On October 1st, Year 0040 of the Imperial Calendar, the Eternal Hall of the Imperial Palace hosted the most grandiose celebration in human history.
Rogal Dorn, the Primarch known for his unyielding will of steel, donned a wedding robe embedded with adamantium-gold scales. Under the personal blessing of the Emperor, he completed a sacred, cross-species union with Aoei Loslian from Terrailla.
The venue's decor was a pinnacle of imperial aesthetics.
Stained glass windows, each a hundred meters tall, refracted sunlight into cascading prismatic beams that illuminated a ceremonial aisle lined with tens of thousands of crystalline roses.
A choir of Terraillan elves sang the Eternal Companions, a vow-song harmonized between human and demi-human traditions.
Notably, Vulkan—the Primarch of the Salamanders—personally served as honor guard captain, wielding a blessing staff entwined with Everlife Vines gifted by Hera.
Most of the Primarchs attended the ceremony, though a few remained stationed in their domains to prevent Chaos from exploiting the occasion to launch a surprise attack on the material realm.
Those who couldn't attend sent their blessings in unique ways:
Guilliman sent an orrery crafted by the finest artisans of the Five Hundred Worlds.
Sanguinius dispatched a full Blood Angels choir.
Perturabo offered a miniature palace replica, intricately recreating every detail of the wedding hall—perhaps as a subtle reminder to never forget the elves' goodwill.
This union held political significance far beyond the ritual itself.
At the state banquet following the ceremony, representatives of demi-humans and various species were granted entry to the inner court of the palace.
The banquet hall's dome, specially modified by the Department of Engineering, projected the cultural totems of all major species within imperial borders.
When Aoei appeared wearing a crown that blended human jewelry craftsmanship with elven elegance, all attending species simultaneously performed their own highest formal salutes.
The marriage between Dorn and Aoei Loslian marked the Empire's formal recognition of demi-humans as a foundational pillar of its dominion. It also strengthened the sense of belonging and allegiance among species biologically compatible with humans.
The ceremony etched itself as a historic milestone in the annals of the Empire.
Seven standard months later, the Department of Imperial Affairs issued the Demi-Human Rights Act. Its adamantium-covered collector's edition featured the sigils of both the Imperial Fists and the Loslian Royal House engraved side by side.
The act explicitly granted full imperial citizenship to any sentient species reproductively compatible with humans.
This policy caused a 47% surge in allegiance requests from the Star Wars universe, greatly accelerating the Expeditionary Force's unification efforts.
For species with reproductive barriers, the Empire adopted a more profound spiritual assimilation strategy, requiring direct involvement from the Emperor himself to permanently eliminate latent threats.
Samuel Young, still seated on the Golden Throne, continuously exerted psychic power to subtly influence the xeno populations integrated into the Empire's rule.
Take the Sangheili (Elites) from Universe 08 (Halo), for example. These warrior species conduct daily worship in chapels inlaid with the Emperor's iconography.
On Sanghelios, their homeworld, a 300-meter-tall obsidian statue of the Emperor stands in their main temple. Its eyes, set with psy-crystals, emit golden radiance day and night.
From the Empire's founding, the Sangheili have revered Samuel Young as "My Lord" and "God-Emperor."
No other species can match their unwavering loyalty and devotion—physical, spiritual, and ideological.
Yet, while such methods fortified the Empire's grip, they also deepened the Emperor's burden.
To sustain the Empire, Samuel could not stray far from the Golden Throne, and the psychic energy he consumed daily was sufficient to extinguish three hypergiant stars like Betelgeuse.
Unlike the immobile corpse-Emperor of Warhammer 40K, however, Samuel still retained full mobility.
Moreover, within the governor's palace on Pacific Rim Earth, a backup mini–Golden Throne was constructed. If needed, the strongest psyker Primarch could perform a seamless handover, freeing the Emperor to personally command on the front lines.
Not long after Dorn's wedding to Aoei—
Inside the Imperial Palace's Meditation Hall, Dorn knelt on one knee and presented a thick analysis report to the Emperor seated on the Golden Throne.
This 700-page document, bound in an adamantium shell etched with the Imperial Fists' insignia and layered with complex confidentiality runes, floated mid-air under the Emperor's psychic control.
As the pages turned, the vellum displayed projected gene-chain models, each spiral helix rotating slowly.
The report confirmed that offspring between a Primarch and an elven royal could be conceived naturally.
But Chapter 3's red warning banner stood out prominently.
It stated that during gestation, the embryo may emit unique warp fluctuations at over 12,000 times the magnitude of ordinary psykers.
Psychic projections showed this would pierce the tightest warp shielding and appear in the Immaterium as a "stellar burst," attracting countless daemons and warp predators.
Despite Aoei's high psychic aptitude and proficiency in pure psychic energy, elven royals could never match a Primarch's physical strength or mental resilience—far below even long-lived Greek demigods who had resisted Chaos for millennia.
At that moment, Dorn's voice rang through the Meditation Hall, each syllable steely and resolute:
"Father, I do not fear battle. But I will not give the enemy any opportunity."
Indeed, should Dorn and Aoei conceive a child, warp entities might find countless ways to infiltrate Aoei's body and corrupt the fetus.
No matter how vigilant Dorn may be, he could not guard his wife every moment.
Aoei, for all her strength, could not fight Greater Daemons like a Primarch could.
If Chaos corrupted or abducted the child and used them as leverage to threaten the Imperial Fists—or the entire Empire—Dorn would become a sinner beyond redemption.
Thus, Dorn declared that until the Empire was fully secured and Chaos utterly destroyed, he would not risk fathering a child.
He continued:
"Father, until the last heretic and daemon is purged, until the final warp rift is sealed, I will not allow personal emotion to endanger the Empire's bulwark."
The Emperor's golden eyes shimmered with layered light—sovereign majesty tempered by paternal warmth.
Samuel lightly tapped the armrest of the throne, a habit since the Empire's founding, each tap perfectly timed.
Though he did long to hold a grandchild, he deeply respected his son's choice.
Kneeling beside Dorn, Aoei lifted her head slightly. Her elven golden hair flowed like moonlight under the psychic glow.
Her "Eternal Vow" necklace shimmered blue. The soulstone's rune indicated a biological age equivalent to a 24-year-old human.
"Honored Emperor, Lord of Mankind,"
Her voice was like crystal wind chimes. "To us elves, millennia are but a long slumber. I believe under your guidance, the Human Empire will cleanse the stars long before then.
And we elves excel in patience."
Her words affirmed unwavering support for her husband's decision.
Given her long lifespan—tens of thousands of years were easily within reach—Aoei felt she could wait.
In the end, the Emperor nodded slowly: "Your prudence is the Empire's shield."
He then raised his left hand, releasing a faint golden glow that enveloped the slightly startled Aoei.
These light particles weren't mere energy—they carried the Emperor's understanding of life's essence.
As the glow sank into Aoei's skin, her emerald eyes sparked with gold for the first time.
Dorn instantly understood: his father had expended psychic energy to bestow a blessing—likely enhancing her physical body, fortifying her will, or extending her lifespan.
The unshakable Primarch bowed deeply: "Thank you, Father!"
His powerful voice echoed through the Meditation Hall, causing the psychic flames around the Golden Throne to flicker and cast shifting shadows.
After the couple's footsteps faded behind the heavy doors, and the hall returned to silence, the golden shimmer in Samuel's eyes slowly ebbed, revealing remarkably clear, deeply human irises despite centuries of life.
But a rare weariness flickered in his gaze.
Silence returned.
His eyes pierced the dome ceiling, seeming to stare directly into the Warp beyond the material realm.
If the Empire's current territory were displayed holographically, all eighteen universes (including the Prime) would glow in the darkness—each light a pulse of trillions of minds.
Samuel could feel the torrents of 40 trillion minds and emotions—soldiers' resolve, settlers' hope, scientists' thirst for knowledge—flowing into his consciousness through the Throne and being channeled into the realms of Heaven and Hell.
These spiritual dimensions, if compared to the physical universe, had expanded to the size of dwarf galaxies, each spanning over 50,000 light-years.
Within them, rivers and mountains of pure psychic energy were evolving autonomously, even giving birth to angelic and demonic guardian forms.
Samuel believed these were now micro-warp domains fully under his control—pure dimensional constructs.
"Not yet," he murmured.
He knew the true counterattack had not yet come. They had the foundation, but not the power to overturn the table entirely.
As for Terrailla, governed by Dorn, its total population had reached an astonishing 160 billion. Humans had colonized over 400 terrestrial planets within and beyond the Orion Arm.
The Imperial Fists boasted two million Astartes.
Next was Universe 08, Halo, a key turning point in the Empire's technological leap.
Its humans had entered the interstellar age 400 years ahead of Prime humanity. Their advances in FTL travel and terraforming were countless.
Universe 08 was co-governed by multiple Primarchs—Fulgrim, Angron, Leman, Mortarion, and Corvus Corax.
Each commanded around 800,000 Astartes:
Fulgrim's Children of Man
Angron's War Hounds
Leman's Space Wolves
Mortarion's Dusk Raiders
Corax's Raven Guard
Universe 09: Cyberpunk 2077, governed jointly by Dorn. Population: ~60 billion.
Universe 10: Terminator, governed directly by the Prime Universe due to being secured by former ABCS forces and elite intelligence operatives. Population: ~60 billion.
Universe 11: Gears of War, governed by Perturabo with Atlas' full support. Population: 120 billion. Iron Warriors count: ~2 million Astartes.
Universe 12: Godzilla: Planet of the Monsters, governed by Magnus. Humanity nearly extinct, now only 2 billion, confined to the solar system. However, bio-research is underway to clone giant kaiju as expendable shock troops.
Universe 13: Trench Crusaders, governed by Leon. Population: 30 billion.
Universe 14: Starship Troopers, a core node of imperial strength. Population: 600 billion. Jointly governed by Guilliman, Sanguinius, Leon, and Horus.
Universe 15: Alien, governed by Leman. Population: 120 billion.
Universe 16: Red Alert, governed by Alpharius and Omegon. Population: 40 billion. Alpha Legion Astartes: ~200,000, similar to the Scourged Sons—an auxiliary legion.
Finally, the transformative turning point for the Human Empire—
Universe 17: Star Wars.
(End of Chapter)
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