Chapter Summaries

Sith, a Planetary Defence Force commander in the Imperium, was ordered to lead his ill-equipped regiment in a near-suicidal assault. After discovering a power that amplified anything he personally participated in a hundredfold, he began considering how it might transform his soldiers before battle.

• Sith reported to the Commissar, who ordered his regiment to attack the rebel positions in half an hour.
• Sith requested promethium to warm his freezing soldiers, but the Commissar refused.
• Sith discovered that his actions received a hundredfold positive feedback and tested the power by splitting solid ice and handling his sidearm.
• Sith wondered whether training his soldiers could amplify their abilities and whether leading them through a battle could make them veterans of a hundred battles.

Sith led the 101st Regiment through a suicidal charge that broke the rebel defensive line, astonishing the Astra Militarum with his soldiers’ morale and combat prowess. After they survived the artillery barrage and reached the rear, the commander ordered them to advance toward an encircled supply depot.

• Sith drilled the 101st Regiment and discovered that his hundredfold multiplier had made his soldiers’ morale exceptionally high.
• The Planetary Defence Force launched a mass charge, and concentrated rebel fire cut down soldiers as they struggled to damage the bunkers.
• Sith led his regiment through the rebel fire and into the trenches, forcing the rebels to abandon their firing positions and fight at close quarters.
• The commander ordered the artillery to fire into the melee, but Sith and his surviving soldiers pushed through the bombardment and broke the rebel line.
• The commander assigned Sith’s unit to reinforce an encircled supply depot, and Sith rested among the corpses before preparing to continue the advance.

Sith led the starving 101st Regiment to the supply depot, where his veterans routed the rebels and saved the defenders. As Sith took command and handled the device meant to open the gate, its energy surged, leaving the tech-priest stunned by the Machine Spirit’s reaction.

• Sith received orders to reach the supply depot and marched the 101st Regiment toward the Hive City despite their dwindling food.
• Sith led a sudden assault on the rebels besieging the depot, and his veterans quickly routed them.
• Sith took command from the foul-mouthed burly officer and went to inspect the gate-opening device.
• Sith gripped the device’s trigger, causing its energy readings to soar as the female tech-priest exclaimed that the Machine Spirit was having the time of its life.

Sith used Ana’s energy device to melt through the Hive City gate while the 101st Regiment and Brunok’s troops waited to enter the supply station. When the gate opened, they discovered an entire Hive City’s worth of rebels waiting behind it.

• Brunok questioned Sith about why the energy beam had stopped, and the 101st Regiment veterans threatened him with their stares.
• Ana replaced the power cell and operated the device, but it produced only a weak wisp of energy.
• Sith took over the device, and it immediately released a powerful beam; Ana concluded that Sith had to operate it to satisfy the Machine Spirit.
• Sith and the gathered soldiers watched the beam thin the gate, but Sith stopped firing when he noticed movement in the darkness beyond it.
• An explosion opened the gate from within, revealing densely packed rebels inside the Hive City.

Sith and his outnumbered soldiers slaughtered wave after wave of rebels outside the Hive City gate, growing stronger with every kill until the rebels retreated. With supplies gone, Sith led the survivors toward the city to search for food, then discovered that they were glowing red as they armed themselves with melee weapons.

• Sith and his soldiers fought off tens of thousands of rebels, growing stronger as their kills mounted while the rebels suffered heavy losses.
• The rebel commander ordered his troops to keep attacking and shot an officer who suggested retreating.
• Sith killed the rebel commander, and the remaining rebels fled back into the Hive City as night fell.
• Brunok told Sith that they had been out of food for over a day, and Sith forbade the soldiers from eating rebel corpses.
• Sith decided to lead the survivors toward a nearby supply station, and they armed themselves with rebel blades and axes because their ammunition and firearms were depleted.
• Sith saw that his soldiers, including himself, were glowing red after taking up melee weapons.

Sith and his Khorne-blessed soldiers fought through the rebels to capture a supply depot in the Hive City. As the rebels converged on the camp, Sith reached the warehouse and found enough supplies to support an entire Astra Militarum army.

• Civilians watched as Sith and over a thousand red-glowing soldiers slaughtered rebels in the passages leading to the depot.
• A burly rebel leader saw the attackers, realized they bore Khorne's blessings, and fled toward the camp gate.
• Sith led his soldiers through the rebel defenses while the burly leader dropped his cleaver and knelt, shouting, "Long live the Emperor!"
• Sith ordered Ana and veterans to secure the warehouse while the others held the walls, and Brunok barricaded the camp gate against the gathering rebels.
• Ana used her Adeptus Mechanicus authorization to open the warehouse, revealing supplies enough to support an entire Astra Militarum army.

After the rebels withdrew, Sith fed and equipped his soldiers and gave food to civilians, declaring them new recruits. With the Mid Hive and Underhive overrun and a rebel force numbering in the hundreds of millions surrounding them, Sith saw a Chimera approaching and considered using it to reach the still-held Upper Hive.

• Sith ate a hot meal, ordered Brunok to re-equip the soldiers, and learned that the supply station had plenty of equipment.
• Sith ordered Brunok to give the frightened civilians ample rations, saying they were his new recruits.
• Sith and Brunok inspected the rebel defenses and saw a bolter machine gun covering the only route out.
• Brunok reported that the Mid Hive and Underhive had fallen and that rebels likely numbered in the hundreds of millions nearby.
• A Chimera fitted with a bolter appeared, and Sith realized it might help them reach the Upper Hive and the spire.

Sith prepared a breakout from the supply depot by arming and training thousands of recruits, then led fifty veterans to seize a rebel Chimera. The group drove back through the rebels’ positions, leaving their horned commander stunned and reporting the raid.

• Sith learned that over four thousand recruits had joined his force and ordered them fed and trained during the twelve hours before departure.
• Sith equipped the recruits and veterans from the depot’s supplies, then chose fifty veterans to capture the rebel fighting vehicle.
• The horned rebel commander dismissed his officers’ account of the defenders’ strength and ordered an attack on the depot.
• Sith and the veterans burst out as the rebels’ attack began, cut through the surrounding troops, and seized the Chimera.
• The veterans drove the Chimera through rebel firing positions and returned to the depot as the horned commander reported their escape.

The horned man ordered every weapon to fire on the Chimera, but its mounted gun and advance wiped out the packed defenders in the passage. After learning that Sith’s force had fought through the Hive City and raised an Imperial flag, Astra Militarum headquarters withdrew its main force; Sith then learned that Orks were approaching and found the Departmento Munitorum’s combat manual recommending shoulder throws.

• The horned man ordered his troops to unleash every weapon on the Chimera, but the vehicle endured the barrage without serious damage.
• The Chimera charged forward and its bolt machine gun turned the passage packed with defenders into a corridor of gore.
• A messenger told the old general and the Commissar that an Imperial flag had been raised over the Hive City, and they recognized Sith’s surviving force on the monitors.
• The old general ordered his main force to pull back as antiaircraft fire filled the sky and a green tide of Xenos appeared on the map.
• Brunok delivered a report warning Sith that Xenos had arrived, then showed him a Departmento Munitorum manual claiming Imperial soldiers could defeat Orks with shoulder throws.
• Sith read the manual’s advice and stared at Brunok in bewilderment.

Sith learned that his force was fighting on Vigilus at the start of the planet’s catastrophic war, with Calgar and the worst of the conflict still to come. He decided to recruit more soldiers from the refugees still hiding near the spire’s summit.

• The Departmento Munitorum’s handbook on fighting Orks raised the soldiers’ morale, and Ana noted that they would likely understand the real danger only after many had died.
• Sith asked Ana what the planet was called and recognized Vigilus as the site of a devastating war involving Orks, Abaddon, and massive Imperial reinforcements.
• Ana said no Ultramarines had arrived, so Sith concluded that the war had only just begun and that his force needed to survive it.
• Brunok confirmed that refugees remained in the spire’s summit area, and Sith announced that he wanted to spam troops.

Sith established a refugee center around the cathedral and rapidly expanded his army, but scarce food, uniforms, and weapons strained his efforts. He decided to investigate the rebels’ supplies as a possible solution.

• Sith cleaned the Emperor’s statue and prayed before approaching the cathedral, persuading its priest to let him help the refugees while insisting they still owed the Emperor loyal service.
• Over the next three days, Sith and the Ecclesiarchy filled the surrounding buildings with refugees and organized food distribution and military order.
• Sith learned that Ana had dyed civilian clothes black with promethium to outfit soldiers, while his army had grown by a hundred thousand recruits in twenty infantry regiments.
• Brunok asked whether they could divert some civilian rations to feed the soldiers, but Sith rejected the idea, mindful that many refugees were soldiers’ families.
• Sith reasoned that the rebels must have considerable supplies if they could feed so many people, and looked toward the passage leading deeper into the Hive City.

Dujiao feared Sith’s seemingly endless troops and ordered his rebels not to resist when they came for supplies. When Sith’s entire force marched down from the summit, Dujiao realized they were trying to break out and ordered his men to let them pass.

• Dujiao learned that about three thousand of Sith’s soldiers had raided a supply point defended by over ten thousand rebels and stolen the newly arrived supplies.
• Dujiao concluded that Sith’s forces must be backed by a Chaos God because their numbers seemed to grow despite the battles.
• Dujiao ordered his rebels to remove their firing positions and offer no resistance if Sith returned.
• A rebel reported that everyone from the summit had come down, and Dujiao saw Sith’s black-clad soldiers assembling in the Upper Hive.
• Dujiao realized Sith’s force was preparing to break out and ordered his rebels to cut down anyone who tried to stop them.

Sith led a stealth force into the rebel positions, only to discover that the rebels were pretending to sleep so his army would leave. After taking their weapons and ammunition, Sith woke them up and demanded tanks.

• Sith ordered the hundred-thousand-strong army to charge out of the Hive City once his signal came, then led two thousand recruits toward the rebels.
• Sith realized the rebels were pretending to sleep, and Brunok concluded that they were afraid of his army and wanted it to leave.
• Sith asked for ammunition, and the rebels silently dropped their supplies for his soldiers to collect.
• Sith's troops stripped the rebel positions of weapons, rearming themselves and hauling away heavy guns.
• Sith fired his sidearm, kicked a rebel awake, and demanded that the rebels provide him with tanks.

Sith led his black-armored legion out of the Hive City and fought through a vast sandstorm against an endless Ork assault. After the Orks fled, Sith rode after them to ask whether they thought he was the most Waaagh.

• Dujiao supplied Sith's legion with a Leman Russ, two Chimeras, fuel, and other supplies before sealing the Hive City behind them.
• Sith led his twenty infantry regiments and supply vehicles into the sandstorm, with Brunok's motorcycle squad scouting ahead.
• Sith commanded the legion to fight the Orks with ranged weapons, and the soldiers concentrated their fire as they advanced through the storm.
• Sith's legion fought through the entire sandstorm, and the Orks began to flee after Sith killed an Ork leader.
• Sith chased the fleeing Orks alone on a motorcycle and asked them whether he was the most Waaagh.

Sith used the Orks’ belief that he was Waaagh to grow stronger, then led his exhausted regiment onward after their costly victory. As more Orks gathered to hunt them through the desert, Sith rallied his soldiers to fight through the approaching Waaagh.

• Sith intimidated Ork Boyz into declaring him Waaagh, spreading rumors of the strongest human on Vigilus.
• Sith learned that his regiment had suffered close to ten thousand casualties while inflicting at least seventy thousand on the Orks.
• Sith ordered the regiment to burn the fallen and keep moving, warning that the Orks would soon return in greater numbers.
• Sith drew strength from the Orks’ growing belief as fleeing Boyz attracted a larger force with vehicles, walkers, and bombers.
• Sith’s sandstorm diverted the Orks’ bombs, and he rallied his soldiers to slaughter their way through the approaching xenos.

Sith led his exhausted soldiers through waves of Orks in the desert, while Steel Pincer gathered his horde to attack them. The human army emerged from the sand before the Hive City, shocking those watching from its command headquarters.

• Steel Pincer rallied his Orks and led a vast horde out of his scrap city toward Sith's position.
• Sith and his soldiers defeated a massive Ork force, leaving hundreds of thousands of Ork corpses across the battlefield, though half of their original force had died.
• Brunok warned Sith that an even larger Ork force was approaching, and Sith ordered the exhausted soldiers to keep moving without stopping to rest.
• The surviving soldiers continued across the desert as the Ork-made sandstorm closed in and the Hive City came into view.
• The Hive City's command staff watched a human army emerge from the desert and wondered whether they had fought their way through.

The old general ordered Sith’s 101st Regiment to assist the Deathwatch after learning the regiment had fought through the Ork-infested sands. As the Orks closed in, Sith prepared to fight and recognized that the Deathwatch’s arrival could signal a far greater danger than the Orks.

• The old general recognized the force as the 101st Regiment and ordered it to assist the Deathwatch, puzzling over the unfamiliar name.
• Sith rejected Brunok’s suggestion to recruit hidden Planetary Defence Force troops and gave his soldiers a thirty-minute rest before battle.
• Routed soldiers watched Sith’s troops establish defensive lines while they remained hidden in ruined fortifications.
• Sith received the order to support the Deathwatch and realized its presence meant the planet might face threats beyond the Orks.

Three Deathwatch Astartes descended to support Sith’s forces, expecting to face Orks, but found the regiment had already crushed the assault. The chapter ended with Sith standing atop a mountain of Ork corpses as the Astartes looked on.

• The Deathwatch prepared for deployment and learned that a Planetary Defence Force regiment under Sith would support their mission.
• Sith’s regiment held its position against the Ork tide, killing attackers with disciplined fire and fierce close combat.
• Routed soldiers watched Sith’s troops keep fighting despite mounting casualties and the overwhelming Ork numbers.
• A Deathwatch drop pod landed, and three Astartes emerged to find the Orks fleeing and their intended battle already won.
• Sith stood atop a mountain of Ork corpses with his foot on an armoured Ork boss as the Deathwatch arrived.

After the 101st Regiment defeated Steel Pincer, Deathwatch leader Daviro recognized Sith’s courage and assigned the regiment to draw Ork fire while the Astartes attacked a rebel-held Hive City. Sith accepted the mission, and as the force prepared to leave, deserters converged on his position hoping to survive by joining them.

• Sith and the 101st Regiment cleared the battlefield after killing Steel Pincer, and Daviro was impressed by their victory despite their poor equipment.
• Sith realized Daviro was a Blackshield and feared that contact with xenos and a possibly traitor Astartes would lead to his regiment being purged after the mission.
• Daviro ordered Sith’s regiment to attack the Orks gathered outside the fallen Hive City and draw their fire while the Deathwatch broke in, offering Sith the chance to enter the city with them if his men could keep up.
• Sith accepted the dangerous assignment, and Daviro returned his salute in recognition of his courage.
• Daviro gave the 101st Regiment one hour to prepare and told Sith to replenish his manpower as deserters began converging on the position, hoping to survive alongside the Astartes.

Sith led his restored 101st Regiment, now numbering about a hundred thousand, into Ork-occupied territory despite its shortages and lost supply transports. As the deserters held their formation under pressure, Daviro learned of Sith’s battle record and understood why the Orks regarded him as “Waaagh enough.”

• Brunok reported that nearly seventy thousand deserters and isolated Astra Militarum troops had joined Sith, bringing the regiment to about a hundred thousand, but they lacked equipment and headquarters’ supply transports had been shot down.
• Sith ordered the regiment to move out, and the soldiers marched deeper into Ork territory while scavenging ammunition and rationing compressed starch.
• More than a dozen Ork speed bikes followed the column without attacking, while the former deserters stayed in formation despite their fear.
• Daviro received Sith’s combat record from another Deathwatch member and learned that the Orks acknowledged Sith as “Waaagh enough.”
• Daviro and the other Deathwatch members recognized the courage of Sith’s regiment, and one called the mortals “worthy of courage.”