The year is 2177. Humanity has spread across the stars, vying for a place of power alongside the Council races of turians, asari and salarians. As part of its efforts to expand their population, human colonies were established on many different planets, including the planet of Akuze. Three months ago, contact was lost with the pioneer team establishing roots on the planet. Now, a 50-man Alliance Marine unit has been deployed to the planet, including the young soldier John Shepard.
John Shepard sat around the campfire, rubbing his hands for warmth. If there was one thing he hated, it was being on a desert planet in the night. While such planets are lovely and warm during the day, he considered them to be murderous at night. Beside him sat his two best friends and squadmates, Peter Ford and Danny Bulloch, also huddled by the fire. All three knew they should be keeping watch, but it was simply too cold to be worrying about anything else. However, the way they saw it, no-one else would be sneaking up on them, because there was no-one else on the planet. A series of scans from orbit had found no life signs whatsoever, but that didn't stop Captain Lucas from assigning the three men to the watch. Shepard's eyes felt heavy, having spent the entire day searching the desert for signs of the pioneering team, and he found himself slipping into sleep.
Shepard woke to see Pete Ford shaking him awake, panic in his eyes. "Danny's gone!" Shepard rolled to his feet instantly, pistol already clear from its holster.
"What do you mean, Danny's gone?" Shepard was sceptical, as the two were known to play pranks on the other men in the unit. "Couldn't he have simply gone for a leak?"
"That's where he said he was going, but it's been an hour since he went. I went off looking for him, but all I found was these." Shepard struggled to focus his eyes, then recognised the items Ford was holding in front of him. They were a set of dog tags, with the name Danny Bulloch indented into them. But what Shepard was worried about was the blood splattered over them.
"Wake Captain Lucas and the men. We need to find whatever did this." Shepard holstered his pistol, drawing his machine gun instead. Whatever was out there, he was sure he'd need the extra firepower.
Half an hour later, the entire unit were assembled and ready for battle, despite not knowing what their foe was. Three other men had been killed, their entire tent having been torn apart from the inside by some sort of monstrous beast, and their innards splattered across the canvas. Shepard shook his head as Captain Lucas stepped forward to give a speech.
"Men, there is something on this planet that does not want us here. A creature has taken our men, and we will get our revenge. Prepare yourselves, for we are going to find and kill these creatures." The Captain could tell that the men were shaken that something could sneak up on them and kill them, so he aimed his next line for their morale. "Remember, you are Marines, and this is why you enlisted. We shall face these beasts, and show the-"
The rest of Captain Lucas' speech was cut off, as a giant tentacle-like maw burst from the ground and seized him between its teeth, shredding him. As one, the fifty soldiers fired their guns at the tentacle, but it pulled itself back into the ground, dragging the Captain's body with it.
About twenty other tentacles lashed out randomly from the ground, thrashing and flailing at the troops. The razor-sharp blades surrounding its maw sliced easily through the armour of the men, and the beasts' necks smashed others flying. Shepard was hit by one of the trunks of the creatures, and sent flying through a tent. He staggered back to his feet to see a pair of the beasts bite down on Peter Ford's head and legs, tearing him in half. He screamed, a wordless cry, and let rip with the machine gun, but his bullets bounced from the creatures' hides. He kept firing anyway, a rapid drumbeat drumming into the sides of the flailing tentacles.
The tentacle he had been shooting lashed out at Shepard, swallowing his gun arm completely. He let out a howl of pain, and squeezed the trigger of the machine gun inside the creature. Without the protection of its hide, the bullets tore through the creature's guts. It thrashed manically, releasing its vice-like grip on Shepard's arm, and throwing him flying. Shepard's helmeted head banged hard against a rocky outcropping, knocking the man out instantly.
When Shepard regained consciousness, he looked around instantly. It was now the middle of the day, which worried him more. His machine gun had been destroyed by the creature's acidic bile, as had the armoured gauntlet. His helmet was also severely dented, and he struggled to pull it off and throw it to the ground. Fortunately for him, it seemed that the creatures, which he decided to name Thresher Maws after the way they thrashed and bit with their crunching maws, had gone. He swore loudly when he realised what he had been standing in, and what had soaked into the sand. The blood and guts of his entire unit had stained the sand, and he felt something inside him break. He let loose a howl of anguish, and the tears rolled down his cheeks as he looked at the bodies.
Before long, Shepard realised he needed to move. While he had managed to kill one of the creatures, he knew that they would soon return. His first move was to turn on his locator beacon, then search for weapons that still worked. His pistol was fine, and he fortunately found a shotgun and a machine gun still in working order. Even better, he found a grenade dispenser, containing a dozen of the deadly bombs. He also pulled the gauntlet of an omni-tool onto his unarmoured wrist. The omni-tool had a number of useful hacking properties, but Shepard was only interested in one, the setting that created a blade of energy. He used this to hack at the corpse of the Thresher Maw, making sure the blade would slice through the reinforced hide. Having done so, he began to run, eager to get away from the dead.
About a mile or two away, Shepard stumbled. He pushed himself up with the stock of the machine gun, and looked up. The sweltering heat was blistering his skin, and his throat was as dry as the sand around him. Time lost meaning for him, and it felt like months since he last saw another living person. He wasn't sure if it was the heat or not, but he saw Pete Ford stood before him. The vision of his friend began to speak. "Hey, Shep. So, I'm dead. What about you?"
Shepard turned away, muttering. "Not real, not real, not real." But the hallucination of Ford reappeared in front of him. Shepard raised the machine gun, and pulled the trigger. The shot flew right through his old squadmate, but of course it did no harm.
"Come on, Shep. You know that isn't going to work. You're right too, you know. I'm not real. If I was real, I'd look like this." At that, Pete's top half slid from his bottom half, and began to crawl at him, laughing.
Shepard screamed loudly, firing the machine gun again and again at the hallucination. "Leave me alone!" Promptly, the vision faded from his sight, to be replaced by that of Danny Bulloch.
"You know, Johnny, it's your fault I'm dead." The vision of Danny started to walk towards Shepard, its pistol drawn. Despite himself, Shepard began to panic.
"Leave me alone! It's not my fault! I didn't kill you!" Shepard threw the machine gun away, tears rolling down his face.
Danny continued talking, his voice shifting in tone to become harsher. "You killed me, Johnno. If you hadn't fallen asleep on duty, I wouldn't have been killed. They turned me into a chew toy, and it's all because of you!" The hallucination ran at him, its face shifting to become the tentacle of a Thresher Maw. It seized him by the arm, and threw him hard across the ground.
The force shocked Shepard into action. His hallucinations hadn't been able to hurt him, so this was clearly something different. He drew the shotgun, firing repeatedly at the same spot in the creature's hide. The shells dented the creature's thick armour, but didn't quite punch through it. The Thresher Maw spat acid at him, melting through the gun's barrel. He dropped the shotgun, and drew his pistol with one hand, activating the omni-tool's blade in the other. He fired again and again, the bullets drumming into the same dent in the Thresher Maw's skin. He then leapt into the air, slicing downwards with the omni-tool's blade and cutting through its hide. Shepard then pulled a grenade from the dispenser and punched it into the Thresher Maw, just inside the outer layer of armoured hide. He then dived backwards as the grenade detonated, tearing through its innards.
As the creature fell to the ground, Shepard kept firing round after round from his pistol into the gaping wound created by the grenade, even though the creature was clearly dead. He swore, muttering every insult and foul word he could think of, then fell to the floor. Both pistol and omni-tool fell from his grasp, and Shepard fell to his knees.
He saw Death's shadow pass above his head, and closed his eyes, waiting for the end. A light shone into his face, blindingly bright. He looked up, and saw another vision. He wasn't sure just how crazy he now was, but it looked like a large human spacecraft had landed in front of him, and a dozen men stepped out carrying large guns. An officer stepped out next, his uniform's nametag reading Major Spielberg. Major Spielberg took hold of John Shepard, helping the man to board the vessel.
Epilogue
John Shepard sat on the rich leather couch, reclined fully. Behind him, a psychologist was making notes on his responses.
"And what do you see in this one, John?" The psychologist's voice was calming and soothing, just what Shepard needed to hear. In front of him, an inkblot shape was shining from a holographic screen.
"I see ... a hyperdrive engine." Shepard's hands were shaking slightly, and his breathing was rapid. He struggled to concentrate on what others were saying, and his eyes were always scanning for a new threat.
The psychologist rolled her eyes slightly, although Shepard couldn't see it. "Is that really what you see, John?"
Shepard shook his head. "I see them. The monsters. My unit. All of them."
The psychologist nodded, and spoke. "Thank you, John. I feel we have made some progress in this session. I will see you next week then." She watched as Shepard got up and walked out, his movements jerky and erratic.
A voice came through the psychologist's intercom, smooth and sophisticated. "So, how is Shepard's subconscious today?"
"He is suffering from extreme post-traumatic stress disorder, and I cannot see him ever being useful for military purposes again." The psychologist opened her files on Shepard, and sent them via a message to the voice.
"Excellent." The voice chuckled maliciously. "He will be an unreliable witness, and no-one can prove the link to Cerberus. All is going according to plan." The intercom clicked off, and the psychologist left her office.