[color=green][i]Sensor scan initiated. Optics at 20% efficiency due to internal gyroscopic stabilization. Disabling not recommended. Acoustics overloaded, compensation and recalibration estimated at five minutes. Gyroscope at 80% efficiency due to inner gyroscopic stabilization - error approximated from irregularity of air resistance. Gyroscopic sensors selected. Beginning analysis...[/i][/color]

Already impressed with the ability of the flying metal box not to disintegrate despite its horrible automatic interference compensation, 2020 amused himself with trying to evaluate the frequency domain components of the shaking their dropship was experiencing. This wasn't just to pass the time though - he figured the next time he was required to fire from a landing craft, this data would allow him to find the perfect compensation more quickly. But the results were swimming, so he decided to perfect the parameter search algorithm instead, to reach short-term results faster.

He activated a silent self status check while scanning the crew with his optics. They, unlike the craft, were probably near-disintegrated already. But even if they are all destroyed on the way down, he could probably salvage enough of their equipment to complete a great part of the mission on his own. He made sure to scan the equipment of each crew member to increase the efficiency of handling such a contingency.

The commander to whom he was assigned deployed in mid-air, making him curse inwardly again at the jury-rigged booster pack some smart-ass field engineer strapped onto his body. His weight was four times the maximum allowance for standard landing jump-packs, and strapping four together would not do the trick. Instead, he was fitted with rocket engines from a disassembled long distance deployment glider, as well as two equipment landing packs, all strapped into his central computing unit. He made that last jury-rig himself while the engineer wasn't looking, since there was no way the small CPU of a normal jump-jet could handle this improvised set of engines, and none of the crew seemed to care enough to actually run any proper diagnostic. He didn't blame them - In a few weeks after the return from this mission most of them would be made obsolete by him.

This train of thought was completed, along with all diagnostic checks, approximately 0.2 seconds after the commander stepped off the landing craft's floor, give or take a few picoseconds of natural clock error and temperature dependent semiconductor propagation delay. He made a slow, but silent step towards the door, but then turned towards Mar. [color=green]"DO NOT LOSE YOUR WEAPON ON THE WAY DOWN, SIR."[/color] His deep synthetic voice filled the craft. [color=green]"IT IS VITAL FOR THIS MISSION'S SUCCESS."[/color] With this, he took a step back and into the void.

A few minutes later, a loud and sudden sound of a rocket being fired off disturbed the peaceful scenery around Rika. She turned just in time to see a broken rocket engine whoosh past her head, and the figure of the huge HK droid, gliding almost in slow-motion face-first into a small tree some hundred meters off her landing position. He snapped the tree in half while getting his face out, then looked around, recognised her and saluted.

[color=green]"HK-2020, REPORTING."[/color]