The underhive rankled at Adella claustrophobia almost as much as the ship had. There was no natural light to be found in this place and on all sides were only caves of steel. Hives in general were fairly cramped and cluttered the further down one got, however it was always underhives that were the absolute worst. To calm herself she mentally repeated the Litany of Saint Lucia, taking the edge off of her nerves as she walked these foul smelling passageways. Of course she couldn't speak the words given where they were going.
She, three sisters, and the Inquisitor were dressed in thick and dark cloaks and wore hoods over their heads. The bleached hair most sisters wore had been washed out from Adella's hair and revealed her golden crown of hair. It felt so very strange to wear her natural hair color and to use a scarf to conceal the fleur-de-lis under her eye. She was going to be walking into a place where such things were considered profane. A heretical and backwards world where up might as well have been down as far as she was concerned.
Her hand curled tightly around the token in her fingers, half expecting the profane symbol of the Chaos God Slaanesh to burn the flesh from her palm. It disgusted her just to be touching the profane symbol, enough so that she felt the need to purify herself at a temple to the God-Emperor once this was done. The amount of convincing it had taken for the inquisitor to get her, let alone her sisters to carry the items was staggering. They were needed to gain entry unfortunately so eventually Ayela had won out. Iria had muttered something about heresy under her breath afterwards, thankfully she was leading the team to bust open the front door when the time came.
The group turned into a particularly narrow corridor and then arrived at a warehouse, a slot upon the door itself. The inquisitor approached the slot and slipped her token inside, gesturing for the sisters to do the same. Each one look grateful to be rid of the symbols and Adella caught herself before she accidently made the sign of the Aquila to ward off evil. Ayela noted that and gave her a harsh glare as the door opened and allowed them entry. The five women filed into the warehouse, each opening the left side of their clothing to expose their chests and one naked breast.
By the time they reached the entry hall Adella felt sick to her stomach from the palpable evil of this place. A wrongness that just slithered into her gut and sat there, like the air itself was impure. The main hall was filled with figures, some hooded and cloaked like they were while others bore their faces openly and proudly. All exposed the left side of their chests, man or woman as was 'proper' Slaaneshi attire. The estimate of one hundred people seemed inaccurate; it seemed more like two hundred people were all gathered before a stage of sorts with tapestries of the signs of Chaos hung up all around the place.
She caught snippets of conversation around her that made her wish to vomit as the people spoke of the most depraved things. One woman in particular nearby spoke quite fondly to the woman next to her regarding taking her tongue to the other's anus. It took all of her willpower to keep a look of absolute and utter disgust from her face. She remembered hearing once that it was not her place to judge the soul of the heretic, only to cleanse it. It was rather hard for her not to judge such things harshly however.
An elbow to her side from Ayela snapped her from her disgust as the inquisitor directed her attention to the stage. The chattering crowd fell silent as the lights dimmed and flicked upon the stage itself. Ayela motioned for them to spread out among the crowd and move closer to the stage. Adella nodded and repeated the order to her sisters through non-verbal hand signs. The group dispersed and the Sister Superior moved through the sea of bodies slowly as her eyes peered towards the goings on with the stage.
She felt a flutter cross her heart as the figure that stepped forth upon the stage was quite possibly the most beautiful woman she had ever laid eyes upon. Her form was flawless and came as close to the ideal female form as she had ever seen. She possessed dusky skin nearly as dark as Ayela's and long gently curling dark hair. The pink robe she wore came dangerously close to revealing more than it concealed. Her nails were painted a bright pink hue and her green eyes peered out at the assembly like a queen looking upon her subjects.
Adella needed to force her eyes from the woman, however found they always strayed back to her no matter how hard she tried. Her hatred for the heretic burned through the deviant and false attraction she felt towards her. Know the heretic, kill the heretic. She would seek penance for her impure thoughts at a later date, for now she needed to get closer to the stage. All the while she repeated the words in her mind that kept her focus. The ones that were the only truth she needed in this heretical place.
Know the heretic, kill the heretic.
Know the heretic, kill the heretic.
Know the heretic, kill the heretic.
As she made her approach she was brought to a halt when the woman spoke, her voice like smooth velvet upon her ears. "Welcome, brothers and sisters. Welcome within the halls of this cleansed place, absent the decrepit trappings of the False Emperor and his slaves. Here we are all free children of She Who Thirsts, Slaanesh."
The crowd watched the woman with rapt attention and Adella caught herself doing the same. "Some of you know my name. Others are new and fresh to Slaanesh's warm embrace. I am Qora, a mere servant and disciple of our master. I have worked long and hard to spread the teachings of Chaos across the sector, now I bring the word before you. The true word, to lead you from the path of the pathetic Corpse Emperor."
Righteous fury and indignation burned through any other emotion Adella felt as the bitch piled on blasphemy upon blasphemy. She even went so far as to insult the divine Emperor Himself! Her fury nearly twisted her face into a snarl as her hatred for this deluded witch grew. These heathens that let murmurs of approval leave their lips would follow her soul into the flames as well! With new found zeal she continued her advance until she found herself near the front row of cultists. It was here that she noted a number of armed men and women standing around. Qora's protection no doubt.
The woman preached on. "Our Prince only makes one dictation of us, that we indulge in those pleasures the dogmatic decry as vices. To immerse ourselves in our greatest desires. In doing so we become closer to Him." She continued.
It was at that moment when an explosion sounded from the main entrance and alarm shot through the crowd. It was the signal Adella needed.
She reached beneath the folds of her cloak and produced her bolt pistol and a chainknife, the item roaring to life at the flick of a switch. She immediately took aim at the foul heathen witch upon the stage and noted the inquisitor and her sisters doing the same. As one they fired upon Qora, the roar of bolter fire and the whoosh of hand flamers echoing through the halls. Adella channeled all of her rage and hatred into the shot, intent of purging the witch from this world forever.
The flames halted before Qora with a gesture, and the bolter rounds pinged harmlessly off of an invisible barrier that surrounded her. She swept her arm out almost casually and the front most rows of people were tossed off their feet. Her green eyes fell upon those that had tried to kill her, Adella feeling a prickling at her mind. She silenced it by focusing upon her unending litany of hatred, the conditioning from Ayela serving her well in this situation. The woman's eyes zeroed in upon the inquisitor.
"Well, Inquisitor Ayela. Such a pleasure to see you again. I see you've brought friends this time. Such a pity they won't stop me from killing you this time." The woman purred.
The inquisitor's blade was out and swinging towards the witch, meeting a thin power blade that glowed with a profane pink energy. Adella wished to assist her but instead was forced to pull one of the cultists over her as the nearest guard opened fire upon her. The man she grabbed jerked violently as he was riddled with autogun rounds. Once she heard a click that signaled he was out of ammo she tossed the corpse of the cultist aside and leapt towards the armed man, her chainknife swinging as she shouted a litany of hatred and zeal to her enemies.
The blade roared into life as it cleaved into the man's neck, blood and giblets of flesh spraying as it tore away at him. She wished she could have brought her chainsword for its greater reach but this would have to do. The man, lacking half of his neck collapsed as he futilely tried to halt the flow of blood. Another man took aim at her and she responded by cracking off a round from her bolt pistol. The high explosive round opened his chest in a shower of gore, a most satisfying sight for any servant of the Emperor.
The crowd was mostly trying to flee from this assault but only found themselves running headlong into the waiting fire of Iria's kill team. Adella knew quite well that her 2nd in command would be utterly merciless in her attack, her hatred for the heretic very much outstripping her own. Her own squad had secured the area near the stage for now quite handily and that left only the heretic witch as the main target. Her blue eyes followed the destructive battle of the two psykers, the stage snapping violently in a screech of metal under the force of their duel.
Ayela's attacks were harsh and judicious, her telekinetic blasts rending the very ground as she tried to hit Qora. The witch herself deflected each and every psychic attack sent her way, blocking the inquisitor's blade easily. Adella actually felt like she had seen that kind of swordsmanship before but had trouble placing it for a moment. Then it struck her. It was the same style employed by the Sisters of Battle. Where could some Chaos worshipping heretic have learned the sacred combat rites of the Order Militant?
Qora noted one of her sisters leveling a boltgun at her and casually flung her aside with a wave of her hand. She manifested the powers of the Warp with frightening ease, as though it was a mere extension of her body. Ayela's own attacks were far slower by comparison and it was then that Adella grasped the disparity in their levels of power. Just in time to watch Qora cleave her blade through the flesh of Ayela's right hand, sending it and her sword skittering away. The inquisitor howled in pain, clutching at the stump and Adella and her remaining sisters fired away at the witch to at least get her to back off.
Her weapons were ripped from her fingers and Adella saw her bolt pistol fly into the hands of the witch. She leveled the pistol at Ayela's head and smirked down at her. "I have so enjoyed our little games, inquisitor. However I'm afraid its time they came to an end." She said, firing a round into the inquisitor's skull.
Ayela's corpse slumped over and Qora casually tossed aside the bolt pistol. Adella felt righteous fury rise in her as she picked up Ayela's fallen sword and charged the witch. She regarded her with a raised brown and suddenly Adella found herself lifted from the ground. The psyker incapacitated her remaining disguised sisters and approached the struggling Sister Superior with slight interest. Adella felt a probing at her mind which she shut down again with a loud mental recounting of the Rule of the Sororitas. The witched chuckled.
"Interesting. You have a strong mind... Sister Superior? Quite the catch if I do say so myself." The witch stated.
Adella responded by spitting upon Qora. The stunning woman wiped the gob of saliva away with the back of her hand with a roll of her eyes. With that she slammed Adella to the ground, knocking the wind from the Sister of Battle. She tried to get up but found the woman's foot connecting with the side of her head. After that she knew no more.