Disclaimer: I do not own or make any claim to the Mass Effect universe or the characters contained in this story, all of which are owned by BioWare and Electronic Arts.

Redemption: Come What May

Chapter 6: ... Then you Winnow it.

Akuze, Command Post Alpha (October 19, 2177, 1310 hours, Colony Time):

It had been nearly fifteen hours since the first attack when the pulses started.

A sharp trio of impacts rolled through the earth, repeating regularly every minute. They would have been easily missed had the marines not been paying particular attention to even the most minute of the ground's shifts. The pulses weren't like the tremors that had preceded the first Thresher Maw attack, but ever marine was soon on edge.

Speculation flew as to what could be causing them, and since they now knew that the Maws could generate sonic pulses, the leading theory was that it was some form of communication between them. By this point, the marines, to a man, were fully geared up.

Then the pulses started to speed up.

Soon, it was clear that the source of the pulses was also getting closer as more and the force behind them grew and grew until the vibration could be felt in the air itself, trailing behind the shockwave in the ground.

None of the other marines needed to be told what to do; they scrambled for cover amongst the abandoned prefabs, some readying the missile launchers spread throughout the camp.

Joining Jenson and Toombs on top of one of the prefabs, Shepard slid into a prone position next to them and passed a Thermite laced ammunition block to Toombs as he explained.

"Assault rifles don't have the punch to make it through these things' armour, even with AP modifications, but incendiaries might at least do some damage. Jenson, stick with the Tungsten for your sniper rifle and prioritise high powered shots around the head area. Don't worry about the rate of fie decrease; more rounds won't mean jack if they aren't doing any damage."

"And that's why you're the officer," Toombs replied with a grin as he slammed the new ammo block home into the guns receiver and discarded the previous, well used ammo block.

John took a quick survey of the area around them. They were on a building positioned towards the North West corner of the colony while the rest of Delta squad was near another prefab to the East. The other squads were arrayed in a loose circle throughout the other buildings in the colony, either on top or inside them.

The prefabs weren't secured into the ground in any meaningful way so he had little doubt that a Maw could bulldoze one aside with relative ease and a cursory observation of the area supported that, seeing as more than a few of the structures had been shifted off their meagre foundations at an earlier time, some even having been flipped onto their roofs or sides. The drop from rooftop to ground was less than ten feet, so a negligible obstacle if they needed to reposition in a hurry.

Toombs still had two of AT-63 HEAT missile packs and some marines had set mounted heavy machine guns and automated turrets on other nearby rooftops, giving them commanding fields of fire against an approaching enemy. While he wasn't sure that it would be quite as effective against foes that burrowed under their prey to attack it, Shepard was damn glad that the extra firepower was there nonetheless.

Soon the pulses were becoming so strong and so regular that Shepard was beginning to feel disoriented and nauseous as he tried to block out the shuddering vibrations of the prefab beneath him and the now nearly instantaneous surge of pressure in the air that followed.

Finally something broke up the monotony of the pulses, but it was not an moment to be glad; the tremors had started.

John unlimbered his shotgun, charging it up to fire a superheated mass of metal known colloquially among the marines as a 'Carnage' shot due to its destructive nature when it impacted tissue. Soon, the barrel was practically glowing from the pent-up charge and steam was venting from the weapon's heatsinks constantly, in an effort to keep the weapon functional.

"This is it people. Trust your gun and trust your squad, and I'll see you all when this is over. Hynes out."

That would be the last time John would ever hear Commander Mitchell Hynes, N7, speak because not fifteen seconds later, the first of the Thresher Maws erupted from the ground just outside of the prefab perimeter and ripped into a nearby building with its scythe-like limbs.

While there hadn't been any marines inside at the time, the ease at which it tore through the metal was humbling for those watching. The awe didn't last long however as marines began to open fire, peppering the beast with hyper velocity rounds all across its carapace, leaving small dents and score marks on the thick hide and armour. Small explosions and spot fires blossomed as specialised ammunitions came into play, but the effect was still negligible. Some rounds impacted softer areas around the mouthparts of the Thresher, causing it to scream in rage and rush back into the earth.

Its retreat constituted little more than a brief reprieve however, as five more of the beasts exploded from the ground. They immediately began tearing into the buildings and fortifications, expelling acidic sprays at some clusters of marines and simply swallowing others who were unfortunate enough to be caught on open ground. Soon the colony-turned-battlefield rang with the otherworldly shrieks of the Thresher Maws and the strangled cries of dying and wounded marines, painfully and clearly audible even over the reports of dozens of rifles, explosives and heavy weapons.

Shepard released his carnage blast at the nearest Maw, watching as the volatile mass of gouged a small hole in its armour even as he stowed the shotgun and switched to his rifle. Next to him, Toombs was firing in extended bursts at the same creature, focusing on the impact region of his lieutenant's carnage shot while the sharp cracks of Jenson's rifle punctured the cacophony of noise at a steady rate as he lined up shots and boosted the accelerator power inside the weapon to max before firing and letting the heat vent, then repeating the process, alternating between firing at the weaker armour around the mandibles and firing at the wound in its side that was slowly beginning to leak bright orange blood.

Flaming rounds found their mark and bit into the cracked armour, shattering it and slowly exposing the flesh beneath but if the damage was any hindrance to the Maw, it didn't show as it continued to assault another prefab housing some of the members of Bravo squad.

The Maw sliced down repeatedly, stabbing clean through from ceiling to base with its wickedly bladed appendages while its mouthparts searched for edible morsels inside the strange metallic box. Finding nothing but gunfire inside, it lowered its head until its crest lay flush with the wall and emitted a barrage of Ultra Low Frequency sound waves in rapid succession. At that range there was nothing the marines inside could do as their organs were turned to mush by the enormous pressure waves that crashed into their bodies. The creature returned to searching for food inside the pre-fab, its tentacle-like mouthparts curling around the pulverised remains of the marines and directing them into its cavernous maw where an array of pharyngeal teeth waited to greet anything that passed through its mouth.

Seeing how the Maw was distracted by its meal, a marine inside another pre-fab took the opportunity to line up a shot with an AT-63. The missile streaked out of the building and covered the distance in less than a second, slamming into the Thresher and detonating, sending a lance of molten metal deep into the creature. Orange blood and flesh flew out from the badly wounded Maw as it writhed in pain and retreated quickly into the ground. A cheer could be heard from some of the marines as the Maw disappeared beneath the earth, leaving a substantial trail of blood and tissue behind. The reverie was short lived as an acid blast slammed into the window that the rocket had come from and screams could be heard from the marines inside as the acid coated their hard suits and weapons, quickly eating through the synthetic materials and reaching the flesh beneath.

Shepard winced inwardly and switched fire to the next closest Maw, firing with one hand while he charged another carnage blast on his shotgun. Toombs reached for a missile on the ground beside him and hefted it to his shoulder, trying to lock on to the rapidly moving Thresher Maws.

"I can't get a good lock LT! They're too close and moving too fast," he shouted through gritted teeth as he tried to get a lock on the creatures.

"Fire manually, aim for the area where they come up out of the ground; that gives you the longest window to hit," Shepard replied as he lined up another carnage blast using the same technique.

"Yes Sir," the Corporal replied with a grin as he adjusted his aim at the nearest Maw and pulled the trigger.

The missile streaked out of the barrel, covering the distance rapidly before releasing it payload into the creature. It was a glancing blow to the side of the immense beast but it was enough to cause a large gash across the heavily armoured and muscled body. The wound was clearly severe enough to make it pull back into the ground to recover.

It has barely been five minutes and already two Threshers were down, but the marines had taken significant casualties. Shepard's HUD showed that the comm signal from both Bravo and Echo Squad Leaders was down and he had personally witnessed at least four marines taken out already. He estimated their current strength at twenty five and there were at least three Thresher Maws still an active threat.

As he loosed another carnage blast and drew a bead on the third beast, another Maw erupted from the ground just off to the side of their pre-fab, wrenching it clear off its foundations and sending it tipping on to its side. The world seemed to move in slow motion for Shepard as everything began to tilt and he started to slip off the roof of the structure. He braced himself against the lip of the roof until the world went vertical and it slammed into the ground, causing him to go tumbling away and land in a heap five metres from the now up-ended pre-fab. He shook his head quickly to try and regain his wits and he could feel a lance of pain shoot up his right side where he had landed heavily on his hip and shoulder. He winced as he struggled to get up; eventually rising to his knees.

Looking around, he saw Toombs struggling to do the same after his fall and searching further, he saw Jenson also beginning to rise… just as a Thresher's scythe-like arm stabbed clean through him, pinning him to the ground as the uneven serrations dug through his body and a mist of blood coated the inside of his visor. Blood quickly began to pool around the wound and mixed with the dirt around his now lifeless corpse.

Adrenaline coursed through John's veins at the sight of his squad mate and friend's grisly death. He jumped to his feet and reached out to grab Toombs' arm and drag him to the nearest piece of cover. After taking a couple of seconds to recover their breath, Toombs spoke up.

"What about the Chief, aren't we going to go get him?"

"Jenson's dead, he never stood a chance," it was true, he could see his squad's vitals at the bottom left of his HUD and Jenson had flat-lined almost immediately after the Maw had hit him. Checking now he saw that Gibson's vitals were very weak as well.

"Vladick, what happened to Gibson?" He called over the comm.

"He got hit by some of the acid, burned clean through the armour on his side. Forbes has patched him up with medi-gel and tried to clean the area of acid with some saline but I don't like his chances."

"Right, keep an eye on him but there's not much more you can do. Focus on keeping yourselves alive. When we get back, the first round or five is on me," It was a poor attempt to keep morale up and his squad new it, but at least they seemed to appreciate the thought.

"Haha, yes sir, I'll hold you to it."

The comm clicked off as Vladick went back work. They both knew the odds of anyone surviving were slim at best but it didn't help to keep saying it.

Looking over the small chunk of rubble that they were hiding behind, John eyed the nearest pre-fab that didn't have a Maw tearing into it, about fifty metres away. He caught Toombs' eye and motioned towards the structure. They would have to make a break for it. Shepard didn't like the idea of running across open ground where being hit by both Thresher Maws and friendly fire was a strong possibility, but it was better than staying where they were, less than twenty feet from the Maw that had killed Jenson. Once he was certain that Toombs knew what he was indicating, he held up his hand and counted down from five.

Five… Toombs nodded, understanding what his lieutenant was indicating.

Four… They both readied their weapons.

Three… Toombs rose to one knee and tensed himself to run.

Two… Shepard did the same.

One… Shepard's vision narrowed down to his target.

Zero.

They both rose and shot out from behind their meagre cover, ducking and weaving between twisted chunks of metal and the Thresher's themselves as they sprinted across the open ground. Shepard reached the building and turned to look for Toombs. The entire run had taken only seven seconds but it had felt like an eternity. As he looked out, he saw Toombs scurrying to grab his rifle from the ground. He must have stumbled and dropped it as he ran. He was only five metres from the doorway Shepard stood at so he called out to him, urging him to hurry up.

Just as he grabbed his rifle, the earth beneath him erupted as another Thresher Maw burst forth. The impact threw Toombs through the air and he landed heavily, dazed by the sudden flight. The beast leaned over him and coiled its body back, preparing to strike. Shepard desperately reached out his hand, the action being little more than symbolic seeing as the corporal was now at least 10m away, with a Thresher Maw between them. For the second time in as many minutes, time seemed to slow for Shepard. He swore he could see the air around his hand distorting slightly as he felt a blinding pain shoot through his spine and into his skull. He collapsed to his knees and he could taste blood at the back of his throat, running down from his nose. He looked up once more, just in time to see Toombs roll clumsily out of the way of the thresher's strike. But before he could get out of the way, the beast's tongue wrapped around his leg and as it slunk back to its subterranean domain it dragged the doomed corporal with it.

Kneeling as he was in the doorway of the pre-fab, Shepard could only watch, helpless. Even then however, he was not granted a reprieve. Another maw burst from the ground near the shack and he scrambled inside, sitting back against the wall in an attempt to minimise his profile.

No such luck.

Both of the Thresher's scythes pierced clean through the roof and sent shards of metal into the ground, one of which pinned Shepard's left arm to the ground. The blades retracted then hammered down repeatedly. Unable to free his arm, Shepard could do little but try to lie as close to the ground as possible.

In the midst of this chaos, a single, piercing note rang out from his helmet as Gibson's vitals flat lined. In a detached moment of comprehension, Shepard noted that he had lost half of his squad in less than ten minutes, to an enemy he had not been good enough to fight.

As if that moment of comprehension was his own personal death-knell, one of the Maw's strikes came down right over his faceplate. The beast's scythe didn't reach far enough to actually pierce the helmet, but the jagged piece of roof that was forced down with it did. It punched a jagged hole in his visor and cut a vicious gash down the left side of his face, running downwards from his brow to his lips and slicing his left eye open.

All things considered, the vicious wound left Shepard feeling rather strange.

He had expected to feel extreme pain, like his entire nervous system was on fire, but instead he felt a mild tingling. That same detached part of his mind told him that this meant he was going into shock due to the massive trauma and amount of adrenaline coursing through his body at the moment. Still, he felt oddly peaceful as he felt the warm sensation of blood and vitreous solution running down half of his face. With the helmet totalled and his left arm pinned, he couldn't administer any medi-gel to the wound, and he wasn't sure if it would have helped anyway.

He could feel his now monocular vision go blurry as he began to become light headed from blood loss or shock, he wasn't sure, but regardless of the cause he resigned himself to his fate, unable to fight any more, trapped with a large chunk of metal pinning him to the ground. As he began to fade completely he was only dimly aware of the sounds of the battle still raging around him, the shrieks of Thresher Maws and screams of marines still echoing through his mind.

[AN: And there you have my take on Akuze.

What did you think? I'd love to hear any feedback you had for this story as a whole and this chapter-arc in particular.

Thanks for reading! /AN]