#strike teams

[striketeams]

[promptsforyourwhumpfic]

Whump Prompt #1017

Submitted by Anon - thanks!

Desensitisation: The team becomes desensitised to the bad things happening the more they deal with it.

Okay I have to add:

The old team are desensitised; they’re always returning to Base covered in blood and soot and god-knows-what. Some are limping but are simply un-phased by the state of their own injuries/what they had just witnessed. 

Every time this happens, the new recruits go very very pale at the potential glimpse of their future. 

The desensitisation may make the team jaded and in some way comfortable with the trauma, but it only makes everyone respect them more, and ready to help them at any turn. (When the trauma becomes too much/the injuries take longer to heal etc)

[amassingeffect]

Strike Team Four

Issued name: Tango Pathfinder name: CHAMPS

Pathfinder Sanaa Ryder’s fourth strike team, she was honestly surprised to find out how young they were. They made SWISS look as old as Drack. Just over a hundred, they were some of the youngest krogan she’d seen yet. At first reluctant to send them, she changed her tune after rhaving no choice but to send them on an shitty mission: the absolute crappiest weather up against an entire kett base. They came back with some of their first scars and so much exuberance that she just started calling them CHAMPS for even rolling with it.

Much like SWISS, they are distinguishing themselves for taking on a multitude of varying assignments and getting the mission done and then some. They’ve even proven to be such adept hostage rescue specialists that DASH are considering giving them the QRV and switching to a new speciality.

Atarok, Jadark and Khemar are pretty much infamous on the Nexus for the stunts they pull when they’re on their downtime. They can usually be found down in Vortex, sometimes playing Fire-Breathing Thresher Maws, though they were nearly banned once for using their own souped-up game piece flamethrowers. They’ve been known to use loading dock trolleys like eezo-powered scooters, once windings up at far as the lower habitation decks. Their most infamous Nexus stunt was somehow getting up into Operations without being noticed and scrawling ‘Number Eight’ on Tann’s office door as well as a crudely drawn quad. It took Kesh a surprisingly long time to get a work crew around to clean it up. Kandros was conspicuously busy and absent, so Tann asked the Pathfinder to speak with them about their actions. In all honesty, Sanaa would rather buy them some ryncol than have to talk with them. But she figures she’ll get around to it, maybe bring Drack with her, but for now she’s more than content to let them be. They’re young still, she’s not quite ready to rain on their parade.

[amassingeffect]

Strike Team One

Issued name: Mike Pathfinder name: SWISS

The very first strike team that Pathfinder Sanaa Ryder ever recruited, SWISS has seen it all. Since they’ve been working for the Pathfinder well before Kadara, they are extremely efficient at dealing with kett and remnant especially. They’re the team the Pathfinder comes to if the situation seems damn near impossible with scary odds. They’ve done hostage extractions, cleared escape routes, obtained, recovered and or secured dead-drop data, protected personnel, run uncountable scouting missions... you name a situation and yeah, they’ve done it.

When they met with the Pathfinder for the first time, she jokingly called them her ‘Swiss army knife’. Once she explained what that was, the squad leader, Hersan, took it as a point of pride and took SWISS as the squad’s new name. 

As the only all krogan squads assigned to the Pathfinder at the start, SWISS was surprised to find that the Pathfinder was more than willing to listen to them, not to mention fully supply them with anything they needed. It was Charax and Ral who suggested that they get mods of some sort to boost their efficiency on the field. After some discussion with the Pathfinder, she cleared the paperwork for them to get gene mods for increased intelligence as well as embedded neural links that allow them for silent communication when in the field. 

Director Tann found out and tried to have the given access revoked. While Tann didn’t want to give such experimental mods and tech to the krogan, the Pathfinder managed to talk him around. Fully impressed with how much the Pathfinder fought for them, and how much Drack already vouches for her, they’ll take on any mission for her and see it executed well. 

While they trusted the Pathfinder, strict orders from Overlord Morda prevented them from disclosing the location of their new home planet to Sanaa. She didn’t push them for it, only offering them the use of her apartment when she was away from the Nexus, which was almost 95% of the time. “No sense in you guys shuttling back and forth. Just crash here, not like I use it.”

As the only other krogan on the Nexus, SWISS tended to keep to themselves and quiet, though they were more than willing to step in and help Kesh if she needed it. Everyone on the station knew that SWISS had the Pathfinder’s backing and so everyone gave them a wide berth.

Used to being pariahs on the Nexus, SWISS is used to keeping quiet and to themselves. When the Pathfinder recruited another all krogan team, CHAMPS, Hersan found himself having to have a chat with them about toning down their antics because they were here on the Pathfinder’s sufferance and not to push it. Not that CHAMPS listened and SWISS can’t be bothered with the “young idiots”. But the upside of CHAMPS antics is either very annoyed people or very amused people. As such, SWISS have noticed some people making friendly overtures, sometimes inviting them for a drink and chat down in Vortex or just for a walk about. Ral is the one more likely to go for a walk to take in Nexus sights while Charax loves the vibe of Vortex and is always there for angaran poetry and stories. Hersan, ever the vigilant leader, is more than content to stay in the apartment reading books, always alert for trouble with Charax and Ral through their neural link.

[amassingeffect]

Strike Team Three

Issued name: Victor Pathfinder name: DASH

A three person squad of former asari commandos looking for the “next big adventure”, V’Morix, Ronetis and Janirix were more than willing to step up and help the human Pathfinder, even more so after Ryder rescued the Leusinia. 

They distinguished themselves with rescuing some Initiative personnel that were captured by the kett. Once the news reached Ryder, she made it an immediate priority to get them a quick response vehicle. DASH has done multiple hostage extractions since then. Be it Outlaws or Kett, they can ensure the hostages will get out. Janirix even managed to set up the vehicle to be remote activated and controlled. With SAM’s help, she even managed to make it nigh uncrackable. She hasn’t told her teammates how, figuring it’s safer between just her and SAM. But it is invaluable to have a vehicle already coming to them instead of waiting for a driver when they’re coming out hot and need immediate extraction.

When it comes to downtime, DASH prefer to do their own thing. Ronetis likes the peace and quiet of Hydroponics, while V’Morix now spends her time in the Leusinia, helping to fix it up or just unwinding on the habitation deck. V’Morix usually roams all over the Nexus, sometimes in Vortex, sometimes up in Operations, chatting with security personnel or Kandros. 

[amassingeffect]

So, fun little thing I’ve discovered. If you’re using the APEX HQ app to purchase teams, it doesn’t count for the Teamwork trophy.You have to actually purchase all six strike teams in game for it to count. 

Just figured this out because I bought my sixth strike team in the game and nothing triggered the trophy. Very annoying. I don’t wanna retire my current set of strike teams. I’m attached to them. I have headcanons for them, damnit.

[amassingeffect]

I'll blab about the rest of my strike teams tomorrow. Not because I don't want to, but because I just sent the other 3 out on missions that popped up and one is nearly 5 hours long.

[amassingeffect]

Holy crap, I've reached the point with my APEX strike teams that I can do Gold missions... I've never not had a mission to do before. Does anyone else find themselves with headcanon for their strike teams? Just me? Cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cool, cooooooooool. But yeah, tell me your strike team headcanons, I would love to hear them. Cause I'll probably blab about mine later on today.