---Six Days Later, Production World #07---
Leaving Lydia behind on Nirn to handle the renovation of our home and various other tasks, my fiancées and I headed out to Production World Seven to take charge of my new flagship. Meeting us at my personal docking bay, Commander Bannister welcomed us back from our prolonged workcation before jumping right into business. Leading us to one of the transport shuttles, she entered the bay number we needed to go to and let the computer handle the rest.
"My apologies, Supreme Commander, we ran into a few issues at the last minute so final system checks are being completed as we speak.", Commander Bannister said, with an apologetic look, "When we attempted to name the vessel; the Machine Spirit went ballistic and caused a lot of problems onboard. It took swearing to leave the naming to you for her to calm down, but the damage was already done."
"My apologies, I should have warned you better that Machine Spirit's can be quite fickle beings. In the future, you can use me as an intermediary to communicate with Lotara as she appears to like me well enough.", I said, with a smirk, "Even though she tried to kill me the first time we met, haha!"
"What is this Machine Spirit you are talking about?", Aela inquired, a bit interested to learn about the wider universe, "Is it a ghost or lesser deity?"
"Machine Spirits are sentient, spiritual beings that I believe were brought into existence by the collective wills of several hundred billion psykers from the Imperium of Man. You see psykers and mages are similar to each other but are also inherently different. Mages use power from within us or the surrounding area to cast spells, while psykers channel power from the Warp to use their psychic powers.", I explained, "Both can be incredibly powerful individuals, but psykers have one dangerous flaw…"
"Drawing power from literal Hell exposes them to Daedric Corruption or Possession.", Serana stated, having come to that conclusion from the reports she had been reading recently.
Serana assumption was spot on and was a very common occurrence in the Imperium. While all psykers have the potential to fall to Chaos, usually it was the weaker willed psykers that posed the larger issues. Their inability to fend off mental attacks from the Warp meant every time they tapped into their power, it was a fifty-fifty chance that they would be swallowed up by Chaos. If such a thing came to pass, those poor souls would likely become anchors for the Daemon to invade that world.
Getting the sense that Serana was eager to research psykers and their unique power, I hoped she could find a way to save them. What I had failed to mention to everyone, for their own sake, was that to minimize the risk to the public weaker psykers were either executed upon being discovered or used as fuel sources to maintain the Emperor of Mankind's power. If they knew thousands of people were being sacrificed daily to that end, I doubted they would want to interact with the Imperium at all. While I was not their biggest fan either, if we wanted to end this war, we had to cooperate with them till that goal was achieved.
Reaching my new ship a few minutes later, the shuttle parked itself in the hanger below the command bridge. Disembarking the shuttle, Bannister led us to a private lift they installed for me and motioned for everyone to enter. Passing through several levels of the ship, when we arrived at bridge, Lotara came running over to me with a relieved expression.
"Sorry to have been away so long, Lotara. All of us were out collecting resources for the ship's upgraded Nova Cannon.", I said, as we exited the lift, "I hope you are happy with all the renovations and upgrades we completed to this vessel."
Aggressively nodding her head, Lotara seemed quite pleased with everything we had done to her ship. Eagerly showing me around to all the new toys that had been added to her command center, even though I was the one who designed the layout, I inspected everything closely as we walked around the room. Once our tour was complete, she moved next to the captain's chair and motioned for me to take a seat. Obliging her request, as sunk into the chair, I connected to the ship's neural network to ensure I had full control of everything onboard.
"Alright Lotara, as promised, the time has come to give this vessel a new name. I have given this matter a significant amount of thought as she will serve as my flagship, the very first vessel my allies and foes will see in space. The name I chose sums up the vision I have for our future and everything I am working to achieve. From this moment onward, this ship will be known as the Endless Horizons.", I stated, looking her in the eyes.
Understanding my reasoning for name, as she was aware of what my end goal was, Lotara appeared to be quite happy to receive the name. Snapping to attention and saluting me, she carved the name into her heart and mind.
"As for you specifically though, should I continue to call you Lotara or would Horizon be better?", I inquired.
Looking at me with confusion, Lotara did not understand what I meant.
"I understand that you are a part of this ship, but in my eyes, the ship and you are two distinct individuals. The Endless Horizons represents the physical ship we are in right now, and Lotara represents the spiritual entity that I see before me.", I elaborated, "If Lotara or Horizon do not work for you, please let me know what name you would like to use."
Blinking her transparent eyes several times, she looked very surprised by my words. Having never been treated separate from the ship before, it took the Machine Spirit a moment to process what I said. Once she did, Lotara held up two fingers with a gleaming smile confirming she wanted to be called Horizon.
"Very well then, Horizon, prepare to depart immediately. We have an important meeting with Roboute Guilliman in the Agripinaa System to get to.", I commanded, with a smirk, "Time to show those Imperium Idiots the splendor and power of a true Gloriana-Class Battleship!"
Engaging systems around the ship, audible warnings around the ship began to notify the crew of our imminent departure. Feeling the engines come to life at the rear of the ship, the initial hum of the engines sent a shimmer of excitement down my spine. Having the women head off to our private quarters to prepare for the meeting, I turned to Commander Bannister and gave her a pleased nod of approval.
"Commander Bannister, I am very pleased with everything you have done to the Endless Horizons. As a reward for hard work, everyone who worked on this ship will receive a hefty bonus and a week's paid vacation to a resort world of your collective choosing.", I told her, "Please inform your subordinates and schedule the vacation as soon as possible."
"Really?! Thanks Dad!!", Bannister said, giving me a hug before leaving the ship with her crew.
Chuckling at her comment, I waited for the engineers to leave the ship before closing the external doors. Gaining a bit of altitude, we slowly backed out of the bay into the open air. After clearing the shop doors, we hurriedly got into orbit around the planet to ensure we had no air leaks. Once that was done, Horizon plotted our course and engaged the Folding Drive.
---Agripinaa System---
Arriving at our rendezvous point, I was surprised to find that the area was devoid of Guilliman and his forces. Believing that the Primarch was not the sort of man who would schedule a meeting and not show up, I assumed he had left to deal with a threat on a nearby world. Having Horizons scan the system for signs of ships, his flagship and several support vessels were currently engaged in a fight with a fleet of enemy ships.
"This is Victor von Stark, do you read me?", I said, hailing the Macragge's Honour, "Our sensors indicate that you are engaged with several enemy ships. Please advise if you would like assistance."
"This is Lieutenant Maxwell of the Macragge's Honour, we read you loud and clear.", Lieutenant responded, almost immediately, "Primarch Roboute Guilliman sends his sincerest apologies for missing the meeting time. As you have already discovered, Agripinaa is under attack from a small fleet of Chaos Marine ships. If you are able and willing to lend your aid, the Primarch has given his approval to do so."
"Understood, moving in to provide assistance now.", I replied, switching to internal communications, "General Quarters, all hands to your battle stations!"
Activating the alarm as well, I brought all weapon systems online and guided the Endless Horizons toward the fight.