Disclaimer – Don't own Eva or Armored Core, but you know that, don't you.

A/n Note, I have re-worked the ENTIRE story, so it's a good idea to reread the whole thing

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Quote the Raven

Chapter 1

Where angels fear to tread

Prologue

In the aftermath of Second Impact the world was in chaos.

Wars raged across the planet for vital recourses.

Into this would came a group of elite mercenaries

They were called the Ravens.

They utilized highly customizable armored machines called AC's to complete their chosen tasks

And in the atmosphere of War the Ravens thrived

When the UN finally reformed and Wars between the surviving nations died down the Ravens found other work

Having been allowed to keep their charter by the UN they began to take assignments from the larger corporations of the world as well as the UN.

Though they also continued to take assignments from the member nations of the UN who still didn't fully trust one another.

Into this life came Joshua Anders, known to the world as Requiem

An orphan taken into the Ravens at age 12 he is an experienced AC pilot with 4 years experience

His AC is called Wraith.

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Rei Ayanami sat in terminal dogma in what many that had seen it called the Reiquarium. Her harmonics test for the dummy plug system complete for the day she sat on a bench dressing herself. As of late she had been experiencing little bits of emotion. But lately that had switched to a dull pain than never want away. Though through it all she had learned to appreciate the moments life gave her, she didn't want it to end though she knew one day it would. Moments ago she had expressed these feelings to the one person she felt she could trust, commander Ikari, now she sat fully dressed as he talked with Dr Akagi down the hall

"Do you think she may be unstable?"

"It is possible; we may have to neutralize this one and awaken the third"

"Yes that may be prudent, but isn't it to soon for that"

"It is however, we have no choice"

Rei couldn't believe what she was hearing, the commander was going to replace her, but nothing was wrong with her, was it. She wasn't going to just let herself be killed yet, she gathered her remaining articles and slipped from the lab, she had made her way back to her apartment before the commander even noticed she was gone.

Once he did notice he decided he would call her in the morning, this was Rei after all, and she would not disobey him.

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Rei sat on the stairs at her apartment building for a bit, thinking of what she was going to do

'The commander wouldn't do this without reason, would he? He cares for me, doesn't he? If he did however, he would not throw away my life so easily, at least not before my purpose had been completed. Could I just be a doll to him as Pilot Soryu suggested I am? I must think on this further, I can not do so here Section 2 will arrive soon to escort me to Terminal Dogma to be replaced. I must escape here'

She went into her apartment and gathered all of the things she could and placed them into a duffle bag, she thought briefly about the commander's old glasses, but left them behind.

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She reached the train station after about an hour of dodging Section 2

'Ikari was right, this was not to difficult, on the train I will call him, tell him what I am doing, he will understand'

She walked up to the ticket counter; it took the man in the window a moment to notice her. He was an older man well into his later years but he still held a dignified appearance

'Much like the sub commander' she mused

"Good morning miss, what can I do for you?"

Rei had thought about where she was going before she arrived, she had withdrawn all of the money from her Nerv account and had planed everything out, she would go on to Tokyo 2 and then take a plane from their to the United States where hopefully she would find a place to stay. She had enough money to provide for herself for one year after all.

"I would like a ticket to Tokyo 2 please"

"Ahh heading home are you"

"Yes sir"

"That'll be 1200 yen"

Rei paid the man, got her ticket and headed to a nearby bench; little did she know she was being watched

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Less than 30 feet away sat a young woman in her early 20s wearing a long dark coat. She had dark brown hair and piercing green eyes. She was accompanied by a man in his early 30s with short blond hair and dark sunglasses. The younger woman taped him on the shoulder, she had recognized the younger blue haired girl the moment she entered the station

"Arbalest look at that girl sitting over their, you know who she is"

"She looks familiar Rose, can't place the name though"

"That's Rei Ayanami; she's the pilot of the Evangelion Unit 00"

"Seriously, she doesn't look a day over 15"

"Good observation, she's 14. I wonder what she's doing here"

"You think she quit"

"No, it looks like she packed in a hurry. Running would be more like it"

Rose smirked

"You think the Nest has room for one more"

"You thinking of trying to recruit her"

"Sure, she has to be running from something doesn't she, can't hurt to try, go get the car ready, we may to get out of here in a hurry"

Arbalest headed out to their car while Rose walked up to the bench Rei was sitting on

"Hi there is this seat taken"

Rei just shook her head no, Rose sat down

"You know I can't help but wonder what your doing out here Ms Ayanami"

Rei looked over at the woman sitting beside of her

"You know who I am"

"Yes, I can also tell that you seem to be running from something or someone"

Rei just nodded Rose continued

"What are you running from Rei?"

"I can not say"

"Is it Nerv?"

Rei hesitated for a moment

"Yes"

"Well if that is the case I have a proposition for you"

"And that would be"

"You see Rei I work for an organization that has existed since just after second impact, you may have heard of us. Were called the Ravens"

"I have heard of you, you are a mercenary group, what do you want with me"

"Frankly, I've sat in your shoes before, I ran away when I was young and frankly the first two years were miserable until the Ravens found me. I don't want someone as young as you to have to go through what I did"

Rose paused for a moment

"So do you want to join the Ravens, it would be easier than what you probably have planed"

Rei thought about that for a moment, yes it would be easier than just trying to find what ever she could in America. And Ravens were known to be ruthless in combat but honest for the most part, this would be her chance.

"Yes it would be easier, I accept, though I do not know your name"

The older woman sighed

"I haven't used my real name in so long I've forgotten it, but my call name is Pink Rose, just call me Rose ok"

"Yes ma'am"

"Good, now lets get out of here, Nerv Security is probably on their way here right now"

"Agreed"

The pair stood and headed to the car Rose and Arbalest had arrived in. When the pair reached it Rei stopped when she saw the blond man

"Don't worry Rei this is my partner Arbalest, Arbalest this is Rei Ayanami and she wants to be a Raven"

"Well Ms Ayanami, seeing as how the Ravens Nest will probably accept you, Welcome to the Ravens"

Rei bowed slightly

"Thank you"

Arbalest opened the rear door for her; Rei placed her duffle bag inside and scooted it over to the other side of the 1983 BMW's back seat before she climbed in herself.

She buckled her seat belt remembering the disastrous effects of not doing so the last time she had received a ride to school from Major Katsuragi. Though she was curious

"where will we be headed?"

Rose turned to regard the girl while Arbalest started the car and pulled out from the train station

"Were headed for the Tokyo 2 international airport, we have a transport there that has our AC's in it. We were on our way back to the Nest and decided to stop and see Tokyo 3 when we ran into you"

"I did not mean to inconvenience you"

"Don't worry about it Rei, may I call you Rei"

The girl nodded

"Well then Rei if your going to be a Raven the first thing you'll need to do is decide on a name"

"A name"

"Yeah, a call name"

Rose opened her bag, withdrew her palmtop computer and opened it, after a moment or to she turned back to Rei

"Ok, I'm just going to get some general information and send it to the Ravens Nest Command Network. If all goes well you should be approved by the time we reach the airport"

She handed the palmtop to Rei, general isn't the way to describe the info, more like basic. Now while it did ask for her UN Identification Number (basically the same as our SS Numbers) her name and a few other things there wasn't much to it. But it did ask for a Call Name, Rei thought for a bit. Then a name came to her.

Orchid

Rei filled in the rest of the information and handed it up to Rose who then sent the request on to Raven HQ. Now within the Ravens Nest a Raven sending a request for someone to be accepted as a Raven was a serious matter.

A matter to immediately be looked into.

A short time later Rose's palmtop beeped, notifying her of a message from HQ. She read the message and then turned to Rei in the back seat

"Good news Rei, Ravens Nest reviewed the situation and has accepted your application to join the Ravens…However the UN is requesting that you formally resign from Nerv first"

"how"

Rose passed back her palmtop again

"Just fill this out"

Rei began to fill out the forms, all 10 pages, Rose continued

"The UN will more than likely accept your resignation from Nerv even if Nerv its self doesn't. The Ravens pull a lot of weight. If they ask for someone employed by the UN they get them regardless"

"Am I to understand that most view it as an honor to be selected to be a Raven?"

"Yeah it is, there are only about 200 of us and as it stands we cant keep up with the work load…that and the turnover rate. Your one of the youngest to be selected"

"I am"

"Yeah, there have only been 3 people in your age group selected before now, only one is still alive"

"Who"

"His name is Requiem, he's the cautious type, he never selects a mission unless the Intel can give him exacts on what he is facing. He also stayed out of the Arena unlike the other two"

"So the Arena is hazardous"

"Yes, most of our fatalities occur there. It's the one thing we take very seriously other than getting our jobs done"

"I see"

Rei finished and passed the palmtop back up. Rose sent the data on to the UN and then turned in her seat

"Welcome to the Ravens, Orchid"

"Thank you, do you have a phone I can borrow for a moment"

Rose fished around in her bag for a moment then produced a cell phone

"Here you go, it's a secured line"

"Thank you"

Rei dialed Shinji's cell phone

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Shinji was at home cooking dinner when his cell phone rang

"Hello Shinji speaking"

"Ikari"

"Oh…hello Ayanami"

"I have called to inform you that I am leaving Nerv"

Shinji dropped his spoon and stood in stunned silence

"You're…quitting"

"Yes, I have submitted my resignation to the UN"

"But why"

"I can…no longer stand it…the pain and…the commander; I understand now why you do not speak"

"Ayanami"

"I must go now…I will call again once I have established myself…Goodbye for now Shinji"

Rei hung up, Shinji stood stunned for a moment, Rei had quit. Misato walked in to the kitchen

"Hay Shinji, what's wrong"

He slowly turned

"Misato…Rei just called"

"Ohh getting calls from Rei now huh"

Asuka walked out of her room and stopped in the hall, she wanted to hear this. Shinji just stood there, his face white as a ghost

"It's not that Misato"

Seeing his expression, Misato became worried

"Is she ok"

"I…I don't know…she quit"

"Quit what Shinji"

"She quit Nerv"

"WHAT" Misato and Asuka shouted

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Ritsuko was having an average day; she had just completed physicals on Shinji and Asuka and was preparing for Rei's replacement procedure later. Assuming Section 2 could find her.

'Gendo must be cursing all the training she had'

She thought to herself. Her computers fax machine turned on

'Who the hell'

She walked over to the machine and read the fax. It was form the UN Secretary Generals Office, it was a resignation form completed, accepted and signed by the Secretary General…For Rei Ayanami.

"Oh hell"

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Gendo was pissed; Rei had somehow eluded Section 2 and had now, somehow, submitted a formal letter of resignation to the Secretary Generals office. And then somehow had the letter accepted, the old men were slacking to miss that.

"How did this happen"

Ritsuko had already examined all of the security footage or Rei from the time she left the GeoFront to the times she left the train station; she placed some pictures in front of Gendo. He picked them up and examined them. One showed Rose and Arbalest, one showed Rose talking to Rei; the last was of them getting into the car and leaving. Ritsuko pointed to the first one

"Apparently she had help; I've managed to Id them. Their Ravens, the woman is called Pink Rose and the man is Arbalest"

"And"

"And, exactly 10 minuets after the departed the station they sent a coded message to the Ravens Nest, exactly 20 minuets later they sent a response. To which Rei's resignation forms were sent out. I'd say it's a safe bet to assume she joined them"

The sub commander scoffed

"She may be beyond our reach then, the ravens protect their own, if we move to take Rei back. They'll come down on us like an avalanche"

Gendo nodded

"Yes, all the Ravens on our door step is not something we can afford, and the UN follows the Ravens every desire, they fight their battles for them so the don't have to get their hands dirty"

He paused and thought for a moment

"Circulate this to the necessary people with in Nerv and put out a formal letter of acceptance. Also have the Marduke Institute begin the search for the fourth child; we need a replacement for Rei in Unit 00"

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The notice sent waves through the Nerv personnel. The quiet and introverted Rei, the one girl they knew would not stop until her objective was complete, the girl who placed her faith in the commander, Nerv and the Eva's. Had quit and not looked back

A/n Yes I know Rei is a bit OOC, but this is a different continuum than normal so their will be some discrepancies, so until ch2

Later