The Pellet rocketed through the atmosphere like a burning asteroid.

Dasyil gripped the sides of his chair as the whole command deck was rattled like a plane in high turbulence. He looked to the monitors that displayed live footage of what was happening outside and watched as the surface was getting closer, and the fire that had engulfed the hull getting brighter and brighter as the atmosphere got thicker.

Everyone was strapped down at their stations, making sure to monitor their systems to make sure nothing goes wrong.

This was the only Pellet that they had, and without it, it would be much harder to stage an effective ground assault.

As they got closer to the ground, the fire began to dissipate until it was gone, leaving only black marks on the metal where it got extremely hot.

One of the technicians on deck cracked a joke about the paintjob, earning a good laugh from a few others. It was good to laugh, it kept morale up.

Anyone on the ground looking up would've seen a streak of black smoke streak across the sky, before vanishing as the flame went away. They might have thought to themselves that their attack force was destroyed on re-entry, but it was in reality past the dangerous part.

"Thirty seconds till landing" a technician spoke over the intercom, informing the entire crew to brace themselves.

Obviously the Pellet wasn't just going to slam into the ground and hope for the best, the machine itself might survive the impact, but the crew would immediately be turned to paste.

The Pellet was outfitted with six powerful rocket boosters on each of its feet. They would activate before impact and slow it down enough so that any crew wouldn't be immediately massacred by the sudden stop.

"Twenty seconds" the technician spoke again. A tight sensation was building up in Dasyil's throat. This was experimental equipment. The first time it had ever been used in a real scenario. Anything could go wrong. What if the rockets failed to fire? Or the hull simply shattered on impact even with the help of the boosters?

"Ten seconds" He gripped the arms of his seats and prepared for the worst, the loud and piercing sound of the six boosters firing rang in his ears as he felt suddenly extremely heavy as the Pellet slowed its descent. He looked to the monitors. A camera showed the view from the underside and how the rockets were firing.

Relieved at the successful firing of all six rockets, Dasyil let go of the chair and relaxed, resting the back of his on the headrest of his seat.

The whole Pellet shook gently at the vibration of the boosters, and the metal shielding that had lowered to protect them from the intense heat was lowered, letting them see out of the windows again.

The green trees came into view, and the greeny blue sky filled the crew with a sense of success at their landing.

With a mighty thud that shook the ground that caused even the trees to tremble, the Pellet touched the ground, and all six of its legs rocked gently under the immense weight of the main body.

There was a brief moment of pause as everyone silently cheered, before a voice spoke over the intercom again to the whole crew "All crew report to their posts immediately. High alert" the words bellowed out. Guns and cannons were primed, sensors were activated and the engine roared to life. Powered by multiple miniature fusion cores in the center of the hull, the Pellet could operate for many months on an operation before requiring a refuelling.

Standing up out of his chair, Dasyil walked across the metal floor and looked out the window, peering over the tops of the trees because of the sheer height of the Pellet. He placed his hands on the console and exhaled, looking over to the many consoles of blinking lights and screens, showing all sorts of information. Technicians all working away as the powerful hydraulics began to shift.

He looked out and watched as one of the giant legs lifted up and moved forward, before lowering and taking the machines first steps.

Step by step the Pellet moved forward, rocking subtly as its heavy steps crushed the trees and shrubbery beneath it.

A steady and sure pace.

Turning and sitting back on his chair, he sat and looked over to his team of technicians "Activate long range scanners. Let's see where they're hiding" he said as he placed his hands together. He kept an eye on the monitors and noticed that some of the ships that they attacked were re-entering the atmosphere and burning up. With any luck, he thought, they might assume that the Pellet was wreckage and not bother investigating. Not that they would have anything that could dent it. At least that was the hope.

But he sighed and looked around, then noticed on the monitors a camera feed of the barracks near the rear of the hull.

River was sitting on a large cargo crate holding a strangely shaped gun. It had a very long barrel with gaps periodically placed in the metal for ventilation. It's main body was quite thick and simplistic, the magazine slot was placed on the top of the gun, where she placed a dual drum magazine and clipped it into place with a drum mag on both sides of the gun. Empty cartridges were ejected out of the bottom as the dual drums covered up anywhere on the side the receiver could be.

The stock was a solid part, but it was surrounded in a soft but resistant foam to keep it from being damaged.

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She was cleaning it, but it had plenty of scratches, dents and grazes. It had seen it's fair share of battle. Her eyes glanced up as she noticed the gentle rocking of the legs moving the Pellet across the forest, she exhaled and pondered on something for a moment before standing up and holstering her gun on her back.

With a sharp, heavy clank, the gun attached itself to her body armour with a strong magnet. She gave it a firm shake a few times just to make sure anyway, as it always paid to be thorough.

River was no stranger to bloodshed and battle. She had seen the start of the war, and now she was leading the final battle of it. As a young girl, she ran away as Saturnian ships reduced her home town to slag. As a teen, she grieved after a Mercurian battleship destroyed the medical station her parents were on. And as an adult, she stared on in a rage as the friends she trained with were killed by a Plutonian strike force on their first assignment.

The war was personal for her, and even though she looked calm and collected on the outside. On the inside, flames hotter than the stars burned.

She began to make her way to the operation center, a room nearby where she could monitor the battle from the Pellet.

As she took each step, she looked to the metal floor and saw that it had no scratches or weathering. Which would only make sense since this was brand new.

But it was interesting for her, she had never been on a completely brand new vessel before.

Everything was brightly lit and white.

The walls were an ivory colour, with a blue stripe about halfway up the wall that went all around the inside from what she could tell.

Bright lights were fixed onto the ceiling and lit up the whole barracks, even behind the usually dark corners where the light could never quite get past crates and boxes that had been stacked up clumsily.

A few soldiers were marching around in a formation, keeping themselves alert and ready to go, following their captains as they jogged along and through the Pellet's corridors.

Along the ceiling were a few rails for cranes to transport things around the cargo bays. They could lift cargo containers all the way up to tanks.

They had a total of fifty tanks onboard of differing designs.

The UPA's mainline battle tank was the most numerous. It was nicknamed the Enforcer by the soldiers. It wasn't overly armoured or armed with a single cannon and simple machine gun, but it was cheap and effective.

The second tank on board was the small and zippy Badger. With the lightest armament, having only a heavy machine gun, the Badger was effective in places where larger vehicles could not access. Many soldiers owe their lives to the crucial fire support that the Badger can give in tight spaces.

And the final tank onboard was the opposite of the Badger. A heavy beast that is well known for its destructive power. Nicknamed the Legionnaire, this tank had the best the UPA could put on it. Outfitted with two miniature magnetic cannons, two heavy machine guns and an experimental plasma launcher, the Legionnaire was the heaviest tank in the UPA's arsenal.

River knew the details on all of these tanks, as she wanted to know what she had at her disposal and how to best use them on the battlefield. She was lost in her thoughts as she walked, but she was ripped out of them as she heard a deep, wailing alarm go off and a voice play over the intercom

"Alert, enemy fighter-craft and ground troops approaching, report to stations immediately"

She picked up the pace and began to run to the operations center. Upon her arrival she looked to the monitors and screens, all showing camera footage of a dozen or so fighters flying towards their position. They appeared to be bombers of an older design.

Their bodies were angular like a stealth craft, with two massive wings that were slightly angled downwards. On their backs there were what looked like two missile pods, and underneath was of course a bomb bay.

It wasn't long until the sound of muffled cannons and gunfire could be heard as they shot at the bombers before they could get close.

River looked to the nearest technician and asked "You mentioned ground troops. Any idea what their numbers are?"

The technician was startled at first, but they turned and nodded "Uh, yes ma'am. Our scans show at least thirty soldiers, and five heavy vehicles. They look like salvaged UPA designs"

River nodded "Keep an eye on that. I'll prepare a ground team if necessary. Our guns should be able to deal with that though" she said, as she looked over to another screen, and her eyes widened slightly as she saw the trees in the near distance begin to part and fall over. A whole area of trees collapsed.

Something beneath the ground had opened up, and what looked like a brand new ship of a new design was rising up out of the ground.

It was sleek, angular and fresh off the assembly line. It was almost triangular in its shape, with the rear being wider than its front, and a distinct bridge that came up out of the hull on the top of it and sloped back down as it went towards the engines. It wasn't as big as the Olympus Mons but it was bigger than the Pellet. It's engines scorched the ground around it as it lifted its weight up and out of the hole. It hovered in place for a few moments, before its array of brand new cannons all turned and took aim at the Pellet as it trundled along the forest floor.