This was the fleet commander's reception room, located from the Hyperion's aft deck to her stern. Beyond it was where the Emperor summoned naval commanders and issued orders. Everything here was decorated like an imperial palace: copper-clad walls, reddish-brown carpets, wolf reliefs, and vast banners embroidered with gold thread.
One of the Empire's ubiquitous slogans was displayed on the wall: Raise High the Banner.
A statue gifted by the Daelaam to Emperor Augustus for his thirtieth birthday stood in the most conspicuous position. It had been polished and carved from an Ulnar artifact as precious as the Keystone, and adorned with magnificent sapphires, emeralds, and amethysts.
On the statue's pedestal was a line of Protoss script, as gentle as flowing water and as radiant as stars: Augustus Mengsk, eternal friend of the Protoss. May the gods grant you everlasting rule.
More than anyone, the Protoss hoped Augustus would live a long life. They believed there would never again be another person like him—a saint akin to Adun.
The reception room had been newly built during the Hyperion's last refit, a refit that had practically stripped the entire ship down and rebuilt her from scratch. Every aged component had been melted down and recast in biosteel, while her firepower, armor, and engines had been rebuilt to Super Gorgon standards. It represented a new peak achieved through repeated innovations in Imperial Navy design and construction.
No warship had ever been so closely bound to the fate of a dynasty. Neither Bucephalus nor White Star held such a position.
Though the Hyperion was merely a Behemoth-class battlecruiser, her image had already become an eternal classic.
Perhaps this would be the Hyperion's final refit, her final voyage. This old vessel, which should have been retired long ago, was still serving the Empire to this