PROLOGUE-
"They say no one else survived"
"Begin landing preparations in ten minutes," Captain Henriksen said to the pilot of the SSV Arbela, a small Alliance frigate performing routine patrols among colony worlds. The Arbela emerged from FTL travel unscathed, as always, bursting forth as if a hole had been ripped in the very fabric of space. Streaking stars became specks of light, dots along the vast black blanket that filled the atmosphere around them.
Casually flying through space, Henriksen noted his crew's destination; a small, barren planet, flat and ignored by the evolving universe around it. This was Akuze, where an Alliance pioneer team embarked nearly a week ago under the instructions to gather any necessary data and potential terraforming suggestions, and report in after a forty-eight hour survey.
The deadline lapsed and the pioneer team failed to respond to any inquiries or investigation. All channels had gone silent. After some foolish democratic debate over whether a full investigation would bear any fruit, it was decided that the SSV Arbela, the closest frigate to Akuze and its system, would be handed orders to maintain a vector toward Akuze and once it finished standard patrols to proceed to the necessary coordinates and report back if Alliance intervention was necessary.
It was the year 2177, and while the Alliance had colonized a number of worlds, spreading their vast empire along the stretches of space, the average encounter of pirates or raiders during these pioneering operations were just the norm. That, or batarian slavers. To send a full armada out during situations like one of those, it was wasteful on resources and staff. A frigate with fifty well equipped marines could easily engage an offensive operation against a minuscule band of thugs.
Leaving the comfort of the bridge, a place where Henriksen found the most appealing to gather thoughts and assess his tactics, he strolled out along a now cramped hall, nearly running into Corporal Toombs, who came to an abrupt stop, stiffened and saluted his superior officer. The Captain returned the salute, continuing down the hall toward the elevator lift in the back of the ship.
He was about several meters from the elevator when the pilot's voice came in over the ship's comm network. "Captain, scans show no ships in atmosphere. Radar is clean and we're good to go."
"Then take us down," Henriksen said, pressing his thumb into the red button, forcing it inside the wall, he could hear the elevator's response, a slow, steady ascent to its caller. With an unbearable silence, the doors slid open and the Captain boarded, initiating his decent.
These were Alliance men and women, personnel with no quarrel, only to study and gather evidence on worlds that could-or potentially could-sustain, human life. As such Henriksen was not a man to give an order to go in blind if he wasn't willing to lead the charge personally. He hated being cooped up on these ships and patrols. His life was on the field, that was where his heart belonged. In the throes of battle, with the scent of scorched flesh dancing up his nostrils, filling him with the desire to carry on.
It had destroyed four of his marriages before Henriksen realized this was where he belonged. Except now, here he was, patrolling on a ship that had never seen conflict. A grin slowly crept up on, his lips thinning into a sly, barely noticeable smile. Taking off his hat, the Captain revealed his clean shaven, and quite pale, head. He rubbed it fondly, glistening with excitement at the hope of engaging some unknown threat, buried out there.
Of course, there was always the possibility that connections dropped and he would be met with a fully aware, safe and secure team of thoughtless pioneers. It wasn't that he was wishing demise on them, quite the contrary. He just sought a lust for some kind of conflict. Henriksen's back was tattooed with a line for every man that died serving with him. It was the only way he knew how to honor his brothers and sisters in arms.
Nestling a secure helmet over his head, he dropped the visor and looked at the other soldiers gripping their weapons, fully geared in pristine, delicate slabs of armor. He noticed another four prepping the MAKO for a potential ground assault. But he wouldn't be boarding it, there was already enough that separated a soldier from his surroundings. Kinetic shields, cumbersome armor, a slew of gadgets and equipment beyond anything he needed to enter the fray with.
There was a thud, the Arbela rocking slightly as it made impact with the planet. With no enemy sightings, nor any fire taken, the Captain was beginning to wonder if the enemy had already fled. They would need to assess the site quickly and efficiently, if the survey team were dead, there remained a slight opportunity for the Arbela to launch and investigate neighboring planets, possibly uncovering the murderers responsible, bringing them to justice. It would be a beautiful chase.
Eyeing the marines, Henriksen noted one in particular, hidden back in the shadows, she sat and loaded a clip into her pistol before collapsing it and holstering the firearm on her right hip. Her light brown, almost dirty blond hair was pulled back neatly, a few bangs framing her face, while a single lock of hair fell along her nose, where her light freckles could only be seen upon a close inspection.
Henriksen noted her when she was assigned because of her file; she was Earth-born, like him. And that made her an even closer sister than the rest. As they were the only two Earth-born among the fifty marines on the Arbela.
"Load 'em up!" Henriksen shouted.
Systematically, the marines fell in place, the four whose time was spent observing the MAKO quickly boarded the vehicle, its engines whirring to life, the cannon resting above its cockpit snapping into place as the crew inside took control. Henriksen even noticed one of the men inside was Corporal Toombs.
The floor beneath the MAKO dropped down into a ramp, sand and dust stirring as the Alliance marines unsettled the earth below. Henriksen took point, the MAKO took careful guidance to remain at a steady speed, with marines strolling along its right, left, and rear.
Akuze was a barren land, certainly a planet capable of massive benefits were the Alliance to eventually terraform it into a lush, stable environment for colonization. At this point, it was more likely to frighten off settlers than garner attention. The world was mostly flat, gray and dull. Only a few hills rounded out the area to give it any character, with a mountain in the far distance, just barely visible.
With the state of the world, the Arbela had decided to touchdown relatively close to the survey site. Just some fourteen meters out from what appeared to be three quick built stations, and an overturned, makeshift command center resting in the middle of it all. The ground was violated, probably due to inspections concerning the safety of the planet. No noxious gas or fumes insulted the air. All in all, the world seemed ripe for colonization.
The camp was quiet, peaceful even. There was no sign of an aggressive assault, no discharge of firearms, a lack of any marks that would suggest a firefight had taken place. Above all else, there were no bodies. Not even a limb.
Captain Henriksen held up a fist, informing the unit to halt immediately, they obliged. With the MAKO resting safely, able to hit from a number of angles, he carefully informed his team to perform a search of the three surrounding stations. Three teams comprised of three individuals took charge to investigate, with the rest of the unit filling out around the base.
The earth-born woman performed a careful breach and secure procedure, performed with delicacy and care for her team. They came back with the all clear, as did the other two teams. There was no one here. The site had been abandoned.
"This doesn't make any sense," Henriksen said, rubbing at the back of his neck.
"Maybe they fled off toward those hills," Private Harper suggested.
"No," the earth-born woman argued. "There are no tracks leaving this site."
Her point was valid, Akuze was not exactly a harsh planet, the climate was tame at best. A number of tracks remained visible, no one fled. Or, at least they weren't able to flee. Even so, no blood stained any of the stations. It was all too clean. Pirates didn't do this, perhaps batarian slavers.
"We'll make camp here tonight," Henriksen said. "In the morning we'll perform a sweep of the planet and report to the Alliance for further instructions."
It was a worthy suggestion, night had fallen on the planet, making a search and rescue considerably less effective. They needed the elements on their side in an operation like this. Even depending on the terrain, a number of caves and tunnels could still litter the world, rendering it difficult to sight any members of the survey team, or for them to even notice the Alliance patrolling for survivors.
A small fire was prepared beneath the command center tent that had been repaired. Unfortunately comm was still down at the moment, but Henriksen was certain he would have it operational within the hour.
It was always breathtaking to look out at the sky from an alien world, before it was industrialized, bogged down by human expansion. It was a beautiful expression of just what the universe was capable of. Stars glittered along the cloudless sky, light that was billions of years old, blinking in and out of existence.
"I think I may have got it," Henriksen mumbled, as a steady beep emitted from the base of the commander center. Like a perfect, if annoying rhythm. Comm was running. His unit clapped and cheered, some sarcastically, others just happy they didn't have to trek to the Arbela anymore.
As the Captain started to unholster his firearm, a fierce rupture could be felt around the entire camp. Surveying his surroundings, Henriksen gripped his firearm and started a trace of the zone. Could that have been a shuttle, or some type of minor earthquake? Whatever it was, the potency of the shakes were growing.
Henriksen looked out to Corporal Toombs, who had been resting beside the MAKO until he was startled awake. There was a high pitched scream that filled the quiet atmosphere and suddenly the MAKO was engulfed in a terrifying explosion that lit up the sky like it was the fourth of July back home on Earth.
"Toombs!" Henriksen shouted as he saw the man engulfed by flames.
His unit was under assault, and they reacted accordingly. For some there was just no benefit of time, as one by one, the stations surrounding the command center were upended and sunk into the ground below. Muffled screams of agony rising above the surface.
In frantic panic, the marines simply started firing at the ground all around them. Their enemy was not with pirates nor batarians, rather it was something native to this world, and apparently aggravated.
"Get contact with the Alliance!" Henriksen yelled over the continuous gunfire.
The earth born woman was now the closest one to the comm station, dashing toward it desperate to raise a distress beacon. Henriksen witnessed her reach the station, but was unable to confirm if a beacon was launched. As the young woman transmitted, a massive, carnivorous creature erupted from the ground below, destroying the comm unit and any hope of confirming if the Alliance received their distress.
Managing to barely avoid the awaiting jaws of the monster, the woman was helped to her feet by Henriksen.
"Get to the ship," he yelled.
"There's another one," Private Harper said.
Struggling to find her gun in chaos, the earth born woman instead just picked up an assault rifle who had lost its owner. She opened a barrage of fire into the monstrous worm that had destroyed their comm, forcing it to burrow again beneath the rock. Glancing out at Harper, she noticed he was barely fending off an assault by one of the creatures when another broke forth and clinched him between its jaws.
"Goddamn it!" Henriksen said, watching, powerless to aid, as the two creatures ripped Harper in half, his head falling by the wayside as his lower torso was devoured, while another dug through the flesh of his chest and swallowed quickly.
In all, there were at least three of these creatures, and they knew this terrain well. Nearly all of his team had been wiped out in the span of six minutes, and he and the woman were still some nine meters from the Arbela. He noted as they sprinted to the ship that half of MAKO had been buried beneath the earth, but there was no opportunity to confirm if Toombs had survived, the chances were far too slim to risk it.
"We have to take off," the pilot said as the two closed in on the frigate.
He rushed back inside and began preparations, the SSV Arbela roaring to life. Just a couple of meters out, another of the creatures hauled itself up from the bowels of the earth, spitting some type of acid at its potential victims. It caught Henriksen in the back, who collapsed almost immediately, the woman stopped in her tracks and ran back to grab him, shuffling him to his feet.
Both were again shook off their feet as tremors seemed to stretch out along the entire valley. Two tore through the rock and clinched the Arbela between their salivating jaws, acid piercing the hull. A third erupted beneath Henriksen, who was caught in the worm's hungry maw. His teeth shining, revealing a proud, massive grin, Henriksen ripped off his belt and shoved it into the mouth of the monster.
The earth born woman witnessed an explosion that shredded the creature's head, tossing the top half of Henriksen's torso away. All that remained was her and the pilot. Making a dead sprint toward the ship, she threw herself onto the ramp and crawled her way inside.
It was now impossible to get space side in this piece of junk, and that meant her continued survival rested on killing these two carnivores. Her initial priority was finding the pilot, when she did find him, it was only what the acid hadn't deteriorated yet. She was the sole survivor at this point.
With no other options, she fled down to the ship's engine room. She would destroy the Arbela. Grasping several grenade belts between her sweating palms, she slid into the engine room, tossing the active belts inside. Her legs bent against the slanted wall, she could feel the monsters tugging at the ship like it was some kind of chewing toy. Propelling herself forward, she had a handful of seconds to act, throwing herself out of the ship, rolling off the ramp, and beginning a dead run, to no where in particular, just away.
Just barely far enough, the explosion rocked the entire valley, splattering the worms for miles, and violently hurling her into the ground. Her last sight was the burning wreckage of the SSV Arbela, before she slowly drifted off into unconsciousness.
When her eyes blinked open, she found her vision blurred, the Alliance soldier standing before her barely audible. She had no idea how long she had been out, or just what the man leaned over her was saying.
"Who are you?" he repeated.
"Lucy," she answered. "Shepard."
"Well, Shepard, you're incredibly lucky," he said.
"You're all that's left."