Interstellar Age

Weeks passed, or perhaps even months. In all honesty, without looking at the charts on the ship, it was hard to tell when one was travelling through Quantum. But eventually, after pulling through a number of pit stops for refuelling, Erich and his team arrived at their destination. 

Naturally, they were not going to the capital world of the Great Oni Empire, which was currently a stronghold of the loyalists. Instead, they were travelling to one of the other major worlds that the Oni had in their vast Empire. One that was of both strategic and cultural significance in this war.

Much like the Oni Capital, this world’s entire surface was one giant city. Its name was Heigen, and it was named as such because when the Oni race first colonized the planet, its continents were mostly composed of vast plains. 

Erich and his crew effortlessly pulled into the star port, where they exited the facility. Mirage had a noticeable pep in her step which nobody but herself, and Erich, could explain. Though the men of the unit suspected that Erich had been tapping that fine ass since the moment they began bunking together. 

At this point, Erich didn’t seem to really care what his team thought about his relationship with Mirage, the truth of the matter was it was extremely complicated, and at this point they seemed to be closer to fuck buddies who had a mutual disdain for one another. 

After all, they both had their reasons for hating one another, and yet there were moments when they were kind to one another. Erich had no idea what to think about all of this. All he knew was that he could never truly forgive Mirage for what she had done to him and Butcher.

But that didn’t mean he couldn’t enjoy using her body for relieving stress. In many ways, they had a similar relationship to what Erich had with his wife. Though neither of them mentioned Erika when they were together. 

After passing through customs without incident, Erich and his team made their way to the nearest taxis, which took them to a large shopping center where they were set to meet with their contacts. The worlds of the Great Oni Empire had a vastly different architectural style to their own. 

If the worlds of the Germanic Star Empire were inspired by the work of Albert Speer, and his no nonsense approach to architecture. Then the Great Oni Empire’s aesthetic style was akin to traditional east Asian designs, albeit modernized with much larger structures such as skyscrapers. 

It did not take long for the taxis to take Erich and his team to the shopping center, where they were supposed to meet with their contacts. One thing immediately became clear upon stepping foot in the area, though certain parts of the Great Oni Empire were wealthier than the Germanic Star-Empire. The Oni seemed to have a significantly larger amount of income inequality. With the poorest of its citizens living in literal slums. 

This was not something that existed within the Germanic Star-Empire. And was immediately unnerving to those who were more privileged than most of the galaxy’s denizens. As Erich, and his team walked through the streets of the slums, they noticed that not only were its buildings run down, but their sewage system appeared to be malfunctioning as there was a horrific stench, and a vast river of waste flowed throughout the shopping center. 

As Erich and his team carefully made their way through the streets, they noticed that the locals continuously observed them with curiosity in their dark eyes. Or was it malice? While it was not uncommon to see aliens within Heigen or its slums, the Germanic race was a different story. As the most powerful allies of the Great Oni Empire, their citizens were treated better than most guests, and were never even made aware that such filthy and dangerous places like this existed. 

Of course, these Germanic people seemed different from the ones the locals had seen on the galactic network, and some of them even theorized that they were an entirely different species, which only looked similar.  𝓞𝒱𝓵xt.𝑐𝒪𝓜

Regardless, Mirage immediately got a bad feeling about the way the locals were reacting to their presence, and clung close to Erich’s side, while whispering something in his ears. 

“If this goes sideways, I need to know you have my back…”

Erich simply scoffed when he heard this before communicating telepathically with Mirage. The words she spoke in her mind shocked her greatly. 

“You can rest easy. A group of Oni Royal Guards once surrounded me while I was naked and unarmed. Yet, I still managed to kill two of them before they took me down. If I had not gone directly for the man in charge, I probably could have killed quite a few more of those bastards. And that was before I had my upgrades.”

This news shocked Mirage, who was not privy to how Kondo Yumi had managed to flee to the Empire. That was a secret that even Mirage’s immediate superiors did not know. If she had known that Erich was the cause of this entire civil war, she might just kick the man in the groin. 

Luckily for Erich and his team, the locals merely gathered to watch the strangers and did not pose an immediate threat. Thus, they were able to swiftly make their way to their destination, which was a small ramen hut in the middle of the slums. The moment they sat down, the owner of the establishment spoke to them. 

“It’s not everyday we see aliens around here… What can I get for you?”

Heavy was about to say something when Mirage cut him off and ordered something specific, something that was not even on the menu. 

“I’d like a cup of golden dragon tea…” 

The Oni man eyes Mirage and the other cautiously before bowing with respect as he departed into the back of his shop. Erich could immediately guess that ordering a cup of golden dragon tea was a code for speaking with whoever was in charge based on the way things had gone down.

And sure enough, before long, a group of Oni men surrounded Erich and his group. It was blatantly obvious by the way they were standing that they were heavily armed. And judging by the looks on their faces, they were not happy that a bunch of outsiders were looking for them. 

The men were dressed in black clothing, with golden eastern style dragons embroidered all over their attire. One of the men in particular, who appeared to be the leader of the group, had even dyed the frosted tips of his spiky hair a golden blonde. Which, when matched with his tinted shades, was quite striking. This man immediately reached into his jacket and pulled out a gun, which he placed on Mirage’s forehead before asking a simple question.

“Have you come to the Ronin to seek your death? It is unwise to step foot in our territory without identifying yourself first.” 

Despite the fact that the man was threatening her life, Mirage did not say a word, as she drank the tea which was given to her by the shop hand rather calmly, only after she had finished the beverage did she respond with her alias, and that of Erich’s. 

“My name is Mirage, and this is Apex. We are with Splinter. We were told you could get us in touch with a certain group of people.” 

Upon seeing that Mirage had followed the customs of their gang and had drank the tea while remaining unphased. The gangster eased up his trigger finger, but did not remove it entirely. He then cocked a brow before asking the next question on his mind. 

“Splinter? Now that’s a name I have not heard in a long time…. You with the silver hair! This bitch calls you Apex? I know that name. An old friend of mine once spoke quite proudly of your accomplishments, despite the fact that at the time you were only briefly a part of his gang. That is, of course, assuming you are one and the same…

Now tell me, what is the name of the man who I am thinking of? Answer correctly, and I will assist you in any way that I can, but fail to give me the proper name, and I will have my boys kill you all….”

It was only now that Ghost understood why his superiors had effectively placed Erich in charge of this mission, despite his inexperience. Erich clearly had ties to these gangsters, in ways that he himself did not.

If he was asked this question, then his cover would be blown, and his unit would have to fight their way out of the slums. But Erich simply grinned, before answering the man’s question with a confident smirk on his face. 

“Iwai Hideaki I presume? Butcher once spoke highly of you to me. He said you were among his closest friends outside of the Empire. With that being said, have I answered your question satisfactory enough?” 

Hideaki immediately broke out into laughter as he swung his pistol around his finger via the trigger guard. He then placed the weapon back into its holster, before reaching out his hand to Erich in friendship. 

“Any friend of Butcher’s is a friend of the Ronin. Welcome to Heigen… Come, let’s get out of these wretched slums, and into some more favorable lodgings. Tonight we celebrate! Pick one of your followers to join us. The rest will have to stay here with my men.”

Erich and mirage quickly followed Hideaki towards his personal transport, while Ghost and the others stayed back with his men. So long as relations did not worsen between Erich and the Ronin they would be perfectly safe. As for Erich and Mirage, Hideaki was taking them to his personal villa, which was in a much nicer section of the city.