"Quick! Quick! Move it!"
"Seal off all areas within the base. Prioritize control of laboratories, research institutes, data centers, forge facilities, and similar installations. Prevent any resistance from destroying them."
Halsey lifted her head, shifting images reflected within her azure eyes.
At this moment, although the terrifying starry colossus in the sky had vanished, the mere fact that she still stood within the cosmos—combined with the memory of the Empire's Empress standing amid the stars with that overwhelming presence—was enough to make one's heart pound and adrenaline surge.
Everyone understood that it had not been an illusion. It had truly happened.
"Incredible... how was that accomplished? What kind of technology was used... or was it divine power?"
Around her, dozens of Spartans and personnel from the Spartan Operations Department exchanged glances, then stared upward blankly. Today, far too many things had defied common sense. It felt as though their worldview was collapsing.
What they were watching was a real-time broadcast of Reach within the void screen.
After the Covenant aliens, the UNSC garrison of Reach, their families, and the civilian residents had all been transferred back, countless light screens displaying real-time images of Reach appeared out of thin air around Dr. Halsey, the members of Spartan Operations, and the surviving high-ranking officers of the UNSC fleet command.
At the center of the luminous screen, crisp footsteps approached from afar, as though echoing right before them. A group of Imperial Auxilia soldiers clad in light power armor moved swiftly and in orderly fashion under the direction of officers wearing iron-gray uniforms and peaked caps.
Calling it light was relative. In Halsey's eyes, their armor was hardly inferior to the Mjolnir series worn by Spartans. It was simply that within the Holy Selene Empire, the standard pattern of power armor was the Astartes MK series.
If power armor was issued to mortals, it naturally counted as the light model.
Besides them, numerous Imperial Servitor Army troops—bearing the same golden double-headed eagle insignia and the Night Lords' bat-winged skull emblem but otherwise equipped in widely differing uniforms and gear—hurried through city streets and base corridors at their commanders' calls.
Some wore spiked helmets. Some wore flamboyant tall hats. Some had pot-shaped helms. Others wore open-faced helmets...
In short, it left Halsey and the Spartans completely bewildered.
If they were regular troops, was not a unified uniform the most basic requirement?
Yet if they were irregulars, they did not look the part. Each was tall and powerfully built, faces scarred and fierce. Their tactical movements were extremely practiced, their actions disciplined and efficient. Their weapons and equipment were no worse than those of the UNSC Marine Corps—perhaps even superior.
...Forget it. Consider it some unique custom of theirs.
"Focus on identifying technical personnel within the UNSC defense forces—capture... pfft! Protect the research and technical staff! They are valuable assets. Minimize violent clashes and avoid lethal force against them whenever possible..."
Within the footage, a Servitor Army officer shouted loudly. The way those Servitor Army troops dragged out technical specialists and research personnel crouching among the crowds made it look as though they were hauling people out for execution.
The UNSC defense forces on Reach had already surrendered. Achievements such as kills or decapitations—personal head-count merits—were clearly off the table for now.
After all, this counted as an internal war among humans. It was merely a matter of the humans of this universe returning to the Empire's embrace, not the extermination of xenos.
Aside from differences in campaigning style—or in cases where a particular world was so uncooperative that it imposed costs exceeding its own value—indiscriminate annihilative massacres were not common under normal circumstances.
So long as they did not incite riots or seek death, and without explicit authorization from a commanding officer with proper clearance, any subordinate within the Imperial Army who killed civilians to claim merit would face severe punishment.
As for the so-called tradition of subordinates rebelling against superiors—did they think this was some nation famed for such antics? Try it and see what happens.
Within the Holy Selene Empire, the absolute centralization of imperial authority would teach them a harsh lesson.
"Separate out more scientists! If your squad finds them, the entire unit shares the merit!"
If random killing was no longer permitted, then classification and capture would do. That counted as merit too.
"What? You don't know what a scientist is, you idiot! Was your regiment recruited from some savage world?"
At that moment, someone shouted in a thick regional accent.
And that was indeed the case.
Some Servitor Army regiments had been recruited and trained from primitive worlds under the Night Lords Legion. It was their first time participating in such a campaign, and they were brimming with curiosity toward all these novel things.
"The ones in white coats! The ones wearing technical officer badges!"
"Left here behind... it seems you are people favored by Her Majesty."
A meteor crashed down with overwhelming force. The oppressive weight of the descending figure and the violent energy surging from his body forced everyone present to bend involuntarily.
"May I ask who you are?"
This giant dwarfed every Astartes Halsey had ever seen. He wore a suit of exquisite deep-blue power armor, with golden-bronze spiral adornments extending behind him. The bat-winged skull glowing with crimson light upon his armor proclaimed his noble identity...
"Konrad Curze."
Arms folded across his chest, black eyes gleaming like midnight phantoms, Konrad Curze looked down indifferently at the mortals deliberately left behind by Selene.
Curze... he was the one that earlier voice had ordered to cease the attack.
Was he the commander of that Imperial fleet?
"May I ask—does Mr. Nathaniel serve under you?" Halsey chose her words carefully.
"Nathaniel? Ah, the young viscount from an Imperial core noble family. He performed well on this reconnaissance mission."
In a rare good mood, Konrad Curze's pale face curved into a faint smile—one that only deepened the unease in others' hearts.
"However, since you have received Her Majesty's favor, I care not what you did before. Make your stance clear."
"Otherwise..."
Konrad Curze narrowed his eyes. The fingers resting upon his folded arms tapped lightly.
Boom!
Thud!Thud!
An immense pressure materialized from nowhere. In an instant, Halsey and the entire UNSC group lost control of their bodies, slammed face-first to the ground, unable to breathe.
There was not the slightest room for resistance.
"I will teach you what cruelty truly means."
"Curze, one must show courtesy to guests."
In the next moment, a clear, ethereal female voice drifted across the sea of stars like butterfly wings in flight.
An invisible force dispelled the oppression brought by Konrad Curze, lifting them gently and even smoothing the wrinkles from the clothing of Halsey and the Spartan Operations technicians.
"Your Majesty."
Only now did Halsey and the others see clearly the true form of the so-called Empress of the Empire.
Step.Step.
As she approached from afar, the intangible void shimmered with specks of starlight beneath her footsteps, lotus-like blooms forming with every step beneath the elevated platforms of her high heels.
A crystal wineglass was hooked casually upon her finger. She wore an elaborate and magnificent platinum gothic gown that wrapped her exquisite figure.
Although the pure white fabric covered everything from beneath her astonishingly fair collarbone down to her calves, the ornate hollowed patterns worked together with the white cloth to outline alluring curves. Alongside Selene's lustrous silk-like white hair, they accentuated the Empress' mature and healthy physique.
She seemed scarcely shorter than the female Spartans who had undergone biochemical enhancement surgery, yet she did not appear bulky in the slightest. Where she should be full, she was full. Where she should be slender, she was slender. Sexy without losing dignity, beautiful while remaining perfectly proportioned and harmonious—the golden ratio made flesh.
She did look somewhat sturdier than an ordinary woman, but that was only natural. At such height, being petite and delicate would have looked deformed and unbalanced instead.
Even as a fellow woman, Halsey had to admit that the Empress' charm was deeply attractive.
"Curze, you are a Legion Commander. They are only mortals. They cannot endure your pressure."
Her pronunciation was perfect and resonant. Her voice seemed to possess a strange magic, a power that soothed hearts and calmed people for no reason at all.
Half-kneeling upon the ground, Konrad Curze accepted the gaze of the Imperial Empress.
"Well done. I have not yet finished matters in the Large Magellanic Cloud, and your Night Lords have already reached Reach."
Selene stopped beside Konrad Curze, swirling the crystalline liquid within her goblet.
"That was somewhat beyond my expectations."
"I am ashamed. I disrupted Your Majesty's plans. I request puni—"
"Punishment my ass!"
Selene slapped the head he had lowered toward her and laughed in exasperation.
"You did not violate any prohibition I issued, so why would I punish you? Punish you for earning too much merit?"
"Rewarding no merit, punishing loyal servants without fault—do you take me for a foolish ruler?"
"I..."
"Troublesome."
Seeing that Konrad Curze still wanted to assign blame to himself, Selene simply grabbed his head and pulled it before her eyes.
"Enough. Stop kneeling. Why do you think I brought wine with me?"
The disparity in height and build left Halsey and the others rather dazed. Selene's tall frame by normal human standards looked no different from that of a child before Konrad Curze.
Yet the scene before them was that of a heavily armored giant, like the descendant of some Titan, behaving like a scolded child before a petite girl.
"You... if only you had a little of Russ' and Angron's liveliness."
She patted the armor skirt at his waist.
At that moment, soft radiance seemed to reflect around Selene. Anyone who looked upon her could not help but feel dazzled and entranced, unable to entertain irreverent thoughts. Some even felt an urge to bow in worship.
"The first merit of Universe 117 currently appears to be yours."
Her gentle praise was almost maternal in tenderness. If a certain midnight phantom from another era had seen this, he might have gone mad with envy.
Before Konrad Curze's excited gaze, Selene tore open the veil of reality and summoned an enormous wine vessel and cup suited for an Astartes Legion Commander.
Personally filling the massive goblet with fine liquor, Selene raised her own crystal glass high.
"At present, your progress far exceeds Budo's and Angron's."
"Consider this your victory toast in advance. Come—drink."
Clink.
It was quite an amusing scene. The giant bent low, carefully holding a goblet the size of a water vat in both hands, lightly touching it against the raised crystal glass of the woman standing with one hand behind her back.
Draining her drink in one motion, Selene tilted her head and encouraged him.
"However, Budo and Angron will not hand the first merit to you so easily. Budo should soon begin the Battle of High Charity as well."
A sweet date to affirm his recent achievements.
Then a lash to set a new objective and increase his drive.
One could say that when it came to grandstanding, displaying presence, and ensuring the loyalty of those beneath her, Selene had mastered the craft completely.
Setting down his cup, Konrad Curze straightened his expression, then once more dropped to one knee before Selene, fist suspended before his heart.
"I will immediately begin the conquest of the Solar System."
"The first merit shall be mine."
"Oh? Then I shall watch with anticipation. Go attend to your duties. I will not delay you further."
"By your command!"
Selene's authority had never relied solely upon strength and bloody methods. Clear rewards and punishments, along with her own unique personal charm, only added further brilliance.
Perhaps even Selene herself had never realized—or never once considered—just how great her charm truly was.
For example, her feminine appeal.
Perhaps Selene had never been the seductive, coquettish, flamboyant type. From childhood until now, before outsiders and even before family, she had never acted spoiled, much less flirted or struck alluring poses.
Instead, she was strong, quick to use force, and thoroughly lacking in ladylike restraint. Yet in the eyes of Imperial citizens, this version of Selene possessed even greater appeal than women who deliberately played at sensuality.
Scientifically speaking, there was some biology behind it. When seeking mates, living beings naturally tended first toward individuals with healthy physiques, as they were more capable of reproduction, longer-lived, and better able to raise offspring.
What Selene presented to the world was the body of a healthy woman. During human evolution, the instinct to first choose healthy partners had been retained. Not to mention, her way of dressing only enhanced that feminine appeal further, from the lift of high heels to the sleek finish of pantyhose and the other choices that framed her figure.
Of course, because the gap in strength and status was far too vast—so distant as to be unreachable—Selene was no longer regarded as human in the eyes of the world, but as heaven itself. Thus admiration transformed into pursuit, into yearning.
"You've watched long enough. Now it's your turn. Do you know why I left you behind?"
Selene turned her head and looked toward Halsey and the others.
"Your Majesty..."
Meeting that smiling yet unreadable gaze, Halsey let out a long breath and prepared to bow.
"No need."
With no intention of explaining further, Selene simply beckoned with one hand.
"Come with me."
"Your Majesty, may I ask where we are going?"
"The Covenant capital—High Charity."