Planetfall

[jammi]

A Platoon had been given the escort honours. Nole had them fallen in up topside, where they were waiting for their Warrior APC to emerge from the cargo lift. An entire armoured contingent was contained somewhere down below, with enough APCs for a decent armoured infantry strike and enough self propelled artillery pieces to lay down a withering barrage of fire.

Then there was the whine of the rising lift as the first vehicle slowly came into view, before rolling off the platform and onto the dusty ground a coming to a stop on the hardened concrete of the road. The Warriors were impressive pieces of kit. They had been manufactured on Leeds itself before the war, but with priority being given to the Navy for construction facilities, blueprints for all of the Armys kit had been outsourced to Liberty and Reinland.

There was a small pop from Noles headset that brought him back to the world. Captain, this is Foxtrot-oh-one-niner. Were here to give you a lift, over.

Copy that. Well embark then we can be off. Switching communications frequency he addressed Corporal Mills and Andrews. Right, get your sections loaded up; were ready to move out. The rear loading ramp then ground open, coinciding neatly with Nole's order and blowing up a cloud of dust as it touched down on the floor. The men of 1 section then clambered into the space inside with 2 section moving to the third and final Warrior of the convoy. The centre vehicle being occupied by the Royal Engineer unit.

Sir, this is Mills. 2 section embarked were ready to move, over.

Copy that. Giving the order to move. Nole knocked twice on the access plate to the drivers compartment. After a moment the metal plate was slid aside to reveal a middle aged man with a light beard. He was wearing a Staff Sergeants stripes and crown. Ready to move Staff. All units are embarked.

Right you are sir. Well need a man up top on the turret though. We can control the cannon from down here, but we need someone on the 40. Cal. New orders you see with the new invasion risk, weve got to have weapons manned while moving in the open. Nole nodded before turning back to the compartment. The other seven men were huddled around the edge of the compartment on benches built into the Warriors walls.

One of you needs to man the turret. Its a long journey so well be on rotation. His voice sounded tinny and distorted through the helmets voice broadcaster.

Will you be on that rotation? Sir. That was Killen. He had a reputation for unruliness and snide comments.

Yes I will private. And I suppose that means you just volunteered for first shift? Off you go. There were a few laughs. Resignedly Killen hauled himself to his feet and climbed the small ladder in the centre of the compartment to the turret.

The driver looked back. Feel free to take the helmet off while youre in here. The hulls pressurised so there wont be any toxins getting in.

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