Summary: In the year of 2015, humanity finds itself facing a war for survival on two fronts. On one end, attacks from another world by cold and strange intelligences, on the other, strange unstoppable monsters that brush aside all defenses. Two organizations, each created to combat one of these threats, stand together in an uneasy alliance, and, for better or for worse, will decide the future of the human species.
Chapter 1
Operation Backhand Blow
Suggested listening music:
-A Cruel Angel's Thesis, original version.
-Starship Troopers, Klendathu Drop.
'We have to admit that writing a volume of this nature has been particularly difficult for us. While the records of the agencies involved, with the exception of NERV and SEELE, have virtually all become public record, there is an additional challenge in best employing the testimonies of the persons who came forward to give histories to us. In some cases, their descriptions may contradict extant records. Nevertheless, we have chosen to give the testimonies more weight, as respecting their opinions and conveying the human element surrounding the events of Instrumentality should be our priority as historians of people. We hope that you will find that we have achieved this goal in this work.'
Sincerely, the members of the Kozo Fuyutsuki Historical Organisation.
Shinji Ikari was sitting on the light monorail as sunlight drifted over him. Something seemed to have disturbed the trains of late-despite its association with the wealthy metropolis of Tokyo-3, the walls were dirty and the odd piece of litter lay on the floor. The crowds that had accompanied every other train, like lice to fur, were almost completely absent. This did not bother Shinji, who had his SDAT player on and a bag in his hands. He liked it this way.
Very few boys were satisfied living in a place where nobody ever showed up and nothing ever happened. Shinji Ikari was one of those few boys. Raised by a tutor for most of his life, steadily climbing the interminable steps of an educational system in a rural town locked in the death rattle of subsidized rice farming where nothing ever happened and nothing ever changed. Eternal summer cooked the place, floods eroded the endless subsidies sunk into dams, but patriotism could edge up to compound interest for the prize of most powerful force in the universe.
And now he had been called here. Tokyo-3. The newest Tokyo, the one that stood where others had fallen. Every child had learned the history of this city, the first GeoFront, built as an "...invincible defence to ensure the survival of the Japanese people..." If the boy in the train had bothered to look, he would have seen the skyscrapers, retractable in the face of flooding, the many-layered walls, the sunlight glinting off the gun emplacements and missile launchers, miles and miles of concrete and point defenses, crenellations without start or end.
The train stopped. Loudspeakers called out a station name, too muffled to tell-cut off by a more staccato beeping. Red light flooded the platform, and the train remained there, doors stuck open.
"May I have your attention please. As of 12:30 PM today, a state of emergency has been declared for the Canto and Chuba regions surrounding the Tokai district. All residents must evacuate to their shelters immediately."
Shinji looked around. The train was stopped. A squadron of planes growled by, somewhere above. They were fighting the aliens, no doubt. It had been all over the news lately. People going missing, strange, terrifying attacks on major cities, and giant, otherworldly craft spotted in Earth's atmosphere. He had seen the lights of one of their craft one night, before his guardian ordered him to the shelter.
The letter from his father was in his right hand.
"I should get going. I shouldn't be late."
Shinji was walking down the sidewalk, past cars with open doors, food that was left behind on tables, radios gone from music to "a special state of emergency has-" when he smelt it. At first, the cloying, sweet smell of propellants that made Shinji choke on air, and then the acrid stink of ozone from electrothermal barrels, arcing lighting into killing power. Frantic, Shinji turned into the first shelter, a phonebooth, and grabbed for the phone inside.
"This is a recording."
Panic was mixed with frustration, and then a short bout of gagging as the stench of propellant overwhelmed him. Shinji looked down at the note that Misato Katsuragi had left on her photograph.
Every part of him paid attention.
Overhead, transmission wires whipped suddenly in the wind. Shinji whirled to look and, for a fraction of a second, spotted something. He had no idea what he saw, only that it was gone before he had even realized it was there. The only thing he had registered was a pinprick of bright pink. He blinked. Had it been a bit of stray trash? Tokyo-3 wasn't exactly in short supply.
Down the road, he spotted a strange girl. She was wearing a school uniform, and her striking blue hair whipped in the wind, the only part of her that moved. A blink and she was gone.
Another crash burst upon his stream of consciousness. The monster was nearby, walking through a building and several dozen bunker-buster rockets. A scream died in Shinji's throat as he saw the bleach bone skull mask that covered it's faces, it's dangling arms, the foul shamble that brought the rough beast ever closer.
A JSSDF Thunderbird hovered nearby, firing rocket after the rocket into the sticky black monster, all of which bounced off a sheen that made Shinji's teeth ache. Faster than the eyes could track, the monster reached out to grab the fightercraft-and while the plane's avionics yanked it up and away, the arm rippled to ensnare and crush the plane, ending it in a puff of fire.
Shinji turned and ran, terror and ozone causing his senses to light up across the board. With his vision so obscured by tears from the rot of propellent, the teenager almost ran right into a car that was screaming up to him.
"Need a lift?" The vehicle was almost as fetching as the vehicle, and as eye-opening.
Shinji had entered in the car. Beside him, Misato Katsuragi, the woman who had picked him up, was chattering away, talking about her work and his father's job at NERV. The streets were empty, and for the moment, the boy had entered his head. Radio chatter mixed with Misato's upbeat commentary mixed into the background rumble of ordnance, forming a soundtrack to compliment the SDAT.
"Shinji, are you ok?"
"Oh, I'm-"
"Break break break, this is Chained Mountain Command to Task Forces Lima, Charlie, and Whiskey! Disengage from target immediately! Contingency Cobra Decorum has been authorized!"
"Shit!" Shinji was joled back into the present, pulled. "They're going to use an N2 mine!" Slamming on the brakes, Misato brought the car to a screeching halt along the edge of the road before grabbing Shinji and throwing him down onto the seat. On the way down, Shinji caught a glimpse of the swarm of JSSDF craft that had been engaging the alien disappearing and falling back. Then, a blinding light and overwhelming wave of heat washed over him. Even face down in the leather of the car's seat, he could feel his retinas burn from the intensity of the light, his back absorbing heat leached from another world.
There was a sickening lurch in his stomach and he felt as if his back had slammed into a hard surface with a soft cushion over it, a grunt of pain eminating from Misato as he did. Opening his eyes, he saw the world spinning around him and felt Misato's arms wrapped tightly around his waist. The world flipped over and over again, righting itself only to turn upside down again, more times than Shinji could count. He and Misato were bounced all over the interior of her car, and for a terrifying moment, Shinji thought that they might die this way. But then, just as soon as it had started, it stopped.
The car came to a rest, thankfully right side up, and he and Misato slid back into the seats. "Ow," Misato said, wincing noticeably as she slid back into the driver's seat. She turned the key and the engine gave a strange, click-infused whine before dying. "Crap," she said, trying a few more times with similar results.
"Um. Can you fix it?" Shinji asked. He didn't know a lot about cars.
"If we didn't lose a fuel line, didn't damage the car computer, and didn't throw the transmission all over the highway, we may have a chance!" Her optimism was clearly forced, but she did sound enthusiastic about getting under the hood. Popping the hood to the car, she exited the car, walking around to the front, and looking in. She let out a poorly restrained sigh. "Well, the battery is utterly trashed. That's a pretty big dent in it." Misato gave the car a kick out of frustration.
"Um. Does that mean we have to find another one?" Shinji asked nervously. He could've sworn he heard somewhere that you didn't charge car batteries, you got new ones.
"That's an option," Misato said, glancing wearily at the Angel in the distance. It was half hunched over, and appeared to be...melting. "But time's a factor here. Most of the cars around here got caught up in the N2 mine shockwave just like we did, they'll be damaged too." She paused for a second, then reached back into the car, said something that sounded a lot like "screw it" and pulled out what looked like a radio; outside of the push-to-talk handset and mic, there were two large boxes, one red and one blue, linked to a smaller green ribbon. "Bradford? It's Captain Katsuragi. I need a hand here."
XXXXX
Zhang shifted his heavy laser rifle, giving it a good look over. It felt alien in his hand. Brand new weapons as a concept were something he wasn't very familiar with, nearly every gun he had ever wielded had been a worn one. Either it had been second hand, surplus, or simply taken off of the corpse of an enemy. It had been disorienting to be simply given an assault rifle that felt like it had just come off the assembly line, like any other XCOM operative. But even that paled in comparison to this weapon.
It wasn't like a normal rifle, it was sleek and shiny, as opposed to gunmetal gray or black. It was oddly boxed shaped too, the result of Vhalen and Chen not caring at all about aesthetic appeal and focusing purely on performance. This was nothing, however, compared to how the weapon handled. It felt like he was barely doing anything when he pulled the trigger, the lack of recoil making him feel like he was playing with a children's toy. The first time he had fired it, he had thought nothing had happened, until he had spotted that he had burned a hole in a Sectoid's head.
It had taken a fair bit of practice to get over a lot of ingrained muscle memory. He didn't have to compensate for wind, drop off or kickback. He just had to point and pull and the enemy would burn. It said a lot about the way this war against the aliens was evolving. Not only were the aliens revealing more and more of their capabilities, XCOM was developing technology unlike any humanity had ever seen. The battlefield between humanity and the aliens was changing enough that people were throwing around the phrase revolution in military affairs. The only normal gun he had was the sawn-off shotgun slung over his back, an emergency holdout weapon.
None of that had prepared him for this though. He had seen the giant green monster lumbering through Tokyo-3, immune to screens of fire so intense that even alien craft exposed to them would've collapsed within seconds. Not only did it not so much as blink, but an N2 mine, a pure fusion weapon, had only hurt it. It was standing perfectly still at ground zero, a good portion of its body just gone. And it was rapidly regenerating. Estimates were that it would fully recover in a matter of hours.
"They're calling that thing an Angel. Looks a hell of a lot more like a demon to me." He glanced to his side. Three other operatives were in the back of the Skyranger with him. A slightly understrength squad, but all that was needed for the light touch and go operation they were on. Technically, it wasn't an official squad, only one temporarily created for this specific mission. Most of it was comprised of 2nd Squad, Zhang's original squad, with two soldiers missing. One for the understandable reason that he was bedridden, the other having been declared unfit for the mission. In other words, he was not the type of person anyone wanted around a fourteen year old, something Zhang sadly understood.
The one who had spoken was Virginia "Artemisia" Wilder, a blonde haired, muscular American who was sitting next to him. Her hair was tied up in a strict bun, there were notable plasma burn scars on the right side of her rugged face, and she had a silver chain around her neck that was just barely visible under her carapace armor. She was the only one who wasn't normally under Zhang's command, usually leading her own squad, 3rd Squad. She had been called in to replace his normal recon rifleman.
"I agree," he replied. "It looks like a Zhàyǔ." She looked quizzical. "A being of pure Yin that eats men."
Virginia gave a bitter laugh. "Would've gone with a more Judeau-Christian reference since that's what the geniuses at NERV decided to go with."
"Beelzebub?" The man across from them, a Russian man by the name of Dimitri "Koschei" Sokolov, looked up from his laser sniper rifle. He gave a small shrug. "It fits."
"It does, I'm not going to lie," Virginia said giving Dimitri a thumbs up. Dimitri was a man who looked overwhelmingly average-if a little on the thin side. He had average length brown hair, chopped into a generic haircut around an utterly featureless face. His attitude seemed to reflect this. He would smile, laugh, and growl with anger with the same passion as any regular man, but he was light on words. It was rare for him to say a sentence with more than five words in it. He was from the Spetsnaz, and from the stories that he'd heard, classifying the operator as a mere 'marksman' was definitely short-changing him.
"Ah, what's it matter what it's called? What matters is what we're gonna call it when we're done with it. A corpse." The fourth and final member of their squad, the Australian Catalin "Kelly" Harris, had a heavy gatling laser propped up against her shoulder. On top of that, wasn't just wearing the same carapace armor, but a gray exoskeleton that hugged her armor and came with a wrist mounted rocket launcher. She had the tell-tale signs of someone who had grown up in a rural area. Rougher features, as well as tougher looking skin and a healthy tan. "Speaking of which, is there any reason we're heading out after the evac's been ordered? It must be something important if we're doing it instead of trying to figure out how to kill that thing."
Zhang nodded. "Captain Katsuragi was on a pick up run when the Angel attacked, retrieving a VIP by the name of Shinji Ikari. We're to help her retrieve him."
"Wait a minute," Virginia said, sounding annoyed. "This is the first time I've heard his name. Ikari? As in the same last name the commander of NERV has? That Ikari? Oz himself? We're picking up his goddamn kid?" Dimitri and Catalin had similar reactions. Dimitri stared at Zhang with annoyance just barely visible in his eyes, and Caitlin's smile had slid off her face.
"Yes, it's the commander's son," Zhang continued. "NERV has reason to believe that he is capable of piloting Evangelion."
"I don't know about those Evas, boss," Catalin said, sounding uncertain. "They won't even let us see the bloody things. And I've been hearing a bunch of chatter about it. They don't say much, but they do say that this mysterious First Child they don't want us to know anything about is the only one who has been able to get them to work. You know, the one in the hospital right now? Let's face it, NERV managed to create a weapon it can't use 99.99% of the time, and the other .01% it nearly kills the pilot. And we don't even really know if it can actually hurt that thing"
"If that's what we're getting the kid for, I think I jumped the gun," Virginia admitted, leaning back in her chair and looking up at the ceiling. She looked uncomfortable. Zhang couldn't blame her. No XCOM personnel had been allowed anywhere near the Evangelion test, but they had all heard the results, particularly how the malfunctioning weapon had almost killed the First Child. "Maybe he's trying to shame the kid. Or hell, trying to get him killed. I mean, from what I've heard, Ikari's practically been living at the GeoFront for the last ten years, and this is the first time I've ever heard of a son. Why would he want the kid all of a sudden? Just to stuff him in a malfunctioning war machine?"
"It was the prototype," Dimitri said. "The other could be different."
"He has a point," Zhang said. "The First Child was testing the prototype. They have another stored away in the GeoFront, presumably with less flaws. Either way, Shinji Ikari must be returned to the GeoFront without harm. Captain Katsuragi's vehicle was damaged in the N2 blast. Thankfully, she and Ikari were only exposed to the outmost edge of the blast, but they require alternate transport."
"Of all the freaking timing," Virginia said. "She goes to pick up the kid the second that Angel attacks. Talk about shitty luck." She was still looking at the ceiling, idly playing with the chain around her neck.
"E.T.A.?" Dimitri asked, his attention returning to his rifle.
"Big Sky? E.T.A.?" Zhang asked over the person to person radio piece he had in his ear.
"Oh, I'd say about...three...two...one." As the deep voice of Big Sky echoed through the radio, the Skyranger began to dip, slowing as it did. Within a few seconds, there was a loud clang as it landed. Everyone in the squad was on their feet, weapons at the ready.
"Be careful," Zhang said, checking the power cell on his rifle one last time. "This is supposed to be an easy pickup, but you never know what the aliens might try. We have no idea how they'll react to the Angel. A Thin Man could always be lurking around the corner." As he spoke, the ramp to the Skyranger lowered, and the squad disembarked.
Zhang took point, making a quick sweep of the area. They were on an expressway, deserted cars dotting it, flipped wrecks from the shockwave of the N2 mine. The other XCOM operatives spread out behind him, checking all angles to ensure that there were no unwelcome guests hiding in the shadows. After a brief yet intense silence, a trio of "clear"s broke it. "Clear," Zhang finished off.
"Captain! Over here!" The familiar figure of Captain Katsuragi was waving at him, standing next to a sports car that probably cost more than the entire squad's organs.
Virginia whistled. "I'll bust my ass to make captain if it means I can afford a car like that," she muttered.
Zhang smiled. "Trust me. XCOM doesn't get the same pay as NERV." The four operatives approached the car that Captain Katsuragi was standing by. It was indeed an impressive looking car. Some European model that Zhang didn't recognize, though he could tell that it was certainly expensive. "Any major injuries?" he asked, switching from English to Japanese. Behind him he could hear Catalin barely suppress a groan.
All XCOM operative stationed in Japan had been required to learn as much Japanese as they could, to better interface with local forces. For Zhang, that hadn't been a problem, as he had spoken Japanese for years before he had even joined. It had been an important tool of his old trade. Virginia had proven to be a fast learner, while Dimitri had taken longer but was now at the point where he could hold prolonged conversations. Albeit conversations where he listened more than talked.
Caitlin, however, was very far from a natural when it came to second languages. Zhang had seen her staying up late into the night, her nose buried in an English to Japanese dictionary, a massive pile of notes at her side. Despite this, her progress was slow, and she was only capable of holding basic conversations. As he continued to speak in Japanese, Zhang could hear Virginia whispering in Caitlin's ear, no doubt translating for her.
"Car's a bit banged up, but aside from that we're doing just fine," Misato said brightly. "Most importantly, Shinji's ok." She gestured to her side. Zhang blinked in surprise. A young boy, no older than fourteen, was standing here. He had a thin figure and had his hands clasped together over a large black bookbag, nervously looking at the four strangers that had just appeared. He hadn't been sure what to expect from Commander Ikari's son, but he was certain this was the exact opposite. He looked unthreatening, timid, and unsure of himself.
Zhang didn't need to look at the members of his squad to know that they were all thinking the same thing as him. This boy was going to be piloting NERV's secret weapon? He was going to be fighting the Angel? As he looked on, Zhang thought back to what Virginia had theorized not too long ago. Was Commander Ikari trying to get his son killed?
"Oh, Shinji-kun," Misato said happily, putting a hand on the boys shoulder. He gave a badly repressed flinch at the physical contact, and Zhang felt a sympathy for the boy. Whoever Commander Ikari had left to raise him, they clearly hadn't done a very good job. "I almost forgot, you'll allowed to know who these people are now. It's normally classified, but now you have the clearance! Did you ever watch the news and hear about strange military aircraft engaging alien ships? About men and women with advanced equipment and body armor?" Shinji gave a slow nod.
"That was them!" Misato said proudly, gesturing to the gathered XCOM squad. "XCOM. Extraterrestrial Combat Force." It always was a bit of a tortured acronym, Zhang thought privately.
"So... is my father working with them?" Shinji asked hesitantly. Something unpleasant was lurking at the back of Zhang's mind. This situation didn't feel right, not a single thing about it. It was one thing to be picking up a fourteen year old who was supposed to pilot some super of secret weapon that he didn't know the first thing about. That alone would have made him feel uncomfortable. It was another to do the same thing to a fourteen year old who didn't seem to have any idea what he was doing or what was going on. It added a whole new layer of wrong. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Virginia shoot him an uncomfortable look.
"Not exactly," Misato said, her grin faltering for just a second. Apparently this was catching her off guard a bit as well. "He and I are part of another organization called NERV. XCOM and NERV are separate, but we work closely together because we have a common goal-protecting humanity. XCOM protects us from the aliens, NERV protects us from the Angels." To emphasize her point, she pointed at the dormant Angel, clearly visible in the distance. "I can tell you more on the way there. Anyway, can you four please help me get my car into the Skyranger? The battery's dead, and I am not leaving it out here to-"
"Boss! High aerial contact! 3'o clock!" Zhang's neck craned up. For a second he had no idea what Dimitri was talking about. And then he saw it. A speck in the distance, barely noticeable to the naked eye, that was slowly getting bigger as it descended, at a rather rapid pace no less. Zhang couldn't make out any features, but there was only one thing that could move that fast, bank with such precision, and make no noise.
"Not now," he whispered.
"Gamma Squad!" The voice of Central Officer Bradford crackled across their radios, using their temporary designation. "Satellites are picking up an alien large scout in your area! Get the package and get out of there, it looks like it's making a direct run for you. Round Table has deployed, but it'll be a minute before they can get there!"
"Everyone, on the Skyranger, now! Captain, you and Shinji first," Zhang barked, his eyes still locked on the UFO. Unless he was counting wrong, that would make this one UFO-17. At least this one was only a scout, but to someone on the ground while it was active, that was a small comfort. He heard raised voices and barely saw Misato half pulling, half dragging Shinji onto the Skyranger. As she did, Gamma Squad began to pile onboard, Zhang being the last to board as the UFO neared.
"Everybody hold on tight!" Big Sky called from the cockpit, and the Skyranger lurched ungracefully forward, the bay door only half closed as it lifted off. Through the cracks in the closing door, Zhang saw streaks of plasma vaporize the ground where the Skyranger had been parked mere seconds ago. "Round Table, this is Big Sky, we've got a tango right on our six, assistance required."
"This is Lancelot! Hold on Big Sky, we're on our way!" a female voice with a thick, North English accent replied, her voice loud enough to be heard even in the passenger section of the Skyranger
"Everyone strap in, I'm taking evasive maneuvers!" Big Sky ordered. True to his word, he gave a violent jerk to the side,nearly throwing his passengers out of their seats. Thankfully, Misato had been quick on the uptake and had already secured Shinji to his seat, but had not managed to do the same for herself. She nearly flew out, and would have if Dimitri, already buckled in, had not grabbed her with both hands, just barely holding her in place
The rest of the squad had been halfway through their own process of strapping in when the maneuver had happened. Virginia was thrown viciously against the straps as she still held them, her face reddening in pain as she held them together through sheer force of will, trying to hold them up. Catalin was hardly doing much better, having got half of her straps secure, she was awkwardly dangling out of her seat, looking sick. Zhang, being the last one on board, had not gotten a single bit of himself secure, and was reduced to holding on for dear life as the Skyranger arced through the air, trying not to end up on the ceiling or floor, wherever he would end up if he slipped.
Then, mercifully, the VTOL righted itself. Zhang slid to the ground, Catalin was able to finish strapping herself in, the red flushed out of Virginia's face, and Misato muttered a thanks to Dimitri as she secured herself. Shinji was quiet and looked unhurt, although he was rather green in the face and sweating profusely.
Outside the Skyranger, over the roar of its engines, Zhang could hear the sound of multiple aircraft ripping past at immense speed. He sighed in relief. Round Table, XCOM's Japanese based fighter squadron, was as responsive as they always were.
"Percival!" Lancelot barked over the radio. "Fall back and protect Big Sky, make sure they get back home safely. Bors, you and Tristan go high, make sure the tango can't escape and dive bomb it if you get the chance. Gawain, with me. We're gotta hit that thing from both sides and take it down quick." The other pilots snapped out acknowledgements, freeing targeting computers and energy weapons as the unarmed Sykranger fled the scene.
Vaguely, Zhang could still hear the roaring engine of Percival giving them cover, a much needed comfort. An awkward silence filled the Skyranger as Misato double checked to make sure Shinji hadn't been hurt. The boy looked overwhelmed and terrified, and Zhang doubted that anyone in the room blamed him. He had been caught in the outer shockwave of a pure fusion weapon, had no doubt seen the rampage that the Angel had made through Tokyo-3, and now he had just barely survived an alien strafing run. It was a miracle he hadn't broken down.
"What were they doing?" Dimitri asked suddenly. There was a dark look on his face as he glanced at his fellow operatives. "Why were they there?"
"What do you mean, why were they there?" Catalin asked in confusion. "They've been running hit and run attacks ever since they showed up, it seems pretty par for the course for them."
"Why in Tokyo-3?" Dimitri replied. "Why now? Why didn't they clear off? The Angel should've scared them." Zhang frowned. The Russian man had a point. As advanced as alien ships could be, the angel could've easily destroyed the scout UFO. There probably wouldn't even have been very much left.
"Forget now," Virginia said, "what are they doing in Tokyo-3 at all?. We've never seen them send craft into this city before, and now that we know more about it, it's no wonder. It's too heavily fortified. Even that battleship we took care of in Beijing wouldn't be able to stand up to the kind of firepower this place has."
Zhang mulled that over. The battleship he had turned traitor to the Triads to take down, that had needed to be stormed in force, the most powerful UFO seen to date. And she was right, Tokyo-3's defensive grid would have torn it apart within seconds, even without the N-2 Mines. Yet the Angel hadn't even been fazed. Zhang prayed that the Evangelion was as good as NERV thought it was.
The ride took on a rather uncomfortable stance from that point on. Zhang could tell that none of the other operatives knew that the boy was doing his best to try to understand what was going on, and no one wanted to pile more on him than they already had. Either in a language he couldn't understand, or even worse, a language he did. He had to fight back a thousand questions he had for Misato over exactly what was going on. The boy probably had all of them plus some more, and Zhang was certain the boy was half scared about the answers to those questions.
Slowly, the minutes trickled by, until a welcome bit of news trickled in over the radio. "This is Lancelot, target is down. Tried to make a break for it, but Tristain downed it in the outer city limits. Central, please advise. Leave it or slag it?"
"That all depends on whether or not we have time to deploy a squad," Bradford replied. "Normally it'd be a non issue, particularly when it's practically right next door. But we shouldn't be sending any other squads out so long as that Angel's out there, unless we know they can make it back safe. As it stands, I say slag it."
"Central," a third voice said, suddenly entering the conversation. It was a thick, gruff voice, one that sounded as if it was tempered with experience and resolve. "My squad's already armored and armed, we can deploy in five minutes and be back in thirty. That thing out there can't heal that fast. Just give the word. If the UFO was carrying Chrysalids, even one getting loose would be a massacre. We can't just have Round Table bomb it and hope for the best."
There was a long silence from Bradford, before a loud beep echoed over the communication lines. Zhang stiffened. That was a very distinct beep, and he knew what it meant. "All right Hernandez, the Commander has approved your request. I'll order Firebrand to warm up her engines. I want this mission to be as quick as possible though. No taking any aliens alive, no concern for damaging salvage, just don't hit the UFO's power core if you can help it. Get in, kill them all, get the hell out. Understood?"
"Understood." With that, the line became silent.
"You heard him Round Table, we're leaving this to the ground pounders, we've done our part," Lancelot said. "Head back, keep Big Sky covered just to be safe."
"Oh god, they're getting Thor heading in their direction," Catalin said, barely restrained glee in her voice. Osvaloo "Thor" Hernandez-unofficially, in some parts of XCOM's Japanese base, still referred to by his old callsign; Delta-2. The XCOM operative that easily had the most experience fighting aliens. Any surviving aliens were a few minutes away from a quick and brutal death.
"Everything's taken care of," Zhang said to Misato, though partially for Shinji's sake as well. "UFO-17 has been grounded, Firebrand and 1st Squad is on its way to deal with any survivors. Round Table will escort us back to the GeoFront where you can explain the situation." Zhang almost said "to Shinji," but decided not to. It sent a very clear signal to Misato, his squad was all in the dark and would like an explanation. She seemed to understand, as her smile was rather knowing as she nodded.
A few more uncomfortable minutes, filled with nothing but awkward silence, slid by. Finally, Big Sky broke it. "Approaching access point, requesting permission to enter GeoFront."
"Lancelot here, requesting the same for Round Table."
"Access granted for both," Bradford said. There was a loud grinding noise, easily audible even above the roar of both the Skyranger and the squadron of Ravens. When it stopped, the aircraft began to descend again. Shinji blinked in confusion and looked around for an explanation. Zhang smiled warmly at the boy, or at least he hoped the smile would be taken as a warm one. Despite everything about the situation, the boy would be in for a treat once he learned what was making that noise.
A solid minute of descent followed, before the lurching of the Skyranger landing brought it to an end. "It is now safe to disembark," Big Sky announced. "Please steer clear of the fighter runway, Round Table is coming in to rearm." As the ramp to the VTOL lowered, the members of Gamma Squad gratefully began to undo their buckles, Misato helping a dazed Shinji with his.
Slowly, they disembarked the aircraft, even the hardened soldiers a little disoriented from the rushed takeoff, followed their precious cargo. "Wow!" the boy said in amazement. That was pretty much everyone's reaction to seeing the GeoFront for the first time. A massive underground cavern that was just as bright and teeming with foliage as the world above, a massive upside down city hanging from the ceiling above. A gaping hole spread in the roof above them, one that had slid open to enable them access. Shinji was gaping open mouthed at it, just as five Ravens gently hovered down through it, towards XCOM's landing strip.
XCOM's Japanese base, the Citadel, followed the same format all their secondary bases did. Not impressive to look at, a side effect of the majority of it being underground. What was visible was a single, grayish building that was about a mile long and a mile wide. Aside from the airstrip that Round Table was landing on, it looked rather generic and boring, particularly compared to the towering pyramid of Central Dogma on the other side of the GeoFront.
"Damn, looks like Percival took a bit of fire," Virginia said, sounding worried. Sure enough, one of the Ravens had noticeable scorch marks on it, and seemed to be shaking a little in mid air. The five craft gently landed not too far away from the Skyranger, refueling trucks and repair vehicles dashing out to meet them. "You think she's ok?"
"Yes," Dimitri said simply.
"It'd take more than that to down a Raven, they're tough old dogs," Catalin said confidently. "I've seen them come in looking worse than that. Still, that was a shot they took protecting us, we should probably thank them. 1st Squad too, when they get back That's a couple of rounds on us." The cockpits to the Round table fighters slid open. Most of the pilots remained in their seats, stretching their arms. However, the lead most fighter, one with a RAF roundel on the side, had its pilot jump out. "Speak of the devil." The pilot had jumped onto one of the transportation carts driving up and down the runway, and had steered it in their direction.
"Package secure!?" she called as the cart drew close. She undid her flight helmet as it reached them, grinding to a halt, revealing her cropped black hair and bright, wide face. "You lot all right?"
"We're fine, Amber," Zhang said, watching the English woman disembark the cart. "We may be needing that and a couple of others. We've got someone we need to get to the GeoFront."
A bright smile flashed across her face. It was uncannily movie star like. If Amber ever got sick of flying combat missions, Zhang could see her as having an excellent career in propaganda. "I can get that arranged!" Turning on the spot, she put her hands to her mouth and bellowed. "OI! We're gonna need two more carts over here! Double time it!" Zhang fought the urge to wince. 'The woman had quite a set of lungs on her. Still, it did the trick. Within seconds, a pair of carts had diverted away from the Citadel's landing strip, heading straight to them.
"You probably didn't notice, but Firebrand passed us going the other way," Amber said, her smile slipping a bit. "Shite, they're really going out there. Even though there's that...thing."
Zhang nodded. "It's our job. Can't let the aliens loose near a major city, even if it's been evacuated."
"Pity that the thing out there couldn't do their job for them," Amber said bitterly, before giving her head a small shake and her dazzling smile reappeared. "Aw well, it's our line of work after all. Anyway, just wanted to pop by to say hullo. Round Table has orders to be on standby until further notice. I should be heading back." She was about to leave when she spotted Shinji. She paused, looking uncertain. "Uh, Zhang? Make sure the lad is eating. He looks like he's been skipping meals." Zhang nodded. As much as he hated to admit it, Shinji did look a little, well, starved. Her smile's confidence shrinking, Amber clambered back onto the cart and gave the edge a good smack, prompting the driver to speed off. Said driver, a young XCOM security guard with a bit of a baby face, shot a quick look of confusion at Shinji before her cart zipped away.
"Well, everyone on board," Zhang said, the other two carts stopping in front of them. He couldn't help but feel uneasy as he climbed aboard the nearest one. Alien ships and giant monsters. Whatever NERV was cooking up, they were in a lot of trouble if it was underdone.
XXXXX
Osvaloo felt an odd sense of tranquility. It was a momentary thing, a flash in the pan. Combat was never a source of comfort for him, too many bad memories there. But there was an eye in the storm. In-between the tension of the approach, the chaos of the clash, and the pain of the end, there were small spots of relief. In that moment, Osvaloo was experiencing one of those moments of relief.
When a Muton's head was destroyed by a concentrated burst of heavy laser fire, there was a moment where nothing happened. The headless alien stood there, for a fraction of a second, as the last instructions from its brain had sent to its muscles to keep it standing upright kept it in place. Then, without constant feedback to make adjustments, the muscles would go slack, and it would topple over. Osvaloo took great pleasure in watching a Muton like that. The tower of muscle and brutality, reduced to a puppet with its strings cut.
"THOR! 2 O'CLOCK!" And like that, the half a second of tranquility was gone. His gatling laser was brought to bare and blared to life. A Floater had been poking its head around the edge of a tree, lining up a shot. It managed to get a single one off before a hailstorm of laser fire cut it, and the tree it was hiding behind, in half.
"Reloading!" Osvaloo announced, bending down behind an abandoned car and ejecting his now empty canister of coolant. When he had first been given an energy weapon, he had expected magazines would have been replaced with power cells. But no, the Elerium power cell in his weapon was such a treasure trove of energy that it would take decades of combat to drain it. However, Shen and Vahlen lasers produced a massive amount of heat, and needed constant streams of coolant. Slapping a fresh canister in, he cocked his gatling laser, the coolant flushing into it.
The UFO had crashed right into a two story house, turning the majority of it to rubble. The only bit of it that was still standing was part of the forward wall, which a trio of Mutons were using as cover as they poured down fire on their attackers. Bringing up his gatling laser, he resumed fire.
He vaguely registered his squad battling around him. He only dedicated enough of his mind to make sure that they weren't in danger and were doing all right. One had flanked a Sectoid that was taking cover behind a tree to the right of the house. The small alien had had its throat blown out with the blast of a scatter laser before its killer began firing on the Mutons. A sniper fired from far behind him and took one of the Mutons in the gut. The hulking brute doubled over, making it an easy target for a scatter laser shot.
Osvaloo's fire ripped apart the trigger arm of one of the surviving Mutons. He was about to finish the bleeding alien off when he spotted the other one aiming directly at him. He ducked down, a bolt of plasma streaking over his head, the overwhelming heat making him flinch. "Grenade!" one of his squad mates shouted, followed by a massive explosion a few seconds later. If the cry of agony from one of the Mutons was anything to go by, it had found its mark.
Popping back up, he saw that there was only a single survived Muton, the same one whose arm he had removed. It was kneeling down, reaching for its rifle. Osvaloo opened fire, not able to get a bead on the head, and instead focusing fire on the body. It took a couple of seconds for the lasers to tear though the armor, but after that, the fleshy innards were flashed cooked under the assault. The Muton keeled over dead, but it stood standing for a blink of an eye. Osvaloo experienced another brief moment of relief.
"Scan the area!" he ordered, ejecting an empty canister of coolant and slapping in his last one. It looked like they had gotten the last of the aliens, but you could never be sure with these things. There had been a few too many times where there had been one hiding out in an ambush. He kept his gatling laser at the ready. "With me, UFO takes priority." The adrenaline rush was still pounding through his body. His body was still in fight or flight mode, even though the fight was over. He was still only barely registering his men, making sure they were out of danger. The rest of his mind was obsessively scanning the area for any remaining enemies, waiting for a stimuli that would give away their position.
He didn't have to wait long.
There was a loud groan of metal on metal within the UFO. The entire squad stopped, weapons aiming in the direction of the sound. Osvaloo debated on whether to order his men forward or have them pull back when he heard the roar. A massive, hulking alien beast smashed through what was left of the house, causing the pitiful remnant of the wall to crumble. It held no weapons aside from a few spikes on its fists, and was charging with frightening speed at the operative who had flanked the Mutons' position. A Berserker.
"FUCK!" The operative that had been targeted by the Berserk fired, a laser blast flashing. It didn't even slow the thing down. Osvaloo was already responding. Instead of his gatling laser, he reached out with his right arm, his palm held flat. A wrist mounted rocket launcher rose up, loaded and primed. He squeezed his palm. The rocket fired, arcing through the air, aimed just in front of where the Berserker was. Perfectly timed so that when it hit the ground, it was directly at the feet of the charing alien.
The adrenaline rush doubled down and time seemed to slow down by a tenth. He could see the rocket tear apart at the Berserker, ripping both of her legs off and shredding apart a good portion of her torso. Before the explosion had even dissipated, the Berserker's head turned and its eyes met Osvaloo. It roared, identifying its new attacker, and began to claw its way towards him.
Even with a third of its body missing, the Berserker was only barely slowed. It viciously tore its way across the soil, uprooting handfuls of it as it moved at a fighting speed. Any pain that it was feeling seemed to have been dulled, if the thing was even physically capable of feeling pain. Globs of blood were being left behind as the creature moved, but they were dramatically thinning as the Berserker's blood clotted at an unnaturally fast rate.
Both hands back on his gatling laser, Osvaloo fired. Bolt after bolt tore into the advancing Berserker, flesh burning and blood boiling as its head and upper torso were reduced to burnt mulch, bit by bit. Even then, it stubbornly pushed on, closing on Osvaloo. Finally, its entire body now a deformed mess, it reached the leader of 1st Squad and grabbed out. There was a snap and a blinding pain filled Osvaloo's ankle. Even then, he continued to fire. The Berserker tried to reach out with its other arm, but at this point it had been reduced to a torso with nothing but two arms. A few more laser bolts ripped into its torso, and the charred remnants of a body finally went limp.
"MEDIC!" Osvaloo bellowed, looking down and wincing in pain as he did. The Berserker had grabbed his ankle and given it a vicious twist, no doubt attempting to pull him to the ground. He had a good feeling that was what would have happened if he had been a second slower. With some difficulty, he pulled his ankle out of the inhuman grip and slumped down next to the dead alien, his squad's medic approaching him.
"Doesn't look too bad, the fracture isn't complex," the medic said, producing a med kit. Osvaloo was barely paying attention. The adrenaline rush was finally starting to wear off. Whether it was because of the pain, how long the fight had gone on, or both, Osvaloo had no idea. But enough of it was left that he was still scanning the area for more aliens. He was fairly certain that that was really all there was. He still checked.
"I'll give it a quick splint on the Skyranger, then we can have someone take a proper look at it back at base," the medic said, giving Osvaloo's leg a healthy spray. The pain dulled. The nanosutures within the medkit would temporarily rebind the fractured bones in his ankles, but they would give out within 24 hours. More than enough time to get back to The Citadel. A splint would still probably be for the best though, as this technology was experimental, and far from foolproof.
"Central, all hostiles eliminated, only one minor injury sustained," Osvaloo said as he gingerly stood up, his finger pressing to his earpiece. "Firebrand," he continued. "All hostiles are neutralized. Move in for a quick extraction and-" Osvaloo was cut off as a strange, alien sound pierced the sky. Turning to face it with the rest of his squad, he felt his stomach turn to ice. A bright, almost blinding light had emanated from the Angel, and around the same time, one of the VTOLs orbiting the dormant creature had been engulfed in a ball of fire. There was no obvious link between the two, but everyone who was watching knew for a fact what had just happened.
"Central, be advised," Osvaloo said, watching with unblinking eyes as the Angel took a slow step forward, continuing on the path it had been taking before the N2 mine had brought it to a halt. "Angel is no longer dormant. I repeat, Angel is no longer dormant. And it appears to possess some kind of long range capability." Osvaloo had seen the feeds of the Angel's trek through Tokyo-3. The closest thing it had used to a ranged attack then was some sort of spike that had emerged from its hand, and even that had not given it more capability than a few lengths of its arm. This was much more effective, and apparently accurate.
"Noted Colonel," Bradford replied. "We're seeing it over here too. It's safe to assume that that thing will see any aircraft within its effective range as a threat. Returning to base is not an option at the moment. Firebrand, get 1st Squad and fall back to emergency rendezvous point 17. Hold position there until further notice. Firebrand, if the Angel changes course, you are authorized to adjust your destination accordingly."
"Copy that Central," Firebrand said. "1st Squad? I'd hurry if I were you guys. We don't know if this things sees a difference between a landed bird and one in the air."
That was perfectly true, and not something Osvaloo had thought about. Truth be told, he had been focusing mainly on the aliens and not the Angel. That was an ironic bit of fate. The aliens had been his happy place. He had never thought he'd see the day when he had been focusing on them in order to make himself feel just a little bit better. Something inside of him twinged. He had to keep the dark thoughts at bay, he couldn't afford to let them in now, not when he had people out there. "Understood Central," he said, before gesturing to his men. "Change of plans, we're bugging out to one of our holdout points, command doesn't want us anywhere near that thing."
As if on cue, the Skyranger appeared and slowly began to descend towards their position, back ramp opening. The rest of 1st Squad clambered on, a bit more quickly than was typical for a post mission retrieval, with Osvaloo waiting for the last operative before he moved for the craft himself. He was halfway on the Skyranger when the radio lit up with new alarms. "Central?"
"Firebrand, belay take off orders!" Bradford shouted, sounding a little panicked. ""We've got a second UFO contact, designated UFO-18!" Osvaloo had to fight back the urge to swear loudly. Two UFOs in the same area? It was unprecedented. And it didn't take someone of Vahlen's intellect to figure out why this situation had made the aliens change their strategies.
"Satellite imaging has a good read on UFO-18. It's maintaining position well over the Angel. It appears to be another large scout. It doesn't look like we can deploy Round Table without exposing them to the Angel's long range capabilities. But the Skyranger launching at this point may cause UFO-18 to move to attack." Which would lead to a burning husk of a Skyranger and six dead people. "The best you can do is lay low for the moment. The Angel is moving away from your position, and UFO-18 seems to be following it. It doesn't seem to be interested in you the way UFO-17 was with Big Sky."
Osvaloo digested these facts as he watched the Angel lumbering away. UFO-17 had gone after Big Sky while the Angel was dormant. UFO-18 was ignoring Firebrand and was instead following the now active Angel. If they had wanted to observe the thing, it would've been safer to do so while it had been inactive. So why follow it now and not attempt to chase down a XCOM target? XCOM had been a prime target for them before. Unless they hadn't been aiming for the Skyranger before. What if their target had been something else?
"The boy," he whispered. Things made much more sense that way. The aliens, for whatever reason, wanted humanity defeated. Supposedly, the Third Child could stop the Angel. If the Angel wouldn't stop, it would rampage unopposed who who knew how long. It would benefit the aliens to let the Angel continue to tear at humanity's defenses for as long as possible. And it made sense that they were observing it closely, no doubt looking for a way to stop it when humanity had been rendered defeated. The aliens weren't killing humans for sport, they seemed to be chasing some kind of objective on Earth, and a still active Angel would doubtless get in the way.
As Osvaloo pondered this, the Angel stopped. It stood motionless for a second, before looking up, craning its back to do so. The bizarre proportions on the thing made it hard to look at and instantly understand. It was bipedal, but lacked a protruding head, its face instead protruding out of its upper torso in the form of a vaguely bird like skull. Said skull seemed to have been pushed off to the side, a new face emerging from the greenish flesh. It was bone too, but seemed to be more of a mask than a proper head. It faintly reminded Osvaloo of an owl.
The Angel continued to look upward, and Osavloo stared up in an attempt to see what it was looking at. The sun was setting on Tokyo-3, leaving rather limited light, be he could spot a very small black speck in the orange skies above. UFO-18. And the Angel was looking right at it. He looked at the Angel, then back to UFO-18, then the Angel again. "No," he whispered. The Angel's eyes flashed.
Craning his neck back up, Osvaloo was just in time to see a tiny pinprick of an explosion in the distance. "Contact with UFO-18...lost?" Bradford said, sounding confused. "1st Squad, Firebrand, can you confirm?"
"Aye sir," Osvaloo said, his throat feeling very dry and his head a little light. "The Angel destroyed it. Direct hit from its ranged attack."
"We're not reading...anything," Bradford said, his voice sounding a little faint. "There's no crash site or wreckage. UFO-18 has been utterly vaporized." A heavy silence followed these words, Osvaloo watching the fading glow of the destroyed UFO. He had thought the Angel was powerful when it had taken a fusion weapon to the face. But it could also destroy, utterly destroy, the most advanced craft humanity had ever seen? Ships that would be decades, if not centuries beyond the current capabilities of humanity, if they weren't stealing technology from the aliens? What were these things?
"Firebrand, there are no hostile alien craft in your airspace," Bradford said, trying to pull back his textbook military professionalism with some success. "Proceed to rendezvous point 17 as originally planned. Hold position there until ordered otherwise."
"Copy that," Firebrand said, sounding shaken herself. "Thor? I can't take off without you inside?"
"Roger," Osvaloo said. That overwhelming show of power had almost let the dark thoughts in. By some stroke of luck, he hadn't stumbled and been overwhelmed. He would need to talk to someone back at base about this. His medication seemed to be working, but he might need an increased dose, he didn't know for certain. Even then, his therapist had told them that the pills he was talking only helped, they wouldn't make the dark thoughts go away entirely.
He paused for one more second, listening hard. He didn't hear anything. Good. The dark thoughts always came with tell tale sounds. It was how they always started. Always. Silently, he entered the Skyranger, fastening himself in with the rest of his squad as the craft took off. They had all walked away from it alive. This time.
XXXXX
It appeared that Central Dogma had not been designed by a genius. Or a decent set of architects. Or even a penguin. The connecting tunnel from the Citadel featured a microlite train, carrying everything from carts to people, but once they entered NERV territory it was anyone's guess where to go. And they had not even entered through the train, so the small frame of reference Zhang actually had ended up being worthless. XCOM personnel weren't allowed in high security NERV areas, which was the majority of Central Dogma, and vice versa. Therefore, Gamma Squad had to rely on Misato for directions, and even she seemed deeply lost.
And when they'd manage to shut off the alarms. The walls continually flashed red, screeching claxons overlapping with red EMERGENCY sigils, automated broadcasts flooding every single channel-the team pulled their microphones down and reverted to yelling at each other.
"Where are the Eva cages?"
"What?"
"Where are the Eva cages!"
"The what?"
"Eva! Cages!"
"I can't hear you!"
"Where is the thing that will STOP US BEING KILLED?!"
Zhang was feeling a little annoyed at this, Central Dogma couldn't possibly be that hard to navigate. Then Misato stopped to consult a map. He had to blink twice to make sure that he wasn't seeing things. That couldn't be right. He had been informed that Central Dogma was bigger than the Citadel, but it couldn't be that big. And yet, unless the map was put there specifically to misinform him, it was. This wasn't an underground base. It was a subterranean city.
"You need to go down 96 floors, past the Michael Locks!"
"The what?"
"The big doors with the weird M on them! Hang on!"
Zhang's head was spinning now. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw that the rest of his squad looked how he felt, with the exception of Dimitri. He was scanning every last square inch of the base, not gapping at it while feeling overwhelmed, no, Zhang knew that look. He was committing as much of it to memory as he could, on the off chance that they ever came back. Or it turned into a battleground.
The alarm cut off with a sudden, loud squeal. "Chrissalmighty, I had to cut the wire on that fucker."
A technician in a beige and orange NERV uniform poked his head up from a control panel. "Right, go down that hallway, take a left, and take the elevator down 96 floors. You'll be right outside the cages. And can YOU please stop destroying our alarms!"
"Maybe if you PUT IN AN OFF SWITCH-"
Misato shot off a hurried thank you, before hurrying down the hallway, everyone else hustling to keep abreast of the yelling. Zhang took in the Central Dogma, taking advantage of being in the belly of the beast and not the small area where XCOM personnel were authorized to be. It jumped back and forth between massive open areas and tight, restrictive coriders, almost as if all the architects hadn't been on the same page. But something that surprised him was that the majority of Central Dogma seemed to be a little out of date.
This made sense when he stopped to think about it. He didn't know when the base had been built, but he did know that when construction on the Citadel had begun, Central Dogma had already been around for some time. Technology advanced rapidly, so it made sense that an undertaking as colossal as Central Dogma wouldn't be able to be constantly retrofitted with the latest technology, even if it was only ten or so years old.
Misato stopped in front of an elevator, pressing a button that thankfully caused the door to open at once. All six of them swarmed in, Misato studying a panel of over a hundred buttons before pressing one. As the doors closed, it became clear very quickly that the elevator had not been intended for soldiers in full combat gear. A dozen people in civilian clothing could've squeezed into this elevator, but the kits of the XCOM operatives present made the elevator feel uncomfortably full. Catalin in particular took up a good deal of space with her exoskeleton, for which she kept glancing at Shinji apologetically for.
Eventually, after what seemed like at least five minutes, the door slid open again. A blonde, Japanese woman with a noticeably beauty mark and wearing a labcoat was on the other side. Misato winced, as if expected to be scolded, but the blonde woman only seemed to be partially paying attention to the elevator. Her eyes certainly glanced in the general direction of it, but she seemed to be busy speaking on a wall mounted telephone.
"Yes. Yes I-Dr. Vahlen, I can promise you that I am certain your technology will be of little help in this operation. I'm aware of how powerful your lasers are, you've told me three times now, but even if the Angel's AT Field was down, they wouldn't be able to do more than scratch the Angel. Well if I haven't tested it yet, now seems like a bad time to start. Anyway, I do need to go, your people just arrived." Sighing in annoyance, she hung up the phone..
"Vahlen and Akagi still aren't playing nice then?" Zhang heard Virginia whisper in his ear.
"Evidently not," he whispered back. "Then again XCOM and NERV in general do seem eager to one up each other with 'my miracle weapon is better than your miracle weapon.' The engineers and scientists anyway."
"Well, guess it's time for NERV to show their hand then," Virgina said.
"Cutting it a little close Captain Katsuragi," Ritsuko said, eyeing Shinji with an appraising eye before turning her attention to Zhang. "Captain Zhang, NERV thanks you for your service." Zhang gave a polite nod. "But, as I said, we're cutting things close. With me please." Turning, she gestured for the others to follow. Misato was the first to go, Shinji right behind her. Zhang glanced at his squad to find all of them looking at him.
"They letting us stay?" Dmitri asked. "Not like them."
"Yeah, I was have expecting a 'thanks for the delivery, now piss off' welcome," Catalin said. "Are they honestly going to let us see the Evangelion?"
"I get the feeling that, in a couple of hours, it won't be much of a secret anymore," Zhang said. Taking a step forward, he led his squad deeper into Central Dogma. It turns out that the elevator had only taken them to the general are of their destination. They took quite a few more turns and twists before entering a chamber that was utterly pitch black.
"Lights get knocked out?" Virginia asked as the door slid shut behind them. "I can pop a flare if they did."
"That won't be necessary," Ritsuko said from somewhere in front of Zhang. "Just a minor transformer problem. It should be rectified any second." Sure enough, there was a loud click and the chamber they were in was filled with light. And then they saw it. Zhang let out a gasp of surprise before he could stop himself. Just out of the corner of his eye, he saw Dimitri take a step back, Catalin's hand fly to her mouth, and Virginia draw her scatter laser. In front of them, in a pool of disturbingly red liquid, was a monolithic, bright purple figure. Only its horned head and the very top of its shoulders were visible, but looking down, he could vaguely make out a to scale body that stretched away beneath him.
Shinji had had a less dignified reaction than all four operatives together, letting out a loud scream. "W-what is it?"
"Evangelion Unit 01," Ritsuko replied simply. "The synthetic human we developed in order to counter the Angels." Zhang blinked. Synthetic human? The thing in front of them looked very much like a giant mech of some kind, and looked pretty mechanical. Was it actually alive?
"This is what my father has been working on?" Shinji asked in disbelief.
"Correct," a voice magnified by speakers said. Shinji flinched and looked up. At the very top of the cathedral like chamber they were in, a man with glasses, a scruffy beard, and wearing some kind of suit looked down on him. "It's been some time Shinji."
"Father," Shinji said, in a voice that was barely above a whimper. Zhang craned his neck up. So that was Gendo Ikari. Or, as he was commonly referred to in the XCOM mess hall, the Great and Powerful Oz. He seemed pallid, and his gloves looked dirty. Probably never went outside. "T-this is why you brought me here?"
"Yes. You will be Unit 01's pilot."
"But...I can't." Panic was very noticeably welling up in Shinji. "I can't. I-I don't know how."
"Instructions will be provided," Gendo said emotionlessly. Every last doubt that Zhang had developed since meeting Shinji had been confirmed, in some cases being even worse than he had feared. Shinji had no idea what was going on, from the sound of it had zero training with this thing, and unless he was mistaken, it sounded as if all of this had just been arranged a couple of days ago. Everything about this was wrong.
He registered that Misato and Ritsuko had started to argue, Misato displaying surprise at the impending deployment of Unit 01, with Ritsuko calmly defending it. Zhang didn't pay attention to the details, focusing more on Shinji. The poor boy looked like he was torn between building up to a nervous breakdown and simply crying, but looked to be using every last bit of his self control to stop either.
"This is a joke right?" he heard Virginia hiss in his ear. "They're screwing with us right?"
"If this is a joke, it's not particularly funny," Zhang replied dryly. He deeply wanted to interject in this whole mess, but there were so many unknown variables. He imagined this same lack of information was what was keeping the rest of Gamma Squad quiet as well. He registered Ritsuko saying something about Shinji being the only person who could pilot Evangelion through the haze of anger and confusion that was slowly building up in him. "Why?" he said out loud. Both Ritsuko and Misato turned to look at him. Shinji, on the other hand, had lowered his head silently and didn't respond. "How come only he can do it? Is there any reason I can't be the one to step into that thing?"
Yes," Ritsuko said, with the annoyance of one having to explain something that they found very simple in her voice, "Evangelions are not normal war machines. They interface directly with the pilot's nervous system and are start of the art experimental technology. Only a handful of people in the entire world are compatible with Evangelions, and the Marduk Institute has spent years scanning the world's population for them. Shinji Ikari is one of the very few that can interface with it."
Zhang had heard vague details on how only the First Child could use Evangelion, but this was the first time he had gotten anything close to an explanation why. "So," Gendo said, turning all attention in the room back onto him. "You won't pilot it?"
"I-" Shinji was obviously having the worst day of his life to date. An explosion rocked Central Dogma.
"Central, this is Firebrand!" the XCOM communication lines were suddenly a flurry of activity in Zhang's ear. "The Angel is bombarding the area directly over the GeoFront!"
Central! This is Lancelot! Requesting permission to deploy Round Table!" Amber's voice echoed. "If that thing gets down here while we're on the ground we'll be sitting ducks! At least in the air we'll have a ghost of a chance!"
"Negative, maintain standby," Bradford replied, his voice sounding strained. "Orders from the Commander are that we're to wait for NERV to make their move." Zhang wondered if either Bradford or the Commander had the slightest idea what was going on in the depths of Central Dogma.
"Very well. If you won't pilot, then we have no further need of you. Get out of here," Gendo said with no passion whatsoever. Zhang thought he had gotten a good feel for Gendo, only for the commander to completely catch him off guard with his indifference to his own son. The elder Ikari turned to someone out of sight to Zhang. "Bring the spare. Plug in Rei's data."
The squad exchanged glances, ranging from confused to mutinous. The sole exception was Dimitri. Zhang only just realized that, ever since Gendo had first spoken, Dimitri hadn't taken his eyes off of the NERV Commander, and was staring at him with a look of detachment that stood in for hatred. Shinji stared at his feet, looking even more depressed than when the aliens had struck. Gendo was inscrutable, and the scientist scuttled up the ops room, pretending to have agency.
There was a sudden sound of rumbling. Zhang clicked on his combead.
"The target is in motion. It's continuing it's approach to the geofront!"
He turned to Virginia. "They're pretty civilian."
"Pretty fucking."
"I can believe they'd do that to a kid."
"Look at Captain Katsuragi-"
The sound of stretcher wheels interrupted them. "Unit 01's pilot has arrived!"
"Who keeps giving updates on every little thing over the common network?" Zhang muttered. "Wait." He blinked. A young girl, the replacement pilot, was being rolled in on a gurney. This had a to be a joke-this had to be a goddamn joke. The girl was painfully pale, to the point of almost appearing to be albino, and unhealthily thin; she had the body type and skin tone Zhang associated with the malnourished and the ill. She was also critically injured.
The girl looked like she would be fragile at her best, and she was far from that. He had heard that the First Child was injured in a test drive with an Eva. The rumors had not made it clear how bad it was. Her arm was in a cast, bandages were wrapped around her head, and a gauze pad obscured her right eye. If he had been forced to make a blind guess, he would have said that she had been in a particularly nasty head on collision without a seat belt.
And on top of it, her eyes. He couldn't stop looking at her eyes. They were bright red, but they were focused straight ahead, staring at a point. Almost as if she had no idea who she was and what she was doing. In short, everything about her screamed non-combatant. She did not have a single thing about her that said "advanced war machine pilot," but rather "top priority for medical evacuation." That left one question: Was Gendo malicious, uncaring, or just unbelievably stupid?
The next explosion rocked the base. Light flickered and failed, the faring shook. Shinji quailed, and the team looked around, nervous, frustrated, and above all unnerved at the shock from the explosion reaching the lower levels.
"Target is attacking on the Geofront directly!"
Reflexively, the team bunched up around Shinji, trying to maneuver him closer to the door, pointing and yelling. The teenager looked from face to face, only growing more anxious as four different people gave him orders to seek cover in Japanese with varying degrees of fluency, Zhang's natural dictation clashing with Catalin 's basic structure and horrible accent.
Lights, then ceiling tiles swayed as well, fell-only to be blocked by the raised hand of the Evangelion unit. Ripping wires from the wall, the fighting machine extended it's hand upward, sheltering the boy from the rain of ceiling lights landing near Shinji-and inches away from the girl on the stretcher. Separating the team from their charge, the stream of metal also spilled the girl from her gurney, and she cried out as she hit the ground.
"The Eva reactivated!"
"That's not possible! The entry plug wasn't even inserted!"
"Amazing! You mean it moved without any source of internal input?"
Zhang had no idea what the technicians were talking about or how they Eva could possibly move on its own. He had more important things to focus on. "MEDIC! We need a medic!" Zhang looked around. There was no medic, just a couple of women in nurses' hats cowering on the ground. "Virginia!"
"Here!"
"Medkit! Shinji!"
"Kit out!" Grabbing the medkit her side, she took aim and threw. Shinji yelped and reflexively covered his face, taking most of the plastic in the midsection.
"Shinji!" Misato's yell brought him back into focus. "Focus!" The boy turned to look at Rei, the medkit shaking in his hands. He was muttering something under his breath.
"...what's he saying?" Catalin turned to Zhang. "I can't freaking understand! What's he saying?"
"Shit," said Dmitri.
"Is he swearing-"
"I musn't run away…"
Luckily for Shinji, the Medkit was extremely easy to use. Large buttons, a big backlit screen, and a simple set of animations helped him get around the fact that the machine was giving him directions in another language. Hurrying over to the girl, he reached down and slid an arm around her shoulder.
Her glassy, which were blood red unless Zhang was seeing things, eyes stared up at Shinji. The whimpers on her breath often cut into gasps, and her breathing was extremely ragged.
"Scan patient." Zhang didn't know what that meant, but he was able to understand the animation, telling him to wave the device up and down her body.
"Hemorrhage detected. Apply limb tourniquet to designated area." A ring slid out, then opened. Shinji gingerly placed it over the girls' upper arm, and it sealed in with a whir and a hiss. She yelped, but it fell into a strangled whimper, apparently too hamstrung by pain to even cry out.
Shinji held up his hand. There blood on his hand. Bright red and flowing. Her wounds had been reopened. The girl's eyes were closed, tears running from the pain.
"Canula presence detected. Attach oxygen mask." The picture was easy to figure out.
Her eyes opened again as he placed the mask over her face. "I'm sorry. I'm just doing what it says."
Behind him, people were getting out from under the pile of ceiling tiles.
The girl curled up into a ball, clutching her arm.
"I-"
"Rei!" Gendo was gazing down from afar. So that was the name of the First Child
"Rei, we still need you to pilot Unit 01. Can you do this?"
"I'll do it!" Shinji had risen to his feet, looking up at his father "I'll do it!"
"Oh?" Gendo replied, looking down at his son with a vaguely satisfied look on his face.
"I'll pilot it!" Zhang blinked. He wanted to say something to Shinji, to tell him to not risk throwing his life away on something he barely understood. But he said nothing. If Ritsuko was right, and Shinji and Rei were the only ones capable of piloting this thing, Shinji was the best chance for both the Citadel and Central Dogma not being annihilated by the Angel. If Shinji did nothing, he and everyone else down here would die. As much as he might dislike NERV doing this to the boy, it was the only option they had. So he said nothing as Shinji volunteered to most likely die. And in that moment, he hated himself.
XXXXX
Author's' Notes:
Erttheking: Pentralion and I really like Advice and Trust and Evangelion Metathesis. Pentralion and I also really like XCOM, and I love writing crossovers. So, we were talking about a potential XCOM and Evangelion fic, and we were putting a lot of thought into it. It seemed to be a shame to have it all go to waste, so I asked him if he wanted to make it a real thing. And now here we are.
Something we liked in XCOM 2 over Enemy Unknown is that rocket launchers are nice and compact as opposed to lugging a bulky rocket launcher around with you everywhere, which combined with the EXO suit, really fit XCOM's themes of being next gen a bit better. So we decided that, realistically, something like that would be needed if you're going to be firing unmounted machine-guns without liquidizing your shoulders, so we decided the EXO suit should be standard for XCOM heavies. They'd need it if they want to lug something that big around and still move quickly. It's either that or the BigDog.
Also, we felt like XCOM could spring for more than one Skyranger, as well as a few more fighter craft. And more than one base. Xenonauts played a little bit of an inspiration for this story too (basically XCOM in the Cold War) as it had the option to bomb downed UFOs instead of sending in ground teams. We thought that should be an option that was on the table, even if it wasn't used.
And here's a fun fact. Originally Virginia's last name was Woolf. I saw Virginia Woolf's name and thought "oh hey, I'll borrow the last name for our character," and in my infinite wisdom somehow gave her the same first name without realizing it. By the point I realized what I had done, we had both become attached to the name Virginia, so we changed her last name to Wilder. I'M GOING TO BE A HIGH SCHOOL ENGLISH TEACHER, GO AMERICAN EDUCATION!
Pentralion: Well. I didn't expect to find myself back in THIS rodeo. It's not my first fanfiction, but it's probably my first mildly ok one. It IS, however, my first crossover that I'm satisfied with, and my first partnership with Ert. We go wayyyyy back, to about nine years now, and we met in HS. I honestly did not expect to start project this close to grad school and during my stint as a lab tech, but I guess I have some time. IRL, I'm a bioscientist hoping to do applied plant molecular work, but I'm currently working in an Evo-Devo lab on weird science. I started seeing possible ways to make the body of an Evangelion...happen...back when I took undergrad evo-devo, and I'm hoping to bring that knowledge, as well as a wealth of bio and eclectic sci-fi stuff, to this work. I'm on the hard end of the sci-fi spectrum, and I know a little bit about how RL militaries and weapons systems operate, so I'm going to try and apply that, but do forgive me if I mess things up-I have never served, and don't know squat about tactics. Ert is far better with the cool folks who make the explosions, and has been writing. Finally, if we miss a deadline and something is late, then it's probably my fault-I'm quite lazy. I hope everyone enjoys, and please stand clear of the closing doors!