Author's Note: I apologize for the lengthy delays in these updates. I will try to make up for that by putting up two updates today or at least this weekend.
When sentient beings of different species that are galaxies apart both literally, culturally and technologically, it can result in either if not both of them judging the other as sub-human. War and conflict have a tendency to expedite these feelings further.
Lucas Von Seraph knew of when the European civilization landed in the Americas many hundred years ago. The invading Europeans, Spaniards, met upon the native Aztecs who practiced ritual sacrifice. It is quite possible that the Spaniards instead saw it as some sort of pagan practice if not outright torture. They in a "civilized" action then in return destroyed a whole civilization.
Lucas wondered if he had stepped right into the same situation because nothing, not even all the years he had served as a special forces ranger and all the war he had seen could have prepared him for this sight. Siera's screams and laments? They would forever be burned in their memory along with the image.
--
Dalora could tell that Jima was taking command of the situation despite the fact that Julland was more accustomed to it. She almost expected the Turian commander to turn down any medical treatment, at least not in the moment but still Julland followed Jima's directives without protest. Dalora could only guess that he was either exercising discipline or was just too tired to do otherwise.
The human woman could only sit on one of the nearby crates to take a breather even if she didn't want to stray too far from Julland and Jima. She only just realized that of all the people that had gone off on this mission, she was the only one who had not been wounded. Yes, some parts of her armor were scratched and dented from numerous close calls but no blood had been drawn. She did not know whether she would feel some sort of guilt from this but she decided now would not be the time to worry about that. She was just too exhausted from the ordeal.
"I have ordered the marines to clean up the situation and try to get any last minute data. It is your job now to rest and let me take care of those bullets in you." Jima informed Julland who was still sitting obediently on the examining table.
"Thank you. That was a good decision." Julland muttered.
"You would have done the same and I believe I only got it from you." Jima answered, leaning in to get a closer look at the bloodied holes that pained the Turian.
"You still haven't answered my question about Shanata and Filara. What happened to them? Are they going to make it?" Julland inquired, this time with more assertion. The Quarian hesitated to answer despite continuing unchecked with her work.
"Let me get you out of this armor and take care of your wounds first. Then I will show you how Shanta and Filara are doing." Jima replied.
"Why can't you just tell me now?" Julland demanded.
"I will tell you that they're not dead, Julland. Beyond that, you should probably see for yourself." Jima answered.
--
Neither Lucas nor Harrvok had a clue on how to approach the situation. The Salarians were beyond any chance of trying to free her from her nightmarish bonds. Harrvok's medical mind was analyzing the situation with a petrified eye. He decided that this was going to be an operation requiring multiple surgeries if this was ever going to be fixed.
Sobbing and whimpering on a raised stone table was the fragile form of Siera. The Asari was laid outstretched on what struck their minds as a sacrificial table. However, instead of being put to a blade or razor, she was slowly being killed by the very things that bound her to the table. The roots of the carnivorous plants had grown around her. Both of her arms were tied down, open wounds still bled where the plant's tendrils had grown into her body. One small branch had wrapped around her head, appearing to cut off the blood supply of the flesh around it, killing them and turning the area into an unhealthy black, rotted area. Most disheartening was the large vein that had grown over and around her midsection. That did not include the numerous bites and gashes that had been inflicted on her from the creatures when they had obviously dragged her here.
Ritual sacrifice? Torture? Lucas forced those nagging questions out of his mind as he forced himself to say something of comfort to Siera.
"S-Siera? We're here to get you out of here. You'll be safe in a little while, just hang on for a couple minutes." Lucas choked, still searching for a way to even get started on her extraction. The Asari only continued to sob quietly as she glanced at each of them.
"Harrvok, how the heck are we going to get her out of here?" Lucas hissed at the medic.
"I have no clue, Lieutenant. I don't know if we cut the limbs if it'll cause some kind of reaction. By cutting the roots we might kill her." the Turian whispered.
"If we leave her here she'll die." Lucas growled. Harrvok rolled his eyes.
"With all due respect, that's obvious, Lieutenant. What I'm trying to say is that I don't have the proper equipment to scan her body and make a conclusive decision." Harrvok snapped.
"I don't think we have time to get back and get the equipment to her. We don't know how many more of those hellhounds are in here."
"Hey, guys-"
"Chroso, not now!" Harrvok interrupted the Salarian.
"If you were open to the idea I would have suggested it against even my liking. Look, if I start cutting away at those roots, it might kill her or cause irreparable damage. Do you understand what's at stake here, Lieutenant?" Harrvok demanded.
"Understood, on me the blame falls. Just get her off of that." Lucas charged.
"Very well." Harrvok answered, taking out a scalpel and casting one last apprehensive glance at the Asari.
"Guys, as I was trying to say, I can see the eyes of those hounds watching us down the tunnels. You'd better get ready." Chroso warned.
"Crap." Lucas grumbled.
"I will hurry as fast as I can." Harrvok stated.
--
He should have been watching for the illuminated eyes of the creatures down the tunnels but instead Eulias could do nothing but tremble at the broken form of his friend by the stone. Guilt was flowing thicker than the blood in his veins. Why had he abandoned her? It wasn't as if he wanted it to happen. He would have tried to help if only...if only he had not been so frightened, so alone. Instead, he was left with nothing but the remorse of letting her get captured and listening to her screams of agony for three days. They had both been tortured by the ordeal but clearly Siera had suffered the worse of it. If her body would not survive it he wondered if his own mind would.
"E-Eulias...why, why did you leave me?" Siera whimpered. Eulias felt a ton of cold bricks hit him in the stomach.
"I, I didn't meant to, Siera!"
"I was so alone...why didn't you come? I'm in so much pain..." the Asari's voice wasn't her own after being strained for three days.
"I'm sorry, Siera! Don't you get it!?" now the Salarian was getting hysterical, belting off several curses in his mother tongue.
"Guys, enough! Let Harrvok concentrate. Eulias, keep your eyes on the tunnels!" Lucas snapped, watching down the scope of his Dante rifle. Down in the darkness of the caves they could see the eyes of those demons watching them and they knew it was only a matter of time before they moved. What were they waiting for?
"I think they're moving, Lucas." Chroso announced, trying to keep his hold on his pistol steady. Lucas decided to take a literal shot in the dark.
"Lets see if this will slow them down..."
He lined up the crosshairs right between the glowing eyes of the creatures, one that seemed in the center of the others. He wondered why they were waiting just one thought's breath before he squeezed the trigger.
The high explosive round shot through the caverns and found its mark. The instant it struck flesh it detonated, filling the tunnel walls with fire and chaos. Smoke started to billow from within the cave. Both the special forces ranger and the archaeologist strained their eyes to gaze into the darkness.
"I don't see anything." Chroso stated.
"Don't let your guard down. I can imagine that only pissed them off." Lucas stated. He looked behind him to see that Eulias was completely incapacitated, simply hunched over with his blank eyes staring into space. He decided the Salarian was beyond help at the moment.
"I'm almost done." Harrvok informed, still working his razor sharp scalpel along the tendrils of the plant. He noticed that Siera had seemingly passed out halfway through his operation. He hoped that the tears that still flowed from her eyes was an indicator she still had a pulse. It was the only thing that was keeping him from giving up.
--
Arm in a sling with several more thick bandages covering various odd parts of his body that made some areas under his uniform feel bulky. Julland always wondered when he would get used to sporting this inevitable post-battle garb made to patch up wounds. After over a decade of dedicated military service, broken bones, nicked arteries, and miles and miles of bandages, he still was waiting for that day to come. He also realized as he hobbled along behind Jima that he was never going to get used to checking in on wounded soldiers.
"I've had them transferred from the Shiloh to the doctors' facility. They have more specialized equipment and personnel over there." the Quarian explained. Julland felt a fleeting surprise on how quickly Jima had gotten out of her light Colossus model armor and into her casual blue and white environmental suit and lab coat. That was quickly replaced by dread of what he was going to find.
"Steady, Julland. You know she said that they were still alive. It can't be that bad." Julland whispered to himself. Another part of his mind disagreed but he decided to ignore it for now. Abruptly, he realized he was standing in front of a medical bed.
"Shanata arguably fared better. The bullet was a shredder round so it caused massive internal damage to her system as well as severe blood loss. She's stabilized now but remains in critical condition. So long as there are no complications, I'm sure she'll pull through." Jima reported, placing a comforting paw on the unconscious Asari's head. Julland was devastated and he felt it in his stomach. Yes, soldier's had died under his command before. He was a commander. He had casualties worth several companies under his watch. However, now that he worked side by side with his soldiers now...
"She's strong, so I'm sure she'll make it. I don't think a lesser person would have held out as long as she did. It's Filara that I'm worried about." Jima said. Julland unwillingly left Shanata's still form and followed numbly behind.
The two stopped before a medical curtain that acted as a simple privacy divider. Julland was not sure what to expect as he stopped to patiently wait for what Jima had to say. It seemed like even the Quarian was also at a loss for words. Then, as if opening Pandora's Box, she simply pulled aside the curtain.
Filara's whole head was criss-crossed with bandages and gauze. Julland himself winced, imagining the pain of having wounds on such a sensitive place. Regardless, there was one bandaged that was more prominent than all the others. It was the one Julland was most drawn to. A single band strip of bandage wound many times covered the eyes of the Asari. Julland felt his jaw drop as if to ask a question.
"She's blind." Jima simply said as if to answer the cold, unspoken inquiry.
--
Eulias was trembling uncontrollably in rage, frustration, fear and helplessness. He had felt those emotions over the past three days but now they had hit a crescendo. The malevolent symphony of emotions was driving him to the verge of insanity and its conductor was the languishing body of Siera. A tap on his shoulder threw off the torturous psychological cacophony.
"I know there's no convincing you its not your fault so I'm going to tell you that there will be more chances to do penance for this later. You could start now by keeping an eye out and making sure she remains safe." Lucas told him firmly. Eulias nodded simply and readied his pistol. He forced himself not to lose control when Siera suddenly screamed.
"I got her free, all the roots are cut." Harrvok announced. He medic silently noted that there was a possible connection with Siera's return to consciousness and the severing of the plant but that was a mystery to be solved later. He took the moment to examine the broken Asari. This would be the only chance to patch any major wounds and stabilize her as much as possible before the inevitable and desperate escape.
Siera's eyes were rolling in her head for a moment before they steadied. Her breathing normalized slowly though she felt pain everywhere. It had been the ultimate nightmare and it was finally coming to a close. Her vision spotted the camouflaged helmet of Lucas Von Seraph making a quick scan for incoming enemies before looking squarely at her.
"I know you're sick but we're going to need all the help we can get. Harrvok will carry you out of here. Are you healthy enough to still use a weapon?" Lucas asked. Siera still fought for breath but nodded her head vigorously.
"Good. Use this if the time comes." She felt her hands grasp onto a pistol. Specifically, it was a specially camouflaged painted Razer model pistol, Lucas' own handgun.
This was the moment she had been wanting so badly for. It was what she had prayed for every agonizingly long minute of those three days of hell. Finally, it had been placed into her hands. She could not have been more grateful for the pistol.
Vengeance on her enemies was not what she wanted from it.
One can only spend so long in the dark of a living nightmare before the blackness starts to contaminate you. A tortured mind, when splintered from such long trauma, may only decide on one solution to the terror that starts to fill every pore of your body that it seems to consume you. To Siera, with the nightmare was finally coming to a close, she only wanted it to end as it had been, only in a softer shade of black. A burning inferno bullet brought on the literal physical manifestation of an already psychologically shattered mind.
The team of men descended into the darkness to free a captive from the demented chains of a twisted enemy. Having released her from her shackles, Siera went one step further and released herself from the chains of this mortality.
--
"Don't ask me how the blast of the grenade didn't kill her. Unfortunately, her good luck ran out after that. The force and the shrapnel gashed her face and completely destroyed her eyes." Jima explained softly. Julland was feeling an extremely heavy weight from all this.
"Well...can't you replace them? Lucas' eyes were recreated after they were destroyed." Julland suggested. Jima shook her head solemnly.
"That is an extremely rare procedure and it's not open to commercial or even Council use. Even the Alliance has put a halt to it because of a high rate of failure." Jima answered.
"So...she's blind. For good." the Turian mumbled.
"I'm sorry, Julland. If there were any options to rectify this I would have already started setting them up."
"Jima, don't apologize. If anything I should apologize to you. I'm sorry I let the mission go awry. I'm sorry I nearly lost two of your marines. I'm sorry that we're going to have to let one go..."
The Turian felt Jima's paw touch his shoulder. He thought it was odd that it was Jima who was the life giver among them. It was she who healed them when they were broken and beaten and yet because of her own flawed immunity her touch was reduced to a sterile, cold fabric.
"We'll talk about this later. Right now I have to see to the rest of the Council's medical team. They're results are starting to come in and I was chosen to analyze the results. I just want you to know that this isn't your fault either" the Spectre told him.
Jima'Riznah vas Shiloh knew it was her own fault.