Running away when you couldn't win was downright pathetic. But while fleeing might be shameful, it was extremely useful. The Blackwatch even proudly called it a strategic withdrawal.
When they decided to make a run for it, the Blacklight didn't retrace its route. Instead, it continued deeper into the Eye of Terror, intending to return through the Webway portal in Segmentum Obscurus.
Contrary to what most people thought, Warp travel was more like swimming underwater. It wasn't just like following a three-dimensional route through the physical universe; you also had to contend with countless unknown currents and bizarre celestial phenomena unique to the depths.
In short, the Warp was a hellish place. Even if you entered from the heart of the Galaxy, you might emerge in some unknown extragalactic system. It was more dangerous than the long-distance voyages made by eighteenth-century sailors aboard sailing ships.
The most ridiculous part was that time and space in the Warp were completely impossible to control. You might set out on the third and reach your destination on the first—except that "the first" was two days before you left.
This wasn't an isolated occurrence in the Imperium's records. It happened all the time. No one knew whether a Warp journey would reach its destination safely, and even if it did, you could never know whether some strange things would have stowed away aboard your ship.
But none of those drawbacks mattered to the Blackwatch. Thanks to their adoptive father's unique higher-dimensional nature, one trick was all they needed. The Cloaked Cockroaches were arguably the happiest humans in the entire Galaxy—or even the whole universe.
The cruel, grim darkness of the Galaxy was hardly a place for happiness. But it all depended on who you were comparing them to. Other Legiones Astartes had casualty rates