Interstellar Age

Chapter 196 I Hope You Are Right...

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Naturally, when Sinaria said that Erich would have to become hers in order to return to his home, she meant that he would have to become her agent. But Erich appeared to have taken this the wrong way and kissed the exotic beauty. Something which startled her. Sinaria instantly pushed Erich away and punched him in the face. Something which only proved to hurt her hand as she cursed the man out. 

"Shit, fuck! That fucking hurt! You asshole, what the hell are you made of? Wait, don't answer that! I already know... What the fuck is wrong with you?" 

Erich played dumb. Naturally, he knew what the woman meant, but the way she had worded it made him dreadfully excited. Which caused him to act in such a way. Sinaria's eyes were practically blood red as she glared at Erich with immense hatred. Which only caused him to further play the part of the fool.

"What? You said that I needed to become yours to get home. I'm not above selling you my body for the night, if it means I can get back to my family. Or did you perhaps mean something else?" 

Sinaria knew damn well that Erich understood her intent, but she couldn't very well say such a thing out loud. And thus, she could only curse the man further as she fled from his room. 

"That's it! Because of that little stunt you just pulled, I am having you confined to your cell for the next three weeks! Maybe some time alone will teach you a lesson about respect!" 

Sinaria then slammed the door behind her, which locked itself shut. In response to this, Erich simply chuckled and shook his head before looking up at the only security camera that existed in the room. He spoke to the man behind the camera, as if he was having an actual conversation with them. 

"She is a fiery one, isn't she?" 

After saying this, Erich stripped out of his jacket and undershirt, and began to do pushups, situps, and squats to entertain himself. All while observing his surroundings and looking for a way to escape. 

Luckily for him, the door appeared to be on an electronic lock, and thus, he could easily use his cyberkinesis to open it. The only problem was, he did not know enough about the prison complex and its layout to make a proper escape. Thus, he simply had to play the waiting game until he could finally get out of the room and explore the premises. 

---

While Erich served his time in a Dark Elven Prison, Lunaria was worrying her pretty little head off. She had received a single communication from Erich, on her private frequency. It had come from the world he was deployed on. There was not much to the message, but it conveyed everything that needed to be said. 

Erich and the other WRAITHs walked into a trap designed by a traitor on the inside. They appeared to have risked life and limb to send a message, explaining that the Svartalfheim Dominion was baiting the Alfheim Dominion into a full-scale galactic war. If not for this message, Lunaria would have launched the invasion of the disputed worlds. But now that she knew the games that her rivals were playing, she was forced to come back to the negotiating table. 

However, she refused to do so until she learned about what had happened to Erich. If he was still alive and captured, she would do everything in her power to secure his release. If he had perished on that frozen wasteland, she would light the galaxy ablaze to vent her fury. 

Of course, the first thing the Light Elven Empress did was contact the Supreme Leader of the Germanic Star-Empire and inform him of what happened. 

"Emrys, I suppose I should be the first to express my condolences, but it appears that your WRAITHs have walked into some trouble. Might I ask if Erich's NeuroLink is still active?" 

Emrys frowned. He had lost contact with the NeuroLink signals from nearly all the WRAITHs who were deployed in advance to the disputed worlds. They had walked into a trap, and the only way to bring those men back from the dead was to restore them to a previous backup file. None of which could actually inform him about what happened, since they would lose all of their recent memories. 

However, Erich's signal was still strong, and because of this, he knew that the man was still alive. He had conjured all sorts of potential scenarios that might have led to such a thing. But he did not know what was true, and what was his imagination. Thus, he informed his suzerain of what little he knew was certain. 

"Erich is one of the few survivors. It is clear to me that we were betrayed, but I just don't know who is responsible for this trap. Nor will I have an answer unless we can extract Erich. Unfortunately, I couldn't tell you where he is, or what kind of condition he is in.

If he is alive, then it means one of three things. He is either hiding, alone on that barren wasteland. Or he has been captured and is now a prisoner of our enemies. Or, and I don't want to believe this, but it could potentially mean he is the traitor who caused this massacre."

Emrys was surprised by how swiftly, and violently, Lunaria responded to his last words. 

"No! Erich would never betray me. It is clearly one of the other two scenarios. I will contact that bastard Kadron and demand the release of any prisoners they may have taken. With luck, I will have Erich back by my side soon enough!"

Lunaria had completely forgotten who she was speaking to, due to her current erratic state, and thus she immediately hung up on Emrys, and began to open negotiations with her enemies. Meanwhile, Mirage, who had observed the entire thing, was snacking on a slice of pizza while sitting across from Emrys' desk. There was a smug smile on her face as she expressed her thoughts aloud. 

"I told you those two were fucking!" 

Emrys glared at Mirage, and her smug appearance, before snapping at her. 

"Would you shut up about that? There is no way that is happening. I don't know what kind of relationship those two have, but your theory is complete and utter nonsense!" 

Mirage did not falter under Emrys' wrathful gaze, and instead took another bite of her pizza, before responding with the same smug tone she had previously had. 

"Whatever you say, boss man..." 

This only further added to Emrys's fury, as he began to pace around his office with a hasty stride. Upon seeing that the Supreme Leader of the Germanic Star-Empire was behaving just as erratically as the Alfheim Empress, Mirage could only sigh before attempting to comfort the man. 

"Would you relax? Even if Erich was captured by the Svartalfheim Federation, they know his value. There is no way they would harm the damn fool. Hell, knowing his luck, he probably got stuck with a female interrogator, one who I bet he is schmoozing even as we speak. If that's the case, Erich will be out of prison long before Lunaria's negotiations get anywhere. You just watch!" 

Despite the carefree nature of Mirage's words, Emrys did not get enraged by them, instead he gazed out the window and sighed heavily, before speaking his thoughts aloud. 

"I hope you are right....'