As with most things, the anticipation was worse than the doing. It was the same here, as the two of them readied themselves for being launched out of the vessel into lower orbit. Even a hardened soldier like Raddek felt his blood pumping, adrenaline coursing through him as the timer counted down from ten. He didn't check his weapons or armor a fourth time, confident in his preparations. He didn't dishonor Vashti by asking her if she was ready. He knew she was. 

5...4...3...2...

...1 

The blastdoor opened slowly, a muffled wrenching sound releasing due to the intensely heavy metal lifting; grating off the edge of the hull. It was a strange sensation, the steady uptake of wind suddenly slicing into the air-tight room, and yet gravity had only just brushed against them. Slowly, Raddek stomped forward, giving only a nod of acknowledgement to his companion prior before launching himself out of the ship, suddenly feeling a weightlessness to him as he began to plummet. Luckily, there was no sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. That only happened when jumping from a stationary location and not from a rapidly moving vessel. 

It almost appeared like Raddek had been spat out and left behind in mid-air. Below him, the planet looked an odd mixture of verdant green, drab brown, and startling blue from the various seas below. He could not feel the kiss of the wind, but he knew it streaked around him from how it battered his form and sent him shuddering as he felt the inevitable pull of gravity. The ex-soldier turned on his beacon, the mark on his belt now blinking red to indicate it had activated. Falling at an exponential rate, he was in the air for a standard terran minute before he activated his orbital drop-chute, yanking him backwards and slowing his descent. 

Five minutes later, he hit the tree line of the jungle. 

The ground beacon was a pylon of pulsating electromagnetism powered by the planet's sun, 18 meters in height. It was old technology, created before the fall. 

Around the pylon, the trees were exotic and tall, covered in wet foliage from a recent rain. A two tailed weasel-like creature with red eyes chittered, and then scampered away. Raddek made landfall not a moment later, hitting the leaf-covered ground in a roll. Small tendrils with crimson tips and yellow stems waved about every few meters; the mark of some strange plant. Raddek regained his feet quickly, glad for his armor so as not to touch anything. Not yet at least...