"The Sisters of Battle are a fire lit by the God-Emperor. They are the echo of His voice that travels through the dark expanses of the universe. We bring His wrath to heretics, mutants, and other enemies of Humanity. We protect the faithful from the unholy and unhallowed. Sometimes with words. More often than not, with a bolter."
- —Sister Argenta
Sister Argenta of the Orders Pronatus of the Adepta Sororitas
Argenta is a battle-sister currently of the Orders Pronatus and a former sister of the Order of Our Martyred Lady of the Adepta Sororitas currently serving in the retinue of the House von Valancius Rogue Trader dynasty in the Koronus Expanse of the Segmentum Obscurus.
The terrible tread of gigantic Titans, the scream of Drop Pods entering the atmosphere -- these are the sounds that make the hearts of Heretics tremble. So too does prayer -- the holy battle prayer of the Orders Militant of the Adepta Sororitas. Also known as the Sisters of Battle, these fierce and devoted women make up the militant arm of the Ecclesiarchy, the state church of the Imperium of Man.
The orphaned daughter of Astra Militarum officers, the child who would become Sister Argenta received harsh training in the Schola Progenium -- the crucible of the Imperial military elite. Only one memory survived from before the ordeal of training -- or was it merely a dream? In this vision, the girl saw grey ship hulls and dirty military camps, dank trenches, faceless people in Astra Militarum uniforms, the roar of a counterattack, the crescendo of her mother's heart-rending cry, broken by an ominous silence...and the golden Aquila lying among the ashes, so immaculate, so alien in this gloomy and bleak environment. The symbol of the God-Emperor of Mankind.
Somewhere in the malicious oceans of the Warp, the Emperor was fighting the Ruinous Powers of Chaos. For the young orphan, He became a semantic constant, an object of worship, an impeccable role model, the reason she had survived hell. Guided by this shining symbol, sure that she had been chosen for some great, as yet unknown, purpose, the girl proved herself time and time again in the Schola and ascended to the ranks of the Adepta Sororitas. Her birth name was forgotten, replaced by a new one -- Argenta, the name of a local saint worshipped in the Calixis Sector and the Koronus Expanse. A long and crooked path then led her to Footfall, where she was to join a small mission of her order to guard a holy reliquary.
It seems that Argenta lives and breathes for one purpose -- to achieve perfection worthy of the Emperor's most faithful warriors. She is unstoppable, audacious -- sometimes too audacious. The battlefield is her temple, and bolter rounds are the words of her fervent prayer. When she rushes into battle, the ship's bulkheads reverberate with the passion of her prayers, and her allies feel the surge of power.
But what led the young sister away from her duties as a guardian of the reliquary? Was it a holy epiphany or a fall from grace? This remains a tightly held secret...
History[]
Whether brought in through the Schola Progenium or direct recruitment, the life of a member of the Adepta Sororitas is one fraught with peril and pious service to the Master of Mankind. Each woman is expected to be a manifestation of the Emperor's will, a living embodiment of all He would have Humanity strive for while maintaining a constant vigil on those who might fall short of such lofty ideals. She shall be a beacon of faith amid the squalid, unwashed masses that bow their head in supplication to their lessers. Always to offer succor to the faithful and pious, always to chastise the faithless and wicked at the end of a bolter.
But some still heed an even higher calling, one the countless orders of the Sisterhood proffer only to their most abled sisters—Argenta was one such woman.
From the Order of Our Martyred Lady, she was reassigned to one of the many non-Militant Orders Pronatus that oversaw a sacred reliquary overseen by the Ecclesiarchy, a sect known as the Drusians dedicated to Saint Drusus of the Calixis Sector, on the void station of Footfall in the Koronus Expanse. She was to be another member of the small order tasked with this service. It was a task in which she took great pride, evident in her staunch refusal to bend to forces that would crush lesser men and women. And with the same reverence and eagerness that took her when she beheld an Aquila amid ash and trenches, she took to her task and made a pilgrimage to Footfall.
Despite her eagerness and capability, Argenta's vigil over the Drusian reliquary came to an end when something greater still called to her and bid her find a passage from Footfall to another planet. It was this need for passage that brought her aboard Lord Captain Theodora von Valancius' flagship, who had been brought there due to unrelated business the lord captain also had with the same planet due to its recently discovered and unexplored nature -- a world said to hold an incredible relic once employed by a saint who is Argenta's namesake.
But during her pilgrimage to this world, her search for this relic, Sister Argenta made a mistake.
Minions of the Archenemy ambushed her, wounded Argenta and left her in a critical state before Theodora returned with her coterie in tow. They brought blade and bullet to the Heretics long enough to secure the battle-sister before then absconding with her to the von Valancius flagship, after which they fled, treating Argenta's wounds and allowing her time to recover. This left a fire burning in her chest, one of anger and a desperation for retribution, and kept her aboard the flagship before pirates and dissidents launched a coup against the Rogue Trader. She never had a chance to aid the lord captain's defence, however, for the ship was in flight from the system before the battle-sister finally came back to consciousness.
Argenta met many individuals during her stay in the medbay, especially the von Valancius Seneschal Abelard Werserian who came to ask about her health several times. This was a kindness which fostered a budding camaraderie with the von Valancius command crew, one not shared however with Theodora's diviner, Idira Tlass, whom the sister bears a great disdain for since she is an Unsanctioned Psyker, a feeling that is mutual between both parties.
But whatever promises were made, whatever Argenta may have expected, was not to come to pass with Theodora von Valancius' unexpected murder during a Warp incursion upon her flagship.
However, the efforts of Theodora's heir apparent as the new Rogue Trader of the von Valancius dynasty and their growing retinue -- with Argenta now counted among their ranks -- pushed back against the tide of fate. And now only the future shall see what lies in store for the new Lord Captain and Argenta, their steadfast markswoman.
Personality[]
While no oath is sworn to forgo romantic relationships within their orders, many of the Adepta Sororitas prioritize the sanctity of their charge as the sword and shield of the God-Emperor over dalliances of the heart. Argenta is one such individual -- she will reciprocate no romantic advances from men or women.
With her mind, body and soul given over to the Emperor and His people, Argenta is counted as a member of one of the most devoted and zealous of Imperial organizations. She brooks faith in her fellow man, but her belief lies squarely in that of the God-Emperor and His holiest of laws, that which govern and define the Imperium in its day-to-day life.
Sister Argenta is considered a hardline Puritan as the Inquisition judges such things, a dedicated adherent to the Imperium and the sacred doctrines of the Master of Mankind above all else.
Abilities[]
Whether it is by bolter, flamer or melta, the Orders Militant of the Adepta Sororitas teaches its members how best to bring death to the Heretic, mutant and alien with a vast and blessed arsenal of weaponry. They are taught how best to punctuate their sermons toward the unclean and unfaithful with the staccato of bolt shells, delivered unto them from the barrel of their most iconic choice of weapon. And in this regard, Argenta is no different from the rest of her battle-sisters.