Tales of the Amber Vipers Chapter 261
"Bring us about again!" Kerubim yelled over the noise of engines and rushing wind.
"Compliance," the blank-faced pilot replied, manipulating the controls to bank them about.
"Watch out for ground-fire," Jordig's voice crackled over the vox.
"I know, I know," Kerubim spat as the world spun below, "But if we don't stop them here, we lose this town."
Kerubim's vision tilted as the Archaeopter wheeled through the sky, coming about for another run. Kerubim steadied his gait with Transhuman skill, not needing any supports or straps to stay rock steady. He leaned out the open door of the flying transport, aiming an Irad-Cleanser down towards the thronged street. His autosenses picked out hundreds of fleeing civilians, terrified mobs racing for the edge of the town. He didn't know how many there were, he wasn't sure what town they were defending today, hell he wasn't even sure what hemisphere they were in, but he knew the marching line of constructs chasing them up the road would show no mercy.
This had been his life for three days. Three days of desperate flights to battle advancing constructs. The Hungering was spreading its reach far and wide and the scattered Mechanicus forces were the only force capable of slowing them down. They had quickly realised that sending the PDF into the fray was an exercise in futility, their weapons useless and bodies mere fuel for the fire. Only rad-weapons were having any effect, but they were too few to turn the tide, all they could do was buy time for Cawl to produce his promised marvel. Kerubim prayed to the Omnissiah that the Archmagos could indeed collapse the planet's magnetic field, and tried to forget Brontes' grumbling that Cawl wasn't half as smart as he believed he was. If Cawl couldn't pull this off, they were all doomed.
Kerubim put such thoughts from his mind as his autosenses presented targets. The Archaeopter was swooping down on the column of marching troops, bringing its weapons to bear. A pair of Fission-blasters hung under the nose and his Irad-Cleanser poked out the side door, a potent threat against any other foe. Kerubim trusted it was enough, with everyone else engaged elsewhere his plane was the only defence left.
The wind battered his helm, tugging and pushing randomly as vectors shifted. Low-buildings blurred past, shooting by in a streak of drab grey. Smoke and ash threatened to block his vision but his gaze wavered not as the seconds counted down. Guts were churning as they dived, twin heartbeats increasing, the thrill of combat making his palms itch, but Kerbuim did not waver a hair, not until the craft levelled out and shot over the column.
Instantly Kerubim squeezed the trigger, sending a brilliant beam of energy into the column. He hit a marching Skitarii and blew him into radioactive chunks. Fast as only a Space Marine could be he retargeted and fired again, hitting an Alpha-leader with a chest shot, then a PDF trooper, signs the Hungering was already sending its newest acquisitions back at the defenders. From the nose he heard Fission-blasters discharging but paid no mind as he swung his weapon rearwards and fired the back into the column. Another trooper disintegrated as ambient rads began to climb, but not nearly enough to trouble the constructs.
The engines growled as the Archaeopter pulled up, mobile wings shifting as they sought lift. The craft banked about and Kerubim cried, "Again! Again!"
"Tactical protocols prohibit a return flight," the pilot intoned dully.
"Damn the protocols," Kerubim snarled, "I want another pass, bring us..."
His word cut off as he saw a dark blot rise from the ground, a streaking missile shooting upwards towards the Archaeopter. The craft was mid-bank, steering a predictable course and unable to evade. Kerubim watched in horror as the tiny mote grew in size, promising instant death. The pilot however responded swiftly, releasing red-hot flares from the rear trying to draw it off. The simple Machine Spirit was indeed confounded and veered away, but not enough. The missile reacquired at the last moment and instead of hitting square struck the tail off the craft, sending it into a mad spin.
Kerubim was thrown off his feet as he slammed into a spinning bulkhead, crushed by centrifugal forces as they plummeted earthwards. The Machine Spirit screamed in distress but all he could do was watch sky and earth flash outside the door as he yelled into the vox, "Subitis! Subitis! Subitis! We are hit, we are going..."
A moment later the craft slammed into the earth with force enough to bend the frame and rip the wings clean off. Kerubim would have been compressed into his own boots were he a mere mortal, but even so his Transhuman frame groaned as ceramic bones flexed and intestines tried to escape through his kneecaps. His head slammed into the metal frame, making purple spots flare before his eyes and alarums ring as his armour tallied damage. Bent nearly double Kerubim struggled to see through the flames and smoke, but made out the cockpit had been crushed inwards, the pilot dead on impact, as he would be if he stayed here.
He threw the mangled Irad-cleanser aside and shouldered his way through the bent hatch, emerging into the light of day. His Autosenses were awash with static and his Vox hissing aimlessly, damaged by the impact in some fashion he did not have time to diagnose. He ripped his helm off and trusted his own senses, hearing marching boots closing from the right. The constructs were coming to finish the job. He was alone, unarmed and outnumbered, time to get the hell out of here.
With no other choice Kerubim ran left, darting down a side street as he swallowed bile that a Space Marine once again had been made to run. Echoes sounded off the walls as pursuing forces closed, but his Lyman's Ear compensated with ease and he took a random turn to shake off pursuit. Then another and another. The town was old, with twisting roads and odd switch-backs, long having built over its standard Imperial grid-pattern. Kerubim gave thanks for this as he quickly lost his chasers in the warren.
He ran past deserted shops and empty homes, their inhabitants fled or more likely Absorbed. He could spare no time to enquire as to their fates, seeking only to break away and rejoin his fellows, but he was not so fortunate. Kerubim skidded around a corner into a small square, dominated by a tinkling fountain, shaped like an imp pouring water from a gourd, only to nearly be gutted by a low swung Repulsor-stave.
Startling reflexes saw him dive headlong over the pole, hitting the ground with his shoulder and rolling over to come up on his feet. He spun about, then nearly froze in shock as he saw who awaited him and gulped, "Dannye!"
The Secutor, or rather the construct imitating him, advanced steadily with Repulsor-stave held like a spear as a flat voice uttered, "Unit-Kerubim. Anomalous data, unknown transmutation. Acquisition is a priority."
"I'm flattered," Kerubim stammered as he backed up looking for an exit, "But if it's all the same, I'll pass."
Dannye didn't speed up as he followed, "Do not seek escape, all routes are guarded. The only way out is through me."
"In that case... catch!" Kerubim yelled as he grabbed something from his belt and threw it.
The grey canister spun over and over, flying straight and true before it popped and spilled radioactive filaments everywhere. The rad-grenade was powerful and soaked the area in ambient fallout, but Dannye had already relocated. In the time it took the grenade to cross the distance he was on Kerubim, Repulsor-stave arcing for his face. Once more Kerubim was amazed by his speed, above Transhuman in velocity. Only a desperate jerk to the right saved his life but still the beating grav-forces sent him tumbling.
Kerubim turned his stumble into a spin, trying to gain distance. He could only run, knowing that one touch would spell his doom. The Repulsor-stave struck him on the flank and it took all his will not to double over, keeping up his retreat. Again and again it came at him, making his body ache with impacts but he refused to fall over. Defiant pride was all that was left to him, until his boot caught the edge of the fountain.
Desperately Kerubim grabbed the worn head of the imp depicted there, ripping it free to hurl it at Dannye. The construct swayed aside with contemptuous grace and then said, "Enquiry: was that supposed to achieve anything?"
Battered and bruised all Kerubim could spit was, "When all you have left is pebbles, time to start throwing rocks."
"Illogical, defeat is inevitable. We have taken your armies; your governor is ours. Resistance withers. Why continue to fight when defeat is certain?"
"The fact you have to ask shows, you really don't understand humans at all!"
With a surge of anger Kerubim threw himself at Dannye. It was a foolhardy and desperate move, but it caught the construct by surprise. Kerubim locked both hands around the Repulsor-stave and felt his bones rattle as gravitic forces hammered. He refused to let go and twisted for all he was worth, ripping the stave free and sending it spinning away. He had disarmed his opponent, a small victory but one bought at great cost, for Dannye's hand flashed and wrapped around his wrist.
"No!" Kerubim gasped in horror at the sight, knowing he had just sealed his fate. Sure enough silver threads began to worm through Ceramite, boring into the atoms of his armour. He wrenched back trying to break free but Dannye held on, pouring Nanocytes into his frame. It was like watching concentrated acid eat through wood. Ceramite fell apart, dripping off his arm like rain. The Plasteel supports below melted then the fibre bundle undersheath. In moments Dannye's hand burned through Kerubim's armour to touch his skin and then... nothing.
Both warriors paused in confusion. Kerubim expected searing pain, to feel his nerves being eaten alive but he felt nothing, no pain, no weakness, no sense of dissolving. Both of them looked down and saw silver liquid oozing over his silver skin, moving like oil across water, swirling back and forth but unable to penetrate. The Hungering sank its fangs into Kerubim's changed body only to find it inedible.
"Does not compute," Dannye said with a tone that sounded baffled.
Kerbuim however grinned as the truth dawned and he quipped, "You're not the only one with Nanocytes in his blood!"
With a swift blow from his other hand he smote Dannye in the face, driving him back and breaking contact. He hastily stripped his vambraces and gauntlets free, letting them fall before the taint could spread to the rest of his plate. He left them to dissolve in the dirt, arms naked from the elbows down as he raised his fists and barked, "Let's try that again!"
"Error," Dannye uttered, "Detecting foreign Nanocytes. Unit incompatible for absorption."
"You used to be smarter than this," Kerubim growled as he launched himself at Dannye.
What followed was a flurry of strikes, Kerubim advancing with a series of punches and blows from his fists. Dannye was on the retreat for a moment, then recovered his speed and flung a return blow at Kerubim's head. The punch struck his skull but Transhuman bone held and his silver scalp was not infected. Kerubim returned a blow to the gut, then felt a hit to the temple, he followed with a chop to the neck, only for his jaw to shudder from a lightning-quick strike.
They fell back as the construct hissed, "Dannye-unit was always faster than you, stronger, better. We have all his attack-patterns and speed."
"Correction," Kerubim spat through a mouthful of blood, "You can copy anything he did, but you have none of his flair or innovation, none of the skill. You are a pale imitation."
Abruptly Dannye struck without warning, but Kerubim was ready. He lent into the blow and his hand flashed, catching Dannye about the wrist and blocking the strike. The construct jerked in an attempt to break away but Kerubim drove his other arm forward, locking about the throat and hoisting him aloft. Dannye thrashed and kicked but Kerubim had height and reach and held him still as he let go the wrist and pulled free his last rad-grenade.
"That... won't... Kill us..." Dannye spluttered, "We... shall... return..."
"But it will be satisfying," Kerubim snarled as he rammed the canister into his foes' guts as popped the pin.
Dannye convulsed as radioactive particles spread over his skin, coating him in fallout. Rads soared throughout his form, breaking the bonds between Nanocytes and leaving them isolated and alone in the universe. Black veins burrowed deep as his shape fell apart, slumping in Kerubim's grip as bits of him fell off. Silver blood became rancid, the face folded into itself and the limbs became withered twigs. Then Dannye disintegrated into a pile of sludge, oozing at Kerubim's feet.
Kerubim felt vindication flood through him as he sneered at his defeated foe. Dannye was gone, for now, a small victory but today he'd take any he could get. He lifted his silver arms and marvelled at his newfound ability, the immunity to absorption. He wondered if Brontes knew to expect this, probably, the Cadmus most likely knew and hadn't bothered to tell him. Typical, Kerubim would have to have stern words when they regrouped.
Then a loud explosion rang over the town, reminding Kerubim that he was still in the middle of a warzone. He turned and ran, exiting the square back the way he had come. He still intended to tear Brontes a new exhaust port, but first he had to get out of here, before the whole town was absorbed, not to mention the planet. The way things were going that didn't look likely to take long and he redoubled his pace, determined to find a way to put a halt to the Hungering once and for all.