Now that Erich had acquired the title of Archon and had gotten his own Stealth Frigate. He had decided that his first task would be to hunt down the Sages, who were now hiding somewhere in the galaxy. But to do this, he would have to assemble a team of elite operators who were experts in certain fields, and who had ties to the major galactic powers.

There were actually two candidates who he had already met in his travels who were most ideal for this role. And because of this, Erich had decided his first stops would be to the worlds of Alfheim and Germania.

After concluding the tour of his new ship, Erich and Lunaria had a little of a lone time together, where they made love in the bed of the Captains’ quarters. It was an actual king-size mattress, designed with a Germanic citizen in mind and was comfier than Erich initially thought it would be.

Once he had brought Lunaria to climax repeatedly for hours on end. The two of them ceased their acitivities, where Erich made a certain request of his lover.

“Lunaria, you told me that I could pick my own team, to traverse the galaxy and fight your enemies with, am I correct?”

Lunaria nodded her head, before confirming these were indeed her words.

“That is correct. Is there someone you had in mind?”

Erich indeed had someone in mind, who Lunaria could help gain control over and thus he made his request known.

“The Dark Elf woman who I kidnapped when I left prison. She is an interrogator of the Svartalfheim Federation and has close ties to the current Svartalfheim President. I saw them on a call together. I believe she had advanced skills in diplomacy and coercion, which will be necessary on my travels. If I could convince her to join me in my war against the sages, she would be a valuable asset.”

Upon learning that Sinaria was a Svartalfheim Inquisitor, Lunaria was more interested than ever to keep her as a prisoner. The woman had a lot of valuable information that could be valuable to the Alfheim Dominion. And if she really was answering directly to Kadron, then she was most likely at the very least a High Inquisitor.

But this was not the primary reason that Lunaria suddenly rejected Erich’s request. She did so because she would be damned if she allowed a filthy Dark Elf to remain by her lover’s side. Not only were the odds of betrayal enormous, but if she had seduced Erich into her bed, he would forever be tainted in Lunaria’s eyes, and thus she had no choice but to refuse this offer.𝑂𝗏𝓵xt.𝒸𝞸𝑀

“Absolutely not Erich! She is a Dark Elf, and Dark Elves can not be trusted! She is liable to kill you in your sleep, and hand this ship over to her superiors! Erich, you have done a wonderful thing bringing me a Svartalfheim Inquisitor, but under no circumstances will I let you near this woman!”

Erich immediately tried to protest this decision. After all, Sinaria would be an absolutely valuable member of his team. But his words fell on deaf ears.

“Lunaria, dear, you are letting your emotions cloud your judgement. Sinaria had ample opportunity to torture me for information that was vital to her superiors, and yet she refused to do so. She was even given the orders to do so, and begged me to cooperate because she did not want to have to do it. She will not harm me!”

Unfortunately, Lunaria’s hatred of the Dark Elves was deeper than anything Erich could understand, and her possessive nature instantly led her to the opposite conclusion. Which caused the gorgeous woman to narrow her golden eyes as she demanded an answer from her lover.

“You are actually defending one of those hideous freaks? Erich, you better not have slept with that woman…. If you have, I will consider it the highest act of treason!”

Luckily for him, Erich had not actually slept with Sinaria, and because of this he could honestly answer Lunaria’s intense interrogation with the truth.

“I did not sleep with her. You do not need to worry about that. I simply believe Sinaria would be a valued asset to my team, and I currently do not have any other candidates in mind who could fulfill her role!”

While Lunaria believed Erich, she still did not permit him to take Sinaria aboard his vessel, and thus she put her foot down.

“Drop the subject Erich, I am not letting you near that woman. Especially since she already seems to have sunk her claws into you. The fact that you are even entertaining the idea of having a Dark Elf as a member of your team is simple proof that your mind has been corrupted. I am seriously considering taking you out on another vacation, just you, me, and Celestia! That should undo the damage that has been inflicted upon your mind!”

Erich did not have time for a pleasure cruise. The Sages were already conspiring against him, and possibly his loved ones. He needed to dedicate every moment he could to hunting them down and eliminating them.

With this in mind, Erich rejected Lunaria’s offer. But ultimately decided to drop the subject of Sinaria for the time being. He would try to find a replacement for her, but if the Sages turned out to be hiding in the Svartalfheim Federation, only someone of hero status could grant him a safe journey through the Dark Elves’ territory. Which was one of the major reasons he wanted Sinaria on his team.

“Fine, I guess I’ll have to give up on Sinaria… At the very least, I have another candidate in mind to fulfill a different role in my team. I suppose I have no choice but to visit Germania. That is when you give me permission, of course…”

Erich knew how unwise it would be to boot Lunaria out of his starship, and simply leave her behind feeling conflicted about him. Thus, he allowed the woman to do as she wished with him for the remainder of the night before she finally granted him permission to depart from Alfheim.

—

Erich was absolutely stunned at how quickly the Vigilance had traveled from the Alfheim homeworld to the capital of the Germanic Star-Empire. Less than a day had gone by, and he was already landing his ship on a large platform.

The moment he stepped off the ship, Erich was greeted by a few familiar faces. Those being JT, Ghost, and Heavy. None of these men remembered the fight they had on board the corvette, nor did they remember their deaths.

What they did know was Erich was the sole survivor of their misadventure, and had exposed one of their greatest comrades as a traitor. Thus, even Heavy, who normally had issued with Erich, was happy to see the man.

JT greeted Erich with a salute, which he returned, before hugging the man platonically. He then explained why they had come to greet him in the star port.

“Now that you’re an Archon, the Supreme Leader believes that so long as you are in Germania, you will need an escort of WRAITHs. He wishes to speak with you when you have the time….”

Erich scoffed when he heard this. Like always, Emrys seemed to have predicted his immediate move, and thus he looked towards the largest skyscraper on the planet where Emrys sat in his office at its highest level. With a stoic look on his face, Erich spoke his thoughts aloud.

“That’s good, because I came here to speak with him. Take me to Emrys. I need to have a few words with him.” The group of men were shocked to hear this, but did not say no to Erich, where they then escorted him to the tower of the Supreme Leader. After doing so, they left Erich alone as he entered Emrys’s office.

Erich stepped inside the room, where he saw that Emrys was standing at attention while waiting for him. Next to his side was Mirage, who looked at Erich with the same expression she always used for him. Emrys paid the proper courtesy to a man of Erich’s new position, but his voice seemed rather conceited as he did so.

“Greetings Archon, how exactly may I assist you?”

Erich looked over at Mirage and was happy to see the woman he had come for was already present. Thus he took a stride forward, and spoke to Emrys as if the man was his inferior, which he technically now was. This was something that seemed to have upset the man, but Erich did not really care.

“I have come for Mirage. I am putting together a team to fight the enemies of the Alfheim Dominion, and her skills as a field agent are invaluable for my mission.”

Emrys wore a conceited smile on his face, while having an excited look in his eyes. As if he had been waiting for this moment for some time. He then spoke to Erich as if the man was still his inferior, while alluding to something sinister.

“That’s interesting… I thought the two of you hated each other. Well, we can have a discussion about that, but first there is something I would like to show you. If you will follow me, please?”

Although Erich did not want to waste time with taking Mirage off world, he also did not want to be extremely rude to Emrys, knowing that they would be working together in the future. Thus Erich followed Emrys to the back of the room, where he pressed his palm against a concealed wall panel. Shockingly enough, it opened a room.

The moment Erich stepped inside the room, he was astonished by what he saw. Floating naked in a cloning vat was a sleeping beauty. One who Erich was intimately familiar with. So much so that he could not believe his eyes, because this woman had been dead for nearly a decade at this point.

A woman who he had once loved more than life itself, and who was unfortunately taken from him before he could properly apologize for his misdeeds. A single name escaped Erich’s lips, as his voice trembled more than it ever had before in his life.

“S’aleth?”