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

That night, chaos came knocking.

At the Takagi estate, the survivors kept fighting off wave after wave of the undead. Gunfire echoed from every direction, blending with the ceaseless roars of the zombies.

In the middle of that cacophony, Takashi Komuro stood frozen. His breaths were heavy, eyes fixed beyond the gates.

"Uncle... my teachers and classmates are outside," he said softly, full of hope, stepping closer to Soichiro Takagi. "Please open the gate. Let them in."

Soichiro stared at him sharply, his gaze cold as steel.

"No. The gate stays shut until all the zombies outside are eliminated. If we open it now, it's over. Those things will sneak in, and chaos will break loose."

"But, Uncle... the zombies haven't even reached the gate," Takashi replied, pointing to the lifeless corpses strewn outside the fence. "We just need to move fast. They can get in before the next wave arrives."

"NO!"

Soichiro's voice rose, lashing through the night air like a whip. His eyes blazed with undeniable fury.

"Unc—"

"Silence!" he snapped. "When I say no, it means no! Do you think this is that simple? Everyone here is gambling with their lives, and you want to open the gate out of pity?! Look around you!"

His hand pointed wildly in every direction.

"Zombies are everywhere! You want to open a breach in our defenses just to save a few people? If that gate falls, it won't be just them who die—children, women, everyone here will be wiped out! Don't be stupid!"

His words were sharp and painful, but the logic behind them was irrefutable. He spoke not as an uncle, not as a man who could be swayed by compassion—but as a leader.

Takashi fell silent. The words hit him like a sledgehammer. Slowly, he turned back toward the gate.

Beyond the iron bars, hopeful faces looked at him. There stood Koichi Shido, the teacher he once respected, along with exhausted, dirty, terrified students.

"Sensei..." he whispered. "Please wait. Once the zombies are cleared, you'll be allowed in."

But Koichi gripped the bars with both hands, his eyes nearly bulging from their sockets.

"Komuro! Look! They're right behind us! We don't have time! Open the gate now! We'll close it ourselves—they won't get in in time!"

The other students joined in pleading. Their voices trembled, some nearly in tears.

"Komuro, please... we don't want to die..."

Takashi gripped his baseball bat tightly. His hands trembled, but his feet stayed planted.

His heart screamed... but his body wouldn't move.

Sometimes, decisions aren't born from courage. Sometimes, they come from guilt—and helplessness.

From the main balcony, Soichiro Takagi watched everything in silence. He calculated every movement, every possibility.

Only one zombie group remained outside. Large, but not unbeatable.

"All units, get on the containers!" he shouted, his voice echoing through the entire compound. "This is the final wave. Clean them out. After this, we're safe!"

Without hesitation, the guards moved swiftly. They climbed atop the containers used as emergency barricades, took their positions, and aimed downward.

Tak! Tak! Tak!

Gunfire roared. Rotting flesh exploded. One by one, the undead collapsed to the ground, their blood and filth staining the earth.

Meanwhile, near the gate, Koichi Shido saw an opening.

No guards. No supervision. Only Takashi... and one key.

> "Komuro!" he yelled desperately. "The gate's clear! Open it now! Quick! We'll shut it again—no one will know!"

"Please, Senpai! Just unlock it!"

"We're begging you!!"

The pleas rained down on Takashi from every direction, piercing his soul like knives.

He looked around. Silence.

Only the groans of dying undead... and the voices of his classmates—those who once laughed with him in the classroom. Now, only screams and tears remained.

His hand shook. His steps faltered.

But he moved.

Step by step toward the storage room. He found the key. And slowly, as if in a nightmare, he returned to the gate.

From the balcony above, Miyamoto Rei saw him. Her eyes widened—hardened the moment she realized what was about to happen.

"Komuro! DON'T OPEN THE GATE!!" she screamed.

The voice cut through the air. But Komuro didn't stop.

He slid the key into the lock. Turned it.

Click.

The gate creaked. It opened.

And the world fell apart.

The exhausted survivors rushed in, pushing Takashi aside before he could react. He fell, the key slipping from his hand and clattering to the ground.

Chaos.

From above, Soichiro Takagi heard Rei's scream. A knot of dread seized his chest. He turned toward the gate...

And he saw it.

The gate. Wide open.

And beyond that gate...

...chaos had entered.

Before Takashi Komuro could react, a panicked wave of people surged in like a flash flood. In the whirlwind of hysteria, his body was thrown aside like a lifeless ragdoll. The key he had held slipped from his hand, skidding across the concrete floor, disappearing beneath the trampling feet.

From the main balcony of the Takagi residence, Soichiro Takagi flinched as Miyamoto Rei's scream hit his ears. His military instincts flared to life—something was wrong. Deeply wrong.

He ran to the edge of the balcony, and his eyes fell downward.

The gate... fully open.

Dented. Wide open.

"Komuro! Close the gate! NOW!!"

His voice thundered, laced with an authority and panic rarely seen together.

Komuro staggered to his feet. His vision was hazy, his mind clouded. He turned, ready to shut the gate—

Then he saw it.

Someone... one of his classmates.

They used to eat lunch together.

Now, he was on top of another student, his teeth buried in their neck. Flesh tore. Blood spurted. A scream died mid-air, replaced by the sickening sound of flesh being violently devoured.

They were bitten.

No...

They were infected.

I was the one who let them in...

Komuro's breath caught in his throat.

"Krak! Sruupphh... Ggrrhhh... chomp chomp... Krrsshh—!"

The noises were revolting. Inhuman.

Bodies that had just made it through the gate now convulsed, twitched... transforming before his very eyes. Cries turned to screams. Screams to death howls.

Panic erupted. One by one, survivors were attacked, dragged, bitten.

This wasn't an evacuation.

This was the beginning of hell.

Komuro raised his baseball bat and swung with all his strength.

Crack! A zombie skull shattered instantly. Another lunged. He blocked, struck back—but there were too many.

He knew... it was too late.

The infected had made it deep into the safe zone.

What do I do? What do I do?!

His eyes scanned the chaos—then froze when they landed on a figure: Koichi Shido-sensei.

The teacher staggered. His clothes soaked in blood, one arm hanging limp at an unnatural angle. His eyes were unfocused.

He'd been bitten too.

Koichi Shido and the other infected ran toward the refugee camp area.

Without thinking, Komuro turned and bolted for the Takagi mansion.

The front door was still open.

"Rei! We have to get out of here! Some of them were infected!!" Komuro shouted, breath ragged, voice cracking with panic.

Rei turned. Her face grim. Her eyes piercing.

"Why did you open the gate? I told you not to."

Her tone was cold. Flat. Almost like a verdict.

"I... I didn't mean to… But they were from our school. I didn't have a choice, Rei. Now they're... they're inside... and they were bitten…"

Komuro clenched his jaw, his face pale, body shaking from fear and guilt.

He looked at Rei, his eyes pleading for understanding.

She slowly shook her head.

"Heh… You cause all this mess, and now you don't even know what to do? Planning to run away, huh?" she sneered. There was no smile. Only anger and disappointment.

"I'm not running," Komuro replied, voice barely holding. "I just wanted to save them... to save everyone..."

Suddenly, screams ripped through the air outside:

"DON'T BITE ME!!"

"HE'S INFECTED! RUN!!"

Komuro and Rei turned their heads. Without another word, Rei grabbed the pistol Soichiro Takagi had given her and rushed out.

Komuro raised a hand, wanting to stop her—but no words came.

He could only watch her back disappear down the hallway.

Then he looked around.

The Takagi mansion had been breached.

Zombies began slipping in through unguarded gaps. Screams burst from every direction. Doors slammed open. Bullets were fired. But one by one, the defenses crumbled.

Takashi Komuro knew... he had to go. Now.

He looked toward where Rei had vanished into the battle.

If she won't come with me... then I'll have to go alone.

His hand gripped the blood-slicked baseball bat tighter. His eyes locked on the hallway ahead with bitter resolve.

His steps began to carry him away from the mansion that was once a safe haven.

Now... it was no longer about who could be saved.

It was about who could survive.

Meanwhile...

From the balcony of the main residence, Soichiro Takagi stood rigid, his eyes sweeping over the hellscape below. The survivor camp, which had just withstood the last wave, was now in ruins once again. The main gate—what should've been the final line of defense—stood wide open, and through it, chaos poured in.

Zombies, along with the freshly infected, charged in relentlessly.

Soichiro clenched the iron railing, drew in a deep breath, and shouted:

"YOSHIOKA!"

"Yes, Lord Takagi! Your orders?" Yoshioka answered instantly, standing alert below.

"Take your team to the back! Secure the women and children! Get them into the emergency containers. Check every single one for bites or wounds before they go in. Lock it from the outside—no exceptions. Understand?"

"Understood, sir!" Yoshioka responded firmly, then quickly led his men toward the west side of the compound, heading to the evacuation zone that had long been prepared for the worst-case scenario.

Soichiro turned to the other units still holding the front lines. His voice rang out again, cutting through the gunfire and screams.

"Team One and Two! Eliminate all zombies approaching! Don't give them any openings!"

"Team Three and Four! Form a perimeter around the refugee area! Protect the women and children! Don't let anything cross your line, no matter what!"

He paused briefly, locking eyes with his soldiers.

"Listen carefully! Behind you are your families—your children, your wives, the people you swore to protect. Don't fall back... not until they're safe!"

"YES, SIR!" dozens of voices shouted in unison, echoing through the night air, thick with blood and gunpowder.

Without hesitation, the Takagi forces charged into the conflict zone. Their weapons raised, barrels smoking.

"Fire! Fire! Don't let them get close!"

Gunfire erupted in rapid bursts, but the pressure began to mount from both sides. From the front: zombies breaking through the fences. From behind: the turned survivors biting their own comrades.

The line of defense was tearing apart. The line between man and monster was blurring. Smoke, blood, and howls blended into a symphony of death.

Miyamoto Rei stood on the balcony steps, pistol in hand, still shooting—but there were too many. Bullets were running low. Hope was running out.

From above, Soichiro Takagi watched as the haven he had painstakingly built was slowly consumed by destruction. His gaze never faltered, but beneath that calm was a deep sorrow.

A voice crackled through the handheld radio on his hip:

"Container secured. The women and children are safe."

Soichiro exhaled heavily.

"All units! FALL BACK! Use the underground tunnels! That's our only way out now!"

The remaining troops began retreating toward the main house. But before Soichiro could turn—

"AAARRGHH!!"

A figure lunged from the shadows. A zombie tackled him and sank its teeth deep into his shoulder—brutal, unforgiving.

"MASTER!!" Yoshioka roared, sprinting at full speed, drawing his sword, and with a single swing, severed the creature's head.

Blood splattered across the marble floor. Soichiro lay on the ground, his body seizing, breath ragged. Rei rushed to him, falling to her knees beside the fallen leader.

"T-Takagi-san..." her voice barely a whisper. Her hands trembled, lips quivered. Tears flowed unbidden.

Soichiro looked at her with what little consciousness he had left. His eyes were dimming, but the authority in his voice remained.

"Miyamoto Rei... kill me. I won't become one of them..."

"I... I can't..." Rei backed away, pistol in hand, but hesitating.

"Do it now, Rei. Don't let me turn."

"Go into the tunnel. Tell my daughter... I won't be there to protect her in the days to come. But she still has her mother..."

Yoshioka bowed his head, jaw clenched. His grip on his sword tightened, as if holding back grief and fury all at once.

Soichiro turned to him.

"Yoshioka... protect Rei. Take her to Reuel. Tell him... the next mission is his. Save the women and children..."

His breathing grew heavier. One last breath escaped his lips.

Rei raised her pistol, cheeks wet with tears. Her hand trembled, but her gaze was firm now.

"Forgive me... I'll deliver your final message."

Bang!

A single shot shattered the silence. Soichiro Takagi's body went still.

He was gone—with honor.

Outside, flames began licking the rooftops of the Takagi Estate. The screams slowly faded, replaced by the clatter of falling steel and muffled sobs. The night sky bore witness to the destruction... and the beginning of the next resistance.

From a hilltop shrouded in the shadows of night, a squad of Acolytes stood silently beneath darkened trees, their bodies blending almost perfectly into the surroundings. Through thermal binoculars layered with auspex filters, they observed the inferno consuming the Takagi estate.

"Mission complete. Two confirmed survivors," whispered one of the Acolytes, their voice nearly swallowed by the night wind.

Another Acolyte bowed his head, tapped a rune on his visor, and let out a cold grin.

"The heretics who dared defy the will of the Emperor of Mankind... have now been purified. The horde of zombies we guided there carried out their task efficiently."

A deep voice crackled through the vox-bead in their helmets—distorted and echoing. No introduction was needed. The Inquisitor had joined the channel.

"Good. Let it be... The Emperor favors that woman. She will fulfill her purpose."

There was no debate. No questions. Only absolute obedience.

In an instant, the Acolytes vanished into the forest shadows, their steps silent, barely touching the ground. As if they weren't human at all—but phantoms, sent only to witness divine execution.

---

The Takagi Estate had fallen.

All through the night, screams and gunfire echoed, bouncing between wooden beams and stone walls now swallowed by fire. One by one, the barricades fell. One by one, lives were extinguished. Flames roared like heavenly wrath, devouring every corner of the compound.

By dawn, as the mist began to lift and reveal the wreckage, the zombies had taken full control of the land. They wandered among corpses and rubble, tearing at whatever remained brave—or foolish—enough to still draw breath.

No more voices. No more orders.

Only the stench of blood, burning flesh... and a silence that chilled the soul.