[center][img]https://i.imgur.com/SkKZqiI.png[/img] [h2]Out of the frying pan...[/h2][/center][indent][code]Orbit above Skogsrå_ 101st Special Forces Legion. Local Time: 1155_ [/code][/indent][hr] [color=pink]"I love a good fireworks show,"[/color] Sabine drawled over the squadnet. [color=pink]"I even brought some party favors! [i]Me[/i]~"[/color] Sabine was cackling over the comms as the last of their squadron set onto their drop plates. All around them, some hundreds of twinkling thrusters indicated that they were not alone in the skies. A line of UEE warships floated in place above them, their massive bulks shrouding some of the light around them, the barrels of cannons pointed at the planet beneath them. In the distance a trio of flares exploded. Green, green, green. [code]<>[/code] Eva's voice called out to the squad. [code]<>[/code] In unison, the thrusters mounted to their drop plates flared to life, propelling the 7th the last short distance out of zero G and into the atmosphere. The thrusters quickly burned out as gravity began to take control of their descent, drop plates and MAS alike shuddering as tons of heavy metal began to force its way through the upper layers of the planet's atmosphere. The drop plates slowly began to turn red as their absorbed most of the friction, though the residual heat was enough to turn the interior of most MAS into a veritable sauna. 'Hot Dropping' pilots liked to call it- instead of the comparatively more cushy experience of riding a ship into the atmosphere. Sweat beaded inside of helmets- sealed and unable to be wiped off, and even the typically chatty Sabine was relegated to controlled breathing instead of mouthing off like she usually did. Eventually temperatures would regulate as they dropped into the planet proper, the red flares surrounding the drop plates giving way to the clear blue of the planet's stratosphere. Below them was the spotty cloud cover and the ground far in the distance below. They were still out of range of most of the planet's MAS defenders. But Skogsrå was far from helpless. At this distance, the flashes of light weren't visible to the naked eye, but they didn't need to see barrel flashes to know they were being shot at. The air exploded around them as rocket propelled munitions streaked up to meat them, exploding in large clouds of flak. Sabine winced as she heard the sounds of pinging against her drop plate, luckily far enough away that it wouldn't tear the thing apart. [color=khaki]<>[/color] A panicked voice cut in through the local tacnet, from one of the squads directly next to them. Sabine's eyes opened as she glanced at the comms. A rookie from the 223rd, one of the reg' units, must've accidentally hit the wrong broadcast channel in her panic. [color=khaki]<>[/color] [color=palegreen]<>[/color] Another strained voice called out in reply, [color=palegreen]<>[/color] [color=khaki]<>[/color] One of Sabine's proximity warnings flared as a Sentry beneath her began to spin and spiral wildly, half a drop plate flying past her as the other remained struck to the MAS' foot, sending it into a violent spin. [color=khaki]<>[/color] Sabine grimaced as someone muted the rookie, silencing her bloodcurdling scream as her MAS quietly spun out in the sky, MAS rifle, spare magazines and bits of armor flying off like confetti. Unlucky shot, lack of training, freak accident, or some combination of the three. On the bright side, the force of the spin would knock her out long before she blew up or crashed. [color=pink]<>[/color] Sabine called out to the squad, [color=pink]<>[/color] The MAS felt like it was picking up speed as the dropped through the cloud cover, though it was more likely because of all the rattling. As they cleared the clouds, they could see the city of Gelcastre beneath them. The battle for the city was already underway. Explosions and tracers flew across the ground, up into the sky and beyond. The fleet's first wave had already made landfall and were engaging the defenders, as the Coalies shot at them and the second wave as they careened through the sky. From their vantage point in the sky, the 7th could already see localized firefights breaking out between small units of UEE MAS and Coalition forces. The city itself might as well have been a massive gun emplacement with the amount of flak fire they saw coming towards them. Already, UEE forces in the air were taking hits, some few unlucky SOBs exploding before they could even release from their drop plates. [color=pink]<>[/color] Sabine called out as her machine kicked off the drop plate, quickly folding into flight mode as she burst away. She wasn't planning on sticking onto those target skeets for any longer than she had to in an environment like this. Already a squadron of Garmr and Naginata fighters were breaking away towards them, though it wouldn't be hard to find all manner of Fenrir or Garmr no matter which direction you faced. Even miles away from the city- the area around Landing point Delta seemed to be engaged in a pitched fight. A unit of hunkered down Fenrirs engaging a squad of UEE Sentries, holding them away from a anti-air installation. [color=pink]<>[/color] A rapidly flaring warning yanked Sabine's eyes away from the LZ, throwing her mech into a wild spiral as a pair of heavy lasers blasted through where she just was, settling instead for coring a trio of unlucky Sparrows through their drop plates above her. It appeared the Anti-air installation had some serious teeth on it, which meant that once again, the 7th was in for a big fight.