Skarbrand, a Greater Daemon of Khorne, wields world-shattering power. However, facing a hellish volley of light lances from the Imperial warships and the unified psychic might of the Eldar seers, defeat was a foregone conclusion.
The Daemon was shredded in a final, earth-shaking roar, its essence banished back to the hellish currents of the Warp.
Lucius was cut down, and Skarbrand was exiled—a decisive win for the Imperium.
The remaining daemons and Chaos Warriors saw the writing on the wall: the tide of battle had turned, and to stay would only mean certain death. They beat a hasty retreat, dissolving into the intricate, maze-like webway tunnels.
The surviving Imperial forces gave up the chase after a short distance and turned their attention to cleaning up the battlefield. They executed the wounded enemy combatants and tended to their own, sending the injured back for immediate treatment.
This battle had been a bloodbath. Among the loyalist forces evacuated from Cadia, very few survived. The survivors wore grim expressions, well aware that tougher battles lay just around the corner.
Daniel immediately consumed his hard-earned Experience Points, calling upon the Emperor's power to mend his wounds. A blinding golden light enveloped him. His broken wings snapped back to their pristine shape. The grievous wounds left by the Greater Daemon of Khorne vanished entirely, as if they had never been.
This stunning display galvanized the numb, exhausted soldiers. For them, it was nothing short of a miracle—the raw manifestation of the Emperor's divine power.
Fully recovered, Daniel next unleashed his abilities, Blessing and Emperor's Light, upon the wounded. He purged the malignant corruption of the Warp from their bodies, accelerating their healing and bringing solace to their battle-scarred souls.
The scene brought many to tears—not tears of self-pity for their dark fate, but tears of profound gratitude for the Lord of Humanity on the Golden Throne. He hadn't thrown in the towel; He still loved them. That was why He had sent His messenger.
"I am Celestine, the Emperor's Living Saint," the winged figure announced. She descended gracefully before Daniel, folding her fiery pinions.
The twin bearers, Eleanor and Genevieve, approached alongside the Battle-Sisters of the Order of Our Martyred Lady. They stood in reverent silence behind the Living Saint, their eyes fixed on Daniel with unshakeable piety, having genuinely felt the Emperor's power surging through him.
Grand Marshal Amalrich of the Black Templars, Inquisitor Greyfax, and Archmagos Dominus Cawl also converged on the spot. Their expressions ran the gamut: surprise, elation, and stark wariness.
"I am the Emperor's Saint, the very voice of His will, the guide and redeemer of civilization."
"I am here by the Emperor's own direction to assist you in your mission." Daniel recited his self-proclaimed titles without batting an eye. When you're out in the high heavens, your identity is often whatever you claim it to be.
"Praise Him," Celestine whispered, her face alight with joy. She and her Battle-Sisters were completely sold; they had no reservations whatsoever.
Heavy, clanking footsteps announced the arrival of Dreadnought Thaddeus, accompanied by several Astral Knights.
"Sir Guide," the massive veteran's vox-caster boomed, "the Chaos foe has been beaten back. Another hard-won victory."
Daniel nodded. "The God-Emperor is overjoyed by your dedication."
"Thaddeus, what gives?" Amalrich interjected. "The last I heard of the Astral Knights, your Chapter had already launched a long-range punitive expedition. What brings you back to this sector?"
The Dreadnought pivoted his massive chassis to face Amalrich. Thaddeus's vox-caster crackled.
"After Chapter Master Amrad spent the last man and bullet to destroy the World Engine," Thade explained, "Terra disestablished our Chapter. The Sable Swords took the keys to the castle, claiming our assets and our homeworld."
"We were given a choice: assimilate into their ranks or leave on a Battle Barge and never look back. We chose the latter. A Warp Storm threw us completely off track, leaving us lost in the High Heavens.
The Guide intervened, pulling us back from the brink of oblivion and bringing us safely to the Calixis Sector."
"We regrouped there, aiding the Guide in training new recruits, eliminating Chaos elements, and restoring the God-Emperor's glory, one planet at a time.
Later, the Guide announced he had received a direct vision from the God-Emperor—a marching order to assist Archmagos Belisarius Cawl. That's what set us on the road to Macragge."
Thaddeus laid it all out, straight shooter style.
Celestine and the Sisters of Battle behind her were ecstatic. They took it as gospel truth that Daniel was operating under the God-Emperor's direct guidance. Cawl's mechanical face showed no discernible change in expression—a blank slate. But he certainly wasn't going to look a gift horse in the mouth. As things stood, Daniel's presence was a clear asset to his overall mission.
Only Greyfax was left, her gaze flicking between Daniel and Celestine. Her eyes were sharp, laced with suspicion and vigilance. She was an Inquisitor of the Ordo Hereticus, a member of the Puritan Ascetic faction.
The Inquisition is broken up into three main Ordos.
The Ordo Malleus, commonly known as the Daemonhunters, is ostensibly responsible for supervising the others. Their actual job is the secret hunt for Daemons, with the Grey Knights serving as their direct military arm.
The Ordo Hereticus, or Witch Hunters, specializes in hunting and burning heretics and mutants. They have no direct military units, so for a big operation, they have to borrow forces from other departments.
The Ordo Xenos, or Alien Hunters, focuses its efforts on purging xenos threats and works hand-in-glove with the Deathwatch.
The Inquisition is a massive, decentralized, and complex bureaucracy. It was a hasty legacy left to the Imperium by Malcador the Sigillite just before he ascended the Golden Throne during the Siege of Terra.
Because of his rapid departure, Malcador couldn't iron out all the wrinkles, and over the course of ten millennia, the Inquisition has fractured into countless factions based on diverging philosophies and methodologies.
Asceticism is one such philosophy. Its proponents believe humanity should forgo all comfortable living, instead embracing hardship and extreme material scarcity. They see suffering as the crucible in which strength is forged.
Greyfax herself was once captured by the Necron Overlord Trazyn the Infinite and kept as a bizarre exhibit in a stasis-field maze. The irony: she was targeted because she had executed Inquisitor Valeria for making unauthorized contact with Trazyn.
When the Arch-Traitor Abaddon the Despoiler launched the Thirteenth Black Crusade, Trazyn tossed a wrench in the works by intervening in the Battle of Cadia. He released Greyfax and his other 'prisoners,' effectively loaning them out to bolster the Imperial defense.
Regaining her freedom, Greyfax was taken aback—and deeply displeased—by the state of the Imperium she found. Rogue Psykers were throwing around their powers without oversight, and Space Wolves were openly fighting like werewolves. Worst of all, Cadia's troops were fanatically worshiping a Living Saint who, to Greyfax, was clearly nothing more than a powerful mutant.
Given the immediate, dire circumstances, she swallowed her fury and threw herself wholeheartedly into the defense of Cadia. After the loss of the war, she grudgingly followed the evacuation route with Celestine and Cawl. But when it came to Celestine's status as a Living Saint, Greyfax wasn't buying it.
This wasn't because she was closed-minded. Quite the opposite: in her long tenure serving the Emperor, she had seen few true miracles. Most alleged salvations were, in her experience, nothing but foul temptations sprung by the Chaos Gods. In the end, almost every disaster in the Galaxy started with something beautiful and kind.
Greyfax was already on high alert concerning Celestine. Now, with Daniel's sudden arrival, she felt the hairs on the back of her neck stand up, certain this was some deep-seated Chaos conspiracy. But she played it close to the vest. Before she could nail down the concrete evidence, acting like a loose cannon would only backfire, creating more trouble than it solved.
While Daniel was shaking hands with the Imperium's heroes, the players were buzzing about the new NPCs.
"Okay, the one with the wings is Celestine. The two women next to her are the twin sisters. Black armor is Amalrich. The one with the implanted cybernetic eye is Inquisitor Greyfax.
And that huge iron-clad guy? That's a no-brainer—Archmagos Dominus Cawl, or as we call him, Guilliman's high-tech Doraemon." Yuji gave the other players the whole nine yards.
The bald guy next to him stroked his chin, sizing up Greyfax. "I've got a bad feeling about that Inquisitor's vibe. Does she wanna barbecue the Guide at the stake or what?"
Players like Sam chimed in. "By the Inquisition's playbook for mutant screening, Daniel is over three meters tall, absolutely dripping with Warp energy, and has a pair of wings. He's a mutant, full stop. Straight to the execution ground, no questions asked."
"Greyfax is Ordo Hereticus, the specialists in burning heretics and mutants. She's itching to toss both Celestine and the Guide onto the pyre. I'm telling you, this is a powder keg waiting to blow."
"Yeah, based on the Inquisition's stringent standards, I don't think a single Primarch would pass muster."
"Ha! Can you imagine these fanatics somehow time-traveling back to 30k Terra, making the Emperor and the Primarchs put their hands on the wall, and then lining them up for a bolter execution? That's a sight I'd pay good money to see."
"It's a nightmare just thinking about it."
The players were not holding anything back. Amalrich and the others, thanks to their Astartes augmentations and enhanced hearing, were catching snippets of the discussion.
But the dialogue was laced with strange hisses and whispers—the players' out-of-character comments—which made their words completely unintelligible to the Space Marines.
Daniel, who was already well-acquainted with this phenomenon, saw their puzzled looks and decided to smooth things over.
"They are the Emperor's chosen," he explained. "They were born in a realm governed entirely by His will. Sometimes they come off a little odd, but you'll get the hang of it."
When the Imperials realized that the "Saints" even had to use their own Contribution Points to buy gear, and take out loans if they ran dry, Amalrich and Greyfax were floored. Such dedication! It was above and beyond anything they could muster.
After Daniel wrapped up his explanation of the "Saints" concept, he had several data-slates delivered to Cawl, Amalrich, and Celestine.
"I have granted you secondary mission authority," Daniel stated. "All you need to do is post the assignment, and the Saints will take care of the rest."
Greyfax eyed the data-slate in her hand, utterly baffled. "Just posting a job description is all it takes?"
"That's the long and short of it."
Daniel nodded and provided a live demonstration for the group. He projected a new entry onto the data-slate:
MISSION: POST-BATTLE SWEEP
The battle is won, but minor Daemons still lurk in the ruins of the shattered city, acting as the Arch-Traitor Abaddon's eyes and ears. Locate and permanently eliminate these Chaos elements.
Mission Reward: 25,000 Contribution Points, 50 Honor Points.
Before long, several Saints showed up to claim the task and immediately headed into the ruins to hunt Daemons. Cawl and the others watched the swift, strange compliance with profound, thoughtful expressions.
Just then, Eldrad Ulthran approached with members of the Deathwatch. He addressed Daniel and the others with a grave expression:
"Friends, we need to make it to Macragge. I've got a terrible feeling that Chaos has already kicked off its assault."