Soldiers of Fortune
"No Regrets"
Pandora. We didn't set foot there. We didn't survive its atmosphere. We didn't make it to Alpha Centauri. We didn't know it existed. Pandora is just a dream. And a nightmare.
Leon looked down at the floor, keeping his eyes fixed on his boots as the shuttle began to shake and rattle as it made its entry into the lower atmosphere of the planet. They were already plunging head first into this fantasy. Too late to change your mind now.
Leon didn't mind flying but if he had a choice he'd rather have his feet firmly planted on the ground. He chomped on his gum trying to take his mind off of the fact that there was a slight chance that they could burn up upon entry and there would be no way for them to escape the burning inferno. Or that they could not escape from a malfunction in the craft that may have been over looked. Or that the ship could have been damaged during their six year long trip to Pandora's outer atmosphere. The fact that he could die at any moment and not have an option to do anything about it made him uneasy.
The shuttle rattled a lot as it made it cut its way through the atmosphere which did not put him at ease. He locked his jaw and clenched his teeth together. Dying helplessly in a giant inferno was not on his lists of things to do in Pandora and he wanted to keep it that way.
Leon finally exhaled as he felt the wheels touch down on solid ground. They were mere moments away from getting their first glimpse of the alien world. But as the the back of the shuttle opened up it was pretty unimpressive and wasn't much to see as a small colony had already under construction. Soon there would be large pentagon enclosure which kept the wild out there and civilization in here. Aside from the having to wear Exopacks, it felt just like it did back on earth. Guys with guns walking around looking for any excuse to shoot something.
After their briefing all of the mercenaries were ushered to their barracks which would become their home for the next six years.
"Feels just like home," said one of the soldiers as he walked towards his own bunk.
Indeed. It looked and felt exactly like their time back in boot camp. Rows of footlockers against rows of bunk beds with rows of lockers on the sides.
"What the hell is this?" asked one of the mercenaries as he ripped off a piece of paper tapped to the lockers. They soon all moved towards their own lockers and saw that each of them had their names hand written on paper taped to the lockers.
"They can't afford to make name plates?" joked another to which some of the others snickered.
A group of mercenaries walked into the barracks as the new recruits were getting settled in.
"Attention!" called out one of the men to which the recruits lined up in rows in front of their bunks. They stood at attention as Sergeant Donovan looked over his men.
They all watched as the men in uniform opened up several lockers and emptied them of their contents. The last thing they did was rip off the name tag on the locker. They soon realized that they didn't get proper name tags on their lockers because some of them wouldn't last long enough to get to use them.
"PT begins at 0600," Donovan called out to them as they watched as ten boxes were carried out of the barracks.
It was too late to turn back now. No regrets, that's what they had to keep reminding themselves.