Only fools jump in...

The drone of the engines burning hard barely made a sound inside the vehicle. The nine recruits were seated in a narrow room on seats that were bolted into the walls. Red lights bathed everything in a strange crimson glow. A door on the forward end of the vehicle opened with a loud bang and Captain Tazami stepped through the open passage. Like the other recruits, he was dressed from head to toe in black equipment. Ammunition and other tactical items covered a thick vest and an assault rifle hung loosely against his chest. The bulge of a large parachute was visible on his back. His head was covered in a thick, skin-tight material. A pair of opaque goggles were held tightly against this fabric and a respirator covered his mouth.

The recruits turned their heads to look at Tazami's arrival. A sense of anxiousness permeated the group as Tazami began to talk. His voice was muffled by his respirator, but the recruits could hear him perfectly through personal radios in each soldier's ear.

"Well, gentlemen and ladies, this is the sixth month of your training. Now its time to put your skills to practical use."

Some of the recruits nodded at his statement. The last two months had been spent in weapons, demolitions, and electronics training. They could disassemble and reassemble the rifle on their chest upside down and blindfolded. They could construct improvised explosives from dirt and could sabotage an Alliance patrol boat's electrical system with tweezers and electrician's gloves.

Tazami gripped the webbing that covered the ceiling as a sudden jerk on the vehicle nearly sent him into the forward wall. The recruits' bodies also jerked, but the shoulder straps holding them in place kept them firmly against the wall. The voice of the navigator sounded over the vehicle's loudspeakers.

"Entering atmo in 90. Deployment in 300."

Tazami continued as soon as the navigator's voice stopped.

"Naturally, your skills would be useless without practical application. During the War, we would have sent you into Browncoat territory to gather information. Not really a luxury we have anymore."

Something in Tazami's voice suggested he wished the war had continued, but no one said anything on the issue.

"Entering atmo, brace for re-entry."

Tazami reached up with his other hand as the ship began jerking violently.

"So, this is the next best thing. Simulated warfare."

Tazami was referring to their rifles. They were not carrying live rounds, but rather blanks. Their rifles were equipped with laser designators, and their uniforms were covered in a microsensors that would detect when a simulated round had 'hit' them.

"Deployment in 200."

The forward doorway opened again and out stepped another soldier, dressed in a pilot's pressure suit. He was the loadmaster. He grabbed the webbing carefully and walked past Tazami to the aft wall. He removed a clip from the wall and tethered himself against the wall. Tazami waited until the loadmaster flashed a thumbs-up sign before continuing.

"So, I want to say before we begin that I have been very impressed with your progress, but this isn't just training anymore. Remember that every hit you take, is a hit you would've taken in the field. Keep that in mind, dohn luh mah?"

"Yes sir!"

Tazami nodded. Before he could speak again, the navigator's voice came over the loudspeaker and the aft wall began to move.

"Deployment in 150, check pressure seals."

The recruits all unbuckled the straps and stood carefully. Each pressed against their respirator to check for a positive seal and grabbed the webbing above them as the wind whipped violently around them. The ramp that had served as the aft wall of the vehicle was now completely open. The recruits could see the curve of the planet and the cloud wall some several thousand meters below them. The loadmaster's pressure suit rippled in the wind as he too grabbed the webbing and held up his hand to indicate the recruits should not jump.

"Now, remember to open drogues as soon as you clear the dropship. We pull at 1,500 meters. Gather at objective PHOENIX."

"Yes sir!"

Tazami nodded. They had made enormous progress indeed. Now it was time to see what they could do. A light bulb above the open door suddenly switched from red to green and the navigator's voice sounded a final time.

"30,000 meters. Cleared to deploy!"

The loadmaster nodded and motioned for the recruits to jump. Without another word, the recruits jumped out of the dropship one after another. The tip of their drogues was barely visible as they disappeared into the thin air quickly. A single recruit's voice sounded over the radio and Tazami recognized it immediately as Lieutenant Koltai's.

"Rung tse fwo tzoo bao yo wuo Muhn!"

Tazami shook his head as he barked over the radio.

"Gorram it, Koltai, what part of radio silence is difficult for you to understand?"

"Nothing sir!"

Koltai's body disappeared from view as Tazami stood at the threshold and looked at the nearly invisible bodies falling rapidly towards the surface. He turned to face the loadmaster and shook his head again as he too leaped from the edge of the vehicle.

"Recruits..."