We're getting into the endgame, which will be a six-part finale, including the final Angels to be confronted. So get ready, because the first part is going off with a bang. Disclaimer: I don't own Jojo's Bizarre Adventure, My Little Pony: Friendship is Magic, Evangelion, or Anarchy Reigns.
Cruel Angel's Thesis Chapter 25: Operation Heavy Rain
"Gentlemen," Lorenz said, "The end game is upon us. By now NERV thinks they have us on the ropes. But while I admit the situation does not favor us, the fact of the matter is we have been making moves Gendo and his little band could not possibly foresee. Soon enough our forces will assemble, and we will begin the plans for Instrumentality. Are our EVAs repaired?" "Almost," SEELE-02 replied, "A few still need to finish bonding to the new limbs. Replacing the armor was easy enough. We also have finished testing on the dummy plug system. The EVAs can now be piloted remotely." Lorenz nodded and grinned. "Good… Once NERV finishes off the last Angel, we make our move."
"This isn't the sort of work I expected to take on so soon before graduation," Byakuya noted to Keebo. Byakuya Togami was Keebo's senior classmate, part of the 78th class at Hope's Peak Academy. And his Stand, Infinite, was arguably one of the strongest. "I know," Keebo replied, "But a great deal of Director Ikari's plan hinges on your power." Byakuya nodded. Truth be told the primary reason he was agreeing to this was because having the world end would only be detrimental for him. So when he heard he was needed for an important plan, he cancelled all his business meetings and cleared his calendar for the next few weeks.
Elsewhere, Rei was finishing a training workout with Unit-02. Much like normal beings, the EVAs could improve by using workout routines, since at their core they were organic creatures. Rei finished her shower and saw her sister whispering to Maya, who smiled. "So Sis," Rei said, "Seeing anyone special right now?" She smirked as Maya squeaked and Ritsuko blushed a little bit, confirming that the two had indeed been seeing each other quite a while. Ritsuko sighed and turned to Maya. "I'll see you later tonight." Maya smiled. "Of course Senpai."
Once Maya was gone, Rei smiled. "So, does Mom know…?" "That I'm lesbian?," Ritsuko replied, "I think she might suspect, not that she says anything. Despite being a workaholic, something always felt missing in my life. I found myself checking Maya out more and more as we saw more of each other, and one day I just… Invited her to my apartment for drinks. I think you can imagine how things proceeded after that. We did take it slow at first, of course. But luckily Maya is the sort of woman that can match herself to someone else's pace as needed."
Rei shrugged. "Well, it doesn't matter to me. Anyway, what's this new plan Gendo came up with?" "I don't know the full details yet," Ritsuko admitted, "But apparently Yui discovered something interesting regarding the outer circle of Zero Point that Gendo wants to use to our advantage. Something that normally would have acted in defense of SEELE. Gendo wants to hit them with the perfect irony before we begin an all-out siege. Militaries the world over are coming in for assistance on this matter. Seems over time several high-profile specialists have vanished, most of them just after receiving an increase to their bank accounts." The implications on this were worrying to Rei, to say the least.
"This will be a simple operation," Gendo stated to the NERV staff, "As it turns out, SEELE was more than prepared for an all-out assault-type attack. The reason we have been able to route them so far is because they felt an all-out war early would be too costly, and we had no way to get around their defenses in the central area. But now we have something that makes such an action possible." He brought up a hologram of the island. "The outer parts of Zero Point each have a shield generator, one that only protects the edge closest to the inner sector, which houses SEELE's main headquarters. When all of them are active at once, it creates a perfect cylinder around the headquarters."
Shinji then noticed something. "The cylinder is just barely larger than the sky citadel." Gendo smiled. Shinji had definitely inherited both his and Yui's intelligence. "Indeed. And this brings me to the crux of our plan." He hit a few keystrokes and a domed shield appeared over the central sector. "This secondary shield is always in place," Gendo explained, "With only a small opening to let in personnel and supplies. Fortunately testing has proven the shield to only be made of titanium. Something heavy crashing down on it, such as the sky citadel, would most certainly bring the shield down, exposing SEELE HQ."
He turned to Byakuya. "That's where you come in. Most likely SEELE will try to redirect where the sky citadel lands. Now once it reaches the shielding that will be impossible, but the shields only extend to the top of the dome shield." Byakuya nodded in understanding. "Don't worry, I'll see it done. Can we expect resistance?" "Most likely," Gendo noted, "But you'll have some backup in the form of the Dashells." "Good," Byakuya said, "My Stand cannot affect my own physical being, only everything around it. As strong of my defenses are, even I have my weaknesses."
The trio reached the sky citadel, and Byakuya narrowed his eyes when he saw a large Russian man bearing cybernetics, along with three Cybrid Joes. "One of the artificial Stand users," Cadence noted, "Get to the center of the citadel. We can handle this." "Don't take too long," Byakuya replied, "Infinite!" In a flash, he flew out of sight, heading for the center. "You sure it's a good idea to send him away?," the man said, "This is two-to-one odds in my favor." "Stand users never get concerned about odds against non-human opponents," Shining pointed out, "So who are you?"
"I am Nikolai," the man replied, "SEELE might have been blind to your plans here, but I suspected. It's an obvious scheme, da? Full force of the citadel colliding with the physical shield would certainly break it open." He activated the large electric components on his arms. "I am here to put a stop to that. Tesla Blitz!" He rushed at the couple. Shining smirked. "Radioactive!" Nikolai grunted as he his attack bounced off the shield. "Deathharmonic!" Cadence let out a siren shriek that shorted out the three Cybrid Joes. Nikolai growled. "They really should consider improving the quality. High-frequency sound attacks are a little beyond them."
"I can also concentrate the assault," Cadence pointed out, "Deathharmonic!" Nikolai put up his guard as he got hit by the sonic assault. He was about to make a sudden counterattack, the couple looking on as his body seemed to shift, when a sudden shaking caught his attention. "Chert… He moves fast." He undid his partial transformation. "Consider yourselves lucky. My ultimate form is not to be taken lightly." He quickly ran off as a sudden feeling of weightlessness occurred. Shortly afterward, Shinji showed up in Unit-01. "First plane out!," he called out, "Byakuya's bringing this down fast!"
The sudden rocking surprised Lorenz. "What in the hell is going on!?" He checked the monitors before slamming his hand on his desk. "Verdammt! They're brining the citadel down on the dome shield!" He quickly contacted the rest of SEELE. "Get all our forces here double-time! NERV has just shown they are through playing around! We need to accelerate our timetable!" The others nodded before signing out. The creaking of his cybernetics was a deep reminder of his humanity, which he wanted to be rid off. "I've come too close to let it end here. I'll play all my trump cards if that's what it takes to win…"
Told you we were starting odd with a bang. SEELE pushes, NERV pushes back. We'll see who pushes harder. And for the record, I am NOT going to make the ending a clusterfuck like canon. Everything WILL get an explanation to the best of my abilities. Read and review.
