One hundred thousand soldiers formed twenty dense phalanxes, their backs to the passageway, standing on the broad plaza of the Upper Hive like a mountain of humanity.
At the front of the ranks, Bruno and Ana stood to the left and right behind Sith, followed by over two thousand selected 'battle-hardened recruits'.
Everyone focused their gaze on Sith, who extended his wrist, carefully watching the second hand sweep around his watch.
As the second hand completed another full revolution and the hour hand once again pointed straight up, with the day-night cycle of the spire, Sith knew this 'twelve' meant midnight had arrived.
Looking up, Sith drew his sidearm.
Seeing this, the battle-hardened recruits behind him also raised their weapons, though what they held were not standard rifles, but close-range daggers or silenced pistols suited for covert assassinations.
"After the operation succeeds, I will send a signal. At that time, the entire army will immediately charge the passageway, fighting our way out of the Hive City before more rebels can react."
Sith spoke. Behind him, Bruno saluted solemnly, and Ana also cast a 'concerned' look his way.
After all, he was a crucial component of her great invention; Ana's concern for Sith was absolutely genuine.
Then, Sith stepped forward, and the two thousand recruits hurriedly followed, silently advancing toward the rebels standing ready.
Sith intended to launch a surprise attack on the rebels before the main assault, aiming to minimize losses during the formal offensive.
Even as he advanced stealthily, Sith's gaze repeatedly turned toward the deep passageway leading out of the Hive City.
A hundred thousand men might seem like a lot, but once outside the Hive City, facing the surging green tide of Orks, any force would feel precious.
Sith had no desire to waste this strength on a Hive City doomed to extinction.
Sith advanced while thinking, but after a while, his contemplative gaze gradually sharpened, his attention slowly focusing on the present.
Sweeping his eyes around suspiciously twice, Sith suddenly raised his right hand.
No sound was made, yet the two thousand recruits in the shadows behind him instantly froze in place.
Without moving, Sith carefully scanned the surroundings once more, especially his own soldiers.
Confirming that his side hadn't killed a single rebel so far, the confusion in Sith's eyes turned to strangeness.
Even doubting himself, he glanced around again, confirming they had indeed penetrated deep into the rebel positions. Only then, with a face full of bewilderment, did Sith straighten up.
He no longer even bothered to conceal his form. Yet, even standing under the lights, the crowded rebel positions remained eerily silent.
Bruno and Ana behind him also wore expressions of confusion.
Initially, watching Sith infiltrate, they were pleased, thinking their own forces were so elite that the rebels hadn't detected them.
But now, seeing Sith standing openly under the lights with the rebels still showing no reaction, they too realized something was amiss.
Though finding it hard to believe, a thought appeared in both their minds.
Hesitantly, Bruno looked around, finally settling his gaze on the currently undisputed smartest person present, Ana:
"Are the rebels... pretending to be asleep?"
As a member of the Adeptus Mechanicus, Ana should have been governed solely by rational calculation. Yet, even as the servitor skull beside her continuously provided computational results, her face was filled with utter bewilderment.
"According to the calculations, the probability of them pretending to sleep is 97.26 percent."
Ana spoke, then, confronted with this ironclad fact, her round eyes brimmed with immense confusion:
"But... why?"
The servitor skull couldn't answer Ana. Bruno stared at the rebel positions for several moments, gradually realizing something.
"These rebels... they're scared of us..."
"They want us to leave!"
As Bruno spoke, Sith up ahead also understood this point.
After all, in a rebel position with over a hundred thousand people, everyone was sleeping like logs, yet not a single snore could be heard!
Sith even glanced at several rebels near him and noticed their sleeping postures were oddly uniform, all conveniently facing away from him.
Sith's eyes were completely filled with speechlessness. He stood up straight, no longer walking cautiously.
Distinct footsteps even sounded directly behind him as Bruno jogged up to Sith's rear.
Seeing that such obvious footsteps hadn't startled any rebels, Sith saw no need for further concealment. He casually plopped down on the makeshift bed of the nearest rebel.
His bayonet planted on the ground produced a clear metallic clang.
Sith even made a point of looking at the rebel beside him. The man's eyes remained tightly shut, but his face had already turned beet red.
Bruno cast a pitying glance at the rebel beside Sith, then addressed him:
"Sir, should we seize the moment and withdraw?"
Bruno's words instantly made the rebel's expression relax. His originally livid complexion quickly regained some color, and even his breathing became noticeably heavier.
However, Sith did not give the expected reply. Instead, looking at the utterly silent rebel positions around him, he thought for a moment, then suddenly looked up and raised his voice:
"Our ammunition reserves are insufficient. It would be even better if we could gather some supplies before leaving."
Bruno's face stiffened, partly because Sith's voice carried quite far in the silence, and partly because he suddenly realized his commander was quite the homemaker!
Then, before Bruno could respond, a pack of ammunition suddenly fell beside Sith's feet.
Followed immediately by the rustling sound of dense ammunition falling throughout the entire surrounding rebel positions.
Bruno: "..."
At this moment, Bruno was at a loss for words.
He just stared, his face twitching, at this absolutely astounding scene. Tens of thousands of people simultaneously sleepwalking and just happening to have the same dream about dropping ammunition—this could definitely be considered a galactic-scale spectacle!
The surrounding soldiers, also utterly bewildered, bent down to pick up the ammunition that had fallen near their feet. Then, a multitude of eyes turned toward the densely packed rebel armaments nearby, gradually filling with immense anticipation.
Sith stood up and pointed directly at the laser rifle of the rebel beside him.
Bruno, somewhat dazed, took the rifle. Seeing this, the surrounding soldiers, as if receiving a signal, no longer held back. They directly approached the weapons stored by the rebels around them.
It must be understood that Sith's rapid military expansion had placed immense pressure on supplies.
Even uniforms were scarce, let alone weapons.
Many new recruits were still using crude, makeshift weapons. There was even an entire regiment equipped solely with cold steel.
Now, faced with such an opportunity for easy pickings, how could Sith possibly pass it up?
In fact, looking at the vast rebel positions before him, Sith even waved for more soldiers from behind to come forward and begin systematically clearing out the rebel weapons.
Laser rifles were just the standard. At some key firing points, soldiers even hauled out over a dozen heavy bolters!
As for standard heavy weapons like rocket launchers, flamers, and multi-lasers, they were carried on shoulders and backs, piling up on the ground.
There were so many rebel weapons that Sith's soldiers could re-equip themselves on the spot!
Only after the entire rebel position's equipment had been cleared out, with all of Sith's soldiers now equipped with firearms and heavy firepower significantly bolstered, did the group, in high spirits, look toward Sith, ready to evacuate the Hive City as planned.
The surrounding rebels also breathed even more heavily, an almost irrepressible joy permeating the air.
Bruno was also satisfied, having swapped his weapon for a heavy bolter!
Just as everyone thought matters should proceed according to the normal routine, Sith, seeing the rebels now disarmed and his own soldiers fully re-equipped, hesitated not at all. Very naturally, he drew his sidearm.
Raised it, pointed it upward, and pulled the trigger!
The gunshot was extraordinarily loud in the dead silence. Then, under the stunned gazes of both rebels and soldiers, Sith kicked over the'sleeping' rebel beside him:
"Everyone, get up!"
"I'm still short a few tanks!!!"