Interstellar Age

While Erich and Tia capitalized off of the galactic economic crisis which they had both caused together. Lunaria was facing her own difficulties. The only interstellar civilizations who were immune to this sudden economic depression were those who ran self-sufficient economies with little to no ties to the galactic community as a whole. 

But as a major Galactic power, how could Lunaria not be affected by this sudden disaster? She found herself in a crisis. For more years than she could remember, the balance of power in the galaxy had been maintained with strict treaties. 

The major galactic powers all limited themselves on what weapons they could have, and how many of each they were able to field. This careful avoidance of a major arms race had prevented large scale galactic wars from occurring. But with this unprecedented economic crisis, she and her rivals were now forced to scale back their militaries. 

However, while there were agreed upon limits to what could be possessed, and the quantity of those weapons. There was no way to agree how to properly maintain the balance now that these major galactic powers were required to decommission warships, and dismantle entire divisions. 

This, of course, had to come at a time when the Orcish Menace was growing significantly more dangerous. It was fine when the Orcs had primitive technology, but Erich was funding the Iron Horde with weapons that were on par with most sub-galactic powers. In fact, the true extend of their offensive capabilities were actually unknown. 

Because of this, the Orcs, who, though, appeared to be under Erich's control had become a significant threat to even the most mighty of the sub-galactic powers, many of which were vassals of Lunaria, and had come to her to seek a solution to this problem. 

After all, Orcs were known to be an incredibly volatile species, and once Erich's influence over them began to wane, they would turn those weapons that he supplied them with on the galaxy. Lesser civilizations would burn in the flames of war, and the sub-galactic powers would struggle to hold their own ground.

But now that most civilizations were forced to prioritize other facets of their GDP rather than Defense, this new Orcish menace was believed by many of these Sub-Galactic powers to be a threat that only the Great Galactic Powers could deal with. 

Thus at the moment, Lunaria was hosting a large meeting of ambassadors, who represented their civilizations which sought to somehow contain the Iron Horde from expanding. These ambassadors included Erika, who sat back and listened to their complaints while waiting for her own turn to respond to them. 

"It was bad enough when the Orcs were equipped with primitive weapons. They were difficult to kill, sure, and could rampage across our frontiers, causing significant damage to those worlds before we could repel them. But now? This new Iron Horde might make it to our capital before we are able to repel them! It would be a costly war! 

We have fought and bled for the Dominion for millennia. Are we to believe now that our suzerains will not step forward and deal with this threat before it reaches our borders?" 

Lunaria sighed heavily and shook her head before asking Erika to answer this question on her behalf. 

"Ambassador Erika Jaeger, would you like to respond to this question?" 

Erika stepped forward and nodded her head, before assuring these delegations that the Orcs were perfectly under Erich's control. 

"I would like to assure you on behalf of Emperor Erich Jaeger, that the Iron Horde is completely under the control of the Silber Enclave, and that proper measures have been taken to establish a chain of command.

That, if violated, would result in the termination of the Orcish race. I am not at liberty to discuss what these measures are, but as of this moment, the Iron Horde's sole purpose is to unite the Orc Clans beneath the banner of the Silber Enclave." 

This was not exactly a statement that filled the delegates with confidence. After all, Erich was planning to wage a civil war so that he could assume power over his people. Who was to say that once he achieved such a goal, that he would not turn the Iron Horde against them in a bid for expansion? This was quickly expressed by another of the Sub-Galactic powers. 

"And what happens when your so-called emperor has won his war and decides to expand his borders at the expense of his neighbors? Do you believe that we should just sit by and wait for that to happen? It is bad enough that he has uplifted the Orcs to a state of technology that is on par with our civilizations.

But your Emperor will also have his own forces as well that are equally as well equipped. Are we to believe that a man whose lust for power is so great that he would weaponize the Orcs against his own people, will simply fuck off and stay within his own borders?

Pardon me, ambassador, but I have a hard time believing that your emperor has anything but malicious intentions."

Before Erika could respond to these concerns, Lunaria had jumped in on her behalf. Where she reminded these delegates of their oaths. 

"Need I remind you that any attack on my vassals is an attack on the Alfheim Dominion itself? Naturally, if such a thing were to occur, the Alfheim Military would be mobilized to prevent it from happening. As for the Orcs, so long as they remain under the Silber Enclave's control, I see no reason to treat them as anything other than a section of a vassal's armed forces. 

If a scenario were to present itself where this so called Iron Horde goes wrong, then I will deal with it then. That is assuming, of course, the Silber Enclave's counter measures prove to be ineffective in stopping the menace that they created...."

For some time now, the vassals of the Alfheim Dominion had suspected that Lunaria favored the Germanic Star-Empire, and yet ever since the Silber Enclave was formed, her favoritism shifted to them. It was well within her right to demand that Erich cease and desist with his activities as they did in fact present a danger to the entirety of the Dominion. But she did not do so, and the reason for this continued to evade those who sought justice. 

But nobody dared to bring this matter up again, and thus Lunaria shifted the discussion to something else. 

"On another note, I would like to speak about the current reduction in military forces across the board. I have come to the decision that no vassal shall decrease the size and strength of their military by more than twenty-five percent.

While I understand that the galaxy is currently suffering due to the current economic crisis, I must remind you that defense of the Dominion and its vassal's territories is an equally important task as feeding the less fortunate." 

This remark drew outrage from the delegates. Most of them were struggling to feed their people now that the galactic economy was in a state of severe depression. And the military was a massive expense.

If they could reduce the size of their militaries by more than twenty-five percent, they could be able to not only feed their people for the next few years but also fund programs which might help restart the economy. 

But Lunaria could not afford such a thing. Why was that? Because her vassals were the lifeblood of her territory's defense. While the Dominion's might was powerful, and the size of its military was vast. It still relied on its vassals to protect most of their territory from more common threats. Or act as cannon fodder while engaging in wars with superior powers.

The Naraku were completely unaffected by this economic crisis, and though a Hive Fleet like Terminus was annihilated years ago, there were still a dozen others roaming the galaxy. Not to mention Lunaria's mind had become grim, after hearing how Erich visited the Sagittarius dwarf galaxy. 

The universe was a large place, larger than any single lifeform was capable of truly understanding. And until recently, the galaxy believed that it was impossible to travel between galaxies. And while there had been efforts to do just this in the past, none had been successful. At least not until the Sages and Erich pulled it off.

But the sages looked to the distant future to develop this technology, and Erich had Tia to do it for him. Still, what were to happen if another civilization outside the Milky Way had this technology, and what would happen if they were to invade the Milky Way with malicious intent? 

These thoughts drove Lunaria to increase military funding, or she had been doing so, until this economic crisis. Now she was just looking to maintain as much of her military might as was possible. Far more than her rivals, who were looking to survive this economic crisis as best as they could, even if that meant disbanding more than a quarter of their armed forces. 

Naturally, this demand to maintain military strength, despite the harshness of the times, had begun to form a wedge between the Dominion and its vassals. One that might never truly be fixed.