Chapter 16
Hallway
It was late at night, the Evas and Susan were asleep, but Sven, along with the Grunts Jukal and Yegil, walked down a hallway towards Susan's room. The Master Chief held a crudely cut-out heart which was folded in, so Susan had to open it to see his message, which was a short but sweet message, saying: To Susan, Happy Valentine's Day. From Sven. He hoped she liked it. The fact was, though he had grown smart through pulse waves to his brain, his childhood sincerity hadn't gone with his stolen life. Though he wasn't one to laugh and play around, nor was he ever for that matter, he still didn't quite understand just how people around him felt about this war, and his own feelings about things only made him more confused. Stopping at her door, he sighed, and looked down on his two Grunt friends for comfort. Yegil gave him a thumbs-up and Jukal nodded. Slowly clasping the knob, the Master Chief tried as quietly as possible to open it, but it was locked, and he cursed himself for not thinking about that earlier. So next, he bent down and stood on one knee, where he slid the Valentine under the door and slid it as far as he could, so Susan would notice it sooner.
Nodding to the Grunts, the Master Chief got to his feet and walked back to his room, and Yegil and Jukal went with him most of the way, until they split and went to their rooms. Sven opened his door and walked in, thinking about how great it was to have a friendship with the Grunts, and began to strip himself of his armor, until he was just in the black under armor. He fell into his bed, and fell asleep in seconds.
The next morning, Susan's sapphire eyes slowly open, then fluttered to get out all the sleep. Yawning, she sat up in bed, and stretched out to get awake. That's when she noticed a little red heart on her floor. Pulling the blankets off of her, the princess dropped to the floor, to her knees, and picked up the heart, opening it and reading the inside. The words Love Sven made her heart melt, and she smiled.
"So that's why he left…to get me a Valentine…" She thought. She held the card close to her. Quickly she got up and got her clothes, then went down to the showers.
Sven was awake early, already had his shower, and was now getting his armor on. Snapping his helmet on, the last piece of armor, the Master Chief walked over and opened the door, to see Dr. Winchester and General Rykov there, the doctor was just about to knock the door. Sven nodded politely.
"Hello Dr. Winchester." He looked at Rykov, and nodded to him as well.
"Good morning Master Chief, this is General Vassili Rykov, he is the mastermind behind the MJOLNIR armor series." Dr. Winchester said with a humble smile. "He's quite impressed to see it such a success."
"Pleasure to meet you General." The Master Chief said. Rykov nodded.
"And I am pleased to hear of your work and progress Master Chief, your name is Sven correct?" Rykov asked. The Master Chief nodded.
"Yes sir." He replied. Vassili Rykov was certainly a mysterious man, his past seemingly clouded by cover-ups and government scandals, though Sven really had a feeling this man was a great leader, it was obvious in his eyes. The general looked at Dr. Winchester.
"I do believe this would be a good time to tell you that the next child has come out of hibernation." Rykov stated. Sven was just about ask just how many people were Evas or Spartans when Dr. Winchester suddenly remembered something, and it was obvious with his sudden 'Hmm'.
"Sven, how would you like to get some breakfast?" He asked. Sven shook his head.
"No thank you sir, I am not hungry." The Spartan replied.
"Are you sure? Breakfast is the most important meal of the day." The doctor went on.
"I'm sure; I just need to be alone for a bit." He nodded to Winchester, then to Rykov. "Doctor, General." And with that, he swiftly passed them to be alone.
Standing alone in a room filled with historic photographs, Sven, with his helmet off and resting in one of his arms, stared blankly at the photos of the town he was nearly under, Fair Oaks, his home. He heard the doors behind him open, then close, but he didn't bother to quickly put his helmet on. Next came the sound of shoes tapping, approaching him, then came a soft lyrical voice.
"I thought I'd find you here." Sven turned and looked down on Susan, her golden hair still damp from her shower, and another magnificent pink dress on. She stood on her tiptoes and kissed Sven on the cheek, then stood back flat on her feet. "Thanks for the Valentine." Sven turned bright red, then smiled weakly.
"You're welcome." He said and turned back toward the photos on the wall. The princess sensed something was bothering the Spartan.
"Is something wrong?" She asked. Sven, without uttering a sound, shook his head. "Are you sure?" She pressed on. Sven sighed, he found that he could not lie to Susan, then looked at her.
"Why me?" He asked. "Why not...one of the other millions of kids around the world?" He asked. Susan looked to her feet, unknowing just what to say, then looked back to Sven, smiling kindly.
"Maybe you're just more...special than the other children." She said. Sven smiled, believing her words, despite the obvious words that she forced out, and he looked back to the gallery.
Shinji walked down a deserted hallway, his hands shoved down his pockets. However, something caught his eye, and he couldn't help but stop to take a look. He spotted Rykov, along with a boy his and the others' age, oddly with silver hair, pale skin, and like Ray, scarlet-colored eyes. Rykov stopped as well as the boy, they turned to each other and spoke, the boy looked rather friendly Shinji thought, but also mysterious.
"I want you to meet your counterpart Michel, his name is Sven McGregor, and is the bearer of the MJOLNIR-II armor." Rykov said. The boy, Michel Kreigler, nodded without hesitation. Losing interest sometime ago, upon learning that this Michel was no more than just another protector of Earth in this world, he continued to walk down the hall. "You there." Rykov said, stopping Shinji. The young man turned, Rykov and Michel approached him, Michel had a polite and friendly smile on his face.
"Yes…General?" Shinji asked, noticing the general stars on Rykov's outfit.
"Do you know where Sven is?" Rykov asked. Shinji thought for a moment, then replied.
"I think he went to the gallery room." Rykov nodded, followed by Michel.
"Thank you." The boy said politely, turned, and made his way down the hall.
Meanwhile, back with Sven and Susan, the Spartan snapped his helmet back on for no apparent reason. However, the silence was still over them. To spark a conversation, Susan smiled.
"You know, I've never actually been given a Valentine before, my maid used to tell me stories of when she was a child, and in her school boys and girls exchanged them, and..." She stopped when she thought Sven wasn't listening. The Master Chief looked at her.
"And...?" He asked innocently. Susan smiled again.
"And then..." She began when suddenly the door opened and Michel walked in, only to pause in mid step at the sight of the two. Sven and Susan looked at him, both surprised by the newcomer.
"Did I bother you? Sorry if I did." Michel said, very politely. Susan and Sven connected eyes again and separated, when Sven turned to the new person, and shook his head.
"No, that's fine." He turned. Susan, standing beside him and holding the Valentine. Michel smiled.
"You must be Sven McGregor, my name is Michel Kreigler." Naturally, the two super-soldiers stepped forward and shook hands. Both Sven and Susan couldn't help but admire his humble appearance and kind introduction.
"Pleasure to meet you Michel; are you another one of the Evas?" Sven asked. Michel smiled as their hands separated and he replied.
"Certainly not, I am a part of the Spartan series, just as you are." Sven and Susan froze, and again Sven asked a question.
"You are?"
"Yes, of course I don't have the newest series like you do, I have the MJOLNIR-I model." Michel stated.
"Is that the one I had before?" Sven asked.
"No, that was just the MJOLNIR armor, the MJOLNIR-I series have similar distinctions between the MJOLNIR and MJOLNIR-II series." Michel said matter-of-factly. Sven nodded.
"Seems you know much of the armor we have." He said.
"Rykov taught me." Michel replied humbly. He looked over to Susan. "I don't believe I got your name Miss."
"I-I'm Susan. Princess Susan of England." She said and curtseyed.
"Never thought I'd be in the presence of Her Majesty in my whole life, it's an honor to meet you." He said and returned her curtsey with a bow. Suddenly Sven jumped and listened carefully into his COM link, somehow Dr. Winchester was calling him.
"Hello…? Hello, Sven?" He said over the channel. The Master Chief looked up.
"Yes sir?" Sven said and snapped straighter. Michel and Susan looked at him curiously.
"I didn't want to say this over the alarm system, but it seems we've got some Abaters, true Abaters, rummaging through Fair Oaks, just a few miles away, I don't want everyone here to go mad for Abater forces being so close. We're sending you, Ray, and Michel out to take care of it; you have met Michel haven't you?" He said quickly.
"Yes sir I have, we'll be there shortly." And with that, the COM channel turned off and Sven looked at Michel, whose hands were calmly put into his pockets. "We have to go." The Master Chief said.
"Go? What for?" Michel asked. The Master Chief glanced at Susan, who gave the same question in the way she looked.
"Abater forces are coming in too close to this base, you, Ray, and I are assigned to take them out." Sven said. Michel smiled calmly.
"Oh this will be fun; we'll get to know each other a bit better." He said. Sven and Susan were so alarmed by his calmness in the case of danger.
"Good luck." Susan said softly as the two walked to the door. The Master Chief looked over his shoulder to her, nodded, and walked through the door. As the two swiftly walked down the hallway, the Master Chief looked at Michel.
"Where's your armor?" He asked.
"I'll get it." Michel said with a smile. "Meet you there." The Master Chief watched him as he took off at an astounding speed and disappeared behind a corner.
"Boy he's odd…" He thought.
"Eva-00, Master Chief, Senior Chief, there you are, ready to launch?" Fred asked as he, Dr. Winchester, Sergeant Johnson, and Rykov met them in the Doctor's office.
"Sir, permission to dispatch with Hunters Hettu and Kicilar?" Sven asked, standing in the middle of the three, Michel at his right and Ray at his left.
"Permission granted." Fred said. "We'll bring them in via Pelican drop ships, in the meantime you three will have to wipe up as many as you can."
"Good luck men." Rykov said.
"That's right, and don't go half-ass either." Johnson retorted, mostly everyone was used to his cussing, jokes, and other habits he had by now.
"May I ask where 'Takimee is?" The Master Chief asked.
"He is off discussing to the Committee with Victoria. Master Chief; you will be in charge of this assault." Dr. Winchester replied. The others nodded, and dispatched to the surface, where they would use stealth to sneak into Fair Oaks and again use stealth to take out as many of the Abater as they could before the Hunters were dropped in, it would be cake then.
Okay, THIS time we'll see the actual Abaters, as well as the Jackals and Brutes. Michel is, if you don't know already or haven't seen the show, based off Kawuro Nagisa from Evangelion. I hope you who are reading this are enjoying it so far, and don't forget to drop in a little review!