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Chapter 6: No Covenant
"Weapons silent," Kat murmured as they belly-crawled towards the ridge.
The hills had converged onto a vantage point overlooking the compound. Her intuition had been correct. Below the ridge and nestled into the countryside was Facility 0167-X. Feeling a degree of relief, Kat was glad to see that the facility was still there and relatively intact. The entire building was massive, shaped like a giant tripod, where three planted legs supported the infrastructure in the center that rose up high into a platform that held their target—the experimental FSS-1000 Sabre. That was the launch platform. Kat could see it from here. The structure was so tall it rose far above even their position. Behind the facility, a row of three massive satellite dishes accompanied the compound.
Kat turned her attention elsewhere. It was clear they weren't alone.
Six used his built-in binoculars to get a better view, panning sideways onto motion that had caught his attention as well. In the distance, two Covenant grunts could be seen roaming around the entrance at the end of one of the facility's legs as a low-ranking Sangheili Elite ordered them around, waving his energy sword like the whip of a slave master. Dead marines, dead aliens, a few destroyed Gauss cannon Warthogs, and an out-of-commission Wraith were strewn across the aftermath of the battlefield. Smoke billowed out of the Wraith's cabin, the crew having abandoned it. Very quickly, Six could put together a general picture of what had happened.
"Covenant," Six said, focusing in on them. "At the entrance."
"Copy that. I see them..." Kat said. "Not surprised to see the Covenant here. Most likely, they want to steal whatever data they can on the experimental Sabre program before Reach is fully glassed."
"Probably..."
"Dot," Kat said, fiddling with the touchpad on her wrist. "Give me a sitrep on our current position."
Dot's robotic, monotone voice began to play off the speaker on the touchpad. "You are currently located at Facility 0, 1, 6, 7, dash X, located several hundred kilometers north of the Aszod region. According to my databanks, it is currently the last orbital launch station still operational on Reach. This facility and others like it were scheduled for last minute demolition before the departure of the UNSC Pillar of Autumn."
"Status report on the glassing," Kat asked.
"The majority of Reach's satellite coverage has been taken offline," Dot replied. "Limited scans indicate between 30 to 60% of the surface has already been neutralized, including server banks housing pieces of my construct. From now on, my services to you will be restricted to basic functions only. I apologize for the inconvenience."
"Covenant's right on schedule..." Six commented.
"What information do you have on operating Covenant starships?" Kat asked. "Get me schematics if you can."
"Accessing..." Dot responded. The AI worked to compute an answer. After a few moments of silence, Dot continued to speak. "I'm sorry. Data could not be retrieved."
"Damn," Kat cursed under her breath. "I was hoping to use Dot for our little escape. I guess that's out of the picture."
"So we're doomed then?"
"Not exactly, but I wouldn't get your hopes up." Briefly, Kat surveyed the battlefield. "Looks like those marines put up a tough fight. If worse comes to worse, that might be our end. We'll just have to go out fighting."
Six remained nonchalant. "Your analyses are always optimistic, Kat."
"I'm a numbers person. Just being realistic," Kat shrugged.
"I think you'll be glad to know then that I have a habit of beating the odds," Six replied.
"I do know," Kat smiled, finding his demeanor comforting. "I saw it firsthand back at the shipyard. Very few SPARTANs could have lasted as long as you did. Glad to have you with me."
"The feeling is mutual."
"Happy to hear that," Kat said. "Now, we'll have to do this quietly or else our fate will be the same as theirs. If they catch wind, the entire Covenant assault force will be on top of us in minutes and we'll lose our only way off-planet. The element of surprise too."
"My specialty," Six said.
"Don't get too excited yet," Kat replied. "Eventually, we'll have to clear the Covenant starship we're hijacking and there's no easy or quiet way out of that."
"You do know how to operate one of those things, right?" Six asked tentatively. "Without Dot, I mean."
"More or less," Kat shrugged. "I've studied Covenant ship technology before but never had a chance to put the knowledge into action until now. Won't be like flying a Banshee but I'm a quick learner."
"Let's hope so," Six said.
"Dot," Kat said. "What about the Covenant ships in orbit? Can you give me any information on those?"
"Negative," Dot said. "Radiation activity from orbital plasma bombardment has destroyed or disrupted surface-to-air scanners near the zones of interest. Notably, Facility 0167-X has an integrated antenna array system which may be of use in this matter. But I require direct access. Due to Covenant activity, this facility is currently under the jurisdiction of emergency security protocols, and at my current authorization level, I am not allowed to bypass the facility's lockdown."
"All right," Kat said, "Disabling the lockdown is our new target. Without coordinates from the array, we won't be able to direct our launch towards any potential targets. Any advice on how to approach this, Lieutenant? I know you're not used to being second in command, but guide me. This is your area of expertise."
"You got a knife?" Six asked.
"No..."
As they laid there on the ridge, Six shifted over onto his side, and with a menacing shing, he pulled out a very long and very familiar kukri he had been hiding from the sheath magnetized to the small of his back. "First mistake..." he said.
"Thought I recognized that. Emile's..."
"Didn't feel right that his memory should die with Reach. You can have my spare." Six handed the knife attached to his upper torso to Kat. "Would've helped you with that Elite a while back. Doesn't take up a lot of space either."
Kat snatched Six's knife and it attached it to her hip, opposite her magnum. She took note of the ridiculous size of Emile's knife. "Not a lot of space... Thanks for the tip," she jeered.
"What? It's a great weapon."
"If we were fighting Julius Caeser..."
"Better than a pair of dog tags too."
"Don't say that."
"You're right," Six replied. "But the Sangheili have the right idea. How's your hand-to-hand?"
"Not too confident after yesterday. I'm a little rusty," Kat said. "I think I can hold my own but you'll have to deal with the bigger Elites."
"Not a problem. Just follow my lead," Six replied. At that moment, he spied an M168 demolition charge on one of the human corpses through his visor's zoom. "Hey, do you see that dead marine down there?"
"Where? There's a ton of them."
"The demoman. By that wrecked Warthog off to the left. The one with the demolition charge in his lap?"
"Yeah. What about it?"
"You wanted my advice? Well, here it is. We're going to split up and I want you to go search him."
"Sounds more like you're taking charge," Kat remarked, a smirk and silver-tongue in her voice.
"Only if you'll allow me the privilege," Six retorted confidently.
"I like that..." Kat beamed back. She gestured to continue with her gloved hand. "You were saying?"
"Right. The demoman. I want you get down there and search him. Seems like they were trying to wreck the facility so the Covenant couldn't get their hands on that Sabre. That means he should have anti-material equipment on him—thermite, incendiary grenades, something. You can use it on that smoking Wraith further up to set it on fire and distract that Covenant guard unit. It's already smoking pretty heavily so it won't be too suspicious. Then I'll take care of them."
Kat was impressed. "Good thinking. Sounds like you have your work cut out for you."
"I aim to please... Let me know if you can't find what we're looking for. Otherwise, radio when you're in position to toss the incendiary into the hatch. Code Alpha will be the go signal for that. Then stay hidden. Code Bravo will be the kill signal—that's when I'll make my move and you'll come out of hiding."
"Got it," she said, moving away from the ledge.
"Remember," Six said, following in tow, "Avoid going loud unless you absolutely have to. Use that knife I gave you."
Kat nodded and the pair started making their way down the ridge, splitting off about halfway down towards their respective areas. For Kat, the clearing leading up to the entrance into the facility's leg was littered with large rocks and basic concealment—sandbags, destroyed vehicles, deployable cover, and other UNSC sundries. Staying low, Kat crouched her way around the battlefield until she made it to the wrecked Warthog. Meanwhile, Six stayed in the thick foliage, slipping between shadows, slithering and snaking his way down close to the Covenant guard group. Fortunately, the entrance into the facility was right by the edge of the forest, but not so fortunately, it wasn't close enough that Six could just waltz right out and make the kill without being spotted. There was a wide open stone's throw of a gap and that's what the distraction was for.
At the Warthog, Kat remained thief-like. Her hands worked quickly. Kneeling down, she searched the marine's corpse for any of the valuables Six had mentioned could be on him. Turning the marine's dead body over, she found an incendiary grenade clipped to his utility belt. With a swift pull, she snagged it right off where it had been hastily secured.
"Alright," Kat radioed in. "Lieutenant, no thermite, but I've got a grenade. Incendiary."
"Good," Six radioed back, still making his way through the forest. "That's one piece to the puzzle. Get to the Wraith."
"On it."
Her boots sunk heavily into the soil, leaving tracks. Feeling out of her element, Kat stuck to cover as tightly as was possible, shimmering around rocks, quietly stepping over obstacles, and doing whatever else she could to approach the Wraith without being spotted by the guards. Particularly, the lone Elite, not the grunts. To her knowledge, grunt eyesight was reasonable, but experience had revealed Unggoy were stupid enough that she figured they'd probably miss her anyway unless she walked right in front of them. She was nearly to the Wraith when she spotted something in the corner of her eye. A few tall figures coming out of the tree line! Immediately, Kat dove to the ground, taking shelter under a line of sandbags which were barely stacked high enough to provide concealment for her SPARTAN body and all its armor.
"Six! Do you read me, Six?" Kat radioed over in a frantic, hushed voice.
"I read you, Kat," Six replied.
"There's a problem!"
"Are you compromised?"
"No, but I'm eating dirt right now! A Covenant patrol just showed up out of nowhere. They're right on top of me."
"Understood. Don't let your trigger finger get itchy. Stay put and let them pass."
"I don't have eyes in my current position," Kat said, face-down on the ground.
"Just look at the worms for a while. I can see them from where I'm at," Six replied from the hillside. He noted the color of their unique armor. Pitch-black. Covenant Special Operations. One leader and two wingmen, all with energy swords. Six made a mental note to take care of them as soon as possible. The CSO was the primary division of the Covenant Special Warfare Group—a division that was no joke and only deployed for missions of critical importance to the Covenant religion and cause. If engaged head-on, they could pose a serious threat.
Kat listened intently as the three Elites passed right by her, chattering amongst themselves. Their steps were heavy, like bags of concrete hitting the ground.
"Don't move a muscle, Noble Two," Six radioed tensely.
Kat held her breath, feeling like maybe playing dead would work if they spotted her given the Covenant-aerated helmet she now had. She continued to listen as their voices, grunts, and footsteps grew distant.
"Nice work," Six breathed. "They moved away and their backs are to you now. You're clear."
"Copy that. Heading to the Wraith now," Kat radioed again. As she approached, she observed the smoke billowing out of the vehicle, and then hugged the side of the Wraith. "Okay. In position."
"Roger that. Standby for the signal, Noble Two," Six radioed back, still making his way down the hillside.
"Affirmative," Kat said. "Waiting."
Once Six had reached the edge of the forest by the facility, he crouched low to the ground and prepared himself. Almost everything was in place. In fact, he was about to give Kat the go ahead but stopped when he realized she would've been in full view of the guarding Elite if she clambered onto the Wraith at this moment. Just up ahead, the Elite was talking with the patrol that had showed up. The lesser Elite shut off his energy sword in respect for his superiors, receiving a few stern orders here and there. After a few moments, the guard Elite stepped aside so his superior officers could pass and they disappeared deep inside the facility. However, the Elite on guard was still there, conversing with his own grunts, entangled in some sort of deep and intellectual argument with them.
"Why do you always get to be the boss?" one of the grunts shrieked in a high-pitched voice. "This is boring. Aren't you bored?! We beat the humans already! Can we go inside like them? No! Let's go to Earth. I'm tired of Reach already!"
The Elite picked up the grunt by the neck, his deep voice thundering. "I told you! For the thousandth time, we are guarding this area!"
"Hey! That's my friend!" the other grunt shouted. He barely reached up to the Elite's waist and yet found the courage or stupidity—Six couldn't tell—to pound onto the Sangheili's legs.
"Ow!" the Elite yelled. Feeling pain and a rush of anger, he threw the grunt in his claws into the other one and they both were knocked down like bowling pins onto their haunches. Activating his energy sword with a hefty flick of the arm, he groaned in fury and said, "Close your jaws! Both of you! If you don't stay still and shut up, I will cut your heads off!"
"Stop making yells at us!" one whined.
With their attention drawn towards each other, Kat's location was now in peripheral view of the entire guard unit. This was their chance.
"Alpha go," Six radioed over.
"Copy," Kat said.
Hoisting herself up the Wraith's thick and bulbous armor with a grunt, Kat crawled over to the driver's hatch, threw it all the way open, pulled the pin on the incendiary, and chucked it carelessly into the cabin. The grenade lit up, sparks shooting out, and began to burn fiercely with a bright, fiery glow through the Wraith's unarmored interior and circuitry. It quickly caught the cabin on fire and then spread to the whole vehicle. Once it reached the plasma cannon, the Wraith's carrier gas, which served as a ammunition for it, ignited and went up in a burst of hot blue flames.
Jumping back off, Kat slunk behind a C-wall of sandbags and waited for Six's next signal.
All the while, the Elite was still arguing with one of the grunts when the other noticed a flash in the corner of his eye. "Hey!" the grunt said. "The tank's on fire!"
"What?" the Elite exclaimed. He turned his head to see the wreckage melting and blazing into the sky where it had been disabled. As soon as he had glanced over, the entire thing flashed bright and exploded into a blue ball of fire. The Elite cursed, spitting profanity in the Sangheili language.
"Uh oh!" the other grunt said. "Isn't that bad?"
"Yes, it's bad, you idiot! We were supposed to salvage that!" the Elite shouted.
Six observed with great intent as the Wraith burned to scrap metal in a fiery inferno. His knife hand was begging for a good fight. He wanted to move in already for the kill but knew better than to be hasty in a covert op. Once you blew your cover, that was it—there were no second chances. But there was also more. Setting up the approach this way, he had possessed a certain goal in mind from the beginning that was just about to be achieved.
Just then, the Elite stopped in his tracks. Six recognized the posture immediately: his allies were radioing in on Covenant communications just like he thought they would. They were having a conversation in the Sangheili language too. From this, Six deduced that there were certainly more Elites in the vicinity—perhaps guarding the other entrances. He couldn't say how many aside from the three that he already saw, but they must've heard the explosion and wanted to check in to see if anything was amiss. The communication was unintelligible to Six but he continued to watch as the Elite paced around back and forth in a hurry. After a few moments, the communication ended, the Elite relaxed, came to a stop again, and turned towards the grunts.
"Are we in trouble?" one of the grunts blurted out.
"We're not in trouble. We didn't do anything wrong," the other grunt said.
"No..." the Elite said calmly, stifling himself. "And we will keep it that way!"
"Told ya! Chicken!" the grunt added.
The Wraith continued to pop and crackle a short distance away as the guard unit watched. Perfect, Six thought to himself. Aside from the patrol, everything had unfolded according to there was zero suspicion on them since the Elite had cleared their distraction. Six saw this as his opportunity and took it. Emile's knife in hand with a reverse-grip, he hugged the facility wall, sneaking towards the entrance. At the end of the wall, it turned sharply into a corner and met the entrance into the facility's leg, forming a nook he could hide in. He stopped there. The Elite and his grunts were just a few steps away.
"Kat, come in," Six whispered.
"I'm here," Kat replied.
Six clenched the handle of his knife, steeling his nerves. "Bravo is a go."
And with that, Six burst into action. Shooting forth, he closed the gap between him and the Elite in a flash, driving the heel of his boot straight into the Elite's lower leg joint. With a yell of pain, the Elite dropped his energy sword and crumpled halfway onto his knees, putting him into the perfect position for a death blow. Six saw blood and went for it. But he couldn't follow through. Violently, Six cocked his knife arm upwards for a high, finishing strike into the nape but was met with a sharp pain in his wounded shoulder. Searing. Red hot. The surprise was enough to knock him off target, causing Six to miss the Elite's neck by a hair's breadth.
"SPARTAN!" The Elite shouted from his knees, growling and grasping blindly behind him with his hands to fend off Six but Six's other arm had the Sangheili firmly restrained.
"Aaah! Bad guy, bad guy!" one of the grunts shrieked, turning around.
Thinking fast, Six used what mobility he did have in his dominant arm to stab the Elite in the lower back, popping his shields immediately. The large alien screeched and tried to fight back but felt strength in his body slipping as purple blood squirted out.
Things were not going according to plan. Six couldn't pull out his gun and he needed to keep the grunts from shooting and raising the alarm. Quickly. Using what he had at his disposal he kicked the Elite into the grunt in front of him, snapping the Elite's spine in two.
"He's killing hi-" the other grunt shrieked but was cut off as he was knocked down by the sheer weight of the Sangheili.
Six dove for the still standing grunt. With speed, he began to stab several times in quick succession into the grunt's neck, eliciting a terrible gargling sound until the creature was dead. Fortunately, Kat was already there to help and she took care of the other grunt and crippled Elite with two simple plunges of her combat knife. As fast as it had started, it was over, but things had nearly went south in a heartbeat.
Kat shook her head. "Just a scratch, huh?" she said, sheathing the knife Six gave her.
Six stood up, glanced her way, and said nothing.
After stashing the bodies somewhere they couldn't be found, Kat and Six entered the facility at the base of the leg. There were a few dead marines in the hallways but no Spec Ops in sight. The air was dead and deathly quiet.
The silence was interrupted by the sound of static. "Warning. Due to Covenant activity, this facility is currently on lockdown until further notice. Unauthorized access is not permitted and subject to court martialing in a UNSC court. For additional instruction, please see your commanding officer," a monotone female voice said over the intercom.
"Dot. Give me a layout of this building," Kat spoke up.
"Accessing records..." Dot said. "Access complete."
A few seconds later, Kat had a visual of the entire facility projected onto her HUD. She took note of the control room overlooking the Sabre launch pad.
"Hm... They must've gone to the control room to remove the lockdown," Kat said. "There's an elevator that will take us there. Let's follow them."
"Is that the only way in?" Six asked.
"Looks like it," Kat replied.
"Hold on," Six stopped her. "Let's make sure the rest of the area is clear first before dealing with them last. Elevator... they'll know we're coming. Better to get the quiet stuff out of the way and go in guns blazing as soon as the door opens."
"If you say so..." Kat relinquished, trusting Six's instinct.
"We have time. The lockdown is still in place. They might even do the job of removing it for us in the meantime."
Kat and Six maneuvered their way quietly through the rest of the facility, making short but silent work of a few sentries and the guards posted at the other legs of the building. In the process, they stocked up on ammo from the facility's arsenal and swapped out their guns. Being a man of stealth, Six often took out his targets at close range and so for his primary weapon he preferred the M45 shotgun and replaced his MA37 rifle for that. But for situations when things went loud, he also liked the contingency a grenade launcher offered—a great weapon that magnified the firepower of a single soldier against hordes of enemies. In contrast, Kat preferred to stick with the basics—the trusty magnum, of course—so she kept her sidearm and left that unchanged. For her primary, she decided on the M392 DMR, finding its precision, range, and reliability to be a perfect match for her numbers and calculation-based mind. On paper it was a great weapon, and in reality, it exceeded expectations. She and Six also made sure to grab a few hand grenades on the way out of the armory.
Fully stocked with new weapons and equipment, they headed for the elevator that would take them up the control room. Six pushed the button to call the elevator down.
"Think they'll be happy to see us?" Kat asked, her DMR nestled firmly in both hands.
Six loaded his grenade launcher up with a 40mm stun grenade and looked up. "I'd be happy to see you."
The elevator door opened with a beep-boop and the SPARTANs sauntered in.
"Remember the plan," Six stated.
Kat nodded in return.
The doors closed and the elevator began to go up. Six and Kat watched through the glass windows as working machinery whirred and they passed various levels of the facility. They rose far above the towering booster rockets of the Sabre, eventually gaining sight of the surrounding landscape and the enormous trio of satellite dishes. The elevator slowed down as it reached the final, upper level, the air hanging for a brief moment before the doors opened up again with another pair of beeps.
Against the far end of the room, three Elites were at the controls, tampering with them to remove the lockdown and gain access to the facility's databases. As soon as they heard the beep of the elevator, their necks craned and eyes snapped rearwards but it was already too late for them. Noble Six fired off a flashbang in the grenade launcher's EMP mode. The timed projectile popped off when he let go of the trigger, detonating right next to the head of the leading Elite in the center of the group. The Elite growled with fury as he was blinded and the shockwave of the flashbang shattered through his skull. With that, the shields of all three Elites went offline. They were disoriented and Kat domed them to death with a three perfectly accurate headshots. Their bodies fell to the ground, lifeless as they were brainless.
"Good shots, Kat," Six commented coldly. "Area's secure."
"I'll take over from here," Kat said, approaching the central console of the room. She began to type into the keyboard built directly into the control panel. "I can disable the lockdown, prep our launch, and get the coordinates set for the closest Covenant supercarrier in orbit. Just sit tight."
"Affirmative," Six confirmed. "Someone has to make sure you don't get shot in the head again."
"Dark humor..." Kat said flatly. "That wasn't on your file."
In the meantime, Six retrieved something special from a pocket in his armor. In one hand, he held Emile's knife, but in the other, he grasped tightly onto the pair of dog tags Jorge had given him for a brief moment, reminiscing over his memory.
Going up again, big man... Maybe for the last time, Six thought to himself.
Six stashed away the memorabilia where it was safe. Jorge always said he'd never leave Reach. But his memory... Emile's memory... Six would make sure they lasted beyond the grasp of this fading planet.
Six suddenly felt a warm hand on his shoulder, pulling him from his thoughts as he leaned against the metal ledge of the control room. He looked up. The sunlight beaming in from outside cast a beautiful ray past Kat's glistening visor.
"Six?" Kat uttered in confusion. "You were staring."
"Was I?" Six asked.
"For quite a while, yes."
"I was thinking."
"About?"
"The others..."
"Mmh," Kat pursed her lips in understanding. "Sorry I asked..."
"Is the Sabre ready for launch?"
"Yes," Kat replied. "With Dot's help, I managed to acquire the coordinates of a Covenant supercarrier in low orbit around Reach. The Sabre is programmed to navigate automatically into its vicinity and then you'll be able to manually take control."
At those words, Noble Six immediately tried to stand up so they could get going, but Kat stopped him.
"Not so fast," she said, easing him back down. "We still have a few small things to take care of before we go."
"And what would that be?" Six asked as he sat on the ledge.
"Your shoulder mainly."
"I'm fine, Kat."
"No, you're really not," she said sternly.
After envisioning the daggers she was shooting at him from behind that visor, much like when they first met, Six decided to stay put rather than garner her ire as Kat strolled over to the health kit affixed to the nearby wall. She unlatched it from its place and promptly sat down next to Six on the ledge.
"Ever had to do this before?" Kat asked.
"Once or twice," Six said. "When I was a rookie..."
"You should've seen me when I got my arm blown up."
Six felt the hairs on the back of his neck raise as Kat inspected his wound carefully. Flesh and bodysuit had been mangled and melted together into one from the sheer heat of the plasma fire.
"This is pretty bad for a flesh wound. I'm surprised you have as much mobility as you do in that arm," Kat said.
Gently, Kat began to clean the area around the wound using antiseptic from the health kit and cloth to wipe off debris.
When the wound site was clean, Kat proceeded to pull out a MediGel canister from the medical kit. The canister said OPTICAN in big letters on the side. She fumbled around with it for a few seconds before getting the orientation and angle right. With a gentle squeeze, she applied to gel directly to Six's shoulder which was less of a shoulder now and more of a smear-together of man and machine. She made sure to be slow, meticulous, and intricate with her application, getting the gel everywhere and as much underneath the bodysuit of his shoulder as she could, not knowing when they would next get an opportunity for something like this. Then, she rubbed the gel in with her fingers, sparing Six no comfort for the sake of his health and thoroughness.
Six twitched, finding the application of the gel to be painful.
"Don't wince now," Kat remarked in a sweet, gentle voice. "You've been silent this whole trip."
For a few moments, it felt like burning ants were crawling around in the wound until the gel settled with Kat's kneading. Then, there was a comforting numbness and no longer any pain. Six suddenly felt like he could move his arm more, not because the wound had healed yet but because it no longer hurt.
"Almost done..." Kat said softly.
As a precaution, Kat used biofoam as an outer layer to seal off the wound from the environment. Normally, this would have hurt as well were it not for the gel being applied first.
"There. That'll do for now," Kat said. "Give it a few minutes and your arm should be... almost as good as new."
"Are we done?" Six asked.
"With that but not with everything," Kat drawled. "There's still one more thing actually. Your helmet. Can you take it off for me?"
Six reached to take his helmet off, hesitating when his fingers made contact with the hard metal of his armor. There was a brief pause, but ultimately, the SPARTAN complied with the request.
Kat took this opportunity as a moment to take off hers as well and lighten the mood. She set her helmet and the medical kit on the ledge, off to the side.
"Thank you for trusting me," she said, grabbing Six's helmet. Seemingly out of thin air, Kat conjured up a crystal data chip from somewhere on her person and inserted it into the back of his helmet's data port. Six watched with an intense, curious gaze.
"We're going to need every advantage we can get," Kat explained in reference to the Covenant translation software she had just installed into Six's helmet. She set his helmet aside. "This should help us get a bead on Covenant tactics when we're up there. It's a real-time translator for the Covenant lingua franca."
"Sangheili?"
"Exactly."
"Why isn't this standard issue? Would've been useful in the past," Six remarked.
"Funny you ask that. Being black ops, you should know... military red tape and bureaucracy, yada yada...Takes the top brass forever to approve making something standard. Which is why you can't rely on the UNSC for everything. Their current translation software is rudimentary compared to what I'm giving you anyway."
"You made that yourself?"
"In my free time, not that I get much. It's just a copy of what I have in my own helmet currently."
"Wow... I'm impressed."
Kat glanced to her feet, her gaze brushing against the floor. "You're welcome..." she said, trying to sound aloof in voice but her expression gave it all away.
The air was perfectly quiet for a few serene moments as Six observed her unique features. Beautiful blue orbs. Cute, tomboyish hair. A smile that could kill. It was hard to believe they were both in their early 20s and in the middle of a war and institution that had sucked both of their youths from them. The sunlight was making her face glow. There were a few scars in places there shouldn't be for someone so young. And most intriguing of all, a steely but now softened gaze the UNSC had instilled into her was meeting him strongly. There was a lot to tell just from looking into it.
"Never seen your face this close before," Six murmured.
"Would you like to see it closer?" Kat said softly.
Six didn't say anything in response. Taking a deep and pensive steady breath, he put a gloved hand on her cheek and cradled the side of her face. This was not something he was familiar with, but before he knew it, he was kissing her. Kat didn't resist. How could she? She was desperate for this and moaned as their lips slowly tugged on each other. Six felt her buck gently against him to delve deeper into the kiss, feeling her throw a pair of arms around his neck. Her hands began to grope against his nape and the back of his head, devouring whatever they could. Kat could feel herself giving a little on the inside with each tug of his lips. She crossed her legs tightly to block out whatever strange but tantalizing feeling she was getting down there.
Six steadied Kat with a hand rubbing her shoulder and another caressing her cheek. It wasn't so much a series of kisses as it was a single, intimate one that never seemed to end. Kat pulled away momentarily just to grin and let out some joy before meeting him again for another long and drawn out dance. They enveloped each other with their mouths. All the while, Six wrapped a sly arm down from her shoulder to around Kat's waist, his hand patting restlessly a few times against her hip. She could tell it wanted to go lower.
Kat didn't want to stop but she couldn't resist saying something.
"Oh? That arm of yours has gotten pretty bold, hasn't it?" she hummed.
"Something tells me you could use another arm in your life," Six said.
To that, Kat giggled heartily, filling the air with jubilation and taking his joke with the proper dose of morbid military humor, a sense she had developed under the UNSC, knowing full well that this man would be willing to die for her at any moment. The sheer warmth of her delight at such a little joke was enough to make Six melt on the inside.
"Okay. That one was good," she jeered back playfully, thrusting her face close to his. "But don't push your luck, Lieutenant."
And with that, Six removed his arm from the tigress that stalked Reach beside him. "I'll try not to," he smirked.
Kat ruffled Six's hair, soaking in the beauty of the moment for a few more precious seconds. "Even if we die Six, I'm really glad you're here..."
"Me too..." Six said, glancing away. "Me too..."
Kat turned away, grabbed her helmet, and put it back on her head. She handed Six his own which he restored to its proper place upon his shoulders.
"We should get going while the coordinates are still fresh," she said regretfully. "Come on..."
A/N: I was doing research for this fic when I found out that there's actually a voice line in Halo: Reach where Kat giggles if you use the IWHBYD skull. It's awesome. And it's canon! On a side note, consider this my Christmas gift to you.
