Chapter 36: Back in Action; A Little Too Soon
WTF. Come on, only TWO PEOPLE reviewed? Ok, maybe there's about a hundred of so people out there who read it, but COME ON! Anyway, I'm back with another chapter. Big thanks to the ONLY PEOPLE who reviewed: bannonluke and bigguy1234
Disclaimer: I do not own NGE, Gainax does. I do own all original characters, and if they bear any resemblence to real people or fictional characters in other stories it is merely coincidental
Preread by YouarenotasrandomasI
Now, on with the show!
Alarms blared as Nerv techs and other workers ran about. Misato ran up to the control room and demanded a status report.
"Unbelievable," the woman muttered, "It hasn't even been a day and we have another disaster to deal with"
On the main screens was an image of a monstrous behemoth. It was bigger than many of the other humanoid Angels, and seemed double the mass of a Nerv Eva. A silver ribbon hung from either side of its body in place of its arms. Right now, the behemoth was rapidly moving toward the area where Nerv was situated
"Pattern Blue, it's an Angel," Makoto shouted, his appearance quite disheveled, "The city's defenses are activated, but it's moving at a fast pace toward our position"
On the screen, buildings opened up to reveal missile launchers that fired rapidly a hail of explosives onto the threat. Due to the Angel's fast pace, a percentage was missing. The missiles that hit had little effect against it's AT field.
"Why do we bother?" Misato muttered under her breath before asking, "Where are our pilots?"
Maya answered her without looking up from her screen, "Shinji and Asuka are in the locker rooms; Rei and Touji are ready in their respective units"
"How are the Avatars?"
It was then that Sai appeared, his laptop in his arms, "Only Hunter's Eva is good to go, and he's waiting at elevator 5 for launch"
From his position above everyone else, Gendo ordered, "Launch Evas 00 and 03 as well as Hunter's unit"
Surprised by the sudden change in attitude from the commander, being more lenient with the Avatars, Misato paused for a moment before recalling the situation they were in, "You heard him, Evas launch!"
Hangar
"Due to our lack of preparation, you're all going to be launched within Terminal Dogma," Misato told the pilots over the video com, "You'll find weapons upon your arrival"
"Understood," Rei and Hunter replied, with a hesitant Touji right behind them. The poor jock hadn't had enough time to be told the whole story before being thrust back into action.
All three suddenly felt major g-forces as the elevators launched their respective units to the battleground. Upon arrival, Hunter and Rei took up positions near the racks of weapons that appeared moments after they did. Touji fell flat on his face taking the first few steps
Sighing, Hunter told the boy, "Stay down there and man the heavy weaponry. We don't want you to get in the way"
Rei picked up a rifle and reported, "The target has arrived"
At her words the 'roof' of the underground facility blew in. Floating from the hole it created, the Fourteenth Angel loomed over the land, like some demented vulture. Pulling his personal rifle from behind his Eva, Hunter ordered them to fire
Nerv Hangar
Shinji and Asuka were waiting in their respective Evas, waiting for prelaunch checks to finish
"Scheiße," the red-head said irritably, "would it hurt to get at least a few days before another attack?"
Both of them had recovered from the Thirteenth's attack, but were apprehensive about being sent out to battle again. Misato appeared on their view screens and told them to prepare for combat. The screens cut out as they prepared for launch.
"Shinji-kun," Asuka's voice came over the intercom, "Take care of yourself"
"You too," he replied, "don't do anything rash"
Anything else was cut off as Shinji and Asuka were hit by high g-forces incurred by the launch. When they reached the surface, they saw that everyone who had deployed earlier had scattered and were taking pot shots at the Angel.
"So nice of you to join us," Hunter said sarcastically, "How about giving us a hand here"
The Angel fired off a dozen shots in rapid succession, leveling the cover Touji was using. He ran as best he could as the Angel floated towards him. Its arms unfolded, creating two very long silver ribbons. The ribbons then flashed towards the stumbling black unit and cut its left leg off.
Touji screamed in pain as his Eva stumbled and fell. Before the Angel could finish him off, Rei rammed into it from the side. The Angel turned its ire on the blue Eva and whipped its ribbon blades towards her. Shinji and Asuka used this distraction to grab Touji and haul him off the battlefield.
"Gomen," the jock said with a grimace, "I've just been a nuisance, huh?"
"Scheiße," Asuka said in a teasing tone, "You couldn't be a bigger nuisance unless your dumb ass was inside one of our Evas while we were piloting"
Chuckling, Touji responded, "Well, at least I'm off the field, the Angel will most likely go after you, devil-girl"
"Anytime before the next century would be nice," Hunter called out
The Angel fired its beam a few times as the green Eva scrabbled out of range. The twin cylinders on its back rotated and opened up to fire its hellish barrage on the behemoth. Moving towards Hunter at a fast clip, the Angel's AT field blocked all of the high velocity lead bullets.
Picking up a rocket launcher, Asuka fired off the payload at the Angel. As with the other weapon, the high explosives did little damage to the target.
"This is getting us nowhere," Asuka complained, "Are we even lowering the damn Angel's AT field?"
Shinji dodged a few energy blasts that leveled the land behind him, "The only thing that might work is getting into close range with it, but it's suicidal"
"I have a plan," Hunter said, rolling from his cover in the hills, "I will charge in and provide a distraction. The rest of you will come in from its blind spot and attempt to neutralize its field so that I can plant an explosive onto its core."
As an exclamation point, the Angel fired one of its beams and blew a few more craters into the landscape. Without waiting for any form of reply, Hunter charged in, firing all cylinders into the monstrous beast. Flailing its ribbon blades, the Angel cut off one of the green unit's rotary guns off its shoulders just as it rammed into the enemy.
At that exact moment, the pilots all charged and piled onto the monster, their combined might enough to rip the AT field open enough for Hunter to plant his explosive.
"Hey Hunter," Asuka asked as they all rushed off before the explosive went off, "How big is this explosion going to be?"
Her answer was promptly given as huge waves of pressure hit the Evas from behind, pushing them forward a good distance. They had a few seconds before the blast itself was upon them. The AT fields protected the Evas from being incinerated, but they still felt a good deal of heat emanating through the armor of their robots.
When the heat finally faded away, the landscape had changed completely. A good three kilometers of earth was blasted of all vegetation and another four was covered with ashes. A cloud of debris filled the atmosphere, blocking vision of the crater's center
"Never mind," Asuka said in a daze, "Well, that takes care of that"
Nerv Command Center
Most of the bridge crew was watching the main monitor in awe at the destruction. It was equal to an N2 explosion, and with similar results.
"Do you have anything on the sensors?" Misato demanded
After a moment of entering values into the computer, Shigeru replied, "There's too much debris, we can't get a proper signal"
"What are you guys worried about?" Asuka asked over the intercom, "That Angel's toast, no way it could have survived-"
Outside
Hunter rammed into Asuka, narrowly avoiding the silver ribbon that lashed out from the cloud of debris. The ribbon quickly retracted and the Angel itself exited the cloud of dust
"Move it!" Hunter ordered, narrowly avoiding another attack
Shinji and the girls quickly retreated, covered by Hunter using his one remaining shoulder-mounted weapon. Plowing straight through the hail of lead, the Angel sent the green Eva sprawling to the ground. Before he could recover, the monster fired one of its beams in close range, blasting his left arm off
"Rei, see if you can get Hunter out of there while Asuka and Shinji distract it," Misato said, the strain evident in her tone
Before she could follow her command, Rei was struck down by the Angels attack. Hunter grabbed it and tried to slow it down, but got a strike to the head for his efforts. Asuka and Shinji double-teamed the monster and pushed it away and down.
"Come on," Shinji said, pulling Hunter up, "We have to fall back"
Meanwhile, Asuka and Rei were playing a sick game of tag, where getting tagged meant death. Zipping across the battlefield, the two girls were able to avoid getting hurt, but it was a matter of time before they were caught. Shinji returned, carrying a rifle and firing at the Angel.
The dangerous game continued for a few more minutes before Rei, tired from running about, tripped and fell. The Angel took advantage of this and attacked her
"Rei," Shinji shouted in dismay, "Look out!"
Nerv Command Center
There was no time; Rei's head was about to cloven in two and there was no way to cut the neural connections in time. Although it wasn't her head being cut, the pain could be enough to send her into shock.
"Neural connections cut," Sai said smoothly as his fingers flew across his keyboard, "Rei's fine now"
"How the hell did you do that?" Ritsuko asked in amazement, "You only had seconds before she was struck"
Not looking up, the boy replied, "I keep data packets that can be activated on a moment's notice. It's pretty simple once you get the idea. Hang on"
Another flurry of fingers and Sai said, "Neural connections cut, you alright Hunter?"
"Peachy," he replied over the com irritably
"What?!" Misato shouted in dismay, "Shinji and Asuka are by themselves!?"
Battlefield
After Hunter's Eva had its head cut in half, Shinji and Asuka began to feel dismay at ever winning.
"Asuka," Shinji said, "We have to fall back"
"No way," her image said, "We can't, and you know that"
In truth, he did know, but he wanted Asuka to be safe back at base. Sighing, he nodded and joined her to face the monstrous Angel.
"Gomen Asuka-chan," he said, landing a blow to her red unit's temple
As the red Eva reeled from the impact, Shinji had his unit charge the Angel. He vaguely heard Misato ordering him to retreat, but cut off communication. If the situation was different, maybe he wouldn't have to go through this suicidal run, but there was no choice
Charging in, Shinji lost one of his arms. Gritting his teeth, he continued forward and crashed into the Angel. Using his one hand, he slammed the monster against the ground and dragged its immense girth through the hills. The Angel recovered and fired one of its beams, but Shinji narrowly dodged it and began pummeling the beast
It looked like he had the upper hand. The boy was pummeling the Angel as it attempted to hit him with its arms. Shinji kept pushing; he had to, because he didn't want anyone else getting hurt because of these monsters.
Suddenly, the power shut down, his Eva going silent, "What, what's going on?"
Unknown to him, the Angels last energy blast had severed his cable, and he had gone into emergency power reserves without his knowing. With the Eva having gone silent, the Angel got back up. Wrapping its ribbon around the Eva, it swung him around, tossing him into the air to land heavily on the ground.
By this point, Asuka had gotten back to her feet and was looking for Shinji so that she could pummel him for hitting her. The thought left her mind when she saw that the Angel was tearing Unit-01 apart. Her rage at him was replaced with fear as she ran forward, intent on saving the boy she loved.
Command Center
"Eject the plug," a harried Misato ordered, "Hurry!"
"We can't" Makoto said despairingly, "We can't get a signal from the plug"
"No," the woman said weakly as she watched the Angel blast the purple Eva's armor apart
Asuka's red Eva jumped onto the monster's back, but was shaken off. When she charged again, the crew could only watch as the Angel ripped the Eva's arms off and then hit her with a powerful energy blast.
"Unit-02 is silent," Maya said in a shaky voice
Infirmary
Iak lay in bed as Rikku calmly peeled apples. The calm was only an illusion as the knife she held shook in her hands. Iak's uninjured arm rose up and gently took the knife from her hands.
"It'll be alright," he said calmly, "Don't worry"
Sighing, Rikku put the apple down and took hold of his hand, "I know I shouldn't, but I just can't. First you're hurt and now all this had to happen"
The door to the room opened, and Cairn stepped in, asking, "Do you want backup alpha prepared?"
Iak shook his head, "It'll be fine. Trust me"
Battlefield
Shinji was furiously pulling at his controls, hearing and feeling the impacts upon his Eva. There was a moment of silence as the attacks ceased, but then they started up again just as fiercely. He knew, deep down, he knew the Angel had stopped to attack Asuka, and that made him afraid.
"Move, move, move," he begged the silent beast, "Please move, I have to save them, save her"
His voice trailed off, despair filling him to the core, as the pounding the Angel gave cracked the plug he was in. Then he felt it, the warmth of someone embracing him. Shinji remembered the last time he felt this, when Iak helped him escape the other Angel's shadow.
"You again," he said to the unseen presence, "Will you help me?"
He felt the being give its permission, and then he felt the surge of strength flowing through his body. And then he felt nothing as he blacked out.
Outside, just as the Angel was about to give another blow, one of its ribbons was grabbed onto by the Eva. Dragging it roughly forward, the purple unit stabbed the monster with its horn. The purple unit growled menacingly as its eyes flashed with a deadly glint. It then lashed out with its feet, kicking the Angel and ripping one of its arms in the process. Its jaw opened up, revealing a gleaming row of jagged teeth as its animalistic roar sounded throughout the area
Command Center
Gendo watched with mixed horror and resignation. This Angel was one of the strongest, its body designed as the ultimate fighting beast. It was possible to defeat it if the other Avatar Evas were prepared, but the backup plan was one that he had seen before: absorption
"Impossible," Maya said, staring at her screen in disbelief, "Shinji's Synchro rate is 400 percent!"
"What!" Ritsuko shouted in surprise, "That can't be right"
"What's going on," Misato demanded, "Ritsuko, what does this mean?"
Still in a dazed state, the doctor answered, "It means that she's awake. The Eva is awake"
Sai, from his laptop, didn't look up and continued to type at his computer. He knew what she meant, even if not everyone else did. The Gendo they escorted had told them everything, including this event. So it wasn't really a surprise to have a fully sentient Eva on the loose, what was a surprise was the fact that his ego scanners could still detect Shinji's presence in the entry plug.
Interesting, he thought, does this mean he isn't going to be stuck for a month?
With that thought in his head, Said continued to monitor the situation as the others watched the Eva tear apart the Angel
Battlefield
After using the 'arm' the Eva ripped off to regenerate its own, the purple unit then began to advance towards the Angel on all fours. The monsters collided again as the Eva used its newly regenerated arm to rip apart the Angels gut. The Angel roared in pain as it attempted to fire its destructive energy blasts, but was interrupted as the purple monster slammed its armored fist into the Angels face, cracking it. The Eva began to pull on the face, ripping half of it off.
With the Angel lying in a pool of its own blood, the purple Eva let out a roar of victory as it leaned down to claim its prize. Opening its mouth full of sharp teeth, the awakened beast tore into the Angels side, tearing off huge bloody chunks of meat.
In the command center, everyone was horrified to see the Eva devouring the Angel. Maya gagged and tried to stop herself from hurling
"Maya," Ritsuko said in a solid tone, "go to the washroom; Makoto will take over for you"
Nodding, the young woman ran from the room as Makoto gulped down every meal he ever had
"Ritsuko," Misato asked, with a shudder, "What is it doing?"
The answer was covered by a particularly nasty wet ripping sound as the Eva ripped a round organ and swallowed it. Pale faced, the Nerv crew all looked away as the monster roared again. Suddenly, loud clangs were heard as pieces of the Evas armor plating burst off of its body.
"Oh god," he doctor said in horror, "It's breaking the restraints"
Thoroughly confused, Misato demanded, "What the hell are you talking about? What restraints? And what the hell is going on?"
Finally regaining her composure somewhat, Ritsuko answered, "The armor the Eva wears doubles as a restraint, allowing us to control it. But its broken free now that it has consumed the Angels S2 core"
"And about it awakening?"
"You know that the Eva goes berserk when it reaches 100 percent?" Ritsuko asked, "Well, higher than that, and the Eva becomes self-aware; sentient"
In shock, Misato asked dazedly, "What are we doing to these kids? What is going on?"
TADA, chapter 36 is complete! I hope you enjoyed it, and that MORE of you will review. All are welcome, but flames are ignored. Until next time:
Later!