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Seth let himself break a sly grin at Dansmith; the Marine had a personality, whether it was from or despite his combat experience the man had a good foundation and knew himself.
That's where confidence came from, that's where excellence was born.

He could use Dansmith. The whole fleet could use men like him.

Just as Seth began to reply another Marine approached, and introduced himself. First Sergeant Karr--Able company.

Karr was, if possible, even thinner than Dansmith, tall as most men go, certainly taller than Seth.

"Well Karr I was just about to be off to find the Lieutenant Commander myself." Seth eyed the man, he seemed to be able bodied despite his thinness and had definitely seen some combat. "105th eh? that's some hard s**t Marine. Is this your first posting as an XO?" Seth purposefully avoided introducing himself.

He wondered how Karr would respond, if he would think anything of Seth's rank. The man certainly was a dedicated soldier, 105th and ready and willing to head back into the fray.

What kind of man are you Karr? Seth wondered to himself, presenting Karr with a very open and relaxed look.

"Hold still, this is gonna hurt amost as much as finding out your wife cheated on you" Ashton warned the Marine, and moments later he filled his chest cavity with bio-foam. They say it feels like a thousand thousand ants crawling around your insides, then all biting at once. Ashton didn't feel like finding out, but if it would save his life some day, he'd put up with it. Any soldier would, he assumed.

While he worked, he overheard the name... "Hammer"? I heard that somewhere, didn't I? Hmph, maybe just some marines shooting the s**t; I don't know. Inserting ang IV drip valve into an ODST's vein, he started a salene salution that would keep him hydrated for another 3 or 4 hours. Plenty of time to take a break, and lo and behold: there were those extra docs and medics the Lt was talkin about.

A nervous Marine approached them, name tag said "Warren". The man looked like he was ready to s**t himself, Dansmith couldn't figure out why.
"Myself, the Lt, and our inquisitive Sergeant here, are all on duty, as far as I'm concerned. Lance Corporal Ashton Dansmith. What's your rank and title, Warren?" Ashton looked the man square in the face, patiently waiting for the slightly hesitant marine to say what was on his mind. Something seemed to be distracting him, and suprisingly, it didn't seem like the hundreds of bodies were to blame for his inattentiveness. Something he heard, saw? Did? Hell, Ashton didn't know; he wasn't a shrink.

Lipton hadn't slept since they left VerCrouse. As far as he could tell, he was currently the CO of the ODSTs stationed aboard the Monterey. The fact that the Armengald, his home, was gone simply astounded him. He knew all ships eventually fell during combat with the Covenant, but he never thought it would happen like that. He sat in Hanger bay C-3, staring at the last of the wounded men. They had taken those who were stable enough to move to the Medical section, those who could not were treated where they were. There were surprisingly few dead. He heard the announcement about the return to normal space, but he mostly ignored it. He felt the ship's momentum begin to change and his training kicked in. His feet braced almost automatically. His mind was not with him, it was with the men who had been left on VerCrouse, his men. Had he not been the victim of a misdrop perhaps he would have been able to know if more had made it out alive. As it was, he knew nothing of their fates. An entire company. He never would have stepped onto the D77-TC had he known that it would be leaving the planet. Of course, hindsight was always 20/20. What was done was done. Now he could only make the best of what he had. Even still, an entire company... He had known those men for a long time. Hell, he had been one of them until he had been sent off to shine desks with his a**.

As stars began to appear outside of the hanger bay, he knew something wasn't right. It was a sixth sense that most of the good infantry officers had. He sighed and looked down at the two rank insignia in his gloved hands. The two bronze oak leaves seemed to be heavier than a M808B Scorpion. He shook his head slowly then stood with a glimmer of purpose, and pocketed the insignia. William C. Lipton stood tall and fixed the two oak leaves to his collar. He turned and headed for the armory. He needed to turn over his weapons while on the ship. He would keep his sidearm, being an officer did have its privileges. The journey through the Monterey was quick and painless. His rifle was put among others and his spare clips were checked, sorted, and placed in the proper containers. He turned, still wearing near full armor, and headed for the bridge. He needed to check in with the ship's CO or XO. After all, he couldn't help if they didn't know who he was.

It was odd that a lower rank was bossing warren around like this, but he figured he would make an ally when he could. "Master Sargent" Warren said for the 2nd time. Warren was new to the war and got his semi-decent rank by luck alone. He couldn't help but notice the Lance Corporal was a medic and knew having him as a future ally would have it's perks. But none of that mattered right now he thought, just get on the station and see whats there a voice continued to say in his mind.

"First Sergeant Warren, sir!" Ashton snapped off a crisp salute, "Sorry, sir. My mind isn't where I'm wanting it to be. I must have missed your rank. Unforutanely, the Lieutenant here has final say as to where I can piss and when I can burp, but If it was my say, I'd be going with you right now to see the Commander--"

Just then, another Sergeant, a Gunnery in full gear, walked up to him and offered to be tour guide. Another clean salute followed Ashton's salutation: "Gunnery Sergeant Koles, sir. Its an honor. I'm afraid that if anyone else offers to escort us to the bridge, I'll just be dragged along despite the Lieutennant's best wishes. Very well: Lieutenant, sir, shall we all be off to see the Commander, now, sir?"

Ashton very much hoped he could get some info now, he didn't like being kept in the dark, even though, as a lower rank, it was all but his job to not know where he was headed. How did the ancient saying go, about the Early Marines back on Earth? "First to Go, Last to Know". Hehe, there are some things time just doesn't change.

The gunnery Sargent seemed to undo all of Warren's work and this did annoy him, but complaining wasn't a luxury in the UNSC. If this plan didn't pan out, he would need to change to plan B. Warren listened as the Lance Corporal and Gunnery Sargent exchanged words and he knew his plan failed. " I just remembered I must be off" Warren said. He didn't feel like sticking around for his defeat.

Warren slipped away from the medical bay and noticed all the free space around him. He was never to fond of large crowds to begin with warren thought. He found himself heading back for the bridge and hoped he would be able to get in with a meeting with the captain. Ask if he could be on the scout party to the station. If plan B fails, well plan C would be put into action next. After Plan C , D was his final plan. He found himself praying it didn't come to that.

Anthony gave a grin and a kurt nod at Rory.

"Lieutenant, I think the LTC is up in the Breifing room. I think we should probably head up there." He said, jerking a thumb at the door.