Over the next few days Marcus spent his time figuring the in's and out's of the HUD, and his new augment. The HUD has made his daily routine far more convenient. He can talk to his friends, go over some documents, and do research on various topics all from his apartment.

While Marcus does enjoy messing with his HUD, he has really been spending most of his free time honing his fighting abilities. After practicing for a four hours a day, he has reduced his time to 'react, draw, and fire accurately' down from .6 of a second, to .2 .

'I can now literally shoot in the blink of an eye! How fast I can get the time down to with a month of training, or even a year?'

Marcus then shakes his head, cooling off his ego.

'I'm not even a tier 1 augmentor yet. There are plenty of people and abominations that could tear me to shreds with little to no effort.'

As Marcus is finishing up his training for the day, he gets a call from Captain Wolf.

"Hey Viper, meet me at the staging area in 30 minutes. I'll introduce you to your new squad, and brief you on your first mission."

"Copy that, i'll be right there."

When Marcus became the ace of his training regimen, he got the unique right to choose which of the Red Scarf Company he joined, when the rest were assigned where needed. Obviously Marcus chose the 4th Company 'Wolf Pack'. After all the help Captain Wolf gave him, it would feel awkward for him to join any of the others.

Unfortunately all the other top New Bloods got distributed evenly among the 15 companies, which meant Porter, and Abby got assigned to different companies than him.

Marcus quickly heads back to his apartment, grabs his equipment, and heads to the staging area. When he arrives he spots Wolf with four other Red Scarfs talking to each other at the back of the area, with three motorcycles and a truck standing ready nearby.

Marcus gave Wolf a short salute as he approached.

"Ah Viper, right on time. This is the squad you will be joining, squad 8."

Marcus went around shaking everyone's hands.

"I handle demolitions, names Scorch."

Scorch is a tall, lanky man with a rich tan. He has long blonde hair, aviators, and an excited tone in his voice. At first Marcus thought Scorch had soot on his hands, but when he shaked them he realized that his hands were just blackish/gray like ash. Scorch as a satchel filled with explosives, a shotgun, and a pistol

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"Medical officer, Tech."

Tech is a shorter man with a huge backpack filled with medical supplies, and other various equipment. He has a armband with a white dove on it, signifying him as a medic. Tech also has a large pair of glowing goggles on. What purpose they serve, Marcus doesn't know. For weapons, he carries a small caliber carbine rifle.

"Rook."

While not much of a talker, Rook's role in the squad was obvious at a glance. Rook was the Melee/Heavy Weapons guy in the squad. Standing at a staggering 7 feet tall, Rook has a metallic steel tinge to his skin which Marcus assumes is one of his augments. He carries a large metal shield, a mace with an electric head, and a 'Squad Automatic Weapon' or SAW strapped to his back.

"I'm your new squad leader, Rain. I look after this band of misfits."

Rain looked like an allrounder type of fighter and had a calm, capable aura about her. Her skin was midnight black, and she had dreadlocks that were tied into a short ponytail. She carried an assault rifle, a saber, and a laz pistol, similar to Marcus's.

"Callsign, Viper. Pleasure to meet all of you."

Wolf puts a hand on Marcus's shoulder.

"Viper is your new scout. While still wet behind the ears, he is competent. Now lets go over your next job shall we?"

Wolf taps behind his ear, and a file pops into view on Marcus's hud. Opening the file, a 3D presentation opens up, similar to the ones Trainer Heathen would show New Bloods on the projector back at the training facility.

"The Red Scarfs were hired by the 'Golden Trails' merchant group. A medium sized company based out of New Craven. Your squads task is to escort a small caravan and its cargo from New Craven to the City of Dust. It's a trading hub at the border of the Drylands, and the Fungal Wastes."

The display shows the logo of a of Golden Trails, a pair of golden shoes, and then shows the route from New Craven to the City of Dust. The map indicates that it's about a four day trip between cities.

"What are we guarding?" Rook asks.

"It's a secret. Golden Trails is keeping things close to there chest, which is why they paid double the standard rate for our services. What we do know is that it's not hazardous, or explosive so you won't need to worry about that."

"Now that being said I doubt your squad will only encounter your typical band of raiders, or wildlife during your travels. As with most merchant groups Golden Trails have many rivals. If any of them catches a whiff of this caravan, they might send their own band of shitheads your way."

Rain steps forward.

"When will the job be considered complete? As soon as we enter Dust?"

"When you get to the City of Dust, a man by the name of Mathias will meet you. You will then hand over the caravan to him, and his guards."

A picture of a man appears on the hud. It's an older man in his forties in nice clothes with large sideburns.

"That should be everything, any more questions?"

Everyone shakes their heads.

"Then good luck everyone, may you return safely."

With that Wolf turns and walks off. As he does Rain faces Marcus and gives him a firm look.

"I heard you were the ace of your class. While i'm glad to have someone talented in our squad, let's make one thing clear. We are a team. Your not allowed to be a hotshot that thinks he knows better, and run off by yourself to solve a problem. You can discuss, give advice, and state your opinion. However, at the end of the day when I give an order, its final and must be followed to the letter. Am I clear?"

"Crystal."

Rain eases up and smiles, patting Marcus on the back.

"That's good to hear Viper. I'm sure we will get along swimmingly. Welcome to Dagger Squad."