Tales of the Amber Vipers Chapter 73

The ramp shook with the stomp of the approaching foes, packed ranks of Eldar charging towards the embattled defenders. They came on their looming mounts, the tusked beasts in front, followed by a single example of the shelled creatures. Their riders were eager for the kill, their lips drawn back in vicious grins as they anticipated the bloodshed to come. Against them stood Ferrac, all alone at the top of the ramp. The Battle-Captain's back blazed with heat from his impromptu manoeuvre and the Frost-field projector glowed softly at his feet but it couldn't help him. He was one Marine set against scores of foes and he knew death had found him at last. He welcomed it, this was a battle such as songs were sung of, human courage and resolution set against impossible odds, what more could any Space Marine ask for?

In the corner of his eye he saw Seyda running forward, Burst-lance held low as he tried to intervene but it was too late. Ferrac had travelled far along the beam and the enemy was seconds away from engaging. Ferrac did not flinch from their approach, merely lifting his Axe-rake vertically before his eyes and asking its spirit for one last effort, to stay true to the last. With the seconds left to contact Ferrac braced himself and intoned a final benediction, "Blessed be the defenders of Mankind. Those who fight in the name of the Emperor and die for His glory shall rest eternal within His grace."

The first animal crested the ridge, passing through the Frost-field without more than a shiver. Its maw opened wide to roar a hot snarl of bestial anger and its rider lashed out with a spear intended to pierce Ferrac's heart, but the Battle-Captain had already moved. As the ivory tusks came at him Ferrac leapt high, pushing off the ramp in one great bound. The tusks swept by under his boots and the spear missed his body entirely as Ferrac planted one great boot into the beast's face and bounded higher. The pair seemed dumbstruck by his move and the Eldar barely had time to gasp before the axe-rake swung wide and its roaring chainteeth took his head off. Ferrac landed on the back of the beast's head but was nearly thrown from his feet as it bucked wild, wailing lament at the death of its rider. Ferrac staggered as he tried to keep his feet but his hand was already reversing his grip on his weapon and then he slammed the sharp point on the other side into the point where the head met the neck. The sharpened wedge of metal cleaved through vertebra with ease and severed the spinal column, and the animal flopped helplessly as its body was cut off from its brain.

Ferrac hit the ramp hard as the animal sagged, only to be smashed in the chest by another tusked beast. The huge head slammed into him and knocked him down, causing him to fall to the metal surface. Instantly a huge foot pounded down an inch from his head, the rider high above urging his beast to crush Ferrac under its enormous weight. Ferrac desperately rolled aside but was encumbered by the weight of his jump pack and the next stomp caught him a glancing blow on his helm, cracking the ceramite faceplate in many places. His head was snapped back by the force of it and his vision crazed as the autosenses fought to stay functional yet he felt the cool kiss of air tickle his cheekbones and knew his helm's integrity was violated.

The force of the impact sent him sprawling onto his chest with his axe-rake pinned underneath him. He tried to rise but Ferrac was trapped by the weight of the mount above him, its furry belly pressing into his back and preventing him from rising. Ferrac felt desperation creeping into his soul, he was trapped, unable to free his weapon and unable to roll free. He tried to crawl to freedom but in every direction huge feet slammed down repeatedly, the animal trying to crush him with its bulk as it roared with frustrated ire. The Battle-Captain knew he was in a bad state, pinned, unable to fight or flee. It was only a matter of time until the animal thought to move clear, leaving him exposed for a killing blow. Worse than that it might decide to simply sit on him, an inglorious end, one unworthy of an Astartes. Unfortunately in his trapped state he could not free his weapon or stand up, so he did the only thing he could; he triggered his jump pack.

The turbines over his shoulders screamed as they sucked in air and spewed forth searing jets of fire. Ferrac was slammed into the floor as the thrust tried to snap his bones and were he a mortal his spine would have shattered. Even genhanced as he was he felt like a mountain was sitting on his back, pressing him hard into the metal surface. In the confined space the heat was incredible, flames licking at the backs of his legs and spreading over his shoulders. Even being inside a suit designed to withstand the extreme cold and heat of space it was like being in a painter's vision of hell. Then the flames found the cracks in his faceplate and poured in. Ferrac cried aloud as licking tongues of flame kissed his cheekbones and forehead, searing the skin like a blowtorch. The pain was excruciating and for an instant he dreaded that the fire would claim his eyes too, but he held on, for his suffering was for a purpose.

Above his head the beast screamed as it was burned alive, licking flames clawing into its belly. Flesh seared and withered in the inferno, cooking its innards and charring them to sooty grizzle. The flames reached high around its flanks and engulfed the rider's lower half, causing the Eldar to scream in pain. The pair of them trashed and stomped about, threatening to crush Ferrac without even meaning to, but then the wild convulsions took it too close to the edge and it fell away, toppling off the side of the ramp as flames trailed behind it.

Ferrac was left exposed and vulnerable as his thrusters shut off. He felt every inch of his body aching and the temptation to lay still and recover was an anchor around his spirit. The pain, the weariness and the damage to his face dragged on his spirit, all he wanted to do was lay there, even if it meant his death. Yet Ferrac was no mewling mortal, he was Astartes, the product of the most brutal and demanding training regime mankind had ever devised, honed by hypno-indoctrination and hammered on the anvil of war. He had lived through the death of one Chapter and forged a new one with his own hands. His will was as hard as diamond and his ardour keen as a razor's edge. Ferrac forced his body to rise, overriding the protests of his battered form. He climbed to his feet; fully expecting to be overrun in a moment, yet to his shock the Eldar did not come at him, distracted by something else. It took painfully long seconds for him to realise his ears were being hammered by repeated firing and his eyes filling with the red flashes of energy weapons. The Eldar were being fired at from below, those who had mounted the ramp caught in the flank by a salvo coming in at an oblique angle.

Ferrac's eyes swivelled to one side and he beheld the glorious sight of reinforcements. Standing in an entranceway were Kerubim, Kregulf, Vardat and the robot Bane. They were laying down repeated blasts of fire. Kregulf fired his Fission-blaster repeatedly, blasting the Eldar force with radioactive fallout, while Kerubim wielded an energy rifle that disintegrated its targets, leaving behind flashing afterimages. Bane was hammering away with its rotor cannons, sweeping the Eldar and their animals with flurries of bullets. Vardat stood in the doorway with a Burst-lance held ready to defend against any counter-attack. The Xenos scum were unprepared for a flanking attack and they milled in confusion, desperately trying to turn about and get off the ramp but they were pinned in by their own bulk, their mounts too cumbersome to turn quickly.

Ferrac's vox crackled and he heard Kregulf call, "Looks like we got here just in time."

Ferrac could only gasp, "Good timing."

Kregulf responded, "Hold back while we pick them off."

Ferrac heard Seyda finally reach his position and the Battle-Captain snarled, "Negative, I'm going in. Lay down suppressing fire."

Kregulf started, "But the blast-zone, you're too close."

"Then shoot well," Ferrac snarled, "I want blood."

With that Ferrac threw himself at the reeling Eldar, Seyda at his side. The axe-rake rose and fell, slicing deeply into flanks and legs while the Burst-lance cleaved off limbs, leaving behind flaring plumes of ash. The Eldar had no idea what hit them, unable to respond as the pair waded into the midst of them and all the while red and gold blasts tore at them, as bullets punched them from their perches. Ferrac felt the pain of his injuries but forced it aside as he sliced and hacked and tore with his weapon. Harder to ignore was the burnt ruin of his face, itching as rad-particles crept through his cracked faceplate. He knew the fallout of the Fission-blaster would be scarring his burned flesh even further, causing Emperor only knew what kind of permanent damage, but he cared not. The glorious slaughter filled his hearts with righteous joy as his zeal drove him into the midst of the enemy.

The Eldar died in droves to the Amber Vipers, falling before the charge of the Battle-Captain. Yet there was one who resisted. The large shelled creature, now bereft of riders, was thrashing in the midst of the frantic scrum, knocking aside the other beasts with mad cries of pain and distress. It was directionless but in its frenzied bucking completely blocked Ferrac's path. The Battle-Captain ran up to its side and swept his axe-rake over its shell but it skittered off, doing no harm. Seyda swept his Burst-lance about but astonishingly it made no impression either, the beast's hide impervious to his blow.

"Fang-rot," Seyda spat, "What's it made of? Nothing can penetrate that."

Yet Ferrac snarled, "I can do it."

He clamped his axe-rake to his hip and his right hand grabbed a knife from his belt. It was the small gas-compression knife he had taken from the armoury, its bulky handle fitting his grip perfectly. Ferrac took up the knife and looked for a weak spot and he saw it as the beast's head swept about. The huge skull was heavily reinforced but its eyes were wide open, all too soft and vulnerable. The head came at him like a wrecking ball and Ferrac knew he had to time this perfectly else he would be killed in the collision. For a single heart-stopping moment he was still, but then he moved, thrusting his knife right into the oncoming eye.

The knifepoint penetrated the eye and there was a spray of disgusting optical fluid that coated his breastplate. His arm sank up to the elbow in the gooey interior but before the animal could even scream in pain he triggered the rune on the hilt. The knife responded by blowing out a burst of compressed gas, expanding within the interior of the skull with explosive force. Retina and nerves were obliterated and the skull cracked apart from within, yet the true damage came from what was laced into that gas. In a small chamber in the hilt was a store of acid, milked from Ferrac's own Betcher's Gland and droplets of it were carried with the spray of gas, driving straight into the beast's braincase. The shelled creature froze as it neurons were destroyed by acid, eaten apart in seconds. It was doubtful it even knew it was dead before it sagged down, sucking at Ferrac's arm as it fell away.

The Battle-Captain drew back his hand and shook optical jelly from his hand as he muttered, "This will never wash off."

Besides him Seyda gasped, "You killed it with one blow, truly the Emperor was with you this day."

Ferrac picked a bit of gristle off his knife and said, "That's all well and good, but what's happened to the enemy?"

Everywhere the Eldar were fleeing, the death of their mightiest champions too much for them to bear. They ran for the dark entrances to the Warp Drive, turning their back and running way as fast as their mounts could take them. They were chased by roving blasts of energy but few were cut down, the rest fled for their lives and did not look back as they left the Astartes among the piles of slain Xenos.

Ferrac sagged as he felt the pain of his wounds, his back was burning from excess heat and his limbs were cold. Worse was that he could no longer feel his face, but he gave no consideration to that, he was alive and that was enough. He saw Kregulf and Kerubim and Vardat closing, the robot Bane close on their heels and Kregulf called out, "Hail, Battle-Captain, you won!"

Ferrac shook his head and said, "We won."

Kregulf nodded and said, "It was an honour to serve, I am ashamed I play any part in casting doubt on the Chapter's practices."

Ferrac allowed, "I will tell Coluber of this, it may go some way to mollifying your punishment. But what is Kerubim staring at?"

The Tech-adept was indeed staring at him, even under a helm his horror was evident as he whispered, "Battle-Captain… your face."

Ferrac waved aside the concern as he said, "Can wait, we need to move. The Eldar are broken, its time to head back to the surface and contact the Chapter. We need to round up Berio and Paneyr and make our way out. Come on, there's no time to waste gawping."

With that Ferrac led the Amber Vipers out of the battlefield field, leaving behind a wasteland of death and destruction as a testament to his wrath.