Disclaimer – Don't own Eva or Armored Core, but you know that, don't you.
A/n now for 7
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Quote the Raven
Chapter 7
9-Ball Revealed
The next morning Shinji sat in the cockpit of the Raven transport as it took off from its runway at the airport in Tokyo 2. Beside of him sat Rei with Misato and Requiem in the two seats in front of them, they all sat back until they could unbuckle and move around
Once they reached cursing altitude and the pilots signaled the ok to move around Shinji turned to the others.
"Do you want me to fix anything for you…since we didn't get breakfast this morning?"
Everyone said yes but kept it simple as there wasn't much on the plane. Requiem wanted a simple egg biscuit sandwich, not to hard to fix. Misato had the same and Rei just wanted a salad. He also asked the pilot and co pilot who just wanted a chicken and turkey sandwich respectively. He didn't ask the 3 crew members working on the AC's as they had already eaten.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Ritsuko was happy, this was the second day in a row she had off work this week, her days off my not have come often, but when they did they came in 3s. She had tomorrow off as well and she knew what she was going to do today too…
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Everyone had enjoyed there breakfast Shinji had cooked for them. The group now sat in the lounge onboard watching some of the most recent arena matches. Shinji decided to head down to the AC area. After a few moments he found himself looking at the Diligence…his new AC. Sure he liked it as it was but something was bothering him, the rifle, a solid ammo rifle. He would have to ask later how to change it, maybe for a laser rifle or something. He left and headed to the room he had left his stuff in and unpacked his SDAT. He put the ear buds in his ears and lay back on the bed. He turned it on and listened to the music, he lay back and smiled a bit, he found himself doing that a lot more for some reason.
Maybe because the only thing he had to worry about for the next 7 days was his training as a Raven which if it was like anything ha had already gone through wouldn't be so hard. He lay back and dozed off listening to the music. May be he didn't need Gendo's approval after all, maybe his own was enough.
While Shinji slept everyone else sat in the lounge watching the fights in the arena. As Requiem watched the fights he finally came to a decision about something he had thought about for the past year. He walked over to the table, picked up his cell phone and dialed his contact Larna
"Hey Larna its Requiem…yeah were on our way there now…listen I came to a decision…I want you to resister me in the Arena…"
Rei's eyes were on him now, hadn't he said he wouldn't go into it, she listened as he continued
"…yeah I'm sure…I think I'm ready now…I know that…yeah, find out if Crest would sponsor me…lets just say I'm on good terms with them…right thanks"
He walked over and sat back down. Rei walked over and sat beside of him
"I thought you were not going to go into the arena"
He looked over at her and smiled
"I think I'm ready for it now, if not I can always bow out if I want"
Rei nodded and the two went back to watching the Arena fights, neither knowing Misato was sitting watching them and had noticed something Requiem hadn't. Rei had shifted slightly toward him, if Misato didn't know any better she would have thought Rei wanted to lay her head on his shoulder. She smirked a bit
'Looks like I get to play matchmaker this week'
She thought
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Hustler 1 sat at the computer terminal in front of the 9-Ball looking for a mission to take on. Hustler 1 smirked at the work of genius the voice modulator in the cockpit of the 9-Ball was, making everyone think she was a man and the original pilot hadn't been a problem as no one had seen her out side of it. Truthfully she was the 9-Balls 2nd pilot, the original having been killed some 2 years ago or so. The AC had been left in the bombed out remains of the hangar where the original Hustler 1 had fought and been killed by Requiem in his Wraith and the 9-Ball left for scrap.
(Note, that one was the 9-Ball from Master of Arena, this is the title machine from Armored Core 9 Breaker)
She had a knack for picking up strays and a stray AC was just fine for her.
She had used the underground passages in Nerv to hide the AC until she wandered upon this natural cavern connected to the GeoFront by a complex series of service tunnels, the chamber also had a surface access tunnel which exited above ground about half a kilometer outside Tokyo 3. Apparently this had once been used as storage while the GeoFront had been constructed.
She had used this place and equipment smuggled out of Nerv HQ to rebuild the 9-Ball into what it is today.
She ran her hand through her blond hair and looked at the screen in front of her. So many people had jumped on the bandwagon to give her missions once the name Hustler 1 reappeared on the listings, she had the Magi to thank for that and the fact no one knew of this cavern or the tunnels connecting it to the main system of service tunnels or the surface. With the money from her first two missions she had bought the materials and built in a false wall in the tunnel intersection, she had also used the Magi to erase this section from the rest of the network and used the rest of the money to install a small personnel lift which ran to the surface which ironically came out in the basement of her apartment building directly over head, and new disguised independent manual doors on the surface exit.
As she looked she came upon a mission she knew she would see one day.
Operator Name – Unknown 01
Client – Hustler 1
Opponent – Defense MT's number unknown
Place – Tokyo 3 GeoFront
Weather – Unknown
Mission Start – ASAP
Mission Objective – Eliminate Nerv Commander and cause as much damage as possible
Reward – 10,000 up front and 100,000 upon completion
She couldn't turn this down, not for that much. She could also smell SEELE all over this assignment, fortunately if she pulled this off not only would he die, so would Adam and SEELE's entire plan since it revolved around fusing Adam with Lilith to start 3rd Impact. She quickly pushed the accept button and suited up in her flight suit. She stored her normal clothing in a special compartment she had installed in the 9-Balls cockpit and donned her flight helmet. She climbed into the 9-Ball and set out.
Once in the passages she closed the hidden door over the tunnel leading to her cavern knowing Section 2's scanning equipment wouldn't detect the door. She knew the passages brought her into the perfect place to hit the commanders office which sat exposed on the wall of the GeoFront, one grenade would do it, two to be sure and a third for fun.
Once she arrived at her destination she set her pulse gun on low power and shot a small hole, no bigger than a base ball in the end of the dead end tunnel she was in and then hoped out. She removed her helmet and looked across the distance. Her green eyes easily spotting the commanders office window, she brought up her monocular and looked across, he wasn't there, no matter she had all day and he didn't. He would show up and when he did she had a surprise for him. She would make him pay for how he had treated her.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Shinji stood with Misato and Rei on the tarmac of the runway in the Ravens Nest compound. They were amazed by the sheer size of the place; it was equal to the state of Delaware, as Requiem had put it.
Rei led them inside to the main offices where they met up with Requiem and a woman about Misato's height with dark brown hair and green eyes. Her body was about as well shaped as Misato's though her bust was a bit smaller, all details shown off by her AC Flight Suit. Requiem began his introductions
"Misato Katsuragi, Shinji Ikari, this is Agraya pilot of the AC Red Star and the arena's A-3 Ranker. She's one of our more veteran Ravens and the woman who took care of me after my parents were killed"
She stepped forward and shook Misato's hand
"Nice to meet you Miss Katsuragi"
Misato smiled a bit
"Misato's fine, Miss makes me sound old"
Agraya laughed a bit, she knelt down a bit as to be on eye level with Shinji, though she didn't have to kneel much as his head was up to her chest in height
"And you must be Zero, the Eva pilot Shinji Ikari, Welcome to the Ravens Nest, you can consider this your second home, we all do"
Shinji responded shyly
"Thank…thank you"
Agraya smiled a bit and the stood and faced Misato
"I hope you have a good stay"
She turned to Shinji
"Orchid will be taking you and Misato around the Garage a bit to get you use to it. I would but I have a mission to go on. Once your done come back here and get your bags and Requiem will show you to his place, if you'll excuse me"
Agraya left; Rei took Misato and Shinji on a tour of the place, showing them as much as she knew about it. Requiem in the mean time was checking the Arena listings when he felt a slender hand snake onto his shoulder
"And this from the guy who said he would never go into the Arena"
Requiem spun around to find his Nest Contact, Larna Reynard. She snickered a bit at his reaction
"Always so jumpy, how did your mission go?"
Requiem shrugged
"Cake walk as I expected, though I did get some new parts from it"
She smiled and nodded
"Yeah the Nest message boards have been pretty active, saying you got hold of a Karasawa MKII"
"Yeah, has the news hit I'm in the arena"
Her expression became a bit dark
"About that, no, news hasn't hit yet, and Crest agreed to sponsor you almost on the spot but…"
"But what"
"Well…"
She walked over to the board and pointed at the name of the person in rank C-4…Hustler 1. Requiem's expression became one of shocked disbelief
"How the hell is he alive…I killed him…I made sure of it"
"Well that's the thing, before any of us knew what was going on he had hit the C ranks almost as if he had bypasses the E and D Rank all together"
Requiem nodded
"That is odd. Have they verified that it's actually him and not an imposter?"
"Each of the employers from the few contracts he's taken, talked to him and verified it"
"Damn, this time I'm going to do the job, I'll make sure this time. Another reason for me to be in the Arena right"
"I guess…"
Larna's palmtop beeped, she pulled it out of her pocked and checked the message
"Hey you've got a challenger"
"Guess the news hit, who is it?"
"A new Raven named Prank, here's the data on him"
The new guy wasn't much, his AC was called Joker and was basically a test model with a new paint job and the standard missile launcher switched for a basic Zio-Matrix built ZWR-M/30 Rocket Launcher. He had also swapped the standard rifle for a WR20PL-OGRE plasma rifle. Requiem handed the palmtop back
"Guess he spent his money on his rifle. When does he want to do this?"
"2 pm why"
"Tell him I'll do it at 6. That will give me enough time to go home and get everyone settled in before we have to come back"
"Ok"
Larna punched in what Requiem had said; she got a reply a moment later
"He's agreed"
"Good, I'm gona go talk to Morison; I've got an idea…"
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Morison was the head of the AC Tech department, finding him was easy enough, all Requiem had to do was look for the most damaged AC in the Garage
"Now I want that head secured in ten min, get it right"
Requiem walked up to the Tech, he had known Morison since he had joined the Ravens.
"Morison"
The tech turned from what he was doing to the young Raven
"Hey kid, heard you picked up a pretty nice toy last mission"
"Yeah I grabbed a Karasawa from some idiot…listen, I need you to do a few things to the Wraith…I'm going into the arena this after noon and I need some new equipment"
"Alright"
Morison turned to his crew who was busy working on the trashed AC in front of him
"Ya' hear that boys…the kids in the Arena today"
A loud group of cheers followed, once they had quieted down Morison turned back to Requiem
"So what do you need?"
"Well…I want you to switch my linear rifle with my Karasawa and switch the core with the CR-C90U3 I have"
Morison punched it up on his computer
"That'll put you over weight, anything you want to drop"
He handed the hand held computer to Requiem who looked at his options
"I want you to sell the moonlight and pick up a CR-WL88LB3 laser blade and drop the Linear Cannon for my small missile that should even it out"
He handed the computer back and Morison punched it up
"Yeah that'll work, when are you going in"
"6 this after noon"
Morison looked down at his watch…1.00pm
"We'll be done by 4.00"
"Thanks, I want you to change the color to, make all the primary color dark brown and leave the gray alone, and make the joints black
"I never though you would go for a new color scheme kid. Wont take to long, good luck today kid…say…didn't Crest let you keep the AC you and that girl caught"
"Yeah"
"What happened to the rest of it, and your old arms?"
"The old arms broke carrying the Karasawa. As for the AC…"
Requiem pointed to the Diligence standing in the stall across from the Wraith
"I gave it to a friend"
"You gave it away, to who"
Across the Garage, Requiem could see Rei still giving Misato and Shinji the grand tour
"You see that guy over there with Orchid"
"Yeah"
"Well that's Zero, he's Orchid's brother, I gave it to him"
"Oh, who's the vixen with them?"
"That's his guardian, Nerv Major Misato Katsuragi"
The group made there way over to where Requiem and Morison were standing, Requiem introduced everyone then the group made their way to Requiem's place.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
For many hours Hustler 1 had been setting here waiting for the right moment, for Gendo to walk into his office and sit behind his desk.
She froze as her target came into sight followed by one of the girls from the Technical department. She was about his age, there wasn't anything unheard of about what they were doing…if you don't count going at it in his office…on his desk.
Hustler 1 was furious, she threw down the monocular and jumped into the 9-Ball. She keyed a command in that she had placed into the Magi computer to lock all entrances and exits to Gendo's office, even the ones no one knew of. She activated the machine and strapped on her helmet but not the oxygen mask as she didn't rally need it.
Main System Engaging Combat Mode
The computed had booted up and was ready; she lowered her missile launcher into line with the wall and fired instantly destroying the last thing separating her from the GeoFront. She activated the boosters and shot the 9-Ball into the empty skies of the GeoFront.
She didn't bother to waist time; she locked the grenade launcher onto its target, Gendo himself, and fired.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
At that instant, Gendo looked up from his previous distraction and saw what had happened. In that split second he saw what was to come, he would die.
He closed his eyes and uttered one small word,
"Yui"
Which was followed by the screech from the woman he was with as she to realized the inevitable
The round slammed head long into the office window and shattered it, then onward still into its intended target and through his chest, it the struck the desk and exploded. What wasn't shredded of Gendo by the round was vaporized in the ensuing fireball and heat…including the Adam embryo.
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Hustler 1 fired three more grenades in to the now decimated office to ensure the job was done. She then dropped to the floor of the GeoFront and trashed a few defense MT's before then escaping through a new hole blasted into the side of the underground base by her grenade launcher which led back to the tunnels and eventually led her back home to her isolated cavern.
She pulled off her helmet and sat back in the cockpit and waited for section 2 to pass the hidden door to her cavern by…which they did.
Ritsuko Akagi, now better known as Hustler 1, was pleased with her self. Sure maybe what she did was extreme, sure maybe the poor tech officer Ketsume didn't deserve to die like that, the poor girl was a victim of circumstance. It wasn't her fault Gendo chose to manipulate her too, but she would be the last, now he was dead.
"For you mother, now you've been avenged"
IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII
Within unit 00, Naoko Akagi's soul soared for her daughter, who had done what she could not. She had broken the hold Gendo had over her and exacted her revenge. It was only a plus she got paid to do it.
A/N there's 7