Chapter 14
Michel's Cabin
"Well it was a pleasure to watch the stars and sunset with you two." Michel said as he opened the door to his room. Susan smiled, while holding the Master Chief's hand.
"I hope we can do it again sometime." She said.
"I do too, well, goodnight my friends." Michel said, waved goodbye, and closed his door. His armor laid on the floor next to the wall opposite of his bed and beside his desk. It was set on the floor in perfect position, so it actually looked as if it were Michel on the floor, lying there, motionless. The silver-haired young man didn't bother to dress up in any pajamas or night clothes of any sort; instead, he merely took his shoes off and laid down in bed. After pulling the covers up to his shoulders, Michel spent some time staring at the ceiling, his kind, yet mysterious gaze were locked on the ceiling; so many thoughts were in his head.
"Sven…he's my friend…Susan…she's my friend…Ray…she's my friend…I like friends…'Zukamee…I want to be his friend…Amy…I want to be her friend…I wish I had more friends… Winchester…I look up to him…Rykov…I look up to him as well…" And he continued to think about everyone he had met since reawakening. "My mother…my father…" His smile faded. "Why can't I remember you…?" As he pondered this question, and thought deeply about why he couldn't remember anything before he was reawakened, it made him feel something odd to him. Was it grief? Before too long, Michel felt his eyes grow heavy. His first feeling of being in twilight was so…relaxing to him; he was neither asleep nor awake, until he could hold on no longer and fell into slumber.
The Master Chief had walked Susan to her bedroom, said goodnight, and walked to his cabin. Despite his bulky armor, he moved without a sound, not even meaning to as well. This allowed him to slip unseen or hear past 'Zukamee, who still scouted the hallways for the Spartan. As the Elite walked around, now in circles, he pulled off his helmet and scratched the back of his head. With a dissapointed grunt, 'Zukamee placed his helmet back atop his head and looked around a few more minutes.
"I've been searching for over an hour. He must be somewhere." He thought. "Is he with the doctor? Is he with the Senior Chief? At the shooting range?" His swift pace slowed down to a peaceful walk. "Perhaps I should just wait until tomorrow to speak to him. I should get some rest." And with that, he walked slowly back to his cabin. His heavy boots clomped along the floor as the Elite began to wonder...just where was his room? "Just what I need..." He muttered to himself out loud. Suddenly he saw a man in a black suit come from another hallway. 'Zukamee stood up straighter before passing, both Fred and the Elite gave each other nods of acknowledgement upon seeing each other, then they passed. Scratching his lower mandibles, 'Zukamee replayed the numbered room 'Takimee told him. 641...641...he played over and over in his mind like a broken record.
He stopped to grin at the number on the door he spotted closest.
"Ah, 629, that must mean I go..." He walked swiftly down the shortening hallway, door numbers flashing at him as he passed. "638...639...640..." He grinned proudly when he came to the last door in the hallway, before his eyes widened and his mandibles dropped. 'Boiler Room' was the only sign on the door he was supposed to stay in. "Ah...damn it..." He muttered as he lowered his head.
"This isn't a daycare Mrs. Myer." Fred grumbled as he walked into Victoria's office, which was absolutely in chaos, papers piled high in a messy manner, sticky notes posted up on the walls, her desk, and on her computer screen. She was writing more reminder notes to herself as her son, four year-old Caleb Myer, stared out from his mother's office view of the armor and weapons testing room. There was 'Zukamee's former training instructor, a gold-armored Elite, the highest rank a warrior in their culture could get, testing his plasma sword on hanging dummies, slicing them in half with ease. Sand from the dummies spilled on the floor as the Elite, Faro 'Fortamee, used skill, agility, and grace to slice every single dummy apart perfectly. A Grunt stood by the door with a bottle of nourishment for the Elite after he was done. Victoria looked up and over her shoulder at Fred.
"Oh, I forgot to tell the doctor, but my son is staying with me until my husband can find a better place for him to live."
"Why can't he come here?" Fred asked.
"He wants to get everything he can out of life while he can, besides, he finds this place depressing." Victoria replied.
"I bet he calls you a mole huh?" Fred asked with a smile. Victoria, to answer yes, snapped her fingers, without looking away from her paper. "So when was the last time you saw him?" The man asked.
"Hmm…it's been about two months now, he and Caleb were living the new San Francisco area, but after I called him and told him about the Abater attack, he got spooked and decided to ship Caleb out here." Victoria stated.
"All by himself?" Fred asked next. Victoria nodded.
"I'm neck-deep with paperwork Frederick, if you wouldn't mind; do you think you could watch Caleb for the next few days?" She looked over her shoulder with a smile, which was both pleasant and sly. Fred shot a glance over at Caleb, who was still fascinated by 'Fortamee downstairs.
"You know I'm in just as much work as you are. I have to leave first thing in the morning to go to Tokyo-03 and speak with Commander Ikari." Fred replied.
"Shinji's father?" Victoria asked.
"Yes, I've spoken to the man before, never says a word about his own son or family, just work, work, work." Fred crossed his arms and leaned up against the wall. "Do you think Susan or Amy could take care of Caleb?" He asked. Victoria looked over at her son, then back to Fred.
"Yeah, probably, I would like for him to meet the Evas and Spartans though." She said.
"Amy, you really should go to bed." Dr. Winchester said to his granddaughter while going over some Committee papers. Amy was sitting on one of the guest seat in front of her grandfather's desk, reading one of the books she brought with her. Looking up, Amy folded the tip of her page in the book, closed it, and sat her glasses on the book.
"I know Grandpa, but I couldn't sleep when I tried. I'm so excited about meeting the Evas you told me so much about, and the Spartanss I met were very friendly. Who was the one in the armor Grandpa?" She spoke breathlessly. Winchester looked up from his work, to Amy, and pushed his glasses up.
"Oh, that's the Master Chief." He said.
"I know, you already told me that, but what's his name? Where's he from? What…?" Amy asked so many questions. Winchester sighed, not proud of what he did to the Master Chief in the past.
"I'm sorry, but I'm not allowed to tell you his real name, no one outside of the Committee can speak of these super soldiers anymore, I really am sorry, and we received him from…a generous family." He lied. Amy looked rather shocked, to see her grandfather talk to her like this, to hide things from her. She nodded.
"Okay, thank you Grandpa, I'll try to sleep again." She stood up and stopped at the doorway. "Are you going to get some sleep?" She asked.
"Yes, yes, I'll try to fit a few good hours in, thank you dear." Winchester said and smiled kindly. Amy smiled back.
"Okay." And with that, she closed the office door and walked down the hall, thoughts plagued her with thinking of whom the Spartans really were, what the Evas were like, and whatnot.
Flight deck
"Please stay clear of the doors and landing bay." A woman's voice said over the speakers and a Pelican landed in the landing bay. A Grunt jumped down from the cargo and soldier area in the back and turned around, to a mysterious being sitting as far back as he could.
"Right this way Sir." The Grunt said. The being stood up, in a hunched position, and walked out from inside of the Pelican, his metal feet clanked against the floor. The being was definitely a cyborg, having clawed, almost raptor-like feet, made of a metal that wasn't found on Earth, a ribcage of metal protected his fragile organs, and a skull-like helmet replaced his face, with his only visible organic parts were his eyes, which were yellow and had thin slits for pupils, and badly burnt, red skin around them, but then the rest of the helmet came in, encasing the rest of his head. Wearing an old tattered cloak around him, the general walked beside his Grunt escort, giving off a look that one would have to compare him to the vampire Nosferatu. The doors to the base slid open, and Fred, with Caleb beside him, waited for the cyborg.
"Ah, Frederick MacDonald, we meet again." The general said. Fred smiled back, his sunglasses were on and he had his hand on Caleb's shoulder.
"General Grievous, what a great surprise, too bad I'm off to Tokyo right now." The cyborg, Grievous, nodded his respects to his old friend, then looked down on Caleb.
"I didn't know you had a child." He said, in his rather odd, low voice, which had a metallic tinge to it, and had a German accent as well.
"I don't, Victoria Myer wanted me to look over him until I left, so I suppose you wouldn't mind taking care of him for the night." Fred said with a sly grin. Grievous looked down on Caleb, who stared back up at him in awe.
"You know I don't like…" He looked down on Caleb again. "You know."
"It won't be long, just take him to bed and tomorrow, you can ask either Amy Winchester or Princess Susan to take care of him." Fred replied.
"And how will I find these two…?" Grievous asked. "And...Her Majesty is here too?!" Instead of answering his questions, Fred picked up his bag and walked off.
"Well, I have to be off. Good luck!" He got into the Pelican Grievous just got out of and the dropship took off. The general looked down on Caleb, who just stared back up at the giant.
"Well uh…" He looked over at his escort. "What do I do?" He asked. The Grunt shrugged. Grievous looked back at Caleb. "Uh…how about we get you to bed uh…kiddo."
"But I'm not tired." Caleb said. Grievous looked up at the clock, 10:43 PM, and he glared down on Caleb.
"It is past your bedtime little one." He growled.
"But I don't wanna go to bed." Caleb whined. The Grunt looked back and forth between Grievous and Caleb as they duked it out, Caleb was obviously winning. Feeling that he might be caught in this clash, the Grunt slowly and quietly slipped away.
"You will go to bed now!" Grievous boomed.
"But I don't wanna!" Caleb snapped. All of a sudden, Amy came around the corner, just about to her room, and she saw the Grunt slinking away from the raging cyborg and the raging child. She had met Caleb when he was three last time she came, so she knew who he was, but she had no idea who this general was. She walked toward them.
"Um…excuse me, but can I ask what is going on here?" She asked. Grievous and Caleb looked over at her, only Caleb smiled.
"Amy!" He cried and ran towards her. The young woman fell to her knees, scooped up the four year-old and stood back up. Caleb had his arms wrapped around her and nestled up against her shoulder.
"Shame on you, yelling at a mere child." She barked at Grievous. The general approached her, then glared into her own glare.
"You must realize my child; I am no good with children." He replied.
"But you can't just yell at a child." Amy snapped.
"He wouldn't go to bed." Grievous snapped back. Amy ignored his last comment and looked at Caleb.
"Caleb, I think it's time for you to go to bed." She said kindly. Caleb, as much as he didn't want to, looked up at Amy's pleasant and kind smile, and nodded.
"Okay Amy." He said. Amy looked back up to Grievous.
"You see? Kindness, that's all you need." She said.
"My sincerest apologies." Grievous said, with full mock seriousness. Amy glared at Grievous once more before walking past him and taking Caleb to his room, which was Victoria's room, but he slept in a smaller bed. Grievous glared at her as she went, and turned around. "What? Where is my worthless escort?" He said. He grumbled to himself and walked down the hallway on his own, seeking out Dr. Winchester.
It was about 3:30 in the morning when Sven awoke. He looked about, his vision was used to the darkness surrounding him, so he could see the chalky white walls and ceiling, every tile on the floor under him, his helmet resting on the desk beside him, looking back at him with its golden visor.
Almost everything in the base was asleep by now, only a few scientists were about, a few Marines and Helljumpers were getting a midnight snack in the mess hall, which this late only had the pop-machines and snack venders open. Grievous had found Dr. Winchester's office, the man he came to this base and America to find and meet. He grumbled to himself in anger when he saw that the doctor was out, his office was dark and no one was inside. He was tempted to just go inside and sleep since he had nowhere else to sleep and he figured Winchester would find him there, but he suddenly heard footsteps from down the next hallway. He looked over his shoulder and saw Sven, walking down one hallway to the next.
"You there." He said. "Halt." He quickly approached the Master Chief. Sven stopped and looked at the skeletal figure approaching him, quite puzzled at who it was. Grievous paused when he came up face-to-face with Sven, though he still stood a foot or so taller than the Spartan wearer. His eyes widened. "Master Chief," He bowed. "It is a pleasure; I have heard much of you in so short a time." He stood back up.
"Who are you?" The Master Chief asked.
"Me? Why, I am General Grievous. I was sent here from Germany to speak with Dr. Winchester." The Master Chief looked over to Winchester's office door, it was dark inside. Knowing the obvious, he looked at the cyborg.
"Did you find him?" He asked. Grievous shook his head.
"No I did not." He replied. "But might I interest you in something to drink?" He asked. The Master Chief shook his head.
"No thank you. You?" He said. Grievous burst out into laughter.
"No, no, I am a cyborg, I don't need food or water, the occasional rest, and that is it. But very well, then a walk, perhaps?" He said. This time, the Master Chief nodded. Grievous clasped his hands behind his back as he and Sven walked side-by-side down deserted hallways, lighted brightly to give its walls a light blue color.
"So…you're a cyborg?" The Master Chief asked, to break the silence, with the exception of Grievous's feet clacking against the tiled floor.
"Ah yes, you see, I am a member of a near extinct race known as Kaleesh." Grievous began.
"Like us." Sven said. Grievous chuckled again.
"Ha, ha, ha, well sort of, we are far more wiped out by the Abaters than you are. I was one on an escape ship to Earth, said to be the only planet in the universe with intelligent life that had not fallen to Abater hands. Of course, Elites, Grunts, and Hunters had their home worlds, but they dare not tell the location of their worlds, for fear of the information dropping into enemy hands. Moving along, my ship became under attack while it was under my command, the Abaters sent out some sort of insect called a Drone which got into our engines, and our ship exploded, none survived...except for me." Grievous said.
"So…you're the last?" Sven asked.
"Yes, it would be more appropriate to say that the Kaleesh are extinct, for I am a cyborg, therefore cannot help to breed more Kaleesh even if there were others remaining, I cannot even make a hybrid, the thought of which disgusts me." Grievous said. Sven chuckled.
"Heh, yeah."
"And so the German government took my dying body and forged it with an artificial body of nerve feeling and fluid motions, creating who you see before you. That was your human year of 2020, before the governments of the world united to become the Committee we all hate and fear." He said, with his last sentence spewed out in fury.
"The Committee?" Sven asked.
"I will tell you some other time." Grievous said mysteriously. To change the subject, Grievous looked over at the Master Chief. "Do you know of a young human female with short black hair?"
"Oh, Amy, she's Winchester's granddaughter, I've only spoke to her indirectly." Sven replied. Grievous snarled out, obviously he disliked her.
"She is nothing but a brat if you ask me. Making me look like a fool when it comes to taking care of a mere child." His fists tightened in rage.
"Pardon?" The Master Chief asked.
"Nothing." Grievous replied. The cyborg took a deep breath and calmed himself. There was a moment of silence, except for their feet clanking on the floor, when Sven thought of something.
"General, do you have somewhere to sleep?" He asked. Grievous looked at him.
"No, why?"
"I uh...I'm finished with my rest tonight, you're more than welcome to stay in my cabin." Since he already looked up to this cyborg as a friend as well as a superior officer, the Master Chief couldn't help but assist Grievous. The cyborg smiled under his helmet.
"That would be excellent, my thanks to you Master Chief."
So there's good 'ol Grievous for ya, it seems odd to have him NOT break out into random battles with a Spartan huh? At first he was going to be an Abater ally, but I scraped the idea since he does hold an important part of the story and sequels yet to come.