Alpha and Omega Book 2: The Fallen

by Xed Alpha

Having been cast down at the conclusion of his battle with the Leviathans, Shinji Ikari finds himself caught between his new world and an old one that looks suspiciously familiar. And while he may be trapped with only one companion, a certain someone universes away prepares to go to any lengths to see his return. Rated M to be safe

11. Chapter 11: Omega Series

Version 1.1 21/03/2015 Corrections with thanks to Vandenbz as always!

[A/N] And back again after a break to do some reading for once, sorry if I kept you all hanging, just needed time to recharge the creative side of me, better than ramming into writers block for 6 months so I humbly thank you for all bearing with me this long but I'm again glad to be back into it. Now then, let's pick up where we left off...

Chapter 11: Omega Series

"They've stopped firing…" observed the younger Shinji, looking warily up into the skies from the Thunder Child's conference room window having accompanied Misato aboard earlier.

His elder counterpart stopped alongside him and frowned as he looked up also, "I think they were just getting our attention. Aria had the fleet spread out into a formation ready to break off for an attack run, just to see how they'd react."

Young Shinji said nothing back.

The elder tried to ignore the uncomfortable silence for a while before finally stealing a glance back at where Aria was discussing something over a comm channel with Mari. The consort turned and leaned back against the window. He exhaled a long breath and looked down at his counterpart, "How are you doing?"

Young Shinji blinked, startled, before looking back up at him, "W-what?"

"It's a simple enough question."

No response.

The elder sighed, "For what it's worth, what I told you before –that offer– it still stands if you need it. You have my word that so long as I'm around nothing bad will happen to you. And even if something happens to me, I promise EDEN will keep you safe and make sure you want for nothing. I think she likes having someone to obsess over if anything."

Again, the younger had nothing to say, not so much as a confirmation that he'd even heard his counterpart speak.

The consort nodded at where Ayanami sat across the room in one of the chairs by the meeting table, "You've been looking after Rei then?"

Young Shinji just shook his head. He remained silent for a moment before finally speaking, "I can't look after anyone…"

The consort frowned, "I see..." And he looked over at where Misato stood engrossed in reading a display built into the table, "How's Misato-san doing?"

That got his attention again, but he averted his gaze quickly away once more, as if catching himself "I…I wouldn't know."

The elder narrowed his eyes a fraction, "Take a guess."

The younger stole a glance at her and the consort watched his younger self move his line of sight swiftly away, "I…I think she's okay. We don't talk much though."

"I couldn't help but notice that you're often together as of late. Did something happen?"

The young Third Child opened his mouth to respond but said nothing. He closed it again and looked off quickly, "I…I didn't…"

"Didn't even realize?" mumbled the elder, as if musing on it. He then watched his young self's gaze turn that bit more distant, "In that case, do me a favor."

"What is it?"

"Keep an eye on her for me."

Young Shinji frowned, "You want me to spy on her for you?"

The consort kept his eyes on Misato as he responded, "I didn't say that. Just stick around her and keep your eyes open. Ask her a few questions every now and then."

Young Shinji's brow knitted itself tighter slightly, "What kind of questions?"

Big Shinji shrugged, "Just ask how she is. Once in a while, just offhand, ask her something small like that. Ask...if she's okay."

"You…need me to do that?" asked the younger with a note of dubiousness.

The consort cocked his head into the tiniest of nods, "I do."

"Why?"

The elder just smiled wistfully in response and patted him on the shoulder before pushing off from the wall towards Aria, "I have my reasons. Do as you're told."

Young Shinji scowled at his elder's back as irritation spiked in him. He suddenly felt surprised at that though, in that he actually felt irritated. He hadn't felt anything in quite a while. The emotion kept hold even as he trudged across the room and dropped almost heavily into the chair next to where the WILLE captain stood hunched over the table slightly.

Her eyes turned briefly to look sidelong at him atop her glasses. She noticed the expression on his face as he glowered over at his older duplicate's back, "Problem?" she asked as she returned her attention to the display once more.

"I don't understand him…" he murmured.

Her gaze flicked briefly to the elder Shinji's back. She was frankly surprised her Shinji had actually bothered to speak at all. As of late most of his responses had just been non-committal nods or shakes of the head, "He's you." She commented flatly before going back to her reading again.

"He's not me," he responded. Misato paused again to look back down at him once more, "I'm me. He's…not."

As if of their own accord, Misato's eyes drifted up to catch a quick glance at where EDEN stood over by the elder Shinji's side, "I know the feeling…"

Another spike in young Shinji's irritation coincided precisely with the words, "How are you?" escaping unbidden from his mouth.

Misato's hand froze over the console, "I'm…are…are you feeling alright?" Misato regretted the choice of words as soon as they left her mouth. She'd forgotten who she was talking to.

Shinji kept his eyes set ahead, and after a moment of blank silence, he nodded once.

Misato inclined her head slowly and turned back to the readout, "I'm fine…" and then added in a quiet, almost reluctant murmur, "…thank you for asking."

Shinji sat in quiet for a while as Misato flicked through the various pages on the screen, pausing on occasion to glance at her former charge.

"Would you like some tea?" he then asked, completely out of nowhere, standing up rather abruptly.

"I…yes," responded Misato, "that would be very nice. Thank you, Shinji-kun."

Shinji nodded once more and then left to fetch refreshments with Misato watching in silence as he departed. She found it oddly hard to focus until he returned.

EDEN was observing out the corner of one eye and about six different surveillance cameras before turning fully back to the display showing sensor readouts of the two Mass Production EVAs. The screen may have been linked into her systems so she didn't actually need to stand there using her platform, but she enjoyed doing things the human way whenever possible. Dwelling on her observations, she gave off a quiet, contemplative, "Hmm..."

Shinji didn't look up from his omni-tool as he sifted through various incoming reports from the Wunder, "What is it?"

"What did you do?" she asked.

"Gentlest of gentle prods," he muttered before raising his voice back to a normal level, "Unit-Ω2 won't be ready in time…"

"That shouldn't be an issue," she responded, before adding "You don't spend much time around him."

Shinji smirked, "I'm the last person he wants around…besides my father perhaps. He finds me…uneasy to look at and be with."

EDEN spared a glance at Misato, this time without using her platform, "I understand the feeling…"

Shinji just smiled, and a moment later he turned about to go fetch himself some refreshments, only to almost collide with himself. Young Shinji held a stainless steel mug out towards his elder. He held a tray of other such mugs balanced with practiced ease in his other hand, "I read my mind," quipped the elder, gratefully taking it with a polite nod before going back to his work.

He took an experimental sip and narrowed his gaze.

"Too bitter?" Queried EDEN, again without looking about.

"A little," he mumbled as he sipped again, watching his young counterpart offer another out to Misato rather uneasily, "But it's still warm, that's what's important…"

Shinji's attention was drawn away by Aria's voice. She was still talking to Mari, "Let me put it like this: Do you know what one of the first rules of piracy is, Illustrious?" she asked of the pilot, whose image was being relayed from Ω8's entry plug.

"Hmm…not paying your tab?"

"You're a funny kid, you know that?" said Aria icily.

"Hey, I'm nearly thirty years old."

"Talk to me again in a few decades. No…it's to stop your mark from denying you your prize. You toy with those things and that fuc-"

EDEN coughed, cutting her off mid-word, "Children present. At least try."

Aria fumed for a single second and looked about ready to make a retort, but then seemed to think better of it and just went right on talking, "As I was saying. You waste time and your…enemy is going to let you know just how sacrificial those things are."

EDEN nodded, "The mercenary vessels in the flotilla are ready to move into their designated equidistant positions about the globe. They should be enough."

"And then I take care of them?" asked Mari, who was rocking back on her haunches in her command chair.

Aria spoke then, "Yes, but if Ikari's got any brains then he'll have built in redundancies and dead man switches to compensate." she inclined her head left just enough to look at EDEN.

"I can take care of them," she confirmed "Your operational guidelines are sound, we just need to get the ship close enough to interface directly with each EVA."

"Is it safe?" asked the elder Shinji, "for you that is?"

EDEN smiled, "It'll be very unpleasant from a strictly electronic standpoint for me to stick my head in there, but I'll be in no real danger."

Shinji nodded, "Aria?" he prompted.

She continued, "And are you sure about their Dummy System?" she asked, glancing to Misato this time.

She nodded, "It's advanced quite some way since 2015, but without a direct and continuous link to the MAGI, its ability to adapt to situations will be limited. It'll fight and do little else. Don't expect the EVAs themselves to be able to adapt to strategies either. You should also expect them to enter a full berserker state if pushed too far, and they will be fully equipped for zero-g combat too."

"I saw how you handled things during the recovery of Unit-01," noted Aria, adressing Mari this time, "I do hope that example wasn't indicative of your overall performance in combat."

Mari scowled, "Hey, I was only running as sharpshooter back then. You just let me get hands-on and I'll show you how I work. Besides, you gave me all these wonderful new toys to play with."

"Those toys won't help you too much up close. And I want them intact, remember?"

"I'll be good, I promise, Boss-chan."

Aria narrowed her gaze, "Just follow the operation guidelines."

"Yes, ma'am," she sighed, "I'm ready to launch whenever you give the word."

"What about the other one?" asked Aria.

EDEN spoke up, "If you're talking about Asuka, we've got her on standby since we can't fully guarantee stability of synchronisation at this point, especially in a combat scenario. However, given the circumstances-"

Aria cut in at that point, "-We'll keep her in reserve for now. One should suffice."

EDEN frowned, "Are you sure?"

"I don't want to rely on something that may fail and just end up becoming a burden that needs to be protected. We can deploy the other EVA if circumstances force it, but not before then."

EDEN nodded slowly, appearing to agree, if only grudgingly, "As you wish..."

A gentle shake reverberated through the deck plating and a brief flash emanated from outside, "Fuckers are getting impatient…" muttered Aria.

"Another hundred credits in the swear jar…" sighed the AI, "but yes, it looks like they've worked out that our shift in formation was not a precursor to an actual attack."

"So they're just going to keep prodding at us, are they?" asked Shinji.

"Then let's not keep them waiting any longer," said Aria, "We'll begin the operation as planned."

-Ω-

A satellite view filled the main display of NERV's command deck. The darkened chamber was illuminated by the occasional flash from the screen as the EVAs discharged their weapons on the ships below, along with the ever-present red-green glow of the Earth itself.

The bloody glow gave Gendo Ikari's face an eerie pallor as he observed the proceedings in complete silence, and even though Kozo Fuyutsuki moved with almost perfect quiet himself these days, the NERV commander could always sense his presence even before he actually spoke.

"No response from them yet?" asked the old professor.

Gendo gave no indication that he'd heard anything, which the sub-commander knew was a negative response.

At that point, the MAGI altered the image on screen, flicking up six smaller windows for their attention, each displayed a small angular craft breaking away from the main flotilla and heading off in opposing directions.

"Oh?" mused Fuyutsuki, observing curiously. He honestly found the recent ongoings and deviations to be a pleasant thing, at least in comparison to what Ikari had been planning beforehand. In truth, the professor didn't truly care either way about who won and lost in this battle between WILLE and NERV. He only stuck by Gendo Ikari because he made a promise to a certain someone, a very long time ago.

Other windows flicked up in the corners of the screen to display statistics on the supposedly fleeing ships. Despite appearing battle-scarred and worn, the half-dozen vessels were nevertheless capable of cruising along with no visible effort at well beyond hypersonic speeds within Earth's atmosphere.

Fuyutsuki's gaze narrowed as it became quickly apparent that their movements weren't at all random. Each vessel had taken up points at equal distances around the globe, and while all the vessels could be seen on satellite, only a few were positioned close enough for NERV to catch sight of the series of probes each began releasing into the upper atmosphere like a swarm of insects.

Both commanders watched in silence as the MAGI quickly drew lines between the small objects and the ships that had released them. The lines quickly formed an entire web that seemed to constrict the entire globe.

The image flickered, distorting slightly before stabilizing again. Then it happened again, only far worse this time. Static and pixelated blotches began to cover the image as the MAGI attempted to compensate for the weakening signal.

Gendo's brow could be seen clenching into a frown behind his visor as the entire display flickered once more before freezing. An instant later, the image shifted to black with two words in large yellow letters in the center:

CONNECTION INTERRUPTED

Gendo walked over to a nearby keyboard and entered a few commands. Technical data on their satellite network appeared across the main display. The status of each satellite was marked with the same words:

ERROR: CONNECTION FAILURE. UNABLE TO RESOLVE HOST.

Gendo's hand fell limply back to his side.

"Did they destroy the satellites?"

"No…" rumbled the commander as he returned his gaze to the main viewer, "It's a blackout."

"But the Dummy System will keep operating even without updated instructions. Surely they know that."

Gendo inclined his head, "Indeed," and with that, he turned and started walking away.

"You're just going to leave it like this?"

Ikari paused, "There is nothing more to be done. Contingencies are in place for this scenario. And they cannot black out even their own communications indefinitely. We will record the outcome and review the data afterwards."

Kozo just nodded slowly. He had to assume this situation was just the same as any other, that being one which Gendo Ikari could take an advantage from regardless of the outcome. The Nemesis series they had recently triggered had been just that: If it had succeeded in obtaining the variant Third Child then that would have been an advantage; if it had failed in that, then they knew that only something Angelic in nature could have prevented the Wunder's destruction by restoring her A.T Field, giving them an idea of just what the variant was capable of and what level he had reached, this also would be an advantage; should that not have happened, then the alien fleet would have been forced to engage the Nemesis Series and display their capabilities to Ikari so he could plan accordingly to match them in the future. Though some of these outcomes were more beneficial than others, it was clear to him now that Ikari was taking actions only where he could make gains regardless of what happened.

The professor spared the display one last glance before leaving also. He wondered what advantages Ikari could be hoping to achieve with this situation.

-Ω-

Leah looked back from her console and up to the command deck where Aria and Misato stood with the two Shinji's behind them, "Deployment complete, ma'am."

"Throwing an ECM blanket over an entire planet…" said Nirama lightly with a shake of her head, "Can you imagine trying something like this with the Earth back home?"

Leah smirked, "No patrol ships, no satellite defense network...this was child's play."

"Regardless," cut in Misato, glancing at Aria, "We can't stay like this forever. We're blinding ourselves as well as NERV."

"It won't take long," said Aria.

"You've cut off the entire planet?" asked young Shinji, almost with a note of awe, "How is that possible?"

Aria glanced back at him with the makings of a wry smile, "Pirate mercenaries, remember," she said, "We're packing enough ECMs between our ships to black out an entire star system."

The elder Shinji spoke up then, "I suppose the first part of any pirate operation would be to stop your prey from calling out for help."

"That's the general idea," said Aria, who turned back to address the communications officer, "How are we looking?"

Leah looked through her readouts, "We've got a single clear channel on tightbeam modulated to the same frequency as the majority of our interference, nothing else."

"Do you copy that, Mari?" asked Shinji, glancing towards the section of the main viewer that had a flickering feed from Mari's EVA displayed, "All eyes and ears are on you, and pretty much nothing else."

She grinned, "I'll try to make it a good show then."

Shinji looked on as Misato turned and departed for the Thunder Child to monitor the situation directly as it progressed. He was especially glad that Aria was commanding the operation now overall, since he knew that nobody outside of the Thunder Child or Unit-Ω8 would be able to get any updates or further instructions and few, if any of the people who worked directly under Aria T'Loak were the sort to deviate from the letter of instruction or neglect their orders once she had issued them. They knew better than that.

"The Thunder Child has detached moorings and is moving into ready position," said Tamara as both Shinji's moved off the bridge to their allotted position too.

"Illustrious?" prompted Aria.

"Ready and waiting, Boss-chan."

Aria turned her attention downwards, "Proceed with the launch sequence,"

"Ship attitude adjustments complete," said Hideki, who was focused completely on his display.

"The mass effect field around Ω8 is stable," continued Aoba, "Modified catapult line is clear."

Mari was busy adjusting her own controls, "Antigrav systems and thrusters are showing green." Her hands gripped the main controls and she rolled her shoulders. "Internal reactor stable. I'm ready to fly…"

-Ω-

In perfect tandem, the Thunder Child and a single assault scout broke ranks and then swept up into rapid ascent towards the two EVAs, tearing free of the lower atmosphere as easily as if it were just another cloud layer.

The pair of Mass Production EVAs orientated their weapons on the two ships, which were both doing a fine job of making themselves very presentable targets.

Both mechs fired in time with each other. The Thunder Child banked off and into a strafing run to allow the blast to pass harmlessly by, while the other ship was clipped on the starboard wing. No damage was caused, mainly due to its shielding being designed to dissipate positrons and intense cosmic radiation as standard during space flight, but it nonetheless made a very nice show of spinning end over end as if violently struck, going so far as to initiate a few power surges throughout its secondary systems. Now appearing appropriately chastised, the smaller ship banked off in the opposite direction with all the air of a limping dog, picking up speed only to weave about further attacks with a grace that it hadn't shown mere seconds earlier.

The Thunder Child altered her angle of flight towards the distant green figures crouched among the blanket of debris.

The frigate's GARDIAN system swept out like a scythe into the debris field, carving an open gap between the two EVAs. Her wings then locked themselves back into combat position, narrowing her profile enough to let her slip between the chunks of floating satellite.

A cloud of javelin torpedoes erupted from the ship's weapons array in passing. They arched about, locking in on the two EVAs, only for their A.T. Fields to dissipate the incoming threat a good distance away.

Tisala altered her attention briefly towards EDEN's hologram, "Anything?"

The representation twitched, "Nothing. The ECM's are still too dense for me to get an accurate reading on their A.T Fields' phase modulation. If I had that then I could probably adapt the mass acceleration field in the main cannon's firing chamber to match, but as it stands we're stuck as we are, unable to cause damage."

"How close do we need to get?" she asked.

"Too close for comfort," said EDEN, "I really would have preferred Ω2 be part of the operation from the start."

"Ours is not to reason why…"

EDEN hummed then as if curious, "it would appear to be working however: both EVAs are moving to close ranks with each other."

As it happens, Evangelion Units-10 and 11 really shouldn't have turned their full attention away from the planet. Unfortunately for them though, their programming had tagged the black ship as the main target and the smaller assault craft to be no threat whatsoever after considering that the larger vessel's weapons had been unable to penetrate their A.T Fields. It was because of this that they completely failed to notice the large shape rocketing up out of Earth's atmosphere on a stream of thruster plasma and antigravs towards them in line with that smaller ship.

"Illustrious…" Trailed in the voice across the only audible frequency around the planet as EVA-Ω8 brought up its automatic mass accelerator cannon from its leg compartment and leveled it at the two NERV EVAs, "…Cannon!" she screeched. She then proceeded, in quite true pirate fashion, to shoot both of her enemies squarely in the back whilst they were unawares.

The absurdly upscaled automatic pistol let out an arc of rapid fire blue bolts. The first few shots slammed into the A.T. Fields of the EVAs, staggering them slightly and lighting up the void with explosions. The rest were slightly more effective however, as the proximity of Mari's EVA nullified their only real protection an instant before impact. The blue darts of light tore through the armor of Unit-11 and punched great gouts through the back of its right shoulder. A couple of stray shots caught Unit-10 in the side, tearing a sizable chunk out of its lower right torso.

The EVAs used the momentum created by the barrage to swing themselves about to face the new attacker, only for Ω8's feet to slam right into their faces in that very same second, rebounding back off of them in the process. The two enemy EVAs were sent spinning back uncontrollably, end over end for a good few thousand meters. In the end they managed to come to a halt using a combination of the lines keeping them secured to the debris like a restraining net and the force of their A.T Fields.

Mari switched over to the Mass Effect reactor built into her EVA's back, flicking propulsion modes over from anti-gravitational to mass displacement in the process. The system had been linked to her synchronization with the EVA and was programmed to interpret her neural impulses into navigational instructions.

Tisala frowned, "What did she say? Illustrious-"

"-That's not what it's called," cut in Garrus from somewhere behind her.

Mari twirled her EVA about experimentally in the void, "Like having wings…" she could be heard breathing to herself. Her voice had a slight echoing quality thanks to the helmet she wore within the entry plug. Her new plugsuit was essentially a hybrid of a standard model crossed with a set of light combat armor, complete with atmospheric containment in case the seals on the entry plug were breached. The outfit may have appeared as light and fitting as the older model but Mari could feel a slightly increased weight and thickness to it as it clung to her. She found the weight oddly reassuring. It was for similar reasons that Aria had grudgingly agreed with EDEN to outfit the EVA pilots with basic combat omni-tools for use during operations. The only issue the other crewmen had was that the getup and blacked out mask almost made the diminutive pilot look like a pink-clad Cerberus Phantom.

Mari brought her sidearm up, centering Unit-10 in the floating crosshairs of her faceplate's HUD. She felt her smile spread until rear teeth could be seen, "Sorry, folks, I went a little overboard there. Permission to try again with a bit more precision?"

"That depends…" said Tisala, drumming her right hand against her console while almost idly maneuvering with her left.

"On what?" asked Mari, her finger twitching about the trigger as she moved back into the range of A.T. Field neutralization. Unit-10 began to bring itself about once more to fire back.

"Will you shoot regardless of what I say and are in truth just looking for any excuse to fire that thing again?" asked Tisala, watching the scene outside unfold as they circled around behind the two EVAs.

Mari cocked her head, "Probably."

"In that case…take the shot, Ω8."

Mari's feral smirk tightened just a little, "Thank you kindly..." She then flicked a switch on her induction controls and set her armament to semi-automatic. She waited for Unit-10 to finish leveling its cannon back at her before squeezing the trigger once. She then paused briefly to readjust after kickback before pulling it twice more in rapid succession.

In a quite staggering display of marksmanship, the first round shot straight down the barrel of the positron cannon, striking home on the fully charged capacitors within. The side of the weapon exploded outwards in the vacuum, taking out a portion of the EVA's shoulder and sending it flailing back just in time for the other two to strike home in the opposite shoulder and elbow.

Mari wriggled with barely contained glee, "Oh, beautiful! Oh, Birdy-kun I could kiss you!"

"Please don't…" came the weary moan from somewhere off behind Tisala.

"Think that got the point across. Best make sure…" said Mari, who quickly set her weapon back to full-auto. She then braced her grip tighter and fired off a full stream of shots up the length of Unit-11's leg and thigh before hitting home on its cannon too, shredding it to pieces, "Oh, I don't think I could ever get tired of this."

"Easy, Ω8," said Tisala, "Mission parameters, remember."

Unit-Ω8 held up its hands in defeat as Mari sighed, "Yeah, yeah, I remember," She then returned her weapon to the EVA's leg compartment after tugging free the connections to the rear of the mecha, the cable instantly retracting back into the rear of the weapon for ease of storage.

'Next rule of piracy…' Mari remembered Aria saying: 'Cripple your target's main offensive assets before closing in to mop up…' The pilot recalled the Omega forces doing as much with WILLE, albeit simply by removing Misato Katsuragi in that instance.

A tingle of anticipation ran up Mari's form. It was time for the fun part.

"Proceeding to next phase," said Mari, flicking her controls out of targeting mode.

A shimmering behind EVA-Ω8 was the only warning the two enemy EVAs got before their opponent was propelled headlong towards them at breakneck speed.

The production-type EVA tore through the debris field and carried on unhindered even as the MP EVA's support cables got caught up around her limbs, "Makinami…"cried the pilot as she brought her EVA back and extended her foot directly towards Unit-11's head, "…kick!"

The EVA's mass displacement system gave Mari an extra push in the instant before she slammed into the enemy EVA. Its red faceplate shattered like glass. Green armor crumpled like tin. It reacted instantly, but as opposed to flailing back, its hands instead lashed up and caught hold of its assailant's right leg and calf.

Mari blinked, her EVA still sprawled out mid-recovery as Unit-11 made to take full hold of her, "Hey, hands off!" she snapped, rearing back with her EVA's right fist, "Mari…punch!" and then slammed it into the EVA's already damaged face repeatedly until the top corner of the armor was pulled free, revealing the already bloodied visage of the beast beneath.

"Mari…" sighed Tisala almost tiredly as she watched the pilot repeatedly pound her captor's face in, "Why do you keep screaming your name before attacking?"

Mari sang a quick verse of some unknown song, punctuating each bar by slamming her EVA's head into Unit-11's. The repeated cranial damage finally caused it to flinch and release her. Mari dislodged herself with a final boot to the face for good measure and then drew her progressive knife. Her gleeful snarl never abated, "Because my EVA's all decked out with sci-fi stuff now. That means I have to name all of my attacks and then scream them at the top of my lungs. Don't you know anything?"

"I suppose I must have missed that particular lesson during my academy days..."

With another cry of one of her names picked at random, Mari charged Unit-11 once more until they clashed again, wrapping her legs about its form upon impact.

Mari could feel the rumble of the enemy EVA's growl through her form as it thrashed about in her grip, "Calm the fuck...down!" she shouted, plunging her knife into Unit-11's throat before carving a great gash down through its torso. Tearing the knife free, Mari then went into a literal stabbing spree, keeping herself latched on as she madly plunged the blade into the EVA's flesh over and over, "Go…fucking…still!"

Mari drove her knee into the left arm next, breaking something inside of it before slashing down into the limb with her knife until she had sheared it almost completely off.

"Isn't she going a bit far?" asked Tisala, glancing back at where Misato stood by the cockpit entrance.

Misato kept her gaze affixed on the monitor, "Don't let appearances deceive you. As with Ω2, you'll find that any EVA can be restored from even the most extreme levels of damage. Mari will know how far she can go."

"Well if you don't mind my saying, she doesn't seem the sort to know when to say when, especially when she gets excited."

Misato had no credible rebuttal to that given the current situation. Watching Mari now, she strongly suspected that the pilot would be using Ω8's teeth to tear off flesh if she had the opportunity.

Once Mari had finished tearing one of Unit-11's arms almost completely off and had successfully snapped its leg at the knee, she kicked herself away once more. The bonds that had been securing the MP EVAs to the debris still trailed off her back like a set of almost decorative ribbons. Crimson globules of LCL drifted about her like suspended raindrops.

Unit-11 had gone utterly limp.

Mari sank back into the silent tranquility of her entry plug and let out a long, pleasured sigh, "Sorry I was so quick to finish," she breathed out as she observed the decimated EVA, "It's been a while…"

She passed a reflexive glance towards her time indicator to see how much was left on the clock. It of course wasn't there however, having been replaced instead by a simple octagonal diagram representing the status of her internal reactor. She smiled weakly, "Of course…" and then turned once more ahead, "Now then, onto round-"

Mari was cut off by the sound of her own teeth snapping together as Unit-10's dropkick slammed into the top of her EVA's head. She winced and recognized quickly the taste of blood from where she'd bitten her own tongue. Her status indicator showed an impact point on three armor plates but otherwise there was no real damage.

Mari bared her blood-stained teeth and swung her hand about without thinking, slugging Unit-10 clean in the jaw. It forced the enemy EVA back slightly, only for it to swing back about with its own right cross directly into EVA-Ω8's face. The blow grazed across the blue shimmer of her now active shield and Mari slammed her left fist right back into Unit-10's torso with an added bit of thrust from the armor's mass displacement system. That was enough to force the enemy EVA clear.

"Why wasn't your shield up back there, Ω8?" came Tisala's voice over the comm.

Mari grumbled something inaudible before responding, "Didn't deploy it. Guess I got a little cocky. Won't happen again…"

"Well remember, technological differences aside, those things are still EVAs, and having a few extra options on yours doesn't make them any less dangerous."

"Don't worry…" she said, gripping her controls tighter as she squared off across the void with Unit-10, "I'll make him pay for that one."

A halo above Unit-10's head pulsed into being as it reversed the force of its A.T Field and charged Mari head on.

Mari braced herself and drew back her right arm at the last second, "Rocket…" she intoned, "…Punch!" and then hurled it out with all the added force she could muster.

The blow caught the EVA square where Mari assumed its jaw was. Its cranial casing shattered into a cloud of metal fragments as a result and its momentum was thrown off slightly. It wasn't quite enough however to stop it from crashing sidelong into EVA-Ω8.

The two mecha tumbled end over end through the vacuum as they grappled with each other. Mari quickly gained the upper hand however thanks in no small part to her more advanced maneuverability.

"Mari…" came either EDEN or Misato's voice, Mari couldn't be sure.

"What is it?" she asked, taking a second to knee Unit-10 in the groin for good measure.

"You don't have a rocket punch."

"I know," she chirped happily, her tone utterly at odds with the feral look on her face, "so I just settled on punching it really, really hard instead."

"Regardless, please try to use a bit more restraint this time. We were hoping to start off with them a little more intact than that."

"I promise to do my best," she said, just as Unit-10 caught her across the face once more with another well-aimed right cross. Mari didn't respond with a punch this time however, instead she settled on leaning her EVA's head back and slamming her forehead into that of the MP EVA. She felt a satisfying crack and squelch of compacting flesh and bone on the part of the enemy EVA.

Unit-10's retaliating blows weren't soft though, and even through her kinetic barriers, the reverberations occasionally had Mari knocked back in her seat as the two EVAs repeatedly pummeled away at each other. Occasionally they would be knocked apart, only for one to charge right back at the other again like a pair of wild dogs battling for dominance.

Mari blocked an overhead blow with her left hand and caught the other underhanded one between her thighs. She then reached with her free right and pulled out her sidearm once more. The connector cables lashed out automatically and secured themselves into place. Mari felt a pleasing thrum of power run up her arm as the weapon charged up to full in less than a second.

Before Unit-10 could react, Mari jammed the barrel of her pistol up under the EVA's chin before pumping a few choice rounds upwards through the skull. As Misato had said, Mari knew that such damage could be regenerated, but she also knew the kind of effect the neural feedback would have on the core of the Dummy Plug within.

Unit-10 tensed and then spasmed as flame and gore exploded out the top of its skull and brain case before finally going still.

Mari blew out a breath and settled back into her seat once more. She let the enemy EVA flop free from her embrace and then drift slowly away, "Sorry, little doll. Had to stop playing."

"Nice work, Mari," came Tisala's voice through the brief silence that had blanketed the entry plug.

Mari sighed tiredly and laid herself back in full, "No problem…"

"Apparently, both EDEN and Misato say that blowing its brains out isn't enough to destroy it, but also that it should be disabled for now. I think we can safely say that this phase is-"

"-No…" cut in Mari quietly and almost tiredly, still staring upwards before flowing back up into a sitting position to regard the two trashed EVAs.

"Please repeat that, Ω8. I didn't quite catch you."

"I said it's not over yet."

There was silence as Tisala glanced back to regard Misato, who was still watching in silence, her eyes were locked on the EVA nearest Mari.

"Wait for it…" came Mari's voice, "Wait for it…" she repeated expectantly.

Unit-11 twitched, followed an instant later by its companion.

"There we go…" cooed Mari with satisfaction as the torn flesh of the two EVAs began to bubble and writhe as it swiftly reformed. Armor plates then began exploding away around the damaged sections to reveal the hulking organic parts beneath. The exposed eyes of the pair pulsed with brilliant red light as they finished shedding their restraints before finally orientating themselves back on EVA-Ω8 once again.

Mari gripped her controls tighter, "Hmm, I think I can hear them growling even from here…"

"A berserker state?" breathed Tisala.

"Correct," said Misato, "The real battle begins now." She turned her attention back to the display, "Mari?"

"Don't worry, Captain. I've got this…"

"As you say..." Misato then went silent again and Tisala spared another glance at her, wondering if the reason she wore those shaded glasses was just so people couldn't see the concern in her eyes. Even so, her centuries of experience had taught her how to recognize someone hiding turmoil behind a rigid posture and crossed arms. In any other circumstance she would have strongly considered offering her a dance to cheer her up.

'Perhaps later…' she mused with a cock of her head before going back to her console.

The impact of Unit-11 slamming into Ω8 was strong enough to briefly wind Mari. Luckily for her, her armor remained undamaged. However her shields had to readjust themselves once more to compensate for the increased levels of kinetic force she was now being exposed to.

The EVA grabbed onto her and Mari could see its snarling visage under the shattered sections of faceplate as it lashed forwards and tried to sink its teeth into her shoulder. Mari feared for an instant that her opponent would find some gap, but obviously the technicians had been more than thorough when outfitting her, as the EVA's mouth clamped down and slid free to no effect.

Mari took that opportunity to punch the EVA repeatedly in its exposed torso twice before leaning back to knee it off of her.

That was when Unit-10 chose to crash into her from the other side. Both enemy EVAs immediately then took to gripping hold of an arm and leg each. They then planted their feet on their captive's chest panels and just started pulling, clearly hoping to dismember her right then and there.

A yelp of strain was pulled from Mari's throat as the tendons in her limbs tensed out and began stretching in sympathy, "'Kay…tried doing things the smart way…" she grunted, her fingers barely managing to flick out and start tapping away at the holographic controls that webbed her arms, "Time to try the Mari way..."

With no idea what the outcome might be, or even if it might rip her apart too, Mari altered the Mass Effect field about her EVA to reduce the mass of all three of them to as low as it could possibly go. She then flicked the force of her shielding into reverse right along with her A.T. Field.

A bright flash lit up space and the pair of EVAs suddenly found themselves repulsed away from their target by the sudden explosion of force.

Mari let out a deafening shriek of pain and the entry plug was blanketed with red emergency alerts and damage reports relating to the EVA's organic components. The shield safety mechanism kicked in and instantly reset themselves along with the reactor controls that she had effectively just forced an override on.

While the artificial components of the EVA were undamaged, reducing the mass of the organic parts and then blasting a wave of kinetic force through them had not been pleasant. Tendons had been shredded all over and there were numerous ruptures in nearly half a dozen organs.

Mari was bunched up on her side, her arms wrapped around herself as bolts of pain danced over her form. She fought through her tears to find the strength to punch the flashing emergency control that would immediately began lowering her synch ratio and then dial down the neural feedback. It took twenty seconds and four attempts before her trembling fingers finally obeyed her instructions to the point that she could succeed.

Mari flopped out onto her back, deflating almost as a cool wave of relief passed over her. Only then did she become aware of Tisala's voice speaking urgently over the comm, "-respond, Ω8! What's your status?...Mari!"

"I'm fine…" sighed Mari weakly, barely managing a smile, "Just did something…a little dumb."

"You just overrode the control mechanism on your own Mass Effect field!" snapped Tisala, "What in the hell were you thinking? The fact that you're even still in one piece frankly stuns me."

"Got it, " she said, her voice still weak as she pulled herself back into a sitting position, "Never again."

Mari heard the asari let out a relenting breath, "Are you alright?"

"Sore," was her response, "Otherwise…I'll live."

Mari turned her attention to the two EVAs, which her display had isolated and zoomed in on for her. Both were once more limp in space. Each twitched occasionally and their flesh again writhed as they began regeneration.

While all three EVAs had taken massive damage, it was clear that the Mass Production models had taken the brunt of the force. Flesh and occasionally whole organs floated in space about them, attached to the main body by only a few scant strips of gore. Their armor by now was all but gone too, "Well at least I didn't totally break them."

Mari moved into a readied stance and then scowled, flicking free the lines that were even now still tangled about the arms of her EVA from earlier, "Get…off." She snapped, struggling to untangle them until they finally uncoiled and floated off into space about her.

Then they stopped.

Mari's brow twitched and she brought her EVA about slightly to look at the unnaturally still cords.

With lightning speed, the seemingly harmless cords snapped taut and then lashed out to ensnare EVA-Ω8 like a pair of bullwhips around its arms and thighs.

"W-What the hell?!" cried Mari, thrashing as the cords tightened and then quickly began illuminating, glowing to life with an ethereal golden/white light.

Only then did it become clear that they weren't made of any kind of alloy, but appeared instead to be formed out of twin threads of intertwined organic material, like a pair of glowing double-helices.

Searing heat shot up Mari's arms and down her legs and an unearthly scream was torn from her throat as she felt herself exposed to what had to be the purest essence of pain itself.

"Mari!" this time it was EDEN's voice, "What's happening? I still can't get any sensor readings through this interference!"

Tisala watched as the two MP EVAs began closing in again on the captive Evangelion. She began entering a new series of commands, "I'm bringing our weapons back online."

"N-No!" shrieked Mari, obviously trying to be make herself be heard above the pain, "I'm not…done yet!" Her back was arched within the plug and she saw a veiny glow spreading up the EVA's leg and arm. Her own arm and leg mirrored it.

"Encroachment type…" she choked, "…fuck!" and then she was aware of the feeling of the two MP EVAs coming into contact with her once more.

"Mari, the plan is a bust," said Tisala evenly, "We must send the signal to sortie Ω2 and take out those EVAs on you. Visual reference has them dragging you back towards the upper atmosphere. We can't permit NERV to capture that EVA."

Mari inhaled a breath through her nose to calm herself and then forced her body back into a sitting position even as the agony intensified, 'got about thirty seconds before it directly infiltrates the central nervous system and I become my own worst enemy. If it weren't for the new armor I'd be in real trouble right now...'

She eased herself forwards and then gripped onto the two main control yokes with all the strength she could muster. She twisted them a complete one-eighty degrees before locking them fully back into place against the control panel, "Inverting…synchronization circuits…" she grunted, "Releasing… restraints…"

"The Nemesis Series…" breathed Misato just as Mari's barely audible words registered with her, "Mari, what are you doing?" she demanded, even as armor plating began bursting free from EVA-Ω8's shoulders and upper torso. A series of control rods then slid free from within the exposed spaces, accompanied by an additional heaving cry of pain from Mari, "Would you really go that far?" she whispered.

"I'm firing the signal torpedo," said Tisala as she swiftly fired the projectile designed to let those below know that backup was required.

Mari continued speaking as if she hadn't heard her captain, each of her words sounding as though they took every ounce of willpower she had just to formulate. A pair of shimmering green irises became dimly visible through her tinted face plate, "Recognize…" she managed to gasp out, "…back door code…Word of Four!"

A flash lit up space as a large portion of the EVA's remaining armor burst away. The three-pronged helmet shattered away also to reveal a swept back pair of bony protrusions that almost looked like ears, as well as a mouthful of jagged, razor sharp teeth capped with a pair of canines so long that they could only be called fangs. A ropy appendage snapped free from the base of the EVA's tailbone also, which in turn spilt up into a series of nine, tail-like segments with barbed tips.

Unit-Ω8's series of blazing green eyes glowed brilliantly in the depths of space, whilst a series of claws tore free of the armor coating the hands and feet. Finally, the joints of the limbs seemed to snap and morph, switching to a far more digitigrade layout.

It had only taken a few seconds for the EVA to transform itself from its former humanoid appearance into a slender, demonic fox-like abomination that was still bound tightly by the Nemesis series and two EVAs.

"By the goddess…" Tisala found herself whispering in a momentary loss of professionalism, "What is that?"

"The true form of Mari's EVA…" responded Misato after a brief pause, "It's what happens when the pilot casts away the EVA's humanity along with their own in exchange for power. This is Beast Mode, Third Phase, Type One…"

Mari's heaving breathes transformed into a strangled, quickly rising chuckle as she sank forwards again into her seat. Her fingers were arched like claws against her thighs, and anyone who could have seen past her faceplate at that moment would've noticed her teeth looking just a bit more jagged than before.

Mari kept on chuckling in the red darkness of her entry plug. Quickly the laughter intensified and the two Mass Production EVAs edged warily away. Mari's laughter then reached manic levels and her head snapped up to focus on the Nemesis series with blazing, fiery green eyes, "Just who the fuck…do you think you're touching?" she screamed, lashing outwards in all directions, tearing free of the two lines of the Nemesis Series as though they were mere tissue paper.

The shapes snapped taut in the air again and moved back. Mari however quickly discovered that whilst her armor was mostly gone, her new propulsion system was still very much functional.

This pleased her.

With an animalistic shriek of joy, she pounced in space directly at the pair of artificial Angel constructs, performing an entirely unnecessary forward flip in the process. Slamming into them, she captured one lashing shape right between her EVA's toes and the other firmly in her claws.

The Nemesis series fought desperately to break free as Mari happily pulled the shape taut, piercing it with her claws, and then just did what came naturally:

She sank her teeth into it.

Mari shuddered with pleasure as she felt the creature's reverberations of agony through her own teeth and then simply tore backwards, cleaving it in two. She found herself having to fight to ignore the taste, if only because she found that she loved it. Finally, she cast the remnants aside. The shredded remains faded back to their dormant appearance almost instantly, their life gone.

Mari flicked the other writhing creature free, and with a carefree giggle that was a stark contrast to the situation, she let her tail swing about of its own accord and the nine prongs stabbed through the length of the Nemesis Series before finally ripping it apart in all directions.

Ω8 was hunched over in space as Mari scanned for the two MP EVAs, her feral smirk affixed in place.

This felt good, too good. The pain in her body felt exquisite, and it was mixed with such perfectly primal exultation and ecstasy that Mari briefly wished she could just stay like this forever.

Sighting the two EVAs, she wasted no time in angling herself about and all but catapulting herself across the void at Unit-11. The MP EVA thrashed about as Mari impacted into its back and instantly latched on like the hungry predator that it was.

Mari ignored the feeble attempts to dislodge her and focused entirely on the exposed flesh about the neck. Mari also would've stated that 'hungry predator' was the wrong expression. Ravenous would be more accurate. She didn't just want to tear apart her enemy, she wanted to devour it.

Unit-11 would have screamed had sound carried in the vacuum as EVA-Ω8 plunged its rows and rows of teeth into its shoulder and ripped free a huge chunk of flesh.

The beastly EVA's head arched back to savor the flavor before snapping forwards like a striking snake to tear free another chunk. Over and over this went on until the mecha's arms hung loose by its sides and the spinal cord was all that attached the head to the shoulders. Huge chunks of flesh and bone were missing from the torso.

Mari released Unit-11, her entire body tingling as she sat back once more, "If I smoked…" she whispered, "I'd totally be needing one right about now." She then kicked the floating EVA off to one side in the general direction of the Thunder Child, "All yours, Lady Blue…"

Tisala actually breathed a sigh of relief, realizing that Mari wasn't as completely gone as she feared she might be. If anything, the EVA pilot seemed to be wielding this terrible insanity like some horrifying weapon.

"Move us into range for direct communications," came EDEN's voice, "We only have a small window before it regenerates."

"Already doing it," said Tisala, who had begun moving the ship into close range of the shredded EVA, wincing as two huge globules of floating LCL struck the front of the ship, coating the windows and black armor like a crimson blanket. It didn't take her long to carefully position the vessel mere meters away from the still shape of Unit-11.

"I have an interface," announced EDEN, her hologram briefly flickering a few seconds later as if shuddering.

"Problem?" asked Tisala, glancing down at her.

"Let's just say Commander Ikari obviously took into consideration something like this happening. Almost every bit of firmware and software is absolutely riddled with Trojan horses, worms and numerous other viruses, many of which appear to have their own degree of primitive virtual intelligence.

"There appear to be whole boards of ROM chips in there specifically designed for the purpose of infecting any interfacing hardware. He's put in backup control systems for the backup control systems. Some of this stuff is very nasty. I'm half tempted to wash my core down after this."

"Are you sure there's no risk to you?" asked Misato.

"Hardly. I've segregated my main systems so that I'm not directly connected. I'm also firing out localized EM bursts to flashwipe the various BIOS' that haven't been shielded."

"Just be quick about it," said Tisala, "I could swear I just saw that thing twitch."

"Don't worry, it won't be doing much more than that for quite a while." replied EDEN, "There...I've managed to send an emulated shutdown signal directly into the main control circuit. She's sound asleep now. The S2 organ should continue with regeneration in the meanwhile. Evangelion Unit-11 is now secure."

Tisala nodded and turned her attention back to Mari, who was by now joyfully in the process of eviscerating Unit-10. The first officer also noticed that a lot of the other CIC staff had turned from their consoles and were simply watching the normally chirpy EVA pilot in macabre silence.

As an asari, Tisala didn't really grasp what humans meant when they talked about their 'humanity'. She never grouped her own sense of morality and compassion under an umbrella labelled 'asarity' after all, nor did she refer to immoral or amoral actions of others as being 'inasari'. Seeing the utter absence of 'humanity' however was truly terrifying to behold. Whatever it might be that 'humanity' was, Tisala was just glad that humans for the most part had a relatively decent grasp on theirs.

"Stand down, Ω8," said Misato a moment later as she watched Unit-10 get broken into seemingly smaller and smaller pieces, "Target has fallen silent."

Mari kept on tearing into Unit-10 however, ripping away the chest plating and then cleaving chunks of flesh and bone clear like a child unwrapping a present.

"Mari, I said that's enough," she repeated.

The only sound she got back however was Mari's heaving growls and grunts as she continued to rip down into the EVA's chest until the core was exposed, "If she destroys the core the EVA will be beyond repair," cut in EDEN with a note of urgency, "Call her off!"

"Mari, stand down, that's an order!" barked Misato as Ω8's prehensile tails coiled together like a flexible spear and then snapped up in readiness to strike down into Unit-10's very center.

Misato's face paled as only snarling came out in response, 'She's been in beast mode too long…' she realized, 'Has she lost total control?'

The roar that tore out of Mari's throat escalated into a shriek of glee in the instant before she stabbed out.

A red blur slammed into the berserk EVA's back a second before her pilot could strike, sending EVAs 10, Ω8 and the newly arrived EVA-Ω2 spinning out of control through space in a tangle of limbs and a cyclone of spilled LCL.

Ω8's knees snapped together, trapping EVA-10 between its hind legs as her eyes pulsed an indignant green. The EVA's hiss was lost in the void as it arched about to regard the dark red EVA clamped firmly onto its back.

Evangelion Ω2 reared back from its position latched onto Ω8's back with one great red fist as the pink EVA bared its teeth in response. In that moment, a new voice intruded onto Mari's comm channel, "Will you calm the fuck…down!" barked Asuka, who promptly proceeded to punch the out of control EVA squarely between the eyes with one perfectly aimed blow.

Ω8's head snapped back and then forwards again, only for Asuka to smack it clean across one side of its elongated face with a backhanded blow. She then repeated the action from the other side.

Asuka kicked herself back from Ω8 and cautiously drew the ship-mountable cannon she had strapped to her back which, like Mari's weapon, had also been extensively modified and now looked for all the world like a strange cross between a pallet rifle and a hugely upscaled N7 assault rifle, "So are you going to settle down, Mari? Or are you going to make me take a few potshots at your arms and legs with this thing in order to make it a properly adequate spanking?"

Nothing happened for a long moment. Pure silence prevailed over the comm channel. Then, as if to respond, a hiss of steam seemed to escape from the shoulder pylons of EVA-Ω8, and the protruding control rods began rotating back into place. And after a further moment of stillness, the EVA seemed to shake its head as if to clear it, its eyes fading back to normal.

A grumbled murmur was the first verbal response Mari could give before finally speaking up, "Hmm don't tempt me, Princess. Sorry 'bout that, boys and girls…got a little too excited there..."

Asuka's posture relaxed in the entry plug and her EVA mirrored it as she shouldered the weapon once more, but otherwise she didn't dignify Mari's monumental understatement with a response.

"And you missed all the fun too, Princess," said Mari, "What kept you?"

Asuka rolled her eyes, "Omega's Two and Eight reporting in; targets have been secured."

Tisala's voice responded, "Copy Omega Two. We're moving in to secure Unit-10 now." She glanced towards EDEN's hologram once they'd gotten close, "Anything yet?"

EDEN seemed to hum with distaste, "It would appear that Unit-10 was at least partly aware of what we did to its counterpart. All main computer systems are locked out from even close range wireless access. I wouldn't want to risk dropping the communications blackout until we have this resolved either.

"Its standing orders obviously didn't include anything as complex as 'open a Dirac Sea to take your enemy with you should you be defeated.' No, I don't think even Gendo Ikari would risk something like that."

"Sorry, a Dirac Sea?"

EDEN's hologram seemed to shake with dismissal even as her platform emerged into the cockpit, "It's nothing you need to worry about," she said, speaking through her android form now, "Needless to say, with the EVA disabled as it is, and with no way for it to get further information, there's no way for it to trigger any form of self-destruct."

"But you still need to take over its on-board systems..."

EDEN nodded, "That's right. Excuse me…" she then turned and, to Tisala's confusion, walked right into the airlock.

"Wh-what are you doing?"

EDEN peeked her head out again, "Just stepping outside for a moment," she said, tossing her beret down onto the co-pilot's seat, "I'm just going to have to interface a bit more directly via this platform. Move the ship alongside the head and prepare to decompress the airlock."

"Is that safe?" asked the pilot.

EDEN smiled, "I'll be fine. Besides, I can always build another one of these if something happens."

The asari seemed dubious, "If you say so…"

EDEN merely nodded and then re-entered the airlock, sealing it shut behind her.

Tisala moved the ship slightly closer and angled the port side along the length of the EVA's left shoulder and neck, "Ready?" she asked.

EDEN sighed, "As ready as I'll ever be. Send me on my way."

Tisala nodded and punched the override control, decompressing the airlock.

EDEN thrust her platform's legs out just as the decompression finished, ejecting herself out across the gap between the Thunder Child and the heavily damaged EVA. She then triggered the magnetic clamps in her feet on impact and locked herself down onto the armor plating, sparing a brief moment to survey the remnants of Unit-10. It had been all but shredded. Its limbs were torn asunder and the armor was so far gone that there was barely any of it left for her to gain a foothold on.

"You alright, EDEN?" came Tisala's voice.

She cocked her head in response as she looked about, "Just…admiring the scenery. I'm proceeding on towards the entry plug now."

"Copy. How close do you need to be?"

"There's an access port on the neck, or at least there is with every other EVA design I've encountered to date. That should be good enough for a foothold. Once there, I can bridge the gap to it via my platform and we'll proceed as before."

"Understood. Keep us posted."

"Will do," she said, scanning about as she closed in on the buckled armor around the neck. Unfurling her omni-blade, she stabbed it under one bent section of metal and levered it off, snapping her own blade in the process but succeeding in her goal nonetheless.

After absorbing the broken blade back into omni-gel through her palm, EDEN carefully checked the newly exposed panel. It appeared to be mostly undamaged save for a liberal coating of LCL, and had the usual black glass display as well as various interface ports all still in place.

She brought her hand up and pressed her fingertips to the display. Thankfully, it was also undamaged within, and the screen flickered to life seconds later.

"I've found the access port and it appears undamaged. I'm initiating proxy interface now," she said via the Thunder Child's cockpit speakers.

"Proxy? You mean via your platform, yes?"

EDEN's hair fluttered in the vacuum as she shook her platform's head on reflex, "Not exactly, my platform is not currently linked to myself in any direct way. Normally it works by utilizing its own on-board virtual intelligence. That in turn is linked to myself via real-time feed. It's effectively an evolution of the way a MAGI controls a Dummy Plug operated EVA, in that I normally stay synchronized with the platform like a pilot synchs with an EVA. It is the VI which is accessing Unit-10's on-board systems. Put simply, my platform is currently operating on remote control."

"Your platform has a VI?"

"I had to take into account the possibility where I may end up cut off from my humanoid platform in a situation where its assistance may be needed. It is essentially just a virtual MAGI that I normally stay linked with."

"A second MAGI?" mused Tisala, "How complex is it?"

"It's nothing special. It to me is like comparing a virtual intelligence to a true artificial intelligence. It is however, in terms of coding complexity, about as intricate as the original Tokyo-3 MAGI. That platform contains enough backing storage to hold all the information that was stored in that old system several times over."

Tisala nodded, "I see. So is that how you hope it can interface with that EVA without your direct help? Since Unit-10 was programmed by another MAGI itself?"

"Precisely."

Tisala watched in quiet as EDEN's platform remained motionless atop the EVA's shoulder. She felt uneasy for some reason, "How is it going?"

"Almost done…" replied EDEN, and indeed, she confirmed the process complete less than a moment later.

"Okay," said Tisala, returning to her controls, "I'll just swing by and pick, well, you up."

"Please do."

Misato looked to the hologram, "Did everything go alright?"

The representation twitched as if it wanted to nod, "Yes. I'm keeping my platform on remote for now, just to be safe, or at the very least until I've had time to do a full decontamination of its systems."

"You think there's a risk of infection?" asked Misato.

"It's extremely unlikely, however it never fails to be too careful."

She nodded, "Good. Make sure it stays isolated from your main systems until you're completely sure."

"I do know how to look after myself," quipped the android as she emerged from the airlock behind the WILLE captain.

Misato wasn't sure if that was a veiled insult to imply that she couldn't, but chose not to dwell on it. She had been finding it far easier to deal with the AI version of herself just so long as she focused on how different her personality was. The occasional subtle and familiar mannerisms that her platform displayed however in terms of simple gestures and posture continued to disconcert her somewhat.

"If you say so…" she said.

EDEN cocked her head in acknowledgment, only for it to twitch slightly, along with the subtlest of tics tugging at one cheek.

Misato frowned, "Problem?"

EDEN shook her head, "No, it…must be a minor motor reflex issue caused by vacuum exposure. I'll add that to my diagnostics later when I reconnect."

Misato nodded and turned to regard Tisala, "Send the signal to your other ships. We need to begin salvage operations as quickly as possible. We'll need them to pick up Ω8's discarded armor plates while they're at it."

Tisala nodded, "I'm sending the second signal now, Captain."

-Ω-

It took quite some time to coordinate the recovery of the four EVAs from orbit, as well as to later disperse the ECM blanket from over the planet.

Shinji regarded the display built into the center of the Elbrus' bridge briefing table. He'd gone there from the Wunder at the start of the operation. EDEN and Misato had come to a rare agreement that, considering NERV currently held Unit-01, putting either version of him in a situation where NERV may gain an opportunity to acquire them would be unwise. Shinji hadn't felt it necessary himself, but he wouldn't deny that he could understand their concerns.

He spared a brief glance over to where his younger self sat at the other end of the table. Ayanami was with him once more also.

Rei hadn't required any supervision so far beyond some occasional monitoring by the medical staff. It turned out that her cloned body wasn't without its imperfections, issues he assumed even his Rei must have had to live with way back when.

The elder Shinji noted that Rei didn't seem to have any issues with being around him, and in fact she even seemed mildly curious about the concept of there being two of the same person.

Or as curious as Rei Ayanami ever got anyway...

Rei also hadn't requested anything in the way of entertainment so far. She had however, after a moment of indecision, accepted Kasumi's rather uncharacteristically charitable offer to loan her a few books, if only to give her something to do.

It startled Shinji that the thief actually seemed rather good with children, but she had later informed him that, as she found rare and unique things interesting, she found Rei to be particularly curious, if only because humans didn't traditionally come with Rei's particular color scheme.

Rei apparently had to categorically tell Kasumi however that she could not 'keep her', when she queried the possibility, not even if she was an 'ultra rare'. The thief had apparently been visibly disappointed.

Shinji looked at the holographic representation of EVAs 10 and 11. The majority of both were blanketed in swathes of red indicators to represent the damaged organic sections. He let out a long sigh, "Could've gone worse, I suppose..."

"Can they be repaired?" asked Aria, who was standing attentively behind him.

He nodded slowly, "It might take a bit longer than I'd have hoped, but I'm confident we can fully regenerate them and upgrade their systems within the timeframe set out."

Aria nodded slowly, but otherwise she made no further comment. Like back on Omega, she felt that so long as things were running smoothly then there was no reason for her to weigh in when she could just sit back and let things proceed on their own, under her vigilant supervision of course.

The automatic door across the bridge gave a hiss as it opened to allow both Misato and EDEN entry.

Shinji spared them a glance as Misato made her way about the table and dropped into the chair by young Shinji's side, "How are things progressing?" asked the elder.

EDEN replied, "Well, the crews weren't exactly happy with the bloody mess we dropped on them…"

"Did you remind them that they're being paid very well to do as they're told and not to complain?"

EDEN inclined her head, "I did. I assumed you would want some thinly veiled threats and mildly colourful language thrown in also. I feel I improvised rather well."

Aria inclined her head a fraction of an inch, but once more withheld any comment.

EDEN continued, "The first step will be the removal of the old armor plating. Full scale cellular regeneration has already started so we don't need to worry about that."

"What about the EVA's on-board computer systems?" asked the elder Shinji.

EDEN answered, "Unlike with Units Ω2 and Ω8, where some parts were salvageable, we're going to have to do a complete strip-out of all mechanical parts before replacing them with contemporary components. It may take some time."

EDEN's head twitched slightly again. Her right eye flickered open and closed a few times with a mechanical clicking sound. She clenched it closed with the help of her right palm and then shook her head, "That is getting to be very annoying. I'll have to…" she trailed off then however and her arms flopped back down almost lifelessly to her sides.

"Get it fixed?" offered Misato with a frown as she stood up to walk about the table. She stopped alongside EDEN and leaned forwards to carefully look over the twin holograms that represented the pilfered EVAs, "They'll do…"

"Well the salarians couldn't be happier," commented Shinji, nodding at the image, "When I told them about the work needing done on those two you'd have thought I'd just said it was Christmas."

"You've been monitoring the two crews," said Misato to the elder Shinji as EDEN's platform began to stir finally, the right arm slowly moving up and behind her back, "Have there been any problems?"

Shinji shrugged, "For the most part everyone seems to have reached acceptance of the situation, grudgingly or otherwise. Things are still frosty between some of course. I can't say this without sounding harsh, but I think getting rid of all your security and non-essential staff really has improved things. The remaining technical, scientific and command staff seem to be rather…open-minded about the whole deal if I'm honest. The mercenaries are all fine since they're being paid to work with them, as are the scientists, who have acclimatized oddly well with your own staff, much faster than I thought they would. Although I think Ritsuko wishes the salarians would learn to curb their enthusiasm a bit."

Misato nodded as EDEN turned slowly about to regard her, and only one person in the room had a clear enough line of sight to see the shape appear above the platform's wrist.

Misato could almost feel the platform staring at her from within her personal space and so arched her head about in mild irritation, "What is it?"

Only then did the WILLE captain notice that the platform's left eye was now a vibrant shimmering red, whilst the right was flickering rapidly between brown, green and that same red shade as its counterpart.

Only one person in the room had been given enough time to react as EDEN's right arm swung about, omni-blade fully extended.

Misato froze solid, and could barely process the fact that someone had just shouted her name, along with the sound of heavy steps charging across the deck towards her. Her gaze was instead half-filled with her own reflection in that gleaming red-orange blade as it plunged inexorably towards her chest, the other half was locked with the platform's soulless, empty gaze.

The last image Misato Katsuragi was sure she'd ever see was suddenly ripped away, as something tackled her in the side at the last instant and sent her crashing to the floor, smashing her head off the table edge in the process and leaving her half-dazed on the deck. Her eyes cleared a second later to see that the now motionless blade still remained in the air above her, having carried on and struck home perfectly on the spot she'd been occupying seconds previously.

Someone else was there now though, in that same spot, in her spot. Misato felt the blood drain from every single capillary in her face as her loosened shades slipped off and clattered to the floor behind her, rendering the scene into a sudden, horrible vibrancy.

A warm trickle of viscous crimson liquid dripped down onto her forehead and then trailed down her cheek like a searing tear.

Young Shinji hadn't even given pause to think about it, not in that moment, not in that one critical instant. He hadn't paused to ask 'what's going on?', if only because people rarely answered that any more these days and so he'd long since given up even asking. All he'd saw was that blade and the look in the Robot-Misato's eyes, and suddenly his legs were moving, moving as they had back when he'd charged across the Geo-front back towards NERV central to climb back into the EVA once more.

No, he didn't know why what was happening was happening, all he knew was what was about to happen, and just that he had to stop it.

But no, he didn't think.

The last conscious thought he had before his body went into almost instantaneous shock was the feeling of his shoulder colliding with Misato's back, and of that hot blade plunging into his upper left torso as though he were made of naught but air, lifting him clean off the ground in the process.

'So…hot…' he thought numbly as time held itself still for him. He was floating for a while, until the great mass in his chest pulled itself free slightly, and at some point later he was falling back to earth once more. He didn't feel the impact of the deck either, nor the growing pool of blood he now lay in, 'No…it's…cold. Why is it…cold?'

The last thing Shinji Ikari, Third Child and pilot of Evangelion Unit-01, was aware of before the void swallowed him up, was a familiar voice somewhere nearby, just on the very edge of his consciousness, screaming his name...

He honestly felt like smiling.

'I...think I did something right this time…right, Misato-san?'

-Ω-

To be continued…

-XA-

[A/N] And thus draws another chapter to a close. I honestly took some artistic licence with Mari's EVA, but I'm holding to the point that as it appears to be another production type like Asuka's, I'm guessing it has similar capabilities, but either way it's all in good fun. Regardless, I'll see you all next time.

Catch you in Chapter 12: The Consort