- "Sisters, we must go as Martyrs! We must go up in flames!"
- — Selena Agna, Canoness of the Order of the Sacred Rose during the Kaurava Conflict
Canoness Selena Agna during the Kaurava conflict
Selena Agna was the Canoness of the Order of the Sacred Rose. She personally led her Order in the purge of the Kaurava System during the large incursion of xenos and Heretic forces that assaulted that system's worlds in the late 41st Millennium.
History
The Kaurava Campaign began after the sudden appearance of a Warp Storm near the world of Kaurava IV. The nine factions were drawn to investigate the system from across the galaxy with their own fleets and conflicting intentions. However, the Warp Storm wreaked havoc on their navigation interfaces, stranding them on the four inhabited planets and three moons of the system. The nine factions were then forced to battle between planets to ultimately conquer the planetary system and discover the reason for the emergence of the Warp Storm. The reason for the Warp Storm, as explained after the conquest by the Forces of Chaos, began with an ignorant Imperial Guardsman with latent psyker genes who was whispered to by the Chaos Gods, who told him to prepare a sacrificial ritual and he complied. His actions unknowingly summoned a warband of the Alpha Legion Chaos Space Marines to the Kaurava System, thus initiating the conflict.
Three armies were already on the planet when the Warp Storm was unleashed, blocking all further transportation to or communications with the world: The 252nd Conservator Regiment of the Imperial Guard, the representatives of the star system's original ruler, the Imperium of Man, who had landed on Kaurava I under the newly appointed Imperial Governor-General Vance Stubbs; the Feral Ork tribes of Kaurava II who had been uplifted to become more technologically advanced by the arrival of their new Warlord Gorgutz 'Ead 'Unter and the Necrons, who had been slumbering under the sands of Kaurava III, a Necron Tomb World, for millions of years and were now led by the newly awakened Necron Lord of Kaurava.
A Blood Ravens Space Marine force comprised of five battle companies, led by Force Commander Captain Indrick Boreale, established a base on Kaurava II to end the danger posed to the Imperium by the xenos and heretics alike in the system. The Battle-Sisters of the Order of the Sacred Rose, a sect of the Adepta Sororitas' Orders Militant, arrived and established a base on Kaurava I under the command of Canoness Selena Agna. They had come to Kaurava to cleanse the star system of every last xenos and Heretic, even if such a task led to conflict with the other servants of the Emperor already within the system.
Unfortunately this came to pass, as Canoness Agna and her fellow Battle-Sisters came into conflict against various Imperial forces during that unfortunate conflict, including the Blood Ravens Chapter and the 252nd Conservator Regiment of the Imperial Guard. They had deemed the Imperial Guard Regiment as a threat for refusing to cede overall authority to the Canoness over all Imperial forces, and the Battle-Sisters had also deemed the Blood Ravens as corrupted -- somehow responsible for the massive Warp Storms that engulfed the entire system. Towards the beginning of the conflict the Alpha Legion Traitor Legion had arrived in the name of Chaos Undivided, commanded by the Chaos Champion of Khorne, Firaeveus Carron, who quickly established a base for his forces on Kaurava IV. It is a mystery as to how the forces of the Traitor Legion arrived in the system: the Warp Storm may have brought them through the Warp or perhaps it was their presence that summoned the Warp Storm. The truth of the matter remained elusive.
The Order attempted to purge the system of all xenos threats as well as those deemed as heretics. With the various threats neutralised, they began a massive purge of the system, ridding it of any suspected heretical taint. Each of the cleansed planets became Monastery Worlds, with one Ecclesiarchal citadel built upon them for each of the six Orders Majoris of the Adepta Sororitas, including the Order of the Sacred Rose's primary bastion in the Sama District on Kaurava I. Millions of Battle-Sisters would visit the Kaurava System during holy pilgrimages to remind themselves of the crusade carried out by their fellow Battle-Sisters and their sacrifice and to gather for prayer and preparation.
Game Outcomes
In the game Dawn of War - Soulstorm, there are three possible outcomes involving Selena Agna. The first scenario, is if the Battle-Sisters are defeated during the Kaurava conflict and Saint Anais is killed, Selena goes on to valiantly lead her battle-sisters against the forces of the Archenemy. Luring the enemy into close quarters, the Canoness activates a device that causes herself and the enemies near her to immolate, burning them to death. If the battle-sisters are defeated by the Blood Ravens all the survivors are treated with respect and are rendered medical assistance. The survivors are then granted safe passage back to the Convent Sanctorum on Ophelia VII where they are held at the mercy of the Inquisition. In the final scenario, if the battle-sisters are defeated by the forces of the Imperial Guard, General Vance Stubbs remarks that his victory over the battle-sisters is a sign of the Emperor's favour and the Imperium's right to control the system.
Trivia
The Canoness' first name Selena is a derivative of Selene (/sɨˈliːni/; Greek Σελήνη [selɛ̌ːnɛː] 'moon';) from Greek mythology, who was the goddess of the moon. Her last name Agna is a derivative from the Hindu deity Agni (Sanskrit: अग्नि Agni). He is the god of fire and the deity who accepts sacrifices that will then be conveyed to the other Hindu deities. This is a fitting appellation for one of the Sisters of Battle as they favour Flamer Weapons in battle.
