The renegade sat awkwardly before a control panel, the bulk of his jump pack almost filling the cabin. He struggled with an array of levers and a giant wheel beneath a great rent in the steel roof, and said, 'Do you know how to drive this thing?'
'No,' said Uriel. 'But how hard can it be?'
'Well, we're about to find out,' said Vaanes.
Uriel wiped a hand across the blood-smeared windscreen and peered through at the rear ends of the two bulk-haulers in front of them.
'Just keep it straight, and try to stay with the two ahead for as long as you can.'
Vaanes nodded, too intent on working out the controls to the bulk-hauler to reply. Uriel left him to it and swung out onto the platform on the side of the cab.
The Space Marines of the warrior band were making their way along the running boards to the ladders at the sides and rear of the bulk-hauler, climbing up towards concealment within the empty trailer.
Satisfied they could actually get close without significant risk of discovery, Uriel clambered back into the driver's cab and dragged out the dead bodies of the mutant drivers. He hurled them from the cab, those slaves chained nearest to where the bodies fell tearing them apart with wanton abandon.
'It's not actually that difficult,' said Vaanes as Uriel closed the door behind him.
'No?'
'No, a Rhino's harder to control than this. It's just a little bigger.'
'Just a little,' agreed Uriel.
He left Vaanes to wrestle with the controls and stared through the dirty windscreen at the siegeworks beyond, the scale of the battle taking his breath away.
They passed great artillery pits, enormous guns, bigger by many times than the heaviest artillery pieces of the Imperial Guard, hurling tank-sized shells towards the fortress. Tall towers hung with bodies and spiked bunkers were spread throughout the camp and a sprawling infrastructure had arisen to support the massive effort of taking Honsou's fortress. Dark wonders and monstrous sights greeted them at every turn, the myriad horrors of a daemon world at war.
The bulk-haulers drove along corpse-hung roads, skull-paved plazas where naked madmen capered around tall idols hung with entrails and pillars of iron that crackled with powerful energy. They watched mutants hurl crippled slaves into bubbling pools of molten metal, laughing as they did so, and Uriel turned away. He could not save them all, so he would save none of them. It scarred his soul to let such atrocities go unpunished, but he was coming to believe that Vaanes was right - better to let them die than to be killed trying and failing to save them.
As the bulk-hauler swallowed up the distance between the outskirts of the camp and the siege lines, they drove over great bridges of iron that crossed deep trenches, through kilometres of razorwire and around deep pits containing screaming mechanical monsters. Shadows of great, clawed limbs swayed in the firelight and Uriel felt a shiver of dread at the thought of even laying eyes on such daemon engines.
The heat in the cab was oppressive, but he didn't dare open the door for fear of discovery. So far they had been able to continue following the bulk-haulers ahead of them, but as soon as the lead hauler turned away from the fortress, it would only be a matter of time before their ruse was discovered.
The bulk-haulers rolled onwards through the Iron Warriors' camp, driving through great shanty towns of red-garbed soldiers and blazing drumfires. Soldiers chanted in praise of their masters and fired off shots into the air as they danced around the flames.
'These are the warriors of Lord Berossus,' said Vaanes, pointing to a gold and black standard raised high at the edge of the camp.
'And who is he? A rival of Honsou's?'
'So it would seem. He is the leader of a grand company of the Iron Warriors, a vassal of Lord Toramino, one of their most powerful warlords.'
'How do you know all this?' asked Uriel.
'We have sometimes taken prisoners,' replied Vaanes, 'and did not shirk from their interrogation. If Berossus is here, then so too is Toramino. Whatever the reason they lay siege to Honsou's fortress, it must be powerful indeed.'
'Perhaps they know what Honsou brought back from Hydra Cordatus and desire a share in his spoils of victory.'
'Gene-seed? Yes, that would probably do it.'
'We can't let that happen.'
Vaanes laughed. 'We are but thirty warriors and you would have us topple this world.'
'Why not?' said Uriel. 'We are Space Marines of the Emperor. There is nothing we cannot do.'
'I don't know why, since you are probably going to get me killed, but I like you, Uriel Ventris. You have an absurd sense for attempting the impossible that appeals to me.'
Uriel returned his gaze to the siegeworks outside, pleased at the compliment, as the lead truck reached a wide crossroads and began making a wide turn towards a huge spoil heap.
'Damn it, they're turning,' cursed Vaanes as he saw the same thing.
'We are too far away to make it on foot,' said Uriel. 'There are whole regiments ahead of us.'
'What do you think?'
'Push it!' said Uriel. 'Head straight for the fortress and we will kill anyone that gets in our way. We'll drive over them or shoot them, just get us as close to that fortress as you can.'
'I'll try!' shouted Vaanes, pushing the hauler into high gear and slamming his foot to the floor. 'We won't get far before we ran into trouble, so get ready to give me some covering fire.'
Uriel nodded and left the driver's cab, calling to the other Space Marines in their band and alerting them to their plight. Acknowledgements flickered on his visor and Uriel readied his sword and bolter as the bulk-hauler rumbled towards the crossroads. The main route travelled by the bulk-haulers was clearly visible, curving off to the left, but instead of slowing to take the turn, their transport increased speed and roared straight ahead, bucking madly on surfaces not designed for such a heavy vehicle.
Screams and shouts of alarm rose in their wake as tents, stores and prefabricated huts were flattened beneath their tracks. Red-liveried soldiers, slaves and mutants scattered before them, those not quick enough crushed to death by their wild charge.
Shots ricocheted from the sides of the bulk-hauler, but they were sporadic, hastily aimed and Uriel knew that they need not be concerned about such small-arms fire. It would be when word was passed on ahead that they would need to worry.
Sure enough, he could see fire teams ahead of them, swinging round static weapon platforms that would tear their vehicle to shreds.
'Warriors, engage!' he shouted over the vox.
Space Marines who had been waiting for his command rose from behind the shelter of the trailer's sides and opened fire, bolter shells raking the gunners of the weapon teams and ripping their guns to pieces. The bulk-hauler crashed into the trench lines, ploughing a huge furrow in its wake as it slowed going across the softer ground.
Yelling soldiers leapt into their trenches, but there was no refuge to be found there, as the massive weight of the hauler collapsed their trenches and buried scores of men beneath tonnes of earth and rubble. Uriel watched without compassion, relishing the destruction they were causing. He fired his weapon into the soldiers, yelling encouragement to the other Space Marines of their warrior band as they killed the enemy.
He looked up in time to see a brilliant flash of light and ducked as a huge explosion hammered the ground beside them. The bulk-hauler swayed, and for a moment Uriel felt sure it would tip over.
But the Emperor was with them and the hauler righted itself, slamming back to the ground with teeth-loosening force. Uriel pulled himself upright and saw several artillery pieces aiming for them with their gun barrels lowered. Another explosion burst next to them, showering the hauler with debris and earth and smoke. The gunners were finding their range, heedless of however many of their own men they killed to get it, and Uriel knew that they had seconds at best before one of the guns got lucky and blew them to atoms.