Tales of the Amber Vipers Chapter 244
Once more Tezla steered a troubled passage through the warp, the small ship tacking against currents of grief and sorrow. Calamity and disaster were the base state of the galaxy and they whipped the Immaterium into a frenzy. It was frustrating but there was nothing to be done, the Empyrean cared nothing for the haste of those who dared intrude into its haunted depths. So, the plucky vessel ploughed on, Geller field flaring as she sought a route to distant Cippum.
Deep within the hull Ruuka strolled, apparently calm and confident. He was greeted by passing crewmen, menials, adepts and Tech-Priest alike. All of them hailed him as a conquering hero, lauding his bold stroke at taking the ship from under Pycelo's nose. The old skinflint had not been well liked and even Ruuka was taken aback by how relieved the crew were to be rid of him. A few he spoke to were more restrained in their praises, swept up in the mutiny without understanding what was occurring. These he took time to console, telling of the wonderous relics awaiting them on Cippum. They still seemed reserved but the prospect of priceless archeotech stilled any thoughts of backsliding. This was an Explorator vessel after all, every soul on board committed to the Quest for Knowledge, no matter the cost. Tezla, under Pycelo, had betrayed plenty of alliances and sold-out many trusting dupes to acquire valuable relics, this mutiny didn't seem too far a stretch for most.
Ruuka's sojourn took him a full day to complete, visiting as many personnel as he could. Finally growing weary he turned his steps for the Strategium, and the fateful meeting that awaited him. Despite his eager façade he was troubled and the long walk gave him time to contemplate his situation. He was a Heretek, doubtless branded so by Pycelo and Cawl alike. The pair of them would be spreading word of his perfidious deeds far and wide, making sure every Forge in the galaxy would treat him as they would the most corrupted traitor. Ruuka would not be able to return to the Imperium unless they recovered something of spectacular worth, a prize great enough to quell any inconvenient questions. Dannye had better be right about Cippum, it was now his only prospect of earning the recognition he deserved. If this plan failed, they may as well slit their own throats.
Ruuka finally reached the broad Strategium and he entered without fanfare. Within he found Dannye and Krusin, peering at various Hololiths that showed a bland and uninteresting planet: Cippum, their goal. Dannye was absorbed in the data but Krusin noted him enter. Ruuka wasn't sure what to make of the Magos Biologis. Gruff, suspicious and pushy yes, but he'd never been given reason to doubt her allegiance to Pycelo. He didn't know why she had turned, and that troubled him. She had also killed Treya.
Despite everything that had passed between them Ruuka found himself conflicted over the Famulous' death, she had turned against him, lied to him and yet been a warm comrade for so many years. He'd dreamed she would share in his triumph, see him eclipse Pycelo but she had laughed at the very notion. He did not understand how he could have been so blind as to her true nature, what filter had been draped over his eyes to blur his senses. He should have known she was using him, playing with his affections. He wanted to hate her, it would be easier to hate her, but he couldn't find the fire in his heart. Despite it all he wished he could have made her see his worth.
"There you are," Krusin said with disapproval, "There is work to be done."
"I was working, I was making sure the crew was committed to our quest," Ruuka replied glad of the distraction.
"They joined us willingly, what else is there?!" Krusin snapped waspishly.
"Not all, not for the same reasons. Would you have holdouts plotting to undo our plan at a vital moment?"
Krusin didn't reply to that, instead turning to the Holo-images and said, "We have been trawling our info-vaults for records of Cippum, trying to discern where this relic could be located. Sadly records are scant and mostly involve tithe-quotas and population statistics. The only interesting thing I found was a memoir by Magos Biologis Turdec who was dispatched to bio-engineer a predator for a local strain of swarming insect, one that threatened the crop yields."
"There must be something of import," Ruuka argued.
Dannye finally spoke, "The vast majority of records deal with the unusual crystal pyramids that adorn the surface. They cover hundreds of kilometres and are big enough to be seen from orbit, but they hide their secrets well. Ancient in make, human built, presumably by the Hegemony, but their purpose is elusive. Hundreds of Explorators had scoured the formations, seeking secrets of the past. Many speculate they have use as a Warp-beacon, or a weapons array, shield generators or environmental engines... but every expedition has drawn a blank. I can tell you their shape and position, the elements that make up their structure, but why they were built is a mystery."
"Could they have anything to do with this all-mighty weapon?" Krusin asked.
"Possibly, a Nanoswarm could construct such artefacts with ease, but why bother? Such wonders could build starships out of the raw matter of the universe, stacking atoms on atoms at a rate no shipyard could match. We could drop it on a planet of Orks and have the Nanoswarm rend down their organic matter and rebuild it into a veritable paradise. Tyranids could be dissolved into sludge and then made into fertile soil. Armies could be grown like crops, born fully-matured and imprinted with battle-doctrines and obedience protocols. Crystal-pyramids, it would be Childsplay for a Nanoswarm to throw those up."
"Then where do we start looking?" Krusin pressed.
Dannye sighed, "I am currently cogitating a hypothesis that the pyramid's alignments may be related to stellar phenomena, as they were in the Dark Age of Technology. Perhaps they mark navigational coordinates that were significant to the Hegemony."
"I think we're wiring a powerless circuit here," Ruuka sighed.
"Explain!" Dannye snapped.
"Those pyramids have been explored a thousand times over, every aspect of them examined and cross-referenced. If there was a secret waiting to be found, it would have been found already. We aren't going to trip over a discovery in days, where others have spent years rooting about. Brontes said they buried the Nanoswarm, with the intent to keep it hidden. Whatever we're looking for will be somewhere remote, as far away from anything important as they could manage."
Krusin bowed her head and asked, "What would you suggest?"
"I'd start by questioning the natives," Ruuka suggested, "In my experience local knowledge is worth more than a hundred Data-looms."
"And if Cawl has sent word ahead that we are renegades?" Dannye asked.
"Then we ask at gunpoint," Ruuka stated firmly, "But let's hope that he wants this kept secret. I'm sure Zar-Quaesitor is hard on our stern, trying to catch up."
"We defer to your greater experience Executor," Krusin accepted, "I will await word of our arrival in my Laboritorum."
"Hold on," Ruuka retorted, "I have questions for you, starting with how long you have been a Lazarite?"
Krusin cocked her head and replied, "Since my days at the seminary, learning cell structures and gene-strands."
"You kept that quiet."
"When you are trying to stay hidden there is little purpose in telling everyone about your secret sect. In the retinue of a Magos Explorator I was ideally placed to monitor the recovery of ancient artefacts and alert my compatriots of significant finds, long before others could bury them again. My foreknowledge allowed Dannye to advance into Cawl's inner circle, where he would be more effective."
"And when he summoned you, that was it," Ruuka sighed.
"Hardly," Krusin scoffed, "His plan was rash and overblown, risking much for little prospective gain. He is not my superior, the Lazarus Progression is a cooperative of equal minds, not a paramilitary organisation. I would have refused his entreaty, had you not signed up."
"Me?!" Ruuka started in surprise.
"Yes you, why is that difficult to comprehend? You know Pycelo had you sculpted out of his genes but it never occurred to you to ask who did it for him. I am the foremost Genic-Biologis on this ship, I am the only one skilled enough to craft the cells that began your conception. Every strand of your genic-code was woven by my hands, taking Pycelo's flawed genes and weeding out the imperfections to make a superior specimen. You are not just a copy of him, you are an improvement! My finest work and I have watched you squander that potential with your petty resentment. I have invested considerable time and energy into you and am not about to let that go to waste."
Ruuka was stunned at the revelation and gulped, "I... I didn't know."
"It wasn't relevant," Krusin dismissed, "You weren't half the disappointment Treya was."
"Treya?"
"I made her too, gave her the finest neural augmetics and pheromonal inducers imaginable and she rewarded me with idleness and petty discord. Her intellect eclipsed Pycelo's and yours by a factor of three, she could have been ruling a Forgeworld, but spent her time toadying up to less brilliant adepts. Such a pathetic lack of vision."
"Treya sold me out, I shed no tears for her," Ruuka snorted, "But I thought you disliked her because she tried to manipulate people."
"Manipulation is what she was designed for, but her ambitions were pathetic. To stand in other's shadows, to hang on your arm, as she did Pycelo's, it was irritating as watching a code-program get stuck in an exponential loop!"
"I'm not sure whether to feel grateful or insulted," Ruuka scoffed.
"Do not be so emotional," Krusin retorted, "Your fleshy ways are still disappointing, but at last you show ambition. Overthrowing Pycelo, daring to reach for what he could not, finally you are embracing your superior nature. I am going to make sure you fulfil your potential, no matter what it takes."
"Then I thank you," Ruuka replied wholeheartedly.
"Touching as this is," Dannye interrupted, "We still have to reach Cippum and claim the weapon, which means finding it. Planets are big and Cawl will not be far behind. We have only your crew to serve us, my Skitarii were expended buying time for us to get away."
Ruuka sighed, "Without more data there is no point speculating. We will arrive when we arrive and deal with whatever we find there. It's all we can do, there's no backing out now."
"Agreed," Krusin stated, "We are committed to this course, either we rise to glory or fall to utter ruination."
"Your logic is sound, we can only wait and see," Dannye sighed.
"Don't be so glum," Ruuka proclaimed, "Triumph or infamy await, all or nothing, but either way we will be bold and brave, where all others are fearful and weak. As the Astartes are so fond of saying: victory or death."