After tightening the straps on her pack and rifle, Autumn pulled the jawbone out of its protective bag, gripping it tightly. The ten rows of ten battlemages with her did the same with varying looks of fear on their faces. It always amazed her that a single bone held enough power to protect them on their wild plunge through the atmosphere. The shield ahead of them that held the atmosphere inside of the ship turned translucent with a muted sizzle. After a silent count of three they began to run forward, hurling themselves out into open space.

Sound stopped and the formation fell towards the operation area below them. Autumn threw a shield out before hitting the atmosphere, feeling the jolt of the deceleration. The formation had spread out, making it harder for the defenders below to intercept them. Almost on cue the missiles started, hurtling upwards to meet them. The sky became a battlefield as streaks of fire met the missiles, detonating them before they could reach the battlemage formation.

The fire became more dense as they neared the ground and entered the range of the shorter range weapons. A nearby mages shield died and he took a piece of shrapnel in the chest. She edged close enough to the falling body to be able to use it for magic. As the power entered usable range she let out a starburst of fire that cleared the sky of projectiles. After another brief period of freefall she hit the ground without slowing, throwing up a fountain of dirt. The body of the luckless mage and the jawbone dissolved into piles of useless dust and her own shield failed.

She burst out of the crater in the direction of the objective. There'd been enough defenders killed in her fall to fuel a thermal lance that killed the tank ahead of her. Pausing to take a breath, she looked up at the sky to see a massive explosion that could have only been their ship, the Lucifers Mistress. Before the shock of that could reach her the bolt of light that had pierced the ship reached her and the world disappeared.

Autumn fell through a gate, hitting the ground with a roll and came up with her assault rifle shouldered. After a moment she lowered it.

"What in the hells?"