The steel rimmed and reinforced room prepared itself with the rest of the vessel for quick slip-space travel; the interior starting to buckle as the harsh radiated engines warmed up with expectations to fire soon. As the room vibrated violently, the occupants almost lost their seating; only managing to settle themselves down after the movement stopped.
"Jesus Christ it's getting worse" Gabriel commented from the seat, readjusting himself into a more comfortable position and looking back to the unarmoured female Spartan in front of him.
"Never mind the turmoil out there" West replied swiftly, jumping from topic to conversation in a swift leap; slowly she reached over and poked at his chest, "You need to fix the rage you have in here first."
"HOW?!" The Blue Spartan IV roared outloud, slamming a fist down to the side of the chair and almost sending broken fragments flying in every direction. He took a deep breath and heaved his chest slowly up and down, trying to contain himself over the quick upsurgeance of rage and pent up aggression.
"You need to forgive yourself Gabriel, the first step of mending is to accept what has happened and realise that you couldn't have done anything else." West continued to speak calmly, unaffected by the half destroyed chair in her room now.
"But I could have!" The blue warrior stood up furiously as he roared to himself, clenching his knuckles in complete fury and pent madness, "It was because of me that he died! Both of them died because of me!" A scream erupted out of the Spartan, resulting in him punching the heavy steel wall with the strength of a demi-god…or an angel.
A set of tears started to lower down his cheek as he stared the white robotic arm that was currently embed inside the steel wall mainframe. Then finally he extracted the arm and looked at it, as if seeing it for the first time; it was a simple reminder, a wound that reminded him every day of how he had failed.
"You didn't fail them Gabriel" West said to him, coming across as the voice of reason behind the infuriated warrior, "They will join you in due time, but in the meantime they follow you…and would they wish to see you like this? Unpredictable and dangerous to your own allies?! You disgrace them!" She spat out, knowing that her words would aggravate the warrior and give her a response that would help him later.
The blue warrior roared out in complete pain, spinning around and aiming to punch the speaker; the visions of blood and battle sparking through his mind as he released the pent up anger by aiming hits to the elusive female warrior.
On her part, West dodged the wild shots with complete precision and adaptability of her surroundings; then finally as she dodged a rampant uppercut, she pushed forward and slammed into the rampaging Spartan IV so she lay upon him harshly on the ground.
A struggle increased as the downed warrior attempted to rise up, only to be forced down again by the resilient female that interlocked his body by her tough reinforced arms and legs. Gabriel screamed outloud as he felt his real left arm being ripped away by the Harbinger, then again as endless memories of plasma and energy splashed and sliced into him; he squirmed and cried savagely as the faces of his companions cut into his mind until nothing was left but the face of West staring down at him.
Gabriel breathed loudly and heavily, releasing the anger and emotional sadness that had been ripping through his mind for months; and then finally he spoke to himself, full realisation and a calm voice used to ask, "Forgive me, I am so sorry."
West smiled from her position over him, readjusting her thighs so she wouldn't be pinning him completely in place, as she spoke soundly, pride in her voice and a tear in her eye, "I forgive you and I'm guessing that you forgive yourself."
Gabriel nodded once, standing up from the floor and helping the downed team-mate to stand with him; then finally he brushed away the tear in his eye and chuckled loudly to himself, "Well if anyone walked in on us then that could have seemed suggesting."
West laughed with him, happy to be able to emotionalise completely as she spoke, a hint in her eye, "I just want you to know, Lucifer and Michael would have been proud of you." Then she walked up to him slowly, letting every step almost hypnotise the warrior until she reached down, grabbed him by the neck and kissed him full in the mouth.
Meanwhile
"Admiral Drafter, the Thunder is entering slip-space rupture as we speak" A voice called out to her, letting the ONI official watch from a heavy monitor in the cockpit bay of the large Battle Carrier and leading flagship, 'Red Dusk.'
Drafter looked up from the monitor at her desk, to her crewmembers and then finally to the large spacial cosmos outside the large reinforced glass frame so she could see the massive fleet known as the 'Thunder' disappearing into a maw like teleportation of slip-space travel. She sighed as she looked down at the remains of Genesis II, despite the efforts of the UNSC not one civilian had survived the glassing; well not one that they knew about.
Turning her gaze to the six remaining frigates under her command, the Admiral breathed a sigh of both admiration and despair; so few had survived but at least they were with her to the end, the efforts that would follow would certainly write some history, if they survived or not.
Finally she turned back to the operator in front of her, the pilot that was still waiting for the command that would not just settle the fate of every man and women in her fleet; but for every sentient living being in the universe.
And then she spoke, "Follow them, prepare all canister's for slip-space jump and radiational leaks, I want all vessels ready for the Thunder on the other side."