The<span style="font-style: italic"><span style="font-weight: bold">three</span></span>Low Altitude Assault Transports (LAAT) entered the planet's atmosphere at orbital velocity, which is just over seventeen thousand miles per hour. All three light transports appeared as glowing balls of fire for the occupants of the planet as they pushed their way through the molecules of the outer atmosphere. The Marines wore dark goggles to shield their eyes from the bright light inside the vehicles. The exterior surface of the LAAT shielded the occupants from the excessive heat of the friction. The friction, in turn slowed the vehicles down, the closer they got to the surface. The slower the light crafts moved, the cooler they became until all three LAATs were heading toward the surface at just under three hundred miles per hour and continuing to reduce speed. At less than one hundred twenty miles per hour, the crew chief aboard each transport opened the rearward sliding doors on both sides of the aircraft.<br/><br/><div style="text-align: center;"><a class="postlink" href="http://rpggamer.org/shippics/laati.jpg">[ img ]</a></div><br/><br/>The Draco Marines were accustomed to flying with the doors open and no seat belts in combat situation. It allowed them to exit the vehicle quickly in the event of an emergency. The lead LAAT contained twelve marines from first squad, two mobile railgunners, the civilian scientist and the platoon commander, Knight Lieutenant Vezoth. When the first vehicle touched down into  the soft, wet soil, the Draco Marines instinctively dropped down into the mess and found themselves up to their knees in muck pretty quick. They were able to move in the slop, but it was slow going. The LAAT itself was already two feet into the swamp and slowly sinking. The pilot attempted to use thrusters to pry himself out, but his 15-ton ship was not budging. The pilot quickly alerted the other two LAATs carrying the rest of the platoon. There was no immediate threat so they pushed on searching for dry solid land.<br/><br/>Lieutenant Vezoth looked over at the Scientist, Dr. Lenard-son. She did not know the man very well. Had heard of him, but he was now one of her charges. She was responsible for insuring his safety. He appeared to be enjoying himself during the<span style="font-style: italic">"burn in"</span>through the outer atmosphere and appreciated the cool air when the doors finally slid open. There really is not a lot talking in the back of one of these LAATs. It is quite noisy and if you are not hooked into the vehicle's comms system, it is best to remain quiet.<br/><br/>A pair of strange creatures appeared. One of the hovering co-pilots noticed them first. He quickly alerted everyone else by radio. "These must be the two life signs the<span style="font-style: italic">Dortmund</span>picked up on scanners," Lieutenant Vezoth interjected.<br/><br/>"They are attempting to tie off the LAAT and prevent it from sinking any further," a pilot piped up. "They don't appear to be hostile." The pilot of the second craft witnessed their lassoing efforts and moved on to a more viable Landing Zone (LZ) roughly four hundred meters to the east. With both craft on the ground and the remaining marines disembarked along with their Scientist charges, the Platoon Sergeant ordered the second and third squads back to where the first squad's LAAT was mired on the swamp. They would help to pry the vehicle out and get it back to the<span style="font-style: italic">Dortmund</span>.<br/><br/>"Once you know it is clear, we can call in a Scout ship from the Cruiser. It has a light tractor beam and can pick that LAAT up out of the mess," one of the three pilots interjected.<br/><br/>Lieutenant Vezoth slowly made her way to the dry land where the pointy eared aliens were located. She was panting from both the load on her back and the efforts her legs were enduring pushing through the thick muddy water. "Thank you very much," the platoon commander spoke to the aliens. "If you could secure your line, we can get the ship out of this....bog." Rosi tried to smile, but she wasn't  fooling anyone. She slowly extricated herself, heaving up onto the dry land. "My name is Lieutenant Vezoth of the Drakones Empire. Who might you be?" She knew these women were not responsible for the attack on their ship on the previous day. She knew they were not the threat her company commander warned her about. She was unaware of the ship's captain's remarks when all of this began.<br/><br/>Lieutenant Vezoth looked back at Dr. Lenard-son, "hey Doc! How you doing? You need help getting out of the swamp?" She tried to smile, but managed an uncomfortable grin.<br/><br/>Meanwhile, back aboard the<span style="font-style: italic">Dortmund</span><br/><br/>"Let me know as soon as you hear anything more from Lieutenant Vorzeth," Captain Bodaway told the Officer of the Day. "I'll be in my office resting." He returned to the cot he napped on from time to time.<br/><br/>The<span style="font-style: italic">Dortmund</span>was alerted to the dire situation regarding the mired LAAT and a 100-ton Scout ship had already been dispatched to attempt a retrieval of the downed vehicle. As soon as it was free, all three LAATs and the Scout ship would return to the Cruiser.