Tales of the Amber Vipers Chapter 101
Brother-Sergeant Asphen was not happy with his assignment but that was nothing new. He didn't care much for his role in the Amber Vipers either but that was his demeanour on most days. He didn't like the fact he was on foot, he didn't like his scout-plate or the shotgun in his hands. He wasn't impressed with his squad-mates and he certainly didn't like this environment.
Asphen was trudging through the depths of the Serpens Rex, negotiating the tangled wreckage and fallen beams that cluttered most passages of the Starfort. Everywhere he looked walls had been blown out, spraying wiring and shattered machinery onto the floor. The pipes in the roof were cracked wide open, support beams were shorn in half and the mummified dead lay everywhere. Many times the Snakelet-scouts had been forced to reroute around corridors blocked by rubble, crawling through broken conduits and once even having to traverse a void-vented hold to proceed. They had done all this on the direct order of the Chapter Master, what should have been an elusive chance for glory turning out to be nothing more than one more disappointing slog.
Ahead Brother Bertana was waving an Auspex around as he called, "Energy emission is dead ahead, we're close."
Behind Brother Carn scoffed, "You're sure it's not another mess-hall, like last time?"
"Shut up Carn," Asphen growled, "Face forward and keep those shotguns straight."
The squad advanced, Carn waving his ridiculous pony-tail about like he was basking in the warm sun. His respirator mask hung under his chin, this compartment was pressurised and their genhanced frames could withstand the cold with ease. Asphen didn't like Carn, but then he didn't like any of the youths. Bertana with his long face, Davaad with his war-paint or Ekho with his filed teeth. The reason for this was that Asphen was older than any of them. He was second-generation whereas they were third, most of them so callow they still had their real teeth, not the vat-grown replacements all Astartes required due to harsh realities of war.
When the newest round of recruiting had come most of the Second-generation had been inducted into Secundus Cohort, a few even making it into Primus. Unfortunately someone had to lead the youths in battle so some had been held back to act as Sergeants. Asphen was such an individual, kept in Tertius Cohort so to lead youths in battle. It was demeaning, he should be on his way to glory and he felt this position was a direct insult. Unfortunately Battle-Captain Ferrac and Chapter Master Coluber cared nothing for his opinions and so Asphen had no choice but to lump it.
Brother Bertana was climbing over an upturned munitions truck that blocked the passage and remarked, "This place is immense."
Ekho replied, "Shame it's ruined, it must have been glorious in its prime."
As he followed Davaad asked, "Do you think we'll claim it for the Chapter?"
Carn scoffed, "Only if there's anything good to loot."
"Too right," Ekho chuckled, "Nothing ever changes."
Asphen was the last to climb over and he stomped down the dark corridor snapping, "Doesn't matter what we think, if Coluber wants this nest he will have it."
"Nest?" Ekho puzzled.
"It's what I heard the senior Brothers calling it," Asphen muttered, "Serpens Rex is too posh for the likes of us."
They proceeded further into the darkness, sweeping the empty passage with stablights as they crept forward. They were alert and armed but their inexperience was glaring. Asphen had seen their skills against the Orks and judged them depressingly average for Astartes, this lot would never make it to Secundus and it seemed neither would he. It was ever his lot to be last in line when others took all the glory. The idea that his sour attitude may be why he had been left behind never occurred to him.
As they walked Ekho leaned in and asked, "Asphen, is this a tripe hunt?"
Asphen sighed, "Probably, this power drain will most likely be nothing at all. Still the eyes of the Chapter are on us, so lets at least put on a good show."
Bertana suddenly pulled up and pointed to a large hatch before them, big enough to drive a Land Raider through, as he called, "Energy spike, dead ahead. Whatever we're looking for, it's in there."
"Probably just an emergency force field, eking out its last gasp of power," Carn sneered.
"Whatever it is we'll treat it as a threat until we know better," Asphen snarled, "Coluber's watching us so don't screw this up."
Carefully the squad inched inside the hatch and found themselves entering a high-vaulted chamber, ribbed with Adamantium girders. The doorway was surprisingly thick, ten meters of solid plasteel that when closed would have required concentrated lascannon fire to break down. Beyond were rotted gun-servitors, all facing the door in a ring of death.
Bertana commented, "Looks like the Amber Vipers didn't want just anyone getting in here."
"Then why leave the door open?" Ekho asked.
"Shut it," Asphen growled as they entered the vault proper.
It was huge, stretching as far as their stablights could illuminate. The walls were caked in frost and strange baffling devices and void-shield generators hung inert and powerless from them. The floor was covered in rows of storage racks, all empty and bare. They divided the vault into rows and squares, each one was taller than an Astartes and bearing strange icons.
Davaad leaned in and read a few then gasped, "Virus-bombs, Cyclonic torpedoes, Phospex…"
Asphen gulped, "This is where they stored their Exterminatus weapons."
"Looks like they used them all," Carn muttered.
"Then what's drawing the power?" Bertana asked.
Asphen gripped his shotgun tight as he snapped, "Split up, take a row and search the area. I don't like this one jot. If you see anything shoot first and ask questions later… in fact forget the questions."
The scouts broke up and inched down the rows. Asphen kept his stablight centred forward, illuminating the empty racks that had once held weapons designed to scour worlds of all life. Crossings and junctions came and went as they inched forward, pressing into the dark as their warm breath misted the freezing air with moisture. Asphen was feeling like a mouse creeping into a Carnodon's mouth and sensed something was watching him.
His vox-bead tickled in his ear and Bertana hailed, "Brother-Sergeant, the power spike… it's gone."
"What?!" he sent back in alarm.
"It's been shut off, I think our entrance tripped an automated sensor."
The hairs on Asphen's arms stood on end as alarm swelled in his breast. He strained his ears and heard a distant rumble, so faint a human would have dismissed it as imagination but his hearing was not so easily misled. He heard the noise of metal moving and the tread of something large in the dark, trying to go unnoticed. A thrill of anticipation ran through him as he realised they were not alone in the vault, something was with them and it was awake.
Suddenly there was a drawn-out scream, deep as only an Astartes could be yet crying in agony in a way no Space Marine should. Instantly he leapt into motion, shotgun held firmly in his hands as he raced towards the sound. The squad converged on the location, stablights waving erratically over the shelves as they ran. They screeched into a nexus of racks and found Brother Davaad, slit open from neck to groin to spill his innards onto the ground. The shock of a Brother's death ran through Asphen but his training made him note the wound was too wide for a sword or spear, whatever had done this had been broad, too broad for anything man-sized to wield.
"Davaad!" Carn cried in dismay
"Silence!" Asphen hissed, "Remember your training. Focus and stay alert, whatever did this is still out there."
Ekho gulped, "We need to fall back and summon reinforcements. The Codex Astartes says…"
"Retreat?!" Asphen interrupted, "Never, we are Astartes. We find what did this and tear it apart."
Bertana swallowed as he said, "What if it's some Necron Construct? Something they left behind to catch an intruder."
"Then we kill it," Asphen snarled, "We have Krak grenades that can split open a tank. Form pairs and keep sharp, track it by sound. I heard something moving."
The youths looked concerned but they obeyed. Carn and Bertana went left and Asphen and Ekho went right. They were separated by only a single rack of shelves yet it felt like leagues. The idea that something was stalking them triggering their most feral instincts, the sensation ancient cavemen had felt when a cunning predator had their scent. Asphen kept his hand near a grenade at all times as they advanced. He saw shadows moving in the edge of his beam of illumination and fought the urge to sketch enemies in the gloom with his mind.
As they hunted Ekho whispered, "Brother-Sergeant, should we be doing this? It won't reflect badly on us to admit we're outmatched."
"Keep your opinions to yourself," Asphen snarled, "I won't be second-guessed by…"
Suddenly the air was split by one scream and then another. This time accompanied by a loud banging of shotguns firing and a flash of actinic light. Asphen leapt into a fast run, racing to find the next gap in the shelves. He moved with genhanced speed but it seemed leagues and leagues to the end of the row. Abruptly there was a gap and the pair skidded around the corner, racing back up the other side.
They ran for all they were worth but ahead they saw the sickening sight of two bodies: Carn and Bertana. Carn had been electrocuted to death, his body fried to a crisp. Bertana was hanging from a rack, his feet above their heads and a metal spar sticking out of his chest as blood dripped from his dead feet. It couldn't have been more than thirty seconds since they had encountered whatever it was, but the Astartes hadn't stood a chance.
Asphen's throat tightened as he hissed, "It took them apart like they were nothing."
Ekho knelt and picked up a shell case as he remarked, "This should be hot but its cold as ice, everything is. Look at the ice on the shelves, that's not natural. They got off a few shots, but what were they firing at...There's no sign of enemy blood anywhere."
"Necrons don't bleed," Asphen hissed, "Whatever did this was big, too big for us. We can't match this, we need to run."
"But you said," Ekho protested.
"Forget what I said," Asphen snapped, "We fall back and summon the Chapter in force, now!"
Instantly the pair broke into a run, heading back towards the entrance. Asphen could feel the enemy closing upon him, the sense that the predator was about to pounce. He cursed his hubris for not retreating earlier, the knowledge that his foolish pride had got half his squad killed a lump of burning coal in his gut. He had screwed up badly but had no time for recriminations. There was only their flight and the desperate attempts to reach out with his vox, trying to contact his masters for aid.
Through the darkness he ran, taking turns that he knew would lead them to the exit. He put one foot after another, all thoughts of glory swept from his mind. It was after the third turn that he realised he was running alone. He screeched to a halt and spun about, but of Ekho there was no sign, he had vanished. This shouldn't be possible, he was but a step behind but somehow Ekho had disappeared.
Asphen was about to call out but suddenly there was another scream, wracked with agony and tormet. It was close, too close for comfort and Asphen knew it was too late to save his last Brother and that he was next. He hurriedly backed up, retreating towards the door with shotgun held before him, stablight sweeping back and forth for a target as he voxed, "Chapter Master Coluber, Battle-Captain Ferrac, come in. Brother Asphen to Chapter Command, can you hear me?!"
His vox-bead crackled and a tinny but blessed voice called, "… phen this is Colu… Report sta…"
"Enemy contact engaged," Asphen called as he retreated, "Large contact, unknown form, possibly Necron."
"Repeat," Coluber signalled, "Did you s…eron? Report squad stat…"
"They're dead!" Asphen blurted out, "It killed them. It's my fault, I got them all killed!"
"Hold true Brother," Coluber voxed, "Keep your spi… strong... I am on-route to aid…"
Whatever was next Asphen never heard it. There was a soft scuffle behind him and he turned about in alarm, looking up and up and up. Between him and the door was a massive shape, twice the height of an Astartes in plate and powerful enough to break one in half without trying. His eyes widened as he took in its bulk and he grasped how wrong he had been, how utterly wrong. Then there was only pain and torment and his screams as it claimed him body, mind and soul.