5th November 2177, 1800 SET, Argos Rho, Phoenix, Fort Gyurza

It's been only a few months after Shepard was 'assigned' as a drill instructor in the 22nd Mechanised. He was doing a pretty good job training the new recruits, but the longer he stayed benched, without participating at any raids, and learning news of successful missions by the marines and, especially, his fellow hunters, was enough to make him snap more than a few times. His attempts at alleviating his boredom, like wingsuit jumping, incessant revolver training or making the newbies go through training regiments that became crazier and crazier by the minute, the funniest was that one time when he went full 'Klaus Färber' on them, were little breaks for Shepard's thirst for some real action:

"You look like shit jefe, boring day again?" Toombs, unlike Shepard, was content with being benched, both because he liked making the recruits squirm, for a change, and because he found Shepard's attempts to fight boredom funny:

"Yeah, fuck you too Andy." Shepard said as he showed him the middle finger. Toombs just laughed and sat next to him:

"Come on now cabron, don't go all moody again, let's go get piss drunk at the pub!" Toombs said, nudging Shepard's ribs:

"Again? Only one week passed since the last time and I don't think the pub owner is mighty happy about me breaking all these chairs, tables, bottles, windows and stuff."

Shepard answered. True, he was having a drink contest with the recruits, after winning at yet another game of poker, then many of the hardened marines busted in after another successful raid against a slaver fleet. Drink after drink, they started making fun of Shepard and his 'bench time' status. They pestered him for a whole hour and, eventually, he snapped. Thankfully he earned enough in the previous poker game to pay for the damages he caused, otherwise he wouldn't be allowed exit for a whole month:

"This was long coming Douglas. Besides, you gotta admit that Strasskov succeeded at making you lose your paciencia without muttering a single insult." Toombs pointed out:

"Yeah, yeah, that he did. I still hate his guts thought mate." Toombs laughed at that remark:

"Come on now, unless you want to stay here." Toombs patted Shepard's shoulder and stood up. Shepard soon followed. They arrived at the main gate to talk with the guard, a young recruit named Nicholas Guzman, good kid, bit of a Hunter fanboy. He stood at attention and greeted the 2 more experienced soldiers with a salute:

"Drill instructors Shepard and Toombs, private Guzman reporting in." The duo answered back with their own salutes:

"At ease private. Me and the corporal here are on leave." The private dropped his hand and asked:

"Let me check the list sirs... aaaaand, alright, you are cleared. Have a nice afternoon." He snapped another quick salute. But before the 2 could cross the gate, they heard someone yelling to them, which caused them to stop. The shouts were coming from Artyom Dezerian, another of Shepard's trainees, who was in full armour for some reason. Bit too much of a tough guy attitude, but could handle himself rather well:

"Sirs... the colonel... wants to talk to you... both... about something." He said panting, not bothering to salute:

"What did he say?" Shepard asked, curious:

"Something about a mission... for you... looks like... your bench time is over." Artyom answered and chuckled a bit to his last remark:

"Piss off you lazy wanker. You got tired that easily? Maybe I should get a whip to make you run faster?" Shepard's drill instructor persona, hoarse voice and threatening stare, returned for a bit:

"I was hunting the truck... for 15 minutes straight... and came here running... also." One of Shepard's most infamous and creative exercises that he implemented in Fort Gyurza was the truck hunting. The goal was simple. Try to reach the truck and grab an exit permit. The truck is moving with about 25 kilometres per hour (15 miles per hour) through dirt, mud, bushes and rough terrain, while the runners have to chase it on foot while fully loaded with equipment and armoured up. The nastiest detail is that there is always one permit less than the amount of runners, so the last one stays for the dreadful truck cleaning and without an exit permit:

"Did you get the permit this time private?" Toombs asked:

"Yes sir, I was the fifth to reach the truck."

Artyom answered. Toombs nodded and patted him on the shoulder:

"Good work private. Now get out of my sight. Vanonos." Toombs shooed the private, who gave a quick salute and left. Then they both drill instructors went straight to the colonel's office, Shepard with mixed feelings of anticipation and suspicion, Toombs almost indifferent. After passing by from a few thanatonauts who were having target practice, a platoon of heavy and medium tanks that were practicing evasive maneuvers and the permit truck, which still had about 20 troopers after it, they reached the office. Another recruit was standing guard next to the door:

"Sorry sirs, the colonel is busy right now." Before anyone could mutter another word, Strasskov shouted from inside his office:

"Nonsense, let them inside private Tanaka. I have news for them." The private obliged without a question and let the duo enter the office. Strasskov was sitting on his chair, behind a large wooden desk, a strange expression on his facial characteristics. Shepard got the reason why and was really struggling to stay silent and keep his expression neutral:

"So comrades, I am fairly certain you know why I called you here, da?" Strasskov asked:

"The messenger said it was something about a mission. Is the bench time finally over colonel?" Shepard asked:

"You could say that Shepard..." an expression of discomfort suddenly crossed the colonel's face, pain perhaps?:

"... anyway, we received a mayday signal from the pioneer team at Akuze. They were about to deploy a terraforming spire and GAAH, NO TEETH GODDAMMIT!" At that point, Strasskov yelled at the desk and slammed his hands on it. Shepard looked ready to burst out laughing any second now, Toombs was just smiling:

"Enjoying your time I see, eh colonel?" Toombs asked humourously:

"Bah. Let's just get back to the matter in hand." Strasskov said. He fumbled a bit with his pants ,while quietly cursing: "Idi nahui, blyat" and then stood up, next to the desk:

"About 6 months ago, the coalition brass sent a colonisation team on the planet Akuze. Their objectives were to scout the place, find a good chunk of level terrain and install a terraforming spire. They were supposed to call yesterday and send me a status report. All I got was a mayday signal and radio silence ever since. I want you 2 to assemble a platoon of 50 troopers and thanatonauts to investigate. Simple, no?" Strasskov said:

"Wait, you give us the command of 50 troopers?" Shepard asked, feigning confusion:

"No. I want you to lead. Toombs will assist you at anything else. Also, Shepard, you are assuming the temporary rank of lieutenant commander for the duration of the mission.":

"But colonel, the only reserve troopers available are recruits. If things are bad, everything can go to infierno." Toombs argued:

"I know, which means that it's a good chance for them to gain experience. Yes, I am aware of the risks, but I trust Shepard. He did a fine job at Elysium, assembling the separated troopers and leading them to victory. Any other questions? No? Good. You are moving out at 2100. Dismissed."

Strasskov ordered and sat back to his chair. Shepard and Toombs saluted and left.

2115, Orbit over Akuze, TCS Heavy frigate Hastings

"We are over the last known location of the pioneer team gentlemen. No signals detected except the emergency beacon, no life signs, no other spacecraft. You are cleared to land at the designated location. Good luck out there soldiers." Shouted Harold, the ship's AI to the troopers assembled in the lower level. The landing party was made up of 35 SMACC troopers, 5 of them biotics, and 15 thanatonauts in juggernaut and incinerator power suits ready to be deployed. The situation didn't demand an orbital drop or the use of the ship's chrono dislocator, so the infantry used UT-47 Kodiaks and MXY type 20 Chirashi transports instead. 6 of them were enough for all 50. 3 minutes later, the platoon landed on the outskirts of the seemingly deserted outpost. A quick scouting mission later confirmed the initial assumption. Shepard, who wore the classic blue SMACC trooper armour, with only additions a short black cloak on his shoulders and his trusty revolver on his hip, ordered the soldiers to spread out and search for evidence around the outpost, which they used as a command center:

"Private first class Redford reporting in commander Shepard." A marine saluted Shepard:

"At ease private. Did you find anything at the north?" Shepard asked. Redford shook his head:

"Nothing sir. No bodies, no blood, no signs of battle, like the land itself swallowed them whole." Shepard huffed and dismissed the private, who saluted and left:

"Any thoughts Toombs?" The gruff corporal just shrugged his shoulders:

"Hmm, I see. Alright then. Maybe I could find something. Hold the fort for me mate." Shepard said as he took a Harkonen-Angstrom 5.45 mm carbine rifle and headed outside. It started to get dark as the sun was setting over Akuze. Shepard had about one hour of daylight remaining. Shepard called over the comm link:

"All squads, this is commander Shepard. Return to the operation center and set up a camp. Make sure there is always a watch. The challenge word is 'Crimson', the answer is 'Bordeaux'. Shepard out."

A number of affirmatives buzzed and Shepard closed the commlink. He went about half a mile away (0.8 kilometers), made sure that no one could watch him and let his powers flow. He could read every thought of his soldiers back to the outpost, going as far as to touch the minds of those who were on the ship, despite the distance. Ignoring the buzz and fuss about dinner, drink, sleep and other things, he searched for anything unusual that could betray the existence of either the lost pioneers or whoever was responsible for their disappearance. Normally, Shepard was capable of reading the minds of a whole crowd in a wide area, searching for thought patterns in a whole planet required him to stay immobile. Let alone the whole shiny eyes thing that would make even a complete idiot realise that Shepard was a psychic. After a few minutes of psychic search, Douglas was about to give up and return back to the camp, until he caught an abnormal thought pattern. It was too simplistic to be human, maybe it belonged to an animal? What kind of animal could survive here? The atmosphere was too thin to allow life to develop in Akuze without a terraforming spire. He made haste for the camp, fearing what kind of beast could survive in such an inhospitable environment. He was only 50 meters (55 yards) away from the camp, when these unknown thought patterns intensified. Shepard thought that whatever that thing was, it was big and hungry. When he reached the command post, an armed guard shouted:

"Crimson!" Shepard answered:

"Bordeaux! Private, wake up everyone. I want them armed and ready NOW!" Shepard now looked almost frantic, as he actually caught more think patterns like those from before. The guard looked confused and asked:

"What happened commander, you found something?" At that point, the ground started to shake violently. A cacophony of sounds came from the command post as the trembling became louder. The troops hastily took positions outside, fear and uncertainty visible as day on their body language. Suddenly, a gigantic worm like creature erupted from underground, launching debris and 2 unlucky soldiers high in the air. All focused fire on it immediately, assault rifles, shotguns, snipers and juggernaut miniguns,managing to cripple it. Shepard barely had time to issue additional orders, another creature burst from the ground, then another, and another, until the giant worms numbered near a dozen. The remaining soldiers, now less than 30, where quickly overwhelmed:

"FALL BACK TO THE TRANSPORTS LADS, NOW!" Shepard shouted over the comm link, subconsciously using his powers to make his orders more compelling to his soldiers. The 7 remaining thanatonauts and 18 marines, 4 of them bearing the EZ symbol of the biotic legion, made haste for the shuttles:

"SPLIT UP IN 2 GROUPS! TOOMBS, YOU'RE IN CHARGE OF IT. THE REST FOLLOW ME!" Shepard ordered. The ragged and severely depleted platoon did so and they hightailed it to escape the worms. The worms hid underground again, but the soldiers were certain they would return. Their fears came true when the 2 groups were barely 20 meters away from their only chance of escape, another worm, bigger than the previous ones, burst right under the transports, completely obliterating 2 of them and damaging one more. It belched vile acid, hitting 3 more soldiers in Shepard's group, while a tentacle erupted and slammed on the other group. More acid fell on the severely outclassed soldiers. Toombs was hit by the splash, the noxious liquid burning through his armour and making him scream, as he was buried by a pile of dust, rocks and dead bodies. Shepard saw it and, before he could snap out of it, a spurting tentacle hit the remnants of his group with the force of a speeding train. A feeling of weightlessness and the smell of acid were the last things he remembered before he passed out. When he woke up, everything hurt. Pain means still alive, which was good. Being afraid of another attack, Shepard reached out for the thought patterns of the worms. No sign of them, thank God or whatever higher power above him. When he tried to find survivors, all he got was complete mental silence, which could only mean one thing. If the piles of burnt and battered corpses weren't enough of an indication, Shepard realised he was the only man alive. He tried to rise, but fell again, his right leg hurt too much, probably broken. His medical kit was ruptured, all the precious medifoam spilled on the ground. As there were no survivors, Shepard levitated a good meter above the ground, the psychic energies working like a protective shell around his beaten body. He reached for the supplies of a dead biotic marine to heal himself. They were intact and he pulled them towards him with his powers. A quick injection later, he was good as new. A quick search showed that only a Kodiak transport was still relatively intact, all the other craft were scrap metal. Before he left however, Shepard felt compelled to collect the dog tags of those who fell, hoping to find a least one survivor. Around and hour later, he found almost all of them, only 6 were missing, including Toombs. They were most likely eaten by these goddamned worms. No more time to waste, the lone hunter moved to the transport, only for the ground to shake one more time and a worm erupted behind him once again. Shepard had enough of it already. He reached for the creature's mind and gave it the order to pour acid to itself. Soon, the worm collapsed right in front of him, screeching and spasming like crazy. Shepard emptied his assault rifle's magazine on the oversized acidic gland to make sure the freak was dead and went on his way to the Kodiak, but the overgrown monster exploded behind him, sending viscous acid all over the place. A good dose landed on Shepard's back, burning through the armour and making him scream. While the rebreather was still intact and the emergency nano sealing system sealed the holes, the pain from the injury was too much for Shepard to think straight. He stumbled towards the transport, not having any time to scavenge for medifoam as these worms were coming back. He opened the doors hastily and entered, then slammed the button to close them. He was in no position to pilot the shuttle, so he pushed a button calling for emergency AI takeover from the frigate.

Slight movement...

A feeling of weightlessness...

A frantic mechanical voice...

Smell of antiseptic...

Bright white light...

Excruciating pain...

An unknown female voice calling:

"Be strong Douglas. Be strong my son."

More pain...

Increased heart rate...

Needle in the bicep...

Less pain...

Silence...

A few days later...

Douglas Shepard woke up with the worst headache ever. His vision was blurry and the light annoyed him:

"Bloody hell. Worst hangover ever." When his eyes adjusted, he saw the digital display next to him. 20:25, 8th November 2177. He was out for 3 days? He groaned and his head hit the pillow again. A synthetic male nurse came in his room a bit later:

"Ah hunter cadet Shepard, I see you are awake. Many people will be happy with the news.":

"What kind of injuries I have?" Shepard asked, without looking at the nurse:

"Well, ignoring the various bruises and scrapes, you were brought to the Hastings with multiple unhealed bone and rib fractures, severe acidic burns on your back and lung damage from fume inhalation. You were stabilised there and later brought here, to Fort Gyurza's medical ward for surgery. Truly, your survival is a miracle. You will have some difficulty moving and aches for about a week, but you will recover." The nurse answered smiling:

"What about scars?" Shepard asked. The nurse wasn't smiling this time:

"The acid burns left 83 percent of your back, 12 percent of your left arm and 16 of your right with scar tissue. The operation eliminated most physical damage so you won't suffer from pains. A cosmetic surgery would be costly, but..." Shepard raised his palm to make the nurse pause:

"It's okay mate, the scars remind me of my mistakes. I keep them so I won't repeat them. The info is much appreciated. Give my thanks to the doctors and send my friends inside please." The nurse looked surprised:

"How you know they are outside?" Shepard smirked:

"Because I saw that bleeding idiot Francis peeking through the vent. HEY FRANCIS! I SAW YOUR UGLY MUG BEHIND THAT VENT! COME HERE YOU WORTHLESS WANKER!" He barely finished his sentence and more than a dozen people bursted inside, nearly reaping the sliding door from the wall. They were holding bottles of beer and liquor, 2 of them a cake and 2 others a banner that had 'We want drill sergeant Shepard back' written on it. In the front were Shepard fellow hunters, Francis Belmont, Agnes Jensen, Juliana Benitez and Hector Gallard. The others were the recruits under Shepard's drilling. They looked jubilant at Shepard recovery, but the loss of so many soldiers on Akuze was still present in their thoughts. They opened the bottles, despite the nurse's protests, and started drinking. Funny fact, Juliana added the drunken code in her synthetic body. The only noticeable difference between an inebriated human and her would be the fact that she could sober up immediately. She was also immune to hangovers, lucky bitch. They started asking Shepard when he would be back in action, encouraged him, complimented for how he killed the giant worm, now known as a thresher maw.The impromptu celebration lasted about 10 minutes, then the nurse managed to make them scram, claiming that the colonel wanted to personally brief the recovering hunter. After the last participant left and all the trash were collected and thrown away, the colonel entered. His expression was a mix of pride and sadness:

"How are you holding up Douglas?" The colonel's tone was soft and Shepard didn't detect any anger or malicious intent in Strasskov's mind, so he answered truthfully:

"To be honest sir, barely. Things were bloody intense down there." Strasskov exhaled tiredly:

"I know. The Hastings made a low altitude scouting run and saw the results of the carnage. I requested a shogun executioner to be dropped on Akuze and kill the rest of these worms. The species name is thresher maw, which I'm sure you already know. They are very nasty creatures, even the council and the terminus systems are afraid of them. From what I understand, you were lured in a well placed trap. There wasn't much else you could do. You performed admirably while completely outgunned, outclassed and out manoeuvred ." Shepard nodded and answered:

"With all due and respect, it doesn't make the losses easier. 49 men and women died on my watch and I was unable to stop it. Some of them were barely 18 years old. All I could do was to kill one of these freaks and collect the tags of the fallen. I take full responsibility for the loss." Strasskov patted Shepard on the shoulder:

"You have a lot of guts to admit defeat. Anderson was right, you may be young, but you possess the wisdom of a veteran. So, I will let you lead again in missions to come. You still have to go through psychological treatment, it's standard procedure nothing I can do about it, but from what I see, your sanity is still intact, so no category 6 for you. Also, read a bit of good old Sun Tzu, it will help you focus. Now rest, you're no good to me dead or crippled." They both saluted each other and Strasskov left. Shepard was left alone and soon drifted to sleep again. Instead of having nightmares, he heard the same female voice from before, the one that asked him to be strong:

"Learn from your failures, adapt to the situation, conquer the past and advance."

Soon, Shepard got tired of all this sage advice and tried to think different things while he slept. Drinking with the lads, vandalizing back in London, tinkering with his omni pad and various other gadgets, his family with who he had to talk with for a very long time and many other things of the past. Eventually, the voice went quiet.

The rest of the evening was uneventful. The same nurse, William was his name, gave Shepard many books to read until he recovered. Visits were very limited, mostly because the head of the medical ward was pretty pissed from the previous hospital celebration, so most time Douglas was alone, studying, tinkering with devices, playing poker with himself and jacking off.

Meanwhile, somewhere else in terran territory...

"How did I agree on this? Negotiating with the humans? The very humans who treat AI's like they're equals? It's insane, UNTHINKABLE!" Admiral Rael'Zorah was not happy with the situation. He and the other 4 members of the admiralty board agreed, albeit reluctantly, to ask for assistance from the terran coalition. The quarians, while they were impressed by humanity's achievements, like beating the turians, scaring the Citadel council into submission, possessing technology far more advanced than anyone else to name a few, preferred to keep their distance, despite the possible benefits. However, as the fleet conditions and resources were declining every year more and more quarians wanting to reclaim Rannoch, due to no small part because of admiral Han'Gerrel's rousing, the admirals decided to open diplomatic talks with humanity, but instead of open discussion, which could attract the attention of the Citadel council, a prototype stealth ship was used to hide their heat emissions and used a secret mass relay to reach terran territory undetected:

"I don't like it either Rael, but there is no way to reclaim the homeworld without assistance. The Citadel wants us to waste away and go extinct, so no help from them. If working with humans is what needs to be done to rub it to the council and especially the turians, so be it." Han'Gerrel vas Neema, childhood friend of Rael answered, his dislike of the turians evident. He was the one who, along with admiral Daro'Xen, recommended talking about making a deal with the coalition years ago. Daro'Xen was in it only for the scientific benefits, but agreed nonetheless. Admiral Shala'Raan vas Moreh kept a neutral stance and if it wasn't for that, in Han's opinion, spineless coward, admiral Zaal'Koris vas Qwip-Qwip, they would already take Rannoch back from the Geth if they just asked for human assistance earlier:

"Unlike you, I'm most excited to watch the technological marvels that humanity constructed. The AI's they created didn't revolt against them and actually live in harmony. Who knows what else the have in store." Admiral Daro'Xen added, completely indifferent towards the opinions of the other admirals:

"I'd prefer to gain access to their terraforming technology if your ask me. Maybe we won't need to attack Rannoch after all..." Admiral Zaal'Koris added, only to be interrupted by admiral Shala'Raan, who scowled behind her visor:

"You really must avoid voicing such thoughts openly admiral Koris." Before the issue could escalate further, the pilot of announced:

"Admirals, we are closing in to the mass relay." That got their attention:

"Is the stealth system performing adequately pilot?" Zaal'Koris asked, earning a scoff from Daro'Xen:

"Of course it does, because I designed it."

After they entered terran territory through the mass relay, all the passengers of the ship felt relieved, as there was no blockade that would shoot them to pieces, like they did to the turians. Still, the silence was unnerving. No one could believe that it would be so easy, the quarians expected to see the telltale blue mist of the chronorapture or human stealth frigates to blink into existence. They waited for a few minutes, but nothing happened:

"I told you the stealth system would work." Daro'Xen said, boasting for her success:

"Let's avoid taking the shortest route. Maybe they have stealth frigates around here. Pilot, plot a course to that asteroid, then follow the standard route." Shala'Raan, the voice of logic, ordered:

"A wise tactic indeed, but completely unnecessary admiral Raan." A voice said behind them. A human voice. The admirals turned to see, none other than, Gigiermo Espinoza, the man who is always one step ahead. The admirals were shock still at his sudden appearance, while a squad of quarian marines leveled their guns on the lone figure. To further disturb the admirals , the director kept his hands crossed behind his back, completely ignoring the 6 guns currently aiming him:

"Impressive really, there was no way to detect the heat emissions of your ship. My congratulations admiral Daro'Xen. The council, with all their resources and scientists, were unable to even come close to masking something bigger than a fighter, and you succeeded in only 4 years with limited materials. Also, much obliged for giving me the location of the relay." The calm demeanour of Espinoza and the fact he possessed no visible weaponry, put the quarians at relative ease. Let alone the fact that Espinoza became somewhat of a celebrity in the migrant fleet after his debate with the councillors last year. Han'Gerrel had many good laughs from the recording:

"Director Espinoza, how long where you here?" Daro'Xen asked. Espinoza smiled and answered:

"In this ship, the Neema, the Tonbay, the Rayaa, the Moreh or the Qwip-Qwip? Interesting name by the way." The admirals stood silent, not so willing to learn how long someone stayed undetected in the migrant fleet:

"Hmm, I see you don't want to believe that you have been infiltrated. Anyway, we established a presence in the migrant fleet shortly after the first contact war. To this very day, 8000 CISP operators are spread thoroughly, either inside your most important ships or monitoring secondary targets within stealth frigates. Don't worry, we are currently DEFCON 4, so no need to be afraid." This time, Rael talked:

"What is DEFCON?":

"Acronym for defence condition. Here is the file." Espinoza sent the relevant data to the omni-tools of the admirals. The DEFCON levels in the terran military were organised as:

Level 5 or Blue Alert for minimum readiness.

Level 4 or Green Alert for increased security and intelligence gathering.

Level 3 or Yellow Alert, dictating partial conscription and preparations for imminent attack.

Level 2 or Orange Alert, full conscription and preparations for prolonged warfare.

Level 1 or Red Alert, use of WMD's (Weapons of Mass Destruction) authorised.

Level 0 or Black Alert, CLASSIFIED.

Suffice to say, the admirals, except Daro'Xen, where horrified by the term WMD and the potential of whatever would be used in the level 0:

"Why would humanity need a level 0 director Espinoza?" Daro'Xen asked cunningly. She wanted to learn what could possibly be more powerful than any WMD:

"Sorry, but you already gave me a secret and I gave you one in return. As a sign of appreciation or respect, to every friend or ally, for every secret I get, I give one back. I already told you that you have been infiltrated and the numbers of the agents in the assignment while you gave me the location of this mass relay." Espinoza answered, showing the glowing mass relay behind him with his thumb:

"Umm, we thank you for the grand gesture director, but can we go back to the matter in hand?" Shala'Raan asked:

"But of course. Pilot, would you please type these coordinates?" Espinoza requested. The pilot turned towards the admirals. They all nodded and the pilot did so. The coming negotiations would be a turning point for humanity, quarian kind and the galaxy as a whole. The council would be angry to them for a few months, but they could go fuck themselves.