Years ago the Grostiche Mountains seemed to swallow up an entire detachment of the Cadian 101^st who dared to walk its haunted crevasse and fog layered valleys. To this day farmers and Grox Herders still speak of hearing disembodied screams and seeing phantoms on the mountainside. Nothing of the dead guardsmen was ever found save for blood stained patches of snow and wrecked Chimeras.

These stories did little to impress or restrain the Sisters of the Order of the Exalted Heart, the so-called Ladies of Pain, as the civilians of Cygnus knew them. They heard tale of heretical shrines and antediluvian cities buried in the snow and ice. The idea that such blasphemous sites could exist on world belonging to the divine and beneficent Emperor of Mankind was abhorrent to them. It could not be allowed and it was by holy edict that the Canoness Preceptor of the Order dispatched her most zealous and hateful battle sisters to carry out the will of the Emperor.

Deep within the mountain range where travel became nearly impossible and all signs of distant civilization were lost to the horizon is where they found their destination. A temple complex that rested beside a frozen lake. Some evidence still stood of more recent human civilization. The Logi of the Order dated the remains of the bunker to a time before the Light of the Emperor graced this world, when men and women lived in ignorance of the Imperium.

It took the Expedition’s Canoness only a few moments to realize what must be done, that this place must be cleansed with Holy Promethium and sanctified Exorcist Missiles. She prepared her battle sisters and tanks to roll into the darkness within the temple complex.

As they neared the dark arch of the entrance the ground behind them quivered and seized from below. The ice spilt and the snow was pushed aside. Frost covered metal specters rose from an age old slumber, each one carrying abominable weapons that cast their sickly emerald glare on the snow drifts around them.

The Canoness rallied her sisterhood and ministered the hymns of battle and gave praise to the Emperor for allow them to serve his holiness. With shouts of holy hatred and cruel spite the sisters mounted their Repressors and sped toward the enemy as fast as their blessed engines would carry them. The night flickered brightly with the flash of Exorcist Missiles and the organ music of those vehicles played by organists who were oblivious to the battle unfolding around them. Only their music occupied their thoughts now.

The enemy was not impressed by the blind zealotry of their opponent. They felt no fear, they felt nothing at all. Most were barely self-aware and even the rare few that had some sense of self only knew rage and jealousy. The living mocked them with every breath, with every sensation and experience. They advanced as a solid block, each one moving without issuing so much as a single sound let alone a battle cry. The only evidence of their presence at all was he crunch of snow beneath their metal bulk and the pale light of the moons reflecting off their living metal. Beside their implacable advance a ghostly image crawled into sight from he depths of the void. A pyramid of blackish stone with veins of glowing jade that ran its faces. The zenith of the monolith burst into baleful life and unleashed a whip of energy that brought silence to the battlefield. The organ of the Exorcist was destroyed and with it the musician.

The Canoness ordered her mounted warriors on while she and her Retributors took shelter behind the damaged Exorcist. With a defiant scream she ordered her Immolator forward as well but as it reached the edge of the frozen lake the ice gave way and the tracks were jammed with freezing water and snow. Her once strong position had become nothing but a series of road blocks and places to conceal herself. She spat litanies of defiance and condemnation but her prayers halted as her eyes fixed on the conductor of the silent Necron advance.

Clothed in a black shroud and tabard that moved more like smoke then cloth, the Lord stood with his hulking Immortals. One hand clutched an orb that pulsed with wicked energy and each burst of light would awaken another fallen warrior. In one smooth motion it raised its icon of office, staff made of elegant metal and light. As it did so the rest of its army followed suit in jerky mechanical fashion. By its silent command the enemy fired and anything its weapons touched was rent down to ash, stripped layer by layer… flayed alive. Within the death mask of the Lord there were glints of witch fire that burned with a hate more ancient then any mortal could conjure. The Canoness was humbled by its fiery gaze. She knew that even in death it held more rage then she could ever muster in her living years.

The mounted sisters rolled into a flanking position and leapt from their Repressors with bolters blazing and litanies of faith on their lips. The Canoness ordered her Seraphim to descend upon the enemy’s other flank and her own Retributors to stab into the core of the enemy with blessed Heavy Bolters.

The sisters never faltered or fled in the face of the enemy but their fire power was futile. Every shot was shrugged off or repelled by the alien armor and those that did succumb to fire would soon stand, willed back to unlife by their grim master. Their only victory came when a burst of heavy fire forced silent gliding Necron weapon platforms to retreat into the depths. Beside the retreat of these five their weapons could only manage to put down another four of the Necron. By that time enemy had destroyed all resistance on both flanks and its indestructible Monolith drifted forward to block the view of the Retributors.

All was lost to them. The Canoness gave the command to fall back, though her options for escape were all cut off save for one, the depths of the benighted temple-city they came to destroy. Her and the survivors walked willingly into the blackness of the archways. None of them had any illusions about surviving the night. Their only hope now was to die well in His service.

Game Type: Annihilation

Deployment Pitched Battle

Game Size: 1500

Result: Cygnus Tomb Victory 4KP to 2KP

In the center of the room, an even older man sits. His hair is long and white, he is mumbling to himself as his finger follows the words etched into the massive tome before him. Looking up he replys, “Ah yes, Grand Master Leantes.” He stands, his old bones creaking under the pressure. “I need you to take care of a little problem we have. It appears Inquisitor Alphenis has lost control of a detachment of Adeptes Sororitus. You see, on the ice planet Trina the villagers started resisting the control of their governor. The populace eventually defeated the guard regiments stationed there and took control of the planet themselves. Of course the Ordo Hereticus was sent to put down this uprising, and they did. First leveling the planet with orbital bombardment, and then killing every person upon the surface.”

“Things went well, in just under a week the resistance was…exterminated. It was then that the sisters, checking for anyone or thing still alive, discovered the source of the rebellion. Hiding in the ruins of a village was a small boy, not just an ordinary boy but a psycher of immense potency. Of course, without the protection of the ministry this boy had been corrupted by the warp and the forces of chaos. It was this adorable little boy that had been possessed, and this adorable little boy had corrupted that entire planet.”

“The sisters however, do not fully understand the power of this boy. Even now, they have been taken in by his cute boyish charm. Even now they are giving him medical attention, healing his wounds and getting to know him.”

“The Adpetus Soritus are loathe to kill their bretheren, and refuse to see this boy as the threat he is. I need you to go now, and eliminate everyone who has come into contact with hellien before he brought into contact with anyone else. Wait, not for his influence grows every moment.”

Without hesitation, the Grand Master replies, “We will not fail the Emperor.” Turning to gather his brothers.

***

“We have arrived in orbit over the system. The Soritus ships have not noticed our presence.”

“Good, move to the far side of the planet and keep out of range. We need not take on the entire Convent. Prepare the brothers for deployment. My men and I will take the Land Raider, along with Brother Dreadnaught Denatis and land clear outside of view. We use to night to cloak our entry.” The voice is strong and stern, speaking without uncertainty. “Instruct the Knights to teleport in just outside the ruins and take up cover within. We will strike once I arrive.” 

***

On the planet’s surface the sisters rest, a few sentries are watching the perimeter but there are no signs of life here. None save a young boy who they have managed to save. A streak of light crashes into the mountains in the distance, followed by a crack of thunder. The sentries spring to life, notifying their canoness.

“Hmm, are you sure it was a drop pod? We have the situation completely under control, there is no need for Marines. I want you to double the sentries and send a unit of Sisters Seraphim to investigate..” 

With that a young dark haired boy starts screaming, “No! No! Its them, they’ve come for me.”

“Shh, Shh, its ok.” The woman consoles the young boy, holding her close to him.

“No, they’ve come to kill us…all of us.”

“Who has come?”

“Great Silver Daemons, they’ve here to kill me and you as well”

The Canoness gets up abruptly, hitting an alarm. “Sisters to Battle! The forces of Chaos approach!”

***

The Land Raider moves into position, and with a quick glance the Captain sees his brother nights ready to move in. As hes about to command the assualt, it begins a rain of bolter fire erupts from the ruins as Sisters Seraphim scream towards their position. The knights know just want to do, from their ranks you begin to hear a feint chant growing ever louder. Their emperor will keep them hidden, and they will strike with force of his name.

***

The sisters fire blindly into the night, where they once thought there were marines there is now nothing. All they can hear is the incessant chanting, growing ever louder and closer. Then it comes, a hail of storm bolter fire from every direction. They try to respond, but they simply cannot find their targets. Sisters are cut down to nothing, even the mighty seraphim are lost.

With a flash their enemies have made it into the camp, might warriors in tactical dreadnaught armor cut through their lines. Finally, the sisters can see their enemy it is not a daemonic force of the warp but their brothers in the Ordo Malleus, the emperor’s finest Grey Knights. The canoness turns to the boy, but he is gone.

Grey Knights vs. Sisters of Battle

2,000 Points

Mission: Seize Ground

Deployment: Dawn of War

Result: Knights 2, Sisters 0

Inquisitor Gaius Reynard carefully and dutifully records the deed in his grand tome. Each word laid out on actual parchment with a stylus made from an avian’s quill as if he were some scholar of a backward and medieval world within the Imperium. Some things cannot be fully expressed by the data slat or key stroke of a computer. Any good deed worth recording should be written by hand, by the hand that carried out the deed in fact. There in the character is seen and felt. The cold anonymity of a computer fails to grasp the personality and the soul of an author. Or so Gaius has always felt.

Today’s deed is the Purge of the Jandor garrison on Cygnus Primaris. The disloyal and the ignorant guardsmen of the Cadian 101st have been put in the Emperor’s hands now.

“… and Sister Superior Rosa has noted a growing paranoia and reclusive nature among your storm troopers my lord. She notes that many of them have taken to wearing their rebreather units at all times and when confronted by the observation become hostile and…” Reynard listens to Palatine Preceptor Daniella Verlossi drone on about matters of little consequence. He pays much more attention to making sure the letters of his work are flawless.

“She talks a great deal doesn’t she my lord.” Canoness Preceptor Helena Volkham states in a cool and sharp observation. She wears none of the power armor that Verlossi is encased in. She instead has chosen a long black dress with pale red sash that hangs around her waist. Her hair is a long full blond, not the uniform like ear length crop that the other sisters of the Velvet Rose sport. She sits cross legged beside the Inquisitor watching the subordinate give her briefing. Danielle Verlossi continues on unphased by the comment

“… Sisters Superior Berghoff and Crenella have not yet found any signs of mutation among the dead Cadians nor have they uncovered heretical idols or signs of deviation from the Ecclesiarcial faith. It may be possible that…” Daniella finds it difficult to continue on with the rest of the statement. The implications of what she considers saying are to much for her mouth to bare.

Canoness Volkham turns toward Reynard with a look of stark surprise and indignation. “She thinks you made a mistake. She thinks you might have killed a company of innocent men.”

Reynard turns angry eyes upon the young Palatine. He sets his quill into the well of ink and speaks a slow and hateful tone “Palatine Preceptor do you mean to say that I was erroneous in my judgment? That it is possible that the Cadians who welcomed us to Jandor with las rifles and ordinance shells were somehow pure men? Do you think I somehow made a mistake? That I did not sense deviants and mutants, that the taint of the ruinous powers I foresaw was in error! Say what you mean girl!”

“No lord, that is not possible. The judgment of the Ordo Hereticus is without question.” She relents meekly.

“Continue your report” Reynard returns to his quill and his writings.

“Several of the sisters have noted a growing presence of vermin in the garrison. Rodents my lord and they say they are quiet malicious my lord. In fact some of the sisters bitten have become bed ridden with sickness and…”

Canoness Volkham laughs quietly. Reynard looks up briefly and cuts off Daniella. “I said continue with your report not explain to me the intricacies of the Cadian’s poor cleanliness.”

“As you wish…” She goes on with her report of the battle and the security of the Garrison now that its in Sororitas hands.

Helena Volkham rises from her chair and moves to Reynard’s position. She slithers under his writing arms and crawls into the man’s lap pressing very near his face. She cocks her head back at the Palatine as she meticulously rambles her facts. “Do you know what I think my lord?”

“What do you think?” Reynard asks in a low voice filled with urge and distraction.

Daniella Vollosi answers with a bit more force in her voice then she expected. “What do I think… I think it’s an ill omen, perhaps portent of something truly terrible my lord. When priests and Sororitas alike report violent and deviant nightmares and some say they cannot hear the voice of our Emperor any longer. What should I think?”

Reynard knows he clearly missed whatever it was she was talking about before the subordinate’s outburst. He can’t manage to tear his eyes from the pale smooth skin of the Canoness that straddles him and the beading sweat on her chest.

Helena still stares at the Palatine with contemptuous eyes and then turns back to the man she has between her legs “I don’t think she believes you My lord. I think she believes you killed the Cadians in cold blood. That there is no deviant presence here… well at least not in the Cadians. Don’t you see how she’s looking at you. What do you think she’s thinking? Maybe that there’s a mutation or two beneath your robes. I know there’s not. We’ve had more then enough time to search out mutation on each other haven’t we…”

Gaius Reynard nods in agreement with the Canoness. How dare the brat accuse him, not with words but with thoughts? How dare she question his purity?

The Inquisitor stands, careful to make sure his robes well cover any inappropriate  displays by his body. Satisfied he smiles at the Palatine and gestures openly, still with quill in hand. “My dear Daniella we have achieved a great victory and you let your mind be derailed by minor miseries and imagined evils. You must learn to appreciate your gains and take pride in your successes.”

“There is no room for pride in the Sororitas Inquisitor, only duty” She states quizzically. “But there is the matter of the Canoness Preceptor Volkham, may the Emperor protect. Her body has been anointed and prepared for travel back to the Shrine of Celestia to be interred and…”

She is cut off by the Inquisitor’s quick hands wrapping around her throat and slamming her against his study walls. No air can reach her lungs and no amount of force can throw the man off.

Canoness Volkham moves up beside the Inquisitor as he stares into the bulging eyes and red face of the Palatine. “You have to kill her otherwise she’ll accuse you. You don’t have time for accusation questioning you to prove your faith and your purity. Kill her! Kill her Reynard kill her!” She whispers into the Inquisitor’s eye with equal parts of ecstasy and spite.

Daniella finally gets her leg in position to push back the maniac. “What… what’s wrong with you!” She coughs and starts to reach for her side arm.

“She’s going to shoot me do something” Helena screams.

Reynard reacts quickly and rights his position. “You’d gun down your own Canoness! And you think me the heretic Palatine!”

Dazed by the absurdity of the statement Daniella falters for a moment “Helena Volkham is dead.” She responds while raising her Bolt pistol at the Inquisitor but she is too late. With all the strength he can muster Gaius lashes out with one hand. Then its over, Daniella drops to the ground as dead weight. Half the quill protrudes from her left eye, the rest buried into her brain. A carpet of crimson starts to surround the corpse. The quill must have jabbed through the back of her skull as well.

Gaius falls to his knees panting. “She… she said you were dead… why would she say such an absurd thing. Dead… Those Cadians that charged you yesterday, you cut them down like a scythe leveling wheat. Didn’t she see that? You dead… why would she… what was that business about anointing a body and…”

Helena kneels down beside the Inquisitor, her lips only inches from his. “You saved me. She was going to shoot me. How awful, my destiny could have ended here on the floor of your study. Thank you.” She gently pushes the man’s back to the ground, the warm blood quickly seeps through his cloths and delights his skin.

“Well, we couldn’t have that now could we…” Gaius mutters as his robe is pushed open and the Canoness’ blood slick hand runs across it. Her own dress is quickly removed and their bodies meet.

Gaius Reynard spends the next few hours alone on the floor of his study slicked in blood. His work on Cygnus Primaris begins shortly thereafter.

The orks beat drums and pound their choppas on the dusty earth in a tribal fashion while the Warboss speaks.

“We sought em’ out lads! Dem Preachy girls came all da way here ta start trouble wit us! Boyz… der is bold and den der is stupid and all dem preachy girls is dumb as a grot drunk on fungus beer. We smartened em up though huh? We taught them a good lesson bout’ startin trouble in someone elses back yard. And another fing…”

The Warboss continues on with his thuggishly repetitive speech while at the outskirts of the crowd there is another smaller gathering. Several nobs and the bloated obese Ork Bloth the Beast all gather around the Warboss’ personal advisor Painboss Art’attack. The mechanized Ork speaks to the small assemblage in his low metallic tone.

“The master is pleased with your work here” he speaks to the huge ork. Bloth offers little interest in the accolades of the Painboss. He just grumbles in agreement to the praise as if it were fact. “As you know Hogoth Leadbelcher was killed while recovering information from our informant, the Sisterhood’s renegade priest Elias Conroy. While the human was killed by the Sisterhood’s strike force before anything truly valuable could be gathered from him what we were able to discover is the reason for their presence here. The human says they are seeking the bones and relics of a fallen hero of some kind. Though the priest could not tell us much before is untimely death he did tell us where the sisterhood is looking next.”

The nobs assembled look very confused. Bloth looks particularly bored but manages to answer the doc “So what? You want us ta go out der and rough em’ up er what?”

“No my simple minded associate. I want you to go there and take the shrine, capture the items of interest and bring them back to me. I want your best orks on this.”

Bloth nods in agreement “Right den, I’ll rustle up some trucks and looted tanks. I’ll put da Speed Freaks on dis.” 

The Painboss turns back to the hoard and its fanatic levels of hooting and hollering. Instinctively he feels the pull to join in. It wasn’t so long ago that he’d of been there with the rest screaming like a mad boy with the others but the Servitor bits in his head have dulled all those urges to the background of his mind. What occupies his thoughts are all the injured orks that have been trucked off to his Infirmary. The lure of severed limbs, failing organs and fresh running blood call to him as much as the prospects of how to fix each of those ailments. Buzzing blades, mechanical enhancements and lobotomies are just what the doctor ordered.  

“My Fellow Citizens, occasionally in every politician’s career they have the opportunity to represent the people of their nation and recognize true greatness. It is with great pride that I am here today to recognize the Cadian 7th for their heroic deeds against a rogue Witch Hunters force.

The Cadian 7th was deployed at the Emperor’s request to patrol a system of ice planets for traces of Eldar activity in the area. After finding no evidence of such activity our Brave Men were confronted by this Inquisitor and her forces, not treated as heros but as traitors. It seems the Inquisitor felt the men were corrupted by the phantom Eldar influence of the forces that did not exist.

Our men are pure.
Pure in their faith.
Pure in their Allegiance and pure
…in their bravery.

Our men did not back down, but mercilessly defeated the inquisitors forces. She and her forces of unchecked Hinnys (Female Mules) were no match for the Leman Russ’ and Strategic Brilliance of Office Worth and his men.

Let us Celebrate this victory. Let us dedicate today in their honor.

To Victory!
To Honor!
To The Emperor!”

***

Imperial Guard vs. Sisters of Battle
Seek and Destroy: Gamma
2,000 Pts
Imperial Guard: Solid Victory

Canoness Lovegood it is my understanding that your Preceptory has earned a rather unique moniker among my storm troopers and the Imperial Garrisons throughout the entire segmentium. The Ladies of Pain i believe. It is in that capacity that i now come to you.

I wish to draw your attention to the world of Cygnus Primaris in the Ultima Segmetium. The world was at one time heavily populated.

Many great hive cities sprawled across its three great continents. It was a center of trade and industry. But heretical seeds in its underbelly festered. Heresy took root and the world was plunged into a war that destroyed all its infrastructure and left Cygnus Primaris a shattered ruined husk of a world with a fraction of its former population. In that time it has become a blighted breeding ground for all manner of Xenos, mutants and heretics. The largest continent has become host to an Ork Tribe known as The Planet Smashas and led by a belligerent warlord named Worldbreaker. Of the other remaining continents they are largely a mystery to us. All manner of fantastic stories have come from their distant shores but they are not important at the moment.

I want you and your preceptory to go to Cygnus Primaris and secure the old Hive City on the largest continent. Flush out the green menace and break the back of any burgeoning Ork Crusade that may be in the works. Beware their witches. The green skins have their own dangerous brand. Once we have taken the Hive cities back and purged the Xenos threat we can begin retaking the world and bringing faith and penance to those refugees that still lurk in the darkness. You have my full authority to exercise this task. Now see it done.

Thought for the day: Zeal is its own excuse

+++End Transmission+++

Finally, a light on a table flickers into existence, throwing up the visage of Firebush battle-scared and disheveled.

“Canoness Preceptor Lovegood, I’m sorry for the late report. We did not expect to find Orks waiting for us. We were investigating the ruins as you have asked. They were there waiting for us. We took a building trying to hold it as we struggled to take the burial grounds. However, the Orks knew we were coming. They were waiting for us. They already had the grounds and were waiting. I don’t know how they knew. We fought the Green Menace with all the will of the Emperor. But, the Orks were just to numerous. We fought the Orks to a stalemate but we could not take the Mausoleum.”

Firebush seems breathless after her frantic rant. Lovegood waits patiently for her to catch her breath. She then draws in a long breath slowly releasing it before speaking

“You have failed me Firebush. We have to find this armor. This is a must. You need to redouble your efforts and find that armor. Seeing as that the Orks know of your existence, I will send you an army. However, I no longer feel that you can accomplish our goals. I have had increased pressure put on me by the Lord Inquisitor since your arrival on Cygnus. I will be sending an Inquisitor to help you with your… situation. I suggest that you take his advice.”

Firebush’s mouth drops at this news. She stammers momentarily at the news but quickly regains her composure.

“Yes, Canoness Preceptor. I will begin preparing for the inquistor’s arrival.”

+++ End Transmission +++