Order of the Ascendant Sword

The Order of the Ascendant Sword are a minor Order Militant of the Adepta Sororitas established on the hive-world of Sternberg. Drawn from a Precepatory of Battle-Sisters from the Order of the Argent Shroud, the new Order was formed in the wake of Sternberg's liberation in 899.M39. They are charged by the Imperium and Ecclesiarchy to maintain a vigil on Subsector Bachenwold and to quash any resurgence of rebellion or heresy.

Indomitus Crusade (999.M41 -)
With southern Imperial space all but cut off from most of Segmentums Obscurus and Ultima by the newly-created Cicatrix Maledictum. the Ascendant Sword have been forced to regroup back within Subsector Bachenwold. Though thus far spared from the wrath of the Ruinous Powers, the Order cannot move to assist the nascent Indomitus Crusade without either a stable Warp path to the Crusade's route, or before replenishing their numbers and arms. As a result, neither the Ascendant Sword or their Sternbergite allies will be able to assist the returned Roboute Guillimann's efforts to reunite the Imperium until local conditions and the status of their forces improve.

Doctrine
Upon their formation, the Ascendant Sword had inherited from their parent Order Militant a similar sense of altruism and predisposition for their actions over words. It was this example, after all, which had prompted the original Precipatory's Canoness to intervene in a conflict that few - if any - other outside Imperial forces had yet been able to respond to.

Similarly, the Order places a heavy emphasis on the employment of the elite airborne Seraphim Sisters, going so far as to replace the role of Celestians with the rank of Seraphim Exoucia. This predisposition towards the employment of such troops, however, has resulted in comparatively lesser infantry capability (compared to similar-sized Lesser Orders) outside of airborne assaults.

While the Order has proven to be capable of operating alongside other Imperial forces where they are deployed, there is a strong sense of fraternity between the Guard regiments of Sternberg and the Sisterhood of the Ascendant Sword. Aside from the proximity between the two forces, this sense of kinship is reinforced by a sense of gratitude and desire for atonement expressed by veteran Guardsmen involved with Sternberg's liberation.

As a result, it is not unheard of for Sternbergite Guardsmen to have fought with greater ferocity alongisde the Ascendant Sword, or for the latter to join Guard units in lieu of battlefield Ecclesiarchal priests. The practise has raised concerns within the Departo Munitorum and Sternberg's cardinal had been contacted more then once regarding allegations of the Order tacitly flouting the Decree Passive.

Quotes
Other users are free to add their own quotes regarding the Order by their own characters.

By Members of the Order
"Three millenia ago, Governor, a Daughter like me destroyed a tyrant like you."

- Canoness Preceptor Themis Varius to Governor Lucian Voss, 899.M39

About the Order
"The Departo Munitorum may scoff at how closely we work with the Ascendant Sword Sisterhood. But when the las-bolts fly, I'd rather request the aid of a squad of these Battle-Sisters over that of a hundred Commissars."

- Lt. General Eduard Juningan, 1st/85th Sternberg Mechanised Regiment