The Martial Unity

Prime Minister Edward wasn’t the only leader in the world who was having such a reckoning. While Rui confronted the alien threat, each and every single leader in the political class of Gaia found themselves confronted with an unimaginable crisis the likes of which they had never experienced before.

“We are dealing with an entity and a civilization the likes of which greatly dwarfs Gaian civilization in its technological sophistication.” The voice of Mother Maeria hung in the air with grave severity as she furiously studied all the emergency reports and data that they had managed to gather. “The fact that it is able to destroy a segment of our solar system this easily means that we are facing a threat of unimaginable power. It is most likely an alien civilization that is far, far greater than we are.”

“The fact that it could even travel to our solar system suggests that it’s of a higher echelon of sophistication,” the Elder Tree mused.

“It means we’re dealing with an existential crisis.” Jormungandr’s slithery tone of voice was grim.

There were too many reasons for anybody with access to the classified intelligence to come to this conclusion. Minutes had passed since the gravitational attack of pure destruction had been halted in its tracks, and it became evident to each and every single leader in the world that this was not a realm of power that they would have been able to halt by themselves.

Not even the second-most powerful pathwalker in the world, the Suneater, would have been able to survive such an astronomical amount of power. And yet, somehow, Rui appeared to have protected all of them. Nobody had missed the changing of his location, based on his Martial Embodiment. His position implied that he had placed himself between Gaia and the alien entity and had somehow protected them from a fate that should have been inevitable.

“He is truly our protector, but he can’t be allowed to fight this battle by himself.”

Mother Maeria had already convened an emergency meeting with the leadership of the world in a few minutes. Normally, it wasn’t easy to get leaders to join an emergency conference within just minutes’ worth of prior notice, but this time, each and every single leader accepted the call, preparing themselves rapidly for an emergency meeting that needed to be conducted immediately.

She knew that they needed to deploy their space force immediately. While Gaian Civilization’s space force was not the most well-established wing of the military, it was still quite comprehensive and powerful, it would allow them to provide at least some kind of support, allowing them to engage with power the likes of which they had never seen before. While the eldest Mother of Nature prepared herself for the meeting, the Divine Doctor found himself studying the data that had been gathered on the alien entity.

His eyes lit up as he recognized what he was looking at.

“This architecture, it reminds me of the manifold tree.”

The manifold tree was an alien lifeform whose biology was centered around concentric layers rather than groups of cells. It was so radically different from anything in Gaia that it could only have been an alien entity. He called the alien lifeforms of this alien tree of life ‘laminar integuments,’ creatures composed of layers.

Now, he found himself looking at a ship whose infrastructure matched that of the laminal integument. Was that a coincidence?

He strongly suspected not. Most likely, Rui had found and confronted the alien entity, which had most likely led to some kind of chain reaction that led them into a confrontation with this new alien invader. He strongly suspected that the waves of changes in reality itself were some kind of signal that broadcast the presence of Gaia to the entire cosmos.

And yet, just because it broadcast Gaia to the entire cosmos, did not mean that just about any alien entity could reach them.

The closest star system was still four-point-two light-years away from Gaia. How could one possibly traverse such massive distances across the entire universe?

The answer presented itself rather easily.

“Negatron matter.”

It was how Gaian civilization had been planning to traverse the universe. By using the power of negatron matter to create large and powerful wormholes. It was very likely the case that an alien civilization had mastered this substance to a much greater degree than they, most likely possessing much more of it than they.

That didn’t bode well for the future of human civilization. “We will emerge from this alive and victorious.”

The determined tone of voice of the eldest Mother of Nature drew their attention. “We cannot allow our world, our civilization, to be wiped out.”

Her elderly sapphire eyes were firm and unyielding before closing as she concentrated, entering a virtual meeting.

WHOOSH

In a large conference room, all leaders of the true world. Mother Maeria and Mother Vyia of Genora, representing the Council of Mothers of both the dark elves and the light elves. The Emperor of the Bournvyrne Empire and other kings of other dwarven polities. Lord Vakratunda and Narsimha represent the two factions of the Pasupati Clans of Kiriket. The Deputy Commander of the Evolutionaries and the President of the West Moridian Alliance. Argenton, representing the recently rehabilitated tekvores. The Suneater, representing giants.

There were also leaders of lesser states, such as Empress Schlieffen of the Hlakaschken Trade Empire and the Queen of the Seafolks.

Prime Minister Edward represented the Panamic Alliance as its Grand General, wearing a grim and weary expression.

The leadership of the entirety of human civilization had gathered.

“Greetings, leaders of Gaia.” A man standing at the end of the conference table in the virtual meeting drew their attention, wearing a spacesuit instead of formal attire. It was none other than the Astromind.

“Even as we speak right now, we are confronted by an alien threat that His Majesty is fighting all by himself.” The Astromind spoke with a severe expression. “Thus, before we make any discussions and deliberations, I strongly recommend deploying any and all emergency space forces that we may have on standby for moments of great threat. We must support His Majesty in any way that we can.”

The decision was unanimous and immediate.

Even though they had been caught off-guard by a threat that they were deeply unprepared for, it didn’t mean there was nothing that they could do. Immediately, human civilization began mobilizing its space force to aid the Emperor of Water at the edge of the solar system.