Interstellar Age

Chapter 300 A Way Out

The armistice continued, and though Emrys had lost his most precious bargaining chip, he still refused to surrender. Instead, he made use of every moment that Erich gave him to mobilize his reserves and deploy them to the front lines. 

Erich's robotic legions and their suicidal tactics had done a far greater number on the Legion of the Damned than Emrys had initially estimated they would. But what was perhaps the worst thing to come from this was the propaganda that Erich, or should I say Tia, began to spread across the Germanic Star-Empire.

The GSE was fighting like the survival of their species was on the line. And though this was the case during the Terminus war. This was most certainly not the reality they currently lived in. As long as the war continued in uninhabited worlds, which only the military occupied, then the Germanic people did not have much to feel.

What were the deaths of a few trillion clones? But Tia made use of the fact that Eighteen worlds had fallen in the span of a day, and the Imperial Military was currently calling reservists back to active duty. She used this information to spread fear. 

How long could their forces hold out for, and how many of them were really willing to sacrifice their lives in a civil war between one authoritarian regime and another? For a long time, the Germanic people had been instilled with the belief that might make right. And if Erich's military was that much more powerful than their own, did that by the laws of nature make him more suited to be their ruler? 

This was a civil war, fought between a usurper and a self proclaimed emperor. Whoever emerged victorious would still be a Germanic citizen ruling over their person. Which meant that many of the more moderate citizens of the Empire actually would rather Emrys simply surrender his power than risk lighting their worlds aflame in a pointless war over who should be in charge. 

Not only that, but the Silber Enclave was looking like a more ideal version of the Germanic Star-Empire too many Germanic citizens. And because of this, Tia had begun to stir these sentiments into an active rebellion. 

After all, their losses had already been replenished, and their fleets were simply on standby until Erich called the armistice off. Thus, all Tia could do to aid the war effort right now was ensure that the Germanic people were ready to receive their new Emperor, or perhaps even take up arms in his name. 

And as the weeks passed, and things became less and less certain for the Germanic citizens, almost as if the sword of Damocles was hovering over their heads. Certain groups began to protest openly. Which was something they did not have the right to do. 

Because of this, Emrys dispatched his police to deal with the situation. But this only had the opposite effect. To put it simply, these veterans who were protesting would not go silently into the night, and allow themselves to be conscripted once more so that they could fight a war against their brothers in arms. 

After all, in the Silber Enclave, a spartan like society had been created where a man's sole occupation was war. And though their population was limited, they had a significant amount of Germanic Star Marines fighting on the front lines alongside the LEGION series combat droids and Orcish warriors. These Enclave Star Marines were defectors of the Empire and had served alongside countless Germanic citizens. 

This fact alone made the Veterans of the GSE who made up the bulk of the protestors refuse to fight in this war. And before long, the police violently clashed with these veterans. Under normal circumstances, Emrys would have these protestors arrested and executed as traitors to the Empire. But he knew that if he did such a thing, open rebellion would occur. 

Thus, the Supreme Leader found himself backed into a corner, as he called off the police's attempts to quell these protests. At the moment, Emrys was watching a variety of videos taken across the Empire, which showed the violent clashes between police and protestors. Words could not express the stress he was currently enduring. 

Entire cities were declaring that they had no intentions of fighting, and reservists had begun to openly refuse the call to arms. The more that Emrys witnessed these things, the more he was convinced that Erich was behind them. He just simply did not know how the man had so easily been able to push his own propaganda within the GSE, while Emrys' propaganda seemed to be failing to affect the minds of his citizens. 

After giving the order to stand down, Emrys sat back in his seat and sighed as he watched the protestors return to a calm and orderly state. They had not begun to riot and loot, as that was not their intentions with these protests. They simply wanted to let the Emrys regime know that they had no intentions of fighting in this civil war. 

But it was not just the Germanic Star-Empire who watched these scenes across the grid. In fact, the entire galaxy watched the ongoing situation with the Germanic Star-Empire with particular interest. Out of all the wars going across the galaxy at the moment as a result of the economic collapse. There were two that most intelligent lifeforms paid the most attention to.

The Parvaxain insurgency on the world of Ghimderi, and the Germanic Civil War. The Parvaxian insurgency was self evident. It was, after all, the cause of all this galactic turmoil. But the Germanic Civil War had caused intense interest across the galaxy because the Enclave displayed a level of technological supremacy on par with the greatest of Sub-Galactic Powers, or perhaps even on the level of the four major galactic powers. 

Most were watching this war wondering if the Germanic Star-Empire would end up in the hands of the self proclaimed Emperor Erich Jaeger. And if it did, would a new galactic power emerge as a result of the ongoing galactic chaos? 

Of course, the Alfheim Dominion was also greatly interested in this affair, and thus Empress Lunaria Asterion had contacted Emrys to express her opinion on the matter. The moment the holocommunicator began to ring, Emrys sighed heavily before accepting it. 

"I figured you would be contacting me after this mess was broadcasted across the galaxy.... So, to what do I owe the pleasure?" 

Lunaria's voice was calm and tranquil, but her eyes were fierce as she shared her thoughts on Emrys and his war with her lover. 

"You know, I have tried my best to remain neutral during this petty fight between you and Erich. But Emrys, we both know you are not going to win this war. After the Enclave's display during the initial fighting, do you really think you stand a chance? Even if you fight this war like you did with the Naraku, you still won't win....

You should be aware by now that the world's largest arms manufacturer, who has risen to prominence over the last decade, is owned and operated by Erich. Since the galactic economy is in ruins, he is now trading weapons for bountiful quantities of raw materials.

Unlike the Naraku, he will never run out of combat droids. Your entire population will go extinct in this war, and in the end, the result will be the same. Erich will be Emperor. Of course, that is assuming that your people are even willing to fight until the bitter end. Which, from the looks of it, they are not. 

Do you want my honest opinion? Surrender under the condition that you and your family are permitted to go into exile here on Alfheim. You would not be the first Supreme Leader to seek refuge among the Light Elves. I can promise you and your family a safe and prosperous life here...

But if you stubbornly refuse to fight until the bitter end, Erich will not be merciful. And it will not be you alone who suffers. His people, and whatever remains of yours, will demand the heads of you and your entire family for causing such devastation to your empire. 

You are a wise ruler, Emrys, but like the rest of your people, you are incredibly stubborn in the face of defeat... I can not compel you to surrender. But you and I both know your chances of winning this war are decreasing rapidly with each passing day. 

I won't demand an answer from you right now... But think about what I have said. And contact me when you have decided how you wish to proceed. I hope you will make the right decision, for your sake, and that of your people...."

After saying this, Lunaria hung up on Emrys without even waiting for a proper response. Though neither of them knew it, the communication was entirely observed and recorded by Tia, who immediately reported it to Erich with an eager expression on her pretty robotic face. 

Whether or not Emrys would accept Lunaria's offer had yet to be seen, but Erich and Tia would do everything they could in the coming days to pressure the man into doing so.