HELEUS CLUSTER

"Shepard, I know you've been through a lot but we need to debrief you. We need to know what happened down there." Admiral Hansen's voice, tempered by years of giving orders, barely roused me from my reverie. I fixed my eyes on his face and noticed for the first time the worry lines and concerned expression while the way he sat, upright and rigid, reminded me of his years of service.

"Yes sir." It had been days since I spoke and my voice sounded foreign to me. I took a moment and listened again to the familiar hum of the frigates engines as it muscled its way through space. The sound blanketed me in comforting familiarity. I struggled to sit which caused the nurse to rush to my side. I waved her off. While my body had endured a lot, my mind had endured more. The physical pain was a welcome distraction from my thoughts.

Why had I survived? Why me? The screams of the dead echoed in my memory. I should have died there with them.

I cleared my throat and licked my cracked and broken lips.

"We were dispatched as part of a rapid response investigation into the loss of communication with Akuze…"

AKUZE

"Alright Shepard! Once you're planet side you're on your own until 0500, understood?" Captain Bailey was forced to shout over the noise of the unit rapidly preparing. Grabbing gear, checking off equipment, readying weapons.

"Understood ma'am! Where is the rendezvous point?" I grabbed my Storm SMG and swapped out the heat sink for a fresh upgrade.

"Rendezvous will be 20 klicks south of Akuze. We don't know what's happened down there so be prepared for anything and know the shuttle won't wait long if things look hairy. Priority mission is to find out what happened to the colonists and to evac if necessary. Environment reads as stable from the ship so you should be okay to travel light on environmental supplies." Her face turned serious. "Shepard, we need colonies like this to continue building our presence and influence, so it's critical we find out what happened here. Without pioneers such as these we're dead in the water and we need to show that the Systems Alliance -and humans- can protect their own."

"My parents were spacers ma'am, I understand. I'll check in on these colonists and do what I can." I gave her a brisk salute and headed off to check in on my unit.

"Corporal Toombs! Get that equipment in the shuttle! We're on our way to the drop zone in five! Double time Marines!" I loved the organized chaos of mission prep. I triple checked my SMG and shotgun then took a brief second to reach inside and lazily flex my biotic powers by lifting ammo crates into the shuttle.

"Look at lieutenant, showing off that bio upgrade." Toombs and Ravi jostled each other and laughed.

"Didn't know we were running under a million-credit marine!"

I grinned at them as I hopped into the drop ship and strapped in. Atmospheric entry was simultaneously the best and worst part of descent. The bulkheads of the shuttle always seemed incredibly flimsy in comparison to the crushing weight of a planet and yet they always held through every entry, through every departure.

HELEUS CLUSTER

"So, you had a successful landing within a klick of the settlement around dusk. Our report from the shuttle pilot shows a mild dust storm so your unit departed shuttles with equipment and masks in place to compensate for the storm but visibility was impaired." The admiral shifted impatiently in his seat. "We have this information so tell me the first thing your unit did upon arrival and your first clue that something wasn't right."

The smell of antiseptic and the quiet rustle of medical personnel in the background reminded me how out of place this distinguished man was. At this juncture in his career he was more suited to the bridge or even a conference room on the Citadel and yet here he was, slumming it in the med-bay because my mission had gone FUBAR and he needed a report. The brass above him must be hounding him for answers, to name someone responsible for what happened.

"Well sir, once we landed we couldn't see far…"

AKUZE

The dust and dirt crunched conspicuously beneath our boots.

"Alright everyone, comm and equipment check." Confirmation from all five squads rolled in meaning short wave communication was working at least. Only long range had been knocked out. I dispatched squads four and five to take the long walk around to the far side of the colony and scout the perimeter. Akuze was nestled in a desert rock formation which provided some cover for movement and some protection for the settlers.

"We don't know what happened out here so stay frosty, marines. Move out!" A chorus of confirmations filled my ears. The storm died down as we stepped foot in what had been the colony. The buildings had been badly damaged by something. Something large and with incredible strength. What was left of the fledgling colony was eerie. What should have been a space teeming with possibility was empty. Empty of colonists and empty of bodies.

"Where are the bodies? The people? What happened here, Shepard?" Private Ravi came up beside me, her voice worried.

"That's why we're here Ravi. Let's find out what happened." I didn't let my voice waver but inside I echoed the uneasiness she expressed. The terrain in the area seemed unusual from the surrounding area. I climbed on top of a research station to survey the ground. There were two large circles approximately 60 meters in diameter of darker sand and soil. They didn't overlap and each encompassed a good portion of the colony. There were large piles of collapsed rubble and earth that appeared to be from the last day or so although the dust storm had obscured any subtle clues.

A knot of worry suddenly worked its way into my gut.

"Squad four check in. I repeat, squad four time for check in." My comm system echoed back at me with silence. Were they just out of range or had something happened?

"Squad five check in. I repeat, squad five check in immediately." Again, I heard nothing. I turned to Ravi, "Collect squad one and some supplies. I can't reach squads three or four and they should have reported in or arrived. It's getting dark and I want to go before we lose the light."

"Hoorah, Shepard. We're on it." Vance was a tall man who was built like a mountain. He moved off and got everyone to hustle.

The rest of the unit had nestled into remaining undamaged buildings and were attempting to get the colony's defense system back online. I looked over my shoulder as my squad moved out, already at the edge of the colony. The ground beneath us shook with a small tremor. Tectonic activity hadn't been included in the planet brief. Suddenly I heard a low rumble followed by the sound of the ground giving way for a large force. I looked back to see a thresher maw rising from the ground.

My stomach dropped out of my body as a second maw appeared across from the first. The two squads I had left in the colony, 20 marines in total, were sandwiched between two of the most dangerous beasts known to the galaxy. Shouts went out as they reacted quickly, a credit to their training and resolve. Technicians threw down shields and portable turrets and laid down fire.

"We need to get them out of there! Ravi, Henkels, Michel, set up turrets here and provide a distraction. Vance and I will try to extract whoever we can. Book it!" As turrets and shields appeared behind me we ran into the fray. The thresher maws seemed to be playing, toying with their food. They were dropping back underground and creating larger and larger tremors beneath the feet of the marines, knocking them off balance. Suddenly a marine dropped a grenade directly into the nest. The world seemed to freeze for a moment before hell let loose. The grenade landed square on its target.

The thresher maw cried out with a terrible shrieking sound. It ripped above ground with a speed that belied its immense size. It towered above us as we all lay in. I heard screams echo from behind me as play time ended for the second maw and it set about laying waste. The maw closest to us reared its tentacled head.

"Run! Disengage and move!" I could see what was going to happen and dashed toward the scrambling soldiers. I reached out as one stumbled and pulled him to his feet. The worm spit acid directly into the cluster of men and women. The acid bypassed every shield and barrier and disintegrated them right in front of me. I saw the man in front of me lose his skin as it sloughed off his body, flesh showing through before it too succumbed to the attack.

The green liquid splashed out and burned me as well, cutting through my armor and my biotic barrier like a hot knife through butter. I let out a scream and let go of the man's body. I tore open a kit of medigel with my teeth and dumped it on my arm while I scrambled back. Vance grabbed my shoulder to stabilize me.

Ravi was still laying down cover fire when a thresher maw turned toward her.

"NO!" The scream ripped out of my throat before I knew it. I reached inside and focused on the maw targeting her with warp. It screeched and dove back underground. "Retreat! Get out of there!" Vance and I began sprinting toward her when a maw burst from the ground in front of us. The beast rammed into me, throwing me to my knees. I felt my ribs crack and my head swam. I heard gunshots ring out as Ravi and Henkels popped off some rounds to pull it off of me.

Run. They should be running, not saving me.

I heard a shotgun go off next to me as Vance let out a yell. My ears rang and my vision faded in and out. Suddenly, the shotgun stopped.

The second maw had finished off the soldiers in front of it and it swept the bodies in great gulps into its mouth before screeching and burrowing underground. Acid dripped from the beasts mouth as it prepared its attack. Ravi, Henkels, and Michel began to circle and strafe, not letting up in their attack.

"Get out of there Shepard! We need you to move!" I clawed my way forward and onto my feet. The second maw suddenly burst up from under Henkels and he disappeared, screams cut short, into its gullet. The maw looming over me released its acid onto Michel. Her armor melted away first, then her skin and flesh followed.

Ravi. It was just Ravi and I left. I booked it toward her as fast as I could and chucked a warp grenade behind me. I heard the animal disappear into the earth and the explosion went off into the air. The maw shoved its way from underneath us, throwing us from our feet and to the ground. My legs buckled and I saw Ravi roll to her back. Her eyes were wide and she cried out. I looked behind myself and pulled my SMG into my free hand. I unloaded an entire magazine into the damaged maw at nearly point-blank range. It quivered. A slow shudder moved along its grotesque figure as it let out a final cry and fell, heavy, to the ground.

Ravi and I stood and looked at each other.

"We might make the rendezvous point if we hurry, Shepard. Let's go before that other one comes back." I nodded and looked back at the wreck of a town. The contents of our supply crates were scattered across the ground. I began to jog as fast as my body would allow with Ravi close behind. Dread crawled over my skin and down my throat as I suddenly felt a tremor under my feet. Ravi and I made eye contact, her deep blues wide with fear and we both broke into a sprint. She pulled ahead of me and suddenly the remaining maw burst from the ground like a whale breaching the ocean, mouth wide open and she disappeared down its throat.

In shame, I kept running.

The steady thud and crunch of my boots on the ground beneath me was the only sound accompanying my ragged breathing as I moved through the night.

HELEUS CLUSTER

"That's what happened, Admiral. I scrambled and ran while the maws tore my unit to pieces. We didn't have a chance and neither did the colonists. I neither heard nor saw any signs of squads four or five and suppose they succumbed to more thresher maw attacks as well." I lay back on the hard hospital bed with its flat pillow and looked down in guilt. The admiral released a heavy sigh and placed his head in his hands.

"Planet scans didn't show any signs of nests before settlement. We had no idea they were there." With a final shake of his head he stood. "I'm glad you survived, Shepard, you did all you could. Probably a promotion in it for you somewhere. You found out what happened to the colonists which was your priority mission. We all know what we sign on for we come out into space." He grabbed my shoulder and gave it a firm squeeze. "Rest up and get better, soldier. The Alliance isn't done with you yet."