Chapter 15
Susan's Cabin
The Master Chief dove away from a shower of plasma blasts as several Jackals and Abaters fired at him. Eva Units 00 through 02 were behind rusted down cars for cover and fired at the Brutes, Jackals, and Abaters firing plasma bolts right back at them. The Senior Chief ran out and pulled the Master Chief out of the line of fire, and into a well-sheltered old building in Fair Oaks.
"You alright?" Michel asked.
"Yeah I'm fine." Sven replied.
"They're too many; they know where the base is." Michel said, looking through a gash in the concrete wall. Cries from the Abaters and Brutes, as well as the squawks from Jackals echoed throughout the battlefield.
"That means they'll stop at nothing to get to it…" Sven grumbled, taking a look to make sure his battle rifle was okay. Michel stared out at the army, spotting a familiar figure.
"Hmm…it appears that Tartarus is leading." The Senior Chief murmured.
"Good, I want to fight him again." Sven said, loading a fresh clip into his battle rifle.
"The doctor told us to hang back, the Evas are meant to hold them until they retreat, then we will go in." Michel said.
"I know, but Tartarus, what 'Takimee told us of him, how evil he is, and whatnot." Sven said.
"I know, but just relax for the time being." Michel said reassuringly. "You have someone to go back to the base for."
"Yeah." Sven said and nodded, in a much happier tone than he ever said before while being in his armor.
"AHH!! MY ARM!!" Shinji cried as Michel witnessed in shock as Tartarus charged toward the Eva and smashed his hammer down on the boy, shattering Shinji's arm.
"Alright you big ape, I'm gonna…" Eva-02 snapped. But before Alexis could finish her threat or actually do it, Tartarus jammed the butt of his hammer deep into her gut, all air inside of her blasted out, even some blood poured out from her mouth as she was sent reeling at an tremendous speed through a rusted truck, through a concrete wall, and came to an abrupt halt when her head hit another concrete wall, this one stronger and thicker, Alexis fell limp to the floor and didn't move. Michel could not speak what he was seeing.
"What's going on?" Sven asked, standing up.
Without so much as a clever comment or a threat, Ray attempted to fire at Tartarus with her sniper rifle. He struck his shoulder, blood spilled out and the Brute cried out in pain. His red eyes locked onto the Eva, then the Brute pulled from a holster on his back, what appeared to be a smaller version of his mighty hammer. With a growl, he tossed it the small hammer-like weapon as if it were a throwing axe, which struck Ray straight on her head, and the secondary sonic boom kicked in, sending Ray flying like Alexis, only she came to a skidding halt in front of Michel and Sven, their hiding place revealed. Tartarus stomped down on Shinji, killing him, then smiled at the MJOLNIR's.
"Master Chief, I've finally found you, and your other copy, excellent." He motioned for his troops to surround them. With nothing left to do, Sven dashed out.
"Chief wait!" Michel shouted, keeping his place, but Sven ran out, firing at Jackals, his bullets deflected off of their shields and striking other Abaters, Brutes, and Jackals.
"It's time to die!" Tartarus boomed as he brought up his original war hammer and with a mighty blow, struck the sharp butt of the hammer into Sven's stomach, like Alexis, only this time, it pierced through his armor and flesh with some difficulty, however, it did give Tartarus the satisfactory crunch of armor and bone as the Master Chief's blood spilled everywhere, followed by the Brute's laughter. Being pulled off the hammer like a piece of meat on a shish kabob, Sven fell to the ground, his emotionless visor had his final look to witness Michel being killed by the Abater forces as well, before succumbing to death.
Susan, sweating and on the verge of crying, shot herself from her bed, breathing heavily and unable to regain calmness, then she realized, that it was only a dream. A dream that was all too real to her. She looked over and saw Sven was missing; it was 3:47 in the morning, so she began to worry.
"Was it real? Was my dream real?" She thought to herself, her eyes watery. "Oh God please no." She pulled the covers off and jumped out of bed, hurrying to the door. Just as she opened the door, she saw Sven there, just about to walk in. Feeling like a boulder had been lifted off of her, she jumped up, wrapping her arms around him, and letting her tears pour out.
"Oh Sven, I'm so glad you're safe." She sighed.
"Um…is something wrong?" Sven asked. Susan released her embrace to show Sven her teary-eyed expression.
"I had this horrible dream Sven, and…and…" She couldn't take it anymore and dug her face into Sven's chest plate, sobbing.
"Slow down now, what happened?" The Master Chief asked, closing the door and setting Susan and himself down in her bed. After some time of sniffling, sobbing, and crying, Susan managed to pull herself together, and looked back at Sven, once he removed his helmet once more.
"I…I had this dream Sven…" She began.
"Alright…" Sven said. Susan sniffled again.
"And…and you along with the others were fighting Abaters…" Susan went on. "And…" She wiped a tear away. "An Abater that looked like a gorilla, I think his name was Tartarus, killed you and the others…" She looked back up at Sven and cried again, and again she buried her face in his chest. Sven looked up.
"Tartarus? But how does she…? I never told her about him." He thought. He then looked down on Susan, smiling.
"I was just checking to see if you were okay...why don't you go back to bed? Everything will be alright."
Shinji was awoken at about five in the morning when he heard an awful cough coming from across the hall in Sven's room, and he knew it wasn't Sven.
"What was that?" He thought to himself.
Grievous was in Sven's cabin, fighting back another awful cough from coming up, but it only harmed him with a more painful cough. He got to his feet, which landed with a clack on the tiled floor, and he grabbed his cloak, wrapping it around his skeletal body. He opened the door and closed it, then walked down the hall. The fact was, that while he was being molded to the cybernetic body of his, Grievous's left lung collapsed, giving him a cough that would never go away, and often hurt his skills in battle. Shinji opened his door to see what was going on, but when he looked down the hall, Grievous was gone.
Dr. Winchester yawned as he stuck his key into the knob of his office door, opened it, and turned the light on. He rubbed his bald head as his yawn died down and he closed the door behind him, ready to face more Committee papers. He only got about three hours of sleep, and he didn't feel as if he could face the Committee once again today. He yawned again as he slumped down into his chair, just then there was a knock on his door, followed by Victoria walking in.
"Good morning Doctor." She said groggily. Finishing his current yawn, Winchester nodded.
"And good morning to you too, sleep well?" He asked. Victoria proceeded to her office, which was connected to Winchester, turning on the light, but staying in Winchester's office for a conversation. The doctor spun around in his desk and turned on the coffee maker.
"Eh, I had better." Victoria said. "I was so worried about Caleb until Amy brought him in."
"Well that was nice of her." Winchester replied. "Coffee?" He asked.
"Yes please." Victoria said with a nod. Winchester turned back around in his seat.
"How did little Caleb sleep?" He asked.
"Slept like a rock." Victoria said with a snicker. "I asked Amy if she could watch him today, she said yes."
"Ah." Winchester replied. Another knock came at his door. "Come in." He said. The knob twisted slowly and opened just as slowly, revealing the cyborg general.
"Dr. Winchester." Grievous said pleasantly. "Now you're here." He chuckled a bit as he closed the door.
"Ah, General Grievous, please, take a seat." Dr. Winchester said and motioned for a seat in front of his desk. Grievous did so, tossing his cloak over his shoulder, which revealed his frightening and skeletal appearance. He sat down, crossing one leg with the other and clasping his hands together.
"So I assume your flight went A-okay?" Dr. Winchester asked. Grievous smiled under his helmet.
"Ah but of course my old friend." He said. A moment of silence passed as Dr. Winchester took a second to look at what else he had to do with paperwork, while Victoria looked at the general with curious eyes.
"So, you're a cyborg?" She asked.
"Yes doctor, I am." Grievous said casually.
"With the leaving of Rykov Mrs. Myer, Grievous here had decided to fill him in, he and Rykov are old acquaintances you know." Dr. Winchester said. Victoria nodded. "Alright, down to business." He said, then sighed. "It appears as though the Abaters have caught on to our environment."
"How's that?" Victoria asked.
"They managed to use their harmful technology and damage your rather weak ozone layer and melt the Earth's icecaps." Grievous stated.
"Ah, so that's why most of the great harbor cities flooded, Miami, San Francisco, New York, Tokyo, London…" Victoria said.
"And the list goes on…" Grievous said well…grievously.
"And you said the Abaters can live greatly in hot climates didn't you General?" Winchester said. Grievous nodded.
"Yes, my kind came from a 'desert world' as one could state it. They thrive in it." The Kaleesh general said. "There isn't much time now."
"I don't understand, where are you two going with this?" Victoria asked. The general and doctor looked at her.
"It means that if the Abaters manage to further global warming more than it already is, and the sudden change in temperature cause even more flooding, severe storms, drought, and famine, it will mean the Abaters have won, we won't be able to fight them." Winchester said gravely.
"But…won't the Elite, Grunts, and Hunters leave?" Victoria asked. "Wouldn't they take us along?"
"Yes, they would leave, to prepare their people for war, but they would only bring the best, the brightest, and the most powerful this planet has." Grievous stated. Victoria glared at the cyborg.
"So is that why the Committee doesn't give a shit?! Because they have a one way ticket to a safe world!" She snapped. Both Winchester and Grievous nodded. "And you Grievous, do you have a seat in this little joyride to safety?"
"Actually doctor no, I have decided to stay here and lead the Evas and Spartans with the likes of Commander 'Takimee, who has also decided to stay until Earth is just a smoldering rock." The cyborg replied calmly. Victoria, quite taken back by the cyborg's sense of honor and duty, didn't respond.
"And in exchange for Grievous and my tickets doctor, we've arranged for you and your family to coexist with the Elites when the time comes." Winchester said.
"What, you're not coming?" Victoria asked.
"Yes well, you see, I did manage for my granddaughter to ride with you, and the princess and her parents will be coming as well." Winchester said, completely on another track.
"No, what about you? We'll need you." Victoria said.
"That's what many think." Winchester chuckled. "I'm just an old man waiting to die now. My granddaughter is almost grown up, I've seen my second 'son' in action, my mission in life is complete, I will stand beside Grievous and 'Takimee as they lead our heroes to victory." The doctor said nobly.
"What do you mean by second son?" Victoria asked.
"The Master Chief." Grievous answered.
"Yes, you see, since he's been in my custody at the age of five, I've felt a special bond between us, the moment he smiled at me for the first time…" He sighed as he turned off the coffee machine and poured some of the dark liquid in Styrofoam cups. "I did not want to do to him what I knew I had to." He picked up one of the cups and reached out to Victoria, who took the cup, with a nod of appreciation.
"You make it sound as if we've already lost." Victoria said softly, stirring her coffee around with the butt of a pen.
"Do you really think we can win Doctor?" Grievous asked, looking up at her. Victoria was about to say yes, but thought for a moment. The odds were great, the Abaters had wiped out nearly two-thirds of the human race, and their fate was in the hands of less than a hundred young men and women.
"I…I don't know." She replied softly. "Well…actually there are more Evas and Spartans." She forced a weak laugh of happiness, before that died down. There was along silence in the room, until Grievous stood up.
"I hate to break up this rather…depressing moment, but I think I will meet the others." He said.
"Have you met any yet?" Winchester asked, lighting up greatly. Grievous wrapped his cloak around him to conceal his figure once more.
"Yes, at about three this morning, I had a rather pleasant walk with the Master Chief." He said as he started for the door.
"What time is it, 6:54 is it?" The doctor asked as he looked at his wristwatch. "You'll probably find the Chief in the mess hall; the others will join him shortly." The general bowed to both doctors as he opened the door.
"Pleasure meeting you Dr. Myer, good day my old friend Winchester." And with that, he closed the door and walked away.