Rosetta - A Warhammer 40,000 Story

Part XIX - Mirabel's Fall

Her victory complete, Rosetta sat there locked away in her private quarters. It had been two months since the fall of Wyvern's Citadel, yet the memory of the battle was still fresh and raw in her mind.

She reflected upon the madness that led to it. The injustices, the heresy, it all tore at her soul with grief. Most of all the image of Mirabel falling to her own insanity stung her heart. In her mind, Mirabel had always been the greatest of them all.

She meditated in her room for hours as the sun set in the east. Concentrating, digging through her own expansive mind. Soon visions came, of people, of places, events, both good and bad. Eventually, she strained as she discovered thousands of years worth of memories.

Focusing on the name Mirabel and what it meant to her she managed to direct the search. Hours passed and she witnessed entire years fly by in mere minutes. Her heart ached, Rosetta despaired as she saw the horrors Aura endured throughout her long life.

Then an opportunity came, her heart yelped, and she pounced upon it. Time froze and a moment in her memory shone through all others. In it was a face, Mirabel's face. Not that of a mad woman consumed by her follies and failures but one of pride, beauty and love.

Rosetta concentrated on this one memory. It was not long before it consumed her mind. The memories were not her's but Mirabel's. Carried by the fragment that once resided within her they became Rosetta's now.

-//-

"Push east, Sisters. I ran into our prize. By the Emperor! I face four of them alone!" Rosetta announced through the mic.

"Understood Sister. We're on our way." Came Lara's Voice.

Mirabel listened from where she sat. She looked to the east and found Lara's squad push ahead. Resistance from the Guardian Knights grew fierce and the Sister's advance ground to a crawl. Wary of being bogged down in the midst of the enemy's own stronghold.

"We must drive out the last of them! The Inquisitor needs this artefact! Press on Sisters! To the east!" Mirabel yelled as she pushed her Celestians onward.

They pushed on slowly; ammunition spent every inch of the way as desperate defenders hurled themselves at the Sororitas. Mirabel gazed downward as Praetor in all his blood-drenched glory tore apart an enemy beneath him.

The great white lion was her pride and joy. Nothing matched Praetor's might, beauty and pride, nothing. Sensing the enemy thinning, she petted him and tugged on reins attached a collar buried somewhere underneath his mane.

With the order given Praetor lept onto his hind legs and roared. Relishing his own fury, Mirabel screamed as she called the charge. Emboldened by the show of might the Sororitas surged ahead pushing the final advance east.

Praetor's mighty feet hammered against the stone as he charged down hallways. The great lion rammed into a formation of the golden armoured knights. Massive paws crushed bone, flesh and metal underneath his enormous weight.

Finding her way east Mirabel slaughtered her way to Rosetta's position. The battle was almost over, her victory so close to complete and yet her prize was so far gone. She came upon the eastern wing of the castle only to find a massacre.

Blood and gore coated the walls and floor. The body parts of so many enemies laid scattered about the hallway. The window had been blown away. To her dismay she found Lara there butchered into two with her arm lopped off.

Mirabel had to fight to control the rage and exploded within her heart at the sight of poor Lara. She dismounted immediately to search the area. Things did not add up at all. She wondered where was Rosetta and Lara's squad.