2479 A.D.

Over Valtara, the CMX Transport floated silently in the void. Drawn by the planet's orbit, it set itself comfortably in the stream moving at a slow 227 KPH. Within the hour, it would begin moving toward the extraction point, but as it were it was now time to suit up, grab what one needed, and think on how one might spend that treasure money once it was time to collect. Raddek unbuckled his seat now that they had left hyperspace, climbing to his feet and stepping through a corridor, the airtight door sliding in when he approached before he stepped into the cargo hold. In this old clunker, the engines took up 30% of the ship, and the dull thrum of the power coursing through the ship emanated off every wall, ever present. He set down on a crate, taking his bag from his cubby and retrieving the weapons he had brought.

First was his 680 Gauss Rifle, a large gun that needed to be aimed and fired with two hands. It was a weapon that fires hyper-velocity, high-density projectiles similar to those of a Magnetic Accelerator Cannon, except on a much smaller scale. The weapon could punch through stone and even armored vehicles, short of a tank. It was handy blasting through any beast with a crystalline or carapace shell as well. It's only downside was that it took a moment to fire, and the ammo was very expensive. He expected to get his money's worth, however. Next was his M37 Battle Rifle, an all-purpose weapon with 7.62 x51mm uraniaum tipped rounds that could be fired single shot, burst, or fully automatic. The scope could go from 2x to 4x with the flip of a switch, making it a very nice moderate ranged option if need be. He then strapped his HB 'Brimstone' Revolve to his belt in its holster, just in case he needed some quick stopping power. His Melkor shotgun would remain disassembled in his pack until an emergency was needed.

With his iron eyes, he checked every clip and magazine he had, checking the chamber of his Brimstone and feeling satisfied he was prepared. Overheard, a high strung voice could be heard speaking over the comm. "Hey, get your food and supplies before it's time to jettison out of here! We'll be there in an hour, you two. Best get acquainted before you head out or it'll be awkward going down there, or that's what I think at least."

It was the captain, aptly named 'Junky' who was hired to bring them out here in these 'boonies' of a system. No one else was around for forty lightyears save for pirates, black market traders, smugglers, and a few military outposts. Them and the locals on the planet, and he heard a lot of rumors about them. Mutants, raiders... he would see when he got there. Once he hefted his gauss rifle, he wondered where his partner was. He had barely seen her before they launched off into the nether.

-

Raddek was just finishing his inspection, checking the integrity of his armor via a small diagnostic from his forearm scanner, coming up at the expect 100%. At full capacity, he could survive in the vacuum of space and getting hit by a gauss rifle, but the lower its integrity, the less protected he would become from both internal and external forces, not that he wasn't tough beneath the armor. No man in Raddek's position could have made it this far with a soft body wrought of comfortable surroundings. He looked up when he heard his new 'partner's' approach, looking at her through his visor.

"Took a lot of work to get all this, yeah," he admitted, strapping it all to him and hefting his 680 Gauss Rifle. He sat casually, not wanting to appear standoffish. Raddek knew how valuable teamwork was, so he didn't want to be cold. "You're one to talk." He said, placing a boot on one of the barrels in front of him. Above the two of them, the clock ran down from the start of the hour, simultaneously showing how many meters they still had to travel through orbit.

She carried herself like a soldier; he had no doubts she knew what she was doing. Granted, he didn't see many women hunters. Be they xenos or human, and he thought he heard in the briefing she was both. He wondered if she could do anything that he wouldn't be capable of, but he supposed if he needed to know, she would have said so by now. He reached his hand out for her to shake, nodding. "Name's Raddek. What gear do you have on you?" He asked, attempting to ascertain their capabilities. "I hope you have something long range on you. I can fill that role a bit, but it's not my area, I admit."

He patted his battle rifle to emphasize. Much of the planet was covered in jungle, so it might not be the biggest problem with a lack of visibility. But it did well to cover all bases. If his intel had been correct, they were landing twenty clicks from an abandoned outpost where they might be able to stock up on supplies, if the last group that went down hadn't ransacked the entirety of it. "By the way, ever done a drop like this?"

-

Raddek was impressed, not expecting her to have a similar amount of ordnance as he did. He had been an avid hunter of xenos fauna as a young man, but any real taste of combat other than clan raids happened when he enlisted in the Imperial military. Back on Fortus, he had never had as much equipment as he or Vasthi had now. The fighting there had been fierce, through both urban and jungle environs, though far more of the former when on campaign. For five years he had fought over a hundred miles of land in trenches, behind buildings, and through the brush, concrete and organic. By the end of the conflict, he'd racked up enough bounties and taken enough equipment from the fallen to amass himself a sizeable portion of money to redistribute into weapons and armor, and a few years later he decided to try his luck on this planet.

"My homeworld had a harsh environment, with beasts and storms and freezing temps. I learned how to survive there, and then I shipped off to fight in the big city on Fortus, during the Valkyrie War." He explained, expecting her to understand the context. Even if she didn't, she could figure out he was ready for combat, regardless. Raddek shrugged, his massive shoulders rising and falling like upending mountains. "I couldn't pass this up either."

He got his feet and decided he wanted a bit more in the way of supplies. Not weaponry, but food wise. He went to the flashfridge and opened it, pulling out a few packets of water mix and dried up fruits to put in his bag.

"Once we get down there, don't eat any plants until we find some locals to ask about them. Provided they're friendly." He told her. Most anything meat would be ok to eat as long as they cooked it, and they had some antidotes for various types of poison if need be. The problem was, the problem would be they didn't know which poisons. "We should be just twelve clicks from a ruin we might use to find a guide or some more supplies. The first day ought to be easy."

-

The alarms blared.

5 minutes until dispatch.

Raddek's hands were still full of food, and so he stuffed what he could in his pack again and zipped it up, making sure it was sealed air-tight. The changes in gravity and air pressure could have unforeseen consequences on any perishables when exposed, and he didn't want to find out what it could be regardless. Hefting the sack, he gave Vashti a nod and made his way over to the next corridor, where there was a huge windowed hatch that slowly opened even as he approached, pressurized air seeping out and leaving a telltale hiss.

Triple checking his own suit, he reached into the equipment window just beside the door and began to latch on his parachute and magnetic beacon.. Unlike the bulky versions of centuries past, this orbital parachute used nanolaminate fiber, a very thin but immensely strong weave of materials that could catch anything from air winds to solar winds if faced properly. At its center was the magnetic beacon, which 'guided' the user via a magnetic pull to whatever frequency it was aligned to on the ground, which gave very little margin of error when dropping. If their intel was right, the 'hook' to the beacon was at the rendezvous point ten miles below them. It would be a bumpy flight down, with winds likely flying in excess of a hundred MPH at the calmest of times before they hit the one mile mark. Were it not for the beacon, they could end up on separate continents.

"Alright guys and gals, strap yourself in and ready up. The launch door will open in four minutes flat." The pilot relayed to them. Raddek pressed an 'acknowledgement' button installed on his helm, stepping into the launch bay. He kept one foot on the outside to keep it open for Vashti to get strapped and then enter, before it would close permanently and they would be launched out at the appointed time.

"All good?" He asked her.

-

As with most things, the anticipation was worse than the doing. It was the same here, as the two of them readied themselves for being launched out of the vessel into lower orbit. Even a hardened soldier like Raddek felt his blood pumping, adrenaline coursing through him as the timer counted down from ten. He didn't check his weapons or armor a fourth time, confident in his preparations. He didn't dishonor Vashti by asking her if she was ready. He knew she was.

5...4...3...2...

...1

The blastdoor opened slowly, a muffled wrenching sound releasing due to the intensely heavy metal lifting; grating off the edge of the hull. It was a strange sensation, the steady uptake of wind suddenly slicing into the air-tight room, and yet gravity had only just brushed against them. Slowly, Raddek stomped forward, giving only a nod of acknowledgement to his companion prior before launching himself out of the ship, suddenly feeling a weightlessness to him as he began to plummet. Luckily, there was no sinking feeling in the pit of his stomach. That only happened when jumping from a stationary location and not from a rapidly moving vessel.

It almost appeared like Raddek had been spat out and left behind in mid-air. Below him, the planet looked an odd mixture of verdant green, drab brown, and startling blue from the various seas below. He could not feel the kiss of the wind, but he knew it streaked around him from how it battered his form and sent him shuddering as he felt the inevitable pull of gravity. The ex-soldier turned on his beacon, the mark on his belt now blinking red to indicate it had activated. Falling at an exponential rate, he was in the air for a standard terran minute before he activated his orbital drop-chute, yanking him backwards and slowing his descent.

Five minutes later, he hit the tree line of the jungle.

The ground beacon was a pylon of pulsating electromagnetism powered by the planet's sun, 18 meters in height. It was old technology, created before the fall.

Around the pylon, the trees were exotic and tall, covered in wet foliage from a recent rain. A two tailed weasel-like creature with red eyes chittered, and then scampered away. Raddek made landfall not a moment later, hitting the leaf-covered ground in a roll. Small tendrils with crimson tips and yellow stems waved about every few meters; the mark of some strange plant. Raddek regained his feet quickly, glad for his armor so as not to touch anything. Not yet at least...

-

Raddek lifted out of the brush like a wolf that decided to show itself, making large steps with his legs to keep himself from brushing against too much foliage, reducing his noise. His gauss rifle in his hands, he kept himself alert despite their proximity to one another. He spoke on his comm, replying with. "Check, I'm with you."

Soon he got to the beacon, seeing Vashti slinking over through the alien vegetation. On of a leaf to their left, a frog-like creature croaked obnoxiously, likely agitated from their landing. Raddek side-eyed it, suspicious on whether or not it didn't have any strange properties that might harm either of them. After watching it make its noise a few more seconds, Raddek unslung his backpack and made sure nothing had been ripped off during the fall.

"Everything looks good on my end." He said to her, giving a thumbs up. He lifted his arm and opened a small pad within his armor, checking their location and the estimated direction of the ruins. As he looked, he spoke. "You did well for your first time. Now we just need to survive the rest of the way." On his pad, there was a light pinging that showcased they needed to move northeast. The system's star was still high, but it wouldn't be up forever. He would rather find out what beasts came out at night when under a roof, from an elevated position and night-vision binoculars.

"Let's get going. I'll take point. If anything attacks us that's bigger than you, I'll handle it. Anything your size or smaller, try to get it. We'll both work together of course, but I shouldn't use my weapon unless I have to, and if I need to get it out for something it might be too late."

-

Raddek smiled at Vashti's manner, though his smile couldn't be seen encased in his helm. Rather he made sure to walk ahead of her so any snake-like beasts that made their way through the brush would be scared off or discovered by him first. He knew the foliage nor beasts were poisonous for the most part, considering most people who dropped weren't immediately killed and a few teams had come back. Less than half was still enough to bring back stories, and Raddek was certain they could at least make the trek to the ruins. He stayed alert, however, and kept his weapon trained on any large tree or object he could see as he had promised.

"Nearly there?..." He asked, his voice slightly automated from his modular box. "We've been walking a little over half an hour, and the ruins are twelve miles away from landfall...so nope."

They walked another two hours, the system's sun in the sky nearly motionless was a good sign, but even with the temperature regulators in their armor, it was getting hot. Soon they had to begin moving uphill, the tree line growing thinner, though the trees themselves stayed as thick and tall as ever. A small monkey-like creature with leather-like plates scampered past them, and it was after they looked up from it that they saw the rusted, half demolished utility buildings peaking over the rockcrete walls. Raddek saw the area was overgrown, but it has staved off most save the most ambitious plant-life. Briefly he wanted to try and blast through the wall, but he realized the gate was close by.

"I'm glad the intel was right," he said to her deadpan, moving southward around the bend in military fashion, weapon up and eyes peeled until they found the gate; torn off its hinges. Judging by the state of it, it happened years ago. Raddek whispered for her to scan left, and he walked in, turning right. There was a dome of glassteel, dented but unbroken. Likely a place for someone to garden and keep a steady food supply. Beyond that, a larger building that swept both left and right, half of it destroyed and the other half relatively intact save for the gaping holes at its fore.

"We made it," He said. "Fucking sweet."

-