The descent to Cerberus is unopposed, in that there is no enemy fire. But that hardly means it's calm. You've lost count of how many planetary drops you've done now, but nothing in simulator training back at the College ever prepared you for the sheer thrill and terror of plunging from the cold vacuum of space into the hot soup of atmosphere. Fire engulfs the drop ship as it punches through the thickening air, and you grip your seat against the constant rattling and occasional violent lurch. Halliday's hands are riveted to her controls, her body fluid as she anticipates each eddy, each pocket of air, each thermal. The ship descends seemingly in the blind for nearly a minute before the fires finally start to fade from the canopy and you sight the red and green surface of Cerberus once again. Glancing out to each side, you can glimpse other drop ships falling in formation with yours, until finally the ground has risen enough that you can actually make out the white sprawl of Free Lhasa, and the ships break away to begin their individual approaches.
"Not much movement on the streets," Halliday says. "Do you think that means trouble?"