The escape was going so well until that damned Elite with a needler showed up- and fired straight into Daisy right chest armor.
"Daisy!" Ralph exclaimed in horror, as an Elite with a plasma sword now charged up to the prone Spartan. He leapt down the Pelican ramp and blasted the Elite in the back, killing the alien.
"Chief!" The Marine under Daisy exclaimed, running to join the fight.
"I'm coming! Stay right there!" Ralph declared, as he and the Marine now battled converging Covenant forces.
Daisy leaned up, and yanked the needler out of her, grunting in pain at the wound. "There's no time, go Ralph! Get that ship out of here now!"
Covenant forces continued to bombard the Pelican from all sides with plasma fire, as Ralph, the Marine, and another crewmember now battled desperately against the incoming Jackals swarming them.
Flames soon broke out on the Pelican, and Daisy desperately grabbed her sidearm and popped the nearest Jackal. She then fired and fired, killing Jackals until her gun finally clicked, its clip exhausted.
From her upside-down vantage point, Daisy gasped in horror as she witnessed the Pelican explode in an enormous fireball, engulfing everyone standing around it. Ralph, the Marine, the other crewmen… were all dead.
"Uhh..uun..unn…" Those were pained noises- the pain of watching Ralph die, joining with the pain of her punctured chest, the only sounds she could make as she lay there helplessly. Tragically outliving him by a couple of minutes was by far not what she wanted. As her life drained out of her, she couldn't help but feel crushing defeat as the extraction she'd fought so hard for was not only a catastrophic failure, but had killed Ralph and the Pelican crew. 'Ralph, you… stupid… gallant… fool…' She thought, and her last breath escaped her.
When she awoke, Daisy found herself lying on a surface of shining light. "Hmm… where… am I? Is this… Heaven?" Obviously in the austere, cruel life of a Spartan, there was no space for any extensive religious beliefs, but Daisy was at least vaguely aware of the concept. When her fellow Spartans had perished, she'd hoped they'd gone to a better place. When Marines, soldiers, even civilians she'd fought alongside or lived alongside, perished, she hoped they'd find some happiness in some form of afterlife. Not that she ever had much time to ponder the philosophical and religious implications of such a concept- for a Spartan, if you were dead, you certainly wouldn't be able to do your job, so it wasn't worth discussing.
Daisy looked around, and was astonished to see two familiar figures appear. "Ralph, Sergeant…" She gasped, tearing up slightly.
"Daisy…" Ralph said, walking up to her.
Daisy slapped him in the face. "Ralph, what were you thinking?! I told you to get the ship out of there! You got yourself and everyone killed!"
"I'm so sorry, I thought-"
"Old friends?" The Marine Sergeant stated, amused.
"I was in the Spartan program as a kid," Ralph explained. "I knew Daisy from when I was six to fourteen… until I was discharged after having a mental breakdown."
"Six… wait you were… you're kidding… are… Spartans are child soldiers?" The Sergeant gaped.
"You're quick on the uptake," Ralph grinned.
"That's classified info-" Daisy began sharply, but Ralph cut her off.
"Come on! We're actually dead, and you still care about that?"
The finality of her death finally hit her, and Daisy sighed. "Well...I see this… well, this will take some explaining…"
"Well, that can come later, I'm sure," The Sergeant dismissed. "But what I wanted to say about Ralph is, sure, he made a mistake, but I'm just as much as fault. I may not have known you as long, but I can say it's been an honor to serve under you. I… also didn't want to leave you behind. Not while you still drew breath."
Daisy shook her head sadly. "You damn fools…" For the first time in years, she allowed tears to trickle down her face. She'd almost forgotten what it was like to cry.
"Um… by the way," Ralph interrupted awkwardly. "We'd love to catch up with you later… but there's seems to be someone who wants to see you
"Wait, don't- don't go-" Daisy was making a mess of herself, finally having being released from the onerous burden of being a Spartan.
"Don't worry," Ralph reassured. "We'll be back, and we'll have all the time in the world to catch up after all. But I have my own comrades to meet, and there seems to be someone who really wants to see you…"
Daisy turned around, as Ralph and the Sergeant faded for the time being… and saw… herself. A frailer version of herself, in a pretty civilian dress. The last time she saw her, the girl had been wheelchair-bound.
"You…"
"Hey… you're… Daisy, aren't you?" The clone stated.
"How…?"
"I've always felt… something was wrong. I had dreams, strange ones. But after that day, when I saw you, I… had a feeling. And all these years down here, I've heard… rumors, you know. About a certain Spartan program. And flash clones. I may have her memories, but… I'm not the real Daisy am, I? You're Daisy, aren't you?"
"So I was right," The clone seemed vindicated… but her tone also carried a slight… bitterness. "I'm… not real, I knew it…"
"Wait," Daisy's eyes widened, realizing that her clone must have had her own struggles too. "That's not-"
"I'm not real… that's why I was born in such a sick, weak body."
"Daisy- !" Daisy called out to her clone.
"... why was created… like this?! I'm an abomination..."
"Daisy!" Daisy ran up and clutched her clone's shoulders. "Don't say that!"
"Didn't you… hate me? I saw you aim your gun at me. I knew… you must've hated me for stealing your life. Your family."
"It's… not your fault," Daisy reassured. "That day… you gave me that small teddy bear. I'm… so eternally grateful. I've kept it every day since. To the day I fell in battle."
"I'm glad… I was able to do something right," The clone seemed to calm down somewhat. "Your parents should be alright, by the way. I haven't seen them down here, even with the war claiming so many lives…"
"Thank goodness," Daisy sighed, allowing a rare smile to grace her face. "I'm glad… but they're our parents."
"I have no right to-"
"You kept them company for all those years, while I was gone. They're every bit your parents as they are mine."
"I was born in a vat-"
"And I don't care," Daisy hugged her clone. "Sisters?"
The clone's eyes widened. "You would-?"
"Yes." Daisy asserted. "We both went to our own hells- you had your sickness, I had my training and the surgeries… but now, let's not be alone, okay?"
The clone's eyes brimmed with tears. "Thank you, sis. I have so much to tell you. So much that should have been yours."
"And yours too," Daisy added. "Strength and health you should have had."
"You know," The clone smiled. "One day, when we see Mom and Dad, imagine their reaction when they find out they have two daughters, not one."
Daisy chuckled at the thought. "That will take quite the explaining…"