Decima (Sister of Battle)
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This article is about the Adepta Sororitas; for the Magos, see Calleb Decima. |
Decima was a Sister of the Order of Our Martyred Lady. She served in the convent of Sanctuary 101, when it came under attack by Necrons.[1a]
History
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The following paragraphs contain spoilers for: | Hammer and Anvil (Novel) |
As the Sisters were about to be overwhelmed by the Necrons of the Sautekh Dynasty[1b], Canoness Agnes gave her final order to Sister Decima; escape the attack[1a] and safeguard the Hammer and Anvil, the personal diary of Saint Katherine[1c], from the xenos. The Canoness and the other Sisters fought and died, to give Decima time to flee the massacre.[1a]
Decima fled deep into the desert, where she buried the capsule carrying the Hammer and Anvil. Just as she finished however, she was attacked by the Necrons[1a] who took her prisoner and claimed the Hammer and Anvil as well. The Necrons returned to their base with Decima and other Sisters, who survived the attack on Sanctuary 101; to the Obsidian Moon, a hallowed out moon orbiting the planet. There Decima and the Sisters were tortured and mutilated by the Cryptek Ossuar. Eventually, only Decima remained and she was only left alive to see the effects Ossuar's experiments had on her; he had inserted Necron metal into her body as well as a Mindshackle scarab connected to her spine[1e]. These modifications however, would give Decima knowledge of the Necron's society and equipment[1d], which she used to escape the Obsidian Moon and return to Sanctuary 101. There her mind shattered from her ordeals, she wondered and survived for years in the vast deserts.[1e]
Years later, another delegation of the Order of Our Martyred Lady arrived on Sanctuary 101, to begin reconsecration of the destroyed convent.[1f]. A group of these Sisters found a hidden Adeptus Mechanicus base studying Necron artefacts and were attacked to keep them silent.[1g]. Driven into a cavern both sides are soon attacked by the awakening Necron. The Mechanicus' forces are killed and the Sisters are only saved when Decima arrived and used the Necron metal within her to open a portal that lead to the Necron's base the Obsidian Moon.[1h]. Inside the moon the Sisters escaped the Necron in the base and returned to the convent, when Decima opend another portal[1d]. There Decima was questioned by Canoness Sepherina, who led the new convent. Though she questioned Decima's purity from the Necron's influence, Hospitaller Verity Catena managed to sway the Canoness preventing Decima's death.[1j].
Soon after the Necrons attack the convent in a probing attack, which the Sisters manage to fight off.[1b]. Realizing the Necron will attack again in greater numbers, a group of Battle Sisters, led by the Canoness' second in command Imogen Nal, would be sent through a Necron portal into their base in the Obsidian Moon and destroy it; if they were able, they would also reclaim the Hammer and Anvil left there. Meanwhile, the Canoness would ready the convent's defenses and prepare for the coming attack[1i]. As Imogen's group of Sisters entered the portal Decima opened, the Necrons attacked in greater numbers. Though Decima and the Sisters fought with everything they had, they were beaten back to the convent's chapel, their last stronghold. As the Necron attacked the doors of the chapel, Canoness Sepherina apologized to Decima for questioning her purity and devotion. She welcomed Decima back, into the Order of Our Martyred Lady as a true Battle Sister.[1c]
Just after this, the Necrons broke through the doors and attacked. Decima fought well killing many Necrons, when she saw a Lychguard over Verity about to deliver a killing blow. She attacked it and managed to behead it, though when she turned to talk to Verity, the beheaded Lychguard stabed her through the back; before it collapsed. Verity held Decima, as she finally found peace and died. Moments later, Imogen's group of Sisters managed to destroy the Obsidian Moon, returning to the convent with the Hammer and Anvil, as the Necron attacking the convent were recalled to the imploding moon and destroyed.[1c]
Weeks later the few survivors of the battle were reinforced when ships arrived, with more Battle Sisters and material; allowing the reconsecration of Sanctuary 101 to begin once more. All the Necron's major structures and relics on the planet were destroyed from orbit; and the few scraps of Necron metal remaining, were put into a capsule and shot into Sanctuary 101's sun. Included in the capsule, were Decima's remains. Though the Necrons had desecrated her body, the Sisters believed the sun would purify her and bring her to the Emperor's side.[1j].
