"The tip... of the iceberg..."
Hercules repeated the phrase in a low voice, as though he had to force each syllable out of his chest to bear the suffocating weight it represented.
He still could not tear his gaze from the unimaginably vast sight beyond the window. There were not merely hundreds of thousands, but millions upon millions, perhaps even more.
They were reserves, dormant strength, silent mountains hidden beneath a veil of light.
He felt dizzy as his understanding was utterly overturned, along with an almost instinctive awe at the immensity and depth of his father's plans.
Lorgar did not look at him, but turned his gaze farther into the distance.
One side of the walkway was lined with enormous observation windows. Beyond them lay not the bustling base, but another enclosed space beside it, equally vast yet utterly different in atmosphere.
There were no transport craft shuttling to and fro, no shouts of training, no glow of furnaces. Only a cold, orderly array of metal stretching beyond sight.
They were cryopods.
Countless silver-gray or dark-gray cylindrical cryopods stood packed in orderly rows within a low-temperature maintenance field, like a silent metal forest.
A thin layer of white frost coated each pod, and inside, the blurred outlines of towering figures in gray power armour or training clothes were faintly visible.
They stood motionless, like sculptures of the finest precision, in stark contrast to the vibrant, ceaselessly working world outside.
Only the faint indicator lights blinking steadily on the pods testified to the low pulse of the life support systems.
"It was thanks to the... unique technical support provided by Lady Anastasia," Archmagos Valkyrie interjected from beside them.
He withdrew one data tendril from the control console's interface, while another pointed toward the silent metal forest beyond the window.
"That