A/N: Writer's block and school can be a toxic combination. Here are the next two chapters. I'm already hard at work putting together the climax to this story and my goal is to publish the next few chapters soon (i.e., next month or so).
On another note, I acknowledge that Mana and several other characters may be OOC. Prior characterizations can sometimes be a hindrance to plot advancement, but I make every effort to retain as much of the original characterization as possible.
With my ranting complete here is the next installment of WADF.
Disclaimer: I do not own Evangelion or Scrapped Princess. Those shows are owned by Gainax and BONES respectively. I do not profit from writing this story.
Ikari perused through several documents as Kaji took a seat in front of him. A long moment of silence passed before Ikari asked, "How was your stay on the Vanguard, Colonel?"
"It's been excellent. Colonel Katsuragi knows how to treat her guests." Kaji wanted to remain as neutral as possible. He didn't want Ikari to get suspicious and think that he had shared sensitive information with Misato.
Ikari picked up another document and scanned through it. "How have the D-Knights from my fleet integrated themselves with the Vanguard complement?"
"They've gotten along fine. Captain Soryu doesn't get along with one of their pilots though. A certain Lieutenant Ikari…" Kaji observed Ikari to see if he had any reaction to the mention of his son, but Ikari continued studying the papers in front of him. "He's a fine D-Knight. It's a shame that he's been relegated to patrolling backwater worlds."
"We all get our time, Colonel. Now, has their training proceeded well?"
"Yes. Colonel Katsuragi is an excellent trainer. She has those D-Knights flying eight to twelve hours a day in the training sim. She's expressed concern that the D-Knights don't have enough flight time in actual space conditions. She asked me to request an opportunity to train with actual Valkyries."
Ikari stroked his chin slightly as he considered this. "Tell the Colonel that her request is denied. If she wants to train the D-Knights in space, they'll have to train amongst themselves. By the way…" Ikari tossed a data crystal at Kaji. Kaji barely had enough time to react as he caught it in mid-air. "Deliver that to Colonel Katsuragi. Those are my official orders for Operation Hope. We will commence this evening."
A beeping sound disrupted the meeting momentarily. Ikari pressed a button on his desk and asked curtly, "Yes?"
A male voice reported, "Sir, we have multiple contacts coming out of the jump gate. It looks like three large transports and several accompanying escorts. Their registry codes confirm that they are the Valkyrie transports we've been waiting for."
"Hail them," Ikari commanded, "and have them come along side so that we may off load their cargo."
"Aye, sir."
Ikari turned back to Kaji. "Now, about that Mauser reading you promised me…"
Kaji placed the data crystal in his pocket, and then produced another data crystal of his own. "I received the reading this morning. Here is a duplicate I made of the transmission. I really think that you should read it."
Ikari extended his hand and Kaji reached out and placed the data crystal in his palm. Ikari examined it before placing it in a shredder. Kaji winced as he heard the crystal's crunching sound. "Just give me a verbal report, Colonel. Nothing more."
"Ah, yes sir. Mauser reported that the jump gate itself isn't heavily defended, but that a large fleet jumped in system a few days ago. Intelligence believes that the HI are building up their forces for their final push to take Vega. Mauser's reading indicated that the size of the fleet is about equal to the forces you currently have under your command. The bulk of this fleet has taken up stationary orbit around the main planet in the Arius Eridani system, but that could change."
"Change in what way?"
"Mauser indicated that the fleet could set sail at any time. Sir, perhaps it would be better to gather our forces at Vega and meet the expected HI attack."
"Negative, Colonel. We still have the advantage of surprise and the power of our Valkyries. I order you not speak to anyone about this matter and to destroy any documentation you have of this Mauser reading. Is that understood?"
Kaji felt his insides clench as he responded, "Yes, sir. Understood."
Kaoru scanned through the AI software for the new Valkyries. He typed in several commands and began uploading the new version of the AI software onto the Concordia's complement of existing Valkyries. As near as Kaoru could tell, the new AI software wasn't any different from the old one. Some minor security holes had been patched up and the code was cleaned up a little, but that was about it.
With a few strokes of his keyboard, Kaoru disabled the keystroke monitoring software. He stopped the upload for a moment and inserted a few lines of his own code and then continued the upload. He directed the updated software to be uploaded onto all of the Valkyries, not just the Concordia's complement.
Kaoru turned around when he heard footsteps behind him. He was relieved to see it was just Chief Ellison, one of Ritsuko's technicians. "How you doin' Mr. Nagisa?" The chief asked with a slight drawl.
Kaoru couldn't stand the unsavory chief and found his coding skills to be crude. Kaoru managed a tolerant smile and greeted the chief, "Hello, Chief Ellison. Is your work going well?"
"You know how things are around here. The Doc works us to death. And yourself? I hear you're working with the D-Knights on the Vanguard."
"Yes," Kaoru replied.
"Oh, really? Well, I envy you, you know. Those three are mighty pretty ladies."
Kaoru knew that the chief had an unhealthy attraction to the Concordia's complement of D-Knights. The chief was reputed to have propositioned them on several occasions. Kaoru glanced at his watch and told the chief, "I would really like to chat, but I have an appointment to keep. If you'll excuse me…"
The chief nodded. Kaoru got up and prepared to leave when the chief called to him, "Mr. Nagisa, you remember that analysis the Doc asked you to run last week after the Vega campaign?"
Kaoru stopped in his tracks and cursed himself. He had run an analysis of the Vega campaign on his own without Ritsuko's permission. Ritsuko had refused to listen to Kaoru's theory about HI interference in the Valkyrie neural processor; she insisted that it was a software problem related to the neural processors. The chief had caught him running the analysis, so Kaoru told him that Ritsuko had instructed him to do it. "Yes? What about that analysis?"
"I was cleaning up some of the computer's data files and I found a copy of it on the hard drive. I transferred it to a data crystal before I deleted it." The chief handed a red data crystal to Kaoru.
Kaoru accepted the crystal gratefully while cursing himself for his carelessness. "Ah, thank you. I need to show Dr. Akagi the results. Listen, make sure not to touch my workstation. I'm uploading the AI software for the Valkyries. Now, if you'll excuse me."
"Don't worry, Mr. Nagisa," the chief replied, "I won't."
Kaoru was relieved that he had been able to dupe the chief into not pursing the matter about the analysis. He excused himself and picked up a portable data crystal reader. As Kaoru walked away, he failed to notice the shadows behind him stir.
"Chief Ellison?"
The chief turned to see who had called for him and found himself staring at Ikari. The chief straightened up and said, "Sir!"
"I'm looking for Mr. Nagisa. Dr. Akagi said that he could be found here."
"Sir, Mr. Nagisa does work here, but he left a little while ago."
Ikari nodded and placed a hand to his chin thoughtfully. "I heard that he ran an analysis on the Vega campaign for Dr. Akagi. Could you find that file for me?"
"Sir, I deleted that file some time ago."
"Are you certain?"
"Yes…"
Ikari glared at the chief and said coldly, "Chief Ellison, I asked if you were certain."
The chief knew that tone too well. "I'll check."
With the chief's back turned, he failed to notice Ikari pull a gun from the folds of his tunic.
"It's just like I said, sir," the chief said, "I can't find it…" Ikari pulled the trigger and the chief stumbled lifeless to the floor.
After taking a look at the Chief to make sure he was dead, Ikari walked out of the room and down the hall toward the cargo bays.
Kaoru passed the Valkyrie bays and down to a lonely cargo bay. After checking to make sure no one was around, he sat down on a crate and read through the data on the data crystal. Before he could get far into his task, Kaoru heard the cargo bay doors open to reveal a cold presence. Ikari stepped into the room.
"If it isn't my 'real' benefactor," Kaoru remarked, "I trust that you are well?"
"As well as any person in my position can be. Tell me, do my subordinates suspect something?"
"I think that Colonel Kaji has been collaborating with Colonel Katsuragi. They don't trust you. And your son, he's very clever. He knows that the Valkyries suffer from some kind of fault."
"My son is irrelevant. As for trust in me, I only need Kaji and Katsuragi to follow my orders. Now, did you run the analysis of the Vega campaign as promised?"
"I did." Karou held up his data crystal to emphasize his point. "It's right here. I was just about to go over it again to make sure I didn't get anything wrong."
"Does Dr. Akagi know about this?"
"No, but one of her technicians, a Chief Ellison, caught me. I told him Dr. Akagi ordered me to run the analysis. I doubt he'll question the incident further. He always assumes that all of my orders come directly from Dr. Akagi any way."
Ikari began circling about the room. His pacing made Kaoru a little nervous. But, this was one of Ikari's ways of telling others that he was in control. "That's not like you, Mr. Nagisa, getting caught with your hand in the cookie jar. What did your analysis reveal? Answer carefully, because my next action as commander of this fleet will be determined by your answer."
Kaoru placed the reader on the floor next to him and leaned back against a crate. "It was as you first said. Dr. Akagi refused to listen to any talk of HI interference. She is very proud of those machines. It perplexes me because she wasn't the one who built them." Kaoru watched Ikari as he stopped before a crate and leaned down to inspect it. He placed his hand in his pocket and removed something to scan the crate before placing it back in his pocket. Ikari continued pacing with his hand in his pocket.
"You stopped talking, Mr. Nagisa," Ikari said as he stopped in front of another crate.
"Yes, well I ran the analysis as you instructed. I looked for patterns in the HI movement and communications and I found something. Just before the Valkyries stopped functioning, the HI sent out a coded transmission. It wasn't targeted at the Valkyries, but at their ships. I think they were about to pull back. I analyzed the transmission and I found that it was transmitted on a frequency that can excite the neural processors. Once in this excited mode, the Valkyries can't move. They're… confused if you will. It's not a software problem and there isn't anything wrong with the neural processors. The designers didn't foresee that this problem occurs at a fundamental level. We don't fully understand the HI's method of communication."
"So, you're certain it will happen again?"
"I believe so."
Ikari looked down at his shoes as he considered this new threat to his operation. "Then, did you do as I instructed?"
Kaoru nodded. "Yes, I inserted a line of code which will cause the Valkyries to self-destruct if this happens again."
Ikari smiled calmly at Kaoru. "Good, then I have no more use for you." A shot reverberated through the walls of the cargo bay. Ikari walked over to Kaoru's limp body and picked up the data crystal and its reader. He placed it in his pocket and removed a gun from his pocket. Ikari was careful to place the gun next to Kaoru Nagisa's hand. With this matter taken care of, Ikari walked away.
When we has some distance away he tapped his personal wrist communicator.
"Bridge," answered a female voice.
"This is Ikari. Get a security team to Dr. Akagi's lab immediately. And, find me Dr. Akagi."
"Yes, sir."
