Tales of the Amber Vipers Chapter 13
Green light filled the space under the camo-shroud, the auspex's tiny screen declaring the enemy was near. Reddam stared intently at the reading, watching the icons move to and fro. Each blip represented an enemy vehicle, moving in a pattern that described a net of awareness, one falling upon the squad. Reddam wished there was a gap in their lines but it was not to be, the Rebels were closing their trap and he knew within minutes they would uncover the Amber Viper's hiding place.
By the shrouded entrance Larus knelt by a tracked device, one of the oddest things left in the supply cache. It was a peculiar sight, about the size of a mastiff, covered in auspex vanes and sample drills. Upon its front was a human skull, from which a glowing pict-lens protruded and it was piled over with sacks. It thrummed with energy and as if eager to be off, but its simple Machine Spirit could not move until Larus pressed the rune to awaken it.
In the dark confines of the cache the squad were waiting upon their bikes, engines cold lest noise give them away. Glord was checking over his Heavy Bolter but still muttered, "What I want to know is, where did we get a C.A.T.?"
Kazao's head was covered in bandages, to disguise his affliction but his voice was clear as he answered, "Recall that Munitorum convoy the Chapter found adrift in space?"
"Oh yes," Glord said, "I was only a snakelet-scout but I recall our training instructor saying we looted enough replacement parts to keep our ships running for another five years. I heard they even found a Navigator still alive in his sanctum and pressed him into the service of the Chapter."
"I dread to think what his House will say when they hear about that," Joffel muttered, still resentful of his beating.
"That wasn't all," Kazao stated ignoring the sullen tone, "We took all the supplies too, munitions, fuel and weapons. I even hear they found something special in the most secure hold, something the older Brothers wouldn't even let the rest of us see."
Suddenly Reddam snapped, "That's enough, focus on the matter at hand. We have only one shot at this."
Silence fell as Reddam stared at his auspex, seeing the icons moving closer and closer. The squad was eager yet they were outmatched by this foe and could not run. Their only chance was to catch the enemy unawares and break them in the first moments, but he had to time this just right or they would all die.
Reddam's eyes narrowed as a pair of icons came together right outside their cover and he raised his hand, signalling Larus to prepare. Then the icons were at their closest point and his hand fell. Larus hit the awakening rune and the C.A.T. sprang to life, its tracks roaring into motion, spinning at maximum acceleration. The device rocketed away, tearing through the camo-shroud and sprinting into the world beyond. Such devices were used by the Tech-Priests to probe smashed derelicts and narrow confines where Servitors could not go. They were simple devices but robust and straightforward enough to be hard to break. They were uncomplicated, expendable and surprisingly fast. Tracks spinning the C.A.T. raced over the ground spraying up a trail of dust and scree in its wake.
Reddam watched as the enemy turned in his auspex, tracking the small machine. The sudden and unexpected activity drew their attention, as he knew it must but it would be mere moments until they realised that it was only a decoy. The urge to act was nearly overwhelming but Reddam held back, his self-control as strong as plasteel. One, two, three seconds he waited and then the moment was right and he hit the rune of his vox.
Instantly the C.A.T. exploded, the demolition charges they had laid over the device blowing up in a brilliant explosion. The blast blew outwards in all directions, spreading flames and dirty smoke widely about the area. The explosion occurred in the open air and did no physical damage to the enemy, but seeing the ball of fire erupt before them stunned the rebels and made spots appear in their eyes.
"Start your engines!" Reddam roared as Larus threw himself into his own saddle. With a loud growl Promethium engines burst into life, revving angrily at the rude awakening. Reddam's own bike coughed loudly and for a heart-stopping moment he thought the Machine Spirit was offended by his handling, but then the engine turned over and finally awoke, eager to be off. Reddam twisted the throttle wide open and shot out of cover, the camo-shroud flapping wildly in his wake. He tore into the weak sunlight and saw the scene laid out before him, two of the transport craft, designated Devilfish, some way off facing a crater of burnt ground and smoking debris. They were out of position and facing the wrong way, but it wasn't enough to let the squad get away, not yet.
Reddam yanked his handlebars right at the hovering craft and tore across the landscape towards the foe. The distance shrank incredibly fast but the drivers were no fools, the Devilfish rotated smoothly about, bringing their own weapons to bear. Then from each two disc-shaped objects detached, hovering higher with long-gun barrels hanging from their forms. Reddam recognised the Xeno machines, unsanctified technology built with no reverence for the Machine Spirits, they were loathsome to his eyes and he roared, "Take them out!" A spray of bolter rounds filled the air and blew one drone to bits, but the other three bobbed and weaved, returning fire with sprays of pulse fire. Reddam saw the threat they represented but it was the Devilfish that consumed his attention and he yelled, "Kazao take point!"
Kazao was already on it, veering towards the leftmost transport. The unmistakable sight of the burst cannon swung towards him but he was faster, raising his Grenade Launcher and letting fly a Krak round. Built into his bike and fitted with blessed stabilisers the weapon was sure and true, despite the jostling from riding over the hard ground. The grenade soared over the Devilfish's low prow and elegantly curved down to be sucked into one of the thruster modules on its flank. A moment later the grenade detonated and the Devilfish lurched in mid-air, its driver desperately trying to compensate for the loss of propulsion: he failed.
The Devilfish slammed into the hard ground nose first, throwing up a spray of pebbles and mud and burying the deadly burst cannon. The hatches blew as rebels poured out of the stricken machine, but it was the other transport that consumed Reddam's attention. The second craft was advancing, its nose lighting up with torrents of firepower.
Reddam desperately jinked back and forth as the torrent chased him and he felt his bike shudder as rounds hammered into its cowling. Then a shot hit his shoulder and punched right through, penetrating the light scout armour like it was nothing. Reddam snarled as a line of fire seared through his shoulder and blood began to run down his arm. The pain was excruciating, a red-hot poker driven into his flesh, yet he could still feel his fingers and move his arm. Reddam was still functional and so could fight, to an Astartes that was all that mattered; pain was nothing more than weakness leaving the body.
Reddam pushed the agony into a part of his mind where it could not interfere and focussed upon the enemy. In the single second since he had been hit the distance had shrunk to nothing and he was about to slam into the transport. Reddam swerved to the side and with his bloodied arm pulled out his spear. He did not trust his wounded arm so jammed the spear's butt against the wide exhaust of his engine. With his good arm he steered towards the Devilfish, coming at it from the side and as he did so his spear clipped the barrels of the burst cannon.
The energised weapon met the hardened barrels of the Xeno weapon and cut through them like parchment, sheering the gun in half. Reddam raced away, leaving the Devilfish drifting impotently, able to pursue but unable to do anything to stop the Astartes. The crew seemed enraged by this, for the transport coasted to a stop and its doors opened to let the rebels inside disembark furiously shouting and letting off random shots.
Reddam stowed his spear and looked about, seeing his squad battling on. Tebes was circling the downed Devilfish, sniping at the milling raiders then breaking off while Kazao shot another Krak round at the impotent transport, making it shudder under the blow. Joffel had isolated a single rebel and was riding down upon him, his gaunt sword slicing the man's spine with a slick sweep while Larus and Glord were racing to and fro, blasting the drones apart with tight bursts of fire.
Reddam saw their opportunity and cried, "We've punched a hole in their lines, now follow me and break out!" He matched deeds to words, accelerating away at high speed. Behind him he sensed his squadmates closing in from behind, racing to keep up. Joffel drew level with him and called over the roaring of the engines, "Aren't we going to finish them off?"
Reddam noted that it was a question, not a demand, the boy seemed to take his vow seriously at least. Reddam deigned to yell back, "Not our objective, we only need to escape."
Joffel sank back in his saddle and seemed mollified, if not happy. It was true, the pair of Devilfish were helpless to intervene and a glance at the auspex told Reddam the other three were too far away to intervene. He grinned to himself as the bikes raced for the horizon; they had successfully evaded the rebel's trap and given them a bloody nose in the process. The rebels would certainly pursue but the squad had a head start and enough fuel to reach the capital without having to stop again. Their efforts in this part of the war were over, but by his estimation it was a successful conclusion to their mission.
His self-congratulations were proved premature as he heard Tebes shout, "Incoming!"
Reddam started in shock as he saw a trio of skimmers closing rapidly. It was the rebel's outriders; the two-man skimmers designated 'Piranhas'. Reddam had carefully planned his escape route to avoid the circling outriders but here they were, coming in at a velocity he found hard to believe. It seemed he had underestimated their speed by a significant margin and the threat they represented.
"Break! Break! Break!" Reddam yelled as he desperately jerked his handlebars to the side. His shoulder screamed in protest but he ignored the pain as burst rounds fell all around them, chewing up the ground around the scattering bikes. Reddam snarled as his headlight was shattered by a round, shards of glass flying into his face to leave deep cuts. The rest of the squad were more fortunate, avoiding the worst of the fire as the Piranha's dashed past and swung out wide for another pass.
Reddam saw their astonishing speed and realised that this time the Astartes were the ones who were sitting ducks. He knew they could not evade this time, so must change tactics. He blinked glass shards out of his eyes and swerved towards the turning Piranhas, jamming his thumb on the firing rune.
His bike's front lit up with twin contrails of rounds, joining those of the rest of the squad as they pinned the Piranhas in a web of fire. The skimmer pilots held true though and raced back, burst cannons blazing. The air lit up with crossing streams of carnage as the two forces hurtled at each other, passing in the space of heartbeat as torrents of firepower flew back and forth. The Piranhas careened past and Reddam saw one of them wobbling badly, trailing smoke from a coughing engine. He grinned in triumph as he saw it break off and disengage, limping away from the fight. Yet his joy was short lived as he heard Kazao shout in alarm, "Tebes!"
He twisted back the other way and saw Tebes falling behind, his bike wobbling as he struggled to control it one-handed. The other hand was clamped firmly to his waist where blood was gushing freely, his belly having been torn open by a stray round. Reddam's stomach fell as he realised Tebes was badly wounded while the enemy was closing for another pass, death was coming for them and it seemed there was no escaping it this time.