Kayvaaured for him to tinue, his expression tehe old man straightened, speaking with careful deliberation. "After the Horus Heresy, His Majesty the Emperor was interred on the Golden Throne. But the Golden Throne isn’t merely a ceremonial seat. It’s an a, are meism directly lio the Astronomi. His Majesty’s essence sustains the Astronomi, guiding the light that ensures safe passage through the and shielding humanity from the horrors of ay the Emperor’s eternal vigince protect us all."Kayvaan's eyes widened. "Are you saying these gaxies are so far away that even the Immaterium doesn’t reach them?"
The old ma his gaze with a faint trace of pity. “It’s plicated, but you say yes. That’s exactly what I’m saying."
The gaxy is now vast beyond prehension, far too enormous for humanity to fully grasp. Take the Milky Way, for insta exists, sprawling and silent, doing nothi humbling in its sheer enormity. Even just the Milky Way alone could bring an empire to its knees, its size overwhelming enough to instill despair in humanity about its own insignifice.
In a city, you measure distances iers as you walk. Traveling by car between cities? You’d use kilometers. But when you start thinking about traveliween stars axies within the Milky Way, you measure in light-years. What’s a light-year? It’s the distance light travels in a straight line over the course of a year. sidering light circle Terra seven and a half times in just one sed, the dista covers in a year is beyond staggering.
The closest gaxy to our sor system is Alpha tauri, a triple-star system. Among its stars, Proxima tauri is only 4.22 light-years away. That means even if we could travel at the speed of light, it would still take over four years to reach it.
Even with light-speed capabilities, traveling through the vastness of the gaxy is a journey of immense proportions. Thankfully, the universe we know isn’t all there is. Our familiar os is but a fragment of a greater existence. Beyond lies an indepe, parallel dimension often referred to as "different space." People call it by many names depending on their culture—"chaos," "another world," "ether," or "Immaterium." Regardless of the term, it’s a realm separate from our reality.
Humanity’s stifideavors have long aimed to explore and exploit these other spaces, and the greatest achievement so far has been the development of interspaavigation. Think of it like the "space jump" teology you’d see in cssic sci-fi novels. Ships ehis other dimension, ride its currents for a while, and then re-emerge, having traveled several light-years in what feels like just a few days.
Interspaavigation revolutionized humanity, propelling it from the age of horse-drawn carts into the realm of starships. Gactic distahat once seemed unfathomable became manageable. Yet, the journey was far from simple. The Immaterium, a realm of chaos and psychiergy, is filled with dangers and mysteries. Navigating through it erilous—until the Astronomi came ience.
The Astronomi, powered by the Emperor’s unmatched psychic might, serves as a lighthouse amidst the uable tides of the Immaterium. Anchored on Terra, its psychic glow pierces the , guiding starships safely through its chaotic currents. But beyond its range, navigation bees treacherous. Without its light, traveling through the Immaterium is akin to stumbling blindfolded across a storm-tossed sea, where every step could lead to disaster.
This limitation defihe reach of the empire. The regions illuminated by The Astromoni are the extent of the Imperial Corps’ effective trol. Anything beyond is wild and untamed. Ie areas utack, the empire might deploy forces—if resources allow. But in regions so distant that even the emperor’s will ot extend, the oute is iable. Those pces are abandoned, left to their fate.
Teically, all ps in the gaxy fall uhe emperor’s domain, but the reality is far from ideal. Even withilow, the empire struggles to maintain order, let alone in worlds outside its light. To the empire’s residents, Kayvaan's newly granted fiefdom was sidered the frontier—wild, unprotected, and isoted.
"Sir, there’s o worry," said an old man, trying to reassure Joe. "Your fiefdom hasn’t seen a rge-scale invasion by alieures in the past housand years. It’s likely to remain peaceful for the housand."
Kayvaan frowned. "Or it could be overrun tomorrow by something emerging from the depths of the universe. And the empire wouldn’t lift a fio save it."
The old man sighed. "I won’t deny it. That’s a possibility."
"I uand," Kayvaan said, staring at the letter of appoi oable, its weight far heavier than the part it was written on.
Three days ter, Kayvaan's fi and surveilnce were lifted. For the first time since his awakening, he stepped outside ahe fresh, free air. Waiting at the monastery’s door was Darius, his ever-cheerful panion. "Wele back to the world!" Darius said with a grin. "Any pns for the near future? Never mind, let’s discuss it in the car."
They climbed into an old bck cssic car, its engine wheezing like an asthmatic elder. It groao life and slowly carried them away from the monastery, leaving behind the st of grass and trees. As they turned a er, Kayvaan found himself in a starkly different world—a sprawling city of t steel structures.
"I'm surprised. Terra is really like this now. The monastery you were in before is one of the few pces left with actual green space. The nd here is so expehat there’s no other choice but to build up or out. And as the Empire gets stroerra’s value keeps climbing. Nobles from across the gaxy need offices in the Imperial capital. Wealthy people from everywhere are desperate to buy property here. That’s why Terra has turned into one massive city.
“I read somewhere that Terra used to have a 'sea.' They said it was like a gigantic bathtub, eo the eye, with salty water. Is that true?"
"Of course it's true. Are you saying there’s no sea left on Terra?"
"Nope. Acc to books, the mountains have been fttened and the seas drained. But I’ve never seen mountains, rivers, or os myself. I’ve lived on Terra my whole life, and all I know is what you see norawliropolis packed with people and buildings. Holy, I’m tired of it. These days, only the wealthiest ill have their private green spaonasteries."
Kayvaan didn’t want to dwell oopic. He wasn’t an enviroalist, and the state of the p wasn’t something he had the energy to care about. Right now, his focus was on more immediate matters. "So, where are we going now?"
"My pce," Darius said, his tone casual. "You stay there for now. The festival just ended, and finding a pce to rent right now isn’t easy. Do you have any pns for the near future?"
