My eyes fluttered open to darkness. A constant thruming permeated the cabin, vibrating the deck behind my back. 'Had I fallen asleep?' I thought, 'Was I just dreaming?' A snore to the right broke into my silence. Turning my head I saw another soldier, cradling a Cycler machine gun. Looking beyond him I saw the third guy in our compartment. Then it all came flooding back to me. My platoon and I had departed from Sanctuary in a Dropship, on a long haul through the night to a continent bordering the New Conglomerate. We were on our way to battle, and all we could do was sleep while we had the chance.
How long I had been out was a mystery. It had probably only been minutes, but even those few minutes had been precious jewels to treasure. Allready I was beginning to miss them. Sleep on the hand, wasn't to be forthcoming. Instead the Squad Commander's voice broke through the constant hum, banishing any further thoughts os sleep.
"Allright people, stop sleeping and listen up," came the command from the comm speakers.
I nudged the soldier snoring to the right of me. His snores abruptly stopped with a suck and a cough. Straightening in his seat, he briefly glared at me for daring to wake him. However, just as he was about to spew forth some hot retort, he abruptly swallowed it back as the Commander's voice continued.
"We're coming up on Dagnor, on the continent of Easmir," intoned the Commander.
"There are reports that the New Conglomerate and Vanu Sovereignty have reached a compromise here. This is allowing them to divert troops to other areas, putting pressure on some of our bases close to Sanctuary. Our job is to disrupt this by taking Dagnor and opening a whole for future forces to pour into the area," the Commander paused.
"This is likely to be a hot drop, so I want all of you to check your equipment and get yourselves ready...
"Johnson," asked the Commander, subtly changing track, "You and Haussin will advance to the vehicle pad, hack it and get us an AMS unit. Turner, soon as we are in, I need you to hack the outboard med and equipment term. The rest, make your way to the Command Center and take it...
"Once we've got the base hacked, we'll set up some patrols. Now all we have to do is hold the base at least 15 minutes. After that and reinforcements will begin to arrive. I don't want any funny business so you all stick to the plan and keep an eye out for each other...
"One last thing," paused the Commander, "We've done this before, and we'll do this again. None of us our raw recruits, and I expect you all to do the job. These idiots don't know what real war is, and it's up to us, the Terran Repbulic to show them. 2 minutes to drop..." and the comm clicked off.
I grimaced to myself in the dark cabin, and swung my Cycler around. Quickly I checked my gear, priming a concussion grenade in my quick snatch spot, as I went over the orders in my head. Finally I was done and looked up, in time to meet the snoring soldier's grin. I signaled a quick reply with a single thumbs up, then settled myself back into chair, bracing for ejection, just in time for the Commander to speak again.
"Well sweethearts, I hope you had a nice nap, cause it's now time to go to work, and this will be a hot drop. On my mark, I'll see you on the ground."
I grinned, my energy levels spiking with anticipation. The dark cabin subtly changed in hue as the side panels of the dropship slipped aside. The time was at hand.
"On my mark, prepare to drop...
"Go, go, go!"