Through the giant viewport of the Gloriana-class Battleship, Navy Major Arthur Valerian silently gazed at the stars beyond.
He stood ramrod straight, his dark blue naval coat spotless.
Though he had graduated from the Cadia Naval Officer Academy less than three Terra standard years ago, his record was already filled with achievements most of his comrades could never hope to match in a lifetime.
From his first taste of battle in the Cadia War to the campaigns on the fringes of The Maelstrom, and now to the expeditionary fleet following the Primarch himself, he had personally watched hundreds of enemy ships become burning wreckage beneath Imperial Navy broadsides.
Yet the young major felt no excitement now.
He merely watched the clouds of wreckage slowly disperse beyond the viewport.
Like a dream.
Arthur turned those words over in his mind.
Yes, like a dream.
When he had been struggling through the Imperial Navy Tactical Compendium, a book thicker than a brick, at the academy, he had never imagined he would one day stand on the Bridge of a Gloriana-class Battleship, following the Primarch himself on one unstoppable expedition after another.
Footsteps sounded behind him.
Arthur drew his wandering thoughts back and turned. A figure in red robes was approaching him.
It was a magos of the Adeptus Mechanicus. His face had been fully restored to ordinary human flesh, with no trace of the mechanical augmentations he had once undergone.
Only the mechanical skull floating behind him still glowed faintly red, marking him as a Disciple of Mars.
Arthur gave a slight nod.
The red-robed magos stopped before Arthur. "Hello, young man. Do you have a little time to spare?"
The magos spoke in a calm, gentle voice. "If you do, I would like to tell you about our merciful Omnissiah."
Arthur