Tales of the Amber Vipers Chapter 18
It felt like he weighed nothing at all, as if he was floating freely in space. It was a strange sensation, almost peaceful in a way. Yet that serenity was marred by the buffeting of the wind and the roaring in his ears, caused by the rushing of the air as he dropped through it. Far below the dark contours of the land swelled in his vision, growing more defined second by second even though they were lit by nothing but starlight.
Sergeant Reddam saw the ground growing larger as he plummeted towards it, while behind and above Viper's Bite retreated into the distance. Reddam gave it no heed but instead focussed on his objective, a palatial villa complex set upon the slopes of a gentle hill. This was the home of their target, Magnate Kardas, and it was getting bigger by the second.
Reddam saw he was drifting off course and corrected his trajectory with a short burst of thrust from his grav-chute. It felt like a kick in the rear, throwing him across the sky yet he knew from experience that it was the gentlest feather-touch compared to the hefty kick of a Jump-pack. He wasted a whole second cursing the fact that the Amber Vipers had no jump-packs to spare. Such blessed instruments of war were precious and reserved only for the Primus Cohort, as always Secundus had to make do with whatever they could scrounge.
Reddam glanced out the corner of his eye and saw the rest of the squad falling, each one bearing their favoured weapons. Glord was lagging behind, the bulk of the Heavy Bolter strapped to his chest causing drag but there was nothing to be done about that. The squad was on target and the enemy was blissfully unaware that they were under attack.
Orbital scans had revealed the villa to be improperly defended, a rich man's playground rather than a proper fort. Still it boasted wide grounds and clear fields of fire, a ground assault was too risky, especially when the villa had no auspex or anti-air defences. Tebes had suggested an orbital barrage would suffice but Reddam had ruled that out, orbital fire was notoriously inaccurate and blatantly obvious. Chapter Master Coluber wanted visual confirmation that was Kardas dead, and he also wanted no witnesses left to tell the tale, nobody could know the Amber Vipers had been here.
In the second he had been thinking this the villa had grown to become a sprawling complex of interlinked buildings. Maraha had no moon to illuminate the night but the starlight was more than enough for Reddam to see the red tiles of the roofs and a number of luxurious ground-cabs loitering outside. He readied himself to engage his grav-chute and steered towards his selected landing site.
Imperial Guard veterans like the Elysian drop-troops or the Harakoni Warhawks reckoned that a stealth insertion required dropping to one thousand metres before activating their suspensor fields. Reddam considered that safety margin to be soft and timid; he shot through one thousand metres without pausing and didn't blink as he passed nine hundred, eight hundred, seven hundred and six hundred metres. At five hundred metres he gripped the toggle of his grav-cute and felt the suspensor fields springing to life, backed up by continuous burns from his thrusters.
A bone-breaking kick slammed into his body, arresting his fall instantly. Grav-chutes were less demanding than Jump packs but Reddam was pushing his to the very limit of tolerance, more than any mortal would have dared. A red-tiled roof surged up at him and he flexed his legs as he hit it, feeling forces ring through him that would have shattered any Guardsman's legs.
Reddam had timed his landing to perfection and hit his chosen spot to the very inch, but he hadn't accounted for the flimsy nature of civilian construction. As he slammed into the roof the tiles shattered under his right foot and his boot went straight through with a loud crack. Reddam was left sprawled across the roof, one leg dropping through the hole, the other lain out behind him. He froze as he waited to see if his arrival had alerted any guards, going absolutely still with his hearing straining to the maximum.
Thankfully it seemed the mortals weren't on high alert and he breathed easier as the seconds slid by without any screams arising. Grimacing Reddam pulled his leg free then slid down to the edge of the roof. He saw nobody about so carefully dropped down, landing silently on his feet. He seemed to be in a small square garden, surrounded on all sides by roofed walkways and white-washed buildings. The night was still and calm and he heard no signs that anybody was awake.
A heavy thud erupted behind him and he saw Glord rising from a crouch, pulling free his Heavy Bolter and slotting home a drum magazine with a satisfying thump. "Nice landing Sergeant," Glord whispered.
"Shut-up," Reddam growled in vexation, scanning the area for threats as he drew his spear. Thankfully none emerged and he saw the rest of the squad falling into the garden, drawing their weapons as they did so. Within one minute the squad was assembled and Reddam signalled them to prepare. They shrugged off their Grav-chutes while he spent a millisecond assessing Tebes, but the youth was sound in his movements, his enhanced physiology erasing his wounds as if they had never been.
Confidently Reddam led them out, heading into the complex. Within the villa the décor was lavish and expensive, heavy rugs were laid over the varnished wood of the floors and the walls bore portraits of various dignitaries or stone busts set in small alcoves. Reddam had seen the typical dwellings of this world and knew them to be rough and bare of luxuries. By comparison this villa was a palatial mansion, a decadent ornament to show off the owner's wealth. Yet Reddam cared not for the inequalities of this planet, privilege and poverty were the base state of the Imperium. Most planets had wealth divides that made this amateurish display seem almost comical in its feeble attempt to lord over the masses.
Reddam led his squad deeper into the villa, passing empty rooms and deserted corridors. After a while he heard Joffel hiss, "Where is everybody? Why are there no servants to be seen?"
Glord ventured, "Maybe this Kardas sent everybody away?"
Kazao concurred, "He is plotting a coup, the fewer witnesses the better."
Joffel snorted at the mutant's words but Larus stated, "I saw many ground-cars outside, Kardas is not alone. His co-conspirators must be here."
Tebes stated, "Such men do not travel unescorted and they can usually afford the best defences."
Glord swung his Heavy Bolter to cover an empty room as he commented, "I'd wager Kardas has a few defences of his own."
Suddenly Reddam heard a scuffing noise and he held up a closed fist. Everybody froze, expecting trouble as Reddam inched forward, heading towards a door that was ajar. He leaned a hairsbreadth over the lintel and saw a glimpse of a long corridor beyond, it had many doors leading off it but at the far end was a heavy set double door. Standing before that door were a pair of burly men, in grey suits. They were leaning against the wall as if at rest but Reddam could see at a glance their wary gazes and the bulging of heavy pistols concealed on their persons. Bodyguards; experienced ones by his reckoning, too experienced to fall into careless stupors.
Reddam leaned back and silently signed his finding to the rest of the squad. Glord stepped up, hefting his Heavy Bolter but he was firmly stopped by Reddam's hand upon the barrel. Gently he pushed Glord back and then pointed a finger at Larus then jerked his thumb back over his shoulder. Larus nodded and stepped up to the door jamb, drawing his knives as he did so. The youth paused at the threshold and took a slow breath, then he smoothly spun into the open and threw his knives at his targets.
Reddam instantly barked, "Charge!" as he led them into the corridor. He needn't have hastened though, both bodyguards were down, slumped against the door in limp poses. Reddam hurriedly jogged up the corridor and saw that one man was dead already, his throat torn out while the other was slumped upon the ground, his shoulder impaled by a knife.
The mortal's eyes were open and bulging with pain but the wound itself was not serious. Yet plumes of blood were spreading over his eyes and froths of spittle were bubbling on his lips while his bladder voided itself, leaving him sitting in a puddle of urine. It was the poison on Larus' knife Reddam realised, slowly killing the man despite the mere flesh wound.
Larus retrieved his knife from the corpse but when he reached for the other Tebes said, "Wait a moment."
"Why?" Larus asked blankly.
"This one is in pain, yes?" Tebes inquired.
"Catachan Devil venom causes agonising pain," Larus answered.
"Then there's no need to rush," Tebes stated coldly.
Reddam rolled his eyes; he didn't care the mortal died fast or slow and left the bodyguard to his lingering end as the squad watched on. Reddam stepped to the door and pressed his ear against it, listening intently. His enhanced hearing detected the sounds of breathing from many people. He deduced that there were at least two score people on the other side of the door and he heard the high-pitched voices of women among them. Reddam stepped back and hissed, "Target located, prepare to engage."
Instantly the squad tensed, bringing their weapons up to point at the door. Reddam knew that speed and surprise would be his best allies in this action and wasted not a moment to lift his boot and slam his foot against the lock. The heavy wooden doors were no match for Transhuman strength; even without power armour assistance and they flew open before his might. Reddam had been expecting some lavish abode so he was most surprised when he instead saw the space beyond was plain and functional, filled with ovens and tables and refrigeration units: a kitchen.
Kneeling among the tables were a crowd of men and women of all ages and builds, sitting forlornly with their knees drawn up to their chins. Many were rocking back and forth as tears welled in their eyes and they looked up with startled expressions as the Amber Vipers burst in. Yet Reddam's eyes were instantly drawn to the four bodyguards standing over them, with pistols drawn.
The bodyguards started in surprise and began to lift their pistols but Reddam's reaction speed was blinding. His hands blurred and his spear flew free, slamming into the furthest man, bursting through his chest and out the other side. The spear plunged into the wall behind him, leaving the mortal standing there, pinned like an insect to cloth.
The others had also leapt at the bodyguards, weapons flashing. Tebes' mining pick hammered into the nearest man's guts, doubling him over as his internal organs ruptured. Meanwhile Joffel bounded at another mortal, his sword neatly decapitating him with one stroke. Kazao was less elegant; he reversed his grip on his Grenade Launcher and drove the butt into the last man's jaw. Teeth went flying as the man stumbled and Kazao finished him off with a blow to the head that staved in his skull.
The bodyguards had fallen without firing a single shot but the mortals wailed and screamed at the sight, crying loudly at the dead bodies before them. Men drew back in fear as women shrieked and one boy, no more than ten, started crying. Reddam snarled in irritation as he retrieved his spear, this was a complication he didn't need.
Glord looked about and said, "We found the servants."
Larus replied, "Seems Kardas didn't trust them to keep quiet."
"What are we to do with them?"Joffel asked.
"Leave them here," Kazao proposed, "They are no threat to us."
Reddam however lifted his spear and uttered, "Orders were clear: no prisoners and no witnesses."
The crowd of people shrank back and one man cried, "No! Please we've done nothing!"
Another man pleaded, "We're on your side, we're loyal! We're loyal to Terra!"
"You're Space Marines!" a woman shrieked, "You're supposed to protect people like us!"
Reddam however shut out their cries and hardened his hearts. These people had laid eyes upon the Amber Vipers and so compromised his mission, the consequences of that were inescapable. Reddam levelled his spear and growled, "Squad: kill them all."