At this moment, Dr. Halsey, the Master Chief, and the rest of the UNSC delegation had already been sent back to the Solar System by Selene through an ultra-long-range trans-spatial webway transfer.
They were currently aboard the flagship Nightfall of the Astartes Eighth Legion, the Night Lords, negotiating with the "Night Haunter," Konrad Curze, regarding a joint encirclement and annihilation of the Covenant fleet led by the Prophet of Regret, as well as matters of contact with the Unified Earth Government.
The Covenant was presently under the control of the San'Shyuum, adhering to the doctrines of the "Writ of Union" and the "Great Journey." Of its organized fleet power, only the combined fleet led by the Prophet of Regret remained.
Of the three High Prophets, the Prophet of Truth and his fleet had been buried at Reach.
The Prophet of Mercy had been publicly executed in the Covenant capital—High Charity. The Sangheili had rebelled, while the San'Shyuum and the Jiralhanae were massacred by Imperial forces and Sangheili troops who had already landed.
Control of High Charity had likewise fallen into Imperial hands.
Across the Covenant's vast interstellar territories, under orders from Xytan 'Jar Wattinree—the highest-ranking active military officer of the Covenant and Supreme Commander of the Fleet—flags were lowered and replaced.
Along the Covenant's borders, led by the powerful "Righteous Purpose" combined fleet, several Covenant fleets commanded by Sangheili officers turned their guns around, launching sweeping purges against Covenant colonies opposing the Empire, as well as against Jiralhanae legions.
Although this "pacification" war was far from over—indeed, its intensity remained high, with many fanatical believers of the San'Shyuum doctrine choosing stubborn resistance—the interstellar communicators had already been prioritized for elimination.
As for the scattered rebellions spread across various star sectors?
Nothing to fear. Crushing them one by one was merely a matter of time.
Ironically, the Prophet of Regret, who had originally set out for Erde-Tyrene to activate the Ark portal, had never imagined that the coordinates of Erde-Tyrene corresponded to humanity's homeworld capital.
From human insurrectionists in distant colonies, the Prophet of Regret had obtained numerous key planetary coordinates belonging to the Unified Earth Government. Among them was one set of coordinates that matched the information he had deciphered from Forerunner ruins—the final destination of the Forerunners, and the entrance leading to it: Erde-Tyrene.
As for what role this coordinate played within human civilization, the Prophet of Regret knew nothing.
The Prophet of Truth did in fact know that Earth was humanity's cradle world. However, intending to use it as a trap to eliminate a political rival, he never intended to reveal that information. On the contrary, he continuously attempted to conceal and suppress it.
In the end, the Prophet of Truth achieved his goal.
Even upon witnessing the planet's excessively formidable defenses, the Prophet of Regret still did not realize that this world was humanity's homeworld.
However, due to the butterfly effect brought about by Selene, the forces the Prophet of Regret brought to Earth this time were far from a hastily assembled minor fleet... (PS: In the original storyline, the Prophet of Regret hastily brought only two CAS-class assault carriers and thirteen CCS-class battlecruisers to Earth.)
Instead, he arrived with several Covenant combined fleets spearheaded by the Fleet of Sacred Consecration, along with a vast number of Jiralhanae legions.
One had to know—Regret had dared to charge in recklessly with only fifteen ships before. How much more so now, with such overwhelming strength at his disposal?
As for the resistance of Earth's UNSC Home Fleet, the Prophet of Regret had only one thought—fight!
Regret was delighted.
But for Earth, it was like a crushing blow to the head, jolting the slumbering hearts of the honorable members of Parliament awake with a violent tremor.
Even though the UNSC Home Fleet—responsible for guarding humanity's cradle world and protecting Earth and the Solar System from invasion—was already one of the UNSC's largest fleets, it was still utterly insufficient against the massive combined fleet pressing down under Regret's command.
The Fifth Fleet, commanded by UNSC Admiral Joseph Harper, engaged the enemy first. Comprising sixty-seven frigates and eight cruisers, it was annihilated within only a few exchanges.
In Earth's low orbit, the Moncton-class orbital defense platforms—Cairo Station, Athens Station, and Malta Station—were successively destroyed.
On other fronts, the Second Fleet, Seventh Fleet, and Sixteenth Fleet all suffered heavy losses to varying degrees.
Earth's orbital defense network had been torn open. The Covenant had even begun detaching fleets to conduct close-range bombardment of human cities and military centers on the planet's surface.
Large numbers of Jiralhanae troops were deployed onto Earth's surface by the Prophet of Regret. Even Regret's flagship, the CAS-class Solemn Penance, had already broken through layer upon layer of Home Fleet defenses and reached low orbit.
Yet not long after the Battle of Earth began, just as the Prophet of Regret was about to approach the coordinate location—New Mombasa, Kenya, in East Africa—the Eighth Legion Night Lords fleet launched a full-scale assault against Covenant forces throughout the Solar System.
The sudden arrival of a new enemy directly disrupted Regret's deployment.
In the time that followed, countless Imperial Navy warships belonging to the Astartes Eighth Legion Night Lords arrived in the Solar System.
Moreover, with guidance and coordination from UNSC defense personnel from Reach, portions of the Imperial Navy executed precise warp transitions that bypassed the main space battle raging beyond Earth's low orbit, jumping directly into Earth's atmosphere.
They began destroying Covenant ships wreaking havoc, meeting them head-on. Vast numbers of Servitor Army troops, Imperial Auxilia, and Astartes warriors were deployed to ground battlefields via assault craft, drop pods, and tactical teleportation—where Covenant infantry were rampaging.
The arrival of reinforcements greatly boosted the morale of the embattled UNSC forces on Earth.
What?
These reinforcements had no recognizable identification codes, and judging by their equipment and tactics, they did not appear to belong to the United Nations Space Command?
What did that matter?!
Earth—humanity's home—and the Unified Government itself were already teetering on the brink of life and death. Who had the luxury to worry about such things now?
Perhaps the upper echelons of the Unified Earth Government harbored concerns and suspicions about these powerful forces that seemed to have sprung from nowhere.
But the rank-and-file soldiers crouched in the trenches on the front lines did not think so much.
For the grunts crawling through explosions, fire, mud, and smoke, death might come in the very next second. Who cared who you were?
As long as you were human, here to defend their home, here to fight alien scum alongside them—then you were comrades bearing arms together.
Especially those towering figures clad in heavy armor, unmatched in strength, charging through enemy lines without falling—were they even human? They were taller and more robust than the Jiralhanae.
A general is the courage of his soldiers.
Seeing the Astartes warriors slaughtering Covenant enemies before them as easily as cutting down melons and vegetables, the UNSC soldiers resisting the Covenant landing forces within the cities began spontaneously rallying around them in battle.
Listening to the continuous reports from his subordinates, Admiral Terrence Hood—Chief of Naval Operations of the UNSC and overall commander of the Battle of Earth—finally suppressed the doubts in his heart regarding these so-called "rebels."
Especially after receiving a joint advisory letter from UNSC officers on Reach, transmitted by the unknown human fleet, Terrence Hood did not falter. He formally ordered all forces to coordinate with the Imperial Army in launching a counteroffensive against the Covenant.
Years later, having risen from a Servitor Army general within the Astartes Second Legion Executioners—serial designation Conquered World—No.117, 117th Mixed Army Group of Universe 117—to a naval commander of the Holy Selene Empire, Terrence Hood wrote in his memoirs:
"I am grateful that, at the end of 2552, I did not stubbornly cling to arrogance in that moment of decision. I am also grateful that I was the one serving as overall commander of the Battle of Earth."
"It is difficult to imagine—had I allowed even the slightest hostility to show toward the 'Night Haunter,' or refused cooperation, or behaved with the pride of humanity's central government—then I would have become a sinner of the UNSC, a sinner to all humankind."
...
Above Installation 00—the Greater Ark. Central control chamber.
"Legion Commander Konrad Curze reports: the alien fleet led by the Prophet of Regret has now been intercepted and cut off by our Legion's surprise assault."
"Under the verbal offensive of Xytan 'Jar Wattinree, Thel 'Vadam, and other senior Sangheili commanders, the last organized Covenant fleet has collapsed. A large number of Covenant warships captained by Sangheili have chosen to break away from the Prophet of Regret's command."
"The remaining Covenant vessels under the control of San'Shyuum clerics and Jiralhanae continue to resist stubbornly..."
Selene stared at the three-dimensional star map projected before her, continuously assembling and shifting as data uploaded by the Halo Monitors merged together.
At her side, Mendicant Bias—granted authority by Selene to receive Imperial Navy communications—had increasingly settled into its role, respectfully delivering reports while projecting incoming Imperial files onto the holographic display.
The reassembled core of Mendicant Bias, now restored and manifested in the form of a colossal mask, paused in contemplation. The three azure photoreceptors serving as its eyes and mouth flickered as it slowly inquired:
"Legion Commander Konrad Curze requests instructions. The alien leader—the Prophet of Regret—should he be captured alive?"
Selene turned her gaze.
"Captured alive?"
Looking toward Mendicant Bias, she spoke softly, "No need. Execute him. Leave the head and present it to the Unified Earth Government as a gesture of goodwill."
"Yes. I will transmit the order to Legion Commander Konrad Curze at once." The ever-deferential Mendicant Bias inclined its massive form slightly.
Nodding, Selene returned her attention to the red points on the star map.
These red markers were the final objectives of her journey to Universe 117 of the Second Legion—and items that had to be taken.
Shield Worlds. Fortress Worlds. Onyx.
While manipulating the three-dimensional map and locking onto their coordinates, Selene simultaneously observed the Flood attempting to flee outward from the Halo Array.
"Persistent, aren't they?"
"Honkai Beast Legion—devour them clean."
With that thought, beneath the deep curtain of light, tens of thousands of eerie violet suns ignited across the Halo Array.
From within the violet cavities, Honkai Beasts poured forth in torrents.
The Halo Monitors, forcibly conscripted by Selene as technicians, stared blankly, their photoreceptors flickering unconsciously.
On the display, the pale violet Honkai Beasts swarmed like an insectoid hive, frenziedly devouring the massive, stubborn Flood constructs thrashing within the oceans under the purification of Honkai energy.
In sheer ferocity, they were scarcely inferior to the Flood themselves.
Mendicant Bias paused.
"Your Majesty, after my scans of the Ark and the Halo Array, I have found no trace of my brother—Offensive Bias. Many years ago, he was ordered to oversee my imprisonment. However, the emergence of another existential threat appears to have compelled other Forerunners to redeploy him."
After a brief hesitation, it continued, "However, Shield Worlds, Onyx, Requiem, Ghibalb, and Charum Hakkor are all possible locations where he may be dormant. My recommendation is to investigate them one by one."
Charum Hakkor: the Forerunners' original homeworld—once a paradise of incomparable beauty, guided by the Precursors and possessing a perfect ecosystem. Later, due to catastrophic errors in stellar engineering by the Forerunners themselves, it became a radiation-scorched wasteland.
"As long as he detects my signal frequency, he will reveal himself."
Listening to Mendicant Bias' oddly affectionate fraternal rivalry, Selene nodded unconsciously.
"Then we begin with the confirmed coordinates. Initiate transfer."
"000 Tragic Solitude, mark the serial designations of all Forerunner Fortress Worlds containing Quiet Cartographer facilities, Domain aggregation nodes, and Sentinel production complexes. It will make it easier for me to sweep them all in one net."
"Understood, Your Majesty."
Using the aggregated database from the Monitors, Mendicant Bias listed one important Forerunner world after another—worlds that had once been vital.
Selene cross-referenced each coordinate in turn, tore open the veil of space-time, and began the relocation process.
At this moment, Selene had to admit—having a superintelligent tool at hand was undeniably convenient.
As Selene performed her grand cosmic relocation beyond the galactic rim—
Within the Milky Way, the sudden phenomena unfolding were enough to stun countless witnesses on the spot.
Onyx—a Forerunner artificial world currently under de facto UNSC control, though the UNSC remained unaware of its true nature.
When the UNSC fleet stationed at Onyx suddenly received news of Reach's loss of contact and the Covenant assault on the Solar System, they were already bewildered. As the commanding officer ordered the fleet to assemble for reinforcement—
A violet-crimson rift over 20,000 kilometers in diameter—larger than Earth itself—suddenly formed in space, crackling with lightning like a titanic oceanic maelstrom.
It resembled a flower of destruction blooming in the void.
Then, before the stunned gaze of every observer, the supernatural phenomenon swallowed Onyx whole.
When the violet-red fissure faded, the region of space returned to calm.
But Onyx was simply gone.
In an instant, the UNSC fleet assembling nearby was dumbfounded.
The scene before them was like a hammer shattering their entire worldview into fragments.
"What the hell—? Is the universe alive?!"
"Holy shit, this isn't a hallucination, right?! Hit me—see if I'm dreaming—"
Smack!
"Ah! You bastard, you really hit me?! And that hard?!"
"Did you record it?"
"Recorded! Recorded!"
"Report it! Now! Report it immediately!"
And this was far from an isolated case.
Throughout the galaxy—not only UNSC forces, but residents of humanity's inner and outer colonies, even Covenant colonies—witnessed similar supernatural phenomena.
Rumors spread like wildfire.
Ancient gods awakening. Old dominators returning. Warp daemons stirring once more... In the more backward outer colonies, such claims flourished.
Had the age itself changed?
Meanwhile, the instigator herself—Selene—rested her chin against her hand atop the control console, feeling little of note.
Relocate. Relocate. And relocate again...
Until a communication from the Honkai Dimension piqued her curiosity.
"Sebas... what is it?"