Tales of the Amber Vipers Chapter 159

The sounds of battle rang over the Forge, violent eruptions echoing in the deserted streets. The screams of the dying leaked into dusty warehouses and rang in storage yards. Explosions penetrated Manufactorums, where production lines sat in eternal patience. Ripples of pulse fire and whooshing missiles sounded over power distribution hubs and carried into Promethium pumping stations, where mindless machines continued their labours, indifferent to the affairs of the galaxy. The whole forge could hear battle had been joined, but Kerubim was not partaking in it.

In the dank corner of a storehouse the Tech-Adept lurked, peering down the street outside. His helm was doffed and he squinted in the waning light of day as he counted in his head. Besides him Bane pawed the ground and clicked in Binaric frustration but he waved his faithful Vorax back, urging it to be silent. Outside the window he could see a street and the repair-bot ambling down it. Functionally identical to the devices he had previously seen, it continued as it ever had, maintaining the Forge as if nothing had changed. But it had, Kerubim knew it all too well. Apophis was in control of this metropolis, the Soulbound inhabited every auspex, every pict-lens and scanning device. He was everywhere, in everything and if the repair-bot saw them then Kerubim knew Apophis would too.

Kerubim waited patiently as the repair-bot ambled away then waved his hand forward. From the dark corners emerged four Space Marines; the Cerberii. Kregulf, Berio, Radfal and Paneyr, all hastily exiting the building and dashing across the way. The Cerberii were an odd sight without their marked helms, faces more disturbing than the mark of the bloody-hand. Their skin was waxy and pale and their veins etched in black lines, results of their prolonged exposure to tainted weapons. Yet this had been necessary, none of them could trust their autosenses, not with a Soulbound roaming free and using the vox was out of the question. They were in communication silence, cut off from the Chapter until they returned.

Kerubim hastily followed them with Bane pacing behind, rotor cannons braced and top-mounted meltagun rotating ceaselessly. Kerubim ran up to Kregulf and hissed, "The road is clear."

"You're sure?" Kregulf asked.

"No pict-lens, no auspex vanes… as far as I can tell this is a surveyor blindspot. Apophis should have no idea we are here."

Kregulf nodded and briskly led his party down the street, keeping to the edges of the road. The Cerberii followed, Fission-blasters and Bilefamer held ready. Kerubim gripped his Adrathic rifle tight and said, "Radfal… you do realise that will be useless against Automatons."

Radfal hefted his Bileflamer and scoffed, "It's not just acid I'm carrying. Trust me, nothing wants to get hit by what's in here."

Kerubim sighed and let it go as he remarked, "The Tau sound embattled."

Berio muttered, "Sounds like they are getting their arses kicked."

Paneyr added, "Nothing like seeing Xenos getting massacred to brighten up one's day. Shame we can't wander over and have a look."

Kregulf glared at them and snapped, "That is not our mission, we are looking for weapons to fight an Abominable Intelligence. Focus on that."

Kerubim swallowed as he asked, "Do you think we'll find anything useful?"

Kregulf's hand gripped his crystal-knife tight as he uttered, "We have to, else trust in Coluber to hold true in the face of temptation."

Kerubim continued walking for a few more steps until the implications sank in and he gasped, "You don't think the Chapter Master would ally with Apophis?!"

Kregulf sternly stated, "I think he's leaning towards it."

"Surely not!" Kerubim denied, "He showed no interest in such an alliance."

But Kregulf hissed, "Neither did he reject it outright. Coluber schemed to allow Apophis to destroy the Tau for him; he allowed a Silica Animus free rein."

"That's a long way from joining with Apophis," Kerubim protested.

"It's a step in the wrong direction. First he allowed tainted weapons to exist; now he seeks to manipulate a foe to his advantage. Soon he will try to coerce Apophis to his will, then discourse will follow and finally an understanding will form. He will cover it in terms of an arrangement or a deal, but the end will be the same. Coluber will join with Apophis, I see it in his eyes."

"You can't believe that," Kerubim spat, "He's being pragmatic, playing for time as we find a way to eliminate the threat. You mistake cunning for conciliation."

Kregulf however spat, "Nobody wakes up one morning and decides to become a Heretic. It is a road of a million tiny steps, small compromises and daily justifications. Each decision insignificant in itself, but the journey ends with one becoming a Traitor."

"What do you know of treason…" Kerubim scoffed, but trailed off as angry glares returned and he remembered who he was speaking with. Uncomfortable silence fell as they walked on and Kerubim chewed on what he had heard. Surely it couldn't be true, he told himself, the Cerberii were bitter and suspicious. Their own sedition caused them to see Heresy in all corners. But another part of his mind worried, the Amber Vipers had never been overly concerned with where they got their tools and gear, always willing to grab whatever was to hand. For them the mean justified the ends, but to ally with an Abominable Intelligence was too far… wasn't it?

Filled with doubts Kerubim marched on but suddenly Kregulf pulled up short and waved towards a lurking pict-lens set high above. It was pointing away from them but would soon rotate to point their way. Hurriedly Kregulf motioned the party into the nearest building and the Cerberii slipped into the dark interior, disappearing into shadow. Kerubim moved to follow but was brought up short when Bane refused to move. Kerubim bit his lip in annoyance and waved the Vorax on but the hunter-killer planted its feet, refusing to move with a squawk of Binaric. Suppressing a curse he grabbed the machine behind its head and dragged it inside, seconds before the pict-lens could notice them.

Inside Kerubim cuffed Bane in annoyance and turned to follow the Cerberii. They had moved further into the dark interior and he saw it was some form of chemical storage hold, filled with metal tanks covered in pipes and catwalks. Signs in proto-gothic declared various substances had once been held within, but he doubted any of them would be viable after all this time. Yet thanks to the efforts of repair-bots the facility itself was untarnished.

The Cerberii had advanced halfway along the line of silver tanks and stood in a circle, facing outwards. Kerubim frowned as he strode up to them, Bane holding back again as he called, "We can't linger here."

Kregulf hissed, "We can't move…"

"Why not?"

"Because we're surrounded!" Kregulf cried in alarm.

Suddenly the shadows between tanks came alive as huge forms charged. Kerubim had an impression of thickened piston-legs and grasping digits as fat as a man's arm. Bulky armoured chests were crowned by hooded sensor-domes and many eye-lenses that stared unblinkingly. They moved with rattling gears and rods that slid over each other, creating a din in the confined spaces. Yet the most telling feature was the heavy Fission-blasters attached to each forearm, which revealed them to be Cadmus robots. The missing Battle-automata had found them.

With startling swiftness Arges, Steropes and Brontes charged out of the darkness. They were neither agile nor graceful but had a ponderous momentum and once in motion they could move with remarkable alacrity. The Cerberii spun and let off Fission-blaster shots but the Cadmus were so close they avoided getting hit as the three robots barrelled into their midst. Metal hands, as big as a Space Marine's chest, slapped guns out of grips and Steropes grabbed the Bileflamer from Radfal, crushing it in his fingers. Hissing caustic acids chewed through a finger in moments and left it to drop to the ground, but the damage was minor.

Suddenly a hail of Rotor shots pinged off Brontes' cowling, stubber rounds flying in all directions as Bane charged. The Vorax leapt into the attack with guns roaring, pounding forward in a bold charge as Binaric shrieks rose in challenge. Brontes' armour was chipped and gouged by shots but it seemed uncaring as a huge hand swept about and clubbed Bane away. The Vorax staggered with a dent driven into its casing as it fell between two tanks and thrashed in an attempt to get back up.

Kerubim was aghast at the sight, how the Cadmus had found them baffled him, but his reflexes were yet Transhuman. He lifted his rifle and prepared to fire, but before he could do so the one named Arges acted. A hand lifted and writhing Mechandrites shot forth, wrapping around his rifle before he could fire and ripping it from his hands.

The Space Marines had been disarmed with ease but they were not defeated and Kregulf shouted, "Draw blades!" Fangs slid from belts with a rasp as they dove in, trying to drive points into exposed joints between armoured plates. The Cadmus responded with wide sweeps of their hands that clubbed and knocked down Astartes like trees in a gale. The fight was utterly one-sided and yet something was wrong, the Cadmus' fists were not energised, they could have obliterated the Space Marines and yet chose not to, for a reason none could say.

Kerubim joined the fray, trying to lever his knife into a knee joint as he cried, "Apophis has taken them over!"

The next seconds would be etched into his memory forever as Brontes snarled, "You are so wrong, Fleshbag!"

Berio cried, "They can talk, since when can they talk?!"

Kerubim's guts froze as the awful truth dawned on him, the reason he had always been so unnerved by the Cadmus at last revealed. He gasped in shock, "They're Abominable Intelligences too, they're all Silica Animus!"

His moment of dismay was to prove his downfall as a metal fist wrapped itself around his waist. Suddenly he was heaved into the air by Brontes and slammed bodily into a tank. His head struck the surface and he saw stars, but then Brontes pulled back and slammed him into the tank again and again. Kerubim's genhanced ribs and pelvis snapped from the impacts and he dropped his knife in a stupor, unable to keep hold as his vision turned purple. He felt many of his bones were broken and it would be hours before he could stand, let alone fight.

"Careful Brontes," Steropes called, "We need that one alive!"

Brontes snarled, "He won't die to a little tap like this, but it gets the point across. You will do as we say or die."

"Nev… never," Kerubim slurred.

"Then watch as we rip your gang limb from limb," Brontes hissed.

Kerubim's vision cleared slightly and he saw the Cerberii were similarly beset. Each of them held aloft in the hands of Arges and Steropes. They struggled and kicked but to no avail; they were bound tight and helpless to resist the Cadmus' strength, might surpassed only by a Dreadnought. Kerubim knew they would do it; they would kill the Cerberii before his eyes and leave him alone with the machines. Alone he stood no chance, but together with the Cerberii he might find a way to turn this about later.

Kerubim spat a gobbet of bloody acidic spittle and hissed, "What do you want?"

Arges declared, "We need your Binaric skills. You will come with us and do as we say."

"Why?" Kerubim hissed, "You are Machine Minds, what can I do that you can't?"

Brontes' grip tightened as he spat, "We ask the questions, you comply. Resist and we will rip the arms and legs off your mewling friends one by one, then take their heads last. If you think you can outwit…"

His declaration was cut short by a hail of rotor fire. Kerubim flinched as sparks flew from Brontes' casing and suddenly the grip around his torso disappeared. Kerubim dropped to the ground and rolled over, seeing Bane had regained its feet and was shooting furiously. Tongues of fire lashed the air as the Vorax inundated the Cadmus with shots, a brave stand against impossible odds.

"You miserable rustbucket!" Brontes roared as he lifted his Fission-blaster and let off a shot. To everyone's surprise Bane ducked low, letting the shot pass overhead to punch through the side of an empty tank. Kerubim had never been prouder of his creation as the Vorax squealed a Binaric insult, defiance shining from its spirit.

"Brontes, do you want some help?" Arges called.

"Leave it," Brontes snarled, "This one is mine."

The Cadmus' fist flared with lightning as Brontes barrelled forward, arms swinging. Bane tried to backpedal, rotor cannons firing all the while but the Vorax was too slow. A swinging fist caught it on the right flank and sheared a cannon free, sending it flying away as a disruption field separated metal from metal.

"Bane!" Kerubim cried in alarm, helpless to intervene, but the defiant Vorax was not finished. It swung its meltagun about and fired a fusion beam that punched through the chest of Brontes and left a dripping hole in the armour, as circuit and processors below were vaporised.

"That hurt!" Brontes yelled as he grabbed the Vorax in both hands and lifted it high. Bane thrashed and kicked impotently in the iron grip and its remaining Rotor cannon fired into the sensor-dome of the Cadmus, cracking several lenses. Despite its desperate state Bane refused to yield, fighting to break free with all its strength. Brontes however was the stronger and he squeezed hard, crushing armour panels and shattering delicate mechanisms. Oil and unguents ran like blood down Brontes' arms as Bane folded inwards, squeals of Binaric becoming painful in distress. It was pleading for help but all Kerubim could do was breathe, "No, no… stop it, stop it!"

Brontes didn't listen, or didn't care. The Cadmus increased the pressure inexorably as Bane crumpled in his grip. Then there was a sharp crack, followed by a spray of grey tissue from the core of the Vorax. Bane's neural-cortex was breached, the organic component that separated blessed artefacts of the Omnissiah from vile Abominable Intelligences, was destroyed. The machine known as Bane was gone forevermore, Brontes had killed it.

Brontes dropped the twisted heap of wreckage and growled, "I've waited years to put down that wretched mutt."

"If you're done playing we have work to do," Steropes snapped as he turned for the far exit.

Kerubim heard heavy footsteps then mechandrites wrapped around him and carried him away. He was thrown over Brontes' shoulder as he was marched off to a fate unknown. Yet all he could do was stare at the wreckage of his loyal companion, the tangle twist of metal that had saved his life so many times. Cold disbelief wrapped itself around his hearts as he whispered impotently, "Oh Throne…"