【战锤40k同人作品翻译】 Ennui 第三十二章：欢伯 Vino
本章概述：
伊莎莱边喝边学习。
In which Isarae drinks and learns things.
正文：
大厅里一片寂静。
当我们穿过修道院的大厅时，我本能地左右扫视了一圈，并掩护着亚历莎的侧翼。她也注意到了，她的嘴唇微微上扬，弯成了一个轻柔的、细微到只有我能注意到的微笑。
在我与她一同适应她的新视野的短暂时光里，我已经开始理解她视物的方式。
亚历莎曾将她的视力描述为某种全方位无死角的感知能力，可尽管有着这样的感知，她也只有有限的注意范围。她把那比作透过一根粗管子或者一片玻璃看东西，因为她只要想专注于任何特定的事物就不得不把那更广泛的感知力给屏蔽掉一部分。
我还没有提及这件事，但那个念头让我好奇：如果可能的话，她能否通过训练来学会注意到自己熟悉的视野外的事物。
能够完整地感知自己周围一整圈的范围会让她成为战场上的一个有力威胁，一个若不拼尽全力就不能攻其不备的威胁。
当下，我满足于履行自己对亚历莎和神皇的职责。因而我跟上了亚历莎的大修女：一个她称之为“乌泰娜”的瘦高女性，而亚历莎对她表现出的尊重表明她不仅身居高位，而且是以军功赢得了这个位置。
当然了，我甚至能在十几步外就能感受到她强劲的灵魂。
在战场上面对她肯定会是种独特的体验，我将这个想法置于脑海深处。一旦我的腿和手臂有时间痊愈，大修女也许会有空屈尊与我切磋。
幸运的是，那个混账游侠打中的是我的肩膀上的软组织，所以托改造后的生理机制和植入物的福，伤口正在迅速愈合。速度之快甚至几乎让我后悔干掉了自己的血伶人：就算他是个蠢货，我也不能否认他的技术水平。
然而，我膝盖骨上的损伤则持久得令人泄气，要想不跛着走路需要大费周章。不过当这亚历莎和她的大修女的面这么做的屈辱可不是我能忍受得了的。
肉体上的疼痛相比之下要好受的多。
“大修女，我可以问一件事吗？”亚历莎开口道，在此之前的只有乌泰娜和她的小队，以及亚历莎的装甲靴敲击地面的叮当声时不时打破这片沉默。
“问吧，”乌泰娜简短地回答道。
“隐修院里……我们有多少人手？”
一阵极难察觉到的紧张感在乌泰娜的卫队之间扩散开来，不过大修女本人仍维持着超常的坚忍。
“算上阿尔伯雷亚修道院的增援，我们只有略多于六百名姐妹，不包括辅助力量，”乌泰娜过了一会儿后说道。
我不熟悉亚历莎的修会的组织和部署，但那在我听来并不像是很多人，而且也肯定不够用。在大修女回答后，从亚历莎的脸上一闪而过的惊恐神情证实了我的怀疑，她咬了咬牙，然后才作出回应。
“那普莉希拉大修女的教团中有多少人挺过了登陆？”亚历莎声音嘶哑，这说明她虽然不得不问，但也宁可不知道答案。
我稍微拉进了我们之间的距离，近到足以抓住她的手并把手指滑进她的指间。她用穿着盔甲的手轻轻地握住了我的手，并迅速而感激地看了我一眼。
乌泰娜大修女停了下来，她的卫队也同时停下了步调一致的行进。亚历莎差点被突然的止步给绊倒，我不得不抓紧她的手以免她直接撞在大修女的背上。片刻之后，乌泰娜简短的命令她的卫队原地待命，然后指了指我们身旁的一扇门。
“我们还是别在大厅里谈论这些了，”乌泰娜轻声说道，并用她的护手划过门边的识别器，那扇门随即在一阵轻微的嘶声中开启。
门里面既是一间祈祷室也是一个客舱。一座描绘着荣光的帝皇的巨型神龛占据了房间的远端，祂张开双臂，摊平手掌，将信徒的灵魂接纳进祂永恒的怀抱中。与亚历莎一同进来的我驻足于这番景象，心跳为之凝滞，片刻之后我抬起双手，在胸前比出了天鹰的形状。
我注意到亚历莎也做出了同样的事，而乌泰娜则以毫不掩饰的好奇端详着我们俩，然后转向神龛，在低声祈祷中做出同样的动作。
“不要为了我而拘泥于礼仪，”乌泰娜说着离开了我们，转向了房间另一边的大桌子，其两侧的书架上塞满了看上去像是圣书和专著的书本。
我默默记下要借用其中的几本。
“大修女……”亚历莎跟着走到了乌泰娜的办公桌的另一边，随着大修女就座，她小声开口道。
“坐下，亚历桑德拉姐妹，”乌泰娜重复道，这一次她指着一张看起来并不太舒服的椅子，语气相比请求更像是命令。
亚历莎在椅子和大修女间来回看了几眼，然后点点头拽过椅子，伴着刺耳的嘶鸣声坐了下来。我在她身后落座，一只手稳稳地放在她的肩膀上以作安慰。
“在已故的大修女普莉希拉——帝皇保佑她——所辖两百人的劲旅中，仅有九个小队幸存，”乌泰娜简短地回答道。
空气一时间凝滞了。
亚历莎的难以置信的表情很快就随着她瘫坐回座位上而变成了绝望。从我们的谈话中，我了解到一个小队在任何情况下都很少有超过五到七名姐妹。那意味着外面只有不到六十来个人活着登陆了安菲特里亚，而那已经是个极为乐观的估计了。
“九个小队……”亚历莎低声说道，声线有些颤抖。“九个……只剩九个了？”
我合上双眼，承受者亚历莎身上如波浪般涌出的悲痛。她们承受过的这般损失，就是隐修院看上去如此安静的原因。
乌泰娜点点头，然后把手伸向桌子底下，然后是拖拽什么东西的声响，再然后是是玻璃的叮当声，随之被放到我们面前的的是三个厚重的水晶玻璃杯，以及一个沉重的深色酒瓶。乌泰娜在沉默中打开了它的盖子，往每一个玻璃杯中倒入了大量的酒，然后把盖子盖上，将醒酒器放到一边，又拿起了她的杯子。
“我向你保证，这里没有更好的消息，”乌泰平淡地说，同时用她的玻璃杯示意了一下。“我建议你们都喝上一杯，毕竟我们都需要它。”
说着，乌泰娜深深地从杯中喝下一口酒，在放下杯子前就将之一饮而尽。我拿起了自己的杯子，嗅了一下其中的内容物，随即对那股悦人的烟熏味微微颔首，然后试探性地啜了一口。
亚历莎拿起了她的酒杯，以比乌泰娜还快的速度把里面的东西一口吞了下去。当她放下酒杯时，她脸上的表情既生硬又痛苦，我忍不住抬起手，用指关节轻抚着亚历莎的脸颊，她以明显的感激倚靠在我的触碰上。
那个玩味的表情又一次出现在了乌泰娜的脸上，这次她转向了我。
“你是个黑暗灵族，”她坦言道，而非是在询问。“如果我没记错的话，是你们称之为‘巫灵’的那一支。”
“确实如此，尊敬的大修女，”我微微欠身，回答道。
她拱起手指托住下巴，用锐利的蓝色目光打量着我。由于不确定该说什么，我保持了沉默。即便有着亚历莎的担保和帝国那些粗野的灵能者的占卜天赋支持，我也仍然是个异形。
我依旧是一名灵族。
相反，我也相对地打量起她来，随后对她看上去那么的……普通，而感到惊讶。乌泰娜大修女是一名身型瘦削——即便是穿着动力甲——且皮肤白皙的女性，五官直到其锋利的棱角前都像是在光滑的大理石块上雕琢出来的。她的头发有着亚历莎的修会里大多数人的骨白色，笔直地稍稍略过肩膀并以完美的整齐而中断。她的皮肤有着我这辈子见过的大多数巢都人的苍白色调，其源自遗传因素和自然光匮乏的组合。
可那双眼睛。
我直直地回望她的双眼。
乌泰娜大修女的双眼泛着等离子火焰般的银灰蓝。事实上，她的眼睛明亮到根本不像是人类。
“有意思，”乌泰娜最后说道，靠回了她的椅子上并在面前交叠起双手。“我曾期望在你眼中看到一丝谎言或奸诈的痕迹，但如果忽略它们那非人的形体和面孔，我会以纯粹的热忱发誓自己只是看着一名挚爱的姐妹的眼睛。”
“无意冒犯，尊敬的大修女，”我说道，将一条手臂举到胸前并深鞠一躬。“我承认，我原以为会收到比亚历莎的受祝姐妹们更恶劣的迎接。”
“如果是在其它的任何时候，这种预期都有据可依，黑暗灵族，”乌泰娜冷酷地说。“然而身为神圣帝皇的忠嗣，我不能否认祂的意志在当下无比地明晰。无论有着何种目的和考量，这都不是我能决定的，祂已经决意由你作为我们对抗绿皮侵略者的盟友。”
“是伊莎莱。”
亚历莎抬起头来，声音很坚决。
我对着亚历莎美丽的面庞上刻下的怒火大为惊讶，乌泰娜的表情看上去也同样惊奇。她的双眼随着她用失明的目光紧盯住乌泰娜而泛着淡淡的金光。
“她的名字是伊莎莱，不是黑暗灵族——”亚历莎嘶声道。话音刚落，亚历莎明显地克制了一下，补充道：“——尊敬的大修女。”
“真有意思，”乌泰娜以考量的目光迎上亚历莎的怒目而视，然后转回我这边。“那么，伊莎莱？”
“若您乐意的话，尊敬的大修女，”我又一次低下头去。“我深知自身的不洁。”
“那是——！”亚历莎看向我，但我用搭在她肩上的手阻止了她的爆发。
“我就是我自己，”我平静地回答，转身对着亚历莎露出一个微笑。“神皇，愿祂的名被称颂，不顾我的本性而施我予仁慈，而非因其而为之。我对此不感到羞愧。”
亚历莎双手拿起我的手，用比我预想中坚硬的陶钢护手更柔和的力量包裹住它。她在颤抖中缓慢地深呼吸了一次，然后转身面对乌泰娜。
“那院长怎么样了？”亚历莎继续说道。“一旦普莉希拉大修女成功登陆，文塔莉亚（Ventalia）院长就该接手总指挥权限的。”
“文塔莉亚已经死了，”乌泰娜直截了当地说道，亚历莎惊掉了下巴。“院长于获得增援时在与绿皮头领的战斗中陨落了。正是她的献身让你的教团里多至九个小队得以保全。自此花园隐修院的由我和安琪亚（Anthia）大修女共同指挥，在阿尔伯雷亚总院长任命一名新的院长前都将如此。”
“文塔莉亚院长与兽人战将交手了？”我诧异地问道。“这么说你们已经见过那头生物了？”
“很不幸，的确如此，”乌泰娜阴着脸说。“这个战将与我们见过的其它任何一个都不同。它不是一头普通的兽人，即便是以战将的标准来讲也是这样。它很聪明，而且更糟的是，它会潜行。”
“请原谅…”亚历莎厉声道。“一头会潜行的兽人就跟——”
“——一个效忠帝国的灵族一样？”乌泰娜戏谑地回应，亚历莎一下子涨红了脸，把嘴闭了回去。“你的信仰或许足够坚定，但你依旧是一名新血，亚历莎姐妹……的确存在一些有潜行能力的兽人亚种，在那帮蛮夷的语言中叫‘特战小子’，可要它们之一爬上领导一场Waaagh的地位则几乎闻所未闻。”
乌泰娜的脸色说着说着便阴沉了下来，话语也变得不连贯。我倚进椅子里，看着她锐利而优雅的容貌上闪过一阵纠结。
“文塔莉亚的死在我和安琪亚离她不到一米时便成定局，这让我倍感耻辱，”乌泰娜从牙缝中挤出这句话来。“我们本以为不论损失的话，这场战斗还算顺利，但当我们经过一座杀人罐的残骸时，文塔莉亚停了下来……我当初认为是这个保住了她的性命，但现在我意识到自己错了。”
“你不记得那个杀人罐被摧毁了吗？”我斗胆问道，乌泰娜苦笑着点点头。
“的确如此。”乌泰娜点了点头，叹了口气。“那发生在战斗接近尾声时……”
———————————————————————————————————————————————
密集的爆弹呼啸着略过总督区的废墟。曾经承载了安菲特里亚上七大贵族——包括行星总督本人——的血脉的这片辖区如今已然是一具烧焦的躯壳，座座尖塔即便是在绿皮们如同蛆虫般从中爬出时也仍在自内向外地燃烧着。
“无视那些劫掠者！”文塔莉亚院长俯瞰着帝国广场（Plaza Imperialis），在通讯频道里高喊道。“四、五、八连集中火力压制绿皮大军！把我们修道院的姐妹们带进防线内！”
一阵应答的吼声在战术通讯频道内回响，爆弹枪们又一次齐声轰鸣了起来。
“一连！向我靠拢！”文塔莉亚向前挺进，我也与她同行。
在我身旁的是四名洁天使护卫，两人装备重爆弹，另两人持动力剑和重盾，她们也一同行进。在我对面保护着文塔莉亚的侧翼的是安琪亚大修女，她的洁天使小队只剩下三人，第四人在战斗开始时便不幸被一发远处飞来的爆弹打穿了护目镜。
万中无一的一枪。
真够倒霉的。
也许这就是帝皇对我们推进失利的预示，但院长不会允许阿尔伯雷亚修道院的修女们失去支援，死在敌军兵线后面。她在初次进攻中就动用了由地狱犬坦克、安菲特里安第16燧发枪团以及隐修会中四个整编教团的组成的矛头直刺向兽人先前占领的林荫道，只留下了一个教团来保卫隐修院本部。
不过，自最开始的一系列损失起，我们就一直举步维艰，但还是取得了成功。兽人像它们这个种族一如既往的那样伴着野蛮的嘶吼战斗，不顾损失地猛烈冲击我们的阵线。每一名姐妹都能在倒下前击杀不少于二十头兽人，可这个数字丝毫没有减少的迹象。
我在与这群野兽的战斗中学到了一点：无论你杀了多少个，那里都一定有更多的兽人等着。
“院长！我们太过深入了！”安琪亚在指挥频道里说道。她温柔的嗓音一如既往地在战斗中抚慰着我的灵魂，但那声音的背后潜藏着微妙的力量和坚定的信念。“我们应该尽可能地回撤，不然就有被包抄的风险！”
即便我再怎么厌恶撤退的念头，我也无法否认安琪亚的观点。兽人的兵力超过我们上千倍。无论我们的技艺有多精湛，抑或装备有多精良，只要我们继续推进那它们终究会包围我们。
“还有三个小队孤立无援，”文塔莉亚简单地回应道。“我们不能让姐妹们受绿皮侵略者的蹂躏！”即便这么说着，她还是停了下来。“不过，你的谨慎是明智的，安琪亚姐妹。乌泰娜姐妹，给修会下达肃清和撤离的命令，但把忏悔女主朱莉（Mistress Juri）和她的赎罪修女带过来，外加两个炽天使小队。我们会一同击穿兽人的阵线，与修道院最后的人马汇合，然后一同撤离这里。”
“是，院长！”安琪亚与我异口同声地喊道，随后下达了命令。
随着指令的下达，我们的部队分兵并集结，没过多久两支炽天使小队就连同朱莉和她的四十名赎罪修女集结到了我们身后。
“朱莉，”文塔莉亚向前迈步，向忏悔女主伸出一只手，后者单膝下跪，低下头来。“汝之悔罪者们于死亡中寻求宽恕，因而汝等将为吾等之剑锋，直捣绿皮心脏。”
“我的悔罪者们不会动摇，”朱莉发誓道，攥紧了她的长鞭。“我们将降下帝皇之天谴。”
她站起身来，转身面向成群结队的赎罪修女们，她们的眼中闪耀着狂热的信仰。我不能否认自己的一部分正渴望加入她们。我渴望在直冲向敌人时感受着着净化之鞭的抽打，耳边充盈着死亡的歌声。
“姐妹们！救赎近在咫尺！”朱莉大吼道，赎罪修女们也向她报以战吼。“前进吧，要知晓神皇深爱着所有的殉道者们！祂的臂膀在敌人的刀剑与爆弹外等候着汝等！莫要在乎生死！因汝等之性命归属于祂！莫要手下留情！因祂的怜悯即是死亡！”
朱莉用她的神经鞭猛击着战线前沿的赎罪修女们，她们疾速向前冲去，固定在她们身上的猩红色的忏悔祷文迎风而动如旌旗猎猎，手中的链锯剑也咆哮着运作起来。一共四波人马，朱莉把鞭子抽得像条狂怒的巨蟒，她直冲向广场上的一个独立区域，在那里一座倒塌的巢都尖塔构成了一个临时的掩体，那里已经有三个小队躲在里面来保护自己。
兽人们对着赎罪修女们冲击的方向发出阵阵咆哮并跑过去想加固这条战线。在它们这么做的同时，文塔莉亚命令炽天使们伸展开她们灼热的双翼。她们乘着烈焰飞向天空，手持轰鸣着的链锯剑猛烈冲击战线后部，我和安琪亚的洁天使们则用密集的爆弹火力掩护她们。
不出所料，在在赎罪修女们的狂怒和炽天使们纪律严明的后方夹击下，兽人的阵线逐渐失稳、变形，最终断裂开来。
文塔莉亚大吼一声“冲锋！”，然后提着她那噼啪作响、电光粼粼的单刃动力弯刀带领我们加入战斗。
安琪亚和我也拔剑出鞘，让帝皇的怒火击打在阵线上，我们砍倒了那群着甲的硬汉小子，它们正聚集在高大野蛮的兽人老大周围——老大们正在对着附近的兽人大吼大叫来迫使它们有那么点协同。我们完成了自己的任务，在洁天使和朱莉以及她的赎罪修女的配合下，我们把足够多的硬汉小子从文塔莉亚身旁剥离开来，让她能够冲过缺口与两头个头最大的兽人老大交战。她在瞬息间便击倒了第一头，将之从右锁骨一路劈到腹股沟，在转向另一个前让它变成了一地腥臭的血肉。
这段战斗并不漫长，却异常激烈。许多赎罪修女陨落了，愿她们安息，在我们战斗的同时，那三支来自修道院的小队看到了我们并自行组织了冲锋，从她们的防御点冲出来介入了对面的战斗中，粉碎了绿皮们的协同性。
或者至少……我们是这么认为的。
现在看来，我意识到这完全是着了它的道。这几支小队已经固守到只有让绿皮们齐心协力并付出惨痛的损失才能将之拔除。通过让我们靠得足够近来给她们得救的希望，那个兽人战将就能以一次有效的打击将我们全部消灭。
“前进！前进！”文塔莉亚在斩杀最后一个兽人老大时雀跃道。“大修女们到我这来！”
我们的小队在文塔莉亚周围集结，安琪亚和我一边靠近那三支正在突破零碎的绿皮的小队一边寻找更多的绿皮。
“安琪亚，连上通讯网络，把她们的高阶指挥官接入我们的指挥频道，”文塔莉亚命令道，安琪亚立刻着手处理起来。“乌泰娜，进入防御阵型并保证我们的路线畅通。”
“遵命，院长。”我点点头，在我们穿过其中一个兽人步行机的燃烧的残骸时下达了命令。
我对那个粗野的造物恶心得直皱眉。这与帝皇以欧姆尼赛亚的一面所统御的神之机械们毫无相似之处。
即便我把它从脑海中驱赶了出去，文塔莉亚还是在经过它前停了下来。她的目光在其上停留了一会儿，我发誓自己听到了轻微的倒抽凉气的声音，就好像她即将吼出一道命令似的。
那道命令没能被说出口——被铸造成绿皮伪神的丑恶面孔的前装甲板骤然炸裂开来。那串爆炸，就我看来，从体积和烟雾来看，应该是某种聚能装药，从那空壳中走出了我所见过的最大、最凶恶的兽人。
它几乎是漆黑的，头骨的上半部分差不多全是连接到头顶的一大簇神经链接线圈，它的眼睛是一个粗制滥造的红色球体。而在遍布这生物全身的植入物中，吸引了我的目光不是上述的任何一个。
而是它的武器。
它们是两柄巨大的动力刃，比我见过的任何一种都要大，大到哪怕帝皇的天使也得双手握持才挥得动。
第一击砍倒了我的三名洁天使，她们在惨叫声中被那东西拦腰斩断。第二击带走了另外两名，然后它就越过了我的防线。
我几乎无法接受。兽人魁梧、野蛮且沉重，但哪怕是其中最快的也不过是动物的水平。那头兽人一边咆哮出野蛮的战吼一遍如黑色的闪电般移动，我和安琪亚除了震惊以外做不出任何的反应。
甚至文塔莉亚也无法足够迅速地保护好自己。尽管这个生物撕开了我们的防线，文塔莉亚也才刚刚举起她的刀刃挡下了一记重击，她的盔甲上下响起了不堪重负的呻吟声。
紧接着那记格挡的是一声惨叫，伴着陶钢撕裂的声音，那绿皮以一记螺旋击斩下了文塔莉亚的左臂。它黏糊糊地笑着，懒散地向安琪亚挥出一击，她举剑格挡却被原地拔起，飞到了四米开外的地方。另一次挥击击倒了最后一名洁天使，她还在试图把她那笨重的重爆弹转向那头野兽，却败在了它的重量、糟糕的角度、和近在咫尺的敌人手下。
她的头颅和大部分肩膀从残躯上掉了下来。
“快跑！”文塔莉亚在通讯器里嘶吼道，她咆哮着冲向前去，挥舞着她的剑刃。“撤退，乌泰娜！我们已经完了！”
我极少见到如此的勇气和技巧在电光火石间展现出来。即便已经因剧痛和断臂接近失明，文塔莉亚还是如同被附体了一般挥出一击，她的剑刃在攻击那个大笑着的巨型兽人时闪闪发光。它用两柄剑对着她不断发起攻击，而她偏移、化解了每一次劈砍。
我下达了命令，但即便在这样做时我还是惊恐地发现兽人们从每一处断壁残垣中喷涌而出，每一头都被涂鸦成能混进城区废墟的颜色。姐妹们陷入了突袭，在我们身后集结起来撤离的部队突然被袭击并被全新的一群兽人自各方袭扰。
我吼出文塔莉亚的命令，然后退到刚刚从她掉落的地方起身、仍旧头晕目眩的安琪亚身旁保护她。她的剑几乎被它承受的那一击给折成两段。她的动力甲正噼啪作响，高贵的机魂收到了重创，但仍拒绝在它的主人脱险前屈服。
随着我把一条胳膊放到我挚爱的安琪亚身下，我这辈子第一次听到了野兽的话音。
“哈！”兽人咆哮着用一记重击把文塔莉亚的佩剑打飞到我的脚边，下一击将她从中间刺穿。
我嘶喊出她的名字，在兽人放肆的笑声下是我悲痛欲绝的吼声。
“喃打得还挺漂亮，”它咕哝着，把文塔莉亚被穿刺的身体像它剑上的肉块一样举了起来，直到那兽人正视着她的护目镜。“俺已经完全给喃搞定了，不是吗？克里特里格战将（Warboss Kritrig）就四最狡猾的兽人，对吧？”
文塔莉亚用她仅剩的那条手臂摸上她的头盔的密封并解开了它，让她苍白的发丝自由飘荡。她冷酷的灰色双眼对上了兽人的红色球体。
然后她对着那东西啐了一口。
“哈！”克里特里格又挥出一击。“可惜喃已经死啦，要不俺还想再跟你打一架呐！”
“跑！”文塔莉亚大吼道，而克里特里格用它那硕大的爪子环住她的头颅，将之从她的肩膀上撕了下来。
————————————————————————————————————————————————
“……多亏了朱莉的赎罪修女们留守后方阻挡兽人，我们才得以逃脱，”乌泰娜平静地结束了她的讲述。
这个故事让我们俩都无所适从，以至于等乌泰娜说完时酒瓶都见底了。我曾多次与兽人交手，也遭遇过几次特战小子，但我在多少个世纪的南征北战中都没有和一个升任战将的特战小子战斗过。
这个概念甚至让我都忧心忡忡起来。
“更糟的是，我们没能救出那三个小队，”乌泰娜说道，又一次陷回她的椅子里。“她们从头到尾都是个陷阱。克里特里格故意留下她们来引诱我们深入，它知道我们不会放任她们等死，就以此迫使我们出击。然后它几乎全歼了我们。”
“以这种方式，重创了隐修院的修女们，杀死了我们的高级指挥官，并严重打击了我们的士气，”亚历莎总结道。
“的确如此，”乌泰娜同意道。“我们拥有的八百名姐妹在回来时只剩不到一半，那还算上了我们救回来的几个小队……更别说我们的院长了，那是我们受到的最严重的打击。”
“那普瑞莱克斯龙骑兵呢？”亚历莎问道。“他们派了一整个团过来。”
“他们忠实地守住了自己的阵地，”乌泰娜回答道，却又摇了摇头。“但他们也承受了可怕的损失。他们的团部在十二个昼夜前遭到轰炸，折损了大部分指挥人员，自那时起我和安琪亚就接管了总指权。”
“那个战将，”我严肃地说，乌泰娜点了点头。“他是个难对付的敌手……即便是我族也很难预测他的战术。”
“他的战术不像个兽人，”乌泰娜说道。“我从未见过他的战斗方式。”
乌泰娜再次架起手指，仔细地打量着亚历莎和我，然后对自己点了点头。
“现在你已经知道自己面对的局势了……”乌泰娜的目光转向我一会儿，然后又落回亚历莎身上。“告诉我，你是如何让一个灵族女巫皈依了地球之主的。”
原文：
The halls were silent.
I scanned left and right by instinct as we walked through the halls of the Priory, covering Alessa’s flank as I did. She noticed, too, from the lilt of her lips that were curving to a gentle smile just small enough that only I would notice it.
Over the short amount of time that she, and I, had been growing accustomed to her altered vision, I had begun to appreciate how she could see.
Alessa once described her sight as a form of all-encompassing awareness, but despite that awareness, she still had a limited scope of attention. That, she likened, to looking through a broad tube or glass because, in order for her to focus on anything in particular, she had to blinker herself to the wider range of her perceptions.
I had not mentioned it, but that thought left me wondering if perhaps, with training, she could learn to focus on more than just her familiar, sighted range.
To have full perceptions in a complete radius around herself would make her a formidable threat on the battlefield, one who could not be taken by surprise except by the greatest effort.
For now, I contented myself with doing my duty to Alessa and to the God-Emperor. So I followed Alessa’s Canoness; a tall, spare woman she called ‘Utena’ and whom she treated with a deference that suggested she was not only highly ranked, but had earned that rank through battle.
Certainly, I could feel the strength of her spirit even from better than a dozen paces away.
Facing her in battle would certainly be a singular experience, and one that I placed in the back of my mind. Perhaps the Canoness would deign to spar with me one of these days should time permit, once my leg and arm had time to fully heal.
The bastard Asuryani ranger’s shot had taken me in the meat of my shoulder, fortunately, so that was healing quickly thanks to altered biology and implants. The speed was such that I almost regretted killing my haemonculus; cretin that he was, I could not deny his skill.
The damage to my kneecap was frustratingly slower, however, and it was taking a great deal of effort to walk without a limp. Doing so in the presence of Alessa and her Canoness was not a humiliation I was willing to endure, though.
Pain was much preferable.
“Canoness, may I ask something?” Alessa broke the silence, which had until then been punctuated only by the clang of power-armoured bootsoles from Utena and her squad, along with Alessa herself.
“Ask,” Utena replied curtly.
“The Priory… how many are we?”
There was a tremor of barely perceptible tension that fluttered through Utena’s guards, although the Canoness herself remained remarkably stoic.
“Including the reinforcements from the Convent Arboria, we number just over six hundred sisters, not including ancillary support,” Utena said after a moment.
I wasn’t familiar with the organisation or disposition of Alessa’s orders, but to my ears that did not sound like many, and it certainly didn’t sound like enough. The expression of horror that crossed Alessa’s face at the Canoness’s words confirmed my suspicions as she worked her jaw for a moment before finally responding.
“How many of Canoness Priscilla’s commandery survived the drop?” Alessa’s tone was hoarse, and suggested that while she had to ask, she would rather not know.
I closed a little distance between us, enough to take her hand and slip my fingers between hers. Her armoured grip tightened gently around mine, and she shot me a quick and grateful look.
Canoness Utena paused, and her guard ceased their lockstep march at the same moment. Alessa almost stumbled at the sudden cessation, and I had to grip her hand to keep her from plowing directly into the Canoness’s back. After a moment, Utena gave a curt order for her guards to remain in place before gesturing to the door we’d stopped next to.
“Let us not speak of this in the hall, please,” Utena said quietly, passing her gauntlet over a reader by the door which opened with a soft hiss.
The interior was as much a chapel as it was a stateroom. A large shrine dominated the far end of the room depicting the Emperor in Glory, His arms wide and hands spread to accept the souls of the faithful into His eternal embrace. I paused at the sight of it as I followed Alessa inside, my heart struck still by the sight, and after a moment I raised my hands into the sign of the Aquila.
Alessa was doing the same thing, I noticed, and Utena watched the both of us with frank curiosity before turning to the shrine and making the same motion with a muttered prayer.
“Do not stand on propriety on my account,” Utena said as she stepped away from us, turning to the large desk at the other side of the room that was flanked by a pair of shelves packed to bursting with what looked like holy texts and treatises.
I made a mental note to ask to borrow a few of them.
“Canoness…” Alessa started quietly as she followed until she stood on the other side of Utena’s desk while the Canoness seated herself.
“Sit, Sister Alessandra,” Utena repeated, and this time it was less a request than an order as she gestured at one of the uncomfortable-looking chairs.
Alessa looked between the chair and the Canoness, then nodded, dragged the chair forward with a cacophonous shriek, and settled into it. I took my place just behind her, a hand settled evenly on her shoulder for comfort.
“Of the two-hundred strong commandery under the late Canoness Priscilla, Emperor rest her soul, only nine squads remain,” Utena said simply.
For a brief moment, the air was utterly still.
Alessa’s expression was one of rank disbelief which morphed quickly into despair as she sagged in her seat. From our conversations, I’d gathered that a squad rarely consisted of more than five to seven sisters at any given time. That would suggest no more than sixty or so at the outside had survived the descent into Amphitria, and that was being extremely generous.
“Nine squads…” Alessa breathed, her voice hitching. “Nine… only nine remain?”
I closed my eyes, weathering the waves of grief that flowed from Alessa. That reason then, all of the losses they must have taken, was why the Priory seemed so quiet.
Utena nodded, then reached beneath her desk, and there was a sound of something shuffling, then the clinking of glass, then a trio of thick crystal tumblers were set down between us, followed by a heavy, dark decanter. Silently, Utena removed the cap from it and poured a generous measure of the contents into each glass before replacing the cap, setting the decanter aside, and taking up her glass.
“I assure you the news does not improve from here,” Utena stated blandly, gesturing with her glass as she did. “I advise you both to take up a glass, as we are all going to need it.”
With that, Utena takes a long pull from her glass, draining the entirety of it in a single swig before setting it down. I pick up a glass of my own and sniff at the contents before nodding at the delightfully smoky scent and taking a tentative sip.
Alessa picked up her own glass and knocked the entire thing back even faster than Utena had. When she lowers the glass, the expression on her face is both hard and miserable, and I can’t help but raise a hand to brush my knuckles along Alessa’s cheek and she leans into my touch with visible gratitude.
That analytical expression crossed Utena’s face again, and she turned to me this time.
“You are Druchi,” she stated, rather than asked. “One whom your kind call a ‘Wych’ if I am not mistaken.”
“I was, honored Canoness,” I replied with a small bow.
She rested her chin on steepled fingers as she regarded me with a piercing blue gaze. Unsure as to what to say, I said nothing. It was clear Utena was undecided on how to regard me, which was understandable. Even with Alessa vouching for me, and the apparent support from the divining talents of the Imperium’s crude psykers, I was still xenos.
I was still Aeldari.
Instead, I met her regard with my own, and found myself surprised by how… ordinary she seemed. Canoness Utena was a lean, fair woman, even in her power armour, with features that might have been chiseled from smooth marble until they had a knife’s edge. Her hair, bone-white like most of the others of Alessa’s order, fell straight and neat to just past her shoulders, terminating to a perfectly even cut. Her skin was the pale tone of most Hiveborn that I had seen in my lifetime, their complexion stemming as it did from a combination of genetics and lack of natural light.
The eyes though.
I kept coming back to her eyes.
Canoness Utena’s eyes were the striking silver-blue of plasma fire. In fact, her eyes were so bright that they hardly seemed human at all.
“Interesting,” Utena said finally before leaning back in her chair and folding her hands in front of her. “I expected to see some hint of lie or guile in your eyes, but were I to ignore their inhuman shape and the face they belong to, I would swear I was looking into the eyes of one of my beloved sisters by zeal alone.”
“With respect, honored Canoness,” I said, crossing an arm over my chest and bowing low. “I confess I expected a much harsher welcome than I’ve received from Alessa’s blessed sisterhood.”
“Had this been any other time, that expectation would have been well founded, Druchi,” Utena said grimly. “However, as a loyal daughter of His Divine Majesty, I cannot deny that His will is clear in this instance. For whatever purpose and reasoning, such that is not mine to decide, He has willed that you are to be our ally against the green invader.”
“Isarae.”
Alessa’s voice was hard as she raised her head.
I felt as much as saw the surprise on Utena’s face at the steel fury etched across Alessa’s beautiful features. Blind eyes were effervescing with a faint glimmer of gold as she fixed Utena with her unseeing glare.
“Her name is Isarae, not Druchi,” Alessa hissed. On the heels of her words, Alessa visibly mastered herself before adding- “honored Canoness.”
“Interesting.” Utena met Alessa’s glare with an evaluating look, before turning back to me. “Isarae, then?”
“If it pleases you, honored Canoness,” I bow my head again. “I am well aware of my impurity.”
“That’s-!” Alessa turned to me, but I forestalled her outburst with a hand on her shoulder.
“I am as I am,” I replied quietly, turning to regard Alessa with a smile. “The God-Emperor, blessed be His name, granted me mercy despite my nature, not because of it. I am not ashamed of that.”
Alessa took my hand in both of hers, enclosing it in her armoured grip with more softness than I would have expected from the hard ceramite gauntlets. She took a slow, shuddering breath, let it out, and nodded before turning back to Utena.
“What of the Prioress?” Alessa continued. “Prioress Ventalia was supposed to be granted overall command once Canoness Priscilla made landfall.”
“Ventalia is dead,” Utena said bluntly, and Alessa’s jaw dropped. “The Prioress fell in battle with the Greenskin’s leader while securing reinforcements. It is by her blood that even nine squads of your commandery were saved. Since then the Priory of Gardens has been under the shared command of I and Canoness Anthia, and shall remain so until the Abbess Arborea anoints a new Prioress.”
“Prioress Ventalia fought the Warboss?” I asked quizzically. “Then you’ve seen the creature?”
“Unfortunately, yes,” Utena said with a grimace. “This Warboss is unlike any other we have faced. It is not a normal Ork, even by the standards of a Warboss. It’s clever and, even worse, capable of stealth.”
“I beg your pardon?” Alessa barked. “A stealthy Ork is like saying-”
“-an Imperial Eldar?” Utena’s reply was one that carried a quirk of a smile, and Alessa flushed and she clamped her mouth shut. “You may be strong of faith, but you are still a newblood, Sister Alessa… there are certain subbreeds of Ork that use stealth, called ‘Kommando’ in their heathen tongue, but for one to rise to the point of leading a Waaagh is all but unheard of.”
Utena’s face fell as she spoke, and her words faltered. Leaning back in her chair, I watched as a wave of conflict passed her sharp and graceful features.
“It is my great shame that Ventalia’s death was sealed while Anthia and I were less than a meter from her,” Utena said through a clenched jaw. “We had thought the fight to be going well despite the losses, but as we were passing the wreckage of a Killa Kan, Ventalia paused… I think it was this that preserved her life initially, and looking back I realise my mistake.”
“You could not recall that Kan being destroyed?” I ventured, and Utena gave a grim chuckle as she nodded.
“Indeed.” Utena nodded and sighed. “It occurred near the end of the battle…”
Mass bolter fire roared across the ruin of the Governance. The district containing the great, gleaming spires that once held the seven noble lines of Amphitria, including that of the Lord Governor herself, was a scorched husk, and the spires were burning from the inside out even as the Greenskins crawled through them like maggots.
“Ignore the looters!” Prioress Ventalia snapped across the com network as she overlooked the Plaza Imperialis. “Fourth, fifth, and eighth companies, focus suppressive fire on the Greenskin hordes! Bring our sisters of the Convent into the grace of our defensive line!”
A bellow of assent echoed across the tacnet as the frontage realigned and the thunder of bolters began again in concert.
“First company! Reform on me!” Ventalia marched forward, and I with her.
At my side my four Celestian guard, two with heavy bolters, and two with powered blades and heavy shields, marched. Opposite me and guarding Ventalia’s flank was Canoness Anthia, whose own Celestian’s were only three in number, the fourth having been cut down by an unfortunate bolter shot from afar that breached her visor at the beginning of the battle.
A one in a million shot.
Sour luck, that.
Perhaps it was a sign from the Emperor that our advance was ill-fated, but the Prioress refused to permit our sisters from the Convent Arborea to die behind enemy lines, cut off from support. She led the spear thrust that pierced through boulevards that the Orks had taken in their initial push using a combination of Hellhound AFV’s, elements of the 16th Amphitrian Fusiliers, and the four full commanderies of the Priory, leaving only one to guard the Priory itself.
Since that initial set of losses, though, our advance had been hard-fought, but successful. The Orks fought as their kind always do, with hooting, barbarous glee, hammering our lines heedless of their own losses. Every sister could count twenty or more Orks to her tally before falling, and yet there was no sign of abatement.
One thing I had learned fighting these beasts was that no matter how many you killed, there are always more Orks.
“Prioress! We are overextending!” Anthia said over our command channel. Her gentle voice was, as always, a balm to my soul in battle, but it belied a subtle strength and unyielding faith. “We should pull back what elements we can, or we risk being outflanked!”
As much as I hated the notion of retreat, I could not deny Anthia’s point. The Ork’s outnumbered us a thousand to one. No matter how skilled we were, or how graced our wargear, if we continued our push they would encircle us.
“There are three squads still isolated,” Ventalia replied curtly. “We shall not leave our sisters to the depredations of the green invader!” She paused, though, despite her words. “Yet, your discretion is wise. Sister Anthia, Sister Utena, give the orders to begin mop up and extraction, but bring us Mistress Juri and her Repentia, along with two squads of Seraphim. Together we will strike through the Greenskin line to link up with the last of the Convent, and pull out from there.”
“Yes, Prioress!” Anthia and I barked in unison, before giving the orders.
Our forces divided and gathered as we gave our commands, and within moments two Seraphim squads along with Juri and her forty Sisters Repentia had gathered before us.
“Juri,” Ventalia began stepping forward and holding out a hand to the Mistress of Repentance, and she took a knee, bowing her head. “Thy Repentia seek the absolution of death, and so thou shalt be the tip and edges of our blade thrust into the heart the Greenskins.”
“My Penitents will not falter,” Juri swore, her grip tightening around the haft of her neural whip. “We shall be the scourge of the Emperor’s wrath.”
She stood and turned to the massed Repentia, whose eyes burned bright with the fever of faith. I cannot deny that a part of me yearned to join them. To feel the cleansing scourge as I charged headlong into the enemy with only the song of death beating in my ears.
“Sisters! ABSOLUTION IS AT HAND!” Juri roared, and the Repentia howled back at her. “Go forth and know that the God-Emperor loves all martyrs! His arms await thee beyond the blades and bolters of the foe! Think not of life! For your life is His! Think not of mercy! For His mercy is death!”
Juri lashed the front lines of the Repentia with her neural whip and they bolted forward, the crimson penitent scriptures affixed to their bodies were flapping like pennants in the wind as their great chain eviscerators roared to life. Four waves in all, and Juri with her whip snapping like a furious serpent, crashed towards an isolated section of the plaza where a hivefall from a collapsing spire had created a makeshift barricade where the three squads had holed up to defend themselves.
Where the Repentia struck, the Orks hooted and snarled, rushing forward and thickening the line. As they did, Ventalia gave the order for the Seraphim to spread their fiery wings. They took to the skies on jets of flame, chainblades humming as they hammered into the rear of the line while mine and Anthia’s Celestians covered them with heavy bolter fire.
As expected, the Ork line shuddered, buckled, and then broke under the fury of the Repentia and the disciplined rear strikes of the Seraphim.
Ventalia bellowed a cry of ‘CHARGE!’ and advanced with her curved, single-edged power blade bare and gleaming as she led us into battle.
Anthia and I drew our blades and struck the line like the fury of the Emperor, cutting down the armoured ‘Ard Boys, who flocked around the large, brutish Nobs that were braying and brow-beating the local horde into something resembling coherence. We did our duty and, with our Celestians and aid from Juri and her Repentia, we peeled enough of the ‘Ard Boys away for Ventalia to strike through the breach and engage the two biggest Nobs. She struck down one within the space of the breath, bisecting it from the right clavicle to the groin and spilled it to the ground in a stinking wash of gore before turning to the other.
The fight was not long, but it was frantic. Many of the Repentia fell, blessed in death, and as we fought, the three squads of the Convent saw us and took up their own charge, striking out from their defensive post and joining the fray on the opposite end, shattering the cohesion of the Greenskin mass.
Or at least… so we thought.
Looking back now, I realise that was entirely the point. The squads were too well entrenched to be rooted out by anything but concentrated effort and terrible losses by the Greenskins. By allowing us close enough to give them hope of reprieve, the Warboss was able to strike us all down in a single, telling blow.
“Advance! Advance!” Crowed Ventalia as she cut through the last of the Nobs. “Canonesses to me!”
Our squad formed up around Ventalia, Anthia and I both on the lookout for more Greenskins as we made our way closer to the three squads who were fighting their way through the splintering Greenskins.
“Anthia, tap into their vox network and link their highest-ranking officer into our command channel,” Ventalia ordered, and Anthia immediately began doing so. “Utena, move to defensive posture and keep our route clear.”
“Yes, Prioress.” I nodded and relayed the orders as we passed the burnt husk of one of the Ork walkers.
I grimaced in disgust at the crude thing. It was nothing like the noble machines of the Emperor in His aspect as the Omnissiah.
Even as I dismissed it from my thoughts, though, Ventalia paused before passing it. Her gaze falling over it for a moment, and I swear I heard a quiet intake of breath, as if she were about to shout an order.
The order never made it past her lips as the front panel formed into the snarling visage of one of the Greenskins’ heathen gods exploded outward. The detonations were, I think, shaped charges of some kind, from the volume and smoke, and out of the empty shell came one of the largest, most ferocious-looking Orks I’ve ever seen.
It was nearly black, with the top half of its skull little more than a mass of cybernetic coils linking into its head, and its eye was a single, unblinking red orb of terrible manufacture. Augmetic implants littered the creature’s body, but neither those, nor the eye, were what drew my gaze.
Its weapons did.
They were two, immense power blades, bigger than I had ever seen, and even one of the Emperor’s Angels would have required two hands to wield one effectively.
One sweep cut down three of my Celestians, who dropped screaming, bisected at the waist and torso as the thing bolted past. It’s second sweep took two more, and then it was past our line.
I could barely countenance it. Orks were burly, brutish, and plodding, but even those that were quick were only fast in the manner of an animal. This Ork moved with its churlish warcry on its tongue like a bolt of black lightning, such that neither I nor Anthia were able to react with anything but shock.
Even Ventalia wasn’t able to defend herself swiftly enough. Despite the creature tearing through our line, Ventalia had only just managed to raise her blade, parrying one mighty blow and sending hissing cracks of impossible pressure across her armour.
A scream and the sound of tortured ceramite followed the parry as the Greenskin severed Ventalia’s left arm with a spiraling strike. It laughed glutinously as it swung lazily at Anthia, who raised her blade, caught the strike and was lifted bodily from her feet and sent sailing better than four meters away. The other blade swept out and struck down the last Celestian as she tried to turn her cumbersome heavy bolter on the beast, but was foiled by its weight, poor angle, and the nearness of her foe.
Her head and most of her shoulders fell away from the rest of her.
“GO!” Ventalia roared through the vox as she lunged forward, and struck with her blade. “Fall back, Utena! We are undone!”
Rarely have I seen such courage and skill displayed in a single moment. Even near-blind with pain and missing an arm, Ventalia struck out like a woman possessed, her blade flashing as she attacked the titanic, laughing Ork. He lashed out at her with both blades, over and over, and she turned and spoiled every strike and slash.
I gave the order, but even as I did I was horrified to realise there were Orks erupting from every pile of rubble and blown out section of building, each of them daubed and painted to blend into the urban ruin. Sisters fell en masse to surprise attacks as our forces that had been gathering to fall back behind us were suddenly engaged and harried from all sides by an entirely new horde.
Bellowing Ventalia’s orders, I fell back to Anthia to guard her as she rose, stunned, from where she had fallen. Her blade was cracked neatly in two from the blow it had taken, and she cast out away as she staggered to my side. Her power armour was hissing and spitting, the noble machine spirit grievously injured but refusing to give in until its mistress was safe.
As I got an arm under my beloved Anthia, I heard the beast's voice for the first time.
“HA!” The Ork barked as a mighty blow sent Ventalia’s blade flying to skitter at my feet, and its second strike skewered her through the middle.
I screamed her name, howling my grief even as the Ork laughed.
“You wuz a good fight,” he rumbled, raising Ventalia’s spitted body like a piece of meat on its blade until the Ork was looking right at her visor. “Gotchu good, didn’t I? Warboss Kritrig’s da sneakiest Ork, ain’t’ee?”
With her remaining arm, Ventalia reached up to her helm seals and undid them, pulling them free and letting her pale hair flow free. Her grim, gray eyes met the Ork’s single, red orb.
And she spat in it.
“HA!” Kritrig belted again. “Shame you’z dead, I’da liked ta fight you again!”
“RUN!” Ventalia howled just as Kritrig wrapped his enormous paw around her head, and tore it from her shoulders.
“...it was only thanks to Juri’s Repentia staying behind to fend off the Orks that any of us got out,” Utena finished quietly.
The story had left both of us rattled, enough so that by the time Utena had finished the decanter was empty. I had fought Orks many times before and encountered Kommandos on occasion, but I’d never, even in all my centuries of warfare, fought a Kommando who had risen to the rank of Warboss.
It was a notion that unsettled even me.
“And worse, we failed to rescue the three squads,” Utena said, leaning back in her chair again. “They were a trap all along. Kritrig had left them there to draw us further in, to force us to strike forward for them knowing we wouldn’t just let them die. Then he nearly wiped us out.”
“And in doing so, crippled the Sisters of the Priory, slew our ranking commander, and dealt us a harsh blow to our morale,” Alessa finished.
“Aye,” Utena agreed. “Of the eight hundred sisters we left with, we returned with barely half that number, and that was including the squads we saved… and less our Prioress, which was the most grievous blow of all.”
“What of the Praelexian Dragoons?” Alessa asked. “They sent a full regiment.”
“They have held their ground faithfully,” Utena replied, but shook her head. “But they have suffered terrible losses as well. Their regimental headquarters was bombed twelve cycles ago, killing most of their command element, since then Anthia and I have taken overall command.”
“The Warboss,” I said grimly, and Utena nodded. “He’s a formidable foe… even my kind would be hard-pressed to predict his tactics.”
“He does not fight like an Ork,” Utena said. “He fights like nothing I’ve ever seen.”
Steepling her fingers once more, Utena regarded Alessa and I carefully before nodding to herself.
“Now that you know the situation you’ve stepped into…” Utena shifts her gaze to me for a moment, then back to Alessa. “Tell me how it is you came to convert an Eldar Wych to the worship of Him On Earth.”
