Pandora is aptly named, even if the scientists who did so did it without ever setting foot in the system. The planet is hell on earth, a temperate rock with poison gas for air and monsters that lurk in the bio-luminescent shadows.
He learned that the hard way, on his second week on planet. Lost concentration for a split second and nearly had his head removed. Half his face, gone, just like that.
He cancels all night missions. No flights, no reconnaissance. Monsters prefer the dark. That can circle you, herd you, trap you. Always calculating an advantage. This is a war, and his is the side that is going to win. There is no alternative that he accepts.
The shrink thinks he's insane. He can see it in her eyes. He has her reassigned. He is the sanest person on this planet.
Not like the newbies, who go out thinking themselves equal to the forces outside, his face forgotten just as soon as they leave the safety of the base. He will do his duty, and despite him, his efforts, his rules, commands paranoia, he will still lose some.
Some, not all. Not all. And every single human he keeps alive one day more is a napalm beach to this hellhole of a planet.
A/N: Thanks to Chocolate Teapot for pointing out that I'd forgotten to tag Quaritch, and being the first to review.