A new Astra Militarum designation

Deep within the Hyperia Hive Cluster.

Far from the front lines, there was little roar of gunfire here, nor were there dense concentrations of Imperial defenders.

There were only countless civilians huddled in every corner of the Hive City, watching the heavily armoured bailiffs and arbitrators of the Adeptus Arbites patrol with shotguns in hand.

Unlike before, however, large numbers of Astra Militarum soldiers and even Astartes had recently begun appearing in the relatively safe depths of the hive cluster.

Several fully armed Cadian soldiers walked past. The bailiffs glanced at the troopers, then simply ignored them.

They had seen plenty of soldiers like these over the past few days, and their superiors had told them not to ask questions, so the bailiffs pretended not to notice.

Then a young officer in a colonel's uniform and peaked cap walked past. At the sharp sound of his hard boots striking the bloodstained floor, the bailiffs glanced over, then all straightened up:

"Lord Sith!"

The bailiffs were respectful. Though they belonged to different departments, with Vigilus now reduced to this state by the fighting, the bailiffs would merely be sent to the front a little later than the regular troops.

Sith casually raised a hand in return, his gaze sweeping quickly over the well-equipped bailiffs before settling on the masses of civilians lining both sides of the passage.

More precisely, on the civilians interspersed with large numbers of corpses.

Along the long passage, only bailiffs and soldiers could still walk back and forth. The other civilians could barely even stand.

Now, Sith looked at the bodies lying dead one after another beside his feet. Nearby, a corpse cart whose handlers had hurriedly moved aside to make way for him had already been filled for who knew which time.

The civilians pushing the cart cast cautious, respectful looks at Sith. In their cloudy, numb eyes, tiny glimmers called "hope" reflected off him.

As the cart-pushing civilians bowed to him, Sith saw small transparent canteens at their waists, each holding a shallow layer of murky, filthy water. Recalling what he had seen and heard along the way, he knew this was their payment for collecting corpses.

The supply of clean water had almost completely ceased. Calgar could now only attend to the army and had stopped paying any attention to the civilians altogether.

Most of these civilians had not starved to death. More had died of thirst.

In return, the Hyperia Hive Cluster's supply of starch had been exceptionally plentiful lately!

As Sith passed, more and more civilians cast feeble looks his way. Even as he scanned them, a woman struggling to breathe suddenly crumpled to the ground.

The surrounding civilians hurriedly gathered around her, but the scene of mutual aid Sith had imagined never came. Instead, a crowd took out small knives and, trembling with excitement, cut open the woman's blood vessels before her blood had even clotted.

They bent over the civilian, burying their faces against her without even knowing whether she was dead. Their throats visibly worked as they swallowed, immense satisfaction appearing on their faces as they tilted their heads back and closed their eyes in enjoyment.

Although blood could not truly relieve their coughs, when they rose with their mouths covered in blood, at least the liquid at that moment was enough for them.

Looking at these civilians who resembled "vampires," Sith did not blame them. He merely felt the clear, clean water sloshing in the canteen at his waist and withdrew his gaze with some helplessness.

Then came the tread of heavy armour against the floor, and as the civilians' faces remained filled with satisfaction, triggers were pulled.

Shotgun blasts killed the civilians who had dared commit such a blasphemous act. Before the blood they had just swallowed could even be converted into moisture, they toppled to the ground themselves, fresh blood streaming from their necks.

When Sith looked again, all he saw were bailiffs standing in front of him, blocking the view down the passage. As Sith looked their way, they once again showed him respect.

For civilians, there seemed to be no safe zone...

When Sith returned to the 101st Regiment's quarters near the Hive City's spaceport, the veterans were putting the newly arrived replacements through vigorous training.

Though the vast majority of the mortals who had survived until now were remnants of routed units, their individual capabilities far exceeded those of the recruits Sith had previously conscripted directly from the civilian population.

After barely a dozen days, their training had already taken impressive shape.

"Colonel, Lord Daviro is here."

An officer spotted Sith and hurried over to report.

The soldier wore a brand-new, black, fully enclosed combat suit. The 101 designation had already been removed from his shoulder insignia, ready to be replaced at any moment with their new Astra Militarum designation.

Sith took out the supply authorization he had brought back from the Senate and spoke as he bent down to sign it:

"Daviro? Did he say what this was about?"

The officer shook his head:

"Lord Daviro did not say."

Speechless, Sith straightened and handed the signed supply authorization to the logistics officer, giving a simple reply:

"Understood."

It was not that he had not said. Daviro simply could not be bothered to deal with ordinary mortals.

Soon, when Sith reached his office, he found a towering Astartes examining the Artificer Power Armour that had undergone emergency repairs by the Adeptus Mechanicus.

Looking at the slash marks that remained obvious even after repairs, Daviro spoke with his back to Sith, a hint of admiration in his voice:

"Lord Sith, as a mortal, you have truly earned my admiration."

Daviro turned around after speaking, genuine approval on his face.

After all, when Sith had concluded the entire operation outside with what could be called a flawless performance, then fought his way back to Hyperia with all eyes upon him, Calgar had spared even less effort in publicizing his deeds.

As the many genuine combat achievements were revealed, even Daviro, a veteran of the Iron Warriors, could not help admiring how terrifying the enemies Sith had cut down along the way had been.

Facing this "comrade-in-arms" with whom he had fought on quite a few occasions, Sith still poured him a glass of clear water.

"Lord Daviro, surely you haven't come here to flatter me."

Taking the glass, which looked enormous in Sith's hand but tiny in his own, Daviro drank a mouthful, then nodded:

"Lord Calgar requires at least one Astartes to be assigned to every boarding party. I volunteered for your regiment, Lord Sith."

Sith, who had been quite casual, froze. He stared blankly at the relaxed Daviro, then his expression grew solemn:

"Welcome, old comrade."

Mortals might not know, or might know little, but Daviro could not possibly be unaware of what boarding the Vengeful Spirit meant.

Choosing to stand beside Sith under these circumstances fully deserved Sith's respect.

Seeing this, Daviro merely waved a hand casually, carefully finished the clean water, then set down the glass.

"In addition, the Departmento Munitorum entrusted me with bringing your new Astra Militarum designation, Lord Sith."

Drawing a military order from inside his armour, Daviro solemnly aligned it and placed it on Sith's desk.

Sith looked at the military order that had finally arrived. Promotion to the Astra Militarum was not merely a change of designation. It meant that, as a commander, Sith now possessed the authority to participate in commanding, or even assume complete leadership of, the mortal forces of the vast majority of worlds.

Moreover, with Daviro submitting the application and Calgar personally taking an interest, Sith's starting rank was not even low. He would directly receive a senior rank that allowed him to command large numbers of Astra Militarum troops, as well as almost all Planetary Defence Forces.

Combined with logistical replenishment directly from the Departmento Munitorum, Sith had almost instantly shed his status as Planetary Defence Force cannon fodder and become an elite field force among those the Imperium stationed across the galaxy.

Of course, this also spared him the subsequent reckoning for having witnessed Genestealers, Chaos Daemons, and even renegade Chapters.

Sith breathed a sigh of relief and took the military order with equal solemnity. As he opened it and read, everything at the beginning was fine. Only when he saw the designation that had finally been approved did his expression go blank.

Daviro looked pleased with himself:

"After all, it was submitted by the Deathwatch, and your own beginnings lay in cooperating with the Deathwatch, Lord Sith."

"So, based on the 101st Regiment's history, the higher-ups have officially named your new designation:"

"Black Watch!"