"It was back in training, our cadre was doing better than the others, so we went out on a routine training maneuver in some unexplored area. We were to be dropped in one of the more harsh parts of DeMoley and make it back to the monastery over the course of a month, stopping at checkpoints to re-supply.
We were split into three different sections, each consisting of about 200. The First Order had most of the body freaks - the guys that are pretty psycho about combat and work out all the time. They only had a few Theurgists among them, and even they weren't that powerful. Then there was the Second Order, which was the command section. They had a decent mix of Theurgists and body maniacs, but they concentrated more on tactics and leadership. Finally there was us - the Third Order, made up mostly of Theurgists and combat support personnel. We all had a large, red, military style number emblazoned on the breastplate - the number of our order. Each company was supposed to be made up of a mix of each of the three orders, but when the fighting broke out, things sorta degraded into chaos.
Ryshard was the head of the Third Order, he was a dashing young lad who had won Kantarra's heart just before he made Section Leader. That boy could have charmed the shell off a Ghiladency, and at least three other women were competing with Kantarra. But she was the same way - she was a lot different then, more....young.
Anyhow, we were dropped, started marching through this valley, after about 2 days we seemed to be making good progress - we would have reached the next checkpoint a day early. Then they hit us.
I don't really recall much of that fight. All I remember is the al-Malik surprised us and tore into the first ranks with lightning speed. There was a lot of confusion, as this was everyone's first combat, and the First Order charged at the sign of battle. Most of the company leaders were too stunned to react, but a few were screaming for retreat. Nobody listened - everyone was either too busy dying or too busy killing. Sure, there were those who were trying to retreat, but even they were among the ones fighting or trying to hold their insides together with their hands. We somehow repelled the first wave of infantry. That's all they were, simple infantry, two steps above peasant conscripts. We had almost regrouped when we saw the Mastiff and another wave of infantry.
Our lines didn't break, but there was a lot of running involved. Not your standard retreat-type running, but a chaotic run - the kind of run when you know a tank's on your tail and is probably crawling over your buddy's skull right about now, leveling its guns on your back. That's exactly what it did. I heard the tank's main gun fire and almost immediately saw bodies and body parts flying past me, some of them I recognized as my friends.
That run must have lasted a good ten minutes, and surprisingly, Ryshard had managed to herd almost everyone to the same location. We made it to a cave, well, it was more of a rocky overhang than a cave. We heard the grinding metal of the tank going by above us, and some men came dangerously close to our position, but I think they saw the strays that Ryshard didn't manage to pull-in and were chasing them down with the assumption that we were all headed that direction. I'm not sure how we outran the tank, but my guess is all our training and the rocky terrain helped.
After counting our losses, it looked like a handful of the First Order remained, there was about a quarter of the Second still able to fight, and the Third was largely untouched. We were about 240 strong, but only about 200 of us could fight. Supplies were the problem though - the big burly guys of the First were carrying most of our food and water, the rest of us had ammo to simulate the weight of carrying food because they wanted us to starve the last few days in. Our communications were cut-off too - all but one of the comm people were dead, and the guy we had dropped his gear on the retreat. We slept the night, well, some of us, and then decided we should send out scouts in the morning.
The scouts all made it back the next night with some very useful information. Apparently Brother Halayden had found a defensible ridge not far from our position, and Brother Sanvean found the al-Malik encampment complete with a reinforced bunker complex of some sort. That's when Kantarra concocted the plan.
It was nuts, but it was about our only way out - we were to use the blood of our fallen comrades to turn the giant "3's" on our armor into giant "8's" to make it look like we were reinforcements. The 3rd, now 8th order, was to wait in ambush on the ridge while a few of the remaining other orders were to be used as bait to lure the al-Malik into the crossfire we'd create from the ridge. This would hopefully enable a small team of blockade-runners to sneak past the al-Malik lines and make it to a checkpoint where we could procure real reinforcements. That Kantarra - she must have argued the point for a good three hours before Ryshard finally backed her on it. Besides, we could sit and die, or we could do something crazy and do some damage before we died.
The plan was put into motion at dawn the next day. We painted our armor and cleaned-up what we could to make ourselves look like fresh troops, took the Oath of the Shieldmates, and took up position on the ridge. Halayden led a handful of others to get the attention of the al-Malik, who then ran back to the ridge. Well, they brought a LOT more troops than we thought they would, but we somehow managed to wipe most of them out. We fought like Aylonian Vrukka-beasts that day - Kantarra burned through all her ammo and had to dip into mine. Our losses were minimal, and for a couple of minutes it had looked like the tides were turned. Then they drove the tank in.
They apparently planned to use the tank to shell us and the ridge into cinders while their remaining infantry kept us from charging the tank. Well, they got off one shot before we realized this and charged the tank. The infantry, thinking we were reinforcements, mostly broke and ran, leaving a few brave souls and that ceramsteel monstrosity. That's when it happened.
Being that he was closest to the tank, Halayden was in the front of the charge. The tank fired and sent most of him flying. We never found his right gauntlet. Kantarra, seeing this, was consumed by something. I briefly saw her slow her run and raise her visor as the tank lowered its main gun to her.
I was about to throw myself on her, but she was consumed in this weird halo of light. To boot, giant feathery wings seemed to protrude from her back, right out of her armor. I'm not sure exactly what happened next, but I think the tank fired and hit her, but nothing happened. Have you ever seen what a Mastiff's blaster cannon will do to a person? Most of the time there isn't even a carbon-trace left. Kantarra was still there, slowly raising her assault rifle to take aim, though she wasn't running anymore. I don't know how many others saw this, but I know Ryshard and some of the others missed it. The tank seemed to just stop, as if those inside knew who they were really fighting now.
I looked at the tank and saw Brother Chalan using his flux blade to carve the weapons off of it - most of the surrounding infantry had been dispatched or routed. When I looked back at Kantarra, she didn't have the light or the wings or anything, but she did have her rifle raised. She fired a single shot at the Mastiff, and when I looked back towards the tank, I saw she had killed one of the drivers as he attempted to escape, as if she knew he was going to try to run.
It appeared we had won the day - the al-Malik had burned the majority of their forces on us and what was left pretty much took to the hills at our advance. The complex they were guarding turned-out to be a lab researching proscribed tech. Psi-enhancers, Symbiot mind-controllers, and some stuff I did't even have a clue about. A couple of days later we got some real reinforcements and last I heard some Church Inquisitors were on their way there when we were on our way out.
After that incident, Brother Battle figured we didn't really need anymore training and immediately graduated what was left of us. I didn't confront Kantarra about the battle, but after she left to go on her solo mission, I found out that Nuren, Pyrrhus, Sanvean, Hiro, and Tybar had all seen the same thing. She left only two days after graduation, not telling anyone where she was going or why - one of those secret Brother Battle activities. It was her that convinced the monastery to name that ridge after Halayden, and the name still stands to this day.
That was almost two years ago. I didn't hear from Kantarra until Stigmata, though I heard that Ryshard died on Criticorum - I knew she wouldn't be happy about that. Then I found out who killed him.
When Sanvean, Hiro, Kantarra, Wally, and I all went to take on that Hive, we got another glimpse of Kantarra's true nature. We were going to try sneaking-in, but those damn Symbies found us somehow. We got pretty close to the Hive when a small horde of creatures resembling Aylonian Riogans came charging at us and firing spines from their frilled heads. Hiro and Kantarra dispatched them hand-to-hand while we moved back and provided cover fire. Next came a wave of those Reavers while we were reloading - that's where all Jehan broke loose. Kantarra and Hiro tried to buy us some time by firing into them, but they kept coming, straight at us - divide and conquer. Wally somehow managed to roll backwards and go for his autofeeds, I went for my knives, but I didn't see what happened to Sanvean. It was a furball - inhuman entrails flying all over the place, sounds of screaming and gunfire, and this nasty black blood spraying us all.
When I got a moment, I reloaded my rifle and was about to unload into a mass of Reavers when I saw it again. There was Kantarra, covered in black Symbiot blood, glowing white, with giant, feathery wings protruding from her back. She was unloading her rifle, as usual, into a group of Reavers who were retreating. The other Symbiots saw her and must have known they couldn't win against an Empyrean, because they started to retreat. No, it was more like a fleeing in terror than a retreat. At her feet lay Sanvean, his body ripped in two by Symbiot claws. This time I had the sense to activate my gun-camera and catch the tail-end of her "manifestation" on video.
Well, you know how the rest of the story ends, but after you guys left Stigmata, Hiro, Wally, and I got together and discussed some things. We decided that the Kantarra was a sort of message to us, to the Known Worlds, and that she would need followers and protectors to help deliver that message. We're not really sure what the message is, but we think that one day Kantarra will need our help to finish her mission, and that's why we formed the 8th Order. We're still looking for a name, but for now it's the 8th Order. Most of our ranks come from Brother Battle, but we do have members from other sects - we're only accepting Theurgists for now. Our symbol is the bleeding "8" from DeMoley, and the black armor from Stigmata.