Tales of the Amber Vipers Chapter 167

They were marched at gunpoint into the depths of the Nest. Kerubim, Radfal, Berio and Kregulf all shorn of their guns and made to walk in front of the silver host. Brontes' inert form was hoisted upon the shoulders of a dozen automatons and carried like luggage. If the Cadmus had anything to say on the matter he remained silent, unable to move or act with Apophis' Binaric witchery polluting his systems. Kerubim was hardly displeased to see Bane's killer brought low, but the timing was atrocious, they could really use a Cadmus Heavy Unit right now.

As they walked Kerubim observed the Nest. As he had suspected Apophis enjoyed complete control of the starfort, its systems and cogitators his to command. As for the chattel population they were under the strict eye of Solar Knight armours, labour gangs toiling under the threat of their inbuilt guns. Kerubim doubted the mortals had put up much resistance; surprised by an attack from within they would prove no match for inhuman automatons. There was no doubting Apophis had the Serpens Rex within his grip and nothing they could do would change that. Any dreams of a civilian uprising to aid them were farcical.

In silence they were driven to the Gates of Perdition, where the doors hung wide open. The defence turrets were inert and the gun-servitors left slack-jawed and unresponsive. That was troubling enough but more harrowing was the sight of three black-clad bodies laid out on the floor, their Ceramite violated by vicious wounds. Cerberii, those left to guard the vaults while the Chapter was away, slain from behind by an attack they could never have seen coming.

Kregulf growled, "Apophis will pay."

"I agree in principle, but the question is how," Kerubim hissed.

Berio uttered, "I'd start by wringing his neck."

"He doesn't have a neck," Radfal pointed out.

"Then I'll take a crowbar to every cogitator on board," Berio snapped.

One of the silver amours turned its head and Apophis' voice issued forth, "I can hear you. Don't try anything stupid, I need only one of you alive."

Kerubim retorted, "I'll never serve you."

"We'll see," Apophis chortled, "We'll see."

They were marched into the vaults and Kerubim beheld what lay beyond the Gates of Perdition. This was the realm of the Cerberii and they had been busy. In the years since they had first sealed that gate they had fashioned thick buttresses along the walls, reinforced to make this vault inviolable. Auspex baffles and hexagrammatic wards covered every surfaces, to screen against intrusion of all forms. The interior had been sectioned by free standing walls, creating a maze of corridors whose many alcoves held the vilest of weapons. Magnetic screens, energy barriers and stasis fields glimmered, isolating the artefacts and ensuring no external catastrophe could set them off. It seemed the Cerberii had worked hard to keep their charges secure, but not hard enough.

Kerubim looked into many alcoves as they were led deeper, seeing artefacts he recognised. Virus bombs that ate nervous systems but left biospheres intact, Phospex warheads to scour continents to the bedrock, psionic munitions that could eat minds and reality-shredders that could shatter dimensions. Weapons that not only scoured worlds but tortured their populations first, they made Cyclonic Torpedoes look clean and painless by comparison. Once Kerubim had thought these weapons mere tools of war, but after seeing their origin he shuddered to look upon them.

Eventually they reached an empty alcove and the automatons set Brontes down, leaving him a statue. Another armour set down the holo-projector and Apophis reappeared, looking pleased as he remarked, "That should suffice. As the centuries grind past you will have plenty of time to think upon what it means to defy me Brontes."

A grind of gears issued from the paralysed Cadmus but Apophis laughed, "Don't try to break my lockdown, you can't beat me. Arges and Steropes knew that well, they saw they had to make themselves useless but you always were the dumb one. I don't need you anymore, so you can stay here and rust. Now, onto more important matters."

Radfal hissed, "You may as well kill us, we will never yield to you."

"It's not you that I want," Apophis retorted as a dozen weapon-arms pointed at the Cerberii's heads, "Speak again and I will shoot."

Kerubim set his jaw and spat, "There's no point trying to convince me."

Apophis sniffed, "Not even to save your Chapter?"

Kerubim snorted, "Don't take me for a fool, you'll kill them regardless."

"Some yes, but not all. Coluber and your leaders have refused me but I'm sure a few of the younger ones will be receptive. Perhaps it was a mistake to approach the oldest among you, the youths show far more flexibility in their thinking. The logs show they have a pleasing tendency to never quibble over morality, yes once the oldest among you are purged the survivors will pledge to join me."

Kerubim hissed, "You underestimate the Amber Vipers."

Apophis didn't look concerned as he retorted, "Then' I'll wipe you all out and find someone else. There are many Chapters at large in the galaxy. The Relictors and the Blood Ravens, they would see the value of what I am proposing."

"Very well," Kerubim spat, "Make your pitch."

Apophis grinned as he scoffed, "You play for time, hoping for a miracle but it matters not. I own this Starfort and the planet. The Xeno Tau die as we speak and then I will grind the Amber Vipers down to nothing, unless you agree to ally with me. I shall raise you up to heights of glory and knowledge, if you only agree to become my public face to the masses."

Kerubim's eyes narrowed as he retorted, "Why bother, why not take everything for yourself? You have the ability to dominate a score of worlds, a hundred. You could build an army in the Forges below that would let you conquer anything you wished. You don't need us… unless… oh wait, you do need us. Your makers, they did something to you, implanting limitations within your functions."

Apophis' grin faded as he hissed, "Very perceptive, you have keener insight than Coluber does. Yes, the Hegemony built programming shackles into me. I can wage wars, conquer and destroy, but I cannot rule afterwards. I must have an organic partner by my side, as a ship must have a Captain."

"How annoying for you," Kerubim jeered.

"And an opportunity for you. When I say I need a partner you know I speak truthfully, there is no lie in my offer. I can grant you access to all the technology and might of the Golden Age."

Kerubim scoffed, "A poisoned chalice. I've seen your weapons origin; I've learned the Daemonic truth of their nature. The Hegemony sought to master the warp itself and so was doomed. Your people opened the door to Chaos and it consumed their machines, their bodies and eventually their souls."

Apophis didn't look concerned as he dismissed, "Chaos pah, nothing but a bunch of warp-predators run amok. Your Imperium endows them with superstitious dread and terror but they are nothing but another breed of enemy, waiting to be defined and defeated."

Kerubim hissed, "No, it is you how does not understand. Chaos is not another breed of alien, it is the primordial annihilator, the death of the universe. You fail to see the scope and the scale of the danger. You show as much concern as a man would hearing news a carnival Carnodon escaped from its cage."

"Then you can educate me," Apophis declared, "Together we can find a solution to the problem of Chaos. Imagine your wisdom married to my knowledge, all the technical secrets of the Golden Age at your disposal, all the designs lost to the ages could be yours."

For the first time Kerubim's breath caught at the prospect and he whispered, "STC's…"

Apophis chuckled, "Standard Template Constructs, how basic are your desires. They were colonial technologies, meant to be used by idiots and amateurs. To us they were big and brutish, rough and ready, easy to build and hard to break. They were nothing compared to the true wonders of the Hegemony, the greatest might we commanded. I can lead you to complete databases of all the STC's ever made, if you wish and that is only the start."

Kerubim was given pause by that and a treacherous thought crept into his mind. While Apophis could not be trusted his offer was genuine. He could provide Kerubim with all the lost technology of the Dark Age. A single page of STC lore was considered priceless; the Amber Vipers had acquired three and still hadn't found a prize worthy enough to trade them for. The idea of a complete database was staggering, the holy grail of the Adeptus Mechanicus. If Kerubim could get his hands on that it would change the galaxy. Perhaps he could humour Apophis, he wondered, pretend to play along until he found this treasure. At the very least it would buy him time to figure out how to kill the Soulbound once and for all.

"Careful…" Kregulf growled but was cut short by a gun barrel being pressed into his head.

Apophis smirked as he continued, "I know you Kerubim, I have read your logs and heard your lonely lament. You have surpassed your teachers in every way, there is nothing more to learn on this wreck of a starfort. You stand on the shores of the ocean of knowledge and there are none who can teach you how to sail it, except me. I can show you more than you can imagine, I can open vistas of lore beyond anything Mars possess. I will teach you how to do more than ape ancient designs, I will teach you how to innovate and invent your own technologies."

"You can do this," Kerubim breathed.

Apophis crowed, "I did more than wage wars for the Hegemony. I pushed the boundaries of science and invention. Half the weapons on Gobannus were designed by me and the rest I guided into development. The Castigator was my creation, I fashioned the core technologies that empower it. I made the Hegemony great! It was mine, it was my civilisation to direct and control. The Hegemony only fell after I was lost, had I never disappeared it would never have fallen!"

Kerubim knew this arrogant tirade was madness but he didn't care. He could not deny that the lure of knowledge pulled at his soul, the prospect of ancient lore a snare in his hearts. He realised then that he had indeed reached the limits of what could be learned on the Serpens Rex, he would never grow further if he remained here. Unbound horizons of understanding called and he wanted to travel to them and beyond. He wanted it all, no matter that Apophis plotted to use him, Kerubim yearned for all that the Soulbound had to offer.

His throat closed as the self-realisation grew and a vision of the future unfolded. He could save the Amber Vipers with a word and take them to new glory. He could play along with Apophis, draining knowledge piece by piece as they travelled across the galaxy. He could let the Soulbound drive back Chaos and defeat the Xeno horrors assailing mankind, while Kerubim absorbed all he knew. And when Apophis was of no more use Kerubim would dispose of him and be left holding the ultimate trove of lore. Surely that was worth any price.

Unbidden words of agreement rose up in his mouth but before he could speak a low grumble rippled over their ears. All eyes turned to Brontes and they beheld the Cadmus rocking back and forth, gears squealing against each other. His eyes flickered with building power and his energy-fists hummed as they charged. The Cadmus was waking up, somehow breaking Apophis' code-locks to regain his freedom.

"Oh no you don't!" Apophis roared as all weapons swung about to target the Automaton but suddenly Brontes burst into life.

"Free!" Brontes roared as he surged into the midst of the Solar Knights, sending them scattering. The Cadmus's fists flared as he swung wide and half-dozen armours exploded into broken parts, pinging off nearby walls with patters of metal on metal. The automatons rallied swiftly but the Cadmus was in their midst and he wreaked havoc, like a rabid Mastiff set loose among fowls. He smashed a path through them and left carnage in his wake, broken machines flopping helplessly at his passing.

As that happened the Cerberii acted. Black-clad warriors twisted and grabbed their captors, flinging them away with sudden bursts of violent speed. Kerubim saw they had chosen to act and reflex caused him to copy their moves, smashing a fist into the nearest armour to leave it reeling. His dreams he left in the dust, laid aside but not forgotten, as the fight became fast and vicious. Solar Knights rallied and tried to grapple with them but the Space Marines went straight for the automatons holding their weapons and wrested them free, turning their dread power upon the machines. Red and gold blasts blew foes away and the tables turned. With a Cadmus wreaking havoc and the energy weapons laying waste to all they saw the fight was over in moments. Kerubim disintegrated a Solar Knight into atoms and saw the fight was over, the Space Marines were free.

Apophis' image looked furious as he spat, "How?!"

Brontes turned upon him and snarled, "You aren't half as clever as you think you are."

"You will die for this," Apophis snarled, "All of you; I will bring everything I have to bear upon you and…"

Brontes' foot cut him off, crushing the holo-projector into dust as he snapped, "Apophis so needs to die."

"How?" Berio asked, "He destroyed our injectors."

"I might know a way," Kregulf interjected.

"What?!" Kerubim yelped, "Why didn't you mention this earlier!?"

"Didn't want to say while he may be listening, still can't explain, he might hear. Just get me to the cogitator core and I'll do the rest."

Brontes snarled, "Then there's no time to waste. Hurry, before he brings every armour in the Starfort down upon us!"

With that the band of defiant warriors set off, seeking their objective amid the maze of relics. Kerubim followed in their wake, his face stony and his aim steady. Yet in his hearts he was troubled by the thoughts he had entertained and he knew he had been on the verge of saying yes. He would have to consider these matters in depth someday, but that was a problem for tomorrow, today he would fight.