BXBX NOVEL Chapter 85: The Sisterhood
Chapter 85: The Sisterhood
Sister Superior of the Our Martyred Lady wore classic power armor of black color with red clothes under the armor. Aside from the armor, she also has a few purity seals and tons of golden chains with double-headed eagles and a golden cross with skull symbols. In short, Rana and others can tell this Sister Superior was a veteran among veterans.
The Sister Superior of the Order Hospitaller also was wearing power armor in a different color. Instead of classic black, her power armor was white with golden decoration and chains to show her service records and symbols of Imperium. Additionally, she was missing an arm and replaced it with a cybernetic arm with a very large needle under her wrist. If no one knew who she was, everyone would assume she was some kind of integrator or assassin based on her appearance, not a medical healer.
When Rana entered the room, two Sister Superiors bowed their heads and welcomed the Holy Host even though Rana rejected the title. Still possessing the feather of the Living Saint, Rana was the chosen lady of the Order even though she isn\'t a member of the Sisterhood. Under William\'s explanation, all Sisters know Rana\'s position as a true calling from the Emperor and declare their mission based on what she will do and act.
Rana realized this too late after William gave her the assignment and won\'t be joining her during this campaign. While Rana and Sister attack the city, William will be doing the same thing on the other side of the Legellan map as his target will be a major port city, critical to supply chain and military position.
As Chapter Master, William will take his personal honor guards, which are 50, half of the number compared to the company size, but each guard is strong enough to fight 4 Space Marines, according to William. Of course, the problem isn\'t his safety or losing the fight but rather is there going to be a port city left when he is done with them. That is the question Rana and others have.
"But Lady Beckett, this is our finest power armor from my Order, and your safety is the priority to us. Is this armor not to your liking?" Sister Superior Sabina Mire of the Our Martyred Lady said regretfully as she expressed concern for Rana. Meanwhile, Sister Superior Sorella Drake kept quiet and watched the whole situation in silence.
"No, it\'s not the armor. The problem is the literal furnace on the back of the armor. Why does it have a fire furnace strap on the back with two torches?" Rana points out the issue as the rest turn their heads to look at the problem. Indeed, the Sister of Battle\'s black and red power armor has a massive black furnace with two torches on the back as decoration. It looks fearsome and heavy just by looking at it, and the torches aren\'t even lit yet. Sister Sabina answers Rana\'s question right away after discovering the problem.
"That represents the Emperor\'s fire to purge the heretic, mutants, and unclean. As a Holy Host of the Emperor, you have the right to carry this into battle and spread the cleansing of our mortal enemy." Sister Superior Sabina explained to Rana as she approached the power armor and pushed a few buttons on the back in, which immediately ignited the torches, and raging fires flooded the room with tremendous heat.
"Please turn that fire off," Rana ordered the Sister, to which she turned the device right away, but the heat remained as the entire meeting room now felt like a summer heatwave. Rana continued after the fire was gone.
"I appreciate you are giving me this gift, but I\'m just fine with my armor and don\'t need to carry the entire blacksmith workshop on my back. I don\'t think my horse can support my weight on that." Rana explains her reasoning for rejecting the power armor while motioning everyone to take a sit. This was supposed to be a meeting to organize and plan for the campaign, not a weapon demonstration. Everyone took their respectable sits while two Sister Superiors did the same.
"I told you this won\'t work." Sister Superior Sorella whispers to Sister Superior Sabina with a small smile as if she won the bet.
"Don\'t you think you won this, Sister. " Sister Superior Sabina said to her counterpart as she took the sit. The meeting began, and for the next two hours, they discussed everything from types of weapons to a logistic supply line that could support if the battle turned into a siege. After two hours, the meeting ended, and everyone was ready to leave when Sister Superior Sabina stopped Rana.
"I understand you are not familiar with our ways but consider potential enemies we are about to face. Until now, we faced daemons, traitor marines, and Xenos. To continue working with us means facing this kind of danger every day. You are not a member of the Order, and it is forbidden to share the wargear, but because of who you are and importance to him, we are offering this to you to protect yourself from our mortal enemies. So please, accept the armor not for us but for Lord William." Sister Superior Sabina said to Rana while the rest of the sisters behind her kneeled. The final act of desperation hit Rana as she couldn\'t simply reject the armor after such reasoning from Sister Superior.
Indeed she faced daemons and warriors of similar caliber to William type. She almost lost her life when she was captured and fought a daemon who devoured the mages of her army like it was nothing. To conclude, Rana needs to upgrade her equipment and in front of her is a very tool she needs to help her follow where William is heading.
"Please rise, I understand, and I accept your gift. So please, don\'t result in lowering yourself even for me." Rana helped lift the Sister Superior Sabina and motioned her hand for everyone to get up. Once all of the sisters got up from their kneeling, Rana walked towards the power armor and turned around to face the two Sister Superiors.
"I\'m gonna going to make some changes starting with that furnace."
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Two Days Later,
Two armies left the capital city and marched to the city they were assigned to take over. Over 2000 soldiers from Alderim and 100 Sisters of Battle took over the road as their very presence pushed anyone blocking their way.
Especially, the Sisters have new types of vehicles thanks to the Mechanicus tech-priests as they are now issued with three Rhinos and one Immolator, a battle tank exclusive to the Adeptus Ministorum armed with heavy flamer and bolters to provide support. Unknown to Sisters of Battle, Admechs utilize the STC technology to produce various types of equipment to support the growing number of William\'s army.
Besides Sisters of Battle, Admechs supplied both guardsmen and William\'s Space Marines with additional equipment and parts to repair them. Since ammunitions are resupplied by killing the enemies, Admeches focused their full attention on repairs of the Imperial Knight and the construction of heavy vehicles.
In front of the army, Rana wore Sister\'s power armor with few changes. The heavy furnace with two torches is removed and replaced with a standard power pack. The primary color of the armor is black, but the secondary color is white instead of red. The dramatic change was her helmet; instead of the classic Sabbat helmet variant, she is wearing a helmet design similar to William\'s chapter, which has a long red visor instead of two eye holes.
It took Rana a whole day to get used to her power armor and basic instruction on operating the vox communication. Unfortunately, she didn\'t receive the standard bolter gun from the sisters even though she got the training. Because of this, Rana instead got laspistol with three extra energy packs next to her standard sword on her waist.
As for her mount, due to her power armor\'s weight, Rana can\'t ride her warhorse without killing it. To counter this problem, Sisters of Battle provided her with a flag vehicle Rhino tank so she could ride more comfortably for the journey.
To Rana\'s surprise, the vehicle has plenty of room for her and three other officers to sit. As well as enough firepower and armor to withstand anything Legellan Noble can throw at them when they reach their destination. Meanwhile, Sister Superior Sabina smile under her helmet while riding her Rhino tank in front of her rival Sister Superior Sorella\'s Rhino.
"Please stop smiling. I can literally hear your giggles through the vox channel." Sister Superior Sorella said to Sabina on their private vox channel as Sorella\'s Rhino followed Sabina and the rest.
"How can\'t I stop smiling when soon to be Emperor\'s saint is with us? We are not only protecting Lady Beckett from the enemy but fulfilling the set path she will soon walk towards, and we will be there to witness the miracle while hunting down traitors and Xenos alike." Sabina said to Sorella with a victorious and joyous voice.
"You are just happy that she is wearing your Order\'s armor instead of mine. Unfortunately, my Order\'s armor is not suitable for frontline battle. Still, you should have talked to Lord William first. He would have provided fitting war gear for the Lady Beckett." Sorella said to Sabina, but it didn\'t matter as Sabina was busy accomplishing her personal mission of serving the Holy Host.
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Meanwhile,
The city of Eyham, the most significant trade city of Legellan and the richest, is under new leadership as a large band of giant knights walk the street and kill anyone they can find. These knights are fully covered with armored and carrying wicked weapons, but strangely, their armor and weapons don\'t seem to match. The symbol of the two-headed eagle is scratched, and certain colors of the weapon or armor don\'t match with the rest of the set.
Inside the city castle, a family of nobles hides behind the barricaded door while a group of noble house knights armed with spears, swords, and shields stands their ground. This is the last standing, and everyone they sent to fight the intruder never returned. Only their screams verified their demise as heavy footsteps came closer and closer.
\'Bang, bang, bang.\'
The barricaded door finally broke as the wooden bar lock snapped and opened wide for the intruders to enter the room. A small group of giant knights entered the door and slaughtered the house knights with strange weapons with loud noises. The chainsword cut down anyone standing in their way while the bolter gun exploded few who attempted to run away. Finally, the slaughter ended as bloody bodies soaked the expensive carpets, and the smell of stench filled the room.
The leader of the invading giant knights approaches the terrified nobles in silence. Standing tall and equipped with the best war gear, the leader of the band of knights finally stopped a few feet away and spoke with a few simple words.
"We have come for you." With that, the leader of the Knights and the rest begin their work as each adult noble are skinned alive while their children watch with terror in their eyes.