While the fighting on Canopy Star and the schemes of the various factions were raging, the main force of the Great Crusade fleet was still traveling through the Warp, that treacherous realm without time, space, direction, or any of the other physical laws of the material universe.
Of course, whether they were actually traveling was uncertain.
After all, everyone knew that the Warp had no concepts of "travel," "time," or "speed." None of those things existed there.
Those words were merely idle terms and units of measurement that beings from the material universe, such as humans, had forcibly imagined and applied to the Warp after entering it. As for what "travel" actually looked like in the Warp, perhaps even the man currently seated in the command office on the bridge of the Emperor's Reverie, one of the three flagships of the Great Crusade, didn't quite understand.
At that moment, the Emperor—the man known by titles such as Xenos Terminator, Chaos-smasher, Big-headed Emperor, Augustus, Caesar, Progenitor, Outsider, the one on Terra, Almighty Heavenly Father, Brahma, Master of Mankind, Undying Emperor, Golden King, Omnissiah, Prophet, embodiment of Imperial justice, Holy Emperor of Holy Terra, specialist physician for firepower-deficiency phobia, Space Jesus, Human Emperor, Radiant Overlord, Real Man, absolute leader of the Imperium, Star Man, King of Terra, and Golden-Armored Giant—was frowning as he studied the bundles of reports Astropaths had received in fragments.
They contained all sorts of intelligence from Horus's fleet about the Hero Federation in the Koprulu Sector, as well as the sector's humans and technology that Horus had encountered on Canopy Star. All in all, it seemed fairly credible.
"Vikings?"
"The sector humans' ultimate anti-air and ground-support combat vehicle. It can serve as an assault walker, then transform into a fighter with formidable air-combat capabilities. Vikings can meet strategic