Eighty-Third Expedition Fleet.
This vast military force, commanded by Klas Noda, Chapter Master of the Word Bearers' Second Chapter, cruised steadily and resolutely into the unconquered star clusters of the galaxy's northeastern quadrant, following the prescribed course laid out on the Emperor's star chart and approved by both the Departmento Munitorum and the War Council.
Its sheer scale was enough to drive most interstellar civilizations to despair.
At the fleet's heart lay the Emperor-class Battleship Pride's Recompense, towering like a mountain, its hull clad in dark gray armour and its prow engraved with an enormous Insignia of a tome and sword.
It was Klas Noda's flagship and mobile Fortress, as well as the undisputed nerve center and symbol of this expeditionary force.
Around it sailed over a thousand Imperial capital ships of varying sizes and functions.
Battlecruiser, Heavy Cruisers, Strike Cruisers...
Like loyal beasts, they guarded the fleet's heart.
Farther out were hundreds of thousands of nimble, deadly escort frigates, destroyers, and light cruisers, along with even greater numbers of transport ships, supply ships, repair vessels, and auxiliaries, scurrying busily like worker ants.
This torrent of steel spread across the void for several light-years, dimming the starlight wherever it passed.
Merely passing through a star system was enough to cause catastrophic devastation to the orbits of its planets.
One hundred and fifty thousand Word Bearers warriors, clad in dark gray Power Armour with their Legion's Insignia emblazoned on their chests, formed the fleet's sharpest and heaviest spearhead.
They were distributed across hundreds of Battle Barges, ready at any moment to bring the Emperor's will and destruction down upon any designated world.
Supporting this superhuman force, forming the fleet's flesh and foundation, were the hundreds of billions of accompanying Imperial Imperialis Militia soldiers, Imperial Navy boarding troops, Adeptus Mechanicus Skitarii, and