Tales of the Amber Vipers Chapter 108

Freedom was so close Kazao could almost smell it. The slice of blue sky hovered overhead, tantalising in its pristine blueness. The promise of escape dwelled in that expanse, mixed with the possibility of death. If they reached the top and found rescue waiting then they would live, if nobody had seen their signal then they would die. Either way their confinement in the Dyson Sphere was at an end, none of the Aberrants was willing to be dragged back to that experimental chamber. They would break free or die fighting, there were no other options.

Below them the swirling cloud of blackness rose higher, seeking the sound of their feet. It was accompanied by the clanging echoes of metal feet striking black stone, hundreds of them, possibly thousands. The Aberrants were only one step ahead of their destruction but it was enough to let them dream of reaching the top.

Kazao concentrated on his feet, keeping them pounding on the unyielding stone. His hearts burned from the loses they had endured; the courageous Brothers brought low by Necron fiends. A part of him burned to turn and engage the Xenos, bringing the Emperor's fury upon them as an Astartes should but he resisted the impulse. He was under no delusions that if he stood and fought he would die a meaningless death, barely even irritating the Undying enemy. Withdrawal was the only tactical option but in his hearts he swore he would find a way to return and exact the blood price for the souls of the dead.

The Aberrants turned a corner and began ascending another ramp but were brought up short when a pair of Necron warriors loomed ahead of them. Kazao's hearts leapt into his mouth but his reactions were unmarred and he leapt at the foe, even as they raised their weapons and fired. A surge of green soared over his shoulder and there was a grunt behind him but he had no time to stop and look as he attacked.

He gripped the stolen rifle by the end and swung it like a club, smashing the stock into a silver skull. Metal deformed and the Necron staggered under the weight of the blow but the silver warrior recovered swiftly, the dent in its head smoothing out in moments. Yet in that instant Zasio and Nazrik pounced. The Necron was inundated by frenzied Astartes, their hands stabbing and hacking repeatedly. Zasio's hands blurred as his whipcord arms slammed back and forth as if in a high-speed pict reel. Nazrik's attack was more conventional but he found a weak spot and rammed a surgical knife under the silver jaw, penetrating the brain. The Necron stiffened for an instant and then shimmered before disappearing, vanishing entirely.

Kazao hastily turned to see what was going on with the other one and was amazed to see Torfa straddling its form. His claws and fangs were rending metal, tearing out chunks of metal like a feral mastiff worrying a corpse. His jaws locked in on its throat and he tore out a wedge of metal, leaving its head hanging by a single connection. Again he ripped at the remaining silver threads and the head popped off, rolling away across the floor. Then suddenly Torfa was falling to the ground as the Necron vanished.

Kazao breathed a sigh of relief but then started as he saw Hasak. The giant aberrant had collapsed on the ground, one hand pressed to his side where blood gushed out of a huge hole. The Necron's shot had clipped him, only a glancing blow but enough to tear his side out completely. Larraman cells were clotting fast but Hasak looked pale and shivering as no Astartes should and he gasped, "I die."

Denial flared in Kazao's soul and he ran over, grabbing the giant's arm and heaving him upright as he snapped, "No you're not. Come on."

"Leave me," Hasak rumbled.

But Torfa got under the other arm and hissed, "M' ddn't cm ll ths wy t wtch g dy ut."

With the weight of Hasak borne between them the Aberrants hurried on, racing up the very last ramp. Kazao felt like the shadow of death was on his heels but he dared not look behind, all that he saw was the ramp before him and the blessed expanse of blue above, drawing them onwards. His legs trembled with the weight and his knees sagged but he refused to yield and staggered onto the top of the tower with a gasp of relief.

The black walls fell away and the endless vista of the metal plain was revealed. They had emerged onto a wide circle, ringing a huge hole that looked eerily like the barrel of a gun. The sky above was perfect and there was no sign of Necrons anywhere, they seemed safe for a fleeting moment. Yet what was conspicuously missing was any sign of a rescue craft. No gunships were waiting for them, no drop-pods or orbital lifters, no sign of the Chapter at all. The Aberrants were alone.

Kazao set Hasak down and said, "That's it then."

Nobody argued rescue was coming, they all knew it wasn't, but they greeted death as Astartes should and Zasio declared, "Then we face whatever's coming with weapons in hand."

"For the Chapter and the Emperor," Nazrik affirmed.

Hasak concurred faintly, "Die standing."

"Lts tk sm f da bstds wth ss," Torfa snarled.

It was a bold affirmation but cold air rang with another voice, harsh, metallic and cruel, "How insipid!" Kazao's head shot about as a Necron rose from the interior of the tower. It was standing on a broad disc, that floated without any visible means of propulsion. Its form was superior to the average warrior, far finer and crowned with an elaborate headpiece and in one hand it held a sceptre that glittered with multifaceted refractions of light.

Behind the Necron arose the black cloud and from here Kazao could finally see it was formed of millions of tiny scarabs, each one flying on a cloud of anti-grav distortion and their mandibles glittering evilly with the promise of painful death. The Aberrants formed a circle as the cloud swept around them, hemming them in and cutting off any retreat, yet curiously not attacking.

Kazao sensed the cloud was waiting for the order to attack and faced the Necron saying, "Who are you supposed to be?!"

The Necron lifted its chin and stated, "Protocol requires me to inform you that I am Zathoem, Nemesor to the Phaeron."

"Is that supposed to impress us?" Zasio spat.

"Your approval is irrelevant," Zathoem scoffed, "We care nothing for your opinions, it is merely protocol that your request for the name of your conqueror be answered."

Kazao eyed the cloud of waiting scarabs and ventured, "I don't suppose that protocol of yours says anything about duels to single combat?"

"No," Zathoem denied, "However I am obliged to offer you the chance to return to your pens willingly."

"Do you seriously expect us to comply?" Nazrik spat.

Zathoem floated higher as he crowed, "No, I expect you to die futilely. It matters not though; you have already served my purpose. Imagine, a feral rabble like you managing to penetrate the vault of the Synaptic Annihilator, the Hyktot's most feared weapon. You have embarrassed the Phaeron with this display, and moved me one step closer to replacing him. I thank you, but now I must kill you. "

Kazao waved his club high and barked, "We won't go down easy!"

But Zathoem merely waved a hand and said, "Pathetic."

Kazao felt his rifle quivering as it shimmered, wavering like water before it phased away. One second the Aberrants were holding knives and saws and rifles, the next their hands were empty, the tools of the Necrons returning to their masters leaving them unarmed. Kazao gaped at his empty hands but Torfa let out a feral yell as he leapt straight at the floating Necron howling, "Cld hrts nd fst blds!"

Zathoem watched him coming then almost lazily levelled his sceptre and unleashed a window of fractal distortion. The next second was forever imprinted on Kazao's mind. The window swept over Torfa and he changed. Spacetime unwound around his form, rewriting reality and unleashing endless possibilities. Kazao saw potential timelines birthing in an incredibly compressed space, discarded possible pasts and futures, drawn from the quantum firmament of the universe and made actual by Necron science.

Histories that never were played out before their eyes. Timelines where Torfa had never become an Aberrant, timelines where he marched in amber power armour or purple and gold heraldry. Realities where he had been even more mutated, a twisted thing of tentacle and hundreds of eyes set against universes where humanity had interbred with the Eldar, creating a hybrid race. Multiple realities fought for the right to exist in the same spacetime, struggling for supremacy and Torfa was ripped between them all, the atoms of his body spreading like a drop of oil across the surface of an infinite ocean. The effect only lasted a tenth of a second but when the window snapped closed Torfa was gone, no trace of him remaining.

Jaws fell as Zathoem lifted his sceptre and declared, "You lowly usurpers cannot match the power of a reality-shredder! Now you shall die."

"Attack!" Kazao roared as he bunched his fists and made to leap high.

The cloud drew back and Zathoem swung his arm high to strike but just as combat was about to be joined something strange happened. The scarabs froze, becoming absolutely still and inert, floating in mid-air but unmoving in any way. Zathoem too had frozen, stuck in the pose of his strike, as still as a statue. Nothing moved at all and the Aberrant's charge spluttered out, leaving them staring at the cloud with dumb expressions.

Zasio reached out and touched a floating scarab, which wobbled slightly but did not react, as he breathed, "Did someone forget to mention a special mutation they've been hiding?"

"I don't think this is our doing," Kazao mused as he stared in shock.

Then Hasak lifted his arm and cried, "Brothers come!" All eyes rose and beheld the beautiful glorious sight of Doombringer diving out of the blue sky. Eldritch energies played around the hull of the craft as it broke through the Necron's environmental barriers, plunging towards them at breakneck speed. The nose lifted and anti-grav plates shimmered as it decelerated, coming towards the tower, shedding velocity as fast it was able. Even as it slowed Heavy Bolters swivelled to bear and let rip, sending streams of mass-reactive shells into the black cloud.

Scarabs exploded under the volley, scything red-hot shrapnel across the naked Aberrants but Kazao didn't flinch. He saw the cockpit swelling as the craft closed and was stunned to spy Glord at the controls, his flying simple but direct as he came in to land. Kazao's eyes were filled with the glorious sight of his Chapter Brothers coming to save them, in a charge as glorious as any in the histories of yesteryear. In that moment he would have held the Amber Vipers equal to any Chapter in the galaxy.

Doombringer cleared a landing area and the ramp whined open to reveal Reddam at the top, waving at them shouting, "Don't just stand there, get in!"

Everybody hurried to jump on board and Kazao hissed, "Damn glad to see you Brother-Sergeant."

"Anyone else coming?" Reddam snapped.

"No, we're all that's left," Kazao growled, "How did you freeze them?"

"Brontes did a thing," Reddam admitted.

Kazao's head turned and he beheld the Cadmus-robot standing amid a pile of junk. Both its arms were raised and from its palms were extended mechandrites, buried into the vox-sets in the wall. Kazao could only guess the battle-automaton was transmitting some kind of machine interference, a scrapcode from the Dark Age of Technology, he guessed. Whatever its origin it was effective but he couldn't believe it would last long. Even the long-lost pinnacle of human science paled against the Necron's mastery of technology.

He glanced out the ramp and saw Zathoem still frozen in place and barked, "Shoot that thing, hurry before it recovers." One of Brontes' arms unhooked and came to bear, pointing a huge Fission-blaster at the Necron. A whine of discharge heralded a crackling red blast of energy that struck the Nemesor in the chest and sent him flying off his disc in a tangle of molten limbs. Kazao's back itched with radiation burns but it was worth it to see the Necron tumbling into the shaft of the tower, a hole blown straight through his chest.

Unfortunately the act cost them their jamming signal and the cloud began to move, shimmering like a living thing. It pulled back and then surged forward, sweeping towards Doombringer in a swarm of clicking mandibles. The craft lurched as it rolled back, engines roaring and the ramp closed slowly. Kazao had one last glimpse of the cloud hurtling at them then the ramp slammed shut and he was thrown off his feet as the lifter struggled for speed.

Glord's voice echoed from the cockpit, "Get to the turrets! We've got frakking Necron fighters incoming!"

Reddam leapt for a ladder as he cried, "How many?!"

"I can't count that high!" Glord yelled, "It's a Mars-pattern clusterfrak out there!"

Doombringer lurched in the air as something struck the hull and the Aberrants held onto anything they could as Kazao muttered, "This is about to get interesting."