Symphony No. 6 in G Major Op. 6
"Synchronize"
(A Neon Genesis Evangelion/Battle Network Rockman.exe FanFiction by CyberForte)
Disclaimer
Battle Network Rockman.exe and all associated characters, concepts, situations, et cetera are copyright to Capcom. Neon Genesis Evangelion and all associated characters, concepts, situations, et cetera are copyright to Gainax. This is strictly a work of FanFiction and is not intended to violate the aforementioned copyrights, nor to earn any capital for the author. All original characters, concepts, situations, text, and portrayals are copyright to myself (CyberForte), but they may be used by any other wishing to do so as long as credit is given to me (CyberForte).
Introduction
It is the year 20XX. The internet has grown into a network that links nearly every electronic device on the planet. In addition, the majority of humankind now uses Network Navigators (NetNavis) to navigate the net. Navis are self-aware programs that can perform many functions, such as send mail, delete viruses, check online message boards, communicate with other NetNavis, et cetera. They are housed in Personal Terminals (PETs) which are like computer, ISP, Phone, etc all thrown into a single handheld device.
Of course, this Network Society is far from perfect. Net crime is a lucrative business for the unsavory elements, and NetNavis can be used for evil purposes as easily as good. Viruses are also a major issue, having now taken on a pseudo-physical appearance akin to the rest of the cyber world, and they are able to attack navis freely. Luckily, virtual weapons known as battle chips have been developed to allow these threats to be combated, and many viruses even drop the data from these weapons upon deletion.
Within this world, nations exist still, but none are in the form we know them at present. It is possible that a great war has changed the world, and that the dates were reset, for even within the era of 19XX, countries such as Electopia (likely formerly Japan), Netopia (culture seems to be a fusion of much of western Europe and the United States), Sharo (very much akin to Russia), Creamland (also European), Netfrica (much akin to Africa), Yumland (more eastern, perhaps akin to Thailand or Tibet?) and Nation X (only known to be highly advanced) existed upon world maps, rather than those which are known to today's world.
Aside from random acts of Net crime and the perpetual threats originating from the dark haven known as the Uranet, there have been many focused attacks upon the Network Society, of number of which have been perpetrated by a deranged older scientist known as Dr. Wily, whose rage stemmed from the world's choice to rely upon the Network technology created by Tadashi Hikari rather than his own robotics. Aside from repeated attacks upon the world by his minions, the WWW or World Three, this subversive man also had a hand in the creation of the Gospel Netmafia and was the father of the infamous Dr. Regal, the head of the Dark Chip Syndicate, Nebula.
In the face of all these threats, a young hero emerged. Netto Hikari, age twelve, and his netnavi, Rockman.exe, along with a host of allies, rivals, and other cohorts, has saved the world on a grand total of seven occasions. Although many others were involved, most notable among his companions were three other children from his class and the world's foremost official Netbattler, Enzan Ijuin. Although the latter is of the same age as the former, the fact that he entered college at the same time as the former finished Junior High should say something for the difference in their mental states. His Navi, Blues.exe, is also extremely famous for his extreme speed and skill with sword weapons.
But these individuals, although perhaps making some impact on the story I shall relate to you, are not the focus. No, rather this story will take us to Netopia. Although a world leader in military technology, second only to Sharo (and possibly Nation X), Netopian Commanders oft find themselves scorned for the fact that, of those involved in saving the world in the past, the only notable Netopian personage has been the famous traitor, Barrel, and his deeds, despite being redeeming in the eyes of some, could never wipe the stamp of traitor from his image. Because of such things, situations like that which we shall open with have oft left Netopian citizens wishing for a hero of their own...
First Movement
"Onslaught"
"Damnit!" Such was hardly the extent of curses which flew within the tactical control center of the Netopian military installation known simply as Neo III. Located beneath the unsuspecting streets of one of the country's most populous cities, the existence of the base, known as NERV Central, was almost unknown to the world above, and thus its designation had nothing at all that could relate it to its physical location. Like everything else done by the Netopian Military, the base and all that was located within was highly classified. Couldn't have Sharo or Electopia knowing about the secret projects, of course...
At present, though, many of those occupying the control center rather wished it wasn't so damn secret. A little help from the internationally famous Electopian hero Netto Hikari, the stuck-up official Netbattler Enzan, acknowledged to be one of the best in the business despite his age, or even the arrogant but extremely skilled Sharo Commander known as Raika would have been damn good right about now. But no, Netopian Military Leaders would never go so low as to ask for help, and so here they were, powerless to prevent the destruction that seemed to be befalling their city.
Not that it was for a lack of trying to help that these people were powerless; indeed, over one hundred NetNavis had been lost already in an attempt to stop the chaos, not to mention countless viruses. After all, one has to use the tools that one has to defend oneself, ja? But, regardless of what was thrown against it, the intruder seemed impervious; it was as if the masked and quite odd-looking invader had some sort of Aura. If so, though, it wasn't you average aura; more than one Northwind battle chip had been expended in an attempt to remove it, and still the navi's rampage continued.
Perhaps the most bizarre aspect of the scene, though, was that the invader never spoke. In the past, even the most powerful and evil threats to the net had made some noise. The Dream Virus had roared. Gospel had spoken brokenly in its first form, and roared more loudly in its second. Even Proto, little more than a highly developed bug, was able to make some noise, and the extraterrestrial program Duo had been fluent in conversation. Hell, Forte, the Black Shadow, spoke, albeit rarely and usually in a very archaic fashion. But no, this strange dark green and off-white navi was silent as it went about its rampage; the only sounds those of the explosions its attack caused in the Cyber World--and those which mirrored them in the real world city above the base.
In form, though, this intruder was highly peculiar also. Although, like most navis, it was humanoid in shape, that was where the normalcy ended altogether; legs were almost triangular; far smaller at the bottom than at the top. Most of the body was a rather dark green, with off-white making an appearance on the shoulders and in the claw-like protrusion that seemed to wrap around its chest, a large red sphere appearing at the forefront. The head wasn't really defined, only being raised slightly from the body, and no face was present, but rather a small mask that was obviously taking the place of the human-esque faces used by many other navis. Arms were also slightly triangular, but they ended in definable hands and did contain elbows. Alongside the forearms upon each side ran circular conduits, and within seemed to be an odd glowing red-pink energy weapon.
Although these weapons were highly potent, as was illustrated rather graphically by the thing grasping in its hand the face of a rather helpless standard official netnavi, then proceeding to ram the energy beam into said face until it burst, resulting in the orange navi's deletion, they were not its main weapon. Rather, from the red sphere on its chest was emitted a rather destructive beam of the same scarlet hue. Upon impacting any object in the cyber world, be it a navi or an object, it would explode in a cross shape, doing rather massive damage to the network itself. And, of course, since the city was highly technological, as the net was torn to data scraps, the devices attached to it in the real world would malfunction, oft exploding or otherwise causing damage. And it didn't help that the best defenses that the Netopian Military could offer up at present were being mowed down like dry summer grass 'neath a weed wacker.
Within the Control Center itself, though, despite all the commotion caused by the highly irksome attack, at least two men were calm. The first was an older individual, rather tall in thin. Quite the distinguished sort, too; probably an academic of some sort. His face was rather like his body; high and somewhat thin, and although worn with care and age, it was noticeably devoid of wrinkling; the man was not your average 'old gramps.'
Whilst the first stood next to a desk, watching the feed from the net area of the city above rather grimly, the other calm man was unreadable. Seated at said desk, he, like the first, wore a dark navy uniform, but his attire also included white gloves and red-tinted sunglasses. His posture was immaculate; back straight, arms brought to a steeple before his head, and face completely devoid of expression. As opposed to his companion's graying hair, his own was a dark brown, accompanied by a well-groomed and controlled beard. His age, although not as high as his companions, was hardly a low figure; one might put it circa fifty?
Even as the chaos that seemed to grip the rest of the room so relentlessly, the first finally deigned to break their silence, "So, Ikari, it seems that they have indeed arrived. An unfortunate turn of events, but hardly unforeseen." His choice was calm and controlled, as well as somewhat authoritative. This would confirm the possibility of him being of academia; he was obviously used to his words being heard and listened to.
In reply, the seated man gave a very slight nod, "Indeed, Professor. It seems that establishing NERV was not wasted, although it is not as if any doubt existed. The Angels have come, and it seems that the Military is incapable of stopping them." His tone was far colder than that of the other. Being in command was quite obviously this man's specialty, and he had no qualms about expressing that. Not only would his word be heard and listened to, it would be obeyed.
As if to deny this statement (perhaps even to do so), one of the uniformed officers standing in the middle of the control center, a member of the trio clad in the royal blue and silver trappings of the Netopian Army, gave a rather loud order to the technicians who were running the various consoles about the room, "I've seen enough of this! Deploy the Upsilon Team!" The voice here indicated that he was used to his commands being followed, but it had not the power of the seated man's.
In comparison, it was that of a petulant yet spoiled child, really, but it certainly elicited a response from his companions, ranging from an, "Are you mad!?" from his left to the hesitant, "yes sir" that came from several of the techs.
Turning to the one who had so well pointed out--err, so insulted his mental state, the man who had issued the order bellowed a rather cliché response, "There's no other choice, damnit! We can't let that thing get any further... If it finds the connection to our server, our research will all be lost!" Never mind the lives of all the poor city residents you're sworn to protect, right, you heartless bastard?
"A man so dedicated to the people of the country he is sworn to protect, eh Ikari?" came the none-too-quiet reply of the academic, obviously directed more to the officer than to man to who he appeared to be speaking. The latter proved his apathy by barely nodding, but it was an insult felt rather heavily by the Military man.
"Ha! Like you NERV dolts can talk! One Upsilon Team is done, you won't even have a job left! Now deploy them, Goddamn you!" The latter bit was obviously directed towards the still rather hesitant technicians, and it motivated them. With a rather resigned sigh and a quick glance at the man who had been addressed as "Ikari" from several, they began the process of activating and releasing the team of specially made navis known as the Upsilon Team.
Said team was comprised of twelve navis, none of them appearing to be anything special. But, as they hoped to soon prove, the twelve navis were a cut above the rest. Appearing in a loose semi-circle around the intruder, a good distance before it, all were already in combat mode. Within a special chamber of the base above, the twelve humans who operated these navis had entered into special pods that were designed to increase their synchro rates; they would need that added power...
Almost in complete unison, the twelve each slotted a sequence of five Battle Chips into their PETs, sending the data to the navis of the Upsilon Team. Soon, the right arms of all twelve morphed first into red boxy guns, then into larger Golden Versions a second or so after. In unison themselves, these navis called out, "Program Advance: Omega Cannon Three, ACTIVATE!"
With that, all fired their cannons in tandem, the golden energy beams within rocketing towards the undaunted attacker. The beams struck within a second of each other, and the explosion from it was enough to push all of the navis in the semi-circle back several cyber meters, despite their lack of close proximity.
Back in the control center, chaos was beginning to unfold once more, but this time the chaos of cheers and celebratory remarks. Then there was the bragging from the man who'd ordered the attack; "Ha! You see, Ikari! Not even Alpha Omega itself could survive that blast! I guess you're out of a j--"
But, of course, this happy chaos wasn't to last long; the scarlet beam emerged from the smoke surrounding what should have been the destroyed navi. Striking the center navi in the semi-circle, the cross detonation effect took out the ones to either side as well. And then it was upon the others; materializing almost unphased behind the leftmost navi of the array, it closed its claw-like grip over the back of her head and rammed its energy piledriver entirely through, deleting her almost instantaneously. But rather than simply letting her exploding body fall, he instead threw the self-destructing female navi into the next in line, causing him to fall, and subsequently be smashed beneath the pointed foot of the intruder, who was now standing over him, having taken out two on the other side with another shot of the cross beam before jumping.
Within a matter of seconds, six of the twelve 'elite' Upsilon Team had been reduced to data scraps, and due to the higher than normal synch ratios in effect, their operators had collapsed unconscious--or worse--in their pods after screaming for a second or two. But still, the other six weren't quite dead yet. And they wouldn't go down without a battle! Well, that much went for the remaining five, at least; in the time it took them to prepare a counterattack, a seventh had fallen to the relentless attack of the intruder. But because they did have time to prepare, their attack came before it finished destroying their comrade; all materializing glowing cyberswords over their right hands, they preformed a de facto Evil Cut technique.
That is to say that two warped to the immediate right and left of the attacker, then slashed their blades down across it as if to create a "V" as two more did this from behind, creating an overall "X." As for the final member, she materialized directly in front of the dark green navi, bringing down her longer blade (a Paladin sword) for what would be a clean bisection down the center.
Against a conventional foe, this would have been a brilliant tactic, and in fact very few navis could have survived it. But then, as the Omega Cannon barrage before had shown, this intruder was no conventional netnavi. Thus, it really ought have come as no surprise when all five of the blades smashed into an invisible force at perhaps a cyber-decameter away from the target, at each shattered due to the force of its own strike. What followed could be described simply with the word, "pwnage," but I think I'll detail it anyway.
Lashing out with its full form, the intruder rammed the female member who had used the paladin sword, passing completely through her body as the force of her collision with its force field shattered and deleted her as easily as it had the swords. Next, it spun, wrapping claws around the necks of the two closest cross-slashers. Spinning again, it released them with enough force to fly into the other two, extending its piledrivers just as they were let go to cause them to begin to delete. As they impacted their companions, said companions were forced together in the center of the navi's field of view, making them ideal targets for the scarlet beam, which caused their deletion before they realized it had been fired.
In effect, the twelve 'elite' navis that had been prepared to destroy any threat to the complex had been deleted in under twenty seconds by a single opponent. This was too much for the Netopian Military commander, who slumped noticeably, his breathing increasing as he seemed ready to hyperventilate. Not wanting to lose even more face from such a show, the third of the trio, with a scowl, turned to the man seated at the desk and bit out in a hateful tone, "Fine, Ikari; you have your chance! I wish you the damnedest of luck with it!"
And, with that remark, the platform the officers were on descended, allowing the center man's display of shock to be supplanted as the most watched item in the room; now all eyes were turned to the man sitting silently at his desk. It seemed that this man, known as Gendo Ikari, was expected now to deliver a miracle; he was now to be the one responsible for stopping this intruder...
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Author's Notes
First off, I must establish the blame for this evil. It is Lauren's fault entirely! -shot- But, in all seriousness, a friend of mine, Lauren, gave me the idea for this last night while we were discussing something Eva-ish and EXE, and although I usually don't condone crossovers, the ideas 'cept building up in my mind, and since I've really been trying to get something written and this came easily to me, I couldn't pass it up, especially since I already now have a great deal of the plot conceptualized. I do really want to do the Fourth Movement of An Angelic Scenario and I probably owe Amore Con Brio a chapter, but like I said, I just had to write when I was inspired.
If you don't get it yet, this is an Eva reimagining set in the EXE world. If my introduction didn't adequately explain EXE, you can see the site in my profile or just look around for Battle Network Rockman.exe or Mega Man Battle Network. It's a superb series, and although nothing at all like Eva in plot, it has enough similar concepts otherwise that I think I can pull this off. And although I may reference some Events from EXE6, I'm going to play this as if copyroid technology was outlawed and eradicated utterly, as navis in the real world destroys the premise of EXEstuffs. And this is, plot wise, strictly game-based. I despise the EXE anime with a passion, and the manga isn't too much better.
But yes, please review, but if you're going to attack the crossoverness, please don't bother. It's not like I dropped characters from one world in the other without adapting them. The story is basically written as if the Eva characters were all natives of the EXE world. And I do have a suitable replacement for Instrumentality, just so you know. If you've played EXE5, you should know what it is. And suggestions will be taken into consideration. Oh, and, of course there will be some serious storyline differences, despite it being based around that of Eva.
Edit (7/26/07): I went through and corrected some of the more grievous errors, as this was the only Movement I didn't use Lauren's Beta Checking on the first time.