Tales of the Amber Vipers Chapter 104

Kazao didn't know where they were. This was enemy territory and they had no maps or references to steer by. For hours they had fled deeper into the Dyson Sphere, exploring its strange contours and maze like interior, but seen nothing they recognised or could identify. The Necrons had built this environment with no reference to human understanding, it was their home ground and they held all the advantages.

Currently the Aberrants were squatting under a strange monolith of black stone, hanging in mid-air with no visible means of support. It was as big as ten Baneblades laid end to end and long green lines converged on a hollow circle set in its middle, that bored straight through it. None of them could even guess what function it served, or if it even had one. Kazao had placed his hand against it once and felt no vibration, no tang of energy or sense of a Machine Spirit at work. For all he knew it was a statue or a cogitator or maybe a reactor core, there was no way to tell. Yet it was serving as a splendid cover.

He looked out from their shelter and beheld an endless vista of silver metal and black stone. Dropping away from where he stood was a black abyss, beyond which lay eldritch devices and green power lines, crackling with energy. This was the heart of the Dyson Sphere, where its almighty function was performed and the technology on display was bewildering. Machines in the shape of pyramids and spires and squares rose as far as the eye could see, a convolution of knotted angles that made his head throb. Machines thrummed with latent power and between them drifted Canoptek Sypders, mindless tending to their tasks with all the awareness of a servitor. The light was dim and hazy, surfaces cold to the touch and there was the taste of metal in the air, an iron tang that caught in the back of the throat. It was like being a tiny bug caught inside a Chronometric timekeeper, seeing the cogs and gears moving in infinite complexity and knowing one misstep would see them crushed to paste.

At his scaled feet was a sheer drop, falling vertically until it disappeared into pitch darkness. Yet about twenty feet down there was a pair of beams, made of solid light. They were about five meters apart and ran straight, before they vanished into a tiny green mote in the distance. Kazao was counting under his breath and sure enough when he reached zero there was a silver flash in the corner of his eye. Suddenly a long silver conveyance flew around a corner and passed under him, segmented parts riding photonic rails like a freight train. It was moving fast but still took five whole seconds to whisk by, before riding off towards the green mote.

Kazao watched it go then stepped back and declared, "Four minutes thirty-five seconds since the last one. Just like the last three we've seen."

Marko grunted, "Regular as clockwork, these Necrons are as dogmatic as a Tech-Priest."

Zasio asked, "Then we're all agreed?"

Kazao affirmed, "We jump on the train and ride out of here. It's far faster than we can run and will take us away from our pursuers."

Everybody seemed resigned to the plan but Nazrik scoffed, "You hope, you have no idea where that train goes."

"Do you have a better plan?" Zasio snapped.

Nazrik glared at him and spat, "Anything that gets me away from you."

Suddenly the hirsute Torfa snarled, "Nt wth ths tw fghtng!"

Marko nodded as he said, "Torfa's right, your bickering is costing us time and focus. Knock it off or you'll get us all killed!"

Kazao concurred, "Four minutes, then we jump. Get ready."

The others stomped off as Kazao took up his stolen rifle. It was a strange device, a long barrel fitted to a series of glowing orbs and pulsing firing chambers. He had no idea how it worked, how it liquefied brain tissue, he couldn't even find a trigger but it would serve as a club. He hefted it once and then looked at Marko and asked, "How's the leg?"

The ash-faced Marine looked at his leg which was covered in clotted Larraman cells and growled, "It's dead weight."

It was true, below the packed scar tissue the leg had gone grey and pallid, rapidly edging into black. The scything blow to his limb had severed vital arteries and smashed the genhanced bone. It was hanging by a wisp of tendon and artificial scabbing but it was obviously dead. No Apothecary could restore this limb to life, he would never walk on it again.

Marko looked up and stated, "It's time to face reality, I'm not going to make the jump."

Kazao swallowed as he countered, "Nonsense, we'll carry you. When we get back to the Chapter Shrios will fit you with an Augmetic and you'll be fit to fight in a few weeks."

Marko shook his head and said, "Lugging me along will make that jump impossible. You need to leave me."

Kazao knew it was true but suddenly the muscled giant Hasak growled, "I carry."

Marko's head snapped about and he hissed, "Don't be an idiot, you need to go!"

But Hasak's jaw was set as he stated firmly, "I carry."

Kazao sighed, "Looks like he's made his mind up."

Marko threw up his hands and lamented, "Idiots! Very well, if you insist on this lunacy at least let me even the odds. Pass me a scalpel and I'll cut the leg off. Its weight will throw you off."

Kazao saw he intended to slice off his own leg and gulped, "We have no pain balms…"

"It's only pain," Marko said as he placed his hands around the limb, "You may not want to watch this part."

Kazao slunk off as Marko started slicing his own leg off, even Space Marines not wanting to watch someone mutilate themselves. He went to stand between Torfa and Zasio and remarked, "Three minutes."

"Nzruk!" Torfa snarled through a mouth of wet fangs, "Prblm!"

Kazao muttered, "I know, I know, but we can't do anything about Nazrik's grudge. What's it all about anyway?"

"Nazrik? It's a long story," Zasio sighed.

Kazao however pressed, "We can't afford this bickering anymore, what's going on with you two?"

"Nothing," Zasio demurred.

"H jt thm trnd nt brrnts!" Torfa snarled.

"You're telling it all wrong!" Zasio protested, "Very well, if you must know. Nazrik and I were in the same training batch. You remember how they divided us up into groups for the Gene-seed implantation; well I found a way to trick the draw."

Kazao frowned as he countered, "But it was randomised, we were sent to the Apothecarion by drawing lots."

Zasio lamented, "Well I outsmarted them, there were five of us who were good friends and we wanted to stay together. Me, Nazrik and a few others. We thought we would be squad together, a group of heroes like in the legends… idiots that we were. So anyway I tricked the draw and got us all assigned to the same batch, we went in and received the first implantations and that's when the Aberrations started."

Kazao shuddered as he remembered the horrific sight of his own flesh mutating, his tainted gene-seed warping his body in unnatural ways. Few Amber Vipers suffered such an affliction but those who did were condemned to lives of shame and disgrace. Other Chapters would euthanize any deviants without hesitation but the nascent Amber Vipers needed every bolter they could get and allowed the Aberrants to fight, on the understanding that they would have no legacy other than a worthy death.

Kazao probed, "Nazrik blames you?"

Zasio lamented, "He's right to; it was my trickery that got us assigned to that tainted batch. Three of my friends died on the slabs and we two were left as Aberrants. Had I not done it then Nazrik would be a whole and untainted Space Marine, maybe we both would."

Kazao didn't know what to say to that, how could he comfort someone who lived with their own mistakes every day. The consequences of Zasio's choices were writ in his own flesh, he saw it every time he looked in a mirror. Kazao's mutation had been random and tragic, a universal hiccup, but Zasio had condemned himself to it and his former friend too. There was no easing of the guilt Zasio must feel.

Suddenly Torfa jerked up and snarled, "Trn Kms!"

"Right on schedule," Kazao declared as he shrugged the rifle between his shoulder blades, "Get ready to jump!"

The Aberrants lined up along the edge of the drop, waiting for the first glimpse of the coming train. Zasio, Kazao, Torfa and Nazrik all crouched in preparation. Hasak hoisted Marko over his shoulder, notably leaving one leg behind on the floor. Marko's face was screwed up in agony but he did not scream, no Astartes would let pain make him cry. Kazao knew the weight would make Hasak's jump twice as hard but there was nothing to be done, save count down in his head and prepare.

He counted down to one and cried, "Now!" On command the Aberrant's leapt, pushing out over the dizzying drop. At the exact moment they did so a blur of silver came barrelling around the corner, racing along at breakneck speed. They had timed it perfectly, in the time it took them to drop the distance the train was under them and their feet hit its surface with a thump, but they had misjudged its speed.

"Arr!" Kazao yelled as his feet were dragged out from under him, the silver surface yanking his legs aside. His shoulder hit the top of the train and he rolled towards the edge, one hand scrabbling at the slippery substance but could find no seam. The metal could have been cast from a single piece of material, without rivet or join. The rifle across his back clanged on the living metal but did nothing to slow him. Wind sheer pushed him back and suddenly his legs fell into the gap between segmented parts of the conveyance. The jolt ran through him but his hands caught the lintel and arrested his fall.

Kazao breathed deeply as he pulled himself up and looked to see the others. Nazrik, Zasio and Torfa had landed more gracefully than he had but Hasak and Marko were clinging to the side of the train. Their hands were slipping and in a few more moments they would fall into the black abyss. Instantly Kazao leapt to assist, grabbing Marko's wrist and planting his feet squarely. He heaved Marko onto the top and flopped back, sucking the cold air into his lungs as the wind whistled past. Zasio and Nazrik were heaving Hasak up and the muscled giant came up slowly, one centimetre at a time until he was flat on the roof.

Everybody sank back in relief and Zasio spat, "That was too close."

Marko's chest was heaving in agony but he gasped, "My thanks Brothers, you have shown me what true courage…"

His thanks were cut off as Torfa yelped, "Lk Ot, Ncrns!" Kazao's head shot about in alarm and sure he saw what they were hurtling towards. The silver train was curving slightly as it followed the rails into a glowing green archway, filled with a puddle of light. Some form of portal that would take it far away. Yet lined up on top of the arch were a squad of Necron Warriors, facing them squarely with Gauss rifles aimed. The Aberrants were being whisked towards a firing squad and there was no way off the train that didn't lead to instant death. Kazao's looked for a way to evade but there was nothing they could do and the train would be in range in moments. Desperate for any way to avoid being blasted to pieces Kazao yelled, "Quick, take cover between compartments!"

The Aberrants jumped to follow him as he dove between the segments of the train, hanging from the lintel by his fingertips. The others flopped down alongside him, Marko grimacing as pain shot through him. The wind tore at their fingers but Kazao held on firmly as they sped on, heading right into the teeth of the Necron's fire. A moment later actinic green blasts shot overhead, trying to blast the Aberrants. Terrible gouges were blown into the material of the train, atoms stripped from the living metal by arcane sciences no human understood. Kazao watched in horror as a hole emerged two inches from his arm, blown straight through the top and out again like it was tissue paper.

More blasts tore into the train as it whisked on and Zasio cried, "This will never work!"

"A few more seconds," Kazao implored, "Give us a few more seconds."

The firing increased in tempo until the top of the train was punched full of holes but by a miracle all the Aberrants avoided being hit. Kazao could see nothing but the slice of space directly overhead, filled with dim shadows. Then in an instant later green light engulfed them as they plunged into the archway. Kazao felt like he was being turned inside out as space folded and contorted around them, tunnelling through the fabric of the universe and taking them far, far away.

Reality returned as the train shot out of another archway and the slice above their heads turned a brilliant blue, the colour of a sky on a sunny day. Kazao heaved himself up and cried, "We're out! We're on a world…"

He stopped as he beheld their new location. They were travelling over a vast plain of metal, flat and smooth as a mirror. Ahead and behind the horizon seemed endless, but to left and right staggeringly high walls rose until they met a shimmering forcefield, as blue as a summer sky. The train was hurtling over the plain towards a single tower, a lone rampart set in the midst of this nothingness. Converging on that tower were dozens of trains, all exactly the same as the one they were riding, minus the gaping holes.

Kazao looked about in confusion and hissed, "We're still in the Necron's base…"

Zasio heaved himself up and muttered, "At least we can see a sky, fake or not."

Nazrik rolled onto the roof and asked, "What do we do now?"

All Kazao could say was, "There's only one thing we can do. We keep going, until we find some way out of here and trust that our Brothers will come for us."