Max orders the infantry to load first, as they will be thest ones out, and all 100 members of Bravo Company file into the Lander. They’re now nine years into their ten year long term of service, andbat drops are nothing new to them.


    The idea that the Crusader ss Mecha escorting them will be their shield during the critical moments of thending is a new one, though. Few Commanders have given them that much consideration, especially at the risk of a high value asset, so they’re not going to let down the expectations of these new pilots.


    Captain Max has faith in them to take the right nk and is willing to draw fire himself to ensure that they can reach the suspected vehicle storage warehouse. To the much-abused infantry, that’s well worth their very best effort.


    Thender is loaded and ready with two hours to spare. The infantry starts gettingfortable, and Max is reminded of the day his System activated during the obstacle course at the academy. Just like Nico did, they stretch out and fall asleep right where they are, expecting the rm before transitioning to waking them up in time to secure their belongings and get ready tounch.


    Max is about to share the amusing memory with her, so he checks her thoughts to see what she’s currently doing, only to find that she is already asleep on the small fold-down cot inside her cockpit.


    Looking at the rack stored above his head, Max realizes he would have to stand and lean up against the far wall to deploy it so he could nap, but Nico is so short that she could leave it locked in the Deployed position above her head._.


    It’s worth the hassle, though, so Max sets the rm on his smartwatch for ten minutes before they’re scheduled to drop out of high-speed travel. That should give him enough time to get everything stored and ready before doing sensor scans, searching for any changes in theirnding zone, and updating their ns if necessary.


    It is not the rm he set but the fifteen minutes to drop time ship-wide alert that wakes Max up. All the soldiers are getting into position, the light mecha pilots are getting strapped into their mecha, and disciplined readiness reces the sleepy silence in thender.


    [Final equipment ready check. We already know it will be ugly when wend, and no changes in enemy deployment from thest update are visible in ournding zone.] Max informs the unit as they double check their kit and weapons.


    Max does the same himself, finding that he has 30 days of rations and water, all systems check out, and ammunition storage is at 100 percent. Very few additional munitions are sent with missions like theirs to avoid arming the enemy, so Max will have to go easy with the Gatling Battery unless they find a lot of infantry and light vehicles.


    The Gatling Battery is an amazing weapon, but it does chew through ammunition at a rather spectacr rate.


    At the five-minute mark, the final locks are set on thender in preparation tounch. From this point on, sess is the only option; there is no way to back out.


    With one minute to go, they are moved to the bay doors, then the stomach turning lurch of a rapid shift out of faster-than-light travel is followed almost immediately by the thrusters on theirnder firing.


    [So much for 30 seconds after trantion] Nico jokes over the inte as the friction of atmospheric entry begins to make theirnder creak.


    With that short of a dy betweenunch and atmospheric entry, the Abraham Kepler must have dropped them from a very shallow orbit. That’s good news for them, as it doesn’t give time for orbital defenses to attack and very little time for ground based defenses to scramble, even though they were already expecting imminent retaliation by the military.


    [Three minutes tonding] The ship inte announces in its familiar mechanical voice.


    Max double-checks the satellite feed, seeing that more infantry has surfaced in their zone, and several tanks have been uncovered to the east, where the doors of thender will open.


    [Let Tarith’s Wrath clear the door. I expect high explosive artillery fire from the moment wend, and I don’t want anyone getting caught in the st radius.] Max reminds the infantry, who respond with their usual grunting affirmation.


    [Rah]


    With 30 seconds to descend, anti-aircraft fire bes audible in their vicinity, and the shaking increases.


    [Damage Exceeds Threshold. Automated Navigation Offline]es the automated announcement after a cluster of nearby explosions tore tiny holes in thenders hull.


    [I’ve got this. Adjusting Landing zone for Close Combat Insertion. Stand clear of the doors.] Nico calls out, and thender regains some stability.


    [Manual Override Entered. Touchdown in 3, 2]


    Just as the one is announced, the sound of crushing bricks and a sudden lurch jar the upants of thender, which digs in and screeches to a halt.


    Before it has stopped moving, the doors are blown off their hinges, and Nico drops her battle shield, grabbing the muchrger structure of a door instead and charging straight forward. She rotates the wrist of her Mecha, and the door turns sideways, blocking the entire lower half of the entrance to thender from the hail of iing bullets and tank shells but allowing Max to fire over the top.


    All thought of saving ammunition is temporarily suspended. There are over a hundred previously hidden gun emcements barricaded with sandbags in front of and beside him. Nico dropped thender almost to the tanks at the far eastern side of theirnding zone after it bounced off the roof of a building on approach.


    The light mecha run left, making for the shelter of the buildings and lighting up the defenders with their Ion rifles and grenadeunchers. Bravo Company will manage to head for the facilities on the right, mostly under cover of rubble and debris from theirnding, so Max focuses on the gun emcements while Nico Charges the Tanks.


    Battle Cannon rounds make short work of scattering the sandbag defenses, and .75 caliber rounds from the Gatling Battery tear through both the bags and the soldiers behind them with equal efficiency.


    Tarith’s Wrath is a faster runner than Max expected, and the Lander door has been discarded as it reached the tanks. Those furthest from her feel the Wrath of the Ion Destroyer while the multiple Rail Guns are punching holes in the tanks closest to the Crusader.


    Max now has a targeting lock on all of the remaining gun emcements, as well as several Infantry clusters, and his System Skill says he’s ready to fire. The shoulder-mounted missileunchers can independently target twenty-five points each, and Max’s entire disy is full of targeting boxes when he lets loose.


    Half a secondter, bright fire fills the air as the missiles find their marks, and the lightest Armored assets of the Defense force are obliterated.