Deals and Weals

Although Matt confidently said not to underestimate him, what he actually meant was not to underestimate the person manipulating his test. He actually had no confidence in himself to beat nine people on his own. However, something told him that the person that messed with his obstacle course would make a move here as well. So, rather than saying he had faith in his abilities, he really had faith in the person in the shadows.

"For now, it's best you focus on getting into the First Strike squad, Lexi. I was just really hungry since the assessment ran for so long."

"If you say so. The skirmish is happening in a few days. If you succeed in your final assessment, we might be fighting alongside each other."

"I'll try not to drag you down."

"It's good that you are aware."

The two of them chuckled at their remarks and made their way back once Matt finished eating. He would naturally support her promotion to First Strike squad. This was the easiest way to learn the details of the various combat suits the ship had. In the game, there were ten suits that covered the different niches and enemies a player could face. However, the balance wasn't good. Some suits were simply way more powerful than others.

The best example was the 'Tactical Medic Suit.' This suit had only two abilities and a standard rifle. The first ability was called 'first aid' but it really should be called 'invincible.' It healed the player fifteen health every second. While inside a suit, players only had two-hundred health. Therefore, this essentially meant if you could not deal two-hundred damage in one go, or deal more than fifteen damage-per-second, the player was invincible.

Initially, no one realized how strong this skill was because the skill was originally meant to heal allies. However, someone decided to go solo Rambo mode and kept healing himself and one-versus-one'd the fully evolved parasite. However, it doesn't stop here because the next ability is even more ridiculous. Normally, the standard rifle has the lowest damage. But when you combine this with the next ability 'Stim Pack' it is completely irrelevant.

The 'Stim Pack' is a shot of adrenaline which increases the targets attack speed by two-hundred percent and reduces damage by fifteen percent. A group of players wearing the 'Tactical Medic Suit' would make the Parasite's game miserable. Matt really wanted to know if there was a similar suit on this ship. He would either take one for himself or destroy them all. This was the strategy used in the game. Any suit could be destroyed.

A savvy parasite player would stealthily plant explosives where the 'Tactical Medic Suits' would be available. No one could prove who planted the explosives if they triggered several minutes after being planted. The parasite could simply hang out in the bridge the whole game after planting the explosives and use it as his alibi. There was one other way to win, and that was destroying the ship, killing every human onboard.

'It is really impossible for me to kill everyone here. The ship has too many important resources for my survival. Additionally, having more subordinates will make my life easier in the future.'

The next morning, Matt woke up a bit later than usual. The battle royale wouldn't happen until later, so he did some morning stretches and warmed himself up. Alexis had already left that morning. Since Matt encouraged her yesterday, she decided to join the early training so that she was ready for the skirmish. Thinking about Alexis with perfect mimicry on triggered a memory about her story.

She was truly a genius in her own regards. At the age of sixteen, she joined the Federation. She quickly rose through the ranks in two years and was part of the first batch of people accepted into the USS Odyssey mission to Exveus. Over the next three years she trained painstakingly to be part of the First Strike squad, but due to a single mistake, was placed in the Second Strike squad instead. When the USS Odyssey took flight, she trained every day to get promoted to the First Strike squad. When the first promotion test came by, she missed it due to overworking herself. Halfway through the test, her muscles gave out from the intense training she was going through.

Before this occurrence, she was rather distant and uninterested in Matt's existence although they had lived together for a year. However, he returned that day and saw the tough tomboy, that would often show off her strength to him, silently crying in bed. In a moment of concern, he comforted her with stories and vented his frustrations about his experience in military training. Unexpectedly, a connection was formed from that long night. Since then, the two of them had a casual physical relationship.

Matt O'Connely didn't really make the connection at the time, but when Matt looked through those memories, he simply facepalmed. Perfect mimicry didn't give him all of the original's memories immediately. When it was on, he would only receive memories if the original Matt would think of that memory at the time. The other method was to force a memory out by specifically thinking about it. However, he had never thought to inquire about Alexis's past.

'That idiot… he essentially had the perfect follower by his side since that day. But all he could think to do was have sex with her? Whatever, your loss Matt O'Connely. I will take advantage of this opportunity that you missed.'

The memory had distracted him from his light workout, so he decided to head to the military bay early. His main goal was to scout the stage. Matt had a good idea about why they pushed the fight for two hours after the normal training time. Firstly, they were giving a chance for the members of the strike teams to come and watch the fight. Secondly, they needed to prepare the stage. When he arrived, he smiled and realized that the force behind him was in fact helping him.

The stage would be an array, similar to the one in the obstacle course. However, this one was twice the size and made to look like a demolished urban jungle. The commander from yesterday walked over to Matt with a suspicious grin.

"Good morning, Sir!"

"At ease. You are the first one to arrive. I bet you were expecting something like this when you made that suggestion. Your supporter is quite influential."

"Sir, I had no intention to make use of an external power. However, the changes to my assessment were strange. I had wanted to use this as an opportunity to see which side that person was on."

"Haha, you should have joined the Federation instead of becoming a biologist! With that scheming mind of yours, you would have made a fine strategist."

"I'm afraid I would not have made it onboard the USS Odyssey if I didn't pursue my passion of biology."

"It is good that you know your own worth. However, just because someone is helping you doesn't mean it is a free pass. You still need to come out in the top four of this final assessment. However, I will offer you a deal. I have been told you were an avid fan of steak dinners. If you get first in this assessment, I will pull some strings and have the café reserve my allotment of steak for you every day for the next year. If you cannot reach the required rank by then, well, consider it my loss."

"Thank you, Sir! I will live up to your expectation!"

As the hour of the showdown quickly approached, the other members arrived in a group. Seeing Matt already there, they gave him some jeering glances and walked over to a different spot to wait for the start time. However, when they realized their fight would be in the array, they really pitied Matt.

In their opinion, the only reason he beat the array was due to having been given the layout beforehand. Although they feared he would get that advantage again, one of the higher-ups told them not to worry about that possibility. They already made a deal to take him out first and who would take the top four amongst their group.

Seeing that everyone had arrived, the Commander walked over with a PL81 All Purpose gun. This weapon closely resembled a P90 from Matt's past life. Although this one worked very differently from the CK94 Blaster Carbine. Instead of converting air into plasma, it was loaded with bullets with high ferric content. The electric pack would create a powerful magnetic field between the bullet and the barrel of the gun. They would then be launched at supersonic speeds. The advantage of this weapon was being able to adjust the speed of the bullet.

"For this assessment, you will be using the PL81 at the lowest setting. Additionally, you will be wearing tactical vests with sensors to prevent cheating and injury. The sensors will detect the impact and eliminate you. Any further participation in the battle royale will then result in being court-martialed. Are there any questions? Good. Get your equipment and take your positions."