Adrastus Syndragar was no fool.

When Tzarine had first come on board the Soul Venom, she had tried to bully and intimidate him. It had had no success, and she had swiftly given up, realising a very basic fact: Syndragar had commanded the cruiser as a mercenary and pirate for twenty years, and thus posturing had little to no effect. She suspected that even Korgar had met with little give from the man, for all the Word Bearer's rash violence.

So she had changed tacks, approaching him as a cautious ally and mistrusted but valued lieutenant. She wasn't sure if it was working. Syndragar was a hard man to read, and on some level, she wasn't entirely sure she could back up her claim on the Venom if the two of them came to serious disagreement.

It was in this spirit that she stalked onto the bridge. It was dimly lit, the glow of the control consoles visible as servitors and various officers went through the work of keeping the warship running.

Although there was a command chair in pride of place, Syndragar preferred to stand, looming over sets of raised hololithic displays. He half-turned as she approached, Morgana close behind. "My lady," he said neutrally.

"Captain." Tzarine peered at the display. It showed schematics for various warships; judging by the rounded shapes, Tau designs. "Studying the enemy?"

"That remains to be seen." Syndragar waved a partially augmetic hand, and the display faded. "What are you intentions when we arrive in the system?"

Tzarine eyed him suspiciously. "Our priority is to locate the Mission and ascertain its fate."

"That is not a plan," he pointed out. "It's an objective. And while according to your lieutenant's information the base is not the immediate centre of the fighting, the entire system is a warzone. The Soul Venom is a known renegade in Imperial records, and the Tau will not be keen to have an unidentified human warship in the area."

He looked at her intensely. His eyes had at some point been replaced by glowing green augmetics, and the effect could be unsettling. "As a former part of the Imperium's enforcers, I'm sure you don't need me to remind you of their approach to dealing with traitors and renegades."

Tzarine could see what was coming, and her tone was frosty. "Get to the point."

"This is a well defended system. An Ecclesiarchical capital, no less. The Tau would welcome some additional firepower. They pay well and are highly capable strategists and tacticians. It would allow us to operate much more freely, and we would face little risk of being used as simple cannon fodder."

Tzarine paused. Sororitas-honed instincts screamed that it was a bad idea, that the only good xenos was a dead xenos. Unfortunately, Syndragar was right. Any loyal to the Emperor would attempt to kill them on sight.

If nothing else, this would let her vent some hatred on the Ecclesiarchy.

"I'll consider it," she conceded. "How long until we arrive?"

"Seven hours." Syndragar turned away, returning to studying schematics with another wave of his hand. It felt insultingly like a dismissal, and she stalked over to the command chair, sitting in it and beckoning Morgana over. The captain did not react to this blatant gesture, but she thought she saw his eyes narrow for a moment.

Morgana sighed quietly as she stationed herself at Tzarine's side. "We need to cut through these power games, Sister. They don't help anyone."

"Tell him that," Tzarine growled. "What do you think?"

"We've already worked with Chaos," the other pointed out. "I doubt the Tau will be anywhere near as bad as that. You can't just make the decision, though. Not after last time. You said you wouldn't."

Tzarine thought back to 'last time', the ugly scene when she had revealed her deal with Llthaanhir despite unequivocally warning her troops away from Chaos worship themselves. She'd lost trust then, and before when she had signed them up with Korgar in the first place, but in both cases she'd had no choice. This time she did.

Morgana was right. She might be the commanding officer, but she needed the agreement and acquiescence of her troops.

An unpleasant thought came to mind, and she grimaced. "Have you heard anything from Rhia?"

Since their arrival on the Soul Venom, Rhia had effectively vanished. The fencer's gloom and bitterness had been a looming cloud for some time, and Tzarine mourned for her. They had never been particularly close, but Rhia's fiery temperament and peerless skill with a blade had been a valuable asset. Now it felt like she had lost both. Rhia had fought with the rest of them during the Senaav campaign, first against the Imperials and then during their betrayal of the Word Bearers, but it had been clinical, detached. Where once she had cut through swathes of the foe, she had only killed a handful in a month of combat.

Morgana shook her head. "Apart from slinking out to find food, she never leaves her quarters. Never speaks to anyone."

"She'll want to be in on this," Tzarine said. "She was practically howling for my blood back on Senaav, I'm sure she'll want to be involved in discussing our future."

"Well, we both know Helga will support anything that lets her kill somebody. Most of us will still follow you. Nobody liked some of the decisions you made on Senaav, but you've kept your promises and kept us alive so far." Morgana locked eyes with her. "But Rhia won't countenance any further action against Imperial targets. If that does happen… if she's the only dissenter… what will you do?"

Tzarine shook her head. "I don't know."

The attack was swift, brutal and ruthless. Varn Karis dodged and weaved as best she could, blocking a few swings and attempting to counter, but she steadily fell back, bruised and winded.

Helga pressed her advantage, and then lunged to try and bear the ex-stormtrooper to the ground. Like liquid, her opponent slipped out of the way and rammed an elbow into Helga's side. She fell, but scythed a leg out, taking Karis down hard.

Both women remained on the floor for a moment, catching their breath. This was the tenth quickfire bout they'd had, and this seemed as good a breaking point as any. "Good recover," Karis said. "You still fell for it, though."

Helga grinned. "My combat instructor always did say I was ruthless. Of course, you're also far too damn sneaky."

They looked over to the rest of the training room. A dozen Sisters and a few of Karis' renegade Guard were busily sparring with each other. A couple had been watching Helga and Karis in action, but with the lull in the fighting had turned back to their own exercises.

"Your men are sloppy," said Helga after a time. "I knew the close quarters discipline of the Imperial Guard could be poor, but this is just depressing." She gestured to the panther-like form of Vulka, her second, demolishing two of the troopers almost casually.

Karis shrugged. "Guard combat discipline is often of the opinion that if it comes to blades and fists, you'll be in a squad or things have gone very wrong. Get them armed and in a good position and you'll see a different result."

"Doesn't help much when jump troops crash into the middle of your line and start killing. I saw that often enough on Senaav." Helga shook her head, and stood. "I guess we can't all be Sororitas."

Karis leapt to her feet with a playful gasp of outrage. "You arrogant…"

The two warriors blurred. The week they had been training together on the Soul Venom had shown them to be a good match; Helga was faster and stronger, but Karis seemed to have a natural instinct for the flow of a fight that meant she was often one step ahead. This time it was the stormtrooper who got the upper hand with a stunning blow to the face that let her trip the Seraphim, before pinning her down. Helga growled, then signalled her submission. "Fine, we can't all be Sororitas or stormtroopers."

"That's better." Karis helped her opponent up with a chuckle, and then paused, eyes locked on a corner of the room. Helga followed her gaze, and stiffened.

The figure appeared human, except for having skin so pale that it was almost blue. The black bodysuit contrive to simultaneously cover every scrap of skin below the neck and yet hide absolutely nothing, and a shard of instinctive, animal desire ran through the Seraphim's mind. She ignored it, knowing it to be just an effect of the daemon's aura.

Llthaanhir continued to lounge against the wall as the pair approached. Closer to, other subtly wrong details became noticeable; the oval, cat-like eyes, the long snake-like tongue, the unnaturally sharp teeth.

"What do you want?" said Helga bluntly.

The daemon seemed to consider the two for a split second, her expression turning slightly weary. "Even daemons get bored," she remarked. "I have now spent a week being ignored or shooed away by all, occasionally at gunpoint. It's a little jarring and frustrating."

"Disappointed at the lack of worship and rampant hedonism?" Karis asked waspishly.

Llthaanhir gave the stormtrooper a look. There was no malice or apparent emotion of any kind in it, but Karis flinched, and fell silent. Helga glanced between them, and shrugged. "Not sure what you expected. You're only here at Tzarine's will, and not even she likes or trusts you. You're a tool and a weapon, nothing more."

Llthaanhir turned and left without a word. Helga relaxed, and glanced around the room. Men and women alike had stopped their training, unconsciously watching the warp-creature go. "That thing is dangerous."

Karis nodded as the soldiers shook off the influence and returned to the task at hand. "Why did Tzarine let it roam freely?"

"I'm not sure Tzarine knows."

"Probably not, but the daemon has yet to cause trouble. Is this a problem?" The new voice was quiet, but it held plenty of rebuke. Instinct made both Helga and Karis straighten to attention.

Morgana waved a hand. "At ease. But be careful what you say. The last thing we need is the chain of command breaking down. If you have concerns about your commander, you raise them with me or her. Not in public like this."

Karis saluted smartly, Helga a moment later. Helga respected few people, but Morgana had slid into the category of late since she had started to expand her command role, and whatever her reservations about Tzarine since they had gone renegade, she could see the sense in Morgana's words.

"What's up, Sister? In for some training?"

Morgana shook her head. "Training's over. Tzarine's called a briefing. We reach our destination in under seven hours, and we need to be combat ready."

The ripple of silence spread out as everyone processed this news.

"Who are we fighting?" asked a Battle Sister with heavy facial scarring from shrapnel.

"That's what the briefing will decide." Morgana left.

Looks were exchanged.

"Two hours ago, the choir intercepted a distress signal from the Shondar system." Tzarine took in the mood of the room as she paused. The name would mean nothing to many, and it was otherwise hard to judge. "Shondar is an important Ecclesiarchical system in the region. More importantly, it is where my old Mission is based. Normally I would be content to leave things to run their course, but this is more than just an invasion."

Morgana took her cue and activated the hololithic display at the centre of the briefing room. It showed a diagram of the Shondar system, and Tzarine gestured to it.

"Calsus is a minor industrial world. The message indicated that it's been largely ignored; little strategic or tactical value." She passed by an asteroid belt and pointed to a large terrestrial world. "This is Shondar Majoris. It's the capital and focus on the attack."

The hololith zoomed in, displaying the planet and its moons.

"The invasion is being carried out by the Tau Empire." She paused, noting the automatic, ingrained distaste that flashed across most faces. "The Tau invasion is not my concern, though. The Mission on the moon of Vensis Gamma has gone silent, despite the fact that by all accounts, the Tau never went near it. The Mission was highly secret, few knew of its location. As far as I'm concerned, Shondar Majoris can burn. But if someone has specifically targeted my old Mission, even if I don't have their faith any more, than I will not abandon them."

Dead silence. Dead, unreadable silence. She plunged on. "This will mean entering a warzone. Captain Syndragar has suggested that we ally ourselves with one of the forces. Unfortunately, we all know that any Imperials would shoot us on sight the moment they worked out who were were."

"You're suggesting we join the Tau," said Helga bluntly.

Tzarine paused for a moment. She could fence, she could mitigate, she could do all kinds of things… but in the end… "It's the proposal on the table, yes." She took in her soldiers. "It's time I stopped making decisions like that without any input from you. But that seems to be the most sensible course of action."

Mogana spoke up. "After Korgar and his Word Bearers, Tau will be an easy proposition. While we may all feel uneasy about working with aliens, Syndragar assures us that they pay well and play straight. Who here has any real love for the Imperium any more, after what they did to us?"

"What if the Tau were responsible for the deaths of your Sisters? What if we are instructed to kill them ourselves?" Every eye locked onto the speaker with instinctive hostility, but Llthaanhir was unfazed. "We will be left in an awkward situation if you start refusing orders due to some sense of misplaced loyalty. Those in that Mission will not be your friends any more."

"The Tau are not responsible for the Mission going silent," said Tzarine.

She sounded so certain that everyone stared at her curiously. She could feel Llthaanhir's daemonic gaze in particular boring into her. "Then what is?" the warp creature asked. "And how do you know?"

Tzarine did not reply for a time, and then shook her head. "Call it instinct. Regardless, decisions must be made. I am your commanding officer, and in the field I expect to be obeyed and treated as such. Right now, though, I will not force this band along a path that you do not want. If you object to this course of action, if you think allying with the Tau will be a mistake, speak now."

At the far end of the crowd, a figure looked for a moment at Tzarine, and then left, the hatch sealing with a thud. Tzarine closed her eyes for a moment. "Dismissed. Squad commanders… Llthaanhir, with me."

The ordinary Sisters quietly left. A moment later, the six indicated were left. Zekka, her Amazonian bodyguard; Morgana, her second-in-command and leader of one of the main units; Ysabella, Morgana's stoic counterpart; Helga, the psychotic Seraphim who had made killing Space Marines look easy on Senaav; Karis, the former Inquisitorial Stormtrooper who had defected to their side rather than be shot down; and the daemon.

They looked at her expectantly, and Tzarine gathered her thoughts. "This is, for the moment confidential. I expect you all to use your judgement if and when the situation arises to spread this." She hesitated. "I knew the Mission was in trouble before I heard about the distress signal. I thought it was a dream, but now I'm not so sure."

Llthaanhir pricked up her ears.

"I saw one of my old Sisters being hunted down by a… thing. It tortured her to death, mercilessly. I'm not sure what it was, but it was powerful, fast and stealthy. I don't make a habit of having prophetic dreams, but I don't believe in coincidence, either. If I really was having a vision, and it gives us any clue as to what we're dealing with… you should know about it."

Zekka nodded seriously. Tzarine remembered the woman remarking that she came from a feral world, where dreams and visions were an accepted part of everyday life. "Tyranid?" she asked.

Tzarine shook her head. "Intelligent. It spoke, seemed to have some knowledge of the Emperor."

"Chaos?" Helga offered. She looked dubious, but she could apparently see the sense in Tzarine's thought process.

"I don't think so. Too coherent and focused. Every worshipper or being of Chaos I've ever interacted with has had a disconnected element to them. This creature was crystal clear and terrifying. Absolute hatred, nothing but raw, directed malice without any of the bleed-off you'd expect. 'I have no mercy, only malice.' That's what he said when she was pleading…"

"All that hatred… directed at Sororitas?" asked Morgana quietly. She could remember how Tzarine had looked after that dream, and whatever the ramifications if her commander was starting to have visions… no ordinary dream could leave someone that shaken.

Tzarine nodded.

"Fascinating," said Llthaanhir. There was an oddly subdued note to the daemon's voice. "If this was more than a dream, then it should not be taken lightly. Chaos or not, anything with that much directed hatred is a great threat. Did you get a clear sight of the being?"

"Claws. I think they might have been weapons rather than natural, but it peeled the girl's power armour apart with ease. Not huge, but bigger than the average human." She shook her head. "Whether or not it was a dream, I felt that you all should be warned. This 'Malice' took apart an entire squad with ease. If you encounter him, be cautious. No unnecessary risks. I don't want to find your skinned bodies."

There was silence for a time, then the Sisters left to attend to their pre-campaign rituals and preparations. Tzarine remained behind for a moment longer, closing her eyes.

Stronger even than the image of Malice in her skull was that of the cold venom in Rhia's eyes before she had left.