Interstellar Age

As Tia predicted, it was a mere three years of repeated assaults by the Naraku on the Germanic border before they ultimately relented. Choosing to withdraw what remained of their fleets sent to that sector of the Milky Way and instead divert them to the other and weaker powers.

The bulk of the Naraku who had previously fought three hard years to penetrate into Germanic space, and utterly failed to do so, found themselves being sent to the Cabal and Theocracy theaters. They were after all the weaker members of the five major Galactic Powers, and their losses naturally reflected this.

In three years, the Naraku had succeeding in conquering, or laying siege to over a million star systems and the planets within them. This might seem like a daunting figure, but when one considered that the Milky Way itself was composed of a billion star systems, many of which had been thoroughly terraformed since the rise of the Elven Empire eons ago. It was small minority of star systems that needed to be conquered.

Even so, the majority of these fallen systems were in Cabal and Theocratic spheres of influence. The silver lining in this fact was, that with the Germanic Star-Empire’s borders were no longer under assault. They could provide assistance to the other four major powers they were in a military alliance with.

Of course, Erich would not so swiftly and easily help his allies win their battles. Instead, he came up with a list of excuses that would delay military aid for the next few years. Which was much to the anger of his allies.

In fact, they were all in a conference call right now, discussing the matter. Where Erich seemed “apologetic” albeit determined when it came to his stance on the matter.

“I am sorry, truly I am. But the Naraku have dealt a number on my naval forces. They need to be repaired and resupplied. The fact that they were able to maintain a solid line of defense preventing a single world under Germanic influence to fall, while constantly engaging in a battle for the course of three years is truly the limit.

Had the Naraku been a bit more determined, it would have only been a matter of time before my defenses crumbled, and I would be in the same situation you are in now. I need time to repair, resupply, and replenish my losses.

Surely you understand the level of damage we are talking about here. By my estimates, I lost over 5,000 warships over the course of these last three years.”

What Erich had said was true, he had lost 5,000 warships. But it was a fraction of his Navies size. In addition to this, these 5,000 warships had not only already been replaced, along with the crews on them. But he had outproduced his losses in the three-year campaign. Adding an additional 10,000 warships to his fleet to those that were replaced.

But nobody knew this. These warships were kept under wraps in his reserve fleets which protected the core of his Empire and his immediate Allies who were incapable of dealing with the Naraku on their own such as the Great Oni Empire, and the Dvrakian Consortium.

Because of this, nobody could really complain. Sure, Erich’s losses were much, much smaller compared to their own. But if he sent ships that were in no condition to fly, let alone engage in battle to fight the Naraku on their behalf now, it would just be like sending cannon fodder.

Those ships were better off being repaired, resupplied, and replenished so they could do a much better job at killing the bugs than a simple self sacrifice. Hence why Lunaria voiced her support, even if the other Galactic leaders were not as willing to do so.

“I understand. We have all suffered severely during this last three years. But Erich you should be aware that you are not the only one who is currently repairing damaged warships. Many of us are pressing ships that are at half capacity, and half repair back into the fight.

I understand that because your warships are the most capable of dealing with the Naraku Menace why you would wish to wait until your losses are fully replaced. But you should be aware that this is a team effort.

If our losses are too severe in the time it takes you to fully replace yours, then I fear we will all be doomed, yourself included. After all, in your current state, you only managed to defend against a small number of the invaders. So what would happen if you were to actually have to fight entirely on your own against the bugs?

I implore you to think about this before making a final decision…”

The losses his allies had suffered were not severe enough yet to truly enable his galactic conquest without a fight. Or at the very least with a bare minimal once. Though Lunaria was saying this, Tia’s intelligence reported that the other powers had yet to reveal their full strength.

They were willing to wage a war of attrition against the Naraku, and let countless worlds fall to the devouring swarm, then they were to commit everything from the get go. The more time that could be bought for them by their vassals, the better.

And it was because Erich knew this that he would not fall for Lunaria’s words. And was indeed quick to dismiss them.

“It is as I said. My troops are exhausted. They need some rest and respite while my ships are repaired. I have a problem of my own. My marines and soldiers are quite bored because of how valiantly my navy defended the line.

But they have nobody to fight. So I have a proposal for you. If your fleets can clear a path to some of the worlds which have already been devoured. Then I will send my marines to reclaim them, or at the very least destroy the hives that are no doubt propagating on those worlds as we speak.

Do we have a deal?”

The various galactic leaders all collectively looked at one another and silently nodded their heads in agreement. Germanic Star-Marines annihilating the bugs who were no doubt festering on conquered worlds was better than just having the GSE sit back and do nothing.

Because of this, the decision was unanimous. Finally, after three years of nothing but defense, the Germanic Star-Empire would be taking the fight directly to the bugs. Albeit…. In a limited capacity.