Sith gasped for breath, sheathing his power sword as the soldiers of the 101st Regiment and the gathered remnants surged in around him.
On the outer defense lines, with the Chaos Host in retreat, the defenders could now focus their full attention on this 'reinforcement' force Sith had brought in.
Yet, looking at the sparse survivors who had made it to the defensive line, the defenders opened their mouths several times but found themselves unable to utter any cheers.
Sith scanned the troops trickling in behind him. A quick survey revealed that the vast majority were the veteran soldiers of his own 101st Regiment; pitifully few were remnants from other units.
Even those conspicuous Kriegers were nowhere to be seen among the crowd.
Just as they had joined the ranks in silence, so too had they departed without a sound.
Finally, cheers erupted from the defenders on the more distant sections of the line, and the wave of Invigorating enthusiasm washed over them.
The surrounding defenders, who had been regarding them with respect and pity, managed to break the somber atmosphere, raising their voices in the loudest cheers they could muster.
"Long live the God-Emperor!"
"Long live the Imperium!!"
The crowd chanted incessantly. Sith looked at the few soldiers around him and then at the massive gates beginning to close behind them.
Beyond the gates, the Chaos Host, having been struck by his force of two hundred thousand remnants, had completely lost its organization and formation. Now, under the indiscriminate bombardment unleashed by Calgar who seized the opportunity, this assault had ended, and the enemy was retreating into the distance.
To the eyes of the defenders, this scene was none other than Sith, at the line's most critical hour, repelling the Chaos forces with a courageous charge.
Amidst the rising and falling cheers around him, Sith placed both hands on his helmet. With a soft 'hiss' as the seals disengaged, he finally exposed his face to the air once more.
No longer filtered oxygen, but the acrid scents of smoke and blood that stung as they filled his lungs.
Beneath the thunderous cheer, the ragged, wheezing breaths of the survivors beside him sounded all the clearer, like bellows.
Then, the already fervent cheer suddenly escalated to another level.
Beneath the Imperium and the God-Emperor, another name was added!
"Calgar!"
"Calgar!!"
The Mortals chanted a single name repeatedly. Not only the Ultramarines, but all the Astartes present silently lowered their weapons and respectfully thumped their chests in the direction behind Sith.
Even the Battle Sisters extended their hands in prayer, beseeching the God-Emperor to protect the figure before them.
And the Skitarii, upon receiving the command code, executed a perfectly uniform salute protocol.
Gazing at the cheer before him, Sith also turned to look behind.
All eyes were fixed upon Calgar, yet Calgar's gaze...
...was entirely fixed upon Sith.
Not waiting for a Mortal to approach for an audience, Calgar's towering form began to stride slowly towards Sith.
Following Calgar's movement, the surrounding thunderous cheers finally shifted their gaze along with his, landing on Sith.
Then, amidst the grand chanting of Calgar's name, two other words unexpectedly emerged.
'Sith!'
The master-crafted power armor, fit for an Astarte, stood before Sith like a colossal steel sculpture. Calgar raised a hand, bringing the surrounding cheer to a halt.
Then, under Calgar's gaze, almost all eyes fell upon the Planetary Defense Commander whose body was covered in slash marks, old dried blood, and fresh stains.
Countless Mortals strained to catch a glimpse, wanting to see the face of this Mortal legend constantly promoted by the Departmento Munitorum.
To see what kind of brilliant and valiant being could twice assault a Hive City, twice carve a path through the Sea of Sand, and before their very eyes, repel the surging Chaos Host.
Fortunately, the power armor gifted to Sith by the nobles bore their characteristic ostentation. Coupled with the perseverance etched onto his young face by a thousand battles, when the crowd caught sight of Sith's features from various angles, their eyes faintly brightened.
Even many Battle Sisters, while praying for Calgar, silently added Sith's name to their supplications.
The scene fell quiet. With the Chaos retreat, even their covering artillery fire had temporarily ceased.
A rare silence descended upon the battlefield. Looking at the real Calgar standing before him, Sith bowed his head slightly, offering his respect.
"Lord Calgar."
Though he had experienced being sold out repeatedly by Calgar, such was the Imperium!
For ultimate victory, no sacrifice was too great to be accepted, and no failure was too small to be forgiven.
For Calgar, Sith was like any other unit. As long as it could yield sufficient returns, even Calgar himself could be placed on the bargaining table at any moment, becoming a coin for the Imperium to purchase final victory.
Sith kept his head bowed, but his salute was only halfway complete when Calgar bent forward, reaching out a hand to steady him.
"A legend of Alert Star need not salute."
The voice was calm and dignified. Sith looked up at Calgar, whose face remained utterly solemn. As he helped Sith rise, Calgar continued:
"The Sector Departmento Munitorum has officially approved the process for Commander Sith's promotion to the Astra Militarum. Your new designation will be issued shortly."
"Furthermore, I have ordered the Departmento Munitorum to consolidate the remaining remnants as reinforcements for the 101st Regiment, to restore your unit to full strength as soon as possible."
"As for equipment, besides the supply depots The Senate has already opened, I have also requisitioned weapons from several active Cadia and Krieger regiments. These will be prioritized to fully arm Commander Sith's regiment."
Calgar listed the compensations for Sith. While Sith's face initially showed acceptance, as the rewards Calgar offered grew increasingly lavish, his expression froze for a moment before gradually turning grim.
The earlier points were understandable, but requisitioning from several powerful active regiments? That seemed excessive, even for Calgar.
For Calgar to invest such enormous resources could only mean one thing: he intended to extract even greater returns from Sith!
Sure enough, after finishing, facing Sith's gaze which now held extreme exasperation, Calgar paused slightly before calmly stating Sith's next mission:
"Commander Sith, I have a plan that can secure ultimate victory on Alert Star for the Imperium!"
Seeing Calgar's solemn expression, Sith lowered his head slightly, his face betraying speechlessness behind Calgar's back.
For Sith remembered that the final victory on Alert Star was not won by the Imperium on the open battlefield. Instead, Calgar, drawing from the experience of his gene-father Guilliman cooperating with xenos, had actually made contact with the hidden Craftworld Aeldari.
In the end, using Aeldari stealth ships, they launched a suicide attack against Abaddon's vengeful spirit.
The goal was to forcibly tear open a massive Warp rift, forcing Abaddon and his flagship to be swept into the turbulent Warp currents, along with nearly the entire Chaos Fleet, effectively erasing them from Alert Star's orbit.
And why was it a suicide mission? Because Calgar intended to seek a suicidal duel with Abaddon to lure him out of his flagship.
The Imperial Navy would launch a suicidal assault to cover the Aeldari ship, laden with massive exterminatus-grade weapons, as it approached the vengeful spirit.
Even well-equipped, highly capable Mortal forces like Sith's were to serve as boarding parties, sent directly onto the vengeful spirit teeming with Chaos Daemons and Chaos Astartes, to launch suicidal boarding attacks and sow confusion among the enemy.
Only elite troops would be sent, for only a sufficiently threatening assault could mask Calgar's true operational intent!
Indeed, after Sith had internally Make complaints Calgar countless times, Calgar unexpectedly raised a hand and placed his massive palm on Sith's shoulder.
"Commander Sith, you and your regiment are to serve as the boarding party, launching an assault on the enemy flagship!"
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