Since winning the tournament, all eyes had begun to pry into Erich's daily life. Especially on campus, where fellow cadets would watch as the silver haired young man did everything in his power to increase the divide between himself and the other high-ranking students.
He, like everyone else in the Empire, was blissfully unaware of the threat which the Germanic Star-Empire would soon be facing. At the moment, Supreme Leader Hans Epp was currently engaging in a conversation with the Alfheim Empress, who had taken time out of her busy schedule to accept his call.
The look on her beautiful face was one of concern, as the man voiced the two diverging viewpoints that the political party and the military now had on how they should deal with the Naraku Threat, which was rapidly approaching their borders.
"It is my intention to escape from this sinking ship while I still can with those of our Empire who are most capable of restoring civilization once the Naraku Hive Fleet has been dealt with. I intend to take the most elite of my people's society and have them evacuate to our embassy on your homeworld.
However, it would appear that both the Grand Admiral and the High General have other plans. They intend to stand and fight until the last man. They have no intentions of fleeing, instead, they are now drawing upon every resource to expand our military prowess and bolster the lines of defense against Terminus.
It is because of this that they are not even willing to provide our party members with an armed escort to Alfheim. Thus, I am afraid that I must request that you personally see to it that the greatest members of our race are ferried off to your home world, where we will be able to survive the coming catastrophe, and rebuild from amongst the ashes."
Lunaria gazed at Hans with a peculiar look on her face. Hans had always been a practical man. If all hope was lost, then he would flee and return to fight another day. Normally this was a personality trait that the Light Elven empress would admire in her vassals.
However, the sole purpose she had for fostering the Germanic Star-Empire was because of their use as a weapon of war. If they were not going to even fight for their own homeland, then what purpose did she have for them? Luckily for her, there were those that agreed with her mentality within Germanic society, who intended to go out with a last stand against an enemy that even the Alfheim Dominion feared.
This mentality of do or die was rare in the galaxy. Most, if not all, species would agree with Hans's decision to take the best of their society and flee to a safer region of space; but not Lunaria…. She could not help but get excited at the idea of her war hounds fighting against all odds, against a superior opponent, hoping that at the very least they could inflict a mortal wound upon their foe with the death of their civilization.
If not for the fact that the Svartalfheim Federation was now pressing on her borders, she would be more than happy to dispatch her own forces to aid the Germanic Star-Empire in their heroic last stand. However, she simply could not afford to do so at the moment, and thus she could only admire the resolve of men like the Grand Admiral and the High General. Which she was quick to voice, much to the chagrin of the Supreme leader.
"While I am more than willing to spare a few corvettes to safely escort your people to Alfheim, I can't help but admire the resolve that your military has. I must say, few species would be more willing to die in battle rather than flee in cowardice. It is a shame that such a valuable asset will be reduced to nothing. But make no mistake, I shall host what remains of your species here on Alfheim until a time when you can reclaim your lost territory. As for how you rebuild, that will be up to your discretion…."
Though Hans did not take kindly to Lunaria's comments about his actions being one of cowardice, he still forced a smile and bowed his head respectfully to the Alfheim Empress before ending the call.
"I thank you for your benevolence. When we return to the position of power we once held in the galaxy, I assure you that we will do everything in our power to repay the favor we owe you."
Having said this, the call ended, and Lunaria could not help but scoff before voicing her true thoughts aloud, knowing that nobody was around to hear her.
"As that point, only the cowards among your race will have survived, and without a doubt it will affect your gene pool. If that is the case, then I will have no use for the dregs that you will become. Instead, my thoughts and prayers are with those brave men, who stay behind, knowing that they will die horribly against an enemy that cannot be reasoned with."
---
While the Supreme Leader of the Germanic Star-Empire was doing everything in his power to begin the evacuation of those he considered being essential to the reconstruction of his great society. Grand Admiral Alaric au Emrys and the High General Hermann Hartmann were busy preparing for the eventual invasion by the Naraku Hive Fleet.
Every aspect of society was being diverted to the war effort. Reservists were being called back into active service, fortifications were being built, and new weapons were being manufactured. In three years' time, the Germanic Star-Empire planned to increase the total number of fleets under their command from 100, to 150.
In order to man these new fleets, they had not only called recalled all reservists to active duty, but they had also lowered the age of conscription to sixteen. Meaning that now high school students were being called to serve in the ranks of the enlisted.
Naturally, society had begun to speculate why such drastic measures were being taken, to which the Grand Admiral announced to the public his plan to expand the borders of the Germanic Star-Empire, via the invasion, and annexation of its neighbors. Of course, he conveniently managed to leave out the information regarding Terminus.
Though the Germanic Star-Empire had begun the mobilization of its armed forces to conquer their neighbors, they did not intend to incorporate these other worlds and species into the Empire, in reality, Alaric intended to vassalize these civilizations, and use them as a buffer, to hold off the Naraku Hive Fleet Terminus for as long as possible.
Thus, at the moment, Alaric was in a conversation with the High General of the Imperial Army, a man named Hermann Hartmann, as he discussed his plan, to lower the training restrictions on active duty servicemen.
"By now, the technology we have to simulate combat is so advanced that there is not nearly as much need for practical training. To put it simply, I do not intend to waste two years putting my starfighter pilots, who have just graduated from the academy into dedicated flight schools. These men should already know how to pilot a starfighter long before they enter active service, and all they really need is a crash course to become accustomed to the real world.
I am doing the same for all combat related fields in the Navy. Thus, I suggest you follow my example, and lower the time required to complete specialized training programs. With this, we may be able to increase the number of active duty officers deployed to combat zones, which will be required if we wish to establish a proper buffer zone before the Naraku Arrive."
Surprisingly, Alaric did not receive any argument from Hermann, who simply nodded his head in agreement before expressing his thoughts on the matter.
"I completely agree. Now is not the time to ensure that our soldiers are the most proficient in their tasks as they can possibly be. Rather, now is the time to ensure that we have bodies on the battlefield. Men who are already experienced in combat by the time the Naraku arrive at our borders. Thus, it is my recommendation that effective immediately we have on the job specialized training."
With the heads of the two military branches in agreement on this matter, there was nothing standing in their way from changing the current training standards. And though this may result in a decrease in overall proficiency among their soldiers, it was not by much. In return for this concession, the Germanic Star-Empire would be able to churn out new officers and enlisted personnel significantly quicker than before.
---
Months passed since Erich first won the tournament, and finally the day for his graduation had come. By now he was already aware that the extended flight school was cut from a two-year program, to three months. In fact, every cadet was made aware of this change the moment it was announced.
Not only would Erich be going to the most elite flight school in the empire, but he would be graduating at the rank of lieutenant while serving in the elite Black Sun Squadron. He had been informed of this reality only two weeks ago.
And while every other member of Erich's graduating class had invited their families to attend the event, Erich himself was left alone. This did not matter to him too much because as the top student, he was commanded to give a speech to his peers, something he did not wish for his mother to see, in fear that he might bungle it.
After spending the morning sitting through the initial stages of the graduation ceremony, Erich now stood on the stage, at a podium, where he began to recite the speech he had long since prepared for his graduating class.
"Today is a day that we all must celebrate. Our youth is behind us, and now that we are men, it is our duty to protect the Empire from the infinite number of threats which lie beyond our borders. War is a part of our people's history, going back to the days of Earth, where for millennia we fought tooth and nail against an entire world for our place upon it. Violence is in our blood. It is part of our nature, something which no Germanic man can deny.
Thus, it is fate that as we take our first steps into the world of men, we must also take up arms to defend our homes and our families. Some of you, like myself, will go on to serve in combat roles, while others will be supporting those of us who must kill for our great race. Whatever position you find yourself in, remember that you are a soldier in the Empire's military, and must conduct yourself with the honor and dignity that we as a species admire above all else. Glory to the Empire! Glory to Germania!"
The crowd broke out into applause after hearing Erich's speech, where he proceeded to accept his diploma before stepping down from the stage and entering the crowd of Cadets which had gathered below. He waited for each man to receive his diploma, where they proceeded to celebrate by throwing their caps into the air.
After which, someone he thought he would never see again in his life approached Erich. At first, the young man believed his eyes were deceiving him, until the beautiful woman wrapped her arms around his neck and kissed him on the forehead.
"Erich, my baby boy, I am so proud of you. I wish I could have given you more support this past year, but your father has been keeping a close eye on me. I barely managed to make it to your graduation without him noticing. It shames me to admit that I can't stay for much longer but I just wanted to let you know that even after everything you did, mommy still loves you, and is supporting you from behind the scenes!"
After saying this, Krista disappeared into the crowd as quickly as she had appeared, leaving Erich to wonder if he had actually seen his mother, or if it was just a figment of his imagination. If not for the fact that he still felt the wetness of his mother's lips on his forehead, then Erich would have no proof that the woman had really come to see him.
But this was neither here nor there. For by the end of the day, Erich would be shipping off to the 13th Fleet, where he would begin his on-the-job training with the most elite special forces squadron the Imperial Navy had at its disposal.