"Louder!" Agathe bellowed, crushing the skull of a cultist beneath her armoured boot with a wet, sickening crunch. "Let them hear your prayer! Let them hear your cries of adulation for the God-Emperor. From the heart, my brothers and sisters in arms, for He is the salvation of mankind!" In such times, after all, more important than perhaps even the skill with which she and her militia fought was the strength of their face, for anything less than absolute obedience and zeal would leave them vulnerable to corruption. One's prayer wad to be an iron veil with which to guard their mind.

[i]Keep the fire in your heart hot, and you hatred cold and disdainful. Despise the foe, but let not rage overcome you, lest you trade one evil for another.[/i] Her Canoness once said to her, words that stuck with her to this very day. [i]Take these words to heart, and never forget the power of your faith, and against the Great Enemy you will always be well-armed.[/i]

Pausing a moment to asses her situation, Agathe briefly noted the gore dripped from her chainsword, the ravaged organs dripping from its snarling teeth - and all about her, the scene was much the same. Corpses left and right, a handful of cultists still standing to fight... Most, at a glance, were not faces she recognized. Cultists then, mostly, meaning they'd come out on top, but by precisely how much she didn't quite know. What she did know, however, was that they had barely made a dent... And that they needed to dig deeper, to find the head of the snake and sever it.

[i]Agathe to Bridge. We have nearly secured our present position, and will proceed deeper into the lower decks. If the cult has any witches among their number, I do not intend to give them the chance to act, as I fear the cultists attempting to take the Enginarium are not the primary threat. are the vessel's auspex feeds sanctified? I could use intelligence, but I will not risk you unnecessary exposure to memetic corruption.[/i] She spoke into her helmet in High Gothic, hoping that those listening in would be unfamiliar. Holding up her hand to indicate pause, she gazed down at her chainsword, aggressively revving the blade to free it of the guts and blood coating its gears.

"Is anyone incapable of fighting? Sound off now! There is no shame in it. You will be brought to the medicae!"

Nothing. Tragically, there was scarcely little time to check the militia fallen for injuries, and her heart did truly weep for them... But if they paused too long, then everyone aboard the ship was worse than dead.

"Good. With me! Ogryn in front, shields up. You're our toughest. Flamers, at the ready to fill corridors if they step aside. We head deeper into the lower decks, and it is vital that we stay together as much as possible!"

She did not lie, of course, but Agathe knew as well as anyone else that to find what she hoped to in a vessel like this would be incredibly difficult, even with the aid of unfortunately unreliable pict-feeds.

Perhaps, she hoped, He would guide her.

[i]I tread the path of Righteousness.
Though it be paved with broken glass, I will walk it barefoot
Though it cross rivers of fire, I will pass over them
Though it wanders wide, the light of the Emperor guides my step
And with his guidance, I know that I will always step true.[/i]

[hr]

Every step after that was one punctuated by shouted prayer, each one etched into Agathe's mind from years of harsh schooling; she needed no time to stop to read her tomes, though she always kept them with her. Every so often, she'd see another line of zealous militiapeople advancing through an adjoining hallway, always within a few moments of sighting each other - yet the vessel, like any Imperial type, was labyrinthine, and just as frequently as they could get the drop on groups of cultists, they, too, would manage to ambush the militia. With the Enginarium blocked off, though, the greatest utility they had way in stabbing deep into the heart of the cult, with guidance from the bridge, the Emperor Himself or nothing but Agathe's own instinct; whatever the case would turn out to be, she knew in her heart that this was her best hope of ending the uprising, just as she'd been trained. The chaff was just that. 

(WIP)