Tales of the Amber Vipers Chapter 313

Maru wasn't where he was supposed to be. The Librarian-Dreadnought was supposed to be making his way to Coluber, in order to spread disinformation. Maru understood the plan, and his role in it. He understood the past and future of his brotherhood lay in the balance and a single misstep could spell doom for his bloodline. Yet despite all that he could not bring himself to make that fateful move. Instead he wandered the lower reaches of the Nest, wracked with indecision.

For a Psyker this was no small issue. Those who dealt with the Warp must be unwavering in purpose and unyielding in conviction. To doubt was to open a door in one's soul, a crack in the armour of the mind that a Daemon could slip through. From his earliest days Maru had been sure of his course, confident in his abilities and the mission given unto him. He had voluntarily entered a Dreadnought frame, as was custom for the Chief Librarian of his former order. A symbol of his commitment as much a booster to his considerable psychic powers. Many times the lives of men he had continued on his path, but at the last he stumbled.

Troubled beyond words Maru wandered, heading nowhere in particular, seeking only to avoid making a decision. He passed through regions left derelict for millennia, and hubs of activity where mortals laboured even as their home was torn apart. Life support systems required constant maintenance and if the work stopped all would suffocate. Maru could befuddle their minds if he so wished, but there was no point. Though he drew stares the Librarian-Dreadnought was not challenged, none would dare to try.

Maru's steps took him past an Apothecarion and here he paused. From within emanated waves of pain and suffering, the wounded and the grieving laying within. They bound their torment with chains of will, but most of the injured were Snakelets and their Hypno-indoctrination was incomplete.

Maru turned and ducked through the door, not really knowing why he did so. The entrance of a Dreadnought to the Apothecarion drew stares and Maru regretted his impulsive decision. Long lines of med-slabs lay in rows, each filled with a bleeding body. Young Amber Vipers lay, many missing limbs or shivering from blood loss. Worse were the ones with no visible injuries, their chests bound by many bandages. Their life force throbbed weakly and was fading, their lives fated to be short. Around one slab a team of chrirugeons worked, shouting over each other as blood spilled to the floor. Their efforts were futile, Maru knew it to be true, and yet they tried. Noble if foolish.

One of Shrios' apprentice Apothecaries was working on another case but his head came up as he asked, "Lord Librarian?"

"Micho," Maru recited from memory, "How fare the wounded?"

"About as you'd expect, given we fought Space Marines. We leave few alive in our passing, but those who live face great troubles. I expect half the wounded to pass before the day is out."

"Thine bedside manner needs work," Maru commented.

"Kind words spare no one pain," Micho sniffed, "So teaches Shrios."

"Shrios is hardly the example of a soothing healer," Maru sniffed.

"Could be worse, the Soul Drinkers are threatening to tear this place apart if we don't discharge Daggon."

"Soul Drinkers?" Maru asked in surprise.

"Yes, their Chaplain lies at the far end, we're trying to save his leg..."

Maru wasn't listening. He strode off, making drip-lines shake with the tread of his passing. Heads turned as the giant war machine stomped by, but Maru was fixated on the bed at the far end. Soul Drinkers, he knew the name, he had seen Coluber's memories and the disgraceful origin of his band. Maru knew the Soul Drinkers had died, and been reborn into the new paradigm. But what they represented to Maru was a pure, unbiased viewpoint.

Laying upon a med-slab was Chaplain Daggon. His helm was missing and his leg was bare from the knee down. The limb was a mess, hanging by a few thin arteries, bound by wires and bleeping machines. Around the bed a ring of nine Primaris stood, looming over a rather terrified sawbones, whose white apron was stained red with blood.

"Take the damned leg off and get me an augmetic!" Daggon barked.

"My lord, please be still. The leg is viable, we can save it," the hackman pleaded.

"Too long!" Daggon spat, "Have it off and fit a replacement!"

"Please, you must rest. The damage to your tendons must heal."

"I have no time to be laying about!"

The harassed mortal turned to Maru and pleaded, "Lord Librarian, speak to him. Tell him that..." the cry was cut off as a sharp whine erupted. In the moment of distraction Daggon had snatched a buzzsaw off a gurney and applied it to his leg. The mortal went pale as the Chaplain drove the spinning blade into the ruin of his knee, snapping arteries like taut string as blood fountained high. The screech of metal chewing flesh ground across the ear but Daggon moved swiftly and in moments had amputated his own leg.

"There, it's gone," Daggon spat as he cast the saw aside, "Now go find me an augmetic!"

"Better do as he says, Chaplains are not to be crossed," Maru advised.

If Daggon was in pain, which he surely was, he hid it well as he glared upwards, "And what do you want?"

"I seek spiritual counsel," Maru stated, "Alone."

Daggon glared, "Have you no Chaplains of your own?"

"None, and my need to confess is great."

Daggon looked annoyed but spake, "It is my solemn duty to hear the confessions of all Brothers who require to unburden themselves and the Codex Imperialis encourages cross-Chapter cooperation. Soul Drinkers, leave me to counsel this one alone."

The nine warriors in purple moved off without comment, leaving Maru alone with the Chaplain. The Librarian exerted his mind and cast a veil of silence about them, ensuring none could hear. He wasn't planning to reveal all his secrets, but what he was about to say was troubling enough. Daggon looked puzzled but lay still, awaiting the confession.

"You fought beside Coluber?" Maru started.

"I did," Daggon stated knowing some things took time to say.

"How did you find these Amber Vipers?"

"Rough and ready, brazen and coarse, yet with a steel spine running them. They deserve a good kick up the rear, but they fight for Terra with all their hearts."

"Thus have I found them," Maru sighed.

"You speak as them as separate from yourself," Daggon noted.

Maru chose his words carefully, "I am... old... very old, older than Coluber's occupation of this Starfort. I went into stasis millennia ago and awoke to find a new breed in my Brother's places. They call themselves Amber Vipers, but they are strangers, in many ways. Their mannerisms were unfamiliar, their ways strange to me. I stand apart, in all ways that matter."

Daggon didn't condemn the admission but mused, "You feel disconnected from your Chapter?"

Maru was skating on thin ice, "I am torn between the old and the new. What should be and what is. These brigands sully the name of my once noble order and these others..."

Maru trailed off but Daggon picked up the thread, "You feel more kinship with our opponents than our own side?"

"I never said that," Maru hastily covered.

"Not all confessions are verbal," Daggon sighed, "In truth I too feel I should be on the other side. I fight for an army that disappoints me, against one I would be proud to stand aside. All for the machinations of an Inquisitor."

"Where is Varrel?" Maru asked.

"Kept in a safe place," Daggon smirked, "It will take him considerable time to climb his way out of the pit I dropped him in."

"He will be furious."

"His displeasure is no concern of mine."

"So I gathered."

Daggon frowned, "Your generation, were they like Coluber's lot?"

Maru answered, "No, they prized prudence, decorum, honesty and loyalty."

"And they would not approve of what has become of their home?"

"They most certainly would not," Maru scoffed, "These uncouth bandits are a mockery of our pride... but then what right have I to judge? I have lied and deceived and given false testimony. I stray from the guidance of our forefathers, becoming base and ignoble. I wallow in sin, as much as Coluber's scoundrels. If my former brethren could know the things I have done, they would cast me from their sight."

"The expectations of the past are cruel burdens to bear," Daggon sighed.

Maru sighed, "At least you have a Chapter of leal Brothers."

"And you do not?"

"I have nothing. I am caught between two states of being, neither one thing nor another."

Daggon looked up at the Dreadnought and asked, "Who are you?"

"Excuse me?"

"Answer the question: who are you?"

"I am Maru Kysoto," came the confused reply.

Daggon scowled, "That is a label, given to you by a mother long dead. It is not who you are. You are suffering a lack of connection, but that is a symptom of the fact you do not know who you should be. Your sense of identity is lost, and without it you cannot find your true centre. Before you can answer where you should be, you must first define who you are."

"I am a Chief Librarian," Maru said.

"Rank and status, these do not define a Space Marine," Daggon growled, "You are more than the accolades heaped upon you."

"I am an Amber Viper," Maru ventured.

"Association," Daggon hissed, "It seems you can only define yourself by other's thoughts of you. But you must let go of outside expectations, look within and tell me who you are!'"

Maru stilled his thoughts and examined his own being. He set aside rank and duty, past and future, the hopes and fear that bedevilled him. Maru put it all aside and looked into his essence and the answer was staring back at him, so obvious and true. He could not believe he had not seen it before.

"I am alone," Maru uttered as the truth stole over him.

"What do you want?" Daggon pressed.

"I want to not be alone," Maru stated with new clarity.

"Whom do you serve?" Daggon pressed.

"I serve the Emperor."

"Whom do you trust?" Daggon demanded.

Maru declared, "I trust Coluber... I trust him to be Coluber. Ugly as they are his band of miscreants are honest. They do not hide behind false smiles and wait to plunge the dagger into one's back, if they take umbrage they do it to one's face. I trust them to be who they are. Outcasts, misfits, the forgotten and overlooked dregs of the galaxy... just like me."

Daggon nodded, "Then it seems you have your answer."

"It seems you are right," Maru uttered as his path became clear, "I thank you for your wisdom, Chaplain."

"You can thank me by dropping that screen and letting them get to work on my leg."

"So be it," Maru complied.

The screen faded and Maru turned to go. He walked from the Apothecarion, hearts filled with new purpose. His feet turned right and his tread took him towards Coluber's location. He would seek the Master of brigands, but not to deceive, his purpose was to speak the pure unvarnished truth. Maru was gambling with fate but could no longer cling to hollow dreams of the past, or fleeting hopes for the future. He was kin to these new Amber Vipers, not in blood but spirit. He was one of them, and he owed them the truth, though it would cost him everything. Knowing it would bring doom was no weight upon his soul, Maru had made his choice and finally his purpose was clear.