Interstellar Age

Chapter 133 A Fair Warning

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Erich and his team pounded a few beers before heading off to the spaceport. For whatever reason, Mirage had begun to take her role as the infamous gangster's second in command rather seriously. Almost as if her betrayal had never happened in the first place, and the leadership of Splinter was still intact. 

The hatred, animosity, and sheer disdain that Mirage had previously shown Erich were nowhere to be found. So much so that the crew began to suspect that there really was something serious going on between the two of them. Which only furthered tensions between them. 

However, when they entered the small exploration craft that Erich had named "S'aleth's Sorrow" after his now deceased lover, Erich came to a sudden realization. His ship could only house five people, and there were now six of them. Immediately, Erich made a comment about this, trying to expel Mirage from the group as he did so. 

"There's only five bunks, sorry Mirage, but you're going to have to sit this one out..."

Despite the logic behind these words, Mirage was completely undeterred. Instead, she scoffed at Erich's naivety before announcing her plan to the whole group. 

"That's fine. I can just bunk with you. That won't be a problem, will it?" 

As much as Erich wanted to reject this notion, he knew there would be no convincing the woman now that she had set her mind on this outcome. Thus, he could only sigh heavily and nod his head in silence. To which immediately climbed into the co-pilot's cockpit before making a remark about his ship of choice. 

"The Hydra Interplanetary Privateer, I must shamefully admit that I have never been inside one. It is a bit bare bones, don't you think? I mean, I know the Empire isn't exactly big on superfluous designs, but this is rudimentary even by our utilitarian standards."

Erich did not bother arguing with the woman as he sat down in the pilot's seat, instead he simply made one off handed remark before requesting permission from the star port authorities to take off. 

"It get's the job done. Now if you don't mind, I have to fly this thing. It is a long way to the Great Oni Empire, and this damned ship doesn't have the fuel capacity to make it in one trip. So I'm going to have to set a route on the nav computer." 

The hatches of the hangar opened as Erich was typing his destination into the nav computer, allowing him to ignite the VTOL thrusters, and slowly take off from the ground and into the air. Once the ship had broken through the atmosphere, he spooled the quantum drive and took off to the first stop along the way. 

The journey to this space station would take a few days to say the least, and while they were jumping through quantum, there were no dangers that would require Erich's immediate attention at the cockpit. Thus, he exited from his seat to find that Mirage had done the same. 

Contrary to what Erich was expecting, Mirage had already sealed the doors to the cockpit so that nobody else could enter, where she looked rather sternly at him. Erich half expected her to reach for one of her pistols, or her knife at that moment, and thus responded by resting his hand on his own sidearm. 

This caused Mirage to giggle as she mocked Erich for his paranoia. 

"If I wanted to kill you, then I would wait until after we are out of imperial space. Though I'm still pissed at you for killing me twice, I'm not going to make a move on you."

However, Erich was not convinced, and thus he narrowed his eyes, while gripping his sidearm even tighter as if he were prepared to draw at a moment's notice. Where he then asked the woman what her plan was. 

"If that's the case, then why did you seal the door behind you?"

Mirage leaned in close to Erich, something which caused him to take a step back. Unfortunately, there was not much room in the cockpit, and because of this, his feet immediately touched the back of the co-pilot's seat. 

Despite Erich's cautious actions, Mirage only found them to be cute, which she quickly made a comment about. 

"You really are scared that I might do something to you, huh? I mean, it's true that this mission would be the best opportunity to get rid of you permanently, but that is not my intention. I wanted to speak with you in private. There are some things you should know. About the syndicate you will be contacting, and their ties to Splinter. If you make one wrong move, you will blow your cover..."

Erich's grip on his sidearm loosened up as he regained his footing and instead pressed Mirage against the wall. He had to admit, in her current appearance, he found it hard to identify her with the Imperial Agent who had betrayed him. Thus, he was quick to ask the immediate question on his mind. 

"Is that hair of yours dyed, or did you get back into a mutant body for the sake of this mission?" 

Mirage met Erich's glare head on with a confident expression on her face as she said the words Erich least wanted to hear. 

"I don't know about you, but I personally don't like dying... I have experienced death three times, two of which were at your hands. Even if I am able to be brought back to life, there are lasting consequences on one's mental state every time they perish. It's unnatural to cheat death this way, and I know just how wounded you are after having your life taken by the reaper four times now.  I think you should take a look at

One might even say that each time we are brought back from the void, a piece of who we are is never fully recovered. So yes, my hair is dyed, and my eyes have colored contacts in them. I would rather avoid being euthanized and brought back in the body of a mutated clone, just to repeat the process to go back to my natural state."

Erich felt slightly disappointed. When he had first met Mirage, there was no doubt that her consciousness was in the body of a mutant. She never would have been able to fake such an identity as a part of Splinter. As an organization founded by mutants and other outcasts, they had their ways of determining who was really a mutant, and who was a pretender. 

Perhaps it was because only a mutant could truly understand Erich's experiences, but he felt much closer to Mirage when she was like himself, rather than the way she was now. Perhaps it was good that she had merely dyed her hair, because if she had gone the other route, Erich might foolishly trust her again. 

Now that this question of Erich's had been answered, he could address Mirage's previous statement, which he was quick to do so. 

"Alright, fine... What is this information that is so critical to the mission that I seem to be lacking?"

Mirage could tell Erich was disappointed that she was not a mutant like himself, and felt that maybe she should have paid the price to properly earn the man's trust. But she immediately pushed that foolish notion aside in the next moment. There was no doubt in her mind that a piece of her died every time she perished, even if she were brought back to life. 

The same could be said about Erich. The man had become much colder as he was resurrected time and again. Seemingly having little care for those around him, even those he once loved more than anything. If she could at all avoid it, she would never experience death again. 

Thus, she immediately accepted Erich's decision to switch the conversation back to what she was talking about earlier, which she was quick to add to. 

"Your contact, Iwai Hideaki, leader of a gang called the Ronin. He was a good friend of Butcher's, and he's going to want to know what happened to him. I'd recommend coming up with a believable story about his death. One that makes him sound like a heroic scoundrel, rather than a man who was captured by the authorities and sent to die for the survival of a nation which had nothing but scorn for him. 

That's all I wanted to say. I trust you won't speak about matters of the past with your new team. If they were to learn how deep into the underworld you really were, they might not be able to trust you again. And trust is an important thing among war-bands." 

Erich simply sighed upon hearing this, before nodding his head in agreement with Mirage's words. Some things were better off left in the past. The truth of what happened to Splinter, and his own involvement in it, was something which the rest of his team did not need to know. And if Mirage was warning him against telling the truth, then it was likely that his team did not have the security clearance to find out about it on their own. Thus, he responded to Mirage's warning with one simple response. 

"I understand..."

Once Mirage heard this, she smiled, and then opened the door to the tiny bunk that was his and Erich's quarters for the remainder of this mission. The moment she saw that the cot was only able to fit one person comfortably, she frowned before asking Erich a single question. 

"Top or bottom?" 

Erich had no idea what Mirage was talking about and was quick to ask for clarification. 

"I'm sorry? I don't quite understand what you mean?"

The blue-haired beauty sighed in annoyance before clarifying her previous question. 

"Do you want to lie on top of me, or do you want me to lie on top of you?" 

Erich simply gawked at Mirage for several moments in awkward silence, before confirming how he would prefer to sleep. 

"I suppose you can lie on top of me..."

Mirage smirked when she heard this before stripping out of her clothes entirely, something which shocked Erich. Once she saw him standing there fully dressed, she looked at the man as if he were an idiot before posing the next question on her mind. 

"Well, what are you waiting for? Are we going to get some shut-eye or not?" 

Erich sighed heavily in defeat as he followed Mirage's actions, and stripped out of his gear until he was fully naked, where he immediately lied down on the small cot. Mirage then climbed on top of him, like a pet cat, and used his broad chest as a pillow with a wide smile on her stunning face. Before Erich knew it, she had gone into a deep sleep, leaving him utterly confused.