Chapter 16: Turnabout
In animal testing, we were able to increase obedience to demands by more than 50% of the baseline. However, it must be noted that animal brains, even ones as similar to humans as chimpanzees are, are far simpler than the human brain. Thus, editing the AT Field to manipulate the human mind without running the risk of affecting vital functions ensured that several test subjects went through the process before we arrived at the desired results.
- Confidential Report on the Theory and Application of Long-term AT-Field Manipulation, Section 4, "The AT-Edit System and Its Successes"
Tokyo-3, September 3rd, 2027 Hours
Asuka shook her head, seeming to try at physically shaking out the Flux she had gained from making her sword in addition to the Vent Frames she made as she jabbed and swiped at the green Unit in front of her, parrying the blows that tried to slip past her defenses as she lunged into a strike, stabbing at its core. The green Unit parried the strike away, striking up at her with its downturned blade.
Asuka tsked as she batted away the slash, stepping back to gain some breathing room while leveling her sword. 'Man, she really has sunk some time into the simulators. Have they really got ones that much better than ours?'
As the green Unit rushed forward with an overhead swing, Asuka took another step back, the chopping blow away and swiping at an exposed arm. The Unit twisted out of the way, and Asuka drew back as a swipe came up towards her left side, and she blocked in the nick of time, both blades getting into the bind as Asuka tried to maneuver her blade to jab at the Unit's head and shoulders and chest.
She stepped back as the green Unit stepped forward. Then again. Then again.
Asuka's brow furrowed as the bind continued, the tips of the interlocked blades tracing snake-like paths through the air as the Progressive sword threw out almost blinding sparks along the point of contact with her blade. She took another step back, and her eyes widened as she felt her lower back bump against one of the buildings.
In a moment, the bind was broken by the green Unit as it drew its sword back, switching its grip on the handle as it grabbed the still glowing blade with a bare hand that glowed with an AT Field, stabbing down at Unit-02's chest.
Asuka's eyes widened as she threw the flat of her blade into its path, holding the blade with one hand as she pressed against the forearm that slammed into the blade, the Progressive sword's tip humming and shuddering slightly as it stopped what must have been mere meters away from piercing her chest. 'Are we sure this is still the Dummy System doing this?' Asuka thought incredulously. 'This is insane!'
As the green Unit pressed harder, Asuka felt herself begin to lean over the top of the building, her back almost flat against it after a moment's struggle. She began to kick out with one foot, trying to keep her balance while searching for a nice target. Like the shin she just found.
She kicked, then kicked again as she pushed back at the sword, the tip of the blade slowly lifting from over her chest as she straightened up, Asuka's own muscles quivering from the effort she put into Unit-02.
'Gotcha!' Asuka thought triumphantly as Unit-02 fully straightened up, then stepped forward, putting a foot behind the green Unit's left leg as she shoved forward. The green Unit stumbled back, falling on its back with a mighty crash as Asuka let loose a wordless shout of triumph.
Asuka turned the blade of her sword down and stabbed at the green Unit, but all she hit was concrete and steel as the green Unit deftly rolled away, jumping up and taking a few steps back as she slowly raised her now empty hands.
Asuka blinked, then looked down near her feet as she saw the still glowing Progressive sword, then looked back up at the Unit as she smiled, pulling the sword blade from the ground and slamming it into the hilt of the Progressive sword, shattering it in a shower of sparks as the blade's light dimmed and died.
"Alright, warrior princess." Asuka muttered under her breath as a shoulder pylon deployed a Prog Knife that the green Unit took and brandished as it glowed. "Let's see if you can fight without your fancy sword."
. . .
Toji eyed the deep blue Unit in front of him as he continued to jab and swipe at it to disable it, rooted to the ground as it was. It was a surprisingly stalwart foe, batting away most of the blows that came at it, using its AT Field as best it could for the rest. But its defense wasn't perfect, Toji noted with grim satisfaction. Every once in a while, he would nick an arm, make a shallow gash across its stomach, slice the leg that was trapped. But that was all he could accomplish. And there was a pattern in there, somewhere, he could swear...
As he continued the series of attacks he had settled into, he heard a buzzing sound from below, glancing down for a second to see the Unit's left leg fuzzing, vibrating the wood that encased it. Toji's eyes widened when the wooden trap shattered, the leg of the deep blue Unit rocketing up before it kicked out at him, slamming into Unit-04's stomach and sending it falling back to the ground with a crash.
Toji winced at the stamp of pain that blazed across his stomach as he wildly swung the Lance copy in the air and tried to make his way to his feet again. His progress was stopped by the Unit, which seemed to blend in with the twilight as it started slamming its foot onto his chest as it batted aside one of his swings.
As Toji swung again, the deep blue Unit grabbed at the Lance copy, holding it firm as it began to stomp on Unit-04's chest, again and again and again.
Toji hurriedly opened a channel as he felt the armor of Unit-04 begin to dent into what seemed like his own chest. "Hikari! Shinji! If I could get some help, I'd really appreciate it!"
Across the way, Unit-03 shoved a Mass-Production into its compatriot as Hikari glanced away from Shinji making a valiant effort to stab one or both of them to the dark blue Unit continuing to stamp Unit-04's chest in. "I'm on it!" she said. "Shinji, keep them busy for a moment!"
She didn't hear Shinji reply as she leveled her Progressive Glaive and charged, the deep blue Unit looking up as she closed the distance with breathtaking speed. The Unit swiped at her as she approached, but Hikari batted the claws out of the way as she slammed bodily into the other Unit, sending it toppling to the ground.
Toji rubbed his chest as he slowly got Unit-04 to its feet. "Thanks, Hikari. I-" he blinked, then looked down at his now empty hand, then back at the deep blue Eva as it hefted Toji's former Lance copy. "I need a weapon." he sighed quietly.
"There's a weapon's building a few kilometers away." Hikari replied coolly. "I can keep it off your back while you make a run and get something."
"Something that'll stand up to a Lance copy by itself?" Toji said. "Hmmm. Nah. This needs… a personal touch. I've got shark-girl still. You keep helping Shinji."
As Hikari nodded silently and started to move back, Toji reached out with his soul. "Hey, mom. I've got an idea that I'm gonna need a little help on."
As Hayase Suzuhara took in what Toji had in mind, he heard her chuckle almost evilly. "Oh, Toji, I like the way you think, darling. Let's do it."
Unit-04 stretched out a hand, and a rod of dark wood began to sprout out of the air, twisting and overlapping itself as it grew long enough for Unit-04 to take it in two hands. At one of its ends, the wood became a tangle of roots that grew larger and larger, one end becoming like a twisted knot, the other growing out and sharpening into a deadly spike.
Finally, Toji energized it with Metos, the energy seeming to become like a bright bioluminescent moss that traveled up and down the weapon, casting an almost ethereal green light that reflected off Unit-04's chrome.
"Oh, yeah. Hammer time, baby." Toji said with a cocksure grin as he slowly began to move towards the deep blue Unit.
. . .
Another pop-up plate vanished in a storm of glowing blue positrons as FT Unit-00 dashed out from behind it, throwing a few shots towards the golden Unit as it dived to another, then another. Daniel shook his head as he waited, keeping an eye on the sky as best he could as he slowly moved towards another plate. 'She's good at keeping someone away enough to use that thing. Then again, when a stream of positrons able to melt your face off by getting close to it is what you have…'
As he heard two sets of feet hit the ground on either side of him, he instinctively jumped back as the two Lance copies jabbed down at where he was and almost collided. 'Then again, having company helps.'
FT Unit-00 charged forward, its rifle-blade firing miniature stars at the Mass-Production Evas as Daniel got in close, slamming the butt of his rifle into the chest of one on his left to shove it out of the way as he stabbed at the one on his right, squeezing off a few shots as the haft of the Lance copy it wielded jostled his weapon away from the core he aimed at.
Daniel tsked softly as he disengaged, then his eyebrow rose slightly as he watched the MP-Evas fly to the sides instead of into the air as they usually did. Then his eyes widened as his gaze landed the golden Unit, its gun-lance aimed directly at him.
He dropped FT Unit-00 to the ground with a crash as another stream of positrons roared and crackled over his head, the heat of it seeming to nearly sear his back even as far away as it was from him.
'Wait a minute,' Daniel thought with a mounting sense of dread as it continued to fire, 'if it's not aiming at me, then where is it aiming?'
A panel appeared, showing Hyuga's harried face that told him everything before he had even said a word. "Main Access Shaft 3 has been breached! Recommend you all fall back to that position and defend the entrance!"
"Dammit!" Daniel bit out as he came back to his feet and pulled up Asuka, her face drawn with concentration as it appeared in the panel. "Alright, Asuka. What's the play?"
"Get to that Access Shaft!" Asuka replied as she opened a channel to all of the Evas and Titans. "We'll do better against these idiots if we're not all split up. Disengage your targets and meet up there as fast as you can."
"I'm on my way." Daniel replied as the panel disappeared and was replaced by a map of the city marking his position and that of the Access Shaft a little over a kilometer away. As the positron stream stopped, Daniel got FT Unit-00 to its feet and began to dash as best he could towards the shaft, dodging between what few pop-up plates there were left as he felt the gun-lance fire for a moment, then fire again, this time grazing his arm for just a moment.
Daniel's jaw clenched as he stifled a shout, managing to not stumble and fall by sheer force of will. It felt like his arm had been nearly blown off, and he could almost feel the bruise that would blossom across his bicep. But there was no time for that. He pivoted FT Unit-00 on its foot and aimed up, sending a wave of scintillating starlight screaming through the darkness towards the golden Unit. That would cover him. For now.
. . .
As Kaworu acknowledged the order Asuka gave, he slowly began to step back as he glanced down at the display to find where they would be converging. His brow furrowed in concentration as he focused back on keeping the two pale Units he had engaged in front of him. He also, however, used his Sight, waiting for the moments when they waited just before attacking. There was something about them, beyond the glowing fragments of Camael's soul held within the cores. There was something beyond the simple brains and spines that went into the Dummy System in the Entry Plugs of these Units, something that he hadn't ever seen before.
As one of the MP-Evas stilled for a moment, he caught a glimpse of it again. A tangled mess of Frames, knotted at its center in a way that seemed eerily similar to…
Kaworu blinked, and the MP-Eva charged forward, FT Unit-01 batting aside its strike. 'They must have found a means to create simulacrums of a soul to pilot an Evangelion with. That explains… a lot.'
He had little time to ruminate on it, however, as the Eva he examined lashed out at him, and Kaworu stepped back as he parried. He was going too slow, he realized as he continued to parry and jab. He wouldn't be able to meet up with the others in time to form a solid defensive line. He needed-
He blinked as one of the MP-Evas disengaged, opening its wings with a low snap and floating into the twilight air. That made things a little easier for him, he thought as he narrowed his focus down to the single pale Unit in front of him. He still needed his Interfacing. And with a single target…
He smiled slightly as he leveled his Spear of Cassius, focusing as he took hold of the power of his soul, and created an Expression. The deep blue and black ink that made up the tip of the Spear seemed to swirl and bubble for a moment before shooting out, the torrent of dark liquid splashing around and through the Lance copy that the MP-Eva put in front of it to defend itself. But the ink covered its body regardless.
The ink, however, did not drip down to the ground. Instead, it seemed to pull the Unit that it bound back, one step at a time, until it strained to lift itself free from the side of a building, the ink continuing to flow and bind its arms and legs, until the flow stopped and Kaworu smiled at an almost spreadeagled Unit.
"Finally." he whispered, holding the Spear high as he poured energy into it, the broad blade going from blue and black to a gleaming crimson as he thrust the spear right into the MP-Eva's core.
The pale Eva twitched and spasmed for a moment, then went limp, and Kaworu could almost physically feel the jubilation in Central Dogma through his link with Rei as his vision blurred for a moment and he took a deep breath at the surprising amount of effort that the Expression took. He took only the briefest of moments to savor it, then turned to make his way towards Main Access Shaft 3.
Far away, deep within a secret complex, Lorenz Kihl's jaw slowly clenched as he, and the rest of SEELE, watched yet another new Unit gore one of the Mass-Production Evangelions. He silently stewed in his wrathful anger. If only he were a younger man. Then… well. That time might yet come.
Others in the conference with him were far more vocal in their displeasure. "So, this is it. Our grand setback is complete." SEELE-04 said. "Now, we must resort to the Final Scripture."
"Not yet, Four." SEELE-02 replied. "Though the perfect means of control is 12, and 9 is an acceptable margin, we will still be in control with fewer Evas. It will simply be a… less efficient process."
"And how many more can we afford to lose here? We can't possibly afford to lose any more than this." SEELE-05 interjected. "I think it would be wise to pull back."
"There is no retreat this time." Kihl said, his voice silencing all. "There is only the beginning of Instrumentality, and our rise to godhood, or there is the Final Scripture. Should the Numberless Children and the golems fail, then we shall return to the depths of the shadows and prepare."
"For now," he continued, "let us simply see."
. . .
Hikari kept her eyes on the two Mass-Production Evas as she leveled her Progressive Glaive and manifested four diamonds of hard light near the blade, sending them off to harry the pale Units, two to an Eva, as Shinji began to fall back, his now broken Pallet Rifle now replaced by a Lance copy.
The diamonds gave off a brilliant glow, casting shadows across the dark streets that otherwise were lit by the streetlights and the dim rising moon. They made the fleshy Mass-Production Evas almost gleam in the night, and their light glinted off Unit-01 as it moved back past her. But for all they did, piercing the pale Eva's skins and causing rivers of blood to flow, they could never seem to hit anything important. Always, they were turned away by the seemingly nigh-unassailable might of their AT Fields. 'I wish I could pour the energy I need into piercing their AT Fields. But I need the focus. Besides, if they didn't misbehave so much, maybe my weapon could actually get through them.'
She risked a glance at where Toji was. He was hard to miss now, his massive hammer seeming to glow almost as much as her floating projectiles, tracing the weapon's path as it slammed into the dark blue Unit he dueled with, sending it into a building as she caught the purple-pink glow of the enemy Unit's claws flash in the darkness before becoming covered by a plume of dust and smoke.
But she refocused on the advancing pale Evas as her light diamonds disappeared, cloaking them in shadows as they started to advance again. Before they could get far, the air around them seemed to fuzz, and Hikari felt a buzzing in her slightly clenched jaw. She didn't quite know what Shinji was doing, only that it involved making a wall of sound that seemed to stop them dead in their tracks.
She began to back up Unit-03 slowly, keeping an eye on the two white figures frozen in place, keeping the blade of her Progressive Glaive sweeping between both of them. 'Now, you two be good boys and just stay frozen.'
She heard the whooshing sound of something passing overhead, catching a glimpse of white above as it flew behind her. In a moment, Shinji's defense dropped, and Hikari stifled a shout of surprise as they charged at her, jabbing their Lance copy's at her.
It was almost on instinct that she batted away the oncoming attacks. "Shinji!" she nearly shouted into an open link as the MP-Evas pressed forward. "I could use some assistance!"
She heard no reply, only a few grunts of exertion as he kept what was presumably one of the other MP-Evas at bay.
'Looks like I'm on my own right now.' Hikari thought with a growing sense of dread. They were getting faster. Or was she getting slower? She was more tired than she had any right to be. Was it the Interfacing? 'I wish this wasn't such a drain. But if we don't do anything with it, we lose. All or nothing. So let's give it our all, mother.'
She slashed and jabbed at the Mass-Production Evas with a renewed intensity, catching and cutting them in arms and legs and torsos. On one of her targets, she slashed across the open chest, the blade of the Glaive throwing up a shower of sparks as Hikari shouted wordlessly in triumph.
Triumph turned to frustration as she saw the deceptively shallow cut heal, and the Unit just keep going as it slashed and stabbed at her with its Lance copy. Time seemed to blur for a moment as she began to simply react, parrying, swiping, jabbing, trying to do something. Anything, to get just one of these damnable monsters to die.
Then, Hikari blinked as one of the MP-Evas stepped back and unfurled its wings, lifting into the air out of sight. She tried to follow its movement, but its compatriot kept her focus squarely on itself as the pale Unit vanished from her sight.
Her eyes began to gleam with a driven fury as she pressed forward, her attack coming faster, slipping through more and more, cutting deeper and deeper with each strike. She was almost… there…
Then, pain. Pain that almost eclipsed all else blossomed from the center of her chest. She fought the darkness that encircled her vision as she looked down, and saw the two prongs of a Lance copy emerging right where her core was. 'It's a miracle my Plug wasn't hit.' she thought numbly, as what felt like her entire body began to go numb as well, Unit-03 slowly sinking to its knees as the Lance copy's blades slid out.
"Hikari! Help me!"
Hikari blinked as she focused on her mother. She was slipping away, seemingly pulled by some force that she couldn't see. "Mother!" she shouted aloud, a moment of clarity cutting through the darkness as she reached out almost on instinct, drawing her mother's soul back to her. As it got close, close enough to almost touch, a mote of prismatic light came into physical existence just above Hikari's cupped hands.
"Mother…" Hikari said. "I've got you."
. . .
Toji looked over for just a moment as he turned and caught a glimpse of Unit-03 falling on its face, and legible thought fled him, replaced by a torrent of seemingly unending rage. A rage the Evangelion, and the soul within, were more than happy to channel and amplify.
Toji screamed, and Unit-04 growled audibly, its jaw shuddering until the restraints clamping it shut shattered, and the Evangelion howled along with its pilot.
The dark blue unit in front of him stepped forward, slashing at Unit-04's exposed back. Its swing was stopped by an AT Field that wrapped around the forearm of the Unit as Unit-04 turned, swinging its hammer in a wide arc as it roared.
As the swing connected with the Eva's armored chest, the AT Field around its arm disappeared, and the deep blue Unit was lifted off the ground as it went flying back, dark wood spreading across its body at a lightning pace as the Unit slammed into a building, going almost halfway through in a cloud of smoke, ash and rubble as the wood finished its work, encasing the enemy Eva from head to toe.
Toji never saw it as he wheeled on the two Mass-Production Evas standing over Unit-03, and charged at them, Eva and pilot shouting wordlessly together as they ran.
The pale Evas looked towards him as he reached them, and he swung his greathammer at the closest one's head, sending it jerking into the side of a building as its companion jabbed at Unit-04. He batted aside the strike, thrusting his hammer into the Unit's stomach, shoving it into another building.
"Come on, you white bastards!" Toji shouted. "You focus on me! I'm not gonna let you eat Hikari if it's the last thing I do!"
. . .
Central Dogma watched on in stunned silence as Unit-04 stood above Unit-03 and lay about itself, its hammer's head almost a force of nature as every impact, hit or miss, sent plumes of dust billowing from the buildings around it. The tension in the room ratcheted up as another MP-Eva flew into the fray. Then another.
"We need to get Hikari out of there." Misato said, her brow furrowed in annoyance. "If only Toji would actually respond instead of screaming his head off…"
Hyuga shook his head after a moment. "We can't eject Ms. Horaki's Entry Plug into that." he muttered. "It'd end up crushed."
His brow furrowed for a moment, then a determined gleam sprang into his eyes as he keyed up the Cataphract. "Cataphract, this is Hyuga. Can you get a lock on the pilot of Unit-03 and teleport her to our position?"
"Yes, we can." the cool voice of the Cataphract's comms chief replied. "Stand by."
All eyes turned to Hyuga as he turned around, looking at an empty spot of ground and willing Ms. Horaki to be uninjured. A dull, quiet thrum filled the air for a moment, and as he watched, an outline fuzzed for the briefest of moments before resolving into Hikari Horaki, who took a choked breath before she began to cough out the LCL in her lungs, her body spasming as she expelled the orange fluid onto the floor.
Eleanor and Rei were by her side in a moment, and Eleanor began to gently hold her as she retched as Rei took her hand.
In a few moments, Hikari began to dry heave, then took several deep breaths, clutching something to her chest with her remaining hand.
As Hikari's breathing began to normalize, Eleanor used the Sight to quickly look over her. She was shot through with a worrying amount of Flux, no small surprise after creating the sorts of Expressions she did, and Vent Frames laced up and down her body, desperately trying to clean the Flux out.
'You're lucky you didn't suffer any Flux Crush, even with…' Eleanor thought, then her gaze landed on what was in Hikari's hand as she began to link her Vent Frames with Hikari's to lighten the load.
"What is that in your hand?" Rei asked softly before Eleanor could speak.
Hikari looked down, opening her fist to reveal a mote of softly glowing prismatic light. "Mother…" she whispered.
Eleanor nodded in understanding as she helped Hikari to her feet. She turned back to the main screen, and Hikari looked with her, as they watched the dust begin to settle as Unit-04 continued to clobber at his four opponents, the buildings around them now little more than piles of rubble.
Faez shook her head slightly as she sighed. "We're still not able to get through to pilot Suzuhara. He's not responding to anything anyone says." she said in exasperation as she turned to look at Hyuga.
"Let me try." Hikari said quietly, her voice rough and phlegmy. Then, she cleared her throat. "Let me try to get through to him." she repeated a little louder.
As Hikari made her way over towards Faez, a technician called out as a camera view opened up on the main screen, showing the Unit that Toji was dueling with as its right arm broke free, a vibrating mass of pink light pawing at the rest of its tomb. "Enemy Unit encased by Unit-04 is breaking free!"
The tension ramped up as Hikari leaned over Faez, taking in Toji's face filled with rage. "Toji. Toji!" she said, and the boy finally stopped shouting as he looked over for a moment.
"Hikari! You're alive!" he shouted, his face slack with relief as he swept the legs out from under one of the Mass-Production Evas.
"Yes." Hikari said, her own voice echoing Toji's relief. "And…" she paused as she glanced up at the main screen, and her eyes widened as she saw the blue blur racing towards Unit-04. "Look out behind you!"
Toji's eyes widened, and Unit-04 began to turn. Then the blur was behind him in the blink of an eye, and the enemy Unit slammed its claws into Unit-04's back.
Hikari's eyes went wide with horror as Toji and the Eva's scream of pain echoed through Central Dogma. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she saw a flower begin to wrap around the bicep of Toji's dull silver Plugsuit, blooming with multicolored petals as the enemy Unit pulled its claws out of Unit-04's back with a screeching peal.
The enemy Unit stepped back as Unit-04 began to lean forward. Then, Central Dogma's silence was broken by Toji's gritted voice. "No… no… no!"
Maya looked at the alarm that beeped on her computer as her eyes widened. "The Unit's still active!" she shouted, and a gasp went up around the room as Unit-04, impossibly, took a step to stop its fall as a hand clenched at the hammer that it held.
Unit-04 growled in synch with Toji as deer-like horns of wood began to sprout on his head, and he took his greathammer in both hands, raising it above his head with a wordless shout as he turned.
But the enemy Unit was faster, raising its claws as its image began to fuzz again.
Misato stood from her chair, eyes wide and full of fear. "Get Toji out of there! Now!" she shouted, not bothering to keep the desperation from her voice.
As the deep blue enemy Unit blazed forward, Toji fuzzed out of sight on the screen, and fuzzed back into existence on the floor of the command bridge, his wordless shout becoming a choked gargle as the enemy Unit slammed home the claws into Unit-04's chest, raking them back and forth across it as the chrome Unit spasmed.
The deep blue Unit drew its claws out, and the shredded Unit-04 fell onto its back, bouncing off Unit-03 with a thunderous crash and sliding to rest beside it.
It was silent in the command center for a moment, then Misato spoke again. "All remaining Units, pull back to the Geofront surface. Don't worry about Toji and Hikari. They're safe here in Central Dogma with us."
As one, the allied Units began to draw back to the mangled Main Access Shaft, Kaworu jumping down first as Daniel kept watch for Shinji and Asuka.
And as Eleanor tended to Toji, Hikari by her side, Rei's mind whirled with possibility. She didn't have a plan yet. But she had an idea.
. . .
Shinji bit back a curse as he saw Unit-04 fall to the ground out of the corner of his vision, shoving off the MP-Eva that had kept him from helping Hikari as he heard Misato's order. 'I should have been there. I... focus. Beat yourself up later, beat the harpy up now.'
He needed a way to keep it down, even if he couldn't kill it. Shinji's brow furrowed as he wracked his brain for ideas, the pale Eva bearing down on him not helping matters. Then, Shinji's eyes widened as he reached out to his mother. "Mother, I have an idea to buy us some time!"
As he relayed the idea to Yui, Unit-01 again pushed back the MP-Eva, and the restraints around Unit-01's mouth began to shudder as it growled. As the MP-Eva got back to its feet, the restraints shattered, and Unit-01 roared, the voice's power amplified as the wave of sound slammed into the MP-Eva, causing it to take a step back as it raised its hands to try and push back the crushing weight of noise.
Yet its roar warbled, rising and lowering in pitch and tone until it settled out of range of the human ear, and the MP-Eva's flesh began to ripple after a moment. Soon, its skin began to peel away, chunks of muscle flying off as the sound stripped its arms and legs nearly to the bone, its massive chest and torso faring little better.
Shinji took a deep breath as he shook his head slightly, woozy at how much effort and Flux it had taken to make the MP-Eva stumble and fall on its side, its limbs twitching every so often. 'Okay then.' Shinji thought as he turned away towards the Main Access Shaft, his stomach nearly rioting at the sight that he had made. 'We'll be saving that for last resorts.'
As Shinji made his way to the wrecked shaft doors, he stopped for a moment, looking over his shoulder to see Unit-02 racing towards them, the rather bright green Unit in hot pursuit. Shinji smiled slightly at the sight, then jumped into the shaft as Daniel fired something at someone.
The fall was dark, and as the shaft opened up into the Geofront itself, it didn't get much brighter, lights from the buildings he fell past and the HQ itself throwing deep shadows into those places that they didn't touch.
As Sinji slowed his fall with his AT Field, he landed with a soft thud, making his way over to FT Unit-01 as it stood in front of the NERV Pyramid. Flanking the pyramid were two sharp spires of dark metal, the only upgrades to the defenses that the daughters of Izalith were able to make in time. They loomed over him, and he felt the thrum of an almost otherworldly power in his jaw as he came to a stop beside FT Unit-01.
"So," Kaworu said calmly as a panel opened in Shinji's field of view, and they watched Unit-02 and FT Unit-00 dropping down, "these are dire straits we're in."
"Yeah." Shinji replied quietly as their friends touched down and began to run towards them. They watched in silence for a moment as the first of the Mass-Production Evas began to glide in, their wide wings almost but not quite covering the more colorful Evas that followed behind.
As the other two Units on their team reached their side and turned to face the enemy, Daniel and Asuka's faces appearing in two new panels, Kaworu chuckled softly. "Crom…"
Daniel's brow rose slightly. "Crom? When did you watch Conan the Barbarian?"
Kaworu shook his head as he chuckled, noting the confusion on Shinji and Asuka's faces. "With Rei one night. It was… not entirely to my taste, but Conan's prayer to Crom was… striking."
He looked away from the panel, staring out at the forces that assembled against them as he continued. "These are dire moments, and if we fail, the world will not remember how we do so. But all that matters is that four stood against many."
"And if you do not listen," Daniel interjected quietly with a slight smirk, "then to hell with you."
He, too, looked out on the Units that had begun to advance on them as the thrumming under their feet began to build in intensity, and the swordspear he seemed so at ease wielding appeared once more in FT Unit-00's hands. "Well… I've heard worse last words if it comes to that."
. . .
As Central Dogma watched the main screen with bated breath, Rei turned to Eleanor. "I have an idea." she said simply, drawing Eleanor's gaze to her as she linked herself to Eleanor's soul, speaking without words as she laid out her hypothesis.
Eleanor's eyes widened after a moment. "Well… that's not the craziest thing I've tried to do, by far. But we'll need time to figure it out."
"Figure out what, Eleanor?" Ritsuko asked as she looked up from her laptop.
"Lilith is a vessel, a biological starship powered by the souls it carried to Earth within itself." Rei replied. "If there is a Pneumaic mechanism for beginning Instrumentality, then there is likely a way to sabotage it from the inside."
"If you're going to do that," Misato interjected, "then you two need to get down to Terminal Dogma now. We're probably running out of time as is."
Eleanor nodded as she took Rei's hand. "Will do. We're on our way then."
A roughly humanoid bundle of coral appeared in Eleanor's hand, and her hand became water as a swirling circle of water sprang to life on the floor, carrying with it the smell of the clean sea.
Rei looked back at Toji and Hikari, who held each other's hands as they sat and watched her, and she waved as the rising cyclone of water obscured all from view, the rushing water soon slowing and falling away to reveal Terminal Dogma, and the white giant of Lilith.
They stood and looked up at it for a moment, and Rei took a quiet, deep breath.
"You ready?" Eleanor asked softly.
"Not really, mother." Rei replied. "But we have to do it anyway."
The silence that followed was only broken by the wet pops of their bodies transforming into LCL.
. . .
Asuka adjusted her grip on her greatsword and tried to quash the fear that she felt as she watched their opponents get closer.
'Lot of enemies, backs almost literally against the wall, the end of the world hanging over our heads. I guess I kind of know how I felt facing those MP-Evas alone from the show.'
She chuckled grimly as she watched the enemies spread out, taking advantage of their two to one numbers to encircle them, slowly constricting the semicircle as they moved closer and closer.
"Alright," she heard Daniel say, "whatever we decide to do comes second to keeping this entrance safe. Pick your targets, press forward, and… I'll see you in Valhalla."
She picked out the green Unit as it advanced, its Prog Knife glowing as it passed through the lights and into the shadows again. It seemed to be making a beeline for her. 'Still enough of that pilot in there, huh? Must be looking for a challenge.'
The semicircle continued to shrink, then the Units stopped, little more than half a kilometer away. 'Alright, Misato… any day now…'
The hum that they had felt building reached a crescendo, and Asuka saw their enemies lit up with a multi-hued light as a foghorn-like blare filled the air. Then, the two towers fired, streams of pure energized Metos, crackling like barely contained lightning, zeroing in on one of the MP-Evas as its AT Field sprang to life.
As both Metos Lances bore down on the pale Unit, its compatriots began to advance again, their pace picking up as they bore down on the four defenders. Behind them, the MP Eva's AT Field slowly began to bow in, then, after almost agonizing minutes, it shattered, and in a flash of light, the top half of the MP-Eva disappeared, its legs and hips crashing to the ground.
Asuka never saw the triumph, nor the Metos Lances separately targeting other MP-Evas to keep them busy as the others engaged their chosen targets. She saw only the green Unit, and felt her sword held high as she swung with a wordless shout.
The Unit ducked under her blade, charging in to get close as it jabbed at her Unit-02's chest. Asuka held the blade in one hand as she countercharged, shoving the green Unit back as she stabbed at its core.
The green Unit stumbled back just out of the reach of the lunge, then jumped forward, grabbing the sword blade as it began to pull back, and Asuka's eyes widened as the purple-pink blade flashed past whatever meager defense her instincts had set up.
She felt the biting, burning blade carve through her right hand, and a scream tore its way past her lips as the sword became an awkward weight in her one remaining hand.
Before the green Unit could do anything more, Asuka shoved it away with the sword, tossing it aside as her enemy stumbled back, a shoulder pylon opening as Asuka grabbed the deploying Prog Knife.
"Alright, then. Old school it is!" Asuka shouted as the green Unit charged back in, its Prog Knife flashing as it slashed and stabbed at her. She ducked and dodged, slashing back, the two knives throwing up brilliant sparks as they collided every few blows.
After a moment, they disengaged, circling each other as each tested the other's defenses. So, Asuka had a prime view of the Pyramid and the Metos Lance tower she and her opponent stood in front of as both received a torrent of blue-white positrons at their base.
Asuka's eyes flicked up as the bright rainbow beam of the Metos Lance stopped, then the pylon shuddered and slowly began to lean towards them.
She looked at her opponent, then dashed to the right, the green Unit looking back and diving to the left as the pillar crashed down between them, throwing up a plume of dust even as it made the earth shudder with its impact.
Asuka shook her head to clear it, then began to use the Sight, scanning through the cloud before zeroing in on what she assumed was the form of the green Unit getting to its knees.
She wasted no time, deftly reversing the grip on her knife as she took one bounding step, then another, leaping onto the side of the fallen pylon, then up into the air, shouting as she plummeted towards her target.
The green Unit, highlighted in the otherwise obscuring dust by the blade of its Prog Knife, jumped aside as Unit-02 landed with a crash, stabbing down into thin air before flipping the knife blade back up as she pressed the attack, slashes and stabs flying between both of them as they went back and forth.
Time seemed to blur, seeming to slow down and speed up as Asuka focused completely on the enemy in front of her. She saw only the attacks and defense of her enemy, felt only the action and reaction that she gave as the tide of the fight rolled back and forth like waves on the shoreline. The explosions that surrounded her, the voices in her ear, all were white noise as she made a shallow cut, receiving one in turn before batting away the next strike.
She stepped forward, then back, then two steps to the side, then back again. Then, her eyes widened as, for the second time today, she found her back pressed against a wall as the green Unit bared down on her, almost in her face as it slashed down towards her chest.
In an instant, Asuka brought her blade up to block, and the two knives collided, lighting up the space with their shower of sparks as the green Unit took Unit-02's handless right forearm, the limb shuddering with the effort it put forth to stay in place. And the knife got ever closer, slowly… surely…
Asuka's jaw clenched as her brow furrowed, her mind racing from possibility to possibility as she tried to find a way out of this bind, let alone subdue the green devil. Finally, as the knife came to be mere meters away from Unit-02's sternum, Asuka found, if not the perfect solution, then a serviceable one.
Asuka's arms shuddered harder as she willed them in the directions she desired, her left slowly guiding the knife away, her right coming ever closer to the green devil's sternum. Then, as her stump came within millimeters, she poured in power and will, felt something within her change, and magnetized the metal armor of her stump to the green devil's sternum.
The devil, seemingly taken aback, faltered for a moment, and Asuka made her move, pressing with magnetic power against the green Unit's legs, sweeping them out from under it and sending her flipping into the air.
"Have a nice flight!" Asuka shouted as she heaved back, letting go of the green Unit as it went sailing over the massive pillar behind her.
Asuka's vision blurred for a moment, and a spike of pain erupted in her head as she felt the flood of Flux crash into her. 'Oh, that was… a lot. Wow. And Mein Gott, that was corny as all hell. Maybe put a cap on those for now.'
"Asuka!" Shinji's voice cut in, and Asuka shook her head as she looked up. Then her eyes widened at the nigh apocalyptic sight she took in.
The other tower had fallen, and the bottom of the pyramid was carved away, the remaining portion hanging over like a jaw, and she saw a deep hole where the center of the pyramid once was, exposed and leading deep into Terminal Dogma.
In the distance, Unit-01 and the Frame Titans stood at the entrance that led from the surface into the same location, fending off the four remaining Mass-Production Evas. "Asuka, come on!" Shinji said, his face appearing on a screen. Or was it always there? "They're about to breach Terminal Dogma!" Shinji continued. "Hurry!"
"I'll keep this green devil off you guys and catch up when I can!" Asuka replied. "You'll need to focus on as few of these idiots as we can make it."
She could see the fear in Shinji's eyes as he took in what she said. "Asuka…"
"Don't worry about me, Shinji." Asuka said. "I'm the best Eva pilot in the world, after all. And…"
Tapping into her mother's soul, she linked her soul to Shinji's, a slight smile coming to her as she saw his eyes widen. "Together, Shinji." she said softly.
"We win." Shinji replied, a smile of his own beginning to grow.
"Always." Asuka finished, then dismissed the panel, tightening her grip as she turned to where she had thrown the green devil.
Her brow furrowed as she found her grip closing on empty air. 'I must've thrown the Knife, too. Damn.'
Her other pylon snapped open, and she somewhat awkwardly grabbed the last Prog Knife she had, the blade beginning to glow as she jumped up onto the pylon, scanning the area in front of her for the Unit.
There it was, off in the distance, sprinting towards her, Prog Knife in hand. 'I threw her farther than I thought.' she mused as her smile turned to a wry grin.
Then, her brow rose as the green devil jumped into the air, making a graceful arc in the air as it came closer and closer. Asuka fell into a ready stance, knife in front of her, as it landed precisely in front of her, the pylon shaking slightly, and swung at her, forcing her to step to the side to make room as she ducked and countered.
They circled each other as the platform they stood on allowed it, one sometimes lunging into the other and getting pushed past. Again and again, brilliant stars flashed and faded away as blades collided, the blades beginning to chip as the duel wore on.
And Asuka found herself giving more and more ground, slowly, as her focus began to waver. 'No.' she thought with single-minded fervor. 'I can't lose focus now. Not when I'm so close…'
She soon found herself back where she had started, and she slashed at a brief opening in the green devil's chest. Her eyes widened as it disappeared, and she instead saw the devil's knife flash towards her.
Then she felt the burning slash across the inside of her left wrist and shouted wordlessly as she felt the Prog Knife slip treacherously from Unit-02's hand.
Then, a stamp of pain across her stomach, and Asuka found herself on her back, her vision blurred by tears of pain that she wiped away to reveal the green devil standing over her, knife ready to strike down at her.
On instinct, as the knife began to plunge, she brought Unit-02's hand in the way, the blade burning through the palm and out the back of her hand as the green devil began to push.
Asuka shouted wordlessly as the knife came closer and closer, her muscles screaming almost as much as she did in effort as she struggled to keep the glowing blade from reaching its target. But the knife drew closer and closer.
"Mama! Get ready!" Asuka shouted into the connection with her mother.
"What?" Kyoko said, a startled tone to the only word she got out before Asuka strengthened the connection between them, and pulled with all her might.
The soul of her mother slowly drew closer to her, and as it exited the core, Unit-02 went limp, and the blade of the knife slammed down into Unit-02's chest, Asuka hearing the dreadful crack of the core shattering.
It was over. Asuka Soryu-Langley, the greatest Eva pilot in the world, had lost. But her mother was still close, she thought, as a pill of dully gleaming metal floated through the LCL towards her outstretched hand as she sighed deeply. "At least I still got you, mama."
Yet even with that, she couldn't quite fight the despair that surged up from the pit of her stomach, forcing its way out of her eyes as tears began to silently roll down Asuka's face.
. . .
Central Dogma was silent as the grave as they watched their enemies begin to breach Terminal Dogma. On one screen, the remaining Units raced the remaining Mass-Production Evas to Heaven's Door. On another, they watched as the golden Unit and the deep blue Unit hovered above their plug of solid steel, a distant camera showing the bright glow of the golden one's positron cannon as it carved through the steel like butter.
And one monitor showed Unit-02 as it went limp, the green Unit shattering its core with a harrowing crack before extracting its knife and running over to the shaft that accessed Terminal Dogma.
Misato took in the seemingly hopeless situation, and a storm of emotions roiled within her. They'd been pressed this far. The kids could win though. Could they? Could they really, after Asuka, one of their best pilots, had been downed?
All these and more swirled in her like a hurricane, and at the eye of the storm, she found a decision that she hated. But it would be the only way to keep everyone else safe.
"Hyuga." She said with a heavy voice, sighing quietly as he turned to look at her. "Have the Cataphract and the Sonne begin teleporting NERV staff still here to Matsushiro as quickly as they can. Have Hikari and Toji sent to Tokyo-2 with their families."
Hyuga nodded into the shocked silence as he turned away, and Toji looked up at her in shock. "But, Ms. Misato! What about Rei and Ms. Eleanor?"
Misato took a deep breath before she spoke again. "They're probably in the safest place in the world right now. They can ride out whatever comes our way. We, on the other hand, might not survive if the base gets torn apart. And really, if we lose here… it might not matter where we are."
Toji and Hikari both looked at her silently for a moment, Hyuga's words a muted rumble, then took each other's hands as Toji nodded.
"Thank you." Misato said softly as she caught the command center staff beginning to disappear in batches. "Stay safe, both of you. And Hikari…"
She paused as she felt the transporter lock on to her. "Tell Penpen I say hi." she said with a quiet smile and tears in her eyes.
Then, she was gone. And soon enough, NERV-HQ, and the Geofront, was very nearly empty, the only sounds found within that of desperate combat for the fate of the world.
. . .
Shinji's mind reeled as he felt Asuka's emotion at her defeat. Shock and sadness and confusion seemed to batter at him as he reached the already open Heaven's Door, and saw the golden and deep blue Units burst through the ceiling in a storm of positrons. Hyuga's update that they were teleporting away, and his admonition to stay safe, was registered only in passing.
And within him, a coal of anger, of deepest rage, glowed, then ignited.
As Shinji watched the two colorful Evas touch down on the shore of the massive room, followed behind by the green Unit, his sight almost literally seemed to turn red, his focus solely on the three Units that had plagued them from the beginning.
Then he roared. And the Evangelion Unit-01 roared with him, as they charged at the three enemy Units.
"Shinji! Shinji!" Daniel shouted after him, but to no avail, as Unit-01 slammed into the blue Unit, knocking it off its feet as it slapped away the barrel of the golden Unit's positron cannon, stopping the green Unit's Prog Knife with a stupendously powerful AT Field.
But he couldn't focus on that now, his gaze drawn back to the opponents that now outnumbered him and Kaworu two to one as he batted aside their strikes, one of them glancing off his shoulder.
A now-familiar pain blossomed in his left shoulder as he gritted his teeth. Already, several bruises had bloomed under his Plugsuit, and his right eye was red where once it was white, a Lance copy getting just close enough to put FT Unit-00's eye out.
'We need another pair of hands. We need someone. Anyone.' he thought, increasingly frantically.
"Very well."
Daniel's eyes widened as the next strikes were intercepted by two massive curved blades of gemstone, their tips making a hook that slid down and caught the tines of the Lance copies that they had slammed into, dragging the spears down as Daniel swiped at the two pale Evas in front of them, the Evas jumping back as they extracted their Lance copies. "Nynrya." he said in utter shock.
"Yes. I am a protector. You are now a protector. So let us protect this world. Together." Nynrya said, a melodic voice echoing in Daniel's perception.
"Yeah." Daniel replied, old but good memories of their time together dashing through his head as he started to slowly press the two MP-Evas in front of him, in front of them, back. "Together."
. . .
"Asuka. Liebling." Kyoko said quietly. But Asuka didn't respond, the tears flowing down her face as she silently waited for the inevitable end.
"Don't lose hope, please." Kyoko pleaded. "For me. For Shinji. For Daniel."
"Daniel…" Asuka finally said, and Kyoko couldn't suppress the joy she felt as her daughter responded, feeling the hope within her grow. "Daniel… Daniel. That's it! Mama, you're a genius!"
"Of course I am." Kyoko preened for a moment. "What's the context for such a statement?"
"We're going to do what Daniel did!" Asuka replied, her wet eyes now filled with determination. "Can you still connect to Unit-02's S2 Organ?"
"Let me see if I can try." Kyoko replied, reaching out into what was her body. After a moment, she found the now dormant organ and grabbed hold of it, the organ coming to life. "I've got it, liebling!"
"Perfect!" Asuka replied, and Kyoko felt her reach out as well.
"Alright, you soulless hunk of flesh and metal. It's time to get up!" Asuka shouted as she willed a connection through her mama to the Eva, a pair of gleaming metal horns not unlike her Eva's coming into existence on her brow. "You heard me! Get up! Aufstehen! Aufstehen!"
Slowly but surely, Unit-02's right hand rose and fell, metal flowing like water and becoming a new hand pressing down on the ground as the left hand did the same, metal filling in the gaps that the Progressive Knife had made.
The Unit pushed and impossibly flew to its feet, reaching out its right hand as its sword came flying towards it hilt-first, the metal hand closing around it with a sure grip.
A furious triumph seemed ready to overflow from Asuka's body as she turned and ran towards the shaft to Terminal and reached out to Shinji, feeling his rage and grief. "Shinji!" she shouted as Unit-02 jumped into the darkness. "I'm coming!"
. . .
A flame of hope and joy roared to life in Shinji as he heard the women he loved. "Help Daniel and Kaworu when you get down here! I'm keeping the other three busy!"
"What are you, stupid?" Asuka shouted. "Be careful, you idiot! I don't want to lose my rookie now!"
Shinji smiled at the fire with no burn that Asuka threw at him, then focused back on his brawl. He had gotten in close, rendering the golden Unit's weapon nearly useless. The others, on the other hand, had gotten more deadly. They were his main targets, two Prog Knives in his hands as he became a whirlwind of blades and AT Fields.
He felt the song of battle in his bones, and a part of him… actually liked it. He could see what Asuka found in this dance with death within the Eva, that drew her to it like a moth to a flame. But it was only a part of him that liked it. All else was focused solely on keeping these foes occupied for long enough that the others could deal with the other MP-Evas.
As he felt the impact of Unit-02 crashing to the ground and joining Daniel and Kaworu, he dipped under a swipe of the Progressive claws of the blue one and bull-rushed into the green one as he unfurled his AT Field behind him, senses far beyond any human's alerting him to the powering up of the positron cannon behind him. He felt its heat blooming behind him as he bear-hugged the green Unit, nearly picking it up as he drove towards the far wall.
He slammed into the wall with a thunderous crack, the green Unit in his embrace splaying out as he distantly heard the hiss of something very, very hot hit the LCL beside them. He set his jaw as he drew back, then slammed the green Unit into the wall again.
He stifled a yelp as the wall impossibly gave way, then a dagger of fear stabbed into his heart. 'The Lance's hiding place. Damn it! No!'
As both Units tumbled to the ground, Shinji tried to extract his arms, and the blades that he had deactivated, but the green Unit's hand clamped into place around Unit-01's bicep, holding it firmly in place as it leaned on Unit-01's other arm, Shinji catching a glimpse of it reaching for the Lance.
Shinji gritted his teeth as he pulled, his own muscles straining with the Evas as he desperately tried to free himself. He was almost there, and he saw his left arm slowly starting to slide free…
Then his vision went white as he jerked to the side, Unit-01's head slamming into its shoulder pylon as it collided with the wall. Then, as Shinji's vision cleared, he saw the familiar rainbow wall of an AT Field as it pressed on him, launching him into the air as he saw a flash of crimson. Aimed directly at him.
As he flew into the air, Shinji braced for the impact of the Lance as he put an ineffectual AT Field of his own up, and true to what he guessed, he felt the searing pain of the Lance as it gored him, sending him to the ground as he landed on his back, biting off a shout of pain.
And yet, he did not feel the pain of the Lance disappear. Shinji blinked. Unit-01 was still active, much to his amazement. 'The Lance must have missed the core.'
As he watched the green Unit walk over to him and take the Lance of Longinus in its grasp, Shinji did the last thing his instincts screamed at him to do and laid still. 'What is it that Asuka and Daniel liked calling this? Lying doggo?'
He waited patiently as he watched the green Unit took the Lance in both hands as it pulled up, Shinji wincing as he felt the blades sliding out of him. Then the Lance was free, and he saw the other two Units he was fighting standing over him as well.
'Well,' Shinji thought, 'that complicates things.'
. . .
Lorenz Kihl felt triumph in his old bones as he watched Unit-05 pull the Lance of Longinus out of Unit-01's body. Now was their moment.
"Gentlemen, our ascension begins." his voice rumbled, and he could feel the excitement of the others reflected in his own. "Activate Protocol Megiddo."
. . .
Deep within the vessel Lilith, Eleanor and Rei raced towards its center, finally arriving at the massive trunk of Frames that was Suriel's prison/command center.
Eleanor wasted no time, Frames sprouting from her hands and arms as she went to one side of the trunk and plugged in. "Now I'm not going to be sure what I'm looking for, and I need all my focus to make this quick. Link up to Suriel and try and find where any sort of mechanism like the one you're thinking about might be in here."
Rei nodded, her gaze turning to Suriel as she made a Frame of her own, reaching out towards Suriel. "Hello again." she said softly. "I wish the circumstances for our reunion were much more positive than they are, but we need your help."
With that, she linked herself to Suriel and went to her knees as she took in the weight of all the illusions that Suriel powered for the briefest of moments.
Then she shut them out and found herself looking at a new world. A grand hallway stretched out before her, and as she turned to look, Suriel stood beside her, dressed in a long, black robe. Her hair was black with streaks of blue, and her far less pale skin framed piercing grey eyes.
"Suriel." Rei said, and the woman looked over at her with muddled surprise. "Where is the key to retrieving the souls of humanity? Where does one start Instrumentality from?"
As Suriel opened her mouth, the hallway began to glow a deep crimson, crosses of bright green lining the walls as a pit of fear opened up in Rei's stomach.
Suriel's eyes went wide with horror. "It begins." she whispered. "It begins!"