In order to avoid an all-out panic, the newly formed Dvrakian Social Republic had followed the same example as the leaders of the Germanic Star-Empire and had neglected to inform their population that a Naraku Hive fleet was headed straight towards their borders.
As a result of this, many Dvrakian loyalists, like S'aleth's parents, neither understood their government's cowardly actions, nor had they fully lost their will to fight against the aliens who they deemed to be nothing but murderous colonizers. The war had invoked something deep within the Dvrakian bloodline that had not been present for millennia.
They were no longer a peaceful and spiritual people, instead many of the survivors now desired to drink the blood of their enemies, and there was no greater enemy to the Dvrakian people than the Germanic Star-Empire. On the world of Thexkar, a highly armed militia was camped out in a compound that used to be a large mansion which housed S'aleth and her family.
S'aleth's father was a former politician in the Dvrakian Consortium, who, upon the announcement of his people's surrender, resigned from his position in protest. Now though, he was the leader of the Thexkarian resistance, which was one of many revolutionary groups which had popped up within Dvrakian Space.
He had invested a substantial sum of money into the reconstruction of his family's villa. It was no longer a simple mansion, but was now a military compound with a series of highly advanced bunker complexes. Where did he get the finances, weapons, and materials to build this place? From the Ghimderi Trade Union, of course.
As if blessed by the heavens, the various Dvrakian resistance movements now found themselves entirely funded, supplied, and trained either directly by the Goldentooth Cartel or via its proxies. Many of which were more adept at warfare than a race as physically pathetic as the Ghimderi.
However, just when S'varin Tavarian found that his plans were reaching fruition, he received a report from one of his agents who was embedded within the newly formed Dvrakian Republican Guard, that his daughter had done the unthinkable, and taken one of their filthy conquerors as a lover.
Because of this, he reached out to S'aleth and convinced her to return home after her leave had begun, where he immediately imprisoned the girl in the compound's brig. S'varin could not believe that his own flesh and blood had betrayed their race in such a disgusting manner, and if not for the pleas of his wife, he would have killed his daughter on the spot just to restore the honor of his bloodline.
S'aleth never admitted to her deeds, but S'varin trusted his source, and thus, he would routinely torture the girl for lying to him. He wanted a name of who in his eyes she had whored herself out to. Specifically, because he wanted to personally bleed the man dry, and feast on his flesh.
By now, S'varin and many of his people had become the true devils that humanity once believed existed as a part of their mythos. They wanted their vengeance, and they would have it no matter what the cost. Even if they had to resort to some rather barbaric methods.
S'aleth was currently stripped naked and bound to the rafters. Her body was covered in bruises, and her tears had never stopped flowing since her discussion with Erich. Still, despite this, she did not dare say a word about who she was just talking to, because if she did, Erich would become the target of her father's vengeance.
S'varin once more whipped S'aleth's heavenly figure with a laser whip, an act which scorched her crimson flesh, and left yet another burn mark upon. All the while, he demanded an answer to the question he had asked of her time and again.
"I want a name, S'aleth! Who were you talking to? I deliberately allowed you to escape from your cell to find out who you were sleeping with! I know it was a German! Communications to those wretched fiends are the only ones that we can't track! You will tell me a name! Or I will end your miserable existence, no matter what your mother might have to say on the matter!"
Yet S'aleth continued to bite her tongue while refusing to speak on the matter. No matter how much physical abuse she endured from her own father, she would never rat out Erich to the Thexkarian resistance. This only continued to infuriate S'varin, who was just about to lash the girl across her pretty face with his chain, when another member of his species entered the room.
The man was dressed in a suit of power armor that, while not as advanced as the models used by the Germanic Star-Marines, was capable of providing adequate defenses against most Germanic weapons. In his hands was not a rail gun, but instead a plasma rifle.
It was abundantly clear to S'aleth that her father's men were being supplied by outsiders, but she had no idea who. However, the next words the man spoke truly shocked her, as she was finally able to identify the culprit who was trying to cause another war between the Dvrakian race and the Germanic people.
"Commandant, the Trade Prince is on the line. He wishes to speak with you about our timetables."
There was only one group of people in the galaxy who used the title of "Trade Princes," and the moment S'aleth heard this, she immediately chastised her father for his recklessness.
"Father, please don't tell me you have gotten into bed with the Ghimderi! You know what they are like! They will bleed our worlds dry of their resources, and we will be left with nothing! Such a fate is so horrific that it would honestly be better to have the Germanic Star-Empire in control. At least they preserve the worlds which they live upon!"
While the Ghimderi had done much to manipulate galactic society's opinion of themselves, specifically making it a taboo to speak ill of them. Many races secretly spoke amongst themselves about how much they despised the goblinoids. After all, there was nothing to respect about a race of greedy, amoral bankers who used their power and influence to subvert and destroy every civilization that they came across.
In the long history of the Ghimderi race, they had been nomads without a home world, and throughout the millennia they had been expelled by one hundred and twelve different civilizations who had all agreed that they were a subversive parasite that simply could not be tolerated in any capacity.
Of course, they never looked towards themselves as the problem, rather, they blamed everyone else for being prejudiced against them. In fact, it was this exact failure to take responsibility for their actions, and change, that had led so many interstellar civilizations to despise the Ghimderi Race, even if they could only express such a sentiment while behind closed doors.
Naturally, S'varin knew the truth about his new benefactors, but whether he was naïve enough to believe that they would not be able to subvert and destroy the independent Dvrakian civilization he intended to create, or it was simply arrogance on his behalf, he chose to ignore his daughter's warnings, and instead whipped her across her face, and thus searing the flawless skin of the Dvrakian Beauty, before scolding her for her words.
"I would rather be in debt to the Ghimderi for eternity, then see those Golden haired fiends prey upon my own beloved daughter with impunity! You have brought dishonor to your family, and one day soon you will pay the price!"
S'aleth did not say a word, instead all she wanted was to find a way to contact Erich, and alert him to this sudden and shocking information that she had just born witness to.
---
Erich was immediately called into the hangar of the carrier which he served upon. Standing by his side were the other members of his unit, while the Wing Commander had a grave expression on his face as he described the situation at hand.
"As of this moment, we are once more at war with the Dvrakian Race, or should I say those separatist elements which have decided to take up arms against our great Empire. At approximately 19:00 hours last night, an instructor at the Naval Academy was assassinated. Through means we do not yet understand, his Neurolink was compromised, and his memory bank was wiped clean.
To put is simply, Commander Vernik Ekberg is dead, and he is not coming back… The IIS believes that the ones responsible were rogue units of the Dvrakian Republican Guard who had smuggled an obsolete piece of military hardware, and a dangerous one at that, out of one our munitions depots, to a rebellious faction located on this planet: Thexkar.
The Thexkarian Resistance is led by a former politician of the Dvrakian Consortium by the name of S'varin Tavarian. He is, in fact, the father of one of the pilots who I know that at least one of you has personally trained. We do not know the extent of Ensign S'aleth Tavarian's connection with the Thexkarian Resistance, but we know she is currently located in their compound.
From what we understand, the Thexkarian resistance, as well as many of the other rebellious factions, has been outfitted with some serious equipment from what we have determined to be a sub-galactic power. However, we do not know the identity of this supplier, and because of this, we do not know the exact offensive capabilities that the Thexkarian resistance now possesses.
I won't lie to you. This mission will be dangerous, and the possibility of permanent death is likely, as the Thexkarian Resistance has somehow obtained the ability to tamper with our NeuroLink. So, I am looking for volunteers. All of you are more than welcome not to participate in this operation, but for those who do, there is at least a Knight's Cross of the Iron Cross in store for you.
Your objective will be to fly and or protect a dropship to the world of Thexkar and, covertly, land outside the terrorist's compound. From there, a special forces team will infiltrate the facility and extract the targets. Which of course is none other than Ensign S'aleth Tavarian and her father S'varin. Once safely aboard the dropship, you will return to the fleet.
The moment that S'aleth and her father are back on the carrier, they will immediately be sequestered for interrogation, where we will learn about the identity of their supplier, how they managed to slice into our NeuroLink, the extent of their terrorism network, and any assets they may have embedded in the Imperial Navy.
I will reiterate, the compound is protected by weapons provided by an unknown sub-galactic power. If you are detected and targeted, the chances of suffering a permanent death are astronomical. So, do I have any volunteers?"
There was only one man who dared to raise his hand, and that was Erich. There were two reasons that Erich had volunteered for this mission, despite the alleged risks involved with it. One, he knew for a fact that it was not the Thexkarian resistance which had killed Commander Vernik Ekberg, and two, he had already planned to rescue S'aleth himself, and now that he was fully aware of the danger she was in, he would stop at nothing to save her from her own father, and exonerate her of any criminal charges that might be brought against her.
Commander Erwin Wulf sighed heavily as he realized that he only had one volunteer. He was hoping for a proper armed escort, but since the rest of his unit were either unwilling, or simply too scared to commit to the operation, he was forced to salute Erich with the utmost respect, before sending the man on his way.
"Silber, it figures that you would be the one to volunteer for such a suicidal mission. Alright, very well, I hope you know how to pilot a drop ship, because one wrong move and you are as good as dead. Everyone else, dismissed!"
With this said, Erich quickly attached his helmet and entered the drop ship, which already had the special forces team on board waiting for the operation to begin. He did not hesitate to request clearance for take-off before piloting the vessel towards the world of Thexkar.