Interstellar Age

Chapter 118 Entering The Cesspit

?

The Journey to their destination was a long one. Even with a corvette acting as their ship, one that was equipped with the most advanced technology that the Empire could manufacture, it still took several months to arrive at Alpha Centauri. 

During this time Erich familiarized himself with his new team members, as well as the mission which they were about to embark upon. When he was not reading over the dossier which he had been given by Ghost, he was interacting with the men in the mess, where they drank and talked about war stories while also playing cards. 

In fact, Erich enjoyed the time he spent with these men, as it made him feel like he actually had some friends. After all, the men he had met at the academy were all dead. Ever since then, Erich had never really bonded with any of his other comrades. 

But these men were different. They weren't a bunch of wide-eyed youths seeking adventure and glory among the stars. While being woefully ignorant of the cruelty of war. No, these men were veterans like Erich, and though many of them were older than him by decades, the amount of combat experience which Erich beneath his belt was no small amount, and because of this he could bond quite well with his new team. 

Eventually, the ship arrived in the orbit of a world known as Alpha Centauri. To Erich, who had grown up a quarter of the way across the galaxy, he had never heard of such an insignificant sector of space, at least not before reading up on the mission dossier. 

However, to the Confederation of Human Worlds, this planet's importance was second only to Earth. Why was this the case? Well, to put it simply, humanity had spent the last four centuries slowly colonizing and occupying the nearest two star systems to themselves. Each of which only had one planet that could naturally sustain human life. 

The rest of humanity's colonies were barren and rocky worlds like Mars and Venus, ones which humans were forced to live in bio domes and other such shelters due to a lack of a breathable atmosphere. Alpha Centauri, on the other hand, was in many ways quite similar to Earth, and because of this, it could sustain a much larger number of humans. 

As Erich began to land the corvette on the world's surface, Ghost quickly entered the area to brief him on a few things which he believed to be of vital importance. After all, this was Erich's first time actually going under deep cover, and because of this, the veteran officer was concerned about his ability to blend into such an alien and, in his eyes, degenerate culture. 

"Silber, can I get a quick word in?" 

Erich simply grunted and nodded as he focused on landing the ship without suffering a fatal crash. The military corvette which was specifically designed for special operations was not only capable of completely cloaking itself, but it was capable of projecting an alternative appearance. At the moment, it looked like a luxury yacht, albeit an extremely primitive one. This was naturally due to their current identities. 

Seeing that Erich was not entirely focused on listening to him, Ghost quickly asked him a question, one that was clearly a test. 

"What's your current identity while we are here in Alpha Centauri?"

Erich had memorized every detail of this operation, including his own alias, and instinctively spoke it aloud, as he steered the ship through the atmosphere and towards the world's starport. 

"My name is Rafael Nogueira and I am the personal pilot for Rodrigo de Silva, which is your alias. You are a young executive at Vale Heavy Industries, which is a rival to Blanco Manufacturing, who is currently developing a so-called super-weapon for a private military corporation known as The Knight's Templar. The rest of our team are your personal bodyguards." 

Ghost simply nodded his head with a smile on his face, though as the ship landed in the hangar of the starport, he had one other thing which he wanted to say before they departed into the cesspit that was the Confederacy. Thus, he was quick to remind Erich about the nature of this place in an attempt to keep the man calm. 

"One last thing, Erich, this world, this civilization, I believe you have already been told, but I need to emphasize it for you so you can properly understand. The Confederation of Humans Worlds is a place which has an emphasis on personal freedoms, individualism, and so-called human rights. 

In other words, it is a cesspool of perversion, and degeneracy, the things you are about to witness, well words can't properly do them justice. So whatever you do, keep calm, and follow our lead. The last thing we need is you causing a scene because of the disgusting shit you are about to see...."

Erich had long since heard of the perverse society that was the Confederation of Human Worlds. It was a society built upon vice, something which was practically non-existent in the Empire. And as much as he might think that, he was mentally prepared for it. The reality of the situation was that he could never imagine the depths of depravity that humanity had sunk to in the last four centuries. Thus, Erich smiled and nodded his head, not knowing just what he was getting himself into. 

"No problem. I know a thing or two about stoicism. Trust me, I have seen far worse than whatever these barbarians can throw at me."

Ghost simply wore a bitter smile when he heard this, knowing that Erich was definitely going to have a hard time adjusting. And thus after he left the cockpit he spoke to JT and informed the man to keep a close eye on Erich so he didn't draw any unecessary attention. 

After exiting from the corvette, which was disguised as a luxury yacht, and walking towards customs, Erich was amazed by just how degenerate this society was. He had walked no more than one hundred steps, and yet the screens on the walls flashed with all kinds of perverse advertisements. 

From cybernetic and cosmetic surgeries to advertisement about pornography and sex toys. With each flash of the screen, Erich felt like he saw something even more disgusting. The last thing his eyes fell upon before being forced to avert his gaze was an advertisement for an animal brothel. 

Erich had never even heard of such a thing before and was forced to look away or else he might actually throw up the contents of his stomach. He may have witnessed men being tossed into the meat grinder and devoured by giant bugs, but this was simply too much for him to handle. 

Of course, this didn't actually help Erich, because the first thing he witnessed when he turned his sights away from the advertisements was a beautiful "woman". However, this was no mere woman. She had brown skin like the rest of her species, and a purple bob cut. Her makeup was as colorful as her hair. 

But what attracted Erich's gaze was the clothes which this "woman" was wearing, or lack thereof. She was dressed in nothing but leather bondage gear, with a collar around her neck. Her nipples were clearly visible and were pierced with a golden chain. 

However, this was not the worst of it. As Erich looked down at her lower body, he saw something which should not exist. This "woman" did not have a pussy like every woman Erich had ever met. Instead, she was packing some serious heat. And while not as big as Erich, she definitely had a decent size to her package. 

This revelation completely stunned Erich. It spat in the face of his very understanding of basic biology. How could this woman also be a man? It was simply illogical? Unless, somehow, humans had evolved in the past four centuries to become hermaphrodites. But he did not see the second set of genitals. 

To Erich, who grew up in the Germanic Star-Empire, where homosexuality had been completely eliminated. He had never even heard of the concept of a shemale before, hell he had never even met an effeminate man before. This was all too much for his mind to handle, and because of that he stared awkwardly at this. "woman". 

Evidently, Erich was staring a little too much, because this "woman" quickly approached him with a seductive smile on her lips, and began to flirt with Erich by wrapped her man like hands around his shoulders, while whispering something into his ears that he found completely and utterly disgusting. 

"Like what you see? For twenty-five hundred bucks, I am all yours for the night..."

Erich was too baffled to speak, but he was becoming increasingly uncomfortable by having this "woman" near him, let alone touching him. Luckily for him, JT quickly spotted this and pushed the shemale aside rather forcefully, as he began to shout at her like a madman. 

"Bitch, did you seriously just touch my man? Do you want to throw down? Cuz I will fuck you up!"

Upon seeing that Erich was already "taken" the shemale simply clicked her tongue in defeat, before walking away. Her fat ass shaking with every sway of her hips. Once she was out of earshot, JT began to scold Erich for causing trouble immediately upon arrival. 

"What the fuck are you thinking? I look away for literally three seconds, and you've already caused a scene? Didn't Ghost fucking warn you about remaining calm? If you don't get your shit together, we are going to have a serious problem, and I refuse to babysit you throughout our entire stay here!" 

Erich was shaken to the very core of his being from this one interaction. Clearly, there was something very wrong with humanity. Never before had he been glad to have been born in the Empire, where life was simple and moral. Because this place was more perverse than he could have ever imagined! 

Of course, Erich had barely scratched the surface of humanity's widespread degeneracy, and he would be horrified to realize that what was socially acceptable in the Confederacy would warrant a death sentence in the Empire.