Murder Drones | Asset Protection

Chapter 1 | First Encounter

UPDATE 9/9/2023 GONNA START REWRITING THE CHAPTES IN THIRD PERSON. NO IDEA WHAT THE FUCK I WAS ON WHEN I DECIDED TO START WRITING IN FIRST PERSON

"Entering orbit, brace yourself," Was the last thing spoken by the pilot before their transport pod rumbled to life once more. 

As the ship was shook, she braced herself for the great descent to come. The absolute roller-coaster of a descent  was the first part of every operation they partook in, yet also among the worst parts of the mission, aside from the whole life-threatening aspect of the job.  

The sounds of sizzling and crackling could be heard for a brief moment before the muffled burn of a few thrusters could be heard through the pod's armored walls. Resisting the urge to rest her head on the ship's wall, because Christ it's several times worse than leaning on a bus window. She simply just resigned to holding her charge rifle close as she could feel herself free falling through the air for a brief few moments. 

Eventually she could feel the pod's descent eventually begin to slow down, the roar of the thrusters beginning to weaken. A few moments before the thrusters completely ceased, a thud shook the space pod as it collided gently with the ground, as gently an object descending from orbit could be. The ship slowly giving into silence as she could make out the faint sounds of beeping from the cockpit's various interfaces and alerts. 

"Everyone ready?" The captain on the other side of the craft called out.

"Ready," One called out.

"Mhm," Another responded.

"All clear," Cecilia responded with ease, grabbing her rifle as it gently *clinks* while brushing against her hardsuit. Resembling more that of a high-tech suit of armor than an astronaut's suit for traversing the endless void.

"Vitals active, double check." The man called out once more.

With a few taps on a handheld device on herself,  an artificial voice ring through her ear, "Oxygen, active. Rebreather, active. Chemical filtration, active. Visual scanner, active. Communications, active-"

A few more moments of 'important' system checks went by before the voice went silent, nodding to herself along the way. A small moment of pondering coming through her mind, 'At least I know we're safe out there, JcJenson must really care about us to include a whole five minutes of system checks into their suits, right?'

After a few more confirmations came from the rest of the squad, Cecilia approached the other end of the ship, where an airlock lied idle. In a few moments, the airlock doors would cleanly and methodically slide open, revealing a room adequate for four armor-clad and armed specialists to pass through. Stepping in, the doors closed behind the group as the doors leading out eventually opened. Pressure and water wasn't exactly a concern here, more so the everlasting cold storm and potential hazardous materials they could accrue on their suits.

Speaking of which, as the airlock doors opened, Cecilia was greeted by the sight of snow gently falling outside. The sun on Copper-9 had long since been blocked out, leaving behind a dark and freezing wasteland of a planet. Fields of snow, debris, and ruins of buildings from before the meltdown greeted me the moment she stepped out of the pod. Her suit being the only thing keeping her relatively warm, or as warm one could be when no biological life could survive the environment.

"Check, check. Everyone alright?" An operative with a mounted radio pack on him spoke up. Pausing before continuing with a few confirmations and nods, "Got cha', let's head out then, haven't got much time to waste in this hell-hole."

And so, the mechanical sounds of a few hardsuits shifting could be heard through the air as they began pacing along, following the radioman. Despite being armored and armed to the teeth, walking in the suit was relatively easy, designed to be as flexible as its system allowed. Though it was still a durable suit of armor you wore around your entire body, so just imagine how comfy that'll be after passing an entire day or two in it.