November 21st, 2290, UNPC universal calendar.

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A9, armored and carrying his V-06, waltzed up to the firing line at the range, C7 behind him, and took a deep breath.

The platoon of UNPC soldiers to their left of the range which was as wide as a football field was long stopped firing, and stared at the two augments.

A9 lifted the barrel of his V-06, referred to as the "vee-ought-six" by him and his companion, and upon hearing a tone inside his helmet, broke into motion.

He fired thrice, twice striking the torso of the steel target, and the last shot taking it in the head.

he shifted targets, moving a pace forward as he put his left foot down and switched the fire selector, located below the saftey switch, to his preferred two round burst.

having already sighted the target, and holding it center mass in his ACOG sight, he pulled the trigger, placing two 7.62 holes in the paper target half an inch apart, with two heavy thumps, then repeating it on three other targets.

all of which occurring within one second, and the engagement of the three targets taking place within the time it took A9 to lift his right foot and place it in front of his left. The movement of his V-06's 24 inch long barrel across the targets seemingly without pause.

He dropped his rifle down into the low ready position, and broke into a sprint, moving right and the the rear of the plywood structure's entrance.

A9 switched the butt of his rifle to his left shoulder, and maneuvered around the plywood "wall" which was inset 4' inside of the structure.

He put a 2 round burst into the left target, ignoring the right "hostage"

Moving out of the opening sat inside the back wall butted up against the right wall of the roofless structure, swapping the 30 round magazine with only five rounds left for a full magazine as he moved.

He dropped the expended magazine into his dump pouch before slamming the full magazine into the flared magwell of his weapon, and continued onward.

The UNPC marines to his left watched in awe across the clearing as the tall armored figure blitzed through the rest of the training course in less than fifteen seconds.

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C7 sat watching without movement, making note of some of the things A9 did stemming from long practice and experience.

"every one of those lessons are written in blood. I wonder how many lives were lost? " she thought.

Her tally was countless, with many of them having A9 present. The big man was always there with a shoulder to cry on and a warm embrace to process the trauma.

"I don't know how to repay him"

"hey, how'd I do?" A9 asked as he walked towards her.

"great, one-point-eight seconds faster than last time" she replied, smiling behind her opaque visor.

"aye young grasshopper, maybe one day you'll be as fast as me" he chided.

"yeah, no, you're a full three seconds ahead of Kugler" she said, referring to Brian "B4" Kugler. Who was in 2nd place.

"just practice" he said, shrugging.

'It's crazy how you make those inline sweeps look like a single smooth movement" C7 said.

A9 shrugged again. "you can still knock me out of the park on a long gun" he said.

"you're due for your see-cue-see qual next year, right?" he asked, turning and motioning for her to walk with him.

C7 nodded, knowing he could see her through his cameras.

"hey" he said, suddenly stopping and turning after a few paces, facing her.

"are you alright? I've noticed you've been off these past few days" he asked.

C7 seemed to consider a moment, staring at him.

should I tell him? she thought, still looking at him.

"I don't want to press her too hard, but whatever it is I want her to know I'm here for her" A9 thought.

"I've just been thinking about how every lesson we've learned is written in blood, and about all of those people that have died because we didn't know what to do, or encountered something we're not trained for" she told him honestly.

He nodded a few times as she spoke, before finally replying.

"Look, it's a lot, you've got several times the lifespan of the average human in front of you, and nearly twice their lifespan behind you, it's tough, but their lives weren't spent in vain, everything they paid goes right into training the new guys to fight against whatever it was. And in fact, look over there" he said, hooking a thumb towards the UNPC marines about 150'' to their rear right.

She looked, and saw they were doing supine malfunction drills with simulated jams in their Sig Sauer MCX SPEAR rifles.

"see, that right there has gotten people killed in the past, but here they are training muscle memory to make sure they know what to do" A9 said, moving closer to her.

"their lives weren't spent, the UNPC, and hell, I even make sure of it" he said, placing his right hand on her left shoulder, with his left cupping the cheek of her battered and worn helmet.

"you're just too damn good for me you big brute" C7 said, her voice warbly with emotion.

she moved forward, and wrapped her hands round him, holding him tight as she cried softly, A9 gently embraced her, rubbing her rear main plate.

They stood, holding each other for a long moment, C7 eventually pushing off and standing an arm's length away.

"thank you" she said, rolling her shoulders and standing up a bit straighter.

"keep your head up big girl, you're a UNPC trained augment" he chided her, using a phrase they'd heard hundreds of times.

C7 giggled slightly, a twinge of emotion still in her voice.

"let's get back, I'm hungry" A9 said, moving next to her and putting a hand at the small of her back.

"you're always hungry" C7 said, almost ad nauseam as A9 chuckled.

"you'll be okay" he said, nodding. "It wasn't for nothing"

"thanks" she said again, looking at him.

he met her gaze, and smiled under his visor.

"I'm so gonna cuddle you tonight"