Tales of the Amber Vipers Chapter 263
Ruuka looked upon the fruits of his labours and was well satisfied. Fires smouldered in burnt-out ruins, sending particles of soot and ash into the air. Red and yellow lights danced across the roads and on opposing walls, entrancing displays of writhing colour that drew the eye. Ruuka made connections to other places left in similar states. Cites and continents ravaged by fire. Some he had seen in his former life, others from antiquity. The Hungering had witnessed worlds ravaged in the attempt to contain it, gamma-fountains and bottled stars deployed to scour it from the stars. Ruuka knew such things could happen again, if they did not move fast enough. Thankfully the assault was moving faster than predicted.
The town of Bounty Wells had fallen swiftly, overrun by a surprise attack in the night. Sleeping residents had stumbled out of their doors to be confronted by fire and destruction, marching columns of constructs closing in a wall of hostile intent. The people had fled, snatching up children from beds and carrying their elderly on their shoulders. They hadn't got far. A circle of constructs awaited them at the town's edge, like gamesmen ready to pounce on prey flushed out by beaters. The people had run straight into the waiting constructs and been taken swiftly, almost all of them absorbed into the Hungering. A few he had let run, taking word of the assault with them. They would spread panic and alarm far and wide, adding to the tide of refugees streaming down on the spaceport, the last bastion of resistance on this world.
Ruuka turned to his companion and examined their latest construct, a recreation of Governor Bryne. The construct stood idle, not moving at all. Ruuka found this behaviour disappointing. Once the man called Ruuka had found Bryne to be diffident and apathetic, and such behaviours had been copied into the construct. The Hungering could recreate anything it absorbed perfectly, but in this case it had done its job a little too well.
"What do you mean, they won't answer?" he asked irately.
"All vox-hails are being rebuffed," Bryne stated flatly.
"You carry the Governor's authority," Ruuka hissed, "Order them to dispatch shuttles to pick you up."
"We have done so," Bryne replied, "They refuse to come. This unit's authority has been rescinded. The orbiting ships will not acknowledge any order we give."
The living Ruuka would have gritted his teeth at this and the construct did so as he growled, "Then how do you suggest we get off this mudball?"
"Data unavailable," Bryne stated in a monotone voice.
"Gah!" Ruuka spat, "We are this close to taking the planet, but it does us no good if we are trapped on the surface. We need to get constructs into orbit, take over the ships and spread to other worlds, before the Imperium can muster a response!"
"Construction of stellar vessels is feasible," Bryne pointed out.
"We can't just whip up a construct-ship," Ruuka snarled, "Stellar radiation will tear them apart. We would need to build actual ships. Even for a Nanoswarm that is a prospect of months, years even. More than enough time for the Imperials to send a fleet to scour this planet. Enough dropped Atomonic bombs will saturate this planet's surface with radiation even we can't withstand."
"Protocol suggests infiltrating constructs into the refugee columns," Bryne stated.
"They've already stopped evac flights, probably Cawl's doing," Ruuka hissed, "I need to think on this. Go, just go. Find some way to make yourself useful and stop annoying me."
The Bryne construct turned and walked away, without comment or rancour. Ruuka however shook his head and clenched his grip upon his blade's hilt. Anger was an alien concept to his new state of being, but failing to complete his assigned objectives produced its own frustrations. He had taken a world in days, but beyond that his ambitions were being thwarted. The galaxy awaited and he had no means of getting out there. This conundrum was aggravating.
His bitter musings were interrupted as Dannye approached. The construct had been disassembled in battle, but that meant little to the Hungering. Another Dannye had been produced in short order, exactly as before with updated memories. Not only were the pair immortal, they were effectively unkillable, so long as the Hungering endured.
Ruuka glared at the construct and spat, "Bring me some good news."
"Verbal reports are inefficient," Dannye remarked.
"It helps me order my thoughts," Ruuka snapped.
Dannye stated, "The preliminary assaults are concluded and have achieved all assigned goals. Outer towns are ours, the final settlements around the capital will fall within a day. The spaceport is flooded with refugees, blunting any effort to establish a defensive response. Infiltration units have spread from the Palace into the capital, when we make our final assault the defence will be overwhelmed, attacked from within and without. Estimates of total success are seven-nine percent within the first hour, eighty-five within the third, ninety-four within the third…"
"So we will own the planet's population in a day or two," Ruuka mused, "Doesn't help us get off-world though."
"The Zar-Quaesitor has teleport facilities," Dannye suggested.
"Oh and I suppose Cawl is going to just bring us on board without question?!" Ruuka scoffed.
"That is unlikely," Dannye said, not catching the mocking tone.
"No, wait," Ruuka grunted as an idea formed, "He would never teleport us on board, but he might for his champions on the ground. If we could absorb them, we could use their forms to entice Cawl to teleport constructs on board."
"Absorption is not viable for the Kerubim-unit, nor Brontes," Dannye countered.
"Still sore over getting beaten by a mere Space Marine?" Ruuka chuckled.
"That statement is erroneous," Dannye replied, "We do not feel emotions."
"Remind me to whip up a construct of someone who can process sarcasm," Ruuka muttered.
"This is an inefficient conversation, you should… you should… should…"
Ruuka frowned as Dannye stiffened, reacting in an unusual manner. The head clicked perfectly upright and then a deep and booming voice issued from his vox-box. It was the Nanoswarm, the governing intelligence that controlled all constructs. It seemed it had reason to speak to Ruuka, a most unusual turn of events, outside established protocol. This had to be urgent.
The voice uttered, "Information: movement of hostile units detected. Mass redeployment is underway. Infiltrating units witness hostile aircraft departing the spaceport."
Ruuka frowned, "The Imperials are leaving the spaceport, that isn't right. They should be digging in. How many of them?"
"Information: all of them."
Ruuka's frown deepened as he probed, "A counter-attack, foolhardy but not unexpected. They must surely know they are doomed, perhaps they decided to go out all guns blazing, rather than sit and wait. Imperials do love a heroic last charge against impossible odds, but I expected better from the Tech-guard, that's more Astartes way of thinking."
The voice uttered again, "Information: their flight path does not conform to optimal attack-patterns. They are steering a course away from the greatest concentration of units. Preliminary estimates suggest they are flying a course away from battle."
"Away, that's damned peculiar," Ruuka mused, "Any hints as to where they're headed?"
"Information: flight vectors could lead them to seven settlements and two crystal pyramids. Three of those towns have been depopulated, two are under active assault, two remain to be Absorbed."
Ruuka's suspicions grew as he mused, "Throwing all their remaining troops into one final mission. Not a final charge to glory, not digging in for a last stand… They're up to something, but what?"
"Information: Organic units act in illogical ways."
"No, this action is specific, with a deliberate purpose. They know something we don't, they have a plan. They aren't even trying to be sneaky about it, just haring off at top speed. Whatever they intend to do, they must have a very narrow window to pull it off. I don't like this, whatever they're up to, we need to stop it. We should… oh… give me Dannye back, I need to consult with his expertise."
Dannye sagged as the construct's behaviour became dominant once more and said, "A change in strategy is mandated."
"Indeed," Ruuka replied, "If the Imperials have a scheme in motion, we need to act fast. Pull our forces away from their objectives and have them move to capture all the towns along the imperial's flight vector."
Dannye however said, "Limited forces exist within that vector. Transporting sufficient units will take excess time, we lack airborne transports of our own. They will have six to twelve hours before we can deploy enough units to ensure victory."
Ruuka however grinned, "Don't be so limited in your thinking, we have no need to drive from place to place, not when we are already there."
Ruuka turned and placed a hand on the nearby building, a burned out home still spluttering from the fires. Nanocytes flowed through him, moving into the Ferrocrete and claiming its atoms. He had used this method before to move from place to place, but this time he went further. He didn't just send the Hungering through the world, he directed it to become the world. Spreading through the Ferrocrete into the ground below and spilling out in a wave that would see the entire plant absorbed.
Dannye watched this and asked, "You propose total planetary absorption, ahead of schedule."
Ruuka smiled broadly as he said, "We have taken the people, time to move to the next stage. The buildings, the roads, the lampposts and even the soil itself, all shall become part of us. The Imperials think they understand what they fight, but let's see what they do when the ground they stand turns against them. They couldn't take us when we were merely people, now they shall face an entire planet!"