Mark looked down at Alpha like a disappointed dad.
"You should've gone to the medbay as soon as the fighting was done." He said exasperatedly.
Maya just shook her head. "Well, at least you're alive."
Mark knew that Alpha should probably still be in the medbay, but then again, that generation of Drengr soldiers was known for being unusually tough and quite stubborn. Mark doubted that Alpha would listen if he told him to go back to his hospital bed. Besides, he had already heard his conversation with Osiris. If she wasn't able to convince him, he doubted that he could.
"Well, it's around chow time back on Earth. I don't know about you two, but I'm starving." Alpha said.
Mark let out half a chuckle. Alpha was clinically dead and his first suggestion after waking up is to get lunch. Not that Mark was opposed to eating. It would be a welcome break from the chaos that had been most of the "day", if you could call it that. The mission still used the Earth clock, but days don't really pass while you're in space. Not for the people in space, anyway.
"Alright then, let's head to the chow hall."
The now mismatched trio set off to the station's mess hall, with Alpha lagging behind. Mark wasn't sure if he was being affected by whatever drugs he was on or if he was just tired or in pain.
"Hey Alpha, what do you plan on doing after... all this?" Mark asked.
"I don't really know... I'll probably stay in the military. Don't think I'm suited for civilian life. Especially not with my enhancements. You?"
"Well, if we find a new world... I think I'd like to retire. Start a family. Maybe even get a ranch. Live a nice, peaceful life after all the battles I've been through. That's what a lot of veterans did after wars in the twentieth and twenty-first centuries, before war became a way to get famous." Mark replied. "How about you, Maya?"
"I'd like to retire as well. Then I'd buy a small exploration craft and set out to explore the galaxy. Then I'd settle down after all my travels, at the most beautiful place I discovered."
They arrived at an elevator as Maya finished speaking. Mark pressed the button to call the elevator, and the doors immediately opened. Lucky break, I guess. The Drengr soldiers stepped in, pressed the button that took them to the floor that the mess hall was on, and waited.
"Y'know... all that sentimental talk... what if we fail? What if... if we never even get the chance to do any of that?" Mark asked half to himself.
"It will all work out." Daisy's gentle voice assured him.
He knocked on his helmet in acknowledgement, leaned against the elevator wall. He wished that he could believe her. But with the odds they were facing, Taffy-3 might not even make it past the Kuiper Belt. Maybe not even Jupiter or Saturn. Then again, if the aliens lack tracking technology or were unable to put a tracker on any of the ships, the fleet might be able to survive, or at least make it out of the Sol system.
Mark could only hope. But what hope is there as humanity's last hope, facing impossible odds? The three hundred Spartans at Thermopalye at least had the same level of technology as their foes. The allied forces on D-Day in the Second World War had the element of surprise. Here, humanity has no advantages.
DING
The elevator arrived at the desired floor, and the trio stepped out. Looking around the .ess hall, the Drengr saw all manner of foods. Soups from China and Japan, burgers and sausages from Germany, borscht and kurnik from Russia... the list went on and on. With the amount of foods from different cultures, nobody could feel alone.
"Alright, get whatever food you want and meet up at the empty table over there." He said, pointing at said table.
As the trio split, Mark made a bee line to the nearest line. He didn't really care what food he got, after all. Drengr soldiers weren't allowed to be picky during training. From the age of six he learned to enjoy food in general.
He moved through the line quickly, selecting what looked like some sort of stew and a bottle of water. Then he made his way to the table he had pointed out. As he walked, he could feel all the eyes of the people in the mess hall following him. Not that it bothered Mark. He was a Drengr, after all. A legendary super soldier in their eyes and a valuable asset in the eyes of the U.N.I.C.
He sat down at the table, followed by Maya and Alpha not long after. As he began to dig into his food, a voice came over the intercom.
"Ladies and gentlemen of Taffy-3, I would like to have your attention. I am Captain Madeline Halsey of the U.S.S. Mayflower... I'm not very good at speeches, but this'll be better than nothing... hopefully. As you know, we face an enemy with technologies far more advanced than any of ours. They destroyed the Hood and several other vessels.
"I know that we haven't even passed the asteroid belt, but remember: each and every one of you are part of Humanity's finest. We are born to inherit the stars, and I'll be damned if a split-mouthed lizard takes that away from us. We were born to inherit the stars... let that be your war cry. When you feel like we won't make it, that there's no hope, that we'll all die... remember that.
"This is like David and Goliath. The story of an underdog beating all the odds and winning. We. Will. Win. And we will honor the sacrifices of those already fallen - and those who will - so that we could keep fighting... that's all."
There was silence in the mess hall. Mark looked at his comrades. The general sense of doom he'd felt before dissipated slightly as the Captain's words bounced around in his mind. We were born to inherit the stars. The line felt more powerful than he thought it would. It almost made him smile.
"She's right, you know." Daisy said. "Humans are explorers by nature, and you have incredible preservence."