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Shadow ran through the hallways, beads of hot sweat running down his face as he ran quickly and carefully. A few drops slid down his forehead and sunk into his eyes. The sweat would normally irritate a man, but Shadow was too concentrated with the mission that he didn't give a rat's ass about the sweat. It was the least of his worries. As he ran through the hallway that connected the guard tower to the main building, he thought of how he would enter the main building after he charged the automatic doors. He thought that he might wait for reinforcements, but that wouldn't work. As soon as the base was alerted to his presence in the tower, he'd have one way out, through the door in front of him. Surely, that's where the soldiers would be coming in. Yes, that idea was definitely out of the picture. If he ran in for a full frenzied firefight, he'd be able to take out most of the base's guards and personnel, but Kroeger and the Spartans would just be too much for him. No, but the full assault was also out of the picture. He decided that stealth and cunning were the best ways of getting into the hangar and finding a vehicle to get out of this damn desert. And maybe get some rations on his way. He ran right up to the door and it automatically zoomed open. The doorway revealed a perpendicular hallway in the main building. It was much more brightly lit than the dimly lit connection hallway. Control panels and view screens lit up the area in bright colors of red and green with other colors dotting the area.

He made sure to stay in the doorway, for cameras were sure to litter the area. With Kroeger and the Spartans here, security cameras would definitely be in place in the default military sections as well as some additional ones. He grabbed his pouch and dug around with his left arm, blindly searching for a device in the pack. He found it and slowly pulled it out. It was a rod-like device, with type of dura-plastic section attached to it. The dura-plastic section was filled with fiber-optic sensors, enough for a full visual scan if activated. In addition, the bending factor of the section allowed him to search the hallway and around the corners without being seen. He listened carefully to make sure that there were no incoming footsteps, ensuring that a wandering guard wouldn't stumble upon him. If that happened, he'd be sure to yell for help before he could kill him. After that, all hell would break loose. No footsteps. Good. He pressed two red-lit buttons on the non-bendable area of the device, and it blinked a few times. He activated the COM device on his left arm and it beeped twice and showed up a few figures and stats to tell him that the fiber-optic device and the COMS system had linked up using infra-red. Infra-red was quite an old way to transmit things, and was usually outdated by UV and Gamma. They were much faster, but much more unstable and unreliable. He couldn't have Gamma and UV equipment if they were only going to work some of the time. No...he would need something that always worked when he needed it to work. That's why he used Infra-Red instead of other bandwidths.

He bent the fiber optic sensor to a 90 degree angle and slowly pushed it past the doorway using his right hand. Meanwhile, he held up his left arm to see what was going on through the COM system. The COM system targeted two cameras and another laser detection system. He swiveled the device and took a peek on the left side. The same exact thing was targeted by the COM system. He pressed a few buttons and his arm device took down the coordinates of the laser targeting and the cameras. Meanwhile, he put away the fiber-optics and pulled out another device. It was a flat, circular shape, with a relatively small screen dominating most of the device. In addition, there were a few buttons on the edges where the screen didn't reach. He pressed one of the buttons and a large keypad ejected from the side of the device. He hooked the circular device up to the COM system on his arm device and began searching for a military data frequency where he could tap and hack through. The COM system on his left arm opened up a small hole, and a thin antennae popped up. He waited a few seconds, and the system found a GR-Class military frequency. It wasn't the most secure frequency, and he himself could be tapped if someone was expecting company, but it would get the job done. He pressed a few buttons on a keypad, took a few seconds to hack through the security codes for the camera and laser targeting systems, and finally was able to shut them down. He typed in a few more codes to erase his tracks and put up false camera pictures to make the camera guard think that nothing happened. Doing that was much better than just shutting down the cameras. If he just did that, the screens would go fuzzy, the guard would know that there was something was wrong, and all hell would break loose. He detached the circular device and placed it softly on the ground and reattached the fiber-optic system. He slowly pushed it through the side of the doorway again and investigated. The cameras hung down, deactivated on both sides and the lasers on each side were not visible. Good, all the security measures in the hallway were finished. He deactivated all his systems and put the fiber-optic system and the hacking device back in his bag. He pressed a few buttons and EVA showed up as a hologram.

"Do, Do, Do. Oh, hi Shadow. I was just playing around with the military's communications systems, it's much fun."
"Hehe, you're a lot like Cortana."
"Who's Cortana?"
"Er, an AI I met on a past mission before I programmed you."
"I see. Well, what did you call me for?"
"Well, I need you to go on silent mode from now on. That means you only speak to me through text on the COM system. Got it?"
"Righto."

The hologram disappeared and a whole bunch of text came up on the COM system. He responded using his default system alias: User 1.

EVA: So, what do we do now?

User 1: You use those blueprints to find us a secure way through the military complex to Kroeger and the Spartans without having to deal with any security measures.

EVA: Thinking, thinking. Got it. There's a ventilation shaft up above you. You can't see it because it's on the other side of the ceiling, but you can get through it. I recommend that you use the grappling hook to push up one of the steel plates.

User 1: Oh right, and they're not going to think about us being in the ventilation shafts.

EVA: Well, they don't know we're here yet, so lets move before they find out. Ok?

User 1: Ok, what's the weakest ceiling plate?

A visual sensor opened up on his COM system and the AI responded on the text communication.

EVA: That one right there.

The visual sensor sent up a small laser pointing to one of the steel ceiling plates.

He lowered his left arm, and pulled out his pistol with his right hand. Immediately, extreme pain was sent down his arm and made him feel cold, chilled to the bone. It was that damn wound he had gotten out at the desert. He'd have to tough it up though, or he wouldn't make it out alive. He slowly aimed with a shaky arm, and fired into the plate. The grappling hook shot up and attached to the ceiling. At the same time it dislocated the plate and pushed it up into an inner ceiling above the one that was visible. It made a loud clang, and he immediately looked around to make sure no one was in the vicinity. His COM system flashed, notifying him that a message was being sent.

EVA: I already scanned, no guard sized heat sources in the area.

User 1: What about Spartans?

EVA: Nothing.

He pressed a switch on the side of the pistol and pressed the trigger again. The wire retracted and he was pulled up to the ventilation shaft. He crawled in, and looked around. Nothing. He detached the grappling hook from the ceiling plate, and it clanked back down into position, leaving no evidence that someone had infiltrated the base. As it slammed back into place, the entire shaft went pitch black, having no light flooding in from the hallway. He reached for his bag and pulled out a small eyepiece. He placed it on his ear and it gave him night vision for one of his eyes. He could have gotten goggles, but if a sudden high amount of light was to hit, he wouldn't be completely blind with only one eye using the device. Of course that meant he would need to close his non-night vision eye while the other did all the work. He activated it, and the area immediately lit up for him. The entire place seemed green through the eyepiece, but there were darker spots along the shaft. Must be stains or something. He slowly crawled, trying to make as little sound as possible. The base was sure to have sound sensor systems located in the hallways beneath the shaft, so he would need to be quiet.

EVA: Make a left here.

He saw an opening in the shaft that led to another intersecting shaft. He crawled through that one and expected another message.

EVA: Keep going and make the second right here.

He did so. He kept on following these directions from EVA until she told him to stop.

EVA: Right ahead of you should be a vent. This vent leads right to the Spartans and Kroeger. But watch it, the Spartans have heightened senses.

User 1: I know.

EVA: Well, I'm sorry, I didn't think you had encountered a Spartan before.

User 1: You are wrong

He pulled the fiber-optic device out of his bag again and attached it to his COM device. He pulled out an additional audio device and attached it to the fiber-optics. He slowly pushed the device through the vent and waited for the conversation to start.

"Commander Kroeger we need to be getting out of here soon, sir. If we want to get to the mission site in time, we should leave now."
"I know that John."
"Alright sir. Linda and James are at the post where the guards did not report in."
"Status Report."
"Well, the guards are dead. The intruder driving the Warthog apparently wasn't killed in the missile barrage."
"This soldier probably won't be a problem. The blueprints are here. I want you to pack these up for the mission. We'll probably need them."

Another Spartan stepped out from the other side of the room. It was Fred, Shadow could tell. He was right about all of them. They WERE all here. Each and every one of the ones he had predicted.

"I suggest that we leave to commence Operation Wraith."
"Yea, we better get leaving. John, go get James and Linda. Fred and Kelly are to come with me to the hangar. You guys meet us there when you finish getting James and Linda."
"Yes sir!"

Shadow watched in silence and slowly pulled out the fiber optics once everyone had left the room. He put away the devices and thought to himself for a few seconds. So, they knew that he was in the complex somewhere. In addition, there were 5 Spartans instead of just the one that he had seen in the window. Now he was in big trouble. He'd need to move quick if he wanted to get out of here alive. He was bugged out of his thoughtful trance by a blinking of the COM system.

EVA: We need to get out of here now!
User 1: Yes, tell me the fastest way to get to the hangar.

EVA: That's simple, we can even head off the Spartans and the Commander if we want.

User 1: Fine. The sooner the better.

It would have been smarter to just wait for the forces to leave. But who knows, it could be the entire fleet. If that happened, he would be without a vehicle. In addition, he was sure that the engineers were onto him now, and were probably going to flush the shafts with immense heat to make sure he wasn't in there. He would need to be out of there if he didn't want to be barbecued. EVA sent him more directions, step by step, and after a few minutes he was at the ventilation shaft leading straight to the hangar.

EVA: Here it is. Try not to get us killed.

User 1: You can go to normal communications as soon as I get out of the hangar. Right?

EVA: Right, I'll know when, I'm a smart AI, remember?

User 1: Right.

He looked at his assault rifle and made sure everything was in secure.

User 1: How long before Kroeger and the others get to the hangar.

EVA: With James's and Linda's location, and how fast Kroeger and the other Spartans are walking, I'd say we have about 46 seconds, and counting.

He didn't bother to respond. He kicked out the ventilation door and jumped down to the hangar. He fired a quick silenced spray towards the two closest marines.

*FT**FT**FT**FT**FT**FT**FT**FT**FT**FT**FT**FT**FT**FT**FT**FT*

The silenced shots ran right through the marines as he made his run for one of the warthogs. He fired off another few rounds at the unaware engineers. They crumpled over, dead. He jumped in, and quickly activated the systems, and the engines roared to life. He heard the sliding of automatic doors, and he turned around. He finished off the clip at the door with almost complete accuracy. It was useless though as it smacked into the first person in the doorway, a Spartan. The bullets just bounced off as they slammed into the MJOLNIR armor. The shields glistened a shiny gold as the Spartan immediately responded with cover fire for the commander.

*GE**GE**GE**GE**GE**GE**GE**GE**GE**GE**GE**GE**GE**GE**GE* *GE**GE**GE**GE**GE**GE**GE**GE**GE**GE**GE**GE**GE**GE**GE*

*PING**PING*

Shadow took cover as the bullets came straight for him. Most bounced off the back end of the Warthog, but two others smashed into the dashboard right next to his head. He had forgotten that the damn Spartans were crack-pot shooters. He pressed the accelerator and watched as the two Spartans got into a second Warthog: one into the driver seat and one into the gunner stage. The assault rifle would be useless. He dropped it into his seat and unstrapped his sniper rifle. He had one advantage that the others did not. He had a sniper rifle, and they had assault rifles. He intended to use this advantage, or he would have no chance. As soon as the warthogs pulled out of the hangar, he swung around and fired two quick rail gun shots.

*BLAM* *BLAM*

The first hit the chain gun blowing off the gunner Spartan and the second shot blew up the Warthog, causing the driver to fly out. They were both hurt, but he knew they weren't dead. They were tougher than that. But at least they would be down for the count for a few hours. He kept on driving up a dune hill. All of sudden he heard the screech of two rocket shots. He didn't bother to turn around to confirm his guess. He just jumped out, sniper rifle in hand. He heard an enormous explosion, and his skin burned as it felt intense heat up against it. Yup, his Warthog was probably totaled. He turned around, and sure enough, the Warthog was flipped up, and smoking. Man, he was having a bad day. A lone assault rifle shot came at him.

*BLAM* *PIP*

Time seemed to slow down as he heard it. He jumped backwards down from the top of the dune down the other side. He watched as the shot finally came and smacked into the hot sand. Well, at least his reflexes were very good, maybe as good as the Spartans, even in their MJOLNIR armor. Maybe he was exaggerating, but he held quite a secret inside of him that pertained to the Spartans...

*PIP**PIP**PIP**PIP**PIP**PIP**PIP**PIP**PIP**PIP**PIP**PIP**PIP**
PIP**PIP**PIP**PIP**PIP**PIP**PIP**PIP**PIP**PIP**PIP**PIP**PIP**
PIP**PIP**PIP**PIP**PIP**PIP**PIP**PIP**PIP**PIP**PIP**PIP**PIP**
PIP**PIP**PIP**PIP**PIP*

Scorching assault rifle fire came from the hangar and slammed into the sand all around him. He didn't bother to dodge and ran quickly, trying to get out of range. A loud alarm sounded as he began to run. Great, now the entire base knew of his escape, and he had no vehicle. The entire trip inside the base was a total waste. Or was it? That conversation seemed like a normal conversation, but there might be some clues on the visual that he didn't notice with his bare eyes. He heard the pit pat of running and turned around. Something was following him. A Spartan was running as horrific speed, catching up to him. He could barely see her as she hid behind one dune and rock after another. He was lucky to get a quick glance at her, and now knew of her presence. Judging by the speed, the Spartan was definitely Kelly. He stopped running, turned around, kneeled and fired a sniper blast right into her chest. Her armor's shields took most of the hit, but the shot was powerful enough to push her back and blow her unconscious. Or so he thought. After a few seconds, she got up again, and began the chase again. Instead of panicking, he calmly fire two more shots. The fire hit her shoulder, and her entire left side pulled back from the blast, and the second hit her leg. She fell down. She was definitely unconscious now. The entire time he was concentrating on Kelly, and he hadn't heard the Warthog noises coming closer, and closer. He heard them now in the almost dead silence of the desert. Just great. A hover-warthog pulled up over the hill and immediately began firing upon him. The last two Spartans and Kroeger were in this one. If he could take this one out...but it was too late. The fire came quicker than he anticipated, and was forced to jump out of the way of the blasts. Midway in his jump, he fired his sniper rifle again.

*BLAM* *PIF*

The blast slammed into one of the hover generators, but the thing only smoked and kept on coming. He got up and broke into a full sprint up to the dune hill. Maybe if he could get up there, he could get the advantage of higher ground. But he wasn't fast enough. Stinger bullets ripped through his flesh and his back felt like it was on fire. He felt warm blood flow down his leg and the rest of his back as the bullet tore through him. He was lucky that he was at long range, or he would done for. Fortunately, only a few bullets landed their mark on him. But even then, the pain was getting to be too much. He immediately slowed down, but didn't fall or crumple to the sand. A screech sounded. Great, another rocket. He saw a glimpse of the missile right before it slammed into the sand right in front of him. A mix of fire and sand tore into the flesh of his face and chest. Meanwhile he was blown straight up in the air, at least 5 feet. He flailed his arms, still gripping tightly onto his sniper rifle as he fell. He landed with a thud on his bloodied back. He groaned and pointed the sniper rifle right at the Spartan driving the Warthog, probably John. He grimaced as small explosions in the sand flew up around him as the chain gun kept its fire trained on him. He pulled the trigger...

*CLICK*

No, it couldn't be. The gun had jammed. Either way, it didn't matter. The enemy fire stopped as his vision blurred and began to go black.

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