Cardinal's Cross Part 3

After the Cardinal’s prayer they made their way back to the inner habitation ring, and into the central spire. Once they entered the middle of the space station all gravity ceased. Marrone was glad of being in complete free fall, it was much easier to deal with than near zero gravity. As the different squads entered the drop pods the doors had nozzles giving a light spray of holy water, and over the intercoms blasted a short blessing on a loop.
    Inside the drop room was a light scout mech and two drop buggies. Each were bolted to the drop ship’s surface. Big Tony piratically giggled in glee when he say his new armor. He rushed towards it and began running his hand along the circuitry.
    “Lil T. link up,” said Big Tony as he hooking himself into the cockpit. The machine was the finest military tech available, the operation sparred no expense. The sleek carbon crystal  plates gave it an elegant look that escaped the older clunky models, and the legs had  hydropistons powerful enough allow for jumps exceeding a hundred feet while on the eight tenths earth standard gravity of the surface below. When he issued the command the mech jumped off his shoulder and climbed onto the top of the scout mech. Several optic cables unfurled and slipped between the carbon armor and into central systems, and once they linked up Lil T. clamped onto the robot’s surface.
    “Ok, Jessley take the second buggy. We’ll split the squad in two,” said Marrone as he surveyed the soldiers. He looked through their command files and sent out a quick message with which buggy. “This will be the sub squad you’ll be in, if the main group has to separate for any reason this will who you’ll be with.” After allowing them all time to get to their seats and hook up he pushed off bounced off the ceiling in a slow arc. Their were ladder rungs along the roof, one of which he hooked his feat into so that he was standing upside down looking at them.
    “Now, you’ll be receiving a view in a few minutes that most people in the interstellar Navy would kill for. The church is using Icarus class drop pods like these like they’re nothing, and we’ll probably be getting the best equipment out there from now on.” Their faces perked up slightly at these words.
    “And I don’t want anyone of you getting a swelled head over that. Just because we are facing a force of natives doesn’t mean you give them any less respect than any other enemy. We, we right here in this squad, are all who matter. If another squad member can take a bullet for you, let them. If you can sacrifice a building to save your skin, do it. We here are a family, everyone else is just an acquaintance. Believe me, this mentality is what has kept me alive, and it will what keeps you alive,” after he said this he was met with confused looks from the others, while Jessley was silently suppressing a giggle. Kishry was scowling slightly as she raised her hand, he looked at the upturned palm confused for a moment.
    “Yes?”
    “Sir, but if the Cardinal was down on the battle field, and I had the opportunity I would take a bullet for him,” she said with defiant eyes.
    “Well, I’m damned glad he’ll never step foot combat. But if he ever does, by god take that bullet, and I’m sure your parents will be glad to get that shiny pin for your long service as a meat shield,” she starred at him angrily. He was glad he put her in Jessley’s buggy, once they hit ground hopefully a few trees would be between them. The rest of them seemed to be taking the news rather well. Big Tony seemed to have not even payed attention, and instead was flexing his new cybernetic extensions. The constant blessing that had been playing over intercom stopped and a new voice sounded.
    “This is chapter captain Jorith. We will be starting the decent in T-minus sixty seconds. We shall be landing on the eastern continent to meet up with several priests readying to go on a expedition into the southern forests to find converts,” said the static voice. Marrone pushed off from his perch and hooked himself into the buggy’s driver seat. The car’s air tight roof sealed around them. From the outside each of them looked like a large metallic armadillo propped atop a set of six all terrain wheels. Displays on the inside flicked on so that they could see the inside of the Icarus pod. Big Tony’s mech was sealing up as well, once they were all finished with their pressurizing the cabins the pod’s airlocks released. Inside the buggy the countdown continued.
    “Ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, release.” Outside the station it looked as if several fleas had jumped off of some enormous animal. Each Icarus pod was shaped like a rough wedge with several stabilizing wings. The station was in high orbit so their decent would take more than a hour to reach the surface, and as they waited the force of acceleration crushed them back into their seats.
    Inside the buggy Marrone flicked the display so that he could see the outside. The planet’s atmosphere was a kaleidoscope ash clouds and forming hurricanes. From over the horizon of the planet he could see the rising of the twin suns. The way they turned the clouds into a sea of deep purple fluff was beautiful, if he was twelve. Though the new kids were probably enjoying it. The way he saw it was that once you see one sunrise from space, you see them all. He reached into one of the pouches and retrieved a flask, and then realized the difficulty of drinking in zero G. After replacing it in his pocket he starred back towards the display, it was kinda pretty. He leaned back in his seat and half closed his eyes while watching the dawn on the alien world. Damn, he thought, this was the life.

Author's Note

Just to let you all know how it works. After every chapter is completed (Each of the part 1,2,3,etc. are all part of the bigger chapter Cardinal's cross) I will delete the old onces and mold them into one large chapter for easier veiwing.

Reviews

[NSisifo]

Good visuals, great voice, and an overall fun read.
I was cracking up that Dakota noticed the font change. (Not in a mean way. I just thought it was funny.)
Definitely looking forward to the rest.
Noticed some crits, but wasn't sure if you wanted us to point those out yet or just leave'em be until you're finished.

[Aggie Skeleton]

Sweet, I read on.

[James Watts]

Not a bad addition. Will be reading the next chapter soon.

[Ian Faraway]

The font changed, I get OCD like that, but other than that I love the description of the plant. I'm interested to see what the aliens look like and what the surface looks like through the hurricanes and clouds.....btw I love the twin sun thing going on.

[Senseless whatever]

Great chapter. Your characters are consistent and the the imagery is right on.

[Huggy Bear]

Amazing piece:)

[Zeitgeist Manifesto]

This is a theme that can come out very cheesy, but I really enjoyed reading this chapter. It all came to me like the pages of a comic. I like how through details such as dialogue you display character traits instead of describing them. This was a very good job. I'm actually pretty excited to see how the story develops. Writers like you are the reason WC has really become a serious alternative to television for me. You did a great job.

[*Evelen*]

Great imagery as usual lol. I liked how you described what it looked like in the pod as he was looking out toward the planet. Well done.