Tales of the Amber Vipers Chapter 241
Kerubim threw himself behind the nearest pillar, slamming his backpack hard up against the frame for cover. A heartbeat later a red beam of energy shot through the space where he had been standing, perfectly aimed to tear out his hearts. Kerubim recognised the unique signature of Volkite energy, the Amber Vipers having claimed a few such relics themselves, a dangerous weapon more than capable of boring through power armour. Kerubim was in trouble.
He heard footsteps echoing and instantly knew the traitors were moving to flank his position. One of them would pin him, while the other circled about to finish him off. Acting on instinct Kerubim threw himself out of cover, running full pelt towards another strut. A red beam of energy nearly killed him but he'd deliberately avoided the nearest pillar, angling towards another further away and Dannye missed by a hairsbreadth. In return Kerubim swung his rifle about one-handed and let off a golden ray. He fired in haste and at a poor angle, no good for hitting anything, but it made Dannye flinch away, buying a moment to reach cover. Yet there was another foe to contend with.
In the corner of his eye Kerubim saw Ruuka, illuminated by the golden radiance of the Adrathic beam. The Executor was hefting a bulky projectile weapon and with a squeeze of the trigger sent a trio of rounds flying. Kerubim was moving at Transhuman speed and the shots went wide, yet to his complete shock they twisted in mid-air, steering for his back. With a tenth of a second to react he threw himself behind a pillar, hearing the metal ring as bolts slammed into it. He hunkered down, knowing he could not risk running again, he was trapped.
Footsteps echoed nearer but he heard Dannye snap, "We have no time for this, you need to start your mutiny."
"We can't let this one live," Ruuka protested, "He'll tell everyone what we are planning."
"If he is here the other one can't be far away," Dannye snapped, "All we have now is speed. Get to the Tezla and start your mutiny, I will dispose of this one."
Hurried footsteps rang into the dark as Ruuka retreated but Kerubim grinned as he pulled his rifle close to his chest and called, "You are bold, to send your friend away."
"I do not need him to end you."
"Arrogant too," Kerubim snorted as he craned to peer around the pillar, wary of a sudden shot from the dark.
"You are merely Firstborn," Dannye's voice rang from the shadows, "Your limits are known, your capabilities measured. You are not even Primaris."
"Still enough to put a stop to your plot and erase the taint of Chaos!"
"Chaos?!" Dannye laughed, "You deluded fool, I do not serve the Ruinous Powers, I move to end them once and for all!"
Kerubim heard the echoes shift and burst from cover, rifle swinging to aim at where he thought Dannye was hiding. It turned out he was wrong. As his rifle came up Dannye emerged from the other side of the pillar, so very close that Kerubim could not stop him slapping the weapon aside. Tremendous strength tore the rifle from his grip and sent it spinning away, clattering across the dark floor, leaving him unarmed.
Kerubim was startled by the ferocity of Dannye's attack, but rallied with the speed of a Space Marine. He clenched his fists and threw himself at the traitor, right arm blurring as he struck for the face. To his utter dismay Dannye jerked aside, letting the blow sail past without contact. A jab from the left fell an inch too short as Dannye swayed back and an uppercut missed, pulling Kerubim off balance. He regained his footing in a moment and fell back, holding his fists up before his face as he muttered, "Would it have been too much for Jordig to leave me a knife?!"
The Secutor followed, keeping an exact distance. Kerubim was wary but refused to show it, he watched for his foes' move, waiting for an opening to strike, but when the attack came he missed it. From nowhere Dannye's fist came at his face, moving faster than he could track. It slammed into his face and he heard his nose cracking as the world turned purple and his head rang. Blindly he threw a punch for the centre mass, only to feel his hand stopped by an upraised palm, Dannye blocking with no discernible effort.
Kerubim couldn't believe what he was seeing and spluttered, "How?!"
Dannye tutted, "I am a Secutor Dominus of the Skitarii, I have Augmented my body to above-Transhuman-tolerances. Observe."
The hand holding his fist closed and suddenly Kerubim was jerked forward. He lurched forward to meet Dannye's forehead coming the other way, slamming into his brow with force enough to crack Astartes' bone. Kerubim's world spun as his skull fractured, only to have the wind driven out of him by a gut punch. He staggered in delirium, unable to breathe, then felt a hand clamp the back of his neck. A moment later unearthly strength sent him headlong into a pillar, dashing his broken nose against the unyielding metal. Then he was yanked back and slammed into the pillar again and again.
Each blow drove Kerubim further into the dark and he felt his cheekbones shattering, then his jaw, taking him apart piece by piece. This wasn't merely a killing attack; it was a humiliation. Never had Kerubim been so outmatched, never had he seen a Space Marine so effortlessly beaten down. Dannye wasn't just faster and stronger, he was vastly more skilled. His every motion calculated precisely to neutralise Transhuman advantage, every impulse honed to perfection. Dannye understood Space Marine physiology better than they did, and knew how to deconstruct an Astartes in the most painful way possible.
Desperately Kerubim clung to consciousness, knowing to pass out would not end the assault, Dannye would continue until he was dead either way. Yet there was no way to fight back, no way to break free. Kerubim was helpless, but he was not alone. From behind a sharp snap-hiss heralded the stark blue glow of a plasma-sabre igniting: Jordig entered the fray with a bold charge from the rear and cried, "Get your hands off him!"
Kerubim felt the hand gripping him let go and dropped to the deck, spitting acid and blood from his shattered mouth. Dark swirls tried to drag him into sleep but he refused to sink into oblivion, forcing his head to roll over and see what was happening. In the cramped confines under the capacitor Jordig advanced, he was cramped and hunched but he bounded forward with a feral gait and his plasma-sabre swept low, trying to sweep the traitor's legs off. Dannye however slapped his palms together and when they parted a shaft of metal grew, unfolding section by section as he produced a long stave from his hands. Energy shimmers wrapped the staff in a corona of gravitic repulsion, coating it in a sheathe of anti-grav: a Repulsor-stave.
Dannye met the plasma-sabre with the length of his stave and gravitic force threw the blade back like steel crashing against steel. Jordig snarled wetly as he saw his blade deflected and redoubled his attack, thrusting for the heart of his foe. Dannye swept his stave about and knocked the blow aside, then swung the other end about to hit the Techmarine in the back. Jordig staggered sideways as grav-waves hit like a wrecking ball but he kept his feet under him and returned the blow with a roundhouse sweep. Back and forth the pair duelled, furious and fast, exchanging blows faster than Kerubim could track.
A massive blow to the gut sent Jordig screeching backwards and he snarled, "Traitorous filth!"
Dannye coolly replied, "You provide more of a challenge than the sprog, but you are still not good enough to end me."
"I'm going to rip your cold metal hearts out," Jordig growled.
"Unlikely, you forget I helped make the Primaris. I know your capabilities; I perfected your armour and Sinew Coils. I set out your tolerances and made sure my own Augmetics were superior. You are inferior, you were made to be inferior."
Jordig snarled as he threw himself forward, trying to tear Dannye limb from limb. Kerubim watched as shining blue blade met repulsor-stave in a Kaleidoscope of light and energy. Laying bleeding upon the floor Kerubim had never felt so outmatched, but he refused to accept it. Broken and battered as he was, he was yet a Space Marine, his will was indomitable and spirit unbreakable. Painfully he forced his hands under him and levelled his body upwards. Torn muscle and ripped tendon protested but he forced the pain aside as he swayed to his feet and made ready to fight.
The pair were sweeping back and forth, advancing and retreating at a furious rate. Kerubim was slower than both, weaker and unarmed, but determined to make a difference anyway. He gathered himself as he saw the fight swing his way, then launched himself at the Secutor's back, hands held out like claws. Dannye sensed him coming and swung about, bringing the tip of his stave to crash into Kerubim's side. The lad was sent skidding away with a mess of broken ribs, but the distraction had bought Jordig a moment to rally. In one mighty sweep he brought his plasma-sabre overhead, trying to cleave the traitor in two. Dannye had his back to the Techmarine, yet lifted the stave over his head, blocking the strike but not without cost. With all the strength of a Primaris behind it the Plasma-saber finally broke through the repulsion and in a burst of exploding gravitic forces smote the stave in two.
"Gragh!" Jordig yelled as he was thrown back hard against the nearest pillar, slumping down insensate for a moment as he dropped his fading weapon. Dannye too was thrown to the ground, his stave sparking futilely as it died. He rolled on the ground in a heap of tangled limbs, trying to recover but Kerubim wasn't going to give him the chance. Further back from the blast he was less affected and more importantly he saw Jordig's Plasma-saber hit the ground and roll nearer. Instantly he stooped and grabbed the haft, squeezing to reignite the blade and hold it over the fallen Secutor.
"You are beaten," Kerubim growled.
"Beaten?" Dannye spat from where he sprawled, "Fool, you understand nothing."
"Your treachery is uncovered, your ally flees, we shall root out your agents and crush them. Your rebellion dies stillborn!"
But Dannye hissed, "Idiot, did you think I would waste time brawling with you before starting?! I sent a vox-message to incite the attack the second you showed up!"
Kerubim's hearts skipped a beat as he realised Dannye's treachery hadn't been thwarted at all, it was underway already. The planned attack was happening right now, even as they duelled. Dannye had outmanoeuvred them, his scheme ten steps ahead at every point. Raw shock made Kerubim's arm waver and the blade shifted a hair, all Dannye needed to roll over and bring his pinned arm up, holding Volkite Serpentia in hand. Kerubim gasped as he found himself staring down the coils of an energy weapon, its charging chamber glowing evilly.
"No..." he managed to utter then Dannye pulled the trigger. A flaring beam of red energy took Kerubim in the stomach. He felt the hit like a punch to the gut, knocking him backwards. Ceramite held for a heartbeat, then melted, allowing the Volkite to tear into his belly. Kerubim felt incredible heat claw at his guts, setting his nerves on fire. Volcanic agony ripped through him, dicing his intestines and stomach and leaving ashes in its wake as a scream was torn from his lips. He felt it, he felt his innards deflagrating as internal organs cooked inside his body, painful beyond imagination. Then the beam tore out his back, spraying charred ashes everywhere as Kerubim's guts were atomised.
His legs turned to ice and his world collapsed as he fell to the floor. Searing heat became icy claws of doom as he gasped for air, unable to move, unable to speak. He saw motion and heard voices as if from far away, but the world was retreating from his senses. The beating of his hearts echoed in his ears, growing slower and feebler with every pulse, his lungs battled for air, struggling to draw in enough air to keep him alive. He was alone in a universe of torment, without any to aid him. Darkness billowed through his mind and this time Kerubim was helpless to resist. The suffocating grip of oblivion took hold and Kerubim was dragged into a dream of agony, to suffer in the knowledge of his failure as his heartbeats faded away to nothing.