system
Given the following post, respond as if you're commenting on Reddit:
human
[Halo:CE] How did Capt Keyes "overhear" his captors calling installation 04 Halo? Hell, how did he know how to pilot a Covenant dropship?

During "The Truth and Reconciliation" for those wondering.

I thought translation software was incredibly unreliable given the many species and languages of the Covenant coupled with the fact it took A.I. level computing power to translate things quickly. Hard to imagine Keyes had access to that in a Covenant cell.

Up to this point in the war I heard the UNSC was having a hard time operating lots of Covenent technology outside intuitive weapon and simple vehicles. I know A.I. can do a lot of the heavy lifting but Keyes specifically told Cortana that he would pilot the dropship. He even had the fine motor control to crush two hunters with the pronged front of the ship. So is Covenant drop ship operations standard material for captains in the UNSC?
gpt
Prior to Reach going tits up and the Pillar of Autumn making a random shipspace jump to Installation 04 Captain Keys was to be a key player in Operation Red Flag, a plan to kidnap a Prophet to force a ceasefire.

Cortana was largely responsible for mission planning. She chose for John-117 to carry her and for the Pillar of Autumn to be modified, and for Captain Keys to be in command. He was chosen ostensibly for his excellent improvisation skills.

So it would make sense that he either already knew something of the Covenant languages or learned as a part of mission planning. Same goes for flying a basic craft, especially as they are very intuitive.