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nThe day for Erich’s leave of absence finally arrived, and yet, S’aleth was still angry with him for even entertaining Karl’s suggestion of sex tourism as a vacation idea. Thus, the red-skinned beauty had returned to her home world to visit her parents without Erich.

nAs for Erich, he had informed Karl that he would not be taking him and the boys on a trip to the Great Oni Empire, and instead found himself once more visiting the bars on the industrial world of Quadi where the carrier he served upon was currently docked for regular maintenance.

nWhile sitting in the middle of a bar and drinking his legal limit of beer for the day. Erich was looking at the grid with his mind. In particular, he was reviewing his account balance, which had grown quite a bit after roughly two years of active service in the military.

nIf one counted the fortune he had acquired mostly through ill-gotten gains, then Erich would have made approximately six million credits since he had first been disowned by his parents, over half of which had gone to the purchase of his ship, and the lifetime insurance on it.

nThis meant that he still had roughly 2.5 million credits left over, which was currently sitting in his bank account accumulating dust. And while Erich could invest a part of this sum into the stock market, he had something else entirely in mind.

nWhat Erich wanted more than anything at this moment was a home of his own. One where he and S’aleth would not be interrupted, where they would be free to be intimate with one another without having to look over their shoulders in fear of the authorities finding out about their illicit relationship.

nThus, even though the woman was currently angry at him, he decided that he would search the grid for the purpose of house shopping. The Imperial Real Estate market was complicated, to say the least. While individuals were free to use their earnings to buy larger and more luxurious abodes, the government would provide a basic home free of charge which could house a family of up to seven people.

nOf course, one had to be married to qualify for this benefit, and since Erich could not get married, nor could he reveal his relationship with S’aleth, he would have to find a place that could support the two of them, but was also small and inexpensive enough as to not alert the authorities to his ill-gotten gains.

nAfter all, he had committed multiple felonies to obtain his current small fortune. And he did not want to spend the rest of his life in either a penal colony or a penal battalion. And while 2.5 million credits could buy him a fairly nice home on one of the core worlds, or a decent sized mansion in the frontier, Erich would easily draw suspicion to himself if he dropped such a large sum of credits on a house that he technically did not require.

nOr so he thought, but, after thirty minutes of drinking while browsing the market, a familiar face sat down next to him. Erich did not believe his eyes as he witnessed the cobalt haired beauty who had once been his contact in the interstellar crime syndicate known as “Splinter.”

nThe woman quickly ordered a drink, which she began to chug as if she had not quenched her thirst in months. After finishing the beer with ease, she turned around and looked at Erich with a wry smile on her pretty face before speaking up.

n“Apex, fancy meeting you here. Do you mind if I have a minute of your time?”

nErich’s body froze in place when he heard the woman openly refer to him by the alias he had used to accept underworld jobs, and just when he was about to decline her offer, she said something which shocked him to the core.

n“You’re looking for a house, no doubt because you want some privacy with that hot piece of alien ass which you have exclusive access to. Like I said before, I’m not one to judge, and a Dvrakian? Nice choice if I do say so myself. Nothing quite like having a conquered subject serve you sexually, am I right? Anyway, let’s talk business. Not only can I help you get a place that would really impress that little succubus of yours, but I can keep the authorities from prying into your business as well. And all I ask in return is a little favor from you….”

nErich was shocked that this woman had dug up so much damning information on him, and as much as he wanted to shoot her in the face here and now, he simply did not have the guts to do so. Instead, he forced himself to remain calm as he took a sip from his beer before responding with what was obviously a forced expression of stoicism on his face.

n“I have no idea what you are talking about…”

nDespite the confidence in Erich’s tone, the woman simply scoffed before signalling to the bartender to get her and her “friend” another set of beers. Which caused Erich to immediately glance around in panic. After all, such a thing was illegal. Yet, neither the bartender nor the other patrons actually seemed to give a damn. Once the beers were in their hands, Mirage spoke in a coy tone.

n𝑂𝗏𝑙xt.𝒸𝗈𝑚

n“Come now, Erich, there is no need to be so tense. You are with friends right now, friends who are both very powerful and in need of your assistance. If you scratch our back, we will scratch your as well….”

nMirage then chugged the next beer in the same way she had done to the last one, which the bartender immediately refilled for the woman. Erich was now incredibly anxious. Not only did the woman know about his identity, but she also knew about S’aleth as well. This immediately put Erich on alert, but he did not make any rash moves. Instead, he voiced his disbelief aloud.

n“How? How do you know so much about me?”

nIn response to this question, Mirage simply groaned, as if she hated to recall the job she used to do for the Imperial Government.

n“If you must know, I used to be what the government refers to as a Watcher for the Imperial Intelligence Services. Or the IIS for short. My entire job was obtaining information through the grid. You think your talents as a slicer are good? The nanites I received at birth were specifically calibrated for spying on others and slicing into computer systems.

nI assure you, there is nothing in this universe that the Empire can keep a secret from me. In fact, I have been watching you from the cameras on board your carrier for some time now. I know all about your little taboo relationship, and if you want to keep that secret between the two of you, I suggest you listen to my proposal.”

nKnowing that he had no choice but to listen to the cobalt haired woman, and accept her job, Erich sighed heavily, before relenting.

n“Alright, fine, I will hear you out…”

nThe woman wore a pretty smile as she patted Erich on the back as if they were old friends before complimenting him in a rather conceited tone.

n“Good boy. You see, that wasn’t so hard, was it?”

nImmediately after saying this, Mirage’s expression and tone shifted to a very grave state, as she leaned in and whispered something to Erich.

n“I have to apologize about that last job. We had no idea there was a mole on our end who had been feeding information to the Vaxkorvian authorities. But thanks to you, we now know who he is, and hence I have a little favor to ask of you.

nYou see, the guy who leaked the information about your last job, he is a high-ranking member of our organization, completely untouchable by a pleb like me. In fact, he is one of my employer’s rivals… Normally I would order one of my hitmen to take care of this, but this situation requires an outsider’s touch, I need you to take care of that **ing rat once and for all. All I need you to do is take him out. As for the more difficult task of preventing him from being cloned into another body, you leave that to me.

nIf you do this for me, not only will my boss pay you 25 million credits, but he will make sure the authorities don’t ** with you about any potential non-violent infractions that you might end up getting yourself involved with from now on.

nFor example, if someone were to find out about your little relationship with the Dvrakian girl? We can make those charges disappear. I won’t say that you will be a full-fledged member of Splinter after doing this for us, but you will be an associate, and that has its own perks. What do you say? Are you in?”

nErich sighed heavily in defeat after hearing what he was being extorted to do. He then chugged the remainder of his beer before staring Mirage deep in her blood-red eyes. Where he asked a question that he already knew the answer to.

n“And if I refuse?”

nA devilish smile appeared on Mirage’s face as she leaned in and whispered something to Erich, which sealed his fate.

n“Then I will leak all the videos I have of you and your little girlfriend to the grid. You two really ought to be more careful. It was quite easy for me to get footage of the two of you in action. I mean, the body on that girl? Wow, I have to give you props. I don’t know how you managed to score a babe of her quality.

nI don’t think I need to remind you that you have already been accused of interspecies relations once before, and though I don’t know why the Grand Admiral covered for you, he won’t be able to do so this time around… After all, with such overwhelming evidence out there in the ether, nobody will be able to deny that you are a **ing race traitor. And that, is a serious crime, now isn’t it?”

nThough Erich was surprised to learn that the Grand Admiral was the one who had saved his neck, he was more concerned with the Sword of Damocles that was currently hanging over his neck. Thus, he sighed heavily once more before he accepted the incredibly dangerous job.

nAfter all, If what this woman had said about her background was true, then she most definitely would have been able to get that kind of dirt on him. Though Erich did not know just how far the reach of Splinter went, the more he learned about the shadowy syndicate, the more he began to fear it. Thus, he accepted the job, even though every fiber of his being was warning him not to.

n“Alright, when you put it like that, I guess I have no choice but to accept….”

nMirage broke out into a cheery smile once more while she patted Erich on the back yet again.

n“Good boy! You will receive the details within the hour, and by the way, I suggest you bring that makeshift piece of crap you call power armor, because your target is going to be guarded by some serious killers. See you around the stars, lover boy!”

nAfter saying this Mirage stood up and walked out of the bar, meanwhile Erich ordered another drink, knowing that there was a million ways for this job to go wrong.

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