"Fall back! Everyone into the corridor!"
A large number of soldiers streamed through the passageway, with Bruno staying at the rear, firing his machine gun as he retreated.
On the other side of the corridor, an endless tide of fanatical rebels still pressed forward.
"Consolidate all remaining ammunition. The rest of you, fix bayonets. For the Emperor, everyone must hold to the last."
Sith stood before a group of battered, blood-soaked remnants of soldiers. Following his order, the last bits of ammunition were gathered and delivered to the rearguard.
The others did not hesitate to affix their bayonets. Even the wounded with injured arms gripped their blades one-handed, their eyes fixed unwaveringly on the final defensive line before them.
Sporadic rebel fire was already beginning to ricochet through the corridor.
A bullet whistled past Sith's cheek.
A thin, long wound opened, blood trickling slowly down his face.
Everyone instinctively looked at Sith. But Sith merely remained in position, doing what a Commander should do at such a moment.
Without panic, without even acknowledging the wound, Sith met the soldiers' gazes with a stern expression.
"Fulfill your duty."
The men hurriedly averted their eyes, refocusing on the corridor. Another stray round flew past, and a soldier near the front fell with a thud.
Gritting his teeth to stifle any cry, the wounded soldier was immediately dragged to the rear.
But with Sith's prior display of composure, the soldiers showed almost no reaction this time.
Then, footsteps sounded from behind. Ana spoke with a hint of urgency.
"The Deathwatch requires your presence."
Observing the soldiers still holding their ground, then glancing at the communications device by the entrance that Davi Luo had utterly smashed, Sith's eyes held nothing but exasperation.
He turned and walked toward the entrance. Ana, accompanied by the veteran Sith had assigned to protect her, took a large quantity of grenades and Bolter rounds from the already meager ammunition reserves.
"I hope you didn't call me here to tell me it's time to serve the Emperor with our lives."
Sith was so exasperated he spoke to Davi Luo with open irritation.
A mere Mortal expressing dissatisfaction with an Astartes, and a Deathwatch elite at that.
Yet, neither the standing Astartes nor the wounded lying nearby showed any anger toward Sith.
Even Davi Luo simply accepted the last of the heavy ammunition Ana brought, his expression calm.
Crouching to inventory the supplies before him, Davi Luo seemed to ignore Sith's displeasure, getting straight to the point.
"I can blow open the gate."
Sith was stunned. Not only Sith, but Ana and even Davi Luo's two fellow Deathwatch battle-brothers were taken aback.
Sith looked at the truly insufficient ammunition at his feet, then at the massive gate that had withstood repeated rebel bombardments. He couldn't fathom how it could be blown open.
Even if he disregarded the hundredfold secret and personally amplified this ammunition a hundredfold, it was impossible to use small arms munitions to blast open a Hive City gate.
Faced with the confusion of those around him, and even his own battle-brothers, Davi Luo sighed.
In the distance, the defensive fire from the corridor was rapidly diminishing, replaced by the sounds of close-quarters combat.
Davi Luo wasted no time. He raised his hands and removed his helmet.
A resolute face with white stubble, features so sharply defined they seemed carved from steel.
Lifting his gaze from the ammunition to Sith before him, Davi Luo's eyes held a trace of reluctance.
"Before I joined the Deathwatch..."
"...I specialized in siege warfare."
Davi Luo explained, but Ana still looked puzzled, her confusion only growing with this answer.
In Ana's view, even if a Chapter specialized in siegecraft, they would only be somewhat more proficient than other Astartes in that area, not possess a qualitative difference.
Not only Ana, but the other two Deathwatch members were also perplexed.
After all, their knowledge of The Great Rebellion from ten thousand years ago was equally sparse.
Only Sith froze, his lips twitching several times before he forcibly suppressed the reaction.
Not daring to show any emotion on his face, Sith did his best to feign equal ignorance.
But inwardly, a storm was raging.
Because Sith was almost certain: the Davi Luo before him was a loyalist from a traitor Legion.
And that traitor Legion was the one among the eighteen Astartes Legions renowned for its siegecraft expertise!
Slightly lowering his head to avoid direct eye contact with Davi Luo, Sith could only scream internally.
How did that saying go?
"Even if the Imperial Fists are protecting a pile of shit, we Iron Warriors will take that shit from them!"
Daring to say such a thing to the Imperial Fists, the dedicated defenders of Terra and the galaxy's strongest protectors, showed just how confident the Iron Warriors were in their own siege-breaking abilities.
Seeing the confusion on the faces of those before him, a flicker of something—disappointment or relief—passed through Davi Luo's eyes.
Disappointed that the many sacrifices and contributions of his Legion during the Great Crusade were unknown.
Relieved that he could still serve the Emperor as a loyalist.
Without further explanation, Davi Luo picked up the ammunition, turned, and began working at several key points on the gate.
As he set the charges, he spoke.
"Commander Sith, I need you to buy me as much time as possible."
"I will have my battle-brother stand with you in the defense."
Davi Luo's remaining battle-brother said nothing, merely calmly raising his Bolter.
Sith gave Davi Luo one last look, then, wasting no words, holstered his now-empty sidearm and picked up two combat knives.
At the corridor entrance, rebels were now flooding through, engaging the soldiers in bloody melee.
Seeing the defensive fire weaken, one mass of rebels didn't even bother forming ranks, charging forward in a dense pack.
Facing this crowded onslaught, Bruno and the other defenders could only watch.
Until a burst of Bolter fire came, reducing the rebels in the corridor to bloody pulp.
But that burst was a single one. What followed wasn't more Bolter fire, but the revving whine of a Chainsword.
The Astartes, too, had run out of ammunition.
The rebels on the other side of the corridor cheered wildly at the sight and charged forward again with fanatical cries.
But what met them wasn't panicked soldiers, but two combat knives whirling like a cyclone.
Sith didn't know how long he had been cutting. Perhaps Davi Luo's ammunition was too scarce, as the gate-breaking wasn't proceeding as quickly as imagined.
Only when Sith cut down another frenzied rebel before him, faint red light beginning to shimmer weakly over his body once more, did a series of soft, continuous detonations finally sound from the gate behind him.
The sound was hardly impressive, lacking any sense of grandeur.
Many of the soldiers, lost in the frenzy of killing, didn't even react.
But Sith instantly turned, looking back at the tall, thick gate.
Fine smoke seeped from the gate's edges. Then, with a kick from Davi Luo, the entire massive structure toppled backward.
...
A dense barrage swept through, turning the rebels in the narrow corridor into bloody mist.
Well-equipped noble guardsmen surged from behind the fallen gate, pouring fire into the rebels.
At the same time, the guardsmen's eyes kept darting to the side. Their attention, beyond the towering Astartes, focused more on the blood-drenched soldiers of the 101st who had fought through greenskins and the entire Hive City.
Looking at these soldiers who were practically drenched in blood, even the most callous guardsman showed clear respect in his eyes.
But compared to the guardsmen's dutifulness—or perhaps because the fallen gate left them no choice but to be dutiful—
The obese noble carried on a palanquin by four Servitors wore an expression of pure terror.
Forcing a smile, the noble scanned the group that had fought its way here.
His gaze lingered on Sith and Davi Luo. Compared to the obvious killing intent in Sith's eyes, the noble's look held only clear contempt for Sith, while he offered unctuous flattery solely to Davi Luo.
"My lord, surely the Emperor has sent you to my side."
"If the Emperor sent you to escort me away, forgive my presumption, but I cannot yet..."
The refined High Gothic reserved for nobles and the upper echelons flowed from the noble's mouth. As he spoke, he completely ignored Sith.
Sith showed no anger at the slight on his face. He merely glanced at his few remaining soldiers, then silently took ammunition from a nearby rack and loaded his sidearm.
This action drew everyone's attention. Bruno and the other able soldiers also picked up ammunition, sliding magazines into their rifles.
The surrounding guardsmen frowned in confusion. After a brief moment of stunned silence, understanding dawned, and their eyes instantly filled with panic and alarm.
The noble was also taken aback, but instead of fear, he showed anger, as if deeply insulted.
He raised a finger to point at Sith, but before his shouted curses could emerge, a figure stepped between Sith and the noble.
Sith froze. Davi Luo looked back at him.
The noble's face lit up with glee, his expression growing even more contemptuous. But Davi Luo's next words changed the atmosphere entirely.
"Commander Sith, this swine is not worth your doing this."
Davi Luo feared Sith would make a mistake. For no matter the reason, a Planetary Defense Force could never summarily execute a Hive City Governor.
If Sith did so, it would stain his already glorious record with an ugly blemish.
The contempt on the noble's face instantly froze. Davi Luo finished his earnest explanation to Sith, then turned his gaze back.
Without another word, Davi Luo raised his Bolter, pressing the muzzle—as large as the noble's head—against the man's forehead.
"Remember."
"This is the judgment of the Inquisition!"