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[h3]The Solar System: The Bucephalus[/h3]
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[i]Plutonian High Orbit - The Kthonic Warp Gate[/i]

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[COLOR=darkgray][indent]The bridge of the Bucephalus was less a chamber of war and more a canvas of exploration and conquest, built to observe and orchestrate the cold, terrifying geometry of the stars. It existed as a vast, echoing expanse of polished obsidian and gold, making those who stood upon the deck feel like small, transient ghosts within an ancient machine. The air remained pressurized and frigid, carrying the sharp, sterile scent of ozone and the heavy, metallic musk of millions of cooling circuits. There was no true silence aboard such a craft, insectile chittering of data-servitors hard-wired into the peripheral bulkheads, their unending calculations forming a low-frequency hum that vibrated deep within the marrow of one’s bones.[/indent][/COLOR]

[COLOR=darkgray][indent]When the forward armored shutters pulled back, the bridge ceased to be an enclosure and became a great tapestry. The vast viewing port revealed the absolute, uncaring majesty of the void. To stand on that bridge was to know that one was at the spearhead of a species; the surety that the galaxy was about to be remade in the image of the master who loomed, silent and absolute, at the center of it all.[/indent][/COLOR]

[COLOR=darkgray][indent]“My Emperor and Omnissiah, the Fleets are in position. We await your command.” The near-human features of Magos Omah were cast down to avoid looking into the features of the Emperor. When she had first looked upon the Master of Mankind her features had been flesh and blood, now, her face was set in a near-porcelain mask of her mortal features. It was advanced enough work that such features still moved in the flexible manner of biological matter, without the failing of deterioration. Even still, as if she were still that Adept who had first observed the Unification, she felt the burn of anxiety across her skin. Even if she was convinced of the divine benevolence of the being before her, she still felt anxious relief at being dismissed by the wave of a hand.[/indent][/COLOR]

[COLOR=darkgray][indent]The Emperor took his seat upon the command throne, even to a being such as he, the act of interfacing with the psychic channeling matrix that sat at the heart of the great and ancient vessel flared as a prickle of power beneath his own skin. From his mind’s eye he beheld the guiding light that reached out from him, from his vessel, to the Navigator guides of the fleet throughout the Sol system. Most were gathered at two distinct points, around the Kthonic and Elysian Gates. These ancient and dormant structures had once connected the heart of a great empire to the wider galaxy. Soon, they would do so again.[/indent][/COLOR]

[COLOR=darkgray][indent]In the long centuries of Long Night they had only sparingly been activated, usually to disgorge alien threats into Sol, rather than carry humanity across the stars as they had been designed. Clearing and harnessing them back into their designed positions had been costly campaigns in their own right. Now they would direct the flow of these first great conflicts. Smaller collections of craft were spread out around Sol, further afield from the heart of the system, intent on more modest journeys, but still pushing the boundaries of this new Imperium.[/indent][/COLOR]

[COLOR=darkgray][indent]The Emperor extended his mental presence yet further, reaching out from his flagship. The great power of his mind brushed across both gates. Ancient circuits began to burn with power, and now, compelled by the mind of Sol’s ruler, split the skin of reality itself. Where a warp drive would punch a cumbersome wound through reality, these ancient devices sliced reality like a honed blade, allowing the bruise of unreality to mar the view of the stars through their great arches.[/indent][/COLOR]

[COLOR=darkgray][indent]“Hail the fleet.” His first spoken words broke his lips as his mind returned to the great shell it inhabited, not waiting for a return of affirmation as his will was done without thinking.[/indent][/COLOR]

[COLOR=darkgray][indent]“Fleets of the Imperium, you are assembled, the mightiest armada since our galaxy fell into darkness and despair, for our great purpose.” Across a thousand, thousand craft the voice of the Emperor resounded. “You have fought long already, yet your Emperor requires more of you. Only through our actions will our galaxy be made right. Only through our sacrifice will our future be made secure. Only through our victory can humanity triumph.” Across the vast span of space new stars were born as the collective fleets of the Sol system prepared to launch themselves beyond the boundaries of their cradle.[/indent][/COLOR]

[COLOR=darkgray][indent]“Do this, and my promise to you is greater still. The Stars are humanity’s birthright, Let It Be So.”[/indent][/COLOR]