Reflections

Earth, 2227

A calm wind blew through the beautiful field that held the cemetery, the beautiful green grass and trees blowing slowly in the wind as a woman, clad in black Alliance armor with N7 colours along the right arm. stood in front of a gravestone, etched on it read ‘Anne Elizabeth, Daughter, Sister, Friend, Soldier, 2195-2227.’ The woman raised her left hand, quietly hearing the mechanical whirring coming from the replacement as she sighed, kneeling down in front of the grave and placing a medal on it, an Alliance Silver Star.

“You deserve this, Anne...you deserve this much at the very least…” The older woman’s head tilted down as footsteps approached from her side, standing up, she saw a woman, much younger than herself, clad in black Alliance Ajax armor, her brown hair waving gently in the wind as she stood next to the woman.

“She must have been very important to you.” “She and her sister were the world to me after…” The older woman trailed off as the younger one looked to her, their two green eyes meeting “You mustn't blame yourself for what happened, not to Anne, not to Uriel, especially not t--” The older woman glared at the younger one “Really? And how isn’t it my fault? I had every opportunity to help them, I should have, but instead I--” “You trusted your daughters and those they trusted in turn.”

The older woman glared at the younger one, turning back to the grave “I should have done more.” “And what could you have done?” The woman said nothing as the younger one continued “There isn’t anything that could have been done. You did the best you could, even with Uriel a--” “Don’t you DARE tell me that it wasn’t my fault! If I had done more, instead of just going with Uriel and I, I should have done more, I should have prepared more! It’s my fault that Uriel and Travis are dead and MY fault that Flynt became like this!” The younger woman said nothing, the older one panting as her mechanical hand whirred again, she growled and clenched it, taking a step away from the younger marine and sighing.

“You couldn’t have prevented what happened to Flynt.” “If I had gone with him, maybe I could have. Maybe I could have reasoned with him, made him see what was going on, bring him home…now...I don’t even recognize him anymore, he heartlessly killed Uriel...tried to kill Emma, who he loved even more than me...almost killed me without even batting an eye…” “You still love him; Don’t you?”

The older woman was silent for a full minute, looking at the younger woman “With every fiber of my being...My orders were...are...to kill him but...even after convincing high command to let me take the mission, and that my personal feelings won’t get in the way...I’m not sure if I can.” The younger woman placed a hand on the older’s shoulder “You’ll make the right call, I know you will.” The older woman grasped the hand gently “You seem...very sure of yourself…” She smiled in response “I may not be real, but I am still a part of you, and I still know who you really are deep down.” The young soldier turned, walking away as she slowly started to disappear “When you’re forced to make that hard choice, Rachel, I know you’ll make the right one.” The old major stared at the young apparition as it vanished, sighing as she looked down at the gravestone, clenching her mechanical fist as she took a deep breath “Yeah. I will.”