Interstellar Age

Chapter 18 Winning The Tournament

?While Erich was competing in the semi-finals of the Germanic Star Empire's Cadet Starfighter Tournament, Empress Lunaria Asterion sat upon her throne on the world of Alfheim with a cold expression on her otherwise beautiful face.

She was in all honesty surprised at the outcome of the battle between her Fifth Fleet and the Naraku Hive Fleet Terminus. So much so that she had cancelled all of her plans for the day, and called forth her Council of Sages, who had rushed forth to meet with their Empress.

The room was filled with ancient looking elves, who were so old that their age was visibly displayed on their faces. These primeval members of the species were dressed in emerald green robes, with golden embroidery. For millions of years, these men and women had advised the Asterion Dynasty, and now they were once more summoned to do so.

With a particularly snarky look on her face, Lunaria called out to the Sages, while her youngest daughter, Celestia, stood by her side, with an expression that appeared as if being able to attend this meeting was the greatest honor of her relatively young life.

"So... It appears that the vision you old fogies spoke of all those years ago has indeed become a reality. The Fifth Fleet has been destroyed, utterly decimated by the Naraku Hive Fleet Terminus. And, as it stands, those disgusting fucking bugs are headed towards the home of my favorite pups.

Realistically speaking, such a young upstart of an interstellar civilization does not have any chance of survival against the Naraku. After all, the Germanic Star-Empire's entire navy can not contend with one of our fleets, and yet the Naraku tore the Fifth Fleet to pieces. So tell me, because I desperately want to know, how will they survive against such monstrous beasts if we do not come to their rescue?"

The head of the Council of Sages stepped forward and bowed before his Empress. Despite the respect he showed her, he still thought of the woman as a mere child. After all, she was not even a million years old, when compared to a man like himself, who was beyond what many would consider being ancient, she truly was nothing more than a little girl in his eyes.

The fact that she had the gall to ask him to explain himself regarding what he had personally seen was among the greatest insults he could receive. If Lunaria's mother was the still the Empress, then perhaps he would explain in great detail what his vision entailed, but this little girl had no respect for the Sages, and thus, he would not deign her with a proper response.

"You do not need to know the specifics, but we have seen the fate which awaits the Hive Fleet Terminus, and by the time of your precious centennial War Games, they will be exterminated. The concern you have for your subjects, or puppies as you like to refer to them as, is unfounded.

So, do not worry about the Naraku, for they are not long for this world. At least not the Hive Fleet known as Terminus... Instead, you should focus your attention on the Svartalfheim Federation, who has perceived the loss of the Rylonian Imperium to be a great weakness on our part, and have thus begun to bare their fangs in response.

If we do not respond with strength at the borders, then the Dark Elves will invade our lands and start a war, which will cause the stars to be drenched in blood. I suggest contacting a Trade Prince from the Ghimderi Trade Union, and requesting that they interfere in this dispute, before our rivals realize that we have lost a fleet."

Lunaria narrowed her gaze at the head of her Council of Sages and scoffed before insulting him further.

"Acheronius, is this the wisdom that you have derived from yet another one of your visions?"

The way that the Elven Empress had said the word "visions" clearly displayed her disbelief in what she perceived to be nothing more than old superstitions, which a bunch of conmen had used to claim power in a bygone era.

However, Celestia was not of the same opinion as her mother. She took the Sages visions as more fact than fiction, and thus eagerly awaited for the head of the Council of Sages, whose name was Acheronius, to respond to her mother's skepticism. Which he quickly did shortly thereafter, with a smug smile on his aging face.

"No, my Empress. This is the wisdom derived from observation and logic. If you mobilize even more fleets to deal with the Hive Fleet Terminus, who, as I already said, are not long for this world, then you will be giving our enemies a chance to invade our borders and annex critical territory.

Even if the Ghimderi Trade Union interferes after the Dark Elves invade, those bastards will not give up the land they have seized. Thus, after all of my years of experience advising the Empresses before you, I believe that it would be most prudent to prevent such a scenario from happening while we still have the opportunity to do so. Do you not agree?"

Though Lunaria despised being told off by this old charlatan, she had to agree that his reasoning was solid. That was, of course, if his vision turned out to be correct, and the Naraku Hive Fleet was dealt a fatal blow in ways she could not even imagine. Assuming this was the truth, then indeed, the most prudent option would be to mobilize her forces at the border.

Of course, she had already decided on this course of action long before Acheronius had suggested it, and had even informed the Supreme Leader of the Germanic Star-Empire of her decision hours before. Why? Because subconsciously she believed that the visions of the Sages were real, even if she did not want to admit it because of her agenda.

This was why Lunaria put so much emphasis on the Germanic Star-Empire, because the Sages had determined they would be a valuable weapon to make use of on the Galactic Stage, even if it took them millennia to prove themselves as such.

Thus, she had decided to invest in the Germanic Race as far back as three hundred years ago, when she first encountered them. Even if she told herself it was because she found them to be more attractive than her own kind.

Still, Lunaria could not help but worry about the fate of the Germanic people, and thus she could only sigh and shake her head while Acheronius drawled on about the threat that the Dark Elves currently posed to her borders. As previously mentioned, she had already decided on sending her fleets to the borders, and thus, after a particularly masterful act of disappointment, she agreed to Acheronius' suggestion.

"Very well. I have no choice but to send our troops to the border. The Germanic Star-Empire will have to fend for themselves. But if you happen to be wrong, and my precious puppies are exterminated, Acheronius, then I will come for your head!"

The man simply smiled and nodded his head, utterly confident that the vision he had seen would come to pass, and thus he bowed once more in front of the Empress before departing from the room, but not before leaving one final statement behind.

"Of course, I expect no less from your Majesty...."

---

Erich was screaming with excitement as he scored the last kill in the semi-finals. This was it. One more match, and he would be declared champion. In addition to the 1,000,000 points he would receive for winning the tournament, he had already gained nearly 750,000 points through the many kills he had racked up throughout the various rounds of the competition..

Which meant that he should easily be ranked the top of the Academy's Leaderboard if he won this tournament. Not to mention the 250,000 credit prize pool, which was enough to either buy him a large villa on a frontier world, or a small starship.

All that was left was a 1v1 with the other best pilot in the cadre of Cadets that existed across the Empire. Thus, as the countdown made its way to zero and the match began, Erich felt as if he was on the top of the world. Upon entering the combat zone, Erich realize that he was in yet another asteroid field, which he maneuvered through with exceptional skill.

Not only had he pushed the engines to the maximum, but he had even used his cyberkinesis to add an extra 20% to his top speed, allowing him to transcend the limits which the fighter was designed to achieve; though it did put some stress on the engines and hull of the starfighter. Before long, a blip appeared on his sensors, and Erich knew the final showdown was about to begin.

He quickly pursued the enemy pilot, who appeared to wield his starfighter almost as if it were an extension of his body. This bewildered not only Erich, but the entire audience who was watching the livestream. It was clear both of these men had cyberkinesis, and thus would be an even match. Or so everyone thought.

However, Erich was not a single enhanced German, nor was he a double enhanced German. No, he was an extremely rare triple enhanced German, meaning he had three abilities, and thus he began to harass the other pilot with his mind, as he cursed him out.

"Hey, asshole, just so you know, after I've defeated you in this tournament, I'm going to find your mother and your sisters and fuck them all in front of you! Once all of your female relatives are pregnant with my children, I will force you to father them in my place!"

Clearly this remark had gotten on his opponent's nerves, who began to fire upon Erich as the two played a game of chicken with one another. However, Erich had other plans, and quickly maneuvered his starfighter around in a way which avoided the shots, while firing his own laser repeaters at the enemy.

The two men had both missed one another, as they appeared equal in skill, causing Erich to continue to speak vile and grotesque words towards his an opponent in an attempt to throw him off his game. However, the rival pilot turned out to be a double enhanced human, and responded to Erich's insults by hurling asteroids with him via his telekinesis.

These asteroids were large enough to turn Erich's starfighter into a heap of scrap metal, and thus Erich quickly found himself at a disadvantage as he was forced to dodge both the weapon on board the enemy's Starfighter, and the dangerous environment.

Quickly finding himself on the defensive, Erich was forced to use his third and final ability, as he gazed seven seconds into the future in search of an opening. Which he found, but if he was off by just a millisecond, it would mean that he would be the one to suffer a defeat.

With a heavy sigh, Erich pushed his joystick forward and boosted his speed to the maximum setting while flying straight at the enemy pilot. At first, the guy thought Erich was playing another game of chicken, and thus, he chuckled as he continued to fire his shots at Erich while also throwing more asteroids at him.

Five seconds had gone by, and Erich showed no sign of breaking off, and yet, the hostile pilot did not dare break off, and instead continued to pilot his ship directly at the mutant who dared to insult his family.

Finally, just before the two ships were about to crash into one another, Erich pulled the eject feature on his seat, and shot himself into space, while his Starfighter collided directly into the hostile pilot, killing him instantly, and ending the virtual reality tournament once and for all in Erich's favor.

The entirety of the Germanic Star Empire, or at least the trillions of citizens who had watched the livestream, gazed in astonishment at what Erich had done. Seeing that he had no chance to overcome the enemy's combined attacks, Erich had sacrificed his ship to earn a kill. It was entirely unthinkable for most pilots. Considering once you ejected, you would be stranded in space until someone picked you up, and if your flight suit was damaged in the process, you could face certain death.

But because it was a simulation, this was not a factor, and thus, Erich had achieved a victory, thus earning himself the 1,000,000 points, and the 250,000 credits. Out of everyone who was watching the broadcast, perhaps nobody had a wider smile on their face than the up-and-coming idol Erika Krieger, who shouted out in joy after seeing the man she had previously harassed to the point of hopelessness win the tournament.