Adepta Sororitas - Notable Sisters of Battle: Saint Alicia Dominica - Patron Saint of the Sisterhood, Bearer of the Grail of Ages, Founder of the Order of the Ebon Chalice, Alicia Dominica is revered throughout the Imperium as both the founder and patron saint of all the Orders of the Adepta Sororitas. In the 36th Millennium, she ended High Lord Goge Vandire's Reign of Blood after condemning him for his crimes against the Emperor and beheading him. Shortly after, under the instruction of the newly appointed reformist Ecclesiarch Sebastian Thor, Dominica established the Sisterhood -- the Orders Militant of the Adepta Sororitas, with the Sisters divided between the Convents on Terra and Ophelia VII. She herself became the first Canoness of the Order of the Ebon Chalice. In 650.M36, Alicia Dominica fell at the Battle of Frideswide's World, surviving hundreds of blows but falling to a single Traitor's lasgun blast to her heart. She was declared a saint of the Imperial Creed soon after.Saint Arabella - Saint Arabella is the patron saint of the Order of the Sacred Rose. Although this long-dead martyr never led her Order in battle, it was founded in her name. She was one of five companions of Alicia Dominica, the patron saint and founder of the Adepta Sororitas. She was the last of the surviving six Sisters to enter the Emperor's Throne Room when they were brought before him for a personal audience during the Reign of Blood in the 36th Millennium by the Adeptus Custodes. Arabella disappeared in the late 36th Millennium shortly after the death of Saint Mina -- her ultimate fate remains unknownSaint Katherine - Saint Katherine is the patron saint of the Order of Our Martyred Lady. Originally, she was the founder of the Order of the Fiery Heart. She was one of five companions of Alicia Dominica, the patron saint and founder of the Adepta Sororitas. Known as the Shield Bearer, Katherine was regarded as Alicia Dominica's second-in-command and was the bearer of Dominica's Praesidium Protectiva -- a large shield said to contain a shard of the Emperor's own personal Power Armour, which is said to be impervious to physical attacks. Katherine was well-known for her fiery determination and vengeful spirit, ever leading her Sisters at the forefront of innumerable battles and pursuing the prosecution of numerous Wars of Faith against Heretics in the name of the Emperor of Mankind. She was the founder of the Order of the Fiery Heart. Her Sisters came to reflect her vengeful and fiery nature. Leading her Order for many decades, she was declared a Living Saint within her lifetime for performing legendary acts. Eventually, Katherine met her end at the hands of evil men, when she was murdered by the Witch-Cult of Mnestteus. So deeply did her Sisters mourn Katherine's loss that they renamed their Order the Order of Our Martyred Lady. Unknown to her Order, sometime before her untimely death, Saint Katherine visited the world of Sanctus Lys in the Palatine Sector. Beneath a shrine, in a hidden crypt, she interred her golden Power Armour and her legendary Power Sword, the Ardent Blade. These powerful artefacts were found centuries later and retrieved by the Living Saint, Saint Celestine.Saint Lucia - Lucia was the youngest of the five companions of Alicia Dominica, the founder and patron of the Adepta Sororitas. Lucia went on to become the founder of the Order of the Valorous Heart. In the late 36th Millennium, Saint Lucia was captured by recidivists, who gouged out her eyes and forced her to endure the death screams of a thousand innocents, and the murder of a number of her own Sisters, who remained resolutely silent. Mere days after word of her death reached the Holy Synod, Lucia was canonised as an Imperial Saint.Saint Mina - Saint Mina is the patron saint of the Order of the Bloody Rose. Although this long-dead martyr never led her Order in battle, it was founded in her name. She was one of the five companions of Alicia Dominica, the patron and founder of the Adepta Sororitas. In the late 36th Millennium, Saint Mina was martyred by a sanguinary Chaos Cult whilst at prayer in a shrine on Hydraphur. When her body was found along with the shrine, she was surrounded by the corpses of twenty of her attackers -- her body covered in their blood. Her personal symbol, the red rose, represents her strong character and her final death.Saint Silvana - Silvana is the patron saint and founder of the Order of the Argent Shroud. She was one of five companions of Alicia Dominica, the patron saint and founder of the Adepta Sororitas. She was one of the first Sisters to lead Holy Crusades in the name of the Emperor of Mankind. In the late 36th Millennium, Silvana met her fate at the hands of a Death Cult Assassin. Her remains disappeared whilst lying in state at the Convent Prioris. She was declared an Imperial Saint by the unanimous vote of the Holy Synod of the Ecclesiarchy.Saint Anais - Anais was a Living Saint that fought in the War of Faith in the Kaurava System. Saint Anais was placed by Confessor Turgenum March alongside the Order of the Sacred Rose in the defence of the Order's primary bastion in the Sama District, on the planet of Kaurava I. When in battle, Saint Anais was imbued with the "Inviolable Aura" -- a powerful psychic aura which rendered every Battle-Sister in her presence nigh invincible. However, this gift had one flaw, for if the holy shrines used in the blessing of this powerful aura were to be destroyed, the Inviolable Aura could be rendered impotent. This could make even the Living Saint subject to mortal wounds and allow her to be slain.Saint Celestine - Very little is known of the life of the Battle-Sister known as Celestine before she was declared a Living Saint, other than that she was once a Sister Repentia of the Order of Our Martyred Lady that fought alongside the multitudes of Imperial faithful during the protracted war against the Heretics of the Palatine Schism. Celestine was at the forefront of the first wave of the deadliest fighting and was thought to have been killed in battle before the capital city of the planet Eurytion. She fell that day, alongside every other Repentia, but despite her defeat, it was said that she accounted for the deaths of over one hundred schismatics during the assault. As Celestine's body was reclaimed by her Sisters and set amongst the honoured dead, her Sisters saw that life still lingered within her, and the light of one touched by the divine will of the Emperor glowed within her eyes. Cleansing her body of the blood and filth of battle, the Sisters were astonished to find that she stood flawless before them. The next day the assault resumed, with Celestine at the head of the Imperial forces. The Heretics fell within hours as Celestine wreaked her bloody vengeance. She was hailed as the Crusade's figurehead as the entire Sector was scoured of schismatics and those deemed unworthy of existing upon the worlds of humanity. The Crusade's leader, Lord Ansgar, believed the Crusade would reach its conclusion on the capital world of the Palatine Sector, but Celestine insisted upon first liberating the small backwater planet of Sanctus Lys. Unknown to all but her, the world was home to the Shrine of Saint Katherine of the Order of the Fiery Heart, a holy place visited by that Living Saint in secret just before her death. Celestine's followers found a broken altar amidst some ruins and were ordered by Celestine to remove it. Beneath the shattered remains, a hidden crypt was found. Barring any from following her, Celestine descended the dusty steps that none had trod in millennia. As the dawn of first light broke above the ruined shrine, Celestine rose from the tomb, borne aloft on a column of divine radiance and attended by cherubs and doves. She was now clad in a suit of shining golden Power Armour, and wielded a vibrant blade that none could look upon -- the Ardent Blade of Saint Katherine. Celestine was declared a Living Saint by Lord Ansgar and a conclave of Thorian compatriots shortly thereafter. Saint Celestine was hailed as the Hieromartyr of the Palatine Crusade, as she dispatched thousands of Heretics during the prosecution of multiple Wars of Faith. The veneration by the Sisters of Battle was miraculous; she was a Living Saint, whom the Sisters would follow even unto the very center of the Eye of Terror. Alas, Saint Celestine was lost to the Imperium whilst fighting the Renegade Warmaster of Forrax. Many believed she perished during her moment of triumph, yet none survived to give a true account of the battle's conclusion.Saint Praxedes - Saint Praxedes of Ophelia VII was the Canoness of the Order of Our Martyred Lady at the start of the Second Tyrannic War. With a force of Battle-Sisters she reinforced the Caladenian Imperial Guard on the Cardinal World of Okassis. As the Tyranids assaulted the Cardinal Palace, she led her Battle-Sisters and a company of Guardsmen in a gallant counter-attack. Leading from the front of the fighting, she bested a Hive Tyrant and broke the Tyranid attack, buying the thousands of refugees fleeing from the conflict the time needed to evacuate the planet. Not content with this success, the Canoness pressed deep into the heart of the Tyranid swarms, leading her small army in a guerrilla war against the armies of the Hive Mind. The disruption and havoc she wreaked seriously weakened the Tyranid attack on the spaceport, saving even more lives. As the last of the shuttles soared into orbit and safety, all contact was lost with her army. She was the first Martyr to the Kraken and her name is revered all across the Ultima Segmentum. Some claim that she yet lives, fighting on against the dreaded hordes of the Tyranids from within their swarms.Ephrael Stern - Known as the Thrice-Born and the Daemonifuge, Ephrael Stern had been promised by her parents before her birth to the Adepta Sororitas. She was raised on the planet Antigone's Harbour by the Saint Sabbat Schola Progenium. The Arch Drill-Abbot of the school submitted the young Ephrael for induction within the Sisterhood and was accepted by Sister Patricia from the Order of the Holy Seal. The Novice Stern excelled at her new monastic duties as a Battle-Sister-in-training. She eventually completed her training and along with 500 other Novices took her sacred Oaths of Adherence at the Ecclesiarchal Palace on Terra. Sister Stern was then chosen to become a member of the Order of Our Martyred Lady. Shortly after her induction into the Order, she was sent to the Ecclesiarchy Cardinal World of Ophelia VII. Whilst stationed there, her exemplary service record helped elevate her to the esteemed ranks of the Order Seraphim within record time. Only three years later she would be ordained as a Sister Superior. Sister Stern was eventually sent on a mission on behalf of the Order, to investigate a lost convent of Sisters of the Orders Pronatus on the world of Parnis. There, Stern and her Sisters discovered what had become of their fellow Sisters. A powerful Greater Daemon of Slaanesh, a Keeper of Secrets named Asteroth, had been freed from its bonds and destroyed the convent. He then took the ruined bodies of 700 Battle-Sisters and forged them, body and mind, into a terrifying construct of living flesh known as the Screaming Cage. Though the fallen Sisters were forced to share their torment and suffering, the daemon failed to take into account that they were also able to inadvertently share their faith as well. As the daemon sought to kill the remaining Sisters sent to investigate the convent, Ephrael Stern fell in battle. Seizing this one chance, the fallen Sisters within the Screaming Cage used their combined powers to bring her back to life -- filling her with the full might of their combined faith in the God-Emperor to combat the forces of Chaos. Once returned to life, the resurrected Stern was told to flee as the fallen Sisters hid her presence from the daemon and its Chaotic servants. Stern's memory of these events was erased. She was the only one who managed to return to her Order on Ophelia VII, being the sole survivor of the expedition to Parnis, her sanity stretched to the limit. Her seemingly unnatural power made her the object of suspicion amongst members of her Order, with many of her Sisters viewing her as having been corrupted by the Ruinous Powers. Stern was placed within a holding cell for four years until her exact nature could be determined. At this time she was attacked by a Sister who was being controlled by a daemon of Slaanesh intending to silence her. But the enraged Ephrael managed to defeat her attacker with her bare hands. This set new events into motion. An Inquisitorial investigation, under the command of Inquisitor Silas Hand, was sent to the Order on Ophelia VII to investigate the sole survivor of the Parnis Expedition. Whilst at the Sanctorum, Stern underwent numerous trials to test her purity and her soul for corruption. Not found wanting during these trials, Sister Stern was declared uncorrupted, was reinstated within the ranks of her fellow Battle-Sisters, and granted her former position of Seraphim and rank of Sister Superior. Inquisitor Hand, not fully trusting Sister Stern, nevertheless took her with him to investigate the former convent on Parnis. During the investigation the fallen Sisters of the Screaming Cage finished their holy work -- pouring all of their remaining knowledge and power into Sister Stern to fight the corruption of Chaos. Inquisitor Hand sacrificed himself to defeat Asteroth and banish the daemon back to the Warp. Sister Stern went missing after this second expedition, once again being the sole survivor. Hunted by both the Imperium as well as the forces of Chaos, Stern remains aloof from both. She even sacrificed herself, stabbing herself in the heart, to escape the foul machinations of the vile Chaos Sorcerer Ahriman of the Thousand Sons Traitor Legion. Resurrected once again by the power of the faith within her, Stern finally embraced her power and used it freely for the first time. She has even been able to use her newfound abilities to defeat a Culexus Assassin that had been sent to kill her by the Inquisition. Her current whereabouts remain unknownHelena the Virtuous - Raised from infancy in an Ophelian Schola Progenium, Helena proved to be remarkably gifted even during her earliest childhood. Exceptionally intelligent, eloquent and inquisitive, she was destined to become a high authority in whatever vocation she chose. After thirty years' service in the Order of the Key, Helena had risen to the position of Canoness and was responsible for a great increase in the power of the Ecclesiarchy. Her efforts did not go unnoticed and when the Prioress of the Convent Sanctorum died, Helena's was the first name on the Ecclesiarch's lips to serve as her replacement. Although Helena's duties are mainly of an organisational and spiritual nature, she has always possessed the gift of involving herself personally at the right moment. As a Prioress, Helena is a member of all the Orders of the Adepta Sororitas, including the Orders Militant. Although she lacks the lifelong training of one of the Sisters of Battle, it has been known for Helena to personally intervene in combat when necessary. With her own strict regime of training and exercise, she keeps her ageing body in the best condition possible and she is very skilled in the theories of battle. Helena's greatest asset is the holiness and serenity she radiates. Her presence has an underlying strength which reassures others and imbues her followers with an undying love and respect. Combined with her encyclopedic knowledge and shining charisma, these qualities make Helena a truly great battlefield commander, administrator and politician.