[ WP ] As a Space marine you have an allowance of one call home a day . Today 's battle was especially bad and your best friend died I 'm the heat of it all . Time to call home .

The emitter behind the screen makes me wince and she pretends she does n't notice. I've taken off the armor but the desire to hide behind the weight of a shield has become reflex. Lana smiles at me and I reflexively relax my shoulders. I want to turn it off, this screen. To lay on the emerald sands of this world and.. not move forward. Stay encapsulated in that moment.. that we enlisted, accepted the patrol badge and grinned. Lana clapped, louder when the guards told her to stop. We were just kids, hoping to explore worlds. We were going to touch the stars and we did. We were too naive to believe that they would n't touch back. 
 
 She's used to the silence at the beginning of the call. To regain composure and allow her presence to bring me back. We're given 15 minutes to touch base with our families and I could see her squinting, trying to spot Jason at the corner of the door. Where he always was when she would call, making blow job motions and stroking the door handles, just because. I could see the look of confusion on her face. Lana just realized I did n't call from a corridor. 
 
 `` Love, where are you?''. I focus on whats behind the screen; those emerald sands. `` Love.'' I still do n't respond. `` Elias. What happened?''. My name snaps me back to reality, away from those sands. From where the blood of my brothers makes these green sediments shine like the stars. She puts her ring finger to the screen. I do the same. Its how we kissed when we're in different star systems. 
 
 `` Jason died. Well, he did n't die. He was killed. He shook the hand- the hand of a married Usigli, which is considered disrespe-''. I could n't cry if I wanted to, but the desire was there. `` Stop.'' I looked up and she told me to pull myself closer to the screen. `` I know that look. And I know what follows it. This was n't your fault. You ca n't take the worlds misery and play God.'' `` I COULD HAVE STOPPED THIS''. She held her composure. She had to hold her composure. 
 
 `` You could n't have. Jason was Jason. He would rather have a broken nose than a bruised ego. Love, Jason is gone. You are n't.'' Her eyes looked down for a moment, the only moment she allowed herself to feel while. I looked at her with eyes I knew she could n't recognize. Eyes flowing with Enforcement. What was once brown was neon green but unflinching, she continued, leaving her finger on the screen. I could feel the anger, the regret, the fuel burning through my veins. Every shallow breath breathed felt laced with fire. She starred back and as she did, I felt her arms around my shoulders, coaxing me to march. 
 
 The carriers began to enclose the area. Reinforcements arriving when they were n't needed to collect bodies that have already been written into this planet's history. `` You have three calls to make to me. And we're waiting for the forth.'' I reduce the Enforcement, as much as I can. One eye falls back to its brown hue and she nods, acknowledging. `` Tomorrow''. I say, my visor crawling back onto my face. `` Tomorrow''. 
 
 The carriers are shooting into the distance, the familiar sound of a cooling stream swallowing a plasma cell brings me to the moment. The metallic taste of blood slithers through the air. Jason would n't stop. I tapped where the badge should be. `` 079. Active''. As the shields hissed to activation and the armor cracked from my pores, I felt a twitch.
