Nathaniel Reiter

 First Lieutenant Nathaniel Dietrich Reiter is an officer in the AMC Army, from the city of Fremont on Mars. He is currently a passenger on board Nightshade.

Nathan is written by GameFaqs user Takato_Matsuki.

Prior to the Events of Amaranthine Deep
Nathaniel was born during the year 2202, near the Martian city of Fremont. The boy's father, one Colonel Thomas Heinrich Reiter, was an intelligence officer at Central Headquarters. His mother, Carol Anne Reiter nee Grant, was a public relations officer at the same post. Nathan has one sibling, a sister, Katherine Anneliese, born four years after him. Coming from the overwhelmingly military Reiter family (aside from Uncle Stephen, of course), the children had their future very much planned out for them. Private school until the age of 12, then military schools from there on out.

Graduating from the prestigious Fremont Military Institution at the age of 22, Nate accepted a commission into the AMC army as an artillery officer while the war still raged on throughout the system. The new 2LT spent about a year with his section before the CEF initiated Operation “Red Dust.” Numerous CEF forces landed on the rusty planet, and the 1-144th Field Artillery, along with others of the AMC, raced to meet them before the Earth-born reached Burgan.

Nate's column was ambushed by CEF forces on their way to the capitol city due to bad intel, probably the worst mistake the AMC made during Red Dust. Taking fire from both sides of the column, an enemy grenade landed in front of Reiter and a soldier under his command, one Private Gary Johnson. Taking up the grenade in his left hand, Nate chucked it as hard as he could. Didn't matter much, as it exploded not long after he released it. Nathan received some shrapnel and lost bits and pieces of three fingers, however, Johnson didn't survive the blast.

The CEF forces fell back once the AMC organized themselves into proper fighting order, and the 1-144th Field Artillery continued on its way to support those at Burgan. Reiter remained with his section until the ceasefire, receiving mechanical replacements after combat had ceased. Besides training and, much to his chagrin, brass-dictated therapy sessions, not much happened in the following year or so.

Receiving a mandatory transfer to Sol-3 along with a promotion to 1LT, Nathan packed up his gear and checked his itinerary. In perfect military fashion, he had layovers on Sigma-1, Kaz-1, Helius-4, Sol-2, and Helius-1.

On Kaz-1
Nathan disembarked on the colony of Kaz-1 minutes after the ship he was scheduled to board had left. Sprinting through the docks prior to learning this, he wasn't entirely pleased when an employee notified him of the ship's status. Determined to not spend any more time than required on a foreign station, the soldier booked passage on the CFR-35128, an Indepenent vessel owned by one Esther Voclain.

When the ship prepared to set off, they were hailed by CEF forces ordering Captain Voclain to stand down and prepare for detainment. One of the ship's engines backfired and in response, elements of the CEF party opened fire. In the chaos, Nathan prompted those aboard to stay calm, although whether it was needed or not is debatable. From the stories that both Ethan and Esther told the passengers, Nate figured that the two of them did what was needed to keep everyone alive. Said opinion may or may not have been influenced by the soldier's consumption of a decent amount of mystery liquor.

On Sigma-2
A decision was made by the pilot of the CFR-35128 to dock at Sigma-2, a Mars owned colony a few days away from Kaz-1. The moment Nate stepped out of the wanted ship he received a message from AMC authorities instructing him to head to the main office on the colony. So, like a good little soldier, he complied; taking a cab driven by one Johnny Reams, the crazy travelling cabbie. After dying at least six times, Nathan arrived at the office.

It was there that 1LT Reiter met CPT Osgood, a slightly overweight, middle aged officer. Nathan deduced that the man, due to his age and rank, wasn't going to climb any higher on the totem pole, but would do just about anything to get his oak leaf. Osgood had Nate seconded to his command, and offered him the task of travelling with the CFR-35128 yet again; this time, however, he would be in possession of a, according to the captain, black box. Osgood claimed AMC intel showed that Esther may be smuggling weapons. Nathan, although having doubts about the entire operation, agreed to the offered mission after the captain brought up all the casualties that illegal weaponry could cause.

Physical Appearance
Nate stands at a decent height of 5'11. The Martian has relatively fair skin, however, it does have some color to it. Wide shouldered, his father had always told him he was built for contact sports. However, the academy drilled into him that large, bulky muscle required more calories to sustain in the field, and the ideal Martian soldier was fit and cut.

Reiter's dark brown, some might say black, hair is neatly buzzed into the classic military high and tight without much of a fade. His top lip sports a rather small pyramid mustache, something not uncommon with the AMC artillery. However, it is more due to a rather unfortunate bet he lost with a friend back on Mars.

Nathan's left hand features a few mechanical replacements for his ring and middle fingers past the 2nd knuckle and for his small finger past the 3rd knuckle. Normally, a black glove is worn over the hand in order to hide them from the general public.

In regards to clothing, Nate wears the standard AMC dress uniform, as the man is merely on the ship in order to transfer to another once they reach their destination. The belted jacket is of the single-breasted configuration, dark grey in color; from the belt hangs a black leather pistol holster. The jacket's stand and fall collar is black, on which rests a small insignia bearing the image of two crossed cannons. The uniform's trousers, tucked into shined, black boots that run a few inches below the knee, are black with a red blood stripe running down the outside of each leg. Usually held in his left hand is a black kepi, with the insignia of the AMC displayed on a grey field centered on the front. The piping on all uniform items is a deep red.

Nathan's civilian clothing is rather limited. In his bag, he carries a couple pairs of dark blue denim jeans and some dark, reddish brown boots. For the upper body, Nate carries two plaid collared button ups, one predominately light blue and white, the other predominately black and white. Toss in a few white undershirts, and Nathan's day to day clothing is covered.

On Reiter's right shoulder lies his coming of age tattoo, depicting two crossed sabers with the flag of Mars wrapped loosely around them. In a horseshoe, beginning at the hilt of one saber and ending at the hilt of the other, are the words “BY VIRTUE AND VALOR,” a Reiter family tradition. Two stars, representing his commission into the AMC and his later promotion, had been added to the beginning and end of the aforementioned words.

Personality and Traits
Nate lacks much in the way of charisma. Indeed, he is rather blunt, something that has gotten him in trouble with his superiors numerous times in the past. However, should the need arise, he can break out the etiquette his parents and the instructors at the military academy pounded into his head for years. One thing that has stuck with him at all times, however, is to address unknown civilians with the honorifics “Sir,” “Miss,” and “Madam,” for “Ma'am” sounds far too much like the sound a cat makes, his father once told him.

While Nate is confident in his abilities, he does what he can to not rub it in the faces of others. Those that go out of their way to do so are what he would deem “cocky,” and having to put up with enough of such behavior might cause the man to call the offender out. Reiter is learned enough to not gloat about “winning” the previous war with Venus and Earth. Nate lost some good friends in that war, and too many good men on all sides he never met. However, he does hold a certain dislike for CEF personnel for their attack on Mars.

As with most military personnel, Nate acts much differently when in uniform and interacting with civilians. This is "official" Nathan, where he'll try his damndest to avoid conflict and keep his language civil.

Primary Combat Style
Due to his military training, Nate has become quite proficient in firearms, both sidearms and carbines. However, he acknowledges that he couldn't hold a candle to many of the infantrymen he's met. The man almost always has a civilian copy of the standard issue AMC sidearm hanging from his belt. However, his training has taught him to keep it holstered unless he was ready to use it, in the majority of settings at least. Surprise, speed, and violence of action.

Although trained in basic hand to hand techniques, Nate would be the first to admit he's far from being an expert. In light of this, he prefers to handle combat from a distance.

Trivia
Nathan's Anglo-German name is inspired by what the writer's family did when they first came to the States.