Chapter 6: Around the World / Costs of Victory
February 25th, 2020
"Why are we stuck in here again?" Regina whined as she folded her arms over her pink tank top. She tapped her stiletto heel on the ground for another minute before uncrossing her tightly denim-wrapped legs.
The other pilots sat in the ready room in their usual street clothes, but with their jackets and coats stacked on one of the chairs. The facility's HVAC system had been acting up again, replacing the comfortably cool temperature with typical Vegas heat.
"Because we're at Archon three. Pilots in all facilities need to be ready to deploy," Alvarez explained.
"What's Archon?" the brunette asked.
"Archetype Readiness Condition," Valentine answered. "It's supposed to be pronounced A-R-CON, but everyone calls it Archon."
"Greek for ruler or something," Alvarez added.
"Seems about right, with them ruling over our afternoon like this," Nadya snarked.
Lawson's voice came in over the intercom. "Listen up, everyone, I have some bad news. Midway reports that two of their Units were ambushed and P-killed while on patrol in the Pacific. The other two took out the attackers but there may be more out there, so we'll be sitting here for a while."
"Wait, did she say attackers? As in multiple Archetypes?" Nadya pointed out. "Also, what does P-kill mean?"
Alvarez sighed, gripping the armrest. "Pilot kill. The Unit may still be salvageable, but the plug was breached." He rain his fingers through his hair, regaining his cool. "As for multiple attackers, it's probably the Creator up to its old tricks. It's a specialized Archetype that works like a hive queen, spawning soldiers to fight for it. It likes to hide out in the Marianas Trench below the shadows' safe operating depth and make an expendable force to send out for raids. We can't take losses indefinitely like it can, so even the odd kill or two is a victory for it."
"It also goes through the Arctic Ocean to harass the Atlantic coastal bases. Some of the guys in BosWash have fought the Spawn before," Valentine recounted.
"Landfall in Japan! You guys better suit up in case we get contacts on our coast too." Lawson announced.
The hulking, neon-red Shadow Unit with bright orange accents crouched between Tokyo-3 and the shoreline, its single horn and unrestrained grin of metallic teeth giving it the appearance of an oni ready for battle. The demon stood up, unsheathing a massive sword with a katana-like blade and a futuristic, full-hand handguard. Upbeat J-rock blasted from attached speakers that were normally used to broadcast messages to civilians in the combat zone.
"Ikuzo, Creator-temee!" the female pilot shouted over the guitar riff as the Unit assumed a combat stance.
Three 90-meter-long mantis shrimp-like creatures emerged from the ocean. Their pearlescent carapaces glistened in the rising sun and their reinforced forelimbs twitched, ready to punch through Shadow armor. They lacked the advanced eyes of the crustaceans they were likenesses of, seeing only normal colors. However, they made up for this with echolocation and Territory sensitivity. Perceiving their prey, the Spawn skittered towards it.
Unit 5-01 blocked the charge with its AT Field, forcing the giant stomatopods back. Retaliating with a single sweeping cut, the Shadow sliced through all three opponents, their bodies falling to pieces at its feet.
Another pair of Spawn emerged further up the beach, only to be picked off by a forest camo-painted sniper type that lay prone on the crest of a nearby hill. Unit 4-06 checked the scope settings of its EM-7, then returned to observing the coast.
Suddenly, four more of the creatures emerged from the water, barrelling towards the sniper.
"Gotcha!" a husky female voice called out above them in heavily accented English. The orange and purple Unit 6-01 fell out of the sky, planting a rocket-boosted lance into the lead shrimp.
Wasting no time, the Unit let got of its lance and rolled to the side, retrieving a prog knife from one of its shoulder pylons. Another one of the Spawn fell to the sniper's shot, but the remaining two rushed at 6-01.
The first shrimp threw a punch with its forelimb, only to have the appendage grabbed at full extension and pulled forward, driving its body straight onto the vibro-knife which shredded through its soft underbelly. Unit 6-01 held on to the dead Spawn, using it as a shield against the remaining one.
Despite the deaths of its kin, the final Spawn was unafraid and tried to rush around its fallen comrade on either side to attack at the Shadow, only to have the corpse block its advances every time.
"Kurae!" the pilot yelled as the Unit kicked its kill forward, sending the remaining opponent off-balance and allowing 6-01 to land a series of brutal stabs to the shrimp's head.
February 26th, 2020
Moscow's Shadow element was split into two dedicated teams - close combat and support fire. Apart from a few customized features, the Units were all painted with a snow camo pattern.
The support fire team consisted of a 3-series and a 4-series, which were training with their BM-5A1 particle beam rifles. The bright purple-blue beams tore through the red hydrogen balloons which were being launched as targets, giving a flash of fire to confirm each successful hit. With the benefit of an integrated reactor, 3-04 was able to feed power directly into the futuristic dark blue rifle, while 4-02 had to manually reload new power packs into the bullpup design.
Meanwhile, the close combat team was conducting drop training further out from the city. The snow-white Units twisted through the air, weaving around flak clouds that represented Archetypes' ranged attacks. Before landing, each of the three Units threw a knife with chainsaw teeth on the blade, each one popping a target balloon.
The Shadows touched down, sending tremors through the ground. They picked up boxy, single-edged swords with brutal chain blades. Catapults launched logs into the air and the giants split them, each precise swing sending out a shower of splinters.
The thundering of footsteps preceded the arrival of the support fire team, and the two Shadows crouched with their rifles pointed in the direction of their comrades. More target balloons were released on the other side of the close combat Units, forcing the marksmen to carefully shoot around the melee specialists who were still training with their swords - a simulation of the dynamic conditions of an actual Archetype battle.
February 27th, 2020
The Nerv Berlin facility was bustling with activity as two new Units were installed in its underground hangar. Unit 2-07, affectionately referred to as Asmodeus, was a dark red Shadow with metallic black details. Its ram-like horns and heavy armor plating made it an imposing sight, especially when compared to the slender Unit 6-02, which was white with red markings.
A pair of young women stood and watched from the catwalk as their Units were affixed in the cages.
Gertrud Engels, the pilot of 2-07, had her hair dyed in her Unit's colors and dressed in a gothic style. She idly twirled a butterfly knife around her fingers, folding and unfolding the weapon to keep her mind occupied.
6-02's pilot, Angelika Suess, also resembled her Unit, having albino features including pale red eyes. She wore a simple white dress and stood up straight instead of leaning on the railing, keeping her hands clasped in front of her.
"So, I heard you hold the record for highest resting sync ratio. Don't think it's going to stay that way," Engels warned.
"You cannot overcome it. Even if you do, I will have set an even higher one by that point," Suess responded, completely deadpan.
Engels pointed at her rival with her closed knife, narrowing her makeup-lined blue eyes. "I know you think you're hot shit because you survived exposure to Second Impact on the day you were born, but I've seen your specs. You still rely on targeting assist to shoot, and you've never been in a melee engagement."
"And yet neither of those things affect my synchronization. Also, I have never had the need to close the distance when my Territory abilities are a far better method of dispatching a foe. Furthermore, manual aiming has been found to confer no advantages over the use of assistance," Suess stoically explained.
"Just wait until they make the aim assist go the way of the five-series' targeting software with the next patch. You won't be able to hit the broad side of a barn."
"Coming from the pilot who managed to miss an Archetype core twice the size of one," Suess retorted.
Engels' face turned bright red. "That was different! It was a moving target!"
Suddenly, alarms blared throughout the base, followed by a PA announcement.
"Achtung! ARCON drei! In Grossbritannien erkannt Archetyp!"
"Scheisse. I thought that was us about to get some action, but I guess London-two has this one covered," Engels complained.
Jason Langdon had been practicing in the Nerv London-2 firing range when the alert came in.
"Sodding hell," the young man sighed as he holstered his Walther P99. He swept his blonde fringe to the side, keeping it above his dark eyes. The hairstyle, youthful features, and a generous helping of audio tuning software had made him a heartthrob among the world's young girls, but made it difficult to be taken seriously in a paramilitary environment.
To compensate, he had tried to re-style himself as an improbably young super-spy, but lazily wearing an open tuxedo jacket over an untucked lavender dress shirt and skinny jeans did him no favors on that front, and neither did the sporadic pattern of holes in his target.
When he arrived at the lockers, the two female members of the team emerged, already suited up for battle. Both had their unruly hairstyles tied back into tight ponytails, but that was where the similarities ended.
Leticia Love was a statuesque sportswoman who wore a permanent smile on her soft Afro-Caribbean features. She had been due to compete in the 2020 Tokyo-3 Olympics when she was found to be sync-positive and recruited by Nerv, topping the pilot candidate charts for endurance and coordination.
The petite, redheaded Scot next to her was Moira Rutherford. The cranky yet focused lass already had a PhD in nuclear physics, making her the team's in-field science specialist. Her position on the Cambridge rifle team also made her an invaluable long-range combatant.
"Get a move on already! We cannae wait for yer famous arse all day!" the Scotswoman exclaimed.
"I could wait for it," the Jamaican flirted, giving Jason a wink.
"After saving the world, Love," he replied as he went to change into his plugsuit.
A minute later, the final two team members stepped out of the lift and headed for the lockers.
Jonathan James Crawford greeted the ladies with a wave as he rushed past. His usually well-combed brown hair had become dishevelled from running most of the way, but he retained his upper-class composure despite being almost out of breath. Even though the British nobility had lost the remainder of its official power following Second Impact, he still held significant pride in his hereditary peerage.
The other young man was the noble scion's polar opposite - a mysterious drifter known only as Darren and referred to as "The Hammerer" in official reports. He had suffered extensive burns at some point in his life, leading to widespread scarring and the replacement of both eyes with crude cybernetics. Unlike the subtle cybereyes used by some Nerv personnel, his resembled permanently attached goggles with obvious camera lenses which emitted a whirring sound every time he changed his focus.
With everyone suited up, the pilots made their way into the hangar and entered their Units, powering them up and launching to the surface on electromagnetic rails that attached to the Shadows' shoulder pylons. As each one came to a sudden stop at ground level, the pilots were treated to a view of the London-2 sprawl. The new capital of the United Kingdom had been built further down the Thames from its destroyed predecessor, and had largely replaced the old-fashioned architecture with armored skyscrapers intended to serve as cover in the event of an attack, be it from an Archetype or a foreign Shadow-equipped power as evidenced by the deliberately confusing layout and the fact that some of the towers could be climbed for use as vantage points.
Langdon's Unit 6-07 was built for speed like the rest of the 6-series. It was painted matte black with blood red highlights and sported a cluster of advanced antennas on the back of its head. It wielded a maser beam sword - a weapon derived from the concept of beamed microwave power. In order to conserve electricity when in use, a superconductive cable ran down the frame which held the receiver away from the emitter, allowing most of the energy to be recycled.
Love piloted 1-06 - one of the earlier models. It was heavily armored and had a vibrant yellow and turquoise color scheme. Its weapon was a cruciform sword with the cutting edges replaced by electrodes, allowing it to deliver a nasty electric shock while also being balanced enough to parry melee attacks.
Rutherford's Unit was 3-06. The bright orange and yellow 3-series had the integrated reactors as standard, as well as an antenna array similar to 6-07. It was equipped with the EM-8 electrolaser rifle, which used a laser beam to ionize air, then send the full output of the Unit's reactor through it as a lightning bolt.
Crawford piloted the royal red and shining silver Unit 2-04. It was a decent all-rounder with a custom monocle-like optical display fitted over the right eye. In its hands it held the BM-3A2 maser carbine - a shortened, rapid-fire variant of the BM-3 maser rifle.
Finally, the Hammerer had been assigned to a rusty, dark grey provisional Unit 0-05. Its arms and legs had been replaced with cybernetics, giving it a four-wheeled configuration. Instead of a hand, one of the prosthetic arms had a colossal maul attached to it. Additionally, its already heavily-armored body was covered in explosive tiles to provide an additional layer of reactive defense.
An analyst from the London-2 command center contacted the team over the comm. "The Archetype is in an industrial park near the outskirts, and appears to be immobile at this time. Tests with unmanned drones indicate that it has an effective attack range of approximately twenty klicks with some sort of beam weapon. AT Field characteristics suggest that it's a Sage-type, so it may reveal other abilities as you get closer."
"Twenty kilometers? That's more than twice the effective range of our weaponry," Jonathan Crawford pointed out.
"Right. Who's gonna be bait while we get into position?" Jason asked.
"I've got the bloody tank. Let's do this shit. Rest of you behind me!" Darren responded as he pushed his control sticks forward, sending Unit 0-05 rolling down the wide road.
"We should fan out. Too vulnerable to go in a tight group," Leticia suggested.
"Aye. And keep yer AT Fields low. Most Archetypes are sensitive to them," Moira advised.
The Sage stood in a loading zone next to a large warehouse. To a naive observer, the Archetype would simply resemble another building - a 100-meter tall, 200-meter wide ziggurat made from an obsidian-like substance. Each of the five layers was constructed from distinct 20-meter cubes. As it sensed hostile lifeforms approaching, the layers began to rotate like sections of a Rubik's cube.
On some level, it realized that the wheeled enemy did not pose an immediate threat, instead targeting the one with the strongest energy output - Unit 3-06. The beam of plasma lanced out from the top of the ziggurat, cycling through the entire visible spectrum and then fading as it left a blackened trail on the Shadow's chest armor. The pilot screamed out in pain and flooded the comm channel with unintelligible expletives.
"I've got this!" Crawford exclaimed as he raised his AT Field to maximum power. The Sage immediately noticed the energy spike and re-prioritized its targeting. However, the AT specialist's barrier was sufficiently powerful to halt the beam for its entire duration.
Unit 2-04 continued to act as the tank, blocking several more beams before its AT Field shattered. By then, the rest of the team had closed to within six kilometers.
While the three melee attackers continued to charge, Moira opened fire with the electrolaser, forcing the Sage to raise its own AT Field to defend itself. The lighting bolts danced over the orange barrier, degrading it but failing to penetrate.
Crawford arrived next to her and fired a burst from the maser carbine. The microwave beams it fired were invisible to human eyes, with the only indication of it firing being bursts of steam escaping from vents on the front of the weapon, which were reminiscent of the X-shaped muzzle flash of a firearm with a flash hider. The hits also registered on the Sage's AT barrier, sending ripples along the semi-transparent orange surface.
Its AT Field nearly down, the Sage retaliated with a plasma beam that burned a hole clean through 2-04. The automated ejection system was all that saved Crawford's life as it launched the entry plug out of the Unit's back. Solid rocket thrusters propelled the capsule clear of the battle site and a parachute brought it down safely.
In the meantime, the two sword wielders and the Hammerer had closed the distance to the Archetype. The destructive interference of multiple hostile AT Fields was enough to finally bring down the Sage's defenses, allowing the Units to take swings at the spinning cube layers with their weapons. Focusing on offense now, the ziggurat released a lightshow of beams around itself, forcing its attackers to weave around them.
Jason slid under the beams and planted his maser sword into the ground, cutting off the corners of the spinning ziggurat like was a workpiece being turned on a lathe and sending out a shower of molten chunks. The Sage fired its beam at him, but his Unit's maneuverability allowed him to roll out of the way just in time to avoid it.
Leticia had less fortune with her attacks. While each spinning section sent sparks flying when hit by the shock blade, the lack of a prolonged contact had largely mitigated the damage. Frustrated, she tried stabbing with the tip, hoping to jam the electrodes between the cubes. In her focused state, she failed to notice the rainbow light building up at the top of the pyramid.
"Love! Look out!" Jason screamed futilely .
Compared to 6-07's deft avoidance of the beam, 1-06 was sluggish, taking a graze as it backflipped to dodge the counterattack. Noticing that its target was off-balance, the Sage followed up by firing a brilliant cone, bathing the entire Unit in plasma. When the light died down, the Shadow's frontal armor had largely been vaporized, and the flesh underneath was charred and smoking. The Unit fell on its back, preventing the ejection system from activating properly.
"Life sign monitors are unresponsive! Pilot condition unknown!" an analyst shouted.
Jason gritted his teeth. "Damn it! Gotta kill it quick so we can get rescue teams in here!"
"Come on, this thing's gotta have a weakness!" the Hammerer yelled as he chipped away at the mid-section cubes with his maul.
Having found a new firing position, Moira let loose with her lightning gun. However, instead of hitting the Archetype, the lightning dispersed around it, shocking her comrades instead.
"Watch where you're shooting!" Darren shouted at her.
"Oh shite! It's created an ion cloud around it to redirect the current!" the Scottish scientist explained.
"Don't do that again! I can barely dodge as is!" Jason complained as his Unit dropped flat against the ground to avoid another plasma cone.
The Hammerer took another swing, shattering a cube and exposing something red behind it. "I've got the Core!"
He celebrated too soon, as his Unit took a plasma beam to the face a moment later. The entire head of 0-05 was melted, sending the glowing slag flowing down onto its body. Since the beam came from a higher elevation, it continued burning into the Unit, scorching its upper back and damaging the entry plug's ejection system. The LCL in Darren's plug boiled, worsening the burns on his face. However, he counted himself lucky to avoid being vaporized as he saw the light fade.
Unit 6-07 hammered at the cubes with its sword, exposing more of the spherical red Core. "Die already, you blighter!" Langdon screamed with rage.
"I've got Jon's carbine! Coming to help n-" Moira's communication was cut short as a plasma beam pierced her Unit's already weakened armor.
"Unit three-oh-six down! No reactor breach, thank goodness," the analyst announced, then gasped as he noticed a new alert on the monitors. "Neural spike detected in six-oh-seven!"
The base commander looked at the neural activity display that was now being projected in front of the tower for everyone to see. "A berserker?" he breathed.
6-07 dropped its maser sword and began tearing at the Archetype with its bare hands. It grabbed the Core and ripped it free of the ruined ziggurat, throwing the red sphere on the ground and stomping on it.
For the first time, the Sage experienced a fear of the unknown. Despite having an understanding of science beyond mankind's wildest dreams, the Archetype could not comprehend what was happening to it in its final moment. It wondered how this creature, a mere shadow of the progenitor, could suddenly gain such overwhelming power.
With one last stomp, the Core cracked and exploded, barely harming the vicious, victorious Shadow. Unit 6-07 let out a muffled, inhuman scream as it clawed at its face. It tore off the optical hardware, exposing a pair of menacing red eyeballs.
Unsatisfied with the carnage, the berserk Unit proceeded to grab Unit 1-06 by the leg and dragged it to the nearest block of buildings, using the scorched Shadow as a flail to demolish the various chemical plants and warehouses. After a few more hits, the body came free and flew off into a lake, leaving the berserker holding the severed leg. 6-07 headbutted the leg's knee blade repeatedly, using it to knock off its remaining head armor. As a final act of defiance, the Shadow leaned back and let out a roar with its freed mouth before shutting down.
February 28th, 2020
"Fuck me sideways. Shadows can really go apeshit," Nadya said as the footage ended. Relaxing, she sat back down on the ready room couch next to Valentine to process what she had just seen.
"Is the scary part over yet?" Regina asked, her face buried in Alvarez' shoulder.
"Yeah. Makes me thankful that I've never been around when a berserk went down," he replied, putting his arm around her.
"He seriously managed to make a six-series berserk? Langdon must have some serious anger management issues," Valentine snarked.
"Maybe it's delayed teen angst. He's supposed to be nineteen, but still looks like a kid to me," Alvarez joked.
Regina giggled and narrowed her eyes. "Probably gets more action than you, stubbly!"
"After doing that? If the intel is right about them, he's definitely sleeping alone while she's in the ICU, plus some couch time after that," Valentine pointed out.
"That's cold, man." Alvarez extended a fist, which his bro reached over the coffee table between the couches to bump.
"I noticed that some of the Units look different. Threes all seem to have the reactor, though, and I'm guessing that the other fours are snipers like mine. Do the other numbers correspond to anything?" Nadya asked.
"The first number is the series number, which is in order of the first Unit of that series being produced compared to the firsts of other series. The number after that is the Unit number, also in order of production," Alvarez explained.
"They're sorted by when the Core was created, as opposed to when the Unit entered service. The ones saw combat before the zeroes, but the zeroes had their Cores made earlier," Valentine added.
"Yeah. There are three main generations - the zeroes and ones are the original prototypes, the twos are test types designed to be tech demonstrators, and everything after that is a specialized production model," Alvarez recounted.
Valentine went through his mind, recalling the specific characteristics of each. "The one-series Units were made to be resilient and originally used an earlier type of armor known as A-type, which lacked the shoulder pylons of the B-type. The zero-series was an attempt to repurpose early failed Units by replacing sub-par sections with cybernetics."
"The twos came after that as more of an all-round combat Unit. They lacked any outstanding features by default, but had hardpoints for various experimental tech, some of which was further developed to create the production models' various specializations. The ones and the twos are the most temperamental of the lot, with the highest number of berserk incidents," Alvarez pointed out.
"Right." Valentine continued. "The threes were designed to go out into the field with integrated A-two reactors for power. Unfortunately, they weren't the fastest things around, which made them a poor choice for intercepting Archetypes out in the open, even with the longer operating time. The four-series was designed as a dedicated long-range combatant, as Nadya had speculated. The stability augmentation frame gives it excellent accuracy even when one-handing a full-size rifle. The only downside is that they're built to be light and mobile, so a direct hit from any Shadow-scale weapon is a serious concern."
"The five-series is the opposite. A heavy assault type designed to take hits and give them right back. It can be a bit moody, but handles well in close quarters. Long-range targeting is shit, though. I've been considering taking a shotgun to fire off a few shots as I close in, but it's almost quicker to just charge in and get to work with the sword," Alvarez explained, leaning back proudly.
"Finally, the six-series is the maneuver type. It handles like a dream, with the agility and precision of a pursuit predator. Like the four-series, it wasn't made to take hits, so I have to take full advantage of being able to strike hard and fast while using my maneuverability to stay out of trouble." Val paused, then noticed Nadya hanging on every word he said. "I've also heard rumors of a seven-series in development. It's supposedly another frontline combat Unit. Likely based on the five-series' muscular biological design, but with next-gen tech integrated into the armor."
"That's so fucking schway!" the hacker exclaimed.
"Nadya, stop trying to make 'schway' happen. It's not going to happen!" Regina responded.
"Sure it will. Just give the megacorps a few years to come to power and create a cyberpunk dystopia," Nadya remarked, giving a smug look.
"They practically are in power now. The latest business figures show that US industries are moving closer toward monopolies than ever before. My father's media group doesn't get much competition these days since he bought most of it out for cheap when everyone else was investing in the reconstruction boom," Regina explained.
"And between the widespread surveillance, simmers of conflict, and the constant threat of a giant monster killing everyone, I'd say we're living in something of a dystopia," Alvarez added.
"Makes me wonder why I'm in this line of work instead of deniable corporate espionage," Valentine joked, looking over to Nadya.
Author's Note: Sorry for the delay on this chapter. I had a few more scenes planned and I was unsure which ones to put in this chapter and which ones to save for the next one. I decided to get a lot of the exposition done here, which will hopefully start to give some insights into the worldbuilding I did for this AU to integrate the Adeptus Evangelion elements while giving it my own spin on things.
I hope you're enjoying it so far and welcome your inputs. I'm also curious if you think the CARNAGE level is appropriate for this rating, since I intend to keep it around this level or maybe a bit bloodier. And of course, more fanservice!