Daryyk 'Pehlamai

"I rode the path of the Great Journey until the end. Past even the point where my kind had decided to turn back. I turned on them. That makes it too late for me to ever turn back, and now I come to realize that it was never really a path at all."

- Daryyk Pehlamai

Daryyk 'Pehlamai (Oracle Code S8-T08470-0981), also known by his adopted mercenary title Katil, recognized as Daryyk 'Pelhamee prior to the and referenced in  documents as Operative WYVERN-9, was the final   of the State of Pehlam, and later, an infamous bounty hunter, assassin, and mercenary. As a devoted operative of the, Daryyk participated in numerous battles of the , such as the , the Loss of Hope, and the Battle of the Zenith Complex. Daryyk had also participated in the Battle of Earth, however, upon learning of the Great Schism and the 's betrayal of the sangheili, Daryyk emerged a changed person. At this point, he was both an outcast amongst the Covenant Empire, as well as the rest of sangheili civilization, and Daryyk was forced to go rouge. Eventually, it was discovered that Daryyk had become an enigmatic, independent mercenary that had been hired by a variety of organizations. In fact, Daryyk was even discovered to have served both sides in certain post-war conflicts without preference.

Early life
Daryyk was born to the retired and family kaidon Jael 'Pehlamee and civilian female Sahl 'Kalhom, on November 13th,   in the State of Pehlam on. Supposedly, his parents were engaged in a meaningful relationship with each other, which was scarce in sangheili society while under Covenant rule. This was especially rare, considering how males serving in the Covenant military would often mate only as an honorary rite. Daryyk's early life was also one of the rare cases where a sangheili child was to be raised by their true parents. Unfortunately, Daryyk had experienced his mother's death firsthand at the hands of an infamous outlaw going by the name of Katil, due to a stray bolt of plasma in a local shootout. For three years following the this event, Daryyk had become a mute, constantly lost in thought, mourning for his lost mother. Even upon receiving rehabilitation, Daryyk would continue to suffer from his emotional scars for the rest of his life.

Vengeance against Katil
At the age of 21, years after the apprehension and release of the criminal responsible for Sahl's death, Daryyk embarked on an independent venture to murder Katil. Although the task was left to Daryyk, he was supported by his like-minded associates and even his father. On the tenth anniversary of his mother's death on February 21st,, Daryyk traveled to the Katil's home in the Yelham region and staged a dramatic murder using a civilian-grade plasma pistol. In the process, Daryyk would frame Katil's rival from the initial shootout as Katil's murderer, who would later suffer a similar execution at the hands of Sangheilios' civilian law-enforcement. Daryyk swiftly left for home without any regrets after preforming the murder, as though it was an enormous burden being lifted. Jael 'Pelhamee was greatly impressed by the elaborate plot, and how it was such a success.

Claiming leadership over Pehlam
As of, the state's aging leader Jael begun receiving death threats from rising competitors, who were eager to take his place. In April of 2512, Daryyk's father resigned as the kaidon of Pehlam, and would promote that his son assume the roll of the kaidon. This suggestion would further enrage the other candidates, as Daryyk was very young and without military experience. The council elders felt compelled to prevent Daryyk, as a prime candidate, from assuming control of the State of Pehlam. In order to do so, the council would enact an audacious and never-before preformed feat. The council would unanimously elect Daryyk, and then secretly order a coordinated assassination attempt against him. The council had figured that lack of experience would be Daryyk's downfall, and upon his death, they would be able to select a more suiting candidate. Daryyk's father, Jael, took heed to the curious terms of Daryyk's election, and urged Daryyk to enlist the military without first receiving a university education. Jael never revealed his suspicions to his son, figuring that if he was correct, he would have all of the proof that he would need upon returning home. This had all occurred prior to the Great War, and Jael did not yet know how in joining the military, Daryyk would be endangering his life to an even greater extent. Daryyk did as his father had wished, and was first assigned to a legion in 2515, at the age of 26, as a minor.

Second Battle of Harvest

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Eleven years after joining the Covenant military, Daryyk saw action during the, near the start of the Human-Covenant War. Daryyk's legion was deployed directly into the heart of Belisknir, a city of , and they were amongst the first strike force to invade the metropolis. In this his initial battle, Daryyk experienced his strike team's savage fighting style. Daryyk had always looked up to his superiors, yet he soon discovered that in order to excel, that he had to break from his strike team and roam the city alone. Daryyk swiftly abandoned the rest of his team during the first firefight that they had engaged in. In this battle, Daryyk learned the value of guerrilla warfare and reconnaissance. Supposedly, Daryyk learned of the impending glassing of the city, and had escaped the from the city on a stolen UNSC, which he had maneuvered directly into the side-hangar of a.

Harvest Campaign

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While the Second Battle of Harvest would mark his introduction to the once-colony world, the that had followed almost made it seem as though the initial battle had never ended. For the five years that followed, Daryyk would come to call the ravaged streets of Harvest's many cities home. Occasionally, however, Daryyk would be granted a reversed "shore leave" aboard the Covenant Destroyer Shallow Atonement. Daryyk turned abandoning his strike teams into a habit, and for the first two months, Daryyk would receive a new team after nearly every large-scale engagement. In March 2527, Daryyk was granted the raise to major, by the then-general, Darc 'Varmenee. It was also revealed to him that the had taken a liking to him, and that he was a possible candidate for an exclusive special operations unit. Daryyk's preference of fighting alone, however, was the deciding factor in him not being accepted as a member of this exclusive unit. Daryyk would continue to look back upon this event throughout the rest of his military career, making him strive to always preform to the best of his ability. The downside was that he would continue to look back, and feel as though he could never preform to the extent that the prophets had wished him to. This concept would come to madden him, making him zealous over Covenant religion and enhancing his combat skills.

Battle of Arcadia

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On February 9th,, Daryyk arrived at in the  aboard the , the ', alongside the '. The arrived soon after. The, , , and engaged the two ships immediately, catching the Fateful Entente with its shields down and destroying it. However, the UNSC force suffered for its part in the battle. The Texas and Belfast were both destroyed, the Armstrong was venting atmosphere due to damage, and the Autumn suffered severe damage before being assisted by the Spirit of Fire.

While the majority of the land battle was occurring on the continents, and , Daryyk, along with the spec ops  that he was to command, were transported to the  (DSRA) facilities on the Pfhor Archipelagos off-of the coast of the continent of. Their mission was to discover wether the station held any classified information on the Covenant Empire, or. If any artifacts or curious information was to be found, Daryyk was trusted to extract it. The conception of the entire mission was attributed to the wishful thinking of the. The sum of nearly a decade of data was successfully re-routed to the Grandest Sense. The loss was primarily humanity's, as the information gathered from intensive studies were never fully evaluated, and were lost. The Covenant considered the main prize of this undertaking to be a small meteorite fragment that had been on display in one of the complexes' lobbies, supposedly containing traces of raw metals once used by the Forerunner. While Daryyk would look back on the mission as though it was a failure, the Covenant had measured Daryyk's growth in professionalism during this mission. The would brag about him for some time, speaking of his ambition as a prime example for sangheili and jiralhanae officers alike.

Battle of Shield 0459

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After the events of the Battle of Arcadia, Daryyk would return to the Grandest Sense, which would take him and countless other warriors to, a newly discovered Forereunner shield world, which apparently held numerous secrets. While only his superior stealth sangheili and were deemed righteous enough to guard the main platform of, Daryyk and his file of  were assigned to guard a nearby , in order to unlock its secrets, as well as to prevent any human-activity in the area.

While Daryyk's unggoy would often attempt to waddle-off while observing the lustrous artifacts of their "gods", Daryyk surveyed the area tirelessly for nearly twenty-hours, eliminating any Flood that he could identify in the area. Daryyk, who was patrolling the area one-mile from the portal, witnessed the spectacular event of the UNSC Spirit of Fire entering the shield world. Daryyk would then watch as the Spirit of Fire collided with the , kilometers overhead marking the start of the battle within the interior.

When the of  had reached the portal, attempting to open it, Daryyk stepped in. Daryyk swiftly engaged the first Spartan that he could get his hands on, the team-leader,. Daryyk, seeming to have caught Jerome off-guard, lunged for the throat with his energy sword. Jerome sensed the sangheili's presence at the last moment, and evaded the strike, attempting an immediate counter: a melee with the underside of his shotgun. Daryyk took the blow, acknowledging the Spartan's strength. The brawl continued as begun crashing into the terrain in, forcing the duel onto the artificial platform. Numerous ODST pods collided with a patrolling Covenant Scarab, apprehending the attention of two more. Daryyk watched in horror, as the Spirit of Fire then shot a round directly through his citadel. Enraged, Daryyk drew his plasma rifle, and another from the corpse of failed sangheili, slaughtering some ODSTs as soon as their pod lids flung-off. Jerome then lunged at the distracted sangheili, toppling him to the ground. Douglas had then shouted for his fellow Spartan to move, and he did so as the platform instantaneously disappeared. Daryyk gripped the circular railing that looped the now open teleportation hub, with Jerome on the side, holding his shotgun to Daryyk's head. Daryyk smirked and freely released his grasp, allowing him to fall to his own death as opposed to being killed by his opponent.

Daryyk did not find death in the pit, however, as the was immediately thrust upwards upon exiting in a completely separate location, the outer-shell of the shield world. Daryyk soon found himself crashing into the middle of the sea, and as he had surfaced, Daryyk activated his transmitter and requested pickup over the. Daryyk was salvaged by a Spirit dropship once again, and was returned to the Grandest Sense.

Returning home
"I returned home with a new outlook on life, as though it was a precious jewel that could never be replaced. I expected to be loved by my people, and to be honoured by my people. I couldn't have been less correct. I came back, and was openly treated as though I was the epitome of scum. An undesirable article of trash, whom my council believed to have discarded years in the past. I learned the true colors of the world that day, not during my sixteen years away from home, or during battle, but from those whom taught me of betrayal."

- Daryyk 'Pehlamai, recalling his betrayal at the hands of his own council

After experiencing years of consecutive battles, Daryyk and countless other sangheili involved in these battles where temporarily pardoned from duty. Daryyk knew that his mind was extensively war-torn, and that he could never return to the life that he had once enjoyed, as a wealthy, handsome young sangheili. Even so, Daryyk had never expected his promising life at home to take the turn that it had. Upon returning to the State of Pehlam, his council was struck with horror. Each of them had expected Daryyk's rule to have been long-behind them, as he was expected to have died in vain during the war. Daryyk himself was grief-stricken as he learned that he had been replaced and his father had been murdered by the order of the council. Sangheili law disthroned his replacement, yet Daryyk had something entirely else in mind for the elders of his state. Daryyk found himself acting as a vigilante once more, not only hunting down and murdering, but torturing the council members responsible for the assassination of Daryyk's last close family member.

After this event, Daryyk legally assumed the reigns of his state. He selected a new set of council members, whom he felt that he could trust, and attempted to fall back into the swing of an average life. Over the next decade, Daryyk would make numerous attempts to preoccupy and engage his mind with romances and even criminal activity for the sheer enjoyment of it. Deep down, however, he had yet to come to terms with how the life he spent living in his father's shadow and harvesting from his wealth was long-ended. He did not understand that he was suffering from a depression brought on by a sangheili's natural desire for war. Like most sangheili, as soon as he was introduced to the competition of war, he couldn't stand to part with it. He would forever have to endure this pain, were he to remain a part of "the land of the living", as he described it. In February of, Daryyk decided that he was sick of the rural Sanghelios, and abandoned his homeworld for a final time, in order to return to the Covenant military.

Returning to the Covenant
Upon his return, Daryyk was redirected to , where he was to meet the the Prophet of Mercy himself. Daryyk was frightened that he would be troubled for having left the Covenant military in the first place, but he was incorrect. The Prophet finally revealed to Daryyk that he was only denied inclusion into the rumored special operations squad because he was observed to work best alone. The also stressed the point that in returning to the military by his own will, that he had made the right choice, and was demonstrating positive attributes for a soldier. Mercy finally promoted Daryyk with the honorary rank of Ossona. like all Ossoona, the rank was to be temporary, lasting until either his death in battle or the end of the conflict. Daryyk, however, was not to be treated as an expendable, and this rank was only bestowed to him as it was the only feasible way for him to be rank-up into the field of special operations. He was also granted a semi-exclusive Advanced special operations-grade combat harness, and before long, was the last remaining sangheili to own such an armor. He was treated kindly, and remained aboard High Charity for the following month, before being escorted to a massive naval strike force gathering within five light-years of the star system they didn't yet know to contain the UNSC colony world.

On March 6, 2543, one-full year later, the Covenant would first test the lethality of their starship, sending one CVP-class heavy destroyer to the, where it would cause the. Unfortunately, the ship was destroyed. After this, two of the fleets were obliterated all in the classified. Fortunately, Daryyk was not aboard either of the massive fleets sent after Battle Group India.

Battle of Miridem

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The was the first time that Daryyk had seen action since rejoining the Covenant military in 2542. The battle was relatively straightforward, and Daryyk did not serve any major roles in the conflict. In the battle, however, Daryyk had made a point of finding and killing a SPARTAN-II to make up for his failure on the battle of the shield world. In a collective effort, Daryyk had isolated and confronted SPARTAN-II, however, he allowed the Spartan to be slayed by zealous sangheili major,. Once the conflict had ended, Daryyk boarded a CCS-class battlecruiser known as The Valiant Strategy, and was taken to the fleets of and. The fleets were assigned to wait until the  was to rendezvous with them, however, it never had. Instead, the fleet was supposedly assaulted by another group of SPARTAN-IIs during the.

Battle of Draco III

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"Fighting alongside an Elite back then was unheard of! Can you imagine how awkward it was to pretend that we were actually fighting each other?"

- One SPARTAN-II describing his interaction with Daryyk during the Battle of Draco III

A short while after the Battle of Miridem, the Covenant issued an even larger scale planetary invasion of the planet. The Covenant, after arriving in system, wasted no time in quickly and easily defeating UNSC forces. The jiralhanae, under the authorization of the san 'shyuum, herded the remaining civilians together, and had them brutally murdered for sport, torn apart by particularly starving and ravenous unggoy and. Most Sangheili were ordered off the surface of the planet to avoid them discovering of this dishonourable slaughter. At least one sangheili, Daryyk, was still returning to the safety of the vessel as the massacre was under coordination. Enraged, Daryyk used an to rip through wave after wave of the starved grunts and jackals, and for the first time, actually fighting on the side of numerous humans. Even so, the unarmed horde would overpower him and devour the defenseless civilians.

Finally, numerous SPARTAN-IIs would see deployment to the planet, if only an act of vengeance. Once deployed, the Spartans had found it strange how Daryyk was slaughtering his faction's own troops. While most Spartans such as knew better than to turn on the preoccupied sangheili, Daryyk merely pretended to wave his sword towards the few whom felt obligated to do so, and in turn, giving them an "excuse" to retreat. By the end of the conflict, each of the jiralhanae participating in this event were killed, and the Covenant would surely attribute the extermination of their troops to the SPARTAN-IIs. Daryyk returned to The Valiant Strategy unremorseful about the slaughter of his own troops, however, he would soon put his temporary alliance with the SPARTANs behind him, almost regretting not eliminating them while he had the chance.

Introduction to WYVERN

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Prior to the Battle of Draco III, Daryyk was directed to the sangheili colony of Pure Intent, where he was elected as a candidate for the. The program's goal was to refit skilled, individual sangheili of the Covenant Special Operations division with more advanced armor systems featuring much more durable shields, better active camouflage adaptability, and speed. In order for the suits to be recognized amongst standard infantry, the first generation of harnesses were colored white, and the following generation of operatives wore golden harnesses. WYVERN armors of multiple types were created in order to best suit sangheili of different classes. Throughout testing, Daryyk was temporarily known by the alias of Operative WYVERN-9. The project was relatively straightforward, but was ultimately disbanded, as the project had exceeded the pre-set budget limit. Even so, Daryyk and the other initial candidates were allowed to keep their advanced combat harnesses, and some were even utilized as far into the future as the. Daryyk was bestowed a white, Special operations-grade combat harness, which he wouldn't utilize in combat until his later career as a mercenary.

Battle of Skopje

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The Battle of Skopje took place in on the  of. During the battle, numerous ODSTs were deployed to defend a major. The Desirable Resolution, had it's eye on the facility. The Covenant had figured that in capturing the region, that they would compromise the UNSC's future naval force, and even acquire any starship technologies that the humans may have possibly outmatched them in. The ODSTs fought in the hope that they would receive reinforcements, and that the contents of the facility would be transfered to. The Covenant knew that the facility was likely to be glassed along with the rest of Skopje after the invasion, and decided to test the strength of the ODSTs, strategically deploying the most expendable infantry first, advancing as they held-off whatever troops they could. Eventually, the Covenant were pushed to deploy their most valuable troops in order to eliminate the remainder of the ODST squad. The Covenant had eventually succeeded, and Daryyk was amongst the sangheili to participate.

and another ODST were rescued from approaching Covenant forces by John-117, one of the SPARTAN-IIs that Daryyk had met during the Battle of Draco III. The soldier led the survivors to safety while engaging smaller aliens with impunity and meeting Sangheili and Jiralhanae on nearly equal terms. Daryyk, somewhat regretful over his failure during the past battle, decided to pursue his chance at finally killing a "demon". Daryyk approached the soldier fearlessly, deactivating his camouflage at the last moment and lunging with his energy sword. The melee lasted minutes, until John knocked Daryyk unconscious with an intense blow to the head. John figured that the Elite was dead, and without time to spare, continued towards the last UNSC base in the area allowing the ODSTs time to recover. While unconscious, Daryyk was returned to the Desirable Resolution before it had begun to glass the surface of the region by Nota 'Zehamee.

Nota was a at the time, and was promoted to the rank of, after much support from Daryyk. Nota became what was perhaps Daryyk's only true friend, and the two would fight alongside each other until Nota's death during the Battle of the Zenith Complex.

Fall of Arcadia

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Following the Battle of Skopje, the Desirable Resolution headed towards Arcadia, a previously plundered colony, in a collective effort to finally glass the world. Arcadia was first invaded by the Covenant in 2531, only the Covenant decided to abandon the world, focusing their attention on other worlds with significant human populations. The glassing of Arcadia was overlooked, but as the Covenant found themselves without many known colonies left to invade, numerous ships had decided to return in order to prevent it's recolonization by humanity once again. Amongst the ships returning, the CCS-class Grandest Sense, Daryyk's original escort, was to take part in the event. Prior to the glassing, Daryyk and Nota transferred back to the Grandest Sense, where the two would remain stationed for the following battles, one example being the.

Battle of Fumirole

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On April 22nd,, Daryyk saw action during the , on the planet. According to Daryyk, he hadn't experienced this much action since the Harvest Campaign. During the later half of the battle, Daryyk saw deployment in the form of an, high over the human metropolis of Xanadu. This would be Daryyk's first time piloting such a craft, but Daryyk did catch on quickly. At the start of the battle, Daryyk teamed up with other Banshees and a pair of starfighters in order to destroy a local airport. Daryyk was the first of the group to destroy a civilian transport, eliminating its engines in mid-flight, sending it down into the sea.

Fate of the Grandest Sense
Finally, the Grandest Sense lowered itself directly above downtown Xanadu, settling in preparation to begin glassing the city. Daryyk figured that it was vulnerable to attack, being so close to the surface. Having an attachment to the vessel, Daryyk decided to fly back over the river and return to the downtown district in order to protect his vessel. On his way back, Daryyk unknowingly bombed, who was on her way to destroy the battlecruiser using a. Left wounded and out of her target's range, the heroic took the bomb and embarked on the suicidal mission of bringing the timebomb into the lower hangar of the Grandest Sense himself, using a  to reach the elevated starship. Victory was Noble Team's, even at the loss of Noble Six Thom and Catherine's right arm. Catherine would later replace her lost limb using a THERMOPYLAE-grade prosthetic.

Fall of Reach

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Despite suffering a severe defeat at the, the Covenant managed to place a tracking device on the and use it to find human colony worlds. When the Iroquois returned to Reach, the human presence - and its extent - was disclosed and later revealed to the Covenant fleet. However, the location of Reach was already known to the Covenant; a previously recovered Forerunner artifact indicated that Reach held another similar artifact.

Pre-invasion
On July 23rd of 2552, prior to the ruthless invasion of Reach, the Covenant dispatched the cloaked  to organize the coming assault. Amongst the harbingers, Daryyk was deployed to eliminate the in, which kept Reach connected to the rest of the UNSC. Recognizing Reach as on of the UNSC's strongholds, Daryyk decided that defense was everything, and outfitted himself in his WYVERN combat harness. Daryyk found himself without any serious resistance, sure to stealthily pick-off any civilians that he could along the way. Throughout this mission, him and the rest of his infiltration team were regarded as freelancers, and were permitted to fight by any means necessary as long as they kept the skirmish isolated and concealed any signs of their presence. This operation went unnoticed by the UNSC and it was surmised by the Office of Naval Intelligence that a local insurrectionist cell was responsible for the loss of contact with the facility. In response, several Army fireteams were sent to investigate the matter. Contact with these fireteams was lost shortly thereafter. The mission was complete

In the following days, Daryyk would redeployed numerous times. He would later appear in the battles of and, in , located within the state of , in the continent , in.

Loss of Hope

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Battle of the Zenith Complex

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Battle of Earth

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Post-war
Two years prior to the Great War, Daryyk was identified as an individual mercenary. Although he was now considered an outcast amongst his kind, and far from aristocracy, Daryyk had removed the -ee suffix from his surname, informally replacing it with the -ai suffix to denote his skilled swordsmanship. It can be assumed that this was only done for display, as it well could have benefitted him as a mercenary-for-hire.

Trivia

 * Daryyk was one of the few individuals to see service all-throughout the Great War, or at least up-until the Great Schism.
 * The word Killer translates to Katil in Turkish.
 * Daryyk has been described as having been of the "the strong, silent type", although this may have merely been a misunderstanding partially attributed to his deepening depression and social retreat.
 * Daryyk's growing emotional detachment may have contributed to him becoming a mercenary after the Great War.
 * Although most sangheili are never diagnosed with such afflictions, Darykk has been noted for anti-social behavior amongst other, similar difficulties.
 * Even to his closest relatives and friends, Daryyk would always speak in a formal tongue.
 * Daryyk is one of the few sangheili not to refer to his comrades as "brothers" or "sisters".
 * Daryyk would never react sensitively when the death of his parents or any other emotional topics were brought up in conversation.
 * Daryyk's father, Jael 'Pehlamee, was born with a rare genetic disorder known as myostatin-related muscle hypertrophy, which had positive effects on his military career.
 * Daryyk's personal favorite armor was his Advanced special operations-grade combat harness, which was colored a dark violet, and featured an incorporated.
 * Prior to the incident on Draco III, Daryyk had actually respected the jiralhanae and didn't particularly resent the simple-mindedness of the unggoy and the kig-yar.
 * Daryyk was rumored to be the most skilled assassin in the galaxy.
 * Daryyk was never reportedly killed in action, and due to the location of his post-war headquarters remaining unknown to the general public, it is impossible for any historians to come to the decisive conclusion that he is no longer living. In fact, some speculate that Daryyk may still be alive and active.

Notes and references

 * This article was created because Pikapi felt like creating a Boba Fett-like mercenary sangheili, with a well fleshed-out background for the Aftermath Universe.
 * As a member of the Covenant, Daryyk is best described as a lawful neutral character, although he doesn't always act in accordance with this philosophy. As a mercenary, Daryyk allows his true colors to shine as a chaotic neutral, acting on instinct, yet always putting his goal first.
 * This article also explains the presence of in.