Test of Faith

Virellia Secundus was burning.

Warp storms had torn open the sky, and legions of Chaos poured out of the bleeding rifts.
The invasion was led by a Daemon Prince of Khorne, a winged nightmare of brass and fury. Carnage was everywhere.

When all hope seemed lost, two armies of the Imperium arrived almost simultaneously.

Space Marines of the Grey Knights Order materialised out of nowhere. Silver giants, their armour covered in runes, their blades imbued with the cold light of the warp.

A few hours later, the forces of the Adepta Sororitas from the Order of the Sacred Rose landed.
White armour with red roses, flaming banners and unwavering faith in the Emperor promised hope.

The Sororitas held the cathedral cities, singing hymns amid the thunder of bolters and letting the holy flames of their flamethrowers purify the demons. The Grey Knights teleported directly into the heart of the warp spawn, shattering Bloodhounds and Fleshteachers with psi-enhanced blows.

Where the Sisters stood, faith burned.
Where the Grey Knights struck, the warp fell silent.

Together, they advanced to the main shrine of Virellia – a cathedral whose foundations were already half submerged in the Immaterium. There, the Daemon Prince manifested in full size.

The battle lasted three days. 

Finally, steel and faith united: while the Canoness of the Sacred Rose led the final assault, the Grand Master of the Grey Knights carved an ancient sigil into the stone altar. Amidst thunderous prayers and a psionic storm, the demon was banished – its scream tearing through the cloud cover.

The invasion was broken. But victory brought no sense of triumph.

The Grey Knights are more than just Space Marines. They are the last line of defence against the Warp – and their existence is a closely guarded secret. Anyone who knows too much about them is a risk.

The sisters had seen too much.

They had heard demon names.
They had observed rituals.
They had seen warp energy flowing through the veins of the silver warriors.

For the Grey Knights, knowledge meant contamination.

For the Sororitas, knowledge meant testing of faith. The Grand Master coolly announced what he believed was necessary: Virellia must be "cleansed." All Imperial forces on site were suspected of being warp-tainted.

The Canoness of the Order disagreed. Her sisters had fought with pure faith. No stain had touched their souls.

Teleportation flashes tore through the night. Psycannons crashed through white armour. The Sororitas fought back, not out of heresy, but out of conviction that their faith was stronger than any accusation. Flames met Nemesis blades. Prayers met banishing psalms.

The first decisive battle raged in the ruins of the Sanctum Helior macropolis region.
Three strategic positions determined control of the entire planet.

Every advance cost blood – on both sides – but the sisters did not retreat a single step.
When the dust storms of the sixth hour subsided, the Sororitas held two of the three key positions.
According to Imperial doctrine, this meant that the planet was effectively under their control.
The Grey Knights withdrew in an orderly fashion. The Sisters had achieved their first strategic victory.

In a ruined cathedral in Sanctum Helior, the heart reliquary of the martyr Arabella still lay – the relic that had stood at the epicentre of the warp rift during the demon invasion.

For the Grey Knights, it was a potential artefact of contamination.
For the Sacred Rose, it was proof that purity could exist even in the eye of the storm.

The Sororitas were the first on the scene. They occupied the elevated rubble lines of former Administratum buildings, set up heavy weapon emplacements in burned-out basilica niches, and secured wide fire corridors through collapsed street axes. Their numerical superiority was clear—any approach would be met with concentrated bolter and melter fire.

When the Grey Knights appeared, it was like a thunderclap. Teleportation flashes tore through the dust storm. Terminators materialised directly between the outer defence lines. Psionic energies caused the remains of the walls to implode. Strike squads advanced with precision and relentlessness, and the battle raged.

 

The Grand Master analysed the situation — tactically and spiritually. Several psionic tests had revealed no corruption whatsoever. Phenomena that did not correspond to the warp had occurred repeatedly. No chaotic resonance. No demonic signature. Only... purity.

He looked at the ranks of sisters who, despite their losses, stood their ground, singing hymns and not retreating a single step. And he realised. If the Emperor was at work here — openly, repeatedly, unmistakably — then further bloodshed was not purity, but arrogance.

The Adeptus Terra archives are contradictory. Officially, Virellia was a victim of Chaos.
Unofficially, however, it is known that on Virellia Secundus, the faith of the Sacred Rose did not defeat demons.

It defeated doubt.