Interstellar Age
Chapter 206 Leverage



Erich gazed upon the floating figure of his past lover, who he thought had died nearly ten years ago. In his mind, this was simply impossible. He could not imagine that she was still alive. After all, the technology which the Germanic Star-Empire used to revive its fallen soldiers would never have been used to recover an alien, unless they were of supreme political importance like Yumi. Thus, he was quick to interrogate Emrys, in an extremely hostile manner, as he pushed the man against the cloning vat and held on to his collar. 

"What the hell have you done?" 

Despite the hostile action, Emrys continued to smirk with confidence as he spoke to Erich with a cold tone in his voice. 

"What have I done, well I saved your little alien lover. That is what I have done. I thought you would be happy about this!" 

Erich knew Emrys well enough that the man would not do something like this unless it served his own purposes, and thus he was quick to connect the dots and realize this was leverage. Something that Emrys was quick to confirm. 

"With your history of disobedience, I knew it was only a matter of time before you and I fell out. And thus long ago I took DNA samples of your Dvrakian whore during one of her physicals, as well as a scan of her memories.

If I am correct, then the moment she wakes up, she will still believe that the two of you are together, and will not have any recollection of the breakup you went through, or her sacrifice. It will be as if none of that ever happened.

However, I must admit, I never expected that you would earn the favor of Empress Lunaria so much, that you would be granted the title of Archon. Honestly, such an absurd scenario never occurred to me. I was content to keep this little doll stashed away for eternity if I had to. And would only reveal her when you bared your fangs towards me. 

Yet, to think you would be granted authority over me. You, the man who I have spent years molding into the perfect puppet, would now have the power to command me! It is unthinkable. No! It is unforgiveable. So now you see why I was forced to reveal this little secret of mine."

Mirage did not make a move to the interfere with this little of drama. In fact, she sat down in Emry's chair and watched it unfold with a bag of chips in her hand. She had been curious for years just who would win this little battle that Emrys seemed determined to force into existence. 

After all, Erich might be a little bit naïve, but he had far greater capabilities than Emrys. And now that he had been granted the position of Archon, his power was beyond that of Emrys. Meanwhile, Emrys was cunning and redundant. The amount of potential realities Mirage had seen the man prepare for were on the edge of paranoia. 

Now that Erich's whore was in Emrys' hands, the ball was in anyone's court, so to speak. It was true that Erich could kill the man here and now, and try to free S'aleth himself. But Mirage was all too aware that Emrys would have prepared for such a scenario, and thus she snacked on her favorite chips while watching the two to try to get the better of one another. 

Erich was practically snarling like a wild beast as he bared his teeth towards Emrys. The two men were locked in a stalemate. And currently Erich was not only processing all the potential futures that would immediately lead to him escaping with S'aleth. Unfortunately, no matter what he attempted to do, fate had other things in mind for him. 

In one potential reality, he broke Emry's neck and forcefully attempted to free S'aleth, which resulted in her being blended into meat paste by the cloning vat. Her life was tied to Emrys's. In so far that the moment he died, the tank would eviscerate S'aelth. And delete any data that was stored about her genetic makeup and memory storage. 

Realizing that violence would get him nowhere, Erich sighed heavily, before letting go of Emrys, where he brought the man to the negotiating table. 

"Alright, fine. What do you want?" 

Upon seeing the hostility that Erich had instantly evaporated, Emrys felt much more calm. Though he may have played the part of a man filled with confidence. He honestly had no idea if this bargaining chip of his would even work. After all, it had been ten years, and for all he knew Erich could have moved on from S'aleth. 

Now that he knew that Erich could be tamed this way, Emrys was glad that he had gone through the effort to clone S'aelth. And thus he dusted his suit off, before speaking to Erich as if the man was his equal.

"What do I want? Well, for one, I don't intend to answer to your beck and call as if you are my master. I may have sworn my loyalty to that pointy eared bitch, but that was out of necessity. If I had not, she would have brought the Empire to heel by force.

You, however, are a citizen of the Empire, and though you have now been granted a prestigious title, I will not bow before you so long as I hold the position as Supreme Leader. To put it simply, you will not attempt to force your will upon me. Because if you do, I will make sure your alien lover is turned into a nice blend of puree. Do you understand? 

By all means, go ahead and travel the stars, and do that cunt's bidding. I can't stop you from doing that. But you would do well to remember where your loyalties truly lie. Not to me, but to the Empire! To your people! Do you understand what I am saying?" 

Erich nodded his head. He wanted nothing more at this moment to rip Emrys's head from his shoulder, but he understood that S'aleth's life was in danger. And until he and Tia could replace a way to remove the safeguards, which kept the red-skinned beauty as a hostage. Erich could only agree to remain neutral with Emrys. 

After coming to this understanding, Erich realized he would have to free S'aleth from Emrys' control at a later time, after he had created a proper plan. In the meantime, he had more important tasks in mind, like hunting down and eliminating the Sages. 

"I understand, now about Mirage...."

Emrys eyes glistened with a hint of self satisfaction as he walked past Erich and gazed upon Mirage who seemed rather disappointed that both men were still alive, and unharmed. Where he then smirked before answering Erich's question. 

"Oh, by all means, you can have Mirage. I believe she has used up her usefulness on my end. If you can replace a purpose for her, then by all means, she is yours. Feel free to take her with you on your journey across the galaxy. After all, she is no longer useful to me as an agent, since she is unwilling to perform the tasks I require of her."

When Mirage heard this, the chip she was about to bite into fell from her hand and cracked as it landed on the floor. She stared in silence at the two men for several moments before yelling at Emrys. 

"You fucking bastard! You're just going to sell me to this prick as a consolation prize? What the hell? When have I ever failed to obey your orders?" 

Emrys glared at Mirage and spoke to her in a more stern tone than he had ever used with her. It was clear he had not been satisfied with the woman for a long time. 

"The moment you fell for Erich! You disappoint me Agent Kuhne, I expected great things of your career. But the moment you finally let a man touch you, you fell for him and refused to perform any other honey pots. Why do you think we allow women into the IIS? To seduce men! If you are unwilling to seduce other men, because you can't get over your first, then you are of no use to me! Go be with Erich, since that is clearly what you want!" 

Mirage flushed red with embarassment when she heard these words. There were few things in this galaxy that could make her do so, but having Emrys admit how she felt about Erich, and the fact that he was her first, was more than enough to cause such an effect. 

As for Erich, he simply scoffed at his own ability to attract women... He was far more concerned with S'aleth's safety, and how he would eventually free her, than the fact that he had taken Mirage's virginity without even realizing it. 

Thus, he simply walked out of the room and returned to his ship, where Mirage continued to argue with Emrys about her new assignment.