Disclaimer – Don't own Eva or Armored Core or anything in this chapter with a copy write on it, but you know that, don't you.

A/N there will be one change from the mainstay AC equipment, Op-Intensify will now be a part of an AC's computer and not an Option Part. This was done to help with the story. Also the main story arch will begin to come into focus in this chapter.

Also if you sent me an AC and you didn't include a description with the part numbers…I can't use it. I'll show you what I mean, here's the format I want you to use when you send them.

AC Name: Lillian

Head: ZHD-MO/EGRET (Stable, high end head by Zio)
Core: ZCL-XA/2 (Lightweight Zio-Matrix core with great basics)
Arms: EAN-50 (Entry-level Emeraude model)
Legs: ELN-2002-02A (Midweight Biped Leg Unit, Stable Emeraude signature model)
Extension: E07AM-MORAY (missile intercept system with improved ammo stores)
Back unit R: EM-AAT110 (Adds 10 extra ammo for all weapons)
Back unit L: CR-WB72CGL (lightweight chain gun adapted to smaller rounds)
Arm Unit R: WR04M-PIXIE2 (machine gun designed for extended combat operations)
Arm Unit L: WL01 LB-ELF (early model Mirage laser blade design with average performance)

Option parts – O01-AMINO, CR-06955, CR-O7SLA, O03-CODON

Color: Blue primary with Gray secondary joint color

This is all I wanted, no generator, no radiator, no boosters or FCS. Insides if you had them.

Worrying about the Generator, boosters, FCS, and radiators was a bit more than I could do right now…plus it would have been imposable to use parts from ALL of the games if we had to worry about those.

So if you sent in an AC please use the format above and send it again. I have pars lists but this will make the work of adding pats lists easier for me

Now that that's out of the way…onward

My prayers to the friends and families of those lost at VA Tech

Neon Genesis Evangelion

Quote the Raven

Chapter 15

The Past Returns to Haunt

The first days back to school for Shinji and Rei reminded him of his first few days at the school; everyone constantly hounded him about his AC…as where before it was his Eva, Rei also seemed to be having the same problem. Kensuke was the worst of the bunch; he constantly nagged at any of the Ravens he got a chance to talk to, constantly nagging for them to "put in a good word for him". Eventually Requiem and Lantz Blades, who also had to attend school due to his age, laid things out for him...right in front of the whole class. Requiem and Lantz pulled Kensuke to the side just before the teacher hand entered. Though Lantz gave off an aura of being emotionless like Rei use to, he was just extremely good at hiding them. Requiem spoke first

"Alright Kensuke, listen good cause I'm only going to say this once. We'll take you to take the entry exam…however, since you are insisting to take it with out first being invited into the Ravens by a Raven you won't receive any training like Shinji and Rei did"

Lantz nodded, keeping his emotionless tone

"That is true, also, because of those facts. Were you to fail, you would be shot, or the MT's you face would kill you. That is a law of the Ravens, if you take the test uninvited "If you fail, You Die"

They did this for two reasons, one, to shut him up, two, to prevent anyone else from asking the same thing.

Needless to say no one asked again

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Requiem pulled the Wraith into the gap between two buildings…

The first Arena to be rebuilt was the City Arena. A wall and ceiling were simply constructed around one of the parts of old Tokyo where the water level was only a Meter deep…funny enough, it was near the old Jet Alone facility.

Requiem's opponent for the day was Rich Stitch in his AC Tablet. It mounted only a pair of Boost Assist extensions and a pair of large Sniper Rifles. It sat on a pair of reverse joint legs, a medium weight crest core, a Mirage built H09-SPIDER head and a pair of Crest CR-A9X2S arms. This would put him at the top of the B Ranks as Rich Stitch was the current B-1.

This guy loved to stay in the air, which was Requiem's problem…he didn't. But he did have his Missile Launcher and Karasawa. This guy would have to land eventually.

Requiem hit his boosters and shot to the top of one of the buildings. He knew he was exposed and was shown this when to sniper rounds slammed into his Core. He turned and got just what he wanted to see, the Tablet drop onto an adjacent roof. He had only a second or two so he got as good a lock as he could and fired.

Rich Stitch for his part saw the shot coming and tried side step to the right, but only managed to have the round hit his right arm instead of the core. The shock from the impact turned the AC even further. By the time he managed to right himself requiem had added a flight of missiles to the damaged arm, severing it from the core. He tried to bound away but requiem wasn't done.

Requiem decided to end this now by doing something even he didn't like to do…Spamming a weapon. Basically he brought one of his weapons into line, the Karasawa, and began to fire, he didn't stop either. There wasn't much Rich Stitch could do about it, every shot made his AC stumble a bit, he did manage to get a few rounds from his remaining rifle to hit the Wraith but not much came of it. The final Karasawa shot slammed into his core, knocking the Tablet off of the 20 story building and to the water below, Rich Stitch would spend the next few days in the hospital for broken ribs and multiple lacerations. But such was the risk of those who went into the Arena.

Requiem was now at the top of the B Ranks, sure he didn't like to Spam A Weapon like that but he was a raven, combat is never fair.

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That evening Hikari had invited everyone over for dinner. Toji, Shinji, Rei, Asuka, and Requiem arrived at about 6:00. Kensuke was attending some kind of convention and Hikari's younger sister was staying at a friend's house leaving only her elder sister Kodama at home, their father was working. Though since he had been reassigned to help repair the AC's his pay had increased and his work hours became more standardized, leaving him more time to spend with his daughters.

They all sat around the table eating the dinner Hikari had fixed with Shinji's help, he had insisted on helping.

Kodama had immediately taken an interest in Requiem, not as a potential boyfriend, but due to the fact he was dating Rei. Hikari had told her a lot about the Blue haired girl, how much she kept to herself and the fact that she had earned the title "Ice Queen" at school.

How far away the now seemed…

Seeing Rei sitting and talking with the others, though still keeping her cool demeanor, was a bit refreshing. Hikari turned to Requiem to ask him about what he had said earlier

"Umm, Requiem, May I ask you something"

"Sure what"

"Is it true what you told Mr. Aida, that if you fail a raven's exam, they kill you?"

Requiem nodded

"Yeah, unless your invited by another Raven, its one of our ways of keeping just anybody from signing up "If You Fail, You Die"

After a moment Hikari spoke up again

"Do you…know anybody who has…taken it that way?"

He nodded

"I know a few who made it. Genobee did, and Agraya, so did the other Raven in our class Lantz, But he's…different"

Shinji looked up

"What do you mean, different"

Requiem looked up from his meal; everyone had trained their attention on him

"Well, I guess I might as well tell you, but this information does not leave this place, I don't care how much you may want to tell. And if you think you may not be able to keep from talking, you should leave"

Kodama stood

"Well I may as well head to bed, Hikari make sure to put the dishes away ok"

After she had left Hikari turned to requiem and nodded

"Go ahead"

He nodded

"Back before I became a raven there was a Corporation called Murakumo Millennium. They along with a Corporation called Chrome started the production of AC's and MT's. Murakumo had started a program called the Human Plus. Basically they were trying to create the perfect soldier for their own uses. It was a pretty brutal procedure, they replaced the subject's Nervous system, Muscles and such with artificial and cybernetic replacements, what's worse was that the person had to be 89 percent aware of what was happening so they could test weather or not it was working. Most of them died on the table or went insane; Lantz survived it…when he was 5"

Hikari gasp while the others just sat there with stunned expressions, after a moment requiem continued

"When the UN found out about the experiments the quietly spewed Murakumo under the rug, then a new upstart Corporation called Emeraude took over their assets after the UN had destroyed all traces of the program. The a few years ago Emeraude was bought and became a subsidiary of Crest Ind. He's the only survivor of the Human Plus. Of all ravens he has the potential to be in the Arena's A Ranks but he can't"

Asuka spoke up

"Why not"

"Because he can do things with an AC no other raven can, now it doesn't make him instantly better than everyone. I've defeated him in a mission before, but it does give him an edge we naturals don't have. You see a normal Raven in an AC cant handle firing back weapons like cannons and chin guns while standing, we lose balance and fall over. His AC is like an extension to his body, that's why it almost seems to breathe and moves like a human would. The nest considered it cheating in the arena so they banned him from it"

Everyone stayed quiet for a bit until Hikari broke the tension and began to talk about something else.

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Requiem sat on the roof eating his lunch with his newly acquired circle of friends. Shinji and Rei were there obviously, but so were Hikari, Toji and Kensuke who, though he would talk to him, hadn't asked Requiem anything AC related since he and Lantz had given Kensuke their little talk.

On their first day he and Lantz hadn't even tried to hide the fact that they were Ravens. Which of course, thanks to Kensuke, the whole School knew by days end.

A gentle touch on his arm from Rei brought him back to reality

"What's troubling you?"

He looked over to her

"Huh, nothing, just thinking"

"Oh, what of?"

"Just recent stuff, the Ark's formation and everything"

"Ahh, I see"

Rei laid her head over onto his shoulder and wrapped her arms around his waist; he in turn put his arms around her shoulders, she sighed contently. Nearby Asuka and Shinji were sitting in a similar embrace. Hikari looked over at Toji who was looking off at the Transport Helicopters which had been arriving all day carrying supplies and materials from every nation and corporation on earth for what was considered the biggest construction job since the building of the GeoFront and Tokyo 3...the construction of the new Ravens Ark facility and the new Layered City for the Ravens families and other civilian workers.

Hikari slipped her hand into his, he turned to look at the girl who gave him a soft smile, and he returned it and gave her hand a gentle squeeze. Hikari's smile brightened and her blush intensified.

There had been other changes as well. Nerv had devoted the repair crews that use to be assigned to repair unit 01 to the repair of the Ravens AC's.

Commander Fuyutsuki had tried to hand command over to Yui and retake his old Sub Commander job, but Yui wouldn't have it and instead opted to direct the team dealing with the AC's.

Misato had more a less straitened everything up; Section 2 had been overhauled as had the security inside HQ.

Ritsuko, instead of just activating the destruct system for the Dummy Cores, gave each of the clones a lethal dose of Morphine; it was the most humanitarian was she knew. They were too dangerous to be left alive.

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Yui and Misato stood in what had once been called the Valley of Death in the deepest parts of Terminal Dogma. After Nerv technicians had removed the built up LCL and placed it into 3 large storage tanks located where the Cloning facility use to be and transferred Lilith to a higher level and placed her into cryogenic storage, an N2 mine had been used to clear out the debris. Dozens of Salt pillars which had built up in the LCL. It had also vaporized the old "Eva Graveyard' and the chamber that use to hold Lilith, creating a vast open space for the new city.

But that had "opened up" a new problem, literally, a 10 meter wide hole leading to another cavern far below.

A ground penetrating radar system had shown the cavern to be a series of interconnected chambers covering an area as large as the cavern in which they now stood and about a kilometer blow their feet. Readings had also picked up what had seemed imposable…a dormant power supply, barely in operation.

From the looks of the hole it was circular…almost as if it had been drilled and then sealed. After consorting with the UN as this was their project, it was decided that a Raven would go to investigate along with a team of MTs. The chamber its self sat well below the level where Lilith's chamber had been which brought Yui back to a thought she hadn't expressed for 15 years.

It was something many of those who had worked at Nerv with her in the early days considered stupid and childish. That perhaps the GeoFront wasn't as natural…or alien as had once been believed. The fact that a probe send half way down the shaft to retrieve samples had returned with samples that carbon dating had indicated to be 10,000 years old, dating back to 1st impact, only fueled Yui's idea.

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Requiem sat in the Wraith which stood next to the opening to the cavern below. Crest Industries had also contracted him to test a new core in combat conditions after this mission. As a reward he got to keep it.

The core was an update to one of their light models the CR-C840/UL. The new core was designated the CR-C45L3, it was equipped with an OverBoost and Anti-missile system. Due to the difference in weight of the Wraiths normal core and the new light one. Requiem would able to equip his CR-WB91 LGL Linear Cannon along with his WB11M-Hydra missile launcher during the test after this mission. Right now he had his HYDRA missile launcher; CR-WB91 LGL Linear Cannon and was also carrying an Emeraude built EWG-GSH8 Shotgun in his left hand and his normal Linear Rifle in the right. He had gotten use to the Crest built CR-52PXC core and CR-21PXL legs his parents had designed and intended to use them.

On his left hip hangar he placed his CR-WL88LB3 laser blade. He wasn't about to risk the Karasawa on this mission.

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Larna, Requiem's operator, was nervous as hell. She was sitting at her temporary station on the Nerv command bridge. All around her were Nerv personnel scurrying about doing their jobs. She just hoped everything went alright for this, everyone was watching her. On another level of the bridge they had set up another set of temporary stations for other operators, only 10 though, and there was another on the same level with her. All of them had operators stationed and coordinating missions. Jack only wanted 12 Ravens away at a time for now. Her station sat right behind the 3 main Nerv operators or,"bridge bunnies" as they were called. She had been talking to one of them, the female Maya Ibuki, just before the mission had started. Honestly she liked the girl; she would make a good operator if she had a chance.

"Requiem can you hear me"

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Requiem acknowledged

"I'm here Larna, what's up"

"Its time to begin, there are 4 Nerv MT's at the bottom of the shaft. They've set up a secure zone in the room immediately at the bottom; Intel indicates the whole facility down there is man made"

"How old'

"Roughly 10,000 years"

"That's imposable, even the oldest civilization on earth was no more than 8,000 and they were living in mud brick huts, how the hell did they dig down that far"

"Actually there's more, Nerv seems to think they may have carved out both the GeoFront, the cavern the Layered City will be built in and this place all at once. But that's why your going down there, here's the mission. You're to go down and map out the facility, destroy any security units that remain active and secure the facility. A raven has been contracted to go down and wait with the MT's as back up should you need it"

"Who"

"This will be Zero's first mission"

Requiem nodded

"I acknowledge, just say when"

"Once zero arrives go on down"

"Roger"

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The two AC's hit the bottom about half an hour later. They immediately noticed the 4 combat MT's standing near a door on the far edge of the room. The AC's com unit's crackled to life

"Thanks for coming raven; I'm sure the situation was explained by your operator"

The wraith stepped up to the door at the other side of the room which led into the facility

"Yeah, I go in, destroy all defenses, and then you guys move in and secure it. Zero is my back up incase I get in deep"

The MT pilot nodded

"confirmed Raven, show them what you got'

"Roger"

"Now opening door"

The lead MT stepped up to the door and opened it, Requiem called up Shinji on the com line

"listen, here's what we'll do, I'll clear out everything until I find a room, once its clear you guys move up, 2 MT's will stay here to keep the door open for us to pull out if we have to. The other two will go with you and stay in that room, then once I move to and clear the next one, you'll move up again until we find either a control room or the power core. Then you will guard that until I'm done, got that"

Shinji nodded

"…yeah, I got it"

"Don't be so nervous, remember Rei had to do this alone on her first mission, you'll get use to it'

Shinji nodded again, requiem turned the Wraith toward the now open door

"Here I go"

He hit is over boost and shot into the hallway beyond…..

A/n this marks the beginning of the main story arc; from here on I'll be working toward the stories conclusion. See ya at 16