Creation began on 06-07-15
Creation ended on 06-23-15
Neon Genesis Evangelion
Hope from the Sky: Unleash the Power
Although it was from relative safety, the Survey Corps cheered both Shinji and Eren on as they fought the Colossal and Beast Titans, respectively. And it was a tough battle that appeared to be in mankind's favor.
While they were of similar height to the Colossal that they were familiar with, these new ones were just as helpless against Shinji and Unit-01, which still had over eight hours of power that would ensure that the Eva was the stronger of them all.
The Rogue Titan, driven to take out the Titans and save mankind from extinction (with the understanding that the purple behemoth was an ally and not an enemy), it tackled the Beast Titan to the ground and began tearing into its torso.
I'll kill them all, thought the Rogue Titan, which was Eren's thoughts amplified by the Titan power.
-x-
"…We're about to send in a probe," a robotics expert informed Major Katsuragi, monitoring the Dirac Sea of the NERV-Nevada branch. "So far, the Dirac Sea seems stable."
"Good," Misato expressed, wondering just what was in this Dirac Sea, a small part of her hoping that it could lead NERV to Shinji and Unit-01.
Near the edge of the Dirac Sea, a small satellite was being lowered into the anomaly and the MAGI from NERV HQ in Japan worked in tandem with the satellite.
"So far, everything's tracking," went Maya Ibuki, working on a portable terminal. "Recording systems operating at capacity. And…oh…my…God."
"What is it?" Misato questioned, taking a look at the terminal's monitor. "What the…"
The first picture the satellite took upon entering the Dirac Sea…was a large landscape.
"It looks like this thing really does connect to another dimension," said Ritsuko, also monitoring the satellite's recoding systems.
The next picture the satellite's systems took was even greater than the previous picture: The landscape…a large wall that surrounded a settlement, and people wandering around on the ground.
"My God," Maya expressed; she never would've believed it if she hadn't seen it for herself.
-x-
None of the Colossal Titans were able to touch Unit-01, as Shinji put into use the Eva's AT-Field, which caused the dozens of skinless giants to smash into an invisible wall between them and the purple giant, being reduced to pulp and bone fragments.
The Survey Corps watched in astonishment over the Eva's power against the Colossal Titans while the Rogue Titan decapitated the Beast Titan after dismembering its limbs.
It was like an explosion of sorts, but nobody capable of acknowledging this was present.
The Rogue Titan noticed something emerging from the remains of the Beast Titan's neck, and grabbed the area of flesh still connected to the body…and found a man! He squirmed in the Rogue Titan's hand, unable to get free.
"Grr!" The Rogue Titan growled, but then threw the man aside, right towards the buildings the Survey Corps were watching the battle from.
SLASH! Unit-01 had decapitated the last of the Colossal Titans with the Prog. Knife, sending them falling to the ground and evaporating.
Shinji looked around the place, but didn't see any more enemy Titans near or far. He then looked down at the Rogue Titan as it steamed like the Colossal Titans, and it fell to the ground. From out of its back, Eren emerged, exhausted.
"It looks like we did it, Eren," Shinji told him. "It looks like we did it. We stopped them."
-x-
"The probe sent us back pictures of this other world the Dirac Sea connects to," Ritsuko informed Gendo, showing him the photos gathered. "It's a human-populated world, same as this one, but the people there appear to live a very primitive life; there were no cars or planes seen."
"Was there any sign of Unit-01?" Gendo asked her.
"Nothing yet. The probe will be circling this foreign world until we can send in additional probes."
Gendo then dismissed her while he examined the photos. The geographic details and buildings caught by the probe's cameras had him unimpressed by the mere idea that the people that thrived in that world were at all primitive. Not scientifically advanced like their world was, but clearly intelligent enough to build walls and buildings. His only thought was whether or not Unit-01 was there, and, if so, could be retrieved and brought back to this world.
-x-
SPLASH! Water was dumped onto the man's head, reviving him from unconsciousness.
"Aaaurgh!" He gasped, shaking his head of the water and seeing the members of the Survey Corps surrounding him.
In addition, he had also been restrained and checked for anything that could cause a self-inflicted injury; after going over Grisha Yeager's notes, they discovered that the only way for a person possessing the power of the Titans could turn into one was through either self-infliction or some other form of injury that drew blood.
"Identify yourself," went Levi to him.
The man clamped his mouth closed.
"You try to draw blood, and you're dead," Levi threatened him, making it known that they knew what he was capable of. "I'll ask you again. Identify yourself."
But still, the man remained silent. Only his cruel glare made it known that he wasn't going to be intimidated by them.
-x-
With the departure of additional probes into the Dirac Sea, NERV was able to retrieve more images from the world beyond it. Several of these new images were of the settlement walled off from the rest of the world, revealing that there were three large walls surrounding at least several kilometers of land and several settlements within smaller areas surrounding the walls.
"Judging from the size of these walls," went Ritsuko, examining several images using the MAGI, "they must around fifty meters or so in height."
"That would make them higher than the Great Wall of China and several other man-made barriers," added Misato, "but why would the people of this world need walls that high?"
A new image from a different probe showed something new and familiar to Central Dogma.
"It looks like he managed to survive the Angel's destruction after all," Ritsuko expressed, seeing the image of a running Evangelion Unit-01, carrying a small structure across the vast land.
"But…it's been over three months since the last Angel," Misato said, curious as to how the Eva was still able to function with little power in a world that seemed primitive because there were no signs of cars or planes.
-x-
"…What is the meaning of this?!" Rod Reiss demanded, as the Survey Corps barged into his domain with a stranger in chains and threw him to the ground in front of him.
"Treason, Rod Reiss," went Levi to him. "Your family is being charged with treason against the people for possessing a power that could defeat the Titans, but never using it, even after the fall of Wall Maria. You had a power called the Coordinate, that could control the Titans and affect the memories of the people, and you used it to keep the people in check instead of stopping the Titans."
"And what proof do you have of this accusation?"
-x-
To ensure that there were no surprises from the Titans, Shinji took Unit-01 to check the northern parts of Wall Maria, which he learned weren't affected by the Titans due to the cold weather and lack of activity. It was also a way for him to keep busy until he was needed by the Survey Corps in case of trouble with the royal family, which he had also learned were to be charged with treason for a severe crime against humanity. It was almost like what he had decided on with NERV ever since he first arrived at Tokyo-3, that they had committed a crime against humanity by having man-made giants that could only be used by teens and then having him pilot one against a creature he had no knowledge of and no training against. He allowed himself to overlook the foulness of what they did for as long as he could, but now wished he hadn't.
There were just too many secrets, too many half-truths, too many lies, and he couldn't live like that back home. And while there weren't that many of those here, he hoped to actually have a life here once the war with the Titans was over; the leftover flesh and pieces he had Unit-01 consume after the battle with the Colossal Titans had managed to increase the remaining time limit to over twenty hours, but if there weren't that many Titans left, the Eva would be running on fumes in due time. He wanted to hope that he could actually have a life after one of unwanted violence.
As he saw his first speck of snow, something he'd never seen in Japan because Second Impact had placed the nation in perpetual summer time, he saw no signs of larger-than-normal-sized people wandering around. Not even giants below fifteen meters.
It looks like everything's gone quiet, he thought, actually grateful that there were no Titans around the land between Walls Maria and Rose.
Beep! One of the sensors in the plug went, and Shinji pressed a button to answer the reason for this.
A satellite signal? He realized, as Unit-01 was picking up a signal from a satellite from space, something that should've been impossible. But there shouldn't be any satellites anywhere in this world. There aren't even any planes. Nobody here has developed means of spaceflight or anything to break through the atmosphere.
-x-
"…The probe's being transmitted a response signal," went Hyuga to Ritsuko in Central Dogma. "It appears the Eva still has power."
"Okay, send the first question," Ritsuko responded.
Hyuga typed in, "Are you Shinji Ikari?" and sent the message.
It took a few minutes…but then the probe sent back a response message: "Who is asking?"
Hyuga typed in, "NERV." and sent the message.
"This is Shinji Ikari." was what the bridge received from the probe they were using in the Dirac Sea.
He's alive, thought Misato, pleased to know that he was still among the living.
-x-
Shinji wasn't sure why he even answered the signal messages he was receiving somehow from NERV, but figured that he couldn't ignore them forever.
"Have you found some sort of means to attempt communication?" was sent to him on the screen.
In front of him was a holographic keyboard that he used to type responses, and sent back, "There have been no means of attempting communication. The kingdom has no technology to generate electrical energy or spaceflight."
"How long have you survived where you are?"
"Almost five months now."
"How have you been able to pilot the Eva without power?"
That was had Shinji concerned now. The power the Eva had right now was immense and beneficial to the people here, but if NERV had the means to power their remaining Evas, sure, it would be helpful against the Angels, but he worried of the harm they could do in prolonged battles (he especially had grave concerns about the brutality Asuka demonstrated in her Eva).
"Sheer willpower." He typed; he wasn't good at lying, but he wasn't going to risk being the source of any misuse of power. "I've had to rely on that to help the people since I got here."
-x-
"Sheer willpower, huh?" Ritsuko spoke up.
Gendo, who was also viewing these messages, didn't believe what his son was claiming to be what powered the Eva in the months it had been gone.
"We're attempting to find a way to rescue you." The next message was typed down and sent to the probe to send to Unit-01.
"Don't do that." Shinji had sent back.
What? Gendo thought; he would've believed that his son would've jumped at the chance to be rescued, but not decline on the possibility.
-x-
"Don't do that." Shinji had sent his response to the idea of being rescued by NERV. "I'm actually okay here, and the people here need me and Unit-01 more."
In actuality, he felt like he could actually make it here. Just prior to ever facing the Twelfth Angel, he had seen a film that had been based off a true story and a quote resonated with him: "If you can take it, you can make it." While NERV and his father could view this as him running away, he couldn't view it as that, as he never ran to begin with when tried to face the last Angel, but ended up here instead as a consequence, and now he was trying to survive here and help the people that can't defend themselves.
"You can't give up like that. There's a Dirac Sea in Nevada. We've sent probes through it, and it seems to connect with the spacial area of the planet you're on."
"I'm not giving up. I simply don't wish to return. I'm needed more here."
"You're just running away again."
Somehow, Shinji recognized those words as coming from his father, but they seemed hollow right now.
"If you've seen what the people here have had to hide from for over a century, you probably wouldn't be saying that." He typed in and sent to NERV. "Giant man-eaters that look like them, always trying to get to them, around the clock, without quit. They were being pushed to the brink of extinction before I ever showed up. They were about to be pushed further down by a giant they referred to as the Colossal Titan, a massive of a humanoid without skin, constantly steaming, and at sixty-meters in height. I stopped it, killed it, and started giving the people back their future. How can you expect me to simply leave them when they're about to take back their world with my assistance?"
"Their war is theirs, not ours."
"I can't turn my back on them now. I will not forsake them in their time of need."
And then, before the next message could be received, Shinji terminated the transmission.
"If I can take it, I can make," he uttered to himself. "If I can take it…I can make it."
-x-
"…He can't have possibly meant all of that, right?" Maya asked, trying to reestablish the connection the probe had with Unit-01.
But nobody answered her. They were too wrapped up in their own thoughts over how they were short an Eva and a pilot against the Angels…and how the pilot in question simply didn't want to return because he had some other obligation to help strangers to take back their world.
-x-
"…Heard several members of the Wall Cult were exposed after the Reiss family was dethroned," went Armin to Mikasa, hearing the small rumor that some people of the wealthier families were exposed to having ties to the cult that viewed the Walls as sacred.
"That's right," she answered him. "It was also discovered that Rod Reiss had an illegitimate child that we're currently looking for now. What will happen to them when we find them is unknown, but it is likely that they will be questioned and later pardoned for their illegitimacy."
"And the Military Police?"
"They tried to defend Rod Reiss, but they had no choice but to stand down. The evidence that proved the Reiss family had possession of this power that could stop the Titans and control people was undeniable. Eren almost had to transform when the stranger we captured tried to transform, but I knocked him out before he had the chance."
"Shinji returned from checking for any Titan activity around the Walls. He reported no trace of any of the Titans in the northern regions. It seems like the spaces between Walls Maria and Rose have been cleared of them since he and his Eva arrived."
"And because of them, the list of casualties have dropped to almost nothing. Everything's changing."
"I don't think I can imagine what we might've done had Shinji not shown up when he did that day the Colossal Titan appeared again. It's been one thing after another ever since he appeared with his Eva."
If it got any worse with the people, specifically the nobles, within the Walls, those unafraid to venture beyond them would take what they could and see the world that was to be theirs once again. It was also most likely that there were other members of the Wall Cult that didn't believe that people were meant to venture beyond the Walls, but there was very little that they could now that the truth was being revealed, bits by bits until the puzzle that they fitted into became a complete picture.
-x-
"…So that baka's alive, but he's in another world…and he doesn't wanna come back to this one?" Asuka asked Misato, who informed her that Shinji was still among the living. "What about his Eva? Shouldn't that thing be out of power?"
"As far as he even divulged, Unit-01 still works, but the world he's currently in doesn't have any means to generate electricity," Misato told her. "He claimed that he was helping people that were on the brink of extinction, and that he couldn't forsake them just because we were going to attempt to rescue him."
"What could he possibly face in that world that could push people to the point of extinction?"
"Giant man-eaters that look like people. He even stopped one that was sixty-meters and had no skin."
"That sounds ridiculous."
"The only thing is I believe him. He says he's helping them take back their world, and he'd rather stay there. Though, his father's probably going to demand that, if we ever get in contact with him again, that he surrender Unit-01 to NERV."
"Well, that would be the logical thing to do, as it is NERV property."
"And then Shinji would be unable to help the people, so he needs the Eva to help them take back their world, no matter what the commander believes."
-x-
People were preparing to venture out of the Walls after the last report from the Survey Corps showed no sign of Titan activity (with the swarm of Colossal Titans dealt with by Unit-01 and the Beast Titan dealt with by Eren, the Titan activity declined further). While the majority of the wealthier citizens were against the poorer citizens leaving the safety of the Walls, and that the Evangelion was going to be going with them, there was little that they could about it.
Shinji wouldn't have called it the most efficient form of transportation for the number of citizens being transported, but to remove a building from its foundation and be able to carry across the vast lands to the new location outside the Walls was suggested by Captain Levi, as the Eva was capable of lifting such an immense amount. Though, he had to remove the building chosen to carry the citizens first, which eliminated the risk of harming them.
"Is everyone ready?" He asked through the Eva's speakers.
"Everyone is secured," responded Armin to him, as everybody was tied down to safety bars and rails.
Shinji then had Unit-01 pick up the building and began to traverse across the land beyond Wall Maria.
A little girl looked out a nearby window, and saw the land look like a blur as they were being relocated to their new residence.
"Mommy, how fast are we going?" She asked her mother.
"I don't know, but it must be really fast," her mother expressed, unsure of how fast this purple giant was capable of moving.
Shinji had brought the building carrying nearly one-hundred-twenty people to the ruins of the city by the ocean and set the building down, allowing them to step out and view the world they were to reclaim in due time.
"What is that, Daddy?" A boy asked his father, pointing to the ocean.
"That's the ocean, son," he answered him.
To be continued…
A/N: And here's the seventh chapter of Hope from the Sky.