The sounds of battle echoing through the night, as VS forces continued their retreat, continued to fade the further the Infiltrators traveled. The trees that crowded their forest were thick in shape, with canopies that were wide enough in spread to leave the ground mostly in darkness. Inconvenient as this was for the two weary soldiers who had to navigate past ground humps and tree roots, it still made for an overwhelmingly welcome change. Their paranoia for continuing uncloaked lessened within the shadowy confines.
Echo maintained pressure against her wound as she moved. The patch above her slash was fastened tight, and with recharged shields, her bodily lacing of nanites was also tightened, to provide additional support. She kept the pain under control as best as she could, by timing her exhalations with every step, while leaning on her Agility implant to redistribute any spasms. But eventually, after what felt like 20 minutes of travel which had slowed to a casual walk, Echo had to sit down to catch her breath. Ranger leant against a tree just opposite.
"... We made it," spoke Ranger, "... fucking hell..."
The VS Infiltrator peers up from underneath her visor to look upon the NC who she had helped to escape, who had in turn, helped her to escape. She sat in silence, savouring her first minutes of peace after hours of fighting, while plotting her next move... for what she felt had to be done, for everything she had failed to do. Physical pain only served to push forward surges of sorrow and anger, feelings that she had kept suppressed while she was fighting to survive, while she remained helpless to act on behalf of her squad.
It was seemingly hopeless for Echo to have helped anyone, to have helped Cailly, but there was no denying that she let those closest to her perish. The faces of those who had suffered dearly bit at her mind, as she subconsciously was searching for a way to forgive herself, as she had always done for the decades of fighting which never got any easier. In the end, as she fought back an urge to cry, there came but one thought, and one thought alone that gave her any sense of comfort.
Make... them... pay...
Her eyes were tracking Ranger's shadowy outline, which soon began to shift away. Echo slowly stood back up, refusing to give in to exhaustion... not while she had to do what she was convinced, needed to be done. Ranger gave a small scoff.
"If it weren't for you... being back there..."
"You said you tore a muscle in your foot."
"... I did, yes... some terrible timing..."
"…"
"Look, what can I say? I know it shouldn't have happened... it slowed us down..."
Echo took a step forward.
"You want an apology?"
"You have a regeneration mod, don't you?"
The pointedness of Echo's question, it gave Ranger pause for an answer. He straightens his body posture to his full height.
"And finding those mines, you had an EOD mod for those, right?"
"... Does it matter?"
Echo remains silent, hand now resting on her Lumine. Much to Ranger's reluctance, he now recognised what was happening, prompting him to shake his head. Ranger-3 had to be stopped!
"Oh... ok... ok... that's... great..."
He stayed right where he was, unmoving, to see that Echo was reaching for her helmet with a spare hand. She commands her implants to switch off her HUD and to unclasp the joins which meshed her headgear with her suit systems. With one quick motion, Echo slides off the Darkstar Scout helmet to let it fall to the ground, to reveal green eyes to a sworn enemy. Framed within broken rays of light, she bore sharp features and short black hair, which clung messily over her pale skin.
"... Sorry, Ranger... I cannot let you escape..."
"... No... you're not sorry."
"You want me to be naive? Enough to just... let you go, so you can hit us when we hurt the most?"
"…"
"My people are still trying to save themselves from the Republic, right now... nevermind your blue anarchy."
"... I am one of many, Echo, you were right about my call sign... there are others... so what difference do you really hope to make here?"
"I damn well know how much of a fucking difference you can make, and more. You made that clear tonight... saboteur..."
As if to preserve some semblance of trust that was falling apart, Ranger reaches for his clothed mask and pulls it off, to reveal brown eyes and brown scruffy hair.
"... You saved my life, Echo..."
"Not my first choice."
"And I saved yours! Is that really not enough?"
"... You shouldn't have come here... you should never have come. This, was ours... "
"Says who? The fleeing Vanu? Did you want to die back there?"
Anger flashes over Echo's face, prompting her to draw her Lumine knife. Ranger on reflex takes a step back and draws his Carver.
"... You can still walk away you know... escape like we agreed, pretend we never met..." said Ranger, in a more restrained tone.
He tilts his head, peering directly at Echo's waist where her wound was hidden.
"... You're in no position to fight."
"Then what are you afraid of?"
With guards raised, silence falls between the two Infiltrators who were primed to pounce at any moment. Yet, as if a held breath was released, while neither combatant made a move, Ranger lowers his knife to peer at it. Echo tilts her head.
"... You know for... for someone so eager to hurt themselves, I guess I should be glad that you didn't just stab me in the back when I wasn't looking... You had every chance to end this without the need to speak up... "
"... It's all I owe you, nothing more."
"... Hm... so, honour, is it? Or am I useful alive?"
Echo remains silent, her face betraying next to nothing of her intentions. But slowly, to Echo's surprise, Ranger holds his knife to one side with the intent of dropping the weapon.
"How about it?"
Echo eyes Ranger closely, trying to determine if this was some kind of trick, in spite of her willingness to believe that his offer was honourable. Considering her wound, it would already make things difficult if she did proceed into a fight, and within a knife fight specifically, she felt confident that she wouldn't last long, compared to fighting unarmed.
The longer I can hold my ground, the more chances I'll have to hit back. I don't think I can afford another slash.
The offer felt sound tactically, if she wanted a better chance to pull through what she had began. And if she was capable of subduing the NC Infiltrator this way, perhaps then, it'd be a chance for her to pull information from him. Torture, Echo thought, as Cailly's parting words drifted by again.
She gave a small nod, before raising her own knife to one side. On cue, they both dropped and flicked away their weapons with a foot, before they began walking parallel to each other, away from their discarded gear. After a few metres, Echo raises open hands, her arms in a low guard position to protect her weak spot around the right of her waist.
"Hard thing to come by these days, huh?"
"…"
Ranger keeps a more casual guard, a stance which appeared overconfident to Echo's eyes. His hubris was what she had to exploit, by taking the first steps towards him, as disadvantaged as she was. The NC Infiltrator takes some steps of his own to close the gap, keeping pace with Echo, before suddenly lurching forward with a right hook. Echo reacts by raising her left arm to deflect and hold the swing over to her right, pushing Ranger off centre. But with a free left arm, Ranger brings a fist down into Echo's hold to break it, before rotating on the spot to bring a left elbow into Echo's back. They push apart with their backs to each other, and reset in their footing.
For a brief moment, they take in what their opponent was able to do, before walking into each other to engage in another flurry of attacks. Again, Ranger makes the first move, opening with a left hook and then a right, which Echo is neatly able to duck through to afford her a counterattack. She aims low, swinging a right fist into the lower-left of Ranger's rib cage, through shielding which was only partially disconnected after he had removed his mask. He is hardly stunted by the blow, allowing him to grab the arm that jabbed him, which allows Echo to balance a straight-on left kick that lands squarely in his stomach. Spasms briefly resonate through Echo from the stretched kick, but she pushes on with the momentum she gains, by taking advantage of the grip Ranger still had over her right arm. She pulls him closer, into the path of an angled-down left punch that slams into his face, before grappling for his throat. But before she can get a good hold to force him down, Ranger beats back by wrapping both of his arms over Echo's shoulders, to hold her in a position where he is able to knee her in the stomach.
Even with her own partial shielding that was left, it was a blow that made Echo cry out in pain, all the while as Ranger was winding up for a second knee.
Augh... Block! Block low!
She reeled back her focus, forcing her eyes to stay open, so she could anticipate the next knee that was coming. In defence, Echo crosses her arms and brings them low to block the leg, and then in offence, she brings both of her wrists together to uppercut Ranger in the jaw with two fists. He let's go of Echo, stumbling backwards with his head tilted up, leaving Echo to drop to a knee to clutch her waist, which was now giving her more spasms than ever.
Breath... just... damn it, get up!
Ranger rebalances himself, shaking his head to shake off the hit, before advancing once more after Echo. She barely gets to her feet in time to avoid getting kicked to the ground. Hands reach out to shove Echo into the trunk of a tree, where Ranger was now aiming to keep her pinned. But with a hard downward swipe of two arms to break his hold and a cry of anger, Echo brings her low bearing fists to slam into Ranger's stomach, pushing him back if only briefly. The NC Infiltrator, who was growing frustrated with the persistence of a wounded VS Infiltrator, redoubles his efforts to bring her down, by shoulder tackling Echo back into the tree. It knocks the wind out of her, but worse still, she could now feel the pressure of fingers which were digging into her waist, which were bringing on piercing levels of pain. Her sense of coordination becomes thrown as she begins to scream in agony, leaving her to hit a fist repeatedly against Ranger's torso out of desperation, to little effect. Yet as she continued to thrash out, a foot of hers finds its way onto the rise of a tree root. She pushes down on it, frantically hoping that it would somehow get her clear of the Ranger's grip; it doesn't. Her move affords her some extra height, but she is still stuck in place, with pain surging through her.
Forward! Push!
Eventually, upon regaining some semblance of self-control, she musters the strength to lift an arm high into the air, to bash an elbow down into Ranger's head. His grip finally breaks, as he falls backwards with a yell, throwing Echo free to one side. She lands on her back, with a paralysing sensation that prevents her from immediately moving about, while Ranger crumples to his knees with a hand clutched over his scalp. Both Infiltrators try to collect themselves over the next minute, nursing their injuries, over what became a momentary respite. Soon, Echo's pain reduces enough in intensity to allow her to crawl away from Ranger, in an effort to reset her position. She doesn't get very far however, as Ranger is quick to catch on to what Echo was doing. He stands back up with a wobble in his legs, takes a few steps forward, and dives right onto Echo.
She twists around to come face to face with Ranger and a hand which latches around her throat.
"Surrender!"
His hand grips tight, yet it still remains loosened enough to allow Echo to speak, for her to say that she would give up.
Fuck you!
Instead, Echo goes to pull at the choking arm with her left hand, which forces Ranger to use two hands to keep her down, which affords Echo's right hand the chance to reach for her helmet, to swing it into Ranger's head. An audible thud is heard with the disorienting blow, though it isn't enough to push Ranger off. Dropping the helmet, Echo then makes good on the confusion by grabbing a bunch of his hair with one hand, and pinning the backside of her other hand to his right cheek. Ranger's eyes regain focus, rolling around to peer at the hands at his head. In a panic, he attempts to grab them, to pull them off... but he is too slow.
The VS Infiltrator's serrations along the knucklebone part of her gauntlets, allow the hand that Echo suddenly rips from Ranger's cheek, to slash two deep cuts into his face. He recoils with closed eyes, grasping at his face which was dripping blood everywhere, before he rolls off to one side, blindly scrambling away from Echo. He could only wince at the new wound, such was the quickness of Echo's attack that now left him in shock. Finally, Echo could get to her feet, if only barely. She tilted back her head and blinked her eyes, trying to rid herself of the tears which were blurring her view of the night sky. While doing so, she noted that it wasn't just sweat and tears that covered her face, but also droplets of blood, which presumably weren't hers. She touches fingers over her face with her knuckle bloodied hand; her finger tips now red.
Her eyes look to the stains, before she turns to look at Ranger straight in the eye, who was leaning heavily against a tree for support. In a taunting gesture, she flicks her bloodied fingers from her thumb at the NC Infiltrator, before resuming her low arm guard stance. Slowly, Ranger takes a few steps forward, before moving in with a furious battle cry. Echo deflects a wild right swing from Ranger, before landing a left-handed hit to his right ear on the follow through. It serves to enrage the already weary Infiltrator, leading him to double back for a punch at Echo's jaw and to tackle her off into a small gully. They both roll down the incline, crashing through a bush, before coming to a stop at the very bottom, with Echo landing her back against a protruding rock.
The impact bruises her through the suit, leaving her breathless, gasping for air. Her body by this time felt horribly battered; aching at the very least, searing at the very worst. And yet, her mind still was refusing to give in to the physical limitations of her now crippled form, after everything she had suffered tonight.
Come on... get up...
She attempts to get back on all fours...
... Now!
To stand yet again...
... Fucking... come oooon!
But her last fall, was to be her last stand, as she felt Ranger crash onto her back to press her into the ground.
"Ngh... no..."
An arm wrapped and tightened around her throat, to form a choke hold.
... No...
She could hear Ranger's breathing in her left ear.
"Are we done?" Whispered Ranger, with as much venom as he could bring.
"... No..."
To Echo's fear, something began to press against her slash wound again, presumably his fingers.
"... Are we done?!"
"…"
Then came the piercing pain again, which now pushed Echo to the brink of passing out.
"Ngh... ah... ahhhhhh!
"Say it!"
Tears, dirt and cold sweat lined her face. In spite of everything she fought for, she cried not only in pain, but in bitterness, for the words she was being tortured into saying.
"... Yes... yes..." Echo squeezed out.
And as quickly as the pain came, it began to subside when Ranger finally removed himself from crushing Echo any further. Exhaustion finally took hold over her, as she laid where she was, unmoving, with shafted breathing. Ranger meanwhile walked away from her, heading out of the gully to undoubtedly grab his equipment.
She tried to stop him, she tried to protect her people, yet for the second time tonight... Echo-7, had failed.
Closing her eyes, Echo began to sob, completely at the mercy of her surroundings, as she drew ever closer to becoming unconscious. The growing wetness of blood against her waist, which previously wasn't growing as fast, served as an unavoidable reminder. There would be nothing left to save her from being rebirthed, once she passed out from Ranger's critical afflictions. Even now, she swore she could feel the chill of the distant servers that were readying to take her, for however long it would be.
Powerless to do anything, she soon heard Ranger's footsteps returning. They approached, and stopped right in front of her.
"I gave you the chance to leave, Echo... I gave you the damn chance..."
"…"
Ranger's nanotech ability to regenerate was undoubtedly what made him a formidable Infiltrator to confront; an Infiltrator built for long-term endurance over short-term fighting capabilities. Maybe she should've known better, maybe she should've backed off, but regardless of what she knew of his abilities, it made no difference in her conviction to stop him.
Echo slowly rolled her head around, so she could see the NC Infiltrator that stood over her. He gave a sigh and turned to walk away, until Echo made an pained effort to grab his right heel.
"... Coward."
Ranger gave pause for what Echo weakly uttered, before shaking her hand free to start walking again.
"... Coward!"
Echo cries out again, somewhat louder than before. This time, Ranger stops in his tracks to look back at Echo, before slowly walking up to her to kick her onto her back. He then kneels down and draws Echo's Lumine knife to press it against her throat.
"... You want to know... how long I was trapped, on that god forsaken roof? Hm?"
"…"
"Thirty-nine days... thirty... nine... all because of the VS... and you..."
"…"
"Ever since that raid, when we pulled in here for your Cortium... I had nowhere to run, but up..."
To Echo, the news gave her a small sense of closure, for her deeply seeded suspicions of Ranger-3. Prior to her forty days at Heyoka, Echo-7 wasn't assigned to the Tech Plant. She had no prior knowledge of its daily workings, until the last few days when the Republic's siege broke out. Her eyes narrowed on the would-be saboteur in anger.
"... Don't you fucking talk to me, about being a coward."
"... You're... a coward..."
Ranger pressures the knife a little harder, in an effort to make Echo swallow her words, but she presses on.
"... A coward... for... leaving me... to bleed..."
Through locked eyes, Ranger's eyes widen slightly at what Echo was implying. He loosens his weapon hand.
"... I failed once... I failed again..."
She closes her eyes, and weakly lifts a hand to reach for her knife, which casually gets batted away.
"... End... end it."
She refused to lay in a forest to slowly die, for however long it would take while her wound remained open, while there was no help that would come. Eyes forced shut, eventually, she feels a hand rest on her forehead; she had seen enough in this life.
"... You fought well... Echo-7..." Ranger sighed out.
"... Not... well enough..."
Every part of her body tensed for the end to arrive, for her slumber to begin. Now was the time, this was it... but the moment never came. Instead, after a few seconds that felt far too long, she felt her knife lift from her throat, along with the hand. She could hear the NC Infiltrator move around her, but not to leave. Whatever was happening, she didn't dare open her eyes.
Suffocation by his hands?
She took in one last breath of air, expecting it to be her last for when the NC Infiltrator would cover her mouth and nose... but that moment never came either. Instead, there was a small pinch near her slash wound. The patch for her suit was being sliced open.
"... I'll make this as painless as I can."
And suddenly, before Echo could ask what was happening, her waist was enveloped with a violent prickling sensation, which quickly turned into a warm numbness. Her pain began to subside dramatically, with the numbness sinking deeper into her body.
I know this feeling.
To her complete surprise, this was not the sensation of death she was experiencing, but something akin to a Med-stick being applied. Opening her eyes, she peers down to find that Ranger had placed a hand over her wound, to siphon off his own regenerative Nanites to heal her! He turns to give Echo a tired look, green light illuminating his bloodied face.
Within a minute, he finishes his work, leaving Ranger to roll onto his back in exhaustion. Echo's whole body felt numb, dotted with the occasional rise of pins-and-needles. She had no idea how to respond to this.
"... There goes my last bit of juice..."
They laid where they were for the next few minutes, completely spent, desiring not to move another muscle. Echo tried to reason out what had happened, but even this was something she didn't yet have the energy for. Whatever the reason, whatever amount of pity or honour was involved, Echo's thoughts drifted back to a simple priority for herself, once she felt conscious enough.
Get up.
Had it not been for the fact that she was well behind Republican lines, she would've been quite content with staying still for another 5 minutes. She attempts to get back up, her strength only partly restored, on what felt like jelly legs and arms. At first, she falters back to the ground with a groan, but trying for a second time, she stumbles to her feet. One foot in front of the other, Echo aims for a nearby tree for support, kicking along the way her Darkstar helmet that Ranger had brought back. She was feeling light-headed; her heart pumped audibly in her ears.
"You really don't know when to quit, do you?"
"..."
Feeling only marginally better on her legs, she goes back for her helmet, which was already being scooped up by Ranger. He drops the Lumine knife into the Darkstar helmet, as though it were a basket, before handing Echo back her equipment.
"Here, give me your arm," said Ranger, offering a shoulder for support.
How was Echo really supposed to feel about this? Confused and tired still appeared to be the only correct answers, at least for now. She stared at the knife which sat in her upturned helmet, as if to ask whether or not this was really hers to use, before turning to her free hand which she could feel was shaking involuntarily. Making an out-held fist didn't help to dampen the shakes very much, not until Ranger grabbed the hand by the wrist to carefully sling the rest of her arm over his shoulder. Slowly, with masks in hand, the Infiltrators shuffled deeper into the forest.
Every step felt unsteady, not only from Echo's own fatigue, but from Ranger's movements as well. It seemed as though Ranger was about trip up at any moment, as he continued to drag his feet forward, over small dips and rises in their surroundings that felt like angled walls they had to scale, all the while as they searched for a suitable place to rest. What they would do when they found this place of rest was still another matter entirely, one which hadn't been solved with brute force. Over the next half hour, the person Echo had tried to stop returned to the forefront of her mind.
... I want to know...
Motioning to Ranger that she needed to lean against a tree, they stop for a breather. The growing temptation to lie down where she stood was stifled only by the growing need to understand Ranger's actions.
"Ranger?"
"What?"
"... You saved me..."
"You're just getting that now? Asked Ranger, with a weak undertone of sarcasm.
"... You spared... and healed me..."
"Yeah... I did, didn't I?"
"... If I had won..."
She stopped, hesitating at the slightest rise in guilt she felt for her enemy.
"... Did you believe I would spare you?" Echo asked, with a shake in her voice.
"... Would you've?"
She rolls her head around to look at Ranger, who was leaning against the tree beside her. Before long, she feels incapable of facing him.
"... I... wanted you... I wanted you to pay..."
Choking on her last word, Echo tilts her head down. She grits her teeth in an undecided mix of anguish and shame.
"... Fuck you, Ranger... fuck... you..."
"…"
"... Go then... I don't need you... just fuck off..."
Echo was beside herself, having lost the will to continue putting up with someone she had no power over.
"I did not hurt your people... not tonight..."
"You will..."
"... I'm sorry..."
"Liar!"
Her eyes closed, she wished with all her hate that her twisted night would just end with Ranger leaving her alone, before realising that he was in fact squeezing her right hand. Her eyes sprung open in alarm, she flicked her right arm away and stepped back from Ranger.
What are you doing?
Ranger stares back with a vacant look on his face.
"... Stop looking at me," shuddered Echo, with little power left in her voice.
He then begins to shuffle forward, forcing Echo to take more steps back.
"Stop it."
His advance continues.
"Stay back."
"... Why?"
Dropping her helmet, she grabs and pointed her knife at Ranger.
"... I swear to Van...
"What!? You'll do what? Huh? You going to take more out on me!?"
He paws at where Echo had inflicted the cheek slashes.
"Hit me then... trap me here even longer!" Ranger exclaimed, his voice breaking, "thirty-nine days, huh?"
Echo's knife hand shook ever more violently the closer Ranger got, before he was soon upon her. She weakly tried to push back, dropping her knife in the process, but neither her strength nor her will could keep him from pressing her into another tree by her upper arms.
"... I lost people too, Echo... I lost them... when I ran..."
Echo tries to look away with closed eyes.
"... I just sat up there... waiting for that moment I would be hunted down... by VS... by TR... and then up you came..."
She could feel his breathing against her face. She flinches in reaction to Ranger stroking fingers against her hair.
"You know it, don't you? What it means to hide, for so... so long. When you haven't seen a face, a real face, in god knows how long..."
Quietly, Ranger begins to sniffle.
"... You know what I mean?"
The feeling of loneliness, surrounded constantly by those who sought to bring more suffering; such was the life of a Stalker. The shadows of Auraxis could provide safety, but never comfort for a silent killer like Echo-7... like Ranger-3. Echo knew what he was talking about, having spent days or even weeks in constant solitary danger, over every decade of the Auraxis war. She tried to fight her memories from those times, to suppress them as she had always done... except now, it wasn't working, as Ranger leant in to nuzzle her left cheek. Tears began to lace their way down Echo's face from his warmth.
"Echo?" he whispered.
"Stop... please stop..."
Leaning back, Ranger cups a hand to Echo's face; her eyes lazily open.
"... I know... of course I fucking know..." sobbed Echo.
She reaches for the hand at her face and pulls it down to Ranger's chest, as he inhales deeply through his nose.
"God you have a pretty face, you know that?"
With one hand, Ranger squeezes Echo's hand that was between them, to feel her strength. With his other, it rests on an Auraxian shoulder plate of the Sovereignty.
"Vanu's finest..."
"... Speak for yourself... only yourself..."
Ranger's aroma, the oiliness of his hair and the touch of his breath, it was all pulling Echo closer to him the longer she remained in his shadow. It all felt so right yet so wrong at the same time.
"... They'll kill me for this... if they knew... is that your plan?" shuddered Echo, trying to reason her feelings.
"We can hide... we're Stalkers... it's what we do best, isn't it?"
A moment passes, as a light breeze rustles the leaves above the pair of Infiltrators.
"I know your hate, Echo... I know I've done terrible things... and I know you don't believe me... but let me try to be sorry, just this once..."
Gently, he dips his forehead onto Echo's, before pulling her into a tighter embrace, as tears quietly streamed for both Infiltrators.
"... Bastard..."
"... I know."
"... You bastard..."
"... I guess that makes two of us."
To let it all go, to look at what was in front of them for even a moment... had she found what they were ultimately fighting for? For peace and comfort? To Echo, she felt uncertain, afraid of this new revelation, which was all the more reason she now felt drawn into reciprocating with Ranger. Their arms found their way around each other's waists; Ranger could feel Echo's bare patch of skin which remained unsealed through her deactivated suit. It had well and truly been healed, even while it still ached.
"Does it still hurt?"
"... Like you care."
They lean in, awkwardly touching lips, before they slowly kissed. It was long and gentle, and for a moment, it seemed to quell her fears and her hate for the person she had fought against for decades. But as she parted for a breath, she gazed into Ranger's eyes, only to find that his one kiss didn't feel like enough, something that Ranger must've also felt. Leaning in again, they go in for seconds. This time, neither Infiltrator hesitated in completely taking advantage of the other. Echo could feel she was being pushed harder into the tree, amidst what was a fuller, more aggressive kiss. She pushed back, refusing to part lips for the euphoria that was taking over, that was shielding her from horrific memories of the Auraxis war. She wanted more, so much more, even while she realised that it would never be enough to undo all of her scars.
Eventually, when she felt that she could no longer hold her breath, she rested her left cheek against Ranger's face, panting for air.
"Perhaps you are not so brainwashed," whispered Ranger.
The distinct smell of dry blood reaches Echo's nose, as she remained frozen in their tight hug for a good moment. Ranger's face had healed quite well.
"... You want... an apology... for all the things I've done?"
"... Your choice."
Choice; something that few people on Auraxis ever had the luxury of considering above orders and oaths. A chance to repent, to reconcile with one person out of hundreds of thousands who had also suffered. It felt right, even if it was next to worthless in Echo's mind alongside her own duties.
"... I am sworn to protect our path, not yours... it isn't my place to apologise for it..."
She gazed into Ranger's eyes again.
"... Sorry," Echo solemnly whispered.
Silence fell for a few moments as Ranger slowly nodded his head, recognising that it was only for herself that Echo was willing to show compassion.
"We should... find a place to rest..." Echo tentatively states.
"... Together? One night?"
"... You'd stay?"
"Yeah, I can stay... not like I can run much now, no thanks to you..."
Echo scoffs softly at Ranger's last remark, before they turn past their tree to spot a natural landmark.
"Those over there could do," said Ranger, pointing in the direction of several large boulders.
The Infiltrators stumble in, equipment back in hand, hoping that they wouldn't have to do any more walking to find a place of refuge. Fortunately, between a gap that was large enough for both Infiltrators to squeeze past, they find themselves in a cramped but concealed space underneath the boulders, where they could finally shut their eyes. They hold on to each other's head gear, as a mutual means of ensuring that neither Infiltrator could somehow radio for backup or peek at any HUD information.
"Promise you won't try to slice me in my sleep?" Ranger casually asked.
Through the pitch blackness and the smell of earth, Echo felt Ranger reaching over to hold her; she reaches back.
"... No promises. How about you?"
"Hm... I suppose not."
Turning her back on Ranger, he pulls himself closer to Echo, wrapping an arm around her waist to share in their warmth. On the back of her head, she feels Ranger give a small kiss, as if to say that he trusts in her honesty.
Had Echo actually gained an ally for the Sovereignty or for herself? Unlikely. Did she have any idea on what she was going to do tomorrow? None. But what she did have, was a life that she was certain she should not have kept tonight, against all the odds. Even as she made herself comfortable in Ranger's embrace, she still felt paranoid that he would slip a knife between her ribs. Either way, she had somehow been given a chance to get this far, above all her other comrades from the Tech Plant. If this was somehow an unlikely reward for all her battles, then perhaps it wasn't something to squander lightly, especially if it would only be temporary to have the comforting presence of another human being.
Squeezing the hand at her waist, sleep finally overcame Echo-7.