Chapter 8

Mess Hall

With Alexis the wild one leading the way to the mess hall, the group slowly made their way to the mess hall. Everyone but Sven had stripped themselves of their armor, Ray and Alexis were in very good physical condition, and probably trained hard from where they were from. 'Takimee had decided to come along, for he felt he should be around his comrades more, especially the Master Chief; he felt something special about him, something he wanted to know. Sven seemed so mysterious, much like Shinji, but 'Takimee just couldn't grasp what it was about him that intrigued him. With the Elite and Master Chief taking the rear of the group, 'Takimee looked down onto the human, who was amazingly seven feet tall in the armor.

"How are you feeling Master Chief?" He asked. Sven looked over to him, and nodded.

"Fine sir." He replied. The Elite nodded as well and looked forward again. A hallway met with their hallway and someone ran into the Master Chief, nearly falling over but hardly affecting him. Sven looked down and felt himself smile with joy. "Hello Princess." He said, quickly cursing himself for not calling her by her name like she asked him. Susan looked up at him; a wide grin crossed her face.

"Hi Sven." She said kindly. "Feeling better? I came in late this morning and you were still asleep." She broke out into snickers. 'Takimee grinned and crossed his arms, stopping with the two. Susan saw the Elite and quickly came back to normal, bowing slightly. "Good day Sir 'Takimee, how are you feeling this day?" She asked. The Elite nodded.

"I'm fine, thank you Princess." His yellow eyes met with Sven's for a split-second. "Would you mind to accompany us to the mess hall? I know it's not like the kind of treatment you're used to but…"

"I'd love to 'Takimee." Susan said eagerly, but quickly regaining her calm self. The Master Chief nodded, but didn't utter a sound, despite his happiness to see Susan. The Elite spec ops commander clacked his mandibles and nodded.

"Very well, come along you two." He said and stood beside the Master Chief, seeing Susan stand on the other side of Sven. Taking his long stride with his hoofed feet, the Elite couldn't help but look over to the two, and witness as Susan's pink glove clasped Sven's hand, her hand holding his tightly. Sven jumped slightly, looked down to his hand, seeing the pink glove in his hand, then looking up to Susan, who was smiling kindly.

"Don't friends always hold hands?" She asked. Sven hesitated. He had never held anyone's hand when he was a child, but perhaps it was because he didn't have many friends, and none of them were close to him. He nodded to Susan's comment.

Alexis opened the doors to the mess hall and walked in, followed by Ray and Shinji, who enjoyed small conversation with one another. Looking at the two of them, Sven could see them going out. Ray was still an odd one however, as her words were difficult to hear, even when standing next to her.

In the massive room, where five long lunch tables similar to a school cafeteria's were lined, from one end of the room to the other, and able to seat a full squad of Marines and much more if it needed to. A few soldiers were seated, eating small meals, some were guards, some were Marines, while others were scientists and employees of this laboratory, and a few Helljumpers as well. They lined up, grabbed their plates and took what they wanted from the food variety. There were hamburgers, chicken, several vegetables and fruits like apples, lettuce, oranges, grapes, celery, and carrots. Desserts after those, and then there was a drink fountain, which had you grab a cup or glass and fill it with some sort of drink, there was be water, soda pop, or orange juice.

After they picked what they wanted, they sat down as one, with Alexis, Ray, and 'Takimee sitting on one side, and Shinji, the Master Chief, and Susan on the other side. Sven unfolded his napkin and placed it over his legs, as he had seen his parents do it several times. Next he snapped his helmet off and set it on the floor beside his feet, revealing his pale skin now.

"So uh…what did you two fight before we 'girls' came along?" Alexis asked, obviously curious on who they fought, and eager to show that she was better. She leaned forward, towards the timid Shinji, and bit a half of a carrot off, making the moment a little awkward. She laughed and sat back.

"Well…we fought that Diamondhead." Shinji said.

"I fought a Gravedigger." Alexis interrupted. Her eyes seemed determined to show herself better than the others. "I hope to kill a Slicer 'n Diver someday soon." She added.

"They've already neutralized one." 'Takimee butted in before washing down a chunk of meat with water. Sven looked up from his meal and nodded.

"Several." He said softly.

"What, Several?!" Alexis exclaimed.

"Yes, it was their first mission. Find and destroy a Slicer 'n Dicer, we found it, but it split in two, then into several others, and the Master Chief here, neutralized all of them, along with some aid from myself, and Eva-01, who was ordered back to his post quickly." The Elite said. Susan smiled at Sven and gently touched his hand with hers, which quickly got him to blush as he looked at her.

"I was told you were put in suspended animation for thirteen years." Ray said, very softly, hardly anyone could hear her, but Sven could just barely managed to hear her. He looked up, and nodded.

"Really?" Alexis asked, butting in. "What'd your parents say? Were they dead and you were an orphan? Or did they pay them…" She glanced over at 'Takimee, and saw that his golden eyes were giving her a most dissatisfied glare. "What?" Shinji and Susan looked at Sven to see his reaction. The Master Chief stared blankly at the redhead, thinking of what to say.

"No need to ask such questions." 'Takimee interrupted. He looked at Sven. "He would prefer to stay away from those kinds of questions if necessary." Sven nodded and faintly smiled at his leader, before taking a bite out of a dry, salty piece of chicken.

The Master Chief finished relatively early. He picked up the tray and went to dump it into the trash bin, not before putting his helmet back on of course. He turned, and dodged to the side as Susan dumped her tray as well. She couldn't help but continue to smile up at him.

"I like your new look." She commented.

"Thanks." The Master Chief said, nodding. Sven's emotionless visor couldn't look away from Susan's loving eyes as they shared a tender moment that was shattered by an alarm.

"Evas, Master Chief, get down here!" Fred's voice hollered over the speaker. Though Sven had yet to actually meet and speak with this Fred person, he still held high regard for him. Knowing it was another Abater attack; the Master Chief looked over at Susan, touched her hand with his, and said.

"I'll be back." Before he and the others sprinted off to the weapons room.

One Abater attack after another huh? Well it won't be long now until we see the real Abaters, as well as the Brutes, Jackals, and Drones.

Slight spoiler: Tartarus will appear soon enough, and is probably the main anatogonist of the series.

Hoped you like this chapter, and another is on its way!