A/N:

Going forward, I've to release new chapters on Saturday or Sunday, when readers will have more free time to read them.

Also, I've decided to ficus on Gemini Rising for now, as I doubt I have the dedication and free time necessary to write two stories in tandem, and I'd like to finish Gemini Rising before 3.01.0 comes out. Once Part 2 is completed, I will begin work on the runner up.

That's all for now. I hope you guys enjoy Chapter 4.

-Rollinaround


Evangelion

Gemini Rising

By Rollinaround

Episode 4

Eva Attack


The wings of the AAA Wunder sliced through the clouds as it sped towards Babylon. With the engines at full power, the ship flew at an incredible speed of 2,400mph, unprecedented for an aircraft this size. If anyone happened to be watching from the red ocean below, the Ship of Hope would be nothing but a streak of light in the night sky. They were short on time. The MP Eva was already on the coast of Babylon, and that was 2 hours away.

Deep in the cage for Unit-02, Misato's best engineers were hard at work, hastily grafting the remains of the Eva onto a crude body made from whatever metal they had on hand. It was a lot heavier than anything else the Evangelion Project had created, designed more for power and defense than flexibility. On Unit-02's back was a massive gatling gun, powerful enough to shred a Nemesis like paper. It was far from ideal, but as long as it could produce an A.T Field, it would do. Ritsuko oversaw the construction, staring at the Eva from the catwalk down below. She took a long drag from her cigarette. Their chances were looking slim. The last Eva they fought nearly killed Mari, and was only vanquished when Shinji awakened Unit-01 by accident. Needless to say, it wasn't very encouraging that their best hope of victory could potentially bring the world to it's knees.

Speaking of the boy, he was to remain in his room until the battle was over. He would be of little use during the fight, and if the battle started to turn, he might be tempted to pilot again. To that end, Lieutenant Suzuhara and Agent Aida had been tasked with keeping him safe, and preventing him from doing anything stupid. A pair of guards were stationed outside his room, and were authorized to use nonlethal force. She didn't doubt his sincerity in wanting to do right by them, but she wouldn't put it past him to intervene if his friends were in danger. Hopefully, Kensuke and Sakura could talk him out of it.

"How much longer until it's ready to deploy?" Ritsuko asked.

"One hour and seventeen minutes." Lt Commander Ibuki replied, "Assuming all goes well. The new body is pretty much a hodgepodge of whatever we could scrape up; there's more variables here than we can count." Ritsuko took another long drag, tobacco smoke pouring out of her mouth as she contemplated their plight. They had the numbers advantage for certain, as well as the Anti-A.T weaponry of Babylon, but they could only do so much.

"We'll focus on keeping the Eva out of the city." she decided, "Once our Pilots have talen the fighting outside the city walls, have them focus keeping it distracted, while we deal the bulk of the damage from above." It wasn't foolproof (Unit-02 was still unreliable after all), but it was the best they could hope for. "How about Unit-08?"

"We don't have time to repair the legs." Maya explained, "So we're fitting it with a set of four wheels." It had it's disadvantages, but the Eva would retain most of it's speed and maneuverability.

"I suppose this will have to do..." Ritsuko said as she snuffed out her cigarette, and prepared for the worst.


The MP Eva stomped it's way through Elysium, bringing down an entire city block with a sungle swing of it's axe. While visually identical to the Eva Series prototype, the finished product was far more refined. MP-000 was bestial, focusing solely on attacking one target until it fell. This one had a mind for tactical combat, focusing it's attention on the Industrial and Military Districts and prioritizing the few targets that posed a threat to it. As the Eva hacked it's way through the Industrial District, Elysium's defenses struggled to hold it back. The city's design was similar to Tokyo-3, with it's buildings and factories retreating below the surface, to be replaced by shields, mounted weapons, and supply crates for the Evangelions. They also had an edge against NERV that they never had against the Angels: Anti-A.T ammunition. A mounted turret rose above the streets, firing a pair of AA rounds and splitting the barrier open. A second blasted the MP with missles, but they did little more than scratch it's armor. It did, however, repel the target, pushing it back several feet, towards the ocean. They knew they had no hope of destroying the Eva, so instead, they bought themselves time, until WILLE arrived.

The Wunder came screaming onto the scene, blasting the Eva at full force. Deep in the underground bunkers, a great cheer rose among the people of Elysium as NERV's Unit was sent flying into the sea. The heroes had arrived. MP-001 sprung back to it's feet, hurling it's axe at the flying ship and leaving a big gash in it's right wing. The blow did little more than unbalance the Wunder, and it responded in kind, soaring above the Eva and dropping bomb after bomb until it was engulfed in a massive geyser of water. The MP-001 pulled itself out of the sea, ready to strike back, but Misato was far from done.

"Drop them now!" she barked. The Wunder activated it's internal gravity field, holding it's crew down as the ship pulled up until they were flying upside down. The ship headed back towards the city, righting itself and opening the hatch along the way. A dull, brown titan fell from the sky, landing in the ocean with a splash, tossing the water over a hundred feet into the air. The barrel of it's gatling gun spun like a drill, unleashing the deafening sound of a thousand high capacity rounds, hammering away at MP-001's armour plating. A second later, Eva Unit-08 landed in the city with a thunderous boom. It's four, wheeled legs were unfit for travel in water, so it hung back, supporting Unit-02 from afar. "How do you like that asshole!?" Mari snarled as she fired off a pair of grenades, knocking the MP Eva on it's ass. Unit-02 hit a switch on the top of it's gatling gun, and the cylinder popped out of the side, to be replaced by a set of high-powered rockets. WILLE's Evangelions were long past their glory days, resembling a pair of Frankenstein creations more than the glorious Angel slayers they were designed to be, but even after all they'd endured, after going through countless hasty repairs and desperate modifications, just to keep them running, were still the mightiest force on the battlefield, and seeing them brought a spark of hope to even the most sour of pessimists.

NERV's Eva stood once more, reaching for the sky as an airborne pod flew overhead. The pod split in two, and from the clouds fell a jet black positron launcher, big enough to flatten a warship. The Eva caught it's weapon with ease, but before it could take aim, Asuka fired her own weapon, engulfing it in a cloud of ash and black smoke. Foam and water crashed into the city as each round denotated against the beast's armour plating, but the Eva didn't move an inch. "Dammit," Asuka grumbled as the cylinder fell out of her gun, "It's empty." She pulled out another set of missles, ready to reload, but a ball of glowing ball of positions emerged from the smoke cloud, aimed at Unit-02's feet. Asuka sprung backwards, the hydaulics in her legs sending her high into the air, but the positron ball detonated, creating an explosion comparable to that of an N2 mine. The positrons engulfed Unit-02's legs turning them into dust. Asuka's Unit fell into the ocean, creating a tidal wave big enough to sweep Unit-08 off it's wheels. The dust blew away to reveal MP-001, it's A.T Field at max power, it's body undamaged.

Asuka grabbed onto the side of Babylon, pulling herself out of the water and scrambling to reload. Unit-08's legs extended, pushing it off the ground until it stood upright again. MP-001 raised it's launcher, aiming it straight up. "The hell is it doing?" Mari asked, "It's literally aiming at nothing! How is it supposed to... oh shit!" Mari drove towards the shore at top speed, firing grenade after grenade, but every one of them detonated harmlessly against the barrier. The positron ball fired high into the air, guided by the Earth's curvature until it exploded atop the Wunder. The damage was severely reduced at such a long range, but it was still enough to take a chuck out of the hull, damaging the wings and almost knocking it out of the sky. The ship pulled up before it hit the water, but MP-001 leapt into the air, latching onto the ship and hammering away with it's axe.

"So that's the game they're playing." Asuka groaned, "The real target isn't the city, it's the Wunder!

The ship tossed about as the battle outside raged on. Explosions and gunfire echoed in the distance, and every hit shook the Wunder like mad, sending it's staff and Officers tumbling to the floor. A giant axe blade penetrated the hull, slicing a man clean in two. The engines were powerful enough to keep them in the air, but the extra weight made flying especially difficult, and the results were felt all over the ship.

Shinji clung to his bed for dear life, but a blow to the Starboard hull sent it sliding into the wall, knocking the boy silly, and Sakura fell hard on her back, bashing her head against the steel. "This is insane!" Kensuke yelled, barely keeping himself on his feet by holding onto the bathroom doorway. The Agent had spent most of his time off ship, and had never been involved in any kind of aerial combat. "Is it always like this?"

"No!" the Lieutenant screamed, pulling Shinji to his feet, "We've had a few rough battles but the Wunder's bever taken on this kind of damage before!" The girls knees buckled, and she fell to the floor, almost vomiting up last night's dinner. Shinji nursed his arm as his thoughts turned to Asuka and Mari. What had happened to them? The view from his window had been blocked, presumably to keep him from panicking over stuff like this. But it didn't help; if anything ot just made things worse. What if they were hurt? what if they were dead? What if they lost this one? But the worst feeling, the absolute worst, was being unable to do anything about it.

"I've had enough..." he muttered, making his way for the door. Before he could force it open, Sakura grabbed hold of his wrist.

"No Shinji." she said, firmly, "You're staying here."

"I can't." he told her, pulling away, "I can't just sit here and do nothing while my friends are out there, dying because of me."

"Yes you can", said Kensuke, "Because you have to. I know you want to help, man, but if you get in an Eva you'll just make things worse!"

"What else can I do?" Shinji asked bitterly, "It's all I was ever good for." He tried the door again, but Sakura shoved him back.

"Don't you get it?" she asked, "This is exactly what your Father wants. If you get captured, we're as good as dead!" Shinji faltered for a moment, but it wasn't enough to stop him.

Kensuke reached for his tranq gun as his old friend tried to force his way past once more. "I'm sorry pal..."

Before he had the chance to fure, the Second Lieutenant slapped Shinji in the face, hard enough to floor the kid. "What is wrong with you!?" she shrieked, "How many people have to die before you get the message!?"

That almost managed to get through to Shinji, until he remembered what Asuka said to him, the day of Fourth Impact.

"You didn't save me , Bratty Shinji." she had said, "You thought only of yourself, like usual."

"No." he said, rising to his feet, "No, I've got to help her; I have to save Asuka."

"Captain Shikinami can take care of herself." Sakura insisted, "If you want to help her then sit down and stay out of the way."

"I tried that once." Shinji told her, "And it cost me everything." He walked past her, digging his fingers between the door and doorway and finally pulling it open.

"Did Toji mean nothing to you?" Sakura asked him. Shinji stopped dead in his tracks. "Did none of them mean anything to you?"

"That's not fair." he whispered, gripping the door so hard the metal warped, "You know I didn't mean to do that."

"But you did do it, twice!" The Lieutenant reminded him, "And now you're gonna do it again."

"The Main Engine is the most heavily guarded room on the ship." Kensuke added, "And even if you get past the guards, your Sync Rate's at 0."

The former Pilot's body shook, and his grip relaxed as he tried desperately to rationalize his actions. "But I... I have to try. I have to help them. I..."

Sakura wrapped her fingers around Shinji's arm, and he let her pull him back without a fuss. "You said you wanted to make up for your mistakes, to learn from your mistakes. Was that a lie?" The kid shook his head. "Then prove it." Crushed and dejected, the young man returned to his bed, and curled up in a ball. "That was big of you." said the Medical Officer. It came off as sarcasm, but she truly meant it.

"I just wanted to help." Shinji mumbled to himself, "I don't wanna see my friends get hurt anymore."

"Noone does." Kensuke told him, "But right now, there's nothing we can do except hope things work out." The Wunder shook again, and Shinji stared longingly at the reflective glass of his bedroom window. Even with the power Zeruel gave him, he was still helpless.

"They'll be fine." Sakura told him, "We've taken down one of those things before, we can do it again." Shinji did his best to look hopeful, but the fear in his eyes was plain to see.

With nothing else to do, Shinji closed his eyes, and prayed for Asuka and Mari's safety.


Mari wiped the sweat from her brow as she took aim at MP-001. Normally a shot like this would be know problem, but with the Wunder shaking like crazy, and too far away to make a straight shot, the pressure was near unbearable. Asuka wasn't doing any better; the blast from the Positron Launcher rendered her pretty much immobile. If the Eva turns it's attention on her again, she was as good as dead. They only had one shot at this, so they had to make it count. "We're in deep shit down here, Colonel!" Mari yelled, her heart pounding like a jack hammer, "If we don't think of something quick, we can kiss our asses goodbye!"

"Just stay calm!" Misato barked as the Wunder struggled to right itself. "We know what we're doing; just take care of Asuka, and while you're at it, deploy Unit-08's hydraulic claws. We're gonna play a game of catch!"

Mari detached the grenade launchers from her robotic arms, replacing them with a pair of titanium claws. They were designed for excavation, but also made for surprisingly good melee weapons. Dipping her hydraulic grabbers into the water, Mari pulled Unit-02 out of the water and slung it over her back. "Ok Princess, hang on tight." she said as Eva-02 wrapped it's arms around Unit-08's torso, "Things are gonna get bumpy."

"Just make sure you don't get us blown up." Asuka groaned, "You've already trashed Unit-02 once."

"You're still mad about that?" Mari asked, as Unit-02 grasped it's rocket launcher, awkwardly, "It was fourteen years ago!"

"Will you two stop bickering!?" Misato ordered them. "Just be ready to catch the Eva on my signal. Command Post Gamma, deploy Anti A.T Turrets and fire on the Eva Series!" A number of mounted guns rose out of the city, blasting MP-001 with enough neutralizing rounds to rip it's force field asunder. With the Evangelion exposed, the ship set it's engines to full power. A pillar of fire shot out of the Wunder's exhausts, hitting the Eva right in the chest and softening it's armor. They soared into the air, swivelling around until MP-001 finally released it's grip, plummeting towards the earth. "Now, Mari!"

Unit-08 went into reverse, shooting through Babylon at top speed, while Unit-02 clung to it's back. The bizarre, tank-like combination intercepted the Eva Series just in time, digging it's claws into the chest and ripping it away. "Got you now, asshole!" Mari shouted. Asuka fired a rocket at the Eva, blasting it away as the AAA Wunder looped in the air, putting MP-001 in it's sights.

"Open fire!" Misato screamed as the ship, Unit-02, and the city itself unleashed the full force of their arsenal. The Mass Produced Eva never stood a chance. The Industrial District was drenched in LCL, and a rainbow stretched over Babylon, confirming the death of another of NERV's weapons. Angelic blood swept through the streets, spilling harmlessly into the ocean.

"Target neutralized." Ritsuko announced, exhaling a cloud of cigarette smoke, "The ship has taken heavy damage, and our Eva's are in a serious state of disrepair. We'll need to spend at least a week in the city to resupply, and repair the damage talen during the battle."

Misato gritted her teeth. This was exactly the scenario she wanted to avoid. She'd hoped to keep Shinji out of Babylon for as long as possible, until she could prove his worth to the UN, but NERV had forced her hand. The boy's fate was now out of her control. "Where is Suzu?" the Colonel asked.

"The Ayanami Type is currently in her cell." Ritsuko explained. Rei's clone had been feeding them information on Gendo's plans, and in return, they allowed her to communicate with Unit-01, and the original First Child that fascinated her so. "You want me to keep her hidden?"

"No." Misato said, "This organisation is our best hope for the future. We can't afford to lose the UN's support even if it means giving her up." The Captain removed her hat, "The same goes for Shinji. If we withhold the Impact Trigger from them, I can't see them taking it well." The United Nations had promised not to execute Shinji Ikari, but there was still a very real chance that he could spend the rest of his life in a cell. "We'll just have to argue their case as best we can, and hope the court will be lenient."


Shinji Ikari sat in his room, quiet as a mouse as he felt the ship landed in Babylon. "Did they win?"

"Feels like it." Kensuke said, adjusting his glasses, "I'm proud of you man; I thought I was gonna have to tranq you for a moment there."

"I'm glad you didn't." Shinji replied, "I don't wanna go through that again." The effect of Kensuke's tranquilizers weren't harmful, but they did make him unpleasantly dizzy, an effect that persisted for a whole hour after waking. The boy stared at the Medical Officer who'd slapped him just a short while ago. With every meeting, he felt like their relationship soured more and more. He wanted to say something, anything, but he didn't know how he could ever make it right. "Miss Suzuhara..." he said, at last. "I'm-"

"Sorry." she finished for him, "I know. And I'm sorry I hit you."

"Well, I guess I had it coming." the boy said, fabricating a smile, "It's just... I mean I..." He wouldn't have time to finish. The door whooshed open, and in stepped a middle aged man, dressed in an inexpensive three piece suit, with his blonde hair slicked back. On either side of him stood a UN soldier, wearing a dark grey uniform and holding an assault rifle.

"Shinji Ikari?" he asked the boy, in an accent that sounded East European.

"Yes." Shinji said, evidently nervous, "That's me..."

"My name is Gustav Falkenrath." he told him, "German representative for the United Nations. And I hereby place you under arrest."


Deep in the bowels of NERV HQ, Project Gemini stirred in it's containment tube. It's growth was coming along nicely, and they expected it to be fully grown within the next few days. There were however, a few undeniable setbacks. "The subject's memories were implanted without incident," Kozo informed his Commander, "But the Identity Programming was far less successful. Project Gemini's psyche is merely a warped reflection of the original. The mind scan indicates signs of highly volatile emotions, and a level of empathy below that of the average human being. On top of that, the differences in appearance, while subtle, are too noticeable to pass for as the real thing." The Vice Commander let out a deep sigh, more out of relief than disappointment. "It appears our experiment was a failure."

"Perhaps," Gendo mused as he bathed in the amber glow of the test tube, "But even a failure opens doors to future possibilities, and a failed experiment is not necessarily a useless one." The old man scratched at his beard, weighing his options. "I take it that the AAA Wunder has docked in Babylon by now?"

"Yes, Commander." Fuyutsuki confirmed, "The Mass Produced Evangelion made perfect bait. WILLE were forced to remain in the city for repairs, and the Third Child will stand trial in front of the United Nations, just as we predicted."

"Excellent." said Ikari as he examined his creation, "That should give us all the time we need. We'll have to make a few adjustments to it's memories. I'll send you the soecifications first thing this evening. Once that's done, prepare to deploy Project Gemini, as soon as it reaches maturity. With any luck, it should arrive in Babylon before the week is out."

"As you wish, Commander." Fuyutsuki said, with a sense of resignation. Gendo left the room without another word, and his partner found himself alone, gazing in silent dread upon the silver-haired young man they had created.

To Be Continued...