But every time the bay doors opened and the empty void between them and the planet below greeted them like an open maw, it made his belly sink.
He rose through the fear and fell into the atmosphere every time without any complaints. The friction heat of the atmospheric entry turning his exoskeleton suit a burning orange. Once they were clear in the atmosphere, the jets engaged and the suit cooled down with thermobaric shells that exploded all around them, balancing the whole squad for landfall.
This planet was like all the others they had landed on and their orders were simple. Exterminate the native populace and prepare the landmass for rehabilitation. It was but a small step in the winning of the war that was being fought in the skies above them.
Tiberius III landed with a soft whump as the jets in his suit engaged on sensing proximity to the ground. He felt the right leg of the suit vibrate uncharacteristically and made a mental note to ask the techs to take a look at it once they were back in orbit.
One by one, the whole team came online as the network nodes re-established after the atmospheric entry.
"Team, groups of four. Onus, Raster, and Skull, you are on me. Spread out in spear formation and let's clear this son of a bitch."
A rudimentary map of the landscape appeared on his HUD as the network nodes spread out with the team moving away from each other. He could see the location of each member of the team as a green blip on his screen. Each set of four suits moving away in formation.
The planet's vegetation was similar to what they were growing on their ships in the orbit. The large trees with wide leaves to gather more sunlight than their smaller brethren. Inside his suit, he could not feel the oppressing humid heat of the outside as the cooling systems worked to their optimal capacity. In the years gone by, the operatives used to cook in their own sweat in these suits, but now comfort was the name of the game. The gun turrets mounted on his shoulders and forearm shields moved with abandon seeking heat signatures and any targets they could decimate. So far, the locals had not shown up, but Tiberius III knew it was only a matter of time.
Their entry through the atmosphere would not have gone unnoticed.
He saw movement in the corner of his HUD. Somewhere from the east.
He didn't realize, but a smile had crept up on his face.
They were coming.
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