They stand aside, allowing her entry. Yannika's men aren't exactly thrilled by the idea, but have little choice except to follow her orders.
She was unnerved by the emptiness of the cathedral, although with how many monks had been outside perhaps she shouldn't have been. She felt a cold chill run down her spine as she moved through it, and once again fear crept into her steps. But she forced herself onward. Yannika froze at the bottom of the stairs and debated with herself if she wanted to go forward or not, but she was committed, and pressed on up the stairs towards the screaming...
The screams end as quickly as they began, as Yannika reaches the top of the steps. Easing the door open, she sees a belltower, unexceptional and like most others she's seen in various places of worship.
Yannika stood in shock. "W-what have you done to her?" she asked incredulously.
Sadly, there's nothing specific she can find amongst the images, only the impressions of power. "It did." Varrick nods, helmet shimmering in the light of the wonders above him. "With no problems, with all our needs met, we turned to violence, perhaps secretly trying to exterminate ourselves, in constant war, a dark age that lasted centuries. It helped, for a time, but we were simply too advanced by that point. In a span of years, the dark age ended, and we went back to our golden age."
Rhaiya simply continues to wet Barra's eyes. "The priestess is here of her own volition. We're not doing anything she didn't consent to." She looks at Barra, smiling sadly. "She's a hero."
"I...I can't be sure." Varrick shakes his head. "I know they're not humans. They predate humanity, perhaps even the universe itself." He shakes his head. "They're creatures of unmatched psionic power, who exert some sort of influence on the fabric of the universe itself. How and why, I don't know. All I know is that humans grew to the point where we could conceivably have challenged them at some point, so they put us back in our place. Every man was a God, but they were still infinitely our greater."
The priestess doesn't move. Her eyes don't even follow Yannika, only contracting expanding slightly as she steps into the light. "She's cognizant of her surroundings," Rhaiya explains, "and can see and hear you." She puts away the dropper. "But, she needs to save her strength, focus all of herself on her work. If she even blinks, they could get through."
"Demons. One of the most powerful demons of the warp, and its entire retinue." Rhaiya sighs. "The bishop was given an artifact, a box, and opened it. It contained...hell. To stop the powers from the other side from invading, Barra absorbed the box into herself. In effect, she's the door between our reality and the warp, and her every effort is in trying to stay shut. She started to flag and fail after a few minutes, but something aided her. That's the power you're feeling right now."
"I didn't try to destroy it." He laughs. "My plan was to send it falling down, right on top of the palace. Your Empire would fall, the Northern Empire would be implicated, and all human space would be in chaos."
She had been so incredibly wrong. Sister Barra wasn't divine, but if this was true she was certainly a saint. Her mind raced, what could be done? She was so far out of her element she didn't know where do begin.
The young nun nods. "Yes, sister superior." She heads off.
"Trouble?" Thrax laughs. "That girl is an angel... She's Pardon me, I don't mean to blaspheme. Um, yes, we had a great time. She's very sweet, and her massage skills are top notch, she worked away knots and tenseness I've had for decades. I've had far, far worse company before a fight." He smiles.D100: View attachment 3618 (Crit...Again...ugh...)
His smile goes away as the fleet approaches the planet, however. "All hands, this is Admiral Thrax. Battle stations." The bridge crew hastily gets into position, and none too soon. Alarms begin to go off, as blips appear on sensors, before Elena sees them, a massive fleet of enemy ships coming out from behind the planet. Elena idly tries to count, but loses count at 60. Looking at the types of ships, they vary in size, designation and aesthetics, some being professional military ships, some repurposed civilian craft, and many being obvious pirate or mercenary ships. At the head of the fleet is a kilometer long dreadnought, a behemoth with a massive main gun.
There's no grace or intelligence in the enemy's plan. They have more than twice the numbers of Elena's fleet, and they intend to use them, drowning the thirty odd ships of Elena's group in a tide of oncoming fire. As Thrax outlines his strategy, what he calls a bull horn maneuver, a communications officer approaches Elena. "Ma'am, the admiral of the enemy fleet is asking to talk to you." Outside, the enemy fleet continues their approach.
Rhaiya says "The gag is because demons were beginning to speak through her. Sometimes they manage to take over parts of her body. To continue the door metaphor, they're managing to get a foot wedged in the doorway, at points. Some were casting incantations. It's why we tied her down as well. As for the eyes and the bell, it's to keep her awake. If she falls asleep, it's all over. She hasn't slept in months." Rhaiya shakes her head. "If it wasn't for the entity bolstering her strength, she'd have fallen apart already. Still, even with whatever's helping us... it's taking her so much will to keep this up. I have no idea how she can be so strong. I'd have cracked after days of this."