Neon Genesis Evangelion Fan Fiction ❯ Crossroads ❯ Revelations II ( Chapter 4 )

[ Y - Young Adult: Not suitable for readers under 16 ]

Crossroads

An Evangelion Rifts Crossover story


Neon Genesis Evangelion is used without permission. It is copyright by
Gainix (wonderful folks!). Rifts®, Palladium Books®, Mechanoids® The
Mechanoid Invasion®, Rifts®, Megaverse®, RECON®, and After the Bomb®
Are registered trademark owned and licensed by Kevin Siembieda and
Palladium Books, Inc. Cyber-Knight(TM), Coalition States(TM), Triax(TM)
Nightbane(TM), Nightlands(TM), Heroes Unlimited(TM), Villains Unlimited(TM),
Beyond the Supernatural(TM), Boxed Nightmares(TM), Ninjas & Superspies(TM),
Mystic China(TM), Palladium Fantasy RPG(TM), Mindwerks(TM), Vampire
Kingdoms(TM), The Juicer Uprising(TM), Phase World(TM), Wormwood(TM),
Psyscape(TM), Mega-Damage(TM), S.D.C.(TM), I.S.P.(TM), P.P.E.(TM), SAMAS(TM),
Splugorth(TM), Cyber-Knight(TM), Glitter Boy(TM), Juicer(TM), Mind Melter(TM),
Psi-Stalker(TM), Coalition States(TM), Northern Gun(TM), Erin Tarn(TM),
Naruni(TM), ... and other names and titles are trademarks owned and licensed
by Kevin Siembieda and Palladium Books, Inc."... and are also used without
permission. Please don't sue me; I am a poor college student! If you sue
me I won't be able to waste my money on your wonderful products! 8^)

However, Micro-Cell IS all mine!!!!! Hahahahaha!! Do feel free to use it in
your own Rift's games if you want, but just remeber where you got it from...



Welcome again to my humble little fic. As you may or may not
remember, last time, Alister was contacted in a dream by some `unknown
entity.' After this, the mage awoke and was told about their encounter
with Shinji and about the fight between the EVA's and the Angel. The
next day Kyle, Anika, and Melissa decided to pay Shinji a visit.
Confronted again with the mercenaries from the world of Rifts, Shinji
almost panicked, but in the end, heard them out (like he had that much
of a choice...). They have been able to convince Shinji of their
genuine good intentions, and he has agreed to help them in what ways he
can. Now the story continues.


Chapter 4: Revelations II


"Wow, every computer in the world?"

"Pretty much. They've been talking about making it into a
virtual environment. My friend Kensuke talks about it almost as much
as he does Eva, and the military."

"I got to log me onto that!" Just then the two arrived at the
front door of the apartment complex where Shinji lived. "Hey Shinji,
here's your building, got you home in under an hour!" Melissa declared
proudly.

"Well at least Misato won't be upset. Asuka though. she always
seems to be upset about something." Shinji said.

"Some roommate. Listen, if you need to get in touch with us, or
us you for that matter, use this." With that she handed him a small
electronic device about the same size as his SDAT player. It had what
looked like a set of some sort of headphones and a patch of some sort
on the end of the other cord sticking out of it. "It's a V-300 walkie-
talkie. It has a range of about three miles. The frequency is set at
187.658. Pretty much all that means is that you shouldn't change the
frequency lock. To talk with it, attach the mic to your throat like
so," with that she pulled down her collar and pointed at the mic
attached to her own throat. "Then press the button on the cord," she
pointed to a small piece of plastic with a pressure plate on it, "and
just talk softly. Top of the line bit of hardware, this: multi-
environmental, lithium battery, built in scrambler/decoder, and is
hardened against some degree of EMP, so take good care of it. If you
call us, you'll need to get our attention. To do this press the long
button on the side here, this will send a burst of signal noise to the
base unit and let us know you're there. Any questions?"

"No, not really."

"Ok, great! I'll see you around." Melissa waved, turned and
began to walk away.

"Wait, I do have one question..." Melissa stopped and turned to
face him. "How long will you be here?"

"I don't know." Melissa shrugged and turning resumed her path.
"Only time will tell. Later!"

As Shinji rode the elevator up, he sighed. "As if my life wasn't
complicated enough..." he mumbled.

Shinji walked down the hallway to the apartment he shared with
Misato and now Asuka. Shinji was just opening the door when Kyle's
words came back to him, `I'll help. Hell, we'll all help...' Maybe
things were starting to look up after all. Shinji opened the door and
walked in. "I'm home."

"Well, it's about damn time." Asuka was waiting. "Running out
to lunch and leaving me here. How dare you! Well, what are you
waiting for? Go change. Scheisse, if YOU'RE ever going to learn those
steps right YOU had better get back to practicing. What are you just
standing there for? MOVE!"

Shinji sighed again and walked to his room. "Then again..." he
mumbled.

"What was that Third Child?" Asuka demanded.

"Nothing, nothing. I'm going already. Sheesh." With this, the
door to "Shinji's Lovely Suite" slammed shut.

Asuka just glared at him, or at least the door to his room.
"Idiot."

Misato, watching the entire exchange also sighed. "It's going to
be a loonnggg week..."


"I see, keep me informed of the situation. No, I see no need to
divert men to them, but be on the lookout for them, nonetheless." Gendo
Ikari, Supreme Commander of NERV, put down the phone, an odd look on
his face.

"What is it Ikari?" Sub-Commander Fuyutsuki asked.

"Two people made contact with the Third Child. After speaking
with him for a short time, the two unknowns were able to evade Section
Two agents who followed them. Both of the subjects were armed."

"Is the Third all right?"

"Yes, he has returned to Captain Katsuragi's apartment."

"Then what's wrong?"

"I don't know. Something doesn't feel right about this." The
Supreme Commander of NERV paused for a moment. "As long as it does not
interfere with The Scenario, it doesn't mater." The commander
skillfully moved a chess piece on the board between the two of them.
"Everything is still proceeding on schedule. Check, professor."


The second day of the intense training was much like the first,
except for Shinji's mealtime escape. By the third day, Shinji had
gotten most of the steps down, but was still out of synch with Asuka.
The third day was also when three concerned friends decided to pay a
visit.


"What are you doing here?" Touji Suzuhara asked the class
representative Hikari Horaki.

"I could ask the same of you and Mr. Aida, Touji." Hikari
replied as she reached out and rang the doorbell.

"Coming..." two muffled voices, said in unison. As the three
classmates looked at each other in confusion, the door opened. Three
jaws dropped.

"They... they're doing it again!" Kensuke yelped.

There, standing in the doorway were Shinji and Asuka, both in
black, spandex dance suits with identically patterned (but different
colored) tank tops.

"W, what's going on?" Touji stammered out.

"We have to eat, breathe, and even sleep together," the two
pilots informed their friends, still speaking in unison.

Hikari gasped and covered her mouth with a hand. "You're living
in sin!!" She exclaimed.

"No, it's not like that!" Shinji and Asuka declared as one.
"Misato is making us do this!"

The argument might have gone on longer if not for the appearance
of Misato herself accompanied by Rei. Looking at the scene before her
she began to giggle.

"Maybe you can tell us what's going on, Misato." Touji calmly
asked.

"Sure, why don't you three come on in," the adult replied, waving
the group in. The children looked at each other and with a shrug
followed.

After a brief explanation of the situation, and an introduction
to pen-pen for those not yet acquainted, Touji, Kensuke, and Hikari sat
down in the living room next to Rei to watch the practice.

"So, how is it going so far, Misato?" Touji asked.

"Well, see for yourself..." Misato's timing couldn't have been
better for at that exact moment, Shinji screwed up.

Asuka screamed in frustration. "How in the world am I supposed
to be in step with this no-talent drip?" she demanded.

"So, you're saying you can't do it?" Misato asked innocently,
between sips of beer.

"Ha, I'm saying no one could do it. Not with Shinji at least."
Asuka replied without hesitation.

"Rei?" Misato said simply.

"Yes?" Rei replied in her normal deadpan.

"Why don't you give it a try?"

"Yes ma'am." With that she stood, put on a set of headphones and
walked over to the pad where Asuka had been standing. Shinji put back
on his own headphones and the training sequence began anew. Asuka
looked on in horror as Rei and Shinji moved in perfect time with each
other and the music, executing the dance flawlessly.

"If Unit 00 wasn't inoperable, I'd send Rei..." Misato observed.

This was simply too much for Asuka's ego to take. With a scream
of frustration she stormed out of the apartment. Shinji looked up at
this outburst, just in time to see Asuka's fleeing form go out the
front door.

"Well, what are you waiting for!?" Hikari asked angrily.

Shinji, the master conversationalist, responded, "Huh?"

"Go follow her! You made her cry, this is your fault!"

Shinji, fearing the wrath of the class representative, followed
Asuka.



Shinji found Asuka at the convenience store a block away from the
apartment. She was buying some snack food and soda, and she still
looked kinda pissed. Shinji took a deep breath and walked over.
"I know. I have to go on this mission." Asuka said without
preamble. Shinji didn't answer. "If that's the way of it, then fine!
We are going to practice until it's right. No matter what!" Shinji
almost shied back from her at that point; the fire that seemed to blaze
in her eyes scared the hell out of him...


The next few days of training passed in a blur, but in the end
they had done it. They knew the steps, they moved in time with the
music and each other; they were ready. Misato was pleasantly surprised
to say the least. After Asuka's outburst, she and Shinji seemed to
have come to an understanding of some sort. While Asuka didn't give
the boy much slack, she gave him some; just enough to get the job done,
it would seem. What was really surprising was Shinji's attitude. He
had become a little... better? A little more at peace with himself
maybe? She doubted that Asuka had anything to do with this; she was
still giving him hell when she could get away with it. The only other
thing she could think of was the lunch with his friend, that girl...
no, woman - Melissa. For the hundredth time Misato wondered what the
two of them had talked about... of did. Maybe she would ask him about
it when this Angel was defeated. Other then that, everything was going
on schedule, the repairs would be done on Units 01 and 02 in a mater of
hours and the operation would start shortly thereafter. Not a moment
too late, either; the Angel was already showing signs of movement.
They were cutting it close, far too close. "All right, you two behave
tonight, ok? If you need anything just call me at HQ." She called as
she walked out the door. Then, almost as an afterthought she called
back, "and don't stay up too late."

"OK, Misato," two voices called as one.

Tomorrow they WOULD win; she would have her revenge against
them... she would have her vengeance against all of the Angels.


Shinji was determined to make use of his time to relax. With
Misato working tonight, he and Asuka wouldn't have to do everything in
unison. Shinji probably would have continued along this train of
thought except for the emergence of Asuka from the bathroom.

"So, Shinji, Misato is gone for the night?" Asuka asked in a
neutral tone.

"Uh, yeah. She said that she has to work the night shift.
Something about last minute preparations." He answered.

"Excellent!" With that Asuka walked over, picked up her futon
and walked into the next room, unceremoniously dropping the futon on
the floor. She then flopped to the floor on top of it and turned to
face her roommate. "This Third Child," she said, indicating the door,
"is the Invincible Wall of Jehrico. It separates me from you. It will
remain that way for the night." With that she slammed the door shut.

Shinji shrugged his shoulders and went to his room to get some
fresh batteries for his SDAT. As he was digging around for some, his
hand came across the com-unit that Melissa had given him. He stared at
it for a minute, then reached over and picked it up. He carefully
inserted the single earbud and attached the microphone to his throat
like Melissa had shown him. Shinji licked his lips nervously then
pressed the `blast' button. A minute or so passed and without any
response and he was about to put the device down when he got an answer.

["I read, please identify."] Kyle's voice responded evenly.

["Um, it's just me, Shinji."] Shinji replied weakly.

["Hey kid! How they hanging?"] Kyle replied cheerily.

["How are... what hanging?"] Shinji replied, confused.

["Ha, never mind kid. What's happening? Why you call?"]

["I... I... don't really know."] Shinji stammered in reply. ["I
just kinda wanted to talk to someone. I'm sorry if I'm disturbing
you."]

["Hey, no problemo. How goes the training?"]

["Well, Asuka and I are finally in step and in time, so that's
going well. Unfortunately, Asuka's been a bit of a pain..."

["You want to talk about it?"] Kyle responded gently.

["If, you don't mind... sometimes it's hard to talk about this
kinda stuff with Misato..."]

["Hell, what are friends for? Talk away."]

["Well, to start with, she's always bossing me around. She moved
in here and kicked me out of my room and just sort of took it over. I
wouldn't have minded really if she would have asked first, but she just
did it. That and she's always kicking me and calling me stupid and a
pervert and stuff."] Shinji paused for a moment and sighed. ["I don't
know why. I try to be nice to her, she just doesn't seem to want to
give me a break."]

["Maybe it's just her time of the month?"] a new, deeper, voice
chimed in.

Kyle chuckled. ["You remember Ferris, right? Big guy... wolf-
like... bad breath...?']

["Hey, my breath is naturally minty fresh, unlike SOME people I
know..."] the Wolfen countered. ["How you doing pup? Did pretty damn
well against that critter the other day. Cheap move, being able to
survive being cut in two like that and then animate both halves as
separate entities. Damn cheap."]

["I... I remember you. Hi."] Shinji hesitantly answered.

["Hey, calm down now, pup. Kyle and Melissa briefed us on what's
going on. We all agree that we ought to help ya out as much as we can.
Specially considering what you're doing for us."] Ferris' voice chimed
through the com.

["Thank you. I don't know what else to say..."] Shinji answered.

["That's more than enough."] Kyle answered. ["So, still want to
talk? Got two sets of ears that were bored stiff till you called."]

["Well, yes, if you don't mind."] Shinji wondered why he was
opening up to these people who were virtually strangers. Then he
realized it was because he needed to open up to someone and he felt on
some instinctual level that he could trust them.

["Talk away my friend, talk away,"] Kyle answered.

["Ok... well, like I was saying, Asuka is just plain mean to me
most of the time. Not really cruel or anything, just mean. I kinda
want to talk to Misato about it, but I think that she'd just tease the
both of us, and it would get worse. Misato's nice and all, I really
like her. She's like, I don't know, a big sister that I never had or
something. My friends Touji and Kensuke just aren't much help when I
try to talk to them about this stuff. They try and all, but Touji is
too busy drooling over Misato and Kensuke about Misato and Evangelion.
Then there's Rei. She's another pilot. I can't really talk to her
`cause I don't know if she'd answer or not. She's always so quite.
And it's not like I could talk to my father about anything..."] Shinji
trailed off at this point, not quite sure what else to say, but feeling
better to have said it.

["Were is you old man? Another city or something?"] Kyle asked.

["No, he's here... he just... he just... I'm just a tool to him.
That's the only reason I'm here, he has a use for me. He doesn't care
about me. No matter what I do, I just can't seem to get him to notice
me. I can't seem to get him to respect me..."] Shinji was speaking in
a harsh whisper by the end and was starting to tear up.

["Hey, calm down now. It's OK."] Kyle chuckled softly. ["And I
thought that my life was fucked. Listen, this Asuka chick sounds like
she has some issues. My advice, try to avoid her bad side, be civil,
and don't react to it when possible. Try to give what you get, too.
Don't be mean about it; just respond to it with some wit. It works for
me."] He could hear Ferris giving noises to the affirmative in the
background. ["As for Misato, I say appreciate her. She sounds like a
good person who really cares about you. I'm sure if you ask her about
this stuff she would respect you enough not to make a joke out of it.
As for your friends, they sound like typical teenagers to me. Give `em
a few months and I'm sure they'll calm down on the Misato and EVA
things. Rei, I don't know what to say about her. Maybe she's just
shy. As for your old man, I think he sounds like an ass."]

["Sound's kinda like my father actually..."] Ferris interjected.
["Cold, distant, aloof, manipulative. Saw me as a thing, not his
son."]

["But I want him to be proud of me. Is that so wrong?"] Shinji
whispered back.

["Not at all, pup. My father wanted me to be something I wasn't,
so eventually I just packed up and left. For awhile I tried to impress
him. Did big jobs, almost got myself killed on a few, and all it got
me is an artificial lung and eye. After I realized that nothing I
could do would truly make him proud of me, I left for good and never
once looked back. In some sick way, I miss him and my family
sometimes, but it's better then him controlling me. There's just no
pleasing some, you just have to get over it."]

["I don't know if I can,"] Shinji replied.

["Sure ya can. Just find some better reason for going on,"]
Ferris reassured.

["My personal favorite: You're saving the fucking world! Think
of all the honeys that can get you,"] Kyle said cheerily.

Shinji kinda laughed at that. ["What girl would want to go out
with me? I'm just a scrawny little coward..."]

["I don't think you're a coward. I think you got pushed into an
insane situation with no preparation or regard for you,"] Ferris
rebuffed. ["And as for being a weakling, you just got yourself some
personal trainers, Headhunter style!"] (Author's note: If Shinji
really knew what he was getting into at this point, he would have been
more afraid then relieved me thinks... 8^)

["Really? You'd do that?"]

["We said we'd help kid. But I think that for now you should be
hitting the hay. If I don't miss my guess, you got a big day
tomorrow,"] Kyle said.

["You're right, I should. Thank you..."]

["No problem. Sleep tight. Signing off."] With that, static
replaced Kyle's voice. Shinji put the com unit back into his dresser
drawer and replaced the batteries in his SDAT, a small smile on his
face. He walked back out to the living room and lay down on his futon
and was soon drifting off into sleep.


"Who in the world was he talking to?" Asuka asked herself. "Oh
well, I'll bug him about it later." With that, she turned of the light
in her room and went to sleep.

Unfortunately, her sleep was plagued by nightmares of a doll with
a torn-off head with red yarn hair, the silhouette of a woman hanging
from a rafter and a sweet voice whispering of death and heaven. With a
yelp, Asuka awoke.

"Why now?" she asked herself as she got up and stumbled, half-
asleep, to the bathroom. After that she walked back to her futon in a
daze. However, it was not her futon where she ended up. Out of habit
she had gone to the living room and lain down next to Shinji, drifting
off to sleep again.

Shinji found it hard to do the same. Woken by the girls' yelp,
he now found himself a mere handsbreath away from her. While he had
often admired Asuka from a distance, the last thing he had ever
expected was to see her lying next to him. Shinji licked his lips
nervously, repeating his mantra over and over in his mind. `I mustn't
run away, I mustn't run away, I mustn't run away, I mustn't run away,
Imustn'trunaway, Imustn'trunaway, Imustn'trunaway...' Shinji licked his
lips again as his face moved closer to that of the vision just
centimeters from him. Right before he closed the last bit of distance,
he saw Asuka's lips move. He froze. Again her lips moved, but this
time a word escaped them.

"Mama..." Asuka whispered pleadingly, a tear beginning to roll
down her cheek.

Shinji looked at her for a moment and then brushed away the tear
as lightly as he could. The girl stirred but didn't wake. He moved
himself and a blanket a distance away and tried to get comfortable.
His last thoughts were: `You're just a child, too..."


"T-minus ten minutes and counting till operation. T-minus ten
minutes."

Shinji was already in the entry plug of Unit 01. The plug was
already in the EVA and was filled with LCL. The nerve connections had
been established a few minute prior and the EVA was being moved to the
launch platform.

["Shinji! Hey Shinji!"]

Shinji jumped at the sound of Melissa's voice.

["Good luck out there - go get `em!"] With that, the channel
closed. Shinji looked around the control room to see if anyone had
noticed, but it seemed that everyone was too busy, and the communiqu'
had gone unnoticed.

With a clang, EVA 01 was locked into position for launch next to
Unit 02.

Another com screen opened and Asuka's face appeared in the hallow
display before him. "You ready Shinji?" She asked.

"Ready and waiting." He replied.

"Shinji, Asuka. Prepare for launch. You know what to do."
Misato instructed.

"Right Misato." The Children said in unison.

In the control room, the monitors were displaying the Angel's
advance towards Tokyo-3. Seconds seemed to drag by until the countdown
clock finally reached zero.

"EVA'S LAUNCH!" Misato yelled.

With a clang and a rush of air accompanied by music, the two
EVA's were flung to the surface. With deadly precision they attacked
in perfect harmony with guns, knives, spears, rocket launchers, fists,
and finally, as the music reached its peak, the two robot war machines
leaped into the air and drove their feet into the two cores becoming
one. The impact drove the Angel and EVA's back several miles before
the core(s) exploded with a deafening roar.


["Damn. That isss impressive..."] Hector commented, a hint of
awe in his voice.

From a rise some two miles from most of the combat, the seven
mercenaries watched in stunned silence. Despite coming from a world
where monsters and giant robots were commonplace, the Angel and the two
EVA's were impressive. They were fast, agile, and HUGE! Bigger then
any `mech that any of them had ever seen. For Kyle and Ferris, whose
livelihoods revolved around robot war-machines far more than the
others, this was damn near a religious experience.

[" I sooo want one of those..."] Ferris said. ["Think the local
black market will have one?"]

["We can only dream, my friend. We can only dream..."] Kyle
answered in a hushed tone.

As the Angel's core detonated, the shock wave roared out and
washed harmlessly over them, protected by one of Alister's spells. As
the heat and such died down, Melissa started to giggle. The others
looked at her curiously.

["Switch to the frequency that NERV transmits at, quick!"] She
said.

The others did so and were soon laughing as well.
["Thank the gods for universal translators!"] Amber said between
laughs.


"I know you tried to kiss me last night, Third Child!" Asuka
taunted.

"What?! No fair, you were awake?!" Shinji replied without
thinking.

"WHAT!! You didn't, did you? Mien Gut, you pervert!"

"N, no I didn't! You started crying for your mother so I
stopped!"


["Hey, Alister, why aren't you laughing? This is good stuff."]
Melissa asked. Alister, though, was standing very still, looking
intently at the EVA's being retrieved. Melissa walked over and put her
hand on the mage's shoulder. ["What is it, love?"]

["Look at the EVA's with your sight,"] he replied quietly.

["OK..."] Melissa closed her eyes for a moment and then looked at
the EVA's again. She gasped.

["You see it too, right?"] Alister asked hesitantly.

["Yeah..."] She whispered back.

["Good, I thought I lost it there for a minute,"] He said.

["What do you think it means?"]

["I have no idea. None whatsoever..."]

They watched as the EVA's were hauled away, in awe of what they
saw. Around both of the gigantic robots there was an Aura. An Aura
that only living things could have.

...to be continued.





Author notes:
Sorry about the delay in getting this chapter out, but I've been busy
with work and school. I promise to TRY and get the next chapter out
MUCH sooner. 8^) I hope... Well anyway, it seems that now the mercs
have discovered one of NERV's little secrets, but what will they do
about it? Also, section two has taken notice of them, but for now they
are not to be worried about. What will happen when they begin to
become more involved in the life of Shinji, and later Rei (see, I
didn't forget her or nothing...) and maybe even Asuka down the line?
Well, I guess you'll just have to wait and see huh? The next chapter
will be even heavier in the Shinji/mercs interaction. In a few more
chapters we will begin to see what kind of changes this will have on
the children and those around them. If you need to get in contact with
me, my email is isamu@nerv-hq.zzn.com and my ICQ number is: 20130664.
Thanks, and tune in next time for Chapter 5: New Teachers.

I would again like to thank my prereaders:

Sarevock
Josh Z
Qut/Draven Killjoy
And my editor Annie the Laughing Kookaburra



And now, for another GM's corner. One of the things that annoys the
hell out of me in the Rifts world is the tech. While there are more
weapons then you can shake a stick at and TW devices that are pretty
cool and all, there are no high tech toys per say, and the ones they do
have kinda... suck. Well, I'll try to fix THAT as we go along! Now,
in this chapter, the mercenaries gave Shinji a little com unit. Cool
little piece of hardware that, huh? But how oh how did it work at such
a long range? I'm sure that the others MUST have been outside of the
three-mile range? Well, I'm gonna fix THAT too!


Micro-Cell Equipment's Com series of personal communication equipment.

Micro-Cell's V-Series: The V-Series of personal com units is
built with the soldier of fortune in mind! These handy little devices
come in several styles and can even be custom built into your
environmental armor! (Cost is that of unit plus the cost of
instillation. Only the V-X00 series can be installed in this way.)
Micro-Cell has 4 different grades of hardware depending on you needs.
V-100, Basic Unit: Three-mile range, variable frequency, a high
yield lithium battery good for 40 hours of continual use (non-
rechargeable), MDC of 15. Weight: 7 ounces. Cost: 175 credits,
excellent availability.

V-200, Standard Grade Unit: Three-mile range, variable frequency,
a high yield lithium battery good for 30 hours of continual use
(rechargeable), decent scrambler/decoder (-20% to attempts at breaking
the encryption), MDC of 15. Weight: 7 ounces. Cost: 450 credits.

V-300, High Grade Unit: Three-mile range, variable frequency
burst transmissions, a super high yield lithium battery good for 30
hours of constant use (rechargeable), excellent scrambler/decoder (-30%
to attempts at breaking the encryption), multi-environmental (fully
waterproof at up to 30 meters, hardened against low levels of EMP), MDC
of 20. Weight: 12 ounces. Cost: 600 credits.

V-400, Highest Grade Unit: Three-mile range, variable frequency
burst transmissions, a super high yield lithium battery good for 25
hours of constant use (rechargeable), excellent scrambler/decoder (-30%
to attempts at breaking the encryption), multi-environmental (fully
waterproof at up to 40 meters, hardened against low levels of EMP),
built in language translator (has American, Spanish, Euro, Dragonese,
and Gobbley at 94% proficiency; can still be used as per a normal
language translator). Weight: 1 pound, 4 ounces. Cost: 10,000
credits. Fair availability. (Sales are low for this model due to high
cost and will probably be discounted to 8,000 credits a unit to try and
garner more sales. If this doesn't work this series will be
discontinued in a year unless sales pick up.)

V-1000, Command Post Module: This is more along the lines of a
backpack radio, it has a far greater range and better systems then it's
smaller counterparts. It also has the capability to link with up to 60
smaller units (V-100, V-200, V-300, or V-400's), that it can track with
its limited use integrated radar, to act as a communication hub and
signal booster. If carefully placed, you can stretch the range on the
V-X00 series to 6 or 7 miles, with some `boosters,' even further! It
has a full scrambler/decoder package, multi-frequency burst
transmitter/receiver with a 60-mile range, several super high yield
lithium batteries (rechargeable) that are good for up to 80 hours of
constant use, and EMP hardened casing unit with 60 MDC. It also comes
equipped with an internal computer (1 gigs RAM, and 40 gigs of memory,
and 2 gighz processor) and an integrated language translator (has
American, Spanish, Euro, Japanese, Chinese, Dragonese, and Gobbley at
94% proficiency, and can be programmed with up to 6 more). It is about
the same size as the Wilk's PC-2020 but has an antenna array. Weight:
18lbs. Cost: 20,000 credits. Good availability in high tech cities,
poor elsewhere. Note: this does not have the holographic identifying
capabilities of the PC-2020.

V-50 `Boosters': With the relatively short range offered by most
portable communications devices, and the field units with greater range
often being far to bulky for effective use by merc groups there has
been a need for the Rift's earth equivalent of cellular towers, thus
the `boosters.' About the size of two loaves of bread side by side, a
booster is a relatively inexpensive way to get the most out of your
radios. They can be tied into the V-1000's system for easy use. They
can boost a signal up to 15 miles. Long as you stay within your hand
unit's range, you won't be out of touch with your buddies. Comes with
integrated magnetic clamps with a key release system. Weight: 5lbs.
MDC: 70. Cost: 300 credits. Power Cell is good for about 120 hours of
constant use.

Remember that all of the V-X00 series come with a `quite headset'
(attaches to the head just behind the ear and directly stimulates the
small bones of your inner ear), and a throat microphone.


Sure, some elements might not be very realistic, but hell it's
Rift's we're talking about here! If you have any questions about any
of the above items or on other systems sold by Micro-Cell, just drop me
a line.



Version 0.5: 11-20-2000 (hand written rough)
Version 1.0: 04-05-2001 (rough)
Version 1.1: 04-08-2001 (rough)
Version 2.0: 04-10-2001 (final)