The men were waiting in silent lines for them. There was none of the buzz of the night before; a grim hush had fallen over the ranks. Ethan leaned over to whisper to Lister and Rimmer. "I thought maybe we should give them a bit of a pep talk before we go out there. Morale seems pretty low. And Dave...you were so good last night...I thought maybe..."
"You want me to do it," Lister said for him. "Smeg, I haven't prepared anything. Well...alright. Okay, here goes."
He climbed up onto one of the benches around the fire and surveyed his troops. He was astounded at how young some of them looked. Smeg, he thought. Some of these guys can't be a day over sixteen. They looked up at him and he felt his heart racing as he racked his brains, thinking over every movie he'd ever seen where the hero had to give an inspirational speech to his men. He took a deep breath.
"I know," he said, "That most of you here haven't known me very long. I know that at least some of you must be wondering whether you can trust me, whether I'm really one of you or just some stranger who's butting into your affairs. Someone asked me not so long ago why I was still here. Why I hadn't taken my ship and left as soon as I knew what was happening in this place. I suppose the only answer I can give you is the same answer I gave them. That yes, in many ways I am a stranger here. But in another way, this is perhaps the closest I've been to home in a very long time. I've been alone for...well, too many years, and for most of it I thought I really was the last human being alive. So, finding you guys have been like finding a family I never knew I had. And I think, if that's reason enough for me to be here and to be ready to fight, then I can only imagine what you lot must be feeling right now. And so there's a few things I want you to remember when we go out onto that battlefield today. I want you to remember that you're not just fighting for your homes and your families. You're fighting for each other. If we're all that's left of the human race, then we're going to make damn sure that we look out for each other!"
A few of the men cheered and Lister stood up straighter, "And one more thing! Those things out there are GELF's. That means that they were created by humans and I'll tell you this...We made the bastards. AND WE CAN BRING THEM DOWN AGAIN!" The men let out a roar and Rimmer, watching from the back, beamed with utter pride.
I knew he could do it.
