Hyperia lay ahead

A mortal, even with a suit of Artificer Power Armour, could never have achieved such a combat record.

At least, throughout Calgar's long life, he had never heard of any mortal accomplishing such a feat.

Sith and his 101st Regiment had already drawn his attention many times, and not long ago, he had learned that Sith was actually still leading his troops in attacks against the enemies of the Imperium out in the wilderness.

Now he had come to see them with that interest in mind, only for his first glimpse to be of Sith and his 101st Regiment standing atop a sea of corpses belonging to powerful enemies no ordinary mortal regiment would dare imagine facing.

Their commander, Sith, in particular, had single-handedly hacked his way through the Orks and the great enemy, Chaos, piling up a mountain of corpses.

Such scenes naturally compelled even Calgar to ask a serious question.

Sith did not deny it, but his gaze kept straying to the crashed aircraft behind Calgar. Seeing that Sith offered no denial, and the expressions of the soldiers kneeling behind him on one knee in reverence, Calgar silently withdrew his gaze.

Seeing that Sith was focused only on the aircraft behind him, Calgar finally forced his attention away from the surrounding battlefield and turned to the matter at hand.

"I know you are in desperate need of supplies and reinforcements, or even a sufficiently safe aerial evacuation."

"But all I can give you now is faith in and loyalty to the God-Emperor."

Listening to Calgar's empty words, Sith reluctantly drew his gaze back, then looked at Calgar and spoke as respectfully as he could:

"Then what instructions have you come to give us, my lord?"

As he watched the exterminating lances of light in the distance begin drawing closer again, a hint of urgency appeared on Sith's face.

Fortunately, Calgar was busy too, and wasted no time at all:

"I want you to know that the Imperium has not forgotten you. Your achievements are being recorded at all times and will be announced to the entire army."

"Your legendary exploits, already recorded by the Ecclesiarchy, and your name, Sith, have reached Hyperia before you."

"And those exploits and your name will inspire the entire army to fight for the Imperium to the very last moment."

So he had come to boost morale and offer recognition.

Sith understood Calgar's intention. Although these things had no practical meaning whatsoever, for any other mortal unit, having a legend such as Calgar personally appear to encourage them and say these words would indeed have been a tremendous honour.

This could also be considered the highest reward Calgar could currently give Sith.

Together with the vast quantities of materiel and supplies Calgar had personally authorised before, and even the suit of Power Armour he was wearing, it finally prompted Sith to offer Calgar a deep, respectful salute.

Calgar's expression did not change at Sith's salute, while urgent calls began sounding beside him again.

Without even shifting his gaze away from Sith, Calgar ignored the urgency of those beside him and finally said something useful.

"The Imperial defensive lines have contracted too quickly, leaving large numbers of remnant troops outside."

"Headquarters has already notified these units. As you continue towards Hyperia, command of these troops will be transferred directly to you, Colonel Sith."

Having granted Sith the authority to directly command all Imperial troops outside the lines, Calgar looked at Sith and the much-depleted force behind him. Despite how much he valued time, he fell silent for a rare moment.

Raising his head again, Calgar's expression grew solemn:

"I hope to see you and your regiment in Hyperia."

With that, the projection vanished, and the already damaged Servo-skull fell to the ground in a shower of sparks.

Looking at Hyperia rising above the distant horizon, then at the surviving soldiers behind him, Sith forcefully exhaled, raised his sword, and turned to walk forward.

A desolate "hell."

Layers of rock had warped and thrust upwards like towering mountains, their surfaces scorched over and over by flames until they were charred black.

Thick dark clouds hung overhead, and the muffled thunder grew ever more violent. Magma bursting straight from the planet's core formed red rivers that flowed into the distance across the blackened world.

Alongside the rivers of magma, a force of nearly two hundred thousand trudged wearily through the scorching heat.

Apart from a small group at the centre wearing matching black, fully enclosed combat suits, the mortal soldiers around them wore uniforms from various Planetary Defence Forces and Astra Militarum units.

There were even one or two Krieg soldiers among them who had been forced to fall behind for various reasons.

Krieg was a famous Astra Militarum regiment known for seeking death, dressed like German soldiers from the First World War who never took off their gas masks.

That even Krieg soldiers could be gathered up showed just how brutal and chaotic the fighting outside had become.

The column continued to stagger forward, their flagging spirits lifting only when they caught sight of the figure on the high ground beside them.

"Long live Colonel Sith!"

A Planetary Defence Force veteran suddenly raised his arm and cheered at Sith, who had appeared nearby. Those around him followed suit, including not only Planetary Defence Force soldiers but large numbers of Astra Militarum troops.

Even the few Krieg soldiers silently looked towards Sith, their eyes behind their gas masks showing a measure of respect for someone other than the Emperor.

Standing atop the upthrust rock, Sith turned to glance at the remnants of various units encouraging one another behind him, then withdrew his gaze and looked once more towards the other side of the rock barrier.

Looking at the vast depression amid the rock formations, Sith's breathing grew slightly laboured.

An enormous, bizarre totem had been drawn on the ground. Some force had wrenched hornlike rocks up from underground and shaped them into an archway.

Around the archway and the totem lay countless civilian corpses, packed against one another, covering the entire ground.

Looking at the hundreds of thousands, or perhaps millions, of mortals lying there, their bodies stretching beyond the limits of his vision, Sith struggled to tear his gaze away.

There were no Warp daemons or Chaos Cults waiting for him below.

The archway had collapsed, and the totem had been covered over. This was merely the ritual site of some unknown dark god, destroyed by an Imperial unit.

Seeing the boundless civilian corpses arranged so neatly, Sith had finally witnessed for himself the tip of the iceberg of the Chaos Cults' blasphemous rituals.

Ana stood beside him as two Servo-skulls flew back from the distance.

"There are no Warp fluctuations. This place has been completely destroyed by other Imperial troops."

After reporting the results, Ana, who was still a low-ranking Adeptus Mechanicus adept, looked at the civilians on the ground, entire families laid out together with terror covering their faces. She fell silent briefly, then spoke, which was rare for her:

"Should we call over a few flamers..."

Having confirmed there were no Warp fluctuations, Sith turned and walked straight down the rock formation.

"Hyperia is just ahead. We need every shot of fuel we can fire at the enemy."

Ignoring the helplessness on Ana's still largely flesh-and-blood face, Sith approached the marching column and jumped onto a lone, battle-scarred Leman Russ whose original unit had been wiped out.

The crew, who had fought on until now, gave Sith respectful looks. Sith connected a communications cable to his helmet and pointed ahead:

"Advance! Hyperia lies ahead!"