"GET UP RON YOU SLEEPY FUCK''

''shut up Mace let me rest, we have nothing to do for hours'' Ron replied in a groggy and sleepy tone.

''how on Earth did you become a Galactic Marine'' Mace retorted ''either way, the lieutenant wants to see everyone for a final briefing in an hour'' 

Ron let out a long sight as he sat up on his bunk bed ''can't wait to get on some shitty desert planet covered in rocks and sand'' 

''too bad you don't get to choose where we go'' Mace said with a slight grin.

''if it were up to me, we would go to a cold icy planet'' Ron said with a straight face.

''fuck off with that shit man! I don't want to spend my time on a glorified snowball''

''to each their own bud, though I wish this planet would have at least had some liquid water'' he said as he got off his bed. ''let me put on my bodysuit'' Ron said as he grabbed his suit and stepped into it.

The bodysuits were reminiscent of the neoprene diving suits of the 21st century, they provided a certain comfort and isolation from the elements as well as protection from temperature ranges of 50°c to -30°c the Galactic Marine standard issue suit was all black and had white stripes on the right upper arm depending on rank, up to four indicating a Seargent, Ron and Mace had 2 Stripes indicating the rank of private first class (PFC).

Ron lifted his suit over his arms and put them in and closed the zipper at the back ''alright let's get a move on, where is the briefing being held?''

''cargo bay 6''

''alright''

Ron and Mace left the room and started heading down the hallways toward the cargo bays walking past a few fellow Marines and crew, a good 10 minutes later they arrive at the cargo bay.

''looks like we are the first ones here'' Ron said

''seems so, we are 20 minutes early'' Mace said looking down at his watch

''guess we might as well set up the room, there are 15 of us, right?''

''yeah, we can do that, beats sitting around and talking to you'' Mace said letting out a laugh.

''screw you man'' Ron replied with a laugh ''let's go get the chairs''

Ron and Mace grabbed the chairs from the back of the cargo hold and dropped them on the top left corner of the room.

''go get the holoprojector and a table, I'll put the chairs in place'' Ron ordered.

''sure''

Ron started placing the chairs as Mace went to go get a table, a short minute later Mace came back with the table and Ron was placing down the last chair. 

"ok man il just grab the projector, be right back'' 

Ron nodded and sat down on a chair and waited for Mace to return, shortly he returned with the projector and set it down on the table in front of the chairs.

''guess we just wait on everyone else now'' Mace said grabbing a seat.

''yeah, I'll take this time to close my eyes, catch you later'' Ron said with a grin

''yeah yeah, enjoy yourself grandpa'' Mace said jokingly

''haha I'm not quite there bud I'm only 23''

''you keep telling yourself that gramps''

At that same moment, the slide door opened, and a man walked in.

''well, if it isn't my two most reliable Marines'' the man said

Ron and Mace quickly stood up and saluted the man ''Lieutenant Avery Sir!'' they said in unison.

''at ease men... I see you have already done the setup, il have some other Marines put this away'' Avery said with a grin

Ron and Mace sat back down as Avery walked over to the table and plugged a USB key into the holoprojector.

''300 years old and still does the trick ey'' Avery said with a grin placing his arms on the table ''when we get back to Earth, I will recommend you both for officer school'' Avery said in a more serious tone looking at the two men.

''I would like to decline that offer sir'' Ron replied

''guess il just have to make sure you end up under my platoon when I graduate'' Mace said with a light grin.

''why wouldn't you want to be an officer, Ron? you have the cool for it'' Avery questioned.

''I joined to see the galaxy... not to order and manage people around''

Avery sighed ''well if you ever change your mind... the marines need more officers''

''il keep it in mind'' Ron sighed.

At that same moment the sliding door opened, and personnel started walking into the cargo bay and started heading for their seats.

''about time you ladies showed up ey... we might just be able to start this briefing today'' Avery complained.

The men waited for everyone to appear and take their seats.

''alright looks like everyone... welcome, I will now begin our final briefing'' Avery started and turned on the holoprojector with a hologram of a planet appearing over it.

''so, as you all know we have been attached to this mining operation to RLP 4675-C, located in a relatively unknown region in space, which is why we are here, we are expected to oversee and defend the construction of the mining site located here on the equator, we will be landing at this location 20km away from the intended mining site'' he said while manipulating and pointing at things on the hologram.

''you will be moving there in a convoy with the construction and resource extraction vehicles, and remain there until construction is finished, the planet should be completely barren and covered in sand and should bear no life, its atmosphere is unbreathable so you will be required to be in your exosuits at all times, we are expected to remain here for 8 months before a relief team comes to replace us, and finally... if anything were to go wrong we are on our own, and expected to deal with the situation by ourselves do you understand'' Avery explained.

''SIR YES SIR!!'' the small crowd yelled in unison. 

''very good, I will see you all back here ready to move out after we land, dismissed'' Avery finished. ''PVT. Nils and PFC. Sandy, you two put away this room you were last to arrive''

''sir yes sir'' they replied unenthusiastically, as the rest of the men left the room. 

The group started heading in unison towards the armoury to get equipped. they soon arrive and head towards the wall where all the exosuits are located and stepped into their respective armors.

Exosuits had become commonplace in the armies of the late 22nd century, but the Galactic Marines had been issued a more recent model, revised after the first intergalactic war of 2549. They provided the user with complete isolation from the environment, and comfort in temperatures ranging from -150°c to 250°c, the exosuits also had an internal oxygen recycling system, and provided a noticeable increase in strength, and the ability to move at up to 50km/h, they were powered by replaceable a fusion reactor cell located bellow the nape, and finally were designed to resist a crushing force of up to 500MPa and served as a reminder of humanity's new scale in the universe, but these features also made the human exosuit the most resilient in the universe for its relative scale. The only available color for marines was black as it was deemed to be the best universal color for warfare in space or on planets.

The Marines started stepping into the back of their exosuits and enclosed themselves within. stepping off their stands and walking towards the weapon stands and grabbing their EMR Rifles.

The Electro Magnetic Rail Rifles were semi-automatic shoulder-high rail guns introduced 4 years after the war of 2248. they fired relatively large projectiles at incredible speeds to be able to deal with almost any threat the universe had in store.

One by one the marines started leaving the room, headed towards wherever they were needed or wanted to be.

''hey Ron let's head to the cafeteria and grab a snack'' Mace said in a robotic voice emanating from his helmet.

''yeah sure, we might even get a look at the planet'' Ron's robotic voice replied.

The pair made their way to the canteen and stopped before two vending machines to grab a bite and a drink, then headed towards an open seat and sat down before removing their helmets.

Ron looked toward the closed window blast doors ''looks like the blast doors are closed'' he sighed