Interstellar Age

Immediately after defeating the first wave of Banshees and their attempted ambush, Erich checked on his teammates to see if they were okay. He quickly activated his comms and inquired about the wellbeing of his comrades. 

"Everybody alright? Do I need a medivac any of you cunts?" 

Immediately everybody responded in the negative, giving every WRAITH a sense of relief. Afterward, one of the soldiers beneath Erich's command quickly interrogated him about what had just happened.

"What the fuck was that all about? Those fuckers attacked are with live munitions. Are they fucking serious? On another note, how the hell did you know they were there?" 

Erich immediately lied on the spot about his ability to detect the Banshees when nobody else in his unit could do so. 

"I have no fucking idea why they all of a sudden started trying to kill us, but I get the feeling that this isn't over just yet. Reload and resupply. As for how I knew, I'm normally deployed with a bunch of W-7s. My AI is more advanced than yours. I also overclocked her abilities temporarily with my cyber kinesis. It was enough to pick up their signatures within a five hundred meter radius.

Which isn't much.... They could have snipers with eyes on us at this very moment, and I wouldn't be able to tell, so I say it's best if we hunker down and wait for reinforcements. Somebody gets on the comms and alert high command that the enemy is shooting to kill! Hopefully, they can find out what has happened."

The comms operator immediately shook his head and gave the team some bad news. 

"That's not going to happen. The moment they started firing live weapons at us, I requested reinforcements. Comms are fucking dead. I can't get in contact with anyone, not even other nearby units. They're jamming us, I don't know what the hell we have done to piss off the Elves, but they are seriously trying to kill us, aren't they?" 

This was the worst possible news that the team could receive. Especially since they were already in a dire situation to begin with. Which Erich was quick to convey. 

"You mean to tell me that we're stuck about an hour our from the main base, surrounded by god knows how many enemies, all of which are trying to kill us, with no reinforcements, and no resupply? Fuck!

Alright, we can't stay here. We will eventually be surrounded and overrun. I say we make a break for it back to base. Besides, we might not be the only ones being targeted with live weapons. High command needs to be made aware of this."

Just as Erich said this, an energy bolt slammed into one of his men's chest. Though it did not manage to penetrate the armor and kill the man, it continued to burn at a high temperature, causing substantial damage to the armor. Realizing that they were once more under attack, Erich gave out his next command to the unit, which didn't really need to be said. 

"Take cover!" 

Another few shots landed towards Erich and his men, but they had already begun to move, and narrowly escaped them. Once behind cover, Tia began to reach out and search for the enemy. Like Erich had feared, they had become surrounded by someone a hundred hostiles, all of which were among the most elite special forces that the Alfheim Dominion had at their disposal. 

Tia's voice cracked with anxiety as she informed Erich of this reality. 

"Master! We are surrounded!" 

Despite this grim reality, Erich did not lament, instead he simply smirked as he spoke his thoughts aloud. 

"Good! That simplifies our little problem, now doesn't it?" 

After saying this, Erich returned fire against a nearby Banshee. He fired a three-round burst, which one of the bullet struck his target in the leg. Causing her to fall to the ground because the limb was completely stunned and incapable of moving. Erich then followed up with another three-round burst which struck the woman's breastplate, making her body completely immobile. 

As he did this, Erich cursed out loud, bitching about his current lack of firepower. 

"I really wish I had a plasma rifle right about now!"

As he expected, another one of his comrades, who was firing on the enemy, responded in a similar manner. 

"You and me both, fearless leader!" 

The man was immediately struck from behind after saying this. A giant plasma spear stuck through his chest, killing him on the spot. Which Erich immediately turned around and stunned the banshee responsible. Before running up, and stomping her skull in with his superior strength, turning her head into mincemeat. 

"You fucking bitch! I'll kill every last fucking one of you!" 

Erich then grabbed hold of the plasma spear and threw it into the air as if it were a javelin. Where it pierced through the chest of another Banshee who died screaming. He then fired another torrent of stun bolts towards the enemy. Causing three more Banshees to hit the ground, almost as if they had died on the spot. 

Two more banshees came at Erich with plasma spears, which he directed at their blades with his stun knife. After doing so, he kicked one of the two women in the gut, sending her flying over thirty feet in the air, before she crashed on top of a large and spiky rock which impaled her. He then bitch slapped the other Banshee so hard in the face that her neck snapped from the impact. 

Erich was not the only one using his superior size and strength to his advantage. After he was smaller and weaker than many of his comrades, specifically because he was not born with the purpose of becoming an elite infantry soldier, or even a special forces operative. He was born with the purpose of leading men, and because of this, height and strength were not nearly as important as other factors. 

While Erich was a little over two meters tall, the other men in his unit were all over 2.1 meters tall. Which gave them a serious advantage in melee combat against the Light Elven women who, on average, stood at 165 centimeters tall. It was almost as if a race of giants, clad from head to toe in armor, were fighting against lightly armored human women. 

And the melee engagements displayed this difference in size and strength in a way that would simply be humorous if it weren't for the fact that these two distinctive groups were currently killing one another. 

---

Celestia watched as the battle unfolded between her Banshees and the Germanic WRAITHs. She could not believe what she was witnessing. The enemy had not only spotted her invisible elites, but were rag dolling them, as if they were mere children. Alfheim technology might be significantly more advanced than that of the Germanic Star-Empire, but the Light Elves were much weaker as a species. And this was proving to be the deciding factor in the battle. 

She had already lost two companies' worth of Banshees. And after the WRAITHs lost their first men, they began executing the Banshees, who were simply stunned. And though only seven of the ten hostiles still remained, the Alfheim Princess was now worried that there was no way to conceal her actions from her mother. 

Celestia needed to find a scapegoat, and luckily for her, she had a brother who had been deployed at the beginning of this conflict, and who was likely already dead. Obviously she could pin this monumental failure on Celarion, which she began to think of the best way how while watching the rest of her forces retreat from the battlefield like a bunch of cowards. 

As for what to do with this Sage from another civilization, it's not like the Impress would believe her even if Celestia were to inform the woman of the matter. Nor would she realize the threat. All Celestia could do now was call off the attack, pretend like it was her deceased brother's fault, and try her best to get rid of Erich at the Centennial Ball. After all, they would have plenty of chances to mingle in that "peaceful setting" and it would not be impossible for her to slip something into the man's drink. 

Thus, after failing to capture Erich and eliminate his comrades. Celestia ordered her banshees to withdraw, and began to paint the incident as a fault of Celarion, who she believed was already killed by the Germanic WRAITHs in an act of retaliation.