The Multiverse Project: Warhammer 40,000

"Enemy tanks dead ahead, zero elevation, fire for effect!" Henry bellowed into his mic and the King Ghidorah unleashed its payload on a trio of Leman Russes rushing for them. The direct impact tore the tanks apart, flaming debris twirled through the air like stricken comets. Henry ducked beneath the hatch when the King Ghidorah rammed into a gutted tank before rising up, grabbed the mounted twin heavy bolters, and poured a merciless barrage on the surviving Antebellan fleeing the wreckage. Fucking grey Confederate bastards, fucking dying! Henry was smiling ear to ear as the Antebellan were turned into bloody gibs, beautiful mist of red blooming across his vision.

"Henry?! Henry!" Ladaee's voice wrenched his grip from the triggers with a start. The sudden silence that followed was crushingly heavy.

"Y-Yeah?" Henry wiped his sweaty face.

"Sir, enemy Salamanders and Chimeras are harassing the Tallarn's southern flank and a column of Conqueror Leman Russes are pinning down the Cadian to the north, while another armor battalion is reinforcing the battle line we're engaging. What are your orders, sir?" Ruven quickly updated the situation.

Shit, those Confederate rednecks actually know how to fight, "I'll be there in a sec."

Climbing down the hatch and locking it above him, Henry hurried along the King Ghidorah's corridor and entered the cylindrical tiered cockpits. Taking the ladder up to the command deck, Henry tapped Ruven's shoulder and said, "bring up the map."

Ruven nodded and showed him the battlefield's mini-map where blue dots were fighting red dots. Neither side appeared to have a clear advantage, but Henry didn't like how the Antebellan were arranging their troops.

"Okay this is what we're gonna do," Henry pointed at the flat digitized map. "I want the Thorin, the Nynaeve and the Undertaker to go help the Cadian in the north. For the south, have the Elsa and the Evangelion take care of the Salamanders and Chimeras. As for the Antebellan's reinforcement in the west, the Megumin will deal with them. We'll sweep up what's left."

"Yes sir," Ruven tapped his earbud and relayed Henry's command. Satisfied, Henry went down the ladder and swung onto the floor occupied by Ladaee and Elpida, the two engineers were expertly reading through the influx of information on the King Ghidorah's overall system integrity, weapons status and any damage it had suffered in the fight so far.

"You're not going back up?" Ladaee asked without taking her eyes off the screen.

"I think I'll stay here for the rest of the fight," Henry sighed and leaned back against the smooth wall, trying to get his head together. He had no qualm about killing people, hell, turning those Confederate jackoffs into mush was extremely satisfying. Yet, there was something wrong. When he held the triggers down he felt elation, not the happy, smiley kind, but a bestial primal thing, depthless in hunger and violent in its demand for supplication. It urged him on, a singular need to kill, to slay, to rend, a burning red thing that seeped into every fiber of his being like a sickness.

"Elpida, can you take over for a few minutes please?" Ladaee got up from her seat and approached him.

"Of course mam," Elpida flashed him a sly grin before going back to work.

"Are you alright?" Ladaee lowered her voice. The clear note of concern was comforting.

"No," Henry shook his head. "Something's wrong with me."

"You don't like the Antebellan," Ladaee pointed out the obvious.

"They dredged up very dark memory, back on my planet that is," Henry decorated the truth a little.

"I see," Ladaee nodded then closed their distance and wrapped her arms around his waist. Henry almost wept from the warmth of her embrace as he returned the hug.

"I will stand by you, no matter what comes," Ladaee stared deeply into his eyes. "But please, promise me that you will never give in to hatred. It might seem inviting, but it is a darkness that few manage to return from."

"Thank you Ladaee," Henry kissed her forehead then break the embrace. "You always know how to make me feel better."

"Oh? More so than lady inquisitor Laura?" Ladaee's brow rose wickedly as she made her way back to her seat.

"Dating that woman was a physical and emotional hazard," Henry grimaced and Ladaee laughed.

"Well, it's a good thing that I am very protective of you then," Ladaee declared and sat back down in front of her touchscreen console.

"That's good to know," Henry chuckled and went to stand beside her. "I wonder what's happening inside Versilia."

"Latest report indicates that the battlegroup have reached the city's governmental palace," Ladaee tapped the screen. "As long as we stop the Antebellan's armor columns from relieving the defenders, the city will fall in a matter of hours."

"Awesome," Henry said. "Tangmo's probably having fun."

"No! Bad Sororitas! No flamers! No flamers!" Tangmo leapt in front of a column of Immolators rolling into the courtyard, the flaming metal boxes of death grinding to a halt.

"Get out of our way!" Canoness Galatea popped up above the hatch and yelled at him.

"We're not setting the governmental palace on fire!" Tangmo pointed at the enormous, Capitol Hill looking building in front of them, every square inch of the white marble complex was decked out in sandbag walls, heavy guns and artillery emplacements. The Antebellan defenders were exchanging hellish firefight with the Immortal Spirit battlegroup and the Adepta Sororitas.

"The enemy is well entrenched!" Galatea reasoned furiously.

"I can see that!" Tangmo shot back. "But there are valuable intels inside and setting the place on fire seems a little counterproductive, don't you think?!"

Growling, Galatea disappeared beneath the hatch before emerging from her command Immolator with a squad of Celestians in towed, looking peeved as she stomped up to Tangmo, a power zweihander in one hand and a bolt pistol in the other, and said. "Know then that the alternative will result in great casualty for your battlegroup."

"Aww, I knew you cared!" Tangmo smirked and dashed off before the canoness can respond. Crouching low, Tangmo sprinted through rows of Krieg mortar teams setting up their ordnances, zigzagged pass destroyed statues and thick shrubberies until he reached the frontline where the Cadian, Fire Guard, Dawn Blade and Grey Watch were positioned along impromptu barricades of broken sculptures, fallen trees and lines of Myrmidon jeeps.

"How's it going my dudes?" Tangmo plopped down between Krillen and Xiphos, the Fire Guard colonel handing him a Zetton lasgun.

"We got the tactical and number advantage sir," Xiphos braced his lasgun on the jeep's front hood and let loose a burst. "But they are not yielding."

"They don't fight like normal PDF," Krillen observed as he slammed a new clip home. "They're competent."

"I say we charge them," the eager glint in Kenshin's eyes was unsettling.

"Bro, what did I say about banzai charging shit?" Tangmo gave the Kuronese an incredulous look.

"He has a point sir," Bruce added. "As Xiphos said, our armors and weapons are superior to them. I believe that if we attack them en mass, we can take their position with minimal casualty while also shattering their morale in the process."

"The new armor has proven its worth sir," Xiphos tapped his Greeco flak armor proudly, a grin peering through his plumed Corinthian helm. "Must've gotten shot five times and I hardly felt a thing. Barely leaves a scratch too."

"Ryvin's not going to be happy," Krillen smirked.

"What he doesn't know won't hurt him," Xiphos hearty laugh was joined by the others.

"I'm not worry about their piece of shit lasguns, I'm worry about – look out!" Tangmo and the others laid themselves flat on the ground as autocannon shells and bolter rounds tore into their cover, the Myrmidon jeep above them was turned inside out.

"Everybody okay?" Groans answered Tangmo when the barrage ceased and the battlegroup returned fire with a vengeance.

"Need some help little boy?"

Glancing up, Tangmo found the Sisters of Battle of the Martyr Lady, Argent Shroud and Ebon Chalice forming up into crisp attack columns behind the Immortal Spirit line. Leading them was Galatea, Crestienne and Amaryllis, the canonesses wearing a mocking grin.

"That'll be great, thanks!" Tangmo smiled chirpily and tapped his earbud. "Orhul, Krix, Kimiko, Hideo, Vomos, Julon, Pyke, Trenton, about time we get serious. Dietrich, six hundred yards west of our position, fire for maximum effect."

A resounding 'yes sir!' answered him as rockets and lasbolts streaked across the dividing line and hammered the Antebellan's position, metals, rocks, sands and body parts flew across the air on streamers of crimson. The surviving enemy guns were turning toward the battlegroup when mortar shells completed the coup de grace, and Tangmo couldn't help but be impressed by how admirable the Antebellan conducted themselves to the very end, none broke rank or flee even when shrapnel tore them to pieces.

"That should soften them up," Tangmo braced his lasgun, "after you, ladies."

"Forward Sisters! For the Emperor!" Galatea raised her sword skyward and charged the faltering, but still quite intact, lines of Antebellan PDF arrayed on the steps leading up to the governmental palace, Crestienne and Amaryllis at her side with the Sister of Battles following behind. Like thrusting lance the Sororitas plunged into the PDF and shattered their ranks, bolters and meltas making short, brutal work of the Antebellan, sundered smoldering bodies carpeted their merciless assault.

"Okay that's our queue, let's go! For the Emperor!" Tangmo and guardsmen emerged from their cover and sprinted after the Sororitas, slowing once they neared the top of the stair where the canonesses were butchering the Antebellan. Galatea's epic zweihander power sword cleaved a gory path through the tightly packed ranks, the aroma of sizzling blood and limbs were sickeningly decadent. Beside her Amaryllis's power rapier weaved an artful dance across the battlefield, her speed and elegance putting Leilatha and Evangeline to shame, the slain Antebellan knelt and sprawl in prostration to her angelic passing. In contrast, Crestienne's power halberd painted the floor, walls and ceiling in surf of red, twitching corpses littered her path. Good thing too, because the Argent Shroud canoness just clear the way for them.

"Thank you!" Tangmo told Crestienne as he led the guardsmen into the vaulted pillared corridor, where a rowdy mob of Antebellan was heading straight for them, wild and loud.

"Let's go get'em boys! Yee-haw!" A red face officer bellowed and spurred his men onward.

"Molon labe!" Xiphos and the Fire Guard formed up into a lasgun phalanx and unleashed hell. The obnoxious whooping was quickly replaced by the more pleasant sounding howls of pain. Strange, these lots were nothing like their disciplined cousins outside, the reserve perhaps? The Antebellan were about to retreat when a fresh batch of reinforcement joined them, emboldening the lot for another ill thought out charge. The Immortal Spirit guardsmen cut them down with ease, and when the line finally broke, Kenshin holstered his laspistol, drew his katana and roared:

"Totsugeki!"

The Dawn Blade gave chase and was upon the fleeing Antebellan in seconds, folded steels sang piercingly as the Kuronese guardsmen dispatched the PDF with horrific prejudice, every cry for mercy met with stabbing bayonets.

"Got that out of your system yet?" Tangmo tapped Kenshin on the shoulder.

"Not exactly satiating, but good enough for the moment," Kenshin nodded. "I expected more."

"Yeah, me too," Tangmo agreed then waved the other colonels over. "Kenshin, you and Bruce take the northern corridor, Xiphos, link up with the sisters and clear the south, Krillen, with me."

"Yes sir!" The Fire Guard, Grey Watch and Dawn Blade all went their separate ways as Tangmo led the Cadian down the main western hallway, and damn the place was really nice. The gleaming white marble interior were chiseled and carved with exquisite craftsmanship, giving the place a royal, presidential air.

"Tangmo, we have broken through the southern defenses," Leilatha voice boomed in his earbud.

"Good, what about the north?" Tangmo swept his lasgun over the lavish, some would say vapid, ornamentation of dainty statues and landscape oil paintings framed in gilded gold. Nothing stirred but rumbling emptiness.

"Raine is already there with a contingent of Battle Sisters, Auxilia and Ekkaroqian," Leilatha continued.

"Stay safe, I'll see you later," Tangmo cut the transmission as they entered another carpeted corridor, loud reverberation echoed nosily around them, the crystal chandeliers above swayed precariously, "the sound is really fucking with me right now."

"There could be a battle raging just beyond those walls and we'll be none the wiser," Meko commented. "Keep your heads low."

"And keep your voices down!" Krillen hissed.

"Everybody stay…" Tangmo was about to say 'cool' when bolt rounds ripped through the wall on their right, the Cadian guardsmen dropping flat on their bellies as plasters and woods rained on them, the roar of gunfire and purring chainswords was painfully cacophonic. Gesturing silently with his hand, Tangmo and the guardsmen rose slowly to their feet, the fighting beyond has ceased and the stark silence that followed was not comforting. Waving for the Cadian to take cover, Tangmo strode toward a white door untouched by the fighting. Lasgun braced firmly against his shoulder, Tangmo was reaching for the brass doorknob when the door flew open, his ninja reflex saving him from getting a face full of wood. Tangmo trained his lasgun forward, and found himself staring at the wrong end of a shimmering plasma pistol.

"Commissar Tangmo."

"Sister Miriya."

The two exchanged their grated greeting but neither broke the Mexican standoff. Behind him the Cadian were forming up into a firing line, while Miriya's squad and her cohort of Battle Sisters did the same.

"How about you drop your gun, sister?" Tangmo said.

"After you, lord commissar," Miriya countered coldly.

"Ladies first," Tangmo offered.

"How gentlemanly, but I must decline," Miriya shot back.

"Drop the gun Miriya."

"Watch your tone, boy."

"I don't like to repeat myself."

"Neither do I."

"Do I have to start pulling ranks?"

"Your rank is worthless to us. Now lower your weapon before I am force to disarm you."

"That's not gonna end well for you."

"Oh hey! You made it!" Laura skipped merrily up between him and Miriya, grabbed both their weapons, and lowered them to the ground. "No fighting now loves, we still got Johnny Reb to deal with."

Shaking his head in annoyance, Tangmo disengaged and took a step back, waving for his men to do the same, "At ease boys and girls, don't want to offend the nice ladies now, do we?"

"Stand down, sisters," Miriya brought the confrontation to an end, but the hostility between the two factions was far from placated.

"We are nearing the Grand Representative Chamber, ladies and gentlemen," Amberley glided primly into the ring of incensed guardsmen and Batter Sisters, uncaring of the volatile temperament. How in the hell was all her makeups still intact? And how come there wasn't a scratch on her uniform, as opposed to Laura rough and tumbled own? "According to orbital thermal reading, the last group of defenders is gathered there. Let's not keep them waiting, shall we?"

"Lead the way," Tangmo nodded then turned back to his Cadian. "Form a column, four files and fix bayonet."

"In this instance, a wide sweeping formation would be more effective," Miriya suggestion sounded an awful lot like an order, and judging by her stern gaze she expected it to be obeyed.

"How about your sisters take the left side of the hall, and we take the right? That way, we got the entire hall covered," Tangmo made a counteroffer. "It's a fair compromise, right?"

"That is acceptable," Miriya conceded after a moment, albeit reluctantly. "Attack column, make ready."

"Whenever you're ready," Laura and Amberley hefted up their hell pistols while the guardsmen and Sororitas swiftly got into position. When the two forces were more or less settled, Laura and Amberley led them down the corridor at a cautious pace, not quite a jog but not too slow either.

"Watch your fire, commissar," Miriya hissed at Tangmo suddenly.

"That's my line," Tangmo gave her a sideway glance. "I already got shot by a Godwyn bolter, twice, and I'm not exactly eager to repeat the experience."

"Stay out of our way then," Miriya said.

Tangmo was rolling his eyes when he noticed Verity trailing demurely behind Miriya, her stricken face darting between them like a child watching her parent fighting. "No offense, but shouldn't you be at the back with the other medics?"

"I can be of most use on the frontline sir," Verity huffed at Tangmo.

"You will learn that Sororitas's courage far exceed that of common guardsmen," Miriya added poisonously.

"Maybe, but I know they're more loyal than some people," Tangmo countered mercilessly the same moment Laura's commanding voice rushed back down the line.

"Target's hot, we're heading into a firefight," Laura said as the din of savage fighting grew louder the nearer they got to an awning archway where a great door once stood, stray las and bolts whistling forth from the room beyond.

"Take cover!" Tangmo and the Cadian expertly dashed for cover, slipping or ducking behind pillars and overturned furniture, Zetton lasguns trained at the open doorway. The sensible tactical action was met with a sneer by Miriya and the Battle Sisters though.

"Cowards," Miriya spat at them vehemently, not caring if the guardsmen got an earful, even Amberley was startled by the overt hostility, "forward sisters! Bring the Emperor's vengeance upon them!"

With a mighty high pitched war cry the Sororitas charged into the chamber, bolters blazing and chainswords screaming.

"Your orders sir?" Krillen turned to Tangmo, eager to prove Miriya's damning words wrong.

"We're going in, but don't interfere," Tangmo got out of cover, the Cadian following suit. "Let them finish their business, I don't want friendly fire happening, things are already tense enough as it is."

"You're going to let the insult lie?" Krillen gaze darkened on Tangmo.

"Hell no, but there's a better time and place to call them out for it," Tangmo grinned wickedly. "Trust me, I know what I'm doing."

"That you do," Krillen admitted as he, Tangmo and the Cadian followed Laura and Amberley into the huge domed hall of the Grand Representative Chamber.

"God Emperor's mercy," Orhul said breathlessly and made a sign of the aquila over his heart, the other Cadian mimicking him and Tangmo was tempted to do the same. The Sisters of Battle were completely unhinged. The pious warrior nuns of the Ecclesiarchy fell on the surrounded Antebellan with ravenous fury, grinding down the defenders with merciless efficiency. There were no tactics or restrain, discipline forgotten in the face of blind primal rage. When bolters ran empty, the sisters swung it down on the cowering Antebellan like cudgel until brains and skulls gushed into the air, while those with melee weapons hacked the defeated PDF into bloody pieces. At the epicenter of the massacre were the canonesses. Galatea, Crestienne and Amaryllis were joined by Bellona, Heloise and Morelia, the canoness of the Bloody Rose, Sacred Rose and Valorous Heart respectively. Bellona's power whip sword, like the one Ivy from Soul Calibur used, made a terrible crack as it rend some poor bastard's torso in two. Shoulder to shoulder with Bellona was Morelia, every thunderous swing of her power war hammer sending Antebellan soliders hurtling across the hall. And darting between the two, Heloise was a graceful storm of blood as her beautiful curved sword painted the air red.

"Sir, what do we do?" Orhul was justifiably horrified by the savagery he was witnessing.

"Why, the right thing of course," Tangmo adjusted his awesome commissar coat dramatically, "we're gonna stand back and do jack shit."

"Seriously?" Krillen quirked an annoyed brow at Tangmo while the Cadian spread out in a lose crescent around the circular chamber, their lasguns lax but ready to be brought to bear at a moment notice.

"You want to do the honor?" Tangmo waved at the unfolding butchery and snorted when Krillen grimaced. "Yeah, that's what I thought."

"This seems…kinda unusual, don't you think?" Laura joined him, looking quite perturbed.

"Yeah, I mean, I know the sisters are supposed to be super serious when it comes to purging and shit, but this is like Jason Voorhees level of excessiveness," Tangmo glanced at Laura. "You got what you came for?"

"Oh yeah," Laura gave her data-pad a few dainty taps as Xiphos, Bruce and Kenshin led their guardsmen around the room to join them. Close at their heels was commissar Raine, the Auxilia and the Ekkaroqian.

"Commissar Tangmo," Raine saluted.

"Commissar Raine," Tangmo saluted back. "Have this been happening since you guys got here?"

Raine turned to the Sororitas and frowned, "it has. Even before we make planetfall, they were already agitated, lashing out at guardsmen and serfs for the littlest of infraction. I'm sure Antonius and his men already filled you in."

The little hint of jealousy was pretty cute, "yeah, they didn't like how you let the sisters walk all over them."

"What am I to do?" There was genuine hurt in Raine's tone, "I cannot defy the Sororitas and they outranked us by status alone. There was nothing I could have done, nor will the sisters listen to me."

"Don't beat yourself up over it," Tangmo offered. "But next time, try sticking up to the bully, people will like you more that way."

"So am I to emulate the great Ciaphas Cain then?" Raine's snarky laugh drew a sharp look from Amberley, "as you have?"

"I'm more of a Gaunt and Yarrick man myself," Tangmo grinned.

"Who's Gaunt?" Raine asked.

"Are you freaking serious right now?" Tangmo's jaw hung slack open. She never heard of Ibram Gaunt? What the fuck?! Tangmo was about to lecture Raine on the greatness that was the colonel commissar when he noticed that the fighting has ended, but the killing hasn't stopped. Weapons cast aside, the Antebellan dropped to their knees and started begging for mercy. That went as well as anybody expected, but instead of simply shooting the poor bastards, the Sisters of Battle elected to act like a bunch of lunatic and finished off the Antebellan with melee weapons. It was not a swift and painless death.

"Well that's fucked up," Tangmo deadpanned his observation.

"Aye, it's disgraceful," Bruce shook his head.

"You might want to keep your voice down," Xiphos warned him. "I don't think they respond well to criticism."

"Record this," Tangmo turned to his colonels. "Use the data-pad and get everything from several different angles."

"Why?" Krillen asked as he filmed the war crime.

"I'm gonna show this to father Joseph later," Tangmo said.

"You suspect some sort of corruption?" Kenshin shot him a wary look.

"Maybe," Tangmo shrugged. "But more importantly, we'll have something to blackmail the Sororitas with. I mean, shit, this is pretty incriminating, right? Imagine the shitstorm if we 'accidently' leak this to the public."

"And here I thought you were the honest type," Amberley commented, the timbre chastising.

"Hey, I never said I was above dirty politicking," Tangmo was about to smile but a horrid wail turned it into a frown. "Okay, you know what? You want to see some honesty? Check this out."

"Mate, I don't think that's smart," Laura watched with a bored expression as Tangmo strode down the aisles of benches. His men cried out in alarm but Tangmo waved them off.

"I'll be fine, chill!" Tangmo tipped his awesome commissar cap at them, touched by their concern. "And if something happens, you know what to do."

Well shit, things were even more fucked up at ground zero. The eviscerated torso, the dismembered limbs, the bloods and guts, did he just walked into a Khornate party or something?!

"Miriya, please! Stop!"

Following Verity's shrill cry, Tangmo veered left and found the distressed hospitaller hovering beside Miriya, the Battle Sisters was looming above an Antebellan officer, her chainsword cackling dementedly.

"Mercy, please! I beg of you!" the man crawl feebly away, hand held out in desperate pleading.

"Stay out of my way Verity," Miriya ignored him completely.

"No!" Verity placed herself between Miriya and the Antebellan man. "There's no need for this cruelty, please!"

"He is an enemy of the Imperium, deserving of nothing but death," Miriya snarled, her bloody chainsword pointed at Verity. "Now stand aside."

"Can you not see what you're doing? What all of you are doing?!" Verity swept a consternating glare across the gather Sororitas. "When have we taken pleasure from exacting such barbarity upon our foes? Are we not the Emperor's justice? Swift and true like an executioner axe? Yet now you revel in every drop of blood spilled!"

Although some gave Verity a dirty look, most of the sisters sobered up quick, shame and shock banishing the lingering bloodlust. Miriya herself appeared most stricken, but she held her chainsword frim and said,

"He still needs to die."

"We can take him in for questioning," yeah, Verity, while you were busy doing the whole merciful princess routine, that Antebellan dude was stealthily rising to his feet and reaching for a dagger in his boot.

"He will lie," shit, Miriya doesn't noticed him getting up either.

"The truth can be forced from – Ahhh!" And he jumped Verity, wrapping her up tight against him and pressing a serrated dagger to her neck. In seconds, Miriya's squad and the Battle Sisters had him surrounded, bolters leveled at the Antebellan from every conceivable direction.

"Release her!" Miriya roared.

"I suggest y'all lower them guns," the man raised his dagger and very slowly, very delicately, ran the sharpened tip across Verity's throat, the hospitaller yelping in fright. "Or I'm gonna carve her a new dainty little lip right here."

"You bastard!" Miriya made to leap for the man, but Verity's jagged squeal stopped her mid-stride.

"I said drop them!" Breathing heavily, Miriya very reluctantly lowered her chainsword, prompting the other sisters to do the same.

"That's a lot better, wouldn't want to damage such a pretty little filly like this now, would we?" The man smile lecherously and proceed to sniff the nape of Verity's neck. The hospitaller cried out in sobbing disgust when the man lapped his tongue up her face, leaving a trail of wet smear across her jaw and cheek. "You taste good too."

"Take your hands off her!" Miriya leveled her plasma pistol at the man.

"Uh-uh, down be stupid now missy," the man leaned in so that his cheek was pressed against Verity's own. "We all know how unreliable them plasma can be, imagine if the shot goes wide and hit this pretty little thing instead? You want to take that chance?"

Miriya seethed, her plasma pistol still trained on the gloating man but Verity's safety prevented her from squeezing the trigger.

"I'm taking that chance," Tangmo stepped up beside Miriya and trained his Zetton lasgun at the man. "Say hello to my little friend, punk."

"Don't get hasty, boy," the man slunk back behind Verity. "Now drop them rifle before things get ugly."

"Go ahead a slit her throat you fucking pussy," Tangmo grinned down the barrel. "And let see how well that works out for you."

"I'm gonna do it!" Despite his declaration, the man seems pretty unsure of his own threat.

"Fucking do it then!" Tangmo egged him on and Verity shrieked when the dagger shifted above her jugular. But the blade never drew blood. Snarling, the man swept his head left and right, quickly reassessing his situation before tightening his grip on Verity.

"I want to make a deal!" He announced.

"A quick death by your friendly neighborhood commissar, or an agonizingly slow death at the hands of a bunch of angry nuns," Tangmo told him, "your choice homie."

"I am Joshua, grandson of Richard Tiberius, the supreme commander of the Glorious Army of Tera-Antebella," the young man raised his voice. "If I am returned, unharmed, I may be able to convince him to overlook this recent misunderstanding and return all party to the negotiation table."

"Oh shit, you stupid motherfucker, we're not letting you go now!" Tangmo laughed villainously.

Joshua's eyes bulged out of his skull after realizing how massively he just fucked up, "I…I don't know anything!"

"Yeah, nice try asshole," Tangmo took a step forward, causing Joshua to flinch. "Now let her go dude, you're only making this worst for yourself."

"I-I can give you information!" Joshua spluttered. "Troops number, weapon caches, strongholds, the strength of our tanks, everything!"

"Jesus Christ almighty, make up your fucking mind," Tangmo snorted.

"Stand back!" Joshua's voice rose by a pitch as Tangmo continued his advance. "I'm warning you!"

"You ain't got the balls, bitch boy!" Tangmo said.

"Stop!" Joshua squealed, the dagger now pointed at Tangmo.

"Do I have your attention?" Tangmo asked.

"What are you doing?!" Joshua demanded.

"Distracting you."

Joshua's confusion ended when Laura suddenly materialized beside him and, very gently, grabbed his dagger, pried it from his grip and let it clattered to the ground. Using the distraction, Verity shook herself loose and dashed for Miriya, who quickly wrapped her up in a protective embrace, one a mother give to a frightened daughter. Slinging the lasgun over his shoulder, Tangmo drew a handkerchief from his awesome commissar coat and handed it to Verity, the hospitaller took it with a shaky nod while Miriya eyed him suspiciously.

"Shh…" Laura made a show of shushing the crowd before reaching down to firmly grab Joshua's fingers with both hands.

"What are you – AHHHH!" Joshua's girlish scream wasn't able to hide the bony snap as Laura broke his index and middle finger. He fell to his knees, shrieking, holding his grotesquely bent fingers up to his face. Laura, all the while, laughed maniacally at the man well deserved suffering.

"You sick fuck! You sick fuck! You sick fuck!" Tangmo chanted enthusiastically, to which Laura gave a mock curtsey. Then the two noticed how Joshua was kneeling and weeping between them, and a devilish smile crept up their faces.

"Here," Tangmo tossed his Zetton lasgun at Verity and did a Kenny Omega cocking gun taunt at the wailing Joshua while Laura starting stomping her feet like Shawn Michael. When Joshua started to rise, Tangmo and Laura charged him. Tangmo hit a savage V-Trigger on Joshua's right temple, while Laura connected an earth shattering Sweet Chin Music on his left jaw, the fleshy impact echoed across the chamber, the unconscious Joshua remained erected for a few seconds before dropping like a felled tree. Tangmo and Laura embraced each other with a holler, jumping up and down like they've just won the tag-team championship.

"Okay, what did we miss?" Damien emerged from the crowd with his squad, accompanying him was Leilatha, the Dragon Blood, the Praetorian and more of the Ekkaroqian Wind Walker.

"A V-Trigger and Sweet Chin Music combo dude!" Tangmo declared proudly and hurriedly shove Laura off when Leilatha shot him a blistering look.

"Holy goddamn is he still alive?" Damien glanced at the twitching Joshua.

"Let me check," adjusting her awesome inquisitor coat, Laura stepped over to Joshua and kicked him, earning a pained groaned from the man. "Yeah, he's alive, gonna wake up with one hell of a hangover though."

"Who is that?" Leilatha came to stand beside Laura.

"That is Joshua, captain of the 18th brigade, the Whirlwind Marauders," Akecheta showed little sympathy for the man. "He is general Tiberius's grandson, and the source of many grievances for my people."

"Ah, so he was telling the truth," Tangmo chuckled and glanced at Akecheta. "You want him? We need to interrogate the little shit anyway."

"The notion is very tempting, lord commissar," an undeniable glint of interest shone in Akecheta's stoic eyes.

"Yeah, scalped the bastard then chop him in half from the groin up!" Laura added enthusiastically.

"Oh God, now I'm remembering that fucking movie," Damien shook his head.

"Why in the fuck did you made us watch that shit?" Tangmo shivered at the memory.

"Don't be such a nance, that movie was amazing!" Laura chided them.

"Pray tell, what did the man do to deserve such a savage punishment?" Lingxin asked.

"The little prick took sister Verity hostage and sexually assaulted her in public," Laura said darkly before walking up to Verity with a warm smile. "Hey, are you okay?"

"I am fine lady inquisitor, thank you for asking," Verity nodded, an embarrassed, blushing grin bending her lips upward.

"Oh, that won't do at all. Here love, let me help," Laura took the handkerchief from Verity and gently wiped away the blemish on her cheek with slow, almost loving strokes. Verity stood petrified, her face turning redder than a tomato while Miriya's furious gaze narrowed to a murderous slit.

"And…there! Good as new!" Laura stepped back to admire her work, and she really did a good job.

"T-Thank you lady inquisitor," Verity spluttered and Miriya pulled her closer, all the while glaring at Laura.

"Don't mention it love, here," Laura handed the handkerchief back to her.

"Oh, that belong to the commissar," Verity pointed at Tangmo.

"Keep it, but I want my gun back," Tangmo gestured at the Zetton lasgun cradled in Verity's arm, who hurriedly handed it back to him.

"Thank you," Tangmo turned to the out cold Joshua. "So…Akecheta's taking care of him, right?"

"I believe I shall to take custodianship of the prisoner, lord commissar," major Emily strode primly forward, an anxious looking Alistair hovering close at her shoulder, "with colonel Akecheta permission, of course."

"If that is your wish, major," Akecheta bowed respectfully. "To be honest, I do not trust myself to be restrained during the interrogation."

"Excellent. Now, chop, chop gentlemen, have him returned to our quarter," at Emily's command, two burly Praetorian guardsmen roughly hefted up Joshua by his sagging arms and dragged him away.

"What are you gonna do, serve him tea?" Tangmo asked.

"But of course lord commissar, it is only polite after all," Emily smiled innocently.

"The major…knows what she's doing, lord commissar," Alistair tipped his white helmet in farewell, a sliver of unease marring his visage as he jogged after Emily. "Good day sir."

"Yeah, take care dude," Tangmo waved his goodbye then turned to Leilatha. "Is the palace secure?"

"It is," Leilatha nodded. "After we broke through the outer defenses, what remained of the PDF was easily quelled. It appears that the competent guardsmen were regulated to the frontline, leaving the dregs in reserves."

"Are they from different regiments or something?" Tangmo asked.

"There are minor, but clear, differences on their uniform," Leilatha concurred.

"The good, the bad and the ugly I guess," Tangmo shrugged and returned his attention to the gathered Sororitas. "So what's the plan with this place?"

"We burn it," Bellona declared hotly, "along with the rest of this city."

"I think torching the symbol of power should be vivid enough of a statement," Damien spoke up. "Besides, we don't need a freaking firestorm burning behind us, it disrupts the satellite reading."

"If you think that is the wisest course of action Brother Astartes, then we shall respect it" Crestienne, being the most level headed of the canoness, agreed with Damien, much to the very blatant displeasure of her peers.

"Yeah, but give us a few hours to sweep this place first," Tangmo added loudly so that the guardsmen heard him. "I want this place scoured clean of any intel regarding the enemy, both digital and analogue. That means books, scrolls, CDs, anything you can find. When that's done, and if we still have time, we can loot the place and shipped all the cool shits back to the Immortal Spirit's trophy gallery."

"There's a large wine cellar beneath us," Leilatha added nonchalantly.

"And that is where we shall start our search!" Tangmo threw his arm around Leilatha and guided her toward the archway. "Lead the way dude."

"Me and my squad shall accompany the commissar," Damien strode after Tangmo. "Sidonius is a top class vintner after all, his knowledge will be most valuable."

"I'm coming too! Come on Amberley!" Laura dragged Amberley after them, the blonde inquisitor wearing an amused expression.

"The more the merrier," Tangmo grinned.

"A spiritu dominatus. Domine, libra nos. A morte perpetua. Domine, libra nos. Ave, Imperator. Domine, libra nos."

Eyes closed, Sister Miriya let the holy catechism flow over her like a gentle wave caressing the shore. Yet the incantation did little to sooth her soul, not even when it was Isabel, with her angelic voice, leading the other sisters in prayer. With a slow exhale, Miriya abandoned her meditation regimen, opened her eyes, rose from her crossed leg seated position, and glanced around the tent. Kneeling by a small altar of worship was Isabel, chanting a beautiful verse of veneration, Danae, Rubria and Aemilia providing the backing vocal. Not all her sisters found solace in faith however. At the other end of the tent, Cassandra was going through a sequence of physical exercise with Ananke and Marcia. Not in the mood for worship or training, Miriya strode over to join Verity, who was restocking her medical supply.

"You need some help?" Miriya offered.

"No, thank you," Verity smiled and slid another vial into the Medicae installed on her right armguard.

"How are you feeling?" Miriya continued.

"I'm fine Miriya," Verity made a final adjustment to her gears. "But I should be the one asking you that question."

"I'm sorry?" Miriya was taken aback by Verity's word.

"You are not well," there was a hint of pleading to Verity's declaration. "None of you are."

All activity within the tent ceased as the squad formed a loose circle around Verity. None of them objected her prognosis, but the scowls were pronounced enough to make her flinched.

"Your sudden affinity toward bloodlust is alarming," Verity braved the animosity, not willing to be silenced.

"Perhaps through the eyes of a hospitaller, our zeal and fury might appear like simple battle fervor," Marcia offered, but there was hardly any conviction in her words.

"I have served with sister Miriya longer than you," Verity wasn't cowered. "I can distinguish between a precise application of arms and a frenzy bout of violence. And what I have witness since stepping foot on this planet frightens me."

"What are you trying to say?" Isabel asked.

"Since when do we kill with such wanton cruelty?" Verity gaze fell on Miriya. "You were going to eviscerate that man, Joshua, with your chainsword before I intervened, just like what you did to his friends."

"And it would have been deserving, considering what he did to you afterward," Miriya said stiffly, unwilling to admit that she did feel an unnatural red haze urging her to make a cadaver out of the boy, like a parasite forcing its will upon a host.

"That's not the point," Verity pressed on. "I haven't seen you this consumed by rage since Meseda Quintus all those months ago."

Miriya sighed, unable to contradict Verity. She remembered the foul corruption of a Khornate rage that had threatened to overwhelm her, blinding her to the warming light of the Master of Mankind. There was no denying that the same foul hunger was prevalent on this planet.

"You are right," Miriya relented. "The presence of Chaos is strong here. We must conduct ourselves to the strictest of regimen to safeguard against this creeping corruption."

"If it makes you feel any better, we are not the only one afflicted," Cassandra spoke up, "the Bloody Rose appears to have embraced it."

"And Bellona allows such behavior to go unpunished?" Ananke asked.

"I'm pretty sure she commends it," Isabel glanced down at the chronometer on her wrist, "time to head out sisters, our nightshifts start now."

"Good thing too, work is the greatest remedy against an idle mind," Cassandra came to stand beside Miriya, "at your command, Elohim."

"How many times must I tell you to stop calling me that?" Miriya chided her friend but there was no bite to it.

"Every time," Cassandra smirked as they headed out of the tent. "No matter what anyone says, you will always be the Celestian that led us to victory on Neva and saved Sanctuary 101."

"As much as I despise that commissar, he did have a point," Rubria spoke up as the squad made their way through the Sororitas's base of operation. The heavy pall of scented incenses permeating from the many shrines of worship was a soothing balm on Miriya's mind. "Given your exemplar record, you should have regained your Celestian rank by now."

"I am simply unworthy," Miriya said then turn to Isabel. "Are we heading to our assigned position on foot or by vehicle?"

"The Immortal Spirit battlegroup have graciously provided us with transportations," Isabel waved at the row of Chimeras and jeeps arrayed outside the Sororitas's picketed perimeter, numerous headlights cut through the moonless night as the vehicles went about transporting the sisters to their destination, the tasks performed with surprising efficiency. They approached the nearest Chimera, the Tallarn driver was leaning against the tank track and tapping the strange looking data-slate the Immortal Spirit battlegroup used. Clearing her throat to get his attention, the bearded man put away his data-slate and saluted them.

"Peace be upon you, sisters," the man said politely. "How can I be of service?"

"Take us here," Isabel handed him her data-slate, the coordinate blinking on the stained, grimy screen.

"Ah, still using the old model I see," the Tallarn guardsman wiped the surface as clean as his sleeve can managed and squinted at the green black map. After a moment, he nodded and handed the data-slate back to Isabel. "Please make yourself comfortable sisters, we'll be there in just a moment."

Nodding, Miriya led her squad inside and was surprised by how spacious and well illuminated the interior was. The floor, the seats, the ceiling, and the many electrical instruments were new and free of the usual filth and neglect synonymous with the Imperial Guards.

"Please strap yourself in sisters," not a second after the driver had spoken, the ramp folded closed and the Chimera lurched into motion, but it wasn't the sudden jerk Miriya was expecting, but a gentle nudge that was barely felt.

"The Immortal Spirit battlegroup seems to possess technologies not available elsewhere in the Imperium," Ameillia observed, running a gauntleted hand down the wall beside her. "I doubt these designs were approved by the Mechanicus."

"They also know how to operate machines without the aid or sanctification of the cogs," Danae added then nudge Verity in the side. "You've been observing their mechanics and engineers, what did you find?"

"They are self-sufficient in matters of machinery," Verity said. "And they like to share what they know, unlike the tech-priest."

"Did you learn anything new?" The redhead continued conversationally.

"No, but what I saw was very interesting," Verity said. "We should emulate them. It would be good to reduce our dependency on the Mechanicus."

"Agreed," Isabel nodded. "I rather trust the Space Marines mutants and the guards over those bloody cogs. Sanctuary 101 was almost lost because of their treachery."

Nodding murmurs answered Isabel bold declaration, with Miriya herself joining in. After Sanctuary 101, she found it hard to trust the tech-priest of Mars, half expecting them to betray the sisterhood at any given moment.

"Things appear very lively outside," Ananke observed and Miriya agreed. The rumbling cadence of trudging war machines and stomping boots seeped into the Chimera, making a dull uninterrupted echoed that bounced around the metal confines.

"And here I thought it was pass the guards's bedtime," Cassandra's comment drew a healthy laughter from the squad. It ended when the Chimera came to a stop, and for a moment Miriya thought the driver has taken offense.

"Here we are sisters," the driver's voice boomed from the vox caster inside the hull as the Chimera's ramp lowered open. "Have a goodnight and good luck."

Miriya led her squad down the exit, not bothering to give the driver a response, and found themselves standing outside a fortified house, pillboxes and sandbag walls ringed the perimeter, every gun manned by an alert crew. An impressive sight, by Imperial Guards standard at least. Activity buzzed around them, guardsmen patrol the ground, while battle jeeps rolled down the street at frequent interval. They looked ready for battle.

"Where are we supposed to go?" Miriya asked Isabel as the Chimera rolled away into the night, the driver waving friendlily at a group of sentry.

"There," Isabel pointed at the house.

"Follow me," the sisters formed up and marched toward the large abode, the guardsmen watched their passing with clear suspicion, some with outright hostility. Miriya blistered at the blatant disrespect toward the sisterhood but kept her peace, reminding herself with great effort that these grunts were still their allies. With more than necessary force, Miriya unceremoniously pushed the door open and strode inside. The living room has been repurposed into a makeshift mess hall, a large bubbling cauldron being stirred by a Cadian sergeant dominated the center. The guardsmen, about a few dozens of them, glared at the sisters, their foods and drinks forgotten, a few daring souls were even reaching for their lasguns. They don't want to be civil? Fine.

"Where is your commanding officer?" Miriya demanded loudly, her voice making a nice echo across the room. The guardsmen weren't cowed by the display however, if anything they look even more irate. A surprising display, usually the Imperial Guards trembled at the mere mention of the Sororitas.

"The commissar's outside," the sergeant standing above the cauldron pointed to the back of the house.

"Which commissar?" Miriya had a feeling she wouldn't like the answer.

"Tangmo," of course it has to be that insufferable little boy. Her annoyance must have shown, for a few of the guards started snickering. Her sharp look shut them up quick enough.

"He'll tell you what to do," the sergeant added before going back to stirring the food.

"The Sororitas take no orders from the Militarum. You'll do well to remember that, sergeant." Miriya growled at him, the timbre making him flinched, before marching her squad down the hall and toward the backdoor, unperturbed by the hissing admonition that followed in their wake.

"What are you doing?!" Verity's words were hushed as they strode back into the night, beyond the dull orange glow of the defensive perimeter black grassland stretched out before them, merging seamlessly with the nocturnal horizon. Above them silent flashes of light danced amongst the glittering stars, a naval engagement?

"Teaching them a modicum of respect," Miriya shot back, her agitation finding a new target.

"They are our allies Miriya," Verity continued. "There is no need to speak so harshly with them."

Breathing deeply, Miriya was shocked by how such a trifle thing like sourly guardsmen could riled her up so much, she had endured greater disrespect from the Ecclesiarchy, the nobility and the Mechanicus in the past and didn't even batted an eye. What was wrong with her? Why was she feeling this constant desire to express her rage at every little provocation? Grunting, Miriya gave Verity a thanking nod the same moment she spotted commissar Tangmo, the boy was standing above a dead bovine, his illuminator sweeping across the bloated carcass. He kicked it, sending puff of buzzing flies pluming upward, the light catching a grin on his face, the sight of the carrion eaters pleases him somehow.

"Well, that's one worry out of the way," Tangmo slid the illuminator back into his belt, spun around, and walked straight into Miriya's squad. For a moment he just stood there, surprised to see them, "umm…hi?"

"Lord commissar," Miriya nodded curtly, to which he responded with a salute. "We've been assigned to this position. What are your orders?"

"Rest for the moment, I just brought these lots in after a patrol," Tangmo said. "You guys got flamers, right?"

"Of course," Miriya said.

"Cool, can you burn that dead cow over there?" Tangmo stabbed his thumb at the carcass he has been observing a moment ago. "There are flies and maggots everywhere, and although I'm glad to see them, I don't want people catching diseases and stuff."

Miriya narrowed her eyes on him, but before she can speak he cuts in, "I'll tell you everything after you burn it, promise."

Delaying her assent by almost half a minute, Miriya nudged her head, prompting Rubria and Cassandra forward as the commissar gingerly went to stand beside her. Powerful torrent of fire spewed from their flamers, immolating the carcass in seconds, the blaze lighting the field in bright orange glare. Hurried footsteps sounded behind them, and Miriya was about to turn around when the commissar spoke up.

"It's okay dude, just getting rid of some trash, the sisters didn't set me on fire."

"Oh, okay sir. Govik was wondering if you want a plate."

"Yeah, I'm starving. Wait, hold up a sec," the commissar turned back to them. "You guys ate anything yet?"

"If it wouldn't trouble your men lord commissar, we would love to have some food," Verity said before Miriya can reject the offer, the hospitaller's pleading look stopped her from making any more comments. Very well, if she wants to try and befriend them, then let her see the futility of it firsthand.

"Yo, bring me nine more plates," the commissar told his guardsman.

"Are you sure sir?" The man responded warily.

"Ten plates dude, and don't spit in it!" The commissar went on.

"As you wish, lord commissar," the man droned before heading back inside the house.

"About that cow, lord commissar," Miriya reminded him.

"Right, I'm glad the flies are here because that means we don't have to deal with the skaven," the commissar explanation carried no meaning to Miriya.

"Skaven?" Miriya rolled the unfamiliar name around her tongue. "Some Chaos warband you've fought before?"

Miriya felt her anger flared when the commissar looked at her like she was an idiot, "skaven…the creepy half-man half-rat thing we fought back on Jigugeum? I gave all the info to your canonesses and they didn't share it with you guys, did they?"

"It is irrelevant to our mission," Miriya said quickly, but the fact that Galatea withheld information from them wasn't sitting well with her. "One Chaos spawn is no different from the rest, fire and bolts will kill them all the same."

"If you know the enemy and know yourself, you need not fear the result of a hundred battles. If you know yourself but not the enemy, for every victory gain you will also suffer a defeat. If you know neither the enemy nor yourself, you will succumb in every battle," the commissar said. "I'll go to the quartermaster and requisition a data-pad for you guys tomorrow, it's not good being kept in the dark."

"…Thank you, lord commissar," Miriya was gouging the boy's sincerity when five guardsmen approached them, each bearing plates of steaming stew with spoon stabbed at the top like a flagpole, the brown and chunky mound smelled heavenly.

"Here you are lord commissar," a guardswoman in a tan uniform handed him a plate before holding out the rest wordlessly toward Miriya and her squad. Miriya met the woman unpleasant scowl with a silent, some would say haughty, look of her own before taking the plate. When every got their serving the five guardsmen didn't leave, instead choosing to stand watch over them, their hard eyes fixed on the Sororitas with unhidden distrust.

"It's alright guys, I'll be fine," Tangmo nudged his head back at the house.

"Are you sure sir?" The guardswoman asked.

"I am Kimiko, nothing bad is gonna happen," he gave Miriya an innocent look, "right sister?"

"We will not harm the commissar," Miriya met Kimiko glare with a piercing one of her own, taking immense satisfaction when the woman backed off first.

"As you wish, lord commissar," Kimiko saluted and retreated back to the house with the others.

"Instead of singing, perhaps you should be educating your guardsmen on the finer aspect of respect and etiquette," Cassandra spoke up before taking a mouthful.

"Respect?" The commissar chuckled and sat down on a tree stump. It took every ounce of control Miriya possessed not to throw the food at him. "Maybe you should earn it first?"

"Is that so?" Cassandra took a stump beside him, looks like the entire area used to be an orchard. "And how do we go about that exactly, hmm? Ask about their days? Sing to them? Give them a little kiss on the cheek every time they pout?"

"Would it really hurt to show a little human decency?" Tangmo continued as the rest of the squad took their seat. "Many in the battlegroup lost friends and love ones to the Chaos Sisters on Jigugeum, so their opinion on the Sororitas wasn't high to begin with. Then they meet the genuine article and, well, you're all just a bunch of stuck up prima donna that treats them like shit. And you expect them to kiss the ground you walk? Come on dude, seriously?"

Miriya wanted to argue but instead conceded to commissar Tangmo's correct observation. But was it not the guardsmen duty to show reverence to their better? It would be a waste of breath to explain such a thing, Miriya knew, for the commissar had obviously spurned the concept of ranks and deference within his command. Tangmo seemed to have read her thought, for he gave a disappointed shake of his head before shoveling an impolite amount of food down his gullet. Looking down at her meal, Miriya grabbed the spoon and scooped up a small portion, beneath the thick gravy were white rice, and took a bite. It was warm, hearty and delicious. Miriya can't recall the last time she had a real, cooked meal, and the wholesome sensation was definitely pleasing. Before she knew what was happening, half of the plate was gone.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa," wiping his mouth, Tangmo placed his plate down and drew his data-pad, all the while looking up at the sky. Following his gaze, Miriya saw red bleeding across the starry night, the turgid flow fraying to wispy strokes in the celestial wind.

"Solveig, what's going on up there?" Tangmo spoke into the data-pad.

"That was the Golden Flower, the Antebellan flagship," the man on the other end said with clear satisfaction. "She will be flying no more, I'm afraid."

"Things are going well then, captain?" Tangmo smirked.

"With the help of the Ultramar fleet, this should be over within the hour," captain Solveig said. "We'll own the sky by morning."

"Have fun then captain," Tangmo put the data-pad away and picked up his plate again.

"The PDF fleet is in retreat then?" Isabel asked after finishing her food.

"More like getting destroyed," Tangmo swallowed then placed his empty plate down. "There's going to be a nice little meteor shower tonight."

"With the navy in control of the sky, why is the battlegroup so active right now?" Marcia asked. "Do you expect an attack?"

"We stopped an attack earlier," putting away her finished food, Miriya honed her attention on the commissar. "One of the three great generals of Tera-Antebella is a man name Matthias Adam, he's infamous for his daring lightning attack. Our drones found his men lurking in the forest to the southwest, probably trying to find a weak spot to attack."

"A scouting party?" Miriya asked.

"No, an entire armor brigade comprised of Salamanders, Tauros and horses, fast skirmishing little bastards," Tangmo said. "Those assholes ran away after we overkilled the glade they were hiding in. Haven't seen anyone snooping since, but I'm not taking any chances. That's why everybody's on full alert."

"A good strategy," Miriya agreed.

"Lord commissar," Verity primly put her plate aside and sat up straight. "I never had the chance to thank you for your action today."

"You should be thanking Laura," Tangmo said. "I just distracted the little fucker while she did most of the work."

"Nevertheless, you were instrumental in my rescue," Verity was insistent. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," Tangmo relented with a bashful grin, which in turn made Verity smiled. Why was she getting popular all of a sudden?

"And what happened to that boy? Joshua, was it?" Miriya spoke up; her sharp tone dispelling the lovey-dovey display.

"He's dead," Tangmo declared with a wolfish grin. "Shot himself right after he told us everything."

"Was the inquisitor involved?" Ananke asked.

"Nope, just Emily," Tangmo shivered a little bit at that. "That woman probably has a PhD on everything relating to psychology. She peeled that dude open layer after layer until everything beneath was laid bare. Then the real dissection begins. After only an hour he was a crying mess, babbling and yelling about how worthless he was. When we were done, Emily handed him his laspistol and told him to do the right thing."

"Good riddance," Miriya felt heat coursing through her veins again, she welcomed it. "But it would have been more appropriate for him to burn at the stake. It's what his kind deserves."

"Those energies are better spent on fighting the heretics, not wasted on an insignificant boy," Verity laid a calming palm on her quiver knuckles, when did she balled her hand into a fist?

"Do you wish mercy upon those who wronged you?" Miriya snapped harshly at Verity, how can the girl be so obtuse about the ways of the world? "Will you ask for more if he struck you? Will you thank him after he rapes you? Have you so little respect for yourself that you would not seek retribution for the evil done upon you?"

Of course, cry, your one and only shield against the harsh reality of the universe.

"Yo, what the hell Miriya?!" Great, now the commissar had to butt his nose in, trying to play the knight coming to rescue the weeping damsel, are we? "Chill dude, seriously."

"Mind your own business," Miriya snarled at him. "Know your place, or I will teach you where you truly belong."

Instead of responding, commissar Tangmo instead turned to the weeping Verity, who was being comforted by Cassandra, the look she gave Miriya was one of such unbelieving shock that her enflamed temper stuttered for a moment.

"Take Verity inside," Miriya was taken aback by the sudden iron in Tangmo tone, his carefree demeanor hardening into a commissariat stoicism. "All of you are dismissed. I want to speak with sister Miriya alone."

"You have no authority over us," Miriya seethed, unbelieving of the boy's audacity.

"That was an order, sister Cassandra," Tangmo ignored her completely, his deep, commanding baritone rang like a tolling bell. Miriya could only gape when her squad rose to their feet, each woman giving her an apologetic look before heading back toward the house, Isabel now joining Cassandra in guiding the sobbing Verity back, both of them parting words of comfort to the hospitaller. When the squad was inside, Miriya sprang to her feet and stomped up to Tangmo, her fists shaking.

"Who the hell do you think you are?!" Miriya hissed through gritted teeth.

"You better back off before I fuck you up," Tangmo swiftly got up and met her approach head on.

"You won't be singing after I'm done with you," Miriya was about to reel back her fist when Tangmo reached into his coat. She stopped, expecting to see a laspistol trained at her face. Instead, a silver amulet hung from his clenched fist, the chain dangling before her face.

"Put it on," Tangmo said.

"…What?" Miriya didn't know how to respond.

"I said put it on," Tangmo repeated.

"What trickery is this?!" Miriya caught a glimpse of the amulet, a flower with unfurled wings, seems harmless enough.

"This isn't a trick, goddamn, it's just something to help with your anger issue," Tangmo lowered his voice darkly. "I swear to the God Emperor, if you don't put this on I'm gonna wrestle you to the ground, put you in a Yes Lock, and throw this damn thing over your unconscious head."

Although she had no doubt that she could easily overpower the commissar if he decided to do something so monumentally stupid, Miriya didn't like the idea of his Imperial Guards cronies attacking her squad in retaliation. With the relationship between the Militarum and Sororitas so strained now, things could easily escalate out of hand. So with great reluctance, and against her better judgement, Miriya took the amulet and slid it over her head, the winged flower coming to rest between her breasts. The effect was instantaneous. Miriya felt like a bucket of ice water was poured over her head, dousing all trace of anger that had been nagging at her mind since arriving on this planet. Empty clarity enveloped her, all intruding thought banished, the fuel of her rage swept clean. So sudden was this rush that Miriya swayed and almost lost her footing when Tangmo grabbed her pauldron, steadying her. Although she recognized the inappropriate contact, the seething ill will she had harbored for him was simply not there anymore.

"Feeling better?" Tangmo asked, slowly easing his hand away.

"Yes," Miriya took a few deep breaths to collect her thought. "What did you do?"

"Nothing, its father Joseph's amulet that did the trick," the commissar pointed at the pendant.

"I…thank you but, I still don't quite follow what is happening," Miriya took in her surroundings, the dark landscape, the fire burning low on the carcass, the blazing stars above, all was stark and clear without the constant hum intruding at the edge of her thought.

"Daemonic corruption," Tangmo offered demurely, fearing a reprisal from her, but Miriya only agreed with a nod, much to his relief. As much as she hates to admit it, the symptom fits. The fact that she succumbed so easily to the infection was downright disgraceful.

"Well, I wouldn't say corruption, more like a fever," Tangmo continued, "totally preventable and easily curable without any lingering side effect."

"What are these amulets exactly?" Miriya asked. "Where did this father Joseph get them?"

"It's a sanctified holy object blessed by father Joseph and his congregation," Tangmo explained. "He and his wife made it themselves. Pretty cool, huh?"

"This priest of yours seems well versed on dangerous topics," Miriya didn't feel like being subtle in voicing her opinion.

"Well, father Joseph have seen some serious shit in his long career with the Imperial Guards," Tangmo went on. "If you fought and kill that many daemons without losing your mind, you can objectively learn about them. That's what father Joseph is, he learns, analyze and adapt so that we can better kick Chaos in the ass."

"How did you know it was a daemonic corruption?" Miriya pressed on.

"Well, we filmed the Sororitas killing all those people and showed it to him," Tangmo said. "And what we saw reminded us of this priest named Ersako. He was an extremely pious man, but because of his zealotry he was possessed by a Khornate daemon, so we killed him. Father Joseph concluded that a similar thing was happening to the Sisters of Battle."

"You believe the daemons are exploiting our zeal?" Miriya asked.

"Yes, but in a more…nuance way," Tangmo said.

"What do you mean?" Miriya crossed her arms over her chest.

"It doesn't batter, but pry, at least that's what father Joseph told me," Tangmo shrugged. "He's basically saying that instead of hijacking you at the height of your emotion, it instead teases with a softer touch, influencing from afar like a puppeteer."

"Chaos rarely behaves in such a complex manner," Miriya felt an unwanted chill at the knowledge that the Archenemy was behaving out of the norm. An unknown enemy can prove difficult to eliminate.

"We're not dealing with a normal Chaos warband, are we?" The commissar quirked an infuriatingly knowing brow, "maybe the Chaos Sororitas are applying a more feminine touch?"

"Perhaps," Miriya gaze drifted to the house. "Are my squad infected?"

"Besides Verity, yes, all of them," Tangmo said. "But don't worry, every Sororitas order got it bad, especially the Valorous Heart and Bloody Rose. Henry too, he was the first to try the amulet on, what he did to the Antebellan really scared the shit out of him."

"What can we do to stem this corruption?" Miriya didn't like the idea of involving the Immortal Spirit battlegroup in the internal affair of the Sororitas, but she would be a fool not to recognize their competency in dealing with this problem.

"You and Galatea go way back, tell her what is happening so she can bring this up with the other canonesses," Tangmo said.

"Fine, but what of my squad?" Miriya asked.

"Just make sure they don't get angry or feel…other things," Tangmo added that last part hesitantly.

"Other things?" Miriya narrowed her gaze.

"The Ebon Chalice and Sacred Rose have been taking men and women into their part of the camp," Tangmo met Miriya's eyes directly. "Considering that they return in various states of undress, walking funny and with this goofy look on their faces, they must have had one hell of a 'prayer' session. What's up with that anyway? I thought you Sororitas are supposed to be celibate or something?"

Miriya seething silent was enough of an answer, she almost cracked a smile when the commissar flinched and took a step back, hands held up in surrender.

"Your curiosity is getting tiresome, lord commissar," Miriya growled.

"Yo, I'm just telling you that Khorne isn't the only asshole at work here," Tangmo said. "But you'll be happy to know that the Martyred Lady and Argent Shroud haven't done anything dodgy yet."

"How comforting," Miriya deadpanned.

"Anyway, more of the amulets should be arriving with the other supplies tomorrow," Tangmo turned and started back toward the house. "You can go pick them up along with the new data-pad."

"How does father Joseph make these amulets so quickly?" Miriya quickened her pace until she was matching stride with Tangmo.

"Plasteel printer," Tangmo smirked. They were nearing the back porch when Miriya slowed her steps, suddenly apprehensive of going forward. Through the ajar door, she could see Verity shuddering frame hunched over the fire, Cassandra at her side, running a comforting hand down the hospitaller's back. Guilt clutched her heart, knowing those vile evil words that had wounded Verity so deeply came not from daemons or Warp corruption, but her, unspeakable things unuttered she thought buried away in the deepest reaches of her mind. Miriya feared that the damage done might be irreparable.

"Sister Miriya, the heroine of Neva and Sanctuary 101, afraid of a little talk with her hospitaller friend," Tangmo stopped at the steps leading up to the porch and spun around to face her with an obnoxious grin.

"Watch your tongue," Miriya snarled, her anger pure and untainted by Chaos.

"Just tell her you're sorry, it's that freaking simple," Tangmo rolled his eyes.

"Nothing is ever that simple," Miriya shot back.

"You two are friends, right? Like, best buddies and stuff?" Tangmo waited until Miriya nodded tastily. "Then it's that simple, talking to each other can work wonders, trust me on this."

"I don't need your advice," Miriya shouldered Tangmo aside and headed for the door.

"Suit yourself," Tangmo shrugged. "But I'll put Laura on standby in case things fall apart."

"You will keep that inquisitor away from Verity," Miriya hissed.

"Don't fuck this up then," Tangmo held the door open for her, "ladies first."

Growling, Miriya stomped inside, but her seething annoyance drained away the moment Verity looked up, her eyes blood shot with tears. Their gaze locked for but a moment before Verity looked away, the sharp gesture more painful than a bolt to the gut. Miriya sighed and walked solemnly up to Verity. No point in delaying the inevitable.