Alexa was glad she hadn’t broken down on the way back to the Aquila. Or in the Aquila. Or at any point within the [i]Imperator Gracili Ferro[/i], for that matter. Really, she’d composed herself well enough to not break down until she was alone in her room, and by then the problem of being in the presence of two incredibly potent leader figures was long since over and done with, so there was no need to break down at all. Still, she did feel a need to strip her armour and gear away once in the company of herself, and once out of the armour began doing a series of simple exercises and stretches just to cool down after all that walking. There was no need to get too overheated, after all. She had plenty of time for that.

[hr]

She spent much of her time over the next three weeks keeping herself up to date on her skills. She of course prayed to the Emperor for guidance and faith as often as possible, and trained her combat and shooting skills frequently with her fellow Sisters in her spare time, but much of her time awake was spent assisting the Frigate’s medical staff, a role which they greatly appreciated given her advanced knowledge of the human body. Of the few cases she was needed to deal with, a single minor affliction was misdiagnosed, then treated correctly after the patient returned a second time; she flogged her back until it bled mightily that night, and scratched a mark into the flesh of her upper arm as a reminder to have another bead created for her chaplet-ecclesiasticus when she returned to the Transfixed Saint’s Preceptory.

Finally, though, the journey through the Immaterium came to an end, and the ship came into sight of their destination: Athega Tertius, a Hive World which, it transpired on the trip down to the planet, was governed in a manner that seemed to her almost incompetent. As much as she pitied the “frightened old man” known as Von Behner- how could she not? He was in a perilous position, and potentially set upon by his own family no less!- she felt strongly that if the populace was as ungrateful for their given role in the Imperium as they sounded, perhaps the one who allowed such a mindset should be replaced with a more stern individual after all, to make sure they knew their place and remained ever-grateful for it and the protection it provided.

She did not, however, voice her opinion in this regard, for it was in no way constructive, and would only serve to aggravate matters if she did bring it up. Instead, she sought for a more appropriate topic in spite of her desire to stay quiet, and decided it’d be best to continue on from where the Confessor called Horacio left off, though she did so hesitantly: ‘And his entire staff and family, too, Inquisitor,’ her helmet vox boomed out, still serving to make her sound more intimidating than she wanted. ‘If we haven’t yet, we ought to gather genetic samples, and test them for corruption. Anything less would be [i]unacceptably[/i] cursory.’