At last, hours later, her work was done, and the villagers were healed to the greatest extent she could manage. Then came the order to move on - but not in search of the Saint. The capital had been attacked, and they were to head on to save it from whatever corruption had taken it... Alexa blinked beneath her helm as she realised how sleepless this night would be, but they had no right to sleep when such peril came upon those who ruled the planet. The Emperor's blessing, then, that it'd be done with soon - and that they'd be able to end the threat to the Saint in kind, if they could.

[hr]

The curfew was, perhaps, a blessed thing. At this time, it meant civilians were not travelling the streets, or more likely rioting in the streets for sheer panic. In some ways, that made their job easier - and in others, it made it harder, as a night attack wound up bypassing the usual pleas for assistance and subsequent additional support that might have been sent in the day. Unless the attack had begun prior to nightfall... so many possibilities, and yet the end result was the same.

So, too, was the end goal quite clear, once they arrived: rescue the governor, by any means necessary. The problem, of course, being that the heretics within demanded the Sororitas give themselves and the Governor's Emissary up to that end... and that was unacceptable, frankly. It couldn't be done. It was inconceivable, and for what purpose? They were just making demands because they felt they could, and surely wouldn't keep their promise if they got their way, heretics never did such a thing, they'd lost the Emperor's favour and so they imagined themselves utterly untouchable-

Alexa caught herself as she realised she was losing herself to needless fear. She need not fear. She could think about their options, as Sister-Celestian Victorine ordered of them. For a moment, she simply breathed deeply, expelling her worry as best she could with fresh oxygen and an inner psalm to the God-Emperor, and by listening intently to the Confessor and Sister Dominica's suggestions. The Confessor's idea, preceded no less by his unhelpful suspicions that they had been duped, seemed risky - aside from anything else, no peasant girl present would match Alexa's extended frame, and even if they did, Alexa could hardly agree to risking an innocent for her own sake. Meanwhile, Sister Lisbeth's plan was simply outrageous: to let the Governor die as a martyr was as ridiculous as it was unnecessary, and they couldn't hope to "storm the palace" without themselves forfeiting their lives. Death was no consequence, certainly, but to do so with no reason...

Something she said sparked an idea in her, though. "An alternative route". What if... and the very thought was a little strange for her, but since it was more or less their ideas anyway...

'If I may, Sister-Celestian?' she queried, continuing quietly once she'd been given the go-ahead, 'I imagine a full assault would end poorly. For a mission this sensitive, the longer we can keep the heretics from acting, the more time we have, as the Confessor suggests. If... granted, I wouldn't send any number of innocents to their doom, but if we equip some women with our armour and guns... we can leave them outside the palace as if debating the terms given at length, whilst we sneak in armed with melee weapons.' She gestured to the Sarissa on her belt, a silent monomolecular weapon perfect for such a role, even as the idea of slitting a man's throat in cold blood soured her guts, heretic or no. 'Once the governor is out of immediate harm's way, you could call in the Astra Militarum to swarm the palace and purge the heretics, whilst we escort him to safety proper. Perhaps a shuttle landing in a pre-determined location for our pick-up...' Well, a flying vehicle was what Sister Dominica had eventually suggested, right? That made Alexandra's heart flutter slightly more slowly in her chest. She'd find a way to handle the matter, just as Sister-Celestian Victorine would decide how best to handle this matter.