Neon Titanicus Evangelion
The year is M42.015.
Chapter One: Impetus Angeli.
Leman Russ battle tanks line the cliff road, their turrets trained to sea. They sit silently, expectantly, their boxy forms shimmering in the midday sun. The air is thick the smell of promethium and the stench of human fear.
Out in the ocean, a dark shape moves between half-submerged hab-blocks, a dark stain on the clear blue sea. Tank crews gasp collectively as the shape rises out the water, staring at the horrific, cyclopean form that emerges. Then, they regain composure, a hundred guns firing as one the shape advances, unheeded by the rain of shells, ignoring the tanks. Then it turns and looks upon them. The guns fall silent. The first line has fallen.
=][=
"Shinji Ikari?"
"Yes?"
"You need to come with us, now."
Shinji Ikari stares up at the figure at his front door. It is unmistakably an Inquisitorial Stormtrooper, black armoured and helmeted, face hidden; hellgun readied to fire at a moments notice. What it is doing at Shinji Ikari's front door, however, is unclear.
"Are you from my father?"
"Yes, now follow me." Shinji, whose fourteen years of Imperial upbringing had made him the textbook obedient Imperial citizen, followed. He barely noticed the rest stormtrooper squad emerge from the shadows as they bundled him into the back of a Valkyrie flier. Like the stormtroopers, the Valkyrie was painted black. It rose vertically, powerful engines making a mockery of physics, before it shifted to horizontal flight and sped into the wide blue sky.
=][=
"Second defence line breached."
Three men sit in the centre of a vast, ornate chamber, walls supported by gothic buttresses, apparently in command. The first wears the ceremonial white plate and uniform of a general of the Cypra Aurora PDF. He blusters and shouts, his handlebar moustache wobbling as he fires off orders to various menials. The second is more impressive, wearing the blue, green and gold of a captain of Battlefleet Obscuras. He gives orders calmly, carefully. However this, like his companions blustering, is an act. Both are terrified, and it takes much to scare a captain of the Imperial Navy. The third, sits impassively, silent, features concealed by a crimson cloak. All three stare at a vast map, covering the entirety of one wall. It shows the environs of the fortress city of Triens Orientum. Superimposed upon it is a large red dot and graphics showing its estimated path. The dot, it claims will arrive in the fortress city in less than six hours. A voice announces that the map is switching to a visual image.
The room erupts in to panic, but two figures remain calm and lament. The first is standing. He is older and grey haired, wearing a grey uniform marked with the symbol of the Inquisition.
"It's been fifteen years". He remarks.
"Yes," the second one replies. He is younger, but the superior. He sits, wearing a blue uniform and white gloves. He is brown haired, and a neat beard adorns his face, while orange-tinted glasses conceal his eyes. He too wears the symbol of the Inquisition, but his is more ornate, marking him as a full Inquisitor. He speaks again, "well, now we know. The Angels are back."
We now get our first clear look at the shape now identified as 'Angel'. It is vast, standing well above the buildings that make up the endless industrial sprawl of this region of the planet. Its shape is a mockery of a man's, broad shouldered and headless. Its skin is black, adorned with bone-coloured armour. Its face, embedded in its chest is a mask of bone, almost like a bird's skull. Below this, a crimson orb is held against its belly, clamped on by protrusions of bone. It is foul, repulsive, near impossible to look at.
=][=
Shinji sits in the back of the Valkyrie, dejected. One of the stormtroopers passes him a pict.
"Here kid, take a look at this." It shows a young woman, purple-haired and beautiful. She wears a scandalous top and shorts, and winks at Shinji. The pict is covered in writing, telling him that she is waiting for him and tells to pay close attention to the woman's perfectly formed breasts. The lipstick -formed imprint of a kiss is very obvious. Shinji's eyes widened even further.
"What is this?"
"Another reason to come."
Shinji sinks deeper in to his seat, his cheeks flushed red with embarrassment. His chance to stew is only momentary, as the world suddenly flashes red, and everything burns.
"Thone! We're hit! We're going in!" The flier begins to drop, and Shinji screams as the Valkyrie falls, burning as it shrieks towards the ground. Red turns to darkness, and Shinji blacks out.
He regains consciousness among the wreckage of the Valkyrie. As far as he can tell, he is the only survivor, the Stormtroopers around him dead, despite their heavy armour. He emerges from the wreckage on to a deserted street. Above him, the battle rages on, but all he barely notices. Instead, he sees a young girl in the distance, white haired and wearing a green school uniform. He blinks, and she is gone. He takes a moment to compose himself. His brown hair is caked with ash, as is his skin. His school uniform is torn to shreds. He is vaguely aware that he is bleeding in multiple places. But he does not notice, for in front of him appears. A foot, vast and black, crushes the wreckage of the Valkyrie. Shinji falls to the ground, still screaming and raising his hands in a feeble attempt to protect his face.
Tires squeal and shudder as the car lurches to a halt. The door flies open and Shinji sees the mystery woman, this time wearing sunglasses and a short black dress. She wears a silver Aquila around her neck. "Get in", she orders, "Am I real late?" she says, flashing a perfect smile. Shinji does not reply, and simply leaps in to the car. More tire squeal, and the car races away. The woman wrestles with the car, forcing her way past the footfall of the Angel and the debris of explosions.
Up above them the battle rages on and intensifies. The fliers continue to pummel the target with rocket and laser, while large Marauder bombers fly in, launching huge missiles at the Angel. From the ground, artillery flings round after round at the beast, but still it advances, not caring.
=][=
"Third Defence line breached."
The trio order wave after wave of attack craft and ground strikes, but to no avail. All that attempts to oppose the Angel dies. Exasperated, the generals seek a final, more brutal option. The Inquisitor and the old man look on. They seem almost pleased with themselves. The older one speaks. "Looks like a psy-field, hm…?"
"Yes, conventional weapons are no match for the angels."
A vox-line rings. The captain picks up, "I understand sir. Confirming orbital vectors now."
=][=
The women stops her utterly insane driving and leans over Shinji, peering at the battle through a pair of magnoculars. She sees the fliers disperse "Wait a second…No! They're going to use an N2 strike! Get down!" She jumps on top of Shinji, covering him with her body. The world goes a blinding white, and the car rocks in the shockwaves. Then, the blast intensifies, and the car tips and rolls.
=][=
The general slaps the captain on the back as the view screen shows nothing but fire and smoke. "You got him. Thank the Emperor! I guess the Navy's finally done something useful!" The captain tries to remain aloof, but he too thinks the Angel destroyed. The inquisitor and his associate laugh quietly. They know the folly of trusting in mere orbital strikes.
Shinji and the woman climb out of the car. The woman asks "Are you alright?"
"Umm…."Shinji is now bruised, battered and bleeding. He look up, his face pale.
"You'll be fine. Now come on." They lean against the heavy, black car and heave. "Ready to push? Now go." They strain and grunt, but eventually they force the car rolls back on to its wheels. Shinji is vaguely aware of the fact that they should not have been able to do that, but does not care. The woman claps her hands in celebration of a job well done.
"Thanks Shinji, you're pretty useful."
"Thank you, but I should thank you, Miss…"
"Katsuragi, but you can call me Misato." She pulls of her sunglasses to reveal a pair of startling brown eyes. "So Shinji Ikari, we meet at last."
"Uh… yeah." Shinji replies, unsure how to respond in the face of anyone dealing with a near-death experience that lightly.
She pulls a med-pack out of the car. "Lets see if we can do something about those wounds."
=][=
Back in the operations centre, chaos rules. The officers shout orders, demanding a sign, any sign that the Angel had been slain. Sensors and picters reactivate, revealing the Angel, silhouetted against the fires of the N2 strike. All went silent, eyes locked on to the thing on screen. The damage inflicted just made it seem more primal, more hideous and more implacable. It truly was death incarnate. The general in the white plate mutters softly. "Truly, we have failed the Emperor".
Misato had somehow managed to get the car running again, and was flying down the road to Triens Orientum at frankly dangerous speeds. On the outside she seemed to be calm-cheerful even, on the car-vox to someone claiming-falsely- in Shinji's opinion that his safety was her top priority, and demanding that a car train be readied for their arrival, wherever there was. Inside however, she was a mess of irrational fears, Oh.. this stinks… this is the second NERV car I've smashed up this month… the Inquisitor's going to kill me… and my favourite dress…it's ruined… and I look so good in it. However, Shinji had his own problems, and had finally plucked up the courage to ask.
"Excuse me, Misato?"
"Hmm, what is it?"
"Those power cells. Isn't that theft?" He glanced to the back seat, where rows of power cells had been plugged into the car's electric engine.
"Don't worry about it. It's an emergency and we needed a working car, right? I am an Inquisitorial official after all so everything's going to be fine. Okay?
"You're an Inquisitor!" Shinji screamed in a voice that was not befitting his gender.
"No, don't be silly. I just work for one."
"You? I'm sure the Inquisition would pick someone more…mature?"
"Well I thought you'd be cuter. Angry? I'm soo-rry you're just a boy after all".
They drove on, entering a tunnel, both thinking considerably less of the other, and both scared out of their minds, although for different reasons.
=][=
"Feed established from Vulture one-four."
The view screen flickered as the slightly grainy image appeared, showing the Angel standing still, waiting.
"As we suspected, it appeared to be regenerating itself" said grey.
"Without that ability, it couldn't operate without support units." Replied the Inquisitor.
Then there was a flash of light from the Angel, and the screen went blank.
"Well. Quite impressive. It can upgrade its operational parameters."
"And it's also getting smarter."
"It should renew its attack any minute now."
=][=
The car had reached the end of the tunnel and was now being loaded on to the car train. Shinji saw a huge sigil on the wall. It read: NERV. The Emperor's on Terra, and all's right with this world. Shinji had heard that saying before. It was an oft repeated saying in the days since Second Impact, a saying of hope and defiance. It was an odd thing to have as the saying of an Inquisitorial organisation though, although Shinji wasn't exactly thinking from a position of experience. He decided to ask, "Nerv?"
"Yeah. It's a secret organisation, controlled by the Holy Inquisition."
"And my father works for it?"
"Yeah. You do know what he does, don't you?" she replied, in a tone that strongly suggested that he should know.
Shinji sighed as the car train began to move. "All my teachers told me was that he was doing the Emperor's work."
=][=
The Inquisitor looked up at the three officers. While the terrace he was standing on offered a commanding view of NERV operations, it was not the terrace that the officers were currently occupying. He resented their intrusion into his private domain.
The PDF general spoke. "Inquisitor, we've done all we can. You now have command of the operation. Our forces are at your disposal."
"Very good."
"Inquisitor Ikari, we've already seen that even the Navy has no effect on these things. That's why we're giving you a chance."
"Are you sure that you can beat them?"
Inquisitor Ikari, absent father to a very special fourteen year old boy, pushed his glasses back up his nose and responded in a tone designed precisely to annoy the generals the most. "That, general, is why NERV exists.
"I pray that you're right." With that, the generals left, leaving Ikari king of his very powerful patch of turf. He surveys his domain. On the wall in front of him sits the screen, while the other walls are covered in the symbols of NERV, the Inquisition, the Adeptus Mechanicus, the Ecclesiarchy and innumerable other Imperial organisations. Far below him, figures in the red of the Mechanicus and the white of the Inquisition work at cogitators. Servitors rattle off seemingly-meaningless streams of raw data. Figures bustle, shout, argue. It is pure chaos. But it is his chaos. He is king, and he will rule.
A few voices, louder than the rest, rise above the din. They are from servitors, hard-plugged into cogitation units.
"The target is still stationary"
"Estimate current ability to intercept is only seven point five percent."
Grey still had questions. "With the PDF forces gone, what are you going to do?"
"Why, my dear Fuyutsuki, activate Primus, of course."
"Activate it? But we have no princeps."
"Not any more. Another spare is being delivered." As he said this, he turned away, as if Fuyutsuki was not important.
=][=
Back in the car, Shinji was still worried. "Misato, are we going to see my father?"
"Of course. Of course we are."
He still remembered that day when his father sent him away. He had been six. He had seen his father twice in the intervening years.
"You'll need this. " She passed him a booklet entitled Welcome to NERV. "Start reading this, okay"
"My father's organisation. Am I going to be working for him?". Misato just hummed vaguely, and Shinji started reading the booklet. "What am I saying? He wouldn't have sent for me if he didn't need me for something."
"Sounds like you don't get along with your dad. Well you sound just like me." Shinji stared at her, surprised at her openness.
Then the world was bathed in light. They had entered a huge sphere- Shinji couldn't tell the height- vast gothic towers hung form the ceiling, while the floor (if something that large could be called a floor) was dominated by a vast pyramid and lake.
Shinji had never been more excited in his short life. "Throne! It's the geofront. I didn't think this really existed!"
"That's right. This is our secret underground base. NERV central. This city is the key to rebuilding this planet. A fortress for the entire world. Shinji vaguely noticed that thousands of men, tanks and guns were loading on to mass transits like they were one he was on. Off to fight the angel he thought, as they arrived at the pyramid and began the long walk into the bowels of NERV.
Somewhere deep inside NERV central, Misato and, by extension, Shinji were lost. "Huh..by Terra, isn't this the right way?" They passed through another door into a huge chamber with no discernable purpose, except to make Misato's dress blow up around her thighs, she muttered something about how she hated wearing a skirt for this reason and about a person called "Ritsuko".
"We passed this spot twice already".
"Well don't worry about it. The make these halls to be walked, y'know?"
Shinji didn't.
Somehow, they had reached an elevator, and Misato was now fairly convinced of where she was. As the door-servitor announced that they had reached floor twenty-eight, the door opened to reveal a figure dressed in a red robe and hood. The face, which was mostly concealed, was virtually all cybernetic, as were the arms. From its back rose a pair of squirming mechadendrites and it was accompanied by a pair of floating skull servitors. Misato gave a squeaky, embarrassed greeting "Err. Hi Ritsuko"
The thing responded in a dull, mechanical tone. "Greetings Captain Katsuragi. This is the two thousandth and twenty-second time I will remind you that I am in fact designated Magos Akagi. I estimate a ninety-nine point nine nine percent that there will be a two thousandth and twenty-third time, but I live in hope. Please do not disappoint me. May I also remind you that my presence here is a serious waste or time and manpower. I am not your tour guide." She turned to observe Shinji, mechadendrites twisting, observing every inch of his body. "So this is the child?" Shinji was engrossed in the manual, and had barely noticed the Techpriest before him.
Misato eagerly jumped in before the Magos realised that she was being ignored. "Yes. He was identified by the Marduk prophesy as the third child."
"Blessed are the princeps of the Titans. I am very pleased to meet you." She bowed to Shinji, and made the sign of the cog.
Shiji blustered, suddenly realising that he was standing in front of a member of the cult Mechanicus. He felt Misato glaring down at him, "Umm… very pleased to meet you." He bowed and gave a bad sign of the aquila
"I'm afraid he's just like his father. The guff and unfriendly part, that is."
Akagi made a noise that Shinji was convinced was the binaric equivalent of I don't care.
=][=
Inquisitor Ikari was standing on a personal lift. "Fuyutsuki, handle the rest of this ", he said, as he descended.
Their first meeting in three years, Fuyutsuki thought.
"Sir, it looks like the target has begun to move again."
"I see." He turned to the terrace where the officers had been sitting. The PDF general and Navy captain had left, but the red-cloaked figure remained. "Commander , ready your skitarii"
"Yesss, master" the figure hissed, with a mouth clearly not designed for talking. The figure turned, and left, revealing its inhuman proportions.
Fuyutsuki turned to the rest of NERV "We are now at battle stations, level one. Prepare for the activation of Primus."
=][=
"So what's the status of Primus?" asked Misato. The three were in a lift in the bowels of NERV, going somewhere.
"It is currently undergoing rituals of activation. Conditions are not ideal. There is not enough time, the unit is not yet completed and the princeps is…unready. The possibility of activation? Well, you should start praying to that Emperor of yours."
"So we've got no chance?"
"Do not be insulting. We merely require a miracle."
"Oh well. I suppose we'd best start preparing for our deaths then?"
Akagi did not reply. Instead, stopped the lift and led them into a lightless room.
"Er…. Why is it dark?" asked Shinji. The lights activated, and he gave another gender-insulting scream. In front of him was a face. Vast and purple it was, and it looked back at Shinji with two blank eyes. "A titan! But… that doesn't make any sense!" He hastily started flicking through the manual he was holding.
Akagi appeared to smirk. "You will not find this in there. This is a mecha-organic construct, the Evangelion- class Titan Primus. Shinji Ikari, you are honoured to look at the face of a god-machine. It is this planet's last hope.
"Is this my father's work?"
"Correct." Replied Gendo Ikari, looking down at them from a observation room far above them. He looked down, and saw his son recoil at his presence. "It's been a while."
Shinji just stood, speechless. He looked up and down at the Titan. It was resplendent in purple and green war paint, although its shape was obscured by the scaffolding surrounding it. Servitors and techpriests were working furiously, at it, loading its weapon arms and conducting rituals of activation.
"Now move out." Ordered Gendo.
Misato was shocked. "But Rei can't link, and Primigenita is out of commission…wait." she stared at Shinji, then up at Magos Akagi. "You're not serious are you? He's not improved, or trained."
"I am serious, Captain." The Magos replied. "The boy is the third child. He will link, or we will all die. You will walk with the Titan, Shinji Ikari. Only an Evangelion can defeat the Angel. If he does not do it, then we all die. "
Shinji was still speechless. He looked at Misato, but she was silent. She had resigned him to his fate.
"But… I thought you didn't want me… why did you call me now, father."
"I have need of you now. As does the Emperor and every person on this world. Do not disappoint me further.
"But why me? Isn't there anyone else?"
"There is not. You are the only one who can do this. "Regrettably, Gendo thought. What did I do to deserve this mewling pup as a son?
"I can't possibly…I'm not worthy… I'm not of the Mechanicus… I can't do it."
Gendo chimed in "Irrelevant. Magos Akagi will ready you for the task."
"But…" Shinji continued to rattle off excuses.
"If you're going to do it, do it now. If not, then get out of my way. There are plenty of dark corners in this base for you to die in."
The entire base shook as the angel began its attack on Triens Orientum, as if to punctuate the shortness of time. Shinji looked up at Misato, as if she could offer a way out. Instead, her face was fixed, stern and uncompromising. "Get inside."
"But…why did I even come?"
Misato put a hand to his shoulder. "You mustn't run away. You must confront your father. And you must confront yourself."
"I know that… but I just can't". Shinji was now practically crying in fear.
Gendo was growing wary. He activated a vox channel. "Fuyutsuki., wake up Rei"
"Can we use her?"
"She's not dead yet."
"understood." The vox cut out.
"Rei?"
"Yes?" replied an emotionless, yet feminine voice.
"Our spare is unusable. You will do it again."
"Yes sir."
Akagi gave out another binaric sigh. "Begin the rituals to reconfigure Primus for Rei, then the activation rituals."
She and Misato walked away, leaving Shinji alone with the purple monstrosity. I knew it, he thought, I'm useless after all. He was without purpose, and his mind wandered.
Medicae staff guided a grav-bed past him. Lying on it was a girl, his age, heavily injured. One of her eyes was bandaged, as was much of her body. Her skin was deathly pale, almost white. Most noticeable were her red eyes and blue-grey hair. She was attractive, yet she seemed to exude a sense of wrongness that chilled Shinji's heart. She looked familiar. The girl in my dreams? He thought. She sat up on the bed, panting with the effort.
The Angel fired on the city again. The geofront shook even harder. The girl was thrown from her bed and Shinji collapsed on to the floor. Debris fell from the ceiling. With a sudden movement, far to fast for something of its size, the Titan flung its right arm out of the restraints and over Shinji, shielding him and the girl. Heavy pieces of debris bounced of its wide arm, flying up as high as Gendo's vantage point.
"The final line has fallen."
It was now Magos Akagi's turned to be shocked. Her fear and confusion was evident, even through her tonless, artificial speech. "That should not be possible. The casket was not installed."
Misato pulled herself off the ground "You mean it moved without the manifold? Did it move to protect him?
Shinji ran to the girl, and held her in his arms. Physical contact with her was excruciating. He felt as if his soul was being drained. He shivered. The girl yelped in pain, and he realised that his hand was warm with her blood. He snapped out of his panic. I mustn't run away, he thought. I mustn't run away. He repeated it out loud, almost shouting it. "I mustn't run away!" Yes this was good, he thought. He had purpose. He would walk with the Titan. He would protect this girl.
"I'll do it. I'll walk with the Titan."
=][=
"Right Arm repairs loaded. Plasma Generator online. Sensors Online. Gressorial Systems online. Cage is at launch position. All mechanical systems are green. Activation rituals complete. Princeps is installed in the casket. Casket is aligned. Manifold union rituals can now begin."
"Very good, Famulous Ibuki. Prepare to activate union rituals." Misato and Akagi had now reached the command room. Akagi was holding a high speed binaric exchange with her Famulous, a young, red robed woman currently hard plugged into the command room's cogitators. "Princeps Ikari. Union will now begin."
Inside the casket, Shniji winced. The spines Magos Akagi had inserted along the back of his neck and in his skull were excruciatingly painful, as was all the various needles that had been jabbed in to his arms and legs. The spines and needles fed him into the Also, he wondered, why he had to be naked in here. It was cold. The casket began to flood with an orange liquid. It was warm and thick, and smelt like blood, he thought. He screamed and gagged as he drowned in the liquid, and was then vaguely pleased when he didn't die. As if to answer, Akagi voxed him again.
"Do not fear, princeps. It is amniosis fluid. A sacred substance that will preserve and protect you while you walk with the Titan. It will oxygenate your blood without the need to breathe. You are perfectly safe. You will grow used to it." Her voice was strange, as if she was talking from insider his head. "Activate the manifold. Allow the minds to merge."
Shinji felt the mind of the Titan merge with his. It was fury and anger incarnate, all rage and destruction. He felt as if he was being overwhelmed by a red tide. He could feel the Titan's almost endless power, and he felt a sense of an incredible intelligence buried beneath the rage. Distantly, he heard Misato's voice.
"Control it Shinji! Be a man!"
I am in control, he willed, and the mist seemed to subside. His view had changed. Now, he looked at the Titan cage through the Titan's eyes. He could feel the dull throb of the plasma generator, The loose weight of ammunition in autoloaders, the heat of the charged laser weapons. He could see in thermal vision and he now had a dozen more senses. This is how it feels to be a god. All the tiredness and all the wounds he had suffered that day were gone. He was enegrgised. He was ready.
"Careful Shinji. Concentrate. Don't lose yourself." Misato's voice seemed far way and unimportant. What did she know? She did not control a Titan, feel this power. He could feel the machine-spirit, ready eager. It wanted to hunt and kill and rip and tear. Soon, Shinji willed. Soon.
"This is Evangelion Primus. We wish to walk."
Misato frowned, and glanced at Akagi. "Is he alright?"
"The princeps is fine, as is the Titan. They have merged successfully."
"Alright then. Begin launch sequence."
The various scaffolds and supports moved away from the Titan, leaving it free and ready to move.
"Titan is at launch position. All systems are green. Evangelion Primus is ready for launch."
"Good." Misato glanced up at Inquisitor Ikari, who had taken up his throne at the top command centre. "Can we really do this?"
"Of course captain. The Emperor would not let us get this far just to see us fail now."
Fuyutsuki was not convinced. "You really think this'll work."
"Have faith, my old friend." Ikari nodded, signalling that the launch could commence.
Misato gave the order. "Let it be recorded. On this day, Legio Evangelion did walk for the first time. All praise be to the Omnissiah, All praise to the Emperor. Primus launch!"
Primus shot upwards, lifted on magnetic rails. Sparks flew as the machine lifted the massive god-machine. Plumes of coolant flew up with it. The Eva emerged on surface, eyes gleaming, wreathed in a coolant fog. It was the very image of the primordial war god, terrible and powerful. Through its eyes, Shinji looked upon the Angel.
And felt fear.