Ending the chaos on Vigilus

Sith panted heavily and sheathed his Power Sword, surrounded by soldiers of the 101st Regiment and the remnants he had gathered, who were streaming in.

On the outer defensive lines, the Chaos army's withdrawal allowed all the defenders to turn their attention to the "reinforcements" Sith had brought in.

But as they looked at the few survivors entering the defensive lines, the defenders opened their mouths several times, yet could not bring themselves to cheer.

Sith scanned the troops running in behind him in scattered groups. After looking them over, he found that the vast majority were veterans of his own 101st Regiment, while pitifully few of the other remnants remained.

Even those few conspicuous soldiers from Krieg had vanished from the crowd.

Just as they had joined the column in silence, they had departed without a sound.

At last, cheers from the defenders on more distant lines carried a wave of excitement toward them.

The surrounding defenders, who had been looking on with respect and sympathy, could finally break the grim atmosphere and cheer at the top of their lungs.

"Long live the God-Emperor!"

"Long live the Imperium!!"

The crowd shouted over and over as Sith looked at the few soldiers around him and the gates beginning to close behind him.

Outside the gates, the Chaos army had lost all organization and formation after being struck by his two hundred thousand remnant soldiers. Now, under the indiscriminate bombardment Calgar had launched to seize the opportunity, they ended this assault and retreated into the distance.

To the defenders watching, however, this scene meant that Sith had driven Chaos back with a courageous charge at the defensive line's most critical moment.

Cheers rose and fell around him. Sith gripped his helmet with both hands and, with the soft hiss of its airtight seal opening, finally exposed his face to the air again.

It was no longer filtered oxygen. Acrid smoke and the stench of blood slipped into his chest.

Beneath the enormous cheers, the ragged, bellows-like panting of the surviving soldiers beside him sounded all the clearer.

Then the already thunderous cheering suddenly rose another level.

Alongside the Imperium and the God-Emperor, another name rang out!

"Calgar!"

"Calgar!!"

The mortals shouted the same name over and over. Around them, not only the Ultramarines but all the Astartes silently lowered their weapons and respectfully struck their chests toward someone behind Sith.

Even the Sisters of Battle raised their hands in prayer, asking the God-Emperor to bless the man before them.

After receiving their command codes, the Adeptus Mechanicus executed their salute protocols in perfect unison.

At the cheering before him, Sith also turned to look behind him.

Every gaze rested on Calgar, but Calgar's gaze...

Rested entirely on Sith.

Rather than waiting for a mortal to present himself, Calgar personally strode slowly toward Sith, his towering frame approaching.

As Calgar moved, the gazes amid the deafening cheers finally followed him toward Sith.

Then, amid the resounding cries of Calgar's name, another name actually emerged.

"Sith!"

The Artificer Power Armour made for an Astartes stood before Sith like an enormous steel statue. Calgar raised a hand, bringing the cheering around them to a halt.

Then, following Calgar's gaze, almost every eye settled on the planetary defence regiment commander, whose body was covered in slash marks, dried blood, and fresh stains.

Countless mortals jostled for a view, wanting to see this mortal legend whom the Departmento Munitorum kept promoting.

They wanted to see just what sort of brilliant, mighty figure could have stormed into the Hive City twice, fought his way through the sea of sand twice, and driven back the surging Chaos army before their very eyes.

Fortunately, the Power Armour the nobles had given Sith possessed their characteristic splendour. Coupled with the resolve a thousand battles had etched into his young face, it made the crowd's eyes brighten slightly as they caught sight of him from every angle.

Even quite a few Sisters of Battle silently added Sith's name while praying for Calgar.

Silence settled over the scene. Even Chaos, following this retreat, temporarily ceased its covering artillery fire.

The battlefield fell silent for the first time in a long while. Looking at Calgar standing before him in the flesh, Sith lowered his head slightly and offered his respects.

"Lord Calgar."

Though he had experienced being sold out by Calgar repeatedly, this was the Imperium!

For the sake of ultimate victory, no sacrifice was too great to accept, and no failure was too small to forgive.

To Calgar, Sith was no different from any other unit. So long as it could secure a sufficient return, even Calgar himself could be placed on the betting table at any moment, becoming a coin with which the Imperium purchased ultimate victory.

Sith bowed his head, but before he could complete his salute, Calgar bent down and reached out to steady him.

"The legend of Vigilus need not salute."

The voice was steady and solemn. Sith looked at Calgar, whose expression remained grave. As he helped Sith straighten, Calgar continued:

"The sector Departmento Munitorum has formally approved the process of promoting Commander Sith into the Astra Militarum. Your new designation will arrive soon."

"I have also ordered the Departmento Munitorum to gather the remaining scattered troops as replacements for the 101st Regiment, restoring your unit to full strength as quickly as possible."

"As for equipment, besides the Senate opening its supply depots, I have requisitioned weapons from several active Cadian and Death Korps of Krieg regiments. Every effort will be made to prioritize equipping Commander Sith's regiment."

Calgar listed the compensation he was offering Sith. But after his initial approval, as Calgar's promised rewards grew more generous, Sith froze for a moment, and his expression gradually darkened.

Everything before that was understandable, but requisitioning supplies even from several powerful active regiments was going rather far for Calgar.

And for Calgar to invest such enormous resources could mean only one thing: he wanted an even greater return from Sith!

Sure enough, when Calgar finished, he met Sith's utterly speechless gaze, paused briefly, then calmly stated Sith's next assignment:

"Commander Sith, I have a plan that can secure complete victory on Vigilus for the Imperium!"

Looking at Calgar's solemn expression, Sith lowered his head slightly, hiding his speechless look from him.

Because Sith remembered that the eventual victory on Vigilus had not come from the Imperium winning on the main battlefield at all. Instead, Calgar had followed his Gene-Father Guilliman's example of cooperating with Xenos and actually joined forces with the Craftworld Aeldari operating in secret.

In the end, they had used a cloaked Aeldari warship to launch a suicide attack on Abaddon's Vengeful Spirit.

They had ultimately blasted open an enormous Warp Rift, forcing Abaddon and his flagship into the raging tides of the Warp and erasing nearly the entire Chaos Fleet from Vigilus's orbit along with them.

And why was it suicidal? Because Calgar had to seek a suicidal duel with Abaddon to lure him out of his flagship.

The Imperial Navy had to launch suicidal attacks to cover the Aeldari warship as it approached the Vengeful Spirit carrying vast quantities of extermination weapons.

Even well-equipped, powerful mortal troops like Sith's would have to serve as boarding parties, sent straight onto the Vengeful Spirit, which teemed with Chaos Daemons and Chaos Astartes, to launch suicidal boarding attacks and disrupt Chaos's awareness.

Only elite troops would be sent over, because only an offensive threatening enough could conceal Calgar's true operational intent!

Sure enough, after Sith had inwardly complained about Calgar countless times, Calgar actually made the rare gesture of raising his absurdly large hand and patting Sith's shoulder.

"Commander Sith, you and your regiment will serve as a boarding party and attack the enemy flagship!"