Tales of the Amber Vipers Chapter 393

Serpens Rex coasted across seas of dreams, tacking before a swirling upsurge of broken promises. Vicious counter-currents of drunken rage threatened to pull her into a whirlpool of beggar's curses upon those who turned their eyes away in disgust, but the coterie of Navigators on board dropped them into a safer layer of mother's love, avoiding being dashed asunder by the narrowest of margins. Gellar fields flared as Daemons trailed razor nails across their gossamer thin protection, disturbing the dreams of all on board, though they were blind to the warp's perils they knew danger pressed in from all sides.

Coluber felt the danger as a cold chill down his neck, a sense of an enemy one inch from his spine. He ignored the feeling as he held a meeting in his private offices, high in the central tower of the Nest. The great glassic window was covered by heavy shutters, so none could gaze into the Warp's madness and invite a Daemon into their souls. Still all felt the oppressive weight of the Immaterium bearing down, made even more lethal by their proximity to the Cicatrix Maledictum. Their destination lay near its roiling horror, and all knew what eldritch phantasmagoria lay within.

"I still say we could have done this quicker in Angel's Revenge," Reddam stated.

"A starfort may not be fast, but I prefer to keep our force together," Coluber refuted.

"Except the Crusader Host," Kerubim noted.

"They must continue their quest for supply, Eagle's Watcher we can spare, the rest of our forces must go to Brennia."

Faces frowned at the pronouncement, but none argued the point. The affront given to the Amber Vipers demanded firm rebuke, which Coluber intended to deliver with all the power at his command. Four hundred Space Marines was a potent force, he would not hesitate to deploy them all.

Reddam frowned, "Whilst I wholeheartedly support this mission, we have enough Brothers now to consider dividing our forces. We don't all have to stay together anymore."

"You just want to get out from under my boot," Ferrac grinned.

"I want to expand our aegis," Reddam argued.

Thaddis concurred, "I did well enough without you lot. We can take our ships further afield, and fight at company strength. Mixing commands from Primus, Secundus and Tertius in one expedition."

Coluber shook his head, "I have had enough of these arguments already. The Deathwatch has reminded me of our compact. A dozen Brothers are expected to be presented to the Ordo Xenos within the solar year."

Reddam winced, "They aren't shy about making demands."

"We should never have got into bed with them," Ferrac grunted.

Coluber countered, "It was the price of recognition and support. We had to send Brothers to the Deathwatch, and begin delivering our gene-seed tithes, as all Chapters must. The rewards are great though, we are proper Chapter in the eyes of Terra, scruffy and low, but loyal to a fault. We paid in blood for such a boon."

That brought quiet to the meeting, all noting the absences in their ranks. Nathanal, a mortal artisan had perished in Nihilus. His life would never last as long as theirs, but his passing was felt keenly. It was not the worst blow they had suffered though. Apothecary Shrios had been killed too, shot down by Traitorous hands. Coluber found it hard to believe the bitter old skinflint was gone, but such was life of a Space Marine. Yet without him the chamber felt gloomy and echoing.

Coluber's office was a broad space, once a mediation garden. He had made it his own, with desks, armour stands, workbenches and a bed. A sand garden took up the centre, its lines a mess of bootprints and scuff marks, Coluber not having the time or patience to set it straight. In that space the three Captains abided, waiting for his next words. Kerubim stood straight to one side, and Maru Kysoto loomed to the other. There was one other present, Berio, of the Cerberii, his black armour fitted with swollen augmetics that made him closer resemble their Dreadnought comrade than a regular Brother.

Coluber sighed, "Let us return to the mission at hand, what can we expect?"

Kerubim took up the narrative, "If their leader is who I think it is, then we can expect an intractable and unbreakable foe. The Wulfe I met was fierce, intemperate and bold. Skilled in combat yet knowledgeable in the ways of the Machine. He never yielded, never admitted to fault and he could not abide fools. How he got dragged into this mess I cannot imagine."

Reddam rubbed his chin, "A Squat… I've never met a squat before. Some Abhuman breed aren't they?"

Kerubim nodded, "An off-shoot of the human genome, barely tolerated but tough as Adamantium. Collectively known as the Leagues of Votann. They roam from the galactic core, and give no heed to Terra's edicts. Defiance runs through their veins. Their empire is not an autonomous region, as Ultramar is, but truly independent."

Coluber raised an eyebrow, "I find it hard to credit the Imperium has suffered them to live."

Maru Kysoto broke in, "The records speak not of sufferance, but outright hostility. Imperial Crusades have been dispatched to bring them to heel, all floundered and failed, not one achieved its objectives. At other times the Adeptus Administratum has tried to erase them from history, burning all records that they exist. Millennia have passed where Terra denied the squats existed, but it seems to have made little difference."

Kerubim agreed, "Jordig said the Great Crusade itself couldn't dislodge them, and chose to parley. Brontes claimed the ancient princes of the Dark Age of Technology fared no better. The Votann are unbreakable in their holdfasts. Only the Tyranids managed to penetrate their environs, though they failed to eradicate the squats entirely."

Ferrac snorted, "I don't believe they are that tough. Everything bleeds."

"They bleed granite," Kerubim retorted, "Any battle against the Squats is going to be tough… Astartes tough."

Berio finally spoke, "And they seek to unlock the secrets of Abominable Intelligence?"

That brought winces to all. The Amber Vipers had a poor record of encounters with Silica Animus. They had unwittingly brought examples on board from a derelict Dark Age ship. The Soulbound had thanked them by trying to corrupt and seduce them to its service, then kill them all when Coluber refused. Terrible losses resulted, only recently made good, but Coluber still bore the black pauldron as a reminder and a warning.

Thaddis frowned, "What do we know of the origin of Abominable Intelligences?"

Kerubim sighed, "Precious little. We learned there was a hierarchy amongst them, Men of Iron were merely the lowest and meanest of their kind. Cadmus, Soulbound, Excindio, more perhaps than we can ever know. The Ancients were prolific in their invention, they believed in nothing save their own genius. Their creed was science held all the answers. The idea that technology would prove their undoing was utterly incomprehensible to them, when Chaos corrupted their creations humanity proved woefully unready."

Coluber hissed, "We've all seen the result, the wasteland they made of worlds. We cannot allow such a thing to come to pass, not again. The Silica Animus must be wiped out, and the Heretics killed to a man."

Ferrac cocked his head, "You aren't tempted to flinch a few tidbits for the Amber Vipers?"

Reddam stiffened, "You'd bring an Abominable Intelligence onto the Nest?!"

"Frak no," Ferrac retorted, "But some of the tools, some raw materials… Kerubim did say he needed more parts to make Amber Viper Primaris a reality."

Maru cut in, "We cannot be sure anything we brought back would not be tainted, nothing of the Machine Mind can be trusted."

"Remember that cogitator we looted," Reddam warned, "Contained within was an entire Binaric mind. The Amber Vipers have a nasty habit of picking up things that bite back."

Berio concurred, "The Silica Animus is a threat to the Imperium Entire. The Cerberii support their eradication, we shall not abide taint to enter these halls."

Coluber declared, "The Amber Vipers have oft skirted Imperial Edicts, using forbidden Xenos tools and stolen wares to survive, but from the very start there are lines we could not cross. Employment of Chaos-tainted relics, giving succour to Traitors, harbouring Abominable Intelligence, these I will not stand for. We have walked a narrow precipice over the abyss of Heresy, but that would be to fall in. The outpost on Brennia will be destroyed, that is my last word."

Berio concurred, "We have few weapons that will affect Machines, our tools are meant to make the living suffer, but the Cerberii will bring what power we have."

"Short of Exterminatus," Reddam warned, "We aren't going to obliterate our recruiting world."

Thaddis frowned, "Why there, of all the planets in the galaxy, why did the Heretics set up their base on our planet?"

"I don't know," Kerubim muttered, "But I bet Markof does."

Coluber considered that. The Inquisitor was still aboard, accepting a private chamber. He'd come alone, disdaining a retinue. That was supremely odd, Markof loathed the Amber Vipers, and the feeling was mutual. The notion he'd entrust his life to a Chapter he held in contempt was farcical, and yet here he was. He operated under Guilliman's warrant, and the Emperor's Rosette, but Coluber knew that meant little. Markof's presence was a complication the Amber Viper's didn't need.

"What's he really after?" Coluber mused.

"You think Markof is hiding something from us?" Reddam pressed.

"He's Ordo Malleus, saying an Inquisitor has a hidden agenda is like saying water is wet," Ferrac grunted.

"Maybe he really does just want to make sure we destroy the threat?" Kerubim ventured.

"If you believe that then the chrome plating your head has pickled your brain," Ferrac retorted.

"Do you always mean to offer insult?!" Kerubim snapped.

"I don't mean to… it's just a delightful bonus," Ferrac quipped.

Maru spoke over them, "Legend tells of the priest Bunuko, who bought a kettle from a passing peddler. Struck by its beautiful engravings he took it home and placed it over the fire. When steam began to pour from the spout the kettle began to babble. Intrigued Bunuko leaned it to hear the babbling, only for the kettle to sprout arms and legs and a mouth. The spirit Tanuki was bound into the kettle and when the priest traded coin it found entry to the temple of his mind. Tanuki's babbling drove him mad, and the priest's soul was forfeit."

Coluber nodded solemnly, "Maru speaks with wisdom, as always. Let us sharpen our swords and be prepared for anything. I want the Chapter ready to fight when we reach Brennia. Ferrac and Reddam stay for a moment, everyone else attend to your duties."

The meeting broke up, and the others trooped out. Ferrac and Reddam lingered at Coluber's order, but otherwise the room emptied. When they were alone Ferrac's demeanour broke, "A babbling kettle, what the Frak is Maru harping on about this time?!"

"I have absolutely no idea," Coluber agreed with a wry grin, "Half his tales make no sense to me."

"I think he's warning us against buying cheap cooking utensils," Reddam scoffed.

Coluber rolled his eyes, "Remind me to tell you the one about the Primarchs Fulgrim and Vulkan, and their contest of sword-forging."

Reddam frowned, "Is that the one about a river of death and a sword called Whisper?"

"Oh… he's told you that one too?"

"He's told everyone," Ferrac snorted, "Maru loves the sound of his own voice."

Coluber was amused by their words and warmed by their comradeship. Despite all the dangers sure to await them he was pleased to face them with such bosom friends. The Amber Vipers were no strangers to loss, but those bonds of friendship that remained were ever more precious with each death. So they plunged on, sailing towards danger, sure they would face it united in spirit. Little did they know of the canker that grew in the heart of their ranks, and the unseen rot that undermined their Chapter's soul.