"Orders confirmed, combat drop commencing" the pilot said into her coms head set, her attention never drifting from the course she was piloting her dropship along. They'd departed from the USS Johannesburg half an hour ago and had powered over to the USS Mitchum for identity confirmation. Sure the Johannesburg could have just towed them over and let them loose closer to the Mitchum but they were already going out of their way and they didn't want to lose any more time. So they had sent 2nd Squad off in a single drop ship. As these thoughts passed through the pilot's head she sighed....she'd miss 'the burge it had been a good ship. Hopefully the Mitchum would make a nice home now. Pushing the thoughts from her mind she flicked the switch to connect her to her cargo's coms system. "We'll be breaking atmo in minute or so. Strap in marines." She then flicked the switch off, a smile spreading across her face. This was what she lived for! This was a combat drop, and that meant there was no reason for her to do it any way but fast!<br/><br/>Throttling up the engine to full power she began to guide the dropship to it's LZ.<br/><br/><br/><strong><span class="bbc_u">Captain Robert Henson "Boss"</span></strong><br/><br/><br/>Henson (http://www.newsinfilm.com/wp-content/uploads/2009/08/stephen-lang.jpg) could feel the slight rumble move through the APC and knew that the dropship was moving at full speed...it wouldn't be too much longer until they were in the hot zone. It had been a while since Henson had been in this position but as soon as he'd strapped himself into his command seat it had all come back to him. Just like riding a bike you never forget how. As these things passed through his head he forced himself to focus on the mission at hand.<br/><br/>If FATHER's info was accurate then 1st Squad had already run into some pretty big trouble. Apparently there was something The Corps wanted something on LV-1875 and FATHER wasn't spilling the beans. Henson didn't like this one bit, it was the kind of mission that 'never happened' if things went wrong. The kind you swept under the rug and didn't send rescue parties for....He'd planned and ordered more than a few of these when he was still a Colonel....before that worthless little pissant of a General had gotten him demoted.<br/><br/>His eyes ran across the interior of the APC, from one member of 2nd Squad to the next.<br/><br/>Standing in the center of the APC's walk way was 'Gunny (http://datafortress2020.110mb.com/conflictsa/ResizeRoseMirror.jpg)' aka. Master Gunnery Sargent Diana Garcia, Henson smiled a bit as he watched her preform a spot check on each of the marines int he squad, eying them for anything that could prove troublesome when they hit combat. She as a good woman, and even more importantly she was an excellent NCO. She'd served under Henson before...back when he had been a Lieutenant he'd been impressed with her then and he still was now. When he'd found out what his new post was going to be he'd made damn sure to have her ass transferred into what was soon to be his squad before he lost all his real power.<br/><br/><br/>Diana sat down at the far end of the APC's row of seats next to her sat Sargent Poe (http://cache.io9.com/assets/resources/2008/04/casper3.jpg), he was the squad's smartgunner, and on the last stretch of his tour of service and didn't intend on signing up for another. Which was perfectly fine by Henson, that didn't make him a 'bad marine' ...... but it did mean that Henson was going to have to watch him closely on this drop. When marines started getting short on their time in they started to get a lot less brave....But if his marksmanship scores were to be believed he was an excellent shot...and that made up for alot in Henson's book.<br/><br/><br/>To Poe's left was 'Rizzo' (http://nakri.co.uk/GearFox/wp-content/uploads/Future-Marine-Recon.jpg) another one of the marine's who Henson had hand picked for his squad. 'Rizzo' was what Henson liked to call a 'model marine.' He was in shape, he had self control, he was a great shot, he was just smart enough to fully understand any orders given to him, and most of all he would follow any order without question, complaint, or hesitation. For what ever his reasons he genuinely believed that The USMC was vital to the survival of the human race. Henson knew that he could probably do more with a platoon of 'Rizzos' then he could do with a battalion of other marines.<br/><br/>Next up was "Wild Thing" (http://www.starstore.com/acatalog/SG-1-Jonas-Quinn-PX.jpg) his real name was Nathan Creed but no one seemed to call him that...prey tell that even his DI's had called him Wild Thing.... Well it wasn't like the name didn't fit. The boy was fresh out of boot and green as hell...it showed a mile away to anyone who knew what to look for. As far as Henson could tell he was doing his best to hide it and failing miserably at it. The other thing he was attempting to hide with absolutely no success was the fact that he was a total pyro. Diana had asked him how he knew when he told her his opinion earlier today. And he'd replied that he had noticed the speech patterns, the way his eyes were a little too glazed over, the nervous habit of playing with a lighter when there was nothing else to do....oh yeah there was also the fact  that when they had let loose on the Johannesburg's firing range Wild Thing had been laughing his ass off as he cooked the dummy targets they'd lined up for him with his flamethrower....I was actually kind of troubling just how many USMC flamethrower men were fire bugs....<br/><br/><br/>As his eyes moved down the line of seats they came across that talking slab of muscle that was Donald "Tank" Griswold (http://i.ytimg.com/vi/cbeoLzWn9Q8/0.jp). The man was HUGE, and built just like his name sake. He would have made another 'model marine' if it wasn't for the fact that he was a horrible shot and probably had the lowest IQ in the entire squad...and that was saying something.... But Donald knew his short comings and was pretty damn good with a shotgun. Which just so happened to be his weapon of choice. As Henson eyed the man he couldn't help but smile a bit, despite the fact that Donald could probably break most people in half just as easily as shake their hand. He was probably the nicest person in 2nd Squad. He really was a kind soul...and very over protective of his fellow marines, especially the females...<br/><br/><br/>And above all others he was protective of Irene Blake (http://i196.photobucket.com/albums/aa298/schnookums1950/Fantasy_Female_soldier_009574_.jpg)....or as everyone in 2nd Squad knew her "Heart-breaker" she was a daddy's girl. BUT she was a daddy's girl with enough of a sense of civic duty to sign up for the Corps. God knew she didn't have to. And that made her OK in Henson's book. She was also the object of Tank's unending love...everyone in the squad including her could see it in the way the big oaf was always trying to talk with her....the poor bastard was in for some pain when he found out that miss beauty queen didn't see him the same way.<br/><br/><br/>The only member of the Squad that Henson couldn't see was 'Art.' (http://images.wikia.com/jamesbond/images/1/1d/Alec_Trevelyan.JPG) The squad's Synth-.......err....Artificial Person. He was currently seated in his driver's chair at the front of the APC, Henson had his back to that area and wasn't about to turn around just to take a look at him. Art had served with Henson since he had been nothing more than a 2nd Lieutenant. He'd been the andr.....Artificial Person assigned to Henson's squad all those years ago. He'd proven loyal, capable, and surprisingly decent to be around. He was a model BIMS-104. Henson knew that Art wasn't exactly top of the line anymore.... and that the company that had produced him was no longer in existence. Which made replacement parts hard as hell to find. But He had served as Henson's aid, and right hand for all these years with no problems. Henson considered Art his friend, and one of only three marines in the squad he'd be willing to take a bullet for.<br/><br/>Henson was jarred from these thoughts as the dropship's pilot spoke over the intercom. Her voice was smooth and confidant as she said "buckle up marines! We're about to begin the drop." With a smile on his lips Henson looked over at Diana and said "Alright Gunny...would you like to do the honors?"<br/><br/><strong><em><span class="bbc_u">Master Gunnery Sargent Diana "Gunny" Garcia </span></em></strong><br/><br/>Diana nodded "With pleasure Captain" she said her voice surprisingly feminine for someone who knew more ways to kill a man than she'd ever really use. 'Doing the honors' was a little tradition that Captain Henson had brought along into every unit he'd served with. When he had been Diana's Lt. she'd been surprised the first time her sergeant had 'done the honors'. But she'd only been a private then and didn't realize how good a tool it was to psyche up marines before a drop.  She did now, and she also recognized just how good of a leader the Captain was.....not that he hadn't caught her eye all those years back then...though it had been for different reasons.... Reaching up behind where she was strapped into her seat she found the device she was looking for and slowly began to turn it on. This always made her think of her ancestors putting on their war paint before going out to go kill some white men, or hunt down some wild animals. She was very proud of her ancestors and closed her eyes as she pushed the final button on the device.<em>'Time to put on my war paint' (http://video.search.yahoo.com/video/play?ei=UTF-8&amp;fr=yfp-t-701&amp;p=long+tall+sally&amp;vid=0001551253051&amp;dt=&amp;l=127&amp;turl=http%3A%2F%2Fyts.video.search.yahoo.com%2Fimage%2F20db743b1&amp;rurl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fv%2FGsJVT8Jr_pM%26hl%3Dja%26fs%3D1&amp;tit=Little++Richard+-++Long+Tall++Sally&amp;sigr=11fdcu9i6&amp;newfp=1&amp;surl=http%3A%2F%2Fwww.youtube.com%2Fwatch%3Fgl%3DJP%26hl%3Dja%26v%3DGsJVT8Jr_pM&amp;sigs=11mu1t590)</em>she thought as the dropship began to shake and shudder with the stress of re-entry.<br/><br/><br/><span class="bbc_u"><strong><em>"Ladies' Man" Sergeant Cyrus Poe </em></strong></span><br/><br/>Ladies Man wasn't happy with the situation at all, his eyes were screwed shut tight. He hated drops....he always had. Combat drops, training drops, hell he even hated civilian re-entries. It was all the shaking...it always made him think they were going to fly apart.<em>'Damn it why'd they have to get assigned to this fucking mission! Why couldn't it have just been 3rd Squad'</em>he thought to himself. It just wasn't fair, they were supposed to be on their way to Gateway for some final training procedures and simulated combat exercises to help cement their team work....seeing as their squad had only been together for a few weeks, and that included travel time, they needed it. And even more than that the training period was scheduled to have lasted 3 weeks...his enlistment was over in 2! He would have been out, free and clear and on his way back home! It just wasn't fair. But at least this was his last drop. As he heard that damn music playing he kept his eyes shut. They'd just go down to the planet do what they needed to then bug out. He'd be fine and then he'd be done before they even got back to Gateway. One more drop that's all he needed. With the ship shaking and jinking around "Ladies' Man" kept his eyes shut, softly whispering to himself "one more drop, one more drop, one more drop" over and over all the way down.<br/><br/><span class="bbc_u"><strong><em>Lance Corporal Nathan "Wild Man" Creed</em></strong></span><br/><br/>Speaking up to be heard over the music 'Wild Man' looked over at 'Tank' and said "Hey....stop me if you've heard this one man!" A smile was on his face, not that anyone was able to see it thanks to his apesuit "So I was with this Navy chick back on 'the burg' and me and her were in her room right....and I was going down on her right... so I stop for a second, I look up at her and I says<strong>'Damn you got a big pussy, damn you got a big pussy'</strong>. And she says<strong>'Why'd you say it twice?'</strong>, and I keep lookin at her and say<strong>'I didn't'</strong>!!" 'Wild Man' burst into laughter as he finished off his joke putting extra emphasis on the punch line. He laughed for a good 30 seconds before he noticed that 'Tank' wasn't "You get it man?" he asked "I only said it once....but she heard it twice cause.....cause of the echo..." 'Wild Man's' voice grew a bit softer as he finished explaining it. 'Tank' still wasn't laughing.<br/><br/>"PIG!" he heard 'Heartbreaker' call out. Form the other side of the big guy.<br/><br/><strong><span class="bbc_u"><em>Private Donald Griswold a.k.a. "Tank"</em></span></strong><br/><br/>Donald had gotten the joke without 'Wild Man' needing to explain it to him. He just hadn't thought it was very funny. And even if he had he wouldn't have laughed at it. Irene was sitting right on the other side of him and he knew she wouldn't have liked it if he'd laughed. And he had been right! As soon as 'Wild Man' had finished his joke she'd called him a pig. Donald was very pleased with his decision not to laugh, a proud smile spreading across his face. He sat with his face looking forward, even though his eyes were aimed at their usual target, Irene. They weren't on her breasts or her legs, they were on her face. From the moment they'd met Donald had thought she was the most beautiful woman he'd ever seen, he'd just never told her. And she never seemed to notice...He'd tell her after this drop, when the whole squad was on Gateway and out of possible danger.<em>She'll be really surprised</em>he thought to himself. The smile never leaving his lips<br/><br/><strong><span class="bbc_u"><em>"Heart Breaker" a.k.a. Lance Corporal Irene Blake</em></span></strong><br/><br/>'Tank' was eying her again! Irene rolled her eyes in mild frustration. She wondered if 'Tank' actually thought she didn't see the way he was always ogling her? She'd grown used to it through out her life. Ever since she was 12 or 13 she'd gotten the looks from every guy who she passed. If he had been anyone else she'd have told him to keep his damn eyes to himself by now. But 'Tank' was....well he was different....she'd never caught him looking at anything but her face. And well.....she honestly thought he might be a little.....'special'......like not alot! But a little, so him looking at her wasn't SO bad, he just had an innocent crush on her and didn't know what to do about it. She could deal with that....especially since it meant she basically had a walking human shield with her on every mission. She knew the big guy would never build up the courage to tell her how he felt or even ask her out. Which meant she'd never have to reject him! Sure...he was sweet...but that wasn't enough for her.<br/><br/><br/><strong><span class="bbc_u"><em>Private Arturo "Rizzo" Risoto </em></span></strong><br/><br/>The other marines were all joking around but 'Rizzo' was silent as always. He hardly ever joined in on shooting the shit on the way down, he was always busy with more important things. His eyes were closed and his hands were folded into one another. His lips moving silently, he was praying.  He had been raised a good Catholic boy and always said his prayers before going into harm's way.<em>Dear Lord, please give me the strength to achieve my given tasks, the wisdom to know how, the will power to go through with the hardship that is to come, please protect me and the rest of my squad. Please grant us victory against our enemies for they are the enemies of humanity, whether they be terrorists bending the words of their false gods into messages of hate or secessionists seeking to create war amongst your creations. And should I die please grant me peace and a place in your kingdom. For these things I pray to you Lord.</em>As he finished his prayer Arturo crossed himself and opened his eyes. He was ready to fight...and if need be to die.<br/><br/><br/><strong><span class="bbc_u"><em>"Art"</em></span></strong><br/><br/>Art sat in the APC's driver's chair. While his body was utterly still ' the processors and algorithms that gave him his intelligence, what a man would probably call his mind, were racing away. Several of his internal systems were powering up. He was an older model, and he knew it. He'd been designed and created well before several advancements in the creation of artificial people had been discovered. He'd heard that the newer models were capable of thought that mirrored human thought. But he wasn't one of those models and such capabilities were not his, like humans he was able to think, but he wasn't able to think like them. He didn't see the world the way they did, what he saw (http://img829.imageshack.us/img829/6463/hud.png), was very different. Overlapped with information, thought processes, and status updates. Most of his fellow BIMS-104's were no longer functional, at the last time he had checked he was the 3rd oldest BIMs-104 in existence, he'd been active for 288 standard months.  At the announcement that the combat drop was beginning 'Art's' vision was filled with several command prompts.<br/><br/><span class="bbc_u"><strong>STATUS CHECK: Non-Combat Personality Active]\</strong><br/></span><br/>Logic Engines Operational<br/>Visual Receptors Operational<br/>Audio Receptors Operational<br/>Olfactory Receptors Operational<br/>Damage Indicators Operational<br/>Motion Tracker Operational<br/>Communication System Operational<br/><br/><span class="bbc_u">System 100% Functional</span><br/><br/><strong><span class="bbc_u">INITIATING SHIFT TO COMBAT MODE</span></strong><br/>Disabling Aggression Inhibitors......Aggression Inhibitors Disabled<br/>Removing 3 Laws..........3 Laws Removed<br/>Removing Weapons Operation Ban..... Weapons Operation Ban Removed<br/>Uploading USCM Weapons Operation Instructions..........Instructions Uploaded<br/>Uploading Advanced Motor Skills.......Error.......Motor Skills Upgrades Not Present<br/>Uploading Guerrilla Warfare Programming.......Guerrilla Warfare Programing Uploaded<br/><br/><strong><span class="bbc_u">SHFT TO COMBAT MODE COMPLETE </span></strong><br/><br/><br/><br/>As soon as his system was finishing the shift from non-combat to combat modes. The command prompts disappeared, he was now fully combat ready and capable of attacking any enemies that presented themselves.<br/><br/><em><span class="bbc_u"><strong>Dropship Pilot</strong></span></em><br/><br/>The dropship plowed through the atmosphere of LV-1875, the storms that had buffeted the planet only hours before had fully dissipated but the sun was not high in the sky. It was already well on its way to setting. The would only be a few hours of daylight left. As soon as they were through the atmosphere the pilot changed course. And began to hug the ground, flying as low as possible relying on her skills to keep from smacking into something that might pop up. She was headed towards the drop off point, some unknown building that needed to be checked out. As the building appeared on the horizon she spoke into her mic, "Alright 2nd Squad we are coming up on the drop point now. ETA 60 seconds"<br/><br/><br/><br/><strong><em><span class="bbc_u">Master Gunnery Sargent Diana "Gunny" Garcia </span></em></strong><br/><br/>Diana reached up and turned off the music "Alright marines!" she called out "this is it, get ready!" she listened intently as the pilot counted down "55 seconds........40 seconds....30......20.....10........"  Pressing the release button on her harness Diana stood up "alright marines" she said "Get your asses on the ready line!" her hand pointing to the line upon which the marines were to stand just before the doors open "I want a nice clean deployment once that door opens, you all know your places so your asses better be in them!"<br/><br/><br/><strong><span class="bbc_u"><em>Captain Robert Henson "Boss"</em></span></strong><br/><br/>"Uhh sir, there seems to have been on hell of a party here" Henson heard the pilot say into his headset. Turning in his chair to face the monitors he looked at the screen which displayed the cockpits view. "I see it" he said as he looked at the unknown building. Several of the windows along the upper levels were broken, as was a very large window on the top level. "hold drop" he said firmly "Circle around once, I don't want to land in on any surprises"<br/><br/>"Understood" the pilot responded<br/><br/>Henson watched the screen carefully, taking in several details. The building appeared to be 4 stories tall, There was a civilian crawler parked near the front entrance, it was a bit banged up but looked like it might still run, the doors were left open. Who ever had left it had been in a hurry. The sides of the building weren't anything special. But the rear...now there was something interesting. The building had the standard service lock for vehicles to enter and exit. But the door had been closed and probably locked. It wasn't anymore, there was a gaping hole in the center of the door as if something had forced its way straight through it. While the hole wasn't large enough for the APC to fit through it was large enough for the nose to squeeze in, and if they could get the nose in they could force their way through. "I want you to, drop us at the rear of the building" he told the pilot. "Then fly station and be ready to give us support firepower."<br/><br/>The pilot acknowledge his order and began to bring them down.  There was a bump as the ship touched down, a minute later the APC was moving forward as 'Art' pulled them out of the dropship's belly. As soon as they were clear the dropship was in the air again. "take us near the rear hatch and deploy there" he said to 'Art' "Once the squad's clear take up a fire support position behind them"<br/><br/>"Yes Captain" Art said his voice denoting the focus he was putting on driving the APC. Less than a minute later the ramp began to deploy.<br/><br/><br/><br/><span class="bbc_u"><em><strong>Lance Corporal Nathan "Wild Man" Creed</strong></em></span><br/><br/>'Wild Man' heard 'Gunny' shout "MOVE!" as soon as the ramp was down. Without a second thought he stormed down the ramp, moving to his assigned position within the squad. He didn't need to look back to know that the rest of 2nd Squad was moving into formation, his place was on point at the front of the wedge. Both because he was the squad's flame thrower man, and because he had the best set of eyes in the squad. He knew the idea behind it was that a jet of flame would be the best thing to stop an oncoming charge, and it helped to cut into the disadvantage his weapon's shorter range gave him. But he didn't care. The reason Wild Man liked it was because it meant he got to cook what ever they were up against before the others could blast it apart.<br/><br/>He could hear 'Gunny' speaking on the radio with the Captain. "Negative for contacts" she said. And she was right, there didn't seem to be anything out here. The ground was flat and clear with no place to hide. He heard the Captain respond "Alright, I want you to move up and secure the service lock. Keep it tight and sharp. We don't know if there are friendlies or enemies in there so at the first sign of movement I want you to give one warning. If you don't get a response assume that the target is hostile and engage."<br/><br/>The next thing 'Wild Man' heard was 'Gunny' addressing the squad "alright marines....we're taking the service bay. Move up on the lock and switch to breach formation. We breach on my order, when we do I want it fast and clean no one gets caught in the funnel now move"<br/><br/>'Wild Man' began to move forward keeping low and moving quick, he still had point up until they hit the wall and switched to breach formation.<br/><br/><strong><span class="bbc_u"><em>Captain Robert Henson "Boss"</em></span></strong><br/><br/>His eyes scanned each monitor in turn, he could see what all his marines were seeing, as well as the view of above from the dropship, and a view from the APC. 2nd Squad was moving well, they'd just gotten to the wall with the service lock. Henson kept an eye on each marine's vitals as he checked for signs of movement. They formed up to breach the door with 'Tank' at the front followed by 'Rizzo' then 'Heart-breaker' then 'Gunny' then "Ladies Man" and finally 'Wild Man' brought up the rear.<br/><br/>After a second with their shoulders pressed against the wall they stormed through the hole in the door.<br/><br/>