AN: Apologies for taking so long between updates. For the bulk of the chapters ahead I will omit quotations as they're not contributing all that much with the exception of any key chapters coming up. As always, thank you for following and sharing your thoughts.

With a Bang

"Hey, you seen the new guy?"

A male blue avian had his feet kicked up over the table, reclining in his chair with a soda bottle held loosely in his feathered digits. He was a pheasant, although the flippant styling of the feathers on his scalp were those of a hawkish nature, and the fierce glare dissuaded anyone from pointing that out.

"No, can't say I have, Falco."

The teenage fox sitting next to him was idly stirring a fork through his pasta while reading a digital tablet. His fur was a common red for the species, with his headfur shorn to a conservative cut, unlike most others that let theirs grow out. His avian friend took a swig of the carbonated drink and idly swished the remainder.

"Feh, Katt was braggin' about how she laid eyes on him first, didn't seem like a big deal to me," The avian drained the last of the soda and tossed it over his shoulder into a trash bin. "Your old man's supposed to be runnin' security for some of those alien big shots, right Fox?"

The vulpine continued scrolling through some article on his tablet, taking a bite of the now-cold pasta as he did so.

"Yeah, he said it was a milk run for what he's being paid."

Fox McCloud and Falco Lombardi, a notorious and unlikely pair of friends. Fox was a rising star in the CDSS with straight aces across the board, son of the legendary mercenary James McCloud, a tough legacy to live up to. His best friend, the street-smart punk Falco Lombardi, was the only other trainee pilot to keep up with him. The two were often neck-and-neck in competitions to top the score charts, and have recently taken up racing cycles on the side.

There was a clatter as a heavily loaded lunch tray settled on the table, and the pair of friends looked up.

"Man, can you believe they won't let you have seconds on Chili Dog day?" A green toad who was a bit more wide than tall grumbled mildly as he dug into an overloaded tray, his backpack crammed full of Engineering datapads to the point it looked heavy enough to be a weapon.

Fox raised a fuzzy eyebrow.

"You eat that much chili and I'm not letting you anywhere near my house for the next two days, Slip."

The toad gave him a withering look as Falco laughed. Long-time friends with the two hotshots, Slippy Toad was the son of a famous scientist working for the CDF, and had more than a passing talent in mechanical engineering.

"Yeah yeah, laugh it up Falco," Slippy tugged absently at the red cap resting between his eyes before addressing Fox again, "You guys wanna do something this week? I've got no plans til the assignments start pouring in."

McCloud finally put away his tablet and elbowed Falco with a grin on his muzzle.

"Well, there's that drag race going on in Hogan's Alley that a couple losers said they'd get the drop on us over, so I'm thinking we defend our title as ranking champs."

Falco scoffed, "Yeah, you mean my ranking title Fox."

The vulpine's grin turned just a bit colder as the pair's old rivalry sprung up again, "We'll see about that Lombardi."

"Oh..."

The two looked over to see Slippy with an expression on his mug best compared to a guy watching his fridge fall on him, and turned around to see what caught his attention.

Fox's grin slipped off his face faster than a loose turbine.

"Hello McCloud."

Fara Phoenix barely spared him a glance as she took a seat at the table with Katt and Miyu, who rolled her eyes at the interpersonal drama.

"Hey there Fara." Fox didn't trust himself to say anything else at the moment, he was in enough hot water as it was.

"Soooo..." Falco threw his hands up in the air at the sudden awkward tension, "Anyone else feel like taking a spin? This is kind've a drag."

Miyu chuckled as she spooned some pudding, "You can't go skipping on the first day Falco, that's pathetic."

"I hate being cooped up. You know how it is, toots."

He ducked his head to the side as the Lynx threw a plastic-wrapped sandwich without missing a beat.

"One of these days I'm gonna knock you a good one Lombardi." She said with a scowl, the pink feline next to her giggling.

"How's your human roommate, Miyu?" Fox took the moment to segue out of the frosty silence between himself and Fara.

The lynx polished off the rest of her pudding and shrugged, "He seems like an okay guy, lil bit awkward but he's an alien and all. Kinda weird seeing someone almost totally bald though."

She looked askance at Slippy, "No offense, Frog."

He choked on a mouthful of chili dog, "It's amphibiou-"

"Whatever. He's got second period with Fay so they should be here any minute." Her tall ears twitched and the feline waved across the crowded cafeteria, "Here they come now."

The group looked up, as did others in the immediate area. Tagging along with an upbeat white Collie, the alien was in fact mostly hairless, except for his headfur. He wasn't particularly tall or muscular, and didn't look like he had any visible fangs or claws. Mostly, the guy looked somewhat ape-ish with the same upright body structure the mammals like Canid and Felid had. Judging by the expression on his face, the human had gotten a crash course in just how much Fay can ramble on.

"...and you can have options if you're a vegetarian or a vegan, but if you're an omnivore like us then the meat isn't too bad but you really have to try the burgers at Pop's, I mean, I try not to have one too often but they're just to die for, you know?"

He smiled with a tired slant, "I'm sure they are."

Miyu came to the poor guy's rescue and waved them over. "Alright Fay, let the dude breathe."

The newcomers took a seat at the remaining spaces towards the end of the table, and the human looked up at the unfamiliar faces regarding him.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Logan," he said evenly, "I'll be Miyu's new roommate for the next little while."

"Stuck in a house with her for a year?" Falco whistled, "You're a brave guy."

"Well the beatings haven't been too bad so far," Logan replied mildly, "And she did give me a pretty nice cage."

"Atta girl..." Katt's salacious smile only prompted a roll of the eyes from the Lynx in question.

"Anyway," Miyu directed her fork over to the lounging avian and started pointing out her friends, "The blue bird over there is Falco, dude's so full of himself his ego is basically another person." The bird in question rolled his eyes.

"That's Slippy, guy's a total klutz but he's the best frog with a wrench you could ask for." The amphibian smiled widely and gave the human a wave.

"And this guy's Fox McCloud, our resident hotshot." The vulpine nodded at the human, stirring his cold pasta absentmindedly.

The lunch proceeded into casual conversation. Logan answered the Cornerian's questions about his home world and humanity in general, and the others chatted about life on their own corner of the galaxy.

"So what do you do for fun over in human space?" Fox asked while surreptitiously avoiding Fara's gaze.

Logan shrugged, "I don't really stay in one place long enough for any sports, mostly just marksmanship when there's spare time."

This caught Miyu's attention, "Didn't know you were a crackshot. Thinking about infantry in your future?"

"I like having my boots on the ground, never did well in the flight sims."

Falco smirked, "Whatever pal, screwing around in the mud's not my idea of a good time."

"How about your hand to hand?" The Lynx elbowed Logan hard enough he spilled some of his milk on his plate, frowning at the mess before shrugging and eating the pasta as it was.

"Not winning any medals, but I guess I can punch people, why?"

Logan felt a spike of something cold trickle down his spine as he saw the positively sinister grin that crossed the feline's muzzle, "Oh, I think you and me are gonna have a lot of fun in PE..."

"You cats can't like...jump 20 meters in the air or claw straight through my neck, can you?" He looked over at Katt for confirmation, "Am I going to die?"

The pink feline grinned, "It's how we keep you boys in line. Rawr."

"Thought as much."

Falco chuckled to himself, "Man, you got some bad luck pal."

"Laugh it up little man," Katt rounded on the avian with a smirk, "You're mine when we're sparring."

"Would you stop calling me that?" Lombardi responded irritably.

Fox shook his head while cleaning up his plate, "Chill out guys, it's not a tournament."

"Then you won't mind a little practice with me McCloud, will you?"

Fox winced at the icy tone in Fara's voice as she hitched up her bag for the next period and left, a collective "Ooohh" went up from the table.

"That's entirely your fault, Fox." Fay shook her head as she too got ready to leave.

Falco patted his buddy consolingly on the shoulder, while Logan binned his tray and slipped his backpack over a shoulder. Miyu sidled up next to him, tail swaying rhythmically behind her.

"You have the firing range with us next period?" Logan nodded as the Lynx fell into step next to him.

"Cool, I'd like to see just how good you are. 'Course I'm still gonna wipe the floor with you in hand-to-hand..."

The human groaned, rubbing his eyes.

"Getting my ass kicked by an alien chick always was high on my list of life goals."

They crossed through the doors to the cafeteria as the others filed in behind them, other students chattering around them as they headed off to their own classes, while unseen was Logan's right hand shaking slightly.

...

"Welcome to Marksmanship 101."

The Labrador Retriever teaching the class was wearing a faded CDF uniform and a service cap between his floppy ears. A serious expression was imprinted on his canine features, and a heavy stun baton holstered on his hip. The students for that period were crowded behind the cubicles lining the firing line, a green light shining overhead indicating it was safe to move around.

"You'll be introduced and drilled on the basic handling for several firearms in preparation for future employment with the CDF, Air Force or Security fields. The safety regulations are not to be violated at any time or you will be criminally charged and face expulsion from the school. Are we clear?"

"Yes sir!" The assembled students replied as a group.

The blonde lab nodded, satisfied. "Good. Firearms are never to be treated lightly, poor maintenance or discipline can and will result in malfunction or friendly fire, and no one wants to be responsible for killing their friend."

"This year, however," The canine held up his arm, showing off two tables arranged neatly with separate families of weapons laid over them, "We have a bit of a special circumstance for you kids. In partnership with the UNSC, they've provided a number of their own infantry small arms for the students of CDSS to become familiar with."

The announcement set off excited murmurs as the teenagers looked over the unfamiliar weapons, many eager to see what an actual alien weapon was like.

"Myself and several of the instructors at this school have been qualified on the firearms basic operation and drill, however I do believe this class has someone a little more familiar with them than we are..." The dog looked over to the unique silhouette of the human teen in the back row, "Mr. Jones, would you mind giving us a little demonstration to kick things off?"

Logan was staring straight ahead with a stony expression, upon being addressed he frowned imperceptibly, but nodded.

"Not at all, sir."

He walked quickly past the other students all watching him approach the table. The group collectively put in their ear protection at a signal from the instructor. The older canine inclined his head towards the human teen and said quietly, "Just a few targets at 100 meters, nothing fancy, keep it clean."

Logan nodded, and approached the table.

On one side was an assortment of Cornerian weapons, most of them several colors he'd never expect on a combat weapon. To the left was an assortment of UNSC small arms, with a number of others up on a wall rack behind them. There were M7 Submachine Guns, the iconic M6G Pistols, The M90 CAWS Shotguns, BR55 Battle Rifles and the backbone of the UNSC grunts: the MA5C Assault Rifle. Logan indicated one of those to the range officer.

The dog nodded, and barked out "Pick up the rifle!"

At once, Logan reached forward and palmed the grip of the MA5C, pointing it downrange as he did so. He pulled the cocking handle to the rear, visually inspecting the chamber, before letting the action go forward under control. He rattled through a quick functions test, checking the rifle on Safe, Repetition and Automatic. Satisfied, he closed the dust cover and stood ready in his aisle, the class watching him expectantly.

"Load!" Called out the Labrador.

Logan shifted his position, finger resting outside the trigger guard as he picked up a magazine, visually checked it, and slapped it home with a satisfying 'click.'

"Ready!"

He brought the rifle up to eye level. While some of the weapons had their armored 'hump' and ammo counter removed for use with the iron sights, the neural implants Logan had brought up a small pale blue reticule in his field of vision, which the instructor briefly mentioned to the assembled class. He pulled the cocking handle back, chambering a round. He closed the ejection port and ensured the weapon was set to Safe once more.

"At your own time, go on!"

Logan took a deep breath, regulating his heart rate as he flipped the selector to Repetition. A buzzer went off, and holographic targets started to appear down the firing range. He sighted in on one of them, a monkey in some hardsuit with scoring zones indicated, and squeezed the trigger.

The sharp report of the rifle caused several students to jump, it was certainly louder than its Cornerian counterparts. Jones, however, was in a world of his own.

The human teenager directed a measured flurry of fire towards his targets, practicing with his older brother having ingrained the basics into his muscle memory. The MA5C barked rapidly, spitting 7.62x51 casings as the bullets flew downrange. He ejected a spent mag smoothly and rammed a full one in it's place, slapping the bolt hold-open to chamber a new round. This time he switched the rifle to Automatic, as multiple targets appeared on the range at once.

An angry clatter and impressive muzzle flash ripped out of the MA5C, as Logan directed short, controlled bursts into the holo targets. Several seconds later, the last target fell, and the light overhead switched back from red to green. Logan ejected his spent mag, racked the charging handle back to inspect the chamber, and ran a safety check before placing the weapon down.

"Well done Mr. Jones," The Labrador said as he looked over the teen's performance on a tablet, "That's a 97% accuracy rating...You'd qualify Expert with a score like that."

Logan stared out at the silent range for a moment longer, and almost like he'd forgotten the instructor was there, turned with a start and acknowledged him demurely. The teen returned to the group, folding his arms as he took his place amongst Miyu and her friends.

The others congratulated him on his performance, while students filtered up to look at the rifles. Miyu elbowed Jones with a smirk, "Not bad dude, you're a pretty good shot after all."

"Where'd you learn to shoot like that?" Fay asked from his other side.

Logan didn't answer right away, shrugging as Slippy and Falco argued over something the bird said ahead of them.

"A couple places," he said quietly, "You never know when you're really going to need something like that."

The human stared out at the firing range, clenching his jaw as he tried to block out memories of plasma and gunfire.

Fay and Miyu shared a look of concern behind his back.