The Martial Unity

“This is more than I could have ever expected.” Prime Minister Edward’s voice was heavy. His face crumpled with the psychological burden of the knowledge that had been thrust upon him by Rui’s information dump.

Alien entity, deep biosphere, exploding planets, a cosmic virus to corrupt the universe, alien civilizations, and alien space monsters.

These were beyond him. Everything that he had learned in his life, everything that he had studied, and all of his experience was entirely useless. In fact, much to his own shame, he had needed to delegate the command over the space war to a younger general with more exposure to space war, because his military strategy was limited only to a planetary environment.

He didn’t know the first thing about space warfare.

And he didn’t know the first thing about alien civilizations, about the universe, and all these other high-minded topics.

It was a reckoning for him.

He, who used to be at the very top of human civilization as a statesman, strategist, and leader, was now entirely confounded by the developments of human civilization. Indeed, he understood exactly how his friend Rael had felt in the final few years of his life.

He had resolved to retire, and he would see that through once Gaian Civilization had stabilized under a new regime in a new era.

He turned towards Rui, who continued fleshing out his idea for a unified Gaia for all interstellar matters, sharpening his eyes. Even though this was a virtual meeting, he could feel the very nature of reality bending to Rui’s existence. It was a familiar sensation. He had experienced this many times with the Transcendent Emperor. Both of them commanded reality itself.

It was a markedly different sensation with Martial Sages, who could inspire fear with their power, but were limited to exerting force upon the world. With Martial Transcendents, it felt like their very existence hijacked the very laws that governed reality.

They didn’t need to beat their chest and flex their muscles.

One could almost feel how precariously unstable the laws of reality were in their presence. As if with just a little bit of exertion, they could completely unravel the very fabric of reality. It wasn’t just him.

Each and every single leader and pathwalker in the meeting was experiencing the same sensation. One could see bewilderment emerge on the faces of pathwalkers as they beheld his very existence, realizing that no amount of physical force could ever hope to vanquish him. He was in a Realm by himself, towering over the entirety of Gaia.

The pathwalkers of the true world, despite having yet to understand what kind of power he wielded or what the new nature of his existence was, understood that he was leagues beyond them at this point.

Every pathwalker in the world could jump at him all at once, and he would wipe them all out in the blink of an eye.

The Martial Sages knew more about what kind of existence he was, but they were surprisingly not that much more knowledgeable on the Transcendent Realm than their other peers were.

Martial Transcendents had disappeared long before the current Martial Sages had broken through to the Sage Realm. They had indeed heard of these godly beings capable of extraordinary feats, but their exposure was limited.

But as they beheld his existence, they started to understand more how he was different from them, even if just a little. They were familiar with his power and his being before, but now they were fully exposed to what kind of person he was; they could sense how he had changed.

It gave his words a tremendous amount of weight.

Even if there were those who disagreed with his proposal for whatever reason, they remained silent. He was the reason they hadn’t been blown up yet.

His authority and leverage over human civilization had been immense even before, but it was even more intense now that he had broken through to the Transcendent Realm. “…And thus,” Rui concluded. “I propose the unification of Gaia immediately. I seek from all of you a pact of commitment so that we may commence the process immediately and create a unified front to negotiate with the laminar integuments.”

He directed a knowing glance in a specific direction.

He gazed towards the edge of the solar system, where the laminar world ship remained anchored, sorting out their own business while they patiently waited for a re-establishment of contact. He needed to unify Gaia to collectivize their bargaining power.

“We have many differences,” he continued with a serious tone of voice. “We are of different species, technically, certainly of different races. We are also of vastly different cultures, philosophies, and civilizations. We have also had our political differences, having waged the True World War just six years ago. However…”

He raised his hand to them. “We are human. We are descendants of ancestral humanity. And we are of Gaia.”

His ethereal eyes were clear, both literally and metaphorically. “We must unite to protect our world, our civilizations, and our very existence. And thus, I call for a referendum among the leaders of human civilization.”

His eyes sharpened.

“All those in favor of the unification of Gaia.”

Hands flew up in unison as each and every single person raised their hand.

“All those against the unification of Gaia.”

Not a single person raised their hand to this, as eyes flew around, curious if anybody had the sheer courage it would have taken to do so in that moment of great jubilation around the need to present a unified front to the universe. Not even the tekvores or the Evolutionary Army rejected his bid for unification.

The world had changed so much in just the span of a day that their old rivalries no longer made sense.”

“Then,” he continued. “I hereby declare the creation of the Gaian Alliance, comprising each of any and every single polity in Gaia.”

There was no charter, no declaration, no written commitment. But for all intents and purposes, the Gaian Alliance was born, even just in name.