Nexus & Other Stories (Warhammer 40,000) by unknow

Author:unknow
Language: eng
Format: azw3
Publisher: Black Library Warhammer 4
Published: 2020-10-24T00:00:00+00:00

THE CRYSTAL CATHEDRAL

DANIE WARE

As the galaxy darkens, the Adepta Sororitas – known more commonly throughout the Imperium as the Sisters of Battle – raise their battle-hymns, light their holy braziers and march to banish the blasphemous shadows that beset humanity.

In The Crystal Cathedral, the discovery of a long-lost cathedral brings joy to the Order of the Bloody Rose… until an unexpected attack turns their rejoicing into a desperate fight for survival.

Sister Augusta Santorus stood at the bottom of the wide stone steps, her scarlet armour gleaming, her head bared to the light. She had entrusted her weapons to the upheld tray of the little brass servitor and she carried only reverence and awe, as was proper in His presence. To bear arms in the house of the Emperor was blasphemy – after all, was His protection not enough?

In a line to her left stood her sisters, the squad’s black-and-white cloaks stirring faintly, though there was little wind in this carefully carved valley. Its rock walls were almost sheer and they glittered with crystalline fragments, reflecting the blue-green gleam of the planet above, hazed in its own atmosphere and glorious to behold.

But that was not what held the Sisters’ attention.

‘Truly,’ Sister Superior Veradis said softly, from the centre of the line, ‘one finds His miracles in even the darkest of places. Sing with me, my Sisters…’

‘A spiritu dominatus…’ They raised their voices in the Litany, their harmonies echoing back at them, chiming from the rock. The acoustics were flawless, and Augusta felt a chill go down her back.

The darkest of places…

This was Caro, the smallest moon of the planet Lena Beta, orbiting its blue-white star. And upon its bleak, rocky surface, there stood a miracle.

Forgotten for a thousand years, encased and defended by this carved, rock-walled gorge, it was a great, dark edifice, its bell towers and arches soaring over their heads. That much was imposing enough.

But the cathedral was also black.

Made from pure, black glass it was shadow, a cut-out, a great silhouette that took towering bites from the planet’s perfect curve. It was flat pane after flat pane, every one held in place by thin struts of dark flexsteel, every one glittering with myriad crystalline reflections. Warrior statues stood guard at its doorway, their strong faces bearing familiar fleur-de-lys tattoos, their carved armour bearing the mark of the Bloody Rose.

From the very first days of their order: their Sisters.

Augusta wondered if they judged her, her newness and inexperience.

Between the stone Sisters, the cathedral’s huge front doors stood open, and the squad could see that the building’s insides were also dark, lit only by the flickering, ruddy gleam of electro-sconces. Despite the gloom, however, the congregation already waited within.

‘We beseech Thee, destroy them.’

As the Litany came to an end, Veradis’ voice sounded in their vox-beads: ‘Witness our Sisters, Farus and Neva. The Accords of the Rose tell us that they defended this moon once before, a thousand years ago. Upon the site of their victory, and in the Emperor’s name, was this cathedral constructed.

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