[hider=Sister Julianna] [b]Name:[/b] Sister Julianna [b]Age:[/b] 24 [b]Gender:[/b] Female [b]Appearance, history and personality:[/b] Julianna is quite tall for a woman – almost 184 centimetres with a muscular build, mostly owing to her rigorous training and budding life as a Sister of Battle. When clad in her power armour, she can look quite intimidating. Her hair is coloured white. She has scars all over her body from training and battles. She has always been shy and introverted, but behind her calm exterior, she has a deep pool of hatred for any Xenos. Sister Julianna has survived harsh training from a Schola Progenium, and she views those who don’t give their best in adversary liabilities. She has doubts about her faith, but usually keeps them to herself, although some of her sisters have taken notice of her absent-minded prayers. She tends to see the world morally in black and white colours with no grey shades in between. To her, Imperium offers security and a way to avenge her family. The Order of the Fiery Thorn has in recent times lent its support for the different branches of the Inquisition. One of their members was heard of taking part in a purging of a hive city, but reports are still fragmented and compiling a definite account on the operation is still under way for the Order’s archives. The Sisters of Battle at large rarely lend their support for the Ordo Xeno – often fighting the Xenos by themselves or in cooperation with other imperial regular forces. However, cooperation between imperial forces is paramount, but the Order of the Fiery Thorn is an exception from the many Orders. The Order mostly specialises in close combat, wielding chainswords, powerswords and boltpistols to great effect, but a minority of them specialise in using ranged weapons to provide fire support for their Sister on a battlefield, although they too must learn how to fight with powerswords and chainswords. All Sisters are expected to excel in close quarters combat and CQC training is an integral part of their training. Sister Julianna has not seen a great many of battles in her life yet. She started her life on a remote agri-world of Pannonia Secundus, where the world was devastated by a great warband of Orks. The planet never recovered from countless battles between imperial forces and Ork bands. The planet eventually was obliterated, when an Ork-rigged asteroid collided with the planet. She was barely a teenager when the “Skyfall” happened. Julianna has many happy memories from growing up on Pannonia Secundus, which the training at the Schola Progenium did not wholly burn away with relentless training. Sometimes, she wishes that she could return to the life she once had but enacting a vengeance on any Xeno is distilled to her mind sharply. Suffer not a Xeno, a heretic or a mutant to live. Julianna, a child of former Imperial Guard officers, was inducted into a Schola Progenium after some of the civilian population had been evacuated and resettled to other worlds. Her parents were left to fight against the Orks, and later reported killed in action after the asteroid was dropped on the planet. She also has a little brother, but as part of the Imperial Guard and the distances involved, they are rarely messaging each other. Julianna was drilled and trained to become a Sister of Battle, showing enough fanaticism and religious zeal in her training. Julianna was inducted to the Order of the Fiery Thorn only a couple years ago, and she has been mostly training and getting used to the power armour and the weaponry of the Order. Why Sister Julianna was given for Inquisition’s service? What made her skills valuable? Sister Julianna, in her own eyes, sees herself as quite ordinary Sister of Battle, but according to her superiors, she lacks a certain sense of religious commitment to the God-Emperor. She prays for her sins and the God-Emperor’s guidance and attends sermons and masses, but to her superiors her attitude appeared as if she didn’t have her whole heart behind the cause. Someone might find her lack of faith disturbing from a Sister, but as the Order of the Flaming Rose has done cooperation with the Inquisition, perhaps her skills and training could be utilized by the Ordo Xeno to protect an Inquisitor from external threats and act as their muscle. Her superiors have recommended her to serve the Inquisition for the time being. After all, Sister Julianna has a deep-rooted hatred for any Xeno lifeforms, after witnessing her home world succumb to the Ork menace. [b]Equipment:[/b] - [i]Sisters of Battle Power Armour[/i]: A scaled down version of a “proper” power armour worn by the Adeptus Astartes, it still enhances the strength and mobility of the wearer and offer superior protection against small arms fire. While Sister Julianna lacks the enhancements of an Astartes, she has trained for few years wearing the armour. - [i]Sabbat Pattern Helmet[/i]: The standard helmet for the Order, providing visual aids in bright and low-light conditions, a rangefinder and infrared visualization. Offers life support in contaminated areas when used with the power armour. - [i]Godwyn-De’az Pattern Bolter[/i]: The standard bolter for the Orders Militant of the Sisters. - [i]Combat Knife of the Order[/i]: Every member of the Order has the right to carry a combat knife on their person. It is emblazoned with carvings depicting roses. Every member is issued one when they are initiated after they pledge their vows to the Order [b]Skills/Attributes[/b] - [i]Close quarters combat[/i]: Sister Julianna has trained to master fighting in close quarters, unarmed or with a chainsword. While clearly still not an expert, her training and power armour provide an edge over most human-sized foes. - [i]Markswomanship[/i]: Sister Julianna has trained to use the most common types of weapons of the Imperium, becoming a decent shot with most of them. - [i]A Spartan Training[/i]: Julianna has gone periods of bitter and harsh training to become a Sister – she has a short temper for weakness in battle and carelessness, even if she might appear shy and introverted. The day you stop training is the day you die, she believes. [/hider] [hider=Prompt] Sister Julianna hurried through the corridors and tunnels of the sanctuary. Her squad had finished their training for the day, and Julianna had been called to meet the Commandery’s leading sister, the fierce Canoness Commander Cornelia. Cornelia hated if someone was tardy, and Sister Julianna had no intentions of letting her down. She had something important to tell her specifically. The sanctuary had been built on hallowed ground on moon Scylla of a gas giant Thracian IV, it’s gravity close to the Holy Terra. A saint had been killed and martyred on the spot hundreds of their years ago, before the Order had been founded. Saint Victoria had fought off several waves of Orks while the Imperial Guard maneuvered against the Greenskins. Victoria had bought the land for the Imperium with her blood. The Guard smashed through the Ork lines, breaking their back. Victoria, in the end, could not see the victory; the Orks had slain her, but not before dozens of them falling down. Or so the story told. History and myth often intertwined and grew in the telling. Saint Victoria’s powersword the Furious Rose had been awarded to the Order and passed down from Sister to Sister who deserved it. The moon had been settled thousands of years ago for mining the gas giant’s atmosphere. Nowadays, it boasted small cities and a convent of the Order of the Fiery Thorn to train new Sisters and mediate and worship the God-Emperor. The moon was heavily wooded with high highs and fells dotting the landscape. New sisters would be hiking and running the hills and fells during their training and in penance for whatever sins they had acquired. One of the trails, Victoria’s Gauntlet, had been named after a saint, who hailed from Scylla and made her stand against an unrelenting horde of Orks. There still were Orks on the moon, but they were largely feral and hunted for sport and training nowadays. A place rarely could not ever be truly free of Orks once they made their precense known, as they spawned more Orks as they were felled. Sister Julianna still remembered hunting her first Ork down on her own. It was a straggler, but still as large and strong as a hardened veteran of a Guard regiment. It had not been an easy hunt for her, but she had prevailed. Sister Julianna passed more corridors and tunnels, decorated with statues, mosaics and altars. She had changed her power armour for her robes after the day’s training, her combat knife on her hip. Her hair had been whitened, as she still was one of the novices of the Order. It was a tradition for the Order. The novices’ hair was whitened until they had proven their worth in the service of the God-Emperor, and Sister Julianna had barely two years under her belt in the Order. Sister Julianna finally made her way to the door of Cornelia’s chamber. Most sisters lived in shared chambers, sleeping, praying, eating and training together. Senior Sisters had their own private chambers. Cornelia led one of the commanderies on Scylla. She was approaching middle age, but she was as formidable fighter as any younger Sister. Cornelia had led the commandery with distinction in many campaigns, and Julianna would follow her into hell and highwater. Just in time, Sister Julianna thought. She knocked at the wooden door. It was carved with an Imperial Aquila, and soon after, a voice called her in “Wait in the antechamber”, the voice added. Sisters were rarely invited beyond the antechamber. An empty antechamber greeted her. The antechamber was as bare bones as most other rooms in the sanctuary. There was mosaics depicting Saint Victoria’s birth, life and last stand on the walls, and a chairs. Sister Julianna gazed at the mosaics. She had studied Victoria’s life on countless nights. Her sacrifice inspired Julianna. She died protecting others and killing vile Xenos. Julianna desired vengeance for a life, a family and a home lost. Cornelia’s voice woke Julianna from her thoughts. “Sister Julianna, you are finally here” she said. “I am sure you are thinking why you are here.” It was not a question, Julianna knew. She turned towards Cornelia. She was leanly muscular, with sharp features and dark hair. Her posture and voice echoed authority. “I have not pondered it”, Julianna said. Do not assume, for it is dangerous. A mantra had been drilled into her thinking by a Drill Abbess early on. Observe, calculate, and act. Assumptions cloud you thinking and hinder your actions. “Assumptions can delude your thinking.” Commander Cornelia weighed her words and presence. “Very well”, she replied after few seconds. “I will then go the heart of the matter. I have been given reports of you by Sister Superior Iona the Elder, among others. It appears you have been… absent minded of late in service. How is your faith, Sister?” she asked bluntly, her eyes again weighing her again. [i]This does not bode well[/i], Sister Julianna thought herself. She weighed how to answer. She had had doubts of her faith for quite some time, but she could not uphold the façade forever, could she? Better to confess now than to hold guilt longer. “I have been thinking many things lately”, Julianna replied. “My faith has been wavering, as I believe my prayers have not been answered by the God-Emperor. I have not gained insights or visions of wisdom from Him.” “I see. And this worries you”, Cornelia said. She shifted her posture, crossing her arms and moving closer. “We all have our doubts and wavers, but we must hold strong and believe in His blessings. One must be patient when worshipping the Emperor.” “I have not been anything but patient for a decade, Commander Cornelia” Julianna said. “I have waited to avenge my life and family.” “Your life – what you had before – is over. Your life now belongs to the God-Emperor. Your family now is the Sisterhood. Most of your Sisters have had similar tales to you” Cornelia sad to her in her usual stern voice. “But only you have been reported in my tenure in many years. Someone else might reprimand you and order a penance march through the Victoria’s Gauntlet, but you have also been lauded with praise in training” Cornelia pointed and gazed at the mosaics. Julianna’s eyes followed. “How well do you know the tale of Saint Victoria?” “It is one of the first things I learned when I joined the Order, before learning the prayers and hymns and sermons. It was told vividly and in detail.” “Would it surprise if I told you that Victoria had doubts? She travelled far and wide, searching for answers and purpose. She finally became a Sister, just like us. At the end, Saint Victoria had her prayers answered by the Emperor. She had prayed to protect others, to die so others could live in her stead.” Sister Julianna had been thoroughly lectured on Saint Victoria’s life. She knew all of this. “What does it have to do with me, Commander?” she asked. “We all serve the Emperor, one way or the another. Our Order finds a way to protect others from whatever horrors the galaxy throws at us. Our Order has cooperated with the Inquisition as far as I know, and they have been asked for a new Sister to assist of their Inquisitor of the Ordo Xeno. I believe it would suit you talents… and taste for vengeance for your family in another life. The Order will be attaching you to the Inquisition for the time being. You will be sent off tomorrow morning.” Sister Julianna pondered it a second. She did not have a choice in the matter, it appeared, but it would carry her towards revenge ad helped to safe keep other planets from the same fate as her home world Pannonia Secundus and her family. “I will do it gladly, Commander, if it helps the Imperium.” [/hider] [hider=An inspirational Image] [center][img]https://i.pinimg.com/564x/b4/cf/7c/b4cf7cae5e67042d419c5324bc82778d.jpg[/img][/center] [/hider]