Captain Praetus' teeth clenched in rage as he watched the sporadically flying assault Sergeant jettisoning over the fortress' wall. Sergeant Neemphis has returned alone and gravely wounded, his assault cannon sparking and spewing black smoke from its exhausts as he landed at the gate of the fortress. An unaccounted for Sororitas vehicle had attacked the fortress' landing pads before speeding off into the wastes towards the Hyroxes airfield.
A dozen or so marines surrounded the wounded Sergeant and a couple attempted helped the marine to his feet. Neemphis shook them off with a pained growl and stood up. Flanked by his command squad, Captain Praetus approached the Sergeant with a quick pace, stopping no more than a couple of feet away, the Captain removed his helmet revealing his scarred face, blue eyes and his cropped blonde hair.
"Sergeant Neemphis." His un-altered voice seemed to visibly shock Neemphis causing him to sharply look up at the Captain.
"C-Captain." Neemphis coughed harshly, "That wench, that bitch-"
"Where are they, Neemphis?" Praetus interrupted. He let his hand fall to his side to rest upon his sword's hilt.
"They got away, Lord." Neemphis looked down when he spoke, "Adoine and Vidar are dead."
The Captain strode towards Neemphis, the Sergeant still looking at the ground as he did so. Neemphis looked up at the last moment before the Captain's fist slammed into the front of his helmet. The force of the punch sent the wounded Sergeant toppling over backwards landing with a thump.
The Captain turned back to his command squad's champion.
"Torlief, Eisen on the vox."
"At once, my Lord." The champion nodded.
Neemphis rolled over onto his side and looked up at the Captain through his now disfigured faceplate.
"Get up, Neemphis, so I can-"
"Captain Praetus, we have been engaged!"
The voice that had just screamed across the Captain's personal vox network belonged to the pilot of Chaplain Eisen's Stormraven. Praetus shook with rage.
Bolter fire was rife all around her. The Stormraven which had been in front of her moments before had in its haste climbed clumsily into the air, the thrusters kicking up sand from where it had launched from. Tegren was lying on her back looking up at the sky, she put her right hand up to her left pauldron and felt for a wound. There was none and she felt no blood, only twisted ceramite. She pushed herself up and looked towards where the Stormraven was hovering backwards thirty feet or so in the air. Her sisters were firing indiscriminantly at the aircraft, some of the rounds hitting inside of the open transport area. Before the Superior could issue an order however, two marines came flying out of the front of the Stormraven, this was shortly followed by two loud explosions from inside the craft, sending billowing smoke shooting out after them. The craft shook violently side to side and quickly banked to turn away from the falling marines.
Tegren looked on in wonder as the two marines flailed and fought in air with one another, she saw that one of them was the Chaplain she had fired upon and that the other one was forcing a sword through the Chaplain's chest and up through his arm.
Sister Helga who obviously hadn't noticed the unfolding spectacle before them crouched beside Tegren and offered her a hand.
"Are you alright, Sister superior?" She asked.
Tegren didn't reply and watched the two falling marines land with a blunt sounding thump in the dirt ahead of them. She took Helga's hand and pulled herself up.
"Move up!" She ordered, quickly picking up her pistol from the dirt and drawing her power sword, she ran towards the still marines ahead of her, the sisters around her following suit.
She reached the two marines, the marine on top of the Chaplain had a deathwatch shoulder plate and the marks of a Sergeant, his power sword was still inside the Chaplain but neither moved. Tegren looked up at the Stormraven which still had a thick plume of black smoke leaking from the front of it. The craft turned back to face the sisters below and Tegren immediately opened the vox network.
"Sister Mirianda, take it down!"
"Affirmed, Superior." The Exorcist tank commander replied. A moment later the gracefully crafted organ pipes upon the top of the Exorcist began to spit forth a salvo of missiles, all of which arced up towards the Stormraven and met their mark upon its hull. The aircraft swayed over to the left and began to bank back around. It quickly began to soar away from the Exorcist and began to make a hasty retreat.
Tegren turned her attention away from the retreating aircraft and back down towards the marines before her. All of her squad had their bolters trained down at the marines and still neither stirred.
"They fell from quite a height." Sister Heidi said, "Perhaps the weight of their armour has killed them."
"Helga." Tegren said, "Are they alive?"
Helga stepped forward and retrived an Auspex from her belt, she consulted the device and turned back to her Superior.
"Yes, Superior Tegren. Both are alive, although the Chaplain's pulse is low."
Tegren curled her lip and considered shooting the marine on top in the head, but she needed answers.
"Why has this one attacked his Chaplain?" Sister Yara asked out loud, "His blade is sticking out of the top of the Chaplain's shoulder."
"They jumped out just as an explosion occurred within." Helga replied, "Perhaps this one was attempting to save the Chaplain from whatever caused it and accidentally impaled him."
"No." Tegren interjected, "I saw them fighting in air, this one betrayed his Chaplain."
"Just as the Chaplain betrayed us." Helga faced the marines as she spoke, "So just whose side is this marine on?"
Tegren's eyes widened in sudden realization; she activated her vox link.
"This is Sister Superior Tegren of the order of the Argent Shroud, we are receiving you."
The sisters around her all looked up as she spoke. A tense silence hung in the air, all of them held their breath.
"Thank the Emperor!" A message came back, "This is Sister Superior Zethina, it is good to hear your voice, sister!"
Tegren grinned in relief.
"Sister Zethina, where are you? Why has no one been answering from the fortress?"
"A great betrayal has befallen us, Sister. We are en-route to Hyroxes airfield as we speak and we have wounded." Zethina replied.
"Put out a scan for them!" Tegren ordered Helga before activating the vox again, Helga ran back over to the Immolator, "We are putting out a scan for you now, we have just engaged Roaring lions forces, we have their Chaplain and another marine here with us."
"You have Chaplain Eisen?" Zethina's voice sounded amazed.
"Indeed, Sister." Tegren replied, looking down at the Chaplain, "He fell from the Stormraven with another marine who has impaled him with a power sword.
"We can see you, Sister."
"Sister Superior!" Sister Heidi called out, Tegren saw that she was pointing out into the distance where sure enough there was a silver Immolator racing across the sandy plains toward them.
Tegren deactivated the vox and walked past the two unconscious marines to face the incoming Immolator. She held her arms up and waved them side-to-side.
"Scan complete, Superior." Helga called out from the Immolator, "Incoming friendly vehicle and the Stormraven is headed back towards Armryt."
"Thank you, sister." Tegren watched as the Immolator grew closer and closer, these would be the first Sororita forces outside of Hyroxes she'd have seen in little under a week now. The Immolator pulled up just ahead of their position and Tegren noticed that the vehicle was a command Immolator, Canonness Taula's personal transport. From this distance she also noticed the blood splatters across the top of the hull and on the turret.
The side hatch door of the vehicle opened and Sister Superior Zethina walked slowly out into the open. She carried a bolter in one hand and she turned to face Tegren.
Zethina began to briskly walk towards her and Tegren turned to look at the two marines behind her.
"Well met, Sister." Zethina reached out with her free hand. Tegren returned the action and the two embraced with a handshake.
"Well met, indeed." Tegren replied with a smile.
"Urgh…" The sudden deep groan that emenated from the two marines behind Tegren surprised all of the Sisters present and caused them to all turn towards the noise.
"They're alive?!" Zethina stepped back and raised her bolter.
"Heidi, Mirianda, secure them."
The two sisters nodded and stepped towards the prone marines. Mirianda used her foot to push the marine on top off and caused him to topple onto his back. The marine groaned once again and began to move his head to the side. Heidi placed her right boot on the marine's chest and pointed her bolter at the marine's throat, pushing his head back. Mirianda did the same to the Chaplain.
"Secure." Heidi called out, "This one is awaking, Superior."
Zethina and Tegren quickly moved over next to the awakening marine and aimed their own weapons down at him.
"Can you hear us, Astarte?" Tegren said loudly.
The marine said nothing for a moment but then moved his head to look up at her.
"Yes, Sister."
"You lost the right to call us that, heretic." Zethina said accusingly.
At that moment a Retributor and another battle sister strode over from the Immolator to join the crowd of them.
"Sister Zethina." The Retributor said, "Sister Kaltia's condition is worsening."
"Do you have a Hospitallar, Sister Tegren?" Zethina asked.
"Yes, Helga, assist them." Tegren ordered, not taking her eye off of the marine before her. Helga followed the Retributor back over to the Immolator leaving the rest of them to continue talking to him.
"Jezail, go with them." Zethina ordered, but the other battle sister was still looking down at the marine.
"Sister Zethina." She pointed down at the marine's shoulder, "Look at his pauldron, this is the marine who warned Preacher Kyronev, Superior."
Zethina thought back and remembered the Preacher's description of the loyalist consisting of him having a Deathwatch pauldron and being a Sergeant. She looked over at the Chaplain and saw a power sword impaling him through the chest and up through the shoulder.
"Marine." Zethina's tone was still full of suspicion and contempt, "Did you attack your Chaplain?"
"Yes, Sister." The marine replied, "I threw both he and I from the aircraft after activating krak grenades within it."
"You are the marine who warned our Preacher."
"Yes." The marine's tone seemed to become sad, "I am also the one who put him out of his misery in the courtyard surrounding the barracks when the last Canoness lead her charge."
Zethina lowered her weapon.
"Sister?" Tegren said, "Who is this, marine?"
"He saved a great deal of our sisters from the initial betrayal." Zethina said softly.
"What do you mean initial betrayal, what happened at Armryt?" Tegren asked.
"We were slaughtered, Sister." Zethina lowered her head, "The Captain and the Chaplain initiated a betrayal across the fortress and tens of our sisters were butchered."
Tegren lowered her weapon. "No…"
"A handful of us survived and held up in a barracks building in the middle of the fortress but when the Astarte forces returned from Keelo, the Canoness lead a charge against them to buy my squad time to escape, to spread word of what happened. We are the last of our orders left alive."
Tegren's legs felt weak and looking around she saw the rest of her sisters lowering their weapons as if under a spell.
"H-how-" Tegren began to stammer but was suddenly interrupted by the sound of Mirianda crying out. Turning, Tegren saw the Chaplain had thrown Mirianda off of him and was already rising to his feet, he used his free hand to pull the sword that impaled him free of his body and began to advance on Mirianda with deadly speed.
"Kill him!" Tegren roared as she leveled her pistol towards the Chaplain, "Take him down!"
Chaplain Eisen swung his sword downwards towards Mirianda, the heated blade slicing through her armour easily and made its way through her shoulder and halfway down into her torso. The battle sister cried out in agony as Eisen pulled the blade free of her. Tegren loosed off a shot from her plasma pistol, the bright salvo striking Eisen in the back of his already injured shoulder. The Chaplain roared out in pain and turned to face her. Just as Tegren was about to fire again, Zethina leapt past her and ran towards him with her blade drawn. Eisen went to parry but was buffeted by a burst of bolter fire as the other battle sisters opened up at him. He dropped the sword and fell to his knee's just as Zethina reached him, she plunged her sword deep into his chest, the blade penetrated through his armour and out the other side, blood sizzling off of the sword. Eisen groaned and cursed at Zethina.
She pulled her sword free of the treacherous Chaplain and faced him. He swayed where he was for a moment before falling forward into the dirt, landing with an undignified clunk.
Tegren rushed over to Sister Mirianda and crouched down next to her. Her sister was already dead, the attack had cut through both of her lungs and her heart, there was nothing they could do.
"Bastard. Traitor, heretic." Tegren said through gritted teeth.
Zethina looked back over to the alleged loyalist, he was now sat upright, she held her sword up and pointed it towards him.
"Stay down!" She ordered. Sister Heidi, who had let the pressure off of the marine to fire at the Chaplain turned back quickly and hastily kicked the marine in the chest to put him back down.
Zethina walked back over to the prone marine and placed her sword edge onto his chest.
"What is your name, Sergeant?"
"Brother Sergeant Silon." The marine coughed, "Willem Silon."
"Silon." Zethina repeated, "You did my sisters a good service warning the Preacher, but how are we to trust you right now?"
"How are you to trust me?" Silon parroted, "I am as loyal to the Emperor now as I have ever been, Sister."
"Would you have us keep you around with us at Hyroxes? How can we trust that you wouldn't feed information to Captain Praetus?"
"I have just delivered you the architect behind this betrayal by throwing him and myself from an aircraft. With all due respect, Sister, I believe I have shown where my loyalties lie."
Zethina's questions were interrupted by Tegren suddenly gasping.
"We have a small squad of marines stationed at Hyroxes with us." She said, "They were delivering a government official to oversee the Mourning Fury's maintenance."
"No!" Silon forced himself up, causing Heidi to stumble, she slammed her bolter's barrel into Silon's face but he remained sat upwards, "He is a Princeps who used to operate the Reaver titan!"
Tegren's eyes widened. "They mean to take the Titan?"
"Yes, and with it they will have enough firepower to obliterate any Inquisitorial force investigating what happened to your Sororita orders."
"We must move back to Hyroxes." Tegren said, "Mount up! All haste back to Hyroxes, get me Superior Louise on the vox network, NOW!"
All of the Sisters mobilised and began running back to their respective vehicles. Silon stood up and remained as still as possible, looking down at the power sword pointed at his chest. Zethina looked up at the marine and tilted her head.
"You can ride with us, Astarte." She beckoned towards her Immolator, "And you can tell us all you know and all that has happened to you since the betrayal."
"I will do whatever you ask of me, Sister." Silon replied carefully.
"Well then move…Silon." Zethina pointed once again to the Immolator, Silon then began to jog over to the transport, Zethina and Jezail following him at a distance.
"Keep an eye on him, Sister." Zethina said softly to Jezail.
"But Superior, he's the loyalist that the Preacher spoke of." Jezail replied in an equally quiet voice.
"We have lost too much at the hands of his chapter, I shall not risk anymore. Stay vigilant."
Jezail nodded and continued on towards the Immolator. Zethina looked back at the Chaplain's body face down in the dirt. Her eyes narrowed in contempt. The dead warrior was responsible for planting the seed of betrayal within the fifth company and the deaths of nearly one hundred battle sisters, and now he was dead.
"Burn in the warp, heretic."
Captain Praetus stood surrounded by his command squad and several of the company Sergeants upon the last remaining landing pad available to them. The Stormraven soared clumsily over their heads and came in for a hasty landing. The engines began to die down and the Captain approached the craft.
The craft's front ramp and both of its side ramps opened with a hiss, black smoke rising out of each exit. Following the smoke, several marines began to stagger from the aircraft, one supporting another who's leg was hanging by the sturdiness of his armour.
The Captain motioned with his hand towards the wounded marine, his Apocathery quickly running over to help the Astarte. The Captain pressed on until he was at the open maw of the craft. Looking inside, the Captain saw three marines lying on the floor. Two of them were missing their legs from the knee down and the last one's head was hanging on by an awkward piece of gristle in the marine's throat. The two marines missing their legs were dead, the red emergency lights within the belly of the Stormraven had not shown the Captain the grievous wounds they had sustained to their throats from the shrapnel.
He turned away and looked back out at the marines outside.
"What happened?" He asked as calmly as possible.
"Sergeant Silon, sir." One of the marines spat with anger in his voice.
"What about him?"
"He betrayed us, sir! He set off two grenades, shot Allister in the throat and threw the Chaplain and himself from the craft."
"What?!" The Captain didn't even try to hide the shock in his voice. Silon had always been a loyal marine. He had even killed one of his closest friends in the opening days of the defection.
"Always knew there was something off about him." Markov shook his head.
"Too quiet. Showed mercy on the night we betrayed the sisters." Vangoune also spoke out.
"Well thank you for sharing your concerns at the time, Sergeants." The Captain said spitefully.
"I shall make penance-"
"With whom you blasted fool!?" Praetus roared, "You heard Jargen, Chaplain Eisen is dead."
Vangoune lowered his head. An eerie silence fell over the collected marines, the only sound present being the engine's turbines slowly powering down.
Chaplain Eisen had always been Praetus' advisor. He had been the marine who had convinced him of defecting his company from the Imperium, to claim their slice of the galaxy free from the tyranny of a holy planet that neither cared nor knew about their existence.
"Listen to me." The Captain finally said. The marines all turned to face him.
"Our betrayal will soon be known to Heroxes. Our primary objective is to take that airfield and more importantly the Reaver class Titan that resides there. If any of them manage to leave the planet and get word of this betrayal out then we will not be ready for the backlash."
The marines nodded as Praetus spoke, he wondered if they could actually comprehend the tortures that would await them at the Inquisition's hands if they were caught alive.
"Torlief, contact Sergeant Marcin and update him on the situation. Our brothers in Keelo must make ready for an imminent assault."
"Aye Captain." Torlief replied, "Shall I tell him to rally to Heroxes?"
"No. Sergeant Marcin and the others we left in Keelo are dealing with another uprising of Imperial loyalists. I have heard stories of a man they call the hero of Valter square and an abundance of other things. No, they stay there."
"Roger that." The Champion nodded.
"Markov, make your tanks ready and I want all remaining squad Sergeants to attend an official briefing session in forty five minutes."
"Aye, Lord." Markov nodded.
"We are with you Captain." Sergeant Vangoune said.
The Captain nodded back and then quickly began to pace through the crowd of marines, his command squad hot on his heels. He realised he was breathing faster and heavier than usual and that his suit was feeding him combat stims.
So much was at stake.