Celestian Superior Vylerine pressed down the hall as quickly as she could. Each of the shrines she passed looming down on her, the eyes of the decorational skulls casting judgment as she hurried past. Each shrine demanded at least a minute prayer at each, and under more normal circumstances, she would observe this tradition. However, today she would instead self-flagellate herself for ten minutes for each she ignored once the day was done. Today there was something else that demanded immediate action.
Outside her personal armor and in her robes, the thirty-four-year-old woman felt less steady in her stride. However, the weight of the tomes at her side, the bolt pistol on her thigh, and the distraction of today's events allowed her to press forward as if she were in power armor of an even greater quality than she had ever worn. As she marched down the hall, servo-skulls observed her, her long blond hair flowing behind her, and if not for the scars on her left jawline and the strength in her posture, she might have been mistaken to be anything but the Sororitas she was.
Eyes full of condemnation watched Vylerine as she reached the end of the hall. Priests stood clustered in the corner by the doors to her objective, muttering condemnation, baseless rumors, and a few rumors that may be true to one another. She cared not for their looks nor their reasons for being there. Instead she ignored them and their protests as she reached the doors and knocked as hard as she could, the sound of her knocks ringing like adamantium down the hall. The veteran Sororitas waited for a short moment and impatiently prepared to knock again. After that, if she was made to wait any longer, she would simply open the doors herself. However, before she could strike the doors again, a pair of Cherub Servitors opened the two massive doors for her. Her arm hung uselessly in the air as the path to her and her destination was cleared of obstacles.
The sight on the other side of the door pulled at Vylerine's heart; she felt tempted to drop to her knees immediately. However, a surge of will allowed the Sororitas to walk into the waiting chamber without changing her expression from the disinterested mask she was wearing. After she walked in, the sound of the doors sealing closed behind her nearly surprised her, their silence a testimony to the devotion to detail the room's only other occupant possessed. The sounds of half-intelligible prayers seeped from the other end of the chamber, giving her time to take stock of any changes in the room.
The gold-lined mahogany desk remained where it had been for over eighteen years; the candles burned dimly in their usual places, and a new servo-skull floated in the corner of the room, organizing the hundreds of books that occupied the bookshelf which lined the chamber. So little about the room, its occupant, and the shrine at its other side had changed, making it, like its owner, such a bastion for faith for all those years.
However, the changes were there, and now they seemed to glow to Vylerine. The old inkwell and parchment were gone, replaced by a data slate and an electro-pen. A new stack of books lay on the desk, replacing the treatise of the war series supposedly written by one of the Emperor's sons. The new books were guides on sermons and autobiographies of missionaries whose successes saw entire worlds throw off the shackles of false faith, false ideals of atheism, and depraved soul-thirsting gods, and instead return to the Emperor's holy guidance. Gone was the bolt pistol that casually lay upon the desk, last year replaced by a model cathedral.
"What brings you here in such a hurry, sister?" The room's other occupant asked, the voice weighed down by years of hardships, knowledge that most assuredly had been ordered to keep secret, and loss that would make any hardened veteran weep. The question was followed by the other occupant rising from their kneeling position, silhouetted by the fire at the base of the shrine at the other end of the room.
Vylerine almost wavered; she almost chose instead to flee in embarrassment and to instead return to her chambers to punish herself for her misdeeds. "I came to demand to know why." She eventually stated resolutely, reaching into her robes to remove the parchment she had received. The writing holding such weight that it felt physical. She felt damned just by touching this paper.
The amusement in the other's voice almost sparked Vylerine's wrath. "And what is so wrong with this? Am I not allowed to do what I have done? Please enlighten me as to what I could have possibly done that has you only now storming into my office. Did you not sense this was coming for years? Did you not know that I was preparing you for this eventuality ever since I took you under my wing? You have been a star under my guidance for so long, and I always knew this was coming. So I've done what had to be done." Her wrath was slowly eating away at her; the feelings of this betrayal were building.
"What... What you've done? I have served for over eighteen years; in those eighteen years, only once have I ever wavered, and only once have I ever made any mistake. You now think you can just do this to me, to all of us?" Vylerine's voice was trembling; she wanted to scream, but the priests outside meant she could not, or else she would shame herself and her current host. She wanted to display her outrage, but it would be futile.
Across from her, soft laughter flowed. "You think I'm acting out of some disregard for that? Dear Vylerine, this is for you more than it's for me or for anyone else. Don't think of it as a betrayal but instead think of it as what it is: an opportunity to expand your future. After all, no matter how loyal you have ever been, I never planned on dying any time soon, and even if I died, then you'd have to wait even longer before your own chance to lead would come about. The galaxy is much larger than just you and I, than our sisters, or the priests who rely on us. You've seen that firsthand; your armor bears the markings to show even an ignorant novice that truth."
Finally she did break; she could no longer control herself as she shouted her reply. "You think I cared about leading! I never even considered it. All I know, all I am, is my service to the Emperor, to the Ecclesiarchy. And now you do this? How could you?" The world went dark as dark thoughts clouded her, wrath and despair, perpetual self-loathing, knowing that she was never worthy of anything she had ever received, that surely when she had been chosen for the sisterhood, some dark spell must have blinded those making the judgement to just how wretched she was, how she hadn't even been allowed to do much as considering ending her farce in the Repentia.
Suddenly Vylerine could feel arms clasped tightly around her. The scent of perfume, the feeling of the short hair of her canoness, the warmth of her embrace. "I know Vylerine. But you must understand the bigger picture."
"No." How could she send her away? She still needed guidance to become a Sororitas worthy of the attention heaped upon her. She needed time to prove herself worthy of the rank she had been bestowed with far too early.
"No, you MUST!" Canoness Kathais demanded, tightening her hold. "Tying yourself down like this will only ensure your own failure." The embrace ended, and the woman silently strode to her desk before sitting down. At sixty-seven years, she still looked to be only in her thirties and moved as if she were even younger. With rejuvenant treatments, the canoness would serve for perhaps centuries. As she sat, she began to use the pad on her desk to pull off cogitator commands on her screen.
"You keep saying that. What are you getting at?" The sister demanded, reining in her emotions.
"Vylerine... I'm releasing you from the service of our Coven... I'm releasing you because the Ecclesiarchy wishes for us to provide veterans to lead a new mission on a world we are establishing a crucial presence on." Kathais explained straightly. "I am not punishing you; I have nothing to ever hold against you. You and you alone are your harshest critic. I know in my heart the Emperor approves of you; I've seen his light in you. Vylerine, all I want for you is success. And I think this..." The Cogitator displayed a series of images: a new order symbol, a new armor color pattern, and the schematics for a new structure, which the Canoness gestured towards. "...is the perfect chance for you to try your hand at being CANONESS Vylerine."
Vylerine stood shocked. How should she respond...how could she respond? The tension was lost; the ache in her heart felt more severe but was now matched with guilt. Meanwhile, laughter emerged from the canoness. "I order you to not flagellate yourself tonight; I forgive you your mistake, for it is partially my fault, sister. However, I wish for you to begin packing and preparing not only your own gear but also to take from our reliquary what you need. The ship that will be taking you on your journey will be arriving in two weeks time, and if I may so impose, I have some lessons I wish to provide you with before you leave. I have learned that becoming a canoness is something no woman is ready for, no matter how many years they've spent being groomed and in positions of power. They need to experience their own mission firsthand and to be tried by the unique trials the Emperor has prepared for them specifically for each mission; it is unique in its own ways. You will report to your new canoness superior and take on her test of faith and be assigned your first Commandery. May the Emperor guide your every step, Canoness Vylerine."