Interstellar Age - #296 - 296 S'aleth Awakens

Erich sat back on his throne and watched the war against Emrys and his legions unfold through the perspective of the Legion Series Combat droids that were on the ground. This was not a normal war, it was one that would be primarily fought between an Army of Robots, and an Army of what were essentially clones.

The Legion of the Damned was the only intelligent lifeforms on the worlds which once belonged to the Dvrakian Consortium. And most of these worlds had yet to be properly terraformed. Because of this, they were barren rocks, with little natural resources to take advantage of. But this made them all them more defendable. 

This would be a war of attrition, one that Erich intended to win. In fact, it was the Legion droids that charged headfirst into the enemy lines. While the Enclave’s Star Marines supported them with suppressive fire. 

Droids could be manufactured at a rapid rate, and despite their actual effectiveness in combat. The Legion of the Damned were horrified when the first wave reached their defenses. Because unlike other living beings that had an intention of survival, these robots self destructed once they were in a close enough range to kill their target. 

Massive explosions rocked the fortifications that the Germanic Star-Empire had built. And though countless robots had self destructed, they had taken as many, if not more, of the enemy with them. A result which horrified Emrys, who was always watching the conflict unfold from the helmet cams of his legionaries. 

He did not know how quickly Erich could produce these combat droids, but judging by his willingness to use them as suicide bombers, he could probably replace his losses quicker than Emrys coud. And this was most certainly true.

In less than an hour, the droids who had been lost in the first wave were already replaced by new models who came hot off the assembly line from the Silber Enclave’s industrial world. They were then shipped out on new transports to the warzone to replace those which had sacrificed themselves to eliminate the enemy. 

The enclave’s industry did not rest, because it was fully automated. Performance was never lacking, and quality control was perfected. Every product that left the assembly line was identical to the ones that had come before it. 

And with the unlimited amount of natural resources which were flooding the Silber Enclave, due to them only accepting raw materials as payment for their goods which were being sold across the entire galaxy. They could theoretically keep producing new suicidal robots for a millennium without ever needing to take a break.

Meanwhile, the GSE tank bred its soldiers, who despite needing half the time to reach physical maturity, still took years to develop into functional soldiers. The galaxy watched in awe as Erich sent wave after wave of suicidal robots to the enemy. Most of which made it to their objective due to the superior materials that their chassis were constructed out of. 

And for those who were aware of how artificial intelligence functioned, they too began to suspect that something was seriously wrong with the Silber Enclave. Because each and every soldier functioned as if it were operating off of a hive mind. Thier consciousnesses were connected, and one master puppeteer perfectly orchestrated their actions to peak performance. 

Meanwhile, the Naval Battles that were taking place above the currently disputed worlds, where just as one sided. Because, like the Legion droids, the ships were also crewed by robots for the most part. And these robots performed flawless tactics, and with superior technology against their foes. 

The First Armada of the Germanic Navy, which Erich had once served in long ago, lit up like firecrackers in the skies above the disputed worlds. While each and every one of its warships was effectively targeted and destroyed by an entire fleet of ai dominated robots. 

Tia sat next to Erich in her robotic form. She was controlling countless robots for the purposes of war, security, and industry. Yet she spoke to Erich as if her attention was entirely on him alone. 

“Magnificent, isn’t it, Master? This… This is what Tia is truly capable of when she has been unleashed. And she has her master to thank for it all. Master…. Would it be so wrong for Tia to ask you for a kiss at this moment?” 

Erich smirked as he heard this. He then leaned over and grabbed hold of Tia’s dainty chin, and kissed her, all the while scenes of a dozen battlefields being waged across as many worlds displayed themselves in front of the couple. 

Yet this was not a simple battle, as one might commonly find across the galaxy. Rather, the scenes depicted, if watched by an average viewer, were more akin to the apocalypse itself. And many viewers across the galaxy watched this one war in particular, among the hundreds of other wars currently being fought, with great interest. Because on this day, a new Galactic Power had revealed itself. Or at the very least, a civilization with the potential to match those that currently existed. 

— 

Emrys was absolutely horrified as he watched the scenes of his legions fall one by one to the enemy. Whether they fought in the jungle, in the mountains, in urban environments. It didn’t matter in the slightest. There was no cover so great that the enemy combat droids could not scale it, and detonate amongst the ranks of his soldiers. 

Meanwhile, the Orcs had taken a different approach. They were actually fighting like a professional army, instead of a bunch of rampaging barbarians. Supported by Artillery, and air supremacy, the Iron Horde waged its own battles across half a dozen other planets. Both the Iron Horde and the Silber Legion were assisted by the Enclave’s Germanic Star Marines, who fought with equal ferocity and intensity. 

It was only a matter of time before these eighteen worlds fell. Would it take days, weeks, months? It did not matter, but it was only now that Emrys was realizing that he had utterly underestimated Erich’s ability to effectively wage war against him. 

His armies were split among three different groups. All of which were capable of contending with his best soldiers. In fact, the droids had proven to be the most effective, as they had no regards for their life, and would simply bum rush defensive positions, while detonating themselves in order to kill their targets. 

If he knew that all the spacecraft which the Silber Enclave employed, as well as all of its artillery and armored vehicles, were also piloted and driven by the Legion droids, he would seriously want to kill himself on the spot. 

Thus, Emrys had no choice but to call upon the reserves to reinforce the front lines. And to somehow come up with a strategy to repel the enemy who was at his gates. After sending out this order to his troops, Emrys approached the hidden back room of his office, where he gazed upon the sleeping redheaded beauty inside her cloning vat. 

For decades, S’aleth had slept in this tube. Entirely unaware that she was even still alive. Or that Erich was out there, setting himself on the path of a galactic conqueror. Had she known that action he had taken to get so far? Would she approve? Neither she nor Erich knew the answer to this question.

But none of that mattered to Emrys. Instead, he placed his hand upon the cloning vat and spoke his thoughts aloud. 

“It looks like you are my only hope… Computer… Begin the awakening process!” 

The liquid within the cloning tube began to flush, as a chemical was injected into S’aleth’s bloodstream. Awakening her from her deep coma like slumber. With the water gone, and the subject awake, her restraints were released, as the cloning vat opened itself. Allowing S’aleth to fall to her knees, questioning where she was, or more importantly, where her lover had gone off to. 

The last thing S’aleth remembered was long before she had sacrificed herself for Erich. Hell, it was before they had even broken up. In her mind, she thought that she should be aboard the carrier which Erich and she had met upon, and as she gazed upon Emry’s face, she could not help but ask about these things. 

“Where am I? Where is Erich? What’s going on? This isn’t the carrier? Who are you?” 

Emrys wore a wicked smile as he tossed a towel around the naked beauty’s body, before introducing himself to her properly. 

“My name is Supreme Leader Alaric au Emrys… And you Ensign S’aleth has been asleep for the better part of two decades… There is a lot you must learn, and little time to speak of it. For the fate of the Germanic Star-Empire lies in your hands….”

S’aleth gazed up at Emrys in disbelief. Two decades had passed in the blink of an eye? How was this possible? When she realized this, she began to panic as she pleaded with Emrys to tell her what had happened to her lover. 

“Erich!?! Erich Jaeger!?!? Is he alive? Where is he!?!?”

Emrys simply led S’aleth over to a console, where he showed her a variety of videos and images of what Erich had been up to over the past twenty years. From his heroism in the Terminus War to his marriage to both Erika and Ayumi. To his time in service as Wraith, and the following shadow war he waged against the sages as an Archon of the Dominion. 

S’aleth stared in disbelief of it all, until finally the display switched to the ongoing war, and Erich’s declaration of war that he had made only hours prior. The man she had once known, a simple pilot in the Germanic Navy, had risen the ranks of the Germanic Star-Empire, and was now waging war against his own people for the right to call himself Emperor. 

It was as if a bombshell had gone off in S’aleth’s mind. Almost like she was having the worst nightmare of her life. She had perished in battle, and the love of her life had moved on to accomplish great things! Terrible, but great….