Chapter 8-Despair
Shinji woke up feeling like he had been dropped on his head. He gingerly touched his bandaged forehead, and then wobbly sat up in a pale green hospital gown. The medications in his blood kept the pain at bay, but numbed his ability to think.
"How do you feel kiddo? You were under sedation while you recovered from your concussion."
He turned and stared at the fuzzy outline of Misato who was looking sleep-deprived and cranky. He knew something was deeply amiss but could place exactly what as his head was still in a fog, "C-captain…uhhh."
"Ristuko has cleared your discharge. I need your help with a big problem."
Ikari shook his head as if to clear the cobwebs, "Problem? If we're still alive wasn't the Sixth angel destroyed?" Suddenly a shard of dread seized his heart, as he realized Rami-san wasn't at his bedside. He vaguely remembered her anguished screams over his welfare at the end of the last battle. "Rami-san! Is she-?"
"No, she's alive! Calm down!" The Captain sighed, "It's been about three days since the fight. Yes, the Sixth angel is dead, but the problem now is Ramiel, the Fourth angel."
Shiji's blue eyes widened with dread and rising panic, "It…it can't be! Rami-san? Is she alright?"
Her voice was faintly tinged with guilt, "I'm sorry but you'll have to see for yourself to understand." She tossed his school outfit on the bed, and ordered softly, "Get dressed please."
"Yes ma'am."
A few minutes later Shinji gaped with horror at the heavily damaged Unit 01 in the vast hanger space of the cage, being swarmed with technicians. Its entire left upper arm armor was missing as well as the top half of the left arm pylon. What sickened him the most was seeing half the faceplate was missing revealing a tan-skinned giant's face possessing a demonic green eye with multiple pupils.
"Idiot," Misato muttered as she gripped the rail tightly. "You shot the angel, but nearly killed yourself and your Eva in the process!"
He turned away from the giant face that he knew would haunt his dreams for the rest of his life. His shoulders slumped, "I'm sorry I screwed up again. Where's Ayanami?"
"She's on standby with the positron cannon at the coastal mountain pass. We can't take any chances if the Fourth angel attacks again."
Shinji felt a knife pain in the pit of his stomach as he spat out reflexively, "Captain, no! Rami-san isn't the enemy!"
Misato gritted her teeth helplessly, "I know that! But the orders are from your father directly. Unless we can contain her, she is to be classified as a hostile again."
"W-we have to do something!"
A smirk crossed Katsuragi's face, "I have clearance from the Vice-Commander to try an incredibly dumb idea. Are you in?"
Shinji's enthusiastic nod amply conveyed his consent.
…
Around noon the VTOL lifted straight up off the tarmac from the base at the edge of the city and banked to the southeast. Shinji took a window seat and stared down as he saw the bright blue Unit 00 crouched in a mountain pass surrounded by numerous vehicles on the nearby mountain roads. The engines whined as the aircraft passed over the beach and the two halves of the sunk destroyer that lay crumpled in the sand was exposed to view. Just beyond it the legs of the Sixth angel stuck hundreds of meters out of the ocean surface at a crazy angle.
Misato shook her head, "Rami pulled the JDS Wakaba wreck out of the water after you were rescued. Thanks to her 35 trapped sailors made it out alive. Still with over 100 dead it's still a tragedy."
"She's amazing!"
As they passed a ring of destroyers in the middle of the bay the captain groused, "She is. But here's the real problem."
Shinji sputtered at the appalling sight, "What the hell?"
Hanging half a kilometer over the bay was the Fourth angel, but it was far from normal looking. Instead of the soothing geometric facets, it was matte black in color and had crazy spikes splayed out in random directions. Even worse the upper section was pitted and full of holes that allowed the Third child to see the summer sky on the other side. Long stalactites draped off the lower face, which slowly dripped black ichor into the sea. It looked like a titanic, half melted ebony-hued candle.
"That is the Fourth angel as it stands now, and has been for days." She crossed her arms, "The Magi agree that it is an outward appearance of the angel's inner soul."
The boy shook his head in distress and guilt, "An angel with a broken heart. It's because of me!"
"No one is to blame but the Sixth angel, Shinji-chan. However, an angel suffering a breakdown could turn on us in an instant. The city was evacuated two days ago. We've been hunkered down in NERV for over 65 hours waiting for her to do something, or anything at all. At 2400h tonight, Rei is under orders from Commander Ikari to shoot out her core."
Shinji was starting to seriously despise his father! He clenched and unclenched his fists in a furious agitation, "She won't harm anyone but herself. Hover close by her. I'll try to reach Rami-san with my pendant."
"Worth a try! I always was one to play the odds after all!"
They reached the short flight up into the cockpit, and she spoke to the pilot, "Lieutenant, set us to hover a 100 meters above that spine over there."
"Aye-aye Captain!"
The VTOL gently descended into a slow spiral down to just above one of the horizontal spikes.
The captain spoke grimly, "Okay, give it a try Shinji."
Shinji was never very religious, but if there was ever a time to pray, then this was it! He took out Rami's amulet, and focused on it. Soon enough the blue gemstone lit up brightly, and he felt a despairing mind interact with his. He tried to speak to the voice in his mind, Rami-san! It's me! Shin-
It's all my fault! I'm sorry!
It's all my fault! I'm sorry!
It's all my fault! I'm sorry!
It's all my fault! I'm sorry!
It's all my fault! I'm sorry!
It's all my fault! I'm sorry!
It's all my fault! I'm sorry!
It's all my fault! I'm sorry!
It's all-
"Aaargh! Stop it Rami-san!" Shinji yelled in pain as he threw the amulet into the corner, breaking the telepathic link.
The Fourth angel finally came to life, as the angel screeched and the spine below them mutated into an inky black goo that wrapped around the VTOL, trapping its occupants inside!
Misato barked, "Shit! Gun the engines!"
The pilot cursed, as the turbines screamed at top power, but they were unable to escape from the angel's crushing embrace. "No good ma'am! The Fourth angel has us by the throat!"
Shinji looked wide eyed as the blackness on the windshield. "It's okay! I know Rami-san won't hurt us!"
Misato was about to tell Shinji to stop saying idiotic things, but gaped as the view changed to a hazy red liquid, which caused the windscreen to crack. She exhaled ruefully as she squeezed her ward's shoulder for comfort, "Well, this is gonna suck."
The windshield shattered as crimson core fluid rapidly flooded the cramped interior of the aircraft.
…
An hour later Gendo smirked insolently at his interrogators as he stood in a circular room with 5 holographic black monoliths looming over him.
The one marked Seele 03 raged at him, "What were you thinking Ikari! You took the Angel Ramiel under your wing in direct contradiction to our commands!"
"It was a logical idea at the time. The Fourth angel was fused to a weakling girl with a bleeding heart. It was child's play to manipulate her." He sneered at the American general, "She also helped destroy Sachiel, Shamshel, and Cassiel. Wouldn't you agree that advanced your agenda?" He adjusted his glasses, "And your lauded, 'infallible', Dead Sea scrolls predicted an attack from Ramiel, not Cassiel in the last angel attack."
Seele 05 growled, "We are yet to be off the script. Other than the single substitution, the scrolls have been always right! Once you terminate Ramiel, we will trust our sources that the plan will unfold on schedule."
Seele 02 cut in with a thin nasal voice, "Speaking of which, you also allowed your Operations director and the Third child to throw their lives away! We already know a badly damaged NERV aircraft made it back to base minutes ago with only its pilot left on board!"
"Still, if Ramiel allowed them inside, then they could pull off a risky gambit. Plus, we have little to lose, and much to gain if they succeed. Captain Katsuragi knew the risks, and the Third child can be replaced with the First. Only Unit One is indispensable to the plan."
Seele 01 noted with a cranky voice, "It will be your head on a plate if you fail, Ikari."
"I am well aware of that, Chairman." He broke out into a cruel smirk, "The Fourth angel will be disposed of sooner or later. If she can be revived, then she will make excellent cannon fodder against the next wave of angels."
Seele 01 noted dryly, "Your funeral. Never forget the debt that you owe us."
All the holograms faded out and Gendo glared down at his gloved hands, "All that matters is Yui."
…
Shinji gasped and wildly looked around, but could see nothing but inky darkness. Suddenly the room was flooded with light and he was surprised to find himself in a train compartment facing a young boy with his face.
The boy spat, "Puny ant!"
Shinji was agog.
The next view he had was of his father looming above him on a balcony overlooking Unit 01. The commander sneered, "Your kind is worthless to live."
"F-f-father? What are…?"
His icy eyes were pitiless, and he spoke in a high pitched musical shriek that deafened the terrified Third child.
The boy opened his eyes and he looked at a scowling Misato as she drove him down the highway near Tokyo-3 at night. Her sunglasses reflected off the sickly yellow streetlamps, "Your kind always make me sick!"
He shook his head in disbelief, but understanding was starting to dawn. "Who are you?"
She looked at him with an arrogant sneer, "I will answer your question when you answer mine. Who are you, ant?"
"I-I am the T-third child," he stammered.
The next thing he knew, he was standing in front of Rei on the escalator over the NERV atrium. The pale albino had an uncharacteristically angry expression. Rain was pelting down on them from above. "Your job. Not your identity. Who are you?"
Shinji flushed as he realized that whatever he was talking to it was malevolent and dangerous. He felt like he was trapped in a cage with a tiger held back by a fraying rope! "Ikari S-Shinji. I am a worthless, useless boy!"
The next location was by the school gym as he has pushed into a wall by Toji who looked like he was ready to hit him. He snarled, "Worthless is correct, for only your boundary field maintains your individual soul. But that does not answer my question!"
Shinji felt his eyes start to water with tears, as he felt a bout of self pity, "I-I don't know who I am!"
Finally his inhuman antagonist seemed satisfied, "Correct. I am the righteous thunderclap of God's fury! I am the destroyer of the weak and impure with fire and brimstone!"
He shook his head, "R-ramiel!"
His assailant's eyes narrowed, "Why did you dare approach me?"
Shinji winced, but he summoned his flickering courage, "I'm here to save my friend!"
Rami-san sat in front of her garden as blood sprayed out of the sprinkler heads. Ikari recoiled in horror. The entity continued, "You cannot save your murderous friend without saving me as well."
He felt the need to defend her, "Y-you're wrong, Ramiel! She isn't a murderer!"
"Isn't she? Tell me this then. How many celestial warriors' blood is stained on her flesh?"
Shinji's eyes widened, but he knew three angels had been partly defeated by his ally. "I understand."
The girl glared, "No. You do not understand. I was to facilitate the celestial restoration by returning to the First born. However the Second born sabotaged my sacred mission. It is now up to my siblings of righteousness to finish what I could not."
He tried unsuccessfully to restrain his badly shaking hands, "If your mission is to eradicate humanity then why are you helping me?"
"Someday I will break free and your kind will pay. Until then I will bide my time." She shot at the boy a withering glare, "Absolve her of her sin, if you think you are up to it. If I die, she dies. Remember that."
The next place was a small room overlooking a vast crystalline chamber the same vast size as the NERV geofront. A man in a white snowsuit stared out of the window in horror as a pulsing light far below started to glow unbearably bright. He looked over in pain in Shinji's direction and gasped, "Anu? Why?"
Shinji turned around and he saw a young lady with tan skin and black hair dressed in a white parka. She was quite obviously pregnant. Tears were streaming down her face as she cocked the hammer of her small, smoking sidearm. "I'm so sorry Hiroshi. SEELE needs their plan to save humanity to work. Our sacrifice is necessary."
"Father!"
Shinji saw a crying Misato scream at the wounded scientist and dash in front of him protectively, "Why, Dr. Kassab? Why did you shoot my dad?"
Dr. Katsuragi ignored his ghostly daughter and seemed resigned to his fate, "Just let me see my S2 engine live for one more moment, Anu. Please."
Dr. Kassab nodded once, and then gasped in shock as a deafening explosion rocked the room. Hiroshi had just shot her! Blood bloomed in her parka at chest level, as she spoke softly, "I love…" She inelegantly crashed to the ground with her lifeless brown eyes still staring sightlessly at the man she had tried to kill.
Misato stared around numbly realizing she was helpless to intervene as she clutched the white cross hanging around her neck.
A bright explosion rocked the room and then all was darkness again.
…
Unit 00 lay sprawled out on its belly with only its head and the barrel tip of the centrifugal type positron cannon exposed out from behind the hilltops. Gigantic cables linked the rear of the cannon to a hastily assembled substation that would supply the weapon with more than a single shot. The main power socket was jutting out of the Eva's back, keeping the internal batteries constantly topped off. Just to the Evangelion's right rested the massive Gatling cannon that Shinji had used several weeks prior at the ready in a braced bracket. Off in the distance the tallest buildings in Tokyo-3 were still fully retracted in assault mode and hundreds of blank weapon towers were locked in the raised position. Standing under the nearly full moonlight, Rei stood in her white and black plugsuit with a blank expression.
"Pilot Ayanami?" The lead technician that had seen Jadel off into the battle looked at Rei with an anguished expression.
The albino nodded curtly, "Technician Ryujo. I do not wish Jadel-san, Ikari-san or Captain Katsuragi any harm. However my orders are absolute."
Ken berated himself as he had for the past two days. He had been the lead tech in charge of making sure the entry plug that Jadel-chan had used was up to snuff. Was it his fault she hadn't come back? He didn't know and it was killing him. He pleaded, "If you have to shoot, please make it quick!"
"I promise."
Over a nearby loudspeaker atop the scaffold, Dr. Akagi's stern voice ordered, "It's time Rei! Power up Unit Zero!"
"Yes doctor." Ken opened the plug hatch and made sure the slender pilot was securely seated. The hatch pivoted shut and ratcheted into the massive cyborg. Inside, after the amber LCL injection, the screens lit up brightly with night enhanced views of the dark shoreline. All around and behind her mech, lights winked out as a citywide blackout diverted power to the potent particle gun. Her unit's single electronic eye automatically zoomed in at 1000x magnification outlining the dark outlines of the mutated, misshapen crystalline shell of Unit A4. The gun powered up with an overlaid targeting reticule.
In the tense NERV control room, the clock ticked over to 2400h. Ritsuko crossed her arms, and glanced up at the commander before speaking, "Commence Operation Thunderclap!"
Hyuga noted glumly, "Aye sir! Unit A4 blood pattern type has been reassigned from blood pattern violet to blue! The bogey is hereby reclassified as the Fourth angel as of 2400 hours JST!"
Aoba grimly chimed in, "JMSDF destroyer cordon has moved to the five kilometers red zone boundary. They and JSSDF coastal artillery barrage are at the ready!"
Maya scowled, "Magi is uploading firing solution up to Unit Zero! Targeting the Fourth angel's center of mass!"
Akagi barked, "Commence bombardment! Rei, open fire!"
"Yes, doctor."
