Painting of the Emperor in ceremonial garb, commissioned shortly after the fall of the coalition, and the effectual conquering of Earth.

Takara journal entry: #00701
I remember the day the Emperor posed for the painting. I also remember it was the only day he ever wore anything so…regal.

Throughout the entirety of my employment, he only ever wore those dark suits, posing the part of businessman, or politician. He hated wearing these garments, it was clear from his scowl.

The emperor would never allow the enemy an opportunity to read his emotions. Always calm, reserved; almost expressionless.

But when he wore those robes, he scowled.

As soon as the painting was finished, he changed out of them back into a suit. He never wore them again, from what I heard, he had them burned.


I asked him why he posed in them for so long if he hated wearing them so much.

“Symbols are important” He said to me “They need to know who conquered them. They need to know my face and see me as their ruler”

This was shortly after the cull, and civil unrest was still incredibly high, to the point where the Council were considering using military force to support the law enforcers.

Perhaps it was beyond my station, but I asked him why. He knew that an action like this would only add more fuel to the fire. Rebel cells were still being rounded up, the last thing the annexed population needed was a depiction of the man who had them massacred.


I’ll never forget what he said to me


“That’s the point”

I was confused at first; thought I’d mis-heard him.

“I need them to fear me, to hate me; vilify me, even. We’ve begun phase 7”

Then I was only more confused. I thought we’d surely already completed phase 10, we won the war! Eden was the only nation left on Earth, the world had been conquered, there was nobody left to challenge us.

He held my gaze for a moment and said nothing, I felt like I’d just failed a test.

“How short-sighted” He replied with a sigh, walking away and leaving me in the hall


He wasn’t finished yet