The approach to the palace was almost as opulent as Vylerine had expected it to be. The Canoness was under no illusion about the righteousness of the imperial nobility. She knew, unfortunately, of the corruption that ran rampant among their kind. More often than even she would ever have enjoyed admitting, Vylerine had been part of ecclesiastical or Inquisitorial kill squads meant for the sole purpose of finding and terminating Imperial Gubitorial houses and noble bloodlines that had broken faith, treated with xenos, or even called upon the forces of Chaos for their own purposes. While she hoped that she would not have to storm yet another governor's palace, she took note of the barely hidden defenses scattered throughout the approach, her mind already plotting an assault against this compound if she ever needed to do so in the future.
As the ecclesiastical auto-carriage approached the manor's front doors, the Sororitas noted the heavy presence of security all around the compound. There were far more guards than most nobility had; most nobles would most likely have upwards of a hundred guards, not trusting to have more, probably thinking every extra guard after a certain number was an extra liability or something. That implied a few things, the two most likely being that this governor's daughter was foolish, thinking more guards alone meant more safety, or that there was an immediate reason to call upon this many guards.
As Vylerine stepped out of the vehicle, and the guards subtly turned their attentions outward while some with special weaponry tried to aim towards the vehicle with their weapons discreetly, the situation became obvious. The competence of these guards meant something important was taking place. Immediately the Canoness put her spirit on guard; something was afoot.
One of the guards approached, and after a quick inspection, announced that he would escort her to the Noble office. Vylerine compliantly followed the guard. He had taken her sword from her but allowed her to keep her autopistol sidearm. It was obvious that her bolt pistol would have been removed, so she had left it in the vehicle; there it would be safe, as the driver clearly saw it, like everything the canoness adorned herself with, as a holy relic. The driver then began to drive to a separate parking lot while already drawing his own weapons, clearly willing to fight and die to defend what the canoness left in her car.
The guard guiding Vylerine, himself, was burly and large; his role was obviously to physically challenge any guests who became too unruly. The man wore subtle body armor under his black suit and had gauntlets with clear electrodes for stunning targets as well as an ornamental sword on his hip. The guard was silent, but with subtle gestures, the man communicated perhaps more than he intended. Silently nodding or signaling to other hidden guard posts or showing an access card to various cogitator-controlled ident-scanners.
They led her into the building and through empty halls. Past suits of armor, from ancient replicas to ornate imperial guard carapace and a fake suit of power armor. Halls were filled with vases filled with exotic plants, some of which even the canoness could not name the origins of, and the walls with paintings, many of which were landscapes but others were of various noble figures.
The noble office was filled with books; if for show or for use, Vylerine did not know. In an alcove to the side, a sunken bar and table. The bar clearly stocked with alcohol while the table had an array of foods. However, the desk was something else, large, obviously thick, most likely to conceal the armored plating within. The desk, though, only served as an accessory to the individual behind it.
She was perhaps one of the more impressive nobles the canoness had seen in some time. The first thing Vylerine noted was how fit the woman was, something of a rarity among nobles but not always a good sign. Dark hair kept in a practical style framed a face that certainly could only belong to a noble, a little too aesthetically pleasing. However, two things showed the character of the woman across from her. First was that the woman had still not noticed her presence, too engrossed in papers to even look up; the second was when she finally looked up, and the Canoness could see the steel in the noblewoman's eyes. It was then that Hellen de la Torre, daughter of the planetary governor, spoke.
"I understand that you are Canoness Vylerine, of the Order of the Jade Heart. May I ask what has given me the distinct pleasure of hosting you this morning?" Hellen de la Torre asked, her voice flat, professional, and wholly business-oriented. It took the middle-aged sister a moment to assess the statement to find what could be her best possible reply.
This was not a combat situation; she could not just give orders, but outside of combat her interactions with non-sisters were limited save for a few notable associations. Vylerine settled for modifying her own manners towards higher clergy to hopefully convey proper respect but independent pride to the governor's daughter. "It was the will of the Emperor that brought me esteemed daughter. His divine will has provided me with a mission I must fulfill, and there is a difficulty that I, as a lone mortal, cannot solve alone. My order would be able to continue our holy mission unabated if none of your administration's actions were to thwart the purposes of the Ministorum."
Hellen stared at the Soroita for a long moment before making her reply. "Might I offer you a drink, or perhaps a light snack?" The heir-elect then gestured and moved towards her small bar. After a slight hesitation, Vylerine followed her host.
Taking a seat, Vylerine watched her host as the woman poured herself a drink and then took a place across from the Soroita. It was another quick sip of her beverage before Hellen spoke again. "I take it that you suspect that I am behind the current situation, which is preventing your contacts from beginning the expansion of your mission's facilities?"
"Are you not?" Vylerine stated flatly, her voice dripping with skepticism.
Hellen chuckled, "I indeed am, however it is in no way out of spite to the Ecclessiarchy, only an unhappy side effect." Another sip of the alcohol. "However, since we have found ourselves in this position of being unhappily at odds with one another, perhaps we could strike a bargain?" The gubernatorial heir-elect smiled slightly while trying to hand the canoness a blank parchment.
Vylerine remained still, as unmoved as a mountain against the heir's rouse. However, this only earned the Canoness an amused smirk from her counterpart as she drank more deeply of her alcohol.
"I take it you would like me to explain more before you would ever consider dealing with me?" An amused snicker slipped past Hellen's lip, nearly causing Vylerine to break her unmoving composure in frustration. "Well, as I told you, this sorry state of affairs has nothing to do with the Ecclesiarchy and myself. Only that you and a potential threat, an enemy of both my family and perhaps of the law of the Imperium itself, have made use of the same contacts and resources as your allies on this world." Hellen set her glass aside and leaned in towards the canoness.
"I'm sorry to say that my enforcers will most likely not be able to strike this enemy with enough haste to prevent him from removing all evidence of his collaborators. Until I know which ones are secretly working against this world, then I cannot allow any of these individuals to operate unhindered." Lady de la Torre affixed a look of sorrow upon her face, one that Vylerine loathed for the surface-level nature of it.
The smug behavior of the young woman before she crossed her legs and leaned back into her seat caused Vylerine to subtly clench her fist. "But if you and your sisters were to strike first, before my enforcers could begin their preparations, before any spies have a chance to warn Sir Grothard. The scum of a man almost certainly backing my father's enemies. Then I'm certain that you could prevent him from destroying the evidence linking him to his allies." The heiress smirked once more. "And for you, it would be little more than a training exercise, and I will make it a trivial matter to get the supplies you need."
The offer of the deal was clear enough, though the heir-elect clearly was not presenting Vylerine with everything; if she fought in place of the heiress's troops to put down this Sir Grothard, then the Sororitas would have their support returned to them; if not, then the governor's daughter would continue blocking the Ecclesiarchy's allies from providing what Vylerine and her sisters needed.
"I need to prepare my sisters." The Canoness declared, standing abruptly.
A look of triumph overtook the Heir-Elect. "I see we have a deal then; a Valkyrie will be provided for your use in this mission. I trust you will be victorious, Canoness, by the Emperor's will."
Vylerine did not stop to respond as she marched out of the room, only uttering a hasty, "As he wills indeed," as she left.
The interior of the Valkyrie was cramped, as it always was. Bellolla was hunched forward in what could only be described as a painful angle, allowing her jump pack room. The individual thrusters of the device are making subtle adjustments based on constant unseen commands from the ever-smiling Seraphim. Next to her sat Chrana, the Palatine's bolter, with its Sarissa combat blade attachment gleaming in the glow of the overhead lights, and her reserve weapon, a Meltagun, carefully maintained and sanctified in her previous monastery, was strapped to her lower back, its holy purpose a nearly tangible aura. Vylerine herself was only armed with her bolter, which mirrored Chrana's own, and her power sword, though the blade was almost unnecessary for a mission of this caliber.
Both sisters sat waiting for their orders, or even an explanation, from their canoness, and now Vylerine questioned what she even could tell her sisters. "We are about to deploy against the idolater who has resulted in our Mission's construction being delayed. If all goes well, we will be able to prove him and his accomplices heretics, and at worst we will remove him before he can cause any more issues for the Ecclesiarchy on this world."
It was a short silence before Vylerine's two Battle Sisters responded. "How shall we proceed, Canoness?" was all Chrana replied with, while Bellolla grinned wider, pulling her two bolt pistols from their holsters.
"We're deploying onto the roof of the target's central headquarters. His personal offices should be seven stories down from the roof. We should be launching our attack at the same time the local enforcers and Arbites begin a sudden deployment. Our task is not the elimination or capture of enemy forces but instead evidence to prove their treason and to put their allies to the sword."
Chrana's helmet gave nothing away, but she quickly gave her own advice. "They'll station enough forces to make our strike against the central office impossible to complete in time if we take a standard route through the building."
"Which is why we'll take a detour after attacking the main stairwell." Bellolla nearly shouted, her teeth showing through her smile. Before any further plans could be drawn, the drop light of the Valkyrie lit up.
"Bellolla!" With the single-word command, the Seraphim rose and leapt out the still-opening rear ramp of the Valkyrie. Shortly after the Seraphim left, Chrana and her canoness charged the still lowering repel lines descending from an anchor point to the Valkyrie's rear.
The first sight of the engagement was clear enough. Six targets all aimed various autoguns at the three descending sisters. However, Bellolla's opening salvo put five bolts out, two instantly ending the life of one unfortunate foe, the third decapitating the second fatality of the night, and the final two forcing two more targets to duck away into cover.
With little weapons fire accosting them, the two trailing sisters hit the ground hard, then took time to line up their Godwyn-De'as bolters with the enemy before opening fire. Each let loose a burst of four rounds, significant overkill for the two targets who were still unfortunate enough to still be in the open. With only two foes left, the Seraphim superior jetted above one of the last enemy's cover, descending upon him with the weight of her power armor, followed by the power of two bolt pistols. The last opponent, lining a shot for Bellolla's exposed head, found himself soon being bisected by Chrana's sarissa, and with simple brutality, the Palatine thrust the fist-wide blade through her opponent's skull, and with a forceful pull, removed her bolter from the corpse.
While the last two of the roof-guards were being dispatched, Vylerine charged the access door, throwing her entire weight behind her as she hit the barrier, breaking through easily. Inside the Canoness could see that this was the central stair system. Across from her was the platform for the next level down, three men with stub rifles and camouflage emerging from the door. The fourth of these opponents never emerged as quick fire from the Canoness ended him before he could join his comrades in taking cover by the armored railing and firing upwards towards the Canoness.
These three opponents were doomed to immediate failure when they engaged the Daughters of the Emperor. A frag grenade flew over the gap between the two levels and landed among the three men. The resulting explosion threw one of the targets over the railing and splattered the remains of the second against the wall. The third met death four seconds later as Bellolla's jump pack carried her across the divide and next to the stunned fool. Two seconds after that, Vylerine and Chrana caught up with the Seraphim.
Three Sororitas, however, stood as clear targets to the second level down's gathering defenders, and a hail of stub fire forced the Sororitas into cover. Chrana and Vylerine attempted to scatter the foes with a sweep of sustained fire, but the enemy used their own cover well and suffered no casualties. The Sisters of Battle had little time, as alarms and sounds coming from below signaled a significant force charging up the stairwell.
It was in this moment Vylerine made what she would consider her first field decision as Canoness. With a quick tap of Bellolla's shoulder, she gestured to the floor beneath them and beyond the foes on the level they were engaged with. With a flash of a smile, the Seraphim immediately obeyed, making a grunt of effort that was clearly more for show than actual effort. Bellolla threw herself over the railing, allowing herself to fall down the divide between levels. After falling past the next floor's defenders, the Seraphim jump pack activated, allowing the sister to reach her objective past the eight defenders.
The sound of immediate combat told Vylerine that Bellolla was already engaged with their next foes. Vylerine next gave a suppressive signal to Chrana, who immediately began to target the enemy with fire to suppress any targets who wished to fire. Then, giving herself to the Emperor and taking only a few forward steps, the Canoness threw herself across the divide.
By the time she had crossed the gap, Chrana had reduced the ten defenders to only four. Now only three remained, as the canoness' heel dug into the skull of the defender she had coincidentally landed on. With a quick, single-handed swipe of her bolter to her right, Vylerine embedded her sarissa into the neck of one of the three, and a pull of the trigger filled the second with bolt shells. Drawing her power sword with her free off hand, the Canoness simultaneously used the blade's tip to make a shallow backhanded stab into the lung of the third and final opponent to her other side.
Following her execution of the second-level defenders, Vylerine cast her gaze over her new cover and down to the third level. Bellolla had dispatched the roughly six foes whom she had initially encountered and now was pinned between the corner for the next stairway down and the door into that level where at least another heretic fired from.
In response, Vylerine leveled her bolter at the doorway as Chrana charged past her to join the Seraphim on the next level. A precise shot later and the heretic in the door was dispatched, leaving Bellolla free to hold back the defenders attempting to push up from below, and the Canoness was now open to join her sisters on the third level down. The third level where she planned to make their detour before they became trapped by the ever-increasing defenders.
As Vylerine and Bellolla pushed into the level, checking corners and kicking open doors, Chrana pulled one of her grenades and waited. Vylerine only heard the grenade strike the ground before the blast of the incendiary and the following screams told her everything she needed to know. Several seconds later, the Canoness found a clear room with what looked to be three support beams embedded into the walls. "Chrana, Melta, make us a path."
Chrana obeyed her canoness, immediately pulling her melta and firing the weapon into the floor, and slowly began to melt a circle in the flooring wide enough to allow the Sisters access. Once clear, Vylerine ordered Bellolla into the opening, and the Seraphim immediately obeyed. After a tense moment, Vylerine ordered Chrana through, and once the way was open, descended herself.
Seeing no immediate enemies on this floor, Vylerine formed her plan. "Chrana, again." She commanded, "If the next floor is clear, we will drop another floor, then press to the stairwell again. Chrana to the stair, you will cut off enemy reinforcements from above. Bellolla, you shall strike ahead and cut off the heathens coming from below. I will press towards the seventh level opening and clear the approach."
With their plan set, Chrana fired her melta again and again she swept the stream of the weapon in a circle. With their path cleared, the three Sororitas descended quickly, Vylerine leading the descent, this time only to find yet another empty room, but sounds of rushing feet coming from outside. Moving quickly, the Canoness found a large piece of furniture and quickly moved it to block the only door to the room, and as she did so, her sisters descended.
With a quick nudge of her head, Vylerine had Chrana begin burning her way to the final level. Meanwhile the Canoness took out a grenade, a strip of parchment, and two wax seals. Reciting the prayer of vengeance, the Sororita began wrapping the parchment around her now primed grenade while applying the wax seals to the door and to the wall next to it. Should the enemy now pounding at the door actually gather their wits enough to breach the door, the seal will be broken, allowing the grenade to serve its purpose.
Task completed, the Canoness turned, finding that her sisters had descended ahead of her. With a hurried pace, she dropped to the sixth floor down. As she descended, Vylerine landed amidst a scene of butchery, nine foes slain and one more, whom Bellolla was currently strangling while Chrana secured the door, firing at unseen targets.
A buzz at her ear told her that someone else was in range to communicate with the Canoness on her secure Ministorum frequency. "This is Arbiter Garroth. My enforcers and I have breached the main floor and are still in need of ascending twelve flights before we reach the target floor. Have you secured the objective?"
Vylerine thundered forward to join Chrana at the door, an explosion rippling from above, and once there she added her bolter to Chrana's. Eighteen targets waited at the hallway end, one with a heavy stubber. "We are nearly to the final stair to target level. However, you're early." She spoke into her own headset while taking aim for the heavy stubber, stepping into the gunfire-filled hall.
"I accelerated my timetable. We suspected that the informant had already suspected our actions." Came a distorted response, nearly lost to the sounds of battle and Vylerine's bolter as the shells left her weapon to exact the emperor's bloody vengeance on the heavy stubber and the fool wielding it. The shells tearing the metal and rending the man's flesh, stripping organs from bone, and shattering his spine.
"Damned... Sisters praise the Emperor and beg for him to grant you speed!" Canoness Vylerine shouted, now advancing down the hall, her bolter firing at full auto, targets finding their bodies ripped apart piece by blood-soaked piece.
With her order, both Chrana and Bellolla began the hymns of judgment, lyrics filled with condemnation and spite, giving viciousness to the three Sororitas' attacks. And where before the first verse twelve targets remained, by its end only five stood unharmed, while the rest were quickly bleeding to death with their hands or knees blown away by bolter fire. With their approach as clear as she suspected it would ever be, Vylerine gave the order to advance with a simple gesture.
Chrana led the charge, her sarissa being buried deep into the flesh of the first man to block her advance, and two more blown apart by her furious emptying of her current clip. Following after, Bellolla finished the final two with precise shots from her pistols.
With the hall clear, Chrana continued her charge, breaking through the door at the hall's end. The Emperor favored the three Sororitas as the lobby was clear and the door to the stairwell currently unguarded, though the distant sound of combat and shouting suggested that there would be a significant presence of combatants filling the stairwells. With practiced gestures, Vylerine delivered her orders to her sisters: advance and purify.
Bellolla was first through the doorway, and immediately her jump pack ignited, throwing her across the gap to the target floor. Chrana was next, and diving to the left, the Sororitas took post next to the stairway from above, already firing upon the incoming foes. Shortly after Vylerine stormed down towards the target level, her blade cut through any who stood in her way while her bolter cut through any too cowardly to meet her blade. In the opposite corner, Bellolla has already downed nine foes and was prepared for any oncoming heretics; with short, point-blank bursts, she felled any who came too close while erratic fire suppressed any who tried to advance from the level below. With her opening, Vylerine approached the door, only to find it sealed and shielded with a reinforced plate.
With a tap of her comm, the Canoness gave her next orders. "Hold on, I need time to create our opening. Thin their ranks as much as you may."
Besides the Canoness, Bellolla pinned the enemies below who seemed reluctant to focus their efforts above. On the floor they came from, Chrana was faced with the full weight of the enemy. Already the stairs were filled with the gore of shredded corpses, and now more than two dozen foes lined the rail above firing a heavy suppressive fire. However, Chrana's armor was blessed armor of the Sororitas, and with her helm, she shrugged off the weight of the enemy's fire, allowing her to throw a frag grenade up to the enemy, causing them to dive away and one to accidentally leap to his death attempting to avoid the coming explosion.
The explosion also led the enemy to rush down the stair, firing as they approached. Chrana, though blocked their way, her bolter cutting through flesh and bone, and once the enemy came close enough, with her finger not releasing the trigger, thrust her sarissa through the first to come. This was followed with a wide swipe of the still-firing bolter, which decapitated the second foe, while the bolts removed the final three.
"Sisters fall in; the way is open; let us meet their lord."
The passage into the administration offices of the facility was open, and excluding a small clutch of guards, which the Sororitas swiftly swept aside, it was virtually undefended. The illuminators had been disabled, casting the area in darkness; however, Chrana took the lead, the auto-senses of her helm easily cutting through the darkness. Vylerine and Bellolla both had their lamps ready, attached to their pauldrons; however, neither activated theirs, knowing that the light could well give away their positions to any waiting ambushers.
The swift advance of the Sororitas was unchallenged, however, until they reached the administrative-secretarate desk outside of the Noble's office. The gold lettering on the wooden door itself announced its owner audaciously. Sir Grothard could even be heard beyond the door, while a lone woman stood to the side, trembling in fear of the judgment of the emperor the Sororitas represented.
Vylerine quickly took command. "Bellolla, the wench. Chrana, break it down!" Chrana immediately complied, ramming through the door, while Bellolla cornered the panicking girl and, with a firm grip, held her in place. On the other side of the door, Chrana had barreled through, and it was evident that Grothard had attempted some form of resistance. The man lay groaning in pain at the Palatine's feet, while his hand and the toxic needle pistol in it lay in a red pool on his desk.
With growing trepidation, the canoness noted the garbage pail next to the noble's desk, a small fire destroying whatever papers he had thrown into it. "Report!"
"He was disposing of papers; he was opening the safe when I entered. After he tried to resist, I disarmed him." Chrana quickly informed her Canonness. The small safe freshly opened at the back of the room almost glowed with the riches, reflecting the light of the glow globes of the room. However, if the small package of papers in the safe were not what the misanthrope was burning, then what was?
Hastily the Soroitas cast her gaze across the space, only spotting an open file cabinet.
With a long-suffering growl, Vylerine turned to Bellolla and her captive, giving Chrana dismissive permission to attend to her captive. With her hard glare focused solely on the captive woman. With the scarred portion of her face turned towards the trembling captive, the canoness began to make demands of the secretary with all the conviction of aRedemptionist preacher. "You are currently damned for your association with this man. Tell me what you know for the chance to redeem yourself in the sight of our glorious Emperor, and perhaps when you face judgment for your portion in this filth's crimes, he might take mercy upon you. What did Grothard do before we arrived? What is currently burning in that bin?"
The frightened girl capitulated immediately, desperation tinging her voice. "He was pulling files from his short storage drawer. He stores information with short-term relevance or that he wants to phase out quickly. Like the deals he has recently formed with a number of lords, the—" The confession was cut short as several shots rang out; the girl's head snapped to the side as brain matter exploded out the side. In reaction, Bellolla snapped her gauntlet up to block her head while her thrusters sent her straight into the concealment of the desk.
Down the hall a force of enemies had gathered and began unleashing a barrage of slugs. The nine foes must have cautiously followed the sisters and chosen now to attack with the sisters' attentions focused elsewhere. Chrana had already set herself to protecting the captive; this left the foe to Vylerine and Bellolla. The Canoness joined the Seraphim in her cover; Bellolla was hunched to the side with a pained growl, giving Vylerine reason to worry.
"Bellolla, report."
The Sororita turned to her Canoness, a gouge of missing flesh scraping across her temple showing where the enemy had hit her while blood seeped from her skull. "I need a moment, Canoness; I need to inject some Stimm; the wound hit right to spark unusual pain." The Seraphim quickly reached into her supply belt and grabbed a syringe for a quick injection. Once injected, the Seraphim grinned widely once again before using her thrusters to flip over the desk, firing her bolt pistols wildly at the enemies. While this fire was inaccurate, it did grant some slight suppression for Vylerine to take advantage of.
With a quick snap of her bolter, the Canoness fired a burst of three rounds, each traveling up the body of her target. Nine enemies became eight as one of their number was rendered nearly unrecognizable as the bolts shredded his flesh. However, with one of their own lost, the enemy quickly responded, seeking out cover; the enemy returned with their own suppressive fire. The volume of fire forcing Bellolla to seek new cover in spite of her power armor.
The enemy was at an advantage; the sisters had to defend their position. Bellolla was still bleeding from her head wound, and Chrana had to dedicate herself to protecting the Sororita's prize, lest the hostage escape or bleed to death. All while the foes had relatively good concealment to cover their approach. If the enemy possessed grenades and was close enough to use them, Vylerine knew the result: the three Sororitas would not be able to hold.
A sudden blast shocked everyone in the conflict. Vylerine and Bellolla were uncertain for only a moment before firing at the enemy. The blast had stunned the eight targets; two stood with hands over their ears while one seemed to stumble in a confused retreat. Bellolla and her canoness began placing bolts into those who were exposed but still remaining near their cover. However, those foolish enough to expose themselves entirely were not saved from judgment as several loud cracks from Imperial shotguns rang out as Arbitrator Enforcers stormed the enemy position. After the shock maul-wielding enforcers had reached the last survivors of the vicious barrage, several vicious strikes from the enforcers and clashes of mail on weapons of armor, there was only one survivor among the thugs left.
However, without confirmation of the Enforcer's loyalties and understanding of their position, the Sororitas needed to exercise caution. With her bolter trained down the hallway, Vylerine shouted her challenge. "By the Holy Writ of the Lectio Divinitatus, Canoness Vylerine commands, Stand forth and let your faith be known!" Now the Enforcers would have to declare themselves lest the Sororitas attack, with the knowledge that they, as heathens, had refused to pronounce their faith.
"Sororitas, stand down. I am Eran Alexios, lead Arbitrator of this investigation and of Keyan. Do you have Grothard in custody?" A resolute voice commanded from across the hall.
"We do. Come alone, and we will release him to your custody; then my Sororitas and I will request passage to leave this facility." This answer was met with a long and worrisome delay.
"I cannot acquiesce to you, Canoness. For the sake of this investigation, I will require your full debriefing immediately upon transfer of the prisoner. While I can allow you and your sisters to leave afterwards, I must insist upon this." Vylerine wanted to leave already; however, using her position to clash with Arbites who thought themselves above her holy mission was not something she should partake in yet.
"This I will allow."
Immediately upon her acceptance, a lone Arbite strode forward. Rather young-looking for someone of his position, the Arbite looked more in place with the actors of a Picter Arbite-Drama rather than an actual Arbite. His stride told of confidence, though Vylerine knew the manacles in the man's hands would be of no use. "Take me to the scum."
It took the Sisters several minutes, minutes that must have felt like a trial for Bellolla as she calmly smiled and delivered her even-voiced report, even as her bleeding continued giving difficulty to the medical attentions of Chrana, who was trying to seal the wound.
"And that is when the Emperor's providence brought you to us, Arbitrator." Bellolla finished, leaving Eran Alexios' auto-quill racing across the parchment to transcribe what the Sororitas had provided. The Arbitrator just sighed as the machine finished, before standing up from behind Grothard's desk.
"Is there anything more you wish to include in the official report?" He asked as he grabbed his shotgun, slung it over his shoulder, and then grabbed his prisoner's shoulder to remove him. Vylerine weighed her options for only a moment, with a barely notable expression of concentration.
"Only that he has successfully destroyed some small measure of evidence." Vylerine provided.
With a shove he started Grothard forwards. "Thank you, Sororitas. Hellen also would express her gratitude as well if she were here." And with that the Sisters were left alone and free to leave to return to their Mission, something the Sisters set to with eagerness.