The crowd had not grown hushed nor stopped its penitent clamor, but I could feel multiple eyes on us as we halted at the center of the nave. Once glance at Emmaline and I could ascertain she was nervous, though she hid it well. Gwydyn hid it less well, but whether a blessing or not he could not quite tell what exactly was occurring at the moment. The vast gilded halls flecked with patina and the prayers echoing across the cavernous architecture was quite a lot for one of Urien's men, even considering the size of the Caledonia. A loose but ardent faith in the emperor and a large home did not prepare a feral-worlder for the overwhelming presence of a cardinal world cathedral. I decided he would not be reliable over the next few moments, despite knowing he was likely competent in combat. 

"Your holiness, Cardinal Molmenieu," Emmaline began, stepping forward and raising her golden head high. 

"These are the wretches I have spoken of, Cardinal!" Vorn spat, well-practiced zeal in his eyes. 

"You have a heretic in your midst!" She declared, imploring the cardinal to see reason. I gave a small, psychic nudge to Emmaline and she followed my lead, in a manner of speaking. She fell to her knees and threw her hands out, prostrating herself. I knelt next, and throne be praised Gwydyn did as well, though he looked flummoxed and somewhat frightened. Emmaline looked up at the Cardinal even as Vorn withdrew his pistol, her eyes impossibly large and glistening with humble virtue. "This jackal has wormed his way into your counsel! I beg you not to listen to his lies!" 

"Do not listen to them, your holiness. The fiends of chaos are unimaginably depraved, using your most sacred charitous heart against you." Tertius Vorn remarked, lip curled back as if he gazed at a nurgling dripping with venomous pus. "I will end them here so they may not taint this sacred place any longer." 

"If this man is truly an Inquisitor of the Imperium, how have we bypassed his efforts to keep us from you? Is he not supposed to be the word of the one and his shield?" I added with authority, my eyes hard. The multitudes around us were still largely unaware of the confrontation, but a few dozen now watched, ranging from mild interest to rapt horror. The priests watching were an amalgamation of emotions ranging from disgusted to curious.  

"If I am a Cardinal of the Emperor, how could I have allowed such a man into my circle?" Cardinal Molmeniue asked, trying to appear more sure of himself than he was. No doubt he was taken aback by our lack of aggression in his presence. More than not Vorn had instilled in him more than his fair share of horrific details on our supposed motives or methods. 

"Everyone was fooled by the traitorous duplicitous Goge Vandire, but the Emperor himself sent forth Sebastian Thaw to uproot his evil and purge it from the most holy imperium." Emmaline remarked, her face a mask of soft determination. By the Emperor on his throne, real tears were streaming down her cheeks if I was not mistaken. I knew I was going to spend a considerable amount of our funds buying her icecream after this performance. 

"She is not Adeptus Sororitas, your holiness. This is a witch and a trollop, and the servant of [i]that[/i] one." Vorn hissed, pointing at myself. He cocked the hammer back on his pistol and aimed at my chest, a small dot of red settling over my heart. Luckily I woke carapace armor below my jacket and uniform, but it could not withstand more than two shots of a large caliber weapon. "I will end this here-" 

"Wait, Vorn." The Cardinal said, placing a hand on the man's pistol barrel, lowering it. He tried to speak, unsure of himself. Vorn glanced at the Cardinal, and I knew at that moment what was about to occur. Tertius Vorn seeimgly acqueised, and quickly turned, ramming the gun barrel under Cardinal Molmeniue's neck and firing three rounds through his skull. The priests and attendants gapsed, but before they or the more attentive members of the crowd could wail or cry, it was over. I swiftly drew my own pistol, but Vorn was just as quick, gripping a small cartridge at his belt and squeezing it. Something shattered and a brilliant flash of light erupted from the device, blinding everyone in the vicinity even as their grief stricken moans left their lips. I managed to hit him in the chest, but the bullet ricocheted off his power armor in a spark before I too, saw nothing for the next handful of moments.  

"Find him!" I ordered, tears of pain around my eyes as I stumbled forward, knocking aside the panicked members of the crowd in pursuit.