Tales of the Amber Viper Chapter 68

The rifle was unlike anything Kerubim had ever held before, a bulky energy projector with a strange squared off nozzle. It was the product of another age, a marvellous device wrought from forgotten science and its principles baffled the tech-adept. Adrathic weapons were not commonly seen in the Imperium, not even the most learned Tech-Priest of Mars could have understood its operation. Long ago the Emperor had decreed that such technology was the sole preserve of His companions and that all such artefacts be given unto his hand under pain of death. Kerubim knew none of this however, all he knew was the rifle was exceedingly potent and had served him well.

Kerubim turned the rifle over in the dim light, examining its bulky capacitors and energy matrix diodes. It was humbling to behold, he had thought himself practically all-knowing in matters technical, the greatest student of the lore Technis. That he had surpassed his tutors was unquestioned but what he held in his hands was evidence that he understood almost nothing of the Machine God's realm. Kerubim had thought there was no more to learn but he was coming to see that he was nothing but a child playing with pebbles on the beach while vast oceans of untapped knowledge lurked beyond his reach. Had Nathanal been holding back on him, Kerubim wondered, but discounted the possibility. His mentor had been more than generous. It was more likely that Nathanal himself was a mere rude artisan in the craft, a grubber and fixer rather than a master of arcane lore. Kerubim had been taught that the Astartes sent their Techmarines to Mars to study, a practice he had assumed was more ritual than practical, how wrong he had been. Now he saw that the greatest secrets were being held out of sight and he yearned to know them. Kerubim wanted to tread the red sands of Mars and learn all that there was to know of the Omnissiah.

"Do you two want some time alone?" came a mocking voice. Kerubim looked up and saw Brother Vardat standing across the room from him. Vardat was lurking in a shadowy alcove, his form obscured but his new lance clasped upright beside him. Nearby Kregulf squatted with his Fission-blaster, covering behind some bulky machine of indeterminate purpose. The warrior's plate was stain by black veins of discolouring, the fallout of his filthy weapon marking him more with every shot. Only his ankles and boots bore their original amber hue, the rest stark black save for the bloody handprint over his faceplate, which grew more vivid in contrast.

The three of them lurked in a wide room which was filled with decayed remnants of discarded machinery. What function it had once served eluded Kerubim, had it been a machine shop, a macro-weapon capacitor or a shield generator, he would never know. All that mattered was it was dark and secluded, the perfect place to stage an ambush. After their initial success, if one could call it that, the Amber Vipers had split up, spreading out to wreak carnage on their hunters. Even now other kill-teams were engaging, Ferrac leading them from the front as was his way. These three Brothers however had gone deeper, to catch Eldar seeking to flank the Amber Vipers and punish them most severely.

Kerubim realised his Brothers were still waiting for an answer and said, "I was contemplating the mission, Brother."

"Sergeant," Vardat corrected, "I am Sergeant now."

Kerubim found that a petty response but he hardly knew his Brothers and so deflected, "I can't believe Ferrac killed Excelsium."

"Believe it," Kregulf growled, "Killed merely for speaking from his heart. Where was the Chapter's vaunted Brotherhood in that?"

Vardat snapped, "Excelsium fostered mutiny and sedition, he broke faith with us not the other way around."

Kerubim muttered, "One thing is certain: when word of this gets out nobody will dare raise the matter again."

Kregulf lowered his eyes and said, "Aye, and now we are all cursed for it. Bearing these profane weapons is our punishment."

"Speak for yourself," Vardat replied shrugging his Burst-lance, "This is a hallowed relic; I'm never giving it up."

Kerubim heard a soft patter and hissed, "Hush, they come."

Sure enough a few seconds later a crowd of lithe figures entered through a wide doorway, riding two-legged beasts and the tusked brutes that Kerubim was coming to loathe. Scores of them poured through the doorway, a force that completely outmatched the three Asartes. They were dressed in leather, feathers and woad and their eyes were sharp. They moved into the space with steady confidence, advancing swiftly in their eagerness to flank the Amber Vipers but yet wary for traps. Kerubim knew his hiding place behind a bulky machine would only buy them a few seconds before they were discovered, but that was the whole point.

Kregulf suddenly sprung up and cried, "Ave Imperator!" as he fired his Fission-blaster. A crackling red orb shot forth and exploded among the crowd of foes. A half-dozen Xenos were blown to bits and the rad-counters began their inevitable ticking, but one gun could not produce lethal levels with one shot. The Eldar were bloodied but not defeated and they responded instantly, firing a volley of thorn tipped arrows at his position. Yet Kregulf was no longer there, he had already relocated, sprinting away without waiting to see the results of his shot.

The Eldar were not prepared to let him go and gave pursuit, yet as they advanced they became exposed to Kerubim. The Adrathic rifle discharged a golden ray, that struck an Eldar warrior with glass beads woven into her attire who rode a twin-legged beast. Kerubim had only the vaguest notion of how it worked but he suspected the gun disrupted molecular bonds, unravelling matter into free-floating atoms. The Eldar froze as golden energy washed over her, actinic sparks unravelling her molecules. Her image became hazy and indistinct, like a pict-image drifting out of focus then she and her mount dissolved into nothingness, leaving behind an afterimage that slowly faded way.

Kerubim dove out of his hiding place as outraged Eldar pursued him, their speartips sharp and their hearts burning for their losses. He forsook all thought of shooting as he ran, putting his head down and fleeing. The Eldar chased him in great leaps, their animals lending them immense speed. A hundred spear tips were aimed at his back and he had but seconds to live but then Vardat emerged from cover. With a great sweep of his lance he took the legs from a scaled animal, the contact Volkite field causing flesh to burst into flaming ash. The animal collapsed missing both legs and Vardat swung his lance about, tearing out the throat of another. The Eldar horde instantly swung about, forgetting Kerubim as they surrounded Vardat but they had no chance to overwhelm him for a crackling Fission-blast slammed into them, killing three at once. It was Kregulf, he had repositioned and was laying down cover fire for Vardat to disengage until Kerubim was in position and did the same for him.

Turn by turn the Amber Vipers fought a staged withdrawal, covering each other in sequence. They were mere inches ahead of the Eldar hunters but they fought with consummate skill and coordination. Kerubim fired and ran, over and over, falling back in good order. At last they reached the great doors set into the far wall and then they turned and ran, showing their backs to the Eldar as they fled down a long concourse.

Kerubim put his head down and sprinted for all he was worth as he gasped, "They're chasing us!"

"They," Kregulf hissed between breaths, "They seem angry."

"Good," Vardat spat, "Angry enemies make mistakes."

Behind them a horde of Eldar poured out of the door, turning to give chase. They came in scores, bounding forward in great leaps or charging with inevitable momentum. Their voices were raised in vengeful tirades, calling for blood and retribution and they would not be denied. The Space Marines could not hope to outrun their pursuers on foot, but that was not their intent. A few hundred metres down the corridor they turned and dove into another chamber, one they had selected beforehand. It was some form of octagonal lifting chamber, one that had once taken items from the depths of the Apophis to its outer hull. In essence a big airlock.

Kerubim felt hostile eyes on his back and the points of speartip inches from his neck as he ran across the airlock, each step a marathon. He was sure he was too slow and would die here but fortune favoured him as he charged through a small door on the other side. The trio skidded through and Kerubim saw Bane waiting for him as he cried, "Bane: Now!" The Vorax robot had been left on guard and at his command it hit a large rune with its cannon. A trickle of power was left in the system but it was just enough to slam the airlock door shut behind them, cutting off the Eldar with seconds to spare. A crowd of angry faces pressed up against a small glassic block set in the door while spears and claws scraped against the metal of its fabric. Given time the Eldar may have found a way through but their time had run out.

Behind them the door they had chased the Amber Vipers through rumbled closed, trapping scores of Eldar in a wide cage. Kerubim rose to his feet and watched as the crowded Eldar redoubled their attempts to get through the door, their voices rendered silent by the airtight seals. He did not move to run or fight, content merely to observe as their doom fell. Unknown to the Xenos Kerubim had secreted a single canister within the airlock, one taken from the secret inner vault at tremendous risk to his person. Triggered by the closing of the door a tiny nozzle on the top opened and a stream of invisible gas shot forth.

The Eldar were pressed up against the door, shouting something as they beat on the metal but then one of them paused. A female with blonde hair stepped back, with blood pouring from her nose. She wiped it away with a confused look but more came and then it began seeping from her eyes. Another Eldar blinked as he also began to bleed and then another and then they were all desperately trying to stop the blood gushing from their faces. They fell back with horrified expressions but their torment had only just begun. An older Eldar suddenly fell to his knees with his hands pressed to his ears. Kerubim could not hear them but saw pain and agony in the expression of the afflicted, all of them starting to wail and scream as tendrils of pain plunged into their heads.

Even the animals were not immune, the beasts thrashing and wailing as inexplicable pain stuck them. They were infected, all of them infected with the vilest kind of plague. Kerubim couldn't look away as the Eldar fell, each of them screaming in horror. They convulsed in torment, clinging to their bleeding heads as they were attacked on a microscopic level. Their nerves were on fire for they were being eaten by a phage of terrifying potency and malevolence. A viral-clade so horrific it had been deliberately written out of human history, its very existence a stain its makers wished erased from their guilty consciences.

Kerubim watched as one Eldar female staggered upright, grey ooze running out of her ears and between her fingers. It was her brain, liquefying inside her skull and pouring out of her ears. She screamed like a wild animal for a moment, then collapsed in heap, eyes staring dully at the roof as her life ended. She had died quickly, which Kerubim knew made her a lucky individual. The others would take hours to pass, maybe days, left in torment for every second of their drawn out deaths.

Suddenly Kregulf stepped in front of the door, snarling, "I've seen enough."

Vardat sounded aghast as he spluttered, "What was vile that thing?"

Kerubim swallowed a dry lump in his throat and muttered, "According to my translations, it is a variant of the Life-Eater. A viral-clade that only attacks neural tissue, it eats the brain and nervous system but leaves all else intact. I believe it was called the 'Soul-Eater'."

Kregulf growled, "An Exterminatus class weapon, you unleashed an Exterminatus weapon? On purpose?!"

Vardat concurred, "Are you insane?!"

Kerubim lifted his hands and said, "The risked was measured, the virus is contained within."

Vardat didn't sound convinced as he eyed the door and muttered, "You are certain these air seals are intact, aren't you?"

Kerubim nodded as he said, "Absolutely, I wouldn't have dared otherwise. The virus is incredibly infectious but short-lived and designed to burn itself out. I believe it was meant to depopulate worlds of all intelligent life, but leave the biosphere intact for recolonization."

Kregulf sounded angry as he spat, "These are not tools any noble warrior should sully themselves with. This profanity does not kill, it tortures, slowly and cruelly. The kind of men who built this did not seek merely to end their foe; they enjoyed watching the suffering play out. At least tell me this is the worst."

Kerubim shook his head and said, "This was the only thing I dared touch in the vault. There was more, far more: sentient malware, Omniphage nanobot swarms, Quantum displacers that can topple multiple realities onto each other, psionic devices that scour worlds bare and Phospex warheads."

Kregulf stepped back in horror and said, "This is the stuff of nightmares, literally. Weapons like this brought about Old Night and unleashed the Age of Strife. Mankind should never have embraced such profane arts."

Kerubim was taken back at that but rallied, "You would not claim such power for the Chapter? The power to enact Exterminatus on command?"

Kregulf snapped back, "I would sooner take that filth and throw it into the nearest star. The power to kill a planet is a terrible burden, one no man should wish for, but this is something else entirely. To use such weapons is the death of honour. Nobody should embrace this corruption."

With that he turned and strode off, followed by Vardat. Kerubim was left with the dead and dying, their silent moans fading as their brains dissolved. Kerubim couldn't bring himself to look at them for in his hearts he was starting to suspect that Kregulf was right. In the wrong hands, these weapons could very well end the Imperium and begin a new Age of Strife.