Augmented Heart

1

"Well, graduation's today," Emma rolled out of bed. She had slept in the bed next to mine throughout basic training. She always woke me up before I got my ass kicked by our drill sergeant.

"Graduation today, getting killed by the covenant tomorrow," I sighed.

"You're always such a downer, Sage" Henry said. He slept on the opposite side of me for the past year. "You knew the risk when you enlisted in the UNSC, didn't you?"

"Well, yeah."

"Besides, you should be more optimistic. We didn't go through all of this training just to die," Emma shot me a soft smile.

"Plus, who knows if you're even going to get thrown into combat right away. Maybe you could become a pilot and fly the chief himself around," Henry snickered. "You wish."

"Shut up."

I knew I would never live that down. At the end of our first week of basic training, I made a fool of myself in front of all the other cadets. I fell behind the others on our morning run. The drill sergeant made me do push-ups as he screamed in my face.

"WHAT ARE YOU HERE FOR?!"

"To fight alongside the master chief, sir!"

He laughed at me. My fellow cadets tried to hold in their laughter as well.

"Amos, you can't even run a mile! What makes you think you could fight alongside the chief?!"

"I don't know, sir!"

I'd improved a lot since that time. There were a couple of things I excelled at compared to the others. Still, other cadets teased me about this on a daily basis.

"I'm just joking. Maybe you could travel with him as a mechanic."

I stifled a laugh, "Maybe. That's about the only thing I'm good at."

"That's not true," Emma tilted her head. "You're good at driving vehicles too!"

"You're good at hiding too," Henry said.

"Yeah, remember during that one drill when we couldn't find you for four hours?"

"Maybe you could be like a spy or a sniper since you're so good at hiding."

"I guess we'll see where I get assigned," I put my uniform on and adjusted it in the mirror.

"We probably won't see each other much after tomorrow," Emma said.

"Let's not worry about that now," I patted her shoulder as we left the barracks. 

We stood together in formation as we listened to the speeches of the higher-ups.

"I hope I get a lab position," Emma whispered. Her eyes twinkled. "Maybe I'll work under Dr. Halsey."

I rolled my eyes. Emma was definitely the smartest of all of us. I wouldn't be surprised if she was assigned to be working in a lab studying old covenant artifacts. I didn't understand her fascination with Dr. Halsey though. Most everyone else agreed that she was a nutcase.

Henry did well with combat and would probably get sent to a war zone right away. The thought of that scared me, but I held on to hope that he would survive just fine.

I anticipated my name being up first since my last name was Amos. It was. My job would be a vehicle expert, whatever that meant. Emma would be at the Office of Naval Intelligence. Henry would be drafted onto the front lines soon.

We enjoyed a feast after graduation.

"I don't even know what my job means," I said between bites of food.

"It means you're a vehicle expert," My drill sergeant sat across from us. He seemed pretty cool when he wasn't screaming at us.

"Okay, but what will I be doing?"

"Driving vehicles, fixing vehicles, innovating vehicles," He set his fork down. "I have a supposition you might be sent into the battle with the covenant. Honestly, Amos, I've never seen somebody fix up a Warthog as quick as you can."

"Sent into battle?" Sweat beaded on my forehead.

"Yes. There's always a demand for pilots too," He stood up. "Your commanding officer should tell you tomorrow."

"Well, it wouldn't be too bad," Henry said. "Maybe we'll get to go together."

"And maybe you'll get your wish, to fight alongside the chief," Emma smiled at me. It saddened me to think the three of us would probably be separated.

It scared me. The last time I'd seen covenant was a year ago. My mother and father had died before my eyes at the hands of those creepy elites. UNSC forces showed up a moment too late. They brought me to safety in my shocked state and I enlisted not long after.

We partied for half of the night until we were ordered to get to sleep. We had to be up bright and early the next day.