I almost lost the sample in the first three minutes. The screen flashed a drone ping and my squad had to sprint across Dire Marsh under a neon rain of gunfire. By the time the specimen hit my backpack, every heartbeat felt like loot ticking down a timer.
I’ve run this contract in Season 2 enough to know the traps and shortcuts. You can do it in a single run; you just need the right map, a calm head, and a plan that keeps the drone from warping away. I’ll walk you through what to do, why it matters, and how to stop dumb mistakes from costing you the reward.
Observation: The Dire Marsh cycle throws predictable events at you, so timing matters — Marathon Research and Development contract walkthrough
The Research and Development contract has two short, connected tasks: acquire the Anomaly Specimen from a Hazardous Transport Drone, then deliver it to a DCON. Both must happen in one run. Miss the order, and you’ll either chase a teleporting drone or carry dead weight through a map full of threats.
How do I acquire an Anomaly Specimen from a Hazardous Transport Drone?
Drop into Dire Marsh at Night. I recommend PVE mode if you want the least chaos while you focus on the contract, and use squad fill unless you relish solo frustration. After about three minutes a Hazardous Transport Drone will appear — you’ll get an on-screen notification and a contract icon on your map.
Run to the icon and engage. If you’re alone the drone will often teleport away; with a full squad you can chew through its shields before it phases out. Treat the drone as a runaway mailbox of chaos — it drops resources and the specimen once downed, but it will sprint if you give it an opening.
Shoot until the drone dies, open the loot, and pick up the Anomaly Specimen. Put it in your backpack immediately — if you try to carry it in-hand while fighting you’ll make bad choices. The inventory move completes the first task; the clock keeps ticking in the background, so don’t go sightseeing.
Where do I deliver the Anomaly Specimen to complete the contract?
Head straight for a DCON on Dire Marsh. Real-world observation: players tend to wander after a kill; that’s where mistakes happen. Use the DCON icon on the map or consult community lists (Moyens I/O and Steam threads often have up-to-date DCON locations) and move there fast.
Interact with the DCON to insert the specimen and wait a few seconds for the transfer. The contract completes on transfer — you don’t have to escape the map to redeem rewards. The DCON acts as a quiet data vault: slow, steady, and mercilessly final about its job.
- Drop into Dire Marsh (Night), pick PVE and squad fill for safety.
- Survive three minutes, track the Hazardous Transport Drone via the contract icon.
- Bring it down, loot the Anomaly Specimen, move it to your backpack.
- Deliver the specimen to any working DCON on the map and wait for the transfer.
Rewards appear back at the main menu — many players report Season 2 XP and cosmetic items; occasional bundles can be priced around $1.99 (€1.85) on store pages. Community hubs on Steam and posts on Moyens I/O are good for quick DCON lists and anecdotal tips if you want platform-specific routes for Xbox or PlayStation.
If you want to shave time off your runs: coordinate a single point of attack with teammates, clear nearby patrols before you engage the drone, and never carry the specimen in-hand through choke points. I’ll keep testing odd spawn combos on Steam; what did you lose to a teleporting drone last run?