Tales of the Amber Vipers Chapter 306
"I'm slowing them down as best I can but they just keep coming!" Sergeant Thaddis voxed.
"Hold them back," Coluber barked, "Stop the Storm Heralds from reaching their ship!"
"I'd have an easier time of it if you sent me a few more Brothers, like say two hundred!"
"You've got a third of Primus and half of Tertius," Coluber retorted.
"And they've got Primaris, Firstborn Veterans and a Dreadnought!" Thaddis snapped, "If I send snakelets up against that they'll dice us to shreds. I have to keep falling back and engaging at range! Oh, Throne... Get into Frakking cover!"
"Thaddis!" Coluber called but the vox dissolved into static. In the depths of the Serpens Rex Coluber snarled to himself as disaster loomed. He stood with Ferrac and the Brother-Exemplars, trying to direct the fight as best he could. It wasn't going well. The alliance of Chapters had blown through his first line of defence with ease, a crushing assault straight out of the Codex. It had been predictable and formulaic, almost laughable, save that it had been so damned effective. The Amber Viper's ad-hoc formations and improvised tactics weren't proving effective. Flashy counter-attacks were brushed off and their assortment of esoteric gear was proving less lethal against Ceramite than he'd hoped. Coluber was being painfully reminded why the Codex's tactics had been in use for ten millennia.
Ferrac interrupted, "Want me to take Anaxar squad up there to help?"
"Negative," Coluber rebuked, "This is a feint, the real attack will come here."
"Only you could call a Battle Company assault a 'feint'."
The vox crackled back into life, "Still alive, they unleashed Hellblasters, I had to fall back again. These Storm Heralds are tough bastards."
"Tough but predictable, you get can creative," Coluber barked.
Thaddis sounded wary, "If I get creative, there won't be much left of this sector of the Nest."
"Better that than lose the whole Starfort. Blow up passageways, bring down compartments, rig the decks to blow, do whatever you have to keep them at bay!"
"Understood, the Snakelets are about to get a crash course in demolition work!" Thaddis voxed.
Coluber let the link die as Ferrac growled, "They'll pay a price in blood."
"Thaddis is Old Seventeen, he'll keep the snakelets alive," Coluber retorted, "Which is more than I can say for Maru when I get my hands on him."
"Have to sodding find him first," Ferrac growled, "Bloody Rustbucket disappears the first time we actually need him."
"Our ancient comrade has oft followed his own course, but for this I'll rip him out of his shell and beat him to death!"
A sudden cacophony on the vox rippled through the network, bringing updates on the enemy's advance. Coluber parsed the news in a heartbeat and instantly fixed on a report from young Sergeant Tarkus. The Howling Griffons were making a firm push through the lines, driving relentlessly towards the Forges. Coluber cursed himself for a fool, the Forges were where the stolen vehicles rested, of course Ryneon would seek to reclaim them.
Coluber didn't wait a moment to leap into a sprint, with his comrades in tow. Down a ramp he raced, seeking more speed. The old wound to his leg pulled painfully but he forced it into the back of his mind. Seconds could make the difference between life and death. Tarkus' squads would fight hard but Coluber was under no illusions that they could hold.
"Coluber to Reddam, draw squads from the defence and prepare to close on the Forge from behind!" Coluber voxed.
"The defence is thin already!" Reddam snapped.
"It won't hold regardless, we can't outfight them, we have to outthink them. I'll buy time, but you need to flank them from the rear."
"They won't fall for that," Reddam hissed.
"They're performing manoeuvres straight from the book, we have to use that against them. The Codex demands a pinned force withdraw, rather than make a futile last stand. That's our only chance."
"Understood, Secundus won't let you down," Reddam voxed.
The time for talk was over. Coluber barrelled down another ramp and straight into the white heat of battle. Along a broad thoroughfare they fought, squads of Astartes trading fire in flurries of streaking death. A speartip of Howling Griffons and Blood Ravens were driving hard into the teeth of the defender's fire, braving the onslaught with courage and honour. Against them Amber Vipers fell back in pairs, blasting covering fire to hold the enemy at bay. They were trying to keep them at range, but time and distance were shrinking with every heartbeat.
Coluber's relief force entered from the right flank and dove into them. Venom crackled in his hand as the relic blade's edge swept for a body in red and gold. The foe was a Primaris with an elongated bolter, and Couber went for the centre mass, knowing only a deathblow would suffice to put this foe down. Coluber had faced mutinous rebels, capering Xenos and Undying fiends from ancient times, but not a one among them moved as fast as the Howling Griffon did. The foe blurred as he jerked back, causing Coluber's slice to leave nothing but a shallow scar in Ceramite. Coluber was stunned by the failed strike, but not half as much as when the butt of a bolt rifle swept about and slammed into his helm.
Stars flashed before his eyes and the world tilted at the strength of the impact. He was sure his helm had cracked under the force and his legs wobbled, making him slow for an instant. Before Coluber could redress his stance a punch struck his faceplate, shattering an eye lens. Coluber was thrown back, cold air tickling his eyeball as he stared through the hole in his helm, glassic shards peppering his brows.
Already the Howling Griffon was coming at him again, lashing out with the stock of his rifle. Coluber reacted on instinct, sweeping Venom upwards to block. The curved edge of the blade was no duelling sword, made for fast sweeps and slicing attacks rather than parry and thrust. Still the metal was wreathed in a disruption field and when it met the rifle's stock it sheered through with a spray of sparking firelights and molten droplets.
The Howling Griffon barely seemed to note the loss, drawing a combat knife in one hand as he barrelled towards the Chapter Master. The foe was fast and strong, the legend of the Sinew Coils proving true, yet Coluber had brought the second he needed. The Chapter Master dove aside, lashing out with Venom's edge, tearing through armour in a vicious furrow as Transhuman blood flowed. The actinic tang of energy field parting Ceramite struck his nose, a smell so long absent but never forgotten.
Flashes of dark days and shameful deeds came unbidden to his mind's eye, loyal lives sacrificed by his hand upon the altar of necessity. Storm Giants, White Scars, Angels Resplendent, leal servants of the Throne he had killed during the Time of Exodus, all for base survival. The memory shook him to the core and then fled in a haze of red pain as a knife rammed under his pauldron.
Coluber was carried backwards as the Howling Griffon slammed into him, roaring "For Mancora and the Proud Eyrie!"
"Get the Frak off me!" Coluber yelled as he was rammed into a wall.
The Howling Griffon tried to pull his knife out and stab again but Coluber's free hand wrapped around the hilt and held firm. Denied an easy kill the foe slammed his other hand into Coluber's helm, cracking the Ceramite with relentless hammer blows. Coluber was pinned tight, unable to bring Venom to bear and could only take the battering as it came. Ork warbosses hadn't hit so hard, Necrons had displayed more mercy and Eldar less precision. The Howling Griffon was fierce, strong and relentless. The true embodiment of an honourable Space Marine, he deserved to take Coluber's head for a trophy, but the Amber Viper had an advantage all his own. He wasn't honourable.
Coluber's world was darkening but still he let go of the knife and dropped his hand to his holster. His grip found the handle of his Phusil, and a squeeze of the trigger spat a phosphor-round at point blank range. The charge was microscopic, but when it struck the Howling Griffon's leg it exploded into incandescent fire. Coluber's world became searing light and aching pain, feeling flames wrap around his lips and hips, searing the colours clean off.
The Howling Griffon fared worse. His leg was removed entirely and he fell backwards with no way to stop. Coluber saw a dark blur topple and he yanked his arm free, then swept for the vague outline. A crash of contact, the smell of melting Ceramite, then the clang of something hitting the deck. Coluber blinked furiously to clear his sight and when the green splodges faded the foe lay headless at his feet.
Coluber ached from head to toe but had no time to recover. Anaxar squad was fully engaged, lashing chainswords and hook glaives against figures in red and gold. They were not faring well. Three Brothers lay bleeding out on the floor and no more of the foe had fallen. The Howling Griffons were deadly, their speed and ferocity honed to peak potential by a ruthless life of constant drilling. But their true advantage was their long war against the Traitors of Chaos, each Marine born of a war against Heretical filth that had lasted ten millennia. For all their strength and courage the Amber Vipers were not used to so unequal a war and their lack of experience fighting Astartes proved crippling.
Ferrac was lashing out at a giant of a Marine with his axe-rake. Every swing produced showers of Ceramite chips but he could not land the killing blow, while return strikes chewed his armour apart. Seyda was dancing with Nyoir, his Burst-lance, leaving streaks of red light behind as the contact Volkite field made atoms flare. Hasak lashed out at Auriga, great sweeps of his stave promising death at the slightest touch. The Brother-Exemplars were the finest blades of the Amber Vipers, schooled in ancient Katas, yet they could not win through. Auriga moved through the lashing fields with adroit precision, always where the crimson blade was not. Nyoir matched the onslaught blow for blow, his speed amazing and his blade perfectly aligned to parry and counter. Coluber could barely follow the exchange of blows, so fast did they move, but Seyda couldn't possibly last long.
"Reddam, we need you! Reddam!" Coluber yelled into a broken vox, too late realising it was smashed. Desperately he threw himself at the one battering Ferrac, driving Venom into the spine. It was not an elegant blow, awkward and clumsy with a curved blade but it sufficed to end the foe. Coluber spun about, back-to-back with Ferrac, as they drew their pistols and began firing into the melee.
"Don't we normally win these?!" Ferrac yelled as he discharged his sledgehammer gun repeatedly into a Primaris, making him stagger a step with each shot.
"Ryneon really wants his tanks back!" Coluber shouted as a round from his pistol missed a Blood Raven by a millimetre and detonated against the far wall.
"Tell him he can have them, when I drive those treads over his head!" Ferrac roared as his gun ran dry.
Coluber's pistol wasn't enough to hold back the tide and he saw many foes closing. Howling Griffons and Blood Ravens came on, threatening to take him in a rush. All he could do was stand his ground and lift Venom, ready to receive them and die. Closer they came, closer, promising his end with sharp knives. Coluber was not afraid, he would take many of them with him, well one at least.
The charge was about to hit home but then a fresh wave of bolts rounds struck home. From the other flank they came, a volley of relentless firing, striking the enemy with Transhuman precision. The charge faltered as the foe turned to meet this fresh challenge, leaving Coluber gasping in relief.
"Reddam, Throne bless you," he breathed.
"It's not Reddam," Ferrac spat.
"Then who..."
The warriors entering the fray were too tall, Primaris tall. Their colours were dark and their rifles elongated. They moved with sure steps and their aim was unearthly. At their head strode a figure in black, bearing a skull-helm and a golden Crozius. Chaplain Daggon, joining the battle unbidden and unlooked for. Coluber had expected treachery, he had expected a knife in the back, but Daggon's squad were targeting Howling Griffons and Blood Ravens, not Amber Vipers. An impossible twist made real.
"Show no mercy!" Daggon bellowed as he lifted his Crozius high, "Cold and Fast!"
His Brothers obeyed, drawing knives as they charged with the cry upon their lips, "Soul Drinkers!"