Lotus cocked the hammer back on her pistol, took two deep breaths and fired. [i]Aim twice, shoot once. Aim twice, shoot once.[/i] It was a mantra that had been drilled into her since the first time her father had let her touch his gun. There were other ones - don't put your finger on the trigger until you're reading to fire, always know where your gun is pointing, etc - but this one was her favorite. It suggested action. True action. Lotus was an action person. It was one of the things Josh said he loved the most about her.

Her thoughts always somehow made their way back to Josh. Her deceased husband was the reason she was here today, after all. His death had pushed her into accepting the role of bringing in these [i]star children.[/i] She reloaded her gun, raised both hands, and repeated the steps. [i]Aim twice, shoot once. Aim twice, shoot once. [/i] [b]BANG. BANG. BANG.[/b] The bullets whirled through the air and hit the paper target on the other side of the room. Lotus set the gun down, removed her ear plugs and pushed the round black button next to her shoulder that brought the target forward. Once it reached her, she made note of the grouping of the holes. Tight. [i]Perfect.[/i] Nearly dead center in the chest of the outlined body. [i]Even better.[/i] She tore the paper off the hanger, smirked, and headed out for orders of her next assignment.