NERO Soldier

The **NERO Soldiers** serve as the military arm of NERO during the events of the Freaker Apocalypse during the events of *Days Gone*. Alongside their parent organization, these soldiers serve as one of the last remnants of the pre-outbreak United States Government.

## History

As attempts to initially quarantine and contain Freaker-infected patients collapsed, much of the United States east of the Mississippi River quickly became overwhelmed by the ever-growing Freaker hordes. With the outbreak rapidly spiralling out of control, surviving elements of the United States Government declared martial law and activated NERO - with remaining federal authorities quickly becoming superseded - in a desperate bid to rein in the infection.

Tasked with defending the remaining major population centres in the West, NERO pursued a noble, albeit misguided attempt and spread its forces thin in an attempt to maintain order. Furthermore, as fears grew over the potential airborne nature of the virus, all remaining NERO personal were equipped extensively with HAZMAT suits. However, as the Freakers continued their spread westwards, NERO's attempt to defend the surviving population centres proved to be their undoing, as their limited manpower hampered their ability to effectively coordinate against the Freaker Hordes, resulting in the near-total collapse of the organization. Having lost control of the situation, NERO Command ordered surviving units to retreat to scattered military bases as NERO left the remaining civilian populations to their fate.

Despite having been routed by the Freakers in other parts of the country, NERO forces stationed in Oregon found limited success in large part due to their checkpoints and major safe zones having been placed in the wilderness, away from major population centres. However, as with most other surviving safe zones, floods of refugees often hampered NERO's ability to actively counteract and locate infected civilians, as many checkpoints were overwhelmed and safe zones at overcapacity. Additionally, as the Freaker Hordes from across the country began encroaching upon Oregon, NERO forces hastily set up numerous field Research Stations, many often near checkpoints as they actively screened infected civilians and studied the effects of the Freaker virus. In their haste to protect the surviving populace however, NERO made a fatal mistake and set up a safe zone in Chemult College, near the Highway Interstate. Unaware of the Freakers' reliance upon the highway to migrate, the College itself was quickly overrun as Freaker Hordes quickly breached the safe zone, slaughtering and infecting countless refugees seeking safety despite NERO's best efforts to protect them. The deterioration of the situation was further compounded with the arrival of the Freaker Hordes from California, with as many as 17 checkpoints overrun within six hours. As with remaining national NERO units, surviving Oregon-based NERO forces were quickly pulled out, and in many cases, abandoned the countless refugees stranded in the highways awaiting transportation to safe zones, with said units ordered to evacuate in secrecy, as the sheer volume of refugees would prove impossible for NERO to evacuate as the Freaker Hordes continued pouring into Oregon.

As the chaos of the Freaker Outbreak continued to intensify, NERO forcibly conscripted large numbers of scientists, often evacuating their families to secure safe zones in exchange for their continued assistance in curing the Freaker Virus.

Despite the official collapse of the United States government, NERO continued operating covertly throughout the country, primarily in Oregon, owing to its diverse environment and wildlife reacting accordingly to the Freaker Virus. Within the next two years, NERO forces began deploying covert research teams to continue their investigations into the possible mutations with the Freaker Virus, unbeknownst to most field teams however, higher-ups within NERO were well aware as to the origins of the Freaker Virus, but nevertheless continued their expeditions with the rest of the organization none the wiser. Additionally, as the deployments progressed, NERO began fearing that survivors had become asymptomatic with the virus, this combined with occasional attacks by marauders led to NERO issuing Protocol 2-7: to avoid human contact at all costs. With the issuance of the order, NERO Soldiers began deploying extensively with the field teams, with many soldiers aggressively targeting survivors that attempted to investigate the periodic arrival of NERO forces within Oregon.

## Challenges

   A NERO Soldier, described as "a fully-armed and fully mysterious soldier for the National Emergency Response Organization" is a playable character on the Challenges  DLC.