Tales of the Amber Vipers Chapter 259
Several thousand miles from the battle site Ruuka looked upon a small township and mused upon how quickly events were proceeding. The fight had taught him much, what he was capable of and how far beyond his previous limits he had ascended. Even travelling had been transmuted. The Nanoswarm had spread tendrils through the matter of Cippum, extending thousands of kilometres through soil and rock. Like an octopus reaching out to ensnare prey, its many arms wrapped around the planet. It had been so simple to have his body broken down and reconstructed thousands of kilometres away, a most novel form of teleportation. He was eager to discover what else he could do.
With fresh eyes he looked upon their target, a sleepy township containing ten thousand souls. The sun was a red smear on the horizon, as the planet's rotation brought night to the borough. Down there people would be packing away their shops and stalls, storehouses of grain and wheat locked down and mothers would be calling their children home for dinner. A picturesque vision of rural peace, one Ruuka was about to ruin.
A noise made him look to take in his rising army. Climbing from the ground were hundreds of constructs. No mere crewmen or scientists this time, perfect recreations of Skitarii warriors, absorbed mere hours before. Their augmetics and armour were exact replicas of the originals, their thoughts and knowledge perfectly intact, they were as a full echelon of Tech-guard troops, only now in service to a new cause. A better class of warrior, faster and stronger than the meagre forms used previously, already the Nanoswarm's martial capacity was expanding.
Ruuka folded his hands behind his back and began to march along the line of silent Skitarii, a commander inspecting his troops before a battle. In truth he could have done this with a thought, his connection to the Nanoswarm allowing him to access any other part at a whim, they were after all components of the same machine, mere masks for the Nanoswarm to wear, but he preferred the personal touch. The original Ruuka's behavioural patterns were required and so the construct conducted himself in the established mode.
Suddenly a Skitarii broke the silence to say in a deep and echoing voice, "Information: this attack is not synchronised." Ruuka knew it was the deeper part of the Nanoswarm's intellect communicating, the detached consciousness that governed all constructs, no matter how independent they held themselves. It should be alarming to be addressed by a disembodied consciousness but it was as natural to him as holding a conversation in one's own head, imagining two voices to argue over a point.
Ruuka kept walking, head held high as he said, "Incorrect, this attack is timed perfectly."
The next Skitarii in line spoke, "Information: other units are still assembling at other locales. Tactical manuals dictate that all attacks should be launched simultaneously, to minimise response time and maximise confusion."
Ruuka strode on as he replied, "Outdated tactics from a civilisation long dead. You can acquire all the data in the universe, but it is useless if you do not understand it. Times have changed, the human race has become fearful and timid, afraid of their own shadows. I shall launch the attack here, then ripple outwards, driving a wave of fear and panic ahead of me. Word shall spread of a hostile force closing and the people will riot, filling the streets and roads with bodies. Any military response will be tied down struggling to deal with millions of refugees flooding the major cities. By the time I reach the spaceport this planet's defences will be crippled."
As he walked along a series of Skitarii spoke in sequence, "Information: continued use first person pronouns…. This is anomalous… The Ruuka unit is acting outside accepted behavioural patterns… Illogical actions are multiplying… Protocol requires revaluation of data…"
Ruuka stopped dead and eyed a blank-faced warrior as he spat, "You resurrected me for my unique perspective. This age does not make sense, the ideas these people hold in their heads defies logic and reason, they are driven by superstition and ignorance. To deal with this paradox requires unorthodox thinking. My actions may not be logical, but they are efficient."
A blank stare returned then the deep voice uttered, "Information: hypothesis accepted."
"Good," Ruuka said, "Then let us begin."
He turned and strode for the sleepy town, seeing the evening lights start to flicker on. Behind the Skitarii formed a double-column, marching with exacting precision in his wake. Ruuka counted three hundred pairs of boots striking the ground, more than enough to wipe this town off the map, even before the Nanoswarm claimed them. He found himself wondering what this quaint town was called, but then decided it didn't matter. The name, the people, the roads and the machinery were all raw data to be acquired, nothing more.
He strode past a swinging signpost, faded into illegibility and made his way up the main road. Two lines of broad buildings flanked the street and he saw a Templum, an Adminstratum office, a barbershop, a lay-Enginseer garage and a town hall. From all curious faces began to emerge, people looking out in bewilderment at the unexpected arrival of heavily armed troops in their humble settlement. They didn't understand what was happening, they didn't know the things entering their home were not human.
Ruuka saw a corpulent man stumble out of the town hall, a brass chain heavy around his neck. The mayor seemed alarmed at the column of troops closing on his office and made to step in their way, thinking to halt their progress and demand answers. Ruuka put paid to that by pulling free his bolt gun and firing a single shot.
A spinning round clipped the man's shoulder and sent him tumbling to the ground in a spray of blood. He screamed aloud in pain, which became shrill shrieks of terror as Nanocytes coursed through him, claiming his atoms and dissolving the man into silver runnels. In seconds the mayor had been absorbed, all that he was added to the Nanoswarm's mass.
The sound lingered for a heartbeat, then screams of terror arose as the people saw their leader gunned down. They turned to flee, slamming doors shut and locking them against intrusion. Women grabbed small children and hustled out of view, while the Skitarii broke up to give chase. "Spread out and take whatever you find!" Ruuka yelled, "But make sure some get away."
Ruuka grinned as he saw rounds flying, clipping fleeing men and women. The constructs had all been fitted with weapons similar to his and the expert aim of the Skitarii ensured no fatal shots. They aimed to injure and maim, just enough contact to let Nanocytes spread far and wide. It would be suboptimal to kill these people before they could be absorbed.
He heard a heavy door being slammed and turned, finding a saloon being bared against him. He strode over with a confident stride, securing the gun to his side with a smooth motion. His boot came up and with one kick of his augmented leg sent it flying, breaking the hinges clean off the frame. Within he found a gaggle of burly farmhands, all scrabbling to fashion arms by breaking legs off chairs and tables. At the back of the room a man in a stained apron was frantically working a vox-set, trying to send a distress call. Good, that was exactly what Ruuka wanted them to do, so he decided to eschew the use of his sword and take his time with this lot.
A thin man was the first to react to his entrance and swept up a broken table leg. He charged at Ruuka with a wild animal yell, driven by fear and adrenaline. Ruuka saw the blow coming, almost glacial in pace to his augmented eyes, and swayed back, letting it pass his face without contact. A showy move but it communicated how outmatched the man was. The farmhand staggered as he overstretched, left vulnerable to a punch to the side of the head that left him dazed upon the floor. Ruuka turned away, knowing no follow-up was necessary, Nanocytes had been injected into the farmhand and even now his atoms were being claimed as he was absorbed.
The sight of the man dissolving into silver puddles broke something in the rest and they jumped Ruuka. A feral mob engulfed Ruuka, battering at his frame with wooden clubs and heavy boots. He rode the impacts with contempt, he'd fought worse than this lot in his previous life and had nothing to fear from them. He kicked and punched, headbutted one and elbowed another. A farmhand with a scar running from brow to chin was downed with a strike to the solar plexus, another with two teeth left went down with a shattered knee and third with a nose broken so many times it was a putty-mess fell grappling at a bruised windpipe.
His grin widened as he bested the men, not the hot flush of victory but the satisfaction of having his objectives completed, fulfilment surging through his mind. Ruuka broke a dozen strong men with expert blows, his augmetics elevating him above them in every way. He left them moaning on the floor, which quickly became breathless screams as the Nanocytes he'd gifted them went to work. He left them to dissolve as he turned to the barman, only to find himself facing a blunt autogun. The man's face was red and sweaty, but there was a hard glint of one who had spent a life in uniform, and his aim was steady.
Ruuka's gaze didn't break as the trigger was pulled and a booming retort heralded fat bullets flying. A colossal impact sent him staggering back, three bullet holes bored deep into his chest. It was a strange sensation, damage registering as pain, a sense of dizzying dislocation and surprise at being wounded, but what was conspicuously absent was the fear of lasting damage. Ruuka stopped his stumble and held the man's gaze, seeing denial spread over those puffy features as the bullet holes closed over with a wet sucking noise, the injuries erased by Nanocytes.
"Holy Throne…" the man gasped but Ruuka crossed the distance in moments and closed a hand around his throat.
Ruuka clenched hard and the man dropped the gun, tugging at the arm choking the life out of him. Ruuka watched his face start to tinge purple then hissed, "You sent a distress call?"
Frantic nodding was produced and Ruuka crowed, "Good," as he let Nanocytes free to do their work.
The man's face bulged as the Nanoswarm began to consume. Silver liquid spread through meat and bone, converting the man's matter into more Nanocytes, even as his thoughts and memories were stolen. Ruuka held his grip firm until nothing remained, save dripping quicksilver, and then lowered his arm. He was about to turn away and leave but then heard a terrified sobbing. Slowly he turned and beheld a woman and child cowering under the bar counter. The child could only be three or four years old, a small girl with blonde curls. The woman was trying to smother her cries with one hand but could not stop her sobbing, "Da… da… da…"
Ruuka looked upon them curiously, seeing their distress. Something tugged at his mind, a strange sensation that he should be experiencing an emotional response to this sight, but it was only a wisp of memory. As he was now he felt nothing for these people, no bonds of sympathy or regret. All he saw was more data, waiting to be collected.
He leaned down and stared at the woman, her terror-filled eyes brimming with tears. Curiously he said, "That was your man?" The woman could only nod as she clutched the wailing child.
"You want to be with him?" the woman nodded again.
"Then don't fear, for you shall be together forever," Ruuka said as he reached out and placed his hands on the pair to let the Nanoswarm take them.