Tales of the Amber Vipers Chapter 146
The sounds of battle rang loud, sharp and clear to all with the ears to hear. The flat roar-bang of bolters, the crisp hiss of energy weapons and the rumble of masonry falling apart. Mixed into that din was the whoosh of heavy jump units, engine growls and a high-pitched whine, unlike anything Coluber had heard before. The sound was distant but growing closer by the second as he ran, closing upon the scene of battle, desperation lending his legs swiftness.
As he ran Coluber sifted reports on the vox and knew the battle was turning against the Amber Vipers. With scant time to prepare he had alerted his Brothers to the incoming threat and mobilised bike squads and vulture gunships to deploy. They had responded with Transhuman speed but the Forge was vast and they were spread thin. It couldn't be helped, the enemy's landing must be resisted lest they bring overwhelming force to the planet. Yet as the aggressor the Xenos held the initiative and could choose their ground, they were the attackers the Amber Vipers were the defenders, a position Coluber was not used to occupying.
As he ran he voxed, "Sergeant Timao, report!"
The vox crackled as another voice cut in, "We've lost him, I think his squad is dead."
"Reddam?!" Coluber barked, "Report your situation."
"Secundus and Tertius have engaged the foe in grid sector 854-721. Some form of alien airborne infantry and large combat automatons. With heavy firepower and swift as a snake. They cut through armour like its wet parchment, we can't hold them for long!"
"Hold on Brother," Coluber barked, "I'm bringing Primus to back you up!"
The vox clicked off as Ferrac growled, "What do we know of Tau battle strategy?"
"Not much," Coluber growled, "They are fast and aggressive. With firepower that can chew a tank to pieces with one shot. I'm almost glad I left Drakones in orbit."
Ferrac muttered, "I've seen their rifles used in a dozen rebellions but never faced the Tau themselves. Can they fight up close?"
"Not compared to an Astartes."
"Good, my axe-rake will put paid to them."
Coluber put his head down as they raced on, Ferrac and the Brother-Exemplars matching his sprint. Through the vox Coluber directed squads to converge on the enemy's chosen landing ground and knew Space Marines would be dashing to comply. It was now a race against time, whoever could concentrate their forces in time would seize the advantage. If the Amber Vipers could wipe out the spearhead before the rest of the alien troops landed then they could take the enemy apart one piece at a time. If the Xenos manage to get the bulk of their forces into the field they would steamroller the Space Marines. Once more he cursed the practical necessities of war, but there was no alternative, the facts were the facts and he could only work with what he had.
The foursome came about a corner and were glad to see a pair of squads joining them. Torvus tactical squad and Anaxar assault squad, two of the finest bands in Primus and Coluber was damned glad they'd been close enough to link up with him. They fell into position at his flanks as Coluber drew Venom and prepared to meet the foe. Battle was so close, so very close and Coluber's blood spiked with hyper-adrenaline as his body prepared for battle.
His first glimpse of the foe was a blur of blue overhead. Zooming over the street came a swarm of alien forms. They were an insect breed, flying on back-mounted wings that thrashed the air so swiftly they became invisible and produced an odd high-pitched whine. Their heads had many eyes and their mandibles clattered as they chased each other through the sky. They resembled nothing of the reports of Tau he had read, but a tiny voice at the back of his mind reminded him the Xenos breed had co-opted other races to their service. The notion disgusted him but there was no time for revulsion as the aliens saw them coming and opened fire.
Bulky rifles with strangely glowing crystals were hefted into position and let loose actinic blasts of neutron energy. The Space Marines were already scattering and the majority of the shots merely punched deep holes into the Ferrocrete road, yet Brother Jorad was clipped by a blast and sent spinning. Blood sprayed everywhere, mixed with molten Ceramite chunks, the blessed armour of the Astartes violated by foul alien sciences.
Coluber's anger rose and he yelled, "Return fire!" Bolt rounds, volkite blasts, shatter pellets, and flechette shards were sent aloft, the eclectic mix of Amber Viper weaponry filling the sky with death. The barrage would have decimated any other foe but the aliens jinked and weaved with preternatural ability, dodging the onslaught as they rose higher. Coluber gritted his teeth as he levelled his volkite pistol and tried to draw a bead on a jinking foe.
"Emperor guide my aim, Emperor steady my arm, Emperor sharpen my vision," he growled and then pulled the trigger. A ravening red beam shot aloft and struck an alien square in the chest. The Carapace hide imploded, guts turning to dust and blowing out the back in a spray of fiery ashes. The alien fell from the sky in a tangle of dead wings and Coluber grinned under his helm, but its comrades were far from done. They drove nearer, weapons blazing as they sought to overwhelm the Astartes with numbers. Yet little did they know this was exactly what Coluber had been waiting for.
"Ferrac, take to the skies!" Coluber roared.
"I thought you'd never ask!" Ferrac yelled as he and Anaxar squad lit their jump packs.
Eleven amber-clad warriors shot into the heavens, flaming pillars of thrust scorching the ground black as they soared high. In their hands chainaxes, glaives and hook-staves gleamed, eager to shed blood. They screeched into the flock of aliens and swung hard, cleaving wings from bodies and chopping heads clean off. The rest were forced to duck under the assault, diving below the arc of the assault Marines and in doing so coming close to the ground. Then Coluber had them.
The Chapter Master leapt into the fray, Venom's edge shining as he sliced a fluttering alien into two halves. Another drifted into range and he cut its heart out with a swift strike, a third tried to return to the sky but a high stroke disembowelled it, leaving the alien to collapse into a gory heap. At his side Hasak and Seyda were blurs of motion, burst-lances spinning like propellor blades as they sliced and diced. There was a beauty to their motions, a grace and lethality born of countless hours of practice and their contact Volkite fields sundered all they touched. Meanwhile Torvus squad poured on bolter fire, culling aliens in droves.
Half the aliens were dead in moments and their courage broke. They leapt into the air and raced away, fleeing for the safety of distance. Coluber's hearts soared as the prospect of victory hung tantalisingly within his grasp, but the enemy was not done yet. A shadow passed overhead and Coluber looked up to see four bulky war machines drop out of the heavens, coming straight at them.
For the first time Coluber beheld Tau in the flesh and his hearts trembled. They were piloting some form of bipedal war machine, almost as tall as a Dreadnought but far more slender. Their armour was blocky and angular but it had a shimmer unlike anything he had ever seen. Their movements were lithe and their weapons glowed with fire, ready to unleash death. Coluber had fought rebels armed with Tau rifles and tanks but now saw that had only been the dregs of the alien's power, their cast-offs and expendable assets. This was the cream of their military prowess, a potent force the Imperium had learned to dread: Crisis Suits of the Tau Empire.
Before they even landed their plasma rifles were flaring and Coluber had to dive to one side to avoid being hit. Two Brothers were not so swift and Genima and Narhall were punched off their feet with smoking holes blown through them. Bolt rounds pinged off the shimmering armour of the Crisis suits, causing little damage as they slammed into the ground and flexed their legs.
Coluber saw their only hope was to rush the newcomers and he roared, "Cold hearts and fast blades!" The Amber Vipers roared as they rushed forward, trying to grapple with the foe. Knife-Fangs were drawn, loaded with potent acids that could cut through almost anything. A clean hit would penetrate even that armour. So they piled in, hacking and stabbing at the tall machines. Knives flashed and mechanical legs kicked back as a Brother with a flamer bathed one Crisis suit in Promethium. The Tau didn't seem to notice, shrugging off the flames coating it's back as it swung a fist at the attacker that nearly took his head off.
Meanwhile Coluber threw himself at a Crisis suit with a bulky tri-barrelled weapon on its arm and green flashes to its chest but to his surprise it did not fall back. Instead the war machine drove forward, meeting him chest to chest. Venom had been slicing for a hip joint but skittered off thick armour as he was smashed backward, legs tangling underneath him. A massive fist swung around, aiming for his head but suddenly the shining form of Seyda slammed into his flank, knocking him out of the way. The huge fist clipped the Brother-Exemplar and shattered his pauldron, the ornate heraldry crushed to splinters by the impact.
Coluber expected a follow-up blow but to his shock the Tau fell-back, bursts of jet exhaust sending it gracefully away. No doctrine of war or duelling prepared him for such a baffling move and he was flummoxed by this strange behaviour. What sort of warriors were these Tau? They weren't fighting as brave warriors, feeling the blood rush of killing and the ardour of fury. They were cold, detached and passionless, acting without consideration for glory or laurels. No foe Coluber had ever faced took so little relish in the red joy of combat.
He lifted his Volkite pistol and let out a chasing beam of energy, but a pair of flat-plate drones weaved in front of the Tau, projecting an energy field that deflected the blast. Coluber gritted his teeth at this dishonourable conduct and yelled, "Take them!" The squad prepared to rush the foe but then one of the other machines braced a tubular weapon on its shoulder and fired a flat disc overhead. The projectile spun in the air and unleashed a rain of tiny spheres onto the ground, filling the street with black orbs. Micro-explosives, Coluber realised, the Tau had just trapped them in an instant minefield. None could move, lest they blow their own feet off. They were pinned momentarily and as the Tau raised their plasma rifles he knew this had been their plan all along.
Coluber braced himself for death but then a ferocious cry rang out and Anaxar squad returned to the fray. At their head was Ferrac and his roar was louder than his jump pack as he fell onto the nearest machine, axe-rake snarling. He slammed into a shoulder and clung on as whirring chain teeth skittered off the angular plates of its armour. With a cry of fury he reversed the weapon and drove the point deep into a shoulder joint, using its leverage to pull himself higher. With his other hand he drew his sledgehammer gun and fired it into the boxy head of the war machine at point-blank range.
Solid shot met crystal optical-sensors and shattered them in a moment, passing through metal and wires with ease. The boxy head imploded as sledgehammer rounds drove deep, causing it to compact inwards and become a shattered tangle of broken parts. The warrior within the machine let out his first cry, a furious snarl of frustrated ire at this indignity and Coluber knew his Battle-Captain had scored a telling blow.
It seemed the Tau agreed for that hefty gauntlet caught Ferrac's legs and ripped him free of his perch. A backhanded swing sent Ferrac tumbling, roaring with anger as he sailed far. He slammed into the ground and popping micro-explosions picked him up and slammed him down again as the bombs went off.
Coluber felt shrapnel pinging his armour as he was buffeted by explosions. It seemed it was too much for the Tau for the four machines took off, soaring out of the melee to arc away, leaving the Amber Vipers to count their dead. Coluber lifted Venom and cried, "This isn't over, I am Coluber and I will claim your head!"
To his surprise the one with the shattered head cried back, "I am Alohvar, and it is you who shall fall before the manifest destiny of the Tau!"
Then they were gone and Ferrac staggered to his feet growling, "Quickly, get after them!"
But Coluber hissed, "No, it's too late, they have already achieved their objective. Look."
From above a dropship descended, larger and more powerful than anything Coluber had ever seen. Its broad wing shape cast a shadow that blotted out the grey sky and its hold swelled with reinforcements for the aliens. Many guns were lined along its hull, all sweeping for targets and creating a zone of death around it. At its flanks followed smaller dropships, boxy shapes with swivelling engines. Small by comparison but carrying even more troops into the fray. The Tau's second wave had landed and with such numbers the day belonged to the aliens.
Coluber's guts churned but he opened his vox and called, "All squads, fall-back and regroup."
Ferrac spun about and hissed, "We're retreating?!"
"No choice," Coluber spat, "They delayed us long enough to get their troops on the ground. If we attack piecemeal we'll be cut to shreds. We need to gather our strength and stand united if we want to have a chance."
"Gah!" Ferrac spat, "It feel wrong to give ground to the alien."
But Coluber retorted, "We are not Imperial Fists, to die for a line in the sand. We preserve our strength for the next round, the aliens have won only the first skirmish, there will be others. We are Amber Vipers, we survive, we adapt and then we find a way to kill whatever's in our way."
Ferrac sullenly nodded as the squads prepared to fall back, gathering their dead and checking the wounded. In moments they were retreating along the cratered street, wary for unexploded munitions. Yet Coluber spared a glance over his shoulder at the settling dropship and whispered, "This isn't over, not by a long shot. I will find you alien, and I will cut you out of that machine so I can squeeze the life out of you with my bare hands!"