Good evening, elegan/tg/entlemen and ca/tg/irls.
This piece covers how Evangela became a living saint, and was requested by OP. It's also about as canon as my fics get.
Hope you like it.
Evangela dodged the sword that whistled much too close her head, and responded with a thrust from her own blade. Her opponent, her fellow Celestian Hilde, laughed heartily as they traded a flurry of blows. "I'm impressed! The oh-so-perfect Evangela is too good to be fooled by such a maneuver!"
Growling in irritation, Evangela swung a mighty blow at her grinning Sister's head, and abandoned all pretense of defense. Hilde did not seem perturbed by this, and allowed the more wild blows to swing past her, keeping up a taunting tirade in a high falsetto, "Oh revered Celestian, honor me with your knowledge!"
A wild swing towards Hilde's head was the only response, which the mocking woman avoided with ease. Before she could recover, Evangela's was knocked to the ground by a body check, and looked at the blade held to her throat by her suddenly serious opponent. The two stayed as they were for a moment, before Hilde reached down and pulled Evangela to her feet. Hilde tutted as she slung an arm around her defeated foes shoulders, and said with a slight grin, "You get angry to easily, you know? It's easy to irritate you, to let your fury make your blows wild, then step into the gaps you leave in your defense."
Evangela sighed as she walked to the bench where her towel was, and replied as she wiped the sweat from her brow, "I know, I know. You just know how to push my buttons. Reminding me of all those Initiates fawning over me like I was the Emperor Himself," she released a pent breath in an irritated huff, "We call each other Sister's for a reason. I'm not special in any way, and I just want to serve with my friends."
Hilde punched her lightly in the shoulder, and replied, "Yeah, it's irritating, but what did you expect when you joined our ranks? Scrubbing out the toilets with the novices?"
A grin spread reluctantly over Evangela's face, and she couldn't help but chuckle. "Why is it that you are the only one that can make any situation funny?"
A matching grin spread over Hilde's, and she made an exaggerated caricature of praising the Emperor, "It must be a gift from Him on the Throne," she said, the fake reverence practically dripping from her voice.
Evangela burst into laughter at this irreverent display, and dragged her companion towards the weapons rack to drop off their practice blades. "Enough out of you, my favorite heretic, let's get back to the firing range with the others."
Suddenly, both women stumbled as a massive shudder passed through the ship, followed by the screeching of alarms. Without hesitation, both sprinted towards the armory, quickly locking themselves into their suits. The other two women of their squad entered the room shortly after they did, already suited and carrying their storm-bolters. Evangela's mind raced as she went through the rites to awaken her armor. This entire affair had been odd. The Inquisitor Littner, her commander for the time being, had commandeered this ship after his own had been damaged in a surprise attack and a revolt had erupted on a normally calm world. He had to scrape together an invasion force of various Guard regiments, and had launched immediately into the void. Now, when they had just entered the system there was already an attack? Something was wrong. As her suit finally came to life around her, she picked up her storm-bolter and joined her Sisters in selecting grenades and ammunition. "Have either of you heard anything? Any idea of what is going on?" she queried.
Both simply shook their heads, and she growled in irritation. If there was anything she hated more than being 'venerated', it was being left in the dark. Thankfully, the vox built into her suit soon burst into life, "Evangela, are you there?" the familiar voice of Inquisitor Littner barked.
"Yes, Alex, we are all here. What in the name of the Emperor is going on?" she said, using his first name to show her displeasure.
If he noticed her subtle jab, his voice did not show it as he launched into a tirade, "Something just tore out half of the lower decks, and engineering isn't responding. We sent out a couple of runners to see what was up, but they haven't come back. We have no idea what this is, but judging by my raging headache, it's probably Warp related."
Evangela grimaced at the mention of the Warp. No wonder that she felt so apprehensive about all of this. Chaos was behind it. The Inquisitor continued talking, "I've stationed my stormtroopers to guard the bridge, but you have been cut off from the rest of the ship by this...whatever it is. Try to make your way to the bridge, and we'll see what we can do from there."
"Understood, on our way now," Evangela tersely replied, and cut the connection.
She huffed in irritation. That really did not clarify things in the least. She quickly relayed what little information she had to her Sisters, and firmly put her helmet in place. The hull might be breached after all, so it was best to be prepared for vacuum. The others quickly followed her example, and the small group set off at a brisk pace through the abandoned hallways. The women moved quickly, but cautiously, as each corridor now could potentially hold unknown dangers.
They had made good progress, when their voxes suddenly activated again, "Daemons! There are daemons on board!" the Inquisitor's voice shouted.
"Where? What's going on Alex, be more clear!" Evangela replied, her apprehension only growing.
There was a pause, and his voice came over the vox again, this time more under control, "There are what appear to be horrors and daemonettes attacking us. The stormtroopers are holding, but there seems to be an infinite number of them," he paused suddenly, then spoke again with a deliberateness that made the pit in Evangela's stomach only deepen, "I really hate to ask this of you, but you are the closest force that I have to this unknown thing that opened up in the lower decks. Please, I need you to scout this out so we know what we are fighting."
The group paused, and Evangela relayed this information to the women. Hilde shrugged, and simply said, "It kind of sucks that this fell to us, but we don't really have a choice, do we?"
The other two nodded their agreement, and Evangela replied over the vox, "We will do it. Direct us to where we need to be. We are near the armory now."
She heard a relieved sigh from the Inquisitor, and he began to guide them through the twisting corridors of the ship. The Celestians ran into little resistance, as most of the daemons seemed to be making their way to the bridge. Those that didn't were quickly ripped apart by the women's storm-bolters. They had just dispatched a group for the daemons and were picking their way through the messy remains, when they were confronted by a heavy blast door. The other three women of her squad swiftly set up a defensive firing line facing down the hallway that they had just come from. Evangela toggled on her vox and asked, "The way is blocked. Is there a way around?"
After a short delay, the Inquisitor replied, "That's about the edge of where this all started. All the blast doors shut around the area to prevent depressurization, so you are going to have to get through somehow."
"Understood," Evangela said, and detached a krak grenade from her armor.
She gestured for the squad to take cover in a corridor that intersected the hallway leading to the door, and wedged the grenade in the locking mechanism that dominated the center of the massive metal slab. While saying a brief prayer to the machine spirits in the destructive little thing, she pulled the pin and sprinted towards where her Sisters had taken cover. Diving behind the bulkhead just in time, a sharp crack was heard, and a strong vibration rattled the floor.
Evangela was dragged to her feet by Hilde, and the squad cautiously moved around the corner, bolters ready to deal with any threats. A sickly pink light poured through the massive hole that had been blown into the obstacle, and a chittering screech could be heard faintly. Evangela's vox activated again, and Hilde said, "Nice work, Eva, but I don't think you've earned any favors with the cog-boys. I do believe that we've found our problem, though," she paused, and when she next spoke Evangela could hear the grin in her voice, "Really, people shouldn't leave warp portals laying around the place. Always causes a mess."
A series of groans sounded over the vox at Hilde's usual horrible attempt at humor, and the squad clambered through the hole blown into the door. Moving as quietly as possible, the squad made their way through the massive machinery that surrounded them. Evangela looked around her, vaguely recognizing some of the enormous structures. It seems that they had entered the engine room.
They drew as close to the pulsing tear in reality as caution allowed, and observed quietly. A constant stream of screeching daemonettes and horrors poured from the portal, making their way towards what Evangela supposed was where the bridge was. She clicked on her vox, and said quietly to the Inquisitor, "A warp portal has been opened in the engine rooms. It has torn through several decks, and the daemons you are dealing with are coming out of it."
The reply came quickly, "Is there anything that you can do to stop it? We can't do a thing, we are barely holding back the horde as it is."
Evangela glanced to the rest of her squad, and transmitted, "Any ideas of how to stop this?"
Hilde spoke up, "Well, warp portals have to be supported by something. One this small would definitely need something to anchor it to our dimension. Maybe we could go inside and kill whatever is holding it together?"
The squad stayed silent for a moment. The plan was utterly preposterous. The more that Evangela went over the options in her mind, though, the more sense it made. A portal this small would be hopefully easy to escape from, and their faith in the Emperor should keep them alive long enough to find and destroy whatever powered the tear. It wasn't like they had any better choices, after all.
"Any objections?" she asked the rest of the squad.
The other two shook their heads slowly, obviously not pleased with the idea but seeing no alternatives. "Let your faith preserve you, Sisters," she said, and charged forward towards the portal.
The others quickly followed, and they nearly reached the tear in reality before the daemons began to notice. They were much too late to stop them, though, and any of the beasts that came between the squad and the portal were torn limb from limb by the weight of four storm-bolters. The squad threw themselves into the portal, and reality sickeningly twisted around them. Evangela nearly vomited into her helmet as she hung in a strange area between reality and the pulsing waves of the Warp. She caught a brief glimpse of a group of chanting humans just a short distance away before she was dumped into a hellish landscape.
Quickly jumping to her feet, she came face to face with a gaggle of daemonettes that seemed just as shocked to see her as she was seeing them. Thankfully, she had a ranged weapon. Most of the group disappeared in a haze of blood, a few limbs flipping lazily through the air. Praising the Emperor for the high fire rate of her weapon, and turned to see if her squad had made it through. Thankfully, her small group stood shakily on their feet, sending messages confirming their health through the vox. Nodding Evangela replied, "I am not certain, but I think that I saw a group of heretics chanting in a circle when we came through the portal. It is not much, but it is better than nothing."
Hilde nodded and stepped forward, transmitting, "Sounds good to me. Lead on, Eva."
The squad arranged themselves into a wedge, and began to stride out of the depression in the land that they had been deposited in. A few more packs of daemons appeared on the lip of the shallow valley, and met a similar fate to the first group. When they finally reached the top, though, they were met with a horrifying sight. An undulating horde of the beasts was below them, while an enormous Chaos Marine sorcerer stood on a low rise, shouting commands to the mass of pink flesh and gesturing in the direction of the tear.
Her eyes widened in complete shock, and she nearly locked up, when Hilde thrust her arm out and pointed to a pocket of calm in the horde. "There, a summoning ring! We kill them, and this is all over!"
The small squad immediately darted forward, holding fire to keep the element of surprise for as possible. Evangela was surprised at how far they got before the chittering horde reacted to their presence. Screeching, daemonettes at the edge of the group launched themselves at her squad. They were cut down without mercy, their bodies pulped by the staggering rate of fire from the storm-bolters. Massive gaps were torn into the horde from where rounds went astray, and the sorcerer soon took notice of the intruders. Screeching in fury, he directed the mass of flesh at them, and only the near-constant wall of bolts the Sisters put out kept them from being overwhelmed.
The Celestians pushed forward, but their momentum quickly slowed as they had to reload while keeping the horde at a distance. "Fuck!," Hilde yelled over the vox, "We'll never reach those damn cultists at this rate."
Evangela saw her point. Their ammo was quickly running low, the storm-bolters eating magazines at a terrifying rate, and she was already loading her second to last clip. Hilde spoke again over the vox, her voice sounding oddly calm and level headed for the normally jocular Sister, "Girls, give me all of your grenades."
Staring confusedly, Evangela handed the two frag grenades that she had left to Hilde, and clicked on her vox, "You have a plan?"
Hilde replied in her normal joking tone as she threaded a strip of cloth that she had torn from her robes through the pins of the small cluster of grenades, "Since I was the idiot who thought up this plan, I'm going to be the one who sees it through to the end."
She gently brought the clinking cluster of grenades to her chest, being careful to not jerk the strip of fabric and pull the pins. "I need y'all to clear a path for me. I'm going to drop this little beauty right in that circle."
Staring in horror, Evangela realized what she was really saying. There was no way that she would be able to escape the horde after tossing the bundle of grenades, and might in fact be planning to carry them all the way into the center to ensure the success of the mission. Feeling a few tears slip down her face, she nodded, not trusting her voice to convey her acceptance.
Giving a thumbs up that was both endearing and heartbreaking, Hilde pulled one of the grenades from the strip of cloth, and tossed it into the horde that was barely being held back. The sphere smashed into the face of one of the daemonettes, arced over the group, and exploded in midair. The concussive force smashed a bloody cirlce out of the wall of flesh, and the shrapnel carved an even larger arc further in. Before the shocked daemonettes could recover, the group sprinted forward as one, their bolters smashing through the packed bodies.
Out of the corner of her eye, she saw one her squad mates get struck by warp lightning thrown by the sorcerer. Desperately, she emptied her magazine into the crowd before her, trying to clear a path for Hilde, who had charged forward. The woman smashed into the wall of flesh, her heavily armored frame tearing its way through with relative ease. Evangela could only look on powerlessly as the horde closed around her Sister. A few breathless moments later, she heard a muffled whump, followed by a harsh snap, and the structure of the world around them seemed to jerk suddenly. A wailing screech raised from the horde, and they threw themselves upon Evangela and her remaining Sister. Both turned to make for the gate, but her remaining squad mate was swiftly dragged under a pile of the warp-spawn. Evangela sprayed the cluster, hopefully ending her Sister's life quickly, and made for the valley that they had come from.
As she reached the lip of the depression, her already battered spirits plummeted. The gate had closed. Of course. Hilde had killed the group, and their death had closed the portal. That must have been the snap that she had heard. She looked calmly at the gibbering wall of flesh that was storming towards her, and loaded her last magazine into place. The only thing to do now was sell her life dearly, it seemed. She seated her weapon firmly into her shoulder, and was about to unleash the fury of the Emperor on the scum, when chains erupted from the blasted soil and pinned her limbs to her body.
Her eyes widening in horror, she struggled to break free, but the things held firmly. She snapped her head up, and watched as the mass of daemonettes came to a halt, and opened a path through their ranks. Understanding broke over her as she saw the sorcerer slowly stride forward, mockingly clapping at her. His powers held her in place!
She tried desperately to free herself, but almost of her own will stopped when his sliding, insidious voice reached her ears. "My my my, what a brave one you are. Entering a warp portal of your own will, fighting through a horde of daemons, and killing the cultists keeping the portal open. Truly you are one of the Emperor's finest, sacrificing so much to keep your ship and Inquisitor safe."
Her struggles slowed as he drew closer, his voice suddenly filled with a dark humor, "It's a shame that that was exactly what I wanted of you. Oh, don't look so surprised. Surely even you noticed how perfectly the events leading up to this fell together."
He tutted, counting a list off of his fingers "The empty corridors you charged through, the exact location that you were, how close you were to the portal. The very ship your inquisitor claimed to rush to the system, the cult that I had carefully secreted aboard the crew. The rebellion that you came to crush. Just. As. Planned."
The massive figure drew suddenly close, and he said in an almost sensuous purr, "All designed just to get you."
Evangela screeched, and struggled desperately against her bonds, the true implication of his words striking home.
The chains suddenly tightened around her, some of the plates in her armor cracking under the pressure. She could almost hear the sneer in his voice as he spoke, "Ah ah ah, no escaping. I mean, I've had to go through so much just to meet you."
He leaned in, his massive horned helmet completely dominating Evangela's view, and he sibilantly whispered, "Come, let's get to know each other better"
Evangela could only scream as her mind was ripped apart.
Alexander stood in the bridge of his ship, utterly shocked at what had befallen in such a short time. Half of his stormtroopers lay dead in front of him, half the remaining force was badly wounded, and the last portion was completely shell-shocked. The ship was barely holding together, and would not be able to bring him the relatively short distance to the planet that he was to bring back into the Emperor's light. The portal had been closed, a few brave scouts had told him, but there was worse news. He had no idea what had happened to the squad of Celestians that served under him. He began to pace frantically back and forth over the deck. He was already on fairly terse terms with the Sisterhood, losing a squad of their most holy members and greatest heroes was certainly not going to help. He cringed at the thought of what would happen if he tried to come back to Ophelia VII.
He looked over the bridge of the ship, and sighed internally. It had taken hours to repair enough damage to get the ship's major functions back online, and the invasion fleet had stalled, waiting for command from the flagship. Which, he grimaced, was quite broken. The fleet was delayed, half his retinue dead, and...
He had nearly driven himself to a heart attack when one of the few remaining tech-priests shuffled over to him, clutching a data-slate to its chest. "Esteemed Lord," it droned, "A distress beacon coded to your private frequency has been detected in one of the system's planets. It bears the mark of Evangela."
Alex's legs nearly gave out from underneath him. Thank the Emperor! The squad must have been dragged into the portal while they investigated and flung there! Stranger things had happened in relation to the warp, after all. There was no time to waste. He had to rescue her soon. If anybody heard of this, and the news reached Ophelia VII...
He shuddered, and pushed the disturbing though from his head. This situation could still be salvaged. He sent a brief message for one of the escort ships that escorted the grand cruiser that now floated dead in space to come and pick him up. The rest of the invasion fleet could go towards the planet, and he could go and rescue Evangela (And hopefully the other Celestians), and he should be back before anyone heard about it! He snapped out orders to the remaining stormtroopers, and made his way to the shuttle bay. He almost grinned at their small number. It was better that there were so few of them, the less that heard about this fiasco the better.
He stepped quickly out of the landing craft, his stormtroopers spreading out to secure the landing zone. If the tech-priest was right, the beacon was transmitting from within the ruins that they had just landed at the edge of. He glanced at the auspex he held in his hand, and swiftly set off. He couldn't afford to waste time, and the invasion was just hours away. The sooner he got back, the better.
He passed through the crumbling architecture that was being quickly reclaimed by the local fauna. The empty windows seemed to be staring at him condemningly, appearing almost like the empty sockets of skulls. He shuddered at this ominous sign, and ordered his men to move quicker. Everything about this operation had gone horribly wrong, and he prayed to the Emperor that he could at least find the Celestians alive.
They drew closer to the center of the abandoned town, and he glanced once more at the auspex. The distress signal showed clearly on the screen, and seemed to lead to the smashed structure that dominated the town square. He stood impatiently outside of the ruined building as his men swept through the rubble looking for any ambushes. A sudden cry went up, and one of the stormtroopers rushed to him. "We've found her, sir! Evangela!"
He felt a pent up breath woosh out of his lungs, and he snapped, "Lead me to her, now!" before he crumpled to the ground in sheer relief.
The trooper lead him through a few crumbling passageways before they entered what must have at some distance time in the past been a meeting hall. He caught sight of a flash of gold surrounded by the black armor of his men, and dashed forward.
He pushed his way into the center of the defensive ring, and felt all hope leave him at the sight that greeted him. Evangela lay curled into a fetal ball, her armor cracked and disfigured with Chaotic runes, blood running from her eyes, nose, and ears. She was rapidly speaking dark verses in the Chaotic tongue that seemed to tear at his very mind. He looked to the men around him. "Is she the only one you found?" he asked, his voice on the verge of cracking.
"Er, yes sir," the trooper who had come to get him said nervously, "But we are still looking! The others may be around here."
Alex pinched the bridge of his nose to stave off the headache that he knew was coming. This day just got worse and worse. He exhaled heavily, then looked to his men. "Spread out and defend this spot. I'm going to reach into her mind to see if she can be saved."
The men swiftly snapped to attention with a chorus of affirmatives, then began to take up defensive posts around him. He looked down sadly at the babbling wreck that the once proud woman had become, and kneeled next to her. He smoothed back the hair from her forehead, then placed his fingers at both of her temples. With a deep breath, he plunged into her mind. What greeted him was horrifying. He felt like he had jumped into a sea of oil, the foul powers of Chaos eagerly gripping at the tendrils of thought that he had sent into her mind. With a shudder of disgust, he withdrew. She was beyond his help. He sighed, and clicked the beacon that would bring the drop ship to them. Maybe her Sisters could cure her. Lesser miracles had happened before, after all. That, and it was better than coming back to Ophelia VII with nothing at all.
He watched as the heavy ship began to draw closer, and sighed. Nothing had gone well today. As if he had jinxed it, the ponderous craft suddenly exploded in a massive fireball. "DAEMONS! Everywhere!" came over the vox, and the air was filled with the continuous cracks of hellgun discharges as his men opened fire.
"What in the name of the Emperor is going on!" he roared, striding to one of the windows.
The sight that greeted him struck him like a physical blow. Warp-portals had opened all around the structure they were in, and a seemingly endless horde of daemonettes and horrors poured from them. His men were pouring fire into the beasts, but it had all the effect of throwing a pebble into the ocean. He shook his head, and stormed to a trooper with the squad's vox set on his back. "Hail the invasion fleet! We need reinforcements NOW," he ordered, the man scrambling to obey him.
He ran to the windows once more, and began to focus his psychic might. Roaring with exertion, he unleashed a massive wave of lightning into the massive horde beneath him. The figures screamed and caught fire as the cooked from the inside out, and his men were able to briefly push back the massive wave of daemons.
All too soon, though, the horde pushed forward once more, swarming the troopers who held in the rubble outside of the compound's walls. Growling in frustration, Alex was about to summon another wave of lightning when Evangela's voice grew into a shriek. He sprinted to her side, and saw the flow of blood pouring from the orifices on her face had increased to a horrifying stream, and her gibbering had increased in pace, the vile words trying to worm into his ears. He stared hopelessly at her. At this rate, the daemons would wash over his paltry forces and capture her. His conscience ripped at him as he realized what he had to do. He could not allow her to be captured and subjected to worse than she had already received. She had already suffered so much.
Loading a round into the chamber of his bolt pistol, he knelt next to her, murmuring soothingly. As he brought the massive pistol to her temple, he gently touched her cheek. "I am so sorry. I've failed completely, but I won't let you suffer any more for my mistakes. Rest now."
He pulled the trigger, and the bolter jumped in his hand. Not feeling strong enough to look at his handiwork, he turned and made for the window once more. These beasts would not find him and his men easy prey.
The next few minutes seemed to stretch forever, a jumbled mess of screamed vox messages, desperate retreats, and constant use of his warp abilities. He was barely able to stand when his men where at last pushed back into the room where Evangela lay in a pool of her blood. Alex glanced desperately at the vox-trooper, who only said, "They are at least an hour away, sir."
Nodding resignedly, Alex joined his men in the firing line facing the doorway. If he was to die on this damned world, it certainly wouldn't be while cowering like a child. He dredged up the last of his powers to launch into the mass of bodies that waited just outside of the crumbling arch, when a silent explosion behind them seemed to stop time. A massive wash of light washed over them, and all turned to face the center of the room.
Where Evangela had lain, a towering column of flame now rose. Though it seemed to burn furiously, it emitted no heat. Alex stared in wonder as a glowing figure stepped from the inferno, her mouth and eyes pouring out golden light. He and his stormtroopers fell to their knees in supplication and wonder as the radiant figure passed, the ground beneath her catching fire. The daemons outside of the arch stared in awestruck rapture as the figure turned towards them, and made a curt gesture. The beasts suddenly erupted into flames and swiftly turned to ash.
The men watched from their position on the floor as she calmly passed through the horde, her presence alone causing all near her to spontaneously ignite. The men rushed to the windows and watched as she continued unerringly, heading directly towards the largest portal that had opened.
A hulking figure strode through the portal, and stormed towards the radiant figure. A furious screech split the air, and the massive Chaos Marine screamed, "NO! My plan was perfect! You arene't supposed to exist!"
He strode lashed out with bolts of Warp lightning, and raised his staff to strike the glowing woman. She calmly walked through the maelstrom that writhed around her, though, and thrust her hand through the sorcerer's chest. Golden light began to spill out of the cracks and seams of the marine's armor, and a wail pierced the air. He suddenly exploded, his armor tearing into the mass of remaining daemons. The radiant woman then turned and made a vague dismissive gesture. The Warp portals snapped shut, and the daemons began to howl in pain, their shapes beginning to waver.
The woman launched herself into the air growing a pair of unspeakably beautiful wings, and hung gracefully for a split second. All eyes turned to the radiant figure, and she plummeted back to the earth. She struck the ground with her fist, and a massive shock wave of golden light and what sounded like choral music washed over the area. Alex was thrown from the window along with the rest of the squad, and slipped into unconsciousness as he slammed into a wall.
Alex woke slowly, his vision blurry. He rolled over, and saw the strange woman sitting on the windowsill that he had been thrown from. She turned as he stirred, and he was shocked to see Evangela's face looking calmly at him. "Hello, Alex," she said, her voice almost musical.
He stared in utter wonder at the glowing figure. "Did I die? Are we at the Emperor's side right now?"
Her only response was a tinkling laugh. "No, my dear, it seems that we have all survived this battle."
His confusion only deepened at this statement. "But I...killed you. I shot you in the head."
She only smiled warmly at his statement, "Oh, thank you for that, by the way. The sorcerer had completely destroyed my mind when he captured me. He used me as bait, he knew that you would rush to rescue me when the beacon activated. His plans for you were horrifying. He wanted to control your mind and use your body as a puppet. The destruction he would have wrought would be without end."
She tilted her head, and said merrily, "It seemed the Emperor had different plans, though. As I died from your gunshot wound, I felt a massive presence wash over me, and lift me up. It pushed my soul back into my body, and directed me to destroy the daemons and prevent the beast's plans from coming to fruition."
She continued to speak, experimentaly flexing her wings as she spoke, "I woke then, and you know the rest. After I released that wave of light, though, I felt the presence leave me. I still have some of the power, though so I suppose that I'm still needed."
Alex scrambled to a kneeling position, the news that she had transmitted shocking him. A living saint! He had just witnessed the birth of a living saint! He knelt before her, his head bowed in reverence. His voice full of awe and wonder, he said, "Oh mighty saint, please, allow me to serve you!"
He waited patiently for her reply, and grew confused as the silence stretched on. Glancing up, he caught a flash of movement as Evangela's foot smashed into his mouth. The blow knocked him on his back, and he cradled his jaw while looking up to the furious woman before him, asking, "Whah wah dat fohr?"
"I'm not the Emperor himself, you twit!" she growled, "Stop worshiping me! Now on your feet, there is no time to waste on pleasantries. We have a planet to save from Chaos."
He stared in wonder at her figure as she walked swiftly from the building towards the landing craft that was making its way to the ground. Things were getting...interesting. He swiftly spit out a tooth that had been loosened, and hurried after the living saint. He paused, and amended his statement. Evangela. He needed to refer to her as Evangela. She was already testy with being revered as a Celestian, and he really didn't want to make her even more angry by outright worshiping her. He really didn't want another kick to the teeth, after all.