The skyscrapers that litter the city are almost indistinguishable from one another. The city is a
thriving metropolis and one of the few to escape the notice of the Covenant many years ago. However, the debris from several ships did penetrate the atmosphere and rain upon the city cause widespread panic and destruction. The remnants of that are quickly forgtten when the sun sets and the neon comes on. The night side of the town is always busier then the day side of the town bringing in plenty of money to the shop and club owners and then for the city

The shuttle came in quick and fast, soaring towards the docking platform where it made a quick but soft landing. A voice came over the intercomm of the ship. "Welcome to New Tokyo! The time here is about dusk and all the bar owners are salvating at the thought of you all coming in and spending your hard earned paychecks." This comment got several cheers and hoots as the boarding ramp opened and let everyone out.

"We're not allowed to get drunk though... are we?" Tavish asked, one of the first things he wanted to get out the way "I mean we got told that we have to be perfect because we're the first ones for shore leave..." He straightened up slightly in his suit, checking that all his medals were in place on his chest; after a while he'd figured he'd pull them out and shine them, after all these could be long flights and if he looked disheveled he at least wanted his chest to look impressive. He'd thought something about Spook right then, but he'd let the joke pass with just a fleeting smirk.

"The Admiral didnt exactly say that, he just said behave. So I think as long as you dont level the bar your fine." Aaron said, glancing around as they walked across the tarmac to the doors.

Spook had become increasingly quiet during the ride. Sure she was a battle hardened Spartan sniper, dealing with normal military folk was one thing, dealing with civilians was another. All she knew was the first guy who smacked her ass was going to end up in traction, orders from the admiral or no.

"Gotcha, so, no alcohol" Tavish chuckled, eyes straying to Spook; she had been very quiet lately. "Hey, Spook, how about you and me hit the town? See what's going on around here? I think it'll be easier to deal with the civies if I've got back up... so to speak."

"I do believe the lady said she would accompany me to a movie." Scorch reminded Tavish as he moved up beside the female Spartan. He held out his arm to her, "Shall we?"

"I did already promise." Spook told Shaft "What if we catch up with you after?"

As they approached the doors, a little Asian woman appeared infront of them. "Hello Spartans! My name is Kasumi and I will be your guide today."

"Well..." Tavish said, seeming a bit disapointed that Spook was going off with someone else. That is until he let out a beaming smile at the small woman in front of them, thinking maybe this wasn't SO bad after all. Standing up quickly he offered his hand to Kasumi, who he dwarfed beneath his size "Nice to meet you, I'm Shaft..." he remembered he was a civilian right now "uhhhh... Tavish. Call me Tavish."

"Nice to meet you Tavish, nice to meet all of you." she said i an almost too happy voice. "I hope that I will be very helpful in assisting you in enjoying your shore leave."

"Where is the nearest theater house?" Spook asked the tiny woman. She felt suddenly grotesquely over-sized all of a sudden. Her team mates dwarfed her yes, but seeing the little woman made Spook feel how tall she really was.

Kasumi's eyes lit up at the opportunity to serve them so quickly. "There are several theatres to choose from. The best one is 4D theatre which takes the customers and almost literally puts them in the movie. the there are several more of less fantasticness all the way down to a classic reel ran movie theater like they had a few centuries ago."

"What kind of movies are playing?" Scorch asked curiously. He wasn't even sure what type Spook might enjoy, but he was up for just about any type of movie

"Let me see." She said as she flipped open a little device attached to her am and punched in a few commands. "Well, there are two comedies, three dramas, an action flick or two, four romances which include a romantic comedy, and a documentary which you wouldnt be interested in as its about Spartans."

"Ha!" Tavish could let out a barking laugh at that "Go see that, just... heckle it the entire way through." Anything but the romances... he didn't want to think about those two going to see soppy movies with the latest foot faced british guy fawning over a horse faced american...

"Before the group seperates I have been instructed to take you all on a small tour of the main street attractions and several other spots in the city. That way you can optimize your enjoyment and minimize boredom." Kasumi began to say as she waved for them to follow her.

"Woo hoo" Tavish mumbled in a voice that showed all the emotion and excitement as an imputent sloth; generally anything that had to do with the words "optimize" and "minimize" that wasn't an advert for viagra or guns was boring. He hoped this wasn't going to be a bunch of tourist spots, where a lot of people would gawp at buildings with cameras, then gawp at the Spartans with cameras. Still he followed the small asian woman, with all the faith of a puppy and the attention span on one as well.

Aaron did a lot of grumbling as he fell in line behind the tiny woman. His and Tavish's concerns where similar, as he didnt want to see a bunch of statues and memorials to long lost, heroic cats or to a barn fire several centuries ago. He just wanted to try and enjoy this as much as Spartanly possible.

Spook had the little woman by the arm and appeared to be ignoring her. She was checking out the arm device, scrolling threw the films and designated rout she was intending to take them on. A sniper at heart the city map fixed it's self in Spook's brain for later use. "We should get these boss." She said indicating the arm device "It's like VISR mode 2.0." 

Kasumi watched her thumb through the info but didnt say anything or try to stop her. "This town has turned into a bustling nightlife oriented city since the debris fell, killing many and destroying much. Seems everyone realized time is to short not to have fun and so they turned to the nightclubs and gambling parlors."

"they consider that safe in such a dilapidated section of the city?" Spook asked still fiddling with the woman's computer.

"How wonderfully decadent" Tavish said with absolutely no indication that he was talking sarcastically. For all Kasumi knew, and the others for that matter, he was speaking in pure support of decadence and mayhem; he'd driven them all somewhere after all, they knew what he was like.

Scorch didn't want to say his choice in front of the others, but he had always been a fan of the romance novels and movies. If nothing else, it reminded him of what he didn't have andw hat every living thing wanted deeply

"This part of the city has been deemed safe by the city board and the safety committee as more then 84% of the damage in this part of the city has been repaired and all major systems and 92% of secondary and redundant systems have been brought back online." Kasumi said without missing a beat. "There are still large portions of the city that have not been opened due to extreme damage and those portions are marked so that you will not accidentally wonder into them."

Aaron looked around as he partially listened to the guide. He didnt see what was so spectacular about this place that was supposed to make it a reward for their hard work, but if all the other Marines and soldiers liked it then there must be something to it.

Well if Tavish wanted solitude... or to do someone against a wall without it looking suspicious when it fell down... he knew where to go now. Humming softly to himself he looked around at all the people flooding the area "So where do all the marines go?" he asked Kasumi "Why is this place so popular?"

Spook relinquished Kasumi's arm and regarded their surroundings. It was only a week right? Surely they wouldn't find too much trouble to get into.

"Well most of the Marines go to what they term the "Red Bed" district which has services that upstanding Spartans like yourselves would not be interested in. But once they are done fulfilling those wants they usually turn to the Main Street district that has all the entertainment from movies, dancing, drinking, and almost anything that tickles your fancy."

"Right" Tavish translated that to keep away from the Red Bed district and Spartans will get more time off; he didn't mind to be honest, he wasn't a big fan of those sorts of girls. He scratched his chin slowly... a movie might be nice, but maybe hitting a few bars...

"So what else are you gonna show us on this tour?" Scorch asked curiously. So far it hadn't been all that big of a thing

"I have been instructed to show you the Main Street districts attractions and highlights before taking you to your hotel rooms and handing out your necessary supplies." Kasumi said as she gestured in the general direction of straight ahead of them.

"Necessary supplies?" Tavish asked, raising an eyebrow slowly and rubbing his forehead slowly as he wondered what was in these necessary supplies. This place seemed so... odd, they were on vacation but they were treating it like a new mission.

"What kind of necessary supplies would we need for a night on the town? You giving us money?" Scorch asked curiously. It seemed to just occur to him that they haven't really been getting paid, had they? He didn't have any cash that was for sure

"We'll be getting clothes right?" Spook said "I certainly don't want to go around in my A's all week and I bet they attract attention with the common folk."

Tavish watched the civilians around them, eyeing them up and seeing if they'd really noticed that Spartans were walking around in their ranks. A few were noticing already he could tell, or at least were suspicious that something was up but had no idea what was actually happening. "I would be nice to not stick out like sore thumbs."

"I am to give you all Identichips and a Credchip to fund your time here." Kasumi responded to their questions. "And I was not informed of alternative wear for you all. You may just have to be very careful and wear a bib." she added with a small cute little chuckle.

"Hey, they stuck us out here trussed up like this, it's their fault if we get'em dirty." Scorch pointed out with a smirk, hoping he'd get that chance. He hated being out of his armor. He'd spent what seemed like a long time going through the channels in order to even get that type of armor. The sheer thought of it sitting back at the base empty was absurd to him.

Kasumi took them through the Main Street district and pointed out all things that may interest them and keep them occupied and entertained through out their stay here. The tour wrapped up in the main lobby of a 5-star hotel. "Well, this is where I take my leave of you for now." She pulled out a package and opened it up pulling out a few small bundles of cards and began handing them out to the Spartans. "These are for identification purposes and for paying for anything you do or need. And these are your room keys, you each have individual rooms on the 4th floor." She then handed them little communicators, "If you need me you can reach me with these, my number is hotkeyed to the first button."

Tavish nodded slightly, examining the card he'd been handed minutely before switching his attention to the door key. "So, what are you guys?" he asked, indicating the room numbers on the key, but his eyes paused on Spook at the moment they passed over her. He wanted to know what room she was in really.

Spook took her bundle and immediately began going threw it. Itching already to get out of these uncomfortable class A's and into some civvies. If she had to stay out of her armor she at least wanted to be comfortable.

"I got room 439." Aaron said to Tavish as he looked over his cards. "God, think they could have gotten a worse picture for the ID?" he said with a grimace as he looked at his.

"At least you don't look stoned." Spook said looking at her identification card.

Scorch sighed and quickly put the ID card into a pocket. He hated the fact that he couldn't be wearing his armor and to have photos of it was just making it worse. He looked at the keycard for his room. "Looks like I'm in 440. Lovely, right next door to the boss man."

"I'm 442" Tavish chuckled softly, spinning his keys in one hand as he determinatley hid that photo of him "Come on Spook, which room are you?"

"I duno, you tell me." Spook reached into her breast pocket and acted as if she was pulling out her key card. Instead she pulled only her hand with a specific finger brandished for Shaft, telling him he was going to have to figure it out on his own.

"Alright alright, jeese" Tavish shook his head and rolled his eyes at Spook "You sure know how to treat an old friend huh?" He wasn't going to let this go, he'd never agreed to what she'd suggested; he wasn't the kind of person to just act as if nothing had happened.

"I have no idea who you are!" Spook exclaimed, ether she truly had no clue who Shaft was or she was hiding something. For all Shaft knew she may have received minor brain damage on an earlier mission.

"Spook you already blew that story when you knew I'd be your pilot" Tavish sighed, shaking his head slightly and wondering when she'd be dropping this farce "You had my name, then immediately knew what I did and where I went for training. You. Blew. It."

"In that big shiny helmet of yours I'd be a moron not to know your a wheelman." Spook told him. "And I'd be even more stupid not to read your service file." She turned to Aaron, sick of Shaft and what he thought he knew "When we get back to base I think you might wanna order him up a catscan, I think one of those flood spores must have sucked his brain out."

Tavish just sighed and shook his head "Fine." He took his key and headed for the stairs, he didn't have to wait to be dismissed, he didn't have to hover around and listen to Spook insult him some more.

"Oh crap, can they really do that?" Scorch asked Tavish curiously.

Aaron gave Spook a shame on you look. "You should be nicer to him. You have to spend a good long time with him. Not only here but back on the base,"

"He's the one that keeps insisting he knows me." Spook told Aaron. "I wasn't the only chick in sniper school, he's got me mixed up with someone else."

"Uh-huh." Aaron said with an unbelieving look. "You looked at his file, but yet you did not look at his mission files?"

"I didn't have access to his mission files at the time." Spook told him.

"Well. I did, and I looked." Aaron said with a grin.

"If there is anything else that you need feel free to contact me on the communicators." Kasumi said. "Otherwise have fun and enjoy your time in our great city." With that she did a curt bow, turned and left the hotel.

"Nice lady." Aaron said as he watched her leave. He looked again at the number on his passkey, "Well, im going to head up to my room and get my stuff situated before heading out. I suggest you all do the same."

Spook felt the bottom drop out of her stomach when Aaron said he'd looked at Shaft's previous mission files. Of course he did, he looked at all of theirs and that meant he knew... Great. she thought and decided to not think about it now. "Scorch, I'm heading up too, room 1337 when your ready and no chick flicks please." She headed off for her room to square away her gear and slip into something more civilian.

Scorch grinned when he realized she hadn't forgotten. "ALright, I'll be by to getcha in a little while." He bowed dramatically and then looked at Aaron, "Well, sir, if you don't mind, I've got to go make myself a little less presentable. No one wears this kind of attire to a movie." With that said, he turned and headed off to his room to get changed

Aaron could see the discomfort in Spook's face as she left. He smiled as she left and nodded to Scorch as he left too. He looked around the large lobby for a few seconds, "Ah, screw it." he said as he left without going to his room.

Spook found her room with little trouble and immediately began searching threw her gear for her auto-mag, Lil' Buddy. She was violating a direct order by bringing him along, but she wasn't one for being on a strange planet without backup. She put her gear away as she changed, glad for the civilian selection of jeans and t-shirts. A complimentary black leather jacket comfortably hid Lil' Buddy against the small of her back while (what the girls at the academy called) an ass holster made sure he wouldn't go any where. Civilian clothes felt strange, especially after being trussed up in her class A's for the duration of the trip.

Tavish was face down on his bed and listening to the timber getting used to a Spartan weight; he was naked right now, after getting out of his dress uniform he'd decided to just lay on his face on the bed for a while. It helped him cool down. He knew why she was doing it, he knew too much about her, it probably made her feel vulnerable and she decided to keep saying that they didn't know each other until he gave in. Either that or she was messing with him for kicks, which was still an option with her.

Scorch wasted no time at all getting out of his Class A's. He folded them neatly and placed them atop one of the dressers in the room. The last thing he wanted was for them to get damaged. He may not like wearing anything other than his armor, but he took pride in all of his possessions. He opened the bag that he was allotted and slowly took out each individually packed, perfectly folded, article of clothing. He made his decisions quickly and decided to just go with the cargo pants and black t-shirt with the UNSC Spartan logo on the front. It was a little cheesy to have on the base and most soldiers simply bought them as a laugh, but he enjoyed the shirt and the meaning behind the logo.

Spook found the television rather boring, she'd never had a taste for mindless entertainment. Moves where different and she was waiting on Scorch to show up so they could go see one. There weren't many distractions in her room and she was getting bored.

Having satisfied himself with his appearance, Scorch adjusted his shirt just slightly and headed out to find Spook's room 1337...When he reached her door, he knocked softly

Spook was laying on her back counting the cling tiles when scorch arrived. She stood, checked her holster and opened the door, taking her key with her she locked it behind her and said "So what are we seeing?"

"I looked over the listing and there's something called Live Free or Die Hard showing. Definitely doesn't sound like a chickflick and there's an explosion in the background behind some bald guy." Scorch explained to her. He shrugged, "I guess it's an action movie?"

"It sounds old." Spook said as they traveled back down to street level. "I bet it was before digifilm."

"Maybe if we're lucky, it'll be shown on good ole fashioned tape reel...man that would be nice." Scorch said with a sigh

"I'd just be happy if they kept the advertising to a minimum." Spook said as they walked "Last time I saw a flick you couldn't follow the stroy for all the commercials."

"The previews are half the fun, though they'd probably be previews of movies long ago put into archives..." Scorch deduced with a chuckle

"Yeah, the kind of stuff you see on the youtube channel." Spook said as the theater came into view.

"You know, I've gotta ask, why did you agree to come along?" Scorch asked her as they approached the ticket window. He took out his payment chip and handed it to the teller, "Two for Live Free or Die Hard."

"I like old movies." Spook said as if that was it. "And popcorn."

"I can believe the simpletons we have to associate with on a regular basis, preferring the holovids to good old fashioned movies." Scorch chuckled, enjoying the fact that there was someone else who shared his tastes. "Popcorn on the other hand, I'll have to give you that one. I'm not a fan of it, always tastes burnt to me."

The teller took the payment chip and gave it a quick swipe. When they handed it back it was grouped with two tickets. "The movie is supposed to be good, especially since they restored it."

"Fuck..." Spook said, expecting the same lame ass commercialism that came with the world these days.

"Come on Spook, it's not gonna be that bad." Scorch assured her with a smile

"Tell that to Singing in the Rain." Spook said taking her ticket and tearing off the corner like she did every time she went to a movie. She had quite a collection of tickets.

"Singing in the Rain?" Scorch asked her curiously. He hadn't actually heard of that one before

"It's a musical from the 20th." Spook as they went in to find their seats. "It's about actors who can dance and sing, playing actors who can dance and sing."

"Sounds...redundant." Scorch said truthfully. It sounded utterly ridiculous to him, but he imagined it must have some quality that appeals to someone, seeing as it is still being spoken off all these years later

"Front or back?" Spook asked, wondering Scorch's preference for their seating arrangement.

"I actually prefer somewhat in the middle of the theater myself. Too close to the front and you have to strain your neck to see and you don't see the whole picture. Too far back and you see so much of the picture, you don't see the little things." Scorch replied as he lead them inside

"I hoped you would say that." Spook said choosing the most center isle and sliding in sideways and heading towards the middle.

Scorch couldn't help but smile. Here was a girl who had similar tastes as himself, now if only he could convince her that gruel was so much better than the fatty foods everybody else kept eating, he might start to think of mating possibilities with her.

Spook took one of the center seats and ordered popcorn and a soda from the arm console menu.

Sitting down beside her, Scorch looked at the menu console and selected a chilled beverage as well, staying clear of the popcorn however. The stuff was vile in his opinion. Couldn't quite get past the smell of it really

"So when did you say this thing started?" Spook asked hiking her boots up on the seat in front of her. She was tall for a chick but short for a spartan and therefor her knees neatly hung over the back of the seat, making this cramped theater just a bit more comfortable.

There was a beeping from the speakers as the countdown began on the screen. When it hit 1, the previews began to roll.

Midway through the movie there was a sound from the back as if the door had opened and then closed, but there was no one else in the theater and there was no other sounds after that.

Scorch turned his head around sharply when he saw the beam of light move across the screen as if the door had been opened. When he looked and saw no one, he grew perplexed. There should have at least been someone coming in, or going out. But there was no one there at all...

Silence returned to the movie theater as Spook left the viewing room. Then from the row behind Scorch came a pair of strong hands and a funny smelling rag covered his face. The hands held him down and the other pressed the rag over his mouth and nose hard enough to press his head back into the seat. Scorch's vision began to blur as the chloroform was beginning to take its effect.

As Spook entered re-entered the theater she saw someone holding a rag over Scorch's mouth and nose. Obviously with ill-intent.

The automag was in Spook's hand again her feet sped her down the isle. She leaped over a set of seats and nearly tripped, forgetting that she wasn't in her armor at the moment. But she reached Scorch's attacker and brought the pistol down against the back of his neck, atempting to knock him out.

With Spook's enhanced strength she damn near separated the mans spine from his skull. He did collapse into a broken heap behind Scorch's chair.

Aaron came into the theater quickly with an assault rifle in his hand. He saw the man laying on the floor at Spook's feet and looked back up at them. "You two ok?"

When Aaron burst in Spook nearly shot him but seeing the expanse of his massive silouet she gathered that it could only be one man. And when he spoke there was no more doubt. "There's a body in the girl's head." She produced the security badge she'd salvaged and checked on Scorch. "He's alive, unconsious but looks ok. What the hell's goin' on here chief?"

"Dont know." Aaron said simply. "I bashed Kasumi in the head with a table before I could find out exactly what was going on. But you two are the only ones I have been able to find."

"So Shaft is missing?" Spook asked, not liking the sound of that at all. She looked at the unconsious man sitting directly behind Scorch "What do you wanna bet he's got answers?"

"Doubt he'll talk though." Aaron said as he walked around ti stand infront of Scorch. He saw that the man was breathing so he wasnt greatly worried. "We need to get moving, because if Shaft is missing there is no telling what could be happening to him." With a quick movement he slapped Scorch in the face.

With a resounding smack from Aaron's slap, Scorch jolted awake, looking shocked at first and then he saw Aaron in front of him. "Did you just hit me, dude?"

"Nope." Aaron said quickly. "Must be hallucinations from the fumes." He said as he walked back around to the guy on the floor.

(omg you need to archive this fucking thing. This is ridiculous hunting threw the center of the page to post)

Spook kept a close eye on the door, the other stayed on Scorch's attacker should he decide to wake.

"How come you both get to carry guns, and I ain't allowed to carry my weapon?" Scorch asked him as he got to his feet, swaying a little.

"I'm in violation of a direct order." Spook told him, then added to Arron. "Sorry boss."

---

When Spook noticed Scorch turn towards the door she did also and seeing no one there she turned back to the film. Whe watched for a few moments and turned back towards the door. After a moment she whispered to Scorch "Be right back, little girl's room." She excised herself and got up, traveling the ramp towards the door. Her eyes took a moment to asjust to the new lighting but she scanned the lobby. No one had come in and sat down so she looked for someone who seemed out of place.

The lobby was empty for the exception of a few other movie goers and the employees working the concession stand.

Spook saw nothing out of order and made a pit stop at the head before refilling her soda.

As Spook began to leave the bathroom the door was flung open towards her catching her square in the jaw. Not giving her much time to recover someone quickly threw a plastic bag over her head and clench the bottom of it around her neck to cut off the air supply.
Spook was dazed for a moment but when she found that her lungs couldn't taken in any more air than what the bag allowed her battle senses quickly reacted. She pulled the auto-man from the back of her jeans and squeezed off two quick rounds. She felt the concution of the muzzel in the small of her back and that put her shots somewhere in her attacker's upper abdomine. The shots echoed off the walls and ended up in the celing tiles, caising them to shatter into the stalls behind them.

The pressure around her neck relaxed and there was a loud thump on the ground as the body of the attacker crumpled to the ground.

Spook ripped the bag off her head and spun around at her attacker, her pistol was poised over his chest, waiting to see if it would rise with breath. A crimson pool of blood was growing beneath him and she soon realized the man was dead. She knelt next to him, checking the pockets of his pants and jacket to see if he held any information.

In the man's wallet was the general information: ID card, Debit card, a few credit cards, etc. There was one card that stood out though, it looked like a very worn out security badge with the picture of a security guard on it that didnt look anything like the man she had killed.

When Spook saw the security badge she left the wallet on the bodie's chest and pocketed the badge. She left the man where he was and exited the restroom. She could report the body now or she could go get Scorch. She chose the latter and slipped back into the theater.

Aaron came into the theater and quickly looked around and saw a group of people huddled around the women's restroom. Worrying that someone had gotten Spook he quickly ran over to the group, he sighed in relief when he saw that it was a man with two bullets holes. Quickly he began peeking into the movie viewing rooms till he saw one with only two people in it that he identified as Spook and Scorch.

---

Aaron didn't know what he was going to do as he walked through the streets staring at the bright neon lights that were kicking on as the sun had gone down. He stumbled upon a store selling firearms and decided to stop in and see what the civilians were equipping themselves with these days.

Aaron walked in and began to peruse the stock through the security glass. Seemed like nothing special, just your standard firearms ranging from Side arms and shotguns all the way to low power rifles. He walked up to the clerk behind the register. "This all you have? It seems pretty low tech."

The clerk looked Aaron up and down trying to assess him. "The military keeps most of the good tech to themselves and the police. So the only way you can get anything good is if you break the law or commit treason."

Aaron nodded his head and did his best to suppress a smile. He knew for a fact that the man was correct since he had tested many a new technology himself and had protected several high profile caravans from many an ambush and theft attempt. "Thats pretty selfish especially after what happened in New Mombasa, you'd think that they would allow the populous to better arm themselves."

"Yea, well the government is worried that the whole planet will fall back into a civil war the way it had before the Covenant war." The clerk said, lightening up a bit as he realized that Aaron wasnt going to arrest him the second he says something bad about the government.

Aaron continued to talk to the store owner till there was a buzzing and vibration coming from his pocket. He pulled out the little communicator that was giving to them by Katsumi. "Hello?" he asked quizically.

"Hello, this is a recording of Katsumi. I realized too late that I had forgot to give you all something important and I must meet up with you. Please meet me at these coordinates." With that the message ended and a map popped up giving him directions to the spot where he needed to go to.

"Well...this thing sure is handy." Aaron said as he looked at the phone and read the directions.

Aaron nodded his farewell to the gun store clerk and walked out and began his trek to the designated spot. He began to wonder what it was that she had left to give them, but just shrugged to himself and continued on.

Aaron eventually found the building the GPS was giving directions to. It was a bar right on the edge of the Red Light District, which caused Aaron to frown. He walked through the bar and right into a smoke screen cause by hours of cigarette smoke (and other less legal options). Coughing and waving it out of his face he eventually found Katsumi sitting at a booth. He made his way over to her noticing that most everyone in the bar was watching him which he didnt find unusual due to his size. He plopped down in the booth seat and immediatly regretted it as he visualized the dirty stain that is sure to be on his pants now. "What was it that you need to give us?"

Katsumi had taken on a totally different look then when they had seen her earlier. Instead of being her nice normal demeanor, she was wearing wearing slightly revealing clothes and smoking a cigarette. "Well, to be completely honest with you there isnt a damn thing that I forgot to give you." She put her cigarette out on the table and then, making it look like she was going for another cigarette she whipped out a mean looking pistol and leveled it at Aaron's chest. "They augment the hell out of your Spartans, but they dont give you a brain enhancement to prevent getting swindled? How pathetic."

Aaron watched, completely shocked at the sudden occurance. "The hell are you doing?" He asked eyeing the pistol and wondering if he could survive a shot from it. "Your working for the UNSC you dumb ass! You should know better then to pull a pitiful little pistol on a Spartan."

"If its such a pitiful pistol then why havent you moved?" Katsumi asked knowingly. Just then there was a beep from her pocket and she removed a small phone, looked at it for a few seconds before saying. "Looks like we just got one of your compatriots and soon we will have the others."

Aaron took this time to act since she was distracted. He grabbed the edge of the table and pulled up hard ripping the table from the floor and promptly smashed her over the head with it in one fel-swoop. What he hadnt expected was everyone else in the bar pulling out weapons as well. "Shit." he thought as he quickly grabbed Katsumi's dropped pistol and dove behind a table.

The bullets pounded against the other side of the table as Aaron remained huddled behind it cursing everything he could think of an explicative for. Every time he peered out he nearly got his face blown off. It wasnt till someone got brave and dashed around the side of the table to try and finish him off. Aaron quickly popped off several rounds into the man's chest before swiping his assault rifle. The thing looked like something you would see in a museum but killed just as good and anything else. Aaron kept them under constant fire using every chance he found to move closer and put one or two down. Soon he found himself surrounded by dead bodies, quickly picking up all the ammo he could find he grabbed his phone and tried for Tavish.

Aaron tried several times to get through to Tavish with no success. "Dammit! They must already have him. Think Spartan, think!" he began hitting his forhead with the palm of his hand. "Where did Spook and Scorch say they were going?" Suddenly it came to him that they said they were going to the theater. He quickly looked through the phones menus and found the trackers that were placed in their phones and set a GPS trail to it. He then took off, sprinting, towards their location.

---

Tavish was walking along the streets, looking like the most sullen goliath in the entire city. He stood head and shoulders above practically everyone, but that only let them see the scowl on his face; he was definitely not happy about something. He paused outside a restaurant, looked up at the sign and shrugged; he needed something to do, and he was getting hungry. He just had to remember to work out after this.

Behind the counter of the fast food restaurant stood a woman in her mid-20s wearing the usual fast food uniform. She spotted Tavish and smiled a big smile, "Welcome to Tokyo Burger, what can I get you today?"

"A buddhist" Tavish said without thinking, eyes on the board above the woman's head and eyes squinting as if he was reading a foreign language. He paused for a moment, then scratched his head and laughed, looking down at the woman he towered over "Sorry, that's what we called 'one-with-everything' back in training. Old jokes die hard."

The woman behind the counter giggled at his story before pushing some buttons on the register. "Would you like a drink or a side with that?"

"Yes, I'll try..." Tavish glanced back up at boards above her head "The onion rings... a large cola and some of those" he squinted "Cheese... stick things." He laughed and scratched his head, never feeling so out of his depth before "I've never really been out on leave before... I fancy trying some new stuff."

The girl gave him another smile but this one was a bit more on the flirtatious side and less out of sheer courtesy. "Ok, so I have one Buddhist, and order of onion rings and cheese sticks with a large coke. Is that correct?"

Tavish's smile was fighting the neon lights for the brightest light now, standing at a confident position which made him seem all the taller. "That's right" he said, hands in his pockets... well, two fingers in his pockets... as he enjoyed being in the company of a civilian. "I know it's kinda sudden... but I'm new here. And I'm definatley not used to being on leave. You think you could... tell me about some good spots to hit? You seem like you know the night life around here."

The girl's cheeks turned a light shade of red as she punched in his total. "Well, I dont get off work for four more hours, but I do have my lunch coming up in a few minutes which gives me an hour to kill. Your total is $5.83 by the way."

Tavish couldn't help but smile, as her cheeks turned pink; civilians were so much more relaxed than stiff military women. He flaunted the card that he'd been given "A gift, from the military, for my services. Should work." He swiped it through, and of course it lit up saying he'd just paid "Ah, perfect. Now I'm sure it works, how about we go out in a few minutes, buy you some lunch on the military and you can show me the sights?" He wasn't sure how he was going to broach the fact he was a Spartan... he hoped that she might figure it out eventually.

"You must be a big hero then if the military and government is paying for your vacation." The girl said as she read something on the screen. "It does say that I have to verify that it is you using the card and not some drifter." She added with a cockeyed grin.

"Well verify away" Tavish said, not sure how they would actually do that. Just putting in his HEIGHT should be enough, after all how many people who weren't Spartans were this height? And how many would be able to swipe the card and figure out what it is?

She continued to look at him for a few seconds before she added with a chuckle. "I will need your I.D."

"Oh, right" Tavish patted himself for a moment, then handed it over quickly, a slight blush on his cheeks. "When I say I'm new to this... I really mean it" he laughed, trying to hide his embarressment "Most of the food I usually get comes on a metal tray and tastes of wood pulp."

The girl smiled as she took the I.D. and looked it over. "Well Mr....Tavish, the only thing thats going to be different is that the tray is plastic and the food is made out of wood pulp." She added with a laugh as she handed the money and I.D. card back. "Let me ask you a question. If you have a nearly limitless amount of money, why did you pick a fast food joint over a five-star restaurant?"

"I'm that kinda guy" Tavish said with an embarressed laugh, scratching his head slightly "A five star restaurant is the kind of place I'd take people to impress, to treat, but by myself I'd feel... well alone in the crowd I guess. This place" he looked around at the plastic seating and over cheerful colours "It's friendly, it's everyday... and the people are much nicer." He smiled widely at the girl behind the counter, eyes flashing over her chest to try and find a name tag or something.

Tavish heard an embarrassed giggle from the girl before she spoke. "Sori. Sori is my name. I forgot my name tag at home." She fought away her blush before continueing her conversation while waiting on the food. "So what do you do for the military? Most guys that come through here are common Marines or pilots."

"Lets just say... special forces and leave it at that" Tavish said, grinning nervosly and scratching his head "At least until we're somewhere more private. I mean it's not really TOP secret, I just don't want a ton of people knowing, you know?" He wasn't ashamed of being a Spartan, he just wanted a bit more time not being stared at; though that wasn't really happening as it was.

"Ok, Mr. Secret Agent." Sori said with a laugh before turning around and grabbing his order and putting it on a tray for him. "Do enjoy your meal sir."

Tavish took the tray in one hand, almost encompassing the bottom with one a single palm. "Shall I see you around the back in a bit?" he asked, his grin wide and cheeks slightly flushed. He LIKED leave, he got to meet new people, talk about new things... not be a Spartan if he didn't want to be.

Sori gave him another cockeyed grin, "Or I could just meet you at your table in a few minutes. I will see if the manager will let me go early."

Tavish nodded happily, giving her a slight wave as he moved away, a wide grin on his lips. He REALLY liked leave. Sitting down carefully on a bench, he happily found it supported his weight and began to unpack his food onto the table in front. A Budhist, looking great as ever, onion rings, coke and cheese breadsticky things. Perfect. Trying to make it last as long as he could, and not make a pig of himself, he began to eat slowly.

A few minutes passed before she came out and joined him at his table. She had removed her work shirt and was now in a loose-fitting tank top. She plopped her hat down on the table as she sat down. "The manager said I could go ahead and take the rest of the day off since we were slow."

"Nice of him" Tavish admitted with a slight laugh, trying not to look as if he'd just eaten his burger in three massive bites. "Almost makes me wish I had a civilian job, if I can get time off on a slow day" then again there were never really slow days as a Spartan, there were the occasional dead days, where absolutely nothing was happening, but then there were the days the Flood were trying to remove your brain through your ear piece.

"Psh, quit being modest. I bet you get to go out and see the galaxy and go to exotic locations. Fight to defend the Earth from outside threats. Sounds absolutely amazing to me." Sori said as she looked out the window and to the sky.

"Yeah, then they try and kill me" Tavish laughed softly "Can't tell you too much I hope you understand but lets just say... marines can get dropped in for patrols of safe zones, keeping already held places in check. I'm one of the few who always gets dragged out to where the fighting is."

"Ah, so you have seen some action? Tell me, how many things have you killed?" Sori asked with a very interested look in her eye.

"I'm a driver" Tavish admitted with a small embarressed smirk "I get people from A to B, yes I've killed stuff but most of the time the only close up I get is if I'm reduced to using my guns or I have to clean out the warthog myself." He scratched his head slightly and gave a small laugh "That's if I'm not piloting a hornet or something, then I just loose a rocket and take down an entire building. Kinda difficult to know your kill count then."

"So its glory through the aiding of others?" Sori asked, a little disappointment in her voice. "I guess everyone has their lot in life and yours is transporting others."

"Don't get me wrong, I see the front lines too" Tavish laughed "I just specialise in transport like others do in explosives or sniping. I mean you're not going to waste all that time training a Spartan just so he can ship marines to the fight. I'm just the guy who- whoops." His face fell slightly, his hands tightening around the unbreakable plastic tray that his food came on and making it creak loudly. He hadn't meant to mention that he was a Spartan.

Sori laughed loudly and then quickly brought her hand up to her mouth to muffle the remainder of it. "A Spartan? Right. Your no Spartan."

Tavish wasn't sure what to do in this situation, he hadn't been expecting a flat out denial. Now, what would be the worst thing to do? Tell her he was, and either get in an argument and break something to prove a point or storm out of there... or just do with it. He realised he'd just been staring into thin air for the last minute, and the tray kept creaking every now and then. "Yeah, you're right" he laughed slightly, letting go of the tray before it snapped "I mean... me, a Spartan, right?" He laughed as if it was a joke.

"Shame on you for trying to impress me." Sori said with a shame on you shake of her finger. "Everyone knows Spartans cant leave their armor, they dont have any skin under there." she added as if it was taught in school.

"Y-yeah... right" Tavish looked to the side, wondering if the others were having this denial problem. Seriously, what were they teaching people? "But... don't you think that would cause... MASSIVE amounts of pain?" He didn't know what to do now, if he wanted this girl to believe he was a Spartan he'd probably have to have his armour, which he didn't. And he didn't want her to believe that anyway... so... he was rather confused.

"Nah! Spartans cant feel pain, they also never die." Sori said again as if she was the fore-front of Spartan knowledge. "For someone in the military you sure dont know a lot about Spartans."

"For someone outside the military you sure know a lot about Spartans" Tavish pointed out, one large finger pointed in her direction... but absolutely no hint of sarcasm in that comment. None. At all. Well maybe a little around "lot" but that was it. "Now" he said, standing up slowly and trying to change the subject "We were going round the sights weren't we?"

"Everyone knows that stuff about Spartans. Its common knowledge." She stood up and grabbed her hat and stuffed it into the back pack she had on her back. "Where do you want to go first? Any preference on sights?"

Tavish did something strange for him, he stilled his tongue on a subject. It was hard not to argue when you are right, even if you don't want the truth to be found out... "No preferences, like I've said, new in town and the one place most of the marines usually come is deemed off limits to me... but by the sound of it I wouldn't want to visit that district."

"Yea, I know what your talking about. I have a few friends that work over there. I decided that I would rather go home smelling like burger every night then take off my clothes." Sori moved through the doors and stopped in the middle of the sidewalk looking down the street. "Hm...I can take you to the memorial for those who died during the fallout from the space fight. A lot of people come here to see it, dont know why personally."

Tavish was unsure about this girl right now, she hadn't quite made a nice impression. "Well some guys... it's all they have" he pointed out "I'd like to go see it, I've worked beside a lot of people who wound up dead. I've learnt that if you don't pay your respects then who else will?" He was a driver, he was used to carrying around passengers... and not having all of them make it back home safe.

Sori turned and looked at Tavish, "Sorry, sometimes my mouth runs without letting my brain think about what im saying." She attempted to pat him on the shoulder but didnt even manage to get his shoulder blade. She walked over to the small parking lot next to the restaurant and hopped onto a sporty looking motorcycle that had a slight resemblance to the Mongoose. "I hate to say it but your gonna have to ride bitch."

"Lady" Tavish pressed down on the back of the motorcycle "This thing will break after half a mile with me on the back." It was either this or run though... so for now he climbed onto the back. It immediatley slammed down, almost scrapping the chasis on the floor.

Sori looked at the bottom of the motorcycle as it came close to hitting the concrete before looking back at him. "Looks like that fastfood is already having an effect on you." She said with a laugh as she pressed the ignition button and the thing roared to life. She manuvered the thing through the parking lot slowly as to not hit any other cars. "Hold on." She said as she pulled the throttle all the way back.

Tavish was a Spartan, one who specialised in vehicles, he'd got hit by a truck for training and this little thing didn't so much as make his hair fall out of place. In fact he rather slowed it down, his extra weight on the back was like towing a small car. Hell this thing was going slow enough for him that he could almost take in the sights AS she drove; he was used to gunning down ramps at top speed, finding the route in the route out and the enemy in one glance. This was nothing.

It was about a 15 minute drive before they arrived at the memorial. It was a serene place with lots landscaping work done to the area, it seemed trivial though as there were hunks of space ship and space station debris sticking out of the ground. These had been polished to a very high reflection and had the names of the service men and civilians that had died from the fallout and space battle. "There it is." Sori said as she shut off the engine and popped out the kickstand.

Sori could tell Tavish had gotten off because the bike jolted upwards suddenly, almost catching her unawares as he walked quickly towards the memorial. His eyes scanned across it quickly, taking in the names at random; he did question the mentality behind leaving the wreckage as a memorial. Surely a massive concrete umbrella would have been slightly better. He shook his head slightly and gazed at the names again, not memorising... just recognising what had happened to them.

Sori walked straight towards the biggest piece in the middle of the circle. She stopped in front of it for a few seconds before pulling out a little flower and placing it at the wreckage's base, before joining Tavish, "Anyone you know?"

"Absolutely no one" Tavish said, but from his face it wasn't a comfort to him. He wasn't a spiritual man, but it was scenes like this that could drive you to be one. "Anyone you know?" he asked, dreading an answer whatever she gave.

She looked back to the center of debris where she had laid down the small flower. "My parents." she said simply before turning back. "Most of the city had come out into the streets to watch the fight, at least what they could see of it. There was a huge explosion, we later found out that it was the first of the orbital defense stations that went up, thats when the debris began to fall. It was an awful sight, that I have seen through photos. I was very young when it happened."

"What were they're names? If you don't mind me asking" Tavish said gently, eyes flicking over the debris quickly. Who was that man? Was he related to the one beside him, with the same last name? Were they brothers? Perhaps even husbands? Had they never met? So many things left unanswered... He just hoped someone knew.

"Toshi and Jade." Sori said with a hint of sadness in her voice.

Tavish's grip was firm, but not as bone breaking as it was suggested by his size "You remember they are their child, just having a strong and healthy girl like you wondering around would make them proud." His eyes scanned over the names on the wreckage "A lot of names died out, a lot of people didn't make it. I'm sure they'd be happy to know you made it through all of this." It was almost depressing to see this hulk of a man talking like this, as if he'd said it many times before to comfort people. He'd seen a lot of losses.

"It was a terrible event for the whole country. We got the worst of it, but the debris scattered all over the island killing so many." Sori said as she scanned over some more of the names. "We are still recovering as you can see by the restricted sections of the city."

"I remember" Tavish said, thinking back to their guide telling them some parts were closed off; she hadn't been exactly honest had she? He had an urge to go there... though he didn't really know why, he just wanted to wonder around in the silence. He looked over and Sori, then sighed softly and gave a weak smile "Say, what about you and me go get you some food? My treat of course."

Sori looked at him with a smile, "Still hungry? You just ate."

"Well you haven't had food yet" Tavish said with a soft laugh "Might as well use this card while I have it, so let me treat you to a nice meal." He grinned down at her, trying to raise her mood a bit.

"Meh, working at the fast food place takes out my appetite. But, I have been raised to never turn down a free meal, especially from a handsome soldier." Sori said with a playful nudge with her elbow.

"Hey at least you believe I'm a soldier" Tavish laughed gently, rubbing his head and smiling at Sori before looking over at the place where her bike was sitting. "I'm afraid you'll have to take me there as well, don't know a single about New Tokyo" apart from it was new, and Tokyo, and had been hit by debris.

"Hopefully the old bike will be able to handle ya." Sori said as she turned and started back to the bike. "If you weighed much more we would be reconstructing the highway."

Tavish opened his mouth as if he was about to say something, then realised what it was BEFOREHAND this time and let out a vague mumble off and a drawn out "ehh" noise. She didn't believe he was a Spartan, she wouldn't believe that he was heavier with the armour on. Silently he followed her, at least this was giving him good training on talking as if he WASN'T a Spartan.

Sori hopped onto her bike and waited for Tavish to join her. Once he was on and the bike adjusted for his weight she throttled it out onto the road and headed back into the busier portion of the district. "Any preference on meal?" she hollered back at him over the sound of the bikes engine.

"Your choice" Tavish called back, barely having to raise his voice. He was used to shouting over the noise of hornet engines and scorpion fire, this was nothing to him "I'm just buying after all." He really should see if he could borrow a real mongoose, this tiny thing would break with him sitting on it.

"We're gonna go to Sugamoras then. Best restaurant this side of the island." Sori hollered back and suddenly swung the bike across three lanes much to the surprise of the other motorists who expressed their surprise through horns and colorful words and gestures.

Tavish turned around and glowered at the drivers, a few went silent just from the look. "Hope the army can keep up with your tastes" he laughed, not phased at all by her sudden swerve "They might never give me this card again."

Sori laughed a laugh that was barely audible. "Whats to point of getting an allowance if you dont blow it all on something stupid?"

"Good point" Tavish laughed as well, though his could be heard by people in the street as they passed. He looked around at the buidlings they were passing through now, they were definatley going into a more expensive part of town.

Several more minutes passed until they arrived at a very large fancy looking restaurant with large statues in the front. She parked her bike and hopped off and turned to look at the building. "Hopefully they wont recognize me."

"Won't regonise you?" Tavish said suspiciously, looking up at the building and raising an eyebrow "Why? What'd you do to the place?" He wondered if their meal was going to be interupted by police, or an angry chef, of police holding back an angry chef.

"Well, lets just say that last time I came here the guy I was with didnt have an endless supply of cash on a little piece of plastic and bailed on me after the meal." Sori said, her face getting a little red in embarrassment, "I sure as hell wasnt going to do dishes because of him, so I slipped out when the waiter wasnt around."

"Hey, if they do bring it up I'll just pay for that time too" Tavish chuckled, shaking his head and taking hold of Sori's hand and leading her towards the entrance. He looked around as they approached the entrance of the restaurant, trying to find a waiter or someone to serve them.

"They look pretty busy." Sori said as she peered around the crowd of people. They were all standing infront of a small podium with a man behind it asking everyone's last name and writing them down furiously. "That must be the head waitor guy." Sori said pointing.

Tavish nodded slightly to Sori, then slowly seemed to wade through the crowd, not exactly forcing through the crowd but... not exactly being patient and queuing behind everyone else. With minimal force and only a few trodden toes he was at the front of the crowd and standing at the podium, towering over the man with Sori by his side. "Redding" he said, laying one massive hand on the podium and staring down into the man's eyes "Tavish Redding." He hoped he didn't have to pull the whole "Spartan" thing again, while this man might scoff he did have one piece of proof that should convince them.

"Do you have a reservation?" The man asked as he started a preemptive search of all the reservations.

"No... no reservations" Tavish said, his grin seeming strangely hungry as he gazed down at the man, as if it was a choice between he lets them in or Tavish would bite his head off. "I'm sure there's a few tables you keep for... special occasions though" he said softly, leaning in a bit closer to the man on the pretence of talking quietly to him "For... extraordinary people."

Once the man was convinced that the "special occasion" wasnt a birthday party, he leaned closer to Tavish, inspecting his face to see if he was a notable person that he should know. "I dont know if we do have any tables open as we are rather busy."

Tavish reached up with the hand that wasn't holding Sori's, fishing under his shirt for the thing that all soldiers had. He was surprised that he hadn't thought of this sooner; but he supposed he hadn't been expecting to be rejected as a Spartan. The small metal tags dangled in front of the man's nose, Tavish's arm subtley hiding it from Sori's view; the words Tavish Redding Spartan: #369 Callsign: Drive Shaft were carved in the dogtags, along with Tavish's blood type and identifaction codes. The stamp on the back of the tags proved that the tags were real, even if the waiter had thought that they were fake or a joke that stamp showed the truth. Tavish didn't care if the news got out that Spartans weren't supermen, he actually thought it might be good to give them a human face for once, and he really wanted to get a table in this restaurant.

The man looked at the tag and then his eyes went wide. "Oh...um...sir." He quickly scanned the book of names and then scribbled one out. "Looks like we had a cancellation, please follow the waitress to your table." The man behind the booth pointed to a lady waiting with menus in her arms.

Tavish straightened up, hiding the dog tags away before Sori could look at them and casting a glance down at her. He smiled, nodded to the man and walked calmly towards the waitress, letting her lead them towards their table. He really hoped that Sori didn't want to look at his dogtags, it was probably inevitable but he hoped it would take a while.

"What did you do to that poor man?" Sori asked in a whisper as they were guided to their table. "It looked like you told him you had killed his dog."

"Lets just say... he never expected someone like me to walk in" Tavish said truthfully, trying to keep the information to a minimal. He smiled as he saw the table that they would be sitting at, nodding to Sori and pulling back a chair for her to sit in; he always liked to play the gentleman after all.

"Oh well thank you sir." Sori said with a giggle as she sat down and got comfortable. She looked around her at the sea of formal wear everyone else was wearing. "We look so out of place."

Tavish chuckled and straightened his shirt "The only formal wear I have is my dress uniform, I'd rather be out of place and myself than wear that." He laughed softly and took his own seat, being careful the moment he heard the first creak of the wood; he hated to admit it but he was probably going to have to have something as well, Spartans burnt a lot of energy doing nothing and that little burger wasn't going to fill him up completely.

The waitress handed them their menus and told them that she will return. Sori picked up her menu and began to skim the options. "Hmm...what you going to get?"

"Hmmmm... haven't had lamb in a while" Tavish said gently, eyes scanning the list as he remembered the last time he'd had lamb properly. "What do you fancy?" he asked Sori, smiling slightly and liking the fact he was in a restaurant, talking to normal people, acting like a normal person. His eyes flicked over to the man behind the podium, checking what he was doing; alright, Tavish was acting MOSTLY like a normal person.

"I have always wanted to try blowfish." Sori said as she spotted it on the menu. "But I have never had the money for it, luckily its not a problem now."

That was something Tavish had never tried... but then again he could probably eat a blowfish normally and not worry about the poison. He didn't know how far his Spartan resilance went, but he didn't want to exactly test it by chomping down on a blowfish. "Sounds good" he admitted "Have you thought of a drink? Wine?" It seemed a bit early to drink actually.

"Ooooh. I didnt even think about that." Sori said excitedly, quickly turning to that part of the menu and looking for a good one. "I really dont know wine so I dont know what to get, unfortunately."

"Well we could ask our waiter when they get here" Tavish said with a small shrug, smiling at Sori and glad she seemed to be having a good time. It felt strangely nice to be a civilian for once... but he knew that if he got behind the wheel of a car he'd wreck the city.

"Oh, your so smart." Sori said with a grin. Then she waved her hand in the air frantically to get their waitresses attention. Then as an after thought she looked over at Tavish, "You know what you want?" she asked with her hand still in the air.

Tavish nodded, laughing softly at Sori's antics and smiling up at the waitress as she arrived. "Hello" he said lightly, acting as if he'd done this before "I'd like the lightly braised lamb shank in red wine sauce." He folded up the menu and smiled, thanking the cook he'd been put on kitchen duty with; now there was a lady with class.

The waitress wrote down his order and turned to Sori. "I would like the Blowfish and a bottle of your greatest oldest wine please."

Tavish had a feeling that he wouldn't be getting leave ever again, also that Sori was enjoying this a little bit too much. Still he smiled and nodded to the waitress as she seemed to give a puzzled look, as if to reassure that they were ordering this. "White, please" he assured the woman, showing that at least he knew that white went with fish.

The waitress nodded and jotted down the rest of the order before vanishing into the hustle and bustle of the employees. Sori continued to look around the restaurant and the other patrons. "No matter how many times I come in here I will never not be amazed by its finery."

"It is a very nice place" Tavish commented, looking around at the almost alien atmosphere. He was used to the Mess, eating off of metal trays, occasional fights, food spilling... Not this fine dining. It all seemed so strange to him, but that almost made it exciting.

"So, less talk about the restaurant and more about you." Sori said, getting an interested look on her face. "What is the most intense situation you have ever been in, combat or otherwise?"

Tavish licked his lips for a moment, frowning as he tried to think of something safe to tell her. He supposed... how he got his call sign, but he couldn't tell her that he had a call sign. "Well, when I was training they sent me and a group of others to a planet, a bit of solitary environment training and all that I think. Well, the Covenant learnt about the place and attacked; it wasn't a large attack, they weren't expecting us to be very good and they just wanted to rob us of some resources. Well as soon as they attacked we got the signal to get back to base and help, but it turns out we were the other side of the drop ships. Still, I was one of the best drivers there, we had two working warthogs, we gave it a shot because the transport out of there wasn't going to wait forever. They had little weapons on a training planet, so we had to get there quickly. Well I hit the throttle, slammed into the Covenant hordes from behind, took a good few out... I had my team mates to think about though so I didn't mess around, but I somehow managed to clip a boulder concealed in the grass, spin and break the main drive shaft of the warthog. So, under fire, I dragged my team mates out of their seats, got them to help me lift the vehicle, took off a piece of armour I was wearing at the time, wrapped it around the drive shaft and managed to just repair it. Still, it could only hold a little bit of weight and... I was kinda the only one who had the nerve to get out there again. Only it couldn't go very fast. So, team mates hiding behind the warthog as it moved, I had to make it trundle along at about five miles an hour while sitting in enemy fire. Driver's side was facing the Covenant... I was under constant fire until finally I'd got it close enough to the doors to make a dash for the base. We got in the pelican, we took off, we blew the hell out of a ship or two on our escape... I got a medal."

Sori had a look of pure awe on her face as he relayed this story of bravery to her. "Oh. My. God. That must have been crazy scary for you to go through. But I guess its best to get one of your worst experiences out of the way early then later in your career."

Tavish actually seemed non-plussed by her amazement, raising an eyebrow and laughing slightly "Everyone's under fire sometimes, I mean that's no even the WORST..." He slowed his speech gradually, watching Sori, then everyone around him "Lets just say that people always need to get places, and sometimes those places aren't always very friendly. And... well Drop Pods get expensive."

"Wow. I think that would be the funnest most exciting thing ever." Sori said with excitement. "I probably would have joined but Granny would kill me out of worry. Thats one of the reason why she was so eager to take me in after my parents died, she didnt want me to get swept up into some secret government project that she claimed took her sister before the Covenant glassed Harvest."

"Took your sister?" Tavish was listening, you could practically see his ears prick up "What's your sister's name? Trust me when I say I've heard all the conspiracy theories out there, one guy in my outfit... a bit of a nut job if you know what I mean. Good soldier, just can get suckered into believing anything."

Sori giggled a bit, "No, not my sister. My Grandma's sister." She shook her head with another silent chuckle. "I think you have had to many grenades go off near your head."

"Well... yes but that's not important" Tavish said, for one brief moment trying to remember just how many grenades had gone off next to his head. "What was your great aunt's name then?" he chuckled, trying to find out the name of this mystery kidnapped woman; he doubted he'd know her now, but it would an interesting tale to tell.

"She doesnt talk much about her, but her gravestone reads Yuriana." Sori said trying to look at the door to the kitchen to try and catch sight of their waitress bringing their meal. "Thats the reason why no one believes her. The fact that her sister was buried at the age of 17 do to a chronic illness. But Granny vehemently says that it was a clone, something about she never seemed the same after some day or month."

Tavish nodded slowly, flexing his fingers slightly as he stared down into his hands; he didn't know to be honest, governments can do a lot of crazy things... It was most likely the poor woman went nuts, but still he'd pass it on to Scorch... why he didn't know but he still would. He looked up as the food arrived, managing a smile was he watched the plates being placed in front of them.

The waitress finished passing out the food and then poured them their wine. She set the rest of the bottle into a thing of ice. "If you need anything else let me know."

"Thank you very much" Tavish said, giving a slight nod to the waitress and wondering if he should have pointed out that the wine wouldn't go with his food. Still, it was old, it was fine, it wasn't his money, he'd give it a try. He picked up his knife and fork, very carefully using them to cut the meat from the bone; he had to be careful, the cutlery was expensive, probably quite flexible and if he hit bone he might saw halfway through it before noticing.

"Man, this looks delicious!" Sori said as she took her first bit onto her fork. She put the piece into her mouth and closed her eyes in ecstasy. "This...was so worth the wait." she said after swallowing the first bite and getting the second ready.

Tavish couldn't help but smile, this was what he had wanted to happen. A normal girl, a normal place, but something she had never done before; he liked people, he liked making people happy, this made her happy. If he could help it he'd make some more people happy along the way.

"Your not eating." Sori said more of an observation then a question as she watched him. "If your food isnt good they could probably redo it for you, although the chef may spit in it."

"Oh, sorry" Tavish realised he'd had the same piece of meat pointed at his face for a while now "A bit... caught up right now." He looked up at the people around him, wondering if the word had gotten out who had wondered in, and bit into the meat. He couldn't bite the fork itself, that would probably bend the metal, so he was very careful to only chew his food.

"Having flashbacks, are we?" Sori asked with a semi-amused expression. "As long as you dont throw the salt shaker as a grenade and emptying the clip of te wine bottle we will be fine."

Tavish did everything he could not to mention the fact he was holding a knife in his hand, calmly cutting his food with it and smiling at Sori. "I don't flash back... I was just thoughtful, that's all" he admitted "I'm not old enough to have flash backs yet."

"Well thats true." Sori said before raising her wine glass. "Here's hoping that you live long enough to have flashbacks or at least long enough to help out the people."

"Here's hoping" Tavish sighed, holding up his own glass; he didn't bang it against Sori's, he let her knock it against his own. If he'd tried there would have been glass in their meals surely. He took a sip from his wine, smiling slightly at the taste before putting it down and continuing to eat his lamb.

Sori sipped her wine, and then promptly downed the rest of the glass. "Wow, its nothing like saki but its good." She said with a smile as she poured herself another glass and took another bite of her fish.

"Tastes better if you sip it" Tavish chuckled, while his army training was drilled in pretty deep he sometimes felt as if the lessons on cooking he'd been given were buried even deeper. Maybe it was because she talked to him instead of at him... He continued to eat his own food, sipping his own wine and examining the clientel and the entrance to the restaurant. He honestly hoped that the word hadn't gotten out that he was a Spartan yet, he didn't want Sori to possibly hear.

As Tavish looked around he did notice that much of the staff were whispering to one another quickly, and occasionally one would look over in his direction. A few of them would mouth the words "Really?!" or "Oh my god." but it didnt seem to go much further from that. Sori, however, didnt seem to notice any of the extra attention as she finished off her fish in one oversized bite.

Slight whispers, the occasional odd look... nothing too bad he supposed. Tavish took a little longer finishing off his own food, but his own bites seemed quite large to a normal person, while quite normal to himself. After clearing his entire plate he carefully placed his knife and fork on top of it, taking his wine to sip at it while he waited for someone to approach. They had finished aftet all, unless Sori wanted desert.

Sori was laying back in her chair with her hands on her stomach and eyes closed. "That was the best meal I have ever had in my life." She said with a satisfied sigh, "Totally destroyed the food at work."

Tavish couldn't help but smile, watching Sori relaxing back in her chair as he continued to sit bolt upright. Still, it might be because if he leant back the chair would snap in half, but still it was just him watching a very relaxed girl. He had to admit that it was very different from the food he'd tried at her working place.

Sori sat up slowly and stretched her arms wide. "What shall we do once we are done here?" She asked herself aloud. "Still so much to see and so little time."

"Well..." Tavish rubbed his chin slowly as he thought "Are there any places around here that you think I might like? I mean... beaches, parks and stuff?" He shrugged and smiled apologetically "I'm afraid I have never been here before."

"I dont think I know you well enough to make a guess on what you would like." Sori said. "We could always go to-" About that time she looked down at her watch and her eyes went wide. "Oh damn! I got to get home or my Grandma is going to cripple me."

"You... ahh... need a hand at home?" Tavish didn't really want to be dropped out in the middle of town with no idea what to do. He'd just wind up going to the movies like the others... And he didn't fancy seeing Spook getting all close with Scorch.

"Actually you could probably help out a bit. She might not kill me for being out this late if she knew I was with someone who could protect me." Sori said as she stood up from the table. "Just dont let her know your a soldier."

"Alright" Tavish had seen a few people leave already, and he knew that you paid at the small waiter's table by the entrance. He walked over to the station, standing head and shoulders above practically everyone else in the room, and holding out the card for the waiter to take, with his identification hidden inside his palm so he could hand it to the waitress the moment she asked for it.

The waitress took the card and run it, then took the ID to verify. Once everything checked out she handed him everything back and a reciept.

"Make sure when you get back to base you thank your CO for the wonderful meal." Sori said with a friendly jab to the ribs.

"Oh I'm sure I'll see my boss later" Tavish said with a soft chuckle, scratching his chin and wondering if Arron would be mad at him for using his card like this. Well... he supposed that this WAS what they were meant for. Taking his cards back he slid them away and offered his arm to Sori "Come on, I'll escort you home."

"Oh my big strong gentleman gonna protect the small defenseless woman." She said as she put her arm through his and laid her head on his arm. "I may even let you drive, show off your 'skills'."

"Oh please" Tavish chuckled, shaking his head at Sori, leaving the diner behind them "There's only so much you can get from that old rust bucket. Maybe I can rent a proper army vehicle tomorrow... if you want to see me again that is."

"Hey! Thats not rust, my baby's just dirty." Sori said with mock hurt as he insulted her motorcycle. "And I didnt know you could rent military vehicles? What dealership do you go to?"

"The military... probably" Tavish admitted "I'd just take it back out with me when I left. No big deal right? I mean I could even put down that it's my city training and get that out the way while I'm driving around."

"Oh, I wouldnt want you lying to your superiors for me." Sori said as she hopped onto her motorcycle and turned it on. "Well hurry up and hop on so we can get me home."

Tavish nodded and climbed onto the back carefully, smiling gently at Sori and making sure everything was nicely balanced out for them to head off again. "Alright, take us to your house" he said happily, waving a large arm off into the distance.

She kicked the cycle into high gear and ripped onto the highway. She made significant progress when she suddenly whipped off the road and blew past some hazard cones and a wooden roadblock onto a deserted road.

"This" Tavish said quietly to Sori "Looks like a part of town... that we're not technically allowed into." He remembered the woman saying, remembered her talking about parts that were closed off to the public due to being unstable.

"Its not as unstable as they make it sound." Sori yelled back at him. "I've been using this shortcut for the past year and a half and havent had any trouble." She continued as she whipped onto another road that was missing the entire left lane.

"Oh well if nothing's happened so FAR" Tavish muttered, looking around at the wasted surroundings and frowning slightly; the walls did seem quite sturdy if truth be told. He just hoped his presence didn't drop the entire place.

"The key to making it through alive is to pray that something hasnt fallen since last time you came through." Sori said as she quickly swerved around the burnt-out husk of a semi-trailer and drove up over a downed billboard. "Happened to me once, I got a 5,000 credit fine and a 3 month stay in the hospital."

"Damn lady, does this really cut that much off your travel time?" Tavish had to admit, on this little thing with practically no protection that was quite a feat. He liked girls who never gave up even after they'd taken quite a beating... which was another reason he liked Spook.

"Takes off about 45 minutes in good traffic." Sori said as she went under several dangerous looking overpasses. "If we were to follow the good highway it goes all the way around this part. This cuts straight through and to the house."

A handy short cut to know, he had to admit. "Alright then" he chuckled "I won't stop another person taking dangers, not with my line of work." He looked around at the decreped place... he wondered what went out here with no one knowing but the participants. It was a very deserted place.

Sori started looking about, "There is a small little alley way somewhere around here that I have been meaning to take. Should take another 10 minutes off my travel time."

"And you think that doing it with a practically ton heavy man on the back of this bike is a good thing?" Tavish asked, raising an eyebrow and humming slightly at this idea. "Still" he admitted "If we knock over a building I'll be there to save your ass."

"Believe me. You could be in make believe Spartan armor and I would still be able to make this shortcut." Sori said with lots of confidence in her voice.

Tavish took a large breath, but just exhaled it and rolled his eyes. He didn't need to make her know that he really was a Spartan, even if he could show her his dog tags; she seemed to be friendly enough as it is, if she suddenly learnt that he was one of those monstrous creatures she beleives Spartans to be she might get scared.

"There!" Sori said quickly as she turned hard left, nearly putting the bike on its side. She whipped across the road and barreled into the alley way, debris flying by fast and close.

Tavish actually had to lift his leg up as they turned sharply, managing to balance himself well but if he hadn't moved his foot would have probably clipped the floor and sent them into a spin. He hunkered down, almost folding over on top of Sori and pinning her to the bike as he tried to avoid contact with the walls or occasional overhead debris. The girl was crazy, he had to give her that.

"I bet you do stuff like this all the time on duty." Sori said behind her as she dodged another dumpster. "I envy you."

"Lady, if you want to join the UNSC and enter EVA training I will give you a recommendation!" Tavish said, tapping Sori on the shoulder firmly and watching as the debris whizzed past. "I'll show you what I can do when I get my hands on some standard issue gear. Nothing against your bike, I just think I might wreck it."

"Oh dammit, dammit, dammit..." Sori started cursing as he bike began to slow down. She started looking around frantically as if looking for another route. "This isnt good, not good at all."

"What?" Tavish asked, his own eyes scanning around for whatever was causing Sori to either slow down or curse. Had she gotten a flat? Were they running out of gas? That was a new one of Tavish he had to admit...

"Rebels." Shes said with an aggravated sigh as she pointed up ahead of them. Tavish could see a roadblock up ahead made out of a flaming semi-truck. She continued to slow down till they stood infront of the roadblock and several armed individuals that looked like they hadnt bathed in awhile. The leader stepped forward, closer to the motorcycle. "What do we have here?" he asked as he walked around the bike.

"Rebels? Rebels against... what?" Tavish asked, simply frowning at the obvious leader of the gang and showing absolutely no fear. The man was much much smaller than Tavish and didn't even seem to be armed; even so Tavish could probably twist his head off before he'd even raised the gun.

"Rebels against the UNSC." Sori said in a hiss of a whisper hoping that the man wouldnt hear her. "Tired of the way that UNSC has been treating the human race."

"You'll keep your mouth shut if you know what's good for you." the man said to the two of them. "It seems a great prize has landed in our laps today, something that we have been looking forward to for quite some time, Spartan." As he said this his eyes were locked on Tavish and a grin grew from ear to ear.

"The UNSC? You mean the people who die on the battle field every day to stop people like this getting glassed?" Tavish asked, frowning at the men in front of him. To be honest he was surprised that they recognised him as a Spartan... when they'd been talking about a great prize he'd thought they'd meant Sori. "If you know what I am, then you know that if I wanted to I could fold you in half. Still you haven't attacked yet, and I'm not a violent guy without reason. What do you want?"

"We want you." Sori said as she turned around and jammed a stun gun deep into his ribs. Within a split second his body was coursing with enough electricy to drop an elephant cold. She held it there long enough to insure incapacitation before removing it from his body. She watched as he fell over backwards onto the floor. "Your the best catch I've ever gotten." Sori said as she looked off the bike at him.

Sori had just enough time to see the look of sadness and hurt in Tavish's eyes before she stuck the Tazer into his chest and caused him to spasm and fall off the bike. He hit the floor, smoke rising from the burnt area in his clothes where she'd stuck the tazer.

The group gathered around his body to take a look at him. "Now what?" one of them said. "We take him to the Doctor." the leader said as the sound of a large truck's backup alarm was heard. When Tavish woke up, he would find himself in the Rebel Warehouse.



Halo C.E. RPG