Bernardo

Biodata

Feature	Value
Name	Bernardo (伯纳尔多)
Species/Race	Human 28 31
Gender	Male 28
Affiliation	Imperium of Man; Imperial Army; Jungle Hive City Defense Force 27 28
Occupation/Role	Major General; commander of the Jungle Hive City Defense Force; later oversees reconstruction 27 35
Base of Operations	Jungle Hive City, Dawn III 21 27 35
Status	Alive; overseeing reconstruction in his latest documented appearance 35
First Appearance	Chapter 27, “Support the Ground” 27

Background / History

Defense of Jungle Hive City

Bernardo commands Jungle Hive City’s defense forces during the Ork invasion of Dawn III. His troops include the 894th Infantry Regiment and other auxiliary units, which fight for more than ten days despite overwhelming enemy numbers, dwindling supplies, and severe casualties 27 28.

Summoned to the Upper Hive, he faces nobles who blame him for the retreat. Bernardo knows that corruption has left the frontline troops with less than a tenth of their allocated resources. Initially restrained by the nobles’ political connections, he loses his temper when they dismiss his soldiers’ sacrifices, describing shortages of ammunition, medical supplies, and heavy fire support, alongside training weapons and poorly built walls 28.

Confrontation with the Nobility

After Baron Horace proposes his dismissal and immediate execution, Bernardo publicly demands an accounting of the missing military resources 28 29.

Resource	Bernardo’s accusation
Heavy artillery shells	One million shells intended for the artillery regiment are missing 29.
Antiaircraft ammunition	Five hundred standard loads have disappeared 29.
Food and armor	Soldiers’ food is missing, while new Imperial Army armor equips Horace’s private guards 29.
Military funding	Tens of millions of Throne Gelt cannot be accounted for 29.

Some nobles begin questioning Horace, who responds by ordering his private guards to seize and execute Bernardo. Before they can act, Ork Stormboyz breach the council chamber’s stained-glass window. Bernardo pulls his adjutant behind a stone pillar, returns fire, and calls for the guards outside to be summoned 29.

Killing the Palace Warboss

As more Orks pour into the palace, Bernardo continues firing his Laspistol but cannot organize an effective defense amid the chaos. An Ork Warboss then crashes through the ceiling and devastates Horace’s private soldiers. Bernardo takes a fallen soldier’s Lasgun and fires at gaps in the Warboss’s armor, drawing its attention 30.

He shoots out its right eye and rallies the surviving nobles and private soldiers. Their gunfire offers little protection against its charge, but two Frag Grenades badly wound its unarmored legs and abdomen. Bernardo discards his depleted Lasgun, takes another fitted with a bayonet, and charges. Ducking the Warboss’s Power Klaw, he drives the bayonet through its remaining eye into its brain and twists the blade twice, killing it 31.

Word Bearers Intervention

Nearly exhausted, Bernardo orders his arriving adjutant and Imperial Army soldiers to clear the battlefield and count the survivors. When Captain Thomas Wilson reaches the palace, Bernardo exposes the nobles’ embezzlement, inferior equipment, and refusal to commit their well-equipped private troops to the perimeter defenses. He stakes his life on the truth of his testimony 32.

Wilson has Horace restrained and orders a citywide mobilization. Despite his injuries, Bernardo rallies everyone still capable of fighting and orders an inventory of ammunition and equipment so his troops can join the Word Bearers’ counterattack 33.

Reconstruction and Auxiliary Recruitment

After the Orks are expelled, Bernardo oversees reconstruction. House Horace confesses under interrogation and is sentenced to death; its private soldiers receive ten years in the Penal Legion instead of execution. Bernardo gratefully accepts Wilson’s proposal to make Dawn III a recruiting ground for Word Bearers auxiliary forces 35.

Recruitment term	Agreement
Start	One Terran year after the agreement 35.
Selection	One in ten stationed Imperialis Militia soldiers 35.
Minimum levy	At least one million suitable recruits, without padding the ranks with unsuitable candidates 35.
Imperial protection	Word Bearers protection and a Planetary Governor under their supervision 35.

Appearance

• Gray hair and a deeply lined face, with heavy bags beneath his eyes during the siege 28.
• Crisp Imperial Army officer’s uniform, marked by dust from his journey to the Upper Hive 28.
• Calloused hands; moves with surprising speed for his age during his charge against the Warboss 31.

Personality

Bernardo’s loyalty centers on the Emperor, humanity, and the soldiers under his command. He initially observes courtly restraint, but the nobles’ dismissal of frontline suffering pushes him into open defiance—even when Horace threatens him with execution 28 29.

Under attack, he remains deliberate and resourceful rather than panicking. After killing the Warboss, he attributes his success to luck and duty, then returns to organizing the defense instead of resting. Wilson briefly questions whether this humility is genuine, but accepts his commitment to prove his loyalty through action 30 31 33.

Abilities & Skills

Military Leadership

• Commands the Jungle Hive City Defense Force, including the 894th Infantry Regiment and auxiliary units 27 28.
• Organizes frightened survivors into a makeshift firing line, ordering alternating fire and cover for those reloading 31.
• Resumes troop mobilization and supply checks despite exhaustion and injury 33.
• Cannot initially impose order during the palace attack; many survivors remain an undisciplined rabble 30 31.

Precision Marksmanship

• Kills an airborne Ork assault trooper with a Laspistol shot through its eye socket 30.
• Targets exposed joints and sensitive areas rather than wasting shots against the Warboss’s heavy armor 30 31.
• Anticipates the Warboss’s head movement and shoots out its right eye 31.
• Ordinary Lasgun fire cannot stop the Warboss’s armored charge; Bernardo relies on grenades and close combat to finish it 31.

Close-Quarters Combat

• Exploits the opening created by grenade wounds to approach the kneeling Warboss 31.
• Evades its Power Klaw and delivers a fatal bayonet thrust through the eye into the brain 31.
• The effort leaves him almost spent, with blurred vision and trembling limbs 32.

Equipment / Weapons / Items

• Laspistol — Used against the Orks entering the palace; Bernardo replaces its depleted power cell during the fight 30.
• Recovered Lasgun — Taken from a dead private soldier and used to target the Warboss’s exposed flesh 30 31.
• Bayonet-fitted Lasgun — Recovered after his first rifle runs empty; its bayonet kills the Warboss and is bent when he wrenches it free 31 32.
• Metal cigar case — Found on a dead noble’s private soldier; Bernardo smokes one of its fine cigars after the battle 32.

Relationships

• Baron Horace — Political adversary who blames Bernardo for the defensive collapse and orders his execution. Bernardo’s later testimony prompts Wilson to have Horace restrained 28 29 32 33.
• Captain Thomas Wilson — Word Bearers commander who hears Bernardo’s accusations, directs the counterattack, and negotiates the auxiliary recruitment agreement with him 32 33 35.
• Unnamed adjutant — Loyal subordinate who draws his pistol to defend Bernardo from Horace’s guards. Bernardo then pulls him into cover during the Ork attack 29.
• Countess Della and Treasurer Miles — Nobles who dismiss or question his account of the siege; Bernardo challenges Miles over the missing military funds 28 29.
• Imperial Army soldiers — Troops whose shortages and sacrifices he defends before the nobles, then rallies for the counterattack 28 33.

Notable Quotes

“Our soldiers are fighting with their teeth and nails! They're short of ammunition, medical supplies, and heavy fire support!” 28

“I swear by the home I defend, by my life, and by my loyalty to the Emperor and humanity: if a single word I've spoken is false, I will accept any punishment, including execution.” 32

“Rally everyone who can still fight. Count our ammunition and equipment. Our job isn't over. It's time to fight back alongside the Angels.” 33