The landing plaza of Pedetia's main Hive City had been cleared out that day. The mountains of military supplies had been moved overnight, replaced by neatly ranked honor guards and high-powered speaker arrays already set up.
As the Thunderhawk Transporter bearing the insignia of the Order of Battle Sisters slowly broke through the clouds, the roar of its engines echoed across the sky. When its ramp slammed into the ground amid the hiss of hydraulic pistons, a musical composition of unprecedented grandeur instantly flooded the entire plaza through the speaker arrays.
It was the "BGM" Robert had carefully selected.
"Conquest of Paradise."
The women's chorus seemed to emerge from ages long past. Accompanied by an increasingly stirring orchestral score, it created an epic atmosphere, desolate and tragic yet profoundly sacred. This musical style was utterly unlike the sharp, even grating Gothic hymns favored by the Ecclesiarchy. It carried greater weight, striking straight into the depths of the soul.
Even the leading cleric, Grand Sister Cassandra of the Silver White Robes, who had seen much and heard hymns in countless cathedrals across other star sectors, could not help being moved.
She wore silver-white Power Armor beneath a black robe and carried a Bolter and a Chainsword. The moment she stepped through the hatch, she felt the solemnity within this unfamiliar music. It was as though an invisible army were charging to its call, hurling itself into a desperate assault against an invincible enemy, until it conquered death and conquered paradise.
"What a sacred melody..." Cassandra murmured in admiration. Behind her, the Battle Sisters' expressions grew solemn as well.
Just as the music reached its climax, a pure golden light suddenly shone in the sky.
There were none of the extravagant golden wings Herbert had suggested earlier, nor any Holographic Projections of