Alyssa smiled to herself as she listened to John and Dana chatting on their way out of the Legacy. He was trying his best to concentrate on the detailed technical benefits of the new Progenitor tech that they'd just acquired from the ancient ship, but he was more than a little distracted by thoughts of the Maliri twins.
The blonde girl was currently floating in the air, her body shrouded in a soft white light as she set about systematically repairing the damage to the Invictus' armour. She was studying several pieces of battered plating at that moment, the armour sporting an ugly blackened crater where they'd been struck by a Heavy Cannon shell. Of course, the impact point would have to be right on the join between all four plates, which meant she'd have to repair four instead of just one. She mused that John was very lucky she wasn't a regular repair crew, charging him for each plate they'd have to replace!
With a come-hither motion of her right finger, she pulled the armour plates off the hull, then melted them into a rotating sphere of liquid metal. Filtering out the impurities from the shell fragments only took a moment, with the resulting shrapnel raining down in a gunmetal cascade into the silver hopper beneath her. Quite a substantial chunk of material had been blasted clear of the armour as debris, so she made a gesture with her left hand, drawing a stream from the second, much larger, Alyssium orb. When she'd added just the right amount, Alyssa formed the image of one of the Invictus' armour plates in her mind, then split the smaller sphere into four white streams of metal and shaped the replacement pieces simultaneously.
*Would you be able to spare a moment, Alyssa?* Edraele asked respectfully. *I have a couple of questions if you aren't too busy.*
The blonde smiled to herself as she locked the four quint-shaped plates into position on the hull and began to glide further along the ship. It was still taking a little getting used to, having these much older Maliri women treat her with such deference. *Of course, Edraele,* she replied in a warm and encouraging tone. *You know I'll always make time for you. What's on your mind?*
Alyssa knew full-well what the Maliri was about to ask, but she enjoyed drawing out these conversations with her fellow Matriarch. Edraele was in the unique position to truly understand what it was like to be able to read John's thoughts, as well as appreciating the sense of responsibility that being one of his Matriarchs entailed. It was comforting to know that there was another woman out there who shared a similar perspective. With such high stakes riding on most of their encounters recently, they both knew they had to support him to the very best of their ability.
Edraele sounded frustrated as she said, *My connections with the Young Matriarchs and my trio of bodyguards have been strengthening daily, but I still haven't experienced that feeling you described. You said that you felt a sensation of deep intimacy that heralded you being able to bond with your girls.*
*That's interesting,* Alyssa thought back to her with a smile. *Tell me, what've you been doing so far to build your relationships with them?*
The Maliri Matriarch's amusement was quite clear over their empathic connection. *I suppose you'd like to hear all the salacious details?*
*Mmm, of course!* Alyssa purred, her blue eyes sparkling at the thought. *I want to hear all about how you're making them cum their little blue brains out!*
*You do realise that Maliri brains aren't actually blue, only the pigmentation of our skin?* Edraele enquired, punctuating the last with an image of her raising an eyebrow.
*You learn something new every day!* Alyssa replied with a grin. *Now, tell me about every last saucy lick please, Edraele.*
Alyssa smiled to herself as the Maliri woman began to describe in exquisite detail everything she'd been up to with the Young Matriarchs and her bodyguards. Alyssa stayed quiet as she listened to Edraele talk and she couldn't help flushing with arousal at the evocative descriptions. Her fellow Matriarch certainly had a way with words, describing in intimate detail the Sapphic orgies between John's inner circle of Maliri concubines.
As Edraele was describing a gloriously sensual encounter, Alyssa paused in her silent flight above the Invictus' hull. She looked down at the ugly black Drakkar dropship that was attached to the sparkling white battlecruiser like a bloated tick and frowned with distaste. Reaching out with her right hand, she tugged the thirty-metre-long vessel off the hull, the grappling claws shrieking in protest as she snapped them in half. She would have just tossed the dropship aside, but the Ashanath probably wouldn't appreciate the huge dent it would make in the docking bay, so she sought out a clear space on the deck and set it down gently instead.
There were four broken grappling claws still left jammed deep into the Invictus' armour, so she gently eased them out, wincing at the grating sound of metal grinding against metal. As she plucked each of the five-metre blades clear, she dropped them into the silver debris hopper on the deck below with a mighty crash. While continuing to listen to Edraele, she examined the hole blasted through the superstructure by the breaching charges, then began to fill it in with crystal Alyssium.
She felt a pulse of warning in her subconscious, drawing her attention to their earnest young doctor. *Be careful not to overdo it, Rachel,* she warned her, while continuing to feed the girl a stream of energy to fuel her psychic healing. *I can feel you getting tired...*
*Just a little while longer?* the brunette pleaded. *There's only another twenty-seven Ashanath on the critical list!*
Alyssa could feel Rachel's soaring sense of elation as the girl worked to save one diminutive alien after another. Sending her an indulgent telepathic smile, Alyssa said cautiously, *Alright, just those last ones, but then I want you to come back for a rest. John won't be happy if Sakura has to carry you home two days running!*
*I promise,* Rachel readily agreed, overjoyed to be able to save more lives.
Just to be on the safe side, the psychic blonde reached out to Sakura too. *Hey, gorgeous. Can you make sure Rachel calls it a day after patching up the next two-dozen Ashanath? She might get carried away and I don't want her wearing herself out again; she's still new at this.*
*I was actually going to suggest she stop soon; she's looking tired,* Sakura immediately agreed. She hesitated, then sounded awed as she added, *She's already healed so many I've lost count! We've gone through at least a third of the ward...*
Smiling at the thought, Alyssa asked, *How are the Ashanath medics reacting?*