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Shade did not turn to watch as the Dropship blasted away at full speed back toward its hangar; she began marking the pace for their march to a place she would rather avoid. Given everything that was influencing what was occurring, she had little choice. Her escorts, eight Forerunner soldiers with auras of firm disinterest, melted away in a manner that only killers with a complete lack of moral conscience could.

It was obvious they were there, if only because she constantly glanced about, nervous that each step could be what sprang a trap she hadn't foreseen.
Fearful that she might be broadcasting her agitation openly, she distracted herself by gazing around, noting landmarks and scenery. They had been dropped in the middle of a swamp- quite a piloting feat, considering most landings required clearings so as not to damage the craft -and therefore needed to navigate once more. Or at least, she would have. Everyone around her seemed to know instinctively where they were going.

"It has been long since I last set foot here." Syidu had crept up behind her. She tried to cover up her flinch with a question, secretly astounded. Little could take her unawares when she was paying at least half attention.
"You created these Halos?"
Laughter. "No. These were created far before my time, but I've frequently visited each one. Not for some time, however."
Shade took some time in digesting what she'd just been given. These constructs, Halos, were old. She had known that much before, as to approximately how old was yet to be revealed. The installation she'd found at Pluto then, was only a few decades or less in its age, which meant someone had been there unawares to humanity, building within the planetoid's core. One race immediately came into mind.

"The installation monitored by your construct, Gallant Claw, was only recently constructed then?"
He seemed both unprepared and prideful, eyes growing wide, then beaming with life she hadn't yet known in him. She had found another weakness; he was attached to his people's triumphs.
"By the standards of most installations, yes. It was created officially as a rallying point for refugees fleeing the collapse of our Empire after overwhelming Covenant," He swallowed, his voice carefully measured. "numbers destroyed our central Government bodies."
Shade found herself smiling with cold satisfaction. He deserved any grief he'd claimed, as far as she was concerned. He was after all, an enemy. Their conversation died down and she was left alone again, thinking what she would. No longer was it raining, the air here was warm, sticky and humid. She expected no less. This section was also drier than the one she and her warriors has marched through, a fact she was thankful for, slogging through muddy ground was taxing enough without having to worry about the possibility of Syidu stabbing her in the back.
More Forerunner soldiers, their Wolf-shape masks displaying feral cunning for all sight, appeared from thin-air with nary any sound. So, they had personal cloaking much as her infiltrator Torra did.

"Stand and deliver!" The voice was female, carrying an almost masculine solo under itself. Judging by her bulk, she had more testosterone in her than the average primate-human creature. Her weapon remained firm, leveled at her more than Syidu; she likely had companions waiting in hidden firing positions.
Syidu's commands clear, gloriously powerful, speaking in rhythmic melody, the sentry disappeared and moved off. Syidu moved on, and this time it was she who followed. The field headquarters burst into view in its full chaotic bustle. Beneath it all, the well-oiled, organized pack she'd first seen.

She did not entirely care of their troop placements or numbers, she had more immediate problems to worry about. The perimeter seemed to have been established as a rough triangle, covering the three open spaces into the area, which was essentially a scattering of thick trees and rocks. That was interesting, she supposed that if one side fell under attack the other emplacements or soldiers could easily shift themselves about to provide support.
At the center of the encampment, the command structure; a spherical prefab building with two levels. Arranged around it, in precise rows was a ring of smaller buildings, likely barracks for any soldiers off duty. She did not register anything else, other than the general things she already knew to be there.

Syidu exchanged a few words with passing troops in a manner that suggested companionship. She felt it was a waste of time. The function of a lower caste was to perform its duties so its better could implement the plans that would see them all to safety. The conversations only delayed that task further. She rolled her eyes in irritation, before she caught herself. It was better not to reveal such things to the enemy, such pathetically human mannerisms.
She moved on alone; waiting for her safety only prolonged her presence with possible attackers, and bored her further. It was a strict timetable she followed; she had to get to the index before any harm could come of others snatching it from under her grasp.
Shade walked in the open, as she had been taught to do, become one with the surroundings apparent. Left and right messengers, patrols and other necessary personnel in the encampment went about their business. Precise and in uniform, so focused on their duties she felt a sense of belonging, a sense of alienation all at once.

"You there!" Something was wrong, a displeased masculine voice told her she looked out of place. "Why are you not in uniform?" For a moment she lost herself in indecision, fearful that she might be shot on sight because she was not recognized. But she quickly realized that sensation would get her nowhere. The offended soldier stopped a few inches away, as if waiting for a response. She did not want to disappoint him.
"Forgive me, sir." She kept her eyes downcast, tried to make her breathing seem nervous, which didn't turn out to be very difficult. "I was just returning from a stroll, I hadn't realized the time." As if to strengthen the weight of her obvious deception, a gust of hot air blew in from ahead, tossing her hair upward, revealing the last thing she wanted him to see. Her ears.

His hands flew to his side, locking fingers around his sidearm. Her hands shot up in response, obviously faster than he could register, thumb and index finger tensed, striking him in the throat while the heel of her other hand slammed hard into his chest. She barely had time to feel his nerves shudder before he flew back, gasping. Dying.
Energy built up inside her body, climbed down her spine, burst passed her skin and seized her body in an unrelenting punishment. Wheezing, gagging on her own blood, she cut a pitiful impression, dirty, with fried hair and stale, cooked flesh. Having a seizure in the middle of the path, eyes rolled up into the back of her head. As unlikely as it seemed, she did not scream, or cry out. Her throat was too swelled, too tight for any sound to break free. Amazingly enough, no one seemed to notice.

She waited for a time, wondering bitterly if her nerves could still welcome the sensation of pain, of pleasure. The individual grains of dirt kicked up by water drainage answered her in its own stride, little furies wiggling along her body. She could feel. Wheezing in what air her constricted throat let her, she staggered over to a group of crates and collapsed. No more friends to see my weakness. No strength for my enemies to celebrate. She closed her eyes, letting the shock of her situation pass over, holding her legs close to stave off the coldness she knew she should not be feeling. "I cannot even strike my foes without being cast aside as if I am no threat." Warriors could not grieve or cry for their defeats and doubts. They could not...

Shade frowned. "No, concentrate on the index."
With nothing better to occupy her time as she tried to contain her rebellious limbs, which were taking a painfully long time to recover, she resorted to reading the call numbers and labels on the containers nearby. Food Rations, Spare Data Crystals, Power Cells. Her eyes continued scanning, strangely curious. Did she hope? Did she dare guess that they would be so trusting?

If her smile was any indication, they were. "Weapons and Uniforms." Her whispered words struck her as a quiet vow, a sworn oath. She was on her own grounds now, and it was time to go to work. What had passed did not matter, there was only one thing left to do. Muffled footsteps caught her, a bright light shining into her eyes. Instinctively, she flinched away, squinting up at the offending source to get a better view at whatever was behind it. The eyes of Syidu were flat, carefully neutral. But his tone suggested he was amused.
"Going somewhere?" His fist clenched and unclenched, reigning in great sadness. He was a two-faced impossibility. "I didn't want to have to punish you, but you're leaving me no choice." His actions suggested otherwise. She watched the motion of the light, entranced by its shimmering façade. The kick delivered to her ribs caused her a sudden, shocked yelp. Her sensitive ribs, recently mended, still soft, snapped once more. She curled up to stave off the pain, to protect herself, but only succeeded in making it worse.

"What do you have to say for yourself?" He grabbed a fist full of hair, and pulled her to her feet, ripping out a spot of it. Shade did not notice the blood making its way down her scalp and into her face. Only the stinging pain, her tortured breath.
"Cannot breathe!" She tried, desperate for air. For release.
"Unfortunate." He shoved her into a parade square, where she fell gladly as her body screamed why she should not have moved. Standing, could not stand. Am I to die here? I do not wish to die, I have not completed my mission. CANNOT BREATHE! Going to fail... please, air!

She was only dimly aware of the orders he snapped off, professional, simple. Blows rained down from every direction, she tried to escape their wrath, only succeeded in exposing more of herself to be beaten. As far as she could tell, there was nothing outside the pain, the desire to be free of it.
Free of the unending kicks, rifle butts, of the soldiers who assaulted her. With nothing other than her own blood to inhale, she closed her eyes and fell into death's embrace.

Death was long time coming. When she opened her eyes again her vision was blurry, she waited for it to focus before being forced to close her eyes again; the light was far too bright. Memories welled up, she quickly suppressed them with a keen awareness of the aches and pains her body felt. It was still difficult to breathe still, she was once again laying on a hovering table, lashed to it by restraining straps. He did not waste time in making his presence known. Syidu's voice was easily recognizable, it was the only sound she respected as equal to her own voice.

"I hope you find your accommodations pleasant?"
Shade grated her teeth as the bones in her body scraped against one another, ignoring swollen limbs, stings, dull pains, blunt aches and any other conceivable injury as best she could. If she had the strength, she would have managed some retort. Her eyes would no longer open, they'd swollen shut just now.

If he would cease their game, her torment could end, she would no longer have to suffer. He was too shrewd for that, she amended grimly. He would make her beg for death, but only after he'd extracted everything useful. It would be what she would have done in his place.

Shade wept both inside and out, only adding to her veritable list of discomforts. She still had something to hold on to, however. The soothing effect of a song she'd only recently learned kept her alive, kept her heart from succumbing to wounds far more deadly than anything physical. She could have sworn she heard a woman's voice, aged but brilliantly free from all the things that bound her to an endless cycle of war. A voice that was one with fair hair, youthful face.

That voice was sibilant, and belonged to Syidu. "Still now my child, still now your grace." The woman who could not possibly have been present was singing, soothing, willing for survival. The lullaby Shade remembered word for word was different somehow, its words changed.

"Rest easy ever I'm here with you now, my little black hair, your star yet shines. Precious you life is, so dear." Images simply appeared, not flashed, shot or blurred, but came into existence and settled. A night sky lit by blinking stars, blocked out by an imposing armored figure. A head with hopeful features, trying desperately to contain joy. Her mind immediately dismissed these as delirium, surely what they must be.

Dimly she was aware of Syidu speaking with another Forerunner. She did not think, only listened to their words as the song faded from her mind, clinging to reality's very substance by slowly snapping threads.
"Get her cleaned up, I rather dislike seeing her in this state."
"Our nano-robotics should heal most of what is physical, but her body will be drained. There's no telling how weak she might be when the procedure is done; especially considering it was just used to mend broken bones not more than hours ago."
"I do not care." Syidu again. "Weak is yet better than dead due to injuries we inflicted. We still have use for this one."
"As you command then, Ship-Lord."
What were they planning? Why were they so utterly brutal, yet so caring? She whimpered in confusion, something that had she been in another time and position, would have regarded for weaker beings. There should have been another to tell her what answers she was missing, a steadfast Tras'Lok to defer to where she could never know the answer. A fleet she could command in a billion ways to crush this new foe. But that fleet was little more than ashes now, blown by the winds of time into scholar's notes.
Another tiny needle stabbed into her flesh, but by now, she could no longer feel it.

From across the room, Jaeden'Seul stood leaning on a sterilized wall, arms crossed, gaze attentive in one of his rare moments of complete concentration. His old friend had a plan, he could tell that much just by the way he carried himself. S
yidu was a man of many enigmas, and to pierce them all would be to swallow yourself in his endless, all consuming self. So Jaeden didn't try. He followed, occasionally ending up with some foresight if he had knowledge enough. The murderer would get what she deserved sooner or later, of that there could be no doubt. But he preferred sooner to anything that amounted to years from now. It was this that drove him to question his Lord.
"Why don't just shoot her and be done with it?" He could not keep his gnawing vexation from his voice. "She's a threat. The smartest thing to do would be-

Syidu cut him off. "No." Was all that the slightly taller man offered.
"Talk then." He had no desire to be left out of the loop. Everything he didn't know he could potentially screw up, which meant he obviously needed to remain as some put it, 'filled in.' Syidu locked gazes with him, not challenging, simply assessing whether or not he wanted to divulge what he knew.
So Jaeden figured, that is. Doubt fingered his mind. I may have pushed this too far. He squared his shoulders. He would not be treated in second-rate ways. He could not back down now, if he did there would be consequences not only unfavorable to him, but for everyone under their collective command.
To his amazement it was Syidu who seemed nervous, glancing not at him as he'd originally believed, but over his shoulder. Other than the hovering medical table, the room was empty, there wasn't much an uncertain Ship-Lord could look at.
"She seems intelligent enough to be a leader, there isn't much else she could be. My idea is simple, drop her slightly ahead of the band she was traveling with by using a sub-tunnel, they'll pick her up and eventually lead us back to the vessel that escaped our initial thrust."
"You forget Syidu, she expects you to try that. She will find your tracer and dispose of it. I may not be the model soldier, but I'm far from stupid. Your plan has flaws, what clouds your judgment?"
His eyes suggested that he was slightly proud of himself for having figured out a large kink that Jaeden had not. "No one ever said she be conscious at the time." He fingered a vial, recently acquired from a healer. "I am going to be running some tests on this. In the meantime, see to the general running of our operations here, would you?"
"Why bother?" It wasn't like Syidu to neglect his duties unless it was vitally important.
"Her eyes. Very interesting happenings inside them."
"You saw it too." The Forerunner Ship-Lord never answered him, only walked off with the very demons of innumerable hells on his heels. He should have seen it then, that a grave idea had latched onto his mind. It so happens that in the future, that idea would have grave consequences to their mission.

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