Tales of the Amber Viper Chapter 29

The outermost trench had held off three assaults before it fell, the second had held against two more before it was also overrun. Now the third was under heavy assault masses of men fighting furiously with bayonets and pistols. Mud encased everybody from head to toe and blood was on every surface as men hacked and stabbed in a furious scrum of hate-filled butchery. The Imperial army had inflicted heavy casualties on the rebels but so vast were the enemy's numbers that the outcome had never been in doubt.

For hours the war had ground on as the rebels had whittled away the defences but then they tired of playing games and sent in their elite warriors, equipped with alien weaponry. Coluber had fought ferociously every step of the way; his armour and Venom's edge thick with clotted blood. He had not the time to clean it, nor the inclination, the battle had been glorious and he bore the stains as marks of pride.

An artillery barrage flew overhead and exploded nearby, possibly from the rebels or maybe the Imperial Guard, it hardly mattered anymore. Bodies were flung in all directions and entrails showered down as Coluber sliced the head off a man with long pulse-rifle and shattered the hip of the next with a kick from his boot. Everywhere men struggled, fighting tooth and nail in the desperate struggle to survive. His squads had dispersed to meet the gravest threats but he saw Battle-Captain Ferrac wading through a crowd of rebels, his axe-rake carving them to ribbons.

Coluber moved to meet him, slicing open the backs of the Heretics until he stood shoulder to shoulder with Ferrac. The Battle-Captain shot a man at point blank range, causing him to fold up as he was flung away by the sheer kinetic force. Ferrac clamped his weapon onto his hip and cried, "I'm out of ammo!"

Coluber snipped off a berserk man's leg and shouted, "Then let us test their fury blade to blade!"

"Just the way I like it!" Ferrac bellowed as he threw himself into the fray.

Together the pair hacked and stabbed their way through the melee, cutting down all who came near. The Heretics fought well, for mortals, but they were no match for the Astartes in their armour. Deadly weapons cleaved flesh and mighty blows shattered skulls and in moments they had ended the fight, leaving none alive.

Ferrac looked for more foes to fight but Coluber was distracted as his vox hissed, "Chapter Master this is General Soza, I need you at my command post."

"I'm busy," Coluber snapped.

"It is critical that I speak with you," Soza implored.

"Very well," Coluber sighed, "Ferrac, you stay here, I need to speak to the General."

"I'm coming too," Ferac declared, "I'm not having you walking alone, without a guard."

"As you will," Coluber said, setting off at a brisk run, "Let us not waste time arguing."

Hastily the pair made their way through the battlefield, headed back into the secure trenches, they passed many wounded men but ignored them, knowing there would be countless more before this day was done. Soon Coluber strode up to the General's command position, now significantly further back than it had been. The man looked dishevelled and worn, tired out by the day's fighting and the look in his eyes told just how harrowing the battle had proved. Coluber was surprised to see Apothecary Shrios here too, but he supposed it was a good position for him to race forward to retrieve casualties when necessary.

Coluber strode up to the Guard General and barked, "Well, what is so urgent?"

Soza looked up at the towering Astartes but seemed unintimidated as he said, "The rebels advance on all fronts. We are being overrun."

Ferrac hefted his axe-rake over his shoulder and said, "You don't have to tell us that, we've seen it first hand."

Soza shook his head and elaborated, "The whole front is collapsing, we are about to be broken wide open. I need to start withdrawing units into the city itself."

"No," Coluber stated, "Do not retreat into the city, it is necessary to hold this line."

"Emperor's teeth!" the General swore, "You're committing us to a slaughter, we are going to die here."

"I said no," Coluber growled sternly.

Soza's lip curled but he icily stated, "Then I need to commit the reserves, the ones you left in the hills."

"Again no," Coluber replied, "They need to stay where they are."

"You!" Soza started but then he saw men's heads turning at the commander's argument and he hissed, "Not in front of the men, follow me."

The General turned and stomped away, and the trio of Astartes followed him. He led them out of earshot, into an empty supply post then spun on his heel and spat, "What game are you playing?!"

Shrios sounded irate as he spat, "You don't get to address us so."

Yet Soza looked livid as he barked, "From the start you've kept me in the dark, I've laid down the lives of my men for your strategy and you've given me nothing in return."

Coluber saw the Battle-Captain open his mouth but cut off Ferrac's angry retort by saying, "My strategy is well in hand. I have everything under control, you must trust that I know what I am doing and am steering us towards victory."

Soza shook his head and uttered, "Don't talk to me like a child, I understand the need to restrict operational information to those who need to know. But what I'm starting to think is that you have no plan at all. "

"There is a plan," Coluber rebuked him, "You are playing a vital part in it, I can't tell you more until the time is right but know that there is a plan in motion."

Soza looked like he was about to speak but suddenly a new explosion rang out, a sharp crack that carried over the battlefield. It was almost lost amid the thunder of the artillery and the screams of the dying but this one stood out for one reason, it had not come from among the trenches but from behind. Coluber turned slowly and looked back into the city, only to witness flames arising among the buildings. Detonations were erupting everywhere, igniting among the industrial and residential sectors indiscriminately. Snap-cracks resounded everywhere and the screams of men and women rang out, audible even over the din of battle.

Soza spun about in horror and cried, "The rebels, they're targeting the city!"

Coluber heard the man's desperate cry but refuted him by saying, "No, that was not an artillery bombardment. That came from amongst the buildings themselves, the rebels are already behind us."

"What?" Soza cried in disbelief, "How did they get past us?"

Coluber sniffed disdainfully, "They had agent provocateurs among the civilian population, laying in wait for the final battle. They must have been slipping them into position from the moment the war turned in their favour."

"But, but, but… the artillery, our airbases…" Soza gasped, unable to comprehend the scale of the calamity that had befallen them."

"All overrun," Coluber stated frankly, "This city is lost."

Ferrac looked at the fire raging across the city and remarked, "They're ahead of schedule, we weren't expecting them to move so soon."

Soza's face formed a picture of horrified realisation as he cried, "You… you knew this was going to happen?!"

Coluber lifted an eyebrow and answered, "Of course, was it not obvious? Their strategy was elementary and easy to predict."

Soza was going ashen-faced as he gasped, "How?"

"It was pathetically easy to spot," Shrios snorted as a warehouse went up in flames, "The whole planet rises up in rebellion save one city, is that at all likely? It was self-evident that the Heretics engineered it to be so, they must regard us as stupid to try such a simple ploy."

Ferrac stepped in and asked, "Shall we move to the final phase?"

"Indeed," Coluber replied, "Summon Viper's Bite and Poisoned Fang for immediate exfiltration. Order the squads to prepare for evacuation."

Shrios added, "We have walking wounded and slain Brothers. My servitors have collected the dead and they need to be evacuated too, else we will lose precious power armour suits."

"Worry not," Coluber reassured him, "Our fallen shall be the first to board."

"Wait!" came a sudden and fearful cry from Soza, "You're leaving?!"

"Yes," stated Coluber frankly, "The rebels surround us all fronts, this position is untenable."

Soza started to go red as he yelled, "You're abandoning us to die while you flee?!"

Coldly Coluber stated, "You can start a fighting withdrawal to the north, if you can reach high ground you may save up to ten or possibly fifteen percent of your fighting strength."

Soza face was scarlet now as he shouted, "You planned this! You knew this battle was unwinnable all along and you led us into the slaughterhouse anyway!"

Coluber fixed him with a stare and growled, "No, not unwinnable, but victory requires sacrifice and the Imperial Guard should be proud to lay down their lives in the Emperor's service. The plan worked, we have the rebels right where we want them."

Yet Soza spat vehemently, "You're selling the lives of my men to save yourselves, what kind of Astartes are you?"

Shrios stepped in to growl, "It was your failure that set all this in motion, we are here to clean up your mess. If you had done your job properly then none of this would have been necessary."

Coluber lifted a hand to cut him off and said, "The Heretics have played you for a fool General, you have been blind and ignorant. Yet you do not have to compound your error, you can yet salvage something, if you act quickly."

Soza was incensed beyond words and shouted, "You honourless curs! How dare you! You are no warriors, you are butchers and I won't let you get away with it!"

Coluber's eyes narrowed and he spake, "Choose your next words carefully, the lives of every man under your command rests upon this moment."

But Soza wasn't listening, he lifted his pistol to point straight at the Chapter Master and cried, "I'm dead already, the Commissariat will execute me no matter what, but I will die satisfied that you shall pay for this. I will not…"

Soza suddenly fell silent and still, his face forming a picture of surprise. The man stood there for a moment, then his head lowered to look at the sharp wedge of plasteel sticking out of his chest. It protruded clearly from his ribcage and his heart blood began to run down his front as he tried to understand what had happened. His lips moved but no sound came out then the life fled from his eyes and the pistol dropped from his slack fingers.

Coluber watched as Soza's corpse slid of the point of the axe-rake and then Ferrac shook blood off the weapon snarling, "Pathetic weakling, his unworthy blood dishonours my weapon's spirit."

"My thanks Battle-Captain," Coluber said in gratitude.

Ferrac lifted his head and proclaimed, "I told you, nobody threatens the Master of the Amber Vipers while I draw breath… nobody."

Shrios kicked the limp corpse and said, "How did such a weakling come to command an Imperial army?"

"Forget him, he does not deserve any consideration," Coluber said as he stepped over the body then voxed called, "All Thunderhawks, this is Coluber, we require evacuation immediately, aerial squadrons provide cover."

Ferrac joined him as two cruciform shapes fell from above and asked, "What of the city?"

"Irredeemably compromised by Traitors and Heretics," Coluber stated, "It is beyond saving."

"And the fighting men?" Ferrac inquired with no hint that he had a preference either way.

"They had their chance," Coluber said, "Their commanders were weak and diffident, we can expect no better from the rank and file. Leave them to tie up the rebels; they will die in the Emperor's service. Such is the fate of the Imperial Guard; better that than sit back and watch them fail, as their general did."

Shrios joined them and said, "A small sacrifice to ensure victory."

Coluber watched a gunship land before him and as the ramp lowered he stated, "But a worthy one, their noble sacrifice will be honoured. Now we only need Reddam to finish the job and end this war, the Emperor can sort out the loyal from the treacherous in the afterlife. Come Brothers, summon all squads, we are done here."

With that he led the Amber Vipers from the field of battle, abandoning the Imperial Guard to die in his wake.