yay next chappie!

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Chapter 3: Learning the ropes. Lucian POV.

-Begin audio log-

"I've wondered on occasion..." Says the male voice.

"Whats that?" says the female voice, curiosity lacing her tone.

"How much pleasure would Jack have taken from that level of pain?"

There is a long silence followed by a exasperated sigh.

"Only you would think of something like that."

"Needed something to think of to ignore the pain, I've got a higher pain threshold then you..."

-End audio log-

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The pain was intense and the light burned so brightly that I thought for a moment that I would be permanently blinded by the end of it. I'm quite certain I bit through my lip at one point to hold back a roar of pain and had just enough reasoning ability left to think that Jack would probably have gotten a kick out of this kind of pain before I passed out.

I woke with a jolt and sat up abruptly only to hit my head against some kind of metal with a very loud 'clunk' sound. I groaned and fell back against what felt like a mattress. I heard unfamiliar male laughter from the left of me and opened one slowly to glare at where the annoying laughter originated. I could just make out the blurry form of a male leaning against a door frame.

"Heya mate, nice job there." The male said in an australian accent.

"Fuck off..." I muttered as I sat up a little slower, the other guy just let out another bark of laughter.

I noted that what I had struck was an upper bunk bed. I shook my head again for a moment cursing my height and looked around slowly. I was in some sort of barracks room and the room was very spartan in design. There was barely anything to act as decoration other then a clock on the wall and a single picture attached to the wall next to the upper bunk. The picture was of a group of different species females, human, asari and turian all in equivalent bathing suits on a beach and that caused me to blink for a moment in surprise at the sight.

"Anyway, grubs ready, don't want to miss out on our first real meal in months. Those damn MRE's haven't improved over the years."

I rubbed at my eyes and blinked a few more times, the room finally coming into focus.

'Wait...' I thought to myself startled. 'I can see?'

I reach up to see if I'm wearing my glasses, true I didn't have them on me at Comic Con, but without them I can't see clearly at a distance. Sure enough, they aren't there. I blink in surprise and look around the room slowly. Everything was in sharp relief even at a distance. I grinned and laughed softly to myself. The first 'gift' from the Lore Keeper, my vision was fixed. I wondered if she'd repaired it to regular 20/20 or if it was better. I needed to check my medical records later. But that could wait. Where was 'Raine?

I frowned and glanced down at my omni-tool which was flashing at me. After going through the quick tutorial, rather simplistic user interface actually, I found several messages waiting for me. I ignored the ones from LK and focused on the one from 'Raine opening it quickly.

-My Darkness,

I've been in the ME universe for a few days now. This is absolutely amazing though! Guess what?

I'm on one of the Quarian Live ships! I've was even given a human version of their suits! One of their military men, Kel'el vas Qwib Qwib, that ship name still makes me giggle, is teaching me basic fire arms skills and sniper skills. Get this though, I'm on the RAYYA! And I'm learning my tech skills along-side Tali'zorah! How sweet is that?

I had to bite my tongue to keep from squealing like a blasted fan-girl when I realized who was going to be my fellow student. Though the other student with us is a dick, Rhys'til. 'Human filth this' and 'walking contaminant' that. But I ignore him for the most part even though I want to give him a swift kick sometimes. He's getting gun training too so I'm stuck with his smarmy attitude more then I'd like. He's in a bit of trouble as it is.

Anyway, seems I've already gone through all the 'training' with the Asari for my 'cognitive' abilities. I bloody well trained at the Ardat Yakshi Temple, how nuts is that? I think, if this is the same Falere, then I'm friends with one of Samara's daughters. Bloody hell though, if I'm reading this message from her right then she 'likes me' likes me, but she also asks if I've heard from my 'army man' so that's a bit of relief, everyone knows I'm taken and I don't have to worry about her flirting turning serious.

Apparently cognitive abilities are so rare that only a few know how to train to 'ignore' the visions, still get them, but you can basically force yourself not to be 'paralized' by them which is what happens to Asari with the gift. Also once you have a vision it's there for good. So while I might forget what I had for breakfast, I'd never forget 'seeing' a certain Commander save her pilot at the cost of her own life if I shook the 'pilots' hand. Isolated Eidetic Memory is what they called it.

Ack, I've got to go. We're learning a hacking program and it's my turn at it. Wish me good luck!

Love you!

PS: A lot of my past is still the same even though it's been updated. 'IT' still happened. Also my parents 'passed away' some years back. Blue Suns attack on the ship they were travelling on. What's your past look like?-

I laughed softly at the rambling nature of her letter and closed out of it to move to the other messages from LK. Opening the one labelled 'Medical' I was able to review my current medical history. My vision was 20/15, weight still around 250 lbs and a glance down showed I still had a slight pudge but not much of one, it was replaced mostly by muscle. No biotics but I have some top of the line heavy skin weave apparently. I'd had minimal injuries over my years of training and service. LK left a note that she had 'implanted' knowledge of my 'weapons of choice' in this world. Shotgun for up close and assault rifle for normal fights with a pistol as backup.

I leaned back a bit at that and thought about my weapons to see if what she said was true. A soldier would have intimate knowledge of how to take apart, repair and put back their weapons in record time. I could do that with my old Smith & Wesson back home, but this new equipment?

Sure enough when I thought about 'my' shotgun a M-300 Claymore came to mind. Low ammo clip but one of the most powerful shotguns of the current year. Krogan in origin and something I only used if enemies got too close. Highly reliable in close combat and sure to take out an enemy in one hit, or at least disable a Krogan long enough to finish them off or retreat.

I could mentally go through all the steps of cleaning and maintaining my weapons and found that as I thought of it my hands were actually moving on their own as if I actually had the gun in front of me. I grinned to myself in satisfaction. Not only did she give me the knowledge but the muscle memory as well.

It explained the pain very well, made it a worthwhile trade off in fact. She'd altered our bodies enough so that we could be placed into this world seamlessly and it would have been very questionable for a soldier in the N7 program to not know how to use and maintain his weapons. 'Raine could probably use basic tech skills and would 'know' whatever meditation techniques they would have 'taught' her.

I closed my medical file and opened the one labeled 'Service History'. I'd served with a military/scientist team under the designation of...wait...seriously? LK had to have been screwing with me.

My team was the Biological Specimen Acclimation Alliance. The frickin B.S.A.A.! Our primary mission was to protect a group of scientists whose job was creating any cures to rare illnesses that were cropping up among the human race at random intervals due to interaction with alien species. Thus assisting with safe acclimation and integration into alien environs. They were actually trying to work with the Council races on some of their own rare illnesses like Kepral's Syndrome for the Drell. It was an ambitious program actually.

I groaned and rubbed at my eyes though. If I ended up having to fight a B.O.W. or a Tyrant out here I was done. Bad enough we were going to be dealing with the ME version of zombies, Husks which could be pretty damn vicious depending on which species they originated from, but if there really ended up being an organization called Umbrella working on a 'T-virus' I was done, pack it up, grab 'Raine and hightail it to a world with no spacefaring life D.O.N.E. done.

I sighed and looked back over the file. I let out a soft laugh of amusement when I found that the BSAA was named purposefully as a joke because one of those in charge had been a fan of 'old school' zombie games, specifically Res Evil/Biohazard, but it's job was still rather serious despite the intended humor of the name.

My file showed that most of the time I and my team were on protection duty for the scientists while they worked on cures for said rare diseases and on occasion were attacked mid-route with a cure or their bases attacked to prevent them from actually making a cure successfully. My specific unit of four men had survived and successfully fought off numerous attacks on the scientists assigned to us. I'd then been nominated to the N7 program for courage under fire, our Captain having been disabled during the most recent fire fight. I'd kept my cool, got our Captain to cover and then successfully held off and then driven back the enemy forces, Eclipse, despite the heavy odds against us. And all without any loss of life of our team or the scientists we were there to protect. I'd been hailed as a tactical genius for that victory and promoted to Lieutenant Commander.

Currently I was training with three other nominees. Lucas Dundee from Australia, Sniper with extensive blade training and biotic expert. Jillian Ripley, technical engineer, well known for tactical placement of turrets and stealth attacks. And lastly Roco Chief, all around weapons expert and pilot/driver. All sitting at the rank of Lieutenant Commander like myself.

I looked around after closing my omni-tool and found that I was no longer wearing my Comic Con outfit but basic fatigues, my costume was instead hanging on a hanger from the top railing of the bunk bed. I stood and walked over to it, finding it in good condition. I reached into my pockets and found the tickets, only they were dated 2178. I blinked in surprise and did a quick extranet search and found that Comic Con did indeed still exist in this day and age for the ME universe. From what I could tell it looked like 'Raine and I had met up during my short shore leave allotted to me before starting up with my N7 training and before she went to get training from the Quarians.

I reached into my back pocket and felt that my wallet was still there. I pulled it out and found the funds for the trip still within. I blinked and then grinned wondering what the rate would be for old world money collectors wanting to buy almost mint condition twenty dollar bills. I opened my Omni-tool and started searching for a auction site as I left the room and my body instinctively followed the smell of fresh food cooking once I entered the hall.

I gave a soft, dark chuckle when I realised that the five hundred I had in twenties would net me almost four hundred thousand credits to a collector. Twenty-five twenty dollar bills, with each one alone being worth sixteen thousand credits. It was a damn sweet chunk of change considering from what I could tell one Credit would be the equivalent of one dollar. I looked over the shipping methods used and the process of collection for items and decided to follow that avenue of profit later, once I figured out where the local galactic post office was.

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I sat down to what I was assured would be one of the last 'good' home cooked meals I would have for the next year. Steak, well done with mashed potatoes and gravy and white corn. Ripley, Dundee and Chief were already there chowing down on their food. I sat down with my own plate and a cup of coffee and let out a soft sigh of content at the taste of the steak. Perfectly cooked.

"Heya mate, have ya heard?" Asked Dundee.

It took me a moment to realise he was talking to me and that the others were looking at me expectantly.

"Heard what?"

"The rumor is that the higher ups are switching around the N7 program a bit. New type of tactical training for us as a trial."

"Switching it around how?" I asked taking another bite of steak.

"Aliens." Ripley says in a dark voice. I raised a brow at her in surprise at the venom in her tone. "Like we need to learn their tactics."

"C'mon Rip! Don' be like that." Dundee said pointing his fork in her direction. "It'll be good training, we'll learn new things!"

"And whats wrong with the Human way of things?" She hissed back.

"He's not saying anything is wrong with our ways Ripley." I said in a firm, but gentle voice wanting to stop the animosity before it escalated. "Just that learning new tactics from another source can be useful. Such as learning Karate when you just know boxing, or boxing when you just know street fighting skills. They are different skills that can be used in different situations, but if you get into a situation where you know boxing but don't know Karate, you're going to get your ass handed to you. Having a wide range of skills, especially as N7, can come in handy regardless if it's tactical or hand to hand."

"Bah, we'll see. I still don't like it." Ripley turned back to viciously attack her food and ignored the rest of the group.

Glad to have shut her up for the moment, I have no real love of bigots and racists and their pointless anger towards entire groups of people. Pointless rage is pointless. Not to say that I wouldn't use their rage to my advantage as 'TIM', I would exploit it to the fullest and use their rage to further my own goals. As Cerberus was well know for it's 'for the good of humanity' standpoint it would be rather easy to keep that look going in order to get funding needed.

Some things weren't able to be changed. Jack escaped when she was a kid and looked to be in her mid twenties. From 2178 to 2185 when she was recruited by Shepard is only seven years. Even if she was only twenty, that leaves her sitting at thirteen years old right now. I blinked though when I realized that it was possible she was just now escaping the project, they never did tell us how old she was when she got away.

I sat back setting down my utensils and opening up my omni-tool. I typed a quick response to one of Lore Keeper's messages and then took a sip of my coffee. I got a response back just as I was taking a second sip. Good response time from her at least. I opened the message and raised a brow.

-Jack escaped when she was eleven. She will be twenty-four in 2185 upon recruitment.

-LK-

I blinked at that, short and to the point. So Jack was seventeen now, good to know. And I have time to implement my plan for her if my Coup is successful. I fully intended to plant some 'old holo feed' into the base where she was held that will paint The Illusive Man in a better light. To give a direct impression that TIM had been planing on that facility being purely medical in nature and not military, meant to work on saving the lives of children exposed to eezo. TIM has most likely hundreds of programs being worked on, he can't check on all of them personally and even despite heavy background checks surely some wack-jobs would slip through the cracks. A few simple additions to that 'mission' would help Jack and hell, Shepard herself, look at TIM with a little more respect. The hard part was going to be 'cleaning house'. Since I wanted to paint Cerberus in a bit better of a light, volunteers for experiments instead of kidnapping or leading Alliance soldiers to their deaths, then that meant I was going to want to 'advise' the Alliance of those cells that have 'gone wrong'. That in itself would lead to dissension in the ranks if done poorly. Perhaps give them one single chance to 'shape up'?

"Attention!" shouted a voice from behind us jerking me out of my thoughts as, to my displeasure, I found myself standing as abruptly as the others at the shout .

LK had not only given me the muscle memory to use my weapons, but the instinctive muscle memory of a soldiers reactions to all situations. Damn but that was going to be annoying to get used to, I wasn't a natural military soldier and the disorientation because of a reaction like this could be detrimental if I didn't get a handle on it. Our N7 trainer moved over to stand at the table and there was a Turian standing next to him. I saw Ripley sneer for a moment before I glared at her, causing her to force her face into a neutral look.

"Alright recruits. You've all been chosen for one of the hardest military training regiments the Human race has. Unlike the other N training programs this isn't going to be the cake-walk you guys have been through before. Other training regiments have some safety measures in place, nets when climbing, concussive training rounds only, Medics on hand to immediately treat any and all wounds."

The Commander starts pacing back and forth during his speech and we all keep our eyes to the front. Suddenly he turned and shouted at us.

"NOT HERE! There will be LIVE rounds. If you fall you will NOT be caught by a net, you will break your BONES if not DIE from the fall. There will be no Medics until the training missions are COMPLETED and you have made it to the LZ!"

He stopped at the edge of the table again and placed his hands on the cold metal. He looked over each of us slowly before he stood straight again.

"If any of you wish to back out now you may. NO ONE will think poorly of you if you do so. That you were NOMINATED and ACCEPTED for this training regiment is one of the GREATEST honors a soldier can receive. Well?"

We all stayed standing and made no move to leave. He nodded slowly and grinned coldly at us.

"At ease men." We all relax a bit and turn to look at the Commander. "We've got a special assistant trainer with us today. One of the Galactic Councils Spectres will be helping me whip you lot into shape."

He waved his hand to the right indicating the turian, who now that I thought about it looked vaguely familiar with his white markings and now that I thought about it, how many turian Spectres existed besides him and Saren?

"This men, is Nihlus Kryik. He will be here to teach you non-human military tactics, fighting styles and will be assessing your skills during missions in order to instill a greater range of tactical planning in your pea-brained skulls. You respect him as you respect me is that clear?"

"Clear sir!" We all shouted.

Hm, Shepard was born around 2154, so she's 31 by Mass Effect 2, so when DID she complete N7 training? Was she already done with it? I really couldn't recall that ever being specified. Was Nihlus really here just to teach new tactics like the Commander said or was this the beginning of the review of humanity to see if we had Spectre potential? Check the recruits first and then move to those who completed the program? Well...either way, this was going to be interesting indeed.

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And I was right, things were interesting. To start off with Nihlus challenged each of us to a one on one sparring match, no weapons but our own bodies allowed. Ripley was up first, the look on her face screaming that she wanted to teach Nihlus his place.

He let her last for a few moments, watching her punches and kicks closely but always moving out of the way. Finally he darted in during mid kick and lashed out with his own leg and used that spike on the back of his leg to hook her own leg and wrenched her off her feet. He was swift to disintangle himself and had her pinned to the ground in moments.

He stood, watching her carefully and then held out a hand to help her up as an offer of peace. She glared at his hand and stood on her own. Thankfully she didn't try anything after she stood and simply moved back to join the rest of us. Nihlus moved to an at ease postion and looked us over.

"For that move I, in essense, 'pulled my punch'." He looked at me. "Lieutenant Commander Mathias, how did I 'pull my punch'?"

I blinked for a moment, tilting my head as I thought about the situation, then I indicated the spike on the back of his leg.

"The spike sir. Even covered as you have it now, with enough force and at the right angle you could have stabbed it right into her leg, not just bringing her to the ground but wounding her in a way where she would not get up easily, or if you hit the artery in the lower leg she would be disabled by bloodloss or distracted by trying to stop the bloodloss and thus open to a final blow."

"Very good LT Cdr, very good." He nodded and started to pace slowly in front of us. "Most battles are fought at a distance with ships or guns, very few humans during the First Contact war actually fought with us in hand to hand combat and many of those who did fell prey to the very move I just used. I am here at the Councils behalf to try to instill a greater sense of respect and unity for our spieces, to quell any lingering hatred caused by that War. I've been told you are the very best recruits to have completed the N6 program, some of the highest scores possible. I and Commander Rodgers aim to see you match or surpass the highest N7 score, currently held by one Commander Shepard. Mathias, get up here!"

Oh fun. My turn.

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And that went about as well as I expected. I knew some basic fighting skills from my own world and they clashed with the muscle memory my body now had. I managed to dodge the same move that laid Ripley out but I was knocked on my ass faster then Ripley because I went to dodge a punch by dropping down and nailing Nihlus in the stomach but my body wanted to dodge left instead. The miscommunication between brain and body caused me to pause for a moment in my movement, which left me open to the right hook that laid me flat.

I was praised for managing to dodge the 'hook' attack by Nihlus but was laid into by Commander Rodgers for the hesitation. I got to do twenty reps of push-ups while Nihlus fought the others. Surprisingly it was Chief who lasted the longest at almost five minutes before he slipped up, over extending himself in an attack.

We were told that tomorrow we would be taken to an uninhabited jungle world for a 'mock' mission. We were advised again of the seriousness of the mechs we would be facing and the fact they would be using live ammo. Commander Rodgers would track us from shuttle above while Nihlus would be on site.

They also made me the one in charge for the mission.

Shit...

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Yay!

REview!

Can anyone tell me the importance I placed in his fellow trainees names?