I enjoyed the quick response to my last chapter. It inspired me to write the continuation quickly and efficiently. Please, remember to vote for the poll on my page for the pairing. If voting doesn't pick up I will go with my default. Have fun and remember, review!

Ben was more than willing to share his tattoo's origins. It was a fun story that he had retold to only a few people in the few months after he had received them. He cleared his voice and looked the woman, Kasumi, in the eyes. He smiled softly to here, the orange tinted lighting giving him and even warmer smile.

"Alright, best start from the beginning then. The truth is, I got all of them at the same time. They were a final parting gift from the Academy." Ben started to remember his days at the academy. His classmates were mostly conscripts and Islanders. They all had very ornate tattoos that must have meant something very deep to them. He often wished he had some ink as well.

" I wasn't the best in my class, but I never left anyone behind. I always got everyone through the exercise. I had eventually made a few friends. They explained the importance of their tattoos. They weren't just a symbol of expression, but also powers to ward off evil and death. Many of them held this strong belief." Ben said. Kasumi leaned in a little, interest piqued by the story. She wondered where Ben was from. She had never heard of his kind before.

" After boot was over and we all graduated, the guys decided it was time I got my gift." A look of both pain and fondness cam over Ben. He was reliving the memory and the pain from the tattoos came back full force.

" The tats hurt really bad in all honesty. The guy doing them was going into demolitions, so I guess it was just me being a wimp. They held me down to a table in the barracks and went to town." Ben pulled off his glove and held his hand up, back facing Kasumi. On it was a symbol that looked a lot like a dragon circling a cross.

" This symbol is supposed to be a safeguard against infections. It's a symbol of health and stability. It hurt bad, especially since the ink was homemade." Ben put his hand back down on the table. He turned his head to the side and pointed at his neck and tracing the tribal markings that ran up and down in many patterns. Strange symbols were following the tribal in lines.

" These symbols are ancient Seran, they read as such, ' Though this warrior marches to war, he shall never fall. Though this warrior is wounded, he will never die. Though this warrior is lost, he will never give up. Though this hero is in trials, may he always persevere. Glory to the Sun.' It's an ancient battle chant from the islands. It's to protect and to strengthen." Ben turned again and looked Kasumi in the eyes. He pointed to the lines on his face, intricate with similar runes spread across his cheek.

" These symbols are another chant that's much more modern. 'Aim true, but not to kill. Fire sure, but not to kill. Kill, but not to kill. Defend your life, love and family. Defend what you believe. Take life only to preserve life.' It's something that the gears made up." Been put his hands back down on the table, looking to the bacon and thinking about how he wanted to eat it. To taste it's crispy brown maple flavor.

Ben's left hand traced his scars on his face. The burns didn't hurt, but they felt rough and strange. He had never had many scars before this. They were mostly small cuts and burns. Now, half of his body was covered in these strange, crisscrossing rough scars. He at least looked normal and not disfigured.

" The rest of the tattoos are a secret, considering that most of them are messages and such. As for the scars, they're electricity burns from an experiment. I had a bio-conductive fluid in my system and it made my hyper conductive. The heat from it got so intense that it burned my veins and scarred my skin. I'm lucky that it didn't kill me." Ben looked to Kasumi, expecting that she might ask more about them. She just smiled at him in an innocent way that made him smile back.

" Thank you for telling me some of your story. I'm certain there's far more to it. It's good to see that Shepard can find very talented people." said Kasumi. Ben blushed a little in embarrassment at the praise. He had never thought himself much of a soldier, let alone a talented one. Back home, he was just a greenhorn learning the ropes.

" I wouldn't say I'm talented. I just do what I was trained to. Even then, I have my faults. Mostly what's gotten me to this point is luck and sheer willpower." Ben was never one to gloat or have an ego. He was very shy when it came to those things, always had been. He was proud, certainly, but he was always worried he would fail. He just tried his best and this new place had given him a new drive. It let him know there was more to life than his own home. Kasumi just smiled and placed her arms down, crossed on the table.

" You happen to be a very talented soldier. From what I've seen of the battle feed and what I've heard you can really pack a punch. If you don't mind me asking, where were you trained?" She leaned forward and rested her head upon her hand. Ben thought about it, should he really tell them? It couldn't hurt to, she was just curious.

" Hey, I wouldn't mind hearing a story or two about this. Mind if I join?" A voice asked. Ben looked up and saw that it was Zaeed. With him was the man in the armory, Jacob Taylor. They both had trays of food and seemed to be interested in what he was talking about.

" Sure, if you want to hear it. It's not very interesting though, maybe I could tell you some history and some recent battles?" Ben had never found that his training had been memorable besides the tattoos and the yelling from his drill instructors. Maybe they would appreciate some history and some of his recent experience.

" Whatever you want man, I just want to know how you became a giant. From what I've seen, your medical scans said you were human. Two meters tall? Not normal." Said Jacob. He was eating his bacon and eggs slowly.

" Well, I was trained in Jacinto like most of the other gears. The COG trains us to the best of their ability, strength training, running, combat simulations and such. Training usually lasts a year in most cases. I got rushed out though due to a lack of available troops." Ben leaned up, straightening his back. " We get trained at the academy and we work in squads. They teach you everything you need to know."

" Wait, you're called gears and your government is called the COG?" Asked Jack, she was walking in the room from the elevator. " What's with the machine obsession?" Everyone else nodded in agreement. Jack leaned against the wall behind Kasumi, looking at Ben. " Well Iron Giant? Whats the deal?"

Ben sighed, he hated explaining this. He had talked to a few stranded about it that didn't have any schooling about what the COG was. He prepared to explain, cracking his neck and getting into lecture mode.

" The COG, Coalition of Ordered Governments, is a government that has been in place for over a century, almost two. It was founded on the principles of Order, Diligence, Purity, Labor, Honor, Loyalty, Faith, and Humility. You do your part and they COG moves forward." He shifted a little in order to get a better position.

" For over a century the COG has stood, through the Pendulum wars and even now. We've been at war for almost A century, the enemy has just changed. My family has always been in the military. To be a gear is to be a Carmine in my family. You serve, not necessarily because we are patriots, but because we love to fight and protect our family. We also love explosions." This caused a chuckle to escape from Zaeed.

" I've only been in the field for a few months. It's be rough, not to mention I got thrown into this by some crazy experiment..." He then started to look off, the bacon still on the plate in front of him begging to be eaten...mmm...bacon