No Man Left Behind

[Horus]

Two days ago
Above Kayri III . . .

"Christ, keep shooting, keep shooting!" Toby Mendoza was screaming. The 50.cal swung left and run as it burnt through lead, shell casings showering the troop bay of the MPD. The 50.cal was tearing through the enemy fighter craft but they were outnumbered. The CRS Jade Rabbit quickly ordered all personnel to evacuate before it lost power and descended into the atmosphere.

Every MPD and escape pod on the ship had left in a rush, not everyone had made it on board. It was a frenzy, it was chaos, everyone was screaming, shouting and swearing. Mendoza clutched onto the handrail and began praying to any god or entity out there that was willing to hear him out. He turned to look at the gunner when a bolt took off the mans head. His body slumped, suspended by a safety harness.

"He's dead man! He's dead!" someone shouted. Mendoza was too stunned to react, but he had to. He stood up on unsteady foot, unclasped the harness and kicked the body over. It fell forward and out of the troop bay and into free fall towards the planets surface, the corpse tumbling end over end.

Mendoza hooked himself in and realized the extent of emergency. MPD's were getting gutted left right and center, and the fighter craft were now targeting the escape pods. Mendoza held down the trigger and the entire ship shuddered. For a minute he thought he had broken something, then the crew chief began barking over the intercom, "I'm hit! Mayday! Mayday! Repulsor structures have been shot to hell! we can't hold her! we can't hold her!"

Mendoza knew he had to find a seat and fast, but someone had to defend their six. He didn't openly admit it, but he prayed to the old kings in times like these, and he was praying to them fast. Commonwealth may have kicked out the monarchy but he was still noble blood through and through. He kept his finger on the trigger, the ground below was coming up to them fast.

"We're coming in too fast!" the co-pilot reported, immediately followed by the pilot, "Air brake failure! I'm losin' her. Brace for impact!" Before Mendoza could act the ground was right in front of him. He flinched instinctively, his entire body tensing up, then it all went black.




</ ADDRESS: "MATTHIAS HULL" [CRN.REF #409871]
</ MISSION: SEARCH AND RESCUE "JADE RABBIT"
</ DETAILS:
>> The Jade Rabbit last reported in at 0520 two days ago. Reported hyperdrive rupture followed by assumed enemy contact. Captain Matthias Hull has been dispatched by Home Fleet to perform a search and rescue for the crew of the Jade Rabbit. Fireteam Black has been attached for this assignment.

 

[Ryan]

24 hours later
Enroute to Kayri III

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AgSJBNkY3k8&list=PLFFE3AB114DFCB532&index=4

The CRN- "Surprise" tore through hyperspace as hastily as they could, with Captain Matthias Hull at the helm. The Lord of Admirals had given them task to find the "Jade Rabbit" and rescue her crew. This was not what had Matthias concerned. His crew was cream of the crop, a bit rough around the edges but he trusted every single one of them with his life and they did with his. it was the lack of information that the council and Admiral Horus Nelson had provided on enemy contact. The Jade Rabbit was not grounded by accident and last coms left them with more questions then answers. There was no clue to what Matthias was blindly leading the Surprise into and such the old man did not like having unknowns on the chess board. Adapt and overcome was the name of the game this day.

The Captain sat in his command chair that over looked the crew pits below him. He had holographic displays encircling his position, all with vital data of his ship, his crew and the mission at hand. There was a timer counting down on one of the displays, it was the time left before exiting hyperspace and they were closing in quick. Matthias rubbed his bearded chin, looking past the display and at his crew. Every decision he will make from here on out will mean a matter of life and death, not just for his crew but for the men and woman of the 'Jade Rabbit'. This was the price of command. His facial features were stoic, his gaze was stern and fearless, was all a good show for his people for bravery was being the only one that knows your afraid.

"Commander McFadden!" His voice was ruggedly calm "Give Red Squadron alert status!". Red squadron was to launch the moment the "Surprise" exited hyperspace. "Have Gold on standbye escort ground team!"

"Master Chief!" Hull sharply called out for the brick house of a human being " Sound to General Quarters! I want this ship at fighting status ASAP! We don't know what awaits us on the other end".

Hull would then reach out for his thermos and flicking the lip open with his thumb. He would take a sip of his beloved coffee, black as tar. His old eyes watched as the elongated stars zipped past the bridges view port.

 

[Not Ordo]

[member="Horus"] [member="Matthias Hull"]

"Aye, Sir!" The big man bellowed before doing a sharp about face and grabbing the intercom.

"All hands!" He said with that reverberating tone, "All hands to stations. Prep for hard contact."

He put down the comm and slapped his cover on his close shaved head before turning to job to his locker for his combat gear. He had started as a ship gunner and trained the crew from the time most were seamen. They knew their jobs almost as well as he did.

He took a matter of moments to be dressed and back to the bridge for orders while squads began getting ready for briefing. They would be going in hot if he knew their Captain at all and everyone would have to be ready to wreck backside if they were going to get the 'Rabbit' and it's crew out.

 

[Corrax Talrus]

Standing at the podium in the pilots' ready room of the CRS-Surprise, Captain Corrax Talrus, CAG, surveyed the sixty-some pilots assembled for the pre-flight briefing. Most were on standby at the moment, but Corrax was certain that each of them would see their share of action before the day was over. The group was currently razzing one of the pilots over a mishap in the simulator from earlier in the day, letting off a bit of pre-mission steam in the classic tradition. Corrax didn't mind the interruption to the briefing, knowing that the pilots needed this moment. Not only did it release some of the pressure that each of them was feeling, but it also built camaraderie between the pilots; and Force knew you could never have enough of that. His pilots were wound more tightly than usual at the moment, their mission harboring more of the unknown than they were used to. Approximately 24 hours ago, Commonwealth Naval Command had lost contact with the CRS-​Jade Rabbit​ under what appeared to be more than hostile circumstances. The Surprise​ was en route for an S&R OP, with little to no idea what they were walking into. The pilots would handle it well, however. They were professionals.

"Alright, rein it in," Corrax said firmly, the room falling to silence nearly instantly. "Recap: Red​ Squadron's on exit launch into defense perimeter Beta, weapons hot. Gold​'s on standby as escort for the dropships. No mistakes, guys - this isn't a training exercise." Corrax eyed the group, letting the words sink in. "Follow your training and we'll see you on the other side for a pint in the ship's mess. Any questions?"

The room was silent for only a moment before general quarters sounded over the intercom. "Alright boys, happy hunting."

The words marked the end of the briefing, pilots standing and exiting onto the flight deck in an orderly fashion. Calm radiated from the pilots as they headed for their fighters. Corrax returned a salute from a technician as he entered his ​Scythe​-Class Starfighter, the other three members of his flight crew behind him. It was still odd, flying a fighter craft that was roughly the size of a large gunboat. But ​oh, did he love the speed and maneuverability it offered. Entering the cockpit, he flipped the toggles that activated the turbines, bringing the engines online as he strapped into the crash couch. As the whirring sound of the engine intensified, he busied himself with checking over the pre-flight notifications on his HUD as his co-pilot and gunner strapped in next to him. Behind him, the navigator and engineer were also strapping into their crash couches. Everything was greenlit and ready to go. He situated his flight helmet on his head, clicked the chin strap into place and lifted his right hand to his face. Unthinkingly, he kissed the first two fingers of his hand and then pressed them against the control console for good luck. His pre-flight ritual hadn't failed him yet ... he was still alive.

| [member="Horus"] | [member="Matthias Hull"] | [member="Kel Hamner"] |​

 

[Darth Caecus]

"Zee. Wait up. I want to talk to you."

"Something on your mind, Sir?"

"You're not exactly an enlisted soldier, are you Zee?"

"I never pretended that I was. When Cait and I signed on, I was straight about my experience."

"Yeah, but you've been particularly private about the when and wheres of that experience."

"It didn't seem relevant. And anyway, we're coming in from the bottom up. I figured folks would make their own judgements based on what they saw, rather than judge me by the stuff on a piece of flimsy. Do you think I exaggerated my experience?"

"No. If anything, I suspect you underreported it. But you weren't infantry. I see you're not going to deny it. Your friend.... she fits. But you're more like a square peg trying to fit in to a round hole."

​"A professional square peg, thank you very much. Not to be rude, but, is this going somewhere sir? Do you have any complaints about my performance?"

"No. Not at all. But don't be surprised if you get an occasionally assignment from.... different quarters. I'll be watching you."

"Because that's not ominous at all."

"Sarcasm and no probing questions about what I mean. I like you. We'll be in touch."

*****

Zee sat, strapped in, waiting. She wasn't part of the ship's crew, so there wasn't much for her to do despite the general hubbub. Her role in all of this wouldn't come until they were groundside. Of course, she suspected that the manner she'd be getting ground side was in hot debate.

It wasn't that Zee had any problems about doing a high atmospheric jump from a perfectly good ship. Just that the *not knowing* that's what she would be doing was made her itchy. There were at least five contingencies in place for getting boots on the ground. And she suspected that Fireteam Black had at least a half dozen more up their collective sleeves.

Different quarters indeed. Zee had been assigned (requested? She didn't know) to work with Fireteam Black for undefined support. Right now, she was being kept largely in the dark, and other than the 'might jump out of the ship' part, she was perfectly alright with that. They knew more than what they were sharing, that much was obvious. But Zee didn't take it personally. She understood how these things worked.

 

[Allison Martha Iversson]

Allison walked the war room of the CRN- Surprise.

"Surprise". It wasn't exactly the name she'd thought would get past the initial candidate list but she had to live with it. Anyways.

She stood over the gunners in the war room in an overlooking ledge. In front of her a high definition tactical holonet was displayed with constant updating of information from the passive scanners. So far none of the data really interested her. initial directional scans indicated no major bodies other than the planet's moons, the ship, and the planet itself.

Why did she feel on edge?
"All hands!" He said with that reverberating tone, "All hands to stations. Prep for hard contact." boomed [member="Kell Hammer"]'s voice over the loudspeakers.

That's why.

"All stations, weapons check." her voice commanded in the war room stations.

"Guardian Interceptor turrets loaded and calibrated.", responded the gunner in station one.

"Turbo Laser ASB Grid charged. All green.", station two sounded off.

"Port, Starboard, Dorsal, launchers loaded and primed Ma'am. Standard proton torpedoes. Ventral launchers loaded with low yield Orbit to Ground Bombardment Missiles to support ground forces. Tracking away team and awaiting tracking beacon."

"Warmind Tactical Computer 'Echo' is online and ready. Anti-EM screens 100%."

At her station overlooking the war room a hologram appeared in front of her. A nebulous orange shifting cloud flashed and flickered in the corner of her eye as she went over the sensor reports and weapons readings from the various stations. "It seems that you are attempting to process data manually, would you like help?", Echo said in a young male tone that was quite even and somewhat shifted in tone only to match sentence structure. Rudimentary administrative programs simulating actual consciousness. "File these away and report to Captain Hull on the tactical situation. No hostiles on active or passive. Weapons on standby."

"Yes ma'am." the cloud said as it faded away.

[member="Horus"] [member="Matthias Hull"] [member="Kel Hamner"] [member="Zee"]

 

[Zark San Tekka]

Alarms wailed plaintively throughout the corridors of the ship, the signal for alert status. Their decibel level pushing the limits of comfortable tolerance for humans, but even without the sound dampening technology the helmet he held at his side they barely registered for Lieutenant Isaac Knight. To be posted to the CRN Surprise, under Matthias Hull no less, had been an honor in and of itself. But several hours ago he learned that elements of his platoon had been selected to support Fireteam Black on the coming mission, and he was to lead them. There were whispers about Section Zero and their operative parameters among Alexandria's special forces community, but until recently Knight hadn't been sure they were anything more than a myth, an old spook story meant to galvanize troops into striving for an imaginary, unattainable goal.

But they were real, and they were on board, and Isaac's team would be providing them backup. Part of him swelled with pride, and another part privately suspected that the more the Commonwealth abandoned its isolationist policies and spread out into the galaxy, the Surprise with it, the more he might be seeing of this so called Section Zero. Perhaps one day, he'd even be lucky enough to be recruited himself, but that was an idle fantasy and for now he was determined to perform his duty admirably.

Emerging from the labyrinthine ship corridors into the designated staging area for the marine and mercenary elements of the operation, Isaac met up with his fireteam and took stock of the two squads from his platoon that had been assigned with him. Rumor was their ingress into the area of operations would be via atmospheric jump, and the Lieutenant moved among his men calming any whose nerves looked a little frayed, himself unconcerned. A small part of him, the adrenaline junkie, loved the rush of a drop pod.

"Freelancers," he heard a corporal grumble, and his attention shifted to the well armed woman who was obviously not a Commonwealth regular already strapped in.

Isaac couldn't say he disagreed. Far be it from him to question the Lord of Admiral, but Knight wished the military wasn't so forced by necessity to rely on mercenaries and other third party contractors. But he was determined to maintain discipline, and no good would come from provoking animosity before the mission even began. Keeping his tone neutral and joking, he called out to the woman and gestured at the Commonwealth insignia on the side of his uniform, "Just remember not to shoot anyone wearing one of these or they might dock your pay!"

[member="Zee"]

 

[Jacky Duzzle]

She felt naked. combat and no beskar just didnt mix well to her and this gear? it was all standard issue. standard issue was always sub-par in her experience. still after a lot of protest her family signature weapon was safely in her hand. and a false Mando was dead.
Still yhis was her chance to show what a true Mandalorian could do in combat Beska'gam or not.

 

[Nara Basaar]

"Anasthetic shots?....check. Water resistant bandages.....yep, check. Disinfectant?....check."

The Twi'lek medic was currently doing one last inventory check before heading out into the field for what seemed like the 100th time. Nara is highly skilled and damn good at being a medic, and she was proud of this. However, this was her first time applying her skills on the field amidst the chaos of combat, so a mix of emotions were currently running through her head. Nara continued down the list. She knew she had everything, but that did not stop her nervously checking. Each time she ran through the list checking things off, she would be brought to a half by the last item. Nara looked at this item on the table, she picked it up and stared at it as her expression grew gloomy.

"Lethal injection...." Nara sighed deeply "check."

The lethal injection. Something Nara always hopes to avoid. Her love of helping people was what drove her to become a medic, she wanted to heal life not end it. However, Nara was not naive. She knew what conflict brought, she knew the injuries it could inflict upon some, the swift end to a life it could bring. As a medic it is Nara's duty to help the injured. And sometimes that meant ending the life of someone who's suffering and injuries were beyond fixable, much to Nara's dismay of course.

Nara's attention was quickly grabbed by the alert the Captain had sounded, which reminded her of something she had to ask. Nara carefully sat the lethal chemical down, pulled her long lekku forward so they were dangling in front of her and made her way out of her temporary clinic. Her destination was clear, though getting there was tricky as her short body had to weave in and out of people hastily making their way to their positions.

Nara finally reached where [member="Matthias Hull"] was. She stood near his chair, nervously cleared her throat.

"Captain?" Nara said in her soft voice

"I was just wondering if there was a plan for extracting the injured?"

The Twi'lek fiddled with the end of her left lekku. The impending battle obviously doing a number on her nerves.

"Also, may I request an escort? If there are injured people I won't be able to defend myself and tend to them at the same time" she continued

[member="Horus"]

 

[Arken Lussk]

Cadmon had been at this job long enough to know that killing was just as important as patching up a wound. One less adversary was one less stream of slugs screaming towards his brothers and sisters. Part of being a combat medic was having enough training and willpower to take a life along with even more training to stitching up his fellow marines when things went awry. Being on the frontlines had given the young Sergeant more than enough experience in both aspects, and he loathed to do both. One day, he wouldn't have to kill and he wouldn't have to scrape up an eighteen year old kid out of a hole in the ground and send him home to his momma.

The Sergeant had been in the temp clinic, readying his bugout bag along with his medical backpack. Necessary supplies had been sorted, ranging from electronic bio-scanners and automatic diagnosing equipment to a minor surgical kit and tons of bandages, tourniquets and sterilizing solutions. Beneath all of that were his fatigues, armor, and a vest covered with an array of ammunition and explosives. Then came his most important piece of equipment: Gideon.

The LOBO unit sat patiently by his side, silently wagging its metallic tail in apparent anticipation of what was to come. Giddy was a good pup. Unflinching, steady, and the most loyal being Cadmon had ever seen in his entire life. He wasn't exactly sure if it was the programming or if the robotic pup had really grown on him. Whatever it was, Sergeant Lussk loved the bot more than anything he could think of. Once the medic was finished triple checking himself, he bent down to gently nuzzle the metal pup before signalling for it to follow him to the bridge.

It wasn't long before the medic and his valiant companion stood before the Captain of the Ship. He'd caught word of another medic being deployed and had initially planned on discussing strategies before they made their way to the drop ships but apparently she had another idea in mind and went to the bridge. However, Cadmon happened to be approaching just as his medical compatriot mentioned an escort.

"Captain," Cadmon snapped to attention and offered a sharp salute before dropping it. "I've got 'er, sir. She'll be with me and the men. Won't let her get a scratch."

[member="Nara Basaar"], [member="Matthias Hull"]

 

[Darth Caecus]

"Oh, so I'm *not* supposed to be shooting at you? Someone got the briefing wrong then. I'll make sure to tell the top brass about that little typo. Good thing you pointed it out. Would've been bad down there."

Those could have been fighting words, if they had been delivered thick and dripping with sarcasm. But instead they were delivered with the same light and neutral tone Lieutenant [member="Isaac Knight"] had used. Just harmless banter.

It doesn't matter how long you're here. They're never going to see you as one of them.

Give them a chance.

​You gonna hang around long enough for that? Are you going to enlist?

​Maybe.

 

[Mr. OOC]

Aboard the CRN Surprise

The Kaleesh fighter sat quietly in the ready room. Though he wore his mask, he never really took it off, he didn't wear the rest of his gear. Not but a pair of pants adorned him for the moment. He was staring intently at the locker in front of him, mostly because he was trying to decide what kind of loadout he was going to need on this particular mission. Considering it was a rescue operation, and they weren't fully aware of the circumstances that led to its necessity, he couldn't rightly assume that any one loadout would be better than the next, which left him in a spot of bother. Beneath the mask he frowned.

When the warning sirens went off, he couldn't wait any longer. Tossing on his tunic, chestplate, and cloak, he strapped his lig sword to his leg. Over his shoulder he threw a scattergun. Never knew when a blast of buck to the face would be warranted, and it was certainly effective. He decided not to take the subrepeater with him, instead choosing the universality of a Model 434 and strapping it to the leg opposite his sword. Into the pouch on his belt went two glop grenades and a single SD-11.

The belt itself was adorned with scatter rounds, and additional power packs for the blaster before he closed up the locker and made his way to the hangar. His fellow Kaleesh squad was already waiting for him aboard a drop ship. He took a look around the hangar, noting the presence of many others that were preparing to go the aide of their fellows. He found this suitable. A soldier, as he was, would always find the rescue of a fellow soldier or compatriot to be a good thing. Maris himself was much in favor of the no man left behind treatise. Fallen soldiers deserved honor and a proper burial, not to be carrion fodder.

"Another day speaks of battle. Many friends to join us."

 

[Ryan]

The Twi'lekk medic had broken Captain Hull's concentration off the data screens and the elongated stars of hyperspace. It was a welcome reprieve, he had been over the data a thousand times and yet he still felt as if he was steering the ship half blind. His cold glacier gaze locked onto [member="Nara Basaar"] who was inquiring about evacuation of injured and security. Matthias could see she was nervous, her shy voice and the way she held herself. There was nothing wrong with being scared, one would be a fool if he was not. But, the captain himself showed no emotion "Those that can be moved will be evacuated ASAP, those that cannot will be triage and treated on the ground. We are not leaving anyone behind, even the dead will make it home"

He would look at the sergeant that had also approached and offered his services to the Twi'lekk " You will be in good hands Basaar, that I promise you!"

Moments Later.......

The CRS-'Surprise' erupted from hyperspace, the planet of Kyarii III visible to the naked eye from the bridge's view ports. Was a split moment in time, a piece of silence through out the ship as if everyone held their breath, anxious for command to be given........

"Launch fighters! I want perimeter set up and I want scouts out looking for the Jade Rabbit with ground team in the hopper ready to go at a moments notice!" His voice thundered through out the bridge, breaking the silence. "Ladies and Gents! Keep your heads on a swivel and your eyes sharp, still unknown who or what attacked the Jade Rabbit but if enemy contact is made, i want nothing short of merciless violence from the lot of ya!"

"Helm! Full flank ahead, steady as she goes!" he would command the Surprise to make towards the planet, he did not want his ship just sitting waiting to be shot at. Stay on the move and trust his fighter pilots and crew to root out the enemy, if there are any.

He sat back into his chair, eyes once again glued to the data screens. Let it begin....

 

[Corrax Talrus]

Sitting in the cockpit of the Scythe​-class Starfighter, time seemed to stretch. It was always like that before a blind exit launch. Not for the first time, he wondered what they would encounter when they exited the hangar. There was a real possibility that this launch would be his last if whatever had chewed up the ​Jade Rabbit​ was outside waiting for them. If that was the case, he'd chosen the wrong lunch. He wasn't about to go out on pastrami on rye. That would just be ridiculous.

The hangar bay was currently empty save for Red​ Squadron's four birds, cued for a hard launch. Once they had cleared hyperspace, the blast doors would execute an emergency breach, opening so fast it would be as if they'd never been there at all. Red​ Squadron's launch would be automated, giving them a three second warning before the fighter's advanced engines shot them into space at nearly imperceptible increments. From the hyperspace exit until they were travelling at full speed outside the Surprise​ would only take about 5 seconds.

Corrax felt the familiar shudder of the hyperdrives disengaging and knew that it was time. "Standby, ​Reds​," he said into his helmet comm. A moment later the blast doors shot open and a countdown appeared on the display in front of him. 3 ... 2 ... 1 ...

He was surrounded by the pinpoint lights of space in an instant, back pressed against the pilot's chair despite the inertial compensators - more so than he should have been. "Contacts?" he asked over his shoulder as he tapped the control yoke experimentally. It responded exactly as it should have. Checking his readouts, he threw the Scythe​ into an upward loop, levelling out as he moved back toward the ​Surprise. "Negative, sir,"​ came the response. His own Scythe​, along with ​Red-​Two were on the opposite side of the Surprise​ from the other two ships of the squadron at this point, and still no contacts were on radar.

"Dial inertial compensator to ninety-six percent; that was a bit rough," he said to no one in particular. One of the other three members of his flight crew would do so immediately.

The other ships checked in soon after, reporting no contacts in the vicinity.

Leaning forward, Corrax reached up to the overhead console and toggled comms from squadron to fleet. "Surprise​ actual, Red​-One, we've got a very empty threat board. Permission to scout for contacts? Over."

 

[Alleycat]

While the cockpit of the Scythe-class starfighter hummed with light small talk between the co-pilot, navigator, and engineer who had been working together for some time, Mia Conner (formally Daska Tess of the FO) sat quietly in the pilot's seat of the Commonwealth's Red Three with her sapphire gems closed in mindful calm as Red Squadron waited for their blind launch from the CRN Surprise. This set up was a little frustrating being responsible not only for herself plus three others, but Mia would get used to not flying single and learn to trust them at their stations as they did her, hopefully.

"Raven" was used to being hurled into space since that is how TIE fighters were launched from inside of their Imperial carrier ships; catapulted from racks in the hangar bay the craft hung from. But no matter how many times a pilot has experienced that feeling of the "rush", it always was nerve racking until the fighter was past the magcon and spiriting away on its own from the capital ship.

[ Standby, Reds, ] Red Leader called over the comm unit just before the launch sequence commenced. Mia gave a double-click, then the blonde placed her gloved hands on the flight yoke ready to take control.

3… 2… 1...

As soon as the Scythes were successfully away, Red One and Two took up positioning to the starboard side of the Surprise while Three and Four the port side.

[ Red One, Red Three confirms empty threat board. ] Conner keyed to [member="Corrax Talrus"] over the squadron frequency, then listened for further orders as Red Leader notified Surprise Actual of their current sitrep and request.

[member="Matthias Hull"] [member="Maris Jolner"] [member="Zee"] [member="Cadmon Lussk"] [member="Nara Basaar"] [member="Jacky Duzzle"] [member="Isaac Knight"] [member="Allison Martha Iversson"] [member="Kel Hamner"] [member="Horus"]

 

[Zark San Tekka]

For Isaac, it was the waiting that was the hardest part.

After so long, he had found that the actual combat drops weren’t actually that unpleasant, assuming optimal conditions and nothing went wrong. It was the hanging there beforehand that disturbed him, and despite knowing better the irrational fear that there would be no soothing countdown this time, no shift from red light to green, before he was shot like a bullet from the belly of the CRN Surprise and down onto the unknown planet below.

The Commonwealth cruiser would be dispatching its ground component for this operation in waves, the first of which would make their planetfall via drop pods, and Lieutenant Knight’s team had been chosen for that first wave. Unsurprising, considering this type of scenario was right in their skillset as reconnaissance marines. Normally that wouldn’t make him nervous, just more eager, except this wave wouldn’t be his marines alone.

No, riding along with them were Fireteam Black themselves, along with a smattering of other units, forward observers and coordinators mostly. As they had boarded their flying coffins, Isaac had idly scanned the personnel surrounding him for the mercenary from before. In the crowded deployment bay, he did not see her, and couldn’t be sure if she’d be with his wave or a later group.

Even through the heavy plating of the drop pod, Knight had been on enough Commonwealth cruisers to feel the subtle reverberations that indicated a hyperspace reversion, and glanced up as the indicator near his head flashed red, a warning to get ready. That a drop was imminent. Commander Leatham’s voice echoed through his helmet as the Fireteam Black team leader reminded them all of the mission parameters and their immediate objectives.

Isaac heard the words, and processed them, but they felt very far away all the same. His body was hyper-aware of the subtle vibrations in the hull floor that indicated the Surprise was engaging its maneuvering thrusters. Not long now, he knew. Somewhere else on the vessel, a squadron or two of Scythe-class Starfighters would be launching to establish a perimeter and guide the dropships in. He silently wished them luck, ignoring the irony in that he was the one who was far more likely to die in the next few seconds.

A soft but insistent tone started emanating from the drop pod’s readout panel, and Isaac gripped tighter on the handles. The tone began to increase speed, and then with a final anticlimactic higher pitched tone, there was a clunk of the clamps securing his drop pod in place detaching, and then a lurch in his stomach as free fall quickly shifted to weightlessness before the pod’s guidance thrusters kicked in and Knight was slammed back, his harness protecting him from the worst of it.

Through his tiny viewport, he could see empty space outside, as well as an alien world quickly growing too massive before him. Above it, he could make out the system’s star, although he could not tell from this vantage whether it would be setting or rising over the area of operations. A soft roar started outside the pod, and grew louder and louder. Isaac began to sweat as the pod endured the stress of atmospheric entry. His view was now gone, and all he could see outside was an inferno. If anything went wrong, that would be the last thing he’d ever see.

It seemed like an eternity before he heard the retro boosters engage below him and the pod finally began to slow down a little. Isaac had made it into lower atmo, and assuming the violently shaking display in front of him wasn’t malfunctioning, so had the rest of the first wave. As always, he felt a final irrational bout of fear that the craft wouldn’t slow down quickly enough as the surface hurtled up towards him at what seemed like far too quick a speed.

But as always, science proved him wrong in the end, and he had to remind himself that their descent speed had been mathematically calculated, and the tech in this coffin’s guts could do a much better job of adjusting to unforeseen variables than Isaac ever could. Despite all that, the jolt of landing was not inconsiderable, and Knight wondered not for the first time if Commonwealth scientists hadn’t programmed pod landings to be so rough because nothing could ever be easy in the Corps.

The hatch in front of him exploded outward, and in one fluid motion Isaac unfastened his harness, unsecured his MM100 from its own harness at his side, and leaped out onto the strange new world before him, rifle up and ready to blow the head or head equivalent off the first hostile native he saw.

“Dagger One Actual to Surprise Actual,” he radioed to Hull in orbit, “We have boots on the ground. Repeat, we have made planetfall.”

 

[Not Ordo]

[member="Corrax Talrus"] [member="Zee"] [member="Allison Martha Iversson"] [member="Isaac Knight"] [member="Jacky Duzzle"] [member="Nara Basaar"] [member="Cadmon Lussk"] [member="Maris Jolner"] [member="Matthias Hull"] [member="Mia Conner"]

The Master Chief nodded as he watched the scanners and waited for commands. His dark eyes checked for signals, readings, anything that would give them an idea of the "Rabbit's" location.

He was ready when they dropped out of hyperspace. His hard eyes trained on the TacCom beside Hull. He heard the commands as they left Hull's mouth and had to say, he had known what to expect.

"You heard the Captain!" He said bellowing across the bridge, "Launch fighters! Eyes sharp! Scan for the rabbit! I want gorram projected crash locations on screen yester-damn-day!"

He pushed a few buttons on the screen and drew a few lines to connect the last know location of the rabbit with possible attack coordinates.

 

[The Upright Man]

Thump, thump, thump. Dean could hear it all around him. His pod was among the first to burrow itself into the rich earth of Kayri III, he was just hearing the other pods catch up to him. He checked the armors status, everything was still operational. It paid to be cautious, this was the first major field testing of the prototype. "Marguerite, Hadiyya, report," he ordered into his helmets transponder, a moment later the pinpricks on his sensors flashed green.

Dean unbuckled the harness and felt his weight drop. It was a relief, the harness buckled the occupants in tight, unfortunately his armor wasn't designed in mind for a drop pod, he was quite cramped as it was. His helmet kept scraping against the ceiling of the pod. He twisted the release levers and the hatch hissed as the pod was pressurized to the surface atmosphere, then the hatch exploded outwards. Clambering out of the pod, the Commander of Fireteam Black retrieved his MM100 from its rack and flicked the safety off.

He looked to Isaac Knight, the SpecOp had just finished reporting to Hull. Dean began to speak, "The last transmission we received was from MPD Lima 178 in this area. That was over nine hours ago." He approached Isaac, towering over him. Armored up the Commander stood an inch above seven foot, but had he been wearing his old navy gear he guessed he'd be about the same height as Knight. He craned his neck and could see distinct footprints of perhaps a half dozen individuals leading towards the snow-capped mountains.

Dean curled his wrist over where a datapad was installed into the armor itself, he tapped in a security clearance code and the transmission began to play. "MPD Lima 178-chht!-Jade Rabbit-chht!-need assistance. We are under att-chht!-attack by some new kind of hostile-chht!- 'Captains been captured by hostiles. chht! -we're dug in ten clicks from the crash site-chht!-We need to pull out. Please-chht!-I will set this message to repeat at-chht!-regular intervals. MPD Lima 178, clear."

 

[Jacky Duzzle]

(damm i just got the tag sorry)

Spoiler

Corrax Talrus Zee Allison Martha Iversson Isaac Knight Jacky Duzzle Nara Basaar Cadmon Lussk Maris Jolner Matthias Hull Mia Conner [member="Kel Hamner"]

" I usually get dinner and a hollo first "Jacky said dawning a helmet. the hud was pretty basic compared to her old T visor
but it did a job. she understood the value of a uniform.
it made rank amateurs a unit and washouts a squad. it was how 10.000 idiots in white plastoids could conquer a galaxy.
still one thing
" Just point i have a few cobwebs to shake loos."

 

[Darth Caecus]

Zee was unhooked and on foot off the ship right after [member="Isaac Knight"] . Old habit took over and she kept on his Six, just as almost every other pair off the bird were doing by unspoken agreement and long training. Rifle raised, safety disengaged, gaze and weapon swept the fortunately quiet scene.

Well, fortunately because it gave them time. Unfortunately because they still had no idea what they were up against.

She didn't ease her guard as discussion began, rifle up and sweeping in a slow arc. Some of the boots on the ground followed her lead as the others gathered for the pow-wow with [member="Dean Letham"]. She listened with half an ear, most of her attention on the alien world around them.