Fourteen
By Satosh1
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Mankind came close to seizing this so called God, "Adam", to know and grasp such an immortality, and they themselves suffered divine punishment.
Thus the initiation of 2nd impact. Catastrophe ensues around the entire world as Antarctica becomes completely demolished, sinking and flooding several countries including Australia, the southern parts of South America and Africa and many other small lands. The world at a state of panic, World War ignites throughout, causing millions to die yet again, if only to live.
Mankind bears his heart and soul, giving empathy to the vast number of deceased who would yet to have lived a purposeful life if not for such misfortunes. There are those who have died protecting their families, those who died fighting for their beliefs and for their countries, and those who died a meaningless death, simply being caught in the midst of the worldly travesty. Their lost now recognizable as merely a numerical figure; a death toll.
However, none ever mourn or take reverence to the fatalities whose numbers or demise are not nearly as "impressive". People pay no heed to any others whose death is not as renowned or conveniently publicized as our sociality has taken us thus far... to such pathetic circumstances. They will see it as nothing more than another meaningless death and eventually disregard it as is. Of course, this would all change if the number of deaths were sufficient enough to be "worthy of their notice." Some people may also take another's lives if only to save themselves, to no mercy. Cruelty is what makes us "human".
Are the ambitions of man so imperative that they can even brand themselves enemies with such merciless?
Has statistics and distinction come to be more important then if only a sole person had died?
Is mankind so heartless that they would take another's life to simply save their own?
Maybe life is not as precious as one would imagine. Curse our weak mortality.
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It is the year 2015 AD. World War comes to a halt, replaced with vicious riots and constant declarations of anarchy through more smaller, civil wars. Crime rates had spread unto its utmost, building up more and more each passing day. Every country had their own troubles to tend to.
Then one day...
Japan announced their latest in high-tech technological military research, an entire city built for the protection of the world, a gigantic city of towering silver skyscrapers and newly paved streets, branding the name... Tokyo-3. Even with all the disorder and chaos in the world, Japan's people still continue their lives of daily routine. Work, school, play, it was all the same. They do this as to forget the troubles they are constantly bombarded with throughout their days. The news within television sets were consistent with their reports on terrorism, rioting and the outbreak of civil wars. Broadcast of any entertainment became a rarity. Other than that, the day is a usual as any others.
Suddenly...
The skies were filled with an unruffled sense of stillness. There was no such breeze within the air. Birds and insects were... nonexistent. The outside seemed lifeless and inert, covering everyone around with an unnerving impression. Then unexpectedly, obnoxious sirens and beeps covered the entire city, commanding everyone to reach for the nearest shelter. Not a single person knew of what is to become.
Within the rush of the crowd running towards a nearby shelter, a man in his early 30s within a wheelchair desperately pushes himself to get away from the mess. Rolling around desperately and in need of help, he was repulsively kicked off his wheelchair by an onlooker and collapsed onto the ground as his legs were naught of use. Looking back, he witnessed the same person running off with his wheelchair in self-interest and without any care. The man helplessly crawled with his arms the only ones propelling him, almost reaching the entrance of a nearby shelter. Awfully wary of the amass of people behind him, he hastily crawled to avoid them, but to no avail. He was trampled with no mercy by several people who never seemed to notice the man below their treading. The man was trampled on repeatedly, on arms, legs and more importantly onto his head, forcibly hitting his face onto the solid ground. He died shortly after.
One.
Japanese Strategic Self Defense Force (JSSDF) military armaments, helicopters and gigantic artillery appeared seemingly out of nowhere outside of Tokyo-3. All were arranged in place as if anticipating a threat from beneath the sunken city of an earlier time. And what would emerge from its watery depths would be a monstrosity, a being of gargantuan proportions with deadly intentions. It is what we are call as an "angel", alleged from the "Dead Sea Scrolls", a religious artifact said to have been torn and destroyed by time along the coastline of the Dead Sea but was somehow ceased by SEELE. No one knows how they obtained such a relic, or how it can perceive such events.
Resembling what could be described as having the appearance of a human with two legs and two arms not faithfully proportionate to one another, its size and repulsive exterior stunned the defense within view. The JSSDF took immediate action ordering artillery to begin firing all its shells and missiles onto its exterior, but in their dismay it came to have no effect on its seemingly impenetrable exterior.
In spread formation, the most fearless and proficiently trained of helicopters and its pilots engaged the target following the commands of their leader. A two missiles released from off its supports of one of the nearest of helicopters, dropping a couple feet before propelling themselves towards their acquired objective while the other helicopters gave suppression fire. One missile was effortlessly blocked by the angels' hand, literally splitting it into six other pieces as it exploded unto it. Another missile collided stridently onto the angel's face with an ample explosion, having his body forcefully bending over backwards. The angel calmly straightened itself and simply shook of the damage, as if to show them of their inferiority.
Lifting its right arm, a brightening glow emanated from its palm, and as he aimed for the one who fired the missile upon it, palm becoming of its brightest, releasing a powerful linear beam of light which let out considerably, obliterating its target. The pilot 's body crumbled within.
Two.
The angel approached another with the same arm and swung its hardest to its left and right as the pilot desperately attempts to effortlessly initiate the ejection seat. And to no avail, as the angel's hand collided with his helicopter before he could, his body flinging away from the explosion and plummeting unto his death as he impacted headfirst onto the ground in a bloody show.
Three.
Lifting its left foot upward, it immediately drop kicked another helicopter in front with swiftness, the helicopter holding two people instead of the usual one. It's pilot and assisting navigator/gunner dead and bodies still burning amongst the incineration.
Four. Five.
Some of the debris from the wreckage of another flew and hit a helicopter's propeller, damaging it a bit but not enough for it to crash, luckily.
The leader was ordered an immediate retreat, leaving only artillery and other armaments to battle this ostensibly undefeatable being. It merely treaded onward drawing near to Tokyo-3, its motive to be unknown to almost everyone. Mankind can only fight this being as it itself became an immediate threat to all of humanity.
Within the retreat, the same helicopter who had their propeller damaged, began to have navigational problems and it descended downwards at a fast rate of speed. Its pilot effortlessly pulled the stick downwards to ascend but it didn't seem to help. The propeller had already flown off of its attachments, hitting and damaging the tail also. The helicopter crashed into the woods.
Six.
A lone stealth bomber from over the haze of the skies came swooping atop the angel revealing its presence. It circled the being for a time reducing its margin of error for ensure of a precise dropping of the latest of military technology, what is known to all JSSDF personnel as the "N2 mine" or rather "N2 bomb", the most destructive of all weapons in its time. The adjustments complete, its pilot immediately released the N2 bomb from its restraints. It dropped for a time, giving out an earsplitting screech as it increased in speed falling down nearly thousands of yards.
A family of four consisting of two daughters, their cousin and a mother were treading along the woods all the while. Unaware of the situation going on as they were well far enough not to hear the city sirens, they walk around the woods, engrossed within their surroundings and its beauty. The younger of the two daughters gave her mother the gift of a beautiful blossom she personally picked out and hugged in a warm embrace. The older daughter and cousin beside smiled at the sight while still peering around for the most perfect of flowers for sell in the city.
The ground shook where they stood. And distant within their view, an extreme, menacing force immediately collides onto the four. They had no time to react, as their bodies, limbs, and bones were literally torn apart and disintegrated within a split second. The N2 bomb had impacted.
Seven. Eight. Nine. Ten.
Fortunately, there were no other "human" casualties.
The bomb hit its target directly, giving off a gigantic blast of epic proportions. The explosion decimated hundreds of miles of terrain, leaving only an enormous crater of barren in its wake. The JSSDF personnel surveying the destruction celebrated with joy, only to witness the angel still standing soon after.
The angel sustained a diminutive amount of damage, which fractured some parts of itself forcing it to heal. And as it lay idle for restoration, the JSSDF ponders upon their next actions. Seeing as conventional weapons had only small effect on the celestial being, they came to the disgruntled decision to utilize NERV and their experimental research, as they both long waited to see the weapon in battle, synonymously.
It was close to midnight. The angel having been done with healing, paced onwards to Tokyo-3. It approaches the vicinity of Tokyo-3's buildings and fires onto the ground where NERV resides, shattering a few layers of their fortification. Unfortunately, two workers of NERV were inspecting its inner workings underneath, not knowing of what would happen to him just seconds later. Looking upwards to observe and study the condition of their shielding defense, they were unexpectedly blown and crushed within the piles of rubble from the blast, bones crackling and blood spilling onto the sides. Their bodies lay rest unto its unruly grave of debris and forever buried within.
Eleven. Twelve.
A sudden consistent rumbling from under seemingly grows louder and trembles more ferociously as the seconds go by. It was then that everyone within NERV and the JSSDF knew what would appear in opposition to the enemy.
"Evangelion Unit 01."
It appeared in through the underground ducts. Released from its restraints, it silently and slowly approached the angel's footing opposite of it. It was magnificent.
As an unexpected turn, Unit 01 suddenly tripped over itself, falling onto the streets face first and giving off a huge tremble within the city. Humility stirred upon NERV as their research had foolishly fallen, due to the inexperience of the pilot. The JSSDF was at a discern.
Immediately the angel stepped within reach and grabbed onto Unit 01's face, lifting it up to its own view. With the same hand, it shoots off another ray, puncturing through the Evangelion's armor and through its right eye. It propelled Unit 01 off its footing and backwards, hitting several small constructs until finally hitting and collapsing onto the side of a reinforced skyscraper and forming a huge crevice unto it.
It crouched there with a frail and helpless façade.
To that, there were unconfirmed reports of Evangelion Unit 01 had gone "berserk" and that was the reason for the angel's further actions. The information is unconfirmed as NERV has covered it particularly well, holding back the truth with whatever they can throw amongst. No one knows what happened in this situation other than the top officials of NERV.
Although, there was one who had tried to leak information to the public for a substantial amount of money. Unfortunately NERV intelligence caught on and immediately assassinated the man at the same time. It remained best that it was kept a secret to even NERV's personnel, and so it did. The documents and records were destroyed and the person's life was utterly erased from existence.
Thirteen.
After Unit 01's alleged "berserk" status rumor that we can only speculate due to secrecy, the angel grasped hold of Unit 01's face and formed into a large sphere, and within the face of the Evangelion, the core of the angel illuminates. It was a sequence of utter suicide, as the angel blew the same as the N2 bomb, decimating most of the reinforced buildings in its wake. This "celestial being" was now gone with no trace. Unit 01 sustained minimal damage.
Fourteen.
It may not have resembled the façade of man, but it was a human being, nevertheless. Its life had no purpose after becoming gravely injured by Unit 01, and so it self-destructed in an effort to defeat it, but Unit 01 still stood. NERV and the JSSDF cheered on the angel's demise, not knowing that they had only destroyed their own kind. They celebrated upon taking the life of their own kin.
Unit 01 withdrew from battle status and crouched onto the streets while shutting down. It's crew emerged from underneath to salvage remains and give repairs. This new "bio-organic weapon" would be the savior to all mankind, and also towards their utter demise.
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Fourteen lives... fourteen deaths. Their hopes diminished. Their dreams gone. Their lives, now merely a statistic, simply adding to the casualties of the world. Mankind shall forever be enemies to themselves, no matter what obstacles befall them... and no matter what others may say. This is the truth we must all come to know and realize.
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Fin...