DISCLAIMER:

This is a side-story of Mattwho81 story "Tales of the Amber Vipers". For further information regarding the Amber Vipers, please read his stories.


Like every morning, he was in the pompous, if not lavishly furnished, audience hall of the Governors Palace. This room was constructed like one of the antique gothic cathedrals on old Terra, formed like an over two hundred meter long cross and every 3 meters there was an alcove with relics or priceless pieces of Quar'lok IV's culture. The roof, nearly thirty-five meters above him, vanished behind old heavy banners and clouds of perfume. Although the audience hall was full of officials, diplomats, guilders and ministers that were shuffling around like busy bees, the room was nearly silent.

He chastised himself for the comparison of the people around him with such diligent creatures like bees and corrected his thought. They were moving around like perfidious thieves and throat-slitters in the underhive, just with far better clothes. Unlike the others in the room, he was sitting. Still, he had the best view over the whole deplorable bunch. Nothing would sooth his troubled mind more than executing most of the people in the audience hall with his own two hands. In theory he even had the right to do so, for he was Sar Magri Ab'lur Ket do Quar'lok, the governor of Quar'lok IV and its system. But unfortunately, that was only in theory. There was a big group of officials who had too many connections and influence to push the whole system into turmoil if he worked to much against them.

To protect his people, he had to stay silent in regards of their malignant deeds behind the scenes and do business as usual. But today at least there was a difference to his daily life. A visitor from outside the system came to pay his respects to the governor and it was no Rouge Trader or another merchant. Half an hour earlier he received the message that his visitor had landed and was on his way to him.

Just as he finished his thought, the tall doors on the other side of the room opened and a giant of a man entered. He was at least two heads taller than the tallest of the assembled officials and had more mass than cardinal Inkontios XXI, and that was quite the feat. Unlike the cardinal, the bulk was all muscles which were trapped inside an amber hued suit of power armour with black highlights. The face had youthful angular features and would have been handsome on a normal man without all these scars and the hint of gigantism which is normal for people of his kind. Although he was unarmed, the governor knew that this man would have been able clear the whole room single handily in a matter of minutes from all living beings, for he was a member of the Adeptus Astartes, a Space Marine.

While the giant walked along the thick purple carpet, that lead to the seat of the governor, the talks between the officials died down. Many of them had never seen one of the gene-enhanced elite warriors of the Imperium and the few who had seen them knew of the dread they can install in their opponents. Magri Quar'lok himself had fought beside them once during his time in the Imperial Guard. While many governors never left their system, the ruling family of the Quar'lok system made it a custom that all their potential heirs serve their time in one of the many military institutions of the Imperium of Man. At the Beginning of the Indomitus crusade of the returned Primarch, Magri Quar'lok was a Lieutenant-Colonel of the Imperial Guard and fought beside the Primaris Greyshield units of the crusade against the Orks on Ixor Gamma. The Astartes before him was one of the nowadays named Firstborn Marines, but he possessed still an intimidating presence. As he reached the end of the carpet before the seat on which the governor sat, the warrior bowed and spoke in a deep but smooth voice.

"Hail governor Sar Magri Ab'lur Ket do Quar'lok! May His benevolence provide you, your family and your loyal subjects with His grace and protection, so that you may lead His people to a prosperous life in His service. My name is Sergeant Taruk of the Amber Vipers and I am here to forward the best wishes of my Chapter Master to the rightful and benevolent ruler of the Quar'lok system."

Magri Quar'lok nodded in acknowledgement and waved his hand as he answered "Please tell your Chapter Master that I thank him for his wishes and the kind words, but let us speak plainly, because I know how much the Angels of Death detest the dry and indirect formalities of official courts. How can I serve His warriors and their holy cause?"

The Marine rose to his full height and his lips broke into a warm smile. "While it is true that we dislike such formalities, I can assure you that the words of Chapter Master Coluber are honest. We are here to honour traditions and inform you that our fleet-based chapter is going to mine the Larfo Thaal asteroid fields for three weeks to replenish our stocks. We would also ask you for permission to train some of our novices in urban warfare in your hive-city. While we have extensive training facilities, nothing beats the real thing, if you know what I mean, my lord."

While the governor saw an opportunity unfold, Administratum Master Prefect Sork'ar stepped before the warrior and spoke "Then why did not your honoured Chapter Master or one of your lauded Captains came to meet our beloved lord and ruler? Additionally, we are hard pressed to meet the deadline for the tithe and need all our resources for ourselves. And while I do not want to insult you or your chapter, I heard some troublesome rumours that your chapter are more a band of mercenaries, than a chapter of the Adeptus Astartes."

'Sork'ar you fool, what are you thinking? No one speaks like that with a Space Marine and can hope to remain unscathed' thought the governor, but this Space Marine just smiled and turned to the Master Prefect.

"If someone else would have uttered these words, I would have punched the head from his shoulders for such an insult, hidden or not. But I know that you, as the Master Prefect, are responsible for meeting the tithe and ensure that the economy of the system remains stable. I also commend you for trying to uphold the honour of your governor. You can remain unworried. As you said yourself, these are just rumours. Feel free to check the list of active chapters with the officials of the Indomitus Crusade, the Amber Vipers are honourably listed there. But it is true, we received war materials from planets we saved from the Xenos and the Heretic. Other than chapters like the Ultramarines or the Blood Angels, we have no system to provide us with resources, nor a Homeworld. We are the last survivors of an old chapter, who many thought extinct since the days of the so-called Ghost Crusade. Yet we still fought on for centuries in His name and for the Imperium of Man. While we are not back to our full chapter strength since before the Ghost Crusade, we are steadily growing back into a full-fledged chapter of the Adeptus Astartes. But until then, we are forced to split our efforts to make the most of our meagre numbers of three companies and so our Chapter Master leads the bulk of our forces currently in a war against Orks in the Tanis System. But once again, I commend you for your sense of duty in standing up for your lord." During his last sentence, Sergeant Taruk placed his giant hand onto the bony shoulder of the Master Prefect. While the move seemed slow and gentle, the Master Prefect winced and did his best to keep at least a morsel of colour in his face. He might have thought this to be just one of the more common brutes of the military arms of the Imperium, but this Sergeant seemed to be no stranger to the political fields, at least for an Astartes, and it did not help that the gaze of an Astartes was nothing an unprepared bureaucrat could withstand for long.

Governor Quar'lok used the building silence, as every one of the assembled people waited to see what would give in first, the balder of the Master Prefect or his collar bone, and spoke "My dear Sergeant Taruk, I am glad that you understood the intentions of my loyal subject. Still, I must apologize for his harsh tone. I assure you that neither he nor I knew of the real situation of your honourable chapter. According to the degree of the Imperial Regent and with the power invested in my office by the Emperor himself, I allow the Amber Vipers to mine the asteroid fields. Also I will welcome your novices to our city. If it is within your training parameters, I would even suggest a joint training skrimish with our PDF, so that they might learn a thing or two from you." Sergeant Taruk let go of the Master Prefect and took a thankful bow to the governor.

"As I said before my lord, I took no offence. I will immediately inform my brothers, that they can start their training in the city. On another topic, I must inform you my lord, that your system seems to have a little problem with pirates. Shortly after our transition from the Warp, we got attacked by a refitted merchant vessel. Just imagine the faces of these lowly space rats when they did get boarded by a squad of Astartes. Still, it was impressive that they had the guts to raid so near the Mandevelin point."

The look on the face of the governor got sullen as he replied "I am painfully aware of this fact. We have even some crime syndicates raiding governmental warehouses right under our noses. While the system itself is wholly loyal, we have a serious problem with the unlawful segments of our population." Like on a cue, another governmental official voiced his opinion on this matter. He was draped in a white naval uniform with deep blue highlights and a lot of gold and medals, a silver ceremonial cutlass on his waist. "If we could get the ships we needed, we would wipe the floor with these scoundrels. Yet it seems that they are always one step ahead of us." "Without the strict austerity plan of the Administratum, my Enforcers could end these heretics within a month." This time it was an old but muscular man with an imposing moustache and a heavy leather trench coat.

"Then I have good news for you my lord. Like I mentioned, we are only a part of our chapter. But the Chapter Master plans to reunite with us near the asteroid fields. I am sure that I can place a good word with him, so that we can free this loyal system from this plague. No pirate lord, no matter how mighty, can withstand a Star Fortress and an Astartes chapter."

Magri Quar'lok thought that the Master Prefect would have already defended himself against the attack of the leader of the local Adeptus Arbites, but a look at him showed that the Master Prefect was still standing where he was with a pale face and an even more frightened expression than before. The governor assumed that he realized by now how close he did come to get his skull bashed in. While Sork'ar was a master in the battle fields of the political scene, he never had to fear for his live. In the meantime, the different political factions voiced their thoughts on the reasons for the problems of the system and attacked their adversaries or defended their interests.

Suddenly the large doors slammed open, as a palace messenger came running into the audience hall. His distress was so big that he nearly bumped into the Astartes on his way to the governor. "My Lord, the crime syndicates attacked the warehouse district and the manufactorums in the southern sector." "Get a grip man! That is hardly something new nowadays. So tell me, what is the real problem?" After his time in the Imperial Guard, the governor made sure to install at least a small level of military discipline in his servants, but it seemed that he became lax, otherwise they would not disturb him with such a regular occurrence. "The scale my lord! There are several attacks nearly at the same time. Eight warehouses got raided and three more are currently under attack. Four manufactorums got damaged and the Arbites have troubles to get there in time because the major lines of the highways to the affected sectors are blocked or destroyed."

Everyone around could see in the next minutes how the governor got into the position of Lieutenant-Colonel as he quickly assigned the needed tasks to the different officials in sharp orders and with military precision. Sergeant Tarkus noticed that this governor was a man people would gladly follow into war, but in times of peace?

Lastly the governor looked to the Space Marine and said "Sergeant, if I may implore you for your help in this matter? It seems like your novices might get some real experiences in Urban Warfare. My forces are unfortunately not in a position to act fast enough. The PDF is in the outskirts and cannot be mobilized in time, while the Arbites seem to be locked up. Like my Master Prefect already mentioned, we are hard pressed to meet the deadline for the tithe, and to reach the necessary quota, we need these buildings and their contents back. Can you help us?"

Sergeant Tarkus saluted and said "It would be my pleasure. There is no better experience than live action. We can reach most of the sites within thirty minutes via shuttle insertion. The objects should be in imperial control within the hour." With that, he donned his helm and left the audience hall. The governor looked after him and thought 'I don't want to be in the shoes of these criminals.'

"Did they take the bait?"

"Of course. Just be sure to leave some corpses and take some in for questions. What about your trap?"

"It is not a trap. It is a technical operation which includes infiltrating and isolating a specific secure vox line, tapping it and marking its source. While the probability of noticing my..."

"Will it work or not? Don't give me an estimated probability, just a simple yes or no!"

"... Yes it will work."

"Good. Begin the second phase and send in the shuttles."

"Affirmative Brother-Sergeant."

"Thank you Techmarine Jetos." And with that Sergeant Tarkus closed the vox link before Jetos could argue that he is no full Techmarine yet, like so many times before. Tarkus had started the conversion as soon as he left the audience hall and now he was on the way to his shuttle. While it was no Thunderhawk, it was a blunt-nosed brute of an orbital lander with a Combat Squad of Space Marines in it. Performing a combat landing with it in the middle of a hive city will make enough of an impression to make the plan work.

One day after the governor received the message of the attacks, he held a meeting with his ministers and invited Sergeant Tarkus to it. When Tarkus entered the meeting room, it seemed more like a war council then a meeting of bureaucrats. This notion looked to be correct, as only the military advisors and officers conferred on the best actions to take next. All other ministers and officials just sat idly in corners with their data slates and stood silent. In the last twenty-four hours happened a total of thirty eight attacks within the three major cities of this planet. Not only did governmental sites got attacked, but also sites with connections to certain guilds and merchant groups. The funny thing was that only twenty eight of these attacks were done by the Amber Vipers. Four attacks where genuine attacks of criminal groups and six other conflicts happened because some guilds took vengeance for the previous attacks that targeted their properties. They thought these attacks where from their competitors, but where ultimately mistaken, yet only Tarkus knew that.

The plan had been executed perfectly by the elements of the Second and Third Cohort. Squads of Snakelets from the Third Cohort attacked predetermined properties and got "driven of" by the Scout Squads of the Second Cohort or by the Battle-Brothers under Sergeant Tarkus. To make everything look realistic, they left the bodies of slain criminals a Scout Squad, which secretly arrived several days earlier, captured. The same Scout Squad sabotaged the manufactorums to ensure the highest possible chaos with the lowest grade of productivity loss. The five other attacks just helped so that everything looked more realistic.

"What about the sites the Amber Vipers secured? What was the situation there?" The question came from General Maro Abdin Kar of the PDF garrison within the Hivecity and brought Tarkus back to the present.

"We were allocated to twelve of the affected properties. Unfortunately, we came too late to make any impact in three cases, so we switched to secondary areas to support the local Arbites units. Eighty-nine casualties on the opposing sides in total, sixteen heavy wounded who will not survive for long and four individuals ready for interrogation. Several dozen did flee. No casualties on our side. The three sites we arrived at too late got emptied by the criminals. Another warehouse that got attacked has been empty to begin with. All other assets could be secured with minimal losses due to damage."

"Only four criminals for interrogation?" asked a bald corpulent Munitorum official.

Tarkus smiled, which looked quite savage with his blood-stained power armour, he came directly after repelling an attack of one of the guilds. "We are the Angels of Death sir, not Arbites."

"Still a better tally in comparison to the one of the Arbites, which greatly shames me as their superior" Tarkus noticed that the statement came from the same man who complained about the saving plans of the Administratum the day before.

"Nevertheless, it wasn't the optimal outcome. With your permission Governor, I would like to station my scouts within the hive cities for a faster response time. My squad and I will leave the planet and patrol with our vessel the system and control possible hiding points of the pirates."

"Do it. As long as you do not influence the daily lives of the civilians, you can do what you need to do to catch these bastards. But I also want the people beyond these foot soldiers. It is already bad enough that I have to consider Martial Law, just because we cannot stop these criminals." It was obvious how eager the governor was to conclude this situation. Tarkus turned on his heels and was going to leave the meeting room as the governor called out to him "One more thing Sergeant – Good hunt!"

The Space Marine faced the former Lieutenant-Colonel and made the sign of the aquila. "The Emperor protects!"

Back on the refitted Firestorm Frigate "Venomous Dagger" Sergeant Tarkus met with his squad-brothers and Techmarine Jetos to discuss the next steps. Two squads of Secundus and four squads of Tertius were left on Quar'lok IV under the command of a Sergeant from the old Seventeen to continue their work planet side. Together with a scout squad they will raid two pirate bases they localised through the logs of the pirate ship, which attacked them right after their arrival in the Quar'lok system.

"I am always surprised how corrupt these officials are. How the Imperium could survive with such grox heads on the top will always be beyond me." The statement came from Brother Errat. "One day, your continuous disrespect and defeatism will secure you a place in the Cerebrii. Maybe the Sergeant should assign you to combat drills until you shut up and act like a proper Astartes." The response came from the stern looking Marine opposite of Errat, who put on a smug face and answered "My dear Brother Theodacius, when I get inducted into the Cerebrii, Chapter Master Coluber will create the office of Chaplaincy just for you. If it comes to this, I am sure that I will be still the luckier one."

The exchanges between these two brothers were a regular occurrence and normally they were the source of many comraderies laughter, but now they got on Tarkus nerves. Before Theodacius could response, he growled "Shut it! Both of you. We are here to complete one of the many missions Lord Guilliman gave our Chapter. We need to rid this system of the cancer which is bureaucratic corruption."

Errat shrugged and murmured "I still don't get it how fixing just one system will help the greater Imperium."

"While this system has no abnormally huge deposits of any resource or directly produce war material like a Leman Russ, it produces many smaller key components for the wider imperial industry. Hive city Shard'la Mag for example is specialized in the production of lenses for laser weaponry, void proof and armoured glass as well as several other products that are related to glass. They supply two forge worlds and several systems with their products. A laser cannon can have the most power full energy supply, but it won't shot once without the lenses to focus its beam. And that is only one example. The corruption of this system spreads through their products and influences many more systems along the supply chain. And the danger in it is, that unlike during the direct production of a Navy vessel, shady business on a big scale for small products pass by unnoticed."

Errat laughed and said "Well, not completely unnoticed. The Imperial Regent and his new Officio Logisticum or what they are called noticed it. Give me an Ork Waaagh to fight alone, but spare me from going through all the data to get the evidence for this corruption. I thank Him on the Golden Throne for making me a Space Marine and not a quill pusher."

Tarkus smiled at that and answered "The Emperor protects! Now let us plan our attack on the first pirate base..."