Final Drills

A small group stood amassed in the large, main hall of the Earth-based facility; no more than a couple dozen. The group was comprised of a lot of the races found in the Milky Way; even including some Krogan, Batarian, Vorcha and Volus. The majority of those gathered were council races though, mostly Humans, but Asari, Turian and Salarian as well.

"Welcome to Rio de Janeiro recruits, the home of Interplanetary Combatives Training. ICT. I am General Addams. If you're here, its because someone saw potential and recommended you to join us." an older male human calls to the group, loud enough to be heard over, and silence, any chatter. "If you're still here, that means you've passed all of your previous drills, and earned the designation of N6. Some of you, rather most of you, likely won't make it any further to N7. Not many people do, human or otherwise."

"Everything up until now has been practice. Intense, and grueling, but practice none the less." the older man continues. "From here on out, its the real deal. No more exercises, its real excursions. You'll be split into teams of four, and be given an assignment. List carefully for your names as Lt. Svenko calls them out."

At that, a younger woman stepped forward, carrying a small tablet display, and began to call out names in groups of four. It became clear after the first few teams that they were pairing up two humans with two members of other races.

"Team Four; Barrow, Gregory. Saionji, Reimi. Kuvrak, Graal. M'kijah, Shae." Svenko calls out, a hint of Russian accenting her voice. Barrow was the first to approach, a dark skinned man. Graal was a large Krogan, even by Krogan standards, and Shae was a pale Asari; her skin white.

Reimi wasn't entirely sure why someone thought she'd be good for whatever this project was--a concept she didn't fully understand--but from the sounds of it, only the elite of the elite. Of the four called, she was the smallest, at least partly because of her own heritage, but she tried not to let anyone see her being intimidated as she stepped forward with the others.

Svenko waited until all four of the called recruits had gathered before addressing them. "Congratulations on attaining the N6 designation. You've all proven yourselves to be among the elite, but there is higher to reach still." the young woman explains, looking up from the tablet to the quartet. "As the General said, there is no more training. Complete this next assignment and you'll be N7. Do you all understand and accept?"

Both Barrow and Graal answered in the affirmative quickly, both seeming to excited for the opportunity.

"I do accept." Shae answers, much more reserved than the other two members.

"I'm in as well, wouldn't do to have the last person decline," Reimi adds.

"Excellent, that is what we like to hear." Svenko says, lifting the tablet to swipe through some files. "You are designated Delta Team. Your mission will be close, Jupiter, specifically its moon Ganymede, but don't think that will make it easy. This is a live mission, temperatures and gravity will be low. We've received word of a rebel faction trying to set up some kind of facility on the surface. You're to infiltrate and remove them, use of force is authorized."

A surface mission on a small moon, with little to no gravity, meant even just taking her bow and arrows, gear that wasn't very useful most of the time, but when it was, they were a key advantage.

"We've been assigned to a ship? Or a shuttle?"

"You will be taken to the drop point via shuttle, extraction will be available when the assignment is complete." Svenko explains. "You'll have to look after one another, as there will be no evac until your task is finished."

"So, it's do or die." Shae says, resting a hand on her hip.

"As all N7 missions are." Svenko confirms with a nod of her head. "Which is why only the best survive to N7."

"When do we leave?" Reimi asks. "And I'm guessing no limitations on our load-outs, since it's real combat."

"There ship with your shuttle will be leaving ASAP. You may decide your own loudout and proceed to bay 13 for departure." Svenko replies, swiping through her tablet for the names of the next team. "If there are no more questions, please begin your preparations."

Reimi had no more questions, which she displayed by turning to leave, though didn't do so yet. If one of the others had a good question, she'd want to know the answer as well.

With no further questions from any of the team, they were dismissed to begin their preparations. They walked together to the barracks to retrieve their weapons. Gregory had an SMG and an assault rifle, standard issue for Humans, as well as a drone turret. Graal had a pair of shotguns, as well as a shoulder mounted cannon, along with a hammer. Shae, the most nimble of the three, had two pistols; the Carnifex and the Acolyte, and an Asari made sword.

Despite most of her background being in engineering, Reimi's load-out was quite heavy, with a sniper and assault rifle. The latter she quickly secured on her back, followed by collecting a supply of heat sinks for her weapons. The last thing she did was claim her sniper rifle, which she didn't put away. Considering the composition of the team, acting as a sniper seemed like the role she'd be taking, at least at the start of the coming mission.

Graal rounded out his equipment with several grenades, not too concerned about the weight of his guns. While both Shae and Barrow opted for lighter sets.

"So..." the pale Asari says on the way to the hangar once they were ready. "How are we wanting to do this?Guns blazing? Stealthy?"

"This group doesn't seem to be too prepared for stealth," Reimi remarks, hoisting her sniper rifle. "Assuming we can land without being seen, though, getting me into a sniper's roost somewhere and picking some off before they can react sounds like a good plan to start with."

"Then we'll make sure to get you set up somewhere with line of sight." Shae says, getting no complaints from Graal or Barrow. "Will you be alright on your own there? The rest of us will need to move in. Especially Graal and I."

"I have an assault rifle for when I have to fight in close," Reimi remarks. "And I'll be counting on the three of you to keep the pressure on so I don't get overwhelmed."

Graal laughs at that, loud and jovial. "No need to worry about that, little one. Krogan are known for keeping the pressure on. You hit 'em, and I'll be in their face."

"We're a team, even if we were just put together now." Barrow adds. "We'll have each others' backs, that's what N7 does."

"I'm counting on all of you," Reimi proclaims. "And I know we'll get this done, we're a team, and not just that, but a team of the best."

"I don't intend to stop until we've got that N7 designation, so of course we're the best." Shae agrees, climbing the ramp up onto the ship waiting for them. "We'll hit them hard and fast, clear out these rebels."

While Reimi was sure they'd be able to accomplish the mission, she did have her own share of concerns, though she didn't share them as she joined the rest of the team boarding the ship. Aside from the presence of rebels, the squad had no information about what they were getting into, including numbers, automated defenses, and layout of the facility.

Once the four were on board and seated, a more detailed briefing began; though details were still lacking. The complex was a small one, pressure locked to create a proper atmosphere inside, though most of the work there appeared to take place outside the building itself. A team had been sent previously, but communication with them had been lost. Apart from removing the rebel threat, finding the previous team would be part of the mission.

Numbers were unknown, but small as of the last report; though there was no telling how they changed since then.

That most of the facility was inside a sealed building changed things, and made Reimi regret her choice of load out; inside, she'd of been able to make use of her bow, which was something she could use quietly. Sure, finding a corpse with an arrow sticking out of it would raise the alarm, but it wouldn't make much noise or give away her location.

Once the team was settled and the ship had taken off, it didn't take long for the FTL drives to get them to Jupiter. They kept to the dark side of the moon, away from where the complex was said to be.

"Shuttle is prepped, proceed down to the surface to begin the mission." A voice says over their omnitools. "Keep communications open, and updates on mission parameters will be sent to you."

During the roughly half hour travel time to Jupiter, Reimi's focus was on what they could expect. News that there was a sealed facility had shaken her a bit, which was never good during a mission. When the announcement came that it was time to launch, she was shaken from her thoughts, but still proceeded to the launch bay as quickly as she could.

After a final equipment check, the shuttle departed the ship with Delta Team. It flew them down to the surface, away from the complex, and was gone as quickly as it had dropped them off. They'd be on their own now, with no support coming for the mission.

There was no atmosphere on the moon, and gravity was low. Raising her omnitool, Shae got a read on their heading and bearing. "Alright, let's find Reimi somewhere to set up." the asari says. Unlike the others, who wore full suits to protect them from the vacuum of space, Shae wore her usual armor and a breather mask.