Location: Corvette Shadow of Intent

Date: 21st February 2558

Time: 1740 hours

Mayne trudged down the long hallways of the Shadow of Intent with the image of the young marine that had ceased to exist directly in front of him plastered in his mind, what must his friends be thinking, what were they doing to mourn his death.

Maybe they didn't care.

"Maybe they are getting to know their new team member." Mayne thought sourly. He passed many marines on the way to the arena, some would greet him, others would simply walk by. Mayne never acknowledged them nor spoke a greeting. After a few wrong turns he arrived at the arena, immediately spotting that it contained the same basic aspects of any exercise facility on a UNSC vessel; there was an elevated combat space in the middle of the room, weight equipment in one area of the room and on the other side of the room stood levitating bags, the Sangheili's equivalent of a punching bag Mayne assumed. He also saw that the humans had brought some other their own work out equipment along and had set up their own weight systems in a separate part of the room.

Mayne noticed a figure standing in the middle of the room, on the combat floor. Even without the armour, in only in a training combat suit, he could still see that it was Reesha 'Moram. Aside from her there were only a few other individuals in the room, a small group of Sangheili using a large set of weights and a group of marines doing bench presses. It didn't take a rocket scientist to see that they were silently competing against each other, both races wanting to prove that they were stronger. The Sangheili were always the stronger race but Mayne concluded the humans would always be the most stubborn.

Mayne approached Reesha on the elevated arena with a small idea of what was going to happen.

"Greetings Mayne, how are you fairing after the battle?" She asked.

"I'm doing fine Commander." Mayne replied rather bluntly. Reesha continued despite her Human comrade's dismissive behaviour. She had seen this before in many Sangheili who had lost one of their brethren and she knew just the thing to help them.

"Do you know why I requested your presence here?" A small shake of Mayne's head was Reesha's que to expand. She began to pace around the ring. "Mourning the death of a brother in arms is something we all must do, regardless of race. Others are able to accept their comrade's death quickly but others dwell on the past too often and are unable to move past it."

Mayne felt his mind drift to Fireteam Chaos and the members of it; Novell, Brown, Whetherman, Kyte. The four people he considered his closest friends. He chuckled sadly to himself at the truthfulness of Reesha's reasoning.

"Yeah I know what you mean." He sighed, You don't even know half of it.

"A technique that Sangheili use to release the emotion held within is to fight in single combat with another combatant. By fighting we are forced to push those dark emotions to the back of our mind and focus on what is happening at that moment. I believe that the best thing for you at this point in time is to take your mind off everything so I, Reesha 'Moram, challenge you to a duel in single combat."

Mayne shrugged his shoulders,

"What makes you think I can face you in single combat? You're a mighty Sangheili and I'm just a small, lowly human." Even when he said this he could feel the sides of his lips switching up a little into a smile.

"I observed you fighting a male Sangheili in the hanger of the Covenant Corvette and from that I believe that you are undoubtedly well enough to face me in single combat." Reesha replied, clearly not hearing Mayne's dripping sarcasm. By this point Mayne's smile was becoming evident, a friendly duel was always good fun, he had often had duels with his comrades and at least now he could possibly banish some of his pent up emotions.

"Well if there's no way of getting out of this then I, Mayne Alexander, accept your challenge. What are the rules?" Reesha walked towards the centre of the arena and Mayne approached her. They both halted just opposite each other. At this close distance Mayne could see Reesha's light blue eyes,

Cute eyes for a Sanghe- Mayne halted his thoughts like a Warthog hitting a brick wall. What. The. Fuck! What the hell am I thinking? Mayne became vaguely aware that Reesha was explaining the rules.

"-aim is to hold the other combatant down for ten units or until they surrender. No weapons and all styles of combat are permitted. Are you ready Mayne?"

"Ready." Mayne confirmed and Reesha nodded before placing her clawed hand in a fist over her hearts in a Sangheili salute. Mayne responded in such, placing his own fist over his PT shirt and nodding his head in respect. Reesha smiled widely as she turned and walked to her end of the arena and Mayne did the same. Once both Sangheili and Human were ready the call was made to start the match

"Let us commence!" She called and almost instantly bolted forward in an attempt to catch Mayne off guard. The ODST of course was expecting this as he had witnessed the Sangheili's intense speed in the battle before hand and step sided the jab that was clearly aimed at his head. Next was a series of quick jabs from both Mayne and Reesha, each punch blocked by the opponent until one of Reesha's clawed hands made it past the ODST's defences and grabbed hold of his shirt. Mayne brought both his clenched fists down on Reesha's on arm in hopes of dislodging her grip but he found no such avail. The female Sangheili, despite not being as bulky and strong as her male counterparts still lifted Mayne up and with her other hand, threw him a few meters to crash on the padded floor, ripping his shirt slightly in the process. Completely winded Mayne lay still for a moment trying to catch his breath until he felt a weight upon his back and realised Reesha had placed her foot on his back preventing him for getting up. Mayne began to twist and turn to try to gain some sort of foothold in this losing battle. He managed to twist himself around to look up at her with her hoof placed firmly on his chest and his eyes suddenly opened wide with horror.

The towering elite placed one of its hoofs on Maynes chest and pushed down hard, Mayne heard a small crack that foretold the breaking of one of his ribs.

"Just kill me you bastard!" Mayne voice echoed in his head. The elite seemed to smile evilly.

"Oh I will you pathetic heretic, just as your allies before you." He spoke venomously.

Mayne suddenly felt a rush in his blood and pushed with renewed strength against Reesha hoof and sent her reeling back. He quickly stood up and readied himself again, he shook his head to clear the vision and tried to steady his breathing.

"Are you well Mayne, you went still for a moment?" Reesha asked hesitantly.

"Yeah I'm good, lets keep going." Mayne growled, adrenaline pumping through his blood and he felt as if his heart was working at twice its optimal range. Now it was Mayne's turn to go on the offensive. He saw out of the corner of his eye that he and Reesha had gathered a crowed. The humans and Sangheili that had been using the workout equipment before had banded together to watch the duel and were cheering on their species' representative.

Mayne launched himself at Reesha, aiming a punch at her mandibles but then at the last minute attempted to kick her legs out from under her. The trick caught Reesha in the open and she tumbled down. Mayne wasted no time jumping on top of her to keep her down, he grappled with her arms and tried to hold them down while he locked his legs around her hips to stop her legs from lifting. During the entanglement he somehow managed to overpower her, he pushed her arms down beside her head and found himself only inches from her face. Mayne felt a smirk twitch at his lips as the seconds began to tick down but frowned when she simply smirked back, her mandibles coming together in an evil smile and her eyes seemed to have a dangerous shine.

Fuck, she let me do this. Mayne groaned as Reesha easily pushed against his grip and shoved him off her. Mayne stumbled backwards, trying to regain his footing. Reesha stood and rushed Mayne again. After all the energy Mayne had to use in the previous engagements he found himself struggling to keep his arms in a poised defensive stance and his vision became slightly blurred due to the salty sweat dripping into his eyes. As the female Sangheili approached, Mayne drew all the strength he had for a final blow and extended his fist towards the rapidly approaching Sangheili. In his tired state Reesha easily evaded the fatigued punch and used his already forward momentum to place her own fist into his face with maximum force. Mayne suddenly felt all bodily sensations disappear as his vision instantly darkened as he crumpled to the ground. The last thing he felt before blacking out was the warm, iron taste of his own blood.

As soon as Reesha delivered the final blow she knew she had gone too far.

"Mayne!" She gasped as she bent down to help the poor ODST. Reesha ripped a piece of his PT shirt and used it to clear the blood that was pouring from his nose and mouth. She looked up towards the humans.

"Assist me!" She snapped and the marines quickly ran to help their unconscious ally.

Location: Unknown

Date: Unknown

Time: Unknown

Mayne stood in a dark place, empty of everything except the blackness of nothing, no floor, no walls, no ceiling.

Nothing.

Mayne turned in a full circle trying to find anything apart from the eternal blackness that engulfed him. He attempted to raise his arms to feel for anything but found he couldn't raise his left arm, no matter how hard he tried he could raise it so he glanced down and cried out in shock. His left arm was snapped at the elbow and he had a huge searing gash running down from his shoulder to his lower rib. His armour was bloodied and his could see his cracked ribs beneath his armour.

No! Oh God no! Mayne felt his heart beating like a freight train and he squinted his eyes in preparation for the blinding pain that he was about to experience. After a few seconds he realised that he couldn't feel any pain.

What the hell is going on?

Suddenly something alerted him, maybe it was a noise or maybe he just sensed it but nevertheless he turned to see some people standing in the distance. A smile instantly dawned on the soldier's face as recognition dawned.

"Oh my God, " Mayne started sprinting towards the group all thoughts of his injuries momentarily vanished, "Avery! Claire!" His run began to slow but his grin never faded, "Henry! Sarah!" His run became a jog. The soldiers he knew as his team; Avery Brown, Claire Novell, Henry Whetherman, and Sarah Kyte slowly turned to face him and only now did Mayne come to a shuddering halt. At this close of range Mayne could see that they all had macabre injuries and bloodied bodies. Brown had the hole in this neck that led him to choke on his own blood, Whetherman's chest showed the charred remnants of mortal plasma damage, Novell's forehead presented the impaling wound of an energy sword and Mayne could literally see right into the heart of his dear friend Kyte. Each of his friends stood with the wounds that ended their lives, facing Mayne with expressionless faces.

"Holy fucking shit!" Mayne yelled and attempted to rush to help his gruesome teammates but his legs stuck to the ground and as much as he tried to move them he couldn't make them budge. The people that were his friends silently turned away and began to walk in the opposite direction of Mayne.

"Guys please! Come on guys." He struggled to keep his voice steady as he begged for them to come back. "Please don't go..." His voice came as a whisper and gave up trying to follow them as they walked steadily into the distance. Mayne felt tears roll freely down his cheeks as he looked down at his ruined body. He began to feel his mind starting to fade and his vision began to blacken and it only took a couple of seconds for everything to disappear once again.

Location: Corvette Shadow of Intent

Date: 22st February 2558

Time: 0827 hours

Mayne's eyes slowly drifted open and he saw Catherine and Ajax standing on either side of the medical bed he was planted on.

"How' you feeling Mayne?" Catherine smiled gently. Mayne managed to take a glance around the room before responding. He was in the medical wing of the Shadow of Intent, a section of the ship where the sick, wounded and impaired personnel reside.

"I'm...I'm good. How did I end up here again?" Mayne asked and Ajax burst out with laughter.

"The gossip's already flooded through the marines, you got KO'd by the Special Ops Commander in a duel I hear. Its been the top story this morning." He cackled and even Catherine had to raise a hand to her mouth to cover up a smile, not at the story but at how comical Ajax's laugh sounded. The image of Reesha's fist entering his face suddenly rushed back to Mayne.

"Oh, I remember now." He grumbled and crossed his arms over his chest. He thought he had the ability to take Reesha but for whatever reason she had the better outcome of the fight. "What time is it?"

"0827 to be exact." Catherine said after checking her standard issue watch. "You've been out for a good few hours. One of the medical staff who was monitoring you, an elite, mentioned that you cried out in your unconscious state and that's why we came, you woke up soon after we got here."

The memory of his bloodied friends flashed in Mayne's eyes,

"I don't remember anything." Mayne stated, knowing full well that answer was false. Catherine nodded.

"Oh well, in any case, we'll let you have a bit more time to recuperate, doc over there says that you had a concussion and shouldn't move for a while." When she said this Mayne looked to his right and saw a UNSC medical officer and an Elite, the officer wearing standard UNSC uniform but with a large red cross on his shoulder patches and the Elite wore a set of purple minor armour. Both doctors seemed to be having an intense discussion as at some points either doctor would raise their voice or make aggressive hand gestures.

The two members of Fireteam Phoenix left the room and Mayne lay for another two hours, eyes glued on the ceiling, determined not to fall asleep again for the thought of facing his friends again in a nightmare was too daunting. After what Mayne felt was an eternity the human doctor finally approached him.

"Now Corporal, I haven't seen you close your eyes for more than a second once in the last two hours and you look terribly bored." He pushed a pair of glasses positioned on his nose back up over his eyes. "So I've decided to give you the green light to leave and I recommend you go to the observation deck and sit for another hour or so to let the effects of the concussion wear off. The last thing you need is to try to do something physical and hurt yourself before you're properly healed."

Mayne sat up and hopped off the cot, he clenched his jaw as even the smallest bump caused bolts of pain to course through his head.

"I said take it easy, ODST." The doctor scolded him before leaving to assist another patient from the previous battle.

"Thanks Doc, I'll take it easy, promise." Mayne let out a weak smile and the medic just snorted. Deciding to follow the medic's recommendations Mayne found his way to the observation deck. A large room built into the bottom of the corvette that had panels surrounding everyone save the door. Inside were many seats and so Mayne chose one at random and planted himself on it. He winced as more pain pronounced itself as he sat down. He looked around and saw there was nobody else present in the room.

"Just one hour. I just gotta' sit here and stare out into space for one hour." He said to himself. After looking out into the darkness of slipspace Mayne found himself in a tranquil state, the pain in his mind slowly dissipated but still a throbbing sensation remained. After another few minutes but what seemed like hours Mayne felt a presence behind him.

"Greetings Mayne." Mayne turned to see the figure of a Sangheili.

"Hello Commander." Mayne returned with a small smile.

"Just Reesha is appropriate in private. May I join you?" She asked and gestured to the seat beside Mayne.

"You can if you want, there's nowhere else to sit anyway." He said sarcastically and Reesha looked briefly around the completely empty room.

"Perhaps I have inflicted more damage upon your mind than I originally thought." She said in a worried voice. Did she injure the poor human beyond the point where he is unable to identify reality around him? Mayne let out chuckle and slapped his forehead but instantly regretted it.

"Ow, fuck, I was being sarcastic Reesha." He half laughed half groaned. Reesha sat down beside him, even sitting down she was still a head taller than him.

"What is this sarcasm you speak of?" She questioned.

"Don't worry about it." Mayne smiled slightly.

"I apologise sincerely for harming you to that extent during our duel, I was caught in the moment and forgot that it was not a Sangheili I was fighting."

"It's alright Reesha, I'll take that as a compliment. I honestly thought I could beat you, especially when I managed to get you down." Reesha laughed at the end of Mayne's statement,

"A duel cannot conclude without a little humour, I thought it was bound to be amusing if I let you believe you had the upper hand on me."

Mayne chuckled and the pair fell into a silence for a few moments, staring out into the infinite space until Mayne broke the silence. "Reesha, it's occurred to me that you have been the only female Sangheili I have ever encountered. What's your story?"

Reesha looked to Mayne and thought for a moment before speaking.

"As you have probably known now the Covenant force is made up of mainly males but there have been a few female Sangheili present in the ranks of the Covenant. The females that are permitted to join the male filled ranks are never promoted to high statuses, always left without friends and in some cases have had males take advantage of them against their will." Reesha stood up now and began to pace. "I was born to a family of high distinguished military figures. My father was a Field Marshall and so was my greater father. As a female I was not raised in the common rooms like the males but instead with my father who took me into his care after my mother died giving birth to me. As a male, you were to be separated from your family and only to know your father after graduation into the Covenant Army, this allowed for all Sangheili to be equal during training. As a female I was urged to train in the arts of sewing and weaving, yes I was required to have a basic knowledge of combat but that was mainly reserved for the males." She paused and it was time for Mayne to speak briefly.

"Wow, how could you live with such a life, automatically being assigned to a duty based on your gender, not your abilities." He remarked and Reesha nodded enthusiastically.

"That is correct, our roles were chosen based on our gender but I showed my father and all others wrong when I excelled in basic combat training and was accepted as a student by the war veteran Mraha 'Wantak who taught me everything I know today. After years of his training and eventually convincing my father I was permitted to join the ranks of the Covenant. It was on my third cycle within the Covenant that I met Ceea 'Vukam, the only female I befriended."

Reesha's voice suddenly took on a lower, saddened tone.

"She was the closest thing I could call to a sister."

"What happened to her Reesha? If you don't mind me asking." Mayne asked.

"A group of males took advantage of her and murdered her afterwards. They took her to one of the lower levels of the Covenant's city of High Charity and took her honour before killing her and discarding her body." Reesha let her head droop down and Mayne suddenly felt horrible for asking to know.

"I'm sorry Reesha, if I had known this was such a sensitive topic I wouldn't have asked to know."

"I never became close with anyone after that incidence," She continued. "Even to this day the vision of her body in that corridor after I found her haunts me. It wasn't until I was assigned to a team that I met Zek. He never judged me or thought down on my abilities as a warrior. Infact he encouraged me and eventually, through years of fighting and battles I eventually gained the attention of the Arbiter; Thel 'Vadam, who gathered myself, Zek and a group of talented Sangheili and formed a Special Operations team that would act as his guard. Now I end up here, being his representative on this mission."

She sat back down next to Mayne, who was almost speechless, Through all the hardships of being a female Sanghelil she had prevailed and had even endured some of the same trials and misfortunes he had. She had lost the only friend she had, just as he had lost his.

But she's been able to move on, I just can't. No matter how hard I try, I can't make myself to move forward.

"What about your history Mayne, how did you become a soldier?" Reesha asked.