Handmaiden Internal Report: The Order of the Sacred Lily

To First Handmaiden Krystabel, the Voice of our Lady Emeli,

I am pleased to report that your plan to infiltrate the Imperium in order to prepare planets for the arrival of the Liberation has so far been an unqualified success.

By creating imitations of Ecclesiarchy Convent Ships, and disguising members of our sisterhood as a fabricated Sororitas Militant Order Minoris under the name, "The Order of the Sacred Lily", we have so far established ourselves in several Imperial systems (avoiding systems which already have a known Sororitas contingent in place, we don't want to meet the genuine article, I'm told they're no fun at all), and have begun to work our way into the public scene. We tell people that our creed is to spread Joy, Health, and Beauty in the name of their 'Emperor'.

We have so far focused on spreading alms and medicine to the needy, preaching compassion and gentleness to the Highborn (who tend to listen when the person in the pulpit is a pretty young woman wearing a breastplate that can concuss people sitting next to her if she turns around too quickly), and skirmishing with the forces of Nurgle. Wherever possible we have laced our sermons with mild sedition focusing on the inherent cruelty in the Imperium's way of life, but so far no one has challenged us on it. We have also constructed fortress convents to act as permanent bases on each of the planets, using donations from various high ranking nobles and merchants who we have… talked round to our way of thinking. Each of these convents are also capable of acting as a forward staging post for when the Protectorate decides to bring these systems into the fold, as we undoubtedly will in the fullness of time.

There was a slightly tense incident when an inquisitor of the Ordo Hereticus arrived at one of our new Convents to commission our services to hunt down a band of mutants in the undercity, and as we are supposed to be part of their Chamber Militant we had no choice but to comply. Fortunately as is the case with so many of those who make their homes in the sewers, the mutants turned out to be Nurglites, so we didn't have to make excuses for failing to exterminate them. The Inquisitor stayed with us for a few days while the hunt was on, during which time we did our best to keep her off balance, often inviting her to train with us, in order to get as much intelligence out of them as possible, and although we sent her away confused, we do not believe she suspected anything.

I am also able to report that our girls are in good spirits, and are doing their absolute best to spread the creed of the Liberation in this subtle way, while simultaneously gathering information as they move among the populace. Following this report will be a number of dossiers on the socio-political and military status of each of the systems we are currently active in.

I have had to put my foot down however, as too many of our girls are wanting to play the role of Sisters Repentia. I think they miss wearing revealing clothing and playing with whips. I've told them they will just have to be content with doing that with the rest of the sisterhood during private mass, they're on active service now and personal sacrifices have to be made in the name of the Liberation.

When we take to the field against Xenos, Pirates, and especially the forces of Nurgle, we also take the opportunity to subtly use Panacea wherever possible. This has earned our 'Hospitallers' a reputation as miracle workers who must obviously be blessed by the Emperor. We actively attribute it to our own 'Saint Emily', and have requested the recipients of our tender ministrations to direct their prayers to her. We have depicted Lady Emeli as she was when she was Mortal on our battle standards (although with white hair, as we have all dyed our own hair that way "in emulation of her". It's amazing how people don't recognise you after a dye job, especially when standing in a crowd of beautiful ladies who all share it). I have had to discipline a few of our medicae for getting overenthusiastic however, if they won't exercise restraint then I must do it for them. (… Are the little minxes doing it on purpose to get disciplined? It wouldn't surprise me with those girls…)

To conclude this report, I would like to request that more of our sisterhood undergo the necessary 'Sororitas' infiltration training, and to deploy at least two more 'Convent ships' to nearby systems named in the following documentation, in order to maximise the gains we are currently making.

May the Liberation burn across the stars and illuminate our way.

Your Dear Friend,
Senior Handmaiden "Abbess" Mata Hari.

P.S. Please give Lord Cain a kiss for me, I miss him terribly. Please find attached a list of the other girls who also miss him and would like you to kiss him for them as well.