Tales of the Amber Vipers Chapter 64

Kerubim lurked in the darkness, standing utterly still with his armour operating at its lowest ebb. Bane hunched nearby, the robot's power cells depowered and its weapons inert. The pair of them stood still and silent in a narrow conduit, lined with reinforced pipes, lurking under a mesh grill floor and trying not to make any noise at all. The reason for this was the scores of Eldar passing mere inches above their heads. The hunters were walking quickly but Kerubim still tried not to breathe too loudly, he knew how keen Eldar senses were and the slightest hint of noise would give them away.

The Amber Vipers had split up to search the lost starship, the others disappearing to leave him alone in the dark. The young Marine had been exploring the ruined interior of the Apophis, looking for something useful, when he had detected the hunters on his trail. He had no idea if they had caught his scent but he knew he was in no condition to fight them, not yet. His only option had been to duck into a narrow conduit and hide, a galling offence to his warrior pride but the Amber Vipers taught pragmatism above all so he swallowed the affront and hid. That the Eldar would eventually find the Amber Vipers was certain but the question was how long it would take, in a city-sized starship the Space Marines could avoid contact for days. The Eldar were dressed in primitive leathers and adorned with feathers and beads, they seemed so crude yet he knew they were supremely skilled hunters. In their home environment they would certainly have spotted him but Kerubim was gambling the enclosed metal of the ship would be unfamiliar to them, that they would be disorientated and confused by the broken passages and endless pipes. If he was wrong then he was a dead man.

An eternity crawled by as he lurked in silence, then at last the Eldar vanished, running off into the darkness without saying a word. Kerubim held his position for another few minutes, wary of a trap. It took a long time to convince him they were really gone but at last he was satisfied they hadn't seen him and urged his armour to awaken. Power surged into his limbs as the plate growled loudly and a moment later Bane responded, coming back to full alert. Kerubim didn't risk climbing out of the conduit but instead headed along the narrow gap between pipes. The air was stale and dry, sealed for millennia and undisturbed since the crash. He hastily moved down the space until he found a hatch and ducked through. He emerged into a wider transept, a high-roofed corridor which was totally deserted. His thin stablight revealed various hatches three times his height lining the route, doorways into cargo holds denoting this passageway held basic supplies and victuals. Kerubim had seen a dozen such hallways already and he duly noted the location on the growing map within his armour logs.

Kerubim had been excited at first, seeing undisturbed holds full of supplies, but sadly his investigations had produced nothing of import. Mummified foodstuffs, uniforms, unremarkable parts that could have been lifted from any starship manufactured in the 41st millennium. Once he had found withered bodies, humans in some form of carapace armour and a multi-limbed Xenos of a genotype he had never seen before, all reduced to dusty bones by the passage of time. It was thoroughly disappointing, nothing worthy of the supreme power this ship must once have boasted. Kerubim guessed any truly rare items would be buried deeper within the heart of the ship, but he had only penetrated a fraction of the volume contained within.

He was tempted to leave but sadly a proper reconnaissance was needed, yet with the Eldar in the area he determined to hurry. Kerubim hurriedly proceeded down the transept, passing open doors. He strode past a hold filled with stacked plasteel boxes, and judged them more worthless junk. A hundred paces later he passed another and hundred paces after that another, then another. As he moved past the holds his disappointment grew, there was nothing here that could help the Amber Vipers, surely anything important wouldn't be left in the open like this. Kerubim had almost reached the end of the transept and was about to abandon the area when he realised Bane had frozen still, standing between two holds like it had slipped a gear. Kerubim cursed to himself as he turned around and hissed, "Bane: follow." The Vorax refused to move, bobbing its head back and forth. Kerubim had no time for this foolishness and angrily turned on his heel to stride back, intending to grab the Vorax and haul it out of there. Yet as he stepped nearer he suddenly noted Bane's foot pawing at the floor and it reminded him of how the Vorax had uncovered a threat at their base when they had first arrived. Kerubim slowed to a halt and surveyed the area. All seemed well but there was something off, something rubbing at his awareness like a sore tooth. It took him a moment to realise what it was but then it struck him, each hold had been exactly one hundred paces apart, yet the gap between the two nearest was two hundred.

Kerubim's suspicions flared and he stepped to the wall, running his gauntlets over the smooth metal. Instantly his hands felt the smallest quiver of an energy field, the feedback tingling the servos of his armour. He peered at the wall, looking for anomalies and had to squint to make out the faintest seam hidden in the metal. His hearts surged with triumph, he had found something, a hidden room bleeding an active energy field. How it could have been sustained for so long mystified him but if someone had gone to the trouble of hiding this it must surely be worthy of acquiring. Kerubim stepped back and pondered how he was to get inside. There was no apparent handle or lock, no keyhole or auspex scanner. He suspected the door may be set to respond to some transmitted key phrase on a preset vox-frequency, which did him absolutely no good at all. Kerubim could try scanning the mechanism for clues but that would take time he did not have. So he decided to take the direct route.

"Bane: target these coordinates," Kerubim said and fed a string of numbers to the Vorax. Instantly the melta flared, sending out a stream of sub-fusion fire that cut through the wall with ease. Kerubim had the Vorax slice the seam apart, severing any locks within and was rewarded by a clunk as a secret door disengaged, moving out of the wall a few inches. The beam snapped off and Kerubim stepped nearer, forcing his gauntlets into the still dripping gap to force the door wider. It resisted for a moment then rumbled open just enough for him to enter, as the distinctive tang of a stasis field breaking down issued forth.

Kerubim was eager to enter but first he voxed, "Come in, can anyone hear me?"

The vox had to penetrate several decks but his Brothers must still be in range for a voice answered, "Ferrac here, what is it?"

Kerubim told him, "I've found something, come and see. You all have to see this!"

"Acknowledged," Ferrac replied, "Hold position, we're en-route."

Kerubim knew he should wait but he couldn't resist the urge to explore. He had his armour data-cant an update of his map to the others, so they would know how to find him, and then squeezed through the opening, leaving Bane to stand guard. On the other side a wan light illuminated a hall as wide as a hold but far longer. The roof was hung with cooling stasis-field projectors and the walls were baffled against detection, which Kerubim judged must be breaking down else he would never have found this place. The far wall was taken up by a vast vault door hiding half the chamber, with huge locks binding the hatch closed, but in the outer space lay wonders.

Kerubim's jaw fell as he held stacked rows of weapon racks, each bearing heavy looking rifles and other armaments. He spied the familiar shape of Fission-blasters, smaller man-portable versions of the ones the Cadmus robots had wielded. There were also other types of energy weapons on display, with twin-barrels and some form of flamer. Grenades were stacked up in boxes, knives were held in upright display cases and strange devices squatted in the corners. His eye was caught by the sight of power amour standing upright and he immediately hurried over, filled with excitement, but was brought up short by its bizarre dimensions. The plate was far too short for any Astartes to wear, being somewhat similar to images of Inquisitorial plate Kerubim had studied yet too broad for a mortal man. It had a pot helm with some unknown heraldic device emblazoned on the forehead and glinting eye lenses that seemed to be deep in thought. It was a very dark shade of gold and strange weapons were worked into the vambraces, so that Kerubim could hardly tell where the implements began or ended. He instantly determined that no Astartes could wear this, in fact it was so divergent from STC designs he doubted it would even serve as parts for their own gear. Kerubim spied a small plaque on the stand and he leaned down to translate the proto-gothic as best he could, "Something... something... Solar… Knight…"

Kerubim stepped back and determined to make a thorough study of this place. He moved through the racks translating each type of weapon and a few he comprehended immediately, others he was left baffled by. There were more armours and racks of many types of weapons, he had little idea how they functioned but they were in perfect condition thanks to the stasis field. Kerubim stopped to examine a strange form of force-field projector when he heard a scuffle and saw the rest of the Amber Vipers filing in.

Kerubim turned to greet them but was startled as he spied their state and exclaimed, "What happened to you? Why are you blooded? Where is Excelsium?"

Ferrac strode into the hidden vault and growled, "Don't ask."

"But…" Kerubim protested.

Brother Kregulf stepped nearer, his faceplate covered in a bloody hand-print and said, "Don't… just don't. We'll tell you later. Tell us what you've found."

Kerubim gave him a curious look but turned to take in the place and explained, "An armoury, a hidden armoury."

"I can see that," Ferrac said as he picked up a bulky knife and peered at the tip, "There are notches in this, what kind of fool puts a hole in a knife?"

He was startled when a puff of compressed air shot out of the tip, right into his eye and Kerubim grinned as he explained, "I translated the inscription, it's a 'gas-compression' knife. There's a micro-compressor in the hilt, I think it's used to load neurotoxins and inject them right into the target's flesh."

Ferrac rubbed his eye but didn't put down the knife as he said, "Could be useful."

Kregulf reached into a display case and took out a crystal knife that flashed with inner light and said, "This one is different, uniquely formed, look at how the light catches it. It must be valuable."

Ferrac snapped at him, "When I want your miserable opinion I'll tell you what it is."

Kerubim was taken aback by the hostility in his tone but Ferrac snapped, "What else have we got?"

"I hardly know where to begin," Kerubim answered, "More Fission-blasters for certain but there's also Adrathic weapons, Volkite pistols, Rad-grenades, neurotoxins, Burst-lances, caustic chemical agents and some form of flamer that throws toxic chemicals… the closest translation I can make is 'Bile-flamer'."

Kregulf sounded horrified as he spat, "Bio-chemical weapons? Poisons, radiation bombs and toxin throwers… By the Throne what kind of foes were the Rangdan to be met by these filthy armaments?"

Kerubim drew in a breath but Ferrac growled, "Kregulf, speak again without permission and I will rip your tongue out."

Kerubim was baffled as to what had happened in his absence, and determined to find out what he had missed as soon as possible. For his part Kregulf wisely shut up, though he stowed the crystal knife at his belt. Ferrac turned to Kerubim and asked, "These armours, can we use them?"

Kerubim shook his head and explained, "No, totally incompatible with our blessed plate. I can't even use them for parts. The weapons however should work as they are."

"Then we will make do," Ferrac snapped, "These weapons will suffice, everybody load up."

The Marines moved to take items from the weapons racks but Brother Vardat, who curiously held Excelsium's trident, said, "Battle-Captain is this wise? These weapons… they are dishonourable. They will sully our martial pride."

Ferrac snorted back, "Fancy words aren't going to beat the Eldar, this is the only advantage we can get. I suspect this ship was on a mission of Xenocide, to eradicate these Rangdan down to the last female and youngling, a most laudable goal. Remember the teachings of the Emperor: the Xeno is without honour and aliens deserve only eradication."

The others moved to obey but Ferrac looked up at the immense vault door and said, "What's this?"

Kerubim paused as he said, "That's what worries me the most, a sealed vault door inside a hidden vault. Why bother doing that? Who puts a safeguard inside a safeguard?"

Brother Sedya hefted a Fission-blaster as he said, "Maybe someone who really, really doesn't want anybody getting their hands on what's in there."

However Ferrac countered, "You're all blind, look at this door, look closely. The locks... they're all on the outside."

Kerubim frowned as he spluttered, "What?! But that makes no sense, why would anyone do that?"

Ferrac answered, "Because the builders did not want to prevent someone from getting in, but rather something from getting out. Whatever's in there the makers of this place feared it greatly. More than any enemy, they feared the contents of that vault."

Kerubim glanced around a room filled with toxic death and pondered, "These warriors embraced poisonous filth as a weapon of choice, what could people like that fear?"

Ferrac grinned as he proclaimed, "I don't know but I intend to find out. Get this door open, whatever's in there I want it."