Chapter 6

The Master Chief's room

Sven was awoken by someone banging on his door. A rough, demanding voice came in. Before doing anything at all, he glanced at the clock, it was six-thirty in the morning.

"Alright boys, rise 'n shine. We've got another Abater bastard on our hands." Sven thought for a second, it couldn't be 'Takimee, his voice was too low to be this man's, plus he would never use this type of tone and language with them. He got up and opened the door. He saw Shinji with his door open as well, rubbing the sleep out of his tired eyes, staring back at him.

"What? Who's…?" Shinji began before he and Sven looked down the hall to see 'Takimee, along with another, never-before-seen man. He was was a black man, probably in his late early to mid-forties; he wore army clothes with pockets for storing ammo, and an army cap, a thin black mustache was his only apparent facial hair, as he was bald.

"Good morning you two, this is Sergeant Avery Johnson, he will be assisting us on our new assignment today. Get into your battle armor; we're leaving as soon as possible." 'Takimee said. Johnson crossed his arms and grunted.

"Let's roll! NOW!!" He barked. Sven and Shinji nodded and closed their doors, only to emerge minutes later, decked out in their armor. Shinji looked at Sven, just about to say something when the two realized that their leaders were missing. Quickly the two made for the flight deck, where they stored jets and helicopters for mission departures. As they ran side-by-side, Shinji popped in the question.

"Who was at you room last night?" The Master Chief looked at Eva-01 as he continued. "I heard Dr. Winchester, but after I heard the footsteps leave I fell asleep."

"It was Susan." Sven replied. Shinji nodded.

"I told you." He said.

"Told me what?" Sven asked, not quite grasping what his comrade meant. Without another spoken word, the two picked up their pace and sprinted to the launching bay.

Launching Bay

'Takimee paced back and forth, an assault rifle was in his hand and a plasma pistol was strapped the his belt. He didn't seem worried, bored more than anything. Johnson stood with a bulky shotgun in hand, an assualt rifle in the other. He had always been known to be a bit of a smartass, a rough one, and to quote one of his mentees, 'One helluva leader'. 'Takimee turned once the doors opened and the two super soldiers rushed in. Slowing their sprint to a walk, the two approached their leaders.

"Chief, catch!" Johnson shouted and tossed an assault rifle at Sven. The Master Chief caught it and continued to walk until he stood before his leaders. 'Takimee tossed an assault rifle at Eva-01 as well.

"What are we dealing with this time?" The Master Chief asked as he and Eva-01 met with the Elite and sergeant to form a square formation. 'Takimee looked down on the Spartan.

"It's a Diamondhead." He replied. The Master Chief could suddenly feel Eva-01's confidence drain and he seemed nervous now. He looked at Shinji.

"What's a Diamondhead?" He asked. Eva-01 looked at him but before he could speak, Johnson interrupted.

"It's a flying Abater, one tough sonuva bitch too." He said. Sven nodded.

"Sergeant Johnson and his crew will attack via helicopter." 'Takimee said. "We, on the other hand, shall attack through a Covenant cruiser, a Banshee." Seconds later, a shipment of six brown armored Marines dashed in, all carrying assault rifles. The armor covered their chest, back, shoulders, legs, and arms, along with a brown helmet with a green computer screen covering one of their eyes. Underneath the armor was a tough leather-like material.

Sven and Shinji noticed as the Marines, or Helljumpers, as their class was, stared at them and muttered things, most of which saying that the two looked like giants in the armor, even though they were eighteen years old.

"Alright Marines, let's move out, double-time!" Johnson barked as he waited for his men to climb into the bulkiest and most well-armed helicopter there, a newly designed vehicle by the government. The helicopter was large, in both height and length, it was mostly white, with a few red and grey areas where weapons and supplies were stored in compartments, and with red stripes going down its wings. It was known as the Scarlet Eagle-04. Everyone got on board and Johnson saluted to 'Takimee, before hopping on himself.

Waiting for the helicopter to take off, 'Takimee clacked his mandibles to the others and led them to another section of the chamber.

"Master Chief, these are Banshees, Eva-01 has already tested one, and significantly failed." He began to chuckle from the thought, which was obviously an embarrassing moment for Shinji. "Don't worry; they aren't too hard to fly." There were stationed three purple Covenant Banshees, one-manned flyers that from the pulse waves to his brain, Sven knew that they fired a flurry of plasma blasts, as well as the awesomely powerful fuel rod cannon underneath. 'Takimee rested on his stomach into the Banshee, his hands gripping the controls and the top of the flyer closed down over him. Shinji did this next, followed by Sven.

As the three of them hovered in place, 'Takimee's voice came over the COM channel.

"Dr. Winchester, the sky roof please."

"Of course, good luck." The doctor's voice said over the link and above them, a sky roof opened where the ground level actually was, and 'Takimee shot out, followed by Eva-01, but the Master Chief hovered for a few moments, he heard Dr. Winchester's voice in his link. "Master Chief, what are you doing?" He asked. Sven was was quite busy looking at all the different colored panels around him inside the Banshee, most of which didn't do anything at all, except give him a variety of hues to look through the main screen with. He didn't quite understand however, that Banshees did not have windows, though inside, one could see around them easily. Snapping to, the Master Chief shot the Banshee upward and through the large panel. "Good luck men." Dr. Winchester said again from the control center, scientists and engineers walking about, doing their jobs, when four monitors lit up, showing what the four flying vehicles saw, so that they could assist them if the situation got nasty. Fred stood beside him, arms crossed, his sunglasses off and folded neatly in his pocket, he watched Sven's monitor the most. A thought passed through his mind.

"Doctor, where is that princess the team rescued?" He asked. Winchester looked over at him, thinking for a moment.

"Let me think…oh, I do believe Victoria is spending time with her today. Why?" Winchester asked. Fred shrugged.

"Nothing." He said. The doctor turned back to the screens.

"I do fear that she might be having feelings for…you know." The doctor said. Fred looked surprised.

"What makes you think that?" He asked.

"Well, last night, after the short ceremony, Susan asked to see him." Dr. Winchester said.

"So what? The boy was on the verge of having a mental breakdown for God's sake." Fred replied.

"Yes, you're probably right…but…just something in her eye when she saw him…heh, never mind." Winchester said.

Over San Francisco-03

Like London-02, San Francisco-03 was a shielded from Abater forces, and housed thousands of people. Half of it lay in ruin from one of the Abater attacks earlier, that half was not put into the shields, and it was flooded, and that was where the Diamondhead was lurking. While on the Banshee trip, the Master Chief was informed on what a Diamondhead exactly was. It is an aerial combat Abater with a long, elongated mouth filled with sharp razor-sharp teeth. A red jewel of some short rested on where its eyes should be, four limbs it used as arms and weapons projected from around its massive head, where its long, whip-like tail also extended. Beside the upper pair of arms, massive wings were said to keep the beast in midair.

"Alright men, we've got a reading, keep your eyes open." Johnson said over the COM channel.

"Careful you two, a Diamondhead is swift and agile despite its size, which is about the size of the Banshee." 'Takimee warned. The Master Chief checked his motion tracker. Something blipped, then disappeared. He was going to ask 'Takimee or Johnson what it was, but figured that it was just one of them.

"Move! It's right on top of you!" Johnson cried over the COM channel.

"Where-" The Master Chief started, before he felt something like a freight train crash down on his Banshee, breaking it in half and causing Sven to break through it and plunge toward the waters below.

"Chief!" 'Takimee cried as he and Shinji turned their vehicles around. As the Master Chief plummeted toward the water, he managed to grab his assault rifle and get his first sight of the Diamondhead, its red ruby for an eye glaring at him as it continued to speed towards him, gaining speed with each passing second. Its whip-like tail thrashed from side to side like an angry shark and its pale yellow skin opened a massive mouth, filled with bone-crunching teeth.

"Man down!" Johnson cried over the channel, probably to headquarters. And Sven caught sight of the Scarlet Eagle as he flew out from around a building, flying towards them.

"Who?" Dr. Winchester asked. The Master Chief flooded the rest of the conversation out by unleashing a flurry of bullets at the Diamondhead, in his last few seconds of falling. Green blood spraying all around, the Diamondhead swiftly shot itself away from the threat and dodged a few Eagle missiles and plasma shots. The Master Chief suddenly felt resistance as he crashed into a deep flooded part of San Francisco. Because of his bulky armor, he felt himself plunge down through the water until his back struck an old street then his body began to drift up to the surface again. Thankfully the suit was built in with a back-up air supply, able to sustain Sven underwater or in space for no more than an hour.

"The Master Chief's down sir. Diamondhead destroyed his Banshee." Johnson reported. The Chief reached up and touched his COM link.

"I'm fine Sarge, just shaken by the sneak attack."

"Good man." He said. "How long can you hold down there?" Sven looked around the murky water.

"About an hour, that's when my backup supply is on." He replied.

"Rodger that, Johnson, Eva-01, let's take this thing out quickly." 'Takimee said over the COM channel. Looking around the murky water, Sven caught sight of the entrance of one of the skyscrapers; he wondered that if he could enter and reach the top it would be easier for the Scarlet Eagle to pick him up.

Back at the base, Victoria and Susan walked into the control room, where Fred and Dr. Winchester stood, nervously waiting for the battle to come to a quick and bloodless close, on the human and Elite's side anyway.

"I got a few bullets into it doctor. I'm making my way up to the top of one of the skyscrapers." The Master Chief's voice said. As Dr. Winchester was about to reply, Fred lunged forward and beat him to the punch.

"Good work Sven, Johnson will pick you up after they have destroyed the Diamondhead." He backed away and crossed his arms again, only to bump into Victoria. He jumped and turned around, quickly maintaining his cool. "Oh, sorry Mrs. Myer, didn't see you there." He said casually.

"What has happened to Sven?" Victoria asked. Susan looked quickly to the monitors, eyeing the one swimming through thick murky water.

"His Banshee was struck down by the Abater, thankfully he's unharmed. The others are striking at the Diamondhead as we speak, Johnson will prep the Master Chief for evac." Dr. Winchester said. He waved at the monitors, two more were on, one showing Shinji's view, and the other Sven's who was crawling out of the water and walking up a flight of stairs, which seemed to endlessly go up. The doctor stole a glance at Princess Susan, whose eyes were fixed on the Master Chief's screen.

"Damn it, the thing disappeared!" 'Takimee growled. Sven stopped walking and he looked around when he heard a powerful growl echo throughout the staircase.

"What was that?" Victoria asked. Susan swallowed the nervous lump in her throat, watching, wishing, that Sven would get out of there.

"Checking motion tracker…" Eva-01 said. "Chief, he's IN THERE!!" The Master Chief clicked the safety off on his assault rifle and leveled it.

"Where is he?" The Master Chief asked, looking all around, at the same time walking up the stairs. He heard a rumble, then a growl. He paused, and muttered. "Crap…" There was another rumble, and the Master Chief jumped up the stairs, just as the behemoth beast shattered the stairs he stood on moments before. The Diamondhead had returned to finish what it started.

Staring at each other for what seemed like the longest time, the Spartan and Abater had a frightening showdown, until the Master Chief ruined the moment by blasting a blast of bullets at the Diamondhead. More green blood exploding from its wounds, the Abater let out a howl of agony as it lunged forward and slammed Sven into the wall; his shields gave out from the impact, leaving him vulnerable to more devastating attacks.

"Chief get out of there!" Dr. Winchester ordered. The Diamondhead hovered away, its toothy mouth forming an eerie grin as it readied for another attack.

"My shields…they're coming back…I'm fine…" The Master Chief said, pushing himself to his feet by pinning himself to the wall.

"No, you get out of there, NOW!" Fred barked. Sven still didn't budge; he raised his assault rifle with one weak arm, aiming it at the ruby on the Abater's head. But before his finger could squeeze the trigger, the monster opened its jaws, grabbed the Master Chief by his torso, and with tremendous strength, chucked him through the two-foot thick wall made of concrete and steel.

"Oh Jesus…" Victoria muttered. The Master Chief's camera became very shaky as he spun around and around in midair and crashed into the water again, this time he didn't budge as he floated to the top. Susan brought a hand up to her mouth to hide her shock, but her wide, watery eyes could tell what was going through her mind. As a child, Susan had always hated seeing people she cared about get hurt, once she accidentally stepped on a butterfly she was playing with when she was five, and cried for an hour or so afterward.

"Chief? Chief where'd you go?" Johnson asked. "You bastard, you better not be dead!"

"That collision through the wall like that…could've easily killed any man." Fred said softly, followed by a sigh. Susan slowly brought her hand away from her mouth, her hand shaky yet her eyes couldn't move away from the screen..

"But he's no ordinary man. He's…Sven…the Master Chief." Dr. Winchester said confidently. Frederick, Susan, and Victoria all looked at him, all of them moved by his determination.

As the Diamondhead flew out of the massive gap in the wall, it scanned the area for the Master Chief, wanting to tear him limb from limb, when it looked up to see a purple, screaming Banshee fly towards it.

Eva-01 appeared from around a building and fired the fuel rod cannon on the underside of the Banshee. A fuel rod round appeared like a giant green blob of plasma, much like the blue-colored plasma rounds of the main source of ammo in the Banshee. Acting swiftly, the Diamondhead shot itself to the side and dodged the explosion, only to fall into their trap. As Shinji dropped his Banshee down toward the water, 'Takimee's ship appeared, firing a flurry of plasma blasts and the Scarlet Eagle appeared beside it, firing its machineguns and launching its missiles. With a high-pitched scream, the Diamondhead was hit directly and engulfed in an explosive mix of fire and plasma.

Sorry about the long update, this chapter needed quite a bit of cleanup for some reason, that and my busy schedule lately. Anyways, I'll be back again with another chapter of Abate, hoped you liked it, and don't forget to review!