Ultramarines Omnibus (warhammer 40000: ultramarines)

by Graham McNeill

  As he turned over, he caught sight of a silhouetted Space Marine in the doorway and pushed himself into a sitting position as Ardaric Vaanes entered and sat resting his back on the wall opposite Uriel.

  Thin light spilled in through the doorway, a fine mist of dust floating in the air where Vaanes's footsteps had disturbed them. The two Space Marines sat in silence for long minutes.

  'Why are you here, Ventris?' said Vaanes, eventually.

  'I told you. We are here to destroy the daemonculaba.'

  Vaanes nodded. 'Aye, you said that, but there's more isn't there?'

  'What do you mean?'

  'I saw the way you and your sergeant looked at one another when Seraphys mentioned the Heart of Blood. That name has some meaning for you doesn't it?'

  'Perhaps it does. What of it?'

  'Like I said, I think you bring trouble with you, but I can't decide whether it is trouble I want to be part of yet.'

  'Should I trust you, Vaanes?'

  'Probably not,' admitted Vaanes with a smile. 'And another thing. I noticed that you very deliberately shied away from explaining why the Omphalos Daemonium went to such lengths to bring you here.'

  'It is a daemon creature, who can say what its motives were?' said Uriel, reluctant to reveal the pact, even a false pact, he had made with the Omphalos Daemonium.

  'How convenient,' said Vaanes, dryly. 'But I still want an answer.'

  'I have none to give you.'

  'Very well, keep your secrets, Ventris, but I want you gone once you have rested.'

  Uriel pushed himself to his feet and crossed the room to crouch beside Vaanes.

  'I know that you have no reason to, but trust me. I know we are all here on the Emperor's business - too much is happening to be mere accident. Come with us, we could use your help. Your men fight well and together we can regain our honour.'

  'Regain our honour?' said Vaanes. 'I had no honour to lose, why do you think I am here and not with the battle-brothers of my Chapter?'

  'I don't know,' replied Uriel. 'Why? Tell me.'

  Vaanes shook his head. 'No. You and I are not friends enough to share such shames. Suffice to say, we will not go with you. It is a suicide mission.'

  'Do you speak for everyone here?' demanded Uriel.

  'More or less.'

  'And you would turn your back on a brother Space Marine in need of your strength?'

  'Yes,' said Vaanes. 'I would.'

  Suddenly angry, Uriel rose and snapped, 'I should have expected no less from a damned renegade.'

  'Don't forget,' laughed Vaanes, getting to his feet and turning to leave, 'that you too are a renegade.'

  'You're no longer one of the Emperor's soldiers and it's time you realised that.'

  Uriel opened his mouth to reply, but said nothing as he remembered a line from the last sermon he had heard Chaplain Clausel deliver outside the Temple of Correction.

  Softly he whispered that line as Vaanes left the room, 'He must put a white cloak upon his soul, that he might climb down into the filth to fight, yet may he die a saint.'

  Uriel awoke with a snarl, startled and disorientated. He had not been aware of falling asleep, an awareness of his surroundings giving him a strange sense of dislocation as he blinked away sleep. He pushed himself upright, repeating a prayer of thanks for a new day and feeling his mind focus and sharpen as the Catalepsean node of his brain reawakened his full cognitive functions.

  Allowing a Space Marine to sleep and remain awake at the same time by influencing the circadian rhythms of sleep and his body's response to sleep deprivation, the Catalepsean node ''switched off'' areas of the brain sequentially. Such a process did not replace normal sleep entirely, but allowed a Space Marine to continue to perceive his environment whilst resting.

  He ran a hand across his scalp and left the shadowed room, catching the mouth-watering scent of hot food. He entered the blockhouse's main chamber, the same lifeless light spilling in through the firing slits and groups of Space Marines gathered around a cookfire upon which bubbled a large pot of a thick gruel-like porridge. It looked like poor food at best, but right now it was as desirable as the tenderest morsel of roast boar.

  Several figures lay sprawled around the chamber, Space Marines resting and Leonid and Ellard asleep beneath the firing slit, using their rifles as pillows.

  'I'd say "good morning", but that's not really a term I can use on this world,' said Ardaric Vaanes, spooning some porridge into a crude bowl of beaten metal and handing it to Uriel. 'It's not much, just some stolen ration packs made to go a long way.'

  'It's fine. Thank you,' said Uriel, accepting the bowl and sitting next to Pasanius, who nodded a greeting as he scooped the greyish food into his mouth. 'Aren't you worried about the smoke of the fire being seen?'

  'On Medrengard? No, rising smoke isn't anything unusual on this planet.'

  'No, I suppose it isn't,' said Uriel between mouthfuls. The porridge was thin and he could taste watered down nutrients, the gruel barely enough to stave off starvation, let alone provide any nourishment. But still, it had more taste than the recycled paste his armour provided him.

  'Have you thought any more about what I asked before?' said Uriel, finishing the bowl of porridge and setting it down beside him.

  'I have,' nodded Vaanes.

  'And?'

  'You intrigue me, Ventris. There is more to you than meets the eye, but I'm damned if I know what. You say you are here to fulfil a death oath, and I believe you. But there is something else you are not telling me and I fear it will be the death of us all.'

  'You're right,' said Uriel, seeing that he had no choice but to tell these renegades the truth. 'There is more and I will tell you all of it. Gather your warriors together outside and I will speak to you all.'

  Vaanes narrowed his eyes, wary at letting Uriel speak directly to his men, but realising that he could not refuse. 'Very well. Let's hear what you have to say.'

  Uriel nodded and followed Vaanes and his men into the still air and burning glare of the black sun. Space Marines filed out of the blockhouse and descended from their posts in the peaks surrounding the bunker complex as they were called down. Yawning and blinking, Leonid and Ellard stepped into the brightness of the valley, cradling their lasguns over their shoulders.

  When the entirety of the renegade warrior band had gathered, some thirty Space Marines of various Chapters, Vaanes said, 'The floor is yours, Ventris.'

  Uriel took a deep breath as Pasanius whispered, 'Are you sure this is wise?'

  'We don't have a choice, my friend,' replied Uriel. 'It has to be this way.'

  Pasanius shrugged as Uriel moved to the centre of the circle of Space Marines and began to speak, his voice strong and clear. 'My name is Uriel Ventris and until recently I was a captain of the Ultramarines. I commanded the Fourth Company and Pasanius was my senior sergeant. We were cast from our Chapter for breaking faith with the Codex Astartes and to our brethren we are no longer Ultramarines.'

  Uriel paced around the circumference of the circle and raised his voice. 'We are no longer Ultramarines, but we are still Space Marines, warriors of the Emperor, and we will remain so until the day we die. As are you, and you and you!'

  Uriel jabbed his fist at Space Marines around the circle as he spoke. 'I do not know why any of you are here, what circumstances drove you from your Chapters and led you to this place, and nor do I need to know. But I offer you a chance to regain your honour, to prove that you are true warriors of purpose.'

  'What is it you are asking of us?' said a huge Space Marine in the livery of the Crimson Fists, his battered skull scarred and shaven.

  'What is your name, brother?'

  'Kyama Shae,' said the Crimson Fist.

  'I am asking you to join us in our quest, Brother Shae,' said Uriel. 'To penetrate the fortress of Honsou and destroy the daemonculaba. Some of you already know that, but there is more. The Omphalos Daemonium, the daemon that brought us here did so for a reason. It spoke to us of the
Heart of Blood and told us that it resides within the secret vaults of Honsou's fortress.'

  A muttered ripple of horrified surprise travelled the circle as Uriel continued. 'It charged us with retrieving the Heart of Blood for it, and we agreed.'

  'Traitors!' hissed a White Consul. 'You consort with daemons!'

  Pasanius surged to his feet and shouted, 'Never! Say such a thing again and I will kill you!'

  Uriel stepped between the two Space Marines and said, 'We agreed because our homeworlds were threatened with destruction, brother, but fear not, we have no intention of honouring such an agreement. When I find this Heart of Blood in that fortress I will destroy it. You have my word on that.'

  'How can we trust you?' asked Vaanes.

  'I have only my word to offer you, Vaanes, but think on this. The warlord Honsou has recently returned from campaign and is laden with stolen gene-seed. What do you think he is using it for? How do you think the daemonculaba are producing these newly-birthed abominations? With enough gene-seed, Honsou can create hundreds, perhaps even thousands, of new warriors for his armies. Soon they will come and destroy you. You know this, so why not strike now before they are able to?'

  Uriel could see that his words were reaching the assembled Space Marines and pressed on. 'You say that what hurts the Iron Warriors is at the heart of all you do, well what will hurt them more than this, to have their newest warriors destroyed before they can fight? At the very least, we can cause the Iron Warriors such grief that they will not soon forget us. If we are to die in this, then at least it will be with our honour!'

  'What use is honour if we are all dead?' asked Vaanes.

  'Death and honour,' said Uriel. 'If one brings the other, then it is a good death.'

  'Easy for you to say, Ventris.'

  Uriel shook his head. 'No, Vaanes, it is not. You think I want to die? I do not. I wish to live for a long time and bring death to my enemies for many years to come, but if I am to die, I can think of no better an end than fighting alongside brother Space Marines for a noble cause.'

  'Noble? Who do you think cares?' snapped Vaanes. 'If we die on this suicide mission of yours, what will any of this matter? 'Who will even know of your precious honour?'

  'I will,' said Uriel softly. 'And that will be enough.'

  Silence fell and Uriel could see that the renegade Space Marines were torn between the status quo of their current existence and this chance for redemption. He could not yet tell which way they would lean.

  Just as he was beginning to believe that no one would rise to the challenge he had offered them, Colonel Leonid and Sergeant Ellard stood and crossed the circle towards him.

  Leonid saluted him and said, 'We will fight alongside you, Captain Ventris. We're dying anyway and if we can kill Iron Warriors before that happens, then so much the better.'

  Uriel smiled and accepted Leonid's hand. 'You are a brave man, colonel.'

  'Perhaps,' said Leonid, 'or a man with nothing to lose.'

  'I thank you both anyway,' said Uriel as Brother Seraphys also came forward to join them.

  'I will come with you, Uriel,' said Seraphys. 'If I can learn more of the machinations of the Ruinous Powers then that can only be for the good.'

  Uriel nodded his thanks as first one Space Marine, then others came forward to join him. They came in ones and twos, until every one of the renegade Space Marines stood beside Uriel and Pasanius save Ardaric Vaanes.

  The former Raven Guards Space Marine chuckled to himself and said, 'You have a way with words, Ventris, I'll give you that.'

  'Join us, Vaanes!' urged Uriel. 'Take this chance for honour. Remember who you are, what you were created to do!'

  Vaanes rose and approached Uriel. 'I know that well enough, Ventris.'

  'Then join us!'

  The renegade sighed, casting his gaze around the ruined bunker complex he had called home and the Space Marines who now stood with Uriel.

  'Very well, I will help you get into the fortress, but I'm not getting killed to help you carry out your death oath. So long as you understand that.'

  'I understand that,' assured Uriel.

  Vaanes suddenly grinned and shook his head. 'Damn, but I knew you were trouble…'

  CHAPTER NINE

  The warrior band gathered up their weapons and equipment, filled with a new sense of purpose as they prepared to leave the sanctuary. Uriel cleaned his armour as best he could and knelt to give thanks to his battle gear, placing his gun and sword before him and asking them to help him do the Emperor's bidding.

  Pasanius filled his flamer with the last of his promethium and though it pained him, he knew he was going to have to leave it behind soon. A weapon with no ammunition was no weapon at all.

  At last the warriors were ready and Uriel proudly led the ragtag band of Space Marines away from the crumbling bunkers towards the mouth of the shadowed valley Ardaric Vaanes marched alongside him and said, 'You realise you're probably going to get every one of us killed.'

  'That is a distinct possibility,' admitted Uriel.

  'Good, I just wanted to make sure you understood that.'

  The sky darkened when they finally reached the end of the valley an unnatural darkness of low, threatening smoke clouds. Briefly Uriel wondered if there were such a thing as weather on Medrengard, but dismissed the notion. What need had the Iron Warriors of weather? Nothing grew here or needed nourishment from the heavens.

  Ahead was their ultimate destination, and now that Uriel could see it clearly, he understood Vaanes's assertion that to attempt to penetrate the defences of such a fastness was a suicide mission.

  The fortress of Honsou was a nightmarish black fang against the sky, ebony towers of dark, bloodstained stone piercing the clouds of ash and crackling with dark lightning. The towers and arched halls of the fortress were surrounded by scarred bastions with walls hundreds of metres tall. The upper levels stood inviolate against the besieging army below, but the lower reaches were a cratered hell of flames and war. A haze of powerful energies surrounded the fortress as though it were not quite real. Uriel had to blink away stinging moisture from his eyes if he gazed too long at its lunatic architecture.

  The world itself echoed to the snarl of mighty machines, and the rhythmic drumming of hammers sounded like the beat of some monstrous mechanical heart. Like a malignant fungus, the armies of Honsou's attackers were spread around the fortress in jagged lines of circumvallation, zigzagging approach saps snaking through the lower foothills of the fortress and ending in heavily fortified parallels, studded with enormous bunkers and redoubts. Blooms of explosions swathed the fortress and the plains before it flickered and flashed with the constant muzzle flares of monstrous cannons and howitzers.

  A huge ramp was under construction from kilometres back that would allow heavy tanks and Titans access to the upper levels of the fortress and Uriel could see that the plain was teeming with millions of warriors. Sprawling camps and entire cities had been built to barrack these soldiers, and how they were going to successfully get through so many enemies to reach the fortress was beyond him.

  'Having second thoughts?' asked Vaanes.

  'No,' said Uriel.

  'Sure?'

  'I'm sure, Vaanes. We can do this. It will not be easy, but we can do it.'

  Vaanes looked unconvinced, but pointed to where the plateau narrowed to become a near-vertical shear in the rock that carved a path down the flank of the mountain, 'That's the way down that leads to the plains below. It's steep, very steep, and if you fall you're dead.'

  'How the hell are we meant to get down that?' breathed Leonid.

  'Very carefully,' said Vaanes. 'So don't fall.'

  'It's all right for you,' said Ellard, slinging his lasgun and making his way towards the path. 'If you fall you have a jump pack!'

  'What? You want me to announce our presence here?' returned Vaanes.

  Uriel followed the renegade and was seized by a dizzying lurch of vertigo as he saw the route they must take.
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  The plain was thousands of metres below them, steaming waterfalls of molten metal splashing along basalt channels towards lakes of glowing orange below.

  'You need to go down facing the rock,' explained Vaanes, edging onto the path, barely half a metre across and gripping onto cracks in the rock for handholds. Gingerly, he edged out onto the path, leaning into the rockface and sliding sideways along and down.

  Uriel went next, gripping the rockface and easing himself out onto the narrow path. He kept his weight forward, knowing that to overbalance even a little would send him plummeting thousands of metres to his death. Cold wind whipped at him and he felt his heartbeats hammering in his chest.

  He edged out, following Vaanes's example and utilising the same handholds wherever he could. Within the space of a few hours, his muscles ached, his fingers burned with fatigue and they were barely halfway down. His breath came in short, hard gasps and it was all he could do to not look down.

  Hand over hand followed hand over hand and shuffling step to the side followed shuffling step to the side until they reached a point where the slope became shallower and it was possible to climb directly downwards for a short distance.

  As Uriel climbed down to a narrow ledge, he flexed his fingers, the textured pads of his gauntlets torn and useless. His arms were leaden weights and he hoped he had the strength to make it to the bottom. With a little more room to manoeuvre on the ledge he carefully eased round and gazed at the terrifying scale of the siegeworks below.

  What had brought this siege about anyway? Was it some internecine conflict or was there some other, darker purpose to the slaughter going on below?

  Did the attackers have some knowledge of the Heart of Blood or the daemonculaba?

  He supposed it didn't matter why the followers of the Dark Powers made war upon one another: the more they killed each other, the fewer were left to attack the Emperor's realm.

  A startled cry from above snapped him from his reverie and he looked up in time to see a hail of stones skitter down the slope, closely followed by Colonel Leonid, who screamed in terror as he tumbled downwards.