"Ah-TEN-shun!"
The compartment went silent. Captain Patterson's well oiled jump boots echoing through the ranks were the only sounds as he slowly stepped up to the podium. His spectacled eyes meandered through the crowd, as if searching for an old friend. A drop of sweat ran down his bald head and past his cauliflowered ear.
Statuesque under his gaze stood the most fit and finely trained men the planet of Valencia III had ever parented. They were strong. Fast. Fearless. They contained no flaws.
Except one. They had never seen battle, test subjects for a new method of interplanetary deployment. A device called the Grav Chute, after its predecessor, it was an atmospheric life support system hard-wired with friction accelerators. Under them they wore heat sink suits to protect themselves from the high temperature heat transfer in exchange of landing on the planet's surface at a safe 5.46 meters per second.
And Patterson was to lead them, the Valencian 322nd "Valkyyrns".
He slammed one big black fist on the podium, to wake up the dozing.
"Valkyyrns, listen up! I've just received a memo from the Admiral. The situation on Rhal three has just hit the fan. The Emperor's Chosen have landed, and their planetary defenses are offline. This so called Imperium of Man is impeaching upon the sanctity of our Federation, and we have been called to duty!" He watched as jaws dropped and murmurs of astonishment and excitement crept through the crowd. He smashed the podium again, and all was silent.
"We leave in an hour, get your gear and MOVE OUT!"
<--------------------<< Space Surrounding Rhal III >>-------------------->
Chapter 1: Easy Day
Lt. Eagla checked his gear on last time before he began to move down the line. His men were all strapped and ready to go, laughing and betting on kills. Every man in his squad knew what they needed to do, and they did it perfectly, which made his job easier.
Just as he strapped into his Chute, the pilot came over the 1MC. "This is Ensign Loveless. I'll be your captain for this flight, and would just like everyone to sit back, relax, and enjoy the ride before I kick ya'll out."
He laughed, and the 1MC went dead. A few minutes later, the alarm for the airlocks went off, and Lt. Eagla could feel the small space seemingly shrink as cabin pressure was initialized. The single giant engine began to rev its engines, and he could almost feel them takeoff.
Hopefully the landing would be as easy.
He turned to Pvt. Fusselman, his radioman, and clucked under his breath. "Just another easy day, eh, Pvt.?"
Pvt. Fusselman chuckled, and adjusted his lasgun between his legs.
<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<<>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>
Moments later, they were screaming through the atmosphere with the sounds of a battle so vicious that they could hear it miles above the fighting ringing in their ears. Now no one was laughing, no one was talking. They all just stared at the door at the aft of the aircraft, and the big red light above it. Lt. Eagla rested his hand on the door release lever, his burden of the flight, and the other on his lasgun, the burden of the fight. The Environmental display showed other Valkyries, planetary attack carrier craft, with the rest of the 322nd sitting patiently as they charged ahead to their landing zone.
Suddenly, one exploded, and their craft shook with the force. Artillery charges came bursting up through the clouds below them, smashing into the helpless Valencian fleet. One took a shot to a fuel pod on the wing, and blew out the passenger compartment wall. Lt. Eagla watched as brave soldiers were sucked out, their Grav Chutes blazing, trying to save themselves.
The 1MC exploded into sound. "Holy Fuck! They got fucking Earthshakers aimin' at us! Fuck the LZ, get ready to jump in 15!" It cut out.
15 seconds was long time. The four Pvts, Fusselman, Grenk, Hatchins, and Canin, stood and prepped themselves with a final gear check. Eaglas stood, checked his gear, and readied to pull the lever. As the light turned green, the door was ripped off by tail of another Valkyrie, along with most of the tail of Eaglas' transport. Grenk, the first in the line, got sucked out by the vacuum and was nearly cut in half by the tail.
"Go, go, go! We only got one shot at this!" Eaglas thrust Hatchins through the gaping hole. Canin and Fusselman followed behind without hesitation. Eaglas looked to the cockpit, to see Ensign Jenkins madly trying to pull up, then jumped himself.