[@Kratesis][@Irredeemable][@LemonZest1337][@Andreyich][@jbeil][@BCTheEntity]


Victorine watched in silence as the [i]introductions[/i], if they could be called such, took place at the front of the group; she had not been expecting any others - in the form of a Sister who would not have looked out of place among the Astartes, and an Ecclesiastic Crusader that even the Confessor seemed loath to engage with - to join them before they embarked for the Cobra-class ship orbiting the planet, but here they were.

"The honoured Inquisitor will not be joining us," she said tersely, raising her voice to make herself heard, and doing her best to add some authority to it, "he has been called away to deal with threats beyond the likes of us, and I have been given full permission to lead this investigation by the Cannoness herself."

Now Victorine was not the most imposing of Sororitas - standing just above average height for a human woman and, like many of her comrades, at the peak of fitness - but she had been born and partially raised upon a 'Feral World' before the death of her parents and subsequent insertion into the Progenium, well she knew the hierarchal nature of the clan, the tribe...the squad.

"You may refer to me as Celestian or Sister," she proclaimed to the two new arrivals, eyeing them both evenly (even if she was forced to lift her neck to gaze at the giantess who hefted her heavy bolter like a toy), "welcome to Squad Victorine, please feel free to fall in."

Without another word or backward glance, one hand on the hilt of the blade at her hip at all times, she made her way to the embarkation point of the platform and waited.

She did not have to wait for long, and if she had had to then she may have even looked a little stupid. As it was the gun-cutter, bearing the [i]fleur[/i] of the Sororitas and in the colours of the Thrice-Pierced Martyr, descended to take them onward and upwards within minutes.

Even as she stepped aboard, taking her seat at the head of the group near the pilots cabin, securing the restraints about her broad shoulders, she could not help but feel both a little more in control but also a little less.

[I]Have faith in Him on Earth, blessed is He and those that follow Him with honesty and righteousness in their hearts.[/i]


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The journey through the Immaterium had been estimated as a month by the vessels Captain and Navigator, although this transpired to be incorrect, the Destroyer - one of the fastest classes of ship in the Naval forces of the Imperium - likely to have made it through much quicker, a matter of days even, if it had not been for what happened next.

A crackle over the vox was the first that the Celestian knew about any disturbance, the stoic voice of Captain Shelek addressing her calmly from a speaker embedded in the wall of her cell - for it was little more than a chamber not unlike those within the monastery, complete with a candle-spattered shrine, a simple cot to sleep in, and a rack for weapons and armour.

"Apologies for the disturbance, Sister-Celestian, but it would appear that we have indeed been boarded."

Victorine had been knelt in all her natural state before the shrine and aquila topping it, ebony skin glistening with a sheen of sweat bought on by focused meditation alone, when the two-way message came through and dragged her urgently from her thoughts.

"Has the Gellar Field been breached?" She questioned in the same flat tone used by Shelek, not even opening her eyes at this point but already feeling the survival instincts of combat readiness kicking in; her breath became quicker, her muscles tighter with anticipation, and her six senses sharper.

"No, my lady, but the raiders are making a bee line for the Genetorium - should they reach it the-"

"Yes, Captain, I am aware of what may happen thank you."

Now she was on her feet, padding quickly over to where her under-robes were laid out neatly on her cot and dressing with ingrained speed and familiarity, making short work of covering herself - now she turned to her armour and began to repeat the process.

"Do we have an identity as to our boarders?"

"Not entirely Sister, but we do know that they aa mixed group, having seen at least one xenos Kroot among them; from their varied dress and armament I hypothesis mercenaries or pirates...or both."

"Emperor's teeth."

Latching the last of her armour into place and tightening it well, she now wrapped her swordbelt about her waist and holstered her sidearm.

In several quick motions she was outside her chamber and into the corridor without, her squad having been placed in the same section near the middle of the ship and therefore within bellowing distance - this was good.

"Squad Victorine, assemble! There is trouble afoot, and judgement to deliver, by His will!"

Her helmet only amplified the shout, and although she expected that they had already been given the same report by lesser members of the crew, there was no harm in amplifying their taste for a fight or their fervour for service to the God-Emperor.