Interstellar Age

Supreme Leader Emrys sat within his office, while gazing upon the blonde-haired beauty who was the IIS agent previously known by the alias of Mirage. Mirage had a stern look on her face as she transferred a file to the Supreme Leader's NeuroLink, which was the most recent report on Erich's activities. She summarized its contents with a particularly hostile tone in her voice.

"From the security footage which we have obtained from the carrier which Erich currently serves upon. We can tell that he is still engaging in interspecies relations. I recommend an immediate arrest and execution of the man for his crimes against the Empire!"

There was a rather intimidated expression on Emrys' face as he quickly shut off the video of Erich and Yumi having sex. His words were equally frightened as he gave an order that Mirage simply could not understand.

"Delete all records of this video. I don't even want it saved in your backup drives. Nobody must know of this. For anyone who may have suspicions about Commander Jaeger's relationship with this woman, put them under a strict gag order. If they refuse to comply, execute them for treason."

Mirage could hardly believe her ears. She was not aware of Yumi's identity. After all, almost all Oni women looked the same to her, and thus she was quick to inquire why she had been given such severe orders.

"I'm sorry, Supreme Leader, but who exactly is this woman?"

There was a grim look on Emrys' face as he sighed heavily before revealing the truth to his most trusted agent.

"That woman is Kondo Yumi, and she is the Matriarch of the Kondo Dynasty. There is a reason that Erich was not executed when it was first revealed to the public that he may have slept with an Oni woman. And that is because Miss Yumi requested that he be spared from punishment.

She is known to have a preference for the men of our species, and over the past two hundred and fifty years, she has taken three lovers from among our population, of which Erich is the only one currently alive. The previous two mysteriously disappeared. No doubt they insulted the woman in some way, and she eliminated them because of it.

You may not be aware of this, but this woman has a great deal of power and influence over our society. Naturally, as the leader of our largest trading partner, she undoubtedly has been able to sway our Intelligence Agencies to prevent her previous lovers from being resurrected.

If she has taken Commander Jaeger as her new lover, then there is nothing I can do to stop it. Other than to warn him to be on his guard around the woman. If he ends up upsetting her like the last two of her lovers have done, then he may share the same fate as those men."

This news stunned Mirage, who had no idea that a foreign power had such influence over Germanic society. As much as she wanted to fry Erich for breaking the law again, it appeared that his current partner was not one that could be trifled with, even by the Supreme Leader. Thus she sighed heavily and saluted the man.

"I understand, sir. Your orders will be relayed to the entirety of the IIS. Anyone who has incriminating information about this woman will be dealt with, and the grid shall be purged of any mention of this illicit relationship."

Emrys smiled and nodded his head as he returned the woman's salute before dismissing her entirely.

"Good. If that is all, then you are dismissed, agent."

Having heard this, Mirage left the room, where Emrys immediately locked the doors behind her. He then shut the shades of his window and got up from his seat, where he approached the back wall of his office. What appeared like a normal wall quickly parted way, as Emrys touched his hand to a hidden panel and scanned his retinas. From there, a secret room revealed itself, where what laid within would shock if Erich had witnessed it.

Standing in the middle of the secret room was a large cloning vat, one which contained a familiar face. The red-skinned, and silver-haired beauty of the Dvrakian Race lie asleep inside the vat, as her bodily functions were taken care of by machines. Her condition was slowly being monitored on a nearby panel, which displayed her vitals to be in a perfect state.

Emrys gazed at the Dvrakian woman's flawless figure and sighed as he shook his head before revealing his thoughts aloud to the sleeping beauty.

"It's truly a pity... All of that planning, and every resource I spent to bring you back from the dead, only for it all to go to waste! It would appear that Erich has finally learned to toe the party line. And though he may have been seduced by that Oni whore, that is no concern of mine. I'll allow the boy to have his fun. In fact, I look forward to see what becomes of his relationship with that woman. This might very well be the start of a new era of friendly relations with the Great Oni Empire.

But alas, it now appears I will not be able to use you as my pawn after all. At least not for the time being. Sleep well, my dear S'aleth, because eventually the time will come for you to play your part in all of this. And I look forward to that day...."

After saying this, Emrys left the secluded room behind and shut the door behind him. Which once more blended seamlessly into the wall as it locked itself, so that only the Supreme Leader of the Germanic Star-Empire may access its secrets.

---

Erich left his home behind and headed towards the Capital of the Great Oni Empire. Before he departed, he left a note on the dining room table informing his mother and wife that he would be going out for a bit, to allow them to have some space. Erich did not, however, tell them where he was going or when he would be back.

And while this acted as a source of anxiety for Krista and Erika, Erich finally had some semblance of inner peace, as he purchased the first ticket to the Oni capital of Naniwa, whereupon landing he was astonished to find that the city was made of largely traditional architecture. A style that would have been reminiscent of the city of Kyoto during the 21st century of Earth's history.

However, Erich did not make it far into the Starport, because the moment he went through customs, he was approached by a group of heavily armed Oni men. All of which had a distinct armband over their right biceps.

Evidently, these men were important, because everyone who witnessed them, including the other members of the Starport's security team, backed away and allowed them to approach the distinctive Germanic male. The leader of the group spoke in a stoic voice as he addressed Erich.

"Commander Erich Jaeger? Your presence is requested at the palace. If you will follow me, we will have you safely escorted to your destination."

Erich was about to lift up his bags when the members of the Royal Guard stopped him. The leader among their ranks was quick to inform Erich about his current situation.

"We will have to ask you to part with your belongings for the time being. They will be thoroughly investigated, and returned to you only after we confirm that they are not a hazard to the Royal Family. Do not worry, a set of clothing will be provided for you the moment you reach the palace. As well as anything else you may need during your visit."

All the bystanders had begun to record the scene, believing Erich to be a man of supreme importance. After all, he was an alien who was invited to the Imperial Palace, and though these royal guards spoke the Germanic tongue, that was not the case for every Oni citizen. Thus, they did not recognize the rank of commander, which was spoken earlier.

Erich felt like he was some kind of celebrity, as he was escorted out of the Starport and into an armored hover car, which took him to the palace. He gazed upon the ponderous, yet highly traditional city, which almost existed in perfect harmony with the local environment, before finally arriving at the steps of the palace.

The palace grounds were located in a secluded area of the city. In fact, the Royal Palace lied in the middle of an artificial crater, where a giant waterfall flowed in the background and into an enormous pool of water. Which was undoubtedly a small lake in its own right. Floating above the water's surface was the Royal Palace of the Great Oni Empire.

The hover car received approval by the guards stationed at the top of the artificial crater to head inside, where it only took a few minutes, before Erich and the members of the royal guard landed in the alotted parking space.

The moment Erich stepped out of the hover car, he was immediately glomped by Yumi, who nearly tackled the man to the ground with her hug. She began to openly display her affection by kissing Erich repeatedly on the cheek and lips, all the while she expressed just how much she missed him.

"Oh darling, I missed you so much! Did you miss me?"

Erich was utterly bewildered by the fact that he and Yumi were not alone, instead, standing in the driveway of the palace, was the Great Oni Emperor himself, who gazed upon his royal aunt's unsightly appearance with a rather stern expression on his face.

Along with the other members of the Kondo Dynasty, which not only included the progeny of the Great Oni Emperor, but that of his siblings and cousins as well. These men and woman, all gazed upon the Matriarch of their Dynasty, as she shamelessly showed affection to a foreigner. Most had disapproving looks in their eyes, despite their silence. But one girl in particular appeared quite flustered.

Ayumi gazed upon her great aunt's shameless actions and bit her lip in frustration while blushing profusely. Ever since Yumi had first showed her that video of Erich being intimate with Mirage, the young Princess had only become infatuated with the man. Going so far as to stalk him on the Galactic Network, and to comment on all of his posts under a throwaway account that acted as his biggest fangirl.

Of course Erich never noticed these posts, because of the nature of the Germanic Star-Empire's interstellar network. While the galaxy could see that which the citizens of the Germanic Star-Empire posted online, the citizens of the Germanic Star-Empire could not easily see what was posted by the rest of the galaxy due to their great firewall.

And though Erich had enough skills with technology to bypass this restriction, he also knew that he was now being monitored by the government. Thus, he chose not to break anymore laws so long as he could help it. Because of this, he was completely unaware of Ayumi's feelings towards him, which were no doubt the result of her great aunt's manipulation.

As for Yumi, after she had finally gotten her fill of Erich's lips and scent, she decided to introduce the man to her exceptionally large family. As much as they all clearly disapproved of this relationship, Yumi held enough power over the Kondo Dynasty to prevent them from ever lashing out at Erich. Thus, she wore a happy smile on her flawless face as she began the introduction.

"Erich, I would like to introduce you to the members of the Kondo Dynasty. I have made sure they were all here to welcome you upon your arrival, aside from little Ryu, that is. But you have already met him."

After saying this, Yumi noticed the rather upset expressions on the faces of her family, and immediately barked at them like a rabid hound.

"What do you all have to say to my guest?"

The members of the Kondo dynasty immediately felt their spines chill as they heard Yumi's command. In fact, it was only the younger generation of the family that were unaware of the power which she held over everyone else.

But today that had suddenly changed, as all of these children were urged by their parents to greet Yumi's guest with the utmost respect. Even then, it came as a complete and total shock to these children, as the adults in their family all bowed before Erich and welcomed him with respect.

"Welcome to our home, esteemed guest of the Matriarch!"

It was only now that Erich realized that Yumi wasn't exactly the shadow behind the throne. In fact, her position was as solid as it could possibly be. To compel all these men and women, to greet her lover, despite their conflicted feelings, that was true power. And because of this, Erich could not imagine possibly being in danger when Yumi had such a tight leash around her family's throats.

Thus, he bowed in return, and thanked the members of the Kondo Dynasty for their hospitality.

"I thank you all for your hospitality and look forward to getting along with you all over these next few months."

Of course, the only member of the Kondo Dynasty besides Yumi, who seemed even remotely approving of Erich's response, was Ayumi. Who gazed upon her aunt with supreme envy in her amber eyes. Thus, began Erich's first vacation at the Oni Royal Palace. One which would help heal his wounded heart.

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