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The cherry-red glow of high pressure atmosphere wreathed the edges of the ablative shield which Volana held before the [i]Aurora[/i], the streaks of flame which made it past the heatshield weaving their way across the contours of the Orbital's armor. Her panoramic view from the perspective of the [i]Aurora[/i] darkened considerably to avoid being blown out from the glow from the plasma. It was a surprisingly smooth descent, all things considered. Not as effortless as reentry on one of the more airless moons she'd sortied on before, but not nearly as nerve-wracking as dropping back home was. Though she couldn't confirm, it was how she imagined it was like on Earth.

Well, nearly. Local gravity here was measurably different than Earth's own, if the small readout off to the left of her vision tracking her fall to the planet's surface was to be trusted. Volana could feel the vibration through her controls as the [i]Aurora[/i] pushed through the increasingly thicker and thicker atmosphere, the deceleration as she bled off orbital velocity tugging at her feet. It took only minutes for the flames of reentry to disappear and she began to drop towards the LZ less as a ball of fire at a more sedate pace.

Kicking back on her ion drives, Volana coasted the rest of the way down, maintaining a respectable distance from the shuttle which they were escorting; close enough to keep tabs on it. She relaxed the stance of her Orbital somewhat, moving the heat shield to the side to get a clearer look at the surface of the planet.

Slowly, more and more detail from below resolved itself. Sensors, both her own and the data she was getting from the comm net augmented the visual with additional layers of information. It was dry. Dry and windy, the muted browns and tans reminding her almost of the surface of her home, albeit in a less pressure-cooking way.

500 meters...

400...

Volana counted down the seconds, matching the one displayed to her.

200...

100...

50.

Volana opened up the [i]Aurora[/i]'s thrusters, the high energy wash kicking up dust and dirt which hadn't already been whipped around by the wind.

Boots on the ground.

Volana allowed herself a brief moment. A feeling of content gratification that propagated from the shake she felt through the cockpit as the [i]Aurora[/i]'s metallic frame touched the surface of an alien world for the first time.

And then the moment passed.

Volana pulled the Orbital upright, discarding the now scorched heatshield off to the side, the hunk of metal dropping to the ground. She took a few tentative steps forward, clearing the area for the rest of the ground team and the shuttle, noting the slightly stronger gravity than she was used to.

<<[color=aquamarine]Acknowledged Stojanović, thank you for the warning.[/color]>> She affirmed over the comms, just as her HUD began populating the immediate area with the regions of heat from the datalink with the [i]Bedwyr[/i]. Cautiously, Volana pulled the [i]Aurora[/i]'s rifle from its stowed position on the mech's back, holding it at a low ready as she looked over the area.

<<[color=aquamarine]LZ is clear from down here. Not anything but wind.[/color]>>

Just inside her visual range were bands of vegetation, what she would give to go check those out right now.