Interstellar Age



Three weeks came and went. During this time Erich spent every waking hour exercising. Not particularly because his enhanced body needed it, but because it was something to kill time with. And while Lunaria did her best to contact the Svartalfheim Federation and enter a new series of negotiations. They simply ignored her.

For the time being, their primary goal was extracting as much information as possible from Erich, and perhaps even turning him into their agent against the Germanic Star-Empire. However, the more desperate Lunaria became to get back the prisoners which belonged to her vassal, the more importance the Dark Elves placed on Erich. 

Eventually, the time came where Erich was allowed to enter the rest of the prison complex, where he saw aliens of a wide variety of races. Most of which were not even humanoids. This was an interesting concept to Erich, because until now he had only ever come across humanoids, other than the Naraku that is. But there were all kinds of species here, from mammalians to lithoids, and everything in between. 

Most of these prisoners were here for organized crime, or particularly heinous acts of terrorism. Erich was the only prisoner of war in this facility, and because of that, the inmates looked at him differently. By now, they had all heard that a hostile soldier was among the prison population, but nobody had met him yet. 

Luckily for Erich, humanoids stuck with humanoids, and so did other species classifications. Because of this, as he entered the cafeteria to get a nice hot meal, he was approached by several other humanoids. Though they looked far less like humans than the previous species Erich had encountered. 

A large humanoid, with green skin, yellow eyes, and webbed appendages, introduced himself to Erich. There was a particularly stern look on his face, as if he was trying to size up this foreigner. 

"My name is Reock. The boss wants to speak with you." 

While Reock was significantly larger than Erich, almost like a giant, it was clear from the moment they shook hands that he was severely lacking in strength compared to Erich, who was both genetically and cybernetically enhanced to be superhuman. 

Erich did not say a word, and simply nodded his head as he followed Reock to the table where the largest humanoid prison gang had gathered. All the while, Erich gauged his surroundings and even sliced into the security cameras with Tia's aid. Where he got a much greater understanding of the entirety of the prison complex. 

While he was going over the footage in his mind, Erich sat down at the spot that had been prepared for him at the table. Where an enormously large and muscular man was sitting at the head of the table while waiting for him. If Erich were to describe this man's species, then he was essentially a cyclops from Greek Mythology.

The man quickly introduced himself to Erich and seemed particularly interested in him as he asked a bunch of questions. 

"The name is Nok, Nok Dravek. Hmm... Not every day we get a prisoner of war in this facility. Usually you have to actually commit a heinous crime to get sent here. What species are you from? I don't believe I know of any humanoids from the Svartalfheim quadrant that look like you...."

It was abundantly clear to Erich that these humanoids were from civilizations that were relatively low on the galactic scale, and thus they were not aware of the significance which the Germanic Star-Empire played in the proxy wars between the Alfheim Dominion, and the Svartalfheim Federation. At most, they had probably heard about his species, but had no idea what they looked like. Which was confirmed to be true when Erich introduced himself. 

"Captain Erich Jaeger, Germanic Special Forces, My species lives in the Alfheim Quadrant...."

The entire cafeteria went silent when they heard this remark. Someone from the Alfheim Quadrant was imprisoned in this facility? The propaganda which the Svartalfheim Federation put out was that the Light Elves were nothing more than a bunch of bloodthirsty Tyrants, and because of this every civilization which was permitted to exist in their quadrant was a nation built around war, and bloodlust.

In their eyes, Erich was quite literally a barbarian, or a monster, incapable of basic civility. And yet he was sitting so calmly at the table, while paying respect to the inmate hierarchy. This was something that nobody expected, and because of this, Erich immediately had an aura of intimidation around him. 

Of course, few people in this prison were from civilizations that knew about the Germanic Star-Empire, but shockingly enough one man, who was sitting at the reptilian table spoke out of turn, and lambasted Erich with a line of question that would instill fear in the hearts of every other inmate. 

"Wait a second, Germanic Special Forces, as in the Germanic Star-Empire? Please tell me you're joking?" 

Erich looked over at the man with a calm expression on his face, while shaking his head before confirming he was indeed from the GSE.

"I'm surprised you know about my people, yes I am indeed from the Germanic Star-Empire." 

This remark caused the man to drop his canteen onto the floor, which made a loud clang. Instantly drawing the attention of those who had lost interest in the conversation. The look in the reptilian's eyes was one of complete and utter fear as he struggled to find his words. Ultimately stammering as he spoke. 

"Yo...You're... One of tho.... Those monsters? What the hell are the Dark Elves thinking putting a demon such as you in this rotten cage with the rest of us!?!?"

Considering the fact that everyone in this prison was on charges so heinous that only this pit could contain them, some people found it laughable that this reptilian would call Erich a demon, that is until he further elaborated his point. 

"I was once a soldier in my people's army. What I saw when your people invader our lands was such barbarism and savagery. My spine still tingles just thinking about it. Your people have no regard for life or liberty. You wipe out entire planets in your wars! You're worse than the Naraku!" 

Erich scoffed when he heard this, before saying a few words that caused everyone to feel as if the room suddenly grew colder. 

"Woe to the vanquished. If you didn't want to die, you should have fought harder. What right does the defeated have to question the will of the victor?" 

Such a statement was so against the moral values which the Svartalfheim Federation forced upon its many "allies" that even the most extreme of terrorists felt that Erich was completely devoid of basic sentient emotion. Instantly, the gangsters at the humanoid table began to pick up their lunch trays, and avoid Erich as if he had the plague. 

After all, in the Svartalfheim Dominion, the refusal to recognize all sentient life as equal, let alone the willingness to conduct genocide on a conquered people, were too of the most heinous things someone could do. Even these hardened criminals were not so heartless. 

But to Erich, whose society was primarily built on the principles of logic and reason, rather than emotion, his words seemed perfectly valid, and he did not understand why everyone was looking at him as if he were some kind of monster. 

One thing, however, immediately became clear to Erich, he would not be getting any help from the other inmates to escape this prison. At least not voluntarily, but perhaps he could use this newfound fear that the other inmates had of him to intimidate them into doing exactly what he wanted.