[36]

229.738.M41

In the morning, Grendel was away. He had flown out in person to deal with one of the inevitable problems with trying to covertly surveil sixty-three different locations on four different continents. He contacted us by vox and asked us—the Sisters—to hand over our armor to Wessex for a project. He promised that it would not be desecrated or damaged, so we assented. I wondered whether he had a different plan if we refused, or if he knew we would accept. Wessex borrowed Mak'ti, also.

The rest of us spent the morning studying maps and picts that Grendel sent us. They showed a burned section of Karsmire, a river city about 600 kilometers from Velgrad and 500 from Ostport.

Karsmire is known for its great bridges. There are six of them, but they are known as Second through Seventh Bridge. The first bridge had been even greater—larger than anything we can build on Gaervalt now. It was destroyed nine hundred years ago during the Third Incursion, along with most of the old city. Defenders abandoned the city and blew up the bridge to stop the Ork advance. They were going to keep retreating, but a saint stopped them and caused them to fight. They fortified the southern bank, then held every crossing attempt for seven days and seven nights. That is how Karsmire came to span both sides of the Kars river—and how Vella of Karsmire, a servant who stood in the way of the retreating column and told them the God-Emperor had commanded her that they must stand and fight to the last shell, became the patron saint of Gaervalt artillerymen. She died serving the guns.

Our area of operations was near the Third Bridge, where the Arsenal had been before the Sanctifying Truth heretics had burned it. The mission was to outmaneuver and attempt to capture an enemy kill-team, after they took the Inquisitor's bait. The bait would be in the mostly-untouched small building near the landing pad at the edge of the fire-damaged area. Karsmire had recently re-established power and water service to it, but the Army had yet to reoccupy it, preferring to remain in the secure 33rd Division Fortress just south of the city.

Rapid reinforcements, if we needed them, would come first from the ruins nearest the bridge, where the rest of the Riven Veil would insert as air-mobile infantry, having staged covertly nearby. Additional reinforcements could come from the Fortress, either air-mobile or an armored spearhead depending on the severity of the threat, but they would not be held in readiness, and we were to expect significant delay.

We would attempt the ambush at night, which might give us a slight advantage in night-vision capability. The enemy force's number, capabilities, and position had not been predicted.

I wished we knew what the Inquisitor was planning, but I think that he himself had not settled the plan until that night. Our armor was restored to us in the afternoon. We returned to normal training, keeping the pace light because of the anticipated deployment to come. The armor had not been profaned or damaged, but the cloth retained a faint layer of plaster dust that had not been there before. Verity's gorget had specks of paint that only revealed themselves when she shifted the coloring from gray-black to brown-green. Mak'ti had a very suspicious-looking smile.

That night after training, Grendel ordered us in person to hand over our sweaty undergarments as soon as we had showered and dressed. When four perplexed and blushing Battle Sisters emerged from the locker-room, habited and holding our balled-up smallclothes, we met an uncharacteristically grinning Mak'ti; Castor and Adem holding back laughter; Grendel, as large and energetic as ever; and four Battle Sisters standing grim and silent in full combat kit. Hands resting on bolters, visors closed, moving fractionally to track our movement.

Grendel reached over to one whose armor looked like mine, nodded to me, and with a twist and tug, he casually pulled off her head.

"Marisa," he commanded. "Bring your garments."

I stepped forward in numb obedience. Verity started to laugh.

"They're fake," she said. "They're us, and they're fake!"

Inside, she—or I, or it—was a mess hollowed out of plaster and yellowish sealant. Fibers and bits of metal protruded from the inner surfaces, around a crude, cramped assembly of servo-actuators.

"Drop them inside," commanded Grendel. He had a smile, now. "Anywhere will suffice. I will task a woman to provide replacement garments by morning."

I jerked back when I sensed breath and life from the simulacrum—then I giggled, too. I felt myself grinning as the surreal became absurd and the absurd became logical. There was a little vox-grille inside, making a quiet steady thump-thump and the faint sound of a woman breathing. The air was warmed by a heater and stirred by a fan. I placed my sweaty garments inside and Grendel put the head back on my double.

"Wait, Sisters, stand back. Mak'ti, back."

The Inquisitor retrieved a bulky auspex-scanner and inspected the armor through it. Whatever he saw must have pleased him. He left us to proceed while he would run additional tests from outside. Somehow we managed to comply quickly and keep each other from falling down laughing at the same time.

Mak'ti boasted of them. They were paint and silicone and papier-mâché, scrap metal to mimic the signature of heavy steel plates, plaster for the resonance of ceramite. Everything was fake, cheap, nonfunctional. Instead of heavy armor-weave, the cloth was old tarpaulin canvas in the right shade of gray. From two meters, you could make out flaws, if you really looked. But even then the resemblance was almost perfect.

Inside, they were more truly her creations. They moved by the use of simple manufactory armatures controlled by semi-autonomous servo-drones. The other elements were there to fool more advanced scanners. Biochemical markers, thermal scans, mass and motion analysis spirits, micro-vibration sensoria. The fake Sisters couldn't run or fight or even walk across uneven terrain—but walking on tarmac or standing not-quite-still, they would look just like the real thing.

We were daughters of the Emperor, but these should be daughters of someone too, Tara said. They were the Daughters of Mak'ti. Tara named hers Tarak'ti, so the rest gained names too. Sisters Verityk'ti, Hanak'ti, and Marisak'ti were made for a quick inglorious martyrdom, but we adored them while they were ours.

There was a little string of Binaric scratched into the inside of my double's neck guard.

"A prayer?" I asked.

"Oh, it's a prayer alright," said Castor.

"It is not a prayer," the tech-adept insisted. "The prayers are deep within, wrapped around the sacred machines."

"What does it say, then?" I asked. Tara came up and looked over my shoulder, but of course she couldn't read it either.

"It does not translate well into the common tongue," said Mak'ti.

"Ahh! What does it say?!" Tara and I said together.

"It is a malediction against the assassins."

"It's Binaric for 'Surprise! Get screwed, heretics!'" said Castor.

"There is no such Binaric connotation—"

"Amen," said Tara and I both.

❖ ❖ ❖

​

We left for Karsmire at 04:00 of day 230, arrived at 04:40, and infiltrated the area of operations in a civilian dump truck on its way to continue clearing debris. We positioned the Daughters of Mak'ti as instructed and would spend the rest of the next day-and-a-half scouting and preparing our chosen ground. We would be both the immediate action unit and the scouts for the full Sisterhood, ensuring that they could get from staging positions to a hot zone without getting entangled in the chaos of a night attack through urban ruins. H-hour was tomorrow night, 20:30 of day 231.

Taken from NovelPhoenix, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Having a reinforcing force standing by was good. But response time and stealth work against each other. Two thirds of the fighting I had been in was over in five minutes or less. There was no place to hide a company of Battle Sisters and enough transports to let them maneuver that was closer than seven minutes away at real movement-to-contact speeds.

Palatine Elin compensated for this with extra emplaced support-by-fire. Four two-Sister teams drawn from Isela's unit moved into the ruins and hid themselves in positions that we picked for them, where they could engage less-likely avenues of approach. They would be on Wessex's operational group vox with us.

Grendel handled the counterintelligence side of the sting. He explained it in his joint briefing to us and to Elin.

"Marisa, Verity, and Tara appear to be high-value targets for the insurgency. Witness the hospital bombing after they fought the sect for the first time, and the ambush after their second encounter."

It was a vox briefing. My squad, the seven of us, were in a half-burnt hab with a map spread out on someone's kitchen table. Elin would be in the convent somewhere. The Inquisitor might have been in his command center in the Velgrad ruins at a table much like this one, surrounded by the mayhem of his overworked staff. Or in a lander, flying somewhere to give some soul the terror of his personal attention.

"Moreover," Grendel said, "the sect has a pattern of attacking enemies who damage them. The shooting of Nika is known to you. I know others and suspect more. My Sisters have recently damaged the sect again, escaping Manakal. We will therefore gamble on them being a target again."

This gamble was to be made on the basis of two orders. One was to be delivered correctly to the general staff of the 33rd Division, simply warning the commanders to disregard the next order. This would prevent catastrophe from obedience.

The other would be delivered to the entire division, apparently by a cataclysmic mistake. That would be the bait. Surely there was someone in the 33rd who reported to the sect. Some disaffected corporal, some lieutenant in charge of paint procurement. And if somehow there was not, they would gossip to someone who did.

The timing was chosen to give the sect sufficient time to execute an operation—but not enough to scout the area and covertly emplace supporting forces in advance.

❖ ❖ ❖

​

 GAERVALT PLANETARY ARMY

33RD LINE DIVISION — DIVISIONAL HEADQUARTERS KARSMIRE

230.738.M41

B-3031-1-C

AUTHORITY: HOLY ORDERS OF THE INQUISITION

TRANSMISSION METHOD: SCRY-CODED VOX

DISTRIBUTION: GENERAL OFFICERS AND DIVISIONAL COMMAND SERGEANTS MAJOR

FURTHER DISSEMINATION PROHIBITED

*************************

The recipients of this order are directed to disregard in full the immediately subsequent division-wide operational order labeled B-3031-1-D originating from this headquarters, except where compliance is necessary to preserve operational appearance.

1. The subsequent order is an Inquisitorial counterintelligence measure. Its apparent error in distribution is intentional and is not to be corrected, rescinded, or adjusted.
2. Recipients will:

   a. Take no action to limit dissemination.

   b. Make no effort to identify compromised personnel prior to further instruction.

   c. Maintain ordinary command demeanor and routine.

   d. Comply outwardly where observation by subordinate personnel is possible.

   e. Refrain from recording objections or annotations in divisional logs.

3. Only personnel listed in the distribution line are to be informed of this directive. No other person is to be briefed without explicit Inquisitorial authorization.
4. Any compromise of this operation may result in failure of active anti-insurrection actions presently underway under Inquisitorial authority.
5. Signal receipt and submission to this order upon reading.

BY MY HAND AND AUTHORITY,

Inquisitor Amon Grendel

Ordo Hereticus​

 

❖ ❖ ❖

​

GAERVALT PLANETARY ARMY

33RD LINE DIVISION — DIVISIONAL HEADQUARTERS KARSMIRE

230.738.M41

B-3031-1-D

AUTHORITY: HOLY ORDERS OF THE INQUISITION

TRANSMISSION METHOD: SCRY-CODED VOX

DISTRIBUTION: GENERAL OFFICERS AND DIVISIONAL COMMAND SERGEANTS MAJOR

FURTHER DISSEMINATION PROHIBITED

*************************

OPERATIONS ORDER B-3031-1-C

Reference Maps: Karsmire Urban Grid Series K-19 through K-24

1. Recent developments in joint anti-insurrection operations conducted under authority of the Holy Orders of the Emperor's Inquisition necessitate immediate revision of regional action plans for aggressive anti-insurgency operations.
2. Karsmire Divisional Headquarters will arrange low-profile transport for four Inquisitorial personnel to be ready not before 231.738.M41, 20:25 Local, and not later than 20:35 Local. The transport will arrive between the aforementioned times at the Forward Logistics Annex, Airstrip 4, Third Bridge District, Karsmire.
3. Commanding generals and brigade command staff will attend a mandatory operational briefing at 231.738.M41, 21:30 Local, inside Karsmire Divisional Headquarters. Sub-facility assignment will be arranged by Karsmire Divisional Headquarters.
4. Presenting personnel: Sister Marisa Ven, Sister Tara Mull, Sister Verity Cade, Order of the Riven Veil. Said personnel effected the destruction of the enemy psychosomatic projection unit in Velgrad in 198.738.M41.

BY MY HAND AND AUTHORITY,

Inquisitor Amon Grendel

Ordo Hereticus​

❖ ❖ ❖

​

We stopped exploring and preparing an hour before dawn on 231. We didn't want to be moving around if the enemy showed up earlier than we thought they could. We spent the day sleeping and keeping watch from a building that I favored. Before violence had changed it from a community into a collection of facts for killing and staying alive, I think it had been widows' quarters. There weren't labels on the maps, but it felt poor, and it had been inhabited by children, and I couldn't sense the absent presence of men.

There wasn't power, but the plumbing still worked.

To us, a different purpose defined it. It was tall enough for a good vantage over the squat airport building, commanded two streets from the upper floors, and still had its glass, which would block thermals and reflect light back out into the night. And it had a bomb-shelter tunnel that connected it to the building next door, making it less of a trap.

We put the assault team on the ground floor and the support team two floors up, set a watch rotation, and the ones not keeping guard took turns making themselves comfortable and going to sleep.