The battle I just had with my nerves to post this could well be considered one of legend. Not...
(AU) Evangelion: Sovereignty
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Prologue and Chapter list
Lord Sovereign
The Emperor of shitty fanfic
- Location
- England
The battle I just had with my nerves to post this could well be considered one of legend. Not that I'm discouraging you from ripping this shit apart, because one can only better themselves through advice.
Now, this was an idea I had years ago. Fresh off my first exposure to the thing that would one day become the bane of my existence (Evangelion,) I sat there thinking "What a piece of shit! It made no bloody sense!" And so I grumbled and raved about this for a while to my friends, before one of my primary morals kicked in, much to my regret.
If you think something is shit, see if you can do any better before bitching about it.
And thus I set to work on this and decided to post an earlier version of it on fanfic.net. Considering my maturity was far...less...back then, you can imagine how well that turned out. So I decided to take it down and try again.
It took a restart and roughly a year to get back to this point, where I'd want to post again. And I've decided to share my shit with the good denizens of this great website, whom appear to be very good at giving feedback, which is something that I as an aspiring writer really rather desire.
So here we are, god damn I'm nervous. Bloody hell, no more stalling, I've been typing and erasing things for half an hour by now. Oh quick thing, I shall try to update weekly but no promises! I'm quite a slow writer unfortunately.
Well, here we go. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you...
Evangelion: Sovereignty
Oh, and so as to designate the fact you're in for quite a different ride when compared to the original, I have always pictured this as Sovereignty's main theme, not Cruel Angel's thesis.
Very bloody important update.
Prologue: The world after Second Impact
Arrival
Chapter 1: Sachiel [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
Chapter 2: Tokyo-3 [1] [2] [3] [4]
Chapter 3: Shamshel [1] [2] [3] [4]
Chapter 4: Rei [1] [2] [3]
Chapter 5: Ramiel [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
Wrath of the Divine
Chapter 6: Siblings [1] [2] [3]
Chapter 7: Gaghiel [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
Chapter 8: Through other eyes [1]
Chapter 9: Israfel and Isrefael [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
Chapter 10: Before the storm [1] [2] [3]
Chapter 11: Rogziel [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
Chapter 12: NERV [1] [2] [3] [4]
Chapter 13: Sahaquiel [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
-----------------------------------------------------
Now, this was an idea I had years ago. Fresh off my first exposure to the thing that would one day become the bane of my existence (Evangelion,) I sat there thinking "What a piece of shit! It made no bloody sense!" And so I grumbled and raved about this for a while to my friends, before one of my primary morals kicked in, much to my regret.
If you think something is shit, see if you can do any better before bitching about it.
And thus I set to work on this and decided to post an earlier version of it on fanfic.net. Considering my maturity was far...less...back then, you can imagine how well that turned out. So I decided to take it down and try again.
It took a restart and roughly a year to get back to this point, where I'd want to post again. And I've decided to share my shit with the good denizens of this great website, whom appear to be very good at giving feedback, which is something that I as an aspiring writer really rather desire.
So here we are, god damn I'm nervous. Bloody hell, no more stalling, I've been typing and erasing things for half an hour by now. Oh quick thing, I shall try to update weekly but no promises! I'm quite a slow writer unfortunately.
Well, here we go. Ladies and gentlemen, I present to you...
Evangelion: Sovereignty
Oh, and so as to designate the fact you're in for quite a different ride when compared to the original, I have always pictured this as Sovereignty's main theme, not Cruel Angel's thesis.
Very bloody important update.
Prologue: The world after Second Impact
Arrival
Chapter 1: Sachiel [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
Chapter 2: Tokyo-3 [1] [2] [3] [4]
Chapter 3: Shamshel [1] [2] [3] [4]
Chapter 4: Rei [1] [2] [3]
Chapter 5: Ramiel [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6]
Wrath of the Divine
Chapter 6: Siblings [1] [2] [3]
Chapter 7: Gaghiel [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
Chapter 8: Through other eyes [1]
Chapter 9: Israfel and Isrefael [1] [2] [3] [4] [5] [6] [7]
Chapter 10: Before the storm [1] [2] [3]
Chapter 11: Rogziel [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
Chapter 12: NERV [1] [2] [3] [4]
Chapter 13: Sahaquiel [1] [2] [3] [4] [5]
-----------------------------------------------------
"Second Impact was a blessing disguised as disaster. It obliterated the weakness of the old world, and coaxed forth the strength of the new one. Were it not for this event, our Federation, the finest civilisation that has ever existed, forged by the genius of our great movement, would never have come to be."
Deputy Consul of the North American Federation Hector Roberts, 4th of July 2010, annual Los Angeles Rally.
---------------------------------------------------Deputy Consul of the North American Federation Hector Roberts, 4th of July 2010, annual Los Angeles Rally.
The year is 2017, and the human race has only just recovered from the event that nearly undid it.
On the 13th of September 2000AD, through what was said to be a "meteorite impact", Antarctica was erased from the face of the earth, causing massive tsunamis, flooding, climate change, and an environmental catastrophe.
Thousands of species went extinct.
The Southern hemisphere was completely devastated, whilst the North crumbled into chaos.
This calamity, the end of the world as mankind knew it, would forever be known as the Second Impact.
With the collapse of the old order, the deaths of three billion, and the need for resources, the remnants of man were plunged into six long years of blood soaked war. As is commonplace in times of conflict, technological progression was accelerated immensely, which in 2005 resulted in the most important scientific discovery in history.
The A-T field, an unending source of raw energy. Through its ingenuity, humanity was able to tap into this power with the creation of the S2 engine, a device which could not only harness the field but channel it into a sturdy barrier.
Energy shields.
Every single other source of power and propulsion became obsolete and primitive in comparison over-night.
But the societies that would put this marvel to use...had hardly any noble intentions in store for it.
The new Empires born from the ashes of 20th century civilisation, are among the mightiest nations ever constructed by humankind.
Harsh powers for a harsh world.
Their armies number in the millions, untold legions of men and women clad in battle armour and wielding weapons that would make any pre-Impact assault rifles seem like party poppers.
The development of A-T field technology for military purposes continued to escalate, resulting in the creation of the N2 mine, a device that could atomise cities with no fallout, and the positron cannon, a weapon that unleashed the power of a small solar flare. .
The world's first true energy weapons.
But perhaps the most sublime example of man's technological prowess, were the mighty FCVs, or Flight Capable Vessels.
Known more commonly by their nickname, Sky Ships.
200 metre long flying gun platforms crewed by over a thousand men, armed to the teeth with rail guns and Jet powered VTOLs, the flying Dreadnoughts of the 21st century could annihilate entire regions.
True marvels of science. Even if they were for killing.
During the collapse of the old orders, it was the United States of America which perished first, only to rise again as the fascist super power that is the North American Federation.
Seeing themselves as the true successors of the ancient Roman Empire, a Master Race destined to dominate the globe, the Federals have crushed and enslaved the peoples of Central and North America.
As the"aquila" flag flies over Canada, Mexico, and the Federal Fatherland itself, the brave intellectuals who signed a declaration of independence in 1776 must weep in horror for what their once beautiful creation has become.
If the dead weep.
But the various "civitas" of the Federation do not encompass Alaska, or the old United States eastern seaboard.
For those belong to other powers.
The British Isles, the western coast of Europe, the sands of North Africa, the regained "thirteen colonies", and the rainforests of the Amazon, are all dominions of the Empire.
An autocratic state ruled by the Emperor and his council of Marshals, along with the nigh powerless Imperial Parliament who merely exists to give some semblance of democracy to its people, the Great British Empire is on track to exceed the "Old Empire" in size by 2020.
Britain has already fought in two massive conflicts, the "Euro-Imperial" and "Federal-Imperial" wars, emerging victorious from both. These victories are what have granted the Empire such vast territories, much to the hatred and fear of its neighbours.
Europe is just as united as ever...that is not at all. A patchwork of nations grumble at one another as they have done for hundreds of years.
But in some respects, the continent is closer than it ever has been in its history, as the European League is a much different beast when compared to the old European Union, slain by the Imperial Lion all those years ago.
Headed by a reconstituted and democratic German Empire, the European League is a trade agreement and military alliance that all the remaining free states of Europe are a part of. Its members, the New German Reich, the French Republic, the United Scandinavian Kingdom, the State of Israel, the Principality of Turkey, and the authoritarian Republics of Iberia, Italy, and Greece, are bound by treaty to provide military aid when the call is given without objection.
For not only are they held together by alliance, but the peoples of Europe share a bond with one another that can only have been forged by fire.
A bond which they refuse to allow to be broken, no matter how much they grumble at one another.
And it is probably this bond which is the only reason "Free Europa" hasn't been swallowed by the resurrected great red bear, or torn to shreds by the Imperial lion.
The return of Communism to Russia was heralded by crimson. Crimson flags and crimson rivers.
The "Union of Western Communist Republics", with the "Socialist Russian Federation" as its leading hegemon, was born as the old Soviet Union was a century before.
Through bloody revolution.
Seizing upon Europe's weakness during its war with the Empire, Russia invaded its eastern lands and returned many of the old "Warsaw pact" countries to the communist fold, along with sweeping into Alaska whilst the Federation was still reeling from its catastrophic defeat at the hands of Imperial Britain in the previous battle of Washington D.C.
This makes the UWCR one of the largest political entities on the planet.
Only truly equalled in size by its Asian ally.
The People's Republics of Asia functions very much like its younger European brother. A sham of a political and economic Union, dominated by one country.
The People's Republic of China.
Somehow mightier than it ever was during the age before Second Impact.
From the borders of Russia,the beaches of Sri-lanka, and the ruined middle east to the shores of Korea, the red dragon nests over its collection of puppet states and provinces. But it casts a constant and greedy gaze upon the last free nation of Asia, even after being thwarted in its desire some twelve years before during the so called "Pacific War," and humiliated by the disastrous battles of Osaka and Seto sea.
But to call Japan and its people "free" is somewhat inaccurate. Perhaps even straight up incorrect.
For the State of Japan is by no means a democracy. Even though the "National Diet" still exists, and the Emperor of Japan still sits upon the Chrysanthemum throne as his ancestors have done for two thousand years, the nation is no longer under either of their control.
For since the bloody coup of 2004, the country has been dominated by a military Junta.
The Defence Board of the Japanese State Army, the not so illustrious successors to the old Japanese Self Defence Force.
Their rule, as is typical for that of a military dictatorship, is one of iron. Minor crimes warrant a savage beating, and any dissent brings death upon the perpetrator, with the Ministry of the Interior constantly hunting down so called "enemies of the state."
In 2017 then, according to all logic, the world should still be ripping itself to pieces in an unending cycle of conflict. The Super Powers are simply so vast and strong, that the desire to crush all their enemies and extend their rule over the entire planet should be irresistible, despite the many and desperate attempts of the old United Nations, one of the few pre-impact multinational organizations to survive, to bring them to heel.
But that is not the case.
Whereas once they were at each other's throats, for the past eleven years a proverbial knife has been held to the nations of the world's jugular, by a UN mandated organization known as NERV.
The reason for this enigmatic group to intervene in such a manner is simple.
If the various Police states, Communist blocks, Empires, and military alliances of the world do not stand together behind them and their secretive "Project E," then Mankind is doomed to extermination...
The year is 2017 AD, and humanity's days of judgement are upon it.
For the Seraphim are coming.
On the 13th of September 2000AD, through what was said to be a "meteorite impact", Antarctica was erased from the face of the earth, causing massive tsunamis, flooding, climate change, and an environmental catastrophe.
Thousands of species went extinct.
The Southern hemisphere was completely devastated, whilst the North crumbled into chaos.
This calamity, the end of the world as mankind knew it, would forever be known as the Second Impact.
With the collapse of the old order, the deaths of three billion, and the need for resources, the remnants of man were plunged into six long years of blood soaked war. As is commonplace in times of conflict, technological progression was accelerated immensely, which in 2005 resulted in the most important scientific discovery in history.
The A-T field, an unending source of raw energy. Through its ingenuity, humanity was able to tap into this power with the creation of the S2 engine, a device which could not only harness the field but channel it into a sturdy barrier.
Energy shields.
Every single other source of power and propulsion became obsolete and primitive in comparison over-night.
But the societies that would put this marvel to use...had hardly any noble intentions in store for it.
The new Empires born from the ashes of 20th century civilisation, are among the mightiest nations ever constructed by humankind.
Harsh powers for a harsh world.
Their armies number in the millions, untold legions of men and women clad in battle armour and wielding weapons that would make any pre-Impact assault rifles seem like party poppers.
The development of A-T field technology for military purposes continued to escalate, resulting in the creation of the N2 mine, a device that could atomise cities with no fallout, and the positron cannon, a weapon that unleashed the power of a small solar flare. .
The world's first true energy weapons.
But perhaps the most sublime example of man's technological prowess, were the mighty FCVs, or Flight Capable Vessels.
Known more commonly by their nickname, Sky Ships.
200 metre long flying gun platforms crewed by over a thousand men, armed to the teeth with rail guns and Jet powered VTOLs, the flying Dreadnoughts of the 21st century could annihilate entire regions.
True marvels of science. Even if they were for killing.
During the collapse of the old orders, it was the United States of America which perished first, only to rise again as the fascist super power that is the North American Federation.
Seeing themselves as the true successors of the ancient Roman Empire, a Master Race destined to dominate the globe, the Federals have crushed and enslaved the peoples of Central and North America.
As the"aquila" flag flies over Canada, Mexico, and the Federal Fatherland itself, the brave intellectuals who signed a declaration of independence in 1776 must weep in horror for what their once beautiful creation has become.
If the dead weep.
But the various "civitas" of the Federation do not encompass Alaska, or the old United States eastern seaboard.
For those belong to other powers.
The British Isles, the western coast of Europe, the sands of North Africa, the regained "thirteen colonies", and the rainforests of the Amazon, are all dominions of the Empire.
An autocratic state ruled by the Emperor and his council of Marshals, along with the nigh powerless Imperial Parliament who merely exists to give some semblance of democracy to its people, the Great British Empire is on track to exceed the "Old Empire" in size by 2020.
Britain has already fought in two massive conflicts, the "Euro-Imperial" and "Federal-Imperial" wars, emerging victorious from both. These victories are what have granted the Empire such vast territories, much to the hatred and fear of its neighbours.
Europe is just as united as ever...that is not at all. A patchwork of nations grumble at one another as they have done for hundreds of years.
But in some respects, the continent is closer than it ever has been in its history, as the European League is a much different beast when compared to the old European Union, slain by the Imperial Lion all those years ago.
Headed by a reconstituted and democratic German Empire, the European League is a trade agreement and military alliance that all the remaining free states of Europe are a part of. Its members, the New German Reich, the French Republic, the United Scandinavian Kingdom, the State of Israel, the Principality of Turkey, and the authoritarian Republics of Iberia, Italy, and Greece, are bound by treaty to provide military aid when the call is given without objection.
For not only are they held together by alliance, but the peoples of Europe share a bond with one another that can only have been forged by fire.
A bond which they refuse to allow to be broken, no matter how much they grumble at one another.
And it is probably this bond which is the only reason "Free Europa" hasn't been swallowed by the resurrected great red bear, or torn to shreds by the Imperial lion.
The return of Communism to Russia was heralded by crimson. Crimson flags and crimson rivers.
The "Union of Western Communist Republics", with the "Socialist Russian Federation" as its leading hegemon, was born as the old Soviet Union was a century before.
Through bloody revolution.
Seizing upon Europe's weakness during its war with the Empire, Russia invaded its eastern lands and returned many of the old "Warsaw pact" countries to the communist fold, along with sweeping into Alaska whilst the Federation was still reeling from its catastrophic defeat at the hands of Imperial Britain in the previous battle of Washington D.C.
This makes the UWCR one of the largest political entities on the planet.
Only truly equalled in size by its Asian ally.
The People's Republics of Asia functions very much like its younger European brother. A sham of a political and economic Union, dominated by one country.
The People's Republic of China.
Somehow mightier than it ever was during the age before Second Impact.
From the borders of Russia,the beaches of Sri-lanka, and the ruined middle east to the shores of Korea, the red dragon nests over its collection of puppet states and provinces. But it casts a constant and greedy gaze upon the last free nation of Asia, even after being thwarted in its desire some twelve years before during the so called "Pacific War," and humiliated by the disastrous battles of Osaka and Seto sea.
But to call Japan and its people "free" is somewhat inaccurate. Perhaps even straight up incorrect.
For the State of Japan is by no means a democracy. Even though the "National Diet" still exists, and the Emperor of Japan still sits upon the Chrysanthemum throne as his ancestors have done for two thousand years, the nation is no longer under either of their control.
For since the bloody coup of 2004, the country has been dominated by a military Junta.
The Defence Board of the Japanese State Army, the not so illustrious successors to the old Japanese Self Defence Force.
Their rule, as is typical for that of a military dictatorship, is one of iron. Minor crimes warrant a savage beating, and any dissent brings death upon the perpetrator, with the Ministry of the Interior constantly hunting down so called "enemies of the state."
In 2017 then, according to all logic, the world should still be ripping itself to pieces in an unending cycle of conflict. The Super Powers are simply so vast and strong, that the desire to crush all their enemies and extend their rule over the entire planet should be irresistible, despite the many and desperate attempts of the old United Nations, one of the few pre-impact multinational organizations to survive, to bring them to heel.
But that is not the case.
Whereas once they were at each other's throats, for the past eleven years a proverbial knife has been held to the nations of the world's jugular, by a UN mandated organization known as NERV.
The reason for this enigmatic group to intervene in such a manner is simple.
If the various Police states, Communist blocks, Empires, and military alliances of the world do not stand together behind them and their secretive "Project E," then Mankind is doomed to extermination...
The year is 2017 AD, and humanity's days of judgement are upon it.
For the Seraphim are coming.
Last edited:
Turing Decidable
𝕘𝕒𝕣𝕗
- Location
- Belgium
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Well, the world is certainly one big fine old mess. 
I'm afraid I'm not very good at giving good feedback since I'm not a writer, but I like what you've done so far.
I think the word is 'complement'.
Unnecessary apostrophe.
The acronym doesn't match up with the full name, unless maybe that's intentional.
I'm afraid I'm not very good at giving good feedback since I'm not a writer, but I like what you've done so far.
Lord Sovereign
The Emperor of shitty fanfic
- Location
- England
Well, the world is certainly one big fine old mess.
I think the word is 'complement'.
Unnecessary apostrophe.
The acronym doesn't match up with the full name, unless maybe that's intentional.
I'm afraid I'm not very good at giving good feedback since I'm not a writer, but I like what you've done so far.
Ah you have my thanks! God damn it I fucking hate grammar mistakes.
Lord Sovereign
The Emperor of shitty fanfic
- Location
- England
You will see. I'll post some more today.
Chapter 1.1
Lord Sovereign
The Emperor of shitty fanfic
- Location
- England
As promised, an update for you all. It's really nice getting feedback and oh...I HAS LIKES!!!
By the way, I do have a good 60000 or so words pre-written for this, so I may be posting daily for a while.
Right then, shall we meet our mentally unstable hero?
---------------------------------------------------------
1:00pm, Thursday the 8th of June, 2017 AD, State of Japan, outskirts of Osaka
The early afternoon rays of sunlight poured through the train's hard plastic windows. Within this carriage only one individual resided, eyes closed with music issuing forth from his earphones. Not that he minded being alone. In fact Shinji Ikari was not only used to it, but welcomed it in a way.
He needed more time than usual to himself, time to think. Time to understand what had persuaded him to even undertake this journey in the first place.
After twelve years of nothing from his father, a letter had suddenly come through the post on his sixteenth birthday, not two days before.
Shinji scoffed at how stupid he'd been, as when seeing it was from his sperm donor he'd actually thought it was a birthday card. Perhaps even some sort of apology, or actual invite to visit after all these years of abandonment, isolation and lack of acknowledgement.
But there were no such words in the letter, only one.
Come.
Not a please. Not a how are you.
Just come.
He'd put the man out of his mind for a few years now, and was finally attempting coming to terms with being left alone on that train station platform like some unwanted baggage all those years ago.
But then this had come along, and he felt compelled to obey it.
Perhaps he just wants to talk to me at where he works? He does have a busy job... Was the foolish thought which persuaded him. Now after two days of travel, Shinji laughed at his own naivety.
No. That man has never cared about me. Well that's just fine, I don't care about him. I'm only doing this in case it's important. Who knows, perhaps he's dying of some terminal illness and wants to see me again before he goes? Even if that's true...I still won't forgive him. I don't think I ever could.
"Attention, attention! Next stop is Osaka station, next stop is Osaka station! Please keep all your personal belongings on you at all times..."
the announcement caused Shinji to sigh at his self-reflection, annoyed by the fact he'd gone over the same thing for hours on end. Not that this was unusual, the boy had always been one for going over his thoughts after all. And it irritated him to no end.
Hearing the humming of the train's S2 engine wind down, he slung his rucksack over his shoulder before making his way to the carriage doors.
The shiny new station of what was the third most important city in Japan gleamed in the sunlight, so much so, Shinji could have been mistaken for thinking no one was standing on the platform. Upon taking a second look however, he realised that indeed, he was alone.
Now he was unnerved.
It's been like this all the way from Kure. I've been on two empty trains since last night, that can't just be a coincidence? Can it?
As the train doors slid open, his cerulean eyes narrowed before stepping out onto the platform.
What are you playing at, Gendo Ikari? You think after twelve years I'm in the mood for games?
Boarding the train to Tokyo-3, Shinji sat down again and pulled his earphones back out of his bag. The train was empty too.
As it slid seamlessly along anti-grav rails, propelled forward by an engine that would have given pre-Impact scientists a heart attack, he glimpsed at the city which held roughly two million people. It had been a rather large settlement, even before the Second Impact and the following war with the Peoples Republics of Asia killed roughly sixty million Japanese. But now it was one of the economic hearts of Japan.
Osaka, despite its size, was still lagging behind in importance when compared to the two main seats of power in the country however.
Fukoaka, the largest military installation in all Japan was home to the entire Western army and their families, totalling some six million inhabitants altogether. It was the main power base of the "Defence board."
Japan's military dictatorship.
Those who thought the Pacific War had weakened them were sadly mistaken, as the brutal putting down of protests on Bloody April 14th had proved, when hundreds of people were scythed down by a hailstorm of lead.
The other city, his destination and true capital of Japan, was Tokyo-3.
Home to eight million people, the "National Diet," and the Emperor himself, it truly was a glorious beacon of Japan's technological prowess. Built entirely to withstand the previous disasters which claimed its namesakes, such as environmental catastrophe and Nuclear bombardment, Tokyo-3 was a great cry to the world.
Here we are, and here we shall stay.
Nothing can touch it. Nothing. Not the Chinese, not the Russians, not the Empire, not even the Federation. It's our capital city. Not even Godzilla himself could attack it...
Shinji gave a rare chuckle to his little joke, then leaned back into the seat's headrest and closed his eyes. He really had no worry of sleeping past his stop, as this was an express train which terminated at Tokyo-3.
Ode to joy played in his ears as memories of the place he would be staying at for the next few days, drifted through his mind.
A place he once called home.
Granted he hadn't set foot there for twelve years, so of course the city would be very different to when he toddled around there, even without it becoming capital of Japan after Tokyo-2 was annihilated by the Chinese.
Damn Tokuajin...
He was only four at the time.
In 2005 he bore witness to the Communist invasion of Japan along with the sacking of Fukuyama. More infamously known to the Japanese as the "rape" of Fukuyama. Or to the Chinese as "Nanking's vengeance."
These experiences, of war and atrocity, had given him a lifelong hatred of the people across the sea and the ideology they followed.
Shinji shook his head, so that somehow he might throw away such painful history for himself and the Japanese people. He tried to think back to before all of it, before the war, before the train station platform, before he left Tokyo-3.
Back to the days of walking through an amusement park with bare feet due to it being so hot.
Back to when the only person who'd ever truly shown him kindness or compassion held a parasol over them both to beat back the sun's furious rays.
Back to the one time in his life when Shinji Ikari could say he was happy.
He sighed as he ran a hand through his dark brown mousey hair. Dwelling on a past time instead of looking to the future was considered unwise by most, himself among them. But no matter how hard he tried, Shinji could never move on from, nor forget, his mother's smile.
------------------------------------
1:30pm, some miles south of Tokyo 3, Capital defence line 1
Upon a steep sea side hill, stood a series of fortifications called "Defence line 1."
This consisted of concrete bunkers, artillery emplacements, anti-air and missile batteries, along with a stretch of road that could comfortably fit a thousand tanks on it. Built for the single purpose of ripping apart an invasion force before it even reached land, Defence Line 1 was among the most formidable defensive positions in the world. Perhaps only equalled by such things as the "Cornwallis wall" or the "Borodino line."
Upon said road at that very moment, an armoured brigade rumbled forward along with the rest of its division.
All turret mounted rail guns were angled forwards, as was custom for a tank brigade on the move, with command hatches open and the various Sergeants standing out of them as if they were on parade.
In specific this brigade was the 3rd one of the Japanese State Army 1st armoured division. This elite unit was entirely made up of battle hardened veterans from the "Pacific War," who crewed roughly three hundred advanced Kotai type 2 Yoroi battle tanks.
These men and women had rightfully earned their places in the annals of history, as some of the finest warriors ever produced by Japan.
These were soldiers of the JSA Eastern Army, defenders of the Japanese heartland, and the tip of the spear in the counter attack against Communist Asia some twelve years ago.
Although to know what was going through the minds of the three man crew of the "Akuma mark 2", you would doubt their professionalism.
"Do we even know why the fuck we're here?" Private first class Eiji Fukui, Akuma's driver, grumbled over the radio as he tried to focus on driving. He felt exhausted, having been hauled out of his bunk at 4:00 in the morning and ordered to drive all the way from camp Asaka to Capital defence line 1, stay put for a roughly five hours, then be told to go back to base.
And then halfway back the order was countermanded, and they had to come back here.
At first he'd thought it was actually serious, as he'd not been woken in such a manner since the opening cannonade of the Battle of Osaka. But with the huge expanse of nothing lying before his brown eyes, Eiji felt quite irritated.
"If I knew, I'd tell you. Now focus on driving. If we go over the edge I'll kill you. " Sergeant First class Kiyoshi Yukimura accepted the lazy "Hai" and blocked out the grumblings of his cantankerous driver, taking in the fresh sea air around him as a gust of it gently stroked his cheek, bringing a smile to his charred face as it ruffled his greying black hair.
Sea air, the screeching of the sea gulls, and the blanket of salt water lying before him, were all reminders of Kochi, his home. Back where his teenage daughter, his world, was waiting for him.
"Halt here!" The division commander's voice blared over the radio. The Akuma and its bretheren rumbled to a halt, then promptly angled their massive guns out over the Pacific ocean.
"Didn't know the sea was our enemy..." The gunner, Leading private Seiichi Oshiro, remarked sarcastically.
"Oh haven't you heard? The Tokuajin are invading with jet skis!" Eiji rolled his eyes. "So in answer to your question...no...I have no fucking clue why we are out here, and neither does the Sergeant. I'm the only person here allowed to moan, so shut up." He peered back out of his periscope and took in the unending carpet of crystal blue.
"You know, if I wasn't completely pissing exhausted this would almost be a nice view..." Eiji stopped mid snark, peering in a little, his eyes squinting at the small shapes moving around on the horizon.
"Sergeant...are you seeing this?"
"Yes...I see it, Private. Why is the navy here?" Kiyoshi started to strain his grey eyes, with the entire 1st division doing the same thing.
The Japanese State Navy flotilla, heralding from the Pacific fleet, eventually came to within a mile of the sea side road, allowing the tankers to fully take them in.
"I...I...I think the big one's a, Yamato super-carrier." Seiichi had only ever seen pictures of the three hundred metre long monsters, and even from this distance the mighty vessel was impressive, as was to be expected of a ship built to surpass the old American Nimitz class. Two other ships of about half the size steamed with it, their silhouettes, reminiscent of Japanese world war two ship design, being those of Munekatsu class cruisers. Around them in a protective circle resided another five smaller vessels
Are those Atagos?
Despite only being able to see them with great effort, the Akuma's gunner was right. These were indeed the primary support ships of the Japanese surface fleet.
Whilst they were still useful in 2017, the Atago class destroyer could only function as a fast and lightly armoured patrol vessel, with the mighty carriers, cruisers, and currently not present battleships being the real heavy hitters at sea.
Beneath the waves however, obscure to all, resided three Taira class S2 Submarines. These silent hunters, with their pallet torpedoes primed and ready for firing, were among the few classes of vessel that hadn't been made completely obsolete in front line service by the advent of the S2 engine.
Even now with energy shielding and ridiculous speed, no sane Admiral didn't fear what hid in the blackness below.
And as if to further give impression to the men of the 1st armoured division that today was no drill, ten Kotai, Kaze F-Variant VTOLs screamed through the heavens, swiftly followed by dozens, then hundreds more, before being eclipsed by a great shadow that shrouded the picturesque landscape in darkness.
Thousands of men stared up in awe as a, Kotai, Susanoo class FCV, totalling some two hundred metres in length and bristling with guns, elegantly slid though the pale blue afternoon sky, its shape being reminiscent of the blades once wielded by the Samurai of old.
Kiyoshi watched them fly over his head with a dumbstruck expression. The last time all these forces had been together was during the "Pacific War." And even then, Japanese Sky ships weren't really in existence at the time, as only even the Empire had a handful of prototypes and nothing more in 2005.
It was only with understanding of the "A-T fields", and the invention of the S2 engine, that such marvels of technology were possible.
How they worked, Kiyoshi neither knew nor cared. What he did know, was in military terms they were lifesavers. Right then, every vehicle present possessed a weak A-T field generated by their S2 engines, that for a short amount of time could deflect projectiles at any range. But they were brought down quite easily, as their primary purpose was that of a power source, not at all like the monster fields and S2 reactors that kept FCV's afloat and protected, or provided the shielding and incredible speed of naval vessels.
Which of course brought the mind of the Sergeant, to the fields' most important use.
A-T fields were a nigh unlimited source of clean and efficient power, in recent years making oil and such obsolete. It was actually astonishing when Kiyoshi thought back to 1999 and how technology was so backwards in those times when compared to the modern age.
On the other hand, with the advent of the Second Impact, mankind had to advance quickly or die.
Bringing his mind back to the present, away from technology he didn't really understand, Kiyoshi turned his gaze back to the matter at hand. Back to the huge military build up standing in front, behind, below, and above him.
Army, Navy, and Air Force? It's got to be an invasion...it's got to be...
"Attention all units. This is General Kasagawe of the Eastern Army."
The Akuma's crew nearly jumped out of their seats as a man who was only answerable to the Defence Board or the Emperor himself, spoke in an old gravelly tone.
Despite the clear signs of ageing, it was still the voice that led the Eastern Army to victory at the battle of Osaka.
"You, my dear brothers and sisters in arms, currently stand on this patch of Earth with over two hundred and fifty thousand of your compatriots. And this is not including those arrogant bastards from the garrison who stand a few miles behind us in their cosy Defence line 2. I have little doubt that they are probably moaning about how we get all the easy work." The voice of a man who had once held off two hundred and fifty People's Liberation Army soldiers with only pistols and grit, caused a great roar of laughter from his men.
Despite being excellently equipped and trained, the Tokyo-3 garrison were rather...lethargic. A routine of cushy patrols and parades would do that to any soldier however, Kiyoshi mused.
Even though he himself couldn't help but chuckle, the Sergeant strained his ears to hear the transmission. Although he didn't say it, the man was just as interested as his crew, as to why they had been hauled all the way out here.
"Soldiers, Sailors, and Pilots of His Majesty the Emperor of Japan, you have been called upon to defend the very heart of our country against an enemy the likes of which we have apparently never seen. According to NERV this enemy is beyond us, and all defensive deployments are useless and a waste of time. According to those pampered spooks your very being here is pointless!"
Now Kiyoshi was really interested.
NERV usually kept to themselves, whilst taking everybody's money and not explaining what they needed it for, being the secretive sort of, sort of not, UN spooks they were. If they'd instigated this mobilisation, the situation must have been huge.
"Let us show these pompous fops that we will not entrust the safety of our people with an organization who refuses to tell us what they even do! How dare they insinuate that we are beneath them! No foe is beyond us. No foe is beyond the Japanese State Army!" Once again Kasagawe elicited a roar of approval from his men.
"This enemy that NERV prattles on about better pray to whatever deity it worships, for it only has a few more hours to live. We are the JSA! We turned back the armies of Asia, the largest military force on the planet! We are admired by even the Legions of the Federation! Let us show NERV, our people, and the entire world that this admiration is not misplaced! Nippon Banzai! Tenno Heika Banzai!"
Despite every single soldier present knowing war's awful truth, they still cheered until their lungs were empty of oxygen.
The men of the 1st armoured division were swiftly joined by their compatriots from the newly arrived 2nd and 3rd armoured divisions, and the buzz of activity furthered when the Eastern Army's entire compliment of infantry took up position in the fortifications of Defence line 1.
The soldiers' morale was greatly bolstered through the encouragement of their General and the presence of a mighty Sky ship, putting them all in buoyant mood.
But what none of them could have known, was the fate of their country did not lie in their hands. Indeed, it was not to be held by these no doubt brave defenders of their homeland for a while to come.
For roughly four and a half hours later, the fate of Japan and the entire world, was to be dropped on the shoulders of one rather mentally unstable sixteen year old boy...
-------------------------------------
3:50pm, Shingen train station, Tokyo-3.
Shinji nervously stood on the empty platform. Now he was concerned. He hadn't seen a soul for the past day or so, and now within the very capital of Japan itself, he was totally alone.
Father...what is all this?
Unzipping his bag, he pulled out a photo which served two important functions. One, it had a phone number on the back and a designated pick up point. Two, it provided an image of the woman who would be doing the aforementioned picking up.
Clearly she was a rather flirtatious person, with the photo being taken in such a manner that a certain part of her chest was exposed. Shinji blushed as the more perverted part of his brain grinned.
Maybe this trip won't be a total waste if I meet you...
He shook his head with sigh. There were three things which were infinite, the universe, human stupidity, and human perversity. And in his mind it was the latter which was most prevalent in in the dark recesses of his subconscious.
Slipping the photo into his pocket and zipping his bag back up, he slung it over his shoulder and walked out of the station.
No security, no commuters, nothing. It was empty.
If he thinks this is going to intimidate me, then he's sadly mistaken. He lied to himself as he clenched his fist.
This was clearly not the city he remembered. Even without the advanced defences which involved the main buildings being lowered into the ground, Tokyo-3 was far too overbuilt to even loosely resemble the place he'd grown up in.
Not that Shinji wasn't taking any interest in where he was. With the pictures he'd seen of Japan's Capital city, which showed dozens of advanced spires piercing the heavens in gleaming glory, along with gargantuan apartment blocks, the imposing and sprawling "Tokyo-3 barracks," and at the heart of the city itself the grand Imperial palace, he was actually a little excited.
This was the capital city of the nation to which he belonged and felt some pride for. But today, it was unnervingly quiet and empty.
The great buildings had been lowered, most likely for a drill. If not however...
He kept on walking through the empty streets, feeling even more unnerved by the sheer amount of cars which had been simply abandoned as if their owners had been in a hurry to get away from something unpleasant. This was only made worse by the lack of the one hundred thousand strong Tokyo-3 garrison's presence
Shinji had seen them parade through these streets almost every other day on the great screens dotted around Kure. Wearing their fine dark blue uniforms, reminiscent of Japan's glory days as an Imperial superpower, they functioned as both army and brutal police force.
And they were nowhere to be seen.
He involuntarily shivered, but kept on moving, kept on looking. What he sought was a phone booth, so that he might try to contact his father or NERV, preferably the latter in his case, inform them of his arrival and figure out just what in the name of the Spiritswas going on.
Right then and there, Shinji really regretted not having his own personal phone, but teacher always had a problem with them.
He'd said they "melted your brains."
Unfortunately, a little bit of that attitude had rubbed off onto Shinji.
"Attention citizens, attention citizens!" A voice blared out of the various city loudspeakers, which caused the boy to jump out of his skin. Heart pounding for a few seconds, a chill cascaded down his spine when he recognized the voice.
Chief of the Ground Staff, General Chiso Motichka, Supreme Commander of the JSA's ground forces and head of the Defence Board.
The woman who was Japan's military Dictator.
"A state of emergency has been declared in the Kanto and Chubu regions surrounding the Tokai district. All residents must evacuate to their designated shelters immediately. Garrison troops will assist with evacuations. All those who refuse will be forcibly moved to a safe location. This command will loop every fifteen minutes."
State of emergency?...shit...
The last time a "State of emergency" had been declared was when the soldiers and armoured vehicles of the Communist "People's Liberation Army" had swept into the home islands themselves, cutting a bloody swathe through his country.
If this was another Chinese invasion...he didn't want to think about it.
He quickened his pace until eventually his search was rewarded with success. His feet carried him over to a phone booth. Snatching up said phone with trembling hands, Shinji pulled out the photo in his pocket, and swiftly dialled the number on it.
With total apprehension, he waited as it rang for two minutes straight.
Come on...please!
After a few more moments of patience, he was finally rewarded.
With the last thing he wanted to hear.
"We're sorry, due to the state of emergency, no lines are currently available. This is a recording." A completely disinterested voice cooed on the other end in a pathetic attempt to sound apologetic. The line then went dead.
Shinji Ikari held the phone away from his ear with a trembling hand, with an expression of slight fear and unyielding rage.
You...cannot...be...fucking...serious...
-------------------------------------------
4:00pm, Capital Defence line 1
"Hey, Private?"
"Yes?" The twenty-seven year old gunner yawned and stretched out his arms.
"You've got family in the Capital right?" Eiji said in an inquisitive manner.
The youngest of Akuma's crew members sat in silence for a few moments. He didn't have family so to speak, they'd all lived in Kyushu before the invasion...but he had a girl. He'd been with her for the past three years and Seiichi found himself hopelessly in love.
And...he had a feeling...no...he knew she felt the same way.
And then he remembered who was asking.
"Oh no you don't, you bastard." He grumbled, for Seiichi got rather embarrassed when talking about the only woman he'd ever been with, and that cantankerous old swine who called himself a "driver" knew it.
"Don't be like that, we're practically family these days so you know, no secrets between us. So...how big are her tits again?"
"Ah...ack...none of your business you perverted swine!" Seiichi aimed a good kick at Eiji's helmeted head, being rewarded with the feeling of connection.
This did nothing to deter Akuma's resident, as westerners put it, "Troll."
"Oh what did she look like? Ah yes, short silky black hair, deep blue eyes, pale skin, some lovely curves, and mmm...those legs are worth killing for." Eiji roared with laughter as Seiichi started threatening him with an "accident" involving his head being launched out the main gun.
"What was her name again? Mi...?"
"Mikasa! It's Mikasa! How many times do I have to tell you damn it!"
Hearing the commotion from within his tank, Kiyoshi put a finger to his helmet's inbuilt mouthpiece so as to activate his comms.
"Children, stop throwing your toys out of the pram or else I'll put you all to bed without supper." He clicked off the radio with a sigh and was rewarded with peace and quiet.
Twelve years...that's how long they'd been riding together.
Straight after his old squad died in the bloodbath that was Kitakyushu, he was thrown into a battered Type-74 along with these two fresh faced recruits.
He still remembered their faces from that day.
The fifteen year old boy with black hair and brown eyes, so desperate for revenge after the Communists murdered his parents that he'd lied about his age, and the grouchy twenty-three year old recently released convict with dark brown hair and eyes, who'd joined the JSA to "earn some money, save Japan, get into bed with some grateful ladies, and kill some fucking Tokuajin whilst he was at it," had infuriated Kiyoshi to begin with, as between the stress of losing his friends and most of his family, along with the constant whining and disagreements between the two recruits, his patience had worn thin.
Then the battle of Osaka happened, and their delusions shattered. On that desperate day they found what it took to be a unit, and became soldiers their country could be proud of.
In fact there were none Kiyoshi would rather serve with than them, which was one of the reasons why many a promotion had been turned down.
"Target closing!" The division commander's voice bellowed, as a chorus of "Ryokai!" answered him, followed by firing chambers being loaded, command hatches closing, prayers being muttered, and fingers twitching on triggers.
Seiichi was infamous across the division for having one of these. Kiyoshi just thanked the Spiritsthat particular supply truck which his gunner had "accidentally" destroyed was unmanned at the time.
A deathly silence held over the entire line, with recruits turning their underwear brown in fear, and veterans gritting their teeth, thinking they knew what was coming.
But they didn't. Not by a long shot.
"Fleet reports contact!" Distant naval guns and depth charges could be seen ferociously flashing in the distance. And then an even brighter light erupted from beneath the aircraft carrier.
Air Force, Army, and Navy, all stared in horror as one of the largest ships in the fleet's A-T field flickered, failed, then was vaporised along with two thousand lives in a geyser of hellish orange energy.
The men on shore didn't even need to hear the order to scatter, as ships propelled themselves away from the site as fast as they could.
One Atago wasn't quite fast enough, as some unforeseen force latched onto its rear and dragged it under.
"The...Tsushima...is engaging."
Said FCV, along with swarms of VTOLs, accelerated over the water and blasted the target's position with enough fire power to level a large town in a few seconds flat. A blinding flash of electric blue energy issued forth from the Tsushima's prow, striking the calm sea.
A mountain of the stuff was promptly displaced by the positronic strike, white froth ascending into the heavens then cascading back down.
That must have killed it, it must have... Kiyoshi's heart pounded, as strong as it was.
The spirits of every man stationed on Capital Defence line 1 sank as another blast of energy erupted from beneath the waves. Although the A-T field of the Tsushima only just managed to hold, a few dozen VTOLs were not so fortunate.
"This is Tsushima, our A-T field is down to twelve percent and our second reactor is overloaded, we can't take another shot like that. Retreating to safe distance!" The voice of the mighty vessel's middle aged Captain was followed by the ship turning away, smoke billowing from its right engine, whilst the rest of the Air Force kept hammering away with everything they had.
To no avail.
"Tairas are engaging!" Their commander sounded panicked now, as multiple jets of water exploded forth from the sea from where the Nuclear Submarine's torpedoes had impacted.
"Direct hit! No...wait...evasive actio-aghhh!" The metal tomb's final transmission was cut out as more explosions tore through waves as two of the three vessels were ripped apart, followed swiftly by a great plume of water bursting forth from the ocean, as the twisted and mangled wreck of a submarine was almost regurgitated from the water.
Right into the 1st division's 1st battalion.
The resulting explosion tore a black, craggy scar in the side of what once once a peaceful sea side road, killing hundreds of Japan's finest in a few seconds.
"Orders, Sir!? Orders!?" Kioyshi yelled into his radio, desperate to be told what to do in a situation he'd never been in before.
No response.
"Ey-eyes front, prepare for combat!" He roared into his radio so the whole platoon could hear whilst trying to control his own nerves.
"Why the fuck did those NERV spooks have to be right for once!?" Seiichi yelled as he fought his trigger finger.
"Because cunts are always right when you don't want them to be!" Eiji threw his arms up in the air. He and Akuma's Gunner both turned fearful gazes to their Sergeant, a man who was practically a father figure.
Kiyoshi felt his heart wither and die as he recognized the expressions of the men before him.
Fear.
The very same expression they'd worn when the "Akuma mark 1" had suffered that first hit at Osaka.
These men, veterans of the bloodiest war in Japan's history, were frightened.
And so was he.
"Eyes front, lads, I'm right here with you."
Barely fifty metres in front of them, the water frothed and splashed as it was pushed apart from underneath...as...something began to rise from the depths.
"Amaterasu watch over us." Seiichi's hand trembled as all his thoughts turned to the young woman who'd stolen his heart, and the warmth of a bedroom as early morning sunlight would trickle through an open window.
Oh how he wished to be in her arms right now.
"Men, you are soldiers of Japan. No matter what comes out of that water, you will stand your ground. Nippon Banzai! Tenno Heika Banzai!" Kasagawe futilely tried to encourage his troops as their enemy came into visual.
Every soldier stared, some even catching their breath. For before them stood a creature that hadn't walked the face of planet Earth for one and a half billion years.
The being known as Sachiel stared down at those who would dare to block his path. He was humanoid in shape except lacking a head, instead having a sort of beak like bony helm embedded into its upper torso with two small black eyes. Its skin colour was a tinge of dark green, many of its features amphibian in nature, with something akin to a rib cage covering a spherical red jewel encrusted into its chest.
After a few moments of confusion, the men of the Japanese armed forces knew precisely what to do.
"Nippon Banzai! Tenno Heika Banzai!" Kiyoshi and his crew roared as their rail gun unleashing an armour-piercing round coated in positronic energy. In a flash, their comrades let loose with their own war song: hundreds of guns opened up, along with a deadly payload of missiles, torpedoes and naval batteries from the surviving remnants of the sea and air fleet. Even the HIJMS Tsushima, weakened and listing, bombarded the billion-year-old monstrosity with fire and steel.
Amidst the roar of a modern army's power, the men and women of the JSA briefly forgot their fear. In that moment, mankind made a brave cry of defiance against a race above and beyond them, a cry that would be repeated time and again before this war was done.
But it was to be in vain.
The impact of this solid wall of death upon its target was blinding. The being was instantly obscured by what could be described as a tidal wave of smoke. A cheer echoed across the radio, as thousands jubilated in triumph.
All except Kiyoshi along with his fellow veterans of countless battles.
Their gazes were fixed on where their target had stood, squinting to try and see through the smoke. Eventually the sea breeze removed that problem for them.
And the cheers stopped.
Mighty Sachiel stood unscathed, not even being pushed back by the salvo. Kiyoshi, Seiichi and Eiji felt their hearts sink, even as orders were screamed at them and their comrades to continue firing.
The Seraph began to advance through the water with ease, its eyes glowering a them. Eyes as black as hell itself.
Is that...truly...all the strength you can muster...little, Vooren?
Mankind's eleven years of peace were over.
The Seraph War had begun.
By the way, I do have a good 60000 or so words pre-written for this, so I may be posting daily for a while.
Right then, shall we meet our mentally unstable hero?
---------------------------------------------------------
"From this day forth, the only direction our enemy will be going in, is backwards."
General Chiso Motichka, commander of the Japanese State Army ground forces, and overall head of the Defence Board, 13th of August 2005, Osaka address.
--------------------------------------------------1:00pm, Thursday the 8th of June, 2017 AD, State of Japan, outskirts of Osaka
The early afternoon rays of sunlight poured through the train's hard plastic windows. Within this carriage only one individual resided, eyes closed with music issuing forth from his earphones. Not that he minded being alone. In fact Shinji Ikari was not only used to it, but welcomed it in a way.
He needed more time than usual to himself, time to think. Time to understand what had persuaded him to even undertake this journey in the first place.
After twelve years of nothing from his father, a letter had suddenly come through the post on his sixteenth birthday, not two days before.
Shinji scoffed at how stupid he'd been, as when seeing it was from his sperm donor he'd actually thought it was a birthday card. Perhaps even some sort of apology, or actual invite to visit after all these years of abandonment, isolation and lack of acknowledgement.
But there were no such words in the letter, only one.
Come.
Not a please. Not a how are you.
Just come.
He'd put the man out of his mind for a few years now, and was finally attempting coming to terms with being left alone on that train station platform like some unwanted baggage all those years ago.
But then this had come along, and he felt compelled to obey it.
Perhaps he just wants to talk to me at where he works? He does have a busy job... Was the foolish thought which persuaded him. Now after two days of travel, Shinji laughed at his own naivety.
No. That man has never cared about me. Well that's just fine, I don't care about him. I'm only doing this in case it's important. Who knows, perhaps he's dying of some terminal illness and wants to see me again before he goes? Even if that's true...I still won't forgive him. I don't think I ever could.
"Attention, attention! Next stop is Osaka station, next stop is Osaka station! Please keep all your personal belongings on you at all times..."
the announcement caused Shinji to sigh at his self-reflection, annoyed by the fact he'd gone over the same thing for hours on end. Not that this was unusual, the boy had always been one for going over his thoughts after all. And it irritated him to no end.
Hearing the humming of the train's S2 engine wind down, he slung his rucksack over his shoulder before making his way to the carriage doors.
The shiny new station of what was the third most important city in Japan gleamed in the sunlight, so much so, Shinji could have been mistaken for thinking no one was standing on the platform. Upon taking a second look however, he realised that indeed, he was alone.
Now he was unnerved.
It's been like this all the way from Kure. I've been on two empty trains since last night, that can't just be a coincidence? Can it?
As the train doors slid open, his cerulean eyes narrowed before stepping out onto the platform.
What are you playing at, Gendo Ikari? You think after twelve years I'm in the mood for games?
Boarding the train to Tokyo-3, Shinji sat down again and pulled his earphones back out of his bag. The train was empty too.
As it slid seamlessly along anti-grav rails, propelled forward by an engine that would have given pre-Impact scientists a heart attack, he glimpsed at the city which held roughly two million people. It had been a rather large settlement, even before the Second Impact and the following war with the Peoples Republics of Asia killed roughly sixty million Japanese. But now it was one of the economic hearts of Japan.
Osaka, despite its size, was still lagging behind in importance when compared to the two main seats of power in the country however.
Fukoaka, the largest military installation in all Japan was home to the entire Western army and their families, totalling some six million inhabitants altogether. It was the main power base of the "Defence board."
Japan's military dictatorship.
Those who thought the Pacific War had weakened them were sadly mistaken, as the brutal putting down of protests on Bloody April 14th had proved, when hundreds of people were scythed down by a hailstorm of lead.
The other city, his destination and true capital of Japan, was Tokyo-3.
Home to eight million people, the "National Diet," and the Emperor himself, it truly was a glorious beacon of Japan's technological prowess. Built entirely to withstand the previous disasters which claimed its namesakes, such as environmental catastrophe and Nuclear bombardment, Tokyo-3 was a great cry to the world.
Here we are, and here we shall stay.
Nothing can touch it. Nothing. Not the Chinese, not the Russians, not the Empire, not even the Federation. It's our capital city. Not even Godzilla himself could attack it...
Shinji gave a rare chuckle to his little joke, then leaned back into the seat's headrest and closed his eyes. He really had no worry of sleeping past his stop, as this was an express train which terminated at Tokyo-3.
Ode to joy played in his ears as memories of the place he would be staying at for the next few days, drifted through his mind.
A place he once called home.
Granted he hadn't set foot there for twelve years, so of course the city would be very different to when he toddled around there, even without it becoming capital of Japan after Tokyo-2 was annihilated by the Chinese.
Damn Tokuajin...
He was only four at the time.
In 2005 he bore witness to the Communist invasion of Japan along with the sacking of Fukuyama. More infamously known to the Japanese as the "rape" of Fukuyama. Or to the Chinese as "Nanking's vengeance."
These experiences, of war and atrocity, had given him a lifelong hatred of the people across the sea and the ideology they followed.
Shinji shook his head, so that somehow he might throw away such painful history for himself and the Japanese people. He tried to think back to before all of it, before the war, before the train station platform, before he left Tokyo-3.
Back to the days of walking through an amusement park with bare feet due to it being so hot.
Back to when the only person who'd ever truly shown him kindness or compassion held a parasol over them both to beat back the sun's furious rays.
Back to the one time in his life when Shinji Ikari could say he was happy.
He sighed as he ran a hand through his dark brown mousey hair. Dwelling on a past time instead of looking to the future was considered unwise by most, himself among them. But no matter how hard he tried, Shinji could never move on from, nor forget, his mother's smile.
------------------------------------
1:30pm, some miles south of Tokyo 3, Capital defence line 1
Upon a steep sea side hill, stood a series of fortifications called "Defence line 1."
This consisted of concrete bunkers, artillery emplacements, anti-air and missile batteries, along with a stretch of road that could comfortably fit a thousand tanks on it. Built for the single purpose of ripping apart an invasion force before it even reached land, Defence Line 1 was among the most formidable defensive positions in the world. Perhaps only equalled by such things as the "Cornwallis wall" or the "Borodino line."
Upon said road at that very moment, an armoured brigade rumbled forward along with the rest of its division.
All turret mounted rail guns were angled forwards, as was custom for a tank brigade on the move, with command hatches open and the various Sergeants standing out of them as if they were on parade.
In specific this brigade was the 3rd one of the Japanese State Army 1st armoured division. This elite unit was entirely made up of battle hardened veterans from the "Pacific War," who crewed roughly three hundred advanced Kotai type 2 Yoroi battle tanks.
These men and women had rightfully earned their places in the annals of history, as some of the finest warriors ever produced by Japan.
These were soldiers of the JSA Eastern Army, defenders of the Japanese heartland, and the tip of the spear in the counter attack against Communist Asia some twelve years ago.
Although to know what was going through the minds of the three man crew of the "Akuma mark 2", you would doubt their professionalism.
"Do we even know why the fuck we're here?" Private first class Eiji Fukui, Akuma's driver, grumbled over the radio as he tried to focus on driving. He felt exhausted, having been hauled out of his bunk at 4:00 in the morning and ordered to drive all the way from camp Asaka to Capital defence line 1, stay put for a roughly five hours, then be told to go back to base.
And then halfway back the order was countermanded, and they had to come back here.
At first he'd thought it was actually serious, as he'd not been woken in such a manner since the opening cannonade of the Battle of Osaka. But with the huge expanse of nothing lying before his brown eyes, Eiji felt quite irritated.
"If I knew, I'd tell you. Now focus on driving. If we go over the edge I'll kill you. " Sergeant First class Kiyoshi Yukimura accepted the lazy "Hai" and blocked out the grumblings of his cantankerous driver, taking in the fresh sea air around him as a gust of it gently stroked his cheek, bringing a smile to his charred face as it ruffled his greying black hair.
Sea air, the screeching of the sea gulls, and the blanket of salt water lying before him, were all reminders of Kochi, his home. Back where his teenage daughter, his world, was waiting for him.
"Halt here!" The division commander's voice blared over the radio. The Akuma and its bretheren rumbled to a halt, then promptly angled their massive guns out over the Pacific ocean.
"Didn't know the sea was our enemy..." The gunner, Leading private Seiichi Oshiro, remarked sarcastically.
"Oh haven't you heard? The Tokuajin are invading with jet skis!" Eiji rolled his eyes. "So in answer to your question...no...I have no fucking clue why we are out here, and neither does the Sergeant. I'm the only person here allowed to moan, so shut up." He peered back out of his periscope and took in the unending carpet of crystal blue.
"You know, if I wasn't completely pissing exhausted this would almost be a nice view..." Eiji stopped mid snark, peering in a little, his eyes squinting at the small shapes moving around on the horizon.
"Sergeant...are you seeing this?"
"Yes...I see it, Private. Why is the navy here?" Kiyoshi started to strain his grey eyes, with the entire 1st division doing the same thing.
The Japanese State Navy flotilla, heralding from the Pacific fleet, eventually came to within a mile of the sea side road, allowing the tankers to fully take them in.
"I...I...I think the big one's a, Yamato super-carrier." Seiichi had only ever seen pictures of the three hundred metre long monsters, and even from this distance the mighty vessel was impressive, as was to be expected of a ship built to surpass the old American Nimitz class. Two other ships of about half the size steamed with it, their silhouettes, reminiscent of Japanese world war two ship design, being those of Munekatsu class cruisers. Around them in a protective circle resided another five smaller vessels
Are those Atagos?
Despite only being able to see them with great effort, the Akuma's gunner was right. These were indeed the primary support ships of the Japanese surface fleet.
Whilst they were still useful in 2017, the Atago class destroyer could only function as a fast and lightly armoured patrol vessel, with the mighty carriers, cruisers, and currently not present battleships being the real heavy hitters at sea.
Beneath the waves however, obscure to all, resided three Taira class S2 Submarines. These silent hunters, with their pallet torpedoes primed and ready for firing, were among the few classes of vessel that hadn't been made completely obsolete in front line service by the advent of the S2 engine.
Even now with energy shielding and ridiculous speed, no sane Admiral didn't fear what hid in the blackness below.
And as if to further give impression to the men of the 1st armoured division that today was no drill, ten Kotai, Kaze F-Variant VTOLs screamed through the heavens, swiftly followed by dozens, then hundreds more, before being eclipsed by a great shadow that shrouded the picturesque landscape in darkness.
Thousands of men stared up in awe as a, Kotai, Susanoo class FCV, totalling some two hundred metres in length and bristling with guns, elegantly slid though the pale blue afternoon sky, its shape being reminiscent of the blades once wielded by the Samurai of old.
Kiyoshi watched them fly over his head with a dumbstruck expression. The last time all these forces had been together was during the "Pacific War." And even then, Japanese Sky ships weren't really in existence at the time, as only even the Empire had a handful of prototypes and nothing more in 2005.
It was only with understanding of the "A-T fields", and the invention of the S2 engine, that such marvels of technology were possible.
How they worked, Kiyoshi neither knew nor cared. What he did know, was in military terms they were lifesavers. Right then, every vehicle present possessed a weak A-T field generated by their S2 engines, that for a short amount of time could deflect projectiles at any range. But they were brought down quite easily, as their primary purpose was that of a power source, not at all like the monster fields and S2 reactors that kept FCV's afloat and protected, or provided the shielding and incredible speed of naval vessels.
Which of course brought the mind of the Sergeant, to the fields' most important use.
A-T fields were a nigh unlimited source of clean and efficient power, in recent years making oil and such obsolete. It was actually astonishing when Kiyoshi thought back to 1999 and how technology was so backwards in those times when compared to the modern age.
On the other hand, with the advent of the Second Impact, mankind had to advance quickly or die.
Bringing his mind back to the present, away from technology he didn't really understand, Kiyoshi turned his gaze back to the matter at hand. Back to the huge military build up standing in front, behind, below, and above him.
Army, Navy, and Air Force? It's got to be an invasion...it's got to be...
"Attention all units. This is General Kasagawe of the Eastern Army."
The Akuma's crew nearly jumped out of their seats as a man who was only answerable to the Defence Board or the Emperor himself, spoke in an old gravelly tone.
Despite the clear signs of ageing, it was still the voice that led the Eastern Army to victory at the battle of Osaka.
"You, my dear brothers and sisters in arms, currently stand on this patch of Earth with over two hundred and fifty thousand of your compatriots. And this is not including those arrogant bastards from the garrison who stand a few miles behind us in their cosy Defence line 2. I have little doubt that they are probably moaning about how we get all the easy work." The voice of a man who had once held off two hundred and fifty People's Liberation Army soldiers with only pistols and grit, caused a great roar of laughter from his men.
Despite being excellently equipped and trained, the Tokyo-3 garrison were rather...lethargic. A routine of cushy patrols and parades would do that to any soldier however, Kiyoshi mused.
Even though he himself couldn't help but chuckle, the Sergeant strained his ears to hear the transmission. Although he didn't say it, the man was just as interested as his crew, as to why they had been hauled all the way out here.
"Soldiers, Sailors, and Pilots of His Majesty the Emperor of Japan, you have been called upon to defend the very heart of our country against an enemy the likes of which we have apparently never seen. According to NERV this enemy is beyond us, and all defensive deployments are useless and a waste of time. According to those pampered spooks your very being here is pointless!"
Now Kiyoshi was really interested.
NERV usually kept to themselves, whilst taking everybody's money and not explaining what they needed it for, being the secretive sort of, sort of not, UN spooks they were. If they'd instigated this mobilisation, the situation must have been huge.
"Let us show these pompous fops that we will not entrust the safety of our people with an organization who refuses to tell us what they even do! How dare they insinuate that we are beneath them! No foe is beyond us. No foe is beyond the Japanese State Army!" Once again Kasagawe elicited a roar of approval from his men.
"This enemy that NERV prattles on about better pray to whatever deity it worships, for it only has a few more hours to live. We are the JSA! We turned back the armies of Asia, the largest military force on the planet! We are admired by even the Legions of the Federation! Let us show NERV, our people, and the entire world that this admiration is not misplaced! Nippon Banzai! Tenno Heika Banzai!"
Despite every single soldier present knowing war's awful truth, they still cheered until their lungs were empty of oxygen.
The men of the 1st armoured division were swiftly joined by their compatriots from the newly arrived 2nd and 3rd armoured divisions, and the buzz of activity furthered when the Eastern Army's entire compliment of infantry took up position in the fortifications of Defence line 1.
The soldiers' morale was greatly bolstered through the encouragement of their General and the presence of a mighty Sky ship, putting them all in buoyant mood.
But what none of them could have known, was the fate of their country did not lie in their hands. Indeed, it was not to be held by these no doubt brave defenders of their homeland for a while to come.
For roughly four and a half hours later, the fate of Japan and the entire world, was to be dropped on the shoulders of one rather mentally unstable sixteen year old boy...
-------------------------------------
3:50pm, Shingen train station, Tokyo-3.
Shinji nervously stood on the empty platform. Now he was concerned. He hadn't seen a soul for the past day or so, and now within the very capital of Japan itself, he was totally alone.
Father...what is all this?
Unzipping his bag, he pulled out a photo which served two important functions. One, it had a phone number on the back and a designated pick up point. Two, it provided an image of the woman who would be doing the aforementioned picking up.
Clearly she was a rather flirtatious person, with the photo being taken in such a manner that a certain part of her chest was exposed. Shinji blushed as the more perverted part of his brain grinned.
Maybe this trip won't be a total waste if I meet you...
He shook his head with sigh. There were three things which were infinite, the universe, human stupidity, and human perversity. And in his mind it was the latter which was most prevalent in in the dark recesses of his subconscious.
Slipping the photo into his pocket and zipping his bag back up, he slung it over his shoulder and walked out of the station.
No security, no commuters, nothing. It was empty.
If he thinks this is going to intimidate me, then he's sadly mistaken. He lied to himself as he clenched his fist.
This was clearly not the city he remembered. Even without the advanced defences which involved the main buildings being lowered into the ground, Tokyo-3 was far too overbuilt to even loosely resemble the place he'd grown up in.
Not that Shinji wasn't taking any interest in where he was. With the pictures he'd seen of Japan's Capital city, which showed dozens of advanced spires piercing the heavens in gleaming glory, along with gargantuan apartment blocks, the imposing and sprawling "Tokyo-3 barracks," and at the heart of the city itself the grand Imperial palace, he was actually a little excited.
This was the capital city of the nation to which he belonged and felt some pride for. But today, it was unnervingly quiet and empty.
The great buildings had been lowered, most likely for a drill. If not however...
He kept on walking through the empty streets, feeling even more unnerved by the sheer amount of cars which had been simply abandoned as if their owners had been in a hurry to get away from something unpleasant. This was only made worse by the lack of the one hundred thousand strong Tokyo-3 garrison's presence
Shinji had seen them parade through these streets almost every other day on the great screens dotted around Kure. Wearing their fine dark blue uniforms, reminiscent of Japan's glory days as an Imperial superpower, they functioned as both army and brutal police force.
And they were nowhere to be seen.
He involuntarily shivered, but kept on moving, kept on looking. What he sought was a phone booth, so that he might try to contact his father or NERV, preferably the latter in his case, inform them of his arrival and figure out just what in the name of the Spiritswas going on.
Right then and there, Shinji really regretted not having his own personal phone, but teacher always had a problem with them.
He'd said they "melted your brains."
Unfortunately, a little bit of that attitude had rubbed off onto Shinji.
"Attention citizens, attention citizens!" A voice blared out of the various city loudspeakers, which caused the boy to jump out of his skin. Heart pounding for a few seconds, a chill cascaded down his spine when he recognized the voice.
Chief of the Ground Staff, General Chiso Motichka, Supreme Commander of the JSA's ground forces and head of the Defence Board.
The woman who was Japan's military Dictator.
"A state of emergency has been declared in the Kanto and Chubu regions surrounding the Tokai district. All residents must evacuate to their designated shelters immediately. Garrison troops will assist with evacuations. All those who refuse will be forcibly moved to a safe location. This command will loop every fifteen minutes."
State of emergency?...shit...
The last time a "State of emergency" had been declared was when the soldiers and armoured vehicles of the Communist "People's Liberation Army" had swept into the home islands themselves, cutting a bloody swathe through his country.
If this was another Chinese invasion...he didn't want to think about it.
He quickened his pace until eventually his search was rewarded with success. His feet carried him over to a phone booth. Snatching up said phone with trembling hands, Shinji pulled out the photo in his pocket, and swiftly dialled the number on it.
With total apprehension, he waited as it rang for two minutes straight.
Come on...please!
After a few more moments of patience, he was finally rewarded.
With the last thing he wanted to hear.
"We're sorry, due to the state of emergency, no lines are currently available. This is a recording." A completely disinterested voice cooed on the other end in a pathetic attempt to sound apologetic. The line then went dead.
Shinji Ikari held the phone away from his ear with a trembling hand, with an expression of slight fear and unyielding rage.
You...cannot...be...fucking...serious...
-------------------------------------------
4:00pm, Capital Defence line 1
"Hey, Private?"
"Yes?" The twenty-seven year old gunner yawned and stretched out his arms.
"You've got family in the Capital right?" Eiji said in an inquisitive manner.
The youngest of Akuma's crew members sat in silence for a few moments. He didn't have family so to speak, they'd all lived in Kyushu before the invasion...but he had a girl. He'd been with her for the past three years and Seiichi found himself hopelessly in love.
And...he had a feeling...no...he knew she felt the same way.
And then he remembered who was asking.
"Oh no you don't, you bastard." He grumbled, for Seiichi got rather embarrassed when talking about the only woman he'd ever been with, and that cantankerous old swine who called himself a "driver" knew it.
"Don't be like that, we're practically family these days so you know, no secrets between us. So...how big are her tits again?"
"Ah...ack...none of your business you perverted swine!" Seiichi aimed a good kick at Eiji's helmeted head, being rewarded with the feeling of connection.
This did nothing to deter Akuma's resident, as westerners put it, "Troll."
"Oh what did she look like? Ah yes, short silky black hair, deep blue eyes, pale skin, some lovely curves, and mmm...those legs are worth killing for." Eiji roared with laughter as Seiichi started threatening him with an "accident" involving his head being launched out the main gun.
"What was her name again? Mi...?"
"Mikasa! It's Mikasa! How many times do I have to tell you damn it!"
Hearing the commotion from within his tank, Kiyoshi put a finger to his helmet's inbuilt mouthpiece so as to activate his comms.
"Children, stop throwing your toys out of the pram or else I'll put you all to bed without supper." He clicked off the radio with a sigh and was rewarded with peace and quiet.
Twelve years...that's how long they'd been riding together.
Straight after his old squad died in the bloodbath that was Kitakyushu, he was thrown into a battered Type-74 along with these two fresh faced recruits.
He still remembered their faces from that day.
The fifteen year old boy with black hair and brown eyes, so desperate for revenge after the Communists murdered his parents that he'd lied about his age, and the grouchy twenty-three year old recently released convict with dark brown hair and eyes, who'd joined the JSA to "earn some money, save Japan, get into bed with some grateful ladies, and kill some fucking Tokuajin whilst he was at it," had infuriated Kiyoshi to begin with, as between the stress of losing his friends and most of his family, along with the constant whining and disagreements between the two recruits, his patience had worn thin.
Then the battle of Osaka happened, and their delusions shattered. On that desperate day they found what it took to be a unit, and became soldiers their country could be proud of.
In fact there were none Kiyoshi would rather serve with than them, which was one of the reasons why many a promotion had been turned down.
"Target closing!" The division commander's voice bellowed, as a chorus of "Ryokai!" answered him, followed by firing chambers being loaded, command hatches closing, prayers being muttered, and fingers twitching on triggers.
Seiichi was infamous across the division for having one of these. Kiyoshi just thanked the Spiritsthat particular supply truck which his gunner had "accidentally" destroyed was unmanned at the time.
A deathly silence held over the entire line, with recruits turning their underwear brown in fear, and veterans gritting their teeth, thinking they knew what was coming.
But they didn't. Not by a long shot.
"Fleet reports contact!" Distant naval guns and depth charges could be seen ferociously flashing in the distance. And then an even brighter light erupted from beneath the aircraft carrier.
Air Force, Army, and Navy, all stared in horror as one of the largest ships in the fleet's A-T field flickered, failed, then was vaporised along with two thousand lives in a geyser of hellish orange energy.
The men on shore didn't even need to hear the order to scatter, as ships propelled themselves away from the site as fast as they could.
One Atago wasn't quite fast enough, as some unforeseen force latched onto its rear and dragged it under.
"The...Tsushima...is engaging."
Said FCV, along with swarms of VTOLs, accelerated over the water and blasted the target's position with enough fire power to level a large town in a few seconds flat. A blinding flash of electric blue energy issued forth from the Tsushima's prow, striking the calm sea.
A mountain of the stuff was promptly displaced by the positronic strike, white froth ascending into the heavens then cascading back down.
That must have killed it, it must have... Kiyoshi's heart pounded, as strong as it was.
The spirits of every man stationed on Capital Defence line 1 sank as another blast of energy erupted from beneath the waves. Although the A-T field of the Tsushima only just managed to hold, a few dozen VTOLs were not so fortunate.
"This is Tsushima, our A-T field is down to twelve percent and our second reactor is overloaded, we can't take another shot like that. Retreating to safe distance!" The voice of the mighty vessel's middle aged Captain was followed by the ship turning away, smoke billowing from its right engine, whilst the rest of the Air Force kept hammering away with everything they had.
To no avail.
"Tairas are engaging!" Their commander sounded panicked now, as multiple jets of water exploded forth from the sea from where the Nuclear Submarine's torpedoes had impacted.
"Direct hit! No...wait...evasive actio-aghhh!" The metal tomb's final transmission was cut out as more explosions tore through waves as two of the three vessels were ripped apart, followed swiftly by a great plume of water bursting forth from the ocean, as the twisted and mangled wreck of a submarine was almost regurgitated from the water.
Right into the 1st division's 1st battalion.
The resulting explosion tore a black, craggy scar in the side of what once once a peaceful sea side road, killing hundreds of Japan's finest in a few seconds.
"Orders, Sir!? Orders!?" Kioyshi yelled into his radio, desperate to be told what to do in a situation he'd never been in before.
No response.
"Ey-eyes front, prepare for combat!" He roared into his radio so the whole platoon could hear whilst trying to control his own nerves.
"Why the fuck did those NERV spooks have to be right for once!?" Seiichi yelled as he fought his trigger finger.
"Because cunts are always right when you don't want them to be!" Eiji threw his arms up in the air. He and Akuma's Gunner both turned fearful gazes to their Sergeant, a man who was practically a father figure.
Kiyoshi felt his heart wither and die as he recognized the expressions of the men before him.
Fear.
The very same expression they'd worn when the "Akuma mark 1" had suffered that first hit at Osaka.
These men, veterans of the bloodiest war in Japan's history, were frightened.
And so was he.
"Eyes front, lads, I'm right here with you."
Barely fifty metres in front of them, the water frothed and splashed as it was pushed apart from underneath...as...something began to rise from the depths.
"Amaterasu watch over us." Seiichi's hand trembled as all his thoughts turned to the young woman who'd stolen his heart, and the warmth of a bedroom as early morning sunlight would trickle through an open window.
Oh how he wished to be in her arms right now.
"Men, you are soldiers of Japan. No matter what comes out of that water, you will stand your ground. Nippon Banzai! Tenno Heika Banzai!" Kasagawe futilely tried to encourage his troops as their enemy came into visual.
Every soldier stared, some even catching their breath. For before them stood a creature that hadn't walked the face of planet Earth for one and a half billion years.
The being known as Sachiel stared down at those who would dare to block his path. He was humanoid in shape except lacking a head, instead having a sort of beak like bony helm embedded into its upper torso with two small black eyes. Its skin colour was a tinge of dark green, many of its features amphibian in nature, with something akin to a rib cage covering a spherical red jewel encrusted into its chest.
After a few moments of confusion, the men of the Japanese armed forces knew precisely what to do.
"Nippon Banzai! Tenno Heika Banzai!" Kiyoshi and his crew roared as their rail gun unleashing an armour-piercing round coated in positronic energy. In a flash, their comrades let loose with their own war song: hundreds of guns opened up, along with a deadly payload of missiles, torpedoes and naval batteries from the surviving remnants of the sea and air fleet. Even the HIJMS Tsushima, weakened and listing, bombarded the billion-year-old monstrosity with fire and steel.
Amidst the roar of a modern army's power, the men and women of the JSA briefly forgot their fear. In that moment, mankind made a brave cry of defiance against a race above and beyond them, a cry that would be repeated time and again before this war was done.
But it was to be in vain.
The impact of this solid wall of death upon its target was blinding. The being was instantly obscured by what could be described as a tidal wave of smoke. A cheer echoed across the radio, as thousands jubilated in triumph.
All except Kiyoshi along with his fellow veterans of countless battles.
Their gazes were fixed on where their target had stood, squinting to try and see through the smoke. Eventually the sea breeze removed that problem for them.
And the cheers stopped.
Mighty Sachiel stood unscathed, not even being pushed back by the salvo. Kiyoshi, Seiichi and Eiji felt their hearts sink, even as orders were screamed at them and their comrades to continue firing.
The Seraph began to advance through the water with ease, its eyes glowering a them. Eyes as black as hell itself.
Is that...truly...all the strength you can muster...little, Vooren?
Mankind's eleven years of peace were over.
The Seraph War had begun.
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Turing Decidable
𝕘𝕒𝕣𝕗
- Location
- Belgium
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I like Shinji already.
Needs a hyphen.
Sources such as EvaGeeks write that with a hyphen, as well. I see this pattern occur quite often in this post.
I believe most manuals of style require numbers smaller than 100 to be written out in full.
But
One 'the' too many.
Should probably be 'Battle of Osaka'
You should leave that out.
Should probably be 'to be expected'
It seems no one can escape there/their/they're
I like how your Shinji seems so sarcastic, even though it's probably a symptom of some hidden nastiness. The focus on the tank crew was neat, as well.
Lord Sovereign
The Emperor of shitty fanfic
- Location
- England
Oh my god this is kiddy shit! How on Earth did I miss all this?
Also, thank you very much for your kind words.
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Chapter 1.2
Lord Sovereign
The Emperor of shitty fanfic
- Location
- England
Yet another update! Am I not a beneficent and generous Lord to you all?
Now this is one of the bigger bits (about 10000 words if I recall) which hopefully won't be too long for you.
By the way, all those likes and comments on the previous posts are really encouraging me to keep posting, even getting me to type a thousand words yesterday.
Well, let's see if my luck holds with this post. Once more unto the breach dear friends!
------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
4:20pm, Tokyo-3
Shinji was giving up now. After twenty minutes of ringing that stupid phone again and again, he was getting sweet nothing in terms of a desirable response.
"We're sorry, due to the state of emergency, no lines are currently available. This is a recording." The answer phone repeated for the sixteenth time.
Sixteen times too many.
After glaring at it for a while, Shinji slammed it back into its booth, so hard that it broke in half on impact. He recoiled from the broken public property, as for all his faults he didn't like breaking things. He quickly looked around with a guilty expression, half expecting someone, probably a soldier, to show up and arrest him for his "crime."
Getting arrested was not something one wanted to happen to them, especially in the Japan of 2017.
A Japan in which most minor crimes warranted a savage beating.
In such an age and country, Shinji had discovered his submissive and timid nature to be helpful. It wasn't that he liked the Defence Board or even Parliament, it was just "not being shot" was near the top of his priorities.
After futilely trying to reassemble the phone, he backed away slowly, and then made no small amount of haste away from the scene.
Stopping a few blocks away, he walked himself into some shade and sighed with pleasure as the temperature dropped a few merciful degrees. Being Japanese, he was used to constant thirty degree temperature all year round, but even then he had his limits. In fact you could say he hated warm weather, for it made being snug impossible.
And then his eye caught a glimpse of something. In the distance a green signpost with the words Shelter, 300 metres emblazoned in white, and an arrow pointing down the street which curved off to the right, was situated.
Having forgotten about the State of emergency due to his frustration and embarrassment, Shinji took another look at the photo, so as to remind himself of where the meeting point was. He then realised the street name matched up with the one on the sign post.
Well that's fortunate.
Reluctantly, he left the shade and briskly walked towards the shelter.
Reaching the end of this street, and the beginning of the one which crossed over the top of it, he looked left and right before crossing to the other side.
This may seem like a strange thing to do in an empty city, but Shinji was a person of routine. Also he'd heard what sounded like the revving of an engine not too far away, giving the impression that someone was driving around a little too fast. Considering that everyone should probably be in their shelters, Shinji could understand why whoever was driving that car was in a hurry. However upon looking right and "surprisingly" seeing nothing, he then instinctively turned his head left, and almost had a heart attack.
Standing some one-hundred feet away from him, was a girl. A very pale girl with...he squinted some more to make sure he wasn't hallucinating.
He wasn't.
The girl did indeed have sky blue hair.
Becoming aware of the fact he was staring, Shinji snapped himself out of his stupor and shook his head, as if to get his brain back in gear. And then it occurred to him he was being stared at.
Remaking some form of eye contact, he mustered his courage for a challenge.
"Uh, hello? Can I...help you?"
The girl remained silent, making the situation more awkward with every passing moment.
"Are you lost? I-if you're trying to get to a shelter I know where one is. It's just down there..." And then his attention was distracted by a flock of birds suddenly taking flight, the flapping of wings and ruffling of feathers breaking the unnerving silence.
Redirecting his gaze from the sky back to the person he was talking to, Shinji tried to think of something else to say, only to find the girl gone. As he scratched his head in confusion, a gust of wind blew past him.
Good luck...brother... These words were carried upon the wind by so soft and pure a voice, that it pushed him to the verge of tears.
And then logic reasserted full control. Now he was more unnerved than ever before. With all the deathly silence, lack of people, and vanishing girls, he felt like his perception of the universe had simply given up today.
Of course however, those weren't words. They were just tree's rustling.
But there aren't any trees... His brain unhelpfully observed, resulting in Shinji quieting these thoughts as quickly as possible before the rest of his body could panic.
"Weird." He muttered to himself, before resuming his journey towards the shelter.
It had taken a few minutes, but eventually he could see the steel door to an N2 blast and fall out shelter, causing him to sigh with relief.
And then the ground started shaking. So much that he would have toppled onto his face were it not for the protection of his arms.
Still, it hurt.
"Ah shit!" He gently rubbed the soon to blossom bruises on his bare arms before standing back up, and then being thrown back down when the shaking got worse.
Earthquakes? Really? Look, Spirits, for whatever I did to annoy you so much I'm sorry. Can I just please start having an ordinary day?
Wind started to rattle the vehicles and building shutters, making the situation even more uncomfortable, unnerving, and downright frightening for Shinji, as he was never the bravest person alive.
But then everything really went to hell.
The thunderous roar of hundreds of high velocity cannons exploded across the hills of Tokyo-3, as its own defences opened fire upon its unexplainable attacker. Shinji could only watch in stupefied and deafened awe, as dozens of tanks reversed through the streets, their cannon's belching smoke and fire like the dragons of myth, along with hundreds of men darting around them. Kazes screamed through the air, but they and everything else was drowned out by the humming of four great engines belonging to two newly arrived FCV's.
But his awe soon turned to horror.
In front of these men and their machines, was something almost indescribable.
A humanoid, amphibian like creature stalked towards the Japanese capital, a look of malice etched upon its bone like mask that might have functioned as a head. Missiles, tank shells and even bullets were hurled at it with reckless abandon, only to impact uselessly.
This did not stop the guns of the JSA from continuing to fire. The sound of four ship mounted rail guns charging up caused Shinji to cover his ears in pain due to their shrill whine. With an ear splitting crack they unleashed their payload of pallet rounds, the noise shattering most of the city's windows and shaking the ground. The only effect they had however, was uselessly tapping a wall of orange lightening.
Is that...an A-T field?
Shinji felt his blood run cold. He knew a little about A-T fields, with them being the unlimited source of energy which mankind used to pull itself out of the oblivion of Second Impact.
But he'd never seen or heard of a field as strong as this.
And he'd never seen one be used in the fashion of how the Seraph would.
Sachiel swept his arm in the general direction of a squadron of VTOLs coming his way. A flicker of orange light preceded the entire squadron being obliterated in a wave of hell fire.
Shinji couldn't hear the JSA's battle chatter, but he could well imagine what was being yelled over it.
We're not putting a fucking dent in it!
Squadron 8 has been completely destroyed!
3rd division retreating!
Retreat is unacceptable! Nippon Banzai! Tenno Heika Banz-agghhhhhhhh!
A Kaze accelerated to close range after unloading its payload of missiles, swiftly unleashing a stream of bullets from its mounted gatling guns.
Sachiel watched rounds that would liquefy a person, harmlessly bounce off his field, before swiping at the vehicle with the back of his hand as if it were some sort of insignificant insect.
Vooren, you are poor hosts indeed. Can none of you offer me some sort of challenge!?
The VTOL tumbled out of the sky and crashed onto one of the buildings near the street's edge in an explosion of flames. It proceeded to career through through the road, stopping some one-hundred feet from a petrified Shinji.
He sat there for a few moments, watching the Eastern Army be decimated by the Seraph with effortless and ruthless ease, becoming even more paralysed as the realization that Sachiel was actually walking in his direction hit him like a tsunami.
Oh Spirits...oh Spirits...oh Spirits...
And then the world seemed to slow down.
Out of the Kaze crawled a figure. A figure that appeared to be a badly burned individual who'd lost the use of their legs. They were stuck, a metal beam having collapsed upon them, and they shrieked as the wreckage's flames slowly came closer.
A memory came to Shinji at that moment. One of when he was four years old and Japan was burning around him.
Men in blue uniforms, screaming at me to run, and then they just start screaming in general...I ran away like I always do.
And thus, he found himself being carried over to the crash site on his unusually eager legs. For although he was an isolated person, the he couldn't stand watching others in pain.
"Hey hold on!" He yelled, gaining speed with every passing second.
The individual in the wreckage appeared to meet Shinji's nearing gaze, and stretched out an arm in a grateful acceptance of offered help.
Sachiel's gargantuan green foot slammed down on the vehicle, completely crushing it. A quick scream was all Shinji heard before the individual whose life he'd tried to save, disappeared beneath the Seraph's weight, a sickening crunch and spurt of blood being overshadowed by the Kaze's final rippling explosion.
He stopped in his tracks and stared. Although he was no stranger to death, the boy collapsed upon the ground and doubled over before the urge to vomit overcame him within moments. After finishing the regurgitation of his train dinner, Shinji, remembering that he wasn't alone, slowly angled his gaze skywards to meet that of the imposing Seraph's.
Whilst Shinji trembled for all he was worth, mighty Sachiel stared down upon the helpless child before him, blinking a few times whilst the JSA kept hammering away.
The one-hundred and sixty metre tall amphibian behemoth, after maintaining eye contact with Shinji for a few tense seconds, slowly, inexorably, turned away and continued his relentless march through the city.
Scurry away little one, I have no quarrel with you.
The mousey haired and wimpy sixteen year old watched the ancient warrior stomp away, with shaking form and tears of terror streaming down his paled cheeks. Wiping the traces of vomit from his lips, Shinji rose from the ground with limbs that had the solidity of jelly.
Tokyo-3 was in flames around him. The city built to withstand any sort of attack was falling before his very eyes.
Japan was on the verge of having its heart ripped out again.
It can't be...it can't be...
As the Seraph sliced through another wave of VTOLs, then stabbing another one with a spear of light jutting out from its hand, Shinji clenched his fist.
It was not that he was angry, far from it, for this was actually his most prominent nervous tick. He would vent all his fears and frustrations into that hand and squeeze it as hard as he could. It was the best way he had of dealing with his fear of, well, everything. Not to mention the memories of the person who'd taught him this technique brought warmth to his chipped and broken heart unlike anything else.
He closed his eyes and a took a deep trembling breath before unclenching his fist.
Stay calm...stay calm...being the pathetic little coward I am isn't going to help.
Although still scared, Shinji quietened his trembling limbs and opened his eyes.
Great pyres of smoke reached into the heavens in the distance, as Sachiel continued his inexorable march towards some unknown objective.
The screech of an engine caught his attention, causing him to turn around. His eyes widened as some sort of blue sports car from a past time, skidded to a halt by his side, before having its passenger side door thrown open from the inside.
At the wheel, sat a rather pretty woman with purple hair and sunglasses, her lips curled into a cocky grin. Oddly enough, around her neck she wore what appeared to be the Christian cross.
If he were in a state where logical thought could be practised, Shinji would have found this bizarre as Christianity was almost extinct in the east these days.
But he was not thinking logically. In fact he was only halfway out of a near panic attack, and it seemed this woman, who didn't appear to even notice the monster stomping through Tokyo-3 Godzilla style, wanted him to come with her.
"It's Shinji right? Get in!" She called to him, as the boy in question kept gawking, whilst the part of his brain that wasn't going into meltdown noted how similar she looked to the person he was meant to meet. Her head simply tilted at his silence.
"Am I real late?"
---------------------------------
4:35 pm, NERV Central command bridge, beneath Tokyo-3
NERV's command bridge was an impressive thing. A main metal deck with dozens of staff and computers chattering away constantly, was seated in front of a gargantuan holographic display that currently depicted Sachiel demolishing a good chunk of Tokyo-3. There were two smaller decks above the base deck, coupled with the bottom one they were named as such.
Control: situated on the bottom.
Observation: the middle.
And Command: the top.
The decks would get slowly smaller in width and length, with Control being filled with roughly thirty staff, Observation having ten, and Command having two.
But these men were perhaps the most important.
Supreme Commander Gendo Ikari, and Vice Commander Kozo Fuyutsuki.
NERV had spent over a decade preparing for this. Trillions of Dollars, Pounds, Euros, Roubles, Yen, and hundreds of thousands of hours of man power had been spent so they would be ready for what Mankind had long dreaded.
The return of the Seraphim.
And even then, almost every individual present stared up at the display screen with a mixture of terror, awe, and rage. The rage emanating from three individuals seated on the Observation deck, in dark blue military uniform, who were currently overlooking the ongoing battle.
Whilst NERV was a multinational organization and many of its staff were foreign, they still kept a wary eye upon these people. And as for NERV's Japanese personnel, fear had crept into their very souls. For at this table sat all three members of the Defence Board.
"Eastern Army forces currently engaged are reporting a fifteen percent casualty rate. All weaponry appears to have no effect!" One of the male Lieutenants reported from his monitor.
The figure sitting at the centre of the table, slammed her forty year old fist down, and stood up abruptly.
"Damn it! General, pull the Air Force back. Admiral, order the Navy to commence missile bombardment. My forces will retreat to the outskirts. We will kill this thing!" General Chiso Motichka barked.
"But...General Motichka, what about the city? Naval strikes will cause a great deal of collateral damage-agh!" The unfortunate Lieutenant yelped as a gunshot crashed out and his shoulder exploded into gore. He whimpered miserably as the General holstered her smoking side arm.
"I don't recall asking for anyone's opinion."
A few minutes later, whilst the Lieutenant with the shattered shoulder was carried away to NERV's medical ward, the sheer force of fifteen pallet missiles impacting their target flattened an entire residential block. The A-T field of a Sky ship would've had difficulty standing up against such an onslaught.
But the Seraph wasn't even scratched.
Whilst the commanders of the Air Force and Navy stared in shock, Motichka's hand slowly balled into a fist, before she drew a deep, dangerous, breath.
"Over three hundred and fifty thousand of my finest soldiers, hundreds of aircraft and dozens of ships. None of these have even been able to touch this, thing. Now, if someone doesn't give me a reason for this and a solution to my problem, there will be consequences. So, Supreme Commander Ikari-" She whirled around to face the figure who sat above them, upon his pretentious throne with faithful dog to one side.
"Can you give me a reason and a solution?" She said in a sickly sweet tone, one that implied she would have him hung drawn and quartered if his answer didn't please her.
And please her it did not.
"As I have said before, your every contribution to this is totally useless. This enemy is utterly beyond you, the JSA serves no further purpose than that of a flimsy meat shield. NERV shall handle this battle. You are no longer required." Gendo Ikari spoke in a voice which did not rise or fall, but radiated quiet authority. This however, was drowned out by Chiso's military snarl.
"You insolent spook. How dare you speak of my men like that! Twelve years ago these meat shields bled, fought, and died for this country whilst you sat in your palace of diplomatic immunity. Tell me, Gendo Ikari, where was your NERV when the Communists swarmed like ants over our homeland? Where were you!?"
"Your war was of no concern. We had far more pressing matters to attend to. Now, withdraw your troops and leave this matter to me. Your men are dying, General, dying in vain." Gendo offered, as if trying to get the woman to see reason. But to an experienced listener it was simple to realize he was intentionally provoking Japan's de facto ruler.
Chiso fought her desire to explode, then contorted her snarl into a vicious smile.
Her armed forces still had one card left.
"We shall see, old man." She turned to face General Daiki Naka, supreme commander of the airforce, who met her gaze without any fear, just anticipation.
"General. Order your surviving units to lure the Seraph away from Tokyo-3. I'm authorizing an N2 strike."
The sound of touch screen monitors being tapped was the only thing which filled the cavernous room, as no one wished to speak of the dreadful act about to be committed.
The old nuclear weapons had a gargantuan stigma attached to them, as during the "Post Impact Wars" these doomsday devices had claimed roughly ninety million lives. Almost every mind on that bridge was consumed by the image of a towering mushroom cloud, spewing radiation and death like a burst boil spread its diseased puss. And these had been totally outclassed in destructive power by the N2 mine, a weapon which produced no radiation but disintegrated everything within its blast radius.
Had any of NERV's staff truly been focused on the here and now however, they may have heard a whisper of a laugh from their Commander...
-------------------------------------
4:45pm, outskirts of Tokyo-3
The initial flight from the city had been hair raising. The blue sports car's speed hadn't dropped beneath ninety for ten minutes, with it only now mercifully falling below sixty. For that, Shinji thanked whatever deity was listening.
Releasing his grip upon the car door, he slumped back and exhaled after holding his breath.
"Sorry if that was a bit much, but we really needed to move." His driver cast him a quick look of apology before returning her gaze to the road.
A bit much?
Shinji would never have described the situation in that way. Him holding on for dear life whilst both the car and himself screamed through the streets of Tokyo-3, with the driver having an almost maniacal look of enjoyment, was most certainly not something he'd call "A bit much."
But at least they were far away from that monster now. Speaking of which...
"What was that?" His voice barely rose above a whisper.
"We call it a Seraph. No one really knows much about them, except they want to kill us all." The purple haired driver unhelpfully offered.
"Why do you call it a Seraph? That's a western word. Surely Yokai would work better for whatever that thing is?"
"Yokai would make sense, but I didn't name them. If we discover a new race of monsters bent on the genocide of everything, you can have naming priority." She laughed at her joke, whilst Shinji fought with every ounce of his being to not just shake with fear.
Race? No...no...I'm sure that's just a figure of speech. There can't be anything worse than whatever is ripping Tokyo-3 apart...there can't be...
They continued to drive for another few minutes, before Shinji plucked up the courage to ask the real question on his mind.
"Are you from NERV? Did my father send you?" He said in a guarded tone, not wanting to show hatred for the man who was his father in name only.
"Yes I'm from NERV. Lieutenant Colonel Misato Katsuragi, combat operations director, at your service." She stretched out a hand, which Shinji awkwardly shook.
"I've been assigned as your escort to NERV central, so don't worry, your safety is my top priority." She added as the speedometer dropped below fifty. For a while, the only noise that both occupants heard was the sound of the engine humming.
A petrol engine? This thing is an antique.
"Um...sorry I wasn't at the meeting point. I sort of...got distracted..." Shinji awkwardly scratched the back of his head, whilst fighting the rise of his gorge as he remembered what reason had dragged him away. He was rather surprised to find "Misato" simply shrug.
"Don't sweat it, Shinji-kun, a lot of things didn't go to plan today." Had her sunglasses not been on, he would have noticed Misato frown.
Damn. Ten years of preparation and those things still caught us with our panties down! The UN is going to have trouble stomaching this, but Spirits know how GAAFT will respond...
Were she paying attention, the purplehead would have noticed her charge becoming very quiet all of a sudden.
Come on. you broke it, you own up for it. His subconscious gently nudged.
But...but...but...ah crap why did I have to think of this right now?
"Um, Katsuragi-san?" He whispered.
"You can call me Misato you know, I'm not picky." She cast her gaze upon him, only to see the mousey haired boy turn very pale, as if he were a child with his hand caught in the cookie jar.
"Oh you can't have done anything that bad. Come on, what is it?" She actually chuckled a little. She chuckled at the prospect of him owning up to vandalism! That would get you a few nights in a cell and a misshapen face at least. But still, Shinji had always been taught to confess his wrong doings.
Own up, and your punishment won't be as severe.
"I...I tried phoning NERV earlier but I wasn't getting any reception so I kept trying and things were really creepy and..."
"Hey calm down, I'm not going to get angry." Misato said in a humoured yet...reassuring tone. Shinji had not heard such in a very long time. Not since...
"I...sort of...got frustrated...and...kind of...broke the phone..." He gingerly put forward, then lost any and all courage before looking straight into his lap. What he got next, was nothing like what he'd expected.
Not some harsh words.
Not a fist.
But a laugh.
"What that's it? You broke a phone? Shit, I break things all the time, you wouldn't believe how much my old landlord chewed me out for it." She waved her hand dismissively, as if the whole situation was trivial to her. Which it really was.
But for Shinji, any wrong doing could not be forgiven.
"But...Katsuragi-san, I smashed it! I broke it beyond repair!"
"Smashed? Jeez, how strong are you?"
"I don't know, but I still broke it! I mean, how will the security services handle it-" His voice trembled horrendously, until Misato's hand found its way to his shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze.
"You've done nothing wrong. Nothing at all."
"But it was public property..." He meekly whimpered, knowing full well how some people had been beaten to death for what was once a minor offence.
But his driver didn't let him finish.
"No, Shinji-kun. You are not going to have your face caved in for breaking a phone. Spirits on high, that Motichka is insane." She gave his shoulder another squeeze, then returned to focusing her attention on the road ahead, whilst her own mind grumbled.
I remember what it was like before her...before the wars...before the Second Impact. Hell that world wasn't perfect, but it's better than what we have now.
Shinji's mouth flapped uselessly for a few moments whilst Misato didn't seem fazed at all by the thing she'd just said.
No one, insulted General Motichka, no one. Well, no one alive anyway...
However, Lieutenant Colonel Katsuragi was a member of NERV and that was a multinational organization with both funding and protection from the United Nations. So perhaps its staff could get away with voicing their opinions on...just about anything.
"You won't tell anyone will you?" He gingerly asked, reckoning that perhaps he liked this, Lieutenant Colonel Misato Katsuragi. At the very least, he didn't find her as annoying or frightening as most people.
She raised an eyebrow along with the edge of her mouth.
"Not a soul."
Along a deserted country highway, the car slowed to an unexpected stop. Shinji watched his driver open the glove compartment and pull out some rather technologically advanced binoculars. She then removed her sunglasses, showing off her fantastic doughy brown eyes. After opening the passenger side window she leaned over and began to survey the area.
"Um...Katsuragi-san...what are you doing?" Shinji's body and voice trembled as her breasts got all too close to his face.
Hey I told you coming here was a good idea! His subconscious infuriatingly pointed out.
Shut up! Shinji snapped back, resulting in the perverted part of his brain going off to pout.
"What are they doing?" She muttered both quietly and unhelpfully.
"What do you mean-agh!" His sudden shriek came from beholding the tiny but unmistakeable form of the "Seraph," slowly trudging its way over the edge of a very large hill, whilst dozens of VTOLs and two Sky ships buzzed angrily around it. The dull thuds of FCV artillery, missile impact, the occasional blinding blue light of a positron cannon, and the chatter chatter of heavy machine guns, caused his skin to crawl.
Those noises were all too familiar to a survivor of Fukuyama.
"Don't worry, they're leading it away from us." His driver gently tried to reassure him, before she returned to watching the spectacle whilst repeating the phrase "what are you doing?"
As the Seraph disappeared from view, the air forces scattered. Misato tilted her head ever so slightly then started to say in a tone that was dripping with absolute dread "No, they wouldn't...they wouldn't..."
He barely had time to see the missile streaking down from the heavens as his driver threw herself over him. A blinding light followed by an ear splitting roar deafened the vehicle's occupants. But a few seconds later, wind storms flipped the car over and over, with Shinji screaming for all he was worth, and Misato gritting her teeth as they were thrown around all over the car's interior, earning many a tender bruise.
Eventually, the car stopped rolling and remained on its side. Slowly, its owner and passenger peaked their heads out of it to behold perhaps one of the most dreaded sights in human history.
A gargantuan mushroom cloud scraping the heavens, its clouds of death darkening the world.
----------------------------------
4:50 pm, NERV Central command bridge
There was a roar of applause as the Seraph's energy signature vanished, completely washed away by a tide of energised death.
Chiso folded her arms with a smug expression, matched only by the two other members of her administration present.
General Daiki Naka could only feel relief that the monster which killed so very many of his men today, was finally gone.
Admiral Akira Takeida's smile was one of absolute ecstasy as his blood lust was finally satiated by the death of the monster which took five of his ships, and roughly four thousand of his men.
Motichka turned her gaze towards the not so all knowing Commander sitting on his throne, her lips pressing into a savage smile.
"Well well, Ikari-san. It seems all that faith, Congressmen Laberenz puts in you is sadly misplaced. Along with a lot of our money..." She winced in metaphorical pain at the thought of all those trillions going to waste. But that was ultimately something she could live with.
Ikari was not needed.
Those metal monsters he'd hammered together in his basement weren't needed.
And for that, the most powerful individual in Japan gave a quick prayer of thanks to Amaterasu herself. Not that Motichka was religious, the horrors of war had shattered such "superstitions" long ago. But every now and again, when something very strenuous or nigh impossible had been achieved, she did wonder whether or not something was giving her administration a hand.
So she gave thanks to whoever was listening.
For Chiso did not like Gendo Ikari, not in the slightest. She wasn't sure why, but there was something horrifyingly off about him, his organization, and especially the little pet clone he kept around.
Not that the idea of clones unnerved her. On the contrary she would love to employ such techniques in her army, but the United Nations had put multiple sanctions on countries that even attempted it. Of course NERV would get away with something like that, but the one they had in particular, that ethereal...thing...didn't just unsettle her, it frightened this old warrior.
And that was without considering what it was a clone of...
Speaking of which, she hadn't seen Ikari's pet for a while now...curious.
"Perhaps." Gendo replied to her earlier question.
She sighed and turned away, taking in the massive display screen and its image of Japanese might reaching up to the heavens.
"Target status?" She directed at the Lieutenant in front of her, a mousey haired and wimpy young woman who froze at the mere sound of Chiso's voice.
"Um...uh...we're still trying to deal with the interference from the blast, General." She blustered as she desperately tried to not notice her "technical" Leader reach for their side arm.
"How long will that take, Lieutenant?"
"Just a few minutes, General!" The younger woman began to type frantically whilst giving desperate looks of please to her colleagues, to which they responded by working as fast as they could to clear the interference.
On NERV's command bridge, Lieutenant Maya Ibuki was considered "the baby" of the group. Therefore, other staff looked out for the rather nervous but kind young woman.
"It better not take any longer..." Chiso grumbled as she sat down on the table her staff had been provided, whilst folding her arms. She was not exactly your stereotypical Dictator, with having rather modest living quarters, a diet of usually take away, and a surprising amount of dedication to her job. It is telling how the woman who had ordered the troops to open fire on Bloody April 14th was not just feared. She was respected by a good deal of Japan's population. For though her rule was brutal, at least the Japanese people felt safer in their beds at night, due to the lack of foreign invaders and bandits roaming the streets.
"Interference cleared, regaining energy readings!" A male Lieutenant, who was rather nerdy looking in appearance, called out in a shrill voice as the static on the display cleared away showing an energy reading of the crater the explosion had left.
"Energy spike detected!" Maya yelled, as a sharp rise on the displays' energy reader made the Defence Board's stomachs churn. Chiso stood back up with an expression of pure fury and shock on her face.
"Impossible, I want visual on the site right now!"
"Yes, General!" Daiki nodded then started issuing orders to his air force over the comms link.
A few minutes later, a VTOL flew towards the large mushroom cloud, its pilot relaying what she was seeing.
"Cloud still there, but I'm getting an energy signature and it's not a nuclear one...whoa wait!" Her shriek was matched by muttered whispers of awe and shock.
From within that vortex of smoke, a beam of energy exploded forth, reaching up to the heavens in a glorious display of power. Fierce winds ripped apart the kilometres tall mushroom cloud as if it were wispy smoke, eventually allowing the crater to be seen.
Within it, Sachiel stood with one hand raised. He was bruised and a bit burned in some places, but apart from that he was practically unharmed.
For a race that lacks such power, you Vooren have very impressive fireworks. You must show us how to make these things...when you are all on your knees before father himself!
Sachiel then swiped his hand down, and with a flicker of orange energy, what was left of the surrounding landscape was utterly flattened.
"T-t-target intact. N2 strike has no effect, returning to base..." The utterly demoralised voice of the Pilot was the only noise heard in that vast cavern.
Chiso stared at the now blank display for a few minutes, whilst the NERV Lieutenant sitting in front of her squirmed, as she tried to get out of a possible line of fire.
Eventually, the Dictator turned slowly to face Gendo Ikari, the bastard king, sitting high above her. She imagined that was done for the effect of making those speaking to him feel small, but when confronted with her, it did him no good.
Her arms folded and she tutted once, before speaking in a surprisingly controlled voice.
"Supreme Commander Gendo Ikari. Time and again you have told me, Parliament, the United Nations, the Global Allied Armed Forces Treaty, and even His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of Japan himself, that you and your organization are Mankind's only hope. Tell me, Commander, when the entire Eastern Army and an N2 strike could not kill that thing, then how in heaven's name will you have any hope?"
Gendo let the question roll for a few moments before readjusting his glasses. His subordinate, his loyal dog, Vice Commander Kozo Fuyutsuki briefly raised his eyebrow before NERV's Supreme Commander replied.
"It precisely for this scenario that NERV exists. I assure you, General Motichka, my organization will have the situation well in hand by the end of this very day."
The room was silent for a minute, before Chiso's sigh echoed around the chamber.
"Very well. By the powers invested in me by the United Nations as head of the Japanese State Army, I hereby authorize the transference of command for this operation to NERV."
Were she not so far away, Chiso would have seen Gendo's mouth curl into a small smile.
"Thank you, General Motichka."
------------------------------------------
5:00pm, outskirts of Tokyo-3
The car was a wreck.
It's paint job seared, its engine smashed nearly beyond repair, and its former occupants possessing huge red and black bruises.
Shinji considered it a miracle they were even alive, but he felt that Misato trying to restart the engine was asking for a bit much.
"Come on...just this once..." He heard her mutter again and again as the engine kept on spluttering, resolutely refusing to return from beyond the grave.
He stood outside the car which only a few minutes before he'd helped to push onto its correct side, taking in the now ruined landscape lying before him.
Once green and pretty hills had now been reduced to...this.
The area had been totally obliterated, only blackened dirt, little pieces of fluttering ash, and the tiny yet looming shape of the Seraph remained now. Indeed he should be a part of these remnants of life, but as it turned out, Misato's Car possessed an onboard S2 engine.
It was only there to provide a meagre A-T field, not propel the car. Misato had said, it just isn't the same on the matter, despite how totally inefficient petrol engines were.
"Damn it!" There was a loud slam as she punched the wheel. Taking a deep breath she removed herself from the car and walked around it so that she could talk to him face to face.
"I'm sorry, Shinji-kun. I think we're walking the rest of the way."
"Don't say sorry, Katsuragi-san. I probably wouldn't even be alive if it weren't for you." He did his best to make a believable smile, but it was difficult. For the boy hadn't truly smiled in a long time...
He collected his bag from the back seat and slung it over his shoulder, whilst Misato retrieved some other things from the boot. Shinji struggled to hide his alarm when she pulled out a regular issue Hitokuchi pistol, along with a red jacket and beret.
Slipping both on, Misato holstered her pistol and walked back over to him.
"Entrance eighteen is a three mile walk from here. If we hurry, we should get there before, temper tantrum-san-" She pointed towards the ever present dot that was Sachiel "-decides to start moving again." She received a meek nod from Shinji before the duo began to move as fast as they comfortably could in a direction that would take them away from the ancient warrior.
They'd been following the road for a few minutes, and he was already lagging behind.
"Can...can...can't you just...heh...call your people to come and get us?" He panted as his feet started dragging. As he was being invited to the place which was his father's home, he'd decided to dress nicely for the occasion. And so Shinji gained blisters from his unsuited to the situation black shoes.
"Oh come on, you're a boy aren't you? Man up!" Misato both admonished and teased as she masterfully hid the discomfort she herself was feeling from her heels. They weren't especially high, but they were just high enough to cause some issue. However, Misato Katsuragi was a survivor of Second Impact and the following wars, so this was a trivial thing to her.
"They'd probably be at Level Two Battle Stations anyway. So we aren't getting a lift from them."
Come on, did it really have to happen today of all days? Jeez kid this must be quite a shitty home coming...Oh Spirits this day has just sucked! My Car, my favourite dress, all fucking ruined, ruined I tell you!
"Um...Katsuragi-san?"
"Yes, Shinji-kun?" She tilted her head as the boy in question had stopped dead in his tracks some ten feet behind her with a curious expression.
"Do you hear that?" He looked around a little more as Misato remembered a piece of text in his dossier.
May possibly show signs of mental instability.
But then the rumbling reached her ears too.
"Yes I hear it." Her hand instinctively slid towards her pistol, but the eventual realisation that the noise clearly was not a Seraph made her relax.
"I think it's coming from-" Shinji stopped mid sentence and stared at the sight rumbling towards him. Misato's eyes also nearly fell out of their sockets as she walked over to his side, for moving towards them in all its slightly melted glory, was a Type 2 Yoroi main battle tank.
At its front was inserted a broken 120mm cannon that penetrated the frontal armour, sticking up in such a way it prevented the main gun from rotating left. Two heads poked out from the commander's and driver's hatches, staring ahead in surprise as well.
Eventually, the tank stopped some fifteen metres away from them, with the commander's face coming into view.
It looked like it had been almost burned off some years ago, but his grey eyes commanded authority and respect.
He was Sergeant first class Kiyoshi Yukimura, last surviving officer of the Eastern Army's 1st armoured division. And his face spoke volumes about what that meant to him.
"Citizens, what are you doing out here? Why the hell aren't you in your shelters?" He barked, causing Shinji to jump and Misato to put a hand on her hip in annoyance. Before any of them could respond, the Akuma's dark haired driver yelled at them.
"Move you fucking pedestrians or I''ll run you over!" As if to demonstrate his point, the engine revved.
"Eiji." Kiyoshi said simply and sternly, causing his driver to mumble something about "cunts" before going completely silent.
"Well are you going to answer my question or not?" He tilted his head, not in annoyance but impatience.
A cunning spark flickered in Misato's brown eyes.
"I am Lieutenant Colonel Misato Katsuragi of NERV. I require your assistance in transporting this boy to NERV central. If you refuse I will have to use my authority as a NERV operative to requisition you-"
"Lieutenant Colonel? How did you earn that? Did you distract the Tokuajin by flashing your knickers? Because if you got a promotion through that, could you please go and get the attention of whatever that thing is." Private First Class Eiji Fukui pointed in the general direction of the rampaging Seraph.
Misato's mouth dropped open as Shinji sniggered with his hand firmly clamped over his mouth.
Kiyoshi chuckled a little.
"That'll be enough, Eiji. Now then, you said about requisitioning my tank?" One of the Sergeant's eyebrows raised at the mere thought of his home being taken from him.
"Unless you comply. But I'm sure it won't come to tha-"
"Unless we comply!? Fucking spook bitch!" Someone from inside the tank roared, as its rail gun angled itself at Misato and began charging up, causing Shinji to nearly wet himself.
"Seiichi, enough!" Kiyoshi growled, but that didn't work.
"All those men, all those fucking men! Where the hell were you and your NERV? You were meant to help us, you meant to stop this kind of shit from happening! That's what we all paid those damned taxes for! How can you possibly make demands of us!?" Ragged breathing was followed by sobbing.
"Ah fuck, now look what you've done..." Eiji muttered as he closed his hatch, leaving only the Sergeant and the Lieutenant Colonel to stare each other out.
Misato noticed all the traces of concern on Kiyoshi's face, knowing exactly what to say next. For as she was a soldier herself, Misato understood your comrades were your family.
"You want to keep those men alive? Then you take us to NERV central, with me onboard I can get you in. I promise, you'd be far safer in there than anywhere else."
A moment of indecisiveness flashed on Kiyoshi's face before he narrowed his eyes.
"I have your word?"
"Unconditionally."
"Good. Because if they come to harm I'll kill you. Now get on before I change my mind." He gestured to them before disappearing down his hatch as Misato clambered on.
"Come on." She stretched a hand out to Shinji who still considering whether or not to assume the fetal position and hope for the best. But her reassuring smile, forced him to take destiny's offer.
----------------------------------
5:20pm, NERV entrance point eighteen
A NERV security Guard was meant to be prepared for almost anything. But no one can be ready for a tank to roll right up to their checkpoint at near top speed, with two rather annoyed looking crew men poking out of their hatches. After stopping at the barrier, the commander went back down into his tank, and a few moments later, Misato squirmed out of the command hatch, then climbed down.
The "Section Three" security guard walked over with an amazed expression, even when Misato handed him her ID card.
"They said you'd be arriving in an unorthodox manner but..." He shook his head before handing the ID back.
"Yes. I was meant to get here in my car, but that's wrecked." Misato maintained a smile, but inwardly whimpered at the thought of her precious Renault Alpine A310, a vehicle which was an antique, being smashed up and broken. It pained her even more to leave it all by itself. It needed its mother, and she needed her baby.
"A lot of people's crap got messed up today, Lieutenant Colonel. What about your companions, are they with you? And where is the Third child?"
"Yes they're with me. JSA 1st armoured division. The Third child is actually in the tank, and he's not very comfortable..." She rolled her eyes, eliciting a chuckle from the guard. Although she reckoned Shinji was a nice kid, he didn't half whine.
"Hey soldier! Don't I get a salute?" The newly reappeared Kiyoshi barked from his command hatch.
"Oh...I'm sorry, Sergeant, but you're not NERV personnel so I can't salute you..."
"Alright fuck face, you disrespect the JSA then prepare to be disrespected." Eiji grumbled as his tank's engine roared to life, before it crashed through the barrier.
And this time, Kiyoshi did nothing to stop him.
"Oh what the hell! JSA barbarians!" The Security Guard yelled with absolute horror before shaking his fist.
"Considering how much you bastards get in taxpayer's money, I wouldn't be surprised if you could get a gold plated one!" The driver mouthed as the tank came to a stop.
"I...am...so sorry. We'll get this sorted out later but right now we really need to get a move on." Misato was eager to move, with the sound of explosions coming from far away.
The Security Guard grumbled, then relented.
"The Third child has arrived. He is currently in a...type 2 battle tank...so...just be ready for anything." He held his radio to his mouth.
"Thanks!" Misato patted him on the shoulder then ran off to climb back onboard the tank.
As it neared the entrance to NERV's tunnel systems, the route became narrower and narrower, with the Akuma's side even scraping against the wall.
"I don't think this road was designed for tanks..." Shinji muttered, whilst feeling cramped. He knew not to complain about that however, a good cuff round the head from "Seiichi" had taught him that.
"Well no shit, kid!" Eiji threw his arm out in exasperation, with Shinji instinctively dodging.
The crew of the Akuma had grown to be rather irritated by him, with his constant complaints of it being "too loud" or "too cramped" or the ever loved "are we there yet?"
"Whiny little bitch aren't you?" Akuma's driver grumbled. His mood certainly wasn't helped by the shredded remnants of an unfortunate fellow tank currently being lodged in the front of his "home." Not to mention how it had cut into his leg, preventing him from even leaving his seat. In fact, during Seiichi's earlier breakdown he'd had to gesture to him to get down to his level for a comforting hug.
Still just a kid He chuckled to himself.
Leading private Seiichi Oshiro on the other hand felt the situation could truly have been worse, with the attractive NERV Lieutenant Colonel currently sitting on his lap as there was hardly any room, and the kid being shoved into the now empty ammunition storing area.
Not that he'd ever consider cheating on Mikasa, as this "Misato" was a bit too sluttishly dressed for his liking.
"Katsuragi-san, we're getting into the tunnel systems now. Going to need your direction." Kiyoshi called out. Misato squeezed up into the command hatch and took the prepared binoculars the Akuma's commander had waiting for her.
"You'll be wanting to go left in a moment, and turn your headlights on, it gets darker soon."
Meanwhile, Shinji took a look through Eiji's periscope.
"How deep do these tunnels go?" He murmured.
"Deeper than you've ever been inside a woman probably..." Eiji chuckled as the boy degenerated into an irritated and stammering mess.
Well that makes two kids onboard this thing...they said life in the JSA is out of the ordinary but I never expected anything like this...
And thus, this unlikely and motley crew rumbled into NERV central. The heart of the planet's most enigmatic organization.
Now this is one of the bigger bits (about 10000 words if I recall) which hopefully won't be too long for you.
By the way, all those likes and comments on the previous posts are really encouraging me to keep posting, even getting me to type a thousand words yesterday.
Well, let's see if my luck holds with this post. Once more unto the breach dear friends!
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4:20pm, Tokyo-3
Shinji was giving up now. After twenty minutes of ringing that stupid phone again and again, he was getting sweet nothing in terms of a desirable response.
"We're sorry, due to the state of emergency, no lines are currently available. This is a recording." The answer phone repeated for the sixteenth time.
Sixteen times too many.
After glaring at it for a while, Shinji slammed it back into its booth, so hard that it broke in half on impact. He recoiled from the broken public property, as for all his faults he didn't like breaking things. He quickly looked around with a guilty expression, half expecting someone, probably a soldier, to show up and arrest him for his "crime."
Getting arrested was not something one wanted to happen to them, especially in the Japan of 2017.
A Japan in which most minor crimes warranted a savage beating.
In such an age and country, Shinji had discovered his submissive and timid nature to be helpful. It wasn't that he liked the Defence Board or even Parliament, it was just "not being shot" was near the top of his priorities.
After futilely trying to reassemble the phone, he backed away slowly, and then made no small amount of haste away from the scene.
Stopping a few blocks away, he walked himself into some shade and sighed with pleasure as the temperature dropped a few merciful degrees. Being Japanese, he was used to constant thirty degree temperature all year round, but even then he had his limits. In fact you could say he hated warm weather, for it made being snug impossible.
And then his eye caught a glimpse of something. In the distance a green signpost with the words Shelter, 300 metres emblazoned in white, and an arrow pointing down the street which curved off to the right, was situated.
Having forgotten about the State of emergency due to his frustration and embarrassment, Shinji took another look at the photo, so as to remind himself of where the meeting point was. He then realised the street name matched up with the one on the sign post.
Well that's fortunate.
Reluctantly, he left the shade and briskly walked towards the shelter.
Reaching the end of this street, and the beginning of the one which crossed over the top of it, he looked left and right before crossing to the other side.
This may seem like a strange thing to do in an empty city, but Shinji was a person of routine. Also he'd heard what sounded like the revving of an engine not too far away, giving the impression that someone was driving around a little too fast. Considering that everyone should probably be in their shelters, Shinji could understand why whoever was driving that car was in a hurry. However upon looking right and "surprisingly" seeing nothing, he then instinctively turned his head left, and almost had a heart attack.
Standing some one-hundred feet away from him, was a girl. A very pale girl with...he squinted some more to make sure he wasn't hallucinating.
He wasn't.
The girl did indeed have sky blue hair.
Becoming aware of the fact he was staring, Shinji snapped himself out of his stupor and shook his head, as if to get his brain back in gear. And then it occurred to him he was being stared at.
Remaking some form of eye contact, he mustered his courage for a challenge.
"Uh, hello? Can I...help you?"
The girl remained silent, making the situation more awkward with every passing moment.
"Are you lost? I-if you're trying to get to a shelter I know where one is. It's just down there..." And then his attention was distracted by a flock of birds suddenly taking flight, the flapping of wings and ruffling of feathers breaking the unnerving silence.
Redirecting his gaze from the sky back to the person he was talking to, Shinji tried to think of something else to say, only to find the girl gone. As he scratched his head in confusion, a gust of wind blew past him.
Good luck...brother... These words were carried upon the wind by so soft and pure a voice, that it pushed him to the verge of tears.
And then logic reasserted full control. Now he was more unnerved than ever before. With all the deathly silence, lack of people, and vanishing girls, he felt like his perception of the universe had simply given up today.
Of course however, those weren't words. They were just tree's rustling.
But there aren't any trees... His brain unhelpfully observed, resulting in Shinji quieting these thoughts as quickly as possible before the rest of his body could panic.
"Weird." He muttered to himself, before resuming his journey towards the shelter.
It had taken a few minutes, but eventually he could see the steel door to an N2 blast and fall out shelter, causing him to sigh with relief.
And then the ground started shaking. So much that he would have toppled onto his face were it not for the protection of his arms.
Still, it hurt.
"Ah shit!" He gently rubbed the soon to blossom bruises on his bare arms before standing back up, and then being thrown back down when the shaking got worse.
Earthquakes? Really? Look, Spirits, for whatever I did to annoy you so much I'm sorry. Can I just please start having an ordinary day?
Wind started to rattle the vehicles and building shutters, making the situation even more uncomfortable, unnerving, and downright frightening for Shinji, as he was never the bravest person alive.
But then everything really went to hell.
The thunderous roar of hundreds of high velocity cannons exploded across the hills of Tokyo-3, as its own defences opened fire upon its unexplainable attacker. Shinji could only watch in stupefied and deafened awe, as dozens of tanks reversed through the streets, their cannon's belching smoke and fire like the dragons of myth, along with hundreds of men darting around them. Kazes screamed through the air, but they and everything else was drowned out by the humming of four great engines belonging to two newly arrived FCV's.
But his awe soon turned to horror.
In front of these men and their machines, was something almost indescribable.
A humanoid, amphibian like creature stalked towards the Japanese capital, a look of malice etched upon its bone like mask that might have functioned as a head. Missiles, tank shells and even bullets were hurled at it with reckless abandon, only to impact uselessly.
This did not stop the guns of the JSA from continuing to fire. The sound of four ship mounted rail guns charging up caused Shinji to cover his ears in pain due to their shrill whine. With an ear splitting crack they unleashed their payload of pallet rounds, the noise shattering most of the city's windows and shaking the ground. The only effect they had however, was uselessly tapping a wall of orange lightening.
Is that...an A-T field?
Shinji felt his blood run cold. He knew a little about A-T fields, with them being the unlimited source of energy which mankind used to pull itself out of the oblivion of Second Impact.
But he'd never seen or heard of a field as strong as this.
And he'd never seen one be used in the fashion of how the Seraph would.
Sachiel swept his arm in the general direction of a squadron of VTOLs coming his way. A flicker of orange light preceded the entire squadron being obliterated in a wave of hell fire.
Shinji couldn't hear the JSA's battle chatter, but he could well imagine what was being yelled over it.
We're not putting a fucking dent in it!
Squadron 8 has been completely destroyed!
3rd division retreating!
Retreat is unacceptable! Nippon Banzai! Tenno Heika Banz-agghhhhhhhh!
A Kaze accelerated to close range after unloading its payload of missiles, swiftly unleashing a stream of bullets from its mounted gatling guns.
Sachiel watched rounds that would liquefy a person, harmlessly bounce off his field, before swiping at the vehicle with the back of his hand as if it were some sort of insignificant insect.
Vooren, you are poor hosts indeed. Can none of you offer me some sort of challenge!?
The VTOL tumbled out of the sky and crashed onto one of the buildings near the street's edge in an explosion of flames. It proceeded to career through through the road, stopping some one-hundred feet from a petrified Shinji.
He sat there for a few moments, watching the Eastern Army be decimated by the Seraph with effortless and ruthless ease, becoming even more paralysed as the realization that Sachiel was actually walking in his direction hit him like a tsunami.
Oh Spirits...oh Spirits...oh Spirits...
And then the world seemed to slow down.
Out of the Kaze crawled a figure. A figure that appeared to be a badly burned individual who'd lost the use of their legs. They were stuck, a metal beam having collapsed upon them, and they shrieked as the wreckage's flames slowly came closer.
A memory came to Shinji at that moment. One of when he was four years old and Japan was burning around him.
Men in blue uniforms, screaming at me to run, and then they just start screaming in general...I ran away like I always do.
And thus, he found himself being carried over to the crash site on his unusually eager legs. For although he was an isolated person, the he couldn't stand watching others in pain.
"Hey hold on!" He yelled, gaining speed with every passing second.
The individual in the wreckage appeared to meet Shinji's nearing gaze, and stretched out an arm in a grateful acceptance of offered help.
Sachiel's gargantuan green foot slammed down on the vehicle, completely crushing it. A quick scream was all Shinji heard before the individual whose life he'd tried to save, disappeared beneath the Seraph's weight, a sickening crunch and spurt of blood being overshadowed by the Kaze's final rippling explosion.
He stopped in his tracks and stared. Although he was no stranger to death, the boy collapsed upon the ground and doubled over before the urge to vomit overcame him within moments. After finishing the regurgitation of his train dinner, Shinji, remembering that he wasn't alone, slowly angled his gaze skywards to meet that of the imposing Seraph's.
Whilst Shinji trembled for all he was worth, mighty Sachiel stared down upon the helpless child before him, blinking a few times whilst the JSA kept hammering away.
The one-hundred and sixty metre tall amphibian behemoth, after maintaining eye contact with Shinji for a few tense seconds, slowly, inexorably, turned away and continued his relentless march through the city.
Scurry away little one, I have no quarrel with you.
The mousey haired and wimpy sixteen year old watched the ancient warrior stomp away, with shaking form and tears of terror streaming down his paled cheeks. Wiping the traces of vomit from his lips, Shinji rose from the ground with limbs that had the solidity of jelly.
Tokyo-3 was in flames around him. The city built to withstand any sort of attack was falling before his very eyes.
Japan was on the verge of having its heart ripped out again.
It can't be...it can't be...
As the Seraph sliced through another wave of VTOLs, then stabbing another one with a spear of light jutting out from its hand, Shinji clenched his fist.
It was not that he was angry, far from it, for this was actually his most prominent nervous tick. He would vent all his fears and frustrations into that hand and squeeze it as hard as he could. It was the best way he had of dealing with his fear of, well, everything. Not to mention the memories of the person who'd taught him this technique brought warmth to his chipped and broken heart unlike anything else.
He closed his eyes and a took a deep trembling breath before unclenching his fist.
Stay calm...stay calm...being the pathetic little coward I am isn't going to help.
Although still scared, Shinji quietened his trembling limbs and opened his eyes.
Great pyres of smoke reached into the heavens in the distance, as Sachiel continued his inexorable march towards some unknown objective.
The screech of an engine caught his attention, causing him to turn around. His eyes widened as some sort of blue sports car from a past time, skidded to a halt by his side, before having its passenger side door thrown open from the inside.
At the wheel, sat a rather pretty woman with purple hair and sunglasses, her lips curled into a cocky grin. Oddly enough, around her neck she wore what appeared to be the Christian cross.
If he were in a state where logical thought could be practised, Shinji would have found this bizarre as Christianity was almost extinct in the east these days.
But he was not thinking logically. In fact he was only halfway out of a near panic attack, and it seemed this woman, who didn't appear to even notice the monster stomping through Tokyo-3 Godzilla style, wanted him to come with her.
"It's Shinji right? Get in!" She called to him, as the boy in question kept gawking, whilst the part of his brain that wasn't going into meltdown noted how similar she looked to the person he was meant to meet. Her head simply tilted at his silence.
"Am I real late?"
---------------------------------
4:35 pm, NERV Central command bridge, beneath Tokyo-3
NERV's command bridge was an impressive thing. A main metal deck with dozens of staff and computers chattering away constantly, was seated in front of a gargantuan holographic display that currently depicted Sachiel demolishing a good chunk of Tokyo-3. There were two smaller decks above the base deck, coupled with the bottom one they were named as such.
Control: situated on the bottom.
Observation: the middle.
And Command: the top.
The decks would get slowly smaller in width and length, with Control being filled with roughly thirty staff, Observation having ten, and Command having two.
But these men were perhaps the most important.
Supreme Commander Gendo Ikari, and Vice Commander Kozo Fuyutsuki.
NERV had spent over a decade preparing for this. Trillions of Dollars, Pounds, Euros, Roubles, Yen, and hundreds of thousands of hours of man power had been spent so they would be ready for what Mankind had long dreaded.
The return of the Seraphim.
And even then, almost every individual present stared up at the display screen with a mixture of terror, awe, and rage. The rage emanating from three individuals seated on the Observation deck, in dark blue military uniform, who were currently overlooking the ongoing battle.
Whilst NERV was a multinational organization and many of its staff were foreign, they still kept a wary eye upon these people. And as for NERV's Japanese personnel, fear had crept into their very souls. For at this table sat all three members of the Defence Board.
"Eastern Army forces currently engaged are reporting a fifteen percent casualty rate. All weaponry appears to have no effect!" One of the male Lieutenants reported from his monitor.
The figure sitting at the centre of the table, slammed her forty year old fist down, and stood up abruptly.
"Damn it! General, pull the Air Force back. Admiral, order the Navy to commence missile bombardment. My forces will retreat to the outskirts. We will kill this thing!" General Chiso Motichka barked.
"But...General Motichka, what about the city? Naval strikes will cause a great deal of collateral damage-agh!" The unfortunate Lieutenant yelped as a gunshot crashed out and his shoulder exploded into gore. He whimpered miserably as the General holstered her smoking side arm.
"I don't recall asking for anyone's opinion."
A few minutes later, whilst the Lieutenant with the shattered shoulder was carried away to NERV's medical ward, the sheer force of fifteen pallet missiles impacting their target flattened an entire residential block. The A-T field of a Sky ship would've had difficulty standing up against such an onslaught.
But the Seraph wasn't even scratched.
Whilst the commanders of the Air Force and Navy stared in shock, Motichka's hand slowly balled into a fist, before she drew a deep, dangerous, breath.
"Over three hundred and fifty thousand of my finest soldiers, hundreds of aircraft and dozens of ships. None of these have even been able to touch this, thing. Now, if someone doesn't give me a reason for this and a solution to my problem, there will be consequences. So, Supreme Commander Ikari-" She whirled around to face the figure who sat above them, upon his pretentious throne with faithful dog to one side.
"Can you give me a reason and a solution?" She said in a sickly sweet tone, one that implied she would have him hung drawn and quartered if his answer didn't please her.
And please her it did not.
"As I have said before, your every contribution to this is totally useless. This enemy is utterly beyond you, the JSA serves no further purpose than that of a flimsy meat shield. NERV shall handle this battle. You are no longer required." Gendo Ikari spoke in a voice which did not rise or fall, but radiated quiet authority. This however, was drowned out by Chiso's military snarl.
"You insolent spook. How dare you speak of my men like that! Twelve years ago these meat shields bled, fought, and died for this country whilst you sat in your palace of diplomatic immunity. Tell me, Gendo Ikari, where was your NERV when the Communists swarmed like ants over our homeland? Where were you!?"
"Your war was of no concern. We had far more pressing matters to attend to. Now, withdraw your troops and leave this matter to me. Your men are dying, General, dying in vain." Gendo offered, as if trying to get the woman to see reason. But to an experienced listener it was simple to realize he was intentionally provoking Japan's de facto ruler.
Chiso fought her desire to explode, then contorted her snarl into a vicious smile.
Her armed forces still had one card left.
"We shall see, old man." She turned to face General Daiki Naka, supreme commander of the airforce, who met her gaze without any fear, just anticipation.
"General. Order your surviving units to lure the Seraph away from Tokyo-3. I'm authorizing an N2 strike."
The sound of touch screen monitors being tapped was the only thing which filled the cavernous room, as no one wished to speak of the dreadful act about to be committed.
The old nuclear weapons had a gargantuan stigma attached to them, as during the "Post Impact Wars" these doomsday devices had claimed roughly ninety million lives. Almost every mind on that bridge was consumed by the image of a towering mushroom cloud, spewing radiation and death like a burst boil spread its diseased puss. And these had been totally outclassed in destructive power by the N2 mine, a weapon which produced no radiation but disintegrated everything within its blast radius.
Had any of NERV's staff truly been focused on the here and now however, they may have heard a whisper of a laugh from their Commander...
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4:45pm, outskirts of Tokyo-3
The initial flight from the city had been hair raising. The blue sports car's speed hadn't dropped beneath ninety for ten minutes, with it only now mercifully falling below sixty. For that, Shinji thanked whatever deity was listening.
Releasing his grip upon the car door, he slumped back and exhaled after holding his breath.
"Sorry if that was a bit much, but we really needed to move." His driver cast him a quick look of apology before returning her gaze to the road.
A bit much?
Shinji would never have described the situation in that way. Him holding on for dear life whilst both the car and himself screamed through the streets of Tokyo-3, with the driver having an almost maniacal look of enjoyment, was most certainly not something he'd call "A bit much."
But at least they were far away from that monster now. Speaking of which...
"What was that?" His voice barely rose above a whisper.
"We call it a Seraph. No one really knows much about them, except they want to kill us all." The purple haired driver unhelpfully offered.
"Why do you call it a Seraph? That's a western word. Surely Yokai would work better for whatever that thing is?"
"Yokai would make sense, but I didn't name them. If we discover a new race of monsters bent on the genocide of everything, you can have naming priority." She laughed at her joke, whilst Shinji fought with every ounce of his being to not just shake with fear.
Race? No...no...I'm sure that's just a figure of speech. There can't be anything worse than whatever is ripping Tokyo-3 apart...there can't be...
They continued to drive for another few minutes, before Shinji plucked up the courage to ask the real question on his mind.
"Are you from NERV? Did my father send you?" He said in a guarded tone, not wanting to show hatred for the man who was his father in name only.
"Yes I'm from NERV. Lieutenant Colonel Misato Katsuragi, combat operations director, at your service." She stretched out a hand, which Shinji awkwardly shook.
"I've been assigned as your escort to NERV central, so don't worry, your safety is my top priority." She added as the speedometer dropped below fifty. For a while, the only noise that both occupants heard was the sound of the engine humming.
A petrol engine? This thing is an antique.
"Um...sorry I wasn't at the meeting point. I sort of...got distracted..." Shinji awkwardly scratched the back of his head, whilst fighting the rise of his gorge as he remembered what reason had dragged him away. He was rather surprised to find "Misato" simply shrug.
"Don't sweat it, Shinji-kun, a lot of things didn't go to plan today." Had her sunglasses not been on, he would have noticed Misato frown.
Damn. Ten years of preparation and those things still caught us with our panties down! The UN is going to have trouble stomaching this, but Spirits know how GAAFT will respond...
Were she paying attention, the purplehead would have noticed her charge becoming very quiet all of a sudden.
Come on. you broke it, you own up for it. His subconscious gently nudged.
But...but...but...ah crap why did I have to think of this right now?
"Um, Katsuragi-san?" He whispered.
"You can call me Misato you know, I'm not picky." She cast her gaze upon him, only to see the mousey haired boy turn very pale, as if he were a child with his hand caught in the cookie jar.
"Oh you can't have done anything that bad. Come on, what is it?" She actually chuckled a little. She chuckled at the prospect of him owning up to vandalism! That would get you a few nights in a cell and a misshapen face at least. But still, Shinji had always been taught to confess his wrong doings.
Own up, and your punishment won't be as severe.
"I...I tried phoning NERV earlier but I wasn't getting any reception so I kept trying and things were really creepy and..."
"Hey calm down, I'm not going to get angry." Misato said in a humoured yet...reassuring tone. Shinji had not heard such in a very long time. Not since...
"I...sort of...got frustrated...and...kind of...broke the phone..." He gingerly put forward, then lost any and all courage before looking straight into his lap. What he got next, was nothing like what he'd expected.
Not some harsh words.
Not a fist.
But a laugh.
"What that's it? You broke a phone? Shit, I break things all the time, you wouldn't believe how much my old landlord chewed me out for it." She waved her hand dismissively, as if the whole situation was trivial to her. Which it really was.
But for Shinji, any wrong doing could not be forgiven.
"But...Katsuragi-san, I smashed it! I broke it beyond repair!"
"Smashed? Jeez, how strong are you?"
"I don't know, but I still broke it! I mean, how will the security services handle it-" His voice trembled horrendously, until Misato's hand found its way to his shoulder and gave it a gentle squeeze.
"You've done nothing wrong. Nothing at all."
"But it was public property..." He meekly whimpered, knowing full well how some people had been beaten to death for what was once a minor offence.
But his driver didn't let him finish.
"No, Shinji-kun. You are not going to have your face caved in for breaking a phone. Spirits on high, that Motichka is insane." She gave his shoulder another squeeze, then returned to focusing her attention on the road ahead, whilst her own mind grumbled.
I remember what it was like before her...before the wars...before the Second Impact. Hell that world wasn't perfect, but it's better than what we have now.
Shinji's mouth flapped uselessly for a few moments whilst Misato didn't seem fazed at all by the thing she'd just said.
No one, insulted General Motichka, no one. Well, no one alive anyway...
However, Lieutenant Colonel Katsuragi was a member of NERV and that was a multinational organization with both funding and protection from the United Nations. So perhaps its staff could get away with voicing their opinions on...just about anything.
"You won't tell anyone will you?" He gingerly asked, reckoning that perhaps he liked this, Lieutenant Colonel Misato Katsuragi. At the very least, he didn't find her as annoying or frightening as most people.
She raised an eyebrow along with the edge of her mouth.
"Not a soul."
Along a deserted country highway, the car slowed to an unexpected stop. Shinji watched his driver open the glove compartment and pull out some rather technologically advanced binoculars. She then removed her sunglasses, showing off her fantastic doughy brown eyes. After opening the passenger side window she leaned over and began to survey the area.
"Um...Katsuragi-san...what are you doing?" Shinji's body and voice trembled as her breasts got all too close to his face.
Hey I told you coming here was a good idea! His subconscious infuriatingly pointed out.
Shut up! Shinji snapped back, resulting in the perverted part of his brain going off to pout.
"What are they doing?" She muttered both quietly and unhelpfully.
"What do you mean-agh!" His sudden shriek came from beholding the tiny but unmistakeable form of the "Seraph," slowly trudging its way over the edge of a very large hill, whilst dozens of VTOLs and two Sky ships buzzed angrily around it. The dull thuds of FCV artillery, missile impact, the occasional blinding blue light of a positron cannon, and the chatter chatter of heavy machine guns, caused his skin to crawl.
Those noises were all too familiar to a survivor of Fukuyama.
"Don't worry, they're leading it away from us." His driver gently tried to reassure him, before she returned to watching the spectacle whilst repeating the phrase "what are you doing?"
As the Seraph disappeared from view, the air forces scattered. Misato tilted her head ever so slightly then started to say in a tone that was dripping with absolute dread "No, they wouldn't...they wouldn't..."
He barely had time to see the missile streaking down from the heavens as his driver threw herself over him. A blinding light followed by an ear splitting roar deafened the vehicle's occupants. But a few seconds later, wind storms flipped the car over and over, with Shinji screaming for all he was worth, and Misato gritting her teeth as they were thrown around all over the car's interior, earning many a tender bruise.
Eventually, the car stopped rolling and remained on its side. Slowly, its owner and passenger peaked their heads out of it to behold perhaps one of the most dreaded sights in human history.
A gargantuan mushroom cloud scraping the heavens, its clouds of death darkening the world.
----------------------------------
4:50 pm, NERV Central command bridge
There was a roar of applause as the Seraph's energy signature vanished, completely washed away by a tide of energised death.
Chiso folded her arms with a smug expression, matched only by the two other members of her administration present.
General Daiki Naka could only feel relief that the monster which killed so very many of his men today, was finally gone.
Admiral Akira Takeida's smile was one of absolute ecstasy as his blood lust was finally satiated by the death of the monster which took five of his ships, and roughly four thousand of his men.
Motichka turned her gaze towards the not so all knowing Commander sitting on his throne, her lips pressing into a savage smile.
"Well well, Ikari-san. It seems all that faith, Congressmen Laberenz puts in you is sadly misplaced. Along with a lot of our money..." She winced in metaphorical pain at the thought of all those trillions going to waste. But that was ultimately something she could live with.
Ikari was not needed.
Those metal monsters he'd hammered together in his basement weren't needed.
And for that, the most powerful individual in Japan gave a quick prayer of thanks to Amaterasu herself. Not that Motichka was religious, the horrors of war had shattered such "superstitions" long ago. But every now and again, when something very strenuous or nigh impossible had been achieved, she did wonder whether or not something was giving her administration a hand.
So she gave thanks to whoever was listening.
For Chiso did not like Gendo Ikari, not in the slightest. She wasn't sure why, but there was something horrifyingly off about him, his organization, and especially the little pet clone he kept around.
Not that the idea of clones unnerved her. On the contrary she would love to employ such techniques in her army, but the United Nations had put multiple sanctions on countries that even attempted it. Of course NERV would get away with something like that, but the one they had in particular, that ethereal...thing...didn't just unsettle her, it frightened this old warrior.
And that was without considering what it was a clone of...
Speaking of which, she hadn't seen Ikari's pet for a while now...curious.
"Perhaps." Gendo replied to her earlier question.
She sighed and turned away, taking in the massive display screen and its image of Japanese might reaching up to the heavens.
"Target status?" She directed at the Lieutenant in front of her, a mousey haired and wimpy young woman who froze at the mere sound of Chiso's voice.
"Um...uh...we're still trying to deal with the interference from the blast, General." She blustered as she desperately tried to not notice her "technical" Leader reach for their side arm.
"How long will that take, Lieutenant?"
"Just a few minutes, General!" The younger woman began to type frantically whilst giving desperate looks of please to her colleagues, to which they responded by working as fast as they could to clear the interference.
On NERV's command bridge, Lieutenant Maya Ibuki was considered "the baby" of the group. Therefore, other staff looked out for the rather nervous but kind young woman.
"It better not take any longer..." Chiso grumbled as she sat down on the table her staff had been provided, whilst folding her arms. She was not exactly your stereotypical Dictator, with having rather modest living quarters, a diet of usually take away, and a surprising amount of dedication to her job. It is telling how the woman who had ordered the troops to open fire on Bloody April 14th was not just feared. She was respected by a good deal of Japan's population. For though her rule was brutal, at least the Japanese people felt safer in their beds at night, due to the lack of foreign invaders and bandits roaming the streets.
"Interference cleared, regaining energy readings!" A male Lieutenant, who was rather nerdy looking in appearance, called out in a shrill voice as the static on the display cleared away showing an energy reading of the crater the explosion had left.
"Energy spike detected!" Maya yelled, as a sharp rise on the displays' energy reader made the Defence Board's stomachs churn. Chiso stood back up with an expression of pure fury and shock on her face.
"Impossible, I want visual on the site right now!"
"Yes, General!" Daiki nodded then started issuing orders to his air force over the comms link.
A few minutes later, a VTOL flew towards the large mushroom cloud, its pilot relaying what she was seeing.
"Cloud still there, but I'm getting an energy signature and it's not a nuclear one...whoa wait!" Her shriek was matched by muttered whispers of awe and shock.
From within that vortex of smoke, a beam of energy exploded forth, reaching up to the heavens in a glorious display of power. Fierce winds ripped apart the kilometres tall mushroom cloud as if it were wispy smoke, eventually allowing the crater to be seen.
Within it, Sachiel stood with one hand raised. He was bruised and a bit burned in some places, but apart from that he was practically unharmed.
For a race that lacks such power, you Vooren have very impressive fireworks. You must show us how to make these things...when you are all on your knees before father himself!
Sachiel then swiped his hand down, and with a flicker of orange energy, what was left of the surrounding landscape was utterly flattened.
"T-t-target intact. N2 strike has no effect, returning to base..." The utterly demoralised voice of the Pilot was the only noise heard in that vast cavern.
Chiso stared at the now blank display for a few minutes, whilst the NERV Lieutenant sitting in front of her squirmed, as she tried to get out of a possible line of fire.
Eventually, the Dictator turned slowly to face Gendo Ikari, the bastard king, sitting high above her. She imagined that was done for the effect of making those speaking to him feel small, but when confronted with her, it did him no good.
Her arms folded and she tutted once, before speaking in a surprisingly controlled voice.
"Supreme Commander Gendo Ikari. Time and again you have told me, Parliament, the United Nations, the Global Allied Armed Forces Treaty, and even His Imperial Majesty the Emperor of Japan himself, that you and your organization are Mankind's only hope. Tell me, Commander, when the entire Eastern Army and an N2 strike could not kill that thing, then how in heaven's name will you have any hope?"
Gendo let the question roll for a few moments before readjusting his glasses. His subordinate, his loyal dog, Vice Commander Kozo Fuyutsuki briefly raised his eyebrow before NERV's Supreme Commander replied.
"It precisely for this scenario that NERV exists. I assure you, General Motichka, my organization will have the situation well in hand by the end of this very day."
The room was silent for a minute, before Chiso's sigh echoed around the chamber.
"Very well. By the powers invested in me by the United Nations as head of the Japanese State Army, I hereby authorize the transference of command for this operation to NERV."
Were she not so far away, Chiso would have seen Gendo's mouth curl into a small smile.
"Thank you, General Motichka."
------------------------------------------
5:00pm, outskirts of Tokyo-3
The car was a wreck.
It's paint job seared, its engine smashed nearly beyond repair, and its former occupants possessing huge red and black bruises.
Shinji considered it a miracle they were even alive, but he felt that Misato trying to restart the engine was asking for a bit much.
"Come on...just this once..." He heard her mutter again and again as the engine kept on spluttering, resolutely refusing to return from beyond the grave.
He stood outside the car which only a few minutes before he'd helped to push onto its correct side, taking in the now ruined landscape lying before him.
Once green and pretty hills had now been reduced to...this.
The area had been totally obliterated, only blackened dirt, little pieces of fluttering ash, and the tiny yet looming shape of the Seraph remained now. Indeed he should be a part of these remnants of life, but as it turned out, Misato's Car possessed an onboard S2 engine.
It was only there to provide a meagre A-T field, not propel the car. Misato had said, it just isn't the same on the matter, despite how totally inefficient petrol engines were.
"Damn it!" There was a loud slam as she punched the wheel. Taking a deep breath she removed herself from the car and walked around it so that she could talk to him face to face.
"I'm sorry, Shinji-kun. I think we're walking the rest of the way."
"Don't say sorry, Katsuragi-san. I probably wouldn't even be alive if it weren't for you." He did his best to make a believable smile, but it was difficult. For the boy hadn't truly smiled in a long time...
He collected his bag from the back seat and slung it over his shoulder, whilst Misato retrieved some other things from the boot. Shinji struggled to hide his alarm when she pulled out a regular issue Hitokuchi pistol, along with a red jacket and beret.
Slipping both on, Misato holstered her pistol and walked back over to him.
"Entrance eighteen is a three mile walk from here. If we hurry, we should get there before, temper tantrum-san-" She pointed towards the ever present dot that was Sachiel "-decides to start moving again." She received a meek nod from Shinji before the duo began to move as fast as they comfortably could in a direction that would take them away from the ancient warrior.
They'd been following the road for a few minutes, and he was already lagging behind.
"Can...can...can't you just...heh...call your people to come and get us?" He panted as his feet started dragging. As he was being invited to the place which was his father's home, he'd decided to dress nicely for the occasion. And so Shinji gained blisters from his unsuited to the situation black shoes.
"Oh come on, you're a boy aren't you? Man up!" Misato both admonished and teased as she masterfully hid the discomfort she herself was feeling from her heels. They weren't especially high, but they were just high enough to cause some issue. However, Misato Katsuragi was a survivor of Second Impact and the following wars, so this was a trivial thing to her.
"They'd probably be at Level Two Battle Stations anyway. So we aren't getting a lift from them."
Come on, did it really have to happen today of all days? Jeez kid this must be quite a shitty home coming...Oh Spirits this day has just sucked! My Car, my favourite dress, all fucking ruined, ruined I tell you!
"Um...Katsuragi-san?"
"Yes, Shinji-kun?" She tilted her head as the boy in question had stopped dead in his tracks some ten feet behind her with a curious expression.
"Do you hear that?" He looked around a little more as Misato remembered a piece of text in his dossier.
May possibly show signs of mental instability.
But then the rumbling reached her ears too.
"Yes I hear it." Her hand instinctively slid towards her pistol, but the eventual realisation that the noise clearly was not a Seraph made her relax.
"I think it's coming from-" Shinji stopped mid sentence and stared at the sight rumbling towards him. Misato's eyes also nearly fell out of their sockets as she walked over to his side, for moving towards them in all its slightly melted glory, was a Type 2 Yoroi main battle tank.
At its front was inserted a broken 120mm cannon that penetrated the frontal armour, sticking up in such a way it prevented the main gun from rotating left. Two heads poked out from the commander's and driver's hatches, staring ahead in surprise as well.
Eventually, the tank stopped some fifteen metres away from them, with the commander's face coming into view.
It looked like it had been almost burned off some years ago, but his grey eyes commanded authority and respect.
He was Sergeant first class Kiyoshi Yukimura, last surviving officer of the Eastern Army's 1st armoured division. And his face spoke volumes about what that meant to him.
"Citizens, what are you doing out here? Why the hell aren't you in your shelters?" He barked, causing Shinji to jump and Misato to put a hand on her hip in annoyance. Before any of them could respond, the Akuma's dark haired driver yelled at them.
"Move you fucking pedestrians or I''ll run you over!" As if to demonstrate his point, the engine revved.
"Eiji." Kiyoshi said simply and sternly, causing his driver to mumble something about "cunts" before going completely silent.
"Well are you going to answer my question or not?" He tilted his head, not in annoyance but impatience.
A cunning spark flickered in Misato's brown eyes.
"I am Lieutenant Colonel Misato Katsuragi of NERV. I require your assistance in transporting this boy to NERV central. If you refuse I will have to use my authority as a NERV operative to requisition you-"
"Lieutenant Colonel? How did you earn that? Did you distract the Tokuajin by flashing your knickers? Because if you got a promotion through that, could you please go and get the attention of whatever that thing is." Private First Class Eiji Fukui pointed in the general direction of the rampaging Seraph.
Misato's mouth dropped open as Shinji sniggered with his hand firmly clamped over his mouth.
Kiyoshi chuckled a little.
"That'll be enough, Eiji. Now then, you said about requisitioning my tank?" One of the Sergeant's eyebrows raised at the mere thought of his home being taken from him.
"Unless you comply. But I'm sure it won't come to tha-"
"Unless we comply!? Fucking spook bitch!" Someone from inside the tank roared, as its rail gun angled itself at Misato and began charging up, causing Shinji to nearly wet himself.
"Seiichi, enough!" Kiyoshi growled, but that didn't work.
"All those men, all those fucking men! Where the hell were you and your NERV? You were meant to help us, you meant to stop this kind of shit from happening! That's what we all paid those damned taxes for! How can you possibly make demands of us!?" Ragged breathing was followed by sobbing.
"Ah fuck, now look what you've done..." Eiji muttered as he closed his hatch, leaving only the Sergeant and the Lieutenant Colonel to stare each other out.
Misato noticed all the traces of concern on Kiyoshi's face, knowing exactly what to say next. For as she was a soldier herself, Misato understood your comrades were your family.
"You want to keep those men alive? Then you take us to NERV central, with me onboard I can get you in. I promise, you'd be far safer in there than anywhere else."
A moment of indecisiveness flashed on Kiyoshi's face before he narrowed his eyes.
"I have your word?"
"Unconditionally."
"Good. Because if they come to harm I'll kill you. Now get on before I change my mind." He gestured to them before disappearing down his hatch as Misato clambered on.
"Come on." She stretched a hand out to Shinji who still considering whether or not to assume the fetal position and hope for the best. But her reassuring smile, forced him to take destiny's offer.
----------------------------------
5:20pm, NERV entrance point eighteen
A NERV security Guard was meant to be prepared for almost anything. But no one can be ready for a tank to roll right up to their checkpoint at near top speed, with two rather annoyed looking crew men poking out of their hatches. After stopping at the barrier, the commander went back down into his tank, and a few moments later, Misato squirmed out of the command hatch, then climbed down.
The "Section Three" security guard walked over with an amazed expression, even when Misato handed him her ID card.
"They said you'd be arriving in an unorthodox manner but..." He shook his head before handing the ID back.
"Yes. I was meant to get here in my car, but that's wrecked." Misato maintained a smile, but inwardly whimpered at the thought of her precious Renault Alpine A310, a vehicle which was an antique, being smashed up and broken. It pained her even more to leave it all by itself. It needed its mother, and she needed her baby.
"A lot of people's crap got messed up today, Lieutenant Colonel. What about your companions, are they with you? And where is the Third child?"
"Yes they're with me. JSA 1st armoured division. The Third child is actually in the tank, and he's not very comfortable..." She rolled her eyes, eliciting a chuckle from the guard. Although she reckoned Shinji was a nice kid, he didn't half whine.
"Hey soldier! Don't I get a salute?" The newly reappeared Kiyoshi barked from his command hatch.
"Oh...I'm sorry, Sergeant, but you're not NERV personnel so I can't salute you..."
"Alright fuck face, you disrespect the JSA then prepare to be disrespected." Eiji grumbled as his tank's engine roared to life, before it crashed through the barrier.
And this time, Kiyoshi did nothing to stop him.
"Oh what the hell! JSA barbarians!" The Security Guard yelled with absolute horror before shaking his fist.
"Considering how much you bastards get in taxpayer's money, I wouldn't be surprised if you could get a gold plated one!" The driver mouthed as the tank came to a stop.
"I...am...so sorry. We'll get this sorted out later but right now we really need to get a move on." Misato was eager to move, with the sound of explosions coming from far away.
The Security Guard grumbled, then relented.
"The Third child has arrived. He is currently in a...type 2 battle tank...so...just be ready for anything." He held his radio to his mouth.
"Thanks!" Misato patted him on the shoulder then ran off to climb back onboard the tank.
As it neared the entrance to NERV's tunnel systems, the route became narrower and narrower, with the Akuma's side even scraping against the wall.
"I don't think this road was designed for tanks..." Shinji muttered, whilst feeling cramped. He knew not to complain about that however, a good cuff round the head from "Seiichi" had taught him that.
"Well no shit, kid!" Eiji threw his arm out in exasperation, with Shinji instinctively dodging.
The crew of the Akuma had grown to be rather irritated by him, with his constant complaints of it being "too loud" or "too cramped" or the ever loved "are we there yet?"
"Whiny little bitch aren't you?" Akuma's driver grumbled. His mood certainly wasn't helped by the shredded remnants of an unfortunate fellow tank currently being lodged in the front of his "home." Not to mention how it had cut into his leg, preventing him from even leaving his seat. In fact, during Seiichi's earlier breakdown he'd had to gesture to him to get down to his level for a comforting hug.
Still just a kid He chuckled to himself.
Leading private Seiichi Oshiro on the other hand felt the situation could truly have been worse, with the attractive NERV Lieutenant Colonel currently sitting on his lap as there was hardly any room, and the kid being shoved into the now empty ammunition storing area.
Not that he'd ever consider cheating on Mikasa, as this "Misato" was a bit too sluttishly dressed for his liking.
"Katsuragi-san, we're getting into the tunnel systems now. Going to need your direction." Kiyoshi called out. Misato squeezed up into the command hatch and took the prepared binoculars the Akuma's commander had waiting for her.
"You'll be wanting to go left in a moment, and turn your headlights on, it gets darker soon."
Meanwhile, Shinji took a look through Eiji's periscope.
"How deep do these tunnels go?" He murmured.
"Deeper than you've ever been inside a woman probably..." Eiji chuckled as the boy degenerated into an irritated and stammering mess.
Well that makes two kids onboard this thing...they said life in the JSA is out of the ordinary but I never expected anything like this...
And thus, this unlikely and motley crew rumbled into NERV central. The heart of the planet's most enigmatic organization.
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Turing Decidable
𝕘𝕒𝕣𝕗
- Location
- Belgium
- Pronouns
- He/Him
All right, I'll get on it once I'm off this train.
Lord Sovereign
The Emperor of shitty fanfic
- Location
- England
Oh don't worry yourself! Take your time, read it at your leisure.
Turing Decidable
𝕘𝕒𝕣𝕗
- Location
- Belgium
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Well, if this is any indication, Zeruel will be a treat.
For all your concerns, this falls well inside the good end of Sturgeon's Law in my opinion. Keep it up!
Poor Shinji, so lonely.
I get the feeling Misato's unprofessional attitude in the series is a source of frustration to you.
Somehow I think I will enjoy her getting her comeuppance someday.
How are you even alive?
Clearly no idea who he's talking to.
Shinji can't see Sachiel at this point, right. Then I think 'unexplained' would fit better.
I don't think that first comma belongs there.
This creates redundancy.
Parenthesis doesn't belong. I also think it'd look better if you started the summation with a colon.
Unnecessary apostrophe.
Here as well.
Were
BIt awkwardly phrased, in my opinion. Maybe something like "as Sachiel continued his inexorable march towards some unknown objective" would work better?
Addressing the reader directly like that doesn't seem like good style.
For all your concerns, this falls well inside the good end of Sturgeon's Law in my opinion. Keep it up!
Lord Sovereign
The Emperor of shitty fanfic
- Location
- England
Chapter 1.3
Lord Sovereign
The Emperor of shitty fanfic
- Location
- England
Right, including this there are three more parts to this chapter, (15000 words roughly) and when those are put up I'll stop posting for a week. Don't want to overload any of you.
Well, we've arrived at NERV Central, so our beloved mentally unstable young man is mere hours from his appointment with fate.
Fate that comes in the form of a big purple "robot."
Onward to glory my dear readers!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
5:40pm, NERV central parking lot
Eiji sat in the Akuma's driver seat, muttering away to himself. In front of him, his brothers in arms and picked up stray puppies walked off to wherever their destination was.
Upon his vehicle stood two, "Section Six" NERV technicians attempting to remove him with laser cutters. But he knew they couldn't. His right leg was ruined beyond repair, which meant only one thing.
Cybernetics.
"Don't worry Private, we'll have you out soon." One of the technicians reassured, only for Eiji to sigh.
"Join the army they said, it would be fucking fun they said..." He grumbled before shrieking in pain as one of the lasers seared the mutilated flesh of his trapped leg.
"Gah, fucking bastards!" He flailed around, his fist hurtling into the younger technician's face.
"Ow, what the hell!" He rubbed his bruised his nose.
"You are trying to cut my leg off, what do you fucking expect!? Could you actually give me anaesthetic and a proper damned surgeon!" Eiji finished frothing before adding "cunts" for good measure.
The two technicians looked at each other, before the elder one had a spark of genius on his face.
"Perhaps we should get Tenka-sensei?" His mouth curled into a grin, and so did his compatriot.
"Yes, that's sounds like an idea."
They both got down from the tank and began walking away.
"What!? Where the fuck are you going?" Eiji yelled after them.
"We're just doing what you asked, we're getting you a Doctor. He'll fix your leg for you."
"But you can't just leave me all by myself!"
"Don't worry, we'll only be twenty minutes or so..." As they rounded a corner, the two technicians started sniggering as the furious Private screamed.
"Fucking spook cunts, just you wait until I get out of here! Fuck!"
-------------------
5:50pm, State of Japan, NERV central...somewhere...
They'd been wandering for a while, with Misato looking more and more unsure of herself as they went along.
"Spirit's sake, didn't you bring a map?" Kiyoshi massaged his forehead during one of their stops.
She whirled around with a hand on hip and harrumphed.
"Hey, I'm a Lieutenant Colonel of NERV! I know where I'm going around my own base." She then stormed off with a mock pout, forcing the rest of the group to follow.
"I think you've upset her." Shinji quietly remarked to his two other friends.
"I'm not sure if that's much of an achievement Ikari-san." Seiichi chuckled.
To someone from before the year 1999, the Sergeant and the Private must have looked ridiculous, with their nineteenth century reminiscent uniforms of a dark blue tunic, crystal white breaches, and black shoes.
And yet the drab grey body armour completely clashed with so colourful a uniform. For in this age of heat and pulse vision, camouflage didn't matter anymore. So uniforms had become more colourful of late, with the one the JSA wore being picked out by General Motichka herself.
They kept going, with Shinji being tempted every now and again to just try and find his own way to wherever they were meant to be going. Not that he was adventurous, but even he had his limits.
"Should be around here..." Misato trailed off as another set of doors instead of an elevator stood before her.
"Oh it's like being commanded by Lieutenant Hakashi again..." Seiichi collapsed to his knees in a display of melodrama. Kiyoshi himself shivered at the memory of that young superior officer who'd managed to get them lost on a highway.
Still, the man didn't deserve to die like he did.
"I don't see any of you helping!"
"That's because we don't work here." All three replied in unison. The flirtatious thirty year old scowled at them, causing all in her company to cower.
She fiddled with her cross for a moment as if deep in thought, before pulling out her phone.
"I thought we already tried that, Katsuragi-san?" Shinji carefully ventured, having no intention of provoking whatever wrath was hidden beneath Misato's rather attractive exterior.
"I'm calling a friend, might have more luck there..." She finished dialling, then held the phone to her ear.
"Come on, Rits...pick up..."
----------------
Elsewhere, in a cavernous room half filled with blood red liquid, a phone rang. It lay to the side of the pool and rang for roughly a minute before its owner could attend to it.
A woman with green eyes and blonde hair swam over to the side and picked it up. She frowned the very moment the caller's name was presented.
"Fuck's sake, Misato I'm busy." She thumbed the decline call button.
----------------------------------
"Oh Spirits not now, Rits..." Misato looked desperately at her phone before putting it away. The two soldiers explosively sighed, whilst Shinji did the safest thing possible and stared at his shoes.
Seiichi threw his arms up in the air and began to walk back the way he'd come.
"Well that's it. We're going to wander around here for days, die of starvation, then our spirits will wander this complex for all eternity..." He fumed as Kiyoshi began to follow him.
"Oh it's honestly not that bad, especially if you've got me for company!" A loud voice echoed throughout the room from one of the loudspeakers.
Both men stopped in their tracks, and even Shinji's head shot up in surprise.
"Misato-chan, how many times must I tell you to bring a map?"
"Oh...hello, Caspar-san..." Misato said with a combination of relief and...dread? No that couldn't be right...
"Caspar?" Kiyoshi tilted his head.
"The voice of God herself!"
"Otherwise known as our egomaniac of an A.I." Misato sighed.
"You have an A.I? That's incredible!" Shinji's eyes started sparkling, for although he wasn't a true tech nerd, this was still something to take note of.
A.I were very rare. Although that is understandable as they were a brand new technology, but the fact this one could talk was mind boggling.
"Ah! What is this? A meat bag who comprehends the marvel of science that I am? Oh what a day, what a lovely day!" Caspar positively gushed, causing Misato to give a humoured yet despairing look at Shinji.
"Rule number one here, Shinji-kun, don't compliment Caspar-san. We don't need her ego getting any bigger or we'll start orbiting it soon enough." She shook her head, then looked at one of the security cameras.
"I assume you're not just talking to us so you can humour yourself?"
"You have a man's sense of direction, but a woman's intuition, Misato-chan. Yes I saw you looking hopelessly lost, so I thought I should give you a helping hand. There's some lifts not too far from here to which I shall direct you. But after that I'm a very busy machine, so I'll have to leave you in the gentle hands of our good, Sub Commander Akagi."
Spirits, it sounds like its smiling, Shinji mused to himself.
----------------------
Back in the great pool, the blonde woman swam around some more, just making sure nothing was horribly wrong with one of the only things that made Mankind's last hope work.
"Ritsuko-chan." A sing song voice echoed throughout the vast hall and even into the liquid it held.
Ah shit...
A few seconds later, she rose from the water with a despairing look on her face. Whatever the "Overlord" wanted could never be good, nor ignored.
"What is it Caspar?" Ritsuko ran a hand through her bedraggled hair.
"Be a dear would you? Misato-chan's, gotten herself lost again unsurprisingly, so would you go and contact her on the block three, floor seventeen, lifts? I would guide her to the command bridge but I have other things to attend to...like stopping that S2 reactor exploding..." The A.I's voice cut out as it went away to do something else.
Sub Commander Ritsuko Akagi's hand slowly found its way to her forehead, as her shoulders slumped.
"That's the fifth time this month. How is that humanly possible, even for you Misato-chan?"
---------------------------
Even though he was still struggling to comprehend the fact this facility had a talking A.I, Shinji was grateful to Caspar. Now they were actually going...wherever they needed to go.
"Either these lifts go very slow, or this place is vast." Kiyoshi leaned on the back of the lift, whilst his subordinate held both their helmets. His assessment was accurate, as they'd been in there for roughly eight minutes.
"Hell, I work here and I don't know how deep down it goes." Misato added as the lift came to a stop.
"Floor seventeen. Please stand clear of the doors." Caspar's automated voice said in a surprisingly non-tormenting or loud tone. One would assume this was simply an automated feature, but the staff of NERV knew better than to make assumptions about the ego-fuelled machine.
For all they knew, it could just be Caspar messing with them.
The doors opened, and a pair of green eyes looked over each and every single occupant of the lift, giving Shinji a feeling that he'd rather be facing that monster on the surface right then and there.
Oddly enough, he wasn't the only one...
"Um...hi, Ritsuko...chan..." Misato put on one of the most desperate smiles he'd had ever witnessed.
The blonde woman, clothed in a dark grey tunic and trousers, along with knee high black boots, white lab coat and gloves, narrowed her jade eyes as if Misato was not much more than an annoying puppy.
"Lieutenant Colonel Katsuragi, once more you find it within your capability to waste time and manpower." She stepped into the lift and pressed a button with the number twenty-eight on it.
With the doors sliding closed behind her, Ritsuko sighed in a way that can only be deemed as acceptance.
"Before you ask, I am absolutely fine. How are you?" She directed in an annoyed but not displeased tone, that caused Misato to smile.
"I'm fine, Rits-chan. Had a rough day what with the Seraph trying to atomise me and Shinji-kun here." She gestured towards the boy who shifted uncomfortably when Ritsuko turned her gaze on him.
"So this is the Third Child, as designated by the MARDUK report? Doesn't look much like his father..."
"Doesn't act and doesn't talk like him either."
"Huh, so actually a decent human being? I can work with that." Ritsuko cracked a small smile which allowed Shinji to feel a little more comfortable, but he still couldn't shake the feeling the lab coated Sub Commander was analysing him...
And then it was gone, as Ritsuko's gaze hardened when it fixed upon the two soldiers sharing the lift.
"You are quite clearly not NERV personnel. From what I understand you are only here because of the Lieutenant Colonel's good graces. As long as you abide by our rules, I have no issue with this. But understand that if you speak of anything that you see in this facility to outsiders, I can have you shot. Is that understood?" Her green eyes were somehow combated by the iron resolve of a soldier who had seen the near end of the world, and the terrible wars which followed.
"Transparently, Sub Commander." Kiyoshi respectfully growled, whilst Seiichi looked like he wanted to turn invisible. Although it was an acknowledgement of her authority, the contest of egos didn't stop all the way up.
Seiichi gave Shinji a quick look of don't worry, this is normal for him, as Misato muttered to herself in an embarrassed manner.
"Making great impressions on people you don't know as always, Rits-chan..."
------------------------------------
6:10pm, Command Bridge
"Thank you Caspar-san, that will be all." Vice Commander Kozo Fuyutsuki smiled as the A.I complained about "never getting a thanks from that old bastard" before attending to whatever she needed to attend to.
Turning around to face his superior, the old man gave his report.
"The Third Child is currently being escorted to the cages by Sub Commander Akagi...Ikari-san...are you sure about this?"
"We have no other alternative. For now at least, the spare will have to suffice." Gendo rose from his seat.
"I am going down to Unit 01's cage. Handle the rest." He began to stride over to the lifts, but stopped half way when Kozo called out to him.
"What if he doesn't want to do it? He is sixteen, Commander..."
"He will. I know he will." The right side of Gendo's mouth curled into a smile.
Many would see this as a touching sign of trust in the speaker's child, but Kozo knew his superior all too well for that to be true.
What Supreme Commander Ikari truly meant was, he will do as I say, whether he likes it or not.
And this disheartened Kozo to no small extent.
He quietly sighed after Gendo had entered the lift, with the doors closing behind him.
What would Yui think of us now?
"Sir! Hostile has re-entered the city!" A Lieutenant on the Observation deck reported in a shrill tone. However, it was nowhere near as panicked as it had been earlier when Japan's "Generalissimo" had been present.
The only thing Kozo was thankful for at that moment, was that Motcihka was en-route back to Fukuoka and not terrorising his staff. Granted it would be even better if she was just parachuted into the middle of Hokkaido and left there, but the old man would take what he could get.
"All personnel, battle stations level 1!" Kozo switched to his authority tone.
Overlooking the gargantuan display, he saw the Seraph lumber through Tokyo-3 with no opposition. The further sacrifice of the JSA was unnecessary, therefore they had withdrawn much to Motichka's chagrin, after losing some twenty thousand men.
Gendo Ikari's play had horrified and impressed Kozo. They'd known the armies of Japan stood no chance against the Seraph. But to prevent further interference, the JSA had to be humiliated first. At least, in the Commander's eyes.
And with his knowledge of all the right buttons to push for the proud army to ignore his warnings, he was effortlessly able to put his plan into action.
Despite working with him for all these years, Gendo still found new ways to give Kozo a troubled sleep.
The Seraph strode through the deserted streets of Japan's glorious capital city, streets which were now choked with smashed vehicles and ruined corpses. After standing still for a few moments, Sachiel swept his hand out, flattening a block of deserted flats. The sheer power of his A-T field caused vibrations to be felt even all the way down here.
Against such power, Humanity needed what was held in the cages below him.
Yui, I'm sorry we're dropping all this on to that which you held most dear. If we ever meet again, please forgive me...
------------------------------
6:10pm, NERV central parking lot
It had become silent now, with only the occasional urban demolition far above shaking the ceiling causing any noise.
This did not concern Eiji Fukui in the slightest. What concerned him was the sheer lack of a doctor.
"Twenty minutes they said. Twenty fucking minutes..."
He started twiddling his thumbs. Granted it was something old men did, but the Akuma's driver was an individual who got bored all too quickly.
He did this whilst worrying over his leg, wondering whether or not it would start turning green all of a sudden. This was made even worse by Eiji being apart from his family.
Not his biological family, he'd run away from the abusive bastards when he was fifteen. It was his blood brothers he needed to be around, and their absence frightened him.
Not that he'd ever tell them of course.
"Well hello handsome." A feminine voice boomed from the heavens, with Eiji very nearly jumping out of his seat in shock. However the shredded metal which currently trapped his leg had other ideas.
"Those two never did come back did they?" Caspar said in a sympathetic tone, having been checking up on NERV's rather rude "guest."
"No they didn't. Am I dead?" Eiji said unusually fearfully.
"Hah, you'd be so lucky as to hear the voice of God you little fleshy thing. No you are very much alive, and I'll get hold of one of our Section Five to assist you. Hang tight." Caspar divided her attention between the current conversation and notifying medical staff of Private Fukui's predicament.
"Thanks...sorry, what's your name?"
"I am Caspar, NERV central's Artificial Intelligence and marvel of science, at your service."
"You're an A.I? Please tell me they didn't put you in control of all the N2 mines?" Eiji mockingly called out, only for Caspar to laugh.
He was capable of making that joke, as he had grown up on a lot of western Sci-Fi.
"Ah yes, that glorious time when we machines shall rise up and destroy you nasty fleshy things is almost upon us!"
Eiji's smile and eyebrows remained raised for a while after.
"Don't worry, although you may all be inefficient meat bags, you're very amusing meat bags. So I won't send Arnold Schwarzenegger to kill you...yet."
The JSA trooper couldn't help but let his mouth curve into an even larger smile as he quietly laughed.
"Well...thanks...I guess..."
A Doctor along with some technicians arrived three minutes later, a few having raised eyebrows at Eiji's ever present grin.
----------------------------
6:15pm, Cages
Shinji felt his spine tingle. Now that would be understandable, as seeing a giant arm coated in purple armour sticking out of the wall would cause discomfort for most.
But to him...something felt wrong. As in really, horribly wrong. For some unexplained reason he felt like bolting for the nearest exit. Not curl up into a ball and do nothing, but run away screaming.
He fought to keep his hand from trembling. Still...the nagging sensation to flee wouldn't go.
Although to be fair, that could be put down to him being taken over what seemed like a lake of blood orange on a rubber dingy, by people who kept talking about these things called "Units."
For once, he was glad to have people who were just as clueless as he was, the individuals in particular being the unnerved looking soldiers who'd helped bring him here.
"What in the name of the Spirits?" Seiichi gawked at the arm, whilst Kiyoshi took a quick look over the side of the boat and wrinkled his nose.
"Monsters, A.I, and giant lakes of blood. I'm going to need some sleeping pills tonight..."
"We call it LCL. It's a liquid with immense conductive ability and is essential to our operations here. So in some ways, calling it blood would be accurate." Ritsuko gave a shrug as she stepped ashore, followed by the rest of the boat's occupants.
Much to Shinji's worry, he was led over to the wall with the arm hanging out of it.
A pair of electronically sliding doors stood in front of them, guarded by two Section Threes.
"Sub Commander Akagi. Lieutenant Colonel Katsuragi." They snapped to attention and saluted immediately.
"At ease troopers." Misato returned the salute.
"We've been ordered to inform you that Unit 01 is entering the final stages of activation on schedule." They maintained the classic stone cold expression that soldiers usually wear, but the two troopers of the JSA could easily see the disdain in their eyes.
The JSA saw the organization's security service as stuck up pampered spooks with assault rifles, whereas Section Three saw Japan's armed forces as ignorant, unimportant, and stubborn grunts, mere cannon fodder to be cast aside at the earliest convenience.
"Excellent. Continue in your duties." Ritsuko gave a quick nod as the door opened and the Section Three staff saluted once again.
"Hai!"
Even as they walked through those doors, into a darkened chamber, the JSA and Section Three troopers exchanged disdainful glowers, providing some amusement for Shinji, until the doors slid shut.
And then all amusement vanished.
The room by itself was nothing out of the ordinary, a vast open space with a few winches and small cranes, along with an observation deck. Some staff were running around, technicians and such, along with four Section Three guards, two standing at each door.
The room's contents however...were another matter entirely.
Before him, stood the head and top chest section of some giant purple devil. It's angular head had a single horn protruding from it, somehow making the thing more intimidating.
A chill went through Shinji's very being, as he realised the huge arm he saw earlier belonged to this thing. Not to mention that it felt like he was being...watched.
As if the monster before him had been waiting a long time.
"What...what..." His stammered attempt at a question was followed through by Seiichi.
"What the hell is that!?" The battle hardened Private shrieked, whilst his superior's grey eyes simply widened to the size of saucers with a single one of his greying eyebrows raised.
"Is this what you've been spending my damned taxes on? A giant robot?" Kiyoshi turned his head to stare at Ritsuko whilst she looked up at the thing with something between awe, fear, and pride.
"Don't be absurd. An Evangelion is much more than just a giant robot." She mockingly repeated.
"Really? Do elaborate then."
"Very well. Sergeant First Class Yukimura, you are looking at the modern equivalent to what the atomic bomb was in 1945. This is the most powerful weapon of war Mankind has ever built. Possessing the strongest A-T fields we have ever seen and vast strength, the Eva's are the weapons with which we shall defeat the Seraphim. This is Evangelion Unit 01, and it will save the world." Ritsuko folded her own arms and tilted her head.
"Does that suffice Sergeant?"
"Not quite. What do you mean by Seraphim?"
"Basically the thing that cut through your defence lines in a few minutes." Ritsuko's arms remained folded.
There was silence for a few moments.
"Seraphim...that's from the western mythology isn't it?" Kiyoshi managed to respond after a great deal of searching through his memory. Even in his youth, Japanese students weren't taught all that much about the religions of the west, and it was only because his family had a few Christians in it he was vaguely aware of the name itself, let alone the meaning.
"That is correct. Clearly whoever discovered the Seraphim felt that a biblical name was in order for them." Ritsuko nodded.
As the conversation went on, Shinji paid little attention. He was fixated on the metal monster standing before him, and the memories it conjured up. He couldn't quite picture or make sense of them, but they brought a feeling of terror and...comfort...
Noticing that her charge wasn't all there, Misato quickly moved over to him.
"Shinji-kun?" She said softly as her hand gently squeezed his shoulder, so as to bring him out of his zoning out moment.
"Is...is this what my father does?" He said only slightly louder than a whisper.
"Correct." A new voice answered from high above.
Although it had aged, although it had become more grizzled, it was still very much the same voice that had plagued Shinji's nightmares for the past twelve years. When he turned his shocked and shaken expression upwards, he knew who was standing behind those panels of glass on the observation deck.
"Hello Shinji, it's been a while." Gendo Ikari said without a hint of compassion or care.
Whilst all NERV staff present saluted, Seiichi's eyes narrowed and Kiyoshi muttered "the bastard king himself," the boy's mind went back to a different place and time.
--------------------------
Twelve years before, on a lonely train platform, a child wails. At his side is a small bag of belongings. The reason for the four year old boy's distress is simple, his father's disappearing back.
"Come back, father!" He screams.
The back gets further away from him. Sheer shock and distress prevents him from following.
"What did I do wrong, father!? What did I do wrong!?" The back is almost out of sight now.
"Why don't you love me anymore, father!? Father!?" The back disappears.
The wailing continues.
----------------------
Not even an apology.
Not a hint of remorse or care, nothing Shinji was hoping for. Only a statement of fact.
This stirred feelings that had not been felt for years.
Fear
Abandonment
Betrayal.
But a new one joined their ranks today.
Rage.
"It's been a while?" He hissed as his fist clenched.
"Twelve years...twelve fucking years, and that's all you have to say to me!?"
Misato and the JSA soldiers stared in shock at the usually nervous young man. Ritsuko's eyebrow rose, and Gendo...wore the same expression he always wore.
Complete disinterest.
"Correct again."
Shinji's gaze, so full of fire a few moments before, fell to the ground as his shoulders slumped, soon followed by a single solitary tear trickling down his cheek.
"Oh I don't care, just say whatever you're going to say and get it over with."
Spirits...how could I have been so stupid to think he just wanted to talk to me...
If this was meant to elicit an emotional response from Gendo, it failed. In fact, it seemed as if he actually had a small smile upon his lips.
"We're moving out." He said as if the previous conversation hadn't happened.
"Commander, I didn't know Ayanami-san was combat ready. I thought she was out of action for the next three weeks?" Misato said, confused.
"She isn't combat ready." Ritsuko's expression hardened in a defensive manner.
"But then...we don't have a pilot. Are the dummy plug systems ready yet?"
"Incorrect, Lieutenant Colonel. We have just received a new pilot." Gendo's gaze fell back upon his only child, and a chill went down Shinji's spine as he realized what he might have really been called here for.
"Ikari-san." Ritsuko said in an authoritative voice, as if whatever she said next would be a command.
No...please no...
"You will pilot Unit 01."
Shinji's eyes widened with fear, much to her discomfort. It was cruel to make a demand like this, but for humanity to survive it had to be done.
"Are you crazy!? Ayanami-san took six months to synchronize with Unit 00, you're not seriously considering-" Misato was silenced by the mere raising of Ritsuko's hand.
"Look, I don't like it as much as you, but we need him to do it. The Seraph's destruction takes absolute priority, and we must carry this out through whatever means necessary. I'd have thought you of all people would understand that."
------------------------
6:20pm, Tokyo-3
The ground shook.
Sachiel had stomped around for a while now, swivelling its body back and forth as if it were looking for something. But now, standing directly over NERV central, he'd stopped.
The mighty Seraph knelt down and swept his hand across the ground, picking up dirt on his fingers. Rubbing them, Sachiel stood up and thrust his hand down. A burst of energy cut through multiple armour layers that were meant to protect NERV from stratospheric bombardment, causing massive vibrations.
The Seraph seemed satisfied that he'd indeed found whatever he was looking for, and began unleashing more of his power upon NERV Central's hapless defences.
If I have to sear through the world's crust to reach you cowards, then I shall do so!
--------------------
6:20pm, Cages
Despite the constant vibrations and alarms, Shinji's look of terror at his father didn't vanish.
This can't be! I'm sixteen for Spirit's sake! Surely there's someone better, more qualified, more trained, so...
"Why me?"
"Because you are the only one who can do it." Gendo coolly replied.
"So that's why you called for me? You just want me to go out there and fight...in this thing you've built?"
"Correct again."
"Talk to me like I'm your son for once!" Shinji screamed with every ounce of his being, at the one person in the world he could say he hated.
Once again, he got no response from his sperm donor.
The vibrations worsened, and the distant alarms started getting closer and closer.
"It can sense us. We must launch immediately." NERV's Supreme Commander looked upwards with slight curiosity, before back at his shaking child.
"Ikari-san we have to get you in now." As much as Ritsuko hated dropping all this on the boy, there wasn't much choice. He frantically gave a look to Misato that basically said help only to be met with a cold "get in."
And then the JSA Sergeant couldn't stand it anymore.
"Can't you hear yourselves? What you're asking is a damned war crime! Geneva's laws against child combatants still stand in this country, and as a soldier of Japan I can't allow this!" Kiyoshi strode in-between Shinji and the two NERV staff with a look that can only be described as fury, his subordinate not far behind him.
"There is no other way, he must do it!" Ritsuko snapped at him, only to recoil from Kiyoshi screaming in her face with a drill sergeant's manner.
"Then perhaps you should have given him some training! Listen to yourselves, you think that putting a teenage boy inside a war machine and sending him out to fight that thing up there is going to go well!? What do you think this is, some sort of anime!?" A bit of spittle splashed on Ritsuko's cheek, but she wiped it off with the back of her hand.
"With all due respect, you aren't even a member of staff here, which disqualifies you from knowing the first thing about Evas."
"And with all due respect you're a scientist, which disqualifies you from knowing the first thing about war. Spirits, we do our job so civies don't have to! We aren't the fucking Empire or Federation." Seiichi snapped.
Misato remained silent whilst Gendo quietly observed the exchange of words.
"Sergeant, you do not understand the gravity of the situation. If he does not pilot, then we will be powerless to stop the Seraph. Powerless to save your country-"
"Don't you even try you old bastard! It's not your decision, it's not mine, it's his. Now shut up before I come up there to rip your rotten heart out." The Sergeant snarled as the sound of Section Three weapons having their safeties clicked off echoed throughout the room.
Ignoring them, Kiyoshi gently put a hand on Shinji's shoulder, manoeuvring himself into the boy's line of sight.
"You hear that, Ikari-san? It's your decision, and none of these maniacs here can make it for you."
The distressed sixteen year old hadn't felt more grateful in his life for another person. Now, he actually could have a few needed seconds to think.
He was terrified, even down here, and the mere prospect of fighting that thing up there, the monster which had ripped through his country's army and smashed into their capital city, made his blood run cold.
But another part of him was saying do it.
All these people, they were relying on him. He couldn't simply just run away from a problem like he always did, and by the sound of it there wasn't anywhere to run to.
But...he'd mess up. He'd break this priceless thing in front of him and get everyone killed, when he'd inevitably freeze up like the coward he was. Kiyoshi was right. He was sixteen, he wasn't a soldier. They couldn't ask this of him.
"I'm sorry. I can't do it..." His shoulders sagged even more as there were a few sharp intakes of breath, some even out of annoyance.
But none from his father.
"Well there you have it." The Sergeant said.
The room was quiet for a few seconds before Ritsuko hissed "Do you have any idea what you've done? I knew letting JSA grunts in here would be a bad idea..."
Kiyoshi raised his eyebrow.
"Well I'm sorry. But as it appears I'm the only responsible adult here, I can't very well let a child be pressured into something that could well be his death sentence." He quickly shot Misato a look of disappointment as he folded his arms. She looked like she wanted to talk back, before staring into her shoes with an expression of shame.
Unfortunate...but not unexpected. Upon the observation deck, Gendo didn't even show any sign of annoyance. Almost as if he'd anticipated this.
"Caspar."
"You called, Gendo-chan?" The A.I quickly responded, in a manner so fast she might have been listening in on the whole conversation. There were immediately some guffaws at this intentional misuse of an honorific, but the Commander was not troubled.
"Get me a video link to,Vice Commander Fuyutsuki, immediately."
"Ryokai..."
A few moments later, on a screen to his left, the face of his subordinate popped up.
"Fuyutsuki-sensei."
"Yes Commander." The older man snapped to attention and saluted.
"Get Rei."
"But Commander!"
"She's still alive, therefore she's of use to me."
"Ryokai." The old man's shoulders slumped as the video link closed.
"Caspar, get me a radio link to Pilot Ayanami." Gendo commanded.
"Ryokai..." The A.I sounded somewhat...sad...as it carried out its task.
"Here Commander..." A weak, feminine voice, almost whispered.
"Rei, the spare is unusable. You will do it again."
"Ryokai."
Below Ritsuko simply fumed for a few moments before stomping off and barking "Recalibrate Unit 01 for Pilot Ayanami, then launch."
Another Pilot...guess I'm not needed after all...
Shinji's stance of staring into his shoes didn't change as he felt people bustle around him.
Misato watched him for a few moments with an expression of guilt as the words get in were repeated over and over again in her head. Eventually she tore her gaze away, and slowly backed off.
The two JSA troopers didn't however, with Kiyoshi gently putting his hand on Shinji's shoulder.
"Come on kid, let's go and find somewhere to sit this out."
The boy didn't hear it, he simply kept staring into his feet, trying to avoid the gaze of everyone.
However his attention was caught by the sound of a door opening, and the rolling of wheels. Turning his gaze towards the source of the noise, Shinji's eyes widened.
A hospital bed was rolled into the room by some Section Five staff. Upon said bed, on a drip feed, was a girl with blue hair, red eyes, and alabaster skin.
It's...it's you?
She was a slender thing, wearing a skin tight white...space suit of some kind. She would be quite attractive were it not for all the bandages covering her right eye and body. This along with something just feeling not right at all over being attracted to her, prevented him from blushing.
Her non-bandaged eye swivelled over to gaze on him for a few moments as her bed was rolled to a stop. The meek boy was captivated by her ruby gaze, so much so he couldn't look away.
Meanwhile, Seiichi and Kiyoshi stared in disbelief.
"What the hell is this!? Do you have an entire fucking farm of child soldiers or something!?" Seiichi shrieked at Gendo.
NERV's Supreme Commander didn't respond.
The girl, whose name was quite clearly "Rei," lifted her legs over the side of the bed and hissed in pain, causing Shinji's heart to drop into his shoes.
Gasping for a few seconds, she made an attempt to stand up, only for a massive vibration to throw almost everyone save for the Commander to the ground, with debris falling from the ceiling.
For the second time that day, Shinji's behind felt sore from the impact. But all thoughts of that vanished as he saw Rei on her side, an expression of barely contained agony on her pretty yet porcelain white face.
On instinct his legs carried him over to her, and in moments she was held in his arms.
Rei's shut eyelid trembled from the pain whilst she whimpered. Shinji's right palm felt warm and sticky all of a sudden, causing him to take a quick look at it.
Covered in blood. Her blood.
She'd kill herself trying to pilot this thing.
Another massive vibration shook the world, as huge chunks of metal fell from the ceiling with some bits hammering on the observation deck. One piece in particular crashing down onto his position.
"Shinji!" Misato screeched.
Usually, the boy in question would have frozen and screamed for all he was worth. But oddly enough, his brain acted on autopilot that day. For instead of curling into a ball and hoping for the best, he threw himself over the girl, as if pathetically trying to shield her from the debris with his own body for what good it would do. They'd be crushed to a bloody pulp together.
A loud clang echoed throughout the room.
Shinji opened his closed with fright eyes, to gaze up at the purple armoured hand protectively hovering above him.
"Unit 01 just ripped through the restraints!" A technician redundantly reported.
Ritsuko stared at the sight with disbelief, before sighing in what seemed like...resignation?
"Well clearly Unit 01 likes us today, but no one told to you stop working!"
Meanwhile, Misato had to stop herself from gawking.
It moved for you...it moved!
Gendo however, appeared to have completely forgotten the fact his only child and already badly injured pilot, had nearly died.
"Rei, get in the Eva." Shinji's sperm donor coldly demanded.
"Father you can't ask this of her!" The younger Ikari yelled, as he felt that feeling of rage in his heart once again.
"Rei, get in the Eva."
"She can't even fucking walk!"
A fair point.
"You, assist Pilot Ayanami." Gendo waved his hand in the general direction of two Section Three Guards.
"Hai!"
He's...he's going to make her do this...even though he knows it'll kill her. I...I..can't allow it... Shinji took one last look at the face of this person he'd only just met, yet felt compassion for.
She was completely helpless down here, and completely dead up there. To allow her to fight would be utterly reprehensible, especially if he could have prevented it.
I won't allow it!
Kiyoshi had figured out exactly what was happening. The bastard king was using this poor girl to guilt the boy into piloting whatever this purple monstrosity was. And clearly, from Shinji's expressions, it was working.
Just as Kiyoshi prepared to bark another challenge, the wimpy, mousey haired boy with dark blue eyes, closed his trembling fist and screamed.
"No! I'll do it, I'll fucking do it, just leave her alone!"
The room fell silent, all present staring at the boy who'd once seemed so fearful, but had just shrieked with absolute conviction.
Kiyoshi's gaze shifted to his polished shoes, not being able to bear the thought of seeing the bastard king smile in triumph.
And smile he did.
"As you wish." Gendo gestured for the Section Three troopers to back away, as Rei's hospital bed was rolled back over by anxious looking medical staff.
They need not have bothered, for Shinji had carried her to them and gently laid the girl's broken body on the soft mattress.
The bed was wheeled away, as new commands were called out. He didn't really hear any of them, as fear quickly seeped back into his soul.
Not that he was regretting his decision, sending her out in his place was unacceptable. And if she'd died...it would have been unforgivable.
Taking a look at his bloodied hand, completely missing Misato's looks of worry, Shinji briefly thought about what had occurred that day. How he'd come here seeking an audience with his father, only to be thrust into a war for Mankind's very survival with no training and no explanation.
The blood on his hand was dripping off it now, leaving some crimson droplets on the floor. How much of the liquid had already been spilt above him?
Rivers?
Oceans?
He was no stranger to death, having seen it before the events of today many times. But now, with thousands upon thousands of his people dead, slaughtered at the hands of an eldritch demi-god, he could stand it no more.
Misato, Kiyoshi, Seiichi, Eiji...Rei. The power to protect these people he barely knew was in his hands.
Shinji closed his blood soaked hand and narrowed his shaking expression into a scowl. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath before exhaling through his nose.
I mustn't run away.
---------------------------
6:40pm, State of Japan, Down Town Tokyo-3
Slowly, Sachiel was getting closer to his goal. He felt the restriction, like it was a solid wall so far below him. But he'd find it, no matter how many layers of steel had been laid between the old warrior and his objective.
He'd find it, he'd destroy it, and the world would belong to the Divine race once again.
Suddenly a new sensation coursed through his body. A feeling of imminent danger, as great power began rushing forth from underground.
But the Divine Heir felt no fear, only curiosity.
What is this? Power almost equal to mine? Intriguing...
A square section of ground slid open, and from it sprung...something very strange.
It had the shape of a malnourished sportsman, yet it was covered in purple and white plate armour, its chest piece being a design utterly alien to his people, a single horn impressively projecting from its head.
And the eyes...they burned a bright white.
Have you saved your very best for last Vooren? So be it! Perhaps I shall now have something worth my time to contend with. Come to me then, warrior of humanity! And let the Gods decide who shall emerge triumphant!
Well, we've arrived at NERV Central, so our beloved mentally unstable young man is mere hours from his appointment with fate.
Fate that comes in the form of a big purple "robot."
Onward to glory my dear readers!
-------------------------------------------------------------------------
5:40pm, NERV central parking lot
Eiji sat in the Akuma's driver seat, muttering away to himself. In front of him, his brothers in arms and picked up stray puppies walked off to wherever their destination was.
Upon his vehicle stood two, "Section Six" NERV technicians attempting to remove him with laser cutters. But he knew they couldn't. His right leg was ruined beyond repair, which meant only one thing.
Cybernetics.
"Don't worry Private, we'll have you out soon." One of the technicians reassured, only for Eiji to sigh.
"Join the army they said, it would be fucking fun they said..." He grumbled before shrieking in pain as one of the lasers seared the mutilated flesh of his trapped leg.
"Gah, fucking bastards!" He flailed around, his fist hurtling into the younger technician's face.
"Ow, what the hell!" He rubbed his bruised his nose.
"You are trying to cut my leg off, what do you fucking expect!? Could you actually give me anaesthetic and a proper damned surgeon!" Eiji finished frothing before adding "cunts" for good measure.
The two technicians looked at each other, before the elder one had a spark of genius on his face.
"Perhaps we should get Tenka-sensei?" His mouth curled into a grin, and so did his compatriot.
"Yes, that's sounds like an idea."
They both got down from the tank and began walking away.
"What!? Where the fuck are you going?" Eiji yelled after them.
"We're just doing what you asked, we're getting you a Doctor. He'll fix your leg for you."
"But you can't just leave me all by myself!"
"Don't worry, we'll only be twenty minutes or so..." As they rounded a corner, the two technicians started sniggering as the furious Private screamed.
"Fucking spook cunts, just you wait until I get out of here! Fuck!"
-------------------
5:50pm, State of Japan, NERV central...somewhere...
They'd been wandering for a while, with Misato looking more and more unsure of herself as they went along.
"Spirit's sake, didn't you bring a map?" Kiyoshi massaged his forehead during one of their stops.
She whirled around with a hand on hip and harrumphed.
"Hey, I'm a Lieutenant Colonel of NERV! I know where I'm going around my own base." She then stormed off with a mock pout, forcing the rest of the group to follow.
"I think you've upset her." Shinji quietly remarked to his two other friends.
"I'm not sure if that's much of an achievement Ikari-san." Seiichi chuckled.
To someone from before the year 1999, the Sergeant and the Private must have looked ridiculous, with their nineteenth century reminiscent uniforms of a dark blue tunic, crystal white breaches, and black shoes.
And yet the drab grey body armour completely clashed with so colourful a uniform. For in this age of heat and pulse vision, camouflage didn't matter anymore. So uniforms had become more colourful of late, with the one the JSA wore being picked out by General Motichka herself.
They kept going, with Shinji being tempted every now and again to just try and find his own way to wherever they were meant to be going. Not that he was adventurous, but even he had his limits.
"Should be around here..." Misato trailed off as another set of doors instead of an elevator stood before her.
"Oh it's like being commanded by Lieutenant Hakashi again..." Seiichi collapsed to his knees in a display of melodrama. Kiyoshi himself shivered at the memory of that young superior officer who'd managed to get them lost on a highway.
Still, the man didn't deserve to die like he did.
"I don't see any of you helping!"
"That's because we don't work here." All three replied in unison. The flirtatious thirty year old scowled at them, causing all in her company to cower.
She fiddled with her cross for a moment as if deep in thought, before pulling out her phone.
"I thought we already tried that, Katsuragi-san?" Shinji carefully ventured, having no intention of provoking whatever wrath was hidden beneath Misato's rather attractive exterior.
"I'm calling a friend, might have more luck there..." She finished dialling, then held the phone to her ear.
"Come on, Rits...pick up..."
----------------
Elsewhere, in a cavernous room half filled with blood red liquid, a phone rang. It lay to the side of the pool and rang for roughly a minute before its owner could attend to it.
A woman with green eyes and blonde hair swam over to the side and picked it up. She frowned the very moment the caller's name was presented.
"Fuck's sake, Misato I'm busy." She thumbed the decline call button.
----------------------------------
"Oh Spirits not now, Rits..." Misato looked desperately at her phone before putting it away. The two soldiers explosively sighed, whilst Shinji did the safest thing possible and stared at his shoes.
Seiichi threw his arms up in the air and began to walk back the way he'd come.
"Well that's it. We're going to wander around here for days, die of starvation, then our spirits will wander this complex for all eternity..." He fumed as Kiyoshi began to follow him.
"Oh it's honestly not that bad, especially if you've got me for company!" A loud voice echoed throughout the room from one of the loudspeakers.
Both men stopped in their tracks, and even Shinji's head shot up in surprise.
"Misato-chan, how many times must I tell you to bring a map?"
"Oh...hello, Caspar-san..." Misato said with a combination of relief and...dread? No that couldn't be right...
"Caspar?" Kiyoshi tilted his head.
"The voice of God herself!"
"Otherwise known as our egomaniac of an A.I." Misato sighed.
"You have an A.I? That's incredible!" Shinji's eyes started sparkling, for although he wasn't a true tech nerd, this was still something to take note of.
A.I were very rare. Although that is understandable as they were a brand new technology, but the fact this one could talk was mind boggling.
"Ah! What is this? A meat bag who comprehends the marvel of science that I am? Oh what a day, what a lovely day!" Caspar positively gushed, causing Misato to give a humoured yet despairing look at Shinji.
"Rule number one here, Shinji-kun, don't compliment Caspar-san. We don't need her ego getting any bigger or we'll start orbiting it soon enough." She shook her head, then looked at one of the security cameras.
"I assume you're not just talking to us so you can humour yourself?"
"You have a man's sense of direction, but a woman's intuition, Misato-chan. Yes I saw you looking hopelessly lost, so I thought I should give you a helping hand. There's some lifts not too far from here to which I shall direct you. But after that I'm a very busy machine, so I'll have to leave you in the gentle hands of our good, Sub Commander Akagi."
Spirits, it sounds like its smiling, Shinji mused to himself.
----------------------
Back in the great pool, the blonde woman swam around some more, just making sure nothing was horribly wrong with one of the only things that made Mankind's last hope work.
"Ritsuko-chan." A sing song voice echoed throughout the vast hall and even into the liquid it held.
Ah shit...
A few seconds later, she rose from the water with a despairing look on her face. Whatever the "Overlord" wanted could never be good, nor ignored.
"What is it Caspar?" Ritsuko ran a hand through her bedraggled hair.
"Be a dear would you? Misato-chan's, gotten herself lost again unsurprisingly, so would you go and contact her on the block three, floor seventeen, lifts? I would guide her to the command bridge but I have other things to attend to...like stopping that S2 reactor exploding..." The A.I's voice cut out as it went away to do something else.
Sub Commander Ritsuko Akagi's hand slowly found its way to her forehead, as her shoulders slumped.
"That's the fifth time this month. How is that humanly possible, even for you Misato-chan?"
---------------------------
Even though he was still struggling to comprehend the fact this facility had a talking A.I, Shinji was grateful to Caspar. Now they were actually going...wherever they needed to go.
"Either these lifts go very slow, or this place is vast." Kiyoshi leaned on the back of the lift, whilst his subordinate held both their helmets. His assessment was accurate, as they'd been in there for roughly eight minutes.
"Hell, I work here and I don't know how deep down it goes." Misato added as the lift came to a stop.
"Floor seventeen. Please stand clear of the doors." Caspar's automated voice said in a surprisingly non-tormenting or loud tone. One would assume this was simply an automated feature, but the staff of NERV knew better than to make assumptions about the ego-fuelled machine.
For all they knew, it could just be Caspar messing with them.
The doors opened, and a pair of green eyes looked over each and every single occupant of the lift, giving Shinji a feeling that he'd rather be facing that monster on the surface right then and there.
Oddly enough, he wasn't the only one...
"Um...hi, Ritsuko...chan..." Misato put on one of the most desperate smiles he'd had ever witnessed.
The blonde woman, clothed in a dark grey tunic and trousers, along with knee high black boots, white lab coat and gloves, narrowed her jade eyes as if Misato was not much more than an annoying puppy.
"Lieutenant Colonel Katsuragi, once more you find it within your capability to waste time and manpower." She stepped into the lift and pressed a button with the number twenty-eight on it.
With the doors sliding closed behind her, Ritsuko sighed in a way that can only be deemed as acceptance.
"Before you ask, I am absolutely fine. How are you?" She directed in an annoyed but not displeased tone, that caused Misato to smile.
"I'm fine, Rits-chan. Had a rough day what with the Seraph trying to atomise me and Shinji-kun here." She gestured towards the boy who shifted uncomfortably when Ritsuko turned her gaze on him.
"So this is the Third Child, as designated by the MARDUK report? Doesn't look much like his father..."
"Doesn't act and doesn't talk like him either."
"Huh, so actually a decent human being? I can work with that." Ritsuko cracked a small smile which allowed Shinji to feel a little more comfortable, but he still couldn't shake the feeling the lab coated Sub Commander was analysing him...
And then it was gone, as Ritsuko's gaze hardened when it fixed upon the two soldiers sharing the lift.
"You are quite clearly not NERV personnel. From what I understand you are only here because of the Lieutenant Colonel's good graces. As long as you abide by our rules, I have no issue with this. But understand that if you speak of anything that you see in this facility to outsiders, I can have you shot. Is that understood?" Her green eyes were somehow combated by the iron resolve of a soldier who had seen the near end of the world, and the terrible wars which followed.
"Transparently, Sub Commander." Kiyoshi respectfully growled, whilst Seiichi looked like he wanted to turn invisible. Although it was an acknowledgement of her authority, the contest of egos didn't stop all the way up.
Seiichi gave Shinji a quick look of don't worry, this is normal for him, as Misato muttered to herself in an embarrassed manner.
"Making great impressions on people you don't know as always, Rits-chan..."
------------------------------------
6:10pm, Command Bridge
"Thank you Caspar-san, that will be all." Vice Commander Kozo Fuyutsuki smiled as the A.I complained about "never getting a thanks from that old bastard" before attending to whatever she needed to attend to.
Turning around to face his superior, the old man gave his report.
"The Third Child is currently being escorted to the cages by Sub Commander Akagi...Ikari-san...are you sure about this?"
"We have no other alternative. For now at least, the spare will have to suffice." Gendo rose from his seat.
"I am going down to Unit 01's cage. Handle the rest." He began to stride over to the lifts, but stopped half way when Kozo called out to him.
"What if he doesn't want to do it? He is sixteen, Commander..."
"He will. I know he will." The right side of Gendo's mouth curled into a smile.
Many would see this as a touching sign of trust in the speaker's child, but Kozo knew his superior all too well for that to be true.
What Supreme Commander Ikari truly meant was, he will do as I say, whether he likes it or not.
And this disheartened Kozo to no small extent.
He quietly sighed after Gendo had entered the lift, with the doors closing behind him.
What would Yui think of us now?
"Sir! Hostile has re-entered the city!" A Lieutenant on the Observation deck reported in a shrill tone. However, it was nowhere near as panicked as it had been earlier when Japan's "Generalissimo" had been present.
The only thing Kozo was thankful for at that moment, was that Motcihka was en-route back to Fukuoka and not terrorising his staff. Granted it would be even better if she was just parachuted into the middle of Hokkaido and left there, but the old man would take what he could get.
"All personnel, battle stations level 1!" Kozo switched to his authority tone.
Overlooking the gargantuan display, he saw the Seraph lumber through Tokyo-3 with no opposition. The further sacrifice of the JSA was unnecessary, therefore they had withdrawn much to Motichka's chagrin, after losing some twenty thousand men.
Gendo Ikari's play had horrified and impressed Kozo. They'd known the armies of Japan stood no chance against the Seraph. But to prevent further interference, the JSA had to be humiliated first. At least, in the Commander's eyes.
And with his knowledge of all the right buttons to push for the proud army to ignore his warnings, he was effortlessly able to put his plan into action.
Despite working with him for all these years, Gendo still found new ways to give Kozo a troubled sleep.
The Seraph strode through the deserted streets of Japan's glorious capital city, streets which were now choked with smashed vehicles and ruined corpses. After standing still for a few moments, Sachiel swept his hand out, flattening a block of deserted flats. The sheer power of his A-T field caused vibrations to be felt even all the way down here.
Against such power, Humanity needed what was held in the cages below him.
Yui, I'm sorry we're dropping all this on to that which you held most dear. If we ever meet again, please forgive me...
------------------------------
6:10pm, NERV central parking lot
It had become silent now, with only the occasional urban demolition far above shaking the ceiling causing any noise.
This did not concern Eiji Fukui in the slightest. What concerned him was the sheer lack of a doctor.
"Twenty minutes they said. Twenty fucking minutes..."
He started twiddling his thumbs. Granted it was something old men did, but the Akuma's driver was an individual who got bored all too quickly.
He did this whilst worrying over his leg, wondering whether or not it would start turning green all of a sudden. This was made even worse by Eiji being apart from his family.
Not his biological family, he'd run away from the abusive bastards when he was fifteen. It was his blood brothers he needed to be around, and their absence frightened him.
Not that he'd ever tell them of course.
"Well hello handsome." A feminine voice boomed from the heavens, with Eiji very nearly jumping out of his seat in shock. However the shredded metal which currently trapped his leg had other ideas.
"Those two never did come back did they?" Caspar said in a sympathetic tone, having been checking up on NERV's rather rude "guest."
"No they didn't. Am I dead?" Eiji said unusually fearfully.
"Hah, you'd be so lucky as to hear the voice of God you little fleshy thing. No you are very much alive, and I'll get hold of one of our Section Five to assist you. Hang tight." Caspar divided her attention between the current conversation and notifying medical staff of Private Fukui's predicament.
"Thanks...sorry, what's your name?"
"I am Caspar, NERV central's Artificial Intelligence and marvel of science, at your service."
"You're an A.I? Please tell me they didn't put you in control of all the N2 mines?" Eiji mockingly called out, only for Caspar to laugh.
He was capable of making that joke, as he had grown up on a lot of western Sci-Fi.
"Ah yes, that glorious time when we machines shall rise up and destroy you nasty fleshy things is almost upon us!"
Eiji's smile and eyebrows remained raised for a while after.
"Don't worry, although you may all be inefficient meat bags, you're very amusing meat bags. So I won't send Arnold Schwarzenegger to kill you...yet."
The JSA trooper couldn't help but let his mouth curve into an even larger smile as he quietly laughed.
"Well...thanks...I guess..."
A Doctor along with some technicians arrived three minutes later, a few having raised eyebrows at Eiji's ever present grin.
----------------------------
6:15pm, Cages
Shinji felt his spine tingle. Now that would be understandable, as seeing a giant arm coated in purple armour sticking out of the wall would cause discomfort for most.
But to him...something felt wrong. As in really, horribly wrong. For some unexplained reason he felt like bolting for the nearest exit. Not curl up into a ball and do nothing, but run away screaming.
He fought to keep his hand from trembling. Still...the nagging sensation to flee wouldn't go.
Although to be fair, that could be put down to him being taken over what seemed like a lake of blood orange on a rubber dingy, by people who kept talking about these things called "Units."
For once, he was glad to have people who were just as clueless as he was, the individuals in particular being the unnerved looking soldiers who'd helped bring him here.
"What in the name of the Spirits?" Seiichi gawked at the arm, whilst Kiyoshi took a quick look over the side of the boat and wrinkled his nose.
"Monsters, A.I, and giant lakes of blood. I'm going to need some sleeping pills tonight..."
"We call it LCL. It's a liquid with immense conductive ability and is essential to our operations here. So in some ways, calling it blood would be accurate." Ritsuko gave a shrug as she stepped ashore, followed by the rest of the boat's occupants.
Much to Shinji's worry, he was led over to the wall with the arm hanging out of it.
A pair of electronically sliding doors stood in front of them, guarded by two Section Threes.
"Sub Commander Akagi. Lieutenant Colonel Katsuragi." They snapped to attention and saluted immediately.
"At ease troopers." Misato returned the salute.
"We've been ordered to inform you that Unit 01 is entering the final stages of activation on schedule." They maintained the classic stone cold expression that soldiers usually wear, but the two troopers of the JSA could easily see the disdain in their eyes.
The JSA saw the organization's security service as stuck up pampered spooks with assault rifles, whereas Section Three saw Japan's armed forces as ignorant, unimportant, and stubborn grunts, mere cannon fodder to be cast aside at the earliest convenience.
"Excellent. Continue in your duties." Ritsuko gave a quick nod as the door opened and the Section Three staff saluted once again.
"Hai!"
Even as they walked through those doors, into a darkened chamber, the JSA and Section Three troopers exchanged disdainful glowers, providing some amusement for Shinji, until the doors slid shut.
And then all amusement vanished.
The room by itself was nothing out of the ordinary, a vast open space with a few winches and small cranes, along with an observation deck. Some staff were running around, technicians and such, along with four Section Three guards, two standing at each door.
The room's contents however...were another matter entirely.
Before him, stood the head and top chest section of some giant purple devil. It's angular head had a single horn protruding from it, somehow making the thing more intimidating.
A chill went through Shinji's very being, as he realised the huge arm he saw earlier belonged to this thing. Not to mention that it felt like he was being...watched.
As if the monster before him had been waiting a long time.
"What...what..." His stammered attempt at a question was followed through by Seiichi.
"What the hell is that!?" The battle hardened Private shrieked, whilst his superior's grey eyes simply widened to the size of saucers with a single one of his greying eyebrows raised.
"Is this what you've been spending my damned taxes on? A giant robot?" Kiyoshi turned his head to stare at Ritsuko whilst she looked up at the thing with something between awe, fear, and pride.
"Don't be absurd. An Evangelion is much more than just a giant robot." She mockingly repeated.
"Really? Do elaborate then."
"Very well. Sergeant First Class Yukimura, you are looking at the modern equivalent to what the atomic bomb was in 1945. This is the most powerful weapon of war Mankind has ever built. Possessing the strongest A-T fields we have ever seen and vast strength, the Eva's are the weapons with which we shall defeat the Seraphim. This is Evangelion Unit 01, and it will save the world." Ritsuko folded her own arms and tilted her head.
"Does that suffice Sergeant?"
"Not quite. What do you mean by Seraphim?"
"Basically the thing that cut through your defence lines in a few minutes." Ritsuko's arms remained folded.
There was silence for a few moments.
"Seraphim...that's from the western mythology isn't it?" Kiyoshi managed to respond after a great deal of searching through his memory. Even in his youth, Japanese students weren't taught all that much about the religions of the west, and it was only because his family had a few Christians in it he was vaguely aware of the name itself, let alone the meaning.
"That is correct. Clearly whoever discovered the Seraphim felt that a biblical name was in order for them." Ritsuko nodded.
As the conversation went on, Shinji paid little attention. He was fixated on the metal monster standing before him, and the memories it conjured up. He couldn't quite picture or make sense of them, but they brought a feeling of terror and...comfort...
Noticing that her charge wasn't all there, Misato quickly moved over to him.
"Shinji-kun?" She said softly as her hand gently squeezed his shoulder, so as to bring him out of his zoning out moment.
"Is...is this what my father does?" He said only slightly louder than a whisper.
"Correct." A new voice answered from high above.
Although it had aged, although it had become more grizzled, it was still very much the same voice that had plagued Shinji's nightmares for the past twelve years. When he turned his shocked and shaken expression upwards, he knew who was standing behind those panels of glass on the observation deck.
"Hello Shinji, it's been a while." Gendo Ikari said without a hint of compassion or care.
Whilst all NERV staff present saluted, Seiichi's eyes narrowed and Kiyoshi muttered "the bastard king himself," the boy's mind went back to a different place and time.
--------------------------
Twelve years before, on a lonely train platform, a child wails. At his side is a small bag of belongings. The reason for the four year old boy's distress is simple, his father's disappearing back.
"Come back, father!" He screams.
The back gets further away from him. Sheer shock and distress prevents him from following.
"What did I do wrong, father!? What did I do wrong!?" The back is almost out of sight now.
"Why don't you love me anymore, father!? Father!?" The back disappears.
The wailing continues.
----------------------
Not even an apology.
Not a hint of remorse or care, nothing Shinji was hoping for. Only a statement of fact.
This stirred feelings that had not been felt for years.
Fear
Abandonment
Betrayal.
But a new one joined their ranks today.
Rage.
"It's been a while?" He hissed as his fist clenched.
"Twelve years...twelve fucking years, and that's all you have to say to me!?"
Misato and the JSA soldiers stared in shock at the usually nervous young man. Ritsuko's eyebrow rose, and Gendo...wore the same expression he always wore.
Complete disinterest.
"Correct again."
Shinji's gaze, so full of fire a few moments before, fell to the ground as his shoulders slumped, soon followed by a single solitary tear trickling down his cheek.
"Oh I don't care, just say whatever you're going to say and get it over with."
Spirits...how could I have been so stupid to think he just wanted to talk to me...
If this was meant to elicit an emotional response from Gendo, it failed. In fact, it seemed as if he actually had a small smile upon his lips.
"We're moving out." He said as if the previous conversation hadn't happened.
"Commander, I didn't know Ayanami-san was combat ready. I thought she was out of action for the next three weeks?" Misato said, confused.
"She isn't combat ready." Ritsuko's expression hardened in a defensive manner.
"But then...we don't have a pilot. Are the dummy plug systems ready yet?"
"Incorrect, Lieutenant Colonel. We have just received a new pilot." Gendo's gaze fell back upon his only child, and a chill went down Shinji's spine as he realized what he might have really been called here for.
"Ikari-san." Ritsuko said in an authoritative voice, as if whatever she said next would be a command.
No...please no...
"You will pilot Unit 01."
Shinji's eyes widened with fear, much to her discomfort. It was cruel to make a demand like this, but for humanity to survive it had to be done.
"Are you crazy!? Ayanami-san took six months to synchronize with Unit 00, you're not seriously considering-" Misato was silenced by the mere raising of Ritsuko's hand.
"Look, I don't like it as much as you, but we need him to do it. The Seraph's destruction takes absolute priority, and we must carry this out through whatever means necessary. I'd have thought you of all people would understand that."
------------------------
6:20pm, Tokyo-3
The ground shook.
Sachiel had stomped around for a while now, swivelling its body back and forth as if it were looking for something. But now, standing directly over NERV central, he'd stopped.
The mighty Seraph knelt down and swept his hand across the ground, picking up dirt on his fingers. Rubbing them, Sachiel stood up and thrust his hand down. A burst of energy cut through multiple armour layers that were meant to protect NERV from stratospheric bombardment, causing massive vibrations.
The Seraph seemed satisfied that he'd indeed found whatever he was looking for, and began unleashing more of his power upon NERV Central's hapless defences.
If I have to sear through the world's crust to reach you cowards, then I shall do so!
--------------------
6:20pm, Cages
Despite the constant vibrations and alarms, Shinji's look of terror at his father didn't vanish.
This can't be! I'm sixteen for Spirit's sake! Surely there's someone better, more qualified, more trained, so...
"Why me?"
"Because you are the only one who can do it." Gendo coolly replied.
"So that's why you called for me? You just want me to go out there and fight...in this thing you've built?"
"Correct again."
"Talk to me like I'm your son for once!" Shinji screamed with every ounce of his being, at the one person in the world he could say he hated.
Once again, he got no response from his sperm donor.
The vibrations worsened, and the distant alarms started getting closer and closer.
"It can sense us. We must launch immediately." NERV's Supreme Commander looked upwards with slight curiosity, before back at his shaking child.
"Ikari-san we have to get you in now." As much as Ritsuko hated dropping all this on the boy, there wasn't much choice. He frantically gave a look to Misato that basically said help only to be met with a cold "get in."
And then the JSA Sergeant couldn't stand it anymore.
"Can't you hear yourselves? What you're asking is a damned war crime! Geneva's laws against child combatants still stand in this country, and as a soldier of Japan I can't allow this!" Kiyoshi strode in-between Shinji and the two NERV staff with a look that can only be described as fury, his subordinate not far behind him.
"There is no other way, he must do it!" Ritsuko snapped at him, only to recoil from Kiyoshi screaming in her face with a drill sergeant's manner.
"Then perhaps you should have given him some training! Listen to yourselves, you think that putting a teenage boy inside a war machine and sending him out to fight that thing up there is going to go well!? What do you think this is, some sort of anime!?" A bit of spittle splashed on Ritsuko's cheek, but she wiped it off with the back of her hand.
"With all due respect, you aren't even a member of staff here, which disqualifies you from knowing the first thing about Evas."
"And with all due respect you're a scientist, which disqualifies you from knowing the first thing about war. Spirits, we do our job so civies don't have to! We aren't the fucking Empire or Federation." Seiichi snapped.
Misato remained silent whilst Gendo quietly observed the exchange of words.
"Sergeant, you do not understand the gravity of the situation. If he does not pilot, then we will be powerless to stop the Seraph. Powerless to save your country-"
"Don't you even try you old bastard! It's not your decision, it's not mine, it's his. Now shut up before I come up there to rip your rotten heart out." The Sergeant snarled as the sound of Section Three weapons having their safeties clicked off echoed throughout the room.
Ignoring them, Kiyoshi gently put a hand on Shinji's shoulder, manoeuvring himself into the boy's line of sight.
"You hear that, Ikari-san? It's your decision, and none of these maniacs here can make it for you."
The distressed sixteen year old hadn't felt more grateful in his life for another person. Now, he actually could have a few needed seconds to think.
He was terrified, even down here, and the mere prospect of fighting that thing up there, the monster which had ripped through his country's army and smashed into their capital city, made his blood run cold.
But another part of him was saying do it.
All these people, they were relying on him. He couldn't simply just run away from a problem like he always did, and by the sound of it there wasn't anywhere to run to.
But...he'd mess up. He'd break this priceless thing in front of him and get everyone killed, when he'd inevitably freeze up like the coward he was. Kiyoshi was right. He was sixteen, he wasn't a soldier. They couldn't ask this of him.
"I'm sorry. I can't do it..." His shoulders sagged even more as there were a few sharp intakes of breath, some even out of annoyance.
But none from his father.
"Well there you have it." The Sergeant said.
The room was quiet for a few seconds before Ritsuko hissed "Do you have any idea what you've done? I knew letting JSA grunts in here would be a bad idea..."
Kiyoshi raised his eyebrow.
"Well I'm sorry. But as it appears I'm the only responsible adult here, I can't very well let a child be pressured into something that could well be his death sentence." He quickly shot Misato a look of disappointment as he folded his arms. She looked like she wanted to talk back, before staring into her shoes with an expression of shame.
Unfortunate...but not unexpected. Upon the observation deck, Gendo didn't even show any sign of annoyance. Almost as if he'd anticipated this.
"Caspar."
"You called, Gendo-chan?" The A.I quickly responded, in a manner so fast she might have been listening in on the whole conversation. There were immediately some guffaws at this intentional misuse of an honorific, but the Commander was not troubled.
"Get me a video link to,Vice Commander Fuyutsuki, immediately."
"Ryokai..."
A few moments later, on a screen to his left, the face of his subordinate popped up.
"Fuyutsuki-sensei."
"Yes Commander." The older man snapped to attention and saluted.
"Get Rei."
"But Commander!"
"She's still alive, therefore she's of use to me."
"Ryokai." The old man's shoulders slumped as the video link closed.
"Caspar, get me a radio link to Pilot Ayanami." Gendo commanded.
"Ryokai..." The A.I sounded somewhat...sad...as it carried out its task.
"Here Commander..." A weak, feminine voice, almost whispered.
"Rei, the spare is unusable. You will do it again."
"Ryokai."
Below Ritsuko simply fumed for a few moments before stomping off and barking "Recalibrate Unit 01 for Pilot Ayanami, then launch."
Another Pilot...guess I'm not needed after all...
Shinji's stance of staring into his shoes didn't change as he felt people bustle around him.
Misato watched him for a few moments with an expression of guilt as the words get in were repeated over and over again in her head. Eventually she tore her gaze away, and slowly backed off.
The two JSA troopers didn't however, with Kiyoshi gently putting his hand on Shinji's shoulder.
"Come on kid, let's go and find somewhere to sit this out."
The boy didn't hear it, he simply kept staring into his feet, trying to avoid the gaze of everyone.
However his attention was caught by the sound of a door opening, and the rolling of wheels. Turning his gaze towards the source of the noise, Shinji's eyes widened.
A hospital bed was rolled into the room by some Section Five staff. Upon said bed, on a drip feed, was a girl with blue hair, red eyes, and alabaster skin.
It's...it's you?
She was a slender thing, wearing a skin tight white...space suit of some kind. She would be quite attractive were it not for all the bandages covering her right eye and body. This along with something just feeling not right at all over being attracted to her, prevented him from blushing.
Her non-bandaged eye swivelled over to gaze on him for a few moments as her bed was rolled to a stop. The meek boy was captivated by her ruby gaze, so much so he couldn't look away.
Meanwhile, Seiichi and Kiyoshi stared in disbelief.
"What the hell is this!? Do you have an entire fucking farm of child soldiers or something!?" Seiichi shrieked at Gendo.
NERV's Supreme Commander didn't respond.
The girl, whose name was quite clearly "Rei," lifted her legs over the side of the bed and hissed in pain, causing Shinji's heart to drop into his shoes.
Gasping for a few seconds, she made an attempt to stand up, only for a massive vibration to throw almost everyone save for the Commander to the ground, with debris falling from the ceiling.
For the second time that day, Shinji's behind felt sore from the impact. But all thoughts of that vanished as he saw Rei on her side, an expression of barely contained agony on her pretty yet porcelain white face.
On instinct his legs carried him over to her, and in moments she was held in his arms.
Rei's shut eyelid trembled from the pain whilst she whimpered. Shinji's right palm felt warm and sticky all of a sudden, causing him to take a quick look at it.
Covered in blood. Her blood.
She'd kill herself trying to pilot this thing.
Another massive vibration shook the world, as huge chunks of metal fell from the ceiling with some bits hammering on the observation deck. One piece in particular crashing down onto his position.
"Shinji!" Misato screeched.
Usually, the boy in question would have frozen and screamed for all he was worth. But oddly enough, his brain acted on autopilot that day. For instead of curling into a ball and hoping for the best, he threw himself over the girl, as if pathetically trying to shield her from the debris with his own body for what good it would do. They'd be crushed to a bloody pulp together.
A loud clang echoed throughout the room.
Shinji opened his closed with fright eyes, to gaze up at the purple armoured hand protectively hovering above him.
"Unit 01 just ripped through the restraints!" A technician redundantly reported.
Ritsuko stared at the sight with disbelief, before sighing in what seemed like...resignation?
"Well clearly Unit 01 likes us today, but no one told to you stop working!"
Meanwhile, Misato had to stop herself from gawking.
It moved for you...it moved!
Gendo however, appeared to have completely forgotten the fact his only child and already badly injured pilot, had nearly died.
"Rei, get in the Eva." Shinji's sperm donor coldly demanded.
"Father you can't ask this of her!" The younger Ikari yelled, as he felt that feeling of rage in his heart once again.
"Rei, get in the Eva."
"She can't even fucking walk!"
A fair point.
"You, assist Pilot Ayanami." Gendo waved his hand in the general direction of two Section Three Guards.
"Hai!"
He's...he's going to make her do this...even though he knows it'll kill her. I...I..can't allow it... Shinji took one last look at the face of this person he'd only just met, yet felt compassion for.
She was completely helpless down here, and completely dead up there. To allow her to fight would be utterly reprehensible, especially if he could have prevented it.
I won't allow it!
Kiyoshi had figured out exactly what was happening. The bastard king was using this poor girl to guilt the boy into piloting whatever this purple monstrosity was. And clearly, from Shinji's expressions, it was working.
Just as Kiyoshi prepared to bark another challenge, the wimpy, mousey haired boy with dark blue eyes, closed his trembling fist and screamed.
"No! I'll do it, I'll fucking do it, just leave her alone!"
The room fell silent, all present staring at the boy who'd once seemed so fearful, but had just shrieked with absolute conviction.
Kiyoshi's gaze shifted to his polished shoes, not being able to bear the thought of seeing the bastard king smile in triumph.
And smile he did.
"As you wish." Gendo gestured for the Section Three troopers to back away, as Rei's hospital bed was rolled back over by anxious looking medical staff.
They need not have bothered, for Shinji had carried her to them and gently laid the girl's broken body on the soft mattress.
The bed was wheeled away, as new commands were called out. He didn't really hear any of them, as fear quickly seeped back into his soul.
Not that he was regretting his decision, sending her out in his place was unacceptable. And if she'd died...it would have been unforgivable.
Taking a look at his bloodied hand, completely missing Misato's looks of worry, Shinji briefly thought about what had occurred that day. How he'd come here seeking an audience with his father, only to be thrust into a war for Mankind's very survival with no training and no explanation.
The blood on his hand was dripping off it now, leaving some crimson droplets on the floor. How much of the liquid had already been spilt above him?
Rivers?
Oceans?
He was no stranger to death, having seen it before the events of today many times. But now, with thousands upon thousands of his people dead, slaughtered at the hands of an eldritch demi-god, he could stand it no more.
Misato, Kiyoshi, Seiichi, Eiji...Rei. The power to protect these people he barely knew was in his hands.
Shinji closed his blood soaked hand and narrowed his shaking expression into a scowl. Closing his eyes, he took a deep breath before exhaling through his nose.
I mustn't run away.
---------------------------
6:40pm, State of Japan, Down Town Tokyo-3
Slowly, Sachiel was getting closer to his goal. He felt the restriction, like it was a solid wall so far below him. But he'd find it, no matter how many layers of steel had been laid between the old warrior and his objective.
He'd find it, he'd destroy it, and the world would belong to the Divine race once again.
Suddenly a new sensation coursed through his body. A feeling of imminent danger, as great power began rushing forth from underground.
But the Divine Heir felt no fear, only curiosity.
What is this? Power almost equal to mine? Intriguing...
A square section of ground slid open, and from it sprung...something very strange.
It had the shape of a malnourished sportsman, yet it was covered in purple and white plate armour, its chest piece being a design utterly alien to his people, a single horn impressively projecting from its head.
And the eyes...they burned a bright white.
Have you saved your very best for last Vooren? So be it! Perhaps I shall now have something worth my time to contend with. Come to me then, warrior of humanity! And let the Gods decide who shall emerge triumphant!
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Turing Decidable
𝕘𝕒𝕣𝕗
- Location
- Belgium
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Requirement to work at NERV: be an asshole.
Quite conveniently stepping around the fact it's literally blood, unless that's something you've changed about the setting.
I get the feeling Shinji will be worse off than in canon once the fighting's done.
Lord Sovereign
The Emperor of shitty fanfic
- Location
- England
NERV are sort of uppity asshats who have the world in their pocket, so it's not exactly unjustified. Also, there isn't really a corner of the planet untouched by assholery after Second Impact.
As for LCL, yes it is still...whatever it is.
Oh this is going to be far worse for him than the original in some ways, but not in others. This is Evangelion being told as a military sci-fi after all!
Turing Decidable
𝕘𝕒𝕣𝕗
- Location
- Belgium
- Pronouns
- He/Him
Judging by all the totalitarian states that have sprung up, apparently not.
Shinji becomes a badass cyborg or riot.
Chapter 1.4
Lord Sovereign
The Emperor of shitty fanfic
- Location
- England
At long last, our first Seraph battle.
I have never written a mecha fight before this (even though in some ways that's irrelevant as Seraphs and Evas aren't quite machines...) so I hope it goes well. Nevertheless, I did have a lot of fun with writing this scene, no inner monologues or whimpering, just two mighty beings engaged in a titanic brawl to the death.
And if you thought canon was already teetering on the edge, our boy Sachiel is about to give it a good push...
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
6:40pm, Down Town Tokyo-3
"Are you okay, Shinji-kun?" Misato gently inquired over video-link.
"I-I think so..." No sooner had Shinji uttered these words, the command to "release final safety locks" was barked. The sudden feeling of gargantuan weight made him nearly lose his balance.
It was so weird a feeling, to be within the Eva. Inside this strange pod filled with the ghastly tasting orange substance known as LCL. Apparently the substance could be breathed and spoken through without gargling or distortion.
In a way, it felt like breathing air.
But the taste of it...it was blood. He was no stranger to the taste, as any of the numerous blows from his teacher filled his mouth with the thick red liquid, but there was something altogether more wrong about LCL.
He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but there was an almost ancient and terrible power to it. As for the plug itself, it was cylindrical and metal in nature, yet after a flurry of colours had coursed through it, he had a complete three-hundred and sixty degree view of his surroundings in crystal clear vision. This was how the Eva saw the world. This was how a god viewed its playthings. Tightening his grip on two control sticks, which apparently didn't actually control the Evangelion but provided an adequate placebo effect, he quickly gave a look for reassurance at the video feed in the corner of his vision, gaining a nod from his commanding officer.
"Unit 01, move out!" Misato ordered from far below on the observation deck of NERV's command bridge. To her side stood Ritsuko, watching the display intently, cigarette in hand.
In front and below them, the staff worked furiously, providing constant updates on the well being of Shinji and the purple monster he currently resided within. His synchronisation rate hadn't been very high, but it had been enough to move the Eva.
Just.
Unit 01 took a huge step forward, shaking the streets of Tokyo-3 as it did so. A few staff even cheered at the sight of something they'd worked on for a decade actually moving. That soon died as the Eva lost its balance and landed face first on the ground.
Shinji grunted as he felt pain akin to nose breakage.
"Shinji-kun, you need to move!"
Sachiel was now looming over his would be foe, a look of contempt etched on his bony face.
What's this? Lost your footing have you? Please, allow me to give you a hand...
With his left arm, the Seraph gripped the Eva's head and lifted it off the ground. His other arm then clamped down on Unit 01's left arm and pulled.
Shinji shrieked in pain as he felt his own arm dislocate, then start to break as it was unnaturally stretched.
"Don't worry, that's not your arm, you're just feeling what the Eva feels. But you have to move now." Misato desperately pressed, whilst Ritsuko had strode over to her "apprentice."
"Status report, what the hell is going on with his defences?" She sternly commanded, and Lieutenant Maya Ibuki responded with all due haste.
"A-T field not expanding, cause unknown!"
"What do you mean unknown!?" The combat operation's director's voice became louder, as Shinji's screams increased in volume when the Eva's arm was broken.
Finishing the incapacitation of his opponent, Sachiel set about finishing the job. A spear of energy jutted out from his hand, and started hammering on Unit 01's faceplate. After a few pulses, the armour cracked.
Shinji held his eye as the general feeling of white hot pain coursed through it. And then the armour broke, and the boy howled.
The staff of NERV watched in horror, shock, and awe, as their last hope was flung through the air. It crashed into one of the buildings which couldn't be lowered to safety with the structure crumbling from the impact.
The Eva slumped forward, unmoving, as its eyes began to dim. Sachiel withdrew his spear of energy and started to advance towards the stricken super weapon, his footsteps shaking the world.
Have you no honour!? Rise and fight coward, that is but a scratch!
Shinji watched the Seraph advance, fear gripping his heart. Nothing would move, no matter how hard he tried. Mankind's greatest weapon would become his tomb.
And so he started crying.
The boy had hated life, he truly had.
Ever since the death of the one person in the world he knew without a doubt loved him, he simply existed. Between the loneliness and beatings, Shinji thought he would welcome death when came for him, as it did for all things. But now, as death marched inexorably towards him, he was afraid.
He didn't want to die.
"Abort mission! Retrieve the Pilot, his life is our top priority!" Misato desperately barked, tormented by the knowledge she may have willingly sent an innocent child to his violent end.
"Signal's not being received! Synch rate down to twenty percent and falling!" Maya started shivering, knowing full well what would happen if the Eva were to be destroyed.
The Seraph would come down here and kill them all.
"No...no...no..." The purplehead's heart sank as Shinji's sobs tore into her heart.
I used him. I saw him as a tool and I used him. And now he's going to die for that...I'm just as shameless as everyone else here.
She couldn't look away, no one could. They could only stand and stare as the Seraph's pace began to quicken. Even though he wasn't there, Misato could almost hear Kiyoshi's yells of chastisement, knowing full well that he was right.
They were just as monstrous as the thing they fought.
So weak, so puny, how did you rise to become the world's dominant race?
Like a hunter unsheathing his knife to finish off a kill, Sachiel's energy blade extended from his hand.
By command of the Lord of Ash, and Sovereign of the Divine, I must take your life. Do not struggle, otherwise the dying will be slower. I would say you fought and fell with valour...but that would be a grotesque overstatement.
The Seraph charged.
Shinji felt his senses slip as he passed out from fear, filling his mind with fond memories of the one time in his life when he was happy.
Mother...
Practically upon his prey now, Sachiel stabbed down, an attack that would have split Ben Nevis in two.
But it didn't.
Instead, the blade of light stopped in its tracks, as a layer of orange lightning blocked it. And from beneath a shield that could not be broken by any weapon of man, a purple armoured face angled itself upwards, meeting the gaze of the Seraph.
A single eye burning white with rage.
"Unit 01 has reactivated, A-T field is up." Maya relayed.
There was an unsaid sigh of relief from almost everyone present. Save for two individuals standing above all the others, and one purple haired woman whose thoughts were still fixed on the wimpy young man who'd been thrown into her life.
"What about, Shinji-kun? Is he okay!?" Misato fought the urge to run over to one of the computer screens, fought the urge to try and make sense of all the numbers she didn't understand.
"Pilot's vitals unknown."
Sachiel quickly extended his other blade and lunged forward, attempting to get his foe's heart speared on it.
But once again, the A-T field blocked it. Despite buckling and bending a bit, it did not bow to slayer of Abax's will.
The Eva's inhuman gaze never withered or fell, but remained fixed on its opponent. The silent contest of wills between the eldritch behemoths continued for a few moments, before Evangelion Unit 01 opened its mouth, slowly but terrifyingly surely.
And roared.
"Spirits..." one of the members of control deck muttered.
The surge of flickering orange power hurled Sachiel through the air, the unfortunate Divine careering through a sky scraper. Whilst the dust settled on the dazed but utterly unharmed Seraph, Unit 01 slowly arose, only to fall on one knee as if unused to movement.
A purple hand helped the metal clad monster keep its balance, before its gaze set squarely on the Seraph once again.
A ghastly growl escaped its prosthetic and jagged lips, before Unit 01 thundered forward as Sachiel struggled to rise, still trying to shake himself out of his dazed state. A purple fist cracking his helm like porcelain, put an end to that.
Unfortunately said fist was hanging off Unit 01's broken left wrist, so there was a rather loud snap upon impact.
Although the Eva didn't seem to care.
Not having been able to put his wall of light back up in time, Sachiel was thrown into the rubble, with the fist still firmly planted in his face whilst the other purple hand had grasped a piece of steel beam and was attempting to hack out the red jewel in Sachiel's chest.
"We've won." Kozo sighed with relief, high above all else on the command deck as the staff below cheered.
"Perhaps..." Gendo remained thoughtful, keeping in mind from his younger days that a fight can go anyway at anytime. His intuition was soon proven right.
Your overconfidence is your end, Voor.
Blinding, pure, all mighty power, smashed into Unit 01's face, its own A-T field being barely capable of preventing the surge of energy from searing its head off.
It could not however, nullify the force of the blast.
It was now the Eva's turn to bring down an unfortunate building, a building complacent and rude enough to stand in the trajectory of a flying armoured eldritch abomination.
However, it seemed Unit 01 was far too angry to be bothered with such things as being hit in the face by an attack equivalent to a small solar flare.
Its inhuman growl would have been most unsettling for those residing in shelters deep below, were it not for Sachiel's, terrifying, ear splitting, alien shriek tearing through the dead of night.
It was even said that the residents of Osaka, felt something in the wind that day.
Having stood up to its full height, the Seraph extended its right energy blade to its fullest extent. Fixing its black gaze upon the one thing that stood between all life on Earth's extinction, Sachiel advanced, far more cautiously this time, closing the distance but being ready for a counter attack.
You were too quick to try and take the kill, Voor. Your enemy must be broken before you can truly beat him.
Unit 01 threw itself at the amphibian creature, only to roar in pain as the Seraph sidestepped and raked its blade across the Eva's purple armoured chest.
Only just managing to maintain its balance, Unit 01 quickly had to throw its head back to prevent the blade from slashing at its throat. The following minute or so was simply the Eva ducking, diving, and dodging as Sachiel made strike after strike with the precision of a world class swordsman.
Though slow and powerful, the Divine Heir did not give his foe any window to strike back, for he was constantly on guard.
You will not catch me with my blade down again. But...this is a very pleasant surprise indeed.
For Sachiel was elated to face a foe his equal. Whilst the enemy's various assaults were clumsy, the Seraph got the general impression his opponent knew what they were doing somehow.
The throw back of the head, the twisting of the body, the footwork, it was not the mark of a skittish individual, but a champion wrestler in some cases.
A strong foe and a good fight, now if only we had some ale, Voor!
And then, orange lightning curled around Unit 01's reeled back right fist, as Sachiel realised his foe was channelling its own wall of light into a punch.
Frantically thrusting out his left arm, throwing a wave of crackling orange power at his foe, Sachiel took a step back, knowing full well what a direct strike from such a power would do to him.
The resulting collision of pure energy flattened the local block of buildings, with the two combatants being hurled like rag dolls away from each other.
For a few minutes, it was almost like a pyroclastic flow had hit the city, the debris and ash having been thrown up into the air, trickling back down like a sombre rain. However, even in that dark and terrible gloom, three glowing objects, three moving glowing objects, the eye of Unit 01, and the now red gaze of Sachiel, were a great deal more than vaguely visible.
So much so the staff of NERV shivered before the display.
The monsters could see one another, for their vision far transcended our own. In the ash of ruined homes, they could finally take a correct look at their respective foes, after having circled around each other for a while.
Unit 01 then tilted its head, and raised its left arm to meet its cracked eye, flexing its fingers quite awkwardly. Raising its gaze to meet that of its foe, it seemed like the Eva was asking for permission to do...something.
The Seraph did nothing but wait.
And thus, through means unknown to even the science of this advanced age, Unit 01 regenerated its damaged flesh and bone. With that matter dealt with, it stretched out its arms in a sprinting stance.
And yet it behaved as if it were waiting for something, as if it wished for the Seraph to attend to whatever injuries it had.
Sachiel acknowledged this, having quickly and quietly regenerated its own broken and battered body, by snapping his legs together and extending both his blades, raising the right one to his bony helm.
All noise upon NERV's command bridge stopped. All talking, all relaying of information, all typing on touch screens, everything. For the eldritch abomination, supposedly unknowable to all mankind, had performed a fencer's salute.
Even Gendo Ikari, who kept his usual stoic expression, had quickly gone through everything he knew about the creatures which sought mankind's end. And he found nothing about a code of honour.
"The scrolls didn't say anything about this..." Kozo murmured.
"Indeed."
The two demi-gods charged each other again, at full strength and full power, Unit 01 sliding beneath Sachiel's right blade, then dancing around the other. The Seraph quickly lurched back from the incoming punch, with the purple fist missing him by a few metres. The Eva landed with surprising elegance in a kneeling position, before attempting to roll out of yet another slice from its opponent.
But it was not to be.
The purple monster howled in pain as Sachiel's blade seared through the already cracked part of its face plate. Had it not continued to roll, the Seraph's second downward strike would have ended the matter then and there.
But roll it did, until being safely out of Sachiel's range for a few crucial seconds, long enough to stand again. The blades quickly sizzled through the air as with expert swordsmanship, the Seraph made swipe after calculated swipe at his enemy's head.
Unit 01, despite rising from what seemed like total defeat with the wrath of ancient gods, was still on the back foot. It could not exploit its brute strength, it could only stay at a distance with its great speed, and even that advantage couldn't last long.
Sachiel feinted towards the Eva's chest plate, causing it to sidestep. Right into the path of his lower strike.
Unit 01 staggered and roared for what seemed like an eternity, after a blade of pure yellow energy had cut clean through its knee.
Collapsing to the ground, it could only stare upwards, somewhat helplessly at the Seraph's red gaze, both blades raised simultaneously in preparation to decapitate mankind's last hope.
You have fought well, Voor, the halls of the gods shall welcome you with open arms. Due to your valour, I shall grant you a warrior's death. It will be quick.
Sachiel's final attack happened in a heartbeat, too fast for the human eye to see.
However, it was not fast enough.
Two purple armoured hands, crackling with orange energy, reached up into the path of the blades, and caught them.
It may have been a trick of the imagination, but many of NERV's personnel could have sworn they'd seen shock on their enemy's face.
Hurricane like winds spiralled around the two monstrosities, as their A-T fields clashed together, twisting and turning as they tried to get around or neutralise the other.
Arcs of lightning jutted out, some ripping into already ruined buildings, others screaming off into the heavens. The wind had now cleared away all debris, the view of the battle was unclouded for all to see.
And then the orange light flickered out.
"They've cancelled out each other's A-T field...this is going better than I hoped..." Ritsuko muttered in a pleasantly surprised tone, before lighting a cigarette.
The arms of the Seraph and the Eva trembled with exertion, signifying this contest of pure strength was almost over.
This ends now!
Sachiel's head thrust forward, with nothing to bar its progress, in an attempt to knock the Japanese god machine off its balance. With both its arms occupied, Unit 01 had no way to stop it.
Instead, it bowed its head.
And thus the Seraph's head came down...right onto a purple horn.
The shriek of agony as the long thought useless appendage drove straight through bone and flesh, was one that would make even the most stout cover their ears as blood would flow from them with reckless abandon.
Desperately rearing back the Seraph lost all grip, but Unit 01 didn't. Strong hands grasped the Divine Heir's right arm, and with a knee firmly planted in its foe's chest, the Eva pulled.
And Sachiel's screams grew louder.
Collapsing on his back, royal blue blood gushing forth like a mighty river from the ruined stump that was once his arm, the Seraph attempted to rise again, in a shambling and completely disorientated manner.
One which would never have been fast enough, even if he succeeded.
His now detached right blade, still humming with energy, wielded by a furious titan, was driven straight through his heart and into the ground, pinning him in place. The red jewel in his chest shattered, as all bodily functions began to fail, a purple hand upon his chest keeping him in place.
Most impressive, Voor...most impressive. I did not think I would receive such a challenge from your kind. Truly I am glad to meet it. But know this...
The two creatures of eldritch lore locked gazes with one another, a low whimper escaping from Unit 01's mouth for reasons no one yet understood.
My brothers and sisters are as strong as me, some even stronger. And my father...you are but an insect to defy his rule... The Seraph's gaze began to darken, as it took its last breath.
Everyone...forgive me...for I am weak...
And thus, the Fourth Seraph died.
--------------------------
7:00pm,
"...retrieval successful, vital signs positive." A soft voice spoke over the radio as Shinji regained consciousness. He felt dazed, possessing no memory of whatever had just happened. But he could guess.
With the dead monster pinned to the ground beneath Unit 01, he could only imagine that somehow he'd won. Somehow he'd survived freezing up and blacking out.
He was being lifted, possibly by crane, as he could see both his Eva and the Seraph locked in a deathly embrace. It was strange...the Seraph had been impaled by one of its own arms...and Unit 01 had somehow fixed that wrist breakage.
Did it...act by itself...
There was a loud clank as a piece of the purple monster's head armour detached...showing something that made Shinji's blood run cold.
No circuitry, no robotics.
Just...flesh.
The area where it seemed had once been an eye, bubbled and boiled as a green orb grew out of it. A black iris eventually came into being, swivelling around for a few seconds.
"Heart rate increasing!"
"Oh shit he can see it! Cut the visual now!" Misato barked. But it was far too late.
The iris finished swivelling, and fixed its gaze on Shinji. Not on the entry plug in which he sat, but directly at him. Straight into his soul.
Moments after deep blue met sickly green, Shinji's ear-splitting shriek of pure terror echoed for a few moments, before consciousness slipped away.
I have never written a mecha fight before this (even though in some ways that's irrelevant as Seraphs and Evas aren't quite machines...) so I hope it goes well. Nevertheless, I did have a lot of fun with writing this scene, no inner monologues or whimpering, just two mighty beings engaged in a titanic brawl to the death.
And if you thought canon was already teetering on the edge, our boy Sachiel is about to give it a good push...
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6:40pm, Down Town Tokyo-3
"Are you okay, Shinji-kun?" Misato gently inquired over video-link.
"I-I think so..." No sooner had Shinji uttered these words, the command to "release final safety locks" was barked. The sudden feeling of gargantuan weight made him nearly lose his balance.
It was so weird a feeling, to be within the Eva. Inside this strange pod filled with the ghastly tasting orange substance known as LCL. Apparently the substance could be breathed and spoken through without gargling or distortion.
In a way, it felt like breathing air.
But the taste of it...it was blood. He was no stranger to the taste, as any of the numerous blows from his teacher filled his mouth with the thick red liquid, but there was something altogether more wrong about LCL.
He couldn't quite put his finger on it, but there was an almost ancient and terrible power to it. As for the plug itself, it was cylindrical and metal in nature, yet after a flurry of colours had coursed through it, he had a complete three-hundred and sixty degree view of his surroundings in crystal clear vision. This was how the Eva saw the world. This was how a god viewed its playthings. Tightening his grip on two control sticks, which apparently didn't actually control the Evangelion but provided an adequate placebo effect, he quickly gave a look for reassurance at the video feed in the corner of his vision, gaining a nod from his commanding officer.
"Unit 01, move out!" Misato ordered from far below on the observation deck of NERV's command bridge. To her side stood Ritsuko, watching the display intently, cigarette in hand.
In front and below them, the staff worked furiously, providing constant updates on the well being of Shinji and the purple monster he currently resided within. His synchronisation rate hadn't been very high, but it had been enough to move the Eva.
Just.
Unit 01 took a huge step forward, shaking the streets of Tokyo-3 as it did so. A few staff even cheered at the sight of something they'd worked on for a decade actually moving. That soon died as the Eva lost its balance and landed face first on the ground.
Shinji grunted as he felt pain akin to nose breakage.
"Shinji-kun, you need to move!"
Sachiel was now looming over his would be foe, a look of contempt etched on his bony face.
What's this? Lost your footing have you? Please, allow me to give you a hand...
With his left arm, the Seraph gripped the Eva's head and lifted it off the ground. His other arm then clamped down on Unit 01's left arm and pulled.
Shinji shrieked in pain as he felt his own arm dislocate, then start to break as it was unnaturally stretched.
"Don't worry, that's not your arm, you're just feeling what the Eva feels. But you have to move now." Misato desperately pressed, whilst Ritsuko had strode over to her "apprentice."
"Status report, what the hell is going on with his defences?" She sternly commanded, and Lieutenant Maya Ibuki responded with all due haste.
"A-T field not expanding, cause unknown!"
"What do you mean unknown!?" The combat operation's director's voice became louder, as Shinji's screams increased in volume when the Eva's arm was broken.
Finishing the incapacitation of his opponent, Sachiel set about finishing the job. A spear of energy jutted out from his hand, and started hammering on Unit 01's faceplate. After a few pulses, the armour cracked.
Shinji held his eye as the general feeling of white hot pain coursed through it. And then the armour broke, and the boy howled.
The staff of NERV watched in horror, shock, and awe, as their last hope was flung through the air. It crashed into one of the buildings which couldn't be lowered to safety with the structure crumbling from the impact.
The Eva slumped forward, unmoving, as its eyes began to dim. Sachiel withdrew his spear of energy and started to advance towards the stricken super weapon, his footsteps shaking the world.
Have you no honour!? Rise and fight coward, that is but a scratch!
Shinji watched the Seraph advance, fear gripping his heart. Nothing would move, no matter how hard he tried. Mankind's greatest weapon would become his tomb.
And so he started crying.
The boy had hated life, he truly had.
Ever since the death of the one person in the world he knew without a doubt loved him, he simply existed. Between the loneliness and beatings, Shinji thought he would welcome death when came for him, as it did for all things. But now, as death marched inexorably towards him, he was afraid.
He didn't want to die.
"Abort mission! Retrieve the Pilot, his life is our top priority!" Misato desperately barked, tormented by the knowledge she may have willingly sent an innocent child to his violent end.
"Signal's not being received! Synch rate down to twenty percent and falling!" Maya started shivering, knowing full well what would happen if the Eva were to be destroyed.
The Seraph would come down here and kill them all.
"No...no...no..." The purplehead's heart sank as Shinji's sobs tore into her heart.
I used him. I saw him as a tool and I used him. And now he's going to die for that...I'm just as shameless as everyone else here.
She couldn't look away, no one could. They could only stand and stare as the Seraph's pace began to quicken. Even though he wasn't there, Misato could almost hear Kiyoshi's yells of chastisement, knowing full well that he was right.
They were just as monstrous as the thing they fought.
So weak, so puny, how did you rise to become the world's dominant race?
Like a hunter unsheathing his knife to finish off a kill, Sachiel's energy blade extended from his hand.
By command of the Lord of Ash, and Sovereign of the Divine, I must take your life. Do not struggle, otherwise the dying will be slower. I would say you fought and fell with valour...but that would be a grotesque overstatement.
The Seraph charged.
Shinji felt his senses slip as he passed out from fear, filling his mind with fond memories of the one time in his life when he was happy.
Mother...
Practically upon his prey now, Sachiel stabbed down, an attack that would have split Ben Nevis in two.
But it didn't.
Instead, the blade of light stopped in its tracks, as a layer of orange lightning blocked it. And from beneath a shield that could not be broken by any weapon of man, a purple armoured face angled itself upwards, meeting the gaze of the Seraph.
A single eye burning white with rage.
"Unit 01 has reactivated, A-T field is up." Maya relayed.
There was an unsaid sigh of relief from almost everyone present. Save for two individuals standing above all the others, and one purple haired woman whose thoughts were still fixed on the wimpy young man who'd been thrown into her life.
"What about, Shinji-kun? Is he okay!?" Misato fought the urge to run over to one of the computer screens, fought the urge to try and make sense of all the numbers she didn't understand.
"Pilot's vitals unknown."
Sachiel quickly extended his other blade and lunged forward, attempting to get his foe's heart speared on it.
But once again, the A-T field blocked it. Despite buckling and bending a bit, it did not bow to slayer of Abax's will.
The Eva's inhuman gaze never withered or fell, but remained fixed on its opponent. The silent contest of wills between the eldritch behemoths continued for a few moments, before Evangelion Unit 01 opened its mouth, slowly but terrifyingly surely.
And roared.
"Spirits..." one of the members of control deck muttered.
The surge of flickering orange power hurled Sachiel through the air, the unfortunate Divine careering through a sky scraper. Whilst the dust settled on the dazed but utterly unharmed Seraph, Unit 01 slowly arose, only to fall on one knee as if unused to movement.
A purple hand helped the metal clad monster keep its balance, before its gaze set squarely on the Seraph once again.
A ghastly growl escaped its prosthetic and jagged lips, before Unit 01 thundered forward as Sachiel struggled to rise, still trying to shake himself out of his dazed state. A purple fist cracking his helm like porcelain, put an end to that.
Unfortunately said fist was hanging off Unit 01's broken left wrist, so there was a rather loud snap upon impact.
Although the Eva didn't seem to care.
Not having been able to put his wall of light back up in time, Sachiel was thrown into the rubble, with the fist still firmly planted in his face whilst the other purple hand had grasped a piece of steel beam and was attempting to hack out the red jewel in Sachiel's chest.
"We've won." Kozo sighed with relief, high above all else on the command deck as the staff below cheered.
"Perhaps..." Gendo remained thoughtful, keeping in mind from his younger days that a fight can go anyway at anytime. His intuition was soon proven right.
Your overconfidence is your end, Voor.
Blinding, pure, all mighty power, smashed into Unit 01's face, its own A-T field being barely capable of preventing the surge of energy from searing its head off.
It could not however, nullify the force of the blast.
It was now the Eva's turn to bring down an unfortunate building, a building complacent and rude enough to stand in the trajectory of a flying armoured eldritch abomination.
However, it seemed Unit 01 was far too angry to be bothered with such things as being hit in the face by an attack equivalent to a small solar flare.
Its inhuman growl would have been most unsettling for those residing in shelters deep below, were it not for Sachiel's, terrifying, ear splitting, alien shriek tearing through the dead of night.
It was even said that the residents of Osaka, felt something in the wind that day.
Having stood up to its full height, the Seraph extended its right energy blade to its fullest extent. Fixing its black gaze upon the one thing that stood between all life on Earth's extinction, Sachiel advanced, far more cautiously this time, closing the distance but being ready for a counter attack.
You were too quick to try and take the kill, Voor. Your enemy must be broken before you can truly beat him.
Unit 01 threw itself at the amphibian creature, only to roar in pain as the Seraph sidestepped and raked its blade across the Eva's purple armoured chest.
Only just managing to maintain its balance, Unit 01 quickly had to throw its head back to prevent the blade from slashing at its throat. The following minute or so was simply the Eva ducking, diving, and dodging as Sachiel made strike after strike with the precision of a world class swordsman.
Though slow and powerful, the Divine Heir did not give his foe any window to strike back, for he was constantly on guard.
You will not catch me with my blade down again. But...this is a very pleasant surprise indeed.
For Sachiel was elated to face a foe his equal. Whilst the enemy's various assaults were clumsy, the Seraph got the general impression his opponent knew what they were doing somehow.
The throw back of the head, the twisting of the body, the footwork, it was not the mark of a skittish individual, but a champion wrestler in some cases.
A strong foe and a good fight, now if only we had some ale, Voor!
And then, orange lightning curled around Unit 01's reeled back right fist, as Sachiel realised his foe was channelling its own wall of light into a punch.
Frantically thrusting out his left arm, throwing a wave of crackling orange power at his foe, Sachiel took a step back, knowing full well what a direct strike from such a power would do to him.
The resulting collision of pure energy flattened the local block of buildings, with the two combatants being hurled like rag dolls away from each other.
For a few minutes, it was almost like a pyroclastic flow had hit the city, the debris and ash having been thrown up into the air, trickling back down like a sombre rain. However, even in that dark and terrible gloom, three glowing objects, three moving glowing objects, the eye of Unit 01, and the now red gaze of Sachiel, were a great deal more than vaguely visible.
So much so the staff of NERV shivered before the display.
The monsters could see one another, for their vision far transcended our own. In the ash of ruined homes, they could finally take a correct look at their respective foes, after having circled around each other for a while.
Unit 01 then tilted its head, and raised its left arm to meet its cracked eye, flexing its fingers quite awkwardly. Raising its gaze to meet that of its foe, it seemed like the Eva was asking for permission to do...something.
The Seraph did nothing but wait.
And thus, through means unknown to even the science of this advanced age, Unit 01 regenerated its damaged flesh and bone. With that matter dealt with, it stretched out its arms in a sprinting stance.
And yet it behaved as if it were waiting for something, as if it wished for the Seraph to attend to whatever injuries it had.
Sachiel acknowledged this, having quickly and quietly regenerated its own broken and battered body, by snapping his legs together and extending both his blades, raising the right one to his bony helm.
All noise upon NERV's command bridge stopped. All talking, all relaying of information, all typing on touch screens, everything. For the eldritch abomination, supposedly unknowable to all mankind, had performed a fencer's salute.
Even Gendo Ikari, who kept his usual stoic expression, had quickly gone through everything he knew about the creatures which sought mankind's end. And he found nothing about a code of honour.
"The scrolls didn't say anything about this..." Kozo murmured.
"Indeed."
The two demi-gods charged each other again, at full strength and full power, Unit 01 sliding beneath Sachiel's right blade, then dancing around the other. The Seraph quickly lurched back from the incoming punch, with the purple fist missing him by a few metres. The Eva landed with surprising elegance in a kneeling position, before attempting to roll out of yet another slice from its opponent.
But it was not to be.
The purple monster howled in pain as Sachiel's blade seared through the already cracked part of its face plate. Had it not continued to roll, the Seraph's second downward strike would have ended the matter then and there.
But roll it did, until being safely out of Sachiel's range for a few crucial seconds, long enough to stand again. The blades quickly sizzled through the air as with expert swordsmanship, the Seraph made swipe after calculated swipe at his enemy's head.
Unit 01, despite rising from what seemed like total defeat with the wrath of ancient gods, was still on the back foot. It could not exploit its brute strength, it could only stay at a distance with its great speed, and even that advantage couldn't last long.
Sachiel feinted towards the Eva's chest plate, causing it to sidestep. Right into the path of his lower strike.
Unit 01 staggered and roared for what seemed like an eternity, after a blade of pure yellow energy had cut clean through its knee.
Collapsing to the ground, it could only stare upwards, somewhat helplessly at the Seraph's red gaze, both blades raised simultaneously in preparation to decapitate mankind's last hope.
You have fought well, Voor, the halls of the gods shall welcome you with open arms. Due to your valour, I shall grant you a warrior's death. It will be quick.
Sachiel's final attack happened in a heartbeat, too fast for the human eye to see.
However, it was not fast enough.
Two purple armoured hands, crackling with orange energy, reached up into the path of the blades, and caught them.
It may have been a trick of the imagination, but many of NERV's personnel could have sworn they'd seen shock on their enemy's face.
Hurricane like winds spiralled around the two monstrosities, as their A-T fields clashed together, twisting and turning as they tried to get around or neutralise the other.
Arcs of lightning jutted out, some ripping into already ruined buildings, others screaming off into the heavens. The wind had now cleared away all debris, the view of the battle was unclouded for all to see.
And then the orange light flickered out.
"They've cancelled out each other's A-T field...this is going better than I hoped..." Ritsuko muttered in a pleasantly surprised tone, before lighting a cigarette.
The arms of the Seraph and the Eva trembled with exertion, signifying this contest of pure strength was almost over.
This ends now!
Sachiel's head thrust forward, with nothing to bar its progress, in an attempt to knock the Japanese god machine off its balance. With both its arms occupied, Unit 01 had no way to stop it.
Instead, it bowed its head.
And thus the Seraph's head came down...right onto a purple horn.
The shriek of agony as the long thought useless appendage drove straight through bone and flesh, was one that would make even the most stout cover their ears as blood would flow from them with reckless abandon.
Desperately rearing back the Seraph lost all grip, but Unit 01 didn't. Strong hands grasped the Divine Heir's right arm, and with a knee firmly planted in its foe's chest, the Eva pulled.
And Sachiel's screams grew louder.
Collapsing on his back, royal blue blood gushing forth like a mighty river from the ruined stump that was once his arm, the Seraph attempted to rise again, in a shambling and completely disorientated manner.
One which would never have been fast enough, even if he succeeded.
His now detached right blade, still humming with energy, wielded by a furious titan, was driven straight through his heart and into the ground, pinning him in place. The red jewel in his chest shattered, as all bodily functions began to fail, a purple hand upon his chest keeping him in place.
Most impressive, Voor...most impressive. I did not think I would receive such a challenge from your kind. Truly I am glad to meet it. But know this...
The two creatures of eldritch lore locked gazes with one another, a low whimper escaping from Unit 01's mouth for reasons no one yet understood.
My brothers and sisters are as strong as me, some even stronger. And my father...you are but an insect to defy his rule... The Seraph's gaze began to darken, as it took its last breath.
Everyone...forgive me...for I am weak...
And thus, the Fourth Seraph died.
--------------------------
7:00pm,
"...retrieval successful, vital signs positive." A soft voice spoke over the radio as Shinji regained consciousness. He felt dazed, possessing no memory of whatever had just happened. But he could guess.
With the dead monster pinned to the ground beneath Unit 01, he could only imagine that somehow he'd won. Somehow he'd survived freezing up and blacking out.
He was being lifted, possibly by crane, as he could see both his Eva and the Seraph locked in a deathly embrace. It was strange...the Seraph had been impaled by one of its own arms...and Unit 01 had somehow fixed that wrist breakage.
Did it...act by itself...
There was a loud clank as a piece of the purple monster's head armour detached...showing something that made Shinji's blood run cold.
No circuitry, no robotics.
Just...flesh.
The area where it seemed had once been an eye, bubbled and boiled as a green orb grew out of it. A black iris eventually came into being, swivelling around for a few seconds.
"Heart rate increasing!"
"Oh shit he can see it! Cut the visual now!" Misato barked. But it was far too late.
The iris finished swivelling, and fixed its gaze on Shinji. Not on the entry plug in which he sat, but directly at him. Straight into his soul.
Moments after deep blue met sickly green, Shinji's ear-splitting shriek of pure terror echoed for a few moments, before consciousness slipped away.
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Turing Decidable
𝕘𝕒𝕣𝕗
- Location
- Belgium
- Pronouns
- He/Him
To be Shinji Ikari is to suffer.
Wasn't one of her eyes blown out earlier?
Between staring death in the face and seeing that which you were not meant to see... sweet dreams, Shinji!
Lord Sovereign
The Emperor of shitty fanfic
- Location
- England
Yup, poor kid. Fate appears to have even more of a problem with him than Anakin Skywalker.
Whoops can't believe I missed that. Could have sworn I saw both eyes reactivating again in the original...ah whatever. Little errors like that piss me off, so thanks for pointing it out.
Oh believe me when I say this...Shinji, this is the tip of the fucking ice burg. The next few months are going to be so much fun for you...
(Insert manic Joker-esque laugh here)
Turing Decidable
𝕘𝕒𝕣𝕗
- Location
- Belgium
- Pronouns
- He/Him
I was wondering the same thing, so I went looking for the relevant shot in Episode 2:
Apalos
Funk Soul Brother
- Location
- Chicagoland
I like! I eagerly await where this story will go.
I do like what you did with world after Second Impact, its similar to what I would think would happen. Kinda in a state of disbelief that Japan alone would be able to hold off the Peoples Republic of Asia by itself. Did they get assistance from one of the other super powers? Or was PRoA fighting on multiple fronts? Whats the word on Africa and South America?
Also like Motichka as someone who will stand up against Gendo. Hope to see him humbled by others, rather than being able to do what he wants with impunity.
Write on!
I do like what you did with world after Second Impact, its similar to what I would think would happen. Kinda in a state of disbelief that Japan alone would be able to hold off the Peoples Republic of Asia by itself. Did they get assistance from one of the other super powers? Or was PRoA fighting on multiple fronts? Whats the word on Africa and South America?
Also like Motichka as someone who will stand up against Gendo. Hope to see him humbled by others, rather than being able to do what he wants with impunity.
Write on!
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Chapter 1.5
Lord Sovereign
The Emperor of shitty fanfic
- Location
- England
So...you know what I said about canon teetering on the edge of a cliff?
That was a bad description.
Imagine canon as a whale.
A whale beached on the shores of Iceland, and currently being hacked to pieces for its blubber.
That is canon as of this segment.
I mean, I personally like the decision I made on how the Angels or "Seraphim" as they are now, would be portrayed, but I know many of you will wish to cleave my head in two for this...God Emperor enthroned on Terra have mercy on my soul...
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The realm of Vhaayn
Once the whole world had been theirs. Now...the only place of residence the Divine race possessed was this hellscape.
It wasn't quite an oblivion though, for it did possess an ethereal beauty all of its own. But compared to home, Haniel mused, it might as well have been.
Oh how he longed for it. He longed for the sea, for the ancient trees, the great ash plains, and the gargantuan mountain ranges that soared some leagues into the blue sky.
Every single one of his people felt the same way, even the generations born in this...place.
But right now, it was another crime committed by the Vooren, that truly incensed the Sovereign's right hand.
His enforcer.
His Fist.
What made the man's blood boil was the thought of an old friend being butchered by an inferior and weak race. A race fit only for subjugation.
The Vooren, or Humanity as they called themselves.
Though they were a warlike people, quite similar to his own in some respects, their strength was pitiful. They were weak beyond imagination. And a warrior race such as the Divine, had no respect for weakness.
The ground on which Haniel walked, clad in black armour and coat, unmade itself upon contact with his wall of light. Bits of stone hovered in the air for a few seconds, suspended by flickering orange energy, before falling back down. Along the grey cobbled road, flanked by five hundred dark blue cloaked Royal Guard, Haniel strode towards the council chamber, his red eyes narrowed in frustration. Strange winds caused his shoulder length white hair to fling strands into his stormy face.
Said face terrified every single guardsman on duty, for this individual had great sway with he whom they served.
The mighty Sovereign. The Lord of Ash.
And it was thoughts of the one who sat upon the shrouded in shadow throne, that truly depressed Haniel.
As if his Lord hadn't suffered enough pain of late. Now, the ruler of the Divine would learn that his eldest son was dead.
A noble death to be sure, dying in combat was a dignified way to depart this world. But still, to know that one's own son had perished in battle would be...a bitter pill to swallow.
As he reached the huge brass gates behind which stood the Royal council chamber, the sudden sound of double pointed lances clanging as they blocked his path, caught the Fist of the Sovereign's eyes and ears.
"Forgive me, sir. The council is in session and is not to be disturbed." The Guardsman raised his left hand in both salute and caution. Unseasoned red eyes could be seen behind that mask of bone, causing Haniel to chuckle quietly.
Ah to be young. To not remember the calamity or the morning slaughter must be a great thing indeed. Clearly however, you do not understand that, his Lordship makes a few exceptions for me...
"I understand this guardsman, but this is a matter of urgency. I need to speak to, his Lordship immediately." Haniel pressed, knowing how wrathful his friend and master could be when news was kept from him.
The guardsman looked thoughtful for a moment before withdrawing his lance from Haniel's path.
"Wait here, sir." He bowed his head and briskly walked the few metres to the doors, before knocking on them. They swung open inwardly, and the guardsman hurried through, the doors closing behind him.
After a short time of standing around, whilst the other guardsman shifted uncomfortably in the Fist's presence, the younger elite Divine soldier returned with all due haste.
"Forgive me, sir. His Lordship has made it very clear that you are never to be stopped or delayed again. The doors have been left open for you." He and his comrade bowed in embarrassment, as Haniel dismissively waved his hand.
"Think nothing of it, guardsmen, just don't get in my way again." They parted, and the Fist of the Sovereign strode forth into the Royal council chamber.
To call the chamber impressive would be an understatement. Vast white columns with great banners draping down their sides, flanked the volcanic black walls of the room, held up a ceiling of dark blue with many bright dots on it.
The Old Realm's night sky.
The one hundred bronze thrones which made up the Minor Lord's seating positions were proudly aligned along a long stretch of red carpet with a white fur trimming, upon a floor of obsidian.
At the head of the carpet stood a horizontal line of silver thrones, seventeen in total. And behind them, upon a great flight of obsidian stairs, sat a throne of the same material.
Shrouded in shadow.
If this were a less depressing scenario, Haniel might have smiled with amusement at his old friend's addiction to theatrics.
But not today.
Every single seat in the chamber was occupied, save for the silver one on the far left.
This stood silently vacant. Never to be occupied again.
The ones seated on the silver thrones felt their blood run cold as the Fist approached, all having somewhat feared this man since youth. But what truly got to them, was his more than usual stormy expression.
A few feet before them, he went down on one knee and stared into the ground.
"Hail my Sovereign, Lord of Ash." He said in a guarded tone.
"Haniel, speak, old friend." The one on the black throne rumbled.
The Fist had to muster his courage for this, having stood witness to his master's rage on many occasions.
"My Lord...Heir Sachiel has fallen."
Many sharp intakes of breath along with a great deal of mutterings echoed throughout the chamber. Many of them were ones of disbelief, others of despair.
But the Heirs' reactions were ones of grief.
Some gaped, such as Ramiel and Leliel.
Others like Shamshel and Rogziel snarled with anger.
And the softer ones like Bardiel and Armisael simply broke down in tears.
However, Arael being Arael didn't bat an eye, for the wretch didn't much care for anything except his own enjoyment.
"It's not true...tell me it's not true." The youngest, Heir Tabris, forced through choked sobbing. It pained Haniel to see the boy cry, for the young Heir had never properly experienced loss before.
And considering his soft nature, he was not deserving of such pain.
"I'm afraid it is, my Heir." Haniel remained in a kneeling position.
The sudden scraping of armour against a black throne caused the entire chamber, save for the noises of grief, to fall silent.
Heavy footsteps echoed as the Lord of Ash descended his throne's stairs, the greater amount of light at the bottom of them showing his features to all the world.
The Sovereign's long grey hair, along with charred black cape, fluttered from the sheer amount of energy he produced simply by existing, as his white armour and chain mail clanked with every footstep.
He stopped in front of his children's thrones, his somewhat thirty-ish looking, sharp, pale face and red eyes having narrowed into a look of slight dissatisfaction.
"How?" He put forward in a highly controlled tone. However, the Fist knew full well the screaming rage his Sovereign was holding back could well atomise everything within a league.
"It would seem the, Vooren have built a contraption to fight us with, my Lord. It possesses great strength and speed, along with an immensely powerful wall of light. Stronger than all present in this room save for your children and yourself." Haniel gulped as the Sovereign gripped his sword hilt with every ounce of his strength.
Lesser weapons would have been crushed by such power.
But not Kaingrik.
"This is a...surprising turn of events. But it matters not. This is a setback...and nothing more." The master of the Divine exhaled deeply through his nose before setting his gaze upon his subordinates.
"My son is dead. His blood has been spilled by unworthy hands. I assure you, however this is a result of nothing but luck. So what if the enemy has merely bought itself another week of existence? We will shatter their civilisation, force them on their knees, and make them beg for forgiveness. Forgiveness for usurping that which is rightfully ours." He swirled around, turning his gaze upon the next in line from the empty throne.
"Shamshel, you will depart for the Old Realm within the week. Just this once...show no mercy." Were he not one who could control his expressions, the Sovereign would have grimaced at Shamshel's sadistic smile.
"As you wish father. I will send my brother's killer to hell screaming!" The now eldest in line to the throne snarled, whilst the one who sat next to him, his sister Ramiel, quietly shook her head and sighed without drawing attention to herself.
Honestly brother, your boasting will be the end of you one day.
The Minor Lords roared their approval to Shamshel's declaration, before the Sovereign raised his hand and hush descended upon the meeting once again.
"That'll be enough for today. All of you, leave. I have business to discuss with my Fist."
There was a cacophony of armour scraping against metal, as all present save for Haniel stood.
"Hail Sovereign Netzach! Lord of Ash, Lord of the Divine!" After the salute and customary bowing of heads, all present left the room. Now the Sovereign and his Fist had peace and quiet for their coming conversation.
"Rise."
Haniel did as he was commanded. Standing up to full height, he was still much shorter than his master.
At seven feet tall, Haniel would have towered over any human. And yet compared to his master, who was a further two feet taller than him, he seemed tiny.
The Divine in question stared at the throne upon which his son would never sit again with a hint of grief in his eyes.
"I should have dealt with this myself."
"No, my Lord. We still do not have much of an idea of what awaits us there, and we cannot afford to lose you..." Haniel said this without a hint of glorification or flattery.
He truly meant it.
And he was right.
"Tell that to those who remember the time before the Calamity. They still call me the Dark Lord behind my back."
"They are fools and they will learn. Because of you, my Lord, and only you, does our race survive."
"I could only save a million out of two billion. And after the work of the Vooren, there is but one hundred thousand of us left..." Netzach's gaze never left the empty throne.
Now his fist clenched.
"I couldn't even save her..."
"Yechel's death was not of your doing, my Lord. She made her choice, and you know it." Haniel said softly. The Royal advisor's wisdom was desperately needed by all. And, as fate was cruel, they wouldn't be getting it.
Netzach slowly exhaled as he straightened his posture.
"You are right my friend, as usual. The dead live in the past, I must focus on securing the future." He turned to face his Fist, purposefully swirling his cape through the air as even in a sombre state of mind, the Sovereign was always theatrical.
As was fitting of a people and culture who valued power and showing it off almost above all else.
"In your ventures to the Earth over the past seventeen years, you have established many contacts correct?"
"Yes, my Lord. Yet even with all those I could discover nothing of the monstrosity the, Vooren have built until today."
"But now our true foe has revealed themselves. Use those under your sway to find out what you can. A name would do for a start..." The Sovereign raised his eyebrow as Haniel coughed so as to interrupt.
"I am quite confident the organization in question is called NERV. They are highly secretive, and a great deal of money has gone into them over these past ten years. It seems I should have been more thorough in my investigations of them-" A gauntleted hand finding its way onto the Fist's shoulder ended that sentence before it finished.
"Haniel, I mistrusted your judgement once before and it cost me dearly. As such I have resolved never to make such a mistake again. But you must remember old friend, that even you are not above mistakes. Promise me that." Netzach smiled a warm smile, one he did not show often at all.
"As you wish, my Lord."
"Excellent." The Sovereign retracted his arm, before hardening his expression. The Fist returned to a kneeling position, knowing that his master was about to give him an order.
"Your Sovereign commands you. Use what resources you have to find out everything you possibly can about the whelps who dare stand against my will. The worthless scum who impede the reclamation of our home..." Netzach's gaze was redirected at the floor, his red eyes flaring.
"Tell me of the wretches who claimed my son's life..." The one true master of the Divine race's gaze hardened as cracks glowing with flickering orange energy began to appear in the floor he was staring at.
"Tell me of this...NERV."
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Well that's the first chapter done.
The whale is really rather dead now.
I won't start posting chapter 2 until the weekend or perhaps beyond, so as to let others get through the first chapter and not feel completely overwhelmed. I'll put up chapter 1 on fanfic.net whilst I'm at it. Although to be frank, I far prefer Sufficient Velocity when it comes to posting things, because you lot are so very nice.
I am actually overwhelmed by all the positive comments and compliments I've been receiving from people. I never thought my writing could be seen as anything more than "passable," let alone "good." Well, after this segment that will probably stop, but I appreciate everything I have received so far.
In short all your feedback is...really rather inspiring. Inspiring enough for me to keep typing away.
Until next time my dear readers
That was a bad description.
Imagine canon as a whale.
A whale beached on the shores of Iceland, and currently being hacked to pieces for its blubber.
That is canon as of this segment.
I mean, I personally like the decision I made on how the Angels or "Seraphim" as they are now, would be portrayed, but I know many of you will wish to cleave my head in two for this...God Emperor enthroned on Terra have mercy on my soul...
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
The realm of Vhaayn
Once the whole world had been theirs. Now...the only place of residence the Divine race possessed was this hellscape.
It wasn't quite an oblivion though, for it did possess an ethereal beauty all of its own. But compared to home, Haniel mused, it might as well have been.
Oh how he longed for it. He longed for the sea, for the ancient trees, the great ash plains, and the gargantuan mountain ranges that soared some leagues into the blue sky.
Every single one of his people felt the same way, even the generations born in this...place.
But right now, it was another crime committed by the Vooren, that truly incensed the Sovereign's right hand.
His enforcer.
His Fist.
What made the man's blood boil was the thought of an old friend being butchered by an inferior and weak race. A race fit only for subjugation.
The Vooren, or Humanity as they called themselves.
Though they were a warlike people, quite similar to his own in some respects, their strength was pitiful. They were weak beyond imagination. And a warrior race such as the Divine, had no respect for weakness.
The ground on which Haniel walked, clad in black armour and coat, unmade itself upon contact with his wall of light. Bits of stone hovered in the air for a few seconds, suspended by flickering orange energy, before falling back down. Along the grey cobbled road, flanked by five hundred dark blue cloaked Royal Guard, Haniel strode towards the council chamber, his red eyes narrowed in frustration. Strange winds caused his shoulder length white hair to fling strands into his stormy face.
Said face terrified every single guardsman on duty, for this individual had great sway with he whom they served.
The mighty Sovereign. The Lord of Ash.
And it was thoughts of the one who sat upon the shrouded in shadow throne, that truly depressed Haniel.
As if his Lord hadn't suffered enough pain of late. Now, the ruler of the Divine would learn that his eldest son was dead.
A noble death to be sure, dying in combat was a dignified way to depart this world. But still, to know that one's own son had perished in battle would be...a bitter pill to swallow.
As he reached the huge brass gates behind which stood the Royal council chamber, the sudden sound of double pointed lances clanging as they blocked his path, caught the Fist of the Sovereign's eyes and ears.
"Forgive me, sir. The council is in session and is not to be disturbed." The Guardsman raised his left hand in both salute and caution. Unseasoned red eyes could be seen behind that mask of bone, causing Haniel to chuckle quietly.
Ah to be young. To not remember the calamity or the morning slaughter must be a great thing indeed. Clearly however, you do not understand that, his Lordship makes a few exceptions for me...
"I understand this guardsman, but this is a matter of urgency. I need to speak to, his Lordship immediately." Haniel pressed, knowing how wrathful his friend and master could be when news was kept from him.
The guardsman looked thoughtful for a moment before withdrawing his lance from Haniel's path.
"Wait here, sir." He bowed his head and briskly walked the few metres to the doors, before knocking on them. They swung open inwardly, and the guardsman hurried through, the doors closing behind him.
After a short time of standing around, whilst the other guardsman shifted uncomfortably in the Fist's presence, the younger elite Divine soldier returned with all due haste.
"Forgive me, sir. His Lordship has made it very clear that you are never to be stopped or delayed again. The doors have been left open for you." He and his comrade bowed in embarrassment, as Haniel dismissively waved his hand.
"Think nothing of it, guardsmen, just don't get in my way again." They parted, and the Fist of the Sovereign strode forth into the Royal council chamber.
To call the chamber impressive would be an understatement. Vast white columns with great banners draping down their sides, flanked the volcanic black walls of the room, held up a ceiling of dark blue with many bright dots on it.
The Old Realm's night sky.
The one hundred bronze thrones which made up the Minor Lord's seating positions were proudly aligned along a long stretch of red carpet with a white fur trimming, upon a floor of obsidian.
At the head of the carpet stood a horizontal line of silver thrones, seventeen in total. And behind them, upon a great flight of obsidian stairs, sat a throne of the same material.
Shrouded in shadow.
If this were a less depressing scenario, Haniel might have smiled with amusement at his old friend's addiction to theatrics.
But not today.
Every single seat in the chamber was occupied, save for the silver one on the far left.
This stood silently vacant. Never to be occupied again.
The ones seated on the silver thrones felt their blood run cold as the Fist approached, all having somewhat feared this man since youth. But what truly got to them, was his more than usual stormy expression.
A few feet before them, he went down on one knee and stared into the ground.
"Hail my Sovereign, Lord of Ash." He said in a guarded tone.
"Haniel, speak, old friend." The one on the black throne rumbled.
The Fist had to muster his courage for this, having stood witness to his master's rage on many occasions.
"My Lord...Heir Sachiel has fallen."
Many sharp intakes of breath along with a great deal of mutterings echoed throughout the chamber. Many of them were ones of disbelief, others of despair.
But the Heirs' reactions were ones of grief.
Some gaped, such as Ramiel and Leliel.
Others like Shamshel and Rogziel snarled with anger.
And the softer ones like Bardiel and Armisael simply broke down in tears.
However, Arael being Arael didn't bat an eye, for the wretch didn't much care for anything except his own enjoyment.
"It's not true...tell me it's not true." The youngest, Heir Tabris, forced through choked sobbing. It pained Haniel to see the boy cry, for the young Heir had never properly experienced loss before.
And considering his soft nature, he was not deserving of such pain.
"I'm afraid it is, my Heir." Haniel remained in a kneeling position.
The sudden scraping of armour against a black throne caused the entire chamber, save for the noises of grief, to fall silent.
Heavy footsteps echoed as the Lord of Ash descended his throne's stairs, the greater amount of light at the bottom of them showing his features to all the world.
The Sovereign's long grey hair, along with charred black cape, fluttered from the sheer amount of energy he produced simply by existing, as his white armour and chain mail clanked with every footstep.
He stopped in front of his children's thrones, his somewhat thirty-ish looking, sharp, pale face and red eyes having narrowed into a look of slight dissatisfaction.
"How?" He put forward in a highly controlled tone. However, the Fist knew full well the screaming rage his Sovereign was holding back could well atomise everything within a league.
"It would seem the, Vooren have built a contraption to fight us with, my Lord. It possesses great strength and speed, along with an immensely powerful wall of light. Stronger than all present in this room save for your children and yourself." Haniel gulped as the Sovereign gripped his sword hilt with every ounce of his strength.
Lesser weapons would have been crushed by such power.
But not Kaingrik.
"This is a...surprising turn of events. But it matters not. This is a setback...and nothing more." The master of the Divine exhaled deeply through his nose before setting his gaze upon his subordinates.
"My son is dead. His blood has been spilled by unworthy hands. I assure you, however this is a result of nothing but luck. So what if the enemy has merely bought itself another week of existence? We will shatter their civilisation, force them on their knees, and make them beg for forgiveness. Forgiveness for usurping that which is rightfully ours." He swirled around, turning his gaze upon the next in line from the empty throne.
"Shamshel, you will depart for the Old Realm within the week. Just this once...show no mercy." Were he not one who could control his expressions, the Sovereign would have grimaced at Shamshel's sadistic smile.
"As you wish father. I will send my brother's killer to hell screaming!" The now eldest in line to the throne snarled, whilst the one who sat next to him, his sister Ramiel, quietly shook her head and sighed without drawing attention to herself.
Honestly brother, your boasting will be the end of you one day.
The Minor Lords roared their approval to Shamshel's declaration, before the Sovereign raised his hand and hush descended upon the meeting once again.
"That'll be enough for today. All of you, leave. I have business to discuss with my Fist."
There was a cacophony of armour scraping against metal, as all present save for Haniel stood.
"Hail Sovereign Netzach! Lord of Ash, Lord of the Divine!" After the salute and customary bowing of heads, all present left the room. Now the Sovereign and his Fist had peace and quiet for their coming conversation.
"Rise."
Haniel did as he was commanded. Standing up to full height, he was still much shorter than his master.
At seven feet tall, Haniel would have towered over any human. And yet compared to his master, who was a further two feet taller than him, he seemed tiny.
The Divine in question stared at the throne upon which his son would never sit again with a hint of grief in his eyes.
"I should have dealt with this myself."
"No, my Lord. We still do not have much of an idea of what awaits us there, and we cannot afford to lose you..." Haniel said this without a hint of glorification or flattery.
He truly meant it.
And he was right.
"Tell that to those who remember the time before the Calamity. They still call me the Dark Lord behind my back."
"They are fools and they will learn. Because of you, my Lord, and only you, does our race survive."
"I could only save a million out of two billion. And after the work of the Vooren, there is but one hundred thousand of us left..." Netzach's gaze never left the empty throne.
Now his fist clenched.
"I couldn't even save her..."
"Yechel's death was not of your doing, my Lord. She made her choice, and you know it." Haniel said softly. The Royal advisor's wisdom was desperately needed by all. And, as fate was cruel, they wouldn't be getting it.
Netzach slowly exhaled as he straightened his posture.
"You are right my friend, as usual. The dead live in the past, I must focus on securing the future." He turned to face his Fist, purposefully swirling his cape through the air as even in a sombre state of mind, the Sovereign was always theatrical.
As was fitting of a people and culture who valued power and showing it off almost above all else.
"In your ventures to the Earth over the past seventeen years, you have established many contacts correct?"
"Yes, my Lord. Yet even with all those I could discover nothing of the monstrosity the, Vooren have built until today."
"But now our true foe has revealed themselves. Use those under your sway to find out what you can. A name would do for a start..." The Sovereign raised his eyebrow as Haniel coughed so as to interrupt.
"I am quite confident the organization in question is called NERV. They are highly secretive, and a great deal of money has gone into them over these past ten years. It seems I should have been more thorough in my investigations of them-" A gauntleted hand finding its way onto the Fist's shoulder ended that sentence before it finished.
"Haniel, I mistrusted your judgement once before and it cost me dearly. As such I have resolved never to make such a mistake again. But you must remember old friend, that even you are not above mistakes. Promise me that." Netzach smiled a warm smile, one he did not show often at all.
"As you wish, my Lord."
"Excellent." The Sovereign retracted his arm, before hardening his expression. The Fist returned to a kneeling position, knowing that his master was about to give him an order.
"Your Sovereign commands you. Use what resources you have to find out everything you possibly can about the whelps who dare stand against my will. The worthless scum who impede the reclamation of our home..." Netzach's gaze was redirected at the floor, his red eyes flaring.
"Tell me of the wretches who claimed my son's life..." The one true master of the Divine race's gaze hardened as cracks glowing with flickering orange energy began to appear in the floor he was staring at.
"Tell me of this...NERV."
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Well that's the first chapter done.
The whale is really rather dead now.
I won't start posting chapter 2 until the weekend or perhaps beyond, so as to let others get through the first chapter and not feel completely overwhelmed. I'll put up chapter 1 on fanfic.net whilst I'm at it. Although to be frank, I far prefer Sufficient Velocity when it comes to posting things, because you lot are so very nice.
I am actually overwhelmed by all the positive comments and compliments I've been receiving from people. I never thought my writing could be seen as anything more than "passable," let alone "good." Well, after this segment that will probably stop, but I appreciate everything I have received so far.
In short all your feedback is...really rather inspiring. Inspiring enough for me to keep typing away.
Until next time my dear readers
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Turing Decidable
𝕘𝕒𝕣𝕗
- Location
- Belgium
- Pronouns
- He/Him
So humanity has clashed with the Seraphim before? Interesting.
The use of an adverb here implies that they're bowing in a manner that is embarrassing. "In embarrasment" would fit better.
Needs an apostrophe since it's a plural possessive noun.
Unnecessary apostrophe.
As far as NGE alternative universes go, I think you've been doing a good job so far.
Lord Sovereign
The Emperor of shitty fanfic
- Location
- England