Interstellar Age

It did not take long for Erich to realize what Mala had done. He was not exactly pleased to say the least. After all, Kali’s death would be an enormous blow to the Asuran Cabal, and would be a powerful piece taken off the chess board once and for all.

That being said, he did weaponized the orcs against Naraku and unleashed them against the bugs for a purpose. Still, he was quite perturbed at this development. The Asuran Cabal was indeed the weakest of the five major galactic powers.

Their loose organization had been a large contributor to this. But each of their so-called gods was quite powerful in their own right. And Kali was no exception. For her forces to have already been decimated in battle was a major blow.

But if she herself perished her domain would fall to ruin, and if that happened then there was no chance of another major army being rebuilt to send against the bugs. The consequences for this would be massive and would play well into Erich’s hands.

Unfortunately for Erich, Mala had dashed these plans when she appeared in the wrong place, at the wrong time, and dealt a lethal blow to the Naraku who were about to finish off Kali once and for all.

In the end, Mala and what remained of her forces were saved, her ship was rescued by her faction, and she returned to her home world to build a new fleet to contend with the Naraku.

Developments elsewhere in the galaxy were going as planned, though. The Elves had their own share of problems, but they were holding out much better than the Asurans and the Ennead. The latter of which was the second most vulnerable to the devouring swarm.

In just a year, the combined number of star systems that were either destroyed by the Naraku or currently besieged by them was in the tens of thousands. Of these star systems, a solid 60% were within Cabal and Theocratic territory.

While the remaining forty percent were within the boundaries of the Federation and the Dominion. A whopping zero star system had been invaded, besieged, or destroyed by the Naraku within Germanic space.

The line was held quite strongly by the Germanic defenders. Of which, the army personnel stationed on the frontier worlds nearest to the bugs simply sat by and waited. They were actually growing quite restless. As many of these men were untested, and wanted to squash bugs, and by doing so, bring honor to their family and their empire.

Yet the Germanic Navy was too powerful for the Naraku to break through. And the losses suffered were replaced faster than their rivals could manage to contend with. This was a problem for Kurt… He had long since grown up in his father’s shadow.

The man was, after all, a highly decorated war hero, and had gone on to become the Empire’s first dynastic ruler. Where in the span of half a century he brought the Germanic people to a level of power and prestige that completely eclipsed their entire five hundred year history as an interstellar civilization.

To say that Kurt wanted a chance to prove himself worthy of his surname was a bit of an understatement. The man wanted more than anything to do, as his father had done. He had however, not exactly followed in his father’s footsteps.

Where Erich was officially in this timeline deployed as a member of the Empire’s most elite special forces. Kurt had risen through the ranks of the Germanic Star-Marine Corps. Where he was now a general. In order for him to see combat against the bugs, and prove that he was as capable as believed he was. A world must first fall.

But currently, he, like the soldiers he sat beside, was left entirely waiting to be deployed. As a Marine Corps General, Kurt was to command an invasion force. But there was no invasion to take place because not a single Germanic world had fallen to the Naraku. At least not yet.

And as he continued to grow disgruntled at the current developments of the war. Kurt could not help but finally demand answers from his father. Because of this, the man entered his own personal quarters and contacted Erich. Who himself was currently on board his personal dreadnought.

When Erich saw that his son was contacting him, he was quick to step aside, where he entered his private quarters and excepted the call.

“Kurt, I was not expecting to hear from you. Is everything all right on your end? Or is this a personal call?”

Erich was not lying when he said this. He had not been anticipating any of his generals to call him. As there was no need to do so. That only left the option of this being a personal call, unless there was something that Erich had overlooked.

Kurt’s expression was stern. He addressed his father with his proper title, before asking for some degree of communication on why he and the others had not been deployed elsewhere across the galaxy to help their allies to take the fight to the bugs.

“With your permission, your eminence, I would like to know why my men and I are just sitting here, waiting… Would we not be better served being deployed in those regions across the galaxy which have sustained heavy losses?

It is my opinion, and that of many of my peers that we could easily retake half the worlds the Naraku have gained this last year, and in a few months of battle no less!”

Erich looked at his son with a curious gaze. His response was not something that Kurt had anticipated and filled him with confusion no less.

“Now why on Earth would I do such a thing? The other major civilizations have yet to sustain nearly as many losses as I would like them to. Our current aim isn’t to drive the Naraku completely out of the galaxy, but rather to hold the line long enough for the worlds which are indebted to us to evacuate their people safely further inland.

If I dispatched the Corps now, and the reserve fleets to the other galaxies, it would thoroughly ruin my plans for the future…”

It was at this moment that Kurt realized his father did not treat the Naraku as the threat that they truly were and instead had other hidden ambitions. Perhaps the madman was even using the Naraku to weaken the rest of the galaxy….

Kurt remained utterly silent for some time, processing what he had just heard, before ultimately expressing in shock what he came to realize.

“You want the galaxy to burn? I don’t believe it. You want everyone else to suffer, only for you to swoop in right before their total destruction, so you can be their savior. And by doing so, having weakened those who resist your authority.

The Naraku aren’t a threat are they? At least not to us? They’re a tool you are using to incinerate your rivals across the galaxy?”

Eich remained expressionless as he responded to his son’s statement. Completely dismissing the man’s concerns as he did so.

“Kurt, you may not know this because you were raised in close proximity to aliens. But since the moment our species first step foot on the interstellar stage. It has always been a matter of us versus them.

That is how our people have always viewed the universe. And now that I have made our empire into a galactic power there is only one outcome. Bend the knee, or burn…

So, if I were you, I would focus on maintaining operational readiness. Because it is not easy for me to hold the Naraku here at our borders. And I would not be able to do so if the rest of the galaxy wasn’t doing their part to suffer on our behalf.

That is all there is to say on the matter, so do your job!”

After saying this, Erich hung up, leaving his son in complete and total disbelief.