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

Everyone was already seated inside the helicopter. As the engine roared to life, the aircraft lifted off and soared toward Salt Lake City.

Reuel gazed down through the window. In his arms, Claire rested quietly. From above, he could see hordes of zombies lying motionless, scattered as far as the eye could see. The ruined world was slowly beginning to settle.

"Look, Reuel. All the zombies are gone. The world is saved," Claire said enthusiastically, her smile blooming with genuine relief.

"I can see it," Reuel replied with a slight nod. Then he turned to her. "By the way, what did your brother—Chris—say to you earlier?"

Claire glanced at him and let out a soft laugh. "Nothing much. I just told him I'm an adult now. He can't control or forbid me anymore. Then… he wished me happiness, whatever I chose."

Reuel smiled gently. "We'll all have a happy life. I swear."

Yet in his heart, Reuel quietly wondered… what kind of happiness was he truly living right now? Was it only happiness for himself?

Meanwhile, Alice and Alicia sat close together on the other side of the cabin, heads bowed, speaking softly to one another.

When the group finally arrived in Salt Lake City, night had already fallen. The glow of lights welcomed the helicopter as it landed on a private airstrip. They returned to Reuel's villa.

Jill, Angie, and Ada Wong had arrived earlier and came out immediately to greet them. There was real relief and joy in seeing everyone return safely.

Alice, still worried about Alicia's condition, helped her upstairs to rest after dinner.

Meanwhile, Reuel observed the warm atmosphere in the living room. Jill and Ada were deep in conversation, chatting about their journey. Angie, with her typical childlike cheer, laughed and tossed out innocent questions that made the room feel even more alive.

For a moment, Reuel felt something rare in a post-apocalyptic world: peace… and perhaps, a family.

Night passed.

The next morning, when Reuel woke up, the bed beside him was already empty. The clock was nearing nine.

He got dressed and stepped out of his room. The house felt quiet.

It didn't take long for him to realize that everyone had already gone off to handle their own tasks. Not a single person remained in the house.

Jill Valentine now governed Salt Lake City—or more precisely, she served as both Mayor and Head of the Department of Public Security. Ada Wong led the intelligence agency as Director of Intelligence. Meanwhile, Alice was in charge of the former global military forces from the Resident Evil world, now formalized as the Planetary Defense Department.

Reuel, on his part, had ordered Ursarkar E. Creed to coordinate the collection of all remaining food supplies from across the globe. Obsolete military equipment was recycled by the Adeptus Mechanicus, along with the collection of leftover zombie corpses. Survivors were relocated to the American continent to be resettled in newly designated habitation zones.

Archmagos Belisarius Cawl used the zombie corpses to create various types of servitors, which were now employed in constructing the capital of the Imperium of Man on the world of Resident Evil. Some fauna previously infected with the zombie virus had been cured using Mechanicus technology and were now safe for consumption again.

Even so, construction of the capital was still delayed—the complete cleanup of remaining zombies was far from finished.

Reuel sat in silence, brooding. Bored. He felt he had no real direct role left to play.

And as for the women he had entrusted with such immense power—wasn't he worried they might betray him? No. Not at all. Because the forces under their command were modern troops retrained by the Astra Militarum, particularly the Cadian Shock Troopers from the Warhammer universe. All of them were personally loyal to Reuel.

Besides, the entire Warhammer contingent had been summoned by his system—souls stolen from the Immaterium and placed into new bodies. Most had been fallen warriors before Cadia's downfall. Their loyalty was unquestionable.

Reuel had once asked the system where exactly these individuals came from. The answer he received was cold and unsympathetic: the souls had been taken from the Immaterium and reshaped. He never knew who exactly had been summoned, except for the famous names etched in the history of the Imperium.

That answer enraged him. What if some of them had once been traitors to the Imperium? What would happen if they encountered loyalists? Wouldn't that trigger conflict? But the system remained silent. No explanation. Just an oppressive silence that left him seething.

In the midst of his boredom, Alice's aide—Chris Redfield—launched a massive military operation to wipe out the remaining branches of the Umbrella Corporation across the Americas. The operation was fierce.

First, Chris ordered airstrikes from fighter jets to bombard enemy positions. Then, armed helicopters swept the targets clean, followed by the deployment of large ground forces for final sweeps.

The operation was a complete success. Casualties on the allied side were minimal, and all Umbrella branches in the United States were destroyed within days. Next, the forces began pushing into neighboring countries to support population relocation programs from Europe and Asia to the Americas.

The defense forces split up and began transporting materials from military bases across the world to Salt Lake City. Moving even a tenth of all materials took several days—such was the staggering volume of equipment to be recycled.

Major Hellsker, a PDF officer from the Cadian Shock Troopers, reported that the Adeptus Mechanicus had created standard Astra Militarum gear to outfit a new force of one million troops—all from recycled modern military equipment of the Resident Evil world.

Reuel frowned upon hearing it. The troops under Alice's command hadn't even reached 100,000. The surplus weapons and equipment had to be stockpiled in warehouses—just waiting to be reduced to ashes.

Reuel had considered relocating all military bases in the United States, but he held off. There simply weren't enough personnel. He decided to wait until more people were available.

Everyone was now busy with their own responsibilities. They worked nonstop with whatever resources they had. The Adeptus Mechanicus were just as overwhelmed—building all the infrastructure needed for the reconstruction of the Resident Evil world.

But what truly gave Reuel a headache was logistics. Roughly 4.1 billion surviving humans could only be supported for the next three years. He had to find a solution to feed them all. Sooner or later, they would become full citizens of the Imperium of Man—under his rule.

Days continued in the same pattern. Without realizing it, a year and a half had already passed.

The zombies had been eradicated from the American continent. The airborne cure released by Alice and Alicia had now spread across the globe. It was estimated that within two years, the entire zombie population on Earth would be extinct.

Meanwhile, Reuel ordered the Red Queen to construct a temporary military communication system—a structure responsible for coordinating, managing, and communicating across military divisions.

This measure had to be taken because the Adeptus Mechanicus was still in the process of building the main planetary-scale communication system, the Vox System, which would provide tactical and strategic connectivity across the Earth. On the other hand, Reuel did not yet have any Astropaths trained directly by the Adeptus Astra Telepathica. All he could do was wait.

The Red Queen was tasked with organizing the entire defense network, coordinating strike commands, overseeing intelligence operations, and acting as the main liaison between two major military forces: the modern troops stationed in Salt Lake City under Alice's command, and the Cadia Shock Troopers under the leadership of Ursarkar E. Creed.

In Salt Lake City, the White Queen established a separate military communication system. She also oversaw the main laboratory facility, focused on the development of medicine, genetic engineering, cloning technology, consciousness transfer, and artificial intelligence—all inherited and developed from the legacy technology of her former parent corporation.

On another front, all military divisions from the Resident Evil and Warhammer 40K universes were deeply engaged in their respective duties. Meanwhile, twenty Gorgon-class battlecruisers led by Admiral Gerard DuGalle from the StarCraft universe continued patrolling in space. They were on a stellar mapping mission in service of the Imperium of Man that Reuel was building.

As the permanent space station for that fleet was still under construction, Reuel decided to let them secure logistics and fuel independently on the planets they visited—while prioritizing their starmapping mission.

Over the past six months, Reuel had focused more on consolidating internal power. He exercised, inspected the main bases, and gradually absorbed and harmonized the memories and combat instincts of the Emperor of Mankind—now an intrinsic part of him. At night, he often engaged in deep conversations with Alice and the others—discussing life, childbirth, and the women around him.

During this period, Reuel also unlocked several soldier modules and weaponry modules, deepening his understanding of the military legacy of the Imperium that now belonged to him.

At present, Reuel commanded over 400 million active combat troops. Of that number, around 360 million were Cadia Shock Troopers, while the remaining 60 million came from various essential Imperium divisions:

The Commissariat

The Adepta Sororitas

Tempestus Scions

Inquisitorial Acolytes (from the Ordo Hereticus, Malleus, and Xenos)

Administratum Officers

In addition, the Imperium was reinforced by:

Adeptus Arbites – law enforcement of the Imperium

Frateris Militia – armed fanatic civilian units

Skitarii Cohorts – cybernetic infantry from the Adeptus Mechanicus

Support personnel including: Magos Biologis, Lexmechanicus, and Logis Strategos – experts in biotechnology, data, and combat logistics

The Munitorum, as the primary logistics body, managed the entire global supply and distribution chain for the military.

In the field of psionics, several Astropaths from the Adeptus Astra Telepathica had been assigned to open strategic communication channels. In parallel, the Scholastica Psykana had begun operating to train young psykers. Even the Officio Assassinorum had deployed its elite agents as part of the Imperium's high-level security infrastructure.

Currently, the Imperium was establishing new power centers in the region once known as Istanbul, Turkey—a place believed by Imperial followers to be the historical Anatolian birthplace of the Emperor himself. That region was now sanctified by Reuel's followers and designated as the construction site for the new capital of the Imperium of Man.

The area had now been given a sacred name:

Terra Aeterna – The Eternal Land of Mankind

Major projects were also underway in this region: the Schola Progenium, the central Administratum, and the headquarters of the Adeptus Ministorum.

Meanwhile, around 5 million modern soldiers had been successfully retrained by Cadia Shock Troopers under Alice's leadership. They had now become an integral part of the Imperium's military strength, organized into flexible divisions capable of operating under Imperial combat protocols.

In the past six months, Reuel had ordered all military bases across the globe to gather every remaining sea vessel—destroyers, aircraft carriers, patrol boats, even old military cargo ships—all of them were brought to the world's largest military repair facility to be recycled and converted into spacecraft.

The objective was clear: to form the Imperial Navy for the Imperium of Man.

The Tech-Priests of the Adeptus Mechanicus worked day and night on this conversion project. Some had gradually returned to Mars to maintain the sacred Templum Mechanicum, but many remained in Terra Aeterna to complete the construction of the new capital.

Meanwhile, Alice's forces had completed their mission: all Umbrella Corporation sub-bases and facilities on Earth had been systematically destroyed. The dark organization was now utterly wiped from the face of the Earth, along with the legacy of its devastation.

That day, the mood shifted. Without warning, Alice sent a personal request to Reuel, asking him to meet her at Lion's Gate Spaceport—a newly completed orbital station built by the Magos of the Adeptus Mechanicus. It was only a tenth the size of the original version from the Imperium of Man's history, but its grandeur was already unmistakable.

Reuel didn't ask questions. There were no battles today, no new threats. So he went.

Upon arriving at the space station, Reuel immediately saw Alice... and fell silent.

Her eyes were red, her face downcast, and when he approached, her voice cracked.

"Reuel… Reuel… Alicia is dying."

Alice embraced Reuel and wept into his chest. The bond between Alice and Alicia was far more than clone and original—they had become sisters, even more than that. Alice had spent half her life with Alicia.

"She refused to be healed by the Tech-Priests. She said... she wanted to see her father in heaven. The father who loved her so much…"

Reuel stared into the distance, then spoke in a heavy voice,

"Alice... you have to understand. Alicia died a long time ago. The one with you now—she's only held on because of your will. She took the detox serum just for you. But it was never going to save her. She... she chose her time."

Alice nodded slowly, tears still streaming down her face.

"I know... I know... but I don't want her to go..."

She shook her head forcefully, then locked eyes with Reuel—her gaze now held a final decision.

"Reuel... I'm going to do something. I hope... you'll support me."

Reuel answered without hesitation, his voice firm.

"Just do it. You're my wife. If I don't support you, who else would I?"

Alice activated the communicator on her wrist.

"Chris. Order all troops to gather at the base."

Moments later, the door opened and a soldier entered, saluting.

"Reporting, ma'am."

"Order a Sword-Class Frigate to fly to the military base in Salt Lake City. Immediately."

"Yes, ma'am."

Reuel looked at Alice without another question. He didn't know what his wife was planning to do, but he chose to trust her.

Under the massive shadow of the space station, the Sword-Class Frigate groaned through the atmosphere, flying toward Salt Lake City.

Alice, carefully, pushed Alicia's stretcher into the Medivac. Reuel did not go with her. He only stood in the control room, watching from afar, letting Alice carry out something that only she could do alone.

---

At the Salt Lake City military base, hundreds of thousands of soldiers had assembled.

They stood in perfect formation, like rows of living bronze statues. Not a single one moved. Not a single one spoke.

This was the result of brutal retraining and the strict discipline typical of the Astra Militarum. From the observation deck above, Reuel stood transfixed. He had never witnessed this level of discipline from any modern military force in the world. Even the Cadian Shock Troopers gave respectful nods, satisfied with the outcome of their training. Reuel could only watch in silence, taking in the extraordinary order laid out before him.

There were no troops from any other branch present. Only the ground soldiers—Alice's Imperial Guard. The sight reminded him of old Astra Militarum videos he had once watched on YouTube, back in his former life.

He couldn't hide the pride and fire that rose within him. But he also knew one thing: this was Alice's army. And Reuel understood all too well—he couldn't allow Alice to lead the main force of the Warhammer world's military, infamous for being stubborn, brutal, fanatical, relentless, and blindly loyal to the Emperor.

Alice stepped forward, wearing the black combat uniform of light infantry, pushing Alicia's wheelchair to the side of the main stage. Alicia looked confused, not understanding what was happening. She glanced at Alice, and Alice simply patted her shoulder gently—without a word.

"Since this crisis erupted," Alice began loudly, her voice ringing across the entire parade field, "we've changed. From a small local operations unit, into an armed force that—though not yet officially recognized—fights as part of the Astra Militarum. Millions now march under our banner. And although many have fallen... we still stand here."

She lowered her gaze for a moment, then lifted it to look at the troops below.

"There is only one thing that hasn't returned to us."

Silence gripped the thousands of eyes watching her.

"That banner. Our old standard was lost during the first battle. And with it, a promise vanished. Today, we raise a new banner. Not the same—but enough to fulfill that promise."

Alice drew a deep breath.

"Long ago... I made a promise to a friend. I failed to keep it. Today... this is the only way left. I hope she forgives me."

She turned to the side. "Captain Chris."

"Ma'am."

"Raise the standard."

"Yes, ma'am."

Chris gave the signal. The honor guard moved in perfect sync, raising the new Regimental Standard. The banner bore the Umbrella insignia, fused with their world's local symbol. The standard had been sanctioned by the local Ecclesiarchy as a symbol of official devotion.

"Present arms!" Chris commanded.

The order echoed sharply through the loudspeakers. Thousands of soldiers snapped into salute in a single synchronized motion—military precision in its purest form.

Alicia gripped Alice's hand tightly. Tears streamed slowly down her cheeks. She looked up, gazing at the Umbrella-crest banner in silence.

Reuel watched from afar. So this was what Alice wanted to do...

He looked at the Umbrella flag now flying proudly. But that didn't matter. From now on, that banner could be called the flag of Alice's Legion.

---

That night, at the villa, Reuel told the girls everything.

They only nodded. No anger. No objections.

"Umbrella is gone," said one of them. "What remains is only what Alice has built."

Reuel added, "We'll hang this banner on the government building. And seek blessing from the local temple so it can fly beside the official Imperial Banner."

Jill nodded quietly. "It's time. Alice's Legion deserves recognition."

"If we have a banner," she added, "we'll need an emblem. An official badge. Or... our own regimental code."

The conversation continued in the living room, calm yet full of ideas. The girls began discussing, sharing thoughts, joking lightly among themselves—until one by one, they slowly drifted to sleep, ready to meet the coming day.