Tales of the Amber Vipers Chapter 327

Dragon's Teeth

From the outer dark she came, a void goddess in motion. Twelve kilometres long and bristling with guns and torpedo tubes. Heavy armour swathed her flanks with Adamantium scales and a mighty castle made up her command deck. The huge hammerhead prow reflected starlight from the distant mote that was a sun, making the ramming spikes about her maw glisten like bloodied fangs. Once she had been the last capital vessel of the dead Blood Talons Chapter, now she was first of the Amber Viper's. Plasma drives flaring Angel's Revenge sailed towards her target, a hunter of the stars set loose.

Upon her bridge the Master of the Chapter waited. Upon the command Dais he stood, flanked by his proud Brother-Exemplars with their glorious heraldry and Burst-lances. His own armour was standard Mark V but polished till it gleamed, with stark icons of vipers coiling on his knees. One pauldron was blackened in mourning, but he was yet proud, as evidenced by his relic sword Venom and the Phusil at his hip. His hair was white and his face scarred, but still Coluber cut as fine a figure as any.

"Increase speed to two-thirds," Coluber ordered the busy chattels, "Report the second the target reacts to our presence." The activity filling the vast space altered slightly as the crew responded. A Battlebarge's bridge was a vast cathedral, boasting a vaulted roof and long pews where servitors and chattels laboured. The bridge had not been so full in years, manned by a skeleton crew. That had changed recently and Coluber was eager to test their mettle.

"Ferrac will be sorry he missed this," a harsh voice issued.

Coluber kept his eyes forward as he replied, "The Battle-Captain will have to live with his disappointment."

"You know what he'll say."

"The Chapter is more than one Marine. I ordered him to stay and guard the Serpens Rex, he will obey."

"You can handle his outrage then."

"A small price to pay, I wouldn't miss the Revenge's trial by fire for anything."

A small cough issued from the other side and Coluber at last turned. On the Command Dais with him were two figures. One in faded white armour, with a sharp face and sullen expression. This was Shrios, the Amber Viper's senior Apothecary, an old comrade in arms, but not an easy one to like. The other was far short and much frailer. A stick-thin figure in rich robes which made the mortal seem even smaller. Easy to dismiss save for the band of gold across his brow, hiding a third eye. A Navigator by blood, an heir apparent by station. Mihas Chamandley, scion of a wealthy Navigator house, who happened to be Colubers oldest and most influential ally.

Mihas' cheeks were so sunken as to make him look like a walking skeleton but yet he uttered, "I hope you are equal to the task?"

Coluber's pride was irked but he chose not to show it, "This a Battlebarge, a fully armed and manned Battlebarge. One little outpost is no bother."

"I have studied your records; all you've ever done with this ship is sail in circles!"

"That was then, this is now," Coluber explained, "Thanks to Belisarius Cawl the Revenge is fully refitted and crewed."

Shrios grumbled, "I don't trust that odious rust-bucket."

Coluber eyed him, "He's kept our bargain, to the letter."

"Crews and Forge-tenders, yes, very generous. But what does he get in return?"

Coluber smirked, "An STC wasn't enough?"

"He's got it already, so why does he keep sending us supplies?" Shrios argued.

"The Mechanicus has its odd ways, but they always fulfil a bargain once sworn," Coluber affirmed.

Shrios didn't seem convinced, "They'll be a catch, there's always a catch."

Their conversation was cut short by a cry from the Sensorium. Coluber spun and raised his eyes to the Hololith, seeing the target react at last. They were on course for an asteroid, hollowed out and rebuilt. Airlocks dotted the ruffled surface and skeletal docking piers extended into the void, ready to greet visitors, of which there were many. All over the surface plasma drives lit as cargo ships broke free, hurrying to escape from the wrath of the Adeptus Astartes.

"Filthy Heretics," Shrios grumbled, "We should chase them down."

"Their treachery is a matter for the Inquisition, we are here to destroy the trade-station," Coluber stated firmly.

"Won't take long," Shrios muttered.

"Indeed, the defences are paltry, this is no permanent base, merely a temporary harbour, meant to be abandoned once its usefulness expires."

Mihas spat irately, "Filthy scum, poaching Imperial shipping!"

Shrios snorted, "And the fact the Demiurg are undercutting your House's monopoly on trade in this sub-sector is just the ploin-fruit on top."

Mihas bristled, "Terra's mandate decries dealing with non-imperials as a Heresy against the Emperor. It is your duty to eliminate this scourge!"

"Be at peace," Coluber replied calmly, "The Amber Vipers will do our duty this day, the Demiurg will be broken. We are proud to be performing a selfless deed, for once."

Shrios scoffed, "And you can tell your father his trade monopoly is safe."

"New contact, breaking from the station!" a chattel shouted from the Sensorium. Coluber peered at a lesser console and saw the Machine Spirits bring up a close scan. A wedge of a cruiser, with a tall prow and trailing booms. It moved on a ramjet of ionised hydrogen, slow compared to a plasma drive but with steady acceleration. Bastion-class trade ship, a tough prospect but no match for a Battlebarge, in normal circumstances. Coluber's crew were unblooded, this would be their trial by fire.

Coluber barked, "Shields to full, roll out the guns, torpedoes on stand by and tell the Enginarium to bless the reactors again. Hold course till I give the order to come about, and signal Strike-Captain Reddam to cut under the plane of battle and rise again once we are committed!"

His orders sent the crew into a flurry of activity and he knew throughout the ship it would be the same. Heaving ratings would be working by the hundred to push macrocannons into firing positions, Enginseers would be blessing energy-weapon capacitors and armouries would be readying immense shells the size of gunships to be hoisted away as soon as the first shots rang. The crew had drilled for this, they had been Mars-trained, but Coluber worried their inexperience would cause problems.

In the Hololith the Demiurg ship closed directly from ahead, interposing between the Battlebarge and the trade station. Not as selfless an act as one might think, as their primary weapons were located on the prow. Diving below the plane of battle the Revenge's escort pushed out the range. Another commandeered ship, the Quaesitor Erudtio, a Strike Cruiser. Half the Revenge's size, with a third of her guns, but sleek and manoeuvrable in the turns. She was eager to prove herself, as was the Strike-Captain of Secundus.

Mihas gulped, "They're coming right at us, hadn't we better launch torpedoes?"

Coluber didn't bother to look at him, "While your presence is welcome, such suggestions are not."

Shrios snorted, "He means, shut up and let the Astartes handle this."

Coluber's eyes were fixed on the Hololith, judging his turn. A Battlebarge's primary armament was on the ship's flanks, and he would have to turn to present his guns, but too soon and the Demiurg would have time to react. Too late and they'd impale themselves on the opening salvo. A Battlebarge was a stately craft, slow to turn and cumbersome in a knife fight, he'd have to judge this to perfection. Closer they drifted, closer, then the moment was ripe.

"Hard a port!" Coluber bellowed, "Beseech the Logic Engines to bless us with a shooting solution for the starboard guns!" The Revenge groaned as the bow came about, slow compared to most craft but her mass and inertia made any turn a laborious effort. Stars drifted in the Hololith as the ship heaved to, so slow that Coluber feared he'd misjudged the turn. Yet the seconds crawled by without incident, as the Demiurg closed in.

Barely had the bow come about when the prow of their ship erupted. Ionic blasts hurtled across tens of thousands of kilometres, impacting the shields in flaring novas of discharge. Layers of void shields ringed the Revenge but the energy shots were intense and space lit up like Sanguinala-eve as the blasts were shunted aside. Energy feedback surged through surge dampeners, spilling out into other systems. Gravity convulsed throughout the ship as the Machine Spirits made their displeasure known.

Coluber's feet rocked under him as the cathedral-bridge yawned to and fro. Chattels clung to their consoles as the decks tilted, grimly clinging on for dear life. Servitors wailed and screens dissolved into static as the Revenge suffered blow after blow.

"Why aren't we firing?!" Mihas screamed.

"Without a targeting lock we'd be wasting our shots," Shrios snarled.

"Hold for the cogitators," Coluber growled, "Hold..."

Consoles lit up as the logic engines computed their shooting solutions. "Fire!" Coluber yelled and the Revenge spoke. Deck after deck of macroweapons let slip their wroth, in a rolling barrage that swept down the flank of the ship. Turbolasers spat searing death, macrocannons boomed, Plasma annihilators blazed, rocket batteries flew away and grav-cannons flung distorted space at the foe. The broadside was intense and the Demiurg ran straight into it. Closing head-on they had no way to evade and took the brunt. Their shields lit up as they deflected the barrage, straining at the limit as they sought to hold against the onslaught. The tirade was epic, the devastation awe-inspiring and the thunder relentless. On and on the broadside boomed, till at last the guns fell silent.

"Report!" Coluber yelled.

"Our shields are barely holding together," a frantic chattel yelled, "Theirs are equally stretched."

"They held through that?!" Mihas gulped.

"Damn rock-rat's shields are tough as granite," Shrios snarled.

Coluber ignored them, "Hold course and divert power to the port weapons. Lock-on target as they pass us."

But an ashen-faced man yelled, "Energy spike!"

Before Coluber could say a word a lashing ray of energy shot from the Demiurg ship. A cutting beam, meant to slice asteroids apart, short-ranged but deadly against ship hulls. The ravening beam licked the Revenge's shields, and blew them out. Electromagnetic bangs rippled out, allowing the beam to tear into the starboard flank. Then the Demiurg shot past, moving at a significant fraction of lightspeed, relative to the Battlebarge.

"We're going to die!" Mihas wailed.

"Shut your yapping trap!" Shrios barked, "This is nothing!"

"Damage report!" Coluber yelled.

"Minor hit to the starboard gunwales, we lost a few hundred men but no major damage was reported. Internal bracing held true."

"Bless this ship," Coluber grinned, "Tell me we have weapons lock."

"Lock-on confirmed!"

"Port gundecks, fire!"

Once more the Revenge let slip her wroth, firing her port guns in sequence. The Demiurg ship was stern to the Battlebarge, and at point-blank range, in void terms. The Revenge couldn't miss and the salvo smote the cruiser most cruelly, blowing out her weakened shields in an instant. Lasbeams tore through armour, macroshells blew out compartments, grav tore hull plates to ribbons, plasma melted deep and missiles flew into the breaches where they could explode within vital systems. The Demiurg ship withered in the onslaught, bleeding air and energy from ruptured conduits as bodies were blown into the void of space.

"Fire Magma bombs!" Coluber bellowed. Squat turrets on the spine of the ship burped plumes of fire and city-killing ordnance flew free. The shells struck true and bored deep, before exploding. The rear of the cruiser flew apart, sending shattered spars spinning into the void, the vessel appeared a comet, her front half drifting away on a tail of exhaust and blood.

A chattel yelled, "She drifting without purpose, helm control is lost!"

"Reduced energy emissions, she crippled, I say again target crippled!"

"Permission to finish her off?!" a crewman yelled.

"Negative, let Reddam have some fun," Coluber ordered, "Bring us to bear on the trade-station!"

In the Hololith the Strike Cruiser rose, cutting across the plane on battle on a vertical approach. Reddam aimed to cross the bow and give the Demiurg everything he'd got, a classic 'cross T' manoeuvre, and a certain kill. Coluber knew his crew yearned for the kill, but also knew coordination in battle was more important than individual glory. This was a test of the crew's discipline as much as their fighting spirit.

Revenge heaved to and when the bow was pointing at the target Coluber let slip torpedoes. Six cylinders flew away, burning bright on trails of plasma. They crossed the immense gulf of space in mere minutes, seeking the speck that was the target. The Demiurg saw them coming but their point defence fire was weak. Barely a spray of tracers lit the void, missing entirely as six warheads slammed home. The detonation was perfect and the asteroid quivered under the impacts, plasma blooming all over the surface. Rock flash fired, internal compartments dissolved and energy conduits overloaded. One moment the trade-station hung in space, the next it was a cloud of pebbles and flaming gas, spinning away into the night.

"A kill!" Shrios snarled in triumph.

"Confirmed," Coluber agreed, "And the cruiser?"

"Dead in the void," the Sensorium officers replied.

"Congratulations to Reddam," Coluber proclaimed, "And to us. Tell the galleys to break out double rations of grog for the crew's repast tonight!"

Cheers rang loud on the bridge, the crew jubilant in victory. Throughout the ship the cheers rang on every deck, as ship bells tolled to proclaim the kill. Life in the void was harsh and demanding, cruel and unfair, but the sweet savour of victory made it all bearable. A fine beginning for the Revenge and her crew.

Coluber drew himself up and uttered, "Secure the guns, reduce shields and redouble damage control efforts. Mark the fleeing cargo ships, we'll dispatch their names to the nearest Astropathic duct, let the Inquisition round them up and choose their punishments."

Mihas swallowed audibly and straightened his robes, "A worthy display, I will inform my father that the matter has been dealt with."

"You go do that," Coluber replied sternly.

The Navigator left but Shrios muttered, "Odious little mutant. Bad enough to be deformed in body, but imagine being a coward to boot."

"A mutant yes, coward certainly, but a very rich one," Coluber admonished, "I need more from his House than to merely steer my ships."

"And for that we allow him out of his Navigator's sanctum?"

"Yes," Coluber growled bluntly, "But let us not grumble on today of all days. The Revenge is blooded, our crews tested and proven sound. We fought the Emperor's war today, enforcing His rule as any Astartes should. At last the Amber Vipers are acting as real Space Marines, and as we begin so I mean to continue!"