Billy didn't quite know what to say for a few moments. He watched his hands idly, half-remembering conversations with some of the older crew members. Remembering how war was to be expected, disaster accounted for in advance, peacetime viewed suspiciously (but treasured when it arose).

"I don't think it's necessary to go through all that to grow up---I wish it hadn't been part of it for me and everyone else there, but you know how useless wishes are without the power to act. The best I can hope for is that if we succeed here, some people won't have to lose all that, and I want to protect as many people from that loss as possible. Looking at the younger children who'd lost their families angered me beyond words."

It had been so long since he'd been able to think of his world as a safe and stable place that having a family to go home to and a core group of friends now seemed foreign. Billy would protect those futures with everything he had, but such innocence was long gone for him now.

He then shrugged, letting out a little awkward laugh. "And hey, now that I've been through all that, almost anything here is easy by comparison."