Right… I want to say up front that I'm really sorry I haven't updated for a while. With my inspiration drying up, problems to sort out with Uni and simply real life intruding, I just haven't been able to write anything.
It has absolutely nothing to do with getting a copy of Mass Effect. Any claims to the contrary are lies and slander.
I do have some news to make up for the delay, however. I recently began working on another side-story that several of you have been asking about. I hope to have the first part put online within the week.
nick2951; I have to say, I always find fight scenes hard to write, so I always feel a bit relived to hear that someone enjoys reading them. The Lance probably won't be in this chapter, but I'll get to it, eventually. Thanks for your review.
GaleBread;Thanks, I hope you enjoy this chapter as well.
Kyuubi-Titan; Thank you. Praise is what makes the wheels of fanfiction turn.
TheGreenKnight63;Wince Updates… Yes… I did say how sorry I was, didn't I? Anyway, thanks for the review.
As always, comments and criticism are welcome, flamers will be pressganged into the Imperial Navy.
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And lo, in the darkest hour, even the weapons of the past came forth, so full of righteous rage at the foulness of the traitors that it broke even their deep slumber…
Imperial Holy Text
The Book of Eva
Page 12
Chapter 7
Asuka snarled as she brought her Vulcan bolter around and blasted apart the forward edge of the Tyranid pack as it neared the defence point that she was supporting. Several swarms and a couple of larger beasts erupted into shards of chitin and splatters of ichor. The swarm slowed as the Hive mind consolidated it's remaining synapse creatures to cover the entire swarm, but before the Tyranids could start advancing again, PDF mortars and light tanks began dropping shells on the swarm, disrupting the attack further.
Asuka lowered the bolter, allowing the autoloaders to cycle in the next magazine, and stopped herself, yet again, from swatting at the ever-present swarm of gargoyles around her head. They had shown up barely minutes after the first spores hit, and had immediately begun suicide runs against both the ground forces and Unit 02. They swarmed around her like the mosquitoes during the hight of summer back in Tokyo 3, and Asuka had found herself instinctively swatting at them with the same lack of success. Fortunately, the gargoyles were comparatively much less dangerous then the mosquitoes had been; their acidic and living projectiles splattered against armour rated for N2 detonations with all the effectiveness of rotten eggs (including the smell).
"Pilot Sohryu, this is Command," crackled from the radio as the typical 'sound only' window superimposed itself on the entry plug. "We've lost contact with the Warhound Draco Nobile, but before they went off the air, we received vox traffic from them indicating at least one Titan-class contact. You're the closest and fastest combat unit available; so we want you to do a quick recon. Head towards grid-ref 2342, and remain in contact. Over."
"Understood command," Asuka muttered, blasting apart the rest of the swarm as it finally began to surge for the PDF again. "On my way."
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The atmosphere in the medicae could only be described as tense as the gene-auspex whirred and clicked to itself. Shinji lay back down on the buck, and forced his mind to focus on the unusually soft mattress under him, the aches in his wrists and feet from the hybrid cultist's clamps, anything. Anything, but the five equally tense Arbites with their shotguns pointed not quite at him.
"How much longer," the sergeant -a man who had leaped at him and dragged him out of the fire of a stubber not one hour ago- growled loudly at the bustling medicae, rising his voice over the moans and shouts as the first casualties from the ongoing attack began to filter in.
"Hold on, hold on," the medicae muttered, grabbing the parchment spilling out of the auspex and scanning it. "The results are almost ready. Any moment now…"
A dull, scratchy bell tone sounded from the auspex's speakers and the servo-skull half embedded in the device stopped scribbling, tore off the parchment and handed it to the medicae with a mechanical flourish.
The tension rose sharply as the doctor studied the document closely, muttering under his breath.
"He's clear," the medicae finally said, quickly rolling the parchment up and slipping it into a numbered scroll-case. "A few unusual gene-sequences, probably due to his, ah, birth date, but no presence of Tyranid DNA."
Shinji sagged slightly in relief as the Arbites slung their weapons.
"Good," the sergeant nodded, before turning to Shinji. "We'd better get moving Pilot Ikari. The Inquisitor Lord wants you at the Evangelion Pen asap."
Shinji slid off the bed and, with a backward wave to the medicae, ran from the room, the Arbites falling in around him.
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Chucks of mud, grass, plants and the occasional remains of a too-slow Tyranid were tossed skyward as Asuka jogged out into the agri-fields surrounding the city at a speed a light scout Titan could barely match.
Anything? She idly thought at the shadow at the back of her mind as she started to climb up a hill towards the blinking coordinates on the bird's-eye-map floating on the entry plug's screen.
No, came Kyoko's reply. Nothing large is showing on the sensors, neither some huge Tyranid… or the Draco Nobile. I'm not certain about these bio-sensors though. They seem…
A roar filled the world and sent a Asuka's spine as something came over the ridge ahead of Asuka, before sowing to a halt and hissing in cautious warning.
Complaints later, Mama, Asuka thought, already turning her focus to the creature. It was a serpentine monster, five taloned limbs tensed and ready to tear, while a sixth small, but rapidly growing limb sprouted from a shattered arm. Glowing, super-heated bio-plasma dripped from it's jaw as it hissed at the unexpected threat. Reacting quickly, Asuka started to raise her gun.
The Tygon moved first.
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Shinji entered Unit 01's cage at a run, the Arbite squad peeling off to join the other soldiers guarding the building, and dodged around servitors, startled Techpriests and the massive bulk of Unit 01's left foot. He grabbed his slightly worn plugsuit from the lockers against the wall and, ignoring the adjacent changing rooms, split for the elevator running clear from the ground to the top of the structure.
UNIT 01 IS ALMOST READY a Tech-priest Shinji vaguely recognised shouted as he left the elevator.
"On my way!" he shouted back, running for the gantries at a fast sprint. A servitor was already opening the entry plug's hatch as he reached the immense Evangelion. Shinji climbed into the entry plug, which jolted and descended into Unit 01 almost as soon as the hatch closed. Ignoring the chants as the Tech-priests slowly woke the behemoth, he struggled into his plug suit, wedging the clothes into a corner of the seat.
WE'RE FLOODING THE ENTRY PLUG the vox warned, as Shinji slipped the neural headsets into place. PREPARE FOR IMMEDIATE DEPLOYMENT
"Roger," Shinji replied, fighting down his gag reflex as the rising LCL passed his chin. "Initiating synchronisation."
Shinji winced as the cables wound down from the ceiling of the entry plug and slotted into the back of his neck. As the screens flickered into life, the mind-impulse link thrust it's way into Shinji's head, like a thin needle.
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The beast shot forward with an uncanny grace, four immense talons (one still smaller then the others, but growing quickly) spread ready to slice at the giant mecha. Asuka blasted at it with the bolter, sending shards of chitin flying. The stream of explosive shells actually tore several holes in the creature's carapace, but the wounds were minor, and sealed up almost as quickly as they formed.
As the Trygon opened it's jaw and tensed to leap, Asuka dropped the bolter, spread her hands and focused. The monster leaped for Unit 02's head… and slammed into the orange glow of an A.T. field.
Asuka quickly deployed the shoulder fin, grabbing the axe-blade with one hand. A quick twist deployed the extendible haft with a hiss of steam. Dropping the field and grabbing the power axe in both hands, Asuka swung, hard.
The blade swung straight for the Trygon's head, but the beast dodged with snake-like speed, the killing blow only managing to re-sever one of the monster's talons.
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PILOT IKARI a Tech-priest's voice hissed over the radio as Unit 01's clamps disengaged COMMAND RECOMENDS YOU USE THIS WEAPON
Shinji glanced down as a trailer rolled to a stop, a bulky weapon cradled within several heavy-duty clamps. Shinji carefully pulled it loose, and examined the oddly familiar weapon in surprise.
"Wait… is this a melta?" he asked, in surprise. "I thought that it was impossible to construct one on this scale."
IN THEORY, YES. EVANGELIONS DO NOT HAVE THE BUILT IN SUPPORT MECHANISMS OF A TITAN came the reply WITHOUT THEM, THE REQUIRED SIZE OF THE BARREL ALLOWED THE SUPER-HEATED AIR TO DISPERSE TOO RAPIDLY, REDUCING RANGE TO A COMPARATEVLY USELESS MINIMUM. YOU WILL NOTICE THAT THIS MODEL REPLACES THE SINGLE LARGE NOZZLE WITH MULTIPLE SMALLER, PARALLEL BARRELS. THIS ALLOWED THE THERMAL STREAM TO REACH A MORE EFFECTIVE DISTANCE
Nodding, Shinji shifted the weapon to his left hand and snagged a tank-sized Bolt pistol. He clipped the handgun to the mag-clamp on Unit 01's waist that, in the absence of several herds worth of Grox-hide, served as a holster. Grasping the melta again, Shinji ducked out under the manufactorium's slowly rising exit, before breaking into a sprint.
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Dropping the remains of the axe, Asuka desperately grabbed at the talons as the beast smashed into her. Unfortunately, she needed at least three hands, and she only had two. The twin upper limbs shuddered to a halt a mere handful of meters from her neck, her hands holding them tight. The lower two limbs scratched uselessly at her armour, two small and weak to do anything but scratch paint. The third talon, however, stabbed unimpeded into her abdomen, the sheer power behind the limb forcing the talon clear through both sets of armour and Unit 02's implant-riddled flesh. Asuka choked in sympathy as the pain seemingly slid through her own stomach.
As she slumped in pain, the Tyranid lunged forward, jaws wide open to bite.
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For a human, unarmed, hand-to-hand combat with a similarly sized Tyranid would be best thought of as a quick method of suicide. Even a Space Marine would be in trouble without some form of weapon. Although, speaking technically, Unit 02 and the Trygon were at a comparatively similar scale, Asuka did have a few advantages even without any weapons. A few hundred tons worth of powered Eva-class armour to start with.
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As the Tygon's head shot forward, Asuka dropped the pretence of weakly struggling with the Tyranid's arms and clutched at the Tyranid's head. Ignoring the pain as the two talons stabbed through Unit 02's armour, Asuka grabbed the Tyranid's right shoulder with her left hand and used her right hand to clasp the left side of it's head. Then she pulled her arms back. Hard.
Unlike humans, Tyranid did not evolve the face as a signalling device. Asuka, however, was convinced that it had an expression of shock on it's face as it's head tore from it's body.
The Tygon's body crumpled to the ground, Asuka gasping at the dragging pain as the immense claws slid free from Unit 02's body. Turning her focus inwards, Asuka pushed at the angel-derived flesh, the S2 organ fuelling a rate of regeneration unmatchable even by the Tyranids.
As the wounds shrank, the edges almost flowing together, she pushed back to her feet and reached down for the discarded Vulcan bolter. There was still a war to win.
To be continued…
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Gargoyles; A variant of the 'gaunt' class of Tyranid organisms, the gargoyle is approximately human sized. In this variant, two of the usual six limbs have developed into leathery 'bat-wings', while the second pair of limbs forms into a bio-weapon, usually a fleshborer (close combat mutations are very uncommon within this sub-species). As with most smaller Tyranid, the last two limbs have atrophied and hold little or no combat or manipulatory capabilities.
Melta (Titan variant); Broadly similar to the more common human scale variant, a Titan can occasionally mount a multi-melta weapon arm. This is fairly uncommon; although highly destructive when fired, the support mechanisms required to support the weapon take up considerable space within the Titan's structure, and tend to be exceedingly short-ranged. Most Princeps prefer either a longer-ranged, if weaker, weapon. If short-ranged weaponry is needed, most Princeps prefer the immense strength of a power/chain fist mount.
Grox; A large, horse-sized lizard, the Grox is presumably one of the first non-Earh species discovered by humanity. Exceedingly nutritious, Grox were bred in huge numbers, and now form the main farming animal on four out of every five agri-worlds.
