Summary/disclaimer: Time for another chapter of Broken Shadows. Enjoy the 2000-word chapter. I don't own Halo; Microsoft and a few others do.

He stared at her with an interest that became common at the time. It was clear in his voice that she was a lot more interesting than he had been.

"How many missions have you been on since the war?" Sabert questioned with a raised eyebrow. "There's a lot of things we can talk about. Isn't like ONI hates little details like that." Sabert added before he crossed his arms.

It wasn't a lie. Not a big one, anyway. They were forbidden from revealing mission details at the time. What they were shown to do at the time was talk about little details in their missions, it wasn't like ONI could be mad Spartans were questioning one another on how to best battle the enemy. Soldiers were expected to battle properly and learn better ways to combat the enemy? That was something that ONI couldn't exactly hate.

"What happens when ONI finds out a pair of Spartans are reacting off duty like this?" Naomi questioned to which the Larger Spartan shrugged.

"Don't know. Why? You think ONI gets mad at talking?" Sabert questioned as he brushed off his arms. "I doubt it. ONI hates a lot of things, but they don't hate people just chatting about work. Isn't like I'm talking about anything red-tape-filled that nobody has heard about." Sabert stated while he sighed in annoyance.

Naomi relented at this. She nodded and watched as he seemed to grow a bit more at peace as he realized that she wasn't going to back down from this. She nodded at him as he seemed to place his hands on the wall and sighed to himself.

Sabert brought a hand to his eyes. There were going to be more questions than answers here when it came down to it. Honestly? This was going to be fun for the Spartan-III, he had been dragged through shadows over and over despite how well it seemed to come down to it.

Something was going on. Both of the Spartans were curious how this would end sooner or later. He leaned on the wall behind him.

"What do you think the next mission will be like?" Sabert questioned while he seemed to tap on his arms.

"Can't tell, ONI loves to send people to die, though," Naomi responded to which the Spartan-III nodded.

"When do they not?" Sabert heard before he frowned. "I heard that there was a nuke going off in the base we went to. Not sure why they'd nuke the place to ashes after we just cut through security like that." Sabert stated before he sighed to himself and looked around with anger.

Something was going on. He felt eyes on them when it came down to it. He could tell someone was watching the two and stared around the bulk of the room. This place seemed to be nothing more than a giant cage at the second.

"This place honestly seemed to be off," Sabert stated before he seemed to question before he tilted his head. "Why nuke this place down to the ground?" Sabert said before he seemed to question what to do next.

There was far too much on his mind when it came down to it. He had wished to point out how often Prowlers bothered him, being locked inside a cage like this and banged around like this.

"ONI doesn't like to leave evidence, maybe they blew it up because they wanted us to be seen as dead," Naomi stated to which Sabert seemed to hum to himself before he rolled his eyes.

"Nuking a base like that is overkill honestly," Sabert stated before he crossed his arms. "Second? If they want to make a stealth team? It's easy to do so, I've been on dozens of missions and pretending to make someone die? Easy. They don't need to go to extremes. Something tells me ONI didn't just hire us because we're some of the best. There are thousands of candidates who can handle wet work." Sabert added as he brushed off his arms.

Sabert let out a sigh before he closed his eyes. ONI had been on a lot of missions and all of them either broke laws or were against people that ONI had a problem with. It was only a matter of time before something snapped and they fell off the map for one reason or another. What he couldn't fathom is why they'd hire 2 Spartans if they only seemed to want the skillset of one. It became a mystery that he wanted to answer at the time. He risked a glance at Naomi who was going to question what to do next when it came down to it. There was a lot more to happen.

Still? He decided to focus on his mission and question what was going to happen. They had too much on their plate simply to it. There was going to be more at the moment that would bother them, more than would be coming.

Naomi and Sabert were pulled from their talk as they looked down the hallway. There was a small noise as both started to realize they had been watched by the rest of the crew. He

The three ODSTs from before made them think there was more on the line. They shared looks of interest as they glanced around with more curious interest at the time. it seemed as if there was more on the end of this path. It had become a lot harder when it came down to it. They shared a look of amusement before they glanced around and seemed to slowly walk forward.

They had been interested in the three ODSTS as they glanced at one another for perhaps a few seconds longer than they needed to. This was fun. It had been exciting; it had pushed them down a line that they wanted to see.

Still? If they weren't fracturing into pieces? They were ok enough to find some flaws in this. They were still soldiers when it came down to it. they had to draw the line of questioning orders at one panel or another.

Plus? It wasn't as if they cared much for this sort of thing. They had been driven to some sort of ultimatum.

"We're going to be sent on another mission sooner or later. We both know that. It's just a matter of time when and how this was going to pass." Sabert stated before he turned to look to the side. "If you excuse me? I'll deal with this as best I could. Honestly? The fact that we're here already tells me just how much is going on." Sabert stated before he tilted his head and looked to the side.

He was going to be interested in what to do next. There was a lot more that was going on than this. The fact he had been curious when it came to their topics.

He knew how ONI worked when it came to their plans. There was always an angle, always something that they wanted to hide from people. It had been curious; it had been odd… But he knew better than to openly trust the captain on this. If she was going to treat them as cannon fodder at the time.

He was curious what the captain wanted next. He doubted this was her idea, she couldn't be the one who had pulled this operation together. He was curious else what she had brought to this place and what their orders had been.

If he was assigned here based entirely on skill? There were better Spartans who could handle this type of work when it came down to it. he was an assassin, a tool of death and chaos which slipped through the bones of their bodies. It wouldn't surprise him if they had more coming towards him. He'd slice through the rest of the soldiers as if they had been wheat if they got in the way… But he wouldn't deny that he didn't follow orders.

Still? Did they want a weapon? They had one on their hands. He'd not follow orders without a question here and there, but he'd hunt the Covenant as if they were animals on a field and put them down, it wasn't racism, it wasn't out of apathy, it was simply duty, and the fact they'd kill him without a single reminder. He'd honestly question what to do next when these soldiers came to hunt him. Still? He was honestly curious as to what the hell they'd want with him as of the second he was interested.

He rubbed at his temples while he sighed to himself and slowly started to walk off towards the bridge. Still? There was a lot more interesting when it came down to it. Sabert had said nothing for the second before he tilted his head to the side.

Still? She had been interested at the time as of the second. He was going to go insane when it came down to it. He was sighing to himself before he clicked his tongue against the side of his face. He crossed his arms before he tilted his head before this came down to it.

He didn't glance a look over at the others, nor did he wish to be involved with their business. It had been honestly a lot more insane than he expected. Yet it seemed as if he'd probably be involved one way or another. He always seemed to be involved anyway, it wasn't like he had any real reason not to be annoyed at it when it came down to it. There was only so much that he couldn't do at the moment, only so much he could afford to wait around for the moment. This had only pushed him more than anything.

He sighed before he tilted his head while he glanced around. There was a lot more that had to be done either way and it wasn't as if the Spartan wanted to get onto the mission when it came down to it.

"Where are you going either way?" Sabert heard as he turned and brushed off their concerns.

"To go find something to do. Sitting in my room all day isn't what Spartans do." Sabert stated before he cracked his fingers and started to drag himself out. "If you need me? I'll be in the training room or whatever recreational area this thing has when it comes to entertainment." Sabert stated before he sighed to himself.

He looked at Naomi who seemed to be entirely caught off guard by this. He couldn't blame her, even if it was far more amusing than he considered it. there was more to this story than he considered. Someone was keeping him in the dark about something they didn't wish him to know.

That just made him more curious as to what the hell was happening. It'd be a lot more curious if not for the fact that they hadn't given him any reason not to seek out the answers to this. He wished to know whether or not it was smart or not, he deserved at least somewhat of a real answer as to why this had been this way.

He brushed at his nose before he cracked his fingers before he hummed to himself as of the time being. Naomi questioned what the Spartan hadn't done before it came down to it.

He sighed to himself before he rubbed at his temples before he clicked his fingers against the wall. He'd be a lot more to do next when it came to it. He had a lot more as of the time when it came down to it.

Author Notes

Phew. Another chapter is done! I want to point out that the next chapter will be delayed and such. The next chapter will be in 2-10 months and will show both 900-6500 words and will show the setting up for the next mission. Until then, Lighting Wolf out!