This was Lox's third time ascending the Golden Throne to meet the Emperor.
The first time had been when he brought reinforcements from the Five Hundred Worlds and fought his way back from the Ultima Segmentum, finally earning the chance to ascend the throne and meet the lord of mankind.
It was also then that he realized this lord of mankind had actually been an old friend from his distant past.
Yet during the ten thousand years of his slumber, Neoth had made far too many plans and arrangements. Even Lox's sleep had been part of his calculations.
The second time had been when Lox was summoned here by the Emperor and granted the authority and power of the Omnissiah, so that he could help Lion El'Jonson and the others defeat Vashtorr, who had aided Horus.
In the distant past, the Emperor had planted the seeds of the Adeptus Mechanicus and shaped the faith in the Machine God and the Omnissiah.
Lox did not know whether he had merely intended to support the Imperium during the expanding Great Crusade, or whether he had wanted to contend on a higher plane against the Chaos Gods that had shackled humanity's technological development.
If it was the latter, then all Lox could say was that Neoth had seen astonishingly far ahead. His schemes had spanned the timeline and reached into the distant future.
Today would be his third ascent of the Golden Throne, and this time, he would completely liberate the lord of mankind.
Only by standing here could one truly grasp the Golden Throne's immensity. Looking up, the endless stairway seemed to stretch to the end of the universe, lengthening without limit before his eyes.
The steps beneath his feet exuded a vast, sacred psychic aura. With every step he took, ripples