Syndicate Wars
"Do not be afraid. This is the way of the New Epoch."
v01.1α – Initialization
Three muted shots cracked through the air in the semi-deserted Cayman Global Holdings facility, followed by the thump of bodies hitting metal. The rain outside tended to muffle such things, and perhaps the killer in black counted on such a thing. A small figure with short hair looked up at the skylight of the warehouse he was in, cobalt eyes appearing barely attentive as he considered his objective.
The young boy fired a small pitot from a launcher on his wrist, using the nylon cord to carry him upwards while the launcher reeled itself back into a hidden state. He moved like a wraith through the catwalks and girders of the facility, intent on his target. It seemed like a wraith in the shadows. A simple security patrol ran headlong into him soon after he left the limited cover from the warehouse ceiling. Up close, it was seen that the killer was at least a good few inches shorter than full-grown men, and he wielded a matte-black assault rifle with frightening precision.
Two of the guards were dead before they raised their weapons and the small figure was barely disturbed by their passing. The guards swore and sighted on the young boy while he merely regarded them with a mild regret. It wasn't as though he were a street murderer, after all, but a surgical instrument. This wasn't how the assignment was meant to go. It just meant he was still a failure even after billions of yen in corporate hardware had been poured into his frame.
"Sorry..." The one word said volumes about their fate, as he was a covert operative. Two bullets lodged themselves into the youth's chest - for it was a youth, not a man - and he barely flinched as he drew his pistol. Two quiet reports sounded and the men dropped like dolls with no strings. "Targets eliminated." The high, barely-pubescent voice whispered, letting his newly-minted DART-6 bio-implants stimulate his regeneration after he reached up to pluck the bullets out. He regarded them with a curious turn of his head before tossing them over one shoulder. The nano-weave ceramic woven through his skin had proven its worth again.
The wraith moved on, scavenging their rifles for ammunition and calmly breaching an automated door that was designed to be impervious to such things. Even the most secure access point was liable to be breached with the brutal efficiency of the DART-6 chip. The boy rubbed the web of scars at the back of his head, barely visible, and winced. The new implants weren't the most comfortable thing in the world. However, the door slid open soundlessly, revealing the local executive of the Cayman Group in front of it as it admitted the small figure into the building's few executive chambers.
"I don't care what they want, they're not getting it!"
A fist slammed down on a table, harsh voices arguing over a phone as the small boy stepped into the room. He stood silently, unnoticed, as he listened to the conversation.
"No, they can pay as much as they want, but Eurocorp isn't getting anything from me. The Cayman Group will have my head if I even think about selling. And to them, of all people!" The other voice was indistinct, but it -was- a phone handset. The agent's DART-6 set to work splicing itself into the communiqué and perceiving the other speaker as a nebulous orb standing opposite the balding fat man in a suit.
"There's nothing you can do, Roberts. They've already won this round. It's only a matter of time." That voice was deep and rich, American-accented with hints of the Midwestern tint to his tone. Clearly the advisor in that relationship. "Let them have it. I need you alive for the next phase of the project, Charles. Charlie. Listen to me." His orb pulsed and thrummed in time with his voice. It really was a bit soothing, the small boy decided.
The young boy walked forward and put a pistol to the back of Charles Roberts' head. "You should have listened." His words echoed in that soft whisper, piercing the communications handset and ringing in Roberts' mind before a shot from the .45-calibre pistol in the boy's hand evacuated it onto Roberts' now-former desk.
A phone handset shattered, dropping to the floor, as the call was terminated. "Command. This is Ikari. Retrieving the data now." The boy whispered once more, a small stick of a surgical extraction tool in his hand as he jabbed it far into the man's ear - the automated tools cleaving through brain matter and viscera alike to safely collect the biochip the man had been implanted with and using until his sudden death. Ikari stared down at the corpse with the same sorrowful eyes. He hadn't ever particularly enjoyed his assignments. But not completing one was unthinkable for the Eurocorp agent after so many years.
"Extraction complete. Thank you for your service, Agent Ikari. A Eurocorp exfiltration vehicle is already on-site. Proceed to the roof."
'That voice...so familiar already.' Ikari Shinji thought to himself, as he walked to the roof access and boarded his VTOL extraction craft. 'It's only been half a year since the last surgery.' Ikari muses, taking a seat and strapping in as the VTOL fires its' engines - unmanned, controlled by his biochip implant. 'Tokyo-2. Go.' He instructs, the craft flaring its' wings and darting into the sky as though stung by a hornet.
Shinji turned to stare out the window, a small UI element appearing on his HUD as the strains of long-dead composers echoed in his ears. The tightness in his hands slowly eased while he listened. Eventually, he was even able to pocket the pistol and the stolen chip without risk of a spasm and Shinji swallowed heavily. The faces of the guards and the executive he had killed were quickly fading into the back of his mind. Quick releases of certain mind-altering hormones and chemicals into his bloodstream also assisted his attempt to cast the memories into the ether – only the implanted biochip being able to recall the memories of its' host after enough repression.
The city of Tokyo-2 was temporary, but it was the seat of the new Government of Japan. Such as it was. Second Cataclysm had only delayed the advancement of the corporate nation-state and it wasn't getting any slower. Already, the government of Japan was spread across departments and corporate entities alike as privatization accelerated during the recovery from the worldwide disaster.
The majority of Japan was divided into Aspari/West Meld Solutions territory and Cayman Global holdings. Only a tiny sliver of the country had any Eurocorp ties, and it was all in the government's favor. A little power from Eurocorp and they could flex their tiny 'democratic' muscles against the other two syndicates in the area. Though Eurocorp itself only really muscled in a short while ago - after what the historians call the 'Second Cataclysm'.
What they tell the public is that a meteoroid impacted Antarctica and threw the world off its' axis. Most every proper syndicate will tell you that's not true, when you get far enough and kill enough people. The young Ikari certainly knew, but what was an unknown is what actually occurred. The phenomenon was too large and the affected sea was clue enough that it wasn't the case. But the governments of the world had the place under lock and key, sealed off even now.
It was just after the Cataclysm that the populace, desperate to escape the horrors of the world falling down around them, turned to the newly-developed Neural Enhancement Overlay Chip. They turned away and let the world burn, lost in their little dream worlds. There were those who held power still, though, and that Cataclysm let them strengthen it. They became the syndicates, along with whispers of a mysterious group that some called the 'Nine' in hushed whispers.
With the NEOC, humanity seemed willing enough to survive. The job of rebuilding the world could be disguised and served up to the chipped populace with a smile, and they'd accept it. That was part of the contract. The young Ikari pondered these and more as the trip to Tokyo-2 continued. His own contract was a bit different. Nobody wanted him. His father left him. Mother, dead. Left like trash with an indifferent aunt and uncle. When the tests at school told them he was something special, they granted Eurocorp permission to take Shinji and use him before their untimely 'accidental' deaths at the hands of an Aspari hit squad. He had been six years old.
He, Shinji knew, would serve until his death. Every Agent was prepared for this life. Though he was young still, they took him for his potential. Eurocorp had observed the attrition rate of the implants on older agents, and wished to see if fitting a young agent with a set that were capable of 'growing' with him might lessen the burden on the body. Surprisingly, it seemed to have worked. Stolen government technology let them engineer such advances, and the irony was not lost on young Shinji. His father's work made him what he was through the years of toil by Eurocorp's top minds.
When he arrived and disembarked, there were new orders waiting for him. Ikari Shinji took the briefing packet with a small frown on his lips and retired to his quarters. The packet was stamped with a curious half-leaf bordering the letters 'NERV'. "…My father's work again." Shinji whispered to himself as he set it aside. It would wait. The orders had no time-sensitive stamp atop the packet and the stamps of the UN as well as NERV meant little to someone owned as deeply as he.
That in mind, the young Ikari settled in for another silent evening in his silent 'cell'. He shrugged out of his long armored coat in favor of the undershirt he wore beneath – a white button-down – and rolled his sleeves to the elbow. The symphonies played only in his ears as he worked on a small dinner for himself. Strips of steak cooked in a pan with peppers and onions. Anyone else would have complimented the young man on his skill as he timed it just right to allow the rice cooker to ding just as he finished the fry-up.
Dinner in hand and quite contented with the fact that he'd not had to kill anyone for it (training could be somewhat brutal at times), Shinji finally allowed himself to crack the seal on his new orders. His lips twitched as though he were trying to smile and failing. There wasn't much mirth to go around in the Ikari family, after all.
"Your orders are to report to Tokyo-3 at 1600 hours on Saturday, the Fourteenth of April, 2015. Travel in civilian attire by maglev route 05-A. You will be seconded to Captain Katsuragi Misato for the duration of your stay and nominally under the command of Commander Ikari Gendo of UN Special Agency NERV. NERV is one of the few remaining UN projects, and you will be expected to return with considerable information as to their goals, intent, and technological progress. That is all, Agent Ikari."
Shinji let his lips twitch up at the corners. His father wanted him back now? NERV must have sacrificed an arm and a leg to get this sort of assignment. His superiors would not have agreed otherwise. It was time to pack and rest. And finish this food, of course, because waste was the enemy.
The young Agent adjusted the large black coat that hung about his frame as he sat in the train that rocketed its' way down the Japanese countryside - only drawing a few odd looks from the occasional old woman at the tripartite Eurocorp logo on his shoulder. At least...that's what he told himself.
He wasn't to know, however, that this train was taking him towards a meeting with destiny. Destiny with pale-blue hair and eyes to pierce a man's soul. Had the lonely young man known, he likely would have stayed, regardless...what was he, compared to the fate of mankind?
Author's Note: Thus begins my Syndicate/Evangelion crossover. I hope this works, I really do, because I have so many ideas. This is a short introductory chapter, and shouldn't be representative of the work as a whole. Considering I dashed it off at 3 AM without much sleep, anyway. That must be how my brain works.
I also blame EA's new Syndicate reboot. There's too much in there not to use. You'll see Syndicate (2012) references, original Syndicate references, Eva manga, and Syndicate Wars in this - familiarity with it all might be nice.
Please, review if you have the time. I'm greatly looking forward to any and all input regarding this new project of mine. It's been too long since I've written anything.
Update 2018: Revised and ready to go. I'm going to be pushing a second chapter soon enough.