"Welcome to the Dalteia Project, Sam", said a male voice with a light russian accent over the intercom, "We are responsible for keeping tabs on geth activity and thinking up ever more creative ways of killing them."
"Well, Do I get paid per geth killed?" Sam replied candidly.
"Unfortunately no, but you get to live if you kill them all. Good enough?" Chuckled the voice emanating from the small round speaker, the only dull spot in the otherwise shiny metal room.
"Works for me.", Said Sam
"Oh, and welcome to the Ancissus", Said the voice.
One of the walls slid back, revealed a bridge to a small frigate of human design. The commander's chair was filled with by a thin man, about 40-50 years old, with short graying black hair and blue eyes.
"I am Nicholas Andreleev. Dalteia project leader.", gesturing to a larger bald man in a combat hard suit, "This is my security officer Grant Marnier, you are under his direct command".
"You're a sniper, right kid?" Demanded Grant
"Yup." Said Sam quietly
Grant, looking at Nicholas, "What ever happened to "Sir, yes, Sir?"
"He's not military. Terminus colonist turned assassin. No military training at all."
"What? I'm getting amateurs now?"
"Don't insult me, I have a small rep in the terminus as an assassin. You don't get that by making mistakes." Sam interrupted curtly.
"Yeah, I've read your dossier, just gauging your reaction. Didn't have much on your psych report" Grant said matter-of-factly. "So, you have a modified Widow rifle. That will come in handy"
"One of the perks of signing up. You guys really have an edge on the rest of well, everyone when it comes to kit." Sam replied
"Dossier said you had tech skills too."
"Yup, I do. I have plenty experience hacking mechs but I would probably need a new omni-tool to succeed in hacking a geth. Shield systems are a bit easier." Sam said, showing off a little.
"Ok, go down the elevator, 3rd floor, find a bunk and stash your crap. Get to know the team while you're at it. We have a mission planned for 0600 GST, we'll see then if you got the skills." commanded Grant.
"If you don't mind me asking, what exactly is the job? Do we just kill geth?" asked Sam
"To make it simple, yeah, we kill geth. More than that we protect the techs. Geth love ambushes so we need to be on guard while the techs look for useful, freshly...dead, that might be the wrong word, geth bits.", Grant replied non-chalantly. Nodding in assent, Sam turned and walked to the elevator. A few of the crew glanced at him for a moment or two. All of them were about in their mid to late 20's, dressed in their cerberus uniform, and all with the same look of disintrest before returning to their work.
As the elevator doors opened, Sam was greeted by an assortment of 6 cerberus operatives. A tall man, about 6'6" about 30, dark-skinned, light brown eyes and short, smooth black hair, hopped off the top bunk to the right of the door and greeted him. "My name is David, I am the heavy weapons expert here, let me show you the team," gestering towards a petite young woman sitting on the bed on the far side of the square room, near a window, 25 roughly, straight black hair, large blue eyes with a pretty face, "That's Alice, don't piss her off, she's the ship biotic," she looked up from her floating book and gave a slight nod, "The short one over there is Alex, our CQB. Just loves shotguns."
The man with a long spiked mohawk looked up and said with obvious disdain but said nothing.
David whispered, "Yeah, stay clear of him, loves firefights a little too much if you ask me. Those three playing cards, they're Sarah, Peter, and Andrew, our assault rifle department."
Peter, a man of average height, light brown hair and bright green eyes, the most outgoing of the group said, "C'mon, play some cards with us."
"Nah, I never play with people I don't know, just asking to have your money taken." Sam said
"Ok, fine, don't be sociable." Peter quipped.
"Nothing personal, I just don't know you." said Sam as he walked towards the open bunk in front of Alice's.
"Choose another bunk, FNG." Alice snapped.
"Calm down, I just like the view" Sam fumbled. Alice glared in return. "Wait, that's not what I meant. I like the colors when a ship goes FTL especially on that window, its right at the point where red and blue meet, makes for a nice effect."
"Whatever, you can stay, just be quiet." Alice sighed, not looking up from her book.
Sam quickly stowed his weapons and a few small belongings, including his mother's ring, into the footlocker. He then walked over to the bathroom and changed out of his hardsuit, an older set of Haine-Kedar light armor with self adjusting camouflage instead of an active stealth system, and into the standard Cerberus outfit he had been given upon recruitment. "Doesn't breathe like my old clothes, fit well though. Must've looked up my size." Pondered Sam. He walked out and before anyone else could ask him anything he hit his bed and went to sleep.
"Hey! Wake up! We're movin' out." said a familiar gruff voice.
Sam woke up and saw the large, grizzled face of his new commander. "Alright, I'm up."
"By the way, we're headed to a post-garden world; gonna need your breather helmet."
ON THE SHUTTLE DOWN
"Ok FNG. We will be dropping you about 500m away from our LZ. Engage your stealth systems and begin scouting any geth activity. We don't know why they're here, but that's not our problem, let the techs figure that out. When we land, set up a 360 degree perimeter." turning to Sam again, "Watch our ass, don't fire until you hear shots, call out all hostiles you see."
"Got it."
The shuttle touched down in on top of a hill with a good overlook of the LZ which was a rocky area with a few good u-shaped firing positions. Sam hopped out, almost expecting a fire-fight. After a few seconds of silence, Sam moved forward to the crest of the moss and lichen covered hill. A few moments later, the shuttle touched down and the radio crackled, "Fire-team away, exiting atmosphere to await confirmation of a clean LZ. Good luck." said the pilot
"Ok, set up a perimeter. This could be an ambush site. Sniper, anything on your scope?"
"Nothing yet...Wait a sec, I have eyes on at least three geth that just activated. 30m south of your position." reported Sam.
The unique report of geth rifles rang the rock walls around the LZ. "We're under fire, Alice, toss that bastard. Alex, hold position, don't advance. Dave, Andrew, on me. Sam, start shooting damnit!"
The boom of his modified Widow smashed through a geth and tore its head off. Sam qucikly reloaded, aimed and got another solid shot before a geth dropship flew over his ridge and dropped off two geth destroyers and a geth prime. Quickly reloading and seeing an oppertunity, Sam fired another round at the gas tank on the back of the destroyer nearest the geth prime. The resulting explosion knocked the prime off its feet. The radio crackled once again, "Alice, rip that MG out of the prime's hands. Alex, hammer its shields. David, target that squad at 4 o'clock." The fire-fight was becoming more intense by the second. David's voice shouted over the radio, "Shields down, I need some suppressing fire!".
Sam responded to the call, sending another round 550m down range, blowing an arm off a moving geth. Only two more geth remained, Alice acted and pulled them right into the firing line of Andrew and Sarah. They clattered to the ground riddled with holes. The radio crackled and Grant's voice, "Area secure, no casualties. Sam, move in, we need to set up a perimeter while the tech team collects their crap."
"Why? I have a better vantage point from up here." Sam contested.
"Shut up and get down here! I don't argue with squad members." Grant growled
"Fine, have it your way." Sam began to pick his way down the rocky hillside. As he came down he saw the synthetic carnage. Many geth were only bits and pieces. Alex's shotgun and David's rocket launcher had turned many of them into little more than scrap metal. The only complete piece of geth was the "corpse" of the geth prime, most of the others were missing large chunks or limbs. "What are the techs gonna figure out about this mess?" Sam questioned.
"Not our problem, get out your rifle and join the north watch with Alex, he needs someone with longer range." ordered the commander. Sam nodded and headed north towards the slightly unstable shotgun specialist. Sam, thinking to himself, "Great, I have to make nice with the psyho." Sam said, attempting to make small talk, "Hey, how was the fight down here, looked like fun from up there."
"No fun for me, you heard the commander on the radio, never let me get close" Alex said with blood in his eyes, "Besides, wouldn't have been fun for you, you like to be nice and safe, a half a mile away."
"Safe my ass. If that geth ship found me and dropped a few behind me, I would've had a hell of a fight. Outnumbered and with no cover, at least you had some nice rocks to hide behind." Sam retorted
"I would have rather been in the open." Alex said quietly
"Ok psycho" Sam thought to himself. Speaking aloud, "Where did you learn to fight?"
"Alliance marine, reached Staff Sergent before they deemed me psychologically unfit for combat. Thought I was too cruel, enjoyed my job too much. Cerberus appreciates me for what I am.", Alex said with noticeable disdain. With a little aggression, "Enough of your questions, watch the ridge."
The rest of the mission went without a hitch. The techs landed and there were no further geth attacks, much to Alex's dismay. A few of the more intact geth were struggling to reactivate, some succeeded, but the techs knew what they were doing and quickly "deactivated" them. Almost gave Grant a heart attack and he ran over to investigate. As night fell on the rocky plateau, the techs finished up and loaded on the Kodiak. The ship shot into the clouded sky and returned an hour later to pick up the fire-team.
BACK ON THE ANCISSUS
"Mission report sent. The Illusive Man requests you test the maximum effective range of Samuel Durrant and that you report back when requested test is complete." The female-sounding ship VI said.
"Very well. Helmsman Sarrel, plot a course to Cerberus Base, code name Fisher." Instructed project manager Andeleev.
The ship landed at the facility in an unnamed cluster on an unnamed planet. This lush garden world served as a training facility for those Cerberus operatives that had proved that they had the skills to handle the covert operations that the position required. Hidden in a dense jungle, the facility was built into a hillside and had expansive training facilities, all underground, including a range that stretched longer than 2500m. Sam was dropped along with Grant to take the test. They walked through the base, past large glass windows that looked out onto training areas that instructed the recruits on almost anything they might need. One window featured a man trying to destroy mechs with his hands. Both Grant and Sam wondered why someone would ever need this. They arrived at the firing range. The security system had been instructed to let them pass as quickly as possible, doing scans as they walked.
Sam stepped up to the firing platform and was instructed by an automated voice, "Remove your rifle and place it on the bench." Sam did this and he was shown an exact holographic representation of his rifle. The feminine voice then said, "Widow Anti-Materiel Rifle. Extensive modification to stock assmebly with recoil reducers effectively lowers the likelihood of serious injury due to firing. VI shows reprogramming to limit the amount of power and further reduce recoil. Barrel shows recent use but does not require cleaning. Firing chamber has no imperfections that would affect accuracy. This rifle is capable of hitting targets at 2700m, the range limit. I am Self-Aware Limited aLowance Entity. You may call me Sally. Recover your rifle and step up to the firing platform, Mr. Durrant. Targets will be presented first at 500m, then 1000m, then 1500m. From there, targets will continue to appear further away at 100m intervals. This will continue until you are no longer capable of hitting the target or hit the target at 2700m. You may begin when ready." The AI observed and instructed. Sam aimed down the scope and hit the first target after about a second of aiming. The next target appeared at twice the range. It required a little more time and a little control in breathing, but the target was hit 2cm off center. The next target required a little more time and some VI assistance, but went right down the center of the target. This progressed until the range limit. Sam was visibly struggling to crunch all the numbers of differing effects that could occur, everything ranging from the simulated wind on the range, to the coriolis effect, which is different for every planet. He even went as far to ask Sally how long a day is on the planet. His breathing slowed and calmed until he could breathe in and out without the sight even twitching. He took one final breath, released it, and pulled the trigger. The rifle resounded and the target showed the almost imperceptible dot of being hit. "4cm right, 2cm above the center of the target, these numbers are deemed acceptable by the Illusive Man."
"Damn fine shooting, kid. You hit targets I'll never be able to hit, all with no military training. When I first met you, I was unimpressed, and slightly offended by your lack of professionalism, but anyone who can hit a target that far away has to get some respect." Lauded Grant a bit uncharacteristically.
"Thanks. That was the longest shot I have ever made. Usually I like to sneak closer to my target because I only ever have one chance." Sam said, "I just want to know why he didn't want to test me before the mission."
The A.I. chimed in, "The Illusive Man instructed that after this test was completed, given the results were satisfactory, Sam would be permanently assigned to the Dalteia project. You may now leave the station after you report to the armory to obtain more weaponry." A wall at the end of the firing line slid apart, showing a massive number of rifles, pistols, and sub-machine guns. Sam reached out and grabbed an SMG. "Locust sub-machine gun, fully automatic, 50 round capacity heat sink. Rapid fire rate makes it extremely effective against shields. This would make an excellent sidearm for a sniper as the high fire rate is effective for suppressing fire." Sam silently agreed and attached the gun to his hard suit. Sam picked up a rifle. "Incisor rifle, 3-round burst fire, effective at medium to long range. With some modification, it could be used as an assault rifle."
"I'll take it. That should be all I need, thanks Sally." Sam, looking at Grant, "Let's get out of here, I want to modifiy this thing."
THE ANCISSUS, MESS HALL
Sam was seated at the table with his new Incisor rifle. He had spent 3 or 4 hours adjusting some components, removing others, and replacing some. When he had finished, the rifle was 9 inches shorter, had an assault rifle scope and the inside of the barrel was coated in a special frictionless material which made it generate less heat, it's only real weakness before was a lack of efficiency and heat management. He brought his new weapon to his locker located in the Kodiak hanger of the ship. He stowed it away and headed up to his bunk.