"Under the God-Emperor's protection, the valiant Imperial Navy has routed the feeble xenos in space."
"Vigilus will now launch its final assault on the remaining xenos and return wholly to the Imperium."
Click.
A hand pressed the switch, cutting off the radio's tireless propaganda.
The nearby soldiers tasked with recording information exchanged glances, but none dared object to Sith reaching over.
On the tower-top plaza not far from the radio, training continued in full swing.
With the fleet gone, the distant supply corridor had long since lost its former bustle. Only a dozen or so transports struggled through the Orks' sky-filling barrage.
One transport even took a hit to its engine and tumbled into the Hive City below, trailing fierce flames and thick black smoke. After a violent explosion, swarms of Genestealers poured out, frantically fighting over the supplies left inside.
Sith sighed and turned his attention away from the transport, only to notice the mountain of Departmento Munitorum pamphlets beside the radio.
Frowning slightly at their contents, Sith picked one up.
"Great victory, great victory, great victory, more great victories..."
The more Sith read, the deeper his frown grew. Finally, he tossed it back onto the desk, his speechlessness spreading from his heart to his face.
It all boiled down to one sentence: the situation wasn't just good-it was excellent!
Going over the pamphlet's contents in his mind, Sith looked straight up at the sky.
Unlike the vast majority of civilians and soldiers, who could see nothing beneath the dark clouds, Sith only had to look up to see the few warships remaining in orbit, along with the thick smoke constantly pouring from them.
Even in the brief moment Sith spent looking up, a violent explosion erupted from a frigate's engines. Stripped of propulsion, the frigate began slowly falling toward the surface, dragged down by Vigilus's gravity.
Escape pods poured frantically from the frigate, but even more crew members accompanied their iron coffin as it became a towering mushroom cloud on the ground.
A fierce gust swept in from the impact site, accompanied by a faint tremor through the entire continent beneath their feet.
The soldiers of the 101st Regiment exchanged glances. Even without Sith saying anything, they felt that reality seemed rather different from the propaganda.
But unlike the soldiers behind him, who were merely confused, Sith knew the situation was more difficult than anyone imagined.
Because what waited in space was no xenos force, but Abaddon's Black Crusade, which had just blown all of Cadia apart and split the galaxy in two!
And at this very moment, this Chaos army that even the fortress world of Cadia had failed to stop was advancing on Vigilus through deep space.
Sith tore his gaze from the sky with difficulty. In the distance, cheers rose one after another from the refugees as the pamphlets were distributed.
Amid their difficult, desperate lives, any news that offered hope became a lifeline in their hands, encouraging them again and again to keep going.
As for whether that news was true...
Sith looked away from the cheering refugees, because they did not care whether it was true. They cared only about hope.
"Starting today, all soldiers must train in strict accordance with the eighteen-Terran-hour schedule. Reinstate the curfew as well, and triple the guard strength."
Sith issued his orders, and Brunok and the other officers nearby nodded silently.
After all, even setting aside the crowd's current blind obedience to Sith, the miserable state of the Imperial Navy overhead was enough for everyone to find nothing wrong with this order.
The sun slowly sank below the horizon once more. The aroma of hot food drifted through the air, accompanied by faint scents of cigarettes and coffee, making the night after curfew seem all the quieter.
Sith did not disturb the soldiers' peaceful hours, which might end at any moment. He merely returned to his office and continued submitting the vast quantities of documentation required by the Departmento Munitorum to elevate the 101st Regiment into the Astra Militarum.
Only the scratching of a pen filled the office beneath the enormous portrait of the God-Emperor. Searchlights swept past the window countless times, until dawn began to brighten the distant sky again, and a violent explosion abruptly silenced the scratching beneath the God-Emperor.
Outside the door came the sound of many running feet, and alarms rang out across almost the entire tower top.
The Genestealers' hissing beneath the Hive City was inexplicably excited, and soon soldiers' angry shouts and roaring gunfire sounded in the distance beyond the office.
Sith listened silently for a while. Once he confirmed that it was only a small-scale clash, he continued moving his fountain pen across the work before him without even looking up.
Bang!
The door was shoved open, and Brunok strode in, his brand-new carapace armor stained with large patches of bright red.
"Si-"
He wanted to speak immediately, but seeing Sith still bent over the paperwork, Brunok gritted his teeth and swallowed his words.
Only when the scratching stopped did Sith set down his pen and check the documents one final time. After confirming that everything was correct, he handed them to Ana beside him.
"Send these directly to the Departmento Munitorum. Don't wait for the next supply convoy."
Previously, these documents had always been sent back with the supply convoys, but seeing Sith actually intend to send someone himself made both Ana's and Brunok's hearts lurch.
Did this mean the supply line they had finally reestablished was about to be cut again?
Ana asked no further questions. She took the report and turned to leave.
Only then did Sith stand. Without waiting for Brunok to speak, he took his sidearm and saber and headed out.
"What's the problem?"
He asked as he walked, and Brunok hurried after him.
"The refugees are rioting. Most likely, quite a few Genestealers have infiltrated them again."
Sith frowned slightly.
"Why would they suddenly riot?"
Brunok's already grim face turned even more ashen, carrying a trace of panic that even he could not suppress.
Sith froze at the sight. Had Abaddon arrived? But by my reckoning, he shouldn't be here for several more months.
Sith racked his memory, trying to see whether he had overlooked anything else.
But as fragments of the Battle of Vigilus gradually surfaced in his memory, Sith suddenly remembered something. His eyes brightened, and his voice joined Brunok's panicked reply.
"Water!"
Brunok looked at Sith in surprise as he spoke. Though he did not know how Sith knew, he still nodded stiffly.
"The Genestealers among the refugees have been spreading word that the only water purification facility has been captured."
A person could live for over ten days without food, but without water, even three days would be a struggle.
And the Genestealers' opening masterstroke when they tore off their masks and formally took the stage on Vigilus had been to seize, in one fell swoop, the space elevator that extracted water from the belt of ice-crystal asteroids in space, taking it from the Adeptus Mechanicus.
The Genestealers' infiltration of Vigilus had reached a terrifying extent. News of Calgar's crushing defeat might fool ordinary humans, but the Genestealers likewise knew that another, more powerful enemy was about to arrive.
To secure an advantage in the chaotic fighting to come, the Genestealers had set their sights on Vigilus's only source of clean water.
At the same time, they had the Genestealers hidden among the crowds continually spread all manner of rumors among the mortals to sow fear.
But as he watched the masses of refugees mixed with Genestealers being slaughtered on the spot nearby, Sith glanced at Brunok, who had ordered the ruthless measures, then let out a breath.
"If we ration our clean water, it'll last a while yet. Have Ana make some equipment to purify and recycle water as well, and we should be fine in the short term."
As he spoke, he took out his canteen and gently shook the clean water inside. Listening to its clear sloshing, Sith's expression showed little gravity; he even looked somewhat relaxed.
But after Sith finished, Brunok's expression changed, and the corners of his mouth twitched several times.
Seeing Brunok hesitate to speak, Sith froze in the act of raising the water to his mouth. His eyes widened slightly and fixed intently on Brunok.
At a time like this, someone still dared mess around with the water?
Under Sith's genuinely angry stare, Brunok swallowed stiffly, even though it had nothing to do with him.
Then he lowered his head slightly, his face deathly pale.
"Those nobles took all the water and hid in the fortress..."
Clang!
Brunok jumped in fright and looked up. Sith had not moved. Only the canteen in his hand had been abruptly crushed.