Chapter 2: Judgement

And yet, you attacked Draco. And he was on this ship.

Dormii Fortuni. and if you are not Josh Torres, then who are you?

=thinks back to a memory from living on the planet= Omega.

Then you shall be the end. You will be the last, and show resistance to that fact. I pity you, omega. Not knowing who you are or where you came from.

I pity you, because you are just like me.

=i turn and walk out and to my quarters=

=looks as Dormii walks away= *sniker* =Starts to wonder what he meant and walks to the armory=

=The halls were white and blinding. the Light seemed too bright, the air too brisk. these were the halls of an ONI Med-Lab. the smell of sterilizer was strong. I was wandering through the halls, looking for something. All the halls looked the same, every corridor i turned down was the same. I felt like a rat in a maze. there were no doors. I felt like i was going in circles. I became panicked. I started running down the halls. my lab coat flailing behind me. All i could see was white. My heart was racing, my pulse elevated. I began to hallucinate, the walls were moving, they slowly became organic, mirror the inside of a flood infected ship, organic material dripped from the ceiling, the halls were slick with the secretions of fluid. the doors became valve like openings, allowing passage only when close enough to see some sort of vein throbbing beneath the skin like folds. I began to see things crawling just beneath the surface of the Flood membrane. I screamed.
"Not Again! no no no no no no!"
memories of when ONI asked to do experiments on the Flood parasite begin to come forth,all those hideous experiments, the faces of those men co cruelly subjected to the agony of being infected by the flood. the unlamenting process by which he and other ONI scientists cut into their flesh and studied the workings of the Flood on human tissue. the various failed attempts at creating a way to prevent the flood from infecting a soldier in battle, all resulted in the death of the host, often giving the parasite more food to grow and spread. the screams of the men sacrificed for a false hope of saving others from the Floods wretched embrace. We had to burn the bodies and anything the flood touched, just to be safe.... it still wasn't enough, the compound was overrun, the flood began massing their intelligence together... and everything just fell apart...
then the covenant came and began glassing the area, they sent ships down to steal our ONI files, looking for info to aid them in the war. they found me, being attacked by one of our very experiments. the mans face was twisted, the spore was pulsing in his chest, i was unarmed. the Elites came in and their plasma burned him away, Miles, the soldier who thought his life would save thousands, instead, out experiments may have cost the lives of thousands. Project Drought, was a failure, I can only hope those assigned to Viking were more successful then we were. One of the Elites, his armour was different from the others, it was smooth and flowing, much like a 3-dimensional shadow, he, she, must have been one of their spec-ops. I lay their stunned unable to move of my own accord, but the elite picked me up, and carried me to their ship.=

I walk into the bottom hanger stealthily. There i spot the Sabre waiting for me, just as i had prepared it. There was no-one around and i knew i had to be quick or things were going to hit the fan. I climbed on board the Sabre and began activation.

Sabre Computer: "Struts disengaged. Commencing launch in T-minus 5, 4, 3, 2..."

The Sabre's engines ignite, and the fighter lifts off and out of the hanger bay

Sabre Computer: "First stage engine burn nominal."

The Sabre pulls away from the ship.

Sabre computer: Stage separation in 3, 2, 1... Stage separation."

The Sabre's booster rockets detach from the fighter. The Sabre immediately heads for the other ship with afterburners active.

Sabre Computer: "Second stage ignition confirmed."

=Ash hides in between the cargo just to get some peace and quite=
Dormii can't forgive me... How could Jay, and I don't even want to think about Torres.

=Ash presses her hand to her hard case that contains the Holo-disk he gave her all those months ago=
What can I say to Draco? I missed him so much but, those fights and every fight everyone has gone though then is my fault.

=Ash looks at her broken helmet, she wipes her fingers across the broken visor.=
What should I do now...? My home is gone my life is gone, all I have left is Dra...

=Ash tears up=
And he cant even talk to me, I wish I could ask you...

=Ash pushes her fingers into the broken visor with force in till a sharp shard of glass falls into her lap.=
I could just leave now.... None would care it would be better if I just left, Draco would be better off without me. I could just go to sleep, just like I did on the Thor...

=Ash picks up the shard if glass and looks at it=
My point... My life, its all gone now. I failed Arcadia I failed the Thor I failed you.... I'm so sorry Draco you don't deserve someone like me.

=Ash presses the glass to her hand, and waits.=
Shit I can't do it!

=Ash starts to sob=
I'm such a coward! I let every one who trust me down....

We started up the van and started to drive out. The exit was blocked by UNSC forces. "Great, just great." I said.
"Go right through." said the leader.

The van revved it's engine and sped to full speed. Two Warthog guns started to heat up. "F*** F*** F***, FASTER.!"

The van hit the first Hog, tipping it over causing the gunner head to hit the ground. We drove out of the lot.

(He feels something now. The darkness begins to fade. Then it is like his spirit left his body. It began to travel through the ship. It ended in the cargo bay. A shadow. His spirit went closer, He saw Ash. The shard of glass in her hand)
NO!
(He sat up)
(He looked around)
No
(He stood and walked out of the infirmary to the cargo bay)
Please let her still be there.
Please just let her still be there. Alive
(As he began to run, he saw the image of the shard of glass. And a tear streamed down his face)
Please let her still be alive

=Ash sits there curled up sobbing to herself=
How can a Spartan be such a coward? I failed everything I have ever done, I'm just a waste of space...

=Ash glances over at the glass one more time=
I can't do it! I can't fight, I can't win... I should but I can't... What sort of Spartan am I?

(He enters the cargo bay. Staggering by now)
Please
(coughs, his wound in his chest begins to open)
Please, Ash.
(he hears something)
Please, dont
(coughs)

=Ash hears the coughing=
Is that Draco? What happened to him...

=Ash looks away and tries to ignore him=
I can't let him find me, he shouldn't find me...

=Ash can't help but look after she hears him cough again=
Is he hurt? What's he even doing down here..

(To himself)
Why cant I feel it, the searing pain that I know I should be feeling

(coughs up blood)

I will find her, I need to find her

(coughs, the darkness returning)
No, NO. I AM SO CLOSE, DONT TAKE IT AWAY FROM ME

(coughs one more time)
@Ash
Please, dont do it.
I love you

=Ash watches Draco fall to the floor=
What can I do... He's dying and I'm just watching... I can't even move.

=Ash glances at her helmet and reaches for it=
You can't fail him not now.

=Ash puts he helmet back on=
Draco what happened!?

(he looks up)
(tries to smile)
(the pain has returned)
@Ash
Another fight.................but
(he slowly stands back up)
Im okay
(he looks down at the stab wound)
Im okay, I found you
(smiles)
(coughs)

=Ash looks at Draco's wound=
This looks bad...

Why did you come her you should be at the Medbay... Why?

=Ash looks at Draco in the eyes=
Your such an idiot to come down here!

Did he mean what he said... After all this time and all the I've done he dose?

@Ash
I came down here.
(coughs)
to stop you.
(To himself)
The pain
@Ash
Listen, stop beating yourself up over that.
They will get over it.
Crap happens.
I love you, I will stop him if he goes crazy.
If he tries to kill you.
I will injure him........onto the brink of death.

=Ash puts her hand over the wound=
Don't you see? I don't want to cause any more pain! I just want to leave, leave so I will never harm anyone again I don't want to fight any more Draco...

(He holds her hand)
@Ash
We don't have to.
Not anymore.
We..........we will go
(The darkness begins to consme him)
leave. just us.
(coughs)
(his eyes go blank)
just us.
(He falls)
I love you. Dont you think otherwise.

Shit! what do I do? my comms are down...

=Screams for help=
Help! Is anyone there! Help please!

You can't die not now! wake up please!

Ash pull yourself together!

=Ash picks up Draco and starts carrying him to the Medbay=
Don't you dare die!

(Within)
Zayne-You are so blind
Draco-what?
Zayne-You are blind to the fact
Draco-what fact
Zayne(laughs)-You are causing this
Draco-shut up
Zayne-you are causing her harm
Draco-No
Zayne-YOU ARE SO BLIND!
Draco-No, no. I am not causing this
(he hears her scream)
Draco-I won't die. I will never die on you
Zayne-how sweet
Draco-SHUT UP

=Because of their cloaking devices, the boarding craft from the Comet were able to sneak up to the Trophaeum undetected. As the doors opened into the ship, Delta and his squad activate their PAC, disapearing in a small flicker of light outlining their bodies=

=Ash enters the Medbay with Draco in her arms=
What the hell do I do now?

=She lies him down on a medical table=
What... do I do...? I have to get someone, where's Jay?

Is there none here!?

What did they teach you in training Ash?... I have no idea, I know how to bandage. dam it!

=Ash looks around the room for some comms to call some one=
Dam it! there's nothing here...

What do I do... No I can't do that what if it doesn't help him?

=Ash picks Draco up again and carry's him to the Cryo chamber=

=Ash lies Draco down in a cryo tube=
Draco.. I don't know if you can hear me but I'm sorry I couldn't help you...

=Ash locks the Cryo door as Draco is frozen=

=Looks at Draco now frozen in the tube=
I'm so sorry I failed you again...

=She presses her hand against the cold tube=
Draco... I have to go, I only cause pain... If I wasn't here you wouldn't be hurt... I'm sorry Draco

=Ash steps away from the tube and takes off her dog tag and leaves tied to the tube=
It's the right thing to do its the right thing

=Ash leaves the room=

=i hear walking in the halls. I go to look and see that it is Ash= Ash. Ash! Where have you been? Dracos been looking everywhere for you.

"Next time, bring a DAMN ROCKET LAUNCHER." Yelled the leader.

There was two Falcons on the van, and the bullets of our SOCOM weapons, weren't working.

"ETA to our destination, about 5 minuets."

=Ash try's to keep her distance from Dormii=
What should I say?

=Ash points behind her at the Cryo bay then walks off to the docking station=

=i move in front of her= Tell me, please. I swore to Draco that I would not kill you. You can talk to me. At least try.

=Ash backs away from Dormii=
Move out my way! Draco's in there, he just needs... help.

We drove up to the ship yard. "Last ship on the right." The car did a 180 and stopped, we jumped out. "Move move move." A machine gun on the Falcon opened up. ."GET DOWN." I yelled. I ducked down right behind a UNSC weapon crate. Luck. I opened it up finding DMRs. I grabbed some and threw them to my teammates.

"Everyone fire on the Falcon!!" We opened up on one Falcon, it started to smoke and then a bullet hit the Fuselage. The Falcon hit the other one, bringing it down with it.

"Run to the ship before reinforcements come!" We ran for the ship...

=to Ash, my voice hard yet soft= So help. Instead you choose to run, to ignore what is happening. Why?

=Ash looks away from Dormii in shame=
There was nothing I could do I needed help... I tried my best! but it's my fault, I can't do it tell him I'm sorry.

=Ash tries to push past Dormii=

=i push her back= It is your fault, yes, but he doesn't care. He loves you, and all he cares about is that you do the same. So again, i ask, why? Why do you run from what has happened?

=Ash looks at Dormii tears in her eyes=
Because I'm a coward! That's all I have ever been... When it gets tough I run. I ran away when my team got hit... I ran away when I found out about you. It's what I do I'm just a coward.

=i look into her eyes, i see shame and fear= did running cause you break your visor? did running cause you to meet with Draco again? did running cause you to command an entire ship?

Again, why? Why are you running this time.

=Ash looks away unable to see though her tear filled eyes=
I.. I can't do it, I'm not strong enough I wasn't back then and I'm not now. I just need... I need to get out of here, Draco needs help you should go to him. I won't bother you again.

=Ash pushes Dormii over and runs off=

=I get up and shake my head= =I go to the cryo chambers and let Draco out=

=to Draco= You ok?

(The cold that had surrounded him, pounded him relentlessly, let up. The darkness swirled out. His eyes opened. He could hear nothing. His stab wound making him bleed out. He could feel nothing. He wanted. No needed to stop her. His eyes adjusted. settingonto the image before his eyes. Words could not come)
(he nodded)

=Ash reaches the docking bay=
How can I do this... Just run away and leave him, maybe Dormii was right.

=Ash prepares a pelican for launch she takes her helmet off and leaves it there as she climbs inside the Pelican and closes the back doors=
It's to late now, I have to go if I go wait they will find me...

=She sits in the pilot seat and prepares for take off=
I'm sorry Draco but I can't do this, I'm just a coward.

=Ash calls off the countdown and drops her head on the console=
What am I doing?! I'm such an idiot, how could I just leave him there!

=Ash opens the back of the pelican door and runs towards the Cryo bay=
I'm sorry Draco I was so stupid it will never happen again! I'm coming for you and I will never leave you...

=I smile= Nice try. If Ash put you in there, it was for a good reason. Cmon, your going to the medbay.

=I lift him out of the cryo tube and begin to carry him to the medbay=

(He closes his eyes)
@Dormii
(weakly) I'm...........fine.
(He passes out)

=to Draco= Sure you are.

=i bring him to the medbay and lay him down on one of the automated tables. I look out the window and see a Sabre attacking the Victory. I also see boarding pods=

=comm to Sabre= This is Dormii Fortuni calling the Sabre attacking the Victory. You may want to let off on that. We have boarding pods in-bound.