<strong>Lcpl. Roman "Rome" Beneke</strong><br/><br/>Rome was still naked from his cryosleep. Most of the other marines in the regiment at least wore skivvies in cryosleep, but Rome had discovered that, if covered, his skin reacted badly to the cryo process resulting in blisters where clothing had touched his skin. As a result, Rome always went naked into cryosleep.<br/><br/>As Rome finished a set of chin-ups he heard the Sarge call out,<strong>"That's it, leatherneck! That's what I want to see! Dedication!"</strong>Rome dropped from the bar and answered back,<strong>“Ooh-Rah Sarge!”</strong>His mouth slowly curled into a smug grin as he opened his locker and grabbed a towel before heading to the showers. As he walked he slung the towel over his shoulder and spoke to whoever was within ear shot<strong>“Gotta keep this finely honed instrument of death and destruction in tip top shape, right? After all, I am Marine Corps property.”</strong>The question was rhetorical, and although Rome was a little vain when it came to his physique, he purposefully exaggerated his vanity to get a rise out of the others. The reactions of his squad mates were often times priceless.<br/><br/>Rome hit the showers, cleaned up and hit the lockers again, quickly changing into his Marine Corps black tank and combat trousers and pulled on his combat boots. He grabbed his combat knife from the top shelf of his locker, slipped it onto his belt and tied it off around his leg.<br/><br/>Rome double-timed it to the mess hall where everyone else was either already eating or in line for chow. Moving toward the chow line, he saw Senjo and Gizmo talking. He overheard some of their conversation as he reached the end of the line. He grinned mischievously and gave Senjo a firm slap on her perfect synthetic ass.<strong>“Mornin’ sweet cheeks. Why don’t you pull them shorts down and bend over that table over there and I'll give you some REAL chocolate ,”</strong>He flexed his right bicep, holding his arm in close to his body and leaned in to kiss his own bulging bicep.<strong>“You know you want some, don’t you Senjo?”</strong>He glanced past Senjo and winked jokingly at Gizmo. Clearly visible on his right shoulder was a tattoo of a Roman war eagle grasping a scroll in its talons set against a laurel wreath backdrop. On the scroll was large lettering that read<em>“SPQR.”</em>Rome held the flexing pose for a moment longer and let his arm fall back to his side as he erupted into boisterous laughter. He didn’t care if the others found it humorous or not, or maybe he did and that was why he laughed at his own antics so loudly.<br/><br/>After regaining his composure, he grabbed a tray and promptly moved through the chow line piling some of everything onto his tray before moving to find a vacant seat where he could scarf down the slop. He had to hurry because he still needed to check his gear and get prepped for whatever the hell it is they were sent here to do.<br/>