[Center][b]Marvin and Liam-South West-Collab by Maxim and Icarus[/b][/Center] Darkness...that was the only thing around Marvin. It unnerved him, as he knew what awaited him. A moment later, a sudden drop, the whirling of air could be felt all around him and his mech. The mech was one unlike many others, as it was curled up into a ball for better protection of the cockpit while landing, Marvin's personal touch. His mech was gaining speed, faster and faster, as it plummeted towards the earth. Marvin kept a count...1...2...3, then upon that number he yanked a red lever in the cockpit, bracing himself. In an instant, a parachute deployed, and Marvin felt a sudden jerk upwards as it unraveled. It slowed his descent to a reasonable velocity, though he thought he could tell the parachute was barely holding him up, thanks to the heft of his craft. Still, it held on without incident, as he touched down. Marvin pushed a yellow and black striped button, and the darkness around him vaporized in a torrent of blue light. He was blinded for a second, before his eyes adjusted to the startup sequence: INITIALIZING DIAGNOSTIC... CSEC NARROW BEAM LASER + LEFT ARM =CLEAR... CSEC HE MISSILES + RIGHT ARM=CLEAR... WEAPONS PLATFORM GYRO=STABLE... CALIBRATING GYRO=DONE... EMERGENCY FUNCTIONS=CLEAR... ALL SYSTEMS CLEAR SCANNING PACKAGE=ACTIVATING! Suddenly, the blue light subsided for a brief moment. Then the world was awash in colors, as the cameras outside the mech allowed a field of view of the world around. Marvin double checked all of the emergency exits. His emergency hatch seemed solid and unobstucted, with a white button and red exclamation point button ready to activate it. He took a deep breath of...well one wouldn't necessarily call it fresh air, but it was better than the suffocating air that was ahead of him, past the tank. He knew that he had landed outside the Shadow Zone. A relief to him, as dropping straight in was an idea he didn't savor. Still, he put his gas mask on, just to make certain that he didn't breathe in the bad air when he went inside, though he didn't activate it. He wanted to wait until the Emergency Life Support System gave out, though he hoped it wouldn't. He pressed a green button, labeled "Go!" and the mech sprang into action. The mech came out of it's previous ball-like form, hands and legs appearing from the center, with the heavily armored cockpit now in view from the outside. The Bastion was a somewhat intimidating mech...for it's size. equipped with heavy weaponry and stuffed to the brim with heavy armor, it was a beast of sorts. A metal beast, ready to follow Marvin's command. Marvin flipped a few switches and levers, until he called out on his speaker "All right, Bastion is ready for launch. I don't see any soldiers here as of yet..." He paused, he had hoped not to have to go into the Shadow Zone, after all, he was trained never to go inside except under dire circumstances. Still, if the soldiers weren't outside helping cover fleeing people, they must be inside the fog. "Strength in numbers, of course." came the late reply to Liam's remark as they had descended "I've made sure my mech has heavy steel armor, none of that cheap aluminum stuff. Just stay close and I can draw a bit of fire. That should allow you to use...I believe that's an assault rifle, to attack the enemies from behind me. Sam, you can provide...artillery support for lack of a better term. Just watch where your missiles go and we'll be fine." Finaly Liam took a breath of relief as he touched down close by Marvin. The prescence of the Mech made him feel somewhat safer despite the reports he had been receiving concerning the other sectors and even what aid ahead of them. Drawing his weapon, he prepped the magazine, took the trouble to charge the stun baton, and loaded the tazer. There was no chance he was going into this unprepared. He was about to take a step until basic training and habit came to mind. Pistol. A quick adjustment made that concern obsolete, and he holstered it, once again opting to have his assault rifle drawn and at the ready. Facing forward, but constantly sweeping behind to check for any oncomers Liam nodded towards Marvin, but realized the Mech would not notice a manual gesture. "I'm ready to move when you and Sam are." "Hmm, I see no reason to wait," came the reply from Marvin. At this point, Marvin pushed a lever that activated his gyros, and moved him forward. The Bastion was a slow moving mech, but Marvin had always thought that defense and accuracy trumped speed in most circumstances. Regardless, the Bastion slowly lumbered forward, and into the fog. He started to have second thoughts, but before he could he heard the familiar "tssssst" sound that came with the air blasts from the life support system. Thanks to the somewhat low visibility in the fog, Marvin made sure to go cautiously and somewhat slowly, though this was still close to the peak of the Bastion's speed. Perhaps more important was staying closely ahead of Liam, after all, better the heavy steel coffin take a blow than a squishy and mostly unprotected human. All the while Marvin's thoughts raced, what if they were too late, if the fog had swallowed up a large battalion, what was the chance of their survival? He tried, unsuccessfully, to push these thoughts out of his mind to focus on the mission. After what felt like an eternity, though what couldn't have been more than one or two minutes of silence, he broke it by saying "Well, there's supposed to be an APC dead ahead, but I'm not seeing one, how far did they get into this accursed place anyways?" Liam nodded, if Marvin didn't want to wait there was no chance he was going to wait about by himself for the man. "Then I guess we're moving..." he said as he once again drew up his weapon and prepared to go forward. After a few wordless steps, he bit his lower lip, suddenly very aware of the fog they were travelling into. "I'm not sure how far ahead they are... b-best to radio ahead and let them know we're coming." He let his rifle once again rest at his side as he scrambled for his radio. Drawing to the mouth piece of his mask he began "Forward team, this is the Cavalry. You have two friendlies approaching your position from the drop zone. Advise for position if possible?"