Tales of the Amber Viper Chapter 215

Wyvern's death was a bright flare in the endless dark, leaving a searing green blob on the eye long after its ashes had cooled. Reddam watched her passing with a torn heart, feeling the loss as he would a Brother. That ship had been with the Amber Vipers for years, one of the first acquisitions after their rebirth. It had been more than a warship; it had been their home and training ground, the place where the first generation of recruits had ascended. To see her die was a loss he felt most keenly and he knew the passing of an age was upon them.

Reddam's helm thumped into the back of his seat as he lamented. Grey Avenger flew silent and dark, coasting on inertia alone to avoid detection. Barely a blip of energy eked through her frame, just enough to power a low-sweep auspex and the vox. Course corrections were made with micro-bursts of chemical thrust, from an emergency reserve. She was quiet and sullen, even the servitor behind him seemingly sleeping. It felt like he was sitting still in the void, awaiting the moment of his death, though he knew better.

He twisted his head about and saw the angled bulk of Viper's Bite off his port wing. The Thunderhawk was coasting alongside him, also dark and silent. Further out Poisoned Fang cruised, though it was out of his sight line, along with the Wraths of his squad and the survivors of the other squadron. Eight Wraths and two Thunderhawks, all that had escaped Wyvern's demise, yet in their holds were the most potent weapons of all, the Space Marines themselves.

Reddam smiled coldly as he remembered the desperate flight from their mothership. The Amber Vipers had piled into their gunships and joined the Wraths in the void seconds before Wyvern began her suicide run. They had watched her sail off without them, knowing she wouldn't come back. Using the ship as a decoy for Revenge's guns had been an inspired move, but then sending the Fire Ship out to take out the other ship had been a stroke of genius. A distraction within a distraction, a feint within a feint. Frankly Reddam hadn't credited Ferrac with such cunning.

That thought made Reddam reach forward and he adjusted his vox to a tight-beam setting, undetectable to any save the intended recipient, and called, "Ferrac, do you hear me?"

A blurt of static replied followed then Ferrac replied from Viper's Bite, "I hear you, are we on course?"

Reddam squinted at the tiny mote that was the Revenge and affirmed, "Holding steady and true, we should reach her soon. Let's trust they don't see us coming."

"Our approach is purely ballistic," Ferrac stated, "No power to give us away. We should reach her without setting off a single auspex. It helps they think we're dead."

"May the Emperor prove you right," Reddam sighed, "We have no other places to go now Wyvern's gone."

"Aye," Ferrac agreed, "Losing that ugly scow was a harsh blow."

"And the chattels," Reddam concurred.

"Huh?" Ferrac grunted.

"The Chattels, we just sacrificed thousands of them."

"Oh yes, them too," Ferrac dismissed.

Reddam rolled his eyes as he asked, "How are your passengers?"

Ferrac snorted, "Markof is besides himself with anger and Maru is whining about blocking the prisoner's powers being hard enough without us moving them, but they'll manage. He can keep her contained while we board the Revenge."

"Speaking of which," Reddam hissed as he spotted something.

He leaned forward and examined his auspex, seeing small blips closing. They were half-way between the cargo ships and the Revenge, in empty space. Nothing should be here and yet he was picking up something, a flurry of small icons, heading their way and fast. His gaze rose and his genhanced eyes picked out tiny glints of light, cast out by plasma thrusters and reflected off sweeping wings. Deathbirds, a score them closing on an attack vector.

Reddam widened his vox and yelled, "They've rumbled us! Everybody wake your drives and prepare to engage!"

Ferrac barked, "Do not let them stop us, we must reach the Revenge!"

"You heard him," Reddam shouted, "Take them head to head!"

Grey Avenger awoke with a snarl of repressed fury and he yanked the controls hard. The Wrath spun in the void and blazed forward, closing on the Deathbirds at top speed. At his right Kazao hissed, "How'd they find us?"

"Doesn't matter," Joffel growled, "They have us dead to rights."

Reddam spat, "Keep it tight and stay in formation. Fire as one and clear the road!"

He squeezed the trigger and flurries of las shot from Grey Avenger. Seven other Wraths joined him, creating a spear of laser fire that ploughed into the closing Deathbirds. Both Thunderhawks joined in but with only two lascannons and four heavy bolters, their contribution was marginal, they were ground-attack craft not void superiority fighters. The column of las pounded the closing enemy, carving through their formation with deadly power. Deathbirds exploded amid the onslaught, and he was disgusted to note a couple of Imperial furies died with them, traitors left over from Carmilla's betrayal. In return sporadic las-fire came back but the foe hadn't expected so focused a response and they were unprepared for the salvo. A few tried to loose missiles, but the targeting spirits were confounded by the ion storm and veered away, their fury wasted. The Deathbirds reliance on missiles was proving a fatal shortcoming.

Reddam saw them swell in his eye and then they shot past and away. In the void relative velocities were measured in thousands of kilometres an hour and they hurtled past to be lost in the rear. Joffel cried, "Let's turn about and blow them away!"

"Negative," Reddam snapped, "Do not engage, leave them behind."

"We can finish them," Larus protested.

"Not our mission," Reddam barked, "Getting to the Revenge is all that matters. Open your throttles and follow me."

The Wraths shot away, leaving the enemy behind. They turned in the void and tried to give chase but first had to shed their inertia, in vacuum nothing was so time-consuming and energy intensive as a direct reversal of course. The Wrath were well away before they could turn and they were left wallowing behind, struggling to catch up. Reddam put them from his mind as they closed on the target. The Battlebarge was swelling rapidly as the distance closed, growing from a tiny glint to a wedge as big as his hand. From here she looked lonely and vulnerable, but he knew she was anything but. A Battlebarge's defences were potent indeed, beyond a paltry frigate's or cruisers, this was going to be a bowel-loosening experience.

Tebes voxed, "Where are we aiming, the primary launch bay?"

Reddam averred, "No, it's too well defended. We aim for one of the secondary shuttle bays on the ventral side, it should give us the easiest approach vector."

"We'll wet our hands with blood," Joffel crowed.

Yet Reddam rebuked, "Our job is to clear the turrets so the Thunderhawks can land safely. Leave the boarding action to Torvus and Anaxar squads. We are void fighters this day."

Silence fell and Reddam knew they were disappointed, yet that did not change his mind. He focused on the target, seeing Revenge become a mountain in space as they closed. The Battlebarge was wounded, he could see her scars from the fighting but they were nowhere near enough to cripple her. The indomitable vessel had ridden out all the Imperials could throw at her, shrugging off attacks with contemptuous disdain. She was mighty and proud, seemingly invincible from without. He only prayed that she was more vulnerable from within. Surely the mortal crew could not withstand the might of the Space Marines. Conventional doctrines said not, but there were only twenty-two of them, set against tens of thousands, even with Ferrac leading the charge their chances of success were slim. Yet it was the only option left.

They closed rapidly but suddenly the growing mass of the Revenge lit up with turret fire, streams of tracers spitting into the void. Furious was the barrage, hundreds of mutlilasers and autocannons thundering ceaselessly as their gunners tried to swat the incoming fighters from the void. Rarely had Reddam seen so thick a defence, putting frigates and cruisers to shame. Instantly he jinked Grey Avenger about, randomly veering to and fro but the stuttering webs sought him out, trying to bracket him in a hail of death. Las to the left of them, shell to the right the Amber Vipers flew on, avoiding annihilation by insanely small margins.

As they wove about Tebes voxed, "They don't want us getting too close."

Joffel hissed in ire, "The approach is too well defended; we need to find another landing bay."

Tebes spat, "There's nowhere else, it's this or nothing!"

Impossibly the turret fire seemed to increase in tempo, doubling the amount of fire coming at them. Reddam was thrown side to side, ice dripping down his spine as he flew into it, feeling death's cold hand reaching for him. Reddam gritted his teeth and hissed, "This is no good, we have to make another approach."

But Tebes argued, "Deathbirds are on our tail, they'll mob us if we break off."

Caught in a deadly vice Joffel howled, "It's too thick, we have to try to find another weak spot!"

Larus growled, "It's a Battlebarge, it doesn't have any weak spots."

"Then find another landing bay!" Joffel bellowed.

But Tebes snapped back, "There is no other landing bay."

Joffel cried, "I can't see anything but tracers!"

Larus spat, "It's our only way in."

Joffel howled, "It's not a way, it's a suicide run!"

Reddam knew it was true but then Kazao's voice cut in, cold and calm as he stated, "I can do it."

Reddam started in surprise, "Kazao?"

"I can make it," Kazao repeated with total certainty.

Reddam had no time to consider the options, he could only trust in his gut and ordered, "Everybody scatter and draw their fire. Kazao, it's all up to you. Break on my mark… mark!" Reddam heaved his stick about and Grey Avenger twisted and spun in the void. He ended up moving laterally to the Battlebarge, its hull looming off his right wing. Flurries of tracers chased him as he flew, filling space with bursts of fire. He jinked violently about as he evaded, trying to keep one step ahead, yet in the corner of his eye he saw Kazao pressing forward.

The tiny mote of his Wrath dove into the fray, braving impossible odds as he jinked and weaved like a whirling dervish. Reddam had never seen a fighter move like that, his aberrant Brother's reflexes beyond the keenness of any Space Marine. Hailstorms of tracers bracketed his fighter, surely meaning his death, yet somehow Kazao flew through the barrage without taking more than a scorch on his paintwork. Even Reddam was amazed at his speed and surety, dancing with death in a blinding twirl of motion and speed. He flew the gauntlet; he flew like no other could and emerged alive. He'd made it, Reddam gasped in disbelief, defying every bound of logic he'd made it.

Inside the arc of the barrage Kazao veered off and flew lateral to the hull, his lascannons flaring. Turrets were smote from the hull, blazing laser emplacements and juddering autocannons sheared away with short bursts of las. Kazao circled the bay, blowing away turret after turret and leaving a gaping hole in the close defence web. A path had been opened into the heart of the enemy and the moment had come to strike.

"Ferrac, you've got your opening, hit them now!" Reddam cried.

"Copy," Ferrac replied, "Tally bloody ho!"

From the rear Viper's Bite and Poisoned Fang accelerated, racing past to charge at the Revenge. They flew into the narrow gap created in the defence, angling for the sealed bulk of the shuttle bay. The remaining turrets twisted about, trying to target them but the angles were poor and they could not cover the hole in their defence. Two Thunderhawks slipped into the gap and raced for their goal, their deadly cargos ready to unleash blood-soaked carnage. The thick bulk of the hatch stood in their way, but on the gunship's spines Turbolasers erupted with focused destruction, sending twin columns of las hurtling forth. The beams smote the hatch over the bay and carved through it, slicing through to penetrate beyond. Explosive decompression erupted from the bay, detonations tearing the door from its frame to throw the entire hatch into space. Crew were blown out along with it, flailing bodies thrashing as vacuum claimed them but the Thunderhawks cared not, they dove into the narrow opening, landing claws extending as they came in to land. They disappeared into the cavernous bay, then an atmospheric integrity shield snapped on, cutting off the loss of air.

Reddam lost sight of the Thunderhawks as he peeled off. The Amber Vipers had boarded the Revenge and he knew the Battle-Captain would be in his element. Yet he had his own problems, the Deathbirds were right on their tail and eager to claim vengeance. Reddam swung about to confront them as he called, "Everybody form up and prepare to reengage. Ferrac, Emperor guide your arm and give those bastards hell."