Interstellar Age

Shortly after Emrys ended his call with Lunaria, the Alfheim Empress contacted Erich with a similar offer. This was, of course, predicted both by the man himself and his trusty AI companion, who immediately accepted the call with a smug smile on his face. 

"Well hello there Empress, let me guess, you have decided to contact me in an attempt to find a peaceful resolution to the current conflict which I am engaged in. If I were a betting man, I would say that you want me to agree to allow Emrys and his family to flee into exile, like the previous regime before him. Is that right?" 

The moment Erich said this, Lunaria knew that the man had been listening into Emrys' calls, and thus she sighed heavily, and nodded her head. 

"I should have known you would be listening. Yes, Erich... The galaxy is currently in a state of turmoil, and it is entirely possible that a galactic war is on the horizon. I need my war hounds in their greatest shape, and revealing your cards to the rest of the galaxy is not a wise move. Especially when you have surprised even me with your current technological progress.

I don't know how your little territory advanced so quickly, but if the entire Germanic Armed Forces could be brought up to speed within the next five years it would be best for the entirety of Alfheim Space. Please.... My love.... Do this for me!" 

Erich had long since progressed beyond the point of immaturity that required one to hold on to a pointless grudge, when a more favorable outcome could be achieved. And he understood that the Legion of the Damned and the regular Germanic Military were both powerful assets to incorporate into his domain. 

Every loss of life was a soldier that would take time and resources to recover. Time and resources that were better off spent expanding the military and the Empire's defenses, rather than restoring what had been destroyed. 

But Erich also knew that Emrys was a stubborn man, and would refuse to vacate his throne under any circumstances. Thus, Erich was quick to comment on this to the Light Elven beauty, who had once been his lover, and who he still had many feelings for. 

"I understand... Lunaria... And I would be more than willing to solve this matter peacefully. In fact, I gave Emrys ten years to peacefully ensure the transition of power into my hands. I am not the one who wishes to wage war here. But Emrys is forcing my hand. He would rather plunge the Empire into the flames of war, then give up his power willingly. 

If you wish, you can tell him he has my word, that if he vacates his position, and transfers his powers over to me. Then he and his family can live in exile on Alfheim peacefully, without any retaliation from my regime. But you and I both know the kind of man that Emrys is."

Lunaria simply sighed, knowing that brokering a peace agreement between these two stubborn men was damn near impossible. Erich wanted to seize a throne which he believed was rightly his, and enact changes to the Germanic Star-Empire that would completely overhaul their society.

While Emrys wished to maintain his authority over his people, and cling back to the isolationist ways of his people that had allowed them to grow and prosper so rapidly. Erich wanted to be a galactic conqueror, while Emrys wanted to be an isolated despot.

Neither of which really cared what their people wanted, but at least Erich's ways would guarantee a far more peaceful existence for the majority of Germanic citizens, who would have no need to work, and could instead pursue their passions. 

Ultimately Lunaria was now officially backing the Silber Enclave, simply because she had seen the military might which they possessed, and because of this she truly believed that Erich would be able to transform the Germanic Star-Empire from a regional power, into a Sub-Galactic power within only a few generations. 

This would do wonders to the stability of her territory, especially in these troubling times, and would allow her to deploy Germanic Forces across the Alfheim Quadrant as peacekeeping forces. Something which they were unable to fulfill at the moment due to the insufficient size of their territory, or and influence over Alfheim Space. 

With all of this in mind, the Light Elven beauty sighed heavily, before telling Erich that she would relay his message to Emrys. 

"Alright, so long as I have your word that you will not harm Emrys and his family if he surrenders. I will convey your thoughts to him. However, I agree that it is incredibly unlikely that peace will be achieved simply by this assurance. Regardless, as your suzerain, I believe it is my duty to try, especially in these troubling times. 

But if I do fail to achieve my diplomatic goals, tell me Erich how long would it be before you could restore your Empire to its peak condition. And by that, I mean, before the Terminus War began?" 

Erich smirked when he heard this question, before assuring Lunaria, that under his leadership, or more specifically Tia's management, the GSE would be more powerful than it had ever been.

"With the abilities I now possess, I can promise you that not only will the Germanic Military be greater than it was twenty years ago when Terminus attacked. As it will now heavily rely on autonomous combat droids for all of its non-combat roles.

But all of the worlds which we have gained from the Dvrakian War will not only be colonized, but fully developed and fortified to standards that are well beyond that of the core worlds of the Germanic Star-Empire. And naturally, the worlds my people have held for centuries will also be redeveloped to such standards. 

As for settlement of these worlds, it might take a few generations for the population to increase to an adequate size, but that will not matter too much, as these worlds will be fully automated. Thus, their resources can be harvested without the labor of a living population."

Lunaria was shocked at this news, it was a huge improvement. After all the Germanic Star-Empire had annexed several hundred worlds after the fall of the Dvrakian Social Republic during the Terminus war. And they had not even begun to colonize ten percent of them. For Erich to boast about this, he surely had the means, but how long would it take him to do this? Lunaria was quick to ask about the timeframe of his plans. 

"And how long will it take you to achieve all of this? If you don't mind me asking."

Erich smirked and sat back in his seat with his fingers pressed together in an act of contemplation for several moments of dramatic silence. Until he finally raised three fingers and declared a shocking timeframe to his former lover. 

"At most, these worlds will be fully developed and fortified within three decades. After that, we will need another three generations to appropriately populate them. But like I said in the meantime, work can begin on extracting and refining their natural resources. Not that we really need to do so, due to the sheer volume of raw materials we are already receiving from the galactic arms trade." 

Lunaria stared at Erich in disbelief for several moments in awkward silence. She wanted to ask how Erich could achieve all of this in such a short timeframe. But ultimately she refused to do so. The woman had already begun to expect that her lover had broken a major taboo, and had developed an artificial intelligence program beyond the limited paramaters that the galaxy had universally agreed to. 

But if he admitted to this, then she would not be allowed to sit by and watch him make such a mistake. Lunaria would be forced to muster the might of the Alfheim Dominion, along with the other major Galactic powers, where she would have no choice but to invade the Silber Enclave and wipe it out from root to stem. Thus, she chose to remain ignorant, even if every fiber of her being told her not to. 

With this in mind, Lunaria bade Erich farewell, as she hoped to put an end to these hostilities before the civil war reached a point that it would be difficult to recover from. 

"Alright... I will trust your judgement. After all your management of the Silber Enclave so far has been... Impressive. Farewell, Erich, and may we speak again under better circumstances?"

After saying this, Lunaria hung up on Erich, where he was immediately greeted by Tia who had a wide smile on her face. 

"She still loves you... That much is obvious. She could have cornered you about me, and brought devastation upon your realm. But she chose to remain ignorant. When this war is over, and you are recognized around the galaxy as an emperor, you should take her and Celestia back. After all, you will need the favor of the Alfheim Dominion to protect you as you take advantage of this galactic chaos to expand your power and influence across the Milky Way..." 

Erich sighed heavily as he heard this, and sunk back into his chair as he contemplated Tia's words. There was only a response he made, and it was deliberately vague. 

"Perhaps you are right...."