On the outside looking in.
When he wasn't on a battlefield or at least engaged in some form of combat, Grandmaster Ludo "The Plague" 'Macdem often observed the rest of the world around him from this standpoint. He was an outsider, no matter what circle he was in. A stranger, an alien amongst his own species. There were very few he felt he could relate to over the years. Most others feared or respected him, as they simply judged him by his past or reputation and never gave him a further thought. Still, this was all okay.
Maybe in his younger days did he let such a self assessment bother him. But now at his age, after years of cultivation, craft mastery, and training countless students in the art of Bin Son, Ludo just accepted all for who and what they were. He even respected his enemies in this manner. For in truth, he knew they weren't really his enemy. Just fellow combatants who, through circumstance, were now here to test his abilities in a new way.
Situations change, he knew. Not too long ago, he was fighting alongside the Jiralhanae against the Humans. He wouldn't be at all surprised if the Unggoy ended up becoming his species' new arch nemesis.
The Plague looked over to his apprentice, Mar, who was chatting and laughing it up with a team of Spec Ops Elites.
He had taken the younger of the 'Garais twins under his wing just shortly after the intense battle with Tartarus which claimed the lives of many notable Elite warriors, including Mar's older brother Madiba. Ludo decided to train him not only because he was already a Bin Son graduate (though that made things much easier), but because he was able to see past Mar's outwardly professed cockiness to the true sources, the confidence and selflessness. He saw the potential of a great leader in this young Elite Major.
Ludo looked away from the group of Elites to the floor of the assault carrier, thinking about the hectic events that occurred over the past couple of weeks. Before briefly returning to Sanghelios to assist with a rebellion of outnumbered Separatists, he'd prevented several serious attempts made on the Arbiter's life by covert Covenant assassins. If the Arbiter didn't have a bounty on his head prior to the Tartarus fiasco, Ludo was sure he had one now.
A few seconds into this review, his boss, Shipmaster Rtas 'Vadum, made an announcement from the carrier's external speakers, "Hail Humans, and take heed. This is the Carrier Shadow of Intent. Clear this sector, while we deal with the Flood."
'Vadum then addressed Gravemind's undead forces that were all roaming throughout the city, spreading.
"Prepare to meet your end, parasites. For I release my Plague upon you."
Ludo recognized his cue and pushed off the wall he was leaning against, then walked over to the row of drop pods to his left. He strapped himself into one and closed the hatch. Once ready, he nodded to his apprentice.
Mar, who would lead the team of Spec Ops Elites and link up with the Arbiter and the Demon on the ground, tapped at a holo panel on the adjacent bulkhead. The Plague's pod ejected from the Shadow of Intent and sent him hurtling towards the planet's surface.