Interstellar Age

The war continued on in the background as Erich proceeded with his plans for Galactic Conquest following the defeat of the Naraku. Though he sent his Star Marines to hold the line against the Naraku in certain sectors of the galaxy as a means to appear like he was doing his part in the war effort.

The reality was that this was just a few worlds. And not even critical ones at that. The sieges and defenses of these planetary systems continued on much longer than Erich could have otherwise emerged victorious in.

This was specifically designed to make it appear like his forces were really just as evenly capable as the Naraku. Or slightly better. As they had proven in every battle waged that after a significant amount of time, casualties, and resources, they would emerge victorious.

Meanwhile, the rest of the galaxy where Erich’s forces were not protecting, the other Major Powers of the Galaxy fought, bled, and burned. Exchanging some victorious for more losses. From the perspective of the Milky Way and the civilizations within it. It was only a matter of time before the Narkau managed to break through and devour everything.

However, from the perspective of the Naraku they were bleeding more resources in the conquest of the galaxy than they were gaining. If such a thing continued, the Galactic conquest of the Milky Way would not be worth it.

After all, the purpose of this conquest was to gain more biological material so they could continue to evolve as a species and expand their population. But if they were using more biological material than they were gaining from the conquest, then they would have to provide biological material from elsewhere.

Which would in the long term hinder their ability to conquer another galaxy after the Milky Way. If such a thing continued, then they would either need to rethink the invasion entirely, or come up with some new way to win as quickly as possible.

Needless to say morale on both sides was waning. Only the Germanic Star-Empire who kept the core of their strength in reserve to protect their own territory were actually living live relatively carefree. As they were aware of the losses that everyone but them were taking.

Was the Germanic Star-Empire exhausting a lot of materials to resurrect their fallen, and to rebuild the machines of war that were destroyed? Most definitely. But they had taken advantage of the former economic collapse which followed the destruction of the Ghimderi Trade Union to secure enough raw materials to sustain their losses for another five centuries.

And by Tia’s calculations the Naraku could not continue with their current rate of casualties for more than fifty years, let alone five hundred. Because of this, nobody was really concerned about the war. At least not in the Germanic Star-Empire.

Still, there was an increase in frequency with communications from the other galactic leaders. Such as Lunaria who almost daily now would call Erich, asking if he had the means to send her more troops.

It was not like his ships would finish repair in a single day. Even with Tia’s twenty-four hours a day, seven days a week, automated labor force doing the job. Nor would Erich be willing to send his reservists for Lunaria who, like her sister had suffered far fewer losses than either the Cabal or Theocracy.

In fact, the Cabal alone had lost more territory, resources, and manpower than the two Elven civilizations combined. Naturally Erich was aware of this fact no matter how much Lunaria and Daelia tried to hide it from him.

And because of this, he was far less likely to send troops to reinforce their front lines than he was the others. Of course, he would never say this directly to Lunaria and because of this he was quick to come up with some excuse or another.

“I’m sorry Lunaria, but you are going to have to wait. I told you my ships are in repair. I simply don’t have the means to ferry more troops to protect your worlds. Let alone engage in a planetary assault at the moment.

Calling me more frequently isn’t going to increase the rate of repairs. Or how quickly I can construct a new warship. This is going to take some time. So unless you have troop transports to spare, I’m just not able to send my marines to help you.”

Lunaria naturally did not have troop transports to spare. She herself was sending all of her forces to stem the tide. Where she gained a victory at one part of the frontline, another area would collapse. Resulting in constant micromanagement of forces who tried to prevent everything from crumbling apart.

Every ship she had was invaluable to the defense of the dominion. And it was a testament to her skills that she managed to sustain such little losses so far. At least when compared to the other major galactic powers. Other than the Empire that is.

Because of this, she simply pouted. She had no excuse, and she knew Erich’s ships would not repair themselves over night. Lunaria simply wanted the man to help calm her nerves. Not that he was really in such a situation at the moment due to the amount of pressure he pretended to be under.

“I understand that. But I would hope at least that you would find the ability to send troops to protect me if Alfheim ends up coming under attack!”

Erich tried not to break out into laughter at the woman’s statement. Alfheim coming under attack? Perhaps if her losses were sustained for another hundred years, maybe, maybe she would lose enough territory for that to happen.

But by then the Naraku would be completely spent. Regardless, Erich suppressed his urge to laugh, and instead made a promise to the woman that if such a thing ever occurred, he would be there to save her.

“I promise you, if such a thing were ever to happen I would ensure that enough forces were sent to Alfheim to save you and your daughter. If I could not lift the siege entirely, you and Celestia would be whisked away to Earth where you would be safe!”

This was as good as a promise as Lunaria was going to get, and because of that she simply sighed, and thanked Erich for his time before hanging up on him. The war was ultimately progressing as he planned. And it would be another few decades before he man launched a proper counter attack.