Warhammer 40K Fan Fiction ❯ Wed to Faith ❯ Chapter 3: Rapid Strike ( Chapter 3 )

The next day, everyone was ready. They had already recovered, mentally, and had accepted the passing of their loved ones. The Sisters of Battle were prepared for action. Usually it was the human threat within that they fought against, but not any longer. It had started when human traitors allowed for an opening, inviting the Dark Eldar into their system, where hundreds were killed, and hundreds more taken as slaves. The loss to the Imperium had been heavy, and the few traitors who had not been betrayed and captured by the Dark Eldar were put to death by burning.

 

Since then there had been a steady series of attempted invasions by the slavers. Usually the wych cult was leading the attack, preceded by a firestorm of meteors and missiles. The battlefields were easy to see, scarred landscapes and ruined bastions and scorched churches. No-one remained, the survivors being evacuated, and they were sure that it was only a matter of time before the wyches got too bold and attacked them at their own planet.

 

And so they wanted to strike first. Kasanja once again headed to the dungeon to speak with the captive. When she arrived, she could see that the witch had been suffering: she had neglected to switch the plasma engine off, and so Sluralis enjoyed a sleepless night of hot, piercing pain in her lower regions.

 

“Oh, did I forget that? What a shame, allow me to help you.”

 

Switching the engine off, Kasanja smacked the baton against Sluralis' mound, snapping the clips off and causing her to finally cry out in pain. She glimpsed at the burns and scratches left, feeling satisfied with the effects.

 

“So, we can't torture you, and there's nothing we're willing to give you… perhaps we could make a, not so much a deal, no, perhaps we could make a little wager. The stakes will be high indeed: if you win, you escape. If we win, yours suffer heavy losses”

 

“Ha! Pretend for a moment that I could possibly trust you to actually fulfil your side. Or that you could trust me, for that matter. What would the wager itself be?”

 

“Oh, I'm sure we could find a way to ensure trust. It is simple: we take you with us to where your people are. We attack, but we take you with us, and if they can release you? Well, you escape. If you should escape but also capture one of our leaders, I will submit before you for the torture of your choice. But there is always the possibility that we will wipe out so many others of your race. And then? Then you come back with us for a real discipline session, before being handed over to the Inquisition.”

 

“Ha! You honestly think you could really win? But I see, I give you what you want and we have the confrontation early. Hmm, I suppose when we win, we can then strike. I will lead them back here and we will enslave everyone. I will take our local wildlife, light them up with warpfire and insert them inside your vagina and anus, before letting them eat their way through the intervening tissue and fight to the death.”

 

“Charming. You speak of such vulgar things with so much confidence. I look forward to the battle, so that we can teach you arrogant fools some humility.”

 

As Kasanja turned to leave, the witch merely smirked.

 

 

“So, what news do we have?” Papavera asked.

 

“She went for it. We now have a deal, and she's going to lead us to the extermination of her kind.”

 

“Excellent. Let us assemble our forces. We'll prepare for an invasion so that we can have her back for the Inquisitor in time. Incidentally, I was speaking with Sister Carmine. I want you to sit this battle out, so that you can undergo surgery. Don't worry: both Somnifera and I will be there to lead our forces. Surely a pair of Canonesses is sufficient to lead this assault?”

 

“As much as I want to be there, I know you're right. Maybe if I can be fully repaired, I will be more capable of protecting my girls. Yes… I will look forward to your safe return, praying for you the whole time.”

 

“And when we get back safely, I promise to hand the witch over for you to whip senseless. Perhaps you could rehabilitate your shoulder by working on your caning prowess? I remember you were always good at leaving a set of thick weals.”

 

Smiling, she winced at the memory of receiving a caning at the hands of Kasanja. The older Canoness merely chuckled.

 

 

However, even before they could get organised, a message went through. A message from Inquisitor Lady Kezia no less. Apparently, on her journey through realspace, she had encountered a small base of Dark Eldar. They would already be on the offence in just a matter of time, and so an immediate strike would be necessary.

 

Soon, a strike force had been assembled: two units of Celestians, Canoness Somnifera, two units of Seraphim and a team of Sisters Repentia, led by Mistress Furia. Not only that, but they would be deployed via Praxedes-pattern Drop Pods, with a pair of Dominica-pattern Deathwind Drop Pods. They would fall to the planet in a blitz of flame and steel, catching their foe by surprise. They would strike first for once, and it would be a fast, vengeful affair.

 

A vessel of the Imperial Navy arrived in short order, loading everything and everyone on board. Strapping herself in for the take-off, Somnifera considered just how little time it had taken to prepare. They were certainly getting faster in their reactions, and the xenos would be even less likely to catch them off-guard when they finally did strike… if it would happen. It actually seemed as though they had the chance to tear the disease out by the roots.

 

Though the Canoness regretted having to miss the funeral service, she had already made peace with her fallen sisters, and was glad to take a proactive role. Besides, it would do the others some good. Already the Celestians seemed more relaxed that they would be going into battle, sitting at ease with calm expressions. The journey would take little more than a day, and they would be well-rested on arrival.

 

Of course, rest and prayer were not the only things to consume their time. They maintained their training, practicing their arts of combat, made sure their equipment was in top condition, and several spent the time in each other's arms. Indeed, Somnifera herself shared a small room, for the journey, with her lover Seraphim-Superior Galatea. With hours to go, she leaned back against the wall, bare skin pressed against the cold metal, as she gripped the Seraphim firmly. Muscular legs wrapped around her waist as she explored with her hands, grasping for flesh. Warm bodies pressed against one another as their breathing quickened, lips locked together in passion.

 

Soon, arms wrapped around the Canoness' neck and shoulders, Galatea arched her back, thrusting her breasts into her lover's face for her to suckle and enjoy. Her dark brown nipples were erect and begging for attention, attention that Somnifera was only too happy to provide, even as one hand firmly gripped a buttock and the other slid beneath a thigh, tickling the skin while moving closer and closer to Galatea's quim.

 

They continued to grind together, lost in the passion of their embrace, hands still roaming as Somnifera's long, blonde hair became a tangled mess covering the two like a golden camouflage net. Eventually her fingers found their target, and started to slide along Galatea's slit, jut teasing her at first, but growing more bold and eager with every stroke. Before long, the Canoness was sliding a pair of fingers inside, thrusting gently while seeking out Galatea's little pearl to rub and twist, gradually bringing her over the edge into a shuddering climax. Letting out a soft moan, more of a heavy gasp, the Seraphim let go with her arms and dropped back onto the bed, so that the Canoness could mount her and continue the kisses, legs spread to the sides so as to grind and rub their crotches together.

 

 

Five hours later, clean and certainly dressed to perfection, Canoness Somnifera greeted the Inquisitor with a formal salute to the Emperor, making the sign of the Aquila with her hands. Lady Kezia returned the gesture, clad in bulky terminator armour. It gleamed a polished white and grey, with shoulder pads displaying bolts of crackling green lightning over a dark background. At her side was a Storm Bolter, and sheathed was a power sword.

 

“It is an honour and a pleasure to be fighting alongside the Adepta Sororitas. The Order of the Sacred Lilac has served the Emperor as often as I have drawn my breath.”

 

“The honour is mine, Inquisitor. Any time we can join forces to crush evil beneath our feet is appreciated, and with someone of your experience leading us into battle, I have no reservations. All of our forces are ready to perform the surgical strike. First the steel rain will be unleashed, and I will fly down alongside to join them, and soon after we will have the Seraphim squads drop down to support us. Finally, the Repentias will be inserted where they can gut the enemy best, and I am sure you have your plans on when to enter.”

 

“Indeed. I will be there alongside you. I will link my teleporter to a locator beacon on one of your drop pods so that I can be where the action is. We can't pause for even an instant here, it will be a relentless fight until there are no enemies left standing. We'll try to take prisoners amongst the leadership though, if we can extract information on where the Imperial leak is, we'll be able to stop it without leading a violent purge.”

 

“I agree, Inquisitor. At your command we will begin.”

 

 

And so it was that the Dark Eldar were struck. There was little warning - their sensors couldn't pick up the low-orbit vessel in time, given its small size. Many were still out in the open when the salvo of missiles fell. It was simply fortunate for them that the warheads had such a distance to travel, they strayed considerably. Many explosions rocked the earth, dirt thrown into the air as craters formed. Flames billowed but the xenos didn't even have to scatter and throw themselves to the ground. No, all that was hit was one of their automated interceptor lances, constructed on a watch tower. The entire tower shuddered and erupted into smoke and fire, the dark lance blown to smithereens.

And then it happened. All of a sudden, four heavy drop pods crashed through the skies, slamming into the ground with enough force to dent it. The doors slammed open, and from two of them emerged the Celestian squads, hurrying out as the drop pods fired large Deathwind grenades to bathe the ground in fire. The other two had no-one in them. They were merely filled with automated heavy boltguns. The noise was deafening as they targeted everything nearby. The weapons chewed through their ammunition, throwing clouds of smoke and empty casings into the air as the rounds were fired, the propellants then activating and hurling the rockets at all targets. Explosions littered the field, and all of the hovering vehicles were struck as they started to move, trying to escape the destruction.

 

None escaped unscathed. To some, it merely rattled the crew about, one lost its weapon and dropped to the ground, all but wrecked. One, however, exploded from the force of the blasts happening inside it, hurling its crew to the ground amidst the shrapnel and flames.

 

Even as the Dark Elar recovered, both Celestian squads opened fire. One targeted the other interceptor, peppering it with bolter rounds until a stray shot hit the side of the weapon, shattering it. The other chose a more conventional target: they had stepped out right in front of some wyches, and they stood there, pouring bolter rounds into the barely-armoured foes. Soft flesh gave way to detonating steel, and blood splattered all around, leaving only a few remaining - but those that remained were ready to take blood of their own.

 

It was then that Canoness Somnifera landed, her descent somewhat slower than that of the drop pods. She slid to a halt a very short distance from another transport vessel, and merely pointed her inferno pistol at the hull.

 

“Goodbye, fiends.”

 

The air in front of her gun seemed to boil, rippling before her eyes. Where she pointed it, the metal surface bubbled and dripped, before the plasma engine instantly overheated, causing yet another explosion that hurled debris and eldar over the field. Shrugging, she simply hurled herself into combat even as Kezia appeared on the battlefield amidst a swirl of darkness and the wailing of the warp. The Inquisitor flung herself immediately into combat with the hideous forces led by their Haemonculus.

 

 

It was a strong start - the only question was whether their prey would be able to recover in time and mount an offence of their own. It looked like the answer was yes, as even then another raider was sweeping in, along with a legion of reaver jetbikes. The wyches inside the raider cackled with glee, their combat drugs doing more thinking than their brains, just like the reavers who fired wildly as they started to home in on the one heroine, locked in combat with almost a full squad of Dark Eldar warriors that she was slowly cutting down.

 

From the other side? Ten Hellions, more members of the wych cult, rode their skyboards that seemed to scream through the air. As they lowered themselves, they began to fire - first they would soften their targets and then they would dive in for the kill. Uncountable amounts of tiny metal darts weaved through the air, some bouncing harmlessly off armour, others piercing as though it wasn't even there. To make matters worse, they were nothing more than a distraction: the Celestians saw them and turned their bolters to fire, as a small team emerged from a ruined raider. One slender lady, clad in nothing but shadows and a helmet, and her five bodyguards who wore armour suspiciously resembling salvaged power armour, if a little lighter.

 

Their helms fired a few deadly barbs of their own, but then the squad was locked in… the Celestians didn't stand a chance. The Archon wielded a two-handed scourge with barbs coated in venom. It tore through the ceramite and plasteel power armour and ripped at flesh, causing battle-hardened Sisters to black out from the agony. Arguably worse were the punishers held by the incubi. The power weapons glowed with malice, and sheared through the armour like cloth. The entire unit of Celestians lay in a bloody heap on the ground.

 

“How weak the Mon'keigh really are… I hope they're not all this boring.” The Archon said, looking for another nearby target. Her best bet seemed to be the lone Inquisitor, surrounded by frenzied beasts that scratched ineffectively at her armour as she slowly impaled them one at a time on her power sword.

 

The other Celestians quickly found themselves in combat against wyches - masters of hand to hand violence - but they had numbers on their side. Not even the shredder stopped them, as the razor-wire net it fired bounced harmlessly off their armour. The wyches charged, muscles bulging unnaturally from their drugs, and they collided with the Celestians, almost throwing themselves onto the Sarissas. The Sisters of Battle emerged victorious in that combat, even as jetbikes descended on their Canoness.

 

But if the reavers thought they had victory assured, they were wrong. Even as they raced in, her wielding a giant eviscerator so heavy that it required both hands, they found that, thanks to her jump pack, they just couldn't quite get out of her way. Warriors were just sawn in half, their blood spraying through the air like fountains, and making it harder to see - a problem for the reavers, who needed to make out one target amongst many, but not for her, who was surrounded by enemies. As Somnifera thrust the weapon up, sawing a jetbike in half, she let the smoke and flames illuminate her body. She had killed so many on her own, the wych cult snapped. In a blind panic, they wheeled about and started to flee. She didn't have time to follow them, jetting off towards the next threat…

 

 

The Seraphim then descended, armour sparkling in the sunlight and reflected flames, to make them appear as literal angels. But to the forces of the Witch Hunters, they were even better: they were no mere cosmic beings, they were humans. Even before they touched the ground, they all fired. Flames and bolter rounds sprayed across the Hellions as the Soaring Valkyries beat them at their own game. They flew with grace and dignity, and paired pistols sent twin rounds of explosive power, or streams of fire, to bathe their enemies and slay them in the Emperor's name. When they finished their dance, not a single one was left alive. Every single Hellion had just been put to death.

 

The others, meanwhile, dived straight into combat with the Haemonculus and grotesque, experimental monsters he led. A power sword crackled with light, and they tackled the Haemonculus, trying to tie him up and keep him from striking at the Inquisitor. The Inquisitor herself had her hands full, but as she shouldered past the twisted enemies, hurling them to the ground, she would plunge her power weapon in, slaying them one by one. Still, like a plague, every time one dropped, two more seemed to be reaching out.

 

The arriving wyches also had little luck. Just as they swept in, they fell within the range of a Deathwind, which opened up with a short burst of fire. Heavy bolter rounds struck the side, rupturing it and causing a critical reaction, and once again a vehicle became little more than burning wreckage strewn about the ground. However the victory of the machine spirit was short-lived, as a bolt of pure darkness was fired from the bastion, blasting a hole straight through it. That weapon would fire no longer. However the warriors hiding in the bastion would soon have other worries on their hands. Another drop pod crash-landed, this one striking the side of the fortress itself and caving one wall in. Unrestrained Repentias, egged on by Mistress Furia cracking her adamantine lashes, threw themselves forth into combat. Heavy eviscerators tore holes in the walls, severed fuel lines and support beams and shredded eldar bodies. Soon, the building itself started to cave in, yet still they continued to step forward, not relenting until the building had indeed fallen on their heads, crushing one Repentia to death as it sealed the fate of the last surviving Dark Eldar Warrior.

 

The Dark Eldar were in trouble - they had few forces remaining, and their enemy were numerous. The surviving wyches hurled themselves into combat against Canoness Somnifera, bodies shaking from the side-effects of their combat drugs, but it was unknown whether that would truly be enough. She swung her eviscerator with glee, decapitating one, but soon found the rest crowding over her. A razor chain found its way around her neck-guard, knives slashed at her sides, a falchion was swung low… all of a sudden, it looked like the battle might be over for her.

 

 

At that very moment, another Canoness was out cold as well. However Kasanja was merely anaesthetised, a requirement for the surgery: they had decided they could not merely do a small repair. She was to lose the entire arm, to have it replaced by a bionic one. Much as Kasanja regretted losing a little of her humanity, she knew what was truly important, and agreed. Out on Narthecium, her arm was already removed, clamps stopping her from bleeding out as small cables and neuro-wires were being attached, one by one, to her body…

 

 

When Canoness Somnifera opened her eyes, she was quite surprised: she was still alive. It seemed the wyches, in their rush, had assumed she was dead - or that they could return to capture or murder her at their leisure - but that was not to be. They had rushed to their deaths, killed by heavy bolter fire, and they were unable to save the lives of the incubi who the Seraphim expertly slew. As the shadow field of the Archon fell, having absorbed too much, she was soon captured - despite demanding to be killed - and the Haemonculus and his retinue had all been not only killed, but burned, their bodies incinerated. The only survivors (aside from the Inquisitorial forces) were the escaped reavers and the captive. A Sister Hospitaler, Sister Lavender, was looking over her to check for any severe injuries, but it appeared the Canoness would recover without so much as a scar.

 

“Truly you are blessed by the Emperor.” Kezia said with a warm smile, applying morphia to a deep slash across her own mouth, one tooth ripped free.

 

“I am just glad I could disrupt their flank to buy time for you to secure victory. Surely I must have pleased the Emperor by doing so, that he wouldn't make a sacrifice of my able body just yet.”

 

Already, Seraphim-Superior Galatea had rushed over to embrace her commander and lover.

 

“I was worried, but I didn't let it affect me. We all continued to fight with calmness and passion, and victory was given to us in the end.”

 

“Now,” Kezia said conversationally, “if we all take my ship back to your home, we can think of some ways to interrogate this one. She may even be reunited with her witch.”