Jim and Joe

The whooshing in Joe's ears was deafening, the sound of the air burning past his drop-pod was a deep, white noise inside the cockpit. It wasn't much of a cockpit, it was more like a coffin. That's what the guys always joked about anyway- fatalities during these orbital strikes were high, and that was before they had even made it to the L.Z.

Had he been able to see behind him, he would have seen the Sky-Hook Orbital Delivery Depot disappear into nothing, the sky fade from black to blue, and and the stars vanish. Actually, he would have seen nothing but the inside of the fireball that enveloped the adamantium plating on the pod. As it happened, all he could see were the rudimentary displays in front of his face, reading out altitude, pitch, speed and coordinates for Joe to digest. Even these boring stats could not dull the adrenalin rush that an orbital strike brought troops like Joe and Jim.

Jim, his wing and squad mate, was about a hundred meters to the side and above Joe, which at these speeds was dangerously close. Joe pulled on the two hand grips, the only controls provided to direct his descent, and pulled away from his partner. The warning lights died away.

The inside of the pod was extremely hot now, many die from the heat. Sweat beaded on his brow, but flowed in unusual directions because of the G-force. That was another issue: the powerful forces acting on the drop-pod could tear a man apart.

A light flashed for altitude- Joe pulled down a red switch that opened the air-breaks. Nearby, Jim would be doing the same. Joe felt the shudder as the flaps opened out, and fought the strain of deceleration on his body. The pod jolted again as the flaps snapped off and disappeared into the sky, this was normal procedure.

As the pods impacted on the surface, a gel layer in the walls hardened with the shock, absorbing it. The flat base of the pod crushed the ground beneath it, forming a micro-crater and a solid support to keep it upright. The catches hissed and flipped open, and the hatch swung open. Joe gasped for air as his restraints came come and he jumped out, raising his weapon and scanning the L.Z. for threats. Jim did the same 30 meters over, then waved the all clear. Joe jogged to him and stood at ease.

"Man, the commander is going to be so pissed when he finds out we stole two of his drop-pods."

"Hey, this is Borat, it's worth it. Where did you say the theatre was?"