Corporal Blackburn watched as the man leaped from a balcony, intrigued he bound over to see where he was running, tailing the man from a distance.

She's been tracking Edmond from above , surfing the shadows across the ceiling , so far above him and th horde that they look like insects racing across the floor. The undead lost interest in her once she was out of sight , the Shade prevents her from leaving any sent so despite being covered in blood she was out of immediate danger. Unfortunately leaving only one target. The flare nearly causes her to plunge from the ceiling as the shadows suddenly recede and the area ahead is swathed in light leaving her nowhere to go but with the shadows into the very corners of the room. The shadows here are not like home, they have lives and memories, it makes it hard for her to stay immersed for long, so like a swimmer she is forced to come up for air. Or in This case to stop the colossus owner of these shadows from dragging her into Oblivion. She can see his progress, then looks ahead and her stomach lurches into her mouth as she sees where he is heading. [i]' Shit! get me down to the bottom now![/i] [b] ' we don't know where it goes, you could die.[/b] [i]' I don't believe I came here to die, We came here, or were brought here for a reason, the Ca Karri touch those who cannot be reached, remember, that's our thing , it's what we do. [/i] [b]...I don't know...[/b] [i] please...Shade.[/i] There is no reply, but she feels the change as they cross the ceiling passed the edge of the balcony, all she see's is pitch black. Her body phases out completely and is now nothing. She ceases to be, to exist. Dirae has gone. At the same instance, something forms at the bottom of the drop. It's happened so fast Eddy hasn't jumped yet, but he can only be seconds away. The shade turns its attention to its surroundings unsure what to expect. Then it's attention turns to above it, expecting a mans body to impact at any moment.

Blackburn shook his head, not sure what the hell was happening, a woman was running and then she disappeared, the man he was following still kept chasing her and now there was this shade to contend with.

[spoiler]the shade is inside of her, she's talking to a separate consciousness inside her own head. Edmond was separated from her as they entered the chamber - he disappeared from sight and was lost in the crowd of undead and darkness.[/spoiler] [spoiler]im going to tie you and her into this event, it's not easy to do this with 3 people but we are all experienced so it will work[/spoiler]

[u][i][b]Both of you please make your comments below this post so that this story stays sequential for all three of us.[/b][/i][/u] [b][i]Edmond plunges down into the darkness, flailing his arms and screaming as if it could somehow arrest his descent. Edmond slams into a putrid pile of rotten corpses at terminal velocity, breaking his left arm/shoulder and shattering his left foot. He screams in pain as he attempts to find the flare gun in his pack. A heavy impact slaps wetly into the pile of bodies a mere 2 meters away - the undead begin to rain down from above, no time to search for the flare. Edmond crawls through the pile of corpses as fresh ones impact all around him, splashing his face with foul smelling, liquified flesh. He vomits as he continues, tasting blood in his mouth. Evidently the impact damaged his innards. Edmond finds himself on hard floor after about 3 minutes of frantic crawling, then climbs to his feet and fires the flare up into the darkness above. He is stunned at the sight before him. Thousands of stone statues are illuminated by the pale corpse light, flash frozen in perpetual combat. Most of the statues appear as a variety of winged gargoyles that surround a trio of hulking space marines, standing back to back and surrounded by piles of solidified corpses and enemies lunging at them. Edmond has just enough time to see the emblem on the space marines' armor... Edmond's jaw drops open in awe as he finds himself standing before the stone remains of the fabled kill team known as the Three Libras - all three elite legends of the Imperium. Edmonds momentary distraction nearly costs him his life. An undead corpse seizes him from behind, but is battered backwards by a savage right elbow and impaled on the sword of a gargoyle. More undead approach. "EMPERORS BALLSACK!!" Shouts Edmond as he begins hobbling through the tangled mass of densely compacted stone statues, the horde of undead continuing to give chase. It becomes apparent that the next 3 kilometers of space between Edmond and the central control podium will be a labyrinth of stone remains. Edmond continues through, hoping to keep as much stone between him and everything trying to eat him alive... ...But if he only knew what was waiting ahead, he would have turned and fled, screaming and running in terror. [/i][/b] [spoiler]either one of you can respond to this. When Edmond reaches the center of the chamber, he will take a levitating platform up to the floating control podium. There he will activate the holographic projector which is his primary objective.[/spoiler]

The stench is of rotting flesh is acrid yet sickly sweet ,its the sort of smell you can taste and sticks to every fibre of you. For the shade its just another scent,although the body it is encompassing fights to prevent itself wretching violently. Unlike the shadows above, down here the darkness is quiet, unusually so for this place, however it makes things substantially easier for the shade. It reaches out in both directions it realises that this area is even larger than the one before, unable to see or hear any sign of the man Dirae requested they track it begins to to make its own route through the darkness. Seeing is no obstacle and at a point somewhere in the distance there appears to be a platform suspended in midair. Once certain of its direction the shade simply slithers through through the pitch black. A keen eye might notice something shifting slightly, something blacker than it surroundings like a negative will 'o the wisp, it seems to absorb any light that falls on it. Once it reaches the obstacle of the maze of statues and rubble it pauses finding a section walled off by fallen statues. The shade begins disperse into a fine black cloud spiralling then quite suddenly is blown out then sucked back in, vanishing from sight, leaving Dirae to drop short distance to the floor. Instinctively she curls into a ball, her consciousness not yet returned.

[b][i]Your eyes snap open as a presence darker than any shadow disturbs you, your senses recoil. [spoiler]https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/149357992/0/0[/spoiler] Something is wrong. Edmond steps out from behind a large statue and walks directly towards you, his injuries miraculously gone. His pace is slow but calculated as if he suddenly weighs much more than he appears to and he gazes at you like an ancient terror. Something is wrong. His pupils contract sharply as he makes eye contact with you... You find yourself unable to move, unable to think, unable to react. Something is wrong. The undead in the vicinity stop in their tracks as they see Edmond in this strange trance... They back away slowly. The illumination in the area fades as the flare from above burns out. As the area gets darker and darker, Edmond's skin seems to look more cadaverous and sinister... It gets darker and darker as he comes closer. Black veins are visible beneath his skin, and his eyes change, subtle at first. Something is wrong. The light only lasts 3 more seconds... Just long enough for you to see a slow, predatory smile creep across Edmonds face, revealing row after row of too many needle like teeth... The light goes out, and the darkness swallows you whole. [/i][/b] [spoiler]lets say that the shade within you can assume control of your body even if mind control is present, that way you can move and stuff lol[/spoiler]

Blackburn decided now was the time o his intervention, while the creepy man was advancing. He knelt down and slung his assault rifle while unslinging his sniper rifle. He loaded the ten pound ultra dense, explosive core armor piercing round and took aim. As he darkness closed in on the woman he held his aim on the man advancing. He took a breath in and held it, exhaling slowly, when his breath was gone he gently depressed the trigger, the magnetically accelerated round left the barrel with a soft thud, and flew towards the man.

[spoiler]So that would have been a one shot kill for just about every one of my characters except for Armageddon when empowering darkness is in effect. If you read the bio, it says that Armageddon is invincible in the shadows which I admit is very OP AF, but consider that he was the main antagonist for RoB in chapter 5 and 6. The bio hasn't changed in a long time. He does however have a weakness that you're about to find.[/spoiler] [b][i]The bullet hits the Edmond thing between the eyes as the darkness falls, blasting away the entire top half of it's body and creating a vortex of shadow energy that swirls up several feet, condensing into the horrifying form of Armageddon. Through the night vision scope, and the eyes of the shade, Armageddon's terrifyingly imposing form towers over all of the statues around him. His body of hard shadow is 17ft tall and covered in angular spikes that increase in size around his upper arms, shoulders, and upper back, giving his hulking form an unparalleled thickness and weight... Not even Sarris-Sanguine matches in his tremendous bulk. Armageddon swats away the statues that impede his path to the sniper, roaring so loud that the air distorts around his gaping mouth. His pupils contract sharply as he interferes with the sniper's mind, unable to take full control, he confuses the soldier - making his weapon feel red hot, he drops the sniper rifle. Armageddon closes the distance between him and his target when a spotlight beams down from the floating platforms above. Armageddon roars in outrage as he is weakened severely. "SHOOT THAT SON OF A BITCH!!!" Shouts the real Edmond from above, keeping the spotlight directly on Armageddon. [/i][/b]

[spoiler]i know you always have a couple of cards up your sleeve you sly SOB.[/spoiler] Blackburn regained his composure and dived for his weapon, already doing the calculations for what he was about to do. He toggled the rifle's power switch to 125%, he could fire in this mode safely for quite some time. He rolled to his kneeling position and fired a salvo of shots at the advancing being. Fear was not an emotion he felt often, it was however present in him now. Yet his nerve let him remain calm. His tactical breathing slowed his heart rate until he fired.

[b][i]The shot strikes Armageddon center mass, blowing him off his feet and leaving an exit wound the size of a basketball out of his back. He roars with rage as he reaches out and grabs Edmond's consciousness. Armageddon uses Edmond as a puppet, slamming his head onto the controls over and over again, mashing all kinds of buttons but effectively putting the light out for good. Edmond's skull fractures under the fierce impacts, and one of his eyes remains impaled on a broken lever switch.. Blood gushes from his ruined face as he crumples to the ground. Armageddon enters the shadow. Something else happens... Way up above, the massive shield blocking the colossal view port begins opening, and filling the entire chamber with the ear splitting sound of unmaintained gears grinding, and eerie light from the warp. In the darkness, Armageddon's body regenerates enough to get back to his feet, but the light in the room weakens him significantly. Armageddon turns his powers back to the sniper, making him draw his side arm and put the barrel to his temple... The sniper struggles with all the force his will possesses to simply stop Armageddon from moving his finger a single iota.. The finger begins to depress the trigger and the hammer slowly prepares to strike the firing pin.. Blood begins pouring out of the snipers nose as he struggles against the mind control.[/i][/b] [spoiler]im looking for an intervention from you chaise [/spoiler]

5oo years they have lived this symbiosis, 500 years and 3 deaths, not very long in the world they now are a part of but long enough to work as efficiently as is possible. Dirae had known it wasn't Edmond, it reeked of taint, not used car salesman,it's gait was wrong and although she hadn't seen him fall she knew he'd have broken something on the way down. The closer he advances the more she feels the pressure , leaving her unable to do anything . A slick cold sensation crawled over her skin, her mouth went dry and her eye's began to tear. Trembling she focuses on the shade. [i] I..can't...you...must..[/i] [b] You know what happens if I can't get you back..a soul will forfeit.[/b] [i]Please...[/i] ~black oil like substance seems to ooze from her pores smothering every inch of her , any light that falls on her is absorbed,the substance then appears to blow out in a kind of vapour before reforming into a non descript form. Dirae's consciousness is now out of reach her soul held in limbo in the Hall of Mysteries.~ [b] Your not the only one who has an advantage in the dark friend.[/b] ~The Shade twitches slightly then as the ' not Edmond' explodes from the first shot it vanishes in the distraction. At first making its way across the room in the direction of the platform , it realises the snipers predicament quickly altering course it closes the distance at alarming speed before exploding into a mist that momentarily surrounds the sniper, closes around him and reforms behind him, the sidearm appears to vanish, his finger closing on nothing but air. The shade then whips, around sliding under statues arcing over open ground. skirting around the mammoth enemy but not appearing to have a direction in mind.~

[b][i]As the shade shadowsteps through the statues, it notices that the strange light from the warp is having an effect on them. Cracks form in the statues, splintering them like a glass panel under too much pressure. One by one, gargoyles come to life, wielding heavy Melee weapons and possessing unnatural strength. They begin reanimating faster and faster. Concrete shards are hurled in every direction as hundreds of them come to life and immediately begin clawing at each other in a free for all death match. The chaos of war fills the chamber with dark energy that calls to entities in the warp. They begin phasing in and adding to the combat as wraith like beings of fire, Immolating everything in the area, including each other. Armageddon is nowhere to be found, but his presence is felt still. Gargoyle blood spreads on the floor, purple and sticky. Some of them look to the both of you as intruders and come for you. [/i][/b]

~ Twisting, turning, shifting sliding and spinning away , every place it stops its confronted by another raging maw or grasping claw. It needs to bring her back but where? Whilst looking for someplace safe enough to call Dirae back, it becomes aware of the plight of the sniper. A clawed hand grabs at the distracted Shade closing on nothing as wisps of blackness seep through it fingers, the shade blasts into a vapour before reforming. The creature screaming with frustration swings at it with enourmous force, the shade dissipates just in time for a gargoyle to take a run at it from the other side. The shades opponents collide, but not before the gargoyle makes another grab for the shade, but its is already gone careening through any available space. Unable to damage any of these enemies all it can do is continue its deadly dance amongst its enemies and keep some distracted enough that the sniper might make his way to the centre platform. Perhaps there is something there that can save one of them.~

[b][i]Above you, the holo projector activates and a giant display of the Bloodwrath appears in perfect clarity. You discover that the layout of the ship seems more biological as opposed to structural. You see patterns that resonate within your mind as universal, sacred geometry. The ship is both beautiful and utterly terrifying. The holograph shrinks down and disappears all together. You see that Edmond is awake and holding a data core containing the only accurate map of the ship. He fires a grappling hook across to the balcony then attaches a zipline device. His injuries are severe, but something seems to be motivating him towards the exit... You notice Armageddon waiting at the end of the zipline...[/i][/b]