26Storm Heralds Reading List
Book 1 Maledicti Venator, Serrati Stellas, Tenebris Resurget, Finis Fide, In Tergum Cultro, Omni Honore, Carpe Posterum, Vacuus Cymba, Noctem Oritur.
Book 2 Umbram Ignis, Ancra Mortis, Fame Cimex, Crux Lapis, Saeva Abyssi.
Book 3 Captum Ante, Veneum Filios, Locum Ignotum, Domus Discordia.
Book 4 Cincere Tempestas, Ignis in Vacui, Indomitus Bellum, Falsa Verum.
Redemptio Opus Chapter 1
The Rhino rocked from side to side, its motions jarring and random. Tracks roared as they hit the uneven surface, sending stones and slag skittering away down the slope. Even from the inside it was clear that they were traversing a sharp incline, for the Rhino was canted at a steep angle, making the prayer-beads and incense brazier hanging from the roof tilt at an alarming angle. It was a most uncomfortable ride but she was used to that, she had trained since before she could remember with all manner of arms and war machines.
Justini tried to put the discomfort aside as they roared along, repeating her prayers over and over as she slipped a loop of holy beads through her gauntleted hands. She was in the flower of youth, fresh and energetic. At first glance she could be called pretty, with cropped blonde hair, sparkling blue eyes, full lips and an excessive amount of freckles across her nose. Yet that assessment was not the whole story, her lip was split by a rising scar on the right side and the crook of her nose hinted that it had been broken in a fight. Her body was concealed by her ceramite armour but underneath she was corded with dense muscle, the result of rigorous training from a young age and her head moved with the distinctive 'rotate then lift' action of one accustomed to looking at the world through targeting reticules.
Justini was clad in black armour with red highlights, a hanging baltea and at her hip were a Godwyn-De'az pattern boltgun and a combat blade. Her plate bore numerous icons of devotion, purity seals and a small reliquary containing holy water from Ophelia VII. On one knee was a fleur-de-lis and on the other was the red heart on white cross emblem of the Order of the Valorous Heart. For she was a sworn warrior-maiden of the Adepta Sororitas: the Sisters of Battle.
Justini's head unexpectedly snapped back against her power generator as the Rhino hit a particularly large bump and she fought the urge to swear out loud as her skull throbbed. Justini was proud to wear her plate and admired the way it boosted her strength and resilience, but in her hearts of hearts, she was certain that it must have been designed for appearances as much as protection. The plate was a mighty boon to a warrior but it also pinched her waist uncomfortably, the neck ring was too high and the contours of the front left rather a lot of empty space between its swells and her actual bosom. Justini chided herself for the impious thought and prayed, "God-Emperor of Mankind, who sees all and knows all, may you forgive your servant for her weakness and grant her the strength to do your will." Around her five other Sisters lowered their heads in prayer, seeking communion with the God-Emperor before the fight began. Such was the way of the Adepta Sororitas, their physical armour was only part of their protection, their spiritual armour was deemed far superior. They believed in the Terran Emperor's righteous power and their faith was their sword and their shield.
Suddenly there was a clatter as one Sister stood up, bearing a long chainsword at her hip. This was Sister-Superior Karna, a stern and zealous leader and she proclaimed, "Prepare Sisters, we disembark in sixty seconds."
"Situation?" Justini inquired.
"Enemy's are advancing through the spoil," Karna replied, "The Frater Militia are being slaughtered, the Heretical Disciples of Ruin drive all before them."
Another Sister, Praxi, asked, "Any sign of Flesh-Golems?"
"None," Karna replied, "The blasphemers send us their dregs, but they do so in vast numbers. Cannoness-Preceptor Phantea is dispatching five squads and armoured units to stay their advance. We will be the first into the field so make ready for war!"
The Sisters hurriedly donned their helms and Justini saw the world resolve into the familiar shapes of info-runes and targeting reticules. Her five Sister's life-signs popped up in her vision and she was reassured by their steady unblinking vitals, none of them was panicking. As one they picked up their bolters and faced the rear door, waiting to enter the heart of war. Karna tested the vox-link then declared, "In the name of the God-Emperor, we shall meet the foe this day and send them back to the hell that spawned them!"
"In His name," they cried as one then the Rhino rocked to a halt and the ramp slammed down.
Justini was instantly moving, gripping her red-cased bolter tightly as the squad disembarked. Before them lay a vista of hell, lit by flaming pools of liquid. The ground was a long slope of ash and grit, mixed with fused lumps of metal and broken bits of devices. Smoke and flame filled the air, ejected by craters overflowing with fire. Visibility was reduced to a dozen feet but dead bodies lay scattered everywhere, men and women in rags and torn clothes. They were covered in wounds and burns, but these were not recent, in fact many of them looked self-inflicted. This was what remained of the Frater Militia in this sector, the civilian volunteers that served as the bulk of the Ecclesiarchy's fighting force.
Justini could not see very far but she knew the spoil ran for miles, stretching all the way up to the high walls of Tethys Hive, whose industrial spill-off had created this polluted desolation. Faint flashes of light and noise in the smoke testified that the war still raged on across its vast bulk but Justini had no time to stop and stare, for the squad was already moving, heading deeper into the morass of smoke and fire. Sister Praxi commented, "Looks like an incendiary barrage took out the Fraters in this section."
"Ours or theirs?" Justini mused.
"Hardly matters anymore," Praxi answered, "The Fraters aren't concerned about collateral damage."
"Quiet," Karna snapped, "Keep alert, the Disciples of Ruin can't be far."
Justini swallowed as she peered through the smoke, her autosenses seeking to penetrate the miasma. Her autosense detected movement ahead and that it was coming closer. The squad halted and presented their bolters, waiting for the first target as Justini fought the urge to open fire prematurely. Her eyes spotted a burnt-out Macharius heavy-tank, one of the inferior marks granted to the Frater Militia, and for a second she courted the idea of suggesting they seek cover. Then she dismissed the notion, they had more than armour and weapons on their side, they had the Blessings of the God-Emperor. What worth was mere cover when measured against the shining faith of the Sisters of Battle?
Suddenly the smoke parted and dead-ahead was revealed a wall of ragged flesh, the Disciples of Ruin charging right at them. "Open fire!" Karna screamed and six bolters answered, blasting mass-reactive rounds at the filthy Heretics. Justini fired three-round bursts with each pull of her trigger, greeting the foe with blazing death. Her spine rattled with the violence of her weapon's discharge, even her blessed power armour unable to completely compensate for the enormous recoil of mass-reactive rounds. Her teeth chattered and her arms shook but she was used to that and her aim was steady and unwavering.
With sure shots she blew apart vague shapes in the smoke, the mass-reactive rounds striking exposed flesh and burrowing deeply within. One second after impact the bolts detonated, blasting bodies apart in sprays of gore and entrails that showered down upon their fellows. Justini cut down foes left and right, then her magazine clunked empty, she hurriedly ejected it and slotted in a new clip. She resumed firing but in that moment the Disciples had closed the gap, charging right into the teeth of the Sister's fire. Dozens of foes had fallen but the rest cared not, utterly inured to the horror of their comrades' deaths. They flung themselves into the raging storm of destruction, taking step after step despite their ferocious losses and Justini cried, "There's too many of them!"
Sister Praxi called out, "We should fall-back and regroup!"
"No!" Karna shrieked, "Stand your ground, not one inch back! Trust in His grace and let the Hymns of Victory sound this day!"
Justini saw the enemy bunch up to charge into the fray and she hurriedly clamped her bolter to her hip and drew her combat blade. Behind her she heard the vox-hailers fitted to their Rhino squawk into life and begin playing faint music, ancient hymnals that praised the righteousness and majesty of the God-Emperor. With the stirring notes ringing over the field Justini braced herself for the fight to come. A heartbeat later a wall of bodies came at the Sisters, charging at them with hands raised in fury. Justini saw a Heretic run at her and met him with the point of her blade, ramming the point into an eye socket. Another came at her from the side but her ceramite-clad elbow shattered the face and drove bone shards into the brain. Another she felled with a kick that shattered a knee and another she gutted with a disembowelling strike. Empowered by their blessed plate the Sisters were reaping a fearfully tally, but so many were the foe that it was making no difference.
This close Justini could see the Heretics in detail and one could be forgiven for thinking they were not so different from the Frater Militia. Men and women, young and old, rich and poor, lame and sick, the foe came from all walks of life. Yet they differed in two respects, firstly their brands and tattoos were not righteous Aquillas but the sickening icons of Chaos. Secondly, each of them had a thick metal collar riveted around their neck and shoulders, embedded with chemicals vials. These collars forced a cocktail of Frenzon and Slaught into their bloodstream, driving their fury and granting them unholy vitality.
Justini felt their hands clawing at her armour and thrashed about, breaking arms and snapping limbs. But the Disciples cared not, pain could not penetrate their drug-addled minds and they could see nothing but red rage. They clawed at her plates and broke their teeth on her armour, seeking weak points. Some foes retained enough sense to cling to sharpened daggers and these chipped and gouged her black armour as they sought out the joints. Justini shoulder-barged a screaming Heretic away, whose eyes were red with fury and she shouted, "We're being overrun!"
Karna's chainsword roared as she lopped off limbs and tore open bodies and the Sister Superior cried, "Hold the line! To admit defeat is to blaspheme against the God-Emperor!"
On and on the foe came, emerging from the smoke in all directions as they piled in. Justini fought to her utmost, feeling her heart thundering in her chest as she smashed and hacked and tore at the crowd of deranged enemies. She was slaying dozens, but their numbers were growing and their weight threatened to bowl her over. Then she felt a sharp pain in the back of her knee as a dagger sank into the joint. Her leg gave way and she fell to one knee as the Disciples of Ruin piled in, battering at her armour with their fists.
Justini thought that the hour of her death had come and commended her soul to the God-Emperor but then there was a deep-seated roar as something big raced through the smoke. Praxi yelled aloud, "Beware! Flesh-Golem!"
But Karna's voice filled with wonder as she cried, "No, no look! Look!"
Justini managed to get her head up and saw through the smoke a tracked vehicle, rolling across the spoil with deadly intent. Set high above a Sister sat in an armourglass cupola, that bore two heavy weapons, with gaping nozzles set at each end. Justini's jaw fell and she gasped, "Immolator!"
The tank charged into the fray, crushing Heretics under its treads and then its twin Heavy Flamers let loose. Burning plumes of Promtheium swept over the field, clinging to Heretic bodies as it coated them head to toe. The Disciples screamed as they flailed in agony, even their chem-addled brains unable to ignore being burnt alive. They fell down in droves as their bodies were reduced to charred skeletons and the smell of roasting flesh was sickening. The Immolator drove right into the heart of battle, burning swathes of foes and shattering their charge. Justini saw the heat-levels soar in her visor but her plate held true and spared her the ignominy of burning to death. Her attackers were not so fortunate, falling down as they were set alight. The blows stopped raining upon her and Justini managed to lurch to her feet, wincing at the pain in her leg. Everywhere Disciples were dying, flaming corpses scattered about in all directions and Sister Superior Karna was already following the advancing Immolator crying, "Behold, the Heretic falls before the wrath of the God-Emperor, but those who are righteous in His sight shall walk through fire and death untouched! On Sisters, victory is close. Praise be!"
Filled with righteous zeal Justini and her Sister followed and as she took up her bolter she cried with fervour, "Praise be. Praise be!"
