There was not exactly much rest for Erich before he was shipped off with the Seventh Armada to the borders of Alfheim Space, well within the disputed zone where they intended to give off a show of force to deter the Svartalfheim Federation from continuing with their hostile actions.

It had been years since the Germanic Star-Empire had suffered a catastrophe at the hands of the Naraku Hive Fleet Terminus, and thanks to the aid they secretly received from the Alfheim Dominion, not only had their population recovered, with tens of trillions of babies being born, both artificially and naturally.

But also the worlds they had lost were now mostly restored. To the point where even the ruins of the Dvrakian Consortium were now being colonized by the Germanic Star-Empire. Because of this, the military strength of the GSE was mostly recovered. And in addition to that, their technology had been perfected of its flaws by the Alfheim Engineers who manufactured it.

Thus, the Germanic Star-Empire was more than capable of showing off its might on behalf of their Alfheim masters. And they were not the only one who had come prepared. The Alfheim Navy jumped out of quantum. Though they were not the last to arrive, they were fashionably late to the party. Which just so happened to be their style.

When Erich gazed upon the monstrous vessels with complete and utter shock. He had previously been amazed by the scale of the Naraku Hive Fleet Terminus, but the Alfheim Fleet in front of him was even grander.

The smallest Alfheim ships were the size of small moons capable of supporting millions of soldiers. While the largest were the size of dwarf planets, capable of sustaining billions of troops. Not only were the ships massive beyond belief, but like everything the Light Elves cherished, they were beautiful to look at.

Erich could hardly believe that the Alfheim dominion had lost a fleet of theirs in contact with Terminus. But after several seconds of thought, he suddenly realized that the only reason the Germanic Star-Empire had managed to survive was because the Alfheim Fleet must have inflicted substantial damage to the Naraku. So much so that their largest Hive Ships were destroyed in the battle. Because he could not imagine how anyone could emerge victorious against a fleet like the one he was seeing now.

If the Alfheim Dominion had not been busy fighting a border conflict with their Svartalfheim Rival, then the Naraku never would have been able to make their way to Germanic space. That was something Erich truly believed after witnessing the strength of a true Galactic Power.

Erich currently stood on board the bridge of a carrier, while wearing his dress uniform. However, it was no longer the standard dark grey of the Imperial Navy. Rather, it was a solid black uniform, with red and gold accents. Which paired well with his crimson sash that he had earned for his actions at Suebi, along with his matching aiguillettes.

There were only a few units within the Germanic Star-Empire who were capable of wearing this slick black dress uniform, and those were special forces operators. Specifically the Storm Commandos, and the higher ranking WRAITHs who were typically recruited from their ranks.

Officially, the WRAITHs were Storm Commandos, and if they died in battle, they would be labeled as such within the Media. But they had their own intensive training programs that made them a step above and beyond that of the other elite special forces.

Thus, these two units wore the same dress uniforms, considering the fact that WRAITHs officially did not exist. And while Erich stood on the bridge of the carrier, he received nothing but respect from the man who commanded the ship.

After all, it was not every day that a special forces operative from the most elite unit in the Empire was deployed along with a standard fleet. They were usually given their own corvettes, which were capable of breaking blockades, while also having enough defenses and firepower to escape pursuit by a larger fleet.

Erich was entirely unaware of what the protocol was for this kind of event, or why he was requested to wear his Dress Uniform, and thus he asked the Admiral about what exactly was about to happen.

“Admiral, do you mind answering a question for me if you have the time?”

𝒩𝑂𝓥𝑳xt.𝒸𝑂𝑀

The Admiral did not mind in the slightest entertaining a warrior as elite as Erich. Few men entered the coveted ranks of the Storm Commandos, and even fewer became WRAITHs. The fact that Erich was W-3 meant he had already completed several classified and dangerous operations, even if he was being fast tracked for promotion.

Naturally as an Admiral, this man knew just what position Erich had in the military, even if the rest of his bridge staff did not, and because of this he was very polite with Erich, even if he personally detested the man for his engagement to an alien.

“Of course, Captain. Whatever questions you have, so long as I know an answer, I will be happy to give you an answer.”

Despite the polite tone in the man’s voice, his eyes conveyed nothing but disdain for Erich, but Erich was used to such looks of disgust by now, and simply ignored it as he asked the first of his questions.

“What exactly are we doing here in this void sector of space? Should we not be preparing for the War Games? I understand we are rendezvousing with the other powers, but why here?”

The Admiral had almost forgotten how young Erich was. It was not every day a man within his late twenties became a captain, or even a WRAITH. Even if they did live in a meritocracy, one would need exceptionally powerful friends if they were to advance in the Military as quickly as Erich had, in addition to exceptional performance.

Thus, he was more patient with Erich’s ignorance, as Erich was far too young to have been alive during the last Centennial War Games.

“While it might be most practical to rendezvous in the system where we intend to hold the War Games, there is a certain amount of decorum that comes with this event. Normally we would all gather on the Queen’s personal warship and pay tribute to her as her vassals.

However, for the first time in living memory, she has decided to send her daughter to command these war games instead. No doubt to test out her abilities to lead, not only the Alfheim Military, but that of her future vassals as well. So we will be paying tribute to the princess instead.

As you can see, it is not just the Alfheim Military, and those of her vassals who have gathered, but even the vassals of said vassals have arrived, and so on and so forth. This is the largest gathering of military strength in the Quadrant. As direct vassals of the Alfhiem Empress herself, we actually have quite the prestigious place in these War Games. A place we have earned through centuries of bloodshed on behalf of our Suzerains.”

Erich nodded his head in understanding. He now knew why he was requested to wear his dress uniform. Undoubtedly, this would be quite the ceremony, and because of this, he had to look his best. After all, as an officer in the Germanic Military, how he looked reflected on his people.

The Admiral would continue to inform Erich of the proceedings that were about to follow until the last of the Interstellar Civilizations that supported the Alfheim Dominion arrived. No matter how powerful each Navy might be in their own sectors of space, they were all dwarfed by the scale of the Alfheim Fleet. So much so that the representatives of each party were able to dock with the Alfheim Princess’s personal warship at the same time.

Once on board the behemoth of a warship, Erich followed the other representatives of the Germanic Star-Empire to the transit, which would take them to the bridge, where they were to gather before the Alfheim Princess and pay proper tribute to her.

As Erich walked through the ship, he believed it was no ship at all, but a mobile world. Because everywhere he looked, there was flora, which provided natural oxygen to the environment. It was almost as if he were walking through a massive garden in a world that had been sculpted by the gods.

Erich was by far the youngest representative of the Germanic Star-Empire, and because of that, he was the only one who was looking around the ship like a complete and total idiot. Finally, they arrived at a transit, which was little more than a high-speed train, which took them through the dwarf planet sized vessel in a matter of minutes.

After arriving at the bridge, Erich witnessed several dozen alien races gathered beneath the steps of the command chair, which acted more than a throne than an actual seat of military command. All of these aliens were beautiful, even by Germanic Standards. They were all bipedal humanoids and looked similar enough to humans that Erich couldn’t help but find their women attractive.

But the most beautiful woman of them all was no doubt the one who sat upon the throne, and gazed upon her inferiors with a completely icy expression on her flawless face. Erich could not help but stare at this Elven beauty.

Erich had always considered himself a lucky man because his two wives were among the most beautiful women he had ever witnessed in his life. But, suddenly, even their looks seemed to pale in comparison to Princess Celestia Asterion. Whose snow white hair, ivory skin, and golden eyes were like that of a goddess in the flesh.

Every inch of her body appeared as if it had been carved out of marble by a deity who was designing the perfect woman. She was truly and utterly flawless. Apparently Erich was gawking for too long, because he could have sworn that this unparalleled beauty’s golden eyes shifted to his figure.

Despite always having considered himself a handsome man, Erich did not have the confidence to say he was on the level of such perfection, and because of this, the moment his eyes made contact with Celestia’s he shamefully averted his gaze by looking down at his feet, while he took his place in the formation of the Germanic representatives.

Because of this, he did not witness the slight smile that formed on Celestia’s divine visage, as she whispered the words in a voice so low that nobody could possibly hear her.

“I found you…”