A.N.: Alright, if I can't own Evangelion, can I at least own this fanfic?
Chapter 7 – National Evangelion Research Vector
"I know you two have a lot of questions," Miss Katsuragi sighed as she drove her Peugeot through the empty streets, dodging debris that lay strewn about as a result of the huge shockwave that ripped through Tokyo-3.
Shinji and Asuka both sat quietly in the back of Miss Katsuragi's car. Both of them remained confused at what happened back at the school. Rei remained unconscious in the front seat, her arm broken.
Finally, Miss Katsuragi started, "Alright, I'll see what I can explain.
"Both of your parents work at a top-secret research facility called the National Evangelion Research Vector or NERV for short. I am Director of Operations and ranked as Major. Shinji, your father is the commander of the organization."
Shinji's eyes looked up at the mention of his father, but he still held his head down. Asuka remained motionless.
"Right now, our main project is a series of three super weapons," Katsuragi continued. She swerved to avoid a fallen power pole causing her passengers to lean to the right. "Because of this state of emergency, protocol requires that we take you to NERV Headquarters. Do either of you have anything to say?"
"No…," Asuka replied, void of any emotion.
Miss Katsuragi turned into a cement parking structure. She began making a series of right turns as the car descended further into the structure. She reached the lowest floor of the garage and pulled into stall B4-21[X. Instead of shutting off the engine, she rolled down her window and honked her horn three times.
A section of floor slid away as a computer terminal rose to her open window. She reached across Rei and pulled a long, red, rectangular plastic case from her glove compartment. It was seamlessly sealed and a very official logo consisting of half a maple leaf stamped on either side. She grasped both ends of the plastic case and began to twist. A loud crack sounded as the plastic case broke open and released a small card from its vacuum-sealed interior. Katsuragi caught the card as it soared into the air in front of her. She reached out the window and slid the card through a reader on the terminal. A green light flashed on the screen with a message stating 'Approved'.
The terminal descended back to its slot on the floor. A loud klaxon began blaring, its sound amplified by the cement walls in the empty parking garage. The wall in front of the car began to descend revealing a large chain linked cage behind it. Katsuragi drove the Peugeot into the cage, reached out the window again, and pressed another button. Behind them, the cement wall rose back to its original position. Another chain linked gate locked behind the car.
In the low lit cage, Shinji felt himself lowering down further into the earth. Red light flooded into the cabin of the vehicle every ten seconds as the car passed under emergency flood lamps.
The tunnel disappeared revealing a large subterranean cave. Shinji looked up and saw rectangular, metallic spires pointing down like stalactites. Sunlight shined through a series of mirrored vents that also provided fresh air to the cave. Large tubes followed the spires down further to a lake at the bottom of the cave. At one end of the lake, stood a square pyramid. Behind the pyramid, a large tower rose from the ground. Clean vegetation grew around the lake and buildings.
"This is the Geo-Front," Miss Katsuragi introduced. "Above us is Tokyo-3. In a lockdown, the buildings will retract and hang from the top of this cave. The residents use the elevator tubes so they may descend to the safety of the Geo-Front. We then use the elevators to deploy our defense forces."
Despite his amazement, Shinji could not help but spit out, "That liar."
"Huh?" Miss Katsuragi heard him. "Who?"
"Oh, no one."
Outside the car, on the lift cage, a red telephone began to ring. Miss Katsuragi reached out and lifted the receiver to her ear. "Katsuragi… yes I have them. Report to Cage-7? I understand… what? He's going to be there personally? But I thought… understood. How can we launch with main power offline? Oh, good work then. What? Th…that's not… we can't launch then without the pilots. …He said that? …Thank you Hyuga." She replaced the handset on its hook.
The lake grew larger as the car descended. Katsuragi turned to her companions in the rear. "My team reports that main power will be restored within the hour. And it looks like we may have to deploy immediately upon arrival."
Asuka looked up. "What do you mean 'deploy immediately'?"
"I mean just that." The car descended to a depth of seventy meters in the lake before entering another tunnel. "The super weapons, I was under the impression that they were above ground at the test center in Matushirow, but it appears that the modifications on them finished ahead of schedule."
The lift cage stopped and the chain-linked gate descended revealing another parking garage. Red emergency lamps provided little light for driving. Miss Katsuragi drove the Peugeot into an empty stall marked 666. Outside, a white clad team raced to the passenger door of the car with a gurney. They opened the door and extracted an unconscious Rei. Katsuragi and Shinji exited from the driver's side, with Asuka crawling through behind him. "Don't worry, they will take care of her."
Katsuragi lead her companions to an elevator marked R-20. She checked a monitor on the side of the door. "Good, reserve power is still functioning." A small red light illuminated the words 'Reserve' under the power bus indicator. She forced the door open, ushered the children inside, and jabbed the button marked 'Main Cage'. The car began to move upwards, then to the side, then down, and to the side again. A rotary indicator at the top clicked at regular intervals to indicate the stops. When it read 'L-67', the car stopped. Katsuragi forced the door open again and held it open for Shinji and Asuka. They stepped into a corridor again lit by emergency lights. A sign in front of them marked the directions; to the left was the 'Main Cage' and to the right was the 'Pilot Ready Room'. Miss Katsuragi steered the children to the left. At the end of the corridor, two ultra wide double doors lay rolled open to a dark room. Orange clad workers rushed through the door and into the corridor mumbling something about a diesel generator.
The trio crossed the threshold into the darkened room. Katsuragi stopped them. "Stop here, and wait for your eyes to adjust. Otherwise you could fall off."
Shinji's eyes slowly accustomed to the low light. It was a good thing Miss Katsuragi stopped him. Had he taken one more step, he would have run right into the handrail for the catwalk they were standing on and fallen into the abyss below. "Whoa!" He took a step back stepping on Asuka's foot.
"Ouch dumpkoft," she spat at him. "That was my foot."
"Quiet you two," Katsuragi commanded. She lead them to the right a short distance before turning left and stopping after another short walk.
"Spares are here. Everyone clear out and prepare for launch," one technician yelled.
"Roger."
The men in orange jumpsuits gathered their tools and rushed out of the room. Two remained behind and pulled the heavy double doors shut, a lock bolt slid into place with a loud clack. The room darkened even more causing Shinji to jump.
"This is Melchior, backup power has been restored. Main power still offline. Repeat, backup power has been restored. Main power…," spoke a female voice from a loud speaker. Lights in the room began illuminating specific areas of the room such as the catwalk. A light in front of the group lit and revealed a monster.
"Ahhh!!" Shinji jumped at seeing the purple face looking back at him. He looked down and saw that it stood over eighty meters in height. A humanoid shaped beast covered in metal plating. He looked around and saw another one just like it off to the left. This one had red metal plates. Red, the unit from his dream.
"No, it's not possible," he whispered to himself. "An Eva…"
"That is correct!" boomed a voice from overhead.
The trio looked up and saw Gendo Ikari standing on an elevated catwalk above them, dressed in a black service dress with green piping.
"Father," Shinji shot at him. "What is the meaning of this?"
"This is the Evangelion, man's greatest weapon."
"You said that you were working towards peace! Not to create a weapon."
"We are, but to achieve peace, we must fight."
"Fight what?"
"Our enemies."
"And who are they?"
Gendo pushed his tinted glasses further up his nose. "The Angels."
Asuka found her voice. "Angels?"
"Angels? You said they were a myth, sir," Katsuragi shot up at her commander.
"They have returned," the commander stated.
"But sir, how can you expect to fight with the Eva's when both pilots are dead?"
"Three spares have just been delivered." He looked down at Shinji. "Shinji, you will pilot Unit-01, Asuka will pilot Unit-02."
"No!" Shinji shouted. "I won't!"
"Yes you will. Do not make your mothers' death in vain."
The trio below gasped. "What do mean, father?"
"Yui and Kyoko are dead. They were killed in the initial explosion at the Matushirow Test Center," he coldly stated.
Asuka broke down and began crying into Katsuragi's shoulder. "Nein, nein, nein…."
"You lie, father."
"I would not. Now get in the plug."
"NEVER!"
"Are you a coward? I always thought you were."
Shinji stopped.
"Sir!"
"Stay out of this Major," Gendo barked. He returned to Shinji. "You truly are nothing but a coward…"
"…stop…"
"…a spoiled mama's boy…"
"…stop…"
"…who never had to stand up for himself."
"STOP!"
"I never wanted a son…"
"Sir! I must object…"
"…I tolerated you because I loved your mother more than anything. Now that she's gone, I don't have to be nice to you any more…"
"Sir, He's your son…"
"…You aren't even worthy to carry her name."
"I HATE YOU! I HATE YOU, YOU BASTARD!!"
"No, Shinji, you are the bastard." Gendo turned on his heels. "I'll just leave it at this… if you don't pilot it, many others will die. Moreover, it will be at your hands. Get in the plug." The commander marched off, his gloved hands folded behind him.
Shinji began trembling. Miss Katsuragi pulled him back into an embrace along with Asuka. "I'm so sorry, Shinji. I didn't know…"
I mustn't cry, he thought. "Miss Katsuragi… wha… how do I pilot it?"
"Oh, Shinji…"
A.N.: Annnd, that's a wrap (for now). Geez, did I make Gendo come off evil enough? Disowning his own son? I mean, I hope I did it justice. Anyways, I am starting to sweat slightly cause my posts are catching up to my writing (I've barely started CH10). Only cause CH9 is 4500+ FUCKING WORDS!!!! I didn't realize it until I started writing. Hopefully all of you are kind enough to read and post reviews with your thoughts.
bigguy1234: thanks for all the posts so far. i'm touched to see that i have at least one dedicated fan
Next Time: After confronting his father, Shinji must now face the task of piloting the Evangelion and fight the Angel. Will his desire to prove himself to his father be enough? Saturday on NGE: InEVA - Angel Attack!
