Chapter 8: The Coming Storm / Questionable Innocence

May 5th, 2020

The giant manta ray flew low over the Mojave Desert. Its 200-meter wingspan blocked out the sun underneath it, but lit up the ground with a constant barrage of electric arcs. The lightning fused any sand that it struck, leaving a trail of jagged pillars behind the creature.

A squadron of desert camo-painted AV-27B Hornet II jet VTOLs flew after the Archetype, firing Hydra 70 rockets from pods under their wings. At predicted, the tiny projectiles were entirely ineffective, being detonated by lightning bolts when they came within roughly two kilometers of their target. This did present the problem of confirming or denying the presence of a defensive AT Field, but revealed the hazardous nature of the electrical discharges.

"DREAM was right. Looks to be an Innocent-type. The lightning is the mostly likely candidate for its passive weapon. Let's hope we don't see an active one," Metzger said as he watched the footage projected in front of the bridge tower.

"It's frying all our sensors as it passes over them! If we let it reach the city, it'll do massive damage to our infrastructure," 1st Lt. Montgomery warned.

"How are the evacuations and damage control procedures coming along?" the captain asked.

"Southern blocks are cleared out. Everyone's in the shelters. Right now emergency services are working to compartmentalize the power grid out there, hoping to contain the damage to only those blocks that take direct hits," 1st Lt. Ford answered.

"Good. Lawson, how are our Units coming along?"

"Everyone's in position. Stanford is uneasy but ready for hard drop. May I ask why you put her in the air?"

"She can operate the furthest out from the city. Valentine and Kasparova will be providing support fire from the limits of Vegas' cable length, while Alvarez is stuck in standby mode because he's attached to a field battery that allows him to intercept it outside cable range. We've left more of them along the projected path so he can reattach as he follows the Archetype. Only Stanford's field-type Unit is capable of moving freely without worrying about power," Metzger explained.

Units 4-04 and 6-06 lay prone twelve kilometers apart, aiming down the scopes of their EM-7 gauss rifles. Both of them were on the outskirts of the solar farms, acting as the first and last line of defense against the Archetype.

The team's frontline fighter stood between them, several kilometers out from the solar arrays. Unit 5-02 carried a currently inactive ultrathermic kriegsmesser over its shoulder. Like the messer it used in the previous battle, it was a straight, single-edged sword, but this one was almost as tall as the Unit wielding it.

Unit 3-07 flew over the battlefield, slung under the flying wing transport plane. It was still issued with the EM-5 flechette rifle, but the magazine capacity was tripled due to the replacement of the power pack with a hardline connection to the Unit's A2 reactors.

"Once you engage, stay on its eight o'clock and keep your distance between one and two kilometers. That way you'll avoid the worst of the shocks and any forward-facing attacks," Metzger advised.

"Got it!" Regina responded as she felt the aerodynamic container opening up, releasing her Unit into freefall.

The Shadow landed on its feet and was immediately hit by the shocks. However, her 35% synch ratio allowed Regina to feel them merely as tingles. Bringing up her rail rifle, she fired an ultrathermic flechette that shattered against the orange barrier put up by the manta ray.

Another shield appeared on the Archetype's other side as Valentine opened fire with his gauss rifle. Defending itself from two sides was taxing for the Innocent's AT Field, however, and it left itself vulnerable to another 440mm slug coming in from Nadya's position. The armor-piercing round embedded itself in the creature's body, but failed to slow it down.

Valentine double-tapped the barrier, shattering it and following up with another two shots. The orange octagon on Regina's side also broke as another red-hot spike bored through it, lodging itself in the Archetype's wing.

The Innocent came within range of Unit 5-02, sending an electric arc forward only to have Alvarez block it using his own AT Field. The Shadow activated its weapon and charged, bringing its sword down on the creature's head.

The ultrathermic kriegsmesser left a scorched gash in the Archetype's head and dorsal structure, but its wielder was bowled over as the manta ray continued its steady advance, subjecting Unit 5-02 to the intense lightning storm on its underside.

Alvarez gritted his teeth as he felt the constant shocks all over his Shadow's body. The displays in his entry plug went haywire, showing random colors and static, followed by a complete loss of power. The pilot tried to move his control sticks, but there was no response.

Meanwhile the rest of the team pelted the Innocent with firepower. Its front was marred by holes and grazes, while its left side was now a pin cushion for superheated flechettes.

"You alright?" Valentine asked between double taps.

Alvarez groaned, leaning back in his seat as he felt the lightning storm over him moving on. "I'm fine, but my Unit's toast. Auxiliary systems just rebooted, but I don't have any mobility."

"Valentine, take over as point," Metzger commanded.

"On it!" Valentine fired one last full-auto burst and discarded his empty rifle, then he opened a weapon case that was set on the ground nearby and retrieved another ultrathermic kriegsmesser. Rearmed for melee combat, the Unit dashed towards the center, hoping to reach it in time to intercept the incoming Archetype. The umbilical cable snagged against a solar collector, causing 6-06's end to detach and come down on its thrusters while the Shadow continued its sprint, now losing power.

Electricity arced between the manta ray's cephalic fins, then shot out towards the running Shadow. Unit 6-06 stumbled and went down on one knee as sparks flew from its leg.

"Come on, get me onto the redundant circuit..." Valentine urged, making his Unit limp along.

"Watch out for that-" Nadya paused as her Unit rolled to the side, only partially avoiding another discharge. "It'll really numb you if it hits." 4-04 stood up, holding up the EM-7 with its frame-supported right hand while the left arm hung limply, rebooting.

The sniper switched from aimed single shots to three-round bursts, peppering the Archetype's head but failing to sever the electrified fins.

Valentine's mobility came back and he resumed his sprint, holding the kriegsmesser by its inactive blade to manage its length better.

Stanford continued to jog and shoot alongside the Innocent, her Unit now showing the built-up damage of a dozen individual shocks on its silver and orange armor. The constant distraction made it difficult to aim, but the target's size also made it difficult to miss as she put another ultrathermic flechette into its side.

Suddenly, a lightning bolt hit her EM-5, running through the railgun's internal electronics and into the cable connecting it to 3-07's reactor. Several components behind Regina's seat blew out, sending bubbles into the LCL as the entry plug went dark. With no control signal and its armor going into emergency lockdown, the Shadow froze up mid-run and fell on its face.

"Power surge! Looks like the circuit breakers caught the worst of it, but all data feeds were cut off after that. Even emergency power got knocked out," Lawson explained.

Regina slapped her control sticks out of frustration. "Damn it! Not ag-"

Without warning, the floor in front of her burst open, filling her vision with a blinding light. The armor plate that normally covered the entry plug was blown off as a jet of plasma shot out of the Unit's back.

"Was that an ejection?" Metzger asked as he saw the flame-like jet on the drone feed.

Lawson's eyes darted back and forth between readouts. "Negative! Plug is still inside! I can't read Stanford's vitals! That looks like escaping reactor plasma, except that's..."

"Not possible. A fusion reactor failing catastrophically would only damage the lining of the reaction chamber at worst. Even directly breaching it would vent the heat out through the hole, not up into the entry plug housing," Metzger mused.

Back in the battle, Nadya deflected another electric arc with her AT Field and responded with another hail of gauss rounds. Meanwhile, Valentine finally reached the center, his Unit sliding to the cable and plugging it in just in time to maintain power.

"I'm in position, firing it up!" Valentine announced. Unit 6-06 held the kriegsmesser with both hands and pressed a button on the sword's hilt, causing the blade to glow red-hot.

"Reloading!" Nadya shouted as 4-04 let the magazine drop free from its EM-7 and inserted a fresh one.

"Hit it with a coordinated attack and finish this quickly. It's less than three kilometers from the solar arrays and we need to call in search and rescue ASAP," Metzger instructed.

Valentine charged at the Archetype, sliding under it and deflecting the worst of the shocks with his AT Field. His Unit still took a lightning bolt to the head, making his displays glitch out for a few seconds while the Shadow shakily stood up.

Nadya fired two more bursts at the Innocent's already shredded body, blowing a chunk off the top of it and exposing the Core.

Unit 6-06 jumped into the air, twisting as it swung the ultrathermic blade downwards onto the Core. It was left with a cracked indentation after the first strike but Valentine kept up the spin, bringing the kriegsmesser down again to split it completely and end the Innocent.

Predictably, the Archetype exploded. The Shadow on top of it backflipped off at the last second, shielding itself from the blast with its Territory.

"Kill confirmed," Valentine said as the smoke cleared.

"That's a wrap. Now let's get our friends out of there," Nadya added.

"Good job, pilots. SAR is en route now," Metzger announced over their comms.

"Holy shit. I can't believe she's still alive after that."

"Third-degree burns, complete coverage. Be careful when moving her."

"She's going into shock. Stay with us, damn it!"

"The suit's fused. We'll need to excise the entire dermal layer."

"Internal damage is minimal. Good thing she was breathing out when it happened."

The three uninjured pilots came up to the door to the ICU in Nerv's underground medical facility, only to find Dr. Mendoza sitting outside on a plastic-covered chair that added to the facility's sterile look.

"Can we see her?" Alvarez asked.

"You really don't want to. She's stable, but they're keeping her in a medically-induced coma. Not that she'd be able to do much even if they did let her wake up."

Alvarez shuddered, expecting the worst. "How bad is it?"

"Real bad. Spray-on skin isn't going to help this time. We're still assessing the extent of the damage, but over half of her senses will need cybernetic replacement."

Captain Metzger stood in the CO's underground office, towering over the expensive oak desk that contrasted with the room's futuristic bunker style.

"She doesn't need half the shit on this list, Colonel."

Colonel Swan turned around in her swivel chair. "It's for her own good. I, for one, would prefer to avoid having something like this happen to her again."

"Everything under her skin is intact. I can understand the benefits when this was done to me, but isn't it a bit much for her?"

"She's a combatant, just like you, Captain. Having these upgrades will improve her survivability."

"And how will Theodore Stanford react when you give that as the excuse for chopping up his only daughter?"

Swan put her elbows on the desk and steepled her fingers. "Mister Stanford might as well have asked for this himself. He should have considered the risks of sending an untrained civilian into a life-or-death situation before he begged me to fast-track her up the pilot candidate list."

Metzger's gloved fist tightened as he heard the last part. He paced from one end of the desk to the other, then stopped as he had an idea. "It's too invasive."

"That doesn't count as a downside to me," Swan pointed out, maintaining her dispassionate expression.

"Physical therapy to adjust to using a cyberlimb can take over a month, usually more for multiple ones. If we stick to cybernetic senses and dermal replacement, it'll only take a week or two. Her Unit will be operational by then so she can be out in the field again sooner."

The colonel narrowed her eyes. "Fine."

As the captain walked out into the hallway, Lieutenant Lawson ran up to him.

"Captain, DREAM finally determined how the reactor did that. It was the electromagnetic field from the shock that contained and channelled the plasma, preventing it from dissipating and making it burrow through the Unit's interior to the entry plug housing," Lawson explained.

"Can we update the A-two reactor safety systems to prevent this in the future?" Metzger asked.

Lawson nodded. "The engineers are working on it. Still, the EM field being the perfect shape to direct the plasma upwards was a freak occurrence, so we shouldn't be seeing it again."

"We also went back to Shadow firearms with triggers or hardwired connections when an Archetype that could disrupt wireless firing signals was encountered. Make sure that this vulnerability is rectified by the time repairs are done," the captain ordered.

Flashes of color danced in her vision, followed by geometric shapes, then more complex scenes. She felt like she was being pulled through various rooms and hallways, up stairs, flying over strange worlds that seemed unreal.

"B.g...ing ca..br...n."

The tinnitus she had heard in her dreams cleared. At first it was just test tones, but then more elaborate melodies came. Numerous voices flooded her hearing and she struggled to make out the words among the chatter.

"That does not sound like a good thing."

"You're special, sweetie, like I always told you."

"Nerv's personal PR firm must be pulling some serious strings."

"You want to push with your right hand while pulling with your left, but don't go too hard on it."

One voice seemed both real yet oddly far away. "We've mapped the nerve attachment points. There should be no loss of sensation."

It felt like the pain was coming back from where it had left off earlier when her nerve endings were burned away. She wanted to scream, but only silence left her mouth. The agony faded into pinpricks and was then replaced by familiar sensations - the hot sun, the cool breeze, immersion in liquid, someone's skin against hers.

"First diagnostics complete. We'll get a more complete picture once everything's settled in."

May 9th, 2020

The white business VTOL landed on a Las Cielos rooftop. Theodore Stanford emerged, took the elevator down to the Thundercloud's surface and stepped outside. A black Cadillac limousine was waiting for him, but the media tycoon seemed surprised by its presence, approaching cautiously once he saw the rear door open.

A man in his early forties was sitting in the rear-facing seat. He had black, slicked-back hair and cold blue eyes with dark circles under them. The gentleman wore a pinstriped black suit with a white dress shirt and a dark green necktie.

"Luciano Innocenti. To what do I owe the pleasure?" Stanford asked as he sat down.

The door automatically closed behind him and the car started moving.

Innocenti held out his hand. "Phone."

Stanford chuckled as he handed over his smartphone. "Why so paranoid, Lucky?"

The mobster opened a small soundproofed box and put the phone inside, then looked back to Stanford. "Soundproofing, Faraday cage to block transmissions, vibrating windows to foil laser microphones, mirrored coating to keep people from seeing us. Still, a phone doesn't need to be online to record, so I gotta take that precaution too."

"Alright, why all this secrecy?"

"Because I need you to help me with something."

Stanford looked out the tinted window, pretending to take in the sights. "Last time I checked, I only do character assassinations. The kind with guns are still your business, not mine."

"Your designation is media and entertainment, but your business is information. Not the technical kind like IT's, but the kind that a normal person can understand."

"Yeah, public information. Not the kind you need underworld contacts to know about."

Innocenti leaned forward. "Well, I have some very private information, and I need you to be ready to make it public real quick."

"I am not helping you in some blackmail scheme, Lucky."

"This isn't just some politico I recorded with one of my girls at the Apex. I've been working on getting dirt on our mutual friends."

"Our mutual..." Stanford covered his face with one hand. "You've got to be fucking kidding me. You're trying to go against Trust?"

"Not exactly. Call it a power play. I just need some leverage on big P in order to take him down a peg."

"Are you insane? You'll be going against eight of America's wealthiest and most powerful men!"

Luciano drew a Beretta 92FS Inox from his suit jacket and casually pointed it at Stanford's chest. "It's gonna be seven by the end of this car ride, one way or the other," he calmly stated.

"But you can't shoot me. You said you need my help," Stanford responded.

Innocenti holstered his gun and took out a box the size of a wallet. "And you need mine. This drive holds sensitive information on all Trust members, including you."

"Asshole," Stanford said with a glare.

"Now, the problem is that my guy in BosWash got whacked after he sent over his part of the intel. Kidnapped and executed, but no signs of torture, which suggests that our psychic psycho was behind it. The plane attack shows that she's trying to track me down, probably to get the drive and use it as a hit list."

"So, why give it to me?"

"Because you can bury it in a random server in your morgue. It's the only air gapped data vault I can think of that doesn't belong to the government, Nerv or IT."

"But if she gets to you, she'll know to go after me next."

"Won't get to that. I have a foolproof plan in case she tries to get within ten meters of me."

"How do you know she's not in the next car over, reading us right now?" Stanford pointed out.

"Well, RD said that her mind reading is based on Territory theory, so I had the Faraday cage in this car lined with C-alloy. Hopefully it'll work on the same principle."

"And your foolproof plan? Is it a C-alloy foil hat by any chance?" Stanford asked with a laugh.

"No, it's threatening to replace the sensitive information in my head with a bullet if she gets too close. I've been brushing up on my geometry and looking at maps of the city, so I can figure out a ten meter distance pretty much anywhere. With myself as a hostage, I can bait her long enough to get a sniper into position and take her out. At least that's the plan," Luciano explained.

"I've said a lot of shit about you over the years, but I gotta admit that your ammo ain't the only brass you carry around," Stanford lauded.

"Standard issue for being head of the Neo-Commission. Looks like we're done here, so take this and go see your daughter already, Theo."

The car stopped and Innocenti gave Stanford back his phone along with the portable drive.

Regina sat in her hospital bed and watched the bland daytime programs. At a glance, she would appear to be exactly the same as she was before the injury, but a closer inspection revealed several key differences. Her skin had the moderate tan that she had maintained before her life as a pilot, but it was too smooth, lacking pores and fine hairs. Her irises were still dark brown, but had the patterns replaced by distinctive bands, while her sclerae were pure white with no blood vessels. Her chestnut-brown hair still fell in waves past her shoulders, but was so stiff that it seemed to be saturated with hairspray.

Her father entered the room, his eyes wide as he saw her apparently unharmed, but slightly different in a way he couldn't describe.

"Sweetie, are you alright? How are you feeling?"

"Feelings are obsolete," Regina replied in a robotic monotone, then let out a hearty laugh in her normal voice. "Kidding! I'm fine, dad."

Theodore hugged his daughter, finally realizing the extent of the cybernetic replacement as her skin felt warm yet totally unfamiliar. "What did they do to you?" he asked as he pulled back.

Regina shrugged, giving a half-smile. "It's better than not having it. Alvarez told me about other pilots who had to live with horrible scarring back when this tech wasn't as advanced."

"Which one is he? The Mexican guy in the biker jacket?"

"Dad! He's Spanish!" Regina corrected, hearing the laughter of her friends out in the hallway.

"Gets that a lot, huh?" her father teased. "Just don't let him hurt you. These career pilot types are always hotheaded."

"Well, he's not. He's brave and driven and dashing and..." Regina was suddenly thankful that she now had conscious control of her blushing.

"Alright! Alright! Just don't let that bad boy act fool you into thinking he's someone he's not," Theodore warned.

"Dad, give me some credit. I'm an adult now, I know who I can trust," Regina replied. "And thanks for visiting."

Author's Note: This chapter is largely the result of me determining the outcomes of the battles using Adeptus Evangelion V3.03.1 (with some modifications). When someone has to use Luck to survive, they still end up severely injured, so expect more pilots to end up with augmentations as the series progresses. No one is safe!