Interstellar Age

As Yumi had predicted, the Battle between the combined force of the Great Oni Empire and the 13th Fleet of the Germanic Navy against the Lutharian Ascendency ended sooner rather than later. After losing half of their fleet, the Lutharians fled from the sector of space they were tasked with defending.

While the Great Oni Army immediately took advantage of this victory to deploy their ground forces to the world below. Meanwhile, the Germanic Fleet sat back and waited. It would be a long war, and they did not intend to waste their Star Marines so carelessly in the initial engagements. Instead, they simply provided Air Support for the Oni Army, which allowed them to quickly take out critical defensive points.

Erich's part in the battle was over as soon as the Lutharian fleet fled for their lives. He had scored well over 50 kills by the time the battle had ended, which was the highest of anyone in his Air Group. But it was not just his personal skills which surprised those who watched the battle unfold from the safety of their screens, but his ability to expertly coordinate his air group to deal the most damage against their enemies while sustaining minimal casualties.

The man who had defeated the Naraku Hive Fleet Terminus was now proven as a capable commander of the Starfighter Corps, something which sent a wave of national pride across the Empire.

---

When Erika watched the battle, she felt her heart bleed. There were multiple encounters where she thought Erich would lose his life, but he had proved too skillful to be defeated in combat. It was as if the man was toying with her emotions when he performed such a dangerous maneuver.

However, once the battle was finished, and Erich remained entirely unscathed, she was finally able to breathe a sigh of relief. Though the Empire had the ability to bring back its soldiers from the dead through cloning and the transfer of consciousness, it was not something that was considered ideal.

Not only that, but this technology was somewhat of a secret. As far as other interstellar civilizations knew, the Germanic Star-Empire did not have such advanced medical technology. Only the Alfheim Empress was aware of this, and she kept such knowledge hidden from everyone, including her daughters.

Thus, Erika was currently sitting alone in her bed while hugging her knees. Thinking about how stupid she had been over the past few years, ever since she first got married to Erich. She had never been good at communicating with the opposite sex, but when she was around Erich, it was a special kind of hell.

On the one hand, she really liked the man. He was not overtly cruel, despite the history between them. And she admired him for all that he had done for the Empire. After all, Erich had saved her homeworld from certain destruction.

But on the other hand, Erika could not get over the fact that her career in the pop industry had been cut short as a result of their marriage, and that her husband had done the most forbidden of taboos by sleeping with an alien woman.

Luckily, she did not know about Erich's previous relationship with S'aleth, or perhaps Erika might never be able to get over her conflicted state. Still, after seeing Erich nearly risk his life in combat, the mental barriers that Erika had which prevented her from properly communicating with her husband, let alone being intimate with him, had slowly begun to crack.

All she could do was weep like a little girl, about her own internal conflict, and curse her own foolishness.

"Why am I so stupid?..."

---

While Erika was having a slow change of heart regarding her feelings towards her husband, the man in question was busying celebrating with his pilots. Who had gathered in the mess hall to drink their fill of alcohol. The battle was an overwhelming success, and the Armada which the Lutharian Asecendancy had sent to defeat the Great Oni Empire, and the Germanic Star-Empire had been thoroughly crushed. Perhaps less than a quarter of their ships made a clean getaway. The rest were either destroyed or heavily damaged.

Not only that, but these pilots had their first taste of combat, and many of them had scored quite a few kills. None more so than their commander, whose constant instructions and ability to gauge the battlefield allowed them to remain relatively unscathed.

Thus, one young pilot raised his glass of beer in toast to their commander, who had led them to victory.

"To Commander Jaeger, without him, we would all be dead!"

Erich simply scoffed at this toast, but raised his beer stein nonetheless, before taking a sip from his alcoholic beverage. He was satisfied with his results as a first time CAG. And evidently, the comments on his livestream were all incredibly positive. Still, at several points during the battle, he almost blurted out the callsigns of his deceased comrades, when giving orders.

The fact that they were all dead and gone, and only he remained to lead this new generation of pilots, was something that Erich believed would always haunt him. And thus, he coped with this survivor's guilt the way he always had by drinking copious quantities of alcohol.

After drinking about two liters' worth of lager while celebrating with his new Air Group, Erich left the party behind and made his way to the brig with a refilled stein and an extra mug of beer. As promised, he had come to visit the Great Oni Prince in an attempt to learn more about the Royal Family and its internal political structure.

Erich had previously stumbled upon what was most likely a secret of the Royal family, when Yumi accidentally revealed that her commands were absolute. This had led Erich to become increasingly curious about the woman, and how she had essentially become the shadow behind the throne.

Thus, when he entered the brig to speak to Ryu, he decided to be far more polite towards the man, as he handed the beer through the slot of the force field which contained the brig's prisoners. Ryu was once more suspicious about the drink, but after watching Erich drink his own so nonchalantly, he decided to risk it, and sipped from his beer. Only after wiping the foam from his mouth did the Crown Prince of the Great Oni Empire finally spit out his vitriol.

"So the hero of the Germanic Star-Empire has come to grace this prince with his presence. How a man like you ever won my great aunt's favor, and destroyed a Naraku Kingship, I will never know. Clearly, the gods favor you above all others!"

Until this moment, Erich had simply taken everything that Ryu had said in stride. But the idea that he was somehow privileged irked Erich in ways that the Oni prince could not possibly imagine, and thus Erich perked his brow before posing a simple question, but he did so with a bitter tone in his voice.

"You think the heavens have showed me favor? Is that what you think? I'm afraid a spoiled prince like you will never understand the struggles of a soldier.

I have lost more than you can imagine, and just when I thought that I was finally able to achieve a fitting end to this miserable existence, I found myself yanked back from the abyss, only to be rewarded with a loveless marriage, and some meaningless medals. If I'm being honest, death would have been a preferable alternative.

I see by your uniform that you bear the insignia of a commander and the wings of a pilot, but your aunt tells me that you have yet to fight in a single battle. It would appear that nepotism is strong within the Great Oni Empire... But that's not something I give a shit about. If I have any grievance against you, it's that your gun fucking jammed the moment you pulled the trigger..."

Ryu could tell by the look in Erich's eyes that he meant every word of what he had said. All his life, the Oni Prince had been told that honor and glory were obtained on the battlefield. That it was a man's duty to fight for his homeland. All of his father's Generals and admirals had spun wondrous tales of the worlds that they had fought upon.

Yet, here was a soldier, who was essentially everything that Ryu aspired to be in life, and yet this man was telling him that war was nothing more than hell. And that the rewards which one obtained through meritorious service on the battlefield were completely meaningless.

With one simple statement, the Oni Prince's entire worldview was turned upside down. How could such a decorated combat officer think in such a pessimistic way? Especially When everyone he had ever spoken to referred to war as a glorious thing.

At first Ryu did not want to believe Erich's words, but when he saw the weary look in the man's eyes, he realized he had seen it before. The Oni prince had only ever spoken with one man from the rank and file of the Oni Military. Everyone else had been one of his father's highest ranking officers. And this man had just as weary of an expression on his face as he said the words which Ryu had always struggled to understand.

"Kid, only a soldier truly understands what war is like... If you want to find out, then you will have to experience it yourself."

At first, Ryu had thought that this soldier was speaking about how glorious his experience with combat had been, but now, after seeing the same look in Erich's eyes, as he spoke of the losses he had suffered, and how he would have rather died in the final battle with Terminus. Ryu finally understood what that grizzled old vet had meant.

With this said, the Oni Prince now had a bit more respect for Erich. And any envy which he felt for the man had suddenly vanished after gazing upon his harrowing eyes. Upon seeing that Ryu was finally warming up to him, Erich posed a question to further break the ice.

"So, now that we have come to an understanding, tell me about your aunt..."