Chapter 15: Numberless, they Strike
There is, of course, a great deal of fine-tuning that has been done to the AT-Edit system. Again, such is simply a matter of adjusting the power of the Anti-AT Field to the needs of the Field in question. Minor variations on the strength and tuning of the Field are not enough to prevent catastrophic cellular transformation, as all AT Fields are unique to their soul. Thus, the process is a long, somewhat difficult one to successfully identify what adjustments are needed to the system to edit a particular AT Field in the way that the Committee desires. We have, however, several notable successes, both in animal testing and human testing.
- Confidential Report on the Theory and Application of Long-term AT-Field Manipulation, Section 4, "The AT-Edit System and Its Successes"
September 3rd, T-5 Minutes to Contact
Mari was positively jittery with excitement as she saw the coast of Japan grow larger and larger in her view. It was almost time! She drummed on her controls as she hummed along with the Thrill, the flame inside her chest roaring and crackling, the heat almost a physical thing as the blue ocean beneath her Unit-05 became the green ground.
She watched intently for the telltale signs of people realizing they would be coming their way. Namely, the missiles and bullets that they shot at them. And yet… "Hm. That's odd." she mused aloud. "Usually I'd think that people are a little more… excited we're coming."
After a moment, the city itself came into sight, except… it was a lot emptier than the simulations made it seem. And were those…?
Several pinpricks of light blew her train of thought off the tracks, as one of them became a howling bolt of… something that slammed into the underside of the transport uniwing carrying the Mass-Production Eva beside her, shearing off the wing and causing it to begin spinning madly out of control before the MP-Eva extracted itself and unfurled its own wings.
The shot was soon followed by a barrage of missiles, positron shots, and rods of tungsten-carbide that chewed through the transports, and Mari released herself just as one of the rockets caught the left side of her uniwing, her clipped on wings unfurling as she glided down to the ground, throwing an AT Field up in front of her.
Mari opened a general channel to the other Evas. "Well, it's all gone tits up! I'm setting down outside the city to keep an eye on the Evas that have gone down there."
Mana's face appeared on a screen beside her. "We will gather outside the city and enter on foot. The approach from the air seems to be covered quite effectively."
"See you down here!" Mari replied as she pulled her knees to her chest, touching down and standing up as the wing assembly was blown off her back, revealing the sheath to her Progressive Sword.
They were in between two lakes, maybe three, and the top of the city that they needed to get to now seemed to peer over the trees at them.
'Well, then,' Mari thought as she felt the crate carrying Mayumi's Positron Gun-Lance slam into the ground several dozen meters away from her, 'it seems we have some willful dance partners.'
The Thrill glowed a little brighter as she realized that. This was going to be even more fun than she'd first thought it would be.
. . .
Asuka lowered the rocket launcher as the last of the transport uniwings went down, its occupant floating towards the ground with the assistance of its AT Field, and couldn't help but grin. "Man, if we can catch them off guard this easily, this is going to be less fun than I thought."
"Now, don't get too cocky, kid." Daniel's voice chimed in as she set the rocket launcher aside and picked up a dull grey-blue Lance copy. "We may have stopped their dive into the center of the city, but I doubt a few potshots at their carriers will dissuade them easily."
"Yeah, yeah." Asuka nodded as she keyed in the command center. "Hyuga, do you have a lock on their position?"
"One moment." Hyuga replied as he looked away from the screen for a moment. He looked back. "Scans are showing them on the far side of the second Lake Ashi, about 25 kilometers from the city limits."
Asuka nodded. "Good. Get the pop-up plates up on that side. Focus on where they might head if they go in a straight line."
Hyuga nodded. "Will do."
Hyuga's face disappeared from Asuka's sight as she pulled up the rest of the pilots. "Alright, we know what to do. Daniel, get your butt up here with me and Toji. Hikari, Shinji, stay behind us and catch the Units that try and get behind us. Kaworu, keep having fun with Rei's anti-material rifle and offer long-range support."
A chorus of affirmations preceded the Evas and Titans shifting towards the direction of the far-off billowing pillars of smoke.
As they shifted, Kaworu's face appeared in Asuka's view. "Actually, I have a question. More of an idea, really."
"Oh...kay." Asuka said, trying to hide the skepticism in her eyes. "What is it, Kritzeln?"
"I could try opening a channel to Mariah's Unit." Kaworu replied.
Asuka blinked as she got to her position. "I mean… I guess? Not much to chat about in the middle of a combat zone." she said, her uncertainty now far more open.
"Perhaps, but I could try to get her to see reason before we come to blows. I have perhaps the most immediate relationship to her in this place. If anyone can do it, it's me." Kaworu said with utter conviction.
It was a silent moment before Asuka shrugged. "Well… as much as I'm spoiling for a good fight, if we can tone down the number of enemies we have to worry about, I'll let you try. If you can even get a connection to her."
Kaworu smiled slightly. "I have a few ways I can try to open a channel to her. I was a part of SEELE, after all."
"You know, I don't doubt it." Asuka said. "Will you need to move closer?"
"It would probably help if I established a visual contact with her Unit, Unit-05." Kaworu said after a moment's thought.
Asuka sighed quietly. "Alright, then."
She pulled up Daniel, and his eyes darted over to look at her as she spoke. "Daniel, you're switching with Kaworu. He's got an idea he wants to try out, see if we can take Mariah out of the fight without needing to punch her."
Daniel nodded, and FT Unit-00 began to step back as the swordspear in its hands disappeared. "Sounds good." he said before his face blinked out of existence.
Asuka nodded slowly. "Yeah. I sure hope it is."
. . .
"Targets are beginning to advance!" a technician called out, his voice echoing up to the command platform as the screen showed an overhead view of five of the Evas, one colored bright green, one dark blue, the rest the bone-white of the Mass-Production Evas as they split off from a group of four, a gold unit flanked by three more MP-Evas.
"Can we get a better look at the advancing force?" Misato asked, and after a moment, a long-range drone camera view showed the fronts of the approaching Units, the green one seeming to be refraining from skipping towards them as the navy blue one, its right forearm encased in… something that was matching its color, marched in front of the three MP-Evas, two disk-shaped forms striped with caution markings clacking against its left hip. The MP-Evas each carried copy Lances, not bothering to hide them as the double-ended blades the last MP-Evas wielded.
Rei looked up at the sight with trepidation. She had heard—felt really—the plan that Kaworu had come up with. It was… bold, what he had proposed. But if it worked…
A coal of fear in her chest burned a little hotter at the thought of what could go wrong. Then, a soothing presence almost, but not quite, put the coal out as Eleanor put a hand on her shoulder. She looked up at her, a grateful expression on her face.
Eleanor smiled and nodded silently. She'd gleaned what Kaworu planned to do, and silently passed it along to Misato and the others here on the command bridge as well. Everyone was waiting for Kaworu's plan, to see if reason would win the day before weaponry.
"Alright, Ritsuko, Maya, Mr. Aida, Mrs. Akagi." Hyuga said, turning to look past both of them. "You're up. If there's any time to do this, it's now."
Eleanor and Rei followed Hyuga's gaze to look at Ritsuko, Maya and Kensuke hunched over three laptops, typing madly as Naoko looked over Ritsuko and Maya at their progress, seemingly unaware of the hands she had on both their shoulders.
Ritsuko didn't even look up as she spoke. "We're beginning to search for the transmission now. We'll piggyback off it once we find it."
Hyuga nodded as he turned back to the screen. "Good. Let us know when you start."
Eleanor and Rei looked back out over the wireframe hologram of the city that showed the green arrows, marked with E for the regular Evas and FT for the Frame Titans as they shifted towards what Rei assumed was the direction their enemies were coming from.
'Kaworu… stay safe.' she thought, not for the first time. Then, annoyance flared up for a moment. 'That idiot scribble. I should be out there. At least I know I can still get replaced for the moment. Him, on the other hand… unless…'
She managed to hide a blush at the rather odd, somewhat uncomfortable thought of Kaworu's soul in one of her bodies. It would work, no doubt, at least in the short term. But it would make things… difficult.
. . .
Kaworu, only somewhat aware of the feelings and thoughts of the woman he loved, furrowed his brow in concentration as he pulled up a console in his cockpit, typing madly as he came to a stop beside Asuka and Toji. Hopefully, the backdoor that SEELE had taught him about when it came to accessing the Evangelions of NERV, should the need have arisen, worked on these others as well…
As the enemy group came into sight, Kaworu smiled slightly as a UN logo flashed on the screen for a moment, followed swiftly after by a SEELE logo that was only there for a fraction of a second, before a list of Units he could contact spooled out before him.
'Perfect.' he thought, as he scanned the list of Units before him. His brow furrowed for a moment as he saw the names of the Mass-Production Units listed as able to contact as well. 'That's odd.'
He shook his head slightly. They were getting close. And Mari had gotten out her Progressive Sword. He knew what that meant when he was in the simulators with her. He quickly tapped the name of Unit-05, and the list disappeared from the panel, Mariah Marlowe's face appearing in it.
Mariah blinked as she glanced over at the new panel, then blinked again as she turned her head to look at it fully. "Oh, my. Puppy? What are you doing talking to me?" she said, surprise evident in the wide eyes behind her red-rimmed glasses.
Kaworu smiled slightly as he caught Unit-05 stumbling to a stop out of the corner of his eye, the other Evas stopping as well. He felt a simmering... something on the other end of his connection with Rei, and resolved to explain it to her later.
Mariah's gaze flicked to somewhere else. "Yeah, yeah, hold it, Mana, I've got some catching up to do." she looked back over. "So, where are you?" her eyes narrowed slightly. "You wouldn't happen to be in our way, would you?"
"Unfortunately, Mari, yes." Kaworu replied with a sigh. "I do happen to be standing in your way. But I do it because what you are about to do will not save the world. It will end it."
Mari blinked and tilted her head slightly. "Really? Why do you say that? Because of all the people I expected to try and hack into us and give some impassioned plea to not get on with our mission, it wasn't you."
"Because I have seen what will happen if you attempt to follow through on your, on what was my mission. It will not save the world. It will dissolve humanity, all of humanity, and fulfill a cult's desires to ascend to godhood." Kaworu replied, his expression nearly grim.
Mari actually drew back slightly as he finished. "Uh… wow. That's kind of a stretch, puppy. Not gonna lie."
"Oh, don't worry. It won't be, once I show you." Kaworu said, his soul reaching out and connecting with Mariah's soul, then with who he presumed was Mana, then his brow furrowed as he stretched out to try and find the soul of the third pilot.
As he brushed past the souls of the Mass-Production Units, his interest was piqued for a moment as he found… knotted clumps of Frames in the Entry Plugs. He shook his head as he stretched a little further, then found the last pilot's soul.
He linked them all together. "Look and see." He said, and he saw Mari's eyes widen for the briefest of moments as he channeled all he had seen and experienced of Third Impact, and pushed it through to their still off-tune souls.
It took only a moment, but Mari's face slacked as she experienced the truth of what she was about to do. "Oh…" she said quietly. "Oh, my."
"You see what can happen. What will happen if you succeed." Kaworu said after a moment, his voice tinged with sorrow. "Please. Stand down. We can stop this from ever happening. We can save the world in other ways."
"But…" Mariah said after a moment. "We have… a job…"
"Do you really?" Kaworu asked softly. "Or are you simply being used, as I once was?"
. . .
Far away, hidden from the world, Lorenz Kihl sighed. He'd placed such hope in the Numberless Children, and in the process that made them what they were supposed to be. It had been a daring means to ensure Instrumentality could be achieved, that the Children tasked with ushering it in would be utterly loyal. If they truly could be undone with simple words, with an impassioned plea from the last Angel…
"I'm disappointed." SEELE-4 said, sighing quietly. "Arqa was supposed to make this such an easy thing. And yet, they hesitate. The Children always seem to hesitate when the need is greatest."
"But their Evangelions will not." Kihl, SEELE-1, said with a finality born of knowing. "Activate their Dummy Systems. They will take care of the rest."
. . .
Mariah tried and failed and tried again to process what she had just… seen? Heard? Felt? She wasn't quite sure what she had done, but Kaworu had made her do it. Somehow.
"Puppy?" she said quietly, Mana's own slack face in the other panel all but forgotten, "what… how did you do that?"
"I can explain that, I promise. But you'll ha-" Kaworu said.
Then, the panel with Kaworu's face disappeared as the plug went dark. Then a red light filled the space as a banner with the words 'NuDummy System Initializing' stretched across her vision.
Mari looked around with a brow furrowed in confusion. "What the hell?" she murmured.
Two clamps suddenly flashed over her controls, trapping her hands in the joysticks. She tugged, then tugged again, but her hands stayed fast wrapped around the handles. "Hey. Hey! This isn't cool!" she shouted into the plug.
Suddenly, her head was jerked back by her now humming A10 connectors, slamming her head back into the headrest and pressing her braided hair into the back of her neck. "Ow! Stop it!" she yelped, straining to pull free of whatever force held her in place.
She heard the back of her seat whir, and she looked up as best she could as she saw… something swinging down to cover her face.
"Aw, man." Mariah muttered. "All this for a spot of conversation…"
The thing covered her face, and she felt something click into place on her A10 connectors as a pinprick of light came into being in the center of her vision. Then, thought, emotion, was swept away as the pinprick of light became a rushing rainbow of colors, swamping her vision and becoming all.
. . .
As the Numberless Children's Evas dipped their heads and the lights in their eyes went out, the panels with the Children's faces disappearing, Kaworu's eyes widened as he opened a channel to the other Evas and Titan and to command. "The Numberless Children's Evas are now being controlled by a Dummy System!" he nearly shouted.
"Well, then let's get them out of there now, while it's still activating!" Asuka replied, breaking from the line to dash over to the dormant Unit in front of her.
Before she could get far, she slammed into a wall of prismatic octagons, and her eyes widened as she was forced back by the now advancing wall, narrowly parrying a falling strike from one of the MP-Eva's Lance copies as she caught Kaworu stepping forward and parrying another strike from another of the MP-Evas, swiping at its head as he did. The pale Unit leaned to the side, the slash cutting nothing but open air.
"Verdammt! These things are starting to properly use their AT Fields now!" Asuka shouted as she finished her stumble back, readying her Lance copy as the MP-Evas moved forward to cover the Numberless Children's Units, Lance copies bristling out at the three of them as the pale Units moved forward.
She pulled up three screens with the press of a few buttons. "Shinji, Hikari! Move up! We're going to need all the help we can get. Daniel, start taking shots at the harpies! If you can do something with Interfacing, do it! Their AT Fields need to be breached."
Affirmations preceded the screens winking out, but Asuka never saw it as her focus lasered in on one of the white Evas that advanced towards her, its geometric smile seeming to leer at her without any eyes. She never saw the other Units splitting off to deal with Kaworu and Toji.
'Alright, you harpy freak. You want to try and eat me? Come on, then. Try it. Let me break those pearly whites you like to show off." Asuka thought as she shifted her grip on her Lance, then drove the point towards its chest. The MP-Eva batted the Lance copy aside, turning its backswing into a series of slashes and jabs.
Asuka's brow furrowed in concentration as she began to intercept the strikes, parrying and slicing and stabbing as she got the chance. 'Man, these things got a hell of an upgrade. They actually put up a fight now.'
Asuka gave a grim little smile as she gave a little more ground, then a little more, then a little more. 'But even still, we've got a trick card up our sleeves.'
As she batted away one more overhead chop, a dark wedge of metal appeared in between Unit-02's head and right shoulder pylon, glowing with prismatic light as it rocketed forward, punching through the AT Field that the MP-Eva put up like it was wet cardboard and going for the Unit's head.
It leaned to the left, and the metal wedge tore through the Unit's right "cheek", shattering teeth and sending a stream of blood into the still present buildings behind her and into the air. Even as the Eva reeled back, the skin around the wound began to bubble as it covered the wound, the grin appearing in full again in moments.
Asuka felt a near-feral grin spread across her face as she created more wedges of metal, another two flying towards the MP-Eva. It batted away one of them as the other shot through its shoulder, bursting out the back and embedding itself into a building in a plume of ash and smoke.
"That's right. Come on!" Asuka shouted, leaning forward in her chair as two more wedges flew out, one batting away the Lance copy as the other buried itself in the Eva's stomach. "You can't touch me!" she continued, as she raised her Lance copy over her head and swung down.
Then, a flash of purple, almost pink slammed into the Lance before it struck, the impact vibrating in Asuka's hands as she flicked a glance to the side, and her eyes widened.
The green Unit, its once green eyes now glowing a baleful orange, slid its Progressive sword down the shaft of the Lance copy, throwing up sparks as it sliced towards Unit-02's chest. Asuka jumped back, swinging the Lance copy down, causing the sword to slide off of an armor plate.
Asuka shifted her grip up the handle of the Lance copy, shouting wordlessly as she jabbed for the Unit's head. The green Unit stood still, its only motion to slap at the blade of the Lance copy as it approached. It hit one of the tines with the back of its hand, and Asuka's eyes widened as the fork of the bident passed cleanly around its neck.
In a flash, the green unit grabbed the handle of the Lance copy and swung the sword in a horizontal slash once again, and Asuka stifled an angry yelp as she let go of the Lance and jumped back.
The tips of the Lance copy swung up, and in a smooth motion, the green unit twirled the Lance copy into a one-handed grip, the handle rising from behind its back as it launched into an intricate series of attacks, handling the Lance copy and sword as if they were extensions of its body.
Asuka continued to jump back and dodge, trying to make a break for a weapons building with a melee weapon, but getting corralled back by the green Unit's attacks. 'Dammit.' Asuka thought, increasingly desperately. 'I need a weapon. I need a weapon. Can I make one?'
Asuka set her jaw as she ducked another slice by her former bident. 'What am I thinking? Of course I can.'
She reached out, into the core of the monster that she had tamed, that held the beauty within the beast. "Mama!" she shouted.
"Coming right up, liebling!"
Asuka planted Unit-02's back foot as a handle of dark metal appeared in both her hands and she swiped up as the green Unit made another swipe at her with the Lance copy. In a flash, a massive blade flowed out, the strike slamming into the base of the Lance copy's head. The strike shattered the Lance copy, sending the head of the weapon flying away before it slammed into the ground.
Asuka barely caught the sight of the MP-Eva's unfurling its wings and floating off somewhere from the corner of her focus. All that mattered was the sight of the green Unit dropping the now somewhat useless haft, and taking its sword in two hands as it settled into what a tiny portion of her mind whispered was an ox guard, the glow of the Progressive element putting a pink hue on the parts of the face and neck the light touched.
Asuka settled into a fool's guard, the blade of her sword beneath Unit-02's hips, the tip almost touching the ground, seeming to invite whatever came next. 'You like to play with swords?' she thought with a small smile. 'That's fine. I love playing with swords.'
. . .
The blades of the MP-Evas came quick and heavy, jabbing and slashing at Unit-04 as the setting sun glinted off its chrome form dodging and jumping back, the Lance copy in its hands gleaming dully as it flashed from side to side, batting the strikes away.
Toji spared a glance for the dark blue unit behind the MPs that seemed to just… stand there, before he batted away another series of strikes. 'Well, alright, then. If you're just gonna stand around menacingly, the least you can do is stay out of the way.'
The attacks somehow became more fierce, more pressing, and Toji began to struggle to keep up with them. "Uh, guys…" he said into a hastily opened general channel. "I'd appreciate a little help here."
As he finished speaking, the MP Units were bathed in a bright yellow light from behind him, as a massive blade swung down from above, only slowed by the AT Field that the MP-Eva to his left put up before jumping to the side. To his right, a series of glowing bullets slammed into the AT Field of the MP-Eva they targeted, pushing and tearing at the Field for a moment before breaking through, pushing the MP-Eva back a step as the rounds riddled its body, pockmarking its armor.
Toji took another step back, falling in between Unit-01 and Unit-03 as he sighed loudly. "Man. Thanks for saving my ass."
"Not a problem, Toji." Shinji said, and he could hear the determination in his friend's voice.
Toji nodded, focussing for a moment as a massive, sharpened stake of wood grew between the tines of his Lance copy, transforming it into a familiar trident. "I've got shark-girl here in the middle." Toji said, the surety of oak in his words. "If you guys keep the harpies busy, I can take her."
"Got it." Hikari said, her Progressive Glaive batting away a Lance copy as it probed their defenses. "Stay on your toes. We don't know what her combat style is."
"No need to tell me twice." Toji replied as the deep blue Unit stepped forward, raising its right arm, its hand and most of its forearm covered in a sleek, geometric block. The block began to hum, and from the top and the two sides, claws that glowed the purple-pink of the Progressive element slid out, and the Unit settled into a wide, powerful stance, its claws out towards Unit-04.
"Alrighty, then." Toji muttered to himself as Hikari and Shinji drew off the MP-Evas. "Don't let her get close. Should be easy enough."
Then, the Unit seemed to fuzz around the edges, and Toji leveled the Lance Copy as he gulped slightly.
After a moment, the Unit moved almost impossibly fast, blurring for a moment as it seemed to streak diagonally to his right, coming to a stop well within the reach of the Lance copy he wielded as it swiped down at his left arm.
Toji yelped as he jumped to the side, his synchronization allowing him to feel the heat of the claws as they passed within inches of Unit-04's arm. 'Alright, too close!' he thought as he frantically backed up and swiped at the Unit in front of him. It swiped at the blow with its claws, sending the blade into the air as it blazed forward, stopping dozens of meters in front of him before drawing back and punching with its claws.
Toji brought the haft of the Lance copy between him and the attack, the two middle claws missing the handle as the glove slammed into the haft, the claws stopping meters away from the Unit's chest.
Toji shoved the claws away as he brought the trident down in a vicious hammer blow. The Unit leaned back as the blades barely missed her, slamming into the ground with a rumbling crash.
And yet, Toji still smirked as wood, tougher than metal, grew and spread over one of the Unit's feet, locking it in place. "You're quick on your feet, shark-girl, I gotta give it to ya." he muttered. "Now let's see if you can actually fight me or not."
. . .
Daniel squeezed the trigger again, and another rod of tungsten-carbide broke the sound barrier as the anti-material rifle bucked against FT Unit-00's shoulder. He again stopped himself from rubbing his now rather tender shoulder or healing it with Interfacing. He had a feeling he'd need all the Metos he could get soon.
Off in the distance, another plume of dust and smoke marked the impact of the rod, and four figures lifted into the air as they sped towards him. In his scope, the figures resolved into three of the MP-Evas surrounding another Unit that glinted dully in the setting sun, the golden figure wielding a massive rifle, almost as big as the one he aimed at them.
He took a deep breath as he cleared the bolt, racking another round. The Titan didn't breathe, but he still followed the old sniper's way as he began to exhale, FT Unit-00 slowly squeezing on the trigger as he kept as still as possible. As his chest stilled for the briefest of seconds, he could almost hear the click of the trigger before the massive thunderclap that heralded another rod of tungsten-carbide flying out the barrel.
It flew through the sky in seconds, and Daniel only spotted the telltale orange-white glow of the round as it splattered across a bright, powerful AT Field. He sighed quietly as he set the rifle aside and stood from kneeling, the scope falling away, but the figures becoming clearer to discern by the second.
'Whoever you are…' Daniel thought as he stretched out his hand, the ever familiar crystalline swordspear flowing into existence as he grasped it, slowly settling into a stance. 'I hope I can help you. I'll do my best.'
The wind whipped below the descending Evas as they touched down several dozen meters away from him. The MP-Evas leveled their Lance copies at him as they slowly spread out into a semicircle, and the golden Unit shifted a portion of the grip of its weapon within a vertical ring. As it did, the barrel closed, and two grey-blue blades extended from top and bottom of the weapon, extending past the barrel's end.
'A gun-lance.' Daniel thought as he nodded once, FT Unit-00 slowly scanning around it to keep the semicircle from shrinking further than he wanted it to. 'Neat, I'll give them that. Now, come on, then. Closer… closer...'
The semicircle continued to restrict, the blades getting closer and closer to the point of Daniel's weapon. Then, as the blades began to cross, Daniel swept the swordspear in a wide arc, batting the gun-lance and Lance copies aside as he drove forward, smacking the top of the gun-lance with the flat of his blade as he stabbed at the golden Unit's arm.
Before the tip of the blade reached its mark, two Lance copies slammed into his blade, the tines slamming against the crossguard of the swordspear as they shoved him back, the lone MP-Eva on his left jabbing at him as he stumbled back.
He swiped the Lance copy's blade away as he regained his footing, keeping his swordspear in front of him as his opponents began to press forward, slowly but surely as they slashed and stabbed. As FT Unit-00 took a step back, then another, Daniel furrowed his brow in concentration. 'Man, I wouldn't mind a little help. I can likely handle two or three, but four? That's a stretch.'
He parried and jabbed, but the only things he struck were the Lance copies or the blades of the gun-lance, and he suddenly became uncomfortably aware of how close he was to one of the main access shafts as he opened a channel. "If there's anyone available, I could use assistance." he said levelly.
"I'm on my way." he heard the equally level voice of Kaworu reply. As Daniel glanced over to see the MP-Eva raise its Lance copy for a mighty chop, he saw a dark spot appear behind it in the air, glinting for a moment as it moved towards him.
FT Unit-00 quickly stepped back as the deep black and blue form of the Spear of Cassius slammed into the pale Eva, blood creating a geyser as the tip of the blade emerged from the right side of its chest as FT Unit-01 leaped above it, an outstretched hand drawing the Spear back to it as it tore through the shoulder of the pale Unit, and Kaworu's Unit landed far more lightly than anything its size should have, leveling the Spear of Cassius at the MP-Eva that he had run through as its chest bubbled and came back together.
"I hate to say it, Kaworu, but I think you might have missed." Daniel said as he kept a careful eye on the enemy Units as they drew back for a moment.
"I wish I could say that's where I wanted to aim." Kaworu replied. "But they have AT Fields protecting their Plugs. Their cores and S2 Organs as well."
"So, they did a far more major upgrade to the Dummy System than I thought." Daniel said as the enemy Units seemed to gather their courage as another MP-Eva joined their ranks, and they began to step forward again.
"I don't think it's the Dummy System." Kaworu said simply. "As to why will have to wait for later. As you can see, I've brought company. We'll need to split them up, somehow."
"I'll take three of them, including the Child's Unit." Daniel said. "If you can keep the other two off me, I can manage."
Kaworu simply nodded. "Will do."
Kaworu charged forward, batting aside the Lances that stabbed at him as he put himself between two MP-Evas and the rest of their group, and began to heard them off, leaving Daniel to face the two pale Units that flanked the golden Eva as it twisted the handle of its weapon again, the blades remaining as the barrel opened up again.
Daniel nodded slowly as the swordspear in FT Unit-00's hands became a simulacrum of a Pallet Rifle, save for the short, stout blade that seemed to sprout from the end of the barrel. 'Okay. Let's see who's the better shot in CQC.'
. . .
As the battle went back and forth, Ritsuko's brow continued to furrow, and her eyes continued to narrow, as she ran tool after tool, wrote lines of code, in search of something that would give them an edge. Let them access the Mass-Production Evangelion and give one of the pilots a winning shot.
But there was nothing. Beyond the standard encrypted communication line, which mother had been able to crack with almost contemptuous ease, there was… nothing. No inputs or outputs, none of the telltale signs of the Dummy System she had a hand in creating.
Maya shook her head as she ran her hand through her hair. "Are they using another OS?" she asked, a frustrated tone edging on exhaustion dripping off her words.
"We've already gone through 3." Lieutenant Aida replied. "Maybe they built a proprietary system just for the Dummy Plugs?"
"In the time between the first time we've engaged them and now?" Naoko chimed in. "It's a stretch, but it's certainly not impossible. But there's something more than that. I can discern the architecture of the system, making some inferences of course, but…"
She sighed somewhat explosively. "It's just that there's nothing for the system in the Plugs themselves! There's enough for piloting the Evangelion, but… no… further…"
As Naoko trailed off, the others' eyes grew wide and unnoticed by them, many of the others on the command bridge looked over at them. "They aren't Dummy Systems." Ritsuko nearly whispered. "They're… they're being piloted."