Interstellar Age
Chapter 48 Which Side Are You On?

It took two whole weeks for the damage that was done to S'aleth's body to be fully repaired, and when she was finally permitted to exit the medbay, and the clinic on board the carrier, she immediately found that her world had been turned upside down.

After meeting with Erich in their secret hiding spot, the man was cold and distant, which was shocking considering the dire situation S'aleth had been in over the last two weeks. Just when she was about to ask what was wrong with him, Erich spoke, and in doing so, shattered the young woman's world.

"S'aleth, I'm afraid it is too dangerous for us to be together… What happened to you was entirely my fault, and I can't allow something so horrible to occur ever again. I am afraid that I have no choice but to break up with you."

At first S'aleth thought that perhaps Erich was joking, and giggled as she patted the man on the back before trying to kiss him. However, he quickly dodged the attempt, and put some distance between himself and the woman he had fallen for. S'aleth began to look at Erich differently after that, and immediately asked the question that suddenly came to her mind.

"You are serious, aren't you? Erich, you can't do this! I have lost everything! My entire family is dead because they have sided against the empire. You are the only person that I have left in my life. Please don't abandon me!"

However, Erich simply sighed and walked away. Though S'aleth could not see it, there was a single tear that had managed to get past his defenses, and found itself trailing down the edge of his nose. All the while, he said his last goodbyes.

"I'm sorry, S'aleth. It is better for the both of us this way. Pretend like I never existed and replace yourself a proper Dvrakian man to have a family with…."

After saying this, Erich left the room, much to the astonishment of S'aleth, who, after realizing this was indeed her reality, collapsed to her knees and broke out into tears. Erich, however, did not make it far into the hallway, as he fell to the floor and gripped his chest in agony.

There was no physical pain. After all, it was not like he was having a heart attack. And yet his beating heart felt as if it had suddenly imploded, leaving nothing but a black hole in his chest. Like S'aleth, he now had nobody left in his life who cared for him.

Perhaps Erich could turn to his friends in his hour of need, but at a time like this, they were nowhere to be found. Instead, the man was forced to return to his bunk, where he collapsed inside of his cot and passed out from emotional exhaustion. By the time Erich awoke on the next day, he found that S'aleth had been transferred to another unit, just like he had expected she would be. The likelihood of the two of them ever speaking again was improbable, to say the least. Especially now that the Grand Admiral was keeping a close eye on him.

With his emergency mission completed, Erich now found himself back on leave. And thus, he had an enormous amount of free time on his hands. But life seemed to have lost its purpose without S'aleth by his side, and rather than go out and search for a home for the two of them to call their own like he had initially intended prior to breaking up with the woman. Erich instead found himself in the bar that Mirage so commonly visited.

Perhaps he had instinctively come to this bar in search of the cobalt haired beauty. But she was nowhere to be found, and because of this, Erich simply spent his time drinking his sorrows away. He did not know how many hours had passed, or how many drinks he had purchased, but eventually he smelled like a brewery, and could barely keep his head off the counter.

It was at this moment that somebody sat down next to him, and much to Erich's joy, it was indeed Mirage. She looked at the man with a look of utter pity on her otherwise flawless face. After sitting down next to Erich, Mirage ordered another hit of what she referred to as vitality. Which was a powerful drug, one capable of countering the intoxication that Erich currently was suffering from. Although this time Erich knew exactly what Mirage was trying to do, and quickly rejected the woman, whilst slurring his words as he did so.

"NOOA! I dun wanna!"

Upon seeing that Erich was refusing her offer, Mirage did the unthinkable, and took the shot of the milky white liquid into her mouth, before kissing Erich. As she did this, Mirage had force fed Erich the drug, which had an immediate effect on his mind. Clarity rapidly returned to Erich's mind, causing him to come to the sudden realization that he was kissing Mirage.

After having just broken up with S'aleth, Erich immediately felt guilty about kissing another woman so soon, especially since his heart still only cared for the Crimson demoness, and thus, he rather violently forced himself away from Mirage. Despite his actions, the cobalt haired beauty did not appear angry. Instead, she had an expression of sympathy as she spoke to Erich.

"I heard about what happened…. I'm sorry that you were forced to break up with your girlfriend. But unfortunately for you, that was bound to happen sooner or later. The government has their eyes and ears everywhere. It was only a matter of time before they discovered your relationship with S'aleth.

But, unfortunately for you, we now have something very awkward to discuss because of this little incident. We know that Emrys has asked you to spy on us… Oh come on now, Erich, don't look at me like that. The Grand Admiral isn't the only one who has been watching your every move.

Perhaps if the IIS knew that their most talented Watcher was in fact alive and currently working for Splinter, then they would have taken some precautions to hide the contents of that meeting from us. The question now is, where do your loyalties lie? Are you really going to go back to being the lapdog of a government that couldn't care less if you existed?"

Erich did not immediately respond to Mirage's question, and simply looked away, an act which caused the woman to sigh before ordering another round of drinks for the two of them. She then posed a question that Erich never thought he would hear in his life.

"Erich… Come work for us, and I don't mean as a mere pawn, or a sacrificial lamb like before. You may not realize it now, but you are in a unique position to actually do some good for our people! For mutants! I don't know how, but you have managed to gain the Grand Admiral's trust, and in case you haven't been paying attention to these last couple of years. Emrys is now effectively in control of the Empire.

As I said before, we know that Emrys has asked you to spy on us, to which we have a counteroffer. We want you to become our double agent. Erich, with your help, Splinter has the potential to evolve into something more than just a criminal syndicate. We could become the change that the Empire so desperately needs!

Allow me to give you a fair warning. If you continue on your current path, and maintain your position as the Empire's lap dog, you will get everything you want out of life. You will become a war hero and will be loved by the people. So much so that the Empire will grant you an exception and give you a wife. In a few years, you will have probably have family of your own, and everything will be hunky dory. And then do you know what happens after that?"

Erich gazed at Mirage with a cautious glint in his eyes. He did not know where this conversation was headed, but so far, the warning she was supposed to be giving him actually did not sound all that bad. That is until, Mirage spoke her next words.

"Eventually there will come a time when you become a thorn in the Empire's side, and when that happens, they will take your family from you and throw you to the wolves. Just like they did to Butcher… A mutant can only go so far in our current society before those in power become jealous and begin to tear him down.

I really shouldn't be saying this, but you need to know the truth of what happens to people like us, especially those who dare to challenge the status quo. Butcher was once a starfighter pilot like yourself, a very talented one. In fact, to this day, he holds the record for the largest number of confirmed kills, and is considered to be the Empire's greatest Ace.

He was so good, that he was even given a wife, which he was happy to start family with. And when he retired from the Navy, he began to climb the political ladder. But as I said before, our current society would never allow a mutant like him to climb to the very top, after all, if such a thing were to occur, the very fabric of the Empire would come unraveled.

So they gave him an ultimatum to toe the party line, or suffer the consequences. Naturally, Butcher refused, because just like you, he wanted to make the Empire a better place for mutants like himself. And do you know what the party did? They killed his family, and then of course they tried to kill him too, but he survived, barely…"

Erich was astonished to hear this story, because from his memory, there was only one mutant who had ever been granted permission to get married and have a family. And that man had been the source of strength that Erich looked to when he was first disowned by his parents. Naturally, Erich was curious to hear the rest of the story, which he was quick to ask about.

"And what happened then? What did Butcher do after his family was killed by the party?"

Just when Mirage was about to speak, a very masculine and gruff voice interrupted her from another part of the bar, where a man with crimson red hair and eyes was sitting alone while drinking.

"Well, he dedicated his life to bringing down the bastards who had murdered his family. But the party is quite insulated, and they have more than a few ways to revive, no matter how hard you might try to kill them. So, he eventually gave up and turned to a life of crime, where he became an underboss in the Empire's largest and most fearsome syndicate. That is, until he heard of a young man like himself, who just so happened to catch the eye of the man who is currently in power…."

Mirage's expression immediately shifted one to intense dread, as she slowly looked over and saw her Employer staring menacingly at the two of them. She could barely replace the words to apologize for speaking about his past without his permission.

"B…Boss… I'm s…sorry I didn't-"

However, before she could finish, the man raised his hand to silence her, which worked like a charm, before he grabbed the drink out of her hand and downed it quicker than she was capable of doing herself. Once the beer was gone, Butcher tossed the glass across the room, causing it to shatter on another wall, where he then sat down next to Erich and wrapped his arm around the man's back.

"Don't worry about it, sweetheart, like you said, the kid needs to know the truth. While it is true that Splinter is the most vicious syndicate in the Empire, you should know that is is mostly filled with mutants like the three of us, many of which are just looking for a place in society to call their own.

For the first time since the formation of our little organization, we now have a chance to make some serious changes in society, and it all revolves around you, kid. You may not be aware of this, but the leaders of the party are gone. The cowards fled to the Alfheim Dominion, and I think that I know why…

Anyway, all that is left in the Empire is the military, and they are running everything now. I'm no longer an officer, nor am I exactly in good enough standing to re-enlist, and so I don't have the chance to rise through its ranks. But you do! As Mirage said, I want you to become my double agent. I want no; I need you to rise through the ranks of the Navy and depose that fucking golden haired git! Once you are the Grand Admiral, you will control the Empire, because there is no way the party is getting back into power so long as Emrys is in charge, even if we do survive it all…"

Erich was entirely astonished by the way this conversation had headed. He had so many questions, but could not think just which one to ask first. Upon seeing that Erich was being hesitant, a sly smile formed on Butcher's heavily scarred face as he asked the immediate question on his mind.

"Time is up, kid. So… Which side are you on?"