Tales of the Amber Vipers Chapter 156
Bruch'ich was dead, Alohvar could not avoid the truth. His old comrade and friend lay unmoving upon the cold ground, chest laid open by a vast chasm that exposed internal organs. The product of a thrusting blade that had penetrated his Crisis Suit and ended his tale with one slice. Bruch'ich, who had fought through the horrors of the Nem'yar Atoll and faced the D'eth Gurd and lived to tell of it, had been slain and Alohvar's heart filled with cold hatred for his killers.
"This is a tragedy," Spiy'tus hissed.
"His death shall be avenged," Teq'ila growled.
Alohvar eyed them carefully. The bonds between Fire Warriors ran deep, even more for Crisis Suit pilots. To ascend to Shas'Vre required years of comradeship and the enactment of blood-bonding rituals. There was no tighter union and to feel the sundering of such a bond was a terrible plight. He shared their ire and felt the cold pulse of wroth grip his spirit. Tau did not feel hot rage as other races did but their retribution could be terrible, an icy will to destroy whatever they targeting unto the last atom. The spirit of Kauyon bubbling within them.
"Bruch'ich did not die in vain," Alohvar assured them, "The Gue'ron'sha shall rue the day they took him from us."
Teq'ila hissed, "We shall carve his name into their bones."
"Indeed we shall," Alohvar agreed, "His death shall be the catalyst for their destruction."
They were fine words but Spiy'tus rebuked, "We cannot go haring off after revenge until our losses are addressed. The Earth and Air Casts suffer greatly."
Teq'ila snapped, "What do they know of our pain?! The Fire Caste fights and dies every day and all they do is sit around and harp about peace and unity!"
"That is the way of the Greater Good," Spiy'tus retorted, "We fight so they can live in peace. To doubt that is to question the teachings of the Ethereals."
"Curse them," Teq'ila hissed, "I want revenge!"
Alohvar stepped in then and reassured them, "The time for blood will come, but first we must secure our base."
It was true, the Tau base was in a sorry state. Gue'ron'sha had rampaged through the basecamp and slaughtered many. Smoking ruins of critical support buildings still smouldered and the dead were piled high. Workers and pilots dedicated to assisting the Fire Caste, they should never have been in battle but the humans had shown no regard for non-combatants. All aliens were threats in their eyes; all must die so their decrepit Imperium could eke out another century of misery. Alohvar mourned the losses yet knew they could have been worse, battle was a fluid environment and the Gue'ron'sha excelled dolling out carnage as no others.
Even as he watched fire-suppressant drones cast force-fields over flickering fires, suffocating them for lack of oxygen. Medical Fio'Ui tended to the injured and Kor'La directed the unpacking of emergency disaster pods from storage. The base would recover; it had to and while it did the Fire caste stood guard. Pathfinder teams were spreading throughout the metropolis, searching for the enemy and the Manta floated overhead, its many guns sweeping the area for threats.
Spiy'tus said, "Once we recover we shall… we shall…" He trailed off as his eyes became unfocused and Alohvar knew what that meant. Sure enough Aun'La Jer'ema came stalking around a corner, his face set in a furious cast. The young Ethereal looked ready to take his anger out on someone and Alohvar knew who that would be.
"You!" Jer'ema snapped as soon as he saw them, "Explain this disaster!"
Alohvar tried to ignore the itching of his prosthetics as he replied, "The battle moved in an unexpected direction."
"Unexpected!" Jer'ema spat, "You promised a perfect Mont'ka, a clean end to the conflict. Instead the enemy breaks into our base, destroys vital equipment and culls many important Earth and Air caste personnel. We have been set back weeks by your blundering!"
Alohvar noted the Ethereal failed to recognise the losses of the Fire Caste and replied, "I told you, the Gue'ron'sha are dangerous. No stratagem can contain them totally. They were favoured by fickle chance and wild confusion, enough to throw our plans astray. They got lucky."
"Excuses," Jer'ema retorted, "I expected more from a Shas'El."
"Battle is as fluid as an ocean, filled with hidden currents and unseen gales," Alohvar growled, "The enemy acted unpredictably and had a novel means of escape."
"Yes, I saw them slip away from the Manta's hold," Jer'ema derided, "Psionic talents have been noted in many races, the Ethereal council is eager to uncover their mysteries but that is a matter for another day. You should have expected such and compensated."
Spiy'tus interjected, "It is supremely rare talent among their kind, one cannot reasonably have expected to encounter one here."
Alohvar hastily changed the subject, "The real question is: where did they go? They could be anywhere in the city."
Jer'ema didn't look concerned as he replied, "I have sent drone teams far and wide to find them, they shall not evade us for long."
Finally something useful out of the callow child, Alohvar thought and he prompted, "While we hunt them down I recommend sending the Manta over to their basecamp, to level it."
But Jer'ema snorted, "You are in no position to make suggestions."
Alohvar bit back an angry retort and stated coolly, "Soon or later they must return to their camp to resupply, better to deny them that option."
But Jer'ema flatly said, "This basecamp is in disarray and I will not have our only defence stripped away. The Manta shall stay overhead, to keep the Gue'ron'sha at bay. You can go finish off the base yourself if you want but I am keeping that bomber here."
"But without its support any assault will cost good lives" Alohvar argued.
"That is your concern Shas'El," Jer'ema stated icily, "I have drone-probes scouring the city and we have discovered new technologies galore. I am no longer content to wait for you to finish cleaning up your mess; I am ordering the start of salvage operations. The Fio'Vre have made an astonishing discovery in district 58a, a power generator of remarkable capacity. It draws upon the sub-realm for energy, potentially its output is equal to the scope of the universe. A most intriguing prospect."
Alohvar's jaw clenched as he realised the boy cared nothing for the losses of the Fire Caste or the ongoing conflict. His mind was on spoils and prizes, counting his newfound riches before they were even in his hands. The youth understood not that the Gue'ron'sha would rally and come again. The war was far from over and the outcome had not yet been set in stone. The Tau were not certain to win this conflict, unless Alohvar acted.
He drew in a breath to argue but then an alarm started wailing. Alohvar's head snapped about and he activated the comm-bead attached to his collar to bark, "Shas'El Alohvar here, report!"
The comm-unit popped as a Pathfinder team called, "Shas'Ui Bork'an Uriem reporting hostile contact in district 42f. Forces closing upon the base."
"Gue'ron'sha?!" Alohvar hissed.
"Negative," Uriem signalled, "Unknown intruders of a type not yet encountered. Definitely not Gue'La."
"Not Gue'La?!" Teq'ila exclaimed, "How is that possible?"
Alohvar's guts flipped at the prospect as he ordered, "Get to your Crisis Suits, now! Ethereal remove yourself to a safe place and rally the base for another assault."
"Your suggestion…" Jer'ema retorted.
"That wasn't a suggestion it was an order! You must inspire our people to withstand another assault, the Greater Good demands it!"
Alohvar didn't wait for a reply as he turned and sprinted to his Crisis Suit. The battered machine was being worked over by diligent Fio'Vres but he bounded past them to leap into his cockpit and heave himself inside. With their cries of protest battering his ears he strapped himself in and connected the neural shunt, then pulled himself into a foetal position. The hatch swung closed and darkness fell then a heartbeat later a surge of information flooded his brain. His eyes saw with the multi-spectrum vision of his suit, his legs were mechanical callipers and his arms weapons of deadly potency. He felt the hasty repairs throbbing like a rotten tooth but the suit was functional and that was all he needed.
With a thought he stepped past scattering Fio'Vres and lit his jump pack. A surge of gravity pressed down upon him and he bounded high, skimming over the perimeter where Fire Warriors and Gue'vesa stood guard. Spiy'tus and Teq'ila followed moments later, leaping over buildings as they headed for the source of the distress call. It took three separate jump-leaps to reach the Pathfinders and Alohvar landed with a thump, finding himself confronted by a startled Shas'Ui Uriem.
"Report!" Alohvar barked.
Uriem replied crisply, "Unknown forces advancing up the street in great number. They emerged from some form of storage facility further along and set out at once. They haven't seen us but they aren't looking to talk."
"If they haven't fired upon you, how can you be sure they are hostile?" Alohvar probed.
"I know a combat deployment when I see one. This is no parade formation; they are seeking a fight. I feel it in my waters."
The instinct of a Shas'Ui carried great weight with Alohvar and he sent a neural-command to all nearby drones to steer in this direction. After a moment visual feeds popped up and he saw a mob of silver warriors advancing up the street. At first glance they resembled Gue'ron'sha, with silver plates laid over an exo-skeletal frame. Yet closer inspection revealed significant differences, they were shorter and slimmer of build without any backpacks. Strange protuberances were built into their limbs and they wore faceless pot-helms with red eyes. Their motions were different too, stiff and haughty. Gue'ron'sha moved with surety of purpose and astonishing swiftness for something so large, these newcomers stepped with metronomic regularity, all of them moving as like pistons rising and falling.
"Who are they?!" Teq'ila gasped.
"Someone new and unwelcome," Alohvar hissed.
Yet Spiy'tus said, "Wait… scan for lifesign readings, there are no living people in there."
Alohvar started in surprise and did so, finding no trace of body heat or audio traces of pulses in their chests. These silver warriors were not living beings, they were machines, walking as if they were men. With all the autonomy and initiative of a Tau drone but ultimately nothing save a machine.
Uriem commented, "We've seen a number of automated repair drones drifting about. Maybe these are similar."
"A defence unit," Spiy'tus mused, "Mechanised soldiers left to guard the city. The recent fighting may have stirred them to awaken."
Teq'ila mused, "Maybe if we leave them alone they will ignore us."
Alohvar agreed, "A good idea, let's not go seeking trouble. The Gue'ron'sha are our primary obstacle and we must…"
His words were cut off as the silver warriors acted. Shining arms lifted to the sky and from their bulky protrusions shot forth vicious blasts of energy. Built-in weapons, Alohvar realised, their armaments were installed directly into their frames. The blasts sought out the high-flying drones and obliterated them instantly, destroying all of them in a single volley. The remote visual link snapped off but Alohvar's motion sensors wailed as he detected the newcomers surge forward.
"Fall back!" he shouted at the Pathfinders, "Fall back and link up with the other teams. We'll buy you time to withdraw."
"May the Greater Good bring you fair fortune," Uriem replied as he led his team away.
Alohvar wasted not a second to light his jump pack and shoot into the sky. He bounded over the next street and found himself soaring over a horde of silver automatons. They saw him coming and let off a score of crackling red orbs, but the speed of his manoeuvre meant none hit him. In return his Tri-cyclic Ion blaster stuttered, raining brilliant blasts into their ranks. His superior targeting allowed him to clip several of them and two lost arms and another a head yet to his surprise that didn't seem to slow them down in the least. The wounded machines continued their advance, melted ceramics dripping from limbs as they marched on regardless. The one missing a head had a gaping hole in its neck and Alohvar realised they were meant to house a living warrior, they were suits of armour, intended to empower a flesh and blood lifeform but somehow were being directed to move under their own direction.
He slammed onto the street and came about but was greeted by a flurry of red blasts. His last remaining shield drone flew in front of him, projecting a shimmering defence that dissipated the blows before they touched him. Yet an alarm started bleating in his ear, warning of fallout coating his suit. Whatever those empty armours were firing left deadly radiation lingering in the air, radioactive particles contaminating the whole area.
Spiy'tus and Teq'ila landed a moment later, plasma rifles flaring as they swept the oncoming opponent. "They don't die!" Teq'ila wailed.
But Spiy'tus put a shot through a breastplate, causing the armour to collapse as he cried, "Aim for their centre mass, their cogitators must be housed there!"
Alohvar concurred and adjusted his targeting with a neural impulse. A moment later his Tri-cyclic ion blaster spoke, punching straight through the centre of three armours. They collapsed like puppets with their strings cut and he rejoiced as he learned this foe could be put down, but they were far from defeated. A silver suit raised a bulky arm that was all weapon and let loose a shining arrow. Alohvar watched it spinning in the air, shimmering as liquid mercury and yet strong as Adamantium. The arrow met his force field and punched straight through, passing through without trouble to slam into Teq'ila's shoulder. Nanocrystalline amour cracked like dropped pottery as the arrow sunk deep, embedding itself into his joints and his plasma gun arm fell limp and unmoving.
"I can't shoot!" Teq'ila spat, "What the hell was that?!"
"It passed through our defence like it wasn't there," Spiy'tus exclaimed.
Alohvar saw danger loom, these empty suits carried armaments unlike anything the Tau or the Imperium boasted. The Tau were facing an enemy they didn't understand and if they stayed here would be killed before they could adapt. The only option was to retreat and he ordered, "Missiles, now!"
On command Spiy'tus and Teq'ila raised their shoulder-mounted secondary weapons and let fly. A pair of missiles streaking away to blast a pair of armours off their feet while a spinning disc littered micro-explosives over the street. At that moment Alohvar signalled a withdrawal and leapt into the sky, leading his comrades away. Behind them the empty armours resumed their advance, seemingly uncaring that their rivals had fled, but Alohvar knew this wasn't over. The automatons were heading for the Tau base and surely meant his people ill. The Gue'ron'sha would have to wait, he had an entirely new conflict to survive.