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This is a story exploring the back-story of an old character of mine, the battle sister, Sakari Kala Rossa.
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The valkyrie plummeted through thick grey cloud and for a brief second there was clear daylight, so bright it obscured any view of the ground and then the vehicle was plunging into thick fog.

Sister Sakari peered through the tiny blister in the craft's hull. Absently she thumbed the Aquila that hung about her neck. She did not appreciate the wisdom of Cannoness Rachiel in sending lone warriors to bring the Emperor's Judgement to the heretic but she obeyed.

Above her a light went from green to red, indicating the valkyrie's immenent touch down. In the moments she had left she went over wargear one more time and preyed to the machine-spirits and to the Emperor both. She kissed her Aquila and then the valkyrie was down.

++Emperor go with you Sister!++

++The Emperor Protects++

She just about saw the face of the pilot craning around the cockpit bulkhead, his lower face hidden behind a re-breather and vox-mic. He gave her a thumbs up and the ramp lowered. She didn't wait for the ramp to hit the ground and jumped clear, her sabbat helm preysight scanning for targets through the swirl of fog that swept around her. With a whine of turbos the valkyrie hauled itself into the turbulent sky and screamed away. Ignoring the potential of enemy threats Sakari watched it go. She didn't watch for long, the craft lost almost instantly. For long moments she could here it moving further away and then abrubtly the engine noise died. Something about the way it cut off made her start and she stepped toward the direction the valkyrie had gone, concerned on a primal level. She cursed herself for her foolishness and turned back. Silence reigned. The fog settled into a slow roiling drift and aside from gritty ashpalt she could see nothing beyone two metres, even her preysight was useless. With a spoken command she cancelled the autosense and began to walk forward.

Within a few steps she came to a cracked pavement and realised the valkyrie had left her in the centre of a crossroads. A rotten tooth of metal pole angled away from the road, the remains of a traffic light. Faded tape was peeling away from the end, holy machine symbols appeasing the spirit of the wounded device until it could be repaired. Obviously that had never happened. The pavement followed a row of buildings which were utterly smashed. What little was left was pulverised rubble. Las burns and bullet pocks could be seen on the jags of wall but it all looked old.

In orbit the impression had been given by fleet commander Ordion of intense ground fighting. Twenty-three regiments of the Imperial Guard were in conflict with recidivist forces. The Governor had been taken to task by the Arbites for irregular tithe shipments, largely food stuffs as well as other mundane machineries built under license from the Mechanicus. Apprently the situation had been stabilised but for some reason the Planetary Defence Force had attacked the Arbites Precinct House which had transmitted a call for aide. Arbites fleet resources had responded but were unable to cope with what, by the time they arrived, was total anarchy.

Billions of Imperial citizens, both loyal and rebel fought across this world. Even the Emperor's Angels, the Astartes, were supposed to be fighting here, representatives of several Chapters although Sakari and her order had had no contact from their commanders before they commenced their own operation. The Sisters of the Conflagrant Heart had come to this world, Annit IX, at the behest of the Grand Deacon Formo to secure the sacred Wrap of Saint Meegus. Being a minor order of less than fifty Sororitas, the Conflagrant Heart had spared what forces it could, eight Sisters in all. The Wrap should still be locked in stasis within the Church of Saint Meegus but with the constant weather interference and enemy action it was supposedly impossible to land directly at the site.

So it was that Sakari found herself alone in this blasted city but where was everyone? She placed one hand on a jut of wall, fearing that should she turn around without anchoring herself so she might well get swallowed up in the fog. She looked back along the pavement but could not see to the cross junction. Some irrational voice in the back of her mind told her that, if she were to walk back, the junction would no longer be there. With a grimace she carried on her way, reciting the third psalm of certitude.

I got a paragraph in before I wrote this, please do read through and check one or two spelling mistakes. Emperor knows I can't spell for gak, but at least try so the trolls on here can't post their sarky comments at your exspense.

 Themanwiththeplan wrote:
I got a paragraph in before I wrote this, please do read through and check one or two spelling mistakes. Emperor knows I can't spell for gak, but at least try so the trolls on here can't post their sarky comments at your exspense.

This sums up my feelings regarding your work, do take the effort of prrofreading before posting. No one expects a flwless piece of text but a minimum of effort is expected

Do guardsmen give thumbs ups?

The spelling was quite atrocious wasn't it, I hadn't proof read and it showed.
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"Wait!"

Sakari ran after the squad of Guardsmen as they charged their unseen enemy. The men screamed and fired as they ran, red las-beams flashing into the omnipresent fog. As quick as Sakari ran the Guardsmen seemed to always be one step ahead, swallowed up in the fog before coming into view once more where a trooper had stopped to brace his weapon.

The return fire was ferocious, the chatter and boom of hard round weapons deafening in the fog. Miraculously none of the Guardsmen had fallen. Sakari heard the sergeant bellow an order and the unmistakable sound of a revving chain weapon reached her ears.

She could see about six Guardsmen although she was aware of more. Each one had their backs to her and as the sergeant made his charge they roared a warcry and each man vanished into the swirling fog as one. Sakari dared not fire her own blessed bolter in case she hit one of the guardsmen by mistake but she did not slow her run, trusting in her armour and the Emperor to protect her.

There were screams and shouts, wet ripping sounds as the chain-blade bit into flesh and terrible squeals of pain. The clash of blades and bayonets replaced the weapons fire and Sakari had no idea how the fight went. She could tell from the noise that she was only a few metres from them now. Even as she prepared to wade into the melee the fog suddenly lifted.

She went wide eyed and came to a halt, dumbstruck. She was an intersection which was blocked in front of her by a wall of rubble; old furniture and derelict vehicles, all hastily pushed into a mound to create a barricade. Off to the far left sandbags and boards made for a gun nest.

There were no soldiers though.

Sakari shook her head and forced herself to walk forwards. The sandbags of the gun nest were split and heavy with damp, ragged little weeds grew out of them at odd angles, little yellow flowers perversely cheery. The boarding was some kind of fibreboard, some old desk or wardrobe broken up for the panels. The boards had split like puff pastry and drooped over the rubble barricade, clumps of rotten wood spilling down.

There were two vehicles, civilian ground cars both. One was almost crushed flat and was barely visible through the cascades of old building waste that had been heaped up on top of it. The second had a small cab and flatbed and was jammed into the barricade lengthways so the bed could be used as a platform.

There were a few rusty bullet cases scattered around but little to show how many people had fought here. There were dark brown stains across the cobbled street where bodies had bled out and it was evident that at some point they had been dragged away, the blood trails through the rubble dust attested to that. Sakari zoomed in with her helmet's autosenses and could see, on the left hand road of the junction more heavy bloodstains. She surmised the bodies had been piled up there and then put in a truck or wagon before being taken away.

She focused on these details and realised that she was in shock. Her mind was making sense of what was there in order to block out the obvious problem of how she had chased a squad of Guardsmen, living, breathing, fighting men, who had been engaged in a running battle with... with someone, and had then vanished!

The fog descended again coating the area in a fine dew. Sakari climbed up into the bed of the truck and scrabbled up the rubble slope. Fog. There was no view up the road this barricade had defended. Logically it could be said that there must be, or had been, something that way to defend but then logically someone had come here via the left road to clear the bodies away so, by that point, was the barricade even manned? Sakari had become severely sidetracked by chasing the Guardsmen. The war here was not her concern although, even if it had been, there was no-one to fight.

As she turned to go back down the slope she saw some brown material beneath the truck. It was difficult to get to and she had to almost lie on her side in order to reach for it, braced on the truck with one hand and her cheek pressed hard into the rusted, cold metal of the side panel.

Sakari was not physically connected to her armour like an Astartes. She wore a bodyglove woven through were sensors that picked up on ner movements and then fed back to her armour's primitive machine spirit. In that way the armour could tell how she intended to move even bofore her muscles actually responded and so the armour not only powered itself but gave her some extra strength as well. The armour itself also had some sensors buried in the ceramite which provided some meagre feedback. Specifically in her gauntelts so that, unlike with ordinary gloves, she could feel what she touched. In this way she was aware of the rough cloth under her fingers and she knotted it into her hand and tugged. It was cumbersome but she pulled enough of it towards her to angle her face down to see.

Staring up at her was a fleshless human skull, jaw hanging open. It still had hair which was so long and whispy it seemed as if a static current had made it stand on end. She saw in her mind's eye an open-mouthed grin and was almost convinced the skull winked in amusement. She pulled the body out further and draped it over the rubble. Clutched in one brittle hand was a rusted chain-blade. The sergeant then. He must've made it over the truck and then been hit, pulling back the lapel of his great coat Sakari saw a bullet would in his chest. He must've fallen back down the rubble pile and when the rest of his men had been taken, he had been missed. They had been real then...

Sakari searched the body but found no answers. His dog tag was a large disc of pressed card and had become damp then dried and become damp again so many times that it was peeling apart like the fibreboard of the gun nest. Whatever details had been there were now illegible. She kept the tag anyway, tieing its cord around her upper arm. She held the soldier's skeletal hand and closed her eyes and prayed. When she was done she pulled his coat closed and put his arms over his chest. It was no fitting way for a soldier of the Emperor to be left but there was nothing to be done.

When the fog had briefly parted Sakari thought she had seen the distant spire of a church. Sakari looked back as she walked away and could just make out the body on the rubble. Her face twisted with hatred. She did not know what foul sorcery was being done here nor what grand joke was being played but when she found who was responsible for this, all the damned souls of the warp would not hold her back from delivering up the Emperor's Wrath.

Hmm, like what I've read so far and thank you for posting it.

And thank you for reading

I've had this story swirling around in my mind for a while but as usual, just a few images of what to do and not a full fleshed story. I'm not one for planning these thigns, I just let them flow out (from where, who can say) as it entertains me to see just what I come up with as it's always a mystery until I've typed it out.
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From under her bodice, Sakari pulled out a chrono, the little timepiece tucked away carefully in a pocket over her stomach. She flipped the lid open and saw that eight hours had elapsed since she had descended from orbit. For long moments she watched the delicate hand of the chrono tick away the seconds, the movement clearly audible in the unnatural silence. She put the chrono away and forced down a few mouthfulls of rationbar kept in a pouch at her waist. She washed that down with some water from her canteen and then proceded on her way. She should have been at the Church by now or at the least she believed that she would have come into vox-range of her sisters as they converged.

The sudden activation of her helmet mic as these thoughts crossed her mind made her wince. There was a quick squeal followed by a low susurrus of static. For a moment nothing happened but with a click the signal died, or so she at first thought. In her peripheral vision a little, green tell-tale indicated an open vox. She could hear breathing. Sakari waited, holding her breath unconsciously and almost jumped at the sudden loud boom of a bolter shot. It was quickly followed by more and the unmistakable whizz of incoming hard-rounds. There was heavy panting and then the low sound of a hurried prayer. She recognised the voice; it was Sister Mabella.

++Sister, Sister, can you hear me? This is Sakari. Mabella?++

There was no response and the sounds of battle were getting louder, more urgent. Mabella was shouting prayers furiously, combat psalms that envoked the Emperor. Nothing she did could get her through to Mabella and so she spoke the prayers with her Sister as she fought alone. Frustration and anger knotted Sakari's gut. Mabella screamed in pain but was still firing, her voice faltered and she gasped and grunted, still firing, still firing. The transmission cut out.

Sakari could feel the tears at the corner of her eyes but forced herself not to cry, not to give in to selfish emotions that did nothing but waste time. She began to jog, no-longer willing to creep cautiously along these haunted, fog-shrouded streets. Fifty paces ahead a dark shape appeared, a squat silhouette quite unlike anything she had encountered so far. She bristled at having to slow her pace already but forced herself to be sensible, practical, and not let her emotions send her strait into a trap. For all she knew that transmission had been targeted at her for just such a reaction and she refused to allow herself to become reckless.

She still approached the target, bolter raised. As she came closer the shape resolved itself into that of a soldier slumped upon a boulder of rubble. As she came closer still she could see that this was no ordinary Guardsman but a Storm Trooper and furthermore, hung about his neck was an Inquisitorial sigil. She did not lower her weapon and was less then ten paces away before the trooper looked up. Insectile targeters regarded her cooly but the trooper did not move. Slowly, carefully, he raised both hands, palms outward.

"Sister."

The voice crackled with interference but was unmistakably male with a curious lilting accent, with the 'r' in Sister rolled. He gave her a cautious nod of greeting.

"Who are you and what are you doing here?" Sakari demanded, her patience thin. To emphasise the point she lifted the stock of her bolter a fraction, sighting along it more fully.

"My name is Malden Temius Reet Naversen, agent of the Holy Ordo Hereticus and I am here on the Emperor's business." He paused for a moment to let that sink in but continued before Sakari could respond. "And on what business are you here Sister, I was not aware that the Sororitas operated in this theatre. Perhaps you are not quite what you seem, as so little here is?" There was a hint of menace in his tone and despite the bolter aimed at his head Sakari believed he would proove a fearsome adversary. She was not ready to simply take his word though.

"I am similarly vexed as to your presence here. You have touched upon something though trooper Naversen which puzzles me much more; what is going on here?"

"May I stand sister?" She indicated for him to do so and the Storm Trooper stood up. He was not a tall man but he had a presence. He wore armoured boots with puttees up to the knee and his carapace armour was heavily battle worn. His fatigues were a mottled dark brown as was his armour and in the fog he was perfectly camouflaged. His hellgun hung at an oblique angle across his chest but he kep his hand away from the grip "There are a great many mysteries playing out in this war, that is why I am here. My master has taken a personal interest in uncovering the truth of this world." The trooper gave her a sidelong glance before giving a little nod, perhaps confirming something to himself. "May I ask your name Sister?"

"I am Sister Sakari, of the Order of the Conflagrant Heart. My mission is to preserve a relic located at the Church of Saint Meegus." Sakari was not truly certain about what the trooper, or the Inquisition for that matter, were doing here but she saw no purpose in hiding the reason for her presence or her objective. Too much otherworldliness had taken place so far for her to become consumed with paranoia over the first real human being she had encountered. She put up her bolter and the trooper gave another small nod in acknowledgement.

"Then I would suggest we join forces Sister Sakari. I know the location of Saint Meegus' although I do not hold out much hope of any relics being there."

Sakari was not surprised to hear him say that although she was disheartened. "Time is of the essence trooper Naversen, if you can help me get there quickly so much the better. I have had uncertain communication with one of my fellow Sisters and she was in dire trouble and I have heard nothing at all from the others."

"Come then, let us conclude your business at the Church swiftly and then we can locate them. If I can get word to my master then I am sure he will wish to speak with you and enlist your services."

"Beloved Emperor..."

Sakari stared open-mouthed at the church. It was situated within a residential zone of the city, or what had been a residential zone, between the arms of a 'V' shaped street junction. At the open end of the 'V' the Church had a courtyard seperating it from a seminary and stone cottages for the priest and verger. Along the eastern side of the church and moving around to its north face, heading into the point of the 'V', was a cemetery. Every grave had been desecrated, bodies dis-interred and human remains scattered everywhere. Grave markers had been utterly crushed and the church was half collapsed as the result of a terrible blaze. The smell of burnt wood was still heavy in the air. The seminary was similar and the cottages had been ransacked, doors and windows smashed in, contents dragged out and left to rot. Sixty paces from Sakari the furthest window of the end cottage had a naked body hanging from it. It was draped front forward over the window sill, horribly stretched from where the body had slowly decayed undisturbed for so long.

Trooper Naversen approached Sakari and removed his helmet, carefully disconnecting it from the armoured hood that came up half way over his head. He was older than Sakari by many years and she judged him to be in his early fifties. His skin was dark and swarthy but his eyes were a pale blue. He had an elaborate oiled mustache and his hair was hidden beneath a turban. He had a solemn expression and gave Sakari a sad frown before turning to look at the church.

"I am sorry Sister."

"Sorry? For what?" Sakari felt that Naversen had some genuine sympathy for how the sight of St Meegus' had affected her but that it was old news to him and that coming here was pointless. It was if he had had some other reason for accompanying her here without first describing the extent of the destruction.

He turned back to her and made as if to speak but paused, gathered himself very quickly and then continued. "Why, it is very sad is it not? It grieves me deeply to know such sacrilege has occured here. Emperor willing we will bring His Wrath to all such despoilers."

"This is a vile and terrible thing Trooper Naversen, the very thought that anyone would dare commit such desecration quickens my blood and you say 'it is very sad'? This is monstrous!" Sakari snarled between clenched teeth. "You, Trooper Naversen, you knew what had happened here but you said nothing and your attitude now is one of, of boredom! How dare you mock me like this. What are you doing here, what is the Inquisition doing here?" There was a flicker in Naversen's eyes, something almost like hatred but gone so quickly it was difficult to say for sure and his mouth almost curled with a smile. He held himself quite composed but in that instant something almost forced itself out of him.

"You said you were here to retrieve a relic Sister? Perhaps it has survived in some deep vault. Should we not look?"

Sakari's eyes twitched in a reflex blink, she could almost not see for rage, induced by this man. She was aware of taking a breath through her mouth and felt herself coiling like a serpent ready to strike when her comm-bead squawked in her ear.

++-ome in. I repeat, if anyone can hear me come in. Respond. This is Sister Nardya, come in++

++Nardya? This is Sakari, do you read me?++

++Beneficent Emperor! Sakari where are you, have you had contact from the others?++

++No Sister. I recieved some kind of transmission from Mabella but if she could hear me she never answered. It sounded like she was in a firefight but the signal cut out. I have heard nothing from the others at all++

Sakari could hear Nardya breathing for a moment and then she took a deep breath through her nose. ++The Emperor will guide them++ She said firmly. ++Have you located St Meegus' yet?++

++Yes. It is destroyed. I have made contact with an Inquisitorial Storm Trooper but he is hiding something and I have seen... things, as well Sister++

++Hm, yes, I think I know of what you speak. This Trooper, he is with you, nearby?++

++He is++

++One found me also++

Sakari watched Naversen from behind her helmet lenses. He was watching her calmy with his hands clasped loosely over his belt.

++ I have no auspex Nardya, no way to find you or transmit my location and in this fog I have little sense of where I am. I am at the church now but as soon as head away I will be lost again. The Trooper with me brought me here; the one with you, can they do the same?++

++I fear not Sister. This one claims to be lost, cut off from his squad during a gun battle++

++I would prefer to keep this knowledge to ourselves for now but if our communications have been compromised, they will know everything++

++I will try to reach you Sakari. Wait at the church and I will stay in vox-contact for as long as I ca-++

Sakari snapped her attention back to Naversen, her gaze had wavered for only a moment but she was certain he had had his head cocked to one side as if listening. Listening to a vox perhaps? Listening to his 'master' laugh as he broke Nardya's signal?

"We will search the ruins then Naversen. Why don't you go first."

Sakari's boot crunched down onto grit. The tiled floor of the church was thick with soot and ash and crumbled stone, tumbled pillars were white from the heat of the flames. She held her bolter level at waist height and carefully scanned the ruins. Ten paces ahead, Naversen was picking his way through the debris. He stopped, toed something over with his boot, and then moved on. He too was scanning the church but his weapon was slack in his hands and he looked more like he was ambling along rather than looking for potential threats. Sakari's nose twitched in irritation; he still looked bored. Naversen stopped walking and lent back against the charred rood screen and slipped his hand around his neck and made it crack. He stretched his head side-to-side and cracked his neck some more and gave a sniff, idly looking around at the walls, hands resting over his hellgun that was now hanging by its strap. He looked at Sakari as if to say, 'well, get on with it then'.

Sakari moved further into the church, walking past the storm trooper who swivelled his head to watch her every step. She could see him roll his jaw as she past and he made that crack too; what an irritating habit. To her left a wrought iron gate hung from one hinge. It had once blocked access to the church's crypt and Sakari felt that was the likely resting place of any relics; if the Wrap of Saint Meegus had been kept where the faithful could view it then it was assuredly destroyed. Sakari had to pull the gate upwards it was so badly warped from the heat and she moved down into the crypt. Her preysight allowed her to see easily in the darkness but there was very little to see. There were two bodies down here, both little more than charred skeletons and it was impossible to tell who or what they had been. They were both face down and seemed to have been heading further into the crypt space. Past the bodies there were several niches but each was empty. She looked very carefully, allowing herself to think there could be some kind of concealed doorway but it was obvious there was nothing here, if there had been it was gone now. It was at she was leaving she noticed the body that was furthest into the crypt had both arms tucked beneath it. She knelt beside the corpse and lifted it gently, wary of a trap. The body was fused into one mass and it crackled moistly as she turned it over. Clutched in bony fingers was the remnants of a slim wooden case. It was charred black and as she peeled it from the death grip of the corpse, finger shaped ridges of burnt fat remained.

The case's wooden lid split away from a metal interior. The metal was grey and flakey from heat damage but looked otherwise intact. Sakari did not reckon on whatever lay within having survived however; even if it had not directly been burnt it must have surely baked to a crisp. She ran an armoured finger along the join but could see no locking mechanism. Applying some pressure the lid came open with a jerk. Inside were the remains a rough cloth. As she had suspected it was badly damaged and even as she lifted it clear of the case it disintegrated. With a sigh she pulled loose a leather pouch from her belt and carefully tipped the fragments into it. Surely this must have been the Wrap of Saint Meegus and whilst she did not reckon the scraps of cloth were of any worth now perhaps they might still hold some measure of the Saint's power. She was a Battle Sister not an antiquarian, she had been charged with recovering the relic and that is what she intended to do. Whatever its condition, it was not her place to question its worth.

"Found what you were looking for Sister?" There was a hint of a smile in Naversen's voice and he held his head tilted to one side as he watched her trudge back up the steps from the crypt.

"Yes trooper Naversen. I have secured the relic and now we may leave." She did not wait for him to reply and turned on her heel and made her way out of the ruins.

When Sakari left the church the fog layer had lifted slightly. She could see several hundred paces now, not far, but far further than she had been able to in all the time she had been on the planet. The shadowy facades of buildings partially hidden within the fog looked like skulls, mournful and despairing. As she watched, a figure emerged around the corner of the street. It was hunched forward, one handing gripping its stomach, the other trailing along the wall for support. Even at this distance it was quite obviously a Battle Sister.

Sakari did not hesitate or waste time calling out, she simply ran forwards. As she approached, her thudding footfalls allerted the Sister to her presence and she stopped and looked up wearily. It was Sister Tamiyn. Her heart shaped face showed absolute exhaustion. As she focussed onto Sakari and realised who it was she collapsed onto her knees. Sakari almost dived to catch her and held Tamiyn in both hands.

"Sister... what has happened?"

Tamiyn was an intense and focussed warrior. Her faith and determination were limitless. Her smooth, tanned face was inherited from an Atillan father, an honourable servant of the Emperor who had died in combat. These features on Tamiyn were often so devoid of emotion or movement they could have been carved from stone and her icy stare had stopped more than one heretic in their tracks. Right now her face was filled with pain and her left eye was a livid purple. Evidently she had lost her own helm for it was nowhere about her person although much of her armour was damaged and battle worn. She looked into Sakari's eyes with her one, the other swollen shut, and then down at her stomach where her hand was still clamped tight. Sakari moved one arm to hold Tamiyn about the waist and gripped her wrist tightly with the other. As she pryed her hand away Tamiyn collapsed into Sakari's arms. There was a wound in her belly that was saturated with blood, but the vital fluid was black like oil.

Very carefully Sakari lowered Tamiyn to the ground and leant her up against the wall so she could get both hands free. Tamiyn's heavy flak bodice was press studded down one side and these Sakari snapped apart and carefully peeled the armour away. Beneath, Tamiyn was clothed in tight bandages meticulously hooked throught with hundreds of tiny barbs that scourged her flesh. There was nothing for it but to rip the bindings away and as Sakari pulled apart the bandages over Tamiyn's chest and stomach she grunted and mewled in pain. As Sakari worked her way down she gasped out loud and her head lolled back on her neck, her good eye rolling as she tried to blot out the agony.

As the bare flesh of Tamiyn's stomach was revelead, Sakari could see that thick, black tendrils extended out from her wound and even as she watched they grew longer. The wound itself was so matted with shredded flesh and flak fibres Sakari did not even know where to start with cleansing it. Even so she tried and used all of her water to sluice the wound. She used clean dressings and wound them tight around Tamiyn's waist but, before she tied them off, she took the fragments of the Wrap from her pouch. It was an instinct so clear and powerful she had crushed the Wrap into dust in her hand before she could even think what she was doing. She made a poultice of it and then finished tieing off the dressings before giving Tamiyn a shot of pain killers and anti-biotics. She used Tamiyn's canteed to gently bath the seat from her face and then held it to her lips so that she could sip the water.

"What... what was that... you put on the wound?" Tamiyn's voice was weak and her breathign was laboured.

"It was the last fragments of the Wrap of Saint Meegus. The relic was virtually destroyed by fire and those were all that were left of it. I had a powerful instinct to bind your wound with it and since that wound was taken trying to recover the relic it seems only right to use it to help you. It is just as well to use it for treating you as to return it to the Grand Deacon, i do not think he would have cared much for it in its current condition."

"That... sounds... almost blasphemous Sister. I will expect... some pennance... from you for that." Tamiyn smiled faintly and it was very unlike her to do so. To be scolded by Tamiyn normally would be a fearsome thing and so to see her make light of it in this way only showed how great her pain must surely be.

Sakari took both of Tamiyn's hands in her own and began to pray, beseeching the God-Emperor and Saint Meegus to give Tamiyn strength and to return the other Battle Sisters from wherever they had been lost in this abysmal place.

"Sister Sakari?"

Naversen stood a little way off, wary of the mood Sakari might be in now that one of her Sister's had been found and wounded badly at that.

"Trooper Naversen?" Her voice was cold and she stared at the Inquisitorial agent from behind her helm lenses.

"I have had word from my master and he has given me co-ordinates. We must move."

"No. My Sister is not ready to move yet and Nardya is on her way here. I will wait for her before I go anywhere."

At this pronouncement, Naversen's face darkened but he said nothing.

"I will take up a patrol then." His eyes flashed as he turned away but Sakari did not care and began to pray again, willing her Sisters to reach her swiftly.

Nice details of the wreckage and grimdark
In my mind I also see (probably completely off but...) that the Trooper wasn't slacking off but just wasn't as 'disciplined' in the eyes of the Sister. Yup, that's a paddlin'.

Well I see these scenes in my mind and they are kinda detailed but I often don't know if I've gone overboard with them when actually typing them out so if they did add to the story then I'm glad about that.

I agree about Sakari's perceptions of the Storm Trooper too; he knows more than she does about what is going on so can relax or at least appear to be so. I don't expect a Sister would ever share such a mentality but we'll get to that in time...

It was one hour before Sister Nardya reached the ruins of the Church with her Storm Trooper escort in tow, hanging back like a naughty progena on his way to the Drill Abbot's office; perhaps once this would even have been true. In that time, Sister Murza had also made it to the Church; she approached with her bolter in slack hands and her eyes were far away. For a long time she did not speak but eventually asked her Sisters to join her in prayer and this invigorated her.

Malden Naversen was impatient and it was obvious that he was greatly displeased with the other trooper. They did not exchange words and that only served to compound their complicity in whatever scheme was afoot. With three of her Sisters behind her, bolters at the ready, Sakari decided to tackle Naversen head on. If she did not get answers or if those answers seemed insufficient she had made up her mind to execute the trooper and would then put his compatriot to the question instead. One of her Sister's was badly wounded, the other greatly disturbed by some horror she had witnessed and half of them had not turned up at all. She would not be denied.

As she approached Naversen, the tension palpable, an unearthly screech echoed through the fog. It quavered and warbled on the air, coming from all sides and as if from a great distance. In her bones Sakari felt that was far from the truth and bones never lie. Whatever was coming upon them, it was close.

Nardya and Sakari took up kneeling positions either side of the street, the Storm Trooper's expertly moving to cover the opposite direction. Sister Tamiyn was unsteady on her feet and took up a position behind a tipped over steel bin, using its bulk to rest her bolter on with Murza standing guard over her.

Sakari could see nothing and Nardya indicated as much. Trusting to the Emperor to watch over her she moved forward, a hand signal directing Nardya to do the same. Thirty paces along the street, the facade of a building had fallen into the road and Nardya instructed Sakari to hold position and cover her while she moved past this obstacle. There was no rancour between the Sisters over who gave the orders, they worked as a unit and gave direction as needed and heeded each other immediately and without question, their trust in each other was absolute. The Sororitas dispensed with ego and self-regard and whilst no Sister would seek to command a superior, amongst their own ranks their sense of duty overrode any sense of entitlement or hubris.

Sakari kept Nardya in her peripheral vision but kept her bolter sited into the centre of the street and that was where her focus lay. As Nardya moved further ahead and began to take up a position to cover Sakari's own advance she held up a fist. Bolter up she scanned the fog intently and was in the process of indicating for Sakari to move up when a shape flew from the fog. The thing hadn't literally flown but had leapt with such inhuman strength as to seem that way. It was humanoid and approximately ten feet high. Each limb terminated in mechanical blades and the blades on its legs began just below the knee and gave the thing an avian back-jointed appearance. The head was mutiliated beyond any recognisable features. If Sakari was pressed she would have said it looked like a man might look if he had had a metal basket placed around his head as a child and into and through which his head had grown with the mandible and lower face replaced with an almost scissor like contraption.

This thing, this abomination, had pounced, bladed legs first, on Nardya and even with all her armoured bulk she had been thrown back onto the rubble pile she had just crossed, like a ragdoll. Her armour had saved her but she was disoriented from the sudden attack and she could only lift her head feebly. Sakari was already firing, bolter rounds punching into the wan flesh of the blade creature. Each bolt detonated in great glumphs of muffled sound that sprayed vile milky fluids and oozing tar black flesh in all directions. Despite its pale skin the thing's innards were dark as pitch and in moments the overpowering stench made Sakari gag even through her helmet.

The thing hooted and screamed and its gangling body moved terrifyingly fast, like a snake on legs. It came at Sakari sideways on, loping across the street like an oversized ballerina en pointe. It thrust its arms out trying to skewer her but Sakari leant into the thudding blow, letting her armour take the brunt of the attack. She felt something crack but refused to take a backward step from such a freakish thing. Over-extended the thing could not stop her coming in under its guard. She jammed her bolter up under its metal jaw and pulled the trigger. Geyser's of rotten blood and meat jetted from the creature's head as the bolt went strait through. The mass reactive detonator had passed through the target too quickly to explode within and detonated above the creature with an ear splitting bang.

The fight was not over and the blades began to hack, saw and stab with wild fury. Sakari used her bolter to shield herself but the blows were too powerful, too many, for her to block them for long. With whip-cracks of displaced air, hellgun beams began to punch into the towering monstrosity. With a childlike cry of pain it began to stagger back, the multitude of wounds finally sapping its strength. Malden and his fellow trooper walked calmly forward, shooting as they did so and were almost toe-to-toe with the beast before it finally collapsed and died, arms folding around its lumpen head protectively. With a skittering gurgle it expired.

Nardya and the other Sisters were moving forwards, bolters up and Malden was turning to check on Sakari when a bolter muzzle jammed hard under his ear.

Sakari leant in and hissed at him; "You will tell me what is going on here right now Trooper Naversen, or by the Emperor, I will kill you where you stand!"