BXBX NOVEL Chapter 70: The Holy Host
Chapter 70: The Holy Host
"I\'m sorry, but now I\'m here, and you don\'t have to worry about me going away." William comforts her gently and puts her over his left arm so she can sit while he continues to walk back to his base. When the couple finally arrived, they saw the welcoming and somewhat confronting greetings simultaneously.
The welcoming from his battle-brothers, while confronting, came after them when a group of Sisters of Battle (Orders Hospitaller) broke Commissar Cain\'s blockade and approached William with rage and more rage.
\'Oh, this is not good.\' William saw furious women armed with bolter pistols and needles coming towards him, and he somehow felt defenseless.
"Put down the Holy Host, Lord William. We will not tolerate this \'relationship\' even if you are the Lord Imperator Fratrum." The Sister Superior Sabina Mire gave an order to William, which many of the Adeptus Astartes didn\'t take well. This caused both groups to draw their weapons at each other while Lord Creed and Commissar Cain ordered the men to stand down.
Even though Imperial Guards see Adeptus Astartes as Emperor\'s Angels, their devotion is to the God-Emperor and the Imperial Creed. To which Adeptus Ministorum, most commonly known as Ecclesiarchy, heavily preaches the good words of the Imperial cult. Sisters of Battle also fall under Ecclesiarchy, and they have a close working relationship with Imperial Guard more than Space Marines. In short, Imperial guardsmen will side with the Sisters more than Emperor\'s Angels (Space Marines tend to fall into Chaos where Sisters mostly don\'t).
"You dare! You dare to draw weapons at us? At Lord Imperator Fratrum?" Veteran Sergeant Sariel yelled with rage that William thought Sariel might have invoked a black rage. Meanwhile, Ultramarine, Blood Angels, and the Black Templars have their weapons aimed high, and some were even ready to turn their weapons at Imperial Guards just in case some decided to ignore Lord Creed\'s order. As for the Salamanders and Space Wolves, bring out their signature weapons such as twin bolter/flamers, power swords, and lighting claws to kill anyone who attempts to make the first move swiftly.
The 50 Sisters of Battle are all members of Order Hospitaller and equipped with a power suit armed with medical and surgical equipment. But every member of the Sisters is a seasoned warrior who \'retired\' due to many years of battles and injuries. This means these Sisters are not an amateur when it comes to fighting and killing while healing others. They are the literal living meme for the \'I\'m a healer, but…\' in the world of 40k.
"We have a greater calling to protect the Holy Host, even within the Imperium. We are ready to die for her. How about you, mutant?" One of the Sister\'s last remarks increased the tension to another level, and multiple sounds of clocking bolters can be heard all around.
"Time out! I said time out for the Emperor\'s sake. Everyone, lower your weapons right now or Avenging Son help me, I will start bonking everyone here." William put Rana down from his arm and pulled out a golden power hammer. When William activated the hammer, the weapon generated a blue glow and began to pulse. Everyone, including Rana, observed as they all knew the devastating power the hammer could do and that particular hammer could do some severe damage.
"You, explain when you said Rana is the Holy Host. Are you saying she is the Living Saint?" William points his finger at Sister Superior Sabina Mire for the explanation. He had never heard of this Holy Host before, but he got the gist of what this is about.
"She is not a Living Saint but has the potential to be one. The evidence is right there on her hair. She has the gift of Saint Celestine, a feather from the Wings of Faith." The Sister Superior Sabina Mire\'s words made everyone, including Space Marines, guardsmen, and Jurgen, turn their heads around to look at Rana\'s hair.
Everyone finally saw the feather pinned to Rana\'s hair like a decorated hairpin, to everyone\'s surprise. Like a vanished illusion spell, everyone\'s perception cleared, and they all saw the magnificent feather of the Living Saint.
"By the Emperor\'s Will. I never imagined seeing that feather ever again." Lord Creed said to himself while grabbing his missing arm with the painful memory of the Cadia.
"You see, this is the clear sign from the God-Emperor that the Duchess of Agrus is indeed chosen, the Holy Host. The Living Saint will be with us." The Sister Superior declares the Emperor\'s Will as if they are about to embark on the Great Crusade. There are a handful of Living Saints in the Imperium\'s history, and many are women with a great power to turn the tide of the war just by appearing on the battlefield. Also, considering that Sisters are die-hard worshipers of the Emperor, they significantly get carried away.
When the Avenging Son of the Emperor gave direct order to keep the Living Saint child away from the battlefield, a small group of Sisters kidnapped the girl and took her to the middle of the battlefield, hoping that the child\'s power would nullify the Chaos wap energy. This action took the lives of the loyal guardsmen and injured a single Custodes. Let\'s just say \'Guilliman finally loses his temper after judging the Sister Superior to the death sentence.
"The Emperor didn\'t give that to her. I got that feather from him, and I gave it to her." William said to the Sister Superior, and everyone turned their head from Rana to William, to which many didn\'t expect to hear that from him. The silence finally breaks when battle-brother Vaskell the Wolf Seer laughs out loud.
"You, Sisters, must feel stupid now. All of you should have just asked instead of pulling out bolters like every other day. I swear by the Great Wolf King and the All-Father, women, am I right?" The Wolf Seer\'s comment got deadly stares from every member of Sisters and even women of Astra Militarum.
"Brother, I think you should shut up before you turn every woman against us all for different reasons." Sergeant Dioricus from the Ultramarines quietly said to Wolf Seer and quickly stopped him from saying any more rude comments.
"As I said, I received that same feather from the Emperor himself and gave it to Rana. So, she is not the chosen host of any future living saint. Here, if you trust my words, look at this as my proof." William pulls out an old item from his inventory and shows it to everyone as evidence that he indeed met the Emperor.
The glass sphere of golden light nearly blinded everyone around William. The Spark of the Astronomican, the tiny fragment of the God-Emperor\'s psychic light in William\'s hand, made all 50 Sisters of Battle take one to kneel after witnessing another miracle.
From this, no one questioned William\'s claim that he met the Emperor in his dream and was gifted with the feather of Saint Celestine. As for Rana, her receiving such a gift is never to be questioned by the Sisters, for in Sister\'s point of view, William is the chosen servant of the Emperor, and his judgment is not to be questioned for it is the Emperor\'s will.
"We will accept any punishment, my lord. We have committed a great sin against the God-Emperor and his chosen." The Sister Superior Sabina Mire made a sign of the Aquila using her hands to her chest and bowed her head. Waiting for her punishment, the Sister Superior accepted her faith as the rest of the Sisters did the same.
"You will not lose your life for mistakes based on your devotion to the Emperor. I received his gifts long before you were summoned to the New World, and I intend to take everyone with me back to Holy Terra one day. Hear me now and listen. I, William Nullinanis, the Chapter Master of the Legion of Blacksouls and the Lord Imperator Fratrum, declare an Imperial Crusade. This will be known as the New World Crusade to reunite with the Imperium. I promise you all with my life." William brings out his black sword from the waist and stabs the ground in front of him, symbolizing the unbreaking promise to his men and women.
The declaration of the Imperial Crusade ignited the fire within servants of the Imperium, for they found themselves lost in this unknown world. Now, engulfed by the burning spirits and promise from the William gave much new hope, including fellow Space Marines.
The entire military camp cheers and division from a few minutes ago is no longer there. The Sisters of Battle swear allegiance to William as an Emperor\'s instrument of his will and reposition themselves back to their original duty as the healers and surgeons.
William put the bright sphere back to his inventory and turned his attention back to Rana. The Duchess of Agrus gave squinch eyes to William as if she knew what William had just done.
"What? I had to do something, or else they would start killing each other." William gave a very innocent smile and tried to change the subject.
"I know manipulation when I see one, William. You can\'t fool me with that cheap trick of bringing everyone into one common goal. You are lucky I love you, or else I would be very disappointed with your method of leadership." Rana gave William a good scolding and a quick kiss on his cheek. After giving an ambushing kiss, Rana leaves William\'s side and walks to her army.
"She loves me?" William said to himself and was about to return to his tent when a large group of Space Marines blocked his way.
"Brother William, what is this about you being a Chapter Master?" Sergeant Dioricus of the Ultramarines confronts William while every representative of the different Space Marine chapters stands beside him with their helmets off. Some of them have confused looks, and some have questions, but the representative of the Ultramarines had a facial expression of a long lecture about to start.
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"Do you see that?" One of the Catachan soldiers speaks to his comm-bead (Vox earpiece) to confirm what he just saw. The Catachans were given orders to eliminate any incoming enemy scouts before making it to the main base. They already eliminated half a dozen scouts and a handful of animals acting strangely.
"I don\'t think those are incoming enemy forces. Look, mixed among them. Some are cavalry, and some are simple foot soldiers with no weapons. I think most of them are civilians." The second Catachan said and changed his scope to better look at what is causing them to run away from.
"By the Golden Throne, is that what I think it is?"
"If you are going to say a \'bunch of naked daemon ladies are after them\' don\'t bother saying it. We need to report this right now. It looks like we are not going to conquer but rather rescue the people of Legellan."