The Earth is in flames. The ground is littered with rubble and strewn mutilated bodies, their last agonizing moments etched into their faces. Smoke and screams filled the toxic air, gunfire echoing the fear of a desperate game of survival in the distance.

The streets are filled with the walking dead, ghastly reanimated beings from only the worst nightmare. Cannibals swarmed the fallen, haunting Batarian corpses twisted by machinery, their bodies damaged from battle filled with holes that oozed with a deep, oily blood. Savagely ripping friend and foe alike to pieces, the abominations feed upon the dead, screeching as their wounds begin closing, the blood clotting over the black confines of the monster's core.

Husks, monstrous Humans reduced to beasts, stood moaning watching with cold eyes, lit by cybernetics. They wandered the open ground, mouths open. The death screams of their former lives forever engraved to terrify the living.

In the ruins of the building nearby, two Alliance soldiers sit watching the horror, not daring to move. Their assignment had been simple: stay alive. Their platoon had been pinned, lost in the first hours of the invasion. Communications were cut from the start; there was nothing else to do but fight. To survive by any means necessary. Death surrounded them for more than a week, making each day feel like years of endless struggle.

They were all that remained of more than one hundred. Every man and woman they had fought and served with was dragged into the darkness. With countless possibilities, their fates were too grim to think about. The cannibals rose growling from the scraps of the corpses and began wandering like the husks, sniffing for fresh prey.

Both soldiers dropped flat and began crawling away, desperate to get away. The only sound they could hear was the pounding of their hearts, pushing them to get as much distance between them and the monsters below. Reaching the other side of the building, they both stood and looked out at the wasteland before them.

The sun hung under the black fog of war, painted a vivid red, blanketing the horizon with black, burned shapes of the city. A rain of ash drifted ever downward, trying to bury the wounds of the destruction. The giant, looming forms of Reapers stood over the mayhem, bellowing over their conquest, their columns of fire burning swaths over the ruined landscape.

There was no hope. Looking out over the city that had been considered home, both marines were overwhelmed with dread. Nothing looked like it had before, the symphony of death driving them deeper into despair. Nothing could have prepared them for a war like this.

Then the first hit came. Two shots from the front, depleting one soldier's shields snapped both men back to reality. At the base of the building three cannibals stood watching, growling up and firing at them. Husks were already climbing the sides of the building, racing to find their new targets.

Turning away from the edge, both marines rushed toward an access shaft hoping to find an elevator, a staircase, anything that could let them escape. Forcing the doors open, the room was filled with broken sections of stairs, with drops just short enough to prevent breaking bones with armor support. A snarling from behind forced them to turn and face a half dozen husks charging.

Instantly, a wave of gunfire began ripping through the creatures as they ran, falling to be trampled by the next in line. As they fell, more began to appear, just as ready to claim their kill. Both marines were being pushed back toward the doorway and running low on ammo. One soldier's gun hissed mocking his failure before it was cast aside. Brandishing a pistol, the gap in fire was quickly replaced, but for every shot fired two husks screamed into sight.

Then it happened. Shots from the side hit one man in the shoulder, ripping through the armor as cannibals began pulling themselves over the ledge to chase them. The wounded man got to his feet while the other tried to keep the husks at bay. The cannibals began firing viciously, cutting through any husks unfortunate enough to run through their line of fire.

As the wounded soldier got up, he filled his hole in the defense before looking to the man next to him. As they locked eyes, the wounded man nodded and shoved his pistol into the hand of the other and pushed him through the door.

"No!" the marine screamed. The fall took only a second, but in that moment he saw his friend fight through the husks as they jumped on him, before losing sight of him and landing on his back. He immediately rolled up and stood looking at the door above him, listening to the husks and cannibals wail trying to pin his friend to the floor.

The marine punched the wall before yelling and continuing down the stairwell. The doomed man fought off the pile of husks with his omniblade, yelling, slicing through them with furious swipes, a face of rage behind the helmet.

"You come to our planet and cause all of this chaos!" he yelled, carving through the husks.

"I don't care what you are damn it, we'll fight you to the bitter end." he sputtered as husks pounded on him, trading blow for blow as he fought them.

Bodies slumped beside him as they fell, dragging himself over the corpses to get to the center of the room. As cannibals began hovering over him, the gasping man pulled a grenade from the compartment around his belt, charged it, and set his omnitool to overload. He smiled, looking at the growling, lifeless ghouls standing over him.

"If I die, I'll take you fucking bastards with me." he spat through his teeth. The omnitool began sparking and glowing, warping the armor around the man's arm before detonating.

The soldier below could feel the rumble through his body as he escaped the building, realizing what his friend had done, turned and saw the damage. The fire burned out and upward from the floor he had been on just seconds before. As he turned to find new cover, a boom sounded the collapse of the roof, pushing him into a run as the building started to fall.

Sprinting over the rubble across the road, the man dashed down into the side entrance to a public transit station as enormous waves of dust swept through the dead streets. The soldier leaned against the wall panting, looking for any trace of life. Activating the flashlight on the shoulder the man pushed into the dark, unsure of what he would find.

His steps echoed raucously in the utter quiet, an occasional rumble from outside reminding him of the fight outside. He dared not speak, for fear of attracting more husks and cannibals, keeping his gun trained in the circle of light. Finding the security control room, the man quickly breached the room to find anything he could use to communicate with outside forces.

Luck was on his side, he found a transmitter for national emergencies with a damaged, but useable access panel. He furiously began fixing the panel with his omnitool trying to get the best connection as possible. After a minute of clearing errors the panel sprang to life and gave him access to the feeds from around the country.

His heart sank when he heard what was going out over the airwaves.

"Attention all citizens: This message is a response to armed action against invading forces. The Prime Minister has declared a ceasefire against Reaper forces in talks of negotiation. Any hostile contact with Reaper forces will be considered treason and will result in capital punishment of the highest level. Effective immediately, timestamp 8/14/2186, martial law has been declared. Curfew is effective starting 1700 hours…"

The soldier slumped to the floor, bewildered. He didn't even try to call for help, just sat speechless, trying to contemplate what to do. The government wouldn't help, everything is in turmoil leaving the military scattered to the four corners of the world. This is the end of all he knew.

His gun on the floor, the man stumbled up to his feet shuffling back toward the street. Exiting and climbing the few steps up, the broken marine stood on the curb, staring at the sky. The darkness of it enveloped him, emotion leaving hot tears rolling down the side of his face.

I miss the sky, the bright, blue sky. He thought.

He heard the bullhorn of a Reaper as it touched down near the building that had just been demolished. As the towering machine roared again, husks and cannibals began pouring from the ruins around him. He stood motionless, still gazing at the sky that burned over the scarred planet.

This is it; this is the way the world ends. He thought.

His mind flashed to the day of the invasion, saying goodbye to his family, the soft kiss of his wife. He remembered the sun's warmth as he flew toward HQ that day, the view over the deep, blue sea. It was all so beautiful, and it all felt like ages ago. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath full of smoke and death, remembering the smell of the water. He heard the rolling water crash to shore as the horde thundered toward him.

Then the memories ceased, the bullhorn of the Reaper flooded his mind, causing him to instinctively cover his ears screaming; a useless gesture.

You belong to us. Give up, do not resist. Accept your destruction; accept your fate. The machine screamed in his head.

His memories were changing. He couldn't remember his wife or son, what they looked like. He only saw death, his life and home being reduced to ashes.

No! I won't forget my life. I will fight you! He thought.

"I'm not giving up!" he screamed at the machine. The marine turned and faced the enemies before him, he was hopelessly outnumbered and he knew it.

"Come on!" he yelled, his omniblade sparked to life.

He gritted his teeth when a deep, terrible scraping in his head nearly brought him to his knees as the Reaper roared. He charged forward, not caring what happened to him as cannibals opened fire. A volley of red projectiles hurtled toward him, almost instantly ripping through his shields as he tore through the first two husks.

Body after body swarmed over him driving him back, each one screeching as the orange blade sliced through it. The Reaper sounded its' bullhorn again, forcing itself into the soldier's mind. The pain the machine caused him, made him stop for a moment; just long enough for a cannibal to get a shot through his torso. The man grunted, a spurt of blood escaped his lips and ran down the front of his armor, the red standing out against the dirty blue.

Still the man fought for survival, forcing the husks off of him through sheer will. Yelling as he fought, the soldier could see a bright spot behind the cannibals. For only a moment, he recognized his family behind the monsters, smiling and beckoning, motioning for him. Their memory spurred him out of the horde of husks and dashed headlong into the cannibals.

The creatures howled as they rushed toward him, drooling over a fresh kill. The first fell to the blade that pierced its' face, crashing to the ground. Quickly spinning around the soldier caught two more cannibals in the front with the full blade across the chest, rotten bones crunching under the pressure with chunks of flesh and machinery falling out.

One cannibal slammed its' gun arm down over his back, dropping him to all fours. The cannibal launched onto him, as he rolled over and sliced the gun arm off before kicking the mutant over his head into another behind him.

Getting to his feet panting, the soldier picked up the cannibal arm and slammed the omniblade into the warped flesh, hoping it would fire. A short series of sparks jumped through the monstrous weapon before firing a dozen unfocused rounds into the screaming mob.

As the nightmarish foes regrouped, the marine could feel the Reaper raking its' influence over his mind. His family was all he could see, they drove him forward keeping him alive.

Yet there they stood, bloody and broken before him. His wife's long blonde hair was stained red with blood, with burnt and frayed edges. His son stood still, his eyes red from crying. Their clothes and skin were scorched with dark holes. Wounds oozed as if they were fresh. The smile on his wife's lips parted and the words of the Reaper came out.

"You cannot stop this. It is inevitable to resist. Your world will burn and all you know will be destroyed." The horror before him said.

Both of them then began to disintegrate before his eyes; fire erupting from within them they disappeared, carried away by the wind screaming; leaving the man in a heap crying in the street.

Give in to your doom. Give up your petty struggle. It cannot be stopped, the cycle must continue. The Reaper proclaimed.

The cannibals were upon the man in moments, quickly dispensing him and devouring what they could after ripping the armor to pieces. The Reaper stood over the carnage and sounded its' bullhorn again in triumph as the cannibals fed on the soldier.

Earth is in the deepest level of Hell. The Reapers have come to unleash their nightmare upon not just Humanity, but on the galaxy itself and everything is hanging in the balance. There were warnings, but none were heeded. Now, on the precipice on utter annihilation, one man, Alliance Commander John Shepard has been on a mission of galactic importance: to build an army to fight the Reapers; to forge alliances that can conquer the impossible; to do what no other has done before; to break the cycle of extinction the Reapers cause and to free the galaxy of their nightmare.

Only one obstacle stands between him and his goal: Cerberus, the organization responsible for numerous war crimes against other species and even other Humans, and the group who brought Shepard back from the dead.

Their leader, The Illusive Man had intended to fight and control the Reapers but has become delusional, accepting their upgrades for his own forces to use. They are all pawns in his game, used not just for battle, but also as test subjects, warped by their implants and studied for weaknesses in Reaper technologies.

They now stand against everything they once fought for, and they now have the vital piece of information needed to finish the weapon intended to destroy the Reapers, the Crucible. The Prothean VI known as Vendetta holds the information about the Catalyst, the last piece of the puzzle. Shepard is now staging the battle against the main Cerberus stronghold to reclaim Vendetta and the identity of the Catalyst.