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shielded his vision and went for the hug attack.
    "You smelly old bastard."
    "It's good to see you, too, Belly."
    Only Taurus McCloud was allowed to call him Belly. Everyone else, as long as they were male, received an ass-whopping.
    One does not simply bell-lify the Bellrock. He hugged Taurus like a long-lost brother and squeezed his hand hard.
    "Seriously, it's great to see you again."
    Taurus nodded and offered two chilled cokes he must had grabbed from the nearby drink dispenser.
    "Want a coke?"
    "Sure. But none of that Zero shit. Give me sugar or give me death."
    "Here you go," Taurus said with a smile.
    "Is there a place where we can talk in private?"
    He looked around. Lots of people, personnel and customers alike, traversed the hall inside. Most of them minded their own business but some stared at the semi-legendary war veterans. 
    "We can have a walk 'round the perimeter if you don't mind the sun."
    Taurus nodded, pulled up his sleeves and exposed his brown skin.
    "Look at me—I could use some color."
    "Mine's not better," Bellrock said and flashed his arm. 
    Whiter than bleached cream, except for the Asian symbol.
    Taurus grinned.
    "What's up with Chinese sign?"
    "Oh, that's the Japanese kanji for serenity."
    "You and serenity? Get out."
    They both chuckled and started walking. The unforgiving Texan sun began roasting their bodies. Thank God the coke was stored inside cryo-containers that kept the liquid to a cool 38F. The gentlemen downed their dark elixir and unleashed a bit of smalltalk before cutting to the core.
    Except Bellrock was not a Cut & Chat kind of guy.
    "So, Taurus, cut the BS and give it to me straight. What's all that Martian mumbo-jumbo about?"
    "I assume you watched the news."
    "They keep battering my feed. I can't even watch a holo-porn without getting pestered by alien-related stuff."
    Taurus nodded.
    "Well, then you might know that the alien life form has crashed the red planet and survived the impact. Thanks to a group of trusted military advisors, I have convinced the president to send a recon team all the way to Mars to gauge the creature's threat levels. We could have asked the Newtype to do that, but you know they can't be trusted."
    Oh, Bellrock knew all about that.
    Years of battle experience had proved their stealthy scheming.
    "Damn shells. It's a wonder they've made it that far into the galaxy. Isn't expansion against their twisted ideology of sustainability?"
    "I really don't care much about their ideology—it’s the alien I'm worried about."
    "Got it."
    Bellrock stared at the desert yellow that melted with the horizon. The vast landscape made love to the azure blue sky and bedazzled the veteran’s visual senses every time anew. 
    Texas, you beautiful dame. 
    His attention shifted back to Taurus.
    "So you want me to go to Mars and check out how dangerous that monster is?"
    "You and a scientist provided by NASA. I want a military guy with war expertise and zero infatuation over Newtype-related matters. You have the experience and the body to accomplish that."
    He paused.
    "Besides, you've trained and fought in zero G conditions."
    "I thought we were going planetside?"
    "You never know."
    Bellrock nodded and finished his coke. Sexy coldness surfed down his gamut and cooled his inner engines. 
    "When?"
    They finished a circle around the shooting station's perimeter and repositioned at the entrance of the hall.
    "As soon as possible. Your team mate is already training. The freighter is getting prepped at the International Astroport as we speak. You'll have to endure a two-week intense training program before you're shooting up the stars again."
    Bellrock released a groan. 
    Sounded tempting, not gonna lie. 
    Teaching Army folks at the range was a blast, but he did miss the old times. The rush of going into hostile, interplanetary territory, storming stations and unloading high-velocity rounds into the enemy's shell. Besides, he was still in his prime, thanks to advances in