"Attention on deck!"

As those words were said, every crew member present in the immediate vicinity turned and snapped to attention. Stepping out into the vast room where the shuttlecraft and supply ships were docking and leaving, Marcus, Jennifer and Ferro were greeted by the remaining members of his company, along with Captain Baker.

Marcus scanned the gathering as the sound of a departing shuttle roared nearby. A small craft was sitting before them, all stocked up and ready to take them planetside. Standing in two rows with a wide gap in between were several Sorrento officers and personnel, their presence a formal way of bidding goodbye to their passengers. Marcus' company stood nearby, in ranks and at attention, but their expressions pale and heavy with doubt.

Meanwhile, all around them, the thudding and clanking of supplies being brought aboard mixed with the gale-like howling of engines being fired up. Docked at the Sirtha Prime starbase, which constantly rotated upon its vertical axis, gravity remained aboard the Sorrento even when the ship had come to a halt. But Marcus felt lighter in his armour, the resistance that his armour usually had against his body lessening substantially. His companions seemed to notice this as well, stumbling slightly as the environ affected their gait.

However, this lighter gravity seemed to be no problem at all for Captain Baker. Turning to face Marcus, the beanpole of a man moved as if nothing had changed at all. No doubt he was used to such low gravity back home on Mars.

"Sir." He said, standing to attention and saluting the Major.

Marcus saluted back. "At, ease. Captain Baker," he said with a smile, before soon adding "At ease, all of you," as he addressed the gathering of soldiers and sailors.

The navymen and the commandos both heeded his words. Under most circumstances, Union Navy officers overruled Army personnel, and were subsequently saluted by them. However, since the Orbital Commandos were a formation that branched off from both, similar to the Void Marines, they were exempt from that rule, and their orders were heeded if the Commando's rank demanded it.

"I suppose this is farewell, sir..." Baker said, his gaze lowering down towards Marcus. Even in his armour, which made him a good five inches taller than normal, Major Winter was still shorter than the interstellar sailor. "... but if it is, let me say that it's been a true honour to have you with us."

Marcus smiled. "The honour has been ours, Captain," he replied to Baker's flattery. "So, where are you off to after this?" he asked.

"I don't know, sir." Baker admitted. "After we resupply here, we could be going anywhere between the Cartel Fringe and the Amundsen Nebula. But I'll go wherever the Union commands if it means I can defend humanity!"

Something in Baker's voice made Marcus feel that the navy officer was trying to impress him. It had that kind of forced enthusiasm that one often puts on while they're in a job interview...

"I see..." he replied. "Well, wherever you go, I wish you the very best of luck." Marcus said, taking Baker's hand and shaking it firmly.

"Aye, and you too, Major." Baker replied as he returned the shake, the veins and arteries that covered the surface of his skin contracting as he smiled. "May the solar winds guide you onward."

Marcus smiled back. After him, Baker took a few steps sideways and positioned himself in front of Jennifer and Ferro. Jenn's gloomy expression lightened slightly as she met Baker's gaze.

"It's been a pleasure knowing you, Captain Sakong." The Martian said to her.

Jennifer took his hand. "Likewise, Captain." She replied, putting on a smile to not seem ungrateful for Baker's hospitality. "Like I said before, you're welcome in Pyongyang anytime."

The tiniest dusting of pink flared upon Baker's pale, veiny cheeks. "T-thank you, Captain," he said, stuttering slightly. "Maybe I'll swing by one day when I'm not so busy..."

Jenn smiled pleasantly at him, a sight that lifted Marcus' spirits as he remembered she had looked earlier in the armoury. Baker smiled back, but that smile lessened slightly when he stood before Ferro. The Tartarusan looked up at the Martian, over a full foot of height between them as they met gazes.

"Captain." Ferro said.

"Sergeant." Baker replied.

There was an uneasy silence which seeped into Marcus' body as it filled the air. Ferro was never a polite man at the best of times. And now was far from the best time...

"It's been nice having you, Sergeant Ferro." Baker said in a strained voice.

Ferro twisted his neck and pulled a slight face. "Thanks, Baker" he replied. "You're not so bad yourself."

The Martian smirked slightly. "I'll take that for whatever it's worth," he said. "Just promise me that if you come aboard my ship again, you won't get into fights with my officers."

Ferro smirked back, rolling his shoulders inside his Wyvern armour. "I don't make promises I can't keep..." he said. "... and if I have my way, we'll never see each other again."

Marcus gave Ferro a glare, which the short man noticed and rolled his eyes to.

"But... if we do, I'll do my best."

Baker smiled. "That's all I ask, Sergeant," he said, holding out his hand to the Tartarusan. Ferro just shook it in silence, with no words of goodbye.

Relief briefly spiked within Marcus for a moment, and he welcomed it. However, as his eyes trailed over to the rest of the company, the light of his emotion faded away.

"Well, Major..." Baker's words overruled Marcus' thoughts as the Martian walked back towards him. "... best of luck to you, and I hope we meet again."

"Likewise, Captain." Marcus replied with a nod.

The SOSC 5th Company then strode between the lines of navy personnel, climbing onto the shuttlecraft that had been laid out for them and strapping themselves in. Marcus climbed in last, securing himself into his seat just before the bay doors locked shut with a heavy, mechanical clunk.

The loud, blazing rush of burning deuterium fuel then sounded as the dropship's engines fired up, and with a heavy lurch, the vessel took off and began its descent to Sirtha Prime, which lay far below.

Looking around, Marcus continued to see melancholy wherever his eyes fell. Elizabeth still looked grief-stricken, her eyes sunken and her face pale, as though she had contracted a great wasting illness through the death of the man she loved. Jennifer was resting her head in her hand, regret hanging upon her face like a sickly, rotten fruit on a tree. Ferro was sat with his arms folded.

Marcus read the room as the ship trundled through space, emotion swirling in his mind. Removing his harness and standing upright, the weight of his armour keeping him steady as the ship navigated through space, he strode towards the front of the craft.

Sat there with his chin rested upon his fist was Leon Tenari, seeming to ponder the situation. As Marcus approached, he swiftly snapped out of his pensive state, eyes wide and alert.

"Major..." The Lieutenant sat upright.

"At ease, Leon." Marcus replied, looking down at his subordinate. "I wanted to ask you something."

Leon's shoulders ceased tensing, relaxing in the presence of an officer he trusted. "What do you need, sir?" he asked.

Marcus leant against the wall of the hold, the vibrations of the ship's engines rumbling through his armour as they descended through the atmosphere of Sirtha Prime.

"How bad were things while I was gone?" he asked directly, keeping his voice down.

Leon looked up at his commander, a forlorn expression upon his face. As he did so, a slight bruise revealed itself on the left side of his head.

"Things have been pretty rough, sir. The chill winds of the past bite deep within us, and we had no choice about being sent here..."

Marcus nodded to his fellow Horusan, understanding the idiom that was common back on their world, where the mountain winds could cut cold to the bone.

"But then, we never had a choice, did we?" Tenari asked grimly, continuing his speech. "'For the Union!' and all that..."

Major Marcus Winter then said something out loud, his voice unapologetic and firm...

"Fuck the Union."

Every eye in the hold turned his way as he said that, some faces full of disbelief, others of shock. Scanning the room and eyeing each member of his company one-by-one, Marcus spoke again.

"This isn't about the Union. Not this time. We're not here to serve it, or any other nation, and it's not what our duty today is to." He spoke firmly, stoic and without pause. "Our duty today is to the innocent. The billions of people who lived and died in the war. Those we had to say goodbye to because years ago, peace failed." His face was stern, but his eyes burned with a fiery, impassioned light. "Billions of innocent people, human and alien alike, died without reason because peace failed to take hold. And now, we have a chance to make it take hold. A chance to make things better. A chance to ensure that no-one else has to fight, starve or die because of war."

He looked around some more. Everyone was looking up at him, and he looked down at them in kind. "We didn't become soldiers because we wanted to kill Sirthon. We didn't become soldiers to conquer another nation for the Union's sake. We became soldiers to protect the things we loved. Our homes, our friends and our families!"

He clenched his fist and held it out before him. "I lost my home to the Sirthon, and we lost Kleber to them too. We all lost something..." As he spoke, he glanced briefly at Ichi. "But now we can change that! We can make sure that war doesn't take anything from anyone ever again!" He took a step forward, towering over the soldiers who sat either side of him. "And I don't know about you, but it's a chance I'm damn well going to take!"

Reaching the end of the room, he spun around and gazed them all in the eyes. "I'm going to do what I know is right, no matter what the Union or any government thinks of me!" He paused to let his words sink in. "And if I'm alone in that... then so be it."

The silence was deafening. Even the craft's engines seemed to have quietened for Marcus' speech. Every member of the company looked up at him, staring unblinkingly as the commander told them to forget the nation they had lived under and fought for all their lives to defend. To throw any pride for their country out the door and focus upon the entire galaxy – a galaxy that still remained a mystery to most of them.

Marcus was no interstellar wanderer either. He had never seen an alien homeworld aside from Sirtha Prime, nor travelled to the outlying territories of the Viruun Technocracy or the Forerunner Reaches. But that did not matter. He didn't need to see other planets or species to know that they were out there. That uncounted billions of people, each one with unmatched potential, were out there trying to live their lives in peace. Uncounted billions whose fates were at risk if his unit failed this day.

There was still silence, and Marcus gave a small, resigned sigh before starting to walk back to his seat, burdened by the fact that he was alone in this endeavour...

"I'm with you, sir."

A sudden voice made him freeze, then turn to see Captain Jennifer Sakong rise from her seat and stride towards him, a look of pride upon her face as she met his gaze.

A rush of gratitude, pride and hope surged back into the Horusan's body. "What was that, Jennifer?" he asked out loud, smiling widely.

"You're not alone, Marcus." Captain Sakong said. "You're right. This is about more than just us and Kleber. This is about the whole galaxy." She spoke loud and proud, so the entire company could hear her. "If Aharon was here now, he'd ask the same of us."

"Agreed." Arjun stood upright as well, undoing his harness. "I'm with you too, Major. We all saw the horrors of war for ourselves, and I'll be damned before I let another one destroy everything we fought to defend!"

More and more words of approval began to fill the room, with several standing up in their seats. And as this all happened, Major Winter turned to look upon one person, who was sitting to his right.

L.J Ferro, who was giving his commander a genuine smile – an occurrence most rare.

"Not bad, Horus boy... not bad at all."

Marcus grinned at the Tartarusan. "So you're in, Ferro?"

Ferro chuckled slightly. "Sure." He then looked at the company and smirked. "Might as well do some good while I'm stuck here with you lot!"

A few brief chuckles and spurts of laughter came from the Orbital Commandos' mouths. Marcus  as he heard it, then scanned the room before making one last statement.

"For Kleber!" he yelled, punching the air.

"For Kleber!" the entire company echoed back. Their morale had been restored, the pallor that had been cast over them lifted by his words. In an echo of what happened before, they descended through the stratosphere of Sirtha Prime ready for whatever came their way.

Marcus needed them at their best. They were about to enter diplomacy with a warlike race unlike anything the galaxy had ever seen. Anything could happen.

But uncounted billions were at risk, so he would do everything in his power to ensure those never faced the horror of war as he and his men had.