Interstellar Age

𝒩𝑂𝓥𝑳xt.𝒸𝑂𝑀

Erich gazed into the sky above him and witnessed the ion cannons firing their beams towards the swarm of starships which gathered in the orbit above. There were so many hostile ships, some of which were as big as the planet which Erich stood upon, that they completely blotted out the light of the nearby star. 

Utter darkness prevailed on the world below. The only source of illumination was the ion beams, which sought to disable some of the warships. Currently, Erich and his men were enjoying a smoke break. Until the first enemy drop ships arrived on the world, he and his men had nothing to do. Thus, Erich simply smoked to pass the time. 

All the while, Tia informed him about the ongoing battle for control of the world’s airspace. The Germanic Fleet was soundly defeated by the combined might of the Alfheim coalition within less than three hours. Every single Germanic ship which had been dispatched to these War Games was temporarily disabled by specialty weapons, which the Alfheim dominion had supplied to their vassals. 

Yet this did not stop the Germanic Star Empire from deploying fighters from the ground, to defend the airspace of the world, and to hunt down potential drop ships.  While Erich was smoking his cigarette and seemingly watching the battles in the sky above. He was pushing his foresight to the limit.

He could now see a full thirty seconds into the future, after spending years using this ability to survive on the battlefield. And because of this, he was constantly peering into the future to predict just where, and when, the enemy would strike from. 

At first nothing significant appeared, but all of a sudden he had a vision of an enemy dropship, which had slipped past the planetary defenses using advanced stealth technology, and was currently headed to a nearby position. 

As Erich had expected, the Alfheim dominion was deploying its own variant of the WRAITHs to survey the area, and provide intelligence to the rest of their forces. Thus, Erich immediately put out his cigarette, and placed his helmet on his head, before issuing his orders to the rest of his unit. 

“Hostiles detected, 50 clicks north. Let’s move out.”

Though the other WRAITHs in Erich’s unit had no idea how their fearless captain had detected the enemy, they did not dare disobey his orders. Thus, they activated their stealth modes before charging off after their leader. 

An average Germanic male was capable of running sixty-four kilometers an hour. However, when enhanced by their Mk I power armor, these superhumans could travel up to double their base speed. Thus, it did not take long for Erich and his team to approach the enemy. 

Which once they had, Erich and his team maintained a distance, lied low, while observing the Alfheim special forces. Despite having far more advanced stealth technology, these light elves were a bit arrogant, and did not immediately conceal themselves upon stepping foot in the alien world.

Because of that, Erich and his team were able to watch their actions from a distance for some time. As well as stalk them and their movements. Undoubtedly, these were not the only Light Elves who had gotten past the planetary defenses, and because of that, Erich was quick to relay his findings back to the HQ. 

“This is Silber. I’ve got eyes on a squad of Elven scouts. Most likely, special forces sent for the purpose of reconnaissance. What are my orders?” 

Erich then had a brief conversation with the officer on the other end, who relayed this information to the General. Upon realizing that they had already been infiltrated long before their planetary defenses were taken out. The General began to dispatch the WRAITHs to search the immediate vicinity of the primary hub where the bulk of the Germanic defenders were currently enduring a bombardment. 

Once he had sent out teams to counter the hostile special forces, the General gave Erich one simple command. 

“Take them out…” 

—

Celarion stood among an elite unit of female light elves who were referred to as Banshees. If the Alfheim Military had a unit that was equivalent to the Germanic WRAITH, then it was indeed the Alfheim Banshee. 

Unlike Erich, he was not tasked with leading his own unit. Celarion had only managed to tag along with the Banshees under his sister’s orders. And because of this, none of the women he was currently serving with were particularly fond of him. 

After all, the Alfheim Dominion was a matriarchal society. And this also applied to its military. Though men could serve, they often did so beneath female officers and in their own segregated units. For a male to deploy with a unit of Banshees, there was no greater disgrace. 

Of course, neither he and his unit were expecting that upon landing they would be surrounded by the enemy. Because of this, they decided that rather than begin their task of reconnaissance, they would instead make sure that Celarion knew his place. None was more furious about this assignment than the officer in charge. Whose hideous expression was not concealed beneath her helmet’s visor. 

“Let’s get one thing clear here, you pitiful male! I am in charge! The only reason you are even allowed to deploy with a unit as fearsome as ours is because your royal sister has commanded it. I don’t know what her reasons are for insulting the Banshees like this, but she will come to regret it. Until then-“

Before the female officer could even finish her statement, a flashing blue light slammed straight into her helmet and dropped her to the floor. Being completely stunned, she was no longer capable of speaking, and instead lay on the ground as if she were dead. 

Celarion immediately raised his rifle while shouting out to his “comrades” who were already reacting to their own assaults. 

“Enemy attack!”

He had had no idea how his unit had already been spotted by the enemy, nor could he see their figures despite his advanced sensors. Something was jamming them, and Celarion did not know how. Because as far as he was aware, the Germanic Star-Empire did not have the technological capability to jam the advanced sensors of the Alfheim Dominion. 

One by one, the Banshees fell, stunned, and defeated. Until finally, Celarion alone had survived the ambush. He randomly fired his stun blaster in the direction of where he had witnessed a previous assault come from, but unfortunately, for him, firing blindly rarely got results. 

Just when Celarion was about to reload his weapon with a fresh battery, it was ripped from his hands and thrown away. He tried to reach for his knife, but was brutally kicked into the tree trunk, which he was previously hiding behind. The knife flew out of his hand as he did so. 

It was only then that Celarion realized the outline of a much larger man, standing in front of him, with a blade in his hand. This man effortlessly lifted Celarion into the air with one hand, before jamming his stun knife into the Elven scout’s gut.

Obviously it was a blunted weapon, and could not pierce through Celarion’s armor, but the stunning effect disabled him, to the point where he might as well be dead. It was only after he had been defeated that a familiar voice filled Celarion’s ears.

“Fucking trash, if this is what the Alfheim Dominion considers to be their most elite unit, then I pity our masters…. Absolutely pathetic!”

Celarion knew exactly who the man was that had so perfectly ambushed him and his team. He was the same man that Celarion was supposed to be spying on. Somehow, Erich had detected his landing in advance and ambushed him. But how?

It was only then that Celarion remembered his sister’s warning that a sage would be born among another race, and would light the galaxy ablaze in his wars of conquest. In that moment, he suddenly begun to believe the prophecies of the old men he used to believe were fools. And sorely regretted not taking this mission seriously.

But it was too late. There was nothing he could do now that he was stunned. Celarion could only hope that his Royal sister had received his helmet camera’s footage of the events that had unfolded here. So that she could properly retaliate.