Unpleasant Introduction
#4 of Heart Of Iron
Heart Of Iron
Chapter 4: Unpleasant Introduction
Six hurried down the long flights of stairs, all the while holding the feline woman in his huge arms. As he ventured down he couldn't help observe her beauty. The blonde hair cascading down her shoulders complimented her tawny fur. And he noticed her bright blue eyes, they shown like beacons in the darkness of the dimly lit stairway. It tickled a thought out of his head. Six had extremely vague memories of his past, his pre-spartan days, the most vivid one was of a cat.
One thing he did know about his childhood was that even back then he was a loner. His only friend outside his house had been a tan furred stray cat. He had nurtured it, sharing the meager food that his single mother provided. He and the cat had been best friends for a few months, until the Covenant glassed his colony. He could only assume that the cat had perished along with everyone else on that ill fated world.
Six was brought back to reality when the furry woman prodded his shoulder plate with a claw, the crimson nail clicked against the titanium alloy and dragged his attention to the owner. He looked down to the woman, Six found himself unable to turn away from her sparkling sapphire eyes. He was lucky that the obsidian visor was impenetrable, he didn't think she would react well to his gaze. "Yes?"
Callie was flustered as she spoke what was on her mind. She twiddled her paws as she laid in his arms, like a nervous schoolgirl. "You're a guy right?" She had figured that it was a he, but she still felt the need to ask.
Six laughed quietly, his deep voice mirthful as he continued his descent to the exit. "I can promise you, I am indeed a man." As he laughed, Six couldn't help but feel lighter, as if her presence made him feel better. He found her distracting him from his troubles. It was a most welcome interruption from the frustration of his predicament.
She flushed even deeper and tried to hide her muzzle in her paws. Six had to tear his eyes of her and refocus on exiting the building. They were still being pursued after all! As he jogged, Six's augmented hearing detected the sound of following steps, the patter of determined paws sizzled in his ears. "They are closing in." He warned the Briggs women and went from a jog to a sprint.
As he blazed down the stairs Callie juddered up and down in his arms gracelessly, not completely thrilled with his pace. "S-s-slow d-d-down." She stuttered as he then leaped down an entire flight, making her yowl in surprise. He slammed down with an earth-shattering bang, the cement splintered under his and Callie's weight "seriously?" She growled as he resumed his sprint. He didn't answer as he neared the last leg of their journey.
Razor ran out of Ms. Briggs's room, he began to worry. In her bedroom he discovered nine shell casings from a weapon he had never before seen, That could only mean that the unknown from the strange aircraft had been there. That could either bode ill of well, but Razor wasn't going to take any chances. He sped out of the room and into the corridor, only taking a second to analyze the shattered door.
Razor was heading to the elevator when he noticed that the stairway access door was slightly ajar. He stopped and changed his course, he barged into the room. His powerful feline ears detected the sound of heavy armored boots descending below him. He chased after the sound zealously, however the footsteps picked up. It must have heard him following.
At the limits of his endurance, he ran even faster down the seemingly unending staircase. Razor would not give up, no matter how impossible catching up seemed. Finally, he ended up at the end of the stairs, what he saw was astounding...and terrifying.
A huge obsidian robot was carrying Ms. Briggs, it was the most fearsome and intimidating thing that Razor had ever laid eyes on. Its armor was at least four inches thick and covered almost its entire frame. The rest of the giant was wrapped up in what looked like thick fiber optic cables that almost reminded the Kat of muscles. The most disturbing thing was the the grace with which it walked, no robot should be able to walk so smoothly. It had a considerate stride, calm and deliberate.
It was also covered in weapons, on its back were two long black and lethal looking guns. On its thigh was a pistol that could have comfortably fit in both of Razor's paws, and probably was the only way he could carry it.
He took all of this in as he saw the figure reach for the handle of the exit. Razor wasn't about to let it get away with its prisoner, he activated his Glovatrix and fired off the trio of buzz-saw blades. They flew towards their target with deadly precision and speed, the Kat was confident his attack would succeed.
But to Razor's surprise and horror, the blades bounced pathetically of the robots armor. The robot was consumed in a golden shimmering aura that was both beautiful and frighting. As the thing gently set down Ms, Briggs, Razor began to feel a sense of foreboding. Then, in an act of unbelievable speed, the robot flung a fist out that he barely managed to dodge. When the gauntlet collided with the wall, it exploded in a dazzling blast of shrapnel. Razor's stomach churned fear, if a hit like that connected to him, he would not survive. He had only one chance, he had to go on the offensive.
Razor launched himself at the tall ebony robot and tried to desperately beat it back using all of his skill and cunning. But yet again the being almost casually sidestepped his attacks and delivered a painful elbow to his furred abdomen. Razor smashed into the wall but quickly righted himself and used all his strength to hit the demon upside the head. The blow didn't even faze his opponent, who's head only shifted marginally, once more shrouded in that strange golden glow. In another futile attempt Razor smashed a fist into the thing's chest. His only reward was the jolt of pain in his paw as it bounced of the unyielding armor of this monster.
Just before he could continue his attack, he was slammed into the wall by the bulky shoulderplate of his enemy. Razor felt the air explode out of his lungs, as he was pinned. All he could do now was look into the muzzle of the weapon aimed at his head. This demon was invincible it seemed. Razor closed his eyes, unwilling to see his end, his last thoughts were that he had failed T-bone and Ms. Briggs.
Six was reaching for the door-handle when he felt several objects impact on his MJOLNIR, causing the shields to flare. He stumbled forwards from the force and almost dropped the woman onto the concert floor. He caught her just in time and set her gently on the floor. The spartan whipped around with inhuman speed and lashed out an armored gauntlet, his pursuer barely dodged the fatal blow. The wall behind him was pulverized, exploding into dust. The attacker rolled backwards swiftly, reveling him to Six.
It was a brown Kat, wearing....a pilot's suit? The spartan was stunned for a millisecond. This one was not of the flying grunt variety he had previously faced. Six became cautious, a knew threat meant new tactics. He would have to deal with him, and quickly. But before he could draw his weapon, the Kat engaged him in a flurry of hand to hand combat.
Six easily dodged a sideswipe and retaliated with a vicious elbow to the solar plexus. His enemy was thrown to the wall, but impressively recovered immediately and launched a bawled up paw to strike upside his head. The strike meagerly diminished his shields, not even strong enough to turn his head. Yet his opponent also rammed a paw into his chestplate, only managing to cause an injury on himself as the armor and shielding once more absorbed the hit.
Six was now frustrated, this fight was pointless. The Kat was fearless and brave, but ultimately outmatched by the experienced and hyper-lethal spartan. Six shoulder bashed the feline into the wall. The blow stunned him, this gave the spartan the opportunity to go in for the kill.
Six unholstered his magnum and aimed it at his adversary. He didn't have time to mess around. The Kat froze up as he stared down the barrel of the handgun. Just as Six began to pull the trigger, the voice of his charge intervened. "STOP!" Six slowly released the trigger and looked back to her, unsure of what to do. His uncertainty was soon replaced with anger.
"Why?" He snarled, his fighting instincts barely restrained as his gloved finger spasmed on the trigger. Six needed to kill. And now once more she was holding back his bloodlust. He turned to her, blue eyes blazing, but concealed by the stark black visor.
"He's a good guy!" She exclaimed hurriedly. Six growled and kept the gun pointed at its target, he would need allot more convincing then that. "He is one of the SWAT Kats!" The spartan didn't know what a SWAT Kat was.
"SWAT Kat?" He grunted. By this time, the "SWAT Kat" had opened his eyes and saw that the robot was talking directly with Ms. Briggs. The gun was still facing in his direction so he didn't try to press his luck. Razor just watched the conversation with intrigued eyes.
"Yes, they are protectors of the city, I called them before you showed up." Callie explained as she slowly moved to stand in-between her savior and Razor. The spartan hesitantly and reluctantly returned his magnum to its locked position (Razor breathed a sigh of relief and thanked every god he could think of). "Thank you." Callie said gratefully to the man.
Six just grunted and turned to leave. "Where are you going?" Callie asked in surprise, and worry. She had not anticipated his desire to leave.
"You are back in safe hands, I am no longer needed." The spartan replied emotionlessly, without facing her as he headed for the door. She watched the strange giant of a man walk away and began feel apprehension build in her gut. For some reason she didn't want him to leave, he was like a security blanket for the woman. She had started to associate his presence with safety and comfort. When he was around she felt as if nothing in this world could harm her.
"But..." Callie called out desperately making him halt. He turned back slowly to observe the feline, her paw was outstretched, claws digging into the air, as if pleading for him to stay
"But?" Six asked quietly, for the first time in a long time his voice was not barking nor rough. It was soft and almost innocent.
"Can't you stay?" She mewled. It briefly reminded the spartan of the cat he had saved all those years ago.
Six felt the urge to say yes, but he had a camp to head back to, and on top of that he didn't fancy having to deal with the other Kat. "I can't, I have go." He said, Callie thought she heard a reluctant tone in his bland answer. He turned once more to the exit and opened it. With one last look back he walked out of the door.
"What the hell was that about!" Razor shouted in confusion. His expression matched his tone of voice. He was still eyeing the door that the monstrous robot had used.
"Its...a long story." Callie sighed. "How about I tell you later for now, I have to find another place to sleep." She muttered, not happy with that fact.
Dark Kat watched from the rooftop as a single one of his minions returned. "What happened?" He demanded angrily. The little monster cowered and let loose a screeching babble. Dark Kats purple muzzle turned dark, he picked up the creepling and brought it eye to eye. "What is this about a demon?" He asked dangerously, his eyes gleamed a hazardous orange.
The creature stuttered weakly, answering in broken howls. Whatever it said was not what the wicked Kat wanted to hear. With a quick compression he snapped the creature's fragile neck and let it fall off the building to the street below, where it landed with a wet smack. Dark Kat twirled and walked away from the edge, he would need to get more information about this "demon". It was now on his ever growing list of vengeance.
Six soon found himself back in the clearing of his base camp. It was now buried in snow. He gazed at the cold remains of his campfire and the shoddy wooden cabin, with the frozen powder covering it all. As he looked at he he had built, he sighed. This was his life now, no war and no purpose. The spartan sat down by the frozen embers, his weight displacing the very ground. He didn't even have the heart to rekindle the flames. The only moments where he felt that he was doing something worthwhile once more was when he was helping the feline woman.
Six sat there for an unknown length of time. His black armor slowly becoming engulfed by the gently falling snow as he thought about that inconsequential detail, that minuscule little thing. Unknown to him, that was the most important detail of all, it would influence the rest of his life.
He awoke sometime later, not realizing that he had fallen asleep. At first he was confused at to why his visor was white, he couldn't see out of it. Then it dawned on him, he was buried under the snow. He rose up from the snowy confines, the white powder slid of his massive frame. Now unencumbered he could study his surroundings.
The cabin was buried under a thick layer of powder. Even his campfire was consumed by the ghastly plague of winter. Six's MJOLNIR was the only thing keeping him from freezing. It was rated for EVA ops so a little frigid air wouldn't do him in. With a noncommittal grunt he went to the shelter and cleared the wintery blockage with venomous gusto, he was starting to despise the snow.
Once he managed to get inside the cabin he unwrapped the leaves that contained his supplies. With care, Six removed his Mark V helm and placed it under his left arm. His other arm tore a chunk of the deer from the whole and brought it to his mouth. Six gnawed on the cold jerky and walked back out of the cabin, after placing the rest back under wraps. The spartan looked upon the clearing he called home, still eating the meat, and nodded to himself. He was here, so he better adapt. Six began to feel a sense of optimism once more, he couldn't place why, but it was there hovering over his head.
As the spartan stood, staring into the red-orange hue of the morning sky, he placed a gauntlet onto the dog-tag chain around his throat. Six held it up to the light, Jorge, Kat, Emile, and Carter, he only wished they were alive, standing beside him at this moment.
With the feeling of optimism Six finally had a plan. He would, if he decided these people were deserving of it, become there protector. That's what spartans were, defenders, protectors of the innocent! And even if he was stranded away from humanity he would continue to do what he was made for. He would not allow himself to squander his gift, and his sacrifice. The spartan would create meaning for his own life.
First things first, he would have to find that Callie woman again, she was the only one he knew here. She could lead him to these SWAT Kats. He would then ally himself with them, they had a jet. That mean that they had some sort of hanger, maybe he could even store his Sabre there?
Now buzzing with new purpose, Six collected himself and prepared to venture once more into the city.
Callie found a cheap hotel she could stay in until they fixed up her apartment. It had been a hell of a job explaining the damages to the buildings owner, but she had made up some story about some intruders that seemed to convince the Kat.
Now she sat down on the hotel bed and stretched out yawning, her sharp needle teeth gleaming in the light. As she got ready to sleep she kept thinking about her heroic savior. That's what he had become in her eyes. At first she was terrified of him, but it turned into...she couldn't quite place it yet. But she found herself unable to sleep. She imagined him standing guard over her, protecting her from the terrors of the night. With that thought she found slumber much easier, the now content feline drifted off into untroubled sleep. Her dreams filled with a knight in shining armor, black as night, as he stood valiantly afore her. A shield of sparkling golden light in one hand and a sword of fire in the other. She smiled in her sleep and cuddled with the cheap pillow, wrapping her whole body around it even her tail encompassed it, imagining the downy bedding as her savior.
Razor and T-bone parked the jet and opened the cockpit. "What did you see buddy?"
Razor shook his head in bewilderment as he climbed out "I don't know, some sort of robot or demon. Whatever it was, it seemed to listen to Ms. Briggs."
"Whoa...." T-bone exclaimed as he jumped out of the Turbokat and walked over to the lockers. That was something that Chance couldn't wrap his head around.
As they shifted out of their suits and back into the trappings of mechanics Jake took thought back to his encounter with the thing. From what he saw it only wanted to protect Ms. Briggs. Maybe, just maybe, they could make a friend out of this strange thing. Jake knew that they couldn't do this alone forever. Someday their luck will run out.
But with something like that on their side, they just might be able to pull off a major victory against the evil tide attempting to flood this city.