Chapter 14: Numberless, They Stride Forth

The process outlined here is one that, even with its uses, requires great precautions. Like nuclear power, the creation of an Anti-AT Field is a delicate operation that requires precision and careful tuning to ensure that the area targeted is the only part of the subject's AT Field that is affected.

However, with such precision, a portion of the AT Field can be stripped away and, with the aid of other tools, "sewn up" in order to change how the AT Field interacts with the body. These operations have been shown to make the strengthening of an AT Field far more effective than on a non-altered AT Field, with gains increasing as much as 75%.

- Confidential Report on the Theory and Application of Long-term AT-Field Manipulation, Section 3, "Procedures for AT Field Manipulation"

Uluru Blacksite, September 1st, 2016

Mariah Marlowe, Evangelion pilot, sat waiting in the specially made Long Range Entry Plug, which in her honest opinion, didn't really feel much different than usual besides the cramped facilities in front of her, waiting to be attached to her automated transport uniwing, and tapped her foot to a beat that only she could hear, listening to the Thrill sing a song that only she could understand. It was a wordless song, more a tune really, a jaunty march that called her to the fight ahead like a trumpet to the charge.

The Thrill sang. So she decided to sing along with it, give words to the tune.

We're off to go and fight, inside our shiny mechs,
We're kitted to the nines, in all the latest techs,
There's nothing that can stop, our great and awesome charge,
And so we'll save the world, and have a party, large!

It was a passable little ditty, she thought, as the Unit finally locked into place, latching on to the transport uniwing with a sharp series of clicks. It was one way, strange though it was, to end a song. And it left her with a smile on her face. 'And that is what really counts when it comes to my songs. How they just make me go! I can't wait to start now!'

She keyed up the other two pilots as the doors above their hangar began to open slowly, the light filtering through and casting receding shadows in the bay. Mana looked over at her silently with a level look, as she always did, and Mayumi gave her a questioning glance.

"Is something up, Mari?" Mayumi asked, and Mariah smiled just a little wider as the puppy used her nickname.

"Oh, just wondering if either of you is excited to finally pilot your actual Evas. And on an important mission, no less!" Mariah said with an excited, almost hungry gleam in her eyes.

"It is just a mission, Mariah." Mana said patiently. "We go in and we get it done, then we get out and come home."

"Yeah, I got to agree with Mana on that one." Mayumi said softly with a singular nod. "I don't think I'm excited about it. Just… ready to do it."

Mariah shrugged. "Oh, well. That just means I get to be excited enough for both of you! Cause, I mean, even our dear grumpy puppy Mana has to have some of it laying around somewhere in her super-serious brain, waiting for the right moment to strike us unexpectedly."

"Perhaps, Mariah." Mana said after a moment, and Mariah grinned as they took off.

After a moment, the Evangelions that flew into the sky unfurled their AT Fields above the transport uniwings, surely fouling up anything that might be able to track them, and Mariah leaned back in her seat, putting her hands behind her head as she settled in for the flight. 'Well, glad they packed us some snacks for while we're on our way there. And gave us special Plugs so that we didn't have to worry about doing anything to mess them up.' her nose crumpled slightly at the thoughts that came along with being in a regular Entry Plug for three days.

'And hey,' she thought as she absentmindedly grabbed at a pouch that would be her meals for the next little while, 'at least we're getting to be all sneaky too. That's fun. We get to throw a surprise party before we even start the mission!' Mariah's smile returned as she took a sip from the meal packet.

. . .

Central Dogma, 2 Days Later

It was nearly silent in the cathedral-like command center. No alarms wailed, no voices spoke above a whisper in the massive, crowded room filled with technicians and support staff, leaving a muted rustling that filled the space like the shifting of sand from an ocean wave.

And yet, the tension could be cut with a knife as they all intently watched the main screen that showed a brilliant blue ocean, the view marred by nine black triangles that held the center of the view as they slowly made their way across it.

"How far out are they now?" Commander Misato Katsuragi said, her words slicing through the tension as they made their way to Major Hyuga.

He put a hand to a headset and repeated the question, then paused as he listened intently. "Cataphract says that they're now approximately 8 hours out from us. Sonne is corroborating."

"Any other movement? Troop deployments of any kind from other nations?" Misato asked.

Hyuga relayed the question again. It was a moment before an answer came and Hyuga turned back to Misato with no small amount of relief on his face. "No, ma'am. Not that they can pick up."

Misato nodded, sharing in Hyuga's relief under her professional exterior as a wave of exhales swept through the command center, washing some of the tension out like a wave of water. "And how are evacuation efforts coming along?"

Faez looked back from her monitor. "Cities and towns have been evacuated out to 48 kilometers of the 50-kilometer limit. All NERV personnel are in the Geofront, and the city has entered defense mode."

Misato nodded. "Good." she continued to ponder at the triangles on the screen, wondering how she would stop them. Or even, a small part of her fearfully whispered, if she could stop them.

"And what are your thoughts, Commander?" Fuyutsuki quietly asked, looking over at her from the side of the commander's desk, as it seemed he always had been.

Misato continued to stare silently for a moment. "We aren't going to be able to use our conventional defenses on the surface. We'd just be wasting ammunition against their AT Fields. The question then is…"

"How far do we let them go before they reach the Evangelions?" Fuyutsuki finished for her, and Misato nodded.

"We need to keep them as far from the entrance to Terminal Dogma as possible." Misato said, then looked up at Fuyutsuki. "Is the pyramid clear?"

Fuyutsuki nodded wordlessly, and Misato nodded in turn. She looked at a hologram display of the city, the wireframe representation becoming filled in by her mind with the details of concrete and steel almost by instinct. This was her city. This was the bastion of humanity she looked at. She blinked in surprise as an errant thought passed through her mind. She hadn't been on a meditative getaway in a while. Hadn't truly seen the city that was in her charge. But that was beside the point right now, she thought as she shook her head.

"Maya, what's the status on FT Unit-01?" she asked.

Maya turned from her station to look up. "Ritsuko says they're almost done piping the LCL into the reservoirs. It'll be another 4 hours until it's ready to deploy."

Misato nodded. "And the Evangelions?"

"On standby, ready to launch whenever you want them to." Aoba replied.

Misato leaned back in her chair as she sighed quietly. "And what about the reinforcement of the shaft to Terminal Dogma?"

Hyuga looked back up at her. "The pace is slow. We've only covered about a third of the way up the shaft with steel, if that. The Frame Extruders we've moved in are currently recharging. We won't be able to cover the entire shaft before they arrive."

"Alright, then. Don't worry about continuing, then. We'll work with what we've got." Misato said as she nodded, and the tension entered the room again. "Now… we wait."

. . .

T-6 Hours to Contact

Misato, Ritsuko, Daniel, Eleanor, and the Children clustered around a display table that was the greatest source of light in the dim, nearly dark briefing room, the screen showing the same image of the ominous triangles cutting across the open ocean as the group studied them intently.

"So," Asuka said after a moment, glancing over at the timer in one corner of the screen that ticked down without regard for the dread it caused, "what's the game plan?"

"We'll be deploying you to the city surface." Misato said without preamble. "We'll be throwing open the doors of the arsenal to you, as well. Pallet weapons, Positron Rifles, everything with a Progressive element. Pick your weapons as the situation calls for it. And if you can, use your Interfacing. That's probably one of our biggest trump cards when it comes to matching up against the enemy."

"And what if they breach the Geofront?" Shinji asked, no small amount of anxiety in his expression as he said it.

"Give chase, pin them against the newer defenses inside." Misato replied. "They should hold out a little longer than traditional weaponry. Pack more of a punch as well." she smiled slightly at the last fact.

The Children smiled with her. But after a moment, one smile faded slightly. "We can't afford to be overly confident this time, though." Hikari said after a moment. "We aren't just facing the dumb, digitally driven brutes that are the remaining MP-Evangelions. We're up against human pilots also. Three of them, who have trained specifically to take us down."

An air of unease settled over the Children as Hikari finished. Then Daniel nodded slightly. "Maybe so. But as a wise soldier once said, experience outranks everything. They may have more time in the simulators than you do, but you know far more about how Eva combat actually feels and works. I have faith we can come out on top of this."

Misato nodded. "Daniel's right. I trust that you all can take these guys on and come out on top. We've faced worse odds before."

Slow nods answered Misato after a moment before Toji spoke up. "So, what's the policy on the other pilots? We can smash the MP harpies all we want and be fine. Hell, I'm looking forward to it, but… can we just disable the other piloted Units? I'm not looking to murder some poor shmucks who might not know why they're doing what they're doing."

Misato sighed quietly. "Disable them if you can. But if it comes to it…" she trailed off, and the room's atmosphere was all the grimmer for it.

Ritsuko blinked after a moment of silence was interrupted by a muffled buzz, then dug in one of her pockets for her clear-pad. She pulled it out and activated it, and an image of Naoko Akagi appeared. "Am I interrupting anything? I have an idea when it comes to the Mass-Production Evangelions."

"Well, no need to be shy, Mrs. Akagi." Misato piped up as all in the room looked over. "Hit us."

"The Dummy Plugs controlling the Mass-Production Evas will be getting their signals from somewhere." Naoko continued. "If I can intercept that signal, I can at least have a moment to confuse them before SEELE regains control, if not take one over entirely for a few minutes before SEELE shuts me out."

Ritsuko shrugged. "We'll take any advantage we can get. I'll get to work on a program with you as soon as this briefing gets done."

Naoko nodded. "Alright. See you then." Then the screen went blank.

Misato took a deep breath as she nodded. "And that, so far… is the general plan. If something changes, I'll let you know. In the meantime, get ready."

. . .

Infinity Box, T-4.5 Hours to Contact

The last cardboard box slid into place as Daniel and Asuka stepped back, wiping their brows as they turned to look at an anxious Kensuke. "Well, that's all the important stuff from your apartment." Daniel said with a nod and a small smile.

Asuka nodded as well, giving Kensuke a sly grin. "Unless you've forgotten something that you'd rather possibly explode and cover your tracks? Something you wouldn't want poor Ichigo to see?"

Kensuke sighed heavily as he rolled his eyes. "No, Asuka. This is everything that's from my apartment. And, uh..." he trailed off as he scratched the back of his head. "Thanks for helping me get my stuff down here so quickly. I appreciate it."

Asuka shrugged. "Not a problem. We did it last time things were about to get messy with the MP-Evas. Now that you live here, it's just smart." she paused for a moment. "And you gotta count yourself lucky we were talking about it too."

Kensuke nodded gratefully. "Oh, don't worry. I do."

Asuka nodded assuredly. "Good." she said with no small amount of satisfaction.

It was quiet as they exited the room, one of many now branching from the main room. Then, Kensuke looked over at Asuka and Daniel with a worried look on his face. "Do you guys really think that it'll get bad enough to make this necessary?"

They paused at the doorway out of the Box, and Daniel sighed quietly. "Well… maybe. You never really know. Better safe than sorry after all."

Daniel looked over at Kensuke, saw the anxiety in his eyes. "You ready?"

Kensuke was silent for a moment before sighing as he shook his head. "Honestly, no. I'm… I'm scared." he said, growing quiet at the end.

Then, he jumped slightly as Asuka put a hand on his shoulder. "Don't sweat it. We all get scared before we go out there." she said reassuringly. "And besides, it's not like you won't be sitting twiddling your thumbs. You'll be helping the Akagi's and Maya with hacking into the MP-Evas. You'll be helping us out."

Kensuke looked over at Asuka with no small amount of disbelief in his eyes as he saw Asuka's confident smile. "Well… thanks for the vote of confidence, Asuka." Kensuke finally replied after a moment.

Asuka gave Kensuke's shoulder a gentle smack. "Eh, it's what I'm good at. Don't sweat it."

. . .

Rei and Kaworu sat quietly in Kaworu's apartment, simply enjoying each other's presence for a moment.

Long gone were the days when it was a bare, somewhat somber place. It was usually rare to see a wall that didn't have some artwork on it, a now immensely detailed inking of something or someone, or to find his violin hanging proudly from the living room wall. Granted, he'd moved in with Rei in the last few months, but the trappings had remained, and the room was hardly always empty.

Now, though, the walls were empty, and the violin was in its case, all of Kaworu's earthly possessions secure within the Infinity Box. Now, the apartment seemed to hold a tense, somewhat apprehensive air, a deep breath held as it and its occupants waited for the inevitable.

Rei decided to break the somewhat somber silence as she looked over at Kaworu, a worried expression in her eyes. "I should have been the pilot of FT Unit-01." she said with little preamble.

Kaworu looked over at her with a raised eyebrow for a moment before his expression became understanding. "You fear for my life." he smiled softly. "I know. I understand."

Rei shook her head. "Not entirely. Kaworu, changed or not, you are still the last Angel. If you go into combat and…" her breath hitched for a moment as tears began to well up in her eyes. "And they kill you, they won't just retrieve and awaken Lilith. They'll be able to truly begin Instrumentality. SEELE will wipe away everything, everyone, we love."

It was silent for a moment as Kaworu nodded slowly. "Yes. There is certainly that risk, should we fail. We have Kadmonel, however, and Adam is secure in a new vessel. And as I said before, if they were to deploy without me, the enemy would have a succinct advantage."

"So," Kaworu continued, giving Rei his slight smile, "I will be as careful as I can. We'll get through this together."

"We'd better, scribble." Rei replied quietly as their faces inched closer to one another.

Then it was silent, as they shared a tender, long kiss.

. . .

Terminal Dogma, 1 Hour Later

Ritsuko walked across the blank, empty space of Terminal Dogma, her footsteps echoing off of the massive walls and back towards her, seemingly louder than they were before they left. Her footsteps were not the only ones that echoed, though. Maya, Naoko, and Kensuke all walked with her, towards what, by all accounts, looked like a blank section of the wall on the shore of the deep ocean of LCL.

They came to a stop in front of it, and Ritsuko placed a palm on the wall in front of her, concentrating as she did so. The wall rippled, and what was once a side of gleaming stone almost no different than the metal that surrounded it parted to open the way in.

Ritsuko nodded once, smiling slightly as she took a moment to marvel at the stone Aspect Core she had recently procured. It was… odd, to say the least, certainly not entirely what she was expecting to begin with, but again, science was taking leaps and bounds as the foundations of the Earth had a new light shone upon them.

A pointed cough from somewhere behind her stirred Ritsuko from her internal verbosity, and she took a step forward into the new chamber.

It was a surprisingly large room, the Frame Extruder's material breakdown function clearing out the space in only a day and a half. Nestled within, hanging on a massive wall mount, was the Lance of Longinus, the crimson bident gleaming in the harsh glow of the halogen lights.

Ritsuko and the others made their way to a platform that silently lifted into the air as she turned to Naoko. "Anything new that you've gleaned from the Lance, mother?"

Naoko shook her head. "All I can really tell so far is that it has a lot of power that's leaking out from the cracks in the Flux lacing. What kind of power, what its source is…" she shrugged. "That's still beyond me. All I know is that it's enough to end the world. And that's without even looking at the Lance."

Ritsuko nodded slowly as silence fell over the group for a moment before Kensuke piped up. "And we're sure this new wall we have covering the Lance is strong enough to stop an Eva from going through?"

Ritsuko looked towards the far wall as the platform stopped, integrating itself into a larger platform that held computer banks and holograms of the Lance. "Honestly, Mr. Aida… I hope so."

They made their way towards the bank of computers, the four scientists typing quickly as pylons at the two corners of the far wall thrummed to life, the etched kanji on their surface glowing as a prismatic glow made the colors swept from one hue to the next like a wave. Inscription Interfacing was yet another branch of Interfacing that had piqued Ritsuko's interest as Izalith had mentioned it, seemingly simple yet surprisingly delicate. Each of the kanji had special Frames held within their margins, dictating how the words would use the Metos that now traveled through the pillars and into their passive Expressions.

"Power flow is nominal." Kensuke said. "Inscriptions are activated and should be scrambling sensors now."

Ritsuko nodded. "As I said, I don't know if they'll be able to break down the false wall we've put up. But…" she trailed off as she smiled slightly. "They'll have to find it first."

. . .

Evangelion Bay 5, T-2 Hours to Contact

Daniel kneeled on top of Frame Plug-00, a panel open as he physically connected a clear-pad to the Plug with a length of glowing cable. He studied the screen intently as it showed an outline of the Frame Titan. Daniel pressed a stylus to the screen, stretching and adding Frames slowly, but surely as he kept an eye on the display which showed the projected estimated time to formation.

He made a few more adjustments, then tapped a few buttons as he finalized the now-familiar design, glancing back down at the timer with a discerning eye. 'Oh, well. I think Ritsuko will be fine with it. 30 seconds can be spared. Especially with us being deployed ahead of time.'

"I see you are making some last-minute adjustments." a calm, quiet voice called out.

Daniel looked up and behind him as he saw Kaworu, dressed in his new navy blue and orange Plugsuit, looking at him with his slight smile. He chuckled as he unplugged the pad from the Plug, the glow of the cable cutting out as he stuffed the cable in a pocket and turned. "Well, I'm just making some cosmetic changes, really. We can't all be as lucky as you to be able to customize your Titan from the keel out."

Kaworu blinked as he tilted his head, a slight confusion gleaming in his eyes. "From the… keel?"

Daniel blinked, then chuckled as he shook his head. "It seems we have to teach you some nautical terms sometime, Kaworu. So, what do you need?"

Kaworu's smile disappeared, replaced by a look of unease. "I have… concerns."

Daniel's own smile lessened as he walked over to the front of the Plug, sitting down with his legs over the edge and knocking on the space beside him as he nodded. "Alright then. Come on up. We'll talk eye to eye."

Without a sound, Kaworu lifted off the floor, floating into the air and coming to a gentle stop in front of Daniel before turning and sitting down next to him. It was a silent moment before Kaworu spoke. "Have you ever had to… fight someone who you think is a decent person?" he asked, surprisingly plaintively.

Daniel sighed quietly as he looked out into the bay and nodded. "Yeah, actually. A lot of times. It's… hard. Especially when you think that you could possibly get through to them."

He paused for a moment, then looked back over at Kaworu with understanding in his eyes. "You're worried about Mariah, aren't you?" he asked softly.

Kaworu simply nodded. Daniel nodded in turn.

They simply sat next to each other for a time, one taking in the understanding of the other, until Kaworu broke the silence again. "As… as I've said before, Mariah Marlowe is… off somewhat, or at least her soul is, but every interaction I've had with her, limited though they may have been, was positive. Were it not for the looming Instrumentality, the part I knew I had to play in it, I feel we would have been… friends. I feel we might be, in her eyes."

Kaworu paused, and the contemplative silence returned.

Daniel sighed again, a weary, knowing thing that seemed loud in the mostly empty bay. "That's the thing about seeing both sides of a war. Knowing both sides of a war. At some point, you have to fight someone you might know."

"But," Daniel said, his changing tone drawing Kaworu's gaze to look at him, "that doesn't mean that we can't do something to try and stop them. We have the go-ahead to try at disabling them from Misato. And who knows. Maybe Mariah will be surprised enough to see you that we can get a shot in quick and easy."

Daniel put a hand on Kaworu's shoulder as he smiled slightly. "We're going to do the best we can. Promise."

After a moment, Kaworu smiled back, and Daniel softly patted his shoulder.

"Well. Speaking of doing our best," Daniel said as wings that seemed to hold the night sky within them sprang into existence on his back as he pushed off from the edge of the Plug to slowly float down to the connecting bridge of the bay, "Asuka's getting all the pilots together to go over the nitty-gritty of the strategy for the battle before we sortie. She's probably expecting us by now."

Kaworu smiled slightly, pushing off as well as he floated down to join Daniel. "Indeed. Let's go save the world."

. . .

Tokyo-3 Surface, T-25 Minutes to Contact

Shinji Ikari took a deep breath before the launch platform rocketed up, a familiar weight settling on his shoulders as he sped towards the surface in the now-familiar Entry Plug of Unit-01, his mother's soul a comforting presence within the confines of the steel tube.

'So, this is it.' he thought to himself as he emerged onto the surface, the now setting sun in front of him causing him to narrow his eyes slightly before a glare filter descended on his screen. 'We're fighting other Children for real. No simulations, no sparring. Real combat.'

He couldn't help but feel more than a little apprehension as he walked over to one of the weapon buildings and picked up a Positron Rifle, getting a feel for the unfamiliar weapon. 'This is the most dangerous day of my life.' he realized with no small amount of fear.

"Hey, Shinji." a familiar, comforting voice said, as a panel showing Asuka's face appeared in his view. "I'd say that's one of mine, but I'll let you have it this once." she continued with a slight smile.

Shinji felt a smile of his own growing on his face. "Well, I've been needing to expand my horizons when it comes to my weapons skills. I've never actually held the miniaturized version of this before."

Asuka's brow furrowed for a moment, then her eyes widened as she nodded. "Oh, yeah. Operation Yashima and Ramiel." she scoffed quietly. "Back when the Positron Rifle was bigger than the Evas."

"And needed all of Japan to power it." Shinji replied as he shook his head slowly. "That was… an experience. Even before Rei jumped in and protected me."

"Yeah." Asuka said, her smile dimming. "It's a good thing she's a tough Wondergirl." she said quietly.

Shinji nodded, turning his gaze out to the long, flat plane with few buildings for cover that Tokyo-3 had become. "It's so… barren when the city's like this. It's kind of sad." he sighed quietly.

Asuka nodded. "Yeah. It is, isn't it?"

They looked around themselves as the others began to walk towards other weapons buildings, grabbing weapons and setting them aside for later as they all took one ranged weapon or another.

Daniel's Frame Titan, a dark splash against the sun, turned to look at Shinji as he approached, a strange weapon in his hands. It looked like a massive crossbow, except... the arms were massively thick, nearly a third of the length of the weapon.

Asuka looked down at the weapon as she stopped at Shinji's side, Unit-02 hefting a rocket launcher. "I uh… I hate to break it to you, Daniel," she said with no small amount of skepticism, "But I'm not entirely sure that's going to reach. I might be wrong here, but…" she trailed off with a quizzical look as she shrugged.

Daniel's face appeared in a panel beside Asuka's, a small grin on his face. "Oh, don't worry. It's just not deployed yet."

He turned towards the direction that the attacking force would come from as he shouldered the weapon. "I've had this one on the backburner for a little while. Based it on a design I saw ages ago… somewhere during my travels."

As he finished, he aimed into the sky, and two rectangular plates slid out from the center of the weapon, then another pair, then another as the arms began to shrink inward. In a few moments, a slowly rotating barrel nearly half as tall as the Evas was aimed skyward. "This," Daniel said dramatically, "is my Stellar Accelerator. It should reach just fine, and with the accuracy you're hoping for with the first part of the plan."

Asuka rolled her eyes even as she smiled wryly. "Nerd. I'd almost be tempted to say you're compensating for something if I didn't know you so well."

"Why, me? Compensate?" Daniel said in mock surprise as the plates began to slide back into place once more. "Perish the thought."

The three shared a chuckle as Daniel turned FT Unit-00 to face them. Then, Asuka nodded. "Speaking of the plan…"

She glanced to the side, and all of the Children's faces appeared. "Everyone knows their positions? Where we'll need to be when everything kicks off?" she said, her expression and tone now deadly serious.

The other Children nodded. "Yes, ma'am." Toji said, only somewhat in jest.

Asuka nodded as Daniel turned FT Unit-00 towards the position he had claimed in the northeast section of the city. "Alright. Command, is everyone ready downstairs ready?"

Hyuga's face appeared on a panel as he nodded once. "Yes, they are." he said firmly. "Popup plates and defense stations are tied to your controls, and we'll keep an ear out for whatever you need."

"Good." Asuka replied, and she smiled grimly. "Then let's set the stage, shall we?"