Tales of the Amber Vipers Chapter 123

It hurt to walk, every step sending shooting agony searing through his hip. His right leg was grievously injured, even the ceramite outer layers withered and pitted by age, but Coluber would not show weakness before his Brothers and endured the knives sinking into his bones with stoic fortitude. Only those who knew him well would see the tightening around his eyes and the set of his jaw, tiny traces of the suffering he was undergoing but they were wise enough to keep quiet. That being said Ferrac was hanging around, keeping a close watch upon him.

Coluber had removed his helm to watch the retrieval operation. In staggered lines the Amber Vipers were returning to the dropships, racing within and taking off as soon as they were able. Half the Chapter was already heading to the Wyvern and the rest were minutes away, as soon as they arrived Coluber intended to leave this place. He watched as bike squads and Rhinos tore out of the ruined buildings and drove straight up the ramps of the Angantyr, while squads of Primus, Secundus and Tertius jogged into Aquila landers and orbital lifters. It was good to see so many of the Chapter had survived the battle but harder to bear were the bodies of the slain.

Coluber watched as servitors dragged bleeding corpses into the dropships, many of them missing half their bodies. Brave and noble Brothers, who had laid down their lives in battle. They deserved more, they deserved better treatment than this but there was no time for formalities. The evacuation signal had been received and it was time to get the hell out of here. So the bodies were hastily dumped into lifters and left for later, their armour would be stripped and the Rights of the Dead honoured, but only when there was time.

A screech of metal on stone made Coluber wince as he saw Drakones' wreckage being dragged into the waiting hold of the Angnatyr. The Land Speeder was wounded badly but imperial machines were robust at heart, with time and loving care she would fly again. Her pilots were also being dragged into the hold, Brothers Rinda and Hyia. They had survived the crash but were left in sus-an-membrane comas, saving their lives but leaving them helpless.

"Is that all?" Coluber asked.

Apothecary Shrios was overseeing the evacuation and sniffed, "All the machines and nine-tenths of the dead. The rest are either blown to atoms or buried so deeply we'll never find them. We have a few more squads closing, then we're done."

Coluber nodded as he said, "As soon as they arrive we shall leave. Nothing shall remain of the Chapter in this place."

Ferrac paused then and asked, "Are you sure you want to leave so swiftly? There is some good loot here, who knows what we'll find if we look around."

Coluber turned his head as he hissed, "You would use Xenos tech?"

"The Amber Vipers have never much cared where our gear comes from before," Ferrac scoffed, "But in truth I was thinking we might find the gear of the original Chapter. Tsumetai's lads must have left something behind. If we could find it…"

"No," Coluber denied, "We have achieved our goals. The Orks are still rampaging beyond the city and there's no telling when they'll turn their attention this way. Sergeant Reddam is already lifting off in Poisoned Fang, we will follow soon after. We should not linger."

"Too right," Shrios muttered, "Let get out while the getting's good."

They paused as they saw Brother-Exemplar Seyda carrying the corpse of Vardat into the hold of Viper's Bite, the bodyguard's head low in mourning. It was a solemn sight; the best of the Chapter laid low and all knew this battle had cost them dear. They remained silent as the pair vanished into the Thunderhawk's hold and then Ferrac sniffed, "Tough break, guess you need a new Brother-Exemplar."

Coluber's anger flared as he snapped, "Battle-Captain, you are my friend and strong right arm, but sometimes you can be an ignorant oaf. Show some respect for the honoured dead."

Ferrac snorted, "You task me to kill your enemies, not to cry over the lost."

Coluber rolled his eyes but then saw a flash of white approaching, accompanied by a towering machine of war. He took a breath and cut in to say, "Look, the Warmaster comes with our Librarian-Dreadnought."

"Fang-rot," Ferrac muttered, "Is it too much to ask that he'd get himself killed in the fighting?"

Maru Kysoto and Warmaster Drake pulled up before them and the mortal asked, "You're leaving?"

Coluber nodded, "It is time for us to go."

Drake eyed the handful of remaining dropships and said, "I suppose… that is to say… there's no room for my men in those ships."

Coluber was brought up short by that, he hadn't even thought of the Ghost Crusades' fate. They had suffered terrifying casualties in the battle but thousands of mortals yet remained. He swiftly ran the numbers and determined that he had not enough room for more than a dozen or so more extra bodies, and there was no time for multiple runs. The bulk of the Crusaders were doomed, but how to tell the man such a fact, how could he explain that the men who had fought so hard for the Emperor were to be left to die. There was no way to soften the blow, all he could do was be blunt and speak truth. Coluber swallowed his trepidation and said, "No, there is not. The best I can offer is to evacuate you and your immediate retinue, no more."

A complicated swirl of emotions rushed over Drake's face: survival instinct, cowardice and pride, calculation and honour, locked in conflict. For an instant Coluber thought the man would take him up on the offer but then Drake's face hardened as he said, "My thanks, but I am not abandoning my men."

Maru Kysoto turned his waist gimbal and said, "You are sure?"

Drake nodded, "The Imperium won't welcome us back. I trust the Inquisition hasn't changed. If they hear of our valiant deaths they will sing our praises but if we come back alive they will accuse us of being tainted and agents of a hidden heresy. All will assume this is some Chaos plot to overthrow the Imperium. They will put a bolt round into the back of my head and erase us from history. No, I would rather die a hero today than be executed in shame tomorrow. What was it Tsumetai always said: seek a good death and you have lived with purpose… this death is ours and it is a good one."

Maru declared, "Then I shall join you."

Coluber started, "You what?!"

Maru turned to him and said, "You did not seriously believe I would join your gang of thieves and brigands. I will not grub for scraps and train ruffians as you do. I have claimed my vengeance and my life's work is complete. I shall die with pride, as a true Amber Viper should."

"Bye then," Ferrac hastily uttered, "We won't miss you."

Coluber was stunned but surprisingly it was Drake who said, "No, you shall not. You shall get on that dropship and depart."

Maru turned to him and growled, "Do not presume to tell me what I shall do."

But Drake snapped, "You swore to me to carry our names back to the Imperium, you promised to tell the tale of the Ghost Crusade. You made a promise to me that our banner would be placed before the Eternity Gate, so the God-Emperor would see our sacrifice. Is the oath of an Astartes worth so little that you would break it on a whim?!"

Maru protested, "But it is written…"

"You gave me your word!" Drake barked angrily.

Maru was silent for a long moment then uttered, "So I did and so shall it be. The Imperium shall hear of your courage and sacrifice, the Ghost Crusade will be ghosts no more. Coluber, it seems I shall not be leaving you after all."

Sullenly Ferrac muttered, "Frak."

But Coluber said, "We will be honoured to have you join us."

Their conversation was cut off as a violent vibration rumbled through the ground. Nearby buildings shook and rubble cascaded off the rooftops as the Dyson Sphere shook. Coluber smiled as he felt the effects of the detonation ring through his feet but then seconds later the vibration got worse. He staggered, sending searing agony through his leg and the dropships swayed on their landing claws. A terrible scream arose as distant power lines overloaded, explosions rising across the city like clashes of thunder. A nearby obelisk atop a roof blew apart in a plume of green fire, sending debris raining high and pattering down like rain. Damaged Pyramids collapsed into themselves and monuments of Necrons toppled as the city shook in the throes of an unseen calamity.

"Is that supposed to be happening?!" Shrios shouted.

"No," Coluber barked, "This wasn't part of the plan."

"Time to get the hell out of here!" Ferrac snapped.

Coluber spied the last squad emerge from the ruins and run up the Angantyr's ramp. The huge conveyance began to close its doors and steam billowed from the thrusters as it took off. Coluber's party were the last Amber Vipers on the Dyson Sphere and he ordered, "Everyone on the Thunderhawk, now! Drake, far thee well, you are a true son of the Emperor."

Drake saluted grimly as he said, "I will stay with my men to the bitter end and tell them that tonight we feast at the God-Emperor's table."

Coluber left the mortal behind as he turned and limped up the ramp of Viper's Bite. Ferrac, Shrios and Maru joined him and he watched the hatch slide shut. He hadn't the strength to climb into the troop bay so grabbed a handle as the Thunderhawk lifted on vectored thrust and engaged the ramjets. Pain tore into his hip but all Coluber did was don his helm and tie his autosenses into the external pict-feeds.

In his vision the city fell away, as the Thunderhawk chased the Amber Vipers into the heavens. Acceleration pressed them hard as the Thunderhawk rose high on searing jetwash. A flash of blue signalled them passing through the atmospheric shell into the void, and then they were soaring towards the hidden bulk of the Wyvern. Coluber however directed the image rearward and watched the Dyson Sphere shrinking as they flew away.

Backlit against the raging inferno of the star the vast construction was convulsing, thousand kilometre long spars swaying like branches in the wind. Across the length of it explosions were arising, punching out of the atmospheric shell to expel green flames into space. The destruction had already spread as far as he could see and it was still growing, a wave of calamities running through every inch of it, growing in force as they overloaded safety measures and arcane control mechanisms. Coluber had no way to know it but the destruction of the Synaptic Annihilator had set in motion a cascade overload, an escalating series of explosions that fed on the damage and grew more deadly with every moment. The super weapon had been tied into the Necron's primary power grid and its destruction was a more deadly blow than Coluber could ever have imagined.

The spars and nexus's were shuddering as they pulled against each other, never having been intended to bear such catastrophic motions. It was only a matter of time until something broke, and Coluber watched as the first cracks appeared. At the point where the city had been a crack shot across the width of the spar, a jagged rent that ran a hundred kilometres from one side to another. Air and energy gushed out of the rift, spilling bodies into the cruel embrace of the star beyond. The spar sagged down as gravity tore it from the safety of its connections, pulling it to its doom. The sudden motion heaved at the nearby spars and then the cracks began to spread everywhere.

Destruction spread like wildfire, ripping the Dyson Sphere apart. Violent motions it was never intended to endure smashing the construct to bits. Thousands of connections were severed, spars and nexus's breaking apart as they sought to fly away in different directions. Fire, air, energy, living metal were sucked into the void as the walls shattered, taking the Necrons to their doom. The Dyson sphere could have withstood an Imperial Fleet, it could have rebuffed every Imperial ship in the Milky Way combined but the one thing it could not endure was its own mass and inertia.

Incalculable masses heaved against each other and the Dyson Sphere broke apart. Ruination spreading as far as Coluber could see and beyond, perhaps around the entire star. Spars went flying off into space, or were dragged into the gravity well of the star or left spinning forlornly in their orbits in cloud of debris. Like a spider's web sundered by an uncaring hand the Necron's greatest artefact shattered, destroyed by its own power and the cunning of the Amber Vipers.

Coluber cut off the image and gasped, "It's done."

Shrios gulped, "If we'd waited five more minutes…."

Ferrac hissed, "Good riddance to them, one less Xenos threat in the galaxy."

"Are they dead?" Shrios asked, "Necrons showed a terrifying ability to rebuild."

Yet Maru scoffed, "Even they could not rebuild following such carnage, not swiftly at any rate. It will be millennia before the Imperium has to worry about them again."

Coluber agreed, "Let us get back to the Wyvern and trust the warp-gate was not affected by the loss of the Dyson Sphere. We shall rejoin the Serpens Rex back in the Milky Way and then assess what we have left to work with. We have much to do and great tasks lie before us. The Amber Vipers have won this day, now we must prepare for the future."

And with that the Thunderhawk carried them away, leaving only ruins in their wake.