The black monoliths appear in the virtual room. It is the one labeled 01 that begins, as always. No others are present. None others are required, for the next few moments. It is only them, the secret masters of the world.
01: We begin this meeting of the Council of SEELE. Report on the latest progress of our resources.
10: Construction of the Mark 08 is almost finished. All we need is to format the Core and find an acceptable subject and it will be ready.
08: The first of the Mass Production Series is ready for test activation, Chairman. The S2 engine will receive a thorough breakdown.
06: Following that, which I may add is against my better advice, we will replicate the S2 organs for the rest of the Eva series. Unit 03 is en route from NERV-Boston to the southwest facilities.
.07: And once more we are concentrating all our Evangelions on a single spot. Once more, I must raise protest that the Scenario is not as reliable as we thought. Do we have any guarantee that the Angels will continue to target Tokyo-3?
06: I remind the Committee to review my theory on the Cherubim behavior.
05: In all do respect, 06, I find it hard to believe that Angels can behave in that petty a fashion. Chairman, the PAWN series will be ready to be deployed within two weeks time. Final debugging of the software will be complete by then.
A pause from the monolith labeled 01.
01: Gentlemen, this meeting is adjourned. The Mark 06 is on final approach to NERV-2. We will reconvene in two hours.
The virtual reality display fades, the mechanisms retracting into the floor around his desk. Rising with the whirring of gears, Lorenz Kihl grips his walking stick and begins his walk out of the book lined office he keeps on premises on NERV-2. On paper, he is a civilian contractor. In reality, Director Hertz answers to him.
"Chairman," the girl says, waiting for him at the doorway with a bow, "Mr. Kaworu will be pleased to see you waiting for him."
"I imagine not, child," Kihl says, walking alongside Annette as they exit the room, "I was forced to shoot Ms. Ayanami before they left, and it is a poorly kept secret that he has become attached to her. Like he has to you."
"Then I can only hope I do not give you cause to shoot me, Chairman."
He grunts an acknowledgement, the two exiting the dome as the head of the Mark 06 descends past the lip of its underground hangar. Which is when the black clouds gather in the distance over Berlin. And every alarm begins going haywire.
...
...
...
YOU ARE, ALL OF YOU, GARBAGE.
Born of hate and refuse. Born of greed and fear.
Your works of civilization are the mad ramblings of the already dead.
You worship us and discard us.
And now we have come to discard you.
I am the Interrogation of God
Angel of Silence
I am Shateiel.
I am here.
Chapter 52: Chained Gods
The Tokyo-3 municipal park has been visited at this point by three professional exorcists, a few professional investigators from Manhattan-2, and several priests in an effort to 'purify' the area. More or less, since ADAM's attack several months earlier, the park had been a nexus for weird crap.
Today is no exception.
It starts as a pinprick of light. It expands outward, forming into a sphere and shaped much like an egg, cracks of light issuing forth as the trees in the immediate area of the park bend backwards and down, the cement cracking as the pedestrians stare in absolute, dumbfounded shock.
The egg folds in on itself, the light blinding for a moment. As the light clears, the silhouettes of five people become distinct. Well, five humanoids. At least two of them are most definitely not 'people.'
"Transit completed, Shepard Commander."
"So, Earth? Hm. Quaint. Interesting. More active biosphere than I was lead to originally believe. Fascinating. Reading the effects of massive particulate-mmph!"
The woman in the black, green piped armor clamps her hand over the mouth of the brown and white skinned alien in the white and black uniform resembling a doctor's coat.
Tapping the depression on the side of the full head concealing helmet, plates retract into the recesses of the collar, revealing a young woman with short cropped red hair and faintly glowing orange scars.
"Ah, crap," she says, "We've been spotted."
Behind her, the taller man in the high collar blue armor and sloped helmet taps her on the shoulder.
"I got this."
He holds up a three fingered hand, parting his two fingers and pulling off the helmet to reveal a face of silvery, scaled skin, deep recessed black and blue eyes and a pair of twitching mandibles over a beaked mouth.
"Greetings, people of Earth!" he says, "We come from a far off universe, from a world much like your own! Take us to your leader!"
Which is all the crowd needs to start screaming and running. This is then followed by several dozen people in black suits climbing out of the bushes and bent over trees and behind the light posts and aiming automatic weapons at the five of them.
"Shepard Commander," the tall, thin, cycloptean robot says, extending the plates over its eye, "This is not an advisable situation."
"No shit, Legion."
She turns to the final member of her group. The six and a half foot tall turtle shelled humanoid blinks bright blue eyes and grins, cracking his knuckles.
"Grunt!" Shepard yells, "Sicc'em!"
With a roar, Grunt charges, laughing as automatic fire pelts him and doing little more than tickle.
"I really don't know why I listen to you, Garrus," Shepard sighs.
"Sometimes I have good ideas," the beaked alien responds.
"Name them."
"No record found."
"Shut up, Legion."
Tapping his forearm, an orange sphere and paraphernalia appears as the doctor alien brings up a floating, holographic map, stepping out of the way to avoid being hit by a flying Section 2 agent.
"Fascinating," Mordin Solus states, "We are apparently above a large hollow structure that extends into the planetary mantle."
"Fascinating, I'm sure," Garrus says, disengaging the compact oval from his back and snapping it out into an assault rifle, "But I'm pretty sure we're not here to survey. What's the plan?"
Jane Shepard, Commanding Officer of the SSV Normandy-2, allows herself a small grin as she considers exactly what sort of crazy she's landed into this time.
"Plan's simple," she says, "We're going to find to access port to that subterranean structure, infiltrate it, and at five people strong, storm a fully staffed and armed military compound. And we're going to find our crew member and get her home."
"And here I thought we were doing something stupid," Garrus deadpans.
Shepard slaps Garrus on the back with a small chuckle.
"Day's young. Let's move."
...
NERV-2, East of Berlin. Alarms blare as the wind whips about them, crackling electricity filling the sky. They can see a faint outline of something resembling a sphere in the sky. Something massive and horrifying filling the sky, descending upon them. It was around them figuring out it was easily the size of an Evangelion that their equivalent to Section 2 came for him, transiting him from the Makinami estate to NERV-2.
Something in Uri's gut fills with dread. Something stirs deep inside him, some deep loathing and fear.
Angel. An Angel is coming. He's not sure if he's scared, or anxious or...or maybe even excited.
"Annette! Uri!"
Hair still sticky from LCL, eyes bloodshot from the flight over, Kaworu swears under his breath as he runs out of the hangar, grabbing Uri by the sleeve as Annette bows slightly.
"What are you doing here?" he demands.
"I had Uri brought to NERV-2," Annette explains, "It's the safest place to be during an Angel attack. There aren't shelters like there are in Japan."
Kaworu sighs, already weary. No time to argue, he things, squeezing on Uri's arm and pulling him towards the hangar, Annette in pursuit.
"Come with me," he says, "There are deep ground shelters near the Mark 06's hangar. Let's go!"
...
The Cherubim resembles an oval of green crystal, two orbs like Cores at either end. From the Command Bridge at NERV-2, there is chaos. None of the personnel here are trained in repelling Angel attacks, not really. As the lighting crackles over the surface of the alien monster, Lorenz Kihl narrows his eyes against his visor and takes in the details of the creature, thumb stroking the red gem set into his walking stick.
"Chairman," Director Hertz, an older, proper, formally trained and therefor useless soldier says, "We really should get you somewhere safe."
"This is safe," Kihl responds, "We are lucky the Cherubim chose today to attack. Now we will see the full capabilities of the Mark 06."
...
A stray bolt of lightning strikes the base. More than lightning, enhanced by the Cherubim's AT Field and in born rage, it strikes like a physical thing. The hangar shakes, catwalks loosening and on instinct, Uri grabs Annette by the arm, pulling her back as the underground building rumbles and metal around them creaks.
A support beam comes loose as another bolt strikes, Uri diving out of the way, pinning Annette as the girl shrieks, and with a sickening crack and the sound of meat hitting the floor they look up to see Kaworu holding the bleeding gash on his forehead, groaning as he lays on the floor.
"Oh, it's not even trying to be subtle," Uri breathes, looking up, staring at the 200' tall figure surrounded by catwalks and supports, "Fine. Annette, help me carry him."
Uri pads over, pulling up Kaworu by the arm, tossing one arm over his shoulder as he begins walking towards the Mark 06, up the stares as the building shakes and the Entry Plug looms over them.
"Wha...what are you doing?" Kaworu breathes.
"Getting us somewhere safe," Uri responds, "One of the first things I was taught at NERV is that there's nowhere safer in an Angel attack than an Evangelion. How fast can you heal."
"...right to the head. Hour, two."
"Not fast enough," Uri sighs, placing his hand on the computer screen to his right as Annette wraps Kaworu's other arm around her shoulder, "Come on, we're practically twins..."
"Recognized; Pilot. Entry Plug access granted."
The hatch spins open, excess LCL splashing on the catwalk. Pulling the A-10 connectors from Kaworu's hair, he fits them on his head, helping Annette carry Nagisa in and floating him on the orange liquid.
"Come on," Uri says, stepping into the plug, the blood like liquid cold against his skin, "Let's go!"
"Me?" Annette asks, glancing from side to side, "Uri, I...I never..."
"Annette, I'm not leaving you out here," he says, and grabs her wrist, "Come on!"
...
"Berlin," Yui says, standing in Central Dogma as Kyoko walks in, padding over to her, "Why would an Angel attack Berlin?"
"It may be after the Mark 06," Kyoko responds, "Some theories state that it is a lobotomized Angel. Could be a rescue."
"But it's a Cherubim," Yui sighs, folding her arms, "And we have no idea what drives them..."
...
The lights flicker on. The decision was easier than he thought. He swore, some time ago, to never get back into an Eva. Not until he was ready. Fate is forcing his hand today. The restraints are tight. Annette is in the seat with him, holding on. Much like that time on the Rainbow. How his sister and Ikari first met.
Only thing is, his synchronization score never even came close to Ikari's. Never will.
"Begin manual activation," he says, flicking the switches on the sides of the seat, "Stage one. Release muscular locks and set language to German. Stage 2. Set Plug Depth at 2.04 and ionize LCL."
He grits his teeth. He feels the pulling at his mind, at his soul. The back of his neck itches.
"Annette," he says, "Whatever happens, hold on. Don't let go. I can try to get us out of this alive."
She nods, her arms wrapped around him.
"It's okay," she says, "I trust you. You're trained in this."
He nods. Trained, yes. Miserable track record, but trained and drilled and made into his entire life. Then that life collapsed around him, didn't it? No time for that. No time for regrets.
"Stage three," he says, wrapping his hands around the butterfly controls, "Synchro sta-"
His vision becomes a tunnel of light and sound. A connection, a spark, as the core beats below him. His mind dumps information, visions of his past playing before him. Death, rebirth, childhood and abandoned adulthood and responsibility. Screaming at the death he caused, his regrets and inadequacies a slideshow of horror and mockery before him as the tunnel finally empties and he sees eyes in dark parts of his mind.
Are you fighting for something?
A voice like his, but deeper, echoing and godlike.
Are you fighting for someone?
Faces, too many to count. Six red eyes in a diamond shape stare back at him, retracting and forming into a great winged giant.
You are like him, but different. He says that he fights for his kind, for his brethren. But never gives a name. But I see who you fight for.
A face. Stern and unforgiving but one which he owes everything. Mother.
A face. Timid, but hidden strength and intelligence. Guilt over how he treated her. Sister.
The hands around his chest tighten. A moment, called back into reality, the whiff of strawberries in her hair.
Ah. You have a reason. You have people to protect. Let's give you a chance, Uriel.
The A-10 connectors glow, the pulse of pounding Core beneath him bringing him back to reality.
"Fourth Child Recognized."
His eyes glow red, a rush he never knew existed filling him, awakening him.
"Synchronization at 137%. Evangelion, Mark 06."
Outside, two red eyes glow beneath the orange visor.
"Rise."
...
"I'm in their ductwork. Proceeding to rendezvous point. I'll try not to take anything with me, of course. Scout's honor."
The tactical cloak switches off, her eyes and the implants adjusting to the darkness of the air vent as she crawls along, inertial dampeners built into her gloves and boots masking the sound.
Kasumi Goto, master thief, treasure hunter extraordinaire, and now cross universal traveler (who always thought it was a fantastic idea to versify her resume) speeds along the air ducts of NERV-1, silently tracing the omni-tool signature of their comrade.
Of course, this is a bad idea. She expressed as much of an opinion in her flippant, humorous way, but this is a very, very bad idea. She knows what's waiting for her here, in the ducts, and that's why she volunteered. She's here to keep her attention while the others infiltrate the base, mainly because she knows that there are many things to describe the biggest threat in NERV, and murderous isn't one of them.
At least, not to her friends. After all, she-
"Heee~ey."
Right behind her. She's been following her, even invisible. She has to ask her how she does that.
"What'cha doin'?"
She turns. Red eyes glow in the darkness.
"Hello, Rei," Kasumi says, "Just doing a job for a friend. You wouldn't happen to know where Tali is, would you?"
"Yep! We can take you to her!"
Kasumi pauses. Easier than she thought. Well, deep down Rei is a good girl and wait did she just use a plural?
"We?"
She looks in front of her. Another pair of red eyes. And another. And another.
"Oh, I am not paid enough for-"
...
"Kasumi's encountered the Ree," Garrus says, peering past the scope of his assault rifle as he turns the corner, gesturing forward as Mordin walks behind him, omni-tool still glowing, "If I remember correctly, Rei has seven sisters, right?"
"Correct. It may be considered agreeable to not provoke them."
"Yeah, I'm agreeing with Legion," Shepard says, flattening her back against the next corner, motioning Garrus forward, "Okay. Quiet, everyone."
Heavy pistol in both hands, she scans the corridor. They found an access tunnel to the Geofront soon enough, disabled the security detail and made their way in. Everything is planned. Guns are set to Sledgehammer rounds; high speed concussive rounds designed to knock unconscious via force and hypo-injected sedative.
No one has to die. Sure, they're hopping across an entire universe to rescue their comrade, but if these are Rei's people, then she knows they're good people. And they wouldn't have harmed one of hers, so she doesn't have to-
O.o?
"What the Hell was that?" Shepard asks.
The black sphere flicks in front of her. Floating at level to her gaze, it rotates, about the size of a baseball.
"Fascinating," Mordin says, "A spacetime bridge in mobile form. Fascinating."
"Yes, this is definitely Rei's world," Garrus says, "I think we're being tracked."
Shepard nods, peaking over the corner again, tapping down a glowing orange visor and shifting into infrared.
"So," she says, "Seven of them? We could have eight Reis tracking us?"
"The scientific classification is Ree," Mordin corrects.
Grunt stomps in after them, shotgun in hand. Garrus motions him to be quiet, to approach slowly, as Lilly turns towards the turtle like alien and examines him, floating around him casually.
8D!.
Which is when the pale white hand bursts from the overhead vent and yanks Grunt in.
"Oh, that poor boy," Garrus intones, "He's in for a life changing experience when the girls realize he regenerates."
...
The horns rise first, the three slopes of the Evangelion's head as the force of the AT Field rips the catwalks from the wall, surrounding it in a cyclone of metal, near-sonic accelerated air and pure, elemental force. The moorings of the hangar doors tear and rip off, surrounding the Mark 06 like two spinning shields.
The dual horn mounted upon its snout vibrates like a tuning fork, the visor glowing a baleful red as the gold jet stripes lining its arms and waist shift to a glowing white. Panicked screams over the comm systems, Uri hearing them realize that, no, Nagisa is not piloting the Mark 06.
And then the sky shifts. The Cherubim senses them as the Mark 06 rises above NERV-2, the AT Field coalescing around it as the metal descends towards the Earth in a rain of debris.
An arc of lightning crosses the distance between Berlin and NERV, deflected and crackling against the wall of orange that raises itself before the Mark 06. Eyes beneath the visor narrow, and will becomes force, cancellation of gravity, and the Evangelion takes off with a crack of thunder towards the Cherubim.
...
"You join him with the other half of your soul, Tabris," the voice booms in the back of Kaworu's head, "We will let this stand. The Cherubim are abomination. They must be destroyed. Should you raise your hand like this against an Angel, though, I will destroy you myself!"
Standing in the open field, Kaworu stares at the Mountain which speaks with Thunder. Barely drifting back and forth between consciousness, he bites back the bile he wishes to speak to him with. Such is not wise. Not with him.
"This is necessary," he says, "My body is injured. Only he can pilot."
"Or you could shed your meat and bone and destroy the Cherubim with a snap of your fingers."
...
It clears the clouds. A shape of a long green rod, two spheres shaped like Cores hovering on either end. The Cherubim has arrives, drawing power from the lines underneath it as it advances towards NERV-2 with the speed of a passenger plane.
Reaching his mind outwards, Uri connects to the Core. A wall of orange light comes up, blocking the blasts of electricity before the speed picks up, the Mark 06 accelerating upwards with the Cherubim in pursuit.
"Fine, it's chasing us," Uri growls, "Now tell me what you can do to kill it!"
"I can manipulate my AT Field to a degree not possible by standard Evangelions."
"Great! Wonderful! How does that help me?"
The Mark 06 halts in mid air, the orange field around it lighting up, forming into a sphere that fits into the palm of the Evangelion's hand. The sphere flashes as the hand closes, forming into a rod, on which one end sits a bladed axe head.
"Okay," Uri says, "Works for me."
...
Two Section 2 agents drop, the blue residue of the slugs dissolving as Garrus motions the others forward, Mordin next to him as he peers across the corridor, Shepard on the other side. She holds up a finger, tapping the side of the pistol and the lights around the barrel glowing faint blue.
Peaking over the corner, she aims and fires. The snap frost covers the cameras, shorting out the surveillance as she motions everyone forward.
"Okay, here's a bad thought," Garrus says, "I was honestly expecting a lot more resistance. What if they know we're here and they're waiting for us?"
The double doors ahead of them open. Misato Katsuragi walks out, gun aimed at them, Mana next to her with an assault rifle and twenty armed Section 2 agents behind them.
"Yeah," Misato says, "What if?"
"Crap," Garrus mutters.
"Agreed," Legion responds.
Shepard growls, a wall of blue coming up between her soldiers and the armed security agents in front of them.
"Mordin, Garrus," she says, "Fine Tali. Legion, you're with me."
Garrus, nods, tapping his shoulder. He fades into an outline, and is gone, Mordin disappearing with him. Legion stares at them, eye glowing for a moment before the vents on either side of the wall open up and slam the Section 2 agents against the wall in a flood of Bakelite.
"Well, that's better," Shepard says with a smirk, "Legion, split up. You take the girl."
"Mana, kick the robot's ass," Misato says, "I've got the bitch."
Shepard raises an eyebrow, holstering her pistol.
"You really want to do this?" she asks.
"You invade my base, you knock out my men, and you have the freakiest looking sidekicks I've seen since Sub Director Sohryu started palling around with Junior," Misato responds, "Hells yes."
Shepard holsters her pistol as Misato charges, launching off her right foot and into a kick right at Shepard's face-
...
The axe comes down, cleaving through the Cherubim's AT Field and slicing into the green crystal skin, making it squeal before blasting the Mark 06 in the face with a blast of electricity. Lights are dimming in Berlin beneath them, going silent as more and more power pours into Shateiel.
Inside the plug, Uri roars. He feels ALIVE today. He feels WHOLE. Is it possible this is the result of Eva? Is it the Mark 06, the caged God obeying his every wish?
"Look out!"
Brought from the brink by Annette's scream, he wills the Eva to bank, a hard left to avoid the pillar of lighting shooting skyward from one of the red cores. Cores. Does it have more than one core?
"Nagisa!" Uri shouts, "How do I kill it!"
"Mrgl..."
"I think he's unconscious," Annette responds, "If he...wait, if he falls unconscious then..."
The lights dim. A timer reading five minutes appears on the right side of the plug.
"Oh, f_ me," Uri growls.
"Not until we're married."
Uri stares at her. Annette smiles, faintly, shrugging.
"Sorry. Trying to lighten the mood."
Both scream as the Cherubim interrupts the conversation with a blast to the Mark 06's chest, Uri feeling the hairs on his chest crackling under the head before the Mark 06 is knocked from the sky. Flight gives out, the shields giving out as the AT axe fades from the Mark 06's hand and it plummets towards the ground below.
...
"Not good," Lorenz Kihl growls to himself, "What are you doing, Nagisa?"
Was that concern in the Chairman's voice, the Director asks himself. Well, the boy is the Chairman's ward, as much as the statement seems odd. But, the cynical man in him tells himself, it's probably concern for his investment in the whole thing and-
"Oh, damn," he says, as a new set of alarms blare, "What's happening?"
"Evangelion MP-1 has activated!"
...
The container bursts, flooding the facility deep beneath NERV-2 with LCL. Whie feared wings, glistening with gold and amber unfurl, beady black eyes taking in light and sensation for the first time. The soft, monotone voice echoes in the back of its mind, the white figure rising as the technicians watch in dumbstruck horror, shock, and admiration.
After all, they were curious on just whether or not it would work.
Mother's instructions. Mother's words.
Save.
Muscles tense. The S2 engine pours liquid fire through its veins.
Your.
Hands wrap around the black handle.
Father.
With a tensing of muscles and thrust of its wings, the white Evangelion burst through the ceiling, through layers of armor and into the sky. Hefting the black double blade in its hands, the first of the Mass Production Evangelions launches itself towards the battle.
...
"Crap! Crap! Crap!"
Slamming the butterfly controls as the Cherub gets smaller and smaller as the Evangelion falls towards the ground, Uri can't help but get deja vu and wonder why he always seems to choose the defective Evangelions.
The belt pops off and Annette climbs onto him.
"What are you doing?" he asks, noticing that, with the way she's currently straddling him he has a good view of her cleavage and wait, we're still falling and then notices her climbing over him.
"I'm going to wake up Mr. Nagisa," she says, and pushes off, floating towards Kaworu, "Hold on."
She floats over to him, gently taking him by the collar. Almost tenderly, she places her hand on the side of his face, the other hand on his shoulder...
And then she knees him between the legs as hard as she can. Uri throws up a little in his mouth as Kaworu's eyes open with an almost inhuman scream, and the timer disappears.
"That did it!"
His eyes glow red and the Evangelion straightens up, stopping its fall a hundred meters above NERV-2, launching itself skyward once more as a white Evangelion rises alongside it, one hand carrying a great double sword, and the other something Uri recognizes quite well.
"Is that a Positron Cannon?"
"Makes sense," Kaworu gasps, "Similar...to Ramiel..."
Tossing the double blade at the Mark 06, Uri wills it to deftly catch it as the White Evangelion hefts up the Positron cannon, leads leading all the way down to NERV-2 crackling with ozone as the light gathers at the barrel.
With a burst of light and a crack of thunder, the beam shoots out, crossing the sky and slamming into the AT Field, crackling against it as the light briefly outshines the sun...and then gets sucked into the Cherubim as the two cores reconfigure, clacking together directly in front of it.
"Right," Uri says, "Hold on!"
The Mark 06 dives out of the way, still holding onto the double blade as the pillar of lightning slams into MP-1, slamming it into and through the ground of NERV-2 and into the base below. Turning, the Cherubim takes off in pursuit of the Mark 06 once more.
...
The two unholster their guns, Misato firing off three shots, Shepard ducking, rolling and bouncing into a leap, firing off a stream of rounds which Misato ducks, rolling behind the corner, slamming a clip back in.
"You're shooting to knock out," Misato says, "I'm using live ammo! Think about it, lady!"
"You're using clips, I'm not," Shepard responds, "I can do this all day, Katsuragi! You're at a serious disadvantage!"
"You'd think that. MAGI, reconfigure 22-120!"
A set of pillars shoot up from the floor, a set of blast shields rising to waist height from the floor as Misato dives back in, the walls extending outward as Shepard grunts and ducks behind a column.
She ducks out, swinging and firing, the semi-automatic systems in the pistol taking over and sending a spray of fire out, each one barely missing Misato as she darts from cover to cover, remarkably agile in thigh high heeled boots.
Aiming, getting a bead, she grabs the pistol in both hands...and with a flash of gunpowder the pistol explodes, the bullet lodged in the barrel.
"That was my favorite gun," Shepard growls.
Tossing away the ruined weapon, she charges as Misato leaps out from behind cover, firing a three round spread which crackles against Shepard's personal shields. With a snarl and curse, Misato ducks the first punch, which leaves a knuckle imprint against the metal column, flipping the pistol in her hand and slamming the butt against Shepard's stomach.
The pistol shatters with Shepard's grunt of pain, Misato ducking and diving between her legs, rolling to her feet and thrust kicking her opponent in the back. Shepard turns, lunging with a punch, Misato blocking, a return strike blocked with an open hand which closes around the wrist.
Misato lets go, a palm strike to Shepard's face making her let go of the other hand, jumping back and onto one of the raises metal covers before leaping off and into a kick to the face which makes her stagger back with a yell.
"Nice," Shepard says, wiping the blood from her lip, "Okay then. You can take a punch."
There is a whine which Misato realizes is the build up of hydraulics, and Shepard's punch sends her flying across the room.
...
The next room over, Legion fields its shields wearing away under the rifle fire, shifting between visual and invisible, ducking behind an overturned office desk. Its previous attempts to hack Kirishima's cybernetic systems failed. She was aware of his presence. A brute force solution is required.
To that extent, Mana squeaks as the round puts a hole the size of a volleyball through the wall behind her.
"Postulation," Legion says, "Not enough gun."
"Crap," Mana growls, ducking behind an overturned table, "What sniper rifle puts a hole that big? Could probably snipe Jet Alone with that thing..."
%(?
The black and white floating ball hovers in front of her. Grinning, Mana punches. Little folds inwards, forming into a black portal. A second portal appears right in front of Legion, out of which comes Mana's fist directly into its face.
The robot stumbles back, squeaking in a stuttering, high pitches speech as Mana leaps over the table, swinging her rifle into its head, before riding it to the floor and wailing on it with a scream.
"You! Do not! Get! In! My! HEAD!"
...
"Well, that's actually not a bad idea. You want to spend more time working on the technical aspects of piloting?"
Asuka nods, ducking under a low hanging pipe as she walks behind her in the underside of Cage 4, the one set aside for Jet Alone Prime.
"A good idea," Tali says, "Your mother does say you have skill as an Engineer."
The two enter the lift elevator, floors speeding up. The mesh wall reveals Cage 2 and the dormant form of Evangelion Unit 02, the four green eyes glowing slightly as the Eva is semi-active, if not fully activated.
"Well, she h-has been more supportive," Asuka says, "It's just...I wonder if I c-could do more by working on the technology."
"A good idea. You have technological knowledge and aptitude. From what I understand you saved your sister's life. I'll forward some technical manuals to your PDA. Maybe that will give you a good head start."
The doors open. No one comes through. Tali looks past Asuka, tilting her head as she taps her Omnitool once again, scanning the area...
And then Asuka's eyes roll up and she collapses, a blue liquid stain on the back of her neck.
The air distorts, Garrus lowering the pistol as Mordin scans the area with his omnitool, Tali's mouth hanging open as the turian walks towards her, waving her forward silently.
"Garrus? What are you doing here?"
"No time to explain," he says, "We found out how to get here and get you home. We need to-"
"Are you INSANE?"
Both pause. Mordin slowly, steadily raises his omnitool towards Unit 02.
"She doesn't look happy to see us," Garrus says.
"Mm. Fascinating. Resembles Go-kun. Power build up..."
"You don't just go around shooting people! Especially here!"
"It's a sedative, it won't hurt her, and we just need to-"
"MASTER!"
Four eyes flash on. Unit 02 lowers its head to stare at Garrus and Mordin.
"Oh, crap," Garrus mutters, "Mordin?"
"This reminds me of a line from a famous Earth movie done by a comedy troop from the British Isles."
"Which is?"
"RUN AWAY!"
...
Maya Ibuki looks up from the PDA she is holding just in time to listen to the screaming. Well, she only tangentially noticed it earlier. Ms. Makinami's proposal towards her regarding that family dinner is still ringing in her ears, but she does notice it when she sees the source of the screaming.
Down the corridor, at the T-section, she sees a lithe, thin alien with the fleshy horns run past, pumping his arms as fast as he can. Right behind him is a larger alien in bulky armor, holding onto a rifle like it was a lifeline.
Right behind them is the larger canine avatar for Unit 02, followed by close to a dozen Aibos.
Right behind all of that is Unit 02's hand.
"Well," she says, "They're f_ed."
...
Misato stumbles back to her feet, dodging a punch which goes halfway through the wall, knees Shepard in the gut and boxing her on the ears. Shepard responds in kind, headbutting Katsuragi with an audible clang, barely missing with a back fist which goes halfway through one of the support columns as Misato dives to the ground, pulling out a fold out baton from her jacket and slamming it into Shepard's knee.
The red haired woman grunts, grabbing Misato by the collar and lifting her up one handed, Misato kicking and flipping off and landing in a crouch.
Spinning, she hooks Shepard across the face, Shepard rolling with the kick and spinning into an elbow to Misato's gut. The two stumble back, wheezing, grinning and charging again.
Which is when a knife hand to the back of Misato's neck knocks her straight out. Shepard looks up, and for a moment locks eyes with Yui Ikari before the head of Project E slams her in the face with the baseball bat.
...
Locking the doors shut behind them, Garrus pills out the pistol and shoots the locks, fusing the metal together as he pulls Mordin back just before the knuckles easily the size of them indent the wall. They stumble back, towards the center of the larger, open room, both breathing heavily.
"Okay," Garrus breathes, "This plan isn't working."
"An understatement that is quite correct," Mordin says, stroking his chin, "Ah. Miscalculated, we have. Mm. Problem. Big problem. Red hair, blue eyes. We've brought down great wrath upon ourselves."
Garrus stares at him.
"I shot Asuka, didn't I?" he asks.
"Worse. The Asuka that the Rei we encountered considered her and I quote 'bestest best friend."
They look up. Eight equidistant ventilation covers line the domed ceiling. Mordin shrieks, backing away, his brown skin fading into white. Garrus pulls out his pistol and shoots each one, fusing them in place.
A pale white fist bursts through one, then another, red eyes glowing through each closed cover. Garrus picks up Mordin and slings him over his shoulder, running through the doors on the other side of the room as Unit 02's fist finally breaks through, feeling around the room as the girls begin to enter.
Bursting through the doors, Garrus runs, Mordin still screaming as Garrus shuts and locks every door behind them, running with impressive speed through the corridors, winding through as he engages his tactical cloak and runs until they read a pitch black room. Locking the door, he activates his omnitool.
Cameras sputter and die, a stream of junk data shot into the MAGI to mask their position.
"Okay," he says, "I think we lost them."
He and Mordin look out across the empty, massive room. Presumably, this is one of the launch bays. Large, green metal walls, rails leading to the surface, well lit...
Scratch that. Lights short out, plunging the room into darkness.
"Heee~ey."
The voice is light, squeaky. The voice of a little girl.
"Mordin?"
"Terrified. Beyond capacity for rational thought."
"Suggestions?"
"Bend over. Kiss ass goodbye."
Two lights shine down on them, two yellow spotlights which they soon realize are not lights at all, but eyes. Glowing, yellow eyes belonging to the purple and green Evangelion now standing in front of them, as gears whir and metal begins to tear around its jaw.
With a final rip of the restraining bolts, the locks around Unit 01's jaw open and the Evanglion roars, the air humid and filled with Anger, Rage, and Hunger. And all the two can do as the hand descends upon them is scream as loud as they can-
...
The Mark 06 charges, slamming the double blade into the Cherubim, cleaving through the AT Field and taking one of the spinning cores off.
"Die!" Uri screams, "Die, already!"
"Those...aren't the cores," Kaworu mutters, still holding his head, "Wait...wait. Power source. Aim, for the power source."
The Mark 06 rises, shooting into the sky as the bleeding Cherubim shoots after him. Lightning arcs around it, striking the edges of the Evangelions AT Field.
"Throw it!" Kaworu yells, "Throw it at the Cherubim!"
Uri growls, willing the Eva to raise its arm. The blade folds in on itself, straightening out into a long, dual pronged lance, the prongs wrapping around themselves in a long, spiraled spearhead.
"The Lance on Longinius?" Uri asks, and pushes the thought down. With a yell, he sends the command and the Eva hurls it, the spear crashing through the Cherubim's shield and drilling straight through it. The Cherubim pauses, as if in disbelief, before the twin gouts of LCL burst from either side and it explodes.
...
And in NERV-2, Lorenz Kihl allows a small, knowing smile to cross his face.
Exactly as planned.
...
"Are you all IDIOTS? What was going through your mind when you planned this OUT?"
Shepard is sporting a black eye which is quickly healing, Kasumi is tapping her foot, and Mordin and Garrus are both pale.
Legion is holding his own head underneath his arm, two more prominent holes in his chest next to the main hole, and Grunt is, well...
Grunt is smiling wider than they've ever seen before.
"I'm an adult!" he says, again.
"Note to self," Mordin says, tapping his omnitool, "Explain Krogan reproductive functions thoroughly to Grunt. Has wrong definition of 'penetration.'"
Yui is still padding the baseball bat. Asuka is rubbing the back of her neck, standing with Mana's help, watching as Tali paces back and forth in front of her crew members and yelling at them the entire time.
"You come in here, guns blazing, and you shoot my APPRENTICE the moment you see her! Who planned this?"
"Yeah, we could've done this better," Shepard mutters, folding her arms.
"I've reached full maturity!"
Tali pauses, staring at Grunt.
"What did the girls do to him?"
Standing next to Yui, Rei splits her face in an ear to ear grin. Yui blanches, stepping aside.
"He got the Nagisa special," Misato mutters, craning her neck.
"I don't want to know," Tali sighs, throwing up her arms, "Fine. I appreciate that you went through this trouble to find me, Shepard. But...how did you get here in the first place?"
VWORP.
A pale blue light, first, above the space between Tali's crew and the NERV personnel, fading into an outline of something large and boxy.
VWORP.
The outline fills in. Something blue, the letters POLICE on the top.
VWORP.
The shape fills in completely. The blue police box rattles with the sound of old machinery for a moment.
Then the doors open, and a man with wild brown hair peaks out before snapping off his glasses.
"Right," he says in a clipped british accent, "There you are. Good work, Shepard. Wanted everyone in the same room and you did it wonderfully."
"Doctor," Shepard says, pursing her lips, "Are you telling me this idiot plan to get into a firefight with NERV was so you could get an audience?"
"Yes, just about," The Doctor says, stepping out of the box and walking to Rei, "Right. Rei."
Rei sighs, reaching into her plug suit and pulling out a long, thin rod with a glowing light on the end, slapping it into the Doctor's outstretched hand.
"It was really fun," Rei says with a smile.
"I know. But it has sentimental value."
Shepard palms her face, groaning loudly.
"You punted us across the Universe, to get your screwdriver back," she asks.
"Sort of," the Doctor says, carefully examining it, looking down across it as the end glows and the vent covers open and close, "Whoopsie, sorry. Fixing that. Well, that and you kept punching me whenever I said how dangerous universal travel was."
She rolls her eyes. Kasumi takes a step back as Grunt giggles.
"Right," Tali says, and pats Asuka on the shoulder, "I should get going. Thank you for your hospitality. And not dissecting me."
"Not every day we make First Contact," Yui responds, shaking Tali's hand, "Given how insane things get, I wouldn't be surprised if we ran into your people again."
Tali nods.
"I uploaded the data, like we agreed," Tali says, "Thank you, Dr. Ikari. The information I'll take home will be very useful. Good luck with your future endeavors."
She turns to Asuka, smiling under her mask.
"You as well, Miss Sohryu. Study those manuals. You'll make a fine engineer."
The Doctor claps his hands with a smile.
"Well then," he shouts, "Off we go. Allons-y and all that!"
He turns to Shepard, smiling in his cheery, hyperactive childish sort of way.
"Ready to go?"
"Yeah," Shepard says, "Um...one last thing, though."
"Yes?"
Shepard pitches forward and headbutts the Doctor, blood pouring from his nose as he screams and Shepard grabs him by the collar.
"Let's go!" Shepard yells, "Everyone in the damn TARDIS!"
Garrus and Mordin enter first, Legion pushing Grunt in as it fixes its head back onto its neck.
"Sorry about the inconvenience," Shepard sighs, rubbing the back of her neck, "Thanks for taking care of my crew member, Doctor Ikari."
"I understand you took care of Rei when she was in your dimension," Yui says with a smile, "I was returning the favor."
Shepard nods, a half-handed salute and a smile before she turns to Tali.
"C'mon, let's go home."
"Right behind you, Shepard."
The last of them enter the police box, the Doctor still yelling in pain as the doors close, and the light flashes as the box fades out of existence. The room hangs silent for a moment, as if they are trying to process the departure of one of their own.
"So, is it just me," Misato says, "Or was Ichi acting like Rei?"
