Chapter 6: First Contact

-M29. 671. Terra. Imperial Palace. Senatorum Imperialis-

Emperor stands in the middle of the room, eyes gazing with a calculating look toward the High Lords. Except for Malcador, all of them eyed the report with glimmering awe. Treasure and lost knowledge are there, waiting to be claimed. Eyes could not leave the truth, scanning as if the report itself was trickery.

Yet, Adam, as Supreme Marshall of the Psycant Astra, used his power on the Great Ocean. He could find nothing; the information was genuine.

"My Emperor, this report. The presence of the Japanese. Is that true?" UR-000 asked. Even though it was Its mechanical nature, the Ferrous Mind could not hide the astonishment.

"Indeed, UR-000. The presence of the Old Earth is the truth of all, hiding behind our Gate. A place of humanity's ancestors lies behind the Japanese Gate." The Emperor replied with authority, inviting various emotional waves he had expected.

They were eager and skeptical at the same time as their mind calculated tens of thousands of possibilities in just nanoseconds. Letting himself smirk, the Emperor opens his mouth to speak.

"With his discovery, I order a first contact protocol to be concluded." The Emperor proclaimed with his psychic-imbued charisma. It snapped them from their train of thought, giving their liege with concern and yet an approval look.

"First contact protocol. Even though it was easy to execute, public reaction is something we can't fully calculate, my Emperor." Xana-102 said with concern. As a Lex Chancellor, he handled Imperium's internal affairs from the simplest to the most complex system, none he could not control. But this first contact protocol most potentially erupted uproar in every section of Imperium of Man's territory.

"I know that very well, Lex Chancellor." The Emperor gazed at Malcador. "Can you perform an emergency measure for this circumstance?"

"I have sent my Assassins across various systems that potentially degraded into riots, my Lord," Malcador answered with a severe tone.

This causes some of them to feel a chill on their necks. Dread and intimidation were the signatures of the Lord of Assasinorum, shrouding in the darkest mystery to the High Lords themselves.

"Lord Commander, I authorized you to upgrade Prometheus Arcology into Ultima-class Arcology." The Emperor proclaimed with all of his seriousness.

Galius' eyes widened in shock to the point he could not believe his automata body's instrument was working correctly. After an instant checking calculation, Galius could not find any flaw in his drone and only nodded in confirmation as it was the Emperor's direct order.

"As you wish, my Lord." He said slowly.

Ultima-class arcology is not the biggest arcology designed by Martian scientists. Yet, it was the most complex among them, fulfilling one singular purpose: To create a bastion of science and an exotic industrial powerhouse. Usually, this arcology is only made when Imperium wants to create another Manufcatorum World as it is not only capable of creating Knights and other heavy war machines but also titan legions.

"Your Highness. Pardon my interruption. Why do you need such an extreme criterion for this Feudal Planet?" Balphulos asked in his robotic voice as if logic itself burned deep into his tone.

In response to this, Emperor's persona changed drastically. His glorious Emperor image disappeared, eyes of gold shattered into hardened steel of logic devoid of emotions. The Emperor of Mankind was gone, changed by some inhumane being, the incarnation of the raw force of material power and science.

"Balphulos Phor. We, humanity, exist of the foolishness of thinking we are alone in this vast universe. Pursuing a pointless chase for our own satisfaction, debating and butchering our race like slightly intelligent apes. Ignorant is a blessing, but that would lead a premature civilization to step into damnation." The Emperor said with no sign of sentiments radiation from his eyes. It was mechanical and somehow capable of comprehending human language.

"We will meet them now or later, and humanity's future as a space-faring species will be revealed to them. With that naivety, Old Earth's humanity will destroy itself. Indeed they are the ancestors. But remember, we are significantly older than them. We will teach them the Imperial Truth and wisdom to make their own path."

The Emperor told the Prime Professor, staring deep into the man's soul. It caused the scientist to fall silent, did not dare to answer. But, the Emperor could feel the leader of Mars wanted to ask once again.

"You may speak, Balphulos." The Emperor said, still in the same persona.

"M-My lord, if we reveal them the Imperial Truth. Would it only bring them chaos and war?" He asked a question that bordered on blasphemous words. Defending the concept of religion also stands a point that M2 humanity is staged when they are blind to the truth, choosing religious dogma over their lives, but that makes them stand and united; shattering it would only bring them chaos.

The Emperor did what the unexpected. He smiled, utterly replacing the prior inhuman nature of the Master of Mankind. The golden man turns his face to the certain female High Lord at the corner of the room. Nodding his head, the female stepped forward.

She wore a white robe and concealed hood to cover her face, and a shining golden tiara crowned her head. This tiara held many things, and only the High Lords knew what the ultimate purpose of that crown was. It is directly connected with its second name, Eye of the Truth, as it served as her tool to spread the Imperial Truth as she is the Guardian of The Imperial Truth, Larian Vureika.

"Humanity learns and falls by their graces. We are indeed foolish, and it could not be different for them. Young as it was reckless, blind as they were brave to venture outside their reach. This was the purpose of the Imperial Truth, my dear High Lords, to guide them. Humanity needs faith to survive and thrive, to protect them from the horrors in the dark," Larian takes her scepter, tapping into the metal floor.

There is no sound, only a soft psychic spread across the room. Flashes of the truth of the entire existence manifested in their mind, and even the Ferrous Mind was affected due to its psychic power.

All were aware of this, yet witnessing it directly made their skin crawl; Silica's mind of UR-000 only conducted impossibly complex calculations to prevent the worst from happening to Imperium.

"Imperial Truth was created with countless references from the first and last religion in human history. Serve to guide us to ascension, bringing salvation into actuality. Even if it was partially, they must know. Let their wisdom make a choice and let history judge them." She proclaimed with a booming voice that only transhumans could perform.

With a break of silence, they are pondering the fate of their younger cousins. Slowly, they rise and look at their Emperor with a new height, radiating confidence and determination.

"Ave Imperator!" The Lord Commander shouted

"Ave Imperator!" The rest followed with roaring voices.

"With this, I declare the first contact protocol to proceed as we build our bastion on Falmart, showing our grand paradise to children of Old Earth and Roman descendants. Imperium shelters all men and women. Thus, the dream of humanity could be realized." The Emperor proclaimed with all of his glory and charisma. The power that could shatter the gale and make the ground tremble was used to give this specific order.

An order that could reshape the entire mankind's destiny.

_____________________________________________

-M29. 671. Falmart. Three hours after the First Contact protocol concluded-

After agonizing pain, Maiya rises from the kneeling position. She grunted in pain, succeeding in her duty by marking the pinpoint.

"That would be the last one," Raias told his team. It was a few hours after dawn, one day since they took this mission. The last point was the furthest. This cost their entire time.

"Shall we return, Captain?" Nathaniel asked.

"I-" His voice was cut short by UR-982's voice.

"Captain, I have urgent news for your team." The Ferrous Mind said to all of the 5th Recon Team vox channels.

"What is it, 82?" The Captain inquired.

"You have a new objective to meet the Japanese 3rd Recon Team as you are the closest team to make the first contact with them. The First Contact Protocol has been executed. I repeat, the First Contact Protocol has been executed." UR-982 said as streams of data went to the 5th Recon Team helmets.

This new mission shocked all the present Solar Guardians.

"First contact, huh. Maiya, do you ready to meet your ancestor?" Mal asked the female Solar Guardian merrily.

"Why not?! I've been waiting for this!" She exclaimed in excitement.

"Easy team. 82, can you predict where the 3rd Recon Team will perform their duty?" Raias said while using his HUD to open the three-dimensional map within his helmet.

"It would be here, Coda Village," UR-982 replied, taking control of all 5th team HUD to mark their destination as well as the fastest route to reach it.

"Four hours worth of walking. Great." Mal said, sighing.

"If we were running, it would be only two hours. Did you forget you are a Solar Guardian?" Maiya retorted, elbowing the Apothecary on his abdomen.

"Whatever." Mal nonchalantly said.

"Very well. 5th Recon Team, cloak engage and move!" The Captain commanded, running to catch the time to create the first contact.

-Two hours later-

The entire 5th Recon Team had arrived at the village; when they came, they could see the whole village was trying to evacuate. Based on the villagers' dialogue, the Fire Dragon had been awakened.

'Fire Dragon. I've read that species from the documents in the base. Native only to this world. A gigantic reptile with scales as strong as steel and capable of breathing fire. Remind me of old fantasy stories." Nathaniel commented as his visor never left the villagers.

"Creature from Nocturne would be sufficient as a comparison," Mal pointed, making both of them chuckle.

"I've found our target. Twenty-one meters to the North West." A sudden voice from Raphael made them immediately gaze in the said direction.

"Japanese soldier spotted. Waiting for direction." Raias said to the Ferrous Mind.

"Acknowledge. You must not perform direct first contact until the check-up is finished." UR-982's sentence only invites various questioned look from the Solar Guardians.

"What check-up, 82?" Raias demanded an answer.

"There is an unnatural Warp reading from the Japanese Humvee. Further scan indicating many similarities to the Aeldari." This revelation made the 5th Recon Team stiffen, trying to reach their weapons. Anxiety peaked through their ranks as the presence of that race made their soldiers instinct to take over.

The first person to snap from the horrid revelation was Raias.

"82, what is the status of this potentially Aeldar?" The leader of the team asked, scanning the Humvee.

"She lies dormant. From her biological signs, she must be had passed out from shock and trauma." The A.I said with a fashion of confidence.

"I see. We must not attack or make first contact." He ordered.

"What?! Are you serious, Captain?! That was an Aeldar. Imperium's contact protocol with the Aeldari was considered hostile. We cannot let-" Maiya's shout was cut short by the Captain.

"It might be an Aeldar, Lieutenant. At this moment, we must observe. And the fact that xeno is sleeping in a Japanese vehicle would mean they rescued her. If we point our weapons at her, we won't leave Old Earth's humanity a good impression." Raias barked at the Demolisher, scolding her with a pressing voice of a leader.

"Understood, Captain.' She had no choice except to agree with her Captain's decision.

"Good. 82, we will observe them for the time being. But I request a direct intervention if it was necessary."

"Request accepted, Captain."

With that, the 5th Recon Team followed from a distance, searching for any threats and closely keeping their eyes on the sleeping Aeldar.

As the Japanese group continued, they encountered a little girl wearing gothic attire while holding a giant halberd. From a mere sight alone, she was not an ordinary girl.

"That was an Apostle. Based on the Colt Formal, she was an Apostle of the gods. Yet, the scan indicated she was just an ordinary girl but imbued with a massive quantity of Warp energy." The Ferrous Mind informed them.

"Warp-born," Raphael hissed.

"Did you find any Chaos corruption from her, 82?" Raias searched every inch of the scan result from that Apostle. It was indeed a Warp-born. A being previously recognized as a normal living being exposed to Warp radiation for a long time, leading their body to mutate, and worse, it could be the Primordial Annihilators minion.

"Fortunately, she was clean." With this, all of them let out a sigh of relief.

"Her status as Warp-born still threatening, though. We did not fully know how powerful she is." Nathaniel's words marked the point. Which makes Raias reply.

"From Colt Formal's testimony. Apostle's raw strength is comparable to Solar Guardian. It could be wrong, so there is nothing wrong with precaution." Raias told his team.

As the convoy entered a plain rocky rock, an emergency call came to Solar Guard's helmet.

"What is it mean, 82?" The leader of the 5th Recon Team asked.

"A large object approaches. From its volume and movement, it was a Fire Dragon." The Man of Iron stated, giving the exact movement of the creature in their HUD.

"Damn it!" Raias cursed under his breath.

"Captain, order?!" Nathaniel shouted, desperately peering into his compartment to search for a proper weapon to kill the dragon.

"It coming fast! Captain, we need to inform them!" This one is Mal, who shouted frantically.

"Silent! Calm yourself. Panic would not help," Raphael roared, causing both men to close their mouths. "Captain. We need your order."

With the power of his augmented brain, Raias could process an incredibly vast amount of data in a short moment. He has tens of thousands of predictions down to their most details. With the help of UR-982, he could perfectly project the entire outcome of the battle.

"When the dragon arrives, weapon's free." He said with determination, drawing his Glavius Plasma Rifle from its compartment. At the same time, a stream of data went through their helmets in just microseconds.

Smirking, they draw their weapons out.

"Yes, sir!" They answered with spirit.

_______________________________________________________

Itami only let out a breath of exhaustion. Now they guarded the people of Coda Village because of the news that Fire Dragon had arrived. And in the back of the vehicle lies an Elf girl who is a victim of the Fire Dragon.

He stared at the horizon. The light of the sun slightly blinded him to stare further.

There was a flying dragon, yet it was small, like the Empire's dragon. But something was off from that creature. It flew like it was running from something.

Then a massive jaw appears from behind it, swallowing it clean. It was the Fire Dragon, landing as it roared with all of its might.

It stared at the scared villagers, eyeing them with hungry eyes.

Its mouth open, revealing an unrelenting fire ready to unleash.

In seconds the dragon wanted to burn them. Itami heard a hissing sound that broke the air. And like a blazing comet, a blast of a powerful object impacts the dragon, piercing its skin as the object flies through it, impacting the ground not far from the creature. The flare burned the earth, eating it like a predatory creature.

The dragon roared in pain. As the dust disappeared, Itami could not believe his eyes. The dragon's right arm and wings had been severed, and a flare consumed the mighty red dragon from the wound.

Before the JSDF and the villagers could comprehend what was happening, a green light blinded them. The light landed on the Fire Dragon's remaining wing.

Unlike the previous one, it made the wings glow green, enveloped by electricity. Not long after, the wing was crushed by its own weight.

The dragon screamed, but it was too late. The wing is utterly destroyed, leaving exploding blood across the land.

"What... what was that?" Itami asked.

The dragon roared. Blinding with rage, it tried to burn anyone near it.

Snapped, Itami shouted. "Evasion maneuver!"

"Yes!" Takeo shouted in response as he drove the Humvee to avoid the fire.

Yet, a blue projectile landed on the dragon's neck. Exploding and burning its scales is relatively easy. The dragon puked blood.

Itami could see it. The neck is nearly severed by the blue projectile.

Tracking where it came, it was near the dragon's foot. But there was no one there.

Then, a couple of giant humanoids with full-body metallic armor manifested from thin air.

The first open fire of the same blue projectiles, impacting the dragon on its body. Another one fired some kind of vacuum fire, literally atomizing the dragon's leg and causing it to fall.

"W-Who are those people?!" Kuribayashi shouted.

"That armor. That weapon! Is that a plasma gun?! Are we transported into a sci-fi story?!" Kurata asked, simultaneously excited, yet the fear still plastered on his face.

The dragon is powerless, breathing heavily as it barely moves.

The first metallic man approaches the once mighty dragon. From his wrist materialized a blade with a crackling noise, covered in blue lightning.

With one swing, the humanoid decapitated the Fire Dragon.

Itami could barely understand what was happening and who those people were.

Then, out of nowhere, Kurata stopped the Humvee violently.

"K-Kurata. What are you doing?!" Itami shouted.

With a trembling finger, he pointed straight.

Itami stared in the direction his driver pointed at. There, his blood ran cold. The identic metallic humanoid stands a few meters in front of them.

They did not dare to move. But, as a leader, he needs to do something. Itami came out from the Humvee.

"Sir, that was dangerous!" Kuwahara objected.

"If they want to kill us, we have already died," Itami replied calmly.

He walked closer to the towering humanoid. Clearing his throat, he speaks in Special Region's native language.

"We are JSDF. We... We did not want any hostility." He tried to talk properly but had not yet mastered the language.

But the humanoid did not answer. Instead, the humanoid's helmet turned into metallic liquid, entering a compartment around his neck.

And there, all of the JSDF and villagers gasped. He was a human with bronze eyes and black hair.

"Greetings, Japanese people and citizens of Coda Village." The booming voice came from beside them. As Itami directed his eyes to the source, he saw the same man beheaded the dragon.

"We are Solar Guardians. 5th Recon Team from Prometheus Arcology on the Zalvus Hills. We came on behalf of the Imperium of Man to make first contact with each of you. I request a formal introduction between us." He speaks perfect English. Neutral and full of authority.

"Y-you speak English?" Itami asked in his English-Japenese accent.

"I think it will go more smoothly than I thought." The humanoid remarked.

Itami could only smile awkwardly. These new men, new country. He needs to report to his superior ASAP.