Sleep was nice, it was uninterupted and refreshed her, allowing her to wake in the morning chipper and elated. The morning duties were fulfilled, she got to wear her cute apron as she served breakfast to the guardsmen, melted hearts with her smile and got more than a few flirting comments from the men, as well as waves of recruitment requests from the women. It seemed like most people, they assumed only women could be in the Soraritas. She couldn’t deny the fact that being a beacon of hope, faith, and passion for these men was something that really fed her ego. Leading these guardsmen in their morning prayer only served to further this, and by the time she had gotten into her armour, the day was one of beauty and brilliance. The idea she was in a warzone just didn’t even occur to her, she was far too happy to think of that.

Though there was nothing for them to do as plans were made and resources gathered, Emia went about helping around the camp, becoming a well known idol of the place. A shining example of the light in the darkness of the galaxy. More men gathered at her prayers, came to her when she served food, and made any sort of excuse they could to be around her. It grew to a point that she had Officers in the grunt tent, forsaking their well-earned quality to be around her. Cohesion and unity was at an all time high, and the commanding officers joshed heartily with their subordinates, a heartwarming sight for anyone.

It was here she further bonded with her Angelus sisters. They were proud and delighted to call Emia a sister, and even Sister Superior Reina came to meet her in evening prayer and discuss The Emperor and his many mercies. The delight of talking to another so eminently fervorous was simply the icing on this delectable cake.

A week into this, when the camp was abuzz with delight, and the grumping of the Officers was heard because they were inundated with transfer requests to get close to Emia, there was finally something to do other than aid in the camp. The command echelon had pulled in troops from across the planet to assist in this upcoming assault on the Hive, and the camps were growing into full blown bases by the week’s end, and it was this that would be put to use. The Vox had picked up a call from the Nobles at the top of the spire, and had been informed their bastion still held out. Between the high class bodyguards and the difficulty in getting there in the first place, the Heretics had yet to make headway into taking control of the noble quarters.

The unfortunate part, was that Thunderhawks and Valkyries couldn’t make the landing to deposit extra troops the aid them in throwing off the Heretic assault. So the plan was to have the Angelus jet up to the quarters, and then deploy a Warp Beacon for the rest of the Sisters to teleport in from the ship in orbit. And then they would make their way down the Hive and clear out Heretic positions. Reinforcements would be prevented by the multi-pronged attack from the PDF. Hit on every front, the Heretic position should collapse. So was the plan, at least. Some of her sisters were glad to finally get out there and do something, especially the Dominion squads. Drawn from fanatics and the most zealous of the sisters, they forever wished to drive forward.

Fortunately, the Heretics had not managed to get the anti-air installations online, so the fly up to the Noble Quarter was easy for Emia and the Angelus. Though, upon arrival they were somewhat off put by the decadence and opulence that surrounded them. It was ostentatious and gaudy and when the people below them were in varying degrees of eternal suffering, it was thrice as egregious to have such. But now was hardly the time for a moral debate, as they needed to set up the warp beacon.

Sister Superior Reina opened communication with the Nobles Vox channel, and after some moments they were guided in and to the front. The heady bastion of emplaced weapons and grizzled warriors was certainly imposing, and the possibilities of the enemy breaking through it with their limited number were slim. It was this that allowed Reina to place the Beacon and have courage in marching forth without leaving any of their number. The rest of the sisters, led by the Palatine, flashed into the frontlines, and the imposing sight of eighty power armoured warriors was seen by all.

“Palatine, I am happy you have arrived. I was worried we might fall to the Chaos invaders” The nobleman in front of them exclaimed, rushing over and grasping the woman’s gauntlet in his hand.

“Fear not. All children of The Emperor are safe while they-hugk” The Palatine was cut off when the Nobleman shot her through the chest with an ancient looking Laspistol. The crack of atmospheric discharge stunned the sisters, catching them flatfooted and unable to comprehend what had just happened. The Nobleman took advantage of their distraction to fire a second shot into the Palatine’s head and kill her outright.

The second crack seemed to signal the start of a frenzy. Armsmen burst in from the many doors surrounding them, and the Dominion whipped up into righteous fury, bolters roaring as they picked their targets with brutal efficiency. For her part, Emia cast her shield around her sisters and then drew her bolt pistols firing on the Nobleman, only to see her bullets deflected by an invisible field as he retreated from the battle. Not one to let him go, Emia continued to fire her pistols till they were dry and then ordered her sniper skill to fire upon him as well. Though her pistols proved ineffective, whatever the sniper rifle her second was packing tore clean through the shield, the man’s gaudy armour, and himself, splattering the man across the walls in a gruesome display.

Between her holy shield and the disciplined firing lines of the Soraritas, the inital assault collapsed under the weight of its casualties and the Sisters were unharmed. Though, they were still in hostile territory, miles from any aide, surrounded by heretics, and from the Superior trying to get in contact with anyone, had no way to contact the outside world. Plus the enemy’s assault had drained her Faith, and she couldn’t raise the Palatine from the dead.

“Our orders remain unchanged. We will cleanse the Heretics, and meet up with the PDF. The Emperor wills it” Sister Superior Reina seemed to take charge in the wake of the Palatine’s death, and with her force of personality, nobody argued. They needed a leader after all. The shocking betrayal of the Nobles had thrown them all off guard...