[i]Ooh-rah.[/I]

Dorian didn't so much as get to say his response to Anderson's rebuttal, and Lasko's "see you on the ground" speech, as the comms only turned-on after all the pods had sealed, resulting in only a mildly audible grunt that barely ebbed over the background-noise of the pods sealing.

As per normal procedure since 2549, the Cruiser also jettisoned flotsam, equipment-pods, and other debris to assist in their HEV's penetrating the enemy planet's defenses, making it difficult for rapid reaction forces to target any single trooper and ensuring a fair amount of ordnance on the ground. Still, he could see a large fraction of pods go off course or break-up, while others had picked unpleasant landing-zones. Pella's pod, managed to get deflected by a tree, and sent skidding across the Martian landscape, plowing through several grunts and a jackal. Learning to use your pod like a manned-godrod was always a bit of a rush.

From then, he waited until the sole surviving grunt had crawled on top to inspect the wreckage, and only then did he eject the hatch. Along with the grunt. Any cripples still lingering in the pods wake were then stabbed with a combat-knife, because it made them twitch a bit longer.

[I]"All clear at Pella's can."[/I]