Chapter 30: Chapter 30: Girl Talk and More Mysteries
The double bunkbed was really uncomfortable. Strange, it felt nice enough last night. But as Yuki's eyes fluttered open, she noticed how hard and lumpy the mattress was, not to mention dirty. Moaning, Yuki pushed herself up, knotted muscles flaring in protest. Feet bare, Yuki swung her legs over the bed and stood up, stretching her arms until it gave a satisfying pop, the silky eldar kimono made a caressing ripple across her skin. Blinking the sleep from her eyes, Yuki's groggy mind went over the event of last night. They had taken the island dock from the heretics, fought a bunch of Chaos Space Marines and met the DC Marvel cosplayers, the Avenging Knight Sororitas. After the battlegroup shot down the Avenging Knight's demand to search the island's administrative building, which they now occupied, the cosplayers had backed away with a badly veil threat. The rest of the night went swimmingly enough though, the mop up operation was quick and easy. Although the administrative building was destroyed in the firefight, the central mainframe and a mysterious vault miraculously survived. Predictably, the files inside the computer were protected by a thousand layers of firewall, and since Albert and Mary were busy elsewhere Yuki had to use the data-pad's hacking program, which took a lot longer. Yuki suspected that whatever was inside the mainframe can be used to open the vault.
"Let's see…" Yuki picked up the data-pad from beside her neat pile of gears and armors. Tapping the screen, Yuki groaned at the window saying thirty minutes remaining. She placed the data-pad down on the bed and peered at the top bunk. Laura was still sleeping, curled in a cute little ball, blanket pulled tight over her body. Yuki didn't have the heart to wake her, so instead she brushed the strands of brunette locks from her face and, after listening to make sure no one was awake, leaned over and planted a quick kiss on the inquisitor's cheek. Still sleeping, Laura let out a contended moan and smiled, light and sweet.
With that done, Yuki turned away and strode down the long, boot camp like dormitory they were in, a spartan living quarter built under the administrative building that offered adequate comfort and shelter from the war outside. Lit by soft neon lights that ran the length of the room, the glow turned to the lowest illumination, Yuki stepped quietly through the corridor of bunk beds. There must have been two hundred of them down here, a sanctuary claimed by the Sororitas, the Banshees, guardswomen and female Guardians, no boys allowed! Pulling the handle soundlessly, Yuki slipped into the dusty, but clean bathroom, a utilitarian and sterilized place of white ceramic tiles. After the gloom of the sleeping quarter, the white glare was almost blinding. Humming the Totoro's theme, Yuki skipped to a row of lockers, threw one open at random, and took out a plastic bag filled with bathroom amenities and a cotton towel. Despite the building above getting turned inside out by las, bolts, meltas and mortar shells, the living habitation was untouched and surprisingly well stocked, as the Frost Bringers had told them enthusiastically last night.
Shrugging out of her eldar kimono and folding it neatly on a nearby bench, Yuki stepped gingerly into a shower stall with the amenities bag and turned the faucet. Clear cold water jetted out of the showerhead, and Yuki silently thanked Gothicipolis incomparable utilities system. When she adjusted the temperature until it was nice and warm, Yuki sighed contentedly and started washing the grimes from her body, rinsing and scrubbing thoroughly until the water at her feet became silted grey, the shampoo and bath gel made the task that much more enjoyable. When she was done half the bathroom was shrouded in a fine mist of steam. After drying herself off, Yuki slipped the kimono back on and strode over to a mirror and sink. She was just starting to brush her teeth when a sleepy Verity stepped inside, clad in black sport bra and knicker. The hospitaller was heading for a shower stall when she spotted Yuki and skidded to a stop, her bleary eyes trying, and failing, to banish the lingering drowsiness.
"Good morning!" Yuki spat minty foam from her mouth and waved at Verity.
"Good morning, lady exarch," the tension in Verity's frame dissipate somewhat.
"You're up early," Yuki commented. "What time is it anyway? I forgot to check my watch."
"It's five in the morning, standard Leenisium time," Verity's sentence trailed off into a long-drawn yawn.
"Couldn't sleep?" Yuki asked.
"The bed was less than comfortable. Better than the ground, but still," Verity massage a crick between her neck and collarbone, wincing as her fingers touched tender muscles. "I was hoping a shower would ease away some for the sores. Is the water running?"
"Oh yeah, it's nice and hot," Yuki nodded and went back to brushing her teeth while Verity reached under her bra. The hospitaller was about to pull the undergarment up but froze, her eyes catching Yuki's own in the mirror's reflection, suddenly remembering that she wasn't alone.
"What?" Yuki's brow rose in amusement.
"It's just that…" Verity stammered, her pale cheeks turning a rosy pink.
"I'm not gonna be waiting for you to drop the soap Verity," Yuki snickered and waved her tooth brush at a shower stall. "I won't peek, promise."
"Thank you," Verity flashed a little smile, stripped hurriedly and leapt into the cubicle, and yes, Yuki did steal a peek, she was naughty like that, and damn the hospitaller's butt was really cute. She didn't take long in the shower though, because Yuki was just moving on to the premolars when the water stopped running and Verity emerged from the hazy stall, dried herself quickly and wrapped the khaki towel around her chest before joining the exarch at the sink.
"That was quick," Yuki garbled over the tooth brush.
"Running water is a luxury," Verity took out her own tooth brush and a tube of what appeared to be skin cream. "But I couldn't find it in my heart to indulge. It would be nothing short of sinful."
"Guess I'm a sinner then," Yuki rinsed her mouth with tap water. "How did Annelle do yesterday?"
"Beside the battlefield shock, she acquitted herself phenomenally," Verity wiped the translucent gel across her arms. "This was her first time in live combat, was it not?"
"Yeah," Yuki said. "Two months ago she was tending crops in the greenhouses."
"Some would envy such duty," Verity said with a hint of sadness before changing the topic. "Have we made any breakthrough with the security protocol?"
"Should be done any minute now," Yuki told her, "plenty of time for us to grab some breakfast first."
"That would be nice," Verity grinned as more people filed into the bathroom, both humans and eldars, all too sleepy to pick a fight with each other. At the head was canoness Heloise and Amaryllis, followed by Firnera, Cassandra, Annelle and Astrid, everybody giving the Frost Bringer a wide berth because she was wearing nothing.
"I sleep naked," Astrid grinned wickedly when Cassandra shot her an incredulous look then caught Yuki shamelessly ogling her. "Like what you see, lady exarch?"
"I've seen better," Yuki teased and headed for the door, bumping into Laura who staggered in alongside Miriya.
"I slept in," Laura pouted.
"Your lost," Yuki whispered into the Brit's ear and made sure her hips swayed amorously as she made her exit. The dormitory was bustling with activity now, with Sororitas, female eldars and guardswomen going about the ritual of reluctantly getting out of bed. Groans and moans rippled vehemently through the corridor when the neon light flared to maximum illumination, those still in bed buried their heads under the pillows to hide from the artificial sunlight.
"Rise and shine ladies, no dallying now," major Emily of the Praetorian marched down the aisle, her voice booming louder than a wake-up bugle, somehow managing to be both crisp and authoritative while clad in nothing but Victorian era underwear. She nodded politely at Yuki and walked primly toward her, "good morning lady exarch."
"Morning major," Yuki made a mock salute and approached the bunk she'd shared with Laura. "That's one hell of a wakeup call."
"A small price to pay for maintaining discipline," Emily smiled then tilted her head at Yuki's bed. "Your data-pad has been vibrating for quite a while now."
"Oh! The hacking must be done," Yuki snatched up the data-pad and tapped the screen. "Yes! We got it. Now we have the harbor's entire manifest, the goods stored here, their owners, the buyers, the suppliers, the contractors, but most importantly, the password for the vault the Avenging Knights were definitely trying to get into last night."
"Excellent, shall I give the order to move out then?" Emily asked.
"It's not even six and I doubt the sun's up," Yuki threw the data-pad back on the bed and stretched lazily. "There's plenty of time for us to freshen up and have a nice little breakfast, don't you think?"
"If you say so, lady exarch," Emily didn't look too pleased at the suggestion of laxing the Militarum regimen, but the guardswomen in earshot perked up brightly.
"Besides, we got Hildebrandt and Elraleath's men patrolling all the important assets around the dock, everything's fine," Yuki let the kimono fall to her feet and pulled on her panties. "After last night, we deserve a little rest. Hell, we might not get another chance like this again."
"Very well then, I wouldn't mind a little grooming myself," Emily veered primly toward the bathroom, "and a nice spot of tea to start the day."
"I'll get the kettle boiling then," Yuki called after Emily as she strapped on her bra, followed by the stretchy body glove, then the tight-fitting jumpsuit of eldar silk, and finally her bone white armor. After clasping the katanas to her waist, magnetizing the submachine gun to her right shoulder, sliding the data-pad into her belt, and picking up her satchel and portable stove, Yuki headed for a rough circle where the eldars and humans were preparing breakfast. Picking a spot, Yuki seated herself down between colonel Evangeline of the Mordian Iron Guard and Emmanis, an Ebon Chalice Celestian.
"Morning," Yuki smiled and turned the electric stove on. When the coil turned red, she placed a steel cup on top and poured water from her canteen inside.
"Good morning," colonel Evangeline returned the greeting with genuine politeness while Emmanis just nodded curtly. Yuki had to stifle a laugh. It never ceased to amaze her how easy the Imperial Guards and eldars had taken to each other, while the Sororitas simply refused to thaw. Unsurprising, if Yuki was being honest, common soldiers would be more accepting to those who fought and die alongside them, but the deeply indoctrinated Sororitas will probably always look at the eldars with nothing but scorn and suspicion no matter how many time they bled together. Hey, as long as they don't shoot her, Yuki was more than satisfied.
"Sleep well last night?" Yuki asked Evangeline as she waited for the water to boil. "You were still talking on your data-pad when I dozed off."
"I slept quite soundly, lady exarch," Evangeline said. "Clarisse was pretty worried about me fighting heretical forces, she wouldn't stop fretting. Unsurprising considering…"
"I heard about what happened on Ghamarhon," Yuki cut in quickly, not allowing the colonel to relive the painful memory.
"I calmed her down eventually," Evangeline went on, a grin teasing her lips. "But I expect another call tonight, unfortunately."
"Hey, you should be happy you have a girl worth fighting for," Yuki teased and Evangeline chuckled lightly. She then turned to Emmanis, "how about you?"
"Nothing to report, lady exarch," Emmanis said tightly, crisp and proper as a trooper would report to her superior.
"Chill Emmanis, I'm just starting a conversation," Yuki went on good naturedly.
Emmanis stared at her for a few uncomfortable seconds then said, "I slept well, knowing that we were victorious over the heretics."
"That's good to hear," Yuki rummaged through her satchel, looking for a teabag to dip into the now boiling cup. "Were you or any of your Celestians injured?"
"Fortunately, no," Emmanis poured water into her MRE pack then tapped her left pauldron. "A lucky shot did hit me here though, a stubber bullet, barely left a dent."
"Hey, would you look at that! We're actually talking like normal people," Yuki smiled sweetly and Emmanis rolled her eyes with a grin. "And thank you for not slitting our throat while we were sleeping. Really appreciate it."
"The thought crossed my mind," Emmanis said nonchalantly and popped opened her MRE, the smell of eggs and sausages wafting over Yuki.
"Ha! Nice one," Yuki honestly couldn't tell whether Emmanis was joking or not as she took a matcha package out of her satchel. Strange, she thought she packed some Earl Grey too. Shrugging, Yuki emptied the matcha into the cup.
"What are you cooking, love?" Laura appeared beside Yuki and sat down, her hair still a little wet.
"Just some tea," Yuki swirled the matcha around the cup until the water attained a bright, milky green shade.
"Oh, thank you," Laura was reaching for it when Yuki pulled away.
"I promised this to another British lady, I'm afraid," Laura made a shocked, aggrieved face as Yuki held the steaming cup toward the approaching Emily, the Praetorian major looking sharp in her redcoat uniform. "I'm sorry it's not your usual char. But I promise this will be just as good."
"Thank you, lady exarch," Emily sniffed the earthy aroma and took a tentative sip, which quickly became an enthusiastic swallow, followed by a contented moan. "And you are right, this is indeed very good."
"You're welcome major," Yuki waved Emily and the other main characters over. "Join us ladies, there's plenty of room for everyone."
"I didn't realize you prefer someone posh," Laura huffed childishly as the women of both species gather around them. After initial awkwardness, with the Sororitas and Banshee making a fuss as usual, everyone seated themselves down on the ground and went about preparing their breakfast.
"You're really cute when you're jealous," Yuki fought down the urge to tap Laura's nose.
"You wouldn't like me when I'm jealous," Laura's warning was less than serious.
"Are you sure about that?" Yuki asked sassily.
"Do you want to find out?" Laura scooted a little closer until their noses were almost touching.
"Dying to," Yuki crooned huskily.
"Be careful what you wish for, little girl," Laura chuckled alluringly, insidiously.
"We can hear you," Firnera groaned exasperatedly, watching them with overpouring disapproval.
"And we're trying to eat," Miriya growled after a very loud, and very impolite, swallow, glaring at them with pious contempt. "Your deviance display is abhorrent, an insult to the sanctity of the God Emperor."
"Oh, don't be so uptight Miriya," Laura threw an arm around Yuki's neck and put her in a companionable headlock, both of them giggling. "We're just being friendly with each other, that's all."
"Let's hope things remain in the realm of friendship then," Firnera made her pointed remarks, trading quick, conspiratorial look with Miriya. The glance was not missed by Yuki and Laura.
"We're leading by example," Yuki said brightly as she got out of Laura's headlock, waving energetically at the Banshee and Sororitas. "And look at you two! Agreeing with each other already, if this isn't a start of a beautiful friendship, I don't know what is!"
Snickers went up amongst the main characters, subdue yet pronounced, almost rupturing into a full-blown guffaw when Miriya and Firnera locked eyes, shock and revulsion fighting to find the correct expression, with the end result being a comical amalgamation of gaping mouths and awkward stutters.
"Have there been any more contact with the Avenging Knights?" Commissar Raine sharp voice cleaved through the hilarity, killing it and rescuing Miriya and Firnera from their embarrassing predicament.
"My men have nothing to report," Evangeline answered, the breakfast atmosphere now charged with a tensed undercurrent. "The Avenging Knights have not tried to breach our perimeters."
"What about the heretics?" Raine asked then popped a strawberry into her mouth.
"Nonexistence," Evangeline said. "The mere presence of the Avenging Knight seems to have an extremely demoralizing effect on them. The survivors were seen fleeing this part of the city completely."
"Can our forward scout confirm this?" Raine continued, all the while enjoying her breakfast of preserved fruits with cool nonchalant. Seeing the fierce and stern commissar acting so normal was…freaky.
"We can," major Anaba of the Wind Walker nodded after taking a messy bite out of her gravy-filled bread. "I led my squad on three patrols around the dock and the surrounding area across the river. We found no sign of the heretics, only civilians who were emerging from bunkers beneath their home. It was…unsettling to see those people simply going about their lives after the battle. Some of them even tried to sell us their wares."
"The civilians might be agents of the Ruinous power," Raine shot Anaba a hard look.
"I've checked, they're clean," Anaba answered sternly. "And if those people were indeed spies, there would've been an attack or sabotage by now."
"I suppose you're right, well done major," Raine nodded crisply, Anaba smiled shyly, but the Valhallan narrowed their less than pleased gaze on the lady commissar. She caught the looks but ignored it and turned to Yuki and Laura. "What are our orders?"
"Shit, I actually don't know what we're supposed to be doing," Yuki chuckled nervously and took out her data-pad, tapping the screen quickly. "We anticipated a prolong fight, but after the Avenging Knight pops up, we're actually ahead of schedule."
"Any words from general Henry?" Galatea asked. She and the canonesses were huddled together next to the Tallarn and the Frost Bringers. Again, seeing the death dealing armored women behaving so normal was pretty disturbing.
"Well, besides relaying the intels to us during the battle, we haven't heard from him since," Laura got her own data-pad out, chuckling nervously. "Maybe Madam Lithia's torturing him in her Batcave right now, demanding to know how we uncovered her secret identity so easily."
"You were serious about that?" Elskerinne Eldul's brow rose in a surprised arch.
"Of course we're serious," Yuki said. "It's super obvious that Tenebris and Lithia is the same person. She's rich and powerful enough to fund and run a clandestine Sororitas operation. Her consortium is nothing but a front."
"I found that hard to believe," Raine spoke up. "Madam Lithia doesn't fit the profile of someone who is capable in combat."
"Henry told me that when the Avenging Knight's symbol went up in the sky, Lithia and a few people at her manor disappeared and wasn't seen again the entire night," Laura said. "Coincidence?! I think not!"
"The Xyla Manor is three hundred and fifty kilometers behind our artillery line, that puts four hundred kilometers between us and her," Evangeline pointed out. "I find it hard to believe that they can reach our position in such a timely manner."
"She practically own's the city," Yuki countered. "There's probably some kind of hyperloop system underground that we don't know about."
"Have commissar Tangmo and Brother Sergeant Damien made contact with the Avenging Knights?" Major Emily asked.
"Yeah, but we don't really know the detail," Yuki tapped the phone icon on the data-pad and place it on the ground in front of her. "Hang on, let me call Tangmo."
"Are you sure he's awake? We wouldn't want to disturb his beauty sleep," Evangeline quirked her brow wickedly and the main characters snickered nastily.
"Maybe we'll get to see him with his pants down," the women whistled and hooted to Laura's comment as they scooted closer around Yuki's data-pad, huddling together like a bunch of high school girl at a slumber party. After three rings Tangmo answered, and to the disappointment of all, his seated doll size hologram was prim and fully clothed.
"What's up?" Tangmo stabbed what looked like a pancake, dripping with syrup, and stuffed it his mouth.
"You're up already?" Yuki asked.
"For a while now actually," Tangmo said. "All the officers are awake. We hit the hay early last night."
"I see," Yuki nodded and did a quick scrutiny of Tangmo's surrounding. "That doesn't look like a mess hall."
"No, it's a diner," Tangmo picked up his data-pad and panned it around, giving the women a three hundred and sixty degree view of the establishment, which had a very American noir vibe to it. Tangmo was seated at a window side table with Leilatha, Krillen, Lita, Nikki and Dalthorn, all of them enjoying a healthy serving of bacons, eggs, pancakes and toasts. The entire restaurant appeared to be occupied by Imperial Guards and eldars, "decided to have a taste of the local."
"Your action is ill advice," Raine locked eyes with Tangmo. "We don't know where the loyalty of the civilian lies."
"Dude, most of us slept in hotels, motels and hostels within our defensive perimeter," Tangmo dismissive answer was putting a frown on Raine's face. "If the people here are pro-Chaos, we'll all be dead by now."
"Besides, if the locals are loyal to anyone, it's the Avenging Knights," Nikki spoke up.
"I know, right?" Lita nodded enthusiastically. "The moment the Death Guards retreated they popped out and started cheering the Sororitas like it was a football match."
"Damn, would've liked to see that. Too bad we're at the dock," Yuki said, "any casualties?"
"Hundred and twenty dead, and about six hundred injured, with the majority of those being eldars," Tangmo stroked his chin thoughtfully. "Come to think of it, the heretics seem to have it out for the Aeldari, isn't that right Dalthorn?"
"The Plague horde attacked our line relentlessly," Lita's boyfriend concurred. "But the guardsmen's concentrated fire drew them away. Commissar Tangmo, commissar Leilatha, for this you have my thanks."
"Don't mention it bro," Tangmo was very pleased with himself. "You got the bills covered, right?"
"Your continual generosity will be greatly appreciated," Dalthorn smirked toothily.
"Damn," Tangmo tsk dramatically. "Anyway, how did things go on the dock? Any zombies?"
"Seventy dead, and only about ninety injured. We girls know how to take care of business," Laura was super smug as she told him, the women murmuring in agreement.
"Fortunately, we didn't run into any Death Guards," Yuki added. "But we fought four Black Legion Astartes though."
"And you know who came and bailed us out?!" Laura blurted giddily. "Batman! And Wolverine! And Wonder Woman! And Captain America!"
"For real dude?!" Tangmo's eyes bulged in excitement. "Holy shit, that is so fucking cool!"
"Don't they already have names?" Cassandra spoke up suddenly. "Are we giving them nicknames now?"
"So who is who exactly?" Canoness Morelia asked.
"Batman is Tenebris, Wolverine is Lyca, Wonder Woman is Praelia and Captain America is Caesar," Yuki brought them up to speed before turning back to Tangmo. "They were awesome dude, they killed two of the Chaos Marines, chased the rest away, while their army completely wiped out the heretics."
"Who did you meet? Come on, tell us!" Laura was unrestrained in her fangirling.
"The one leading the Avenging Knights on my front was a fem Punisher, a fucking Harley Quinn, complete with the Brooklyn accent, a blonde fem Deadpool, a Black Widow, a She-Hulk, though I don't know if she got green skin or not but she was fucking huge, and a fem Cyborg," Tangmo listed off the superheroines he met. "And none of them had boob plates on, what the fuck?! At least their armor was hot."
"Of course that would be the first thing you noticed," Miriya sneered and the Sororitas and Banshee nodded in haughty agreement, directing their concerted animosity at the aloof Tangmo.
"What's wrong if he gawks a bit?" The women gasped in prudish shock when Astrid pushed her boob plates provocatively forward with her arms, giggling all the while. "Besides, they look nice, don't you agree lord commissar?"
"I would certainly love to comment but Leilatha is sitting right next to me," Tangmo's eyes darted quickly to his icy girlfriend. "So I plead the fifth."
"And you made your escape once again," Leilatha rolled her eyes less than seriously.
"Are you staring?!" Lita hissed crossly at Dalthorn and slapped his armored arm.
"I…didn't mean to look, sorry," Dalthorn shrunk into his seat, blushing pink marring his cheeks.
"Men, right girls?" Rippling laughter answered Yuki as she tapped the data-pad again. "Hang on, let me add Damien to the conversation."
"Morning," Damien answered promptly after only one ring and waved at Yuki, his hologram now shinning beside Tangmo. "Calling to check up on me?"
"That's right mate," Laura said. "How did things go at the mini manufactorum? Any of you big boys got hurt?"
"Dude, we're Space Marines," Damien deadpanned.
"The heretic's resistance amounted to nothing before our wrath," Gallus added with clear satisfaction.
"Most took flight the moment they saw us," Antalok gave his testimony. "The hunt was brief."
"Did the Avenging Knights showed up to help you guys?" Yuki inquired.
"Dude! You're not gonna believe who I met!" Damien was practically bouncing, eager to share his encounter, "a fem Iron Man!"
"Pepper Potts?" Laura asked.
"No dude, a female Tony Stark," Damien went on. "And she wasn't alone either, there's Hawkgirl, Catwoman, Lady Shiva, Black Canary, Huntress, Psylocke, Starfire, a fem Static and an all-female Blackhawk squadron. Jesus Christ, they were flying so low I can see their make up!"
"Things went pretty well then," Yuki said. "Did you run into any of your evil cousins?"
"No, but there were a lot of heretics, mutants coked up on Chaos juice, a bunch of Dark Mechanicus and skaven auxiliary. Those fuckers raised hell on the PDF though, poor bastards never stood a chance," despite the declaration, Damien didn't look too choked up about it.
"The PDF proves to be poor allies then?" Evangeline was hardly surprise, the guardswomen around her sharing the same sentiment.
"They make good fodders though," Damien's chuckling lacked any mirth. "The only thing they seem to be good at is brutalizing the local. Antalok and his squad had to step in quite a few times to stop those freaking douchebags."
"It was disgraceful," Antalok added vehemently. "They twisted the power to protect into one of cruel oppression."
"I noticed that," Zuhra, the Tallarn medic, spoke up. "The PDF also regard us with scorn and mistrust, despite us being here for their benefits."
"What about the Arbites?" Galatea spoke up.
"Those guys are cool," Damien said. "Helpful, calm and reasonable, they were total bros."
"How did your meeting with the Avenging Knight go?" Bellona, canoness of the Bloody Rose, asked after gobbling up her breakfast.
"We didn't get a chance, the dumbass PDFs started shooting them after they plug a breach on our eastern flank," Damien said. "Not only that, but they tried to stop us, us! The fucking Adeptus Astartes! From entering the mini-manufactorum, saying that we don't have the authorization and the place was under their jurisdiction."
"Such insolence was met with a swift application of bolt rounds," Gallus added with satisfaction. "We took garrison of the manufactorum, barred the PDF from entry while we and the Arbites searched the place. Judging by the effort they put into obstructing us, we believe they are hiding something."
"The Avenging Knights tried to get into the dock's administrative building too," Laura spoke up. "But we shooed them away."
"The Avenging Knights took all our shits," Tangmo added unhappily after taking an angry bite out of a strip of bacon. "Sure, the cosplayers saved us from the Death Guards, but while we were busy wading through knee deep slush of rotting zombie corpses, they were already inside the government building and stripping it clean. The place was empty when we got there."
"We found an encrypted safe box at the manufactorum," Damien said. "Matuk should be able to crack it soon, right dude?"
"It shall be done, Brother Sergeant," Matuk said off screen.
"Well, the vault on the dock just got cracked," Yuki said. "We'll be checking it out after breakfast."
"So basically there's something else going on beneath this whole incursion thing," Damien sighed. "Guess someone has to be James Bond and start snooping around."
"Ciaphas will leap at the opportunity to be away from the frontline," Raine's biting remark made Kasteen blistered visibly.
"Since Henry's not doing anything, he'll probably take the job, he always liked Homeland, CSI, 24, and all those spy stuff," Laura cut in before Sulla can open her mouth and say something she'll regret. "If Madam Lithia didn't poison him already, that is."
"Are all of you truly convinced that the Madam and the Avenging Knights are in league with each other?" Leilatha asked incredulously.
"No, we're suggesting that she's their leader," Tangmo corrected his girlfriend. "I'm a hundred percent sure she's the Batwoman from last night."
"Bah! What utter nonsense!" Bellona raised her voice. "That little porcelain doll wouldn't last a second on the battlefield."
"Well, judging by how her companion reacted, I think there might be some credence to the theory," Alnelle offered softly and squeaked when Bellona glared at her. "I'm sorry!"
"She has a point," Verity came to Alnelle rescue, "the way Tenebris's companions responded to the accusation was rather telling. They were obviously not prepared for someone to make the connection."
"Their reaction could have just easily come from anger," Miriya offered. "They seem to take great offence at the implication that Lithia and Tenebris are one and the same."
"Forgive me sister Miriya, but I think Verity and Alnelle is right in this regards," Emily butted in politely. "In my years of interrogating heretics, I am able to tell between denial and alarm when confronted with the truth. And after reviewing the footage of last night encounter, I can say without a shadow of a doubt that the Avenging Knights received the accusation with the grace of a murderer caught with a bloody knife in his hand and a dead body at his feet."
"See?" Damien grinned smugly then started tapping his data-pad. "I'll message Henry and tell him to go full Ethan Hunt on Lithia."
"Why not just call him?" Yuki inquired.
"Because he was up until two in the morning," Tangmo said. "Let him rest a bit, dude spent the entire night coordinating supplies line, allocating reinforcements and pinpointing enemy's targets for artillery bombardments and airstrikes."
"How generous of you," Miriya didn't sound too pleased with the leniency, "what are we to do in the mean time?"
"I'll talk to Jerimiah and Tovin," Damien said. "We're ahead of schedule in the offensive and haven't chosen the next target yet. So in the meantime, I guess we only need to hold our position."
"Fine by me," Laura stretched her back lazily and waved at the hologram. "See you guys later, I'll give you a call if we find something good in the vault."
"Thanks dude," Tangmo was about to end the call when his eyes darted between Yuki and Laura. "Hang on a minute, can you pan the camera around please?"
Yuki obliged and gave Tangmo a complete view of their little breakfast huddle, some waved and giggled, other saluted, while a few just stared at him, "there you go, aren't we just the prettiest?"
"Yeah, sure," Tangmo shrugged then leaned in closer. "I swear to the God Emperor, I saw Miriya and Firnera sitting next to each other."
"They are," Yuki turned the data-pad on the Celestian and the Banshee, both of whom tried to scoot away from the other but were boxed in by their respective squads, "something wrong?"
"They're sitting next to each other," Tangmo repeated himself, eyes narrowing to a piercing slit.
"Yes, and?" Firnera demanded testily.
"Are you guys in the mess hall or something?" Tangmo pressed on.
"No love, it's a dormitory," Laura told him. "We all slept here last night."
"Hold the fuck up," Tangmo blurted, hand held up in a halting gesture. "Are you telling me that the Adepta Sororitas and the Banshee Aspect Warriors slept in the same room and nobody died?!"
"Yeah, nobody died," Yuki said to the barely restrained snickers of the guardswomen and female Guardians. The Banshee and the Sisters of Battle, minus the Frost Bringers, were not amused in the slightest.
"Nobody got shanked or smothered in their sleep?!" Tangmo couldn't believe what he was seeing.
"We are warriors, lord commissar," Firnera growled at the Thai commissar, disdain seeping through her clenched teeth. "We do not behave in such a cowardly manner, even toward those we hold to the lowest regards."
"Even treacherous xenos deserve the decency of an honorable death," Miriya agreed condescendingly.
"Seriously? Maybe there's a body tucked under the bed or stashed inside a locker somewhere?" Tangmo was still in denial.
"We'll know if anything like that happens," Eldul stated matter-of-factually.
"Great. Now, I need all of you to put a lid on this…"
"Meko! Dude, you won!" Nikki's shrilly interruption made Tangmo jump out of his seat as pandemonium broke out around him, voices clashing in unrestrained excitement.
"I'm sorry, I won what?!" Meko emerged on to the hologram, eyes wide with cautious joy. "Are you serious?!"
"Yes, you won the bet!" Lita gave him two happy thumbs up. "Tangmo lost!"
"Kenshin! Colonel, did you hear that!" Meko bellowed. "We won!"
"I actually won something?!" Kenshin's mouth hung open in shock as a laughing Min Jae shook him vigorously.
"I told you I got the Emperor's luck on my side!" Min Jae hooted uproariously.
"I will never doubt you again, sensei!" Kenshin chuckled breathlessly.
"Well shit," Damien groaned. "There goes my share."
"Indulging so blatantly in gambling goes against everything written within the Codex Astartes," Gallus declared sternly.
"Oh, shut the hell up, you placed your bet too!" Damien shot back. "And you won!"
"I was merely suggesting that you be graceful in defeat," Gallus responded dryly with a hint of humor.
"We'll leave you guys to it then," Yuki gave an exasperated, yet playful sigh before terminating the transmission, bringing the rising racket to an abrupt end. Some of the guardswomen made disappointed sounds, obviously wanting to know what happens next. What followed were murmuring silence punctured by the occasional sound of chewing, swallowing, and clashing cookeries, none of the women knew how to proceed without making things more awkward. After about a minute, the sound of digitized beep boop pierced through the heavy quietness, and everyone turned to see general Mavia, the former rayiys of Tallarn, gleefully tapping away at her data-pad.
"All mine…what?" Mavia grinned goofily at the women staring at her. "I made my bet and won!" She bowed deeply at Miriya and Firnera. "Thank you honorable ladies, your incomparable restraint just made me a richer woman."
Of all the people to start laughing, Evangeline was the last person Yuki expected. The snickering caught on quickly, first to Mavia, then Emily, then Astrid, Verity, Himinn, Zuhra, until their huddle was bubbling with laughter. Breakfast got a lot better then.
"…I seriously don't know why I expected something different," Yuki stared at the vault situated next to the ruin that was the administrative building. The metallic bunker was dented and cracked by pounding explosives, but the overall structural integrity was intact. The heavy looking sliding door before her was etched with flamboyant scenes of skulls, angels and demon. The whole thing felt a little tacky.
"Really? Because this is exactly how I imagine it would be," Laura took her place beside Yuki, behind them were six Celestians squads from each of the Sororitas orders, Astrid and her huskarls, Mavia and her Desert Flowers, Firnera and the Banshees, and an assortment of eldar Guardians and guardsmen.
"I mean, why make something that screams I got super top secret shit hidden inside?" Yuki turned her head left and right, both impressed and confused by the unnecessary grander of the vault.
"Love, the Imperium don't do subtle, if you haven't notice," Laura said as the Celestians strode over to the control panel, looking and messing around with the buttons and levers.
"I noticed now," Yuki flinched when a Bloody Rose Celestian started pounding on the keyboards, the armored woman getting more agitated as the seconds wore on. "Hey! You're supposed to turn it on, not kill it!"
"The machine is not responding!" Navaris, the leader of the Bloody Rose Celestian, yelled at her.
"Well, punching it isn't gonna solve anything!" Yuki shot back.
"You got a better idea, xeno?!" Navaris snarled.
"Yeah, maybe you can plug the damn thing in first?!" Yuki pointed at the foot of the raise platform the control panel was situated on, more specifically the very obvious unplugged cable beside the empty socket. Navaris looked like she was about to strangle the offending electrical cord when Kessien, the Argent Shroud Celestian leader, snatched it up and pushed it into the socket. The machine hummed to life and LED light danced across the panels.
"The machine is running optimally, lady exarch," Kessien went to stand at the keyboard, fingers hovering at the ready. "What must I do next?"
"Activates the command prompt to initiate the unlocking protocol and type in the password," Yuki told her. "Verity, Danae, help her out."
In less than a minute, the locking mechanism clanged free and the wide double partitions slid open to a jarring, high pitched squeal.
"Eyes sharp! Weapons forward!" Laura bellowed and trained her hellgun at the lightless interior, around her humans and eldars lowered their guns, every barrel trained at the darkness.
"Scanner detects no life form," Elraleath spoke up.
"And no electrical pulses," Hildebrandt added. "There are no gun platforms or armed Servitors inside. The way is clear Dame inquisitor."
"You boys stay out here," Laura approached the vault once the entrance was open in its entirety. "Me, Yuki and the girls are gonna check the place out, stay frosty and keep the area secure."
"Jolly good then," Alistair nodded and waved for Al-Rahman to follow. "Come along chap, your mother can take care of herself."
As the male portion of the battlegroup formed a tight crescent around the vault, Yuki and Laura led the women into the foreboding iron maw, lightless and silent, the sun barely able to penetrate the unyielding gloom.
"Can someone please turn the bloody lights on?" Laura raised her voice and after a moment the dangling bulbs flared to life, revealing a rather standard looking warehouse, impressive in size but woefully, unimpressively, empty beside a few crates and a long shape draped in crumbling canvas that dominated the clearing in front of them.
"Search the vault," Raine commanded Sulla sharply, prompting the lady general to salute stiffly with clear insolence before she and the Valhallan went about reconnoitering the interior, the other guardswomen and Guardians joining them.
"Not that it's my place to pry love, but aren't you a little hard on the Valhallan?" Laura asked Raine as the Sororitas and Banshees approached the covered shape, which Yuki assumed was a destroyed spacecraft, judging by the geometry.
"They have been given too much leeway in discipline by Ciaphas Cain, it is a flaw I am rectifying in his absence," Raine narrowed her eyes on Laura. "And yes, it is none of your business."
"Are you sure you're not taking out your dislike of Cain on them?" Laura countered snidely.
"And what if I am?" Raine said guiltlessly.
"Keep that up and you're gonna get shot in the back," Laura shrugged.
"Better men and women have tried, and they all failed," a hint of a smile tugged the corner of Raine's lip as the group came to stand around the large centerpiece draped, quite hastily Yuki noticed, in a dirty brown canvas.
"Let's see what we got here," Yuki grabbed the canvas and pulled it off. As she had suspected earlier it was indeed a spaceship, small, lean and can probably fit two people at most, the hull shot through by anti-air bolts and all that remained of the wings were jagged stump. But it wasn't the sort of spaceship they were expecting.
"This is an eldar fighter jet," Firnera ran her hand over the dark blue surface, "a Nightshade Interceptor."
"Is this wreckage recent?" Raine asked.
"It is," Gwynael, the head of the Sacred Rose Celestian, went to stand beside Firnera, her right bionic augmented eye twitching as it took in the scorch marks and bullet holes. "The damage was done recently, and savagely."
"How recent are we talking here?" Laura said.
"Couple of weeks at least, a month at most," Gwynael told her. "Judging by the marks along the hull and how the wings were mutilated, I believe the Interceptor was brought down by anti-aircraft batteries once it had entered the atmosphere."
"What would the eldar be doing on Gothicipolis?" Miriya cast her accusatory gaze on Firnera, around them the air suddenly took on a suffocating quality.
"Deceit and treachery, as is common with their kind," Jenatea of the Valorous Heart spoke up loudly, further exasperating the situation as katanas and bolters were brandished at each other. "I would not be surprise if the Chaos army was directed to this system by the machination of the xenos."
"Tell me then, Sororitas," Firnera glared at Jenatea. "If my kin truly were operating on this world and directing the Chaos horde, would we have been so easily caught? Or that we would ally ourselves with the Ruinous power? Stay your mindless prejudice and think with logic for once."
The Sororitas blistered, but beside the evil looks nothing else happened. Sensing an opening, Yuki stepped into the crossfire and held out her hands in a placating gesture toward both the Banshees and the Sisters of Battle.
"Alright, I think this is a good time for everybody to calm down," Yuki glance pleading at Firnera, who reluctantly eased her hand away from the katana. She then glared at Jenatea, the intensity making the Celestian flinched and before long she was lowering her bolter with deliberate lethargy. Soon, everybody was easing off their battle stance, but the tension remained taut and simmering.
"Thank you," Yuki let out a sigh of relief. "Anyway, if eldars were indeed pulling the string behind this current war, then it would be a Farseer playing the puppet master, and a pretty powerful one at that. If that was the case, Lita would've already sense him or her by now."
"Why wasn't we informed of this?" Emmanis cut in. "It is obvious that the PDF shot down the eldar aircraft, how come nobody mentioned this to us the moment we made planet fall?"
"Because there's obviously a deeper conspiracy going on here," Laura said. "And the Avenging Knights are looking for this also, just fucking great."
"Perhaps they are working with the PDF?" Miriya offered.
"Doubtful, given the Astartes testimony on the matters," Firnera said, "looks like there are two factions entwined in this conspiracy."
"Make that three," Yuki said. "This just becomes our business."
"Is that wise?" Miriya continued. "Our mission here is to stop the heretic forces from taking over the planet."
"And you seriously think this will not affect us?" Yuki pressed on and Miriya conceded with a nod. "Our allies are blatantly hiding shits from us, and I have a very bad feeling that if we don't crack this little mystery, it's gonna come back and bite us hard in the ass."
"What should our next course of action be?" Raine put forward the question on everybody's mind.
"Trust no one on this planet and keep any cooperation to a minimum, for starter," Laura answered the lady commissar. "And tell them we know they're hiding shite from us, that'll put a fire under their arses."
"How does letting the PDF and the Avenging Knight know of our discovery help us exactly?" Gwynael asked.
"Because it will make them nervous, and nervous people are prone to mistake," Yuki told her. "The PDF are not exactly famous for being competent, sooner or later they're gonna fuck up and we're gonna pounce, give them no chance to lie and force the truth out of them."
"I like the sound of that," Astrid flashed her canine in a grin. "What about the Arbites?"
"What about them?" Yuki asked, brow raised questioningly.
"Are they going to oppose us like the PDF or the Avenging Knight? From what I see, they hold quite a sway over the political landscape of Gothicipolis, they could prove to be more troublesome than the PDF if left unchecked."
"They're working with the Avenging Knight, so they're gunning for the same goal," Laura told her.
"I'm sorry, but how did you come up with that conclusion?" Navaris was incredulous with disbelief.
"Because I read a lot of comics, I just know, alright?! Jeez!" Laura said exasperatedly, more than annoyed with the battlegroup constant skepticism.
"As you wish, lady inquisitor," Raine's snidely polite remarks was infuriating to behold. Yuki can tell Laura wanted nothing more than to lunge at the lady commissar. Raine ignored her and turned to Firnera, who was poking her head inside the gutted cockpit with Kessien. "Is there any data or clue that can be salvage from the wreckage?"
"I do not know," Firnera stepped away from the Interceptor.
"What do you mean you don't know?" Miriya demanded hotly.
"Exactly that," Firnera looked at Miriya like she was an idiot. "I'm a Banshee Aspect Warrior, not a pilot. I don't know how the Nightshade Interceptor works."
"And here I thought you eldar knows everything," Miriya snorted and the Sororitas snickered like a bunch of immature schoolgirls trash talking another clique.
"By that logic, I should assume that you Sororitas know how to operate a Baneblade," Firnera smirked and the Banshee giggled snidely. "Or perhaps something as simple as a flashlight, if that is not beyond your limited mental capacity, of course."
"Alright, cut it out!" Yuki raised her voice before another round of catfight can start, her own patience fraying. "God! It's like I'm in a freaking 40k version of Mean Girls!"
"That movie was awesome," Laura smirked as the Imperial Guards and Guardians rejoined them, the infantrywomen gawking at the destroyed fighter jet.
"Yeah, but I don't want to experience it in real life!" Yuki shook her head the same moment a Biel-Tan Guardian, a captain judging by the insignia on her armor, pushed her way to the front of the crowd, staring intently at the wreckage.
"What a shame," the Guardian took off her helmet and swept curly light brown locks from her face. "Such beauty deserves a nobler end than this."
"Heartbroken?" Emily commented and took her place beside the eldar.
"A little bit, yeah," the eldar and Emily shared a laugh.
"Wait a minute, hold up a sec," Yuki came to stand before the Guardian, who stood crisply at attention upon seeing her approach. "You know something about planes and jets and stuff?"
"I ply my service at the Immortal Spirit's aircraft hangar during peace time," the Guardian said. "So yes, I know quite a bit about aviation."
"That's great! What's your name?" Yuki said.
"Captain Marwen, of Biel-Tan, reporting for duty mam," the Guardian saluted.
"Okay Marwen, I need you to salvage any electronic data in that ship," Yuki told her. "Anything you can find, flight path, captain's log, communication data, cargo manifest, anything, because we really want to know why the PDF and the Avenging Knight are looking for this."
"Right away mam," Marwen climbed into the emaciated cockpit, half her body dangling off the side. Yuki caught Laura admiring Marwen's wiggling buttocks and was about to hiss a warning when the Guardian climbed down, frowning. "It's gone."
"What's gone?" Yuki joined her and peered at the scorched interior, glancing left and right.
"The main computer terminal that holds all the data," Marwen pointed at an empty space beneath the Interceptor's System Information Display, and behind the throttle levers. "Looks like it was taken out by an iron cutter too, the job was done in haste. Furthermore," the Guardian waved her hand at the rear of the fighter jet. "The Nightshade has been modified for a long voyage across open space, to the detriment of speed and maneuverability, with the back compartment being turned into an extra oxygen storage unit."
"Why would the Interceptor be modified in such a way?" Emmanis asked.
"Because this journey was undertaken alone, or in pair, with no aide forthcoming from any Craftworld," Marwen told them, and out of the corner of her eyes Yuki saw Firnera flashing a victorious grin at a scowling Miriya.
"What would a bunch eldars be doing in this part of the galaxy?" Laura asked.
"The answer would be in the computer terminal," Marwen said. "Where ever it is."
"Could be that thing Damien found at the mini-manufactorum," Yuki turned to Laura. "The PDF seems hellbent on getting it."
"Let's hope Matuk work his magic, fast," Laura nodded then noticed that Marwen was rummaging inside the cockpit again. "What's up love?"
"I thought I…Aha!" Marwen exclaimed and fidgeted more aggressively until a loud metallic crash sounded from within and the Guardian slid back out with something clutched tight in her hand, the eldar's smile was triumphant. "I knew there was a secret compartment somewhere."
"What is it?" Yuki and the women crowded around Marwen as she unwrap the silken cloth, revealing an intricately carved amulet of gleaming bone white, the shape was that of a beautiful, feminine eye with a tear drop beneath. The eldar gasped and made warding gesture with their hands, some even went to their knees and started praying. Yuki haven't a clue of what in the hell was going on.
"This can't be…" Marwen said breathlessly and drew a combat knife from her belt. With one swift motion, she cut the palm that held the amulet open, dark rivulet gushing from the wound. Before anybody can do anything, Marwen closed her hand around the amulet and said, "by Your tears, let me be healed."
The amulet glowed radiant silver for about two seconds before the light dimmed to nothing. Marwen opened her hand and wiped the blood away, revealing a perfectly healed palm, unblemished by the blade.
"What is that amulet?" Miriya demanded. Her suspicious glare went unnoticed by Marwen.
"This is her work," Marwen started sobbing, tears brimming at the corner of her eyes, "made by her own hands."
"Who made this?" Miriya pressed on.
"Isha."