Tales of the Amber Vipers Chapter 381

"Where the hell are you Maru?!" Coluber yelled into the vox.

Only static replied from the garbled comms and Ferrac snarled, "Frakking rustbucket, the one time we could actually use him and he's nowhere to be seen!"

"Then we do this the hard way," Coluber growled.

Down a carotid artery they withdrew, a dozen Space Marines in amber and red and black. The channel peeled off from the main arterial route, providing a way to withdraw from Skoll's wroth. Coluber was relieved that the Nighthowler hadn't come down this route, though he knew that meant others would be fighting the nightmare without him. He yearned to stand with his embattled kin, but had other problems. A fresh wave of Vanagandyr had stormed after them, pressing the withdrawing Astartes hard. Even so they could have held, save that a pack of Space Wolves had emerged to join the fray.

Coluber was fighting a grey-clad warrior, swinging a double-headed axe engraved with snarling wolf's heads. Elaborate knotwork adorned his plate, engraved with a superb eye for detail. Fetishes hung from his belt and his head was shaved, save for a single crest of hair styled blue with woad. Coluber could have admired this primal aspect, save the cur was trying to kill him.

A broad sweep of the axe nearly removed the scalp from his head and Coluber was forced low to avoid dying. He swung for a foot, thinking to remove the limb only for the boot to blur, hitting his wrist and knocking the strike out of true. The blow was followed up by a knee to the faceplate, that made Coluber reel. The Chapter Master knew a terminal blow would surely be next and he would not be able to clear room. This warrior was damned good, fast, strong and skilled, with the hard experience of one accustomed to fighting Space Marines. Blade to blade Coluber was not his match and to try was to die, so the Amber Viper elected to cheat.

Coluber threw himself back, leaning into his fall. He toppled over and an axeblade whisked an inch from his nose. He hit the floor and sprawled, as the Space Wolf reared high, only to be surprised when a pistol was presented. Coluber bore a six-cylinder Phusil, and with a squeeze of the trigger fired a tiny round at his foe. The pellet struck the cur in the brow and shattered, spilling phosphor over his skull. The top half of the enemy erupted into a blazing firecracker, incandescent light clawing at nearby eyeballs like magnesium flares. Coluber's autosenses blinked out and when they returned the enemy was only a pair of legs, and a fused stump above the waist.

Coluber had no time to celebrate as he rolled to his feet. Everywhere he could see murderlust was unleashed. Amber Vipers, Blood Talons and Cerberii, engaging hordes of feral fiends. Swords flashed and knives stabbed, while claw and frostblade gnashed. A Blood Talon went down, dragging a trio of bestial foes to the grave with him. Brother Norbad was gutted by a glittering frostblade, only for his foe to be punched off his feet by a Fission-blast. Ferrac ripped the throat out of a warped cur, only to be set upon by another and another. Berio crushed skulls with blasts of a shoulder mounted grav-cannon, only for a bolt round to bury itself in the muzzle, crippling the weapon.

Desperately Coluber joined the fray, lashing out with his relic sword. Armour spilt and bones snapped under his touch but no matter how many he killed more kept coming. He was pressed from all sides, and sorely missed the Brother-Exemplars, little realising till now how deadly they had been with their Burst-lances. In their absence everything seemed harder and he could not kill fast enough to hold the line.

"We're being overwhelmed!" Coluber snarled.

"Don't have to tell me twice!" Ferrac yelled from the mass of foes.

Coluber cast about for a solution and yelled, "Berio, do something Heretical!"

"Seal respirators!" the Cerberii barked, "Seal respirators now!"

Coluber had no idea what was intend but knew better than to argue. He slammed the grille of his helm shut with a thought, compelling his armour's spirit to switch to internal oxygen. A moment later Berio threw something into the melee, a small glassic sphere that burst on impact. So small a device surely shouldn't have much effect, but from it gushed clouds of vapours, more than the tiny orb could have held. It spread fast, filling the tight confines with murky gas that shifted evilly.

The crowds of foes seemed unaffected for a moment, then suddenly fell to their knees hacking and gasping. Coluber suspected nerve gas, but then saw Space Wolves collapsing too, clawing at their throats. The damned fools fought unhelmed, and so breathed in whatever this was. Coluber was perplexed, till he spied something wiggling in the air, almost like drifting spots in the jelly of the eye. Autosenses zoomed in and he beheld near-microscopic worms, with ring mouths and sharp teeth. Tiny frills held them aloft in the air and they oozed mindless hunger.

Enemies collapsed at his feet, rasping wetly and vomiting profusely. Fluid was filling lungs, as the worms ate through soft tissues of pulmonary systems. As they ripped their way into the warmest meat vital fluids gushed the other way. Foes slumped limply as they drowned in their own blood, fluid filling lungs even in clear air.

"What the Frakking hell were they?!" Ferrac snapped as he kicked a body over.

"Bore-worms," Berio replied, "Breathe them in and you die."

"Keep respirators sealed," Coluber snapped, "Everyone fall back."

From the piled dead they withdrew. Coluber, Ferrac, Berio and two of his Cerberii, still carrying their deadly weapon. So long as they had the Nail victory was still possible, Coluber clung to that. Brother Vescount was with them, and a lone Blood Talon, looking rather lost. So few, and yet it would have to be enough.

Coluber hastened along the passage, until he ran into a closed sphincter, he was about to curse, but then it dilated, opening to reveal another chamber. He hurried through, only to find another aperture. The sphincter behind squeezed closed, as the one before opened. As it did so the walls closed in, creating an immense sense of pressure, like a hand squeezing a balloon. Coluber was confused, and worried that he had led them into a crushing deathtrap, till the walls ceased closing and began to swell outwards.

"What fresh hell is this?!" Ferrac snarled.

"A heart," Coluber gulped, "We're inside a heart ventricle."

"It's as big as a gunship!"

"We're in a Tyranid Hive ship, what did you expect?!"

A sound made him spin. The sphincter behind was beginning to dilate and as it did so it revealed a wall of flame. Gushing promethium scoured the air, burning the bore-worms to ash as something huge stepped through the opening. A massive form, all armour and mass, girth beyond belief and shoulders that rose above the head. A stubby head and flamers for arms, unlike any other mark of armour in existence. A Saturnine Terminator.

"Nowhere to run," the foe growled.

"Present arms!" Coluber barked.

"Gathor fears not your puny guns!" the foe snarled.

A hail of bolt rounds hammered at thick plates, Fission-blasts and even the aching bright flash of Phosphor. Coluber fired his Phusil over and over, two, three, four rounds, desperately trying to burn the Terminator away. Gathor was inundated with fire, his form disappearing behind a wall of flame. Coluber dared to believe it was enough, but when the light died the Saturnine stood inviolate.

"That tickles," Gathor scoffed.

"Impossible," Berio gasped, "Nothing could survive that!"

"Face the Hammerhand and die!"

Fleshmetal flowed and became reaper cannon barrels. Coluber threw himself aside as fat shells flew, smashing into the walls even as they contracted. Vescount was not so fast, shells struck his plate and shattered it into kindling. His chest deformed as rounds tore through him, spraying the floor with vitae. Gathor laughed as he killed, delighting in the destruction, then more foes came pounding out of the dark behind him.

Feral bodies flung themselves into the fray, burying thick fangs into Ceramite. The few embattled Astartes lashed out, but were confronted by raw savagery and could not hold. Berio was surrounded, his kinsmen dropping their charge to defend themselves. Coluber swung his sword wide, clearing room but could not fell them swiftly enough.

In the corner Ferrac was confronted by a hunch-backed fiend with slathering jaws. The twisted foe leapt upon him, snapping and clawing. Teeth shaper than monofilament wire cleaved Ceramite and a wrench of a paw ripped a pauldron away. Ferrac tried to slam his axe-rake into the head but the jaws were faster. They closed upon the spinning edge, testing human weapon-smiths against mutant horror. The Axe-rake came apart, spraying chainteeth everywhere, leaving Ferrac holding half a weapon, little more than a sharpened stump on a stick.

"That's it Draugr!" Gathor cried, "Kill him!"

"I'll drag you all to hell with me!" Ferrac snarled.

"We've walked the ice of Fenris," Gathor sneered, "You have no idea what true hell is."

Coluber was incensed and steeled himself for the fight to come. He knew his sword would not prove a match for Terminator plate, but had one other idea. He needed a moment and cried out to the nearest comrade, "I can take him, cover me!" It was the last Blood Talon and he threw himself forward, swinging a chainsword wide. Coluber stepped into his rear and sheathed his sword. With his free hand he snatched the Fang from his belt and flipped the hilt open, dumping the acid-pellet within. He cocked his Phusil and let the last bullet fall, tumbling into the vacant Fang's hilt, before slamming it shut. His hands were swift, taking three seconds, but there was a price to pay.

The crunch of armour shattering and bone breaking told his protector had paid with his life. The unknown Blood Talon fell, bleeding from a score of wounds. His life had ended brutally, beautiful perhaps but still brutal, yet he had bought Coluber precious time. The Chapter Master braced and flipped his grip on his Fang, then pounded forward. Transhuman mass rammed into milling foes, flinging them aside as he ploughed past. He hit them like a wrecking ball and his charge broke through.

Gathor saw him coming and yelled, "Yes, come and die. Tell the wrights of the Underverse that the Hammerhand sent you to them!"

Coluber tensed, shouting, "Ave Imperator!"

A reaper cannon swung to bear but Coluber was faster. He dove past, closing chest to waist with the Terminator. His tiny knife could make no impression on Saturnine plate, but he knew a better way. A target higher, and smaller. Armoured legs pushed off the ground, he rose high and then with a sweep of his arm plunged his Fang into an eyelens.

A moment passed, stretching into eternity, and then gas-compression blew Phosphor straight into Gathor's insides. A blast wave of gases blew out of every gap, screaming through nicks in the armour and the joints at elbow and hip. Gathor's flesh broiled inside the armour, screaming like a kettle left over a fire. Bloody steam erupted from the Terminator, as skin and bone cooked alive. He had no breath to scream, no way to let loose his deathcry. Then the Fang exploded, coating Coluber's arm in blazing fire.

The Chapter Master dropped to the floor, crawling flames licking up to his pauldron. Pain was with him, but he overrode it, drawing Venom with his left hand. Other foes remained and he could not afford to fall over. He spun about, expecting them to charge, only to find them fleeing. The death of Gathor had broken the mindless courage of the Vanagandyr. They were but beasts in human form, the sight of their mightiest dying had broken their will. They fled out the opening sphincter, turning their backs and running into the dark.

The heart chamber emptied of foes, all save one. Coluber saw Ferrac wrestling with Draugr, both fighting tooth and nail. Claws shredded armour but Ferrac had his hands about the neck and held the freak at bay. Coluber moved to intervene but the Battle-Captain was relentless. Ferrac forced Draugr's head back, iron grip unbreakable. The foe slathered in fury but was unable to stop his skull from being forced ever backwards, held just right as the far sphincter squeezed closed. Muscles thicker than hawsers compelled the heart valve to close, pressing together with the force of a Titan's footfall. Draugr brayed in distress but Ferrac was unrelenting, holding the mutated filth in place, till the valve slammed shut and pulped Draugr's head to jelly.

Ferrac let go and dropped the headless creature to the floor as he growled, "Frak you."

Coluber stepped about the smoking statue of the Saturnine as he said, "Good kill."

"Scum broke my axe-rake," Ferrac spat, "My axe-rake!"

"I'll get you a better one," Coluber snorted.

"I can do it myself," Ferrac spat as he bent to scoop up a pile of Draugr's teeth from the mushed jelly on the floor, "I'm keeping these."

Berio and his pair of Cerberii had survived and stepped forward. He eyed Coluber's steaming arm, "Is there pain?"

"Excruciating pain," Coluber sniffed, "But I can fight left-handed, till Shrios can patch me up."

"We scattered and divided and it's a long way to the target," Berio commented, "Not to mention Skoll is rampaging out there somewhere."

"Then we better move fast," Coluber declared, "Keep close, well clear you a path. Come Brothers, these wolves think they are the true predators, but well teach them that no creature is to be feared more than the Viper!"