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Tahlvia slid the palm of her hand across her face, and made a show of thinking. "Well sir, I suppose you can come drink with us, but Im not sure if they can afford to sell Keg's with a UNSC discount." She grinned like a Schoolgirl getting her first car. "The 19th Battalion you say? I guess he can come and try and hang with a real outfit." She punched him on the soldier and put out her hand for a proper handshake. "Tahlvia Rishtun at service. Platoon Leader extraordinaire."

Tahlvia laughed the most real laugh she had in a long time. "Girly Girls? You see Private Cole, 100% Jumper, Close cropped haircut, steely eyes, and even a lean mean runnin build. He may never have been a real ladies man, but he's far from a girly girl. Myself, well my heritage Russian, and I drink more vodka then any damn Earth-born I've ever met." She pushed the strands of hair out of her face and grinned. "This here scar was from Paris IV, we made a drop, I landed on the side of a parking garage and my pod's door sliced through my half of the pod, 15 seconds later, the covies were showering our position with that green and blue s**t. 180 seconds later, we landed 4 pelicans, and a company of standard Marines secured our FOB, while the rest of us went around and picked our way through the ruined metropolis looking for more things to shoot. Later that same day I blew the engines off a damn phantom and watched a Platoon sized elements of hinge heads plummet face first into the highway." She slapped her left shoulder twice. "That's why Staff Emerson inked a hinge head here." She rolled up the sleeve and showed off the graffiti style image of an elite with a 20+ tattooed on its shoulder falling from the air. Its was only one amongst several similar styled tattoos on her arm that stretched to her wrists.

Private Cole being tempted enough decided he'd open his mouth. "Well if I had to choose I think our outfit would stand toe toe with yours, I mean the Russian war plan was always to throw numbers at the enemy and hope winter took the rest." He felt oddly proud of himself for finally contributing to a conversation, until 112's father spoke up. That shook him up, he hadn't realized when he read the reports what the family would feel like, 36 years was almost twice his age, he couldn't imagine being virtually without family for that long.

Tahlvia raised her hands in defeat, "Alright you got me, But as they Age before Beauty." She whistled to the waitress, and waved her hand. "Hey you, do you mind bringing me another round?" The waitress looked at her with a face somewhere between angry and confused. "I'm Sorry ma'am, but we don't take orders from across the room." The waitress spun on her heels and stormed off to the back. "Uh oh, I made an oopsies. If you'll excuse me I have to go smooth things over before I get the boot." Tahlvia stood up and excused herself before trotting off towards the kitchen door of the restaurant.

Private Cole looked up to the Spartan and quite nervously said. "I'm 19 sir, I joined two years ago, I was with the 34th Mechanized brigade on Sigma Juleit V. We were holding a research station on the asteroid when the Covies assaulted our station. My squad got cut off from our company when the bulkhead on deck 3 crumpled, and we had to dismount and leave 3 good hogs behind and climb through maintenace halls to get out. By the time we circumvented the bulkhead the rest of my company was a bloody smear on the deck. A hunter pair rushed them, and before they knew it the front hog was smoking and caused a pile up. The hunters made quick work of the rest as they tried to organize. My Squad leader charged on in rage it tore his head clean. I lost it, I started screaming something obscure and obscene. Then I was out of ammo, and only one of the Hunters was dead. Wilkinson sprinted to a hog and jumped on the turret. I saw it coming before it happened, a bright green projectile erupted from the hunter's cannon, and fused his body with the slag from the Turret." Cole shook his head to clear away the image. "The next thing I know, I yelled at my Team leader to cover me, and made a sprint for the hunter. I fired my magnum to get it's attention and then bolted straight down the hallway. Staff Rodriguez put a clip in it's backside and it dropped dead to the ground. We finished our exfil to the hangar bays, with only 2 Hogs, and 6 surviving Marines. When I got back to my ship, I was handed orders for ODST selections. 6 months later the LT has her hooks in my back makin sure I don't make the Platoon any worse for wear." Cole took another sip from his beer and sighed. It was that first time he'd ever shared that story with anyone other then the Commander of his last unit. Well what was left of the 3rd, only 47 out of 500 hogs made it back from the deployment, and only 700 of 1600 marines made it off the asteroid.

Tahlvia took a long drag and let it out in a short sigh. "I know what its like not to have a family. I enlisted, and took two weeks shore leave back on Endymion, four months later I was on my first deployment. Covies glassed my home world. Pissed me off worse then it should have, I took out the aggression in my first force on force conflict when covie boarding parties tried to take our ship. I lobbed a grenade into their boarding ship, and followed up the explosion with four clips AR ammo. Next thing I know I'm being handed orders for ODST and off to Paris IV." She took her last drag and snuffed the cigarette butt on the sole of her shoe. "I imagine the IV program is intensive, I was denied after Paris IV, too much Psychological damage. Apparently combat psychosis is a disqualifying factor." She laughed, a short forced thing in itself. "But that's what it takes to be ODST, too much crazy to keep held in check under stress. Regardless, would you like to join the party inside?" She took a step towards the door, grabbed the handle, and pulled the door open. "Age before beauty, sir." She gave a haphazard, sloppy salute and smiled.