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The ceremonies continue Two hundred Golds bend their knees as the Whites walk through their ranks I try to think it a stupid, sole, all these men and women with their pompous silence and their attention to tradition But this is the history ofAnd there is a nobility to the ht Ethereal Whites wander through the ranks, virgin ers of iron and laurels of gold Child Whites carry the triangular golden standards--a scepter, a sword, and a book croith a laurel I feel hands on ht

They say this is the way the Old Conquerors went to battle, with virgins of White wounding them with iron They touch our broith the laurel and cut our left palms with the iron as they whisper softly in our ears:

"My son, hter, now that you bleed, you shall know no fear, no defeat, only victory Your cowardice seeps froht Rise, warrior of Gold, and take with you your Color’s ht"

Then each warrior smears the handprint of blood across his face and across the top of his demonfaced helm One by one we stand in silence Each Gold represents ten legions This is the storm that will fall on Mars in a torrent of metal Ten ht a planet We fight men and women Cut off their heads and see their armies crumble," Lorn reminds us all

The asseether we recite the names of our chief enemies "Karnus au Bellona, Aja au Grimmus, Imperator Tiberius au Bellona, Scipia au Falthe, Octavia au Lune, Agrippina au Julii, and Cassius au Bellona These are wanted lives"

In the halls of my enemy, they will recite my name, and the names of my friends He who kills the Reaper will have bounty and renown Individual hunters and killgroups will scan our co for le battle Others for the sly kill of a sniper’s bullet Some will not even participate in the battle for Mars They are Gray hts of Venus and Mercury here only fortheir family assets, family soldiers, to help thelory The Jackal intercepted a cohts are here They all will have watched s, my victories, my defeats And they will know my nature, the nature of my Howlers But I will not know them

Let them co Cassius At least that’s what I told Lorn But he knows that’s not true A deep shame burns in me for how I yelled like a monster at his family I beat him fairly, but I didn’t have to like it as much as I did Sometimes I wonder if he were raised a Red and I a Gold if he wouldn’t have ended up a better man than I am now, and I a worse man than he ever could be

For soreat evil Maybe that’s the guilt Maybe that’s the fear of a life where I never knew Eo I don’t know Orhow easily I fall to pride

My warriors disperse back to their own family vessels I watch out the viewport as half a hundred shuttles streak away to the great arh they knoe’re here now, our enemies did not expect us to co commanders Orion will lead the Pax and Roque will lead the fleet in conjunction with Victra I approve of their plan The rest of oes ahead to the hangars

I reach up slightly to thump both of the Telemanuses on their shoulders "Pax would have looked brilliant this day" Sophocles curls around Kavax’s ankles

"My brother always looked brilliant," Daxo says war to be like Father But brilliant nonetheless We’ll kill Tiberius au Bellona, don’t you worry"