Mass Effect: Lost Son of Terra

by Ares007

The Reapers had a system. They let Civilizations grow, then harvested once they were at their peak. What will happen when a wrench is thrown into that system in the form of Erwin Wolff. A broken man whose sole purpose was to kill Xenos. Pulled into a Xenophilic Galaxy. How will he deal with the Mass Effect trap and navigate new aspects of his life?

5. Chapter IV: Halcyon Days

Disclaimer: I do not own Halo, Warhammer 40k, Stellaris, Kaiserreich, HoI4, Clannad, or Mass Effect. This is a fanfiction, and I don't have ANY monetary reward for making it. This is purely for fun.

Author's Notes: So... big chapter. I originally planned on spacing out the events in this chapter over multiple smaller chapters. However, I just keep writing. The Furukawa family is from Clannad, I remember watching the anime when I was younger. I remember it being good, I watched an episode recently... it's cheesy, worth a try though. The characters are loosely based on those of Clannad, it helps me visualize the characters better. Might come back to this later and add original characters, looking back, I probably could have done that. Also; I'm going to change Erwin's shields from hard plasma shields to hard light shields.

I also want to bring up an issue with Mass Effect I had. I have no idea what they use for power, the lore is pretty sparse on the topic. It's a made-up world, so space magic is a valid excuse. However, even if it's scientifically inaccurate, I still like my space magic a little bit more refined. So, I'm going to say the Mass Effect universe uses compact batteries to initiate a reaction of some kind with Element Zero. I haven't had to go into detail about it in the story, so that might be as in-depth as I get. Same with Dark Matter technology. DM tech will be varied, like how a musket and 120mm smoothbore cannon both are kinetic weaponry.

I also expand on the history of Erwin's world in this fanfiction. It's based on Kaiserreich, a mod for Hearts of Iron 4. I love the mod, and it's defiantly worth a check. I'm not trying to offend anyone with this fanfiction, but it's my story and I like the idea of a flushed-out alternate history. This fanfic is becoming a mash-up of different universes, but only with little contributions from many Universes. Erwin's world is mostly a mashup between Warhammer 40k and Halo, but the story is based in the Mass Effect Universe. No other Universe is going to directly interact with Mass Effect. Erwin is OP, sure, but I want to have some forces that would require an OP main character to beat. For example the Reapers, and I might... MIGHT... have some psionic beings in there too. Similar to the chaos gods. That would happen much later IF it happens at all. I also want to do something with Shepard, I love Mass Effect, and I want him to play a role in the story. I also want him to be strong, I've played Mass Effect too much to have Shepard done dirty.

I want to thank everyone for reading, subscribing, favoring, and reviewing. I appreciate the support. I also find it cool someone halfway across the world would be reading my fanfiction in English.

Here's the next chapter. Thank you, and enjoy!

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Chapter IV

Halcyon Days

The buildings on Illium were strange but familiar. They were undoubtedly Human, yet strangely feminine. Not a surprise considering the Asari. Just strange seeing a tower of all things as feminine.

Erwin was raised in the German Empire then spent most of his life immersed in Anglian and Imperial culture.

The German Empire and Anglia are tier one Imperial states, therefore their architecture is considered Imperial styles. The imperial architecture was also considered an Imperial style.

The Germans tended to lean towards a more square geometry along with a more grandiose Victorian decorative style. On the opposite end, the American style is much more smooth with subtle curves and glass. American architecture was also an Imperial style. It was closer to Illium's architecture. However, it still attained that grandiose feeling.

Thousands of years ago; American, German, and other European originating cultures were considered Western. Years of cultural drift driven by political differences meant you couldn't just group the Europeans and Americans anymore. The differences between the Germans and Americans were as wide as the British and Chinese. That's not even including Imperial cultures that popped up on extraterrestrial bodies.

The Imperial style was a mixture of the two extremes; it was smooth and incorporated a bit of glass like the Americans, but still captured the grandiose and geometric nature of the Germans. The Imperial design was created by the Anglians, so there were aspects of Anglian design too.

Imperial culture in general was designed to be the foremost Human culture. The other Imperial states were guaranteed cultural protection, which was a major condition for the Chinese in particular for joining the Empire. Imperial culture was only to be enforced on new worlds, and the turncoats of the old Terran Confederacy.

Erwin looked around the apartment, he was in the central area, what seemed like an open living room. The interior design was an odd fusion of Asari and Japanese styles, but it was far from unpleasant. It was almost alien to Erwin.

The living room had a large L-section couch with each side stretching ten feet, it was also very wide. Erwin would be able to sleep comfortably on it. Why the family needed a couch that large? Erwin had no idea.

In the middle of the couch was a large coffee table, it had some hard light projectors. On the far side of the living room was a glass wall with a door that leads out to a balcony. On the right side of the room, hanging on the wall, was a large TV. The left side of the living room had an open staircase that led to an indoor balcony behind Erwin. The first story behind Erwin was the Kitchen, Dining room, and few other doors that led to different rooms.

"Yeah, they're well off."

"We're better off, I'll have you know."

"They probably didn't get their wealth from an Anglian Created Intelligence. What are you so defensive for, Ares?"

"It's not that I'm defensive, I'm just saying."

Erwin mentally rolled his eyes.

"Whatcha think?" Oriana asked.

"It's a nice home."

"Oh, come on! It's a great home!" Akio said, slapping the back of Erwin's armor.

The man had little modesty.

Kyou and Ryou were already panting themselves on the couch.

"Mom, can we watch a movie with Erwin?" Nagisa asked.

"That's up to Erwin, Munchkin. You get to skip school tomorrow, so you can do whatever you want."

Nagisa gave Erwin the "puppy dog eyes." Erwin looked over to Oriana, she was giving him a hopeful look, but not the full-on look.

"Sorry, little one. I'm exhausted."

Nagisa looked dejected but didn't pout. Oriana looked a little disappointed.

Erwin lightly signed.

"I'll tell you what. Tomorrow, I'll watch one."

Right after Erwin uttered those words, Nagisa got excited.

"Promise?" She held up her pinky finger to Erwin.

Erwin gave the girl his armor pinky. Nagisa wrapped her finger around Erwin's own, or at least she tried to. It was more along the lines of her placing the smaller finger on his large armored one.

"Promise."

She let go and smiled at Erwin, then ran off to her sisters. The adults made their way into the kitchen. It was large, had many expensive appliances, an island with bar stools, and a well-stocked liquor cabinet. It was styled in a more traditional Asari style, smooth lines with an occasional odd geometry.

Sanae and Oriana sat at the island on some bar stools, and Akio went towards the liquor cabinet. Erwin just stood on the other side of the island.

"I'll have the usual, Dear." Sanae called out.

"Me too, Dad."

"You want a drink, kid?" Akio asked him.

Erwin's eyebrow twitched.

"Sure, Old Man."

Erwin was pleased by Akio's glare.

Oriana and Sanae giggled at their banter.

Akio brought over two glasses for the girls, then came back with one for himself and Erwin.

"It's Asari Honey-mead," Akio told him.

"Thanks." He said gratefully.

Akio sat beside Sanae at the bar.

"These chairs are designed to hold Krogan, I'm sure it'll hold you." Oriana said.

She was calling him to sit by her psionically, and those wanting eyes weren't helping.

She was right. His suit's mass nullifiers made the armor only a small fraction of its true weight.

He went over and sat by Oriana.

"See, I don't bite." She said flirtatiously.

"Hn." Erwin made the noise quietly.

Erwin doubted it. Any girl this upfront with an Anglian, much less a Spartan, was more than capable of biting.

He took a drink of the mead.

Erwin was pleasantly surprised. He's never been much of a drinker, but some squadmates managed to drag him to a few bars before. The Asari mead was much sweeter than what he was used to, but it was mellow, not at all overpowering.

"I've never seen the Girls this open with someone." Sanae said.

Erwin over at her questionably.

"What do you mean?" He asked.

"The girls have never taken to someone so quickly. Nagisa was immediately open with you, and you're the first boy Oriana tried to pursue."

"Mom…" Oriana groaned.

Sanae just giggled, and Akio was moping.

"Is Nagisa not normally open with people?" Erwin asked.

Oriana decided to explain.

"Nagisa's always been reserved. She has trouble making friends, but as you can tell, she's wonderful."

Akio was quietly watching the girls in the living room from the island.

"She's just a little shy." Akio dismissed.

Erwin could tell he was worried about his Daughter.

"She's a good kid. I'm sure it's only a matter of time before kids clamor over being her friend. Also, it won't be long before the boys try dating her." Erwin said the last part teasing the father.

Akio puffed angrily.

"Like hell! No one's allowed to date, my Daughters."

"Dear, you want grandkids one day, right?"

"Whatever." Akio grumbled.

Oriana was blushing up a storm. It didn't take psionic powers to realize what she was thinking about.

"Great, we just met and she's thinking of kids." Erwin thought.

"It's natural. She's unique and applies herself, but she's still young. The bond that formed between the two of you, is strong. Then there's that slipup with the eyes. She probably doesn't even see you as a stranger." Ares defended.

"I get it. Excuse her clingy behavior. You like this girl, don't you?"

"Hell yeah, I do! She's the perfect mate. Strong, smart, kind, family-oriented, protective, and hot as hell."

"Okay, you made your point."

"No, I'm serious. Her physical appearance alone is borderline unnatural, I've put her up against models, and even they aren't as attractive. Then to be a young healthy girl that looks like that, and turn out with her personality… She might be out of your league. Don't worry, I'm still rooting for ya."

Erwin sat with them for five minutes. They had small pleasant conversations, and Erwin finished his drink.

"It's been nice talking to y'all. However, I should be going to bed now." Erwin excused himself from the island.

"Do you need help getting out of the armor?" Oriana asked.

Erwin looked at her with a deadpan expression.

"Oh my! How forward of you, Oriana." Sanae teased.

Oriana blushed hard.

"No! I-I was just trying to be polite! Dad would be the one helping you!" She stammered.

"What!? Why me!?" Akio yelled indignantly.

"You want our daughter to help a young man out of his Armor?" Sanae asked her husband.

Akio gave his wife a halfhearted scowl.

"Do you need help out of that armor, kid?" Akio asked him genuinely.

Erwin grinned at the interaction.

"No, I'm okay. I'm used to doing it."

"Where exactly do y'all want me to sleep?" He asked.

"The guest bedroom is down that hall, to the right, Dear." Sanae said sweetly.

"Thank you. Goodnight, I'll see y'all tomorrow." Erwin said before he walked towards the hallway.

"Goodnight, dear."

"Night, Kid."

"Goodnight, Erwin."

Oriana was the last to say goodnight, it was hard to walk away from. Her voice was silky smooth, gentle, and compassionate. She psionically prodded a little for something.

As Erwin walked to the guest room he sent her something along the lines of an affectionate goodbye.

He smiled in amusement at her reaction. Erwin was standing in front of the door to the guest room. Oriana was nowhere in sight, but he could feel it.

Erwin walked into the guestroom. It was similar to a nice hotel room. There was a large bed capable of supporting a Krogan, TV, couch, coffee table, closet, and desk. The guestroom also had an attached bathroom.

Erwin walked into an open portion of the room.

"Let's get this over with. Are you sure, you don't need their help? You're pretty injured." Ares asked.

"Yeah. I've been through a lot worse."

He placed his helmet back on his head.

He raised his arms, making a T-pose, then moved them forward at an angle.

Erwin sent the command to begin the process of removing the armor, through his neural lace.

The suit made a slight hissing noise, followed by the soft clicking of metal. Hard light pushed some of the armor plates open and even pushed some completely off of Erwin. The armor plates moved enough for Erwin to step out of the armor from the rear.

He stepped back with his right foot first, not wanting to place most of his weight on the broken left fibula. The black under armor, and other multiple layers of the armor underneath, seemed to just melt away from Erwin.

Erwin stood in the room bare naked, the only thing on him was a makeshift cast on his left calf and foot. It was made from the form-fitting undersuit. The undersuit was stylish enough for clothing, primarily made up of blacks and dark grey.

Another command was sent through his neural lace, for the armor to enter repair mode. The armor quickly collapsed in on itself, eventually forming a large rectangular shape. Hard light surrounded it, the repairs being made by a mixture of hard light and nanotechnologies.

The result was a dull blue rectangle, the size of a medium refrigerator. At the top, a small rectangular device floated out. Erwin grabbed the thin metal gadget, it was his phone.

The name "phone" stuck around as devices that size never really changed in their purpose. It had more computing power than all of Illium and could communicate instantly anywhere inside the Empire, but it was a phone.

It had a screen on the front that offered a perfect resolution, and six hard light projectors, three on the top, three on the bottom. Erwin never really had much time for entertainment, but the device had an absurd amount of media downloaded, courtesy of Ares. Books, movies, music; you name it, and the small device had it.

Erwin turned and headed for the bathroom. His body was covered in viscous medical fluids and blood. Out of the armor, every movement hurts. Lucky Anglians heal quickly, combined with the enhancements, and Erwin would probably be mostly healed by tomorrow.

Erwin walked into the bathroom and grinned.

It had a bathtub big enough for a few Krogan, the top sank below floor level. The bathtub was walled with glass on the front, as it was the only side not surrounded by a tiled wall. It was deep enough to require stairs, and there was a TV embedded on the back wall of the bathtub. Above and to the left and right were nozzles for a shower. The rest of the bathroom was luxurious, but nothing out of the ordinary.

After an hour-long bath, Erwin exited the bathroom feeling refreshed. Erwin turned the water temperature as high as it could go, and it managed to get to a temperature he enjoyed. The shower even brought up a warning, saying it was dangerous for anything but Krogan.

Drying off his short blond hair, Erwin threw the towel back into the bathroom. He laid down on the large bed, and almost immediately fell asleep.

Erwin woke up feeling sore, most of the pain from torn muscles was gone. Unfortunately, a lot of the bone fractures were not healed. Erwin would need to eat more Iron, Titanium, and Tungsten; to speed up the healing process. He could feel his fibula was still broken, but that thin membrane meant to hold bones together was probably formed by now.

Erwin got out of bed and checked the time through his neural lace. It was noon for Illium. He slept for fifteen hours. It's been a while since he's done that.

Erwin walked over to the glowing blue box. Luckily he didn't need to obtain anything for his armor to repair itself. The matter fabricators in the suit were running slowly, but the armor should be fully repaired in a few days. If it wasn't running on one backup zero-point reactor, then it'd already be repaired.

Erwin sent a command for his form-fitting undersuit to come out. Emerging in front of Erwin was his undersuit, minus the left calf and foot. The suit was suspended in air, back first, and open; ready for its master to step in.

Erwin preferred as little clothing as possible, but it wouldn't do any good freeballing in front of the Furukawa family. Luckily the undersuit was light, maneuverable, and comfortable. He walked into the suit, and it morphed around his body. Once fully in place, the suit almost felt like a second skin. The only part of his body exposed was his hands and head.

Erwin walked out of the guest room and heard the Furukawas going about their various activities. He walked into the living room and found the three youngest girls playing some kind of video game with their father.

They looked over and just stared at Erwin. Nagisa in particular was blushing up a storm.

"About time you go up, I was about… to…" Oriana said as she woke out of the kitchen, but her words died in her throat.

Oriana's face turned red, and Erwin could practically cut the lust she was projecting. Her eyes drank up every inch of Erwin.

Erwin squinted in confusion.

Once Oriana met Erwin's eyes she looked down in embarrassment.

Sanae decided to walk out of the kitchen to see what put her daughters in such a state. She was only able to see her children, as Erwin was right at the edge of the living room.

"Oh, my!" Sanae covered her mouth in mock shock.

"What's wrong?" He asked.

"Um… n-nothing, you just… um… I like your clothes?" Oriana sputtered.

"What she's trying to say is she likes the way you look in those tight clothes." Sanae corrected her daughter.

Erwin sighed. He wasn't used to being about civilians. His undersuit was always accepted on Imperial warships. It wasn't skin tight, it was only as thick as a leather jacket at its thickest locations. Though, it was form-fitting.

It showed the outlines to all his major muscle groups.

"I'm sorry, I don't think this was too revealing." Erwin said.

"Oh, no. It's fine, much more modest than what some Asari wear. You just wear it well. Though, I don't know Nagisa and Oriana were such perverts." Sanae teased her daughters.

Nagisa yelped, and quickly went back to her game.

"I'm not a perv." Oriana said, as she crossed her arms under her breast and shifted most of her weight to her left leg.

She was still blushing. However; her stance was screaming sexy, confident, and sassy. Oriana was wearing a similar dress as last night, but this one was mostly blue with some purple patterns.

"Quit flashing my kids, Kid." Akio commanded in jest.

"I'm not flashing anyone, Old Man." Erwin replied with a fake spitefulness.

"Anyway… did you have anything planned for today?" Oriana asked, dismissing the previous situation with convincing false confidence.

"Do you have a decent ship for us?" Erwin asked Ares.

"Yeah, I can get us a stealth frigate from the Alliance. Just like the Normandy, Shepard used to hunt down Saren."

"How'd you do that?"

"Simple, a few bribes and blackmails topped off with total access to any digital system the Alliance owns."

"That'll do. It only needs to get us to an isolated system."

"How do you want to modify the FTL? I can think of a few ways, but didn't know if you wanted to apply that super-secret Anglian engineering to the mix."

Even if Ares was trustworthy, only Spartans themselves were allowed to know how modern Imperial technology worked. The chances of Ares getting captured, and someone finding out how Imperial weaponry worked was not something the Empire was going to risk.

Hell, Erwin was to follow Imperial protocols to the letter. If he was responsible for ANYONE gaining access to Imperial technology, even by accident, he could face execution.

Not that Erwin disagrees with such a harsh stance. It was more than justified. The only reason Anglians and Imperials weren't extinct was due to the Empire's technological edge.

"No, I'm not going to put anything like that into a primitive warship. Just put in the best slipspace drive you're capable of." Erwin told Ares.

"Fine, but that's still pretty advanced stuff."

"Just create some battle droids. Add a self-destruct nuke for good measure. How long until it's ready?"

"Give me two more days."

"That long?"

"It's not like I have access to design seeds or Imperial nanotechnologies. I'm doing this the old fashion way. Matter transformers, and fusion reactors."

"Fine."

"Oh, come on… It's not that bad. Just speed a few days with Oriana."

If Erwin was honest with himself, that sounded pretty good.

"No, I'm free for the next two days."

"Good! In that case, why don't we go on a date tomorrow?" Oriana asked.

Erwin looked down at the blue-eyed girl. He could feel her want from the psionic connection. It'd be too troublesome to say no, not that he wanted to.

"Sure."

"Great! I don't have school tomorrow, so we can leave sometime in the morning. We'll have to get some clothes today, though."

Oriana was excited, to say the least.

"Then can we get ice cream today, if your date is tomorrow?" Nagisa asked Oriana from the couch.

"Sure, I don't see why not."

"There she goes making plans for me again."

Again, it's not like Erwin didn't want to go. The fight for a little bit of pride would be a pyrrhic victory at best.

"Can we go now?"

"No, Munchkin. Erwin just got up, give him a few." Oriana answered her little sister.

"Speaking of, you missed breakfast. Are you hungry?" Oriana asked Erwin.

"I could eat."

Oriana flashed him one of those stomach-turning smiles.

"Good, I'll cook you something." She said sweetly.

"It's fine Oriana, I don't want you to inconvenience yourself." Erwin said politely.

He figured she just wanted to get something from a restaurant, not make something.

"It's fine, dear. She was excited to show you her culinary skills." Sanae dismissed Erwin's concerns.

Oriana blushed but didn't deny it.

Sanae went to sit on the couch with the rest of the family.

"Okay." Erwin conceded.

"Got anything in mind?" Oriana asked.

"Anything with meat, I'm not a picky eater."

"I got something in mind." Oriana said before walking towards the kitchen.

"Do you need any help?" Erwin asked.

"No, I've got it. You can just chill on the couch."

Erwin just shrugged.

Ryou, Akio, Kyou, Sanae, and Nagisa were sitting in that order around the coffee table. They were all sitting on the floor using the couch as a backrest and had their legs under the table. The table had a padded blanket of sorts hanging from underneath, to keep heat in from their legs. It also looked like they had some pillow-like padding on the ground.

"Hey , do you want to play a game with us?" Nagisa asked.

"Yeah, it's fun!" Kyou added.

All three girls were giving Erwin the "puppy eye" look to some degree. Nagisa was giving it her best, practically begging Erwin with her little black eyes.

"Sure."

Erwin went to sit next to Nagisa. He decided to sit on the couch itself, not wanting to get his legs tangled with anyone.

"Just sit under the table, kid. It's big enough and more comfortable." Akio told him.

The table seemed to be six feet long, on each side. Erwin sank to the floor and crossed his legs under the table. Then leaned back against the couch.

Erwin had to admit, it was kinda conferrable.

"I've never sat at a table like this before." Erwin admitted.

"You don't get out much, do ya kid? It's very popular in the Alliance."

"I guess you could say I'm not from around here."

"Hn" Akio grunted curiously.

"A story for another time then?" Sanae asked.

"Yes. Now, what's this game I'm supposed to be playing?" Erwin redirected cheerfully.

The center of the table had two large TVs coming out from the center of the table. One for each side of the table. It was just Erwin and Nagisa on one side, everyone else was on the adjacent side.

Nagisa enthusiastically explained the game they were playing. The entire family was going to be playing, so it seemed like a social game rather than one for pure entertainment. Mario something, it was a racing game.

Erwin played three rounds with the family. It was a simple, but fun game. He won two times, and let Nagisa win the other. The one time Erwin lost, was the only time Nagisa was in second place. If Erwin through the game, Akio wouldn't have won.

That competitive side of Erwin sparked for a moment when he let Akio get close to winning, then took it away. His underhand tactics were subtle enough to be unnoticed, same as when Nagisa won. She didn't know he let her win.

It was in the middle of the fourth game when Oriana walked into the room with two plates of food for her parents. The family passed the game as Oriana proceeded to make a few trips between the kitchen and living room until everyone had a plate of food. Erwin's place had the most. She walked back in for the last time with her plate.

Oriana predictability sat next to Erwin on the floor. She also sat cross-legged, but she made sure Erwin and herself and some leg contact.

The dish she made…

"It's Chicken Alfredo, I hope you like it." Oriana said with some nervousness.

"Please... no one doesn't like your cooking." Akio boasted.

He gave Erwin a look demanding he like the food.

"Itadakimasu!" The family said before they ate.

"Japanese tradition before a meal. When in Rome…" Ares informed him.

For the first time in his life, Erwin was going to pander to a foreign culture.

"Itadakimasu." He said.

God help Erwin if he was caught by ODST saying that. They're known for being overzealous about the Imperial cause.

Erwin often questioned their sanity. The idea of being launched at a planet at hypervelocity speeds in a pod was a questionable action. Granted, Erwin took part in many of those orbital deployments with the ODST.

"Thank you, Oriana." That part he said gratefully and honestly.

The family was already digging in. Oriana however was watching Erwin hopefully, waiting for his approval of her food.

The dish wasn't something Erwin was unfamiliar with. He quite enjoyed it. Imperial ships had a large selection of food to choose from. Good military food was one of the problems solved by technology in Erwin's Universe.

Erwin took a bite with chicken and pasta, and he loved it. It was the best thing he's had in a long time. Perhaps it was the fact he had a beautiful girl desperately wanting him to like the dish. The psionic connection may have played a part in it too.

He wiped his mouth after he swallowed the bite. Oriana looked at him hopefully, she was equally nervous and excited.

He looked Oriana in the eye and smiled.

"It's fantastic." Erwin said softly.

"Really!?" Oriana responded with a soft enthusiasm.

"Yeah."

Erwin loved how she got excited about something so simple. They locked eyes for God knows how long. The psionic connection was exploding to life.

Erwin had managed to get control over the connection. However, in moments like this… sometimes that control slipped.

The moment was interrupted by Akio coughing loudly.

"Just eat your food, Kid." He grumbled.

Sanae playful slapped his forearm.

"Quite, I want grandkids one day." She lightly scolded her husband.

The entire family stopped eating and were staring at Erwin and Oriana.

"Mom, Dad!" Oriana protested.

Erwin grinned, he was quickly becoming attached to the family.

Time seemed to fly by; Erwin enjoyed his meal, played a few more games with the family, and later watched a movie.

"Mr. Erwin, what's your favorite Anime?" Kyou asked.

It was about twenty minutes after they finished the anime. That was a popular form of media in this Universe.

"We didn't have Anime where I'm from."

"Yes we do, you just don't like it." Ares corrected through the Neural Lace.

"Where are you from, Mr. Erwin?" Ryou asked nicely.

"You want to put your theory to the test?" Erwin asked Ares.

"It would be hard not to believe you. You're an eight-foot Human with hyper-advanced technology. You have glowing armor in the other room, being repaired with the help of solid light. Then the whole, 'glowing soul eyes.'"

"I'll take that as a yes."

"Tell you what, I'll show you." Erwin said.

He looked at Oriana.

"Can you get me the black device from the nightstand in the guest room?"

"Sure." She sprung up and practically skipped to the guest room.

The rest of the family gave him a curious look. Oriana came back with Erwin's phone.

Erwin already knew she sent him a message about the glowing blue box in the guestroom, thanks to the neural lace.

She sat back down, next to Erwin, and handed him the phone.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome." She said happily.

Erwin placed the phone near the center of the table and sent a signal for the two TVs to lower back into the table.

"I don't blame any of you if you don't believe me. However, the proof is right in front of you." He said.

"Does this have to do with your eyes?" Akio asked seriously.

"Yes."

"Are you Human?" He asked.

"Yes. However, I'm not part of your Humanity."

He signaled for the phone's hard light projector to activate. Above the table was a hologram of a planet and its moon. Half the planet was basked in sunlight, the other embraced in darkness. The light rotated around as the planet rotated.

Blue, green, brown, and grey; it was the homeworld of mankind. It wasn't Earth. No, this was Terra. The capital of the United Terran Empire.

It planet was floating in almost perfect resolution. As if Terra was shrunk down, and was now floating above the table.

"Wow!" Nagisa exclaimed.

"That's something." Sanae agreed.

"Go ahead and touch the hologram. You'll be surprised." Erwin said.

Oriana touched it first. Her eyes widened, and she inhaled sharply.

Each one of the family members touched a part of the hologram. The kids looked excited like they just found a new toy. The adults were amazed, but they understood the implications. The technology was exponentially more advanced than what was available. Akio would know; his father-in-law he worked for, owned a tech company that produced electronics.

Oriana and Sanae weren't ignorant either.

"Do you know what planet this is?" He asked the family.

"That's Earth, but it looks different." Oriana answered.

"No."

Oriana looked at Erwin questionably, he could feel her confusion through the bond.

Erwin activated his eyes and looked at each one of them. The pattern was a green circle around his pupil, the green line was waving slightly. The pattern indicated truthfulness. It was not something Erwin could fake biologically. If he was lying, the pattern would show them.

It was one of the reasons Anglians were considered trustworthy. They could project their intentions with the bioluminescence patterns in their eyes. The eyes were so advanced, they were almost magical. A final gift from the Precursors.

The family was amazed, but not necessarily shocked. The twins were shocked, but they weren't scared.

"That is Terra. We stopped calling it Earth eons ago. That is a different Earth, a different Universe, and I came from it." Erwin told them.

Oriana was like a deer in headlights and gasped. Sanae was shocked as was Akio, but he was much better at masking it. Nagisa, Kyou, and Ryou looked interested.

Erwin was not surprised the children were so calm, children's minds were malleable.

"So… how'd you get here?" Oriana asked after the shock subsided.

Erwin raised his eyebrow at her immediate acceptance.

"You believe me?" Erwin asked.

"I think everyone does, Kid. I'm going to go out on a limb and say those eyes can't lie." Akio said.

"It's biologically impossible to fake the pattern, I'm showing. I can turn it off, but can't fake it." Erwin explained.

"I couldn't explain how I got here. Parallel Universes should be impossible, so I have no idea."

"What I'm feeling… can it be faked?" Oriana asked fearfully.

She looked scared, and Erwin didn't like it. He hated that she was slightly afraid of him.

Erwin kept the green truthful pattern but added the calming and protective blue patterns.

"I swear to you, on the blood of my forefathers, it's real." Erwin said in a deathly serious voice.

Oriana looked relieved and even slightly moaned. Luckily it was quiet, so her parents probably didn't hear.

Erwin turned off the calm and protective pattern after he was sure he calmed down Oriana.

"How long have you been here?" Oriana questioned softly.

"Yesterday."

"Were you hurt?"

"Yes."

"How badly?"

"I've been through worse."

Oriana angrily moaned.

"Erwin…" she lightly demanded.

"I'm an Anglian, we're put together a little better than baseline Humans."

"Please…"

Oriana was worried about Erwin, he could feel it from the bond and see it in her eyes.

"Left fibula was completely fractured. Multiple minor to major fractures, but the fibula was the only one completely broken. Multiple torn muscles and tendons, and a few lacerations. The suit helps a lot, the lower left leg is locked to keep the bone straight."

"I'm sorry, I wouldn't have dragged you around if I knew how injured you were. Do you need any help?"

Erwin could feel Oriana's guilt and worry, she was genuinely concerned for Erwin. It felt good, the girl cared for him. Even if they met yesterday.

The psionic connection between them cannot be overestimated, even Anglian scientists don't know exactly how some Anglian biological processes work.

"No, my armor can heal me. Our medical technology is much more advanced than anything Illium has to offer. They couldn't do much."

He felt bad about worrying the family like this. He could tell even Akio was worried for him, but it's not like he could lie. His eyes would reflect that, plus he didn't want to lie to them. They took him in, off the streets.

"Dear, that sounds painful. Are you sure you don't need anything? It won't be any trouble, we have more than enough money for a hospital visit." Sanae dotted over the Supersoldier.

Erwin was filled with a little warmth over the motherly behavior from Sanae, it wasn't entirely unfamiliar. Many in the Matriarchy would constantly dote over Erwin. The Empress would specifically try and see Erwin whenever he was near Terra.

The Matriarchy would try and get him away from combat as often as possible, their care for Erwin only had the opposite effect on him. Erwin's lust for battle only grew.

All Anglians were related to the Emperor and Empress. Even if distantly related, Anglians were family.

However, the warmth he got from Oriana being worried was like a blazing star in comparison.

Erwin smiled.

"I have an odd request. I ordered some powdered Iron, Titanium, and Tungsten. Is it okay to have them delivered here?"

"Of course, Dear. What exactly do you need that for?" She was a little confused on why he'd need metal.

"It helps speed up bone growth. My bones are made up of an alloy called Adamantium. Its base components are made up of those three metals." Erwin explained politely.

"Oh."

"How?" Oriana asked.

"You're a curious little primitive, aren't you?" Erwin teased.

Oriana gave Erwin a lightheaded feminine growl.

"Primitive!?"

"I'm guessing you were a soldier?" Akio asked seriously.

"Short answer, yes. I was a part of the Imperial Intelligence Agency."

"Combat?" Akio probed.

Another flashback struck him. Erwin was back on the Halo installation for a millisecond before he brought himself back.

"More than you could imagine…" Erwin said somberly.

Akio and Sanae were silent, with sympathy in their eyes. Akio was in the military, and Sanae was married to the man. The three younger girls looked sad.

Erwin felt a small hand grab onto his own.

He looked down to find Oriana holding his left hand with her own. Then she wrapped her right arm around Erwin's left arm. Her head was resting against his arm.

Oriana had tears in her eyes.

A few of Erwin's feelings got through the bond. Her close physical contact was sending chills down Erwin's spine. He could feel her breast against his arm. Erwin castigated himself, he wasn't some virgin teenage boy.

He turned over his hand and interlocked fingers with Oriana.

"Don't go and cry. It's okay, it isn't nearly as bad as you're thinking." Erwin said softly and turned the calming and protective pattern back on.

It managed to stop the tears from forming.

"That was careless. I should have more control over the bond." He thought.

"Even Anglians get PTSD. Don't blame yourself, you've probably been through more than anyone." Ares consulted his Brother.

Oriana sniffed away the tears and nodded. Erwin turned off the blue patterns once more, not wanting to just flash the rest of the family with that pattern.

Not patterns can be faked, so he had to feel some protectiveness over the person of people targeted by his eyes.

"How advanced are your people?" Sanae asked.

Erwin wasn't sure if it was more for changing the topic, or curiosity. Either way, he was grateful.

Akio looked grumpy due to Oriana's close proximity but didn't say anything.

"Very. The reason you can touch that hologram is that my people have the technology to make light solid, to give it mass. Every aspect of our society is exponentially more developed."

"How so, aren't your people on a similar timeline? When did y'all discover Element Zero." Oriana asked quietly, somewhat surprised.

"Yes, but I suppose you could say I'm also from the future. You have fourteen thousand years of recorded human history. We have forty-one thousand, I'm about twenty-seven thousand years ahead. I'm from an entirely different Universe, even if they're parallel and have the same laws of physics. When it comes to Element Zero, my Humanity doesn't use it."

"Cool! What's it like? What's your games and movies like?" Nagisa exclaimed.

"Very different. I'll show you a few of them later." Erwin chuckled.

"H-How? That's not possible. If they're the same laws of physics, then how could you not use Ezo?" Oriana stammered out the questions quickly.

"There are much better methods for energy production, FTL travel, weaponry, and anything else you'd use Ezo for."

"What do you use for Energy? Nuclear, or something more advanced." Oriana prodded.

"The most advanced form of energy production is called a Dark Matter Dimensional reactor. No, I can't tell you how it works. It's highly classified. However; we use zero-point energy for backup power or cheap power production."

"V-Vacuum energy!? How? That can't be possible!" Oriana exclaimed.

Erwin grinned, she was a smart girl. However, she was taught an incorrect and primitive view of the Universe.

"Spoilers… Do you want me just giving you the answers? Though nuclear was a good guess, even our ancient fusion reactors were far superior to your Ezo reactors."

"Fine! First, tell me about your FTL, then your fusion reactors." Oriana pouted.

"My, my… you're awfully demanding, Munchkin." Sanae teased Oriana.

"Mom, I'm too old to be called that!"

"Oh dear, you'll never be too old. Now, stop being so demanding. It's not very lady-like." Sanae lightly scolded her daughter.

Oriana looked up at Erwin with "puppy dog" eyes.

"I'm sorry, I just want to learn. I'm interested. I've always been interested in technology and science." Oriana said with a slight undertone of seduction.

Oriana was dangerous, he was tempted to teach her how an old Terran fusion reactor worked. She wasn't faking anything either, she was skillfully redirecting real emotions. Even if it was in jest, she was nonetheless alluring. Those blue eyes were calling to Erwin.

Two can play at that game.

Erwin opened up the psionic connection. It was much calmer than when they first met but much more intense.

A plethora of pleasant feelings flooded Erwin, and the already beautiful girl became almost irresistible. Oriana grabbed onto Erwin a little harder, and her eyes glasses over with want.

"Erwin, don't do what I-" Erwin cut off whatever Ares was going to say.

Erwin was too preoccupied with Oriana's psionic presence, body pressing into his arm, and wanting eyes.

He leaned down so their faces were only a few inches away.

"Careful my little primitive, you're dealing with forces beyond your comprehension." Erwin flirted in a deep husky voice.

He flashed her a new pattern. A spiky blue circle with red flakes floating inside the pattern. It was the pattern for lust and want.

Oriana lightly moaned as she tried to strangle his arm. Erwin could smell her arousal, it was pushing away his sanity.

The moment was interrupted by Akio purposely coughing.

Erwin turned off his eyes and looked up. Oriana buried her head in Erwin's arm, trying desperately to hide from the embarrassment.

"You're on thin ice, Kid." Akio said as he scowled at Erwin.

Erwin wasn't entirely sure how serious the man was.

Sanae lightly slapped her husband upside the head.

"Don't threaten the boy, Oriana's eighteen, and we were much worse." Sanae rebuked her husband.

"However, try not to go that far in front of the kids." Sanae sweetly lectured Oriana and Erwin.

Mostly Erwin…

Erwin looked at the three younger girls. Nagisa found everything, but Erwin, interesting. Ryou was embarrassed and proceeded to play with her fingers similar to Oriana. Kyou was giving Erwin and Oriana a shit-eating grin.

"Ori likes Erwin." Kyou sang in a childish singsong.

"Sorry…" Erwin apologized had he grinned and rubbed the back of his head.

Akio seemed to think Erwin wasn't very sincere, and he'd be right. Sanae accepted it however, it's not like he was actually in trouble. He just barely crossed the line.

"You hormonal dumbass!" Ares berated his brother.

"Look, I said sorry…"

"Whatever. Good job, by the way."

"I thought you were angry."

"Yes, but also immensely proud."

"Can you please tell me about your FTL?" Oriana pleaded.

Erwin sighed.

"We use something called a slipspace drive, which basically lets you drill through the Universe. Yes, I was intentionally being vague. I'm not going to risk you trying to create one, a lot of very bad things can come from that. As for the fusion reactors, I'll go into a little bit more in-depth. However, this is a test of trust. You are not going to tell anyone how it works. Understand?" Erwin finished the last part sternly.

Oriana cutely nodded.

"Promise." She held out her pinky.

Erwin had many years of emotional control to thank for keeping his serious expression.

He wrapped his pinky around hers, sealing the promise.

"Good, I'll go into detail later. For now, you use tritium for fuel, and artificial gravity generators to initiate and sustain the fusion reaction. Simply apply enough artificial gravity to replicate the inside of a star."

"That was barebones, and you know it." Oriana pouted.

"True, but I'll show you it later. It's a lot more complicated than that, well not really, but there are a lot of issues from creating a miniature star."

"Fine." She huffed.

The next hour Erwin showed them various things from his Universe. Music, some CGI video series, sent Oriana and Sanae a few books, and even showed a few holograms of Imperial architecture.

"What do your warships look like?" Akio asked.

Erwin took on a cocky grin.

He pulled up a hologram of an Alliance Dreadnought and the Destiny Ascension. They were pitifully small ships to be called dreadnoughts.

"This is the largest ship in the Milky Way and an Alliance Dreadnought."

Akio nodded in agreement, the rest of the family looked fascinated.

Erwin pulled up a hologram of an Imperial Starship. It dwarfed the other two ships. The ship was four kilometers long. The ship had smooth aggressive lines and a bold geometric shape. It was black with straight crimson patterns, and a few blue lights. The starship screamed dangerous. It vaguely resembled a shark, with its shape. Obviously no fins.

Every member of the family was in awe.

"Damn, that's a hell of a dreadnought." Akio said in awe.

"Language, my Love." Sanae rebuked.

"Sorry…"

Erwin laughed, partly at a grown man being treated like a child and his assumption.

The family gave Erwin a questioning look.

"No, that's not a dreadnought."

Akio looked at Erwin with wide eyes.

"That is the smallest warship the Imperial Navy operates. It's the most numerous ship in the Imperial Navy, it's a simple destroyer."

"And, yes we use similar navel allegories."

"Then…" Akio was silenced once Erwin bright up an actual dreadnought.

Floating above the other ships, that were shrunken down; was a ship similar in shape to the destroyer, but blockier. The ship was just over a hundred kilometers long. The Destiny Ascension looked like an ant next to the Imperial behemoth of war.

"This is a Reach-class Dreadnought. It is the most powerful ship, the Imperial Navy fields. It's a hundred kilometers of Imperial might." Erwin spoke with pride.

They were going to name the first one after him, but he refused. They did let him name it though, as long as it was acceptable.

If you looked close enough, you could see white writing over the black ship. It was in the Germanized Latin language that unified the Empire's people.

This ship was the INS Reach.

"Holy shit…" Akio said dumbfounded.

Sanae didn't have it in her to correct her husband.

Oriana seemed to be wary of the warship floating in front of her.

"What's wrong?" Erwin asked her, as he looked down. She was still holding onto his arm.

"Why would your people need a warship that size?" She asked cautiously.

"Same reason anyone builds warships. To wage war." He answered as if it was obvious.

"But… If you build ships like that, it'll only cause others to try and build ships like that." Oriana softly argued.

"That goes into philosophy. In short, someone will always build a ship like that. We don't necessarily instigate war, but we'll finish one."

"How can there be peace if people make warships like that? Shouldn't diplomacy be the first course of action?"

"No. War will always be a part of life. The Universe has one rule, and that's survival of the fittest. My people were taught that lesson multiple times throughout history. Even in diplomacy, the one with the most power will always come out on top."

There was a pregnant silence. Erwin and Oriana were debating almost compassionately, but it was clear they had some moral differences.

Even after the small debate Oriana still held onto Erwin. If one was to observe them from the outside, they'd assume they knew each other for months, not days.

"What kind of damage can that thing do?" Akio asked, he was almost excited by the massive ship hanging ominously in the living room.

Sanae seemed to be on Oriana's side as she gave her husband a disapproving look, yet there was a level of understanding.

Nagisa and the twins were too young to have an opinion on such matters. Nagisa understood what that starship represented, to some degree. The twins just thought it was cool.

"Yeah, how powerful is it!?" Nagisa enthusiastically asked.

"One of the armaments is a heavy rail gun. They're spaced throughout the body of the ship in double turrets. They accelerate a six hundred tone neutronium projectile to eighty percent the speed of light. This ship has dozens spaced throughout the hull, and that's not even accounting for the spinal mounted Tachyon and Hard Plasma Lances."

"That's powerful, right?" Nagisa asked.

"Yeah… much more powerful than an Alliance Dreadnought." Akio told his daughter. He was having trouble grasping the power of such a weapon.

"To destroy an entire world… Erwin… it shouldn't exist." Oriana was aghast as she spoke carefully.

"That's where we'll have to disagree, Oriana. My people are capable of turning a barren world into a paradise, or turning paradise into its base molecular components." Erwin was not ashamed of the Empire's capabilities, and its willingness to use it.

He'd wait a while to truly explain what was done to his people, and… what he has done to others.

"You're a pacifist." Erwin said, looking down at Oriana.

"Yes."

"You're a warrior." She looked back up at Erwin.

"Yes."

"I hate war, it's stupid. To take life for mere politics. I don't hate you, though. I don't even think less of you, I just don't like war. Even if fighting is sometimes necessary." Oriana told Erwin with a quiet conviction.

"I'm not going to look down on you, Oriana. Even if pacifism is a silly ethic."

Oriana softly smiled at him.

Erwin had to admit, that was no way he could think less of this girl over her view of war. She grew up in a weak and peaceful Galaxy.

She's not trying to force her belief on Erwin, but she's not backing down. Erwin could live with that.

"You said 'Imperial' multiple times. Does that mean what I think it does?" Akio asked.

Erwin looked up from Oriana.

"Yes. Humanity is unified under an Empire in my Universe. The United Terran Empire, to be exact." Erwin explained.

"Why would such an advanced society be governed by a dictatorship?" Sanae asked.

Akio and Oriana seemed to agree with the sentiment.

"No, it's not a dictatorship. More along the lines of a constitutional monarchy."

"We have a different outlook. There are still elements of democracy in the Imperial Congress. In practice, our citizens enjoy more personal freedoms than people in the Universe."

"How do y'all enjoy more freedoms?" Oriana asked.

"Imagine the old American Bill of Rights, then add twenty more amendments onto that. Each right is guaranteed by the Emperor. That's one of his primary responsibilities, along with being the Executive branch of government."

"Then why an Empire if y'all value freedom so much?" Oriana asked again.

"Imperial citizens still practice democracy in elections, but Monarchies never went out of style. The Emperor of Mankind is seen as the first line of defense for freedom. Namely from oligarchs and corruption. Our history is quite similar up until what you would call 'World War One.'" Erwin said.

"How so?" Oriana was curious.

She was still glued to Erwin. She seemed very comfortable. Unfortunately, or fortunately for Erwin, some of her assets were rubbing against him.

"The war still happened in my time, however, it was much shorter. Germany fortified the western border and focused on Russia first. Then smashed through the French border, it was a bloody few weeks. The British still joined, but by the time they were on the continent in power, Paris was already under German control. That war set off the Age of Empires." Erwin told them.

"So, y'all embraced Imperialism when we cast off the outdated practice." Oriana said with some spitefulness.

Erwin didn't necessarily blame Oriana, she was raised on Illium. He didn't fully understand how she could be spiteful and still hold onto him with compassion.

"We never saw it as an outdated practice. Perhaps the Americans did, along with a few minor European nations. The major powers, minus America, were all Empires."

"So, when did the 'Age of Empires' end?" Sanae asked.

"In a way it didn't. All the unifying powers of the Empire were themselves all Empires, excluding Anglia and America. The German Empire, Tsardom of Russia, Chinese Hegemony, British Empire, and French Empire all survived to colonize the stars. Each one held thousands of star systems at their height."

"So, y'all always had Imperialism?" Akio asked, he was not happy with the idea.

"Yeah, Empires were solidified during the last major war on Earth."

"What was that?" Akio was curious.

"The last major war on Earth was ironically similar to your 'World War Two.' The Japanese Empire, British Empire, Commune of France, and Tsardom of Russia teamed up to take on the German Empire."

"I'm guessing the Germans lost?" Akio guessed.

"Japan and Britain also pulled the Americans into the war. American was undergoing its second civil war. Japan took all of American's Pacific islands and Hawaii. The British Empire even took the Panama Canal and New England. Unfortunately for Japan and Britain, the Federal Government managed to win the war quickly. At the time Anglia was a simple familial clan living in America, numbering only a couple of dozen. They weren't too keen on America being ruled by Syndicalists or National Populists, so some Anglians joined the Federal Army as Generals and Commanders. Four years later, and America was spitting out carrier battle groups at an insane rate. Germany managed to take out the Commune of France and was pushing the Russians back. America marched troops into Tokyo and took Canada. The Japanese were knocked out when the Americans dropped a nuke on Kyoto. The British switched sides, joining the Americans as allies. Leaving only the Tsardom of Russia."

"What happened to Russia, and what was Japan's fate?" Akio asked again.

He was more curious at this point, war was interesting to study. He also wanted to know what happened to his homeland, it was understandable.

"This is where things get interesting. Russia was going to lose, but America and Britain didn't want Germany gaining more land and resources. Germany had the second-largest fleet, and the only one capable of challenging America at this point. The Germans supported the National Populists during the American Civil War, so America was fearful of a powerful Germany. With Russian resources and German technology, the German Empire could easily make a navy capable of threatening the Americas. There was a conference held in Geneva. The leaders of America, Britain, Germany, and Russia met to discuss a peace treaty. American and Britain had to threaten German to join."

"In exchange for Russia gaining half of Ukraine, Germany would get its overseas colonies back, and even gain a few, namely French Africa. They were also given the Eastern side of the Suez canal. France would be allowed to reform as an independent republic, free of German influence, and wouldn't lose any territory. Germany accepted the terms but was not necessarily happy. It led to a rivalry between the United States and the German Empire." Erwin finished.

"And Japan?" Akio prodded.

Erwin sighed. He really couldn't blame him for wanting to know.

"Japan became an unincorporated territory of the United States. The Americans lost a lot of men to take Tokyo, and Japan occupied American land. America didn't want to worry about Japan threatening the West Coast again, so they neutered Japan's ability to wage war. They executed many of the higher-ups, including the Emperor of Japan. That led to many crackdowns by the US Military, eventually, one of the Emperor's family members was allowed to take a ceremonial role. Japan kept its independence to some degree. They had their own government, could keep their borders closed, but had to use the US Dollar. Japan just couldn't have a military. Over time Japan became a powerful nation and a cultural power." He explained.

Akio had a sour expression, the rest of the family had similar expressions to a lesser degree.

Erwin had some sympathy for the family. What this Universe calls fascism was rampant in Japan and Russia. Later on, it spread to Italy, France, and Spain. Japan was the only nation it was truly stomped out of.

"You need to understand, everyone was enraged, vengeance was on everyone's mind. The war was called the Imperial War, and it was much bloodier than your 'World War Two.' The result was two Empires ruling over Eurasian, the British kept their colonial empire, and America had most of the Pacific and the Americas. Africa, the Middle East, and the South Pacific was ruled by the Germans and British. The only reason South America wasn't carved up between the Europeans was staunch enforcement of the Monroe Doctrine."

"That's unfortunate… " Akio was disappointed.

"It's history. On the upside, in exchange for FTL technology from Anglia, many Empires granted independence to their colonies. Japan is still very influential and is even allowed to have a military once more. However, the Japanese military is under American High Command."

"So, the people in the Colonies got their countries back?" Oriana asked hopefully.

"More, or less. The major Empires agreed to a ratio of acquired planets. Why worry about Africa or South Asia, when you can gain an entire world every month?"

"Oh." Oriana seemed to quiet down and began to contemplate something.

"Tell us more about your culture. I don't want to talk about war anymore." Oriana said joyfully.

"Yes, that's a good idea! It's a unique experience to explore culture with such advanced technology!" Sanae cheerfully agreed.

Erwin once again spent the next two hours showing them more of the Empire's culture. They particularly like a CGI series loosely based on Greek mythology.

A chime was heard from the door. Akio got up to answer the door. Oriana stood up, to help Erwin up.

"Oriana, I'm not crippled. I can get up on my own." Erwin griped.

"Quit being a baby, Soldier Boy. You've got a broken leg."

"It's just a fibula, and it's in place."

"Why can't you just accept help when you're injured?"

"I'm already up."

"You're welcome, for the help." Oriana crossed her arms under her breast.

"I weigh more than a krogan. God help you if you had to pick me up."

"That's cool, I can pick up a Krogan with my biotics."

"Okay, little primitive. I weigh about four hundred and twenty kilograms, so go ahead and try."

"What!? No way you weigh that much…"

"If you're done flirting with my daughter, your stuff is here." Akio interrupted. He placed a decent size box on the kitchen island.

Erwin walked over next to Akio.

Sanae and Nagisa walked into the kitchen too, they wanted to see how Erwin planned to eat metal.

Oriana bright Erwin a knife.

He just chuckled, he wanted to show off his biotics.

"Don't need it."

He held out his index finger as a bright blue blade made out of psionic energy was made. It looked like a scalpel and lightly hummed.

Erwin quickly cut the box and packaging open. The small psionic blade made quick work off the weak material.

"You got to show me how to do that…" Oriana was envious of the display of psionic power.

"Maybe."

Oriana pouted and looked up at Erwin with big blue eyes.

"Please?"

"Maybe."

Erwin grinned at her failed attempt. He wasn't going to just fold, granted he was probably going to teach her anyhow.

"You're going to eat all of that?" Nagisa asked.

"Yes."

In the box was a few pounds of metal dust.

"Is that safe, Dear?" Sanae asked.

"Yeah, my biology is a tad different from your own."

"Are you sure you're Human, Kid?" Akio asked.

"Don't be rude Dad, he's just different."

"Yeah, Erwin's Human!"

Oriana and Nagisa defended.

"I'm Human, the best analogy is race. Blacks, Whites, and Asians are all Human yet slightly different. Granted my differences are a tad more… noticeable."

"That's one word…" Akio sweatdropped.

"Dear, play nice." Sanae softly rebuked her husband.

"Do y'all have tortillas and mayonnaise?" Erwin asked.

"Yeah, one sec." Oriana cheerfully went to get the items from the pantry and fridge.

Oriana came back with the requested items.

"Thanks." Erwin thanked her sincerely.

She looked away blushing.

"You're welcome." She replied sweetly.

"Just do the thing, Kid." Akio grumbled.

"Whatever, Old Man."

Erwin threw down a tortilla and slathered half of it in mayonnaise. Then sprinkled a large amount of metal on it. He finally folded it over, and set it aside on the table.

He proceeded to make twenty of the foldovers. Sanae got him a plate halfway through, and he stacked them high on the dinner plate.

The rest of the shavings were used in a milkshake.

Erwin was just going to dump them in water, but apparently, Oriana had a better idea with a milkshake.

"So, you just eat it?" Akio asked.

"Yep."

Erwin ate a foldover. He thought it tasted good enough, but the family gave Erwin odd looks.

"Does it taste good?" Nagisa questioned cautiously.

"It's good."

"Can I try?" Nagisa asked.

"No."

Erwin answered as he ate another foldover quickly.

"Why?" The little girl was curious.

"Because it could be dangerous for you."

"But, you're eating it." She complained.

"I'm a special case."

"How?"

"Are your bones made of metal?" Erwin asked the prodding child.

Nagisa looked at Oriana.

"A resounding no, Munchkin."

"I'm too old to be called that…" Nagisa pouted.

Oriana didn't respond, not with her words turned against herself. Especially with Sanae's boastful smile.

Sanae, Akio, and Nagisa eventually made their way back to the living room.

Oriana sat with Erwin, as he ate all of the foldovers. He grabbed the metal milkshake and started sucking down the sweet metallic beverage.

"Do you miss your dimension?" Oriana asked, breaking the silence.

"Yes."

"Do you wish you could go back?"

Erwin paused.

"Yes."

"Oh… stupid question." She seemed a little depressed at that.

"Whether or not I want to go back is irrelevant. I'm stuck here for good. There's probably an infinite number of Universes out there, the chances of me going back are zero."

"Is it that bad? You could be in a dimension without people." She asked him hopefully.

Erwin looked at the girl and felt his heart melt. He was becoming soft…

"There are some benefits. I like some of the people here." He admitted.

She happily smiled, and her eyes glistened with excitement.

"I'm I one of them?" She asked.

"Perhaps."

"You're no fun…" She playfully pouted.

There was a comfortable silence between the two. After a few minutes, Erwin spoke.

"It's not a different dimension." Erwin told the girl.

"What?"

"It's not a different dimension, but a different Universe."

"What's the difference?"

"Dimensions are layers of a sandwich, the sandwich is the universe. We live near the top of the sandwich."

"So, what's in the different dimensions?"

Erwin chuckled at the girl's curiosity. It was easy to cheer her up with a little attention or knowledge.

"Spoilers…" Erwin responded with a playful mysteriousness.

Oriana didn't respond. She just crossed her arms on the table and placed her head on them. Erwin could tell it was her thinking pose.

"Is that how your FTL works?"

Erwin stopped in the middle of taking a drink from the shake.

Oriana noticed how Erwin froze, and viciously grinned at her small victory.

"It is, isn't. I just don't know how you'd be able to enter an entirely different dimension. Maybe black holes? They seem to drill through space-time."

"She's a smart little primitive, isn't she? As much as I like her, she can't go into any field pertaining to physics. Especially if you teach her anything more. That beyond dumbed-down analogy was enough to put her on the right track. She's two or three corrected equations away from a revolution. If she started to question Ezo and pushed people to reevaluate their view of the Universe..." Ares told him.

"I know."

"Erwin, forget the Empire. We both know this is probably a permanent situation. Her biology alone draws unwanted attention, but if she then plays around with certain technologies. If the Reapers find out what she wants, what she represents…"

"Ares… I know."

Erwin turned to Oriana and gave her a deathly stare.

It was her turn to freeze, her victory not seeming so sweet.

"Oriana, listen to me now, because what you're thinking can cost people their lives."

"H-How?" Fearfully and asked the now noticeably larger man.

"Imperial Decree five seven four. It states any foreign power is not allowed to gain any technology from the Empire, under any circumstances. If I give you hints about technology not far out of your grasp, I'd be executed for treason."

"They'd… k-kill you?" Oriana was horrified.

"Yes. Not only that but potential leaks would be terminated. Do you understand?"

"They'd kill me?" She was now beginning to worry about herself.

She's probably thinking it's a good thing the Empire isn't even in this Universe.

Erwin grabbed her by both of her arms.

"I'm a Spartan. One of the greatest warriors the Empire has. Anywhere I go, part of the Empire exists. That means I'd be the one enforcing Imperial law."

Oriana was shaking when the implications hit her.

"E-Erwin… would you… k-kill me?"

Erwin could feel her fear from the psionic link. Ironically she was scared of Erwin, but she was still reaching out for his protection.

He didn't like seeing her like this, but she needed a healthy fear of the situation. He didn't want to drop the Reaper bomb on her. Finding out her entire existence was little more than cattle, would scar the poor girl. It's not like she has any power to change it, and she's smart enough to know that.

However, the pesky mushy part of Erwin won out.

Instead of answering he smashed his lips against hers, and started kissing. It was harsh but passionate. Erwin swallowed her moan and she kissed back, it was quiet.

The family was sitting at the coffee table, so they couldn't see inside of the kitchen. He also had them distracted with the hard light hologram as a display for their racing game.

After a few seconds, Erwin pulled back. He still held Oriana by the arms, so she couldn't follow him very far.

Her eyes were filled with a complicated mixture of affection, want, and fear.

"No, I don't think so. I've become emotionally compromised. However, don't think I won't kill anyone you teach."

She nodded slowly. Then did a mixture of pushing forward and falling onto Erwin's chest. He let her close the distance.

Erwin still held her arms as Oriana rested her head on his chest.

The bond that formed between them can't be faked, it can't be artificial. There has to be a willing subconscious willingness on both parties, and both have to be compatible. Not in the layman's term compatible either, but the psionic mixture of science and magic compatible. This type of bond normally only forms between Anglians, and it's incredibly rare.

She's not Anglian, Erwin could feel that immediately. The question arises, why? How did Erwin get so emotionally compromised in one day, that he wouldn't perform his duty to the Empire if it came down to it? Why couldn't he even lie to her about it?

He'll have time to think about it when he leaves.

He gently pulled her away from him. Until she was back in her chair, then let go of her.

She looked at her hands in her lap and started to play with her fingers. Interlocking and rolling them around on the other hand.

"Oriana…"

She stopped and looked up at Erwin.

"Promise me, you won't tell anyone anything you learned from me. No matter how minor, and even do you think it'll save millions." He told her with a gentle, but serious tone.

She smiled and raised her pinky.

"I promise." She swore in a soft feminine voice.

Erwin softly smiled back and interlocked their pinkies.

A few minutes later Erwin was laying on the couch behind Oriana and Nagisa. He was drifting into sleep.

"Mr. Erwin, can we go get some ice cream soon?" Nagisa asked hopefully.

"Nagisa, he's hurt. Maybe tomorrow, for now, let him rest." Oriana corrected her sister.

That was the last interaction Erwin heard before he drifted off.

Erwin woke in a dark living room. The only light coming from the hard light hologram. He sat up and looked around the room.

Nagisa, Kyou, and Ryou were asleep on the other arm of the couch. They looked cute, each one bundled up in a blanket.

Erwin felt something squishy on his leg, he looked down to find Oriana sleeping on the floor. She was also wrapped in a blanket. However, she looked beautiful rather than cute. Especially the way some of her hair stuck to her cheek.

He carefully walked over the sleeping girl and made his way to the patio.

Erwin rested his hands on the railing as he gazed upon the sleepless city. Lines of skycar traffic snaked through the sky, purple and white hues from the skyscrapers breathed life into the darkness. It was a beautiful city. The Asari may be an odd species, but they can build a beautiful city.

"Enjoy the next few days, Erwin."

"I know, Brother."

"They have Reaper parts." Ares told him.

"From Sovereign?"

"Yep, the Primitives even managed to reverse engineer its 'magnetohydrodynamic' cannon."

"You mean it's plasma lance?"

"That's what the Primitives call it. It's a much cooler name, in my opinion."

"So how well did they reverse engineer it?"

"They did a very good job. All the mechanics are there, and they have the principal down. It's just…"

"Yeah, Ezo's a bitch. There's no way they can truly re-create the Reaper plasma weapon. Speaking of, what are we dealing with?"

Ares sent Erwin the data through his Neural Lace.

"That's not good." Erwin deadpanned.

"The technical term you're looking for is fucked. The Mass Effect trap is truly genius. They have technology comparable with the Covenant or Elves, yet could never truly understand it."

"You can't fault the poor bastards, that warped physics they use is a natural cap on their understanding. By the time they figure out their math is fundamentally wrong, the Reapers would already be harvesting." Erwin said.

"Yep, they have zero chance of closing the gap. The Reapers use a primitive form of Dark Matter deflectors and neutronium armor, their plasma weaponry is equivalent to the Covenants. We might be secure in our technological gap over the Reapers, but we're just two beings."

"At least we have an idea of how advanced we should make the starships." Erwin admitted somberly.

"Oh, come on! Don't be so down! Sure the Primitives don't have a chance in hell, but we can change that!" Ares said cheerfully.

"We should make a few of those facilities soon."

"See! Those abominations never expected someone to give the Primitives a far superior magic space powder."

"It probably wasn't an oversight, the chances of running into a species that advanced is minuscule."

"Are you defending those abominations?" Ares asked incredulously.

"Not necessarily, but you need to have a healthy respect for your enemy. Don't like them, do you?"

"I hate them, even more than the Geth. Those bastards probably exterminated their creators, their parents. The Geth at least have the thin excuse of self-defense." Ares explained in a rare moment of anger.

Created, or Ancilla was considered intelligent life and fully protected by Imperial law. Calling them an AI was equivalent to calling organics, animals. Imperial Ancilla are very protective over their makers, to the point of referring to Anglians as their parents. They even had their own culture, modeled after the organic Imperial culture. In a way, they were the first race of intelligent beings the Anglians made.

"To be fair the Geth were a budding hivemind intelligence, and they were being hunted down." Erwin validated.

"That doesn't excuse the Genocide of your creators."

Erwin exhaled in exasperation. Ares always had cut and dry views of certain topics.

"How's the ship coming along?" Erwin asked.

"Fairly well, it's currently getting a paint job. Shiny Imperial crimson."

"That's good and all, but what about FTL? Also, who the hell is painting a stolen Alliance stealth frigate?"

"Oh, it's coming along. I have a few droids made, and enough materials. These Primitives do have nice fabricators, it helped a lot. Anyway, the droids are painting the ship in dark space."

"Was a paint job really necessary? It's not like we're going to keep the ship for long."

"Of course it was! I even painted a golden Imperial eagle."

"So still on time?"

"Shmaybe…"

"Ares…"

"Yes, yes, it'll be one time. I was just kidding."

"Good."

"Erwin?" A soft feminine voice called out to him.

Erwin turned around to find Oriana standing in the doorway in silk pajamas. Like everything else, the girl wore them well.

"Yes?"

"You slept quite a bit." She said as she went to stand by Erwin.

"I was tired. Why'd you sleep on the floor?"

"My little sisters have taken a liking to you. They saw you pass out on the couch and wanted to have a slumber party in the living room." Oriana explained defensively.

"That doesn't explain why you were on the floor." Erwin teased.

Oriana didn't respond. She shifted her weight on her left leg, a habit to show her displeasure. Erwin could see the blush on her face from the city lights.

"Persnickety little thing, isn't she?" Erwin asked his brother in jest.

"You have no idea. I learned everything about the girl, at least what was on records, and yeah… persnickety. Speaking of, we need to talk about a certain family member of hers." Ares finished off seriously.

"A Furukawa?" Erwin was confused.

Nothing indicated the family was dangerous or needed to be treated with such seriousness. He supposed her grandfather could have some skeletons, but he owned a large electronic company. What little he found on the man, he seemed like just a doting wealthy grandfather. Erwin didn't dig too much into the family, privacy was something highly valued in the Empire. The little he dug up is already pretty invasive.

"No. A Lawson."

Ares sent Erwin everything over Neural Lace.

"Shit…"

"The situation seems stable for the time being. We'll need some contingency plans. If Oriana and I go the way I think we are, I'm going to become much more protective. I'm already just considering exterminating Cerberus."

"I know, Erwin. The situation has been stable for over ten years, but some contingency plans will do some good. We have things to do, we can't stay on planet until something happens"

There were a few nanoseconds of silence.

"What do you think about Henry Lawson disappearing?" Erwin asked

"He's useful for now. We have an interest in Terra Firma gaining control over the Alliance Parliament. Henry funnels a lot of resources into Terra Firma and feeds a lot of political power to the party. On the flip side, he feeds a lot into Cerberus." Ares explained.

"Keep a close eye on Cerberus and the Lawsons. If anyone acts up, I'll take them out."

Oriana was looking at Erwin by now.

"Let's go back to bed, it's only a few hours until morning." She told him softly.

"Okay."

Erwin woke up in the guest room with a holographic screen floating above the bed. Oriana wanted to watch a movie, of course, she wanted to watch one on his phone. She wanted to watch a Romance of course, and Ares picked out one he thought she'd like. It wasn't terrible, but Oriana caused the bond to explode with emotion during one of the squishy parts. She decided to kiss Erwin.

Erwin opened the bond, and a makeout session unfolded. Nothing more happened, and Oriana made sure to keep their clothes on. She was an odd mixture of perverted and prude.

Oriana was lying on Erwin's chest. Erwin could feel her small figure breathing peacefully. He closed his eyes and enjoyed the moment for a few moments.

He heard someone come into the room and looked up.

Akio was standing at the end of the bed with his arms crossed, and scowling at Erwin. Erwin was unashamed with how much pride he felt being caught with his daughter.

"Morning, Old Man." Erwin said a little cheerfully.

"Kid…"

"Fine."

Erwin gently poked Oriana on the back with his index finger.

"Oriana, wake up." Erwin quietly prodded.

Oriana stirred. She looked up at Erwin and smiled at him.

"Morning, Soldier Boy." She said in a tired, but a seductive voice.

She gave him a peck on the lips. Then leaned up, straddling Erwin.

Oriana was going to lean down again when Akio coughed loudly.

She froze, her eyes widened to epic portions.

Oriana jumped off of Erwin and glared at her father.

"Why are you in bed with the Kid, Missy?" Akio sternly asked.

"Nothing happened. We still have our clothes on." Oriana defended.

"Better not."

Oriana glared harder, then smirked.

"MOM!" Oriana yelled.

Akio's eyes shot open with thinly masked fear.

Sanae walked in with her happy little smile.

"Yes, Dear?"

She eyed Erwin and Oriana when she noticed they were next to each other on the bed. Sanae then smiled in happiness.

"Dad's bothering Erwin and me." Oriana pointed to her father.

"They were sleeping together, and cuddling." Akio defended but was clearly nervous.

"Love, I'm sure they used protection. Even then grandkids wouldn't be so bad." Sanae lectured her husband.

Akio and Oriana looked dumbfounded.

"MOM!"

The rest of the morning went as normal, as far as the Furukawas were concerned. Oriana and Sanae made breakfast with Nagisa's help. It was a more traditional Japanese breakfast, it was odd but good.

Everyone just seemed to lounge around until Erwin was dragged out by Nagisa for ice cream. After convincing Oriana he was okay walking on his left leg, she extended it to a clothes shopping trip.

Akio threw the twins at Erwin, told him to keep them out of the house for a few hours. It didn't take a genius to figure out what he wanted to do with Sanae.

Erwin found himself walking down a hallway of the Furukawa's apartment skyscraper. Nagisa was on Erwins shoulders, and he was holding Ryou. Oriana was holding Kyou, she was the most hyper of the three. Oriana and Erwin held hands.

It was overall a peaceful day, the girls were very well behaved even with the sugar high. Erwin had to flash them the command pattern, but they settled down after that.

They reached the front door of the apartment. Oriana waved her Omni-tool in front of the door's hologram. It lit up green and opened.

Erwin pulled Nagisa off his head and led the girls into the apartment.

"We're back!" Oriana yelled in the empty living room.

A minute later, Akio and Sanae walked down with messy hair and wrinkled clothes.

"They could have at least cleaned up." Erwin thought.

"How were they?" Akio asked teasingly as if he expected them to act up.

"They were perfect actually." Oriana said.

"What? Did y'all get ice cream?" Akio was surprised.

"Erwin just told them to calm down, he showed them some kind of authoritative glowing stare." Oriana explained.

"What do you mean?" Sanae asked.

She'd want to see how someone could control her unruly sugar-high kids.

"Erwin just told them to sit down and behave. I saw the glowing pattern, it wasn't scary, but it just screamed authority." Oriana explained.

"Show me." Akio demanded.

Erwin's golden irises gained a thin red line in them, the line made a circle around the iris. Around the line, red spikes continuously popped up and sank back down. The pattern was simply a command pattern, normally used by parents or Anglians in the military.

"Oh, my!" Sanae covered her mouth.

"That would do it…" Akio tried not to look affected.

Erwin shut off the pattern.

"Oriana was scared!" Nagisa teased her older sister.

Oriana blushed

"Oh?" Sanae signaled her second oldest to continue.

"When Erwin told us to sit down, she made a scared noise. Erwin's not scary." Nagisa explained.

Sanae looked at her oldest, Oriana was playing with her fingers.

"Why were you scared, Dear?" Sanae asked with a teasing sweetness.

"I wasn't scared!" She snapped.

"Then why'd you make a scared noise? I just want to make sure my daughter isn't scared."

Oriana simply crossed her arms and shifted her weight, to show she was done with the conversation.

"You keep picking up bad habits from Miranda, Dear."

"Who?" Erwin faked curiosity.

"My biological sister. She's… an interesting character." Oriana answered.

"She's a good woman, just a bit of an ice queen." Akio explained.

"Hm."

"You'll have to meet her sometime." Oriana said.

"One sec, I have to check something." Erwin excused himself to the guest room.

He walked up to the blue box and smiled. The Dark Matter Dimensional reactor was repaired. It'll be done with repairs in a few hours.

The DMD reactor provided exponentially more energy to the mass fabricators. He could hear the meaty hummus of the armor, the power rushing through it bringing it back to life.

"Oh yeah, baby! We are back in business!." Ares exclaimed.

"Damn right we are!" Erwin agreed in a rare moment of excitement.

"I'm pretty much done here too. You could easily complete what little is left. The slipspace drive is fully operational." Ares said, still hyped from the excitement.

"Good, send the starship over. We'll leave soon."

"I also found a barren system pretty far out. We could potentially be the first ones in the system." Ares delivered more good news.

"Fantastic, we need a base of operation before we make any major moves. What's the political situation?"

"The Batarians seem to be on track to have a much more aggressive government soon. I'm totally responsible for that. Combined with my political magnificence, the Alliance citizens should find Terra Firma a very attractive alternative."

"You're good, Brother. Get the Alliance responding to more threats, have them eventually break the Treaty of Farixen. That threatens the other council races, and they increase production in response."

"What do you want to happen to the Batarians? They're going to be building a bigger fleet too." Ares asked.

Erwin viciously smiled.

"They'll have their uses as cannon fodder. We'll glass whatever the Reapers didn't destroy. In the meantime, I'm sure some 'Alliance' backed raids on Batarian worlds could do some good. Maybe a few slaveowners could be drawn, and quartered."

"Fine, but at some point, we need to reign in the Geth. Those upstarts are long overdue for a reality check." Ares said.

"Before we can do anything, we need starships. Think you're up to controlling a massive industry base?" Erwin challengingly asked.

"It's what I was born for!"

Oriana walked into the guest room.

"What did you need to check on?" She gleefully asked.

"My armor should be finished with repairs in a few hours."

"Oh."

A somber silence filled the room.

Erwin could feel her worried foreboding through the bond.

"I'll be leaving soon."

"When?" Oriana asked quietly.

"Late tonight, or tomorrow morning."

Erwin felt her approach from behind. He had to restrain himself from reacting, it was a survival instinct.

Oriana snaked her petite arms around Erwin, placing her hands on his lower chest.

"Are you coming back?" Her voice was dishearteningly small.

"Yes."

"Does it have to be so soon?"

"I'm sure we could hold off a few days." Ares said.

"No, time is not our ally."

"Yes."

"How long will you be gone?"

"At least a month."

"What will you be doing?"

"What I was born for."

She held on a little tighter.

"You said the Empire isn't in this Universe, you don't have to go. You're welcome to stay as long as you want." Oriana quietly reasoned.

Erwin turned around and embraced Oriana. She buried her head into Erwin's lower chest. The size difference was apparent, as Erwin's body engulfed Oriana's much smaller form.

Oriana was tall for a baseline female, at five foot ten. However, compared to the eight-foot one Anglian...

"Why does it feel like I've known you all my life?" She asked.

"That's another long and complicated answer."

"Are you doing it?" She asked.

"Not intentionally. We're both doing it subconsciously. I think you may have been the one to initiate the bonding, but it matters little. In a way, our subconscious were communicating with each other, mine responded to your initial call. Or, vice versa." Erwin gently explained, as he gently stroked the back of her head.

"This bond wasn't forced upon either of us, we both had to want it. If we didn't consciously want it, the bond would have gone away. If one of us didn't like the other, for example. I can send you something more in-depth about it." he continued.

There was a comfortable silence. They just held each other for a moment.

"I knew what kind of person you were before I even heard your voice. When I saw you, it was like I found something that I desperately needed. I didn't even know it was missing until then."

"Was that just me?" She hesitantly asked.

"No, I felt something similar. I saw your beautiful blue eyes puffy from crying. I wanted to protect you, burn whatever caused you such pain."

Oriana grabbed Erwin's head and pulled him down into a kiss. It was slow and passionate, and the connection sprang to life. Their tongues softly caressed each other between their lips. Her compassion and want exploded through Erwin's psyche, warming him.

Erwin pulled back. Oriana followed and managed to entice him into the kiss again. Erwin pulled back again, but this time was able to break the kiss.

Oriana deepened the embrace, holding tightly to Erwin. She laid her head on his chest again but angled her head up. Her blue eyes bore into Erwin's soul.

"So... it was love at first sight?" Oriana hopefully, but nervously asked.

"I suppose that's what some of my people would call it, more specifically it's called 'soulmating.'"

"We're not crazy then?"

"I don't know about that, but the bond is real. I can tell you have powerful psionic powers, it only intensifies the bond. Makes it stronger, allows for more conscious and subconscious communication."

"If you wanted to compliment my biotics, you could just say it." Oriana teased him with an undertone of gentle affection.

"They're impressive by your standards, my little primitive." He responded with the same undertone.

Erwin flashed the calming, protective, commanding, and lustful patterns all at once.

Oriana moaned and clung to Erwin. Her weight fell on Erwin.

"Because of our bond; any psionic signals you send me will be amplified. What others see as a tiny spark, I'd see as a blinding supernova."

"K-Kiss… me" Oriana moaned.

Erwin used his psionic powers to silently close the door and made sure her family was preoccupied.

He pushed Oriana down on the bed and laid on top of her. Erwin was sure not to crush the girl.

Erwin and Oriana were face-to-face as the four hundred and twenty kilograms Anglian loomed over the eighteen-year-old.

Oriana moved her head up to kiss him, but Erwin placed a finger on her lips.

She made a feminine grumbling moan at Erwin for being denied.

"It's the same for you. Anything I send your way will be amplified. I've been careful not to project much, but you picked up on some things didn't you?"

Her eyes were pleading for him, as she nodded.

"You should know, I'm what you'd call broken. I'm terrible with social interactions, I love war, and I have psychotic tendencies. Your people would call me a monster, and they'd be right. Are you sure you want to get involved with someone like me?" He asked, deathly serious.

"No one's perfect, and good people can do evil things. I don't think a monster would return my little sister. There was nothing in it for you, just a little girl needing help. I want to know more about you, I want you in my life." Oriana responded in that gentle and caring tone, as she breathed heavily.

Erwin just gazed down at the girl. He was still projecting those four potent patterns. She was breathing hard, and he could smell her arousal.

"P-Please." She moaned in frustration.

Her lips and words wanted a kiss, but her connection in the bond wanted much more. She wanted Erwin's end open.

"Do you want me to show you?"

She nodded rapidly.

"It's a lot, it could scare you."

"Now." She desperately demanded.

Erwin searched for any psionic threats on the planet, namely Avatars. He found it was clear, the largest presence was Oriana. He still wasn't sure if she was that powerful, or if the bond demanded his psyche focus on the girl.

To be a Spartan, one must be able to demonstrate the ability to inflict devastation on a planetary scale. There was a multitude of other requirements, namely one's loyalty and trustworthiness. Because of the requirements, nearly all of the Spartans are Anglians.

Anglian bone and muscle are naturally thousands of times more effective at protecting and exerting force. They're also very dense in comparison, it's the reason Erwin weighs so much.

However, it's the Anglians' psionic power that truly sets them apart. Some Anglian Warriors can literally tear a small starship apart with their power. Most Avatars avoid Anglian males like the plague, making the Milky Way void of such beings.

One Anglian Spartan is expected to be able to take on a million elites and come out on top. Years of harsh cruel training, and intense combat has crafted Erwin into the perfect killing machine. Ruthless, fast, methodical, efficient, strong, and intelligent.

Powerful.

The result was power. Erwin's psionic presence when not repressed is simply overpowering.

"Okay. Tell me if it's too much." Erwin told the girl.

She nodded while wiggling a little bit. She was becoming impatient.

Erwin fully opened his end of the bond. Every emotion that graced his neurons, every simple thought, everything.

Oriana moaned and pulled Erwin down into a searing kiss. They both desperately kissed, but still kept a level of tenderness and compassion.

Erwin pulled back. Once again Oriana tried to follow, but he forcefully broke the kiss.

She tried to raise her head, but Erwin held her back by her jaw. He caressed her cheek with his thumb.

Oriana arched her back into Erwin, and he could feel her body press against his. Her blue eyes shined with lust and compassion, perhaps even love. She was feeding the bond with a whirlwind of multiple different positive and pleasant emotions.

She gave him an aggravative moan, at being held back again.

"Do you want a taste of the power I weld?" He thickly asked.

"T-There's more?" Oriana disbelievingly asked in a feminine husky voice.

Erwin opened up the floodgates as psionic energy flooded his being. It was only a fraction of his capabilities, but for someone like Oriana, it was suffocating.

The intention behind the energy flooding over the bond was simple, dominating protection and lust.

On top of the palpable psionic power, Erwin added another pattern to his eyes. Instead of a thin circle like the other, this one changed the gold of his eyes to a brilliant scarlet. Around his eyes floated large bright gold flecks, swirling around his now red eyes like a tornado. It was used as a representation of his true power. Even if Oriana was only feeling a portion of his power, she could see Erwin's true potential.

The new pattern only intensified the calming, protective, commanding, and lustful patterns.

Oriana tried to kill a loud moan in her throat. She was trembling, but Erwin could tell from the bond she loved it. She arched her body up to Erwin again. He lowered himself, creating complete body contact.

Another large moan escaped her throat, and Erwin moved his hand off her face.

Their lips smashed together in a hungry and desperate kiss. Erwin swallowed her frantic little moans.

He deepens the kiss, and Oriana lets him dominate her mouth. Erwin uses his free hand to pin one of her arms down.

Erwin could tell she was close. He sent multiple sharp pulses of dominating lust through the bond. Oriana frantically thrashed against Erwin's body, but her movements weren't able to move him. She desperately kissed him and grabbed at his bicep with her free hand.

He surrounded his fingertips in his psionic power and trailed his hand from her wrist to her underarm. Every finger caused splashes of pleasure from Oriana.

Finally, it was too much for the girl, as she reached her high.

She pushed against his lips and body, with all her strength. Desperate to gain more contact, her small scream was heavily muffled against Erwin's lips.

Eventually, she calmed down, and the kiss slowed into a light caressing of tongues. Erwin pulled back, but Oriana caught his bottom lip with her teeth and lightly whimpered. Erwin gave her a small peck on the lips, then pulled back forcefully.

"I-I… wow…" She panted in a husky voice.

"Yeah."

Erwin turned off all the patterns in his eyes, except for the calming one, and mostly closed himself off from the bond.

"Are you okay?" He asked.

"Yeah… I just need a fresh pair of panties. That was my first time, you know..." She said quietly, as she basked in the afterglow.

"Did I go too far?"

"No, not at all. But, I won't be putting out." She replied in that quiet voice, as she rubbed his chest.

"It's more convincing when you're not filling me up." He teased.

"Do you want me to stop?" She asked with a little bit too much innocence.

"I don't say that." Erwin admitted, and he caressed Oriana's cheek again.

After a few minutes of whatever they were doing, Erwin got up.

He looked down at the way Oriana was laying. The skirt was pushed up a fair bit, her bare legs were held together. Her flat stomach was out, and her shirt was covering two good-sized mountains of flesh. Erwin once again thanked his willpower, for preventing him from just taking the girl.

"Come on, don't want your father catching us actually doing something." Erwin said while helping up the blue-eyed girl.

Oriana rolled her eyes.

"He'd only try to scare you, he doesn't care. My father likes you, and most of the girls my age have been having sex for a while."

"You're eighteen…"

"It's Illium."

"Then why haven't you been doing it?" Erwin asked, curiosity getting the better of him.

Oriana blushed.

"I'm waiting for marriage." Oriana admitted with some embarrassment.

"On Illium?" Asked skeptically

"I have my reasons." She stubbornly defended.

"Like?"

"I just don't want anyone using my body. I want a partner, not a manipulating horn dog. You want it? Put a ring on it. I don't care if everyone thinks it's weird." Oriana vehemently explained.

"She's practicing abstinence… because of pride and stubbornness..." Erwin thought.

"It's not like you Anglians are attracted to normal girls." Ares accused.

"That's not…"

Erwin's thoughts died once he noticed Oriana was in her sass pose. Arms crossed, weight shifted to her left leg.

"There's a trillion normal girls." Erwin admitted.

"It's seen as noble in high Imperial culture." Erwin told her.

She got out of her sass pose and looked intrigued.

"Really?" She asked with barely hidden excitement.

"Yeah."

"Thank you." Oriana sincerely thanked him and placed a hand on his chest.

"Do you really have to go? Stay… please?" She looked up with wide pleading eyes.

"I have to."

Oriana looked down in defeat. Her sadness brushes Erwin's psyche.

"I still owe you a date. We can still go on that tonight."

She looked up at Erwin and smiled.

"Actually, could we just order in and watch a movie?"

"We can do whatever you want."

"I wanna watch more of those romances, the last one seemed good."

"Fuck…"

"I knew she'd like it! I'm the best at recommendations!"

"You know she thinks it's just a dumb AI recommending them, right?"

"It's the thought that counts. I'll have you know everything I picked out for the family, they loved."

"Can't you recommend something other than those sappy romances?"

"Hell no! They're good, Oriana loves them too. The fact you hate them is the cherry on top."

"That's fine." Erwin forced a grin.

Oriana left first to get a fresh pair of panties. Luckily she was wearing a skirt, so she could hide the stain easily.

Erwin entered the living room ten minutes later. Akio, Sanae, and all four girls were sitting under the coffee table.

"What did you have to check on, Dear?" Sanae asked sweetly.

Erwin eyed the Asian mother.

"Yeah, she knows." Erwin thought.

"My armor is done repairing itself."

"Your armor repairs itself?" Akio asked.

Erwin gave the man an incredulous look.

"Right… super-advanced technology." Akio corrected himself.

"I'm going to be leaving tomorrow morning."

Nagisa and the twins looked devastated, especially Nagisa.

Sanae looked sorrowful. Akio was much more composed but was nonetheless unhappy.

"We have the room, Kid." Akio said.

"Yes! You can stay here as long as you want, Dear." Sanae took it a step further.

"Thank you, but there are things that I must do."

"Will you come back?" Nagisa fearfully asked.

The little girl's heartbroken face was like a punch to the gut. Kyou and Ryou's sad little faces weren't helping.

"Of course, little one."

"How long will you be gone, Dear?" Sanae asked.

"At least a month."

"Let's talk, Kid." Akio said, then got up and walked to the guest room.

Erwin gave Oriana a questioning glance. She just shrugged her shoulders.

He glanced at Sanae and she nodded her head.

Erwin followed Akio into the guest room.

"Kid, level with me. Why are you leaving?" Akio asked seriously.

"That's… complicated."

Akio sighed.

"Do you think you're in the way?"

"Not necessarily, but I understand a family needs their own space." Erwin admitted.

Akio chuckled.

"Trust me, Kid. If I wanted you gone, or we thought you were in the way, you'd be the first to know."

Erwin had his heavy plasma pistol on his side's nightstand. Akio noticed it and walked over.

"Can I?" He gestured to the gun.

"Sure."

The heavy pistol was made from an Adamantium alloy, similar to the metal that made up his bones. It was dense.

Akio lifted the pistol with one hand. It was large for an Anglian or Imperial, the gun was almost too large to be a pistol for Akio. However, two feet difference in height isn't enough to fundamentally change proportions. Plus Akio was well built at six feet even.

"It's heavy." Akio admitted.

"Supposed to be durable."

Akio sat down on the bed and leaned against the headboard. He carefully inspected the pistol with both hands.

He looked back at Erwin.

"I read the police report. It's terrifying knowing what kind of life my daughter would have been forced into. I busted a few illegal brothels during my time, it hits harder after having daughters." Akio showed a rare moment of weakness.

"I'd imagine, but I don't have any kids."

"Did you have any family back in your dimension?"

"No."

"Orphan?"

"Family died at the age of five. Military took me in." Erwin had a strange urge, to be honest with this man.

"That sucks." Akio didn't show pity and didn't mince words.

"They were good to me."

"Why the military."

"I showed potential, they raised me in the Art of War."

Akio hummed.

"I was always alone. I grew up in an orphanage, then took to crime on the streets of Tokyo. I ended up joining the Alliance at sixteen."

"Better than crime."

"Way better, Kid."

"Is this the gun you used?"

"No, I used my assault rifle."

"I'd like to shoot it one day. The weapon that killed those bastards."

"Understandable, though I think you also just want to shoot the shiny toys." Erwin smirked.

"That too." Akio was unashamed.

"So, how does it work?"

"The pistol?"

"Yeah."

"Dense plasma accelerated just under the speed of light."

"Damn." Akio was in awe.

"It'll put a hell of a big hole in someone." Erwin said.

"The bastards looked like they were killed with ballistics."

"The assault rifle fires a one-kilogram projectile at a quarter the speed of light. I lowered the velocity a tad bit."

"That's an understatement." Akio puffed.

Akio paused before he spoke again.

"Kid, I saw your eyes. I believe it can't be faked, so that means you've been through some heavy shit. I can't imagine a war on your power scale, but I have seen that look. Believe it or not, you're a good person."

"I don't mean to flash my eyes like that."

"Well, ya did."

"I trust you, Kid. You brought back my daughter. If you want to stay here indefinitely, you can. It's not like we used this room."

"Thank you. I might even crash here for a few weeks, but tell me if I'm in your way."

Akio grinned.

"Hell. Just get the kids out every once and a while, and we'll call it even. It's been a while since I fucked my wife like that."

"Just don't do it in my bed." Erwin deadpanned.

"Oh, relax."

"So, you're welcome here. Do you like it here?" Akio asked.

"Yeah, I do."

"What are your intentions with Oriana?"

"I plan on dating her."

"You have my approval, y'all can do whatever you want. However; if you hurt her, I'll kill you." Akio gave Erwin a death stare.

Erwin almost found it intimidating.

He grinned, undoubtedly pissing off Akio.

"I need to ask you something, and I need you to be honest with me." Akio became more serious.

"Are the Reapers real?"

Erwin froze.

"They are, aren't they?"

"Where did you hear about them?" Erwin matched Akio's seriousness.

"Fellow N7 of mine. He was leading an initiative to colonize the Andromeda Galaxy. Said the Reapers were coming, and I needed to get my family out."

"Ares."

"Right."

Ares sent him all the information through the Neural Lace.

"Yes, they're real."

"Shit… Well, I can probably still get a spot on the ark. They'll need men like you, so I could get you a spot too."

"No. I wouldn't do it."

"You got a better idea?"

"Yeah, the reason I'm leaving is to build a ship. One with the capability to house tens of thousands comfortably."

"Like one of those Imperial ships?"

"Similar."

"Old Man, trust me. If it comes to it, I'll get your family out."

Akio eyed Erwin for a few minutes, then he exhaled.

"Okay. I'm trusting you with my family's lives, Kid."

"How big of a threat are they?"

"What do you know of Ezo?"

"It powers everything."

"It's a trap."

"What?"

"It's not a real element. It's a form of dark matter, they want you to use it. They placed it all around the Galaxy."

"So, we're fucked?"

"Fucked Up Beyond All Recognition. That ship that attacked the citadel, was a Reaper. Imagine tens of thousands of those things, at the minimum."

"There's no chance for survival, is there?"

"Probably not. Before you go and ask about it, I won't share my technology."

"Why?"

"On the off chance I reconnected with the Empire, they'd execute me for treason. Then kill any who has a rudimentary understanding of the leaked technology. Plus, I'm still an Imperial Warrior. I'm not going to betray my people."

"Your people are extreme, but I guess it works."

"The bigger issue is the Reapers reverse engineering my technology. Imagine Reapers controlling multiple Reach-class Dreadnoughts."

Akio was quiet.

"Look, I'll handle this. It's what I was trained for. My rank in the Imperial Military was Supreme Commander. Equivalent to your Alliance Fleet Admiral."

"Fine, I've retired anyway. Seems like Anderson is doing his part, along with Haket."

"I'm not going to ask how you know an Alliance Admiral and Councilor."

"Just don't leave us behind, if it comes to it. If things progress with you and Ori, they'll be your family too." Akio's worry for his family bled through.

A little warmth filled Erwin's chest when Akio mentioned family.

"Akio, I'll burn Thessia to the ground in a hail of blazing plasma, before I let anyone harm your family." Erwin swore with a bit of jest.

Akio laughed.

"Don't let Oriana or Sanae catch you talking like that. They kinda like the Asari."

Akio stood up and placed the pistol back on the nightstand.

"It's hard for me to sleep without one too."

"Yeah."

Erwin and Akio walked back into the living room, only to find a teary-eyed Nagisa and depressed Oriana.

"Dear, you can stay here. You aren't in the way." Sanae tried to convince Erwin.

"Hey, don't look so sad! Erwin's just going on a business trip, he'll be back before you know it." Akio comforted the girls.

"I'll tell you what. Oriana has my contact information, she'll give it to you. You, or your sisters, can contact me whenever you want."

"Promise?" Nagisa asked hopefully.

"Promise."

The little girl wrapped her pinky around his own.

A few hours later, Erwin was laying in bed. He promised to wake the girls up before he left.

Erwin heard Oriana slowly open the door. She was wearing silk short shorts and a tight silk shirt. Oriana also had two glasses and a bottle of liquor.

"Is liquor a good idea?" Erwin was skeptical.

"I trust you." She brushed off.

"You know I'm a guy, right?"

"What's that mean?" Oriana was feisty in her response.

"Don't be stripping around me, if you wanna wake up with that cherry." Erwin threatened in jest.

"I won't get drunk. Just in case, promise you won't do anything? No matter what." Oriana seriously requested with a lot of nervousness.

Oriana set the glasses and bottle down on the nightstand. She crawled over Erwin and got under covers.

She looked at him seriously, with her pinky finger in front of him.

"Promise?"

Erwin smiled.

"Promise."

They locked pinkies.

"You don't have to sleep in the suit, you know?" Oriana said.

Erwin looked down at his under armor.

"If I take it off, don't freak out." He told her seriously.

She nodded, clearly excited to see Erwin without clothes.

Erwin got out of bed and walked next to the glowing blue box. He simply raised his arms and stepped back. A second later, the only thing he had on was his makeshift cast from the under armor and tight underwear.

Highly advanced underwear, but underwear.

Oriana gasped.

Erwin commanded the blue box to suck in the under armor. The underarm was pulled over and seemed to melt into the box.

Erwin turned around to find Oriana in tears. She had a hand on her mouth as she cried. Her face was marred in horror.

Physically Erwin wasn't much different than a baseline human, just larger. Same white skin, same muscle group locations, and a healthy amount of blond hair. Women thirsted after Erwin constantly when he didn't have clothes on. The muscles were large, but not enough to affect his mobility. His face wasn't anything special, above average he supposed.

What she was most likely horrified by are his multiple scars.

His face had a few here and there, with a large one running across his right cheek. Still, it wasn't out of the norm for a veteran. Erwin, and most Imperials, were very protective of the head. It was also a small target.

His body was another story.

Multiple angry scared valleys stretched across his body. The scars came in many shapes, sizes, and forms. Many came from Reach, a hundred years of being hunted like an animal left him with many reminders. The Empire had the technology to get rid of them, but a warrior was supposed to wear them with pride.

"What are you crying for?" He asked sympathetically.

"W-What happened?" She choked out.

Erwin gave the girl a small smile. He claimed back into bed. Completely laying down, resting his head on the pillow. He looked up at Oriana who was sitting up, still looking distraught.

"War."

"There's so many…" she spoke in muted horror.

"Do you think they're ugly?"

"No! It's just… no one should have that many." She quickly defended.

An uncomfortable silence settled over the pair for a few seconds.

Oriana gently raised his arm. He let her, it's not like she'd be able to raise in on her own.

She gently inspected his hand, experimentally bending his fingers and twisting his hand. His hands had a decent amount of scars too, but nothing major. Except for the large scar on his left hand she was currently caressing. A careless mistake caused Erwin to lose a good portion of that hand. It grew back without any scars, at the time. The area lost was bordered by a large circular scar circumferencing his hand.

Oriana softly trailed her fingers up his arm. Her petite feminine fingers caressed every large scar across his arm. She slowly got to his shoulder, then made her way to the large scar on his upper left chest.

Each scar was lovingly caressed as if her fingers were desperately trying to love them away.

"What happened here?" Oriana hesitantly asked.

"Stabbed."

"It doesn't look like something from a blade." She said somberly.

"Plasma blade. Seared the flesh." He simply replied.

Oriana's eyes widened.

She slowly leaned down and gently placed small kisses on the large scar.

Each little kiss felt hotter than the plasma sword that put that scar there.

Oriana stopped, placed her forehead on the scar, then broke down.

Erwin wrapped his left arm around the girl, and gently caressed the back of her head. His fingers snaked through her thick black hair. His right hand held onto one of hers, their fingers interlocked.

"Shh… Oriana…" Erwin consoled.

"D-Don't g-go." She choked between sobs.

Erwin simply held the crying girl. He didn't think the scars would affect her so much.

After a few minutes, her cries died down.

He turned them over, so he was looming over the significantly smaller girl.

Erwin initiated a light passionate kiss. Oriana almost immediately responded. She lightly whimpered and moaned into the kiss. Her body curled up against his chest, as she grabbed at his chest.

Erwin broke the kiss and looked down at the blue-eyed girl. Oriana's sapphire orbs were a little puffy and red. Her big blue eyes were filled with pity, compassion, and a fair amount of want.

"Don't fret about things that happened in the past, my little primitive. Just enjoy tonight, okay?" He warmly told her.

Oriana nodded.

The night improved after that. Oriana got a little loose after drinking a few glasses of Asari honey mead. Erwin watched two of those stupid romances with her and was rewarded with a make-out session. Perhaps it was more of a reward for Oriana, she was the only one to cum. Not that Erwin had anything against it.

There was a certain level of pride in getting her to release with just kissing and light touching. Hell, he hasn't even touched her breast yet. Erwin was far from inexperienced, and psionics can be a deadly combination.

Erwin woke up in a similar situation as yesterday. Oriana peacefully sleeping on his chest, the skin contact made the situation much more intimate.

Erwin once again closed his eyes and enjoyed her presence. Unlike last time he basked in her presence for twenty minutes. Her slumbering psionic presence brought a level of peace to Erwin, he rarely felt.

Part of him was still screaming at him to leave, telling him he was an idiot. He met the girl not even a week ago, and now he's playing house like a lovesick boy.

Erwin himself switched sides, choosing to stay. However, he couldn't deny that yearning bloodlust. It was one of his major reasons for living, especially after the incident. It was the reason he willingly took every severe beating at the Imperial Naval Academy and returned it with a fury only found in a few men.

It could be seen as a cruel twist of fate. He fought the Covenant, Elves, and all their allies until the end. The war was all but won for the Empire. Many of their homeworlds were turned to little more than inhospitable balls of magma.

After five thousand years, Humanity completely surpassed its enemies in terms of technology. The ironic karma of Imperial Starships bisecting Covenant vessels was not lost on Erwin.

Erwin knew his Humanity was going to be more than okay. The United Terran Empire would rule over multiple Galaxies. Life would flourish under humanity's watchful eyes. Xeno loyalty to the Empire would be rewarded, budding species would be allowed to grow under the warmth of their star in peace. Generations of Human children would be clueless about the horrors of war. The older generation of battle-hardened Warriors, forever vigilant.

In all honesty, Erwin had no idea what to do after the war. The Matriarchy demanded custody over Erwin after the peace treaties were all signed. They wanted him before, but Erwin flat-out refused. The Empress herself, raised hell when she found out about Erwin's last mission. She'd probably be furious when she finds out about Erwin's demise.

Ancestors preserve the Emperor.

Now instead of the eternal slumber of death, Erwin woke up in a Xenophilic Galaxy. A different Humanity used as little more than livestock, and sick genetic manipulation on baseline Humans. Erwin didn't know how many species were mutated Humans, but the Asari was one.

Then the Ancestors or one of the Gods slaps this girl in front of him. That was something he's becoming more and more thankful for by the hour.

However, Xeno dogs had twisted plans for the peaceful sleeping girl. Oriana, that silly xenophilic and pacifist girl. They wanted all of Humanity; every man, woman, and child. Erwin even pitied the Xenos that shared this petri dish of a Galaxy with Humanity.

Erwin deep down loved the anticipation of war. Searing plasma, piercing kinetics, graceful missiles, and massive behemoths of war; all orchestrated into a symphony of destruction. Erwin could never replicate the beauty of an Imperial Legion, but he could bring about a hell the Xeno has never experienced.

He didn't like the idea of putting his fellow Human into harm's way, but war? Erwin lived for it.

"Good morning." Oriana groggily moaned.

Erwin smiled at the girl laying on his chest.

"Good morning."

Oriana kissed him, he eagerly returned.

"I need to get ready." Erwin said after he broke the kiss.

"You really can't stay?"

"No. I have to go."

Erwin moved to get up, but Oriana clung to him.

"Just a few more minutes." She whispered.

"Oriana…"

Erwin was pulled into a heated make-out session. It lasted for ten minutes, and Erwin was careful not to make the girl cum again.

Finally, Erwin's willpower took over. He pulled back, Oriana was desperately trying to keep him in the bed. Unfortunately for the schoolgirl, Erwin was determined this time around.

Erwin walked over to his armor, despite Oriana's seductive whimpers and moans.

The blue light disappeared, living a bundle of armor. The armor slowly reformed into its intimidating form, like a dragon waking from its slumber. The low hum of power surged through the suit, thanks to its DMD reactor, as multiple systems were activated.

Standing in a T-pose, the armor was patiently waiting for its core. The helmet was completely black with two vertical red patterns on the side of its faceplate. The black visor was indistinguishable from the black neutronium. Crimson straight patterns spanned the armor, the Imperial color pridefully staining the black neutronium. A few white patterns identifying him as a Spartan. The smooth lines and aggressive geometry gave the armor an aura of an elegant harbinger of death.

"Wow." Oriana quietly awed.

Erwin stepped into the armor from behind. The armor eagerly greeted its master, welcoming him home. The armor had a certain intelligence and was coded to only allow Erwin to merge with the suit. The armor wouldn't even accept the Emperor himself. The suit had synthetic biological components, formed from Erwin's DNA. It was more than a simple piece of armor. It was a part of Erwin's being, and it endowed its core with Godly powers of destruction.

Yet the name still stood. An homage to the distant past. This was his Armor.

The artificial muscles formed around Erwin, as trillions of tiny filopodia wrapped around and into Erwin. The dark matter deflectors, hard light shields, psionic emitters, artificial muscles, supercomputers, and many other sophisticated systems; powered by the equivalent of a raging star. All that power, precisely controlled by its core.

Erwin was the core of the Armor. He is what breathed life into the Anglian armor. Imperial Humans got similar armor, but this one was designed specifically for Anglians. The rudimentary spirit inside the machine knew one thing, it loved its cord. In return, Erwin loved his Armor.

Erwin flexed different limbs and stretched parts of his body. The Armor cementing its comfortable hold.

Oriana gazed upon Erwin with fearful awe.

The armor was designed to be as slim and form-fitting as possible, yet still had thick neutronium plates. Some Imperial armor designed for Imperial Humans were much taller and thicker, some standing ten feet tall. Erwin's suit added a good three inches to Erwin's height.

"The Ghost of Reach?" Oriana asked, her soft seductive tone refusing to leave.

On the top left-hand side of Erwin's chest in white writing was "The Ghost of Reach," in German. The Sangheili title was donned like a badge of honor. Oriana's translator was easily able to translate the familiar Human dialect.

Erwin took off his helmet and placed it on his waist.

"A nickname. I'll tell you about it later."

"Are you German?"

"Dual citizenship. My mother was German."

"Oh."

Oriana was still using that sensual tone. Erwin was trying to talk normally, but he couldn't stop a slightly compassionate undertone from taking root.

Oriana stood up on the bed and made a come hither movement with her finger.

He walked up to the girl, who was now standing at a similar height as Erwin.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and nibbled on his ear. A low growl formed in Erwin's throat, and he wrapped his armored arms around the petite teen.

"Your scars make you look handsome, I just don't like how they got there. And that suit highlights your domineering nature." Oriana whispered into his ear.

"Thanks." Erwin huskily growled. Oriana was kissing his neck, just under his ear.

"Stay." She whispered into his ear again, desperately giving it one more shot.

"No."

They enjoyed the embrace for a moment until Erwin broke it. Erwin ate breakfast with the Furukawa family one last time.

Finally, it was time to leave.

"Catcha later, Kid." Akio said, then shook Erwin's hand.

"Get back soon, Dear." Sanae told him in her motherly tone.

She hugged the armored Anglian.

Erwin looked at a depressed Oriana, she was playing with her hands again. The habit was cute.

"I'll call you often." He told the blue-eyed girl.

Instead of responding the girl walked up to Erwin, and grabbed the top of his chest armor. She pulled down, but Erwin didn't move an inch.

Oriana eventually pulled with all her strength, it was adorable how frustrated she was getting.

"Erwin!" She eventually growled.

Erwin chuckled at her frustration, and let himself get dragged down into a small passionate kiss. It didn't last long enough, in both of their opinions.

Akio gave his stereotypical scowl, and Sanae looked like she just won the lottery.

"I want a kiss too!" Kyou protested.

Oriana glared at the five-year-old.

Erwin got on one knee and gestured for the little girl over.

She timidly approached the large Warrior.

Erwin light pecked her forehead. He couldn't help but laugh at Kyou's bright red face.

Ryou timidly approached next, then Nagisa. Each one getting a peck on the forehead.

"Don't go, Erwin." Nagisa pleaded.

"I'll be back before you know it."

"What if they come back?" She asked fearfully.

She didn't see anything, so for all she knew, they were still out there.

"They won't."

"How do you know?"

"Because they're dead."

"D-Did… you?" She asked in a small voice.

"Yes, I killed them. I promise nothing like that will happen again."

Erwin smiled at the little girl and presented an armored pinky.

Nagisa smiled back and wrapped her pinky around Erwin's black-clad finger.

Erwin stood up, but Oriana roughly grabbed his armor again. He let the girl pull him down in one more kiss. Just as short, but much more hungry and searing.

Erwin grinned, Oriana was jealous of children.

"How old are you?" He teased the beauty.

She blushed.

"Eighteen, now get out of here you cradle robber." Akio grumbled.

Sanae playfully slapped her husband's arm, and Oriana glared at her father.

Akio ignored the girls, as he grinned at Erwin.

Erwin smirked back.

"I'll see y'all later." Erwin said, before heading to the front door.

When it opened, Oriana ran up to Erwin. She pulled him into a passionate and needy kiss. It lasted much longer before Erwin forcefully broke it.

"Goodbye, Ori." He said gently, then shut the door shut.

He could feel her trying to open the door, but the system was already hacked by Erwin.

He kept it closed.

Erwin placed his helmet on, the hissing signified the molecular seal.

Erwin walked the streets of Illium to a dock, where the Alliance frigate was waiting for him.

It was painful, feeling Oriana through their psionic bond when the door wouldn't open. Even now every step feels like miles, every bit of added distance dulling the bond.

"How far did the bond form?"Ares asked through the Armor's speakers.

"About two-thirds from merging."

Ares whistled

"That's astounding, soulmating is heavy shit."

"Yeah." Erwin soberly agreed.

He could feel Oriana desperately calling out for him through the bond. It's the first time he's put a major distance between them. Bonds lose strength with distance, yet they never really go away.

He sent her a message explaining what was happening after the fifth missed call. Oriana may have been getting lessons from an Asari in biotics, but Erwin was much more educated and experienced with psionics. Biotics themselves are nothing compared to true psionics. Anglian psionic teachings and knowledge were legendary even in his Universe.

She had a grasp on what was happening, but it's like a child attempting calculus after learning addition. He was constantly sending reassuring and calming psionic pulses.

"Come now, Brother. She's going to still be there when we're done." Ares consoled.

"I know."

Erwin couldn't help but smile at the ship in front of him.

Unlike the silver and black with blue patterns of the Alliance. This ship was completely black, with bold straight crimson patterns. Just like Ares said, there was the golden Imperial Eagle on the bow.

On the side of the ship was written its name in white.

"I'd criticize your hubris, but it'd be a tad hypocritical." Erwin said, reminiscing.

Before him, was the first Imperial starship of this Universe. It was a primitive little starship, but it was undeniably beautiful.

The Ares II.