Interstellar Age
Chapter 65 Desperate Times Call For Desperate Measures



Erich and Erika landed on the world of Teutonia, which was a large planet, filled with mostly water. The only landmass on the world's surface, which was habitable to the Germanic race, was a bunch of large tropical islands. 

This world was a common spot for tourists, especially newly wed couples who wanted to enjoy their honeymoons. However, the actual population of people who lived on it was significantly lower than any other world which the Germanic Star-Empire had previously settled. 

Eventually Erich and Erika made their way to the villa that the Empire had provided for them, but the moment they laid eyes on the building, they both dropped their luggage to the ground in shock. What villa? This was practically a palace? 

The strictly utilitarian architecture that the Empire was so renowned for was not present in this building, instead it was a highly luxurious Mediterranean style mega mansion, one which had a one thousand meter strip of private beach access.

Erich and Erika both gazed upon their new home, which was a monstrous ten thousand square meter mansion with astonishment, believing that perhaps the Empire had gotten something wrong. A house like this was not something that your average commander in the Armed Forces should be able to afford. No, this was a house that only the top ranking politicians would normally have access to. 

Immediately upon entering the home, Erich found that there was an entire staff dedicated to maintaining the palace and its premises. There were maids, butlers, cooks, groundskeepers, and even a bartender or two. All of which were paid by the government to attend to the newlywed couple's every need. 

In fact, the head butler immediately stepped forward and introduced himself to his new masters, with a deeply exaggerated bow and a voice filled with excitement. 

"Hello, masters. My name is William Harris, and I am the head of staff for this fine villa. If you need a tour of the building and its grounds, I would be more than happy to arrange one. If not, might I suggest immediately moving into your new master bedroom? As we speak, the movers are carrying your belongings into the villa, and you do not need to worry yourselves about lifting a finger."

After everything Erich had been through over the past few hours, he felt the need to rest his weary mind, and thus he nodded his head with a stoic expression on his face before commanding the head of staff to lead him towards his new bedroom.

"Sure, I could use a rest. Take me to my new quarters!"

Mr. Harris immediately bowed once more before asking about Erika's intentions.

"And would the missus be joining us on this venture?" 

Erika bit her lip, debating whether or not she would be capable of sleeping in the same bed as Erich. Though she knew this staff was also likely keeping an eye on the both of them on behalf of the Supreme Leader, she had far too many conflicted emotions about Erich to actually do such a thing. However, before she could even answer, Erich shook his head and did so on her behalf with a cold tone in his voice. 

"That won't be necessary..."

Erika briefly gazed over at Erich to see just what kind of expression he was making, and was outraged to replace that there was not a single hint of emotion on his face, as if he did not even desire to share a bed with her. Thus she immediately grabbed hold of her luggage, and harrumphed before finally deciding to follow Erich towards their new bedroom, perhaps only out of spite to the man.

"Who are you to decide such a thing for me? I am just as tired as you are after this whole ordeal. Of course I will be joining you for a much needed rest."

Though this news surprised Erich, he did not express it on his face and simply nodded his head in understanding while maintaining complete and total silence. The utter lack of emotion on Erich's face only further outraged Erika, who could not possibly understand what her new husband was thinking, or why he was so cold towards her. Wasn't that her job? 

As for Mr. Harris, he led the newlywed couple to their room, and left them on their own, and while Erich would strip out of his clothes and took a quick shower, before hopping into bed wearing nothing but a pair of underpants. Erika simply watched the news from the room's sofa, every so often eying Erich, enraged that he had actually fallen asleep on their wedding night, without so much as offering to be intimate with her.

---

In an alien world, quite some distance away from the Tropical Paradise of Teutonia, Empress Lunaria Asterion sat upon her throne, while conversing with a holographic projection of Supreme Leader Alaric au Emrys's face. Even the mighty Alfheim Empress could not hide the excitement on her face as she spoke to the man, who was as cold to her as he always was. 

"I must say, the progress you have made in rebuilding after such a disastrous scenario is truly mind-boggling. But even the mighty Germanic Star-Empire will need the help of their masters if they wish to reclaim the worlds which those filthy bugs have devoured!" 

Alaric's expression was as stoic as Erich's was when he conversed with his new wife. And though he thanked Lunaria for her assistance, he did so with a bit of contempt in his voice. 

"Your aid in that matter is much appreciated. At this rate, the worlds will be terraformed and prime for resettlement within the next five years. Though, I suppose we have more pressing matters to speak of now that Terminus has been dealt with. How goes the situation on your borders with the Svartalfheim Federation?" 

Lunaria's excited expression immediately turned to one of fury as she complained to her favorite pet about just how much she hated her dark-skinned cousins. 

"Urggghh, Don't get me started on those dark-skinned freaks! War is starting to become an inevitability, especially after that little cocksucker Bixle Goldentooth has decided to heavily favor the Svartalfheim Federation in our border dispute. It turns out Bixle is not happy that his precious daughter is now a star in the galactic porn industry.

But that is his own damn fault! If he had not desired to force my daughter into a similar situation, then little Tinkette would not be in her current position. Bixle only has himself to blame for this outcome!" 

Despite Lunaria's protests, it was clear by the look in her eyes that she enjoyed filming Tinkette together with the Germanic exiles who now lived on Alfheim with no hope of ever returning to their homelands. This was something which only caused Emrys to shudder in disgust as he switched the topic to something more important to him. 

"If I remember correctly, the Centennial War Games are not far away. Normally I would say that this is a grand opportunity to show off to the Dark Elves that your military might is superior to theirs. But with the Rylonian Imperium gone, and our own Armed Forces currently undergoing reconstruction efforts, I'd say this method of intimidation might cause our enemies to laugh at us instead.... At least if we were to hold them now.

This information immediately grabbed Lunaria's attention, and she was quick to ask Emrys the question she wanted an answer to most of all. 

"How much time do you need before your military is back in proper fighting condition?"

In response to this, Emrys simply scoffed and shrugged his shoulders before giving the Alfheim Empress a realistic representation of his current struggles. 

"It will take us a generation to recover the sheer volume of men, women, and children which we have lost to the Naraku. Do I need to remind you that we lost half of our Empire in this conflict along with most of our navy and armored vehicles? 

Even if we could rapidly replace our numbers, which we are doing through some rather drastic measures, we simply do not have the industry to replace thousands of warships and hundreds of thousands of armored vehicles in such a short time frame. We lost most of our industrial worlds, with Quadi being one of the few planets still dedicated entirely to industry left standing. 

This disaster has set the Empire back decades, if not centuries. I am afraid we will not be able to be your attack hound against any serious rivals for some time. Though, we promise to repay your generosity with blood when the time comes that we are once more able to do so." 

This was not the news that Lunaria was hoping to hear, and because of this she was quick to offer her assistance in what ways she could to help restore the Germanic military to its proper standing in the galaxy. 

"Suppose I used one of my industrial worlds to manufacture your military equipment for you. How long would it be before you are capable of fielding a force that is at the very least capable of intimidating my enemies?" 

Emrys was surprised to hear such a generous offer come from Lunaria's lips, but he understood why she would do so. The Rylonian Imperium had previously been the Alfheim Dominion's single most powerful vassal, one whose military strength was capable of striking fear into the hearts of all other sub-galactic powers. 

But over the past few centuries, this noble standing had been replaced by the Germanic Star-Empire who, despite its miniscule size, had a ferocious talent for warfare, the likes of which the galaxy had seldom seen in its long and storied history. If only the Germanic Star-Empire were to have suffered such a catastrophe at the hands of the Naraku Hive Fleet, then Lunaria could turn to the Rylonains to pick up their previous place in the galactic hierarchy.

However, their empire was wiped out, and few of their species survived. The chances of them rebuilding everything they had lost was almost nonexistent. And if they did manage to do so, it would take millennia to accomplish. Without her two greatest attack hounds, the Alfheim Dominion was doomed to lose a proxy war against the Svartalfheim Federation, and if that happened, she would lose the disputed regions at the border. 

Thus, she was desperate enough to manufacture all the Germanic Star-Empire's equipment at no cost to them. But in return, their people would have to bleed for the glory of the Alfheim Dominion, and so soon after, they had nearly perished as a species. Thus, Emrys was quick to decline this offer, which might spell certain doom for his people. 

"I am afraid that even if you managed to supply our entire military with the equipment, it needs to succeed in war, the reality of the situation is that we simply do not have the population remaining to field in battle that is required to operate said equipment. Unless you have trillions of artificial wombs available to lend to our species, then the odds are that we will not be able to risk such a bloody endeavor on your behalf." 

Even though Emrys had made such a suggestion, he did not actually expect that the Alfheim Dominion actually had trillions of artificial wombs lying around to produce an entire new generation of Germanic Citizens without the need for procreation. But Lunaria surprised the man with a sultry smile on her face as she agreed to this condition that Emrys had rather jokingly set forth. 

"Very well, if you need artificial wombs, my people have more than enough newly manufactured pieces lying around in storage for you to use. I am sure you already have the technology required to produce artificial sperm and eggs, and are simply lacking in the equipment that is needed to complete the process. Give me a number on just how many you need, and where to send them, and I will have them delivered ASAP." 

Emrys was stunned at this revelation, while the Empire did, in fact, possess the ability to manufacture artificial wombs, eggs, and sperm themselves. They simply had not done so on a massive scale, as they preferred to have traditional conception and nuclear families in place to properly raise these kids.

But desperate times called for desperate measures, and if the next generation needed to be artificially made, so that the current generation could be sent off to war. Then so be it. Thus, the new Supreme Leader of the Germanic Star-Empire ultimately sighed and accepted the Alfheim Empress's generous offer.