Chapter 256 — The Imperium
The room remained quiet after Tanya finished speaking.
Commander Osman sat calmly behind the holographic display, her hands folded together on the table. The blue light from the floating screens reflected softly across the room.
Her attention shifted toward the final person who had not yet spoken about his world.
Gaius Maximor Thassor.
The giant Space Marine had remained silent throughout most of the discussion. He had listened to everyone else. He had observed every question and every answer without interruption.
Now everyone's attention settled on him.
Osman looked directly at him.
"Gaius Maximor Thassor," she said.
The room seemed to grow slightly quieter.
"May I ask about your world?"
For several moments, Gaius did not answer.
He sat completely still.
Thinking.
Considering how best to explain a civilization that stretched across the stars.
Finally, he spoke.
"My world is never a single planet."
His deep voice filled the room.
"It is composed of millions of planets."
The room became completely silent.
"Humanity has conquered, colonized, and controls them through the Imperium."
Nobody spoke.
Osman simply stared at Gaius.
Millions.
The number was difficult to grasp.
Humanity in her own universe had once considered itself a major interstellar power. Before the Covenant War, at the height of its expansion, it controlled roughly eight hundred colonized locations, including planets, moons, asteroids, stations, and outposts.
That had been the greatest expansion in human history.
Then the Covenant had arrived.
Now humanity possessed only a fraction of that.
Roughly forty surviving colonies remained.
Humanity had come terrifyingly close to extinction.
And yet the man sitting across from her was casually describing a civilization that ruled millions of worlds.
The scale was almost impossible to imagine.
The ONI specialists recording the meeting continued writing furiously.
Even they seemed unable to fully process the number.
Then Gaius continued.
"Although humanity in my universe has conquered many more worlds," he said calmly, "they also stand on the edge of ruin."
Osman blinked.
The statement immediately pulled her out of her thoughts.
She stared at him.
"Stand on the edge of ruin?"
Her voice contained genuine disbelief.
"How is an empire that spans a galaxy on the edge of ruin?"
It was a serious question.
A civilization that controlled millions of planets should have resources beyond imagination.
It should be unstoppable.
Gaius met her gaze.
"Although the Imperium possesses countless armies and soldiers," he said, "their numbers are trillions upon trillions."
The room became quiet again.
"Far beyond those numbers."
Even knowing what he had already said, the scale was shocking.
Osman had already assumed that an empire spanning millions of worlds would possess unimaginable military strength.
Actually hearing it spoken aloud was something else entirely.
"Yet they are still too few compared to the enemies they fight."
That statement lingered in the room.
Osman found herself studying him more closely.
The gold armor. The halo mounted behind his head. The serious expression that rarely changed. The calm certainty in his voice.
She leaned forward slightly.
"Are there more like you?"
Gaius was silent for a moment.
"More Space Marines?" Osman clarified.
"Yes."
That was not surprising.
"But there is no one like me among them."
That caught Osman's attention.
"I am blessed by the Emperor."
Osman made a mental note of that.
Unique. Not representative of the average Space Marine.
"How many are there?"
"Millions."
Several ONI specialists paused before quickly returning to their notes.
"Millions of Space Marines spread across the galaxy. They bring death to the enemies of mankind."
Osman absorbed that for a moment before asking her next question.
"And what kind of enemy is the Imperium fighting for things to be this bad?"
Gaius considered the question briefly.
"Many."
His expression hardened slightly.
"Chaos. Xenos. Orks. Rebellions."
ONI personnel immediately began taking notes as each category was mentioned.
Tony and the others did not react.
They already knew those terms.
Naruto simply listened.
Mindy leaned back in her chair.
Saeko calmly sipped her tea.
Tanya remained expressionless.
Diana listened quietly.
But Osman and the ONI personnel exchanged brief looks.
They understood some of those terms.
Rebellions made sense.
Xenos likely meant aliens.
But Orks?
Chaos?
Those terms created more questions than answers.
What exactly was an Ork?
And Chaos?
Was it a species?
An empire?
An organization?
Or was the enemy literally called Chaos?
The questions piled up rapidly.
Osman opened her mouth to ask.
But Gaius continued speaking before she could.
"But now," he said.
The room focused on him again.
"The Emperor of Mankind has been resurrected."
Osman froze.
"He will lead humanity into the light once more."
Silence followed.
Several ONI specialists exchanged looks.
Osman slowly rubbed her forehead.
There was simply too much information.
Too many impossible statements being presented as fact.
Gaius did not see the Emperor as a god. He was loyal to him as a soldier and as a son of Guilliman, but his understanding of the Emperor was grounded in reality, an immensely powerful, extraordinary being, not something beyond existence itself.
Even with the Emperor's return, Gaius knew it did not mean humanity's wars would simply end. The Imperium still faced countless threats across the galaxy, and even the Emperor, for all his power, was already fighting constant battles in the Warp against forces that never rested.
The galaxy had never been safe.
It still was not.
"And his resurrection is recent?"
Gaius nodded.
"Yes."
"Resurrection?" Osman repeated.
The word alone was difficult to process.
Eventually Osman lowered her hand.
She decided to focus on something simpler.
Something she could compare to known history.
"What year are you from?"
Then she added another question.
"Do you also have Earth?"
Gaius nodded.
"Yes."
The answer came immediately.
"Earth is the ancient name for Terra."
Several ONI specialists immediately recorded the statement.
"The world where humanity was born."
Osman nodded slowly.
Earth still existed.
Or at least it had once existed.
It had simply become Terra.
Then came the next answer.
"The year is the Forty-First Millennium."
Silence.
Absolute silence.
Even Tony looked slightly amused watching ONI process that answer.
The current year was 2552.
Gaius had casually stated that he came from around the year forty-one thousand.
Humanity in his universe had thousands upon thousands of additional years of development.
Combined with millions of planets, the implications were staggering.
Osman's attention shifted toward Gaius again.
Specifically his armor.
The gold-colored plates.
The strange halo mounted behind his head.
Years of training pushed her thoughts toward analysis.
They had already scanned the armor.
As much as they could, anyway.
The material was not gold.
It was some unknown substance.
The halo produced unusual energy readings.
Yet despite extensive scans, they had learned very little.
The strange part was something else.
For a civilization forty thousand years in the future and spread across millions of worlds, the technology seemed lower than expected.
Not primitive.
Certainly not.
But lower than what she would expect from a civilization of that scale.
Eventually she asked.
"May I ask something?"
Gaius nodded.
"Why does your technology seem low?"
The room became quieter.
Osman continued carefully.
"Lower than it should be."
Her tone remained polite.
Curious rather than insulting.
Gaius considered the question for a moment.
Then answered.
"Humanity's technology was once high."
His voice remained steady.
"Very high."
Osman listened closely.
"During the Dark Age of Technology, humanity flourished."
Several ONI specialists immediately highlighted the term.
Dark Age of Technology.
Important.
"Then the AI rebelled."
Osman's eyes narrowed slightly.
AI.
That word immediately caught her attention.
"Afterward, warp storms appeared."
The specialists continued recording.
"They cut off humanity's transportation."
Gaius continued speaking.
"Human colonies became isolated."
"Humanity was separated from itself."
The explanation formed a clear chain.
Humanity reached incredible technological heights.
Then artificial intelligence rebelled.
Then warp storms disrupted interstellar travel.
Colonies became isolated.
Civilization fractured.
Knowledge was lost.
Osman absorbed every word.
Of everything discussed today, that explanation caught her attention more than most.
Humanity in her universe relied heavily on artificial intelligence.
The possibility of AI rebellion was not something ONI could simply ignore.
Even if it came from another universe.
She silently committed the information to memory.
Eventually she looked up.
The meeting had already lasted a long time.
And everyone had shared far more than expected.
"Let's stop here for now."
The room relaxed slightly.
The discussion was finally ending.
Osman looked around the table.
At Tony.
Naruto.
Mindy.
Saeko.
Tanya.
Diana.
And finally Gaius.
"I have learned much from all of you."
The statement was genuine.
The meeting had provided an extraordinary amount of information.
Different worlds.
Different civilizations.
Different technologies.
Different histories.
"We have not exchanged technology yet."
Her gaze briefly shifted toward Tony.
"But there will be time for that."
Tony nodded.
Osman paused.
Then something in her expression softened.
Not much.
Just enough to be noticeable.
"I hope all of you enjoy your stay in Cascade."
Several members of the group exchanged brief looks.
Then Osman continued.
"Please contact Marcus for money and any other needs."
That immediately got attention.
"I will authorize it."
Tony blinked.
Then smiled.
"Thank you."
Across the table, Naruto nodded immediately.
Mindy nodded too.
Unlike Tony, neither of them bothered hiding their interest in the money.
Naruto looked particularly pleased.
Mindy wasn't far behind.
Osman noticed but said nothing.
The reaction was almost amusing.
After discussions involving galaxy-spanning empires, gods, magic, zombies, chakra, and advanced technology, the promise of spending money in the city had managed to excite them just as much.
The holographic displays around Osman slowly began shutting down.
Files disappeared.
Windows closed.
Reports vanished.
The meeting had finally reached its end.
~~~
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