Apocalypse (Game Thread : Closed, Dead)

[Anti-American Eagle]

[u][b]Arcor (Tribune Theta-46531)[/b] - Failed Tyranid Quarantine Zone[/u]

The rhino sped forward as they hit a cloud of spore mines. The rhino went flying briefly before ending on its side. The occupants shaken and trapped.

Arcor started hitting the ejection switches as the shock of the moment wore off.
Nothing happened, he slashed at his harness and began kicking at the door to the passenger area.

He could hear yelling from inside.

[hr]

[b]Eversor Vymazat[/b] - Driseadi - Failed Tyranid Quarantine Zone

A Carnifex lumbers past the Eversor as he walks, somehow not noticing the Eversor as it follows after the rhino filled with meat. An explosion could be seen briefly ahead.

Above the tree canopy a storm appears to be forming as the sky begins to blacken.

[hr]

[b]A Tech Priest, A Dreadnought, and a Terminator[/b] - Driseadi - Objective Ceti

The sky begins to blacken and the Valkyries strafing the site begin to go down. One crashing violently about ten feet away from the group.

[hr]

[b]Retributor Helena Karr and Acolyte Martin Cassius[/b] - Drisania

The miniature flamer explodes in the hand of the Retributor as a dull rumbling formed in the back of her mind.
A piercing shriek could be heard as they began to pass out.

They awake, it is indeterminable how long they were passed out.
Both are stripped of their armour and weapons.
Needle marks cover their arms.
They appear to be in a white sterile room., an operating suite most likely.
An unholy pain floods their minds and they pass out again.

The Retributor awakes in the arms of one of her squadmates, she is being carried by her toward what appears to be a dropship.
The acolyte in a similar situation feet away.
They pass out again.

They awake in a small cargo room, watched over by a medical servitor.
The squad sitting in a chamber outside.
The ship is pulling out of orbit, meeting massive amounts of turbulence.
The ship pulled out of orbit and began making a beeline for the fleet.
All that could be heard throughout the ship was warning Klaxons as waves of gravity attempted to pull it back towards Drisania.

[hr]

[b]Drisania[/b]

The hulk hurtled towards the planet crashing into it, as predicted by the mechanicus this lead to the gravitonic generators going haywire and causing immense damage to the planet. The moons were pulled down and crashed into the planet as it began to tear itself apart.

The core of Drisania began pulling in material and ejecting itself onto the surface. The world would be reborn in time, but for now it is dead to the Imperium and so is everyone on the surface.

[hr]

[b]Driseadi[/b]

A small hulk rapidly fell out of the warp and began hurtling towards the surface of the planet, purple flames surrounding it as it entered the atmosphere. Massive electrical storms began forming in the atmosphere of the planet, darkening the sky, damaging electronics, and ruining the communication grid of the world. Flaming debris began to rain from the sky. This event was completely unexpected.

[hr]

[u][b]The Unidentified Space Hulk[/b][/u]

Warning klaxons began going off in the small chamber housing the stasis casks and their ejector systems, this however overburdened the already failing generator system.

[hr]

[u][b]Anthony Frederickson[/b][/u]

Anthony slowly woke from his nigh eternal slumber, he pushed his cask open, it seemed stuck so he shoved a claw into the mechanism until it opened. He looked around as the few still functioning sensors relayed the situation to him. The casks were failing, the mechanisms over time jammed themselves, likely to trap the occupants if he didn't move fast. He moved to a nearby control panel and began the ejection sequence before entering his pod again and sealing the door.

The pods were ejected in an arced pattern, as a message was relayed across the unknown planet

"Help."

Anthony felt himself falling briefly as his pod streaked across the sky, crashing into an overrun mechanicus outpost.

[hr]

[b]Driseadi[/b]

Stasis casks wired to devices similar to jump packs were launched in an arcing pattern, crashing at various distances and locations.

The hulk crashed into a forested area north of the encampment occupied by orks, causing an earthquake.
A message was blasted over every frequency in a hundred miles of the site

"Help"

before being drowned out by static.

 

[Lunar Templar]

Urd stirred, then awoke. She groggily took in her surroundings 'huh... oh right ... Cryo pod' she though at she leaned forward, bumping her helmeted head against the pods hatch. "The fuck .." she pushed on it, yet it refused to move, "Yeah, no" She commented to her self as her suit whirred to life once more, a blue glow filling the pod as Plasma start coursing through its veins. a few moments later, two shoots from her for arm mounted plasma pistols 'rang out', blasting the hing and lock on the pods hatch before she curled up and kicked the hatch off and into the distance.

Once free she found she was seemingly alone, and in a forested area Dante she though as she spread her mechanical wings to find him, and the others from her damned ship.

 

[Evrant-Knight]

Alone. That is what Dante was feeling as he began to awake from the cryo-pod, accompanied by a series of whirring and clicking noises as the pod's systems came online and the hatch began to open. He didn't immediately try to get out, as his body was still getting used to the concept of movement after begin confined in such a small space for... he didn't actually know how long. Sitting up in the pod, he looked up at what was a very dark sky, but he could make out a few small stars.

"I must be on a planet or something, though as to which I am not sure, these stars I have not seen before." Said Dante as he talked to himself whilst gently getting out of the cryo-pod, making sure to grab his weapons as well, with them being situated in a separate compartment. After making sure everything was there, Dante took a moment to examine his surroundings, it appeared he was on the edge of a forested area, with a slight hill beneath him.

"Well, wherever I am, it's at least better looking than that blasted Daemon World." Dante remarked quietly to himself as he held onto his reclaimed Singing Spear, carefully navigating the terrain immediately around him, when suddenly a thought came into his head.

"The others, where are they? I must find them. Perhaps their pods landed nearby to my own, that would mean they are somewhere within the forest, or at least somewhere close to it. After everyone has regrouped, we should probably find some civilization, if any exists on this world." He then added, before pulling his hood up, and tentatively proceeding into the forest.

 

[Athol]

Lith

Lithian felt stiff all over. I hate wakening from stasis... Laying his the pod, she closed her eyes and collected her thoughts. Getting prepped, that last kiss with Solara, wondering if she could get away with damaging that damned Eldar's cask...bit by bit, it all sifted into place. "Enough of that." She muttered. Seeing as she was awake, but the cask was still closed, she realized something bad had happened. Oh joy...

Forcing the door open she stepped out on to...dirt? "Sonuvabitch..." She muttered. Putting her helm on, she did a quick visual survey. "Well at least it's not that damned Deamon world." Grabbing the gear she's stored with the stasis cask, she did a quick weapons check, before broadcasting on the vox channel everyone had been using prior. "This is Veteran Sergeant Ortona to any surviving crew of The Divine Light. Is anybody reciving?"

 

[sage42]

Retributor Karr's eyes fluttered for a moment as she regained consciousness. The first thing that registered in her mind was the burning in her hand. Then the pounding in her head. The servitor shuffled over and stabed a small needle into her arm, the painkillers instantly going to work. The pain in her head ceased, her hand now just felt like it was uncomfortably hot. She looked around the shuddering room. A blank dull grey wall on one side, rows of boxes lashed to the wall on the other. The room was small though, between where she was laying the the acolyte nest to her they took up a majority of the room.

Against the far wall she could make out the door, as well as the head of a Soroitas Sabbat helm through the window. Helena sighed as the tension she had felt rising left her wary body. They were at least aboard an Imperial vessel. She managed to look at herself. Her right hand was black and charred, so what condition her hand underneath her guantlet was in she had no clue. Surely there would be a replacement aboard the fleet should she need one.

Wonderful Karr, you lose a Inquisitor, nearly lose an acolyte, loose six Sisters, and fail to even see the patriarch. The Sister Superiors are not going to like this. she thought to herself with a sigh as she stared at the rumbling ceiling and tried to ignore the blaring Klaxons.

 

[deathbydeath]

Martin's head pulsed in inverse time to the alarms ringing overhead. Not the best thing to wake up to. His eyes open; he can't recognize the room. As he starts to stretch himself and look around, Martin began to piece his environment together. The humans outside were certainly friendly, and the servitor aside him was certainly equipped to practice medicine. These were good signs, if a bit ominous given that the last thing he remembered was an explosion.

He sat up in his cot, ignoring the servitor and what it was doing. His clothing was hung on hooks on the wall closest to his cot, so he took the liberty of putting on his cap; he was too sore for his greatcoat. He let loose a great sigh of awakening as he cracked his joints to loosen up. When he was done, he leaned towards his still-hanging coat and fished in it until he found what he wanted. He set the retrieved rectangle on the cot and adjusted himself so that he was only taking up about half the area sitting. The rectangle he picked up was an Ecclesiarchal Icon that unfolded into three segments, each with a different image of worship. Martin bowed his head before the images and began to mutter his prayers.

 

[mcpop9]

Lith, looking around and trying to radio for contact saw another pod coming towards her. However, it split off into two peices. This was actually Titania's pod and Solara's pods connecting mid flight and one of them being shot way off course. She rocketed towards the ground, the pod picking up speed. However, about 50 feet prior to slamming into the ground; the pod's top was blow off and a blur jumped out of it.

A series of flips, crouches and dirt being kicked up, there was the eldar crouching low to the ground about 20 feet from lith, collar still around her neck. It was entirely optional for her to wear, but it symbolized the fact she wouldn't hurt the group and was still loyal to them. Standing up, the solitaire dusted herself off and looked at Lith. She recognized that this was the inquisitor's lover and the only other person the eldar would listen to without input from Solara.

She then looked up at the sky, seeing the other pod streaking away still. "Solara." was all that she said, her eerie voice only amplifying the sense of "should not be" that the solitaire gave off. Then the xeno pointed at the pod streaking across the sky. Lith was actually lucky, that despite the obvious grinding of gears the two had, the solitaire felt comfortable speaking around the woman.

"up to you. We can follow, have a chance of getting lost though. Or we can try and go and gather the rest of them." she said under her mask, but coming out as if the mask wasn't there.

[hr]

With the contact of pods, some of the older systems in the cry pod was activated. to be fair, probably no one could have known that the systems were in place. A massive jet of flame erupted from the back of the pod, kicking it farther across the sky and actually accelerating it at a rapid rate. It was a system that had been created to allow simple recovery of the pods via transmission signal and homing devices. However, this . an being as high up as it was, the pod had covered allot of distance. So much so that it wasn't by the orks by the time it had landed down.

Instead, there was a massive boom in the middle of a forest. She wasn't awoken yet, but her transponder was sending off a signal that would be received by the downed tech squadron and the assassin; the signal bearing the mark of an inquisitor, one Inquisitor Solara. However, the signal was far off even at that, so it wasn't a priority until their situations had been resolved.

[hr]

"By the emperor!" Sana shrieked as the valkyrie slammed to a stop just infront of her. "MOMARU! EGERION! COVER ME, I'M LOOKING FOR SURVIVORS!" she screamed to them. The little techpriest set upon the wreckage, first heading towards the cockpit to check for survivors, then the cargo area, if this variant had one.

Momaru moved into position, using his storm bolter and a high grip on his hammer, he began putting orks down. a series of bolts blowing apart a torso here, his hammer effortlessly gliding through a group of them. "Egerion, if you have the room, help cover her. if not, then do not concern yourself." he said, drawing his hammer out of a nob's skull.

 

[Athol]

Lith

Lithian grimaced under her helm as the Eldar landed. So much for the hope of her dying in the crash.. "I've got no locator signals for the others yet, and I didn't see where they came down. On the other hand I know where Lara's cask is headed, plus it may have been damaged...do what you will, I'm going after her." With that Lith took off, plasma gun in hand, at a loping run. It was quite a distance to where the cask had finally come to rest, but that was of little concern.

[hr]

Egerion

As the Valkyrie crashed, an engine tore off, and was sent hurtling towards Egerion. Tuning to ward off the blow, the wreckage slammed into his right side. All at once an automatic warning was issued by the Dreadnought's machine spirit.

[color=DarkGoldenRod]> [b][u]WARNING![/u][/b]
> 
> [u]Lascannon One Status:[/u] Moderate Damage
> Focus Prism: Out Of Alignment (Accuracy -40%)
> Focus Prism: Damaged (Energy Per Shot -30%)
> Accumulator: Damaged (Efficiency -35%)
>
> [u]Lascannon Two Status:[/u] Severe Damage
> Focus Prism: Destroyed
> Accumulator: Damaged (Efficiency -90%)
> Accumulator: Damaged (Cascade Prevention Offline: Do Not Fire)[/color]

"Egerion, if you have the room, help cover her. If not, then do not concern yourself."

Looking about, Egerion saw Sana climbing into the wreckage, though he knew a crash that violent rarely left any survivors. "Sergeant, keep her safe. If I kill the Ork leading this lot, the others will break." A thunderous boom high above drew everyone's attention skyward. Streaming tears of flame, a hulk tore towards the planet. Fantastic... He thought.

Capitalizing on the distraction, Egerion charged towards the Nob that had identified himself as the leader. The Ork bellowed and charged Egerion, his bolter flaming away, shells spalling off the Dreadnought's armour. Closing to point blank, the Nob swung his big power claw about in an attempt to crush the weaker side armour. Dropping his shoulder, Egerion jammed the barrels of his damaged lascannons into the claw, stopping the attack.

Counter-attacking, Egerion brought his CCW smashing into the Nobs gun hand. Staggering from the blows, the Orks attacks faltered for a moment, allowing Egerion to grasp him with his CCW. With the muzzles of his storm bolter pressed into the creature's flesh, he opened fire.

 

[mcpop9]

The eldar took off after lith, easily keeping pace with her. "I know you do not like me, but what i fail to comprehend is why." she said, looking dead ahead and not taking her eyes off the run front of her. "I understand i am not of the same species, but i have come to learn to work with you humans, and even solara is accepting of me. So my inquiry to you, is why do you hate me? what hath i done to deserve your hate and wrath?" she asked, once again being very calm and stoic in nature.

[hr]

Momaru brought his hammer's head into direct contest with the skull of a nob. The massive surge of electricity and the multiplication of force tore straight through the metal armoring the beast's skull. It progressed into his brain and immediately killed him. The swift application of a boot brought into the now-corpse's gut was suffice for removal.

"Just like old times, right egerion?" he asked the dreadnought while lowering his storm bolter towards a series of boyz who began to charge him. Fire erupted from the bolter and it began to spit round after round of exploding death towards the grou; which in turn was blown apart, limb by limb and just utterly stopped in their advance on him.

 

[Evrant-Knight]

Dante was proceeding through the forest, his eyes constantly darting left and right, up and down for any sign of the others, or for trouble; whilst his mind was at work checking for any 'unseen' dangers. As he neared towards a empty clearing, he suddenly felt a powerful surge enter his mind.

"AARRGGHH!" Dante shouted out in pain, almost falling backwards, barely being saved by his spear-staff that was acting as a support for the mean time. He continued to talk to himself as he slowly continued to walk, but was breathing slightly heavily to help compensate for the large surge of energy.

"Wow, that was a big one. A very strong psychic presence is somewhere, I have not felt one like that in a while. It must belong to Solara; it is good to at least 'feel' that she is alive. Wonder why it hurt me so, perhaps due to me not being used to it for however long its been, I was getting the full effect of it at once. Now, let me see where you are." Dante said, before closing his eyes and holding the Singing Spear in front of him.

Given how the Spear was a psychically powerful weapon, he would use it in conjunction with his own powers, and it would act like a compass, pointing him in the direction of Solara. After a minute or so of concentration and meditation, he felt the Spear pulling him in a north easterly direction. And so with a general idea of where she was, Dante went out in search of the young Inquisitor.

 

[Lunar Templar]

Urd flew slowly, scanning for any signs of life, well life that mattered to her, first, Lith's message came over her Com "Lith, this is Urd, I'm awake, airborne, and searching for any other survivors" she replied "Anyone with you or you alone?" she said, hovering a moment before she heard some one scream, though not sure if it was one of the crew, she headed in to investigate, diving through the tree's axes at the ready in case it was hostel, only to find Dante, and is spear pointing in some Direction "Found Dante" she reported to Lith, her tone clearly pleased with this find.

Urd popped open the face plate on her helm "Hello" she said with a cute wave and a smile "You alright? not hurt or anything are you?" She asked, her wings folding back up as she walked up next to him to investigate, before then just hugging him, relieved he was just alive.

 

[Evrant-Knight]

"Hello." A voice said to Dante, looking up from following the direction of his spear, he could that it was Urd who had appeared in front of him showing a rather cute looking smile and a friendly wave. Almost immediately he was overcome with elation at the prospect of seeing her alive. "You alright? not hurt or anything are you?" Urd then asked. It appeared she shared the same sentiments as he was, for not a moment after did she just straight up wrapped her arms in a hug, the wings of her Swooping Hawk armour closing as she did.

Acting more upon intuition than anything else, Dante let his Singing Spear stand by itself as he wrapped his arm around Urd, completing the loving embrace. From Urd's perspective, she would have noticed a small tear coming from his right eye as the hood of his coat fell down, showing the entirety of his face.

"Yeah, I'm fine Urd, just overcome with joy at seeing you alive, so good to feel your touch again. The reason for me shouting earlier, was that I had just located Solara through her psychic presence; and given that it's been a while since I last felt it, I kind of got the full force of it at once." Dante said, speaking slowly as his emotions got the better of him. He then decided 'to hell with it' and planted a kiss of Urd's lips. Yeah, it was definitely her alright.

"What about you Urd? Are you hurt? Also have you made contact with any of the others? I was just heading in the general direction of Solara when you flew in." He remarked with a smirk.

 

[Lunar Templar]

Urd planted a second kiss on Dante shortly after the first, just happy to see him again after who knows how long in the pod. "I'm fine, little stiff but fine, and yes, Lith is apparently awake, got a call from her over the coms before I heard you. Haven't heard back from her yet though, but she seemed alright. Haven't heard from anyone else yet, but if you got a bead on Solara we'll run into her sooner or later" She said, her hands in his "I'll keep an ear on the com and update you when she reply's"

 

[sage42]

Helena shifted her head when she heard the Acolyte shifting on his cot beside hers. He was praying over a small portable shrine to The Holy Father. A wise habit. She would save her thanks though, for her thanks would be given in solitude. Where alone she could plead forgiveness from her failures in peace, away from the eyes of other. Where she could feel the shame of His gaze alone.

She waited for him to be done. When he was she spoke. "I must admit I am surprised acolyte. Long have I held the Inquisition as a institution balancing on the knife's edge of Heresy. It is relieving to see one of your station still holding true to The Holy Father." She said letting her eyelids rest. Sleep would not come unless she wished it or it forced its self past her will. But the darkness was better than the grey walls.

 

[deathbydeath]

Martin's incantations drew to a close, and he finished them with a bow of his head and a sign of the Aquila. He folded up his icons and adjusted himself to face Helena as she began to speak.

"I must admit I am surprised acolyte. Long have I held the Inquisition as a institution balancing on the knife's edge of heresy. It is relieving to see one of your station still holding true to The Holy Father."

Acolyte. That word rung about until his head, growing louder and more resonant until he threw his head back and laughed. When he finished with his mirth, he addressed the Sister, "Acolyte. I was never really one, but I guess I'm the only one who ever got the memo. I suppose I'll never be free of that title, not even upon the death of the one who 'bestowed' that title on me." His chuckling wound down, but the mirth still remained to a degree. Odicio's death had a strange effect on the ex-Commissar. "Your distrust of the Inquisition is cute, Retributor. You think me pious because I keep a treasured icon in my pocket, but dear Helena, if I were to possess a quarter of the devotion and faith of Inquisitor Malin Odicio, then I could strike with the force of company of men and smite the foulest of traitors. Your distrust of the Inquisition is not unfounded, my Sister, but your expectations are uninformed."

 

[Outcast107]

Vymazat look up to the Carnifex with a gleeful smile within his helmet. So much blood and carnage would come from a kill like that. All he has to do is to the top and make it choke on metabombs. Laughing loudly in a craze joy as he charge at the beast. Slowly starting to catch up to it as it seem to be right at the burning Rhino. Vymazat care little for whoever was inside as he jumps up into the air and landed on one of the legs of the Carnifex. Using his claws to stab into the beasts flesh to make sure he had a good holding point if the beast try to sway him off.

With his free hand he pull out his knife and slowly started the climb up. His claws always injecting the painful toxins into it, though he knew it wouldn't kill the mighty beast. He just wanted to hear it in pure pain before he finish it off. Laughing all the way as he screams out "STRIP THE FLESH!" Slowly making his way up towards the beast's head though still has a while to get to it.

 

[Evrant-Knight]

"I'm fine, little stiff but fine, and yes, Lith is apparently awake, got a call from her over the coms before I heard you. Haven't heard back from her yet though, but she seemed alright. Haven't heard from anyone else yet, but if you got a bead on Solara we'll run into her sooner or later." Urd said as she held her hands in Dante's.

"I'll keep an ear on the com and update you when she reply's."

"Good. Glad we know that there is another of our troupe that has awoken. Unfortunately I am unable to get a precise fix on Solara's location, so we may be travelling for sometime, I just hope we don't run into any nasty surprises along the way; although between the two of us, I think we'll be able to handle a few." Dante remarked with a smirk that almost looked like he was about to chuckle, but soon the two carried on walking through the forest, following the path as was directed by the Singing Spear.

"We'll have to find someway of obtaining Lith's position as well. I guess if we were to fire something up into the air, and ask her to look for it, then at least she can some to us." He soon added.

 

[Anti-American Eagle]

[u][b]Anthony Frederickson[/b][/u]

Pain, shrapnel, fire, smoke, what sounded like a scream.
Anthony pushed his cask open and looked around his surroundings.
Crete, electronics, red lights, eviscerated corpses, a hole in the roof from which no light flowed.
Beyond being in what he was assuming was a bunker, he was lost.
He began running system checks, as he pulled himself out of the cask that kept his mind intact during the voyage.
Nothing of note was wrong except for an odd fluctuation in the claw, he must have damaged it when he attacked the locking mechanism or somehow during the fall. He took it offline and began wandering down a corridor.
Streaks of purple and red fluid he assumed were blood coated the walls as he wandered looking for anyone else.
He pulled a door open and looked inside, a security station, a keep or vault would be nearby if there were civilians attached.
He sealed the door behind him and began checking the corpses and cogitators inside, looking for a survivor, a security log, something to show where he was, what happened here.

[hr]

[u][b]Arcor (Tribune Theta-46531)[/b][/u]

Priority evac message, some inquisitor, name unrecognized, nearby in the red zone.
More objectives, it'd be another reprimand on a black day if he didn't atleast try to deal with it.
More suffering.

He saw a glow on the door, a blue flame quickly poked through making a cut, running around the edge of the door.
It eventually was enough that he could simply push it off, but it took too long in his mind as is.
The survivors listed off as he entered the troop chamber.
Two more dead, it could have been worse.
He took out his power sword and jammed it into the mechanism of the exit hatch.
Not enough, he yelled at his men to back up and he pulled his plasma pistol, on it, firing until the overheat light came on. He holstered his pistol waited a moment and kicked into the near molten mess.
He briefly experienced a burning sensation from the sensors in his leg as the metal began to burn through his armour and fuse to his bionics. He shut off the sense simulation attached to it.

He hauled himself out and took a look around, noticing more xeno hell getting real close to him and his men. As they exited, he told them to scatter and make a run to regroup at the closest outpost they could find, in the fastest binary cant he could.
When he was sure they had all made it out he began to sprint towards the inquisitors beacon, shotgun in hand.

[hr]

[b]The Tech Priest, The Dreadnought, and The Terminator[/b] - Driseadi - Objective Ceti

The surviving crew inside the wrecked Valkyrie are on fire and flailing around in their seats, screaming in pain.

 

[sage42]

"Your distrust of the Inquisition is not unfounded, my Sister, but your expectations are uninformed." Helena raised an eyebrow as the Acolyte ranted. He was borderline insulting. But she was in no position to teach him the respect she had earned by making it as far as she had. But no matter. She had other points of his to deal with. Cute? Uninformed. How wrong he was.

"Oh make no mistake Acolyte, my distrust is far from cute. And my expectations are reasonable. I'm sure You've heard that Sisters may serve an Inquisitor yes? I have, along side others I might add. I watched three fall to Heresy. One to mutation. And I saw even the Inquisitor be led astray from The Holy Father's teachings. I have similar stories from others who have served. So do not preach to me Acolyte. I saw the start of Heresy in your late Master, much like I saw take Mine." She told him pushing her self into a sitting position. She winced as the pain in her hand shot through her arm through the painkillers. "And I am not your Sister. My siblings are the other women, my brother is war, and My Father is the Emperor, And My purpose is to serve him and avenge The Lady Kathrine."

 

[deathbydeath]

"Oh make no mistake Acolyte, my distrust is far from cute and my expectations are reasonable. I'm sure you've heard that Sisters may serve an Inquisitor, yes? I have, alongside others, I might add. I watched three fall to Heresy, one to mutation, and I saw even the Inquisitor be led astray from The Holy Father's teachings. I have similar stories from others who have served. So do not preach to me, Acolyte. I saw the start of Heresy in your late Master, much like I saw take mine. And I am not your Sister. My siblings are the other women, my brother is war, and my Father is the Emperor, and my purpose is to serve him and avenge the Lady Kathrine."

Martin bristled at the insults and barbed assumptions hurled out of ignorance. He figured that it was in the Sister's favor that he was not armed. Before he made his case, Martin prepared his first piece of evidence. He lifted the cap off of his head and spun it familiarly in his fingers. Then, he stopped it, leaving the seal on the front facing away from him, staring directly at Helena. "I won't insult your intelligence by pretending you do not know what this cap is or represents, as that would be insulting to you, dishonest of me, and a waste of both of our time. I will, however, explain how you are wrong, and I will use this cap as a starting point."

Martin rotated it again, this time looking deep into the seal emblazoned on the front. His tone was harsh, honest, and unyielding. "I am an Imperial Commissar. I have personally served twenty-six regiments of the Imperial Guard by investigating and uprooting any and all flaws within every soldier I have encountered. I have uncovered numerous cabals and exterminated countless cults. Once, I even commanded an entire regiment after connecting markings of the foul Slaneesh to the colonel and most of his staff, executing all involved. I have stood firm defending the innocent and pure, proving an entire world wrong in the process. I have destroyed impure regiments with the Inquisition at my back. I have served the Commissariat directly for half a century, counting neither the two decades I spent under Odicio nor the training I underwent at the Schola Progenium, the same institution that hones the Inquisitors you are so knowledgeable of." He took his eyes off of his cap and stared firmly and defiantly into Helena's eyes. "In comparison, my dear, your experience with heresy is quite cute.

He lifted the cap over his head and placed it gingerly, making minuscule adjustments until it was in place. "To summarize: One of us here knows what they are talking about. The other, Sister Helena, does not."