"Ten seconds!"
"Five!"
"Four!"
"Three!"
"Two!"
"One!"
"Touchdown!"
The tremendous impact slammed Victor back into his seat. The entire Drop Pod shook violently, its metal groaning under the strain. He heard explosions outside-the braking thrusters beneath the Drop Pod firing to slow their descent.
Then everything suddenly stopped.
A brief silence.
"Doors opening! Everyone out! Move! Move! Move!" the squad leader roared.
The doors blew open, and blinding sunlight flooded in. Victor unbuckled his harness and charged out of the Drop Pod with his comrades.
His boots touched the soil of T'au.
Before him stretched a purple grassland. Mountain ranges rolled across the distance, beneath a pale blue sky a little lighter than Cadia's.
If not for the war, this place would have been quite beautiful.
But Victor had no time to admire the scenery.
"Establish defensive positions! Engineers, start digging trenches! Heavy weapons squads, set up the Heavy Bolters! Scouts, advance and locate the enemy!"
Officers shouted orders one after another. In just ten minutes, the twelve thousand soldiers of the Third Division transformed a scene of chaos into an orderly military camp. Such was the caliber of Cadian veterans. They were born for war.
Victor and his squad were assigned to the eastern side of the defensive line. They quickly dug a shallow trench, erected portable defensive panels, and set up several Automated Sentry Guns.
"Do you think those xenos will come?" a young soldier beside him asked. His name was Anton. He came from Victor's hometown and was also a new recruit.
"They will." Victor checked his rifle's sights. "They won't just watch us build a base here. They'll definitely counterattack."
"I heard those blue-skinned xenos are strong. They've got high-tech weapons with longer ranges than our Lasguns." Anton's voice trembled slightly.
"Shut up, rookie." The squad