The drop ship shuddered as it hummed through the atmosphere, jostling the seven Rothians inside. Six wore standard combat armor and five held their standard issue Micro-Fusion rifles, one was a marksman holding a beam rifle, as they sat strapped into the rumble seats along either side of the drop-ship. The seventh, Srath, was sitting closest to the main hatch and wore a much heavier armor with weapons mounted on either shoulder and two pistols that were large even by Rothian standards. 

Srath had noticed that soldiers would develop rituals on the flights into combat areas, mostly they would habitually check their equipment or stare at nothing. Either lost in thought or trying not to think at all. Srath found himself performing the second often, going over the plan that had been laid out before the flight. 

Smugglers working for Alex Wise who were delivering weapons to militants who'd been raiding long range cargo vessels just outside the Rothian Defense Forces response range. They'd clear the vessel before they arrived and never left any survivors. The drop was being made at an abandoned deuterium mining facility on a moon orbiting the systems gas giant. Scans had shown that the weapons were being stored in the buildings southern loading dock where there was a large walled courtyard, probably where haulers would move the deuterium off-world. They'd also shown a dozen men guarding the weapons and it was unknown how many raiders would be arriving.

Not wanting to risk warning the raider and smugglers that they were coming, they'd been sent ahead along with five other drop ships of soldiers from the far side of the moon while the frigate that dropped waited outside of scanning range. They then flew in at low altitude to avoid any warning systems they'd set in place, landing only a few kilometers from the facility. They'd been waiting three days for the raiders to arrive, waiting for the spy drone in orbit to track their approach. Finally they'd got the signal, a mid sized unregistered freighter was making its way to the facility. Once it had landed they began their approach, Sraths' team was on point to secure the courtyard for the other drop-ships while the frigate moved in to prevent any ships from escaping. 

"30 seconds to drop." The pilots voice coming through their helmets.

They all unbuckled themselves from the rumble-seats, standing and holding safety bars as the ship banked hard and began decelerating. Sraths' heart began to speed up

"10...9...8...7..."

He felt adrenalin begin to spike through his system as he drew one of his sidearms, holding the safety bar with his other hand.

"6...5...4...3..."

On 1 the ship jolted as it landed on the ground, the door lowering to create a ramp to the ground. Harsh sunlight streamed into drop-ship along with sand that had been kicked up by the engines. Srath could feel the hot air blowing in through his armors neural interface just before rounds from human weapons began pinging off the ship. Some making it through the door as it opened and ricochet inside, some colliding with their shield causing small flares of energy to appear around them. The indirect shots weren't causing damage, but when the door had finally opened fully they started taking direct fire. Though inaccurate the smugglers were firing enough for some rounds to find their mark, several striking Srath but doing minimal damage to his enhanced shielding. 

Rushing from the ship Srath saw the courtyard, small dunes had formed within the walls that the smugglers were using for cover. More were standing on the roof of the southern part of the facility behind the dunes, firing even more wildly than those closer. There was a decrepit land hauler 50 meter away that would shield them from the smugglers, but they had to get there first. 

"Take cover at that hauler!" He shouted over the constant crackle of shots from the dune. 

He slowed to a walk, drawing his second weapon as the others kept making their way to cover. He'd draw what fire he could until they made it to cover, he used the suit-link to target the smugglers at the dune. The weapon on his left shoulder snapped to each target firing off five round bursts so quickly it appeared as if only one fired. He added to the fire, using both his high powered sidearms to send bolts of angry green energy into the dune, sending up clouds of sand that obscured them. Slowing had also made them focus more of their fire at him.

More rounds began hammering his shield, enough to start draining it at an alarming rate. He broke into a run following his squad mates behind the vehicle as more rounds smacked into his shield or hit the ground creating small explosions of sand. Finally behind the massive wheeled vehicle with only half his shields power remaining he checked on his squad.

"Status?" He asked through the helmets communicator over the sporadic fire from the dune.

"All green." Replied his 2nd, referring to the squads remaining shield strength.

"I'm going to move up the dune on their right, want suppressing fire on them while I move. Ream." He said, gesturing to their marksman. "I need you to engage the targets on the roof."

"Yes sir." he replied, he immediately set about finding a position that gave him an angle on the roof of the facility without exposing himself to those on the dune. 

"Ready? Fire!" He shouted just before running around the corner of the vehicle. 

Bolts of green energy began lancing into the top of the dune sending up showers of molten glass, yelps of pain could be heard as the weapon fire stopped. A split second later a solid beam of green scorched its way through the air, slamming into one of the smugglers on the roof almost 300 meters away, knocking him to the ground ten meters below and scattering the others. Srath crested the dune, seeing the cargo vessel and the raiders loading large crates into it as quickly as they could. To the right he could see the smugglers who'd been firing it him from behind the dune, they'd ducked down trying to get away from the energy blasts being fired by his squad. 

One of the smuggler saw him and turned his weapon on Srath, Srath in turn aimed his dual hand-cannons at him. The smuggler was firing fully automatic, his first few rounds going wide. Srath fired both weapons at the same time, kicking in his hands as they sent two angry green bolts of energy scorching through the air. One missing by only a few centimeters and hitting another shooter in the leg, the other shot striking the center of the firsts' chest. With one dead and another screaming in pain, clutching his seared leg, the others paused for a moment unsure what to do. Once Srath pointed his weapons at them they threw theirs down. 

Just before Srath could say anything he started taking fire from his left, a short and well aimed bursts hit his shield draining a chunk. Srath dropped to a crouch while spinning to face the shooter, one of the militants had opened a crate and was firing from a prone position behind part of the cargo ship. Srath snapped off a few quick shots in his direction to suppress him while readied the Fusion Cannon mounted on his right shoulder. The smugglers on the dune who could took advantage of the distraction, running downhill toward the facility. Taking another well aimed burst while the cannon locked then fired sending a massive beam of glaring green energy into the militant, overwhelming what little shielding he had and vaporizing most of his head and torso. An overheat warning appeared on his HUD showing the cooling time until it could be recharged. 

"Dune is clear, move up!" He called over comms. "This is strike team 1, LZ is clear." He signaled to the other drop ships.

With the arrival of over a dozen more Rothian soldiers the remaining smugglers and raiders had lost the will to fight. A couple of smugglers had tried to escape in their ship but the frigate had made it within range of the planet by then, having its fighters force the small runner to land in the frigates' hangar. Srath was finishing loading the last of the illegal weapons onto one of the drop-ship when his comm beeped.

"Thane here." He said answering the comm.

"This is Captain Krom, I need you back on the ship. I have a transmission here from R.D.F. Command that pertains to your new assignment."

[i]'What?'[/i] He thought. [i]'I never applied for a transfer. What the hell is going on?'[/i]

"I'll be right up." He replied before the channel was cut. He moved up to the cockpit where the pilot sat. "Change of plans, looks like I'm hitching a ride with you to the ship." He told him.

"Aye sir, strap in and we'll be off." The pilot replied, tapping a few controls that made the engines begin to hum.

Through the flight, all Srath did was try and think of anything that could have happened over the last year that could hint as to why he was being transferred. Thinking of nothing he decided it could wait until he could talk to the captain. He'd likely at least have some answers to his questions.