Night Hawks Fluff: Truvel XI Part 2

Part I here

Truvel XI
Part 2
The Open Road

Once the marines had passed the barrier formed by the cloud it became evident to Arkavius that the anomaly was not a naturally ocurring phenomenon.
"Mercy of the Omnisiah" Thurion griped over general vox; clearly annoyed by the rutted topography over which the flock was attempting to travel at speed.  Thurion was no stranger to field duties but his preference for the serenity of a mech bay, alone with his tools and a machine spirit, was obvious in his demeanor.


"Vox interference increasing steadily with increased proximity to the centre of the cloud" Harkur spoke after blink clicking to a private channel with his fellow sergeant.
"I have no doubts the source of this interference lies at its centre" Akravius replied as he expertly navigated his bike over boulders and ruts.
The interference was imparing the navigation auspex on his bike but Arkavius cared little.  Years of tracking experience bolstered by his genehanced abilities endowed him with a sense of direction that far removed his need for the bleeps of an auspex.
The flock made good time or as good as could be expected with the terrain they were covering.  Despite this Arkavius longed for the day he would ride a Mar-Pattern Hoverbike as one of the 1st Company.  Though the hoverbikes were not capable of true flight they were able to hover nearly one metre above solid ground which proved invaluable in covering rutted terrain.  Arkavius could recal images of dark robed figures roaring past him on the outskirts of his village as a child.  That moment had been so extraordinary as to inspire him to make the journey across the southern desert.  Although much of his memories from his life preinduction were no more, the image of the jetbike still inspired him.

Nearly two days and 400 kilometres into the journey the topography began to change.  Large craters were sporadically visible with weathered metal shrapnel at their centres.  No wind blown sediments were collecting within the craters due to the storm overhead. 
Although their catalepsean nodes allowed the marines to go without sleep for sustained periods of time, navigating the rough terrain did not allow them solid rest.  With no sign of hostiles Arkavius directed the marines into a large debris crater.  Their vox signals were now essentially non functional and the sergeant gave his orders with curt hand gestures.  A defensive perimeter was established around the crater utilizing the rocky outcropings from its edges as cover. 
The guard was cycled throughout the afternoon and the battle brothers took time to rest.  With only 100 kilometres to the epicentre of the cloud Arkavius knew this might be the last full rest they could count on. 

Thurion made no attempts to rest and spent the hours beneath the Argonaut tinkering with a vestigal air intake on the underside of the speeder.  No doubt left behind to prevent any disrespect to the original design, the intake was no longer needed to aid in cooling the non-existent antigrav plates.  The intake routinely clogged with debris from beneath the speeder while operating.  Although the speeder could operate with only the roofmounted intake operational, it made a deep rumbling noise when clogged which Thurion could not help but think was the machine spirit's discomfort.  Thurion vowed to rest in the passenger's seat once they continued their journey so long as the machine spirit was content to permit it.

As the sun began to set Arkavius gave the signal and led the flock onward into the darkness.