+++Recording: 258, 007, M42+++ +++Priority Tertius+++ +++Canoness Celeste Cori, Order of the White Rose+++ +++Weekly Report of Kaurava Convent+++
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I am pleased by the reports on the new recruit. A strange little girl, barely 17 based on her age. Not that you'd know it to look at her. *a pause in the recording* Pink hair and all, she's barely up to my chest. She was found wandering the local park, straying away from a massive crater in the ground, tearfully muttering about her mother and some 'Try-stain" place. Poor girl, going for a walk in the park with mother and then a shell hits, obviously she's a bit out of it. So we took her in. In other news, Tau advances into our territory...
(THE EMPEROR PROTECTS!)
Louise stared at the hymnal, wondering who had written it, having memorized the words quite quickly her mind wandered. Was she happy here? She felt as though she belonged and many of the women were nice, if a bit dedicated to this 'Emperor.' A couple of 'penances and she had started to stay quiet about where she had come from. A stray thought of her mother crossed her mindscape, bringing feelings of homesickness. She stopped that line of thought, the sister Superior was a quick one with a switch and a moments inattention... A girl to the right nodded slightly.
*Thwack*
Louise grinned, that wasn't her knuckles getting rapped. She thought about the days schedule, perhaps the 'combat training' would end less painfully today. He smaller frame wasn't conducive to common fisticuffs. She was getting rather good at the technique, remembering what the book had said wasn't too hard. It wasn't as though if you moved wrong, the fist wouldn't explode in your face. At least they hadn't dyed her hair like some of the girls. At least that was a bonus.
(A SUSPICIOUS MIND IS A HEALTHY MIND)
+++Recording: 265, 007 M42+++ +++Priority Tertius+++ +++Canoness Celeste Cori, Order of the White Rose+++ +++Weekly Report of Kaurava Convent+++
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Novitiate Valliere seems to have a remarkable mind for memorizing, being able to memorize psalms with only a couple of reads, but she's determined to think that she used to be some sort of wizard and mentions some Founder. Now, normally we'd simply turn her over for heresy, but I would hardly call us hasty. She's still shell-shocked, but a few rounds of penance had her story changing quite suitably. Though she seems to have issues with stress, and possibly some old psychological scars about her shape, she's also got a bit of a temper. She may also be somehow both cursed and blessed. She seems to attract shellfire, or at least explosives. They always go off when she starts to rave, fortunately not hurting anyone. It is reported that she has stabilized recently, which is making the other sisters much happier. In preparations for a possible battle, we are moving most of the junior sisters out of the fighting. They would only clog up the corridors. I am keeping Novitiate Valliere here. If she is blessed enough to draw shellfire to her, then the fighting will be much easier in the long run. I can only hope that her mother, rest her soul, would be proud of her daughter. Pink hair and all. The Emperor guides all...
_
Louise swore under her breath during dinner, the combat training had once again left her a mass of bruises and sore muscles. She had to muster up extra energy just to get through the rest of the day, each psalm sung and every duty completed sending new twinges of pain through her. Even her eyebrows hurt. But it was getting easier as her muscles got used to the punishment. The sister in charge hadn't managed to hit her the same way twice this time. The food on her plate seemed more appetizing than the food at home somehow.
She at least had learned to stop swearing by Founder Brimir. That was the wrong person to swear by, but in her head Louise kept the practice up. Somehow, things would change and she would get home. But that could be a long time away. But today she simply had to slog through.
+++Recording: 272, 007 M42+++ +++Priority Tertius+++ +++Canoness Celeste Cori, Order of the White Rose+++ +++Weekly Report of Kaurava Convent+++
Novitiate Valliere is still progressing admirably. Normally I wouldn't stay focused on one of the girls like this, but she is a rather strange case. After an unfortunate incident on the firing range, she has been barred from Bolter training and instead given Flamer training instead. Much less chance of an incident that way, poor Novitiate Dirus was lucky that the hit didn't take her shoulder off. Her close quarters combat skills have increased as Sister Faury has reported. The shelling seems to have stopped, something that has made it much easier for the poor girl to accustomed to Convent life. Soon we shall see what she is like when the chips fall... reports of Tau infiltrators in the area have reached me, filthy xenos... With that I turn to the strategic situation...
Louise trudged around the corner of the training building, knife in hand. She hadn't been hit today, okay she wasn't hit much, but it was a close one. She slumped back against the wall, glad for the rest. A clicking noise nearby roused her from a half-doze. Her new combat training took over, the hand with the knife made a vicious jab at the noise. The knife impacted on something, causing it to move backwards, the air around it rippling with distorted light. A rippling arm rose up in front of her, possibly a weapon. She ducked under it, ramming her shoulder into whatever it was. It wobbled, then moved back slightly. A second transparent arm smashed into her ribs, doubling Louise over. From her lower position, there was only one way out. She drove the knife forwards again, hoping to hit something sensitive. It grabbed her wrist and twisted, making the girl drop the combat knife. Despite her new training, one old instinct still held. she drove a knee into where she thought the warriors groin was. Her knee met armor plate and she screamed in pain and surprise, but it was matched by a groan of very male discomfort. A cup would help, but it couldn't stop Newton. Her other hand went down for the combat knife in that brief second. She had felt a soft spot of merely hardened cloth along that arm. The sound of a steel blade being drawn mingled with hers. Now both sides were armed for the fight... Louise scanned the area, trying to listen for the movement. She would only have one chance at this. A prickling along her spine caused her to dodge backwards, a blade slicing right by her cheek, leaving a shallow cut below her eye. The unseen assailant hissed in annoyance. Louise could hear the sound of someone approaching, whether friend or foe, she had to end this quickly. The next blade left a red ribbon across her stomach exposing muscle, but Louise could now tell what to look for. The third strike was intercepted by her combat knife, leaving a massive bleeding hole in the once invisible arm. Spatters of blue blood hit the ground and the enemy combatant. The sight of the blood stopped Louise... This was no training fight. She had actually spilled blood...she stopped that line of thought right there. She could be shocked later, adrenaline was in control now. The knife in her hand was stained and it wanted more... Her knife dove in again, finding another wedge in the armor. A blue spray covered her suddenly manic face. It was over by now, the serrated combat knife left ragged wounds, and the last strike had hit a major vein. A pair of Sisters rounded the corner, bolters at the ready. Louise grinned at them as she sank to her knees. "Combatant... dispatched..." She forced through pain gritted teeth, desperately forcing back tears.
Louise hit the ground like a sack of potatoes, adrenal rush over, pain coming back and hitting her like a truck. Not the pain of aching muscles, nor harmless cuts with a dinner knife, but actual blade wounds. she barely felt the medicae lifting her onto a stretcher.
+++Recording: 272, 007 M42+++ +++Priority Tertius+++ +++Canoness Celeste Cori, Order of the White Rose+++ +++Urgent Report from Kaurava Convent+++
Tau infiltrators have been detected inside the Convent proper. The first was discovered by none other than our own Novitiate Valliere. she's in the medibay for the moment. Perhaps she will be more coherent when she recovers.
Requesting more forces to cover the Convent and neutralize infiltrating units. If the Emperor wills it, we will have this infestation out soon...
_
Louise slammed bolt upright in the bed, then slammed back down to the bed, gasping and clutching at the pain in her stomach, like her stomach was going to just fall out. Then she remembered why she was in the bed and why her stomach hurt like hell. That strange invisible being... The one she had... Louise looked directly at her hands, almost expecting to see that blue blood again. She had killed another sentient being, taken her knife and ended the thing. Heard the crash as its armor hit the ground. She stared at her hands as the Sister in charge of the medical ward came around, drawn by the noise Louise had made.
"Calm down, you aren't that badly wounded..." She drew back the covers to take a look at the dressing. "See, it's not all that bad. You'll have a bit of a scar on your cheek there..." Louise brought her hand to her cheek, fingers tracing the line of raised tissue. She withdrew her fingers and looked up again.
"I- I- I killed it." Her hands unconsciously started to rub against the blankets. The medicae grinned.
"And a good job you did, once we got that armor off the Tau we saw how you did it, you had hit a major vein in its arm. Add that to the earlier wounds, and the xeno was dead on its feet. Sister Faury is simply glowing with pride. You remembered your training pretty well. Though," The medicae pointed to the stomach wound. "She'll give you merry hell for that one. But if you can't see it, you can't dodge as well. Now rest up, you don't have much time. Canoness Celeste wants to debrief you on this."
"Why would she want to see-" Louise started to protest, but the Sister just gave her a Look, and moved away to tend to someone else. Louise strained her neck to look at the girl, realizing that it was the girl that she had wounded in her brief lesson on those 'bolters.' The oversized muskets were painfully loud and horribly unwieldy, no wonder it had misfired. She looked away ashamed. The painkillers started to kick in again and she settled into the pillow.
Her dreams were full of home, nearly a month gone from home and she still couldn't stop thinking of her family. Sometimes they were happy memories, other times... This was not one of the good ones. She could see her mother mourning privately in the solar. Tears dripping down her face and a pair of shoes in her hand... Louise realized that they were her shoes. The ones she had worn back in Tristain, "Mother," Louise muttered. Louise could feel a deep sadness. The dream moved, in an upstairs room her sister Cattleya wept, looking at a worn piece of paper in her hands, reading it over and over again. It might have been one of her old letters. Even in the dream, Louise felt her own eyes tear up in response "No, Cattleya..." Suddenly the dream was filled with a golden light, Louise stumbled back, blindly pawing at her face, and woke up.
Louise woke up, rubbing tears and sleep from her eyes as the sun played across her face. Her hand scrabbled against the bedside table, looking for water. Her stomach still hurt, but it was healing nicely. Only occasionally sending little lances of pain through her spine. A few muscles needed to heal themselves together now. But that was not what had Louise's attention at the moment.
Someone was sitting at the foot of her bed, head hunched over in prayer. Louise was curious, but didn't want to interrupt, eventually curiosity won out over protocol. "Hello? May I help you..." Louise noticed the little markings and the different dress-style. "Canoness?" Louise finished weakly.
"Ah, Novitiate Valliere, you awaken at last, I am sorry to bother you during a recovery, but it is necessary." The Canoness pulled the chair forwards, the medicae oddly absent for this time of day. "I wish to speak to you about your 'experience' yesterday. What you fought, was only an advance scout of the Tau Empire. The xenos have been making moves into territory that belongs to us for quite some time now. Was there anything in particular about your opponent that you remember?" Louise shuddered, still somewhat insecure about what had happened, still wondering if it was right to kill another.
"I..." She steeled her nerve, "I could not tell Canoness. His invisibility made it impossible to identify anything."
"Both good and bad. Good in that obviously they were not planting bombs, but bad in that we have no idea of their plans." The woman stood up, brushing her short-cropped hair out of her face. "Recover quickly Novitiate, I shall require your... aid, get that pink head of yours some rest." Louise did not like the sound of that, not one bit.
- -
+++Recording: 273, 007 M42+++ +++Priority Tertius+++ +++Canoness Celeste Cori, Order of the White Rose+++ +++Report from Kaurava Convent+++
Advance Tau scouts have been intercepted, remaining forces unknown. Novitiate Valliere is to be tested as soon as possible. Her progress is far too fast to be a normal girl. Suspicion of being a psyker isn't rampant, but it's there. Reports of the 'shellfire' also doesn't check out with other shellings. Her 'talent' seems to be remarkably consistent, and far saf- I shall cease writing here. If it is confirmed... I feel sorry for the girl, she had quite a lot of promise.
- -
Colbert looked at the letter he had written, trying to avoid seeing it again. He had only made a copy to remind himself what he had to do. But that did not make it pleasant.
'Dear Karin de la Valliere,
I regret to inform you that, during the Springtime Familiar ritual, your daughter, Louise le blanc de la Valliere, was...' He stopped reading there, again. To lose a student in such a manner, no recovery, no nothing. Just the shoes. He had sent those with the copy of the letter. There was a knock at the door. He waved it open, using a little magic to expedite the process. The green-haired form of Miss Longueville came in, bearing a notebook and a stack of papers.
"I am sorry for the girl, she seemed promising." Miss Longueville said as she laid the papers down. "Was there anything to that canister that was left behind? Some clue as to her whereabouts?" Colbert glared at the routine papers.
"I wish I knew, but other than the eagle design on the side, it's blank." Colbert desperately wanted there to be something on the shell, but nothing was forthcoming. The former battlemage straightened his glasses, his eyes softening slightly before turning hard and cold. "Thank you miss Longueville. That will be all for today. I believe that the headmaster has work for you to do." The letter disappeared into a drawer as Colbert pulled out a pen and started to work. The strange canister was in his workshop now, ready for dis-assembly. Perhaps a secret lay inside of it.
- -
Louise staggered upright, supported on one side by a bedside table, and on the other side by the medicae. Her stomach hurt, and she wanted to curl up into a ball, but it was possible to stand. She flopped back onto the bed, carefully trying not to aggravate the damage.
"You're doing quite well, you should be out of here in a few days." The medicae made some checks on a dataslate. Louise couldn't see what, nor did she want to. The insane things these people had, little boxes that acted like paper, airships that didn't run on windstones... She was tired of faking it.
"Thank you, I'll do my best to heal quickly..." Louise said to the retreating white back.