Interstellar Age



The journey back to the hotel room was as smoothe as can be. And as far as anyone was concerned, Erich and his team had never left. The research facility was thoroughly destroyed, the scientist had been killed, and all the data regarding the superweapon was erased from existence. Not only that, but Erich and Ghost had captured a Ghimderi Trade Prince, all without leaving a single trace of evidence that they were responsible for his disappearance. 

To say that the mission was a success was a monumental understatement. And because of this, Mirage was not the least bit happy when she was informed about this news. There was a particularly hideous scowl on the woman's face as she stared at Erich, who currently looked no different from an ordinary human. 

She could not be possibly more reviled at his appearance, which was even worse than when he was a mere mutant. But she did not make a comment on this. After all, she had been working closely with Erich's team for a long time now, and although Erich had a personal vendetta with the woman, one which was entirely mutual, the rest of his team had a lot of respect for her. 

Thus, Mirage could only sigh, and nod her head, before giving the unit their next orders. 

"Alright, I understand. Initially, we planned to keep you on Alpha Centauri for another mission, but now that you have Kwexle Goldensprocket in your custody, we have no choice but to extract you. Proceed to the hangar bay where your corvette is located, and return to Imperial Space immediately. 

I suppose you all have rather good timing, because Kondo Yumi has just made a public announcement about her survival, and the attempt on her life. She has declared herself Empress and has seized control of the various rebellious factions. At this moment, the war for the Great Oni Empire has begun. We need as many WRAITHs as possible in the field.

That is all for now. You will receive further orders when you have returned to the borders of the Empire. Dismissed!"

Immediately after saying this Mirage cut the call, where Ghost looked over at Erich who was currently guarding their newest prisoner. The little runt was thrashing about, and screaming, or at least attempting to do so. However, his legs were broken, his mouth was gagged, and his hands were bound. 

Erich would give the fucker a good smack every thirty seconds or so, to remind him that his pain had only just begun. Contrary to what Erich was expecting, Ghost asked him a question with a rather serious tone in his voice. 

"It will be a long time before we are deployed back to the Confederacy. Is there anything you wish to say to your sister before we go?"

Erich punched Kwexle in the head one last time, thoroughly knocking the goblin unconsciouss, before turning towards Ghost and the rest of his team, where he spoke his thoughts aloud, albeit in a voice filled with cold rage. 

"I have no siblings... Let's go."

Ghost was shocked to hear Erich dismiss his family so easily, and Heavy was furious. After all, a common saying in the Empire was "Family, Folk, and Fatherland." To so blatantly turn his back on his family, it was something that was simply unacceptable. And just when these two men were about to scold Erich, JT stepped forward and pushed them away with a violent shove. 

"Back off! If I were in Erich's position, I would say the same thing. How about instead of lecturing him on shit you know nothing about, you actually speak to him about what his family is really like?"

It was incredibly rare for JT to stick up for any of his teammates. Normally, if a petty fight were to break out, he would fuck off and let the dispute go on without him. But now he was standing in between Erich and his comrades, who were furious at him for his lack of duty to his family.

Something was weird about this whole situation, and there was no way that a single night of drinking could foster such a strong bond between the two men. Thus, Heavy was quick to point this out. 

"What, are the two of you secret lovers or something? Why do you give a shit all of a sudden?" 

JT simply scoffed at the very notion before responding with a non-answer. 

"My reasons are our own. Let's just focus on this mission. The sooner I get out of this disgusting dark skinned body, the better." 

As much as Heavy wanted to continue this dispute, Ghost stopped him by raising his hand in the air and signalling for the room to be silent. He then gave out his commands to his unit, who were about to tear into one another. 

"JT is right. We can shelve this discussion for later. What we need to do now is focus on getting of this damned cesspit. We have a high priority hostage, and we need to flee from Confederate space before anyone finds out we were here. 

Pack up your shit, and let's head out. We'll keep Kwexle in one of our bags so he doesn't arouse any suspicion. I don't believe knocking his ass out will be the most effective means to pass through customs, so why don't you fuckers sedate him properly?" 

Before Ghost could even finish saying this, he looked over and saw that Echo was silently administering a sleeping drug to the Ghimderi Trade Prince. Though Echo never said a word, he seemed to have a very complete understanding of the big picture, and acted without orders more often than not. 

Thus, Ghost could only sigh in relief knowing that at least one man in this room was actually capable of keeping their head clear. Once Kwexle was properly sedated, he was stuffed into a rigid suitcase, one that was capable of disrupting the primitive scanning technology that the Confederacy employed. 

Where they immediately departed from their room and checked out at the front desk. Once they had done so, they took the nearest cab to the Starport, where they effortlessly passed through customs, before boarding their starship.  Once inside the safety of their own Corvette, the men departed from Alpha Centauri and did not look back. They were just relieved that they would soon be back to their normal selves.

As for the Confederation of Human Worlds, those representatives who knew about their dealings with the Ghimderi Trade Union would have to answer for a Trade Prince's supposed death at the hands of rioters.

This was a price that such a primitive interstellar civilization was simply not capable of paying. And thus, the Confederacy instantly entered a state of massive debt to the Ghimderi Trade Union as a result of the Empire's actions.