"Let's go help the Sisters too!" I urged the tired Princeps as soon as the last Greater Daemon fell and dissipated into purple gas.
A single sob of helplessness answered , just as I snapped my fingers to move us in front of the main cathedral of the 's orbit. From Mimas to Iapetus, the miracle had erased all trace of the Warp invaders.
I sighed inward and turned my tesseract's focus onto the Blackstone Fortress. The reception hall doors were now open, and the Emperor and Yvraine were discussing sothing over a paper-like map of the galaxy, swirls of energy painting new borders and tracing thin red lines of ellipses and tangents.
The Emperor glanced directly at , then returned to his negotiations.
Well then. Let's hope he was still sane, my new Emperor-to-be.
I stepped beside the miraculous Sister, and helped her to her feet just as the gigantic Psi-Titan took a single step and parked itself next to us. "Are you alright?" I asked still holding her hand.
"Never felt better, my lord." she whispered in an awed voice.
I raised her chin to make sure, and found her eyes glowing with an inner violet light, just like Janice had. "Things have changed, Sister. You are not who you were before, and the universe is also much different. The Emperor has returned."
The girl glanced in surprise at her hand, then towards the Emperor's Sword, weapon still radiating a warm golden light, if much more subdued now. "I didn't know...did I really?" she whispered in confusion.
I laughed out loud and snatched back the miracle sword. "No. It wasn't you." I explained with a snort, and moved the three of us back on Terra, right in front of the Nepal entrance of the Imperial Palace, where Sister Stern and my daughter Janice were locked in a stand-off, among the burned ruins of the defense bunkers.
"I'm stronger than you." the Demonifuge argued with a cold tone, and a crackling sphere of white lightning ford around her.
"A grox is stronger than a man too." Janice replied with a surprised glance at my companions. Especially the giant Titan at my back.
So I brought out the Solitaire Harlequin, then stabbed the glowing sword into the ash-filled ground. "Janice, your boss needs you on the Black Lant." I spoke calmly, while the new miracle girl took a step back and found the Psi-Titan's foot blocking her retreat.
"This isn't over." Janice muttered and vanished in a purple flash.
Well, technically my daughter was correct, any and all Sisters of Battle were hers to command as Adepta Tertia. But it was also true, Ephrael Stern wasn't a Sister of Battle anymore, despite her uniform. She just didn't know it yet.
"There only one psyker still alive, and just barely." the Princeps muttered from his Psi-Titan, probably not to certain about his chances against the Demonifuge, without fully charged batteries.
The Solitaire turned to observe the God-Machine for a second, then stepped beside his angry student.
"We're going to join Pef Lancefire, for a while. Perhaps visit the Eastern Fringe and work on your temper, again." the Harlequin commanded in a level tone, and stepped through the deadly ball of lightning to pat the woman's head, in a gentle move.
A second later, Miss Stern turned off the death spell, and focused her glowing eyes on my hands, still holding the poml of the holy artifact.
"So I didn't sense wrong. The Emperor is back." she asked in a curious voice, and ca closer.
All around us, auramite-clad Custodes and blackstone-plated Silent Sisters all raised their weapons and held the Demonifuge under threat, not that they had much chance of survival if it ca to blows.
Perhaps 10 Psi-Titans would be enough to hold her in check, but probably not. Maybe 20.
Or even better, . "You did good, Miss Stern. You earned a hug." I offered in a gentle tone, opening my arms for embrace.
Hesitantly, the woman leaned into my arms, muscles still tense and slightly trembling. So I patted her back for a minute, until she got used to my touch and presence. "It isn't so bad, is it?" I wondered wryly. My hugs were still the best, it seed.
"You said I'm pretty." Miss Stern answered in a softer voice.
I grabbed her ass in response, then slapped it gently. "You have a nice ass too."
A surprised growl erged from her throat, then a shy voice followed. "There's never been a man, I an..."
I ignored her naive claims and turned my eyes toward the snickering Harlequin. "You better behave, Eldar. Yvraine and the Emperor might be best friends right now, but I value my family above any alliance."
The Solitaire nodded cautiously and drew his hand away from the glowing sword in the stone. Probably reconsidering his next prank, now that the galaxy had changed.
Still holding Ephrael in my arms, I turned towards the other Sister of Battle. "What about you, glass Sister?"
"My na is Darcy!" the young girl declared in a high-pitch squeak.
It was a decent na for a side-kick, so she could keep it. "Great! But I was asking about your future. Wanna follow , explore the Eastern Fringe and banish demons or xenos together?" I proposed in a curious voice.
The young novice blushed slightly, then nodded.
"I fell ignored and forgotten up here. Is it because I'm not a pretty girl?" the Princeps muttered in a morose voice, and leaned its huge Titan's head above .
"You can join as well, big guy. Not sure about your walker. I'll have to ask the Emperor." I mused out loud. I could use a Psi-Titan. Maybe even two.
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