Melvin watched Markus kick the door out and leap into the flak littered skies, not sure what to think.

He would've said some useless profanity, but the dropship shook again, and Melvin moved to a crouching position in an attempt to not start tumbling everywhere, but not for long.

The spiraling of the ship caused too much turbulence, and Melvin lost his balance. He started sliding and rolling around the ship, hardly to anyone's amusement.

He slid too close to the opened bay doors and fell out into the exploding abyss.

Nooooooooo!

Feeling himself being ripped from the plane's interior was a...unique experience for Markus. He could feel the fleeting warmth of the exploding munitions surround him as he fell through the air. Righting himself and preparing for a rough landing, Markus could only focus on one thing; his heartbeat. The intense ringing and roaring wind that had invaded his eardrums fell silent as the adrenaline took hold.

Ba-bump, ba-bump, ba-bump

Not long now, the world was growing larger around him. It's most intricate details expanding into their true size. And for only a moment, Markus thought 'what a beautiful world it is'. The rolling green matched the rustic houses so well, one might've mistaken the majestic screen for that of a priceless painting. Everything about it screamed of serene beauty, disrupted only by the the hostile presence that had infested the town...

CRASH!

Landing with a solid thud, debris of earth and the remnants of a bush flew away. Markus had created the first of many craters that were no doubt going to scar the land before the day was through. Standing up and clawing his way out of his homemade hole, he was immediately greeted by a dull ache in his knees. Today was going well.

"Squad, form on me. We push into the city, "

Markus bellowed into his wrist before brandishing his large weapon. He wasn't one for technology, but Spiral HQ had mandated that all knights be equipped with a communicator, and each squad leader equipped with a beacon. Now how to work the beacon...well. Markus pressed the red button on it and hoped for the best.

"Squad, form on me. We must push into the city."

Ugh... where am I? I thought I was I goner for a minute. Am I? No, no... I'm fine. I can feel my hands.

He could still hear the shattered skies above him. Melvin opened his eyes, expecting to see another exploding dropship, but instead there was a tree above him.

By some fluke he fell onto some flora in his panicked freefall.

Is my leg broken? No okay it's fine- ahhhhh frick!

Melvin tried moving to a sitting position, but discovered his ankle might've been twisted.
He gave it a minute, no, thirty seconds will have to do. He couldn't keep the Squad Leader waiting.

Melvin took awhile to stand up, and activated his radar. A big green dot was not very far northwest of his position. Say, a couple of yards away.

"Roger." He started marching towards the direction of his squad leader after he confirmed the existence of his foil and shield.

FWOOOOM.

Pehron's eyes nearly jumped off their orifices as his shield's barrier ricocheted against the speeding ground, and bounced him straight into a tree.

What were you thinking, moron? You wanted to land ON the shield? Grow up, were 1330 years past that...

This self-lecturing tought confirmed to Pehron that he suffered 0% brain damage on the fall. That's a good start. Barely moving out of his tree-hugging position, he remember he was on a warzone.
Cover! Weapon! Eyes! Radar!
In a single motion, he got up, put his back behind the tree, whipped his Blaster just a few centimeters away from his face and toggled on his radar, while scanning the field of view for anything.

No one behind you, at least. The radar.... Squad Leader at northeast. Two others, eastward. Unknows up north, closer to Squad Leader. One of them moving towards you. Fast.

His Blaster buzzed as he readied a charged shot.

The dark grey clouds looked overhead, cloaking Melvin, except for his eyes. He whipped out a pair of sunglasses and put them on, even though it made the place even darker.

Stealth was made easy. It was dark and his footprints wouldn't have shadows. Though it was a slight issue watching his step while the darkness was amplified.

He was almost at the squad... what? Melvin hid behind a tree, watching the standoff between Markus and the Morai squad, then Markus broke into a charge.

What does he think he's doing? ...he survived a hundred feet fall so... just- I gotta-

Melvin activated his communicator and sent a text across his frequency. Hopefully Markus doesn't read it during combat!

[ Captain vs emny sQuad. backup nOW. ]

The Morai soldier sidestepped by the tree where he saw an Isorian take cover. "Huh, who left this shield he--"
*BLAM*

After a very uninteresting takedown, Perohn took the dead body of the Morai soldier close to his tree to have a better look.
Swordsman. Had to get closer to me to do anything. That helmet is sturdy, though. A charged blast at the back of the skull and his head is still in one piece? What is this, Volcanic Iron? Ironwood?

Before he could start indulging himself in testing the composition of the enemy's gear, a message from one of his squadmates popped up:
[ Captain vs emny sQuad. backup nOW. ]
"Oh snap." he let out. He forgot that he was on a battlefield. Again.
Big Ma- uh, Markus. He isnt seriously thinking his plating can take eight, wait, seven people at once, is he?
He checks his radar. Exactly. The Squadleader was charging straight at the non-friendly signatures.
Perohn bashed his head against the tree. Was he realy going to have to provide covering fire now? He's a Geo Knight, damnit, not a gunslinger. He checks again. Three of the hostiles started dashing towards Markus. His squadmates were both sitting behind a tree.
Yeah, he had to do this.
Pehron propped himself into the classic firing position, a natural pose for him after years of training, picked the sight of a gatling gunner and started firing.

Melvin was ready to stab someone today. Soon Markus would be in the crowd and he'd be surrounded.

He was momentarily distracted by a burst of blaster fire being unloaded into a Gatling Gunner's face, with him firing out several shots with the last moments of his life. None of them went dangerously close to Melvin, luckily.

Focus! Get going!

Melvin threw his shades in the ground and stepped out of cover, brandishing his sword but not his shield. It's go time. Melvin started sprinting forward as Melvin clashed with the enemy squad leader. Almost there...

The squad leader dexterously moved behind Markus and stabbed him in the arm.

"HEY!" Melvin yelled. He was locked on to the squad leader, he got the attention of the leader and a sniper in his way, and prepared for a quick motion.

Shinnng! Fwoosh!

Melvin quickly charged up a twirl and let loose, spinning with his sword and cutting the sniper's arm, then lunging at the leader with intense speed. However the Morai was prepared for this, he jumped back enough, with the sword stab only winging him.

Pressured. With his attention divided between a sniper preparing to use his other hand to shoot and an elite who easily injured his squad leader. Melvin was hoping for a better result.

It had been too long since Markus had seen his own blood, but this leader of theirs was doing a fantastic job of getting Markus' dander up. With Melvin's attack buying him a precious second, Markus dropped his sword to the ground and used his free arm to catch the arm plunging at his neck. With the blade stopping mere inches from his neck, both team captain's stood locked on each other for only a moment. Looking over to Melvin, he spoke simply.

"Help me with these swordsmen, won't you?"

And with that came a very loud cracking noise from the Morai Captain's arm. With all of his monstrous strength focused on such a small bone, Markus crushed the man's wrist in his palm. Looking back over to the man he held aloft, Markus didn't seem to have much emotion in his voice. It almost sounded as though he was talking to a small child.

"So here we are. I'd suggest you yield. If you swing at me again, i'll have to tear your arm off...and then press on to the men behind you. You could save thier lives you know."

"No." Melvin said coldly.

He searched for his shades, found them, and pocketed them.

He looked around some more, and then picked up and slung a Jezail over his back. Could've put it somewhere that didn't block access to his shield but whatever.

Melvin took a short glance at the body of the Spiral Warden, then sighed and moved his attention to the trapdoor. "Now what."

Pehron gave a silent salutation in response to Markus' order and went to work. With the adrenaline of the conflict finaly wearing off, his basic every-day tinking started.

I just realised I havent said a single word since I got off the shuttle...
Speaking of shuttle, the communications gear was in it. I'll have to find it, and probably repair half the equipment too. Stupid marine-drops, they aways lose half the hardware on the way in.
This scratch, I just realized it was here. I dont even feel anything. I'll make sure to pass in front of the doctor so she notices if anything is wrong.
That medic-girl is trying to fake it, but she's worried. Figures. Both of us barely got scratched, but a few hundred others didnt share that luck. I'll report my concern to the squad-leader. He sounds like the guy that's good at sitting down and talking.
Hey, I'm still alive. I guess paying attention to the classes on boot camp was a good idea, after all. I still hate Sergeant Will though, he's a box-headed prick, no matter what he teaches.
And since I'm alive, I'll get to pratice some legendary field geography! After we set up, I should be well on my way to stare at those hills, to my hearth's content.
I should start looking for the larger buildings while the radar looks for clues as to where the shuttle went. CO said to set up on the largest one I can find, but the town folk here dont seem too keen on building vertically. Maybe I can find a church, or whatever kind of building the Morai use for worshipping.
I definitely saw that man on the storm cellar door, but where's the others-- oh, yeah, I forgot, we're the enemy, they dont want us here.
Oh. Enemy. Why did I forget? "Keep full attention while on civilian groundings of enemy nations: some civilians could be soldiers in disguise, or patriotic. In both cases, they will attempt to kill you eventualy". If I dont want to get punctured by farming equipment, I better keep my head on the real world, damn it.

With that last tought, Pehron's attention went back to the physical realm. The Geo-Knight squinted, tapped his glasses (They're still in my face after all of this? Wow) and set his sight on the main objectives: The shuttle's crater, the town buildings and, what was it? Oh yeah, passing by Curie--wait, no, Urie.

As the squad (except Markus) walked into town Melvin said, "Alright, I'm raising elevation for my recon. So if you hear a ghost it might've been me." With that, Melvin selected the nearest building and clambered onto it's roof via a window and agility.

Hmm... Melvin activated his Recon Scanner. This ingenious invention scans the environment within a 4-foot radius of the user and turned it into a holographic, 3D rendition of the scanned environment. For small data usage, the map was all blue and transparent, and the scanner wouldn't remember small details such as rocks or chairs. But good enough.

Melvin walked around on the roofs, occasionally doing running jumps to reach other houses. Though that might have sounded scary to the local populace, Melvin didn't care enough to put that into consideration.

Full of nothingness... Town is still empty save for the hundreds of civilians still cramped in their cellars. But for now. Those Morai out there better not come back with their 'trophies' soon.

Melvin realized it was silent. No screaming for blood, no AA batteries firing, no ships exploding... did everyone just disappear? His thoughts wouldn't matter, as he found a bigger building than normal. All the windows seemed to be spastically boarded up, and the door had a big shiny padlock on it.

Melvin leapt down near the building and picked the lock, which came off in a few seconds. He pocketed the padlock and opened the door to see what resembled a bar. Counter, tables, and barely any bottles lining a shelf. Oh well. Melvin grabbed a wine bottle off the shelf and tied it to his belt.

I hope doc won't lecture me about this... wait no I shouldn't call anyone doc. That'll probably make me sound ignorant. Whoops, sorry U...Urie. Ahem, yep.

After all that he went to check the wine cellar to see if the place was secure...

Vog be forgiven for this....

After crossing the first street on his way to find the shuttle, Pehron saw the true result of this little strike.
Dead people in all places, poses and armour colours he could see. Morai and Isorian gunslingers laying dead on rooftops, Wolvers from all classes flattened on the ground, paving the streets with their blood. Wardens dyed in cobalt or crimson sitting lifelessly like statues. The deformed bodies of Cobalt Joes making trails towards the crash sites of multiple dropships.

Vog be forgiven a second time for this...
The blood on the streets was nearly blending with the red sky of this rural colony he was in. Pehron stood still in contemplation. There was no room for anything, not even for toughts. He just stood there looking.....
His radar blipped. It found the shuttle. Slowly coming back to reality, Pehron started setting his priorities back.

He closed the radar screen. He wasnt going to need his ship anymore, there were at least 5 others in his line of sight. Walking towards the closest one, he noticed the tower nearby a cliff standing out from the rest of the village. While motioning himself to open the dropship's door, he glanced at the carbonated remains of its pilot, struggling to get out of the cockpit.

The commander was digging graves for men like this one. Radar, please dont tell me he's still working on the graves-- he is.
....
He searched the inside of the ship with that tought harrasing him. He found the communications gear he needed, powerfull enough to connect two planets together. But not a single trace of relief came across his head, because the damn squad leader was digging graves for a handfull of men while a sea of corpse lay tenths of meters from him.
No. This just crosses the line.
Touching his comm. speaker for the first time since deployment, Pehron spoke his first words on this now-stained planet:

"Squad Leader... stop digging these graves. Come to the village. You have to see this.''

Pehron stashed the antenna and computers on a bag and began heading towards the stone tower. While on the way, as he struggled in vain not to step on the bodies, he tried to prepare his mind to telli HQ what kind of surreal carnage just happened. He didnt even stop to check for friendlies, villagers or contacts. Every limb addorning the streets told him that not a single armed man had remained from this.

[Redacted]

About 11 minutes of silence passed without a single answer.
It was like talking to a brick wall behind another brick wall. Just ridiculous.
There's no way there aren't people in there, but obviously they're not planning on doing anything anytime soon.
Urie did a nose pinch facepalm, and checked her radar. There, is ah, where...? Oh, the tower.
She gave up, and walked for the tower.

Nothing.
Okay, maybe they had to make a maneuver. Check for possible deviations.
Nothing.
Maybe they moved to a polar orbit?
Nothing.
The window for direct contact closed. Try using atmospheric reflection to close the gap.
"Hey Pehron, is that you? It's me, Melvin here."
Pehron's eyes sparked with happiness, until he heard the name Melvin. He tought for one bright second the voice came from the radio terminal. He slapped his face at such senile delusion.
"Any response?" Urie's voice showed up and asked plainly. Pehron didnt want either of them here, and took a few seconds to gather enough of himself to not give a response on the level of "Go help Marcus with his graves, you cannon-fodders!"

"Nothing from HQ! Feel free to climb up!" He shouted from the top of the tower's staircase in a mildly frustrated tone.

Looking around Kokkinos felt the same feeling as the day he arrived, rejected and unwanted. Not surprising considering the Spirals had just taken the Town, and honestly for the people of this town it didn't seem out of place considering a battle was going on and it might have seemed like they where concerned, they weren't. I am not liking this, with the way the towns people are hiding, the rather dead feeling in the air. Ya, something is happening to knight.

Turning around and returning to his home the Morai downed his gear, rather quickly. The purple lines under the heavy metal, energy flowing across the suit and connecting with the implants in his body. Standing tall he stretched and banged his fits together, the sound of metal resonating rather loudly even beyond the walls of his home. Looking at his weapon he tossed it to the side picking up his weapon of choice, the Morai War-hammer. They might take this as a threat, but I am not going out their this close to dusk unprotected. The crazies tend to start making their rounds about now anyway. Putting the hammer on his back the Large set man turned and walked from his home once more.

It was made rather clear by the sounds he made, loud and metallic, he wasn't built for being quiet. Instead every step seemed to echo his location despite him not really trying to stomp. The Suits on-board computer kicked on as the signals started to emit, it seemed like it was coming from the main Tower of the Town. The purple Heads up Display kept relaying the message, only it was rather hard for him to read considering most of it was meant for Spiral networks. Well I know where they are at, and they shouldn't be there either. Might as well go round up the kids.

Not really wanting to over due himself the Maroi Heavy Guardian marched on, now with his armor on he stood out thanks to its design, but each footstep left an imprint as well as a rather loud thump. Even his armor clanked as it moved in time with his steps.

"I really need to move." He griped aloud.

"Well, at least we have your optimistic guess that we'll be able to talk to any of these villagers after painting their streets in red, Curie.", Pehron let out a shrapnel of sarcasm without so much as budging his head away from the screen. He didnt even notice he spelled her name wrong.

The Geo Knight tapped every new command with more anger than the last one, while whizzing his eyes left and right at the complex calculations happening on screen. The monitor started shaking in ressonance to his furious typing, until he finaly recoiled back, jumping up like a startled cat and clutching his hands in both anger and pain.

Just leave it. You want to keep this computer in one piece.

Pehron crossed his arms and straightened up. "SO, what else did you find out from the damn villagers?"

seems like the transmissions have stopped, Spiralss might have gotten the message.

Kokkinos looked about his surroundings, still the same town he has seen for the past some years. Even the enter piece was the same dull figure. Still he could see his goal now, the tower with the spiral who was casting the signal. Marching on the monster of a man strode forth, each step a thunderous warning to those within range.

now the real question, how am I going to tell them I mean no harm. After all I am still an enemy in their eyes.