Sisters of Battle (Adeptus Sororitas)

Arco-flagellants lope alongside faithful armies in packs, their lash-like limbs whipping back and forth as they follow their priestly masters to battle. When the enemy is sighted, they are driven into a frenzied killing rage by a potent cocktail of adrenal stimulants and neural kill-signals, whereupon they hurl themselves into battle with no thought for self-preservation or restraint. Hacking and slashing with cyber-implanted flails, pneu-mattocks and cleavers, they fight on dementedly until there is nothing left of their foes but a pile of mutilated corpses.

The Exorcist is a weapon uniquely representative of the ways in which the Adepta Sororitas pair shows of devotion to the Emperor with the castigation of his heretical enemies. It is a rolling shrine to the magnificence of the Master of Mankind, a breathtakingly ornate piece of craftsmanship that grinds into battle projecting inspirational hymnals to the Emperor’s glory. These carry across the field of battle and swell all good Imperial hearts with faith and pride. When entire squadrons of these vehicles advance in armoured spearheads, their combined symphonic emanations transform even the most mud-and-blood-drenched field of war into a veritable cathedrum. Beaten-down warriors feel fresh fire in their hearts as they hear the battle-canticles soar. Those outnumbered or stricken with fear find fresh courage and the strength to hold their ground and keep fighting. And then the Exorcists’ first rocket salvoes scream down into the enemy’s midst, and the entire face of the battle changes.

Sisters of the Orders Hospitaller are the physical and spiritual healers of the Adepta Sororitas. As much as their medicinal expertise and surgical skill, they provide a font of faith to those in need. Intoning prayers to salve the fevered mind and reciting tenets of fortitude, they remind their temporary ward of those saints who bore tremendous sufferings with unflinching grace. They whisper mantras of vigour to dull the pain of injury and lift the veil of fatigue. Elbows-deep in viscera, Hospitallers spit denunciations of religious hatred as they dig through screaming warriors for burning rad slugs, shards of crystallised grief and spurs of polluted shrapnel.

Among the majority of the Orders Militant it takes long years to advance to the respected ranks of the Retributor Squads. The Sisters that comprise these warrior bands are amongst the most level-headed, imperturbable and bloodily determined of all their kind. They are also amongst each Order’s finest sharpshooters. It is well that all of this is so, for to the Retributors falls the weighty responsibility of providing targeted fire support for their advancing Sisters. In order to best fulfil this role, each squad of Retributors is armed with an array of heavy bolters, multi-meltas and heavy flamers that bring their firepower in line with that of a battle tank. Combined with the Sisters’ expert eye for target prioritisation, identifying enemy weak points and optimising firing solutions, these devastating armaments make each squad of Retributors a terrifyingly potent battlefield asset.

Where the Triumph of Saint Katherine marches, there shines the Emperor’s radiance. With every step, this funerary procession spreads the glory of the martyred Matriarch further across the galaxy, scattering before it the enemies of the faith and instilling in the Sisters of Battle the fiery conviction of Katherine herself. Yet it is not only the founder of the Order of Our Martyred Lady who is venerated by the Triumph, for through its presence are the spirits of all six Matriarchs carried to the front lines.