Tales of the Amber Vipers Chapter 99

Consciousness stirred slowly, creeping up on him like a great beast stalking its prey. Flutters of wakefulness flowed through him, forcing him into alertness. Slowly he became aware that his body hurt, a pounding pulse making his head ache and his throat close. It was the beating of his hearts, a rhythm telling Kazao he was alive. That was a start.

Kazao lifted his weary head and looked to see where he was. The first thing he noted was that he seemed to be bound upright in an open box, a coffin resting on its end. The second thing he noted was that the coffin seemed to be in some form of laboritorum, made out of dark stone and filled with alien tools and devices. This was confusing, it did not resemble a Chapter Apothecarion and he could not recall his arrival. The last thing he noted was that he wasn't alone, fleshy bodies were bound into other coffins and laid out upon the slabs, dissected to reveal their innards. They weren't normal, each of them strangely warped and twisted into blasphemies of human perfection. They were aberrants, like he was.

The sight brought his last recollections into sharp detail. He remembered the fight against the Necrons, the four-armed fiend effortlessly rebuffing his squad. He remembered being caught and examined like a bug in a net, the Necron's strange interest and then being teleported away. After that was only a confused blur of pain, oppression and drug-induced hazes. Shimmering visions that could have been wakeful moments or strange dreams. It did not matter, either way he remained a prisoner.

Kazao felt outrage build within him and threw his body against his restraints, only to come up short. He was bound by the arms and legs and neck by silver bands, deceptively thin but strong as Adamantium. A Space Marines's strength was beyond human but was still no match for these shackles and he could not break them. Only his head was free to move, otherwise he was trapped.

"Finally, he's awake," came a voice.

"Who's there?!" Kazao spat invectively.

He twisted his head about and found himself confronted by a face covered in volcanic ash, with red eyes and long fangs protruding from the upper gums. An instinctive loathing arose in Kazao, his Hypno-indoctrination demanding he destroy that which was other, any unnatural mutant. It took a force of will to remind himself that this was another Amber Viper, doomed by the same flaw that blighted Kazao. Like him this one's Gene-seed had mutated, leaving him changed into an Aberrant. Only about three percent of Amber Vipers suffered this curse and they were shamed and shunned. They did not associate, they were not an order. They hid in the ranks and covered their faces, seeking only worthy deaths among true comrades.

The other nodded and said, "Centre yourself. Name's Marko and you are?"

"Kazao."

Marko accepted this and asked, "Well Kazao, welcome to our gaol. I guess your story's the same as ours, captured and locked into this prison to be experimented on."

Events were happening fast but Kazao asked, "We?"

From across the room another, one with green scales down the back of his arms and legs, called, "I'm Zasio, just as eager as you are to get out of here."

Kazao sank back and inquired, "Where is this place and how many of us are here?"

Marko answered, "Somewhere in the Necron base, we're guessing. As to numbers... there were eleven of us at the start, now there's eight."

Kazao looked at the gory piles of meat laid out on slabs and gulped, "Those were Brothers?"

"Good Brothers," Marko growled, "That four-armed fiend took them apart before our eyes."

Zasio hissed, "It didn't care we were watching, didn't care about our promises of revenge. It's like we're nothing to the Necrons but lab animals. Finally it got called away to some other affair and rushed off. lt didn't even bother to tidy up."

Kazao thumped his head on the back of the coffin and hissed, "We need to get out of here before it comes back."

"That's what we've been attempting for hours," Marko snapped, "Don't suppose you've got some fabulous hidden ability to get us out of here?"

Kazao tested his bonds again and sighed, "No, just what you see."

Zasio muttered, "What we really need is Nazrik to wake up, he can get out of anywhere."

Kazao twisted about and saw another Brother in the next coffin along. His mutation was far less obvious, his skin oily and wet but not inhumanly so. There was a serpentine cast to his features and his jaw hung a little too low, like his joints were too flexible. Kazao saw the Marine was unconscious in his restraints but the angle of the coffin let him see clearly and it was only four feet away.

Kazao had an idea and chomped his jaw, triggering his Betchers Gland. Marko saw his motions and protested, "No good, we tried that, this stuff resists acid."

"Not… my… intent…" Kazao replied.

Slowly he drew his head back and summoned acidic spittle, then he jerked his head forward and sent a gobbet flying high, too high. It sailed over the coffin of Nazrik and hit the wall behind. Kazao grimaced and summoned another gobbet, drawing his head back once more. This time his aim was short and the spittle hit the floor, dissolving limply without even marring the shine of the black stone. Zasio scoffed, "This is pointless, we can't dissolve our bonds."

Kazao ignored him as he gave it one more go and this time his aim was perfect. The acidic spittle flew right where he intended and hit Nazrik in the cheek. The Brother jerked awake with a cry of pain, his cheek sizzling as the acid chewed off his skin. He shook his head desperately trying to fling as much off as he could and roared, "Who did that?!"

Zasio interrupted, "Nazrik! Can you get free?"

The serpentine Brother fixed his eyes on the others and hissed, "Zasio, I should have known this was your doing."

Zasio rolled his eyes and said, "Just for once could you leave it alone. I didn't spit on you, he did."

"I bet I was your idea," Nazrik snarled, "I told you to stay away from me."

Kazao sensed these two didn't get along and interrupted, "Nazrik, I spat on you and it was my idea. Now you can argue about it or find us a way free."

Zasio added, "Come on, do your thing."

Nazrik glared at them then looked down and began to squirm. Kazao watched in baffled confusion as hands pulled against his shackles, then fingers began to dislocate. Thumbs and knuckles slid over each other as he pulled them through the narrow aperture, like the tendons were made of elastic. He slipped his hands free and then his elbows, arms and shoulders dislocating with sinuous ease. In moments he had his arms free and then he reached up and grabbed his neck ring before he pulled. Kazao's jaw fell as he watched Nazrik's chest slip through a bond far to small for him to fit through. Ribs compressing like they weren't the thick plate of an Astartes' Black Carapace. Kazao has never seen the like, he certainly couldn't do that, but in moments Nazrik was free.

The Amber Viper dropped to the floor and pulled his arms about with a series of popping clicks as he moaned, "I hate doing that."

"Never mind," Marko snapped, "Free us."

Nazrik moved behind each coffin in turn, doing something Kazao couldn't see. One by one he released the prisoners, dropping them to the floor and Kazao breathed easier when his turn came.

Soon eight Astartes were free within the chamber and those awake set to waking up the rest. Confusion and dismay were prevalent yet they remained Space Marines and their tactical focus returned with breathtaking speed. Within a minute they were briefed and ready to go.

Introductions were necessarily brief, there was a giant with muscles an Ogryn would be proud of, threaded with red veins. He went by the name Hasak and he didn't say much but his eyes were sharp. There was Scarrio whose head and elbows were crested with bony ridges and Eckun who looked completely normal save for his glowing blue eyes. Lastly there was Torfa, who was covered in hair, with large claws on the tips of his fingers and a mouth full of fangs. This was it then, eight Aberrants, naked and unarmed in the middle of a Necron Tomb. Even by Space Marine standards that was poor odds.

Kazao barked, "Let's get out of here."

"Hold on, Zasio snapped, "Who put you in charge?!"

Nazrik growled, "Worry about glory later. Everybody arm yourself and move out."

Kazao grabbed a surgical knife from a slab, it wasn't much but it would have to do. Others took saws and drills and other implements that at the very least made them feel better. For the dead there was no honour to be given, their gene-seed was gone and tainted beyond use regardless. Leaving the dead behind Kazao saw only one way out of here and jogged up a short tunnel, pulling up as they emerged outside.

Kazao was amazed to find himself emerging high up the side of a black pyramid. It dwelt inside a chamber but one so vast it was almost possible to think one was outside. The roof was a blurry smear high above and the walls mere suggestions to the left and right, forward and back there seemed to be no end to the place. The floor was covered by fields made up of glowing blue squares, each a ten feet to a side and just as high. They were separated by exactly the same distance, making the floor resemble a black and blue checkerboard. There was no wind to be felt, no sound or motion, all was still and silent and the temperature prickled the skin with coldness.

Zasio looked down the side of the pyramid and observed, "Smooth as glass and no stairs. There's no way down."

"Always the fast way," Hasak rumbled as the giant stepped out and jumped.

The warrior slid down the side of the pyramid on his arse, skimming down with effortless ease. The others looked at each other then jumped too, landing on their rears. Kazao was shocked by how frictionless the material was and he skidded down at breakneck speed, totally unable to arrest his momentum. His bare hands and feet made no purchase on the slope and he tumbled in an undignified pose, only to hit the floor and roll head over heels in a breathless heap. He came up short of one of the glowing blue boxes and lifted his head, to find himself looking up at a tank.

Looming over him was a Leman Russ tank, it's broad glacis plate squatting over it and it's battlecannon loaded and ready to fire. Kazao skidded away on his arse, trying to get out of the way but a moment later it occurred to him that it wasn't moving. It was utterly still, the engine making no noise and the tracks not twitching. It appeared stuck in a single moment, trapped in stasis for all time. There was even a man sticking out the top, waving his sabre in the air to exhort some battlecry. He too was not moving, a bead of blood running down his face held in a perpetual drop.

Kazao stood up and said, "Where did this come from?"

Nazrik answered, "Its not alone. Look at the other boxes: Chimeras, Valkyries, Hydras, Sentinels, mortar teams, Ogyrns. Look at the uniforms, battlefield Preachers, Commissars, officers…"

"It's the Ghost Crusade," Zasio declared.

"There must thousands of them," Kazao whispered, "Frozen for all time."

Marko was peering at the corners of the blue boxes, where silver devices pinned the energy fields in place, and suggested, "Maybe we could…"

"Touch nothing!" Kazao barked.

"But…" Marko protested.

"We have no idea what these things do or how they operate. Disrupting the field could be lethal. Even if we could shut them off, how do you think a bunch of Crusaders will react seeing eight mutants appear before them?"

"Leave it," Hasak rumbled, "Go this way."

He set off down a row, heading away from the pyramid. The other followed but Zasio inquired, "Why this way?"

"Good as any other way."

Silence fell as the group trudged on, jogging between the glowing boxes. Nothing challenged their departure and they saw no signs of maintenance crews or workers. It seemed this place ran itself, perfectly content to operate without blessings or ritual appeasements. That sat wrong with Kazao, the Machine Spirits were fickle and wayward, the idea that someone would let them run unconsecrated grated on his sensibilities. More proof that these Xenos were foul and warranted only destruction, as if he needed any.

The pyramid shrank into the distance as they fled and Marko mused, "How will we contact the Chapter?"

"One problem at a time," Kazao muttered, "Lets get out of here first."

Suddenly Zasio pointed a finger and cried, "Look! A Jokearo!"

Everybody paused to look and Kazao saw it was indeed one of those simian Xenos. He's never seen one before but his tactical indoctrination made the orange fur unmistakeable. It wasn't alone either, around it crowded other Xenos, of many races and origins. It seemed this place had an organising principle and they had left the human storage region behind to pass into other races' zones.

As they walked Nazrik listed, "Eldar, Knib, Fra'al, Talestrians, Demiurg, Borlac, Scythian, Tau, Caridans… I thought they were extinct."

Marko exclaimed, "Look this row is Orks. The entire row filled with Greenskins, as far as the eye can see!"

Kazao saw he was right, burly savages caught in poses of violent frenzy. Many of them still hanging out of their buggies and wartukks. They formed a green wall of frozen violence, forever trapped in a single moment of aggression. Kazao could almost hear them shouting their feral war cry and he hissed, "Nobody touch anything."

"Too right," Zasio muttered, "The last thing we need is a Waaagh, on top of everything else

Kazao was about to suggest they press on when suddenly a deep boom rolled through the air. From a great distance it echoed, then again and again like a massive gong being struck repeatedly. All eyes rose as the horizon darkened, obscured by a grim shadow. Like a volcanic cloud of ash it rose high and Kazao instantly knew it boded them ill. "They've noticed we've gone missing," he exclaimed, "RUN!"

With that the Aberrants turned and ran, fleeing as fast as they could into the field of blue boxes. Desperately attempting to escape notice and knowing their chances of escape were practically nil.