Go Soo-Hee listened to his angelic voice and looked into his eyes that were deep as ocean blue. She giggled along but she lost track of what he was talking about a long time ago. The princely suitors that sought her were faceless in her mind against the boy who enraptured her thoughts and dreams. All the stench and bustle of this hab-block dive bar fell away to his voice that was music just from speaking. It was certain that she would marry none other than he, for none other could compare.
Go Soo-Hee was awoken by the thunder of a tolling bell and pried her eyes open to be greeted by the hollow sockets of a servo-skull. She turned onto her side and covered her ears with her pillow, but that just made the servo skull float back in front of her with each gong growing a decibel. She let the pillow go to slap the servo-skull, stopping the alarm and sending it spinning across the room, its cables rising like a skirt. That left the soft hymns that seeped through from the halls beyond her dwelling and the sizzle from a pan on the stove in the kitchen.
The name of that skull was lost by the time it was assigned to Go Soo-Hee, so she named it Jakada which it has responded to ever since. It was less her assistant and more the eye of the Legatine, to aid and watch her in equal measure. Regardless of name or position, to serve in death was its own reward as much as it was in life.
She rose with a yawn as she rubbed her groggy eyes. She sat slumped over for a moment, looking down at her scarred arms that rested on her bed sheet covered knees. Out the window she could hardly look over the rest of Gyeo with the clouds in the way. All that came through were the other spires, the dormant starport, and distant mountains. Part of her wished that dream would never end, to stay in this bed forever. The better rest of her that turned and landed her feet on the floor knew that each day demanded duty from her lest she deny He on Terra his due.
She wrapped herself in a gold habit. When she sat at the dinner table, her son had already set the plate of porcine strips and fried chicken next to a bowl of grapes. She took a bite out of the chicken leg as he poured a glass of Valerio wine, which she proceeded to chug down with some spilling over her bottom lip. He crossed his hands over his heart in the sign of the aquila then returned to his studies in his room.
Most of her peers would have a servitor or serf cook and clean for them while their children were raised in their houses. Go Soo-Hee kept her son with her as a reminder of the family she held dearest. Her son was the spitting image of his father. As a probationer, he inherited his father’s heavenly voice and dedication to Him on Terra. Should the competition be anything less than divine, then her son would no doubt be deemed worthy by the Ordo Madriga and recieve have the honor of joining his father as a chorister. From there, the only greater service they could perform would be to stand at Kim Min-Ji’s side until they burn out, their charred corpses sent to the Go household to be cherished as martyrs. That unceasing image filled her thoughts and dreams with as much joy as remembering the times with her husband did. She would appreciate the time with her son that she had now so that she could cherish those memories after he fulfilled his own destiny.
She came to his room to press one kiss on his cheek before she left through the aquila plated door. The chorister hymnals were more forceful now that she was actually in the hallways. The walls were embedded with skulls of the honored fallen, both in reverence to them and so that they could watch in judgement, with plenty of open space for future martyrs. To be among the dead who safeguarded this world and sheparded the faithful was the reward every true battle sister sought. A sister who had not risen far in the ranks could still have performed great deeds of dedication and sacrifice that make her worthy for the Ordo Vespila to endow their sanctification.
Jakada led her to the sanctum. Here lay the statue of Saint Arabella the Liberator, carried from the original convent that stood defiant during the cataclysm. She held and beheld a flaming sword whose fury contrasted against her serene expression. Above her, the ceiling mural depicted Alicia Dominica’s meeting with The Emperor. Alicia, Katherine, Silvana, Lucia, Mina, and Arabella, were led by The Emperor’s guard to the Golden Throne from which He on Terra guides humanity. It was this meeting that made the Adepta Sororitas what they are: Daughters of the Emperor that protect His Imperium from threats within and without.
Saint Arabella stood with Alicia Dominica before His Golden Throne. Saint Arabella was free from the shackles of fear and doubt for when His will was with her amongst chaos and horror. Saint Arabella served without question or fatigue. Saint Arabella smote the heretic with a gaze that crushed them under the weight of their own wickedness. As daughters of The Sacred Rose, The Righteous Symphony endeavored to embody Arabella’s grace. The Zephyrim were the exemplars of their order with Kim Min-ji as the summit of their wrath. As a daughter of The Sacred Rose, as a sister of His Righteous Symphony, as an admired Zephyrim, Go Soo-Hee would be beyond fear or sorrow just like Saint Arabella. She had to be.
Surrounding the statue like a halo were the cherubim. These infants were chosen to ascend to an angelic state where the purity of their youth could be retained, living works of art that inspired the creation of the choristers. Their appearance is a welcome sight from chapels to cathedrals across Incheo and surely across the greater Imperium. Among the Righteous Symphony, much like the servo skulls served the Legatine, these Cherubim served the Canoness.
Around the sanctum were fellow Zephyrim and representatives from the other ordos. Their primary dealing was civilian, but these sisters have been tested in their trials as novitiates and would be back on the frontlines when the time called for it. Martial prowess was a labor that the battle sisters of the ordo militant dedicated themselves to, but there were many other roles that an order of the Adepta Sororitas was to fulfill.
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The Chirurgen-General came to chastise the reckless sisters who proudly regaled the stories of their scars to the Hagiolaters; the sister hospitallers would no longer tend to the wounds of those who forsake their helmets, for surely they had determined that their faith was shield and healing enough. Those sisters suddenly remembered that their helmets were the Emperor’s protection to them and apologized for their foolhardiness.
The Order Dialogus came to give lessons on the culture and language of Incheo’s aboriginals. Noblewomen born within cities and plantations and raised on the tenets of the Imperial Creed had little respect for the mist walking natives that stubbornly clung to the old ways. This turned to outright hatred when it came to the pagan worship of The Witch and her beasts. Since the Imperium graced this world, the end goal would always be converting the savages into loyal, faithful, and productive citizens. Yet, for now, it was the Sister Dialogus who bridged the gap to native tribes for other sisters to cross come time to hunt beasts. Since Zephyrim may not have support in the wilds, they would need the ability to navigate the Namche province tribes on their own.
What learning did have their attention was the gossip of the Order Famulous. Sister Chatelains guided the marriages and dealing between nobles. Their consul was highly desired, within and without the Sisterhood, for they knew more about the affairs of Incheo society than any other—high and low, governmental and commercial, urban and rural, the chatelains had an eye on every corner and an ear to every conversation. Houses rose and fell based on passing rumors and misplaced handkerchiefs. Go Soo-Hee remembered the suitors they convinced her family to introduce, more interested in improving the house’s standing than anything else. The Chatelains were more offended than her own parents when she chose a low born for her husband though both quickly found a spin to protect their reputations. She had hoped to see the end of them when she was Zephyrim, yet here these bad noonas were.
At the base of the statue prayed Legatine Shim Eun-jin adorned in an ivory habit. A Cherubim was perched on her shoulder and his baser instincts drew him to teeth on her hair. The way his slobber spilled down her brow as his wings spread out reminded Go Soo-Hee of own son’s beauty when he was small. She had thought ceaselessly of how he might be chosen for preservation in the cherubim the same way she thought of him being chosen for the choristers now.
“Obey His words, for He will lead you to progress,” said Shim Eun-jin with a gesture of the aquila—two hands across her heart with her thumbs raised. She paid no heed to her hair being devoured.
“Heed His wisdom, for He will protect you from damnation,” returned Go Soo-Hee with an aquila gesture, “You requested me?”
“Have you heard of Hae Nyeo’s pet project? It’s causing quite a stir in the order.”
“I do not participate in gossiping or politics, I am committed to my duty as it is asked of me.”
“The aquila lander and your sisters are both being prepared. We have time to talk, and this is related to your duty.” Go Soo-Hee sighed.
“The hive rats already kill each other, we don’t need to recruit them for that, nor could the illiterate wretches ever be anything besides militants. I wouldn’t trust a girl with less teeth than fingers to be my hospitaller nor would I want a brothel tramp representing the Famulous Dialogus nor do I want their filth encrusted palms in use as a Fenestrus nor would I entrust thieving street urchins to be our Pronatus Those that wanted to could join the defense force to make something of themselves. Hae Nyeo, blessing be upon her, but her pet only made it through the Schola because she was shielded. No other will have the same boon. She is setting up them, and The Order, for humiliation.”
“And you said you don’t stay informed.”
“I learned against my will and my opinion was our reason for not taking the rats in the first place. She brings in Underhivers, we’ll get the Underhive.”
“Have you been forcefully informed that her pet resisted the undivided and isolated attention of a daemon?” asked Shim Eun-jin. Go Soo-Hee needed a moment to process it, forcefully informed now. Roll it around the lobes of her brain to make sense of what was just said. It had to be sent to the cerebellum and spinal cord for peer review because the results defied the data and hypothesis. She tried to repeat it to herself yet the sentence refused to form within her mind or upon her lips as if she was making an intense grammatical error about something that could not possibly be true. But the statement already passed from The Legatine’s lips and she would not say such a thing if she did not believe it.
“That she was targeted… targeted by a daemon proves there is weakness in her heart,” she stumbled out, tripping over the futility. Of course a daemon would target weakness, such was their wicked nature. It was one thing to hold faith during, say a flamewing strike or an Epidemic. You could stand with your sisters at your side and drown out corruption with song and adrenaline. But to receive the attention of a daemon, alone at your lowest, every desire promised, yet remain unbroken was the surest measure of incorruptibility there could be. Not even most of the Zephyrim could claim such a feat so far from the last Epidemic. The only other who could would be… “She was Han Nyeo’s neophyte,” she snapped, to herself to stop the train of thought more than to her Legatine, “Han Nyeo may have a discerning eye but I doubt we will find any more hidden gems among the rough; instead, we will only dirty our hands at a time when we need them at their cleanest.”
“I see,” said the Legatine, “I ask because the daemon’s insignia has been spotted in Ulsa. You will be going to investigate. Of course, I am certain of all my sisters’ indefatigable fealty, but we send the Zephyrim to have the best chance of putting down the target. At the very least, we hope our exemplars can have as much willpower as a rat in the face of temptation.
Your equipment is already en route to the Ulsa convent via train. A dogmata will guide you when you get there.”
