Imperium of Man Terra Aeterna Season 01: Rise of Humanity's War Machin

The following days on Terra Aeterna were still filled with the hustle and bustle of colossal foundation work for the imperial palace under design. Steel pillars, heavy machinery, and the activity of workers from various worlds created their own rhythm in the landscape that was slowly transforming into the center of the new Imperium's civilization.

Meanwhile, Archmagos Belisarius Cawl and the Tech-Priests of the Adeptus Mechanicus were immersed in deep study of the sacred tomes and blueprints directly bestowed by the Omnissiah himself. They began experimenting with the Zaku unit as a prototype for mortal soldiers and the Imperial Guard troops on Mars.

In the midst of this busy atmosphere, Reuel was often seen teasing Akashi—who had recently started showing odd and unusual behavior.

As it turned out, Akashi was dead serious about her ambitious project: building a Gundam.

She couldn't just sit idly by and let those oil-drenched Tech-Priests dominate Mars with their tech. Akashi had a grand plan: to integrate Gundam weapon systems into the bodies of shipgirls, radically transforming their designs into heavily armed spacefaring vehicles.

She even once said—half-jokingly, perhaps—that she could destroy a Gundam with her bare hands.

Of course, none of this could be accomplished overnight. Akashi held fast to her core principle:

"Food must be eaten little by little, and the path must be walked step by step."

To her, taking too large a leap at once would only endanger everything—like trying to climb stairs that are too high while carrying an egg. One careless step, and the egg breaks.

(In her typical style, that metaphor served as a warning against the dangers of overly hasty ambition.)

To create a Gundam, she first had to conquer the complex technological hurdles at the fundamental level. But unlike those who merely dreamed, Akashi approached it with earnest seriousness.

For several days, she locked herself away in her small studio, surrounded by dozens of sketches, mechanical diagrams, and technical code. She barely stepped out, and even when she did for some fresh air, she kept mumbling strange things like:

"I will strike in Gundam form."

"Unicorn will endure and attack Freedom."

"I am invincible in this world."

Those words sounded foreign and confusing to the shipgirls. Some of them started to worry, suspecting Akashi was suffering from extreme exhaustion—or even madness from too much stress.

Once, she just sat silently staring at her ship uniform with a strange smile, then giggled softly like someone who had just discovered the secret of the universe.

The shipgirls began whispering among themselves.

"Looks like she's broken from too much research…"

A few days later, Akashi finally reemerged—with an energy even more explosive. She immediately gathered all the shipgirls in the conference room.

With her signature confident style, she stood in front of a large screen and announced:

"More or less… I understand what the Commander meant~~!"

"Eh?!"

Reactions varied—some looked confused, others squinted suspiciously, and more than a few struggled to hold back laughter.

Reuel could only widen his eyes. Inwardly, he sighed in frustration. He knew Akashi's reputation all too well: a slick talker, greedy, full of deceit. She had once sold a "sacred-value" paint box to the Tech-Priests—and somehow, they actually bought it.

Now Akashi stood there holding two giant brushes, without explanation. The shipgirls exchanged confused and slightly nervous glances.

"Huh…"

Without further ado, Akashi turned on the projector. Instantly, the screen displayed a schematic of a giant machine.

"What is this? A robot?" asked Enterprise, tilting her head with curiosity.

"This is… a technical kitty from another world, personally given to me by the Commander~~!" Akashi replied cheerfully in her trademark ambiguous tone.

She then began to explain—briefly but thoroughly.

Given Reuel's ability to open rifts in space and time, this kind of thing was no longer a major surprise for the shipgirls. They had grown used to cross-universal weirdness.

"Gundam technology isn't all that different from ours," Akashi explained while pointing at various structural components.

"Both are weapons systems built through engineering."

"The difference is, this mecha doesn't have a mind of its own. Gundams have to be directly piloted by humans."

Her explanation used simple language, but hit the mark—enough for everyone present to understand.

Suddenly, Ayanami raised her hand and asked sharply:

"So… who's stronger? Gundam or us?"

Akashi scratched her ear, clearly hesitant to answer.

"Hmm… that's kinda hard to say Nya~~. According to Inverse A, one of the strongest Gundams has the ability to destroy stars Nya~~. But if we're just talking about a regular Zaku… it might actually lose a fistfight to Bulin, even though Zaku can fly Nya~~."

The room went quiet for a moment. Then came hushed, awed whispers.

"Destroy… a star?"

Akashi nodded slowly.

"But remember, a Gundam's combat effectiveness heavily depends on its pilot. A newbie and a veteran… the level gap is massive Nya~~."

Her cheerful tone didn't lessen the weight of that statement. The atmosphere turned more serious.

"Is this technology… exclusive to the Commander?" asked Richelieu as she studied the technical parameters on the screen.

She seemed to be considering how such systems could be implemented in their units. Theoretically, shipgirls could pilot Gundams. But one huge problem soon became glaringly obvious…

The average combat mecha from the Gundam world weighs only around 100 tons. That sounds heavy… until compared to shipgirls, whose weights can reach into the thousands—or even tens of thousands—of tons.

"Not practical," Akashi muttered while staring at the screen.

Gundam designs weren't made to support that much weight. The shipgirls' combat suits could technically be used, but once integrated into a Gundam frame… the engine exploded instantly in simulation.

Ironically, even though Gundam firepower is technically higher than standard shipgirl weapon systems, the differences in function and structure made any direct comparison nearly meaningless.

"Only the Commander and humans from the Imperium of Man can pilot a Gundam, but we can adopt the technology~," Akashi explained while casually waving her brush.

"In my opinion, some equipment like energy shields, particle cannons, and propulsion units can be modified and installed on ships," she added while pointing to an alternate design.

It turned out, Reuel hadn't just received technical instructions on building a Gundam, but an entire technology tree—containing all the theories, fundamental principles, and advanced technologies from the mecha world. The scale of knowledge was massive. Deep. Terrifying.

"Wow, so we could actually fly into outer space someday?!"

"Hooray! No need to beg the Tech-Priest Mechanicus anymore to let us go on space trips!"

Cheers erupted throughout the room. The atmosphere was filled with hope.

However…

"Ahem, yeah… that might be kinda difficult," Akashi said while glancing to one side—clearly considering something carefully.

Her eyes landed on a large aircraft carrier—with a very proportional body structure. Too proportional.

"Considering your weight… even a Gundam's thrusters wouldn't be enough to push you."

The room went tense immediately.

"What do you mean by my weight?! Is it wrong to have big OO's?! Jealous much?!"

A sudden silence fell over the conference room.

"…"

"…"

"Enough."

Reuel's voice broke the silence. Calm, deep, firm.

Everyone immediately fell quiet.

He then gave the order:

"Akashi, prepare an adaptive blueprint. Focus on beam shields, beam sabers, and particle cannons. Send it to the Minato District for initial testing."

"We'll concentrate resources there, build an experimental Gundam variant, and push this technology as far as it can go."

The Minato Trade District had more available resources than Terra Aeterna's central hub at the moment—while the Imperial Palace was still draining logistics on a massive scale. That location became the strategic choice for further research.

If the development succeeded… they would test it directly on the battlefield. Against the Sirens.

---

Reuel stood behind a window, gazing at Earth, now just a small speck in the distance. Starlight reflected in his irises.

In silence, he muttered:

"To face the threats of the future… humanity must evolve too."

"Do I need to attack another universe, just to boost the human population?"

He smirked faintly.

"What, am I supposed to be the weakest team member just because we're far from home? That's just embarrassing."

"Understood, nya~!"

Akashi replied enthusiastically, her ears twitching slightly. To her, the plan… made sense. Still within the limits of what could be considered reasonable—by her own flexible definition of reason.

"Commander, what kind of Gundam do you want?"

"We can start with a mass-production model. Their weapons systems aren't that different from what Minato Port already uses—in fact, our artillery calibers are even bigger."

She explained eagerly.

"If you want something special, like Unicorn, Strike, or Aegis Gundam, we can build those too… as long as we're given extra time and resources."

"So, Commander, what do you want? Long-range support type? Close-quarters combat type? Or maybe one that defends with armor as thick as your faith ~?"

Each Gundam had its own unique advantage. Some came equipped with massive plasma cannons, others moved at supersonic speed. A few even defied the laws of local physics altogether.

Reuel fell silent. He sank into thought, letting various designs dance through his mind.

He rubbed his chin, then finally spoke:

"Can you build me a Gundam with the following specs:

Long-range firepower on par with an Imperial Navy battleship

Close-range capability to destroy a Siren Arbiter

Maneuverability exceeding a Starship

Armor as strong as a Gloriana-class Battleship's hull

…or even... resistant to the Yamato Cannon!?"

"....."

Akashi stared at him blankly.

"…Commander, nya~~..." she finally murmured.

"…Are you out of your fucking mind, nya?!"

Her voice rose a notch. Her ears practically steamed. The brush in her hand trembled.

"Requests like this—go ask the Tech-Priest Mechanicus and Archmagos Belisarius Cawl to build it, nya~~! I'm a painter, not a fucking Death Star engineer!!"

Reuel could only sigh.

Would he really have to ask the Tech-Priest Mechanicus on Mars to build his dream Gundam? But… this was his childhood dream. The innocent fantasy of a boy from Earth who used to stare at a TV screen, dreaming of climbing into a Gundam cockpit… or flying a spaceship like in Starship Troopers.

Now, both of those technologies were real. Tangible. Reachable.

So why was it… that now, he felt furthest from them?

"Am I not worthy of making my dream come true…?"