Interstellar Age

Erich and his fireteam left their room in full kit, and took the elevator to the roof of the hotel where the giant infinity pool lie. Throughout the entire journey, nobody had spotted them. After all, their stealth field generators were currently active, making them damn near invisible to the human eye. 

After arriving at the rooftop terrace which held the largest pool Erich hd ever seen, he was baffled by what he saw. Despite the fact that half of the city was currently on fire due to the ongoing riots which had been orchestrated by the Germanic IIS, there were hundreds of people on the rooftop terrace partying, as they drank their fill, and consumed their limit of narcotics. 

A few of the more hedonistic individuals were openly mating in the pool. Yet, nobody seemed to care. In fact, from the expressions on the faces of those around them, this was perfectly normal behavior. 

The only thing that distracted Erich from the sight of a particularly attractive woman having her holes filled by a large amount of men and shemales, was the scream of Tia, who shielded her eyes as she gazed upon the debaucherous sight in fright. 

As an Artificial Intelligence that was specifically designed to assist the Germanic Star-Empire’s most elite warfighters in combat operations, she had never before been anywhere but a battlefield. At least not until she had merged with Erich’s NeuroLink. For the first time in her life she was witnessing human mating, or at least a bastardization of it, and the adorable little AI could not handle it. 

“Master… What are they doing to that woman?”

Erich did not know how to respond to this, and thus he simply silently communicated with Tia via his thoughts. 

“Don’t look at them, Tia. These people are fucking animals!” 

Tia obeyed Erich’s commands and ignored the multitude of sights which were entirely inappropriate for a public setting. As for the rest of Erich’s team, they did not react. Apparently, they had seen far worse during their time as WRAITHs, and thus they appeared to be entirely unphased. 

Instead, they made their way to the edge of the terrace, where Ghost whispered his commands beneath his breath. Though his voice was barely audible, Erich could hear it clearly thanks to the advanced communication systems embedded within his helmet. 

“Alright, time to fly boys….”

Erich had no idea what Ghost meant by this and was quick to ask about the meaning behind his words. 

“Fly? What do I look like, a fucking bird? I can’t fucking fly!” 

Ghost and the rest of the team merely looked at Erich like he was an idiot, however before they could explain to him the exact functions of his Mk 2 Stealth Power Armor, Tia informed him of the information he seemed to be lacking. 

“Master… The Mk 2 Stealth Power Armor is capable of atmospheric flight. You don’t need to worry about piloting it. I can handle that for you.” 

The rest of Erich’s team did not even give the man time to react, the simply dove off the edge of the terrace, and activated their anti-gravity function, which allowed them to fly through the air as if they were in a zero-gravity environment. 

However, Erich teetered at the edge of the terrace for some time, making the mistake of looking down at the ground below. He had no idea how tall this building was, but even in his advanced armor, and with his genetic augmentations, he would definitely die from such a drop. 

Ultimately, he took a deep breath, and placed his life in Tia’s hands as he took one step off the terrace. Despite what he thought, there was not an immediate plummet. Instead, Erich felt as if he were floating in space. For which he instantly moved his body so that it propelled forward, and towards his objective. 

Erich could hardly believe his own eyes. As he soared through the sky, as if he were completely weightless, he instantly dove down towards his comrades, who he had nearly lost due to his hesitation, and gained some speed. 

Of course, normally the sight of a five men flying in the air would cause some controversy, but due to their stealth field generators, Erich and his team were completely invisible, and because of this, they were able to expertly make their way to the rooftop of the research facility, where the Ghimderi super weapon was currently being developed. 

The moment Erich stepped foot on the roof, his anti-gravity deactivated, and instead, he found himself firmly footed once more. Though he did gaze over the ledge, and saw something interesting. 

Like most of the assets within the capital city of Alpha Centauri which this arms corporation possessed, this building was surrounded by rioters. In fact, gun shots were already echoing in the air. Which originated from a firefight that was currently going on between rioters and corporate security, who were trying to protect the research facility. 

Before Erich could comment on this, he heard JT’s voice through his comms, which was filled with disdian. 

“Hmph, looks like those cunts in the IIS aren’t worthless after all. Our cover is in place, though it won’t be long before corporate security is overwhelmed by the rioters. When that happens, we will have a much harder time getting our job done. We best be quick.”

Ghost immediately agreed with JT’s assessment and was quick to give out his orders to the team. 

“Alright, we all know why we’re here. Echo, I want you to take out the scientists. JT, your job is to wipe the servers clean. I don’t want a single shred of information regarding this superweapon to survive. Heavy, you’re on demolitions duty. Do whatever you can to blow up the prototypes. As for you, Silber, you’re with me. I have a very important job to do, and I’m going to need your help with it.”

The men all nodded their heads in silence, where they quickly sliced the code which prevented access from the rooftop door. After doing so, they silently made their way through the facility, where once on the top level, the team went their separate ways.  𝑜𝒱𝐞𝓵xt.𝐂𝒪𝐦

Curiously enough, Erich noticed that Echo did not unslung his semi-automatic sniper rifle from behind his back. Instead, he pulled out a knife, which was in the shape of a tactical tanto, and silently stalked the halls looking for the research personal to silently eliminate. 

For whatever reason, Erich could not help but believe that Echo was a man who specialized in assassination. However, his focus was immediately drawn to Ghost, who quietly stalked through the halls, while leading the way through the facility. 

A mini map was displayed on Erich’s heads up display, which reported his movements, and the destination that Ghost had marked for the two of them. Unlike the other operators, their objective was relatively close by, which they quickly made their way to. 

Erich was befuddled why what he saw at their objective, it was a locked door that looked like any other. Except on its surface was a small golden plaque which read the name: Doctor Estela Nunes. Erich was just about to ask why they were standing outside an office door when he heard an unusual voice come from within.

It was not the voice of a normal human being. Instead, it was a guttural, and almost monstrous, voice. One that Erich was entirely unfamiliar with. Though he knew exactly what the man was saying, due to his universal translator, which was built into his NeuroLink. 

“Doctor Nunes, I am sure by now you are curious why my kind has come to this backwater you call a civilization, and are aiding you in the development of a superweapon capable of destroying worlds.” 

The next voice was mature and sultry. It almost sounded like Erich’s ears were being rubbed by oiled velvet. Erich immediately recognized this as a human voice. One which seemed quite annoyed with her guest. 

“I must admit, Kwexle, there is much we do not know about the greater galaxy, as until your kind showed up, we humans have had very little contact with Alien life. Frankly, I am not certain why your race has decided to aid our technological development, but I am sure you have your reasons. But if you are willing to share them, then I will be more than happy to listen.”

Whoever this alien named Kwexle was, he seemed to have snarled in the next second, before making his reasons known. 

“About four hundred years ago, there were sub-species of humanity which fled from Earth. Do you remember them?” 

Evidently the tone in the Doctor’s voice turned grave, as she spoke about this matter with narrowed eyes. 

“You mean the Germanic League? We have not forgotten about their acts of terror, which killed thousands of innocent people. Nor their theft of the first warp drive. I’m curious how you even know about such an obscure group of people. I mean, who cares about a bunch of neo-nazis from a bygone era? Their race died out long ago.” 

Erich could hear the hated in Kwexle’s voice as he informed the Doctor of the truth. Something which she found completely shocking. 

“Oh, on the contrary, Doctor. The Germanic Race is very much alive and has formed quite the mighty Empire. They have found a new world to call home and have become a significant thorn in the side of the Ghimderi Trade Union.

Despite having a vastly inferior civilization to our own, they are protected by one of the major Galactic Powers, and because of that, we can’t wipe them out directly.  We know that one day soon they will come back for their homeworld with quite the vengeance. And when they do, we want you to be prepared to fight them off.” 

There was a tone of horror in the doctor’s voice as she posed the immediate question on her mind. 

“The Germanic League still exists?”

The Goblin known as Kwexle cackled at the sheer look of distraught at the mature scientist’s face, before saying something that made her even more terrified. 

“They call themselves the Germanic Star-Empire now, and I think it would be safe to assume that their spies have infiltrated your society a long time ago. Now you understand the caution we have displayed while dealing with your species. For all we know, they could even have infiltrated this building.” 

Before Doctor Nunes could even react to this terrifying information, a voice erupted from the other side of the door. One which belonged to Ghost. 

“How right you are!”

After saying this, he kicked open the door and pointed his assault rifle at the face of the little goblin, and the human doctor. The horror on both of their faces, when the two WRAITHs revealed their matte black power armor, was something which Ghost seemed to take joy in. Especially as he barked his orders to Erich. 

“The little snotling is mine. You take care of the bitch.” 

Erich’s face was completely emotionless, not that anyone could see it beneath his jet black visor, as he pointed his integrally suppressed submachine gun towards the doctor’s face, and pulled the trigger after leaving one last taunting remark. 

“Say good night, bitch…”