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A bright light filled Shadow's thoughts, his emotions, and his sight. It blinded him only for a second, something of a mystical shroud. The light slowly faded away in front of him, to reveal his somewhat awkward position. Underneath him was and entire building, what seemed to be a Church. In front of him was a shrouded creature, what he took to be an interpretation of Shade, holding up a cross. Plastered onto it, with blood dripping down in immense amounts was Geb, his eyes wide open...accusing and sorrowful. To his right were all his friends: Az, Jan, Cal, and even Kroeger. They simply stared at him...some sad, others with anger. A second later, they began cursing at him, and pointing at Geb's torn and withered body on the cross. Their voices were replete with anger and accusations towards him, though they were nothing but faded screams in his mind. They were indecipherably soft enough that he couldn't discern the words, yet loud enough to hurt him. Shade was smiling a great, big...evil...sinister smile. She was nothing of a physical entity, but rather just something of a ghastly spirit with the eyes of a demon. To his left, he heard the cocking of a gun. He jerked his head to the sound; only to be met with a hailstorm of bullets tearing through his body, creating endless wounds and exit wounds. Blood flew out of his body like some gruesome shower as he turned his attention to his assailants. The Spartans stood there, their emotionless masks preventing any thought on their position of the situation. He stared out at everyone, the warm feeling of his red life force leaving him as intense as ever, before falling backwards off the edge of the roof. Spinning down endlessly to a red abyss, he looked up to see once again the accusing eyes of Shade, Geb and all the others. He screamed out, with both fear and regret. Blackness then took him.

He sat up; the feeling of ground beneath him a strange feeling after falling through a bottomless blackness. The cold, hard floor hit him with an alarming sense of reality as he looked about him. He was in the one room Covenant apartment building that he had taken refuge in. His eyes were wide in immense fright, as his head jerked around him, looking for complete assurance that the previous events that had conspired before were but thoughts in a nightmare. But somehow, the lurid dream felt strangely real. The bullets felt as if they were truly tearing through his flesh, and the stares were beyond accusing. They were downright hateful. A sense of guilt began to rush down his back, as he knew exactly what it was all about. He was the one to put Geb and the others through that one last stand for humanity against the Covenant invasion. He was the one that led Geb to his death. He was the one that blindly brought them to their never-ending sadness. He felt despicable. He felt...worthless. Despite the recent thoughts, he knew what he had to do, and what he thought of himself as a man was nothing in the way of his physical capabilities. He had to find Shade, and kill her. Somehow, it seemed as if she was the pedestal of all of the hate and sadness that sunk in his mind. It couldn't have been, for she played no part in the actions that had so far united in the past...but she seemed to be the fault of the nightmare nonetheless. Even though he couldn't help but think as such, logic kicked in and told him that the nightmare was only a reproduction of his own mind's guilt in the entire situation. He would have to set it aside for now.

"It took you a while for you to wake up. I was about to get you up myself."
"What?"
"Its night Shadow, and you need to find this Shade."
"I know what I need to find."
"I've been able to gather some information while you were slumbering. Apparently your sleep wasn't exactly pleasant."
"I don't even want to ask how you knew. What do we have on this Shade?"
"She's apparently a Covenant rebel. There are multiple accounts of strange occurrences and deaths on her part or within her vicinity. Most of them have gone unquestioned by her staff, though it seems she possesses some form of magic ability that surpasses the Covenant knowledge and understanding. She leads a small naval fleet, which I've tracked down to be in orbit over this very planet."
"Interesting. What else?"
"I have a few images of her. Most of any documents of her have been hacked, destroyed, or stolen. Most likely the work of her own forces in an attempt to eliminate any way to trace or reach her."

The images showed up in front of him, bright luminous light combinations that shocked even his well adjusting eyes. There were mostly low quality, taken either by security cameras, or those built into long-range sniper riflescopes. Either way, they were enough to allow him to pick her out from the rest of the crowd. She certainly didn't seem threatening at all. But looks were often deceiving, as he had learned many times in his past encounters with enemies.

"Well, how do I find her? This city is at large as New York."
"Well, I was able to hack a radio transmission about a Covenant lieutenant named Tras'Lok, who apparently is a right-hand man to this Shade. He is in this city somewhere. I have been able to find numerous 'police' video recordings that involved this Tras en route to a local bar."
"Video recordings?"
"Apparently this city has officers who like to listen to their suspects before arresting him to ensure his guiltiness."
"With him as a rebel leader, he's certainly high on their list of suspects. I'm sure they've been tracking him down for some time. It means that I'll have a hell of a time getting to this guy."
"The police have not been able to identify him as anything yet, so we have a window of time to find him, extract the information on Shade, and set out before we step anywhere near the city police."
"Alright."

With that, Shadow strapped in his sniper rifle and his assault rifle to the straps that hung over his shoulders. He lifted his grappling pistol and his traditional pistol and placed them both in holsters at his thighs. He finished it all off by lifting the black mask, made completely from a simple length of thin cloth, up from the bottom of his neck to cover his face and his identity. The loose streams of the paper thin fabric fell about three quarters down his back and were riddled with tears and bullet holes. He stepped out the door, took a look each way, and quickly jogged down the dirtied hall, down the stairs, and out to the surprisingly clean air of the city. It seemed that the energy in this city was far cleaner than anything found in the human cities. In many ways, Shadow envied the environmental responsibility and technological advances that the Covenant had made. They were in many ways far more perfect than a human could ever hope to be. At night, it seemed the streets were relatively empty, and only a small number of night active places throughout the city gleamed with neon colored lights. Society was much more favorable to the day life than the night-life that was found in the human cities. It was a very noticeable difference, though Shadow wasn't going to complain at all. This made his mission far easier. The bar was supposedly three blocks down, and Eva had marked the waypoints towards it on his arm communicator. She projected a larger version of herself behind him, floating in the air and looking around.

"It's quiet."
"I'm not bitching about it. It makes things far easier."
________________________________________________________________________

The scene was rather cliche, it seemed. Night had spread its leathery wings and determined its flight safe for all to see, the glittering gems which clung to motherly embrace. Not that any of the denizens who called the city home were poetic. The air was cold, and obviously tempers were irritable. Not so with Arkathen's Pub; here music seemed to radiate like the light of some lantern on a sea vessel's prow. Quizal, Torra and Hari-Key in all mingled as any old friend might. None paid any attention to those not quite within their respective conversations. At least, not until the doors opened to reveal a shaft of moonlight. Those hadn't opened in over twenty-four hours. As the doors swung open, an ominous beam of white moonlight flooded into the room, lighting the doorway with a luminous brightness that hadn't been witnessed by the patrons in hours. All heads turned quickly in response to the rare opening of the doors, only to stare in disbelief at the one that was standing there in silhouette. A few made glances towards each other, but none made a move to attack this human. Draped in pure black clothing, his figure made a strong, and threatening contrast to the bright moonlight of the sky...almost as if he was something of a demon ghost. He had been wandering the city for a few hours, getting a bearing on the recent happenings and searching for the bar. He was certainly the center of attention as of now. But that's not what he wanted. Of course, what reactionary response could he expect when he was but one human in a city of thousands of Covenant? The silence was unanimous. The music had stopped dead, and all previous figures currently allowed their eyes to slide into a state of nothing more than what could be called transfixed. Frowns deepened. Trigger fingers suddenly became... itchy. Not that any of them were military, but they might as well have been with the small armory each appeared to be packing gods knew where. Luminous eyes locked with doors, clawed fingers lifted free stun rods, fuel-rods, pistols, even the occasional two meter long metal pole. Untouched by the occurrences, one creature in the corner, who despite sitting completely rigid appeared stooped. Serenity, a picture of what it was among races meant for grand war. His tainted silver-black armor was a poor contrast with the violet wastelands upon which he rested. One gauntleted hand seemed dead atop the table. The other concealed in the various intricate black depths woven about. He slid his gaze across the surface of the table, and closed his eyes once more, though strength gathered in his legs and allowed him to rise. None broke the deadlock silence. Not that it mattered. Perplexed, the Torra scanned the crowd, attempting to ascertain the source of this oddity over the backs of both the simple-minded Hunters and the others of his kind, which he towered over by means of physical build.

One elite made the mistake of making the first move in the tense standoff. With speed, the soldier lifted his plasma rifle in a quick motion towards Shadow's head. With even quicker speed, a loud *bang* was sounded. Within less than a moment of the first gunshot, five more reverberated. Blue and purple blood was flung all over the surrounding patrons. A cloud of smoke emitted from each shot had surrounded the area in a dense blur of confusion, fit with the smell of fresh blood. As the smoke slowly cleared, it became apparent that the human was gone from the situation. The victim was the Covenant soldier that had attempted the first shot. Five holes in his chest, and a very long knife through his skull left the others in a bewildered and frightened state. In the dark corner, in the back of the room stood the human, smiling and watching the confusion that had ensued. He was glad that there was such poor lighting in the broken down pub, as it certainly worked to his great advantage. He looked in front of him, and saw the black armored elite that he had noticed only a moment before the action had occurred.

"I see that you didn't bring up your weapon as the others did."

The elite remained silent, standing aside the table with little more than a calm nod.

"Your point has been taken, Master human."

The elite's eyes glanced both left and right, screening his general area for any signs of something... specific. His ears were still ringing with the effects of the weapons fire previously displayed. His nose still tingled with the scent of the odd combination of smells. It certainly hadn't been a 'normal' human weapon, this he knew straight off through the fact that the rounds had continued on and killed another patron for each shot taken. That left six dead. Not the most impressive thing Tras'Lok had ever seen, but certainly one of the more 'odd' occurrences. Humans had not been seen for some time, not by general standards. He clasped his hands behind his back and spread his legs shoulder length, in the equivalent of parade rest, a human warrior's stance of ease. They knew this creature from somewhere; this he could tell by the mutterings and glances directed around the room.

"Was it him?" asked one of the many patrons.
"I think it was." Responded another.

Tras resumed the silent vigil, tapping something beneath the wrist guard of his armor, and sliding his tongue along the roof of his mouth until it contacted something of a cool, crystalline surface, which promptly dissolved once its task was done.

"Take a seat."
"I'll stand thank you."
"I thought you might." The elite remarked dryly, resting in the chair with a not-so-military bearing.

Though his air was proud, it maintained a relaxed feel. Shadow found the corner where the two walls met, and he leaned back in relaxation. He knew that the Covenant soldiers wouldn't find him for quite some time, as the entire place was so darkly lit. That and they had the implications that he had already made his escape. The fools. In any case, he knew that this elite that he spoke to was not a threat as of now. He was...calm, composed. Not angry. Likewise, the elite probably felt similar sense ease between the two. He hunched down in his little corner, rubbing the nozzle of his pistol with his shirt. He looked around the bar again and saw that the bodies were being taken out, while the rest returned to their normal position. A small group of elites took it upon themselves to take a search outside to find the human and kill him. Too bad they'd be searching all night.

"So, why not shoot at me?"

The Torra regarded his find with an amused glint under his eyes, breathing even and guided carefully. His voice was like the grating of nails on a chalkboard, coupled with the feeling of the one actually doing the grating, yet it somehow possessed a smooth, mellifluous quality.

"Currently, I do not seem to hold claim to an energy weapon."

He remained silent for those passing moments, tapping the surface of the table before him with one clawed finger.

"My statement clean through aquarian lips to you; I thought you were standing."

Tras's eyes took the opportunity to note the weapon being produced from under the shirt of the other, though he gave no indication of knowing it was there, he was certain the human knew that he knew. He didn't know HOW he knew that he knew, but he knew. The shadows about the pair were indeed dim, but that didn't stop his eyes from probing the darkness with trained professionalism. Shadow smiled slightly at the thought of a Covenant soldier not possessing a weapon. Perhaps a possibility. But the excuse in of it was quite weak. He knew very well that the soldier would have at least responded with an alert movement of some type, most likely standing up. But this one didn't even seem to care of his arrival in the pub. Meanwhile, the others had rushed to his throat. It was curious, but he would not push it any farther. He smiled again as the Covenant soldier made his first comment.

"I am standing, just up against a wall. Yet, it is still standing."

He knew that this elite was probing his image, looking for any details that would give him clues about who the human was. He didn't give a care. He would do so as well if he was that elite. In any case, he needed to get down to business. Time was most likely not on his side. He didn't know if he could trust one as this elite, but in a room of frantic hostiles, he seemed to be the most likely candidate as of now. It seemed very obvious that this would perhaps be the lieutenant that he was searching for. The others seemed to be nothing more than bumbling fools who did not realize the situation nearly enough to even begin to comprehend it. But this one was aware of everything about him, a sense of authority stood around him as well.

"Actually what you're doing is generally called leaning," the Torra corrected, scraping one of the many curved spikes atop his gauntled to the chain of the other as it passed over top.

He took a silent whiff of the human's scent, much like the Lady herself might have. He could not truly detect anything, but it was true that his nose simply wasn't meant for the task, and this he knew well. At the mention of her name, an internal spike of alertness shot to the surface. Almost. Externally he remained as impassive as he ever could. A quick search of the room located the various assassins and bounty hunters in the area, some wielding carefully concealed weapons, which had been directed toward the human.

"Now what would a... creature like yourself want with one of those good for nothing militant types?"

The words were actually half-truthful in Tras's mind. Which passed for the truth, and thus he could tell the half lie without breaking apart his honor or otherwise undermining himself. There were a great many things he might see to, but those could be put aside. He found the conversation itself rather interesting. Shadow nodded at the Covenant elite's response. He would have argued the fact further, as leaning as a part of standing was quite a controversial factor no matter how insignificant. The elite was quite sharp to have caught that in the first place, it gave him a sense of respect for him. Shadow looked closely at the elite as he responded: there seemed to be something wrong with his voice. The tone...had changed; yet he couldn't pinpoint it. He would leave it alone for now.

"Well I...hold on."

Shadow held his ear as if he was listening to an earpiece radio, but he was really listening. He heard the metallic clack of a weapon. He didn't know its origin. Probably a weapon far ahead of his time. He quickly looked up, and saw that he was targeted. Four of them. He had very little time. Within that very moment, plasma bullets and various other energy blasted headed towards his position, slamming into the corner, and ripping the walls to nothing more than shreds. The fire continued on for just a few more seconds before they were silenced. The patrons and crowds in the pub immediately jumped up in response, searching for the cause of the uproar. Shadow, meanwhile, was already behind the assassins, waiting again. He had lost his knife in the first bout with the inhabitants, but he didn't need it. Four bullets: four split skulls in less than 2 seconds. Blood had exploded all over the pub once again, and the dried blood of the first bout was now reinvigorated with the newly spilt life source. Before there was even a reaction, he was gone again...in the darkness of the pub once more. Tras'Lok continued to watch impassively, not slighted in the least by the volume of weapons fire directed his way, he continued to regard the human as if he had never moved, eyes locked.

"Impressive. Clumsy. Impressive nonetheless."

Shadow nodded to the elite's direction. He knew that the elite would not know his position, or even be able to see such a gesture, but he felt that it was necessary nonetheless. He watched as what was left of the patrons tended to the now either headless or half headless victims, while the rest poured out of the pub...thoroughly convinced that they were taking chances with their lives by staying in there. All except the bartender disappeared...even the bodies, having been dragged out by those that had looked for any signs of life in the limp carcasses.

"I knew that the name took your attention. What is she to you?"

Shadow looked around once more, realizing that the bartender was still at his "post", searching around for him and in such a tense mood that he would have been likely to explode any minute. He stepped out from his dark recluse and looked towards the bartender only for a second to ensure that he was nothing but scared stiff. He didn't want to be shot in the back while speaking to the interesting figure that sat before him. He slowly walked over past the frightened bartender and to the table that Tras was still sitting in, still a stoic as before. He slowly walked back, rubbing the nozzle of his gun once more, this time with much less interest, and much more interest on this soldier. The Elite shook his head, taking the time to breathe a hearty sigh before allowing his gaze to fall back onto the one resting before him.

"Who would wish to know my stance in this matter?"

Tras replied in what he believed to be a snide manner, he wasn't all that used to being crooked or otherwise untrustworthy in any way, thus his stumbling manner in this matter. What he was certain of was that he needed to pad carefully around this nest in order to allow it an effective play. His eyes screened the bartender, who was busily cleaning a row of mugs. He was pretending not to hear... good. Shadow took note that this elite certainly knew something of this person, or at least put up a front to the point to make one believe so. Either way, he needed to push the matter a bit further, or risk having nothing after coming out of the bar. Though he was no fan of pacifism, he respected life just as much as the next man, and to have killed those four elites with nearly no purpose would prove to be both a waste and a dishonor. To sacrifice a few for the good of the better goal, which in of itself was to destroy an evil and possibly save numerous lives, was well worth it to him. But to kill those with the intention to do such an act, but never pull it off would simply be a waste. The question was quite straightforward, though it implied that he explain himself further. He need not do so though.

"Me."

Tras'Lok allowed a slight smile to cross his features, there and gone in an instant, the passing wind on some randomly sunny day. He rapped the table for a few moments, making it seem as if he was in deep consideration of a point, or purposely lagging so that his buddy might draw a weapon and shoot the newly entering man in the back of the head. Instead, he merely took the opportunity to slide into an even straighter sense of attention. He could tell the man, but then again he might not. Either way something was bound to happen - to both parties - and Tras'Lok would not have any more blood on his hands than was absolutely necessary.

"My advice to you, Lord human, is to draw free of this matter entirely. The name Shade will haunt your dreams every waking moment, taunt you as it taunts me."

Shadow listened carefully to the elite's first words. But as he always did, one ear was spent on the ensuing conversation, and the other was occupied with his surroundings, lest any danger present itself. And that it might. He heard the light creaking of the doors as they opened. Though he displayed no notice that he was aware of such an event, he took careful note, and to pay careful attention to the newly entering creature, whoever it may be. He might have turned and shot the creature, but he had enough pointless bloodshed already. As it was, the other four deaths were quite excessive just for a bit of information. Life was worth more than that.

"My life is a nightmare beyond your wildest dreams. I don't need your preaching."
"You don't want it, but you would be wise to admit that you need it."
"It is not for you to give."
"It's mine and I gift it to whom I like."
"My life is my own, and it is not something you have a right to change. This is not for my own well-being elite, it is for higher things."
"Very well. Would you like to see this...Shade of yours? Open your eyes, human..."

The holographic pad resting in his hand slipped atop the table. The elite was methodical in this, tapping a series of buttons on the pad.

"Clear and wide, see with all that you have to sense... sight... smell... taste... your hearing...I do not wish to become another...target. It will be there and gone in moments. Are you ready?"

Shadow listened carefully, but with an eyebrow raised. This elite was truly a strange one. No matter. If this is what it would require for him to gain the information, then so be it. He decided to heed the elite's calls, and he tried to clear his mind of all but the device. In a very uncharacteristic response, Shadow affirmed the elite's question.

"Yes."

Tras broke off in a flurry of naturally complementing adrenaline rushes, eyes wide, ears barely closed, yet still able to catch the audible THUD as the grenade hit the floor. With every ounce of speed and agility he possessed, able to rival that of even the legendary Spartans, he was out the door and in the night, the traces of the explosion such a flashbang created still in his ears. The bright light and the sound would clearly be enough to disorient the human, and if not that the bruises and scratches that came with being in such a close proximity to the device. Over the table, rather on it had been left the holographic pad, one word imprinted on its surface.

'Uzumri'.

A blinding light immediately made impact with Shadow...rendering all of his senses useless...save for touch. The luminous light immediately blinded and deafened him. In a quick reaction, he grasped his grappling pistol, and pointed at what he perceived to be up. He didn't know at this point, as the flashbang had disoriented him. In any case, he shot the thing right through the roof, and allowed himself to be shot up as it detracted again. He shoved his feet forward in what seemed to be the same direction, and he made a loud 'CRACK' as his feet made contact with the roof and broke through it. He shot right up through into the cold night sky to use the momentum of the pistol's pull to throw himself into a flip a land on one knee atop the roof; holding his eyes.

"That was some answer."

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