At this moment, the U.N.S.C. delegation, led by Dr. Halsey and Master Chief, had already been transported back to the Solar System by Selene through an ultra-long-distance hyperspace corridor.
Currently, they were aboard the Nightfall, the flagship of the Astartes Eighth Legion Night Lords, discussing with 'Night Haunter' Konrad Curze matters concerning the joint campaign against the Covenant fleet led by the Prophet of Regret and negotiations with the United Earth Government (U.E.G.).
At present, the Covenant was under the control of the San'Shyuum, following the 'Covenant Edict' and the faith of the 'Great Journey.' The only remaining organized fleet power was the United Fleet led by the Prophet of Regret.
Among the three High Prophets:
The Prophet of Truth and his fleet were lost at Reach.
The Prophet of Mercy was executed publicly in the Covenant capital, High Charity, after the Sangheili (Elites) rebelled.
The San'Shyuum and Jiralhanae (Brutes) suffered massacres at the hands of the Imperial forces and the Sangheili troops that had landed.
Control of High Charity had also fallen into the hands of the Empire.
The Covenant's vast interstellar territory had also undergone a shift in authority under the command of Supreme Fleet Commander Xytan 'Jar Wattinree, the highest-ranking surviving military leader of the Covenant.
On the Covenant frontier, several Sangheili-commanded fleets, led by the most powerful Combined Fleet of Righteous Purpose, had turned their weapons against Covenant colonies resisting the Empire, as well as the Jiralhanae legions, initiating a large-scale purge.
Although this 'pacification' war was far from over and remained highly intense, with numerous devout San'Shyuum followers choosing to resist to the death, the cross-system linkers had already been prioritized for elimination.
As for scattered insurgencies across various star sectors?
They were of little concern—defeating them one by one was merely a matter of time.
Interestingly, the Prophet of Regret, who had originally set out for Erde-Tyrene to activate the Ark portal, had no idea that Erde-Tyrene's coordinates led directly to the capital of humanity's homeworld.
The Prophet of Regret had obtained several critical planetary coordinates of the United Earth Government from human insurrectionists in the Outer Colonies. Among them was one that coincided with the information decrypted from Forerunner ruins—the ultimate resting place of the Forerunners and the entrance to that location, which matched the coordinates of Erde-Tyrene.
However, the Prophet of Regret had no knowledge of what role this coordinate played in human civilization.
The Prophet of Truth, in contrast, was well aware that Earth was humanity's homeworld. But driven by the intent to entrap his political rival, he deliberately withheld this information. Instead, he actively sought to obscure and suppress any leaks of this fact.
In the end, the Prophet of Truth's scheme succeeded.
Even when the Prophet of Regret witnessed firsthand the formidable defensive forces of the planet, he remained oblivious to the fact that this world was, in fact, humanity's cradle.
However, due to the butterfly effect triggered by Selene, the Prophet of Regret's forces arriving at Earth this time were not a hastily assembled small fleet...
Instead, he arrived with several Covenant United Fleets spearheaded by the Fleet of Sacred Consecration, along with a large contingent of Jiralhanae legions!
It should be noted that even with just fifteen ships, the Prophet of Regret had dared to charge forward recklessly. Now, with such a substantial force, this battle would be on an entirely different scale.
For the U.N.S.C. Home Defense Fleet's resistance, the Prophet of Regret had only one response—attack!
The Prophet of Regret was elated, but for Earth, this was a devastating blow, jolting the slumbering minds of the congressional representatives awake.
Even though the U.N.S.C. Home Fleet, tasked with defending Earth and the Solar System from invasion, was one of the largest U.N.S.C. fleets, it was still woefully inadequate against the overwhelming might of the Prophet of Regret's united fleet.
Fleet Admiral Joseph Harper's Fifth Fleet was the first to engage the enemy. Comprising 67 frigates and 8 cruisers, it was decimated within just a few rounds of battle.
Cairo Station, Athens Station, and Malta Station—Moncton-class orbital defense platforms deployed in low Earth orbit—were systematically destroyed.
Elsewhere, the Second, Seventh, and Sixteenth Fleets all suffered varying degrees of heavy losses.
With Earth's orbital defense system breached, the Covenant began diverting fleets for close-range bombardment of human cities and military centers on the surface.
Large numbers of Jiralhanae forces were deployed to Earth's surface by the Prophet of Regret. Even his flagship, the CAS-class Solemn Penance, had broken through the layers of the Home Fleet's defenses and arrived in low Earth orbit.
However, shortly after the battle for Earth began, just as the Prophet of Regret was approaching the coordinates in New Mombasa, Kenya, the Imperial Eighth Legion Night Lords Fleet launched a full-scale assault against the Covenant fleet in the Solar System.
The sudden arrival of an unexpected enemy directly disrupted the Prophet of Regret's plans.
In the following moments, countless Imperial Navy warships of the Astartes Eighth Legion Night Lords entered the Solar System.
Thanks to the guidance and coordination from Reach's U.N.S.C. Defense Forces personnel, some Imperial Navy warships executed precise warp jumps, bypassing the primary battle zone in near-Earth orbit, and instead emerged directly within Earth's atmosphere.
They immediately began eliminating Covenant ships wreaking havoc, engaging them head-on. Simultaneously, vast numbers of Imperial auxiliary troops, support forces, and Astartes warriors were deployed via assault ships, drop pods, and tactical teleportation to reinforce battlefields where Covenant infantry were rampaging.
The arrival of reinforcements greatly bolstered the morale of the embattled U.N.S.C. forces on Earth.
What?
These reinforcements had no recognizable identification codes? Their equipment and tactics didn't resemble anything from the United Nations Space Command?
Who cares?!
Earth, humanity's home, and the United Earth Government were teetering on the brink of annihilation—was this really the time for bureaucratic concerns?
Perhaps the high-ranking officials of the United Earth Government harbored apprehensions about these powerful forces seemingly appearing out of thin air, but the frontline soldiers entrenched in foxholes had no time for such thoughts.
For troops crawling through explosions, fire, mud, and smoke, with death looming every second—who they fought beside mattered little.
As long as they were human, as long as they were here to defend their home and fight the alien invaders, they were comrades-in-arms.
Especially those towering warriors clad in heavy armor, seemingly unstoppable in battle—were they even human? They were larger and more imposing than even the Jiralhanae.
A commander is the courage of his troops.
Seeing the Astartes warriors slicing through the Covenant forces like a scythe through wheat, U.N.S.C. soldiers resisting Covenant landing forces in the cities naturally began rallying around them.
As reports of the evolving battlefield situation kept flooding in, Admiral Terrence Hood, head of U.N.S.C. Naval Operations and overall commander of the Battle for Earth, ultimately set aside his suspicions of these 'rebels.'
Upon receiving a joint petition from the U.N.S.C. officers at Reach, delivered via the unknown human armed fleet, Admiral Terrence Hood did not falter. He officially ordered the full cooperation of all U.N.S.C. forces with the Imperial Army in launching a counteroffensive against the Covenant.
Years later, after being promoted from an officer in the Astartes Second Legion Punishers—under the designation Conquered World-117—to an admiral in the Sacred Selene Empire's Navy, Terrence Hood wrote in his memoirs:
"I am grateful that, at the end of the year 2552, I did not stubbornly cling to my pride. I am also fortunate to have served as the supreme commander of the Battle for Earth."
"I shudder to think what might have happened had I, in my arrogance as a representative of humanity's central government, shown even the slightest hostility or defiance toward Lord Konrad Curze If I had refused cooperation or adopted an air of superiority, I would have been a traitor to the U.N.S.C. and to all of humanity."
...
On Installation 00, the Ark—Central Control Room.
"Legion Commander Konrad Curze reports that the alien fleet led by the Prophet of Regret has been ambushed and cut off by our forces."
"Under the linguistic persuasion of high-ranking Sangheili commanders such as Xytan 'Jar Wattinree, Thel 'Vadam, and Artas 'Vatum, the last organized Covenant fleet has collapsed. Numerous Covenant warships, commanded by Sangheili shipmasters, have chosen to defect from the Prophet of Regret's command."
"The remaining Covenant vessels, controlled by San'Shyuum clerics and Jiralhanae, continue to resist…"
Selene watched the holographic projection before her as data continuously uploaded by the Halo Array's monitors flickered and reassembled into a shifting 3D star map.
Beside her, the Offensive Bias, having been granted the authority to receive Imperial Navy transmissions by Selene, had become increasingly engaged in its role. It respectfully reported while simultaneously projecting received Imperial military documents onto the control console's holographic display.
The Offensive Bias, its main body now fully restored and taking the form of a massive mask, contemplated for a moment. The three cyan-blue photoreceptors that served as its eyes and mouth flickered before it slowly inquired:
"Legion Commander Konrad Curze requests confirmation: should the alien warlord, the Prophet of Regret, be captured alive?"
Selene shifted her gaze.
"Captured?"
She looked at the Offensive Bias and softly replied, "Unnecessary. Execute him and deliver his head to the United Earth Government as a greeting gift."
"Understood. I shall immediately relay the order to Legion Commander Konrad Curze." The ever-subservient Offensive Bias swayed slightly in acknowledgment.
Nodding, Selene once again focused on the red markers blinking on the star map displayed before her.
These red markers represented the final objectives of her journey to Conquered World-117, the last targets she must secure.
Jurisdiction Worlds, Shield Worlds, Onyx.
As she manipulated the 3D map to locate these celestial bodies, Selene also diverted some of her attention to observing the Flood entities attempting to escape from the Halo Array.
"Stubborn creatures."
"Honkai Beast Legion, consume them."
At Selene's command, the depths of the holographic display erupted in a thousand eerie violet suns.
As the swarm of Honkai Beasts poured forth from the violet rifts, the Halo Array's monitors—now conscripted by Selene as technicians—stood transfixed, their photoreceptors blinking in a near-unconscious daze.
On the screen, the pale-violet Honkai Beasts descended like a ravenous swarm, devouring the massive Flood superstructures that struggled in the oceans, resisting purification by the collapsing energy.
This display was no less terrifying than the Flood.
The Offensive Bias hesitated.
"Your Majesty, after scanning the Ark and the Halo Array, I have found no traces of my brother, Mendicant Bias. Many years ago, Mendicant Bias was ordered to guard my seal, but it seems that another existential threat forced the Forerunners to reassign him elsewhere."
After a brief pause, Offensive Bias continued, "However, Shield Worlds, Onyx, Requiem, Ghibalb, and Charum Hakk—any of these could be where he remains in stasis. My recommendation is to investigate each location."
Ghibalb: The homeworld of the Forerunners, once an astoundingly beautiful paradise guided by the Precursors and boasting a perfect ecological system. However, due to the Forerunners' own catastrophic miscalculations in interstellar engineering, the planet was rendered a barren wasteland, ravaged by radiation and uninhabitable.
"As long as my signal wavelength is detected, he will surely reveal himself."
Listening to the Offensive Bias speak with an almost affectionate rivalry toward his long-lost brother, Selene unconsciously nodded in agreement.
"Then let's begin with the confirmed coordinates."
"000 Tragic Isolation, mark the serial numbers of Forerunner worlds that contain key facilities such as quiet cartography chambers, domain nexus clusters, and temple guardian production for my complete acquisition!"
"Understood, Your Majesty."
Following guidance from the database of the Halo Array monitors, the Offensive Bias systematically listed the critical planets of Forerunner civilization—or rather, what were once critical planets. Selene carefully compared each coordinate, then tore open the fabric of space-time, initiating the relocation process.
At this moment, Selene had to admit—this ultra-intelligent tool was incredibly convenient to use.
As Selene wielded her extragalactic great transposition technique, the sudden bursts of cosmic phenomena left countless witnesses in the Milky Way utterly dumbfounded.
Onyx—a Forerunner artificial planet under the U.N.S.C.'s actual control (unbeknownst to them at the time).
When the U.N.S.C. naval forces stationed at Onyx received reports of Reach's loss of communication and the Covenant's assault on the Solar System, they were bewildered. Just as the commanding officer ordered the fleet to mobilize for Earth's defense—
A vortex-like rift, over 20,000 kilometers in diameter (for reference, Earth's diameter: 12,756 km), crackling with lightning and resembling a cosmic maelstrom, suddenly materialized in space.
Like a titanic blossom of destruction, it exuded an aura of impending doom.
Then, before the stunned eyes of every onlooker, this otherworldly phenomenon swallowed Onyx whole?!
As the violet-red rift dissipated, the star system returned to normal—except Onyx was simply gone.
At that moment, the assembled U.N.S.C. fleet, positioned nearby, was left utterly speechless.
The sight before them shattered every foundational belief they had held about reality, like an iron hammer smashing their perception of the universe into dust.
"What the hell?! The universe is alive?!"
"Holy shit! This has to be a hallucination—hit me and check!"
Slap!
"OW! You actually hit me?! That hard?!"
"Did you record that?!"
"Yeah! Got it all!"
"Report this! Get it to command ASAP!"
And this was not an isolated incident.
Across the Milky Way, not just the U.N.S.C., but also human colonies—both Inner and Outer—as well as Covenant settlements, bore witness to these supernatural occurrences.
Immediately, rumors spread like wildfire.
Speculations of an ancient awakening, the return of eldritch overlords, and Warp demons resurfacing flooded the less developed outer colonies.
Had the era itself changed?
Meanwhile, the orchestrator of these events, Selene, simply rested her chin on her hand at the central console, feeling nothing in particular.
Move. Move. And move again…
Until a transmission from the Honkai Dimension piqued her curiosity.
"Hello, Sebas… What is it?"
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