Rifleman

Chapter 1: What am I?

NOTE: I DO NOT OWN Mass Effect OR ANYTHING OF THE LIKE.

My Resume: Unimpressive
My Bravery: N/A

My Dedication: Adequate

My Leadership: Mediocre

My Abilities: N/A

I was just an average boy in the Alliance Military. My father before me was a member of it, leading as a Commander. I went through college, did the ROTC program like he did, and we even went to the same fucking military academy! I wasn't the hero that my father was. I never did anything that really impressed anyone other than myself and maybe even my little brother. I'm hopeless. But maybe, just maybe, I can get lucky one of these times and know that he's out there trying to find a formidable team to take with him to battle against the Collectors. By him, I mean Shepherd. My father, having contacts within Cerberus, managed to forward a dossier of me to the Illusive Man, whom, in turn, sent it right to Shepherd's desk. I have no idea who his team is, and I don't even know who he is. I know he was the hero of Eden Prime, but that's all I know. All he knows that I am 2Lt Jimmy Wells, Platoon Leader of 1st Platoon of the 4/623rd Rifles. All I would be known as is Jimmy or Rifleman. I would give anything as long as I end up fighting for Shepherd.

This morning, I don't know why, but I woke up earlier than I usually do. So, early in the morning, I do my morning workout. The only thing, really, about today is that I woke up earlier than usual. And, the fact that none of my unit is awake either. Maybe it was a raid? Maybe it was a robbery? Maybe the base is under assault? I don't care at this point, I love the quiet. It's easier and peaceful. And, even better, none of my troops are complaining like they usually do. But then I left to reveal, it was a raid. Who would really be stupid or crazy enough to attack a fully-fortified outpost? Then I mounted the wall. On the ground: Collectors. The few hundred of us in the base were spraying our ammunition into their ranks. Even worse, all the other officers were dead, leaving me at the highest rank. All I can do at this point is give positions for these young kids to fire into.

All I knew what to do was to point and shout "Fire at them you fucking dogs!", so that's what I did. Based on previous combat experiences, the best targets to take down first were the big ones. Even though it cost us many lives and tons more shells, we took down their armored Scions; their siege tanks. But we still had an infantry threat on our hands. So I ordered the same thing into the larger groups of infantry, cutting them apart like they were doing to us. We had height, they had numbers. But, within a short timeframe, we started to run low on shells. Behind me stood Shepherd, a Cerberus operative at both his sides. We knew this fight was unable to be won, so he grabbed me by the collar to his ship. I was in debt for him saving my life, and even more thankful to realize that I'm now a wheel to his team. But I needed myself a place to stay, so I thought what the hell to staying at the bottom of the ship, the least vulnerable part of it as a whole. I was given numerous pats on the back from crewmates, calling me a hero and a warrior, someone even referred to me as one brave son-of-a-bitch. All I did was run and bark orders at a huge amount of soldiers whom are all dead by now.

Unlike the crew, things weren't really that namby-pamby with his squad. The only person on his team that actually liked me was Shepherd. Miss Miranda gave me a cold shoulder and Jacob gave me the finger for accidentally walking in on him in the shower. Garrus and I constantly got into fights, giving demonstrations about how our own fighting tactics were better than the other. Mordin thought I was a total idiot because I forgot what species he was. I was even warned by Shepherd to not go to the bottom of the ship because that's where "she" was. It turns out that "she" was Subject Zero. She might have scared everyone else, but she didn't scare me. I don't know why, but I think that there's just something about her that seems right for me. All I can do now is ponder to myself about what I can do to not make myself seem like such an idiot and maybe help out a bit more. I have a bad feeling about it and that it would all go wrong, but Shepherd trusts me enough to keep me on his team. He saw me firsthand in combat. But what can I do to please the others?