Twelve Hours Later:
John stepped into the main hangar for Border Station Five. He had been told by Security Chief Yutsi that Matriarch Theka had wanted to see him and so she had escorted him from one of the station's canteens. Looking around the hangar, John could see that there were several Dropships to his right and a much larger vessel to his left. The Dropships to his right had a series of cables attached to them, as well as Engineers who were busy doing maintenance. John watched as one of the Vipers activated the Jump Pack attached to her Nanosuit uniform and flew up, landing on the top of the Dropship in front of her.
"This way, John," Yutsi said, drawing his attention.
The Security Chief walked down the central path of the hangar. This was an unofficial divide and led from the massive hangar doors, which were currently shut, to the exit that was just behind where John was standing. Looking up at the hangar doors as he followed Yutsi, John could see the familiar blue glow of the shield. It was designed to allow ships to freely enter and exit hangars without the need to vent the atmosphere. Keeping pace with the Security Chief, John thought about the specs for Matriarchy Dropships.
He had been sitting inside his suite one evening, both Etsala and Nisku were asleep inside the nest, and John had decided to do some research. The first thing that he had looked up were the specs for Dropships. John remembered that their length was fifty feet long, they had a width of thirty feet, and a height of fifteen. All four sides were curved and attached to each corner were the engines, a curved box with an engine sticking out one end. The pilot of the Dropship was able to alter the angle of engines, this, in turn, would allow them to take off and land without the need for a runway and provide a degree of manoeuvrability.
A call from nearby brought John back to the present and he looked over to where the Security Chief was taking him. Standing next to the larger vessel were Matriarch Theka and a Viper who he had not seen before. John guessed that she was probably another Matriarch due to her height. Looking at her he could see that she had a flared hood, similar in shape to Quartermaster Milsi. However, unlike Milsi, the unknown Viper's secondary scale colour was bright yellow. She was also wearing a sheer dress and John tried his best not to stare at her enormous breasts, the two bright pink nipples which he felt had been purposely pointed in his direction, or even the glow coming from her groin.
"Hello, John," Matriarch Theka said with a smile, "thank you for bringing him here, Yutsi," she said and the Security Chief bowed.
"Well, it's not as if I had a choice," John replied while returning the smile, "Yutsi made it seem like an order," he said.
"That's probably my fault," the unknown Viper replied.
"Where are my manners?" Theka interrupted, "John, this is Matriarch Ossih," she said while gesturing towards her, "she'll be taking you over to the Minerva for some pilot training," Matriarch Theka smiled at John when she finished.
"If I remember correctly, Terrans shake hands when they meet someone new?" Ossih said as she looked down at John.
"Some do," he replied and took the Matriarch's hand. It dwarfed his and John was distracted by the scales on her hand.
"Do you like them?" Ossih asked.
"Yes," John replied, "it looks like you're wearing fingerless gloves," he said while holding onto her hand.
"Can I have my hand back?" Matriarch Ossih asked and then laughed when John went red. As he let go of her hand, Ossih fluttered her eyelashes at John while smiling.
"So," John said as he cleared his throat, "what's a Minerva?" he asked.
"That," Matriarch Theka replied as she pointed towards the hangar doors.
John looked to his right and watched as the two massive doors opened. As they slowly separated, he could see out into space and the light from the system's star flooded the main hangar. Appearing from the right-hand side of the station's exterior wall was a gigantic ship. John found it difficult to judge just how large it was.
Due to the ship tilting to the left, John could see that the front quarter was a semi-circle that ended with a curved point at the front. The sides were curved as well and appeared to have a series of oval-shaped bumps at set intervals. Just behind the front quarter of the ship was a massive intake of some kind, it glowed a deep orange as it came into view. The side of the ship just behind the intake was flat and at the halfway point the hull curved outwards. Again, the oval shapes could be seen running along the side of the hull. As the rear of the ship came into view, John saw that it was about twice the width of the front. In the middle of the rear quarter were two large circles, each one encased in shiny metal and as he watched they glowed red, the ship swung itself round to face the station, ponderously. Watching the ship change direction, John was able to see five enormous engines at the rear of the ship.
The top of the gigantic ship was covered in a series of small to large ovals. Each one appeared to be a dome of some kind. Hidden from view due to the tilt of the ship as it emerged from the right of the station, the underneath of the gigantic ship appeared to have something very large attached to the hull.
"That's a Mass Driver," Matriarch Ossih answered John's question before he could ask it, "only the largest of battleships are equipped with them," she said.
"Only the largest?" John repeated, "just how big is that ship?" he asked.
"In Terran measurements, around two and a half kilometres," Ossih replied, "The Ruination of Minerva is a Bothrops class Battleship, she was also the first of her kind to be built," she said.
"Don't forget the flagship," Matriarch Theka chimed in.
"That too, but it rarely leaves home," Ossih said as she looked at Theka.
"And how big is the flagship?" John asked.
"Five kilometres," Theka replied, "however, as I said, it hardly ever leaves home. It's The Matriarch's ship," she said.
"Five kilometres?!" John said, surprised with just how big Matriarchy ships were, "reminds me of Star Destroyers and the Super Star Destroyer," John said as he turned to face the two Matriarchs.
"Terran space ships?" Ossih asked and John laughed.
"No, they're fictional," he replied, "if you want to know how advanced our spaceships are, just look at the Poseidon," John said.
"Oh, I see," Matriarch Ossih said.
"So," John said as he looked up at both Matriarchs, "why am I here?" he asked.
"We've decided to put you through pilot training," Ossih replied.
"Yes, we were discussing the meeting that was due to take place today," Theka said, "and the conversation shifted over to wondering how good of a pilot you might be," as she finished Theka smiled at John.
"Does this have anything to do with the training I received from Yutsi?" John inquired and Matriarch Ossih nodded.
"Yes," she replied, "after seeing how well you were able to learn and adapt to Pistol and Rifle Training, we decided to test your ability to fly," Ossih turned to face the larger vessel as she finished. Removing the pad attached to her right thigh, Matriarch Ossih tapped away at the screen and then a ramp descended from the vessel in front of her.
"By the way," John said, "what is that?" he asked.
"It's one of the Troop Transports assigned to the Minerva," Matriarch Theka replied, "the ship only has one Dropship on board and so they sent over one of these," she then stepped back and gestured to follow Matriarch Ossih as she walked up the ramp. The door at the top had unlocked and was slowly swinging open.
"I don't have much choice in this do I?" John asked.
"We're not forcing you," Ossih said as she turned around and looked down the ramp, "if you don't want to learn to fly any of our ships, we can simply start the meeting in an hour, however," she said while walking down the ramp and stopping in front of John, "considering how much fun you appeared to have during your Combat Training with Security Chief Yutsi, we thought you might enjoy Pilot Training, were we wrong?" Ossih asked and then looked at the Chief. Yutsi bowed her head and then took a few steps back.
John looked up at the Viper and tried his best not to stare at the glowing pussy that was mere inches from his face, or even the enormous breasts with their bright pink nipples that were casting a shadow over his face. John could see that Matriarch Ossih was enjoying this moment as she winked and then smiled at him.
"I'll admit that I'm curious to know what it's like to fly one of your ships," he replied, "plus if it gives you and the other Matriarchs a better impression of me then I should do it," John said.
"Good," Ossih said as she spun around and headed back up the ramp. John yelped as Matriarch Theka pulled him out of the way of Ossih's large tail as it whipped around.
"Don't worry John," she said, "she doesn't bite...much," Theka then smacked John's backside and pushed him up the ramp. He half fell as he took a step and tried to regain his balance.
*****
Matriarch Ossih watched John from her seated position as he entered the Troop Transport. She liked how the red light from above played over his body and face. Her golden eyes glowed in the dark as she waited for John to find a seat. Once he had chosen a crash couch opposite her, Ossih tapped at her pad and signalled the Pilot to ready the Transport for liftoff.
The Troop Transports used by The Matriarchy were designed to carry fifty Vipers. At the front of each vessel was the cockpit, where a lone Viper Pilot controlled the Transport. They were seated inside a specially designed crash couch, each one was made to fit the physiological needs of the pilot. Just behind the cockpit was where the Engineer was stationed. In front of the Engineer were a series of monitors, each one displaying information vital for keeping the Transport in prime condition. The last part of the Troop Transport was where the passengers were kept. Fifty Crash Couches, in four rows of ten and two rows of five.
"Do you need any help?" Matriarch Ossih asked as she watched John start to attach his chair's eight-point harness.
