Robert

“Even with the active efforts of my electronic gear to preserve my hearing, the explosion of the drop ship stabs my eardrums. I can feel the shock wave from the detonation radiating through me as it moves away from the source at the speed of sound, and it feels like someone has thrown me to the ground and then jumped on my chest. For a moment I think that the drop ship must have had some low-yield nuclear ordnance on one of its pylons, and I’m convinced that Sergeant Fallon has just blown up half the PRC, and us along with it. I’m vaguely aware that I’m prone on the ground all of a sudden, knocked off my feet by the impulse of the shock wave.”
― Marko Kloos, Terms of Enlistment

“The tail end is a disconcertingly exposed position. I can’t overtake the two pairs of squad mates carrying the drop-ship crew, since I’m supposed to be shielding them. That makes me just as slow as they are. We run over to the mouth of the alley designated by Sergeant Fallon, most of us encumbered in some way.”
― Marko Kloos, Terms of Enlistment

“Sergeant Fallon makes our presence known by aiming her rifle and firing a single round without breaking stride. The rioter on top of the drop ship falls off the cockpit roof and then hits the pavement below without any attempt to catch his fall. The others hear the rifle shot and scatter like roaches at the sound of a light switch. We let them run off, and then rush up to the wounded drop ship.”
― Marko Kloos, Terms of Enlistment

“The alley is a hundred yards from the stranded drop ship. It takes our gaggle of armor-clad troopers and entourage thirty seconds to cover the distance. When we reach the mouth of the alley, I look back over my shoulder. Sergeant Fallon and Stratton are dashing out of the rear hatch, and I drop to one knee and exchange the MARS launcher for the rifle to cover their run. Next to me, Hansen crouches down, rifle pointed downrange. Beyond the drop ship, on the other side of the intersection, there’s some movement in the shadows of the building overhangs as the local crowd advances on the drop ship again, more cautious than before.”
― Marko Kloos, Terms of Enlistment