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[Dbohr]

 This came up first at the MP forum after the Earth DLC was released. It began as a joke thread for appreciation/ deprecation of the new N7 MP classes in form of mail letters each operative sent. I then had the idea of writing how the enemy was seeing the deployments of the new N7 characters. I thought making psychiatric evaluation interviews were interesting, so there it is. 

I'm taking these letters here because this sub-forum seems more appropriate than the MP joke thread. Please note that some experience with multiplayer is required for full appreciation. You can find the original thread here

All that said, to the evaluations!

***

From the notes of Dr Taliah Colborn, Cerberus Psychiatrist
Subjetc: Phantom "Kaoru" evaluation

[begin recording]

Dr Colborn: Hello, Kaoru, how are you today?

"Kaoru": ...

DC: So, are you spending the whole session in silence?

K: ... 

DC: I need to assess your condition, you know. Of course you can sit there quiet for the next 20 minutes, but we have three more sessions this month before you go back to the field. If I deem you ready to go back to the field. So why don't you talk to me?

K: Whatever.

DC: Better already. Now: how do you feel?

K: [sigh]. I suppose I could tell you. Well, I'm not just "a Phantom", right? I'm top of my class, graded better than that poser Kai Leng. Yet somehow the little punk gets the choicest assignments, while I get to kill the alien trash of the galaxy. 

DC: I see.

K: No, you don't! Quit being so condescending. 

DC: [takes some notes] Please continue.

K: Anyway, last week I hear my guys are deploying in Benning against some newfangled N7 clowns. Intel says they're coming with one of those Phoenix turncoats, so double fun for me. Now, being a ranking officer I get to sit back a little and oversee the tactical situation for the first few minutes...

DC: I take the situation didn't go as planned?

K: 'Didn't go as planned'? It went south of Hell, doc. I mean, there was the Phoenix rat, plus three N7 types. The first was a Sentinel. Guy with a ridiculous omni-shield. I mean, even Sargeant Kelso of my Guardian platoon was laughing his ass off because of him. The lumbering oaf could swing, I give him that, but that was about it. Could't even move with his shield deployed. I think my guys took more shots at him than the other three soldiers combined. 

DC: What went wrong, then? 

K: The other two N7s. One was a Kai Leng wannabe playing with a sword. The other was a skinny girl only half-trained with it. I could tell it just by looking at the mission monitor. At any rate, the 'Slayer', as they called it turned out to be a pretty decent biotic. He kept teaming with that Phoenix t*rd and laying low my troops. The 'Shadow' operative kept cartwheeling about shooting some crazy-ass electric effect from the blade. That was when I grew tired and put my girls on the field. 

DC: You mean your Phantom squad. 

K: I mean my f**ing elite Phantom Squad, yeah. Highest kill count in the damn galaxy. Between me and my girls there are more kills than any three Cerberus armies combined. 

DC: And I suppose that was when things turned out to the worst. 

K: You have a gift for understatement, doc. 

DC: [takes some notes]

K: [sigh] Anyway, my girls are on the field and the Phoenix guy freaks out. He was playing with a recon drone they'd just find. And, s**t, my squad was looking for that toy for days before the N7 Ops even showed up... but that's a complaint for another day. So the Phoenix was dog walking the drone and freaks out when my girls show up. The stupid shield Sentinel says something ridiculous like 'don't worry, I got this' and puts up his omni-shield. Idiot. One of the girls simply went around him and slashed him for good. And then... then it got silly. 

DC: Why?

K: I told you the other two guys were playing with swords, right? Well, was I wrong. The Shadow started teleporting around like a Vanguard from Hell and one-hit-killing my girls! The Slayer attacked them with a poor excuse of a palm blaster -- rather weak, I thought, but enough to drop their barriers -- then did some freaky-ass disappearing tricks so we could't shoot back. All the while his girlfriend kept cutting down my Phantoms. 

DC: Did they managed to upload the drone?

K: Yeah. I was pretty PO. So I took to the field personally while they awaited extraction. I managed to pin down the Shadow with 3 Atlases in a back alley while the other three guys scrambled towards the LZ, right where I wanted them. As they were trying to hold ground, I zapped the Phoenix from distance and ordered my Engineer to deploy a turret. 

DC: What then?

K: The 'Paladin', that weirdo with the shield, just blocked the shots. I mean, have you ever seen a Cerberus turret shooting? It's f**ing deadly! That guy just sat there, taking bullets on his omni-shield while Kai Leng wannabe tended his friend. I told the dumb Engineer to stop fooling around and deploy another turret and then... 

DC: Yes?

K:...

DC: If you want to continue another day...

K: No, it's all right. And then the engineer's head just fell off! 

DC: What?

K: It just fell off before he could deploy another turret. I thought I could see the N7 Shadow for a moment, but then she was gone. Then there was an electric burst and the turret was gone, too. The Atlases were still a ways out and the Alliance shuttle was coming hot. I decided to take this in my own hands and attacked their position alone. So as the shuttle landed, the idiot Paladin deployed his shield again and told his friends 'go, I got this'. They were screaming at him, ordering him to fall back. He just... sat there, blocking my way, saying 'I got this'. I then did my trademark sword-through-chest move to clean the way... and the guy just... he just... 

DC: Kaoru?

K:...

DC: Kaoru, are you alright? 

K: That was it, doc. He hugged me. Held me tight, even as he slumped to the ground, my sword in his chest. His friends boarded the shuttle and went away. His last words were 'I got this, you go home'.

[silence]

DC: Well, Kaoru, you took down a valued enemy operative. That's a victory right there. 

K: That's just it, doc. The whole time that Paladin was sitting there? He was confident. He knew what was gonna happen and he was fine with it. Me? I was afraid. And I still am.  

[end recording]

[Dbohr]

From the notes of Dr Taliah Colborn, Cerberus Psychiatrist
Subjetc: Engineer "John" evaluation

[begin recording]

Dr Colborn: So, John, how do you feel today?

"John": Terrible, doc.

DC: Now, John, that's not very positive of you. I see you scored very high on all your platoon leader evaluation, isn't that right.

J: Oh, yes. Once I got a medal from the boss himself.

DC: The boss?

J: Well, he wasn't there in person, you know. It was only a filtered holo-transmission. But it was him, all right. Gave me a medal for "outstanding performance".

DC: Tell me more about it.

J: It's just that, you know? When this whole mess started, I figured I could do some good. Something those Alliance types couldn't or wouldn't do; and kick a few alien behinds for good measure. And I was good, doc, I really was! My turrets were always placed at the best spots; I was always ready to fix the Atlases' shields. There wasn't a single mission where my turret traps failed to wipe the Alliance squads. Even the damn Quarian girls were no problem after our last security upgrade.

DC: So what happened?

J: Well, everything was fine and dandy until we got assigned back to Earth. Spend a couple weeks in Rio, you know? Take over a power plant of some sort, I figured it would be an easy job. Then I could relax a bit before taking the battle to the Reapers. I mean, that's why we are on Cerberus, right? To kick the Reapers back into Dark Space?

DC: Of course, John. But what happened in Rio?

J: The N7 Special Ops showed up, as expected. Only... this time they was a REAL N7 with them. An Engineer, I think. That god-damned WOMAN...!

DC: Calm down, John. You're safe, now. Won't you tell me what happened?

J: Everything seemed normal, until our squad began to blow up.

DC: Blow up?

J: Yeah, doc, blow up! As in, lighting up like a damn christmas tree! There were grenades, doc, more grenades than I could count! HOMING granades, too, like guided missiles. The Atlases didn't stand a chance! And my turrets... my God, my turrets! I laid them as fast as I could, in all the best spots -- I told you I was good at this -- but that b**ch of an N7 kept BLOWING THEM APART with f**ing ARC GRENADES! Weren't them supposed to be Quarian-exclusive? Everything was blowing up! EVERYTHING, I tell ya! Then the Phantoms came and I thought we were safe, but... but that woman came back and threw MORE GRENADES at us! It just kept coming, and coming, and... oh, God...!

[sobs for several minutes]

J: Doc... do you think there's still time for us to... you know... change sides? I'm a good engineer. I know I am.

[end recording]

[Lokiwithrope]

I want a medical report on the Illusive Man or a psych evaluation on an Atlas Pilot.

[Dbohr]

The Atlas Pilot is coming up soon, but I think I'll keep TIM out of this series :-)

[Lokiwithrope]

Dbohr wrote...

The Atlas Pilot is coming up soon, but I think I'll keep TIM out of this series :-)

):

Anyway, you could finish it off with a Centurion and Nemesis evaluation.

[Link Neo]

The engineer's psych report was great, but the phantom's report blew it out of the water.
I found myself speechless for a few seconds after reading it.
Bravo, sir. Bravo.

[HNNNNNNG]

HA! I like these

[Dbohr]

Thanks :-)

I actually did the Engineer first. Then I realized the tone of each story should be a bit more serious than I was originally aiming for, so I did the Phantom bit.

[survivor_686]

Am actually quite interested in this. Please post this to deviant art or fanfiction to get a wider audience.

[Dbohr]

Deviant Art takes written pieces? Hmm. I didn't know that. After completing the series I'll have to look it up!

[ChrisRudson]

Bookmarked and Five Starred!
You Sir! Deserve a damned trophy or medal or whatever for your genius in writing and story making!
I can't wait for the Atlas' reaction.

[XXVI26]

ChrisRudson wrote...

Bookmarked and Five Starred!
You Sir! Deserve a damned trophy or medal or whatever for your genius in writing and story making!
I can't wait for the Atlas' reaction.

+1

[crypticevincar]

This is great so far. I've read both of them three times.

[N00813]

Sudden urge to write a ship fic between a phantom and an N7...
WHY?

[xSNPx ZoDiaC]

This is awesome! Keep up the good work.

[Ignisami]

xSNPx ZoDiaC wrote...

This is awesome! Keep up the good work.

I agree. *insert 'the awesomeness of this thread is too damn high' image*

[HNNNNNNG]

Ignisami wrote...

xSNPx ZoDiaC wrote...

This is awesome! Keep up the good work.

I agree. *insert 'the awesomeness of this thread is too damn high' image*

<img src="http://prozacville.com/myspace/images/this-thread-is-super-green.jpg" />
Also image taken from one of the topics on this fourm 

edit: damn images....

Modifié par HNNNNNNG, 23 juillet 2012 - 03:51 .

[Dbohr]

I got visits at home, guys, so the next fic is taking some time to shape up. I'll try to finish it by tomorrow :-)

[Adhok42]

N00813 wrote...

Sudden urge to write a ship fic between a phantom and an N7...
WHY?

Because I'm bombarding you with psychic beams demanding links...

[DragonFire6464]

This. Is. AWESOME! Please do more.

[The_Halo_Viper]

I'd love to see one from a standard trooper or even a gardian.

[puldalpha]

Great stuff, especially the part with the phantom.

[Dbohr]

From the notes of Dr Taliah Colborn, Cerberus Psychiatrist
Subjetc: Atlas pilot "Frank" evaluation


[begin recording]


“Frank”: Good morning, doc. I hope I didn’t come too early.


Dr Colborn: Hello, Frank, good to see you again. You’re a bit early, but it doesn’t matter.Please, take a seat.

 
F: Ok. Mind if I move the chair to the left? I’m still a little deaf from this side.


DC: Not at all. Just make yourself comfortable. So, according to the records you lost another Atlas last week. Just like that first time, we have to do a couple sessions to evaluate you before sending you to action again.


F: No problem, doc. Standards and procedures are what keep an army functioning. Besides, I really enjoy talking to you.

 

DC: You’re in a good mood, that’s excellent.

 

F: Not many pilots survive an Atlas crash, let alone two. I’m lucky. But now there are two bastards on my s**t list. In fact, that Turian sniper owes me two – one for my machine and one for my eardrum.

 

DC: [takes some notes] So, why don’t you tell me about being an Atlas pilot? How do you feel about it?

 

F: It’s great. The Atlas is an impressive piece of hardware. Powerful, durable… but not invincible, like some of the dumb scrubs think. The key is realizing it is all about providing support: if you lay a steady barrage of suppressive fire at the enemy, your troopers can flank the pinned enemy and finish them easily. Wish more A-jockeys realized that.

 

DC: You don’t seem to think very highly of your fellow pilots.

 

F: Don’t I? Well… tell you the truth, doc, the problem is the new guys are coming to the frontline too fast, without proper training. Me? I joined Cerberus early on. I tested the first batch of Atlas prototypes. Back then, Cerberus was about defending Humanity when nobody did. Remember the Collectors?

 

DC: Of course.

 

F: The first ever Atlas squad deployed in a far colony on the ass-end of nowhere. It was crawling with bugs. All we could do was keep them away while the tech guys got some alien thingy for analysis. Even if we couldn’t save any colonist, it felt damned good to do something, you know? That’s why I joined Cerberus. But today…

 

DC: Go on.

 

F: [snicker]

 

DC: It’s OK, sergeant. You won’t be identified. Our talk is completely confidential.

 

F: [sigh] All right. I told you the problem were the influx of scrubs since this whole mess with the Reapers started. Course I understand there’s a war on and we must put as many men on the field as fast as possible. It’s just… I feel the new jockeys aren’t properly trained, you know? I spent 200 hours just learning how to make a proper airdrop. A new guy fresh from Atlas boot camp barely knows how to shoot. All they do is trust their implants. Feh!

 

DC: What about the implants?

 

F: Back when I started, there were fewer implants for us jockeys. It helped a bit in the cockpit, but it was still experience and guts that counted. You saw a strong enemy position, you didn’t go for it alone. No, you paired up with another Atlas alternating salvos, or you waited for your troopers to help flank them.But since the new implants started to roll out, Atlas piloting has been less and less about proper skill and more about shock value. Looks like every other jockey out there is more aggressive, eager to increase their own kill count. Well, I can tell you the results: more Atlas blown up. Have you ever seen an Atlas hulk after being hit by a Cobra missile, doc? It’s a mess. A mess! All because the dumb scrubs think that going into a damn conga-line shooting at the same time is “aggressively pursuing shock and awe tactics”. F**k, no! It makes for larger targets, that’s all!

 

DC: Yet you have the newer implants yourself, I see.

 

F: Huh, you noticed, didn’t you? Well, it’s not like it’s that difficult. We can thank that Turian bastard for that. After his proximity mine killed my servos I thought I was dead – and if that sniper shot through my canopy didn’t deflect – let’s just say I’d be missing way more than my eardrum. At any rate, after I left the Hospital I was told my… condition… had to be corrected by the newer implants. I didn’t even get a chance to protest.

 

DC: And what do you think of that?

 

F: Bulls**t. I’d rather spend the rest of the war teaching at Atlas boot camp than to be jacked up with this thing.


 
DC: Do you want to be reassigned?

 

[silence]

 

DC: Frank?

 

F: I think… I think it’s a bit late for that, doc.

 

DC: Late? What do you mean?

 

F: Well… I mean, it’s really embarrassing telling this to a shrink, you know, but… I’ve been getting these… these dreams lately.

 

DC: Dreams?


 

F: Yeah. Like someone was telling me things. Started right after I got the new implants. And after the last mission it has gotten worse.

 

DC: [takes some notes] Tell me more about it.

 

F: My platoon was ordered back to one of our research labs in the Terminus. Guard duty, nothing fancy. Though I think we were guarding something really important, because, damn, there were a lot of troops for such a small facility. Then every time I went to bed – and sometimes while I was on duty – there was this… this buzzing. First I thought I was dreaming about the damn Collectors. Then the buzz became less and less indistinct. Like it was trying to tell me something. That I had to shoot someone.

 

DC: …

 

F: It was when the Alliance squad came. Four guys only, so it should be easy. There was one N7 operative, though… a freaking huge trooper encased in some sort of battle armor. I swear it, doc, that guy alone packed more ordnance than a whole platoon. He had two new weapons I hadn’t seen yet. One huge assault rifle he used to shred every other Atlas out there like they were made of tissue paper and some sort of auto-shotgun from Hell. Then the voice came. It had… an oozing quality.

 

DC: … oozing?

 

F: Yeah! Like, time seemed to slow down while it was talking to me. Pull the trigger, it went. We were guarding a research facility, like I told you; the N7 guy was after something the researchers were doing. After his squad got the goods, I managed to maneuver myself in a position to get a clear shot at that ‘Destroyer’ guy. Then…

 

DC: What? What happened?

 

F: The voice, doc. It was scary. It screamed at me. Pull the trigger, pull the trigger. Only I... I didn’t.

 

[silence]

 

DC: Why?

 

F: Ain’t no disembodied voice telling me what to do inside my cockpit. But that cost me. The Destroyer lobbed a multi-frag grenade at me and I passed out. They had to haul my sorry ass outside the wreck to the nearest hospital later, and here I am now. I didn’t tell this to anyone before you, doc.

 

[silence]

 

DC: Well, Frank. Look at the time. See you next session?

 

F: Of course, doc! I really enjoy talking to you, did I say that?


DC: Yes. Yes you did.

 

F: I really do. And doc? Maybe we can talk about my dreams next?

 

DC: … of course.

 

F: Now they seem to be mostly about… you.

 

[end recording]

Modifié par Dbohr, 24 juillet 2012 - 01:09 .

[DarklighterFreak]

Pure genious man.

[Tedacho]

Mostly I lurk for multiplayer info but I've followed you here from the Letters by N7 Operatives.

In internet speak "moar".