Chapter 2

Hard Landings

Jogging early in the morning gave him peace and quiet. It was the only time of the day when he could retreat to his little world before heading off to the hustle and bustle of work. He inhaled deeply, enjoying the fresh air of the summer morning. Coming upon a hill, the jogger stopped to admire the view of the valley below. The view was absolutely amazing, an endless expanse of green and yellow pastures, highlighted by the yellow glow of sunlight. It felt like he was on top of the world, quite literally from his vantage point high above the valley floor.

A distant screech caught the jogger's attention. A rooster cooing maybe, the jogger thought. He knew there were many farms dotting the Yuktobanina landscape, so it wouldn't be odd to think so. Maybe the neighborhood was starting to get out of their beds. Ignoring the noise, the jogger continued along the dirt path, through the trees.

Then the screech caught his attention again, louder this time.

"An eagle, I'm sure of it." The jogger said to himself.

But this noise was strange. It continued to grow louder and louder to the point the jogger had to cover his ears. Suddenly about seventy feet above the trees, two massive steel birds hurtled overhead. A quick violent gust knocked the jogger to his feet. He stared up into the sky, unable to believe what he just saw.

Fortunately, the jogger managed to get up and dust himself off. He looked in the distance to see two giant aircraft flying into the sun.

"Eagles. Yeah, right."

---

The Flamin' Angels had no idea just how low they were flying, after all, the C-17 had no windows. But that was a good thing. If they caught of glimpse of the ground rushing below, some of them would have needed a change of underwear.

Athos checked his watch. Five forty-five, Yuktobanian time. He made sure his watch and the watches of his men were properly synchronized. Nothing would bug him more than not knowing what time it was. Besides, he had a mission to concentrate on. Trivial worries such as the time just couldn't distract him.

Sitting down was really uncomfortable, but it was something he was used to. Seasoned paratroopers didn't complain about their a$$es going numb from long flights. To his left and right, 102 Osean paratroopers sat next to each other, shoulder to shoulder, cramped together in four separate rows. In their green camouflage they looked more like a can of tightly packed green sardines. Some were sleeping still while others conversed and put on their face paint. Weighted down in seventy-five pounds of equipment, the paratroopers soon realized that having to get up to use the bathroom would be a war all its own.

Athos' first squadders were more than eager to get up and stretch their legs. Being inside a cramped aircraft for six hours was not their idea of fun.

"Y'know those Army of One commercials never mentioned anything about this." Corporal Alan Wilkes groaned.

"About what?" Corporal Pete Jenkins replied.

"Gee I don't know?" Wilkes asked sarcastically.

"Maybe its my sore a$$, maybe it's the fact I have to piss really bad, or maybe it's the numb leg."

"That's too bad. My ass isn't sore." Jenkins said in his calm southern drawl.

"Well I am and that makes me very upset."

"You're always very upset."

Wilkes and Jenkins talked way too much, much to Athos' discontent. The two of them met in jump school, initially not liking each other. But when instructors caught the two of them fighting and reprimanded them with two hundred push-ups on a dark rainy night, their quarrelling soon came to end. From that point on the two were simply rivals. Eventually they became friends but they were still rivals nonetheless. They always found something to argue about.

"Face paint should be like artwork. Unique to your personality." Private Jeff Andersen said putting on his face paint.

"What the hell are you talking about Jeff?" Private Craig James asked.

"You think those Yukes are gonna take time to admire your unique personality. I mean…"

Andersen ignored his comrade, "How do I look?"

"Like a damn clown." James hissed.

"Thank you. That's what I was aiming for."

"You know what Jeff. You stay away from me out there."

Whereas James was sane, Andersen was insane. Andersen enjoyed dangerous things and was actually excited when he heard he was jumping into Yuktobania. Even in training his instructors were amazed at how crazy he could be. Nothing could scare him. He really liked getting the pants scared off of him. If anyone could actually take fear and enjoy it, it was Andersen.

James was however much more thoughtful about his life. He didn't see the army as fun. According to him the Army was simply a means of paying for college. Four years of service translated into four years of education. But he had to ask himself why he joined the paratroopers. Yes, the Army was a job, but James had to admit. The thought of adventure appealed to him somewhat.

Video games were nothing like this, Private Kaleb Blake thought nervously. Training was fun but this wasn't. Unable to go back home, having to freefall from a moving aircraft, and being cramped up, worried Blake. The final jump in jump school was the most terrifying experience of his life. Even though he survived and earned his jump wings, he never got over his fear of flying. Well, maybe it really wasn't just a fear of flying. Blake was a nervous wreck since birth. His squad mates had taken the liberty of scaring him several times. To them, Blake's nervousness was amusing. But however nervous Blake was, he still managed to compose himself.

"The jump will only be five minutes. The jump will only be five minutes. The jump will only be five minutes." Blake repeated over and over.

"Check out Blake." Corporal Justin Myers.

"If I didn't know any better I'd say he was going to sh!t himself." Corporal Danny Addison joked.

"Well if you ask me I'm just ready to get this done and over with. Besides I gotta get home to my girl y'know." Myers complained.

"Is this same girl with the hair above her lip?" Addison asked laughing.

"'Cause that was just nasty."

"Hah. Funny. Shut up!"

Myers swore by God that he was a ladies man. He had relationships with at least fifty different women over the last three years. Myers believed that the strength of a man was measured by many phone numbers he had. But too bad for him, forty-nine of the fifty women he met talked to him for only a week and never called him back. He wasn't too upset though. At least one of the fifty fell in love with him and for the millionth time he swore this was the one.

Addison on the other made it his to duty to make people laugh. Unfortunately, just about anyone could be the brunt of his jokes. No one was safe not even Athos. Addison's humor was absolutely ruthless. To him, nothing was sacred. But despite Addison's cruel humor, they did enjoy the light heartedness every now and then. It was Addison who likely kept the rest of 1st Squad calm in tense situations.

Conversation soon stopped when the jumpmasters stood up. Looking down the aircraft they announced.

"STAND UP!"

Recognizing the order the paratroopers stood up and faced the side doors.

"TWO MINUTES!" The jumpmasters yelled.

"TWO MINUTES!" The paratroopers repeated.

The jumpmasters then moved to open the side doors. The paratroopers then attached hooks to the line above them. When the troopers jumped out the hook would pull out their parachutes as they began their descent to the earth below.

Athos looked out of doorway to see the ground blazing by. The noise of jet engines and rushing air made it impossible for anyone to hear. He briefly looked back just to make sure his squad was prepared to jump. As he looked back his men nodded as a means of saying they were ready.

"HOW CAN YOU TELL IF YOUR PARACHUTE DOESN'T WORK?" Blake asked.

"IF IT DOESN'T OPEN, DUMB A$$." Myers replied.

Blake gulped. He didn't know what he was going to see when he jumped out of the plane. All he hoped for was landing on the ground in one piece.

"JUMPING OUT OF A PLANE FLYING A BIZILLION MILES AN HOUR, IS LIKE, FALLING WITH STYLE." Andersen said.

"YOU EVER THINK ABOUT DYING? I MEAN, REALLY?" James asked sarcastically.

"WELL, HEY IF MY CHUTE DOESN'T OPEN, MIGHT AS WELL MAKE THE MOST OF IT BEFORE I SWAN DIVE INTO THE DIRT."

"Oh God." James whispered as he shook his head.

"THIRTY SECONDS!" The jumpmasters yelled.

"THIRTY SECONDS!" The paratroopers repeated once again.

Looking at his watch Athos began to count down. Thirty, twenty-nine, twenty-eight. Athos then turned his attention to the jump light right above the open doorway. The red light would turn to green any moment. Waiting, Athos concentrated on only one thing, jumping out of the airplane, safely.

It turned green. Athos immediately waddled towards the doorway. For a brief moment he felt like a penguin, except this penguin could. A quick jolt and Athos was heading towards the ground. Following his training he grabbed the control lines and looked up relieved to see the open canopy of his T-10C parachute. Looking behind him, he saw other parachutes covering the dawn sky.

Satisfied he looked below him to see an open field rapidly closing towards him. As a matter of habit he opened his canopy to slow his descent. The landing was going to be rough, but not as rough as it could be if he didn't slow down. When he estimated he was about two hundred feet from the ground, he released his equipment, watching it hurtle towards some bushes below.

As the ground got closer Athos began to tuck his knees into his chest dropping his arms to the side. Suddenly, he felt his feet hit ground, prompting him to roll to his side and cross his arms over his chest. Grunting, he felt the ground hit him like a linebacker. The parachute collapsed on him instead of dragging him like the wind sometimes did. It only took Athos a minute to get his bearings. Unhooking his parachute he moved to wrap it up into a tight small pack. He didn't even notice the other paratroopers dropping around him.

After Athos gathered up his parachute and recovered his equipment from the bushes, he looked up into the sky, seeing no more parachutes. The two C-17s were already beginning their flight out of Yuktobania.

"This is it." Athos said to himself.

He was in Yuktobania now. But he didn't take any time to worry. He had a squad to gather up.