Interstellar Age



Having killed Mirage for the second time in his life, Erich now found himself in a precarious situation. If he did not manage to destroy the facility and escape with his life, then the mission would be a failure, and he would have to do it all over again.

Of course, if he were to attempt this training operation again, then he would be unlikely to scavenge another set of stealth power armor. Thus, he was extremely cautious with each step he took, as he slowly and covertly made his way to the bunker's reactor, which powered it. 

After all, this was the plan that Tia had come up with that had the most likely chance of success. With this in mind, Erich stalked through the hallways, hiding behind whatever cover he could whenever he encountered another person, while making sure his active camouflage was maxed out in its power. 

He had an extremely limited amount of time before the enemy found Mirage's body, and thus he could only take a few stops, because if he waited too long the sirens would blare across the bunker, and every soldier stationed within it would be placed on high alert.  By then, escaping would be nigh impossible, let along remaining undetected.

After what seemed like a lifetime to Erich, but was in reality only three minutes, he finally arrived at the antimatter fusion reactors which powered the facility. Luckily Erich had cyberkinesis, or else he would have an extremely difficult time rigging the thing to blow. 

With his mind, Erich hacked into the computer system which regulated the reactor, and set it to meltdown. He also disabled the alarm so that nobody in the facility would be alerted to this reality. And in doing so, taking out not only the bunker complex, which was the mission control station for the enemy, but all the agents and soldiers in it. 

After doing exactly this, Erich could hear Tia's voice as she warned him just how little time he had to steal a shuttle and get out of dodge. 

"In approximately five minutes, this thing will blow up the entire bunker, and half of the moon with it. At your current rate, you will not make it to the Hangar. Your options are to either drop your active camouflage, and briskly make your way to the hangar bay, hoping that nobody realizes you are the enemy. Or to outright abandon your power armor and quickly disguise yourself as a member of the facility."

After saying this, Tia looked rather tense, as if she believed that Erich would indeed abandon her, considering by her calculations disguising himself as a member of the bunker complex was his most likely way to make it to the Hangar in the appropriate amount of time, and without revealing himself. 

However, Erich's words shocked the AI, as he sternly voiced his resolve in a low voice so nobody could hear him.

"I'm not abandoning you Tia, we have been through too much already for me to ever do such a thing. Win or lose, we will do so together!"

After saying this, Erich deactivated his active camouflage and equipped his plasma rifle in a lowered position. He then began to walk rather hastily towards the hangar, while completely ignoring those around him. Only he could hear the joy in Tia's voice as she spoke the words she was thinking aloud. 

"Master!"

Interestingly enough, nobody looked at Erich as if he were out of place. This was because the WRAITHs were able to come and go from the bunker complex without incident. They assumed that since Erich was already inside, that he was not the target of the operation, but was rather a member of one of the WRAITH teams whose identity had already been verified prior to his entry. 

And because of this, nobody dared to get in his way. This allowed Erich to make the journey to the Hangar Bay of the bunker without incident. However, the moment he entered his target destination, he noticed that there were several guards protecting the shuttles. 

Realizing that there was no way for him to actually talk his way out of this, Erich did not hesitate to raise his plasma rifle and fire a burst towards the men who stood in his way of completing his goal. And though the noise of the combat drew the attention of those who monitored the station, Erich successfully eliminated the unsuspecting marines before reinforcements could arrive. 

He immediately hopped into the shuttle, and used his cyber kinesis to activate the engine and controls, where he then also used his mind to open the hatch of the hangar that would allow him to escape. 

Before anyone could stop him, the shuttle had taken to the air. And though the anti-aircraft weapons of the outpost attempted to fire upon Erich, he was too skilled of a pilot to get hit by such things. Thus, he quickly sped off of the moon's surface and into space, where he then noticed a massive explosion occur on the ground. 

Undoubtedly, that was the antimatter reactor which he had set to explode. Sure enough, it took out a large chunk of the moon with it. Including everyone in the bunker and the surrounding outpost. With this completed, Erich could finally sigh in relief, however he could not fully relax because in the very next moment his ship received a communication from Germania. 

Instantly, Emrys's figure appeared as a holographic projection with a wide smile on his face. Erich did not know why the man was so happy, or at least until he finally spoke with an excited tone in his voice. 

"Well done, Erich. Once more, you have truly set yourself apart from your peers. Nobody in the history of the WRAITH program has ever defeated the pursuing forces. The Operations Commander is dead, the command post is destroyed, and half of the moon is with it, including most of the marines and special operations forces who were deployed to hunt you down. 

If this were an actual battlefield, the enemy would be in such a state of disarray that there is no way they could possibly pursue you. Needless to say, you have passed the first step of your training with flying colors, and have earned the first tier of WRAITH certification. Because of this, I will approve your deployment to your unit, as their pilot immediately. I am sure nobody will have any complaints about this after your performance just now!"

Erich could hardly believe his ears, did he just pass another impossible test? He was starting to think he was a little too talented for his own good. But the Supreme Leader seemed happy with his performance, and because of this, Erich did not dare say anything that might ruin the mood. 

Of course, he had many questions on his mind, and was quick to ask about the matter which he was most curious about.

"What about Mirage? What happened to her?"

Emrys raised his brow in curiosity for just a second, as if he did not recognize who Erich was referring to, until he remembered an important detail. He then chuckled and explained to Erich that she was indeed fine and well.

"Mirage? Oh, you mean Captain Kuhne? I assure you, she is already being cloned as we speak. Although she will be fine after some proper rehabilitation, I am sure she is more pissed at you than ever. I mean, the look on her face when you pulled that knife on her? It was simply glorious! 

But enough about that. Report to my office on Germania. There are some things we need to discuss before I deploy you to your new assignment."

Erich did not hesitate to salute Emrys before responding in the affirmative to the man.

"Yes, Sir!"

Erich could hardly believe that this whole ordeal was finally over with, but he was indeed happy about his performance. Yet, despite this, he did not feel comfortable. In fact, after living in absolute paranoia for three months with little rest, Erich was starting to believe he might never feel comfortable again in his life. But that was a problem for another time.