text: "Nolan." "Yes father?" "Have a seat." "Ah...I'm going to miss this room. You know, this is a celebratory occasion. Why not open that bottle of scotch? It's been in that cabinet for at least two decades." "Nolan. You're going to need a clear head. And you are not old enough." "Oh, who cares about drinking laws down here?" "The military would be most displeased if a new soldier arrived at his first deployment with headache and nausea! They may have told you that drinking is alright after battle, but never before a first deployment. You should know that." "Oh yeah, that's true. Sorry." "Now, we need to talk. We need to have a long talk about what is happening tomorrow." "I already know what's happening tomorrow." "...Nolan. This is absolutely not something you need rush into. You may think you know what's happening, but you do not. What they teach you in Engineer Training is nothing compared to the real thing. They teach you how to repair and how to think on your feet. Then they teach you how to man some of the weapons. Then start talking about the comradery, make it seem like no one will die. Everything they've showed you, everything you've been taught about what happens in battle, is completely flipped on it's bloody head when you experience the real thing. So don't try to say that you know what will happen, because you do not! ...Jacob said... almost those same words to me the day before he was deployed." "Father... please don't bring that up! You know how I felt! You know how I feel about that now! But... I have no choice! I have to go... I have to! My whole goddamn life has been building up to this! I'm ready! Okay, it's not like you know what they've been teaching me! It's... it must be.... so much more different then whatever you were taught when you were a cadet! My instructors have given me more inspiration than anything you've ever told me! And my friends... they're the best people I've ever met. They would take a bullet for me, I know it." "Nolan! Christ...... this is what I haven't been able to tell you for years. This is what I hoped you would not be taught. They try to tell you that this war is about winning and becoming bloody heroes! They work this idea into your head that killing other men is... is fucking glamorous! They try to make you think that when a sub implodes that the men on board just evaporate! That they die a painless death! It is astounding what they try to tell you! And your friends will not be taking any bullets for you because there are no bullets in where you're going! Were you an Aquanaut, there would be bullets. And there would be proper fighting on solid seametal. Where you're going there will be nothing but the blue and green lights as the torps ram into the subs and kill everyone on board, all at once! And that is the pleasant way to go! For if the battle's not in an atmosphered zone, you know what'll happen! Water intake! The alarms that let you know that you are going to die! The scramble for the emergency tanks! And even if you somehow get your hands on one of those, you then get to sit in the cold black! And what will get you first? The drowning after you deplete the five minutes of air? Or the hypothermia? That is what battle is, Nolan! That is what this fucking war is! In this war, there are only the cowards who lead the armies, the brave men and women who give their lives, and the nil effects a death will have on the future generation! Only through millions of deaths is something changed! And not always for the better! The wars that were once fought on actual land were fought with machine, explosive, knife, and bullet! This war that we are locked in is fought with machine, explosive, knife and fucking torpedo hundreds of meters beneath an endless, frozen sea! The two may seem vastly different, but when one takes a closer, firmer look, the differences become obsolete. So forget dying a hero's death, forget being saved when your friends will certainly die with you, and forget that propaganda that they blind you with. I'm not asking you to die, Nolan. I simply wish for you to understand the truth about this war." "..." "It is time, son. Get some rest. Think about what you will say to us when you depart in the morrow hour. I have said my goodbye. Do not end up like your brother. Return to us alive. Then, we can talk about that scotch...