Katherine knelt at the back of the Valkyrie, hands wrapped tightly about the hilt of Saint Magdalena's sword, point resting on the floor between her knees. Her eyes were closed in silent prayer to the Emperor. On her right was Rebecca and on the left was Eve, the last of the Seraphim from the shattered Order of Saint Celestine. They knelt with their Canoness, heads bowed and eyes closed. They had traded their usual twin bolt pistols for powerswords and Praesidium Protectus shields. With their golden armor, jump packs, and serene, angelic faces, all three truly appeared like Seraphim descended to earth.
The Valkyrie banked and turned in to final approach to the huge Imperator Titan. It stood towering over the landscape, like a walking fifteen-story building. The vaguely man-shaped construct was stooped over, and upon its back was a wide platform. The edges of the platform were ringed with the secondary weapons of the Titan, to rain down upon the enemies of the Emperor. The massive Cathedral took up the majority of the platform, with space to land a few small grav-transports. The Inquisitor's Adeptus Arbites patrolled the platform while his loyal Stormtroopers were stationed about the Cathedral.
Katherine spoke quietly, "As soon as the door opens, Gaius' guards will see us and all Hell will break loose. Show no mercy. Cleanse the impure." She stood and turned to Raphael and Lazarus, "Let the first blows be struck by me. When you must face the Ecclesiarchy, it will seem better for your defense if I am the first to draw blood in this mutiny. I will walk proudly to the stake when this is over."
She turned to the door as she felt the craft decelerating and settling down onto the landing platform. Rebecca and Eve rose and drew their blades, bracing their shields. Behind them, Raphael Goetia stood in his massive Terminator armor, storm shield and thunder hammer ready for battle. Lazarus and his five men were silent, the Commissar's focus intense. The second Valkyrie was landing right beside them, carrying Thale of the Ultramarines and Jorn of the Black Templars, with a small compliment of Space Marines.
The ramp at the rear of the Valkyrie lowered to reveal a squad of five Adeptus Arbites approaching, bolters cradled in their arms. The sergeant opened his mouth to speak, but he didn't have the chance to utter a sound. From out of the Valkyrie Katherine shot, her sword swinging obliquely upward. It carved through his carapace armor like paper, splitting him open from waist to shoulder in a shower of blood. Before his corpse could hit the ground she was past him, compassing the blade around her head and bringing it down over her left shoulder. It cleft the next Arbites' head from his neck. Rebecca and Eve followed, striking low another two. The last raised his bolter in a panic, but Rebecca slammed her shield into him, knocking the weapon out of his hands. Pirouetting gracefully, she rammed the powersword through his chest.
"Go!" Katherine shouted, igniting her jump pack. The three Sisters of Battle took to the air as the platform erupted in bolter and hellgun fire. They soared over the gothic flying buttresses that splayed out from the Cathedral walls. A hellgun bolt glanced off her hip, fired by a Stormtrooper by the main entrance to the Cathedral. A squad of five was kneeling there, blasting away at them. Two of them carried plasmaguns, capable of shearing through even their Vestments pattern power armor. The Sisters came screaming down at them from the skies with their voices raised in song. The Psalms from the Litanies of Faith rang out over the din of battle, filling their hearts with their love and faith in the Emperor's glory. By the will of the Emperor, their Vestments miraculously turned aside even the devastating plasma bolts as they descended onto the Inquisitor's Stormtroopers, their golden armor gleaming like the sun.
The Blade of Saint Magdalena came down on the head of one of the Stormtroopers, splitting him in twain lengthwise. Twisting counterclockwise, Katherine shifted her feet and swung horizontally with both hands on the long blade. The second trooper tried to parry with his hellgun held like a staff, but the sword sliced through it and across his belly. He screamed as he dropped to his knees, his intestines spilling out. "The only repentance for those who serve the corrupt is death!"
