A shock tore through Jack as the pod began its nearly one-hundred mile descent to the planets surface. He tried to brace himself, but the quartermaster wasn’t lying when he said they would be fully restrained from movement. Even the freedom to clench his hands in nervousness was taken from him as they shot forward like an artillery round.

The walls shook with increasing intensity as the air grew thicker, the sound greatly reducing the squads confidence in the quality of their transportation. If that wasn’t gut wrenching enough, the knowledge of being enclosed in what was essentially a coffin did not pair well with the lack of interior lighting in the pod.

“Heat is beginning to rise on the outer hull. Private West, I need you to feed Light into the pod so that I may use it to shield us.” Bob said cooly, as if the prospect of failing heat shields wasn’t absolutely terrifying.

“Sending.” Dave replied. “Use it as need be, and let me know when you need more.”

“Well, I suspect there will be a lot of screaming if I only use what I need to survive. How about I use what you organic creatures need to live?”

“I think that would be acceptable.” Dave said, the worry in his voice evident.

“Fantastic. Now; Neilson and Walker, I need you to funnel some Light into the pod as well. Once complete, I can fashion us into a more aerodynamic shape that will allow us to correct course.”

“Why do we need to correct course Bob?” Jack asked flatly.

“Because, with our current trajectory we will miss the rondevous point by roughly five miles.”

“Not that big of a deal.” Jack said as the shaking began to lessen. Apparenly the shielding did more than simply stop them from cooking.

“Correction, five miles behind enemy lines. Your squad will land approximately one mile from the research facility that the engine is being kept in. The rest of the company will be landing outside the complex. I don’t need to remind you, but I will anyway. Being alone in enemy territory is more than simply a bad idea. It could get you all killed if you land in the wrong place.”

“Or it could spell success in the mission.” Nessa said stoically.

“I agree with Walker,” Warren added, “The mission is the important part here. We need to get in, grab the machine, and get out. Those guys can take care of themselves, this isn’t their first time afterall.”

“Jack, do you agree with this insanity?”

“I do. The mission is our top priority. If that means that we are behind enemy lines while we handle it, then so be it.”

“If it is any consolation,” LT Hawkins said over the comms, “We agree with the decision. Now, go get daddy a new sub-light engine.”

“Thank you, course recalculation complete. Spier squad, we will be making impact in two minutes. Ortiz and Haywar, Please funnel energy into the shuttle for use.”

“What in the hell do you need binding energy for?” Ortiz asked while complying with the request.

“Controlling the parachute, unless of course you would rather the nine of you impact with nothing to slow you down. I’m certain the local fauna would be more than pleased to feast on your flesh.”

“Enough Bob.” Jack said, “We ll need to focus on landing safely and completing the mission.”

“As if I couldn’t pilot this tin can while barating you.” Bob mocked in a hurt tone, but otherwise fell silent. Before long, the felt the shuttle slow even further as the the AI continued to bring them to the ground. The maniuation of the parachutes was so precise that they felt almost no impact when the touched down. “Landing successful. Releasing restraints and opening capsule in thirty seconds.”

Control of his body returned to him, and Jack pulled the magnetic rifle from his back and channeled extra power into the weapon. Reaching into his power, he sent a thread of light into the radio system of each squad member to create a loop and establish communications. With his final moments before the shuttle opened, he sent one final communication thread to the main hub aboard the Washington.

“Speir squad, sound off when ready.” Jack said into the comms.

“West, ready.”

“Walker, ready.”

“Alexander, ready.”

“Morningwood, ready.”

“Ortiz, ready.”

“Neilson, ready.”

“Hayward, ready.”

“Olfson, ready.”

“Ten-four. Washington, this is Speir. We are ready for assult. Please report status of the other squads.”

A whirring sound came from all around them and the pod began to open. Just like Smith had described, it felt like they were inside a giant flower as it bloomed. Once the seals were broken, every third panel fell to the ground giving the squad an exit while still providing cover in the event that they were dropped in a hot-zone.

“Speir, this is Striker squad. Looks like we were dropped in a small town roughly thirty clicks off. We are going to start some mayhem and draw attention.”

While the leader of Striker spoke, Jack connected to his vision in order to have a clear understanding of what exactly was happening. Apparently, they were already out of the pod and getting into position to attack. If he had to guess, it would be at most a matter of minuted before the soldiers would begin their distraction.

“Nebula here. We landed at our intended target, and are in positon to attack the south-eastern gate. Give us the ready and we will begin.”

Still distracted by the view from Striker, he dropped the thread and verified what the second squad had already stated. According to the overhead map, Nebula’s position was directly south of their own and appeared to be heavily fortified. Once the enemy finally noticed them, it would be a miracle if they got out unscathed.

“Understood Nebula. I’m adding a Light map to the topo. Hopefully it will give you a clearer view of what you are dealing with. Blackrock, how are you guys looking?” Jack said, sending out a pulse of light and uploading the results.

“We’re good Turaspeir. We landed within a half mile of what appears to be a power plant. Our basic intel on the facility shows that it is unguarded. We can have the power down in moments, then join Nebula at the gate.” The squad leader of Blackrock squad reported. His voice carring a tone that showed just how unafraid he was about this or any mission.

“Roger that, moving out.” Jack replied, motioning to his squad.

The rookie soldiers formed a basic patrol formation with Dave at the front for protection, and Cecile in the back for distance support. Each was overly nervous, and it showed. Every snap of a twig and rustling of leaves had them spinning with weapons raised. On more than one occasion, Ortiz attacked a fallen branch with a rope of Light because it looked too lifelike.

Unfortunately, the problem with travelling in a jungle isn’t that something might be watching, it is that something is definitely watching. This fact was proven when they were ambushed by the short Oteric when they neared the one mile mark.

A javelin glanced off of Candice’s shoulder, sparking with energy before burying itself in the dirt. A warcry sounded from the undergrowth as ten of the small creatures attacked. Before any of them could close the gap, a blue dome made of interlocking hexagrams materialized around the squad.

Their attackers looked like they could be cousins with Earth’s giant rain forest lizard population. They stood no more than four feet high while sporting what appeared to be primitive clothing. Most carried javelin’s matching the one that hit Candice, but some were armed with bolo’s and daggers.

“For real? Cheap shot asshole.” Candice said, raising her arms to send forth a four strands of Light that twisted around the creatures and bound them to the ground.

With a flick of her wrists, a pair of rods shot from Nessa’s bracers to settle nicely in her hands. Moving with the grace of an experienced fighter, she dashed through Dave’s barrier as red blades formed in her hands.

Showing absolutely no mercy when she reached the first creature, she spun in a wide arcing attack. Before Jack could even register the death, she had found her next target and was moving toward it quickly. Behind her, the head of the Oteric warrior fell to the gound, wound instantly cauterized by the sheer head of the blade.

Casting his senses away from the attack, he felt another small group of warriors coming from the rear. Relying on his training, the young Optic spun and used a combinaton of viewpoints to triangulate the head of one of them. A simply touch on the trigger launched a bullet of compressed Light into the enemy’s forhead, dropping it to the ground.

“Be careful, there is backup in the trees.” Jack said, making everyone aware of the penging danger.

“In about ten seconds I will be through their encryption.” Warren said, “Once in, I think I can disable the powered part of the weapons so that they basically cant hurt us.”

“Good work. Everyone else, lay into these guys like it’s target practice.” Jack said, killing another one.

With a dash similar to Nessa’s, Thea ran out from the cover of Dave’s dome. Unlike Nessa and the Breaker Corps, Phantoms didn’t need weapons to be lethal. A simple touch was enough for a member of their Corps to flood a beings body with Light and sever vital organs. The method appeared gentle, but in the heat of battle it was anything but.

Thea dropped to the ground to avoid a strike from a still sparking spear. Exploding forward like a compressed spring, she wrapped her hand around the ankle of her target. The creature had enough time to look downward at her before a flash of green light left it nothing but a twitching pile of flesh.

“Morningwood and Neilson, I need you to focus on the ones in the trees. The others can handle the remaining.” Jack commanded as another creature dropped to the forest floor.

“Heard.” The two soldiers said in unison as they changed targets.

Unlike Candice, Diago Ortiz wasn’t gifted with the ability to control more than a couple strands of Light. What he was gifted with however, was the ability to use those strands with almost no concious thought while wielding a rifle.

Tendrils of wire reinforced with th yellow Light of the Binders corps wrapped around one of the remaining enemy Oteric. Using the wire as a wench, he pulled the creature in to point blankn range before unloading a pair of rounds into its heart.

In the heat of the fight, the small skirmish felt as if it took hours. However, when the dust settled and the last of the enemies were silenced, only a few minutes passed. It wasn’t his first fire fight, they had seen plenty of them during the past year with the older squads, but it was the first one that they had been in without the more experienced soldiers at their sides.

For the first time since joining the AHF, Spier squad had experienced a battle with no backup. For the first time, it was real.

“Is everyone ok?” Jack asked as he refreshed his Light map. With the enemy proving their willingness to use geurilla tactics, he left his senses wide open to new viewpoints that could give them a warning in the event of another ambush.

“Yeah,” Dave said, “I don’t think primatives with pointy sticks really stood much of a chance against us though.”

“You’d be surprised, while I was shutting them down I founf out that those javelins contain a pressure release neurotoxin unlike anything we have in our databanks.” Warren informed, picking up one of the fallen weapons and attaching it to his Mag-sling. “Don’t underestimate them.”

“I think that was their facility security.” Jack said, pointing in the direction the enemies had come from. “My map shows a clearing with a large structure no more than two-hundred feet further.”

Not wanting to be caught by more guards, the squad set off at a run. Within a matter of moments, the trees gave way to a large open field with a single large building at its center. The Oteric facility looked like a cross between something from the stone age and a modern building. Its walls were formed of a mudlike substance, but the various doors were all set with gleaming steel.

“Anyone else feel like we are being set up here?” Dave asked.

“Totally.” Alec replied, “Their tech research building looks like a hasily built mudhut that ran out of mud. Who told us these people have advanced science?”

“Your intel did.” LT. Hawkins said over the comm, “They are like ants, the main facility is underground. The top section is just to show that there is in fact a building there.”

“Ok squad, I see two more guards. Neilson, I am going to show you where the first is, then I am headed to take out the second. Do not pull the trigger until I say go.” Jack explained, highlighting the guard’s location on Ceciles map.

Watching every possible angle, he slowly approached the distracted guard. Apparently, their previous skirmish hadn’t been as loud as he’d feared. He drew a combat knife and started a countdown on both he and Ceciles HUD. When the timer finally ran out, he struck, wrapping an arm around its throat while plunging the knife through its chest.

“Target eliminated.” He said, highlighting an approach route that would avoid surveylance.

“Ditto.” Cecile replied.

While the squa caught up with his location, Jack cast his senses into the building in an attempt to locate potential resistance. What he finds is not suprising in the least, the soldiers inside were not ready for an attack, nor were they expecting one. From what he could see, most were simply off duty and in the very wrong place at the very wrong time.

“Washington, this is Turaspeir. Do we have permission to breach?” Jack asked once everyone was in position.

“Heard. Speir squad you are clear for breach. Please inform once you have secured the package.”

In response, Alec delivered an armor reinforced kick to the door, shattering the frame and leaving the portal permanately destroyed.