Joshua Cain was not a worrisome man... it took a lot to make him sweat.
This however, was one of those times. 1000 men all under his command, many of them his fellow Freelancers and almost every soldier he was leading was a greenhorn straight out of boot and freshly unplugged from the simulations.
"This is not going to be pretty..." he muttered quietly as he walked down the drop pod bay's main hallway. The Helljumpers were already there, going over last minute checks on the briefing and their equipment, as well as the usual pre-jump rituals that certain squads came up with from time to time. As he did, a man about in his 20s wearing the uniform of a British officer from the Victorian era popped up on a nearby holotank.
"We're 30 minutes out sir." he said in a hushed tone.
"Very well.... Fox, call them in; it's time to see what these recruits are made of." Germany replied. "And prep my pod, I want to be the first to hit the ground."
"Aye sir." the AI replied, the same worry that plagued Germany obvious on the avatar's face.
Alabama was sitting in on the ground with his helmet off when the message arrived. [Alabama.] "I know. Nothing else needs to be said." Ala picks up his helmet and heads for the Jump room.
*Jersey runs to the Jump room, clearly late, when he passes an office door. He stops and backs up to it to read the name on it.* "Heh... Dr. Hu... Wait, Shit!" *He returns to rushing to the Jump room.*
Key had Setup in the claustraphobicquarters she'd been given, due to the cramped size of the ship, she'd had to share with Germany, As the moment dawned she began the process of getting that powered undersuit which compensated slightly for what strength she never had, as well as the Regulation Covenant Pink armour plates
Once she had the plates on she took the two plasma rifles from her Rack, putting one on each thigh. She picked up her blade, turned it on for a moment, examining it, she then turned it off and attached it to her chest, below where her right breast would be.looking back at the Rack, there were a few more things, which she put in their respective holders and pouches.she took a look at her helmet on the rack, before takin git in her hand, and walking out the door, down to the readyroom.
Key could see Ash walking down the hall towards the Jump room. He was fully armored, with his helmet on, as usual, and had a SRS99C-S2 AMB Sniper Rifle strapped to his back, and a pistol with an extended barrel attached to his hip holster.
[Sir, it would appear to be time for our first mission.]
"Excellent. Glad to finally get these damn knuckles finished."
[With all due respect, we have not concluded sufficient testing. We cannot be 100% certain that new equipment will be fully functional.]
"Well, there's nothing quite like a field test. And these, as you said, are new. We've survived without them and we will survive if they fail. Let's get going."
"That I can agree to... at least the speed part." Ger added as he walked up to them. "Besides, nothing to worry about, low orbit drops are the safest."
"Ah there you are, you know me and how much I distaste those pods, Low orbit isn't as bad I will admit" She moved to the side a bit making room for him to walk withthem.
"I know I know, but I wanted everyone on the ground as soon as possible... and most of these newer Freelancers have never been in a combat insertion with a pod... or at all, before. They need this." Ger said, "Everyone has their assignments, specifics will be on your HUD while we drop. Try not to die, please." he added with a grin, "And with any luck I won't have to get out of my Warthog this time."
Alabama stopped halfway to the jump room. "Shit.... Ima need weapons...." He heads to the armory and starts going through them all. Eventually settling on a Magnum and a Battle Rifle. He grabbed a bunch of extra ammo and threw both weapons on safety, grabbing two frags and clipping them to his belt before reaching the room.
"Alright ladies and gents, into your pods, we drop in 15 and you'll be briefed on the way down." Germany barked as he started towards his pod, the one right between Ash and Key's respective pods given their roles during this mission.
*Gloucester nods upon hearing they are dropping in fifteen and makes sure he has two spare clips for his pistol, his dagger is sharp and that he has his kukri. Gloucester leans back in hsi pod and folds his arms patiently waiting*
Ala stuck his weapons in his pod's holsters. Climbing in after and taking a deep breath. He really hated the feeling of falling out of space towards a planet.
Kyy nodded, Clambering into the pod, she lay back in it as much as one could, she took a deep breath and closed her eyes. Calmity before storm was something she'd believed in very much.
"You gonna be alright in there,Aya...?" Germany asked over a private channel as Fox downloaded to his armor again and he ran a systems check. Needless to say, his checklist was more extensive than anyone else's.
