The Martial Unity

The mood in Gaia was tense. The political class within Gaian Civilization had learned of the tribulations that several Pioneer omni-ships had run into when reaching into the various star systems in the interstellar neighborhood. The fact that just stepping out of Sol into their closest galactic destinations had gotten them in such trouble didn’t bode well for Gaian Civilization, unfortunately.

It meant that life was even more ubiquitous than they had thought. And not just more ubiquitous, but also more advanced and dangerous than they had thought. It would be one thing if the lifeforms they ran into were like the crystal striders. Advanced and clearly very different from any model of life they were aware of back home, but still of no threat to Gaian Civilization. However, the reports that they had gotten from the Panamic Alliance suggested that not all lifeforms they had run into were like that. The presence of strange octopus-like aliens with tremendous raw power, shockingly enough, allowing them to take on Martial Sages, even if only in space, had spooked a lot of leaders around the world. The Panamic Alliance had been upfront about the crises that they had run into when exploring some of the star systems in the intergalactic neighborhood, sharing with them the details of the alien entities that they had faced and the urgency relating to them. It was a gesture of goodwill to help foster a truly collaborative spirit within the rapidly fleshed out Gaian Alliance.

However, the problem was still ultimately faced by the Panamic Space Organization; it was not something that the leaders of other nations could solve for them. Although they had their own space programs and their own plans to travel to the stars, they were not quite as ready for missions and could possibly aid the Martial Sages that they were facing.

The public was less in the know, but had sensed something was off nonetheless. The streams for some of the pioneers had been shut off without explanation, making everybody suspicious. Especially when data from Pioneer I and the crystal striders that had rapidly built a fanbase in Gaian Civilization was still coming through. [Those Pioneers must have gotten blown up. There’s no other explanation for why they stopped streaming the data from those omni-ships.]

[RIP.]

[Don’t be stupid. Those ships are laced with powerful invintium. There is no way they got blown up that easily, and there’s no way that the Panamic Space Organization would not talk about it if that happened. There’s probably some kind of environmental anomaly that has disrupted the communication world bridge between the omni-ship and Gaia.]

[I don’t know, man, wasn’t it the case that negatron matter created wormholes that were basically impossible to anchor against?]

[He has a point, I don’t think it’s as simple as that. They’re not even using that excuse, so I don’t know why we would assume that.]

[They must have run into power intergalactic alien civilizations that must have overwhelmed them!]

[Ah, here come the conspiracy theorists.]

Ironically, they were closer to the truth than most. Even as the civilian populations of Gaia bantered about why some Pioneers had stopped sending back feeds of data to Gaia, the leadership in the Panama Continent had been extremely tense.

“What is His Majesty thinking by organizing a fleet for sending reinforcements?! What does that even mean when we can’t reach them any time soon?!” In a conference meeting involving the leaders of the Panama Continent, a man in his thirties leaned forward with sharpened eyes. He wore formal attire traditional to the Britannian Empire, while his silver long hair had been slicked back to the back of his head. He wore a badge with the coat of arms of the Britannian Empire on his chest proudly.

He was the new Prime Minister of the Britannian Empire, a long-time subordinate and aide to the previous prime minister, Prime Minister Edward, who had retired after the two wars waged in outer space. “Prime Minister James,” Secretary Claris remarked with a cold tone of voice. “His Majesty’s decision is His Majesty’s. You are no one to question the will of the Emperor of Water and the sole Martial Transcendent of our civilization.”

Prime Minister James gritted his teeth, clenching his fists. There was a time when it was the Britannian Empire that would have uttered those words to the Kandrian Empire, with the Transcendent Emperor occupying the throne of Britannia. Now, it was the Kandrian Empire who had obtained a Martial Transcendent. In hindsight, it was hardly surprising that Rui Quarrier had managed to break through to the Realm of absolute power. The sheer speed at which he managed to skim through the Martial Path and the fact that he never stopped making progress or ever hit a long bottleneck were proof that he would have inevitably become a Martial Transcendent.

It had made the Kandrian Empire’s strength in the Panama Continent that much more unquestionable, allowing them to act as the absolute rulers of the entire continent. It was frustrating to the new Prime Minister that the Britannian Empire had fallen as far as it had. There used to be a time when the Britannian Empire was regarded as almost as powerful as the Kandrian Empire.

Now, the gulf between them had widened to unfathomable degrees. All because of one man.

Despite being the de facto head of state of one of the powerhouses in the entire continent, he was being told off by a mere secretary. Secretary Claris had no intention of even conveying what Rui’s intentions were. Of course, in this case, even she didn’t know what Rui had in mind. However, it didn’t matter if she didn’t know; she would not tell him even if she did.

It wasn’t just the new hot-headed Prime Minister of Britannia who had such questions, however. The other leaders of the Panama Continent also looked a little upset at the lack of any kind of information on exactly why Rui had ordered emergency fleets to be organized when they couldn’t open a wormhole to the distant star systems any time soon.

And nonetheless, the Panamic Space Organization heeded his orders.

Within hours, a fleet of warships had been mobilized, all but ready to go to war.