At World's End

by AlQaholic

Six thought he would die on Reach, but as it turns out, he's not the only one that's hard to kill. Kat is alive, and as the last two Spartans left to carry on the Noble legacy, Noble Six and Noble Two have to work their way off the planet or succumb to death on a doomed world. Can they escape the Covenant and get back to the UNSC or is their fate already sealed in blood?

8. Belly of the Beast

x

---

Chapter 8: Belly of the Beast

---

"Surround them!" an Elite yelled, motioning for troops to move in with his four-fingered appendage. 180 degrees around them, a barrage of grunts slowly closed in on the SPARTANs' position while jackals with energy pavises punctuated the horde. Plasma bolts pinged off and melted away into the dropshield. The shield wasn't going to last long in this heat. The dome of tessellating hexagons protecting them was already beginning to change color from blue to purple, a sign that it was failing under the sheer amount of plasma fire.

Six took the opportunity to evaluate his surroundings. The hangar bay was so massively long. Although the ends of its length were difficult to see without the aid of optics, Six could make out the opposing exits at the ends of the hangar's width with his naked eye. According to the marked patterns on the floor, the entire hangar seemed to be organized by designated sections. A grid system. They had landed at the edge of a series of repeating rows and columns of cargo containers but adjacent was a never-ending lineup of Wraiths that extended into the ship's horizon. Their location seemed to be the boundary between the cargo and vehicle maintenance section. Far above, the ceiling had numerous heavy-duty crane systems mounted onto tracks for each section. Further down from where Six could see, the array of stacked, stored, and organized cargo terminated before resuming again, creating a wide pathway, big enough for a parade, that lead right to both exits. It was a taxiway. The exits were quite massive but not as big as the hangar entrance, and there were multiple opposing pairs of them lined down the entire loading bay.

Out of the corner of his eye, Six saw one of the enormous cranes moving above them with a large industrial Covenant container attached. The operator was seated high above on a catwalk and up a ladder. Six did not need to have a sixth sense to see what was going on. The Sangheili stationed up there was trying to maneuver the crane into a position where it could crush them and the Sabre altogether. Quick tactical thinking on that Elite's part, Six had to hand it to him.

Motioning from his temple with two fingers, Six pointed at the crane, directing Kat. "He's up to something! Keep an eye on that crane for me!"

Kat glanced. "Copy that, Lieutenant!" Too focused on the gunfire, she hadn't noticed herself, but Six seemed to be keenly aware of nearly everything going on all at once. He seemed to be using Kat as a way to recover some of his mental resources.

One thing was certain. They couldn't stay there forever. It was all split-second decision-making from here.

Kat's eyes widened behind her visor. "Behind us! Sword guy!"

Six peeked, then glanced, then snapped his full attention. Outside their field of view, a Sangheili zealot in golden armor had climbed the Sabre protecting their rear. The zealot roared, seeing blood, and leapt into the bubble shield at Noble Six. Six elegantly evaded as the Elite crouched low and plunged his sword into the floor. Six kicked him off balance powerfully to expose the front of the face and skillfully threw his knife into the Elite's forehead, killing him instantly.

Kat kept the inside of the dropshield clear from encroaching grunts as Six retrieved his knife. "Never seen that before. Great kill, Lieutenant!"

It was imperative that they moved out of this chokepoint as soon as possible. With his knife back in place, Six glanced at his hip and saw that he had two grenades magnetized against it. That was good but not enough to get them all the way out of this situation. He needed a bigger force amplifier and saw exactly what he needed just a stone's throw away. The Wraiths. One looked to be recently fixed and ready for action. That was it. They needed to act before reinforcements arrived. At the moment, most of the Covenant in the area didn't have shielding which gave them a lot of leeway to push forward and take the offensive. Pop a head here. Pop a head there. Kill all of the unarmored Covenant first to reduce the volume of fire. Then, focus down the few remaining shielded Elites and tanky Brutes. Once the main force arrived and bore down on them, it would be difficult, if not, impossible to make any headway, and they could end up having their little incursion snuffed out before getting to the bridge.

Six loaded a fresh clip into his assault rifle, sauntering right up to the edge of the dropshield's now dark purple bubble. It was seconds away from cutting out. "Let's not get split up, Kat! I'm going for that Wraith over there. Use that DMR to focus down those Elites and Brutes."

Kat raised her DMR to move at-the-ready. "On you!"

At this very moment, Six would've liked to have taken more weapons with him but there wasn't much to fit inside of a Sabre's cockpit aside from one or two standard guns and equipment. The assault rifle was a good all-purpose choice that wouldn't handicap him like a shotgun or grenade launcher in case the combat situation shifted. It wasn't the most accurate gun but it was good enough. Fully-automatic for groups of enemies. And it was easy to carry plenty of ammo for. In a ship crawling with Covenant, it was the right UNSC tool for the job. He still had a magnum too in case he ran out of ammo which they might. At a certain point, they would probably have to scavenge Covenant weapons.

Six holstered his rifle on his back for just a moment. Reaching at his waist, Six retrieved two frag grenades. The horde of grunts and jackals had formed a dispersed crowd around their position, focusing fire on the dropshield to bring it down.

Mentally, Six had divided the 180 degree arc around them into four quadrants. That meant two frags would not be enough.

"I need to borrow your grenades, Kat!" he said.

Kat quickly passed him the two that she had on her person. "Here. It's all I've got. Make 'em count!"

Six was going to use every second of shield cover they had while it was still up. By now, the crane operator had lined up the crane with the brunt of the Sabre and was about to smash it into the ground along with the two SPARTANs.

Kat glanced frantically to the crane and then down again, watching the edge the bubble shield precariously. It was the only thing standing between them and a wall of superheated plasma. "Whatever you're about to do, do it now! We're about to get crushed by that machine up there!"

"On my mark!" Six replied.

Stepping out in a flash, Six chucked both his grenades and Kat's into the horde like they were a set of ninja stars flying off his fingers. Dextrous. Quick. The grenades boomed with smoke, fire, and fragmentation, clearing a path as a huge swath of screaming Unggoy bodies were sent flying.

"Move!" Six shouted.

The bubble shield deactivated as soon as Six had spoken. Reshouldering his assault rifle, with his finger on the trigger, Six pushed forwards out of their safe haven and through the clearing with Kat as the Sabre was battered to pieces behind them by a cargo container turned wrecking ball. The cables of the crane snapped in the process, rendering the Sangheili operator unable to use that one any further. Like an android, Six snapped from target to target, dropping magazine after magazine. The general area was getting hotter by the minute but they had to keep themselves from getting locally overwhelmed as it was with guerilla tactics. Their feet were light but steady as they popped off methodical shots, making precise kills on the Elites and Brutes that were out of cover or appeared from behind it.

Suddenly, the hangar's communications began to go off, echoing throughout the entire premises. It was an Elite speaking Sangehili but Six's new translator, courtesy of Kat, translated in real time for him. "Attention all personnel! This is Imperial Admiral Xytan 'Jar Wattinree speaking. All hands on deck! Sector 4-B of the cargo hold has been breached by a SPARTAN element. All combat units respond immediately. This is not a drill."

The emergency alarm was promptly triggered and began to blare throughout the entire ship. A single, repeating tone of blaring. It sounded like a self-destruct sequence and sent a chill up Kat's spine. Offering a short respite, they ran through a barren, hostile-free alley formed by freight and industrial supplies.

"That doesn't sound good," Kat said.

"Guess that's who we have to pay a visit," Six replied. "Don't worry. I've got a plan."

"Didn't know you needed one."

The safety of the alley ended. As they made a beeline for the repaired Wraith through a cover-sparse area, a jackal team armed with particle beam rifles had climbed a nearby tower of cargo containers. They set their sights on the SPARTANs.

"Snipers!" Six shouted. "Get down!"

Ping!

Ping, ping, ping!

One of the shots graced Kat's helmet, eliciting a harrowing gasp. Six and Kat dove for cover behind a tiny group of sealed Covenant small-arms and light weapons containers. They were just enough to hide a standing SPARTAN or two.

Six's sanity flashed before his eyes. "Kat!"

"I'm still here, Six! I'm fine! I'm fine!" she reassured him.

"Keep your head down and give me that DMR!" he commanded.

Kat complied and switched out her DMR for Six's assault rifle. "I didn't take any ammo for this!"

"It's temporary! Watch our rear!" Six said.

Two groups of grunts and jackals, each lead by an Elite, were closing in from opposite sides of the cargo lane they occupied. Their plasma fire peppered the area. Thinking on her feet, Kat pulled out her magnum to dual-wield and tap-fired into the distance, killing a few approaching grunts and jackals with the assault rifle. The lone Elite leading them she domed with the magnum. That took care of one group. She began to work on the other group. Meanwhile, Six sighted in the DMR and crouched to lower his head's profile to an uncommon position. He tried to peek around the small-arms containers. He barely got a centimeter of his head out before an ionized particle beam ricocheted off the side of his helmet's shielding. A direct hit could have been fatal.

Kat saw as the beam cut across the corner of her vision and burned a hole into the ground right by her feet. "They have all the angles covered. Don't risk it!" she warned with a backwards glance, spraying with the MA37.

As Kat covered their rear, Six got ballsy, and tried to engage with the snipers once more. "I'm gonna peek again!"

"You want a free face lift?" Kat scolded.

As he ruminated fiercely, Six turned around and fired a few potshots at the Elite and his grunts in the distance to help Kat. "We're pinned here. I have to!"

"It's a group of them watching an obvious corner!" Kat shouted. "That's exactly what they want you to do!"

"I know..." Six muttered under his breath."But we'll die if we don't move."

Kat pulled the trigger on Six's assault rifle.

Click.

Click.

Kat groaned in anger. "Urgh! I'm dry!"

Fortunately, Six had gotten the last of the group of enemies. Six was decisive, settling on a new course of action. It was a hail mary pass but it had to work. "Switch with me again!"

Kat complied once more and switched the assault rifle out for her DMR. Six quickly reloaded his assault rifle before holstering it on his back. He inspected the containers, discovering, thanks to Kat's translator, that a Sangheili symbol on one of them indicated that it was a container for light weapons. With both free hands, Six dug his fingers into the metal of the Covenant small-arms container and broke the seal, ripping the metal cover off like the tab of a soda can. He held the metal cover in one hand like a shield. Inside, he found a set of infantry-portable fuel rod cannons. "Finally, something useful," he proclaimed calmly.

Six shouldered the fuel rod cannon in his other free hand. He narrowed his eyes at the crane at the top of the hangar's ceiling, hanging just above the large stack of cargo containers the jackal snipers were positioned on. The crane must've been busy stacking those containers that high before they arrived. Without exposing himself, Six took aim and shot at the mounting points of the crane. Four fiery balls of green plasma boomed out of the fuel rod cannon and collided with the crane. With a massive shriek, it collapsed into a heap of metal and dust onto the squad of jackal snipers. Their bodies were utterly crushed.

"We're clear!" Six announced. "On me!"

"Following!" Kat confirmed.

Six made sure to grab another fuel rod cannon to accompany his metal shield before they left off.

"More snipers!" Kat said as another team of jackal marksmen appeared, this time at eye-level.

"Match my pace and stay behind me!" Six ordered.

They were on the move. Kat hugged Six because her life literally depended on it. Blocking the sniper shots with his metal shield, they burned deep holes into the front cover. Six exhausted the entire fuel rod cannon on the jackals' positions. Singed alien blood and burned guts were blown across the hangar everywhere as he discarded the fuel rod cannon.

"Nice job, Leonidas," Kat said. "All we need to do now is find you a horse."

"I think I see one," Six said.

As Six covered one direction, Kat covered the opposite. They were soldiers. The best of the best. And it showed even in how they walked. In a perfectly trained symphony of steps, they made their last hurdle towards the Wraith.

Six discarded the metal shield. "Man the turret, Kat," he commanded as he climbed up. "If there's any more snipers, make sure to duck!"

"Way ahead of you, Lieutenant," Kat replied.

Six manipulated the holographic controls inside the cockpit. The Wraith sealed him in to the driver's seat and booted to life as he was presented with a 360 degree view of the environment. Quite a pleasant view compared to a Scorpion tank. "Good!" Six said warmly. "It's operational."

"I'm about to go ballistic," Kat said over comms. "Use that big gun!"

They'd already lost valuable time getting caught behind those containers. Without wasting any more precious seconds, Six launched the Wraith forward, activating its gravity propulsion drive. The thrusters came on as well, giving the Covenant tank a little bit of a boost. Six made sure not to turn that off as they picked up speed and momentum. He wondered how fast it would get. In a short amount of time, they had picked up a significant amount of speed. With booster deactivation disabled, the behemoth of a vehicle was nearly as fast as a Mongoose at top speed and many times the weight. Grunts screamed with panic and terror, fleeing helplessly away as this behemoth of a thing barreled down the taxiway towards them, splattering bodies left and right. The tank blasted down the hangar towards one of the exits, forcing Covenant personnel scattered throughout the hangar to either run or jump aside if they hadn't already been vaporized by the plasma mortar which Six used liberally. Employing a little mental math, Six got reoriented with his bearings and recalled that the exit they were heading towards was on the same side as the ship's bridge. Their ultimate target. On their way to the exit, they passed a wide array of Scarabs, Spirits, Phantoms, Banshees, containers, and other cargo.

Kat sprayed wildly at everyone in the hangar and the hangar fired back as the ship's alarm continued to blare loudly, drowning out the plasma fire and yells of Covenant soldiers. The plasma turret never seemed to run out of ammo, but equally, the Covenant never seemed to run out of reinforcements. This was their mothership after all. It quickly began to dawn on Kat how impossible it was going to be for them to clear this massive beast the traditional way. Out of nowhere, she spotted a lone Elite running along the top of a stack of crates with an energy sword. He leapt for Kat ferociously, but she learned from her mistakes, and gunned him down, shields and all, in mid-air.

Kat laughed like a valkyrie. "You fly much better full of holes!" she taunted.

Several anti-armor grunts with fuel rods appeared from cracks and crevices in the hangar's sprawling array of cargo. Kat made sure to kill them all before they got a shot off.

"Almost there!" Six said.

At the last second, the large exit out of the hangar opened up without warning, emitting a tone as the door instantly retracted inside the walls. Six had planned to shoot a man-sized hole through it with the mortar but a line of Hunters appeared instead, firing upon the Wraith and forcing Kat to duck. She cried out in shock and surprise.

Hunters were heavy but Wraiths were heavier. Six didn't care and rammed full speed into the Hunter formation, killing them instantly and ejecting their bodies like ragdolls, but not without several large dents to the front panels. The exposed tank circuitry sparked purple from the hits. They found themselves careening into a new room, a routing hub with several side passages and tunnels for ferrying vehicles, infantry, and supplies to specific locations throughout the ship. Unfortunately, it was not empty.

Yet.

"Clear the room!" Six said over comms.

Kat never let go of the trigger. She gunned down all the Covenant infantry on the balconies and walkways while Six took care of ground level opposition. The plasma mortar of the Wraith boomed, scorching the ship's interior, vaporizing bodies, making large craters, and killing anyone who dared to take cover. In short order, the room was profoundly vacant, if a little tarnished. Pointing the Wraith around back towards the hangar, Six was repeatedly forced to clear the doorway as Covenant kept trying to rush in and overrun them, but he held the chokepoint.

Six relayed another message over the comms. "Get that door locked, Kat! Seal the whole room!"

"Got it!" Kat said.

Kat stopped firing and disembarked from the Wraith. She ran up to the control panel operating the door to the hangar and shut them with the press of a hologram. She pressed a few more holographic buttons and the whole room went on lockdown, preventing any and all hostile entry. The red lights in the center of the doorways indicated that they were locked.

They were safe!

For now.

Outside, a myriad of Covenant voices chattered from behind the door leading to the hangar. Amongst them, a Brute's stood out, deep and booming with rage. "Damn it! They've locked themselves in!" He pounded on the door in fury with his gravity hammer but the large industrial Covenant metal didn't budge no matter how many times he struck it. "Scum-sucking meat!"

"Phew!" Kat said. "At least we can breathe now. I can't believe we made it. Where do you get off on pulling these crazy stunts?"

"We're not out of the woods yet," Six said as they enjoyed a momentary break.

Just then, the ship's emergency alarm shut off. The air held its breath for a moment before a Sangheili voice broadcast through the room's communications system, and in plain English this time.

"Spartans. I know you can hear me..." a low voice said. "This is Admiral Xytan 'Jar Wattinree of the Sublime Transcendence—commander of the ship you've just boarded so rudely. You have desecrated these grounds with your presence. For your audacity, you will be shown no mercy. You think you have escaped? You will die in that room, trapped and executed like dogs."

"The Admiral must be funneling troops to our location right now to corner us. We need to disappear. Fast," Six said.

"You said you had a plan," Kat said. "Care to let me in on it?"

"We're going to need active camouflage for it to work. It'll help us get out of here and to the bridge without much trouble. Check those crates over there and look for any cloaking modules. And hurry! They know we're here." Six and Kat holstered their weapons and began to search the room and its supplies together. "Take anything you think you'll need," he said as he grabbed a few plasma grenades and a set of remotely detonated antimatter explosive charges. They were small devices, shaped like a pill, dark purple in color, rounded, and with spiky protrusions similar to a Needler on the ends. The cautionary Covenant inscription the devices had come with indicated they were high-yield.

"What about after that?" Kat asked. "What's your plan for when we make it to the bridge? We still have an entire Covenant invasion force to deal with, by ourselves..."

Six shrugged. "Maybe we can hostage the Admiral of the fleet for safe passage?"

"No," Kat said. "Elites are too honorable for that. They'd rather die than be held hostage."

"I'm not sure then. I guess I'll just clear the ship myself."

"What?" Kat exclaimed. "You're not sure?"

"In situations like these, sometimes you have to play things by the ear. We'll be fine," Six said without an ounce of concern.

"Well, considering that we're balls deep in an alien hornet's nest right now, I think you're the only person who could say that and have me believe it," Kat said. "You know what? I've got an idea. We can take them by surprise and disable the ship's air circulation system to suffocate most of the occupants. The rest we'll probably be able to mop up ourselves. Likely, the only survivors will be the Ranger divisions of the Covenant and anyone in a vehicle thanks to their EVA equipment and life support systems."

"Didn't think of that. Sounds way better than manually clearing the entire ship."

"You didn't seriously think you could actually do that, did you?"

As he searched a supply crate, Six glanced up wordlessly, as if to smirk from behind that visor.

Kat scoffed. "You nearly died on Reach pulling the same stunt. If it wasn't for me, you'd be dead."

"Yeah, but it took the Covenant a small army to do it. I had a fighting chance," Six said unironically.

"We're going with my plan," Kat said decisively, leaving no room for argumentation.

Six folded. "Whatever you say, Kat," he confirmed.

Six continued to help Kat as they rummaged through cargo in the routing hub. Stuff here was designated to get shipped off elsewhere to more specific places. Fortunately for them, not everything had been!

"Aha! Gotcha!" Kat said, finding a collection of cloaking modules amongst a cache of Sangheili weaponry. She handed Six one of them. "Covenant-grade refraction dissonance modifiers. Should serve us well."

The Brute from before could be heard again. Certain sentences stood out from the conversation. "The Admiral wants this door open. You three! Get that Scarab operational and blow the entrance!"

Kat glanced towards the door. "I think we're about to have company."

Together with Kat, Six equipped the cloaking module. Before they could activate it, Six grabbed Kat's gloved hand. He interlaced their fingers and held on tight. Their visors met for several awkward seconds as Kat stared at him blankly.

"Lieutenant?" she spoke up.

"Just so we don't get lost. You know... because of the camouflague..."

"Yeah?" Kat blushed behind her visor, glanced away, and gave a bashful snort. "If you wanted to hold my hand, all you had to do was ask," she said non-chalantly. He was holding on firmly. Too tight for mere practicality but exactly enough for a sense of security and safety. It was comforting. "I don't bite."

"I'd beg to differ."

"I'm sure you would, but... thank you..."

"For what?"

"For this..." Kat squeezed Six's hand. "I feel safe... with you... Even here..."

"I don't want to lose you, Kat," Six said. "You're all that's left for me."

"You won't," Kat said. "We're in the same boat, so don't do anything stupid."

"No promises," Six replied. Six activated his camouflage and Kat followed suit. Their silhouettes shimmered, but only slightly, nearly imperceptibly, against the background of the room. "All right, let's go. We're outnumbered and on the clock if they catch on, so keep a low profile. If they discover what we're doing before we get to the bridge, they may just put the entire ship on lockdown."

"Affirmative," Kat said.

At that moment, there was the loud sound of charging plasma that interrupted them and the door leading to the hangar bay blew open with a crashing explosion as the plasma beam of a Scarab burned through it with a low-powered blast.

A large Brute wearing officer's armor and wielding a gravity hammer sauntered in with his legion of Covenant: formations of Jiralhanae, Sangheili, Unggoy, and Kig-Yar. "They're not here. The humans must have fled... No, wait... I smell something! Scour the room! Find them!"

Six cursed inwardly. That sense of smell could be their downfall. They needed to leave now and stay away from any other Brutes.

The Brute went for the controls to the room and disabled the lockdown. Immediately, the entire area was flooded with Covenant like a swarm of ants from every direction. The Covenant began to scope out every possible corner, niche, and hiding spot in the room. There wasn't a clear opportunity to leave yet though with everyone in the room shuffling around, so Six crouched low to the ground with Kat to minimize their shimmering profile.

"The cowards. I was expecting a fight!" one Sangheili said pointedly.

"Demon!" another Sangheili replied, waving his energy sword in anger. "It's that grey one from the surface. And he has acquired a friend!"

"Not a friend. A female!"

"I am jealous!"

"Take his head and you might be allowed to breed when you return to Sanghelios!"

"This Spartan taunts us with his tactics. He has come up here for more and then runs away so hastily? Did we not give him enough of a beating on Reach? He is a greedy warrior. I suspect he plans to take us by deceit and destroy the reactors while we are looking for him."

"The Admiral has already dispatched his honor guard to protect the critical components of the ship. We will not let him gain the upper hand."

Six took a mental note of that statement.

"His own guard? But doesn't that leave him vulnerable?"

"The Admiral doesn't trust anyone else for the job. The High Council will not tolerate the colossal loss of such a valuable asset as the Sublime Transcendence."

"Indeed. It would be disgraceful."

Covenant infantry shuffled around the room like chess pieces on a board to Six's eyes. An opportunity arose. Nudging Kat gently with his elbow, Six and her got a move on. He set the pace, walking softly, silently, and slowly as they maneuvered around soldiers and headed down one of the side passageways, deeper into the belly of the beast. Out of the fire and into the shadows. Walking too fast would make the shimmer of the cloak obvious to the eye against the background so Six made sure not to do that. The ship was kilometers long and kilometers wide, meaning they had a lot of ground to cover. It took a while but they did it step by step, moving at a snail's pace when they had to and then fast when they didn't. The entire time, Six made sure not to let go of Kat's hand so she wouldn't get separated. He nearly got lost, but every now and then, Kat would tug in the right direction to correct him, knowing the layout of Covenant ships better than he did. As they removed themselves from the epicenter of their arrival, the ship gradually got less and less dense with personnel.

At a certain point, Six and Kat had found themselves treading down what appeared to be some sort of internal highway system within the ship for getting quickly to certain places. The atmosphere in the tunnels was incredibly dim, only illuminated scarcely by blue lighting in the side of the road. Maintenance passages, access holes, and various alcoves with circuitry and Covenant machinery regulating the ship dotted the walls. Sometimes with flashing lights. Sometimes not. Occasionally, Ghosts, Revenants, Wraiths, troop transports, and other vehicles would speed down the tunnels, buzzing distantly, their machinery crescendoing, and then fading away, illuminating the walls with their lights and reverbating throughout the tunnel. Each sound of an approaching vehicle seemed to raise their blood pressure.

The cloaking module could only take so much moving as fast as they were. A maintenance shaft was ahead. They stopped there for a moment to decloak in a secluded pile of crates and equipment to give the module some rest.

"How much farther?" Six asked.

"Not much. 10 more minutes at our current pace," Kat replied.

A loud whirring and buzzing emanated far away. It was growing louder by the second.

"Covenant. Get down!" Six exclaimed quietly. With his free hand and rifle in the other, he wrapped his arm around Kat and pulled her lower.

A humming Ghost sped by at lightning speed. When its sound had faded, Six stood up and looked at Kat to find her standing too and staring back at him.

"Got something you want to tell me?" she asked.

Six was clueless. "Could you be more specific?"

"Your arm is still around me," she stated simply and truthfully, as if to point out that it had betrayed his inner thoughts. "You're falling in love with me, aren't you, Six?"

Six hadn't even realized. It was nestled perfectly around the arch of her back. The kind of curvaceous arch only a woman could have. And it accentuated her lower assets well. Kat didn't seem to mind. Six stared strangely at his arm. The offending appendage had grown a mind of its own and desired to pull her in protectively to his chest like she was the supposed missing rib. In his usual dry tone, he relinquished and said, "I guess I am, Kat..."

Kat leaned into his arm further and transitioned to a partial hug. She cupped the cheek of his helmet with a grin, wiping off some of their last firefight's crud with her thumb. "Tough guy..." she chuckled, hugging him fully and holding her DMR out of the way behind his back.

Six chuckled back. "Don't get too comfortable."

"Oh, I won't..."

But she would, of course. When it came to her hacking and snooping around, her superiors hated that.

Six let his weapon-free hand secure Kat's waist, guiding her so that she couldn't leave as she pulled away from the hug.

Six stared with power and possession, visually devouring her. "You're the most beautiful thing I've ever seen, Kat. The things I'd do to you... I'm glad you're not fragile."

Kat stuttered a coy hum. Her heart was in her throat. She was a little embarrassed to be consumed so intensely by one of the most lethal agents in the UNSC. "When we get out of here, you can do whatever you want with me..."

"I'm glad..." Six finished. He suddenly got serious, backing away and putting a hand on Kat's shoulder. "Listen, I need you to stay here and wait for me."

"What? Why?" Kat griped.

"We're deep in enemy territory, Kat. Ops like this usually go south in some way or another. I need to have a plan B just in case. We're too far in to take blind risk," Six explained. He reached behind his back where the antimatter explosives were and handed Kat a Covenant-style holographic detonator. "Here... Take this... In case I'm compromised..."

"I was wondering why you had this. What do you plan to do?"

"I'm going to plant bombs at the reactors."

"Didn't you hear those Elites from earlier? They know you're coming."

"I know..." Six said. "But I'll be quieter by myself. It's too risky to charge into the Admiral's office without a backup plan. I find it strange he still hasn't put the ship on lockdown yet."

"But if you leave, you won't have my support," Kat said.

"Don't need it. I can guarantee that the bombs will get planted. Getting back may be a challenge if I'm discovered though."

"Then don't go."

"I'm not saying you're a liability, Kat, but believe it or not, I'm actually safer alone. Before Noble, it was my modus operandi, remember?"

Well, when he put it that way, it made a lot of sense.

Kat paused, finding logic in his answer to her logical mind. "Fine," she acquiesed.

"Our comm links will stop working at a certain point. If I'm not back in a few hours, go ahead with the original plan," Six said, starting off down the maintenance shaft. "Be back soon." He disappeared behind a corner. A shadow amongst aliens.

"You better..." Kat muttered under her breath.

Kat slumped to the ground against the wall, DMR slanted next to her like a lean-to and arms resting on her knees, waiting for Six to return. She palmed the side of her helmet in consideration. It seemed their escape was almost inevitable at this point. What was going to happen to their relationship once they got back to humanity? To the UNSC? Fraternization was highly frowned upon. Would they be able to hide this from their superiors? Kat didn't know. But it's not like she really cared for or observed the official UNSC limits anyway, having a bad habit for investigating classified material herself. She was such a valuable asset that the top brass overlooked her snooping. Halsey overlooked her theft of a data module. Why couldn't they overlook this as well?

Kat considered the implications of making their fraternization known. No, she thought. It was probably better if they kept this under wraps. Six would probably prefer that. The team dynamic along with various other things was going to change, that was for sure. As the second-in-command and with Carter's death, at the very least, Kat expected a promotion from de facto to de jure team leader. Jun, if he was still alive, was only a Warrant Officer, meaning, Six would become the new second. Throw in a few medals of honor, accolades, and a giant stolen Covenant ship, and they would be the talk of the UNSC. Six may even lose his unofficial status. As a matter of necessity, they would also have to fill in the gaps created by the rest of Noble Team's deaths as well.

Kat continued to think by herself. It wasn't long before she heard footsteps coming from the corner of the maintenance shaft. It would take too long to shoulder her rifle. It was quicker to switch to a sidearm. Kat instinctively shot up to her feet, forgetting her DMR to pull her magnum and aim down the maintenance shaft with a single hand to address the threat.

Kat stared.

Silence.

She waited, nerves on edge. It could be a Brute that had sniffed her out.

Invisibly camouflaged, Six snuck up beside Kat from a crouch. Unarmed, he decloaked, burst forth, and seized her forcibly by the waist. He gripped like a pair of vices.

"Ugh!" Kat yelped and dropped her magnum. She threw her hands back in astonishment and surrender as this hidden grey SPARTAN materialized out of nowhere in front of her and had her by the midriff. He jerked her in close like he owned her.

Their visors were inches from each other.

"Gotcha..." he murmured. "Gotta work on that situational awareness, Kat. My steps had you tunnel-visioned on the corner and not on your surroundings."

Kat let out a sigh of relief. She lowered her sleek arms to her sides and then raised them to grope his beefier ones. She imagined the big fat grin behind his visor. "Idiot..." she said quietly, blushing. "What the hell took you so long?"

Six didn't say anything. He was too occupied pressing his fingers deeper into the narrow of her figure. Unmistakeably tapered like an hourglass. Needless to say, there was definitely a woman in there!

The ship's loudspeakers echoed to life with an announcement, interrupting them. They raised their heads as their attention was pulled away from each other. It was a generic Elite speaking. "Be advised Hangar 1. Capital warship 'Flourishing Devotion' is inbound to dock. Clear the flight deck and prepare for docking. Repeat. Hangar 1. Capital warship 'Flourishing Devotion' is inbound to dock. Clear the flight deck and prepare for docking. Over."

The transmission cut off.

Kat turned her attention back to Six. "I was starting to worry you wouldn't make it back."

Six released Kat from his grip. "Careful with that detonator now," he said tensely. "It's live, and the whole ship will go up if you trigger it."

"I'll keep that in mind," Kat said as she picked up her magnum and DMR from the floor.

Wasting no additional time, Six then grabbed her hand so they could get a move on. They were in a rush but not a careless one. He turned his attention to the internal highway. Six hadn't had his parents for long, but even in that short period before he was orphaned, they'd still managed to teach him a few things about life. Two sideways glances later, because a child always had to look twice when crossing the road, the coast appeared to be clear. They resumed walking down the highway, making good distance.

Supersoldiers were trained to maintain physicality and stamina over long periods of exertion. At their rapid pace, soon enough, they had found themselves at the bridge. It was astoundingly more empty than Six initially anticipated. Just like the Elites said. His honor guard had been dispatched to other areas of the ship.

Perfect.

Glancing towards both ends of the hallway, Six confirmed once more that Kat and him were out of sight. They decloaked and took cover in front of a short, ramped passage leading up to the bridge's single door.

"Weapons check," Six said as they hugged the corner for concealment, inspecting his gun and magazine. He loaded and unloaded the clip back into the gun as an extra measure of insurance in his mind. "Ready, Kat?"

"As I'll ever be," Kat said, messing with her DMR.

"Cloaks on again."

The SPARTANs disappeared into a shroud of refracted light. They crept into the ship's control room. The only personnel were a few Elites— a handful of essential workers needed to fly the Transcendence. Three were at the front by the glass observatory while two hung behind, staring with focus at a set of holographic consoles. Sneaking up behind the first two, Six decloaked and stabbed one in the neck with Emile's kukri while Kat did the same to the other with Six's old knife. Their purple blood spilled and dripped with low gurgles as the SPARTANs quietly guided their bodies to the ground. They approached the final three Elites. Nodding to Kat, Six killed the rightmost while Kat went for the one in the middle, DMR in one hand and knife stabbing in the other.

The last remaining Elite on the left turned his head in shock. "What?! Who are-"

Kat pointed her DMR and popped the Elite's shielding with a few rapid headshots before putting one through the cranium. His body banged against the floor while she still had her knife in the first Elite's neck.

"Lock the door, Kat." Six said.

Kat holstered her weapons and started manipulating the holographic console with her fingers, dragging, tapping and touching. "Door's sealed," Kat said as it turned red with a lock. "I'm deactivating the air filtration and circulation systems for the rest of the ship. That should kill most of the Covies."

"Copy that." Six watched in confusion as Kat continued to work with her hands and the text in front of her changed rapidly.

Kat began to laugh softly to herself. "I think we're home free. Unbelievable..."

"Couldn't have done it without you, Kat," Six said from the background.

"I know..." Kat said playfully. "It's okay. You don't have to say it again."

"Hmph," Six chuffed in amusement.

"Where should I set the coordinates to?"

"Can you guarantee that most of our Covenant friends will be dead? I don't want to unintentionally bring an invasion force to a human settlement."

"I can..." Kat replied.

"Then Earth. Our homeworld. I've never seen it before."

"That makes two of us."

Kat followed Six's orders, setting the coordinates for Earth. The ship began to move and jumped into slipspace. Glancing back at him, she said, "You know, I really think the UNSC is going to-"

A glimmer in the dim light of the room.

Alarm filled Kat's voice. She reached out with a desperate hand as an obscure form decloaked behind Noble Six.

"Six look out!" Kat yelled.

A huge, towering Elite appeared from thin air, his pulsing energy sword glowing menacingly and making Six look like a child. 12 feet tall. The tallest Kat had ever seen. Strong and well-decorated with the highest rank and ornamentation available. He had blue armor with massive pauldrons, orange highlights, and orange trim.

It was Admiral Xytan.

If it were any other SPARTAN, Six might've been successfully assassinated, but his reaction time was unparalled. Spinning around on pure reflex, he unsheathed his knife in the same motion and stabbed the Elite in the wrist, forcing the energy sword out of his grasp. It deactivated and clattered onto the ground as Xytan's shields popped and the bones and flesh in his wrist were sliced open.

Admiral Xytan let out a grunt of pain and growled between his teeth, mandibles flaring. Purple blood squirted onto Xytan's forearm but he had come prepared. He activated the energy dagger in his other hand and stabbed Six straight through the stomach, lifting him off the ground and instantly popping the SPARTAN's own shields.

"No!" Kat shouted.

Xytan twisted the dagger and Six felt the strength leave his body with every turn. He went limp.

"Cursed human," Xytan spat in English. "Did you think you could fool me? This is no longer your planet but my own ship you encroach on. Crawling around like vermin! How DARE you strike me!"

Kat immediately shouldered her DMR and scoped in to put Xytan down, but Xytan anticipated this natural reaction. He gathered the strength in his eviscerated wrist to secure Six's body and hoisted it in front of him like a proper meatshield, angling Six's backside towards Kat. Blood poured down the SPARTAN's abdomen and out the singed gap in the armor. The dagger was still inside Six, slowly killing him.

"Go ahead, female! Test my patience," Xytan dared.

Kat withheld her trigger finger, staring anxiously, her DMR lowering slightly in hesitation. Six's head blocked Xytan's. There wasn't a clear shot.

"I didn't think so," Xytan continued. "Thousands of my brothers killed in action by this one and now you desire to decimate my whole army?! On the blood of my sons, surely, I shall have your heads for a trophy!"

Admiral Xytan roared a bone-chilling battle cry as he charged Kat with Six's limp body as a shield. Xytan thrashed violently with Six's body, knocking Kat's DMR out of her hands and staggering her. Leaping forward, Xytan threw Six aside to engage Kat with his energy dagger, the SPARTAN hitting the ground like a sack of potatoes. Six coughed and groaned on impact. He tried to move after but the blood loss had weakened him too much.

What ensued was all a blur. Dizzy. Nauseous. Six blinked, trying to stay conscious as his eyes got heavy and his head did the same. Everything felt like it was weighed down by lead. His limbs he could hardly move. His fingers not even a twitch. It was like his nervous system had shut down. The desire to lie back and fall sleep suddenly overcame him.

So this was what dying felt like.

Six cared not for death. For him, living was the real challenge. And he met that challenge. Raising his head ever so slightly, eyes lulling and rolling, he watched between languorous blinks as consciously as he could as Kat engaged head-on with Admiral Xytan. Fortunately, he could see that Kat still had the knife he'd given her. A magnum was in the other hand which she shot desperately in a bid to delay Xytan's onslaught, but Xytan's shields were back up and he covered his head with the damaged arm. The shields scintillated with every bullet. They were far too powerful for a magnum to overwhelm by itself.

That reminded Six.

He still had his own magnum by the waist.

But he couldn't reach it. His arms were like jelly, a motionless hand right by the pistol's grip.

So close yet so far.

Six focused as hard as he could. He tried to regain feeling, some vague sense of control within the overpowering numbness that had filled his body to the extremities and was filling it even more by the second. The fingers. They needed to wake up. He started carefully with his thumb, already on the verge of passing out. The corners of his vision were blackening. Not enough blood. His body wouldn't listen to him.

All the while, Kat ducked and weaved, continuously retreating as Admiral Xytan slashed violently at her. His attacks were heavy and overpowering, exuding vengeance but not carelessness, the true mark of a master swordsman. There were no openings for her to take advantage of, and melee combat wasn't her forte to begin with. Yet, she was against a master swordsman. Against the member of a species who trained their whole lives for close-and-dirty combat. Kat could only stall and hope for the best. With a smooth flourish, she rolled backwards over a Covenant crate, trying to put something between her and the massive Sangheili, but Xytan sent the crate flying with a single swipe.

"Distance will not protect you, Spartan," Xytan said. "You are locked in here with me."

Kat knew he was right. Distance was limited and space to go running out!

Mindgames.

She had to run with mindgames!

"You filthy alien," Kat snarled with venom. "Your army is as good as dead! They're suffocating right now as we speak! I've made sure of it."

Admiral Xytan roared, spurred into a furious charge by her words. He slashed and stabbed once more, missing, but only barely. "Impudent creature!" he shouted."They will die with their honor intact! When confronted face to face, you yield like cowards! You cannot flee forever!"

Xytan narrowed his eyes like a predator. He seemed to get only stronger, faster, and more skilled with anger. The exact opposite of what Kat wanted. Sooner or later, she had to slip up against his unerring form and artistic sword strategy.

Away from the scene of combat, another SPARTAN was fighting too.

Six's thumb twitched.

Yes!

He felt a slight sense of life coming back to his hand. His other fingers followed next and Six regained feeling, clenching his fist. Moments later, this feeling extended further into his right arm. Weakly, he unholstered his magnum from the waist. Mustering all his strength, Six slowly managed to raise his encumbered and shaking arm with the magnum to his chest and rested it there. He could not hold it at the ready. He would have to save his strength for the crucial shot.

C'mon... Pop the shields, Six thought inwardly to himself as he watched Kat fighting.

Was it too late to make a difference? Kat was already cornered. Xytan feinted a stab into a brutal front kick to the chest, launching Kat like she had been hit by a horse into the far wall.

Kat struggled to suck in a breath. She pushed herself against the wall to hold herself up, almost sliding down it. She nearly dropped her knife.

"Foolish girl," Xytan sneered. "Only now, at the end, do you realize the futility of your actions. Reach belongs to the Hierarchs now."

"Kat..." Six said quietly on comms. "Go to plan B."

Before Xytan could advance, Kat snatched the detonator from behind her back with a free hand and brandished it threateningly, her thumb on the trigger. "Ah, ah!" she warned, stopping Xytan in his tracks. "Not a step closer. Or I swear to you I will blow this ship and all its unholy inhabitants to kingdom come!"

"Explosive charges," Xytan realized. "You're bluffing..." he said without concern.

"You wanna find out?" Kat retorted, wiggling her thumb over the button. "There are several reactors on this ship. Each one was guarded by a detachment of your honor guards who don't seem to be here at the moment. Does that sound like a bluff to you?"

Xytan's eyes fumed as he realized he had been outplayed. His mandibles went wide like fangs. "Arrogant wretch! Give me the detonator!" he raged.

"Pop his shields... with the knife..." Six whispered over comms, growing weaker and losing endurance of voice. "Remember my trick? Throw it... and don't risk aiming for the head..."

In the rear behind Xytan, Kat could see Six weakly waving his magnum from the floor to signal his intentions to deliver the coup de grâce. It would be an awkward shot but it would work. She had to break Xytan's focus somehow or he would see an obvious strike coming and evade.

She knew what she had to do.

"You want the detonator so bad? Catch!" Kat said suddenly. She tossed the detonator at Xytan. Xytan was caught off guard and tried to successfully grab the detonator to keep it from going off. In the sliver of a second the big Elite fumbled with the detonator, Kat manipulated the knife in her hand between fingers unfamiliar with the proper throwing technique. In a final bid, she chucked the knife as best as she could and it embedded itself haphazardly halfway into Xytan's chest armor, popping the shields with a pulse of energy.

Xytan pulled the blade out of his thick armor without injury. He brandished the detonator back at her. "Ahahaha!" he laughed haughtily. "You-"

Bang!

Xytan's face went dumb and his mouth silent. Brainless, his body hung in the air for a split second, groaning and releasing a final breath of life, before collapsing to the ground in front of Kat with a resounding thud. The detonator rolled harmlessly out of his long, alien fingers.

Kat completely forgot about it.

"Six!" she clamored, scrambling over the dead Elite for him. Six had never seen her run so fast.

Kat crouched by Six's side. "Damn it!" she cursed, lowering her head away in shame. "Look at you..." she muttered in fear. "You're a mess. I should've seen him sooner."

"T-that's... all right... Kat... You did good..." Six struggled to say. His voice was markedly feeble.

"I don't have any supplies to treat you," she said anxiously.

"That's all right too... What's important is... you're safe."

"No, no!" she blurted out. "You're going to die!"

"Kat..."

"We need to fix you up! Maybe I can stop the bleeding with my hands!" Kat tried to press her gloved hand into the crevice made by the energy dagger.

"Kat."

"The Covenant must have a medical room onboard. I'll go and see if-"

"Kat!" Six exclaimed weakly.

"What?!" she acknowledged. "What could possibly be more important than your life right now?!"

The words were hard to get out for Six. "Enough of that... I'm too weak to move myself... Do me a favor and... put my body up against that... wall... please..."

Kat dragged Six's body and propped it up against the side of the ship's holographic console.

"I need you to hold on for me," Kat said, a slight beg teeming her tone as she crouched next to him.

Six tapped his lap weakly. "Sit..." he declared. "I'd like to see you in my... last moments..."

Kat complied without hesitation and straddled Six's lap where he had the best view of her. His breathing was heavy and strained. She was confronted with the fact that his stomach area was entirely bloody, the armor stained all over and smeared with red. It did not look good.

"Because of the UNSC... I missed out on teen love..." Six chuckled grimly. Tiredly. "But I'm not... missing out on you..."he heaved. "I didn't think things would unfold like this, Kat... You're all I have now... The last piece of my... humanity..."

Kat didn't reply. She simply clinked their visors together and leaned into him, hands on his shoulders, gloved and artificial fingers fidgeting anxiously. They stayed like that for a few moments, the dark void of slipspace visible through the glass of the observatory behind them.

There was no sound.

Only breathing.

And emotion.

And the creaking of a travelling ship.

It was hard to think of what to say, really. Six didn't know if was the blood loss induced brain fog or just his own social retardation. He was never a wordsmith, although, in situations like this, there was a huge advantage to that. Eventually, it was Kat that decided to speak up again.

Kat pulled back and covered her visor with her hands, moping with anger mixed in. "Of all the things that could've happened. I told you not to do anything stupid!"

"I was standing..." Six said.

"Why didn't you look around? You were doing nothing! You're supposed to be the alert one, not me!" Kat exclaimed.

Kat sighed, relenting and calming down.

"Can you do me... a favor..."

"Tell me," she said earnestly.

"Take your helmet off..."

Kat removed her helmet. She almost yanked it off, disposing of it messily without care, letting it roll away from them. It was not important.

Six reached up as well and struggled to remove his own helmet. Kat reached out to help the man with a gentle hand but she stopped when he protested. "No, no... Let me do it..." he said. "It'll be the last time... I do..."

With a little effort, Six took his helmet off and laid it next to him. He stared into Kat's orbs. She had eyes like beautiful stones. Two round lapis lazuli.

"Hold on for me," Kat said softly.

"Keep those pearly blues trained on me, and... I just might..." Six said. He burdened his body attempting to speak, trying to fit words between the rhythm of his lungs as they worked hard to make up for the lack of blood. His breath hung on every syllable. "They say blue is a relaxing color... Looking at you, I'm... back in the skies... Right where I... wanna be..."

Kat shifted and tensed, clearly distraught by those words. She listened to the sound of Six's voice, memorizing it as it grew weaker.

"Before... when we were still on Reach..." Six continued, "you said... there were things you'd like to experience... What did you... mean by that?"

"You're going to laugh if I tell you," Kat said, doing her best to sound upbeat.

An expression brightened on Six's fading face. "Try me."

"Love..." she said, then clarifying, "I'd like to make love..."

Six laughed weakly.

"See. I told you you'd laugh," Kat replied. "I know. It's corny..."

"No... it's not..." Six scolded. "Wouldn't have been... my first guess... Something else too... You told me you read my... file? Is that... true?"

"Yes," Kat said.

"All of it?"

"All of it."

"That's good... At least someone knows... who I am... You must know then, Kat... I've killed... so many... people..." Six said as he groaned and grimaced in pain. "Insurrectionists... Innocents... Covenant I can understand... But... humans? My own kind? For what, I don't know... ONI would just... point their finger... and I would do it because I... had to... For what it's worth, everyone... always thinks I don't talk... because I don't want to talk... but really... I don't have much to say anymore... I haven't had much to say... in a long time... Not much left to feel... Until I found NOBLE... Until I met... you..."

"Six..." Kat grimaced softly as tears began to flow down her cheeks. Her face was fraught with despair.

"You don't know this, but... when I rode with Carter in the Falcon... for our first mission... he told me to leave all the lone wolf stuff... behind... Because of you, I can't go back to that... now..." Six said.

"Stop," Kat pleaded. She didn't want to hear any more.

Six strained to speak, uttering words between heavy breaths. "I couldn't tell you this... when we first met... but, for once... it felt like I wasn't... alone anymore... But, then the team... began to disappear... First Jorge, then you... then Carter... Emile... So much death... And for what? That's why I stayed back to man the MAC gun... So, I could save humanity for once... instead of... being its silent killer... A grim reaper... ONI's... personal weapon... And that's why I was in that shipyard... killing all those Covenant by myself... Because it's all I really... know... All I planned to know... until you saved me... I wish you could feel... how glad I was... to see you in that moment..."

"I did..." Kat gave an anemic smile. Sadness tugged at the sides of her lips, weighing them down.

Six let out a loud groan as a pang of sharp pain shuddered through his body. The adrenaline was wearing off, and with it, the strength it gave him to speak.

"You're in pain," Kat said.

"A kiss... on the cheek... would help..." Six replied.

Sucking in a pained, emotional breath, Kat studied Six, contemplating the meaning behind the request. Then she leaned in. She cradled his head softly and pressed, planting the most langorous, lingering, wet kiss on Six's cheek that she could.

Muah.

And then she pulled away.

"There..." she hummed.

Six began to stutter something. "I..." he murmured.

Kat merely hushed him with a finger to his lips and smiled through half-lidded eyes. "Shh. Hostile territory..." she cooed. "Save your strength. Please."

Six huffed in response to this, smiling back and gathering another bout of air to talk. "No, Kat..." He ignored her request as if to say it was truly over. He needed to speak. He needed to get this out no matter what. "I was gonna say... I hear people with actual... childhoods... get those... instead of needles and... instruments... in their face..."

"I'm sorry..." Kat said, understanding now the significance behind the act.

"Don't... be... It's not your fault... A bit sad you... doubted me though..." Six said. "Told ya I'd get you... off Reach..."

Kat frowned regretfully.

"You know... in a world without the Covenant... we could've met under... normal circumstances..." Six added.

"Please... Let me go get you something to treat those wounds," Kat begged.

"If you leave now... I won't be here... when you get back..." Six informed her. "Don't leave me in my... final... moments..."

His eyes.

They were fluttering.

"Noble Team had a good run..." Six's voice began to trail off as he expunged the last bit of air in his lungs. "You're my... favorite... Katttttttt..."

Tears still streaming down, Kat grimaced at his words. "Six?! Six, wait, WAIT! Stay with me!" she frantically said, framing his face with her hands. The man's eyes glazed over. Kat had no idea what to do so she did the only thing she could think of and began to shower Six with affection, hoping it would revive him. Kiss after kiss after kiss on the cheek. Love overload. But it wasn't working.

Nothing was working.

"No, no, no! You can't do this to me again!" she sobbed. "Pleaaaasssseeeeeee... Don't leave me hereeeeee..."

The last thing Six heard was Kat wailing and bawling her eyes out into his ear.

"I need youuuuu..."