N didn't know exactly when overseeing weapons testing had evolved into overseeing weapons training as well, but it had.
"Looking good, Thad! Just remember to slow it down if you're firing prone in the field. Once snow and debris starts kicking up, you'll be shooting blind before you know it."
"Got it! Thanks, dude!"
He used to make himself scarce the moment testing ended, running off to the Spire to replenish whatever material and oil he had lost. And to appease Uzi.
"Clark, don't chase your shots; focus on one point and one grouping. Ignore the flyers."
"Sorry, Sir! Sniping is a lot harder than I thought it would be!"
But somewhere along the way, Uzi had either developed enough trust in the colony to let him do his thing unsupervised, or she'd just plain had enough of watching him get hurt. Either way, the end result was N sticking around longer as the experimental stuff was put away and the range was used for more conventional weaponry.
"That's why you're here, and I appreciate that. Keep at it, and one day you're gonna make a shot that saves lives. Same goes for all of you!"
"Yes, Sir!"
At first he was just a silent observer. But soon he found himself drawn to it, practically compelled to stay. Because something about the sound of gunfire was...comforting.
"Not sure that shot will be a trickshot, Garry. But it was cool, though."
"Just winning a bet, Sir!"
Being entirely unwilling to unpack that and confront whatever it said about him, N chose to distract himself by helping out. Which somehow evolved into being both the Instructor and Range Safety Officer.
"Rebecca, I know it's called the 'Fun Switch' for a reason, but don't get carried away or you WILL have to reload at the worst possible time."
"I'm watching my ammo! Settle," the cheerleader waved him off.
The total silence as the echoes of the last gunshots dissipated was actually startling, and told Rebecca all she needed to know. Ever since she'd accompanied Darren for a drill and discovered that she was better with a gun than she had ever been with pom-poms, the girl had become borderline insufferable at the range. To her credit, once someone talked to her about her shenanigans, like taking shots at other people's targets and turning every little thing into a competition, she had toned it way down. But one thing that hadn't changed in the slightest was her pride in her abilities, and it showed in her inability to accept criticism.
"Sorry! I-I didn't..." Rebecca trailed off as N silently walked out onto the range and took up a spot at the end of her lane. "Crap," she grumbled, then tucked the stock of her rifle against her shoulder, flicked the fire selector to semi-auto and readied herself for what was about to happen.
N lunged and she fired.
He easily sidestepped the bullet.
She fired again.
He ducked.
She aimed for center mass and let another shot fly.
It clipped his shoulder, but he advanced like he didn't even notice.
She could feel her CPU heating up as a semblance of a plan formed, and she waited before taking her next shot.
With less time to dodge the projectile, N took it straight to the visor, but yelped and staggered like she had nailed one of his sensors.
Rebecca barely contained an excited squeal and locked in for a "killshot". She squeezed the trigger and her breath hitched, eyelights going hollow when she felt no tension whatsoever.
