本章概述：

????????????亞歷莎在一名天使面前爭辯。

????????????In which Alessa argues before an Angel.

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正文：

空氣中彌漫著緊張的氣氛。

它在我打開了信標轉發(fā)器的時候就加重了，在我的姐妹們無疑正用于掃描的占卜陣列的機魂發(fā)起通訊時，教堂盔甲的機魂開始發(fā)出咔嗒聲和唧唧聲。

果然，只過了幾秒鐘，帝國引擎雷鳴般的反沖就在我們的頭頂嘶吼起來，我在引擎反沖把沙土和碎屑卷到伊莎萊和我身上時瑟縮了一下。

我的盲眼只能給我周邊事物最模糊的印象。靈魂輝光，正如伊莎萊所稱呼的那樣，僅局限于活物，但我的耳朵告訴我這可能是一架帝國衛(wèi)軍的VTOL，要么是女武神戰(zhàn)機，要么是能夠垂直起降的相關型號。在巢都里的任何行動都需要一隊這種載具，畢竟開放空間十分稀少且相隔甚遠，而且通常非常狹窄。

雷鳴般的鏗鏘在起落架放下時回響在廣場四周，片刻之后，震耳欲聾的坡道落地聲便跟了上去。我在閃爍的金光開始滲進我的視野時繃緊了身體：那是我的姐妹們充盈著信仰的靈魂。

在伊莎萊更緊地握住我的手的一個心跳前，另一個靈魂跟隨我暫定為一整個小隊的戰(zhàn)斗修女走下坡道，進入了安菲特里亞昏暗的光照中，我同時胸中一緊。

它十分地厚重。那個靈魂像脈沖星一般，閃爍著冰冷而不屈的意志。

“跪下來，‘萊，”我低語道。

謝天謝地，她沒有爭辯，并迅速地跪了下來，把頭低到幾乎能觸及地面。

“阿斯塔特修會，”我低聲說，相比看見我更多是感覺到伊莎萊點頭同意?！跋蛭颐枋鏊?，‘萊，他的盔甲、配色、武器、以及標志?！?/p>

“灰色，是掛霜的鋼鐵的顏色，”她在我下方低聲回復道，“并且微微泛著銀色。”

“鏈鋸武器？”我問道，感到了希望的萌芽?！澳菢酥灸?？”

如果這是當?shù)氐哪莻€戰(zhàn)團的話那就還有希望，但如果這位戰(zhàn)斗兄弟來自以屠戮異形為榮的死亡守望的話，我們兩個就毫無辦法，只有死路一條。

“一件古怪的武器，”伊莎萊繼續(xù)說道?！拔矣X得它與長柄大鐮刀類似，而且的確，它使用了你們種族那粗糙的鏈鋸技術。至于標志，是一顆蓋著裹尸布的骷髏頭。或者說至少在我看來是這樣的?！?/p>

解脫感涌上了我的心頭。

“這是什么異端？！”

爆彈槍瞄準的金屬合唱在我的其中一個姐妹的話語下充斥著廣場，從她華麗的盔甲和裝飾著桂冠的頭盔來看應該是一名修女長，我把手隨意地放在伊莎萊的頭頂。

“姐妹們！”我大聲喊道，向前走了一步，即便我的盔甲正在告警，表明我成為了質量反應武器的目標。我眨了眨眼將警報關掉，然后舉起雙手，以熱忱的贊頌高聲喊道：“歡呼吧！在這黑暗的時日里，帝皇與我們同在！”

“管住你的嘴，異端！”我的其中一個姐妹惡毒地喊道，她的聲音被頭盔的發(fā)聲器扭曲了。

“我不會這么做！”我大吼道，感到她們被我的話語嚇退了。我不能退縮，我不會給她們哪怕一寸的讓步。

如果我狂熱的姐妹們嗅到了就算一絲不確定的味道，我就會失去一切，然后我們倆都得死。即便是在最好的情況下，我們也有可能會死，但我堅信神皇將我們聚在一起是有原因的。

他不會允許我們像這樣死去。

“你們難道瞎了嗎，姐妹們？”我懇求道，指向我們四周。“你們的雙眼難道就被黑暗所蒙蔽至此，以至于看不到自己正在面對一個奇跡嗎？”

“奇跡？”修女長的聲音充滿了懷疑。“我面對的是一個污穢的異種和一名被瘋狂擊碎了心智的前修女?！?/p>

“抬起頭來，科摩羅的伊莎萊。”我盡可能自信地開口。

伊莎萊聽從了我的命令，我對我們的通訊網絡中微弱的吸氣聲報以輕笑。帝國鷹徽的標記在她的臉上和胸口處清晰可見。

“你竟敢？”修女長在震驚中憤怒地低聲說道。“你膽敢褻瀆神圣的天鷹徽，把它放在卑劣的異種血肉上？！”

“神皇已經按手在她的靈魂之上！”我高喊道?！澳汶y道在幾個晝夜前沒有感受到祂的光輝嗎？你難道竟沒能在祂與歡愉王子搏斗時注意到天空的崩裂嗎？！”

我能感到修女長正振作精神想要回答，但我在她能夠重整旗鼓前就打斷了她。

“你們覺得我們的圣主為誰而戰(zhàn)？！”我把手從伊莎萊的頭頂上舉起來?！盀榱宋覇幔课以缇桶鸯`魂托付于他的恩典了！”

“這個異種穢物在幾天前被包圍過！”另一個修女喊道?！霸瓉硎悄銓χ约旱慕忝脗冮_火，放跑了她！”

“那就是我！”我宣告道，讓她們全都陷入了沉默。我能感到震驚從她們的身上散射出來。

這里就是轉折點了。我為了一個異種而對我的姐妹們犯下的罪行在通常情況下都不可饒恕。如果我在這里動搖，一切就都完了。

“我饒恕了她，一如她饒恕了我！”我又不甘示弱地前進一步?！拔以洊|躲西藏！我的小隊被綠皮瘟疫所屠戮，我的姐妹們橫死，我自己體無完膚，我的戰(zhàn)甲破敗不堪！”我說話時指向伊莎萊?！岸谖沂芩乐畷r，被野蠻的獸人包圍之時，伊莎萊拯救了我，將它們撕成了碎片！”

“靈族吐出的只有謊言，小姐妹，”修女長爭論道。“它們毒害帝皇忠仆的土地，它們?yōu)樽约汉翢o意義的企圖玷污我們的神圣目標?！?/p>

她現(xiàn)在瞄準了我。在這之前，我的姐妹們的武器大多瞄準著伊莎萊，也許是出于對她的族人所代表的危險的考慮，現(xiàn)在修女長已經把她自己的爆彈槍直直地對準了我的頭顱。

“你已經墮落了，姐妹，”她陰沉地說?！暗诘刍实膽驯Ю镞€有希望……在你死前懺悔吧，你的靈魂或許仍能走向他的光明?！?/p>

我能感覺到伊莎萊在我身后繃緊了身體，我攤平手掌向她打了一個不以為然的手勢。她再也不會忍受目睹我受到傷害，除非我要這么做，但我不允許，我不會允許任何一方流血。

“伊莎萊保護了我，”我繼續(xù)說道，忽視了她的威脅。“她清洗并照看了我的傷口，在我恢復期間照顧了我?！蔽业慕忝玫墓鈺炚诎l(fā)生改變。以前她們的光暈有著刺眼的金色邊緣，現(xiàn)在它們都像碎玻璃一樣產生了裂紋?！安粌H如此，我全身上下都承載了圣阿拉貝拉所降下的奇跡的證據(jù)，我親眼所見。”

那個吸引了她們的注意力，我張開雙臂讓她們能更清楚地看到我身上穿著的盔甲。

“這件神圣的裝備，我們光耀紫藤修會的圣遺物，得以被保全?！蹦慷弥@件精工甲，修女長的光暈泛著驚詫、厭惡、以及憂慮。

開槍擊倒我會損壞這件盔甲，但在她的眼中，這盔甲正被穿在一個異端身上，可與此同時……圣阿拉貝拉的奇跡不容忽視。我們的圣徒創(chuàng)建者曾經，也依然以化不可能為可能而聞名。

“我們都是信仰的殉道者，”我輕聲說。“這件盔甲原本被安放在圣阿拉貝拉的雕塑上，是伊莎萊，而非我，保衛(wèi)了它，為我們的修會中死于保護它的姐妹們復仇，然后……”我把視線從修女長的身上移開，轉而深情地看向伊莎萊。她沒有抬頭，但我能感到她的光暈在我的盲眼的注視下十分地溫暖?！叭缓笏盐覀兊慕忝脗兊倪z體從瓦礫、盔甲、和其它的一切中挪了出來，將她們置于圣阿拉貝拉的注視下?！?/p>

“謊言，”這句話從修女長口中惡毒地低聲說出?！澳阍?strong>撒謊?！?/p>

“她沒有?！?/p>

這句話驟然炸響，我?guī)缀踉谠乇牧似饋怼Ｎ夷切┮琅f用槍瞄著我們的姐妹們看上去同樣驚訝——在直到剛才都保持著沉默的阿斯塔特開口時，我看到她們的光暈中出現(xiàn)了一閃而過的靛藍色的恐慌。他是如此的安靜，如此的慎重，以至于我?guī)缀跬浟怂€在那里，盡管我說不準他的存在是怎樣逃脫了我的注意。

就好像他的半神靈魂只是悄悄回到了陰影中，藏在視線之外滿意地看著我們這些凡人的爭吵。

修女長轉向阿斯塔特，刺眼的猩紅色怒火劃過她的光暈邊緣。

“恕我直言，安塔雷斯（Antares）大人，”她用緊繃的語氣說，“您是怎么知道的？”

“謊言，達尼卡（Danika）修女，”叫作安塔雷斯的天使閣下以出人意料的流暢而富有教養(yǎng)的嗓音開口，“是很簡單的東西?！彼每沼嗟哪侵皇执箝_大合地指向我?！爱敺踩巳鲋e時，這并不難看出來，尤其是因為人的心智并非為虛假而生……他們必須在對別人撒謊前先對自己說謊，而這位帝皇之女沒有撒謊，無論是對我們還是對她自己。”

然后他轉向伊莎萊，紅色的目鏡片懷疑地看著她。

“然而，這個有沒有撒謊還尚可供商榷，”他說。

“她是個靈族，”達尼卡啐道?！八龝f的只有謊言！”

“不盡然，但大體上準確，”安塔雷斯不屑地回答道，讓我不得不掙扎著不在修女長光暈上的猩紅怒火加重時笑出來。“靈族只為了推進他們的族群、他們的文化、他們的種族的目的而發(fā)言，對銀河系的正當?shù)闹魅撕翢o敬意?！?/p>

這明顯是個誘餌，但伊莎萊沒有上鉤。我也不覺得她會。天使大人，盡管他睿智而強大，卻并不知曉伊莎萊對自己的種族非靈族的蔑視。

安塔雷斯以冗長、輕松的穿動力甲的大步越過姐妹們的陣線和修女長，向我們走近。在死亡天使的一員的陰影中，我在他從面罩后面冷酷地注視我許久時感到了第一個不確定的火花，然后他轉向一直跪著的伊莎萊。她抬著頭，讓那標記清晰可見，但我相信她的目光仍然低垂著以示恭敬。

一陣輕柔而深沉的磁鎖釋放聲從天使大人那里發(fā)出來，他握住了自己的爆彈槍，舉起了那件巨大的武器，把槍管直直地對準了伊莎萊。

“你來這里的目的是什么，靈族？”安塔雷斯發(fā)問?！澳阏疹欉@個孩子是為了達成怎樣的企圖？她對你這樣的人來說是燭火……是暴風中篝火的余燼，所以說吧，不要撒謊。”

伊莎萊沒有回答。不管怎樣她沒有立即這么做。相反，她帶著毫無擔心的從容從槍管前抬頭看向我，忽略了正漠不關心地威脅著她的阿斯塔特。

她在請求許可。

我對她輕輕地點頭。

伊莎萊轉身面對安塔雷斯大人，抬起臉來毫無畏懼地迎上他的猩紅色鏡片。

“我來這里尋死，阿斯塔特大人，”她以口音柔和的哥特語說。

“你不準嘲弄——”在伊莎萊使用天使的頭銜時，我的年長姐妹開始咆哮，但安塔雷斯迅速地抬起一只手打斷了她。

“再說一遍?！彼F(xiàn)在帶著好奇說道。

伊莎萊又看了我一眼，她的光暈在不確定中泛起漣漪。我又一次點頭，我已經做完了我的那一部分，保全我們到了現(xiàn)在，但他問話的對象不是我，我也不能打斷他的詢問。如果他決意處決伊莎萊和我的話，他會盡職盡責地那么做，而哪怕他不這樣做，我也不確定我的姐妹們是否會表示質疑。

“我說：我來這里尋死，阿斯塔特大人，”伊莎萊重復道。

“再來?！?/p>

我皺起眉頭，不解于天使的要求，從伊莎萊的光暈的變化來看她也不比我更確定他想要怎樣。

“大人？”伊莎萊發(fā)問?！拔也淮_定我是否理解?！?/p>

“我的頭銜，”安塔雷斯澄清道。“再說一遍。”

“阿斯塔特……大人？”

他點了點頭。

“阿斯塔特大人，”伊莎萊順從地說。

“有意思?！卑菜姿瓜蚝笸巳?，放下了他的爆彈槍，在他轉頭透過猩紅的鏡片看向修女長達尼卡的同時，我強壓下一聲解脫的嘆息。“這個靈族說得很真誠?！?/p>

“我……我恐怕沒能理解您的意思，大人，”達尼卡簡短地回復道?！斑@有什么關系嗎？”

安塔雷斯把爆彈槍磁鎖上，轉身面對伊莎萊。“這個靈族以真誠的敬意稱呼我的頭銜。這不是第一個我與之和談的靈族，我也覺得這應該不會是最后一個，但這是第一個對我展現(xiàn)了與一個帝國公民所給予的相仿的順從和尊重的靈族?！?/p>

“您是一名神皇之子，阿斯塔特大人，”伊莎萊輕聲說?！澳撵`魂攜有祂的光輝。對您不敬將使保護我們的靈魂遠離黑暗的祂蒙羞?！彼僖黄鹛痤^來，敢于迎上天使的目光?！澳菍⑹钱惗诵袕?。”

從全副武裝的姐妹們的陣線中傳出了倒吸涼氣聲。

聽一個靈族以此種方式談論異端一定是相當古怪，這本可能會開啟另一場爭論，如果不是因為緊接著發(fā)生的事的話。

我們得到的唯一的示警是某種金屬物件落在地上發(fā)出的兩聲輕敲。它可能是隨便什么東西的碎片，而對于小隊中的大多數(shù)人，以及我來說，這個聲響都淹沒在了城市的喧囂、嘎吱作響的巢都、以及遠方戰(zhàn)斗和劫掠的爆炸聲中。

唯二作出反應的是伊莎萊和天使大人。

“手榴彈！”安塔雷斯大吼著后退，抓起達尼卡姐妹的動力甲的衣領把她像流浪貓一樣扯到身后。

在同一時間伊莎萊猛地蹬出一腳，抓緊我的膝蓋，將我推到并抓緊了我的手臂，我不由得驚叫起來，隨即用力把自己拉上她的肩膀以求掙脫出來，可僅一息之后我就猛地砸在了幾米外的地面上。

一陣暴烈的電光在一個心跳的時間后爆發(fā)開來，釋放出一股噼啪作響的電流，當我爬起來時，我看到所有的姐妹們，也包括修女長達尼卡，還有天使大人都步履蹣跚。大多數(shù)姐妹們都毫無形象地摔倒在地，被自己的盔甲的重量拖倒了。達尼卡姐妹僅憑堅強的意志力強行站穩(wěn)了腳跟，而天使大人則憑借強化的生理機能保持挺立。

“有埋伏！”達尼卡大喊道，徒勞地試圖舉起她的爆彈槍，但她的雙臂被她的盔甲壓了下去。

“快趴下！”伊莎萊以雜技般的優(yōu)雅跳將起來，隨后像鞭子一樣抽出她的連枷，將其纏繞在達尼卡的雙腿上，把她的雙腳從身下一把拉起來。

達尼卡在一聲驚叫中像塊石頭一樣栽倒，與此同時我辨認出一團毒晶火焰掃過她曾經站立過的空間。

一連串的槍聲往空中充滿了嘶嘶作響的單分子投射物，全都瞄準了我匍匐在地的無助的姐妹們，我在驚恐中看著天使大人頂著盔甲的重量向前沖去站在倒地的戰(zhàn)士們身前。他的盔甲在上百處地方破裂穿孔，即便他交叉雙手保護住重要部位我也確定他撐不下去了。

隨后，在遠處，一聲高昂、狂熱的呼嘯割裂了空氣，我的心臟劇烈地顫抖起來。

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原文：

There was a tension in the air.

It thickened the moment I flicked the transponder on and the machine spirit of the chapel armour began to click and chirp as the spirits of the augury arrays that my sisters were doubtless scanning with made contact.?

Sure enough, bare seconds had passed before the thundering backwash of Imperial engines soared over us, and I flinched back as the engine wash kicked up dust and debris over Isarae and I.

My blinded eyes could give me only the vaguest impressions of what was around us. The soulsight, as Isarae had taken to calling it, was limited in scope to living beings, but my ears told me it was likely an Imperial Guard VTOL, a Valkyrie or one of the associated models that could both land and take off vertically. Any action taken in a Hive would necessitate a small fleet of such vehicles since open spaces are few and far between, and usually quite cramped.

A thunderous clank echoed around the plaza as the landing gear was deployed, and moments later the deafening thud of the ramp being dropped followed. I tensed as flickers of golden light began to filter into my vision; the faith-filled souls of my sisters.

My chest tightened further a heartbeat before Isarae’s hand took a harder grip on mine as another soul followed what I tentatively counted as a full squad of Sisters of Battle out of the ramp and into the dim light of Amphitria.

It was massive. The soul was like a pulsar, and gleamed with cold, unyielding might.

“Kneel, ‘Rae,” I hissed.

Thankfully, she did not argue and quickly dropped to one knee, bowing her head low until it was nearly touching the ground.

“Adeptus Astartes,” I whispered, and I felt more than saw Isarae nod in agreement. “Describe him to me, ‘Rae, his armour, colours, weapons, and livery.”

“Gray, the colour of frosted steel,” she replied quietly from below me, “and chased subtly with silver.”

“Chain weapons?” I asked, feeling a small seed of hope bloom. “And what of the symbols?”

If it was the local chapter then there was still hope, but if this battle-brother was one of the vaunted xenoslaying Deathwatch then there would be no resolution but death for us both.

“A curious weapon,” Isarae continued. “I think it is supposed to resemble a scythe, and yes, it uses your kind’s crude chain technology. As for the symbol, it is a skull covered in a mourning shroud. Or at least, that is how it seems to my eyes.”

Relief flooded through me.

“What heresy is this?!”

The metal chorus of bolters taking aim filled the plaza at the words of one of my sisters, likely the Sister Superior from her decorated armor and laurel-adorned helm, and I let my hand rest casually on the crown of Isarae’s head.

“Sisters!” I called out, taking a single step forward even as my armour was blaring alerts that I was being targeted by mass-reactive weaponry. I blink-clicked the alerts away and raised both my hands and my voice in fervent praise. “Rejoice! For the Emperor is with us in these dark days!”

“Still your tongue,?heretic!” One of my sister’s snaps venomously, her voice distorted by the vox of her helm.

“I shall not!” I bellowed, and I felt them set back by my words. I could not back down, I could not give them even a single inch.

If my zealous sisters smelled so much as a?hint?of uncertainty I would lose everything and we would both die. Even given the best possible scenario, it was possible we would still both die, but I had faith that the God-Emperor had brought us together for a reason.

He would not permit us to die like this.

“Are you so blind, sisters?!” I implored, gesturing around us. “Are your eyes so shrouded in darkness that you cannot see that you are in the presence of a miracle?!”

“A miracle?” The voice of the Sister Superior was rich with disbelief. “I stand in the presence of a xenoborn filth and a?former?sister whose mind is broken by madness.”

“Raise thy head, Isarae of Commorragh.” I spoke with as much confidence as I could.

Isarae followed my command, and I grinned at the soft intakes of breath over our linked vox network. The mark of the Imperial Eagle was clear and obvious on her face and on over her breast.

“You?dare?” The Sister Superior hissed the words out in shock. “You?dare?sully the holy Aquila by placing on the flesh of a vile alien?”

“The God-Emperor has placed his hand upon her very soul!” I roared. “Did you not feel His light some cycles ago? Did you somehow fail to notice the heavens crack and split as He battled the Prince of Excess?!”

I could feel the Sister Superior rally to reply but I cut her off before she could regain any steam.

“For whom did you imagine our Divine Lord did battle?!” I raised my hand from Isarae’s head. “For me?! I have laid my soul unto his grace already!”

“This alien?filth?was cornered cycles ago!” Another sister cried. “So it was you who laid fire upon your own sisters and permitted her to escape!”

“It was!” I declared, silencing them all. I could feel the stunned shock radiating off of them.

This was the tipping point. My sin against my sisters for the sake of an alien was something that, under normal circumstances, would be impossible to disregard. If I faltered here, all would be lost.

“I spared her as she spared me!” I took another step forward, unwilling to yield. “I was laid low! My squad slaughtered by the greenskin plague, my sisters dead, my body broken, and my wargear in shambles!” I gestured back to Isarae as I spoke. “And at the moment of my demise, surrounded by the barbarous Orks, Isarae saved me and tore them to pieces!”

“Eldar breathe only lies, little sister,” the Superior spat. “They poison the soil of the Emperor’s faithful, they taint our holy purpose for their own meaningless ends.”

She took aim at me now. Where before, the weapons of my sisterhood had been trained mostly on Isarae, likely out of respect for the danger one of her kind represented, now the Sister Superior had leveled her own bolter squarely at my head.

“You have fallen, sister,” she spoke with dark solemnity, “but there is hope in the Emperor’s embrace… repent before your death, and your soul may still go to his light.”

I could feel Isarae tense behind me, and I flattened my hand in a dismissive gesture at her. She would not suffer to see me harmed any more than I would such done to her, but I could not allow it. I could not allow blood to be shed on either side.

“Isarae protected me,” I continued, ignoring her threat. “She washed my wounds and tended them, she cared for me while I recovered.” My sister’s auras were shifting. Where before their auras had a hard, golden edge to them, now they were crazed like cracking glass. “Not only that, but I also bear evidence upon my very body of a miracle of Saint Arabella, which I witnessed with my own eyes.”

That?got their attention, and I spread my arms wide so they could see the armour I was wearing more clearly.

“This holy wargear, a relic of our own Order of the Radiant Wisteria, was preserved.” Fascination, disgust, and apprehension warred across the Sister Superior’s aura as she stared at the artificer armour.

To gun me down would damage the armour, but in her eyes it was being worn by a heretic, yet at the same time… a miracle of Saint Arabella could not be ignored. Our sainted founder was, and still is, renowned for making the impossible possible.

“We are martyrs of the faith,” I said quietly. “This armour was laid to rest upon a statue of Saint Arabella, and it was Isarae, not I, who defended it, avenged the sisters of our Order who died protecting it, and then…” I turned away from the Sister Superior to regard Isarae fondly. She did not look up, but I felt her aura warm under my blind gaze. “Then she pulled our sisters’ bodies from the rubble, armour and all, and laid them in state beneath the gaze of Saint Arabella.”

“Lies,” the word was hissed venomously from the Sister Superior’s lips. “You?lie.”

“She does not.”

The words boomed and even I nearly jumped in place. My sisters whose guns were still trained on us looked equally spooked as I saw a flash of indigo panic ripple across their collective auras the moment the up-til-then silent Astartes spoke. He had been so quiet and so circumspect, that I had almost forgotten he was there, although how his presence could have slipped my notice I cannot say.

It was as though his quasidivine soul had simply slid back to rest in the shadows, hidden from sight and content to watch the prattlings of we mortals.

Hard, scarlet rage scored along the edge of the Sister Superior’s aura as she turned to the Astartes.

“With due respect, Lord Antares,” she said in a tone that was tight with strain, “how can you know that?”

“Lies, Sister Danika,” the Lord Angel called Antares began in a surprisingly flowing, cultured voice, “are simple things.” He gestured to me with his free hand in a broad, open manner. “When mortals lie, it is not so difficult to see, most especially because the mind of man is not made for untruth… they must lie to themselves first before lying to others, and this daughter of the Emperor has not lied, to us or to herself.”

Then he turned to Isarae, red eye-lenses regarding her blankly.

“Whether this one has lied, however, is up for debate,” He finished.

“She is Eldar,” Danika spat. “She cannot speak but to lie!”

“Untrue, but broadly accurate,” Antares replied in a dismissive tone that I had to fight not to smile at as the scarlet rage deepened on the Sister Superior’s aura. “The Eldar speak only to further the aims of their people, their culture, and their kind, with no respect for the rightful masters of this galaxy.”

It was a clear bait, but one that Isarae did not rise to. Not that I imagined she would have. The Lord Angel, wise and powerful though he was, could not know of Isarae’s very un-Eldar-like disdain for her own species.

Antares approached, crossing the line of sisters and past the Sister Superior in a pair of long, easy, power-armoured strides. In the shadow of one of the Angels of Death, I felt the first flicker of uncertainty as he regarded me cooly from behind his faceplate for a long moment before turning back to Isarae who remained kneeling. Her head was raised so the mark was clearly visible, but to my relief, her eyes remained cast down in respect.

A soft, deep click of a mag-release issued from the Lord Angel as he took a hold of his bolter, raised the enormous weapon, and leveled the barrel squarely at Isarae.

“What purpose do you serve here, Eldar?” Antares asked. “What ends do you meet by looking after this child? She is a flicker to one such as you… an ember in a windstorm, so speak, and do not lie.”

Isarae did not reply. Not right away, at any rate. Rather, she turned away from the barrel with unconcerned ease to look up at me, ignoring the Astartes who was so casually threatening her.

She was asking permission.

I gave her a small nod.

Turning back to Lord Antares, Isarae raised her face to meet his crimson lenses fully and without fear.

“I came here to die, Lord Astartes,” she said in her softly accented gothic.

“Do not mock the-!” My elder sister began to snarl as Isarae used the Angel’s title, but Antares himself was the one who cut her off with a swiftly raised hand.

“Say that again.” He spoke with curiosity now.

Isarae gave me another look, her aura rippling with uncertainty. I nodded again, I had done my part and preserved us til now, but he wasn’t addressing me, and I could not intervene with his questioning. If he decided to execute Isarae and I, he would be entirely within his remit to do so, and I doubted any of my Sisters would voice a doubt even if he was not.

“I said: I came here to die, Lord Astartes,” Isarae repeated.

“Again.”

I frowned, confused at the Angel’s demands, and from the shifting of Isarae’s aura she was no more certain as to what he wanted than I was.

“My Lord?” Isarae queried. “I’m not certain I understand.”

“My title,” Antares clarified. “Say it once more.”

“Lord… Astartes?”

He nodded.

“Lord Astartes,” Isarae said obediently.

“Fascinating.” Antares stepped backed and lowered his bolter, I suppressed a vocal sigh of relief as he turned his head to regard Sister Superior Danika through crimson lenses. “This Eldar speaks sincerely.”

“I… am afraid I fail to grasp your meaning, my Lord,” Danika replied tersely. “How is that relevant?”

Antares turned back to Isarae as he maglocked his bolter. “This Eldar speaks my title with genuine respect. This is not the first Eldar I have parlied with, and I imagine it shall not be the last, but it is the first one to show the same deference and respect I am given from an Imperial citizen.”

“You are a son of the God-Emperor, Lord Astartes,” Isarae said quietly. “Your soul carries His light. To show you disrespect would dishonor He who shields my soul from darkness.” She raised her eyes head again, daring to meet the eyes of the Angel. “It would be heresy.”

The intake of breath from the line of armed Sisters was audible.

It must have been quite a thing to hear an Eldar speak of heresy in such a manner, and it probably would have opened another round of debate if not for what happened immediately after.

Our only warning was a pair of faint clicks from something metal striking the ground. It could have been any stray piece of debris, and for most of the squad, and myself, the sound was lost amidst the noises of the city, the creaking Hive, and the distant detonations of battle and looting.

The only ones who reacted were Isarae and the Lord Angel.

“GRENADE!” Antares roared, backpedaling and seizing Sister Danika by the collar of her power armor, heaving her back like she was a stray kitten.

In that same instant Isarae lashed out a foot and caught me at the knee, toppling me over and grabbing my arm as I shouted in alarm before heaving me over her shoulder to throw me clear only to follow me a breath later as I crashed deafening onto the ground a few meters away.

A clap of explosive lightning detonated a heartbeat later, sending a wash of crackling electrical discharge out, and as I scrabbled to my feet I watched all of my sisters, the Sister Superior included, as well as the Lord Angel stagger. Most of my sisters fell gracelessly, dragged down by the weight of their armour. Sister Danika kept her feet through force of stubborn will alone, and the Lord Angel held himself upright by virtue of his genhanced physiology.

“AMBUSH!” Danika cried, trying in vain to raise her bolter, but her arms were weighed down by her armour.

“Get down!” Isarae kipped up to her feet with acrobatic grace before lashing her blade out like a whip, coiling it around Danika’s legs, and yanking her feet out from under her.

Danika dropped like a stone with a startled squawk just as what I recognised as a volley of splinterfire raked through the space she had been standing in.

A fusillade of shots filled the air with hissing, monomolecular projectiles, all aimed at my prone and helpless Sisters, and I watched in horror as the Lord Angel heaved himself forward against the weight of his armor to stand between the downed warriors. His armor chipped and punctured in a hundred places, and even with his arms crossed over his vital areas I was certain he would not last.

Then, in the distance, a high, keening wail split the air, and my heart quaked.