Feb 10, 2356, Alpha military world, Alpha Centaury

"Trainee up." Valasquez yelled and Henry popped up like a jack in the box. Henry had learned years ago to do what he was told when he was told. It made life a lot easier for him to do that instead of being rebellious. Since being on Alpha, he had realized that his parents never did want him. Here, he belonged and had a purpose. Henry loved having a purpose. He thought it was comical that he had to be kidnapped to find a place he belonged.

"No morning workout today Henry." Valasquez said to the utter bewilderment of Henry. They have done the same thing for the past six years.

"Why change it now?" Thought Henry.

"Jog to the latrine, shower, and then meet me at the DFAC." Valasquez said, but the way he said it was.... off. Henry wanted to ask why but knew better.

"Yes Sir." Henry replied and started to make the jog. To his surprise, none of the other kids were there. He got his daily ration of soap and showered, then jogged to the DFAC where he saw Valasquez waiting on him by a Humvee. Despite their origins some things are better upgraded than discarded, at least that's what Albert taught him.

"Get in." Valasquez said. He started to look... Well Henry didn't know how to make out the look that Valasquez was making. It somewhat looked like he was worried, but trying not to show it. As soon as cheeks touched seats Valasquez punched it. "He wasn't joking." Henry thought to himself. They left the base and went to a shuttle. It was different than what Henry remembered on Valt, though he has since started to forget things from that place. The shuttle was shaped like a rectangle with the corners cut. It had four wings with blades in them to help with the vertical takeoff and then front and rear thrusters for after take-off.

"Drill instructor, where are we going?" Henry asked nervously. He didn't like stepping out of line. It usually got him a whole lot of extra cardio training or wall-to-wall counseling depending on how bad. Sometimes all that incurred was loss of meal privileges for the day.

"Wait and see. Sometimes patience is a virtue trainee. There is a saying that I have failed to teach you. It seems to transcend time in the human militaries. Hurry up and wait." Valasquez said while leaning his head back and closing his eyes.

Feb 10, 2356, UHCV Frontier, Alpha Centaury.

Henry and Valasquez landed and were separated upon arrival. This scared Henry. He had grown used to being around Valasquez and it comforted him. While he didn't know for sure, he felt like if something happened, he could rely on Valasquez for protection. Henry was herded down a corridor and told to strip. They poked him with needles and drew blood. If he was to guess by all the equipment they were running tests on him. The more that Henry looked at them the more that he realized they were nurses. He believed they were working for the Navy. "Sir we need you to put your hands and feet in the cuffs." A melodic voice said. If there was one thing Henry knew he was good at and was familiar to him that was taking orders.

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He stepped forward and put his hands and feet in the cuffs in the middle of the room. The moment he did they clamped down keeping him in place. Then a ring came down from the ceiling and clamped down around his stomach and back. Henry didn't like this feeling, but he brushed past it. "Orders are orders and are to be obeyed." He mumbled to himself. It helped him to relax in his own odd way.

"It's way ahead of schedule you could kill the poor kid!" Valasquez shouted at the doctor, knowing that Henry couldn't hear him.

"I know but the board wants results. They need to see at least some progress made. I can promise you this Gunny. If we don't produce results, they will have us thrown in the brig." Dr Lin shouted back.

"I don't care if I have to spend some time in the brig. We both know what we are doing here is wrong. They haven't even finished the clinical test on the implants yet." Vasquez yelled back frustrated at the rush and reckless abandon the doctor had towards his trainee.

"We will both end up in the brig, but where do you think that Henry will end up. Both of his parents are dead, and DMI won't let him live. Do you believe that if this whole thing goes up in smoke, they are going to let a 10-year-old boy presumed dead show back up and blab about what we did? He along with all the other kids we took will be executed. The only way we can go is forward." Dr. Lin explained to Valasquez.

"I hate this I do. If he doesn't die or get horrendously disfigured by this, can he at least be around the others? It isn't right to have the boy secluded. It isn't right to me have to see that poor kid suffer day in and out alone, and it sure in the flying fuck isn't right to him." Valasquez said pointing out of the window at Henry.

"No. This is important that we discover if it is better for them to be secluded for training, or in a group. Like it or not he is the gunnie pig." Lin said as he got ready to perform the enhancement surgery on Henry. "If you want to say anything to Vanguard 001 go right ahead. When I get down there however you will need to leave the room." Lin said without looking back.

"You can bet your ass you son of a bitch I got a lot to say to him and apologize for. Though there is only one thing that I can tell him right now." Valasquez said with a growl as a started to march out.

"Gunny if all goes well with this surgery, we will have a briefing after to discuss the new training regimen he will need. If we are lucky the war with the empire will never come, but as it's looking right now we might have 4 years left possibly 5." Lin said.

"Fuck." Valasquez said as he banged a fist against the wall. He wasn't sure who he hated more right now. The DRD or himself. He knew that his orders were coming from the top, but he couldn't help but feel like DRD wanted to perform this program for a long time. Things fell into place way too fast, and normally things don't fall into place this fast and perfect for a covert program.

"Trainee Henry front and...." Valasquez started to shout. His words hung in his throat when he saw Henry. He saw Henry muttering what he told him on his second day. He did that time from time, so Valasquez knew that he was nervous. The last time he did that was before he had a sparring match last year. Valasquez chuckled a bit remembering how aggressive Henry got when the other boy started gumming off about not being alone. Then it dawned on Valasquez. He got angry because he was forced to be alone. Nobody besides the AI to talk to. Valasquez decided after Henry graduated, he would retire. If this is what needs to be done, he wanted no part in it. His consciousness couldn't handle doing this again.

"Trainee Henry I have one order for you today. Just don't die on me." Valasquez said then turned on his heels and walked out. He couldn't stand the sight of Henry's look sometimes. He could tell just by looking into his eyes the pain that boy was in. "If he survives this surgery, I think some desert at the DFAC is in order." Valasquez told himself.