[Hang on to something, things are going to get rough!]
Explosions and flak erupt outside these cocoon coffins as everyone grips firmly onto the handles within their respective pods. Ironically, it is pretty comfortable for a pod. A little too much as if it were a false sense of ease with mere seconds of death at every tick. However, as Lock looks at the holo-screen showing footage of the outside, an aircraft similar to theirs is hit. Parts and bits fly into the void of space as the pods that it was carrying are tossed into multiple directions. One of the pods nearly hit theirs, but the sudden jerk of the camera's footage shows them barely managing to evade it.
[Primorial sakes, everyone alright?]
[Ssssk]
[Y-yeah, what the hell...]
[green here]
[...]
"We're fine. What is our eta?"
They need to get to the ground as soon as possible; staying any longer up here is a death wish. As Lock thinks about this, the light within the pod turns red.
[hold that question, hang on!]
Looking at the camera, Lock notices a fighter jet flying straight towards them. A red warning bell rings as time seems to slow down. Watching onward, he can only sit still as the fighter opens its bottom, lifts itself up slightly, and fires a missile.
[Flaring, flaring!]
Several flares appear brightly on the screen as Volt attempts to evade the rocket. With a miracle, they did their job. Yet, another rocket alert rings.
[Fuck this bastard, Flaring!]
Lock could only watch helplessly as the enemy fighter launched another missile. As quickly as the compartment opened, the rocket, followed by its owner, erupted into parts and shrapnel. Confusion turns into relief as a different-looking fighter flies past them.
[All green, Volt?]
[Took you long enough!]
[Just hurry, we're going to need you to-]
The comms cut out as static overtakes it. Lock sees a piece of a familiar wing zip by only moments later.
[...hang on tight, everyone, I'm going to do a bit of an express delivery]
Hearing Volt's voice, Lock noticed a bit of coldness in the man's voice. What follows next? Well, they are going to get front-row seats to the show.
After what feels like seconds, they finally broke into the planet's atmosphere.
[Alright, brace yourselves, lay low upon deployment, understand?]
[got it!]
Lock takes a deep breath as he holds on firmly to the handles. He jerks a bit as the sound of the pods being released and sees on the camera that they are dropping. The sound of metal embedding into dirt follows as the secure mechanisms for the interior are released.
" Here we go..."
The pod's door pops out, and the mission begins. Immediately following what Volt said, he crouches to the ground. Looking around, he notices the other pods opened, and the others safely make it in. Gunfire and vehicles can be heard, though, from a distance.
"They are coming, we need to engage them!" Rynoske says as he is about to turn and charge, though Lock calls out to him quickly.
"Stay down! Volt says to not move yet!"
However, Rynoske seemed to be itching to fight and almost got up. Until the spray of bullets and bombs lit up the surrounding area. Looking up, the team watches Volt's ship return and makes a few flybys as its guns and rockets decimate the enemies in the area. The team sat there for maybe a solid minute when the guns and rockets finally calmed down.
[Area's clear, rtbing to supply and refuel. Good luck, operators!]
With that, their pilot departs, leaving the team to their own equipment and selves. Looking over once more, Lock sees that all heads are accounted for. He then looks around quickly to see where they can go over the briefing once more when Alex speaks up to him.
"We have better coverage over there. Also, it can hide a certain behemoth,"
Glancing over at Tobias specifically, the Extranicus clicks as if laughing.
"Let's do that then, Ryn, let's go,"
"Yeah, yeah, I can hear fine, you know,"
The group made their way to the forest and quickly hid deep behind the foliage. Once they were sure they were in the clear, Lock called them over in a low voice.
"So, this is where we are approximately,"
placing down a metallic orb, a flat holo map pops up above it. It shows the surrounding terrain, with the team's position in the dead center of the map. Trees and grass can be seen for miles around except for the north. Up there, the team can see what looks to be rocky terrain with a partial imagery of what seems to be a quarry. At the same time, they could see a massive swamp-like area to the southeast when zoomed out. Besides that, the west area seems to be primarily roads and small outposts.
"I am wondering, how did they manage to get a decent remake of this area?"
" You do realize we have a cruiser above that might be recording the terrain for us, right?"
"Oooh, yeah, I forgot about that,"
The group could only mentally sigh at Rynoske's statement before Lock pointed toward the two areas of interest.
"We got the swamp sector and the quarry that are decently close by. We'll start with one of these locations for the target,"
"Damn, Volt really did do an express delivery. We're pretty much down the block from them!"
Rynoske has an impressed expression as Alex gestures with their hand.
"Can we have a look at the target again? Better to have an ingrained memory of the target,"
"Sure, here,"
After a bit of hesitation, Lock manages to pull up the image of the target. It has been some time since he saw this tech, but what the Ghosts provided here is a bit outdated. Old technology, one that hadn't been seen since the early days of 'that' war. The functions and features of the device are almost antique, something he can kind of relate to. Back on track, looking at the screen, he begins to analyze alongside the others.
The target is a fully geared individual with a tank on their back with what seems to be a launcher of some sort in their hand. The tank, slightly bigger than the individual's upper torso, has a toxic symbol. One of the lenses on the gas mask they are wearing has a crack, yet the individual looks ready to fight at any given moment. At first glance, it seems like this individual is merely another soldier until the records pop up beside their image.
"Target is Seth Ghirov, a dune dwarf. As Hyme stated before, he is notorious for his usage of gas-based chemicals. He shouldn't be hard to spot; his gear is not Cryptid standard, so hopefully, he'll be easily identifiable...any questions?"
"The locations, possible areas?" Alex asks as they remove a few throwing knives from a pouch strapped to their belt and secure them to a loop that makes them easier to access.
" the quarry is possibly our best choice. Past teams reported the target's presence there is frequent, more than the other locations where they attempted to assassinate him,"
"Let's get it then," Rynoske grips his hands into fists as he looks fired up.
Looking over at Tobias and Mye, they also nod in agreement. In response, Lock nods as he deactivates the orb and stores it away before taking out his pistol. He checks the chamber and ensures the magazine is secure before standing up.
"Agree, let's move,"
Without another word, the team proceeds to make their way to the targeted location.