With the formation of Erich’s new government in exile being established, and its status being legally recognized by the Alfheim Dominion, the galaxy had quickly come up with a nickname for Erich’s new empire.

Officially, Erich had named his new Empire: “the Germanic Star-Empire.” Which was the exact same name used by the territory which Emrys currently ruled over. The reason for this was because Erich considered himself the lawful successor of the previous ruler, and that Emrys was actually a usurper and pretender.

As for the term which he had coined: “the Empire-In-Exile” this was not specific enough considering the fact that there were many of such governments that existed in Alfheim Space. Because of this, the name “Silber Enclave” was quickly established by those who wished to distinguish between the GSE Proper and the new splinter faction that Erich had created.

After all, Erich’s nickname during his military career was Silber, and he had admitted to only controlling a single system, despite the hundreds of systems that he had territorial claims to. And although these five worlds of the Silber Enclave were all fortified to levels that even the GSE would envy, they were still only a very small section of the galaxy.

Despite this, Erich found that this ranks had begun to swell. For starters, there were many people who found the recent crackdowns by the Emrys regime on what few liberties the Germanic people already had to be intolerable. Meanwhile, the propaganda that came out of the Enclave showed a life where nearly every job one could think of was automated by an advanced robotic labor force.

While there were some very positive perks this would create for a society built upon hedonism, consumerism, and personal freedom. To the Germanic people, this had really only one appeal. It meant that they could do what they were meant to do in life.

The propaganda that Tia put out, and that was currently trying to be suppressed by the Emrys regime. Was not one of excess, laziness, luxury, hedonism, et cetera. But one of duty and honor. The warrior code. With the display of a fully automated society. The purpose of the common citizen no longer became as a means of production, but solely that of a warrior.

Which was appealing even to the veterans of the Germanic Armed Forces, who, after waging countless wars against the Empires’ enemies, now found themselves working some dead-end job in a factory, or cleaning sewers, with no chance of promotion or quitting. 𝗈𝓥𝔩xt.𝗰𝔬𝐌

This meant that in the Enclave, the purpose of the average men became one of fighting to protect one’s family, race, and nation. As well as procreating with their wives, so that the nation continues to survive.

As for the role of women in the Enclave, that didn’t really change. They were wives and mothers foremost, and perhaps a small amount might be able to become actors, singers, artists, et cetera. Yet this did not stop both men and women from fleeing to the Enclave.

And soon enough, the five worlds of the Silber Enclave housed billions of citizens. And though this was an extremely small figure when compared with the GSE. Erich was not relying on this small population to defend his borders or to maintain society.

Thus, as the years passed by, and he continued to prepare for his war with Emrys, he was actually able to maintain a stable population, one which could be used for propaganda to show the GSE how great life was under his rule.

—

Emrys stood in his office while looking out of his windows. In the streets below, people had begun to peacefully demonstrate, which, of course, was something that was not allowed within the Germanic Star-Empire. After all, the propaganda that was flooding his Empire, was depicting the Enclave as a utopia. Or at least one defined by the ideals of the Germanic Star-Empire.

In all honesty, Emrys did not know how Erich had managed to, in just five years, create a small civilization that was thriving so spectacularly. He had no idea where the man had gotten the resources to build his cities, defenses, and, of course, robotic labor force. He also did not know how such a vast labor force was controlled. After all, it would require an artificial intelligence of considerable power to maintain such a large number of robots.

Not only that, but the Legion Series of Combat Droids, which was used to supplement the Star Marines which Erich employed, most of which who had defected from the Empires’ Armed forces, also seemed to operate on the save servers.

And while the newly formed Legion of the Damned was superior to the average Star Marine. Emrys feared that the next generation of Erich’s warrior society would be built to the same standards. After all, it was Erich’s newly enhanced genes that Emrys had copied to build his Legion of the Damned.

Of course, he didn’t exactly clone Erich, as even he would not employ an army of clones who were identical to his rival in every way. Instead, Emrys had the help of a certain family member of Erich’s. A woman who was sitting in Emrys’s office right now.

Heidi had been recalled from the CHW, and no longer had her brown skin and dark hair. Instead, she was back in her original form, while dressed in the uniform of an IIS Agent. She had a stoic expression on her otherwise pretty face, as she stood at attention waiting for the Supreme Leader to speak.

“Your brother’s little Enclave is starting to become a thorn in my side. You know that he has invented a counter to our Legion of the Damned, right? It is a pity your mother has since defected to the Enclave…. Her genes were very useful in the creation of the Legion, she could have been honored above all other heroes of the Empire. If she had only stayed behind.”

Heidi frowned when she heard this. After all, she was the one who had initially volunteered to give a copy of her chromosomes in order to create this new generation of super soldiers. But in Emrys’s exact words, she was tainted.

And instead, he needed another close female relative of Erich’s to ensure that these soldiers turned out as close to Erich as possible without being an exact clone. Thus, she was quick to speak of her thoughts about this.

“You still have yet to derive a new serum based upon that traitor’s genes? Do you really only know how to copy the sequence and mix it with my mother’s genes?”

Emrys simply scoffed when he heard this before shaking his head. There was almost a look of pity on his face.

“Do you know what your brother has done to his own genetic structure in order to make him so much superior to even our greatest soldiers? He spliced it with specific genes not found in our species, with those found in others such as the Orcs. He may look like German, but he isn’t one, not anymore…

Like you, he is impure, a mockery of our millions of years’ worth of evolution. We could create a new gene serum based upon his own genetic structure, but then we would be turning our entire population into a bunch of mixed breeds. As I recall, there is even a bit of Light Elf mixed in there, in order to enhance his appearance.

The Legion of the Damned is literal cannon fodder, designed to be dying out in battle against the Empire’s enemies. They serve no other purpose. And thus, I have no problem using your brother’s DNA to help create them.

I suppose it’s pointless to ask now, but how did your mother react when she found out that you coerced her into helping us artificially create what are essentially trillions of children with her son as the biological father?”

Heidi simply scoffed at this question and rolled her eyes before voicing the obvious.

“How do you think she reacted? She was absolutely horrified. When I told her to get a health checkup, she had no idea that the clinic would copy her DNA structure, and use it to create an army our her and Erich’s DNA. Naturally, she defected to the Enclave the first chance she got. That doesn’t surprise me though, he always was her favorite….”

There was a hint of bitterness in Heidi’s voice as she spoke about her mother and older brother. Though she had over a dozen other siblings. Erich was her only older brother. And was a figure who she had complicated feelings towards.

When they were kids, Heidi had always teased Erich for being a mutant, but then he became a war hero, and one of the greatest in the Empire at that. By that time, she had lost everything and looked to reconcile with the man. Yet he spat in her face, and told her that he had no family. Now he was a traitor, and she couldn’t help but hate him.

While at the same time Heidi also hated her mother, she had always treated Erich better than his other siblings, including her. And now that he was a bona fide traitor, and had been given a chance to bring the man to justice, what did Krista do? Abandon the rest of her family and flee the traitors’ enclave. It was truly despicable behavior.

However, these bitter emotions evaporated when Emrys finally spoke again. And as he did so, there was a grim tone in his voice.

“I have the feeling someone or something far more powerful than we realize is helping your brother. The war that is to come may seem like it is currently in our favor, but I know it will be a bloody one… And I fear we will not be able to withstand whatever sinister forces are working behind the scenes to aid your brother in his ambitions. Go get some rest, Agent Jaeger… Though it might not seem like it now, you’re going to need it soon enough…”

Heidi saluted Emrys before departing from the man’s office, leaving him all alone to stare off into the night sky, and the stars above, wondering just where Erich was hiding.

“Where are you?”