Interstellar Age
Chapter 72 Left Behind



Princess Kondo Ayumi sat at the edge of her room while gazing out the window, up into the stars above. There was a look of utter depression on the young Oni beauty's face, as she avoiding looking directly at the man who stood behind her while wearing a military uniform.

Like the young princess, this man had white skin with indigo hair and deep amber eyes. There was a hint of sadness in his voice as he said goodbye to his most beloved little sister. Knowing that there was entirely a possibility that he would never return to her alive. 

"Ayumi, I am sorry that I won't be able to fulfill my promise to you, but as the Crown Prince of the Empire, it is my responsibility to lead our men to war. You know what rank I hold in the Navy, and what responsibilities come with it! Please forgive me…."

Ayumi did not say a word as her precious big brother walked out on her, instead tears fell from her pretty amber eyes, as she gazed up into space, wondering what was so damn important that her beloved brother now had to march to war against their neighbors. 

It was not long after the Crown Prince of the Great Oni Empire left the Princess's room that the doors opened again. This time to reveal the rather petite of the girl's great aunt. Kondo Yumi had a bottle of sake in her hand, and two cups, as she entered the room of her beloved great niece without invitation. 

She then took one look at the crying young beauty, and scoffed before voicing her disbelief at the girl's unique features, something which she shared with her brother. 

"It is hard to believe that the two of you inherited that ancient bloodline, especially since it hasn't been seen amongst our family in over ten thousand years. Every time I look at the two of you, I simply can't believe my eyes. Still, it would be a damn pity if that boy were to perish in this foolish war of expansion. You look like you could use a proper drink, am I right?" 

Ayumi finally turned around from the window and gazed upon her great aunt while wiping the tears from her eyes. Despite being well over two hundred years old, Yumi looked almost as young as herself. The woman had a rather slender and petite build. She also had short black hair and dark eyes, all of which were common among their species. However, this was not something that Ayumi shared with her aunt.

In fact, the young princess was almost the exact opposite. She was quite voluptuous, despite her short height, with a perfect hourglass figure and curves in all the right places. Unlike the majority of her species, Ayumi had indigo hair, and deep amber eyes. Which was a sign of the ancient blood line which she and her brother had inherited against all odds. 

The two women were dressed in a kimono of two very different colors. While Ayumi was dressed in an indigo kimono with an amber floral design, Yumi was dressed in a pink kimono with a red koi pattern. 

Upon noticing that her great aunt had brought her some sake to dull the pain, Ayumi immediately grabbed hold of the glass, and waited for her aunt to pour the precious alcoholic beverage, where she then swallowed the drink whole, before breaking out into tears once more. 

"Oh, Aunt Yumi! Why must father send him to war! And in such a dangerous role, no less! Doesn't he realize that starfighter pilots have the highest casualty rates?" 

Yumi stroked her great niece's indigo hair with a comforting smile on her pretty face. She was thinking about one man in particular and the term he had used to refer to his role in the military, which was identical to that of her great nephew. Thus, without even thinking about it, she spoke the words aloud. 

"Coffin Jockeys...."

This rather grim term immediately alerted Ayumi, who gazed up at her great aunt with a frightened expression on her face. 

"What did you say?"

This forced Yumi to explain the situation in a delicate manner. After all, the Great Oni Emperor might know of her fetish for Germanic men, but that did not mean that she would tell her precious great niece about such a taboo kink. Thus, she came up with the first excuse she could think of off the top of her head. 

"Oh... That is what the citizens of the Germanic Star-Empire refer to their starfighter pilots as. I was just thinking about how fitting the term actually is towards the role... But you don't need to worry. Your brother may be the new CAG of his unit, but he is in a reserve fleet. The likelihood of him being deployed to the front lines is almost improbable. 

Besides, the Germanic Star-Empire is sending their 13th Fleet to aid us in this war, and you may not know much about our allies, but they are fierce warriors who even managed to defeat the Naraku! With them by our side, we have nothing to worry about." 

Ayumi heard her great aunt boasting about their ally's military capabilities and quickly asked about them. After all, the story she knew was entirely different from what Yumi spoke of. 

"What do you mean? I thought the GSE was on the brink of annihilation, and was only saved because we showed up to help them in their hour of need?"

When Yumi heard this, she scoffed, before lecturing her great niece about so easily believing her father's propaganda. 

"Ayumi, your father is many things, but an honest man is not one of them. You really shouldn't believe his propaganda so wholeheartedly. The truth of the matter is that by the time our fleets arrived, the Germanic Navy was already prepared to make their last stand.

And without the sacrifice of one particularly brave young man, who happened to be a Germanic pilot, the battle would have been lost. If that were to have happened, then we would be having a far more grim discussion about your brother's odds of survival right now.

The reality of the situation is that our forces provided the bare minimum amount of aid to the Germanic Navy during that battle, and it was actually the Germanic Starfighter Corps, who boldly sacrificed their lives to pave a path forward to the Naraku Kingship which resulted in the victory.

Although they thanked us for our support, the Germanic Star-Empire could have won without our aid. They are merely providing our Empire with some face by claiming we played a pivotal role in the battle. Because the fact of the matter is, we did very little...." 

Ayumi could hardly believe her great aunt's words. After all, it was so contrary to what the Great Oni Empire had proclaimed to their citizens after the battle with the Naraku Hive Fleet was over. But, she knew that Yumi would never lie to her, and thus she asked one simple question. 

"Is that true?"

Yumi simply smiled and nodded her head with pride as she confirmed that her words were without a doubt the honest truth. 

"Of course! Your father has made me the ambassador to the Germanic Star-Empire, who is our greatest ally. I know better than anyone about the details of that battle, except for perhaps the soldiers who fought in it. All of which are under a strict gag order not to reveal the truth of what happened at Suebi. 

Our military might be capable as a Regional Power, but a single Naraku Hivefleet is a challenge for even a Galactic Power, the only Regional power that I am aware of which is even remotely capable of defending its borders from such a powerful force, would be the Germanic Star-Empire. 

You should have seen how the Germanic military ground the Naraku swarm to a standstill, and had even begun to win a war of attrition against the bugs! I mean, for fuck's sake Ayumi, their last stand was the most viral thing on the Galactic Network! Surely you saw it?"

A look of embarassment formed on Ayumi's face as she admitted she had not seen the heroic last stand of the Germanic Star-Empire, and why this was the case. 

"Father doesn't allow me to access the Galactic Network, he says it is a poor influence on a developing mind...."

Yumi took one look at her great niece and eyed her up and down before stating what was the obvious. 

"Developing mind? Ayumi you're eighteen! Do I need to remind you that you are already an adult by most standards across the galaxy? Including our own! That idiot nephew of mine! I need to go teach him a lesson if he is still restricting you from accessing such a critical source of information!" 

After saying this, Yumi left her great niece behind with a bottle of sake, and went to go confront of her nephew who was the current Emperor of the Great Oni Empire. As for Ayumi, she once more looked out at the stars, and sighed, while saying a silent prayer to her people's gods. 

"Onii-chan, please be alright!"