Like sardines in a can, we’re packed so tight inside the drop ship that we can barely move to breathe. 24 of us, our packs and our weapons are crammed into a space so small a cockroach would get claustrophobia. That’s the nature of our business though. We are the Imperial Marines. Death from above – ooh RAH!

Three loud clanks shake the walls. Release; our pilot has cut us loose from the mother ship. The docking clamps always make a racket when they retract.

The rising nausea in the pit of my gut comes from free fall into the atmosphere of whatever rock we’re taking. It’ll pass when we level off.

I wonder if today’s my day. I don’t fear death. Boredom – that’s another thing entirely.

Hard landing.

The egress opens and we move out in colums of two. No resistance so far.

Suddenly we get hit with sonics and beam weapons both. Half the squad falls on the spot. Not me though. I’m here to fight, not die. I return fire with a vengence and they die hard.

We’ll win. We always do.

Just another day in paradise.