Chapter 5
On the contrary, the soldier, above all other people, prays for peace, for he must suffer and bear the deepest wounds and scars of war. Douglas MacArthur
I have to admit I don't why I'm here. I wanted to say no, but in the end I just couldn't. Before I even got settled into this place I find myself in this mess. A real shit hole. To be honest the mercenary groups have done more damage to this place than the plague. It looked like it had seen heavy combat. Gunshots and burn marks scarred every wall and surface in sight.
I choke on the air as I exit the transport. It is filled with toxins and terrible fumes. It was the smell of burning flesh that got to me. It was nauseating.
"What the hell is that smell?" Cragg snarled as the odor assaulted his nasals.
"Better if you don't know Cragg." I reply quickly.
The escort group arrived in short order as we began mobilizing our equipment off the transport. I didn't really help much, I was too busy watching.
The Blue Suns escort was only comprised of some of their brand new would-be recruits. I quickly estimated they would be good cannon fodder, but not much else.
"The fighting has moved further into the environmental wing, but where we are gaining ground the Blood Pack is taking it back else ware." One of the guards informed us. My confidence took another nose dive as I noticed the one doing the talking was just too young. The kid looked barely eighteen by my estimates. I just hoped I wouldn't have to see him killed or worse.
"We have to take a slight detour through a temporary medical clinic before we can reach our objective." The kid informed us.
"Give us five minutes and we will be ready to move." Niseer scrambled to get everything ready to go.
"Hey do we need the K.E.I.S.?" Cragg asked as if begging more than inquiring.
"Why," Nisser replied sharply. "If you think you and Skragg can carry it along with everything else."
"Alright! Hey Skragg did you hear that. We get to bring the K.E.I.S.!" Cragg was enthusiastic to say the least. You'd think from his excitement that he had just courted a female Krogran.
"K.E.I.S.?" I defer to Niseer.
"It's their special little toy that they've been working on, well more like stole and rigged for their own interests." I can tell Niseer hated discussing the subject.
"Hey do you think we're going to need some heat sink polymers for the environment turbines?" Skragg asks Niseer pointing to the small supply they brought along.
"Uh," Niseer was having a hard time juggling all of this together.
"Yeah just bring it. If the turbines are okay then we will more than likely need it for something else." I was trying to keep things moving. The less time we spend here the better.
After some quick organizing we were ready to move. The escorts informed us that it would be just a fifteen minute walk to the clinic.
The same scene of destruction scarred the entire path up to the clinic. Blood went from scattered about to concentrated trails as we neared just outside the clinic. It was more of a collection point of the butchery that was taking place between the two gangs. Apparently neither organizations had proper medical staff, so those available were brought here to setup a quasi neutral zone for their wounded. It was crowded to say the least. Civilians and gang members flooded the walkways. Most sat or crouched in any spot they could find. Others lay about trying their best to rest and recover. If the sight wasn't sobering enough the smell was. I thought it was bad before, but here….their wounds were festering and others diseases were going to be a problem if not already.
"This is not good. How many are here?" I secure and activate my suit breather as I pass another victim whose bodily fluids were leaking around her.
"I'm not sure now, this is only my third visit here. First time there were fewer people. And the smell was tolerable." Thankfully the kid kept a good pace as we maneuvered around the injured. I couldn't stand being here any longer.
"Cragg! Move it!" I turned around as Niseer yelled behind me.
He was just standing there. Almost frozen. His large eyes were focused on a small asari child. I rushed over trying to keep Cragg moving, but then I froze as well.
The child was standing next to her parent who was badly injured and unconscious. She stared back at us as we stood over her. An overbearing yoke of helplessness fell on us as we stood there. Her face was bruised and swollen and her clothing drenched in sweat and blood. It was completely silent, all the noise of the clinic faded as we looked at the horrible scene before us.
It makes me think about our future. How can we do this to ourselves. How can we continue down this path of self destruction. Each generation should strive to make their children's world better. To give them more opportunities, more luxuries, more choices than they ever had. We have to do this. We have to enable our children with greater prospects and responsibilities. If we fail to do this then we have failed at any chance of a brighter future. And I look at this child, and the future that she may have…and I don't wish this on anyone. There must have been a lot of hate to strike a child like this, and for what? A bigger piece of turf on literal orbiting junk yard.
Cragg shifted his weight slightly and the young girl quickly retreated just a half step back to her mother. She grabbed her mothers limp arm clasping it tightly to her chest as tears began to trickle down her cheeks leading to her split and bloodied lips.
I couldn't move. I didn't know how to react. How do I fix this, how can you heal this poor and broken child. Nothing, not even a kind word comes to mind.
Finally I breathe and look over at Cragg whose jaw has gone slack. The shock and disbelief on his face are clearly present.
"Don't look at their faces," I demand. No response. I punch Cragg to get his attention and he quickly glances towards me. "Don't look at their faces!"
"What? Why not?" Cragg asks.
"You just can't. I know you want to help, but there is nothing you can do for them standing here. We have to keep moving to make those repairs. That's how we help." I try to get him refocused on our task in order to get him moving again.
It took a moment or two but eventually Cragg snapped out of it and started walking again. He was definitely shaken by the violence around him. I hope he can keep his mind focused.
"Commander Shepard if you could look for an assistant of mine. He has been missing for some time now."
I heard the salarian speaking just few paces to my left. I heard that name before. I spotted the infamous N7 insignia on the armor plating.
"Son of a bitch." My disbelief also caught everyone else's attention.
"What's going on?" Niseer inquired.
"Apparently the dead can walk." I should've have thought about my surroundings as I blurted that statement out.
"Is that your famous Commander Shepard?" Niseer questions as he takes another look at her.
"Stay here." I replied sharply
Twenty steps. My Omni tool alerted me of my spiked heart rate as I neared her. Fifteen steps. I saw the cerberus uniforms and it made since. It was clear to me that what I thought I had put in my past had not stayed there. Ten steps. I had to let her know how I felt. Five steps. There were other Cerberus agents surrounding her, but I didn't care.
"Alright Mordin we'll see what we can do, but once we get them back online I have your coop-"
Her eyes met mine just as I got close enough. Good, I wanted her to see this coming and not be able to stop it. I put almost everything I had into that one.
One of my knuckles cracked as my right cross landed squarely on her jaw.
She shouldn't be alive. She may be a hero to the citadel, but I know what she is capable of.
"That's for the Corinth you piece of shit!" I made enough noise to get every guard and patient's attention in that clinic. Before she could recover I put my boot to her throat and my sidearm aimed at her head. She immediately grabbed my leg and tried to escape, but I only pressed harder.
"Give me one reason not to!" I raged.
"I got one right here!" I heard another Cerberus agent behind me pump his shotgun.
My heart was pounding away in my chest, and my breathing was erratic. Her eyes were now swelling with water, but not from sadness or regret. She was incapable of that. I thought of all those men and women that she so carelessly threw away. She cheated the same death that she so easily forced upon others.
By now everyone who had a weapon was pointing it at someone. The mercenaries pointed at each other. The Salarian had also fashioned a weapon at me along with the other Cerberus agents. Luckily, our escort group sprung into action and had guns pointed at Cerberus. The whole clinic was one flinch away from turning into the same war zone just outside.
I wanted to kill her. I couldn't think of anything else. All those people turning in their graves because of her.
"You shouldn't be alive! You were dead!"
Finally my gaze went from her choking face to my hand. It was trembling.
"No. I'm not a ruthless murderer. We live by a code in the Alliance. I haven't abandoned it like you Shepard." I said what I thought, nothing more was necessary.
It took like what seemed forever for me to lower my weapon, but it was holstered at any rate. Everyone else was still frozen, waiting to blow each other way. I raised my boot from her throbbing neck and quickly turned away. As I marched towards the exit I could hear Shepard coughing and Niseer praising some native deity at the fact that he was still alive. Everyone else was seeming to cool down as they lowered their weapons and glared at me.
"You want to tell me what just happened there? You nearly got us all killed just then!" Niseer pursued closely as I stepped outside of the clinic.
I hoped stepping outside would help, but it wasn't like I was going to get fresh air on a space station. In fact it was worse. Just to my left the clinic had started stacking casualties. They were numerous and they were rotting.
"How the hell do you know the 'Commander Shepard'"? I wasn't sure if Niseer was asking in disbelief that I knew a living legend or that I wanted to kill one.
I thought about it and considering how I had just put all their lives on the line like Shepard had I owed him this much.