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nEmpress Lunaria Asterion sat upon her throne and gazed upon a large holographic display, which was currently showing the ongoing crisis at the border between her Empire and the Svartalfheim Federation.

nThe Naraku Hive Fleet Terminus had done more damage to the Alfheim Dominion than the Empress had initially anticipated. And because of that, her enemies were now biting at the heel, in an attempt to pressure the Alfheim Dominion while it was considered weak. Or at least weaker than normal. 𝞸𝓋𝑳xt.𝒞𝚘𝕞

nAfter offending the Goldentooth Cartel and the Ghimderi Trade Union as a whole, the goblins had shifted from their role as the mediators of Galactic conflict to not so covertly supporting the Svartalfheim Federation with the ongoing dispute at the border.

nIf the Alfheim Dominion did not make a show of force soon, and one which was intimidating enough to make their enemies rethink their aggressive actions, then it was only a matter of time before war broke out. And not just some small petty proxy war like how the major galactic powers usually settled their disputes. But a total war with the Svartalfheim Dominion and their sphere of influence.

nSuch a conflict would be devastating for the Galaxy as a whole, and the only people who would possibly benefit from such a thing would be the Ghimderi Trade Union, and while Lunaria did not want to give those greedy goblin **s any more power than they already had, it would appear as if the Svartalfheim Federation was more than content with being lapdogs.

nUnfortunately for Lunaria and by extension the Alfheim Dominion as a whole, they had lost their two most powerful subordinates. The Rylonian Imperium had been completely destroyed, and what remained of their once proud race was now scattered across Alfheim space, living as mere refugees on more fortunate worlds.

nAs for the Germanic Star-Empire, while they had pulled off a miracle by defeating Terminus, it had come at a substantial cost. But the GSE could be rebuilt, and currently Lunaria was in the process of sending trillions of artificial wombs to her most beloved pets, so they could breed an entire new generation to replace those numbers which they would eventually lose in the upcoming galactic conflicts.

nThis was beyond generous on Lunaria’s part, but it was not entirely unreasonable. After all, the first wars that would be fought between the Alfheim Dominion and the Svartalfheim federation were undoubtedly going to be proxy wars, and if she did not have the Germanic people acting as the spearhead in these proxy wars, then it was entirely likely that her other pets would be overwhelmed by the minions of the Svartalfheim Federation.

nFew interstellar civilizations were as battle hardened as the Germanic Star-Empire, and thus their expertise in warfare was a much desired aspect. While Lunaria was gazing upon the ongoing border crisis, and the exchange of fire between the two fleets. She could not help but sigh, thinking about her beloved pets who had been so thoroughly wounded.

nIt was at this moment that her youngest daughter, Celestia Asterion, entered the throne room. The young Elven beauty bowed respectfully before her royal mother, before voicing the reason behind her visit.

n“Royal Mother, it would be my honor if you allowed me to lead the upcoming centennial war games between our great military and those of our proxies!”

nLunaria took one look upon the woman who was considered exceptionally young by light Elven standards and was just about to dismiss her request entirely when she thought of something interesting. An excited smile formed on the Empress’s face as she sat upright within her chair, and gave a command to her youngest daughter, one which the girl was not expecting.

n“I think that is a wonderful idea. It will be a valuable opportunity for you to display the abilities of the Alfheim Navy to those backwater plebeians, and will also give you a proper learning experience about our subordinate’s military capabilities!

nHowever, we will be hosting the Centennial War Games later than we had initially expected. So you will have to wait a few years before such a day arrives.”

nThis comment caught Celestia by surprise. After all, the Alfheim Dominion held their war largest set of war games once every one hundred years, precisely. They had never postponed them throughout the extensive history which the Alfheim Dominion had as an interstellar civilization. Because of this, Celestia was quick to speak out about this sudden break from tradition.

n“I don’t understand, Royal Mother. We have always held the Centennial Wargames precisely one hundred years after the previous ones. Why are we postponing them now, when we have never done so in our entire history?”

nLunaria clicked her tongue in disappointment at her daughter for her inability to grasp the wider picture. She then sighed before explaining in detail why this event was different from all of those in the past.

n“Because, my dear, sweet, beloved daughter. We have recently had a large section of our space ravaged by those damned bugs. Those who have been affected, and have survived, need time to rebuild their civilizations, and by extension, their military forces. If we were to host the centennial war games this year, then not only would they be the laughingstock of our quadrant, but our quadrant would be the laughingstock of the galaxy.”

nIt was at this moment, Celestia finally understood her mother’s true intentions, she wanted the Germanic Star-Empire at their peak military strength in order to show off to the galaxy that the power of the Alfheim Dominion had not diminished in the slightest, that the war hounds of the light elves were every bit as fierce as they were prior to their catastrophe.

nBut this just caused further questions to flood Celestia’s brain, which she was quick to inquire about.

n“But mother it could take decades before the Germanic Military is at a point where it can intimidate our foes. By then, the enemy will have already pressed our borders, or perhaps even declared war! We must make a show of force now while we still can!”

nDespite the fact that Celestia’s word’s made perfect sense, they did not account for the level of support that the Alfheim Dominion was currently providing for its most favored proxies, and thus, the Empress’ next words came as a shock to her noble daughter.

n“That won’t be a problem. Within five years, the Germanic Star-Empire’s military capabilities will be on par with how they were prior to the war with Terminus. In fact, I daresay they will be more advanced than ever before.

nAfter all, I have decided to give them a little treat, and fix many of the technological problems which my engineers saw within the data they sent us regarding the manufacture of their military equipment.

nFor a nation that has only had a few centuries to develop, it is quite astonishing the level of technology they currently possess. But unfortunately, their rapid development came with some downsides. Certain things were overlooked in favor of expediency, and because of this, I have decided to fix these problems…”

nCelestia was utterly dumbfounded by her mother’s generosity to the Germanic Star-Empire. After all, if rumors got out that the Alfheim Dominion was showing such an absurd degree of favoritism towards one particular subordinate state, then it could cause any number of protests to arise amongst their other subjects.

nThis was something that Celestia could not keep to herself, and thus she was quick to scold her mother for her carelessness.

n“Mother! Please don’t tell me we are manufacturing all the Germanic Star-Empire’s military equipment for them, in addition to terraforming their devoured worlds! We have never shown an alien race such favoritism before, and if the others were to find out, they would be outraged!”

nDespite this reasonable warning, Lunaria simply scoffed, and crossed her arms, with a rather contemptuous look on her otherwise gorgeous face, as she boldly stated her favoritism towards the Germanic Star-Empire.

n“Pfft! If those damn plebs want to complain, I will simply shove the facts in their faces! The GSE has been our vassal for less than five hundred years, and during this time, they have won more wars on our behalf than most of our other subordinates. Perhaps if the Rylonians hadn’t lost so many wars, I would have been just as generous with their attempts to rebuild their civilization from the ashes as I am towards the Germans!

nBesides, what we need right now is military strength, and none of our other vassals have the ability to compete in a higher weight class, at least not like the Germanic Star-Empire does. It still baffles my mind that they were able to defeat a Naraku Hive Fleet with limited outside support, and had only managed to lose half of their worlds. Clearly, the goddess had blessed them in more ways than I can possibly imagine!”

nCelestia did not bother arguing with her mother anymore about this topic, because she knew there was no way she would win against such a stubborn woman. Instead, she bowed her head with respect before deferring to her mother’s decision.

n“I understand. I will patiently await the day when the Centennial War Games arrive. In the meantime, I will make the necessary preparations so that things run smoothly. I thank you for granting me an audience, your Majesty!”

nAfter saying this, Celestia fled from her mother’s throne room, while Lunaria gazed back upon the ongoing border skirmishes with an impatient look on her face. She did not realize it, but she had murmured her true thoughts aloud as she did so.

n“Don’t make me wait too long…”

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