[Artillery shells traced brilliant arcs through the night sky, their passage cutting luminous paths that illuminated half the darkness overhead. The light painted everything in harsh, flickering shadows.]
[The well-trained Battle Sisters immediately dispersed into combat squads, their movements precise and coordinated despite the chaos. They avoided the fierce artillery bombardment through practiced maneuvers, each Sister knowing exactly where her squad-mates would position themselves.]
[Simultaneously, Thunderhawk gunships that had lifted off roared back into the fight. They executed sharp banking turns, redirecting their attack vectors. Twin-linked lascannons opened fire with brilliant red beams that carved through the darkness. Missiles launched from wing-mounted racks, trailing smoke as they screamed toward the Leman Russ tank positions.]
[You pushed your power armor to maximum acceleration, gradually closing the distance to the Battle Sisters' front lines.]
[A warning round struck your heavy shoulder armor with tremendous force, the impact staggering you mid-stride. The bolt round didn't detonate, a deliberate choice, but the kinetic energy alone nearly knocked you off your feet.]
["Heretic! You have betrayed the sacred duties of the Inquisition and the glory of the Emperor Himself! Your death would be no loss!" A Battle Sister's bolter remained firmly trained on your power armor, the barrel tracking your center mass. Another weapon aimed directly at your exposed silver skull, the targeting laser painting a red dot on the metal.]
["This is slander orchestrated by Chaos forces!" You forced the words out despite the burning in your lungs. "The Seekers of Truth have been gradually corrupted by daemonic influence, and I was nearly deceived by their manipulation. Another Inquisitor from the Ordo Malleus may be the true architect of this catastrophe!"]
[You slowly raised the bolt pistol gripped in your palm, making the gesture deliberately non-threatening. Fingers nowhere near the trigger, barrel pointed skyward.]
[Your words failed to impress the agile Battle Sisters surrounding you. Their weapons remained locked on target, fingers resting on triggers with lethal patience.]
[However, at that moment, a commanding presence emerged through the assembled Sisters.]
[A Canoness wearing blood-red power armor and wielding a crackling power claw appeared behind the combat squad. Her battle standard rose above her power pack, the bloodstained white fabric snapping in the wind.]
["My name is Jayna! Canoness from the Order of the Bloody Rose!" Her voice carried absolute authority through her helmet's vox-grille. She stared at you through the dark eyepieces of her Sabbat-pattern helmet. "Inquisitor Steelhead! Are you still loyal to the Emperor? Are you willing to atone and confess all your sins?"]
[The question hung in the air like a blade suspended above your neck.]
["I am indeed derelict in my duty as an Inquisitor," you responded without hesitation, the admission tasting like ashes in your mouth. "I am willing to make final confession and atonement for everything I have done."]
[At that precise moment, the Astartes brothers wearing blue power armor burst forth from their concealed ambush positions.]
[The Seekers of Truth launched a sustained charge directly toward the Battle Sisters' location, their heavy footfalls shaking the ground. War cries erupted from vox-grilles, bolters roaring as they advanced.]
[The Battle Sisters holding flamers and bolters immediately unleashed devastating volleys. They poured every round from their long-range weapons into the charging Astartes, the massed fire creating a wall of explosive death.]
[Then, beneath the illumination provided by high-temperature promethium flames that turned night into blazing day, they responded in kind.]
[The Sisters roared their own battle cries and brandished their weapons. Bayonet blades mounted beneath bolter barrels gleamed with deadly purpose. Chainswords revved to screaming life, their teeth blurring into circular saws.]
[They launched their own counter-charge, crimson armor flashing as they crashed into the blue-armored Astartes.]
[These Battle Sisters from the Order of the Bloody Rose proved extraordinarily formidable.]
[In the initial brutal exchanges, they achieved something remarkable: a one-to-one casualty ratio against Astartes. For every Sister who fell, an Astartes brother died with her.]
[The momentum of the Seekers of Truth' charge gradually slowed, then stopped entirely. The Battle Sisters of the Bloody Rose actually began pushing them backward, reclaiming ground meter by bloody meter.]
[You quickly scanned the battlefield where combat intensified with each passing second. Your eyes searched desperately through the chaos for any sign of Chapter Master Gallus.]
[You turned to Canoness Jayna, proposing a decapitation strike. Cut off the head, and perhaps the body would cease its corrupted thrashing.]
[Canoness Jayna remained silent for several heartbeats, her helmeted head turning as she assessed the battlefield situation with tactical precision.]
[Then she appeared to bow her head in brief contemplation, considering the risks and potential benefits.]
[Finally, she looked at you with penetrating intensity, weighing your sincerity.]
[Canoness Jayna agreed to your request.]
[A full combat squad of Battle Sisters would cooperate with your operation, providing the strike force necessary for such a dangerous mission.]
[However, she also made her position brutally clear without hesitation.]
[If any evidence of your heresy emerged during the operation, the squad's objective would change immediately. Their new target would be you.]
[You nodded heavily to Canoness Jayna, accepting the terms completely.]
[You gripped your bolt pistol tightly, feeling its reassuring weight in your palm.]
[You drove your power armor forward, quickly leading the assigned Battle Sister squad toward the battlefield's forward edge.]
[You passed by a Battle Sister who had fallen in combat mere moments ago. Her body lay still, crimson armor scorched and breached, blood pooling beneath her.]
[With silent approval from other Sisters in the squad, conveyed through brief nods, you knelt and retrieved the chainsword the fallen Sister had used to support herself in her final moments.]
[You stared silently at the dead Sister's features. Short white hair, matted with blood and dirt. A young face, tender and unlined, robbed of decades it should have lived.]
[Uncontrollable anger gradually filled your heart, building like pressure in a sealed container. The emotion burned hotter than any promethium flame.]
[You had been deceived by the Seekers of Truth. Manipulated by Tzeentch's daemonic schemes.]
[You would wash away this shame completely with terrifying rage the enemy could not possibly withstand. You would fight until your last breath, until death claimed you in the final moment.]
[You clenched the roaring chainsword and bolt pistol with an expression carved from stone, features blank and terrible.]
[You drove your power armor hard, accelerating your charge to maximum speed.]
[You rushed toward the nearest Astartes engaged in combat, closing the distance with desperate velocity.]
[The Battle Sister squad followed closely behind your lead. They rotated their bolter barrels constantly, acquiring new targets. Their fire relieved fatal crises for other Sisters they passed, covering angles and eliminating threats with practiced efficiency.]
[You swung the chainsword with brutal force, putting your entire body's momentum behind the blow. The rapidly rotating teeth embedded deeply into the neck of an Astartes who failed to dodge in time.]
[Ceramite shrieked. The chainsword chewed through armor plating, bit into flesh beneath, sprayed blood in arterial fountains.]
["Where is Gallus?!" You opened your blood-red eyes as wide as they could stretch, the question emerging as a roar. Your slightly reflective silver skull occasionally caught and threw back the heavy weapons fire illuminating the battlefield.]
["Lies! Lies! Everything about the Imperium is a lie! Everything about the Emperor is a lie! Everything about you is a lie!"]
[The Astartes brother, whose power armor chest plate was being sawed open by your chainsword, seemed to have fallen into an extremely deranged state. Madness consumed whatever remained of his reason.]
[He didn't resist at all, simply unleashed a deafening, terrifying roar at you from point-blank range. His voice cracked with hysteria.]
["Battle-brother! Kill me! She caught us! She has us all! Kill me!"]
[You pressed down the roaring chainsword with blank expression, the action mechanical and final. The teeth bit deeper, severing the spine, ending the corrupted Astartes' life cleanly.]
[You widened your bloodshot eyes slightly, drawing a deep breath of the blood-saturated air. The metallic taste filled your nose and mouth.]
[If you had merely been suspicious before, operating on educated guesses and incomplete information, now certainty crystallized like ice in your mind.]
[You could state with one hundred percent confidence: the Seekers of Truth Chapter had become connected with daemonic forces. Chapter Master Gallus himself was almost certainly the source from which corruption spread.]
[You turned immediately toward the Battle Sisters accompanying you, engaging in rapid tactical discussion.]
[One Sister from the squad broke away, sprinting back toward the main force to relay critical intelligence to Canoness Superior Jayna.]
[The Battle Sisters of the Order of the Bloody Rose needed to adjust their operational priorities immediately.]
[The threat posed by Chaos corruption far exceeded the danger of a single Astartes Chapter turning to heretical rebellion.]
[At that moment, accompanied by sharp wind that suddenly rushed past your ears, you heard something that turned your blood to ice.]
[Terrifying screams emanated from inside the hive city. Countless hive citizens shrieked in mortal terror, their voices rising in a chorus of absolute panic.]
[You opened your blood-red eyes wider still, feeling blood vessels throb violently within your silver skull. The realization struck with devastating force.]
[In an instant, you understood completely where the missing Chapter Master Gallus had gone and what his current purpose entailed.]
["Sacrifice! He intends to sacrifice the entire hive population!" Your voice cracked with urgent horror. "He's tearing open a warp portal, creating a daemonic gateway! Notify Canoness Jayna immediately! Even if the Battle Sisters must fight to the very last warrior, we have to assault the hive interior now!"]
[Your words tumbled out faster, desperation lending them speed.]
["Otherwise, this entire industrial planet will become Chaos territory!"]
[You raised your chainsword high, the weapon still slick with corrupted blood.]
["Battle Sisters! Charge with me!"]