Interstellar Age

Erich was surprised by Lunaria's reaction to his gift to her. After all, he was expecting the woman to behave sadistically towards her sister. As he knew the woman quite well, better than practically anyone besides herself. Two lifetimes together had given him this level of intimacy with the woman.

But for her to suddenly chastise him as if he were a child, he knew he had done something seriously wrong. He just couldn't fathom what. Because of this, he was quick to ask Lunaria what exactly was wrong with this gift of his.

"I'm sorry, I don't understand. Didn't you want Daelia kneeling and grovelling before you? You now have just that? What did I do wrong?"

Lunaria could see that Erich was genuinely confused by what he had done, and how it had displeased her and thus a sympathetic look appeared in her eyes as she insulted his intelligence in the most endearing way possible.

"You poor, stupid boy, do you really believe that Daelia would still be alive, and free to be a thorn in my side if I did not want exactly that? Erich... I could have had her assassinated, or imprisoned long ago, and she could have done the same to me.

The fragile balance of power in the galaxy exists because we have mutually agreed to not make an attempt on each other's life. Do you have any idea how chaotic the galaxy was during the Schism all those years ago?

What am I saying? Of course you don't. You are so incredibly young, almost infantile in my eyes. As is your entire civilization. Believe it or not, Daelia and I have gone to great lengths to hide the troubled history between the two of us, one that tore a near galaxy spanning empire asunder.

By capturing my sister and presenting her to me in such a sorry state, you are quite literally forcing my hand. If my people were to find out that I had an opportunity to deal with our greatest enemy, and refused to do so, do you have any idea what would happen? Revolutions would be the last of my worries!

This is not what I wanted, Erich..."

It was only now, after Lunaria explained this to him, that Erich realized just how badly he had fucked up. He stood there in silence for some time, not knowing how to apologize to his fiancee. She sighed heavily and rested her head in her hands, all while shaking her head in the process.

It was not until several awkward moments passed did she finally ask a question to Erich.

"How many people know that she is here?"

Erich thought about it for a second before revealing the answer to this question.

"Just me.... When she was captured, she took the form of a member of my species. It was me alone who worked tirelessly to reverse engineer her original form so that I could present her to you in a package that you would recognize."

Despite knowing this put him in a dangerous situation, as Lunaria might try to kill him if he's the only witness, Erich decided to be honest with the woman, and it paid off. Because she sighed heavily, seemingly having come to a decision, as she came up with a solution to their little problem.

"Alright... If it's just you, and you are certain, it is just you who knows. Then... Then if we can get her back into that alias, and send her back to the federation, then we can avoid a major scandal. Erich... The next time something like this happens, make sure to contact me first.

I know your heart is in the right place, but you almost caused a catastrophe for me..."

Erich was slightly perturbed that he had captured a literal galactic leader, and Lunaria simply wanted to free her. But Daelia was her rival, and Erich really had no place in deciding her fate.

Thus he silently nodded his head in understanding while Lunaria approached the cell where Daelia was being held prisoner. She then spoke into the microphone towards her sister directly for the first time in eons.

"Look at you now... Caught like a little fly in my man's trap! I am so tempted to do horrible things to you. After the damage you did to our parents, after the destruction of our parents' empire which you caused, words cannot express how much I despise you. But unfortunately, I need you alive.

After all, the devil you know is always better than the devil you don't... So... For my sake, I will have Erich spare you... You will be returned to whatever body you inhabited when you foolishly tried to sneak into the Germanic Star-Empire, and then you will be sent back to that degenerate hellhole you call home....

This will most likely be the last time we ever meet in person little sister... So, when you do finally croak, I just want you to know that I hope it will be the most miserable death that anybody has ever experienced in the history of the universe...."

After saying this, Lunaria returned to Erich's side before giving him the go ahead to release her sister.

"Alright... I do not wish to lay eyes upon such filth any longer.... I will be taking my leave now, before our wedding night. Make sure that my dear little sister makes it home safely, alright?"

Erich nodded his head. He was not going to annoy his fiancee by making a statement about his actions. What needed to be said had already been said. Thus, all he could do now, was release Daelia from her constraints, and have her sent back into the vessel she previously inhabited when she infiltrated the GSE.

This was a lengthy process in and of itself, but one that was completely automated thanks to Tia's absolute control over the Empire and its many, many, facilities. Thus, Erich told Tia to do exactly this as he ran off and said farewell to his fiancee, who he would be seeing soon enough on their wedding day.