BREAKING NEWS: Colony World Horizon Attacked

"Reports surfaced earlier today about an attack on the colony world of Horizon, located in the Iera System. Contact was lost with the colony [Thursday 24:33 APST]. When contact with Horizon was re-established eye-witness accounts and recordings started flooding the extranet. The perpetrators of this horrific attack are still unconfirmed, but analysts are claiming that recordings match descriptions of the mythical "Collectors", speculated by some to be responsible for the disappearances of other colonies in the Terminus Systems. We have reached out to Systems Alliance officials but they have declined to comment."

The news broadcast starts to play what appears to be a hand-held recording of several colonists dressed in dirty jumpsuits, fleeing in terror over a a field, passing by several abandoned prefab shelters. Frantic shouting can be heard from all over, and what looks like large, flying insects can be seen swarming some of the colonists, each of them ceasing to run and dropping out of view. The shaky camera makes it hard to make out any details, but as the person holding the omni-tool trips the viewpoint shifts up at the sky behind them. A massive, towering pillar of what looks almost like rock can be seen hovering over the settlement. The screaming starts to die off as more and more people are swarmed by the bugs, and a seemingly endless stream of more near enough darkens the sky.

"Early estimates are that as many as 300000 colonists have been taken by the alien attackers. Relief efforts for the survivors are already underway, but have been faced with considerable pushback due to a prevailing sentiment of distrust for the Alliance among many of the colonists. The failure of the small Alliance contingent stationed on the colony to stop the attacks have done little to help public perception on Horizon. The identity of those responsible for stopping the attack is as of yet unconfirmed, with reports ranging from the human-supremacist terrorist group Cerberus to the STG and even Commander Shepard, the savior of the Citadel."

The broadcast continues, showing what appears to be footage from a security camera showing strangely shaped, insectoid aliens rounding up paralyzed colonists, placing them on coffin-like containers to be hauled off. The news broadcast switches to a ground crew on-site, the cameraman filming shot-out prefabs stacked on top of each other, colonists still wandering the settlement, shouting out as they hope to find lost friends and family. Up ahead, atop a metal ramp is an Alliance checkpoint, with marines in full armor guarding a courtyard from which a large AA gun can be seen sticking up. The cameraman manages to zoom in past the guards, showing glimpses of what appears to be the aftermath of a battle on the other side. Alien corpses are strewn about, many of them in pieces, the evidence pointing to the battle having been an utter massacre since no bodies can be seen of whoever fought them off.

The camera continues to film into the area behind the Alliance perimeter, and the lifeless husk of a massive, metallic creature can be seen being hauled off on a hovering cart. The camera zooms in and a glimpse is caught of what appears to be a set of human skulls in the gaping maw of the alien creature, cybernetics covering them. The camera is pushed down rather suddenly and an argument can be overheard as it tips down, the only visible sight the boots of an Alliance marine, presumably the one that is currently admonishing the news team for filming in a restricted area. They're ushered away, and soon end up in an open area outside a large garage where a truck is unloading relief supplies.

The broadcast cuts to an interview with a survivor. "There were so many of them. It was-... they started collecting people. Putting them in these... these coffins, and taking them away! And I couldn't-... none of us could move! We were just stuck, watching people be-..." he trails off, breaking into tears as the cameraman starts to pan away, and the on-site reporter speaks to the camera. "The scenes here on Horizon are haunting to be sure. Almost every one of the survivors is missing someone. Emotions are running high, and everyone is looking for someone to blame. Many say the Alliance should have been able to prevent the attack from ever occurring - although no confirmed connection has been established to the other missing colonies it is hard to ignore the evidence. Others still say that the Alliance presence is what caused the attack in the first place by drawing attention to an otherwise peaceful colony. We are all of course with the colony of Horizon in this terrible time and hope that those that have been taken are returned safely to their families."