Interstellar Age

A young man stood up from his seat with a warm smile on his face and extended his hand in an act of friendship. He was of average height for a human male, so around five feet and eight inches tall, or by the current standards of measurement, a little over 172 centimeters. He had light brown skin, dark hair, which had been dyed a vibrant color, and a myriad of cybernetic augmentations. 

He may look like a human male, but this man's name was Bruno, and he was one of Erich's many siblings. In fact, unlike Erich was initially selected for service as a starfighter pilot, and later as a special forces operative among the legendary WRAITHs. Bruno was selected as an agent of the IIS, much like his elder sister Heidi. 

However, where Heidi had pledged her loyalty to Emrys, and was eventually executed for it when Erich came to power. Bruno had sided with the Silber Enclave. In many ways Mirage was like a mentor to him, and he was among the Reformed Germanic Star-Empire's most valuable assets. Specifically, because his consciousness was transferred into the body of a baseline human, where he was embedded deep undercover within Confederate society. 

Due to his superior intellect, that was a gift of his genetic augmentation, Bruno had used his knowledge of machinery to create some rudimentary cybernetic implants that were slightly more advanced than those on the Confederate market.

Because of this, his corporation became one of the largest and most powerful that exited in Confederate space over the last few decades. Going so far as to expand the confederations territory, by seeking out and claiming two nearby star systems for their resources.

And while Bruno, or should I say Hernán, which was the alias he went by, was revered by the human population as a technological visionary on par with the likes of Steve Jobs during Earth's more troubled history.

In reality, he was nothing more than a Germanic spy. This meant that everything he now possessed, including the major corporation which he owned 100% of shares in, were in fact little more than assets to be used by Imperial Intelligence Services for the sake of their future invasion of Earth. 

Currently, Bruno was meeting with the diplomatic envoy, sent by the Wang Emperor, who had attempted to make contact with both offshoots of the human species. Those who still inhabited Earth and the surrounding star systems. And those who had long sensed fled a quarter of the way across the Milky Way, where they built a mighty empire that now struck fear into the hearts of a divided galaxy.

Like his twin sister, this envoy, whose name was Wang Zhelan, was chosen for this mission due to his loyalty to the young Wang Emperor and his gift of a silver tongue. Zhelan slightly bowed before Bruno as a sign of respect, before greeting the man with his words. 

"It is an honor for a man of your status to receive me, Mr... Rodriguez was it?" 

Bruno smiled and nodded his head, as spoke with the envoy from the Heavenly Domain as if they had been friends for many years. 

"That is correct, and believe me, the honor is all mine. It is not every day we receive visitors from alien civilizations, even if those aliens just so happen to be humans who migrated away from earth long ago. Nor is it every day I get to meet with a Prince."

Wang Zhelan could tell that Bruno was just as gifted with charisma as he was, if not even more so. Thus, he tried to one up the man with the flatteries. 

"I must say, when I first arrived in this sector of space, I was surprised at how disorganized your society was. I mean, you are less a united civilization, and more of a loose collection of city states, or should I say planetary bodies ruled by corporations. It is definitely a unique... Take on society, I suppose."

Surprisingly, to Zhelan, the powerful CEO seemed to agree with him, as he broke out a bottle of liquor and poured the two of them some drinks before expressing his opinions on the Confederation. 

"Not all of us wish it were so... There should be more to a civilization than reckless consumerism... And there are times where I believe our tolerance and individualism has gone perhaps a bit too far... But that is not for me to judge. Or so I have been raised to believe..."

That's right. The goal of Bruno was not to sabotage the relationship between the Confederation of Human Worlds and the Heavenly Domain, at least not directly. But rather to sabotage the diplomatic envoy's opinion of the Confederation and its society as a whole.

And the fish had taken the bait. Naturally, Zhelan had not actually gone through the streets of Earth, or any of the more "civilized" parts of the Confederation. Thus, he did not know the overwhelming display of immorality that took place brazenly in the open, all in the name of tolerance, acceptance, and individual freedom. But when "Hernán" spoke about how he wished things were different, it intrigued Zhelan. Maing him curiously enough to ask about it. 

"Oh really? And what is so bad about the Confederation that you wish you could change it?" 

It took every ounce of Bruno's mental strength not to smirk at that moment. And he did so with a masterful display of deception as he shook his head and placed down his gilded chalice with a look of disdain on his face. 

"If I were to show you what goes on in our streets, and what is not only tolerated, but accepted by society, it would entirely ruin the fledgeling relations between our two civilizations. For now, just trust me when I say you are better off not knowing...." 

Naturally, this made Zhelan all the more curious, and he would be ever more likely to investigate what the society of the Confederation of Human Worlds was really like, when he was given the opportunity to do so.

When that happened, he would be so disgusted by what he witnessed that the man would quite literally vomit up the content of his stomachs. After all, there were great evils that were practiced in the worlds controlled by the Confederation. And they were treated not only as if they were normal, but were morally righteous. 

For a morally righteous man like Zhelan to witness such displays of degeneracy and depravity, he would have no choice but to report them to his elder brother. And mark the Confederation of Human Worlds as a place to avoid entirely...

---

Meanwhile, in another corner of the galaxy, Wang Jingyi had enjoyed a nice and pleasant meal with Erich. Who did not invite Erika or his other children with the woman? Since she was not the Empress any longer, Erika had no right to sit at a diplomatic meeting. 

Erich was courteous to his guest, but he did not boast of the Empire's superiority, or that of his people. Instead, he had the opposite approach. He was quite humble with the woman, saying that everything she saw around her was thanks to the collective collaboration of his people.

This was absolutely fucking horse shit. For starters, Midgard was quite literally an uninhabitable mega earth, that was only made suitable for human life thanks to Tia's efforts. Everything that Jingyi saw around her was built by endless legions of robotic laborers. All of which were under the direct control of nigh omniscient artificial intelligence. 

Perhaps if the capital was still in Germania, Erich would have been able to say this without it being an absolute lie. But Erich could not leave Midgard for extended periods of time. His joining with the Terminus Hive made him psychologically compelled to regularly breed with its queen. Trillions of Germanic citizens lived in this world, without realizing that another intelligent species outnumbered them by at least a hundredfold beneath Midgard's surface. 

Yet thanks to this Joining, the Naraku would never again invade the Germanic Star-Empire. Nor would they attempt to gain their vengeance on the Germanic race like they had previously. It was completely unknown to anyone other than Erich and Tia. But the Germanic Emperor had single-handedly halted a disaster that would have entirely wiped out the Germanic race and everything they had ever built. And in doing so, had gained a very powerful ally. 

Regardless of the truth behind Erich's words. Wang Jingyi believed every word of them, as she walked through the incredibly peaceful streets of Midgard. Surprised at the sheer level of security that was omni-present. 

If it weren't, the security systems scanning the population for suspected criminals or hidden weapons. Then it was the legions of heavily armed law enforcement personnel, and their AUXILIA series, support droids that constantly patrolled the streets. 

Under Erich's rule, there were far fewer laws and regulations that could make an otherwise ordinary citizen a felon for some asinine reason. Instead, the law enforcement focused on cracking on violent crimes, instances of theft, public intoxication, and littering. Yes, littering was a crime that was heavily punished, usually through a severe beating by an officer's baton. 

Though there were legions of small robots scurrying across the planet acting as a labor and maintenance force. This was not an excuse for citizens to defile the planet. For every robot cleaning up litter, they could be used for something far more important and thus, those who littered were beaten and publically so for their crimes against nature. 

Still, this created a society that almost entirely free from crime. And Jingyi took this into account. As Erich, the Emperor of his people, walked among them as if he were any ordinary citizen without having to fear for his life, or be followed by VIP protection at all times. 

In the end, the initial reports that returned to the Heavenly domain by the two diplomats that were sent abroad to establish ties to the rest of humanity were wildly different in their approach. With Wang Zhelan telling his half-brother the Emperor that the Confederation of Human Worlds was a degenerate and amoral society were the most abhorrent evils were treated as not only normal but righteous. 

Meanwhile, Wang Jingyi reported that the Germanic Star-Empire was a society where its people lived extraordinarily safe and prosperous lives. Yet not excessive in any way. Everyone had what they needed to not only survive, but to thrive.

And while the nation was lacking any sense of refined culture due to its stifling authoritarianism. This was an aspect that had begun to change with the so called "New Order." Jingyi's summary of the Germanic Star-Empire included a special note. That she believed in the coming years, the Empire would become a monolith of not only military power and economic security, but of exceptional culture as well.