Disclaimer: I do not own nor claim any credit for Neon Genesis Evangelion, by GAINAX, nor to Mobile Suit Gundam, upon which this series was inspired by. Any unique characters and other story elements are the intellectual property of myself.
Opening Notes: A story written in answer to a question I got while watching Zeta Gundam. In most Evangelion stories, the EVAs are unique and invincible weapons of mass destruction. This story explores Evangelion in a world where the Evangelion is the next step in military hardware. Enjoy and review!
It is the year 2016 AD. Sixteen years since half the world's population was wiped out. Sixteen years since man discovered nuclear fusion. Sixteen years since the end began…
Tokyo-3, Outer Defense Line
It was an idyllic summer afternoon, the sun reflecting brilliantly off the calm Old
Tokyo Bay. Of course, the dull green metal of the tanks lined military neat along a winding highway somewhat spoiled the effect.
A ripple of water disturbed the reflected image of the sky, followed by a second and a third. Black shapes, vaguely human, yet monstrous all the same shot out of the water.
The tanks and missile batteries opened fire with all they had, filling the air with distortions as destruction tore up the peaceful summer's afternoon.
Far above, one of the black monsters seemed to smile as it descended toward the lines of military hardware.
Tokyo-3, Monorail Station
Shinji Ikari walked down the stairs to the street level, surprised at the utter lack of life in one of Japan's largest metropolises.
Not that he cared. He found people tiring and dangerous, and much preferred the company of his thoughts and trusty SDAT. He started down the street, looking for a phone.
If it was strange for him to be here, Shinji didn't particularly know. All he knew was that his father had sent for him and that his father worked in Tokyo-3. At least his contact was hot.
Shinji wasn't the most social kid, but he appreciated the female form as much as the next male. And damn was Misato Katsuragi a looker.
The boy held up the picture of his contact, autographed of course. A note about meeting him at the station was scribbled on the back and a rather flattering picture that enhanced the bust in particular of the purple haired woman was hard to look away from.
Shinij sighed and looked around for a phone, spotting the odd green tone of one almost immediately.
He walked over and picked up the receiver, dialing the number also located on the back of the picture.
A dead tone and a female voice informing him of a state of emergency in effect for Tokyo-3 caused him hang up in deadpan annoyance.
I guess I need to find this NERV place…, he thought, staring at the maple leaf on the ID card he had also received.
Shinji turned around and started to walk down the street, looking for signs. His eye suddenly caught a blue-haired girl wearing a school uniform standing across the street, but before he could do anything, chaos erupted.
A large black humanoid, at least twenty meters tall, landed where the girl had been, who had just vanished. Its landing knocked Shinji off his feet.
He looked up in awe and terror as the large biomachine fired head-mounted cannons at a pair of Japanese SSDF V-TOLs who were trying to bring the monster down.
The cannon fire turned both V-TOLs into fireballs as the black machine turned and stomped away from the cowering Ikari.
What..What are EVAs doing in the city? What model is that anyway?, he thought in a panic. The presence of EVAs made this an international incident and yet the black EVAs lacked any kind identifying marks.
The young man grabbed his things and ran hard for a shelter. Being on the ground during an EVA assault was a pretty dumb idea, though a brilliant way to get killed.
NERV HQ Command Center
The world's most inscrutable man observed the thorough ass-kicking the mysterious EVAs were handing the JSSDF forces.
His compatriot leaned down and said in a low voice, "It looks like we'll need our own EVAs, Ikari." The other man, Gendo Ikari, nodded, "That is true, but they must admit they need our help themselves." The two men looked down at the officers in the main crew pit.
The JSSDF men watched with sweating faces as their troops fell like wheat before the sickle in the face of the eight attacking EVAs. One man finally turned to the commanding general and said, "We need NERV. Forget saving face and let's not ruin this anymore than it has been."
The general looked angrily at his subordinate for a moment, then he relented. He turned to face Gendo and said with dignity, "We have failed. This operation is now in your hands." He nodded to the commander of NERV curtly and departed, his staff trailing in his wake.
Gendo allowed himself a smirk and then reached for a red phone at his console. "Here we go", muttered Kozou Fuyutsuki under his breath as Gendo ordered over his phone, "Launch the Chuugi squad. Captain Katsuragi, stop those EVAs."
Several decks above the command center, a purple haired woman responded with a sharp "Yes, sir." then hung up the phone.
Misato Katsuragi adjusted the hair tie keeping her long purple hair out of her face and headed for the catwalk.
She was fairly calm on the outside, but this was her first time in actual combat piloting the new Chuugi EVA. Misato felt ready, but battle was completely unpredictable and no amount of training could prepare her for the horrors of EVA combat.
She quickly headed down the catwalk, her heart already starting to pound in anticipation of the coming battle. Upon reaching her EVA, she took a long look at the white and red EVA, feeling the pressure it always exerted on her mind when she was near one.
The Chuugi was eighteen meters tall and had a slender humanoid shape with two shoulder pylons extending several meters from the natural shape of the body. The armor was segmented as to allow a full range of movement while providing adequate protection. A series of thin boosters and slit-shaped verniers were positioned on the back, legs, and shoulders to provide extra mobility in combat. The Chuugi's head had a peaked forehead and a large monoeye lens, which provided visual data to the entry plug, dominated the "face".
Misato climbed across a smaller catwalk to the large cylinder, the entry plug that served the EVA as a cockpit. She giggled a bit at all the phallic references present in the cockpit design. She had always wondered who had come up with the design, and suspected it was a major joke on the part of the engineering department.
Smiling at this little distraction, she seated herself in the large pilot's couch and reached forward to draw the diagnostic panel into position near her abdomen. The cockpit presented a full 360-degree, which Misato enjoyed and made piloting considerably easier for her.
The purple-haired captain adjusted her neural clips and watched a tech close the entry plug panel above her. A voice filtered through the comm system, "Filling entry plug with LCL. Initializing startup."
Misato took a deep breath as the plug filled with a yellow liquid. Although necessary to serve as a medium for the neural waves that controlled the EVA, Misato hated the liquid, which smelled of blood and forced her to periodically suppress a gag reflex. Something about the LCL was familiar and distinctly uncomfortable for her.
The plug suddenly lit up as the EVA synchronized with her brainwaves and presented a full view of the hangar, as if the walls of the plug and EVA were not there. Misato took a deep breath and exhaled. Here we go., she thought, gripping the control handles.
"NERV Leader departing.", said Misato, commanding the EVA to grab a MG-47 pallet rifle and move to a launch elevator. "NERV 2 is go." "NERV 3 standing by." "NERV 4, two lit and in the green." Her teammates followed her actions and moved to other launch elevators.
In NERV's command center, Gendo said calmly, "Launch." The four NERV EVAs launched to the surface at high speeds, steeled for battle.
Tokyo-3, Main Street
Shinji had officially decided that he was through being surprised. Giant black EVAs were one thing, but more EVAs coming from the ground? That was the last straw for him.
He took off running for an underpass that looked like it would offer some cover. Shinji was in too much of a panic to note the risk of getting crushed and the battle was occupying all his attention anyway.
He had seen videos of EVAs fighting and knew the damage that the massive war machines could cause. However, ground zero was a far cry from those. He could hear every gunshot clearly; see every spray of blood as giant humans acted out some avant-garde version of war.
The four NERV EVAs managed to get drop on the eight opponents by boosting skywards from the launch pads and firing as they came.
Misato triangulated her fire with NERV Two on one of the black EVAs, riddling its upper torso with bullet holes. Blood exploded out of the back of the stricken machine as an explosion, probably from the entry plug, blasted the EVA to the street. It lay in a limp heap, resembling a massive corpse lying in a crater in the middle of the street.
The other black EVAs leapt away from the gunfire and brandished their own rifles, firing at the landing Chuugis. Misato's squad dove behind buildings as bullets tore into the street where the EVAs had landed.
Misato spoke into her comm unit, "Three, Four, flank them. We'll cover you." The other pilots responded, "Yes, Captain." and ran around the gathering of black EVAs as Misato and her wingman poked their MG-47's around the corner of the buildings they hid behind and opened fire.
The black EVAs all took cover, though one of Misato's shots tore into the calf of a black EVA. She and Two continued to fire until they ran out of ammo, keeping the enemy occupied for Three and Four.
The two Chuugis sprang out on the left and right of the black EVAs, progressive swords drawn. Three took a big swing at one enemy, biting deep into its torso armor. He kept the pressure on the target, causing blood to spray out onto the sword and ground, until the blade cut through. The two halves of the EVA flew apart and smashed into the buildings on opposite sides of the street, as Three charged another target.
Four had managed to sever the right arm of his first target with a downward chop, but the other EVA parried a finishing blow with its prog short sword. The sudden parry knocked Four off guard and he stumbled back.
Misato watched this occur from the corner of her eye, and felt a rush of panic. She put on speed and rushed towards Four and his opponent, but it was too late.
The black EVA smashed its left arm into the Chuugi's torso and fired the 90mm machine cannons in it. Blood and electrical components blew out of Four's EVA and collapsed limply on the ground.
Misato watched, her eyes starting to tear, as the diagnostic light for Four's EVA winked out, indicating loss of the entry plug. She thought she had been prepared, to be able handle a comrade's death, but such was not the case.
Why'd he have to get killed? Goddamnit! She thought angrily, wiping her eyes with one hand and swinging her EVA towards the enemy.
"It's all your damn fault!", she screamed and opened fire with the Chuugi's vulcan guns. The upper armor of the black EVA was shredded by the assault, even as Misato propelled her EVA into a powerful leap, drawing the custom progressive katana out as she did so.
Her powerful leaping slash split the black machine's head open releasing a torrent of blood and crushing the hapless EVA into the ground. Rounding on another EVA, Misato slashed at it twice, taking both its legs off, and then skewering the cockpit with blinding speed.
In NERV, Gendo watched the scene happily. His efforts were bearing some impressive fruit indeed. Fuyutsuski watched his former student impassively and then Misato's syncho rate, which had just risen 82 percent.
He looked out at the Chuugi and thought, What did man find when he found God? It seems he found himself. The aged man shifted and continued watching the battle unfolding.
On the surface, Misato was in trouble. She knew the risks of rushing headlong into a fight and had completely disregarded them in her rage of Four's death. It surprised her that one comrade's death could have such an effect.
As a pilot and commander, she had tried to distance herself from the personnel under her command. That thought was quite the fallacy she saw now. It was like denying her own humanity.
Shaking herself out of her reverie, she noticed too late as another black EVA tackled her, sending both units to the street. "Damnit!", she yelled, pummeling the side of the grappling EVA as she struggled to get up.
"Hang on, Leader.", yelled her wingman, Two. He boosted straight at the black EVA, sending both EVAs flying down the street and into a building. Two managed draw his prog knife and stabbed wildly at the enemy unit until it went limp, then pulled out the blood-spattered knife.
Three in the meantime was fighting another EVA, but this pilot appeared to be much better than the others. He parried Three's attacks with ease and thrust through the abdomen of the Chuugi causing its pilot to scream in pain.
Misato quickly tried to help. She wasn't about to lose another fellow pilot, but the other three EVAs blocked her movements.
A quick thrust through the upper torso ended Three's life and his Chuugi went inactive, blood slowly leaking from the stab wounds.
Misato decided a tactical retreat was in order. They were outnumbered two to one and were surrounded. A new area would provide fresh support and weapons along with ambush opportunities. She signaled Two and the two Chuugis suddenly rushed the three EVAs, which jumped out of the way. The NERV EVAs quickly withdrew to another sector of the city using this opening. The black EVAs regrouped as well and advanced cautiously on the new position.
Tokyo-3 Sector 4-D
Shinji Ikari was pretty damn awed. He may have hated EVAs, but the grace and choreography with which lives were gambled with was undeniably impressive. He had a brief vision of himself in an EVA cockpit, executing similar maneuvers before his practical side quashed the fantasy. He was a practical young man, one who had never truly indulged in his fantastical urges.
Unfortunately, these urges would have to wait as a great black shadow jumped clean over the cowering Ikari and landed farther down the street.
At such close quarters, Shinji could better observe the silver-gray NERV EVA. It seemed sleeker, more organic than the various EVAs that Shinji had seen on the news.
Shinji could also feel something emanating from the EVA, but was fairly certain it had more to do with the whole "there's a battle raging less than fifty meters from me" thing.
Shinji was now struck by a very bad thought. Those black EVAs…are looking for those gray EVAs. I'm near those gray EVAs. Fuck., he thought. Despite his apathetic nature, Shinji had a pretty witty sense of humor.
Shinji looked around wildly for a hiding place, but it was already too late.
A black EVA leapt from one block over and landed in front of the gray EVA done the street.
Shinji struggled and failed to stand up as the landing knocked him off his feet. He could only look on in terror as the black EVA swung its prog short sword back and struck.
The Chuugi, Misato's, stumbled back, unable to use its longer sword in the tight confines of the block. The sword bit into the Chuugi's abdomen, drawing blood, but not truly damaging it as Misato twisted the Chuugi away.
The black EVA lunged and managed to grab the Chuugi, pitching it behind the black EVA and skidding it down the block.
Shinji suffered a premature heart attack as the Chuugi's shoulder narrowly missed crushing him. It had landed with its back facing the cowering Ikari and the great machine seemed to be struggling to get up.
After a moment though, it went limp and crashed to the ground, as if the pilot had simply given up. Shinji could only stare at it, completely oblivious to the turning black EVA as it approached the fallen NERV EVA.
A pressure he hadn't realized had been there suddenly gave way in his mind and Shinji looked at the EVA in confusion. He had felt something from the EVA?, from its pilot?
He wasn't sure, but he could have sworn he felt two presences, and then he became aware of something else in his mind.
It felt like a cry for help. Not a desperate one, but one all the same and one that Shinji couldn't ignore. He felt his legs carry him towards the EVA, regardless of the danger it represented. His practical side was completely suppressed by now and Shinji knew he was on a course for his destiny.
The issue was that Shinji didn't understand, in the words of his subconscious, a damn thing that was going on. He certainly didn't want to go towards the Chuugi, but there was something overwhelming compelling about the EVA. Besides, there was someone calling for help, even though Shinji was fairly certain the pilot of the EVA was unconscious.
He ran over to the EVA and scrambled up its back to the Termination Plug, where the cockpit was located.
He looked for a release switch, but failed to locate one before the plug opened and the Entry Plug popped out. He watched with bated breath as the Plug opened up as well…
The pilot didn't surprise Shinji as much as it should have. There was no mistaking the purple hair or those breasts either… Shinji's mind flashed a couple of inappropriate ideas just to make him feel uncomfortable. The skintight pilot suit Misato wore certainly didn't help to minimize anything either.
Shinji may have spent more time indulging his hormones, but the giant black EVA that had appeared didn't give him time to think. Nor did the sequence of events that followed.
The black EVA lunged down, attempting to impale the Chuugi's entry plug. The EVA reacted on its own, rolling out of way and leaping away. These actions pitched Shinji headfirst into the EVA, causing him land in a rather compromising position in Misato's lap.
Lucky she's out cold, thought Shinji as he righted himself in the plug. Then he nearly screamed. The panoramic view of the cockpit showed the black EVA charging at him, sword raised.
Shinji knew he was screwed, but threw up his arms as if it could ward off the incoming blow. To his great surprise, the EVA mimicked his actions and the black EVA's sword stabbed into one of the Chuugi's arms.
Shinji really screamed as he felt the sword penetrate his own forearm. What the hell…Is that how this thing is piloted?, thought the younger Ikari.
He didn't know why the sudden urge to use the Chuugi to fight occurred to him. It was probably simply survival instinct. A weapon to fight an enemy was in his grasp, as simple as that.
Shinji managed to right him self in the seat, which was actually Misato's lap. Shinji didn't want to move her, so he put up with the intense feelings his position put him in as he focused on the EVA.
This thing reacts to my thoughts, right?, he thought looking up at the black EVA now advancing towards him. He ignored the throbbing pain in his arm, knowing he'd likely receive more such injuries before this was over.
The black EVA charged far faster than he could track, appearing within striking range and thrusting at his Chuugi's gut. Shinji backpedaled the Chuugi, narrowly avoiding the strike, then desperately lashed out at the black EVA.
His Chuugi caught the enemy with a spectacular right hook that popped it into the air and then onto its back.
Shinji simply looked stunned at what had just occurred. He'd actually hit the damn thing. The enemy starting to recover snapped the surprised Ikari from his daze.
Acting instinctually, Shinji caused his Chuugi to body slam the other EVA, driving it into the concrete street. It struggled under him and reached up with its sword to try and stab its assailant.
Shinji's mind sort of blanked at this point. He could feel the Chuugi as a distinct presence and the unconscious Misato as another. And…two more. The black EVA gave off an aura and a smaller one inside of it, its pilot, Shinji thought.
He wasn't aware of ordering the Chuugi's next actions, but they occurred as he slipped into a sort of flow state. The Chuugi grabbed its opponent's sword arm and tore it off in a shower of blood.
Leaving the black EVA writhing, it relinquished the severed arm of its sword and plunged it into the black EVA's head. The EVA tensed up, but didn't stop writhing.
The Chuugi remedied this issue by stabbing the black EVA again, causing it to tense up and then flop limply, dead. Shinji looked through the Chuugi's eyes with a sort of detached interest at the fallen EVA. He had wanted it dead and now it was. Reality seemed rather silly to him at the moment and the dead EVA seemed inconsequential.
Unfortunately, his reverie was shattered by reality kicking him in the ass. Or stabbing him through the back in form of one of the three remaining black EVAs. Shinji screamed and fell back to earth.
NERV HQ Command Center
Gendo smirked and was forced to hold back an actual smile. This was too good. His son, the tool, had actually gotten into a Chuugi. They didn't even need to bother with Unit-01. His son would destroy SEELE without even that advantage.
Fuyutsuski suppressed a grimace at Gendo's little happy moment. His student was actually happy at what was about to occur. Fuyutsuski had seen the tests and data himself. Shinji Ikari was a force of nature to be reckoned with.
Both men turned their attention to the main screen, on which a SEELE EVA had just backstabbed Shinji's Chuugi. Gendo checked the biometrics for his son, then the psychometric readout.
This readout mapped the synapse activity of the EVA pilot, allowing monitoring of the pilot's mental status in combat. Shinji's had just registered a major spike in the pain centers, but even now it was receding along with the EVA's blade.
Gendo looked over at Fuyutsuski. "It begins, sensei." he said simply. The older man looked at the readout. Shinji's anger and rage centers were going haywire and spiking quickly. The subcommander bit his lip and watched the screen, mentally cursing the man next to him as the "show" began.
The next sequence of events awakened NERV's less aware personnel to the nature of the machines they created. Bridge officers Hyuuga Makoto and Aoba Shigeru spent the night drinking to forget scene and poor Ibuki Maya ended up having some serious nightmares that night. Only Gendo, Fuyutsuski and Dr. Akagi, head of the Technical division remained impassive.
Shinji's Chuugi whirled on its attacker and roared. It actually opened its mouth and roared, perhaps as a warning. It wasn't much of one though.
The Chuugi tackled the first enemy to the ground and dug at the EVA's shoulder. It then gave a colossal tug and ripped the arm off. It flew off in a torrent of blood, as Shinji's EVA crushed its head like an overripe melon, flooding the street with blood, grey matter, and a couple of eyeballs.
The remaining two SEELE EVAs were pretty stunned by this sudden change in demeanor. NERV 2, who had been watching was similarily affected, not wanting (quite rightly so) to go near this crazy Chuugi. As for the two black EVAs, their hesitation cost them.
Shinji's berserker Chuugi leapt on the second victim and tore into its chest armor. Its scrabbling hands ripped off the chest plate, and then gutted the EVA's body cavity. A small hail of EVA-sized internal organs flew behind the crazed EVA, which promptly leapt once more.
The sole remaining enemy attempted to run, he really did. Shinji's Chuugi landed foot to head on it and floored the hapless SEELE machine. The Chuugi wasted no time in dispatching the enemy, punching its chest armor and cracking it. It finished the job by shoving one arm into the black EVAs torso and crushing the entry plug. The EVA let out a roar of victory as Gendo smirked triumphantly at the scene. His scenario was finally bearing fruit.
NERV HQ Fuyutsuski Office
Fuyutsuski oversaw the recovery operation, Gendo vanishing soon after the Chuugi's howl petered off and it powered down. Recovery teams moved the EVA remains to storage and medical teams moved the injured pilots to the hospital.
Fuyutsuski glanced at the reports on their condition. Captain Katsuragi had a sprained wrist and a concussion, but nothing more. Shinji had some feedback damage from the EVA's wounds, but no actual injuries. Both simply needed to sleep off the effects of the EVA synchronization.
The older man glanced down at a picture of a brown-haired woman on his desk. "Is this okay?" he asked it simply. The silence that answered him didn't help his small, yet massive question. Then Fuyutsuski tossed the report down in disgust and stormed off to find solace in alcohol, leaving a smiling Yui Ikari alone on his mahogany desk.
Technical Corner:This section is a little extra that explains some of the technology, especially new EVA units introduced in the story. It is here to add a little flavor and detail to the story universe. Today's segment will focus on the NERV EVA unit, the Chuugi.
Spccs.
Model: NEU-065 Chuugi
Type: Limited mass production multi-purpose EVA Unit
Dimensions: 20.2m high, 70.5 metric tons
Powerplant: Sadamoto-Compact Fusion Reactor, rated at 1300 kW
Propulsion: Bipedal muscular drive system, Six verniers in back
Control System: One pilot in Entry Plug, neural link-up conducted using LCL
Armor: Fortified Titanium Alloy
Loadout: 70mm Vulcan Cannons x4
Type-3 Prog. Knives x2
Chuugi-A
MG-47 Pallet Rifle x1
Chuugi-B
Type-2 Prog. Long Sword x1
Notes: NERV's first mass-production EVA unit. The Chuugi is currently superior to most other designs, including those fielded by the JSSDF. One of its revolutionary design elements are the thrusters positioned on the back and joints of Chuugi, providing manueveribility beyond what the organic muscle and bone of the EVA are capable of. It has a variable weapons loadout, but all models mount two Type-3 Prog Knives and four 70mm Vulcan cannons mounted in pairs, one on each forearm. It has two main variants, the Chuugi-A, which has a pallet rifle for medium range combat. The other version is the close combat Chuugi-B, with a long sword type Prog. weapon. Misato's Chuugi is actually a custom A model that carries a katana-like prog sword in addition to its normal weapons.
Closing Notes: Again, I have no idea whether this is a good idea for a story or not. I just wanted to imagine the world of Evangelion where the EVA was a common instrument of war instead of an all-powerful weapon of mass destruction. As for future plot, the next chapter will explain more of the universe at hand and will develop the introduced characters a bit. I will say that the Angels, along with Adam, Lilith, and the original EVAs will play an important role starting next chapter.
In any case, thanks for reading and please leave a review with ANY suggestions you may have. Flames will be fanned back to their owners though.
