Sarah had some idea of the vileness out in the greater wasteland, and encountered some of it personally back in the Brotherhood of Steel. Slavers, cannibals, super mutants… She thought she had seen it all, but clearly she was wrong.
What was done to the women before her was utterly abhorrent. Sarah’s legs felt weak as her eyes struggled to comprehend the scene before her.
Scores of women were sprawled on their backs against the walls or across the dirty stone floors of the two-storey building, naked and covered in sickly, glowing patches. No, not patches, but the drying stains of fluids Sarah didn’t want to think of right now.
They were all covered in old bruises and scars. Some clearly had their limbs heal badly after being broken, others didn’t have that luxury. Blank eyes stared out into space, the emptiness behind the gazes betraying the victims’ broken minds. Most were naked, few had the torn remains of their clothes on them.
It wasn’t their poor states that drew Sarah’s disgust and shock though, but rather the women’s bloated bellies, glowing green and writhing from within.
At least most of them did.
A few women groaned numbly with burst bellies exposed to the air for god knows how long already. The gaping wounds were wet with blood and oozing foul fluid, exposing the innards of the poor women. Slimy, bloody cords snaked out from each of their ruptured wombs, attached on the other end to writhing, glowing things that vaguely resemble fetuses writhing several feet away from them. The small abominations crawled blindly and soundlessly on the floor, some tugging on their umbilical cords, a couple dangling off it as they had fallen over ledges and stairs.
Sarah immediately felt an urge to stomp on them, but discipline and shock won out.
One poor woman was clearly dead, three torn cords splayed out from her shredded groin like tentacles, and barely a yard from here were three shriveled things with their broken umbilicals trailing behind them.
A weak noise drew the veteran’s attention, and she witnessed another woman shudder and moan lifelessly as her belly shifted and extruded points that finally tore through her flesh. The captive barely reacted to the intense pain that was sure to be felt at having things ripping her from the inside-out.
Sarah fought back the convulsions in her throat and stomach as she forced herself to assess the horrific scene in detail. She’d cleansed a breeding mill before, and it felt positively hopeful compared to this atrocity. There was no sense of sentience to any of the occupants of this building, be they captive women or the monstrous things that escaped from their wombs. There was no despair in the heavily eldritch air, no torment, only utterly broken minds and bodies.
“We…we found the captives Sev,” Edward spoke in the comms, barely keeping it together. Sarah then remembered that practically everyone else in this team were former slaves, and she couldn’t imagine what they must be feeling right now. “It’s bad…it’s very bad…” he added with heavy understatement. Outside, the muted sounds of the few puking troopers could still be heard. Sarah had to forcefully tune those out or she’d end up joining them.
Sev must have accessed Edward’s armor’s optics, because he was soon cursing aloud. “Fucking-! Oh sweet fucking… Holy shit…” There was some background noise, which meant that he wasn’t watching the feed by himself.
Oh shit, hopefully Nat wasn’t around to see this…
“Set…set a teleporter,” Sev ordered with surprising calmness right after his exclamations. “Bots will be sent over to set up a quarantine camp. I can send the combat bots over to continue the mission if you want.”
Edward visibly straightened as he listened to Sev, and the troopers around him also seemed to have regained their composure. They exchanged resolute glances with one another, Sarah included, before the commander replied. “No. No, Sev. we want to continue this mission.”
It was only right. The rad-sucking scum needed to suffer.
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There was a slight pause before Sev’s voice returned. “Understood. The rest of 1st Company is being mobilized, if you want.”
“I appreciate it, Sev. Thanks.”
Scans from eyebots are also in, the eldritch energies are only limited to the island. The horde assaulting your position is thinning out. The reserves in the sky will keep watch over Far Harbor. Reinforcements will be teleported over within five minutes. Finish the mission, team.”
“By your will, Sev,” the young soldiers replied as one. Immediately after communications ended, the expedition reorganized. Natalia placed the teleport beacon as Kyle and Edward went to gather the troopers who had finished puking. The other half of the Nexus force reported the cultists showing signs of hesitation instead of continuing their mindless charge.
Sarah waited outside the brick building as the air crackled within as medical and research Mr Handies came through along with several Sentinels. A separate beacon was placed, allowing the rest of 1st Company to materialize near the defense lines to finally break and send off the Children of Atom.
With the town finally secured, some of the expedition’s rearguard, as well as some of the reinforcements, decided to risk a look into the quarantined building. Most came out with pale, horrified faces, some had to be helped out of their helmets so they could heave their guts out.
With the full strength of 1st Company present, Edward had them organized back to their usual platoons and squads. Sentinels would keep watch of the ruin’s perimeter for the time being. Cold fury now radiated from the young commander, which infected the rest of his troops. Even Sarah had to admit that her own horror had been converted into hate for the rad-cultists.
“We were too late to save these people,” he started softly, pointing at the building beside them. “Those women suffered for months under the Children of the Church of Atom. Too isolated to even try escaping their eventual capture, too far for Sev and the Nexus to have aided them.”
Edward pointed to nowhere angrily, snarling his next words. “Meanwhile, the rad worshipers have shown what kind of fucking monsters they truly are. Rabid, cowardly things that are barely worth counting as humans anymore. After what they’ve done, they don’t deserve any mercy, least of all the mercy of a quick death.”
Sarah and the others nodded in agreement, anger and hate fueling their movements.
Drawing in a deep breath, Edward then called out to his command through both comms and helmet vocalizer. “1st Company! There will be no extermination, no dalek order given!” His blue crystal sword was suddenly in his hand and raised in the air. “Cut them! Bleed them! But keep them alive!” The blade was slowly lowered, with Edward’s own voice dropping to an ominous drone. “The Children seem to still have enough of a mind to know savagery and fear. I say we send all of them to the mercies of Blacksite Tleilax.”
Sarah Lyons found herself roaring her sadistic approval alongside the other members of the Company. Her rifle joined the other blades and rifles raised in the air.
“For vengeance!” Edward cried out. “For peace! Let the enemies of the Nexus, the enemies of humanity, taste our wrath!”
As she joined the chorus of warcries, Sarah absently noted that while the company commander might need further assessment in some fields, Edward was definitely a capable rabble rouser.
Leaving the robots to care for the captives, the Nexus’ 1st Company marched out double-time towards the main base of the Children of Atom as one. Any observers present might find it in themselves to pity any cultists who were caught in their path as they headed towards the stronghold known as the Nucleus.
The fury of the disgusted soldiers was made clear, pouncing on fleeing Atom worshipers and tearing them limb from limb. Eyebots would report that cultists, routed or from other areas of the island, were streaming towards the Nucleus, likely in an effort to put up a defense. 1st Company welcomed the news.
“Good, it saves us having to hunt these fuckers later,” was the common sentiment.