Edmund gritted his teeth and held on as the thunderous roar of reentry and the control jets filled the escape shuttle, he couldn't even hear himself think. The seconds dragged into an eternity as he felt the effects of gravity increasing, darkness creeping in at the edge of his vision. He desperately clung to consciousness, trying to stay awake. But as the darkness enveloped him he embraced it, and all was quiet.<br/><br/>---------<br/><br/>From the surface there were occasional streaks of light visible in the sky as shuttles made their way down through the atmosphere. As much as the shuttles were signs of hope that some had escaped, there were omens of death scattered around the surface of the planet. Great plums of black smoke rose from the burning remains of shuttles that had crashed into the alien jungles too fast. The fires attracted swarms of massive insects, some larger than a full-grown man, that pulled any survivors from the wreckage and feasted upon them as they screamed for help. Other shuttles were more lucky, groups of marines desperately fought against the wildlife. Unfortunately most fell quickly, being overwhelmed by sheer numbers. In the skies another streak signified yet another shuttle that fell from the battle above.<br/><br/>As it tumbled down through the atmosphere the control jets struggled to properly right it. Just as it neared the point where this would be deadly it finally righted itself and started to rapidly decelerate, losing the lethal momentum. It continued arcing downward and cut a path down into the glowing alien jungle, smashing through massive succulents that exploded in brightly glowing liquids over the shuttle and sandy forest floor. The escape shuttle hit the forest floor hard and rolled, crushing a jet flat on its right side before hitting a massive crimson red succulent that was decorated in intricate blue and green glowing patterns. The deafening noise of the crash landing scared off most of the wildlife but a few of the braver and larger animals slowly started making their way toward the crashed shuttle...<br/><br/>---------<br/><br/>Edmund woke up slowly, and slowly shook his head and put his mechanical hand over his eyes. He felt sore all over, like he had just been thrown down a flight of steps. He just wanted to get some more sleep, give the wounds some time to rest...<i><span style="color: red">Wait, why am I laying down?</span></i>He shook his head and looked around, actually taking in his surroundings. The shuttle was on its side and his side of the shuttle was lying on the ground, the squad members on the other side of the shuttle hung from their harnesses.  He had a feeling that not all of them were alive, with a landing as hard as that. Edmund unstrapped himself from his seat and slid back onto what had once been the wall of the shuttle to stand up. Once he was up he quickly drew his sidearm and checked to see what others were waking up.<div class="messageTextEndMarker"> </div>