He nodded, knowing that she would have got his reference. There wasn't too many around that would. "Yeah, for a while. I've been almost every type of soldier you can imagine...except for pilot. That I'll happily leave to those who enjoy fucking around off the ground." No, he was not a particularly happy flyer, even when necessary.

"Well, look at it this way. If you weren't certain that losing your head would kill you, and that if it didn't work you went through all that pain, or whatever it would be, for nothing, how would it affect you? Me...I think I'd end up insane, in the truest sense of the word."