The evening found the Cadians and Gallians in their camp in and around the village. Among the lines, the soldiers lit campfires around which many of each allied unit gathered, sitting themselves down. Cadian troopers took out Meal Ready-to-Eat packages out of their kit bags, popping them open while sat among the ruins of broken houses. The civilians of the town had formed a caravan that was now under the escort of a Cadian battalion, but a few stayed behind. The town's watch, that it was.
Yrine and Alvin were sat together, exchanging small-talk and food with the rest of their squad. Alvin, meanwhile, also eyed the Colonel as he joined the officers. He furrowed his brows, before digging the metal spoon from his mess kit into the pot of beans, corn and some sort of ground meat, presumably from some Grox. The sauce was a colored, thick porridge, brownish-green and smelling like the ass-end of a Greenskin after it got hit by lasrifle fire, but it was food.
A nudge in his elbow took his attention and he looked at his sister, her helmet off her head and a raised brow, "You can't seriously still be thinking about it... Alvin, he got us off Cadia somehow..."
"It was luck, Yrine... You and I both know that..." The soldier murmured, then sighed, "And remember... He didn't get us all off..."
"He couldn't have possibly known about Mara, Alvin... You're blaming him for something Chaos did." The girl noted, putting down her food tin. Mara had been the youngest of the Karon family, a 7-year-old girl who had been caught in the middle of a Chaos ambush with a retreating squadron of the surviving Cadian 'PDF' units, their Whiteshields. She'd been in training with the youngsters, too.
The 13th managed to catch the ambush, if only just, during the waning hours of the invasion. The Colonel, then freshly-promoted, had ordered an assault to rescue the encircled group of kids and just in the nick of time, too. Some were in Kasr Creed, helping as best they could. Of course, Chaos always had to fuck with things. A bigger army group arrived and...
Alvin shook his head "Emperor damn it, sis... He could've ordered us to hold the line, at least until we found her in the Caravan..."
"And risk all of us...?" Yrine sighed. She covered her face with both hands, then spoke, her voice muffled, "Alvin, don't make me say stuff like this... Makes me sound like an Emperor-damned soulless wench... And it sounds like I'm suggesting I agreed to the idea of leaving her and her 'platoon' behind..." and she looked to him, hands lowered and eyes puffy and red.
Alvin shook his head, then breathed in and out, "Sorry, sis. I wasn't suggesting that, but..."
"I know, Alvin... I know..." The girl wrapped her arms around her legs, hugging them, "... But I can't blame him for it..."
The two disagreed on that. Telos could've damn well waited. He could've bloody waited for them to at least find out if Mara was still alive. Alas, he needed to think this through. He'd talk to Telos about this if he found the time. And the guy alone. The two almost jumped as they saw a bowl of fruit set down by two pale hands in front of them. They looked up, to see a young Darcsen girl, the flickering light of the fire shining in the oily dark-blue eyes of hers. She couldn't be any older than 5. Flashing a welcoming smile, she ran back out of the middle of the formation of Guardsmen, to her mother and father, who were combing the ruins of what one could presume to be their house.
The two Guardsmen watched the girl help, then looked to the bowl of fruit. Yrine didn't even hesitate, picking the freshest-looking fruit out of there, an apple, before biting down hard into it. A shiver snaked up her spine and she almost let out a noise unbecoming of a soldier, before she said with her mothful "Thish shtuff tastes great!"
Alvin, his sour mood slowly retreating, tried and failed to stifle a chuckle garnered by his sister antics and said "Emperor and Throne, Yrine, at least swallow."
The other Guardsmen in the ruin laughed too. One of them was fiddling with his Lasgun's power pack as he quipped, "It's nice to see you two ain't lost your sense of humor." while the others went about their business, one sharpening his bayonet, while another ate a cracker from his MRE box. Alvin rolled his eyes at his comrade's comment, before waving him forward and pointing at his food tin. The man extended it and got three times a spoon-full of the MRE slop. He nodded, tipping his cap, before leaning back and pulling out his own spoon. The others followed up with their own tins and Alvin calmly filled them in, turning to joking with the boys.
His sis chuckled, patting him on the shoulder before she stood up, rifle slung over her shoulder and the fruit basket in hand. She'd left the boys an apple each, before going to do the rounds and hand some of the stuff over to the Cadians and their Gallian allies. Farther behind, in one of the common dugouts, a Cadian sniper fixed his scope's rifle and ranged it in, muttering a Prayer of Calibration, his Uplifting Primer in the other hand.
Marina eyed the kid, hugging her rifle close to her slim frame, while other Cadians checked their other kit. They piled grenades in a metal box in the trench, before checking them over. Another had pulled out some sort of scanning device which shone a deep emerald light and beeped. He went on to calibrate it as well. A fourth soldier, this time a Gallian that Marina knew as Vyse, looked over his SMG, while his friend, the redhead Aika, regaled him with a tale in whisper while checking the chamber of her rifle with a smile.
The woman peeked over the lip of their dugout, into the dark forest and scanned for movement. No movement to be seen or heard, except for the dugout farthest ahead, the early warning one. It had a heavy machine cannon of some kind mounted on a low tripod, to allow the gunner to shoot from down in the trench. It also had some sort of Night Vision equipment and a screen through which they looked. That trench was manned by five Cadians and one Gallian scout with binoculars. The Cadians went in the order of the gunner, loader, assistant gunner and two riflemen.
She looked up as she saw a Cadian standing over her. The girl took a knee, then extended a half-empty bowl of fruit and said, "Take some, lads and ladies." with a smile, "Should be good enough to stave off the hunger for the evening."
Marina looked at the scarred, peppy youngster, before taking a fresh pear out of the bowl. The others picked their favorite from apples, pears and other large fruit of a similar type. The sniper girl murmured a silent "Thanks" before she bit down into the sweet fruit. Rest of the trench also gave a quick thank you to the runner before she dashed off to deliver more fruit to others, presumably.
Vyse chuckled, racking the bolt of his SMG and setting it to his side, before biting down on an apple and saying "This stuff must be locally grown. Tastes like it was picked fresh off the orchard."
"I'd be amazed if they had an orchard here, Vyse." The sniper Cadian referred to their Shock Trooper by his actual name. Marina would've asked why, but the answer wouldn't have helped her. He continued, "Forest's too thick. Import, sure, but..."
Vyse smirked and pointed up at a hill that was barely visible in the darkness. There, trees sat aligned neatly in rows. He said, "Couple scouts from Squad 3 already cleared that area and said the Imps have no way of getting up there, just in case you wanted to know. Not without the other platoons in the perimeter figuring them out and hammering them. So don't worry about it too much... Our flanks are safe."
"That's reassuring..." Aika smiled, then she looked over to Marina as the girl silently ate her fruit. The redhead asked, "You alright there, Mari?"
She nodded, then said, "Listening for movement..."
"Mhm." Aika smiled "Alright. We'll leave ya to it."
"Warn us if you hear anything..." One of the Cadians quipped, sliding a fresh power pack into his las rifle before leaning it against the trench. He sat himself down, back against the dugout wall facing the gunnery dugout, before he pulled a cigarette out of his hip pocket, slid it into his mouth and lit it with a zippo. The Gallians, as expected, raised eyebrows at that. The young trooper noted, "Calmers. Lho-sticks."
"We call'em cigarettes... And usually, you don't let kids buy'em." Vyse noted.
"Welcome to the Guard, then." Chuckled the other one, leaned onto the trench lip and watching the outside with the gunners, "It's either this or amasec and none of us 13th Regiment are hardy drinkers."
"... Damn..." Whispered Vyse, looking to the kid as he took a puff out of the cig. He flicked the ash over the edge, then took out his Uplifting Primer and started reading from it. He whispered a prayer to himself, for him and the others with him, before taking out an Imperial rosary and kissing it. He set it back under his shirt, slid the book into his kit bag, then sat there.
Farther along the lines, Monyka, Saoirse, Yuri and Nat sat by the campfire with Squad 7 members. Yuri sharpened her blade on her armored gauntlet, looking between her fellow Gallians, among which a couple of Darcsen, before she looked over to Nat. The peppy young pinkhead of the team smirked as she looked over her carbine, slamming in a power pack, before leaning it on the remnants of a brick wall and leaning herself back, a content smile on her face.
Monyka, meanwhile, hummed as she arranged her various rosaries, sigils and even her Servo-Skull's(THE UTMOST CREEPIEST MACHINE'S) scripture and parchments. Saoirse followed up the line, checking her own Hellgun with calm and tending to its hoses, wires and few moving parts with an unparalleled ease. The girl was sometimes clumsy, as one could point out to when she tripped several times during the assault here. Still, her aim was usually true.
Yuri turned to spinning a knife between her fingers, unable to calm down after having just gotten her first taste of battle. Nat heard the whoosh of the blade dancing through the air, then looked over to Yuri and raised a brow. She smirked, watching the knife tricks the girl was pulling with quaint interest. Monyka served as background music for the little show, but Yuri stopped, grabbing the knife by the handle in a lightning-fast demonstration of her sleight of hand. She then slid it back into its spot on the belt, sheathed her sharpened sword and looked around.
Still, she could see the uneasiness in Yuri. All four of them were silent, save for Monyka's humming, while the Gallians spoke, fraternized, laughed and such. It must've been odd for Yuri. The pink-haired Nat hummed, listening to Monyka's humming, before straightening up and nudging their resident Psyker in the shoulder. The woman stopped, looked to Nat and raised a brow.
The girl said, "Hey, Mony. Can't ya... Y'know... Sing a bit?"
"I was...?" Monyka seemed confused.
"No, no, I actually mean sing. With words and everything. Could help relieve some tension..." The girl smirked, tilting her head toward Yuri. Monyka looked over to the girl whose eyes darted all over the place, then she smiled. She looked to Nat, then gave a nod. Nat patted her on the back, giving her a thumbs up and helping her to her feet. She dusted herself off, then looked to Nat as if asking 'are you sure'. The pink haired-girl, meanwhile, didn't even hesitate to nod.
Monyka rolled her eyes, then stepped up to the center of the ruin and looked around. Nat called out to the talking Gallians "Alright, folks! E'rry one, quiet please! Mony agreed to give us a little concert!"
That got the attention of the group. For a moment, Monyka hesitated, clearing her throat. Then, she closed her eyes, breathed in and started. It was a slow song, a song for soldiers... "I am a poor... Wayfaring soldier. I'm struggling through this war of woe... Yet there's no sickness, toil or danger in that bright world to which I'll go. I'm going there, to see my father. I'm going there, no more to war... I'm only going, o'er Jordan... I'm only going, o'er home..."
The voice was angelic, resonating throughout their compound, all the way to the edges and garnering the attention of every soldier. It eased the tense spirits. Near the command post within the standing house, the Colonel had opened the windows to allow the group of troops to listen in, before he marched out to join his men outside. He leaned against the wall near the entrance, looking right at the 'club president' singing, her hands gripping her staff tightly. Her psychic powers were a strong part of this song, helping soothe the pain and fear many of those present felt.
He himself felt his heart rate slow as he heard her sing. It'd been a while since basic. Even longer since she'd actually gotten to sing. Infantry cuddled their rifles or just listened in, while the tank crews near the motorpool continued their maintenance more calmly than before. Monyka continued, her eyes scanning the Gallians around her and her own team as she sang "I am a poor... Wayfaring soldier. I'm struggling through this war of woe... Yet there's no sickness, toil or danger in that bright world to which I'll go. I'm going there, to see my mother... I'm going there, no more to war... I'm only going o'er Jordan... I'm only going o'er home..."
And as the song finished, several hundred soldiers clapped for the Psyker, many bearing smiles on their faces. Having just arrived to their side, Yrine offered Monyka the bowl and winked, before saying "You can take two, Mony. Just for that voice." and watching the girl get flustered. She chuckled, then extended the bowl after the singing Psyker had taken her share. Yuri nodded with a smile to the girl, Saoirse beamed and Nat gave a thumbs up.
Later on in the night, the forward outpost had called the Colonel up from his CP. The sound of marching boots had put the entire perimeter on alert, but gun nest guarding the road had given the all-clear after they heard singing. And, indeed, through the night, the Colonel saw what amounted to a scratch company of civilians, mostly of Darcsen descent, marching toward the camp. About 100 people, young and old, carrying age-old rifles on their backs.
"Lever-action rifles...?" Welkin asked, approaching the colonel.
Largo laughed "Those guns are older than my granddad!"
The man leading the small company of mix-dressed and poorly-armed Darcsen, a scruffy-looking elder with greying blue hair, a five o'clock shadow as is facial hair and a missing eye, as well as a Darcsen shoal wrapped around his shoulders and an officer's cap on his head, waved to the Colonel. The man tipped his cap, then saluted and said "Colonel Telos, I presume. A pleasure to meet'cha, sir."
"You are?" The Colonel saluted back and raised a brow, eyeing the other volunteers.
"Major Ryan, formerly of the Militia! I served Gallia during the Great War alongside some of the lads behind me. We heard from one of my old pals over in Vasel what you did for him and his family, then what your Lieutenant did for one of our villages nearby the mountains." The old man smiled proudly, then added "We're here to throw ourselves back into the fray, colonel, for Gallia and for the people who protected our fellow Darcsen."
"Weren't most Darcsen peaceful by nature?" The Colonel raised a brow.
"Most of us, aye." Ryan smirked, "But trust me, sir, we ain't got time to give a damn for what the world things of us... You saved Darcsens and preached that we're all brothers united by your faith... Well, what kinda family would we be if we wouldn't join you?"
With a smile, Matias showed he knew he couldn't talk the man down. He shook his head and sighed, then pointed to one of the more free dugouts and said "Scatter your men among the inner perimeter... I'm not putting you on front line duty quite yet, major. Your men will need to be trained properly when we get back to Fort Amaranthine... Until the, all I can say is... Welcome to you, First Darcsen Company."
The boys cheered and the Major saluted again, "Got it, sir! We won't let ya down!" before turning to his boys and girls and calling out "You heard the man! To the second defensive perimeter!" and watching as the 100 soldiers scrambled over one-another to do so, tripping, scattering and all-in-all being not very well-trained, sans for their little officer corps of about five Lieutenants and ten sergeants, whom actually seemed professional veterans.
Ryan chuckled, rubbing the back of his neck and saying "Yeah, you may be right about the training... I'll go man my post with the lads, sir..."
Matt nodded, "Dismissed..." before watching the man move to rally his 'troops'. He sighed, then looked to Welkin and said "I honestly hope they remember the training, if they had any. I have a gut feeling we aren't going to have it any easier tomorrow." before offering a nod to the man and his Sergeant and stepping off. Welkin and Largo looked to the kid, fairly concerned for that same situation. Darcsen weren't proficient fighters, not all of them.
Welkin wondered what the Colonel's plan was.
Meanwhile, by the southern outposts, within a half-broken ruin, a Cadian soldier extended a bottle to Alicia. The girl took it, popped the cap and sniffed the contents. She felt her nostrils burn as the alcohol inside the beverage made itself known. She swallowed, having gone pale thanks to the smell, then asked, "How much alcohol is in this thing?"
"About 120 proof, so 60%, if I recall correctly..." Chuckled one of the older kids, "It's just Amasec. Go on, sarge. Take a swig."
"I appreciate it, but... No, thanks..." She winced, putting the cap back on and handing it back. The soldier rolled his eyes, taking the bottle, uncapping it and murmuring something about cowardice. He took a swig of the bottle,. Alicia and the other Gallians looked on, horrified, as the kid finished about a fourth of the bottle, before setting it aside and grinning.
"Geez..." Susie murmured, "How isn't your stomach burning from that?"
"Oh, lass... It is." He chuckled, before holding down a burp. He winced, then shook his head and laughed, "But it's a good burn. One I'm sure you Gallians couldn't take."
"You kids are crazy." Alicia struggled not to smile at the antics.
"That's a Cadian for ya, sarge." A girl that passed by them spoke, going toward the northernmost section of the line to relieve the guards there. The others laughed again, joined by the Gallians this time around, with Alicia included. She rolled her eyes, then looked to the others as if she was asking if she should take the challenge. Susie shook her head, vigorously pleading to Alicia without saying anything NOT to take it. Jane and Wendy, meanwhile, gave thumbs up and grins, nodding just as vigorously for a yes.
Alicia smiled sadly to Susie and said "Sorry, Sue... I think this is a matter of national pride at this point." before turning to the kids with a smirk and adding "Pass me the bottle."
The Cadians all grinned and the young kid, also a Sergeant in the ranks, slid the girl the bottle. Susie winced as she saw the girl dip her head back and, without hesitation, chug another fourth of the bottle, her face burning red-hot. The girl quickly withdrew the bottle from her lips, slamming it onto the wooden table and panting as the alcoholic beverage worked. Her eyes darted between the kids and the passing Gallians.
"Uh... Sarge?" Rosie stopped, looking at a now-wobbling Alicia, "You alright, kiddo?"
"'mfine...!" She slurred out, "Jus' took a sip froo-" She hiccuped "a canadadadian drink..."
"Oh, boy..." Rosie murmured, picking up the bottle on the table and looking over it. She narrowed her lips, reading the label. She eyed the kid sitting across from Alicia, then asked "You kids safely drinking this?"
"Yup." The boy answered in a heartbeat, his cheeks only barely tinted red, "Helps take the edge off."
Rosie wanted to contemplate the sight before them:her drunken sergeant, her friends sitting behind her and trying to nurse her back to sobriety and praying that the girl would still be alive by the time she woke up and the group of kids who seemed to not give two fucks and a hand-grenade about the fact that this drink had a higher alcoholic content than anything you'd see on the market and that was not destined for mixing into a cocktail.
She clicked her tongue, setting the bottle onto the table and saying "Right... I'll go let the Lieutenant and Fina know of your state, Sarge... Maybe they can prep the aspirins and a bed for you to nap on."
"Roshi, 'm fine! Seriously!" Alicia hiccuped again, "Look! I can walk!" and, of course, she stood up too fast, tripping over her own two feet and falling face-first into the rubble. The Shock Trooper sighed, then looked to the chuckling Cadian kids. She held back her desire to smile, stepping off to get Welkin and at least one of the Sellers sisters to cart Alicia to an aid station so she could rest.
"Pfft... Freakin' lightweight." The leading kid said, standing up and adding, "C'mon, fellas. Let's help the Gallians drag the sarge over to medical."
"Is she gonna be okay?" Susie looked hopefully to the kid. He nodded.
"Relax. It's only a bit of Amasec. She didn't even drink enough to cause alcohol poisoning." He jovially spoke, taking a knee and flipping the Sergeant onto her back while Susie seemed to pale ever more, even in the light of the fires. She blinked at them, seemingly unable to properly articulate any words. A few groans and grunts was all she could say, but the finger jabbed into the leader's breast plate told him enough. He and his boys hoisted her up just as Fina and Welkin arrived, before all of them stepped off to the medical area.
In the thick of the troops, by Elaine's squad, Irene Ellet took pictures of the Cadian and Gallian infantrymen camped together. There was a very light level of disregard between the two sides, but the ice had been broken this evening as the alien kids talked and laughed with their Gallian counterparts. The Bielert brothers seemed to have taken this to heart the most, chatting up two Cadian girls and actually getting laughs out of them, somehow.
She photographed whatever she caught a good sight picture of, to show the cooperating troopers. The Sevens seemed to have gotten used to the more eccentric members of the 13th as well, with the Kasrkin commander regaling a few more of the members with tales of training, last the woman had passed through there. She caught a glimpse, however, of a young man that sat, secluded from all the others and reading some sort of book.
She hummed, standing up and turning to walk to him, before a heavy hand fell on her shoulder. She gasped and looked back, to see Colin, the commissar. He looked to her, "Despite our little arrangement for you to take photos of the Roughnecks, I am still here to keep an eye on you, journalist... If you want to talk to any one of our soldiers, you'll have to pass the request through me first."
"Oh... Right." Ellet hummed, then smiled and asked, "Can I go talk to the lone kid there?"
"Corporal Lark?" The Major raised a brow. He got a nod from the woman. He hummed, then said "Very well... Just don't expect him to speak very much. He's not talkative."
"Oh..." Ellet smirked, "I'll get him to talk somehow. Thanks, major."
Colin nodded to the woman, leaning against a wall and watching her walking toward the young soldier with a bit too jaunty a step. He wanted to comment on that, but was stopped by about 60 kilos of armor and girl slamming into him with a hug from behind. He chuckled, shaking his head and taking his cap off his head, before he turned to greet Amy. He spoke "You're getting better at stealth. I barely heard the rattle of your carapace this time."
She jabbed him playfully in the shoulder, then said "Ya know stealth ain't my thing, Colin, so quit pesterin' me about it. What's up?"
"Aside from the new Darcsen 'recruits' that the Colonel has deemed fit to let into our ranks, the camp is as calm as it can be." He noted, leaning onto his power sword. He put his peaked commissar's cap back on his head, then continued, "Some of our troops have been uneasy, though. They feel as though the enemy is far too easy for the Emperor to have sent us here simply to defeat them..."
"Aye, I agree with'em." The girl answered, looking over her Hellgun, "But I trust in His judgement. I don't doubt he's thrown us here for a reason... Feth, I bet we're gonna find out right as we hit the supply base."
Colin sighed, frowning and biting down on his lower lip in frustration. Amy winced at the reaction of the boy, then said "Sorry! Sorry... I know we're suppos'ta be Cadians now, but... Home just slips out some times."
He nodded, "It's fine, Amanda... It's fine..." and he admitted somberly, "I miss it too."
"Think Brin's okay?" She asked, seating herself down. Colin hummed.
"That Milo boy is probably somewhere out there, fighting like the rest of us." Colin responded proudly, neatly arranging his belt and his Power Sword's sheath, "Perhaps even with the famed First and Only."
"Emperor above, I'd bet." The girl chuckled, the slightly dour mood almost dissipated, "I also bet we're gonna run into'em some time. Fifty Crowns an' my lunch for a week.."
"Major..." He gave the girl the stink-eye, before adding "What did I say about gambling?"
She rolled her eyes, then slapped him over the shoulder and answered "Whatever, Colin. Imma go check on my boys and girls," then she tilted her head to the journalist and finished, "Ya keep up the good work."
He hummed, bidding a silent goodbye to the girl. She walked away back into the darker part of the encampment. Colin turned back toward the Gallian woman, eyeing her as she began her interview with the Cadian kid. He sighed, walked over to a low piece of rubble, then sat himself down and watched from afar, gauging Lark's reactions. He answered in three-word sentences, most of the time, giving just enough info for Ellet to get something to write home about, but never enough for Colin to be worried. He should be trusting these folks to make their own choices... The authority figures already made them as well, in helping the Gallians.
In another whole building in the village, the Medicae, both Gallian and Cadian, tended to some of the wounded from the last battle. Gina and Mina tended to the youngest of the Cadians, some of which were caught in the blast of a grenade's explosion. Luckily for them, their flak kit managed to stave off the worst of the damage. Of course, two of them still wound up with their legs bandaged from it and one was knocked out cold by the blasts.
"Hey, doc?" One of the kids started, looking over to Mina. The girl turned toward him and raised a brow.
"Something wrong, trooper?" She asked, approaching his bed.
He shook his head, then said "Just a tad hungry."
"I'll get you some crackers as soon as I can." She nodded, then turned to the second of the triplets and asked "How's the Lieutenant of the third infantry?"
"He's slowly coming to." Her sister promptly answered, smiling, "Though he's mumbling in his sleep."
"'Course he'd be." One of the Cadian medics walked in, looking over a couple of the other wounded with a clipboard in her hand. The ginger-haired woman with emerald eyes hummed, then said, "Well, good news is most of the boys here should be wakin' up pretty soon. Then, they'll be good for work again. We also got a voxcast from the Kasr saying that the convoy with the wounded from the ambush made it back okay."
"That's a relief." The two look-alike sisters said in unison.
"Yeah, relief." Chuckled a Cadian as he entered the medical area, then said "Not life-threatening... At least not unless I misread the amount of Amasec." And he jabbed a finger back at Fina and a few other Guardsmen hauling the drunken, mumbling Alicia Melchiott inside. The two other sisters chuckled at the misfortune their triplet had in hauling Alicia by the arms. She and her aides slotted the woman onto a free bed, then Fina went to work, to prep the aspirins and other bits of medicine necessary for Alicia's wake-up not to be an absolute nightmare.
"She'll be right by tomorrow..." The Medicae chuckled, "Amasec ain't really something folks around are used to..."
"Aye... We'll head on out then." The kiddo said, slinging his Las-rifle to his shoulder. The Medicae dismissed them with a handwave and they marched out, while Fina, Mina and Gina reunited. The three girls looked between one-another and at the Medicae working with the Cadians. They chuckled, before going back to work themselves and chatting quietly.
... Deep inside the camp, later in the evening, the Sisters of Battle and their preacher protege had formed a small 'church' where several Cadians had already come to pray. It was naught but a small altar with an icon, a rosarius and a few candles. The missionary provided those present with a sermon, a recalling of the Imperium's earliest history as written both in the book of the Imperial Faith and the historical records themselves, a wonderous tale of how the Emperor had fought bravely to reunite the scattered herd that is mankind and how even today, explorers work in tandem with the Ecclessiarchy and the Imperium at large to bring His sons and daughters back into the fold.
Yuri listened intently to the impassioned speech of the man as he told them proudly of that history, followed by the history of the Sisters of Battle themselves, the Adepta Sororitas. The heroes born out of the fires of the Age of Apostasy and the Reign of Blood, who slew the vile Cardinal and returned the true Light of the Emperor to their peoples. Beside her, several more Darcsen had joined the sermon, listening to the prayers and ethereal voices of the Sisters of Battle as they sang in some ancient Imperial language.
It was awe-inspiring, to hear such tales. Even though they sounded as a fantastical something out of a Religion of old here, much like Yggdism, they preached not superiority, but the greatness of Man, no matter what form it may take. The call to arms to help unify, the unified cry of Mankind's voice against the dark forces that sought to drown them in a tide of blood.
And then all doubts were assuaged by the presentation of images drawn with such detail that even historical records of old would wane in comparison. The battle aboard the traitor Son's flagship, the sacrifice of the Imperial Guard's only known Saint to save the Emperor himself and the victories. The drawings of the planet, Terra, of Cadia and of many other worlds. Historical and factual documents given an air of mysticism, an air of Holiness that nobody would have thought possible.
The Sermon had been long. It had gone on for three hours into the night, but the Darcsen, those that walked out of it, felt awed. Some couldn't believe what had just been presented to them. Yet, there they stood. The children of Cadia, the warriors of the Emperor, the Daughters of their Father on Terra. Even the destruction of Cadia was told through both prideful song and through actual documents presented about the losses.
Yuri sat outside the small ruin, staring at the ground as she processed all that she had heard. She bit her lower lip, watching as the leading Sister of the coven, the Canoness, exited the place herself. She gazed forward, white hair fluttering in the wind. She then noticed the Darcsen girl sat beside her and hummed, before saying quite observantly, "You seem in disbelief, child."
"... Forgive me, Canoness, but..." Yuri shook her head, "It's..."
"Incomprehensible? Yes, I know... I felt much the same when I was first brought into the Order. All these scriptures, all these files, all this data, so meticulously kept... Only to be brought to life the way only Faith can do." The Canoness crossed her arms, smiling brightly at the young girl, "Mankind's strongest weapon is Faith... It has guided us through the darkest of times, dispelled the greatest of evils and protected us. The Emperor himself is that Faith. And all that you have heard is proof of it. You may question it now, but in time... You shall see it as such, much as we have."
Yuri nodded, "The Imperial Faith will have to compete with Yggdism, however. Our people needed a rallying faith... A call to arms. I know that the small company of soldiers gathered by major Ryan will not be the last to join once they hear... Especially now. But..."
"We shall deal with Heretics and False Prophets as the need arises, young one." The Canoness responded more calmly tan one would expect, "Let faith protect your mind and metal, your flesh. Fight well."
The Darcsen nodded again, standing up. She bowed to the Canoness, who smiled...
The future of the entire world depended on how the Imperial Faith would be welcomed, at first by Gallia and next, by the others. It was time for a reform. It was time for mankind on this planet to be reunited, Darcsen or otherwise. They were all the Children of the Emperor. And they would be united as a family when the time came. Yuri hoped as much, at least...