The next day.
The ship girls from Azur Lane, along with the heroic spirits from Chaldea, were still adapting to the civilization of Reuel's Imperium of Man. Meanwhile, the Master of Mankind woke from his sleep, dressed neatly, and prepared to board a transport ship to Mars-to inspect the progress of the Imperial Navy's development.
Reuel had planned a massive expansion: to conquer the next universe.
Upon arriving at the space station via the military port's air dock-
Reuel boarded the battlecruiser Gorgon, heading toward Saturn's outer moon-Iapetus, the outer space fortress of the Imperium of Man. There stood the Imperial Navy Fortress, the central hub for large-scale operational preparations.
Upon arrival at Iapetus, Reuel witnessed rows of Imperial Navy ships parked neatly along the orbital dock. The space fleet stretched wide, ready to be deployed at any moment.
He walked toward the office of Creed and Gudalle, escorted by an Astra Militarum officer.
Along the fortress corridor, Reuel was greeted by soldiers from various divisions:
- Astra Militarum
- Terran Marines
- Firebats
- Marauders
- Medics
and many more.
They saluted the Master of Mankind respectfully, and Reuel returned each greeting one by one.
However, his eyes twitched suddenly upon spotting a familiar figure at the Imperial Navy training base.
Selene.
Reuel immediately approached her. Selene was training the Alice Legion troops, familiarizing them with the spaceflight system.
"Selene? Why are you here?" Reuel asked.
"Reuel? I'm training the Alice Legion to get used to spacecraft," Selene replied, turning to face him.
"Will you come with me to the next universe?"
Selene paused for a moment, thinking deeply before answering.
"Alright. I'll go with you."
"Prepare yourself. We leave in a month. I'm heading to meet Creed and Gudalle to prepare the expedition."
Without waiting for further response, Reuel turned and continued his walk toward Creed's office, accompanied by the Astra Militarum officer.
Lord Castellan Creed's Office, Kasr City
Upon arriving at the command office, Lord Castellan Creed immediately stood and offered the Aquila salute to Reuel.
"Creed, we're going to the next universe. Prepare the Imperial Navy for the expedition," Reuel said in a firm and calm tone.
"Understood, Lord Emperor. I'll ready the Imperial Navy expeditionary fleet within the next month," Creed replied without hesitation.
Wasting no time, Creed left the room with his aide, Major Jarran Kell, to begin mobilizing his forces.
Meanwhile, Reuel sat in Creed's command chair. He activated the strategic interface and opened the dimensional map to determine which universe would become the next territory of the Imperium of Man.
"Open the Hyperdimensional Map..." Reuel commanded the system.
A blue light flickered to life.
Before him unfolded a transparent star map, resembling the interface of a strategy game like Stellaris. The backdrop was a black sky speckled with glowing stars, while hundreds of translucent bubbles floated in the center-each reflecting light like soap under the sun.
Each bubble represented a world.
A universe.
Five of them were clearly marked near his current position:
- Fate Series (Singularity Magic Era I)
- Avatar Pandora (Early Space Era I)
- Starship Troopers (Early Space Era I)
- Date A Live (Pre-Space Era)
- Ling Cage (Pre-Space Era)
- ????? (Unknown, too chaotic to classify)
Reuel stared intently at one bubble: Starship Troopers.
"Starship Troopers... if I'm not mistaken, it's set in a future where humanity lives under the Terran Federation-a global government that only grants citizenship to those who serve in the military."
Under this system, humans are embroiled in a brutal war against a race of giant alien insects known as the Arachnids.
But Reuel knew this world wasn't just military glorification.
He recalled that Starship Troopers originated from a novel that delivered sharp satire against militarism. Its propaganda style-like the slogan "Do you want to know more?"-presented war as a product, full of manipulation and glorification.
"Seems perfectly suited to my current needs," Reuel murmured. "I'm looking for a spacefaring setting that can support the productivity of Imperial Navy development. But the question is... film version or anime version?"
The anime version seemed more compelling.
Reuel recalled the plot of Starship Troopers: Traitor of Mars and Starship Troopers: Invasion.
The story centered on a Federation military base on an asteroid, where the Arachnid Queen was being held. But the Queen wasn't passive-she launched a counterattack that threatened the Federation's stability.
Meanwhile, on the colony of Mars, anti-war sentiment was rising. The planet had never been directly attacked by bugs, so many Martians felt the conflict was merely Earth's problem. This indifference made them reluctant to follow Federation directives.
Yet the Federation had already discovered an Arachnid nest beneath Mars's surface-but deliberately withheld the warning.
Sky Marshal Amy Snapp exploited the situation. She dropped a Q-Bomb on Mars and blamed General Carl Jenkins for the mission's failure. Her goal? To gain public support and consolidate her power within the Federation.
The light cruiser Alesia was ordered to rescue survivors at the asteroid base Fort Casey. But what they found was chaos.
In the midst of this crisis, Carl Jenkins emerged-a high-ranking Federation official with telepathic abilities resembling psionic energy.
"Their psionic energy is so weak," Reuel muttered. "Primitive compared to the Psykers or Librarians of Warhammer 40K. No depth, no control."
In Traitor of Mars, Jenkins commandeered the heavy cruiser John A. Warden, previously under Captain Carmen Ibanez. His mission was classified: to transport the Arachnid Queen for research, hoping the creature could be controlled and weaponized.
A high-stakes gamble.
To carry out the mission, Jenkins abandoned Carmen and the surviving Mobile Infantry at Fort Casey, leaving them to face death at the hands of a relentless Arachnid swarm.
But just as Fort Casey teetered on the brink of annihilation, Alesia returned. The light cruiser rescued Carmen and the survivors from Alpha Team and the K-12 unit-Mobile Infantry who endured while others fell. Their bodies were scarred, their armor scorched, but their spirit remained unbroken.
One figure lingered in Reuel's mind: the former captain of K-12. A soldier who openly defied Carl Jenkins's orders and was imprisoned until Johnny Rico freed him. That figure wasn't just a symbol of resistance, but a reflection of the moral crisis plaguing the Federation.
The search for the missing John A. Warden became a focal point in the anime. The ship vanished from Federation radar, carrying the Queen and secrets that could alter the course of the war.
Reuel exhaled slowly.
"They've reached the interstellar era... yet still use gunpowder-based projectiles to shoot insects," he thought. "Other universes already employ plasma rifles, beam cannons, orbital railguns. But here? Metal bullets and ground tactics. Their doctrine is rooted in Mobile Infantry."
To Reuel, the Federation's military doctrine relied too heavily on drop-and-evac tactics: deploying infantry from orbit, slamming into the surface hard, then retreating before the bug swarm could retaliate en masse. There were no large-scale space battles like in Warhammer 40K, Star Wars, or Halo. No massive fleets, no battleships like the Retribution-class, Executor-class, or CAS Supercarrier.
But he understood.
He had read the novel, and followed long debates on Reddit in his previous life about Robert A. Heinlein.
"Heinlein wasn't building a star-faring universe. He was designing an ideological world. Spaceships were just a backdrop to transport Mobile Infantry. The real focus was on militarism, citizenship, and sacrifice. Not technology-but philosophy."
Reuel remained seated, deep in thought. His mind returned to Traitor of Mars. In his view, the film's timeline was very close to the Fort Casey incident, at least from a real-world chronology perspective.
Anime-version Carmen was quite captivating-far more beautiful than her live-action counterpart. She was still a captain: competent, assertive, and mesmerizing. Reuel imagined that if he had to face that situation, there would surely be starship captains and female snipers who perished. It would be a shame if Carmen wasn't rescued.
"I'll save her when the time comes," he thought.
Reuel kept thinking about how to retrieve useful items and characters from the Starship Troopers universe. The Mobile Infantry gear could be modified for use by his Astra Militarum. Their armor was light, modular, and suitable for operations on low-gravity planets. Their helmets had HUD systems that could be integrated with standard Cogitators.
He still remembered clearly:
"November 7th, 2314," Reuel murmured internally. "That was the day the Arachnid egg-carrying asteroid crashed into Mars. The beginning of their underground colonization phase."
But instead of confronting the threat openly, the Federation-under Sky Marshal Amy Snapp's leadership-chose to cover up the truth. The motive was clear: to avoid political upheaval and weaken the growing independence movement on Mars.
Around 2317, reports of attacks began to surface. Arachnids infiltrated underground facilities, creeping into human colonies. The Federation responded swiftly-deploying the 1st Mobile Infantry Division to critical sectors. They launched aggressive sweeps against bug nests, evacuated civilians, and defended key infrastructure.
But with industrial mobilization lagging behind, the troops were forced to hold out against relentless Arachnid waves-including new variants like the Rhino Bug-without full logistical support. No Titans, no Baneblades, just men and rifles.
Federation central command eventually issued a strict order: nuclear weapons were not to be used.
Not for humanitarian reasons.
But to protect the industrial value of Mars's property assets.
The Federation claimed victory in what became known as the First Battle of Mars. But to Reuel, that victory was an illusion.
"That victory was only surface-level," he thought sharply. "Nothing more than a stepping stone for Snapp's ambition."
The Federation deliberately allowed the Arachnids to grow in the quarantine zone. They waited-for the perfect moment. And when the full-scale assault finally came, Sky Marshal Amy Snapp's conspiracy was exposed.
Q-Bomb.
A mass genocide plan. All orchestrated for political gain.
In the end, Johnny Rico-demoted from general to recruit trainer at the Mars space station-along with the Lost Patrol, managed to turn the tide. They deactivated the Q-Bomb and thwarted the extermination plan.
That event proved that Starship Troopers wasn't just a story of humans versus bugs-it was a war about truth, power, and military ethics.
Reuel's thoughts shifted to something more practical.
"Their armor," he noted internally, "barely qualifies as protection. One bug could tear through it. What use is that in real combat?"
To Reuel, the Federation's infantry gear was better suited for colony patrol units. Maybe it could be integrated into the Planetary Defense Force as lightly armed civilian guards. Of course, their mini-nuke missile launchers would need strict regulation-the destructive power was far too great to hand over to civilians without screening.
His gaze then turned to the Federation's spacecraft.
"Poor design. Minimal defenses. No energy shielding. But..." Reuel smirked slightly. "...they have potential."
Those ships could be repurposed for trade, transport, even troop deployment to outer territories. With intervention from the Adeptus Mechanicus, they could become vital instruments in the Imperium of Man's logistics system.
After weighing all of this, Reuel resumed preparations for the expeditionary force to the Starship Troopers universe. This time, he would bring a newly constructed warship of the Imperial Navy, freshly completed by the Mechanicus on Mars.
Its name: Imperator Somnium.
A heavy-class warship, equipped with a psionic reactor, layered energy shielding, and interdimensional navigation systems. Alongside the Universal Bulins, this ship would serve as the spearhead of the next cross-universe expedition.
A month had passed at the Iapetus military base, the ever-busy hub of Imperial Navy activity. Each day was filled with intensity: rigorous training, orbital weapon calibration, and blessing rituals conducted by the Tech-Priests of the Mechanicus. Amid the bustle, two key figures stepped into the central strategy chamber.
Lord Commander Creed and Admiral DuGalle arrived with firm expressions, carrying the finalized list of the fleet to be deployed to the Starship Troopers universe.
"Lord Emperor, we've prepared the Imperial Navy fleet for the upcoming expedition. Please review it first," they said in unison, their voices steady and respectful.
Reuel stood before the tactical display, his eyes scanning the list of ships projected in hololithic form. He read carefully, ensuring every element met the Imperium's standards.
Imperator Somnium, the flagship of the Master of Mankind, would lead the expedition. The ship would be accompanied by three Retribution-class battleships, each serving as command centers, orbital bombardment platforms, and symbols of Imperial dominance. Beside them, four Apocalypse-class battleships were tasked with long-range fleet destruction, while two Emperor-class battleships-superheavy carriers-would launch thousands of fighters and bombers in endless waves.
Lunar, Gothic, Tyrant, and Dictator-class cruisers formed the main battle line, each in dozens. They were supported by Dauntless and Endeavour-class light cruisers, assigned to escort and fast reconnaissance roles. Cobra-class destroyers and Sword-class frigates operated in large squadrons, launching torpedoes and executing lightning strikes on enemy weak points.
Behind them, two hundred Gorgon-class battlecruisers carried combat units such as Terran marines, Firebats, Marauders, Medics, and starfighter squadrons. These ships were designed for atmospheric penetration and battlefield support.
Armageddon-class transports and Mechanicus Explorator vessels carried millions of ground troops, including dozens of Astra Militarum regiments, Skitarii squads, and full detachments from the Legio Titanicus-with Warhound, Reaver, and even Warlord-class Titans. Some ships also carried Astartes contingents from Chapters specially assigned for cross-universe operations, including the Grey Knights.
Support vessels such as medical ships, logistics carriers, and atmospheric purification ships joined the fleet, ensuring that this invasion was not just conquest-but total assimilation of the target world.
Reuel nodded in satisfaction after reviewing the fleet formation to be deployed to the Starship Troopers universe.
"Excellent, Creed. DuGalle. We depart tomorrow. Prepare everything according to schedule."
"Understood, Lord Emperor," they replied in unison.
---
Imperator Somnium

Imperator Somnium was not built on Mars, as was customary for most Imperial warships, but in the beating heart of mankind itself-Terra. It was not merely a vessel; it was a moving monument of gold, a celestial citadel soaring far beyond mortal comprehension. Its sheer grandeur dwarfed every known ship in the Imperial Navy, its size rivaling the orbital plates of Terra. In the void, it appeared not as a ship but as a floating continent carved from marble and flame.
Adorned like a shrine to forgotten gods, the Imperator Somnium shimmered with impossible majesty. Its armored hull rose in layers of sculpted war-temples, crowned with golden domes, towering spires, and colossal statues that stood like eternal sentinels. Within its structure lay entire districts-vast cities of statuary and palaces of war-making it less a warship than a drifting fragment of imperial divinity.
It was forged from secrets buried since the Dark Age of Technology, its machine-spirits older and more powerful than most dared to imagine. The ship was almost entirely automated, controlled by ancient servo-systems and cognitive engines that required only minimal human presence. Its crew consisted solely of servitors, war-automata, and one solitary Custodian-assigned by the Emperor Himself.
As for its arsenal, it possessed nothing less than the wrath of forgotten suns. The Volkite Storm Accelerators-heat-based weaponry capable of incinerating enemies from within their armor-were unparalleled in size and power. No other ship in known existence bore volkite weapons of such magnitude, turning the void into a furnace with every salvo. Along its keel lined dozens of Nova Cannons, launching rad-fusion warheads the size of dropships. In the span of a single second, Imperator Somnium could unleash ten shells, a rate that rendered most other warships-barely capable of one shot per minute-pitiful in comparison.
Its defenses were as daunting as its firepower. Layered void shielding, mountain-thick armor plating, and a vast array of automated weapon systems rendered the ship all but indestructible. Escort carriers and atmospheric fighters were deployed from its underdeck hangars, supporting operations across orbital and terrestrial theaters. Its reactors-ancient, nuclear, and perhaps even something darker-fed the ship with relentless power, enabling it to drift in silence... and in shadows. For it was also equipped with advanced stealth systems, capable of infiltrating the Sol System undetected.
During the Great Crusade, Imperator Somnium served as the Emperor's own flagship. It was the gleaming sword at the front of His armada, a blazing torch that lit the path of conquest. At the height of the Ullanor campaign, the ship embodied the Emperor's vision of unyielding dominion. But as the Heresy unfolded and the Imperium trembled, its role shifted. In the final stages of the Solar War, Rogal Dorn ordered Imperator Somnium to fall back to the edge of the system, alongside the Phalanx, the Red Tear, and other irreplaceable loyalist assets. It then came under the command of Fleet Admiral Niora Su-Kassen, stationed beneath the shadows of Saturn.
When traitors laid siege to Terra, tightening their noose around the Throneworld, Su-Kassen gave her approval. The golden ship would return to the front, one last time. Its final mission: to pierce the blockade and clear a path for the Dark Angels, led by Corswain, to land on Terra's surface. What followed was a battle written in flame and blood-Imperator Somnium plunged into the enemy fleet, obliterating four World Eaters heavy cruisers and an Emperor's Children battle barge in a cataclysm of divine fury.
But even titans fall. Under concentrated fire from the traitor fleet, the great ship was torn open, wracked by detonations that shattered its inner sanctums. It died in low Terra orbit, erupting like a dying star-glorious and terrible. Not a wreck, but a requiem.
It was the Emperor's final dream, cast in gold, fire, and silence-fulfilled in ruin.
All of the above information is derived from canonical sources-namely the novels Fear to Tread, Mortis, and Saturnine-and is further supported by the broader lore community (including extensive discussions on Reddit).
While some visual interpretations (such as fan art and DeviantArt renditions) depict additional aesthetic details, all referenced dimensions and characteristics are based on the official narrative.
---