Malachi and Genevieve arrived at the Imperial Guard camp at midnight, and were greeted by Commissar Yarrick. "It's good to see you up and walking Malachi. And you must be Canoness Genevieve." Yarrick stuck out his good hand for a handshake. "It's an honour to meet such a decorated Commissar." Genevieve shook his hand. Commissar Yarrick smiled. "Please, Canoness Superior, simply call me Yarrick. Now, do you wish to start the searching now?" "Not yet, I need to organize my Battle Sisters. The Confessor should be with them." "And I must find my brothers and wargear." Malachi added on. "Very well. Come with me Malachi, your brothers are waiting at my quarters." Malachi waved Genevieve goodbye, and she winked in return.
"So, what is your connection with the Canoness Malachi? Can't be regulated, what with the way she looks at you." Yarrick asked suddenly. Malachi started to stutter, shocked that he asked about her. "Yarrick, I assure you, I-I-I have nothing outside of official Imperial business with her and her convent." "What colour are her eyes?" "Slate grey." "I knew it; you've got something going on with her haven't you?" "What?! How can you tell?" "You told me the colour of her eyes without even having to make a guess. I remember being young, and being able to do the same thing. That was before I joined the Guard of course. The Guard is my life now." Yarrick looked ahead pensively.
"What makes you feel those emotions Malachi? I always thought that Space Marines are the most stoic people in the Imperium, if not the universe." He asked, curious. "There was an imperfection in the batch of geneseed that I and my brothers came from. We weren't expected to live a day or two past the first operations due to the imperfections, but we obviously did. In our training, it became obvious to our superiors that we held a deeper camaraderie than most, and showed emotion that none of our other brothers did. We showed joy, anger, hate, frustration and such. And I, show love and a sense of compassion that only the Salamanders share. We rose through the ranks very quickly, from scouts to typical battle brothers, and finally as Terminators. I was fortunate enough to become a company master. And this is where Genevieve enters the fray." Malachi stopped for a second. Commissar Yarrick turned around to face him. "Go on." His Bale Eye glinted bright red in the moonlight. Malachi continued to walk onwards. "A while after I first became a company master, there was an Ork invasion on Hive World Kado near where my company was stationed – we have since moved to a lovely planet, ironically near the Maelstrom." Yarrick's nostrils flared and his eyes narrowed at the mention of his hated foes known as the Orks; he had a long and painful history with them. "My company was asked to go and deal with it as the Kado PDF couldn't handle the invasion on their own. The Orks however outnumbered us hugely, and in quite a few battles, they won the day. We needed assistance, and the only assistance that was even close to us in the nearby star systems was an Adeptas Sororitas convent of the Order of the Bloody Rose, who were traveling back to their base world after a Crusade near the Eye of Terror. We made contact asking for assistance, and ships had landed on the planet within the hour, full of heavily armed Battle Sisters and Celestian squads. I spoke with the Canoness to organize a battle strategy, and that turned out to be Genevieve.
There was a spark between us, but the flame hadn't been lit yet, if you catch my drift." Yarrick and Malachi reached his quarters, and Yarrick held the door open for Malachi. "Thank you Yarrick. As I was saying, there was a spark, but no fire. That changed in battle. The full Ork Waaagh made its assault, complete with Deff Dreds, Dakkajets and looted tanks raining down fire upon us. My Terminator brothers and I deep struck down near the Kaptain in charge of the Waaagh, Kaptain Krushskull. Pirates, Freebooterz, looking for a world to burn and claim. We saw Genevieve nearby with her Battle Sisters honour guard locked in combat, and I will say this, she is as graceful as a skilled dancer when it comes to battle. She does literally dance around her opponent, carving huge chunks of flesh out with her sword as she performs a rapid spin on her toes. She hacked apart a group of Mega Nobz on her own without a sweat. We assisted her, and performed an assault on the Warboss.
Before we could reach Kaptain Krushskull, she and her honour guard were rushed by Slugga Boyz. Her honour guard were swarmed and killed very quickly; she would have been killed herself had I not intervened. I was taken over by a bloodlust, and tore all of the Slugga Boyz limb from limb in seconds. I saw her injured with a horrible gash on her leg, but she took off onwards towards Kaptain Krushskull, herself in a rage. The Flash Gitz surrounding the Kaptain shot at her with everything they had, but not one bullet hit – not a big surprise – and she took out the Flash Gitz in one fell swoop. Kaptain Krushskull went nearly insane, and tried to rush Genevieve as her back was turned. She sensed him coming, and turned on him, cutting his head from his shoulders with a single swipe. Before Krushskull's head hit the ground, the Orks started to flee. We didn't give them a chance. We burned them. Every single one, to a cinder, so as to stop the fungus spores from infecting the planet. We had exterminated the invasion, and as I went to congratulate Genevieve on winning us the day, she kissed me. Out of the blue, she kissed me in the middle of the battlefield. I wasn't going to argue with that and I kissed her back. Since that day, we've had a tryst that only my company, her convent of Sororitas and now you know about." Malachi let out a deep sigh, glad that the storytelling was over. "She has a very good reason to break protocol then." Yarrick said, leading Malachi further into his quarters. "If you put it like that, then yes. I don't care for protocol though, and for Genevieve it's worth it." Yarrick opened another door for Malachi, and inside were his brothers and the Catachan sergeant he had befriended, along with his squad.
"Malachi, you lucky bastard! You're awake!" Visari ran to him and gave a brotherly embrace, rejoicing in his best friend's wellness. Everyone else cheered, glad to see Malachi was up and well. "Thank you brothers. And Sergeant Lukas, I thought you would be with the Catachan." "Well sir, I thought it best to wait for you here, as you had done right by me and my men. Oh, and its Captain Lukas now. I was promoted after the clearing of the fortress by my hand." "Congratulations. I assume you drank plenty of beer that night." "No sir, stayed sober. Hate alcohol." "Good good. Anyway brothers, we have a duty to perform tonight. Genevieve and some Battle Sisters along with a Confessor have made planetfall to investigate supposed heresy in the Cadian ranks. I volunteered us to help her in her searching of the barracks. Captain Lukas, you and your men may choose to help us, but it is not required." "I am at your service sir, and will help in any way I can." "Excellent. Brothers, bring me my wargear, we must prepare for the search."
