Sacred Selene Empire, Honkai Dimension, Imperial Capital.
Thanks to the weather control hub system covering the entire region, the Grand Palace was always a picture of peace and serenity. As night fell, the sky was bright with stars and a shining moon.
At Schönbrunn Palace, in the central grand hall, the palace gardens—already solemn—looked even more resplendent from afar, like they'd been adorned with ribbons of colored silk.
Vibrant trees and blooming flowers crowded around, while decorative fireflies clung to the rare and precious plants sent as tributes from the Empire's colonies, emitting soft green glows like scattered stars in harmony with those in the sky above.
One side of the palace corridor was adorned with gilded relief murals.
Some depicted all races paying homage, with golden-armored Imperial Guards and Sisters of Silence surrounding the Divine Empress. Others portrayed the great martial achievements of the Empire's Grand Expedition Fleet. Still more showed the Astartes Legions receiving inspection from the Empress under their respective Commanders.
Some were grand and imposing, others exuded killing intent. Some stood like rows of mountains—each Astartes Legion had its own distinct presence.
For example, the 17th Legion of Astartes—Imperial Heralds—was shown persuading the masses to embrace the God-Emperor.
Before the massive Holy Codex, edged in Orichalcum and heavy enough to be used as a door slab, countless kneeling believers wept in sincere repentance, their emotions vividly and realistically captured.
Other murals showed hunting scenes—ferocious, fanged super-dangerous creatures—and their submission, like the 'Eastern Sea Dragon King,' a Cross-Tailed Dragon.
The opposite side of the corridor featured towering Roman columns every twenty meters, creating a semi-open structure from which the palace's aerial gardens and floating courtyards could be admired.
Bzzzz—!
Suddenly, the air began to tremble. Violet light shimmered, space-time distorted, and the walls of the real world were torn open. Startled, the fireflies fluttered into the air, their glow now mingling with the flickering light in the golden hall.
Thud! Thud!
"Your Majesty!" ×N
Naturally, the gold-armored giants standing between the columns, red-tasseled and cloaked, dropped to one knee, gripping their precision-crafted Guardian Aquila Power Halberds.
This Honkai fluctuation, which made every cell in their bodies bow in reverence, could only come from the Empress of the Empire—the one they would serve unto death!
Selene's sudden, godlike arrivals were something both the palace attendants and the Imperial Guard had mostly gotten used to by now.
Along the way, the patrolling Sisters of Silence and court attendants all offered greetings appropriate to their rank upon seeing her.
"Rise."
Nodding slightly, Selene raised her hand in a gesture to forgo ceremony, stepping onto the red carpet while softly humming a barely audible tune as she headed toward the central hall.
Peace at last. With her sub-spirit avatars and all those endlessly nitpicking Euro-American "civil rights" groups filtered out, Selene's mind finally felt clear.
She couldn't help wanting to mow down that horde of unproductive parasites. No wonder the Western world was in decline.
It was imperative to support a sufficiently powerful class to suppress that pack of bastards!
Restoring the requirement for noble heirs to serve in the military was non-negotiable—at the very least, the eldest son who would inherit the title had to go. And that glitzy, gold-plated noble brat-style service? Unacceptable. Increase training intensity, increase hardship—crank it all up!
Condition the body, temper the will. Cold showers in winter, sleeping on camp beds—restore all of it. If your ancestors could endure it, why can't you?!
Can't handle it?
Fine, forget about inheriting that title then!!
Before she cut off synchronization with the policy processing data of her sub-spirit in the Index world, these were the last grumblings she received from her Holy Roman Emperor avatar, Selene I.
Screeech—!
The solid wood gilded and carved doors of the Administrative Hall were pushed open by the gold-armored Imperial Guards. On the large, elegant dark wood desk inside, exquisite golden relief patterns adorned its surface. As always, a corner of the desk featured fresh flowers, vases, and other tasteful decorative elements. Nothing had changed.
Leaning back in her carved armchair, Selene waved the guards away, rubbed her forehead, and lazily skimmed through the classified documents in front of her.
"Phew…"
Crisp, to-the-point writing. Clearly laid-out data. Regional governors' summaries based on first-hand assessments. Development proposals from the Internal Affairs Office. Policy recommendations from the Cabinet Secretariat. Now this was the kind of efficiency and clarity she liked.
In the Sacred Selene Empire, there was no such thing as civil rights organizations.
Why bother fretting over such things? Any organization without Imperial government endorsement was an illegal entity—every Imperial citizen had a duty to report and eradicate them, with merits and rewards for doing so.
Shff shff—
Selene processed the documents with ease, surprisingly finding a bit of pleasure in handling state affairs.
As expected, joy was born from comparison.
"Huh… what's this?"
She paused, intrigued, as a 3D holographic image appeared from a folder—a cockroach that had mutated into a humanoid?
The thing had a humanoid torso with a cockroach head. Its body was iron-black and incredibly muscular. The thick legs rivaled those of an elephant. In short—
One word: ugly.
Two words: truly ugly.
Three words: absolutely revolting. It was enough to ruin anyone's appetite.
"A uniquely mutated cockroach species that completed an evolutionary leap in just five hundred years—something that would normally take nature hundreds of millions of years…"
Selene was intrigued. She skipped the summary and began reading the full report.
"Reported by the 1218th Exploration Fleet of the 1st Legion—Dark Angels, under Alex:
Following an initial survey of a newly colonized but yet-unnamed world, the native civilization was found to possess technological capability for near-planetary space exploration.
Notably, during our conquest operations, we discovered that this Earth-based civilization had relatively advanced bioengineering.
They had mastered stable gene modification techniques and maintained a moderate-sized force of genetically modified soldiers.
(Note: The native civilization's gene modification causes varying degrees of human mutation, depending on the specific animal or plant DNA used as the base for the procedure.)
Currently verified feasible gene modification techniques include: BUGS surgery; M.O. surgery (Mosaic Organ Operation); as well as chemical enhancements in the form of injections, powders, or capsule-type drugs.
—Further details—
Timeline of the native civilization: Gregorian calendar (AD) 2599. A population explosion on Earth led to severe ecological degradation and depletion of mineral resources.
Our survey determined that the civilization was on the brink of ecological and societal collapse.
Resource World — No.
Agri-World — No.
Paradise World — No.
Forge World — No.
...
Evaluation: Overpopulated, with limited industrial capability.
Reported and approved by the Department of War as: Recruitment World.
Addendum: During colonization efforts on Mars, we discovered a unique species—Terraformar.
They were an unintended byproduct of the native civilization's space migration experiments.
Scientists had introduced two species to Mars—one was a genetically modified, layered rock-derived algae, and the other, a highly reproductive insect species (cockroaches) that fed on the algae. The goal was to observe biological adaptation to Martian conditions.
Evidently, Mars' unique environment triggered mutations in the cockroaches. Not only did they develop humanoid bodies, but they also gained extreme aggression and combat capabilities.
The native civilization named them: 'Martian Aberrants.'
Current report: Mars has been fully swept and cleared. Approximately 400 million surviving 'Martian Aberrants' have been captured and are in the process of being transferred to the Empire's Scientific Bureau for study in its designated biological research world.
Mars itself has also been secured. Preliminary analysis suggests the planet contains an unknown evolutionary substance that accelerated the cockroach species' development—achieving in 500 years what would normally take nature hundreds of millions.
The planet has since been handed over to the Imperial Forge Department.
...
At this point, Selene's interest began to fade.
With a casual flourish, she marked it: Approved.
Next.
"Report from the 2125th Exploration Fleet of the Dark Angels Legion… a failed native civilization?"
"The native human civilization has gone extinct… Based on a subspace signal, we intercepted an interstellar migrant vessel—'Aratrum.' Approximately 5,000 human survivors onboard."
"From the central governing body aboard—called the Central Committee—we learned that this civilization lost a prolonged war against Earth's monsters. After half a century of continuous defeat and retreat, humanity was forced to abandon Earth and launch an evacuation plan… Monsters?"
That monster… wide and massive, jet-black and rugged-skinned, short arms like a tyrannosaurus, and a dorsal fin running from its back to tail like a coral cliff ridge.
Watching the projected 3D hologram, Selene murmured, "Godzilla… or rather, Planet Godzilla with an ecosystem built entirely around it."
Capture it?
Mildly tempting, but Selene left it to fate.
She wasn't particularly invested. She already had more than enough pets (referring to various rare and Super-Danger Beasts—like those Sea King-class beasts over 5,000 meters tall). She wasn't lacking another.
And if the exploration fleet couldn't handle it?
Selene hadn't even considered that possibility.
It wasn't arrogance. With the Imperial Navy's absurdly overpowered arsenal, if they really went all out with indiscriminate firepower, one blast could turn a planet into glass—or even obliterate a star.
One high-output light spear not enough? Then increase the output. Still not enough? Keep scaling until it is.
Did anyone seriously think exploration fleets were like that flimsy interstellar migrant ship 'Aratrum,' which was barely 1.5 km long?
Some of the heavy light spear launchers in the Navy had barrel diameters several times wider than Planet Godzilla's full height (which was 300 meters).
There was a reason why the Empire's naval armament was considered excessively overpowered. During conquest wars, they always held back on firepower—after all, what use was a scorched wasteland? There had to be something left to harvest.
"That said… King Ghidorah the Planet Eater might be a bit troublesome. Notify Alex to take a Honkai Cube and deal with it. Hm, golden and shiny—I like that."
Next.
"Report from the 2nd Legion—Punishers, under Budo… Seems my Grand Marshal has completed the integration of the U.N.S.C. in Universe 117. Now that the digestion process is done, the 2nd Legion's Great Crusade will pick up speed again."
"The Sangheili are performing well—strong sense of honor and pride. In that regard, they're on par with my warriors. Natural-born soldiers. Supreme Fleet Commander Thel 'Vadamee has already completed integration of the Covenant species. His evaluations are quite positive."
"The Sangheili Honor Guard is en route." Upon reading this, Selene understood—soon, her elite palace guard, once exclusively human, would for the first time include a non-human race.
A promising beginning.
After all, she wasn't crowned the Empress of All Races for nothing. Her imperial command couldn't consist solely of humans while all other species were, well…
Either lab rats for the Empire's Science Bureau…
Or nobles' pets, decorative ornaments for sale…
Or laborers toiling away on Forge Worlds and Resource Worlds…
On the frontlines, these alien species were treated as cannon fodder—ranked even lower than the Empire's auxiliary armies and intelligent machine-controlled units. They were the cannon fodder of cannon fodder. No compensation, no rewards.
They were thrown scraps of food and handed a heated rod (not literally, but basic weapons at best), then shoved forward to hold the line. The Empire's supervising auxiliary troops were ruthless—resistance was met with mass executions. Entire squads could be wiped out as punishment. Brutal and absolute.
Selene considered it for a moment. Hm… this wasn't ideal. One had to offer some hope.
And the Sangheili were exceptional enough. They didn't have bizarre, disturbing customs (like cannibalism), and their warrior culture aligned well with the Empire's martial values. Alright—let's make them the example. Let the oppressed non-human species see:
There's still a sliver of hope for respect in the Empire…
Slim to none, but better than nothing.
In the future, if other alien species proved loyal enough, Selene would consider them case by case. Hope, after all, only works if you keep dangling it.
Next.
"Report from the 3rd Legion under Leiva—the Black Templars Legion… A technologically advanced universe in the era of space colonization, with 70% of humanity now living off-world…
A military alliance known as the 'Dorssia Military Pact Federation' and a trade-based bloc called the 'Atlantic Rim United States (ARUS)…'
A small but key nation: JIOR."
"Well well, Leiva lucked out. This new frontier universe is rich—should keep him plenty busy."
"Report from Astartes 4th Legion, Iron Warriors. Perturabo reporting: The Machine God Planet-Fortress 'Khaos' has been successfully restored. The first forge production line has been initiated…"
"Report from Astartes 5th Legion, White Scars…"
...
"Report from Astartes 13th Legion, Ultramarines…"
...
"Report from Bianka Ataegina regarding the Valkyrie Units and Sisters of Battle during the ongoing crusade campaigns. Per the invitation of the 2341st Exploration Fleet under the Imperial Inquisition, our forces have now arrived in this life-bearing universe.
Almost immediately, we intercepted encrypted space communications.
Language identified: English. One place name was repeated multiple times—Pandora."
—
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