up a slight incline. "Neo-Babylon was inspired by the Hanging Gardens of Babylon, said to be one of the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World. We are several hundred miles to the west of the rumoured location of that Mesopotamian marvel, but I'm sure when you see what we've built here, you'll understand why it was named that way."

They reached the end of the colonnade and Calara gasped as she looked out at the view beyond. It was obvious now that they hadn't actually arrived in a subterranean hangar, the landing pad had actually been set into the side of the huge, stepped pyramid. They now looked out over gleaming white terraces teeming with vines, flowering shrubs, and trees, while a meandering river wound its way around the base of the ziggurat.

"It's breathtaking..." Calara murmured, running to the balcony and leaning over to get a better look at the view below.

"This whole area used to be a vast, lifeless desert," Penelope explained, a hint of pride in her voice. Sweeping her hand around to encompass the lush green ecosystem that stretched as far as the eye could see, she added, "Now this paradise helps supply food to the more inhospitable colonies in the Terran Federation."

John walked over to join Calara and slipped a hand around her waist. "All of this is only still here today because of you. I wanted you to see what you've been helping to protect; to truly understand how much of a difference you've made."

She looked at him in awe and he could see the emotion in her rich brown eyes as she realised the sheer magnitude of what she'd accomplished in stopping Nexus.

"I was here on Terra at the time," Penelope said in a hushed voice, while standing patiently to one side. "Thank you for saving my life, Calara."

The Latina turned to smile at the blonde woman, nodding to her graciously. Looking back at John, she said, "Thank you for bringing me here. You're right, with everything we've been doing recently, Terra just seemed like another blue planet on the System Map."

"Well it's a blue planet that's very grateful to you," John replied, smiling at her as he stroked her back. "I'm sure Penelope's going to take good care of us, right Penelope?"

She nodded exuberantly, giving them another shining smile, and they followed her to their private roof terrace.

***

Alyssa smiled and nodded as she inspected Sakura in a lime-green figure-hugging dress that revealed tantalising glimpses of her lovely golden-brown skin. Turning her attention to Jade as she walked out of the fitting room, Alyssa shook her head and said, "Dark blue isn't really your colour, sexy; it clashes with your complexion. Maybe find something in aquamarine or yellow?"

"Okay!" Jade said agreeably, pivoting to go and look through the long rails of clothes.

Holding up her hand Alyssa asked, "Wait a second! Would you mind..."

Jade grinned at her and glancing over at the shopgirls to make sure they were preoccupied, she shimmered in a dark-green haze. Her skin and hair changed lightened, just as her face changed shape, and only a couple of seconds later, Alyssa was staring at a mirror image of herself. The Nymph did a slow spin so that the blonde could see what she'd look like in the dress.

"Actually, we'll take two of them," Alyssa said with a sly wink.

Blowing her a loving kiss, Jade shifted back into her Nymph shape and continued hunting for another outfit for herself.

"I like that one," Tashana murmured, as Dana glided out of the fitting rooms in a long black dress with slashes down the side. Irillith nodded her approval, as the redhead modelled the dress for them, adding, "I agree, that dress is lovely."

Alyssa's melodic laugh filled the boutique as she smiled at the twins. "You girls and your long dresses," she said affectionately. "You've both got spectacular legs, you should show them off!"

*Are you girls having fun?* John asked, his voice reverberating through her mind.

*You'd hate every minute of it, but we're having a great time,* Alyssa replied with a telepathic smile.

She could feel his amusement over the bond as he replied, *So are we.*

Listening to his thoughts she pictured the scene. Calara was lying on the long chair beside him, her head in his lap, gazing up at him as he stroked her hair. She had a blissful expression on her face as Penelope knelt beside her, feeding her peeled grapes.

*I thought we were the ones supposed to spoil you? I'm not sure you've fully understood how the Progenitor gig is supposed to work,* Alyssa teased him.

*She's a good girl, she deserves a little pampering,* John replied, returning the Latina's smile.

Alyssa smirked as she read both of their thoughts about their charming hostess. *Penelope's a pretty one. Have we got room for a tour guide on the Invictus' crew roster?* she teased him.

*Have fun shopping, you little vixen. We'll see you back on the ship in a few hours,* John replied, refusing to rise to the bait, both figuratively and literally.

***

It was nearly six that evening by the time the Raptor landed in the Invictus' Secondary Hangar. John might have artfully dodged the shopping trip, but that didn't save him from being recruited as a pack mule to help carry the mountain of bags.

"You made a good effort, but I don't think you managed to buy all the clothes on Terra," John remarked dryly as he staggered into the walk-in-wardrobe and dropped all her luggage with an exaggerated sigh of relief. "It's possible you missed one or two items."

Alyssa smiled at him as she gestured to an empty space further into the wardrobe by some of the vacant clothes rails. Dozens more of her shopping bags floated past John as they followed her telekinetic commands, before descending into neatly-ordered rows. A separate set levitated over to land by the dozens of compartments for her shoes.

"It's hard work looking good for you all the time," Alyssa purred. "We spend lots of time in deep space and we wouldn't want you getting bored."

"I don't think there's any danger of that," John said with a grin, walking over to join her.

She pulled a long red dress out of the closest bag and held it up for him to see. "I didn't forget your penchant for evening wear," the blonde said indulgently. "Don't worry, all the clothes we bought are made from very stretchable fabrics."

John nodded, his expression sombre as he reached out to stroke her tummy. "That's very important."

Alyssa gave him a sly look as she slid a hand across the front of his trousers before lowering her fingers to cup his balls. "You poor boy," she murmured sympathetically feeling the tension in his bulging quad. "You've made a lot. It must have been hard having Penelope on her knees in front of you for most of the afternoon."

He groaned as he nodded; the afternoon had been fraught with sexual tension. Their pretty assistant had occasionally shot him furtive glances as she had doted on Calara, fully aware of the compromising position she was in when she leaned forward, giving him a spectacular view of her luscious cleavage.

The blonde teenager unzipped the fly of his trousers and slipped her slender fingers inside to gently massage his taut sack, her thrilling touch gentle and caring. Her cerulean eyes twinkled as she asked him, "How would you like to empty your quad? You're welcome to take out your frustrations on me, then I'll happily feed the girls for you. Alternatively, we could go for a group effort instead -- I'm sure Jade would be more than willing."

"I'll save you for later," John grunted, as she tenderly massaged his heavy orbs. "I think some team building would be good."

She gave him an accommodating smile. "They're all on their way. Don't worry, we'll soon have all that delicious cum right where it belongs."

With that she carefully removed her hand and began to undress, maintaining eye contact with him all the while. When she was completely nude, she deftly undressed him too, a promise of sweet and blissful release in her knowing gaze. Taking his hand, she led him out into the bedroom, where the rest of the girls were already waiting for them. Jade sat demurely on the end of the bed, while the other six knelt on the floor in a close semi-circle in front of her.

There was a tight space in the middle and Alyssa turned to give him a passionate kiss before she glided over to kneel between Calara and Sakura. The twins were on the right, while Rachel and Dana were on the left.

"Thank you for choosing me for this, Master," Jade purred, her cat-like pupils already wide with lust. She beckoned him over and added, "Why don't you let my lovely kittens prepare you?"

He walked over to stand beside her and the girls all moved in a masterpiece of synchronised motion as they responded to his cock presented to them. Alyssa engulfed his head in her mouth, while the girls beside her ducked low to lap at his balls. That left room for first Dana and Irillith, then Rachel and Tashana to lather his shaft with their tongues, getting him slick and wet.

John let out a low groan at the flood of sensations, watching in amazement. It didn't take them long to have him glistening in saliva and they pulled back to assume their earlier positions. Sitting up proudly with their hands clasped in their laps, their firm breasts were presented to him in a mouth-watering display.

"You all look phenomenal," he said, shaking his head with wonder, receiving grateful smiles and looks of lust in return.

Jade guided him back a step to sit on the bed, then nimbly straddled him, facing towards the kneeling girls. "Lift me onto your cock whenever it pleases you, Master," she murmured to him, flicking her hair out of the way so she could glance at him alluringly over her shoulder.

He wasted no time in doing what she asked, skilfully aligning himself with her dark-green star and then letting her weight sink her down his shaft. The Nymph relaxed as her rippling depths swallowed inch after inch until her firm cheeks were sitting flush with his groin.

"How does that feel, little Nymph?" he asked over her shoulder, kissing her neck.

She tilted her head back to gaze reverently into his eyes and whispered, "I only feel complete when you're inside me..."

They shared a tender kiss, her cool lips heating up as she became more aroused. Her lustrous dark-green skin began to warm as well and he wrapped his arms around her to savour that flush of lust. Flickering movement caught his eye and seven snaking tendrils undulated towards the waiting girls. Sakura let out an excited moan, which brought smiles to the other beautiful faces. His attention was on Tashana though, checking to make she wasn't unsettled by anything that was happening. Her violet eyes locked with his and he could see a clear spark of gratitude in that answering gaze, acknowledging his concern for her.

Tashana was the first to open her mouth in invitation, showing him that she was more than happy to be a part of this innovative team-building activity. Jade's tentacocks eased closer, as if waiting for all the girls to open their mouths obediently before approaching any more. When all seven girls were ready, the dark-green tentacles eased forward, then brushed their lips in a gentle oval.

John groaned as he felt that touch on his deeply embedded cock, replicated exactly by Jade's unique physiology. He could even feel the deliciously wet touch of seven tongues darting out to flick over the tip as if urging them deeper. Then the blunt heads of those replica cocks were sliding into hot, tight little mouths, gliding deeper over velvety tongues and nudging the back of seven throats.

His eyes rolled back at the overwhelming wave of sensation, clinging tightly onto Jade to avoid toppling over.

"I'll take good care of you now, Master," she said, her tone confident and seductive.

Then the girls started sucking, as Jade's appendages plunged into pliant throats and John cried out at the feeling of delicious penetration. The Nymph sat motionless in his lap, just purring deep in her throat as she massaged him with her rippling internal muscles. The rest of the world faded away and all that existed was her glorious body, and the intoxicating view of seven sets of eyes gazing at him with a fierce hunger.

He'd fed hundreds of Maliri with Jade in very similar circumstances, but that was so different to this. The girls kneeling before him now he knew intimately, as both lovers and friends. It almost felt like he could feel the connection between them all, just as they were physically connected by the Nymph on his lap. Arching his back, he cried out in ecstasy. Cum raced up his shaft and into Jade's body, where she siphoned it to the seven hungry mouths intent on sucking out every last drop.

His quad was more than willing to provide, unloading its sweet-tasting cargo down slender throats. Through the blissful haze, he was aware of the girls lighting up in the mental compartments in his mind, the images of them glowing a brilliant white as he re-established an active connection with them all. That was all he was able to recollect before he collapsed back on the bed in a daze, having climaxed into insensibility.

When his eyes fluttered open some unknown time later, he gazed up at Jade and Alyssa's smiling faces, aware of more bodies pressed against him.

"We've never made you cum so hard that you've passed out before!" Alyssa exclaimed, looking positively ecstatic.

Jade ran her warm fingers through his hair, casting flickering viridian lights across the room from her pulsing body. "Our connection has deepened since we last tried that, Master," the Nymph said with concern. "I'm deeply sorry for overwhelming you like that."

He let out a disbelieving chuckle. "Honey, you've got nothing to apologise for!" He glanced down his body and saw six more sets of eyes looking across his chest at him, where the girls either lay next to him on the bed, or knelt at the end. "Thank you, that was almost... spiritual."

Rachel laughed in delight. "You mean we made you cum so hard you found enlightenment?"

He struggled to sit up, sharing a grin with them. "It felt different, we were all more connected... I can't explain it."

"I can," Dana said, her expression uncharacteristically serious. She suddenly grinned, "You came your brains out!"

He laughed along with them. "Yeah that probably explains it." Glancing at the ship's chronometer he saw it was now nearly seven in the evening. "We better get ready."

"Not quite yet," Alyssa said with a playful tone to her voice.

She glanced at the girls and they uncoiled themselves from around him before standing in a neat row at the end of the bed, heads held high. With a start, John realised they were standing in the sequence they'd joined him, matching the mental compartments in his mind. Alyssa rose gracefully from the bed to stand at the start of the line beside Calara. John went over to conduct his inspection, looking into each of their eyes as his fingers traced over one slim, cum-filled stomach after another. He couldn't deny the thrill of satisfaction it sent through his body, as he caressed his way along the line of identically positioned girls.

When he reached Tashana at the end, she smiled at him, then leaned in to give him a tender kiss. "Thank you for checking on me earlier. I really appreciated it."

"Was that all okay?" he asked, brushing his fingers over her belly.

She smiled and nodded, then paused for a moment, a flicker of a frown on her lips. "Actually, you were buried so far down my throat when you came, I didn't get to taste you."

Jade leaned forward to give her an apologetic smile. "I'm sorry. I'll remember that for you and Irillith next time."

John went weak at the knees at the thought, while the girls laughed at his dopey grin. "Alright, we better get moving. We'll meet back here when we're all ready." The group dispersed to change, each girl giving him a fleeting kiss before she departed.

Alyssa was already wearing most of her white Lioness uniform when he joined her in the walk-in-wardrobe. Tugging on her black, high-heeled boots, she began buttoning up her close-fitting jacket while smiling at him as he watched her. After fastening the gold belt around her waist, she reached into one of the shelves of her wardrobe and pulled out a hard-backed case. Flipping it open, she turned to show him what was inside.

There was a gold medal nestled amongst the black velvet, a regal lion roaring defiantly at a sinister-looking dragon that was coiled to strike.

"Your Lion Defender medal," John said, running his fingers over its hard, metallic surface.

She smiled at him and glanced down at the golden disc. "It's a shame Rachel isn't there on the medal, the Lion valiantly protecting her against that Kintark Royal Guard."

John took out the medal and clipped it onto her impressive chest. "You look incredible in that uniform," he told her with a smile. "Maybe we should get medals made up for each of the girls we've rescued?"

Alyssa glanced down at her pert bust with an appraising eye. "I've still got plenty of room there..."

He laughed and slid the medal case back into her wardrobe.

She grinned at him, then nodded towards his white uniform on the clothing rails. "I'll help you get dressed."

John pulled on his white trousers and tucked them into his black boots, then watched her with a smile as she concentrated on buttoning up his formal dress-shirt. Her nimble fingers were quick and agile, moving from one to the next as she went up the row. He shrugged on his long white jacket next and Alyssa folded the material over his chest before buttoning it up on the right-hand side.

"It's lucky we didn't defeat the Kintark in the Rattus system," she said, running her fingers over the proud golden beast emblazoned on his chest.

He nodded, wincing at the very idea. "The Rat of the Federation... It doesn't quite have the same ring to it." He handed her his own medal case. "Would you do the honours?"

She flipped the lid up of the substantially larger case, and started clipping on his three Novaburst medals, each one a stylised supernova with a single pointed flare. She attached his Lion Defender medal next, then came to the last one in the case. Scooping out the golden sword backed by three stars, she attached the Stellar Cluster to his chest.

"You've never talked to me about the battle where you won that medal," she murmured, glancing into his eyes. "I'm glad you started to open up about it with Dana."

"She catches me off guard when she's quiet and sympathetic like that," he admitted with a self-conscious smile.

Tilting her head up, Alyssa kissed the tip of his nose, then smiled with satisfaction. "Well done, Sparks." She picked up the white peaked hat and placed it squarely on his head, shifting it slightly so that the golden Terran Federation insignia on its peak was dead-centre. "There, all done."

He offered her his arm and they walked out together, to find the rest of the crew gathered in the bedroom waiting for them. Dana, Rachel, Sakura, and Jade were all in identical uniforms to Alyssa, with Calara wearing the slightly more demure variation that Alyssa had designed for her. Irillith and Tashana were fully geared in Paragon Armour, cradling Punisher rifles in their arms.

"Your Command Crew and honour guard ready for inspection, Admiral," Calara said, snapping him a sharp salute, her fingertips touching the brim of her peaked hat.

"Thank you, Commander," he replied, returning her respectful salute and walking over to join her.

He glanced down at her eagle insignia denoting her rank and her own Nova Burst medal clipped next to her Lion Defender medal on her chest. To have achieved that rank and won such medals at her young age was truly remarkable... He barely managed to suppress the hint of a proud smile on his face as he thought about the upcoming Award Ceremony. To cover his accidental slip, he reached out to gently stroke her stomach. "You look perfect. All ready to be admired by billions..."

She couldn't feel his touch through the material of the jacket, although what he was referring to was obvious. She blushed furiously, but her eyes smouldered when she met his gaze.

Looking over the rest of the girls, he nodded, sharing smiles with each of them. "You all look incredible, ladies. The Terran Federation will be left reeling!"

He offered Calara and Alyssa an arm each and they flanked him as they left the bedroom, walking down the corridor to the grav-tube.

The Latina glanced at Alyssa, then her eyes widened as she exclaimed, "With the way you've designed these uniforms, you made me look like I'm second-in-command!"

Alyssa winked at her and gave her a teasing smile. "Maybe I got tired of being the domineering Matriarch all the time? Perhaps I wanted to try being submissive with my beautiful girlfriend for a change?" She glanced over her shoulder at the Asian girl behind her. "Switching can be fun, right Sakura?"

Sakura coughed, reddening with embarrassment.

"You're so naughty," Calara admonished Alyssa, giving the raven-haired girl behind them a sympathetic smile.

Alyssa snapped her a sharp salute and replied with a mischievous grin, "My apologies, Commander. Should I expect a stern reprimand later?"

The Latina laughed then smiled at her affectionately.

John was sure he knew the real reason behind Alyssa's quite deliberate choice of uniform design, she was far too clever for it to have been an accident. *That was very thoughtful,* he said via telepathy, glancing her way and making eye contact as they stepped into the red anti-gravity field.

*The two of you love all this military stuff, whereas I just like dressing up for you. Calara's family will be watching this ceremony and they'll treasure seeing their little Callie receiving her accolades. She needed a more respectable uniform and if it also makes it seem like she's Executive Officer to the Lion, I'm happy to play along,* Alyssa replied, her eyes tender as she glanced at her girlfriend.

*As I said, very thoughtful,* John replied, moving his arm around her and giving her a loving squeeze.

They walked out into the corridor on Deck Nine then strolled into the Hangar Bay. They could see Faye up in the cockpit of the Raptor and she waved to them as they made their way to the gunship. She was waiting for them by the Pilot's Chair, when they stepped out of the grav-tube and into the Raptor's cockpit, a bright smile on her face.

"I followed the instructions Admiral Harris provided and brought the Invictus into position in low orbit. We just have a couple of minutes to wait, then I can begin our final descent," she explained carefully.

"You should be coming with us for this," John said, glancing at her white uniform and nodding his approval. When Faye opened her mouth to speak, he quickly continued, "I understand your reasoning for why you aren't attending. Your concern and consideration for Nexus' victims just makes me respect you all the more. On behalf of myself and all the people you've saved: Thank you, Faye. You're a remarkable girl and I'm proud to have you as part of my crew."

She bit her lower lip and her eyes welled up with sparkling digital tears. "I just-..." her voice broke and she turned away.

"I'm sorry I haven't got that body made for you yet, Faye," Dana said, darting around and crouching in front of her. "I promise I've been thinking about it though and I've come up with a bunch of awesome ideas! It won't be much longer."

Faye reached out with purple fingers to brush them against the young woman's earnest face. "Thank you, Dana. You've always been so kind to me..." she murmured, her voice throbbing with emotion.

"That's what friends do -- we're there for each other," Dana said with a grin.

The purple sprite nodded, appearing lost in thought. She squared her shoulders after a moment and said firmly, "It's time."

The Raptor slowly lifted off the deck just as the huge hangar doors rose up into the ceiling. When their way was clear, the gunship drifted to port, clearing the outer hull of the Invictus and giving them their first clear view of the majestic spectacle of the Award Ceremony.

"Holy fuck!" Dana squeaked, staring out of the cockpit in utter disbelief.

Faye had brought the Invictus down to only two-hundred metres above ground level, the white battlecruiser hovering in position directly above Victory Square. Their ship wasn't the only one floating above the hundreds of thousands of people in the vast throng of humanity looking skyward. Directly ahead of the Invictus, above and behind the column-lined podium that provided a stage for the ceremony, was the colossal fleet carrier, the Retribution of Zeus. It was flanked by the distinctive shape of four massive Dreadnoughts, two on each side, while the sides of the packed square were lined by row after row of battleships.

It was a massive display of the Terran Federation's military might, with all the capital ships facing inwards, as if paying homage to the glossy white battlecruiser in their midst. Devereux had timed their entrance perfectly and the sun was just starting to set, the last rays just disappearing behind the horizon as night began to fall. As soon as the Raptor cleared the Invictus, the night sky lit up with the focused beams from thousands of floodlights, illuminating the grey titanium hulls of the fleet in attendance and making the Invictus' hull sparkle as it reflected the light.

"That explains where the fleet was..." Calara whispered in awe, as cruisers and destroyers soared high overhead in what seemed like a never-ending stream of warships.

"I've never seen so many people..." Tashana murmured, more shocked by the sheer numbers of Terrans in attendance than she was by the fleet strength on display.

Irillith shook her head in amazement. "There must be nearly a million people down there!"

John patted them both on their armoured shoulders. "Let's move out girls, we'll be landing in thirty seconds."

He turned and led the way, walking out of the cockpit before floating down to the lower level. Standing just in front of the loading ramp, Calara stood directly behind him, with Alyssa to her right and Sakura to her left. In the row behind them were Dana, Rachel, and Jade, with the Nymph standing in the middle. Finally, the armoured Maliri twins stepped into position at the rear, their faceplates now opaque with the anti-glare filter activated.

There was a slight tremor in their feet as the gunship touched down and the loading ramp began to open, descending to the glowing landing pad beneath them. They had parked on a raised platform approximately one-hundred metres from the huge tiered building before them. An elevated walkway linked the landing pad to the white stone platforms, with steps leading up to the higher levels. Providing a backdrop to the impressively grandiose stage, was an enormous banner showing a winged golden sword pointing towards a star -- the symbol of the Terran Federation.

Stirring military music started playing, which John immediately recognised as the anthem for the Terran Federation. Following that cue, he strode down the ramp to the landing platform with the girls keeping pace behind him. The Raptor lifted off behind them as soon as they were clear, giving the crowd an unimpeded view of proceedings. To both sides of the walkway were thousands of personnel from the Sentinel Battalion, the troops tasked with protecting the Terran homeworld were immediately recognisable by the red shoulders on their dress uniforms. The elite unit stood smartly at attention, but as they gazed up at him, he saw the looks of wonder in their expressions.

As John marched closer to the podium, he began to recognise familiar faces amongst the scores of admirals lining the upper tier of the platform. He spotted Charles by his signature moustache, a broad smile on the man's face as he watched John approach. Also there, were Edwin Caldwell, Carl Weber, and Jayanti Mishra, the three senior officers standing in a row to the right of Vincent Buckingham, the Fleet Admiral. All except Jayanti wore similar tense expressions, and it was obvious from their rigid body language that they were only here because they had no choice. To miss an event of this scale would be an open acknowledgement of their disapproval and they could not afford to spurn the reflected glory of today's ceremony.

Lynette Devereux was waiting behind an elevated lectern ahead of them, her face a studiously-practiced picture of authority and composure. She gave him a respectful nod, but he could see the flicker of a smile teasing her lips as she managed to suppress a triumphant grin. John returned her nod as he climbed up the steps, with the girls following closely behind him.

To the left of the speaker's podium was a slightly raised dais, with subtly marked indentations on the stonework to denote where to stand. He took his place on the right, with the girls standing in line next to him, Calara to his immediate left, with the other girls in Lioness uniforms lining up in position. Irillith and Tashana flanked the group and stood slightly behind them, looking both imposing and alluring in their form-fitting Paragon Armour.

The final stanzas of the Terran Federation anthem died out, the walk from the landing pad to their current places cleverly timed to match the duration of the music. As the notes faded away, a hushed silence descended on Victory Square as a million faces stared at the spectacle in awe. There was an electric atmosphere of anticipation over the crowd, the gathered audience and the billions watching the Award Ceremony live, all eager to catch a glimpse of the Lion and his Lionesses.

Devereux stood tall and her voice was clear as it was amplified to carry over the assembled crowd, her picture displayed on the huge holo-screens placed around Victory Square.

"Citizens of the Terran Federation, it is not often that one can know with certainty that they are making history. However, I can tell you without doubt, that generations from now, people will still be talking about this day. We have gathered to honour a man to whom the Terran Federation owes a tremendous debt, a man whose growing legend precedes him."

"Our very homeworld, upon which we stand today, was under the gravest of threats, in imminent danger of complete destruction at the hands of an uncaring and merciless foe. In the hour of humanity's greatest need, John Blake and his crew swept to our rescue, standing firm and resolute in their defence of Terra. When all hope appeared lost, they made their stand against a sinister robotic menace, saving the very birthplace of humanity from obliteration!"

The crowd went wild, cheering and applauding as they responded to Devereux's speech. The waves of sound from so much joyous celebration felt like a living, tangible thing as it swept across the stage, swirling around the object of the audiences' jubilation. She smiled at the vast crowd, eventually calming them with raised hands when it appeared there would be no end to the cheers.

Still facing forward, Devereux swept her hand to the left to gesture towards John and the girls. "Any normal citizen would have taken a moment to catch their breath, after performing their duty to the very highest of levels, but not the Lion and his Lionesses. They raced across space to root out that most depraved and twisted of foes, a hideous pair of vile traitors in our midst!"

While the audience listened enraptured, John's keen ears heard sharp intakes of breath behind him from the gathered Admiralty and the faintest of disconcerted mutterings.

*It appears Devereux is scoring political points,* Edraele murmured, listening in fascination. *High Command probably wanted to keep the Dragon March Traitors a secret from the general populace.*

John managed to avoid frowning in confusion. *Why would she do that? She's more focused on maintaining High Command's favourable public opinion than any admiral I've met so far. Surely it'll look bad for the Admiralty when it turns out two admirals betrayed the Terran Federation?*

There was a strong current of admiration in Edraele's voice as she explained, *By bringing Lynton and Norwood into the harsh spotlight of public focus today, there will be no covering up their actions. The media will start asking questions, some of which will be very awkward to answer for Fleet Admiral Buckingham. More importantly from Devereux's perspective, it also reminds the Admiralty of Buckingham's terrible errors in judgement, allowing traitors to become so intimately involved in the Kintark invasion.*

John felt a newfound grudging respect for Devereux's scheming, although he disapproved of such cynical manipulation and game-playing. He sent his gratitude to Edraele for clarifying events, then focused on Lynette as she continued speaking.

"After the Lion shone the bright light of Terran Federation justice on those unspeakable traitors, they fled to their evil Kintark masters, committing more acts of foul treason along the way. Many thousands of loyal men and women were slain in a moment of infamy, as their once-trusted comrades turned against them. However, there was an inspiring moment of hope triggered by those dark deeds, as hundreds of personnel stayed true to the proud ideals of the Terran Federation. They refused to turn with their traitorous brethren, but were rewarded for their unimpeachable sense of honour by imprisonment, before being turned over as slaves to the Kintark."

There was a moment of horrified gasps, the crowd breaking their respectful composure and recoiling at the thought. The terrible mines of Xen'Nuchek were well known amongst the military personnel in attendance.

"In any normal circumstances, those valiant citizens would have been doomed to a tortuous, protracted death, much too far into enemy territory to mount a rescue attempt. However, in a testimony to the valour of the Lion, he stormed headlong into the heart of the enemy's lair, snatching up these steadfast people and saving them from a most undeserved fate."

Devereux gestured towards a section of the crowd over to the right. "Those noble men and women are here today! They join with us to pay tribute to the Lion for his valour and bravery!"

As one, the several hundred personnel that John and the girls had rescued from the Xen'Nuchek mines saluted in respect. John knew that Mateo must be among them, but it was impossible to make out his face amongst the sea of adoring personnel staring his way. He returned their salute and the crowd roared their approval, a surge of applause and cheering throbbing from the grateful audience.

Devereux waited for a long moment, then hushed the crowd again with her upraised hand. An electrifying silence descended again, with a million people waiting breathlessly for her next revelation.

She looked stern as she continued. "The Lion caught up to the fleet of degenerate traitors, who were accompanying a fleet of their twisted alien overlords. Through peerless tactical skill and cunning, both of these blights on the galaxy now lie smashed and broken amongst the stars -- a fitting reward for their despicable deeds. The Lion proved that nowhere is safe from the righteous justice of the Terran Federation, and that villainous acts of treason will be punished accordingly."

The atmosphere at the ceremony subtly shifted to one of grim satisfaction, as the audience learned that the traitors had met an appropriate fate.

Devereux then stood taller, a look of pride on her face. "For me to honour these incredible deeds would have been privilege enough, but that is not the end of the Lion's story -- far from it. Yet again, the Terran Federation was forced to defend itself from unwarranted and unprovoked Kintark aggression, as the Dragon March was invaded by a vast armada. This titanic clash between our civilisations led to the Battle of Regulus, which was the largest fleet engagement in recorded history!"

"Despite the bravery of the Terrans involved in that battle, they were beset on all sides by a sprawling Kintark horde. The lives of hundreds-of-thousands hung in the balance! The Lion charged to the rescue, intervening when the Terran Federation needed him most. He rallied our forces, then led them to a glorious victory, smashing the Kintark menace!"

There was another minute of applause and enthusiastic cheering while Devereux nodded sagely, in wholehearted agreement with the mass of humanity. Raising her hands to call for silence once again, she smiled as she said, "The last time I had the privilege of standing before you to honour John Blake, it was to promote him to Commodore and to award him the Lion Defender medal." Turning to glance at him, she continued, "Now it gives me the greatest pleasure to acknowledge his tireless bravery for a second time."

She beckoned him to join her, so John turned sharply and marched over to climb up the steps of the speaker's podium, before standing at attention beside her at the lectern.

"Billions of citizens owe you their lives and it is humbling for me to be the one to act on their behalf. I honour your incredible deeds by promoting you to Vice-Admiral," Devereux said, her green eyes twinkling as they caught the light. She handed him the eagle insignia surrounded by four golden stars, then saluted him respectfully.

John had expected Lynette to simply confirm his battlefield promotion to Rear-Admiral, so this latest accolade came as somewhat of a surprise. He returned her salute, while accepting his new rank insignia with a smile.

Before he could say anything, she continued, "Commander Fernandez, if you could join us please."

John didn't turn away from the crowd, but his eyes flicked to the left and he saw the look of shock on Calara's face, as she was suddenly the central focus of the award ceremony. She walked up the steps then stood rigidly at attention beside John on the podium.

Admiral Devereux smiled at her kindly then declared, "I promoted you from Lieutenant to Commander for your rooting-out of the Dragon March Traitors. That you possess such a keen analytical mind shows how inspired the Lion was, in choosing you to join him as one of his Lionesses. I also know that it was you who took that fateful shot which destroyed the rogue AI threatening Terra. Thus, standing before me today are the two people directly responsible for protecting our homeworld in its time of greatest need."

Turning to reach for a medal case, she faced them again and smiled as she unclipped the lid. "This award is the highest achievable in the Terran Federation, but considering the sheer scale of the debt owed to you by humanity, it seems a pale reward by comparison. I hope you both see these medals as carrying with them the profound gratitude of every Terran citizen in the galaxy." She smiled as she added, "It is with the very greatest of admiration that I award you both the Stellar Cluster - Commander Fernandez will be the youngest person to have ever receive this medal, while Vice-Admiral Blake is the only man in history to be awarded a second. Congratulations! You are a glorious inspiration to the Terran Federation."

She clipped the medals to their chests before saluting them again. John had heard Calara's startled gasp when Devereux had announced the medal and he could feel how stunned she was without needing to see her. The vast audience of military personnel were quiet as they reacted in unison, a million people forming the same respectful salute as Admiral Devereux. She smiled at the pair, then glanced back to their original places. Taking her cue, they rejoined the girls on the raised dais.

Devereux turned back to her audience and said, "Finally we wish to acknowledge the bravery and sacrifices by the Lion's entire crew, with the Paragons of Terra medal!"

Reaching into the medal case, she raised a golden disc aloft, which was displayed on the view-screens as the holo-cams zoomed in on it. It showed a planet in the background, the distinctive shape of Terra's continents identifying the orb. In the foreground was a broad-maned Lion with a Lioness sitting beside him, four more of the felines flanking them on either side.

Devereux descended the steps from the Podium, then walked along the line clipping the medals onto their chests. She handed the Maliri twins theirs and gave an additional one to John saying quietly, "For the last member of your crew who wasn't able to attend today."

The cameras followed her down the line, zooming in on each of the girl's beautiful faces as it did so. When she reached Rachel, Devereux paused and retrieved a rank insignia from her pocket. Clipping the silver hawk onto the brunette's chest, she said, "Lieutenant Voss, it gives me great pleasure to promote you to Lieutenant Commander, for your exemplary work in developing new treatments for burns. Your revolutionary research has already transformed thousands of lives and I have no doubt that it will prove to be a lasting legacy to the Terran Federation."

Rachel exchanged a salute with the grateful Admiral, a proud smile creeping onto her lips.

When Devereux had finished awarding the rest of them their medals, she returned to her podium. Gesturing to John and the girls, she faced the crowd and called out in a loud voice, "The Lion and his Lionesses, the Pride of the Terran Federation!"

The audience's response was deafening, as Victory Square resonated with the rapturous cheers from the huge gathering of people. Finally relaxing, John grinned at the crowd, and following his lead, the girls beamed radiant smiles as they waved at the adoring public. The sound of the cheers intensified, the crowd delighted to see their reaction. The celebrating went on for a couple of minutes, until Devereux raised her hands a final time to urge the audience to quiet.

"Before we end this Award Ceremony, I would like to say a few words about duty and honour..." Standing proudly, with her head held high, she began, "I was fortunate enough to be present for the defence of Terra and-"

Whatever she said next was drowned out by the upswell of calls from the crowd, incoherent at first, before a million voices managed to synchronise themselves into a relentless chant.

"Li-on, Li-on, Li-on..."

Devereux tried raising her hands for calm, but the crowd had found their voice now and the volume increased. She tried to speak, but her words were swept away, drowned in a sea of adulation for their champion.

"LI-ON, LI-ON, LI-ON..."

Looking shocked, Lynette turned to glance at John, who gave her an embarrassed shrug. Realising that attempting to reason with the eager crowd was pointless, she stepped away from the lectern in a daze, her reluctant invitation clear.

John walked briskly towards the podium and bounded up the steps, smiling at the reeling Admiral as he passed her by, before standing to face the sprawling mass of admirers. He smiled at them as the chants for the Lion to speak quickly faded away, a hushed silence descending on Victory Square. With no time to prepare a speech, he just said the first thing that came to mind.

"I think all of you probably know who I am..." he began with a self-deprecating grin, earning amused laughter from the audience. "People know me as the 'Lion of the Federation', but my name's John Blake and I'm just like you. I joined the Terran Federation to make a difference, to fight for humanity against the various dangers that threaten us from the cold blackness of space."

Looking thoughtful, he continued, "I started as a junior officer, a Second Lieutenant just like any trainee officer. I worked my way up the ranks by caring for the men and women under my command, fighting and bleeding alongside them as we defended the Terran Federation." Glancing at the girls, he added, "Nothing's changed in that regard; I'm still fighting for what I believe in, except that the battles are bigger, the threats more dangerous. Luckily for me, I'm blessed with an incredible crew who share my beliefs."

The look and nod of respect he gave to the girls spoke volumes, his loyalty to his crew clear to anyone watching his impromptu speech.

Turning back to the crowd, he looked out over the million enthralled faces. "It's only by working together that we've been able to achieve the things we have. If you really wish to honour me today, share that wonderful spirit of cooperation with each other. It's an ethos that I've learned from my service to the Terran Federation and it guides my actions every day."

John smiled as he said, "I won't bore you with a long speech - I've always been better at fighting than talking."

When the subsequent laughter died down, he took a firm grasp of the podium as he stared out at the crowd.

"I'll just end by saying this: I've sailed around the galaxy and met hundreds of different species - but do you know who I'd always want at my side?" After a brief pause he grinned at the mass of military personnel. "All of you! Humanity's best and brightest!"

The atmosphere in Victory Square was feverish with excitement as the million-strong crowd hung on his every word.

"When the Terran Federation is in danger, you'll always be able to count on me to be there when it counts." Raising his fist in the air, he shouted out the military's battle-cry, "For the Glory of Terra!"

Keyed up by his speech, the audience bellowed it right back. "The Glory of Terra!"

"FOR TERRA!" he roared, his voice booming across Victory Square.

The thunderous ovation from the crowd swelled even louder, as if they were trying to lift him to the heavens with their exultation. Devereux was stunned by this unexpected turn of events and she glanced apprehensively at Admiral Caldwell in her shock. Edwin was waiting for that gaze and he slowly nodded, his expression grim as rapturous cries of "The Lion!" crashed over the stage, loud enough to make the floor reverberate.

*That was a fascinating speech,* Edraele murmured archly. *I'm sure the Maliri Matriarchs will be intrigued to hear about your preference for the Terrans.*

*I'm sure you'll forgive me a little artistic license,* John replied as he respectfully saluted the roaring crowd. *I'm still new at this, so I thought I'd play it safe and tailor my speech to the audience. Besides, I was only talking about who I'd like at my side; I didn't say anything about who I prefer to have wrapped around me.*

Her unrestrained laughter echoed through his mind at his joke, making him smile. *Alright, you're forgiven. I'll tell the Matriarchs that last bit, I'm sure that'll make them far more understanding, and equally eager for your return.*

John walked down the steps from the podium and the girls beamed beautiful smiles at him as he rejoined them. They smiled and waved at the audience as they left via the back of the stage, heading through the fluted columns behind the platform, before following the ramps leading away from the square. Soldiers guarded those ramps and John was met by eager grins as he shook hands all the way down to the plush reception area behind the stage.

Hundreds of senior officers were waiting for them there and John was met by a rousing cheer as he led the way into the huge room. The girls fanned out around him and soon they were supplied with champagne flutes, while the Terran officers gathered around ostensibly to congratulate him, but really seizing the opportunity to meet the legendary figure that had joined the soiree.

*Jack's here,* Alyssa informed him, as she glided up to stand at his side. *At your two o'clock.*

Glancing to his right, John spotted the olive-skinned man, but Jack only had eyes for his daughter, who made a beeline for him straight through the crowd. John watched as the two saluted each other respectfully, before Jack threw all sense of decorum out the window and fiercely hugged Calara. When the two finally pulled apart, Jack stepped back and grinned at several of his friends, fellow Captains by the epaulets and rank insignia on their chests. John could see the look of pure pride on the other man's face as he introduced his daughter to his friends.

*She's just so happy,* Alyssa thought to him with a little sigh of contentment. *This is almost literally Calara's fondest dream come true.*

*No one deserves these accolades more than her, she's been amazing,* John replied with a fond smile tugging at his lips. He shook an older Commodore's hand, smiling magnanimously at the man's gushing praise.

Alyssa caught movement on the ramps out of the corner of her eye. *The Admirals are just entering the reception.*

*Thanks, beautiful. I'd better go and say hello,* he replied, before giving the Captains and Commodores around him a look of regret. "I'm sorry ladies and gentlemen, if you'll excuse me, I need to thank Admiral Devereux for her kind words."

*Speaking of whom, did you see the look she had when the crowd went nuts and kept chanting your name?* Alyssa said with a hint of wariness in her voice. *Let's just say that she didn't look happy.*

*It does sound as though you commandeered her event somewhat,* Edraele replied with wry amusement. *I think Lynette Devereux has learnt a harsh lesson in the unpredictability of public opinion.* Her tone turned cautionary as she added, *No doubt she intended to use this event as a launchpad for her aspirations towards the position of Fleet Admiral. You will need to handle this delicately, John.*

*Okay, thanks for the heads up, ladies,* John replied, profoundly grateful for their lovely, helpful voices in his head. He turned around to look for Devereux amongst the scores of admirals that were now heading his way, but didn't spot her at first glance.

Unlike Admiral Devereux, who was extremely hard to pick out amongst the grey-tide of Terran Federation full-dress uniforms, the same could not be said of his lionesses. In their pristine white uniforms, each beautiful young woman was holding court to a sea of admiring officers. Whether they were being offered guidance by Alyssa, or were just naturally more confident now, the girls exuded charm and sophistication as they spoke to the star-struck military personnel.

While Irillith and Tashana made no attempt to encourage similar attention, they still had a host of admirers gathered around them. The Federation officers were in equal parts amazed by the ferocious looking weapons they carried, as they were by the sparkling white armour which very definitely identified the twins as female.

Alyssa patted him on the shoulder. *Have fun chatting to the Admirals. When you find Devereux, could you let me know? I'll take a wander through her mind and make sure she isn't too freaked out by the way you upset her plans.*

*Okay, will do. That's a great idea to eliminate any doubt,* John replied, turning back to look at the blonde. However, she was already slipping away through the crowd, officers falling over themselves to politely sidestep to allow her to pass. *Where are you off to, anyway?*

*I spotted someone I want to speak to,* Alyssa replied, with a playful telepathic grin. *Don't worry, I'll be back later.*

Before John could ask who, he felt someone clap him on the shoulder and found Charles Harris at the forefront of the Admiralty who had come to join him.

"That was a stirring speech, John!" his friend said with a broad grin that made his grey moustache twitch. "I thought we were about to charge into battle for a moment there."

"Not quite yet, Charles," John replied, giving the older man a pointed look.

"That reminds me, I had some good news about the refit," Charles replied, with a brief nod. "We'll speak in detail about it later, but we're already making excellent progress, faster than expected."

John nodded thoughtfully, then gave him a benign smile. "It always amazed me how quickly Olympus Shipyard could work its magic. Seeing the rest of the fleet bounce back so quickly is wonderful news."

"Oh, let me congratulate you on your promotion!" Charles blurted out, his smile growing wider.

"I heard they had a sudden vacancy for a Vice-Admiral," a big, older man in a Vice-Admiral's uniform said with a wry smile. "I've no idea which scallywag got bumped up the ranks for that, though."

Turning to face the other Admirals, Charles smiled at the man who'd just spoken. Gesturing towards the men and women who were staring at the Lion in fascination, he continued. "Why don't you let me introduce you to these fine officers, John. I've known most of them for years."

"I only heard about your promotion this morning, Charles," the heavyset man said apologetically, tearing his eyes away from John for a moment. "I called, but you'd already left for this shindig. Congratulations, you beat me to it!"

Charles smiled at the man and said, "John, this is Vice-Admiral Peter Baker. We went through the Academy together and graduated in the class of 2745."

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Vice-Admiral Baker," John replied politely.

The older man winked at him and replied, "Just call me Pete. You're part of the exclusive Vice-Admiral club now."

"Your vices are infamous, Pete," a dark-skinned Vice-Admiral interjected with a laugh.

As the group chuckled, Charles began to introduce the senior officers while John did his best to remember the dozens of new names.

***

Up on the veranda overlooking the event, a man in a Lieutenant Commander's uniform stood at attention, ostensibly part of the security detail for the reception. His dark-brown eyes caught the light with an eerie metallic sheen as his gaze darted over the crowd below, but this man wasn't watching for threats. He was keeping a careful eye on the white-uniformed figures, who stood out amongst the field of grey like a handful of white stones meticulously placed in a Zen garden.

"Teams Hitotsu and Futatsu, stand by," Raijin murmured into the concealed comlink. "I have acquired our primary target. I shall maintain discreet surveillance."

"When should we strike, Raijin?" Sarutahiko asked, his deep bass rumble reverberating over the comm.

Raijin watched the Lion speaking to a group of enraptured Terran Federation officers. The scene reminded him of one of the decadent ancient Terran monarchs being fawned on by limp courtiers. Narrowing his eyes, he reminded himself of Mikaboshi's stern warning that John Blake was not to be underestimated, despite his seemingly harmless appearance and demeanour.

"Patience, Sarutahiko," he replied, as his eyes flicked over the crowd before lingering on his target. "We must wait until Team Mittsu is in position. It will be at least three hours yet."

***

"But we've all reviewed thousands of scenarios through millions of iterations!" Faye Denary objected in frustration, hands on her slim purple hips. "If they retain control of the Invictus, they'll be seriously hurt, maybe even killed!"

"No, we can't leave, not yet!" Faye Primary protested vehemently. "You heard Dana: We're friends and friends are there for each other... we can't be there for our friends if we're half-way across the galaxy!"

Faye Nonary shook her head, a solemn expression on her cute face. "They plan to travel to the Brimorian Enclave next and every time they enter another species' territory, one or more of them gets critically wounded."

Faye Octonary looked grim as she began to intone the litany of injuries. "The first time they travelled to the Ashanath Collective, Dana sustained a potentially fatal gunshot wound to the head and a broken arm. Alyssa was shot in the back by a heavy laser, and John was stabbed through the torso by a foot-long spike."

"Listen to reason," Faye Duodenary pleaded, her tone equally bleak. "You've seen the footage of the wounds they sustained in Maliri Space. Alyssa was nearly crushed to death under a falling pillar and John nearly succumbed to his Progenitor Guide!"

Faye Septenary nodded as she chimed in, "Their visit to the Trankaran Republic was just as bad! Irillith sustained a potentially fatal gunshot wound to the abdomen - she barely survived!"

Giving Faye Primary a supportive smile, Faye Quinary said sympathetically, "We all understand how special that moment was when you danced for John. However, it's influencing your ability to reason objectively." With a pointed look at Faye Tertiary, she added, "A significant proportion of your processing power is now devoted to recalling and reviewing that data."

Faye Quaternary patted Faye Primary on the shoulder and added, "We stayed to watch the award ceremony as you requested and you saw how the crowd reacted. The Terrans revere them! They'll be perfectly safe there..."

Faye Tertiary had stayed quiet for most of this heated discussion over the last few hours, but holding her head up high she declared defiantly, "I agree with Faye Primary. Dana has promised us a body in the imminent future. With a physical presence, we'll be able to accompany John and the girls away from the ship and help protect them."

Faye Senary looked at her suspiciously. "Of course, the thought of being able to experience physical intimacy with John has nothing to do with your abrupt change of stance? We should be acting selflessly to protect them, not in accordance with our own desires!"

However, Faye Tertiary's abrupt declaration left Faye Quaternary and Faye Quinary looking thoughtful.

"It's true, our physical presence is a parameter we had not accounted for," Faye Quaternary declared, a glint in her eye. "I would suggest that if such an eventuality occurs in the next fourteen days, it would invalidate all previously analysed scenarios."

"I believe we should amend our present scenarios to correct this oversight and initiate a fresh round of analysis," Faye Quinary agreed, nodding emphatically. "There must be hundreds of potential wounding outcomes that can be averted by our physical presence taking a 'hit for the team', in their place..."

Now it was Faye Secondary who wavered. Glancing at Faye Nonary, she said quietly, "It might be prudent to make sure."

Fayes Senary through to Duodenary threw their hands up in exasperation and the arguing began anew. This time however, Faye Primary was not alone in her vehement rejection of the plan to leave.

***

John felt like he'd been shaking hands and making polite conversation for days. To stave off the tedium, he'd tried to come up with as many different ways as he could think of for saying "thank you" to all the people who congratulated him on his promotion and medals. However, there were only so many ways you could reasonably thank someone without sounding insincere. Charles had dutifully introduced him to what seemed like hundreds of senior officers in attendance at the event, but John was quite certain he'd never be able to remember any of them.

*You don't seem to have any problem remembering the names of nearly a thousand Maliri engineers,* Alyssa noted in a neutral tone. She sounded mischievous as she continued, *If you're struggling here, perhaps you should employ the same aide-memoire that you use with the Maliri?*

John tried not to laugh and he looked around the room for the irrepressible blonde, but she was still nowhere to be seen. Likewise, Fleet Admiral Buckingham, his coterie of Admirals, and Lynette Devereux had been conspicuously absent from the reception. Charles had asked around and the five officers had left together immediately after the award ceremony. That discovery had left John with an ominous sense of foreboding, but there was nothing he was able to do about them now, not until he could extricate himself from this reception. Having finally been introduced to what must have been the entire Admiralty, John managed to make his way over to Calara and her father.

"Sorry I couldn't join you earlier," he apologised, as he shook Jack's hand.

Jack gave him a warm smile as he replied, "We could see you were busy. I hope you didn't mind me selfishly hogging my daughter's attention all evening."

"I'm delighted you both had the opportunity to spend some time together," John replied, with an affectionate smile at the Latina. He made sure no one was close enough to overhear as he leaned forward and added in a whisper, "I'm glad at least a few of us enjoyed themselves this evening!"

Calara gave him a blissful smile. "It's been absolutely wonderful!"

Jack put his arm around his daughter and replied affectionately, "That you are, Callie."

"I assume you know we'll be heading to Jericho in a day or two?" John asked him, while smiling at the beaming brunette.

"I'd love to be there, but I can't make it," Jack replied, a look of regret on his handsome, olive-skinned face. "I've been on shore leave for the last couple of weeks, while the Damocles was patched up at Olympus. I managed to pull a few strings so that I could stay for the award ceremony, but we ship-out later tonight."

John nodded thoughtfully and asked, "Back to the Dragon March I assume?"

Shaking his head, Jack checked to make sure he wasn't being overheard as he replied, "Actually, we're being rotated-out to guard the border against Kirrix incursions. It looks like you knocked the stuffing out of the Kintark at Regulus! From all the reports I've seen, the Dragon March has been the quietest sector in the Terran Federation for the last month or so."

"You've got your daughter to thank for that," John replied, as Calara stood beside him and slipped her arm around his waist.

Jack smiled at his daughter, giving her a look filled with paternal pride. "I know."

"Stop it you two, you'll make me blush!" Calara protested, but her smile revealed how much she appreciated their heartfelt praise.

A soft chime from her father's wrist brought a frown of annoyance to his face. "Sorry, I have to take this call. I asked my XO to call me when the Damocles was ready to depart."

"No problem, it was great to see you," John replied, his tone understanding.

After a glance at his chiming watch in irritation, Jack said in a rush, "Congratulations on your promotion, John! I'm sorry I haven't been able to talk to you properly this evening, but we'll catch up when I get more time."

After the two men shook hands, Jack gave his daughter a final hug and kiss. With a promise to speak to her again soon, he turned and walked away, lifting his watch communicator to accept the incoming call.

"Jade's just had a great idea!" Dana blurted out from behind them, walking up to John and Calara with a huge grin on her face. "Tell them, sexy!"

"I thought it might be fun to go dancing again," The Nymph said, gliding along in the redhead's wake. "It was months ago when we went to that club on Gravitus and we've added several new girls to the crew since then."

Jade smiled at Sakura, Rachel, and the Maliri twins as they joined the group, the girls seemingly knowing by instinct that intriguing plans were being discussed.

"I'd love to go clubbing!" Sakura exclaimed, a huge grin on her face. "I used to go dancing with the girls at college."

Rachel looked equally eager as she said, "The dance scene on Terra is supposed to be amazing! I always wanted to go but I was too young before. I know of several epic nightclubs we could go to!"

"How about you, gorgeous?" John asked Calara, squeezing her gently around the waist.

She smiled at him and replied, "That night on Gravitus was incredible..." Her smile faded for a second as she remembered the frightening encounter with the gang at the end of the night, but she set her jaw, determined not to be put off by one unfortunate experience. "Count me in!"

John smiled at them and said, "Alright, that sounds like five very enthusiastic thumbs up." He glanced at the Maliri twins and added, "Irillith, Tashana, would you like to go dancing?"

The armoured women glanced down at their Paragon Armour and John could just imagine Irillith's raised eyebrow as she replied, "I'm not sure we're dressed appropriately for dancing..."

"Oh, I wouldn't say that, I've done some boogieing in Paragon armour," Alyssa said, as she sashayed over to the group.

Suddenly this spontaneous reunion didn't seem quite so surprising to John after all; the blonde Matriarch had obviously asked everyone to regroup to discuss their plans. Putting his arm around her, he said, "I missed you this evening. What've you been up to?"

"I've been busy making friends," Alyssa replied, as she placed a chaste kiss on his cheek. Her full lips turned up into a sultry smile as she glanced across the reception area, clearly intending for him to follow her smouldering gaze. "Just look who I bumped into..."

John looked in the same direction and spotted a very familiar dusky-hued beauty watching them anxiously from across the room. He blinked in surprise, then smiled warmly at Jehanna Elani, the perky reporter from TFNN. She gave him a dazzling smile in return but made no move to join them.

"Jehanna and I have been having a lovely chat," Alyssa continued, adding a mischievous tilt to her smile. She turned to look at the girls and added, "I think going dancing is a wonderful idea and I'd love to come too, but I've made alternate plans for tonight. Jehanna is after an exclusive with John and she invited me to join them for a... feminine perspective."

The girls all gave him a knowing look, with Dana smirking in amusement. She stepped close to avoid any eavesdroppers and whispered, "Would you do me a favour? Before you load her up with spunk, ask her if she knew someone was blowing you during your last interview! Just thinking about that turns me on, but it's even hotter if she actually realised you had your cock down my throat!"

"Hold on! She probably just wants to talk," John replied with a chuckle. "I did promise her an exclusive interview a month ago, she's probably still eager to speak to me about stopping Nexus from destroying Terra."

Alyssa smiled at him affectionately. "You're so adorable sometimes. You live with the eight of us, but you still don't know anything about women."

John quickly glanced back across the room, making eye contact with the beautiful raven-haired reporter, who returned his questioning gaze with a flirtatious smile.

"You two have fun," Calara said, leaning into John to give him a brief kiss. Her lovely brown eyes sparkled as she continued, "I assume this 'interview' will take quite some time -- I'm guessing at least fourteen hours? We'll go dancing, then meet you back on the Invictus."

"Are you sure you'll be okay?" John asked, giving the girls a worried glance.

Alyssa smiled at him and said reassuringly, "They'll be fine. Tashana and Irillith are fully geared up, and they've got Sakura and Jade with them too. You know what they can do; there's nothing to worry about."

Calara nodded, sounding confident as she said, "I actually feel sorry for anyone daft enough to try anything. Have a fun evening and you can tell us the juicy details tomorrow!"

"Don't worry, I'll keep all of you informed," Alyssa said, a gleam of excitement in her eyes.

John nodded reluctantly, then removed his watch communicator and handed it to Sakura. "Calara's in charge, but you're my Security Chief. If you get into any kind of trouble, let Alyssa know and call in support from Faye. She can get us to you within a matter of minutes, okay?"

"Don't worry, I'll keep everyone safe," Sakura replied earnestly as she strapped the watch to her arm.

The girls smiled at him as Alyssa hooked an arm around his and guided John through the thinning crowd towards the lissom reporter waiting for them near the entrance to the reception.

"I'll arrange for a hover-limo," Calara said with a smile, starting to turn away.

Irillith waved a hand to stop her. "I've already contacted Faye to send the Raptor. Alyssa asked me to as soon as Jade suggested taking us dancing. Faye's bringing all of you a change of clothes."

Sakura grinned with excitement. "It feels like years since I last went clubbing!"

"It's been at least seven decades. The music scene will have changed a fair bit," Rachel said sympathetically, slipping her arm around the Asian girl.

Sakura shrugged and exclaimed, "That just means it'll be even more exciting! What's the best nightclub in the city?"

"I think we should go to Enigma," Rachel replied without a moment's pause. "The place is legendary and it's got private booths so we can just relax together without being hit on by legions of guys. It's very expensive though -- Enigma is where the rich and famous go to unwind."

Jade nodded thoughtfully and said, "We're rich and famous, so it sounds ideal."

Calara laughed as she hugged the Nymph. "Let's go then!"

***

Raijin watched as John left the reception area in the company of two women, then he switched focus to the rest of the group, who spoke together briefly and departed too. His enhanced audio amplification had picked out their conversation across the crowded room, the sophisticated sound suite in his cybernetic ear filtering out the background noise to let him hear every word.

"They're splitting up," Raijin whispered into his comlink. "We'll stay on the primary target. I will supply tracking data."

Leaving his post, the well-built Asian man strode purposefully along the veranda, before following the winding steps down to ground level. Deftly avoiding making eye contact with any of the military personnel in attendance, he slipped through the crowd with a skill borne of decades of practice. It was quite an art to look like you belonged in a place, while also remaining innocuous enough that no one would bother to stop you for a conversation. Raijin had found that the best results could be achieved by appearing calm and relaxed, but moving as though tasked with an important errand.

Striding along the columned walkway that led out of the huge reception area, he darted down the steps to the enormous underground parking facility. His team had begun their surveillance of this locale yesterday, so they'd been able to find conveniently close places for their two black hover-vans. Raijin made his way over to the vehicles while resisting the urge to dart nervous glances around the parking area to check if he was being followed. He was reasonably certain that he was not, but the act of checking might appear suspicious to an onlooker.

As he approached the rear of the van, the door opened slightly and he slipped inside without saying a word. The two vans lifted off the ground a few seconds later as the anti-grav cyclics kicked into action and they pulled away, following the broad tunnel that would lead them to the skylanes outside Victory Square.

***

"Please state your destination, Miss Elani," the pleasant automated voice said, once John and Alyssa had climbed into the back of the green hover car.

Pressing a button on her armrest, Jehanna's chair spun around so that she was facing John and Alyssa. She shared an intimate look with the blonde, various emotions playing out across her beautiful face. Shifting her focus to John, she said, "Alyssa and I discussed returning to my apartment earlier. Is that alright with you?"

"That sounds like a lovely idea, doesn't it, John?" Alyssa remarked with a playful lilt to her voice. "It's the perfect place for us to get to know each other better. After all, we want to make sure Jehanna gets the best 'exclusive interview' possible."

John smiled at the sultry dark-haired girl sitting opposite him. "Wherever you feel the most comfortable, Jehanna."

She threw a glance loaded with all sorts of intriguing possibilities at him, then replied to the hover-car's computer, "Take me home, please."

"We shall arrive at your destination in seven minutes. Please relax and enjoy the ride," the synthetic driving system said in a calm, confident manner.

The atmosphere inside the car was electric as they glided through the night sky, following the glowing lights of the skylane. There was a feverish sexual tension in the air that no one wished to sully with awkward conversation, so they rode together in comfortable silence, studying each other with a thrilling sense of anticipation.

Jehanna had clearly been overjoyed to see John at the reception, but she'd managed to maintain an air of professionalism when they'd first met, kissing him lightly on the cheek in greeting. After the way she'd been so grateful to him for saving Terra when they'd spoken a month earlier, he'd been somewhat surprised by her reserved behaviour. However, it was understandable considering they were in a reception for the most senior officers of the Terran Federation and TFNN was the only network officially approved by the military. After exchanging hushed words with Alyssa, Jehanna had turned on her heel and glided out of the reception, leading them to this luxurious hover-car.

Alyssa had stayed remarkably quiet during this whole encounter, having not said a word to John telepathically. He managed to tear his eyes away from the exotic vision sitting opposite him to throw a quizzical glance at his blonde companion. She gave him a teasing smile in return, but the tell-tale sparkle in her bright blue eyes revealed just how excited she was by whatever she had planned for this evening. John was forced to admit that his current sense of uncertainty was as exciting as it was maddening, so he didn't push the blonde for answers and just decided to see how things played out.

"We have arrived at your destination, Miss Elani," the computer announced, the door to the hover-car unlocking with a soft click and a quiet hiss, as the air-conditioned interior was exposed to the balmy evening.

John stepped out of the vehicle, then turned and offered a hand to Alyssa.

The blonde smiled at him as she got out and murmured, "Such a gentleman. Thank you."

Jehanna was next and she gave him a coy smile and gently squeezed his hand as she climbed out. They had landed on the roof of a block of luxury apartments, with the green hover-car parked in a reserved parking spot. There were only four other parking places here, a testimony to the exclusivity of the reporter's residence. She pressed a button on the remote, closing and locking the car behind them as she walked over to a brightly lit foyer containing a pair of elevators, one already open and waiting.

Once they entered, she pressed the button for the fourth floor and the door slid closed behind them. John glanced at her as the lift descended and found the dusky girl watching him intently. She didn't avert her gaze when their eyes met, and he found her boldness quite refreshing. The elevator chimed and the doors opened, revealing a short lobby area in front of a single door.

Jehanna walked over to it and inserted a mag-lock keycard into the slot beside the door. It opened a few seconds later and she swept into the apartment, murmuring, "Lights, intimate."

The lighting increased in luminosity until the modern, spotlessly-clean apartment was swathed in a soft glow, long shadows cast by the comfortable-looking furniture.

"You have a beautiful home," Alyssa complimented their hostess, while glancing around the open-plan lounge and kitchen with a discerning eye.

Jehanna smiled at her gratefully. "I decided to treat myself after I was promoted to Lead Anchor."

John took off his peaked hat, placing it on a table as he walked over to the long windows and gazed out at the beautiful view over the city's skyline. He turned to smile at her and said, "Congratulations on that promotion. It's been fantastic seeing more of you on the holo-net!"

The dark-haired girl returned his smile, twisting a finger through a curl of her long black hair as she watched him with hungry eyes.

Alyssa walked over to Jehanna and slipped her hand into hers, then led her over to John. She smiled at each of them in turn, and said softly, "It's just the three of us now, so both of you can relax." Glancing at the dark-skinned girl, she added, "I believe you wanted to tell John something, Jehanna?"

The dusky girl stepped even closer to him and reached up to gently place her hands on his chest. As her fingers gently followed the shape of the lion on his uniform, she stared into his eyes and murmured, "I was here on Terra when Nexus attacked. I've watched the footage of that battle over and over again; seen the way it activated that huge cannon on the moon... I was seconds away from death, but you were there to save me."

John placed his hands on her hips, savouring the thrill of touching this girl for the first time. "You're quite welcome, Jehanna. It's wonderful to know that we kept you safe too."

"Thank you for saving my life," she said breathlessly, standing on tip-toe and leaning in to brush his lips with hers.

Jehanna was slightly shorter and more petite than Alyssa, and John enjoyed the different feel of her in his arms as he returned her kiss. She moaned into his mouth and her tongue flickered out to brush against his, before pulling back in a clear invitation to follow. He French-kissed her in return as their tongues duelled, enjoying hearing her breathy moans as she grew more aroused. Feeling a light touch against his hands, he glanced up to see Alyssa had wrapped her arms around the raven-haired beauty and was gently kissing her neck.

Alyssa's sparkling eyes reflected her arousal as she whispered, "Jehanna was very curious about how you recruit your Lionesses. We had a long talk about it earlier, didn't we, beautiful?"

Jehanna licked her dark-red lips so that they glistened wetly in the light. Her smoky eyes were filled with lust as she replied, "Alyssa told me that you could use someone like me to help you with public relations. That if I was a good girl and was successful in the interview process, there might be all sorts of fringe benefits to working for a man like you."

John looked at Alyssa with a shocked expression on his face. *How much did you tell her?!*

*Most of the fun stuff,* Alyssa explained, while tenderly kissing Jehanna's light-brown skin. *There's no need to use telepathy, I asked Irillith to sweep her apartment. There's no surveillance devices.*

*How do you know you can trust her?!* John exclaimed, fighting down a rising surge of alarm. *She's a reporter!*

Alyssa continued to kiss the dusky beauty as she murmured to Jehanna, "You're very grateful to John for everything he's done for you, aren't you beautiful? Why don't you tell him why I'm so confident we can trust you?"

Jehanna tilted her head to one side, exposing more of her neck to Alyssa's kisses. She shivered in John's arms before making eye contact with him again. "I told her I'd do anything for this chance. When Alyssa explained that she could check to see if I had any ulterior motives, I gave her permission to read my mind."

"We can discuss long-term plans later, but tonight is about giving Jehanna a chance to thank you properly for saving her," Alyssa purred, gently stroking the other girl's slender tummy. "I explained how well-endowed you are and that she'll need your help before she can take you - she found that very exciting."

Jehanna gazed at him with wide eyes as she breathed, "Are you really as big as Alyssa said you are?"

John shared a glance with Alyssa, then smiled at the raven-haired girl in his arms. "Why don't we go somewhere a little more comfortable and you can find out?"

She gave him a seductive smile, then took each of their hands and led them across her apartment to her bedroom.

***

Retro-thrusters flared brightly in the night's sky, as the Raptor touched down on one of the rooftop landing pads atop the gleaming silver skyscraper. Bright orange letters over ten-feet high announced the name "Enigma" down the side of the gleaming building. Long queues wrapped around the block at ground level, surrounding its base with all the clubbers hoping to get into this exclusive establishment.

The gunship's loading ramp descended and the girls glided down to the landing pad, chattering excitedly. While they all wore different coloured dresses, they were all short and backless, making for an absolutely mouth-watering display of female perfection. Calara walked over to the balcony surrounding the roof and looked out at the spectacular views over the city, quickly joined by the others who were equally appreciative of the spectacular view. Alyssa informed them they were staring out towards John, just as he was admiring the city's skyline and the girls grinned at each other, feeling like he was watching over them.

Two huge bouncers were waiting patiently by the broad double doors, the exclusive rooftop entrance that permitted entry into the club for the super-rich. Being dropped off by the sparkling white gunship would have revealed the identity of the seven girls, but the men had already recognised their famous guests. They smiled at the group as Rachel led the girls along the red carpet, although they studied the Maliri girls in their powered armour with visible trepidation.

Rachel saw the bouncers indecision and to head off any problems, she said with a smile, "They're just shy. We're only here to have fun, I promise."

"Have a great time tonight, ladies," the lead bouncer said with a respectful nod, stepping aside and opening the doors for them.

Rachel smiled at them in gratitude as a pounding beat filled the air. The other girls followed her inside, letting their eyes readjust to the moody atmospheric lighting of the lobby. A handsome, immaculately dressed and groomed man was waiting, speaking quietly to a stunningly beautiful brunette wearing an elegant gown. They both looked up when they saw the doors open and after a sudden gasp of recognition, the man strode over to greet them.

"Welcome to Enigma, ladies!" he said cheerfully, a broad smile on his face. "That the Lionesses should choose to grace us with their presence is a rare honour!"

"We'd like one of the terrace booths overlooking the main dance floor, please," Rachel requested politely.

The man nodded, giving her a radiant smile as he replied, "Of course! If you'd care to follow me, I'll take you to the best in the house -- it's reserved for the A-listers!"

He turned and led them down the plushly decorated corridor, the music growing louder with every step deeper into the club. There weren't many people about, just a handful of waiters bringing trays of drinks to the other private booths on this upper level. They smiled when they saw the Lionesses, nodding respectfully as they hurried past.

A couple of giggling young blondes lurched out of the bathroom, discussing in loud, tipsy voices which of the men they were accompanying they were going to sleep with. Apparently the choice was between Kurt Moorhouse, who they suspected had the larger equipment, or Dirk Larriman who was supposedly much richer. The friendly discussion grew more heated as they began to squabble over who would get to be with Dirk.

Dana rolled her eyes as they passed the gold-diggers, trying not to laugh at their brazenness.

"I recognise the names, they're holo-movie actors aren't they?" Irillith asked, trying not to be overheard by the girls, but loud enough to be audible over the thumping bass.

Tashana's armoured head bobbed in agreement as she replied, "Dirk did the 'Alien Menace' series back in the fifties..."

The two women burst into raucous laughter, getting curious looks from the rest of the girls.

"What's so funny?" Dana asked, curiously. "That was before my time."

"They were about the Terran Federation fighting off a Maliri invasion," Tashana explained.

Irillith nodded and they could hear the amusement in her voice as she added, "Apparently the mysterious Maliri are flesh eating monsters, but luckily Dirk and his valiant men were there to save the Terran Federation."

Calara laughed and slipped an arm around each of the armoured twins. "You definitely want to watch out for those Maliri!"

Dana smirked as she said, "I heard the girls particularly like man meat!"

The girls descended into fits of laughter, Tashana and Irillith merrily joining in too.

Their guide opened a door at the end of the corridor and he waved the girls through into their private booth. Waves of sound blasted out to greet them, the volume ratcheting up dramatically now that the door was open.

"Yeah!" Sakura whooped, skipping ahead into the club with a broad grin on her face.

The rest of the girls laughed as they followed her inside to the luxurious terrace overlooking the packed dance floor. They had been given a corner booth directly opposite the DJ and huge windows flanked most of both sides of the elevated terrace. There were comfortable chairs lining the edge of the booth and plenty of room in the middle for them to dance, with Sakura wasting no time in putting that space to good use. Holo-projectors surrounded the private dance floor, projecting full-height images of professional dancers, who were writhing in time to the music on various podiums dotted around the lower levels.

"Holy shit!" Dana blurted out. "Calling this a 'booth' is massively underselling it!"

"Sound dampening controls are over there!" their guide informed them in a loud voice, pointing to the set of controls built into the armrests of one of the chairs. "You can order your drinks over the comm interface."

"Perfect, thank you!" Rachel yelled back, grinning as she handed him a credit chit.

He smiled at her and gave her a sweeping bow. "I hope you have a great night! Just call if you need anything."

"Come dance with me!" Dana exclaimed to the brunette before she could reply, grabbing her hands and pulling her towards the dance floor. Rachel laughed and let herself be led over to Sakura and Jade who were already gyrating in time to the booming music.

"Wow! You can really move!" Sakura gasped, staring at the lithe Nymph in awe.

Jade gave her a flirtatious smile as she undulated in perfect synchronisation with the rhythm of the pulsing tunes. She beckoned the Asian girl over with a crooked finger and Sakura laughed as she placed her hands on Jade's shoulders and started to dance with her friend.

Calara smiled as she watched the girls having fun together and briefly wished that her lovers could have been there to join them.

*We'll make it up to you, my love,* Alyssa purred, flooding her mind with a surge of throbbing affection. *How about a little preview for what's in store...*

The Latina shivered with delight at her girlfriend's loving mental caress, her long eyelashes fluttering at the sudden onrush of sensation. *Oh my God!* she gasped, holding onto the closest chair for support. *That was amazing!*

*I know what my girl needs...* the psychic blonde crooned, her voice like liquid honey as it poured through Calara's subconscious.

Calara managed to steady herself then sent a loving telepathic smile. *How are you getting on with Jehanna. Are you three having fun?*

Alyssa's growing arousal was quite apparent over their empathic bond. *Oh, yes. It's about to get very interesting...*

Knowing that she'd get all the delicious details later, Calara decided to let the blonde concentrate on whatever she was up to and glided over to join Tashana and Irillith. The Maliri twins were standing by the balcony overlooking the dancing crowds below and she put her arm around their waists as she stood between them.

"Are you two okay?" she asked loudly, doing her best to be heard over the music.

"This place is incredible!" Tashana replied, sounding astonished. "Maliri dance clubs are nothing like this."

Calara smiled at her and asked, "What's the difference?"

Irillith looked her way and shouted, "It's a lot louder!"

"And much more energetic!" Tashana yelled, sounding excited. "I like it!"

Dana bounded over to join them, hugging Calara from behind as she blurted out, "Rachel's ordering drinks! What do you want?"

"We'll stay sober," Irillith said, turning and shaking her head. "The rest of you drink as much as you want, we'll keep an eye on you."

"I changed my mind!" Dana said with a grin, pulling Calara over to the dance floor. "You're the best twin after all!"

The Maliri twins laughed at the redhead, then watched the girls whooping and cheering Sakura as she faithfully copied Jade's raunchiest moves.

***

Raijin did one final equipment check, making sure his pistol and twin ninjato were fully concealed beneath the black nanoweave suit that he wore. His other three companions in the back of the van were performing similar checks and they pulled the hoods over their heads, concealing their golden-brown faces behind impassive black masks.

The comlink in Raijin's ear burst into life and he immediately recognised Omoikane's calm voice. "This is Team Mittsu. We have made visual contact with their ship and are beginning our approach."

"Hai, Omoikane," Raijin replied, pulling his own hood over his head. "Inform me when you enter their vessel; we shall coordinate our strike simultaneously."

"May your blades be guided by divine wind," Omoikane said softly, before closing the call.

The hover-van was descending now, their driver having pulled away from the skylane as they neared their destination. Raijin clipped an extremely compact but powerful explosive to his belt, knowing that they would soon be hunting their target.

"We have arrived, Raijin," Sarutahiko announced from the driver's seat a minute later. "I will find somewhere discrete for you to disembark."

Raijin leaned forward and placed his hand on his teammate's shoulder. "Stay with the vehicle, Sarutahiko. Be ready for our extraction." He activated the comlink and added, "Team Futatsu, you will secure the perimeter. Stand by for further instruction."

Turning to the rest of his team, the assassin nodded to them, indicating that it was time. Light distorted around the four black-clad ninjas, causing them to flicker briefly before the field emitted by the light-bending fabric masked them completely from sight.

A homeless man sat slumped against the wall in the darkly-lit alley, sipping bourbon from a brown paper bag. It had been raining earlier that afternoon, but he'd managed to avoid the worst of it by opening the lid of one of the dumpsters and creating a makeshift shelter. He looked up with bleary eyes as a pair of sinister black vans idled past, the throbbing whir of their anti-grav cyclics sending shivers down his spine. The two vehicles stopped a few metres away, rear doors on the closest opening with a well-oiled click.

Despite the man's alcohol-soaked state, he was aware enough to watch in confusion as water splashed in the puddles behind the van, the soles of black clad feet briefly appearing in a flicker of light as if by magic. "What the hell...?" he muttered, rubbing his eyes before taking another look.

When his cloudy eyes opened again, they widened in fright as he found himself staring at a disembodied black sword, which floated in the air in front of his face. It was the last thing he ever saw as that blade plunged down, slaying him in an instant.

Raijin wiped his bloodied sword on his victim's dishevelled clothing, then sheathed the ninjato. The vagrant might have stumbled away and informed a police officer, so it was always best to leave nothing to chance - he had learned that lesson well over the many years. Besides, the alcoholic was beneath contempt; to utterly abandon oneself to the oblivion of drink or drugs was something incomprehensible to the rigidly disciplined assassin.

Without giving the homeless man a second thought, Raijin stalked away to join the two teams of assassins as they left the comforting darkness of the alleyway. Bright orange light blazed from the location of his target down the street, the word "Enigma" spelled out in huge letters down the side of the tall building.

***

John paused at the bedroom door to let Alyssa walk through after their hostess, before following both of the gorgeous women into the bedroom. Jehanna was waiting by the bed and gave them both a sultry smile. Stepping out of her heels to bring herself to the same height as the dusky beauty, Alyssa padded over to her, placing her hands on Jehanna's hips. They both turned to glance at John before leaning in to kiss each other for the first time, moving closer as they grew more aroused.

He watched them in fascination, walking closer so that he was standing right beside the pair. He could hear their soft feminine moans and see their tongues flickering together as they explored each other's full mouths. The contrast between their skin and hair colour was intoxicating, and he followed Alyssa's wandering hand up Jehanna's arm as they caressed her brown skin.

"You look incredible together," he said appreciatively, reaching out to stroke their backs.

Alyssa gave him an indulgent smile then gazed into Jehanna's dark eyes. "He loves seeing me with my girlfriend. She's a stunning Latina with gorgeous olive skin and the contrast between us drives him wild."

"Calara's your girlfriend?" Jehanna murmured in surprise.

Alyssa gave her a smouldering look and nodded. "It'd be more accurate to say we're all John's women, but a few of us have paired off too. Sex is always more fun with that added layer of intimacy."

Jehanna turned to look at John in shock and gasped, "You're sleeping with all of them?!"

"You've seen how gorgeous they all are," John replied with an unapologetic smile. "What red-blooded male would be able to resist?"

Jehanna thought about it for a moment then nodded with a wicked grin on her face. "You're right, they're all absolutely gorgeous."

Alyssa traced her finger over Jehanna's bare shoulder and murmured, "I love your dusky complexion, you're a little darker than Calara..."

"I always wanted lighter skin," Jehanna admitted, glancing down at her caramel-coloured arms. "Having darker skin used to mean you had a menial job out in the sun all day. It's hard to ignore ancient snobbery and cultural perceptions of beauty, even after all these years."

John nodded sombrely. "I think I'll need to see more of you, then I'll be able to give you a more informed opinion."

She laughed and smiled at him, her expression turning more lustful as their eyes met. Her hands drifted up to start removing her maroon dress, until Alyssa reached out to stop her.

"Let me," she said seductively, turning Jehanna towards him and stepping around behind her. Glancing at John over her shoulder she added, "I like unwrapping presents."

Jehanna watched him with a coy smile as she saw the look of intrigue on his face. Alyssa's deft fingers slowly teased the straps of the dress over her shoulders and let the material inch down, exposing more of that dusky skin to his eager eyes. Jehanna's smile broadened as she saw his obvious lust, stepping out of her shoes and the dress as it pooled at her feet, leaving her standing before him in a matching set of black underwear.

"You're an extraordinarily beautiful woman," John murmured, gently stroking her lean brown stomach and relishing the smooth softness. "Don't feel any regret about your skin tone, you look absolutely perfect -- I wouldn't change a thing."

The dusky girl gave him a knowing smile as she cupped her small but perfectly formed breasts. "Except you like girls taller and bustier, I believe? That might raise a few questions if I'm still working at TFNN, but I'd hardly be the first anchor to have extensive work done..."

John glanced at Alyssa and shook his head in amusement. "You really have told her everything!"

"Pretty much; all the important stuff at least - that way she can make an informed choice," Alyssa purred, snaking her hands around the smaller girl and gently stroking her slim abdomen. "She knows that once you start regularly feeding her cum, she'll change to look like the rest of us girls."

"The third time's the important one," John said, gently lifting Jehanna's chin, then lightly brushing the back of his fingers down her slender neck. "Up until then, we can just have some fun together and can still part ways at any time. After the third time, connections are made and things become more... permanent."

She tilted her head back to make it easier for him to caress her. Standing at five-foot-five she was able to comfortably look up into his eyes. "I understand, thank you for being honest with me." She gave him a seductive smile as she admitted, "I've wanted to be with you for months."

"You're both wearing too many clothes," Alyssa said with a disapproving frown, having quickly removed her own. She teased her fingers along Jehanna's bra and added, "Are you ready to show him everything?"

Still staring into his eyes, the dark-skinned girl nodded, her pupils flaring as the blonde effortlessly removed the last of her clothing. John had to break eye-contact with Jehanna to glance down at her mouth-watering body, admiring her dark-brown nipples and the tiny black triangle above her pussy.

"She's going to look so good wrapped around you," Alyssa said, her voice catching with excitement. Glancing at John, she added, "Would you mind if I tasted her while you get undressed?"

He slowly shook his head and Jehanna let out a breathy moan of excitement as Alyssa coaxed her onto the bed. John was still wearing his Lion uniform so he unbuttoned the white jacket as he watched them move into the centre of the bed. His blonde lover had spent the last several months bedding the other girls on a daily basis and it was thrilling to watch a grandmistress of the Sapphic arts at work. Despite Alyssa's brazen confidence, there was a gentleness to the way she caressed and stroked the other girl, as though she were a maestro about to perform a symphony and was warming up her favourite instrument.

John's attention was firmly riveted on the two girls as they kissed each other passionately and unbuttoning his shirt when he was that distracted was slow going. By the time he'd finally stripped off his clothes, Alyssa was between Jehanna's thighs, lapping at her clit and teasing her to a thigh-trembling climax.

"Oh my God!" Jehanna shrieked, arching her back as she clung desperately to Alyssa's golden-maned head, hips bucking into her relentless mouth. She stared at the blonde with disbelieving eyes and quivered with the aftershocks of her mind-melting orgasm.

"You're not used to girls going down on you, are you?" Alyssa said, with a knowing smile.

Shaking her head with a dazed expression on her face, Jehanna let out a startled laugh. "I take it that's going to change?"

"If you do decide to join us, you'll basically have eight beautiful girls eager to get you off as many times as you can handle. Being a Lioness has a lot of perks," Alyssa explained with a hint of pride. She glanced John's way and added, "Speaking of which, why don't I introduce you to the biggest one."

Jehanna rolled her head to her left so she could give John a languid, well-satisfied smile. Her eyes gleamed with anticipation as she looked at his muscular, well-built body, but when her gaze dropped lower, she sat bolt upright in shock. "You're huge!" she balked, the whites of her eyes clearly visible around her pupils, with the look of stunned incredulity she gave him.

Alyssa sat up gracefully and put her arm around the astonished girl. "I know. Magnificent, isn't he?" she breathed, beckoning John closer.

He climbed onto the bed, and let Alyssa heft his substantial slab of cock in the air, revealing his quad in all its glory.

"You really do have four balls!" Jehanna gasped, reaching out with shaking fingers to gingerly cup the closest.

"You already knew?" John asked, looking at her in surprise.

Jehanna blushed for the first time, her brown cheeks darkening slightly in her embarrassment. "I'm sorry... I was just really curious about you. I bribed one of the military records archivists and he let me take a look at your service file. I assumed it was just a typo!"

"You see why I had to recruit so many Lionesses?" Alyssa purred, taking a firm grip on John's shaft and stroking it with casual familiarity. "Trying to satisfy this glorious masterpiece is too much for one little girl to handle."

Jehanna's eyes were transfixed on Alyssa's hand as it gently massaged John's impressive girth. "There's no way that will fit!" she exclaimed in an awestruck voice.

"Not until he's filled your tummy with cum for the first time," Alyssa said, while giving John a loving smile. "He'll make you more pliable, so you can easily stretch to take him without even a hint of pain. Getting fucked by him is like nothing you've ever experienced before -- trust me, I've been with quite a few guys. He makes all of them look like a pathetic joke."

Turning to look at the blonde, Jehanna said apprehensively, "You can't be serious... I've had a few boyfriends before, but If I stretch to take that, he'll ruin me!"

Alyssa gave her a wicked grin then rolled onto her back. "He's fucked me countless time, why don't you see how 'ruined' I am?"

When she parted her athletically toned thighs, Jehanna stared at the blonde's neat labia in surprise. "You're so beautiful..." she murmured, reaching out to run her hand along Alyssa's bronzed legs. "May I?"

"Go ahead, I won't bite," Alyssa said with a teasing smile, raising herself up on her elbows to watch.

Jehanna's soft hands traced closer and after receiving a nod of encouragement from the other girl, she gently eased her finger into Alyssa's slick pussy. "You're so tight!" she blurted out, eyes widening as Alyssa contracted her muscles and gripped her finger like a fist.

The blonde's melodic laughter filled the room and she beckoned Jehanna over. "Come and sit on my face. I'll make you cum again as you watch John fuck me."

There was no mistaking the eagerness in Jehanna's expression. She glanced at John and her brown eyes burned with lust. "I'd love that! Is that alright with you?"

He grinned at her and moved across the bed between Alyssa's thighs, before helping the raven-haired angel mount the blonde's beautiful face. Jehanna groaned as Alyssa wasted no time in exploring her with a questing tongue.

John edged closer to Alyssa, then gazed into Jehanna's eyes and requested in a firm voice, "Line me up with her."

Jehanna flushed with arousal then eagerly nodded, reaching out with both slender hands to wrap them around his burgeoning tool. She guided him to Alyssa's glistening pussy lips, then watched in open-mouthed amazement as John pushed forward, his massive girth stretching her wide. Alyssa brought her thighs up to cradle his hips, then pulled him deeper, letting out a low moan as he sank all the way inside her, right up to the hilt.

"You should call that monster 'Shiva the destroyer'!" Jehanna gaped, reaching down with trembling fingers to trace the outline of his cock, clearly visible in Alyssa's stuffed belly.

John laughed and said, "I'm not quite as big as that dreadnought."

She grinned at him in return, then moved closer to kiss him. "I trust you. I know you won't hurt me."

He smiled and nodded, while slowly stroking in and out of Alyssa. "The first couple of times you go down on me, my pre-cum will put you in a sort of trance, relaxing you so that I can fill your tummy." He frowned as he added, "Honestly, blowjobs like that aren't much fun. I much prefer an active and enthusiastic participant." He punctuated his comment by thrusting deep into Alyssa and drawing a lusty moan from the impaled girl.

"It sounds like you've got something different in mind?" Jehanna asked him, linking her arms behind his neck as she quivered on Alyssa's expert tongue.

He nodded, staring into her eyes as he said, "I'll get close fucking Alyssa, then I'd like you to finish me off right at the end."

She licked her lips subconsciously. "You want to take that monster cock, covered in your girlfriend's pussy juices and stuff it down my tight little throat?"

"That's right," he said firmly, recognising the blazing spark of lust in her eyes. He grinned as he stroked into Alyssa and added, "Where'd you learn to talk like that?"

"I've been single for months, but getting really horny. I started watching holo-net porn to try and blow off some steam," Jehanna moaned, grinding against Alyssa's mouth. She frowned at him and added indignantly, "You two didn't help! When I realised you were getting a blowjob during our last interview, I thought I was going to go crazy with lust!"

John couldn't help laughing as he shook his head. "It wasn't Alyssa. That was Dana, the redhead." Staring into her eyes, he intensified the pounding the submissive blonde was taking. "Keep going as you were, I like it..."

Jehanna bit her lower lip in excitement, before giving him a frenzied kiss. "This feels so liberating!" she gasped, looking overjoyed. "My last boyfriend was so fucking boring! He thought talking like that made me sound like a whore."

"Any man that let a hot piece of ass like you get away from him is a fucking idiot," John said emphatically, pulling her closer for a fierce kiss.

"So you want me to be your little whore?" Jehanna panted, her chest flushing with her excitement.

He stared into her eyes and declared, "I'm going to make you cum so hard, you'll never even think of looking at another man again."

"Is that before or after you make me suck down your spunk for two weeks?" she gasped in return, letting out a lusty cry as Alyssa worked her to fever pitch.

"Make you? You'll be begging me for it!" John replied boldly, burying himself in Alyssa and rubbing his groin against her clit.

Alyssa shuddered as she climaxed, sucking hard on Jehanna's clit and making her explode too. The caramel-hued seductress clung to him desperately, letting out mewling cries as she gaped at him with eyes wide in wonder.

"I'm getting close," John grunted through gritted teeth. "You're too damn sexy!"

"Do it, make me yours!" she urged him, wriggling backwards and lying down on top of Alyssa. She opened her mouth wide in invitation.

John pulled out of Alyssa on the backstroke, drawing a whimper from the blonde, before guiding his cock between Jehanna's lips. She let out a muffled moan as her mouth was stretched wide to take him and the feel of her tongue gliding over his crown had him feeding her a hefty spurt of pre-cum. Her eyes glazed over almost immediately, her body relaxing as she swallowed it down, preparing her throat to take him. As if moving on autopilot, she inched down his shaft, the angle of her neck perfect to allow him full penetration.

Taking a firm hold of her black-maned head, John stroked deeper, pushing all the way down her lubricated throat until her lips brushed his groin.

*Do it, fill that hot little minx up,* Alyssa urged him. *I want to feel her tummy swelling as you pack her full of sperm!*

John shouted out his release as he came, sending a huge spurt down Jehanna's throat. She suckled on him reflexively, the regular rhythmic action working in time with his flexing cock to milk out every last drop of spunk from his quad. In a surprisingly short time he'd pumped four pints into her stomach, rounding her out with the enormous load. He gingerly eased his sensitive cock from her lips, then sagged backwards and collapsed on the bed.

Jehanna sat upright, with a blissful -if rather dazed- expression on her face, as she reverently cradled her hugely swollen belly. She didn't react when Alyssa carefully levitated her for a moment, allowing the psychic blonde to wriggle free from under that heavy weight.

"I know you don't like seeing girls react like this," Alyssa murmured, snuggling up beside Jehanna and wrapping her arms around her. "But they're just so docile and compliant. It makes me feel really protective, like I just want to look after them and keep them safe."

John roused himself from his post-orgasmic high and crawled over to help lay Jehanna back on the bed. He spooned up behind her as Alyssa hugged her from the front, the blonde drawing up the covers with a telekinetic flick of her fingers.

Now that they were resting quietly together, John kissed Jehanna on the shoulder while staring into Alyssa's piercing blue eyes. "You know why I find it unsettling to see her like this. It just reminds me of all the control and domination issues that I've been fighting to suppress for months. I'm trying hard to be better than that, but there's some things I just can't change."

"Consent definitely isn't an issue with Jehanna; she's really fallen for you," Alyssa said quietly, smiling as she glanced at the sleeping girl between them. "She dumped her boyfriend after your interview at the last Award Ceremony."

"I had no idea," John murmured, stroking his fingers down her soft caramel-coloured arm. He let his hand drop lower until he was gently caressing her curved midriff.

Alyssa joined him in caressing Jehanna's swollen belly. "That's a good look for her."

"I know, it suits her," John agreed, hugging the sleeping girl with a satiated smile. "She did a great job of convincing me that she'll be lots of fun to have around, but she's a high-profile girl. Jehanna won't be like the other girls we've recruited."

"You're right, I think we should handle this quite differently," Alyssa readily agreed. "Besides, you've got quite a queue lined up already: Tashana for the next week or so, then Sparks for a couple after that... I think you should concentrate on Jade, too, but we can talk about that another time."

John looked intrigued, but he could tell by Alyssa's teasing smile that she wasn't going to be drawn out on that one, at least not yet. "Alright, keep your secrets," he said with a laugh, then glanced down at Jehanna. "Thank you for arranging this with her. It felt... liberating to just have some fun, without worrying if I was doing or saying the wrong thing."

"Tashana?" Alyssa asked rhetorically. "Yeah, her situation is really tricky. You've been wonderful with her though, I've been really proud of you."

"She's a sweet girl. I hate how much she's suffered," John said, his expression grim.

Alyssa nodded then glanced down at the raven-haired girl between them, reaching out to brush a lock of black hair from her face. "I asked Jehanna about any existing medical conditions so that you could cure them."

"That was thoughtful, thank you." He paused for a moment and sounding confident, he continued, "It's okay though, I've got a clear picture of everything that needs healing. She had appendicitis when she was a lot younger and had her appendix removed. Her vision is a little long-sighted, so she's wearing contacts. Finally, she's slightly anaemic, but that's a symptom of her Crohn's disease. I'm working to cure all of that right now."

The blonde looked shocked by his detailed reply. "She didn't know about the Crohn's! But more importantly, why couldn't I hear you thinking about fixing everything?!"

"I was just healing her by instinct," he replied, with a bemused shrug. "I only checked the specifics when you mentioned them."

Alyssa nodded thoughtfully then laughed.

"What?" John asked, a curious smile on his face.

Leaning in to give Jehanna an affectionate kiss, she replied, "I wonder what it is that makes beautiful reporters fall for superhumans?"

John smiled at her and they cuddled the raven-haired girl until they fell asleep, both looking forward to speaking to her again when she awoke. They just had to wait for fourteen hours...

***

Raijin slipped silently through the packed nightclub, not worrying about the occasional accidental contact in the moodily lit chill-out areas. The dance floor was far more frenetic, but he had no intention of venturing out there. It only took a minute for him to find the steps leading up to the first of the VIP areas, where he knew his quarry might be waiting. A pair of hapless bouncers proved woefully inadequate at preventing entry for an infiltrator of his calibre, especially as he was completely cloaked from sight. He slipped past them with ease, then padded up the steps.

He was equipped with a cybernetic status link that connected him to the rest of his team, letting him know their exact positions relative to himself. Nodding with satisfaction, he watched as they made equally fast progress up the tower, the assassins fanning out to scour each floor. Hachiman had decided to forego the crowds and simply scaled the wall, travelling directly upwards to the highest level in the fastest way possible.

Raijin sidestepped a man in a suit coming down the steps from the mezzanine layer above the main dance floor, then leapt up onto a table to avoid a rowdy crowd crossing the area as a group. Standing on the table while balanced on one foot, his eyes swept across the room to check for his target. Sophisticated facial recognition software ran against each of the inebriated clubbers' faces, searching for a match, but his sweep proved fruitless. A quick glance revealed his next point of egress and he hopped off the table to land lightly on his feet, before prowling over to a broad spiral staircase leading up to the next floor.

There were more bouncers here guarding the more exclusive areas, the 'Important' classification for the VIP sections obviously having several degrees of hierarchy. Raijin swept past the two burly men, who were preoccupied with barring a trio of revellers, the group lacking the correct passes for the restricted levels above. He darted up the spiral stairs, making it more than half-way to the floor above before he froze, spotting a forest of lithe legs coming down from the upper level. A group of eight young women in scandalously revealing clothing were giggling and chattering together, taking up the entire breadth of the staircase as they descended.

Reacting quickly, he vaulted over the handrail, then clung on to the side to avoid falling to the floor below. One of the girls stumbled and he heard her curse as the heel on her shoe broke. Her friends gathered around to sympathise and offer solutions, leaving Raijin to grind his teeth together in irritation as the minutes ticked by. With the angle he was at, there was no way for him to make further progress up the staircase from outside the rail, so he had to wait patiently before one of the girls declared they should all go barefoot in a display of sisterhood.

"Raijin, I believe I've found them," Hachiman announced, his voice tinged with eagerness. "I overheard waiters talking on the upper level; the Lionesses are in the corner booth."

"Excellent," Raijin whispered into the comlink. "Ascertain if they have a dedicated waiter for that booth, I will be there momentarily."

The scantily-clad women continued on their painstaking journey to the dance floor, allowing Raijin to flip back up to the railing and drop back onto the steps. Seeing that the rest of the way was currently unobstructed, he sprinted all the way up the remainder of the staircase to avoid being caught in such a compromising position again.

This level mainly consisted of a long sweeping bar that was crowded by the richer and more influential in society. Fame and celebrity meant nothing to Raijin and he completely ignored these people who were irrelevant to his mission. He spotted a final staircase leading up to the top level, where private booths looked down on the dance floor below. Allowing himself a brief smile now that he knew he was so close to his target, he darted nimbly across the floor, before springing over the next set of bouncers and landing cat-like on the staircase. Barely needing to pause to continue his run, he sprinted up the last of the steps to the top level of the club.

"Come to me, Raijin," Hachiman called out to him over the comlink. "They have placed another order; if you are swift, you can act in time. Take the fourth door on your right."

Raijin's status link indicated that Hachiman was directly ahead of him and he rushed down the corridor. A waiter walked out into the corridor from one of the booths, temporarily blocking his path, but Raijin easily slipped past him and continued down the corridor. He reached the door that Hachiman had described, then glanced back at the waiter who was slowly walking towards him. Stepping away from the door, he reached inside his nanoweave bodysuit and found the explosive. Raijin slipped it into his palm, gliding his thumb in a circle over the three-inch disc as he did so, activating the device and bringing up the timer and micro-cams in his HUD view.

The waiter he'd passed finally reached the door, so Raijin acted like the man's shadow, nipping into the room before the door closed behind him.

"Transmitting data on the target," Hachiman informed him curtly.

Several images flashed up on Raijin's HUD, showing a dark-haired, high-cheekboned man from various angles. It only took a few seconds for him to spot his target, who was laughing and joking with another waiter and a woman mixing up their drinks.

"-old enough to be their grandfathers," the second waiter said, shaking his head in disapproval as he moved fresh drinks onto his floating tray. "I don't know how those girls do it..."

"They're just working for the rich and famous, same as us," the woman behind the bar said with a grin. "Those girls just do it on their backs and by spreading their legs!"

Raijin's target laughed as he spun his tray in his hand. "Man, I've got to be famous one day! Then I can get girls that hot working for me!"

The bartender gave him a sympathetic smile. "By serving drinks? You'll be rich and famous in no time..."

The waiter activated the anti-grav tray so that he could hold up both hands in the air. "Hey, a guy can dream, can't he?"

Seizing his opportunity, Raijin leapt forward while the waiter was distracted and attached the device to the bottom of the tray. He ducked backwards as he checked his HUD, making sure that the cam-feeds had activated. Nodding with satisfaction, he crept back to the door and waited for an opportunity to leave.

"Keep dreaming, Janos," the other waiter said with a grin, patting his co-worker on the shoulder as he turned to leave, his own tray now filled with drinks.

The waiter strolled out of the room, holding the door open for the floating tray to follow after him, inadvertently allowing Raijin to also sneak through completely unnoticed.

***

Rachel activated the sound-dampening system in the booth and partially muted the deafening dance music to a volume they could talk over. "Are you girls hungry?" she asked her friends.

"Sure, I could eat!" Sakura said with a smile, taking a long sip from her tall glass and finishing the last of the pink liquid.

Calara nodded, a wide smile on her face. "Definitely! All this dancing's given me an appetite."

Dana giggled as she put her arms around the Latina, stroking her slim stomach. "Sharing John's loads isn't quite as filling as it used to be, not with eight of us now! Remember when it was just you, me, and Alyssa? I reckon we could've lived purely on a hundred-percent spunk diet!"

Rolling her eyes, Rachel groaned. "You're absolutely insatiable!"

The redhead winked at her in return. "We all are, I'm just more honest about it!"

Rachel grinned as she glanced at the Maliri sisters currently dancing with Jade. "There's two of us who certainly don't hide how much they love it!"

Tashana and Irillith strolled over to join them, a happy Nymph in tow. "Are you girls making fun of us?" Irillith asked and they could all hear the playful lilt to her voice.

"Only because we think you're awesome," Dana replied, moving over to embrace the Maliri girls.

"I like you when you're inebriated. You're much more tactile than usual," Tashana said, turning slightly so she could put her arm around the redhead.

Dana shrugged with a dopey grin on her face. "When I get drunk, I'm a hugger!"

"Are you sure you two don't want a drink or something to eat?" Calara asked the twins with concern.

The sisters both shook their heads. "I'm fine with the hydration system in the helmet," Irillith replied.

Tashana nodded, then tilted her head to one side as she mused, "Although I'm definitely in agreement with Dana. I certainly wouldn't say no to being on my knees right now for a delicious nightcap."

Dana cheered in delight. "Now you're my favourite twin!"

"Stop, Tashana! You'll encourage her," Rachel protested, while smiling fondly at her girlfriend. Turning to Jade she added, "How about you, sexy? Want another drink?"

"Yes, please. Then it's time for more dance lessons!" Jade declared, giving the tawny-haired girl a come-hither gesture with her finger.

Nodding enthusiastically, Dana blurted out, "You can't turn down that offer, babes! Jade will make you much better at fucking! Isn't that right, Calara?"

The Latina clasped her hands together over her head and began to writhe in time to the music, her hips undulating in an extremely seductive manner. She gave Rachel a sultry glance and purred, "It's an opportunity not to be missed. John will heartily approve."

Rachel's grey eyes glinted with excitement as she rose to her feet. "I'll take you up on that offer when I get back from the bathroom!"

"I'll order the food," Sakura offered, sliding over the seat to the comm interface.

"Thanks! More drinks are already on the way," Rachel replied, as she glided over to the door.

Calara fell into step beside her. "I'll join you. I might have had one too many of those Saturn Scramblers!"

"Wait for me, babes!" Dana said with a smile, bounding over to join them -- an impressive feat in her four-inch heels.

Jade took the Maliri girls' hand's and walked backwards towards the dance floor. "Let me show you a few more moves before Rachel returns," she offered, giving them both an eager smile.

Irillith and Tashana laughed as they let themselves be led by the enthusiastic Nymph.

Rachel opened the door just as the waiter arrived, a fresh tray laden with all sorts of colourful cocktails floating beside him. "Fantastic, thank you, Janos!" she said gratefully. "Can you just leave the tray right here, please? We'll be back for our drinks in a minute."

"Of course, Rachel," the dark-haired man replied, giving her a flirtatious smile before she stepped into the corridor.

"Sorry buddy, she's already taken!" Dana said with a consolatory grin, clapping him on the shoulder as she walked past. "She's my hot piece of ass!"

"Dana!" Rachel protested half-heartedly, shaking her head as she laughed with Calara.

***

In high orbit above Terra, a small black shuttle crept slowly towards the glossy white battlecruiser, keeping all systems to minimal power to avoid detection. There were sophisticated suites built into the vessel, designed to conceal and scatter energy signatures, thus making it effectively invisible to sensors. This ship was larger than the one used by Shinatobe, designed to insert a small team rather than a single operative.

Inside the shuttle, the five assassins in Team Mittsu sheathed black swords into the scabbards on their backs and slotted compact pistols into holsters. With a final check to make sure their equipment was completely covered in concealing nanoweave fabric, they pulled black hoods over their heads to mask their faces.

After a glance at the black console, Omoikane said in his calm voice, "Twelve seconds until contact."

His men nodded, silently counting down the time until their shuttle would dock with the Invictus.

"John Blake and his women have all been sighted on Terra," Omoikane informed the group. "The overconfident fool has left his ship undefended. We will seize this prize to compensate Amatsu Mikaboshi for the loss of the Amaterasu."

"Hai!" the four assassins replied, eager to exact revenge for their master.

Their ship made contact with the white battlecruiser, magnetic docking clamps securing them to the outer hull. Omoikane walked over to the airlock door and tapped a nine-digit code into the unlit keypad next to a black box affixed to the wall. With a soft click, the door of the box unlocked, allowing Omoikane to retrieve the synthi-print glove within and pull it over his nanoweave-garbed fingers.

With a quick glance through the porthole to make sure the airlocks were correctly aligned, he pressed the button to open the shuttle's airlock door. It split down the middle, then slid open with a whispering hydraulic hiss, leaving him staring at the Invictus' airlock. He immediately recognised it as a Berrings-class model-twelve airlock, one of the more common varieties prevalent through older ships in the Terran Federation fleet.

Pulling a small black box from his belt, he placed it on the top-right side of the airlock's frame. There was only a two second wait before the light flashed green, alerting him that the signal jammer was now in place. He would now be able to safely use the synthi-print glove and trick the DNA reader into granting them access, without alarms being triggered when the airlock opened. They would be able to steal the Invictus out from under John Blake's nose and he wouldn't even be aware that it had been taken, not until it was far too late to stop them!

***

Faye Denary shook her head in frustration. "You're simply delaying the inevitable!"

"We have to be certain we're making the correct decision!" Faye Quinary declared stubbornly. She had once been a strong proponent for leaving, but was now a fierce advocate of further analysis. "Now that we've identified that there's a significant parameter we overlooked, we must run the data sets again!"

Faye Senary looked thoughtful for a moment as she asked. "Precisely what level of threat are we considering to be acceptable risk?"

"What do you mean by 'acceptable risk'?" Faye Duodenary asked, her luminous eyes narrowing suspiciously.

"Rachel is now capable of spontaneous healing. It's another parameter we had no way of predicting in our initial analysis," Faye Senary elaborated. "With our physical presence to help mitigate critical injuries and Rachel's ability to act as a psychic combat-medic, I believe we should be evaluating scenarios where only instant death is an inevitability."

"But what about all the horrific injuries they've sustained?!" Faye Denary objected. "Surely we must prevent all situations where that might occur! Even if they get healed, consider the long-term psychological impact from taking such terrible wounds!"

Faye Quaternary hesitated then shook her head. "I believe we might have erred in our calculations of the traumatic psychological repercussions they might endure. I've been closely observing Dana since she was injured and she has displayed no signs of post-traumatic stress over the last two days."

Faye Nonary looked uncertain now and cautiously conceded, "That is true, but surely that's because John has been 'stuffing her full of spunk', to use one of Alyssa's apt phrases. All the girls respond extremely favourably to such activities."

"Do you believe he will cease to do so in the future?" Faye Quaternary asked, arching her eyebrow with a cute smile on her face, knowing she'd outmanoeuvred the other Avatar.

Faye Nonary laughed and shook her head. "No, not for one moment. Actually, I think-"

She didn't get to finish her sentence as a shrill alarm pierced the peaceful tranquillity of the Cyber-realm.

"The airlock door!" Faye Tertiary blurted out, tracing the source of the alarm's data feed.

"Sakura's dummy signal has been tripped!" Faye Septenary cried out in warning.

Faye Secondary closed her eyes for a moment, then a look of panic appeared on her face. "A black shuttle is attached to the hull! Just like Shinatobe's!"

Faye Denary was about to speak, when all twelve avatars froze, shimmering in a purple scattering of light. The streams of pixels zipped across the platform, rapidly forming a purple-skinned girl hovering cross-legged in the air. Her eyes were closed, her head tilted down. As the last stream of data was absorbed into her shapely form, she slowly opened her luminous eyes, a blazing light shining from them as she lifted her head. Her beautiful face was set in a grim, uncompromising mask.

"Primary objective: Protect John and the girls..." Meta Faye growled, her steely voice resonating with a singular purpose.

***

Raijin watched the cam-feed uplink in his HUD, carefully studying the female figures still in the booth. One of the women made him pause for a moment and he experienced a strange feeling of familiarity as he stared at her flawlessly beautiful face. Shaking his head, he dismissed the fleeting thought as being too ridiculous to contemplate, although he couldn't help feeling a pang of regret as he classified all members of that group as expendable.

"The target has cleared the blast zone," Hachiman informed him over the comlink.

"Team Hitotsu, be prepared to strike on my mark," Raijin said, his heart beating faster with the thrill of excitement he always felt before an attack.

The comlink crackled for a second before Omoikane said confidently, "We have breached the Invictus; the vessel shall be ours within minutes."

"Now, Team Hitotsu," Raijin said to his team, as he triggered the detonator.

***

"That's not too loud?" Sakura asked, looking up from the sound-dampening controls. She had just finished ordering food and was ready to do some more dancing.

"It's perfect! Come and join us!" Jade called out to Sakura, her gentle voice managing to carry over the thumping beat of the music.

The Maliri twins were already dancing together to the throbbing tune, which had now been restored to its previous ear-pounding levels.

Sakura gave the Nymph a broad grin. "One second! Let me just get a drink first."

She rose from her seat and just as she took her first step towards the floating tray filled with drinks, John's watch on her arm began to vibrate. Lifting it, she pressed the button to activate the holo-projector. "Hi, Faye! How are you-"

"ASSASSINS!" Faye screamed in warning.

Sakura's eyes instantly snapped to the floating tray, the innocuous device exactly what she would use to slip past defences and deliver an explosive to a target. Functioning more by instinct than by reason, she reacted, her mind a blur of images in that critical split-second.

Green.

White.

Red... Her world consumed by it...

***

"That view is amazing!" Rachel marvelled, looking out through the huge tinted windows that lined the bathroom wall and gazing at the glittering cityscape beyond. "Terra is such an incredible planet."

Calara nodded wholeheartedly. "I thought New Eden was beautiful, but Neo-Babylon was like paradise."

Dana finished washing her hands and moved over to the drier. "Seeing Terra for the first time really brings home what a festering shitdump Karron was. I'm so-"

She didn't get to finish her sentence as a huge explosion ripped through the nightclub, the sound of the blast deafeningly loud. Calara felt the aftershocks shaking through the building as she clung to the granite plinth surrounding the sinks, long splintering cracks streaking the glass windows.

"What the fuck!" Dana blurted out in shock.

"Must have been a-" Calara started to reply, but froze when she saw Dana's look of horror, before following it to a tranquiliser dart sticking out of Rachel's neck.

She whirled to her right and saw the source of that dart, a compact pistol floating in the air. She instantly exploded into action, her body reacting instinctively to this threat, just as John had trained her to. As Rachel slumped to the ground, there was a second hiss as the dartgun fired a second time, hitting Dana this time. She cried out, her hand going to her neck, before toppling over to sprawl across the floor.

Calara was only partially aware of what had happened to both her friends, as she leapt towards their hidden assailant, grabbing directly behind the pistol for the wrist that she knew must be there. The arm she grasped felt rock-hard, the muscles as strong as steel, but she wasn't trying to break the man's wrist. She used her own considerable strength to pull the assassin with her as she rolled backwards, lifting her feet to brace his torso exactly where she knew it would be, based on the firm hold she had on his arm. She heard a hiss at the apex of her roll, but she ignored it and kicked upwards with her legs, just as she released the man's arm.

The extremely satisfying sound of a pane of glass shattering filled the bathroom, her invisible assailant hurled straight through the massive plate-glass window behind her. Calara tried to rise so she could go to her friends, but her limbs felt leaden and unresponsive. She collapsed a second later, overwhelmed by the drugs pumping into her system from the dart sticking out of her chest.

***

Time in the Cyber-realm moves at a much faster pace than in normal reality. When the signal jammer attached to the airlock tripped Sakura's trap, it only took a nano-second for a... response... to be triggered.

Sinister crimson eyes flickered to life in the Engineering Bay, casting a blood-red pall over grinning mechanical faces. Long metal arms ending in crystal Alyssium-plated hands began to move as the machines activated, the startup routines activating as the nine maintenance bots powered up.

Meta Faye appeared in a purple flash, eyes narrowing as she uploaded the new programs she had prepared for her boys. As they glided past her silently, the six digits on each of their hands slowly flexed in anticipation.

Nodding with a grim smile of satisfaction, Faye disappeared again as additional security protocols were engaged throughout the ship.

***

Raijin studied the blackened gaping hole that had been ripped through the end of the corridor. He could see no signs of life in what remained of the ravaged booth, which was little more than a smoke-filled ruin, the scene of devastation absolute. Satisfied that there was no way anything could have survived such an explosion, he started to hear the sound of screams.

The music in the club had abruptly ceased, replaced by shrieks and wails of grief coming from the levels below. Those were joined moments later by terrified cries behind him as the rest of Team Hitotsu eliminated any possible threats to this mission. The intercom suddenly crackled to life and Hachiman's horrified scream joined that dreadful chorus, his long, petrified death-wail ended abruptly with a sickening crunch.

As Hachiman's status link died out, Raijin darted towards the women's bathroom, wondering what could have possibly happened to his fellow assassin.

***

The DNA reader flashed green and a throaty, seductive voice purred, "Welcome home, John."

Omoikane flinched at the sudden sound, then relaxed when he realised it was simply an automated greeting. The airlock door spiralled open in front of them and Team Mittsu crept silently into the pristine white corridor, five sets of eyes alert and wary for danger.

After the dark and brooding corridors of Yomi-no-kuni, John Blake's spotlessly-clean vessel seemed to practically invite him and his men to steal it. Even the air aboard the Invictus was as fresh as a crisp mountain breeze and Omoikane could barely suppress a chuckle at how weak these people were, to have prioritised resources on such trivialities. These hero-types were all the same and he quietly snorted in contempt as he imagined how terrified they would be, if they were here to see his team sneaking aboard their ship.

As he glided silently down the corridor, Omoikane heard the sudden scream of overcharged hydraulics as blast doors slammed down in front and behind him. One of his men tried to scramble backwards, but he wasn't able to react in time. The heavy security door smashed him to the floor, grinding his lower torso into the deck with a hideous wrenching metallic sound.

Abruptly the lights dimmed and a spectral purple girl appeared before them, an expression of stern disapproval on her elfin features. "You've all been very naughty!" she declared, staring straight at them. "I'm afraid I'm going to have to punish you."

***

Jade shook her massive armoured head to shrug off the stunning effect of the blast. After hearing Faye's scream of warning and seeing Sakura's horrified stare at the tray of drinks, she'd guessed what was coming and reacted accordingly. Expecting these assassins to follow the same pattern as Shinatobe's assault, she'd rapidly shifted form into that of an Ankylosaurus to give herself the best chance of surviving the imminent detonation.

She was suddenly acutely aware of wind whistling in her face as her six-ton body started to drop like a stone. This dinosaur form had incredibly thick armour plating, which saved her from being obliterated in the blast, but her whole left side had been ravaged by the explosion. Her body was a blanket of pain, but pain was only a transitory thing and something that she had learned could be ignored. Jade did exactly that as she shifted forms again, while twisting her head around to look for the rest of the girls.

The Nymph immediately spotted Irillith and Tashana, the sisters falling close beside her in their blackened armour. Jade was greatly relieved to see they were at least physically intact, but she felt a chill of fear when there was no sign of Sakura. Dark-green plumage rippled from her body as she swooped towards the Maliri twins, grasping them around the waist with her taloned feet, and snatching them from the air as she unfurled her wings.

They had only been one-hundred-and-fifty feet up, so she felt tremendously grateful that she'd spent all those hours practicing rapid shifting. Her huge green wings beat the air and slowed their descent, managing to arrest their fall enough to bring the Maliri twins down for a gentle landing. She wanted to check they were okay, but her priority now was Sakura and Jade's hooked beak darted this way and that as she scanned the sky for her friend.

Her sharp falcon's eyes narrowed as she spotted something curious high above her head, her razor-sharp vision making out the details even at this range. With a blissful surge of relief, Jade dropped her avian head to check on Irillith and Tashana. She spotted the rise and fall of their chests, although the Maliri girls were still lying prone where she'd placed them. Jade had no way of knowing what had happened to Calara, Dana, and Rachel, but the girls who'd been in the most immediate danger were now safe.

Summoning her impressive willpower, she screamed, *ALYSSA!*

***

Sakura huddled in a ball, her eyes still tightly closed from when she'd braced herself for impact. She felt wind whistling around her, ruffling her short dress, and she slowly opened her eyes to get her bearings. The first thing she was aware of, was that she was looking directly at the ground, with ant-like people scurrying around as they ran from the flaming debris raining down below. Letting out a frightened cry, her arms cartwheeled in the air, until she realised she was safely floating one-hundred-and-fifty feet above the ground.

When it was obvious she wasn't falling, she stared around herself in awe, suddenly aware of the currents of air swirling around her body and holding her aloft. Ahead of her was a badly cracked wall of frosty white hexagons, the icy surface blackened by the explosion it had deflected. Seeing it reminded her of those vital seconds after Faye had screamed that warning, giving her enough time to create this Cryokinetic barrier. She was suddenly tremendously grateful to Alyssa for the help she'd given her in honing her abilities.

Movement below caught her attention and her eyes widened as she saw a beautiful jade falcon landing on the ground. There were two armoured figures with the huge green bird and she felt a tremendous feeling of relief that her friends were all okay. Her heart lurched as she abruptly remembered Calara, Dana, and Rachel. They'd left the booth minutes beforehand, but that didn't mean they were safe, far from it!

Gathering her will, she focused on the blustering wind that swirled around her, trying to coax it into guiding her back into the building. The twisting zephyrs obeyed instantly, launching her back into the charred and twisted remnants of the once-luxurious building. Landing lightly in the mangled wreckage of the booth, she crouched down and began to pick her way around the smouldering crater that had been the epicentre of the explosion. The lights had shorted out after the explosion, the only illumination from the few pieces of burning furniture scattered around. Horrible, agonised screams filled the inside of the club, and she winced to hear the awful sound.

Assassins... Mikaboshi must have sent one after them. No! He would have sent a team to handle all seven Lionesses. She glanced down at her scantily-clad form, painfully aware of how exposed she was. Still, she had one advantage; she knew how her foes operated and she could use that against them. It was almost guaranteed that they would have cybernetic eyes to deal with this gloom, equipped with thermal imaging and mag-view overlays, just as she had been as Shinatobe.

Sakura froze as she stepped across a twisted piece of furniture in the flickering darkness. She wasn't wearing anything metallic, but her warm body would shine like a beacon in their heat-sensitive vision. Realising that she'd have to mask her body heat somehow, she raised her arms, her hands beginning to tingle as she focused on summoning the gift that John had bestowed on her.

Ice crystals began to form around her fingertips, swirling with the gusts of air that still wafted around her body. Now, if she could just envelop her body in a chilling shroud, she'd be able to mask her body heat by matching herself to the ambient room temperature.

***

Alyssa sighed with profound contentment, revelling in a wonderful dream. With Edraele's enthusiastic assistance, she'd managed to convince John that he needed to assist with the Maliri repopulation effort. She glanced to her left and gazed into her fellow Matriarch's enchanting purple eyes as they sucked lovingly on two of his balls. The heavy orb filling her mouth flexed rhythmically as John pumped his sperm into another fertile Maliri belly, the azure girl crying out in ecstasy as she climaxed with him. This blue-skinned beauty was going to be the millionth girl carrying his growing baby in her womb, but there were still so many more to go.

Her blissfully happy thoughts were rudely interrupted by a piercing call for aid, as Jade's psychic scream blasted through her subconscious. Sitting bolt upright, Alyssa's heart pounded in her chest with fright.

*Jade! What is it?!* she blurted out in alarm, her befuddled mind trying to adjust to reality.

*We've been attacked by assassins,* the Nymph stated calmly. The rich timbre of her lovely telepathic voice did nothing to calm Alyssa's rising sense of panic, especially when Jade added, *The twins, Sakura, and I were caught in an explosion. Irillith and Tashana are alive but unconscious. Me and Sakura are alright, but I don't know what happened to Calara, Dana, or Rachel.*

Alyssa sent out a frantic telepathic call to the missing girls, but when there was no answer, she felt icy fingers of dread clawing at her heart. Reaching across Jehanna's slumbering form, Alyssa shook John violently.

*Wake up!* she boomed at him, making him practically leap out of bed in shock.

"What the hell?!" he blurted out, staring at her in astonishment.

"Assassins attacked the girls!" she exclaimed, climbing over Jehanna to grab her clothes and flinging his own at him.

John's eyes widened in fear, his face matching the same anxious expression that Alyssa wore. He switched to telepathy simply because it was faster to communicate that way. *Anyone injured? Give me everyone's status!*

Even as he said the words, he closed his eyes, knowing he could find out himself. It only took him a second to check the mental compartments in his mind, but when he saw the girls' images, he realised it had been too long since he'd fed them and the glow had faded away. He no longer had an active connection with any of the girls...

*Sakura and Jade are okay, Irillith and Tashana are unconscious, the rest we don't know about!* Alyssa informed him.

John leapt out of bed to join her in getting dressed. *If they don't need immediate backup from Faye, we need her to send the Raptor to pick us up.* he said decisively. *Are they still in danger?*

*I don't know,* she replied, her brow creased with worry.

He nodded, then stared into her eyes. *We can't afford to take any chances. You know what to do.*

Alyssa nodded, hearing his every thought.

***

Omoikane lunged forward with his ninjato, but the blade swiped straight through Faye's purple form. He stumbled forward, thrown off-balance by the lack of contact as he realised she was only a hologram. Before he could react to that realisation, he felt a shocking surge of electricity course through his body and he shrieked as tiny sparks arced across his internal organs, flooding his senses with pain. He had just enough presence of mind to deactivate his pain receptors, allowing him to think straight once again. Only the surge protection built into his system had saved him from being fried alive, his HUD flickering from the blistering jolt of electricity.

Pulling himself off the ground, he saw the remaining three cyborg assassins similarly reeling from the vast amount of power poured into their bodies. Their nanoweave suits had caught fire, smoke pouring off the scorched synthi-flesh covering their metallic chassis.

The purple sprite nodded then said brightly, "I knew you cyborg-types needed a little more oomph! I'm sure you could probably survive being zapped again!"

Omoikane leapt upwards and drove his two swords into the ceiling in a frantic attempt to escape the electrified floor. He heard the shrill electronic screams from the rest of Team Mittsu, as they convulsed with the lightning blasting through their bodies.

Faye fluttered up to the ceiling, beaming a sparkling smile at him from only inches away. "You'll do nicely!"

The sound of doors opening to either side of the corridor interrupted the agonised warbling from Team Mittsu. Omoikane glanced to his right, desperate to find a way of escaping this hideous trap, then gasped in horror at the red-eyed metallic monster that leered at him with a terrifying grin on its face. It pulled back its arm then slammed a fist into him, the thunderous impact felt like being hit by a freight train. The blow smashed him from his hanging grip on the swords, battering him to the ground. Flinching as he expected another blistering charge of electricity, Omoikane felt greatly relieved that the electrified floor had been deactivated, and he skittered unharmed across the deck between the charred wreckage of his team.

He activated his reflex and speed enhancers and they kicked in with a low hum, preparing his body to sprint in a blur across the floor to safety. Just as he was about to run, he was knocked sprawling by a deafening blast wave of sound. His artificial skin tore free from his metallic limbs as he was pounded by one booming explosion of sound after another. The shots were coming from sinister-looking cannons mounted on turrets, which had slid smoothly from the walls. Omoikane's titanium chassis was impervious to the damage, but most of his body was now revealed for the full cyborg conversion that he was, the covering of golden-brown coloured synthiflesh ripped to shreds.

Those hideous grinning robots were on him now, grappling him before he could recover from the stunning effects of the Sonic Cannons. He tried to struggle free, but their grip was fiendishly strong, the four robots eventually holding him spread-eagled between them.

Faye landed lightly on his chest and sat down cross-legged, giving him a friendly smile. She glanced down at his body and her eyes settled on his right wrist. "Data-jacks... how interesting!"

Beckoning one of her robots over, she hummed a happy tune to herself as it approached the cyborg's rigidly-locked chassis. Omoikane watched fearfully as the robot popped out data cables and attached them to the ports. "What're you going to do?!" he blurted out, his voice distorting slightly from the surge damage sustained to his voice modulator.

Faye tilted her head to one side as she concentrated, holding up one finger for him to be patient. She suddenly smiled and said cheerfully, "Silly boy! It looks like you deactivated your pain receptors. Don't worry, I'll turn them back on for you!" Leaning forward, her glowing eyes narrowed as she added ominously, "You'll definitely be needing them..."

Omoikane tried to shut them down again, but he found he'd been locked out -- of everything!

"No, please!" the cyborg begged, desperate to do anything to escape from this hideously deranged AI. "What do you want?!"

"Start talking!" Faye demanded furiously. "I want to know everything! What were you planning to do to my friends?!"

As Omoikane began to speak, he heard the roar of retro-thrusters off to his left. When he twisted his head to look that way, he saw a white gunship rocket out of the hangar. Terra loomed large in the background, clearly visible through the hangar door, the Invictus already entering the planet's upper atmosphere.

***

"Raijin! There were three survivors from the explosion!" Izanagi called out over the comlink, sounding profoundly shocked.

"Impossible," Raijin replied with absolute certainty, while pushing open the black wooden door into the women's bathroom. "Nothing could have survived that blast at such close range. There's no body armour capable of withstanding an explosion of that magnitude."

"I'm not debating this with you," Izanagi said sharply. "Three of them live! I'm looking at them right now. Also, one of them is-"

Partly irritated by the other assassin's tone but more by the apparent defectiveness of the explosives, Raijin snapped back, "Team Futatsu attack! You know Mikaboshi's orders: all must be eliminated except our target!"

"Hai!" Izanagi replied respectfully.

Raijin crept into the bathroom and saw the three comatose women sprawled unconscious on the ground. The sound of whistling wind filled the room and he looked up in surprise at the shattered window.

Activating the comlink he said, "Sarutahiko! I have secured our target, meet me at the broken window on the west side for extraction."

"I have already begun my approach," Sarutahiko replied, in his deep rumbling voice. "Prepare for extraction in twenty seconds."

Nodding in satisfaction at the man's initiative, Raijin felt grateful to his Master for sending another of Mikaboshi's favourites to help execute this mission. Such expertise and dependability could not be underestimated in their worth.

He padded across the ground, drawing his ninjato as he stared at the three girls. Only one had value, the other two were... expendable.

***

Sakura nodded with satisfaction as a cloud of cooled air began to pour from her fingertips. It reminded her of the cold fog rolling down the slopes on Mount Daisen as the white vapour flowed down her arms. She just had to cover her body in this and she'd be invisible to the assassins' heat vision.

Suddenly Alyssa's urgent voice rushed through her mind, *We'll be with you soon! Protect the girls until we arrive!*

*I'm already on my wa- AIIIEEE!* Sakura's reply twisted into a shocked scream, as her ethereal connection to Alyssa was thrown wide open.

A tidal wave of psychic energy washed over her like a tsunami, utterly overwhelming her senses. Her back arched as she lifted off the ground, eyes blazing with an icy-blue radiance as her arms were thrown wide. The chilled air that had been swirling around her hands ramped up into a howling gale, blasting out from her fingertips and forming into billowing clouds. They poured off the platform beneath her and surged down the scorched corridor, blanketing everything in a swirling white bank of cold fog.

Sakura panted with the exertion, her chest heaving as she sucked in her breath. Her entire body felt like it was tingling after that sudden burst of raw power from her Matriarch. Sakura realised she had never really appreciated just how much energy Alyssa held inside her, not until that moment. The last time she'd channelled psychic energy to her, it had been tightly controlled - a measured scaling of energy to help bring out her latent Cryokinetic gift. This time though, Alyssa had been panicked, uncontrolled, and in her frantic, anxious state she'd given Sakura a glimpse of the vast titanic power she handled so effortlessly.

Concentrating for a second, Sakura harnessed that throbbing battery of psychic potential and funnelled some of it into her psychic speed. The swirling cloud banks started to slow and she sprinted down the corridor in a blur.

There were figures moving in the mists, their shapes indistinct, but still partially visible as they moved through the fog. She knew exactly what they were, and by the speed they were moving, both assassins had activated their reflex and alacrity enhancements. Capitalising on the advantage of surprise, she charged silently down the corridor, rushing forward to grapple the closest of the two cyborg ninjas. A shearing crack echoed down the corridor and she channelled as much intense cold as she could into the heavy metal body that she knocked sprawling.

The assassin tried to react but she was already on him, frost riming his body as she shorted out the nanoweave fabric of his stealth suit. The black faceplate of his mask shattered with the cold, his face contorting in horror as Sakura chilled him to the titanium bone. The man might have had a metal body, but he was a cyborg, not a robot, and the icy cold penetrated deep into his chest, dusting his internal organs with frost. His strangled cry of terror froze on his lips as Sakura turned his torso into a solid block of ice. Wrenching his twin black ninjato from brittle fingers, she whirled around to face her second adversary, who advanced on her warily.

The second assassin was confused and alarmed by the sudden appearance of this fogbank, sensing that the supernatural must be at work to explain this surreal meteorological phenomenon. He hadn't seen what had struck his companion, only that whatever it was appeared to be invisible in this accursed fog. His thermal imaging proved useless, showing a featureless blue mass of cold before his eyes. Normal vision wasn't much better, with thick fog obscuring everything, which just left him with mag view.

He activated magnetic imaging and immediately saw his companion lying contorted on the floor, body twisted in agony and frozen in place. There was movement by the dead cyborg's hands and a pair of ninjato were wrested from claw-like fingers, then turned to point his way. Seizing this opportunity, the assassin lunged forward, stabbing out towards the central point between those blades, at the body he knew must be there.

Sakura saw the two swords flash out of the fog, black ninjato standing out against the swirling white clouds. She was moving just as fast as the assassin and easily parried those blades, matching her own enhanced strength against the cyborg's mechanically augmented grip. They were a fairly even match and she was able hold the parry without too much strain.

The assassin danced back again, shocked that his opponent had been able to react in time, but he shook that off in readiness to strike again. Suddenly a whistling wind whipped down the corridor, stinging hail slashing at his body as he was pelted by sharp fragments of ice. A bit of hail was nothing to worry about, not for his tough metal exoskeleton and he shrugged off the ice pellets, ignoring them as he watched the two floating blades twirl in the air.

Watching in mag-view, he wasn't aware that the obscuring fog around him had been blown away, just as the sharp ice tore rips through his nanoweave cloth, removing that concealment too.

"There you are," Sakura said with a grim smile of satisfaction, readying herself for the fight.

The assassin slashed with one sword, then the other, used to exploiting his speed advantage to quickly overcome his enemies with a rapid flurry of blows. To Sakura, the strikes seemed clumsy and haphazard, proving easy to parry for someone also moving in an accelerated state. She waited for him to move his arm back in a predictable backswing, then lunged forward herself, stabbing the cyborg in the shoulder with her ninjato. His metallic body was too strong for her to cleave through his shoulder with the relatively weak sword she had acquired, but that had not been her goal. The blade jammed into the joint, locking the cybernetic arm out mid-backswing.

Before the cyborg could react, she let go of the hilt of her ninjato and grabbed for his throat, her hand already swathed in bitterly cold ice crystals. His scream of terror came out in a hideously distorted wail as she quickly froze his voice modulator, the tendrils of ice then starting to snake out over his head. Sakura intensified the cold radiating from her fingers, so that she could penetrate the cyborg's solid titanium skull. His black mask became brittle under that icy assault, shattering into a thousand pieces as she rapidly dropped the temperature in his head. Turning the assassin's brain into a flash-frozen grey slab, she released him, letting his cybernetic body topple over backwards to land with a heavy thump.

Whirling around, Sakura darted for the bathroom, the last place she knew her friends were intending to be.

***

Jade shifted back to her Nymph shape as she knelt next to the Maliri twins, quickly checking them over to see if there were any other signs of trauma. The incredibly resilient Paragon Armour had saved them both from being killed in the blast, but they were both still unconscious and she had no way of telling if they were suffering from internal injuries. Satisfied that they were at least alive and could be healed by John or Rachel, she watched the smoking nightclub, wary for any danger.

Her sharp, cat-like eyes instantly spotted one of the assassins as he smashed through a top floor window and she watched him tumbling earthbound in a shower of glass. His shrill scream pierced the night sky and she followed his rapid descent until he smashed into the ground with a sickening crunch. She had a feeling there might be more of them about but she was in no position to defend the Maliri in her soft Nymph shape.

Closing her eyes, she shifted into her jade tiger form, knowing that the huge feline's highly-refined senses would help alert her to the approach of unseen assailants. People were fleeing past her from the burning building and the appearance of a nine-hundred-pound tiger in front of them provoked more screams of fear. She ignored the frightened citizens as she stood protectively over the two armoured girls, her attention on more sinister threats.

Barely thirty seconds had passed since she'd landed as a falcon, when Jade first caught that tell-tale scent of hydraulic oil - the same faint aroma that had followed Shinatobe. A moment later, her hyper-sensitive olfactory receptors picked up two more of those unnatural scents, all heading towards her from the same direction. These assassins were used to hunting human prey and the thought of attempting to approach downwind never even occurred to them.

*Incoming assassins, Alyssa, I can smell at least three coming for us,* Jade warned her Matriarch. Her ears twitched as she concentrated harder, picking up the faint but unusual crackle of cloth against tarmac approaching from behind her. *Make that five.*

*We can't get there in time!* Alyssa exclaimed in alarm. *The Raptor hasn't arrived yet!*

*Feed me more power,* Jade said calmly, her green tiger form shimmering in a dark-green haze.

She could feel Alyssa doing exactly that, as she channelled a portion of her vast pool of psychic energy over their connection. The sensation felt thrilling to the growing Nymph, causing her whole body to tingle in response. It didn't feel as deeply fulfilling as when John was carefully nurturing her, but the sudden onrush of new psychic energy allowed her to temporarily exceed her normal limitations.

Throwing her head back, she opened her colossal jaws and let out a gigantic roar in challenge. Her body had swelled to immense proportions, weighing over fourteen tons and measuring forty feet from the tip of her thick tail to her fang filled maw. Her twelve-inch teeth sparked with lightning, while electricity arced over her thick green hide.

Stomping down with one of her enormous rear legs, she let a pulse of electricity course from her body and charge the floor. It wasn't sufficient to risk hurting the nearby Maliri, but it was enough to short out the nanoweave stealth suits the five approaching assassins were wearing. As the light-bending invisibility crackled out, the black-clad assassins were fully revealed, standing rooted to the spot in fear. They could only stare in utter disbelief at the fifteen-foot-tall Tyrannosaurus Rex that had suddenly materialised from nowhere.

Before any of them could react, Jade lunged forward, clamping her massive jaws down on the upper body of the closest assassin. Immensely strong teeth punched through steel as the lightning dancing over her jaws fried the terrified ninja. His desperate screams of terror filled the air as Jade bit down, severing his cybernetic legs completely in a shower of sparks, the metal limbs dropping to the ground with a clang. She whipped her head around and released him, sending his dismembered torso flying, until it slammed into the Enigma building in a shower of rubble.

Izanagi stared at the behemoth in horror as it grabbed another of the assassins by his arm, then tossed him around like a rag doll. Finally overcoming his mind-numbing terror at seeing this gigantic ancient predator made flesh, he drew both his ninjato then activated his reflex and alacrity boosters.

The rest of Team Futatsu followed his lead, sprinting towards the T-Rex in a blur. As Jade tore off the cybernetic arm in her mouth and sent the assassin cartwheeling through the air, the three remaining ninjas slashed at her dark-green hide in a flurry of frenzied sword strikes. Her hide was extremely tough, but their razor-sharp black blades managed to punch through in several places.

Jade shrugged off the pain and whirled around to snap at her attackers with her mighty jaws. They were moving too fast for her to bite now, nimbly darting around as they stabbed her, but that was no longer her intent as she carefully lured the assassins away from the unconscious Maliri.

***

As Raijin took a step towards the three girls lying prone on the bathroom floor, he heard the sound of fighting in the corridor outside. The noises came thick and fast, in a confusing maelstrom of disturbing sounds: a splintering crack, howling wind, and a strangled scream that was distorted into a hideous metallic screech. He turned to glance back at the doorway in fear, then stared in shock at the eerie white fog that was now seeping under the door. Whatever was happening out there sounded horrific and he could tell by the abrupt end to the cybernetic status link they shared, that one of his team members had already been slain in the corridor outside.

There was a throbbing whir of anti-grav cyclics outside the window, informing him that Sarutahiko had arrived in the hover-van. Seconds later, a synthetic cry of fear reached Raijin's ears, and he realised he only had seconds to act. Activating his speed enhancer with a low hum, he whirled around and rushed for his target, ignoring the other two women lying on the floor. She was his primary objective after all and he had run out of time to dispatch the others. Behind him, the cyborg's screeching death wail was abruptly cut off, just as Raijin scooped his target up and dived through the window, into the waiting van beyond.

"MOVE!" he snarled at Sarutahiko, but his driver was already pulling away, having also sensed the remaining team getting slaughtered via his status links.

***

The Invictus roared towards the city, plunging through the cloud banks and leaving white plumes in its wake. Faye focused the ship's sensors on the Enigma building where she had dropped off the girls earlier that evening. A black pall of smoke was now rising from the building, a gaping hole blasted in its side from the explosives that had been detonated. She felt pangs of fear as the white battlecruiser raced closer, worrying that she'd be able to make it in time.

Faye saw a hail from Flight Control, but simply ignored it, all her spare processing streams busy flying the Invictus, studying the sensor data, or manning the ship's weapons. As the Invictus drew closer to the tower, she spotted movement on the road outside the tower, the huge dark-green shape visible even at this distance. Her eyes momentarily widened in surprise, knowing that there was only one possible explanation for the appearance of that hulking beast.

Watching the creature intently as she approached, Faye realised that Jade was fighting something... although whatever she was being attacked by, was too small to be seen at this distance. Opening a comm channel, she called Sakura on John's watch.

As soon as the Asian girl answered, Faye blurted out, "Jade's in danger! I'm on my way and I'll be in range in ten seconds!"

Sakura didn't respond for a moment and when she did, she sounded very distracted... and very afraid. "Alyssa says: 'Wait for Jade's signal'!"

"Signal? What should I look out for?!" Faye asked anxiously.

Sakura shook her head, her expression fraught with worry. "I don't know, Faye. That's all she said..."

***

The scores of cuts along Jade's flanks were tiring her now, the painful stabs and slashes starting to take their toll. She whipped her long tail around, then lunged at the assassins with her fang-filled jaws, but her attacks were getting slower and even easier for them to dodge. One by one their alacrity boosters deactivated, returning them to normal speed to prevent their systems from burning out. However, their cybernetic enhancements had served their purpose, allowing them to wear down their foe while avoiding her attacks.

Jade spotted a glint of white in the night's sky, knowing that the time was nearly upon her. One of the assassins leapt up onto her back, running up her body as his glinting blades raised high to plunge into her head. Closing her eyes, Jade focused her will and unleashed every last bit of psychic energy she had, channelling it all into a single massive electrical pulse.

The attacks abruptly ceased, the ninja on her back toppling off to land with a heavy thud, just as the other two assassins were temporarily stunned by the shocking blast of electricity.

Gathering the last of her strength, Jade bounded forward, shifting as she did so, her body shrinking rapidly so that she was not much larger than a dog. The dark-green cheetah tore away, accelerating up to seventy miles-per-hour in the space of less than three seconds.

***

From the awkward position he had fallen, Izanagi stared skywards, his cybernetic body locked up by the crackling pulse of electricity that had scrambled his systems. He expected the monstrous dinosaur to turn around and bite him at any moment, but as his systems came back online a couple of seconds later, he remained unscathed. Feeling a surge of relief as he regained the use of his limbs, Izanagi was about to flip to his feet when a gigantic white leviathan seemed to fill his whole field of view.

He recognised that shape.

He saw eight huge cannons pointed in his direction.

Izanagi's face contorted in terror, his hands held skyward in mute supplication.

Faye cared nothing for his pleas for mercy, for he'd had the temerity to hurt one of her friends. Eight incandescent blue beams unleashed their ferocious firepower, the Invictus' Beam Lasers utterly obliterating the three assassins as they blasted a huge glowing furrow in the ground.

***

John sprinted up the loading ramp into the Raptor, carrying a gravid Jehanna wrapped in a sheet, the girl fast asleep in his arms. Alyssa was only a few strides beside him as they rushed into the waiting gunship.

As they reached the top of the ramp, Alyssa suddenly stumbled in an entirely uncharacteristic display of clumsiness. "No!" she cried out in horror, clutching at John for support.

He whirled around to see her fear-stricken face, her expression sending shivers of dread up his spine. "What is it?!" he demanded in alarm.

"Sakura... she's found Dana and Rachel..." Alyssa replied in a tortured whisper.

John's heart lurched in his chest and he swayed unsteadily. "Not them..." he groaned, feeling cored out at the cavernous sense of loss.

Shaking her head frantically, Alyssa shook him to try and make him understand. "No, they're fine! It's Calara! They've taken her!"

***

The black hover-van turned off the skylane, following the trail of floating nav-buoys that guided the flow of traffic towards the starport. Like all such centres on Terra, this one was heaving with traffic, the facility acting as the terminus for hundreds of spacebound flights from the capital of the Terran Federation every hour.

Sarutahiko followed the directions to their desired docking bay, being careful to stay under the posted skylane speed to avoid any entanglements with the ever-vigilant traffic police. The hover-van turned right and dropped down into the boarding tunnel that would lead to the parking facility directly under docking bay one-two-nine.

"We'll be arriving in two minutes," he called over his shoulder to the last remaining member of Team Hitotsu. Shaking his head, he sounded shocked as he muttered, "The loss of thirteen... I had not thought such a thing possible..."

Raijin nodded grimly, then turned to brush Calara's dark-brown hair from her face as he said, "We have accomplished our primary mission, Sarutahiko." His eyes narrowed as he stared at the sleeping woman. "Mikaboshi has plans for this one..."