<strong>Pvt. Marcus Jones – 3rd Squad - APC</strong><br/><br/><strong>“Of course it matters,” Riska drawled, reaching out to draw one hand lovingly along the length of the M56’s barrel.  “I need to know if I should load with standard or hot rounds.”  Leaning forward, she wrapped her fingers around the length of the barrel as her grin sharpened.  “God knows I like it hot.  Don’t you?”</strong><br/><br/>Marcus chuckled loudly and flashed Danko what could only be classified as a shiteating grin. She wanted him. A blind, deaf mute could have told him that. “Oh I like it hot,” He replied matching her tone. “Radio-fucking-active.”<br/><br/>As he spoke, visions of throwing her on the floor of the APC and giving her what she wanted filled his mind, driving him to distraction until the little voice in the back of his head sounded as it had countless times before.<em>This ain’t the time or the place to be thinking about getting your dick wet.</em>It told him.<em>Not if you want to live.</em><br/><br/>Since he’d joined the Corps, Marcus hadn’t seen much action. But the voice in his mind spoke from years of experience both in the gang wars which had ravaged his home colony and years in the slam.<em>The weapons might be fancier,</em>He thought to himself.<em>But war is still war, no matter where you are.</em><br/><br/><strong>"Man those guns grunts, first come first serve.  I need whoever calls shotgun to tell me where the hell I am going, if I like this rock I plan on being buried here."</strong>Marcus didn’t know much about the L.T., but from what he’d seen thus far he was just dealing with another uptight pantywaste who was in love with the sound of his own voice.<br/><br/>Undoing his safety harness, Marcus stood and looked around. He made his way down the line, passing by Fields, who looked like she was completely out of her depth in front of her gun port. He then spied the new guy, Cooper, ogling Danko as she set up her weapon. With a sly grin, he slapped the man heartily on the back and leaned over to speak as he passed by.<br/><br/>“Nice ass, huh? 20 says I break her in before you do, game?.” Though his tone was mostly mocking, there was a slight hint of camaraderie to it. Cooper was brand spanking new, with nary a clue of what was in store for him. That reminded Marcus of a time almost beyond remembering, when he too was that innocent. Settling in to the gun port next to the new guy, he took hold of the turret and began a cursory search for targets. “<br/><br/><strong>“We are just going to make sure these civilians are paying their dues to the Weyland-Yutani Corp and if we need to rough them up so be it."</strong>There was a sarcastic note to the L.T.’s voice that was not lost on Marcus. At first he thought it was directed at Danko, but after a second of consideration he realized that the tone echoed many of Marcus’ own private opinions.<br/><br/><em>He’s not any happier about being here than I am.</em><br/>