A gene warrior is capable of maintaining high combat readiness and durability

as such should be used accordingly.

They are to deploy in shock trooper style fights.

A gene warrior used in normal long term engagements

is both a waste of combat potential and resources.

-exert out of shield protocol

It was eighteen days since I came out of the surgery. I was told briefly about what they did to me. Due to my almost immediate acceptance of the orange liquid they had more time to work on me than most. My muscles, nerves, brain, eyes and bones received overall enhancement. The heart the main objective was given a back up. Even among other volunteers I was unique. Later in the war, I was called a class alpha few were given that classification due to the fatalities and lack of resources.

I was given a week off missions to go through rehab. I didn't understand how you placed a new heart in my body but my ribs were in pain a lot to say the least. My body ached like I finished a marathon without stretching. My finer motor control was gone. My terrible hand writing was reduced to chicken scratch which was fine with me only my 66 WPM typing speed was now more along the lines of 30.

I was to hit the gym frequently despite the concern of tearing open the surgical shit in me. I did light working out like a short slow jogs. I lifted weights never more than 100 pounds over all. I stopped boxing all together.

While I did this Dr. Vahlen took notes or another scientist. I saw this with a few other gene project volunteers so it bothered me little. I actually took a little comfort knowing at least they were making sure I didn't over work myself.

While I curled some twenty pound weights a rookie came in and spotted me. He walked over to me smiling asked if I wanted to spar. I agreed figuring the good doctor would mention if I should or shouldn't do it. I tried to run a 7 minute mile pace on the first day out of surgery and was put in check so they would do the same if I spared right?

I entered the ring without gloves. The reward for losing was hospital time which depending on the person meant a plus or a embarrassment. For most of us, it was a risk that was like a drug. A gamble that we had complete control over. A minute rush of punches and adrenaline to forget about our one sided conflict.

My hands trembled from the anticipation. I looked up at Dr. Vahlen. Then the fight was over as it began. My eyes were wide as I stared at her away from my blood drenched hands and whisper. What have you done to me. She merely tapped away on her data pad and said. "You are more than anything you could imagine. You are a gene warrior." With that she walked away from me.

The new FNG was down in the boxing area. I hurled a right hook after blocking his own and I heard a loud crack and wet liquid touch my hand. I now currently saw the man clutch his face and crawl away to the edge of the ring. It happened so fast. The FNG went straight out of the gate and I could barely keep up. I just tried to move my hand to block and counter and my hands just appeared there the moment I thought it.

It wasn't slow motion like in the sci-fi books I read. It was just raw incredible speed. The ability to just make out that specific movement with my eyes and react in milliseconds. It was movement so fast you barely register it. A warning in your brain something was about to happen so you start moving and watch the punch sail over you. It was that type of feeling.

There were a few on lookers primarily normal XCOM operators who looked at me in awe. I was a freak straight out of a crappy sci fi novel. A lab rat turned into a predator. I was a Demi god among men with my training and gene enhancements. I was lied to plain and simple. I turned into something I never wanted to be.

I saw a small gathering of other XCOM operatives staring at me and then flexing their own muscles. Disbelief stuck in their eyes. Medical staff soon rushed in and a medic checked my bare knuckles expecting a fracture or bruising only to find nothing. I was a gene warrior the trash and glory of XCOM a refined weapon to be used like the MEC troopers. God's among men. I was reborn.

A hissing sound was made as the sleeper pod depressurised to a more cool atmosphere. The sleeper pods would seal and then heat up or cool down in reaction to the occupant. It was pointless shit for a soldier. Marines must need it because they weren't man enough to rough it out.

Despite being however far away from home, I still clung onto the inter branch rivalries that plagued the military back home. It was the other branches fault for being too stubborn or dumb in the marines case to accept the fact the army was what held the line and thus was the best.

Marcus now wore the standard issue Cerberus fatigues and had the white sleeves rolled down. He wasn't a marine and didn't want to look like them. He hated the black and grey color scheme with the orange emblem on the right shoulder. It actually bother him a lot. As Marcus made his was to the armory he contemplated removing the emblem in favor of an American flag. The red white and blue would definitely class with the uniform but at least it was something normal.

Marcus couldn't help but frown at the cargo pants/shorts. It was cargo shorts with a mesh like black stocking thing. It slowly morphed into the black boots he wore. It made no sense and in all honesty he felt like a walking condom prepped and ready for a night out.

Marcus waited for the elevator and found it vacant and rode it all the way up. It was the middle of the Normandy's 'night' cycle. Humanity still worked off 18 hour days for naval vessels and as such he stumbled onto one of the shifts where 2/3 of the crew was sound asleep besides the essential personal. It worked out great for Marcus meaning less people to look at the would be murderer.

He made his way to the armory without a problem or anyone taking notice of him. He only stopped briefly to look at the galaxy map. It was. Serene calm innocent yet he knew somewhere in that map lied a desperate war somewhere. It was just the way of life. Only in death would war and duty end.

Breaking away from the map, he made his way into the armory. The AI program he told not to speak to him when he logged in and out and to only make noise when necessary. The AI was surprisingly complacent to that command despite the commander's out cry.

Walking into the army he already saw Taylor there. He stood a little less than six foot based off of Marcus' 5'11 height. He was if Marcus had to guess of Sudanese descent. Taylor had the same sturdy upper chest build and small but powerful legs that looked like they were made to run thousands of miles endlessly.

Taylor finished assembling a rifle before looking up at Marcus. "Commander mentioned you needed a new load out." Marcus nodded and watched as Taylor went to the various wall lockers and motioning for Marcus to come over. Opening one of the lockers Taylor revealed a set of armor. The boots reached to the start of the knees with another piece of armor for the knees. The thigh armor seemed to flow into the hip armor. The chest plate or torso armor seemed to outline a humans physique specifically the peaks and six pack of a soldier by lines engraved in the armor. The shoulder plates extended outwards two or three inches before the rest of the arm armor ran the same sleek design that eventually became gloves.

It was the same exact armor as Commander Jane Shepard had minus a helmet and the same N7 emblem. The pair just stood in front of it while Taylor talked. "The commander originally wanted to give you just some shield capacitors and place them on your old armor, but she decided to give you her back up set. It's the basic set up. Two inches of armor enough to block most shrapnel. The barriers can take two rounds from most sniper rifles. Multiple hits from rifles and at least one hit from a shotgun blast close up. It has the standard disruptor meaning when your shield breaks it flares out blocking most damage. It goes on how it looks."

Taylor glanced at Marcus expecting some response. Marcus wasn't aware of the top of the line quality of the N7 armor nor realized Taylor being modest towards the equipment. Hell, he was content with getting a shield. The armor was no doubt weaker than a mm of his original armor.

Marcus merely nodded "thanks anything else I need?" Taylor shrugged "we should get you a weapon any preferences?"

Marcus was a forward observer and thus never used any thing besides a rifle. Even then, he maintained strict trigger discipline so he was absolutely clueless. I mean shit he was a grunt who called in rotor, fixed wing and artillery.

Taylor only saw Marcus shrug. Jacob inwardly sighed. He didn't want to deal with this guy that much. First off he attacked the crew. Secondly he used hostages. Thirdly he didn't like this guy for reasons one and two. Even Taylor's normal easy going yet professional demeanor wasn't enough to hurtle over the new crew member Marcus' attitude.

Taylor just pointed at a row of avengers and said. "Just use one of those" before he went onto his omni tool to go back to work.

Marcus on the other hand had work to do. He pulled out all the armor and placed it on a nearby work bench and went to work. He poked prodded and just examined the armor pieces. To an untrained eye he looked like a clueless imbecile but to anyone else they would see a professional searching for any weaknesses.

Jacob worked on the rifles as Marcus ran armor check ups with the omni tool Jane gave him yesterday. It took him an hour to figure out how to blue tooth them together. At least in words Marcus understood them. He put in random numbers to simulate what the shields could block. He used the standard weight already in there by the saved index for a average round in this galaxy. He adjusted the speeds and rate of impact to see that Taylor didn't lie. In fact, he gave more modest estimates. Marcus was impressed yet wary already understanding the next guy he fought would have these same capabilities.

He adjusted the shield simulator to factor in a knife weighting 1.5 pounds and going at a rate of 120 MPH at a range of three feet without a problem would get past a person's shield. It was hardly a surprise with the armor dense and larger than a mod-

"Whatcha thinking about?"

Marcus snapped around to see Jane leaning against a table watching him in a hoodie with N7 emblazed on it and the same crappy yoga pant cargo short hybrid pants on. Her blond hair pulled back in a bun and arms crossed.

"I'm familiarizing myself with the new equipment and trying to figure out how to block a melee attack with the shielding." Jane laughed to Marcus annoyance. She figured it was a waste of time that's what armor was for right?

"Your wasting your time. With rounds flying at the speed they go adding protection of projectiles going at melee speed would be a waste of shield. I mean the principle is to at least slow the round enough for your armor to take the hit." Marcus shook his head and already seeing their diverging combat doctrines.

"That leaves your neck expose and any soft spots especially the joints. A knife could easily ram into your armor without your shield at least deflecting it."

"What about pebbles if your shield deflected everything your energy would be wasted on shrapnel. N7 grade armor is more than enough to handle that."

Marcus was stumped she had a point yet his pride was at stake so he used his one last idea. "You would just need one shield capacitor aimed at your neck area. A separate small power source. It needs to just be strong enough to create a kinetic kick back to prevent a thrust toward the neck."

Jane shrugged and uncrossed then recrossed her arms saying. "Great idea but what's the point. No one gets in knife fighting range anymore." Marcus snorted remembering multiple times having to kill a xeno up close when his rifle was out of ammo. He decided to go back to work. He disassembled the avenger and was able to reassemble it through guess work and instinct.

"So what did you do before coming here." Marcus sighed. Jane sounded like a FNG. Striking up conversation as if she expected death wasn't around the corner. Jane sat on a box using the edge of the work table Marcus now used. She was doing maintenance on a pistol that looked more like q hand cannon. He made out the engraving on the side barely seeing a C and a X for the company.

"I mean there has to be something you've done. College is almost standard nowadays." Marcus was battle hardened in knowing someone who liked to talk. Plus, he never had the heart to be an asshole all the time. He was just going to generalize everything until something remotely XCOM related came up.

"I got accepted into a few engineering colleges. Never went... A few military colleges offered scholarships... I joined at 17 haven't looked back since" at the last word Marcus snapped the last piece in place. He then stumbled through the functions of his omni tool to calibrate the rifle while Jane started to talk.

"That's pretty cool join so young. I joined after college you know being a starving history graduate." That joke was universal to most humans and aliens but Marcus knowing only the military didn't see any humor. Jane was stumped trying to talk to the quiet professional she made a small gamble.

"Why'd you join so young?" Marcus halted everything he was doing just tapping one last command as he stared into the table finally Jane. A flood of memories past him. The stench of drugs and a dark apartment room. Marcus was never one to share openly but his personality demanded the truth be told at all times even to strangers.

"I wanted my mom to be proud of me." The pain loss, the training, the death and the duty in such a statement could never be translated. Jane nodded remembering her own mother Admiral Shepard who owed a promotion or two to being related to each other. For Marcus it was his only life line to a mother who would never say I'm proud of you.

Marcus stood up and placed his gear away. Running a hand through his hair he said. "I need a haircut" Jane smiled with an odd look on her face as she said. "Gunny can take care of that" Marcus followed Jane to the mess hall and had a feeling he was going to get a jar head. A part of him was glad there was no hard feelings.

Entering the elevator was Miranda. She somehow wore a catsuit proudly wearing the bastardized EXALT symbol proudly on it. Marcus now knew it was considered Cerberus' emblem. He had no idea why she got that uniform while he wore his condom uniform.

Miranda nodded to the pair giving her greetings as they stood in the elevator. "You remember much?" Fuck Marcus thought. Telling someone parts of your past and playing the I have amnesia card to get info wouldn't work with telling Shepard parts of his past.

"I remember foggy bits mostly can't remember everything past 17" he was fucked if she kept pressing. Marcus didn't notice Jane signal Miranda to stand down. Jane knew Marcus was keeping secrets and she didn't need him to be forced to play his hand and destroy what little she had gathered for the assault on the omega relay.

"Best of luck then" Miranda said in her posh upper class accent. Then left as the door opened. Walking side by side Jane led them to a group of humans. She loudly chattered and introduced Marcus before getting Kelly Chambers to her dismay to give Marcus a hair cut. Jane planned this out trying to gain a form of loyalty from Marcus.

The brief time she interacted with him she realized he acted like a Roman legionarie. Duty was of utmost importance to him. He was a dog he respected power and followed war wherever it was. If natured properly it would die to protect its master. If not it would tear apart an empire.

As she watched Marcus get a fade on the sides of his head and 6 guard on the tip of his head now clean shaven she got worried. Years later it would be recorded Commander Shepard was always confident. They were never inside her mind. Jane was worried about the egg shells she treaded on with Marcus. If she left him on any planet with aliens he would kill them.

Not that it really bothered Jane. She was more concerned with how it would affect humanity's current superiority. He was a powerful card to play but just as easily the most damaging card. The next mission she would gain his trust freeing Jack.

Hearing a beep on her omni tool she saw a message from her contact in Terra firma. The subject had two words. XCOM research. Jane slipped away to her cabin to decipher the coded entry. Before leaving she made sure the crew treated Marcus as a part of the crew. Humans before all others. Even Garrus to Jane's's own guilty regret.

A/N

Sorry for the delay. I'm moving and all that jazz. I know no action I'm sorry I just felt like there are too many ME stories where it's one battle to another and Marcus would have to at least be somewhat trusted and known by the crew to get sent on a mission. I figured the crew would give him the cold shoulder but leave him alone for the most part due to grunt and legion having less than trusting meetings. The plot thickens albeit a little bit. I'm trying to portray Marcus as his own character which led to some conflict with Taylor to try and show the different war philosophy of the pair. I don't want Marcus to be another duty bound marine like Taylor. Instead more by all means necessary.

What do you think Jane will find? You think Marcus will open up to Jane and crew or be like legion an silent warrior. Tell me in a review or message.

Shout out to eye of Sparta my faithful reviewer and to answer your question it depends on the readers mostly. If everyone wants a strict ME universe I won't argue.