See Chapter 1 for disclaimer.
THE IKARI ULTIMATUM
Chapter 2: Feeling Gravity's Pull
The next day went by quickly enough, the group finding itself just outside of the base just as night was falling again. Parking the APC about half-a-mile away from the base, Misato was the last to disembark. "How do you wanna take this one?" she asked Rei as they came about two hundred feet away from the gate.
Rei surveyed the base through a pair of binoculars. A large supply plane was currently being loaded up for another trip to whatever location it was stocking. There was no real security at the base, only a small crew of engineers and workers. 'It is hidden well enough to need very little,' she thought. The rest of the base was nothing more than a couple of wooden buildings, at least one of them communications. "Head to the plane first and clear it. I shall be along shortly," she explained, heading stealthily around the outside of the base limits.
Misato looked back at the others. "Come on, let's make this as short as possible. And unless they're armed, try to make it bloodless."
Shinji nodded, following her down towards the plane. The other three followed them, slowly creeping to one side of the plane.
Inside the plane, one of the workers was taking his last smoke break before their flight. As he put the lighter to the cigarette, he found a gun suddenly very close to his nose. Looking down the barrel, he caught sight of a lavender-haired woman. She put a finger to her lips and motioned for him to run. The worker didn't hesitate a bit and broke out in a sprint, heading for one of the buildings. But as he made it inside, a small pale arm came from one side of the door and promptly knocked him cold.
The others slowly worked their way inside the cargo bay of the large plane. There were no more than four or five crew inside, not a one of them armed. 'I guess that's one small miracle,' Misato thought. Clearing her throat, she continued pointing the gun in their direction, Kaji and Shinji joining in. "We'll make this simple," she began. "Get out now, and you'll all walk away unharmed." Like the first guy, these men wasted no time in making a retreat.
Opening the cockpit door, Kaji was met by the pilot reaching for his own weapon. "Ah, I wouldn't do that," he warned the man. The pilot made a grab for it, only to be caught on the side of the head by the bottom of a handgun. "Told you," the former spy said, pulling the unconscious man from the plane. "Gimme a hand with this one, Misato."
Misato grabbed the man's legs and helped Kaji move him out onto the tarmac. "Not bad, not one had to be seriously injured," she said. At that moment, she saw Rei approaching her from her peripheral vision. In one of her hands was a large case. "Where'd you go?"
"Communications have been severed," Rei said, "and I have gathered something we will need at our destination."
"You know how to fly one of these things?" Misato asked, following her inside the plane.
"Yes, I have been trained in the operation of many types of aircraft," Rei explained, opening the cockpit door. Placing herself in the pilot's chair, she resumed the start-up procedure the pilot had begun. "I would suggest you close the back hatch and seat yourselves. This will be a more…unstable ride than the VTOL was."
As Misato moved past him, Shinji took a moment to seat himself and look about the plane. It had apparently not been fully loaded up when they arrived, as there was still a lot of open room in the cargo storage portion of the plane.
Asuka sat down next to him. "You alright?"
"I thought you weren't talking to me," Shinji said, trying to lighten the mood.
Asuka gave him a small shove. "Oh, that was yesterday. I'm okay with it now," she replied. "At the time, you really scared the shit outta me, you know?"
"Sorry about that," Shinji said, "but you know I had to bluff them that way to make it out safely."
"Really playing this one close to the chest, huh?" Asuka questioned.
"As close as you are to it," Shinji replied with a smile.
"Save the corny romantic stuff until we're done," Asuka said, her mood turning serious. "With any luck, it'll all be over by tomorrow."
Shinji nodded, looking across to Misato. The older woman flashed him a smile that shouted 'we'll be alright'. Kaji offered him a similar grin, although neither eased the knot in the boy's gut. 'Guess we'll just see what the plan is in small steps,' he thought, trying to relax as he felt the plane slowly move down the runway and off the ground…
A few hours later, the plane was moving quickly over Arctic airspace and towards Zero's location. Ritsuko had taken on navigation while Rei piloted. "Looks like it's between two-ninety and three hundred miles from the center of the continent," she told the girl. "We'll be over it in just short of twelve minutes."
"Understood," Rei said, making another check of the plane's gauges.
In the back of the plane, Shinji sat quietly and continually went over the plan in his head. "Little nervous?" Asuka questioned.
Shinji looked up at her, puzzled. Asuka pointed to his hands, which were currently shaking. "Yeah…" he answered. "I'm just ready to get this all done with. I want to go back to normal…hell, I'd even take boring."
"I hear you there," Asuka replied, letting out a sigh. "This has definitely been the longest week-and-a-half of my life."
The cockpit door opened up, Rei and Ritsuko walking out into the cargo bay. "We are nearing our destination," the girl stated, moving towards the very back of the plane. "I suggest we prepare."
The others stood up from their places and began to gather whatever gear they'd need. "So, how close are we going to land?" Misato asked.
"Um…we're not landing in the conventional sense," Ritsuko said, shaking her head a bit.
"Huh? I don't get it," Misato replied.
Rei opened up a large compartment near the tail end of the plane, revealing a rack of large backpacks and thick white jackets. She handed the woman one of each. "The plane has been set into auto-pilot to land approximately five hundred feet past the coordinates," she explained. "We must be off by then."
Misato stared at the pack she'd been handed, realization dawning. "Wait…you can't possibly mean-"
"Yes," Rei stated, handing the same items out to the others. "We must make an insertion by air."
Kaji almost laughed at that. "Not exactly what they'll be expecting," he said, putting the jacket and pack on.
"What's she talking about?" Asuka questioned.
Misato looked as pale as death. "We're…jumping."
Asuka stared at her before snapping her head around to Rei. "Oh you better damn well be kidding…" she said, her voice a little shaky.
"I am not," Rei continued, strapping on her own parachute. "There is no eye protection available, so keep your eyes shut on the way down. After jumping, count off ten seconds and pull this," she said, touching a large pull ring near her right shoulder. "Should it fail, there is a backup here," she finished, motioning to a smaller one across her abdomen. She walked back over to the very back of the plane and turned to the others. "Are there any objections?" she asked, her hand on the tail release lever.
The others looked around the room at one another. This certainly wasn't the most sane plan, but just knocking on the front door was far crazier. "At least there's some cover from a snowstorm right now," Ritsuko said. "It'll give us more time until they see us."
Shinji sighed deeply. This wasn't something he'd ever pictured himself doing. Then again, neither was anything else that had happened in the last few months. "I…I guess we're as ready as we'll be," he told Rei.
Rei nodded. "Hang on to the rungs overhead," she said. After everyone had taken a firm hold, she pulled the lever. The tail blew off the back of the plane in a loud 'bang', falling into the snowstorm and disappearing. "We must depart now if we are to land safely out of sight," she spoke loudly (for her) and flung the long case she'd brought onboard out of the plane, a small parachute tied to it.
"Supply drop?" Misato shouted over the wind. Rei nodded, walking over to the open end and falling backwards into the abyss. The major stared out of the plane, no longer able to see the girl. "This is crazy…"
"Oh come on, Misato," Kaji said, walking toward the open end. "It'll be fun."
"You've done this before?" Misato asked.
"Once or twice," Kaji replied. "Not on-the-job, mind you. I jumped for the thrill."
"You have some idea of fun," Misato muttered, rolling her eyes.
"Let's go," Kaji said, taking her arm and walking them both towards the edge. Misato looked back to the others, giving them a queasy smile before the former spy pulled them both out of the plane…a short loud yelp being the last sound she made upon exiting.
Ritsuko shook her head, giving an uneasy laugh. "She's right about one thing, this is nuts," she said. Walking over to the edge, she took a deep breath before hopping out.
"Well, that just leaves us," Asuka stated. Looking over at Shinji, she saw that his shaking hands had become worse. "Oh really, this isn't any different than an exit catapult!"
"Except without an entry plug full of LCL for cushioning," Shinji spoke in an anxious tone. "Or an EVA, either."
Asuka shrugged. "Hey, no way out now but down," she replied. Grabbing ahold of both of his hands, she gave them a small squeeze before letting go. After that, she walked to the edge and did her best swan dive off the plane.
"Always showing off," Shinji said with a grin. Looking down into the storm, he swallowed hard and sighed. 'No way out but down,' his mind repeating Asuka's words. Deciding not to look down, he slowly closed his eyes and stepped out into the sky.
Shinji would have screamed, had he found the air to do so. From here, all he could do was count off ten seconds in his head. Shocked as he was, he still wanted to land safely on ground level. As he came to ten, he pulled the release cord. The sudden upward acceleration dug the parachute harness into several points of his body. Grunting in pain, he opened his eyes when the floating sensation kicked in. There wasn't much to see besides snow, but he could barely make out the dark grey of the others' parachutes. It seemed they were already on the ground.
As the snow underfoot came up fast, Shinji steadied himself for a somewhat hard landing. He landed with a thud, his legs digging a few inches into the snow. Quickly sitting up and cutting away the parachute's ropes with a knife he'd brought from the APC, he looked through the white haze for any shapes. "Asuka?" he shouted into the loud winds, his breathing ragged and shaky from the freefall. "Rei? Misato?"
A hand laid across Shinji's left shoulder. "I'm here," Asuka said. "So what'd you think?"
"T-that was…" Shinji shook his head, trying to slow his elevated heart rate. "I don't ever wanna do that again."
"Oh, it wasn't that bad," Asuka said, helping Shinji to his feet. "And slow your breathing or your lungs will freeze." They walked forward a few feet, peering into the storm. Some distance away, three taller shapes came out from the wind-driven snow. "There they are," she said, running over to the others.
"You could've given me some warning you were gonna pull me out of the goddamn plane!" Misato's raised voice just barely came through to them. Whatever response Kaji gave her was lost in the noise of the wind.
"Everybody here?" Shinji asked as he and Asuka approached the other three. They nodded, looking about for the remaining person they'd left with. "Where's Rei?"
"She leapt first," Kaji explained, "so maybe she's just a little further behind than us."
"I am here," Rei just barely spoke, walking up to the others. In one hand was the case she'd dropped from the plane. Taking a moment to place it down, she opened the case.
Misato peered into the container, finding the contents no real surprise. It was a G3A1 rifle, along with a few clips and a suppressor. The last item she couldn't identify, though. "I get why the rest of this," she asked, "but what is that?"
"Thermal imaging sights," Rei answered. "I took them from the armory at the supply base, knowing it would help us cross through to our destination." She attached the two parts to the weapon, turning on the sights. Looking down the scope, she turned in the direction of where the plane had been heading. It appeared to be a base, not very different than the Berlin facility had been but a good deal larger. 'Most of it is probably below the surface, as well,' she thought.
"So where was it that the plane was headed?" Misato asked.
"It appears to be a base," Rei explained. "It resembles the previous NERV bases in other countries, but I would surmise it to be larger." Looking around the front of the base, she spied four thermal signatures near the building. "Stay low and follow me, there are sentries."
The others followed close behind, keeping as low to the ground as they could. Rei stopped a few yards away, taking another view through the scope at the guards. 'Four of them, armed with submachine guns,' she thought, trying to make out any details. The nearest appeared to be about one-hundred-fifty yards away. She crouched down in the snow and lined up, taking the wind into account. Setting the weapon to three-round burst, she let out a breath and squeezed the trigger. Through her sights, she saw the rounds impact the guard center mass. "One down," she whispered.
Moving forward a couple of dozen yards, Rei once again got low to the ground and took aim. The next three were posted much closer together, two out on the ice and one near what looked like an entrance on the building. One of them being taken out would no doubt alert the others. She decided the one closest to the door, it may just go unnoticed by the other two. She took the shot, three rounds striking the guard's neck and right shoulder. 'A little off, but it should be enough,' she thought.
As they moved closer, a loud crash took everyone's attention past the base and towards a small tower of smoke some distance away. Using the distraction to her advantage, Rei quickly ran closer to the last two guards and set the gun to full-auto. As the two became aware of her presence, she fired short bursts at both of them. Both men fell dead, red seeping into the white snow. "It is clear," she said, motioning for the others to move towards the entrance.
As they moved past, Misato took a gun from one of the dead guards. "I think we'll be needing a bit more firepower," she said, handing Ritsuko her NERV-issued handgun. "Take this. Here's hoping you won't need it."
Ritsuko nodded in agreement. "You and me both," she replied. The two women walked over to the entrance, which was locked by a card reader. "Great, more setbacks."
"No, this is simple enough to get around," Rei stated. She searched the dead guard next to the door, finding his access card. "I knew one of them must have it."
"Remind me never to get on your bad side, Rei," Asuka said, staring at the dead mean in the snow behind them.
Swiping the card through the slot, Rei heard a click. She pressed the button below the slot, the door sliding open to reveal a long hall leading to an elevator. "It is built exactly like the Berlin base," she said.
"Then that just makes things a bit easier for us," Misato said, pressing the elevator call button. It arrived soon after, the group piling inside. Before anyone could press anything, the elevator doors closed and began moving down on its own. "Tell me that's not a bad sign," the former major thought aloud.
"Everybody stay alert," Kaji said, taking the safety off his handgun. "They know we're here."
The elevator arrived on a floor far below the surface. The group disembarked and slowly followed the corridors heading further into the facility. The halls certainly reminded them of other NERV bases, all plain metallic colors and nothing decorating them that wasn't functional. Most of the doors they passed led to various storerooms and empty space. "What in the hell is this place?" Asuka asked. "It's way too damned empty to be in use."
"It appears this place was finished for a long time, but only recently being prepared for use," Rei guessed. "But the lack of any personnel is troubling."
"Armed guards out front and no one inside," Misato said. "I was expecting more than that."
"Maybe they're investigating the crash?" Shinji offered.
"Makes sense," Misato replied. "But still, not a soul…"
"Yes, it is strange," Rei said. She rounded another corner, leading the others deeper into the structure. "This level is built similarly to the Tokyo-3 base's Central Dogma level. There should be a secure elevator ahead that will lead us to the Commander's office."
"And that's where we'll find Zero…" Shinji said quietly. He felt the anger try to rise in him, barely held in place. 'This ends here, no matter what,' he thought, a mirror of his words on the night of the raid NERV headquarters over a month ago.
Before they rounded the next corner, a click and a laugh stopped the group in their tracks. "I would not go any further if I were any of you," a soft male voice spoke.
All six of them whirled around to face the room's newest occupant. A figure with red eyes and light grey hair. "You…you are dead," Rei said in surprise.
"Oh, how nice of you to remember that," someone who appeared to Kaworu Nagisa replied, pointing a large .45-caliber handgun at them, "especially considering it was you who killed me." He was dressed in white fatigues, the same as the guards at the entrance had been in. He quickly swiped a card through the reader on the wall next to him, a blast door coming down in the middle of the group. It came down right on Shinji's gun, crushing the metal of the barrel and breaking it into several pieces. The former Third Child found himself on one side with the other boy, the rest of the group on the other.
"Shinji? Shinji!" Asuka shouted, pounding on the steel wall. "Goddamn it, somebody do something!"
"I thought Nagisa was dead?" Kaji asked.
"He was," Rei replied. "I made sure of that myself."
"Then what the hell was that?" Asuka yelled, a few stray tears falling unnoticed.
"I…do not know," Rei admitted. "But we will not abandon Shinji. Keep watch down the other halls, and look for another way to open this wall."
"But Nagisa was an Angel!" Misato shouted. "How could Shinji possibly-"
"Trust me, Major," Rei replied. "If that was indeed Nagisa, then he is…less than what he was before."
"What does that mean?" Ritsuko asked.
"I cannot explain now," Rei continued. "But suffice to say, this is not an impossible task for Shinji. It concerns my own experiences with being dead and…reborn."
Misato continued staring at the former First Child. On one hand, she was worried for the boy that had gotten separated from them. On the other, Rei always seemed to know far more than she told. "I'll trust you on this for now, Rei," she whispered. "But you'd better hope he comes back alive."
"I already am," Rei said. She placed a hand on Asuka's right shoulder. "All you can do for him right now is hope."
Asuka looked up at Rei, giving her a nod before turning back to the steel shutter. "Shinji…" she whispered. "Come back to us."
*****To be continued…*****
A/N: Not quite expecting that, were you? I've left you guys with cliffhangers before, so at least that part is nothing new.
Pre-read for this chapter was again done by the team of Dark Machine, Eric Blair, gesser87, and JimmyWolk. Good work as always, gentlemen.
Small note: this chapter and all previous/following it were written around late June/early July last year. So a quick "sorry" to everyone who may have been waiting for something after TLaWR. Revisions and pre-reading can take quite a bit of time, it would seem…
For any of you who are new to the community, all of my older (2004-2006) works have undergone a small bit of tweaking (as of the 14th of June 2010). So go take a look, tell me what you think. And review! Even if it's not positive, review!
As usual: good comments will be appreciated, bad ones will be ignored (or kept for firewood). But I do favor good/helpful criticism, so send it my way!
-AngelNo13Bardiel-