Who is the most powerful out of the Invictus crew?

Hope C-19 hasnt gotten him .

Come back to us! We miss you!

not same Tefler passed away this Tefler just became a dad earlier this year

Deryck Stevenson

Mike Cropo series is good but will never be finished as he passed away 2 years ago but on storiesonline was rated in the high nines

Here is my list. https://www.literotica.com/s/a-cup-angst is a good one about magic. https://www.literotica.com/s/a-drows-dilemma-ep-01-flight is good if you like fantasy. Burnt Redstone on lit is also good. https://www.literotica.com/s/lady-in-red-ch-01 is another one. https://storiesonline.net/a/vanessa-ravencroft with her Erica Olafson on SOL is 10 books long working on 11 shes also on patreon. https://www.literotica.com/s/necromancer-chronicles-pt-01 . Along with CH Darkstrider. A home for horny monsters. Mike Cropo. I just hope Tef comes back soon and everything is going good with him.

Skycrane

He may not know ‘everything’. There may be a second level of ‘knowledge’ and/or power that is part of the exchange with Xar: your soul for this extra power and further knowledge...

Try reading ( a stupid boy ) on storiesonline.net it’s a long one but I’ve even bought all the books in the series it’s sold over 4 million books online.

Jim lynch

Fantastic doc, thanks :)

Shep

As luck has it, all the things the Progenitors know, Tefler knows as well. He must enjoy writing tech reveals, as those scenes always were among the best in the story. Also, Tefler must have had the rest planned for ages now. Plus, but this might be my bias, he can make John stop bending over backwards at every turn. A more self-assured John, like the demi-god that he now surely is, would be much appreciated. Although I fear that we are now well beyond the halfway point of the story.

RobMob

No Problem. There is also a Tab of all the items Tefler has mentioned as being in the sequel. At least as many as I can document.

!raptor

Thank you.

Jeffrey Hoskins

Here is the current state of the Open threads document. it us under construction as I try and identify chapters that the thread began, https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1kpyZLIyIZLemGte14IeXv0VDc3HumnMYAnEB1ADCkFY/edit?usp=sharing

!raptor

Can you provide a link to the threads?

Jeffrey Hoskins

This may be disorienting for our esteemed writer as the Story has had a dramatic shift. As I have been working through updating the Open Threads list, it has occurred to me that Tefler is essentially going to have to start writing a different story. Up to this point they have been working on a tech gap that was caused by PJ. basically since the time they picked up the Invictus, through the entire story (visits to various other species was about getting the tech, testing the tech, growing stronger, etc) But now that he has absorbed PJ the story line is not as simple. They have access to everything. Tefler is essentially writing a different story with a different set of assumptions, many of the open threads are irrelevant with John now knowing what progenitors know. So how does he move forward other than to simply start writing it to conclusion? I'm thinking this could be a bit disheartening.

!raptor

I hope you are alright it is not like you to be quiet so long. i know real live can through you a curve now and then so i hope you are well.

Glenn Hunter

I HAVe an mulling this over, and I think I have stumbled upon a revelation that Tefler has been hinting at. John is MORE powerful because of he source of his power. Love instead of life taken.

Josh

except for Xar & his Ancients .

bigdawguw65

Now John is whole with all the extra knowledge he has above the proginator he must be the most powerful being alive.

Jim lynch

So this just became obsolete and John might can 1v all the girls. Right?

SuperAzureReader

Helene is the most powerful! Love conquers all! Xar'Azuith based progenitors hate love.

Big Dude

I think this is the whole point of Jade's attempts to get John to stop being the mouse, and start being the cat, ie, to be proactive instead of reactive. This is what got all of them in trouble in the fight with Larn'kelnar: they kept attacking individually without coordination, and they all just sat back and watched as Larn'kelnar created the disintegration matrixes, instead of John leaping to smash them before they took out so much of all of their shields. PJ even told John this during the fight: "How have any of you survived this long?" and (while Alyssa was being hit with a disintegration matrix bolt and psychic javelins) "Don't just stand there like a simpering half-wit!". John *is* a pushover until he gets pissed off. But this happens only after either he or the girls are injured, forcing them to spend huge amounts of energy healing up. When he finally starts being aggressive, then he becomes a galaxy-class bad-ass, and everything Tefler said about how he takes out the girls happens. Maybe now he will start being the cat at the beginning of the fight, not when the fight is mostly over.

Ken Moreau

Sorry no editor... lol ;)

With the next chapter all the above will be answered and mute, so I vote for a quick turn of the next chapter from Tefler!

its won him a lot of battles, because he won't give up and he loves his women. All his opponents, even his proginator counterpart, think in the past or as the aliens they are. Even with his women free to think and fight, would they attack him could he attack them. A fight in their castle "invictus" cant be won. But how far would a wor.d go to shop someone, drone/rnuclear bomb (London has fallen), EMP (transcendence). Better yet... convince the girls he's the fake John, whose killed John and their children, as they say in the hood.... "dem biches are crazy"!!

John's biggest strength and biggest weakness is his humanity.

I would go with Dana creating a gravity well in the middle of his brain.

you are forgetting that rachel could simply reach in and stop his heart

Flyingdoc

The psychic dampener works in a field. No psychic abilities can be used in the field unless you have enough power to overcome it. And I'm assuming psychic powers couldn't be used on it either unless you meet the conditions

SuperAzureReader

They could just give all the energy to Alyssa and she'd hyperbeam him. Or Jade who could do the same thing. Or Sakura who is a trained Progenitor killer

SuperAzureReader

Was about to comment the same. did tefler address this?

"otherwise it's John vs the entire crew's psychic energy reserves which isn't exactly fair" so what would happen?

eclipse

I think if dana had time to set up she probably has the best chance she has one of the only skills that no one knows how it works. she can create a blackhole and crush everything. But realistically none of them are gonna fight him id love to see the fight between jade and John but she's never gonna attack her master. P.s I like all the characters the way they are I feel like everyone has the spot.

I think Tashana or Alyssa would have the best chance to beat John 1v1. If John is fireproof Tashana could just unleash a major Firestorm on herself and move it out towards John as needed. I think her ability with fire is more powerful than his capability to mitigate the fire damage. Not sure how strong Tashana's defenses are relative to John's potential attacks Alyssa, similar strategy except using psychic weapons, blades localized to her position and pushing at John if he closes. Could she lift and hold John using Telekinesis, limiting John's ability to close. Alyssa, especially when she's truly pissed off, is incredibly formidable. While thinking about this I almost put in gaming terms, what are their Attack Ratings, Defense Ratings, special abilities, movement. A very interesting intellectual exercise.

VycronDyz

Do not forget...once before while on board the Legacy going up against the Drakkar leader, John appeared to be an inept over-matched swordsman while studying his opponents style and method until he was ready, then taking the Drakkar apart before he killed him. That could well be going on here, but we just don't know this early in his conflict with PJ as it has only been the first few moments. Only Tefler knows and he will not tell us until he tells us!!!!!

Arrowglass

so something i was noticing that some people were commenting on what the alyssa had become a kithferan after john has reattached the network back to himself...if you remember that the discussion surrounding her change...she had already been one from the beginning more of less, so even though the change to here ears was cosmetic, effectively she did not change all that much, also i have a sneaky suspicion that the original kithferan society would have psychic networks just between husband and wife let us just say that more than likely the way the progenitors are using the networks now is a perversion of the original, i bet, and john is just using the original but he is not limiting himself to just one companion but many and of course the added benefit is that he is using similar tactics for power that progenitors are using so what i am trying to say is that he is using the maximum potential of the network that projenitors would never use and that the kithferan would not have used for moral reasons, the kithferan i bet would not have been so hell bent on power and may have seen that as immoral where as the progenitors would never share power as their philosophy comes from xar'azioth who is selfish and cruel, he does not understand love and cooperation and he does not share the ability to consume the power of other kithferan with progenitors or one could rise to challenge him, remember that the way that the progenitors society, such as there is of it, is basically designed to create a never ending supply of food for xar'azioth and he sees himself as a god, just saying that i suspect that the kithferan society was not structured to face this threat and the way that they think would have not allowed them to build a psychic network that required this cooperation, in fact they may have tried to do that but when it was too late and xar'azioth may have realized that he could use it for his progenitor army, he strikes me as not innovative, sorry for the long rant, just so you know, with this argument i think that they will not only be able to join back together but when they join together that the network will be stronger and easier to form, just cuz i have the impression that is how a kithferan family was formed originally and then corrupted by xar'azioth, obviously correct me if i am wrong tefler

I personally did not read the entire post. In fact since its Tefler's story, he can write what he wants, and I will still read it. In fact, i dont actually see a problem with Alyssa becoming his superior or equal in terms of powers.

Shree_Pratham

The example above is a 1v1 duel with Sakura cut off from the network and with John fully armed and armoured. John's currently kneeling in the hangar in a pair of sweatpants, cut off from the psychic network, so the fight would be very different against PJ.

Tefler

It would seem that this means that Sakura has no chance against PJ. I guess all the girls as a group with Sakura landing the final blow ...

Tefler thank you for taking the time to post this hypothetical encounter...but I have to ask. Is it really that far fetched to say this scenario or maybe a version of it could actually play out. Once the guide issue is dealt with. John having a sparing session against the girls could be a fun way of testing John unified powers and mind. After all, the entire purpose of the team is to kill other progenitor’s. The Battle with Larn’Kelnar showed the team needed to train for those kinds of fights. Who else will they train against other than John. I don’t really see Rahn’hagon volunteering to be a punching bag

MJHSharkbait365

Thank you Tefler for the insight into your universe. Your story is so engrossing that readers take ownership of it via their imagination, it is a truly amazing gift that you have. I am truly appreciative of the universe that YOU have scripted for us, and I for one am happy to wait for how you have planned for the story line to play out. Do what is right by you and yours and we will all happily read your next installment, when you are happy that it is ready for distribution. Don’t let entitled impatient people govern your timeline, they will wait, grumble but wait. Thank you.

GDay (FMS)

The Progenitor connection does a few things regarding psychic energy transfer. It allows the matriarch to transfer eldritch energy to her Progenitor, and every thrall added to the psychic network makes the Progenitor incrementally stronger. Alyssa has grown more powerful through relentless usage of psychic powers, pushing her limits constantly, as well as being enhanced by John. John has a certain degree of innate power, which has grown steadily with experience, but he gains a tremendous amount of strength from the girls in his network. When they grow more powerful... so does he. They still abide by the basic rules of a Progenitor bond as all the bad guys do, but John derives his strength in a very different way (quality not quantity). Until John severed the connection with his three matriarchs, he definitely could have drained the life out of Alyssa, which was the primary reason for cutting himself off.

Tefler

Dana + custom mega psychic dampener + superior automatic conventional weapons? (I assume we’re allowed to make stuff up, right? :-)

@Tefler: in a post above, you said, "Alyssa was still connected to him via a Progenitor bond, so John could definitely drain all the life force out of her." But Alyssa is now a Progenitor,too. Doesn't a door open both ways? Couldn't she reverse that flow? Why couldn't she fight him for control of the psychic pipeline?

CJ Mora

I wouldn't dismiss Dana so easily, she can project a miniature blackhole right above John's head. Strong enough that it would disrupt blood flow to the brain and thus affect any actions he were to do. Direct action isn't always the most efficient way to win a fight.

Tefler, thanks for taking the time to respond to critics, but please write the guide confrontation how you have been planning to write it, and don’t start second guessing your instincts, or trying to rewrite it for a vocal minority. I get that some of your fans are really keen on John becoming more authoritarian, keeping his women in line. Again, please write it however you want to. And nothing wrong with a bit of dark side versus light side internal conflict. But for what it’s worth, this makes no sense to me. Dark side in TSM = the authoritarian leadership style of regular Progenitors. Light side in TSM = John’s empowering leadership style. The girls are with him because they choose to be, and they are so powerful (relative to regular thralls) because he has set them free. Doesn’t make sense to me for him to give them free will and then to just replace that with different kinds of coercion. They need to be able to make their own mistakes and learn from them. And he doesn’t need to demonstrate his superiority all the time or sweat the small stuff.

In a way, I agree. I think part of this might be that what the story shows us and what Tefler intends don't necessarily align. The story shows Alyssa blasting enemies to smithereens and slapping them down with seeming ease. Completely negating physical advantages such as strength and speed.

Marauder

Sure, but are the "mind" powers really that impressive? John barely ever uses them. The most he uses is a speed buff and some kinetic force. The first part is what would allow him to fight the girls if it came down to it, mainly by being faster. Tefler does acknowledge that Alyssa has insane psychic powers, and using pure psychic powers is extremely strong. Which in a way makes her the one with the "awesome might of mind". John also tailored Sakura to be a Progenitor killer. John isn't a weak combatant by any means, but I personally don't see the "progenitor killer". Using psychic powers outside of physical buffs, and dealing with psychic enemies seem to be specifically his weak points.

Marauder

I really appreciate this post by Tefler (and comments in the previous one), engaging with his fans and their concerns. I share the view that John has seemed weak, particularly since he met his parents, but I can see the narrative value in such a story arc. Now I am not only interested in the guide fight, but how the naughty Alyssa subplot will be resolved. It would be cool to see John demonstrating his dominance even through something as simple as a spanking (as this is erotica, a touch of mild BDSM would be welcome). However, he has some way to go from here to there!

John Jameson

You will still get a part chapter at c. 3am BST on 31 August, irrespective of this distraction.

John Jameson

Mental shields would need to be broken down or bypassed, as stated elsewhere here

J B

In terms of the crew, my vote is for Tashana...her psychic abilities predate meeting John and she is the most tempered (honed, not having a temper) of all the crew. Sakura's experiences are bits and pieces over her 90+ years in between cryo sleep. Tashana had 13 years of constant hell in her banishment. John's nurturing is just taking her existing abilities up a notch. IMHO, of course. ;)

I can't believe there was even a question as to John being the most powerful...it is The Chronicles of John Blake after all!

She would have to drop his hex shield first and probably can't keep up with his speed. She has no shield so it would be almost instant kill. That said, if she could figure out how to make her black holes into a shield...wow. Then maybe work in the time dilation effect of the event horizon to counteract his speed. She could use her magnetic sensed to track him. Also, a minefield of mini black holes would make it hard to get near her. A black holes shield would also pull in anything fired at her, making up for her lack of a hex shield. Sadly, her reserves would run out fast.

Frostfyre

I think Sparks would do better than you think. She can put one of her black holes right inside of his head and instantly kill a bad progenitor. And put another one in his quad for the intense pain it would cause.

Skycrane

OR Alyssa creates a null area around John and throws huge pieces of metal at him after dropping his shield with tachyon bolts. With no psychic powers, he can't survive a few hundred tons of sharp steel coming at him at near Mach speeds.

Frostfyre

The breakdown was awesome, but I think Alyssa was sold short. When fighting Shinatobe she simply levitated her to negate the speed advantage, same as she would do to John. She also used tk claws to stop spinning shields. This allowed her to fired shield penetrating javelins. Rapid fire javelins while holding the shield secure and in the air would make it a tough fight, especially with her using blender mode for any javelins that hit. She can also use her Nova Lance ability to hammer down a shield either before or after a javelin barrage. She may not win, but she would be an exceptionally tough opponent.

Frostfyre

Wouldn't Helene be the most powerful? "You don't feel like fighting. All your aggression is washing away." "Huh. I guess you're right. I..." >stab stab stab<

Dave Barrack

Yeah, don't take it too seriously. They're all family, so they'd never attack each other like this. They're also team players, not individuals, especially with regard to sharing psychic energy over the network. It's working together that makes them so powerful and effective.

Tefler

"drifting from plot crisis to plot crisis rather than being proactive" That's basically because they were stuck cleaning up after everything that happened while they were marooned on Arcadia.

Tefler

This post is informational and somewhat sets the canon of lethality among the crew. That said, reading those fight scenes, even as truncated as they were, was distressing. It's just so out of character for all of them.

zingowner

He has to let her in his mental shield first, though. She's only effective once his mental, not physical, shield is down

Jaws2015

Thinking back to when John shot back positive feelings in the psychic realm to save the girls, I think that Helene is a very good distraction for the guide to have to overcome and at the same time could empower John's will against his guide. That would be awesome. The guide generally comes from the same dark place as all the other progenitors, so that empathic love is like a powerfully secret weapon against them.

There's also some overlap in Rachel being a physical healer, and Helene being an emotional one.

cittran genericlastname

The big problem Jade would have is actually catching John to inflict any damage. With his psychic speed activated, he'd move in a blur and easily be able to keep his distance, while continuously hammering her with tachyon bolts.

Tefler

John has always been the glue that holds the team together. Alyssa keeps the team telepathically connected and helps look after the girls, but without John, the entire crew would fall to pieces. His primary role is: 1) The team commander. He decides where they're going next and what they'll be doing. 2) He empowers the girls they recruit, giving them psychic abilities. 3) He heals the girls by resolving various traumas they've suffered (psychological and physical), which strengthens their bonds to him and the rest of the psychic network. 4) He leads their ground missions. 5) He's their boss killer. 6) He claimed the Maliri and leads them and his allies against the Progenitors. Now, there's a certain degree of overlap on some of those roles, specifically with Edraele in terms of ruling the Maliri, Calara with strategic planning, and Alyssa with leading the girls. However, John has never been interested in logistics or fleet coordination. He's an instrument of destruction, designed to exterminate Progenitors... and the story so far has been about him training for this role. Most of the criticism I've seen regarding John's leadership role is due to Alyssa's recent insubordination, which is a specific sub plot that I'll be answering shortly.

Tefler

Very nice breakdown. The only question I have is how much the equation might change for Jade in dragon form. The tachyon bolts pack a punch, but at one point she was able to withstand ship based weaponry for a while. She's gotten stronger since then. I still don't think she'd beat John, but I feel like she'd be much closer in that context.

Bob Laughner

Time after time comments are made about the awesome might of John's mind. I get the feeling that he has not even come close to tapping into that power and when he does, he moves on to a totally different level. Even Alyssa was gifted and then fed by John to become what she is. As we do not knwo what kind of things Rahn took from the Kyth'faren archives to create and enable John as a "Progenitor killer," I can only say...don't count him out by any means!!!

Arrowglass

Now look what you have done, making Tefler waste time on this post, when that time and energy could have been spent on the rest of the chapter. Kudos to him for still wanting to engage his critics when he could have chosen not to bother. That's what makes him so special and different. Thanks Tefler, now please get back to the chapter, we fans shouldn't have to 'suffer' because of the haters.

I think the feeling that John is weak comes from the "moral" (i don't think that's the right word but it's the best i've got) distinction between John and the rest of the Progenitors. John's focus is to power up everyone around him. To surround himself with a team that is superb each with their own strengths. Every progenitor we've seen or heard about has been focused on expanding their own personal power to the exclusion of all else. Also it's core to John's personality that he limit himself (my guess is that's what he has to overcome to defeat the guide but that's just my prediction). "Just a man trying to keep my family safe... " is what he'd say.

he is, isn't he? well it proves he reads a lot of our ramblings.....

Kin Asdi

I think Helene is the under rated under dog here. John is strong, but he requires will and focus which, to be fair, he has in spades. Helene bypasses all of that with emotional manipulation in very subtle but extremely powerfully way. I think that with Helene's power coordinated with a few of the others, there is a chance for victory.

You're such a tease Tefler

Forbsey

Alyssa has to use much of her energy pool to heal herself. It's called "drain by thousand cuts"

divovido

nice with a deeper delving into who would be able to stand against john in battle, i imagine he will be facing a worty advesary in the near future

In reading this dissertation, I feel some foreshadowing can be extracted about the forthcoming battle with the Guide.

Out of curiosity. Could he even "drain" Alyssa anymore at this point. She's not really a matriarch anymore. She's a pure Kythfaren, unlike even John. Doesn't that put her in a completely different category?

Marauder

When he first re-bonded with Edraele (to remove the compulsion to obey) there is reference to the idea that each of the Maliri chose to re-connect with him. That said, when PJ cut off Alyssa and the girls way back when, I believe (?) they still had psychic communication with one another.

Thaewyn

You can charge me for it if you want to! :D

Marauder

Most of the comments I've seen about john are not that he is weak per se, but that since everyone can do their specialty better than him, he effectively does next to nothing. which is fine, if he leads as commander, but with alyssa circumventing his authority and undermining his orders on the grounds that "she knows better" at every turn, combined with how the recent 10 or so chapters have had the crew in general and john in particular almost drifting from plot crisis to plot crisis rather than being proactive, it creates the impression, to me at least, than john has become nothing more than the resident dick user. IMHO, he needs to A) remember jades advice about being the hunter, not the prey and be proactive in making plans and B) do something to discipline alyssa and stop her from constantly undermining him and concealing things from him. I remember specifically that he had a talk with her where he iterates that he trusts her judgement generally, but that she needs to be open and honest so they can make plans as a team. Alyssa agrees, promises, then immediately ignores him next chapter and makes promises to the outer rim, messes with his mother, all without telling him. Give John back some authority, something that he DOES, rather than is a participant in.

David Shmilowitz

He cut his connection to his 3 matriarchs, would that dissolve their connection to their netwok? John never had a direct connection to the entire network, it went through the matriarchs.

On a seperate note, Hope all’s as well as can be expected with you and yours Tef. Stay safe, and stay healthy all.

The Crimson King

Yeah, look, I would love to say that Calara would win, hands down, so on and so forth. She is fat and away my favourite character in the [series?/novel?/story?]. I started reading as she joined the crew, so I have a different kind of... investment.... in her as a character. But the girls’ greatest strength is each other, both through the psychic network and their ability to work as a team (not looking at anyone in particular there Alyssa 🤨). But as long as they’re connected to the network, so is John. And in that network, he is top dog. In my mind, there’s never been any question as to who would win in a confrontation between any of them except maybe Alyssa, but even that’s a big maybe. And truth be told, this whole comment is kinda redundant, as Tef has done an excellent job disillusioning me of that maybe.

The Crimson King

Not every character can be a flawless superhero. I think people just get frustrated mainly when a character is indecisive, or clueless, or something along those lines. I agree Jon isn't a pushover, just frustrating at times.

Jake Thomas

Who thought John was a pushover? If anything I’m interested how you keep the girl’s relative powers useful in terms of power scaling the story. You have done a great job so far and can’t wait to see what problems would justify his TOTAL power and their assistance simultaneously.

Thanks Tefler it’s quite interesting

SGU29

Hope all is well with you and your family Tefler.

Awesome. Never once thought if them going up against each other, but very interesting thought train. Amazing story! Thank you and can't wait to continue reading.

Pana Napoleon

Thank you!

Before anyone asks, I haven't charged for this! It's just a few musings about relative strengths of the Invictus crew which I thought you might find interesting/informative.

Tefler