Hello fellas, it's your boy again!
Sorry for taking so long into posting this chapter, but I needed to improve some things plot and dialogue wise, with the help of a friend.
I'm researching more of the lore so I can properly introduce characters and elements, so forgive me for the time I took for this release.
Chapter V is almost done too, so don't worry soon enough another chapter will be released;
PS: Someone asked me why Erick is so short, so to make the matter clear in my country the average man has 1,75 meters. So when I created the character I envisioned that he had an average height. But that is based on my reality, if in your country this height is too short, just imagine him as an average height male, neither tall nor short.
One more thing, thanks you all for the opportunity, I will not let you down. Ill give my best to deliver a well structured and interesting history.
Now without further ado...let the curtains be pulled, enjoy the show.
The Calling Part IV
As he exited the hospitaller facility he sees next to the exit a plethora of servitor skulls going around and interacting with other guardsmen. The soldiers talking to these skulls looks that they have been wounded too. Some have bandages on their heads, arms, legs, some even have lost a limb or two.
The skulls seem to be guiding these individuals to somewhere else. But his line of thought is cut short as one of these skulls approaches him. In a very rough and artificial voice, the skull says "Name and unity I.D?"
"Erick Clarke, I.D ABA-661"
"Processing...I.D confirmed...Please follow me unit 661."
Erick only nods as the Skull starts guiding him through the maze of corridors and alleys of the huge craft. He arrives in a corridor with a glass window, where he can see a huge structure that looks like a hive city. The entirety of space inside this craft is enough to fill with 2 citadels. He was never in a battleship, he heard from some soldiers a while ago that this type of craft is huge. He thinks that the soldiers in question were exaggerating, but now he is convinced that what they said was actually downplayed from what he is seeing now.
He can only look in awe at the sheer size of what he is seeing. His reverie is cut short as the skull stops beside him "Unit 661 we must proceed...follow me."
Shortly after they start to move again he arrives at the end of a huge line of people, mostly guardsmen. Erick position himself as the last of the line, the silence was broken by the servitor skull addressing him "Unit 661, wait in line for your turn. When your time comes, have in mind your I.D and your unity team ID. Failing to comply will end in your termination."
As the floating cranium ended his speech, he turns and goes back from where they came. Erick took a last look from the corridor, before sighing and staring at the huge-ass line.
"When my turn finally comes, Emperor will already rise from his throne." He says exasperated to himself. Before accepting his fate waiting at the end of the line.
Silviya is still strapped onto the gurney looking at the ceiling. Her conflicting thoughts going all around her head. But her internal struggle is stopped by the arrival of Sister Brisedes pushing a medical cart.
Now she takes notice of the place she is. Is a booth just like the one where 661 was. The same terrible dark olive curtains and tight space.
Brisedes stops to look at the IV bag strapped to her right arm, she has a frown on her face, she must still be angry about that whole debacle with the guardsman. Silviya breaks the silence "You were right..."
"About?" Responded the angry hospitaller.
"About my out-of-line behavior. I should've been more disciplined. I behaved like a rabid acolyte instead of the full-fledged sister that I am." Silviya answered dejectedly.
"Damn right you were! But fortunately, I see that you've finally come to your senses... " She pauses before adding "I will take these straps off, but if you try to do something stupid I will end you." After their exchange Brisedes unbuckles the leather straps, freeing Silviya.
Silviya thanks the hospitaller meekly. The medical sister goes to her medical cart where she retrieves a clean dressing as well as a container containing a transparent liquid. Brisedes then explains "I will change your dressing as well as clean your wound."
The sister approaches her left side with a surgical scissor, she cuts the bandage open with it. The sister takes a closer look at the wound, before starting her work. She takes the container with the transparent liquid and with a piece of cloth applies the liquid to her wound. It stings Silviya's leg a little but is far from the most painful thing that she ever felt. Then the medical sister takes the new and clean dressing and starts to go around her wounded tight, she fixes all together using gauze.
After concluding her work Brisedes stares at the militant sororitas "So care to explain how you got that gun?"
Silviya shrugged before answering "I went quietly on a neighboring booth and stole it from a gear crate."
"Okay...where is it now?"
"Back in the crate, I have taken from. I've given it back after I ended my conversation with 661."
"Hm...why did you react the way you did with the guardsman?"
Silviya closes her eyes with a heavy sigh leaving her lips as she starts explaining "It's complicated...I was really angry at him for messing with my mission. I was supposed to protect him, save him, but instead, he saved me, he took a bullet that was supposed to hit me."
"And why would that be a problem? Shouldn't you be grateful that a guardsman got out of the way to save you?"
"My orders were, to gain time for them. To give our lives for theirs, we were going to be their scapegoats." Silviya looks at her lap, as her fist clenches, she continues:
"To us battle sisters our orders are our duty. If we die trying to achieve said duty everything is fine, it would mean that we have accomplished our purpose in His plan. But to fail at that orders and survive means that you have failed the sisters before you, not only that but you compromised the Holy plan of the Emperor."
Brisedes clicks her tongue, she's looking pensive at Silviya.
"Look I was raised in a hospitaller order, we are sisters despite you being from a militant ordo. But our views on the matter are a little different from what I'm getting. We value our duty to the Emperor just like you said, we would gladly die healing and protecting the wounded. But if one of them, be a guardsman or even another sister saved one of us, we would rejoice that the Emperor sent someone to help us in our dark time, if we may die in our duty that's okay, but if someone reaches out to help, we will gladly accept."
Silviya opens her eyes and angrily stares at her.
"You don't get it! My objective was to protect him, that was what I was supposed to do! Not the other way around! The last thing that I heard from my canoness was that I was supposed to die so that the imperial guard could escape. That was my last order sister."
Silviya takes a deep breath before concluding.
"My sisters they all died doing their duty. They charged to their deaths so they could live. I was supposed to do the same, but I couldn't...That..."
Brisedes is looking at her waiting for Siliya to finish.
"That guardsman...took that from me, he couldn't let me die beside my sisters. I was supposed to be in His light with them at this very moment."
Brisedes hums before questioning Silviya again "You miss your sisters, don't you? "
Silviya's eyes went wide as she frantically shook her head "What!? Of course not! why would I miss them if I will reunite with them again in the Emperor's light?"
Brisedes snorts a little while looking at the defensive sister "Cut the crap! I know that you miss them, the reason for your outburst is not what that guardsman did, but it is the fact that everyone dear to you is dead. And your way of coping with it is with violence."
The battle sister with fire in her eyes screams with her fists in the air "I'M A BATTLE SISTER! WE DON'T FORM ATTACHMENTS, WE DON'T MISS, WE DON'T COPE. WE FIGHT, WE BLEED, WE DIE AND WE KILL! OUR ONLY BOND IS WITH THE EMPEROR AND HIS MISSION!"
Brisedes looks at her empathetically before stating in a matter of factly way "Dear I know grief when I see it. I may look young but I've been through many battlefields before. And every one that experiences loss has the same face that you have now. I know that your ordos don't like the concept of attachments, but it is clear to me that you have them, you like it or not."
"NO, I DON'T! I don't..." Silviya's rant is cut short as she feels a single tear journey down her right cheek. Her world stops as she realizes what just happened. She quickly sits down on the gurney, feeling a familiar heaviness on her chest. Silviya feels something weird in her eyes.
"Look no one is here to see you like this, so let it all out. It will be good for you, trust me. Now I must go, I have duties to attend to." Brisedes takes a last look at the grieving sister before taking the medical cart again and leaving her booth.
Silviya is looking at her hands as she feels some more tears traveling down her cheeks. She takes a deep breath before cleaning her face and proceeding to lay down. She suppresses that feeling in her chest with all her strength managing to end the flow of tears that were starting to form in her eyes.
She wipes the rest of her tears on her pillow. Silviya is feeling tired now, actually, she doesn't remember feeling this tired in her entire life, her entire body is aching, her head and eyes hurt because of the sudden surge of tears.
Her eyelids are getting heavier now, she struggles a little against the incoming rest, but she doesn't resist much before ending up asleep.
Thank Emperor, he's the next in line. He is in this Emperor forsaken line for three hours now! Erick was almost considering giving up and return to the hospitaller facility and plead for shelter there.
"Next!" he hears someone shouting inside the room. Erick proceeds to enter the room in question.
The room is not spacious neither tight, there is a steel desk with a different assortment of papers and ink feathers, one elevator on each side of the room, two banners containing the Imperium Eagle, as well as a servitor skull floating beside the desk.
Behind it is clearly a commissar, he uses the standard commissariat outfit, he is pretty young for the job, has black hair, uses round eyeglass, and has a very sharp jaw and nose.
Without taking his eyes off the paper in his hand he asks "What is your unity I.D and your unity team I.D?"
Erick instantly answered "Unity I.D. ABA-661 and team I.D XXA-146!"
The commissar hums after his answer, he flips some papers from the pile, he gives quick looks to each paper, after picking one up. The commissar uses a ruler to look through the letters on the paper.
After some seconds the commissar looks at Erick saying "Your quarters are located on sector 08, Deck 45, Living quarters 12. Take the elevator to your right, press the button 8, when you get there, just follow the signs."
He stamps that line of the paper, before detaching a small paper square on that line containing a printed seal. He gives it to Erick who proceeds to go to the elevator on the right.
The elevator is in the form of a square, it's not so big, it must fit three people max, every side of it has a window. As soon as he enters he sees the panel at the left of the door, he presses the number 8.
The elevator does a strange noise, as it starts slowly ascending. Some seconds pass before the tight space is filled with light as now Erick can gaze at the huge craft interior. Some minutes pass before he arrives on the designated floor.
When the double doors of the elevator open again, he can see a large T-shaped corridor. Some people are gathered in this area, some talking, playing games, and others are simply observing the scene. He goes to the end of the corridor, where some signs are located. There are a plethora of signs pointing to the left and right.
He takes a while to find the sign containing the location of his quarters. He turns to the left and proceeds to follow the direction of the sign, to his left on this corridor there is a large window where he can see again the entire craft interior. He is mesmerized again by the sight, so he keeps walking in the corridor but looking through the glass.
Walking for some time on this corridor he ends in another T-shaped corridor with multiple signs but this time far less of them. And again he finds the direction to his quarters.
For some time the same pattern repeats itself until he ends up in one big corridor with a big "Deck 45" displayed on its doorpost. The door looks like one of a big cage, it is open.
Erick enters the corridor looking for his quarters, each quarter having a numbered steel door with a machine on its right side. He passes from the first, the second, the third until he arrives in front of the one with a number twelve painted on its door. He inspects the situation, before realizing that the small paper that the commissar gave him is to open this door.
When he opens it, he is surprised by what's inside the Living quarters. Bunk beds are organized in four lines, each bunk bed having five mattresses. This single room has at least twenty-six of these bunk beds.
Almost everyone in there is busy doing something, they don't even notice his presence. He wanders a little in the room, seeing that almost all bunk beds are occupied.
The guardsman's search is ended as he feels a light tap on his left shoulder. When he turns around he is surprised by a sudden hug to his midsection, many things he was expecting to find in this room, but none come close to this. The person hugging him is Sarah Burke the last living person of Gamma Squad beside him.
Erick feels the tears of the redhead on his uniform, but he doesn't care. He only embraces her back with his right arm, trying his best to comfort his comrade.
Silviya slowly awakes to the irresistible smell of food. She slowly opens her eyes to see sister Brisedes holding a tray containing a plate with food, a bottle of water, a fork, and a knife.
She sits down on the gurney so the hospitaller can settle the tray on her lap. With the food now on her lap, she starts to eat ravenously. She gobbles the water as if her life depended on it. She doesn't remember feeling this hungry ever.
Finishing her meal, Brisedes takes the tray from her lap and proceeds to leave her alone again. Silviya starts to plan her next steps from now on:
First: She must say sorry to the guardsman;
Second: Request the Astra Militarum her transference to 661 Squad;
Third: When the time comes sacrifice her life for his.
The first and third steps are pretty easy on their own merit, the problem would be the second. Silviya is no fool to her situation, once they arrive in the next hive planet she will be put on a ship to the nearest sector with an Order of Our Martyred Lady monastery. That would forever foil her plans of repentance, wait...
That's it! She will take an Oath of Repentance. That will make her have the perfect excuse for asking for the transfer, she can simply tell them the truth, that her sins must be atoned, by giving her life for the guardsman, that she failed to protect.
There is a problem though, the fact that she will have to give her gear back to the Adeptus Ministorum. And that would be a huge problem.
How will she manage to efficiently protect the guardsman with only a chainword and no power armor? At this very moment, Brisedes enters the room with a pill and a glass of water "Here, take this antibiotic."
Silviya takes the pill in her hand and proceeds to gulp it down with water. Drinking all the contents of the glass she gives it back to the hospitaller. Brisedes turns to go, but Silviya addresses her "Brisedes I must ask a favor of you."
The dark-skinned sister looks back at her with curiosity "I need to speak with your canoness."
"Hm...why for?"
"I need her help with my plan. And only her can make it happen."
The hospitaller with one eyebrow raised asked with curiosity in her voice"You had my curiosity, but now you have my attention. If I took you to her what will you do?"
Silviya smirks before answering "First fetch me a crutch and you will see sister..."
The redhead is crying on his chest for a good four minutes. Erick can feel his uniform shirt moist with her tears, his right arm still embracing her. He can only whisper reassurances or her ear, as she pours all her pain on him.
She is starting to calm down now, Erick holds his embrace, Sarah turns her head so she can look at him "I thought that I lost you all!"
Erick gives her a small smile before saying "For a second I thought the same thing. But the good news is that we were both wrong."
Sarah wipes her tears with her left hand, untangles herself from him, and with a serious tone asks "So what happened? I lost contact with you and Sigilus shortly after I entered the Thunderhawk."
He sighs tiredly before retelling her what happened until Sigilus death "...so yeah as expected he couldn't stand aside as one of us was in danger. To him all guardsmen are family, more so after the death of Titus."
Both smile sadly remembering another falling comrade. Titus was Sigilus best friend, the two were inseparable, that is until Titus was chased down by a bloodletter and impaled on its sword. At that time Sigilus was too busy fixing the explosives that he didn't care to answer his friend's calls for help. After his death, Sigilus top priority was to save someone, even if it meant sacrificing his life.
Sarah then looks to what is left of his left arm, touches it, and asks "So how did that happened?"
Erick shrugs before answering "I was trying to save a battle sister, I was helping her limp back to the ship, I felt the incoming bullet in our direction and pushed her to the ground. Much to my chagrin, it was a bolter round, the force alone tore my arm off."
She gasps before analyzing the remaining part of his arm "Shit...it must have hurt like hell. They cauterized to stop the bleeding am I right?"
"Actually it didn't hurt per se, the bleeding was so bad, that in a matter of minutes I fell unconscious. Before any major pain could have started."
Sarah hums before taking his stump and guiding him to a bed near them, it's the first of the bunk. They both sit on the bed as they stay in silence, just enjoying each other's presence.
They stay like this for some time before Sarah breaks the silence again "I remember every last one of them you know...I remember the grumpiness of Ricardo, the flamboyance of Gaston, the sense of humor of Theodore, Marco's instability, Maggie braveness, the famous short temper of Cicero..."
"Gosh he was so easy to piss off, that it was kind of funny...remember what Theodore and Sigilus nicknamed him?"
"Flesh hound! HA, his face whenever we called him that was priceless..." Sarah said between laughs.
"Yeah, I remember that he had a strange fear of Emeritus...Remember that time when Cicero woke up with Emeritus staring at him? He jumped so high that he hit his head on the top bunk." Erick said while laughing.
Sarah's expression changes in an instant from nostalgic glee to a saddened one "Yeah...his death was one of the worst. Just when he was warming up to us, just when he was starting to become more optimistic, he even lost his fear of Emeritus, he died that way. Being eaten alive by flesh hounds...ironic considering well..." She didn't finish her thought looking somberly to the ground.
"His death had a purpose, just like ours will have."
"I know...but I must confess something. I don't think I can take another loss. Since that...something changed."
She pauses before adding.
"When I arrived here alone, without Emeritus, Sigilus...and you. I felt so alone, I felt like all these years fighting, sacrificing ourselves were for nothing. I've lost hope ill admit, I was thinking about assigning myself to a solo mission as soon as we arrived on land, the riskiest one, just so I could die and meet you guys on His light again."
Erick takes her hand and with wide angry eyes says "Don't ever think about doing that! You would dishonor our deaths by doing such a thing!"
Sarah couldn't keep her composure and quickly lost herself in tears, interrupting Erick of what would be a long disciplinary talk. He can only sigh before embracing her again. He rocks her back and forth before laying down with her, Erick lets her cry on his chest as he holds her close to his heart, soon enough she falls asleep.
His head wanders a little with the last events. The death of his friends and brothers in arms. He saving a battle sister, losing his arm, the fall of his home planet to the forces of the Despoiler. This must be the worst phase of his life, he lost everything he has ever known. The only remaining piece of his old life is the person in his arms right now.
Erick doesn't know what will happen to them but be what it may be, he and Sarah will go through it together.
"Are you sure?" Said a very annoyed and confused canoness.
Hannira is the canoness of this ordos of hospitaller. She uses a white tunic with red details, her clothes are far longer than that of a normal hospitaller, as well as a big golden Fleur de Lis adorns her veil, which as the tunic is pretty long. She is old for a sororitas, she appears to have the same age as Birgith when she died. The woman has a few expression marks on her eyes and cheeks, definitely taller than Silviya that's for sure, she has light skin and piercing dark green eyes.
Silviya with her forehead glued to the ground in a kneeling position with a crutch by her side answers "Yes canoness Hannira. I fear that the guardsman that saved my life must have a greater purpose. I believe he's an Emperors chosen."
Hannira circling the kneeling sister questions "Evidence for such a bold claim?"
"He managed time and time again to survive improbable odds."
"That's not enough. What odds are these?" Hannira asked with her patience becoming thin.
"He managed to survive a plethora of encounters with chaos forces. He survived a bolter shot to his left arm, he managed to carry me in full armor to the Thunderhawk while wounded by the same shot, and he survived, even after massive blood loss." Silviya pauses before concluding "I believe that his survival is a clear sign of the Emperor's hand protecting him. And if my suspicions are correct, it must mean that He is looking after the guardsman. Take a look at his file, and you will see. His name is Erick Clarke unit I.D ABA-661."
Hannira approaches a terminal near the wall and starts to type something on the old console. She takes some time reading the information displayed on the screen. The canoness hums before approaching a still kneeling Silviya "You have our blessing to accompany at once this individual, you must report of his activities as well as any sign for corruption. Is too soon to know what this is all about, but if your hunch is correct he can be an important tool for the Emperor as well as for our enemies."
Silviya smirks to herself. She knew that the impressive record of the soldier would surprise the older sororitas, she was surprised too when she opened his Personal Logs in the infirmary. A normal guardsman with such a record is a rare and remarkable feat. But differently than the other sister in this room, she knows that he's only a very skillful individual, that he doesn't have anything special.
What she's doing now can be called lying, but to be fair, it could be true too, unlikely, but possible. So for her, it's a win-win situation.
She gets her opportunity for redemption and at the same time fulfills a purpose for the sororitas keeping an eye on the guardsman.
She hopes that the Emperor forgives her for this white lie since it's for a greater purpose to regain her glory and join her sisters on the light.
"Silviya I approve of your journey, I will notify your order of the task at hand..." Everything was going according to the plan now she just needs the transfer protocol... "As soon as you arrive in a sector with a monastery of your order, take him to them so they can evaluate his worthiness." And just like that her entire plan crashed and burned.
Taking him to the order would be a death sentence, once they realize he is just an ordinary guardsman they will believe that he tricked her into believing that he is something special. That is no greater heresy than someone posing as a chosen of the Emperor. Ever since the Age of Apostasy with the heretic Goge Vandire her entire organization has zero-tolerance for people like Vandire.
She is cut short of her thoughts as the older Sororitas taps her on the shoulders signaling for her to stand up. "You've done a great service to us. Keep a close eye on the guardsman, here are your transfer papers. If they ask, don't answer them, he mustn't know your purpose. You are smart I'm sure you will come up with something. Good luck on your journey, may the Emperor guide you with His all-knowing light."
The door closes behind her, bringing her back to reality. Her plan worked, but not in the way she intended. She takes a look at the paper in her hand, the Hospitaller seal adorning the front page, only a single sentence written down on the sheet of paper "This sister is to be drafted into the squad team unit I.D XXA-146. Any qualms talk to Canoness Hannira."
At least the second step of her plan is done, but the third just got much harder. Her thoughts are cut out by Brisedes who was waiting near the door of the canoness "So how did it go? It worked?"
Silviya looks at the paper in her hands then at the hospitaller "Part of it yes, but..."
"Buuuut?"
"She wants me to present him to the Order of Our Martyred Lady in the next system Gamma Squad goes that has a monastery in it." Answered a catatonic Silviya.
Brisedes shrugs before asking "Why? And why are you looking like someone just died?"
"it's because I may have caused someone's death..."
"What did you do?" Angrily whispered Brisedes.
"I said he was an Emperor's chosen, and that I've needed to keep a close eye on him. She bought the story, but she bought it so well that she wants his "worthiness" evaluated by my order." The still catatonic sister answered in an emotionless voice.
"YOU DID WHAT?!" Screamed the angry hospitaller, Silviya quickly snaps of her daze and covers the mouth of the other sister with the hand not holding the crutch.
Silviya takes her hands off the hospitaller face and proceeds walking with the crutch to the exit of the infirmary, Brisedes follow her close behind "Do you want to kill him?! What you just did will get him killed! This is the most outrageous heresy for us sororitas and you just put that on him!"Said a very exasperated Brisedes.
"I know...I know, my redemption just got more complicated, but ill manage. At the due time, I will have a plan if that comes to be. But ill probably accomplish my purpose far before this moment comes." She remarked determined. They're almost a the exit she can already see the door.
"I wish you know what you are doing...May the Emperor guide your way, and that you won't stray from his path."
Silviya with one hand on the door looks back to the hospitaller "Never...I will never stray from His path, don't you worry sister. Emperor protects."
She opens the door to her main destiny, and that is to save 661 this time, instead of being saved. She will regain her glory, she WILL reunite with her sisters in the light, she'll make sure of it.
Sarah has fallen asleep for some time now, she probably had problems sleeping while he was gone. He is sitting on the foot of the bed observing each and every feature of her face. She's the last one of their little family called Gamma Squad, that's beside him of course.
He too remembers all of the others that unfortunately died, many nights he dreamed of their happier times, and many nights he had nightmares with their deaths. None of them had good deaths, actually, for him all of their deaths were horrible. Of course, he would not say that aloud. He mustn't show weakness in front of Sarah.
He silently stands up from the bed, she doesn't even flinch, she must be really tired if she didn't react at all. He proceeds to go to the door, he brushes past some talking guardsman here and there. He manages to arrive at the door, he goes through it.
He wants to breathe a little fresh air, to grief away from Sarah, a place where he can be alone, so Erick goes to the corridor outside the bar gates to gaze through the window. Trying to use the view right in front of him to take his mind away from these somber times. So many died for the glory of Cadia...Why it must have ended this way? Did their faith falter?
This was some kind of punishment for some unseen transgression? Sometimes he just can't understand the Emperor's will, but still, he has faith and goes through hell and back for his God-Emperor, but sometimes is hard to understand.
The place where he needed to die was in Cadia, fighting till the end. It was his home and the home of the entire Gamma Squad. They died so Cadia could stand, with her fall their deaths don't mean shit.
He punches the glass as hard as he can as he screams as high as his voice lets it "FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK!"
He slides down on the glass, being on his knees with his forehead on the wall, he starts to quietly sob. It was the first time since he was a small boy, he feels strange while crying but he doesn't care, and for a moment nothing else matters. But a familiar voice breaks his moment "So there you are guardsman...can you explain to me what shameful display this is?"
Oh no...is the crazy sororitas again. How did she leave the infirmary? She was supposed to be restrained, the last time he saw her she was with her left leg wrapped in a bandage, how did she manage to leave the infirmary wounded?
He turns to look at the battle sister and he gets surprised with what he sees. She is pretty much in the same way that the last time he saw her, the only difference being the fact that she's using a crutch on her left side and she has new and clean dressings on her wound.
"How? You were supposed to be in the infirmary! You are clearly not in the shape to go wandering through the ship."
"Shut it! I have been already discharged. Do you really think that they will waste one medical bed, with someone that can already walk by herself? The ship has at least more than one thousand wounded, so you shouldn't be surprised with my presence, at this very moment the bed must already be occupied by someone in more critical conditions. Did you not go through something similar in your long campaigns guardsman?" She asked with her spare hand on her hip.
"Yes actually, we had this guy, his name was Theodore and..."
Erick is suddenly cut off by the battle sister.
"Good, so we won't need to waste time on this topic then."
She pauses before proudly announcing
"I Silviya sister of the Order of Our Martyred Lady. Devout of Saint Katherine announces to you my assignment with your unity! From this day forward until further notice I shall accompany you on your journey."
As she ends what appears to be the most strange formal introduction of his life she pushes a scroll with a red stamp with the distinct symbol of the sororitas on his right hand.
He then takes the piece of parchment opens it, he reads it. Then re-read it, then he reads again just to be sure. Before looking at Silviya "You weren't joking back at the infirmary..."He pauses before continuing "Well anyhow welcome to Gamma Squad, my name is Erick Clarke leader of..." He's cut off again by Silviya.
"Erick Clarke, ID: 83284821234218348992138828-ABA-661, parents: Kane Clarke and Erika Schwarts, blood type: +0, age: 27 and your height is 1.75 meters. Leader of Gamma Squad, you are in the Imperium since a young age, had distinctive service in various operations. Through your entire career, you registered the death of 15 Bloodletter, 80 cultists, and 20 flesh hounds, total you managed to kill 115 enemies of the imperium."
Erick could only stare dumbly at Silviya, he doesn't know how she managed to get this information but, to be honest, he's not surprised.
He cares enough to ask her why tough? No. So let's just end this weird exchange
"Okay you did your homework, so yeah it will be an honor to serve alongside you."
He extends his right arm for a handshake, he stays with the arm raised for some seconds before noticing that the sister only stared at his hand with a clear judgmental face. He recoils his arm back as he notices that she will not take it.
"Well follow me then, just warning you the accommodations for guardsman are not as comfortable as the majority of the other units." Erick says while guiding the Sororitas through Deck 45.
As she finishes speaking she sees the guardsman strangely looking at her. Did she say something weird? Probably not.
"Okay you did your homework, so yeah it will be an honor to serve alongside you." He extends his right arm for a handshake.
He is totally clueless about sororitas arent he? For some reason, this foolish man acts like she was just another one of the imperial guards.
Don't get Silviya wrong she values the life and efforts of the imperial guard, but she knows that most of their accomplishments are not done in skill or tactical prowess. Most of the time the guardsmen are used as cannon fodder, in an attempt to win the battle with overwhelming numbers.
The sororitas thought they were far more elegant and precise, refined from a young age to be the perfect weapon to the Emperor. While she doesn't agree with some tactics of her ordos, she certainly acknowledges the feats done by such strategies.
She opts to not give in to such informal behavior. Shortly after he recoils his arm, good he got the message.
"Well follow me then, just warning you the accommodations for guardsman are not as comfortable as the majority of the other units." 661 says while guiding her through some corridors. They pass a bar gate and some rooms with numbers on them, before arriving with one with the number 12 painted on it.
He uses a piece of paper to open the door, and what she sees inside surprises her. The room has a lot of bunk beds with five mattresses, it is organized in lines, four of them to be exact, is tight for the number of people in there and there are more people than beds, that's for sure. It's not the worst of accommodations, but she has seen better.
He squeezes himself through a group of people, she follows suit, as soon as she passes the group of guardsmen, she notices they staring surprisingly at her. Silviya keeps following 661, in the bunk beds, people that were observing the scene, looked in awe at her, soon more guardsmen are staring surprisingly at her.
She can hear whispers of soldiers questioning if she was truly a battle sister, more questioning her presence there. A small crowd gathers around them in awe, admiring Silviya. She does the only sensible thing that she can think of "My fellow faithfuls don't get alarmed by my presence. Please get back to what you all were doing..."
The sororitas said in a calm manner but seeing as they still stared at her, she warned "But if you insist on crowding us I will be forced to be not so kind, understood?" The next bit she said with a bit of murder in her eyes, and that just did the trick.
Soon the crowd scattered leaving them alone. The next thing she sees surprises her, since Silviya forgot to search for the other Gamma Squad member's status, so she was not prepared for this.
"Silviya this is Sarah, the sniper who saved your friend. She is the second and only alive member of Gamma Squad."
Erick with his hands on her back gently pushes her in the direction of the aforementioned redhead.
The girl is short, shorter than her that's for sure, she has lightly tanned and smooth skin, green eyes, red hair wrapped in a ponytail, and a lean figure. Now she gets why she is the sniper, the small size and leanness would help her a lot in stealth and infiltration. Silviya only nods at Sarah before Erick continued "Sarah this is Silviya the battle sister that I saved, she's pretty tough, killed a bunch of space marines as if they were mere occultists, certainly a great addition to our team."
Silviya doesn't know how to react, on one side she wants to punch his face in for remembering the fact that he saved her, on the other hand, she's flattered by the comments done by the imperial. She just decides to do nothing. They are now in front of one of the many beds in this tight room.
"So where I will be sleeping?" She asked curiously.
"With Sarah, you two will have to share the bed, I will find another one for me, so don't worry, just settle yourself in, while I search one for me" Erick starts to move before Silviya holds his left biceps.
"You will sleep here, ill sleep on the ground no problem." She ordered.
"What?! Are you crazy? You have a wound on your left leg, I will not let you do something so reckless. Exposing your wound to bacteria."
"Don't be a fool, I've been through far worse just in my training, for me this is nothing." She says while laying down on the ground beside the bed.
"Now you two rest, soon we will have a lot to do." Silviya orders again.
Erick lays down with Sarah, but he stayed on the side next to Silviya. He signals to the redhead to wait. Erick knows that the sororitas needs to recover from her injury and fatigue caused by her being awake for long periods of time waiting for him to wake up. They wait some minutes, before hearing a light snoring sound coming from the ground beside them.
He slowly gets of bed, before gently taking the battle sister in his arms. He tries his best to not wake her. Her eyes and face scrunch up a little, but she didn't wake up.
He softly settles her down on the bed beside Sarah, Erick then whispers "I will take a look around, 'll try to find a spot to rest. Take care of her, while I'm gone. Emperor protects."
She nods before turning away from Erick and the sororitas, to catch some rest after the last one was interrupted by the arrival of the new member of the team.
Erick then quietly goes away looking for a spot to rest, since in this room every bed is taken. He wanders through Deck 45, before finding a small ledge where he can sit down and rest in a certain comfort. He uses his trenchcoat as a pillow and proceeds to look at the ceiling thinking about his fallen comrades, and the new addition to his team "*Sigh*She's gonna be a handful."
There we are, the two main protagonists team-up. Now things will start to get going.
Thx for your time, have a good day and God bless.
Until next time!